Class tl i ' i (a Book_ ^' GopiglitK? Wg^ COPYRIGHT DEPOSm r'.'Baai.ftcm»'P»-uitm4'i7G-.StuaTt, ^^,. - v^/'-^'^-^ J^/. "^'^^ PEE SIDE NTS ^■A THEIR MEMOIRS AND ADMINISTRATIONS, INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF THE INAUGURATION OF EACH ^RESIDENT, AND A HISTORY OF THE POLITICAL EVENTS OF HIS ADMINISTRATION, AND THE TRANSACTIONS OP CONGRESS AT EACH SESSION: TO WHICH IS ADDED, THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ; ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION ; CONSTITU- TION OF THE UNITED STATES, WITH NOTES AND DECISIONS ; A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE EVENTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH LED TO THE UNION OF THE STATES, AND FORMATION OF THE CONSTITUTION ; A SYNOPSIS OF THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SEVERAL STATES ; TABLES OF MEMBERS OF THE CABINETS, MINISTERS TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES, AND A LIST OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS FROM 1789 TO 1849 ; STATISTICAL TABLES OF REVENUE, COMMERCE, AND POPULATION ; CHRONOLOGI- CAL TABLE OF HISTORICAL EVENTS IN THE UNITED STATES, ETC. BY EDWIN AVILLIAMS. EMBELLISHED WITH TWELVE PORTRAITS ENGRAVED ON STEEL. NEW YORK: ^ .""V EDWARD WALKER, 114 FULTON STREET Qe/u:^^:^ 4^'lft^ J^^Lt^ 4g^c^ I I^Vt^^^^Ci^* ^K^/^%tt^ «>^M^^cr#^ - I ..»v (S ^ Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849,, By EDWARD WALKER, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Southern District of New York. STEREOTYPED BY C. C. SAVAGE, 13 Chambers Street, N. Y. E. N. GROSSMAN, PRINTER, 12 Sprvjce SL PUBLISHER'S ADVERTISEMENT. In presenting this work to the American public, I feel a confidence that the name of the editor, and the importance and interest of the sub- ject, will make it peculiarly acceptable. Aside from the interest which the mere biography of an individual, so exalted as the first oflTicer in our republic excites, the record of the connexion of such an individual in an official capacity, with the history of his times, can not fail to be of great interest to every American, emulous to become thoroughly acquainted with the practical workings of our system of government. And what Ameri- can citizen does not desire to become conversant with these things ? Sure- ly none who value the privileges, or correctly estimate the importance, of the ballot-box ; for who can deposite his vote there intelUgentlt/, without a thorough knowledge of the operations of our political system ? The Lives of the Presidents, with sketches of their respective admin- istrations, from the adA])tion of the federal constitution and the inaugura- tion of Washington to the present time, as set forth in the work in ques- tion, necessarily contains a connected, though brief history of our coun- try, our foreign and domestic relations, our progress, &c., from the Revo- lution down to the inauguration of General Taylor. The synopsis of antecedent history, having a relation to the progress of our government and people is peculiarly interesting, for it exhibits the throes of that mighty convulsion which evolved a free government, and self-government, from amid the despotisms of petty colonial tyrants, and portrays that courage, made strong by the consciousness of right, which hurled the gauntlet of defiance at the feet of British power, and challenged it to a trial of strength. That gauntlet was the Declaration of Independ- ence, in 1776, the trial of strength was the war that sustained that decla- ration, and the herald's trumpet of victory for America, was the proclama- tion of a treaty of peace in 1783. ADVERTISEMEXT. Great pains has been taken to procure faithful likenesses of each pres- ident, and they have been engraA^ed on steel in the finest style of the art, by the much-celebrated artist, V. Balch, Esq., of Johnstown, New York. These portraits may all be relied upon as correct, and faithfully present to the eye of the reader, the true likenesses of our presidents. In every particular, this work is worthy of the most substantial support for its value is intrinsic, the matter being chiefly derived from official pub- lic documents ; and I feel great pride in being the instrument in laying such a treasure before the American public. EDWARD WALKER. New York, May, 1849. CONTENTS. PAGE Biographical Sketch of Geouge Washington 7 Administration of Washington 63 Farewell Address of Washington "^^ Biographical Sketch of John Adams 89 Administration of John Adams 97 Biographical Sketch of Thomas Jefferson 107 L^ Administration of Jefferson 117 Biographical Sketch of James Madison , 165 Administration of Madison 171 Biographical Sketch of James Monroe 213 Administration of Monroe • 221 Biographical Sketch of John Quinct Adams 243 I/" Administration of John Quincy Adams 255 Biographical Sketch of Andbew Jackson 277/^ Administration of Jackson > 301 Biographical Sketch of Martin Van Buren 369 ■' ' Administration of Van Buren 385 Biographical Sketch of William Henry Harrison 3.99 Biographical Sketch of John Ttler , , 425 Administration of Tyler 443 Biographical Sketch of James Knox Polk , . 479 Administration of Polk 489 Biographical Sketch of Zachart Tatlok . . , 505 Documents, Historical and Statistical 545 Declaration of Independence 547 Articles of Confederation > • 551 Constitution of the United States ....;• 558 Historical Sketch of the American Union 575 Congress at Albany, 1754 590 Congress at New York, 1765 591 Presidents and Sessions of Continental Congress 592 Members of Continental Congress • • , 593 Signers of Declaration of Independence, their birthplaces, deaths, etc. . . . 597 6 CONTENTS, Documents, Histohical axd Statisticai. (continued) — page. Senators and Representatives in Congress since 1789 598 Sessions of Congress, showing their Commencement and Close, Speakers, etc. 627 Votes for Presidents and Vice-Presidents by States, since 1789 628 Members of the Cabinet of each Administration, since 1789 631 Public Ministers of the United States, to Foreign Countries, since 1789 . . 635 .lustices of Supreme Court, since 1789 641 Attorneys-General of the United States, since 1789 641 Presidents and Presidents ^ro ieni. of the Senate, since 1789 642 Summary of the Census of 1840 643 Progress of Population, from 1790 to 1840 643 Synopsis of the Constitution of each State 645 Chronological Table of Events in American History 673 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF GEORGE WASHINGTON. The family of Washington, in Virginia, is descended from English an- cestors, who were anciently established at Turtfield and Warton, in Lan- cashire, from a branch of whom came Sir William Washington, of Leices- tershire, eldest son and heir of Lawrence Washington, Esq., of Sulgrave in Northamptonshire. Sir William had, besides other younger brothers, two, named John and Lawrence, who emigrated to Virginia in 1657, and settled at Bridge's creek, on the Potomac river, in the county of West- moreland. John, the father of Lawrence Washington, died in 1697, leav- ing two sons, John and Augustine. Augustine died in 1743, at the age of forty-nine, leaving several sons by his two marriages. George, the president, was the eldest by his second wife, Mary Ball, and was born at Bridge's creek, on the 22d (or 11th, old style) of February, 1732. Each of the sons of Augustine Washington inherited from him a sep- arate plantation. To the eldest, Lawrence, he bequeathed the estate on the Potomac river, afterward called Mount Vernon, which then consisted of twenty-five hundred acres, and also other lands and property. The second son, Augustine, received an estate in Westmoreland. To George were left the lands and mansion where his father lived at the time of his disease, situated in Stafford county, on the east side of the Rappahannock river, opposite Fredericksburg ; and to each of the other four sons an es- tate of six or seven hundred acres. The youngest daughter died in in- fancy, and for the only remaining one a suitable provision was made in the will. Thus, it will be seen, that Augustine Washington left all his children in a state of comparative independence. His occupation had been that of a planter, and the large estates he was enabled to leave his family had been acquired chiefly by his own industry and enterprise. Left a widow, with the charge of five young children, the eldest of whom was eleven years of age, Mrs. Washington, the mother of George, exhibited her resources of mind in the superintendence of their education and the management of the complicated affairs of her deceased husband, 8 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON-. who by his will had directed that the proceeds of all the property of her children should be at her disposal until they should respectively come of age. This excellent woman had the happiness to see all her children come forward with a fair promise into life, filling the sphere allotted to them with equal honor to themselves and to the parent who had been the only guide of their principles, conduct, and habits. She lived to witness the noble career of her eldest son, till he was raised to the head of a na- tion, and applauded and revered by the world. Her death took place at the age of eighty-two, at her residence in Fredericsburg, Virginia, Au- gust 25, 1789. Under the colonial governments, particularly in those of the south, the means of education were limited. Those young men who were destined for the learned professions were occasionally sent to England, when their parents were sufficiently wealthy to bear the expenses ; while the planters generally were satisfied with such a home education for their sons as would fit them for the duties of practical life, by means of a private tu- tor, or a teacher of the common schools then in existence. The simplest elements of knowledge only, such as reading, writing, arithmetic, and keeping accounts, were taught at schools of this description, to one of which George Washington was sent, and to such slender advantages was he indebted for all the aids his mind received in his juvenile years. While at school he was noted for an inquisitive, docile, and diligent dis- position, but displaying military propensities and passion for active sports. He formed his playmates into companies, who paraded, marched, and fought mimic battles, in which he was always the commander of one of the parties. He had also a fondness for running, jumping, wrestling, and other active sports and feats of agility. His early proficiency in some branches of study is shown by his man- uscript schoolbooks, which, from the time he was thirteen years old, have been preserved. These books begin with geometry, and he had already become familiar with arithmetic in the most difficult parts. Many pages of the manuscript in question are filled with what he calls Forms of wri- ting, such as notes of hand, bills of exchange, bonds, land-warrants, leas- es, deeds, and wills, written out with care, and in a clerk's hand. Then follow selections in poetry of a moral and religious cast, and Rules of Behavior in Company and Conversation, which code of rules it is believed had an influence upon his whole life. Of an ardent temperament and strong passions, it was his constant effort and ultimate triumph, through the varied scenes of his eventful life, to check the one and subdue the other. His intercourse with men, private and public, in every walk and station, was marked with a consistency, a fitness to occasions, a dignity, decorum, condescension, and mildness, which were at once the dictates of his own good sense and judgment, and the fruits of unwearied disci- pline. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 9 The last two years which he passed at school were devoted to the study of geometry, trigonometry, and surveying, for which he had a deci- ded partiality. He thus qualified himself for his subsequent profession as a surveyor, in the practice of which he had an opportunity of acquiring information respecting vacant lands, and of forming those opinions con- cerning their future value which afterward greatly contributed to increase his private fortune. Except the above branches of the mathematics, his acquirements did not extend beyond the subjects usually taught to hoys of his age at the common schools. It is even doubtful whether he re- ceived any instructions in the principles of language. By practice, read- ing, and study in after-life, he gradually overcame his early defects in composition till at length he wrote with accuracy, purity of idiom, and a striking appropriateness of phraseology and clearness of style. No aid was derived from any other than his native tongue. He never even com- menced the study of the ancient classics. While in the army, after the French officers had joined the Americans, he bestowed some attention on the French language, but at no time could he write or converse in it, or indeed translate any paper.* In the year 1746, while he was yet at school, a midshipman's warrant was obtained for him in the British army, by his eldest brother, Lawrence, who had been an officer in the British service, and served at the siege of Carthagena and in the West Indies. George, who was then fourteen years of age, was desirous thus early of embracing the opportunity pre- sented for a naval life, but the interference of an affectionate mother de- ferred the commencement and changed the course of his military career. Soon after leaving school, in his sixteenth year, he went to reside with his brother Lawrence, at his seat on the Potomac river, which had been called Mount Vernon, in compliment to the admiral of that name. The winter passed in the' study of mathematics and in the exercise of practi- cal surveying. At this time he was introduced to Lord Fairfax, and oth- er members of the Fairfax family, established in that part of Virginia. With this family, his brother Lawrence was connected by marriage, and to his intimate acquaintance with them was George Washington mainly indebted for the opportunities of performing those acts which laid the foundation of his subsequent successes and advancement. Lord Fairfax was possessed of large tracts of wild lands in the val- leys of the Allegany mountains, which had not been surveyed ; and so fa- vorable an opinion had he formed of the abilities and attainments of young Washington, that he intrusted to him the responsible service of surveying and laying out the lands in question. He set off on this surveying expe- dition soon after he had attained his sixteenth year, accompanied by George Fairfax, a young man who was a relative of Lord Fairfax. The enterprise was arduous, and attended with privations and fatigues, but the * Sparks's Life of Washington. ■^ 10 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. task was executed in such a manner as to give satisfaction to his employ- er, and establish his reputation as a surveyor. Having receiv^ed a com- mission or appointment as a public surveyor, he devoted three years to this pursuit, which at that time was lucrative and important. At the age of nineteen he was appointed one of the adjutant-generals of Virginia, with the rank of major. His military propensities had in- creased with his years, and he prepared himself by the study of books on the military art and by the manual exercise for the life of a soldier. But he had scarcely engaged in this service, when he was called upon to accompany his brother Lawrence on a voyage to the West Indies for his health. They sailed for Barbadoes in September, 1751, and soon af- ter landing on that island, George was seized with the smallpox. The disease was severe, but with good medical attendance he was able to go abroad in three weeks. Leaving his brother Lawrence to embark for Bermuda, he returned to Virginia in February, having been absent over four months. His brother soon followed him, without recovering his health, and died the following summer. Large estates were left by the deceased brother to the care and management of George, who was ap- pointed one of the executors, with a contingent interest in the estate of Mount Vernon and other lands. But his private employments did not pre- vent his attention to his public duties as adjutant-general, the sphere of which office was enlarged by new arrangements. The plan formed by France for connecting her extensive dominions in America, by uniting Canada with Louisiana, now began to develop itself. Possession was taken by the French of a tract of country then deemed to be within the province of Virginia, and a line of posts was commenced from Canada to the Ohio river. The attention of Lieutenant-Governor Dinwiddle, of Virginia, was attracted by these movements, and he deemed it his duty to send a messenger to the French officers and demand, in the name of the king of Great Britain, that they should desist from the prose- cution of designs which violated, as he thought, the treaties between the two crowns. Washington, at his own desire, was selected for this haz- ardous enterprise, and he engaged in it with alacrity, commencino- his journey the day on which he was commissioned, in October, 1753. His course was through a dreary wilderness, inhabited for the most part only by Indians, many of whom were hostile to the EngUsh. Conducted by guides over the Allegany mountains, he suffered many hardships, and experienced many narrow escapes, but succeeded in reaching the French forts on the Allegany branches of the Ohio. After delivering the lieuten- ant-governor's letter to St. Pierre, the French commanding officer, and receiving an answer, he returned, with infinite fatigue and much danger, from the hostile Indians, to AVilliamsburg. The manner in which he per- formed his duty on this occasion raised him much in public opinion, as well as in that of the lieutenant-governor. His journal, which extended BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. H to sixty days, was published by authority, and laid the foundation of Wash- ington's fame, as it gave strong evidence of his sagacity, fortitude, and sound judgment. As the French commandant on the Ohio showed no disposition, in his answer sent by Washington, to withdraw his forces from that country, the assembly of Virginia determined to authorize the governor and council to raise a regiment of three hundred men, to be sent to the frontier, for the purpose of maintaining the rights of Great Britain to the territory invaded by the French. The command of this regiment was given to Colonel Fry. Major Washington was appointed lieutenant-colonel, and obtained permission to march with two companies in advance of the other troops to the Great Meadows. In a dark rainy night, May 28, 1754, Colonel Wash- ington surrounded and surprised a detachment of the French troops, a few miles west of the Great Meadows. The Americans fired about daybreak upon the French, who immediately surrendered. One man only escaped, and the commanding officer of the party, M. de Jumonville, and ten of his men were killed. Being soon after joined by the residue of the regiment, also by two companies of regulars, and Colonel Fry having died, the com- mand devolved on Colonel Washington. This body of men, numbering less than four hundred, were, in the following month of July, attacked by about fifteen hundred French and Indians, at Fort Necessity, situated at the Great Meadows, and after a contest which lasted a whole day, the French offered terms of capitulation, and articles were signed, by which the fort was surrendered, and the garrison allowed the honors of war, and permitted to return unmolested into the inhabited parts of Virginia. Great credit was given to Colonel Washington by his countrymen, for the cour- age displayed on this occasion, and the legislature were so satisfied with the conduct of the party as to vote their thanks to him and the officers un- der his command. They also ordered three hundred pistoles to be dis- tributed among the soldiers, as a reward for their bravery. Soon after this campaign, Washington retired from the militia service, in consequence of an order from the war department in England, which put those of the same military rank in the royal army over the heads of those in the provincial forces. This order created great dissatisfaction in the colonies, and Washington, while refusing to submit to the degradation required, declared that he would serve with pleasure when he should be enabled to do so without dishonor. The unfortunate expedition of General Braddock followed in 1755. The general, being informed of the merit of Washington, invited him to enter into his family as a volunteer and aid-de-camp. This invitation Colonel Washington accepted, as he was desirous to make one campaign under an officer supposed to possess some knowledge in the art of war. The disastrous result of Braddock's expedition is well known. In the battle of the Monongahela, in which General Braddock was killed, Wash- 12 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. ing-ton had two horses shot under him, and four balls passed through his coat, as his duty and situation exposed him to every danger. Such was the general confidence in his talents, that he may be said to have con- ducted the retreat. Soon after his return to his home at Mount Vernon, Colonel Washing- ton was appointed by the legislature of the colony, commander-in-chief of all the forces raised and to be raised in Virginia, which appointment he accepted, and for about three years devoted his time to recruiting and organizing troops for the defence of the colony. In the course of his du- ties in this service, he had occasion to visit Boston on business with Gen- eral Shirley, who was then the British commander-in-chief in America. This journey of five hundred miles, Washington, accompanied by his aid and another officer, performed on horseback in the winter of 1756. He stopped several days in the principal cities on the route, where his milita- ry character and services in the late campaign procured for him much no- tice. While in New York he was entertained at the house of Mr. Beverly Robinson, between whom and himself an intimacy subsisted till it was broken off by their opposite fortune twenty years afterward in the revo- lution. The sister of Mrs. Robinson, Miss Mary Phillips, was an inmate of the family, and being a young lady of rare accomplishments, her charms made a deep impression upon the heart of the Virginia colonel. He im- parted his secret to a confidential friend whose letters kept him informed of every important event. He soon learned that a rival was in the field, and was advised to renew his visits ; but he never saw the lady again, till she was married to that same rival, Captain Morris, his former associ- ate in arms, and one of Braddock's aids-de-camp.* In 1758, Colonel Washington commanded an expedition to Fort Du Quesne, which terminated successfully, and the French retired from the western frontier. By gaining possession of the Ohio the great object of the war in the middle colonies was accomplished, and having abandoned the idea he had entertained of making an attempt to be united to the Brit- ish establishment, he resigned his commission in the colonial service, in December, 1758, afteV having been actively engaged in the service of his country more than five years. Having paid his addresses successfully the preceding year to Mrs. Martha Custis, Colonel Washington was married to that lady on the sixth of January, 1759. She was three months yoimger than himself, and was the widow of John Parke Custis, and daughter of John Dandridge. Dis- tinguished alike for her beauty, accomplishments, and wealth, she was pos- sessed also of those qualities which adorn the female character, and con- tribute to render domestic life attractive and happy. Mr. Custis, her first husband, had left large landed estates, and forty-five thousand pounds * Sparks's Life of Wasliington. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 13 Sterling in money. One third of this property his widow held in her own right, the other two thirds being equally divided between her, a son, and daughter, the former six years old, the latter four, at the time of her sec- ond marriage. ■ An accession of more than one hundred thousand dollars was made to Colonel Washington's fortune by his marriage, in addition to what he already possessed in the estate of Mount Vernon, and other lands which he had selected during his surveying expeditions, and obtained at different limes. His extensive private affairs now required his constant attention. He was also guardian to the two children of Mrs. Washington, and this trust he discharged with all the care of a father, till the son became of age, and the daughter died in her nineteenth year. This union was in every respect felicitious, and continued forty years ; the lady surviving her distinguished husband, only about eighteen months. To her intimate acquaintances, and to the nation, the character of Mrs. Washington was ever a theme of praise. Affable, courteous, and charitable, exemplary in her deportment ; unostentatious and without vanity, she was .much esteemed in private life, and filled with dignity every station in which she was placed.* To the delightful retreat of Mount Vernon, the late commander of the Virginia forces, released from- the cares of a military life, and in posses- sion of everything that could make life agreeable, withdrew, three months after his marriage and gave himself up to domestic pursuits. These were conducted with so much judgment, steadiness, and industry, as greatly to enlarge and improve his estate. He had a great fondness for agricultural pursuits, and in all the scenes of his public career, there was no subject upon which his mind dwelt with so lively an interest as on that of agri- culture. The staple product of Virginia, particularly in the lower coun- ties, was tobacco, to the culture of which Washington chiefly directed his care. This he exported to England for a market, importing thence, as was then the practice of the Virginia planters, implements of agricul- ture, wearing apparel, and most other articles of common family use. For the study of English literature he had a decided taste, and his name is frequently to be found as subscriber to such works as were published in the colonies. The enjoyments of private life at Mount Vernon, and the exercise of a generous hospitality at that mansion, continued uninterrupted for a pe- riod of about fifteen years ; with the exception of his absence from home during the session of the Virginia legislature, to the house of burgesses of which colony Washington was first elected a representative from the county of Frederic, during his last military campaign, without his personal solicitation or influence. He took his seat in that body at Williamsburg in 1759, and from that time till the beginning of the revolution, a period of fifteen years, he was constantly a member of the house of burgesses, 14 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. being returned by a majority of votes at every election. For seven years he represented jointly with another delegate the county of Frederic, and afterward the county of Fairfax, in which he resided. There were com- monly two sessions in a year, and sometimes three. He gave his attend- ance punctually and from the beginning to the end of almost every session. His influence in public bodies was produced more by the soundness of his judgment, his quick perceptions, and his directness and sincerity, than by eloquence or art. He seldom spoke, never harangued, and it is not known that he ever made a set speech, or entered into a stormy debate. But his attention was at all times awake, and he was ever ready to act Avith decision and firmness. His practice may be inferred by the follow- ing counsel. In a letter to a nephew, who had been chosen and taken his seat as a member of the assembly, he says : " The only advice I will offer, if you have a mind to command the attention of the house, is to speak seldom, but on important subjects, except such as properly relate to your constituents, and in the former case make yourself perfectly master of the subject. Never exceed a decent warmth, and submit your senti- ments with diffidence. A dictatorial style, though it may carry convic- tion, is always accompanied with disgust." In the Virginia legislature, Washington acquitted himself with reputa- tion, and gained no inconsiderable knowledge of the science of civil gov- ernment. During this period the clashing claims of Great Britain and her colonies were frequently brought before the colonial assembly. In every instance he took a decided part in the opposition made to the prin- ciple of taxation claimed by the mother-country, and went heart and hand with Henry, Randolph, Lee, Wythe, and the other prominent leaders of the time. His disapprobation of the stamp-act was expressed in unquali- fied terms. He spoke of it in a letter written at the lime, as an " uncon- stitutional method of taxation," and " a direful attack on the liberties of the colonists." And subsequently he said : " The repeal of the stamp- act, to whatever cause owing, ought much to be rejoiced at. All, there- fore, who were instrumental in procuring the repeal, are entitled to the thanks of every British subject, and have mine cordially." He was pres- ent in the Virginia legislature, when Patrick Henry offered his celebrated resolutions on this subject, and from his well-known sentiments expressed on other occasions, it is presumed that Washington concurred with the patri- otic party which supported these early movements in favor of colonial rights and liberties. In the subsequent acts of the people of the colonies in resisting the claims and aggressions of the British government, Washington cordially sympathized, and approved of the most decisive measures proposed in op- position, particularly of the agreements not to import goods from Great Britain. "The northern colonies," he remarks in a letter to George Ma- son, " it appears, are endeavoring to adopt this scheme. In my opinion, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 15 it, is a good one, and must be attended with salutary efTects, provided it can be carried pretty generally into execution." In these sentiments Mr. Mason concurred, and with a view to bring about a concert of action be- tween Virginia and the northern colonies, he drew up a series of articles in the form of an association. The house of burgesses met in May, 1769, and as Mr. Mason was not a member, Washington took charge of the non-importation agreement paper, which, on being presented by him, after the dissolution of the assembly, was unanimously adopted by the members who assembled in a body at a private house. Every member subscribed his name to it, and it was then printed and distributed in the country for the signatures of the people. Washington was scrupulous in observing this agreement, enjoining his correspondents in London to send him none of the articles enumerated in the agreement of association, un- less the offensive acts of parliament should be repealed. In the autumn of 1770, Washington, accompanied by a friend, visited the western lands of Virginia on the Ohio river, for the purpose of select- ing tracts awarded to the officers and soldiers for their services in the French war. Proceeding to Pittsburg on horseback, he there embarked in a canoe, and descended the Ohio river to the Great Kenhawa, a dis- tance of 265 miles. After examining the lands on the latter river and making selections, he returned up the Ohio, and thence to Mount Vernon. The Virginia assembly, which had been prorogued by the governor, Lord Dunmore, from time to time, until March, 1773, is distinguished as having brought forward the resolves instituting a committee of correspond- ence, and recommending the same to the legislatures of the other colo- nies ; Washington was present and gave his support to those resolves. At the next session, which took place in May, 1774, the assembly adopted still more decisive measures. The news having reached Williamsburg at the commencement of the session, of the passage of the act of the British parliament for shutting up the port of Boston, the Sympathy and patriotic feelings of the burgesses were strongly excited, and they forth- with passed an order deprecating this procedure, and setting apart the first of June to be observed as a day of fasting and prayer to implore the Di- vine interposition in behalf of the colonies. The governor thereupon dissolved the house the next morning. The delegates, eighty-nine in number, immediately repaired to the Ra- leigh tavern, organized themselves into a committee, and drew up and signed an association, among other matters, advising the committee of correspondence to communicate with the committees of the other colonies, on the expediency of appointing deputies to meet in a general correspond- ence. Although the idea of a congress had been suggested by Doctor Franklin the year before, and proposed by town meetings at Providence (Rhode Island), Boston, and New York, yet this was the first public as- sembly by which it was formally recommended. IG BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. Twenty-fiv'^e of the Virginia delegates, who had remained in Williams- burg, among whom was Washington, met on the twenty-ninth of May, and issued a circular letter to the people of Virginia, recommending a meeting of deputies from the several counties at Williamsburg, on the first of August, for the purpose of a more full and deliberate discussion. Meetings were accordingly held in the several counties, resolutions were adopted, and delegates appointed to the proposed convention. In Fairfax coui'ity, Washington presided as chairman, and was one of a committee to prepare a series of resolves, expressive of the sense of the people. These resolves are twenty-four in number, and were drawn by George Mason ; they constitute an able and luminous exposition of the points at issue be- tween Great Britain and the colonies. They are of special interest as containing the opinions of Washington at a critical time, when he was soon to be raised by his countrymen to a station of the highest trust and responsibility.* In a letter to his friend Bryan Fairfax, dated July 20, 1774, Washing- ton writes as follows : — " Satisfied, then, that the acts of the British parliament are no longer governed by the principles of justice, that they are trampling upon the valuable rights of Americans, confirmed to them by charter and by the con- stitution they themselves boast of, and convinced beyond the smallest doubt, that these measures are the result of deliberation, and attempted to be carried into execution by the hand of power, is it a time to trifle, or risk our cause upon petitions, which with difficulty obtain access, and af- terward are thrown by with the utmost contempt ? Or should we, because heretofore unsuspicious of design, and then unwilling to enter into dis- putes with the mother-country, go on to bear more, and forbear to enume- rate our just causes of complaint ? For my own part, I shall not under- take to say where the line between Great Britain and the colonies should be drawn ; bi^ I am clearly of opinion that one ought to be drawn, and our rights clearly ascertained. I could wish, I own, that the dispute had been left to posterity to determine, but the crisis is arrived when we must assert our rights, or submit to every imposition that can be heaped upon us, till custom and use shall make us tame and abject slaves." One of the principal acts of the Virginia convention, which met at Williamsburg on the first of August, 1774, of which body Washington was a member, was to adopt a new association, whose objects were re- sistance to parliamentary aggressions, by non-intercourse with Great Britain. The convention appointed Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, and Edmund Pendleton, delegates to the first continental Congress, which met at Phil- adelphia, on the fifth of September. Two of Washington's associates, Mr. Henry and Mr. Pendleton stopped on their way at Mount Vernon, * These resolves are in Washington's writings, vol. ii., appendix, page 488. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 17 whence they all pursued their journey together and were present at the opening of the Congress. As the debates of that distinguished assembly were never made public, the part performed by each individual can not now be known. In its transactions, however, Washington took an active part, and Mr. Wirt in his life of Patrick Henry relates an anecdote which shows in what estimation he was held by his associate members of Congress. Soon after Patrick Henry returned home, being asked whom he thought the greatest man in Congress, he replied : " If you speak of eloquence, Mr. Rutledge of South Carolina is by far the greatest orator ; but if you speak of solid information and sound judgment. Colonel Wash- ington is unquestionably the greatest man on that floor." Replying to a letter from his friend Captain Mackenzie of the British army, then stationed at Boston, in which that officer spoke of the rebel- lious conduct of the Bostcnians, their military preparations, and their se- cret aim at independence, Washington wrote, while attending the Con- gress, giving his sentiments and views on the state of public affairs. The following are extracts : — " Although you are taught to believe that the people of Massachusetts are rebellious, setting up for independence, and what not ; give me leave, my good friend, to tell you that you are abused, grossly abused. Give me leave to add, and I think I can announce it as a fact, that it is not the wish or interest of that government, or any other upon this continent, sep- arately or collectively, to set up for independence ; but this you may at the same time rely on, that none of them will ever submit to the loss of those valuable rights and privileges which are essential to the happiness of every free state, and without which, life, liberty, and property, are ren- dered totally insecure. " Again, give me leave to add, as my opinion, that more blood will be spilled on this occasion, if the ministry are determined to push matters to extremity, than history has ever yet furnished instances of in the annals of North America, and such a vital wound will be given to the peace of this great country, as time itself can not cure, or eradicate the remem- brance of." What is here said of independence is confirmed by the address of the first Congress to the people of Great Britain. " You have been told that we are seditious, impatient of government, and desirous of independency. Be assured that these are not facts, but calumnies." That such were at this time the sentiments of the leaders in America, there can be no rea- sonable doubt ; being accordant with all their public acts and private dec- larations. It is not easy to determine at what precise date the idea of independ- ence was first entertained by the principal persons in America. The spirit and form of their institutions led the colonists frequently to act as an inde- pendent people, and to set up high claims in regard to their rights and 18 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. privileges ; but there is no sufRcient evidence to prove, that any province, or any number of prominent individuals, entertained serious thoughts of separating entirely from the mother-country, till very near the actual com- mencement of the war of the revolution.* While Washington and his principal coadjutors had no confidence in the success of petitions to the king and parliament, and looked forward to the probable appeal to arms, they were still without any other anticipa- tions than by a resolute vindication of their rights to effect a change in the conduct and policy of the British government, and restore the colo- nies to their former condition. On returning from Congress to his farm, Colonel Washington was soon interrupted in his private occupations by the calls of his fellow-citizens of Virginia, to assist in organizing military companies for the defence of the colony, and to prepare for the approaching contest with Great Britain. He was consulted as the first military character in Virginia, and it seemed to be the expectation of the people that in the event of a war he would be placed in command of the Virginia forces. Being solicited to act as field- officer in an independent company, he wrote to his brother as follows : •' I shall very cheerfully accept the honor of commanding it, if occasion require it to be drawn out, as it is my full intention to devote my life and fortune in the cause we are engaged in, if needful." Washington was a delegate to the second Virginia convention, which met at Richmond on the 20th of March, 1775, and approved of the pro- ceedings of the continental Congress of 1774. A committee, of which Washington was a member, was appointed, on motion of Patrick Henry, and reported a plan of defence, by embodying, arming, and disciplining the militia. He was also on a committee to devise a plan for the encour- af^emenl of domestic arts and manufactures. The people were advised to form societies for that purpose, and the members of the convention .agreed that they would use home manufactures in preference to any others, * Among those who from the first seemed, to have a presentiment that reconciliation with •Great Britain was out of the question was Patrick Henrj'. As early as 1773, according to Mr. Wirt, he alluded to the probability of a Declaration of Independence, and predicted that after being assisted by France, Spain, and Holland, " our independence would be established and we should take our stand among the nations of the earth !" Down to the year 1775, how- ever the idea of independence was not generally prevalent or popular among the great mass of the American people. Doctor Timothy Dwightof New Haven, Connecticut, for many years president of Yale college, and for a time a chaplain in the revolutionarj- ai-my, confimis this statement in his writings. " In the month of July, 1775," he says, " I urged in convei-sation with sevei-al gentlemen of great respectability, finn whigs, and my intimate friends, the im- portance, and even the necessity, of a declaration of independence on the part of the colonies, and alleged for this measure the very same arguments which afterward were generally con- sidered as decisive ; but found them disposed to give me and my argiiments, a hostile and contemptuous, instead of a cordial reception. These gentlemen may be considered as repre- sentatives of the gi*eat body of the tliinking men in this country. A few may perhaps be excepted, but none of these durst at that time openly declare their opinions to the public." DicigMs Travels, vol. i., page 159. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 19 themselves. The former delegates were again chosen by the convention to represent Virginia in the next continental Congress, and Washington with his colleagues repaired to Philadelphia, where that body assembled on the 10th of May, 1775. Hostilities having commenced between Great Britain and the colonies, Congress first proceeded to consider the state of the country and to pro- vide for defence. The military fame and reputation of Washington were universally acknowledged by his countrymen and duly appreciated by his associates in the national councils. He was appointed chairman of the various committees charged with the duty of making arrangements for de- fence ; including the devising of ways and means, making estimates, and preparing rules and regulations for the government of the army. The forces under the direction of Congress were, on motion of John Adams, called " the continental army." The selection of a commander-in-chief of the American armies, was a task of great delicacy and difficulty. There were several older officers than Colonel Washington, of experience and reputation, who had claims for the appointment, but it was considered good policy to make the selec- tion from Virginia, and all acknowledged the military accomplishments and other superior qualifications of Washington. The New England del- egates were among the foremost to propose and the most zealous to pro- mote the appointment of Colonel Washington. John Adams, one of the Massachusetts delegates, on moving that the army then besieging the Brit- ish troops in Boston should be adopted by Congress as a continental army, said it was his intention to propose for the office of commander-in- chief, a gentleman from Virginia who was at that time a member of their own body. When the day for the appointment arrived (the fifteenth of June, 1775), the nomination was made by Mr. Thomas Johnson of Mary- land. The choice was by ballot, and Colonel Washington was unani- mously elected. As soon as the result was ascertained, the house ad- journed. On the convening of Congress the next morning, the president communicated to him officially the notice of his appointment, and he rose in his place, and signified his acceptance in the following brief and appro- priate reply : — * " Mr. President : Though I am truly sensible of the high honor done me in this appointment, yet I feel great distress from a consciousness that my abilities and military experience may not be equal to the extensive and important trust. However, as the Congress desire it, I will enter upon the momentous duty, and exert every power I possess in their service, and for support of the glorious cause. I beg they will accept my most cordial thanks, for this distinguished testimony of their approbation. " But lest some unlucky event should happen unfavorable to my repu- tation, I beg it may be remembered by every gentleman in the room, that * Sparks. 20 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. I this day declare, with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with. " As to pay, sir, I beg leave to assure the Congress, that, as no pecuni- ary consideration could have tempted me to accept this arduous employ- ment, at the expense of my domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to make any profit from it, I will keep an exact account of my expenses ; those I doubt not they will discharge, and that is all I desire." In a letter to his wife, announcing his appointment, dated Philadelphia, June 18, 1775, Washington expressed similar sentiments to the foregoing, as follows : — " My Dearest : I am now set down to write to you on a subject which fills me with inexpressible concern, and this concern is greatly aggravated and increased, when I reflect upon the uneasiness I know it will give you. It has been determir^ed in Congress, that the whole army raised for the defence of the American cause shall be put under my care, and that it is necessary for me to proceed immediately to Boston to take upon me the command of it. " You may believe me, when I assure you in the most solemn manner, that, so far from seeking this appointment, I have used every endeavor in my power to avoid it, not only from my unwillingness to part with you and the family, but from a consciousness of its being a trust too great for my capacity, and that I should enjoy more real happiness in one month with you at home, than I have the most distant prospect of finding abroad, if -fliy stay were to be seven times seven years. But as it has been a kind of destiny that has thrown me upon this service, I shall hope that my undertaking it is designed to answer some good purpose. You might and I suppose did perceive, from the tenor of my letters, that I was ap- prehensive I could not avoid this appointment, without exposing my char- acter to such censures, as would have reflected dishonor upon myself, and given pain to my friends. This, I am sure, could not, and ought not, to be pleasing to you, and must have lessened me considerably in my own es- teem. 1 shall rely, therefore, confidently on that Providence which has heretofore preserved and been bountiful to me." The appointment was made on the 15th of June, four days after which he received his commission from the president of Congress, declaring him commander-in-chief of all the forces then raised, or that should be raised, in the united colonies, or that should voluntarily ofl'er their services for the defence of American liberty. The members of Congress by resolution, unanimously pledged themselves to maintain, assist, and adhere to him with their lives and fortunes, in the feame cause. Four major-generals, eitrht brigadier-generals, and an adjutant-general, were likewise appointed by Congress for the continental army. On the 21st of June, Gen. AVashington hastened from Philadelphia to join the continental army at Cambridge near Boston. He was accompa- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 21 nied by Generals Lee and Schuyler, and escorted hy a volunteer troop of light horse which continued with him to New York. On his way he was everywhere received by the people with enthusiasm, and the respect to which his new rank entitled him. The particulars of the battle of Bun- ker's hill reached him at New York, and increased his anxiety to hasten forward to the army. Leaving Gen. Schuyler in command at New York, Washington again pursued his journey, escorted by volunteer military companies, to Springfield, Massachusetts, where be was met by a commit- tee of the provincial Congress of that colony, which attended him to Cambridge. He arrived at the latter place on the second of July, and took the command of the army the next day. At this time Gen. Washington found the British intrenched on Bunker's hill, having also three floating batteries in Mystic river, and a twenty-gun ship below the ferry between Boston and Charlestown. They had also a battery on Copp's hill, and were strongly fortified on Boston Neck. The Americans were intrenched at various points so as to form a line of siege around Boston and Charlestown. The effective force of the American army placed under the command of Washington, amounted to fourteen thousand, five hundred men, raised in the New England colonies.* Several circumstances concurred to ren- der this force very inadequate to active operations. Military stores were deficient in camp, and the whole amount in the country was inconsidera- ble. Under all these embarrassments, the general observed, that "he had the materials of a good army ; that the men were able-bodied, active, zealous in the cause, and of unquestionable courage." He immediately instituted such arrangements as were calculated to increase their capacity for service. The army was distributed into brigades and divisions, and on his recommendation, general staff-officers were appointed. Economy, union, and system, were introduced into every department. As the troops came into service under the authority of distinct colonial governments, no uniformity existed among the regiments. In Massachusetts, the men had chosen their officers, and (rank excepted) were in other respects, frequent- ly their equals. To form one uniform mass of these discordant materials, and to subject freemen, animated with the spirit of liberty, and collected for its defence, to the control of military discipline, required patience, for- bearance, and a spirit of accommodation. This delicate and arduous du- ty was undertaken by General Washington, and discharged with great address. When he had made considerable progress in disciplining his army, the term for which enlistments had taken place was on the point of expiring. The commander-in-chief made early and forcible representa- tions to Congress on this subject, and urged them to adopt efficient meas- ures for the formation of a new army. They deputed three of their mem- * Several companies of riflemen from Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, joined the ar- my at Cambridge iu SepteTiber, having marched from four to seven hundred miles. 22 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. bers, Mr. Lynch, Dr. Franklin, and Mr. Harrison, to repair to camp, and in conjunction with him and the chief magistrates of the New England colonies, to confer on the most effectual mode of continuing, supporting, and regulating, a continental army. By them it was resolved to enlist 23,722 men, as far as practicable, from the troops before Boston, to serve till the last day of December, 1776, unless sooner discharged by Congress. In the execution of this resolve, Washington called upon all officers and soldiers to make their election for retiring or continuing. Several of the inferior officers retired. Many of the men would not continue on any terms. Several refused, unless they were indulged with furloughs; others unless they were allowed to choose their officers. So many impediments obstructed the recruiting service, that it required great address to obviate them. Washington made forcible appeals, in general orders, to the pride and patriotism of both officers and men. He promised every indulgence compatible with safety, and every comfort that the state of the country authorized. In general orders of the 20th of October, he observed : — " The times, and the importance of the great cause we are engaged in, allow no room for hesitation and delay. When life, liberty, and property, are at stake ; when our country is in danger of being a melancholy scene of bloodshed and desolation ; when our towns are laid in ashes, innocent women and children driven from their peaceful habitations, exposed to the rigors of an inclement season, to depend perhaps on the hand of charity for support ; when calamities like these are staring us in the face, and a brutal savage enemy threatens us and everything we hold dear, with de- struction from foreign troops ; it little becomes the character of a soldier to shrink from danger, and condition for new terms. It is the general's, intention to indulge both officers and soldiers who compose the new army with furloughs for a reasonable time ; but this must be done in such a manner as not to injure the service, or weaken the army too much at once.'' In the instructions given to the recruiting officers, the general enjoined upon them, " not to enlist any person suspected of being unfriendly to the liberties of America, or any abandoned vagabond, to whom all causes and countries are equal and alike indiflerent."* Though great exertions had been made to procure recruits, yet the reg- iments were not filled. Several causes operated in producing this disin- clination to the service. The sufierings of the army had been great; fuel, clothes, and even provisions, had not been furnished them in sufficient quantities ; the small-pox deterred many from entering ; but the principal reason was a dislike to a military life. Much also of that enthusiasm which brought numbers to the field, on the commencement of hostilities had abated. The army of 1775 was wasting away by the expiration of the terms of service, and recruits for the new, entered slowly.* Unfortunately, an essential error had been committed in constituting the * Ramsay. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 23 first military establishment of the Union, the consequences of which ceased only with the war. The soldiers were enlisted for the term of one year, if not sooner discharged by Congress. This fatal error brought the American cause more than once into real hazard. General Washington had earnestly urged Congress to offer a bounty; but this expedient was not adopted till late in January ; and on the last day of December, 1775, when the old army was disbanded, only nine thousand six hundred and fifty men had been enlisted for the army of 1776. The general viewed with deep mortification the inactivity to which he was compelled to submit. His real difficulties were not generally known; his numbers were exaggerated ; his means of acting on the offensive were magnified ; the expulsion of the British army from Boston had been long since anticipated by many ; and those were not wanting who insinu- ated that the commander-in-chief was desirous of prolonging the war, in order to continue his own importance. Congress having manifested dispositions favorable to an attack on Bos- ton, General Washington continued to direct his utmost efforts to that ob- ject. In January, 1776, a council of war resolved, " that a vigorous at- tempt ought to be made on the ministerial troops in Boston, before they can be reinforced in the spring, if the means can be provided, and a favor- able opportunity should offer ;" and for this purpose that thirteen regi- ments of militia should be required from Massachusetts and the neighbor- ing colonies. The colonies complied with this requisition ; but such was the mildness of the early part of the winter, that the waters continue open, and of course impassable. Late in February, appearances among the British troops indicated an. intention to evacuate Boston. But as these appearances might be decep- tive, General Washington determined to prosecute a plan which must force General Howe either to come to an action or abandon the town. Since the allowance of a bounty, recruiting had been more successful, and the regular force had been augmented to fourteen thousand men. The commander-in-chief had also called to his aid six thousand militia. Thus reinforced, he determined to take possession of the heights of Dor- chester and fortify them. As the possession of this post would enable him to annoy the ships in the harbor, and the soldiers in the town of Bos- ton, he was persuaded that a general action would ensue. Should this hope be disappointed, his purpose was to make the works on the heights of Dorchester preparatory to seizing and fortifying other points which commanded the harbor, a great part of the town, and the beach from which an embarkation must take place in the event of a retreat. To facilitate the execution of this plan, a heavy bombardment and can- nonade were commenced on the British lines on the second of March, which were repeated on the succeeding nights. On the east of them a strong detachment, under the command of General Thomas, took posses- 24 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. sion of the heights, and labored with such persevering activity through the night, that the works were sufficiently advanced by the morning nearly to cover them. It was necessary to dislodge the Americans or to evacuate the town, and General Howe determined to embrace the former part of the alterna- tive. Three thousand chosen men commanded by Lord Percy embarked, and fell down to the castle, in order to proceed up the river to the intended scene of action, but were scattered by a furious storm. Before they could be again in readiness for the attack, the works were made so strong that the attempt to storm them was thought unadvisable, and the evacuation of the town became inevitable. This determination Avas soon known to the Americans. A paper signed by some of the selectmen, and brought out by a flag, communicated the fact. This paper was accompanied by propositions said to be made by General Howe, relative to the security of the town and the peaceable embarkation of his army. The advances of the American troops were discontinued, and considerable detachments were moved toward New York before the actual evacuation of Boston. That event took place on the seventeenth of March, 1776 ; and in a few days the whole fleet sailed out of Nantasket road, directing its course eastward ; immediately after which the American army proceeded by divisions to New York, where it arrived on the fourteenth of April.* Washington and the continental army were received with enthusiasm by the inhabitants of Boston. The legislature of Massachusetts presented the commander-in-chief with an address, congratulating him on the suc- cessful result of the siege of Boston, and expressing their obligations for the great services he had rendered to his country. The continental Con- gress also passed a unanimous vote of thanks to him, and a gold medal was ordered to be struck commemorative of the evacuation of Boston, and as an honorable token of the public approbation of his conduct. General Howe, with the British army of about ten thousand men, and one thousand refugees or tories, sailed for Halifax in seventy-eight ships and transports ; but anxious for the safety of New York, and apprehen- sive that the British commander might have concealed his real designs and directed his course to that important point, the American commander- in-chief had directed the march of his array to New York, as already stated. They went by land to Norwich, Connecticut, and thence by water through Long Island sound. When it was ascertained that the British fleet had put to sea, ten days after the evacuation of Boston, Washington set oflf for New York, passing through Providence, Norwich, and New Lon- don. At Norwich ho had an interview with Governor Trumbull who came there to meet him. On the thirteenth of April he arrived in New York.f General Washington found it impracticable, or inconsistent with his du- * Marsball. t Sparka. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 25 ties to carry out his original design of visiting his family at Mount Ver- non in the winter, and attending for a short space to his private affairs. Mrs. Washington therefore joined him at headquarters at Cambridge, in December, 1775, where she remained till the next spring. This was her practice during the war. She passed the winters with her husband ip camp, and returned at the opening of the campaigns to Mount Vernon. His large estates were consigned to the care of a superintendent, Mr. Lund Washington, who executed the trust with diligence and fidelity. Notwithstanding the multitude of public concerns, which at all times pressed heavily, and which he never neglected, the thoughts of General Washington constantly reverted to his farms. In the midst of the most stirring events of the war, he kept up an unremitted correspondence with his manager, in which he entered into details, gave minute instructions, and exacting reports, relating to the culture of his lands, and every trans- action of business. From the beginning to the end of the revolution, Lund Washington wrote to the general, as often at least as two or three times a month, and commonly every week, detailing minutely all the events that occurred on the plantation. These letters were regularly an- swered by the general, even when the weight and embarrassment of pub- lic duties pressed heavily upon him. An extract from one of his letters to Lund Washington on these topics, dated December, 1775, will show a trait of character' and the footing on which he left his household at Mount Vernon. " Let the hospitalities of the house, with respect to the poor, be kept up. Let no one go hungry away. If any of this kind of people should be in want of corn, supply their necessities, provided it does not encour- age them in idleness ; and I have no objection to your giving my money in charity, to the amount of forty or fifty pounds a year, when you think it well bestowed. What I mean by having no objection is, that is my desire that it should be done. You are to consider, that neither myself nor wife is now in the way to do these good ofiices. In all other respects, I recommend it to you, and have no doubt of your observing the greatest economy and frugality ; as I suppose you know, that I do not get a far- thing for my services here, more than my expenses. It becomes neces- sary, therefore, for me to be saving at home.'"* To detail all the operations of Washington in public affairs in the years which followed would be to repeat the history of the war of the Ameri- can revolution, and, of course, greatly exceed the limits of the part of this work allotted to a memoir of his life. We can therefore only allude to the prominent events with which his personal history was connected dur- ing that eventful period, following him rapidly in his movements, until peace and the acknowledgment of American independence by Great Britain crowned his efforts in the cause of his country. • Sparks 26 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. The evacuation of Boston varied the scene, but did not lessen the la- bors of Washington. Henceforward, he had a much more formidable en- emy to contend with. The royal army in Boston was, on a small scale, calculated to awe the inhabitants of Massachusetts into obedience, but the campaign of 177G was opened in New York with a force far exceed- ing anything hitherto seen in America. Including the naA-y, as well as the army, it amounted to fifty-five thousand men, and was calculated on the idea of reducing the whole united colonies. The operations contem- plated could be best carried on from the central province of New York, and the army could be supplied with provisions from the adjacent islands, and easily defended by the British navy. For these reasons, the evacu- ation of Boston, and the concentration of the royal forces at New York, had been for some time resolved upon in England. The reasons that had induced the British to gain possession of New York, weighed with Washington to prevent or delay it. He had there- fore, as already stated, detached largely from his army before Boston, and sent General Lee to take the command, following the main arm)^ himself immediately after the evacuation, and departure of the British army from Boston ; and he now made every preparation in his power for the defence of New York. Considerable time was allowed for this purpose, in con- sequence of the delay of General Howe at Halifax, where that officer waited for promised reinforcements from England.* Besides the preparations for defence against the British army, Wash- ington had to guyd against the numerous disaffected persons and tories, or American loyalists on Long island, Staten island, and in the city of New York. By the persevering representations of Washington, Con- gress adopted measures for the apprehension of this class of enemies to the American cause. Many tories were apprehended in New York and on Long island ; some were imprisoned, others disarmed. A deep plot originating with the British governor Tryon, who continued on board a vessel at the Hook, was defeated by a timely and fortunate discovery. His agents were found enlisting men in the American camp, and enticing them with rewards. The infection spread to a considerable extent, and even reached the general's guard, some of whom enlisted. A soldier of the guard was found guilty by a court-martial and executed. It was a part of the plot to seize General Washington and convey him to the enemy. t General Howe, with a part of the British fleet and army arrived at the hook from Halifax, in the latter part of June, and took possession of Staten island. The general then awaited the arrival of his brother Lord Howe, who was on his way from England with another fleet, and proposals from the British ministry for an accommodation to be offered to the Americans, before hostilities should be renewed. * Ramsay. t BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 27 General Washington bad visited Philadelphia in the month of May, for the purpose of advising with Congress on the state of affairs and concert- ing arrangements for the campaign. He was absent fifteen days, examin- ing on his way, Staten island ^.nd the Jersey shore, with the view of de- termining the proper places for works of defence. He seems to have been disappointed and concerned at dissensions in Congress which por- tended no good to the common cause. It was known, from late proceed- ings in parliament, that commissioners were coming out from England with proposals of accommodation. In a letter to his brother, dated at Phila- delphia, May 31, 1776. Washington expresses his gratification that the Virginia convention had passed a vote with great unanimity, recom- mending to Congress to declare the united colonies free and independent states. " Things have come to such a pass now," he writes, " as to convince us, that we have nothing more to expect from the justice of Great Brit- ain ; also that she is capable of the most delusive arts ; for I am satisfied that no commissioners were ever designed, except Hessians and other for- eigners ; and that the idea was only to deceive and throw us off our guard. The first has been too effectually accomplished ; as many members of Congress, in short, the representation of whole provinces, are still feeding themselves upon the dainty food of reconciliation ; and though they will not allow that the expectaiion of it has any influence upon their judgment with respect to their preparations for defence, it is but too obvious that it has an operation upon every part of their conduct, and is a clog to their proceedings. It is not in the nature of things to be otherwise ; for no man that entertains a hope of seeing this dispute speedily and equitably adjusted by commissioners, will go to the same expense and run the same hazards to prepare for the worst event, as he who believes that he must conquer, or submit to unconditional terms, and the concomitants, such as confiscation, hanging, and the like." Notwithstanding the hesitancy of some of the members of Congress, there was still a large majority for vigorous action ; and while he was there, they resolved to reinforce the army at New York, with thirteen thousand eight hundred militia, drawn from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey ; and a flying camp of ten thousand more, from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware.* The Declaration of Independence by Congress, on the fourth of July, 1776, was received by General Washington, and read to the troops under his command on the ninth, at six o'clock in the evening ; the regiments being paraded for the purpose. The document was read in the hearing of all, and received with the most hearty demonstrations of joy and satis- faction. In the orders of the day it was said, " The general hopes that this important event will serve as a fresh incentive to every oflicer and sol- dier to act with fidelity and courage, as knowing, that now the peace and * Sparks. 28 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. safety of his country depend, under God, solely on the success of our arms, and that he is now in the service of a state possessed of sufficient power to reward his merit, and advance him to the hi;^fhest honors of a free country." Lord Howe arrived at Staten island on the twelfth of July, joining his brother, the general, with the expected , additional forces from" England. The command of the fleet had been conferred upon the former, and both the brothers were commissioners for restoring peace to the colonies. Lord Howe was not deterred by the declaration of independence from try- ing the influence of his powers for pacification, although he regarded the declaration as a circumstance unfavorable to the success of his mission He sent on shore a circular letter, dated off the coast of Massachusetts, addressed severally to the late governors under the crown (whom he sup- posed to be still in power), enclosing a declaration which he requested them to make public. It announced his authority to grant pardons, and to declare any colony or place under the protection of the king. Assuran- ces were also given that the meritorious services of all persons who would aid in restoring tranquillity in the colonies would be duly considered. These papers were transmitted by the commander-in-chief to Congress, who directed their publication, that the people " might be informed of what nature were the commissioners, and what the terms with the expect- ation of which the insidious court of Britain had sought to amuse and disarm them." About the same time Lord Howe despatched a letter to General Wash- ington by a flag, which the general refused to receive, as it did not acknowl- edge the public character with which he was invested, being directed " To George Washington, Esq." The course pursued was approved by Congress, and a resolve was passed, that in future no letters should be re- ceived from the enemy, by commanders in the American army which should not be directed to them in the characters they sustained. A few days afterward General Howe wrote to Washington, repeating the same superscription as had been used by his brother. This letter was likewise refused, but an explanation took place through an interview between Colo- nel Patterson, adjutant-general of the British army and General Washing- ton. General Howe was induced to change his superscription, and from that time all letters addressed by the British commanders to General Washington bore his proper titles. In the conference between Washington and Colonel Patterson, the ad- jutant-general observed that " the commissioners were armed with great powers, and would be very happy in effecting an accommodation." Gen- eral Washington replied " that from what appeared, these powers were only to grant pardons ; that they who had committed no fault wanted no pardon." General Howe, perceiving that all attempts at conciliation were hope- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 29 less, prepared for the operations of the campaign. He however, delayed for some time active measures, as he was still waiting for further reinforce- ments. This period was emploj'ed by Washington in strengthening his works on New York island. Fort Washington, on an eminence in the north part of the island, on the east bank of the Hudson, and Fort Lee, on the opposite shore in New Jersey, were commenced, and between these forts the channel of the river was obstructed by hulks of vessels and chevaux-de-frise. Batteries were erected on the margins of the North and East rivers — redoubts were thrown i|p at diiferent places, and the island generally placed in a state of defence The 'British reinforcements had all arrived by the middle of August, and the aggregate of their army was estimated at over twenty-four thou- sand men. To this army, aided in its operations by a numerous fleet, was opposed the American army, a force unstable in its nature, incapable from its structure of receiving discipline, and inferior to the enemy in numbers, in army, and in every military equipment. In a letter dated the 8th of August, General Washington stated his army consisted of only seventeen thousand, two hundred and twenty-five men, of whom three thousand, six hundred and sixty-eight were sick. This force was rendered the more inadequate to its objects by being necessarily divided for the defence of posts, some of which were fifteen miles distant from others, with naviga- ble waters between them. The army was soon afterward reinforced by regulars and militia, which augmented it to twenty-seven thousand men, of whom one fourth were sick. The diseases incident to new troops pre- vailed extensively, and were aggravated by a deficiency of tents. The American troops were so judiciously distributed on York island. Long island. Governor's island, Paulus Hook, and on the sound toward New Rochelle, East and West Chester, that the enemy were very cau- tious in determining when or where to commence offensive operations. Every probable point of embarkation was watched, and guarded with a force sufficient to embarrass, though very insufficient to prevent a landing. From the arrival of the British army at Staten island, the Americans were ill daily expectation of being attacked. General Washington was there- fore strenuous in preparing his troops for action. He tried every expe- dient to kindle in their breasts the love of their country, and a high tone of indignation against its invaders. Thus did he, by infusing into every bosom those sentiments which would stimulate to the greatest individual exertion, endeavor to compensate for the want of arms, of discipline, and of numbers. Early in the morning of the twenty-second of August, the principal part of the British army landed on Long island, under cover of the guns of the fleet ; and extended their line from the Narrows, through Utrecht and Gravesend, to the village of Flatbush. On the twenty-seventh, the fifth day after landing, a general action took place between the two armies ; the 30 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. Americans on Long island, tlien commanded by General Putnam, being attacked by the British army, under General Clinton. The variety of ground, and the different parties employed in different places, both in the attack and defence, occasioned a succession of small engagements, pur- suits, and slaughter, which lasted for many hours. The Americans were defeated in all directions. The circumstances which eminently contributed to this, were the superior discipline of the assailants, and the want of early intelligence of their movements. There was not a single corps of ca^lry in the American army. The transmis- sion of intelligence was of course always slow, and often impracticable. From the want of it, some of their detachments, while retreating before one portion of the enemy, were advancing toward another, of whose movements they were ignorant. In the height of the engagement Washington passed over to Long island, and with infinite regret saw the slaughter of his best troops, but had not the power to prevent it ; for had he drawn his whole force to their support he must have risked everything on a single engagement. He adopted the wiser plan of evacuating the island, with all the forces he could bring off. In superintending this necessary, but difficult and dangerous movement, and the events of the preceding day, Washington was indefatigable. For forty-eight hours he never closed his eyes, and was almost constantly on horseback. In less than thirteen hours the field artillery, tents, baggage, and about nine thousand men, were conveyed from Long island to the city of New York, over the East river, and without the knowledge of the British, though not six hundred yards distant. The darkness of the night and a heavy fog in the morning, together with a fair wind after midnight, favored this retreat. It was completed without interruption some time after the dawning of the day.* The loss of the Americans at the battle of Long island, was twelve hundred men, about a thousand of whom were captured. The loss of the British was less than four hundred. Immediately after the success of the British arms on Long island, Ad- miral Lord Howe, as one of the king's pacificators, made another attempt at negotiation. He admitted General Sullivan, who had been taken prisoner, to his parole, and sent him to Philadelphia with a verbal message to Con- gress, the purport of which was, that although not authorized to treat with Congress as such, it being an illegal assembly, yet he was desirous of conferring with some of its members as private gentlemen only, whom he would meet at any place they might appoint. To this Congress sent a reply by General Sullivan, refusing to authorize any of their body to con- fer with his lordship in their private capacity ; but saying that they would send a committee to inquire into his authority to treat with persons author- ized by Congress, and to hear his propositions for peace. Instructions * Ramsay. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 31 were at the same time sent to General Washington by Congress, that no propositions for peace ought to be received, unless directed in writing to the representatives of the United States ; and to inform those who might make application for a treaty, that Congress would cheerfully conclude a treaty of peace whenever such should be proposed to them as representa- tives of an independent people. Doctor P'ranklin, John Adams, and Edward Rutledge, were appointed by Congress to confer with Lord Howe, whom they met for that purpose on Staten island. As Lord Howe declined conferring with the committee except as private gentlemen, he being unauthorized to recognise Congress as a legal body, the conference terminated without effecting anything. The commissioners absolutely refused to entertain any propositions except they were made to them as the representatives of a free and independent people. The interview was therefore closed, with the understanding, that war or absolute independence were the only alternatives the Americans chose to recognise. General Howe now took measures to drive the Americans out of the city of New York. He made preparations to have troops landed from the ships on opposite sides of the upper part of the island, while the main body of the fleet entered the harbor, and took a position nearly within cannon-shot of the city. By this arrangement the Americans would be hemmed in, and be compelled to evacuate the city, or sufler the privations and dangers of a siege. Viewing these preparations of the British commander with alarm, Wash- ington called a council of war, on the twelfth of September, sixteen days after the battle of Long island, and recommended an immediate withdrawal of the troops. This measure was finally determined upon, and with great activity the Americans commenced removing the artillery and stores far above the city, to Dobb's ferry on the western shore of the Hudson. The commander-in-chief retired to the heights of Harlem, and a force of nine thousand men was stationed at Mount Washington, King's bridge, and other posts in the vicinity, while about five thousand remained near the city. The residue were placed between these extreme points, to act at either place as occasion might require. On the fifteenth, a division of the British army, landed at Kipp's bay on the East river, three miles above the city, and attacked the American batter- ies erected there. The troops stationed at this place fled with precipita- tion, without waiting for the approach of the enemy. Two brigades were put in motion to support them. General Washington rode to the scene of action, and to his great mortification met the whole party retreating. While he was exerting himself to rally them, on the appearance of a small corps of the enemy, they again broke and ran off' in disorder. Such dastardly conduct raised a tempest in the usually tranquil mind of Washington. He viewed with infinite concern this behavior of his troops, as threatening 32 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. ruin to his country. His soul was harrowed up with apprehensions that his country would be conquered, her army disgraced, and her liberties de- stroyed, while the unsuccessful issue of the present struggle would, for ages to come, deter posterity from the bold design of asserting their rights. Im- pressed with these ideas, he hazarded his person for some considerable time in the rear of his own men, and in front of the enemy, with his horse's head toward the latter, as if in expectation that, by an honorable death, he might escape the infamy he dreaded from the dastardly conduct of troops in whom he could place no dependence. His aids, and the con- fidential friends around his person, by indirect violence, compelled him to retire. In consequence of their address and importunity, a life was saved for public service, which otherwise, from a sense of honor and a gust of passion, seemed to be devoted to almost certain destruction.* The troops referred to continued their retreat, until they reached the main body of the army at Harlem heights. The division in or near the city, under the command of General Putnam, retreated with great difh- culty, leaving behind them their heavy artillery, and a large portion of the baggage, provisions, and military stores, including the tents, which had not been removed. The loss of the tents was severely felt by the army, at the approach of winter. Fifteen of the Americans were killed, and three hundred taken prisoners. The British army entered the city with- out much loss and took formal possession of it, to the great joy of the tories ; but they had hardly become quiet before a fire broke out, which raged until it had destroyed about a third of the city. General Howe having organized a temporary government, and left some troops in the city, marched with the main body of his army up York island and encamped near the American lines in front of Harlem heights. The British lines extended across the island, while their shipping defended their flanks. Washington had made his strongest post at King's bridge, as that preserved his communication with the country. On the day after the retreat from New York, a skirmish took place between advanced par- ties of both armies, in which the Americans gained a decided advantage, though with the loss of two gallant officers, Colonel Knowlton of Connec- ticut, and Major Leitch of Virginia. This was the first advantage the army under the command of Washington, had gained in the campaign. Its influence on the army was great, and the general gave public thanks to the troops engaged therein. On the twenty- second of October, Washington fell back to White Plains in Westchester county, and on the twenty-eighth, a partial action was fou'ght there, which resulted in the repulse of the Americans, with some loss. Washington retired to Northcastle, five miles farther north, and Howe discontinued further pursuit, directing his attention to the American posts on the Hudson river. Forts Washington and Lee, were taken by " Ramsay. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 33 the British army in November, the garrison in the former, consisting of nearly three thousand men, surrendering as prisoners-of-war, and the Brit- ish losing about a thousand men in the assault. The garrison in Fort Lee made a hasty retreat and joined the main army, leaving behind them their cannon, tents, and stores, which fell into the hands of the victors. It having become evident to General Washington, that General Howe had changed his plan of operations, and designed an invasion of New Jer- sey, he crossed the North river with the American army, and, retreating before Lord Cornwallis, who had entered New Jersey with six thousand men, he took post along the Hackensack river. His situation there was nearly similar to that which he had abandoned ; for he was liable to be enclosed between the Hackensack and Passaic rivers. He therefore, on the approach of the enemy, passed over to Newark, on the west side of the latter river, where he stood his ground some days ; but being incapa- ble of any effectual opposition, he retreated to New Brunswick, on the day Lord Cornwallis entered Newark. At New Brunswick, Washington kept his troops in motion, and even advanced a detachment, as if intending to engage the enemy. Nor did he quit this position till their advanced guards were in sight. He then retreated toward Trenton, pursuing a route near the Raritan river, that he might be in the way to prevent Gen- eral Howe from throwing in a strong detachment between him and Phila- delphia. Although this retreat was effected without loss from the enemy, the small force which began it was daily lessening, by the expiration of the term of service for which they were engaged. This terminated in November with many, and in December, with nearly two thirds of the residue. No persuasions were availing to induce their continuance. They abandoned their general, when the advancing enemy was nearly in sight. General Lee who commanded the eastern troops at White Plains, was or- dered by Washington to cross the North river, and join the retreating army in New Jersey. Lee was so tardy in obeying the order, that he was three weeks reaching Morristown. While on his march he lodged one night at a house about three miles from camp, where he was taken prisoner by a company of British light-horse. The command of his di- vision devolved on General Sullivan, who marched it to the main army. Four regiments under General Gates, soon after arrived from Ticonderoga. These forces wiih others, joined Washington, after he had crossed the Delaware with his army of about three thousand men, which he accom- plished on the seventh of December. The enemy did not attempt to cross the river, General Howe contenting himself with having overrun New Jersey. It was however expected, that, as soon as the ice should become sufficiently strong, the enemy would cross the Delaware, and bring all their force to bear upon Philadelphia. Anticipating this event, Congress adjourned to Baltimore ; and General Putnam who took the command of 3 34 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. the militia in Philadelphia, was instructed to prepare for an obstinate de- fence of that city. In this very dangerous crisis, and which may be considered the most gloomy period of the war, Washington made every exertion to procure reinforcements. These exertions were in a great measure unavailing, ex- cept in and near Philadelphia. Fifteen hundred of the citizens of that metropolis marched to the aid of Washington. The American army now amounted to about seven thousand men, after the arrival of the forces un- der Sullivan and Gates. The two armies were separated from each other by the river Delaware. The British in the security of conquest, cantoned their troops in Burlington, Bordentown, Trenton, and other towns of New Jersey. On receiving information of their numbers and different canton- ments, Washington observed — " Now is the time to clip their wings, when they are so spread." Yielding to his native spirit of enterprise, which had hitherto been repressed, he formed the bold design of recrossing the Delaware, and attacking the British posts on its eastern banks.* In a letter to Joseph Reed, dated Bristol, Pennsylvania, December 23, 1776, Washington thus discloses his designs : — " Christmas-day, at night, one hour before day, is the time fixed upon for our attempt on Trenton ; our numbers, sorry am I to say, being less than I had any conception of j but necessity, dire necessity, will, nay must, justify an attack." The desperate situation of the American cause at this time is thus al- luded to by him, in a letter to his brother, John Augustine Washington, dated, December 18, 1776: — " We were obliged to cross the Delaware with less than three thousand men fit for duty ; the enemy's numbers, from the best accounts, exceeding ten or twelve thousand men. " Since I came on this side, I have been joined by about two thousarrd of the city militia, and I understand that some of the country militia are on their way ; but we are in a very disaffected part of the province, and, between you and me, I think our affairs are in a very bad condition. " You can form no idea of the perplexity of my situation. No man, I believe, ever had a greater choice of difficulties, and less means to extri- cate himself from them. However, under a full conviction of the justice of our cause, 1 can not entertain an idea that it will finally sink, though it may remain for a time under a cloud." In the evening of Christmas-day, General Washington made arrange- ments for passing over the Delaware, in three divisions. At Trenton were three regiments of Hessians, amounting to about fifteen hundred men, and a troop of British light-horse. Small detachments of the British army were stationed at Bordentown, Burlington, Black Horse, and Mount Hol- ly. General Cadwallader was to cross at Bristol, and attack the latter * Ramsay. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 35 posts ; General Ewing was to cross a little below Trenton, to intercept the retreat of the enemy in that direction, while the commander-in-chief, with twenty-four hundred continental troops, should cross nine miles above Trenton, to make the principal attack. But Generals Cadwallader and Ewing were unable to pass, from the quantity of floating ice which ob- structed the boats. The division commanded by Washington, accompa- nied by Generals Greene, Sullivan, Stirling, Mercer, and St. Clair, alone succeeded. These troops began to cross early in the evening, but were so retarded by ice, that it was nearly four o'clock in the morning of the twenty- sixth, before the whole body with the artillery, was landed on the New- Jersey bank of the river. They were formed in two divisions, and marched by different roads to Trenton, where they arrived within three minutes of each other, about eight o'clock in the morning. They met with but slight opposition, except from two or three pieces of artillery which were soon taken. The surprised Hessians attempted a retreat to Princeton, but were intercepted, and, finding themselves surrounded, soon laid down their arms and surrendered as prisoners-of-war. Between thirty and forty Hessians, among whom was Colonel Rahl, their commander, were killed. The American loss was two privates killed, and two others frozen to death. Captain William Washington, distinguished at a later period of the war as an officer of cavalry, and Lieutenant James Monroe, afterward president of the United States, were wounded in taking the ene- my's artillery. The number of prisoners was nearly one thousand, and the trophies of victory were six brass field-pieces, a thousand stand of arms, and considerable ammunition. The British light-horse, and about five hundred Hessians, escaped at the beginning of the action and fled to Bordentown, where they joined the British and Hessian troops in that vi- cinity and all retreated to Princeton ; thus the whole line of the enemy's encampments on the Delaware was broken up. It was thought most prudent by Washington to recross the Delaware, with all his prisoners and military stores, on the same day, which he accomplished the same evening, apd gained his encampment on the Pennsylvania side. This brilliant exploit of Washington, and unexpected success of the continental troops under his command, electrified the American people, particularly those of the middle states, who were either desponding or dis- affected at the aspect of affairs, before the tables were turned by this for- tunate event. The British generals, Howe and Cornwallis, were aston- ished and bewildered at this display of vigor on the part of the American general. Previous to this affair at Trenton, New Jersey appeared to be subdued, Pennsylvania was supposed to be anxious for British pardon, and instead of offensive operations, the total dispersion of the small remnant of the American army was confidently anticipated. Finding that he was contending with an adversary who could never cease to be formidable, and that the conquest of America was more distant than had been sup- 36 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. posed, Gen. Howe determined, in the depth of winter, to commence active operations. Lord Cornwallis, who had retired to New York, with the intention of embarking for England, returned to New Jersey in great force, for the purpose of recovering the ground which had been lost. The British army was assembled at Princeton, with the design of making an attack up- on the Americans under Washington, who had again crossed the Delaware, and taken post at Trenton, determined to act on the offensive, after being joined by considerable reinforcements of regulars and militia. Lord Cornwallis advanced on the morning of the second of January, 1777, and his van reached Trenton the same afternoon. On its approach. General Washington retired across the creek which runs through the town. The British finding the fords of the creek well guarded, desisted from attempts to cross, and kindled their fires. The Americans kindled their fires likewise, and a cannonade was kept up till dark. The situation of General Washington was once more extremely criti- cal. The passage of the Delaware was rendered difficult by the ice, and if he remained at Trenton, an attack on the following morning, by an oA^er- whelming force seemed certain, which must render the destruction of his army inevitable. In this embarrassing state of things, he formed the bold design of abandoning the Delaware, and marching by a circuitous route along the left flank of the British army, into its rear at Princeton ; and, after beating the troops at that place, to move rapidly on Bnmswick, where the baggage, and principal magazines of the British army lay, un- der a weak guard.* This plan being approved by a council of war, Washington silently withdrew his army from Trenton, favored by the darkness of the night, while the enemy were at rest ; leaving a few of his men at work with pickaxes, and the camp-fires kindled, for the purpose of deceiving the British into the belief that the Americans were throwing up intrenchments. Before dawn these men left their work and hastened to join the American army who were then on a rapid march toward Princeton, where three British regiments had encamped the preceding night. Two of these regi- ments commencing their march toward Trenton, early in the morning to join the rear of their army, met the Americans, a mile and a half from Trenton. The morning being foggy, the enemy at first mistook the Amer- icans for Hessians, but the mistake was soon discovered, and a smart skirmish ensued. The British commander sent to Princeton for the other regiment, which was soon on the spot, and after a battle of more than an hour, the American militia gave way in disorder. General Mercer, at- tempting to rally them, was mortally wounded. Washington pushed for- ward at the head of his division and rallied the flying troops, who encour- aged by his example made a stand, and compelled the British to retreat in various directions. In the course of the engagement, one hundred of the * Marshall. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 37 enemy were killed and wounded, and about three hundred taken prisoners. The rest made their escape ; some by pushing on to Trenton, others by returning to Brunswick. The American loss was about one hundred. At break of day, Lord Cornwallis perceived, to his great astonishment, that the Americans had deserted their camp at Trenton, and at once pene- trating the designs of Washington upon New Brunswick, marched hastily toward that place to protect his stores there, and was close in the rear of the Americans, before they could leave Princeton. General Washington, finding bis army exhausted with fatigue and closely pursued by a superior force, abandoned the remaining part of his original plan, and took the road leading up the country to the north. Lord Cornwallis continued his march to Brunswick, and Washington retired to Morristown, where he established his headquarters. Having given his army some repose, he entered the field' again in an offensive attitude, and in a short time over- ran the whole country as far as the Raritan to the south. He also took possession of Newark, Elizabethtown, and Woodbridge. The British army, meanwhile, was restricting its operations to a small part of New Jersey. The victories at Trenton and Princeton produced the most extensive effects, and had a decided influence on subsequent events. Philadelphia was saved for that winter. New Jersey was mostly recovered from the enemy, and the drooping spirits of the Americans were revived. Their gloomy apprehensions yielded to a confidence in their general and their army, and in the ultimate success of their struggles for liberty and inde- pendence. Gen. Washington had been invested by Congress a few days before the successful affair at Trenton, with additional and extraordinary powers as commander-in-chief, which additional powers were conferred on him for a period of six months, and the wisdom of the measure was soon seen and felt by the favorable turn of American affairs. After the recent suc- cesses he hoped that his country would have placed at his disposal a large and efficient army, to enable him to undertake decisive operations before reinforcements to the British army should arrive in the ensuing spring. Congress, at his instance passed the requisite resolutions ; but these could not be carried into effect, without the aid of the state legislatures. The recruiting service was therefore retarded by the delays consequent upon the action of thirteen legislative bodies, and Washington with infinite re- luctance, was obliged to give up his favorite project of an early active campaign. The remainder of the winter season passed over in a light war of skirmishes. They were generally in favor of the Americans ; but Washington's views were much more extensive ; he cherished hopes of being enabled to strike a decisive blow against the British forces during the winter, but being disappointed, he went into winter-quarters with the main arjiiy, at Morristown. Cantonments were likewise established at various 38 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF AVASHIXGTON. points from Princeton on the right, where General Putnam commanded, to the Highlands on the left, which post continued under the charge of General Heath. The first care of General Washington, after putting the troops in winter-quarters, was drawn to the completion of the army for the next campaign ; and he wrote circular letters to the governors of the middle and eastern states, urging them to adopt prompt and effectual meth- ods for raising recruits, and filling up their regiments. To stimulate the activity of the slates, by reiterated representations to their governors and legislatures, by argument, persuasion, and appeals to every motive of pride, honor, and patriotism, was the task which he was obliged to repeat every winter ; and this was a source of increasing anxiety, from the time the troops went into winter-quarters, till they again took the field to combat the enemy. Congress, embarrassed by the indefinite nature of their powers deliberated with caution, and were seldom ready to act in military affairs, till incited by the counsels or earnest entreaties of the commander-in- chief.* As the recruits for the American army were collected, the camp at Morristown was broken up, and the army assembled on the twenty-eighth of May, 1777, at Middlebrook, in New Jersey, ten miles from Brunswick. The exertions made during the winter by the commander-in-chief, to raise a powerful army for the ensuing campaign, had not been successful. Ou the twentieth of May, the total of the army in New Jersey, excluding cavalry and artillery, amounted only to eight thousand, three hundred and seventy-eight men, of whom upward of two thousand were sick, and more than half were raw recruits. Anticipating a movement of the British ar- my toward Philadelphia, Washington had given orders for assembling an army of militia, with a few continental troops, on the western bank of the Delaware, to be commanded by General Arnold. The primary objects to which Washington directed his attention in this campaign, were to en- deavor to prevent the British from obtaining possession of Philadelphia, or the Highlands on the Hudson river, and he made such an arrangement of his troops as would enable him to oppose either. The northern troops were divided between Ticonderoga, and Peekskill, .while those from New Jersey, and other middle states, were encamped at Middlebrook. On the twelfth of June, General Howe assembled the main body of his army at Brunswick, in New Jersey, and gave strong indications of an in- tention to reach Philadelphia by land. The American army under Wash- ington, was now swelled to about fourteen thousand. Howe feigned a design to cross the Delaware by making toward that river, but failing to draw Washington into a general engagement, by his various manosuvres, he withdrew his forces to Araboy, and passed over to Slaten island, leav- ing the Americans in quiet possession of New Jersey. Having aban- doned the idea of forming a junction with General Burgoyne, who, having • Sparks. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 39 arrived from England with a powerful army, was invading the northern, states by way of Canada, General Howe turned his attention toward Phil- adelphia. He resolved to proceed to that city by way of the Chesapeake bay, and accordingly embarked at Staten island, with about eighteen thou- sand troops, on board of the British fleet under Lord Howe. He left Gen- eral Sir Henry Clinton, with a large force to defend New York, and in the latter part of July appeared off the capes of Delaware ; but the fleet suddenly again put to sea, and its destination was for some time a matter of micertainty to the Americans. In the meanwhile, Washington marched the main body of his army to Germantown, to await certain information respecting the movements of General Howe. During his suspense, he took an opportunity of conferring with committees of Congress, at Phila- delphia, and it was at this time that he had his first interview with the Mar- quis de Lafayette, on his arrival from France, to off'er his services to the Americans. Congress appointed the marquis a major-general in the ar- my, and he was invited by General Washington to become a member of his military family, which position he maintained during the war. The British fleet having sailed up the Chesapeake, reached Elk river on the twenty-fifth of August, where the troops, under Gen. Howe were landed, and commenced their march toward Philadelphia. The day be- fore the landing of the British, the American army marched through Phil- adelphia, toward Wilmington, in Delaware. Advance parties from each army soon met, and several skirmishes took place. As the British army approached, Washington took post on the river Brandywine, and awaited the attack of the enemy. A general action took place early on the eleventh of September, which continued all day, and terminated in favor of the British, who remained in possession of the field of battle, while the Americans retreated to Chester, and the following day to Philadelphia. The British force in this engagement, was stated at about eighteen thou- sand ; that of the Americans a little over eleven thousand. The American loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners, was over a thousand ; that of the British was less than six hundred. Washington made every exertion to repair the loss which had been sus- tained. The battle of Brandywine was represented as not being decis- ive. Congress and the people wished to hazard a second engagement, for the security of Philadelphia ; General Howe sought for it, and Washington did not decline it. He therefore advanced on the Lancaster road, with an intention of meeting the British army. Both armies were on the point of engaging, but were prevented by a violent storm. When the rain ceased, the Americans finding that their ammunition was ruined, withdrew to a place of safety. The British instead of urging an action, afterward began to march toward Reading. To save the stores at that place, Wash- ington took a new position, and left the British in undisturbed possession 40 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. of the roads which led to Philadelphia. His troops were worn down with a succession of severe duties. There were in his army above a thousand men who were barefooted, and who had performed all their late movements in that condition. Though Washington had failed in his object of saving Philadelphia, yet he retained the confidence of Congress and the states. With an ar- my inferior in numbers, discipline, and equipments, he had delayed the British army thirty days in advancing sixty miles through an open country, without fortifications. The British army entered Philadelphia, on the twenty-sixth of Septem- ber, and pushed forward to Germantown. Congress had previously ad- journed to Lancaster. While the British camp at Germantown was weak- ened by detachments sent against the American forts on the Delaware, Gen. Washington, having received considerable reinforcements to his ar- my, resolved to attack the enemy in their encampment. Accordingly, in the evening of the third of October, the Americans advanced in four divis- ions, and after a march of fourteen miles to Germantown, at daybreak the next morning took the British by surprise. A battle commenced, and for a time victory seemed to incline to the Americans ; but finally, after a severe action, they were repulsed with great slaughter, losing about eleven hun- dred men, in killed, wounded, and prisoners. The British loss was not more than half that number. General Howe shortly after evacuated Ger- mantown, and concentrated his forces at Philadelphia, where the British army under his command took up their winter-quarters. Howe at first directed his attention to the opening of the navigation of the Delaware river, which had been obstructed by many ingenious contrivances placed there by the Americans. This task employed the British for more than six weeks ; and after a great display of gallantry on both sides, it was finally accomplished. When the Delaware was cleared, and there was a free inland commu- nication for the British between Philadelphia and New York, Gen. Howe determined to close the campaign by an attack upon Washington, then stationed at Whitemarsh, about eleven miles from Philadelphia. On the night of the fourth of December, Howe marched out of the city and took post upon Chestnut Hill, in front of the American army, which had been rei.iiorced by detachments from the northern army. Finding Washing- ton's position too strong to risk a general attack, after a few days' skirmish- ing, Howe fell back upon Philadelphia. While the British arms were successful on the banks of the Delaware, intelligence arrived that General Burgoyne and the British army of the norfh, had surrendered prisoners-of-war, to the American northern army under General Gates. This event took place at Saratoga, in the state of New i o.. on the seventeenth of October. On the receipt of this im- portant information, General Washington took measures to obtain large BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 41 reinforcements to the forces under his immediate command, from tlte vic- torious troops of the north. He therefore deputed one of his aids, Colo- nel Alexander Hamilton, to wait on General Gates, and communicate his wishes to that officer. In his letter of instructions to Hamilton, General Washington writes as follows, under date of October 30, 1777 : — " It has been judged expedient by the members of a council of war held yesterday, that one of the gentlemen of my family should be sent to General Gates, in order to lay before him the state of this army, and the situation of the enemy, and to point out to him the many happy conse- quences that will accrue from an immediate reinforcement being sent from the northern army. 1 have thought proper to appoint you to that duty, and desire that you will immediately set out for Albany. *' What you are chiefly to attend to is, to point out to General Gates the absolute necessity that there is for his detaching a very considerable part of the army, at present under his command, to the reinforcement of this ; a measure that will, in all probability, reduce General Howe to the same situation in which General Burgoyne now is, should he attempt to remain in Philadelphia. " I have understood that General Gates has already detached Nixon's and Glover's brigades to join General Putnam.* If this be a fact, you are to desire General Putnam, to send the two brigades forward with the greatest expedition, as there can be no occasion for them there." To the president of Congress, Washington also wrote on the first of November as follows : " I can not conceive that there is any object, now remaining, that demands our attention and most vigorous efforts so much as the destruction of the [British] army in this quarter. Should we be able to effect this, we shall have little to fear in future." And on the seven- teenth of November, he wrote to the same functionary thus : " I am anx- iously waiting the arrival of the troops from the northward, who ought to have been here before this. The want of these troops has embarrassed all my measures exceedingly." Instead of promptly seconding the desires of Washington, when com municated to them by Hamilton, Generals Gates and Putnam were un- willing to part with a sufficient number of the troops under their respec- tive commands to effect the object designed. The former general was then contemplating an expedition to Ticonderoga, and the latter an attack on the British forces in New York. After considerable delay, those gen- erals, at the urgent request of Colonel Hamilton, finally sent on about five thousand men to the aid of General Washington ; but in the meantime, Sir Henry Clinton, who commanded the British forces stationed at the city of New York, detached about six thousand men to the aid of General Howe in Philadelphia. Thus, will it be seen, that the well-formed plans of General Washing- * General Putnam then commanded the troops on the Hudson river, below the Highlands. 42 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. ton, to follow up the capture of the British army under Burgoyne, by that of the forces under Howe, were frustrated by the want of cordial co- operation on the part of Gates and Putnam. Had Washington succeeded by their prompt aid in effecting his purposes at Philadelphia, he would doubtless have moved upon New York, and by an attack upon that city, with the whole American forces, have either compelled the surrender of the forces under Sir Henry Clinton, or the evacuation by them of that point; and thus the campaign of 1777 would have been closed by a suc- cession of American victories and British reverses, from which the latter could not have recovered. Is it too much to say, that in that event. Great Britain would have sought for peace in 1778, as she did afterward in 1782, and that the American alliance with France, would have thus been ren- dered unnecessary ? This view is confirmed by the correspondence of Washington, who evidently was of opinion that a protracted war for years was unnecessary. In a letter to John Parke Custis, dated, February 28, 1781, more than three years after the fall of Philadelphia, he says, " We have brought a cause, Avhich might have been happily terminated years ago by the adoption of proper measures, to the very verge of ruin," &c. The following extract of a letter from Washington to Patrick Henry, dated November 13, 1777, soon after the British had entered Philadelphia, throws farther light upon the state of affairs at this period ; and shows particularly that Washington's army had been weakened by reinforcements sent to the aid of General Gates. " I was left to fight two battles, in order if possible to save Philadel- phia, with less numbers than composed the army of my antagonist, while the world has given us double. " How different is the case in the northern department. There the states of New York and New England, resolving to crush Burgoyne, continued pouring in their troops till the surrender of that army. Had the same spirit pervaded the people of this and the neighboring states, we might before this time have had General Howe nearly in the situation of General Burgoyne. " My own difficulties in the course of the campaign have been not a little increased by the extra aid of continental troops which the gloomy prospect of our affairs, immediately after the reduction of Ticonderoga,* induced me to spare from this army." The campaign of 1777 having closed, Washington communicated in general orders his intention of retiring with his army into winter-quar- ters. He expressed to his officers and soldiers his high approbation of their past conduct ; gave an encouraging statement of the prospects of the country, and exhorted the men to bear the hardships inseparable from their condition. Valley Forge, about twenty miles northwest from Philadelphia, was selected by Washington for the winter-quarters of the * Ticonderoga was taken by Burgoyne, on the 5th of July, 1777. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 43 army. This position was preferred to distant and more comfortable villa- ges, as being calculated to give security to the country from the enemy. In the latter end of December, the troops were compelled to build huts for their own accommodation, and during the winter, which was unusual- ly severe, their sufferings were great, from want of both clothing and food, Washington was compelled to make seizures from the inhabitants, as he was authorized by Congress to do, for the sustenance of his army. The commander-in-chief and his principal officers sent for their wives, from the different states to which they belonged, to pass the winter with their husbands at headquarters. To the other vexations and troubles which crowded on General Wash- ington at this time, was added one of a peculiar nature. This was the formation of a cabal among members of Congress, and a few officers in the northern division of the army, the object of which was to supersede him in the command of the army, or to induce his resignation. This in- trigue is known in American history under the name of Conway's cabal. Generals Gates, Mifflin, and Conway, are the only officers of note who were known to have been engaged in it. The former of these generals was proposed to supersede Washington. About the same time a board of war was created by Congress, of which General Gates was appoint- ed president. These machinations did not abate the ardor of Washington in the com- mon cause. His patriotism was too solid to be shaken, either by envy or ingratitude. Nor was the smallest effect produced in diminishing his well- earned reputation. Zeal the most active, and services the most beneficial, and at the same time disinterested, had riveted him in the aflfections of his country and the army. Even the victorious troops under Gen. Gates, though comparisons highly flattering to their vanity, had been made between them and the army in Pennsylvania, clung to Washington as their political sav- ior. The resentment of the people was generally excited against those who were supposed to be engaged in, or friendly to, the scheme of ap- pointing a new commander-in-chief over the American army.* The suff'erings of the army while encamped at Valley Forge, are mem- morable in the history of the war. They were not only greatly in want of the necessary supplies of food, but of blankets and clothing. " Naked and starving as they are," says Washington in one of his letters, " we can not enough admire the incomparable patience and fidelity of the sol- diery, that they have not been ere this excited by their sufferings, to a general mutiny and desertion." Although the officers were better provi- ded than the soldiers, yet none were exempt from privations and hardships. When the encampment was begun at Valley Forge, the whole number of men in the field was 11,098, of whom 2,898, were unfit for duty, " being barefoot and otherwise naked." Much of the suffering of the army was * Ramsay. 44 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. attributed to mismanagement in the quartermaster's department ; while reforms on this subject were proposed in Congress, the distresses of the troops approached their acme. General Washington found it necessary to interpose his personal exertions to procure provisions from a distance. In a few days the army was rescued from the famine with which it had been threatened. It was perceived that the difficulties which had oc- curred, were occasioned more by the want of due exertion in the commis- sary department, and by the efforts of the people to save their stock for a better market, than by a real deficiency of food in the country. The impression made on the British nation by the capitulation of Bur- goyne, at length made its way into the cabinet, and Lord North brought into parliament two bills, which were adopted, having conciliation for their object. The first surrendered the principle of taxation, and the second empowered the crown to appoint commissioners to treat for peace with the United States. This movement was prompted by the apprehension that France would acknowledge the independence of America, and join in the war against England. The terms held out by these bills were such as would have been ac- cepted by the Americans in the early stages of the controversy, but they now came too late. It was no part of the plan of the British ministers to treat with the American states as an independent power. They were to go back to their old condition as colonies, favored with certain privi- leges ; but having declared their independence, and shed their blood, and expended their means to sustain it, these new offers of the British govern- ment were not likely to gain the confidence or change the sentiments of those who had taken the lead in the cause of American liberty. Wash- ington, in a letter to a member of Congress, after he had learned the pur- port of the conciliatory bills, expresses himself thus : " Nothing short of independence, it appears to me, can possibly do. A peace on other terms would, if I may be allowed the expression, be a peace of war. The in- juries we have received from the British nation were so unprovoked, and have been so great and so many, that they can never be forgotten. Our fidelity as a people, our gratitude, our character as men, are opposed to a coalition with them as subjects, but in case of the last extremity." The subject appeared in the same light to Congress, and they unanimously re- solved, that no advances on the part of the British government would be met, unless, as a preliminary step, they either withdrew their armies and fleets, or acknowledged, unequivocally, the independence of the United States. On the second of May, 1778, ten days after Congress had passed their resolves respecting Lord North's bill of conciliation, a messenger arrived in the United States, bearing treaties of amity, commerce, and aUiance, between France and America, signed at Paris, on the sixth of February, 1778, by which the independence of the United States was formally ac- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 45 knowledged by the former power. This intelligence was received with joy by the Americans, and the army participated in the rejoicings of the people on the occasion, and a day was set apart by the commander-in- chief for a public celebration in camp. The British kept possession of Philadelphia through the winter and the spring following ; and although Washington's camp was within twenty miles of the city, yet no enterprise was undertaken to molest him in his quarters. Foraging parties were sent out, and committed depredations on the inhabitants ; but they were watched by the Americans, Avho some- times met them in fierce and bloody rencontres. The British army in New York and Philadelphia, amounted to nearly thirty thousand, of which number 19,500 were in Philadelphia, and 10,400 in New York. There were besides 3,700 at Rhode Island. The American army on the eighth of May, 1778, did not exceed 15,000 men, including the detachments on the North river, and at other places. The number at Valley Forge was 11,800. The new establishment agreed upon by a committee of Con- gress at Valley Forge, was to consist of forty thousand continental troops, besides artillery and horse ; but it was not supposed by a council of war, held on the eighth of May, that it could soon be raised higher than twenty thousand effective men, while the British army in the middle and eastern states, amounted, as above stated, to upward of thirty-three thousand.* Sir William Howe, having at his own request been recalled, resigned the command of the British army to Sir Henry Clinton, and embarked for England. About the same time, orders were received for the evacuation of Philadelphia, The great naval force of France rendered that city a dangerous position, and determined the British cabinet to withdraw their army from the Delaware. On the morning of the eighteenth of June, Philadelphia was evacuated by the British army, which crossed the Delaware, and landed on Glouces- ter point. Their line extended nearly twelve miles, and as they were encum- bered with numerous wagons, and compelled to stop and build bridges over the streams in their route, their progress was slow. It was the first purpose of Sir Henry Clinton to proceed to the Raritan, and embark his troops at Brunswick, or South Amboy, for New York, but finding Wash- ington with his army in motion in that direction, he turned to the right and took the road leading to Monmouth and Sandy Hook. A council of war, called by Washington, to discuss the best mode of attacking the enemy on their march, was divided in opinion. Gen. Lee and others advising to avoid a general battle, but to harass the enemy up- on flank and rear. Washington determined to act according to his own judgment, and sent forward a detachment to commence an attack, while he with the rest of the army followed to support the advance corps. Sir Henry Clinton, with the British army encamped near Monmouth court- * Sparks. 46 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. house, whence they commenced their march on the twenty-eighth of June, and were attacked by the Americans. The battle became general, and lasted till night, when both armies remained on the field. The British troops withdrew during the night, and soon after proceeded to Sandy Hook, where they embarked on board a fleet for New York. The battle of Monmouth, although favorable to the Americans, was not a decided victory ; yet Congress viewed it somewhat in that light, and passed a vote of thanks to the commander-in-chief and the army. The American loss was sixty-nine killed, while the British loss was much greater, being nearly three hundred. On their march through New Jer- sey, the British army lost by battle, captured as prisoners, and desertion, more than twelve hundred men. The conduct of General Lee, at the battle of Monmouth, in ordering a hasty retreat of his detachment and otherwise, was severely censured by Washington ; he was consequently tried by a court-martial, found guilty of the charges against him, and sus- pended from his command for one year. He left the service, and died four years afterward, in Philadelphia. After the action at Monmouth, General Washington marched with his army to the Hudson river, which he crossed, and encamped at White Plains, about twenty-five miles north of the city of New York. Before crossing the river, he heard of the arrival on the coast of a French fleet, under Count d'Estaing, consisting of twelve ships-of-the-line and four frigates. No time was lost by the American general in sending a letter of congratulation to the French admiral, and proposing to co-operate with him, in plans for attacking the enemy. It was at first proposed to attack New York, by land and water ; but the scheme was abandoned, and the French squadron sailed for Rhode Island, to attack the British forces there, chiefly in garrison at Newport. Various causes conspired to the failure of this expedition, by defeating the combined action of the land and naval forces. After leaving Newport, the French fleet was crippled by a storm and engagement at sea, and put into the harbor of Boston to refit, where they remained until November. The American army was employed in various operations in the northern and eastern states, during the campaign of 1778, to guard against an ap- prehended attack by the British on Boston, or some other point at the eastward ; but it was finally ascertained that the enemy had no design in that direction. Washington established his headquarters at Fredericks- burg, thirty miles from West Point, on the borders of Connecticut, and at. the close of the campaign put his army in winter-quarters at West Point and at several other places, his headquarters being at Middlebrook, in New Jersey. Notwithstanding the flattering prospects which the alliance with France held out for the American cause. General Washington at this time had many causes of anxiety which oppressed him, and filled his mind with BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 47 the most gloomy feelings. Among the most prominent subjects of anxiety and apprehension, he viewed that of the apathy and dissensions among members of Congress with alarm. The men of talent who had taken the lead in Congress, in the early period of the war, had gradually withdrawn from that body, until it had become small in numbers and comparatively feeble in counsels and resources. At no time were private jealousies and party feuds more rife or mischievous in their effects. To those in whom he had confidence, Washington laid open his fears, and endeavored to awaken a sense of the public danger. To Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, he thus writes, on the 30th of December, 1778 : " I confess to you that I fee] more real distress on account of the present appearances of things, than I have done at any one time since the com- mencement of the dispute. But Providence has heretofore taken us up, when all other means and hope seemed to be departing from us. In this I will confide." A project for conquering Canada was at this time entertained in Con- gress ; but Washington, being requested to communicate his sentiments on the subject, replied in a long letter to Congress, showing that the plan was impracticable, requiring resources in troops and money which were not to be had ; also, that there were political reasons why it would be against the future interests of the United States for Canada to be re- stored to France, as would probably be the case if conquered by the allied forces of France and America. He afterward, in December, 1777, vis- ited Philadelphia ; and on a more full discussion of the subject with a committee of Congress, the Canada scheme was given up. The French government was also decidedly opposed to it, and it was the policy of that court that Canada and Nova Scotia should remain in the power of Great Britain.* The winter and spring of 1779 passed away without the occurrence of any remarkable event. The British remained within their lines at New York, apparently making no preparation for any enterprise of mag- nitude. General Washington, in the meantime, turned his attention to the fitting out of an expedition against the hostile Indians in the state of New York. General Sullivan was despatched with a large force to the Sus- quehannah river, and was completely successful in subduing the Indians. Washington removed his headquarters to New Windsor, a few miles above West Point, distributing his army chiefly in and near the highlands of the Hudson river, but stationing a force below, to check any sudden incursion of the enemy. Washington at this time resolved upon an attack on the strong British post at Stony Point, on the Hudson river, and in- trusted the enterprise to General Wayne. That officer stormed the works on the night of the loth of July, with a body of picked men, and the as- sault was successful in all its parts. The number of prisoners captured 48 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. by the Americans was 543, and the number killed on the side of the British was 63 ; while the American loss was 15 killed, and 83 wounded. The campaign of 1779 having terminated, the American army went into winter-quarters ; the main body in the neighborhood of Morristown, in New Jersey, and various detachments on the Hudson river and in Con- necticut. The headquarters of Washington were at Morristown. A de- scent upon Stat'- .1 island by a party of Americans under Lord Stirling, a retaliatory iucur ;on of the enemy into New Jersey, and a skirmish near White Plairfs, vere the only military events during the winter. In April, 1780, the marquis de Lafayette arrived at Boston from France, with the cherring intelligence that the French government had fitted out an armament of naval and land forces, which might soon be expected in the United States. On the 10th of July, the French fleet arrived at New- port, in Rhode Island. The armament consisted of seven or eight ships- of-the-line, two frigates, two bombs, and upward of five thousand men. The fleet was commanded by De Ternay, and the army by Count de Rochambeau. The general and troops were directed by the French gov- ernment to be in all cases under the command of General Washington. Having a decided naval superiority, the British fleet, under Admiral Arbuthnot, blockaded the French squadron in the harbor of Newport, and Rochambeau's army was obliged to remain there for its protection. This state of th'.igs continued through the season, and no military enterprise was undertaken. Both parties stood on the defensive, watching each other's motions, and depending on the operations of the British and French fleets. General Washington encamped on the west side of the Hudson, below Orangetown, or Tappan, on the borders of New Jersey, which station he held till winter. A conference was held between the commanders of the two allied armies, being suggested by Rochambeau, and readily assented to by Washington. They met at Hartford, in Connecticut, on the 21st of Sep- tember. During the absence of General Washington, the army was left under the command of General Greene. No definite plan of operations could be agreed upon between the American and French commanders, as a naval superiority was essential to any effectual enterprise by land, and the French fleet was inferior to that of the British naval force on the American station. At this time. General Arnold held the command at West Point, and other fortified posts on the Hudson river, in the highlands. On Washington's return to West Point from the conference with the French commander at Hartford, he was filled with astonishment at the discovery of a plot which had been formed between General Arnold and Sir Henry Clinton, to de- liver up the American post to the enemy — the agent employed by the British general being Major John Andre, adjutant-general in the British army. On the detection of his treachery, Arnold fled to a British sloop- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 49 of-war in the Hudson river, immediately after the arrival of Washington at West Point, on the 25th of September. Major Andre had been taken by the Americans, and was soon after removed to the headquarters of the army at Tappan. On discovering the treason of Arnold, Washington took immediate measures to secure the posts. Orders were despatched to all the princi- pal officers, and every precaution was taken. It was soon ascertained by Washington that no other officer in the American army was implicated in the conspiracy of Arnold ; and he forthwith ordered a court of inquiry, consisting of a board of general officers, for the trial of Major Andre. Various papers were laid before the board, which met on the twenty-ninth of September, and Andre himself "was questioned and desired to make such statements and explanations as he chose. After a full investigation, the board reported the essential facts which had appeared, with their opinion that he was a spy and ought to suffer death. General Washing- ton approved this decision, and Major Andre was executed at Tappan, on the second of October. He met his fate with composure and dignity. While Andre's case was pending, Sir Henry Clinton used every effort in his power to rescue him from his fate. He wrote to General Wash- ington, and endeavored to show that he could not be regarded as a spy, inasmuch as he came on shore at the request of an American general, and afterward acted by his direction. Connected with all the circumstances, this argument could have no weight. There was no stronger trait in the character of Washington than humanity ; the misfortunes and sufferings of others touched him keenly ; and his feelings were deeply moved at the part he was compelled to act, in consenting to the death of Andre ; yet, justice to the office he held, and to the cause for which his countrymen were shedding their blood, left him no alternative.* While these operations were going on at the north, all the intelligence from the southern states showed that the American cause was in a gloomy condition in that quarter. The British forces under Lord Cornwallis were overrunning the Carolinas, and preparations were making in New York to detach a squadron with troops to fall upon Virginia. The city of Charles- ton had been taken by the British in May, 1780, and the American army of six thousand, under General Lincoln, stationed there, surrendered pris- oners-of-war. The defeat of General Gates near Camden, in South Car- olina, in August, was a heavy blow to the Americans. Congress re- quested General Washington to appoint an officer to succeed Gates in the command of the southern army. With his usual discrimination and judg- ment, he selected General Greene, who repaired to the theatre of action, in Avhich he was so eminently distinguished during the subsequent years of the war. Congress at length adopted the important measures, in regard to the 4 * Sparks. 50 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. army which Washington had earnestly and repeatedly advised. They decreed that all the troops thenceforward to be raised, should be enlisted to serve during the war ; and that all the officers who continued in the service to the end of the war, should be entitled to half-pay for life. Washington ever believed, that, if this system had been pursued from the beginning, it would have shortened the war, or at least have caused a great diminution of the expense. Unfortunately the states did not comply with the former part of the requisition, but adhered to the old method of filling up their quotas with men raised for three years, and for shorter terms. The extreme difficulty of procuring recruits, was the reason as- signed for persevering in this practice. The army went into winter-quarters at the end of November ; the Penn- sylvania line near Morristown, the New Jersey regiments at Pompton, and the eastern troops in the Highlands. The headquarters of the commander- in-chief were at New Windsor, on the Hudson river. The French army remained at Newport, Rhode Island, except the duke de Lauzun's legion, which was cantoned at Lebanon, in Connecticut.* Washington felt with infinite regret, the succession Of abortive projects throughout the campaign of 1780. In that year he had indulged the hope of terminating the war. In a letter to a friend, he wrote as follows : "We are now drawing to a close an inactive campaign, the beginning of which appeared pregnant with events of a very favorable complexion. I hoped, but I hoped in vain, that a prospect was opening which would enable me to fix a period to my military pursuits, and restore me to domestic life." # #** *** ***** " But alas ! these prospects, flattering as they were, have proved delu- sory ; and I see nothing before us but accumulating distress. We have been half of our time without provisions, and are likely to continue so. We have no magazines, nor money to form them. We have lived upon expedients until we can live no longer. In a word, the history of the war is a history of false hopes and temporary devices, instead of system and economy. It is in vain, however, to look back ; nor is it our business to do so. Our case is not desperate, if virtue exists in the people, and there is wisdom among our rulers. But to suppose that this great revolution can be accomplished by a temporary army, that this army will be sub- sisted by state supplies, and that taxation alone is adequate to our wants, is, in my opinion, absurd." A dangerous mutiny broke out in January, 1781, among the Pennsylvania troops stationed near Morristown, which was suppressed by the prudence and good management of Gen. Wayne, acting under the advice of Wash- ington, and aided by a committee of Congress. The latter proposed terms to the revolters, which were accepted. This mutiny was followed by a similar revolt of the New Jersey troops, which was promptly put down * Sparks. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 51 hy an armed force under Gen. Howe, by direction of Washington. Two of the ringleaders were tried by a court-martial and shot. By this sum- mary proceeding, the spirit of mutiny in the army was subdued Colonel John Laurens, having been appointed on a mission to France, to obtain a loan and military supplies, Washington wrote a letter to that gentleman, in support of the application of Congress, which was first presented by the commissioner to Dr. Franklin, and afterward laid before the French king and cabinet. The French government having determined to grant the aid requested, previous to the arrival of Colonel Laurens, sug- gested that the money to be appropriated for the army, should be left at the disposal of General Washington. On the first of May, 1781, Gen. Washington commenced a military journal, from which the following is an extract : " I begin at this epoch a concise journal of military transactions, &c. I lament not having at- tempted it from the commencement of the war, in aid of my memory ; and wish the multiplicity of matter which continually surrounds me, and the embarrassed state of our affairs, which is momentarily calling the atten- tion to perplexities of one kind or another, may not defeat altogether, or so interrupt my present intention and plans, as to render it of little avail." After briefly sketching the wants and condition of the army at the time, he adds ; " In a word, instead of having anything in readiness to take the field, we have nothing ; and instead of having the prospect of a glorious and offensive campaign before us, we have a bewildered and gloomy pros- pect of a defensive one ; unless we should receive a powerful aid of ships, troops, and money, from our generous allies, and these at present are too contingent to build upon." While the Americans were suffering the complicated calamities which introduced the year 1781, their adversaries were carrying on the most ex- tensive plan of operations against them which had ever been attempted. The war raged in that year, not only in the vicinity of the British head- quarters at New York, but in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and in Virginia. While the war raged in Virginia, the governor thereof, its representa- tives in Congress, and other influential citizens, urged his return, in defence of his native state. But, considering America as his country, and the gen- eral safety as his object, he deemed it of more importance to remain on the Hudson. In Washington's disregard of property, when in competition with national objects, he was in no respect partial to his own. While the British were in the Potomac, they sent a flag on shore to his estate at Mount Vernon requiring a fresh supply of provisions. To save the build- ings from destruction his agent granted the supply of provisions required by the enemy. For this he received a severe reprimand from the gen- eral, who in a letter to the agent observed, that " it would have been a less painful circumstance to me to have heard, that in consequence of your 52 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. noncompliance with the request of the British, they had burnt my house, and laid my plantation in ruins. You ought to have considered yourself as my representative, and should have reflected on the bad example of communicating with the enemy, and making a voluntary offer of refresh- ment to them, with a view to prevent a conflagration." Though, in conducting the war, General Washington often acted on the Fabian system, by evacuating, retreating, and avoiding decisive engage- ments, yet this was much more the result of necessity than of choice. His uniform opinion was in favor of energetic offensive operations, as the most effectual means of bringing the war to a termination. On this prin- ciple he planned attacks, in almost every year, on some one or other of the British armies or strong posts in the United States. He endeavored, from year to year, to stimulate the public mind to some great operation, but was never properly supported. In the years 1778, '79, and '80, the projected operations with the French, as has been related, entirely mis- carried. The idea of ending the war by some decisive military exploit, continually occupied his active mind. To insure success, a naval supe- riority on the coast, and a loan of money, were indispensably necessary. To obtain these necessary aids, the French government were applied to, as already stated. His most Christian majesty (Louis XVI.) gave his American allies a subsidy of six millions of livres, and became their se- curity for ten millions more, borrowed in Holland. A naval co-operation was promised, and a conjunct expedition against their common foes pro- jected.* To mature the plan for the campaign, and lo communicate personally with the French commanders. General Washington made a journey to Newport. He left headquarters on the second of March, and was absent nearly three weeks. The citizens of Newport received him with a public address, expressive of their attachment and gratitude for his services. A second meeting for consultation took place between the American and French commanders, at Wethersfield, in Connecticut, on the twenty- second of May. The two principal objects considered were, first, a southern expedition to act against the enemy in Virginia ; secondly, a combined attack on New York, The French commander leaned to the former, but he yielded to the stronger reasons for the latter, which was decidedly preferred by General Washington. It was believed that Sir Henry Clinton's force in New York had been so much weakened by de- tachments, that the British general would be compelled either to sacrifice that place and its dependencies, or recall part of his troops from the south to defend them. It was therefore agreed that Count de Rochambeau should march with the French army, as soon as possible, from Newport, and form a junction with the American army near the Hudson river. * Ramsay. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 53 The attention of Washington was but partially taken up with the affairs under his own eye. He held a constant correspondence with Generals Greene and Lafayette, who kept him informed of the operations at the south, and asked his advice and directions. Other sections of the coun- try, also, required and received his care and attention. On the sixth of July, the French army formed a junction with the American forces on the Hudson, a few miles north of the city of New York. The French army, which had marched in four divisions from Providence, by way of Hartford, occupied the left, in a single line extend- ing to the river Bronx. The Americans encamped in two lines, with their right resting on the Hudson. Preparations were made for an attack on New York, and Washington pushed forward with the main army to within four miles of King's bridge, but finally fell back to Dobb's ferry, at which place the two armies contin- ued six weeks. The American commander, observing how tardily his call on the respectiv^e states for troops was responded to, resolved not to make an attack until the arrival of the French fleet, under Count de Grasse, from the West Indies, then daily expected. At length, in August, he re- ceived a letter from De Grasse, informing him that he was about to sail with his whole fleet, and 3,200 land troops, for the Chesapeake. Wash- ington at once resolved 10 abandon the project of an attack upon New York, and, with the cordial co-operation of Count de Rochambeau, pro- ceeded without delay toward Virginia, with the whole of the French army, and as many Americans as could be spared from the posts on the Hudson. Washington and De Rochambeau preceded the army, and reached Lafay- ette's headquarters, at Williamsburg, Virginia, on the fourteenth of Sep- tember, where, soon after, the whole army arrived. On his way, Wash- ington made a flying visit to his seat at Mount Vernon, for the first time in six years, so completely had he devoted himself to the service of his country. The French fleet under Count de Grasse, consisting of twenty-six ships-of-the-line and several frigates, entered the Chesapeake, where they were joined by the French squadron from Newport. Three thousand troops, under the marquis de St. Simon, disembarked from the French fleet, ascended the James river, and joined the allied armies at Williams- burg. The whole combined forces then took up their line of march for Yorktown, where the British army, under Lord Cornwallis, was entrenched ; having erected strong fortifications at that place, and at Gloucester point, on the opposite shore. On the thirtieth of September, the allied armies completely invested Yorktown, the Americans being on the right, and the French on the left, in a semicircular line, each wing resting on York river. The post at Gloucester was invested by part of the French army and marines, with some Virginia militia. On the ninth and tenth of October, the Americans 54 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF iVASHINGTOX. and French opened their batteries, and destroyed an English frigate and transport in the harbor. The siege lasted seventeen days, and was vigor- ously kept up, when, on the seventeenth of October, Lord Cornwallis pro- posed a cessation of hostilities, and the appointment of a commission to conclude upon terms for surrendering the posts of Yorklown and Glouces- ter. The proposition was accepted by General Washington, commission- ers appointed, terms of surrender settled ; and the articles were signed on the nineteenth of October, 1781. On the afternoon of the day on which the capitulation was signed, the garrison marched out, and laid down their arms. The soldiers were sur- rendered to Washington, and the shipping in the harbor to the count de Grasse. The number of prisoners was over seven thousand. The Brit- ish lost, during the siege, between five and six hundred killed ; the Amer- icans about three hundred. The allied army consisted of about seven thousand American continental troops, five thousand French, and four thousand militia. The British force was only about half that of the allies ; and doubtless Lord Cornwallis would have abandoned Yorktown before its investment, had he not confidently expected reinforcements from New York. On the very day of the surrender of Cornwallis, Sir Henry Clinton left' New York with seven thousand men, on board of a fleet, to reinforce the former ; but on reaching the capes of the Chesapeake, he heard of the capture of Yorktown, and returned to New York. The surrender of the British army at Yorktown was the last important military operation of the war of the Revolution. It was generally consid- ered throughout the country as decisive of the contest in favor of the American cause. The year 1781 (says Ramsay) terminated, in all parts of the United States, in favor of the Americans. It began with weakness in Carolina, mutiny in New Jersey, and devastation in Virginia ; never- theless, at its close, the British were confined in their sti-ongholds in or near New York, Charleston, and Savannah, and their whole army in Vir- ginia was captured. Washington endeavored, but in vain, to induce the count de Grasse to remain and assist in the reduction of Charleston ; he pleaded special en- gagements in the West Indies, whence he sailed immediately, leaving with Rochambeau the three thousand land-troops he brought with him. The French army cantoned during the winter at Williamsburg, in Vir- ginia, whither the prisoners taken at Yorktown were marched ; and the main body of the American army returned to its late position in New Jer- sey and upon the Hudson. A detachment, under General St. Clair, was sent to the south, to strengthen the army of General Greene. The French army remained in Virginia until the summer of 1782, when they joined the Americans on the Hudson. On the cessation of hostilities, they em- barked from Boston for St. Domingo, in December, 1782. Vigilant measures were adopted by Washington for the campaign of BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 55 1782 ; but fortunately tliey were unnecessary, for active hostilities soon after ceased. In the southern states some skirmishes took place ; but these combats were chiefly partisan, carried on between whigs and tories. General Washington left Yorktown on the fifth of November, and hast- ened to Eltham, where his wife was attending the death-bed of her only son, Mr. Custis. He remained there a few days, to mingle his grief with the relatives of Mr. Custis, who died at the age of twenty-eight, leaving four young children, the two youngest of whom, a son and daughter, were adopted by the general, and they resided in his family till the end of his life. From Eltham he proceeded, by the way 6f Mount Vernon, to Phil- adelphia, receiving and answering various public addresses while on his journey. He attended Congress the day after his arrival, and was greeted with a congratulatory address by the president of that body. By request, he remained some time in Philadelphia, to confer with Congress, and that he might enjoy some respite from the fatigues of war ; and joined the army in the following month of April, establishing his headquarters at Newburgh, on the Hudson river. Sir Guy Carleton, who was appointed to succeed Sir Henry Clinton in command of the British forces in America, arrived at New York early in May, 1782, bearing instructions to use all honorable means to bring about an accommodation with the United States. Both parties, therefore, ceased offensive warfare, and preparations were made to conclude terms of peace. On the twentieth of January, 1783, the preliminary treaty was signed be- tween France, Spain, and Great Britain, and on the third of September, of the same year, definitive treaties of all the powers were signed at one time. Congress ratified the one with America on the fourteenth of Janu- ary, 1784. On the anniversary of the battle of Lexington (April 19, 1783), a ces- sation of hostilities was proclaimed in the American army. On the third of November following, the army was disbanded by the orders of Con- gress, and the three cities occupied by British troops were evacuated — Savannah in July, New York in November, and Charleston in December, of the same year. The conclusion of peace, and the disbanding of the army, were events that reflecting men looked forward to with feelings of mingled joy and fear. Although the struggle had been brought to a triumphant issue by the United States, the country was impoverished. Much of the territory had been laid waste, commerce was nearly annihilated, a heavy burden of debt incurred by the war was weighing upon the people, and the circu- lating medium of paper-money had become so utterly worthless, that, by a decree of Congress, its functions were terminated. Added to this, an arm.y of about ten thousand men were large creditors to Congress, their pay being greatly in arrears. It was manifest that Congress was unable 56 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. to meet tlie claims of the soldiers, and could only recommend their case to their respective states. In the month of December, 1782, the officers in the army resolved to me- morialize Congress upon the subject of their grievances, proposing that the half-pay for life should be commuted for a specific sum, and requesting government to give security for the fulfilment of its engagements. Con- gress had a stormy debate upon the subject ; but as nine states could not be obtained to vote the commutation proposition, the whole matter was dropped. This neglect of Congress to provide for their wants, produced a violent ferment among the officers, and through them the whole army became excited, and many minds among them determined upon coercive measures. In the midst of this ferment, an anonymous notice for a meet- ing of the general and field-officers, and a commissioned officer from each company, was circulated in the camp, accompanied with a letter, or ad- dress, complaining of their great hardships, and asserting that their coun- try, instead of relieving them, " trampled upon their rights, disdained their cries, and insulted their distresses." Fortunately, Washington was in the camp, and, with his usual prompt-, ness and wisdom, called a general meeting of all the officers, in place of the irregular one. He condemned the tone of the letter, as implying a proposal either to desert their country or turn their arms against her, and then gave them the strongest pledges that he would use his utmost power to induce Congress to grant their demands. His address was a feeling one, and appealed directly to their patriotism and the nobler sentiments of the heart. When he had concluded, he immediately retired from the meeting. The deliberations of the officers were exceedingly brief, and resulted in the adoption of resolutions, thanking the commander-in-chief for the course he had pursued, and expressing their unabated attachment to him, and confidence in the justice and good faith of Congress. They then separated, and, with hearts glowing with warmer patriotism, resolved still longer to endure privations for their beloved country. Congress soon after made arrangements for granting the officers full pay for five years, instead of half-pay for life, and four months full pay for the army, in part payment of arrearages. But as there were no funds to make this payment immediately, it required all the address of Washington to induce the sol- diers to quietly return to their homes. On the 24th of March, 1783, a letter was received from Lafayette, announcing the signing of the preliminary treaty ; and Sir Guy Carleton gave official notice of the same soon after. In June, Washington wrote a circular letter to the governors of the states, having for its theme the gen- eral welfare of the country, in which he exhibited great ability, and the most truthful features of genuine patriotism. During the summer, many of the troops went home on furlough, and the commander-in-chief was employed, with Congress, in arranging a peace-establishment, and making BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 57 preparations for the evacuation of New York by the British troops. On the eighteenth of October, Congress issued a proclamation, discharging the troops from further service ; and ihus, in effect, the continental army- was disbanded. This proclamation was soon followed by General Wash- ington's Farewell Address to the Army, November 2, 1783; an address replete with sound wisdom and evidences of a virtuous attachment to the men and the cause with whom, and for which, he had labored for eight years. A small body of troops, who had enlisted for a definite period, were retained in the service, and assembled at West Point, under General Knox. Arrangements having been made with Carleton for the evacuation and surrender of New York on the twenty-fifth of November, these troops proceeded to the city, and, as soon as the British were embarked, they entered in triumphal procession, with Governor Clinton and other civil officers of the state. The ceremonies of the day were ended by a public entertainment given by Governor Clinton, and, throughout the whole trans- action, perfect order prevailed. On the fourth of December, Washington bade a final adieu to his com- panions in arms. " At noon," says Marshall, " the principal officers of the army assembled at Francis's tavern, in New York, soon after which their beloved commander entered the room. His emotions were too strong to be concealed. Filling a glass, he turned to them and said : * With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy, as your former ones have been glorious and honorable.' Having drunk, he added : ' I can not come to each of you to take guy leave, but shall be obliged if each of you will come and take me by the hand.' General Knox, being nearest, turned to him. Washington, incapable of utterance, grasped his hand and era- braced him. In the same affectionate manner, he took leave of each suc- ceeding officer. The tear of manly sensibility was in every eye, and not a word was articulated to interrupt the dignified silence, and the tender- ness of the scene. Leaving the room, he passed through the corps of light-infantry, and walked to Whitehall, where a barge waited to convey him to Paulus's Hook. The whole company followed in mute and solemn procession, with dejected countenances, testifying feelings of delicious melancholy, which no language can describe. Having entered the barge, he turned to the company, and, waving his hat, bade them a silent adieu. They paid him the same affectionate compliment ; and, after the barge had left them, returned in the same solemn manner to the place where they had assembled." Washington then repaired to Annapolis, where Congress was in ses- sion, and, on the twenty-third of December, resigned into their hands the commission he had received from that body more than eight years before, appointing him commander-in-chief of the continental armies. In all the 58 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. towns and villages through which he passed, public and private demon- strations of joy and gratitude met him on every side ; and Congress re- solved that the resignation of his commission should be in a public audi- ence. A large concourse of distinguished persons were present ; and, at the close of a brief address,* Washington stepped forward and handed his commission to the president (General Mifflin), who made an affectionate and appropriate reply. He then " hastened with ineffable delight" (to use his own words) to his seat at Mount Vernon, resolved there to pass the remainder of his days amid the pure and quiet pleasures of his domestic circle, enhanced a thousand-fold by the consideration that his country was free and independent, and had taken a place among the nations of the earth. t The conclusion of the revolutionary war permitted Washington to return to those domestic scenes in which he delighted, and from which no views of ambition seem to have had the power to draw his affections. One of the greatest proofs of his patriotism was his refusal to receive any pecu- niary compensation for his services as commander-in-chief during the eight years in which he had served his country in that capacity. When he accepted the appointment, he announced to Congress his determination to decline payment for his services. He simply asked the reimbursement of his expenses, an exact account of which he kept and presented to the government, drawn up by his own hand at the close of the war.| In the month of September, 1784, Washington made a tour to the west- ern country, for the purpose of inspecting the lands he possessed beyond the Allegany mountains, and also of ascertaining the practicability of open- ing a canal between the head-waters of th^ rivers running eastward into the Atlantic, and those that flow westward to the Ohio. The extent of this journey was six hundred and eighty miles, which he travelled on horseback. He crossed the mountains, and examined the waters of the Blonongahela river, with the special view of deciding the question in his own mind, whether the Potomac and James rivers could be connected by internal navigation with the western waters. He conversed on the sub- ject with such intelligent persons as he met, and kept a journal in which he recorded the results of his observations and inquiries. His thoughts had been turned to this enterprise before the Revolution ; and soon after returning from this western tour, in October, 1784, he communicated to * Washington closed his address with the following words : " I consider it an indispen- sable duty to close this last solemn act of my official life by commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superin- tendence of them into his holy keeping. Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of action ; and bidding an affectionate farewell to this august body, under whose orders I have long acted, 1 here offer my commission, and take my leave of all employment of public life." f Lossing's War of Independence. f A fac-simile of this accoiuit of Washington's public expenditures has been published in a handsome volume, by Mr. Franklin Knight, of Washington city. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 59 the governor of Virginia the fruits of his investigations in a letter, one of the ablest, most sagacious, and most important productions of his pen. The governor laid this letter before, the legislature. It was the first sug- gestion of the great system of internal improvements which has since been pursued in the United States. The legislature of Virginia, after duly considering this letter of Wash- ington to the governor, appointed a commission for surveys, and organized two companies called the Potomac company, and the James river com- pany, for the purpose of carrying the plan into effect. It may here be added, that Washington was a zealous advocate for schools and literary institutions of every kind, and sought to promote them by his public addresses and by private benefactions. In this spirit he ac- cepted the chancellorship of William and Mary college, being earnestly solicited by the trustees.* Washington was not long allowed to remain in retirement. To remedy the distress into which the country had been thrown by the war, and to organize a permanent plan of national government, a national convention of delegates from the several states was called, and met at Philadelphia in 1787. Having been chosen one of the delegates from Virginia, Wash- ington was appointed to preside over the deliberations of the convention, and used his influence to cause the adoption of the constitution of the United States. By the unanimous voice of his fellow-citizens and of the electoral col- leges, he was called, in 1789, to act as president of the United States, and cheerfully lent his aid in organizing the new government. Amid all the difliculties which occurred at that period from differences of opinion among the people, many of whom were opposed to the measures proposed and adopted, the national government would probably have perished in its infancy, if it had not been for the wisdom and firmness of Washington. During his first term the French revolution commenced, which convulsed the whole political world, and which tried most severely his moderation and prudence. His conduct was a model of firm and dignified modera- tion. Insults were offered to his authority by the minister of the French republic (Mr. Genet) and his adherents, in official papers, in anonymous libels, and by tumultuous meetings. The law of nations was trampled under foot. No vexation could disturb the tranquillity of his mind, or make him deviate from the policy which his situation prescribed. During the whole course of that arduous struggle, his personal character gave that strength to a new magistracy which in other countries arises from ancient habits of obedience and respect. The authority of his virtue was more efficacious for the preservation of America, than the legal powers of his office. During this turbulent period he was unanimously re-elected to the presidency, in 1793, for another term, although he had expressed a * Sparks. 60 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. wish to retire. The nation was then nearly equally divided into two great political parties, who united only on the name of Washington. Through- out the whole course of his second presidency the danger of the United States was great and imminent. The spirit of change, indeed, shook all nations. But in other countries it had to encounter ancient and strong established power ; in America the government was new and weak ; the people had scarcely time to recover from the effects of a recent civil war. Washington employed the horror excited by the atrocities of the French revolution for the best purposes ; to preserve the internal quiet of his country ; to assert the dignity and to maintain the rights of the common- wealth which he governed, against foreign enemies. He avoided war, without incurring the imputation of pusillanimity. He cherished the de- testation of the best portion of his countrymen for anarchy, without weak- ening the spirit of liberty ; and he maintained the authority of the govern- ment without infringing on the rights of the states, or abridging the priv- ileges of the people. He raised no hopes that he did not gratify ; he made no promises that he did not fulfil ; he exacted proper respect due to the high office he held, and rendered to others every courtesy belong- ing to his high station. Having determined to retire from the presidency at the expiration of his second term, in March, 1797, he issued in September, 1796, a fare- well address to the people of the United States, which will be found in this volume, and which will remain as a permanent legacy to his country- men through future generations, for its sentiments of patriotism, and sound maxims of political sagacity. He remained at the seat of government until the inauguration of his successor, Mr. Adams, which occasion he honored with his presence, and immediately retired to Mount Vernon to pass the remainder of his days in quiet retirement ; but when, in 1798, the United States armed by sea and land, in consequence of their difficul- ties with France, he consented to act as lieutenant-general of the army ; but was never afterward called upon to take the field, although he bore the commission until his death. On Thursday, the twelfth of December, 1799, he was seized with an inflammation in his throat, which became considerably worse the next day, and which terminated his life on Satur- day, the fourteenth of the same month, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. " No man," says Colonel Knapp, in his biographical sketch, " was ever mourned so widely and sincerely as Washington. Throughout the United States, eulogies were pronounced upon his character, sermons were preached, or some mark of respect paid to his memory. It was not speak- ing extravagantly to say that a nation was in tears at his death. There have been popular men, who were great in their day and generation, but whose fame soon passed away. It is not so with the fame of Washing- ton, it grows brighter by years. The writings of Washington (a portion BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WASHINGTON. 61 only of which comprise eleven octavo volumes) show that he had a clear, lucid mind, and will be read with pleasure for ages to come." " General Washington," says Judge Marshall, " was rather above the common size ; his frame was robust, and his constitution vigorous — capa- ble of enduring great fatigue, and requiring a considerable degree of exer- cise for the preservation of his health. His exterior created in the be- holder the idea of strength united with manly gracefulness. " His manners were rather reserved than free, though they partook nothing of that dryness and sternness which accompany reserve when carried to an extreme ; and on all proper occasions he could relax suffi- ciently to show how highly he was gratified by the charms of conversa- tion, and the pleasures of society. His person and whole deportment exhibited an unaffected and indescribable dignity, unmingled with haugh- tiness, of which all who approached him were sensible ; and the attach- ment of those who possessed his friendship, and enjoyed his intimacy, was ardent, but always respectful. " His temper was humane, benevolent, and conciliatory ; but there was a quickness in his sensibility to anything apparently ofl'ensive, which ex- perience had taught him to watch and to correct. " In the management of his private affairs he exhibited an exact yet lib- eral economy. His funds were not prodigally wasted on capricious and ill-examined schemes, nor refused to beneficial though costly improve- ments. They remained, therefore, competent to that extensive establish- ment which his reputation, added to an hospitable temper, had in some measure imposed upon him, and to those donations which real distress has a right to claim from opulence. " In his civil administration, as in his military career, were exhibited ample and repeated proofs of that practical good sense, of that sound judg- ment which is perhaps the most rare, and is certainly the most valuable quality of the human mind. " In speculation he was a real republican, devoted to the constitution of his country, and to that system of equal political rights on which it is founded. But between a balanced republic and a democracy, the differ- ence is like that between order and chaos. Real liberty, he thought, was to be preserved only by preserving the authority of the' laws, and main- taining the energy of government." ADMINISTRATION OF WASHINGTON. The unanimous choice of General Washington as president of the United States by the people of the United States, as expressed through the electoral colleges of the several states, at the organization of the govern- ment under the constitution, after its adoption, was officially announced to the president elect, at his seat at Mount Vernon, on the 14th of April, 1789. This commission was executed by Mr. Charles Thompson, secre- tary of the late continental Congress, who presented to him the certificate of the secretary of the senate, stating that he was unanimously elected ; the votes of the electors for president and vice-president having been counted by both houses of the first Congress under the constitution, then in session at the city of New York, on the 6th of April. The urgency of the public business requiring the immediate attendance of the president at the seat of government, he hastened his departure, and on the second day after receiving notice of his appointment, he took leave of Mount Vernon and his family, and set out for New York, in company with Mr. Thompson and Colonel Humphreys. On his way to that city he was everywhere greeted by the people of the different places through which he passed, with the most enthusiastic and decisive evidences of attachment and respect. Although the president hastened his journey, and wished to render it private, the public feelings were too strong to be suppressed. Crowds flocked around him wherever he stopped ; and corps of militia, with companies of the most respectable citizens escorted him through their respective states. In New Jersey, after a most interesting scene at Trenton, having been received by the governor of that state, who ascompanied him to Eliza- bethtown point, he was met by a committee of Congress, who conducted him thence to New York. The president, committee, and other gentle- men, embarked for the city in an elegant barge of thirteen oars, manned by thirteen branch pilots prepared for the purpose by the citizens of New York. " The display of boats," says Washington, in his private journal, " which attended and joined on this occasion, some with vocal, and others with instrumental music on board, the decorations of the ships, the roar of can- 64 WASHINGTON S ADMINISTRATION non, and the loud acclamations of the people, which rent the sky as I passed along the wharves, filled my mind with sensations as painful (con- templating the reverse of this scene, which may be the case after all my labors to do good) as they Avere pleasing." In this manner, on the 23d of April, the man possessed of a nation's love landed at the stairs on Murray's wharf, which had been prepared and ornamented for the purpose. There he was received by the governor of New York, and conducted, with military honors, through an immense con- course of people, to the apartments provided for him. These were attended by foreign ministers, by public bodies, by political characters, and by private citizens of distinction, who pressed around him to offer their congratula- tions, and to express the joy which glowed in their bosoms at seeing the man in whom all confided at the head of the American empire. This day of extravagant joy was succeeded by a splendid illumination.* The ceremonies of the inauguration having been adjusted by Con- gress, on the 30th of April, 1789, the president attended in the senate- chamber in order to take, in the presence of both houses, the oath pre- scribed by the constitution. The session of Congress was then held in the city-hall, then called Federal hall, situated in Wall street, opposite the head of Broad street. To gratify the public curiosity, an open gallery adjoining the senate- chamber had been selected by Congress as the place in which the cere- mony should take place. The oath was administered by Chancellor Liv- ingston, of New York. Having taken it in the view of an immense con- course of people, who attested their joy by loud and repeated acclama- tions after the chancellor had pronounced, in a very feeling manner, " Long live George Washington, president of the United States," he returned to the senate-chamber and delivered his inaugural address. The inaugural address of the president was replied to, on the part of the senate, by their presiding officer, John Adams, who had been elected vice-president of the United States. This reply of the senate was full of confidence in the president, and the sentiments expressed breathed the purest patriotism, and were every way worthy of that dignified body. The same may be said of the reply of the house of representatives, deliv- ered through their speaker, Frederick A. Muhlenberg, of Pennsylvania. To both of these addresses the president rejoined in a few brief and ap- propriate remarks. Eleven only of the original thirteen states had adopted the federal con- stitution, previous to the organization of the government by the election of president, vice-president, and members of Congress. North Carolina and Rhode Island had rejected the constitution ; but finally came into the Union, the former in November, 1789, the latter in May, 1790. The • Marshall's Life of Washington. Washington's administration. 65 electors of president and vice-president were appointed in ten of the states on the first Wednesday of January, 1789, and met to give their votes in the several states, on the first Wednesday of February, and the constitu- tion went into operation on the first Wednesday of March, the same year. It was not, however, until the 30th of April, that the government was fully organized, by the induction of the president into office. The legislature of New York having omitted to pass a law directing the mode of choosing electors, owing to a disagreement between the two branches of the legis- lature. New York did not participate in the first election of president. The whole number of electoral votes given by the ten states was 69, all of which General Washington received, and 34 were received by Mr. Adams, the remaining 35 having been scattered among various candidates. By the constitution, as it originally stood, the presidential electors voted for two persons ; the one receiving the highest number of votes was elect- ed president, and the next highest, or second choice of the electors, be- came vice-president. A majority of the whole number of electoral votes was required for the choice of president, but not for vice-president. Mr. Adams, it will be observed, althougli he received the greatest number of votes next to Washington, was elected vice-president by a minority. The national government, though one of deliberate consent, encoun- tered, from its formation, a powerful opposition. The friends of the con- stitution, with Washington and Adams at their head, were denominated Federalists, while those who had opposed the adoption of the constitution were called Anti-Federalists. From various causes, some of those who had supported the constitution in the national and state conventions, and otherwise, joined the opposition to the administration of Washington, among whom may be mentioned Mr. Madison, of Virginia, Mr. Langdon, of New Hampshire, Doctor Williamson, of North Carolina, Mr. Baldwin, of Geor- gia, and others. In the first Congress, in 1789 and 1790, there was but a small majority in favor of the measures recommended by Washington, and Hamilton, the secretary of the treasury. The anti-federalists elected John Langdon, of New Hampshire, president pro tern, of the senate, and Frederick A. Muhlenberg, speaker of the house of representatives, but they were chosen in the early part of the session, when party lines were not strictly drawn. The first session of the first Congress, which was held at New York, occupied a period of nearly six months, the adjournment taking place on the 29lh of September, 1789. They were employed principally in fra- ming laws necessary to the organization of the government. In this space of time the construction of the powers intended to be given was very ably discussed. The subjects of commerce and of finance received the early and prompt attention of Congress, as well as the organization of the dif- ferent departments, and of a federal judiciary system. Among the sub- jects strenuously debated was the president's power of appointment and 5 66 Washington's administration. removal of officers at the head of each executive department of the gov- ernment, and other officers under the president. The appointment was constitutionally subject to the assent of the senate. The removal, on which point the constitution was silent, was then settled to be in the power of the president alone. A system was adopted for raising a rev- enue from duties on imports, and the principle was recognised of discrim- inating duties for the protection of American manufactures. The subject of a tonnage duty was also considered, and an act passed discriminating in favor of American .vessels, owners, and navigators. Sixteen articles of amendment to the constitution were approved by Congress, in September, 1789, and recommended to the states for their adoption. Ten of these articles were approved by the requisite number of states, and thus became parts of the constitution. Two other articles, since adopted by the states, were proposed at subsequent sessions of Congress. Soon after the adjournment of Congress the president made a tour through the eastern states. Before he commenced his journey, he se- lected his cabinet, namely : in September, 1789, Thomas Jefferson was appointed secretary of state ; Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the treas- ury ; Henry Knox, secretary of war ; and Edmund Randolph, attorney- general. The office of secretary of the navy did not exist until the presidency of Mr. Adams. Mr. Jefferson returned from a mission to France in November, 1789, and assumed the duties of secretary of state in March, 1790. John Jay, of New York, was appointed chief justice of the supreme court ; and John Rutledge, of South Carolina, James Wilson, of Pennsyl- vania, William Cushing of Massachusetts, Robert H Harrison, of Mary- land, and John Blair, of Virginia, associate justices. At the second session of the first Congress, which was held at New York, comm.encing in January, 1790, some of the able reports of Hamilton, as secretary of the treasury, were presented, which established the course of national policy pursued by that and various succeeding administrations. The funding of the public debt incurred by the war of the revolution, the assumption of state debts by the general government, the providing of a system of revenue from duties on imports, and an internal excise, were among the measures proposed by Hamilton, and adopted by Congress. At this session an act was passed providing for the permanent seat of the national government at the District of Columbia, and for the removal of (the temporary seat of government to Philadelphia. The third session of the same Congress was held at Philadelphia, from the first Monday of December, 1790, to March 3, 1791. To complete the financial system recommended by Hamilton, a national bank was incorporated. On this subject the cabinet and members of Congress were divided, but the act of incorporation was passed by considerable majori- ties, and approved by President Washington. A mint was also estab- Washington's administration. 67 lished for the purpose of national coinage, and at the same session the states of Vermont and Kentucky were admitted into the Union. The measures adopted by this Congress were of a highly beneficial character to the country, and had the effect to establish the national credit, and ad- vance the public prosperity. The second Congress met at Philadelphia, in October, 1791. There was a majority in each branch favorable to the administration. Among the measures of the session, an excise act, imposing a duty on domestic distilled spirits, similar to one passed in 1790, was adopted, and became very unpopular with the opposition to the administration. A law provi- ding for a uniform militia system was also passed, and measures taken for a defence of the western frontiers against the Indians, who, in November, 1791, defeated a body of United States troops, under General St. Clair, near the Ohio river. A bounty was granted by law at this session, on vessels employed in the fisheries, for the encouragement of that branch of business ; and an apportionment of representation in Congress was made in conformity to the census taken in 1790 — the ratio fixed was 33,000 inhabitants for each representative. The violent opposition to the excise law by a portion of the people, particularly in the interior of Pennsylvania, where meetings were held, and the revenue officers threatened with personal injury, induced Con- gress, in May, 1792, to pass an act authorizing the president to call out the militia to assist in executing the laws, if he should deem proper. The president being reluctant to employ military force, issued a proclama- tion, exhorting the people to desist from all illegal acts and meetings ; but his council and warning did not produce the effect expected. The discon- tents continued until August, 1794, when this whiskey insurrection had assumed so serious a character in western Pennsylvania, that an army of volunteers and militia was formed, consisting of about 15,000 men, to suppress it. The insurgents did not venture to meet this force, and the rebellion ceased without conflict. No further opposition was then made to the excise law. The second session of the second Congress, from November, 1792, to March, 1793, presents but little of interest to the reader. Much of the time was occupied in discussing the domestic and foreign relations of the country, without the adoption of any particular measures of importance. Party spirit ran high, both in Congress and among the people. The cab- inet of Washington was divided, Hamilton and Knox advising federal meas- ures, while Jefferson and Randolph generally acted in opposition to their col- leagues, and in unison with the opposition in Congress, whom Mr. Jeffer- son denominated Republicans. The schism in his cabinet was a subject of extreme mortification to the president. Entertaining respect and es- teem for both Jeff'erson and Hamilton, he was unwilling to part with either, and exerted all his influence to eflfect a reconciliation between them, but 68 Washington's administration. without success. The hostiUty of these distinguished men to each other sustained no diminution, and its consequences became every day more diffusive. The French revolution had an important influence on the poHtics of the United States, at this time. Mr. Jefferson and his republican friends sym- pathized with the French nation in their struggles for liberty and their contests with other nations, while Hamilton, and his friends of the federal party, with Avhom Washington coincided in this respect, considered it im- portant to the interests of the United States to maintain friendly relations with Great Britain, which power was then at war with France, and they were unwilling to sacrifice either the peace or the interests of the nation to any sympathies they might have in favor of the revolutionists of France. In this state of public opinion, the presidential election of 1792 took place. General Washington had expressed a desire to decline a re-elec- tion, but finally yielded to the earnest wishes of his friends, to serve an- other term. Notwithstanding the high party feeling among the people, Washington again received the unanimous votes of the electoral colleges, 132 in number. Mr. Adams was re-elected vice-president, receiving 77 votes, and George Clinton 50, while 5 were given to other persons. Gov- ernor Clinton was the candidate of the republican party. General Washington appeared in the senate-chamber at Philadelphia on the fourth of March, 1793, to take the oath of office on his re-election to the presidency. The oath was administered by Judge Gushing, of the supreme court, in the presence of John Langdon, president pro tern. of the senate, and many members of Congress. On this occasion, the president made the following remarks : — " I am again called upon, by the voice of my country, to execute the functions of its chief magistrate. When the occasion proper for it shall arrive, I shall endeavor to express the high sense I entertain of this dis- tinguished honor, and of the confidence which has been reposed in me .by the people of the United States. Previous to the execution of any official act of the president, the constitution requires an oath of office. This oath I am now about to take, and in your presence, that if it shall be found, during my administration of the government, I have in any instance vio- lated, willingly or knowingly, the injunctions thereof, I may, besides in- curring constitutional punishment, be subjected to the upbraidings of all who are now witnesses of the present solemn ceremony." In April, 1793, Citizen Genet arrived in this country as minister from the French republic. He sought to involve the United States in a war with Great Britain, and issued commissions to vessels-of-war, to sail from American ports and cruise against the enemies of France. It appears to have been expected in France that the United States would engage on its side from treaty stipulations, or inclination against England. The presi- dent and his cabinet were unanimously of opinion that this country was Washington's administration. 69 not bound to take part in a war begun by France ; and on the 18tli of April the celebrated proclamation of neutrality, by the president, was is- sued, which has been the guide of the nation ever since, in affairs with foreign nations. Mr. Genet, after this, threatened to appeal to the people, but finally, after many controversies with him, the president demanded his recall by the French government. Soon after this his commission was withdrawn, and Mr. Fauchet was appointed his successor. Mr. Genet, however, spent the remainder of his life in the United States, and married a daughter of Governor George Clinton, of New York. Mr. Genet was said to have introduced into the United States the idea of *' democratic societies," which were first formed in this country about this time, in imitation of the Jacobin clubs in Paris. After the fall of Robes- pierre these clubs, or secret societies, fell into disrepute, both in France and America. When the third Congress assembled at Philadelphia, in December, 1793, the opposition to the administration succeeded in electing the speaker of the house of representatives, which body was afterward nearly equally divided on great political questions. In the senate, the vice-pres- ident, Mr. Adams, repeatedly settled important questions by his casting vote. On the 16th of December, the secretary of state, Mr. Jefferson, in compliance with a resolution of the house of representatives of February 23, 1791, made to Congress his celebrated report on the commercial rela- tions of the United States with foreign nations. This is one of the ablest documents that has ever emanated from Mr. Jefferson. He made an ad- ditional report on the 30th of December, communicating certain docu- ments of foreign governments, which was his last official act as secretary of state. Agreeably to a notice which he gave the president, some months previous, he resigned his office and seat in the cabinet, December 3], 1793, and retired to his residence in Virginia. The president appointed Edmund Randolph to succeed Mr. Jefferson as secretary of state, and William Bradford, of Pennsylvania, to succeed Mr. Randolph as attorney- general. On the 4th of January, 1794, Mr. Madison introduced in the house a series of resolutions on commercial affairs, in conformity with the report of Mr Jefferson. They gave rise to a long and acrimonious debate, but were finally postponed. A resolution, however, to cut off all intercourse with Great Britain, passed the house by a small majority, but was defeated in the senate by the casting vote of the vice-president. The important subjects suggested in the president's message, and in official reports, were under consideration in the two branches of Congress, from the beginning of January to the 16th of April. The excitement was high among a large portion of the people, in favor of France. They insisted that the friends of France should declare themselves by wearing the national cockade. 70 Washington's administration. They insisted, also, on war with England. In Congress, the war of words disclosed a state of feeling which the decorum of the place hardly re- strained from full expression. The conduct of the British government at this time added to the diffi- culties of the administration. The western forts on Lake Erie and its vicinity were still occupied by the British, contrary to the treaty of 1783. American vessels were seized on their way to French ports, and American seamen were impressed. The president, after many remonstrances with the British government, was sensible that a crisis was approaching which would involve the United States in a war with England, unless the ca- lamity could be averted by negotiation. Washington, therefore, concluded to send a special envoy to England, and in April, 1794, selected John Jay, then chief justice of the supreme court, for that purpose. Mr. Jay ar- rived in England in June, 1794, and in November following a treaty with Great Britain was signed. It arrived in the United States on the 7th of March, 1795, and was ratified by the senate on the 24th of June, by pre- cisely the constitutional majority (two thirds), after much opposition, and an investigation continued from the 9th of the same month. As this treaty was considered favorable to Great Britain, although it was the best that Mr. Jay could obtain, the publication of it in this country tended to heighten the asperity of political parties, and to increase the feelings of hostility toward England which were entertained by the opposition to the administration. The clamor against the treaty, however, gradually sub- sided, and addresses from all quarters poured in upon the president, prin- cipally from his political friends, congratulating him upon the fortunate issue of the mission. In consequence of a decision of the supreme court, in a suit instituted by a citizen of South Carolina against the state of Georgia, and the action of the state of Massachusetts, on a suit being commenced against that state, an amendment was proposed, and carried at the first session of the third Congress, which was afterward ratified by three fourths of the several states, declaring that, " the judicial power of the United States should not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or pros- ecuted against one of the United States, by citizens of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state." This forms the 11th article of the amendments to the constitution. During the summer of 1794, a successful campaigTi was carried on against the Indians, by the American troops under General Wayne, Avho defeated a large body of Indian warriors in a battle, in August of that year, on the banks of the Maumee, in Ohio. General Wayne soon after- ward negotiated a treaty with all the tribes of the northwest ; and, in con- formity to Mr. Jay's treaty, the surrender of the western posts which had been so long retained by the British, gave assurance of continued peace on the frontier. WASHrN'GTON's ADMINISTRATION. 71 In 1794, the French government requested the recall of Gouverneur Morris, the minister from the United States to France, which request Washington complied with, and appointed James Monroe his successor. Mr. Morris had expressed his disapprobation of the revolutionary proceed- ings in France. In September, 1796, the president recalled Mr. Monroe, and appointed Charles Cotesworth Pinckney to succeed hira. At the close of the year 1794, General Knox resigned his place as secretary of war, and retired to Boston. His successor was Timothy Pickering, who was appointed on the 2d of January, 1795 ; he was, pre- vious to that time, postmaster-general. Mr. Hamilton resigned, as secretary of the treasury, on the 31st of Janu- ary, 1795, and was succeeded on the 2d of February, by Oliver Wolcott, of Connecticut. In consequence of the death of Mr. Bradford, attorney-gen- eral, in August, 1795, the president appointed Charles Lee, of Virginia, his successor, December 10, 1795. At the same time, Timothy Picker- ing was appointed secretary of state, in place of Edmund Randolph, who had resigned the preceding August. James M'Henry was appointed sec- retary of war, January 27, 1796. When the third Congress assembled, at their second session, in No- vember, 1794, it appeared that, while the party in favor of the administra- tion had been strengthened in the senate by recent events, in the house of representatives the opposition still continued to be the most powerful. In replying to the president's speech, the address of the house omitted to notice those parts which censured self-created societies, by which term the demo- cratic clubs were supposed to be intended ; also the victory of Gen. Wayne and the policy observed by the executive in its intercourse with foreign nations. An attempt to censure the " self-created societies," failed by the casting vote of the speaker. A bill, however, was passed, authorizing the president to station military force in the western counties of Pennsylva- nia, and an appropriation, exceeding one million of dollars, was made to defray the expenses of the insurrection. The report of the secretary of the treasury, on the national finances, was the last official act of Colonel Hamilton ; he soon after retired from office, as already stated. His report embraced the digest of a plan on the basis of the actual revenues for the further support of the public credit. In conformity with this plan, a bill was carried, notwithstanding a strenuous opposition, through both houses, establishing a sinking fund, composed of the surplus revenue, the bank dividends, and the proceeds of the public lands, for the redemption of the national debt. On the third of March, 1795, the constitutional term of the third Congress expired, and this im- portant session was ended. The senate was convened by the president, on the 8th of June follow- ing, for the purpose of considering Mr. Jay's treaty with Great Britain, which was ratified by that body, as already stated, on the 24th of the 72 Washington's administration. same month. The president arrived in Philadelphia, from Mount Yeraon. on the 11th of August, and on the next day the question of the immediate ratification of the treaty was brought before the cabinet. The resolution was adopted to ratify the treaty immediately, the secretary of state, IMr. Randolph, only, dissenting ; and this opinion of the cabinet was confirmed by the president. " If the ratification of the treaty," says Judge Marshall, " increased the number of its open advocates, by stimulating the friends of the adminis- tration to exert themselves in its defence, it seemed also to give in- creased acrimony to the opposition. Previous to the mission of Mr. Jay, charges against the chief magistrate, though frequently insinuated, had seldom been directly made. That mission visibly affected the decorum which had been usually observed toward him, and the ratification of the treaty brought into view sensations which had long been ill concealed. The calumnies with which he was assailed were not confined to his pub- lic conduct ; even his qualities as a man were the subjects of detraction. That he had violated the constitution in negotiating a treaty without the previous advice of the senate, and that he had drawn from the treasury for his private use more than the salary annexed to his office, were unblushingly asserted. " Though the secretary of the treasury denied that the appropriations made by the legislature had ever been exceeded, the atrocious charge was still confidently repeated. With the real public the confidence felt in the integrity of the chief magistrate remained unshaken. " When possessed of the entire fact, the public viewed with just indig- nation this attempt to defame a character which was the nation's pride. Americans felt themselves affected by this atrocious calumny on their most illustrious citizen, and its propagators were frowned into silence." Many of those embarrassments in which the government, from its in- stitution, had been involved, were now ended, or approaching their termi- nation. The opposition to the laws, which had so long been made in western Pennsylvania, existed no longer. Peace had been made with the Indian tribes at the west and the south. After the failure of several attempts to obtain a peace with the regency of Algiers, Colonel Humphreys, the min- ister of the United States to Portugal, to whom full powers were granted, appointed Mr. Donaldson to transact this business ; and a treaty with Al- giers was negotiated on terms which, though disadvantageous, were the best that could be obtained. The difficulties with Spain, which had been of long continuance, were adjusted by a treaty concluded by Mr. Pinck- ney, the United States minister, with his catholic majesty, in October, 1795, in which the claims of the United States on the important points of boundary and the navigation of the Mississippi were fully conceded. The fourth Congress commenced their fitrst session in December, 1795. Washington's administration. 73 While the majority in the senate in favor of the administration had in- creased, the result of the last elections had again placed a majority in the house of representatives in opposition. This was manifest from the an- swers returned by the respective houses to the president's speech. That of the senate, adopted fourteen to eight, expressed an entire approbation of the conduct of the executive. The answer reported by a committee of the house, contained expressions of undiminished confidence in the president. But a motion was made to strike out this part ; and in the de- bate on this motion, some of the members did not hesitate to say, that their confidence in the chief magistrate had diminished ; and it was evident that a majority were in favor of the motion. The answer was. therefore, recommitted, and so varied as to meet the unanimous assent of the house.* Although in the minority on many questions, the friends of the admin- istration succeeded in electing Jonathan Dayton, a distinguished federalist of New Jersey, speaker of the house of representatives. Mr. Monroe, the United States minister to the French republic, having presented to that government the American colors, which were placed with those of France, in the hall of the national convention, in Paris, Mr. Adet, who was appointed minister to the United States to succeed Mr. Fauchet, was directed to present to the United States government the flag of the French republic. He arrived in the United States in June, 1795, but did not present the flag in a formal manner until the first of January, 1796, when he delivered it to the president, together with a letter to Con- gress from the committee of public safety in France. The speech of Mr. Adet on this occasion drew from "Washington the memorable reply, com- mencing as follows : " Born, sir, in a land of liberty ; having early learned its value ; having engaged in a perilous conflict to defend it ; having, in a word, devoted the best years of my life to secure its permanent establish- ment in my country ; my anxious recollections, my sympathetic feelings, and my best wishes, are irresistibly attracted, whensoever, in any country, I see an oppressed nation unfurl the banners of freedom."! The address of Mr. Adet, and the answer of the president, were trans- mitted to Congress, with the letter from the committee of safety, by the president, on the 4th of January. The colors of France he directed to be deposited among the archives of the United States. Both houses of Congress adopted resolutions expressive of their good will and friend- ship for the French republic. In February, 1796, the treaty with Great Britain was returned, in the form advised by the senate, ratified by his Britannic majesty. The presi- dent, in pursuance of his duty, issued his proclamation on the last of Feb- ruary, on the subject, and requiring from all persons its observance and * Pitkin's History of the United States. t See Marshall's Life of Washington. 74 Washington's administration, execution. For the information of Congress, a copy of tliis proclamation was transmitted to each house on the first of March. The republican or democratic party in the house of representatives, who had denied the right of the president to negotiate a treaty of commerce, expressed their dissatisfaction at his course in issuing this proclamation before the sense of the house had been declared on the obligation of the instrument. On the second of March, therefore, Mr. Livingston, of New York, laid upon the table a resolution requesting of the president a copy of the instructions to Mr. Jay, together with the correspondence and other documents relative to the treaty with Great Britain negotiated by him. This motion was vehemently debated, and, after some days, carried, by a majority of 57 to 35. The president answered, with his accustomed coolness and dignity, stating his reasons why the house of representa- tives, which has no part in the treaty-making power, can not be constitu- tionally entitled to the papers called for ; and concluded with saying : " A just regard to the constitution and to the duty of my office, under all the circumstances of this case, forbid a compliance with your request." This refusal of the president was received with an indignation which the majority were at no pains to conceal. The same spirit was widely disseminated through the country ; but public opinion had undergone an important change. Popular meetings were held on the subject, and, though many of the provisions of the treaty were thought to be objectionable, it was believed that a majority, composed of the most intelligent citizens, were in favor of carrying the treaty into effect, in good faith. The popu- lar sentiment was felt in the house of representatives. The debate in that body was very able and interesting. Among the most celebrated speeches made on the occasion, was that of Fisher Ames, in support of the treaty. Many other distinguished members took part in the debate, such as Roger Griswold, R. G. Harper, Theodore Sedgwick, and William Smith, on the side of the administration ; and Edward Livingston, James Madison, Albert Gallatin, and William B. Giles, in opposition. The final question in the house, in favor of laws for carrying the treaty into effect, was carried by a majority of three only, 51 to 48. The fourth Congress, after continuing their first session until the 1st of June, 1796, adjourned to the first Monday of December following. Be- sides the measures referred to, many other important acts were adopted ; among others, agencies were established among the Indian tribes ; provis- ion was made for the sale of the public lands ; and an act was passed for the protection and relief of American seamen. The state of Tennessee was admitted into the Union on the last day of the session. In the spring of 1796, Rufus King was appointed minister to Great Britain, in the place of Thomas Pinckney, who, at his own request, was permitted to return home. During a residence of several years in Lon- don, Mr. King maintained the rights of the country with great ability and Washington's administration. 75 firmness and sustained a high character among the diplomatic corps at the British court.* The relations of the United States with France continued a subject of anxiety. The treaty negotiated with England by Mr. Jay, and the presi- dent's proclamation of neutrality, were regarded with much disfavor by the French government, and they issued several decrees by which Ameri- can vessels were confiscated, in violation of the treaty of commerce. The president being dissatisfied with the course of Mr. Monroe, the American minister to France, in not urging the rights of his countrymen with sufii- cient vigor, he was recalled, as already stated, and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney appointed in his place. Mr. Monroe was very popular in France, and on taking his leave of the government, mutual addresses were delivered. The address of the president of the directory, expressing his regret at parting with Mr. Monroe, was calculated to flatter the people of the United States, while it severely censured their government. Mr. Pinckney was permitted to reside at Paris until about the first of Febru- ary, 1797, when the French directory gave him written orders to quit the territories of the republic, and he retired to Holland. The third election of president engaged the national attention after the adjournment of Congress. General Washington was earnestly solicited to be a candidate for re-election, but positively declined. In September, 1796, he announced his intention to the people in his memorable " Fare- well Address^] In this document he made a last effort to impress upon his countrymen those great political truths which had been the guides of his own administration, and could alone, in his opinion, form a sure and solid basis for the happiness, the independence, and the liberty of the United States. The sentiments of veneration with which this address was generally received, were manifested in almost every part of the Union. Some of the state legislatures directed it to be inserted at large in their jour- nals ; and nearly all of them passed resolutions expressing their respect for the president, their high sense of his exalted services, and the emo- tions with which they contemplated his retirement from office. | When this address appeared, announcing the resolution of Washington to retire, the determination of his fellow-citizens had been unequivocally manifested in favor of his continuance in office, and it was believed to be apparent, that his election would again be unanimous, if he had consented to serve for a third term. The two great parties in the United States were now at once arrayed against each other on the question of the presidential election. By the federalists, Mr. John Adams and Mr. Thomas Pinckney, the late minister to Great Britain, were supported as president and vice-president ; while the whole force of the opposite party was exerted in favor of Mr. Jefferson. • Pitkin. t See page 79. % Marshall. r 76 Washington's administration. On the subject of vice-president, the republicans, or democrats, were not uni- ted. The result of the election was as follows : John Adams, 71 ; Thomas Jefferson, 68 ; Thomas Pinckney, 59 ; Aaron Burr, 30 ; Samuel Adams, 15; Oliver Ellsworth, 11 ; George Clinton, 7; John Jay, 5; James Ire- dell, 3 ; George Washington, 2 ; J. Henry, 2 ; S. Johnson, 2 ; Charles C. Pinckney, 1. Total number of electoral votes, 138 — each elector voting for two persons. Mr. Adams was therefore elected president, and Mr. Jefferson vice-president, for four years from the fourth of March, 1797. In November, while the election was pending, and parties were so nearly balanced that neither scale could be perceived to preponderate, the French minister to this country, Mr. Adet, addressed a letter to the secre- tary of state, which he also caused to be immediately published in the newspapers, reproaching the federal administration with violating those treaties with France which had secured the independence of the United States, with ingratitude to France, and with partiality to England. Mr. Adet also announced the orders of his government to suspend his minis- terial functions with that of the United States. This suspension of his functions, however, was not to be regarded " as a rupture between France and the United States, but as a mark of just discontent, which was to last until the government of the United States returned to sentiments and to measures more conformable to the interests of the alliance, and to the sworn friendship between the two nations." Whatever motives might have impelled Mr. Adet to make this open and direct appeal to the American people, in the critical moment of their elec- tion of a chief magistrate, it does not appear in any material degree to have influenced that election. On the 7th of December, 1796, Washington met Congress for the last time. His address was comprehensive, temperate, and dignified. It presented a full and clear view of the situation of the United States, and recommended certain great national measures in the utility of which he felt a confidence ; concluding with his congratulations on the success of the experiment of the form of government under the constitution, and his prayers for its perpetuity. The answers of both houses to this speech, notwithstanding the conflict of parties, were adopted nearly unanimously. Both expressed their grateful sense of the eminent services he had rendered his country, their extreme regret at his retiring from office, and their ardent wishes for his future personal happiness. Perfect unanimity, however, did not pre- vail in the house of representatives. Mr. Giles, of Virginia, said : " If he stood alone in the opinion, he would declare that he was not convinced that the administration of the government for these six years, had been wise and firm. He did not regret the president's retiring from office. He hoped he would retire, and enjoy the happiness that awaited his retire- ment. He believed it would more conduce to that happiness that he Washington's administration. 77 should retire, than if he should remain in office." In this opinion of IVIr. Giles, only eleven concurred, and with him voted against the answer.* On the 19th of January, 1797, the president, agreeably to the intimation in his speech at the opening of the session, communicated to Congress the state of the relations of the country with the French republic. It con- tained not only an able review, but an ample refutation of the various charges made by France, as well as a complete justification of the con- duct of President Washington toward that nation. This exposition, how- ever, created no change in the conduct of France, and produced little effect on the parties in America.! On the 4th of March, 1797, the administration of President Washington closed — a period to which he had looked forward with inexpressible pleasure. After witnessing the inauguration of his successor, he with- drew from Philadelphia to Mount Yernon, to spend the remainder of his days in retirement. During his administration, all the disputes between the United States and foreign nations had been adjusted, with the exception of those of France ; at home, public and private credit was restored — ample provis- ion made for the security and ultimate payment of the public debt — com- merce had experienced unexampled prosperity — American tonnage had nearly doubled — the products of agriculture had found a ready market — tlie exports had increased from nineteen millions to more than fifty-six millions of dollars — the imports in about the same proportion — and the amount of revenues from imports had exceeded the most sanguine calcU' lations. The prosperity of the country had been, indeed, without exam- ple, notwithstanding great losses from belligerent depredations. | At this day, the conduct and character of Washington are spoken of with respect and veneration by most men. We have seen several sorts of administration of public affairs since his time ; it is not too soon to consider calmly and dispassionately, the worth of that conducted by him. To the high responsibility of giving motion and effect to the new sys- tem, among discordant elements, it was the lot of Washington to be called. Was it right or wrong to provide for the payment of the public debt, justly called " the price of liberty V Who can answer in the negative ? Not to have done what was done, would have been injustice, for which there could have been no palliation. Was Washington's administration right or Avrong toward France and England, during their vindictive and exterminating war ? Surely, the true policy of this country was strict neutrality. To preserve this, the most forbearing and conciliatory measures were adopted toward each ; minis- ters were sent, and instructions given, to show that the United States ■were, and meant to be, neutral. To the last hour of his administration, • Pitkin. t Ibid. % Ibid. 78 Washington's administration. Washington persisted in his neutrality, and was able to countervail the popular clamor in favor of France. In the discretionary exercise of executive power, the Washington ad- ministration was wise and talented. In filling offices, the president pre- ferred, when he could, the revolutionary chiefs, of whose integrity and ability he had ample proofs. No one will say that such men did not de- serve the honors and emoluments of office, which their own perilous effiDrts helped to establish. He displaced no man for the expression of his opin- ion, even in the feverish excitement of French delusion. With regard to all other foreign governments ; the judiciary ; the na- tional bank ; the Indian tribes ; the mint ; in his deportment to his own ministers ; liis communications to Congress ; his construction of the con- stitution ; his sacred regard for it ; his devotion to the whole Union ; his magnanimity and forbearance ; his personal dignity ; in all these, and in relation to all other subjects, how great and honorable was his example !* * Sullivan. Washington's farewell address. 79 FAREWELL ADDRESS. September 17 1796. Friends and Fellow-Citizens : — The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actu- ally arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the per- son who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprize you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom the choice is to be made. I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be assured that this resolution has not been taken without a strict regard to all the considera- tions appertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his coun- try ; and that, in withdrawing the tender of service, which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your future interest, no deficiency of respect for your past kindness, but am supported by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both. The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office to which your suffrages have twice called me, have been a uniform sacrifice of in- clination to the opinion of duty and to a deference for what appeared to be your desire. I constantly hoped that it would have been much earlier in my power, consistently with motives which I was not at liberty to disre- gard, to return to that retirement from which I had been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this, previous to the last election, had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to you ; but mature reflection on the then perplexed and critical posture of affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon the idea. I rejoice that the state of your con- cerns, external as well as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of incli- nation incompatible with the sentiment of duty or propriety ; and am per- suaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my services, that in the present circumstances of our country, you will not disapprove of my de- termination to retire. The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous trust were explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I will only say that I have, with good intentions, contributed toward the organi- zation and administration of the government the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious, in the outset, of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself ; and every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that, if any circumstances have given pecu- liar value to my services, they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe that, while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it. In looking forward to the moment which is to terminate the career of my political life, my feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep ac- knowledgment of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved coun- 80 Washington's farewell address. try for the many honors it has conferred upon me ; still more for the stead- fast confidence Avith which it has supported me, and for the opportunities 1 have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country from these services, let it always be remembered to your praise, and as an instructive example in our annals, that under circumstances in which the passions, agitated in every direc- tion, were liable to mislead — amid appearances sometimes dubious — vicis- situdes of fortune often discouraging — in situations in which not unfre- quently want of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism — the constancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts and a guar- anty of the plans by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave as a strong incitement to unceasing wishes that Heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence — that your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual — that the free constitution which is the work of your hands may be sa- credly maintained — that its administration in every department may be stamped with wisdom and virtue — that, in fine, the happiness of the peo- ple of these states, imder the auspices of liberty, may be made complete by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing as will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the applause, thetaffec- tion, and adoption, of every nation which is yet a stranger to it. Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare Avhich can not end but with my life, and the apprehension of danger natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present, to oft'er to your solemn contemplation, and to recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me all-important to the permanency of your felicity as a people. These will be offered to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his coun- sel. Nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, your indulgent recep- tion of my sentiments on a former and not dissimilar occasion. Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of our hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attach- ment. The unity of government which constitutes you one people, is also now dear to you. It is justly so ; for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad, of your safety, of your prosperity, of that very liberty which you so liighly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that from difierent causes, and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices em- ployed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth — as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed — it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your col- lective and individual happiness ; that you should cherish a cordial, habit- ual, and immovable attachment to it ; accustoming yourselves to think and to speak of it as a palladium of your political safety and prosperity ; watch- ing for its preservation with jealous anxiety ; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned ; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate Washington's farewell address. 81 any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble tlie sacred ties which now link together the various parts. For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citi- zens by birth or choice of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriot- ism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have, in a common cause, fought and tri- umphed together. The independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint councils and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, and success. But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more immediately to your interest. Here, eveiy portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the union of the whole. The north, in an unrestrained intercourse with the south, protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds in the productions of the latter great additional resources of maritime and commercial enterprise, and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The south, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the same agency of the north, sees its agricul- ture grow and its commerce expand. Turning partly into its own chan- nels the seamen of the north, it finds its particular navigation- invigorated ; and while it contributes in different ways to nourish and increase the gen- eral mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection of a maritime strength to which itself is unequally adapted. The east, in like intercourse with the west, in the progressive improvement of interior com- munications by land and water, will more and more find a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad or manufactures at home. The west derives from the east supplies requisite to its growth and com- fort ; and what is perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of neces- sity owe the secure enjoyment of the indispensable outlets for its own productions to the weight, influence, and future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of in- terest, as one nation. Any other tenure by which the west can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connexion with any foreign power, must be intrinsically precarious. While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and par- ticular interest in union, all the parts combined can not fail to find in the united mass of means and efforts greater strength, greater resource, pro- portionably greater security from external danger, a less frequent interrup- tion of their peace by foreign nations, and, what is of inestimable value, they must derive from union an exemption from those broils and wars be- tween themselves which so frequently afflict neighboring countries not tied together by the same government, which their own rivalships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, at- tachments, and intrigues, would stimulate and embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as patticularly hostile to republican liberty. In this sense it is that your union ought to be considered as a main prop of 6 82 Washington's farewell address. your liberty, and that tke love of the one ought to endear to you the pres- ervation of the other. These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the union as a primary object of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt whether a common govern- ment can embrace so large a sphere ? Let experience solve it. To lis- ten to mere speculation in such a case Avere criminal. We are authorized to hope that a proper organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of governments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue of the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to union, affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who in any quarter may endeavor to weaken its bands. In contemplating the causes which may disturb our union, it occurs as matter of serious concern that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discriminations — northern and southern, Atlantic and western ; whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views. One of the expedients of party to acquire influence within particular dis- tricts is, to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. You can not shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heart-burn- ings which spring from these misrepresentations. They tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal af- fection. The inhabitants of our western country have lately had a useful lesson on this head. They have seen in the negotiation by the executive, and in the unanimous ratification by the senate, of the treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at that event throughout the United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions propagated among them of a policy in the general government and in the Atlantic states un- friendly to their interests in regard to the Mississippi. They have been witnesses to the formation of two treaties — that with Great Britain and that with Spain — which secure to them everything they could desire, in respect to our foreign relations, toward contirming their prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the union by which they were procured? Will they not henceiorth be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who would sever them from their brethren and connect them with aliens ? To the efficacy and permanency of your union, a government for the whole is indispensable. No alliances, however strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute. They must inevitably experience the in- fractions and interruptions which alliances in all times have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay by the adoption of a constitution of government better calculated than your former for an intimate union and for the efficacious management of your common concerns. This government, the offspring of your own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and ma- ture deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself provis- ion for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for its authorhy, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. The basis of our political system is, the right of the people to "Washington's farewell address. 83 make and to alter their constitutions of government. But the constitution which at any time exists, until changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government, presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government. All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and asso- ciations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberations and action of the con- stituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction ; to give it an artificial and extraordinary force ; to put in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority , of the community ; and according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans, digested by common councils, and modified by mutual interests. However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines by which cunning, ambitious, and unprin- cipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterward the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion. Toward the preservation of your government and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite not only that you steadily discoun- tenance irregidar opposition to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretext. One method of assault may be to effect in the forms of the constitution alterations which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine what can not be directly overthrown. In all the changes to Avhich you may be invited, remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true character of governments as of other human institutions ; that experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitutions of a country ; that fa- cility in changes upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion exposes to perpetual change, from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion ; and remember especially, that from the efhcient management of your common interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty is indis- pensable. Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property. I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state, with particular reference to the founding of them upon geographical discrimina- tions. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. This spirit, imfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed ; 84 Washington's farewell address. but in tliose of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy. The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, Avhich in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent des- potism. The disorders and miseries which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an in- dividual ; and sooner or later, the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation on the ruins of the public liberty. Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind, which neverthe- less ought not to be entirely out of. sight, the common and continual mis- chiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms ; kindles the animosity of one part against another ; foments occasional riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which tinds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passion. Thus the policy and will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another. There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This, within certain limits, is probably true ; and in governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of popular character, in gov- ernments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From the natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose ; and there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public opinion to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of wanning, it should consume. It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution in those intrusted with its administration to con- fine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding, in the exercise of the powers of one department, to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the de- partments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power and proneness to abuse it which predominate in the human heart, is sufiicient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositories, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions of the other, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern — some of them in our country, and under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them. If, in the opin- ion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional pow- ers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way in which the constitution desig-nates. But let there be no change by usurpation ; for though this in one instance may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. Washington's farewell address. 85 The precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit which the use can at any time yield. Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, re- ligion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pil- lars of human happiness — these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to re- spect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexion with private and public felicity. Let it be simply asked, where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obli- gation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles. It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule indeed extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who that is a sincere friend to it can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric ? Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion%s the structure of a gov- ernment gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened. As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible, avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering, also, that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it ; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exer- tions in time of peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives ; but it is necessary that public opinion should co- operate. To facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is essen- tial you should practically bear in mind that toward the payment of debts there must be revenue ; that to have revenue there must be taxes ; that no taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant ; that the intrinsic embarrassment inseparable from the selec- tion of the proper objects, which is always a choice of difficulties, ought to be a decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the government in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining revenue which* the public exigencies may at anytime dictate. Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct ; and can it be that good policy does not equally enjoin it ? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and, at no distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt that in the course of time and things the fruits of such a plan would richly re- pay any temporary advantages that might be lost by a steady adherence to it ? Can it be that Providence has connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue 1 The experiment, at least, is recommended by 86 Washington's farewell address. every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas ! it is rendered im- possible by its vices. In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that per- manent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate at- tachments for others, should be excluded ; and that in the place of them, just and amicable feelings toward all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges toward another an habitual hatred or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence, frequent collisions and obstinate, envenomed, and bloody con- tests. The nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the government contrary to the best calculations of policy. The government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would reject. At other times, it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to the projects of hostility, instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations has been the victim. So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. S)nnp#thy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and the wars of the latter without ade- quate inducements or justification. It leads, also, to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others, which are apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions, by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a dis- position diich they were appointed. In the senate the two principal speakers were Gouverneur Morris and Stephens T. Mason. The leading arguments in favor of the repeal were, that the new courts were useless, and that there was no constitutional objection to abolishing them. By the opponents of the administration, an act repealing any part of the judiciary system was considered ominous to the independence of the judicial de- partment, but as no attempt was made to demolish the supreme court, by altering the constitution, and as the new circuit courts might be dispensed with, without much inconvenience to the public, the apprehensions of the federalists on this subject gradually subsided. The other most important acts of this session, were, the apportionment of representation by the census of 1800, the ratio being continued at one representative for 33,000 inhabitants ; for protecting American commerce and seamen against Tripolitan cruisers which had previously captured our vessels ; for fixing the military peace establishment, which provided for the continuance only of one regiment of artillery, two regiments of in- fantry, and a corps of engineers to be stationed at West Point, on the Hud- son river, and to constitute a military academy at that place ; for regula- ting trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes, and for the preservation of peace on the frontiers ; for discontinuing the several acts laying inter- nal taxes on stills, distilled spirits, refined sugars, carriages, stamped pa- per, and licenses to retailers and for sales at auction ; for establishing a uniform system of naturalization, and repealing former laws on the subject (the time of residence of aliens in the United States was reduced to five years, in conformity with the suggestion of President Jefierson, instead of fourteen years, as required by the act of 1798) ; for redeeming the public debt, by which it was provided to appropriate annually seven mil- lions and three hundred thousand dollars to the sinking fund ; for author- ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. 129 izing the people of the eastern division of the territory northwest of the Ohio river (Ohio), to form a constitution and state government, and for ad- mitting such state into the Union ; authorizing the erection of certain lighthouses ; and for altering and establishing certain postroads, and for the more secure carriage of the mail. The act passed in 1799, to aug- ment the salaries of certain officers of government, was revived, and con- tinued in force for two years. An attempt was made to discontinue the mint establishment, on account of the great expense attending it, but the senate did not concur in the bill for that purpose which passed the house. A proposition for abolishing the navy department, and placing the concerns of the navy under the direction of the secretary of war also failed at this session. The disbanding of the pro- visional army, which had been ordered by the preceding Congress, opera- ted to reduce very considerably the national expenses. But the act now passed to provide for the redemption of the public debt, was only nominal in its operations ; new loans were effected, and the reduction of the debt by the act was only in theory, as the appropriations for expenses for 1802 were more than equal to the receipts of the previous year. It was the policy of the party now in power, to attach odium to their opponents for the measures of preceding administrations, and to impress upon the public mind the idea that they were more anxious than their predecessors to secure the liberty and to lessen the burdens of the people. But, in many important particulars, the course pursued by former admin- istrations, was still followed ; the democratic party being satisfied with the possession of the control of the appointing power of the general gov- ernment, and with the repeal of such prominent federal measures as they deemed unpopular. They were not, therefore, anxious to suggest new measures of a positive character. The report of the new secretary of the treasury stated that the accounts of his federal predecessor in that department, also of the state, war, and navy departments, were correct ; no delinquencies having occurred. At the second session of the same Congress, which lasted from the 6th of December, 1802, to the 3d of March, 1803, no changes in the general policy of the administration being proposed by the president, but few acts of general interest were passed ; the most important was a law to pre- vent the importation of negroes, mulattoes, or other persons of color (not being natives, citizens, or seamen of the United States, or seamen, natives of countries beyond the Cape of Good Hope), into any port of the United States within a state which had prohibited by law the admission of any such negro or person of color, under penalty of one thousand dollars and the forfeiture of the vessel in which such person was imported. The time had not then arrived when the importation of slaves was prohibited by the constitution, and this law was passed in conformity to the laws of certain states which had been passed to prohibit the importation of slaves. 9 130 ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. Another important act of this Congress, was one wliich authorized the president, to call upon the executives of such of the states as he might deem expedient, for a detachment of militia, not exceeding eighty thou- sand, or to accept the services of any corps of volunteers, in lieu of mili- tia, for a term of twelve months. Twenty-five thousand dollars were, by the same act, appropriated for the erection of arsenals on the western waters. There was at this time much apprehension of a war with Spain, which induced Congress to take the measures of precaution abovementioned. The disputes with the Spanish government respecting the southwestern boundary line of the United States, and the right of navigating the Mis- sissippi, had often caused difficulties between the people of the west and southwest and the Spanish authorities and inhabitants of the Spanish ter- ritories. These affairs assumed a new aspect by the intelligence received in the United States in the spring of 1802, that Spain, by a secret treaty, in October, 1800, had ceded Louisiana to France. By a treaty with Spain, in 1795, that government had granted to the United States the right of deposite at New Orleans for three years, after which the privilege was either to be continued, or an equivalent place assigned on another part of the banks of the Mississippi, tn October, l602, the Spanish intendant declared, by proclamation, that the right of deposite at New Orleans no longer existed. This measure caused much excitement among the people of the west- ern states and territories in the valley of the Mississippi. Congress was beset from all quarters with complaints and statements of grievances. The excitement increased as soon as the petitioners heard the news of the cession to France, and, according to the generally-received opinion, the suspension had only taken place in consequence of the demand of the French government. The Spaniards, nevertheless, considered themselves masters of Louisiana, so long as the formalities of the cession to France were not fulfilled. By the terms of the treaty between Spain and France, Louisiana " was to be delivered up in its present state" to the French. This present state was believed to be the exclusion of the Americans from the port of New Orleans. Americans drew from this circumstance the inference that the Spanish intendant had not acted without orders, that the prohibition had been concerted between the two powers, to enforce which an army was then expected from France. Mr. Jefferson had information of the cession of Louisiana to France, early in 1 802, and wrote Mr. Livingston, United States minister to France, in April, 1802, giving his views on the subject. It was imderstood that the Floridas either were included in the cession of Louisiana, or would be added to it, a supposition which proved to be incorrect. The views of the president, as stated to Mr. Livingston, were, that if France took' posses- sion of New Orleans the United States must become allies of Great ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. 131 Britain and antagonists of France. He then suggests, however, that if France considers Louisiana as indispensable to her interests, she may still cede to the United States the island of New Orleans and the Flori- das. That this cession would, in a great degree, remove the causes of irritation, and at any time prevent the necessity of resorting to arrange- ments with Great Britain. The cession of Louisiana to France, was first communicated to Con- gress by the president, in his annual message, in December, 1802, in which the subject is briefly noticed. It was, however, soon seized upon by the opponents of the administration, and resolutions were offered by Mr. Griswold, of Connecticut, in the house, calling upon the president for information respecting the cession of Louisiana ; and in the senate, by Mr. Ross, of Pennsylvania, seconded by Gouverneur Morris, of New York, authorizing the president to take possession of such places in or near New Orleans as he deemed fit, and to call into service the militia of the adjoining states with the forces of the nation. These resolutions were superseded by others, but the right of naviga- ting the Mississippi was asserted by both houses, and a place of deposite insisted on. The president seemed to think that it v/as the object of the federal party in Congress to force the country into a war with Spain, " in order to derange our finances," and if that could not be done, " to attach the western country to tAem, as their best friends, and thus get again into power." With a view of carrying his pacific policy into effect, he, on the 10th of January, 2803, appointed James Monroe, minister plenipoten- tiary to France, to act with Mr. Livingston in the purchase of New Or- leans and the Fioridas. The nomination of Mr. Monroe was confirmed by the senate, and Congress appropriated, at the request of Mr. Jefferson, two million-? ^f dollars for the objects of the mission. The ipstructions to Messrs. Monroe and Livingston only asked for the cession of the city of New Orleans and the Floridas ; that the course of the Mississippi should be divided by a line that would put New Orleans withm the territory of the United States, thus securing the free navigation of the river. Projects for the cession of the entire colony of Louisiana, vere at that time neither popular, nor, if entertained by any, were they the subjects of much discussion. Mr. Livingston, the American minister at Paris, was persuaded that the United States would never possess New Orleans by treaty, and that it ought to be taken by force. Mr. Monroe sailed from New York on the 8th of March, 1803, but as the object of his mission was kept secret, the public apprehension was not quieted. Napoleon Bonaparte w^as then first consul of France. He supposed, when informed of the instructions to Monroe and Livingston, that those ministers were authorized, if necessary, to enter into more extended stip- 132 • ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. Illations in relation to the projected acquisition. Europe was then enjoy- ing a momentary respite after the wars and revolutions she had undergone. But another war was about breaking out between France and England. The Marquis de Marbois was directed by Napoleon to negotiate with the American ministers. " Irresolution and deliberation," said the first consul, " are no longer in season. I renounce Louisiana. It is not only New Orleans that I will cede ; it is the whole colony, without any reservation. I know the price of what I abandon, and I have sufficiently proved the importance that I attach to this province, since my first diplo- matic act with Spain had for its object the recovery of it. I renounce it with the greatest regret. To attempt to retain it would be folly. I direct you to negotiate this affair with the envoys of the United States. Do not even wait the arrival, of Mr. Monroe : have an interview this very day with Mr. Livingston. But I require a great deal of money for this war, and I would not like to commence with new contributions. If I'should regulate my terms, according to the value of these vast regions to the United States, the indemnity would have no limits. I will be moderate, in consideration of the necessity in which I am of making a sale. But keep this to yourself. I want fifty mili;ons [francs], and for less than that sum I will not treat ; I Avould rather make a desperate attempt to keep those fine countries. To-morrow you shall lave full powers. Mr. Mon- roe is on the point of arriving. To this minister t\ie president must have given secret instructions, more extensive than the ostensible authorization of Congress, for the stipulation of the payments to be made. Neither this minister nor his colleague is prepared for a decision which goes infinitely beyond anything that they are about to ask of us. Begin by making them the overture without any subterfuge. You will acquaint nie, day by day, hour by hour, of your progress. The cabinet of London is informed of the measures adopted at Washington, but it can have no suspiuon of those which I am now taking. Observe the greatest secresy, and recommend it to the American ministers ; they have not a less interest than yourself in conforming to this counsel. You will correspond with M. de Talley- rand, who alone knows my intensions. If I attended to his advice, France would confine her ambition to the left bank of the Rhine, and would only make war to protect any dismemberment of her possessions. But he also admits that the cession of Louisiana is not a dismemberment of France. Keep him informed of the progress of this affair." The conferences began the same day, between Mr. Livingston and M. Barbe Marbois, to whom the first consul confided this negotiation. But the American minister had not the necessary powers. He had resided at Paris about two years. The first object of his mission had been indem- nities claimed by his countrymen for prizes made by the French during peace. The vague answers, and even the expectations that had been held out to him, had been attended with no result. Having, therefore, become ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. 133 distrustful, Mr. Livingston feared that the overtures relating to Louisiana were only an artifice to gain time. He received, without putting entire confidence in it, the overture vv^hich was made to him by Marbois, of a cession of the whole province. However, after some discussion on a sum that was vaguely brought forward, he refused to go beyond thirty millions of francs, saving an augmentation of this price by the amount of the in- demnity to be given for the prizes taken from the Americans in time of peace. He was, indeed, unwilling to agree upon so high a price, unless the stipulation was accompanied by a clause of not making any payments till after the ratification by Congress.* These preliminary discussions were scarcely entered upon, when infor- mation was received of the arrival of Mr. Monroe at Havre. Mr. Liv- ingston, who, Marbois says, was always inclined to feel distrust, in conse- quence of the many deceptions that had been previously practised upon him, wrote to Mr. Monroe on the 10th of April, to whom he says: "I congratulate you on your safe arrival. We have long and anxioiftly waited for you. God grant that your mission may answer your and the public expectation. War may do something for us, nothing else would. I have paved the way for you, and if you could add to my memoirs an assurance that we were now in possession of New Orleans, we should do well." Mr. Monroe arrived at Paris on the 12th of April, 1803. "I wish," said Mr. Livingston to him, " that the resolution offered by Mr. Ross, in the senate, had been adopted. Only force can give us New Orleans. We must employ force. Let us first get possession of the country, and nego- tiate afterward." Mr. Monroe, anxious, though not discouraged, began his conferences the next day, with M. de Marbois. The powers of which, he (Monroe) was the bearer, Avere common to him and Mr. Livingston. The French and American ministers had an equal interest in not allowing the negotiation to linger ; it had at last a central point, and made rapid progress. The first difficulties were smoothed by a rare circumstance. The plenipotentiaries, having been long acquainted, were disposed to treat one another with mutual confidence. Marbois had been engaged for thir- ty-five years in public affairs of great importance. He had, during the whole war of the American revolution, resided near the Congress. The affairs of America had long been familiar to him, and two years and a half of exile to Sinnamari.had made him still better acquainted with the wants and general condition of the French colonies. The three negotiators had seen the origin of the republic of the United States, and for a long time back their respective duties had established between them an intercourse on public afiairs, and an intimacy which does not always exist between foreign envoys and the ministers of the powers to whom they are sent. This good understanding of the plenipotentiaries » Marbois's History of Louisiana. 134 ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. did not prevent their considering it a duty to treat, on both sides, for the conditions most advantageous to their respective countries. Mr. Monroe did not hear without surprise the first overtures that were frankly made by M. de Marbois. Instead of the cession of a town and its inconsiderable territory', a vast portion of America was offered to the United States. They only asked for the mere right of navigating the Mississippi, and their sovereignty was about to be extended over the lar- gest rivers of the world. They passed over an interior frontier to carry their limits to the great Pacific ocean. Deliberation succeeded to astonishment. The two joint plenipotentia- ries, without asking an opportunity for concerting measures out of the presence of the French negotiator, immediately entered on explanations, and the conferences rapidly succeeded one another. The negotiation had three objects : First, the cession, then the price, and finally, the indemnity due for captures by the French of American vessels and cargoes. The subject of the cession was first considered. The full powers of the American plenipotentiaries only extended to an arrangement respecting the left bank of the Mississippi, including New Orleans. It was impossible for them to have recourse to their govern- ment for more ample instructions. Hostilities were on the eve of com- mencing between France and England. The American envoys had not to reflect long to discover that the circumstances in which France was placed, were the most fortunate for their country. M. de Marbois, from whose history of the cession of Louisiana Ave have taken the above particulars, then goes on to state, that the American min- isters having assumed the responsibility of treating for the purchase of the entire colony, instead of a part only of the same, the terms were soon agreed upon between the negotiators. The assent of Spain to this negotiation was deemed necessary, as that power had reserved, by the treaty of October 1, 1800, a right of prefer- ence, in case of cession by France. But the delays which would have been occasioned by sending from Paris to Madrid, with the usual tardi- ness in the deliberations of the Spanish cabinet, would have led to a total failure of the negotiation. The treaty was, therefore, not communicated to the Spanish ministry till after its conclusion. They complained bitterly of the little regard that had been paid to a right that was reserved to Spain, and for nearly a year it was impossible to obtain from that court an approbation of the treaty. Finally, on the 10th of February, 1804, Don Pe- dro Cavallos, the Spanish minister, wrote to Mr. Pinckney, minister of the United States, that " his catholic majesty had thought fit to renounce his opposition to the alienation of Louisiana made by France, notwithstanding the solid reasons on which it is founded : thereby giving a new proof of his benevolence and friendship to the United States." Two important conventions signed the same day by the American and ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. 135 French negotiators, were annexed to the treaty, as well as referred to in it The first* related to the paynaent of the price of the cession. The first consul [Bonaparte], supposing that he carried his valuation very high, had said that he calculated on fifty millions of francs. The French plenipo- tentiary [Marbois], without entering into any explanation with him, con- sidered this estimate a good deal too low, and, as soon as the price be- came the subject of conference, stated that it was fixed at eighty millions, and that it would be useless to propose a reduction. The American plenipotentiaries could not have foreseen that the negotiation would become so important, and they were without special powers to consent to pay the price that was demanded. " Our fellow-cit- izens," said Mr. Livingston, " have an extreme aversion to public debts ; how could we, without incurring their displeasure, burden them with the enormous charge of fifteen millions of dollars ?" M. de Marbois, on his part, insisted upon the first demand of eighty millions, and said, that for the United States, this was a sum very much below the true value of these immense territories. The two plenipotentiaries finally acquiesced, on condition that twenty millions out of the eighty should be employed in a manner settled by a special convention. This became the third instrument in the negotiation. The cession of Louisiana afforded the means of realizing promises made by the French government, that had been long illusory, namely, to pay the claims of Americans arising from requisitions, seizures, and captures of ships, made in time of peace. The American negotiators consented to pay eighty millions of francs for Louisiana, on condition that twenty mill- ions of this sum should be assigned to the payment of what was due by France to the citizens of the United States. The payment of the sixty millions of francs to the French government was made through Messrs. Hope and Labouchere, of Amsterdam, and Barings, of London, as no French banker was willing to become the me- dium of so considerable a pecuniary transaction. The terms agreed on, as well fur the payment of what was due to the French treasury, as for the indemnity to the American merchants, were punctually observed. For the payment of the sixty millions, it was agreed that the government of the United States was to create a stock of eleven millions two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, bearing an interest of six per cent, per annum, pay- able half-yearly in London, Amsterdam, or Paris ; the principal of the said stock to be reimbursed at the treasury of the United States in annual payments of not less than three millions of dollars each ; of which the first payment was to commence fifteen years after the date of the exchange of ratifications ; the stock to be transferred to the government of France, or their agents, in three months after the exchange of the ratifications of the treaty, and after Louisiana should be taken possession of by the United States. 136 ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. The treaty was concluded on the 30th of April, 1803, and the respective instruments which, were drawn up in French and English, were signed by the three ministers four days afterward. Two months had not then elapsed since Mr. Monroe had sailed from New York for France. As soon as they had signed the important papers, the negotiators rose and shook hands, when Mr. Livingston, expressing the general satisfaction, said : " We have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our whole lives. The treaty which we have just signed has not been obtained by art, or dictated by force ; equally advantageous to the two contracting par- ties, it will change vast solitudes into flourishing districts. From this day the United States take their place among the powers of the first rank ; the English lose all exclusive influence in the affairs of America." The first consul had followed with a lively interest the progress of this negotiation. It will be recollected that he had mentioned fifty millions as the price which he would put on the cession ; and it may well be believed that he did not expect to obtain so large a sum. He learned that eighty millions had been agreed on ; but that they were reduced to sixty, by the stipulation for American claims on France. To this he at first objected, but being brought to recollect that he had consented to a much smaller sum, he said to Marbois : " It is true, the negotiation • does not leave me any- thing to desire : sixty millions for an occupation that will not, perhaps, last for a day ! I would that France should enjoy this unexpected capital, and that it may be employed in works beneficial to her marine. This ac- cession of territory strengthens for ever the power of the United States ; and I have just given to England a maritime rival that will sooner or later humble her pride." Hostilities commenced between France and England on the 22d of May, 1803, by the capture of some French merchant-vessels. On the same day, Bonaparte gave his ratification to the treaty of cession of Lou- isiana, without waiting for that of the United States. It was important that the accomplishment of this formality on the part of France, should not leave any ground for considering the colony as still French. The rati- fications, and their exchange, it was presumed, could experience no delay at Washington ; and after these proceedings, and the delivery of posses- sion to the United States, any attempt of the English on Louisiana would have been directed against a province of the American union. The treaty was received in the United -States in July, and was ratified by the senate on the 20th of October, 1803, by 24 votes to 7. It was opposed by the federal party generally, and principally on two grovmds, namely, First, that the territory of the United States was already abundantly sufficient for one government of a republican character, and that that there were immense tracts of wild lands to be filled up east of the Mississippi ; secondly, that the purchase of Louisiana was unconstitutional ; and that if the provisions and plain meaning of the national compact were violated ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. 137 or disregardetl, it would prove a most injurious precedent. The govern- ment, it was said, might as well purchase Canada, Nova Scotia, Mexico, or Cuba. " There were," says Bradford, " probably some party prejudices operating to produce or reiterate these objections, and to represent the act as at once arbitrary and unconstitutional. The purchase was long a topic of dispute between the friends and the opponents of the administration." Some of the leading federalists, of enlarged views, however, approved of the measure. Among these may be named Gouverneur Morris, whose opinions on this subject have been confirmed by the national expe- rience. The area of the country thus ceded, according to the claims of France, and the estimate of Mr. Jeflerson, exceeded a million of square miles ; but all, except a very small proportion of it, was occupied by savages, its natural proprietors. Its inhabitants were principally French, and de- scendants of French, with a few Spanish Creoles, Americans, English, and Germans. The whole number amounted to 80,000, or 90,000 inhab- itants, including about 40,000 slaves. The preceding statements confirm the remarks of Mr. Tucker, in his life of Jefferson : " The American ministers, instead of merely purchasing New Orleans and the Floridas, as had been the first and main object of Mr. Jeff'erson, were able to effect a purchase of all Louisiana, equal in extent to the whole previous territory of the United States. They owed their good fortune to the war which was so suddenly renewed between France and England, when the government of France, convinced that the possession of Louisiana would soon be wrested from her by the superior naval power of England, readily consented to make sale of it to a third power, and the rather, as the purchase-money was particularly acceptable to France at that time. If fortune had a full share of agency in this ac- quisition, it is no small praise to the administration that they had foreseen the probability of the result, and had promptly and skilfully availed them- selves of the occasion so as best to secure and promote the aggrandize- ment of their country." Mr. Jefferson did not think that the constitution authorized this addition to the territory of the United States, and he considered that it would be necessary to obtain a special amendment for that purpose. In a letter to Mr. Breckenridge, he remarks : " The constitution has made no provision for our holding foreign territory, still less for incorporating foreign nations into our Union. The executive, in seizing the fugitive occurrence which so much advances the good of their country, have done an act beyond the constitution. The legislature, in casting behind them metaphysical subtle- ties, and risking themselves like faithful servants, must ratify and pay for it, and throw themselves on their country for doing for them unau- thorized, what we know they would have done for themselves, had they been 'in a situation to do it. But we shall not be disavowed by the nation, 138 ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. and their act of indemnity will confirm and not wea^ven the constitution, by more strongly marking out its lines." The contemplated amendment to the constitution, or " act of indemni- ty," as Mr. Jefferson calls it, never took place. The treaty received the sanction of the government in its different branches, and the measure was so generally acquiesced in by the people, that after a time it ceased to be a disputed question, either of constitutionality or expediency. Mr. Jefferson suggested that the less that was said about any constitu- tional difficulty, the better ; and that it was desirable for Congress to do what was necessary in silence. This caution was probably dictated from an apprehension of the effect of such discussions in France, the govern- ment of which, as the American ministers were informed, showed a dis- position to declare the treaty void, if any pretext were furnished by the United States. The president, with a view to provide for carrying the Louisiana treaty into effect, called Congress together on the 17th of October, 1803, about three weeks earlier than the day that had been previously fixed by the preceding Congress, when they adjourned in March, 1803. This was the eighth Congress, and there was a large democratic ma- jority in both branches. Nathaniel Macon, of North Carolina was again chosen speaker of the house. The treaty was ratified by the senate on the 20th of October, by a vote of 24 to 7, and on the 22d it was officially communicated to both houses, that they might provide for its execution. An act of Congress was passed within fourteen days of the time of assembling, making provision for the occupation and temporary government of Louisiana, under the au- thority of the president ; and eleven millions of dollars were appropriated as the purchase money — the remaining four millions being reserved for the indemnity of American citizens who had sustained losses by French spoliations on our commerce. The general resolution for carrying the treaty into effect, was adopted in the house of representatives by a vote of 90 to 25 ; and the resolutions for a provincial government and for the appropriation required for the purchase, were passed without a division. At an early day of this session of Congress, an amendment to the constitution of the United States was proposed, relative to the election of president and vice-president, so as to designate which person was voted for as president, and which as vice-president ; instead of the original ar- ticle, which required the electors to vote for two persons for these offices, of whom the one who had the highest number of votes was to be presi- dent. The amendment was proposed by the republicans, to provide against the disappointment which had threatened them at the election in 1801, and which had caused so much bitterness of feeling. The federalists opposed the amendment as an unwise departure from the spirit and design of the ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. 139 constitution, which was, that two persons, fully qualified for the office of chief magistrate, should be voted for, without a specific and exclusive designation of one to the presidency ; and thus in case of the death of one, the other, who would succeed, would be equal to the discharge of the high trust. But the political friends of the president were resolved to prevent the recurrence of a similar difficulty with that which had haz- arded the choice of Mr. Jefferson in 1801. They also urged in favor of the proposed alteration of the constitution that it was more simple, direct, and proper, to designate which candidate was intended to be president, by the votes of the electors. The amendment was agreed to, by the votes of two thirds of the mem- bers of both branches of Congress, and within the year 1804 it was ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, as re- quired by the constitution. Thirteen states were in favor of it, and three states only, namely, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Delaware, disap- proved of the change. This amendment, which forms the 12th article of the amendments to the constitution, was announced by the secretary of state, in a public notice dated the 25th of September, 1804, as having been duly adopted and ratified. At this session of Congress the salaries of the principal officers of the government were raised nearly twenty per cent. Additional duties were imposed on imports to defray the expenses of the naval establishment then required in the Mediterranean to protect American commerce from, the piratical cruisers of Tripoli. The United States navy employed in that sea was small in force, but effectual in checking the operations of the pirates of that quarter. The American officers and men gained much reputation by their valor and good conduct in the contest with Tripoli. An additional law was passed by Congress on the subject of the natu- ralization of aliens, and the time of residence required previous to their becoming citizens was placed on its original footing of five years, instead of fourteen. The federalists opposed this law, as they deemed it unreason- able to admit foreigners to all the rights of those bom and educated in the United States, until they had resided a longer time in this country, while they were readily allowed protection and equal justice. By a law passed in March, 1804, respecting Louisiana, two separate governments were established in that territory, to be organized as the president might direct. Judge Pickering, of the district court of the United States for New Hampshire, was impeached before the senate by the house of representa- tives at this session. The charges against him being proved, showing his unfitness for conducting the business of the court, in consequence of occa- sional intoxication, he was found guilty, and dismissed from office. The house of representatives also decided to prepare articles of impeachment against Judge Chase, of Maryland, of the supreme court of the United 140 ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. States, and against Judge Peters, of Pennsylvania, of the United States district court. A committee was appointed to draw up articles in form, but the subject was postponed to the next session. The friends of the judiciary system and of the independence of the courts, were alarmed at these proceedings, which they thought indicated a disposition in the democratic party to seek occasions to attack the judges and render them odious to the people. Judge Peters was charged with arbitrary and illegal conduct, and the facts alleged were considered fully proved, but his intended impeachment was not further prosecuted. The charges against Judge Chase were for similar oppressive and arbitrary conduct in the trial of a person indicted for treason, and for displaying ma- lignant and party feelings on several occasions, particularly in the trial of a person in Virginia, under the sedition act. The trial before the senate, at the next session, on this impeachment, resulted in the acquittal of the judge. The bankrupt law which had been enacted under Mr. Adams's adminis- tration, was repealed at the first session of the eighth Congress, at the in- stance, it is believed, of Mr. Jefferson, and certainly with his hearty con- currence, as we are informed by his biographer, Mr. Tucker. As this law authorized a majority of the creditors to discharge a bankrupt trader from all his preceding debts, it was regarded by many of the other classes of the people as an invidious privilege to the mercantile community ; es- pecially in the southern states, where the agricultural pursuits are pre- dominant. It was, for this and other reasons, not viewed with favor by a large portion of the people, although many approved of the law, which they considered necessary in a commercial nation like the United States. The question on the repeal was carried in the house of representatives by 99 votes to 13. On the 27th of March, 1804, Congress adjourned, after a session of 163 days. President Jefferson had, in a confidential message to Congress, in Jan- uary, 1803, recommended an appropriation for defraying the expense of an exploring expedition across the continent to the Pacific ocean, which appropriation was made, and the enterprise was placed under the direction of Captains Lewis and Clarke. This suggestion was made before the acquisition of Louisiana by the United States, and it had long been a fa- vorite object with Mr. Jefferson to explore this part of North America- Before the expedition was ready to start, however, the treaty with France had been ratified. The exploring party consisted of thirty individ- uals, including the two leaders, and left the banks of the Mississippi for the Pacific on the 14th of May, 1804. Mr. Jefferson himself pre- pared the instructions for Captain Lewis, which were drawn up with much wisdom and forecast. The expedition was eminently successful in geographical discoveries, and furnished the first particular information re- specting the extensive country between the Mississippi and the Pacific ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. Ill ocean. The exploring party was absent on this service about two years and three months. The difficulties with Spain had been of long continuance, and related principally to claims to territory on the Mississippi, and numerous spolia- tions by Spain on American commerce. Some of the people of the Uni- ted States were in favor of a war with Spain at this period, but pacific counsels prevailed. The objections Spain had made to the Louisiana treaty had been withdrawn, but new difficulties arose in attempts to nego- tiate a treaty respecting the boundaries and other matters in dispute.* The presidential election coming on in 1 804, Mr. Jefferson was nomi- nated for re-election, and George Clinton, of New York was placed on the ticket with him as a candidate for vice-president, in place of Colonel Burr, who had lost the confidence of the democratic party, which had elected him in 1801. The federalists nominated Charles Cotesworth Pinck- ney, of South Carolina, for President, and Rufus King, of New York, for vice-president. The result showed the great popularity of Mr. Jefferson's administration; the republican candidates receiving 162 votes, and the federal candidates but 14. The war Avith Tripoli was brought to a close by the vigor and energy displayed by the American squadron in the Mediterranean ; five frigates having been sent to that quarter in 1804, under the command of Com- modore Preble, who soon brought the bey to terms, and peace was restored. The second session of the eighth Congress commenced on the 5th of November, 1804, and terminated with the expiration of Mr. Jefferson's first term, on the 3d of March, 1805. The public debt had been increased by the purchase of Louisiana, and the Mediterranean fund, or extra duties on imports, was continued, to pay the expenses of the war with Tripoli. For the defence of the American seacoast, the president recommended the gunboat system, which in fact had been commenced in 1803, by an act of Congress authorizing a certain number of gunboats to be built. More of these vessels were now advised by the president, as the cheap- est and most effectual means of defence for the harbors of the United States. Congress, neither fulfilling the wishes of the executive, nor alto- gether resisting them, gave Mr. Jefferson the means of partially trying his favorite scheme, by the appropriation of sixty thousand dollars. The sufficiency of this species of naval defence occasioned a good deal of discussion at this time, between the opponents and the supporters of the administration. A navy had been vehemently opposed by the re- publican party during Mr. Adams's presidency, as altogether unsuited to the means of the. United States, as inadequate to its defence, and more injurious to their commerce by involving the country in war, than by any protection it could afford. In the meanwhile, the insults to which our * Bradford. '-% 142 ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. merchant ships and seamen were exposed on the ocean, made the com- mercial states call aloud for some measure of protection. It is probable that these circumstances had an influence in recommending this cheap marine, which promised some defence to our harbors and coasts, and which at the same time did not subject the party in power to the charge of inconsistency. But the scheme was vehemently assailed by the adversaries of Mr. Jefferson, in every form of argument and ridi- cule, and was triumphantly adduced as a further proof that he was not a practical statesman. The officers of the navy were believed to be, with scarcely an exception, opposed to the system of gunboats, especially those who were assigned to this service. To stem the current of public opin- ion, which set so strong against these gunboats, and to turn it into their favor, Mr. Jefferson prevailed on Thomas Paine to become their advocate through the newspapers. He set about it with his wonted self-confidence, but in spite of his logic, the public, pinning its faith on experienced men, remained incredulous, and when, soon afterward, many of the new marine were driven ashore in a tempest, or were otherwise destroyed, no one seemed to regard their loss as a misfortune ; and the officers of the navy did not affect to conceal their satisfaction ; nor has any attempt been since made to replace them.* During this session of Congress there was far less of free and inde- pendent discussion on the measures proposed by the friends of the admin- istration, than had been previously practised in both branches of the national legislature. It appeared that on the most important subjects, the course adopted by the majority was the effect of caucus arrangement, or, in other words, had been previously agreed upon at meetings of the dem- ocratic members held in private. Thus the legislation of Congress was constantly swayed by party feelings and pledges, rather than according to sound reason or personal conviction. Two important laws were passed at this session, intended to prevent the hostile and predatory acts of per- sons on board of foreign vessels in the harbors and ports of the United States ; and to regulate the clearance of armed American merchant vessels.! The second presidential term of Mr. Jefferson commenced on the 4th of March, 1805. On that occasion he delivered an inaugural address be- fore the members of Congress and other citizens. He reminds them of the declarations, when he entered on the office of president four years before, of the principles on which he should administer the government, and that his conscience told him he had acted up to them, according to their fair import. He adverts to the liberal principles pursued in our for- eign relations, and their success. " We are firmly convinced," he says, " and we act on that conviction, that with nations, as well as individuals, our interests, soundly calculated, will ever be found inseparable from our * Tucker's Life of Jefferson. f Bradford. ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. 143 moral duties." He speaks with exultation of the reduction of taxes and suppression of unnecessary offices, and yet with a revenue, which is levied on foreign luxuries, and-paid by wealthy consumers, is sufficient to defray the expenses of the government, to fulfil contracts with other gov- ernments and the Indians, and to affiord a surplus sufficient to redeem the public debt within a short period. That the revenue, when thus libera- ted, may by a just repartition among the states, and a correspondent amendment to the constitution, be applied, in time of peace, to " rivers, ca- nals, roads, arts, manufactures, education, and other great objects, in each state, and in time of war, it may meet all the annual expenditure within the year. He suggests that the newly-acquired territory will pay for itself before we are called upon to pay the purchase money. He notices and answers the objection that our territory has thereby been too much enlarged. He speaks of the condition of the Indian tribes as impo- sing new duties both on our justice and humanity — says that now being reduced within limits too narrow for the hunter's state, they should be taught agriculture and the domestic arts, and thus be prepared for civil- ized society ; that their own prejudices present great obstacles to this change, for they too " have their anti-philosophers," who dread refor- mation. In presenting the foregoing outline of his administration, he disclaims arrogating to himself the merit of the measures which, he says, is due to the character of his fellow-citizens, their representatives in Congress, and his associates in the executive department. Adverting to the viru- lence of the press against him, he says that the punishment of the offend- ers had been left altogether to the public indignation ; that the experi- ment thus made whether " freedom of discussion, unaided by power, was not sufficient for the protection and propagation of truth, had proved suc- cessful ;" that our fellow-citizens, when called to decide the question by their suffrage, " had pronounced their verdict, honorable to those who had served them, and consolatory to the friend of man, who believes he may be intrusted with his own affairs." He disclaims making any objec- tions to the laws of the states against defamatory publications, which he thinks may exercise a salutary coercion ; and in allusion to the sedi- tion laws, says that they draw the only definite line between the ines- timable liberty of the press and its demoralizing licentiousness. " If," he remarks, " there is any impropriety which the state laws can not reach, the defect may be supplied by the censorship of public opinion." He congratulates the country on the union of sentiment lately manifested, and anticipates that those who have not yet rallied to the same point, have an increasing disposition to do so ; in the meantime, forbearance is inculca- ted, He speaks with confidence of the principles which will govern him in his future administration. He is sensible of no passion Avhich could " seduce him knowingly from the path of justice, but being liable to err, 144 ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON'. from the weakness of human judgment, he should need their continued indulgence, and not the less for his increasing years," In the election for members of Congress, the preponderance of the democratic party was not as great as in the election of president. Of 142 members of the house of representatives, about 40 were federalists, and subsequent events caused the latter to be occasionally joined by a section of dissatisfied republicans ; still the administration was enabled generally to sustain its measures by a majority of both houses. The ninth Congress assembled on the 2d of December, 1805, when Mr. Macon, of North Carolina, was for the third time elected speaker. Three days after the annual message of the president was communicated to Congress, he sent in a confidential message on the subject of our rela- tions with Spain, the controversies with that power still remaining unset- tled. This message was referred to a select committee, of which Mr. John Randolph, of Virginia, was chairman, and by the proceedings on this subject, it soon became evident that Mr. Randolph, who had been con- sidered a leader in the ranks of the democratic party in the house, was no longer to be relied on as a supporter of the administration. The cause of this gentleman's defection and opposition (as we are in- formed by Mr. Tucker, in his life of Jefferson), was his displeasure at the refusal of the president to appoint him minister to England ; an office un- solicited by Mr. Randolph himself, but applied for by some of the Virginia delegation in Congress, who urged the executive to give him the appoint- ment. When the application and rejection were made known to Mr. Randolph, he was deeply offended, and was soon found in the ranks of the opposition, the public referring his change to his resentment. On the 3d of January, 1806, the select committee, of which Mr. Ran- dolph was chairman, made a report declaring that the aggressions of Spain afforded ample cause of war, but that peace was the policy and in- terest of the United States, and they hoped that Spain would find motives for fulfilling her engagements, and preserving her friendly relations with the United States. Yet, as their territory had been insulted, the commit- tee submitted a resolution — that such a number of troops as the president should deem sufficient to protect the southern frontier, be immediately raised. On the same day a resolution was submitted by Mr. Bidwell, of Mas- sachusetts, a prominent democratic member — that an appropriation be made for the purpose of defraying any extraordinary expenses that might be incurred in the intercourse between the United States and foreign na- tions, to be borrowed and applied under the direction of the president. The first resolution was deemed by the administration and its friends, likely to involve the nation in a war with Spain, and eventually with France ; and the second was suggested as the means of preventing such a result, by enabling the president to purchase Florida. After a warm ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. 145 debate in secret session, until the 11th of January, the first resohuion, for raising troops, was rejected, by a vote of 72 against it to 58 in its favor. The minority was made up of the federal members, and some fifteen or twenty democrats. Mr. Bidwell's resolution, respecting the appropriatjpn for the purchase of Florida, finally passed, after much debate, and the sum appropriated was two millions of dollars. The secret debate continued to the 6th of February, during which the minority so far prevailed as to obtain a declaration of opinion that " an ex- change of territory between the United States and Spain would be the most advantageous mode of settling the existing differences about their respective boundaries," to which arrangement it was asserted the presi- dent was opposed. The vote, however, in favor of the resolution, was 80 to 52. The course of Mr. Randolph, who carried a few of the republican party with him, created, at first, a sudden alarm and confusion among those who remained firm in the administration ranks. They, however, soon rallied, and continued in unbroken phalanx for the remainder of Mr. Jefferson's term. The opp*)sition, however, reinforced by the acquisition of Mr. Randolph and his friends, assailed the administration at every point, and often created embarrassment, when they were unable to pro- duce defeat. The interruptions to American commerce by Great Britain, on the ground that a neutral can not carry on a trade in time of war which is not permitted to it in peace, had excited great feeling throughout all the com- mercial states ; and most of the principal towns had memorialized Con- gress or the executive on the subject. The continued impressment of American seamen afforded a further cause of complaint. The president having, on the 17th of January, sent a message to Congress on these sub- jects, with the memorials received by the executive, various propositions were submitted relative thereto, in the house of representatives. On the 17th of March, the house agreed to the policy of prohibiting the importa- tion of specific articles of British growth or manufacture, by a vote of 87 to 35, the federalists generally voting in the minority. The bill laying this prohibition passed the house on the 28th of March, by a vote of 93 to 32 — federalists, with Mr. Randolph and two or three of his friends, constituting the minority. On the 15th of April it passed the senate, by a vote of 19 to 9. The prohibition was to take effect on the 11th day of November, A bill was also passed interdicting all intercourse with the French part of the island of Hayti, which had been revolutionized by the blacks. The sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars was appropriated for forti- fying the ports and harbors of the United States, and two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for building gunboats. 10 116 ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. The Other important measures were of a domestic character. Of these the first in importance as a precedent and as a measure of utility, Avas the act for the construction of a national road from Cumberland, in Maryland, to the state of Ohio, which passed on the 24th of March, 1806, by a vote of 66 to 50. It was opposed on the constitutional ground that the power of making roads was not given to Congress ; but to obviate this objection, the consent of the states through whose territories the road was to pass (Ma- ryland, Virginia, and Ohio) was first required. Yet if Congress had not the power of making roads, as was contended, the consent of these states could not give it.* The bill passed, however, with the approval of Presi- dent Jefferson, but the question continued to be long afterward a subject of controversy between those who were severally disposed to a strict, and a liberal construction of the constitution. Congress adjourned on the 2 1st of April, after a most animated and con- tentious session, the house of representatives having been the scene of constant bickering between the three parties into which it was divided, owing to the schism in the republican or democratic party, already re- ferred to. Those democrats who acted with Mr. Randolph, differed from the administration on some leading points of foreign policy, but while they voted with the federalists on these questions, and on some collateral points, they took especial care not to be considered by the nation as being merged in the federal party, not only by their general declarations, but by their votes on all questions not involving the policy of the administra- tion, on which occasions they concurred with the republicans. This party consisted principally of members from Virginia, and were all personally intimate with Mr. Randolph. This same party afterward received a great accession of strength in Virginia, by bringing forward Mr. Monroe as a candidate for the presidency, in opposition to Mr. Madison, and it was not until the reconciliation of these gentlemen, by the good offices of Mr. Jefferson, that its ranks were broken as a party, and that some of the scattered fragments united with the federalists, in opposition to the war and all the leading measures of the administration which preceded it.f Immediately after the decision of Congress to appropriate two millions of dollars for the purchase of Florida, the president appointed General Armstrong, of New York, and Mr. Bowdoin, of Massachusetts, joint com- missioners to effect, if practicable, a treaty, and an amicable settlement at Paris of all matters of dispute with Spain ; the affairs of that power be- ing then closely connected with those of France. The negotiation re- specting the purchase of Florida having failed, the money appropriated for that purpose was never drawn from the treasury. The Hornet sloop- of-war was despatched to France with letters of credit, to be used, if wanted, by the American ministers at Paris, for the purchase of Florida, which gave rise to a report in the United States, that two millions in specie * Tucker's Life of Jefferson. t ^bid. ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. 147 were carried to France in that vessel, and actually paid to Bonaparte, without any consideration Avhatever. There was a want of cordiality be- tween the two American ministers at Paris, Messrs. Bowdoin and Arm- strong, which gradually ripened into an open collision. Mr. Monroe (who had, after negotiating the Louisiana treaty with France, in 1803, been ap- pointed minister to Great Britain, to succeed Mr. Rufus King) was called upon, in 1805, to join Mr. Charles Pinckney, the resident minister at Madrid, for the purpose of settling with Spain the disputed question of the boundaries of Louisiana. After spending five months with his col- league, Mr. Pinckney, at Madrid, in unavailing efforts to settle the dis- putes with Spain, Mr. Monroe returned to London in June, 1805. In May, 1806, Mr. William Pinkney, of Maryland, was associated with Mr. Monroe in the negotiation then in progress with Great Britain. In his private correspondence with Mr. Monroe at this time, Mr. Jef- ferson expressed a desire for a permanent peace with England. Mr. Fox, the leader of the whig party, being then a member of the British cabinet, Mr. Jefferson wrote to Mr. Monroe as follows : " The late change in the ministry I consider as insuring us a just settlement of our differences, and we ask no more. In Mr. Fox, personally, I have more confidence than in any man in England, and it is founded in what, through unquestionable channels, I have had opportunities of knowing of his honesty and good sense. While he shall be in the administration, my reliance on that gov- ernment will be solid. We had committed ourselves in a line of proceed- ing adapted to meet Mr. Pitt's policy and hostility, before we heard of his death [alluding to the non-importation law], which self-respect did not permit us to abandon afterward. It ought not to be viewed by the minis- try as looking toward them at all, but merely as the consequences of the measures of their predecessors, which their nation has called on them to correct. I hope, therefore, they will come to just arrangements. No two countries upon earth have so many points of common interest and friend- ship ; and their rulers must be great bunglers indeed, if, with such dispo- sitions, they break them asunder. The only rivalry that can arise is on the ocean. We ask for peace and justice from all nations, and we will remain uprightly neutral in fact, though leaning in belief to the opinion that an English ascendency on the ocean is safer for us than that of France." In the year 1806, the public mind was much excited by the expedition of Colonel Burr in the western country, which was supposed to have had for its object the dissevering of the Union and the establishment of an in- dependent government west of the Allegany mountains. But the circum- stances which were disclosed at his trial seemed rather to indicate an expedition ag^iinst the Spanish provinces of Mexico and adjoining territo- ries. Burr was arrested near Fort Stoddard, on the banks of the Tom- bigbee river, then in the Mississippi territory, in February, 1807, and 148 ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. thence conducted as a prisoner to Richmond, Virginia, where he was in- dicted by the grand jury, for high treason, in June following. He was put on trial, before Judges Marshall and Gilpin, and acquitted in August of the same year. The verdict was, " We of the jury say, that Aaron Burr is not proved to be guilty under this indictment, by any evidence submitted to us. We therefore find him not guihy." Burr was tried at the same court on an indictment for misdemeanor, and acquitted. The second session of the 9th Congi'ess lasted from the first of Decem- ber, 1806, to the 3d of March, 1807. The president informed the house that the negotiation with Great Britain was proceeding in a spirit of ac- commodation, since the delay occasioned by the death of the British min- ister (Mr. Fox) charged with that duty. He mentioned that the Amer- ican ministers at London (Monroe and Pinkney) had suggested that a temporary suspension of the non-importation act would have a happy ef- fect on the course of the negotiation. In pursuance of this recommenda- tion, a bill was passed in the house on the 6th of December, with only five dissentients, to suspend the act to the 1st of July, and amended in the senate so as to authorize the president to suspend it to the second Mon- day in December succeeding. An appropriation of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars was voted by the house for building thirty gunboats — ayes 68, noes 36. In con- formity with the recommendation of the president, a law was passed to prohibit the African slave-trade after the 1st of January, 1808. The tax on salt was repealed, and the extra duties for the Mediterranean fund were continued. Congress also made a liberal compensation to Captains Lewis and Clarke and their companions, in donations of land, for their services in the important expedition across the Rocky mountains to the Pacific. In the negotiation of a treaty with Great Britain, Mr. Fox, while in the cabinet, but a short time before his death, was prevented by indisposition from taking part, and before it had made much progress the nation was called upon to mourn for his decease. As Mr. Jefferson anticipated a complete change of ministry from this event, with his hopes of a success- ful negotiation greatly moderated, he thought it prudent to give more ex- plicit instructions to the American envoys. They were therefore in- formed of his views on the subjects of impressments, neutral commerce, blockades. East and West India trade, and indemnification ; and they were instructed not to enter into any treaty which did not provide some security against the impressment of American seamen. These despatches were, however, too late. They were dated the 3d of February, 1807, and a treaty was signed in London on the 31st of December preceding, by Messrs. Monroe and Pinkney on the part of the United States, and on the part of Great Britain by Lords Holland and Aukland. The day before Congress rose^ the president received from Mr. Erskine, the British minister at Washington, a copy of the treaty, and it fell so far ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. 149 short of what he conceived to be the just claims of the United States, as well as of his instructions, that he decided at once on not submitting it to the senate, but to try the effect of further negotiation. Besides other ob- jections, there were two that were insuperable. These were, that the treaty contained no provision whatever on the subject of impressment ; and because it was accompanied by a note from the British ministers, by which the British government reserved to itself the rigjit of releasing itself from the stipulations in favor of neutral rights, if the United States submitted to the Berlin decree, or other invasion of those rights by France. The treaty consisted of twenty-six articles, and confirmed the perma- nent and unexpired articles in Mr. Jay's treaty of 1794. On the subject of the rights of neutrals, and some other points, the two treaties were substantially the same. One of the new features in the treaty of 1806, was, that Great Britain consented that the United States should have a circuitous trade with the colonies of her enemies during the existing hos- tilities. This treaty was more favorable to the United States than that of 1794, in some respects, and less advantageous in limiting the trade to the British colonies in India to direct voyages, and in providing no compen- sation for illegal captures. Mr. Tucker, in his life of Jefferson, remarks, that as a treaty of navigation and commerce it was not better than that ne- gotiated by Mr. Jay ; and that Mr. Jefferson could not, with any regard either to the equal rights of his country, or to his own consistency, have given it the sanction of his approbation, even had it been free from the two insuperable objections that have been mentioned. The course of the president, in rejecting the treaty with Great Britain, was soon publicly known, and caused great excitement throughout the na- tion. The commercial community particularly, regretted the rejection of the treaty, and the federal party were loud in their denunciations of the president, on public occasions, in conversation, and through the opposition press. It was insisted that the president ought to have laid the treaty be- fore the senate ; and if they approved, to adopt it, as it was, or to propose some modification of it, as was done in the case of the treaty made with France in 1801. The American envoys, Monroe and Pinkney, had signed the treaty, and they were the political friends of the president ; and it was believed that one more favorable could not be obtained ; that it was to be preferred to open war, or entire non-intercourse with Great Britain, for which some then contended, as the best policy. A rejection of the treaty, it was feared, might lead to immediate hostilities, and a system of non-intercourse would greatly diminish American commerce and navi- gation, and also provoke Great Britain to retaliate by increased depreda- tions, under color of exercising her belligerent rights, as necessary to her own safety against' die naval policy of France, her powerful rival and enemy. The democratic party fully justified the president. They insisted that 150 ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. the advice of the senate could not bind him, and ought not to prevail against his opinion. That it was a matter of discretion and prerogative with him to submit it to the senate or not ; that if in great doubt himself, he might lay the subject before that body, and if they advised to its adop- tion, to give it his consent, and place the responsibility on them. This might have been the most prudent course ; but if he was decidedly op- posed to the treaty, as injurious and dishonorable, he ought, as chief magis- trate, to have the power to Avithhold it. The adoption of the treaty with- out the additional note or article of the British ministers, would have been more consistent with good policy, in a neutral government, as that of the United States then was ; and would have manifested a sincere desire to conciliate Great Britain, whose good will toward America was highly im- portant. The rejection of the treaty had an unfavorable effect on the British government and their naval commanders. They thought they saw in it an unwillingness on the part of the president to conciliate that nation, or to preserve friendly relations between the two countries.* The American ministers who negotiated the treaty with England, com- plained of the manner in which it was received, as they considered it highly advantageous to this country, particularly with regard to two points of dispute, namely, the rights of neutrals and the practice of blockade adopted by England. On the third point in dispute, that the American flag should protect all who sailed under it, England, her ministers said, could not concede this without abandoning her maritime force ; and while this point was a sine qua non no adjustment with her could be effected. Yet Pinkney and Monroe obtained assurances from the British ministry, though not in the form of a treaty, which they deemed satisfactory. It was expressly offered by the British government, when it asserted a right to take its own subjects wherever found, after requesting their surrender of the commander of the vessel to which they then belonged, that its ships-of-war should give up any American citizens on board, on request and proof that they were such. There can be but little doubt that the refusal to ratify the treaty with Great Britain negotiated by Monroe and Pinkney, was a primary cause of the embargo and other restrictive measures which soon after followed, and finally led to the war of 1812. The change of ministry in England, by the death of Mr. Fox, placed Mr. Canning in the cabinet, as secretary for foreign affairs. Iii their in- terviews with Mr. Canning, after they were informed of the president's re- jection of the treaty, the American ministers wore soon satisfied that there was little probability of a more successful negotiation. In conformity with instructions received from Mr. Madison, secretary of state, Messrs. Mon- roe and Pinkney addressed a note to Mr. Canning.^n the 24th of July, 1807, proposing a renewal of the negotiation, and submitted to him the • Bradford. ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. 151 alterations they proposed in the rejected treaty. The attack on the Ches- apeake frigate caused a suspension of correspondence, so that Mr. Can- ning did not reply to the American ministers until the 22d of October, when, after justifying the reservation made of the right to retaliate the French decrees, and insisting that the subject of the " impressment of British seamen from merchant vessels" formed no part in the treaty, and was entitled only to a separate and subsequent discussion, he protests, in behalf of his government, " against a practice, altogether unusual in the political transactions of states, by which the American government as- sumes to itself the privilege of revising and altering agreements concluded and signed in its behalf by its agents duly authorized for that purpose ; of retaining so much of those agreements as may be favorable to its own views ; and of rejecting such stipulations, or parts of stipulations, as are conceived to be not sufficiently beneficial to America." He therefore in- forms the American ministers that the proposal " for proceeding to nego- tiate anew, upon the basis of a treaty already solemnly concluded and signed, is wholly inadmissible."* In a letter to Mr. Monroe, Mr. Jefferson remarked, if the treaty could not be made more acceptable, the next best thing was to let the negotia- tion die away insensibly, and in the meantime, to agree informally that both parties should act on the principles of the treaty, so as to preserve a friendly understanding. He adds, that as soon as Mr. Monroe sees the amendment of the treaty is desperate, he can follow his desire of return- ing home. Mr. Monroe therefore returned to the United States at the close of the year 1807. At this time the British maintained a squadron which cruised along the coast of the United States, under pretence of enforcing belligerent rights. Vessels-of-war belonging to France and to England might come into the ports of the United States. Those of France came, and those of England came to seek them. Five seamen had deserted from the British sloop-of- war Halifax, in March, 1807, and enlisted on board the United States frigate Chesapeake, then lying in Hampton Roads, and commanded by Captain Barron. Four separate demands were made for these men, but without success ; one on Lieut. Sinclair, of the Chesapeake ; one by the British consul, on the mayor of Norfolk ; one on Captain Decatur ; and one by the British minister, on the secretary of state. The Chesapeake sailed with these five men on board, but while going down the bay, all but one deserted and got on shore. On the 23d of June, when at sea, not far from the capes of Virginia, the Chesapeake was met by the British ship Leopard, of fifty guns, com- manded by Captain Humphreys. The Chesapeake carried forty-four guns. Humphreys sent his boat with a note to Barron, informing him that his commanding officer, Admiral Berkeley, had directed him to take any Brit- • Tucker. 152 ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. ish deserters on board the Chesapeake, by force if necessary, and to allow on his part of a search for American deserters. Captain Barron refused permission to search, and stated that he had instructed his recniiting offi- cer not to enhst British subjects, and that he had no knowledge that any were on board. On this answer being received, the Leopard fired into the Chesapeake, and the latter being taken by surprise, and unprepared for action, did not return the fire, and immediately struck her flag. A boat from the Leopard having been then sent to the Chesapeake, the Amer- ican officers tendered their swords to the British officer commanding, but he declined receiving them, demanded the muster-roll of the ship, and having taken off four men, whom he claimed as British subjects, left the Chesapeake, which then returned to Hampton Roads. Three of these men had previously entered the British service, but were Americans by birth, and had been formally demanded at Washington.* This was a gross outrage on the part of the British commander, what- ever the provocation may have been, because the universally-acknowl- edged principle is. that a national ship at sea and the territory of its na- tion are alike inviolable. The British government so understood this mat- ter, and disavowed the act of its officer, and ofTered a proper and honora- ble reparation, which was finally accepted before the war, and therefore this did not make one of the causes which led to that calamity.! This aflair of the Chesapeake excited the indignation of the whole country ; both parties cordially united in a desire that the honor of the country should be avenged. Many were anxious for a declaration of war with England, but the president preferred a pacific course, and determined to give Great Britain an opportunity of disavowal and reparation. This course proved a wise one, as the affair was finally amicably settled, after a somewhat tedious negotiation. The French emperor, Napoleon, was at this period in the full tide of success and conquest, having subdued and brought under his control a large part of continental Europe. But the English navy had nearly destroyed the French power at sea. The battle of Trafalgar annihilated the united fleets of France and Spain ; and all the principal ports of the French empire, with a long extent of seacoast, were held in vigorous blockade by the British squadrons. To retaliate on the British, the Emperor Napoleon devised a new plan of attack, which he called the Continental System. The object of this scheme was to cut off all intercourse between the continent of Europe and Great Britain, and thus weaken England by destroying this portion of her commerce. On the 21st of November, 1806, Napoleon, having defeated the Prus- sians, and entered Berlin, the capital of that kingdom, issued from the royal palace of that city his celebrated Berlin decree ; by which he de- • Tucker. f Sullivan. ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. 153 clared the British isles in a state of blockade ; and, consequently, that every American or other neutral vessel going to, or coming from, these isles, was subject to capture. The same decree provided that all mer- chandise belonging to England, or coming from its manufactories, or colo- nies, although belonging to neutrals, should be lawful prize on land. This provision was carried into effect. General Armstrong, American minister at Paris, regarded the Berlin decree at first as inapplicable to American commerce, on account of the treaty then existing between the United States and France, but in Oc- tober, 1807, in answer to his inquiry as to the effect of the decree, the French minister of foreign relations informed him of his mistake. The condemnation of American vessels commenced in November fol- lowing. The British government, in retaliation of Napoleon's Berlin decree, is- sued their famous orders in council, dated November 11, 1807. By these orders, all direct trade from America to any part of Europe at war with Great Britain, or which excluded the British flag, was totally prohibited. Goods, however, were allowed to be landed in England, and, after paying duties, might be re-exported to Europe. On the 17th of December suc- ceeding, the orders in council were followed by the Milan decree of Na- poleon, which declared that every vessel that should submit to be searched by a British man-of-war, or which should touch at a British port, or should pay any impost whatever to the British government, should be denation- alized, and subject to seizure and condemnation. These edicts of the two belligerent powers were, of course, destructive to the principal part of the foreign commerce of the United States. Amer- ican vessels trading directly with French ports were liable to capture by British cruisers ; and if they touched at a British port, they were confis- cated on arriving in France. The British orders in council operated with the most severity on American commerce, as through their powerful navy the English possessed the means of enforcing them. The critical situation of our foreign relations induced the president to call the tenth Congress together on the 25th of October, 1807. The dem- ocratic majority continued large in both branches. Joseph B. Varnum, a friend of the administration from Massachusetts, was chosen speaker of the house of representatives. In consequence of the hostile edicts of France and England, the presi- dent, in a confidential special message, on the 18th of December, recom- mended to Congress the passage of an act laying an embargo on all ves- sels of the United States. The message did not allude to the British or- der in council, although Mr. Tucker informs us in his life of Jefferson, on the authority of Mr. Madison, then secretary of state, that the govern- ment had received information, through an authentic private channel, that the British ministry had issued an order against neutral commerce, in re- 154 ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. taliation of the Berlin decree ; which information was confinned by a ministerial English newspaper received at the same time. The subject was immediately discussed in both houses of Congress, in secret session ; and a bill laying an embargo was passed on the 22d of December, 1807, at eleven o'clock at night, by a vote of 82 to 44. A sim- ilar bill had passed the senate on the very day the subject was introduced, by a vote of 22 to 6. According to this bill, all American vessels were prohibited from sailing for foreign ports ; all foreign vessels from taking out cargoes ; and all coasting vessels were required to give bond to land their cargoes in the United States. The embargo was violently opposed by the federal party and their few democratic associates in Congress. It was also extremely unpopular among a large portion of the people, particularly in the states most inter- ested in commerce and navigation. The federalists throughout the United states, denounced the restrictive measures of the administration, but the democratic party generally ap- proved of and sustained them. There were, however, some exceptions even among that party ; and in the city of New York a public meeting was held, soon after the passage of the embargo act by Congress, at which De Witt Clinton, then a leading democrat in the state of New York, presided ; and at this meeting resolutions were adopted disapproving of the embargo. The American Citizen, a democratic paper published in that city by James Cheetham, came out decidedly against the measure. Mr. Clinton shortly afterward renounced his opposition, and sustained this and other measures of Mr. Jefferson's administration. Those who opposed the embargo policy believed it would prove una- vailing in its influence to induce the British ministry to adjust existing disputes with the United States ; another objection to the embargo was, that the act contained no provision for limiting it to a definite period. An embargo had been laid by the continental Congress early in the war of the revolution, and again in 1794, during the administration of Washington ; but these were limited to thirty or sixty days. The act of 1807 was unlimited as to the term of its operation, and it could not be repealed by a majority vote of Congress, as the act of repeal would be subject to the president's veto, after which a two-third vote would be necessary in Congress. If it were intended as a measure of annoyance and injury to a foreign nation, it was putting 'it in the power of the president to make war; and if it were de- signed chiefly as a means of safety, it was said, the merchants were the best judges as to the risks and the dangers. And there was reason to be- lieve that the measure had been recommended and adopted at the secret instance of the French emperor, who sought to destroy the commerce of Great Britain ; and who insisted on the co-operation of the United States, directly or indirectly, in his plans to subjugate his enemy. The letters of the American envoys in Paris, afterward published, stated various con- ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. 155 versations and facts which showed that the emperor expected an embargo would be laid by the American government, and that it would meet his approbation. Napoleon had said that there should be no neutrals ; that the United States should be decided friends, or he must treat them as en- emies. And he predicted in October that an embargo would be laid in America, which was done in December following. Mr. Jefferson used the following language in a confidential letter to the American minister in Paris, in October, 1808 : " Bonaparte does not wish us to go to war with England ; knowing we have not ships sufficient to carry on such a war. And to submit to pay England the tribute on our commerce, which she demands by her orders in council, would be to aid her in the war against France, and would give the emperor just ground to declare war on us." Notwithstanding the difficulties in which American commerce was in- volved by the conduct of both England and France, it was the opinion of men entitled to respect and confidence for their good judgment, that nego- tiations conducted in a proper spirit would have prevented the difficulties and evils which occurred to the United States ; and that more decision and firmness would have prevented war and preserved commercial pros- perity. In France, the American envoys expressed surprise that some resentment was not manifested against the French government by that of the United States. And the American ministers in England expressly declared, that a treaty might have been made with that government which, if not in all respects such as was desired, might have been accepted with- without injury or dishonor to the United States.* The embargo question, and subjects connected with it, occupied much of the time of this session of Congress, which closed on the 25th of April, 1808. The president, on the 2d of February, communicated to Congress the British orders in council of the 11th of November, and on the 17th of March he sent to that body the Milan decree of Napoleon. Spain issued similar decrees soon after the latter. The committee of Congress to whom these and other documents were referred, made a report on the 16th of April, recommending for the pres- ent a continuance of the embargo, but that the president have power to suspend it until the next session of Congress. A law was therefore passed authorizing the executive to suspend the embargo act in the event of a peace in Europe, or of favorable changes in the measures of the bel- ligerents affecting neutral commerce. Some measures of defence were adopted by Congress ; such as the erection and repair of fortifications on the seacoast, and for building and marfhing a large number of gunboats ; for raising eight additional regi- ments of troops ; for detaching one hundred thousand of the militia for service, if required, and for arming the whole body of the militia in the United States. • Bradford. 156 ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. While Congress was in session. Mr. Rose, a special minister from England, arrived at Norfolk for the avowed purpose of adjusting the affair of the frigate Chesapeake. On arriving at Washington he opened a cor- respondence with Mr. Madison, secretary of state, but as the British envoy required, in conformity to his instructions, that the president's proclama- tion interdicting British vessels-of-war from the harbors of the United States, should be withdrawn before entering on the subject of reparation — and this being refused by our government, the negotiation was broken off. Mr. Rose, therefore, embarked for England about the last of March, in the same frigate which brought him out. This correspondence created a new theme for discussion between the two political parties of the nation ; the federalists thought the administra- tion wrong in not revoking the proclamation, while the democrats justified the president and secretary of state in the course adopted. The federal- ists also asserted that Mr. Jefferson was indulging his ancient animosity against England, and furthering the views of France, and that the em- bargo was recommended to the party in power chiefly by its operating more injuriously on England than on her enemies. The operation of the embargo law, although the measure was sustained by a majority of the American people, was the occasion of great distress, par- ticularly among the commercial community, throughout the United States, and put the patriotism and firmness of all to a severe test. Dependent as we were on foreign markets for the sale of our redundant products, now that we were not permitted to export them, they fell to half their wonted price, and even less. To many of the producers they did not repay the cost of production. The supply of foreign merchandise, too, which habit had made necessary, and of which there was no domestic supply, or an insufficient one, being cut off, its price rose proportionally high, and thus the expen- ses of the agricultural classes increased in the same proportion that their means of defraying them diminished. It bore still harder on the sailors and ship-owners, who were thrown entirely out of employment — and here the pressure was most severely felt in the states that were most addicted to navigation. It is true it operated as a bounty on manufactures, by ma- king them scarcer and dearer, but this at first benefited but a small pro- portion of the community. The embargo was also severely felt by the belligerents, and especially by England. The United States were the most extensive and profitable of all the customers of Great Britain, and the loss of our trade must be grievously felt by her manufacturers. Thus it was a trial between the two nations, England and the United States, who could suffer longest. In this contest, however, we lay under a disadvantage ; for, in the first place, we deprived Great Britain of the trade of only one nation, while we de- prived ourselves of the trade of all ; and in the next, our adversaries could procure cotton from Brazil, Egypt, and the East Indies, tobacco from South ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. 157 America, naval stores from Sweden, lumber from Nova Scotia, and grain from the Baltic, thoiigli at a greater cost ; but we, exporting nothing, were unable to import the woollens, linens, silks, hardware, and pottery, to which we were accustomed and which we had not yet learned to make.* Another disadvantage (noticed by the same writer) attending this pol- icy, was the change of trade from the United States, by being forced into new channels. Thus it was long after the peace before the West Indies furnished as extensive a market for American products as before the embargo. Whatever were the hazards of capture, from the edicts of the belligerents, they could be fairly estimated by the merchants, and to prohibit them from employing their capital in this Avay was to withhold from them a profit within their reach, and was an injury, not only to them, but to the whole class of their customers, whether producers or consumers. It was further injurious in increasing the profits of illicit trade, and, con- sequently, the temptations to engage in violations of the embargo law, and smuggling, to the injury of patriotic merchants and the benefit of those who disregarded the laws. The violent opposition to this measure of the administration, gradually weakened the democratic party and strengthened the federalists, particu- larly in the middle and eastern states. Still the administration were enabled to sustain themselves with a majority of the people. In reference to the operation of the embargo, Mr. Jefferson remarks, in a letter to Doctor Leib on the 23d of June, 1808 : " The federalists are now playing a game of the most mischievous tendency, without, perhaps, being themselves aware of it. They are endeavoring to convince England that we suffer more by the embargo than they do, and that, if they will but hold out awhile, we must abandon it. It is true, the time will come when we must abandon it. But if this is before the repeal of the orders in coun- cil, we must abandon it only for a state of war. The day is not distant when that will be preferable to a longer continuance of the embargo. But we can never remove that, and let our vessels go out and be taken under these orders, without making reprisal. I think that in two or three months we shall know what will be the issue." While the nation was greatly agitated by the condition of the country, in view of the critical state of our foreign relations, the presidential elec- tion came on. There was some division among the democrats in Virginia Avith regard to a successor of Mr. Jefferson, as president of the United States. It had been understood generally by the party that Mr. Madison would be selected, but Mr. Monroe's claims were strongly pressed by his personal friends, among whom was John Randolph. On the 23d of Jan- uary, 1808, soon after Mr. Monroe's return from England, the friends of each candidate tried their strength at a caucus of the members of the legis- lature of Virginia, when 134 declared in favor of Mr. Madison, and 47 • Tucker. 158 ADMINISTRATIOX OF JEFFERSON. for Mr. Monroe. A caucus of the democratic members of Congress was held at Washington on the same night, when Mr, Madison received 83 votes, Mr. Monroe 3, and George Clinton 3. Mr. Madison was therefore nominated for president ; at the same time, George Clinton was nominated for re-election as vice-president. When the election came on, James Madison received 122 electoral votes for president, and George Clinton 113 votes for vice-president. The federal candidates, Charles C. Pinckney for president, and Rufus King for vice-president, received each 47 votes. Of the democratic votes, 6 were given to George Clinton for president ; and for vice-president. 9 were given to John Langdon, 3 to James Madison, and 3 to James Monroe. The states which supported the federal candidates were New Hamp- shire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Delaware ; also two districts in ]Mar}'land, and three in North Carolina. General Armstrong, the American minister at Paris, in 1808, in pursu- ance of his instructions, remonstrated with M. Champagny, the French minister of foreign relations, against the condemnations of American ves- sels and cargoes under the Berlin and Milan decrees, which he showed to be clear infractions of the treaty of 1800. To the several remonstran- ces made by the American minister against the captures and burning of American property, no answer was given by the French government. Mr. Madison, secretary of state, wrote to General Armstrong on the 29th of May, 1808, to inform him of the power given to the president to suspend the embargo, and requested him to inform the French government that the effect of revoking her decrees would be to compel Great Britain to follow her example, or to be at war with the United States ; and on the other hand, should Great Britain revoke her orders in council, France could not persist in her decrees without forcing a contest with the United States. Thus, instead of a suspension of the embargo, as to France, on repeal- ing her decrees, it was supposed that a sufficient inducement might be presented in other considerations. War with Great Britain was, in short, indicated as the consequence of such repeal. This offer was unnoticed by the French minister. Mr. Pinkney, the American minister in London, in writing to Mr. Can- ning, the British minister, as instructed, stated explicitly, that on Great Britain rescinding her orders in relation to the United States, they would open their trade with her, and keep it, shut to her enemy, if he failed also to rescind his decrees. This offer was unhesitatingly rejected. Mr. Canning, in reply to Mr. Pinkney, in September, 1808, said, that as the application made to the French government by the United States had not met with a favorable reception, his majesty (the king of England) could not change his course. That he saw nothing in the embargo to induce the change. If it were regarded as a measure of hostility, it was inani- ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. 159 festly unjust toward him. The redress should be first made by the party originating the wrong. He professes every disposition to be on amicable terms with the United States ; says the depression of other countries is not desired by his nation ; that the prosperity of America is essentially that of Great Britain, and her strength and power are not for herself, but for the world. That when a readjustment of the present differences should take place, both nations would better appreciate the value of each other's friendship. The correspondence between Mr. Pinkney and Mr. Canning, extending through a series of letters, was unsatisfactory, and led to no result. The letters of the British minister are more remarkable for a display of wit and sarcasm, than for those qualities which might be expected to distin- guish a practical statesman of the admitted talents of Mr. Canning. On the 7th of November, 1808, Congress assembled, at the time ap- pointed at the last session, and on the 8th Mr. Jefferson sent to both houses his last annual message. The subject of the foreign relations was, on the 11th of November, re- ferred to a committee of the house of representatives, who, on the 22d, made a report, concluding with three resolutions submitted for the consid- eration of the house: 1st. That the United States could not, without a sacrifice of their rights, honor, and independence, submit to the late edicts of Great Britain and France. 2d. That it was expedient to prohibit the admission of either the ships or merchandise of those belligerents into the ports of the United States. 3d. That the country Ought to be immediately placed in a state of defence. After a protracted debate, the first two resolutions were passed, by three fourths of the votes, and the last unanimously. A similar debate on the same subject, in the senate, was introduced by a motion to repeal the embargo law. The motion was supported by its mover, Mr. Hillhouse, of Connecticut, and by Messrs. Pickering and Lloyd, of Massachusetts, and White, of Delaware. It was opposed by Messrs. Pope, of Kentucky, Smith, of Maryland, Crawford, of Georgia, and Moore and Giles, of Virginia. The question on the resolution was taken on the 2d of December, when it appeared that there were but six votes in its favor, to twenty-five against it. In pursuance of the third resolution adopted by the house, the sum of four hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars was appropriated to forti- fications, principally at New York ; four frigates were ordered to be equipped in addition to the naval force already in service ; three thousand six hundred seamen to be enlisted, in addition to those already in service, and an addition was made to the marine corps. While the report which earnestly urged the impoliey of repealing the embargo act was adopted by so large a majority, the greater part even of the friends of the administration had no expectation that it would be 160 ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. continued many months longer. Some thought it ought to be repealed in the spring, but none were desirous of extending it further than the 1st of September., Looking forward to the change of policy, various expedients connected with the repeal were proposed, but neither of these propositions according with the views of a large majority, they were all postponed on the 10th of February, by 65 votes to 55.* In the meanwhile the embargo was pressing with increasing severity on every class of the community, whether producers or consumers, and this pressure drove the people of New England, where the embargo was most felt, to a point of disaffection which had never before been witnessed in the United States. Many, therefore, entertained strong hopes that some course would be taken during the present session, by which the industry and enterprise of the country might be again put into activity, its vessels be once more suffered to venture on the ocean, and perhaps be permitted to arm in their own defence, if not to make reprisals. Among the many objections to the embargo, there was one which operated Strongly on its friends, and that was the frequency with which it was violated. There were also many cases in which the law was clandestinely evaded. The majority of Congress who were willing to try it longer, rather than resort to war, passed a law during this session, which armed the executive with new powers for enforcing it. The administration and the majority who supported it were, before Con- gress rose, turned from the purpose of trying tht, embargo a few months longer, from fear of the growing disaffection of the New England states. It has appeared by subsequent disclosures, that in the month of Febru- ary, Mr. John Quincy Adams, who had supported the administration in the embargo and other measures of policy, ever since the affair of the Ches- apeake, and who, finding his course was not approved by the legislature of Massachusetts, had resigned his seat in the senate of the United States, made to the president a communication to the following effect, namely : that from information received by him, and which might be relied on, it was the determination of the ruling party in Massachusetts, and even New England (federalists), if the embargo was persisted in, no longer to submit to it, but to separate themselves from the Union ; at least until the existing obstacles to commerce were removed ; that the plan was already digested, and that such was the pressure of the embargo on the commu- nity, that they would be supported by the people. The danger thus threatening the Union was deemed paramount to all other considerations, and the president, with his cabinet, concluded that it would be better, to modify their interdiction of commerce in such a way that, while employment was afforded to American vessels, Great Britain and France should still feel the loss of American commerce. Congress accordingly passed a law for repealing the embargo after the 15th of March, * Tucker. ADMIXISTRATION OF JEFFERSOX. 161 as to all nations except France and Great Britain, and interdicting with them all commercial intercourse whatever, whether by exporting or im- porting, either directly or circuitously. This measure has always since gone under the name of the non-intercourse law. It passed the house of representatives on the 27th of February, by 81 votes to 40, and became a law on the 1st of March, 1809. The repeal of the embargo took effect on the 15th of the same month. It is not known whether the information thus communicated by Mr. Adams was entirely accurate,* but that the growing discontents of the country made some change expedient, would seem to be very reasonable. In most of the state legislatures of New England there Avas a systematic purpose to defeat the measures of the general government, especially in * Tlie following statement was authorized by Mr. Adams, and published in the National Intelligencer of October 21, 1828, and republished in Niles's Register, vol. xxxv., p. 138 : — " At the session of Congress w^hich commenced in November, 1808, Mr. Adams was a pri- vate citizen, residing at Boston. The embargo was still in force, operating with extreme pressure upon the interests of the people, and was viewed as a most effective instrument by the party prevailing in the state against the administration of Mr. Jefferson. The people were constantly instigated to forcible resistance against it, and juries after juries acquitted the violators of it, upon the ground that it was unconstitutional, assumed in the face of a solemn decision of the district court of the United States. A separation of the Union was openly stimulated in the public prints, and a convention of delegates of the New England states, to meet at New Haven, was intended and proposed. " Mr. Giles, and several other members of Congress, during this session, wrote to Mr. Ad- ams confidential letters, informing him of the various measures proposed as reinforcements or substitutes for the embargo, and .soliciting his opinions upon the subject. He answered these letters with frankness, and in confidence. He earnestly recommended the substitution of the non-intercourse for the embargo ; and, in giving his reasons for this preference, was necessa- rily led to enlarge upon the views and purposes of certain leaders of the party which had the management of the state legislature in their hands. He urged that a continuance of the em- bargo much longer would certainly be met by forcible resistance, supported by the legislature, and probably by the judiciary of the state. That to quell that resistance, if force should be resorted to by the government, it would produce a civil war ; and that in that event, he had no doubt the leaders of the party would secure the cooperation with them of Great Britain. That their object was, and had been for several years, a dissolution of the Union, and the es- tablishment of a separate confederation, he knew from unequivocal evidence, although not proveable in a court of law ; and that, in the case of a civil war, the aid of Great Britain to ef- fect that purpose would be as surely resorted to, as it would be indispensably necessary to the design. That these letters to Mr. Giles were by him communicated to Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Ad- ams believes. He believes, likewise, that other letters from him to other members of Con- gress, written during the same session and upon the same subject, were also communicated to him. In one of the letters to Mr. Giles he repeated an a.s.surance which he had verbally given him during the preceding session of Congrcs.s, that he had for his support of Mr. Jefferson's ad- ministration no personal or interested motive, and no favor to ask of him whatever." On being called upon in November, 1828, by Hon. Harrison Gray Otis, William Prescott, William Sullivan, and other leading federalists of Massachusetts, to furnish his proofs relative to the charges made by him of a design by the leaders of the federal party in Massachusetts to effect a dissolution of the Union in 1808, Mr. Adams declined to do so at that time, but intima- ted that at some future day a sense of duty might require him to disclose the evidence which be possessed on the subject. The correspondence was published in Niles's Register, vol. xxxv. In their letter to Mr. Adams, Messrs. Otis and others declare, that "they have never known nor suspected the party which prevailed in Massachusetts in 1808, or any other party in this state, ever entertained the design to produce a dissolution of the Union, or the establishment of a separate confederation." II 162 ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. preventing the execution of the law last enacted for enforcing the embar- go. In Connecticut a law was passed to prevent those searches in pri- vate houses, which the act of Congress authorized under particular cir- cumstances.* Tlie administration of Mr. Jefferson terminated on the 3d of March, 1809. He received addresses from the legislatures of the states of Ver- mont, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Georgia, and from the senate of New York, and the house of delegates of Virginia, to serve a third term, but he chose to decline being again a candidate, offering as a reason a desire to conform to the precedent made by General Washing- ton. In his correspondence with his friends at the time, he expressed his gratification at being enabled to retire to private life. After waiting to witness the inauguration of his successor, he left the seat of govern- ment for his favorite seat of Monticello. At the period when Mr. Jefferson resigTied the reins of government into the hands of his chosen friend, Mr. Madison, the country was involved in gloom and despondency. A report of a committee of the legislature of Massachusetts, in January, 1809, drew the following picture of the state of the country at that time : — " Our agriculture is discouraged. The fisheries abandoned. Naviga- tion forbidden. Our commerce at home restrained, if not annihilated. Our commerce abroad cut off. Our navy sold, dismantled, or degraded to the service of cutters or gunboats.* The revenue extinguished. The course of justice interrupted. And the nation weakened by internal ani- mosities and divisions, at the moment when it is unnecessarily and im- providently exposed to war with Great Britain, France, and Spain." Such were the views of the opponents of Mr. Jefferson's administra- tion, when it was about to close. The principal benefits accomplished by him and his cabinet, during the eight years while the power of the gov- ernment was in their hands, as claimed by the friends of Mr. Jefferson, were, first, the acquisition of Louisiana, by which more than a million of square miles were added to the national domain, and the free navigation of the Mississippi secured ; which also settled a troublesome and threat- ening controversy with Spain, and removed the powerful and dangerous neighborhood of France ; second, the surveys of the coast and the exploring expedition of Lewis and Clarke, which added greatly to the geographical knowledge of the country ; third, the administration had done much to advance the Indians in the arts of civilized life, and had obtained their voluntary relinquishment of their title to ninety-six millions of acres ; it had also the merit of compelling the Barbary powers to respect the flag .of the United States. It is also claimed for Mr. Jefferson, by his friends, as stated by his biographer, Professor Tucker, that he gave a practical illustration of the * Tucker. ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON. 1G3 great political maxims from which our civil institutions take their shape and derive their force ; that government was instituted for the benefit of the governed, and, consequently, that its power is not a property in those who administer it, but a trust for the public good ; that as power is grate- ful in itself, and its exercise always more or less conflicts with the inter- ests or wishes of others, it should be as sparingly delegated and as for- bearingly exerted as is consistent with the great purposes of peace and security. In conformity with these maxims (the same writer remarks), Mr. Jef- ferson made no attempt, and exhibited no desire to enlarge the powers of the executive, and never exercised them for the benefit of hin^self or of his family. The biographer of Mr. Jefferson has not thought proper to define, iu the partialities of his friendship, the improvements, if any, which that president introduced, in administering the government, on the system and views of General Washington, nor has he stated in what respects the ad- ministration of Washington, and his constructions of the constitution of which he was one of the framers, was not a safe model for his successors. A recent impartial Avriter, in drawing a parallel between Washington and Jefferson, remarks as follows. It is from a sketch of the life of Thomas Jefferson, published in Philadelphia, by J. G. Russell, 1844 : — • " The superiority of Washington's statesmanship seems to be shown in the peculiar adaptation of his policy to the special object of the federal constitution, which was the vigor and efficiency of the government, in contradistinction to the laxity of principle and looseness of the parts in the old confederacy. Let us suppose that Mr. Jefferson had been cho- sen to carry into practice the first experiment of the government, instead of Washington, and that he had applied his system of state-rights ^nd. pop- ular interference to the new machine which the federal convention had just placed in the hands of the executive. Is it not self-evident that, for want of vigor and energy, the constitution would have crumbled to pieces in his hands, and left him in possession only of the fragments of the old confederacy ? For that is certainly the true system of the government which fulfils its great ends ; and that, of course, must be the spurious doc- trine which baffies and defeats the object had in view by those who framed it. The difference in the crisis, and the remote stages of the two admin- istrations can not affect this principle. A government of laws must have the principle of energy and coercion ; and it was the concentration of this energy in a federal government which the convention gave, and which, to cany out into perfection, induced the Washington policy. It does ap- pear, therefore, that Mr. Jefferson's was anomalous and not congenial to the constitution, but a policy formed in accordance with the constant and living current of popular opinion ; a policy for the people, not for the con- stitution ; a policy framed to gain popularity, not to cement, fulfil, or con- 164 ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFEftSON. summate tlie fabric and purposes of the government. It appears, therefore, to be rather the policy of tlie politician than the policy of the statesman, the legislator, the lawgiver, or the patriot, who looks beyond the bounds of pres- ent praise to the final consequences of civilization and liberty. Yet even this anomalous policy of Mr. Jefferson, so far from being incompatible with hu- man happiness and permanent freedom, is admirably calculated to secure those objects, provided the people are sufficiently virtuous to be governed by opinion instead of law. It implies, in the people, the highest perfection of virtue and intelligence, and, leaving nothing to coercion, places the safety of society at the mercy of their discretion, wisdom, prudence, and virtue. It implies that power will be so honest as to commit no usurpa- tion, and that the people will be so virtuous as to abstain from all violence, licentiousness, and disorder ! but this is supposing the very effect that government is intended to secure. We have many declarations under Mr. Jefferson's pen, which show that he had not considered the scientific prin- ciples of his system so profoundly as he had studied its impression on the minds of the people ; and seeing it well received by them, he determined to adhere to it. So that in efiect there was this difference in Washington and Jefferson, as statesmen — that the former rescued the republic from the chaos of the old confederation to the coercive government of the federal constitution, and the latter reconducted us to the chaos of the confederacy through the currents of popular opinion, ideas of unbounded liberty, im- plicit confidence in the virtues of the people, and an unlimited faith in their intelligence, and capacity for self-government." 3iid^iv"V.Balcli-fToiii a.Pammigl'T Stuart - '(Z^^t>^-i ^^^^^7->^^^>^ BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JAMES MONROE. The family of Monroe is one of the most ancient and honorable among the early settlers of Virginia. It is remarkable that the tide water section of that state has produced four of the first five presidents of the United States ; Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, having been born in that part of Virginia, and within a few miles of each other. The same sec- tion of country, it may be added, was honored also as the birthplace of the biographer of Washington, who for many years was the ornament of the supreme court of the United States — Chief- Justice Marshall. The fifth president of the United States, James Monroe, was born on the 2d of April, 1759, in the county oC Westmoreland, Virginia. His pa- rents were Spence Monroe and Elizabeth Jones, both members of old and highly respectable families in the ancient dominion. His early youth was passed in the midst of that exciting contest which led to the American revolution ; the stamp act being passed in the sixth year of his age. He was thus educated in the detestation of tyranny, and prompted by a patri- otism which went beyond his years, he left the college of William and Mary, where he was pursuing collegiate studies, to join the standard of his country, in the 18th year of his age. The declaration of independ- ence had just been issued, and at that disastrous moment when Washing- ton was preparing to defend New York, against the increasing armies of England ; when the timid and wavering were sinking from the side of their country's chief, James Monroe arrived at headquarters, with a firm determination to share her fate, whether for good or for evil.* During the gloomy year of 1776, he shared with the army their defeats and their privations ; was present at the disastrous battles of Harlem * For a part of this sketch we are indebted to the American Annual Register, vol. vi., published in 1832. 214 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MONROE. heights and Whiteplains ; and in the battle of Trenton, while leading the vanguard, he received a wound, the scar of which he carried to his grave. After recovering from his wound, he was promoted for his gallantry, to the rank of a captain of infantry, and returned to active service. During the campaigns of 1777 and 1778, he acted as aid to Lord Stirling, and by accepting this place in the staff of that general, he receded from the line of promotion ; but in that capacity he distinguished himself in the actions of Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. Becoming desirous to re- gain his position in the line of the army, he endeavored to raise a regi- ment of Virginia troops, under the recommendation of General Washing- ton, and the authority of the legislature. In this he failed, owing to the exhausted state of the country. He therefore devoted himself to the study of the law, under the direction of Mr. Jefferson, who was then governor of the state. He occasionally acted as a volunteer in repelling the inva- sions with which Virginia was afterward visited ; and after the fall of Charleston, in 1780, he repaired to the southern army, as a military com- missioner, to collect information as to its ability to rescue that portion of the Union from the enemy. This duty was performed to the satisfaction of the governor, by whom he was appointed. He now commenced his career in the legislative councils of his coun- try, being elected in 1782, by the county of King George, a member of the legislature of Virginia, and by that body shortly after chosen a mem- ber of the executive council. He was then only in his twenty-fourth year, but appears to have evinced sufficient tact in legislation to induce the legislature to elect him the following year one of the delegates to represent the state in the continental Congress. He took his seat in that body on the 13th of December, just in time to be present at Annapolis when Washing- ton surrendered his commission into the hands of the authority by whom he had been appointed. From that time until 1786, Mr. Monroe contin- ued to represent his native state in Congress, and became entirely con- vinced of the inefficiency of that body to govern the country under the ar- ticles of confederation. He accordingly sought an extension of its pow- ers, and in 1785 moved to invest Congress with the power of regulating trade. This resolution, together with another in favor of investing it with the power of levying an impost duty of five per cent., were referred to a committee, of which Mr. Monroe was chairman. A report was made, which combined both the objects, and proposed such alterations in the articles of confederation as were necessary to vest in Congress the powers required. These were among the steps which led to the convention at Annapolis, and consequently to the formation and adoption of the federal constitution. Mr. Monroe was also active and in- fluential in devising a system for disposing of and settling the public lands, and warmly opposed the plan of selling each range of townships separately, before any other should be offered for sale. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MONROE. 215 On the 24tli of December, 1784, Mr. Monroe was appointed, with, eight other highly distinguished men of that period, members of a federal court, to decide the long pending controversy between Massachusetts and New York. He accepted of the appointment, but on the 15th of May, 1786, he resigned his commission, and the two states having, during the same year, adjusted the matter by mutual agreement, the court never met. Mr. Monroe differed from both New York and Massachusetts on the question of relinquishing our right to navigate the Mississippi river, as de- manded by Spain and assented to by the northern states. The southern states opposed the relinquishment of this right, and Mr. Monroe took a leading part against any concession to Spain. While attending the continental Congress, as a member, at New York, Mr. Monroe married Miss Kortright, daughter of Mr. L. Kortright, of that city. This lady had been celebrated in the fashionable circles of London and Paris for her beauty and accomplishments, and in married life she was exemplary, as well as an ornament to the society in which she was called to act during the scenes of her husband's subsequent career. Toward the conclusion of the year 1786, Mr. Monroe's term of service in Congress expired, and, by the rule then adopted, being ineligible for a second term, he established himself at Fredericksburg, with the view of practising law. He was soon, however, again called from the pursuits of private life, by being elected a member of the legislature, and the follow- ing year, 1788, he was chosen a delegate to the state convention, assem- bled to decide upon the adoption of the federal constitution. Notwithstanding Mr. Monroe was convinced of the inefficiency of the articles of confederation, and of the necessity of a radical change in the government of the Union, he was not altogether prepared to adopt the fed- eral constitution, as framed by the convention of 1787. He thought that certain amendments ought to be made previous to its adoption, and deci- dedly advocated that course in the convention. We have already stated, in the memoir of Mr. Madison, that the leading men of Virginia in the state convention, were much divided on the question of the adoption of the constitution. Among those who opposed it in that body, besides Mr. Monroe, were Patrick Henry, George Mason, and William Grayson, while its most powerful advocates were James Madison, John Marshall, Ed- mund Randolph, and Edmund Pendleton. The convention finally adopted the constitution as it was, by a vote of 89 to 79, Mr. Monroe being among the negatives ; certain amendments were at the same time recom- mended for the adoption of the states, instead of being insisted on previ- ous to the acceptance of the constitution. The course which Mr. Monroe pursued on this occasion was accepta- ble to the state of Virginia, as was proved by the election of a majority of anti-federalists to Congress, including the two senators ; and on the death of Mr. Grayson, one of the latter, Mr. Monroe was chosen to the 216 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MONROE. senate of the United States in his place, and took his seat in that body in 1790. In this station he continued until 1794, acting with the anti-fed- eral party in opposition to Washington's administration, as did Mr. Madi- son and most of the Virginia delegation in Congress. The French le- publican government having requested the recall of Gouverneur Morris, American minister to France, General Washington complied with their wishes, as also those of the democratic party in Congress, and appointed Mr. Monroe the successor of Mr. Morris, in May, 1794. He was re- ceived with distinguished favor in France by the government and people, but the course he pursued during his residence at the capital of that re- public was not conformable to the views of neutrality entertained by Gen- eral Washington, who therefore recalled him in 1796, and sent Charles Cotesworth Pinckney in his place. On his return to the United States, Mr. Monroe published a volume in explanation of his views and proceedings relative to his mission to France, vindicating his own course, and censuring the policy of the administration toward the French republic. He, however, did not cherish any animosity toward General Washing- ton, but at a subsequent period he joined with his countrymen in ac- knowledging the merits and perfect integrity of that great man. He also did ample justice to the character of John Jay, who negotiated his celebrated treaty with Great Britain about the same time that Mr. Monroe visited France. Although opposed to the treaty made by Mr. Jay, and to his political views generally, Mr. Monroe left on record in his own hand- writing, an unqualified testimonial to the pure patriotism, the pre-eminent ability, and the spotless integrity of John Jay. Shortly after his return from France, Mr. Monroe was chosen to the legislature, and in 1799 he was elected by that body governor of Virginia, where he served for the term of three years, then limited by the constitu- tion of the state. In 1803, President Jefferson appointed Mr. Monroe envoy extraordinary to France, to act jointly with Mr. Livingston, then resident minister at Paris, to negotiate the purchase of New Orleans, or a right of depot for the United States on the Mississippi. He was also associated with Mr. Charles Pinckney, then resident minister at Madrid, to negotiate terms also with Spain relative to Louisiana. We have, in our notice of Mr. Jefferson's administration, given an ac- count of the purchase of Louisiana by the United States, of France. That country had been ceded by Spain to France, and Mr. Monroe, upon his arrival in France, found a most favorable conjuncture for the accom- plishment of the mission, in being enabled to obtain for his country the possession, not only of New Orleans, but of the whole province of Louisiana. The treaty was concluded within a fortnight after the arrival of Mr. Monroe at Paris, and after the conclusion of the negotiation he BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MONROE. 217 proceeded to London, where he was also commissioned to act as succes- sor to Mr. Rufus King, who had resigned. Here he sought to obtain a conventional arrangement for the protection of American seamen against impressment, and for the protection of neu- tral rights ; but in the midst of these discussions he was called away to the discharge of his mission to Spain. In the transfer of Louisiana to France by Spain, and to the United States by France, the boundaries of the province were not defined. Spain was encouraged to dispute the extent of the province, and she sought to reduce it to a territory of small dimensions. A controversy arose be- tween the United States and Spain, at one time threatening war, and for the purpose of attempting an adjustment of these difRculties Mr. Monroe proceeded to Madrid. His efforts, joined with those of Mr. Pinckney, were unsuccessful, and the controversy was left unsettled. Mr. Monroe was then recalled to London to maintain our rights as neu- trals, against the systematic encroachment of Great Britain. He was there joined by Mr. William Pinkney, who had then been recently sent from the United States, as minister to England. A whig ministry being then in power in Great Britain, with the friendly feelings of that party toward the United States, Messrs. Monroe and Pinkney were enabled to negotiate a treaty, in 1807, which, although not as favorable as they would have wished, was considered by those envoys as advantageous to the Uni- ted States. As the treaty was clogged with certain conditions which were deemed by President Jefferson inadmissible, it was not submitted by him to the senate, but sent back to England for revisal. The British cabinet, however, had been changed, and Mr. Canning, the secretary for foreign affairs, refused to resume the negotiation. The mission of Messrs. Mon- roe and Pinkney was now at an end. Mr. Monroe, after a short detention, in consequence of the difficulty which grew out of the affair of the Ches- apeake frigate, returned to the United States in 1807. For a considerable time Mr. Monroe felt dissatisfied with his friend, President Jefferson, in consequence of his rejection of the treaty with Great Britain without consulting the senate, and also from an impression that the president's influence was exerted in favor of Mr. Madison as his successor to the presidency. Mr. Jefferson, in his correspondence with Mr. Monroe, explained his course with regard to the rejection of the treaty, and declared his intention to remain perfectly neutral between his two friends who were named to succeed him. The Virginia legislature settled their respective claims to the presidency, by deciding in favor of Mr. Madison, in which decision Mr. Monroe and his friends acquiesced. In 1811 he was again elected governor of Virginia, but continued but a short time in that station, for upon the resignation of Robert Smith, he was appointed by Mr. Madison secretary of state. This office he contin- ued to hold during the remainder of Mr. Madison's administration. 218 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MONROE. After the capture of Washington city, and the resignation of General Armstrong, Mr. Monroe was appointed to the war department, without, however, resigning as secretary of state. In this station he exhibited a remarkable energy and boldness of character. He found the treasuryex- hausted, and the public credit prostrated ; while the enemy, relieved from his war with France, was preparing to turn his numerous armies, flushed with victory over the legions of Napoleon, against the United States. The first duty of the secretary of war was to prepare for the new campaign, and this he was enabled to do by the now excited spirit of the country. The army already authorized by acts of Congress, if the regiments were full, numbered 60,000 men, which Mr. Monroe proposed to increase by the ad- dition of 40,000, and to levy new recruits by draughting from the whole mass of able-bodied men in the United States. This proposition, which was considered an imitation of the French mode of conscription long prac- tised by Napoleon, and would inevitably have lost him the favor of the people, he felt it to be his duty to make, and had intended, in case of the continuance of the war, to withdraw his name from the presidential can- vass. To two or tnree friends he disclosed his feelings on this occasion, in confidence, and had authorized them to publish his intention of decli- ning a nomination as successor to Mr. Madison, when the conclusion of peace rendered the increase of the army unnecessary, and therefore removed the objections to his being a candidate for president. Toward the end of the year 1814, Mr. Monroe's attention, as secretary of war, was most urgently called to the defence of New Orleans, against which a powerful fleet and army had been despatched. To raise the funds for the defence of this important point, Mr. Monroe was compelled to pledge his private credit, as subsidiary to that of the government, which then was at a low ebb. By this act of devotion he was enabled to furnish the necessary supplies ; New Orleans was successfully defended, and the entire defeat of the British army under General Packenham terminated the war in a manner honorable to the American arms. A new series of duties now awaited Mr. Monroe. Upon the conclusion of peace he resumed his station in the department of state, and as the long- tried friend and confidential adviser of Mr. Madison, he was called to the arduous task of deciding upon those measures which aimed at the re-es- tablishment of the public credit, and to place the country in a better state of preparation, in case she should be called upon again to assert her rights by an appeal to arms. Our foreign relations, which had been partially suspended during the war, were to be renewed, and the domestic policy of the United States required to be modified so as to adapt it to the great changes which had been produced by the general pacification of Europe. In the performance of the arduous duties imposed upon him at this period, Mr. Monroe had the good fortune to be sustained by public opinion, and with that auxiliary he lent his zealous co-operation to Mr. Madison in ea- BIOGBAPHICAL SKETCH OF MONROE. 219 tablishing the system of internal policy, adopted after the close of the war, and continued it with new and enlarged features after his election as pres- ident of the United States, in 1817. In 1816, Mr. Monroe received the nomination of the democratic party, through their representatives in Congress, for president of the United States. With that party he had uniformly acted, under the various names of anti-federal, democratic, and republican, and by them was he elected, in 1816, chief magistrate of the nation, to succeed Mr. Madison, on the 4th of March, 1817. Previous to entering on the duties of his high office, he was advised by General Jackson, with whom he was on the most friendly terms, to disregard former party divisions in the formation of his cabinet, and to use his influence and power to destroy party spirit, by ap- pointing the best men to office, without regard to their political preferen- ces. This course Mr. Monroe declined to pursue, confining his appoint- ments generally, as did his predecessors Jefferson and Madison, to those who professed his own political faith, and excluding federalists from office, with but few exceptions. In other respects the policy of Mr. Monroe was liberal and satisfactory to men of all parties, excepting, perhaps, the ardent supporters of a sys- tem of internal improvements, who regretted the adherence of the presi- dent to a strict construction of the constitution on that subject. On many points the policy of Mr. Monroe's administration resembled that of the federal school established in the early stages of the government under the auspices of Washington and Hamilton. The perfecting of the establish- ment of a national bank, of the plan for the gradual discharge of the pub- lic debt, of the system of fortifying the coast and increasing the navy, and of encouraging by adequate protection the manufactures and arts of the country, formed essential parts of the policy referred to, adopted at the close of Mr. Madison's administration, and continued by that of Mr. Monroe. To these measures Mr. Monroe, finally, after long deliberation, and with the entire concurrence of his whole cabinet, sanctioned by repeated dem- onstrations of Congress, determined to add a system of internal improve- ment, thus yielding his own scruples to advance the interests of the na- tion. This was done on the 30th of April, 1824, when the act appropria- ting $30,000 for the survey of such routes for canals and public roads as the president might direct, received his sanction. Among the measures which distinguished the administration of Mr. Monroe, was the negotiation of the treaty which added Florida to the Uni- ten States. This cession secured to the nation all the territory north of Mexico ; and it was negotiated with great propriety by one who had borne so conspicuous a part in the acquisition of Louisiana. In 1817 the president made a tour through a large portion of the north- ern and middle states, which elicited a general expression of kindness, respect, and courtesy from the people. 220 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MONROE. Mr. Monroe was re-elected president in 1820, with more unanimity than any one since Washington, receiving every vote of the electoral col- leges of the United States, except one, and ended his career in the ser- vice of the federal government on the 3d of March, 1825. He then retired to his residence in Loudon county, Virginia, where he was shortly after appointed a county magistrate, the duties of which office he continued to discharge until his departure for the city of New York. He was also ap- pointed curator of the university of Virginia ; and in 1 830, having been elected a member of the convention called to revise the constitution of that state, he was unanimously chosen to preside over its deliberations. Before the close of its labors, however, he was compelled by severe in- disposition to retire, and in the succeeding summer removed to New York, to lake up his abode with his son-in-law, Mr. Samuel L. Gouverneur. There he remained, surrounded by filial solicitude and tenderness, until, on the fifty-fifth anniversary of the nation's birth (July 4, 1831), he termina- ted his earthly career, in the 72d year of his age ; furnishing another stri- king coincidence, which, as in the instance of the simultaneous deaths of Adams and Jefferson, on the same day, five years previous, afforded occa- sion for grave reflection, and seemed pregnant with some mysterious moral lesson to a nation whose attention was thus forcibly directed to the act which, while it gave it birth as an independent community, also served to mark the commencement of a new era in the history of the world. Mr. Monroe left only two children, both daughters, one the widow of George Hay, Esq., of Richmond, the other the wife of Samuel L. Gouv- erneur, Esq., of New York. Mrs. Monroe died but a short time before her venerable husband. Though in the course of his life he had received from the public treas- ury, for his services, $358,000, he retired from office deeply in debt. He was, however, relieved at last by the adjustment by Congress of his claims, founded chiefly on the disbursements made during the war. In his personal appearance Mr. Monroe was tall and well formed, being about six feet in stature, with light complexion, and blue eyes. His countenance had no indications of superior intellect, but an honesty and firmness of purpose which commanded respect, and gained favor and friendship. He was laborious and industrious, and doubtless compensated in some degree by diligence, for slowness of thought and want of imagi- nation. His talents, however, were respectable, and he was a fine speci- men of the old school of Virginia gentlemen, generous, hospitable, and devoted to his country, which he did not hesitate to serve to the utmost of his ability, through a long life, and his career was highly honorable, useful, and worthy of admiration. ADMINISTRATIOiN OF MONROE. On the fourth of March, 1817, the president elect, James Monroe, ac- companied by the vice-president elect, Daniel D. Tompkins, left the residence of the former, attended by a large concourse of citizens on horseback, and marshalled by the gentlemen appointed to that duty, and proceeded to Congress Hall, in Washington city, where the usual cere- monies of inauguration were performed. The ex-president, Mr. Madison, and the judges of the supreme court, were present on the occasion. All entered the chamber of the senate, which body was then in session, and the vice-president took the chair, the oath of office being administered to him, when he delivered a short address. This ceremony being ended, the senate adjourned, and the president and vice-president, the judges of the supreme court, and the senators pres- ent, attended the president to the elevated portico temporarily erected for the occasion, where, in the presence of an immense concourse of citizens and strangers, including the government officers and foreign ministers, he delivered his inaugural address. Having concluded his address, the oath of office was administered to the president by Chief- Justice Marshall. The liberal tone of the president's address, and the course of policy in- dicated by it, gave general satisfaction to citizens of all political opinions, and the commencement of the new administration was hailed as the dawn of an era of good feelings The individuals selected by the president to form his cabinet, were all of the republican, or democratic school of politics, and distinguished for their ability as statesmen, in various public stations which they had pre' viously held. John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, was appointed sec- retary of state, William H. Crawford, of Georgia, secretary of the treasury, John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, secretary of war, and William Wirt, of "Virginia, attorney-general. The two latter gentlemen were appointed in December, 1817, Mr. Calhoun having been named in place of Governor Isaac Shelby, of Kentucky, who declined the offer of head of the war department, which was first offered to him. Benjamin W. Crowninshield, of Massachusetts, was continued as secretary of the navy (which appoint- 822 ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. ment he had received from Mr. Madison) until November 30, 1818, when Smith Thompson, of New York, was appointed in his place.* Return Jon- athan Meigs, of Ohio, was also continued as postmaster-general (not then a cabinet officer), and held that office from March, 1814, until December, 1823, when John M'Lean, of Ohio, succeeded him. The foregoing were the only changes made by Mr. Monroe in the cabinet or heads of depart- ments, in the eight years of his administration, showing greater permanency and harmony in the affairs of the national government, during that period, than at any other time since the adoption of the federal constitution. During the late war with Great Britain, a practical opportunity was afforded to the government of the United States to discover the relative importance of the defences erected along the frontier, and the strength and utility of the various fortified places on the Atlantic coast. The frequent and sometimes successful incursions of the late enemy, enforced the necessity of selecting new points for the erection of strong and efficient batteries to protect the country against future invasion ; of demolishing such works as were thence found to have been constructed in improper situations ; and of concentrating the regular forces at such positions as should render their co-operation speedy and effective. Impressed with the magnitude of this subject, Mr. Monroe had no sooner passed through the forms of inauguration, than he directed his at- tention to the means by which to accomplish so desirable an object. A mere theoretical knowledge would be insufficient for the consummation of his views ; and, indeed, could not be entirely depended upon. Availing himself, therefore, of the experience acquired before the close of the late contest, he determined to engage in a personal examination of the situa- tion, strength, and condition of all the citadels and military posts in the northern and eastern departments of the Union. To the early execution of this intention he was urged, as he himself intimated, by a desire to look into the economical expenditures of the public moneys, which had been liberally appropriated by Congress ; to facilitate the completion of these measures ; and to ascertain the propriety of adopting plans suggested by the agents employed in the service of fortification. Taking advantage of a season of comparative leisure, the president left "Washington city on the 31st of May, 1817, entered upon his laudable imder- taking, and prosecuted his route through all the principal towns and cities which he had marked out for his first tour of observation. Departing from the capital, he passed through Baltimore to the state of Delaware, to the cities of Philadelphia and New York, and the chief towns in Connecticut and Rhode Island, to Boston and other parts of Massachusetts ; to the capital and other towns in New Hampshire ; and through the province of Maine to Portland. Thence he extended his journey westward through Vermont ; inspected the works at Plattsburgh ; and passing through the forest to the St. Lawrence, he embarked for Lake Ontario ; visited Sack- • Dec. 9, 1823, Samuel L. Southard, of N. J., succeeded Mr. Thompson, appointed judge. ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. 223 ett's Harbor and Fort Niagara ; and advancing along the strait to Buffalo, sailed through Lake Erie, and landed at Detroit, the extremity of his tour. He took a direction thence through the woods of the Michigan territory, and through the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, toward the District of Columbia, where he arrived after an absence of more than three months. The persevering manner in which this long, laborious, and fatiguing journey was performed, are strong and certain indications of its beneficial results. With an alacrity paralleled only by the prompt aid of the citizens to accelerate his movements, the president inspected garrisons ; examined fortifications ; reviewed infantry regiments at cantonments ; and obtained a knowledge of the condition of the military arsenals and naval depots along the Atlantic and inland frontiers. To these numerous duties he added the desire to promote the prosperity of the people ; to correct abuses in the public offices ; to avert the calamities incident to any future period of hos- tilities ; to meliorate the condition of the poorer classes of society ; and to unite and harmonize the sentiments and affections of the citizens of one section with those of another. A considerable part of his journey in return- ing from the northwestern frontier, was through a succession of forests and Indian settlements. He sustained, however, all the inconveniences of comfortless lodgings, and unpleasant and fatiguing travelling, without any abatement of that cheerfulness and sense of public duty manifested in the commencement of his tour, the advantageous results of which will long be remembered and acknowledged by the nation.* The visit of the president to the principal cities and towns of the mid- dle and eastern states, possessed the charm of novelty, neither Mr. Jeffer- son nor Mr. Madison having followed the example set by General Wash- ington, during their presidential terms. They, consequently, were per- sonally unknown to the great body of the people. Mr. Monroe was eve- rywhere received with enthusiasm by the people, and honored with civio and military escorts and processions, in the cities, towns, and villages, through which he passed. His ordinary costume on these occasions was the undress uniform formerly worn by officers of the American revolution, namely, a military blue coat of domestic manufacture, light underclothes, and a cocked hat ; a becoming taste for a president who had been a sol- dier of the revolution, and which tended to awaken in the minds of the people the remembrance of the days of Washington. In his reply to an address from the New York society of the Cincinnati, the president said : *The opportunity which my visit to this city has presented of meeting the New York society of the Cincinnati, with many of whom I was well ac- quainted in our revolution, aflx)rds me heartfelt satisfaction. It is impos- sible to meet any of those patriotic citizens, whose valuable services were • Narrative of President's Tour. 224 ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. SO intimately connected with that great event, without recollections which it is equally just and honorable to cherish." To an address of the president of the American Society for the Encour- agement of Manufactures, at New York, the president replied, that he duly appreciated the objects of the institution, which were particularly dear to him from their being intimately connected with the real independence of our country ; and closed with an assurance that he would use his efforts, as far as the general interest of the country would permit, to promote the patriotic and laudable objects of the society. The citizens of Kennebunk and its vicinity, in Maine, having in their address alluded to the prospects of a political union among the people, in support of the administration, the president said, in reply : " You are pleased to express a confident hope that a spirit of mutual conciliation may be one of the blessings which may result from my administration. This indeed would be an eminent blessing, and I pray it may be realized. Nothing but union is wanting to make us a great people. The present time affords the happiest presage that this union is fast consummating. It can not be otherwise ; I daily see greater proofs of it. The further I advance in my progress in the country, the more I perceive that we are all Americans — that we compose but one family — that our republican in- stitutions will be supported and perpetuated by the united zeal and patri- otism of all. Nothing could give me greater satisfaction than to behold a perfect union among ourselves — a union which is necessary to restore to social intercourse its former charms, and to render our happiness, as a nation, unmixed and complete. To promote this desirable result requires no compromise of principle, and I promise to give it my continued atten- tion, and my best endeavors." No part of his subsequent official conduct contradicted the magnanimous spirit which Mr. Monroe discovered at the commencement of his admin- istration, excepting that he seems to have considered that his duty to the party to which he owed his election, and to which he had been attached through life, required him, in his selections for public ofiice, to confine himself to men professing democracy, and the continued exclusion of fed- eralists from the favor of the national government. The federal party, however, was almost entirely prostrated soon after the peace of 1815, and continued their organization in but few of the states, after a feeble strug- gle of three or four years. Those who had acted with the party were satisfied with the principles and views generally adopted by the adminis- tration of Mr. Monroe ; and those who might have sought office, if in the majority, had been so long accustomed to the ban of proscription, that they did not probably complain at being still placed without the pale of governmental favor. Had the president followed the advice of General Jackson, who, in a correspondence with him preceding and immediately after his election, ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. 225 advised him to select his cabinet without any regard to party, it is not probable that the measures of the admi,nistration would have been different from those which were adopted by the recommendations of the cabinet composed of Messrs. Adams, Crawford, Calhoun, Crowninshield, and Wirt. Those gentlemen were all understood, while in the cabinet, to have been in favor of the policy adopted, which was similar to that advocated by the federal party, commencing with the measures of Washington and Ham- ilton in the organization and early movements of the national government. General Jackson's advice to Mr. Monroe is contained in a letter to the lat- ter, dated November 12, 1816, when Mr. Monroe was considered the presi- dent elect. The following is an extract : " Your happiness and the na- tion's welfare materially depend upon the selections which are to be made to fill the heads of departments. Everything depends on the selection of your ministry. In every selection, party and party feelings should be avoided. Now is the time to exterminate that monster called party spirit. By selecting characters most conspicuous for their probity, virtue, capa- city, and firmness, without any regard to party, you will go far to, if not entirely, eradicate those feelings which, on former occasions, threw so many obstacles in the way of government ; and perhaps have the pleasure and honor of uniting a people heretofore politically divided. The chief magistrate of a great and powerful nation should never indulge in party feelings. His conduct should be liberal and disinterested, always bearing in mind that he acts for the whole and not a part of the community." The president, in his reply, discusses the subject of parties and ap- pointments at great length, and in the course of his remarks says : " The election of a successor to Mr. Madison has taken place, and a new admin- istration is to commence its service. The election has been made by the republican party, and of a person known to be devoted to that cause. How shall he act 1 How organize the administration ? How fill the vacancies existing at the time ? " The distinction between republicans and federalists, even in the southern, and middle, and western states, has not been fully done away. To give effect to free government, and secure it from future danger, ought not its decided friends, who stood firm in the day of trial, to be principally relied on ? Would not the association of any of their opponents in the ad- ministration, itself wound their feelings, or, at least, of very many of them, to the injury of the republican cause ? Might it not be considered, by the other party, as an offer of compromise with them, which would lessen the ignominy due to the counsels which produced the Hartford convention, and thereby have a tendency to revive that party on its former principles ? My impression is, that the administration should rest strongly on the re- publican party, indulging toward the other a spirit of moderation, and evincing a desire to discriminate between its members, and to bring the whole into the republican fold, as quietly as possible. Many men, very 15 226 ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. distinguished for their talents, are of opinion that the existence of the federal party is necessary to keep union and order in the republican ranks ; that is, that free government can not exist without parties. This is not my opinion. The first object is to save the cause, which can be done by those who are devoted to it only, and of course by keeping them together ; or, in other words, by not disgusting them by too hasty an act of liberality to the other party, thereby breaking the generous spirit of the republican party, and keeping alive that of the federal party. The second is, to pre- vent the reorganization and revival of the federal party, which, if my hy- pothesis is true, that the existence of party is not necessary to a free gov- ernment, and the other opinion which I have advanced is well founded, that the great body of the federal party are republican, will not be found impracticable. To accomplish both objegts, and thereby exterminate all party divisions in our country, and give new strength and stability to our government, is a great undertaking, not easily executed. I am, neverthe- less, decidedly of opinion that it may be done ; and should the experiment fail, I shall conclude that its failure was imputable more to the want of a correct knowledge of all circumstances claiming attention, and of sound judgment in the measures adopted, than to any other cause. I agree, I think, perfectly with you, in the grand object, that moderation should be shown to the federal party, and even a generous policy be adopted toward it ; the only difference between us seems to be, how far shall that spirit be indulged in the outset ; and it is to make you thoroughly acquainted with my views on this highly important subject, that I have written you so freely upon it."* The first session of the fifteenth Congress commenced on the 1st of December, 1817, and continued until the 20fh of April, 1818. The dem- ocratic majority in both senate and house was overwhelming, the number of federalists in this Congress being few indeed. And after this period, it may be remarked that former party lines became entirely extinct in the national legislature. Mr. Clay was re-elected speaker of the house of representatives, by a vote nearly unanimous. The vice-president, Daniel D. Tompkins, of course presided in the senate, and in his absence John Gaillard acted as president pro tern. The president's message involved many subjects of great interest to the nation, many of which were taken up and acted upon by Congress. The first act of the session was one to abolish the internal duties imposed during the war, namely, duties on licenses to distillers, on refined sugar, licenses to retailers, sales at auction, on pleasure carriages, and stamps. Most of the measures recommended by the president were approved by a large majority of Congress ; and there was much harmony among mem- bers of different political views. There was much less crimination and bitterness manifested in debate than had appeared at former sessions of • Niles's Register, vol. xivi., pp. 165, 166. ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. 227 Congress. The compensation for members of both houses was fixed at eight dollars a day, and eight dollars for every twenty miles' travel ; and the act of March, 1816, providing a salary of fifteen hundred dollars per annum for each member was repealed. An act granting pensions to officers and soldiers of the revolutionary war was passed at this session, in conformity to the suggestion of the president. The law was modified, and in some measure restricted, by an act two years after, which confined the pensions to those who were in destitute circumstances. But, with this modification, the law afforded re- lief to a great number, not less than thirteen thousand, who had given their personal services and hazarded their lives for the liberties of the country, in the war of the revolution.* This act of justice and equity had been long delayed through the inability of the government, but the feelings of the people were at last strongly expressed in favor of doing something for the benefit of those to whom the country owed so much, and who had never received an adequate compensation for their invaluable services. An additional act was passed on the subject of the importation of slaves into the United States, which modified, in some particulars, the law of 1807 on the same subject, but did not materially change its prohibitions and penalties. And a law was enacted forbidding the citizens of the United States to engage in any hostile enterprise against the subjects of a government which was on terms of peace and amity with the United States. There were some attempts at that time to introduce slaves into the country through southwestern ports ; and an expedition was appre- hended to be in preparation to invade the Mexican territory. The state of Mississippi was, bj^ a resolution of Congress, admitted into the Union on the 10th of December, 1817, and an act was passed in April following, authorizing the people of Illinois territory to form a constitution and state government, preparatory to admission as a state. An act con- cerning navigation closed the ports of the United States against any Brit- ish vessel coming from any colony of Great Britain the ports of which were closed against vessels of the United States. This was done as a retaliatory measure, in consequence of the British government having re- fused to allow a direct trade from the United States to the British West Indies and other American colonies. An act respecting the flag of the United States fixed the number of stripes, alternate red and white, at thir- teen, and directed that the Union be represented by stars equal to the number of states, white in a blue field. Three per cent, of the net pro- ceeds of sales of public lands in Indiana was directed to be paid to that state for the purpose of making roads and canals. The duties on certain manufactures, viz., copper, cut-glass, Russia sheetings, iron, nails, and alum, were increased, and the majority in favor of protection to domestic manufactures was large in this Congress. In the senate all but three, • Bradford. 228 ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. and in the house of representatives all but sixteen members, voted for a bill to continue for seven years the duty laid in 1816 on imports of cotton and woollen manufactures. That duty, in 1816, was fixed at twenty-five per cent, on cottons and woollens for three years, and the minimum value of a square yard of cotton was then fixed at twenty-five cents. Still the amount of protection afforded by the tariff of 1816 to the manufacturers of cottons and woollens, was not found adequate to the purpose, and the ex- cessive importations of foreign manufactured goods for several years after the peace, prostrated numerous American manufacturers, and spread ruin and desolation among the industrious classes, including agriculturists as well as mechanics and manufacturers. The bankruptcies among the mer- cantile portion of the community were also extensive. The subject of internal improvements by the general government was discussed in Congress at this session. A committee who had the subject under consideration reported, that " the dividends of the United States in the national bank be appropriated to such objects ;" but there was a strong opposition to the measure ; and after repeated debates, relating principally to the constitutionality of such appropriations, the subject was postponed to a future day. And yet a vote was taken in the house, at one stage of the bill, when there appeared a majority of fifteen in favor of appropriating the public funds for canals, and for military and postroads. The speaker, Mr. Clay, was one of the ablest advocates of internal improvement, but it was understood that the opinion and influence of the president were against the measure. A motion was made in the house of representatives, when in commit- tee of the whole, by the speaker, Mr. Clay, for a mission to South Amer- ica, to express the sympathy of the government of the United States for the colonies there which had declared their independence, with a view to enter into friendly political relations with them at a future day. The spe- cific appropriation was to provide for a minister to Buenos Ayres and the provinces of La Plata, should the executive deem it expedient and proper to appoint one. The proposition was rejected by a vote of 115 to 45. The inhabitants of Spanish America had long been in a degraded condi- tion, and subject to oppression by the mother-country. Their situation was commiserated by our citizens, and they were generally desirous that the people of that section of America might succeed in throwing off the Spanish yoke, and obtaining their independence. But the policy and pro- priety of a formal declaration in their favor by the government of the United States, at that period, and in their then unsettled state, was doubted both in Congress and by a large portion of the people. Mr. Clay's speech in favor of the measure, however, was marked by statesmanlike views and philanthropic and liberal feelings ; which he expressed in his usual style of eloquence and powerful argument. He was answered by Mr. Forsyth, of Georgia, who opposed the projected measure with great ability. ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. 229 The views of Mr. Clay were subsequetly sanctioned by the course of events, which resulted in South American independence. The president, soon after the adjournment of Congress, visited the towns and coasts of Chesapeake bay, for the purpose of examining into the state of the forts and other means of defence in that quarter, and the proper lo- cation for a naval depot. Having accomplished the principal object of his tour, he returned to Washington on the 17th of June, through the interior of Virginia. A treaty having been concluded between the United States and Swe- den, which was negotiated by Mr. Jonathan Russell, minister to Stock- holm, the same was ratified by the president and senate, in May, 1818. During this year, and while negotiations for a treaty with Spain were pending, serious difficulties arose in Florida, on account of the invasion of the territory then in possession of the Spanish government, by United States troops under General Andrew Jackson, and of the seizure of the fortified towns of St. Marks and Pensacola. General Jackson had been directed to subdue the Seminole Indians, who were then troublesome to the people of the United States in Alabama and vicinity, and strong measures were deemed advisable and necessary by him to effect the object of the government. His excuse for entering the Spanish terri- tory was, that the hostile Indians fled to the Spanish commanders for protection ; that they were encouraged by them ; and that the safety of the inhabitants in that part of the United States required such proceed- ings. The president afterward caused the instructions given to Gen- eral Jackson to be laid before Congress ; and he also gave orders im- mediately for the restoration of the forts and places to the Spanish authorities. Congress again assembled on the 16th of November, 1818, and contin- ued in session until the 3d of March, 1819, when their term of service ex- pired. The state of Illinois was admitted into the Union, by a resolution passed on the 3d of December, 1818. The people of Alabama were au- thorized to form a constitution and state government, preparatory to admis- sion as a state. An act was passed establishing a territorial government for Arkansas, then a part of the territory of Missouri. The citizens of Michigan territory were authorized to elect a delegate to Congress. Other important laws were the following : To protect the commerce of the Uni- ted States, and to punish piracy ; to regulate the duties on imported wines, reducing the rates thereon ; to provide for the civilization of the Indian tribes adjoining the frontiers, by which the president was author- ized to employ suitable persons to teach and encourage them in agriculture, and also to instruct their children in reading, writing, and aritlimetic, and ten thousand dollars were appropriated for such purpose ; an additional act concerning the coasting trade ; an act to authorize the president to take possession of East and West Florida, and to establish a temporary 230 ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. government therein ; and an act to provide for the prompt settlement of public accounts. The conduct of General Jackson with regard to the Seminole war in Florida, was a subject of inquiry in both houses of Congress. In the house of representatives a report was made on the subject by the commit- tee on military affairs, disapproving of the general's proceedings, and con- cluding with resolutions of censure. After an able and protracted debate, the report and resolutions were rejected by a large majority. A treaty with Spain was concluded at Washington on the 22d of February, 1819, by .John Quincy Adams, secretary of state, on the part of the United States, and Don Luis de Onis on the part of Spain, by which East and West Florida, Avith all the islands adjacent, were ceded by Spain to the United States. The boundar)' between the territories of the two powers •was also settled by this treaty. A sum not exceeding five millions of dol- lars was to be paid by the United States, out of the proceeds of sales of lands in Florida, or in stock, or money, to citizens of the United States, on account of former spoliations on American commerce by Spanish vessels-of-war. This treaty was ratified by the king of Spain in Octo- ber, 1820. A convention was concluded between the United States and Great Brit- ain, in October, 1818, and afterward ratified by both governments ; but the subject of impressment was not embraced in the treaty, nor that of the trade between the United States and the British colonies, though both points were iirged by the negotiators on the part of the United States. The principal articles related to the Newfoundland and other fisheries, to the northern boundary line between the territories of each nation, from the lake of the Woods to the Rocky mountains ; to the renewal and con- tinuance of the convention of 1815 for the term of ten years ; and to the restoration of slaves belonging to citizens of the United States, taken in the course of the war of 1812, as formerly stipulated by the treaty of Ghent. During the summer of 1819, the president made a tour through the southern section of the country, for similar objects to those which had in- duced his visit to the north in 1817. In his southern tour the president visited Charleston, Savannah, and Augusta ; after which he proceeded through the Cherokee nation to Nashville, Tennessee, and thence to Lou- isville and Lexington, Kentucky ; returning to Washington in the month of August. The attention of the government continued to be directed chiefly to the financial concerns of the country, by effecting sales of the public lands, and reducing the national debt, as well as to a gradual completion of for- tifications for defence. The demands on the treasury had increased, on account of the great number of pensioners under the law of 1818. More than a million of dollars were paid to the veterans of the revolution in one year ; and the revenue arising from imports in 1817 was less than in the ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. 231 preceding year. Embarrassments of a pecuniary nature affected most parts of the United States, in 1818 and 1819, and the influence to some extent was felt in the revenue.* At this period the manufacturing interests of the United States were in a state of extreme depression, owing to the importations of foreign goods at constantly reduced prices, and the general pressure in the monetary affairs of the nation. The president was known to be friendly to further protection of domestic manufactures, by a proper revision of the tariff on imports, and great efforts were made in the northern and middle states to influence public opinion and the action of Congress in favor of the na- tional industry. The sixteenth Congress assembled on the 6th of December, 1819, and, being the first session, was continued until the 15th of May, 1820. Mr. Clay was again elected speaker, by nearly a unanimous vote, and Mr. Gailiard was continued as president pro tempore of the senate. The former distinctions of party having almost if not quite disappeared in Congress, new questions of great national interest arose to divide the members. Additional protection to American manufactures ; internal im- provements by the general government ; and the acknowledgment of the independence of the South American republics ; were among the most prominent of the subjects agitated. To these was soon added the Mis- souri question, which involved the propriety and expediency of the exten- sion of slavery in new states west of the Mississippi. The state of Alabama was admitted into the Union by a resolution passed December 14, 1819 ; and an act was passed on the 3d of March, 1820, admitting the state of Maine into the Union, that state having formed a constitution by consent of Massachusetts, with which state Maine, as a province, had been connected since 1652. An act was also passed, on the 6th of March, 1820, authorizing the people of Missouri territory to form a constitution and state government, preparatory to admission into the Union. It was proposed to amend the bill on that subject by inserting a clause imposing it as a condition of admission, that the future removal or trans- portation of slaves into that territory should be prohibited. This question gave rise to the most exciting and animated debates in both houses of Congress. In the progress of the discussion in the senate, the Missouri bill was annexed to the bill for the admission of Maine, but the proposi- tion was rejected by the house of representatives, after which the bills were separated. On the last day of February, 1820, the amendment pro- posed in the house to the Missouri bill, restricting slavery, after a very long and able debate, was carried, by a majority of eight votes, but on the next day the same amendment was rejected by a majority of four. The bill was then passed without restrictions, and on the 6th of March approved by the president, Maine having been previously admitted on the 3d of March. • Bradford. 232 ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. An attempt was made to pass a new tariff act at this session, giving ad- ditional protection to American manufactures. The bill was adopted in the house of representatives by a majority of twenty, but did not receive the concurrence of the senate. Great disappointment was felt by the man- ufacturers at this result, the pressure and pecuniary distress at the time being great. The heavy importations of foreign manufactures tended to depress prices, and to ruin those engaged in manufactures in the United States. The currency was also in a deranged slate. A spirit for bank- ing companies prevailed, and an unusual number of those corporations were authorized in many of the states of the Union. The country was flooded with paper-money issued by these banks, many of which were unable to redeem their bills when presented ; and the most disastrous re- siUts soon followed. The national bank had been in operation between two and three years, but it had not yet gathered sufficient strength to regulate the currency, which indeed was impracticable, when the balance of trade was largely against the United States, from excessive importations. An act respecting the public lands, passed at this session, authorized sales in half quarter sections, or eighty acres, fixed the price at one dol- lar and twenty-five cents per acre, and abolished the credit system on sales of lands, directing that after July 1, 1820, all such sales should be made for cash only. The principle of internal improvement by the gen- eral government was sanctioned by an act to authorize a survey of a route for a continuation of the Cumberland road from the Ohio river, opposite Wheeling, Virginia, through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, to the Mississippi, between St. Louis and the mouth of the Illinois river, for whicli survey an appropriation of ten thousand dollars was made. The navigation act of April, 1818, was amended so as to extend the prohibition of British vessels from the colonies, to all places in the British provinces in America and the West Indies. This and the former act, which were proposed by Rufus King, a senator from New York, were not designed as hostile acts, but as measures called for by a regard to the interests of the navigation of the United States, and in the expectation that they might eventually lead to the adoption of liberal principles and a reciprocity in trade. The presi- dent was authorized, by an act passed at this session, to borrow three millions of dollars for the public service, the secretary of the treasury hav- ing stated that a deficiency might be expected in the revenue. Attempts were made to pass a bill for establishing a uniform system of bankruptcy ; also amending the constitution so as to provide for a uniform mode of choosing electors of president and vice-president, but, after much discus- sion, both of these propositions were rejected. The members from the northern and eastern states were generally in favor of a bankrupt law, but those from the south and west were opposed to it. The presidential election coming on in 1820, Messrs. Monroe and Tompkins were nominated for re-election as president and vice-presideat. ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. 233 They were again chosen to those high offices by the electoral colleges, with great unanimity, only one vote having been given against Mr. RTon- roe, while he received 231 ; and 14 against Mr. Tompkins, who received 218 votes. The second session of the sixteenth Congress commenced on the 13th of November, 1 820, and ended on the 3d of March, 1 82 1 . Mr. Clay having sent a letter of resignation as speaker, to the clerk of the house of repre- sentatives, indispensable private business requiring his attention in the early part of the session, the house proceeded to ballot for a new speaker, but after seven trials without effecting a choice, an adjournment took place until the following day, when, after nineteen unsuccessful ballots, the election of speaker was postponed until the third day. The prominent candidates voted for were John W. Taylor, of New York, Mr. Lowndes, of South Carolina, Mr. Sergeant, of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Samuel Smith, of Maryland. On the third day a choice of speaker was effected, Mr. John W. Taylor being elected by a small majority over all other candidates. Mr. Taylor was of that section of republicans in the state of New York who supported De Witt Clinton, then governor of that state. He was decidedly favora- ble to a tariff for protection to domestic manufactures, and opposed to the extension of slavery in Missouri. The election of a speaker with these views, was of course the cause of some excitement and dissatisfaction, at a time when questions of great interest were to be determined by the ac- tion of Congress, which for a time seemed even to threaten a dissolution of the Union. The mild, impartial, and conciliatory course of the new speaker, however, tended to allay much of the feeling at first excited, at the same time that the respect of the members was elicited toward himself. The most important question agitated in Congress at this session, was the admission of Missouri into the Union. The constitution framed by the people of that state was communicated to Congress in the early part of the session, and referred to a committee who, through Mr. Lowndes, made au able report on the subject, declaring the constitution of the state repub- lican, and concluding with a resolution that Missouri be admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, in all respects whatever. Mr. Lowndes, in moving to refer the resolution to a committee of the whole, stated that the report was the act of a majority of the committee, and not of every individual of the committee. The debate on the subject continued a week, and the discussion was managed with great ability and good temper. It was decided by a majority of fourteen, in the house, that Missouri could not be admitted into the Union with the constitution as presented. Those who voted against the admission, did so on the ground that the constitution of the state permitted slavery, and that there were other objectionable features in that instrument, particularly in relation to free persons of color. The members from the slave states voted unani- 234 ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. mously for the admission of Missouri, while those from the northern and middle states, with few exceptions, voted against it. Matters were in this situation, when the Missouri question again pre- sented itself, on the fourteenth of February, 1821, the day appointed by law for opening and counting the votes for president and vice-president. Missouri having chosen presidential electors, and transmitted her votes for president and vice-president to Congress, a resolution passed the senate directing that in case any objection should be made to counting the votes from Missouri, the president of the senate should declare that, if the votes of Missouri were counted, the number of votes for A. B. for president would be so many, and if the votes of Missouri were not counted, the num- ber would be so many, and that in either case A. B. is elected. The same course to be pursued in relation to vice-president. This resolution was taken up in the house on the morning of the day when the votes were to be counted. Mr. Clay having by this time taken his seat as a member, warmly supported the resolution as the only mode of avoiding the difficulty. It was also generally supported by the members in favor of restricting Missouri as to slavery, but opposed by most of those from the slave states. It was finally agreed to on the part of the house, sometime after the hour appointed for the meeting of the two houses to count the votes. Considerable delay and confusion took place while the votes were being counted, and some of the southern members, particularly John Ran- dolph, of Virginia, made an effort to compel the house to declare that Mis- souri was a state of the Union. The course recommended by the joint resolution was finally adopted, and the president of the senate declared James Monroe and Daniel D. Tompkins duly elected president and vice- president, for the term of four years from the 4th of March, 1821. On the 26th of February, Mr. Clay, from a joint committee of the two houses appointed on the Missouri question, reported a resolution for the admission of the state into the Union, on condition that the said state, by their legislature, should assent to a condition that a part of the state con- stitution should never be construed to authorize the passage of a law by which any citizen of either of the states in the Union should be excluded from the enjoyment of any of the privileges and immunities to which such citizen is entitled under the constitution of the United States. After debate, the final question was taken on this resolution, which was carried in the house by a vote of 87 to 81, and was concurred in by the senate on the 28th of February, and being approved by the president on the 2d of March, 1821, Missouri was admitted into the Union. Thus this exciting question was finally settled, principally through the? eflx)rts of Mr. Clay, who had also at the former session proposed and procured the adoption of a resolution, or section of compromise, in the act authorizing Missouri to form a constitution, by which slavery was to be for ever prohibited in that part of the territory west of the Mississippi (excepting the state ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. 235 of Missouri), lying north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude. On the 22d of February the president issued his proclamation on the subject of the treaty which had been made with Spain, and announced that the same had been finally ratified by both the governments of the United States and Spain. Thus another important matter was happily brought to a conclusion. Mr. Clay again brought before Congress the question of acknowledging the independence of the Spanish provinces of South America, and in the house of representatives resolutions to that effect were adopted. In the senate a motion to declare the sedition act of 1798 unconstitu- tional, and to pay back the fines imposed by the United States courts for violations of the law, was offered by Mr. Barbour, of Virginia. After a warm debate the resolution was rejected, and the constitutionality of the law therefore sustained, by a vote of 24 to 19. At this session of Congress the peace establishment of the army was reduced by law to seven regiments of infantry, and four regiments of ar- tillery, with officers for the ordnance and engineering departments. The annual appropriation for the in-crease of the navy, which had been fixed in 1816 at one million of dollars, was reduced to five hundred thousand dollars. Propositions introduced into Congress to prohibit the reception for pay- ments to government in bills of state banks which issued those of a less denomination than five dollars ; and to establish a national system of edu- cation by funds accruing from the sale of the public lands, were rejected. An act was passed at this session for carrying into effect the treaty be- tween the United States and Spain, authorizing the president to take pos- session of Florida, establishing a temporary government in the territory, and extending the laws of the United States to the same. A similar act had been passed by the fifteenth Congress, two years before, namely, March 3, 1819, to take effect when the treaty with Spain should be rati- fied. The provisions of the present act were somewhat extended. A board of three commissioners, to settle claims under the treaty, was directed to be appointed, and one hundred thousand dollars were appropriated for carrying the act into effect. On Monday the 5th of March, 1821, Mr. Monroe was again inducted into ofiice, for the term of four years. In the presence of a large con- course of his fellow-citizens, assembled in the hall of representatives at Washington, he delivered an inaugural address of more than ordinary length. The oath of office was administered to him by Chief-Justice Marshall. The seventeenth Congress held its first session from the 3d of Decem- ber, 1821, until the 8th of May, 1822. Mr. Clay not being a member of the house of representatives for this Congress, an attempt was made, prin- 236 ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. cipally by the friends of a protective tariff, to again elect Mr. John W. Taylor speaker. Numerous ballottings took place without effecting a choice ; but finally, most of the opposition to Mr. Taylor being concentra- ted on Mr. Philip P. Barbour, of Virginia, he was chosen speaker by a small majority, over Mr. Taylor and a few scattering votes. The views of Mr. Barbour were known to be opposed to a protective tariff, and to a system of internal improvements by the general government, and he had voted against the proposed restrictions respecting slavery on the admission of Missouri. The most important acts of Congress passed at this session, were as follows : A territorial government was established in Florida, and a law was enacted for the preservation of timber on the public lands in that ter- ritory. Another act established a board of three commissioners, to ascer- tain the claims and titles to land in Florida, A law was also passed to relieve the people from the operation of certain ordinances, one of which was made by General Jackson, while governor of Florida, in 1821, and another passed by the city council of St. Augustine, in 1821. These ordinances were repealed, and declared null and void, and any person at- tempting to enforce them was to be punished by fine or imprisonment. Provision was made for receiving subscriptions to a loan of twenty-six millions of dollars, at five per cent., in exchange for stock then bearing an interest of six and seven per cent. The state of Illinois was author- ized to open a canal through the public lands to connect the Illinois river with Lake Michigan, and ninety feet of land on each side of said canal was reserved from any sale to be made by the United States ; every sec- tion of land through which the canal route might pass, was reserved from future sale, until specially directed by law. Three per cent, of the net proceeds of sales of the public lands in the state of Missouri, Mississippi, and Alabama, was directed to be paid to the said states, to be applied to the making of roads and canals within the same. The apportionment ot representatives to Congress among the several states was fixed at one member for every forty thousand of federal population. The president was authorized to declare the ports of the United States open to British vessels from the colonies, on satisfactory evidence being given that the ports in the British West Indies have been opened tp the vessels of the United States. The subject of a general bankrupt law was again debated, and occupied much of the time of this Congress. It was finally rejected, by a vote of 99 to 72. The question of a further protection to manufactures, particularly cottons and woollens, by additional duties on importations of those arti- cles, was rejected, but the standing committee to whom the subject was referred, having been appointed by a speaker who was opposed to protec- tion, reported that any additional legislation was inexpedient. The tarifT question excited great attention and interest throughout the United States. ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. 237 The friends of protection to American manufactures were zealous and ac- tive in spreading their views among the people, and in many of the north- ern and western states the agriculturists were convinced that their inter- ests were promoted by protection, as well as that of the manufacturers. Members of Congress from the southern, and from some of the eastern states, at that time, were opposed to an increase of the tariff on foreign goods, from an impression that high duties operated unequally on different classes and sections of the community. In accordance with the recommendation of the president, a resolution was offered in the house of representatives, in .January, 1822, for recogni- zing the independence of Mexico, and five provinces in South America, formerly under the dominion of Spain. The vote in the house was nearly unanimous, and one hundred thousand dollars were appropriated to defray the expenses of envoys to those republics, who were soon afterward ap- pointed by the president. A bill was passed by Congress at this session, making an appropriation for continuing the Cumberland road, but was returned by the president, with his objections, which were that the con- stitution did not authorize such appropriations. But few acts of general interest were passed at the second session of the seventeenth Congress, which was held from the 2d of December, 1822, to the 3d of March, 1823. An additional naval force was authorized for the suppression of piracy ; the state of Ohio was authorized to construct a road from the lower rapids of the Miami of Lake Erie to the western boundary of the Connecticut western reserve, and the lands for one mile on each side of the road were granted to the state to aid in the construc- tion of the road ; an act of great length was also passed, directing the manner of doing business at the customhouses of the United States in the collection of duties. Certain sections of the act of May, 1820, prohibit- ing British vessels from the colonies to enter the ports of the United States, were suspended ; and the ports of the United States were declared open to British vessels from the ports in the British colonies and West India islands named in the acts. A bill was introduced in the senate by Colonel R. M. Johnson, of Ken- tucky, for abolishing imprisonment for debts due to the United States. This measure was advocated with zeal by the mover, and it was supported by several of the senators, but it was not adopted at this session. Colonel Johnson advocated it for several successive sessions, and it became a law in 1828. The question of additional duties on imports, particularly wool- len goods, was again agitated at this session, and debated with much warmth and zeal, but finally the bill to increase the duty on woollens was rejected. The subject of internal improvements was before Congress at this ses- sion, in various forms. It was proposed to cause surveys for canals across Cape Cod — from the river Raritan to the Delaware — from the Delaware 238 ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. to Chesapeake bay — from the Chesapeake to Albemarle sound— and from Lake Erie to the Ohio river. But the proposal was not sanctioned by Congress. The opposition was principally on the ground of unconstitu- tionality. A discussion also arose on the motion to appropriate money for the repairs of the Cumberland road. Large sums had been expended on that work, which was deemed of national importance, but it was then in such a state as to be nearly impassable in some parts. The president had intimated a willingness to favor a bill for repairing the road, though op- posed to extending it. The session closed without any definite action on the question. A convention of navigation and commerce was made and concluded be- tween the United States and France, in 1822 ; which was ratified by the president and senate, and a law passed by both houses of Congress to carry its provisions into effect. This treaty was negotiated by the secre- tary of state, John Quincy Adams, and the Baron Hyde de Neuville, min- ister plenipotentiary of the king of France. Efibrts had been made for a long time by the government of the United States, to form a treaty with France ; but the French court had manifested great reluctance to enter into a convention for the purpose. The trade of that nation did not suffer from want of such a treaty, but the United States lost many advantages by the omission. After the peace of 1815, the commerce and navigation of the United States did not reap all the advantages from that event which might justly have been hoped. A restrictive and monopolizing policy was adopted by both France and Great Britain ; and these countries derived great benefits from the trade to the United States, while reciprocal advantages were not real- ized by the merchants of the latter. It was a constant object, for some years, particularly in 1820-'22, with enlightened politicians in the Uni- ted States, who were favorable to commerce, to devise measures for re- moving the embarrassments produced by the policy of European powers ; or to make regulations respecting the navigation and trade of foreigners to American ports, which should prove to be countervailing, in some de- gree, of the restrictive system of those governments. The principal measures adopted by Congress, with this view, were proposed or advo- cated by Mr. Rufus King, a senator from the state of New York ; than whom no one in Congress was more active in favor of commerce, or had more correct and enlarged views on the subject.* As early as 1822, when three years of Mr, Monroe's second term as president were yet unexpired, the question relative to his successor already occupied most intensely the minds of politicians at Washington, disturbed legislation, and embarrassed the action of Congress. The ex- citement on the subject steadily increased at the seat of government, and rapidly spread through the nation. Of the several candidates spoken of • Bradford. ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. 239 for president, none were supported or opposed on account of any particu- lar measures which they respectively advocated or condemned. The ques- tion about the selection of a candidate was, in fact, personal, not political ; but this circumstance, instead of rendering it less, caused it to be more exciting. The names of many gentlemen were mentioned as candidates, but the number gradually diminished, until the contest finally seemed to be confined to William H. Crawford, secretary of the treasury ; John Quincy Adams, secretary of state ; Henry Clay, speaker of the house of repre- sentatives ; John C. Calhoun, secretary of war ; and General Andrew Jackson, at that time a private citizen. Each of these candidates, during the war with Great Britain, were warm and efficient supporters of Mr. Madison's administration, and zealous members of the democratic party.* In this state of things, the elections for members of the eighteenth Con- gress took place. Most of the members, however, were chosen before the public mind had become fixed, in various parts of the country, on either of the candidates ; consequently the individual preferences of a large por- tion of the members of Congress were unknown to the people by whom they were elected. It was apparent to observing politicians, that the final choice of president would probably fall on Congress, in consequence of the number of candidates preventing a choice by the electoral colleges. It soon became evident that a large proportion of the old politicians of the democratic party had decided to support Mr. Crawford for the succes- sion. He had been, it will be recollected, a formidable candidate against Mr. Monroe in the congressional caucus in 1816. Since the election of the latter, Mr. Crawford had been a prominent member of his cabinet, aa secretary of the treasury, and it was well known that he would now be sustained by Virginia and Georgia, and it was believed that he would also be supported by most of the southern democracy. The general impres- sion among political men was, that a majority of the leading and influen- tial democrats in the Union concurred in the policy of supporting Mr. Crawford. Among these was Mr. Van Buren, then a senator in Congress from the state of New York, and a leading democrat in that state, with whom other prominent men of the same party acted, sufficient in power and influence, as it was thought, to give the electoral vote of the state to Mr. Crawford. Previous to the meeting of Congress, the annual election took place in the state of New York, in November, 1823, for members of the legisla- ture, by whom the electors of president were to be chosen. The result was unexpected and very unsatisfactory to the friends of Mr. Crawford, for although they claimed a majority of the members elect, yet the city and coimty of New York, and many other counties, had decided against them, and the anti-Crawford men likewise claimed a majority in the legisla- ture. The latter, moreover, rested their hopes of success on the passage * Hammoud's History of Parties. 240 ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. of a law by the legislature, giving the choice of electors to the people. This question, which was for many months agitated in New York, gave rise to what was called the people's party, which comprised in its ranks most of the people opposed to Mr. Crawford for the presidency. On the 1st day of December, 1823, the eighteenth Congress held their first session, which continued until the 26th of May, 1824. Mr. Clay, who was again elected a member from Kentucky, was chosen speaker of the house, by a large majority, over Mr. Barbour, speaker of the last Congress. The most important acts passed at this session were those relating to the protection of American manufactures, and internal improvement. The president was authorized to cause the necessary surveys, plans, and esti- mates, to be made of the routes of such roads and canals as he might deem of national importance, for which purpose the sum of thirty thou- sand dollars was appropriated. The president, after mature deliberation, changed his former views on the subject of internal improvements by the general government, and gave this bill his approval, which proved a model and precedent for future legislation on this subject. There was a very general opinion at that time in favor of internal improvements. The tariff act passed at this session was intended as a protection to American manufactures ; it raised the duties on many articles of imports from for- eign countries coming in contact with articles manufactured in the United States. It was the result of the combined efforts of the advocates of pro- tection to domestic industry throughout the Union, added to the recom- mendation of the president and the support of members of Congress prin- cipally from the northern, middle, and western states. The bill was de- bated for weeks in both houses, and called forth the first talent in Con- gress. The most strenuous opposition was made by the members from the southern states. Some northern members voted against the bill, be- cause they were dissatisfied with its details, rather than with its general principles. The majority in its favor in the senate was four, and in the house five only. An act was passed to provide for the extinguishment of the debt due to the United States by the purchasers of public lands, by which persons who had bought these lands on credit, of the United States, could receive a discharge of the debt, or part thereof, by relinquishing to the United States the lands so purchased, or part of the lands, according to the amount due. Donations of lands were granted to certain actual settlers in Florida. The state of Indiana was authorized to open a canal through the public lands, to connect the navigation of the waters of the Wabash river with those of Lake Erie ; and every section of land through which the said canal route might pass was reserved from future sale. The naturalization laws were amended so as to allow aliens being minors to become citizens ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. 2i]. of the United States after arriving at the age of twenty-one years, provided they had resided five years in the United States. The presidential question was at this time the all-absorbing subject of interest, both among members of Congress and the people. One great point, about which the members of Congress Avere divided, was whether an attempt should be made to nominate candidates for president and vice- president by a congressional caucus, as had been the uniform practice of the democratic party. The friends of Mr. Crawford, with Mr. "Van Buren at their head, were in favor of a caucus, and disposed to denounce all those who were opposed to this mode, which they called " regular nomi- nation," as enemies of the democratic party. A committee of 'members ■opposed to Mr. Crawford stated, in the National Intelligencer newspaper, that of two hundred and sixty-one members, it was ascertained one hun- dred and eighty-one were opposed to a caucus ; and it was added, that many others would not attend should such a meeting be called. Notwithstanding this statement, a meeting of the democratic members of Congress was called by the friends of Mr. Crawford, and on the Hthof Feb- ruary, 1824, the assemblage took place. Only sixty-six members attended, of whom forty-eight were from the four states of New York, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia. On a ballot for president, Mr. Crawford received 64 votes, Mr. Adams 2, General Jackson l,and Mr. Macon, of North Caroli- na, 1 . Mr. Gallatin was nominated for vice-president, but afterward declined. The issue of this attempt to nominate Mr. Crawford proved injurious to his prospects, and about the same time his health became so much im- paired that serious doubts were entertained of his capability on that account to perform the duties of the office of president in case of his election. In the state of New York the Crawford party became very unpopular, in con- sequence of some of their leading men having rejected a law proposed by the people's party in the legislature, providing for the choice of presi- dential electors by the people. The electors in the state of New York were therefore chosen by the legislature ; but owing principally to the ef- forts of General Jarnes Tallmadge, the champion of the people's party in the legislaturfe on that occasion, with the aid of Mr. Henry Wheaton and other zealous members of that body, the friends of Mr. Crawford met with an unexpected defeat, and the electoral vote of the state was given as fol- lows : for Adams 26, for Crawford 5, for Clay 4, for Jackson 1. This election in New York, with the result in other states, showed that no choice had been made for president by the electoral colleges, and ac- cording to the provisions of the constitution, the decision was referred to the house of representatives. The total votes of the colleges of electors for president, were, for Jackson 99, Adams 84, Crawford 41, Clay 37. John C. Calhoun was elected vice-president, having received 182 votes, against 78 for all others. The choice of president by the house of repre- sentatives was, as the constitution requires, confined to the three highest 16 242 ADMINISTRATION OF MONROE. candidates. The election by the house was held in February, 1825, when Mr. Adams received the votes of 13 states on the first ballot, General Jack- son 7 states, and Mr. Cravpford 4 states. John Quincy Adams was there- fore declared elected president of the United States for four years, from the 4th of March, 1825. The second session of the eighteenth Congress was held from the 6th of December, 1824, to the expiration of their term on the 3d of March, 1825. But few acts of general interest were passed ; among them was one to re- duce into one the several acts regulating the postoffice department. An act was also passed respecting drawbacks of duties on goods re-exported ; another td provide for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States ; and an act concerning wrecks on the coast of Florida A resolution was offered in the senate, in February, 1825, by Mr. King, of New York, proposing that after the payment of the public debt, for which the public lands were pledged, should be made, the proceeds of the sales should be applied to the emancipation of such slaves within any of the United States, and to aid in the removal of such free persons of color as by the laws of any state were allowed to be emancipated or removed, to any territory without the limits of the United States. The resolution, which did not receive the sanction of the senate, was not designed to in- terfere with the laws and usages of any state relating to slaves. Had it been adopted, the effect would have been similar to that the Colonization Society have in view ; and would have secured funds for the purpose. The last year of Mr. Monroe's administration was distinguished by the visit to the United States of the Marquis de Lafayette, the friend and ally of the Americans during their struggle with Great Britain in the war of the revolution. The administration of Mr. Monroe, which closed on the 3d of March, 1825, was eminently prosperous and advantageous to the nation. At no period in our history has party spirit been so much subdued, and the at- tention of the national legislature more exclusively devoted to objects of public benefit. In the language of his successor, Mr. Adams, President Monroe " strengthened his country for defence, by a system of combined fortifications, military and naval, sustaining her rights, her dignity and honor abroad ; soothing her dissensions, and conciliating her acerbities at home ; controlling by a firm though peaceful policy, the hostile spirit of the European alliance against republican Southern America ; extorting, by the mild compulsion of reason, the shores of the Pacific from the stipula- ted acknowledgment of Spain ; and leading back the Imperial Autocrat of the north, to his lawful boundaries, from his hastily-asserted dominion over the southern ocean. Thus strengthening and consolidating the fed- erative edifice of his country's union, till he was entitled to say, like Augus- tus Caesar of his imperial city, that he had found her build of brick, and left her constructed of marble." B-n^^ijTBalct from aPaiatm^iyD-nraTia. S, 5, Ada/yn^ BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. k When the constitution of the United States was formed, in 1787, and the question of its adoption was before the people, the opponents of a con- solidated government, and those who preferred the old confederation, rep- resented the executive established by the constitution, as the chief of an elective monarchy. Mr. Jefferson considered him a bad edition of a Po- lish king, as he expressed it. But no one apprehended any danger of the office of president ever becoming hereditary. It is, however, a curious circumstance, that the only one of the first five presidents of the United States who had a son, should have lived to see his eldest son elected to the presidency. It must not from this be supposed that the circumstances of the birth and family of John Quincy Adams had any influence in con- tributing to his elevation to the same high office which his father had previously filled. On the contrary, the jealousy of the American people on the subject of any supposed preference in consequence of family or rank, probably operated to the prejudice of Mr. Adams, and diminished the popular support which he would otherwise have received ; for no American was ever more fully qualified by talents and education for the various important stations which he has been called to fill, than the dis- tinguished statesman who is the subject of the present memoir. Born in the year 1767, on the 11th day of July, at the mansion of his father, John Adams, who then resided in Boston, although the family-seat was in the present town of Quincy, Massachusetts, John Quincy Adams (who afterward became the sixth president of the United States) took the name of John Quincy, his great grandfather, who bore a distinguished part in the councils of the province, at the commencement of the eighteenth century.* In the very dawn of his existence the principles of American indepen- dence and freedom were instilled into the mind of the younger Adams. * A part of this sketch is an abstract of a memoir of Mr. Adams {>ublishe(l in 1828. 244 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. Both his father and mother were the most zealous promoters of the cause %of their country in the struggle with Great Britain. When the father of Mr. Adams repaired to France as joint commissioner with Franklin and Lee, he was accompanied by his son John Quincy, then in his eleventh year. In that country he passed a year and a half with his father, and enjoyed the privilege of the daily intercourse and parental attentions of Doctor Franklin, whose kind notice of the young was a peculiar trait in his char- acter, and whose primitive simplicity of manners and methodical habits left a lasting impression on the mind of his youthful countryman. After a residence of about eighteen months in France, young Adams returned to America with his father, who assisted in forming a constitu- tion for Massachusetts, but was soon called upon again by Congress to repair to Europe, as a commissioner for negotiating treaties with Holland and other powers, but particularly with Great Britain, as soon as she was disposed to put an end to the war. He again took his son with him, and sailed in a French frigate, which • in consequence of springing a dangerous leak, was compelled to put into Ferrol, in Spain. From that place Mr. Adams and his son travelled by land to Paris, where they arrived in January, 1780. For a few months Mr. Adams sent his son to school in Paris ; but in July, the same year, he took him with him to Holland, where he was called to negotiate a loan for the United States. He placed his son first in the public school of the city of Amsterdam, and afterward in the city university of Leyden. In July, 1781, Mr. Francis Dana (afterward chief-justice of the state of Mas- sachusetts), who had gone out with Mr. Adams as secretary of legation, received from the continental Congress the appointment of minister to the court of the empress of Russia, and John Quincy Adams was selected by Mr. Dana as a private secretary of this mission. After spending four- teen months with Mr. Dana, he left him to return through Sweden, Den- mark, Hamburg, and Bremen, to Holland, where his father had been pub- licly received as minister from the United States, and had concluded a commercial treaty with the republic of the Netherlands. He performed this journey during the winter of 1782-'3, being only sixteen years of age, without a companion. He reached the Hague in April, 1783, his father being at that time engaged at Paris in the negotiation of peace. From April to July his son remained at the Hague, under the care of Mr. Du- mas, a native of Switzerland, who then filled the office of an agent of the United States. The negotiations for peace being suspended in July, Mr. Adams's father repaired on business to Amsterdam ; and on his return to Paris he took his son with him. The definitive treaty of peace was signed in September, 1783, from which time till May, 1785, he was chiefly with his father in England, Holland, and France. It was at this period that he formed an acquaintance with Mr. Jefferson, then residing in Trance as American minister. The intercourse of Mr. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. 245 Jefferson with his former coUeague in Congress, the father of Mr. Adams, •was of an intimate and confidential kind, and led to a friendship for his son which, formed in early life, scarcely suffered an interruption from sub- sequent political dissensions, and revived with original strength during the last years of the life of this venerable statesman. Mr. Adams was, at the period last mentioned, about eighteen years of age. Born in the crisis of his country's fortunes, he had led a life of wandering and vicissitude, unusual at any age. His education, in every- thing but the school of liberty, had been interrupted and irregular. He had seen much of the world — much of men — and had enjoyed but little leisure for books. Anxious to complete his education, and still more anx- ious to return to his native land, when his father was, in 1785, appointed minister to the court of St. James, his son, at that period of life when the pleasures and splendor of a city like London are most calculated to fasci- nate and mislead, asked permission of his father to go back to his native shores. This he accordingly did. On his return to America he became a member of the ancient college of Harvard, at Cambridge, Massachu- setts, where he graduated in July, 1787. On leaving college, Mr. Adams entered the office of Theophilus Par- sons, afterward chief justice of the state, as a student of law, at Newbu- ryport. On a visit of General Washington to that town, in 1789, Mr. Parsons, being chosen by his fellow-citizens to be the medium of expres- sing their sentiments to the general, called upon his pupils each to pre- pare an address. This call was obeyed by Mr. Adams, and his address was delivered by Mr. Parsons. After completing his law studies, at Newburyport, Mr. Adams removed to Boston, with view of commencing the practice of his profession at the bar. His time not being fully occupied, Mr. Adams employed his leisure hours in speculations upon the great political questions of the day. In April, 1793, on the first intimation that war between Great Britain and France had been declared, Mr. Adams published a short series of papers, the object of which was, to prove that the duty and interest of the United States required them to remain neutral in the contest. These papers were published before General Washington's proclamation of neutrality, and without any knowledge that a proclamation would be issued. The opinions they expressed were in opposition to the views generally prevailing, that the treaty of alliance of 1778 obliged us to take part in the wars of France. But the proclamation of neutrality by Gen- eral Washington, sanctioned by all his cabinet, including Mr. Jefferson, was shortly made public, and confirmed the justice of the views which Mr. Adams had been (it is believed) the first to express before the public on this new and difficult topic of national law. In the whiter of 1793 and 1794, the inflammatory appeals of the French minister to the United States, Mr. Genet, caused much excitement in the 246 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JOHN Q, ADAMS. public mind. Among those who co-operated in support of the admin- istration of Washington in resisting Mr. Genet, none was more conspicu- ous than Mr. Adams, whose essays in favor of neutrality were read and admired throughout the country. His reputation was soon established, as an American statesman and political writer. Before his retirement from the department of state, Mr. Jefferson recommended him to General Washington, as a proper person to be introduced into the public service of the country. Tiie acquaintance between Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Adams which had been formed in France, had lately been renewed, on occasion of a visit to Philadelphia in 1792 ; and the promptitude and ability with which he had seconded the efforts of the secretary of state in enforcing neutrality, no doubt led Mr. Jeffer- son thus to recommend him to General Washington. The publications of Mr. Adams above alluded to, had attracted the at- tention of General Washington. He had in private expressed the high- est opinion of them, and had made particular inquiries with respect to their author. Thus honorably identified, at the early age of twenty-seven, with the first great and decisive step of the foreign policy of the United States, and thus early attracting the notice, and enjoying the confidence of Washington, Mr. Adams was, in May, 1794, appointed minister resi- dent to the Netherlands, an office corresponding in rank and salary with that of a charge d'affaires at the present day. The father of .Mr. Adams was at this time vice-president of the United States ; but the appointment of his son was made by General Washington, unexpectedly to the vice- president, and without any previous intimation that it would take place. Mr. Adams remained at his post in Holland about two years. He was an attentive observer of the great events then occurring in Europe, and his official correspondence with the government was regarded by General Washington as of the highest importance. Toward the close of General Washington's administration, he appointed Mr. Adams minister plenipotentiary to Portugal. On his way from the Hague to Lisbon, he received a new commission, changing his destination to Berlin. This latter appointment was made by Mr. Adams's father, then president of the United States, and in a manner highly honorable to the restraint of his parental feelings, in the discharge of an act of public duty. Although Mr. Adams's appointment to Portugal was made by General Washington, and President Adams did no more than propose his transfer to Berlin, yet feelings of delicacy led him to hesitate, before he took even this step. He consulted his predecessor and friend, then retired from office, and placed in a situation beyond the reach of any of the mo- tives which can possibly prejudice the minds of men in power. The fol- lowing letter from General Washington, is the reply to President Adams's inquiry, and will ever remain an honorable testimony to the character of Mr. Adams : — BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. 247 " Monday, February 20, 1797. " Dear Sir : I thank you for giving me a perusal of the enclosed. The sentiments do honor to the head and heart of the writer ; and if my wishes would be of any avail, they should go to you in a strong hope that you will not withhold merited promotion from John Q. Adams because he is your son. For, without intending to compliment the father or the mother, or to censure any others, I give it as my decided opinion, that Mr. Adams is the most valuable public character we have abroad ; and that there re- mains no doubt in my mind, that he will prove himself to be the ablest of all our diplomatic corps. If he was now to be brought into that line, or into any other public walk, I could not, upon the principle which has reg- ulated my own conduct, disapprove of the caution which is hinted at in. the letter. But he is already entered ; the public, more and more, as he is known, are appreciating his talents and worth ; and his country would sustain a loss, if these were to be checked by over-delicacy on your part. " With sincere esteem, and affectionate regard, " I am ever yours, " George Washington." The principal object of Mr. Adams's mission to Berlin was effected by the conclusion of a treaty of commerce with Prussia. He remained at that court till the spring of 1801, when he was recalled by his father, and returned to America. During the last year of his residence in Prussia, he made an excursion into the province of Silesia, which he described in a series of letters that were afterward collected and published in a volume, and have been translated into French and German, and extensively circu- lated in Europe. In March, 1798, while he was at Berlin, he was ap- pointed by the president and senate, commissioner to renew the treaty with Sweden. The advantages enjoyed by Mr. Adams, during his residence on the continent of Europe, from 1794 to 1801, he did not fail to improve, and they were of great importance in extending his political knowledge, and in their influence upon his character and feelings. He contemplated with the eye of a careful observer the great movements in the political world which were then taking place, and which included many of the most im- portant events of the French revolution. A combination of peculiar cir- cumstances enabled him to hold an important and truly American course between the violent extremes to which public opinion in America ran, on the great question of our foreign relations. It was also fortunate that he was absent from the country during the period when domestic parties were organized and arrayed against each other. His situation secured him from the necessity of taking part in those political contentions in which he must either have been placed in the painful position of acting with the party opposed to his father, or he would have been obliged to eflcouiUer the natural imputation of being biased in support of him by 248 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. filial attachment. From this alternative Mr. Adams was spared by his residence abroad during the whole period in which our domestic parties were acquiring their organization ; and he returned to his native land a stranger to local parties, and a friend to his country. In 1802, Mr. Adams was elected to the senate of Massachusetts from the district of Boston ; and signalized that fearless independence which has ever characterized his political course, by his strong, though ineffec- tual opposition to a powerful combination of banking interests, of which the centre was placed among his immediate constituents. In 1803, he was elected by the legislature of Massachusetts, a senator of the United States. There was a federal majority in that body, but Mr. Adams was not elected by a party vote. He was considered a moderate federalist, but, when elected, was unpledged, either as to opposition or support, to any men or measures other than those which his own sense of duty should dictate to him to be supported or opposed. His conduct in the United States senate was such as might have been expected from his position. He neither had principles to permit, nor passions to drive him into indiscriminate opposition or blind support. He supported the administration of Mr. Jefferson in every measure which his judgment approved. With the democratic party in the senate he vo- ted for the embargo recommended by Mr. Jefferson, believing that the hos- tile decrees of France and England against American commerce called for retaliatory or restrictive measures. For his course in this particular, Mr. Adams was censured by the legislature of Massachusetts, in a series of resolutions passed by that body, which also, in May, 1808, elected Mr. Lloyd as senator from the period of the expiration of Mr. Adams's term. Not choosing to represent constituents who had lost their confidence in him, Mr. Adams resigned his place in the senate of the United States. The support of a man holding the position and possessing the talents of Mr. Adams, was peculiarly acceptable to the administration of Mr. Jef- ferson, at a crisis when a defection in the ranks of the democratic party wore an alarming aspect to those in power. His course was, however, severely censured by his former political friends, the federalists of Mas- sachusetts, who considered his support of the embargo, and other meas- ures of Mr. Jefferson's administration, as an act of separation from the federal party. His father had previously indicated similar views to those of his son, and finally became a zealous supporter of democratic men and measures. Previous to retiring from the senate of the United States, namely, in 1806, Mr. Adams was called to the chair of rhetoric and oratory in Har- vard college, and delivered a course of lectures on the art of speaking well ; an important art to the youth of a free country. But Mr. Adams was not destined to remain long in retirement. Soon after the accession of Mr. Madison to the presidency, he appointed Mr. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. 249 Adams, with the senate's concurrence, in June, 1809, minister plenipo- tentiary to the court of the emperor of Russia. He was the first minister from the United States to that country. Mr. Jefferson, perceiving the importance to the United States of both political amity and commercial intercourse with the great Russian empire, sent Levett Harris as American consul to St. Petersburg, through whom a correspondence ensued between the Russian emperor and the American president, which began the good relations that have subsisted without interruption between the two coun- tries. One of the last acts of Mr. Jefferson's administration was to nomi- nate an envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Russia, whom the senate rejected. The emperor Alexander, who was then on the throne of Russia, was one of the most remarkable men of the age ; well educated, well informed, liberal, and generous, he regarded the United States with such kindness that, on the most despotic thrope in the old world, he freely expressed his admiration of the republican institutions of the new.* The intelligence of the declaration of war by the United States against Great Britain, was known in Russia in September, 1812. Mr. Adctms had the good fortune to acquire the confidence of the emperor, v.'ho ad- mitted him to a degree of intimacy rarely enjoyed with despotic monarchs, even by their own ministers. On the 20th of September, 1812, the Rus- sian minister Romanzoff informed Mr. Adams that, having made peace with Great Britain, the emperor was much concerned and disappointed to find the commercial benefits which he expected his subjects would derive from that event, defeated and lost by the war between the United States and Great Britain. He therefore suggested a settlement of the difliculties by mediation, offering himself to act as mediator, in terms of great good- will, which Mr. Adams met and answered with corresponding cordiality. In the course of his conversation with the Russian minister, the Ameri- can envoy stated that he knew his government engaged in the war with reluctance ; that it would be highly injurious, both to the United States and to England ; that he could see no good result as likely to arise from it to any one. The minister from Russia to the United States was di- rected to proffer the mediation to the American government, which was formally accepted in March, 1813, by the latter, but it was declined by the British government. It was unquestionably owing to the confidential re- lation between Mr. Adams and the emperor, that the mediation of Russia was tendered ; and though it was declined by England, the mediation pro- duced an offer from that country to treat directly with the United States, and thus led to peace. It was for this reason that Mr. Adams was placed at the head of the five coramissioaers by whom the treaty of peace was negotiated at Ghent, • Ingersoll. 250 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. in 1814 ; his associates on that commission being James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell, and Albert Gallatin. The skill with which that negotiation was conducted, is well known. Mr. Adams bore a full part in its counsels and labors ; and a proportion- ate share of the credit is due to him for that cogency and skill which drew from the marquis of Wellesley, in the British house of lords, the declaration, that " in his opinion the American commissioners had shown the most astonishing superiority over the British, during the whole of the correspondence." This tribute is the more honorable to Mr. Adams and his colleagues, from the circumstance that, on every important point, the British commis- sioners received special instructions from the ministry at London, direct- ing the terms in which the American envoys were to be answered. Having borne this distinguished part, in bringing the war to a close by an honorable peace, Mr. Adams was employed, in conjunction with Messrs. Clay gaid Gallatin, in negotiating a convention of commerce with Great Britain, on the basis of which our commercial intercourse with that country has since been conducted. On the 28th of February, 1815, Mr. Madison gave a further proof of his confidence in Mr. Adams, by appointing him (with the consent of the senate) minister to Great Britain, and he continued to represent the United States at that court until the accession of Mr. Monroe to the presidency, in March, 1817. In the formation of his cabinet, Mr. Monroe consulted with several of the most distinguished of his friends, among others with General Jack- son, to whom he wrote as follows : " I shall take a person for the de- partment of state from the eastward ; and Mr. Adams's long service in our diplomatic concerns appearing to entitle him to the preference, sup- ported by his acknowledged talents and integrity, his nomination will go to the senate." To this General Jackson replied : " I have no hesitation in saying, you have made the best selection to fill the department of state that could be made. Mr. Adams in the hour of difficulty will be an able helpmate, and I am convinced his appointment will afford general satis- faction." In pursuance of the above intimation of Mr. Monroe, Mr. Adams was called home from England, and appointed secretary of state in March, 1817. On this arduous office he entered with the general approbation of the people. During the eight years of Mr. Monroe's administration, Mr. Adams remained in the department of state, retaining the entire confi- dence of Mr. Monroe, and acquiring that of his colleagues in the cabinet. In reference to all questions of the foreign relations of the country, he was the influential member of the government ; and is, consequently, more than any other individual connected with the executive, entitled to the credit of the measures which, during Mr. Monroe's administration, were adopted BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. 251 in reference to the foreign policy of the government. One of the most im- portant of these measures was the recognition of the independence of the new republics of Spanish America. The credit of first effectually propo- sing that measure in the house of representatives is due to Mr. Clay, while speaker of that body ; that of choosing the propitious moment when it could be proposed with the unanimous consent of Congress, and the nation, belongs to Mr. Adams. Nor is he entitled to less credit for the successful termination of our differences with Spain. A controversy of thirty years' standing, which had resisted the skill of every preceding administration of the government, was brought to an honorable close. In- demnity was procured for our merchants, and East and West Florida ad- ded to our republic. Next to the purchase of Louisiana, the acquisition of Florida may be viewed as one of the most important measures in our history as a nation. Among his reports while secretary of state, may be mentioned that on weights and measures, made to the United States sen- ate in 1821, in conformity with a resolution of that body, passed in 1817. This report is distinguished for its ability and research. On every important occasion and question that arose during Mr. Mon- roe's administration, the voice of Mr. Adams was for his country, for mild councils, and for union. In the agitation of the Missouri question, his influence was exerted for conciliation. He believed that by the con- stitution and the treaty of cession of 1803, Congress was barred from adopting the proposed restrictions on the admission of Missouri. Of in- ternal improvement by roads and canals, he was ever the friend, and moved in the senate of the United States the first project of their system- atic construction. When the question of a successor to Mr. Monroe in the presidency be- came the subject of agitation, the claims of Mr. Adams to that high ofiice were admitted to be strong and decided, by a large portion of his coun- trymen. His elevation was desired by a numerous body of calm, re- flecting men, throughout the Union, who desired to see the government administered with the ability and integrity which belonged, as they knew, to the character of Mr. Adams. The other rival candidates for the presi- dency, Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford, and Henry Clay, also pre- sented severally strong claims for the support of the people. Of these several candidates, Mr. Adams was the only one who represented the non-slaveholding interest, and he was the second choice of an immense proportion of the people, who, for various causes, preferred one of the other candidates. In consequence of the number in nomination for president, no choice was effected by the electoral colleges, and neither candidate approached nearer than within thirty-two votes of a majority. General Jackson re- ceived 99 votes, Mr. Adams 84, Mr. Crawford 41, and Mr. Clay 37. For the vice-presidency, John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, received 183 252 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. votes, and was consequently elected. The choice of the president, ac- cording to constitutional provisions, was referred to the house of repre- sentatives, and, contrary to general expectation, an election was made on the first ballot ; Mr. Adams having received the votes of thirteen states. General Jackson seven states, and Mr. Crawford four states. In this election by the house, Mr. Clay and his friends having voted for Mr. Ad- ams, great indignation was expressed by the supporters of General Jack- son, but the friends of Mr. Crawford, generally, at first appeared satisfied with the result, as they preferred Mr. Adams to General Jackson, and the health of Mr. Crawford was then so precarious as to render him nearly, if not quite, incompetent for the office. A committee of the house was appointed to wait on Mr. Adams and no- tify him of his election to the presidency ; to this notification he made the following reply : — " Gentlemen : In receiving this testimonial from the representatives of the people, and states of this Union, I am deeply sensible to the cir- cumstances under which it has been given. All my predecessors in the high station to which the favor of the house now calls me, have been hon- ored with majorities of the electoral voices in their primary colleges. It has been my fortune to be placed, by the divisions of sentiment prevailing among our countrymen on this occasion, in competition, friendly and hon- orable, with three of my fellow-citizens, all justly enjoying, in an eminent degree, the public favor ; and of whose worth, talents, and services, no one entertains a higher and more respectful sense than myself. The names of two of them were, in the fulfilment of the provisions of the constitution, presented to the selection of the house, in concurrence with my own ; names closely associated with the glory of the nation, and one of them further recommended by a larger majority of the primary electo- ral suffrages than mine. " In this state of things, could my refusal to accept the trust thus dele- gated to me, give an immediate opportunity to the people to form and to express with a nearer approach to unanimity, the object of their prefer- ence, I should not hesitate to decline the acceptance of this eminent charge, and to submit the decision of this momentous question again to their determination. But the constitution itself has not so disposed of the contingency which would arise in the event of my refusal ; I shall, there- fore, repair to the post assigned me by the call of my country signified through her constitutional organs ; oppressed with the magnitude of the task before me, but cheered with the hope of that generous support from my fellow-citizens which, in the vicissitudes of a life devoted to their ser- vice, has never failed to sustain me — confident in the trust, that the wis- dom of the legislative councils will guide and direct me in the path of my official duty, and relying, above all, upon the superintending providence of that Being, in whose hand our breath is, and whose are all our ways. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. 253 " Gentlemen, I pray you to make acceptable to the house the assurance of my profound gratitude for their confidence, and to accept yourselves my thanks for the friendly terms in which you have communicated to me theii decision." The administration of Mr. Adams as president of the United States, commenced on the 4th of March, 1825, and continued four years. A com- bination having taken place immediately after the election, of a majority of the friends of Mr. Crawford with those of General Jackson, it was soon appa- rent that the new administration was destined to meet with a systematic and violent opposition. Every effort on the part of Mr. Adams to con- ciliate his opponents, and to conduct the public affairs with integrity and usefulness, proved ineffectual to turn the torrent of popular opinion which set steadily against him. In the third year of his term the administration was in the minority in both branches of Congress, and the opposition be- ing concentrated on General Jackson as a candidate for president, he was in 1828 elected, by a large majority, over Mr. Adams. In March, 1829, Mr. Adams retired to private life, carrying with him the esteem of his political friends, and the respect of his opponents, who generally gave him the credit of good intentions, however they might have differed with him in his views of public policy. While holding the high office of president, he uniformly declined the exercise of a prescriptive spirit toward those of his political opponents whom he found in office ; magnanimously conceding to all the right of exercising their own free will in the choice of rulers, and in supporting or opposing the administration. After the inauguration of his successor. General Jackson, Mr. Adams continued a short time at Washington city. He then repaired to his family mansion, and the scenes of his early youth, at Quincy, near Boston, Mas- sachusetts, where, in the possession of a competent fortune, and in the enjoyment of the pleasures of domestic life with his family, he might have expected to pass the remainder of his days. But the people of his own immediate neighborhood were not willing to allow him to remain long in retirement. In 1830 he was elected to represent the district in which he resided, in the Congress of the United States, and the following year, namely, in December, 1831, he took his seat in the house of representa- tives at Washington city, being then in the 65th year of his age, and hav- ing already passed about forty years in the public service. In the national legislature, he took and maintained the stand to which his eminent talents and distinguished services entitled him. The confi- dence of his constituents, was manifested by continued re-elections to the house of representatives, of which he was a constant member until his death, a period of more than sixteen years. His reports as chairman of committees on various subjects, particularly on those of manufactures and finance, are among the ablest papers to be found among the national records. He distinguished himself especially 254 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF J. Q. ADAMS. on the organization of the twenty-sixth Congress, in December, 1839, when difficulties of a novel character occurred, in consequence of dispu- ted seats from the state of New Jersey, which prevented for many days the choice of a speaker. On that occasion Mr. Adams was chosen, by unanimous consent, chairman of the house while it was in a state of con- fusion and disorder. By his skill and influence, he was enabled to calm the turbulent elements of a disorganized house, and to bring about a settle- ment of the difficulties which threatened the dissolution of the government. Perhaps the most striking feature of Mr. Adams's career as a member of the house of representatives, was his firm adherence to the right of the people to petition Congress, and to be heard through their representatives, on any subject whatsoever. He took an active part in debate, on nearly every topic of public interest, and his speeches were frequently marked with the most fervid eloquence. The private character of Mr. Adams was always above reproach, in his intercourse with his fellow-men, and in all the various duties of a long life. Without any uncommon professions, he uniformly evinced great respect for the Christian religion, and, like his father, gave a preference to the doctrines of the unitarian church. In a biographical sketch of Mr. Adams, written for the first edition of the Statesman's Manual in 1846, we made use of the following words: *' The subject of this memoir is still found at his post in the public ser- vice, where, like the earl of Chatham, it may be expected his mortal ca- reer will finally close." What was then a thought, in advance of a probable result, became an historical fact in 1848. On the twenty-second of February (the birthday of Washington), in that year Mr. Adams was prostrated by paralysis, while in his seat in the house of representatives, and yielded up his spirit to his Maker on the following day (February 23, 1848), being then in his eighty-first year. He died in the speaker's room in the capitol, and his last words were, " This is the last of earth." A committee of mem- bers of Congress accompanied his remains to the family burying-ground at Quincy, due honors being paid to his memory in the principal cities and towns, through which the corpse was carried to its final resting-place. Mr. Adams was of middle stature, and full person, his eyes dark and piercing, and beaming with intelligence. He always led an active life, and enjoyed good health to an advanced age, his health being promoted, doubtless, by his early rising and bodily exercise. His mind was highly- cultivated, and he was considered one of the most accomplished scholars and statesmen in America. Mr. Adams, in May, 1797, was married to Louisa Catherine, daughter of Joshua Johnson, Esq., of Maryland, who then resided in London. By this lady, who survives him, he had four children, three sons and one daughter, of whom one only, Charles F. Adams of Boston, is now living. ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. The inauguration- of John Quincy Adams as president of the United States, took place on the 4th of March, 1825. At about half-past twelve o'clock on that day he was introduced into the capitol, followed by the ex- president, Mr. Monroe, and his family, by the judges of the supreme court, in their robes of office, and the members of the senate, preceded by the vice-president, with a number of members of the house of representatives. Mr. Adams, in a plain suit of black, ascended the steps to the speaker's chair, and took his seat. Silence having been proclaimed, and the doors of the hall closed, the president elect rose and delivered his inaugural ad- dress to the assembled multitude, by whom it was received with ' great attention and interest. After delivering this address, Mr. Adams descended from the chair, and placing himself on the righthand of the judge's table, received from Chief- Justice Marshall a volume of the laws of the United States, from which he read the oath of office, at the close of which, the house rang with the cheers and plaudits of the immense audience. The senate being in session, the president immediately nominated the members of his cabinet, namely : Henry Clay, of Kentucky, for secretary of state ; Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, secretary of the treasury ; James Bar- bour, of Virginia, secretary of war. These nominations were all confirmed, and unanimously, except that of Mr. Clay, to which a warm opposition was made on the part of a few senators, and the injunction of secresy being removed, the votes appeared to have been twenty-seven in favor, and fourteen against it. S. L. Southard, as secretary of the navy, and Will- iam Wirt, as attorney-general, were continued in office. John M'Lean, of Ohio, postmaster-general (not then a member of the cabinet), who had been appointed by Mr. Monroe, was also continued in office. After disposing of the nominations made by the executive, the senate took into consideration the tfeaty made with the republic of Colombia, for th© suppression of the slave-trade. This treaty was made in conformity with a resolution of the house of representatives, recommending to the executive to make treaties, giving the mutual right of search of vessels in suspected parts of the world, in order more effectually to prevent the 256 ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. traffic in slaves. The amendments proposed by the senate, at the last session, to the treaty with Great Britain, for the same purpose, were in- troduced into this treaty ; but the fate of the tieaty with England had prob- ably caused a change in the minds of some of the senators, and other views had been taken of the subject by others, and the treaty with Colom- bia was rejected by 28 votes to 12. The divisions which had been taken on the foregoing questions, in the senate, left little doubt that the new administration was destined to meet with a systematic and organized opposition ; and previous to the next meet- ing of Congress, the ostensible grounds of opposition were set forth at public dinners and meetings, so as to prepare the community for a warm political contest, until the next election. Those who placed themselves in opposition to the administration, with- out reference to its measures, urged as reasons for their hostility, that Mr. Adams's election was the result of a bargain between Mr. Clay and him- self ; and his selection of Mr. Clay as secretary of state, was relied upon as a conclusive proof of the bargain ; that he was elected against the ex- pressed will of the people ; and that Congress, by not taking General Jackson, the candidate having the highest number of votes, had violated the constitution, and disobeyed their constituents. Personal objections were also urged, but as these formed no part of the justification of the opposition which was to be arrayed in anticipation of measures, it is un- necessary to give them a place. Those who were friendly to the new administration, or disposed to judge of it by its acts, replied to these ob- jections, that Mr. Clay, as a representative, was obliged to decide between three candidates for the presidency, and that his vote was in accordance with all his previous declarations ; that his own situation as a candidate who might possibly succeed, rendered it unsuitable for him to express any preference for either of the other candidates, until the decision of the legislature of Louisiana (first heard at Washington on the 27th of Decem- ber) had left him free to decide between his former competitors ; that Mr. Crawford, though constitutionally a candidate, was virtually withdrawn by the situation of his health, and that as between Mr. Adams and General Jackson, the previous deliberate expression of his sentiments as to the latter's character and qualifications for a civil office, rendered it impossi- ble for him to vote for him without the most gross inconsistency ; that Mr. Adams's experience, learning, and talents, were guaranties for his proper performance of the duties of the chief magistracy, which were not in the power of his competitor to offer ; and that, having^ been compelled to dis- charge this duty as a representative of the people, it would have argued an improper distrust of his own character and of public opinion, to have refused to take the appointment of secretary of state from Mr. Adams, be- cause he had contributed by his vote to elect him to the presidency. As to the fact of his selection as secretary of state, they vindicated it on the ADMINISTRATION OP JOHN Q. ADAMS. 257 ground, that his situation as speaker of the house, and his long and inti- mate acquaintance with our .national affairs, made him the most prominent candidate for that station, and the strong support he received in the west for the presidency, showed that his appointment would gratify a part of the Union, which, until then, had never been complimented with a repre- sentative in the cabinet.* One of the most prominent topics of public interest during the year 1825, was the controversy between the national government and the ex- ecutive of Georgia, Governor Troup. This controversy grew out of a compact between the general government and the state of Georgia in 1802. By that compact the United States agreed, in consideration of Georgia relinquishing her claim to the Mississippi territory, to extinguish, at the na- tional expense, the Indian title to the lands occupied by them in Georgia, " whenever it could be peaceably done, upon reasonable terms." Since making that agreement, the general government had extinguished the Indian title to about fifteen millions of acres, and conveyed the same to the state of Georgia. There still remained 9,537,000 of acres in possession of the Indians, of which 5,292,000 of acres belonged to the Cherokees, and the remainder to the Creek nation. Shortly before the termination of Mr. Monroe's administration, the state government became very urgent for the entire removal of the Indians from the state ; and at the solicitation of the governor, the late president ap- pointed two commissioners, selected by the governor of Georgia, to make a treaty with the Creeks for the purchase of their lands. f But the Creek nation having began to enjoy the arts and comforts of civilization introduced among them by the government of the United States, were unwilling to leave their lands for the wilderness of the west, and passed a law forbidding the sale of any of their lands, on the pain of death. A few of the chiefs were induced to violate this law, by negotiating with the United States commissioners, after the breaking up of the general council of the nation, and by these chiefs, forming a fraction only of the acknowledged heads of the tribes, all the lands of the Creeks in Georgia and Alabama were ceded to the United States. This treaty, however, was transmitted to the United States senate, and ratified by them on the 3d of March, 1825, the last day of Mr. Monroe's administration. When the information that this treaty had been thus sanctioned, reached the Creeks, it produced great excitement, and a secret council of the nation being called, they resolved not to accept the treaty, and the death of M'Intosh, the chief of the party that assented to it, was determined on. This deter- mination was carried into effect by a party of Indians, who surrounded his house on the 30th of April, and shot M'Intosh, and another chief who had also signed the treaty. This course on the part of the Creeks presented a new question, and a * American Annual Register. ♦ Ibid. 17 258 ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN Q. ADAV8. controversy soon grew out of it between the general government and Gov- ernor Troup. The governor contended, that upon the ratification of the treaty, the fee simple of the lands became vested in Georgia, and subject to her authority. He therefore called the legislature of Georgia together, for the purpose of taking measures to cause a survey of the lands, and to distribute them among the white inhabitants of Georgia by lottery. These circumstances, and the remonstrances of the Creek chiefs against the treaty, induced President Adams to appoint a special agent to investigate the matter, and, at the same time. General Gaines, of the United States army, was ordered to repair to the Creek country with a competent num- ber of troops, to restore tranquillity among the Creeks, and to prevent any disturbances between them and the frontier settlers. After an investiga- tion by the agent into the facts, and receiving his report that bad faith and corruption had attended the treaty, and that forty-nine fiftieths of the Creeks appeared to be hostile to the treaty, the president decided not to suffer any interference with them until the meeting of Congress. Governor Troup at first threatened to take the execution of the treaty into his own hands, but the firm and decided tone of the president induced him to leave the affair to the constituted authorities. Although the president had thus resolved to protect the Indians in their rights, he was desirous to satisfy the claims of Georgia, and a new nego- tiation was opened with the Creeks, which finally resulted in annulling the former treaty, and the whole Creek territory within the limits of Georgia was ceded to the United States. By the new treaty, the Creeks retained all their lands in Alabama, which had been ceded in the one declared null. Notwithstanding the opposition of the Georgia delegation in Congress, the new treaty was ratified by the senate, at the ensuing session, by a vote of 30 to 7, and the appropriations were made by the house of representatives, by 167 votes to 10. A treaty Avas also made with the Indians in the northwestern states and territories, by Governors Cass and Clark, at Prairie du Chien, in August, 1825. The negotiations occupied about two weeks, and a peace was concluded between the tribes, and the tomahawk finally buried, for the first lime for nearly a century. Another object of the government was, to remove the tribes scattered through the several states, to a tract of country west of the Mississippi, and to concentrate them into one nation, with some plan for their govern- ment and civilization. This plan was fully developed in a message of President Monroe, January 27th, 1825, in which its advantages were strongly depicted. With the constant superintendence and protecting care of the federal government, this scheme might be put in practice, and the annihilation of the original inhabitants of the American forest prevented. Without that care, the policy of bringing tribes with savage habits and inimical feelings into immediate contact, may be well doubted. ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. 259 To cany this plan into effect, treaties were made with the Osages and the Kanzas Indians, extinguishing their titles to the territory west of the Mississippi, excepting to certain reservations for their own use. By these treaties, a tract was provided for those Indians who might be induced to emigrate from the states on the east side of the river. The Indians, how- ever, were generally unwilling to remove, and at a meeting with some of the tribes of Ohio, in May, 1825, they refused to do anything to promote the views of our government. The Shawanee tribe in Missouri, however, exchanged their lands for a tract in the territory purchased from the Osa- ges, and agreed to remove thither. Treaties of amity and protection were also made with most of the tribes in that vast tract betweeen Missouri and Mexico, by which the Indians permitted the United Slates to lay out a road through their lands, for the traders between those places, who had become numerous and entitled to attention. The system proposed by Mr. Monroe, for the preservation and civilization of the aborigines, it was found impossible to carry into operation, on ac- count of the reluctance of the Indians to dispose of more of their territory ; a modification was therefore proposed by Mr. Barbour, the secretary of war, which was submitted to the nineteenth Congress. The outlines of this new plan were, to set apart the territory west of the Mississippi, beyond the states and territories, and that east of the Mississippi, lying west of lakes Huron and Michigan, for their exclusive abode, under a territorial govern- ment, to be maintained by the United States. Secondly, to induce them to remove as individuals, and not in tribes, and to leave those who do not wish to go, in their present circumstances. Thirdly, when circumstances should justify it, to amalgamate the tribes in one mass, and distribute their property among the individual Indians. Common schools to be established in the villages ; assistance to be afforded them in commencing agricultural life ; to furnish them with stock, grain, and fences ; and to commute the annuities now paid to them, for a fixed sum, to be divided as individual property, were also recommended as the details of this system. The benevolent views of the government were now prosecuted without interruption, and a visible improvement was yearly manifested in the con- dition of the remaining tribes. The appropriations made by the nine- teenth Congress, at the first session, to the Indian department, for the civ- ilization of the aborigines, and to fulfil the treaties made with them, amounted to nearly one million of dollars. The number of Indians in the several states and territories, appeared, by a report from the secretary of war, at the beginning of the year, to be about 130,000; of which about 97,000 were east of the Mississippi, and south of Michigan. Many of these were partially civilized, as the Creek, Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chick- asaw nations in the south, and some of the eastern Indians, leaving only between forty and fifty thousand Indians whose removal could be effected with propriety. 260 ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. Toward the Florida Indians, who were in a state of great suffering from want of food, the government manifested its usual humanity. A bill ap- propriating twenty thousand dollars to furnish them with the means of subsistence, was passed by Congress, and they were relieved from their distress. During the last session of the eighteenth Congress, appropriations were made for surveying and laying out sundry important roads in Arkansas, Missouri, and Florida, and the secretary of the treasury was authorized to aid the Chesapeake and Delaware canal, by subscribing one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to its capital stock. An appropriation, already allu- ded to in our sketch of Mr. Monroe's administration, was also made for making surveys in different parts of the Union. The topographical corps, which had been enlarged, was actively employed during the summer in executing these surveys. The constitutional objections to internal im- provements by the general government seemed to have been overruled by the decisions of several successive Congresses, and during this year the attention of the federal government was particularly directed to the im- provement of the internal communications between the states.* The Marquis de La Fayette having spent over a year in visiting the dif- ferent parts of the United States, and been everywhere received with the utmost enthusiasm and affection by the people, took leave of his Ameri- can friends in the month of September, 1825. A new frigate named the Brandywine, in honor of La Fayette, who distinguished himself in the battle at that place during the revolutionary war, was provided to transport him to France. On the invitation of President Adams, the " nation's guest" passed a few weeks at the president's house, in Washington, and on the day of his departure, the 7th of September, the president took leave of him in an eloquent and impressive address, in presence of the civil au- thorities of the District of Columbia, the heads of departments, and a concourse of citizens, assembled at the president's house to join in the affecting ceremonies. The parting address of Mr. Adams was delivered with great dignity, though with evident emotion, and produced a deep im- pression. The first session of the nineteenth Congress commenced on the 5th of December, 1825, and continued until the 22d of May, 1826. Mr. Calhoun, the vice-president, took the chair in the senate, and Nathaniel Macon, of North Carolina, was chosen president pro tern, previous to the adjournment in May. A large proportion of the members of the house of representatives had been chosen before the election of president, and on account of the peculiar circumstances of that election, there was some doubt whether a majority would be found in the house in favor of the administration. On the second ballot for speaker, however, John W. Taylor, of New York, a friend of the administration, received 99 votes, against 94 for all others, • American Annual Register. ADMINISTRATICN OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. 261 and was elected. In the senate the administration had a decided majority, but it soon became obvious that in both houses the friends of General Jackson and Mr. Crawford, with few exceptions, were disposed to unite, and embarrass and defeat the measures proposed by the president and his cabinet, or by their friends in Congress. Many of the most important of the suggestions in the president's mes- sage were not acted on during the session ; other topics having occupied the attention of Congress, which were introduced apparently for the pur- pose of agitating the public mind on the subject of the recent election of president. Amendments to the constitution were proposed in the senate by Mr. Benton, of Missouri, to provide for a direct vote by the people, in districts, for president, and dispensing with the colleges of electors ; and by Mr. M'Duffie, of South Carolina, in the house, providing for a choice of electors by districts, and preventing the choice of president from devolving on the house of representatives. Mr. Benton's proposition was accompanied with an able report, but no action was taken on it in the sen- ate. A long and spirited debate took place in the house on the proposed amendments, in the course of which Mr. M'Duffie went into a history of the late election, censuring in severe terms the course of Mr. Clay and his friends, to which Mr. Trimble, of Kentucky, and others, replied in se- vere and pointed language, which caused a scene of great excitement. On the first resolution, which took the election from Congress, the house divi- ded, 123 in the affirmative, and 64 in the negative. The second resolu- tion, in favor of the district system, was rejected, by a vote of 101 to 91. The subject was then referred to a select committee of twenty-four, one from each state, which, at the close of the session, reported that they had not been able to agree upon any plan to prevent the election from devolv- ing upon Congress, and, on request, the committee was discharged from any further consideration of the matter. The only effect of this attempt to amend the constitution was to excite the feelings of members, and to ar- ray them into parties for and against the administration, in a more d&cided manner, and compelled them, in some measure, to determine upon their ultimate course, before its measures had been fairly tried. About one third of the session was occupied in the discussion of the proposed amendments. In the senate, a resolution offered by Mr. Macon, to inquire into the expediency of reducing the patronage of the executive, was referred to a committee of which Mr. Benton was chairman, who reported at length on the subject, and introduced six bills, in conformity therewith. An un- usual number of copies of the report and bills was ordered to be printed for circulation among the people, and then the subject was left with other unfinished business. The recommendation in the president's message, that the United States should take part in a congress of North and South American states, pro- posed to be held at Panama, was at this time the subject of great political 262 ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. interest, and much agitated in Congress at this session. In certain offi- cial conversations had in the spring of 1825, with the ministers of those powers, invitations were given, on the part of Colombia, Mexico, and Cen- tral America, to the United States, to send commissioners to Panama. The proposed congress at that place was supposed to have been first sug- gested by General Bolivar, who was for some time at the head of the re- public of Colombia ; and that Peru and Chili should also join in it. The views of Bolivar were, to form a close alliance, and to pledge mutual as- sistance to resist European governments. Mr. Clay, the secretary of state, in replying to the communications from the ministers of the republics of Spanish America, remarked, that those communications were received with proper feelings of the friendly motives which dictated them ; but that the United States could not take any part in the existing war with Spain, nor in councils for deliberating on its fur- ther prosecution ; though the president believed that such a congress might be highly useful in settling several important disputed questions of public law, and in arranging other matters of deep interest to the Ameri- can continent, and strengthening the bonds of friendship between the American powers ; that it appeared to him, however, expedient, before such a congress met, to adjust, as preliminary matters, the precise objects to which the attention of the congress would be directed, and the sub- stance and form of the power of the ministers representing the several republics. In reply to this suggestion, notes were received from them, stating the objects of the assembly, and formally renewing the invitation. The president determined to accept this invitation, and to send ministers to the congress, should the senate consent to the measure. This determination he mentioned in his opening message to Congress, and on the 26th of December he sent to the senate a confidential message, setting forth the objects of the Panama congress ; his reasons for accepting the invitation to send commissioners ; and nominating Richard C. Anderson and John Sergeant as ministers on the part of the United States, and Wil- liam B. Rochester, of New York, as secretary to the mission. This message, with the accompanying documents, was referred to the committee on foreign relations, by whom a report was made on the 16th of January, 1826, condemning the mission, and ending with a resolution, declaring it to be inexpedient to send ministers to Panama. It should be remarked, that the vice-president, Mr. Calhoun, who early gave indications of a disposition to act with the opposition, in thwarting the measures of the administration, was empowered, by the rules of the senate, to appoint all the committees of that body. In the exercise of that power he was careful to appoint a majority of those who were known to be unfriendly to the administration, upon most of the important commit- tees. Committees thus selected necessarily brought in reports unfavor- able to the measures supported by the friends of the administration. The ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. 263 inconvenience of this state of things induced the senate, at the latter part of the session, to take from the vice-president the power of appointing the committees. It was, however, too late to remedy the evils which had been produced by the attitude that the senate had been forced to assume, with respect to the executive, as well as the popular branch of Congress. The report of the committee on foreign relations occasioned a long de- bate in secret session in the senate, and the resolution reported by that committee, condemning the Panama mission, was negatived by a vote of 24 to 19, on the 14th of March. The nominations by the president were then confirmed by the senate ; and the injunction of secresy on the sub- ject removed from the journal. Thus the administration was sustained in this measure by the senate ; and in the house of representatives the bill making the appropriation for the mission, was carried, after a debate of many days, on the 2Ist of April, by a vote of 133 to 61. The house having thus concurred with the senate in assenting to the policy of the mission, measures were taken to carry it into effect ; and or- ders were transmitted to Mr. Anderson, who was then minister to Colom- bia, to attend the congress, which was to hold its first meeting in the month of June. In his way to Panama he was unfortunately attacked, at Carthagena, by a malignant fever, which proved fatal, and deprived the country of an able and useful representative. The delay that had been occasioned by the long and protracted discussions to which this measure had been subjected, in both houses of Congress, thus prevented any representation of the United States in the congress at Panama ; it having been found impossible for Mr. Sergeant to prepare, in the short time which remained after the decision of the house, before the meeting of the congress, for his departure, and the approach of the un- healthy season having rendered a journey across the isthmus to Panama peculiarly dangerous. The representatives'of Peru, Mexico, Central America, and Colombia, met there on the 22 d of June, 1826. Upper Peru, or Bolivia, had not then organized its government, and was not represented, nor was the republic of Chili. The governments of England and the Netherlands, though un- invited, sent diplomatic agents, who were not permitted to be present during the deliberations of the congress, but communications were made to them of their proceedings. The congress continued in session until the 15th of July, and conclu- ded between themselves a treaty of friendship and perpetual confedera- tion, to which all other American powers might accede within the year. The treaties between the assembled powers were recognised and renewed, and the meeting of the congress annually in time of common war, and biennially in time of peace, agreed upon. The next meeting was ordered to be held at Tacubaya, a village near the city of Mexico, in February, 1837. 264 ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. Mr. Poinsett, United States minister to Mexico, was appointed commis- sioner to Panama in place of Mr. Anderson, deceased, and Mr. Sergeant, his colleague, repaired to Mexico, to be present when the congress should reassemble at Tacubaya. The congress did not assemble, however, at the appointed time, and there being no prospect of another session at any spe- cified period, Mr. Sergeant returned to the United States. The causes of this unexpected issue of a measure which promised in its commencement to do so much to meliorate the condition of mankind, by diminishing the causes as well as the evils of war, it is believed, were occasioned by the internal commotions of Colombia and Peru, and the apprehension which existed in South America of the ambitious designs of Bolivar.* The nineteenth Congress passed but few acts of general interest at their first session, nor was it distinguished by any important measures, except- ing the sanction given to the Panama mission. Nearly all the proposi- tions which were called for by the public voice, were defeated, either from want of time for their consideration, or by an influence which seemed to exert itself for the purpose of rendering the administration unpopular. This was, perhaps, to have been expected, in the state of parties as then existing, and the powerful combination which was forming for the pur- pose of overthrowing the administration. The disposition of this Congress was, however, favorable to objects of internal improvement. In addition to fifty thousand dollars appropriated for general surveys, specific appropriations were made for the survey of a canal route across Florida, for sundry postroads, and for continuing and repairing the Cumberland road. One hundred and fifty thousand dollars were authorized to be subscribed on the part of the government, to the stock of the Dismal Swamp Canal Company, and three fifths of the five per cent, reserved from the proceeds of the public lands in Mississippi were given to that state for the purposes of internal improvement. Ap- propriations were also made for the survey of various harbors on the sea- coast, and for the deepening of their channels, as well as to secure them from storms. The execution of these several acts for internal improve- ment was intrusted to the war department. A bill making appropriation for the oflfilcers and soldiers of the conti- nental army who had served during the war of the revolution, was intro- duced and ably advocated, but opposition and want of time caused its post- ponement. To provide for the increasing wants of the people in the western states having business in the United States courts, a bill was reported by the committee of the judiciary, for two additional justices of the supreme court, and for holding circuit courts in the new states. This bill passed the house by a large majority, but the amendments proposed by ihe sen- ate were not concurred in by the house, and thus the bill was lost. An • American Annual Register. ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. 265 appropriation of the public lands was made in all the townships belonging to the United States, where lots had not been previously set apart for that object. Authority was given at this time for preparing a treatise at the expense of the general government, on the culture of the silkworm, and of mulberry-trees, and for giving information on the manufacture of silk in the United States. The discordance in the materials of the opposition prevented any har- monious concert of action and purpose at this first session of the nine- teenth Congress, but during the vacation and the succeeding session, great progress was made toward a stricter union, and before the expiration of the term of that Congress, in March, 1827, the party had assumed a con- sistent shape. General Jackson was nominated by the legislature of Ten- nessee, as early as October, 1825, as a candidate for president, to suc- ceed Mr. Adams. This nomination was formally accepted by him, in an address delivered before both branches of the legislature, in which he re- signed his seat in the senate of the United States. The strong insinuations in this address against the propriety of the last election by Congress, plainly indicated General Jackson's dissatisfaction at the result, and mani- fested a willingness to sanction an opposition to the administration on the ground of its corrupt origin. The charge of corruption at the recent election, by bargain and intrigue between Messrs. Adams and Clay, was more directly countenanced by the general, in a letter to Mr. Carter Bev- erley, of Virginia, published in the papers in 1827. The adherents of the vice-president sustained the charge of corruption against the administra- tion, in debates in Congress, uniting cordially in this and other respects, with the original friends and supporters of General Jackson. That numerous portion of the opposition to the administration who had been attached to the political fortunes of Mr. Crawford, were still unwil- ling to adopt General Jackson as the next candidate for the presidency, in opposition to Mr. Adams ; but it soon became apparent that no other course was left to them, if success was desired, but to acquiesce in his support. Accordingly, it was announced early in 1827, by a leading op- position member from Virginia, that the combinations for effecting the elevation of General Jackson, were nearly complete, and, in fact, greater concert was manifested in their party movements after that time. The strong popular vote which, in despite of the efforts of the Adams, Clay, and Crawford parties, the general had received at the last election, probably had much effect in inducing the friends of Mr. Crawford to come to the conclusion to support him. It furnished, ready formed, a large cap- ital which the Crawford party saw they could add to their own, simply by consenting to receive it. The united electoral votes for Jackson and Crawford, in 1824, they remembered, were 140, while those for Adams and Clay were but 121. They knew, too, that in the chivalric bravery of General Jackson, his brilliant success in the late war, and the many pop- 266 ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. ular and fascinating points in his character, would, when supported by such a compact, disciplined association as was the Crawford parly in many of the states, render this extraordinary man irresistible as a candidate be- fore the people. If he was subject to rashness and precipitancy, they thought they could surround him with friends and advisers who would keep him within due bounds. True, the Crawford men had, in 1824 and 1825, manifested the utmost horror at the least prospect of his election, and Mr. Crawford himself was known to have expressed very unfavorable opinions of him ; but a better knowledge of the man, and above all, a kind of political necessity, had materially changed their views.* The charge of bargain and intrigue made by General Jackson and some of his friends, against Messrs. Adams and Clay, was met by Mr. Clay, the secretary of state, in a body of testimony, which was thought, by a large portion of the reading public, to overthrow the accusation against him, and convinced many that in voting for Mr. Adams, in the house of representatives, Mr. Clay and his friends conscientiously discharged their duty. Still, the opposition papers continued to dwell upon the charge, and doubtless many persons retained their original unfavorable impres- sions on this subject. But the opposition to the administration had now become so fully matured, that it no longer needed the aliment which had first given life and vigor to it. The course of the administration itself, with regard to appointments to office, tended to promote the objects of the opposition, and to accelerate its own downfall. Following up the principle promulgated in his inaugu- ral address, of administering the government without regard to party, Mr. Adams had only considered, in the candidates for offices, their qualifica- tions and integrity, and had not inquired whether they were friendly or hostile to his administration. The correctness of this proposition as an ab- stract principle, is unquestionable ; but the propriety of its application in practice, depends entirely upon the circumstances under which the govern- ment is placed ; and it is in the application of general maxims to such cir- cumstances that the sagacity of the statesman is developed. No doctrine of political toleration requires a prostration of the party in power at the feet of the minority. Such, however, was the effect of the policy adopted by the president, in his selection of public officers. From an over- anxi- ety to avoid the appearance of rewarding political partisans, he conferred such offices as became vacant upon those who either used the influence acquired from their stations, against the government ; or who sought, by a cold neutrality, to conciliate the esteem of its inveterate opponents. This hostile spirit also existed among many of those whom the admin- istration found in office, and who were continued in their stations by its liberality. In this manner, the influence derived from the patronage of the general • Hammond's Political History. ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. 267 government was exercised against it, rather than in its favor ; and the singular spectacle was presented, of an administration openly and violently opposed by those whose influence in society, and whose very means of subsistence, were dependent upon its will.* The members of the cabinet, with the exception of Mr. Clay, the sec- retary of state, were unable to bring to the aid of the administration the support and political influence that might reasonably have been anticipa- ted. The friends of Mr. Clay, throughout the Union, with but compara- tively few exceptions, gave a zealous support to the administration ; but Mr. Rush, secretary of the treasury, and Mr. Barbour, secretary of war, who had been attached to the Crawford party, could not effect any impor- tant change in the political character of states so irrevocably hostile to Mr. Adams as Pennsylvania and Virginia. The secretary of the navy, Samuel L. Southard, who was appointed by Mr. Monroe, December 9, 1823, and continued in office by Mr. Adams, exercised his influence eff*ectively in New Jersey, his native state, which had voted for General Jackson in 1824, but now supported the administration of Mr. Adams. Mr. Wirt, the attorney-general, was not an active politician, nor is it prob- able that he could have produced any important effect in Virginia. The postmaster-general, John M'Lean, although professedly neutral in the con- test, was believed to prefer General Jackson to Mr. Adams. Thus un- fortunately, in every point of view, was the administration placed ; and to the eye of careful observers, its destiny, it appeared probable, was to en- dure only for the single term of four years. The second session of the nineteenth Congress was held from the 4th of December, 1826, to the 3d of March, 1827. But few laws of an im- portant or general character were passed at this session, though others were urged with great zeal and ability by several members. There was, at this period, a very strong feeling in Congress as to the theory and views of the executive ; and with many a disposition to scrutinize closely the recommendations of the president. Some supposed his objects were visionary, and he was charged with entertaining such views of the con- stitution as that national internal improvements might justly be made, though there might be large expenditures in their execution. An appropriation of thirty thousand dollars was made for repairs on the Cumberland road ; lands were reserved for seminaries of learning in Lou- isiana, in Florida, and in Arkansas ; and a grant of public lands was made to the asylum of the deaf and dumb in Kentucky. A bill was introduced in the senate by Mr. Dickerson, of New Jersey, an opposition senator, for distributing a certain part of the surplus of the public revenue among the several states. But the proposition was not received with much favor ; and, after a short discussion, the bill was denied a second reading. The plan originated in a wish to maintain state power and rights, and to pre- * American Annual Register. 268 ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN Q. ADAMS. vent great expenditures by the national government, which would naturally increase the influence and patronage of the latter.* Great efforts were again made at this session of Congress for the pas- sage of a bankrupt law. The bill introduced at the last session, by Mr. Hayne, of South Carolina, was now taken up, and ably discussed by the mover and others, but the bill was opposed, and finally defeated, on the pretence that it would operate particularly for the relief of merchants, and would be of no benefit to the other classes of citizens. The subject of commercial intercourse with the British colonies was also discussed at great length at this session. It was one of peculiar in- terest and importance ; for the trade with the British ports in the West Indies was so restricted by acts of parliament, that it could be pursued with but little profit by the citizens of the United States. Both branches of Congress had a bill prepared on this subject ; they did not differ mate- rially ; but it was said in the house, that the bill before the senate did not fully protect the interests of American merchants trading to those ports ; and no law was enacted, as was proposed and expected. The difference might have been adjusted by a committee of conference of both houses, as is usual in cases of disagreement ; but this was not done in season, and the close of the session prevented it. And on the 17th of March, by vir- tue of a law passed three years before, the president declared, by procla- mation, that the trade with those ports was prohibited ; as the discrimina- ting duties of the British government had not been removed.! The sum of thirty thousand dollars was appropriated for improving the navigation of the Ohio river. Grants of the public lands were made to the states of Illinois and Indiana, to aid those states, in making canals; also to the state of Ohio, for the purpose of aiding in the construction of a road from Columbus to Sandusky. For the gradual improvement of the navy the sum of five hundred thousand dollars per annum, for six years, was appropriated. A bill for imposing additional duties on imported woollen goods, for the purpose of aiding American manufactures, was brought forward at an early day of the session. In February, 1827, near the close of the session, the bill passed the house, but it was rejected in the senate by the casting vote of the vif e-president. President Adams was considered friendly to the sys- tem of protection to domestic manufactures by adequate duties on imports of similar articles, but in his messages to the nineteenth Congress he ex- pressed no opinion on the subject, an omission which greatly dissatisfied the manufacturers. A proposition was made in the house of representatives, to reimburse to those persons who had been fined under the sedition law of 1798, the amount which they had paid, and an indemnity for loss of time, resident, Richard M. Johnson 147, Fran- cis Granger 77, John Tyler 47, William Smith, of Alabama (the vote of Virginia), 23. Michigan (3 votes, included in the above) was not for- mally admitted into the Union as a state at the time when the electors were chosen. After the votes for president and vice-president were counted in Congress, in February, 1837, the president of the senate de- clared Martin Van Buren elected president of the United States ; and that no person had been elected vice-president. The senate, in conformity to the provisions of the constitution, then proceeded to elect a vice-president, and made choice of Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, he having 33 votes, and Francis Granger 16. The second session of the twenty-fourth Congress commenced on the 5th of December, 1836, and terminated on the 3d of March, 1837. But few acts of general interest were passed ; among them were an act to ad- mit the state of Michigan into the Union ; and acts making appropriations for harbors, rivers, roads, and lighthouses. Mr. King was continued as president of the senate pro tcm. The most exciting subject of the session was the passage, by the senate, after a warm debate, of a resolution, on the 16th of January, offered by Mr. Benton, to expunge from the records ADMINISTRATION OF JACKSON. 365 (by drawing black lines around it) the resolution offered by Mr. Clay, and adopted on the 28th of March, 1834, viz. : "Resolved, That the presi- dent, in the late executive proceedings in relation to the public revenue, has assumed upon himself authority and power not confenred by the constitution and laws, but in derogation of both." The expunging reso- lution which was now adopted, by a vote of 24 to 19, and immediately carried into effect, by the secretary of the senate, was offered by Mr. Benton at a previous session, but was not pressed to a decision until an administration majority was secured in the senate. In consequence of the dissatisfaction felt in the country with the opera- tion of the specie circular of the treasury department, before mentioned, a bill passed both houses at this session, designating and limiting the funds receivable for the revenues of the United States. This bill, which provi- ded for the reception of the notes of specie-paying banks, in certain cases, was warmly debated, and particularly opposed by Mr. Benton. The president prevented it from becoming a law, by retaining it in his hands after the adjournment of Congress ; and this informal veto formed the last act of his administration. His reasons are set forth in the following pa- per, which was published in the Globe (the official gazette), after General Jackson retired from the presidency : — Reasons of the president for retaining the bill designating and limiting the funds receivable for the revenues of the United States. " Was-hington, 3farch 3, 1837, ) " ^ before 12, P. M. S " The bill from the senate entitled,' An act designating and limiting the funds receivable for the revenues of the United States,' came to my hands yesterday, at 2 o'clock, P. M. On perusing it, I found its provisions so complex and uncertain, that I deemed it necessary to obtain the opinion of the attorney-general of the United States, on several important ques- tions, touching its construction and effect, before I could decide on the disposition to be made of it. The attorney-general took up the subject immediately, and his reply was reported to me this day, at 5 o'clock, P. M. As this officer, after a careful and laborious examination of the bill, and a distinct expression of his opinion on the points proposed to him, still came to' the conclusion that the construction of the bill, should it become a law, would be a subject of much perplexity and doubt (a view of the bill en- tirely coincident with my own), and as I can not think it proper, in a mat- ter of such vital interest, and of such constant application, to approve a bill so liable to diversity of interpretation, and more especially, as I have not had time, amid the duties constantly pressing on me, to give the subject that deliberate consideration which its importance demands, I am con- strained to retain the bill, without acting definitively thereon ; and to the end that my reasons for this step may be fully understood, I shall cause S66 ADMINISTRATION OF JACKSON. this paper, with the opinion of the attorney-general, and the bill in ques- tion, to be deposited in the department of state. "Andrew Jackson." Having issued to his countrymen the farewell address which is to be found in the preceding pages, and which is to be considered as imbodying his political views and principles. General Jackson remained at Washing- ton, to witness the inauguration of his chosen friend and successor, into whose hands he cheerfully committed the reins of government, and imme- diately went into retirement, at the Hermitage, in Tennessee. Thus terminated the administration of Andrew Jackson ; of which it may be remarked, that the space it occupies in our history is one which must always be considered an eventful era, characterized by scenes of contin- ued agitation and excitement of the public mind. At no period since the formation of our government, have the principles of free institutions and par- ticularly our constitution, as well as important measures bearing on the inter- ests of the people, been discussed with more ardor and ability. The ex- citing topics agitated during the presidential terms of General Jackson, are too intimately connected with the partisan politics of the present day, and the events we have related are too near, to admit of impartial comment at this time. The American people are still divided in opinion, and will probably long continue so, with regard to the merits of General Jackson's administration. We present a summary of some of the arguments on both sides, for future reference. It is claimed by his admirers, and the supporters of a similar policy, that his course as a statesman was wise, and beneficial to the country, inasmuch as the firm and decided tone displayed in the intercourse of the government with foreign powers elevated the national character, and effected the settlement of the long and protracted claims of our citizens for the former acts of injustice of those nations toward Americans ; that Jackson's administration was energetic, and of a positive not negative character ; that under it the national debt was extinguished, and the attention of the people turned toward a specie currency, instead of depending on the uncertainty of bank-paper exclusively for a circu- lation ; that the firmness of General Jackson in refusing to sanction a renewal of the charter of the United States bank, and his subse- quent course toward that institution, particularly in the removal of the deposites, effected the destruction of a dangerous monopoly ; and that his vetoes of the Maysville road bill and other schemes of internal improvement, as well as the land bill introduced by Mr. Clay, arrested the progress of extravagance and speculation in the states and among the people. The political opponents of General Jackson, on the contrary, contend, that inasmuch as the policy and plan of extinguishing the public debt by annual payments, had been adopted by President Monroe, twenty years ADMINISTRATION OF JACKSON. 367 before, and the system of revenue and finance established under his pred- ecessors ; the merit claimed for General Jackson, with regard to the pay- ment of the public debt, is not justly his due ; that the credit of this provi- dent plan of gradually reducing the debt, was principally due to Mr. Lowndes, a distinguished member of Congress from South Carolina ; and President Adams and the Congress acting with him, had faithfully pur- sued this wise and prudent course, having reduced the national debt, by the appropriation of about ten millions annually. The credit of managing our foreign relations with ability is not denied to General Jackson by his political opponents. With regard to his course in other matters, it is thus summed up by Mr. Bradford, in his history of the federal government : — "The promises of President Jackson's friends and supporters were not realized. They, indeed, were rewarded ; but not without a gross disre- gard to economy ; and whoever would not flatter the president, nor ap- plaud his measures, however honest, were removed from office ; and his professed friends exclusively intrusted with commissions which should be given only to the upright and patriotic. " But his arbitrary conduct in the management of the public moneys was most highly objectionable and most alarming to the friends of consti- tutional law, who considered the funds of the government entirely under the control of the representatives of the people ; except that the executive should be allowed discretion as to the time and manner of expending the money appropriated by law. His conduct, therefore, in seizing on the public funds, and withdrawing them from the bank of the United States, where Congress had ordered them to be deposited and kept, was very generally condemned, as an act of a most arbitrary nature, and of very dangerous precedent. And it was not so much this single act arbitrary and unauthorized as it was, as the principle assumed by the president, in this measure, of a right in the executive to go beyond law, and contrary to law even ; and to make his own opinion, rather than the laws of Con- gress, the rule of his conduct. " The conduct of President Jackson was not, in all respects, so favora- ble to the hopes of those who had been sanguine in their belief of the perpetuity of the republic, as that of his two immediate predecessors. Of the others, it is not necessary here to speak. They made the constitution a guide in their practice as well as in their professions ; and assumed little or no powers not clearly vested in the chief magistrate of the Union. In monarchies, the reigning prince has high discretionary powers. The exercise- of the royal prerogative is often carried to a great extent '; and thus the rights of the subjects are liable to be violated by the mere will of the king. In a republic, it is at least theoretically otherwise. Where the discretion of the magistrate is the rule and measure of his official acts, however patriotic are his purposes, equal and impartial justice can not be expected. He is not infallible, and may err in his judgment. He is 368 ADMINISTRATION OF JACKSON. subject to like passions and prejudices, as other men, and will probably act from partial and improper feelings. From this source, there is always great danger to a republican government. The people must check all usurpation, and all arbitrary assumption of power in their rulers, or their liberties will be temporary and evanescent. If several successive chief magistrates of the Union are arbitrary in administering the government, and repeatedly transcend or disregard the provisions of the constitution, many generations will not have passed, before their civil freedom will be lost beyond recovery, and the people subject to as despotic rule as that of Caesar, or Napoleon, or the autocrat of Russia. Unless the constitution be the guide, the government of the United States, once highly blest, will be that of misrule and despotism." 'f'lr "^ '^W'-' Bi^/^ivTBalck.^MBi.a Ea^U'-- O'Tn/^^^^^^^^^^^ t-^^i^ BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OP MARTIN VAN BUREN. The seven presidents of the United States whose lives and administra- tions we have noticed in the preceding pages, it will have been observed, were all descended from emigrants from the British isles ; their official terms occupy a space of forty-eight years, or nearly half a century from the adoption of the constitution ; and each of them had witnessed the pe- riod when the nation acquired her independence. We now enter upon a new era, and, leaving those whose early lives carry our memories back to the men and the times of our revolutionary struggle, we proceed to sketch the career of our eighth president, who, to use his own words, " unlike all who have preceded him, was born after the revolution was achieved ;" belonging, also, to another race by descent, as well as to a later age. The ancestors of Mr. Van Buren, both paternal and maternal, were among the early emigrants from Holland to the colony of New Nether- lands, now the state of New York. The family have always resided in the ancient town of Kinderhook, Columbia county, on the east bank of the Hudson river. The father of the president, Abraham Van Buren, vv^as a farmer of moderate circumstances, who is represented to have been an upright and intelligent rnan, of strong common sense, and pacific disposi- tion. The maiden name of the mother of the president was Hoes, also of Dutch descent. The name was originally Goes, and was one of some dis- tinction in the history of the Netherlands. She was twice married ; first to Mr. Van Alen, by whom she had two sons and a daughter, all of whom have been many years deceased. James I. Van Alen was a respectable law- yer of Columbia county, who was hondred with several important offices, and with whom his younger half-brother was connected in business at his entrance to the bar. The mother of Mr. Van Buren was distantly connected with the family of his father before their marriage. She was distinguished for her amia- 24 370 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF VAN BUREN. ble disposition, sagacity, and exemplary piety. She survived until 1818, four years after the death of her second husband. Martin Van Buren is the eldest son of these parents. He was born at Kinderhook, December, 5, 1782, At an early age he exhibited indica- tions of a superior understanding. His opportunities of instruction were limited, probably on account of the moderate properly of his father, who had two other sons, and two daughters.* After acquiring the rudiments of an English education, he became a student in the academy, in his native village. He there made considera- ble progress in the various branches of English literature, and gained some knowledge of Latin. It may be inferred, however, that all these acquisi- tions were not great in amount, as he left the academy, when but fourteen years of age, to begin the study of his profession. At that early period he evinced a strong passion for extempore speak- ing and literary composition. Even at that early age, too, he is repre- sented, by those who knew him, to have had a spirit of observation, with regard to public events, and the personal dispositions and characters of those around him, which gave an earnest of his future proficiency in the science of politics and of the human heart. In the year 1796, at the age of fourteen, Mr. Van Buren commenced the study of the law, in the office of Francis Sylvester, Esq., a respecta- ble lawyer of Kinderhook. The courts of law in the state of New York have adhered more closely to the English forms of practice than has beer\ done in most of the other states. The period of study preparatory to ad- mission to the bar, was seven years, for candidates who, like the subject of this memoir, had not the benefit of a collegiate education. The management of cases in courts held by justices of the peace, not unfrequently devolved upon students at law. The early indications of ability as a speaker and reasoner, which were exhibited by Mr. Van Bu- ren, occasioned his almost incessant employment in trials in these courts, from the earliest period of commencing the study of his profession. His father was a firm whig in the revolution, and a- democrat in the days of John Adams ; and the son was educated in the same principles, and of course formed his most intimate connexion with persons of the same po- litical faith. The democratic party was then a small minority in the town and county of his nativity. His political opinions, as well as his talents, led to his employment by the members of his own party, in their controversies with regard to personal rights, and rights of property. It often happened that, in the management of cases, he encountered men of age, talent, and high standing in the profession. At this early period Mr. Van Buren was an ardent and active politician. It was his constant habit to attend all meetings of the democratic party, to study with attention the political intelligence of the day, and to yield his • For part of this memoir we are indebted to Professor Holland's Life of Van Buren. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF VAN BUREN. 371 most zealous aid to the principles he held to be true. As early as 1800, when only in his eighteenth year, and still a student at law, he was depu- ted by the republicans in his native town, to attend a convention of dele- gates to nominate a candidate for the legislature. He had similar marks of the confidence of his political friends, on other occasions during his minority. The last year of Mr. Van Buren's preparatory studies was passed in the city of New York, in the office of Mr. William P. Van Ness, and un- der his direction. This gentleman was a native of Columbia county, but at that time a distinguished member of the bar in the city of New York, and a very conspicuous leader of the democratic party. In this situation Mr. Van Buren had every possible advantage for improvement ; and his thirst for knowledge, together with his aptitude in acquiring it, enabled him to make great advances. Mr. Van Ness was a devoted and intimate friend of Colonel Aaron Burr, at that time vice-president of the United States ; and in the feud which sprung up after the presidential election, between the respective friends of the president and vice-president, Mr. Van Ness advocated the cause of Colonel Burr, through the public press, with signal ability. Through the medium of this gentleman, Mr. Van Biiren was introduced to the notice of the vice-president, who was led, by his knowledge of the young lawyer's activity and influence in his native county, as well as by a quick-sighted observation of the future eminence promised by his early display of tal- ent, to treat him with marked attention, and to make every reasonable effort to secure his favorable regard. The tact and ability displayed by Colonel Burr in the great political contest which resulted in elevating Mr. Jefferson and himself to the highest offices in the gift of the people, and the reputation he had acquired as a leader Of the party, caused him to be looked upon as an oracle of political wisdom, particularly by young and ardent democrats, who were desirous of availing themselves of instruction from so experienced and influential a source. Among the maxims of Colonel Burr for the guidance of politicians, one of the most prominent was, that the people at elections were to be managed by the same rules of discipline as the soldiers of an army ; that a few leaders were to think for the masses ; and that the latter were to obey implicitly their leaders, and to move only at the word of command. He had, therefore, great con- fidence in the machinery of party, and that system of regular nominations in American politics of which he may perhaps be considered one of the founders. Educated as a military man, and imbibing his early views with regard to governing others, in the camp, it is not surprising that Colonel Burr should have applied the rules of military life to politics, and always inculcated the importance of discipline in the ranks of a party, to insure its ultimate success. In no part of the United States have these party rules been more constantly and rigidly enforced, than among the demo- 37~2 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF VAN BUREN. crats of the state of New York ; and to their steady adherence to them may be attributed tl^e long succession of triumphs which have been achieved by the party with whom Mr. Van Buren has uniformly acted. In November, 1803, in the twenty-first year of his age, Mr. Van Buren was admitted, as an attorney at law, to the bar of the supreme court in the state of New York, and immediately returned to his native village, to com- mence the practice of his profession. He formed a partnership in busi- ness Avith the Hon. James I. Van Alen, a half-brother on his mother's side, and a gentleman who was considerably his senior. The bar of Co- lumbia county, at that time, embraced some of the most distinguished members of the legal profession in the state of New York, among whom were William W. Van Ness (afterward a judge of the supreme court of the state), Elisha Williams, Thomas P. Grosvenor, and Jacob R. Van Rensselaer. Other names might be mentioned as then in the field of competition upon which the youthful subject of this sketch then entered. The state of political parties at the period shows the difficulties with "which he contended. At the time when Mr. Van Buren commenced his professional career, the violence of party spirit was extreme throughout the country. The state of New York was fearfully agitated by its influence ; and in the county of Mr. Van Buren's residence, political dissensions were carried to the greatest extremities. The administration of the federal government had then passed, after a violent struggle, into the hands of the democratic party , but it was considered by no means certain that their ascendency would be of long continuance. In the state of New York generally, the democratic party triumphed in the elections after 1800 ; but in the county of Columbia the federal party long held the reins of power. The land- holders in Kinderhook and its vicinity had inherited large estates from a long line of wealthy ancestors, and had exercised, by proscription, an in- fluence over their tenants and the more recent emigrants, analogous in its nature, and almost in its extent, to the baronial prerogatives of feudal lords. The great mass of mercantile and professional men in the county were dependent upon these wealthy freeholders for patronage, as also were the laborers and mechanics, in a still greater degree. The mem- bers of these families were generally federalists, and looked with anxious disapprobation upon any eff"orts to extend popular rights. Toward the champions of the democracy they exhibited neither liberality nor tolera- tion, but carried on a warfare against them, both in public and private, of the most obstinate and embittered character. Mr. Van Buren's early exhibition of energy and talent attracted their attention, and no ordinary pains were taken to detach him from the con- nexion he had chosen with the democracy. The gentleman with whom he had studied his profession, Mr. Sylvester, and his relative and partner in business, Mr. Van Alen, were federalists, and by their example and BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF VAN BUREN. 373 advice endeavored to withdraw him from a political connexion which they viewed as wrong, and injurious to his prospects in business. " Firmly fixed in the political faith of his father, who was a whig in the revolution, an anti-federalist in 17S8, and an early supporter of Jefferson, the subject of this memoir," says his biographer, " shrunk not from the severe tests which were applied to the strength and integrity of his convictions. Without patronage, comparatively poor, a plebeian by birth, and not furnished with the advantages of a superior education, he refused to worship, either at the shrine of wealth or power, but followed the dictates of his native judg- ment, and hesitated not, in behalf of the cause which he thus adopted, to encounter the utmost violence of his political enemies." Thus connected with the democratic party, he naturally became the vindicator, not only of tlieir political faith, but of their legal rights. The conflicts in which he engaged, rapidly invigorated and enlarged his natu- ral powers. It was soon seen that he was able to cope with the ablest of his opponents in the local courts. In 1807 he was admitted as a coun- sellor in the supreme court, where he was brought into more immediate collision with the most distinguished members of the profession. In 1808 he v/as appointed surrogate of Columbia county, soon after which he removed to the city of Hudson, where he resided during seven years, and rapidly advanced toward a high rank in his profession. In 1815 he was appointed attorney-general of the state, at which time his practice in the courts had become extensive and lucrative. His career as a lawyer occupies a period of twenty-five years, and was closed in the spring of 1828. Mr. Van Buren was married in 1806, to Miss Hannah Hoes, who was distantly related to him before their marriage. The intimacy which re- sulted in this union, was formed in very early life. His ardent attachment to her was evinced on all occasions until the period of her decease, by consumption, in 1818. This lady left him a family of four sons, and Mr. Van Buren has since remained a widower. Having thus noted the professional and private life of Mr. Van Buren, it remains briefly to sketch his career as a politician and statesman. His first active participation in political affairs, was in the great contest which preceded the elevation of Mr. Jefferson to the presidency, in 1801. At the early age of eighteen years we find him intrusted with the expres- sion of the political views of a portion of the democratic party, as we have already stated, in being chosen a delegate to a convention. His abilities were put in requisition on that occasion, in preparing an address to the electors of the district in which he resided. In the spring of 1804, he made his first appearance at the polls as an elector. At that election Morgan Lewis and Aaron Burr (then vice-presi- dent of the United States) were the opposing candidates for governor of New York. Both belonged to the democratic party, but the former re- 374 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF VAN BVRT.N. ceived the regular nomination of a majority of the democrats in the legis- lature, while the latter was supported by a smaller section of the party, and a portion of the federalists. In Columbia county Colonel Burr was warmly sustained by many leading politicians, among whom were some of Mr. Van Buren's best friends. During his own residence as a student at law in the city of New York, with Mr. William P. Van Ness, a friend of Burr, he had received many flattering marks of attention from the vice- president. But true to his own principles and the spirit of his party, Mr. Van Buren gave his vigorous and unhesitating support to Mr. Lewis, at the hazard of a temporary estrangement from several valued democratic friends. In 1807 the antagonist candidates for governor were Morgan Lewis and Daniel D. Tompkins. The latter was then the candidate of a large ma- jority of the democratic party ; Governor Lewis receiving the suppoit of the federalists and a few democrats. Tompkins was elected by a large majority of votes ; he received Mr. Van Buren's most zealous and decided support on this occasion, also in 1810 and 1813 ; the views of these two leaders of the democratic party generally agreeing on the prominent polit- ical questions of the period. In 1808 Mr. Van Buren was appointed surrogate of Columbia county, and retained the office until February, 1813, when, the federalists having obtained the ascendency in the state, he was removed. It may be here remarked, that the administration of Mr. Jefl'erson, during its whole course, received his constant support. The non-intercourse act, the embargo, and other measures of Mr. Jefferson, received his hearty concurrence. He warmly defended and justified the course of George Clinton, then vice-president of the United States, in giving his casting vote, in February, 1811, against the bill for renewing the charter of the first bank of the United States. It is curious to notice in this place, that the renewal of the charter of the bank was recommended by Mr. Gallatin, then secretary of the treasury, and sustained in the senate by William H. Crawford, two gentlemen whom Mr. Van Buren joined with others in recommending for president and vice- president of the United States in 1824. In 1812 Mr. Van Buren was, for the first time, a candidate for an elec- tive office, having been nominated as a senator from the counties then comprising the middle district of the state. His opponent was Edward P. Livingston, belonging also to the democracy ; a man of wealth and pow- erful family connexions, and supported by the bank democrats and the en- tire federal party of the district. The contest was one of the most violent ever known in the state, and resulted in the election of Mr. Van Buren, by a majority of about 200, in an aggregate of twenty thousand votes. Thus, in the thirtieth year of his age, he was placed in the highest branch of the legislature of his native state. Previous to his election, the democratic members of the legislature of BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF VAN nUREN". 375 N«w York had, in the spring of 1812, nominated Do Witt Clinton for president of the United States, and in November, 1812, the succeeding legiskiture met for the purpose of choosing presidential electors. On this occasion Mr. Van Buren took his seat in the senate, and voted for the electoral ticket which was elected, and which gave Mr. Clinton the vote of the state. In supporting the nomination of Mr. Clinton, Mr. Van Bu- ren consulted what he believed to be the wishes of the majoiity of the democratic party of the state. At the same time, he was an open and de- cided advocate of all the strong measures proposed against Great Britain during the session of Congress in 181]-'12, the war included.. And, though in the choice of electors Mr. Clinton received the votes of some of the federal members of the legislature of New York, and was also sup- ported by that party in other states, Mr. Van Buren's relations to it were entirel}^ unaltered. At the same session he was placed upon the commit- tee of the senate to answer the governor's speech, which answer he pre- pared and reported. It vindicated the justice of the war, and urged a vig- orous prosecution of it. At the ensuing session of the legislature, which commenced in 1813, the political relations previously existing between Mr. Clinton and Mr. Van Buren were dissolved, and never again re- sumed. From the commencement of his legislative career, Mr. Van Bu- ren gave to all war measures the most decided and vigorous support ; among which was a plan for raising troops by classification. He sup- ported the re-election of Governor Tompkins, and, as chairman of the committee which made the nomination, he prepared the address to the re- publican electors of the state. In 1815, Mr. Van Buren received the appointment of attorney-general of the state of New York. The same year he was appointed by the legis- lature a regent of the university. In the spring of 1816 he was re-elected to the senate for the further period of four years. When the project of internal improvement in the state of New York, by canals from Lakes Erie and Champlain to the Hudson river, was brought before the legislature, in 1816, it was sustained with zeal and ability by Mr. Van Buren, who on this occasion received the personal thanks of Mr. Clinton, the great advocate of the measure, for his exertions in favor of the same. In 1817 De Witt Clinton was nominated for governor of the state of New York, in place of Daniel D. Tompkins, who had been elected vice- president of the United States. Mr. Van Buren acquiesced in this nomi- nation, though it was contrary to his individual wishes and opinions, and he had used his exertions to prevent it. The distinguished talents of Mr. Clinton, and his zealous efforts in promoting the great interests of the state, had so far won the respect and confidence of the people, that there was comparatively little opposition to his election, after his nomination. But, though he received nearly the unanimous vole of both the great po- 376 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF VAN BUREN. litical parlies throughout the state, the result proved that it was a deceit- ful calm which followed the election, and that, as a large portion of the democratic party were deadly hostile to the newly-elected governor, the elements for bitter party strife were only temporarily concealed. We must now revert to the presidential election of 1816, for the pur- pose of showing Mr. Van Buren's course in that affair, and the bearing that election had on the politics of New York. During the war, Governor Tompkins and Mr. Van Buren were consid- ered the leaders of the democratic party in the state of New York, The public services and great personal popularity of Governor Tompkins, in- duced President Madison to offer him a seat in his cabinet, as secretary of state, which office, however, he declined. As the secretary of state was then, according to established usage, heir apparent to the presidential chair, and the admitted favorite of the president for the time being, Gov- ernor Tompkins considered the offer of Mr. Madison as a commitment on the part of the administration to support him for the next president. It was therefore expected, in the state of New York, that Tompkins would succeed Madison as president ; and at a celebration of the return of peace, at Albany, in February, 1815, a splendid transparency was displaced, with the names of Tompkins and Crawford inscribed thereon. This indicated that the latter was expected to be nominated for vice-president. The democratic members of the New York legislature, in February, 1816, instructed the members of Congress from the state to sustain the claims of Tompkins, and Mr. Van Buren visited Washington to aid his friend in the nomination. But his claims were not pressed in the con- gressional caucus which met in March, 1816 ; the contest in that body was between Monroe and Crawford, and the former was 'nominated by a small majority over the latter. Governor Tompkins was nominated for vice-president, a result at which he was much disappointed. Finding Tompkins out of the question for president, a majority of the New York delegation was rather ardent in support of Crawford. Mr. Van Buren took no decided part in the matter. Mr. Hammond, who was one of the New York delegation, remarks, that " if at Albany Mr. Van Buren was ardent in the support of Tompkins, at Washington, to say the least, he was philosophically calm and cool."* From this time forward Mr. Van Buren co-operated with the leading dem- ocratic politicians of Virginia ; and when it was determined by them that Mr. Crawford should be the successor of Mr. Monroe as president, Mr. Van Buren gave him his most zealous, though unsuccessful support, in the political campaign of 1824. Having determined to oppose the administration of Governor Clinton, Mr. Van Buren, being then a member of the senate of the state, com- menced, in 1818, the organization of that portion of the democratic party * Hammond's Political History of New York. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF VAN BUREN. 377 who were dissatisfied with the election of the governor. Hence arose the formation, under his auspices, of a small but formidable and secret asso- ciation of politicians at the seat of the state government, which received from their political opponents the cognomen of " the Albany regency." It was composed of persons holding offices under the state and the gen- eral governments, and a few other influential citizens of the democratic party ; and by skill, position, and parly discipline, with the aid of a party press, this regency is supposed to have swayed the power and destinies of the state for more than a quarter of a century. It is proper to mention, however, that the existence of this Albany regency has been generally denied by the friends of Mr. Van Buren. The difficulties in the democratic party between the respective friends of Mr. Van Buren and Governor Clinton, soon widened into an open rupture. A large majority of the democrats of the state followed Mr. Van Buren, while most of the friends of the canal policy, and the great body of the federal party, with [ew exceptions, sustained Governor Clinton. The council of appointment being devoted to the views of Governor Clinton, in July, 1819, removed Mr. Van Buren from the office of attorney-general, the duties of which he had discharged for more than four years, during which period he had also been a member of the senate. The opposition to Governor Clinton constantly increased in violence, and in the senate of the state there was a majority against him during the whole period of his administration. The most strenuous exertions were made by his democratic opponents to prevent his re-election. Mr. Van Buren took the lead in their efforts, and the vice-president, Daniel D. Tompkins, was prevailed upon to become the opposing candidate for gov- ernor. Th^contest was close and animated, Mr. Clinton being success- ful by a majority of 1,457 out of 93,437 votes. The whole number of votes against him on his former election was but twenty-two more than his present majority. Both houses of the legislature, and the council of appointment, however, were decidedly anti-Clintonian. A restoration to the office of attorney-general was now tendered to Mr. Van Buren, but was declined by him. The legislature having failed to elect a senator of the United States, in 1819, in place of Mr. Rufus King, whose term of service expired that year, a pamphlet was prepared by Mr. Van Buren, shortly before the meeting of the succeeding legislature, in 1820, in favor of the election by the democratic party of Mr. King to the senate for another term of six years. Mr. King, it will be remembered, was a federalist, and had been one of the most prominent leaders of that party in the United States, while they acted as an organized political body. Mr. Van Buren and his friends had refused to vote for Mr. King in the legislature of 1819, but his elec- tion was now urged on democrats, in consequence of his having supported the last war ; his revolutionary services, and his present opposition to Mr. 378 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF VAN BUREN. Clinton, were assigned as further reasons for supporting him. The real object of the pamphlet was to draw in a portion of the federalists through- out the state, to the support of Mr. Tompkins in the then approaching election. The friends of Mr. Van Buren were in the minority in the legislature, and were, therefore, compelled to choose between Mr. King, or some other federalist, and a friend of Governor Clinton. The result was, the election of Mr. King, by the legislature, by a vote nearly unani- mous, the Clintonians also supporting him. At the same session of the legislature, a resolution was adopted, in- structing their senators, and requesting the representatives of the state in Congress, to oppose the admission of Missouri, or any other territory into the Union, without making the prohibition of slavery therein an indispen- sable condition of admission. The senate concurred in this resolution from the assembly without division or debate, and among the senators Mr. Van Buren, though it was not brought before the legislature by his agen- cy. Still, he must be regarded as having concurred, at that time, in the sentiment of the resolution thus adopted by the legislature.* Mr. Van Buren was, in February, 1821, elected by the legislature of New York, a member of the senate of the United States, in place of Na- than Sanford, whose term of service expired in March, 1821. Mr. San- ford was a democrat and a candidate for re-election, but at the legislative caucus, which was attended by eighty-two democratic members, Mr. Van Buren received fifty-eight votes, and Mr. Sanford twenty-four. The Clin- tonians and federalists in the legislature voted for Mr. Sanford, who re- ceived sixty votes, and Mr. Van Buren eighty-six votes. Thus it will be observed, that Mr. Sanford was the preference of a large majority of the legislature, and without the agency of a caucus nomination Mr. Van Bu- ren could not have been chosen. A convention to revise the constitution of the state of New York, was chosen by the people in 1821, and assembled in August of that year. Mr. Van Buren, then United States senator elect, was elected a member of the convention, by the democrats of Otsego county, although he then resi- ded in the city of Albany. In this convention, which comprised many of the most able and influ- ential men in the state, Mr. Van Buren took an active and leading part. There were three classes of politicians in that body : first, those opposed to any important changes in the old constitution of 1777, except the abo- lition of the council of appointment and the council of revision ; second, those in favor of moderate changes in the constitution, of the abolition of the freehold qualification for voters, and the reasonable extension of the elective franchise ; third, the radicals, or those in favor of universal suffrage, and an entire and radical change in the form of government. Mr. Van Buren belonged to the second of these classes, and his course in the • HoUand. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF VAN BUREN. 379 convention was generally conservative. He advocated an extension of the right of suffrage to citizens paying taxes, being householders, and working on the highways, or doing military duty ; he expressed his fears that the extension of the elective franchise contemplated by some of the amendments proposed, would not be sanctioned by the public approbation, and would occasion the rejection of the whole by the people. He said, "he was disposed to go as far as any man in the extension of rational liberty ; but he could not consent to undervalue this precious privilege so far as to confer it, with an indiscriminating hand, upon every one, black or white, who would be kind enough to condescend to accept it." By the first constitution of New York, no distinction ■was made with regard to color, in the qualifications of electors. In the convention, a proposition to restrict the right of voting to u^hite citizens, was rejected by a majority of four voles. Mr. Van Buren voted with the majority, or in favor of continuing the right of voting to colored citi- zens ; but subsequently supported a proposition, which was adopted, re- quiring colored voters to possess a freehold estate of the value of two hundred and fifty dollars. Mr. Van Buren opposed the election of justi- ces of the peace by the people, and the convention adopted a plan pro- posed by him, by which the executive of the state, through the judges of the county courts, controlled those appointments. This plan only continued in operation about four years, when the constitution was amended, giving the choice of justices to the people. The proposition which was adopted by the convention to reorganize the judiciary of the state, and sanctioned by the party with which he acted, was opposed by Mr. Van Buren, the only effect of it being to displace the judges then in oflice. On the whole, it may be remarked, that his course in the convention to revise the constitu- tion, was considered honorable to him as a stateman, and, with few ex- ceptions, was approved by candid men of all parties. In December, 1821, Mr. Van Buren look his seat in the senate of the United States, his colleague from New York at this time being the Hon- orable Rufus King. On his first appearance in the senate, he was placed on the committee of finance, and on the committee on the judiciary. He took an active part in debate on most of the important subjects which were agitated in that branch of Congress during his senatorial career. He sup- ported Colonel Johnson's efforts to abolish imprisonment for debt on actions in the United States courts. He proposed amendments to the judiciary system of the United States, and advocated a bankrupt law, to include corporations as well as persons. With regard to the public lands, he was in favor of a proposition to vest the lands in the states in which they were situated on " some just and equitable terms." When the question of a successor to Mr. Monroe for the presidency was agitated, Mr. Van Buren took an early and decided part in favor of Mr. Crawford, whose election he labored to bring about by the aid of 580 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF VAN BUREN. party machinery and discipline, particularly the system of regular nomi- nations, as established in the state of New York, and had been practised by the democratic party in previous nominations of president and vice- president, by a caucus of members of Congress. The congressional cau- cus which nominated Mr. Crawford, in February, 1824, proved a signal failure, as it was attended by only about one fourth of the whole number of the members of Congress. In the state of New York, where the friends of Mr. Van Buren had defeated a law proposed to provide for the choice of presidential electors by the people, and retained the choice in the legislature, Mr. Crawford only obtained five of the thirty-six electoral votes of the state. The election of president devolved on the house of representatives, and Mr. Adams was elected on the first ballot, receiving the vote of New York, although the friends of Mr. Van Buren adhered to Mr. Crawford. In the gubernatorial election in the state of New York, in 1824, the party which acted with Mr. Van Buren met with a decisive defeat, and De Witt Clinton was elected governor. The next year, hovt^ever, the party recovered its power in the state ; but Mr. Clinton was re-elected in 1826, and continued in office until his death, in February, 1828. Mr. Van Buren took an active part in the opposition which was organ- ized against the administration of Mr. Adams immediately after his elec- tion to the presidency. He opposed the mission to Panama, and most of the bills for internal improvement. His personal feelings were adverse to a high tariff of duties for protection, but as his constituents were gen- erally in favor of protective duties, he voted for the tariff laws of 1824 and 1828. In February, 1827, Mr. Van Buren was re-elected to the United States senate for another term of six years, by the legislature of New York. Circumstances, however, soon occurred to cause his resignation. He was zealous and active in sustaining General Jackson for the presidency in opposition to Mr. Adams, in 1828. Governor Clinton, who was also fa- vorable to the election of Jackson, died suddenly, in February, 1828. This event induced the political friends of Mr. Van Buren to nominate him for governor of the state, to succeed Mr. Clinton, and he was elected to that office in November, 1828. Having resigned his seat in the senate of the United States, Mr. Van Buren entered upon the duties of the office of governor, January 1, 1829. His message to the legislature was remarkable for the attention bestowed upon banks and the currency. On the 20th of January, in a brief mes- sage, he introduced to the legislature the celebrated safety-fund system. This plan originated with the Hon. Joshua Forman, and was by him laid before Mr. Van Buren. It was somewhat modified by the suggestion of the latter, and finally adopted by the legislature. The safety-fund system combined the moneyed interests of the state in a league of mutual depend- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF VAN BUREN. 381 ence, but the experience of a few years proved its inadequacy to answer public expectation. Mr. Van Buren remained but a short time in the chief magistracy of his native state. On the 12th of March, 1829, he resigned the office of gov- ernor, in consequence of his appointment as secretary of state of the Uni- ted States. Of this appointment, General Jackson (who was said to have intended to have offered it to Governor Clinton, had he lived) said, in his letter to the democratic members of the legislature of New York, in Feb- ruary, 1832 : " In calling him [Mr. Van Buren] to the department of state, from the exalted station he then occupied, I was not influenced more by his acknowledged talents and public services, than by the general wish of the republican party throughout the Union." Of Mr. Van Buren's course as secretary of state we have already taken notice, in our account of General Jackson's administration. The causes of the dissolution of the cabinet have also been stated. In June, 1831, Mr. Van Buren retired from the office of secretary of state, and was im- mediately appointed by the president minister to Great Britain. He ar- rived in London in September, 1831, and was received with distinguished favor at the court of St. James. Soon after the meeting of Congress, the president submitted the nomi- nation of Mr. Van Buren to the senate. He was rejected by that body, in consequence of their disapproval of the instructions which he issued, while secretary of state, to Mr. M'Lane, our minister to England, in reference to the West India trade. The democratic part\^ condemned the rejection of Mr. Van Buren as an act of political persecution, and vindicated the propriety of his course. The democratic members of the legislature of New York addressed a let- ter to the president, expressing their indignation at what they deemed a proscriptive act of the senate, and their high respect for the public and private character of Mr. Van Buren. The president, in reply, assumed the entire responsibility of the instructions condemned by the senate ; de- ' clared they were " the result of his own deliberate investigation and reflec- tion, and still appeared to him to be entirely proper and consonant to his public duty." On the 22d of May, 1832, Mr. Van Buren was nominated as a candi- date for vice-president, by a national democratic convention assembled at Baltimore, and at the same time with the renomination of General Jack- son for president. The result was the triumphant election of both to the respective offices to which they were nominated, Mr. Van Buren receiv- ing the same number of electoral votes as General Jackson, with the ex- ception of those of Pennsylvania, the democracy of which state refused to give him their vote ; and it was given to William Wilkins, of that state. Mr. Van Buren returned from England to triumph over his political op- ponents, by being elevated to the second office in the government. He 382 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF VAN BUREN. was inaugurated as vice-president on the 4th of March, 1833, and presided over the senate for four years, when in session ; during which he had the good fortune to escape the censure of all parties. In 1833 he accompa- nied General Jackson in his tour to the eastern states. To secure the support of the democratic party as a candidate for the presidency, as successor to General Jackson, whose favor and good wishes he already possessed, Mr. Van Buren seems to have relied upon an avowal of hostility to a national bank, and on a national convention for the nomination of president and vice-president. Accordingly, we find him giving as a sentiment, at a public entertainment, " Un(?ompromising hos- tility to the United States bank ; the honor and interest of the country require it ;" which toast was adopted as a motto, by the democratic party. We also find the most strenuous efforts made to reconcile Pennsylvania to a national nominating convention, which efforts were finally successful. On the 20th of May, 1835, the Jackson democratic convention met at Baltimore, for the nomination of a candidate to succeed General Jackson as president, also a vice-president of the United States. About 600 dele- gates were in attendance ; and as all were selected as friends of Mr. Van Buren, he received the unanimous vote of the convention, for president. Colonel Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, was nominated for vice-presi- dent. These nominations, it was well understood, received the express approbation of General Jackson, and the influence of the administration was, of course, exercised in favor of the election of these candidates. The result of the vote by the electoral colleges was 170 for Mr. Van Buren, including Michigan (3), which was informal, and 124 for all other candidates. There was no choice of vice-president by the people, in con- sequence of the state of Virginia refusing to vote for Colonel Johnson. He received 147 electoral votes, including Michigan, and there were 147 for all other candidates. Colonel Johnson was, thereupon, elected by the sen- ate, agreeably to the constitution. Mr. Van Buren was inaugurated as president, on the fourth of March, 1837. The history of the four years of his administration is given in an- other place in this volume, to which we refer for this part of his life. In May, 1840, he was nominated for re-election, by a convention of his po- litical friends, but such was the unpopularity of his measures as chief magistrate of the nation, that the election of 1840 resulted in the total defeat of Mr. Van Buren and the party with which he was connected, and the triumphant success of the whig candidates, General Harrison and Mr. Tyler, to the presidency and vice-presidency. The electoral votes for Harrison were 234 — for Van Buren 60. General Harrison succeeded Mr. Van Buren, as president, on the 4th of March, 1841 ; soon after which the ex-president left Washington for his seat at Kinderhook, Columbia county, New York, near the Hudson river, to which retreat he gave the name of " Lindenwold." He attended on the BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF VAN BUREN. 383 occasion of the funeral honors which were paid to General Harrison in the city of New York, in 1841. Having acquired, during an active professional and political life, a large fortune, Mr. Van Buren retired to his estate before mentioned, to enjoy the possession of his wealth, and retaining the confidence of the large and powerful party of his countrymen which had sustained him. His friends, however, were not willing that he should rest under the political sentence which had been pronounced against him, as they deemed, under fortuitous circumstances. It was argued that, as an act of justice to him, he should be elected for another term to the presidency, to place him in history along side of Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and Jackson, who were consid- ered as the four democratic presidents, each of whom had been honored with a second term in the presidential chair. The most strenuous efforts, therefore, were made to effect the nomination of Mr. Van Buren for the presidency, in 1844 ; and when the democratic national convention met to nominate a president, in May of that year, there was an apparent ma- jority of his friends in that body. But a new element was introduced into the political canvass for the presidency, by the democratic party, namely, the annexation of Texas to the United States. To that measure Mr. Van Buren had expressed himself adverse, in some particulars, in a letter to a southern gentleman, which was published previous to the meeting of the convention. Some of his friends regretted that he had not inserted a clause in his letter which, looking to the certain extension of the Jimits of the republic, would have been satisfactory to the democrats of the south. After protracted ballottings, it was found that Mr. Van Buren could not obtain the vote of two thirds of the delegates to the convention, as required by their rules. His name was therefore withdrawn, and James K. Polk, of Tennessee, received the nomination for president. In the nomination of Mr. Polk, Mr. Van Buren cordially acquiesced, and urged upon his political friends the propriety and importance of sus- taining the same in good faith. By the efforts of the democrats of New York, the election of Mr. Polk was effected, the popular majority in that important state, which turned the scale in favor of the democratic candi- dates, being but about one per cent, on the whole number of votes. We conclude this brief memoir of Mr. Van Buren with the following notice of his personal appearance and character, from his life, by Profes- sor Holland, written, of course, with all the partiality of friendship : — " In personal appearance, Mr. Van Buren is about the middle size ; his form is erect (and formerly slender, but now inclining to corpulence), and is said to be capable of great endurance. His hair and eyes are light, his features animated and expressive, especially the eye, which is indicative of quick apprehension and close observation ; his forehead exhibits in its depth and expansion, the marks of great intellectual power. The physi- ognomist would accord to him penetration, quickness of apprehension, and 0S4 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF VAN BUREN. benevolence of disposition. The phrenologist would add unusual reflec- tive faculties, firmness, and caution. " The private character of Mr. Van Buren is above all censure or sus- picion. In the relations of father and son, of husband, brother, and friend, he has always displayed those excellencies of character and feeling which adorn human nature. Extending our view to the larger circle of his per- sonal friends, rarely has any man won a stronger hold upon the confidence and affection of those with whom he has been connected. The purity of his motives, his integrity of character, and the steadiness of his attach- ments, have always retained for him the warm affection of many, even among the ranks of his political opponents. " The ease and frankness of his manners, his felicitous powers of con- versation, and the general amiableness of his feelings, render him the or- nament of the social circle. Uniting in his character, firmness and for- bearance ; habitual self-respect and a delicate regard for the feelings of others ; neither the perplexities of legal practice, nor the cares of public life, nor the annoyance of party strife, have ever been able to disturb the serenity of his temper, or to derange for a moment the equanimity of his deportment. He has with equal propriety mingled in the free intercourse of private life, and sustained the dignity of official station." ADMINISTRATION OF VAN BUREN. Tii-E inauguration of Martin Van Buren, as the eighth president of the United States, took place at the capitol, in the city of Washington, on Sat- urday, the 4th of March, 1837. At twelve o'clock on that day, the weather being remarkably pleasant, the president elect took his seat with his venerable predecessor, General Jackson, in a beautiful phaeton made from the wood of the frigate Constitution, and presented to General Jack- son by the democracy of the city of New York. They were escorted from the president's house to the capitol, through Pennsylvania avenue, by a body of cavalry and infantry, and were also accompanied by an immense concourse of citizens. After reaching the senate-chamber the procession Avas formed, and Mr. Van Buren, attended by the ex-president, the mem- bers of the senate, of the cabinet, and the diplomatic corps, led the way to the rostrum erected on the ascent to the eastern portico. He then deliv- ered his inaugural address, in clear and impressive tones, and in an easy and eloquent manner. At the close of the address, the oath of office was administered by Chief- Justice Taney. The language of the inaugural address, the assurances of the govern- ment official journal, published at the seat of government, and other dec- larations, satisfied the people that the measures of Mr. Van Buren's ad- ministration would be a continuation of those adopted by General Jackson, and consequently no change might be expected. The new president se- lected for his cabinet, John. Forsyth, of Georgia, for secretary of state ; Levi Woodbury, of New Hampshire, secretary of the treasury ; Joel R. Poinsett, of South Carolina, secretary of war ; Mahlon Dickerson, of New Jersey, secretary of the navy ; Amos Kendall, of Kentucky, postmaster- general ; and Benjamin F. Butler, of New York, attorney-general. All of these gentlemen, except Mr. Poinsett, had been appointed by Gen- eral Jackson to the respective offices named, and they were continued by Mr. Van Buren. Mr. Poinsett succeeded General Cass, who, in 1836, was appointed by General Jackson minister to France. Early in the year 1837, indications were perceived of a money pres- sure of unexampled severity, not produced as that of 1834 had been, by 25 386 ADMINISTRATION OF VAN BUREN. the contest with the bank of the United States (for that institution was no^ only a state bank, and so much embarrassed as to be powerless), but other and more formidable causes. It was some time before those vinacquainted with banking operations could be induced to believe the alarm of the bankers in New York and other cities to be so well founded, as experience proved it really was. It was not until the failure of several great com- mercial and banking houses in New York, New Orleans, and other Atlan- tic cities, that the panic became general among the people. The specie circular issued by General Jackson in the summer of 1836, which we have noticed in our account of his administration, had been powerful in its operation upon the banks and currency. This circular, or order, requiring all payments for the public lands to be made in gold or silver, produced frequent and sometimes large drafts for specie on the banks. This course not only prevented the banks from extending their line of discount, but compelled them to commence calling in their circula- ting notes. The distribution of the surplus funds among the several states also se- riously embarrassed the operations of the banks, and, from the mode ia which it was managed, contributed to derange the currency. The banks with whom the accumulated surplus had been deposited, were not pre- pared for the distribution, inasmuch as they had presumed these funds would generally remain in deposite with them until the exigencies of the government should require its expenditure, and had, therefore, treated the funds of the United States as so much capital on which they could make loans to their customers. They had, therefore, undoubtedly, made large loans, relying on these government funds as an addition to their ordinary means, not likely soon to be called for. The order issued from the treasury department, in pursuance of the law, for the distribution of these funds among the' several states, was to the banks extremely embarrassing, and compelled them to call in their loans. They complained that the mode of distribution adopted by the secretary, Mr. Woodbury, was unwise and unnecessarily oppressive. Another cause of pecuniary embarrassment and pressure was the ex- cessive importation of merchandise from Europe, beyond the abilities and wants of the country, payments for which falling due, and American credit being impaired in London, occasioned a demand on the banks for specie, to be shipped to Europe. The reaction in speculation had now commenced, and this accumula- tion of difficulties could not be withstood by the banks. On the 10th of May, 1837, all the banks in the city of New York, without exception, by common consent, suspended payments in specie. The banks of Boston, Providence, Hartford, Albany, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and others in every quarter, on learning that the banks in New York had suspended specie payments, adopted the same course. On the I6th of May, the ADMINISTRATION OF VAN BUREN. 387 legislature of New York passed an act authorizing the suspension of spe- cie payments by the banks of that state for one year. During the preceding two months, unprecedented embarrassments and difficulties were experienced among the mercantile classes, and were felt in all the commercial towns in the United States ; especially in New York and New Orleans. The number of large failures which took place in New York in a short time, was about three hundred, their liabilities amounting to many millions. In two days, houses in New Orleans stopped payment, owing an aggregate of twenty-seven millions of dollars. In Boston one hundred and sixty-eight failures took place in six months. A committee was appointed by a numerous meeting of the citizens of New York, to proceed to Washington and request the president of the United States to rescind the specie circular, to defer commencing suits upon unpaid bonds, and to call an extra meeting of Congress. In their interview with the president they presented an address stating, that " un- der a deep impression of the propriety of confining their declarations within moderate limits, they affirmed, that the value of their real estate had, within the last six months, depreciated more than forty millions of dollars ; that within the preceding two months there had been more than two hun- dred and fifty failures of houses engaged in extensive business ; that within the same period a decline of twenty millions had occurred in their local stocks, including those railroad and canal incorporations which, though chartered in other states, depended chiefly upon New York for their sale ; that the immense amount of merchandise in their warehouses had, within the same period, fallen in value at least thirty per cent. ; that within a few weeks not less than twenty thousand individuals, depending upon their daily labor for their daily bread, had been discharged by tneir employers, because the means of retaining them were exhausted ; and that a complete blight had fallen upon a community heretofore so active, enterprising, and prosperous : the errors of our rulers," they declared, " had produced a wider desolation than the pestilence which depopulated our streets, or the conflagration which laid them in ashes." Several petitions from other commercial cities and towns, had been presented to the president, requesting that he would summon a meeting of Congress at an early day. The president for some time declined to act on the petitions, but the suspension of specie payments by the banks, and the consequent exigency in which the financial affairs of the government was placed, finally induced him to issue his proclamation, on the 15th of May, for the convening of Congress on the first Monday in September, on account of " great and weighty matters claiming their consideration." Previous to the suspension of specie payments by the banks, some of the friends of the president entertained a hope that he would afford some relief to the business community, by revoking the " specie circular" of the treasury department, which had been issued by order of General Jackson 388 ADMINISTRATION OF VAN BUREN. in July, 1836, requiring gold and silver in payments for the public lands ; but in this hope they were disappointed, and it was soon evident that 'n was the intention of President Van Buren to carry out the designs of his predecessor in establishing a specie currency ; especially in all concerns relating to the finances of the general government. According to the re- port of the secretary of the treasury, in December, 1836, the condition of the currency of the United States was estimated as follows at that period : bank paper in active circulation, one hundred and twenty millions of dol- lars ; specie in active circulation, twenty-eight millions ; specie in banks, forty-five millions. The extra session, being the first, of the twenty-fifth Congress, com- menced on the 4th of September, 1837, and continued forty-three days, namely, until the 16th of October. The state of parties in the house of representatives was exhibited in the choice of speaker. James K. Polk, the administration candidate, was for the second time elected to that station, receiving 116 votes, against 103 for John Bell (whig), and 5 scattering. It became evident, however, that there was in the administration ranks a small section, whose views respecting the currency did not coincide with those of the president, but were favorable to banking institutions and the preservation of the credit system, as applied lo the transaction of the bu- siness commimity. Hence arose a third party, which exercised considera- ble influence in many parts of the Union, and, adopting the name of " con- servatives," eventually became an ally of the whigs, in their opposition to the administration. In consequence of the course of these conservatives, some of the measures recommended by the president were defeated in the house of representatives at this and the following session. 'fhe recommendations of the president in his message to Congress at the extra session, promised no relief to the people. Indeed, the opinion'that document distinctly expressed was, that the national legislature could do nothing to mitigate the evils which existed, and which, it stated, were oc- casioned by the unwise conduct of the business community ; that it was not the duty or design of tlie general government to interfere in such cases. The doctrine was advanced in the message, that all the govern- ment could do or was designed to do, was to take care of itself, and could not be expected to legislate with reference to the monetary concerns of the people. The actual condition of the government, in relation to its financial concerns, was stated with great clearness and precision, and the reasons were given which rendered the call of the extra session abso- lutely necessary. The most important recommendation of the message, was the measure ■which received from its opponents the name of the sub-treasury scheme. By the friends of the administration it was called the independent treas- ury. As the funds of the government were in the possession of banks, all of which refused to pay specie, and the use of their circulating notes ADMINISTRATION OF VAN BUREN. 389' was a violation of the act, or resolution, of Congress, passed in 1816 ; and the president having been elected under a pledge against a national bank, he recommended that the treasury of the United States should be kept by- public officers, and that there should be an entire and total separation of the business and funds of the government from those of the banks. The announcement of this scheme by the administration, caused great excitement in Congress and among the people.' It was very unfavorably received by the political friends of the president, in the different states, who were interested in banks. It was represented by the opposition, whigs and conservatives, as a direct attack upon the banks and what was called the credit system. They insisted, that if the president's views were carried out, the prostration and destruction of all banks would be inevita- ble, and that finally a metallic currency would alone constitute the circu- lating medium, which would be wholly inadequate to the exigencies of a commercial community. Another consequence which they predicted, assuming that the banks were to be destroyed, wats a reduction of prices, fatal and ruinous to the debtor.* The official paper at the seat of government, the Globe, having been zealous and active in support of the new treasury scheme, and in opposi- tion to the banking system, the conservatives in the house of representa- tives opposed the election of the publishers of that paper (Messrs. Blair and Rives) as printers to the house. After several ballottings, the whicrg joined the conservatives, and elected Thomas Allen, editor of the Madi- sonian, a conservative newspaper, printer to the house. A- bill to establish the proposed independent treasury was reported by Mr. Wright, chairman of the committee on finance, in the senate, and, after considerable discussion, passed that body by a vote of 26 ayes, to 20 noes. In opposing the measure, Mr. Clay, of Kentucky, said, that " the project was neither desirable nor practicable, nor within the constitutional power of the general government, nor just ; and that it was contrary to the habits of the people of the United States, and dangerous to their liberties. He declared, that after the most deliberate and anxious consideration of which he was capable, he could conceive of no adequate remedy for the disorders which unhappily prevailed, which did not comprehend a national bank as an essential part. The great want of the country was a general and uniform currency, and a point of union, a sentinel, a regulator of the issues of the local banks ; and that would be supplied by such an institu- tion." No effort, however, was made at this time to introduce the ques- tion of a national bank, in Congress, in consequence of the well-known feelings of the president and his party against it. The sub-treasury bill from the senate was taken up in the house of rep- resentatives, but after an excited debate it was laid on the table, by the combined vote of whigs and conservatives, ayes 120, noes 107. It was • Hammond. 390 ADMINISTRATION OF VAN BUREN. thus evident that the administration were in the minority on their fa- vorite measure, in the popular branch of Congress. Having passed a bill postponing until January 1, 1839, the deposite with the states, of the fourth instalment of the surplus funds directed to be made with them ; acts authorizing the issue of ten millions of dollars in treasury-notes, for the immediate wants of government; appropriating $1,000,000 for the sup- pression of Indian hostilities in Florida ; extending the time of bonds for duties on imports ; and providing for adjusting the claims upon the late deposite banks, with a few acts of minor importance ; Congress adjourned without carrying out the wishes of either the people or the government, at this extra session. The second session of the twenty-fifth Congress commenced on the 4th of December. 1837, and continued uniil the 9th of July, 1838. The independent, or sub-treasury scheme was again pressed upon the consideration of Congress, by the president, and a bill for that purpose, similar to that proposed ^at the extra session, being reported in the senate, the subject underwent an elaborate discussion in that body. The bill was ably sustained by Senators Wright, Benton, and others, and opposed also with ability by Mr. Clay, Mr. Webster, and other whig senators. Mr. Clay's speech was of great length, and he endeavored to establish the fol- lowing proposition : " First, that it was the deliberate purpose and fixed design of the administration of General Jackson to establish a government bank — a treasury bank — to be administered and controlled by the execu- tive department. Secondly, that, with that view, and to that end, it was its aim and intention to overthrow the whole banking system, as exist- ing in the United Slates when that administration came into power, be- ginning with the bank of the United States, and. .ending with the state banks. Thirdly, that the attack was first confined, from considerations of policy, to the bank of the United States ; but that after its overthrow was accomplished, it was then directed, and has since been continued, against the state banks. Fourthly, that the present administration, by its acknowl- edgments, emanating from the highest and most authentic source, has suc- ceeded to the principles, plans, and policy, of the preceding administra- tion, and stands solemnly pledged to complete and perfect them.. And fifthly, that the bill under consideration (the sub-treasury plan) was in- tended to execute the pledge, by establishing, upon the ruins of the late bank of the United States, and the state banks, a government bank, to be managed and controlled by the treasury department, acting under the com- mands of the president of the United States." Among those who supported the sub-treasury bill in the senate, was Mr. Calhoun, of South Carolina, who, with the Soutli Carolina members in the house of representatives, now sustained the administration. Mr. Preston, the senatorial colleague of Mr. Calhoun, acted with the opposition. The sub-treasury bill passed the senate, but was rejected in the house ADMINISTRATION OF VAN BUREN. 391 of representatives on the 25tli of June, 1838, by 125 to 111 votes. This plan of finance was proposed originally in Congress in 1834, by Mr. Gor- don, of Virginia, but was then opposed by the friends of the administra- tion, and rejected. In the present instance, as at the extra session, the whigs and conservatives combined against the bill. A bill was passed at this session granting pre-emption rights to settlers on the public lands. Other important acts passed were the following : to es- tablish the territory of Iowa ; granting land for opening a canal in the terri- tory of Wisconsin ; to encourage the introduction and promote the culti- vation of tropical fruits in the United States ; making appropriations for lightboats and beacons, and making surveys ; authorizing the printing of the Madison papers ; to provide for certain harbors, and the improvement of navigation of certain rivers in Florida ; making an appropriation for the Cumberland road ; appropriating money also for suppressing Indian hos- tilities, and for fortifications. Mr. Preston, whig senator from South Carolina, introduced, in the sen- ate, resolutions in favor of the annexation of Texas to the United States, but they did not receive favorable action at this time. The independence of that republic had been recognised by the United States in the last year of General Jackson's administration. In June, 1838, Mr. Dickerson resigned the office of secretary of the navy, and James K. Paulding, of New York, was appointed in his place. During this year serious disturbances against the colonial government occurred in Canada, and many of the citizens of the United States, on the northern frontiers prepared to join them. President Van Buren, therefore, issued a proclamation, calling upon all the persons engaged in the schemes of invasion of Canada, to abandon the design ; and warning all those who had engaged in these criminal enterprises, if persisted in, that, " to what- ever condition they may be reduced, they must not expect the interference of the United States government, in any form, on their behalf, but would be left, reproached by every virtuous fellow-citizen, to be dealt with ac- cording to the policy and justice of that government whose dominions they have, in defiance of the known wishes and efforts of their own gov- ernment, and without the shadow of justification or excuse, nefariously invaded." Although there were many individuals largely interested in banks, who continued in good faith to support the democratic party, and the adminis- tration of Mr. Van Buren, yet it was generally believed that the great mass of the banking interest was brought to bear against the administration. The state banks, in many instances, had sustained, with all their influence, General Jackson, in his veto of the Unhed States bank bill, and in the transfer which he made of the deposites from the national to the state banks ; but when President Van Buren recommended the removal of the 392 ADMIXISTRATION OF VAN BUREN. deposites from the state banks, and the establishment of the independent treasury, it was quite another matter.* The agitation of the currency question, and a combination of causes ad- verse to the administration, resulted in a great political change at the elections in the important state of New York, in 1837 and 1838. The influence of these elections in the native state of the president, which had previously sustained him by large majorities, could not fail to act upon other stales ; and it was soon evident, notwithstanding partial successes of the democratic party in some of the states, that the administration was gradually declining in popularity. The twenty-fifth Congress held its third session from the 3d of Decem- ber, 1838, to the expiration of its term, on the 3d of March, 1839. But few acts of general interest were passed. Among them may be named an act for preventing and suppressing Indian hostilities ; this law related particularly to the difficulties with the Seminole tribe in Florida. The war with these Indians was continued during several years, and large sums were expended in maintaining it. In 1836, one million and a half of dollars were appropriated to prosecute that unfortunate contest. In January, 1837, two millions more were voted by Congress for the pur- pose. These appropriations were made before the retirement of General Jackson. At the extra session, in October, 1837, and in the two suc- ceeding sessions, large amounts were again appropriated. When the dif- ficulty arose with the Seminoles, President Jackson supposed that it would soon be terminated. And no one, at that time, had any reason to suppose that it would continue for years, and have cost the government eight or ten millions.! Another act was passed at this session, locating and providing for the Seminole Indians, who had been removed from Florida ; another abolish- ing imprisonment for debt in certain cases. The aspect of our relations with Great Britain was at this time threatening, in consequence of the difficulty respecting the northeast boundary. Congress, therefore, passed an act giving to the president additional powers for the defence of the United States. During the summer of 1839, President Van Buren visited the state of New York, for the first time since his election. He travelled through the state, stopping at the principal cities and villages. He was received with public honors, and followed by processions of citizens, civil and military. In an address made to him by Mr. Edmonds, formerly a state senator, upon his arrival at New York, he made some remarks which rendered it necessary for Mr. Van Buren to speak of political parties and his own political friends, and of course to express his strong attachment to those friends. This gave occasion to the opposition to represent, that instead of coming on a visit to the whole people, as a president of the United * Hammond. t Bradford. ADMINISTRATION OF VAN BUREN. 393 States ought to do, he was on an elect ioneering tour, for the sole purpose of stimulating his friends to more active exertions, and of recruiting their dilapidated ranks by proselytes whom he was to gain from his political op- ponents. Hence everything he did, and every word he uttered, was the subject of the most critical and jealous scrutiny.* In the election of members of the twenty-sixth. Congress, there had been a considerable gain for the whigs and conservatives, and, until the fall of 1839, it appeared probable that there would be an opposition ma- jority in the house of representatives. But the friends of the administra- tion made a desperate rally in a few of the last states which chose rep- resentatives to the twenty-sixth Congress, and succeeded in returning a small majority of the members elect, leaving out of view five of the six representatives from the state of New Jersey, whose seats were contested. The full returns of members elected to the house of representatives were reported to stand thus : administration 119, opposition 118, and five members from New Jersey claimed by both parties, the certificates of elec- tion being given to the whig candidates, and their seats contested by the administration candidates. In this situation of affairs, intense interest was felt, throughout the country, with regard to the meeting of Congress. The twenty-sixth Congress met on the 2d of December, 1839. Every member elect of the house of representatives was present, except Mr. Kempshall (whig), from Monroe county. New York, who was detained by sickness in his family. On the assembling of the house, the clerk of the last house, Mr. Garland, a friend of the administration, agreeably to the usual custom, commenced calling the roll ; and having called the members from the several New England states and the state of New York, and one of the six members from the state of New Jersey, who all brought the regu- lar certificates, proposed to pass by the other five (whose rights to seats would be contested) till the members from the rest of the states should be called. This brought on a long, animated, and disorderly debate. Scenes of excitement and confusion continued until the 5th, when Mr. John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, addressed the members, and called upon them to organize, by choosing a chairman pro tern: Thereupon Mr. Rhett, of South Carolina, nominated Lewis Williams, of North Carolina, as chair- man : he declined ; when Mr. Rhett nominated John Quincy Adams, who was immediately chosen chairman pro tern., and entered upon the duties of the same. The debate respecting the contested seats from New Jer- sey was continued from day to day till, on the 16th of December, Robert M. T. Hunter, of Virginia, an opposition member (but in favor of the sub- treasury), was elected speaker on the 1 1th ballot. He received 119 votes, to 113 for all others. On the 17th, the members of the house of repre- sentatives were sworn, with the exception of the five disputed members from New Jersey. The whigs having the certificates of election, under • Hammond. 394 ADMINISTRATION OF VAN BUREN. tlie broad seal of the governor, now came forward and demanded, as their right, to be sworn, which gave rise to a new and and animated debate, and on the 20th the following resolution was decided in the negative, by a vote of 112 to 116: "Resolved, That the representatives of the twenty-sixth Congress, now present, do advise and request the speaker to administer the oath required by law, to the five gentleman from the state of New Jersey who have presented credentials to the speaker and demand to be sworn." On the 21st the house completed its organization, by the elec- tion of a clerk ; and on the 24th the president's message was delivered, just three weeks after the regular time. A national convention of the whig party was held at Harrisburg, Penn- sylvania, on the 4th of December, 1839, for the purpose of nominating candidates for president and vice-president of the United States. Great difference of opinion prevailed among the whigs, with respect to a suitable candidate for president, regard being especially had to the importance of nominating one upon whom the different elements of which the opposition to the administration was composed could unite with the cordiality and zeal required to be effectual. It M^as the expectation of a large proportion of the whig party, espe- cially of those who had been originally opposed to the administration of General Jackson, that Henry Clay, of Kentucky, would receive the nomi- nation of the national convention at Han'isburg, as the opposition candi- date for president. Some time before the assembling of that convention, it had been proclaimed that a clear majority of the whole number of del- egates had been chosen as friendly to the nomination of Mr. Clay. Yet, during the autumn of the year 1839, notwithstanding the unpopularity of the administration, the whig party met with defeats in the elections in Tennessee, Georgia, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, Massachusetts, Pennsylva- nia, and Maine. In New Jersey they held the legislature, with a strong majority against them in the popular vote. In New York the whig ma- jority in the state was about 4,000 on the vote for senators, against 10,000 in 1838, and 15,000 in 1837. In North Carolina the whig triumph was not of a decisive character. These results showed that the opposition were losing in 1839 the advantages they had gained in 1837 and 1838, and this cast a shadow over the spirits of the reflecting friends of Mr. Clay. Under these circumstances, many of those friends began to doubt the ex- pediency of placing him in nomination in opposition to Mr. Van Buren ; par- ticularly when it was known that the friends of the administration were desirous that Mr. Clay should be the opposition candidate. In that case, inasmuch as they believed that gentleman could not concentrate the oppo- sition vote in his favor, they anticipated an easy victory for the democratic party at the approaching election. Mr. Clay himself seemed to acquiesce in the doubts expressed by some of his friends, as to his own comparative strength with the whig party. lu ADMINISTRATION OF VAN BUREN, 395 the summer of 1839, he made a visit, for health and recreation, to the country on the lakes, Canada, and the state of New York. At the city of Bufi'a'lo he yielded to the request of his friends, to address the people on the state of public affairs. Alluding to the approaching nomination and election of president, he said : " To correct past evils and to avert im- pending dangers, we see no elfectual remedy, but in a change of our ru- lers. The opposition constitutes the majority — unquestionably the major- ity — of the nation. A great responsibility, therefore, attaches to it. If defeated, it will be defeated by its own divisions, and not by the merits of the principles of its opponents. These divisions are at the same time our weakness and their strength. " Are we not, then, called upon, by the highest duties to our country, to its free institutions, to posterity, and to the world, to rise above all local prejudices, and personal partialities, to discard all collateral questions, to disregard every subordinate point, and, in a genuine spirit of compromise and concession, uniting, heart and hand, to preserve for ourselves the blessings of a free government, wisely, honestly, and faithfully adminis- tered, and as we received them from our fathers, to transmit them to our children ? Should we not justly subject ourselves to eternal reproach, if we permitted our differences about mere men to bring defeat and disaster upon our cause ? Our principles are imperishable, but men have but a fleeting existence, and are themselves liable to change and corruption during its brief continuance. " If my name creates any obstacle to union and harmony, away with it, and concentrate upon some individual more acceptable to all branches of the opposition. What is a public man worth, who is not ready to sacri- fice himself for the good of his country? I have unaffectedly desired re- tirement ; I yet desire it, when, consistently with the duties and obligations which I owe, I can honorably retire." In the ranks of the opposition to the administration were many who had formerly supported the election of General Jackson, and still retained a prejudice against Mr. Clay ; there were also in the same ranks, large numbers of anti-masons who were unwilling to support a mason for the presidency, and Mr. Clay had been a member of the lodge ; then came the anti-tariff whigs in the southern states, and the squatters on the public lands, at the west ; with both of which classes Mr. Clay was unpopular, from the measures advocated by him in Congress being adverse to their views and feelings. In view of these circumstances, and believing that to command success the whig candidate for the presidency must receive the united support of the different branches of the opposition, many of the leading whigs exerted themselves to prevent the nomination of Mr. Clay. It was even charged by those friends who were anxious for his nomina- tion, that intriguers were busy, before the meeting of the convention, by correspondence and otherwise, in circulating false reports with regard to 896 ADMINISTRATION- OF VAN BUREN. Mr. Clay's unpopularity, and thus influencing the election of delegates and their action in the convention. On the meeting of the convention at Harrisburg, three names were pre- sented as candidates for the nomination of a president of the United States, namely, Henry Clay, of Kentucky, General William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, and General Winfield Scott, of the United States army; all three of whom were natives of Virginia. Twenty-two states were represented in the convention, and on an infornial ballot per capita, it was found that Mr. Clay had a decided plurality, but neither of the candidates had a clear majority of the delegates. It was then determined to vote by states, each state to be entitled to as many votes in the convention as it had electoral votes. On the first ballot, 103 votes were given to Clay, 94 to Harrison, and 57 to Scott ; after which, each delegation compared views, and endeavored to ascertain which of the three candidates had the best prospects of success, if nominated. The result of their inquiries was a decided pi*ponderance of chances in favor of General Harrison, and, after being in session three days, the convention took a final ballot, when Harrison received 148 votes, Clay 90, and Scott 16. William H. Harri- son was therefore declared duly nominated as the whig candidate for president. John Tyler, of Virginia, was unanimously nominated for vice- president. Mr. Tyler had been a candidate for the same office in 1836; was now a member of the convention, and had been anxious for the nom- ination of Mr. Clay. Those friends of Mr. Clay in the convention who had adhered to him as the best candidate, expressed their cordial concurrence in the decision in favor of General Harrison. A letter from Mr. Clay to one of the dele- gates was read, in which he remarked, that " if the deliberation of the convention should lead them to the choice of another, as the candidate of the opposition, far from feeling any discontent, the nomination would have his best wishes, and receive his cordial support." The example of Mr. Clay was followed throughout the Union, notwith- standing the first feelings of disappointment with which the decision of the convention was received by many. The nomination of Harrison and Tyler was everywhere popular, and united in its support the entire force of the opposition. The national democratic convention, consisting of about 250 members, from twenty-one states, met at Baltimore on the 5th of May, 1840. Mr. Van Buren was unanimously nominated for president, and the convention resolved to make no nomination for vice-president, leaving each state to make its own nomination of a candidate for that office. The principal candidates nominated in the different states for vice-president, were the incumbent, Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, and James K. Polk, of Tennessee. The early part of the first session of Congress was taken up, in the ADMINISTRATION OF VAN BDREN. 397 house, in discussions respecting the contested seats of the New Jersey members. That matter being settled, by admitting the democratic claim- ants to the seats, the house proceeded to the consideration of the subjects submitted to them by the president. Long and able debates took place on the bill for establishing an " independent treasury," which had been twice rejected by the last Congress. It was now passed, toward the close of the session, and was signed by the president on the 4th of July, 1840, when it became a law. A bankrupt law being much called for by the trading community, a bill was introduced at this session, and passed the senate, but was laid on the table in the house of repre- sentatives, 101 to 89. But few laws of general interest were passed at this session. Appro- priations for fortifications, and for the usual expenditures of government, were made. An act was passed to refund to Matthew Lyon the amount, with interest, paid by him as a fine for violating the sedition law. Some changes took place in the cabinet, in addition to those already mentioned. In 1838 Benjamin F. Butler resigned as attorney-general, and Felix Grundy, of Tennessee, was appointed in his place; in 1839 Mr. Grundy resigned, and Henry D. Gilpin, of Pennsylvania, received the appointment in his place ; Amos Kendall resigned the office of post- master-general, and John M. Niles, of Connecticut, was appointed in his place, on the 25th of May, 1840. The elections for state officers in several of the states, during the sum- mer and autumn of 1840, indicated the success of the whigs at the ap- proaching presidential election. The contest of the two great parties at the latter, was the most exciting and arduous ever witnessed in the Uni- ted States. Electoral tickets in favor of the re-election of Mr. Van Buren were formed in every state in the Union, and the whigs also nominated electors in every state except South Carolina. A third party, in favor of the abolition of slavery, had also been for some time organized, and now nominated as a candidate for president, James G. Birney, of Michigan. The result of the election was the success of the whig candidates, Har- rison and Tyler, by a large majority in the electoral colleges and on the popular vote. The electoral votes stood, for president, Harrison 234, Van Buren, 60 ; for vice-president, Tyler 234, R. M. Johnson 48, L. W. Taze- well 11, James K. Polk 1. The second session of the twenty-sixth Congress was held from the 7th of December, 1840, to the 3d of March, 1841, when their term ex- pired. Very few public acts of interest or importance were passed at this session. Appropriations were made for certain fortifications, and for Indian affairs ; and an act was passed authorizing another issue of treas- ury-notes. A bankrupt law was again discussed, but was not definitely- acted upon. 393 ADMINISTRATION OF VAN BUREN. In the senate Mr. Clay offered the following resolution, to test the dis- position of the administration party to conform to the expression of public opinion, by repealing the sub-treasury law : " Resolved, That the act en- titled, ' an act for the collection, safe-keeping, transfer, and disbursement of the public revenues,' ought to be forthwith repealed, and that the com- mittee on finance be instructed to report a bill accordingly." This reso- lution was rejected by the senate, and the repeal of the law was left for the new administration. The public expenditures during this administration greatly exceeded those of any preceding four years, since the war with Great Britain, ex- clusive of the public debt and the Florida Indian war. Public agents ■were multiplied, and increased compensation, in many cases, allowed them for their services. Large suras were lost to the national treasury by the defalcation of public officers, and the failure of deposite banks. The character of Mr. Van Buren's administration is, of course, differ- ently estimated by his countrymen, according to their political bias or preferences, and our readers may form their own estimate, from a perusal of the preceding brief narrative of the leading political events of this ex- citing period. Although a majority of the house of representatives, in the twenty- fifth Congress, was opposed to his administration, or some of his leading measures, Mr. Van Buren did not exercise the veto power during the four years of his presidential term. A writer in the Democratic Review for April, 1840, makes the follow- ing comparison of this with former democratic administrations : — " The great event of President Jackson's administration was the contest with the bank of the United States, and its destruction as a federal institu- tion — that of Madison's was the war — while Jefferson's was rather a gen- eral revolution of the anti-democratic spirit and policy of the preceding administration, than marked by any single salient point of such historical prominence as to give its character and name to the period. The great event of Mr. Van Buren's administration, by which it will hereafter be known and designated, is the divorce of bank and state, in the fiscal affairs of the federal government, and the return, after half a century of deviation, to the original design of the constitution." The same writer informs us that Mr. Van Buren remarked to a friend, previous to writing his message recommending the independent treasury : " We can not know how the iiumediate convulsion may result, but the people will, at all events, eventually come right, and posterity at least will do me justice. Be the present issue for good or for evil, it is for posterity that I will write this message." /c> J9- //oyl BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. The fami]y of Harrison is one of the most ancient and honorable in the history of Virginia. Among the early settlers of the colony was a lineal descendant of that General Harrison who bore a distinguished part during the civil wars of England, in the army of the Commonwealth. Benjamin Harrison (of the same stock), the father of the subject of this memoir, was one of the signers of the declaration of independence, and among the most prominent of the illustrious men of his eventful day, hav- ing filled the executive chair of the " Old Dominion" at a period when moral daring and personal fearlessness were essential to the incumbent of that station. He was previously an active and influential member, both of the house of burgesses in Virginia, and of the continental Congress. Of the former body he was repeatedly chosen speaker, and in the latter, in June, 1776, he introduced the resolution which declared the independence of the colonies, and on the following fourth of July, as chairman of the committee of the whole, he reported the more formal declaration to which his signature is affixed. Governor Harrison died in 1791, after the most eminent public services, and the expenditure of an ample fortune in the cause of his country. William Henry Harrison, the third and youngest son of the preceding, and ninth president of the United States, was born on the 9lh of Febru- ary, 1773, at Berkeley, on the James river, in Charles city county, Vir- ginia. On the death of his father, he was placed under the guardianship of his intimate friend, Robert Morris, of Pennsylvania, the great financier of the revolution. Young Harrison was educated at Hampden Sidney college, in his native state, and afterward applied himself to the study of medicine as a profession. But before he had completed his course of studies as a physician, the barbariiies of the Indians upon the western frontiers excited a feeling of indignation throughout the country. Har- 400 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRISON, rison resolved to give up his profession and join the army raised for the defence of the Ohio frontier. His guardian, Mr. Morris, attempted to dissuade him from his purpose, but his resolution was not to be shaken, and on communicating with General Washington, that distinguished man cordially approved of the patriotic determination of the son of his de- ceased friend and associate. At the age of nineteen, Harrison received from President Washington the commission of ensign in a regiment of artillery, and joined his corps at Fort Washington, on the Ohio, in 1791. A reinforcement was ordered to march for Fort Hamilton, on the Miami, a task which it required no or- dinary degree of courage to accomplish, as they had to pass through for- ests infested by hordes of the hostile tribes, and Harrison was chosen to the command of the body of men forming the escort. The dexterity and skill which he displayed in the prosecution of this arduous duty, gained for him the approbation of his commanding officer. General St. Clair. He rapidly gained the entire confidence of his officers, and in 1792 was .pro- moted to the rank of lieutenant. During the following year Harrison joined the new army under the command of General Anthony Wayne, an officer whose intrepidity and daring impetuosity, accompanied at the same time with consummate skill, during the war of the revolution, obtained for him the title of " Mad An- thony." It was a period, indeed, worthy of such a man, for the repeated successes and incursions of the savage enemy had not only infused among the people generally, but even throughout the army itself, such terror and dread of these merciless foes, as greatly to paralyze their energies, and to render the duties of the commander extremely arduous and difficult. The instructions, indeed, which were forwarded by Congress to Gen- eral Wayne, contained the following ominous expression : " Another defeat would prove inexpressibly ruinous to the reputation of the gov- ernment ;" and consequently, in such a critical juncture, every avail- able facility was rendered him. On the 25th of May, 1792, he repaired to Pittsburg, which was selected as the place of rendezvous. The newly-organized army consisted of a major-general, four brigadier-gen- erals, with their respective staffs, the commissioned officers, and over five thousand rank and fde ; which was designated, " the -legion of the United States." Although this collective force had the effect of partially restor- ing the spirit and energy of the soldiers, they continued to desert in con- siderable numbers. To remedy this evil, General Wayne applied him- self at all intervals of leisure, to the disciplining of his troops, with unre- mitting assiduity. Thus it must be obvious, that the early military career of Harrison had but few attractions for those who were not, like him, ac- tuated solely by the true spirit of generous patriotism. Finding all amicable negotiations with the Indians unavailing, no alter- native was left to General Wayne but to adopt the most rigid and decisive BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRISON. 401 measures ; accordingly we find him breaking up his winter quarters, about the end of April, 1793, and transporting his army in boats down the Ohio to Fort Washington, an outpost situated upon the site now occupied by the city of Cincinnati. Having at length received instructions from the sec- retary of war to commence active operations, he left Fort Washington in October, 1793, and advanced with his army along the southwestern branch of the Miami, where he took up his position, and erected fortifications. To this post he gave the name of Greenvijle, and here the army went into winter quarters. General Wayne sent a detachment to take possession of the ground on which General St. Clair and his army had been defeated by the Indians two years before. Harrison volunteered for the service, and was accepted by the commander. The battle-ground was taken possession of by the troops, and a fortifi- cation erected, to which the name of Fort Recovery was given. The bones of the soldiers slain on the fatal 4th of November, 1791, were col- lected, and interred with military honors. The artillery lost on that occa- sion were recovered ; and on the return of the troops from the expedition, the name of Lieutenant Harrison, among others, was mentioned by Gen- eral Wayne, in his general order of thanks to the officers and men for their gallant conduct on the occasion. On the 30th of June, 1794, a fierce attack was made by large numbers , of the Indians, upon the newly-constructed works at Fort Recovery ; they were, however, repeatedly repulsed, and the arrival of a body of militia from Kentucky enabled General Wayne to force them to retreat with great loss. Being reinforced by a body of mounted volunteers from Kentucky. General Wayne advanced seventy miles to Grand Glaize,in the very heart of the Indian territory. Here he erected a fort which he called Defiance, at the confluence of the Maumee and Au Glaize rivers. Agreeably with his instructions. General Wayne renewed his overtures of peace, which again being rejected by the Indians, he prepared to bring them to a decisive settlem.ent. In the heroic engagement or battle of the Maumee rapids, which ensued, on the 20th of August, 1794, the consum- mate skill of the general, as well as the valor of his troops, were alike re- splendent with the important consequences which resulted from the action. In the official account of this battle, we also find the name of Lieutenant Harrison complimented by the commander-in-chief as his '' faithful and gallant aid-de-camp," in having " rendered the most essential service by communicating his orders in every direction, and for his conduct and bravery, in exciting the troops to press for victory." The Indians now proposed to capitulate with General Wayne, and the result was, a treaty of peace was concluded, by which the United States obtained cessions of considerable tracts of land, as well as secured tranquillity to the border settlements. The news of Wayne's victory had a favorable effect upon 26 402 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRISOW. our pending negotiations in London, and was supposed to have enabled the American special minister, Mr. Jay, to secure the assent of Lord Granville to the surrender to the United States of all the forts held and occupied by the British in the northwest, within the jurisdiction of our government. Thus undisputed possession of the territory northwest of the Ohio was obtained, and emigration to that country received a new and favorable impulse. Not long after the close of this campaign, Harrison was promoted to the rank of captain ; and as an additional proof of the confidence reposed in his discretion and ability, by General Wayne, he was placed in command of Fort Washington. W^hile at this place (where Cincinnati now stands), being now about twenty-one years of age, he married the daughter of John Cleves Symmes, the founder of the Miami settlements. " She has been," says Mr. Hall in his memoir, " the faithful companion of this distinguished patriot during the various perils and vicissitudes of his eventful life, and still lives to witness the maturity of his fame, and the honors paid him by a grateful country." He continued in the army till the close of the year 1797, when, soon after the death of General Wayne, as peace had been ratified with the In- dians, and the opportunity to serve his country in the field appeared to exist no longer, he resigned his commission. Scarcely had this event transpired, than he was appointed, by President Adams, secretary and ex officio lieutenant-governor of the northwestern territory. While in this station, in October, 1799, he was elected, by the legislature of that terri- tory, their first delegate to Congress. He was at this time about twenty- six years of age, and took his seat in the house of representatives, at the first session of the sixth Congress, in 1799. Previous to proceeding to the seat of government, he resigned his office of secretary of the territory. In 1798, the northwestern territory contained five thousand white male inhabitants, and was admitted as a matter of right to the second grade of governmeirf^rovided for in the ordinance of 1787. At that time great unanimity prevailed in the territory on political questions ; though the states were rent, and almost torn asunder, by party strife. The election of the elder Adams had met with general approbation among the people of the territory, and resolutions had been passed at popular meetings to sus- tain his administration, against the encroachments of France. An address was adopted by the legislature of 1799, to John Adams, president of the United States, approving of his administration. But few individuals were to be found who then advocated the election of Mr. Jefferson against Mr. Adams. Harrison having early imbibed democratic opinions, was one of the few who preferred Jefferson. His election as delegate to Congress was not eflected by a party vote ; the same legislature which adopted the address to Mr. Adams with only five dissenting votes, elected Harrison by eleven votes, against ten for Arthur St. Clair, Jr. BfOGRArHlCAL SKETCH OF HARRISON. 403 Thougli he represented the territory but one year in Congress, Harrison obtained some important advantages for his constituents. He introduced a joint resolution to subdivide the surveys of the public lands, and to offer them for sale in small tracts ; he succeeded in getting that measure through both houses, in opposition to the interest of speculators who •were, and who wished to be, the retailers of land to the poorer class of the community. His proposition became a law, and was hailed as the most beneticent act that Congress had ever done for the territory. It put it in the power of everj'^ industrious man, however poor, to become a freeholder, and to lay a foundation for the future support and comfort for his family. At the same session, he obtained a liberal extension of time for the pre- emptioners in the northern part of the Miami purchase, which enabled them to secure their farms, and eventually to become independent and even wealthy.* Congress, at that session, divided the northv/estern territory, by estab- lishing the new territory of Indiana, of which Harrison was appointed governor. He also received the appointment of superintendent of Indian affairs, and resigned his seat in Congress. The new territory of Indiana then included not only the present state of Indiana, but those of Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The seat of government was at Vincennes, a village on the Wabash. This large ex- tent of territory, however, contained but a scanty population, and therefore- according to the laws of the United States, the executive authority of the territorial government was very extensive. The governor possessed the power of negativing bills passed by the territorial legislature, of enforcing the laws, of the appointment of magistrates, of making townships, confirm- ing grants of lands, and other equally onerous duties ; which rendered the office one of peculiar and important responsibility. To one of less rigid integrity and scrupulous regard for the public interest, the opportunity was offered for much personal aggrandizement, and the acquisition of great wealth ; but this, it is well known, was never dreamed of by the individual who then occupied the trust. He never availed himself of the opportunity to enhance his own private interests, directly or indirectly ; and his honor and disinterested integrity were not even suspected. ' Besides being superintendent of Indian affairs, he was made commander- in-chief of the militia, and all the officers below the rank of general re- ceived their commissions from him. In 1803, Mr. Jefferson appointed him sole commissioner for treating with the Indians. By virtue of this authority, Harrison negotiated, in 1804, a treaty with the Sacs and Foxes, establishing amicable relations with those tribes, and obtaining the cession of the largest tract of country ever yielded by the Indians at one time since the settlement of America^, consisting of upward of fifty millions of acres of the valuable region between the river Illinois and the Mississippi, with • Judge Burnet's Letters. 404 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRISON. a northern boundary stretching from the head of Fox river to a point en the Wisconsin, thirty-six miles above its mouth. Considerable tracts of land between the Dhio and the Wabash, and extending from Vincennes westward to the Mississippi, were likewise purchased by annuities, from the Delaware and Miami Indians. Such was the high estimation with which his conduct as governor was regarded, that for a period of thirteen years, at the termination of every successive term of office, he was reappointed at the earnest solicitation of the people of the territory, and with the public expression of the most flat- tering approbation on the part of the president of the United States ; and this, notwithstanding the changes in the administration — his first appoint- ment having been made by Mr. Adams, his second and third by Mr. Jef- ferson, and the fourth by Mr. Madison. During the year 1806, the plans of the general government for the civ- ilizing and conciliating the Indian tribes, were entirely frustrated by the intrigues of the two celebrated chiefs of the Shawnee tribe, Tecumseh, and his brother, the Prophet. The aim of these chiefs was, to induce all tlie surrounding tribes to form a common league against the United States, for the purpose of preventing the settlements of the whites from being ex- tended farther west, and by making a simultaneous attack on the frontier settlements, to expel the whites from the valley of the west. The Ameri- can government was informed that British emissaries from Canada were employed in forming alliances with the most powerful chiefs, and foment- ing their hostility against the people of the United States. A variety of circumstances invested the Prophet with a prodigious in- fluence over the tribes ; he is said, indeed, to have possessed the faculty of appealing to them more eloquently and gracefully than almost any other Indian. He resorted to every imposture and stratagem of which even an Indian is capable, for the furtherance of his project ; asserting, among other absurdities, that he possessed the power of preventing the bullets of the enemy from taking efl^ect upon his adherents. In the course of the subsequent year. Governor Harrison received intel- ligence of the hostile demonstration of the congregated tribes ; in conse- quence of which he sent a messenger to the Shawnees, strongly repre- hending their conduct, and warning them to refrain from further listening to the fatal instructions of the Prophet. The deluded and superstitious Indians, however, disregarding the admonition^ continued to collect in great numbers in the vicinity of Fort Wayne, and having entirely neg- lected their cornfields, they soon began to find themselves in a state bor- dering upon starvation. Again, in the hope of conciliating them, the gov- ernor, with his accustomed humanity and policy, ordered them supplies forthwith from the public stores. The Prophet had now selected as his residence, a spot situated on the upper part of the Wabash, called Tippecanoe, where his infatuated fol- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRISON. 405 lowers soon rejoined liim. In July he visited the governor, when, with a cunning and duphcity common to his race, he loudly protested against the evils of war and the use of spirituous liquors, and affected the greatest de- sire for amity with the Americans. Governor Harrison was, however, too shrewd to be thus imposed upon by these specious pretences, and in his reply told him, that he might come forward and exhibit any title he might have to the lands transferred by the treaty, and that if it was found to be just and equitable, they would be restored, or an ample equivalent given for them. But the results of the interview proved anything but satisfactory to the absurd requirements of the Prophet* as he claimed all the lands that had formerly belonged to the several tribes, and insisted that their dispo- sal could not have been valid but with the consent of all the tribes in com- mon. Accordingly, he redoubled his exertions for the concentration of the western tribes, studiously guarding his movements from the governor, lest he should become apprized of his intentions. He had about him, at this ime, one thousand warriors, and these continued to commit the most atro- cious deeds of depredation along the frontier, till at length even tne gov- ernor's house was scarcely considered secure from their hostile attacks. In September, 1809, a council was convened at Fort Wayne, at which Governor Harrison negotiated with the Miamies, Delawares, Pottawatomies, and Kickapoos, for purchasing a large tract of country on both sides of the Wabash, extending along that river more than sixty miles above Vin- cennes. Tecumseh, who was at this time absent on a visit to some dis- tant tribes, expressed, on his return, great dissatisfaction, and threatened the lives of some of the chiefs who had concluded the treaty. On hear- ing this, the governor ir^vited him to come to Vincennes, with the direc- tion that he should not be allowed to bring with him more than thirty warriors ; this restriction, however, he evaded, on the pretext of suspect- ing some treachery on the part of the Americans, and he, instead, brought with him four hundred men, armed. This circumstance alone was suffi- cient to excite the suspicions of the governor, but when, added to this, the chief refused to hold the council at the appointed place, which was under the portico of the governor's house, and insisted on having it take place under some adjacent trees, his apprehensions were still greater. At this council, held on the 12th of August, 1810, Tecumseh again complained of the alleged injustice of the sale of their lands ; to which the governor replied, that as the Miamies had found it to their interesfr to make the dis- posal, the Shawnees, from a distant part of the country, could have no just ground for remonstrance, or right to control them in their disposing of the properly. Tecumseh fiercely exclaimed, " It is false !" and giving a signal to his warriors, they sprang upon their feet, and seizing their war-clubs and tomahawks, they brandished them in the air, ferociously fixing their eyes upon the governor. The military escort of Harrison on the occasion numbered only twelve, and they were not near his person, 406 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRISOW. having been directed by him to retire for shelter from the heal, undef some adjacent trees. In tliis critical moment of excitement, the guard immediately advanced, and would have instantly fired upon the infuriated Indians, had it not been for the coolness and self-possession of Harrison, who, restraining them, and placing his hand upon his sword, said, in a calm, but authoritative tone, to Tecumseh : " You are a bad man : I will have no further talk with you. You must now take your departure from these settlements, and hasten immediately to your camp." On the following day, however, find- ing he had to deal with one so Sauntless, Tecumseh solicited another in- terview, apologizing for his insolent aflront. The precaution was now taken to defend the town, and place the governor in an attitude more likely to command their respect, by having two companies of militia in attendance. At this council the chiefs of five powerful tribes rose up, de- claring their determination to stand by Tecumseh ; to which the governor replied, that " their decision should be reported to the president ;" but ad- ding, that he would most certainly enforce the claims of the treaty. Still anxious, if possible, to conciliate, rather than coerce the haughty chief, he paid him a visit the next day at his camp, when, repeating in substance what has already been given, Tecumseh replied : " Well, as the great chief is to determine the matter, I hope the Great Spirit will put sense enough into his head to induce him to direct you to give up this land. It is true, he is so far off that he will not be injured by the war ; he may sit still in his town and drink his wine, while you and I will have to fight it out." Shortly after this, the Shawnee chief withdrew to Tippecanoe, the residence of the Prophet, where he is said to have formed a combination of several tribes. In July, 1811, another messenger was sent, commissioned by the governor to demand the surrender of two Pottawatomie murderers who were at Tip- pecanoe, but without the desired effect. Indeed, such were the lawless and daring outrages which they now committed upon the more exposed settle- ments on the frontier, that at length, through the earnest solicitations of the people, directions were forwarded from the federal government to the governor to march forthwith against the Prophet's town with an armed force, with this injunction, however, " to avoid hostilities of any kind or degree not absolutely necessary." These instructions rendered the situa- tion of Harrison one of great delicacy and responsibility, being equivalent to allowing the Indians the right of commencing the action. The receipt of the governor's authority was hailed by the settlers with great enthusiasm, as they had long suffered severely from the incursions of these ruthless marauders, and, reposing unlimited confidence in the skill and courage of their commander, they viewed the measure as the only one which could insure to them the continued possession of their property, and even of life itself. Accordingly, a hastily-assembled forcei, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRISON- 407 coTisisling of about nine hundred men, commenced its march from Fort Harrison, which was situated about sixty miles above Vincennes, on the 28th of October. After a protracted and somewhat difficult advance, through open prairies, thick woods, and deep ravines, constantly on their guard against surprise, they arrived within sight of the Indian town. Here th« enemy began to appear in considerable numbers. Wearied with the fatigue of their expedition, after a brief conference, the troops encamped ; every precaution having been taken, however, to prevent surprise by the savages, as they apprehended an attack during the night. In conformity to a general order, the troops rested in their clothes and accoutrements, their loaded muskets by their sides, and their bayonets fixed. ■■ The officers, of course, rested like the soldiers — the governor being ready to mount his horse in an instant. The night passed without a sound, and (he governor and his aids rose a quarter before four, and were conversing around their fire. The new moon had risen, but affijrded little light, the sky being obscured by ragged clouds, from which a drizzling rain fell at intervals. In a few minutes the signal would have been given to call the men to arms, when a blaze from Indian rifles lighted up the scene. The savage warriors had crept up as near the sentries as possible, in the darkness, intending to rush forward and despatch them without noise, and then fall upon their sleeping comrades in the camp. But one senti- nel discovered what he rightly suspected to be an Indian creeping through the grass, and instantly gave him the contents of his musket. That discharge settled all doubts. Our men were started to their feet by a tremendous yell from a thousand savages, accompanied by a general volley from their rifles, and a desperate charge into the camp. But they found as warm a welcome. Everyman rose on the post assigned him, with musket in hand, ready for thrust or rally. The attack centred on the sharp rear angle of the left flank, which was for some minutes ex- posed to a destructive fire. But this angle was promptly reinforced, and the enemy beaten back with loss, several being killed within the lines of the camp. The fires, which first served to direct the aim of the savage rifle, were promptly extinguished. But the enemy had still the advantage of shelter in the bushes and grass, and a knowledge of the ground, which rendered a charge upon them in the darkness almost certain destruction. An attempt was volunteered to rout them from their hiding-places, by a company headed by the gallant Jo. Daviess, but repulsed with loss, and among the slain was their lamented leader. The battle still raged with desperation. The savages were bent on victory, and well organized for the contest, advancing and retreating by a rattling noise made with deers' hoofs. The governor was at every point of danger; animating and . encouraging the men where hardest pressed, ordering up companies to their support, and courting danger as if una- ware of its existence. All of the troops were conducted and formed by 40S BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRISOW. himself. It need not be added that every man stood his ground like a hero. The battle was fierce, but daylight at length broke on the combatants — a light most welcome to our harassed soldiers — fatal to their foes. The assailed left flank was fully strengthened, the dragoons were mounted, and, covered by them, a general charge was made upon the now baffled and dispirited enemy. The Indians gave way, and were driven into a swamp, through which the cavalry could not force their way. Repulsed in all quarters, the savages disappeared from the field, and the battle of Tippecanoe was at an end. Such was the extraordinary influence that the Prophet retained over the minds of the infatuated savages, that they are said to have fought with desperate and unprecedented valor on the occasion, although he himself was snugly ensconced on some neighboring eminence, simply regaling his devotees with war-songs, and practising absurd incantations. Tecumseh also was, at the time, absent on a visit to some southern tribes. The battle of Tippecanoe may unquestionably be regarded as one of the most memorable and decisive engagements ever fought with the Indi- ans. The intrepidity and self-possession of the commander was also sig- nally displayed on the occasion. " In the very heat of the action," says a contemporary record, " his voice was distinctly heard, giving orders in the same cool and collected manner with which he had been accustomed when on drill or parade ; nor was his personal bravery less conspicuous, as he was ever foremost in leading on his troops, regardless of the pecu- liar danger to which he was exposed, from the circumstance of his being known to most of the Indians, and being the marked object of their hostility." In the message of the president to Congress, of December 18th, 1811, the following allusion is made, which is as highly compli- mentary to the conduct of the governor as it is expressive of the impor- tance attached to the action itself, and it must have been no mean achieve- ment which could win from the federal government such decided terms of approbation and honor. " While it is to be lamented," says Mr. Madi- son, " that so many valuable lives have been lost in the action which took place on the 9th ult., Congress will see with satisfaction the dauntless spirit and fortitude victoriously displayed by every description of troops engaged, as well as the collected firmness which distinguished their commander on an occasion requiring the utmost exertion of valor and discipline."* The decisive blow which Harrison had struck against the Indian * The legislatures of Kentucky and Indiana also recorded their resolutions regarding the conduct of Harrison in this battle. The former is as foUows : " Resolved, That in the late campaign against the Indians on the Wabash, Governor Harrison has, in the opinion of this legislature, behaved like a hero, a patriot, and a general ; and that, for his cool, deliberatej skilful, and gallant conduct in the late battle of Tippecanoe, he deserves the warmest thanks of the nation." ^ BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRISON. 409 power had produced a more powerful effect than all the admonitory efforts of years had accomplished. Several of the tribes sent deputies to Avait upon him with assurances of renewed amity, and a disavowal of fur- ther connexion with the hostile bands of TeCumseh. In February, 1812, intelligence that no less than eiglity Indians, deputies from all tlie tribes who were engaged in the late hostilities, except the Shawnees, had ar- rived at Fort Harrison, on their way to Vincennes. Suspicion being again naturally aroused, from their numbers, that a new treachery was de- signed, the governor sent an expostulation, requiring them to come in less numbers and unarmed ; they, however, not only delivered up their arms, but evinced the subdued deportment of men who had been taught to respect the authority of him with whom they had come to treat. Meanwhile, Tecumseh had returned from the south, and notwithstand- ing the sad reverse which his cause had sustained during his absence, the commencement of hostilities with Great Britain found for hirn an ally both able and eager to second his plans, thus neutralizing in part the lasting advantages which otherwise might have accrued from the victory of Tip- pecanoe. He consequently again renewed his intrigues with greater ac- tivity than ever, and he caused the commencement of fresh depredations along the widely-extended borders of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, at points so distant from each other as to distract public attention and create an almost universal panic. The declaration of war with Great Britain, it will be remembered, took place on the 18th of June, 1812, and the west- ern people sufl'ered more than has been commonly supposed, front their almost defenceless exposure to the incursions and barbarities of the infu- riated savages. Not that they were less energetic in the popular enthu- siasm of the measure, for they are known never to have chosen the inane and timid counsel of preferring security to honor, while they emulated, by their deeds of noble daring, in this, the second great struggle for liberty, the stern republican virtues which their patriotic ancestors evinced in the first. Here, again, are we called upon to notice the distinguishing preference which the whole people of the "west bestowed upon General Harrison, in their nomination of him to the head of their armies at a time when the highest order of talents was, of necessity, put in requisition. Governor Harrison was repeatedly honored by consultations from the several parts of the country, and in consequence of a communication received from Governor Scott, of Kentucky, he repaired to Frankfort ; and while here he suggested plans of operation which, had they been given some days earlier, would have proved of the most important service in the preserva- tion of Detroit, but which, unhappily for the country, had not been antici- pated by the government itself. The surrender of this city, and with it the army of Hull, had exposed the vast region including western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and what are now 410 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRISO??^. Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, to the enemy's ravages. About this time Governor Harrison received a communication from the war de- partment, which informed him that he had been appointed a brigadier-gen- eral in the army of the United States. It is a matter of regret that this appointment had not been conferred upon him at an earlier period, as in that case it is more than probable that the melancholy tragedy of the mas- sacre at the river Raisin would never have occurred. His situation again, at this time, was one of peculiar difficulty, from the paucity in the provis- ions and clothing of the troops ; the demand for these in the Atlantic cities, from the constant failure of the contractors, causing a deficiency which often became alarming. Having received advices informing him that Fort Wayne had become infested by a body of Indians, and in dan- ger of being reduced. Harrison's first movement was to hasten to its relief. Accordingly, on the 5th of September, he marched for that place, but finding his troops were deficient in a supply of flints — a trifling but indispensable article — he was subjected to some delay ; but he reached his destination on the 9th of the same month. On the 17th he received a despatch from the president, investing him with the command of the northwestern army, which then nominally amounted to about ten thousand men, undisciplined, unprovided, and scattered over a wide region ; added to which he had authority to employ officers, and to draw from the public stores ; which reposed in him a trust more extensive and important than was ever deputed to any officer of the United States, if we except, per- haps, Washington and Greene. The immediate objects of the campaign now committed to the sole direction of General Harrison, were the recapture of Detroit by a coup de main, the reduction of Maiden, in Upper Canada, and the protection of the northwestern border. The point from which the principal movement upon the enemy was to be made, was the rapids of the Miami. The military arrangements extended from Upper Sandusky, on the right, to Fort Defiance, on the left. As it comes not within our province to enumerate the details of this campaign, we shall strictly con- fine our remarks to the movements of General Harrison, and even our notice of these will necessarily be very brief. Harrison had scarcely reached his intended theatre of action, when he received intelligence of General Winchester's contemplated movement against the enemy ; he immediately ordered a corps of three hundred men to the rapids, and on the following morning he proceeded himself to Lower Sandusky, and there found that General Perkins had also prepared to send a battalion and artillery ; but owing to the delay in their transmission, from the bad condition of the roads, they failed to reach the river Raisin be- fore the fatal disaster had occurred. Harrison now determined to proceed to the rapids, to learn personally the situation of General Winchester. In the meantime, however, a reinforcement had been despatched by Colonel Lewis, for the purpose of occupying the village of Frenchtown, and while BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRISON. 4H on his way thither, General Harrison received the intelligence of the vic- tory which had been gained on the preceding day. He was finally enabled, on the 20th of January, to reach the camp. Hearing of Proctor's attack, he hastened with all his disposable force to the river Raisin, but was soon met by fugitives from the field of battle, from whom he ascertained the total defeat of Winchester's forces. The temerity of Winchester was the sole cause of his fall ; while all that could have been done to prevent the disaster, was done by General Harrison ; for had he received timely notice of the exigency of the case, his rein- ' forcemcnt would doubtless have terminated the action in our favor. On the 1st of February, the army having been reorganized and reinforced, their numbers now amounted to eighteen hundred men. Entertaining the confident expectation of ultimately accomplishing his purpose. General Harrison continued to make preparations with unremitting assiduity. He encamped for the winter at a fortified place which, in honor of the gov- ernor of Ohio, was called " Camp Meigs." About this period Harrison, ■who was appointed major-general in the service of the United States, re- turned to Cincinnati, with the view of procuring and forwarding supplies of provisions and military stores. While engaged in the arduous duties of this campaign, he organized several minor expeditions against the In- dians, in order to keep them in proper check. Early in the spring of 1813, intelligence having been received of a contemplated expedition against Fort Meigs, by the British, accompanied by Tecumseh and six hundred warriors, General Harrison hastened back to the frontier, and immediately summoned three thousand troops from Kentucky, who reached Defiance on the 3d of May, while he himself arrived just in time to receive the enemy's attack. For five days their batteries kept up a constant shower of balls against our defences, although, through the skilful disposition of the commander, with comparatively little effect. Harrison, with his augmented forces, now made a vigorous and simultaneous attack on the enemy's batteries, and, having reduced them, preparations followed for a sortie from the fort, which resulted in trium- phant success. The impetuosity of the charge proved irresistible, and, after a severe struggle, our troops drove the enemy from their batteries, notwithstanding they, including their Indian allies, nearly doubled their numbers. This action was one of the most desperate and sanguinary ever fought during the whole border war ; it lasted, however, but forty-five minutes, during which time no less than one hundred and eighty were either killed or wounded of the American troops. Thus terminated the glorious defence of Fort Meigs. Harrison soon after left General Green Clay in command of the post. The unceasing efforts of the British, and the restless spirit of Tecumseh, allowed our troops but little time to recover from their severe fatigues ; for in less than two months (being early in July, 1813) the Indians as- 412 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Of HARRISON. sembled a formidable body of no less than five thousand warriors, and again invested the fortress. In consequence of this, Harrison had a forti- fication erected at Seneca town, about nine miles up the river, as a reserve for the better protection of his principal depot at Upper Sandusky. The enemy remained but two days before the fortification, changing their route for Lower Sandusky. On the evening of the 29th, the general received information that the siege of Fort Meigs had been raised ; it was of the utmost importance, therefore, that all the troops within reach should be immediately concentrated for the protection of the principal point of de- fence at Upper Sandusky. The enemy demanded the surrender of the fort, which being refused by its commander. Colonel Crogan, a cannonade was opened, after which they attempted an assault, but being met by a galling fire of musketry, they were repulsed with great loss, and obliged to make a precipitate retreat. On the 18th of August, Commodore Perry, with his fleet, arrived off Sandusky bay, and shortly afterward his cele- brated action was fought, which so gloriously resulted in the capture of the enemy's whole fleet. Harrison, meanwhile, collected together his troops, and while Colonel Johnson marched for his station by way of the river Raisin, the general embarked on the 20th of September, with two brigades, for Bass island. On the 27th the army again embarked, and made a descent upon the Canada shore. Surrounded by his gallant troops. General Harrison now proudly stood upon the ruined breastworks of Maiden, from which de- struction had been poured upon the frontier, and whence the firebrand and tomahawk of the Indian had gone forth in the work of desolation. In his despatches to the war department, Harrison thus writes : " I will pursue the enemy to-morrow, although there is little probability of overtaking him, as he has upward of one thousand horses, and we have not one in the army." He proceeded, accordingly, on the following day, to Sand- wich, but Proctor had fled. " At a convention of the general officers, Harrison informed them," says M'Affee, "that there were but two ways of accomplishing their object ; one of which was to follow him up the strait by land ; the other, to embark and sail down Lake Erie to Long Point, then march hastily across by land twelve miles to the road, and in- tercept him." The former plan was unanimously preferred, and conse- qnenily adopted. The army rapidly advan(?ed in pursuit of the enemy up the Thames to the Moravian towns. On the 5ih of October the enemy were overtaken ; Proctor's position was flanked on the left by the Thames, and his right by a swamp, which was occupied by a horde of Indians un- der the celebrated Tecumseh. General Harrison, on this occasion, adopted a movement which, while it insured an easy victory, evinced a high degree of military skill and promptitude of character — one division of his infantry extending in a double line from the river to the swamp, opposite to Proctor's troops, and the other placed at right angles to the first, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRISON. 413 facing tlie swamp, with the view of preventing the Indians from turning his left flank, and getting into the rear. Observing the enemy's troops to be in open order, that is, with intervals of three or four between the files, which can never successfully resist a charge of cavalry, Harrison instantly ordered Colonel Johnson's mounted regiment, which occupied the front, to dash through the enemy's line in column. This command was brilliantly executed, and the attempt was triumphant, for the British were at once thrown into confusion, and our men wisely taking advantage of their disorder by attacking their broken line in the rear, they were compelled to surrender their arms, and thus a splendid and almost blood- less victory was virtuously achieved, rather by the consummate skill of the general than by the energies of his troops. The contest with the Indian allies, however, was more severe, as they advanced and poured in a continuous and galling fire, not only upon the cavalry, but also the infantry, which for some time made a great impres- sion upon them. Suddenly, however, the voice of command which had hitherto inspired their courage was hushed : the haughty chief, Tecum- seh, had fallen. The Indians, as soon as the event became known, has- tily decamped, leaving about thirty of their number dead where the chief had fallen. Thus ended this decisive engagement, which, together with the brilliant victory on the adjacent lake, rescued the whole -northwestern territory from the depredations of the savage, and all the accumulated hor- rors of war; for the Indians, finding themselves no longer sustained by the British, sued for peace, and the result was, an armistice was granted, and finally an amicable arrangement with them ratified by the general gov- ernment at Washington. The loss on both sides, in the battle of the Thames, was about fifty killed and wounded, while the prisoners taken by the American troops amounted to six hundred. This event, so important to the security and honor of the country, was hailed with universal rejoicing and gratulatioiis, while all parties partici- pated in the most enthusiastic encomiums upon the magnanimous and he- roic conduct of him through whose talents and skill it was accomplished. In his message to Congress of the 7ih of December, 1813, Mr. Madison spoke of the result as " signally honorable to Major-General Harrison, by whose military talents it was prepared." And in his speech in Congress, Mr. Cheves thus also alludes* to the same subject : " The victory of Har- rison was such as would have secured to a Roman general, in the best days of the republic, the honors of a triumph. He put an end to the war in the uppermost Canada." — " The blessings," said Governor Snyder, of Pennsylvania, in his message to the legislature of that state, " of thou- sands of women and children, rescued from the scalping-knife of the ruth- less savage of the wilderness, and from the still more savage Proctor, rest on Harrison and his gallant army." Numerous other contemporaneous records might also be referred to in testimony of the nation's gratitude all 414 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRISON. of which, however, with the exception of the resolution whicTi was adopted by both houses of Congress, it is needless to notice. This is as follows : — " Resolved, hy the Senate and -House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the thanks of Congress be, and they are hereby, presented to Major-General William Henry Har- rison, and Isaac Shelby, late governor of Kentucky, and through them to the officers and men under their command, for their gallant and good con- duct in defeating the combined British and Indian forces under Major-Gen- eral Proctor, on the.Thames, in Upper Canada, on the fifth day of October, 1813, capturing the British army, with their baggage, camp equipage, and artillery ; and that the president of the United States be requested to cause two gold medals to be struck, emblematical of this triumph, and pre- sented to General Harrison and Isaac Shelby, late governor of Kentucky." The pacification of the northwestern border no longer requiring his services, General Harrison despatched his troops to the Niagara frontier, with the view of assisting in the operations then going on in that quarter, although this formed no part of the plajj of the campaign he had to exe- cute. On his arrival at Fort Niagara, preparations were being made for an expedition against Burlington heights ; these were, however, summa- rily arrested by the receipt of an order from the war department, directing him to send his troops to Sackett's Harbor, for the defence of that place. He accompanied them thither, and, having no right to command in that district, proceeded at once to Washington. In every city through which he passed he was received with the most enthusiastic demonstrations of respect. He remained in Washington but a few days, being desired by the president to hasten to Ohio, as his presence there would be of impor- tant service, both as regarded the peace of the border, the filling up of the regiments intended to be raised in the western states, and other measures then in anticipation. It will be remembered that the secretary of war at this time was Gen- eral Armstrong, who, from some unknown cause, appears to have imbibed a strong prejudice against General Harrison, as, from the plan of the cam- paign for 1814, submitted by him to the president, it was evident that Harrison would no longer be employed in any active service. He also is known to have interfered, on more than one occasion during the winter, with the internal arrangements of the district which Harrison commanded, in contravention to all military etiquette. These circumstances, when contrasted with the almost unlimited powers confided to him by the gov- ernment during the two previous campaigns, evidently prove them to have been intended as a source of mortification to Harrison ; accordingly, he tendered his resignation, which, unfortunately for the country, as Mr. Mad- ison was absent on a visit to Virginia, was, without consulting the presi- dent, accepted at the war department. The president himself, in his re- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRISON, 415 ply to an appeal from Governor Shelby, is said to have expressed his great regret that he had not received the intimation earlier, as in that case the valuable services of General Harrison would have been preserved to the nation in the ensuing campaign. Thus prematurely, were the efficient military services of General Harrison brought to a close.* Not the less, however, did he continue to receive fresh tokens of con- fidence and esteem from Mr. Madison, for in the summer of 1814 he ■was appointed, in conjunction with .Governor Shelby and General Cass, to treat with the Indians in the northwest, at Greenville and the old head- quarters of General Wayne ; and during the following year, when the treaty of Ghent provided for the pacification of several important tribes, he was placed at the head of the commission. General Harrison was not permitted by the people to remain long in retirement. In 1816 he was elected to represent the congressional dis- trict of Ohio in which he resided, in the house of representatives of the United States. He was chosen to supply a vacancy, and also for the two succeeding years. As in almost every instance where an individual has rendered himself prominently an object of popular regard, we find his con- duct at some period of his career the subject of malignity and slander, General Harrison had scarcely taken his seat at Washington when his conduct while in command of the northwestern army, was impugned ; this was done by one of the contractors of the army, whose profits, by the in- tegrity of Harrison, had suffered considerable diminution. At the in- stance of the general, a committee for the full investigation of the charges was appointed, of which Colonel Johnson was chairman ; and after a fuU examination of numerous witnesses, they made a unanimous report, in which they exculpated General Harrison, in the fullest manner, from all the charges brought against him, and paid a high compliment to his patriot- ism, disinterestedness, and devotion to the public service. This unjust calumny produced serious injury to General Harrison, having caused the postponement of the resolution introduced into the senate for awarding to him the gold medal and the thanks of Congress ; it was speedily dissipa- ted, however, as it ultimately was adopted by the senate, and concurred in by the house, with but one dissenting vote. While a member of the house. General Harrison assiduously labored to accomplish two great political objects ; one was a reform in the militia, and the other for the relief of the veteran soldiers who had served in the revolutionary armies, as well as those who had been wounded, or otherwise disabled, in the last war with Great Britain. With respect to the former * But although his brilliant and glorious career in the field was ended, during which, for nearly a quarter of a century, he had successfully led his countrymen through every vicis- situde and peril to victory, when he could no longer serve them in his military capacity, he retired into private life, too high-minded and disinterested to sacrifice his sense of duty to pecuniary considerations, and disdaining to receive emoluments for services which he could not, consistently with justice to himself, any longer fulfil. 416 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRISON. measure, he obtained the appointment of a committee, of which he was chairman, and subsequently brought in a bill ; but the aversion which Congress has always displayed for any legislation upon the subject, caused its frequent postponement, till at length, on his retiremem from Congress, it was finally dropped altogether, for the want of some one to sustain it. His other project, however, was crowned with success, and the numerous pensioners who received the nation's bounty always regarded General Harrison as their benefactor and friend. He subsequently took a prominent part in supporting the affirmative of the question of acknowledging the independence of the South American republics, as proposed by Mr. Clay, then speaker of the house ; in whose views of a liberal public policy he generally concurred. In the debate on the conduct of General Jackson during the Seminole war, Harrison parti- cipated, censuring such acts of General Jackson as he deemed wrong, although giving him credit for patriotic motives, and defending him in those points which he considered right. In 1819 General Harrison was elected to the senate of Ohio; and in 1824 he was chosen by the people one of the presidential electors of that state, on the ticket formed by the friends of Mr. Clay, and gave his vote for that gentleman for president. The same year, viz., in 1824, he was elected by the legislature a member of the senate of the United States, and soon after taking his seat in that body, the following year, he was ap- pointed chairman of the military committee, in place of General Jackson, who had resigned. He supported the administration of Mr. Adams, and in 1828 was appointed by that president, minister plenipotentiary to the republic of Colombia. Having proceeded immediately upon his mission, he arrived at Bogota in December, 1828. He found the country in a state of confusion, the government little better than a despotism, and the people as lawless as they were ignorant of their rights. His reception, however, was characterized by the most flattering tokens of respect. His plain re- publican simplicity ultimately caused him to be suspected of favoring the liberal or opposition party, and occasioned a series of petty annoyances, rendering his situation exceedingly irksome. But he was speedily re- leased from his embarrassment on this account, as one of the very first acts of General Jackson's administration, in 1829, was to recall him from the mission. Before leaving Colombia, but after he had become a private citi- zen, Harrison addressed to General Bolivar his celebrated appeal in favor of constitutional liberty, a document which has often been quoted in North and South America, and which, for its manly vigor, pure principles of re- publicanism, and fervid eloquence, has always been considered highly honorable to its author, and an evidence of his superior literary attain- ments. On his return from Colombia, General Harrison ceased to engage him- self in any active pursuits of public life, living in retirement upon his farm BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRISON. 417 at North Bend, on the Ohio river, a (ew miles below Cincinnati. Never having sought personal aggrandizement, nor availed himself of his public situation to acquire a fortune, he had not been wealthy ; he was, there- fore, induced as a means of contributing to his support, to accept the office of clerk to the court of Hamilton county, where he resided, and which sta- tion, up to the time of his election to the presidency, he continued to oc- cupy. This circumstance alone exhibits a trait in the character of Gen- eral Harrison, no less ennobling than it is rare ; since he not only, proved himself superior to the influence of the specious yet arbitrary forms of conventional life, but he also evinced the greatness of his mind in rising superior to false pride as to selfish ambition in the service of his country. In 1835 General Harrison was brought forward as a candidate for the presidency of the United States, as successor to General Jackson, at a time when it was generally expected that Mr. Van Biiren, then vice-presi- dent, would be supported as the democratic candidate for that high ofhce, by the friends of Jackson. Harrison was nominated by meetings of the people in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, and other states. Anti-masonic and whig conventions, and those, who had supported Jackson, but now re- fused to vote for Van Buren, joined in sustaining the nomination of Harri- son. The opposition were not, however, united in their candidate ; Judge Hugh L. White was nominated and supported for the presidency, in Ten- nessee, Georgia, and other southern and southwestern states, while Daniel Webster received the vote of Massachusetts, and Willie P. Mangum that of South Carolina. The result of the election, which took place in 1836, showed the great popularity of General Harrison. Without any general concert among his friends, he received 73 electoral votes, and in Penn- sylvania, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, the majorities for the electoral tickets in favor of Mr. Van Buren were comparatively small. The national convention of whig delegates which assembled at Harris- burg, the seat of government of Pennsylvania, on the 4th of December, 1839, after a careful and friendly interchange of views with regard to the respective claims and prospects of the three candidates named in the con- vention, viz.. General Harrison, Mr. Clay, and General Scott, finally awarded the nomination to Harrison. The friends of the rival opposition candidates, and all desirous to effect a change in the national administra- tion, cordially united in the nomination ; and after a contest more anima- ted and more general than any which ever before occurred in this coun- try, General Harrison was elected to the presidency by an overwhelming vote. He received 234 electoral votes ; Mr. Van Buren 60 only. Har- rison attended several of the mass meetings of the people in Oliio during the contest, and addressed them in a powerful and eloquent manner. The elevation of General Harrison to the presidency difl'used a general feeling of joy and satisfaction throughout the nation ; for many even of 27 ^IS BIOGRAPHfCAL SKETCH OF HARUISON. those who had opposed his election, admitted his patriotism, and hoped for a prosperous administration of the government in the hands of one who had always proved faithful to the public trust. In February, 1841, the venera- ble chief left his peaceful residence at North Bend, Ohio, to proceed to the seat of the national government and take the reins of power committed to him by the voice of the people. He was received at the dilferent cities, towns, and villages, on the route to Washington, by immense concourses of peo- ple, anxious to tender him every demonstration of respect, and showing the highest degree of enthusiasm. He arrived at Washington on the 9th of February, and was received by the mayor, aldermen, and citizens of the capital, with distingmshed honor and cordial welcome. A few days after- ward, he visited Richmond, Virginia, and mingled freely with the citizens ; after spending a few days with his relatives residing on James river, in the vicinity of Richmond, he returned to Washington, preparatory to assuming the responsible duties of his station. The inauguration of General Harrison as president of the United States, took place on the 4th of March, 1841. The city of Washington was thronged with people, many of whom were from the most distant states of the Union. A procession was formed, civic and military, from the quarters of the president elect to the capitol. General Harrison was mounted on a white charger, accompanied by several personal friends, and his immediate escort were the officers and soldiers w^ho had fought under him. The scene, as described in the National Intelligencer, was highly interesting and imposing. The ladies everywhere, from the win- dows on each side of the avenue, waved their handkerchiefs in token of their kind feelings, and General Harrison returned their smiles and greet- ings with repeated bows. The enthusiastic cheers of the citizens who moved in the procession were, with equal enthusiasm, responded to by thousands of citizen spectators who lined Pennsylvania avenue, or ap- peared at the side windows, in the numerous balconies, on the tops of houses, or on other elevated stands. At the capitol, the senate having been convened, by the late president, in extra session, assembled at the appointed hour, and was organized by the appointment of Mr. King, of Alabama, president pro tern. ; after which Mr. Tyler, the vice-president elect, took the oath of office, and, on taking his seat as presiding officer, delivered a brief and appropriate address to the senate. The judges of the supreme court, the diplomatic corps, and several distinguished officers of the army and navy were present in the senate-chamber. At twenty minutes past twelve o'clock. General Harrison entered and took the seat prepared for him in front of the secretary's table. He looked cheerful, but composed ; his bodily health was manifestly good ; there was an alertness in his movement which was quite astonishing, considering his advanced age, the multiplied hardships through which BlOGRArHICAL SKETCH OF HARRISON. 419 his frame had passed, and the fatigues he had lately undergone. After he had retained his seat for a few minutes, preparations were made for forming the line of procession to the platform prepared for the ceremony of the inauguration, erected over the front steps of the portico of the east front of the capitol. On the platform, seats had been provided for the president elect and the chief-justice, who were placed immediately in front. On their right, seats were assigned to the diplomatic corps. Behind sat members of both houses of Congress, officers of the army and navy, and many distin- guished characters from different parts of the Union ; intermingled with a great company of ladies who occupied, not only the steps in the rear of the platform, but both the broad abutments of stone which support the steps on either side. But the sight which attracted and arrested and filled the eye of the observer, was the people. They stood for hours in a solid, dense mass, variously estimated to contain, in the space before the capitol, from thirty to sixty thousand. While patiently waiting for the arrival of the president, the mass of heads resembled some placid lake ; but the instant he was seen advancing from the capitol, ii suddenly resembled that same lake when a blast from the mountain has descended upon it, thrown it into tumultuous agitation, and " lifted up its hands on high." A deafening shout went up from the hearts and voices of the people. It sung v/elcome to the man whom the people delighted to honor, and must have met, with overwhelming power, the throbbings of his own bosom.* When the uproar had subsided, it was succeeded by the deep stillness of expectation, and the new president forthwith proceeded to read, in ac- cents loud and clear, his address to the nation. In its delivery, the voice of General Harrison never flagged, but to the end retained its full and commanding tone. As he touched on successive topics lying near the hearts of the people, their sympathy with his sentiments was manifested by shouts which broke forth involuntarily from time to time ; and when the reading of the address was concluded, they were renewed and pro- longed without restraint. Previous to delivering the closing sentences of the address, the oath of office, tendered by Chief-Justice Taney, was taken by the president, in tones loud, distinct, and solemn, manifesting a due and a deep impression of the importance of the act ; after which the president pronounced the remaining passage of his address. The peahng cannon then announced to the country that it had a new- chief magistrate. The procession was again formed ; and setting out from the capitol, proceeded along Pennsylvania avenue to the mansion of the president, cheered throughout the whole route as General Harrison passed, • National Intelligencer. 420 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRISON. by the immense crowds on foot, whicli lined the avenue and filled tho doors and windows of the buildings. Nearly the whole throng of visiters accompanied the president to his new abode, and as many as possible entered and paid their personal respects to him. The close of the day was marked by the repetition of salutes from the artillery, the whole city being yet alive with a population of strangers and residents, whom the mildness of the season invited into the open air. In the evening, the several ball-rooms and places of amusement were crowded with gentlemen and ladies attracted to Washington city by the novelty and interest of the occasion. In the course of the evening the president paid a short visit to each of the assemblies held in honor of the inauguration, and was received with the warmest demonstrations of attach- ment and respect. The president immediately nominated to the senate the members of his cabinet, as follows : Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, secretary of state ; Thomas Ewing, of Ohio, secretary of the treasury ; John Bell, of Ten- nessee, secretary of war ; George E. Badger, of North Carolina, secretary of the navy ; Francis Granger, of New York, postmaster-general ; John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky, attorney-general. These nominations were all confirmed by the senate. That body also confirmed a number of other nominations by the president, chiefly to fill vacancies ; and, after electing a sergeant-at-arms, and dismissing Messrs. Blair and Rives as printers to the senate, also having elected Samuel L. Southard, of New Jersey, presi- dent ^'^'o tcm., the senate adjourned on the 15th of March. The members of the diplomatic body, or foreign ministers, in Washing- ton accredited to the government of the United States, waited on the presi- dent on the 9th of March, and through Mr. Fox, the British minister, being presented by the secretary of state, made to him an appropriate address, congratulating him upon his accession to the presidency. To this address the president of the United States made the following reply : — " Sir : I receive with great pleasure the congratulations you have been pleased to ofli'er me, in the name of the distinguished dij)lomatic body now present, the representatives of the most powerful and polished nations with whom the republic which has honored me with the ofiice of its chief magistrate has the most intimate relations — relations which I trust no sin- ister event will, 'for ages, interrupt. "The sentiments contained in my late address to my fellow-citizens, and to which you have been pleased to advert, are those which will con- tinue to govern my conduct through the whole course of my administra- tion. Lately one of the people, the undisputed sovereigns of the country, and coming immediately from among them, I am enabled, with confidence, to say, that in thus acting I shall be sustained by their undivided appro- bation. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRISON. 421 " I beg leave to add, sir, that, both from duty and inclination, I shall omit nothing in my power to contribute to your own personal happiness and that of the friends whom, on this occasion, you represent, as long as you may continue among us." The other ministers, with their secretaries, and the persons attached to their respective missions, v/ere then successively presented to the presi- dent. The Russian minister was prevented from being present, by indis- position ; but on the 12th of March'he was presented to the president, by the secretary of state, and to his address on the occasion, the president replied as follows : — " I receive, sir, the congratulations which you offer me in your capacity of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the emperor of all the Russias, upon my election to the presidency of the United States, with great pleasure. " From the epoch which introduced the United States to the world as an independent nation, the most amicable relations have existed between them and the powerful and distinguished monarchs who have successively Kwayed the sceptre of Russia. The presidents, my predecessors, acting in behalf and under the authority of the people, their constituents, have never failed to use every proper occasion to confirm and strengthen the friendship so auspiciously commenced, and which a mutuality of interests, render so desirable to be continued. I assure you, sir, that none of them felt the obligations of this duty more powerfully than I do ; and you can not in language too strong communicate to your august monarch my senti- ments on this subject. And permit me to add, that no more acceptable medium of communicating them could have been oflered than that of a per- sonage who has rendered himself so acceptable, as well to the people as to the government of the United States." On the 17th of March, President Harrison issued his proclamation, cal- ling an extra session of Congress, principally on account of the condition of the revenue and finances of the country, to be held on the last Monday, being the 31st day, of May ensuing. The extra sessions of Congress called by the predecessors of General Harrison, since the organization of the government, were as follows : John Adams convened Congress on the 16th of May, 1797; Thomas Jefl'erson called the eighth Congress on the 1 7th of October, 1803, to provide for carrying the Louisiana treaty into effect, but that day was only about three weeks earlier than had been fixed by the preceding Congress ; James Madison convened Congress on the 23d of May, 1809 ; also on the 25th of May, 1813 ; Martin Van Buren convened Congress on the 4th of Sep- tember, 1837. Mrs. Harrison did not accompany her husband to Washington, but re- mained at the homestead at North Bend, superintending the care of her numerous family, and intending to join the president at the seat of gov- 422 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRISON- ernment in the course of the spring ; but the family and the nation were destined soon to receive a mournful lesson upon the mutability of human affairs . From the moment General Harrison was elected president, his heart was filled with gratitude to the people, to whom indeed he had always been devoted. Anxious to fulfil the wishes of his political friends, he re- ceived with kindness and attention the numerous applicants for oflice ■who thronged the seat of government ; and although he would doubtless have been better pleased to have deferred many appointments for a time, yet a considerable number of removals were made by him, and appoint- ments made, in compliance with the views of the cabinet, during the month of March. In the generosity of his heart, he invariably opened the doors of the president's mansion wide to the reception of his friends, and that house was the abode of hospitality and kindness. He indulged his friends to his own destruction. From sunrise till midnight, he indulgently devoted liimself to his fellow-citizens who visited him, with the exception of an hour each day spent in cabinet council. It was his habit, after rising, first to peruse his bible, and then to take a walk before breakfast. And afterward, the whole day would be spent in receiving company and transacting business. On Saturday, March 27, President Harrison, after several days previous indisposition from the effects of a cold, was seized with a chill and other symptoms of fever. These were followed by pneumonia, or bilious pleu- risy, which ultimately baffled all medical skill, and terminated his virtu- ous, useful, and illustrious life, on Sunday morning, the 4th of x\pril, after an illness of eight days, being a little over 68 years of age. The last time the president spoke was at nine o'clock on Saturday night, a little more than three hours before he expired. While Doctor Worthington and one or two other attendants were standing over him, having just administered something to his comfort, he cleared his throat, as if desiring to speak audibly, and, as though he fancied himself addres- sing his successor, or some official associate in the government, said : " Sir, I WISH you to understand the principles of the govern- ment. I WISH them carried out. I ASK NOTHING MORE." He expired a little after midnight, surrounded by those members of his family who were in the city, the members of his cabinet and many per- sonal friends, among whom were Colonels Chambers and Todd, who were the aids of General Harrison at the battle of the Thames, in 1813. The connexions of the president who were present in the executive man- sion at the time of his decease, were the following : Mrs. William Har- rison (son's widow) ; Mrs. Taylor, of Richmond (niece) ; Mr. D. O. Coupeland (nephew) ; Henry Harrison, of Virginia (grand nephew), and Findlay Harrison, of Ohio (grandson). The general feeling throughout the country was thus eloquently pox- BIOGRAPRICAL SKETCH 01 HARRISON'. 423 trayed in the National Intelligencer of April 9, 1841, whicli contained an ace ount of the funeral : — " Never, since the time of Washington, has any one man so concentra- ted upon himself the love and confidence of the American people ; and never, since the melancholy day which shrouded a nation in mourning for his sudden death, has any event produced so general and so profound a sensation of surprise and sorrow. " So brief had been the late president's illness, that now, as in the case of Washington, there had scarce been time for us to begin to fear, when the stunning blow of the reality fell upon us like the stroke of thunder from a cloudless sky. Men looked aghast, and staggered, as if amazed by something they could scarce believe. But it was true. He who, with beaming countenance, passed along our streets in the joy of his heart — he, the welcome, the long-expected, the desired, on whom all eyes were fastened, to whom all hearts went out ; who had within him more stirring siibjects of exhilarating consciousness than have met in any single bosom since Washington was crowned with wreaths as he came back from York- town, was, on Wednesday last, within one month, 'one little month,' borne along that same crowded avenue — crowded, not as before, with a jubilant people gathered from every quarter of the country, but with sin- cerely sorrowing multitudes following his bier. When the words, ' the president is dead,' met the ear, the man of business dropped his pen, the artisan dropped his tools — children looked into the faces of their parents, and wives into the countenances of their husbands — and the wail of sor- row arose as if each had lost a parent, or some near and dear friend. Could General Harrison now look down on the land he loved, he might, indeed, * read his history in a nation's e^-es ;' and those whose bosoms glow and struggle with high purposes and strong desires for their country's good, may learn in what they now behold, wherever they turn their eyes, how glori- ous a reward awaits the memory of those who faithfully serve their country I" On Wednesday, the 7lh of April, the funeral of President Harrison took place at Washington,' and was attended by an immense concourse of citi- zens, who thronged to the city from Baltimore, Philadelphia, Alexandria, and other places, anxious to join in the honors and solemnities paid to the memory of the illustrious deceased. The civic and military procession was large and imposing, occupying two miles in length. The funeral ser- vice of the episcopal church was recited by the Rev. Mr. Hawley. The body was interred in the congressional burying ground, but afterward removed to North Bend, Ohio, at the request of the family of General Harrison. All party distinctions were merged in the feeling of respect due to the memorj- of the honored dead ; and throughout the Union, funeral honors and other testimonials of public feeling, similar to those which took place on the death of General Washington, were awarded to the memorj- of Har- rison. At every city, town, and village, in the Union, as the unwelcome 424 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRISO-V. tidings of llie death of the president arrived, it was received with every demonstration of mourning and regret, and followed immediately by snch marks of rospect as the several communities had it in their power to offer. Such legislative bodies as happened to be in session, were among the foremost to demonstrate their sympathy with the general impulse. That exhibited by the legislature of Maryland, in leaving the seat of the state government, and attending the funeral as an organized body, was among the most touching evidences of the kind. The Pennsylvania legislature deputed a number of members from each branch of that body, to proceed from Harrisburg to Washington, to attend the funeral. The legislature of New York adopted such measures as the occasion enabled them to do, to testify their feelings. The respective courts, wherever they were in ses- sion, officially united in the general expression, as did also the municipal- ities of all the principal cities and towns in the Union. The occasion was also appropriately noticed by the clergy of the difierent denominations. General Harrison left one son and three daughters, all living at or near North Bend, Ohio. Four sons and a daughter died before their father. All of the sons left children. In person. General Harrison was tall and slender. Although he never had the appearance of possessing a robust constitution, yet such had been the effects of habitual activity and temperance, that few men at his age enjoyed so much bodily vigor. He had a fine dark eye, remarkable for its keenness, fire, and intelligence, and his face was strongly expressive of the vivacity of his mind, and the benevolence of his character. The most remarkable traits of General Harrison's character, and those by which he was distinguished throughout his whole career, were his disinterestedness, his regard for the rights and comforts of others, his gen- erous disposition, his mild and forbearing temper, and his plain, easy, and unostentatious manner. He had a most intimate knowledge of the history, and foreign and do- mestic polity of the United States ; and from the moderation of his politi- cal views and feelings as a party man, although firm, frank, and consist- ent, he was well calculated for the high station to which he was elected, and which it is believed he would have filled with ability, and to the sat- isfaction of the public, during his presidential term, had his life been spared. His talents, although, perhaps, not of the highest order, were very respectable, and, united with an accurate knowledge of mankind, en- abled him to acquit himself well in the various public stations to which he was called. He was a bold and eloquent orator ; and he has left on rec- ord numerous evidences of his literary acquirements, among which, be- sides his correspondence and public papers, we may mention his discourse before the Historical Society of Ohio (on the aborigines of the valley of the Ohio), published at Cincinnati in 1839, which can not fail to please and instruct either the scholar, the lover of history, or the antiquary. ■En^JyjrV^Balcli&emaDaguerreotrpe •'1^ 171^ M/u.'^ BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JOHN TYLER. The ancestors of John Tyler, the tenth president of the United States, and the sixth chief magistrate of the nation whose birthplace was Vir- ginia, were among the early English settlers of the Old Dominion. This family of Tyler, it is understood, traced their lineage back to Walter, or Wat Tyler, who, in the fourteenth century, headed an insurrection in Eng- land, and, while demanding of the king (Richard II.) a recognition of the rights of the people, lost his life in their cause. The father of the subject of this sketch, bearing the same name, was the second son of John Tyler, who was marshal of the colony, under the royal government, up to the period of his death, which occurred after the remonstrances against the stamp act, and whose patrimonial estate covered a large tract of country in and about Williamsburg. The son early en- tered with warmth and spirit into the discussion of those grievances which afterward kindled the flame of the revolution ; and so earnestly were his sympathies enlisted in the cause of colonial rights, and so unhesitatingly were his opinions expressed, that his father, the marshal, often told him that he would some day be hung for a rebel. A rebel he did indeed prove, but his consequent exaltation was destined to be, not the scaffold, but the chair of state. Removing from James City, some time in 1775, to Charles City, he was, not long after, elected from that county a member of the house of delegates of Virginia, and in that capacity distinguished himself by the zeal and fearlessness with which he advocated the boldest measures of the revolution, and the devotion with which he lent all the energies of a powerful mind to its success.* The intimate friend of Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and Edmund Ran- dolph, he was scarcely less beloved by the entire people of Virginia. * We are indebted to a life of President Tyler, written by one of his friends, and pub- lished by Harper aud Brothers, ia 1844, for a part of this sketch. 426 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TYLER. Throughout the revolution, Mr. Tyler devoted himself unceasingly and untiringly to its success. A bold, free, and elegant speaker, his voice was never silent when it could avail aught for the great cause in which he was enlisted ; and possessing an ample fortune at the commencement of the revolution — partly the inheritance of his father, but more the result of his own industry as a distinguished lawyer of the colony — the liberality with which he lavished his wealth upon its progress, and the utter disre- gard of selfish considerations with which he sacrificed his whole time during its continuance, to aid in bringing it to a successful termination, left him almost utterly impoverished at its close. None appreciated bet- ter than the people of Virginia the great services he had rendered, and the patriotic sacrifices he had made to the cause of independence ; and he was elevated by them successively to the offices of speaker of the house of delegates, governor of the state, and judge in one of her highest courts. At the breaking out of the last war, he was appointed, by Mr. Madison, a judge of the federal court of admiralty. In February, 1813, he died, full of years and honors. The legislature passed resolutions expressive of their sense of the bereavement, and went into mourning for the remainder of the session. Judge Tyler left three sons, Wat, John, and William, the second of whom, the subject of this memoir, was born in Charles City county, Vir- ginia, on the 29th of March, 1790. Passing over the period of his early youth, when he was noted for his love of books, and particularly of his- torical works, we find young Tyler, at the age of twelve years, entering William and Mary college. Here he soon attracted the notice of Bishop Madison, the venerable president of that institution ; and during his whole collegiate course, Mr. Tyler was, in an especial degree, a favorite of that distinguished man, as well as of his fellow-students. He passed through the courses at the age of seventeen, and on that occasion delivered an ad- dress on the subject of " female education," which was pronounced by the faculty to have been the best commencement oration delivered there within their recollection. After leaving college, Mr. Tyler devoted himself to the study of law, already commenced during his collegiate studies, and passed the next two years in reading, partly with his father, and partly with Edmund Randolph, for- merly governor of Virginia, and one of the most eminent lawyers in the state. At nineteen years of age, he appeared at the bar of his native county as a practising lawyer, a certificate having been given him without inquiry as to his age ; and such was his success, that ere three months had elapsed there was scarcely a disputable case on the docket of the court in which he was not retained upon the one side or the other. The year after his appearance at the bar, he was offered a nomination as mem- ber of the legislature from his own county, but he declined the proffered honar, until the following year, when, having reached the age of twenty- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TYLER. 427 one but a few days before the election took place, he was chosen nearly unanimously, a member of the house of delegates. He took his seat in that branch of the Virginia legislature in December, 181 1. The breaking out of the war soon after, afforded fine scope for his oratorical abilities. Attached to the democratic party, and an advocate of the course of policy which had been pursued by Jefferson and Madi- son, in the limited sphere he then occupied, his voice was ever heard urging, so far as lay in the power of the government, the most energetic measures in carrying on the war. He spoke often, with the view of im- proving his powers of oratory ; and the youthful debater had the gratifica- tion to find, that even in the forum of Virginia, the country of eloquence, his speeches commanded universal attention. The senators in Congress from Virginia at that time, were Messrs. Giles and Brent, who had been instructed by the legislature to vote against the renewal of the charter of the bank of the United States. This instruction was disobeyed by Mr. Brent, in his vote on the question, in February, 1811, and Mr. Tyler introduced a resolution of censure into the house of delegates, animadverting severely upon the course of the senator, and laying it down as a principle to be established thereafter, that any person accepting the office of senator of the United States from the state of Virginia, by such acceptance tacitly bound himself to obey, during the period he should serve, the instructions he might receive from its legis- lature. Twenty-five years afterward he had not forgotten the ideas of senatorial duty he then inculcated, when, himself a senator, he was called upon to record a vote not less repugnant to his judgment than to his con- science. Mr. Tyler was elected to the legislature for five successive years ; and, as an instance of his popularity in his native county, it may be mentioned, that on one occasion he received all the votes polled except five. Some years later, when a candidate for Congress, of the two hun- dred votes given in the same county, he received all but one, over a dis- tinguished competitor. At the time the British forces were in the Chesapeake bay, and threat- ened an attack on Norfolk and Richmond, Mr. Tyler evinced a disposition to serve his country in the field as well as in tbe halls of legislation, by raising a volunteer company, and devoting himself assiduously to effecting an efficient organization of the militia in his neighborhood. Hence the title of " Captain Tyler," which was applied to him, in ridicule, when president of the United States. In the sequel, the troops under his com- mand were not brought into action, and his military career was, conse- quently, short and bloodless. During the session of 1815-16, while he was still a member of the house of delegates, Mr. Tyler was elected one of the executive council, in which capacity he acted until November, 1816, when, by the death of the Hon. John Clopton, a vacancy occurred in the representation in 428 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TYLER. Congress, from the Richmond district. Two candidates were presented, Mr. Andrew Stevenson, afterward distinguished in the national coun- cils, and then speaker of the house of delegates, and Mr. Tyler. The contest was severe, and enlisted to a great extent the public feeling, though it produced no cessation of the friendly relations which had always existed between the two opposing candidates. Mr. Stevenson was a most popular man in Richmond, his place of residence, but Mr. Tyler's popularity was not less great in his own and the neighbor- ing counties ; and, after a closely contested canvass, Mr. Tyler was elected, by a majority of only about thirty votes. It was a mere trial of personal popularity, as they were both of the same political principle ; and when Mr. Tyler retired from Congress, in 1821, he warmly advocated the election of Mr. Stevenson as his successor. Mr. Tyler took his seat in the house of representatives in December, 1816, having reached the twenty-sixth year of his age the previous month of March. As a new member, custom, not less than the modesty which is ever the accompaniment of merit, prohibited him from taking a very active part in the proceedings of the house. Yet even during this period he was not idle, but occasionally participated in the discussions which occupied the short portion of time for which he had been elected. Having witnessed the inauguration of President Monroe, Mr. Tyler returned home to his constituents, in March, 1817, and the following month he received a testimonial of their approbation, in his re-election to Con- gress by an overwhelming majority over his former rival, Mr. Stevenson. In the fifteenth Congress many subjects of magnitude were brought for- ward and discussed. Among them were the Seminole war and the South American question. Mr. Clay, the speaker, introduced a proposition to acknowledge the independence of the provinces of Rio de la Plata, against which Mr. Tyler voted. He supported the resolutions of censure on the conduct of General Jackson in the Seminole war, taking the same view as some of his colleagues and Mr. Clay on that subject. The question of internal improvements by the general government was agitated at this session, as it had been by the previous Congress ; on both occasions Mr. Tyler voted against all the propositions offered in the house which coun- tenanced the doctrine of the possession of the power by the general gov- ernment, under the constitution, to make internal improvements. Thus he avowed on, all occasions, the stale-rights or strict construction doctrines of the dominant party in Virginia, on constitutional points. The conduct of the directors of the bank of the United States, which institution was chartered in 1816, was the subject of investigation at this session of Con- gress, and Mr. Tyler was placed on the committee appointed to inspect the concerns of the bank. When the report of the committee was made, Mr. Tyler supported a resolution offered by Mr. Trimble of Kentucky, re- quiring that a scire facias should be issued immediately against the bank. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TYLER. 429 In his speech on this occasion, Mr. Tyler avowed his belief that the cre- ation of this corporation was unconstitutional. In 1819, Mr. Tyler was re-elected to Congress, there being no oppo- sing candidate. He took an active part in the debates on the Missouri question, and on the proposed revision of the tariff. He opposed any re- strictions upon Missouri, on the admission of that state into the Union ; and also made an elaborate argument against the policy of a protective tariff. Ere the close of this Congress, increasing ill health compelled Mr. Tyler to resign his seat in that body. Placed on the committee of ways and means, at a time when the financial affairs of the country were in a most disordered condition, his whole time and energies were devoted to the fulfilment of his duties, and constant labor and confinement made fearful inroads upon a constitution not strong by nature. He left the house of representatives, carrying with him the reputation of an eloquent speaker, a constant advocate of popular rights, and a democrat of the school of Jefferson. He retired to his farm in Charles City county, among constituents who approved of his course in Congress, and were conscious that naught but physical inability had compelled him to leave their service. Mr. Tyler now returned to the practice of his profession, but he was not suffered long to remain in private life. In the spring of 1823, after much urgent solicitation, he consented to become again a candidate for the legislature, and was elected with little or no opposition, and, in De- cember, took his seat in that body which had been so early familiar to him. He soon took the lead in the debates of the house of delegates, and during the two years which followed, he having been twice re-elected, performed a most conspicuous part in all the proceedings. There was little of the legislation of Virginia at that period that did not bear the im- press of his hands. He was an ardent advocate of a comprehensive sys- tem of public improvement by the state. He regretted to see Virginia gradually falling from the high estate she had occupied in the Union ; and he put forth his utmost efforts to arrest the downward progress of the com- monwealth, and to arouse her dormant energies to a display of her vast resources. He was not wholly unsuccessful. The construction of roads and canals was liberally encouraged by the legislature, and many of the finest works in the state are monuments to the indefatigable exertions of John Tyler. In December, 1825, Mr. Pleasants's term of office having expired, Mr. Tyler was elected governor of Virginia. The ofiice, unsolicited and un- expected, was conferred upon him by a large vote, there being, on joint ballot of the two houses of the legislature, for Tyler 131, for Floyd 81, scattering 2. During his administration of Virginia, Mr. Tyler promoted the cause of internal improvement, and devoted himself also to the heal- ing of sectional disputes among the people. In July, 1825, he delivered. 430 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TYLER, at the capitol square, in Richmond, an eloquent eulogy on the death of Mr. Jefferson. During the next session of the legislature, Mr. Tyler was re-elected governor of Virginia by a unanimous vote. He was not, however, per- mitted to serve out his term. A senator of the United States was to be elected, for six years from the expiration of the term of John Randolph on the ensuing 4th of March. Mr. Randolph was the candidate of the democratic party for a re-election ; but the strange vagaries and singular conduct which had so far marked his career in the senate, had excited discontent with very many of that party, and, convinced that he was no longer a proper representative of the state of Virginia, they began to look about for some man who, professing the same principles as themselves, had the firmness and ability to set them forth, and the dignity and strength of character to cause them to be respected. The friends of Mr. Adams's administration being in the minority in the legislature, united with a few of their political opponents in the support of Governor Tyler, in justice to whom, it must be said, that he sought not the nomination. " On the con- trary," he remarked, in a letter written before the election, " I have con- stantly opposed myself to all solicitations. I desire, most earnestly, to be left at peace. There is no motive which could induce me to seek to change my present station for a seat in the senate at this time. I can not admit that to be one in a body of forty-eight members is to occupy a more elevated station than that presented in the chief magistracy of Virginia. My private interests, intimately connected with the good of my family, are more highly sustained by remaining where I am, than by the talked-of change." He also declared, in the same letter, that his political prefer- ences on the fundamental principles of the government were the same with those espoused by Mr. Randolph. Notwithstanding the positive manner in which he disclaimed any de- sire to be invested with the senatorial dignity, and the consequent loss of votes, Mr. Tyler was elected senator on the first ballot, the vote being for Tyler 115, Randolph 110. The committee of the legislature appointed to wait on Governor Tyler and announce to him his election as senator, used the following, among other remarks : "Allow us, sir, to express to you the satisfaction which we feel in this new proof of the confidence which Virginia places in your known integrity, talents, and patriotism, believing that, as in your past, so in your future public life, you will never disappoint her confidence, and ever study to promote her true happiness ; and while always faithfully representing, will ably and effectually vindicate her interests." Mr. Tyler, in his reply, said, " A sense of what is due to the legisla- tive will denies to me the privilege of giving longer audience to the sug- gestion of my feelings. That voice which called me to the chief magis- tracy, now makes upon me a new demand. I have opposed to it ray wishes BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TYLER. 431 and inclinations up to that period when acquiescence becomes a duty, and resistance would be censurable by all. I shall, then, in due season, ac- cept the appointment with which I have been honored. Be pleased, gen- tlemen, to bear to your respective houses my most profound acknowledg- ments for this distinguished testimonial of their confidence ; convey to them, renewed assurances of my unshaken allegiance to the constitution, as received and expounded by our fathers ; say to them, that if I carry with me into the national councils less of talent than many of my prede- cessors, yet that, in singleness of purpose, and in ardent devotion to the principles of civil liberty, I yield to none. If Virginia has changed her representative, her principles remain unaltered. Be assured, that the only and highest aspiration of my ambition consists in the desire of promoting tlie happiness of my native state, and that it shall be the untiring effort of my life to advance and vindicate her interests." This election, though regretted by the immediate friends of Mr. Ran- dolph and the most zealous of the democratic party in Virginia, who were desirous to retain Mr. Randolph in the senate, in consequence of his vio- lent hostility to the administration of Mr. Adams, was generally popular with the people of Virginia. Even the Richmond Enquirer, devoted as it was to Mr. Randolph's interests, in a paragraph regretting his failure, after enumerating a long list of causes which, it asserted, led to that re- sult, said, " Yet even this combination could not have succeeded in favor of any other man in the commonwealth than John Tyler, because he car- ried with him personal friends who would have voted for John Randolph in preference to any other man than himself;" thus giving the highest pos- sible evidence of the esteem in which Mr. Tyler was then held by the people of his native state. At the presidential election of 1824-'5, Mr. Tyler acted with a large majority of the politicians in the state, in giving a preference to William H. Crawford for the presidency, and that gentleman received the electoral vote of the state, and a decided expression of the popular will in his favor. When, however, the election wad determined by the house of representa- tives, in Congress, in favor of Mr. Adams, the Crawford party in Virginia were generally satisfied, as Mr. Adams was their second choice ; and Mr. Tyler wrote a letter to Mr. Clay, of Kentucky, approving of his vote for Mr. Adams, in preference to General Jackson ; but soon after the election of the former to the presidency, Mr. Tyler changed his views, and with most of the friends of Mr. Crawford, became an opponent of the adminis- tration. A few days after his election as senator, Mr. Tyler sent to the legisla- ture his resignation of the office of governor. The following is an extract from his message on that occasion : " The principles on which I have acted, without abandonment, in anyone instance, for the last sixteen years, in Congress and in the legislative hall of this state, will be the principles 432 Bioor^APHrcAL sketch of tyler. by which I will regulate my future political life. Keeping them con- stantly in view, yielding them neither to the force of circumstances nor to the suggestions of expediency, and thereby seeking to promote the last- ing interests of my beloved country, if I do not acquire the individual con- fidence of Virginia, I shall at least have preserved my own consistency, and secured my peace of mind through the days of my increasing years, and in the hour of my final dissolution." Upon the occasion of his retirement from the chief magistracy of the state, he was invited to a public dinner, by a large number of the mem- bers of the legislature, and of the citizens of Richmond. In answer to the following toast — " John Tyler, our friend and guest — a republican too firm to be driven from his principles — too upright to be swerved by the laws of ambition or power" — Mr. Tyler, among other remarks, said : — " I can be at no loss to ascribe this manifestation of public respect to its proper source. It flows from the late senatorial election, and the inci- dents connected with it. I place upon it, therefore, the highest possible value. The recesses of my heart have been attempted to be scanned with the view of detecting some lurking wish at variance with my public declarations. Had I desired a change, what was there to have prevented me from openly seeking it ? Are not the offices of the republic equally open to all its citizens ? When was an exclusive monopoly established ? or when was it before that ' Rome contained but one man' ? Virginia, thank Heaven, depends upon no one of her citizens, however distinguished by talents, for her character or standing. She has been compared to the mother of the Gracchii, and I trust that she may still be permitted to be proud of her sons. For one who had been taught from early infancy that golden rule, that, next to his Creator, his first duty belonged to his coun- try, and his last to himself, how could I have stood acquitted, had I permitted private considerations to have controlled the obligations of pub- lic duty ? By accepting the appointment, while I interfered with the pre- tensions of no other citizen, I have acquitted myself of a sacred obliga- tion." After speaking at large upon the administration, and what he had hoped would have been the policy of Mr. Adams, he said : — " Candor requires me here publicly to say, that his first splendid mes- sage to Congress long since withered all my hopes. I saw in it an almost total disregard of the federative principle — a more latitudinous construction of the constitution than has ever before been insisted on ; lying not so much in the particular measures recommended — which, though bad enough, had some excuse in precedent — as in the broad and general principles there laid down as the basis of governmental duty. From the moment of seeing that message, all who have known anything of me have known that I stood distinctly opposed to this administration ; not from a factious spirit, not with a view to elevate a favorite, or to advance myself, but on BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TYLER. 433 the great principles which have regulated my past life. I honestly be- lieve the preservation of the federative principles of our government to be inseparably connected with the perpetuation of liberty." This public compliment w^as given him on the 3d of March 1827, the last day of the period during which he occupied the office of governor. On the 3d of December, 1827, Mr. Tyler took his seat in the senate of the United States, and at once arrayed himself with the opposition, which, arising from the circumstances attending Mr. Adams's election, and com- bining the supporters of Jackson, Crawford, and Calhoun, finally over- threw the administration. There were many minor points upon which the opposition acted with little or no unity ; consisting of men who had but a short time before held conflicting political relations — they were, nev- ertheless, firmly united against the administration, and resolute in combat- ing its policy and doctrines ; and at the time of Mr. Tyler's entering the senate, the entire opposition had rallied in the support of General Jackson. In accordance with the Virginia doctrines respecting the powers of the general government, and the policy of the country respecting trade and commerce, which also coincided with the views entertained by Mr. Tyler himself, he voted against the tariff bill of 1828, and the various projects for internal improvement which were introduced. In the debate concern- ing the powers of the vice-president, Mr. Tyler participated, supporting the positions assumed by Mr. Calhoun, who then occupied the chair of the senate. On the accession of General Jackson to the presidency, Mr. Tyler sup- ported his administration, concurring, in this respect, with a large majority of the people of Virginia. He, however, pursued an independent course in the senate, disapproving of some of the nominations of the president, and holding, as he did, to a strict construction of the constitution, in 1831 he opposed the appropriation to pay the negotiators of the treaty with Tur- key, as that mission had not been authorized by Congress. Though a sincere friend of the administration, he regarded this act of General Jack- son, in appointing commissioners, as a dangerous stretch of the presiden- tial power ; and while he by no means withdrew his support from the general policy of the party then in power, he felt bound to declare his opinion of acts which all his ideas of constitutional authority led him to reprobate. To projects of internal improvement by the general government, Mr. Tyler was uniformly opposed, believing them unconstitutional, as we have already stated. He therefore highly approved of General Jackson's veto on the Maysville road bill, the passage of which he had previously op- posed in the senate, in a speech of considerable length. The subject of the tariff being brought before the senate at the session of 1831-2, by Mr. Clay, in a resolution proposing certain changes in the existing duties, a long and able debate arose thereon, in which Mr. Tyler participated. 28 434 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TYLER, His speech on this occasion was continued for three days, and evinced an extensive knowledge of the subject ; and it was characterized by a warmth, earnestness, and depth of eloquence, which gave ample evidence of the intensity of his feeling on a topic which then excited much of the public attention at the south. He was opposed to a tariff specially for the pro- tection of home industry, but in favor of a tariff for revenue which might incidentally afford such protection, and he expressed an anxiety for such an adjustment of the question as would restore peace and harmony to the Union. The question of renewing the charter of the bank of the United States came up at the same session. Mr. Tyler steadily opposed the bill to modify and continue in force that institution, at every step of its progress through the senate, and voted against it on its final passage. After re- ceiving the sanction of the house of representatives, the bill renewing the charter of the bank was defeated by the veto of President Jackson. For the confirmation of Mr. Van Buren, who was nominated at this session for minister to England, Mr. Tyler gave his vote ; and viewing the tariff of 1832 as a continuance of the system of protection, he voted ag-ainst that measure, although the duties on imports were much reduced thereby, on many articles. With the nullifiers of South Carolina Mr. Tyler sympathized ; and when the president took decided ground against the anti-tariff and nullifying proceedings of that state, the Virginia senator did not hesitate to withdraw his support from the administration, on the ground that they had abandoned the principles of state-rights, as he under- stood them, on which General Jackson had been supported in the south- ern states, and to which he owed his election as president. A bill called the force bill being introduced into the senate, to provide for the collection of the revenue, and vesting extraordinary powers in the president, Mr. Tyler opposed it in an animated speech. After a lengthened debate, the bill, was passed, Mr. Tyler's being the only name in the negative. The other opponents of the bill, Mr. Calhoun at their head, left the senate- chamber when the vote was taken, considering further opposition useless. During the progress of the bill, however, efforts were made in both houses to terminate the controversy peaceably. Mr. Clay finally introduced a bill in the senate, in February, 1833, which, conceived in the spirit of concession inculcated in the speech of Mr. Tyler, united the opposing parties in its favor, and passed the senate, with few dissenting voices. For this Mr. Tyler voted, and the bill, so celebrated since as Mr. Clay's compromise act, having previously passed the house, received the signa- ture of the president. During the preceding session of Congress, Mr. Tyler was re-elected to the senate for six years from the 4th of March, 1833. The most promi- nent among the proceedings of Congress, at the session of 1 833-'4, was the action of the two houses upon the removal of the deposites. In the BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TYLER. 435 interim between the last adjournment and the commencement of that ses- sion, the president determined upon removing the public moneys from the bank of the United States. Mr. Duane, the secretary of the treasury, having refused to comply with the wishes of the president, was dismissed from office, and Mr. Taney was appointed in his place, after which the will of the president vras accomplished. Early in the session the subject was taken up in the senate, and resolutions of censure against the president, intro- duced by Mr. Clay, were adopted. For these resolutions Mr. Tyler voted, as did the senators from the south and west who held state-rights doctrines, and who now acted v/ith Mr. Calhoun, in opposition to the ad- ministration of General Jackson. These, joined with the original oppo- nents of the administration, formed a decided majority in the senate. Mr. Tyler took an active part in the debate on the removal of the de- posites. However unconstitutional he thought the establishment of the bank of the United States, it had been established by law, and by the same law it was made the depository of the public money ; and any act by a public officer in derogation of that law, was as much deserving of, and as quickly received his censure, as if he had been the most ardent sup- porter of the institution. In his views he was sustained by instructions from Virginia, which state he said was exactly where she always had been — against the assumption of pov/er by the Congress or by the president. " Her instructions to me," he continued, " convey the information, that she is against the bank, as she has always been ; can any man find his apol- ogy for ratifying the late proceedings of the executive department, in the mere fact that the bank of the United States is a great evil ; that it ought never to have been created ; and that it should not be rechartered ? For one, I say, if it is to die, let it die by law. It is a corporate existence created by law, and while it exists, entitled to the protection which the law throws around private rights. This, sir, is the aspect in which I re- gard this question ; and this, I am instructed to say, is the light in which Virginia regards it." The call was often made upon the committee of finance, of which Mr. Tyler was a member, to report a scheme of treasury agency. Mr. Tyler answered that he could see no propriety for that call, until the sense of the senate should be expressed upon the resolutions then under their con- sideration. If the executive were sustained in the power it had exerted over the subject, then Congress had nothing to do with it. The great question before the country was, whether Congress or the president was to be charged with the keeping of the treasury. The latter had already decided to establish a treasury agency himself, and if Congress affirmed that he had done so with full power and authority, that would be decisive of the question as to legislative cognizance. The executive authority was, in such case, coextensive with the whole subject, and the legislature ■would encroach upon his rights if it acted at all. 436 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TYLER. At this session, Mr. Tyler, from the committee on finance, which had been directed to inquire into the condition and affairs of the United States bank, made an able and voluminous report thereon. The report was as- sailed by Mr. Benton, immediately upon its introduction into the senate, and in reply to him, Mr. Tyler entered into a defence of the document, and from his remarks we make the following extracts : — " Nothing," said he, " would please me more than to have the report which has been so furiously attacked by the senator from Missouri, re- ferred to another committee for their most rigid examination ; and I would be well pleased that he be one of the committee. Let him summon his witnesses, and take depositions without number ; let him then return with his budget to the house, and lay them, with or without an air of triumph, on the table. He would find himself mistaken. All his witnesses com- bined would not be able to overthrow the testimony upon which the report of the committee is based. There is not a single declaration in the report which is not founded upon testimony which cannot lie — written docu- mentary evidence which no party testimony can overcome." " The honorable senator has denominated the report ' an elaborate de- fence of the bank.' If he had paid more attention to the reading, or had waited to have it in print, he would not have hazarded such a declaration. The committee have presented both sides of the question ; the view most favorable, and that most unfavorable to the institution." " He has loudly talked of the committee having been made an instru- ment of by the bank. For myself, I renounce the ascription. I must tell the senator that I can no more be made an instrument of by the bank, than by the still greater and more formidable power, the administration. I stand upon this floor to accomplish the purposes for which I am sent. In the consciousness of my own honesty, I stand firm and erect. I worship alone at the shrine of truth and honor. It is a precious thing in the eyes of some, to bask in the sunshine of power. I rest only upon the support which has never failed me — the high and lofty feeling of my constituents. I would not be an instrument even in their hands, if it were possible for them to require it of me, to gratify an unrighteous motive." " The committee, in their investigations, have sought for nothing but the truth. I am opposed — have always been opposed — to the bank. In its creation I regard the constitution as having been violated, and I desire to see it expire. But the senate appointed me, with others, to inquire whether it was guilty of certain charges, and I should regard myself as the basest of mankind were I to charge it falsely. The report is founded on unquestionable documentary evidence. I shall hold myself ready to answer all the objections which can be raised against it, and to prove, from the documents themselves, that the report is made with the utmost fairness, and the most scrupulous regard to truth." The extracts from Mr. Tyler's speeches and otJier productions, which BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TYLER. 437 we have given, serve to elucidate his political character and modes of thinking, as well as to exhibit the uniformity of his course, in adherino- with singular teuacity to the doctrines of state-rights and strict construc- tion of the Virginia school of democracy. His course in the senate effected a separation between him and that portion of the democratic party in Virginia, who still adhered to General Jackson, and who, in the sequel, supported Mr. Van JBuren for the presidency. But there was still a wide difference between the principles and views entertained by Mr. Tyler, and those of the original opponents of General Jackson, who formed the largest proportion of the party which took the name of whigs, previous to the presidential election of 1836. Near the close of the session, in March, 1835, Mr. Tyler was elected president of the senate pro tempore, by the united votes of the whig and state-rights senators. On taking tlie chair, he made a brief and eloquent address, in the course of which he said : " You are the representatives of sovereign states, deputed by them to uphold and maintain their rights and interests. You may severally, in your turn, have become the objects of attack and denunciation before the public ; but there is not, and can not be an American who does not turn his eyes on the senate of the Uni- ted States, as to the great conservative body of our federal system, and to this chamber as the ark in which the covenant is deposited. To have received, therefore, at your hands, this station, furnishes to me abundant cause for self-gratulation." One of the last acts of Mr. Tyler, at this session, was to vote against the amendment made by the house of representatives to the fortification bill, placing three millions of dollars at the disposal of the president, to pro- vide for anticipated difficulties with France. This was a proposition to place the war-making power, belonging solely to Congress, in the hands of the president. The amendment was disagreed to by the senate, and Congress adjourned without passing the bill. At the next session, that of 1835 — '6, during the brief period he re- mained in the senate, Mr. Tyler took an active part in behalf of the suf- ferers by the great fire in New York, and supported the bill introduced into Congress for their relief. In February, 1836, the legislature of Vir- ginia passed resolutions instructing the senators from that state to vote for a resolution directing the resolution of March 28, 1834, to be expunged from the journal of the senate. These resolutions were then, by direc- tion of the general assembly, forwarded, by the speakers of the respective houses, to the senators from Virginia. Mr. Leigh, the colleague of Mr. Tyler, in answer to the resolutions, wrote a long and able letter, in which, while he acknowledged«the right of instruction in all cases where no constitutional point was involved, or where any doubt existed as to the constitutionality of any particular meas- ure, he denied that he was bound to obey any instruction commanding 438 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TYLER. him to do an act which, in his conscientious opinion, would be, in itself, a plain violation of the instrument he was sworn to support, and in its consequences dangerous and mischievous in the extreme. He concluded his letter by declaring, that he would neither obey thp instructions given him, nor resign his seat, and expressed the determination to vindicate the resolutions of the 28th of March, 1834, at any time when they should be brought under consideration. Mr. Leigh, however, resigned his seat in 1836. Mr. Tyler took a somewhat different course from his colleague ; and his conduct on the occasion greatly elevated him in the estimation of the public, particularly among the advocates of the doctrine of instruction. He might well have been held excusable, even by them, if he had refused to obey the instructions, and had retained his seat, for he was supported by the fact that the very vote he was now called upon to expunge was given under instructions, if not as explicit, at least quite as decisive of the opin- ion of the legislature as those now presented. But he was not willing then to overthrow or mar in the least degree the consistency of his previ- ous life, with regard to the right of instruction. As his first act in the legislature of his own state had been the advocacy of that principle, so the first speech he had ever made in the Congress of the United States was declaratory of what he considered the same truth — the right of the constituent to instruct — the duty of the representative to obey. He could not obey the instructions he had received without falsifying his own judg- ment, and violating his conscience by a breach of that constitution he had sworn to support, a clause of which requires that the senate shall " keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish it from time to time ;" and in such circumstances he was not long in deciding to surrender into the hands of those who gave it, or rather their successors, the honorable place with which he had been intrusted. He could not silently submit, how- ever, to be instructed out of his seat, and he took the opportunity to lay before the people of the state and the public generally, in his letter of resignation to the legislature of Virginia, an exhibition of the principles by which his public life had thus far been guided, and of the motives by which his present conduct was ruled. The following are extracts from this letter, dated Washington, February 20, 1836 : — " I now reaffirm the opinion at all times heretofore expressed by me, that instructions are mandatory, provided they do not require a violation of the constitution, or the commission of an act of moral turpitude. In the course of a somewhat long political life, it must have occurred that my opinions have been variant from the opinions of those I represent; but in presenting to me the alternative of resignation in this instance, you give me to be distinctly informed that the accomplishment of your object is regarded as of such primary importance that my resignation is desired if compliance can not be yielded. I am bound to consider you as in this BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TYLER. 439 fairly representing the sentiments of our common constituents, the people of Virginia, to whom alone you are amenable if you have mistaken their wishes. , '* In voting for the resolution of the senate, against which you are now so indignant, I did no more than carry out the people's declared views of the legislature, as expressed in their resolutions of that day, and which were passed by overwhelming majorities of more than two to one in both hou- ses. The terms employed by the legislature were strong and decided. The conduct of the president was represented as dangerous and alarming. I was told that it could not be too strongly condemned ; that he had mani- fested a disposition greatly to extend his official influence ; and because, with these declarations before me, I voted for a resolution which declares ' that the president, in the late executive proceedings, has assumed upon himself authority and power not conferred by the constitution and laws, but in derogation of both,' I am now ostracized by your fiat, which requires obedience or resignation. Compare the resolutions of the general assem- bly of that day with the above resolution, and its mildness will be entirely obvious. I submit, with all due deference, to yourselves, what is to be the condition of the senator in future, if, for yielding obedience to the wishes of one legislature, he is to be called upon to resign by another ? If he disobeys the first, he is contemned ; if he obeys the last, he violates his oath, and becomes an object of scorn and contempt. I respectfully ask, if this be the mode by which the great right of instructions is to be sustained, may it not degenerate into an engine of faction — an instrument to be emploj'ed by the outs to get in, instead of being directed to noble purposes — to the advancement of the cause of civil liberty ? May it not be converted into a political guillotine, devoted to the worst of purposes? Nor are these anticipations at all weakened by the fact, as it existed in the case now under consideration, that several of those who constitute the present majority in the general assembly, and who now call upon me to expunge the journal or to resign my seat, actually voted for the very reso- lutions of a previous session, to which I have referred. " I dare not touch the journal of the senate. The constitution forbids it. In the midst of all the agitations of party, I have heretofore stood by that sacred instrument. It is the only post of honor and of safety. A seat in the senate is sufficiently elevated to fill the measure of any man's ambition ; and as an evidence of the sincerity of my convictions that your resolutions can not be executed, without violating my oath, I surrender into your hands three unexpired years of my term. I shall carry with me into retirement, the principles which I brought with me into public life, and by the surrender of the high station to which I was called by the voice of the people of Virginia, I shall set an example to my children which shall teach them to regard as nothing place and office, when to be either obtained or held at the sacrifice of honor." 44.0 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TYLER. At the same time, Mr. Tyler placed in the hands of the president of the senate, Mr. Van Buren, a letter informing the senate that he had resigned into the h%nds of the general assembly of Virginia his seat as a senator from that state. Mr. Rives was elected, by the legislature of Virginia, to fill the vacancy occasioned by Mr. Tyler's resignation, and the latter re- tired once more to his home and the practice of his profession. His course was highly commended, not only in Virginia, but throughout the Union. Soon after his retirement, a public dinner was given to Mr. Leigh and himself, and the following was among the toasts expressing similar feelings : " Our honored guest, John Tyler — ' Expunged' from a post that he adorned, and the functions of which he ever faithfully and ably discharged, by the complying tools of an unprincipled aspirant, he is but the more endeared to the hearts of his countrymen." Some time in 1830, Mr. Tyler had removed from Charles City county to Gloucester, where his family had resided until the present year. He now again removed to Williamsburg, the ancient dwelling-place of his fathers; and though his name was, in 1836, placed upon the electoral ticket of some of the states, as a candidate for the vice-presidency, he mingled very little, for a time, in political matters, devoting himself exclu- sively to his private pursuits. He was first nominated for vice-president in Maryland, in December, 1835, and in that state placed on the ticket with General Harrison, the whig candidate for president. He also received, in 1836, the support of the friends of Judge White in the states where that gentleman was the candidate for president against Mr. Van Buren ; but Maryland was the only state that voted for Harrison which gave its electoral vote to Mr. Ty- ler. He, however, received the votes of South Carolina (which state gave its vote to Mr. Mangura, of North Carolina, for president), Georgia, and Tennessee, for vice-president, in addition to the votes of Maryland, making 47 in all , Francis Granger receiving the votes of the other states in the opposition, including Kentucky. It thus appears that Mr. Tyler was not in 1836 considered the whig candidate for vice-president, his principal support for that ofiice being derived from the state-rights party of the south and west, who in some respects co-operated with the whigs in op- position to Jackson and Van Buren. Virginia refused to vote for Richard M. Johnson for vice-president, but as the friends of Jackson and Van Bu- ren controlled the electoral vote of the state, it was not given to Mr. Tyler, but to William Smith, of Alabama. • In the spring of 1838, Mr. Tyler was elected by the whigs of James City county, a member of the house of delegates of Virginia ; and during the subsequent session of the legislature he acted with the whig party, under which name the different sections of the opposition to Mr. Van Bu- ren's administration gradually became amalgamated in Virginia. In 1839, Mr, Tyler was elected one of the delegates from Virginia to BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TYLER. 4-11 the whig national convention which met at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to nominate candidates for president and vice-president of the United States. It is well known that Mr. Clay, of Kentucky, was the favorite candidate of the delegates from the southern states, in that convention. The course of Mr. Clay in the senate, on many occasions, particularly in bringing about a set- tlement of the controversy respecting the tariff and South Carolina nullifi- cation, had rendered him popular with the state-rights section of the whigs, and they were anxious for his nomination to the presidency. In this feel- ing Mr. Tyler warmly participated, with all the Virginia delegation. He was chosen one of the vice-presidents of the convention, and exerted his influence in favor of Mr. Clay. General Harrison, however, was nomina- ted for president, and Mr. Tyler was among those who expressed their deep regrets at the defeat of Mr. Clay as a candidate. The question of a candidate for president had so much absorbed the attention of the whigs, that the subject of a candidate for vice-president had attracted but little attention. When General Harrison was nomina- ted for the first office, it became necessary, in the judgment of the dele- gates, to take a candidate for vice-president from the south, and, after a brief consultation, the nomination was offered to Mr. Tyler, and accepted. As he was an ardent friend of Mr. Clay, it was supposed that this nomi- nation would be popular with the friends of that gentleman, under the feel- ings of disappointment with which it was anticipated they would receive the nomination of General Harrison. Had the event of Mr. Tyler's suc- cession to the presidency been contemplated, it can not be doubted that a scrutiny of his principles, and the remembrance of his course and action on cherished whig measures, would have caused more hesitancy in pla- cing him on the presidential ticket, if not his prompt rejection, by the whig convention. The speeches, letters, and declarations of Mr. Tyler, during the canvass of 1840, were generally satisfactory to the whigs, and gave reasonable expectation that he would co-operate with General Harrison and Mr. Clay in carrying out the wishes of the whig party, if successful in the election. The triumph of the whigs, which elevated General Harrison to the presidency, Mr. Tyler to the vice-presidency, and secured a whig majority in both houses of Congress, we have elsewhere related in this volume. It only remains to mention, in this place, that the sudden and lamented death of President Harrison, in one month after his inauguration, devolved upon Mr. Tyler, in April, 1841, the high and responsible duties of presi- dent of the United States. The events of the succeeding four years will be found in our history of his administration. There can be no doubt that Mr. Tyler mistook his position in attempt- ing to act with the whig party, and in accepting their nomination for one of the highest ofiices in the nation, which, by the dispensation of Providence, 442 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TYLER. placed him in tlio presidential chair, clothed with the power and patron- age of that high station. That the whigs also acted without due reflec- tion, in his nomination, is alike evident ; and from these two causes flowed the consequences Avhich resulted in the embarrassment, difficul- ties, and total loss of popularity with both the great parties of the country, on the one side, of the president, and bitter disappointment and chagrin on the part of the whigs. In person, Mr. Tyler is rather tall and thin, with light complexion, blue eyes, and prominent features. His manners are plain and aff'able, and in private life he is amiable, hospitable, and courteous. His errors as a politician are ascribed, by some, to a want of judgment, to an inordinate vanity, and the influence of bad advice ; to which may be added, extreme obstinacy in persisting in opinions once formed, without regard to conse- quences. In 1813, at the age of twenty-three, Mr. Tyler married a lady about his own age, Miss Letitia Christian, daughter of Robert Christian, Esq., of New Kent county, Virginia. She was a lady much esteemed by her ac- quaintances, as a wife, a mother, a friend, and a Christian, being for many years a member of the episcopal church. She died at Washington, Sep- tember 10, 1842, leaving three sons and three daughters. While presi- dent of the United States, Mr. Tyler was again married, to Mis? Julia Gardiner, of New York, daughter of the late David Gardiner, Esq., of that city, who was killed by an explosion on board the steamship Princeton, in February, 1844. The marriage of the president took place at New York, on the 26th of June, 1844. Since his retirement from the presidency, Mr. Tyler has resided at his seat near Williamsburg, Virginia. ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. In consequence of the decease of William H. Harrison, president of the United States, on the 4th of April, 1841, being one month after his inau- guration, the duties of the executive office devolved upon John Tyler, the vice-president, elected at the same time with President Harrison. Im- mediately after the decease of the president, Mr. Fletcher Webster, chief clerk in the department of state, accompanied by Mr. Beall, an officer of the senate, set out for the residence of the vice-president, in Virginia, bearing to him the following letter : — " Washington, April 4, 1841. " To John Tyler, Vice-President of the United States : — " Sir : It has become our most painful duty to inform you that William Henry Harrison, late president of the United States, has departed this life. " This distressing event took place this day, at the president's mansion, in this city, at thirty minutes before one, in the morning. " We lose no time in despatching the chief clerk in the state depart- ment, as a special messenger to bear you the melancholy tidings. " We have the honor to be, with the highest regard your obedient ser- vants. " Daniel Webster, Secretary of State, " Thomas Ewing, Secretary of the Treasury, "John Bell, Secretary of War, ■ " John J. Crittenden, Attorney-General, " Francis Granger, P ostmaster-General." By the extraordinary despatch used in sending the official intelligence to the vice-president, at Williamsburg, and a similar despatch by him in repairing to the seat of government, Mr. Tyler arrived in Washington on Tuesday morning, the 6lh of April, at four o'clock, and took lodgings at Brown's hotel. At twelve o'clock all the heads of departments, with the exception of the secretary of the navy, Mr. Badger, who was then absent on a visit to his family, waited upon President Tyler, to pay him their official and personal respects. They were received by him with politeness and kindness. He signified his deep feeling of the public calamity sustained by the death of 444 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. !t*resident Harrison, and expressed his profound sensibility to the heavy re- sponsibilities so suddenly devolved upon himself. He spoke of the present state of things with great concern and seriousness, and made known his wishes that the several heads of departments would continue to fill the places which they then respectively occupied ; and expressed his confi- dence that they would afford all the aid in their power to enable him to carry on the administration of the government successfully. The president then took and subscribed the following oath of office : — " I do solemnly swear, that I will faithfully execute the office of presi- dent of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend, the constitution of the United States. " John Tyler. "April 6, 1841." " District of Columbia, ) " City and County of Was/migton, } " I, William Cranch, chief judge of the circuit court of the District of Columbia, certify that the above-named John Tyler personally appeared before me this day, and although he deems himself qualified to perform the duties and exercise the powers and office of president, on the death of William Henry Harrison, late president of the United States, without any other oath than that which he has taken as vice-president, yet, as doubts may arise, and for greater caution, took and subscribed the forego- ing oath before me. "W. Cranch. "^;?n7 6, 1841." On the following day, the new president attended the funeral of President Harrison, taking the place assigned him in the procession, following the heads of departments, after the family and relations of the late president. Two days after this solemn pageant was over, an inaugural address to the people of the United States, which will be found in the preceding pages, was issued by President Tyler, through the public press ; the principles of which address gave general satisfaction. Although some of the expressions were somewhat ambiguous, the whig party was relieved from anxiety by the general tone and sentiments of the address ; and confidence was felt that the president would co-operate with the majority of Congress in carrying out the views and desires of those by whom he had been elected. There were those, however, among the prominent whigs (of whom the late Hon. Samuel L. Southard, of New' Jersey, and then president of the senate pro te?n., was one), who had long known Mr. Tyler, and carefully observed his course in the councils of the nation, who apprehended that he would carry with him into the presidency his peculiar notions of a strict construction of the constitution, imbibed ia the Virginia school of democracy, involving principles which, if carried out, would prove repugnant to the views of public policy entertained by ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 445 the whig party, and defeat measures which they deemed necessary to re- store the prosperity of the country. Nor were these apprehensions allayed, even when Mr. Tyler was understood to have said, on his arrival at Wash- ington, after the death of Harrison, " You have but exchanged one whig for another." The cabinet which had been appointed by General Harrison, was re- tained by President Tyler, namely, Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, secretary of state ; Thomas Ewing, of Ohio, secretary of the treasury ; John Bell, of Tennessee, secretary of war; George E. Badger, of North Carolina, secretary of the navy ; Francis Granger, of New York, postmas- ter-general ; John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky, attorney-general. The re- tention of this cabinet, distinguished for its ability and for its possession of the confidence of the whig party, tended to confirm the feelings of hope and confidence inspired by the inaugural address of President Tyler. In conformity with the general feelings of sorrow and regret which per- vaded the public mind on the death of the chief magistrate of the nation, his successor recommended a day of fasting and prayer, to be observed by the people of the United States. In entering upon the duties of the office of president, Mr. Tyler did not feel (to use his own words, in his message to Congress) that it would be becoming in him to disturb what had been ordered by his lamented prede- cessor. He therefore concurred in the measure which had been adopted by President Harrison, of convening Congress in extra session on the 31st of May. " His own first wish," he stated, " in the circumstances in which he was so unexpectedly placed, would have been, to have called to his aid, in the administration of public affairs, the combined wisdom of the two houses of Congress, in order to take their counsel and advice as to the best mode of extricating the government and the country from the embarrassments weighing heavily on both." After the call of the extra session, and previous to the meeting, mem- bers of Congress were elected in the states of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, In- diana, Illinois, and Missouri. The state of Mississippi was not repre- sented at the extra session, as no special election was ordered, and the annual election in that state took place in the month of November follow- ing. The members from Illinois were elected at the annual election in August, and took their seats in the house during the session. The result of the elections at this time were equally favorable to the whig party with those which took place in 1840, immediately preceding the presidential election. The majority in favor of the new administra- tion in the 27th Congress, according to the returns of members elect, was seven in the senate, and one vacancy ; and about fifty in the house of representatives. Tho hopes of the democratic incumbents in office, which were awa- 446 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. kened on the accession of Mr. Tyler to the presidency, were soon dissipa- ted by the course he felt bound to pursue with regard to removals and appointments. The applications and importunities of office-seekers, which had commenced immediately after the inauguration of President Harrison, and which were temporarily suspended by his death, were renewed with increased vigor after his successor was invested with the power and pa- tronage of the executive. A few days only had transpired after his acces' sion, when the removal of the friends of the late administration from office was commenced by the new president ; and their places were filled by whigs and conservatives. The removals and appointments continued to follow each other in rapid succession, and a similar course was pursued by the postmaster-general, with the sanction of the president, with respect to the numerous postmasters throughout the Union. President Tyler thus showed a disposition to gratify the desires and expectations of his political friends, with regard to office, even before the senate had an opportunity to act on the subject. A brief review and notice of political parties in the United States, at this period, is deemed appropriate in this place, for the purpose of show- ing the position of the president and the new administration, with regard, to measures of public policy and the course of events. We have seen, in the sketches already given of various administrations, that the federal party which was thrown into the minority on the acces- sion of Jefferson, and continued in opposition to the administration of that president, and that of his successor, Mr. Madison, became extinct, as a national party, soon after the termination of the war with Great Britain in 1815. In some of the states the name was kept up for a short period, but after a few feeble struggles the name of federalist became so unpopular that it was abandoned during the administration of President Monroe, whose management of the affairs of the nation was so satisfactory to all parties, that opposition for a time ceased. The parties which were sub- sequently formed for the support of Adams, Jackson, Crawford, and Clay, for the presidency, were more of a personal character than marked by distinct political principles ; those who had been called federalists as well as democrats being found among the adherents of each of those candidates for the presidency. When General Jackson was elected president, his supporters claimed the name of democrats, and his opponents at first called themselves national republicans, but when joined by seceders from the administration ranks, in 1833 and '34, they took the name of whigs. Thus the two great national parties which divided the country at the accession of Mr. Van Buren to the president, in 1837, were respectively known by the name of democrats and whigs. With the latter, several minor parties of more limited extent, or local in character, generally acted, and the greater portion of these parlies gradually became amalgamated with, and formed part of, the whig party. Such were the anti-masons of the mid- ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 447 die and eastern states ; the state-rights men of the south who disapproved of the removal of the pubHc deposites from the United States bank, and other acts of General Jackson ; and those supporters of General Jackson in Tennessee, Georgia, and other states, who were opposed to Mr. Van Buren as his successor. The party called democratic, which supported the administration of General Jackson, and Mr. Van Buren as his successor, became them- selves divided, particularly in the northern and middle states, even previ- ous to the election of the latter to the presidency. In 1835, there arose in the city of New York, in the ranks of the democratic party, a combina- tion in opposition to banks and other moneyed institutions, which after- ward took the name of locofocos, or equal-rights party. The working- men's party, which arose in the cities of New York and Philadelphia, in 1829, and dissolved in about two years afterward, was the progenitor, to some extent, of the locofoco or equal-rights party. Certain it is, that most of the measures advocated by the former (some of which were intro- duced into the United States from Great Britain, by Mr. Robert Dale Owen and Miss Frances Wright, who for some time published a newspa- per in New York, called " The Free Enquirer") were decidedly popu- lar with the latter, and both were equally hostile to banks, and other moneyed institutions, which they considered monopolies. Nevertheless, it was Andrew Jackson, in his contest with the bank of the United States, who enkindled the highest opposition in that direction, and the enthusiasm which he excited against the national bank soon extended itself to state banks. The New York election of 1834, with the strong pledge against monopolies which the candidates for members of Congress and the legis- lature, of the democratic party in that city, were required to sign, together with speeches and resolutions of the same character, at political meetings, as well as the circumstances previously mentioned, all combined to plant deeply in the minds of that party the seeds of hostility to monopolies. Consequently, the democratic party became divided within itself. On the one side (in favor of banks and other corporations) were the great majority of the leading men of the party, and nearly all the office-holders under the general, state, and city administrations ; on the other, comprising then but a small section, composed principally of mechanics and other working- men, were those calling themselves free-trade, anti-monopoly, hard-money men.* The equal-rights party at first deemed it advisable to exercise great caution and secrecy in their movements. It_ required both moral and physical courage to attack the usages and organization of the democratic party, which were then controlled by those favorable to banking institu- tions. But at the election in the city of New York, for a member of Con- gress and members of the legislature, in the autumn of 1835, it was deter- * Byrdsall's History of the Locofoco or Equal-Rights Party. 448 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. mined to oppose the nomination of certain persons who were brought for- ward by the friends of banks. * At a meeting on the evening of the 29th of October, 1835, of the demo- cratic party, at Tammany Hall (the usual place of such meetings), for the purpose of adopting a ticket to be supported at the approaching election, opposition was made by the anti-bank portion of the meeting, to certain names on the ticket. A struggle took place for the chair, between the two sections of the party ; but the friends of banks having placed their leader in the chair, and declared their ticket and resolutions adopted, at- tempted to adjourn the meeting and put out the lights. Their opponents being prepared for the occasion, by means of locofoco matches carried with them for the purpose, instantly restored the light in the room, placed their leader in the chair, adopted an equal-rights democratic ticket, and passed sundry resolutions against banks and paper-money, avowing them- selves in favor of gold and silver as the only circulating medium of the country. Thus was formed a new party, the supporters of which were forthwith denominated by their opponents, " locofocos," a name which was gradu- ally extended to the entire democratic party of the Union. Although this new section of the party was at first inconsiderable in number, giving but about four thousand votes at the election in the city of New York in 1835, apprehensions were entertained by the leading men of the democratic party, that the principles thus avowed might extend in their ranks, and cause disunion and defeat to the friends of the administration of Jackson and Van Buren. Efforts were therefore made to conciliate the equal- rights party, and prevent their separation from the ranks of the democracy. Their favorite candidate for president. Colonel Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, was nominated for vice-president on the ticket with Mr. Van Buren, and elected to that office by the friends of the latter. Numerous banks were incorporated by the democratic majority in the legislature of the state of New York, as well as several other states, in the year 1836, after Avhich a pause took place in chartering those institutions ; which cessation of bank-making, however, was partly occasioned by the pecuni- ary embarrassments which overtook the concerns of the country in 1837. The recommendation of a separation of the financial concerns of the United States government from the state banks, brought forward by Presi- dent Van Buren, in his message at the extra session of Congress in 1837, created a division in the ranks of the supporters of his administration, which was first exhibited in Congress, but soon extended among the peo- ple. Those democrats who were opposed to an exclusive specie currency, and the sub-treasury scheme recommended by Mr. Van Buren, and those in favor of banks as depositories of the public moneys, became a distinct section of the party, and were called " conservatives." Those who ad- hered to these views eventually joined the whigs, in opposition to Mr. Van ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 449 Buren's administration, and in 1840 aided in the election of Harrison and Tyler. Vlith. regard to the state-rights men, or those originally attached to the democratic party, who had disapproved of the removal of the deposites fi'om the bank of the United States, and some other acts of General Jack- son ; most of them opposed the administration of Mr. Van Buren, and eventually amalgamated with the whig party. A considerable portion of the state-rights men, however, among whom was Mr. John C. Calhoun, and a majority of the people of South Carolina, left the whigs, soon after the accession of Mr. Van Buren to the presidency, and became supporters of his administration, particularly sustaining his views respecting the sub-treasury and other currency measures. Consequently, the vote of South Carolina was given to Mr. Van Buren, when he was 'a candidate for re-election to the presidency, in 1840. The election of 1 840, which elevated General Harrison and Mr. Tyler to power, was effected by the joint efforts of the whigs and conservatives, the latter, for all practical purposes, becoming merged in the whig party. The party which supported the re-election of Mr. Van Buren in 1840, calling themselves democrats, while their opponents gave them the name of loco- focos, were then united throughout the country in advocating the measures of Mr. Van Buren's administration, particularly his recommendation of a sub-treasury, or the separation of the national funds from the state banks," and the collection of the public revenues in gold and silver. Afier his nomination for vice-president, in 1840, and previous to the election, Mr. Tyler avowed himself a firm and decided whig, stating that on the subjects of Mr. Clay's compromise tariff law then in operation, which he considered a protective tariff, and the distribution of the pro- ceeds of the sales of the public lands among the states, he concurred with Mr. Clay and General Harrison. On the subject of a national bank, he said, in a letter replying to one from the democratic citizens of Steuben- ville, in October, 1840 : " My opinion of the power of Congress to char- ter a bank of the United States remains unchanged. There is not in the constitution any express grant of power for such a purpose, and it never could be constitutional to exercise that power, save in the event that the powers granted to Congress could not be carried out without resorting to such an institution." In another letter to several citizens of Henrico county, Virginia, dated in October, 1840, he remarked: "My votes are repeatedly recorded on the journals of Congress, against the power of Congress over the subject of internal improvement, in all its phases and aspects, as well in regard to roads and canals, as to harbors and rivers. The first, viz., appropriations to roads and canals, have well nigh en- tirely ceased, while annual appropriations, to a large amount, have been made to harbors and rivers, with the sanction and approval of the presi- dent of the United States." 29 450 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER, The twenty-seventh Congress met in extra session, on the 31st day of May, 1841. The session closed on the 13th of September following. John White, a whig member from- Kentucky, was elected speaker of the house of representatives, having received on the first vote, viva voce, 121 votes, against 84 for John W. Jones, of Virginia (democrat), and 16 scat- tering. In the senate, as already stated, there was also a decided major- ity in favor of the administration. A committee of the house being proposed to join one from the senate, as usual, to wait on the president of the United States, and inform him that a quorum of the two houses had assembled, and that Congress was ready to proceed to business, &c., Mr. M'Keon, of New York, moved to amend the resolution appointing the committee, by striking out the word " president," and inserting the words " vice-president, now occupying the office of president of the United States." This motion Mr. M'Keon sup- ported in a constitutional argument, which was replied to by Mr. Wise, of Virginia, and the amendment was rejected, and the original resolution adopted, by which the house recognised John Tyler as president of the United States. The message of the president was generally well received by the friends of the new administration. Though cautiously worded on the subject of a national bank, and somewhat ambiguous as to his own views with regard to such an institution, it was believed that he would sanction any bill that might receive the support of a majority of both houses of Congress, for the incorporation of a bank or fiscal agent, for the regulation of the currency, and for managing the funds of the government. At the opening of the session, the president's message was accompanied by the report of the secretary of the treasury. This paper earnestly rec- ommended the establishment of a bank. It added : " If such an institution can be so conceived in principle and guarded in its details as to remove all scruples touching the question of constitutional power, and thus avoid the objections which have been urged against those heretofore created by Congress, it will, in the opinion of the undersigned, produce the happiest results, and confer lasting and important benefits on the country." The bank was thus brought distinctly to the consideration of Congress, both by the president and the secretary. The president was desirous that Congress should call on the secretary to report a plan for a bank. He expressed this wish to more than one member, immediately upon the opening of the session ; in fact, invited the call. Mr. Wise, his confidential friend, introduced a resolution to this end into the house, on the 3d of June. Mr. Clay did the same thing in the senate, on the 7th of June. On the 12th of June, the secretary, Mr. Ewing, made his report, and ■with it a bill for the incorporation of " The Fiscal Bank of the United States." ADMIXISTRATION OF TYLER. 451 This bill was represented by the secretary as creating an institvUion, in ihe general plan and frame of which he had endeavored to free it from the constitutional objections which have been urged against those heretofore created by Congress. This plan accordingly differed from the former bank of the United States in two essential characteristics — both of which, it was understood, were introduced upon Mr. Tyler's suggestion, and in deference to his peculiar views of the constitution. First, it proposed a bank to be incorporated in the District of Columbia. Second, it was to have the power to establish branches only with the assent of the states. Many provisions were made to guard against the abuses which were known or alleged to have crept into the former banks.* The amount of capital named was thirty millions 'of dollars ; in other respects — in privilege of discount and exchange, &c. — the institution pro- posed was similar to the two former banks incorporated by Congress. This plan of a national bank proposed by the secretary of the treasury, received the approbation of every member of the cabinet, as the only plan which would be likely to succeed, considering the opinions of the acting president. Mr. Webster afterward remarked, that " it was the part of wisdom, not to see how much of a case they could make out against the president, but how they could get on as well as they might with the pres- ident." Mr. Wise, a confidential friend of the president, in a letter writ- ten after the extra session, observed, that " the secretary of the treasury, Mr. Ewing himself, proposed a plan which he recommended to Congress as one which would conduct our finances and commerce, equalize ex- changes, regulate currency, and avoid all constitutional difficulties. This was the very desideratum, if it was what he described it to be, and this was emphatically, by a whig administration recommendation from the proper department, said to be acquiesced in by the president, and it was called for by both houses of Congress. It was justly regarded as the whig measure of the first moment, and would as such have been met and treated doubtless by the opposition or Van Buren party." Mr. E wing's report and bill were referred in the senate to the select committee on the currency, of which Mr. Clay was chairman. That com- mittee reported, on the 21st of June, a bill in all essential features the same as that proposed by the secretary of the treasury and supposed to have been approved by the president, with one exception. That exception re- garded the establishment of branches. The bank, on this plan, as well as in the other, was to be situated in tba District of Columbia (at Washington city) ; it was to have the same capi- tal of thirty millions — with a provision for future increase, if Cungress should think it advisable, to fifty millions, • Kennedy's Defence of the Twenty-seventh r^igress. 452 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. It provided for a government subscription of ten millions, instead of the secretary's six ; and it dispensed with the fourth instalment of the surplus revenue, amounting to upward of nine millions, which the secre- tary's bill proposed to make part of the capital. It allowed dividends as high as seven per cent. ; the other restricted them to six ; it gave nine paid directors, and required a majority to transact business : the executive scheme proposed seven paid directors, and three a quorum for business. It was somewhat more stringent in its regulations than the bill of the executive ; among other particulars, in these : — It forbade the appointment of any member of Congress, or of a state legislature, or officer or contractor of the federal or state governments, as a director in the bank or its branches : It forbade all discounting within the District of Columbia, or loans, ex- cept to the government : It gave additional powers to facilitate free examination of the bank by the secretary of the treasury : It added restrictions to the use, and guards against the abuse, of proxies : It forbade the officers from borrowing money or obtaining discounts from the bank, or contracting debts with it. In these and sundjy other particulars, the senate bill was more guarded and restrained than the executive bill. These diversities between the two schemes mainly respect the efficiency of the proposed institution. They did not touch any debatable question of constitutional power. Such a question of constitutional power, and the only one, was pre- sented in the clause relating to the establishment of branches. In all other points the bills are the same in principle, and with very little varia- tion, coincident in detail — almost identical in phraseology. On this point of establishment of branches — the 16th fundamental rule in each bill — the senate plan differed from that of the executive, to the following extent : — The executive bill authorized the corporation to establish a bank for discount and deposite, in any state whose legislature should give its as- sent to such an act ; such branch being once established, not to be with- drawn without the assent of Congress : or, instead of establishing such office, the directors were authorized, from time to time, to employ any individual agent, or bank — with the approbation of the secretary of the treasury — at any place, to transact the business of the bank, other than for the purposes of discount. The senate bill, first made it obligatory upon the corporation to estab- lish an office of discount and deposite, in any state in which two thou- sand shares sV.ould have been subscribed, whenever, upon the application of the legislature ol such state, Congress should require the same; sec- ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 453 end, the directors were authorized to establish such offices in any state or territory, whenevejr they should think it expedient, wit/liout the assent of the legislature ; third, or instead of establishing such offices, to employ an agent or bank, to be approved by the secretary of the treasury — at any place — to transact the business of the bank, other than for the purposes of discount. This latter clause being to the same effect as that in the executive bill. The above is a view of the two provisions. It will be seen how very narrow was the difference between Mr. Tyler's proposition and Mr. Clay's ; a difference, so far as constitutional power was concerned, that rested upon the naked alternative of — Branches to be established originally with the assent of the states, and that assent, once given, to be irrevocable ; or branches to be established when and where found convenient, without that original assent. The president maintained in vindication of the principle inserted in his bill, that although he could find power in the constitution to establish a bank, he could find none to establish a branch ; that to get this absent power, it was necessary that Congress should apply to each state for a grant of it. Mr. Clay, on the other hand, held that if the constitution did not give the power to establish a branch, no assent of a state could give it, and, therefore, that it was unconstitutional to attempt to derive power from the assent of a state. Upon this logic, a division of opinion arose in Congress ; not as to which of those positions was the sound one. It was believed there was not a man in either house who honestly and sincerely held with the pres- ident. But the question which now divided Congress was — Can r\ot the president be gratified as to this notion of his regarding the assent of the states 1 Can not Congress, if it finds motive to do so, as a matter of ex- pediency merely, waive and forego its right to establish a branch, and ordain tliat that right shall not be exercised except in such case as when a state may express a wish for a branch ? Upon this point, there was a very general, perhaps unanimous, concur- rence of the whig party in the affirmative. Is it expedient to establish such a precedent ? May it not be used, hereafter, to the prejudice of good legislation ? On this point there was less unanimity. Some mem- bers were strongly opposed. Then it was suggested that the power might be waived, with a protestation. Many other suggestions were made, evincing great solicitude to comply with the president's wish, if possible. The difficulty was, at last, thought to be settled by a compromise ; to which, it was reported, the president had agreed. There was great re- pugnance to it among the whig members, but it was finally agreed to, be- cause the majority thought the president wished it. 454 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER, The compromise was this : The directors to have power to establish a branch with the assent of the state, and when established, not to be with- drawn without the consent of Congress : provided, first, that the power to establish a branch shall be unrestrained, in respect to any state which shall not, at the first session of its legislature, after the passage of the charter, express its dissent ; in defect of which, assent shall be presumed. And provided, second, that whenever Congress shall deem it necessary and proper to the execution of powers granted by the constitution, to es- tablish a branch in any state, then Congress may require the directors to establish such branch. The compromise being thus arranged in conformity, as it was sup- posed, with the president's views, it was incorporated in the bill, and the whigs then hastened to pass it. There is, however, no reason to suppose that the president ever gave any distinct promise to accept the compro- mise, although such a belief was prevalent.* The bill incorporating the fiscal bank was finally passed by Congress on the 6th of August, and sent to the president for his decision. The vote in the senate, where the bill originated, was 26 ayes to 23 noes ; in the house of representatives, 128 ayes to 97 noes. The president retained the bill until the 16th of August, and during this interval the greatest anxi- ety prevailed among the whigs, with regard to the course he might con- clude to pursue. The president's house was filled with visiters from the ranks of the opposition, some of whom became his intimate advisers. When the whigs learned that he complained that they kept aloof from him, and thinking it their duty to do everything in their power to avert the threatened veto, they waited upon him in delegations, to apprize him of the feeling which was likely to arise in the country upon this act. One dele- gation in particular, of great respectability — the whigs representing Ohio — called upon him on Friday evening, the 13th of August. They told him frankly what they feared ; assured him of the earnest desire of the party to preserve harmony and good will toward the president : repre- sented to him the deep concern of the nation in the bank question. He protested his own intense feeling upon the subject ; spoke apparently with frankness of the difficulties he felt in regard to certain points in the com- promise section ; suggested an amendment which would render this sec- tion acceptable to him ; declared his entire freedom from all prejudice or extrinsic influence in regard to the measure ; wept ; promised to pray for guidance ; and then asked, by way of remonstrance : " Why did you not send me Ewing's bill ?" " Would you sign that bill ?" inquired one of the delegation. " I would," was the reply. Such was the interview, as described by those who witnessed it. The Ohio members left his apartment fully possessed with the opinion that the • Kennedy. ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 455 president was sincerely desirous to have a bank such as his cabinet min- ister had reported. Although they had reason to expect a veto of the pend- ing bill, they believed that all difficulty would be removed by adopting the president's plan as it came from the secretary. This opinion they infused into the whigs of Congress ; and the hopes of a favorable settlement of the question began to brighten among them. Subsequently the president informed one of the Ohio delegation that he wished to recall what he had said respecting Mr. E wing's bill, which he declared that he had not read when he said that he would sign it if it were sent to him. He now said that fee could not sign that, but added, " If you will examine the message '[veto] I have sent to-day, you will find shadowed forth a much better bank there, one that has been long endeared to me."* During the time while the president held the bank bill under considera- tion, among other friends who urged him to allow the bill to become a law, Mr. Botts, of Virginia, wrote him a confidential and respectful letter on the 10th of August, from which we make the following ex- tracts : — " It is generally understood that you are to veto the bank bill. If it be so. have you contemplated the consequence, in all its bearings ? Can your cabinet sustain you in the veto. Will they not be compelled to re-- sign ? For whatever may be your views as to the principles upon which you came into power, it can not be denied t^at those on which they have been sustained by the country require at their hands an earnest support of the measure that has been demanded by the people through their rep- resentatives, by a majority exceeding the entire representation of Virginia and South Carolina, the two states in which the strongest opposition is supposed to exist. " The sub-treasury is repealed ; and the deposite system of 1836 is also repealed in one house, and will pass the other. Congress will not con- sent to take the plan suggested by the secretary of the treasury. Will you not find it impossible to carry on the government, and will not a resig- nation be forced upon you ? " On the contrary, if you can reconcile this bill to yourself, all is sun- shine and calm. Your administration will meet with the warm, hearty, zealous support of the whole whig party, and you will retire from the great theatre of national politics with the thanks, and plaudits, and approbation of your countrymen." Three days after his interview with the Ohio delegation, President Ty- ler sent the bank bill back to the senate, in which it originated, with his veto message. So far as this act signified his dissent from the senate bill, it surprised nobody. The recent reports, especially tliat from the Ohio delegation, bad prepared Congress to expect it. But the substance of the message, • Kennedy. 456 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. and the grounds upon which it placed the veto, greatly surprised that body — excepting only those who were in the secret. The message presents four objections to the bill : — First, that it is an attempt to create a bank to operate per se over the Union — and therefore unconstitutional. Second, that it is a bank of discount — and therefore unconstitutional. Third, that it was not a bank exclusively confined to the power of deal- ing in exchanges, which ¥/ould be constitutional and eminently useful, if conducted on the plan of tlie exchange operations of the old bank. Fourth, that the assent of the states toward establishing branches was not sufficiently secured. The first three of these objections apply as forcibly to Mr. Swing's bill as to that from the senate. The bank proposed by the secretary was more distinctly a bank of local discount than the senate bank ; for the latter absolutely forbade discount- ing in the District of Columbia, which the other allowed. The discount power was as large in the secretary's plan as in the old bank. Then as to dealing in exchange, Mr. Ewing's plan encouraged it no more than the other, but left this faculty much where it was in the former charter. The •fourth objection is peculiar to the senate's bill ; yet here the difference hangs by a cobweb.* Yet, according to the evidence of Mr. Wise, and other friends of the executive, Mr. Ewing's bill had been adopted by the president and his cabinet as a compromise of the vexed question. The veto message completely bewildered the whig members of Con- gress, and was received with dismay and anxiety by the friends of the ad- ministration throughout the country. Immediate efforts were made by the leading whigs in Congress, and the members of the cabinet, to repair, if possible, the evil effects which threatened the party with distraction and dissolution. A hope yet remained. The president had shadowed out a plan in his veto message, which, as he remarked to a member from Ohio, was a plan long endeared to him. The message was examined, and it occurred at once to every one, upon reading his commendation of the exchange opera- tions of the old bank, that the plan shadowed forth in that document was a bank to be constructed with reference to such dealings in exchanges as were described to be so beneficial to the country in the old bank, and ■which should be disabled from dealing in local discounts. To make sure of the president's concurrence in this matter, two gen- tlemen of the highest standing in Congress — Mr. Berrien, of the senate, and Mr. Sergeant, of the house — were deputed by the whigs to ascertain from him precisely what kind of a bill he would feel himself authorized to approve. * Kennedy ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 457 They executed their commission with great fidelity ; had an interview with the president ; learned from him that he was in favor of a fiscal agent divested of the discounting power, and limited to dealing in bills of ex- change, other than those drawn by a citizen of one state upon another citizen of the same state. A bill was prepared in conformity with these suggestions. It was submitted to Mr, Webster, and by him to the presi- dent ; was approved, and sent to the house of representatives ; reported there, and passed. The interview of Messrs. Berrien and Sergeant with the president was on the 18th of August. The bill was prepared on the 19th, and submitted to the president, and approved by him. It was then returned to Mr. Ser- geant, who, on Friday, the 20th, introduced it into the house as an amend- ment to a bill then pending in committee of the whole.* It was entitled, " An act to provide for the better collection, safekeeping, and disburse- ment of the public revenue, by means of a corporation to be styled the fiscal corporation of the United States." The name of bank was omitted in conformity with the wishes of the president.! On Monday, the 23d of August, at 4 o'clock, the bill was taken out of committee, and passed, without the alteration of a word from the original report, by a vote of 125 to 94. It was passed in the senate, 27 to 22, without amendment, on Friday, the 3d of September. In the meantime, several important measures proposed by the whigs in Congress, had been adopted in both branches, and received the approba- tion of the president. On the 17th of August, the day after his veto of the fiscal bank bill, the president informed Congress that he had signed the bill repealing the sub-treasury law; and on the 18th a bill, which had previously passed the senate, 26 to 23, to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States, was passed in the house of representatives, by a vote of 1 10 to 106 ; the votes of the democratic party in both houses, with very few exceptions, being in the negative. This bill, which was considered a prominent whig measure, was called for by an immense number of petitioners throughout the United States, em- bracing many of the largest capitalists and of the most intelligent among the commercial community, as well as those who were classed among the unfortunate, in consequence of the vicissitudes of trade. The want of a uniform bankrupt law had been seriously felt for nearly forty years, during which the country had been without a system ; particularly by that portion of citizens who were engaged in mercantile pursuits, whether creditors or debtors. While the bill to establish the fiscal corporation was pending in the house of representatives, an event occurred, which probably had an impor- tant influence on the mind of the president in determining his subsequent * Kennedy's Defence of the Twenty-seventh Congress. t Mr. Ewing's Letter, in Niles's Register, vol. Ixi., p. 34. 458 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. action on that measure, and produced the most disastrous effects on the pros- pects of the whig party and the administration of Mr. Tyler. On the 2l3t of August, the following copy of a letter from Hon. John M. Botts, a dis- tinguished whig member of Congress, representing the Richmond district of Virginia, in the house of representatives, appeared in the Madisonian, the official executive paper at Washington. It was accompanied with a notice by the editor, stating that it was forwarded to him late the previous evening, as having been written by the author, for the Coffeehouse, at Richmond, where such scraps of news are made as public as at an ex- change of a commercial city. " Under any other circumstances," the editor remarked, " we should not have felt authorized to publish it. Fore- warned, Mr. Tyler will be forearmed. We shall see whether Mr. Botts, and such as he, will succeed in ' heading' him — whether they will perpe- trate a legislative fraud, such as the letter describes, for the heartless pur- pose of ' fastening' Mr. Tyler, and forcing him into a measure which neither his conscience sanctions, nor his judgment approves." "August 16, 1841. " Dear Sir : The president has finally resolved to veto the bank bill. It will be sent in to-day at 12 o'clock. It is impossible to tell precisely on what ground it will be placed. He has turned, and twisted, and changed his ground so often in his conversations, that it is difficult to con- jecture which of the absurdities he will rest his veto upon. " In the last conversation reported, he said his only objection was to that provision which presumed the assent of the states when no opinion was expressed, and if that was struck out, he would sign the bill. He had no objection to the location of branches by the directors, in the ab- sence of dissent expressed, but whenever it was expressed, the power to discount promissory notes must cease, although the agency might con- tinue, for the purchase and sale of foreign exchange. However, you will see the message. " Our Captain Tyler is making a desperate efTort to set himself up with the locofocos, but he'll be headed yet, and I regret to say, it will end badly for him. He will be an object of execration with both parties ; with the one, for vetoing our bill, which was bad enough — with the other, for signing a worse one ; but he is hardly entitled to sympathy. He has refused to listen to the admonition and entreaties of his best friends, and looked only to the whisperings of ambitious and designing mischief-makers who have collected around him. The veto will be received without a word, laid on the table, and ordered to be printed. To-night we must and will settle matters, as quietly as possible, but they must be settled. " Yours, &c., " Jno. M. Botts. " You'll get a bank bill, I think, but one that will serve only to fasten him, and to which no stock will be subscribed ; and when he finds ou» ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 459 that he is not wiser in banking than all the rest of the world, we may get a better. The excitement here is tremendous, but it will be smothered for the present." The above letter was postmarked " Washington, 16th August," and ad- dressed to " Coffeehouse, Richmond. (Free.) Jno. M. Botts." In explanation of this letter, Mr. Botts published an address to the pub- lic, in which he states that the former was written under strong feelings of indignation at the president's course, and was intended as a private let- ter to Mr. Lynch, proprietor of the Coffeehouse, Richmond (a reading and news-room) ; that it was inadvertently directed to the Coffeehouse, instead of Mr. James H. Lynch. This private letter was published with- out the authority either of the writer or of the individual to whom it was written. Mr. Botts denied the correctness of the inference and construc- tion put upon certain expressions in this letter by the president and his friends. The secretary of the treasury, Mr. Ewing, in his letter of resignation to the president, remarks : " No doubt was thrown out on the subject [of the fiscal corporation bill] by you, in my hearing, or within my knowledge, until the letter of Mr. Botts came to your hands. Soon after the reading of that letter, you threw out strong intimations that you would veto the bill if it were not postpone^. That letter I did and do most unequivocally condemn, but it did not affect the constitutionality of the bill, or justify you in rejecting it on that ground ; it could affect only the expediency of your action, and whatever you may now believe as to the scruples existing in your mind ; in this and in a kindred source there is strong ground to believe they have their origin."* Mr. Webster, in a letter to the two senators from Massachusetts, dated on the 25th of August, remarks : " I know that the president had been greatly troubled, in regard to the former bill, being desirous, on one hand, to meet the wishes of his friends, if he could, and on the other, to do jus- tice to his own opinions. " Having returned this first bill, with objections, a new one was pre- sented to the house, and appeared to be making rapid progress. " I know the president regretted this, and wished the whole subject might have been postponed. At the same time I believed he was dis- posed to consider calmly and conscientiously, whatever other measure might be presented to him. I have not the slightest doubt that the pres- ent bill was honestly and fairly intended as a measure likely to meet the president's approbation. I do not believe that one in fifty of the whigs had any sinister design whatever, if there was an individual who had such design. " But in the meantime Mr. Botts's very extraordinary letter made its ap- pearance. Mr. Botts is a whig of eminence and influence in our ranks. • Niles's Register, vol. Lsi., p. 34. 4G0 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. I need not recall to your mind the contents of that letter. Tt is enough to say that it purported that the whigs designed to circumvent their own president, to ' head him,' as the expression was, and to place him in a condition of embarrassment. " From that moment, I felt that it was the duty of the whigs to forbear from pressing the bank bill further at the present time. "I thought it was but just in them to give decisive proof that they en- tertained no such purpose as seemed to be imputed to them. And since there was reason to believe that the president would be glad of time, for information and reflection, before being called on to form an opinion on another plan for a bank — a plan somewhat new to the country — I thought his known wishes ought to be complied with. I thirdc so still. I think this is a course just to the president, and wise on behalf of the whig party. " A decisive rebuke ought, in my judgment, to be given to the intimation, from whatever quarter, of a disposition among the whigs to embarrass the president. This is the main ground of my opinion ; and such a rebuke, I think, would be found in the general resolution of the party to postpone further proceedings on the subject to the next session, now only a little more than three months off. " The session has been fruitful of important acts. The wants of the treasury have been supplied ; provisions have been made for fortifications, and for the navy ; the repeal of the sub-treasury has passed ; the bank- rupt bill, that great measure of justice and benevolence, has been carried through ; and the land bill seems about to receive the sanction of Con- gress. " In all these measures, forming a mass of legislation more important, I will venture to say, than all the proceedings of Congress for many years past, the president has cordially concurred. " I agree, that the currency question is, nevertheless, the great question before the country ; but considering what has already been accomplished, in regard to other things ; considering the difference of opinion which, exists upon this remaining one ; and considering, especially, that it is the duty of the whigs effectually to repel and put down any supposition that they are endeavoring to put the president in a condition in which he must act under restraint or embarrassment, I am fully and entirely persuaded that the bank subject should be postponed to the next session. " I am, gentlemen, your friend and obedient servant, " Daniel Webster."* On the 9th of September, six days after its passage in Congress, the president returned the fiscal corporation bill to the house of representa- tives, where it originated, with his objections. The following day it was taken up in the house, and after debate, 103 members voted in the affirma- tiye, and 80 in the negative ; consequently the bill was lost, two thirds not * Niles's Register, vol. Ixi., p. 55. ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 461 voting for it. The fiscal bank bill which was returned to the senate on the 16th of August, it having originated in that body, was lost also, for want of a two-third vote. On that bill, when returned, the vote of the senate was 25 ayes, to 25 noes. The Hon. N. P. Tallmadge, one of the senators from the state of New York, endeavored, on each occasion, to induce the president to withhold his veto on the bank question. Being on the most intimate and confidential terms with President Tyler, he, on the 9th of September, addressed him a respectful letter, in which he urged, with great ability, the importance to himself, the party, and the country, of his approval of the fiscal corporation bill. He warned him of the fatal consequences which would result from a second veto. He remarked : " The public mind is too much excited to receive another veto, without the most unequivocal manifestations of dis- approbation, not to say indignation. Such feelings existed, but were sup- pressed, on the former occasion, because it was seen that Congress was making a great and mighty effort to recover from the blow which that message inflicted — a blow the more severe and the less to be resisted, because inflicted by a friend — by him too who had come into power with the rich legacy of the lamented Harrison — namely, ' to understand and carry out the true principles of the government,' of which this measure was the leading one. These feelings can not longer be suppressed, after another exercise of the veto power on the present bill. That hill, it is well understood, was prepared in pursuance of your suggestions, after full consultation with your cabinet, and with other gentleinen ; and its provis- io?is made to conform to your views, and with the unequivocal understand- ing that it would meet your approbation. " It was brought forward, and passed by your friends in Congress, for the purpose of obviating all difficulties on your part, believing, as they did, from most undoubted sources, that its provisions had received your sanc- tion. I can not therefore, for one moment, persuade myself that any credit ought to be given to a rumor of a second veto. " I will hope that you will seize this occasion to sustain the confidence of the party which placed you where you are ; and that you will, by the approval of this bill, render your administration as popular as you will make the country prosperous, and the people happy. " Let no hasty opinions which you have expressed against the bill, pre- vent you from consummating an act so honorable to yourself, so desirable to your party, so important to the country. It is the part of a great man to surmount the obstacles which obstruct the way of smaller men. Wash- ington had his veto of the first bank bill all prepared, with the intention of sending it to Congress ; but that great man changed his purpose at the very last moment, and approved the bill. Is not his example worthy of imitation ? Can you not, ought you not, to exhibit, on this occasion, those high qualities for which he was so distinguished, and which in him com- 462 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. manded the admiration of the whole country 1 How enviable would be your position ! How laudable the ambition to imitate such an example \ By your approval of this bill, the most intimate and cordial relations would be preserved between yourself and your political friends — the confidence of the party would be sustained, and we should all have the proud satis- faction of interchanging those reciprocal acts of kindness and good feel- ing which are the life and soul of all honorable, political associations. May I not hope, then, that this great and patriotic purpose may influence your decision, and that we may all return to our constituents, having by our united action accomplished the great objects for which we were called together, and receive their annunciation of ' Well done, good and faithful servants.'" The president's vetoes of the two bank bills were of course received with far different feelings by the two political parties into which the country was divided. While the whigs viewed the president's course with indignation, and denounced him as unfaithful to the party which had elevated him to his high station, their democratic opponents in Congress and throughout the country, warmly applauded Mr. Tyler for defeating the plans for a national bank, and numerous meetings of the democracy were held, in which the president was highly commended for his independent course. Care, however, was taken, by the democratic leaders, to prevent any encouragement being held out to Mr. Tyler that he would be ac- knowledged as the head of the party, or "a candidate for re-election. Mr. Van Buren, in a letter to his political friends in New York, on the 5th of September, remarked, that " if Mr. Tyler should complete the work so wisely begun, by disapproving the bill for the creation of a fiscal corpora- tion, he will be entitled to the thanks of the country." The peculiar tone of this letter occasioned a general smile, wherever read. With regard to public opinion, it was denied by the opposition in Con- gress that the people had decided in favor of a national bank, by the pres- idential election of 1840. To this the whigs replied, that the newspaper organs of the late administration displayed at their head, during the con- test, the words, " An independent treasury, and no national bank," and the issue thus made was determined against them. That in the election of members of the house of representatives, a majority of about forty of the whole body was elected, composed of known friends of a national bank, and thus the people had decided in favor of such an institution. Mr. Clay, in his speech in the senate on President Tyler's first veto message, said : " It is incontestable that it was the great, absorbing, and controlling ques- tion, in all our recent divisions and exertions. I am firmly convinced, and it is my deliberate judgment, that an immense majority, not less than two thirds of the nation, desire such an institution. All doubts in this re- spect ought to be dispelled, by the recent decisions of the two houses of Congress. I speak of them as evidence of popular opinion. In the house ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 463 of representatives the majority was one hundred and thirty-one to one hun- dred. If the house had been full, and but for the modification of the six- teenth fundamental condition, there would have been a probable majority of forty-seven. Is it to be believed that this large majority of the imme- diate representatives of the people, fresh from among them, and to v/hora the president seemed inclined, in his opening message, to refer this very question, have mistaken the wishes of their constituents ?" In the debate on the second veto, in the house of representatives, Mr. Botts said : " It is certain, that when we came here no doubt was enter- tained by either party that he [the president] would sign a bank bill : our friends thought so, or it would not have been discussed, as it was, for ten or twelve weeks ; the other party thought so, or they would not have got- ten up the cry of repeal ! repeal ! which resounded, not only through the walls of this capitol, but became the watchword of the parly throughout the country. But we are now told that we must wait, give time ; and it has been intimated by the president that the people are not in favor of a bank ! Indeed, sir, the people not in favor of a bank ! Why, what evi- dence is required stronger than that presented 1 You have a majority of thirty-one voting for this bank, with seven absentees who voted for the first bank, which gives you thirty-eight. Several others, who voted against it, acknowledge their constituents to be in favor of some bank, though they were not satisfied with this, which gives you forty, or upward. Which of those voting for a bank does the president charge with misrepresenting his constituents 1 None, that we have heard of. Then suppose each member to represent his constituents fairly, and each one to represent sixty thousand persons, which is a reasonable average, and a majority of forty on this floor gives you a majority of two million four hundred thou- sand of the population of the United States in favor of a bank. ; and yet we are to be told it is a doubtful question, upon which the people have expressed no opinion !" The two principal motives attributed to Mr. Tyler as the cause of his vetoes of the bank bills, were, first, his constitutional scruples, with a de- termination to preserve his character for consistency ; and second, having set his heart upon a second term for the presidency, he was charged with endeavoring to ingratiate himself with the democratic party by his bank vetoes, and thus become the candidate of that party for re-election, in 1844. It is evident that his position as a whig president could not be sustained without an abandonment of the peculiar notions and principles he had formerly professed, as a believer in the Virginia doctrines of a strict construction of the constitution. He had argued and voted in Con- gress against a protective tariff, against the constitutionality of a national bank, and against the constitutionality of internal improvements by the general government ; all leading measures proposed and advocated by the 464 ADMINISTRATION OF TVLER. whig party, in reference to which a near approach to unanimity prevailed among the whigs throughout the nation, in 1840. That the opposition party considered Mr. Tyler as occupying a mista- ken position, while attempting to act with the whig party, is shown by the debates in Congress, and the language of the opposition press. In the de- bate on the fiscal corporation bill, in the senate, Mr. Buchanan said : " The president had shown himself a man of mettle, and had not been willing to sacrifice all his old Virginia principles, for the sake of a party from which he differed on almost every great and leading point of policy." The Richmond Enquirer, previous to the first bank veto, said : " Mr. Ty- ler's j;n/?c/y:)Ze.y, duties, policy, interests, are all with us [the democrats], if he can only see them. But will he see them ? We hope and trust he will not throw himself into the arms of the federal whigs." The general impression of the whigs appears to have been, that Mr. Tyler, in accepting the nomination of the party for vice-president, gave an implied pledge that he would act with the party in carrying out their views and measures. The author of the work before quoted, " Defence of the Whigs, by a Member of the Twenty-seventh Congress," says : "The mass of the whigs, for the most part, knew very little of Mr. Tyler and his opinions ; that they cared less — never contemplating the event of his succession : that as he professed to be the friend of their friend, Mr. Clay — was anxious for his nomination — they had no doubt that he was a whig, and would do the duty of a whig, whatever might betide : that as he had been on the whig ticket for the vice-presidency once before, and came to Harrisburg as a member of the whig convention, he thereby pro- claimed himself to be a whig, and could, without dishonor, be nothing else ; especially that he could not be a secret enemy to the whigs, and harbor an undivilged purpose in his mind to betray them, if ever they should trust him." " The only point upon which any anxiety for Mr. Tyler's whig princi- ples was supposed to have a foundation, was upon the question of the bank. In the senate of the United States he had made a mitigated oppo- sition to the bank ; an opposition consisting of one part scruple and three parts praise. He had spoken there in terms of warm commendation of the bank, and especially of the beneficence of its exchanges. Then again he said : ' If the constitution authorized its creation, no man, with the ex- perience of the past, could well doubt the propriety of a well-regulated and well-guarded bank.' His inaugural address is very significant in ref- erence to the prevailing doubts : ' The public interest demands that if any war has existed between the government and the currency it shall cease. I shall promptly give my sanction to any constitutional measure Avhich, originating in Congress, shall have for its object the restoration of a sound circulating medium,' &c. *• He had said in private, to several friends, that his opinion on the con- ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 449 Buren's administration, and in 1840 aided in the election of Harrison and Tyler. With regard to the state-rights men, or those originally attached to the democratic party, who had disapproved of the removal of the deposites from the bank of the United States, and some other acts of General Jack- son ; most of them opposed the administration of Mr. Van Buren, and eventually amalgamated with the whig party. A considerable portion of the state-rights men, however, among whom was Mr. John C. Calhoun, and a majority of the people of South Carolina, left the whigs, soon after the accession of Mr. Van Buren to the presidency, and became supporters of his administration, particularly sustaining his views respecting the sub-treasury and other currency measures. Consequently, the vote of South Carolina was given to Mr. Van Buren, when he was h candidate for re-election to the presidency, in 1840. The election of 1840, which elevated General Harrison and Mr. Tyler to power, was effected by the joint efforts of the whigs and conservatives, the latter, for all practical purposes, becoming merged in the whig party. The party which supported the re-election of Mr. Van Buren in 1 840, calling themselves democrats, while their opponents gave them the name of loco- focos, were then united throughout the country in advocating the measures of Mr. Van Buren's administration, particularly his recommendation of a sub-treasury, or the separation of the national funds from the state banks, and the collection of the public revenues in gold and silver. After his nomination for vice-president, in 1840, and previous to the election, Mr. Tyler avowed himself a firm and. decided whig, stating that on the subjects of Mr. Clay's compromise tariff law then in operation, which he considered a protective tariff, and the distribution of the pro- ceeds of the sales of the public lands among the states, he concurred with Mr. Clay and General Harrison. On the subject of a national bank, he said, in a letter replying to one from the democratic citizens of Steuben- ville, in October, 1840 : " My opinion of the power of Congress to char- ter a bank of the United States remains unchanged. There is not in the constitution any express grant of power for such a purpose, and it never could be constitutional to exercise that power, save in the event that the powers granted to Congress could not be carried out without resorting to such an institution." In another letter to several citizens of Henrico county, Virginia, dated in October, 1840, he remarked: "My votes are repeatedly recorded on the journals of Congress, against the power of Congress over the subject of internal improvement, in all its phases and aspects, as well in regard to roads and canals, as to harbors and rivers. The first, viz., appropriations to roads and canals, have well nigh en- tirely ceased, while annual appropriations, to a large amount, have been made to harbors and rivers, with the sanction and approval of the presi- dent of the United States." 29 450 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. The twenty-seventh Congress met in extra session, on the 31st day of May, 1841. The session closed on the 13th of September following. John White, a whig member from Kentucky, was elected speaker of the house of representatives, having received on the first vote, viva voce, 121 votes, against 84 for John W. Jones, of Virginia (democrat), and 16 scat- tering. In the senate, as already stated, there was also a decided major- ity in favor of the administration. A committee of the house being proposed to join one from the senate, as usual, to wait on the president of the United States, and inform him that a quorum of the two houses had assembled, and that Congress was ready to proceed to business, Sic, Mr. M'Keon, of New York, moved to amend the resolution appointing the committee, by striking out the word " president," and inserting the words " vice-president, now occupying the office of president of the United States." This motion Mr. M'Keon sup- ported in a constitutional argument, which was replied to by Mr. Wise, of Virginia, and, the amendment was rejected, and the original resolution adopted, by which the house recognised John Tyler as president of the United States. The message of the president was generally well received by the friends of the new administration. Though cautiously worded on the subject of a national bank, and somewhat ambiguous as to his own views with regard to such an institution, it was believed that he would sanction any bill that might receive the support of a majority of both houses of Congress, for the incorporation of a bank or fiscal agent, for the regulation of the currency, and for managing the funds of the government. At the opening of the session, the president's message was accompanied by the report of the secretary of the treasury. This paper earnestly rec- ommended the establishment of a bank. It added : " If such an institution can be so conceived in principle and guarded in its details as to remove all scruples touching the question of constitutional power, and thus avoid the objections which have been urged against those heretofore created by Congress, it will, in the opinion of the undersigned, produce the happiest results, and confer lasting and important benefits on the country." The bank was thus brought distinctly to the consideration of Congress, both by the president and the secretary. The president was desirous that Congress should call on the secretary to report a plan for a bank. He expressed this wish to more than one member, immediately upon the opening of the session ; in fact, invited the call. Mr. Wise, his confidential friend, introduced a resolution to this end into the house, on the 3d of June. Mr. Clay did the same thing in the senate, on the 7th of June. On the r2th of June, the secretary, Mr. Ewing, made his report, and with it a bill for the incorporation of " The Fiscal Bank of the United States." ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 451 This bill was represented by the secretary as creating an institution, in the general plan and frame of which he had endeavored to free it from the constitutional objections which have been urged against those heretofore created by Congress. This plan accordingly differed from the former bank of the United States in two essential characteristics — both of which, it was understood, were introduced upon Mr. Tyler's suggestion, and in deference to his peculiar views of the constitution. First, it proposed a bank to be incorporated in the District of Columbia. Second, it was to have the power to establish branches only with the assent of the states. Many provisions were made to guard against the abuses which were known or alleged to have crept into the former banks.* The amount of capital named was thirty millions of dollars ; in other respects — in privilege of discount and exchange, &c. — the institution pro- posed was similar to the two former banks incorporated by Congress. This plan of a national bank proposed by the secretary of the treasury, received the approbation of every member of the cabinet, as the only plan which would be likely to succeed, considering the opinions of the acting president. Mr. Webster afterward remarked, that " it was the part of wisdom, not to see how much of a case they could make out against the president, but how they could get on as well as they might with the pres- ident." Mr. Wise, a confidential friend of the president, in a letter writ- ten after the extra session, observed, that " the secretary of the treasury, Mr. Ewing himself, proposed a plan which he recommended to Congress as one which would conduct our finances and commerce, equalize ex- changes, regulate currency, and avoid all constitutional difficulties. This was the very desideratum, if it was what he described it to be, and this was emphatically, by a whig administration recommendation from the proper department, said to be acquiesced in by the president, and it was called for by both houses of Congress. It was justly regarded as the whig measure of the first moment, and would as such have been met and treated doubtless by the opposition or Van Buren party." Mr. E wing's report and bill were referred in the senate to the select committee on the currency, of which Mr. Clay was chairman. That com- mittee reported, on the 21st of June, a bill in all essential features the same as that proposed by the secretary of the treasury and supposed to have been approved by the president, with one exception. That exception re- garded the establishment of branches. The bank, on this plan, as well as in the other, was to be situated in the District of Columbia (at Washington city) ; it was to have the same capi- tal of thirty millions — with a provision for future increase, if Ccnigxesa should think it advisable, to fifty millions. • Kennedy's Defence of the Twenty-seventh ^jngress. 452 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. It provided for a government subscription of ten millions, instead of the secretary's six ; and it dispensed with the fourth instalment of the surplus revenue, amounting to upward of nine millions, which the secre- tary's bill proposed to make part of the capital. It allowed dividends as high as seven per cent. ; the other restricted them to six ; it gave nine paid directors, and required a majority to transact business : the executive scheme proposed seven paid directors, and three a quorum for business. It was somewhat more stringent in its regulations than the bill of the executive ; among other particulars, in these ; — It forbade the appointment of any member of Congress, or of a state legislature, or officer or contractor of the federal or state governments, as a director in the bank or its branches : It forbade all discounting within the District of Columbia, or loans, ex- cept to the government : It gave additional powers to facilitate free examination of the bank by the secretary of the treasury : It added restrictions to the use, and guards against the abuse, of proxies : It forbade the officers from borrowing money or obtaining discounts from the bank, or contracting debts with it. In these and sundry other particulars, the senate bill was more guarded and restrained than the executive bill. These diversities between the two schemes mainly respect the efficiency of the proposed institution. They did not touch any debatable question of constitutional power. Such a question of constitutional power, and the only one, was pre- sented in the clause relating to the establishment of branches. In all other points the bills are the same in principle, and with very little varia- tion, coincident in detail — almost identical in phraseology. On this point of establishment of branches — the 16th fundamental rule in each bill — the senate plan differed from that of the executive, to the following extent : — The executive bill authorized the corporation to establish a bank for discount and deposite, in any state whose legislature should give its as- sent to such an act ; such branch being once established, not to be with- drawn without the assent of Congress : or, instead of establishing such office, the directors were authorized, from time to time, to employ any individual agent, or bank — with the approbation of the secretary of the treasury — at any place, to transact the business of the bank, other than for ti\e purposes of discount. The senate bill, first made it obligatory upon the corporation to estab- lish an office of discount and deposite, in any state in which two thou- sand shares siici,i(j have been subscribed, whenever, upon the application of the legislature ot ^,ich state, Congress should require the same ; sec- ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 453 ond, the directors were authorized to establish such offices in any state or territory, whenever they should think it expedient, without the assent of the legislature ; third, or instead of establishing such offices, to employ an agent or bank, to be approved by the secretary of the treasury — at any place — to transact the business of the bank, other than for the purposes of discount. This latter clause being to the same effect as that in the executive bill. The above is a view of the two provisions. It will be seen how very narrow was the difference between Mr. Tyler's proposition and Mr. Clay's ; a difference, so far as constitutional power was concerned, that rested upon the naked alternative of — Branches to be established originally with the assent of the states, and that assent, once given, to be irrevocable ; or branches to be established when and where found convenient, without that original assent. The president maintained in vindication of the principle inserted in his bill, that although he could find power in the constitution to establish a bank, he could find none to establish a branch ; that to get this absent power, it was necessary that Congress should apply to each state for a grant of it. Mr. Clay, on the other hand, held that if the constitution did not give the power to establish a branch, no assent of a state could give it, and, therefore, that it was unconstitutional to attempt to derive power from the assent of a state. Upon this logic, a division of opinion arose in Congress ; not as to which of those positions was the sound one. It was believed there was not a man in either house who honestly and sincerely held with the pres- ident. But the question which now divided Congress was — Can not the president be gratified as to this notion of his regarding the assent of the states ? Can not Congress, if it finds motive to do so, as a matter of ex- pediency merely, waive and forego its right to establish a branch, and ordain tnat that right shall not be exercised except in such case as when a state may express a wish for a branch ? Upon this point, there was a very genera], perhaps unanimous, concur- rence of the whig party in the affirmative. Is it expedient to establish such a precedent ?* May it not be used, hereafter, to the prejudice of good legislation 1 On this point there was less unanimity. Some mem- bers were strongly opposed. Then it was suggested that the power might be waived, with a protestation. Many other suggestions were made, evincing great solicitude to comply with the president's wish, if possible. The difficulty was, at last, thought to be settled by a compromise ; to which, it was reported, the president had agreed. There was great re- pugnance to it among the whig members, but it was finally agreed to, be- cause the majority thought the president wished it. 454 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. The compromise was this : The directors to have power to establish a branch with the assent of the state, and when established, not to be with- drawn without the consent of Congress : provided, first, that the power to establish a branch shall be unrestrained, in respect to any slate which shall not, at the first session of its legislature, after the passage of the charter, express its dissent ; in defect of which, assent shall be presumed. And provided, second, that whenever Congress shall deem it necessary and proper to the execution of powers granted by the constitution, to es- tablish a branch in any state, then Congress may require the directors to establish such branch. The compromise being thus arranged in conformity, as it was sup- posed, with the president's views, it was incorporated in the bill, and the whigs then hastened to pass it. There is, however, no reason to suppose that the president ever gave any distinct promise to accept the compro- mise, although such a belief was prevalent.* The bill incorporating the fiscal bank was finally passed by Congress on the 6th of August, and sent to the president for his decision. The vote in the senate, where the bill originated, was 26 ayes to 23 noes ; in the house of representatives, 128 ayes to 97 noes. The president retained the bill until the 16th of August, and during this interval the greatest anxi- ety prevailed among the whigs, with regard to the course he might con- clude to pursue. The president's house was filled with visiters from the ranks of the opposition, some of whom became his intimate advisers. When the whigs learned that he complained that they kept aloof from him, and thinking it their duty to do everything in their power to avert the threatened veto, they waited upon him in delegations, to apprize him of the feeling which was likely to arise in the country upon this act. One dele- gation in particular, of great respectability — the whigs representing Ohio — called upon him on Friday evening, the 13th of August. They told him frankly what they feared ; assured him of the earnest desire of the party to preserve harmony and good will toward the president : repre- sented to him the deep concern of the nation in the bank question. He protested his own intense feeling upon the subject ; spoke apparently with frankness of the difl^culties he felt in regard to certain points in the com- promise section ; suggested an amendment which would render this sec- tion acceptable to him ; declared his entire freedom from all prejudice or extrinsic influence in regard to the measure ; wept ; promised to pray for guidance ; and then asked, by way of remonstrance : " Why did you not send me Ewing's bill ?" " Would you sign that bill ?" inquired one of the delegation. " I would," was the reply. Such was the interview, as described by those who witnessed it. The Ohio members left his apartment fully possessed with the opinion that the • Kennedy. ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 455 ptesideTit was sincerely desirous to have a bank sucTi as liis cabinet min- ister had reported. Although they had reason to expect a veto of the pend- ing bill, they believed that all difficulty would be removed by adopting the president's plan as it came from the secretary. This opinion they infused into the whigs of Congress ; and the hopes of a favorable settlement of the question began to brighten among them. Subsequently the president informed one of the Ohio delegation that he wished to recall what he had said respecting Mr. E wing's bill, which he declared that he had not read when he said that he would sign it if it were sent to him. He now said tbat fee could not sign that, but added, " If you will examine the message [veto] I hav@ sent to-day, you will find shadowed forth a much better bank there, one that has been long endeared to me."* During the time while the president held the bank bill under considera- tion, among other friends who urged him to allow the bill to become a law, Mr. Botts, of Virginia, wrote him a confidential and respectful letter on the 10th of August, from which we make the following ex- tracts : — " It is generally understood that you are to veto the bank bill. If it he so, have you contemplated the consequence, in all its bearings? Can your cabinet sustain you in the veto. Will they not be compelled to re- sign 1 For whatever may be your view^s as to the principles upon which you came into power, it can not be denied that those on which they have been sustained by the country require at their hands an earnest support of the measure that has been demanded by the people through their rep- resentatives, by a majority exceeding the entire representation of Virginia and South Carolina, the two states in which the strongest opposition is supposed to exist. " The sub-treasury is repealed ; and the deposite system of 1836 is also repealed in one house, and will pass the other. Congress will not con- sent to take the plan suggested by the secretary of the treasury. Will you not find it impossible to carry on the government, and will not a resig- nation be forced upon you ? " On the contrary, if you can reconcile this bill to yourself, all is sun- shine and calm. Your administration will meet with the warm, hearty, zealous support of the whole whig party, and you will retire from the great theatre of national politics with the thanks, and plaudits, and approbation of your countrymen." Three days after his interview with the Ohio delegation, President Ty- ler sent the bank bill back to the senate, in which it originated, with his veto message. So far as this act signified his dissent from the senate bill, it surprised nobody. The recent reports, especially that from the Ohio delegation, had prepared Congress to expect it. But the substance of the message, • Kennedy. 456 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. and the grounds upon which it placed the veto, greatly surprised that body — excepting only those who were in the secret. The message presents four objections to the bill : — First, that it is an attempt to create a bank to operate per ss over the Union — and therefore unconstitutional. Second, that it is a bank of discount — and therefore unconstitutional. Third, that it was not a bank exclusively confined to the power of deal- ing in exchanges, which would be constitutional and eminently useful, if conducted on the plan of the exchange operations of the old bank. Fourth, that the assent of the states toward establishing branches was not sufficiently secured. The first three of these objections apply as forcibly to Mr. Ewing's bill as to that from the senate. The bank proposed by the secretary was more distinctly a bank of local discount than the senate bank ; for the latter absolutely forbade discount- ing in the District of Columbia, which the other allowed. The discount power was as large in the secretary's plan as in the old bank. Then as to dealing in exchange, Mr. Ewing's plan encouraged it no more than the other, but left this faculty much where it was in the former charter. The fourth objection is peculiar to the senate's bill ; yet here the difference hangs by a cobweb.* Yet, according to the evidence of Mr. Wise, and other friends of the executive, Mr. Ewing's bill had been adopted by the president and his cabinet as a compromise of the vexed question. The veto message completely bewildered the whig members of Con- gress, and was received with dismay and anxiety by the friends of the ad- ministration throughout the country. Immediate efforts were made by the leading whigs in Congress, and the members of the cabinet, to repair, if possible, the evil effects which threatened the party with distraction and dissolution. A hope yet remained. The president had shadov/ed out a plan in his veto message, which, as he remarked to a member from Ohio, was a plan long endeared to him. The message was examined, and it occurred at once to every one, upon reading his commendation of the exchange opera- tions of the old bank, that the plan shadowed forth in that document was a bank to be constructed with reference to such dealings in exchanges as were described to be so beneficial to the country in the old bank, and which should be disabled from dealing in local discounts. To make sure of the president's concurrence in this matter, two gen- tlemen of the highest standing in Congress — Mr. Berrien, of the senate, and Mr. Sergeant, of the house — were deputed by the whigs to ascertain from him precisely what kind of a bill he would feel himself authorized to approve. • Kennedy ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 457 They executed their commission with great fidelity ; had an interview with the president ; learned from him that he was in favor of a fiscal agent divested of the discounting power, and limited to dealing in bills of ex- change, other than those drawn by a citizen of one state upon another citizen of the same state. A bill was prepared in conformity with these suggestions. It was submitted to Mr. Webster, and by him to the presi- dent ; was approved, and sent to the house of representatives ; reported there, and passed. The interview of Messrs. Berrien and Sergeant with the president was on the 18th of August. The bill was prepared on the 19th, and submitted to the president, and approved by him. It was then returned to Mr. Ser- geant, who, on Friday, the 20th, introduced it into the house as an amend- ment to a bill then pending in committee of the whole.* It was entitled, " An act to provide for the better collection, safekeeping, and disburse- ment of the public revenue, by means of a corporation to be styled the fiscal corporation of the United States." The name of bank was omitted in'conformity with the wishes of the president.! On Monday, the 23d of August, at 4 o'clock, the bill was taken out of committee, and passed, without the alteration of a word from the original report, by a vote of 125 to 94. It was passed in the senate, 27 to 22, without amendment, on Friday, the 3d of September. In the meantime, several important measures proposed by the whigs in Congress, had been adopted in both branches, and received the approba- tion of the president. On the 17th of August, the day after his veto of the fiscal bank bill, the president informed Congress that he had signed the bill repealing the sub-treasury law; and on the 18th a bill, which had previously passed the senate, 26 to 23, to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States, was passed in the house of representatives, by a vote of 110 to 106 ; the votes of the democratic party in both houses, with very few exceptions, being in the negative. This bill, which was considered a prominent whig measure, was called for by an immense number of petitioners throughout the United States, em- bracing many of the largest capitalists and of the most intelligent among the commercial community, as well as those who were classed among the unfortunate, in consequence of the vicissitudes of trade. The want of a uniform bankrupt law had been seriously felt for nearly forty years, during which the country had been without a system ; particularly by that portion of citizens who were engaged in mercantile pursuits, whether creditors or debtors. While the bill to establish the fiscal corporation was pending in the house of representatives, an event occurred, which probably had an impor- tant influence on the mind of the president in determining his subsequent • Kennedy's Defence of the Twenty-seventh Congress, t Mr. Ewing's Letter, in Niles's Register, vol. Id., p. 34. 458 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. action on that measure, and produced the most disastrous effects on the pros- pects of the whig party and the administration of Mr. Tyler. On the 21st of August, the following copy of a letter from Hon. John M. Botts, a dis- tinguished whig memher of Congress, representing the Richmond district of Virginia, in the house of representatives, appeared in the Madisonian, the official executive paper at Washington. It was accompanied with a notice by the editor, stating that it was forwarded to him late the previous evening, as having been written by the author, for the Coffeehouse, al Richmond, where such scraps of news are made as public as at an ex- change of a commercial city. " Under any other circumstances," the editor remarked, " we should not have felt authorized to publish it. Fore- warned, Mr. Tyler will be forearmed. We shall see whether Mr. Botts, and such as he, will succeed in ' heading' him — whether they will perpe- trate a legislative fraud, such as the letter describes, for the heartless pur- pose of ' fastening' Mr. Tyler, and forcing him into a measure which neither his conscience sanctions, nor his judgment approves." " August 16, 1841. "• Dear Sir : The president has finally resolved to veto the bank bill. It will be sent in to-day at 12 o'clock. It is impossible to tell precisely on what ground it will be placed. He has turned, and twisted, and changed his ground so often in his conversations, that it is difficult to con- jecture which of the absurdities he will rest his veto upon. " In the last conversation reported, he said his only objection was to that provision which presumed the assent of the states when no opinion was expressed, and if that was struck out, he would sign the bill. He had no objection to the location of branches by the directors, in the ab- sence of dissent expressed, but whenever it was expressed, the power to discount promissory notes must cease, although the agency might con- tinue, for the purchase and sale of foreign exchange. However, you will see the message. " Our Captain Tyler is making a desperate effort to set himself up with the locofocos, but he'll be headed yet, and I regret to say, it will end badly for him. He will be an object of execration with both parties ; with the one, for vetoing our bill, which was bad enough — with the other, for signing a worse one ; but he is hardly entitled to sympathy. He has refused to listen to the admonition and entreaties* of his best friends, and looked only to the whisperings of ambitious and designing mischief-makers who have collected around him. The veto will be received without a word, laid on the table, and ordered to be printed. To-night we must and will settle matters, as quietly as possible, but they must be settled. " Yours, &c., " Jno. M. Botts. " You'll get a bank bill, I think, but one that will serve only to fasten him, and to which no stock will be subscribed ; and when he finds ou» ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 459 that he is not wiser in banking than all the rest of the worlds we may get a better. The excitement here is tremendous, but it will be smothered for the present." The above letter was postmarked " Washington, 16th August," and ad- dressed to " Coffeehouse, Richmond. (Free.) Jno. M. Botts." In explanation of this letter, Mr. Botts published an address to the pub- lic, in which he states that the former was written under strong feelings of indignation at the president's course, and was intended as a private let- ter to Mr. Ijynch, proprietor of the Coffeehouse, Richmond (a reading and news-room) ; that it was inadvertently directed to the Coffeehouse, instead of Mr. James H. Lynch. This private letter was published with- out the authority either of the writer or of the individual to whom it was written, Mr. Botts denied the correctness of the inference and construc- tion put upon certain expressions in this letter by the president and his friends. The secretary of the treasury, Mr. Ewing, in his letter of resignation to the president, remarks : " No doubt was thrown out on the subject [of the fiscal corporation bill] by you, in my hearing, or within my knowledge, until the letter of Mr. Botts came to your hands. Soon after the reading of that letter, you threw out strong intimations that you would veto the bill if it were not postponed. That letter I did and do most unequivocally condemn, but it did not affect the constitutionality of the bill, or justify you in rejecting it on that ground ; it could affect only the expediency of your action, and whatever you may now believe as to the scruples existing in your mind ; in this and in a kindred source there is strong ground to believe they have their origin."* Mr. Webster, in a letter to the two senators from Massachusetts, dated on the 25th of August, remarks : " I know that the president had been greatly troubled, in regard to the former bill, being desirous, on one hand, to meet the wishes of his friends, if he could, and on the other, to do jus- tice to his own opinions. " Having returned this first bill, with objections, a new one was pre- sented to the house, and appeared to be making rapid progress. " I know the president regretted this, and wished the whole subject might have been postponed. At the same time I believed he was dis- posed to consider calmly and conscientiously, whatever other measure might be presented to him. I have not the slightest doubt that the pres- ent bill was honestly and fairly intended as a measure likely to meet the president's approbation. I do not believe that one in fifty of the whigs had any sinister design whatever, if there was an individual who had such design. " But in the meantime Mr. Botts's very extraordinary letter made its ap- pearance. Mr. Botts is a whig of eminence and influence in our ranks. • Niles's Register, vol. Ixi., p. 34. 460' ADMIXISTKATION OF TYLER. I need not recall to your mind the contents of that letter. Tt is enougli to say that it purported that the whigs designed to circumvent their own president, to ' head him,' as the expression was, and to place him in a condition of embarrassment. " From that moment, I felt that it was the duty of the whigs to forbear from pressing the bank bill further at the present time. " I thought it was but just in them to give decisive proof that they en- tertained no such purpose as seemed to be imputed to them. And since there was reason to believe that the president would be glad of time, for information and reflection, before being called on to form an opinion on another plan for a bank — a plan somewhat new to the country — I thought his known wishes ought to be complied with. I think so still. I think this is a course just to the president, and wise on behalf of the whig party. " A decisive rebuke ought, in my judgment, to be given to the intimation, from whatever quarter, of a disposition among the whigs to embarrass the president. This is the main ground of my opinion ; and such a rebuke, I think, would be found in the general resolution of the party to postpone further proceedings on the subject to the next session, now only a little more than three months off*. " The session has been fruitfnl of important acts. The wants of the treasury have been supplied ; provisions have been made for fortifications, and for the navy ; the repeal of the sub-treasury has passed ; the bank- rupt bill, that great measure of justice and benevolence, has been carried through ; and the land bill seems about to receive the sanction of Con- gress. " In all these measures, forming a mass of legislation more important, I will venture to say, than all the proceedings of Congress for many years past, the president has cordially concurred. " I agree, that the currency question is, nevertheless, the great question before the country ; but considering what has already been accomplished, in regard to other things ; considering the diff'erence of opinion which exists upon this remaining one ; and considering, especially, that it is the duty of the whigs effectually to repel and put down any supposition that they are endeavoring to put the president in a condition in which he must act under restraint or embarrassment, I am fully and entirely persuaded that the bank subject should be postponed to the next session. " I am, gentlemen, your friend and obedient servant, " Daniel Webster."* On the 9th of September, six days after its passage in Congress, the president returned the fiscal corporation bill to the house of representa- tives, where it originated, with his objections. The following day it was taken up in the house, and after debate, 103 members voted in the affirma- tive, and 80 in the negative ; consequently the bill was lost, two thirds not * Niles's Register, vol. bd., p. 55. ADMINISTRATION OF T7LER. 461 voting for it. The fiscal bank bill which was returned to the senate on the 16th of August, it having originated in that body, was lost also, for want of a two-third vote. On that bill, when returned, the vote of the senate was 25 ayes, to 25 noes. The Hon. N. P. Tallmadge, one of the senators from the state of New York, endeavored, on each occasion, to induce the president to withhold his veto on the bank question. »Being on the most intimate and confidential terms with President Tyler, he, on the 9th of September, addressed him a respectful letter, in which he urged, with great ability, the importance to himself, the party, and the country, of his approval of the fiscal corporation bill. He warned him of the fatal consequences which would result from a second veto. He remarked : " The public mind is too much excited to receive another veto, without the most unequivocal manifestations of dis- approbation, not to say indignation. Such feelings existed, but were sup- pressed, on the former occasion, because it was seen that Congress was making a great and mighty effort to recover from the blow which that message inflicted — a blow the more severe and the less to be resisted, because inflicted by a friend — by him too who had come into power with the rich legacy of the lamented Harrison — namely, ' to understand and carry out the true principles of the government,' of which this measure was the leading one. These feelings can not longer be suppressed, after another exercise of the veto power on the present bill. That bill, it is well understood, was prepared in pursuance of your suggestions, after full consultation with your cabinet, and with other gentlemen ; and its provis- ions made to conform to your views, and with the unequivocal understand- ing that it would meet your approbation. " It was brought forward, and passed by your friends in Congress, for the purpose of obviating all difficulties on your part, believing, as they did, from most undoubted sources, that its provisions had received your sanc- tion. I can not therefore, for one moment, persuade myself that any credit ought to be given to a rumor of a second veto. " I will hope that you will seize this occasion to sustain the confidence of the party which placed you where you are ; and that you will, by the approval of this bill, render your administration as popular as you will make the country prosperous, and the people happy. " Let no hasty opinions which you have expressed against the bill, pre- vent you from consummating an act so honorable to yourself, so desirable to your party, so important to the country. It is the part of a great man to surmount the obstacles which obstruct the way of smaller men. Wash- ington had his veto of the first bank bill all prepared, with the intention of sending it to Congress ; but that great man changed his purpose at the very last moment, and approved the bill. Is not his example worthy of imitation ? Can you not, ought you not, to exhibit, on this occasion, those high qualities for which he was so distinguished, and which in him com- 462 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. manded the admiration of the whole country 1 How enviable would be your position ! How laudable the ambition to imitate such an example \ By your approval of this bill, the most intimate and cordial relations would be preserved between yourself and your political friends — the confidence of the party would be sustained, and we should all have the proud satis- faction of interchanging those reciprocal ^acts of kindness and good feel- ing which are the life and soul of all honorable, political associations. May I not hope, then, that this great and patriotic purpose may influence your decision, and that we may all return to our constituents, having by our united action accomplished the great objects for which we were called together, and receive their annunciation of ' Well done, good and faithful servants.'" The president's vetoes of the two bank bills were of course received with far different feelings by the two political parties into which the country was divided. While the whigs viewed the president's course with indignation, and denounced him as unfaithful to the party which had elevated him to his high station, their democratic opponents in Congress and throughout the country, warmly applauded Mr. Tyler for defeating the plans for a national bank, and numerous meetings of the democracy were held, in which the president was highly commended for his independent course. Care, however, was taken, by the democratic leaders, to prevent any encouragement being held out to Mr. Tyler that he would be ac- knowledged as the head of the party, or a candidate for re-election. Mr. Van Buren, in a letter to his political friends in New York, on the 5th of September, remarked, that " if Mr. Tyler should complete the work so wisely begun, by disapproving the bill for the creation of a fiscal corpora- tion, he will be entitled to the thanks of the country." The peculiar tone of this letter occasioned a general smile, wherever read. With regard to public opinion, it was denied by the opposition in Con- gress that the people had decided in favor of a national bank, by the pres- idential election of 1840. To this the whigs replied, that the newspaper organs of the late administration displayed at their head, during the con- test, the words, " An independent treasury, and no national bank," and the issue thus made was determined against them. That in the election of members of the house of representatives, a majority of about forty of the whole body was elected, composed of known friends of a national bank, and thus the people had decided in favor of such an institution. Mr. Clay, in his speech in the senate on President Tyler's first veto message, said : *' It is incontestable that it was the great, absorbing, and controlling ques- tion, in all our recent divisions and exertions. I am firmly convinced, and it is my deliberate judgment, that an immense majority, not less than two thirds of the nation, desire such an institution. All doubts in this re- spect ought to be dispelled, by the recent decisions of the two houses of Congress. I speak of them as evidence of popular opinion. In the house ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 463 of representatives the majority was one hundred and thirty-one to one hun- dred. If the house had been full, and but for the modification of the six- teenth fundamental condition, there would have been a probable majority of forty -seven. Is it to be believed that this large majority of the imme- diate representatives of the people, fresh from among them, and to whom the president seemed inclined, in his opening message, to refer this very question, have mistaken the wishes of their constituents 1" In the debate on the second veto, in the house of representatives, Mr. Botts said : " It is certain, that when we came here no doubt was enter- tained by either party that he [the president] would sign a bank bill : our friends thought so, or it would not have been discussed, as it was, for ten or twelve weeks ; the other party thought so, or they would not have got- ten up the cry of repeal ! repeal ! which resounded, not only through the walls of this capitol, but became the watchword of the parly throughout the country. But we are now told that we must wait, give time ; and it has been intimated by the president that the people are not in favor of a bank ! Indeed, sir, the people not in favor of a bank ! Why, what evi- dence is required stronger than that presented ? You have a majority of thirty-one voting for this bank, with seven absentees who voted for the first bank, which gives you thirty-eight. Several others, who voted against it, acknowledge their constituents to be in favor of some bank, though they were not satisfied with this, which gives you forty, or upward. Which of those voting for a bank does the president charge with misrepresenting his constituents 1 None, that we have heard of. Then suppose each member to represent his constituents fairly, and each one to represent sixty thousand persons, which is a reasonable average, and a majority of forty on this floor gives you a majority of two million four hundred thou- sand of the population of the United States in favor of a bank ; and yet we are to be told it is a doubtful question, upon which the people have expressed no opinion !" The two principal motives attributed to Mr. Tyler as the cause of his vetoes of the bank bills, were, first, his constitutional scruples, with a de- termination to preserve his character for consistency ; and second, having set his heart upon a second term for the presidency, he was charged with endeavoring to ingratiate himself with the democratic party by his bank vetoes, and thus become the candidate of that party for re-election, in 1844. It is evident that his position as a whig president could not be sustained without an abandonment of the peculiar notions and principles he had formerly professed, as a believer in the Virginia doctrines of a strict construction of the constitution. He had argued and voted in Con- gress against a protective tariff, against the constitutionality of a national bank, and against the constitutionality of internal improvements by the general government ; all leading measures proposed and advocated by the 464 ADMINISTRATION OF TVLER. whig party, in reference to which a near approach to unanimity prevailed among the whigs throughout the nation, in 1840. That the opposition party considered Mr. Tyler as occupying a mista- ken position, while attempting to act with the whig party, is shown by the debates in Congress, and the language of the opposition press. In the de- bate on the fiscal corporation bill, in the senate, Mr. Buchanan said : " The president had shown himself a man of mettle, and had not been willing to sacrifice all his old Virginia principles, for the sake of a party from which he differed on almost every great and leading point of policy." The Richmond Enquirer, previous to the first bank veto, said : " Mr. Ty- ler's j9rmc?J5/ei', duties, policy, interests, are all with us [the democrats], if he can only see them. But will he see them ? We hope and trust he will not throw himself into the arms of the federal whigs." The general impression of the whigs appears to have been, that Mr. Tyler, in accepting the nomination of the party for vice-president, gave an implied pledge that he would act with the party in carrying out their views and measures. The author of the work before quoted, " Defence of the Whigs, by a Member of the Twenty-seventh Congress," says : "The mass of the whigs, for the most part, knew very little of Mr. Tyler and his opinions ; that they cared less — never contemplating the event of his succession : that as he professed to be the friend of their friend, Mr. Clay — was anxious for his nomination — they had no doubt that he was a whig, and would do the duty of a whig, whatever might betide : that as he had been on the whig ticket for the vice-presidency once before, and came to Harrisburg as a member of the whig convention, he thereby pro- claimed himself to be a whig, and could, without dishonor, be nothing else ; especially that he could not be a secret enemy to the whigs, and harbor an undivulged purpose in his mind to betray them, if ever they should trust him." " The only point upon which any anxiety for Mr. Tyler's whig princi- ples was supposed to have a foundation, was upon the question of the bank. In the senate of the United States he had made a mitigated oppo- sition to the bank ; an opposition consisting of one part scruple and three parts praise. He had spoken there in terms of warm commendation of the bank, and especially of the beneficence of its exchanges. Then again he said : ' If the constitution "authorized its creation, no man, with the ex- perience of the past, could well doubt the propriety of a well-regulated and well-guarded bank.' His inaugural address is very significant in ref- erence to the prevailing doubts : ' The public interest demands that if any war has existed between the government and the currency it shall cease. I shall promptly give my sanction to any constitutional measure which, originating in Congress, shall have for its object the restoration of a sound circulating medium,' &c. *' He had said in private, to several friends, that his opinion on the con- ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 465 stiCutionality of a bank had undergone a change. Indeed, we infer as much as this from a letter written by him to the Henrico committee du- ring the canvass of 1840. It is clear he could conceive a case in which it might be constitutional. Add to these the expressions contained in the inaugural address, and it is quite apparent that the mind of Mr. Tyler was in a.state of transition, at least, on this topic. Nay, that he had absolutely changed, as he told several. The whole whig press throughout the Union, after the inaugural address, proclaimed him as safe upon the bank question ; the Madisonian — his peculiar organ — so proclaimed him. Why did he not deny it, and say he was misapprehended ?" The foregoing expresses the view« entertained by the whig party gener- ally with regard to the course of Mr. Tyler. On the other hand his confiden- tial friends denied that his conduct was fairly subject to the charge of in- consistency or unfaithfulness to his professions, but that he was actuated only by conscientious motives and a regard for his oft-repeated and un- changed opinions on the bank question. Mr. Rives, in defending the president's first veto, in the senate, said : " There being nothing in the opinions of the fathers and founders of the republican school to induce President Tyler, as a consistent disciple of that school for twenty-five years past, and one who had over and over expressed his conviction of the unconstitutionality of a bank of the United States, to change that opin- ion, what course but that which he has pursued was left to him when the bill for such a bank was presented for his approval 1 Who is the individ- ual that by imiversal consent is recognised as the founder of what the president refers to as ' the republican school?' It is Thomas Jefferson. For however I concur with the senator from Kentucky [Mr. Clay] in pay- ing all homage to the unrivalled virtues and ever-glorious public services of George Washington, I must be permitted to say that he has not gener- ally been considered as belonging to that republican party to which the president alludes." The president's veto of the fiscal corporation bill, was received with the greatest indignation by the whig party throughout the country. Many regretted that the measure had been urged in Congress after the veto of the first bank bill, but the public disapprobation of the president's conduct was general among those who had been the means of elevating him to the position he now occupied with power and disposition to thwart their wishes. The first effects of the veto on the whig party were felt at the seat of government. The fiscal corporation bill was returned to Congress on the 9th of September ; on Saturday, the 11th, all the members of the cabinet, except Mr. Webster, feeling that all confidence between the president and themselves was gone, resigned. The causes of their resignation were afterward given to the public by Mr. E wing, secretary of the treasury, Mr. Bell, secretary of war, Mr. Badger, secretary of the navy, and Mr. Crit- 30 466 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. tenden, attorney-general.* Mr. Granger, postmaster-general, did not pub- lish his letter of resignation, but was understood to have concurred with his colleagues, and the advice of his whig friends in Congress, and his resignation followed soon after the other members of the cabinet. Mr. Webster, having concluded to remain in the cabinet, as secretary of state, addressed a letter, on the 13th of September, to the editors of the National Intelligencer, in which he observed : " Lest any misappre- hension should exist as to the reasons which have led me to differ from the course pursued by my late colleagues, I wish to say that I remain, first, because I have seen no sufficient reason for the dissolution of the late cabinet, by the voluntary act of its own members. " I am perfectly persuaded of the absolute necessity of an institution, under the authority of Congress, to aid revenue and financial operations, and to give the country the blessings of a good currency, and cheap ex- changes. Notwithstanding what has passed, I have confidence that the president will co-operate with the legislature in overcoming all difficulties in the attainment of these objects," &c. In a letter to H. Ketchum, Esq., of New York, dated the 11th of Sep- tember, Mr. Webster said : " You will have learned that Messrs. Ewing, Bell, Badger, and Crittenden, have resigned their respective offices. Probably Mr. Granger will feel bound to follow the example. This oc- currence can hardly cause you the same degree of regret which it has oc- casioned to me ; as they are not only my friends, but persons with whom I had, for some time, a daily official intercourse. I could not partake in this movement. " It is supposed to be justified, I presume, by the differences which have arisen between the president and Congress, upon the means of es- tablishing a proper fiscal agency, and restoring a sound state of the cur- rency ; and collateral matters growing out of these differences. I regret these differences as deeply as any man ; but I have not been able to see in what manner the resignation of the cabinet was likely either to remove or mitigate the evils produced by them. On the contrary, my only reli- ance for a remedy for those evils has been, and is, on the reunion, concil- iation, and perseverance of the whole whig party, and I by no means de- spair of seeing yet accomplished, by these means, all that we desire. " My particular connexion with the administration, however, is in an- other department. I think very humbly — none can think more humbly — of the value of the services which I am able to render to the public in that post. But as there is, so far as I know, on all subjects affecting our foreign relations, a concurrence of opinion between the president and my- self, and as there is nothing to disturb the harmony of our intercourse, I have not felt it consistent with the duty which I owe to the country, to run the risk, by any sudden or abrupt proceeding, of embarrassing the * See Niles's Register, vol. Ixi. ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 467 executive, in regard to subjects, and questions now immediately pending, and which intimately alfect the preservation of the peace of the country." In view of the critical situation of the country at that time, with respect to our relations with Great Britain, particularly on the subject of the northeast boundary question, considerate men of the whig party justified Mr. Webster in his decision to remain in the cabinet, at least until the negotiations then pending were brought to a conclusion. Much difference of opinion prevailed among the whigs as to the policy of the resignation of the other members of the cabinet. It was a current opinion, after the second veto, that the cabinet ought to wait to be turned out. That they should not by a voluntary act abandon their posts. The majority of the cabinet themselves, and many others, thought otherwise. Every sentiment which could move honorable men revolted at the idea of holding a confi- dential relation where there was no confidence. As regards a portion of the cabinet, the resignation was reluctantly delayed. It was delayed in deference to the advice of those who still hoped that affairs might take some unforeseen turn favorable to harmony. They resigned, however, at last, as they stated, in their own published letters, not because the presi- dent differed from them on the question of a bank. They threw up their places because he had forfeited his word, treated them unworthily, and had manifested his hostility to the principles and pledges of the party with whom they were associated, to which he professed to belong, and who had given to him all the consideration and importance incident to his station.* Feeling deeply the injury which the course of the president had inflicted upon the whig party and their cause, and indignant at the position in which he had placed them, the whig members of Congress held a meeting on the 11th of September, and appointed a committee of three senators and fire members of the house, to prepare an address to the people of the United States, with regard to the measures which had been adopted and those which had failed at the extra session, with such other matters as might exhibit the condition and prospects of the whig party. The com- mittee appointed were Messrs. Berrien, of Georgia, Tallmadge, of New York, and Smith, of Indiana, senators ; Everett, of Vermont, Mason, of Ohio, Kennedy, of Maryland, John C. Clark, of New York, and Rayner, of North Carolina, on the part of the house. The meeting then adjourned, to meet again on Monday morning. On Monday, the 13th of September, a few hours previous to the close of the session, as Congress adjourned on that evening, the whig mem- bers still remaining at the seat of government — for many had set out for their homes — again assembled, and adopted a manifesto, or address, which was read by Mr. Kennedy, as the report of the committee — of which twenty thousand copies were ordered to be published — by which they • Kennedy's Defence of the Whigs. 468 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. proclaimed to the nation, that from that day forth all political alliance be- tween them and John Tyler was at an end ; that from that day " those who brought the president into power could no longer, in any manner or degree, be justly held responsible or blamed for the administration of the executive branch of the government." At the same time acknowledging it to be " the duty of the whigs, in and out of Congress, to give to his offi- cial acts and measures fair and full consideration, approving them and co- operating in their support when they could, and differing from and oppo- sing any of them only from a high sense of public duty." The manifesto was a plain, direct paper, stating the case of the whigs fully to the country. It told what they had done at the extra session ; what they had failed to do, and why. It disclosed their observation of the past conduct of Mr. Tyler, and their apprehension of his future course ; the' withdrawal of his confidence from the whigs, and his affinity with their enemies ; and it announced their entire separation from him. It pro- claimed the principles upon which the whigs would continue, as in times past, their organization. This manifesto had the full concurrence and actual participation of from sixty to eighty whig members — being nearly all who were at the seat of government when it was adopted.* There were many whigs, in and out of Congress, however, who doubted the expediency of adopting the address at that time, and denoun- cing the president, before further time was given for reflection, and a more full development of his views and intentions. Many hesitated as to the wisdom and propriety of running the risk of throwing the patronage of the general government into the hands of their political opponents, and by driving the president from the whig party, to prevent the probable suc- cess of other whig measures during his administration. It was expected by some that the president would select the members of his new cabinet from the ranks of the democratic party, but he promptly made his appointments of the following distinguished whigs and conserva- tives, viz : Walter Forward, of Pennsylvania, secretary of the treasury ; John M'Lean, of Ohio, secretary of war; Abel P. Upshur, of Virginia, secretary of the navy; Charles A. Wickliffe, of Kentucky, postmaster- general ; Hugh S. Legare, of South Carolina, attorney-general. These nominations were all confirmed by the senate, previous to their adjourn- ment. Judge M'Lean declining to resign his seat on the bench of the supreme court, for the office of secretary of war, John C. Spencer, of New York, was appointed to take charge of that department. Thus the new cabinet was organized in a more satisfactory manner to the public than had been anticipated by the whigs ; while the hopes of the democrats, which had been raised by the rupture between the president and Congress, were somewhat dampened. • Kennedy. ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 469 The principal acts passed by Congress at the extra session were the following: Authorizing a loan of twelve millions of dollars, for the pur- pose of supplying the wants of the treasury on account of deficiencies du- ring Mr. Van Buren's administration ; appropriating twenty-five thousand dollars, or one year's salary of the president, for the relief of Mrs. Harri- son, widow of the late president ; making appropriations for a home squad- ron ; repealing the sub-treasury act ; providing for the payment of navy pensions ; establishing a uniform system of bankruptcy ; reviving and ex- tending the charters of banks in the District of Columbia ; appropriating the proceeds of the sales of the public lands, and to grant pre-emption rights ; making appropriations for various fortifications, for ordnance, and for preventing and suppressing Indian hostilities ; providing for placing Greenough's statue of Washington in the rotunda of the capitol ; author- izing the transmission of letters and packets free of postage ; and an act relating to duties and drawbacks. The last act was intended to provide for the deficiency of revenue caused by the large number of articles ad- mitted free of duty by the tariff law of 1833 ; on many of those articles a duty of twenty per cent, was now laid. The act providing for the distri- bution of the proceeds of the public lands among the several states, was passed substantially according to the plan proposed by Mr. Clay, but a clause introduced by certain opponents of a protective tariff, impaired its efliciency, and in the sequel rendered the law inoperative. The clause referred to provided that when the tariff of duties on imports was raised to a rate above twenty per cent, ad valorem, the distribution should be sus- pended until this cause be removed. Twenty-five acts and five joint resolutions were passed at this extra session. Among the appointments confirmed by the senate at this session, were the following : Edward Everett, of Massachusetts, minister to Great Brit- ain ; William Hunter (then charge d'affaires), minister to Brazil; William Boulware, of Virginia, charge d'affaires to Naples. Considerable excitement prevailed in the United States during this year, in consequence of the arrest and trial at the circuit court in Utica, in the state of New York, of Alexander M'Leod. He had been a deputy sheriff of Niagara district, in Upper Canada, and was charged with having murdered an American named Amos Durfee, on the 29th of December, 1837, at which time an American steamboat, called the Caroline, was de- stroyed by a parly from Canada, at Fort Schlosser, on the American side of the Niagara river. As it was proved that this party acted under Brit- ish authority, and the British government having claimed M'Leod as a British subject, an attempt was made by the government of the United States to prevent the trial by the state of New York. Governor Seward, of New York, however, refused to give up the prisoner, and the trial pro- ceeded. Happily, M'Leod was acquitted by the jury, and discharged, and thus a very vexed question between the United States government 470 ADMINISTRATION OF TVLER. and a state authority, as to jurisdiction ; and thus also was one point of unpleasant altercation between the United States and Great Britain so far settled. The state elections during the summer and fall of 1841, resulted generally unfavorably for the whigs,^ as might have been expected from the general dissatisfaction felt by that party toward the president, and the renewed spirit and vigor infused thereby into the democratic party. The president and his particular friends considered the result of these elec- tions as a proof that the 'people approved of his course on the bank ques- tion ; and after the adjournment of Congress but few of the democratic office-holders were removed by the president. The second session of the twenty-seventh Congress commenced on the 6th of December, 1841, and continued until the 31st of August, 1842, a period of 269 days, and was the longest congressional session that has ever occurred. During this time, one thousand and ninety-eight reports were made, six hundred and ten bills reported, and two hundred and ninety- nine bills passed, besides about one hundred private bills matured, engrossed, and ready for final passage at the ensuing session, but retained by the house, because the senate were occupied by the treaty and other important subjects. More important business was done by this Congress than by any Congress which ever convened since the formation of the government, although a considerable portion of their time was exhausted in discussing executive vetoes and protests. The great and leading measure of the session was a new tariff law ; by which ample provision was made for the public revenue, and protection afforded to American manufactures and other branches of national in- dustry. This bill was signed by the president, after he had previously returned, with objections, two different tariff bills passed by Congress, the first, the provisional revenue bill, on the 29th of June ; the other on the 9th of August, the same bill, in substance, as that which received his signature, except that it contained a clause providing for distributing the proceeds of the public lands. As the president now gave Congress to understand that the distribution clause could not receive his sanction, it was stricken out in the third bill reported in Congress, which, being passed by a close vote in both houses, received the signature of the presi- dent, and became a law, by the sacrifice of the land bill passed at the for- ' mer session, which was thus rendered inoperative. Great indignation was felt and expressed toward the president, by the whigs in Congress, as he had recommended the distribution of the proceeds of the public lands, in his first message. Among other acts of importance passed at this session, was an act for the apportionment of representatives according to the census of 1840 ; by which the ratio was fixed at 70,680 for each representative, with one additional member for each state having a fraction greater than one moiety of said ratio. By the same bill, representatives were directed to be cho- ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 471 sen by single districts. Acts were also passed extending the loan of 1841, for an addition of five millions of dollars thereto ; to authorize the issiie of treasury-notes ; requiring foreign regulations of commerce to be laid annually before Congress ; authorizing the construction of a war- Bteamer for harbor defence ; to provide for the armed occupation and set- tlement of part of East Florida ; to provide for publishing an account of the exploring expedition under the command of Lieutenant Wilkes, of the Uni- ted States navy ; amending the act to promote the progress of the useful arts ; to provide further remedial justice in the courts of the United States. It appeared, at the commencement of the session, that neither of the great political parties, in either branch of Congress, was disposed to sus- tain the president in his peculiar views and policy. Mr. Rives was the only whig in the senate on whose support he could rely, and in the house of representatives not more than five or six whigs could be considered as the peculiar friends of the executive. It was therefore evident that the president had lost the confidence of both parties, and that any attempt to create a third party in his favor would prove a failure. Numerous adven- turers, however, seeking office and political preferment, flattered Mr. Ty- ler with false hopes, assuring him that the people would sustain him, regardless of parties as then organized. The subject of a national bank was not again acted on by Congress. The secretary of the treasury, Mr. Forward, at the commencement of the session, in compliance with a resolution of the house of representa- tives, reported a plan of a fiscal agent, or exchequer, for the manage- ment of the government finances. This plan was referred to a select com- mittee in each house, and favorable reports were made thereon, by Mr. Tallmadge of the senate,, and Mr. Cushing of the house, each accompa- nied with a bill to establish an exchequer board connected with the treasury department. Neither of these bills, however, received the favor- able consideration of Congress, and the scheme of an exchequer was there- fore abandoned. An important treaty was negotiated in 1842, at Washington, between the United States and Great Britain, by which the northeastern boundary was definitely settled, in a manner satisfactory to the states of Maine and Massachusetts, which were most directly interested therein. Lord Ash- burton, who was sent a special minister to the United States for that pur- pose, acted on the part of Great Britain, and Mr. Webster, secretary of state, on the part of the United States. The treaty was ratified by the senate on the 20th of August, 1842, by a vote of 39 to 9. Besides set- tling the boundary question, it provided for the final suppression of the African slave-trade, and for the giving up of criminals fugitive from jus- tice, in certain cases. The third session of the twenty-seventh Congress commenced on the 5th of December, 1842, and continued until the expiration of their term, 472 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER, on the 3d of March, 1843. A large number of acts were passed, many of which were of a private nature. Of the numerous public acts passed, but few are of interest to the historical reader. Among them may be named — an act regulating the currency of foreign gold and silver coins ; to fix the value of certain foreign moneys at the customhouses ; to test the practicability of establishing a system of electro-magnetic telegraphs ; providing the means of future intercourse between the United States and the government of China ; and to repeal the bankrupt act. This latter law was thus permitted to remain in operation but little more than one year, and was repealed by the same Congress which enacted it. The twenty-eighth Congress commenced their first session on the 4th of December, 1843, and adjourned on the 17th of June, 1844. There was a large democratic majority in the house of representatives, and on the vote for speaker, John W. Jones (democrat), of Virginia., received 128 votes, against 59 for John White, of Kentucky, the late whig speaker. The whig members protested against the right to seats of the members elected from New Hampshire, Georgia, Mississippi, and Missouri, they not having been chosen by districts, in conformity to the act of the last Congress. The house refused to allow the protest to be read, by a vote of ayes 69, noes 124, and the members referred to were admitted to the seats claimed by them. The whigs retained a majority in the senate, and in consequence of the disagreement between the two branches of Congress, but few acts of gen- eral political interest were passed at this session. Among these may be mentioned — an act making appropriations for certain harbors and rivers ; for fortifications ; for revolutionary and other pensioners ; to refund the fine imposed on General Andrew Jackson at New Orleans ; and an act to amend the judiciary act of September 24, 1789. A large number of pri- vate acts, and laws respecting the territories, with others of a local char- acter, were passed. In March, 1843, Mr. Forward resigned, as secretary of the treasury, and John C. Spencer was transferred from the war department to that of the treasury. Caleb Gushing, of Massachusetts, was previously nomi- nated by the president for secretary of the treasury, and rejected by the senate. Mr. Webster resigned the ofllce of secretary of state, in May, 1843, and Hugh S. Legare, attorney-general, was appointed acting secretary of state, but was soon after taken ill, and died, while on a visit to Boston, on the 20lh of June, 1843. Mr. Legare was a gentleman of superior talents, and bore an excellent character with all parties. He had been attached to the democratic party, which he left during the administration of Mr. Van Buren, when that president proposed the sub-treasury plan. He afterward acted with the conservatives, and supported the election of Har- rison and Tyler, in 1840. ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 473 In July, 1843, President Tyler reorganized his cabinet, as follows: — Abel P. Upshur, of Virginia, secretary of state ; John C. Spencer, of New York, secretary of the treasury ; James M. Porter, of Pennsylvania, secretary of war ; David Henshaw, of Massachusetts, secretary of the navy ; Charles A. Wickliffe, of Kentucky, postmaster-general ; John Nel- son, of Maryland, attorney-general. Messrs. Porter, Henshaw, and Nelson, were attached to the democratic party ; the other members of the cabinet had been known as whigs or conservatives. At the next session of the senate, the nominations of Mr. Porter, as secretary of war, and of Mr. Henshaw, as secretary of the navy, were rejected. Thereupon the president nominated William Wil- kins, of Pennsylvania, for secretary of war, and Thomas W. Gilmer, of Virginia, for secretary of the navy ; and they were confirmed by the sen- ate, on the 15th of February, 1844. In consequence of a melancholy catastrophe which occurred on board the Unhed States steamship-of-war Princeton, on the river Potomac, on the 28th of February 1844, by the explosion of one of the large guns of that ship, the secretary of state, Mr. Upshur, and the secretary of war, Mr. Gilmer, lost their lives. On the reception of the president's message an- nouncing this painful occurrence, resolutions of sympathy, of respect, and for the usual mourning, were adopted in each branch of Congress. For a short period, Mr. Nelson, attorney-general of the United States, discharged the duties of secretary of state, ad interim. Commodore Lewis Warrington officiated as secretary of the navy, until the vacancy occa- sioned by the death of Mr. Gilmer was supplied. The president appointed John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, secretary of state, and John Y. Ma- son, of Virginia, secretary of the navy ; both of which nominations were promptly confirmed by the senate. Mr. Spencer resigned the office of secretary of the treasury, in May, 1844, and George M. Bibb, of Kentucky, was appointed in his place. Provision having been made by Congress for a mission to China, Caleb Gushing, of Massachusetts, was appointed commissioner to that empire, by the president, in May, 1843 ; and during a remarkably short period while he was absent on his mission, the commissioner was enabled to ne- gotiate a valuable treaty with the Chinese government, which treaty was promptly ratified by the president and senate. A treaty of annexation was concluded between the United States and the republic of Texas, at Washington, April 12, 1844, by Mr. Calhoun, secretary of state, on the part of the United States, and Messrs. Van Zandt and Henderson on the part of Texas. On being submitted to the senate, by the president, it was rejected, on the 8th of June, by a vote of ayes 16, noes 35. Of those who voted in the negative, seven were dem- ocrats, viz., Messrs. Fairfield, of Maine, Atherton, of New Hampshire, Niles, of Connecticut, Wright, of New York, Allen and Tappan, of Ohio, 474 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. and Benton, of Missouri. Immediately after the rejection of the treaty, Mr. Benton, in open senate, introduced a bill for the annexation of Texas, consent of Mexico to be first obtained. The president sent a message to the house of representatives, announ- cing the rejection of the treaty with Texas, with a view of inducing that body to originate some measure by which to accomplish the object which the treaty contemplated. The house referred the message to their com- mittee on foreign relations, but the subject was not definitely acted on until the next session. In the senate, on the 10th of June, Mr. Benton, in a speech of two hours, characterized the Texas project as a fraud upon the people of the country — a base, wicked, miserable presidential in- trigue, originating in the most vicious purpose, and, so far, prosecuted for the most knavish conclusions, regardless alike of the character of the country, its treaty obligations, or its peace. He moved to suspend all previous orders, for the purpose of taking up the bill which he had submit- ted for the annexation of Texas, when Mexico should sanction the meas- ure. The message of President Tyler, appealing from the decision of the senate, in a case in which the constitution makes that body expressly his advisers and the controllers of his course, Mr. Benton considered to be an insult to that body, which merited impeachment. He alluded to his own far-back prophecies and writings, concerning Texas, and made some allu- sions to Messrs. Walker and Woodbury, " Texas neophytes," who had been so anxious to make great demonstrations of love for Texas. For himself, he entertained no such anxiety, because his sentiments had always been known. It was not with him a question of " now or never ;" but Texas then, now, and always. An effort was made by the most zealous ofiice-holders under the gen- eral government, and other persons interested in the success of Mr. Ty- ler, to create a popularity for the president out of the question of the an- nexation of Texas ; but the attempt to enlist the feelings of the advocates of that measure in favor of the re-election of Mr. Tyler to the presidency, proved a total failure. It was evident, however, that the Texas question was becoming one of great importance, and that the annexation of that territory to the United States was daily growing in favor with the people of the southern and western states. The democratic party, therefore, in the southern section of the Union, resolved to present the Texas question to the people as a new issue at the approaching presidential election. As a large proportion of the party in the northern states were opposed to the annexation of Texas, there was a prospect of disunion in the democratic ranks. The national conventions of both the whig and democratic parties were to be held in May, 1844, for the purpose of nominating candidates for president and vice-president. Mr. Clay, of Kentucky, was the whig can- didate named for the presidency, by general consent of that party. Mr ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 475 Van Buren appeared to be preferred to any other candidate, by the largest proportion of the democratic party. In answer to letters and inquiries addressed to them on the Texas ques- tion, both Mr. Clay and Mr. Van Buren came out, in the month of April, 1844, ■with their views on the subject. They were both understood to be unfa- vorable to the immediate annexation of Texas, particularly without the con- sent of Mexico. Mr. Clay's letter was generally satisfactory to his polit- ical friends ; but the course of Mr. Van Buren determined the democrats of the south to prevent his nomination for the presidency, by the conven- tion of that party, if possible, and to seek some other candidate, who was favorable to southern views and feelings on the Texas question. The whig national convention, for the nomination of president and vice- president, met at Baltimore, on the 1st of May, 1844. Every state in the Union was represented by delegates, and the Hon. Ambrose Spencer, of New York, was chosen president of the convention, assisted by a number of vice-presidents and secretaries. Henry Clay,- of Kentucky, was nomi- nated by acclamation, as the candidate to be supported by the whigs, for president of the United States, at the ensuing election ; and on the third vote, Theodore Frelinghuysen, formerly of New Jersey, but then a resi- dent of New York, was nominated as the candidate for vice-president. Great unanimity prevailed in the convention after the nominations were announced, and enthusiastic demonstration to support the candidates named. The democratic national convention of delegates for the nomination of candidates for president and vice-president, met at Baltimore, on the 27th of May, 1844. The states were all represented, except South Carolina. The Hon. Hendrick B. Wright, of Pennsylvania, was chosen president of the convention, assisted by numerous vice-presidents and secretaries. Most of the delegations from the different states had been instructed to vote for Mr. Van Buren for president, but the Texas question had been taken up by the party since those instructions were given, and Mr. Van Buren's letter on the subject had rendered the policy of his nomination doubtful with many who had been anxious for his re-election to the presidency. On the first ballot by the convention, for a candidate for president, Mr. Van Buren received 146 votes. General Cass 83, Colonel Johnson, of Kentucky, 24, Mr. Calhoun 6, and there were 7 for other persons ; thus showing a decided majority in favor of Mr. Van Buren. But the conven- tion having adopted the rule which had governed on former similar occa- sions, requiring two thirds of the votes for a nomination, no choice was made. Seven subsequent ballots took place, on the last of which Mr. Van Buren received 104 votes. General Cass 114, and 44 for James K. Polk, of Tennessee. The Virginia and New York delegations then each separately retired for consultation, and on their return to the convention it 476 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. was announced, by Mr. Roane, of Virginia, that the delegation from that state would give their vote for James K. Polk. Mr. Butler, of New York, responded to Mr. Roane, and having the authority of Mr. Van Buren, withdrew his name, and stated that the delegation from New York would cast thirty-five votes in favor of Mr. Polk, the remaining member voting blank. The call of the states being made for a ninth ballot, a unanimous vote from all the delegations was given for James K. Polk, as the demo- cratic candidate for president of the United States. Silas Wright, of New York, was nominated for vice-president, being then in the United States senate, at Washington. The nomination was declined by Mr. Wright, and on the following morning the convention nominated George M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania, for that station. The candidates nominated, both for president and vice-president, were understood to be in favor of the annexation of Texas to the United States. Resolutions were adopted by the convention, one of which declared, " that our title to the whole of the territory of Oregon is clear and unquestiona- ble ; that no portion of the same ought to be ceded to England or any other power ; and that the reoccupation of Oregon and the reannexatioa of Texas, at the earliest practicable period, are great American measures, which this convention recommends to the cordial support of the democ- racy of the Union." Another resolution declared, " that the convention hold in the highest estimation and regard their illustrious fellow-citizen, Martin Van Buren, of New York," &c., and that they "tender to him, in his honorable retirement, the assurance of the deeply-seated confidence, affection, and respect, of the American democracy." The nomination of Messrs. Polk and Dallas had the effect of completely uniting the democratic party throughout the country, and the Texas and Oregon questions had a tendency to infuse renewed vigor among the masses attached to the party, enabling them to enter into the election con- test with excited hopes and prospects of success. At the same time when the democratic convention met at Baltimore, a convention of the friends of President Tyler, composed of delegates from various parts of the Union, principally office-holders and political adven- turers, assembled at that city, and placed the name of Mr. Tyler in nomination as a candidate for election to the presidency. The presi- dent accepted the nomination, but his case as a candidate being hopeless, he yielded, in August, to the solicitations of the friends of Polk and Dal- las, who were desirous to have the aid and patronage of the general gov- ernment in favor of the democratic candidates, and withdrew his name from the presidential canvass. On that occasion Mr. Tyler published an address in the Madisonian, the official paper at Washington, to his friends throughout the Union, announcing his intention and desire to withdraw from the position in which his friends had placed Kim. He concludes his address by saying : " I appeal from the vituperation of the present day to ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. 477 the pen of impartial history, in the full confidence that neither my motives nor my acts will bear the interpretation which has, for sinister purposes, ' been placed upon them." After a most animated and exciting canvass, the presidential election took place, in the fall of 1844, and resulted in the election of the demo- cratic candidates, James K. Polk as president, and George M. Dallas as vice-president, of the United States, over the whig candidates, Clay and Frelinghuysen. The votes of the electoral colleges were, for Polk and Dallas, 170; for Clay and Frelinghuysen, 105. The popular vote was, for Polk, 1,335,834'; for Clay, 1,297,033 ; for Birney, the abolition can- didate, 64,653 ; exclusive of South Carolina, w^hich state gave its electo- ral vote through the legislature, that body choosing the presidential elec- tors. In the states of New York and Michigan, the democratic electoral ticket received a plurality over the whig vote, less than the amount of abolition votes in those states. In addition to the states which voted for Mr. Van Buren in 1840, giving 60 electoral votes; Mr. Polk received the votes of Maine, 9 ; New York, 36 ; Pennsylvania, 26 ; Georgia, 10 ; Mis- sissippi, 6 ; Louisiana, 6 ; Indiana, 12 ; and Michigan, 5 ; which states gave their electoral votes to General Harrison, in 1840. The second session of the twenty-eighth Congress commenced on the 2d of December, 1844, and closed on the expiration of their term, the 3d of March, 1845. The most important and exciting subject of the session was that of the annexation of Texas. .Joint resolutions for annexing that republic to the United States, as one of the states of the Union, passed the house of representatives, on the 25th of January, 1845, by a vote of 120 to 98 ; and on the 1st of March the same passed the senate, by a vote of 27 to 25 ; and the same day the resolutions were approved by the president. Among the public acts of interest passed at this session, were the fol- lowing : To establish a uniform time for holding elections for electors of president and vice-president, in all the states in the Union ; to provide for the establishment of the mail between the United States and foreign coun- tries ; granting lands to the state of Indiana, to enable the state to extend and complete the Wabash and Erie canal ; to reduce the rates of postage, and to limit the use, and correct the abuse, of the franking privilege ; allow- ing drawback upon foreign merchandise exported by the interior to Mexico and the British North American provinces ; for the constructiBn and im- provement of roads in Wisconsin ; making appropriations for fortifica- tions ; and an act for the admission of the states of Iowa and Florida into the Union. Florida complied with the terms of the last act, and was, con- sequently, admitted into the Union ; but the people of Iowa rejected the terms, principally on account of the boundary defined by Congress, and, therefore, Iowa remained a territory. A bill forbidding the president to build revenue-cutters at his own dis- cretion, which had been vetoed by President Tyler, was again passed by 478 ADMINISTRATION OF TYLER. the senate, and by the house, by more than a two-third vote (in the latter by 126 to 31), and thus became a law, notwithstanding the veto. A bill making appropriations for certain harbors and rivers, passed both houses, near the close of the session, but was retained by the president, and thus failed to become a law, in consequence of what was called a " pocket veto," which was the last act of Mr. Tyler's administration, as a similar act had been that of President Jackson's, in 1837. Thus ended the administration of John Tyler ; of whom it may be said, that he retired without the regret of either of the two great political par- ties of the country ; as by his course he had lost the confidence of that party by which he was elected, without gaining that of their political op- ponents. Many important matters, however, were accomplished by this administration, the credit of which was bestowed upon others, instead of the president. Thus the protective tariff act of 1842 was accomplished by a whig Congress, although approved by the executive ; and the settle- ment of the northeastern boundary question, by the treaty with Great Brit- ain, was accredited to the energy and skill of the secretary of state, Mr. Webster ; while the annexation of Texas was a measure which was mainly pushed to completion through the ability and exertions of another secretary of state, Mr. Calhoun ; and any benefits that were derived from it as forming political capital, were seized upon and used by the demo- cratic party, for the purpose of coming into power, by the election of Polk and Dallas. It would be unjust, however, to deny to Mr. Tyler whatever merit is his due from the circumstance of having used every exertion to carry through the Texas measure during his administration. Nor is it to be denied that the foreign relations of the United States were ably man- aged during his presidential terra, and that he generally surrounded him- self with able counsellors in his cabinet. EB^fljT.BelchftomaBa^ueiieotTpe (Ji^x^-j^'Z^ e^ O^J^^>-^ BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OP JAMES KNOX POLK James Knox Polk, the eleventli president of the United States, is the oldest of ten children, and was born on the second of November, 1795, in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina. His ancestors, whose original name. Pollock, has, by obvious transition, assumed its present form, emi- grated in the early part of the eighteenth century, from Ireland. The family traces their descent from Robert Polk, who was born and married in Ireland ; his wife, Magdalen Tusker, was the heiress of Mowning hill. They had six sons and two daughters ; Robert Polk, the progenitor of James Knox Polk, was the fifth son ; he married a Miss Gullet, and re- moved to America. Ezekiel Polk, the grandfather of James K. Polk, was one of his sons. The Polk family settled in Somerset county, on the eastern shore of Maryland, where some of their descendants still sojourn. Being the only democrats of note in that county, they were called the democratic family. The branch of the family from which the president is descended, removed to the neighborhood of Carlisle, in Pennsylvania, and thence to the west- ern frontier of North Carolina, sometime before the commencement of the revolutionary war. Some of the Polk family were honorably distin- guished in that eventful struggle. On the twentieth of May, 1775, conse- quently more than twelve months anterior to the declaration of independence of the fourth of July, 1776, the assembled inhabitants of Mecklenburg county publicly absolved themselves from their allegiance to the British crown, and issued a formal manifesto of independence, in terms of manly eloquence, similar to some of the expressions in the declaration of the American Congress adopted more than a year afterward. Colonel Thomas Polk, the prime mover in this act of noble daring, and one of the signers of this first declaration of independence, was the great uncle of the president ; and the family is also connected with the Alexanders, chairman and sec- 480 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF POLK. retary of the meeting which adopted the declaration, as well as with Dr. Ephraiiii Brevard, the author of the declaration itself. The father of James K. Polk was a farmer of unassuming pretensions, but enterprising character. Thrown upon his own resources in early life, he became the architect of his own fortunes. He was a warm supporter of Mr. Jefferson, and through life a firm and undeviating democrat. In the autumn of 1806 he removed, with his family of ten children, from the homestead in North Carolina, to Tennessee, where he was one of the pioneers of the fertile valley of Duck river, a branch of the Cumberland, then a wilderness, but now the most flourishing and populous portion of the state. In this region the subject of this sketch resided, until his elec- tion to the presidency, so that he may be said, literally, to have grown with its growth, and strengthened with its strength. Of course, in the in- fancy of its settlement, the opportunities for instruction could not be great. Notwithstanding this disadvantage — and the still more formidable one of a painful affection from which, after years of suffering, he was finally re- lieved by a surgical operation — he acquired the elements of a good Eng- lish education. Apprehending that his constitution had been too much impaired to permit the confinement of study, his father determined, much, however, against the will of the son, to make him a commercial man ; and with this view placed him with a merchant. He remained a few weeks in a situation adverse to his wishes, and in- compatible with his taste. Finally, his earnest appeals succeeded in overcoiuing the resistance of his father, and in July, 1813, he was placed, first under the care of the Rev. Dr. Henderson, and subsequently at the academy of Murfreesborough, Tennessee, then under the direction of Mr. Samuel P. Black, justly celebrated in that region as a classical teacher. In the autumn of 1815 he entered the university of North Carolina, hav- ing, in less than two years and a half, thoroughly prepared himself to com- mence his collegiate course, being then in the twentieth year of his age. Mr. Polk's career at the university was distinguished. At each semi- annual examination, he bore away the first honor, and finally graduated in 1818, with the highest distinction of his class, and with the reputation of being the first scholar in both the mathematics and classics. Of the for- mer science he was passionately fond, though equally distinguished as a linguist. His course at college was marked by the same assiduity and studious application which have since distinguished him. His ambition to excel was equalled by his perseverance alone ; in proof of which, it is said that he never missed a recitation, nor omitted the punctilious per- formance of any duty. Habits of close application at college are apt to be despised by those who pride themselves on brilliancy of mind, as if they were incompatible. This is a melancholy mistake. Genius has ever been defined the faculty of appreciation. The latter is, at least, something better, and more available. So carefully has Mr. Polk avoided the ped- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF POLK. 4S1 antry of classical display, which is the false taste of our day and country, as almost to hide the acquisitions which distinguished his early career. His preference for the useful and substantial, indicated by his youthful passion for the mathematics, has made him select a style of elocution which would perhaps be deemed too plain by the admirers of flashy dec- lamation.* From the university he returned to Tennessee, with health impaired by application, and, in the beginning of the year 1819, commenced the study of the law (that profession which has furnished nine of the eleven presi- dents of the United States), in the office of the late Felix Grundy, for many years a representative and senator of Tennessee in Congress ; under whose auspices he was admitted to the bar, at the close of 1820. He commenced his professional career in the county of Maury, with great advantages, derived from the connexion of his family with its early set- tlement. His warmest friends were the sharers of his father's early pri- vations and difficulties, and the associates of his own youth. But his success was due to his personal qualities still more than to extrinsic ad- vantages. A republican in habits as well as in principles, depending for the maintenance of his dignity upon the esteem of others, and not upon his own assumption, his manners conciliated the general good will. The confidence of his friends was justified by the result. His thorough aca- demical education, his accurate knowledge of the law, his readiness and resources in debate, his unwearied application to business, segured him, at once, full employment, and in less than a year he was already a lead- ing practitioner. Mr. Polk continued to devote some years exclusively to the prosecution of his profession, with a progressive augmentation of reputation, and the more solid rewards by which it is accompanied. In 1823, he entered upon the stormy career of politics, being chosen to represent his county in the state legislature, by a heavy majority over the former incumbent, but not without formidable opposition. He was for two successive years a member of that body, where his ability in debate, and talent for business, at once gave him reputation. The early personal and political friend of General Jackson, he was one of those who, in the session of 1823-'24, called that distinguished man from his retirement, by electing him to the senate of the United States. In August, 1825, being then in his thirtieth year, Mr. Polk was chosen to represent his district in Congress, and took his seat in the national councils in December following. He brought with him those fundamen- tal principles to which he has adhered through all the mutations of party. From his early youth he was a democratic republican of the strictest sect. He has ever regarded the constitution of the United States as an instru- ment of specific and limited powers, and he was found in opposition to * For a part of this sketch we are indebted to the Democratic Review of May, 1S38. 31 482 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF FOLK. every measure that aimed to consolidate federal power, or to detract from the dignity and legitimate functions of the state governments. He signal- ized his hostility to the doctrines of those vi^ho held to a more liberal con- struction of the constitution, in all their modes. He always refused his assent to the appropriation of money by the federal government for what he deemed the unconstitutional purpose of constructing works of internal improvement within the states. He took ground early against the con- stitutionality as well as expediency of a national bank ; and in August, 1829, consequently several months before the appearance of General Jackson's first message, announced then his opinions in a published letter to his constituents. He has ever been opposed to a tariff for protection, and was, at all times, the strenuous advocate of a reduction of the revenue to the economical wants of the government. Entertaining these opinions, and entering Congress, as he did, at the first session after the election of John Quincy Adams to the presidency, he promptly took his stand against the doctrines developed in the message of that chief magistrate, and was, during the continuance of his administration, resolutely opposed to its leading measures. When Mr. Polk entered Congress, he was, with one or two exceptions, the junior member of that body. His first speech was in favor of a propo- sition to amend the constitution in such manner as to prevent the choice of president of the United States from devolving on Congress in any event. This speech at once attracted public attention by the force of its reason- ing, the copiousness of its research, and the spirit of indignation, with reference to the then recent election by Congress, by which it was ani- mated. At the same session the subject of the Panama mission was brought before Congress, and the project was opposed by Mr. Polk, who strenuously protested against the doctrine of the friends of the administra- tion, that as the president and senate are the treaty-making power, the house of representatives can not deliberate upon, nor refuse the appropri- ations necessary to carry them into effect. The views of Mr. Polk he embodied in a series of resolutions, which reproduced in a tangible shape, the doctrines, on this question, of the republican party of 1798. The first of these resolutions declares, " that it is the constitutional right and duty of the house of representatives, when called upon for appropriations to defray the expenses of foreign missions, to deliberate on the expediency of such missions, and to determine and act thereon, as in their judgment may seem most conducive to the public good." From this time Mr. Polk's history became inseparably interwoven with that of the house. He was prominently connected with every important question, and upon every one took the boldest democratic ground. He continued to oppose the administration of Mr. Adams until its termination, and during the whole period of General Jackson's terms he was one of its leading supporters, and at times, and on certain questions of paramount BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF POLK. 483 importance its chief reliance. In December, 1827, Mr. Polk was placed on the committee of foreign affairs, and sometime after, as chairman of a select committee, he made a report on the surplus revenue, denying the constitutional power of Congress to collect from the people, for distribu- tion, a surplus beyond the wants of the government, and maintaining that the revenue should be reduced to the exigencies of the public service. In 1830, he defended the act of General Jackson in placing his veto on the Maysville road bill, and thus checking the system of internal improvement by the general government, which had been entered upon by Congress. In December, 1832, Mr. Polk was transferred to the committee of ways and means, and at that session presented the report of the minoritj'' of that cdmmittee, wilh regard to certain charges against the United States bank ; this minority report presenting conclusions utterly adverse to the institution which had been the subject of inquiry. The course of Mr. Polk arrayed against him the friends of the bank, and they held a meeting at Nashville to denounce his report. His re-election to Congress was opposed, but, after a violent contest, Mr. Polk was re-elected by a majority of more than three thousand. In September, 1833, Presi- dent Jackson determined upon the removal of the public deposites from the bank of the United States. This measure, which caused great ex- citement throughout the country, was carried into effect in October fol- lowing, and at the subsequent session of Congress it was the leading sub- ject of discussion. In the senate the president was censured for the measure, but he was sustained in the house of representatives. On this occasion Mr. Polk, as chairman of the committee of ways and means, vin- dicated the president's measure, and by his coolness, promptitude, and skill, carried through the resolutions of the committee relating to the bank and the deposites, and sustaining the administration, after which the cause of the bank was abandoned in Congress. Toward the close of the memorable session of 1834, Mr. Speaker Ste- venson resigned the chair, as well as his seat in the house. The majority of the democratic party preferred Mr. Polk as his successor, but in conse- quence of a division in its ranks, the opposition united with the democratic friends of John Bell, of Tennessee, and thereby succeeded in electing that gentleman, then a professed friend, but since a decided opponent, of tho president and his measures. Mr. Polk's defeat produced no change in his course. He remained faithful to his party, and assiduous in the per- formance of his arduous duties. In December, 1835, Mr. Polk was elected speaker of the house of rep- resentatives, and again chosen to that station in 1837, at the extra session held in the first year of Mr. Van Buren's administration. The duties of speaker were discharged by him during five sessions, with ability, at a time when party feelings ran high in the house, and in the beginning un- usual difficulties were throv/n in his way by the animosity of his political 4S4 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF POLK. opponents. During the first session in which he presided, more appeals were taken from his decision than had occurred in the whole period since the origin of the •government ; but he was uniformly sustained by the house, including many of his political adversaries. Notwithstanding the violence with which he had been assailed, Congress passed, at the close of the session, in March, 1837, a unatiimous vote of thanks to its presi- ding officer, from whom it separated with the kindest feelings. In the twenty-fifth Congress, over which he presided as speaker at three ses- sions, commencing in September, 1837, and ending in March, 1839, par- ties were more nearly balanced (Mr. Polk's majority as speaker being only eight), and the most exciting questions were agitated during the whole period. At the close of the term, Mr. Elmore, of South Carolina, moved " that the thanks of the house be presented to the Hon. James K. Polk, for the able, impartial, and dignified manner in which he has presided over its deliberations, and performed the arduous and important duties of the chair." On this resolution, a long and excited debate arose, which was terminated by the previous question ; when the resolution was adopted by 94 in the affirmative to 57 in the negative. But few of the members of the opposition concurred in the vote of approval. The speaker, in adjourning the house, made a reply of more than ordinary length, and showing, on his part, deep feeling. Among other remarks, he said : " When I look back to the period when I first took my seat in this house, and then look around me for those who were at that time my associates here, 1 find but few, very few, remaining. But five members who were here with me fourteen years ago, continue to be members of this body. My service here has been constant and laborious. I can perhaps say what but few others, if any, can, that I have not failed to attend the daily sittings of this house a single day since I have been a member of it, save on a single oc- casion, Avhen prevented for a short time by indisposition. In my inter- course with the members of this body, when I occupied a place upon the floor, though occasionally engaged in debates upon interesting public ques- tions, and of an exciting character, it is a source of unmingled gratifica- tion to me to recur to the fact, that on no occasion was there the slightest personal or unpleasant collision with any of its members. Maintaining, and at all times expressing, my own opinions firmly, the same right was fully conceded to others. For four years past, the station I have occupied, and a sense of propriety, in the divided and unusually-excited state of pub- lic opinion and feeling, which has existed both in this house and the country, have precluded me- from participating in your debates. Other duties were assigned me. " The high office of speaker, to which it has been twice the pleasure of this house to elevate me, has been at all times one of labor and high responsibility. It has been made my duty to ^iecide more questions of parliamentary law and order, many of them of a complex and difficult BIOGRArniCAL SKETCH OF POLK. 485 character, arising often in the midst of high excitement, in the course of our proceedings, than had been decided, it is believed, by all my prede- cessors, from the foundation of the government. This house has uni- formly sustained me, vidthout distinction of the political parties of which it has been composed. I return them my thanks for their constant support in the discharge of the duties I have had to perform. " But, gentlemen, my acknowledgments are especially due to the major- ity of this house, for the high and flattering evidence they have given me of their approbation of my conduct as the presiding officer of the house, by the resolution you have been pleased to pass. I regard it as of infi- nitely more value than if it had been the common, matter-of-course, and customary resolution which, in the courtesy usually prevailing between th(j presiding officer and the members of any deliberative assembly, is always passed, at the close of their deliberations. I regard this as the highest and most valued testimonial I have ever received from this house, because I know that the circumstances under which it has passed, have made it matter of substance, and not of mere form. I shall bear it in grateful remembrance to the latest hour of my life. " I trust this high office may in future times be filled, as doubtless it will be, by abler men. It can not, I know, be filled by any one who will devote himself with more zeal and untiring industry to do his whole duty, than I have done." Few public men have pursued a firmer or more consistent course than Mr. Polk, in adhering to the democratic party, in every vicissitude. In 1835, when all of his colleagues of the Tennessee delegation, in the house of representatives, determined to support Judge White, .of that state, as the successor to General Jackson, for the presidency, he incurred the hazard of losing his popularity throughout the state, by avowing his unalterable purpose not to separate from the great body of the democratic party, in the presidential election. He therefore became identified with the friends of Mr. Van Buren, in Tennessee, in 1836, when Judge White received the vote of the state by a popular majority of over nine thousand. After a service of fourteen years in Congress, Mr. Polk in 1839 de- clined a re-election from the district which had so long sustained him. He was then taken up by the friends of the administration in Ten- nessee, as a candidate for governor, to oppose Newton Cannon, who was then governor of the state, and supported by the Whig party for re-elec- tion. After an animated canvass, during which Mr. Polk visited the dif- ferent counties of that extensive state, and addressed the people on the political topics of the day, the election took place in August, 1839, and resulted in a majority for Mr. Polk, of more than 2,500 over Governor Cannon. At the ensuing session of the legislature. Governor Polk was nominated by that body for vice-president of the United States, to be placed on the ticket with Mr. Van Buren. He was afterward nominated 486 BIOGRAPHICAL sl^ETCH OF POLK. for the same office in several other states, but at the election of 1840 he received one electoral vote only for vice-president, which was given by one of the electors in Virginia. Havins served as governor of Tennessee for the constitutional term of tM'o years, Mr. Polk was a candidate for re-election in August, 1841. His prospect was unpromising, as the state in 1840 showed a Whig majority of twelve thousand at the presidential election. The result was the de- feat of Mr. Polk, and the election of James C. Jones, the whig candidate, as governor, by a majority of 3,224. Mr. Polk therefore retired from public life, at the expiration of his executive term. Two years after, in 1S43, he vvas again a candidate for the executive chair, in opposition to Governor Jones, but he was the second time defeated, and the whig can- didate re-elected, by a majority of 3,833. From October, 1841, until his elevation to the highest office in the Union, Mr. Polk remained in private life, not, however, an inert spectator of the wild and troubled drama of politics. Happy in the confidence of his immediate neighbors, and his numerous political friends throughout the state, in the affections of a charming family, and in the ardent friendship of Andrew Jackson; he had determined to withdraw himself from the anx- ieties and labors of public life. But the voice of the democracy of Ten- nessee forbade the gratification of his wishes ; as we have seen, he Avas repeatedly summoned to stand forward as its representative for gov- ernor of the state, and he yielded to the summons, whatever might have been the prospects of success. Mr. Polk did not conceal his opinions on political subjects, when called upon by his fellow-citizens to express them. Those who differed from him had no difficulty in ascertaining the fact of the difference. A proof of this was found in the circumstance which developed his opinions on the subject of Texas. The citizens of Cincinnati had, early in 1844, ex- pressed their " settled opposition" to the annexation of that republic to the United States, and invited him to announce his concurrence in their judg- ment. In his reply, he said : " Let Texas be re-annexed, and the author- ity and laws of the United States be established and maintained within her limits, as also in the Oregon territory, and let the fixed policy of our government be, not to permit Great Britain to plant a colony or hold do- minion over any portion of the people or territory of either. These are my opinions ; and without deeming it necessary to extend this letter, by assigning the many reasons which influence me in the conclusions to which I come, I regret to be compelled to differ so widely from the views ex- pressed by yourselves, and the meeting of citizens of Cincinnati, whom you represent." On the 29th of May, 1844, Mr. Polk received the nomination of the democratic national convention, assembled at Baltimore, for president of the United States. To this hitrh office he was elected in the fall of the BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF POLK. 487 same year, by tlie people of the United States, and his majority over Mr. Clay, the Whig candidate, as expressed through the electoral colleges, in December, 1844, was 65. The votes of the presidential electors were — for James K. Polk 170, for Henry Clay 105. George M. Dallas was elected vice-president by the same majority, over Theodore Frelinghuy- sen. The votes were counted in the house of representatives, on the 10th of February, 1845. The president elect, having repaired to the seat of government, informed the joint committee of Congress, who waited on him, that, " in signifying his acceptance of the office to which he had been chosen by the people, he expressed his deep sense of gratitude to them, for the confidence which they had reposed in him, and requested the com- mittee to convey to their respective houses of Congress, assurances, that, in executing the responsible duties which would devolve upon him, it would be his anxious desire to maintain the honor and promote the welfare of the country." In person, President Polk is of middle stature, with a full angular brow, and a quick, penetrating eye. The expression of his countenance is grave, but its serious cast is often relieved by a peculiarly pleasant smile, indicative of the amenity of his disposition. The amiable character of his private life, which has ever been upright and pure, secures to him the esteem and friendship of all who have the advantage of his acquaintance. He married a lady of Tennessee, who is a member of the presbyterian church, and well qualified, by her virtues and accomplishments, equally to adorn the circles of private life, or the station to which she has been called. They have no children. ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. On the fourth of March, 1845, James K. Polk was inaugurated as pres- ident of the United States. A concourse of people seldom congregated in the city of Washington were present to witness the ceremony. The weather proved unfavorable. The morning was lowering ; and before the procession reached the capitol it commenced raining, and continued wet during the day, marring the enjoyments, and defeating the expectations of many, also much of the intended exhibition and display. The ceremony at the capitol was imposing. The occasion was one of those striking displays of our republican system which he must be a stoic indeed that could contemplate with indifference. The flagstaffs of the whigs, as well as those of their triumphant rivals, were decorated, as an acknowledgment that the chief of the nation was there, and must be rec- ognised. The inaugural procession moved about eleven o'clock, A. M., from the quarters of the president elect, at Coleman's hotel, to the capitol, under the direction of General M'Calla and his aids. In the procession were the military of Washington, officers and soldiers of the revolution, the clergy, president elect and his predecessor, in an open carriage. President Tyler's cabinet, justices of the supreme court, diplomatic corps, members and ex- members of Congress, members of the Baltimore democratic national con- vention of 1844, officers of the army and navy, &c., democratic associa- tions and clubs of the District of Columbia, and others from a distance, among whom was a detachment of the Empire club of the city of New York, citizens of states and territories, citizens of. the District of Colum- bia, &c. The senate convened at eleven o'clock, A. M. The oath being admin- istered to Hon. George M. Dallas, vice-president elect, he delivered a brief address to the senators on taking his seat, after which the new sen- ators were qualified. The justices of the supreme court, in gowns, and the diplomatic corps, twenty-nine in number, entered and took their seats ; also General Scott, and other officers of the army and navy. About noon, the president elect, Mr. Polk, attended by President Tyler and Senator 490 ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. Woodbury, entered the senate-chamber, when a procession was formed to the platform on the east front of the capitol, from which the p'resident delivered his inaugural address. Chief-Justice Taney, then administered to the president the oath of office, after which the president, quitting the capitol, drove rapidly, by an indirect route, to the president's house, where he received, during the afternoon, the congratulations of his fellow-citi- zens. In the evening he and his lady attended the two inauguration balls which were given in the city. The senate being in session, the president, on the fifth of March, made the following nominations for members of the cabinet, which were con- firmed : James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, secretary of state ; Robert J. Walker, of Mississippi, secretary of the treasury ; William L. Marcy, of New York, secretary of war ; George Bancroft, of Massachusetts, secre- tary of the navy ; Cave Johnson, of Tennessee, postmaster-general ; John Y. Mason, of Virginia, attorney-general. The tone of the inaugural address of Mr. Polk, on the subjects of the annexation of Texas to the territory of the United States, and of the oc- cupation of the whole of Oregon, both of which questions had been adopted as watchwords by the democratic party, which had been triumphant at the recent presidential election, showed that the new administration entered upon its duties at a critical period, in the foreign relations of the United States. On the one hand, the annexation of Texas threatened to involve the nation in hostilities with Mexico, as the constituted authorities of that republic, had declared that they should view the admission of Texas into the Union of the North American republic of states, as an act of hostil- ity toward Mexico ; while, on the other hand, the claims of Great Britain to a large proportion of the Oregon territory, were not to be disregarded, without the danger of a rupture between that powerful kingdom and the United States. With regard to the Texas question, resolutions for annexing that repub- lic to the United States, had passed both houses of Congress (as we have stated on page 1427), and were approved by President Tyler, on the first of March, 1845, being one of the last acts of his administration. These res- olutions of annexation had been objected to by Messrs. Benton and Bag- by, senators of the democratic party, on the ground of its being indispen- sable to the accomplishment of annexation, that a treaty must be made with the government of Texas, as a foreign power, and that the treaty- making power, by the constitution, is vested in the president and senate, and not in Congress. At the suggestion of those two senators, an amend- ment was added to the resolutions from the house of representatives, giv- ing a discretion to the president to adopt the latter method, of proceeding by treaty, if he thought proper, instead of the method of direct annexation contemplated by the resolutions from the house. It was understood that without that modification, the resolutions which passed the senate by a ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. 491 majority of two votes, would not have received the votes of those two sen- ators, and consequently, the measure of annexation would not have been carried. How far the constitutional objections of senators Benton and Bagby were obviated by the amendment, seems to have depended entirely upon their faith in the president's selecting the course they deemed to be in accordance with the constitution. It was believed by some of the friends of the president elect, that he would immediately proceed to negotiate a treaty with Texas, to consum- mate the act of annexation, and which on being submitted to the senate would be approved, and thus the constitutional objections of many would be obviated. But the action of President Tyler, in the short space of time allowed him after the passage of the Texas resolutions before reti- ring from the presidency, anticipated the necessity of any decision on the part of President Polk, and hurried the annexation of Texas to the Uni- ted States without the formality of a treaty. On the third of March, the last day of his term of office. President Tyler despatched a messenger to deliver to Mr. Donelson, charge d'affaires to Texas, the joint resolutions of Congress for the admission of Texas into the Union, instructing the charge to communicate to the Texan government, information, that he, as president of the United States, had made his election as to the alternative contained in the resolutions of Congress, looking to the admission of Texas into the Union — namely, that he had chosen the alternative of immediate annexation, as proposed by the original resolutions, instead of negotiating by treaty, as proposed by the amendment. The course of Mr. Tyler, in thus forestalling the action of the new president, was much censured by many of the friends of the incoming administration. The leading demo- cratic journal at Washington, the Globe, remarked on this subject, that " to the chief magistrate chosen by the people with an especial eye to this question, alone, it is notorious the discretion confided in the act of Congress was intended to apply. It is clear that as Mr. Tyler began his presiden- tial career in virtue of an accident, that he meant to take the benefit of the whole chapter of accidents, to blend himself with results having their ori- gin in the counsels of Generals Jackson and Houston, and which his in- auspicious management has so far marred in their progress." The resolutions of Congress annexing Texas to the United States, and admitting that republic into the Union, were submitted by the president of Texas to a convention of delegates, called for the purpose of forming a state constitution, and were assented to by that body in behalf of the peo- ple of Texas, on the fourth of July, 1845, and thus Texas became part of the United States. The convention of Texas having authorized and requested the president of the United States to occupy and establish posts without delay upon the frontier and exposed positions of that republic, and to introduce such forces as were deemed necessary for the defence of the territory and people of 492 ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. Texas, an " army of occupation" was despatched from the United States, under the command of General Taylor, and on the twenty-sixth of July, a body of United States troops landed from steam-vessels at Aransas bay, on which day the American flag was first planted in Texas, by authority, upon the south end of St. Joseph's island. This movement, with the measures of annexation agreed upon by the United States and Texas, were looked upon by the Mexican government as acts of hostility toward Mex- ico, and preparations were made by the republic for an appeal to arms. In addition to the difliculties arising from the Texas question, there were other grounds of dispute between the United States and Mexico. In the wars between Spain and Mexico, caused by the attempts of the mother- country to resubjugate her colonies in America, as well as in the civil wars which occasionally convulsed the Mexican nation, the authorities of the latter power resorted to the most illegal measures to replenish their coffers. The proximity of the United States, and the extent of their com- merce in the gulf, exposed them to the depredations of a government gen- erally controlled by military chieftains, and thus were the pacific relations between the two republics often interrupted. Vessels under the Ameri- can flag were plundered, and the property of American merchants confis- cated. Blockades were attempted to be enforced by one contending par- ty against the other, during the civil wars which distracted the republic of Mexico, and consequently the commerce of other nations was seriously injured by seizures under regulations and enactments which often appeared to have been unjustly and arbitrarily established. The government of the United States remonstrated against the illegal seizures of the property of their citizens. Promises of redress were postponed or evaded, until at length a treaty of amity, commerce, and nav- igation, was concluded between the two republics, in April, 1831. But this did not terminate the aggressions of Mexico upon American com- merce, and further remonstrances on the part of the United States, and delay on the part of Mexico, took place, until a new negotiation was opened in 1839, and a commissioner appointed for the adjustment of claims of American citizens, which commissioners met in 1840. The amount of claims in the aggregate was over six millions of dollars, over two millions of which were admitted, and the remaining four millions were left undeci- ded, when the commission expired in February, 1842. By another convention, concluded in January, 1843, the sum acknowl- edged and awarded to the American claimants, was admitted, by the Mex- ican government, and for the accommodation of the latter, the payment was divided into twenty instalments, three of which, with the interest due on the thirtieth of April, 1839, were paid, but the remaining instalments, commencing with that payable in April, 1844, were still due by Mexico on the breaking out of hostilities. The convention of January, 1843, also made provision for another convention for the settlement of the remaining ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. 493 claims ; in accordance with whicli, a third convention was signed at the city of Mexico, on the twentieth of November, 1843. This convention was ratified by the senate of the United States, with two amendments, which were considered just and reasonable. Although the subject was repeatedly urged upon the consideration of the Mexican government, she did not decide whether she would or would not accede to those amend- ments.* On the sixth of March, 1845, General Almonte, the Mexican minister to the United States, protested against the resolutions of Congress, pro- viding for the annexation of Texas, and demanded his passports, which were granted ; and on the 2d of April, the American minister in Mexico was refused all intercourse with that government, upon the ground that the government of Mexico could not continue diplomatic relations with the United States, upon the presumption that such relations were reconcilable with the law of annexation. Herrera, the Mexican president, issued a proclamation on the 4th of June, 1845, declaring that the annexation of Texas in nowise destroyed the rights of Mexico, and that she would main- tain them by force of arms. Two decrees of the Mexican Congress were affixed to this proclamation, providing for calling out all the armed forces of the nation. Under these circumstances the diplomatic intercourse between the two republics was interrupted, and this state of things existed from the spring of 1845, until the commencement of actual hostilities in 1846. The settlement of the northwestern boundary, between the United Slates and the territories of Great Britain, comprehending the claims of both powers to the Oregon territory, had long been a subject of negotia- tion. Three several unsuccessful attempts had been made to settle the questions in dispute between the two countries, by negotiation upon the principle of compromise. These negotiations took place at London, in the years 1818, 1824, and 1826 ; the first two under the administration of Mr. Monroe, and the last under that of Mr. Adams. By the conven- tion of October, 1818, a system of joint occupancy of the Oregon terri- tory, by American and British subjects was agreed upon, and the negotia- tion of 1826, resulted in the convention of August, 1827, by which it was agreed to continue the joint occupation for an indefinite period, and that it should be competent for either of the contracting parties, after the 20th of October, 1828, on giving due notice of twelve months to the other con- tracting party, to annul and abrogate the agreement of joint occupation. Thus the Oregon question stood when President Polk came into power. Although, as he had declared previously to his election, he considered the American title good to the whole of Oregon, and that the British claims could not be maintained to any portion of that territory, he deemed it his duty to renew the propositions of compromise which had been made by * Jenkins's History of the War with Mexico. 494 ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. his predecessors, to adjust the question on the parallel of forty-nine de- grees of north latitude. A proposition was accordingly made to that effect, on the part of the United States, by Mr. Buchanan, the secretary of state, to Mr. Pakenham, the British plenipotentiary at Washington, and rejected by the latter, who after a correspondence of some length, suffered the ne- gotiation on his part to drop, without submitting any other proposition. The president thereupon directed the proposition of compromise which had been made and rejected to be withdrawn, and the title of the United States to the whole of the territory of Oregon asserted. Mr. Everett, the American minister at the court of Great Britain hav- ing been recalled, Louis M'Lane was, in June, 1845, appointed by Pres- ident Polk, embassador to that court, to succeed the former gentleman, and immediately embarked for London, where he arrived on the 1st of Au- gust, 1845. Mr. M'Lane had served in the same capacity, in 1830, during the administration of General Jackson. The first session of the twenty-ninth Congress, commenced on the 1st of December, 1845, and continued until the 10th of x\ugusl, 1846. The administration was sustained by a majority in both houses, the democratic party having been triumphant in a inajority of the congressional districts, and succeeded in changing in their favor the political character of the sen- ate. In the house of representatives the strength of parties was exhibit- ed in the choice of speaker. John M. Davis of Indiana, the democratic candidate, was elected, receiving one hundred and twenty votes, against seventy-two, for Samuel F. Vinton, of Ohio (whig), and nineteen for other persons. The principal recommendations of the president, in his first annual mes- sage to Congress were, a revision of the tariff of duties on imports, with a view to the reduction of the rates of duty, and a consequent withdrawal of the amount of protection to domestic industry, afforded by the tariff of 1842 ; and the establishment of an independent treasury system, similar to that which had been enacted under the administration of Mr. Van Bu- ren, and repealed during that of Tyler. The president also recommended the passage of a resolution giving notice of the termination after one year of the agreement for the joint occupation of Oregon territory. These several measures of the new administration were adopted by Congress. A new tariff of duties, having in view the interests of the public revenue, and only incidentally that of protection, the bill being based on a plan drawn up by the secretary of the treasury, Mr. Walker, was enacted, af- ter a protracted discussion, by a vote of one hundred and fourteen to nine- ty-four in the house, and by twenty-eight to twenty-seven in the senate. On the question of discharging a committee to whom the bill was referred for amendment, the senate was equally divided, when Mr. Dallas, the vice- president, gave the casting vote in the affirmative, and the bill was subse- quently passed, as above stated, to take effect on the 1st of December, ADMINISTi.ATION OF POLK. 495 1846. A warehouse bill was also passed at this session, authorizing the warehousing in public stores of imported articles subject to duty for a limited period, without payment of duties until wanted for home consump- tion or exportation. The tariff and warehouse acts gave great dissatis- faction to the manufacturing interests, particularly in Pennsylvania, and other middle states, where the large iron and other establishments, most affected by the reduction of duties and the substitution of advalorem rates of duty instead of specific duties, are situated. The difficulties with Mexico having assumed a hostile character, and rencontres between the American and Mexican troops on the Rio Grande having taken place, an act was passed by Congress, on the 13th of May, 1846, declaring, that "by the act of the republic of Mexico, a state of war exists between that government and the United States," and placing the militia, naval, and military forces of the United States, at the disposal of the president to enable him to prosecute the war to a speedy and successful termination. The whig members in order to secure una- nimity, proposed to strike out the preamble of the bill, but the motion was refused by the friends of the administration, and the bill with the pream- ble passed the house, one hundred and forty-two to fourteen, and the sen- ate by a vote of forty to two. On the same day the president issued his proclamation, under the provisions of the act. The declaration of war, was of course, followed by enactments for car- rying it on with vigor. Whatever the president asked for from Congress, was promptly voted, and with uncommon unanimity. The army proper was authorized to be augmented to nearly double its usual force. The navy was placed upon a war establishment and considerably enlarged. A volunteer force of fifty thousand men was authorized. Loans and treasury- notes to the amount of ten or twelve millions were authorized. Appropri- ations of ten millions in one sura, and in another of twelve millions, and various amounts in other bills, were granted within the space of a few weeks. The Smithsonian Institution was established by enactment at this ses- sion, to be located at Washington, and sustained by funds bequeathed to the United States, by Mr. Smithson an English gentlem^an, for the pur- poses of literature, science, and education. Acts, under which senators and representatives from Texas took their seats in Congress, were passed, also preliminary acts providing for the admission into the Union of the states of Iowa and Wisconsin. Besides the bills enacted, the two houses passed and sent to the presi- dent for his signature, a bill for improving rivers and harbors, and a bill granting payment to American citizens for French spoliations on Ameri- can commerce, which had been settled by treaty between France and the United States. Both of these bills the president returned with his veto, and they were lost. 49G ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. A resolution for terminating the joint occupation of Oregon by the Uni- ted States and Great Britain, passed both houses. Near the close of the session of this Congress, a bill being before the house, authorizing the president to use the sum of three millions of dol- lars if he deemed expedient, in negotiating a treaty of peace with Mex- ico, Mr. Wilmot, a representative from Pennsylvania, friendly to the ad- ministration, moved to add thereto a proviso, in the words following : "That there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, in any territory on the continent of America, which shall hereafter be acquired by, or annexed to, the United States by virtue of this appropriation, or in any. other man- ner whatsoever, except for crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted : Provided always, That any person escaping to such territory, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed, in any one of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed out of said territory to the person claiming his or her labor or service." This proviso was adopted with little discussion, but not without calling forth much feeling, by the house, nearly all the members from the free states supporting, while those from the slaveholding states opposed it. The bill thus amended was on the last day of the session sent to the senate, and was promptly met by Mr. D. H. Lewis of Alabama, with a motion to strike out the proviso. Mr. Davis of Massachusetts rose in opposition to this motion, and was speaking against it, when word was brought that the house had adjourned — the hour of adjournment, noon, having been struck by the clock in the house, though not yet reached by the senate's clock. The bill therefore failed for the session. The controversy with Great Britain, respecting the northwestern bound- ary and the Oregon territory, was settled by a treaty negotiated, June 15, 1846, at Washington, by Mr. Buchanan, on the part of the United States, and Mr. Pakenham, on the part of Great Britain. The basis of this treaty was a settlement of the boundary line on the forty-ninth degree of north latitude. The proposition was made by the British government, through Mr. M'Lane, American minister at London, and was submitted as soon as received by the president to the senate, asking their advice respecting the expediency of accepting the stipulations, and accompanying this applica- tion with a declaration that his own opinions on the Oregon question re- mained unchanged. The advice of the senate was given to the president, to negotiate with the British government, and he therefore caused the pro- jet to pass through the usual forms of negotiation, when, after discussion, it was duly ratified by the senate in June, 1846. By this treaty the last remaining subject of controversy between the United States and Great Britain was removed, and the relations of the two countries were thus placed on the most firm and amicable footing. During the first session of the twenty-ninth Congress, the affairs of the United States with Mexico, assumed a decidedly hostile character, as ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. 497 already stated. In the month of March, 1846, the largest part of the reg- ular army of the United States, having been previously concentrated at Corpus Christi, under the command of Gen. Taylor, for the protection of Texas ; that officer was ordered by the war department to move forward to the left bank of the Rio Grande. About the last of March, the army arrived at the latter point, and selected a position for the army opposite to Matamoras, at the same time establishing a dep6t of supplies at Point Isabel, about thirty miles in his rear, and near the coast. The three Mexican generals commanding the troops on the Rio Grande, Meja, Ampudia, and Arista, declared that the advance of Gen. Taylor and his army was a hostile movement. The American government claimed that the territory of Texas extended to the Rio Grande, while the Mexi- cans insisted that the river Nueces was the true boundary of Texas. On the 24th of April, the Mexican general Arista informed General Taylor that " he considered hostilities commenced and should prosecute them." On the same day a detachment of American dragoons sent on the left bank of the river to observe the movement of the Mexican forces, became engaged .with a large body of these troops, and after a short affair, in which some sixteen were killed and wounded, the American detachment was compelled to surrender. After this occurrence. General Taylor, availing himself of the authority vested in him by the president and the war department, called on the gov- ernors of Texas and Louisiana, for four regiments of volunteers from each state, to be sent forward with the least practicable delay. On the 8ih of May, General Taylor being on his return from Point Isabel to the Rio Grande, with his army, encountered the Mexicans in considerable force at Palo Alto, where an action ensued, and the Mexicans were defeated. On the next day the hostile forces again met seven miles in advance, at Resaca de la Palma, when the Americans were again victorious, and the Mexicans retreated with great loss, across the Rio Grande. During Gen. Taylor's absence, Fort Brown opposite Matamoras, was bombarded by the Mexican batteries from the 4th to the 9th of May. As soon as it became known at Washington, that hostilities had com- menced, by the affair of the 24th of April, Congress recognised the ex- istence of a state of war between the United States and the republic of Mexico, and on the 13th of May authorized the president to accept the services of volunteers, not to exceed fiftj'- thousand. Under this act, re- quisitions were immediately made upon the governors of eleven of the southern and western states for a volunteer force, amounting to twenty- three thousand effective men. This call was promptly responded to, much the larger portion of the force being designed to co-operate with the reg- ular army under General Taylor on the Rio Grande. After establishing his base of operations on that river for several hundred miles, Gen. Tay- lor, who, on the 1 8th of May, had taken military possession of the city of 32 498 ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. Matamoras, moved into the enemy's country, in the direction of Monterey, in the department of New Leon. Another portion of the vohmteers was concentrated under General Wool, at San Antonio de Bexar, for a move- ment upon Chihuahua ; and the volunteers from the state of Missouri as- sembled at Fort Leavenworth, to compose, with a few hundred regular troops, an expedition to Santa Fe, in New Mexico, under Gen. Kearney. The army under General Taylor arrived before Monterey, on the 19th of September, 1846, and commenced the attack on that strongly-fortified city, on the 21st, the battle continuing through that and the two succes- sive days. The Americans attacked the enemy in his fortified position, captured his batteries, and various fortresses, when terms of capitulation, "were solicited by the Mexican general, and liberal terms were granted by the American commander. The advanced column under General Wool, destined for Chihuahua, commenced its march from San Antonio de Bexar, on the 29th of Septem- ber, and soon after penetrated the department of Coaliuila, to Monclova, the ancient capital of the province, which town the American army entered on the 29th of October, being favorably received by the inhabitants. Gen. Wool with his army afterward formed a junction with the forces under General Taylor at Saltillo. General Kearney, with the force under his command, moved from Fort Leavenworth upon Santa Fe, where he arrived, afier a march of eight hundred and seventy-three miles, on the 18th of August, 1846, and took military possession of New Mexico without resistance. Agreeably to his instructions. General Kearney then established a temporary civil govern- ment in New Mexico, and departed with a portion of his forces for Cali- fornia. On his route thither he met an express sent by Commodore Stock- ton, and Captain (afterward Lieutenant-Colonel) Fremont, who reported that they were already in possession of the Californias. On receiving this intelligence. General Kearney sent back part of his troops, and with about one hundred dragoons continued his march for California, where he arrived in the month of December, 1847. After various actions and skir- mishes with the enemy, the American forces remained in quiet possession of the Californias. General Kearney continued in command until the 31st of May, 1847, when he returned home, leaving Colonel Mason as the commanding officer to succeed him in the military government of Cal- ifornia. Various other successes attended the American arms by land and water, during the first year of the war with Mexico. In December, 1846, the secre- tary of war, reported that, by the operations of the land and naval forces, the United Slates were then in military possession of the department of Ta- maulipas, of the right bank of the Rio Grande, for several hundred miles from its mouth ; and, of the department of New Leon, Coahuila and Chi- huahua were then, in effect, wrested from the control of Mexico ; all Mex- ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. 499 ican authority liad been displaced in New Mexico and the Californias, and those large provinces were in quiet possession of the Americans. " Such," says the secretary, " are the achievements of our arms within the short period of seven months from the commencement of a war suddenly forced upon us, when our force was less than three thousand efTective men, with a hostile army of double its numerical strength prepared to assail it, and exulting in the confident hope of a decisive victory." On the 22d of February, 1817, was fought the important battle of Biiena Vista, near Saltillo, the capital of Coahuila, by the American troops under Gen. Taylor, and the Mexican army under Gen. Santa Anna. The latter consisted of twenty thousand men, while the American forces were less than one fourth of that number, not five hundred of whom were reg- ulars. The action continued two days, after which the Americans were left in possession of the field, and the Mexicans retreated to San Luis Potosi. The loss on both sides was severe, that of the Mexicans over fifteen hundred, and of the Americans about seven hundred and fifty in killed and wounded. The second session of the twenty-ninth Congress, commenced on the 7th of December, 1846, and continued until the expiration of its term on the 3d of March, 1847. But few acts of general interest were passed, and much of the time of the session was taken up in discussing the top- ics of the president's message, particularly the war with Mexico, and its probable effect upon the general interests of the country. The bill au- thorizing the president to erapToy three millions of dollars, if deemed ex- pedient, in negotiations for a peace with Mexico, was again revived, and the proviso offered by Mr. Wilmot at the last session, prohibiting slavery in acquired territory, was again proposed as an amendment, and at first the proviso passed the house, but being stricken out in the senate and re- turned to the house, the latter body concurred with the senate, and thus the three million-bill became a law, without the Wilmot proviso, as the amendment was called. An additional army bill, and another authorizing the appointment of additional army officers, were passed ; also an act to provide for the building of four mail-steamships, and the employment of twelve mail-steamships. A bill making appropriations for the improve- ment of harbors and rivers passed both houses, but failed of obtaining the president's signature, being retained by the executive at the close of the session. During the month of February, 1847, an American land and naval force was concentrated on the gulf of Mexico ; the military being under the command of Major-General Scott, and the naval forces under Commodore Connor, who was afterward relieved by Commodore Perry. On the 9th of March, the troops were debarked at Vera Cruz, and on the following day a rapid fire of shot and shells was opened from the city and castle, upon the position occupied by the American army. The landing of the 500 ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. mortars and guns for the American batteries was delayed for several days ; consequently the arrangements for a bombardment were not completed un- til the 22d of March, when General Scott summoned the city to surren- der, which demand was refused by the Mexican governor, Morales. Or- ders were then given to fire upon the city, and a continued fire from the American batteries was kept up with terrible eff'ect until the 26 th of March, when the batteries ceased playing, and articles of capitulation were signed on the following day. The surrender of the city took place on the morn- ing of the 29th, when the Mexican soldiers marched out to a plain, one mile outside of the town, where the Americans were drawn up to receive them. The Mexicans laid down their arms and departed for the interior. A succession of battles, with uniform success, was fought by the army under General Scott, on their march from Vera Cruz to the city of Mexi- co, which capital they entered on the 14th of September, 1847. Changes having taken place in the Mexican government, and a party favorable to peace with the United States placed in power, the leaders of which party could not fail to perceive the hopelessness of a farther con- test with their more powerful neighbor, commissioners were appointed by the Mexican government to treat with Mr. Trist, who had been author- ized by the president of the United States to negotiate a treaty. Notwith- standing the powers delegated to Mr. Trist had been revoked, negotiations were opened and continued until the 2d of February, 1848, when a treaty of peace was signed by the Mexican commissioners and Mr. Trist, at the city of Guadalupe Hidalgo. By this treaty, the Rio Grande was ac- knowledged as one of the boundaries between the United States and Mex- ico, thus confirming the claims of the United States to Texas, and the ter- ritory between the river Nueces and the Rio Grande. New Mexico and Upper California were also ceded to the United States, in consideration of which the United States agreed to pay to Mexico, the sum of fifteen millions of dollars ; and to assume the claims due her citizens, to an amount not exceeding three and one fourth millions of dollars — Mexico being entirely released and discharged from the payment of such claims. This treaty was duly ratified by the Mexican Congress, and by the sen- ate of the United States, and on the 4th of July, 1848, the president of the United States issued his proclamation, directing the same to be ob- served by the authorities and people of the Union. The elections for members of the thirtieth Congress, held in 1846 and 1847, showed that the administration was not able to sustain the popular- ity by which it came into power. While the war with Mexico was un- popular in some of the states, in others the repeal of the protective tarifi' of 1842, and the passage by a democratic Congress of the tariff' act of 1846, which was avowedly based on a revenue principle, instead of that of pro- tection, were measures which were regarded with disfavor by a large por- tion of the people by whose votes the democratic triumph at the presiden- ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. 501 tial election of 1844 was effected. Consequently the congressional elec- tions in Pennsylvania, New York, and some other states, showed a laro-e gain in favor of the whig party, and in opposition to the administration. In the state of New York, the whigs were aided by local dissensions in the democratic party, which became divided into two sections called eventu- ally " hunkers" or conservatives, and '• burnburners" or radicals. At the election of 1846, Silas AVright belonging to the barnburner faction, being nominated for re-election as governor, was defeated, and the whig candi- date, John Young, elected by a large majority, many of the hunkers with- holding their votes from Mr. Wright, who in 1844, had been elected governor by a majority exceeding ten thousand. At the election of 1846, a large majority of the members of Congress, elected from the state of New York, were of the whig party. The result of the elections for members of Congress throughout the country, being known before the meeting of the thirtieth Congress, it was well ascertained that a majority of the house of representatives would be found opposed to the administration, while a majority of the senate con- tinued democratic in its character. The first session of the thirtieth Congress commenced on the 6th of December, 1847, and continued until the 14th of August, 1848. Robert C. Winihrop, of Massachusetts (whig), was elected speaker of the house of representatives on the third ballot, receiving one hundred and ten votes ; Linn Boyd of Kentucky (democrat), sixty-four — other democratic candi- dates forty-one, and there were three scattering whig votes. A whig clerk and serjeant-at-arms were also elected. But few important acts of a general character were passed at this ses- sion. A loan of sixteen millions of dollars was authorized, and an act for the purchase of the papers of Mr. Madison, fourth president of the United States, was passed. A bill for the organization of the territory of Oregon was also passed. A national convention of the democratic party, for the nomination of president and vice-president, was held at Baltimore, in May, 1848. The two sections of the democratic party in New York were represented at the convention, and each delegation claimed admission. It was finally decided to admit both delegations, but each of them declined to take their seats, and consequently, New York was not represented in the convention. On the fourth ballot the convention nominated General Lewis Cass for president, and General William O. Butler of Kentucky, was afterward nominated for vice-president. The national convention of the whig party met at Philadelphia, on the 1st of June, 1848. Much difference of opinion prevailed in the selectioa of a candidate for president, the principal candidates named, being Zach- ary Taylor of Louisiana, Henry Clay of Kentucky, Winfield Scott of New Jersey, and Daniel Webster of Massachusetts. On the third ballot 502 ADMINISTRATION' OF POLK. General Taylor was nominatecl, receiving one hundred and se\'enty-one votes, General Scott sixty -two, Henry Clay thirty-two, and Daniel Webster thirteen. In point of fact, this nomination had been settled from the begin- ning. Many delegates who had voted for other candidates at first, were known to be really in favor of General Taylor, believing him the most available candidate, in consequence of his successful campaigns in xMex- ico, and only voting for other candidates in deference to the opinions of their constituents. Millard Fillmore of New York was on the second bal- lot, nominated for vice-president by a decided majority. The agitation of the Wilmot-proviso question, by which it was proposed to restrict or prohibit slavery, in the territory acquired by the United States from Mexico, caused the formation of a third party, called " the free-soil party," merging in its ranks most of those who had been organized as abo- litionists, and drawing additional strength from both the whig and demo- cratic parties in the northern states. A convention of the free-soil parly was held at Buffalo, in the state of New York, on the 8th of August, 1848, and nominated Martin Van Buren of New York, for president, and Charles Francis Adams of Massachusetts, for vice-president. On the 7th of November, 1848, the presidential election took place throughout the Union, and resulted in the choice of the whig candidates, General Taylor for president, and Millard Fillmore for vice-president, each of whom received one hundred and sixty-three electoral voles. The democratic candidates. General Cass and General Butler, each received one hundred and twenty-seven electoral votes. The free-soil candidates, Van Buren and Adams, did not receive any of the electoral votes, as they were all given by states, but their aggregate popular vote exceeded two hundred and ninety thousand. The second session of the thirtieth Congress commenced on the 4th of December, 1848, and continued until the expiration of its term on the 4th of March, 1849. The principal subject of public interest agitated at this session, was that of the organization of governments, for the newly-acquired territories by cession from Mexico, namely, New Mexico, and California ; but in consequence of disagreement between the senate and house of represent- atives, with regard to the prohibition of slavery in those territories, all attempts made to pass laws for their organization as territorial governments, or otherwise, were unsuccessful. A majority of the house of representa- tives were in favor of the "Wilmot-proviso" so called, by which slavery would be prohibited in the new territories, while a majority of the senate were opposed to such proviso or restriction. Early in the session, Mr. Douglass, of Illinois, introduced in the senate a bill for the admission of California, as a state, into the Union, without the preliminary measure of a territorial government, which had been the uni- form precedent established by Congress, except in the case of the admis- ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. 503 sion of Texas. Mr. Douglass gave as his reasons, for introducing the bill, that the discovery of vast mineral wealth in California, and the establish- ment of facilities for communication iherevv^ith, had invited so great a tide of emigration thither, as to give reason to believe that it will soon possess a population far exceeding that requisite for her admission into this con- federacy as a state ; and that he despaired of any territorial bill being passed at this session of Congress ; three different bills presented for that purpose, having already been rejected. His bill provided for the erection of all the territory acquired from Mexico, into one state, by the name of the state of California, Congress reserving the right, at any time, to form n-evv states out of any portion of said territory, lying east of the Sierra Ne- vada mountains ; the state to be divided into two judicial districts. The above bill was referred to the judiciary committee, which on the 9th of January, made an unfavorable report therein, and recommended the establishment of a territorial government, for each of the two territories cf New Mexico and California. In the opinion of a majority of the com- mittee, the power conferred by the constitution on Congress is to admit new states — not to create them. The subject being referred to a select committee, Mr. Douglass, the chair- man thereof, on the 29th Jantiary, reported a new bill, providing for the formation of two new states from the territories in question, and leaving the question of slavery to the decision of the people thereof. The bill having been laid aside for the day, on the 2d of February, Mr. Douglass moved that it be again taken up ; which motion was negatived by a very decided vote of the senate. On the 20th of February, IMr. Walker of Wisconsin, submitted in the senate, an amendment to the civil and diplomatic appropriation bill, provi- ding for the extension of the revenue laws of the United States, over Cali- fornia and New Mexico ; also to extend the constitution of the United States, and all general laws which are applicable, over the same; likewise that the president appoint the officers, and make the necessary regulations to carry these provisions into effect — the object being to preserve order and administer justice in these territories. After an able and interesting debate, which was continued for several days, the senate adopted Mr. Walker's amendment by a small majority, but in the house of representatives the bill was further amended by attach- ing thereto the Wilmot-proviso, prohibiting slavery in the new territories, which the senate refused to accede to, and the debates in the two houses on this subject continued until the very last hour of the session ; indeed so as to jeopard the passage of the civil and diplomatic appropriation bill altogether ; when finally at five o'clock on Sunday morning, 4th March, the senate, by a vote of thirty-eight to seven, disagreed to the California amendment of the house and receded from their own amendment, thus ei«aring the appropriation bill of obstructions and passing it — of course 504 ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. sweeping out of the bill, everything relating to a temporary goremraent for California and New Mexico. A bill which had previously passed the house of representatives, extending the revenue laws of the United States to California, was then taken up and passed by the senate. Mr. Benton, on the 13ih December, presented in the senate, a petition from citizens of New Mexico, praying for the organization of a territorial government, protesting against the dismemberment of their territory in favor of Texas, and containing the following clause on the subject of slavery : — " We do not desire to have domestic slavery within our borders, and until the time shall arrive for our admission into the Union as a state, we desire to be protected by Congress against its introduction among us." After considerable debate, this petition was ordered to be printed, and referred to the appropriate committee. Various propositions were introduced at this session to grant the aid of the national government to railroad communications, to be constructed between the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, but no definite ac- tion was had on either of these plans. A bill was reported in the senate, by Mr. Benton, from the committee on military affairs, authorizing and directing the secretary of the navy to ente? into a contract, for a period not exceeding twenty years, with William H. Aspinwall, John L. Stephens, and Henry Chauncey, of New York, for the transportation, by steam, of the mails, naval and army supplies, &c., over a railroad to be constructed across the isthmus of Panama, from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean ; at a sum not exceeding three fourths of the "amount now stipulated by law to be paid for the transportation of the mails alone from New York to Liv- erpool. This bill, although pressed and debated until the last days of the session, failed to receive the support of a majority of the senate. Mr. Benton also introduced in the senate a bill, which was not acted upon, providing for the location and construction of a central national rail- road from the Pacific ocean at San Francisco, to the Mississippi river at St. Louis ; with a branch to the tidewater of Columbia river — appropria- ting therefor, seventy-five per cent, of the proceeds of sales of the public lands in Oregon and California, and fifty per cent, of the amount of sales of all other public lands. A convention of southern members of Congress, comprising a large por- tion of the members of both houses from the slaveholding states, which was held during this session, attracted considerable of the public attention. The motive for calling this convention arose mainly from the previous pro- ceedings in the house of representatives at the present session, relating in part to the subject of slavery, and the slave-trade in the District of Colum- bia, and in part to ihe question of the prohibition of slavery in the recently- acquired territories of California and New Mexico. The first meeting was held in the senate chamber, on the 23d Decern- ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. 505 ber, 1848, at wliicli were present sixty-eight members of Congress. Ex- Governor Aletcalfe, senator from Kentucky, presided. Mr. Bayly, a mem- ber of the house, from Virginia, offered a series of resolutions, embracing essentially the principles of the Virginia resolutions of 1798. These res- olutions of Mr. Bayly were referred to a committee of one member from each of the slaveholding states, which committee appointed a sub-com- mittee of five, of whom Mr. Calhoun, of South Carolina, was chairman, to consider and report upon the subjects referred to them. On the 15th of January, the convention again met, between eighty and ninety members attending ; and Mr. Calhoun, from the committee of fif- teen, reported " an address of the southern delegates to their constituents," — which paper, after giving a review of the constitutional provisions in relation to slavery, and the rights of the slaveholding states under that instrument, set forth the alleged infractions of these provisions by the northern or free states, and advised the south to be united among them- selves in the present crisis, and to maintain an immovable attitude of readiness, if necessary, to defend their rights. The address having been recommitted to the committee, the convention again met on the 22d of January, when Mr. Berrien, of Georgia, submit- ted an " address to the people of the United States," as a substitute for that of Mr. Calhoun ; which substitute the convention, by a vote of twenty- seven to thirty-four, refused to adopt. Mr. Calhoun's address was then adopted by a vote of forty-two yeas, to seventeen nays, and after being signed by forty-eight members, thirty thousand copies of it were published for distribution. Of the signers, two were whigs, and forty-six democrats. The principal acts of public importance passed at this session were as follows : to establish the home department, and to provide for an assistant secretary of the treasury, and a commissioner of the customs ; to extend the revenue laws of the United States over the territory and waters of Upper California, and to create a collection district therein ; to establish the territorial government of Minesota ; to make arrangements for taking the seventh census ; to authorize the coinage of twenty and one dol- lar gold pieces ; requiring all moneys receivable from customs and from all other sources to be paid immediately into the treasury, without abate- ment or deduction ; to cause the northern boundary line of the state of Iowa to be run and marked ; to carry into effect certain stipulations of the treaty between the United States and Mexico ; and a resolution authorizing the secretary of war to furnish arms and ammunition to emigrants to Oregon, California, and New Mexico. A convention or treaty between the governments of the United States and Great Britain, " for the ijnprovement of the communications by post between their respective territories," was signed in London on the 15th of December, 1848, by Lord Palmerston, on the part of the British gov- ernment, and Mr. Bancroft, on the part of the United States. This was confirmed by the United States senate on the 5th of January, 1849. 506 ADMINISTRATION OF POLK, In 1846, Mr. M'Lane, minister plenipotentiary to Great Britain, having returned to the United States, George Bancroft was appointed in his place, and consequently resigned as secretary of the navy. To the latter office John Y. Mason was transferred from that of attorney-general, and Nathan Clifford, of Maine, succeeded Mr. Mason. In 1848, Mr. Clifford was ap- pointed minister to Mexico, and was succeeded in the office of attorney- general by Isaac Toucey, of Connecticut. The administration of Mr. Polk, which terminated on the 4th of March, 1849, was marked by measures and events of the most decided and im- portant character on the interests of the country ; among its most impor- tant features, was the war with Mexico, began, as we have seen, under circumstances which rendered it unpopular with a considerable portion of the people of the United States, but, in consequence of the unchecked triumphs of the American arms, and the unsurpassed valor and skill of the military and naval forces of the United States employed in Mexico, eventually became popular with the people, and was carried on and brought to a successful and honorable conclusion by the same administration which had commenced it. The advantages gained by this war, as claimed by the friends of the administration, were, the acquisition of the large and important territories of New Mexico and California, by which the area of the United States territory was greatly extended, and the boundary with Mexico permanently settled — the newly-acquired countries being of great value on account of their mineral wealth, and possessing important harbors on the Pacific ocean ; also the elevation of the reputation of the people of the United States ; and the Mexicans being taught by experience, their inferiority and inability to contend with their northern neighbors, will avoid causes of war on their own part, while their cession of territory to the United States will hasten the peopling and improvement of those portions of the continent of North America, which, under the dominion of the Spanish race, have hitherto lain waste and unoccupied. Those who disapproved of the war contend that a collision of arms might have been avoided by proper measures on the part of the administration of Mr. Polk, and that the advantages gained by the conquests of our army are more than counterbalanced by the sacrifice of more than twenty-five thousand lives of citizens of the United States, lost during the war, by battles, sickness, and other casualties, and at a cost of over one hundred millions of dollars. The other prominent measures of Mr. Polk's administration were, the settlement of the Oregon boundary question with Great Britain ; the estab- lishment of an independent treasury system, by which the revenues of the nation are collected in gold and silver, or treasury-notes, without the aid of banks ; and a revision of the tariff, by which the establishment of an advalorem system of duties on imports, accompanied with a warehouse system, has been effected ; on the policy of which financial measures the American people have been, and still continue to be, divided in opinion. ■End^by V3alch-5M>3i aDa^erxeo-^e 7at/-^r BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF ZACHARY TAYLOR. Virginia, the "Ancient Dominion" of the British American colonies, has obtained also the name of the "Mother of Presidents," among the states ; it being the native state of no less than seven of the presidents of the United States, including Zachary Taylor, the twelfth on the list of those who have filled that high station. It is worthy of remark, that three of these Virginians have been elected without the aid of the electoral votes of their native state. The family of the Taylors of Virginia, to which the twelfth president belongs, is honorably distinguished in the annals of the colony and the state. Its ancestors of the same name emigrated from England, with other friends of liberty, and settled in the southeastern part of the colony of Virginia in the year 1692. Among the difierent branches and connex- ions of the family are the Madisons, Lees, Barbours, Pendletons, Con- ways, Taliaferos, Hunts, Gaineses, and others, whose public services and patriotism, during more than a century, are commemorated in colonial and national history. Richard Taylor, the father of General Zachary Taylor, was born in Virginia, on the 22d of March, 1744. He received a plain but solid edu- cation, and in boyhood evinced the bold and adventurous spirit which after- ward led him to seek a home in the western wilderness. When still a youth, he made a journey to Kentucky, and thence to the banks of the Mississippi, surveying the country as far as Natchez, and returning on foot, without guide or companion, through pathless woods, inhabited only by savages and wild beasts, to his father's house in Virginia.* At the age of thirty-five, on the 20th of August, 1779, Richard Taylor married Sarah Strother, a young lady of highly respectable connexions, then in her twentieth year. At this time he held a colonel's commission • For part of the facts mentioned in this sketch, we are indebted to Fry's Life of General Tay- lor ; also to Montgomeiy's memoir of the same. 508 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. in the Virginia line, and served with zeal and valor throughout the revo- lutionary war. He was engaged in several of the most important battles of that war, particularly in the brilliant achievement of Trenton, where he rendered distinguished and valuable aid to General Washington. Five sons and three daughters were the offspring of the marriage of Colonel Richard Taylor — the first child born in 1781. His third son, Zachary Taylor, the subject of this memoir, was born in Orange county, Virginia, on the 24th of November, 1784. In the following sum- mer his father fulfilled his long-cherished intention of emigrating to Ken- tucky, only ten years after the first habitation of a white man had been erected in the vast region between the western boundary of Virginia and the Mississippi. In the emigration of Colonel Richard Taylor to this country, he had been preceded by his brother Hancock Taylor, a brave and intelligent man, who lost his life by the Indians while engaged in surveying lands in the Ohio valley. He is said to have selected for his farm the site of the present city of Louisville. The early years of Zachary Taylor were passed under the guidance of such men, and under such circumstances for the development of a bold spirit and active intellect. His father had settled in JefiTerson county, near Louisville, where he acquired a large estate by his industry and thrift, and honorable consideration by his intelhgence, bravery, and patri- otism. As Louisville rose into importance, his own fortune and local distinction increased. He received from President Washington a com- mission as collector of that port. New Orleans being then a Spanish pos- session. Richard Taylor was also one of the framers of the constitution of Kentucky; represented Jefferson county for many years in both branches of the legislature, and was a member of the electoral colleges which voted for Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and Clay. Among the politicians of Ken- tucky he is remembered as one of the few men of the " Old Court party" who could be elected from Jefferson county during the excitement of the old and new court question. He died on his plantation, near Louisville, leaving to survive him three sons and three daughters, of whom one son and two daughters have since died. His two surviving sons, Zachary and Joseph, have both chosen a military profession, as did their brother Hancock, who died in 1808. One of the chief cares of Colonel Taylor was the education of his children ; but during the first ten or fifteen years of his residence in Ken- tucky, the sparseness of the population, and the exposure of the inhabit- ants to Indian hostilities, made the accomplishment of his purpose very diflScult. A school for the rudiments of English merely was established in his neighborhood by Elisha Ayres, a native of Connecticut, who after- Avard returned to that state, and now resides, at the advanced age of four- score years, at Preston, near Norwich. To Mr. Ayres, as his teacher, was Zachary Taylor sent in his early years, to receive such instruction as BIOGRAPHICAX. SKETCH OF TAYLOR. 509 was practicable under the circumstances, while constant care and watch- fulness were necessary on the part of his father and other guardians of his youth, for protection against savage foes. After the Indians were subdued by the decisive victory of General Wayne, in 1794, a general peace was concluded with them, in the follow- ing year, and from that period the prosperity of Kentucky advanced rapidly with the increase of population. Zachary Taylor was reared by his father to his own profession, that of a farmer ; and, until he attained the age of twenty-one, was practically engaged in that laborious occupation, lajang the foundation of the robust health, hardy habits, and persevering industry, which have been the test of various climates, rude fare, and severe duty, during a military life of more than forty years. The military service very early engaged his affections and excited his ambition. When Aaron Burr's movements in the west began to arouse suspicion, the patriotic young men of Kentucky formed volunteer companies to oppose his de- signs by arms, if occasion should demand such a result. The brothers Taylor were enrolled in a troop raised for this purpose. Their services were not required by the events, and after the alarm had subsided, Zach- ary returned to his farm. On the death of his brother, Lieutenant Hancock Taylor, who held a commission in the United States army, an opportunity was afforded Zach- ary of obtaining the vacancy. Through the influence of his relative, James Madison, then secretary of state, and of his uncle. Major Edmund Tay- lor, tie received from President Jefferson, on the 3d of May, 1808, his commission as first lieutenant in the seventh regiment of United States infantry. At this time, when he was in the twenty-fourth year of his age, he was in the enjoyment of a competency from his occupation as a farmer. But the activity of his mind, and his taste for a military profession, led him to prefer the care and privations of a soldier's life to the quiet and comforts of a landed proprietor at home. His first experience in his new vocation had nearly proved fatal. He was ordered to report himself to General Wilkinson, in New Orleans ; and being seized there with the yellow fever, was obliged to return home for the recovery of his health. He appears to have employed his time sedulously in the study of his pro- fession, as we find him, three years from this time, fulfilling with honor a dangerous and important post. In 1810, ..Lieutenant Taylor was married to Miss Margaret Smith, a lady of Maryland, of a highly respectable family in that state. She was sister of the late Major R. S. Smith, of the marine corps. The Indian tribes on the northwestern frontier of the United States having been excited to feelings of hostilities against the Americans, as was supposed and believed through the agency of British emissaries sent among them, and a general league of the tribes being on the point of formation, by the influence of the noted chief Tecumseh and his brother 510 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. the Prophet, the American government took early steps to counteract their operations. General Harrison, then governor of the northwestern territory, was ordered to march a competent force into the Indian country. After the declaration of war, in 1812, Taylor was placed in command of Fort Harrison, a block-house and stockade, which had been erected by order of General Harrison, on the Wabash river, about fifty miles above Vincennes. Congress declared war against Great Britain on the 1 9th of June, 1812, and at no previous period was the spirit of those Indians who were allies of England, and led on by Tecumseh and the Prophet, so fully aroused to the determination of exterminating the Americans on the northwestern frontier as at this time. Their first object of attack was Fort Harrison, and three months after war with England had been for- mally declared, they were banded for the purpose of this and other acts of hostility. Captain Taylor had some intimations of their intentions, which were confirmed on the 3d of September, by the report of guns in the vicinity of the fort. On the following day it was discovered that two men had been murdered and scalped by the Indians. Captain Taylor, therefore, made every effort in his power for defence. The whole force under his command was about fifty men, of whom nearly two thirds were invalids, and he himself was just recovering from a fever. The Indians were aware of his weakness, but preferred the exercise of their native cunning to the hazard of an open attack. A deputation of the Prophet's party came to the fort with a white flag, and affecting peaceable inten^tions. Captain Taylor was not deceived by this stratagem, and he made prepa- rations for an assault from the enemy. At night a watch was set, and the remaining few retired to rest. An hour before midnight the report of a musket was heard, and Taylor, springing from his brief sleep, found his savage foes were making an attack upon the fort. On their approach, the sentinels had retreated within, and it was discovered that the lower build- ing was already fired by the Indians, rendering the situation of the garri- son one of extreme peril. The young captain, however, retained his composure, and while he directed a part of his small force to carry buck- ets of water to extinguish the flames, the other soldiers returned the fire of the Indians by a steady discharge of musketry, the assailants, during seven hours, abating no efTort to carry the fort, and being for some time under the cover of a very dark night. In this protracted attack only three of the garrison were killed and three wounded, while the Indians suffered severely from their exposed situation. At six o'clock on the morning of the 5th, dispirited by their loss, they abandoned the attempt to carry the fort, and retired from the spot, after destroying all the provisions of the post, and killing or driving off' all the horses and cattle. The account of this afl^air by Captain Taylor, in a letter to General Harrison, dated the lOlh of September, 1812, is his first official despatch, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. 511 and has the unaffected spirit, without the experienced style, of his more mature productions. The failure of their enterprise against Fort Harrison disheartened the Indians, and they abandoned for a time any further attempts against it; yet the garrison expected another attack, and Captain Taylor sent to General Harrison an account of his situation, and an application for assistance. A large force, under General Hopkins, was immediately sent to the relief of the garrison, then reduced to want by sickness, fatigue, and the loss of provisions. The conduct of Taylor at Fort Harrison was not overlooked by his su- perior officers, by the public, or by the government. General Hopkins, in a letter to the governor of Kentucky, said of him : " The firm and almost unparalleled defence of Fort Harrison by Captain Zachary Taylor, has raised for him a fabric of character not to be effaced by eulogy." The president afforded a satisfactory proof of his favorable opinion, by con- ferring upon Taylor the rank of major by brevet — the oldest instance in the service of this species of promotion. The Indians, notwithstanding their defeat, continued their depredations upon the inhabitants on the frontier, and to arrest their atrocities General Hopkins planned an expedition against the Indian villages on the Illinois, and commenced his march about the middle of October. But the volunteers under his command evinced insubordination, and the general resolved to abandon the expedition. The villages, however, were attacked by a de- tachment under Colonel Russell, and destroyed. In the following month, General Hopkins undertook a second expedition, directed against the Prophet's and Winebago town, in which Major Taylor took part, and re- ceived the commendations of the general. Several skirmishes occurred, in some of which our troops suffered severely. They succeeded in achieving their main objects, devastating the enemy's country and destroy- ing their settlements. The winter forced both parties into a cessation of active hostilities. From this time to the close of the war with Great Britain, Major Taylor was engaged on the northwest frontier, accom- plishing the purposes of the government with unremitting vigilance. In 1814, Major Taylor commanded an expedition against the British and Indians on Rock river, a branch of the Mississippi. By order of General Howard, Major Taylor left Fort Independence, on the 2d August, at the head of a detachment of about three hundred and fifty men, and proceeded in boats up the Mississippi to Rock river, where they arrived on the 4lh of September. The British and Indians being strongly posted near the mouth of the river, and well provided with artillery, commenced firing upon the Americans before they had an opportunity to land, and the boats were exposed to the fire of the artillery and musketry for a consid- erable time, which was returned by Taylor's troops, from small arms and the cannon on board the boats. The Americans then dropped down the 512 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. river about three miles, and landed ; being followed by the enemy, Taylor halted on a small prairie and prepared his troops for action, when the British and Indians hastily retired. The Americans in this affair had eleven men killed and wounded. Taylor then called a council of his officers, and as the enemy was at least three to one in number to the Americans, it was decided that it would be madness to attack them in their position, without a prospect of success. Major Taylor therefore determined to drop down the river to the Des Moines rapids, and execute one of the principal objects of the expedition, namely, to erect a fort to command the river ; which was done, and the same was called Fort Madison. The details of this expedition, ]\Iajor Taylor communicated to General Howard, in an official despatch, dated September 6, 1814. On the restoration of peace with Great Britain, in 1815, Congress adopted the policy of reducing the army and of annulling promotions made during the war. Among other officers who suffered from this policy was Major Taylor, who was reduced to the rank of captain ; in consequence of which he resigned his commission, and left the service, returning to his family, from whom he had so long been separated, and resuming his agricultural pursuits. In consequence of the influence of his friends, who were not content to see him retire from the army, for such a cause, he was reinstated by President Madison, in the course of the year, and consented again to leave his home and its attractions for the monotonous service of the army in time of peace. In 1816, Major Taylor was ordered to Green Bay, on Lake Michigan, and remained in command of that post for two years. Returning to Kentucky, he passed a year with his family, and was then ordered to join Colonel Russell at New Orleans. Except during a tem- porary absence, when recalled by the illness of his wife, he continued in the south for several years, generally engaged in some active duty. One of his labors was the opening of a military road, and another, the erection of Fort Jesup — the latter in 1822. On the 20lh of April, 1819, Taylor received the commission of a lieutenant-colonel. In 1824, he was en- gaged at Louisville in the recruiting service, and in the latter part of that year he was ordered to the city of Washington. In 1826, he was member of a board of officers of the army and militia (of which General Scott was president), convened by Mr. Barbour, then secretary of war, to consider and propose a system for the organization and improvement of the militia of the United States. In this board, Taylor's opinions were in favor of maintaining the militia strictly as citizen-sol- diery, instead of giving them the character of a regular army, as proposed by some. The report drawn by General Scott, and adopted on motion of Colonel Taylor, was approved in Congress, but was not carried into effect. Resuming his duties on the northwestern frontier, Taylor continued for BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. 513 five years in that position, where he seems to have been unconsciously- preparing himself in his profession for the splendid achievements of his latter years. A writer in the " Literary World" thus mentions him : " As plain Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor, I have often seen him putting his men through the battalion drill, on the northern banks of the Wisconsin, in the depth of February. This would seem only characteristic of the man who has since proved himself equally ^ Rough and Ready' under the scorch- ing sun of the tropics. But, looking back through long years to many a pleasant hour spent in the well-selected library of the post which Colonel Taylor then commanded, we recur now with singular interest to the agreeable conversations held in the room which was the colonel's favorite resort, amid the intervals of duty." And the same chronicler of his severe habits of discipline and study continues : " Nor will the reader think these personal reminiscences impertinent, when we add that our object in recurring to them here is simply to mention that, remembering alike the wintry drill and the snug book-room, Taylor's hardihood — the idea of which now so readily attaches to his soubriquet of ' Rough and Ready' — would certainly not then have struck a stranger as more char- acteristic than his liberal-minded intelligence." In 1832, Taylor was promoted by President Jackson to the rank of eolonel. During the previous year, the difficulties between the white set- tlers near Rock river, Illinois, and the Sac Indians under the celebrated chief Black Hawk, had been fomented, by bad and intelrested white men, to a point of open hostilities. Black Hawk and his brother the Prophet, at the head of a large party of Indians, having defeated an American vol- unteer force near Rock river, on the 14th of May, 1832, the people of Illinois became greatly alarmed, and the secretary of war ordered about a thousand regular troops, under the command of General Scott, to the scene of action, and ac'ive hostilities ensued, and continued for three months. In July, General Scott was reinforced by 2,500 men, under General Atkinson, including 400 regulars under Colonel Taylor. Toward the close of the month the Indians retreated into the wilderness, and Gen- eral Atkinson, with a detachment of 1,300 men, including the regulars under Colonel Taylor, pursued them. By great perseverance, during a forced march, the Americans succeeded in overtaking the Indians near the junction of the Mississippi and Iowa rivers, where a desperate conflict ensued, which resulted in a total route of the Indians, many falling by our arms, others perishing in the river, and the rest dispersing or submitting themselves prisoners. The chief, Black Hawk, who then escaped, was in the course of the month surrendered by some of his faithless allies, and with his capture ended the war. The chief and his fellow-prisoners were confided to the charge of Colonel Taylor, who conveyed them to the Jefl^erson barracks, where they arrived about the middle of September. After the Black Hawk war, Colonel Taylor was for a short time at 33 514 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. Louisville, with his family, and was thence ordered to Prairie du Chien, to the command of Fort Crawford, a work which had been erected under his superintendence. Here he remained until 1836, when his services were required in Florida, to assist in reducing the Seminole Indians to submission. To that field he immediately repaired, although he might ■with propriety have asked of the government a season of repose, having very rarely enjoyed the ease and tranquillity of home during a period of more than twenty-five years. The Seminole Indians, the remnants of the aborigines of Florida, were re- quired by the government of the United States to emigrate from that territory to lands appropriated for their occupation on the west of the Mississippi river. A treaty with the Seminole chiefs for the removal of their tribe was Concluded at Payne's landing, in Florida, in May, 1832, by which treaty they -were allowed three years to depart. The government was first advised in 1834 of their disinclination to leave their homes and those of their fathers. But as late as the spring of 1835, there was among the whites in Florida a confidence in the calm disposition of the Seminoles, and their willingness to submit to the destiny of their race. A daring chief, how- ever, arose among this tribe, bearing the name of Osceola, destined to hold a place in history with other distinguished leaders of the aborigines who have resisted the progress of the Anglo-Saxons on this continent. By inheritance Osceola enjoyed no title or distinction among the Semi- noles. He derived his origin from the Creeks, and had affected, until over thirty years of age, pacific feelings toward the whites. At length, throw- ing off disguise, he declared openly against the United States, supplanting himself the legitimate chiefs of the Seminoles ; and he even put to death those who were for peaceful measures. He acquired perfect ascendency over his Indian brethren, and his signal war-cry met with a' response from the remnants of the tribes who were still inhabitants of Florida. Murders were committed on the frontiers, and at one time even St. Augustine was threatened by the hostile Indians. The United States troops at this time in Florida numbered about 500 men, stationed at several posts, General Clinch being in command. On the 23d of December, 1835, two companies under Major Dade, while marching to join the general, were surprised by a large body of Indians^ and, after a protracted resistance, were all massacred, except three men, who, exhausted with wounds, escaped to tell the fate of their comrades. Open war now commenced. Many Creeks joined the Seminoles, and the United States government found it necessary to send in succession its most able officers and best troops into the field. On the part of the Indi- ans, occasional success added vigor to their bold and cruel enterprises. When Colonel Taylor reached Florida, the war with the Seminoles, be- gan in 1835, had been prosecuted with indifferent success. General Jesup then had command of the army in this territory, and had made BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. 515 fruitless attempts to bring the war to a close. All friendly conferences ,wilh the chiefs, aided by a delegation of Cherokees as mediators, having failed, it was determined, in the autumn of 1837, to take more active measures against the Indians. Colonel Taylor received orders to seek out any portion of the enemy wherever to be found, and to destroy or capture the hostile forces. Accordingly, in pursuance of instructions from General Jesup, Colonel Taylor, with about 1,100 men, left Fort Gardner on the 20th of December, 1837, and through dense thickets of cypress, palmetto, and other underwood, the troops made their way to the everglades, where the Indians were concealed. After a march of five days, the troops, on the 25th of December, reached a cypress swamp where they had evidence that a large body of the enemy were near. Taylor disposed his army in order of battle, and crossing the swamp, reached a large prairie, on the farther side of which was an extensive hammock, in which the Indians were posted. The American troops had penetrated but a short distance, when they were sud- denly attacked by several hundred warriors, with their rifles. The shock for a time was fearlessly sustained, although several officers and men fell at the first fire. Seeing their leaders fall, some of the volunteers gave way, but soon after rallied, and the regular troops eagerly pressed on through the morass. Thrice the enemy wavered and gave ground, and thrice returned to the most desperate conflict ever maintained by their arms. The battle lasted for more than two hours, when the savages were driven from the field to their camp on the borders of Lake Okeechobee, being closely pursued by the regulars and volunteers until night closed in. This battle of Okee.chobee is one of the most memorable in our annals of Indian wars, as one of the most remarkable for bravery and skill on both sides. The American loss was very severe, 26 being killed, and 112 wounded, among whom were some of the most valuable officers in the service, including Lieutenant-Colonel Thompson, Colonel Gentry, Adju- tant Center, Captain Van Svvaringen, and others, among the slain. The loss of the Indians could not be ascertained, but in the opinion of Colonel Taylor it was about equal to that of our troops. The immediate consequence of the battle of Okeechobee was the sur- render of a number of Seminoles to the forces under the command of Colonel Taylor. The decisive action and dearly-bought victory of the Americans gave a death-blow to the power and daring defiance of the hos- tile tribe. Although outrages were frequently committed by small parties of savages, for a year or two afterward, the Seminoles were never again completely organized, as a tribe or nation, in opposition to the whites. If the triumph of Taylor failed to reduce the whole body of Indians immediately to terms of peace, it still demanded and received the grateful recognition of the nation and the government. The sentiments of the lat- ter were expressed in a general order from the war department, through 516 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. Major- General Macomb, commander-in-cliief of the army, dated February 20, 1838, tendering the thanks of the president of the United States to Colonel Taylor, and the officers and troops under his command, for their gallant conduct in the battle with the Seminole Indians on the 25th of December. This official acknowledgment was soon after followed by Taylor's pro- motion to the rank of brigadier-general by brevet, " for distinguished ser- vices in the battle of Kissimmee (Okeechobee), in Florida." In April, 1838, the command of the troops in Florida was assigned to General Taylor ; relieving General Jesup, at the request of the latter. In this responsible position Taylor's energies were devoted to the protection of the inhabitants from the attacks of the Indians, and the reduction of the latter to the authority of the United States. The perfect accomplish- ment of these objects was impracticable with the means and forces placed at the disposal of the commander. From time to time skirmishes with the Indians took place, and small parties of them were occasionally cap- tured, or voluntarily surrendered. But they never could be brought to a general action, and continued, at intervals, their outrages upon the white inhabitants. The United States government, toward the close of the year 1839, abandoned the policy which it had pursued in Florida, and determined to leave the Indians in their strongholds, and to confine the operations of the troops to the protection of the border settlements. In the general or- ders of the war department in November, 1839, the conduct of the com- mander was thus approved : — " General Taylor, by the zealous and intelligent discharge of his duties, having given satisfaction to the department, will continue in command." General Taylor's skill and energies were faithfully exerted to fulfil the designs of the government, but the force at his disposal was never ade- quate. Having labored four years in this thankless field, he was anxious to retire from it ; and, at his own request, was relieved from the command, and was succeeded by General Armistead, in April, 1840. The distinguished talents which General Taylor had displayed through- out his career in the army, were too well known and appreciated by the government to allov^ him to remain idle, or to be stationed at a post of in- activity. He was, therefore, immediately after leaving Florida, appointed to the command of the first department of the army in the southwest. This department included the slates of Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana, his headquarters being at Fort Jesup, in the latter state. In the summer of 1841, he was ordered to relieve General Arbuckle, at Fort Gibson, where he remained nearly five years, constantly engaged in dis- ciplining his troops, and in other services pertaining to his command. Haviug purchased an estate in Louisiana, General Taylor removed his family from Kentucky to Baton Rouge, on the banks of the Mississippi, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. 517 where they continued to reside for some years. His constant occupation in the army gave him but few opportunities of enjoying the comforts of domestic retirement. Soon after the annexation of Texas to the United States, General Taylor, who was then situated at Fort Jesup, Louisiana, received a con- fidential letter from the secretary of war, Mr. Marcy, dated May 28, 1845, instructing him to place his troops at such a position as would enable him to defend the territory of Texas in case of invasion from Mexico. The Congress of the United States, on the 1st of March, 1845, had passed a joint resolution giving its consent that the territory belonging to the repub- lic of Texas might be erected into a new state, called the state of Texas ; subject, however, to the adjustment by this government of " all questions of boundary that might arise with other governments." The instructions of the war department to General Taylor, above re- ferred to, implied clearly an apprehension that the consequence of the annexation of Texas might be a collision with Mexico. The secretary stated, that as soon as the Congress of Texas should assent to the act, and a convention should assemble and accept the terms offered in the joint annexation resolutions of the Congress of the United States, Texas would be regarded " as part of the United States, so far as to be entitled from this government to a defence from foreign invasion and Indian incursions." General Taylor was accordingly directed to keep his command in readi- ness for this dufy. The anticipation of difficulty with Mexico was fur- ther indicated by instructions to General Taylor to' open a correspondence with the authorities of Texas, or any diplomatic agent of the United States residing therein, with a view to information and advice in respect to the common Indian enemy, as well as to any foreign power ; and also to em- ploy his forces in defence of the Texan territory, if invaded by a foreign power, and to expel the invaders. General Taylor was thus apprized of the service which might be ex- pected of him. In July, 1845, he was informed by the war department, that the acceptance by Texas of the terms of annexation would probably be formally made by the Congress of that republic on the 4th of that month, and, in anticipation of that event, he was instructed to make an immediate forward movement with the troops under his command, and advance to the mouth of the Sabine, or to such other point on the gulf of Mexico, or its navigable waters, as might be most convenient for an em- barkation at the proper time, for the western frontier of Texas. The most expeditious route was recommended. The forces named for this duty were the 3d and 4th regiments of infantry, and seven companies of the 2d regiment of dragoons. The artillery was ordered from New Orleans. In reply to inquiries by General Taylor of the war department, respect- ing the position he should take, he was directed, generally, to be governed 518 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. by circumstances, to avoid all aggressive measures, and to hold his force ready to protect the territory of Texas " to the extent that it had been oc- cupied by the people of Texas." The Rio Grande was indicated, by the secretary, as the boundary between Mexico and Texas, to which the army of occupation under Taylor was to approach, as nearly as prudence would permit. For this purpose it was necessary to pass the river Nueces. On the 28th of June, Mr. Donelson, then United States minister to Texas, to whom General Taylor was referred for advice upon his move- ments, wrote him that he had best move his forces, " without delay, to the western frontier of Texas," and also informing him that Corpus Chrisli, on Aranzas bay (near the mouth of the Nueces), was the best point for the assembling of his troops. The same letter also admitted that the country between the Nueces and the Rio Grande was in dispute ; the Texans holding Corpus Christi, and the Mexicans Santiago, at the mouth of the Rio Grande. General Taylor embarked at New Orleans in July, 1845, and proceeded immediately with the forces under his command, 1,500 in number, to Aranzas bay, and in the beginning of August, 1845, had taken the posi- tion assigned him by the government. All the troops in the west, the northwest, and on the Atlantic, which could be spared, were ordered to join him. In November, 1845, by the report of the adjutant-general, his army consisted, in the aggregate, of 4,049 officers and men. To the terms of the joint resolution of annexation, by the Congress of the United States, Texas assented by her ordinance of July, 1845, and, having formed her constitution, became virtually a state in the American Union. Three days after this (July 7th) the same convention requested the president of the United States to occupy the ports of Texas, and send an army to their defence. This desire the president of the United States immediately complied with (or in fact had already, as has been seen, anticipated).* At the same time that instructions were sent to General Taylor by the war department, a naval force was despatched to the gulf of Mexico to aid him in any hostile operations which might occur. General Taylor established his headquarters at Corpus Christi, where the army of occupation under his command remained encamped over six months. On the 8th of March, 1846, agreeably to instructions from the president of the United States to General Taylor, the advance of the army commenced its march for the Rio Grande, and the fourth day there- after the entire forces were moving in a southerly direction over the dis- puted territory — the wilderness lying between the Nueces and that river. At the Arroya Colorado the troops encountered a body of Mexicans, who seemed disposed to dispute their passage. This, however, was not attempted, and the Americans continued their march. While approaching * Mansfield's History of the Mexican War. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. 519 Point Isabel, General Taylor was met by a deputation of citizens from Matainoras, on the Rio Grande, who handed him a protest, signed by the prefect of the district, against the occupation of the country by the Ameri- can army. At this moment it was discovered that the buildings at Point Isabel were in flames, and believing that the place had been set on fire by the Mexican authorities, and considering the conflagration as a decided evidence of hostility. General Taylor dismissed the deputation, with the promise of an answer when he should arrive on the banks of the Rio Grande. Point Isabel, a small place with a few mean houses, had been selected as a depot for military stores for the American army, being the nearest port to Matamoras on the north. To preserve its buildings was therefore an object of moment, and the advance of the cavalry arrived in season to arrest the progress of the fire, after it had consumed but three or four houses. The Mexican port-caplain who committed the act had made his escape. The arrangements at this post being satisfactorily made, the general, with the cavalry, resumed the march toward Matamoras, and was joined by General Worth's command, which had encamped on the road. On the 28th of March, the army arrived on the banks of the Rio Grande, oppo- site Matamoras. Fortifications were immediately commenced, and soon a fort was erected, furnished with six bastions, and capable of containing two thousand men. It commanded the town of Matamoras, and was after- ward called Fort Brown. On the other side the Mexicans also erected batteries and redoubts, both parties assuming the attitude of belligerents. An interview was held by direction of General Taylor, with the military authorities in Matamoras, but with no satisfactory result. On the 10th of April the first American blood was shed by Mexican hands. Colonel Cross, deputy quartermaster-general, having rode out in the morning, for exercise, unattended, was killed as was supposed by some rancheros attached to the Mexican army ; and his body was found on the 20th, when it was honored, by order of General Taylor, by a mili- tary funeral becoming the rank and character of the colonel. A Mexican army having been concentrated on the Rio Grande, Gen- eral Ampudia was placed in command, and arrived in Matamoras on the 1 1th of April. He had previously attempted to cause desertion among the soldiers of foreign birth in the American army, by issuing a circular addressed to them, in consequence of which some desertions, but unim- portant as to numbers, took place. On the 12th of April, General Ampu- dia addressed a letter to General Taylor, concluding as follows : — " By explicit and definite orders of my government, which neither can, will, nor should, receive new outrages, I require you in all form, and at latest in the peremptory term of twenty-four hours, to break up your camp, and retire to the other bank of the Nueces river, while our governments are regulating the pending question in relation to Texas. If you insist 520 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. on remaining upon the soil of the department of Tamaulipas, it will clearly result that arms, and arms alone, must decide the question ; and in that case I advise you that we accept the war to which, with so much injus- tice on your part, you provoke us ; and that, on our part, this war shall be conducted conformably to the principles established by the most civilized nations ; that is to say, that the law of nations and of war shall be the guide of my operations ; trusting that on your part the same will be ob- served." In his reply to this letter from General Ampudia, General Taylor in- formed the Mexican commander that, charged as he was in only a milita- ry capacity with the performance of specific duties, he could not enter in- to a discussion of the international question involved in the advance of the American arms, but reminded him that the government of the United States had constantly sought a settlement by negotiation of the question of boundary. He concludes his letter as follows : — " The instructions under which I am acting will not permit me to ret- rograde from the position I now occupy. In view of the relations be- tween our respective governments, and the individual suffering which may result, I regret the alternative which you offer ; but, at the same time, wish it understood, that I shall by no means avoid such alternative, leaving the responsibility with those who rashly commence hostilities. In conclusion, you will permit me to give the assurance that, on my part, the laws and customs of war among civilized nations, shall be carefully observed." To confirm these declarations. General Taylor continued to fortify his camp, and to make every disposition to resist an attack. General Am- pudia soon gave place, as commanding officer at Matamoras, to General Arista, commander-in-chief of the northern division of the JMexican ar- my. The reported accession to its force also created new expectations in the American camp that a decisive demonstration would soon be made against it. On the 19th of April, it was reported to General Taylor that two vessels with supplies for the Mexicans in 'Matamoras, were at the mouth of the Rio Grande. He immediately ordered a blockade of the river and enforced it by placing the United States brig Lawrence and a revenue-cutter to guard its mouth. To this act the Mexican general took umbrage, and having sent a note of remonstrance to General Taylor, and the answer of the American commander being unsatisfactory, the Mexi- cans prepared to make an attack upon Fort Brown. In the meantime it was evident that Point Isabel was marked out by life Mexican commander as a place of contemplated attack, and it was ru- mored that a large Mexican force was crossing the Rio Grande for that purpose. To ascertain the truth of these reports, General • Taylor sent out a scouting party under Captain Thornton, up the river, and a squadron of dra"-uons under Captain Ker down the river. The former were sur- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. 521 prised by a party of Mexicans, sixteen were killed and wounded, and the remainder nearly all were taken prisoners. Lieutenant Mason was killed in the affray. Captain Thornton, at first escaping by an extraordinary leap of his horse over a hedge, was afterward captured and taken to Matamoras, where he remained for some time, but was finally given up. Captain Ker, with his detachment, after reconnoitring the country, return- ed, without having fallen in with the Mexicans, Three days after this affair, several of Captain Walker's Texan rangers were killed and wounded. General Taylor, having received by the hands of Captain Walker of the Texan rangers information from Major Munroe, the commander at Point Isabel, of the attack of a party of Mexicans upon a wagon train, and from other causes being anxious for the safety of Point Isabel, where all the supplies for his army were deposited, resolved to march with his forces to the relief of that post. He left at Fort Brown a sufficient force of infantry and artillery to sustain a bombardment. He had previously sent a despatch to the governors of Louisiana and Texas, asking an im- mediate reinforcement of four regiments of militia from each state. The plan of Arista, the Mexican general, it was believed, was to cross the Rio Grande, get in the rear of General Taylor's army, capture Point Isabel, and then fall on the American army. This plan was only pre- vented from being carried out by accidental information, brought to Gen- eral Taylor by one of Thornton's party, sent in by the Mexican com- mander. The rapid return of the army under General Taylor to Point Isabel, was a consequence of this information, and the additional fact that the enemy was preparing to cross the river below. Either the Mexican army was dilatory in its movement, or the body detailed to cross below was unable to form a junction, for the forces of General Taylor, com- mencing their march from Fort Brown on the first of May, reached the depot at Point Isabel the following day, without encountering the enemy. The Mexican general supposed that the movement of the Americans was a retreat, and at once ordered a large body of his troops across the Rio Grande. On the 3d of May, a heavy bombardment was commenced from the batteries in Matamoras on Fort Brown, where a garrison was left by General Taylor. During the night of the 4th, the Mexicans also erected a battery in the rear of Fort Brown, and the next morning opened a fire upon the fort simultaneously with the batteries on the opposite bank of the river. The bombardment was continued at intervals until the 10th, when the gallant defenders of the fort were relieved by the return of the main army under General Taylor, which had just fought the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. In the defence of the fort. Major Brown, Captain Hawkins, and Captain Mansfield, were greatly distin- guished for skill and gallantry. The former was killed by a shell, and was succeeded in command by Captain Hawkins. 522 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. General Taylor, having garrisoned the depot at Point Isabel with new- troops, commenced his return to Fort Brown on the 7th of May, at the head of two thousand, three hundred men, and a supply-train of three hundred wagons. The army encamped at night about seven miles from Point Isabel, and resumed their march on the following morning, the 8th of May. At noon, the Mexican forces were observed, drawn up in battle array, upon a prairie three miles from Palo Alto. General Taylor imme- diately prepared for action, and at two o'clock in the afternoon, gave or- ders to advance. The Mexican cannon opened upon them, when the American troops were deployed into line, and the light artillery under the command of Major Ringgold poured forth its rapid and deadly fire upon the enemy. The Mexican cavalry, mostly lancers, were on their left, and were forced back by the destructive discharges of artillery. On the left wing of the American army, attacks of the Mexicans were met by Duncan's battery, and by other troops of that division. The combat on the American side was chiefly carried on by artillery ; and never was there a more complete demonstration of the superior skill and energy of that arm of service, as conducted by the accomplished graduates of West Point. He who was the life and leader of the light artillery — Major Ringgold — was in this engagement mortally wounded, and died in a few days.* The battle, which lasted about five hours, terminated with the posses sion by the Americans of the field, and the retreat during the night of the Mexicans. The strength of the Mexicans was estimated by General Taylor at about six thousand men, with seven pieces of artillery and eight hundred cavalry. Their loss was at least two hundred killed and four hundred wounded ; that of the Americans was nine killed and forty- four wounded. General Taylor with his troops encamped on the field of battle, and re- sumed his march at two, P. M., the following day. In two hours the ar- my came in sight of the Mexicans, who had taken a position on a ravine called Resaca de la Palma. They had formed a battery so as to sweep the road, and were otherwise strongly posted. The action commenced by the fire of the Mexican artillery, which the Americans returned by discharges from Ridgely's battery, and by the infantry on the wings. In this firing the Mexican cannon were well managed by Generals La Vega and Reguena, and the efl'ect was severely felt in the American lines. It was necessary to dislodge them, and this duty was assigned by General Taylor to Captain May of the dragoons. It was here that this officer be- came so distinguished by his gallant charge upon the enemy's batteries. The artillerymen were dispersed and General La Vega taken prisoner. The regiments of infantry now charged the Mexican line and the battle was soon ended. Their columns were broken by successive charges and * Mansfield's Histoiy of the War. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. 523 unable to bear the continued fire poured upon them by the American in- fantry and artillery. The Mexicans fled from the field, rapidly pursued by the Americans, and ceased not their flight till those who were not ta- ken prisoners had either crossed the Rio Grande or were drowned in its waters. The enemy's loss in this engagement was very great ; nearly two hundred of their dead were buried by the Americans the day after the battle. Their loss in killed, wounded, and missing, in the two afl^airs of the 8th and 9th, was estimated by General Taylor at one thousand men. The loss of the Americans was thirty-nine killed and eighty-three wounded, in the last battle. The actual number of American troops en- gaged with the enemy, on the 9th, did not exceed seventeen hundred, while that of the Mexican army, which had been reinforced after the ac- tion of the 8th, was estimated at six thousand. In a detailed report of these battles. General Taylor remarked : " Our victory has been decisive. A small force has overcome immense odds of the best troops that Mexico can furnish — veteran regiments, perfectly equipped and appointed. Eight pieces of artillery, several colors and standards, a great number of prisoners, including fourteen officers, and a large amount of baggage and public property, have fallen into our hands. The causes of victory are doubtless to be found in the superior quality of our officers and men." In these engagements. General Taylor displayed the utmost coolness and bravery — exposing himself in the most dangerous positions, and en- couraging the troops by his heroic example. After the battles, his atten- tion to the wounded and the dying, whether friend or foe, evinced that sympathy with suff'ering humanity which is ever inseparable from true courage.* The intelligence of hostilities on the Rio Grande, occasioned a power- ful excitement in the United States. Congress was then in session, and the president, on the receipt of the news of the capture of Captain Thorn- ton's parly, immediately sent in his special message of May 11, 1846, in which he declared that the Mexican government, had " at last invaded our territory, and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil." Con- gress with less than two days' deliberation, on the 13th of May, declared that " by the act of the republic of Mexico, war exists between that gov- ernment and the United States ;" and at the same time passed a law authorizing the president to accept the services of fifty thousand volun- teers, and appropriating ten millions of dollars toward carrying on the war. The intention was to put an end to the war by a vigorous effort, and deci- sive victories. Four days before this declaration by Congress, as we have seen, the decisive battle of Resaca de la Palma had been fought, and the army of Arista pursued beyond the Rio Grande. The Mexican general saved * Mansfield. 524 " BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. himself by flight, and quite unattended, he made his way across the river. General La Vega and a few other officers were sent on parole to New Orleans. On the 11th of May, General Taylor leaving Colonel Twiggs in com- mand of his army, repaired to Point Isabel, for the purpose of arranging with Commodore Connor of the gulf squadron, a combined attack on Mat- amoras. At Point Isabel a command of regulars and volunteers just arrived from Louisiana and Alabama, was organized under Colonel Wil- son ; and on the 15th, marched for Brazos, and with the aid of the squad- ron, crossed the river at its mouth, and marched upon the town, which the colonel occupied on the 17th of May ; being the first landing of an Amer- ican force on the right bank of the Rio Grande. The day before this expe- dition left Point Isabel, General Taylor also set out on his return to the camp on the river, where he speedily arrived, and at once commenced prepa- rations for an attack on Matamoras. On the 17th of May, Arista sent a deputation to Taylor to ask for an armistice, until the two governments should settle the difficulties pending. This was refused by the American general, as it was apparent that time was only wanted to remove the mu- nitions of war from Matamoras. But during the conference. Arista suc- ceeded in taking away part of the military stores, and with the fragment of his army he abandoned Matamoras, and fled precipitately toward Monterey. On the 18th of May, General Taylor with his army, crossed the Rio Grande, and entered Matamoras without opposition. Formal possession was taken of the city, and Colonel Twiggs appointed military governor. The day following, Lieutenant-Colonel Garland, with the cavalry of the army, was sent in pursuit of the Mexicans under Arista, but being igno- rant of the country, which they found so barren as to afford insuflicient support to the horses, the American troops were forced to return, after pur- suing the flying enemy about sixty miles. From May until September, General Taylor remained in camp with his army at Matamoras, awaiting the orders of his government, receiving re- inforcements, and making preparations for marching into the interior. His operations were paralyzed during the summer, by the want of suita- ble boats to navigate the Rio Grande. In the meantime, the executive and Congress had highly approved of his course, and on the 30th of May, the president transmitted to him a commission as major-general by bre- vet, bearing the date of the battle of the 9th of May. On the 29th of June, he was promoted to the full rank of major-general. On the day that General Taylor entered Matamoras, a United States squadron arrived off Vera Cruz, and commenced the blockade of that and other ports on the gulf of Mexico ; and during the summer the towns of Mier, Camargo, Revilla, and Reynosa, submitted to the Americans, and became stations for diff'erent divisions of the army. Camargo, a town about one hundred and eighty miles above the mouth of the Rio Grande, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. 525 was the point selected as the depot of supplies. Here the various divis- ions which were to compose the particular army of General Taylor were gradually concentrated. The reinforcements and supplies for the American army in Mexico which had been forwarded during the summer were at length sufficient to justify an advance into the interior. The Rio Grande was assumed as the military base line of operations. The entire army of General Tay- lor consisted of about nine thousand men. A small portion was assigned to garrisons, while the main body, numbering six thousand, six hundred, was destined for IMonterey, the capital city of New Leon, and of the northern division of Mexico. The city contained about fifteen thousand inhabitants and is situated on a branch of the San Juan river, near the base of the Sierra ]Madre mountains. Both the natural and artificial de- fences of Monterey were very strong ; but neither the extent of the de- fences, nor the number of the garrisons within them, seem to have been fully known to the American army previous to its arrival in front of the city. The army under Taylor was in three divisions commanded respectively by Brigadier-Generals Twiggs (who had been promoted to that station) and Worth, and Major-General Butler. On the 20th of August, General Worth began his march for Monterey; and on the 5th of September, General Taylor left Camargo ; a garrison of two thousand men remain- ing behind. Worth reached Ceralvo, about seventy miles, on the 25th of August, and at that point sent out reconnoitring parties who discovered strong bodies of the enemy in front. He advanced to the village of Ma- rin, where the entire army was in a few days concentrated, under the command of General Taylor. On the 19th of September, the army ar- rived at Walnut Springs, three miles from Monterey, after a few skirmishes only with parties of Mexican cavalry. Monterey was then under the command of General Ampudia, and the garrison under his command consisted of about seven thousand regular troops, and two or three thousand irregular troops. Notwithstanding this strong garrison, superior in numbers to the American army, General Taylor thought it possible to carry the place by storm, with the bayonet and artille- ry. Reconnoisances of the works were made on the evening of the 19th.* Besides the numerous and well-constructed fortresses mounted with heavy cannon, which had been erected for the defence of Monterey ; the plan of the city itself is well adapted to defensive warfare. The streets being straight, a few pieces of artillery can command their entire length. The stone walls of the houses rise above the roofs, thus forming regular parapets which afford thorough protection to the defenders. Each dwel- ling is thus a separate castle, and the whole city one grand fortification, suggested by nature and consummated by art. * Mansfield. 526 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. On the night of the 20th of September, General Worth's advanced col- umns marched and occupied for the night a defensive position on the Sal- tillo road, just without the range of the enemy's batteries. The attack commenced on the 21st, by General Worth's forces, and continued, in connexion with other divisions of the army, all the next day. On the 23d, the assault became general, and a desperate conflict ensued in the streets of the city. From the strong stone houses, volleys of musketry dealt death in all directions among the American troops, but they steadily ad- vanced from house to house, and from square to square, until the main body of the enemy had retired from the lower part of the city, to make a stand behind their barricades. General Taylor then withdrew his troops to the works which had been evacuated by the Mexicans, and determined to concert with General Worth a combined attack upon the town the following day. But early in the morning of the 24th, General Ampudia sent a communication to the American commander, proposing to evacuate the town General Taylor acceded to a personal interview with General Ampudia, as the latter had desired, and it was finally agreed that the city should be surrendered to General Taylor, and the material of war, with certain exceptions, and the Mexican troops were allowed to evacuate the following day. As soon as they had left, the division under General Worth was quartered in the city, and quiet reigned among the inhabitants. The American troops during the various contests at Monterey, had twelve officers and one hundred and eight men killed ; thirty-one officers, and three hundred and thirty-seven wounded. The Mexican loss was not known, but believed considerably to exceed these numbers. The force under General Taylor at this siege was four hundred and twenty-five officers, and six thousand, two hundred and twenty men, accompanied with nineteen cannon. The town and works were armed with forty-two pieces of cannon well supplied with ammunition, and manned, as before staled, with a force of nearly ten thousand men. In the transactions attending the capture of the city. General Taylor had hoped to secure the approbation of government. In this, however, he was disappointed. Not only were the terms of capitulation consider- ed as entirely too lenient, but he was even blamed for not having carried the defences by assault, and thus making the garrison unconditional pris- oners. Time, however, has shown, that by such a course, his little army would have endured appalling loss, without corresponding advantages ; and that General Taylor's course, dictated as it was by humanity and honor, was the most advantageous to his troops and to the country that he could possibly have adopted. General Taylor now established his headquarters at Monterey, despatch- ing General Worth, on the r2th of November, with twelve hundred men and eight pieces of artillery, to Saltillo ; and General Wool, who was on his march from Texas, toward Chihuahua, was directed by Taylor, in BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. 527 November, to abandon the expedition, and advance witli his cohmin of two thousand and four hundred men to Parras, a place south of SaUillo. Here the army of General Wool remained for a short time until, in tho month of December, it joined the division of Worth at Saltillo. On the 13th of November, General Taylor followed General Worth's division to Saltillo, escorted by two squadrons of dragoons. This town is the capital of the state of Coahuila, and is distant sixty-five miles south- west from Monterey. It was considered by Taylor as an important point for occupation, for three reasons : first, as a necessary outpost of the main force at Monterey, covering as it does the defile which leads from the low- country to the table land, and also the route to Monclova ; secondly,. as controlling a region from which to obtain supplies of provisions, viz., the fertile country around Parras ; thirdly, as the capital of Coahuila, which renders it important in a political point of view. General Taylor represented to the war department the difficulties to be encountered in a forward movement upon the city of San Luis Potosi, and with regard to a proposed expedition against Vera Cruz, he gave it as his opinion that twenty-five thousand troops would be properly required to take possession of Vera Cruz, and march thence against the city of Mex- ico. He proposed to proceed with the preparation for a movement on Tampico, if approved by the department, but his designs were not carried into effect. A movement against San Luis, he remarked, should not be undertaken except with a force so large as to render success certain. That force he considered should be at least 20,000 strong, as he supposed the Mexicans able to concentrate a force of 40,000 to 50,000 men at San Luis, which is a city of about 60,000 inhabitants, distant three hundred miles from Saltillo, nearly six hundred miles from the Rio Grande, and five hundred from the city of Mexico. Having made arrangements for the occupation of the state of Coahuila, and left with General Worth at Saltillo a squadron of dragoons, General Taylor returned to Monterey, where, on the 25th of Novemher, he learned officially of the occupation of Tampico by the naval forces under Commo- dore Perry. On the requisition of the commodore, with the approval of General Taylor, a regiment and six companies from Taylor's army were ordered to Tampico to garrison that town. On the 15th of December, General Taylor left Monterey for Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas, which place he designed to occupy, and con- centrate there a portion of his army. On his way thither he received information from General Worth at Saltillo, that Santa Anna, then in com- mand of the Mexican army at San Luis, designed taking advantage of the diversion of force toward Victoria, by a rapid movement, strike a heavy blow at the American troops at Saltillo, and, if successful, another at General Wool's force at Parras. General Taylor, therefore, thought proper to return to Monterey with the regular forces, and thus be in a posi- 528 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR, • tion to reinforce Saltillo, if necessary. The volunteers under General Quitman were ordered to continue their march and effect a junction with General Patterson, at Victoria. At the same time, Generals Butler and Wool moved rapidly from Monterey and Parras to join General Worth, who had advised them of a probable attack on his position. General Tay- lor had proceeded beyond Monterey, on his way to Saltillo, when, on the 20th of December, he received information that the expected concentra- tion and movement of the Mexican troops upon Saltillo had not taken place. Deeming the force present and sent forward to that place suffi- cient to repel any demonstration from San Luis Potosi, General Taylor again marched with General Twiggs's division toward Victoria. On the 29th of December, General Quitman entered Victoria without opposition. The enemy had a body of 1,500 cavalry in the town, which fell back as the Americans approached. General Taylor arrived there with the troops of General Twiggs on the 4th of January, and was joined on the same day by the force which General Patterson conducted from Matamoras. The force collected at Victoria was over 5,000 strong. While General Taylor was thus maturing his operations, the American government had determined to concentrate the largest possible number of regulars and experienced volunteers in the attack upon Vera Cruz, and the march thence to the city of Mexico. General Scott was charged with the command of the expedition, and immediately took measures to secure its success. On the 25th of November, General Scott wrote Gen- eral Taylor from New York^ informing him that he expected to be on the Rio Grande about the 20th of December, on his way to carry out the ob- ject of an expedition, the particulars of which, as despatches had been lost, he did not deem it prudent to communicate. " I shall be obliged," he says, " to take from you most of the gallant officers and men (regulars and volunteers) whom you have so long and so nobly commanded. I am afraid that I shall, by imperious necessity — the approach of yellow fever on the gulf coast — reduce you, for a time, to stand on the defensive. This will be infinitely painful to you, and for that reason distressing to me. But I rely upon your patriotism to submit to the temporary sacrifice with cheerfulness." In consequence of the plan thus declared, the regular troops (with the exception of a very small body of the troops which composed his army in the month of November), the division of General Worth at Saltillo, of General Patterson at Victoria, the brigades of Generals Quitman and Twiggs at the same place, and all other corps which could possibly be drawn from the field of operations, of which the Rio Grande was the base, were ordered to Vera Cruz. To maintain his position at Saltillo, General Taylor was left with about five thousand men, only five hundred being regulars. On parting Avith the troops who had so faithfully served with him, he issued an order expressing his deep sensibility and attachment BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. 629 toward them, and his deep regret that he could not participate with those who were making their first campaign in its eventful scenes. To all, both officers and men, he extended " his heartfelt wishes for their continued success and happiness, confident that their achievements on another thea- tre would redound to the credit of their country and its arms." In January, 1847, General Taylor left Victoria, and established his headquarters at Monterey, where, early in February, his force, including recent reinforcements of volunteers, amounted to between 6,000 and 7,000 men. Soon after reaching Monterey he received information that a party of dragoons had been surprised at Encarnacion, also that another party, with Captain Cassius M. Clay and Majors Borland and Gaines were taken prisoners. While the United States were preparing to attack Vera Cruz, and en- deavoring to maintain the positions gained by the northern divisions of the army, under Generals Taylor, Wool, and Kearny, Mexico was also pre- paring for a decisive blow. In December, the Mexican Congress assem- bled at the capital. Santa Anna was elected provisional president, and Gomez Farias vice president, of the republic. The command of the army was undertaken by Santa Anna personally, he having recently returned to Mexico from exile at Havana, and devoted himself with zeal to restore domestic order, to unite parlies, to devise measures of finance, and to raise and equip troops. Nonvithstanding every embarrassment, Santa Anna had concentrated at San Luis Polosi, before the end of January, 1847, au- army of more than 21,000 men, prepared to march thence against the divisions of General Taylor's force between Saltillo and the Rio Grande. On the first o{ February the Mexican army was moving rapidly upon that town, upward oi' three hundred miles distant from San Luis. The march. was arduous, from the great distance over a desert, want of water and provisions, and from the severity of the weather. On the 20Lh of Febru- ary they reached Encarnacion, and the next day advanced on Saltillo.* The army of Santa Anna was admirably equipped. It was composed of the flower of the Mexican nation, and numbered more than four to one of the army which it came to conquer. Hope and dire necessity both urged them to victory. The commander, Santa Anna, had well consid- ered the advantages he would derive from this movement, if successful, •and all the chances were in his favor. Could he have driven General Taylor from his position at Buena Vista, he would have swept down to Camargo, and over the whole valley of the Rio Grande. All the muni- tions of war of the Americans would have fallen into his hands. If de- feated, Santa Anna well knew that his moral power over his army would be broken. The fate of his country seemed suspended on the issue of a single battle. His own fame, his place in history, were both to be deci- ded in the coming conflict.! * Fry's Life of Taylor. t Mansfield. 34 530 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. General Wool had continued in command of the division of the Amer- ican army at Salliilo. Near the end of January, he advised General Taylor of the rumored advance of Santa Anna, then organizing his forces at San Luis, as has been mentioned. In consequence of this informa- tion, although at that time indefinite, General Taylor determined at once to meet the enemy, if opportunity should be offered ; and leaving a garri- son of fifteen hundred men at Monterey, he took up his line of march on the 31st with a reinforcement for the column of General Wool. On the 2d of February, he reached Saltillo, and on the 4th he advanced to Agua Nueva, a strong position on the San Luis road, twenty miles south of Saltil- lo. Here he encamped until the 21st, when he received intelligence that Santa Anna was advancing with his whole army. Having carefully ex- amined the various positions and defiles of the mountains, Taylor decided that Buena Vista, a strong mountain pass, eleven miles nearer Saltillo, was the most favorable point to make a stand against a force so overwhelming. He therefore fell back to that place, and at noon o.f the 21st, encamped to await the' approach of Santa Anna, then within one day's march of this position. The position of the American army at this moment was most critical. The regular troops had been withdrawn, with the exception of a few com- panies of artillery and dragoons. The volunteers, of which the army was mainly composed, had received some instruction in the regular duties of the camp, but had not attained that perfection in discipline which gives confidence in military operations.* The position selected by General Taylor to receive whh his small ar- my, the forces of the Mexican chief — five times the number of the Amer- icans — was one of remarkable natural strength. It was at a point where the main road from San Luis to Saltillo, passes between closely-approxi- mating chains of mountains. The bases of these mountains are cut, by the occasional torrents of rain, into numerous deep gullies, almost impas- sable, owing to the rugged and steep banks leaving between them elevated table-lands or plateaus, of various extent. On the west of the road, and nearly parallel to it, between Agua Nueva and Buena Vista, is also a ditch, forming one of the mountain drains on that side. The American army was drawn up at nearly right angles to the road, its chief force being on the east of it, occupying a large plateau commanding the mountain side. Facing the south, this force constituted the left wing. A battery of light artillery occupied the road, and the right wing rested on the opposite hill. In this altitude, the Americans awaited the advance of the Mexicans, on the morning of the 22d of February, the birthday of Washington. On the 21st, General Taylor had proceeded with a small force to Sal- tillo (nine miles from Buena Vista), to make some arrangements for the defence of the town, leaving General Wool in command of the troops. * Mansfield. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. 531 Before those arrangements at Saltillo were completed, on the morning of the 22d, Taylor was advised that the enemy was in sight, ad^^ancing. Hastening to the battle-field, he found that the Mexican cavalry advance was in front, having marched from Encarnacion, over forty miles distant, at eleven o'clock on the day previous, and driving in an American mounted force left at Agua Nueva, to cover the removal of public stores. The features of the ground occupied by the American troops were such as nearly to paralyze the artillery and cavalry of the Mexicans, while their infantry could not derive all the advantages of its numerical superiority. At eleven o'clock, General Taylor received from General Santa Anna, a summons to surrender at discretion, to which the American commander immediately replied, " declining to accede to the request." The enemy still forbore his attack, evidently waiting for the arrival of his rear col- umns. The Mexican light troops commenced the action by engaging the Americans on the extreme left, and kept up a sharp fire, climbing the mountain-side, and apparently endeavoring to gain the flank of the Amer- icans. The skirmishing of the light troops was kept up until dark; when General Taylor became convinced that no serious attack Avould be made before morning, and returned, with a regiment and squadron of dragoons, to Saltillo. The troops bivouacked without fires, and laid upon their arms. A body of fifteen hundred Mexican cavalr_y under General Minon, had en- tered the valley through a narrow pass east of Saltillo, and had evidently been thrown in the rear of the Americans, to break up and harass the re- treat which was so confidently expected by Santa Anna. Having made the necessary dispositions for the protection of the rear, General Taylor returned to Buena Vista, on the morning of the 23d, order- ing forward all the available troops from Saltillo, The action had com- menced before his arrival on the field. During the night of the 22d, the Mexicans had thrown a body of light troops on the mountain-side, with the purpose of outflanking the left of the Americans ; and it was here that the action of the 23d, commenced at an early hour. The American riflemen in this position maintained their ground handsomely against a greatly superior force. About eight o'clock, a strong demonstration was made against the American centre, a heavy Mexi- can column moving along the road ; which was soon dispersed by the fire from Captain Washington's battery. In the meantime, a large force of Mexican infantry and cavalry was concentrated under cover of the ridges, with the obvious intention of forcing the left of the Americans. It was found impossible to check the advance of the Mexican infantry, although the American artillery was served against it with great efl^ect, under the or- ders of Captain O'Brien. When General Taylor arrived upon the field, the left wing of his army had become completely outflanked, and the enemy was pouring masses of infantry and cavalry along the base of the mountain ; thus gaining the rear of the Americans in great force. Taylor immediately 532 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. directed the left to be strengthened hy detachments of Captains Bragg- and Sherman's artillery, also by bodies of cavalry. The action was for a long time warmly sustained at that point, the enemy making efforts both with in- fantry and cavalry, against the Ainerican line, and being always repulsed with heavy loss. At one period, the position of that portion of the Mexican army which had gained the rear of the Americans was very critical, and it seemed doubtful whether it could regain the main body. At that moment. Gen- eral Taylor received from General Santa Anna a message by a staff-officer, desiring to know what he wanted. Taylor despatched General Wool to the Mexican commander, and ordered his own troops to cease firing. Gen- eral Wool could not, however, cause the Mexicans to cease their fire, and returned, without having an interview with Santa Anna. The extfeme right of the Mexicans retreated along the base of the mountain, and final- ly, in spite of the efforts of the Americans, effected a junction with the remainder of the army. During the day, the Mexican cavalry under General Minon, had ascend- ed the elevated plain above Saltillo, and occupied the road from that city to the field of battle. Several skirmishes took place between them and the small bodies of troops left by General Taylor to protect his rear. General Minon made one or two efforts with his cavalry to charge the artillery, but this body of Mexicans were finally driven back in a con- fused mass, and did not again appear upon the plain. In the meantime the firing had partially ceased upon the principal field, at Buena Vista. The enemy seemed to confine his efforts to the protec- tion of his artillery, and General Taylor had left the plateau for a mo- ment, when he was recalled thither by a heavy musketry fire. He then discovered that a portion of his infantry, the Illinois and Kentucky volun- teers, had engaged a greatly superior force of the enemy — evidently his reserve — and that they had been overwhelmed by numbers. The mo- ment was most critical. Captain O'Brien had lost his two pieces of ar- tillery, which had been taken by the Mexicans — his infantry support be- ing entirely routed. Captain Bragg, who had just arrived from the left, was ordered at once into battery, without any infantry to support him, and at the imminent risk of losing his guns, this officer came rapidly into ac- tion, the Mexican line being but a few yards from the muzzle of his pieces. The first discharge of canister caused the enemy to hesitate, the second and third drove him back in disorder, and saved the day. The second Kentucky regiment, which had advanced beyond supporting distance in. this affair, was driven back and closely pressed by the enemy's cavalry. Ta- king a ravine which led in the direction of Captain Washington's battery, their pursuers became exposed to his fire, which soon checked and drove them back with loss. In the meantime, the rest of the American artillery had taken position on the plateau, covered by the Mississippi and third Indi- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. 533 ana regiments, the former of vvliich had reached the ground in time to pour a fire into the right flank of the enemy, and thus contribute to his re- pulse. In this last conflict the Americans sustained a very heavy loss. Colonel Hardin of Illinois, and Colonels M'Kee and Clay of Kentucky, fell at this time, while gallantly leading their commands. Colonel Yell of Arkansas, and Adjutant Vaughan of Kentucky, had previously fallen. No further attempt was made by the Mexicans to force the position of the Americans, and the approach of night gave an opportunity to pay prop- er attention to the wounded, and also to refresh the soldiers, who had been exhausted by incessant watchfulness and combat. Though the night was severely cold, the troops were compelled for the most part, to bivouack without fires, expecting that morning would renew the conflict. During the night the wounded were removed to Saltillo, and every preparation made to receive the enemy, should he again attack the American position. Seven fresh companies were drawn from the town, and Brigadier-General Marshall, with a reinforcement of Kentucky cavalry, and four pieces of artillery, was near at hand, when it was discovered that the enemy had abandoned his position during the night. Scouts soon ascertained that the Mexican army had fallen back upon Agua Nueva. The great dispar- ity of numbers, and the exhaustion of Taylor's troops, rendered it inexpe- dient and hazardous to attempt pursuit, A staflf officer was despatched to General Santa Anna to negotiate an exchange of prisoners, which was satisfactorily completed on the following day. The Americans collected and buried their own dead, and the Mexican wounded, of which a large number had been left upon the field, were removed to Saltillo, and ren- dered as comfortable as circumstances would permit.* On the evening of the 26lh it was ascertained that, excepting a small body of cavalry left at Agua Nueva, the Mexican army, had retreated in the direction of San Luis Potosi. On the 27th, General Taylor advanced with his troops and resumed his former camp at Agua Nueva, the Mex- ican rear guard evacuating the place as the Americans approached, leaving a considerable number of wounded behind. It was Taylor's purpose to beat up the enemy's quarters at Encarnacion early the next morning, but upon examination, the weak condition of the cavalry horses rendered it unadvisable to attempt so long a march without water. Colonel Belknap, with a detachment of troops, was despatched to Encarnacion on the 1st of March. Some two hundred wounded and about sixty Mexican soldiers -were found there, the army of Santa Anna, having passed on in the direc- tion of Matehula, with greatly reduced numbers, and sufl'ering much from hunoer. The dead and dying were strewed upon the road, and crowded the buildings of the hacienda. The American loss at the battle of Buena Vista, was 267 killed, 456 wounded, and 23 missing ; that of the Mexicans in killed and wounded * General Taylor's official despatch. 534 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. was estimated by General Taylor, and admitted by Santa Anna, to exceed 1500. At least 500 of their killed were left upon the field of battle. The loss of the Americans was especially severe in officers — 28 having been killed upon the field, and 41 wounded. In a private letter to General E. G. W. Butler, General Taylor referred to certain incidents of the battle. Among other remarks he says : " For several hours the fate of the day was extremely doubtful ; so much so, that I was urged by some of the most experienced officers to fall back and take a new position. This I knew it would never do to attempt with volun- teers, and at once declined it. Between the several deep ravines, there were portions of level land from one to four hundred yards in extent, Avhich became alternately points of attack and defence, after our left Avas turned, by both sides. These extended along and near the base of the mountain for about two miles, and the struggle for them may be very ap- propriately compared to a game of chess. Night put a stop to the con- test, and, strange to say, both armies occupied the same positions they did in the morning before the battle commenced. Our artillery did more than wonders. " We lay on our arms all night, as we had done the two preceding ones, without fires, ready and expecting to renew the contest the next morning ; but we found at daylight the enemy had retreated during the night. " I hope the greater portion of the good people of the country will be satisfied with what we have done on this occasion. I flatter myself that our compelling a Mexican army of more than twenty thousand men, com- pletely organized, and led by their chief magistrate, to retteat, with less than five hundred regulars, and about four thousand volunteers, will meet their approval. I had not a single company of regular infantry ; the whole was taken from me." The news of the victory of Buena Vista was received in the United States as the crowning evidence of Taylor's generalship. He had as- sumed the responsibility of holding his position beyond Monterey. Know- ing his resources and trusting in his officers and troops, he hesitated not to risk everything on the field against the host of Santa Anna. He has himself done justice to the brilliant part which General Wool bore in the action, approving all the preliminary dispositions of that able commander. He has also borne testimony to the services of all others who took part in the action, and expressed his sympathies with the friends of those who had fallen. It was the province of the nation, in return, to acknowl- edge the surpassing merit of the commander-in-chief. That merit was acknowledged in every form of popular rejoicing and congratulation. Cities and states were emulous in exhibitions of sympathy for his trials, exultation for his success, and respect for his character.* The importance of the victory at Buena Vista (says Mansfield) carx *rr}''8 Life of Taylor. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. 535 not be exnggerated. It secured the whole frontier of the Rio Grande, and struck terror and dismay into the hearts of the Mexican nation. It was, in fact, the first great turning point of the war. General Taylor, on the 2d of March, intrusted to one of his aids, Mr. Thomas L. Crittenden, of Kentucky, the official reports of the battle of Buena Vista, to be conveyed to Washington. He was escorted by Major Giddings, commanding 260 infantry and two pieces of artillery, and hav- ing in charge also one hundred and fifty wagons. Near Ceralvo, on tho road to Camargo, the escort was attacked by 1,600 Mexican cavalry and infantry, under Generals Urrea and Romaro. After a brief and gallant struggle the enemy was repulsed, with the loss of 45 killed and wounded. The Americans lost 17 men, of whom 15 were teamsters. General Tay- lor, subsequently hearing that Urrea was in command of a still larger force, pursued him with about 1,200 volunteers, and two companies of Bragg's artillery, as far as Caidereta, where he learned that the Mexicans had crossed the mountains. General Taylor then returned to the camp at Walnut Springs, three miles from Monterey, where he established his headquarters. The operations of General Scott, at Vera Cruz and other points on the gulf of Mexico, and the brilliant series of successes of that officer and the troops under his command, in the march from Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico, terminating in the capture and occupation of that capital by the American troops, in September, transferred the seat of war to that quarter. Consequently, General Taylor remained for some months ia comparative inactivity, at his headquarters near Monterey. Actual hostili- ties with Mexico having been practically brought to an end, with the ex- ception of skirmishes with guerilla parties. General Taylor obtained per- mission to visit his family at Baton Rouge, in Louisiana, from whom he had now been absent for about two 3'ears. Accordingly, in November, 1847, he left the command of the army with General Wool, and took his departure for the United States, by the way of Camargo, Matamoras, and Point Isabel, at which last place he embarked in a steamer for New Orleans, and arrived below that city on the 1st of December. He landed at the barracks, where he met his fam- ily, and remained two days. He was greeted by salutes of cannon, dis- play of flags, and the cheers of the people. On the 3d the general pro- ceeded to the city, where he was received with transports of enthusiasm and joy by his fellow-citizens anxious to welcome him to his home. Along the shores of the Mississippi, as far as the eye could reach, gay streamers floated on the breeze from ships of every nation, and the nu- merous steamboats on the river added to the interest of the scene. General Taylor was accompanied by several officers of his staff, among whom was Major Bliss, assistant adjutant-general, who had accompanied him in all his campaigns and battles in Mexico. On landing at New 536 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. Orleans, a vast procession was formed, and the general was conducted to the St. Charles hotel, where he received the calls of several thousand citizens. To the address of the mayor, welcoming him to the city, the general made a modest and appropriate reply, expressive of his gratitude at this reception by the people of New Orleans. On the following day he visited the Roman catholic cathedral, and was welcomed in an eloquent address by Bishop Blanc. A magnificent sword that had been voted by the legislature of Louisiana, was presented by Governor Johnson, with appropriate remarks, to which General Taylor replied in language of deep feeling at the honor done him. On the 5th of December, General Taylor left the city in a steamer, for his home in Baton Rouge. On the way thither he was greeted with the most enthusiastic cheers from people on the banks of the river, and on board of steamers and other vessels. From that time he remained to enjoy the quiet of domestic retirement, of which he had so long been deprived, until summoned by the people to accept of new honors, and to enter upon the duties of the most important office in their gift. The brilliant achievements of Taylor during his campaigns in Mexico, so much attracted the admiration of the people of the United States, that a strong desire was early manifested by his fellow-citizens of various political parties, to place him in nomination as a candidate for president of the republic. His official despatches and private letters confirmed the favorable opinion generally entertained respecting his ability to fill the highest station with credit to himself and benefit to the nation — and the excellence of his private character, as well as his sterling good sense, was acknowledged by all. Although his political opinions were known to coincide with those of the whig party, he had never taken an active part in political contests ; many of the democratic party, therefore, avowed their determination to support him as a candidate for the presidency, but the leaders of that party refused to acknowledge his claims. A large portion of the whig party, particularly in the southern and southwestern states, early saw in the popularity attached to his name, the great proba- bility of success in the presidential election if he could be made the can- didate of the party, and consequently used every effiart to effect such a result. The attention, also, of citizens in several of the states, organized as the native American party, was turned toward General Taylor as a candidate for the presidency immediately after his brilliant victories on the Rio Grande and in Mexico. One of the earliest meetings of the people in favor of his nomination for president, was held at Trenton, New Jersey, on the llih of June, 1846 ; this was followed by a similar meeting in the city of New York, on the 18th of the same month. Both of these meetings were called without distinction of party, soon after the recep- tion of the news of the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. Taylor's nomination for the presidency was proposed to him by one of the BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. 537 native x\inerican party, in March, 1 847. While he did not positively refuse to allow his name to be used in that connexion, he stated in reply, April 28, 1847, that he could not, while the country was involved in vvar, and while his duty called him to take part in the operations against the enemy, acknowl- edge any ambition beyond that of bestowing all his best exertions toward obtaining an adjustment of our difficulties with Mexico. Subsequently he expressed a willingness to become a candidate for the presidency, pro- vided that the call came from the spontaneous action and free will of the nation at large, and void of the slightest agency of his own. The following letters, respecting his nomination and his political prin- ciples, give his views on those points. "Baton Rouge, La., January 30, 1848. " Sir : Your communication of the 15th instant has been received, and the suggestions therein offered duly considered. " In reply to your inquiries, I have again to repeat, that I have neither the power nor the desire to dictate to the American people the exact man- ner in which they should proceed to nominate for the presidency of the United States. If they desire such a result, they must adopt the means best suited, in their opinion, to the consummation of the purpose ; and if they think fit to bring me before them for this office, through their legislatures, mass meetings, or conventions, I can not object to their des- ignating these bodies as whig, democrat, or native. But in being thus nominated, I must insist on the condition — and my position on this point is immutable — that I shall not be brought forward by them as the candi- date of their party, or considered as the exponent of their party doctrines. " In conclusion, I have to repeat, that if I were nominated for the presi- dency, by any body of my fellow-citizens, designated by any name they might choose to adopt, I should esteem it an honor, and would accept such nomination, provided it had been made entirely independent of party con- siderations. " I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, ' "Z. Taylor. " Peter Sken Smith, Esq., Philadelphia." " Baton Rouge, April 22, 1848. " Dear Sir : My opinions have been so often misconceived and mis- represented, that I deem it due to myself, if not to my friends, to make a brief exposition of them upon the topics to which you have called my attention. " I have consented to the use of my name as a candidate for the presi- dency. I have franTvly avowed my own distrust of my fitness for this high station ; but having, at the solicitation of many of my countrymen, taken my position as a candidate, I do not feel at liberty to surrender that position until my friends manifest a wish that I should retire from it. I will then most gladly do so. I have no private purposes to accomplish, 538 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. no party projects to build up, no enemies to punish — nothing to serve but my country. " I have been very often addressed by letter, and my opinions have been asked upon almost every question that might occur to the writers as affecting the interest of their country or their party. I have not always responded to these inquiries, for various reasons. " I confess, while I have great cardinal principles which will regulate my political life, I am not sufficiently familiar with all the minute details of political legislation to give solemn pledges to exert myself to carry out this or defeat that measure. I have no concealment. I hold no opinion which I would not readily proclaim to my assembled countrymen ; but crude impressions upon matters of policy, which may be right to-day and wrong to-morrow, are perhaps not the best test of fitness for office. One who can not be trusted without pledges, can not be confided in merely on account of them. " I will proceed, however, now to respond to your inquiries : — " 1. I reiterate what I have so often said : I am a whig. If elected, I would not be the mere president of a party. I would endeavor to act independent of party domination. 1 should feel bound to administer the government untrammelled by party schemes. " 2. The Veto Power. — The power given by the constitution to the executive to interpose his veto, is a high conservative power ; but, in my opinion, should never be exercised except in cases of clear violation of the constitution, or manifest haste and want of considergtion by Congress. Indeed, I have thought that for many years past the known opinions and wishes of the executive have exercised undue and injurious influence upon the legislative department of the government ; and for this cause I have thought our system was in danger of undergoing a great change from its true theory. The personal opinions of the individual who may happen to occupy the executive chair, ought not to control the action of Congress upon questions of domestic policy ; nor ought his objections to be interposed where questions of constitutional power have been settled by the various departments of government, and acquiesced in by the people. " 3. Upon the subject of the tariff, the currency, the improvement of our great highways, rivers, lakes, and harbors, the will of the people, as expressed through their representatives in Congress, ought to be respected and carried out by the executive. " 4. The Mexican War. — I sincerely rejoice at the prospect of peace. My life has been devoted to arms, yet I look upon war at all times and under all circumstances as a national calamity, to be avoided if compatible with the national honor. The principles of our government, as well as its true policy, are opposed to the subjugation of other nations and the dismemberment of other countries by conquest. In the language of the BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. 539 great Washington, ' Why should we quit our own to stand on foreign ground V In the Mexican war our national honor has been vindicated ; and in dictating terras of peace, we may well afford to be forbearing and even magnanimous to a fallen foe. " These are my opinions upon the subjects referred to by you, and any reports or publications, written or verbal, from any source, differing in any essential particular from what is here written, are unauthorized and untrue. " I do not know that I shall again write upon the subject of national politics. I shall engage in no schemes, no combinations, no intrigues. If the American people have not confidence in me, they ought not to give me their suffrages. If they do not, you know me well enough to believe me, when I declare I shall be content. I am too old a soldier to murmur against such high authority. " Z. Taylor. " To Captain J. S. Allison." With the knowledge of General Taylor's political opinions repeatedly expressed in the above and other answers to inquiries made of him, his name was prominently brought before the whig national convention which met at Philadelphia on the 1st of June, 1848. The first ballot taken in that convention showed the popularity of Gen- eral Taylor, even in comparison with his distinguished rivals as candidates for the presidency. The votes stood for Zachary Taylor, 111; Henry Clay, 97 ; Winfield Scott, 43 ; Daniel Webster, 22 ; John M. Clayton. 4 ; John M'Lean, 2. Necessary for a choice, 140 ; the whole number of votes being 279. On the second ballot the vote stood for Taylor, 118 , Clay, 86 ; Scott, 49; Webster, 22; Clayton, 4. Third ballot, Taylor, 133; Clay, 74; Scott, 54; Webster, 17; Clayton, 1. The fourth and final ballot gave Taylor 171 ; Clay, 35 ; Scott, 60 ; Webster, 14. It is worthy of notice, that the votes for General Taylor on the last ballot came from each of the thirty states represented in the convention ; thus showing that he was truly a national candidate. General Taylor was then declared duly nominated as the whig candidate for the presidency of the United States. Millard Fillmore, of the state of New York, was, on the second ballot, nominated by the same conven- tion for vice-president. Having duly accepted the nomination of the whig national convention, General Taylor remained with his family at Baton Rouge until the pres- idential election took place, in November, 1848. The result of that elec- tion, as shown by the votes of the people, and confirmed of course by the electoral colleges then chosen, which met in December following, was the election of Taylor and Fillmore, the whig candidates for president and vice-president, who each received 163 electoral votes, against 127 votes given for the democratic candidates, General Cass and General Butler. 540 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. The distinguishing traits of General Taylor's character, as described by a friend, are honesty, good judgment, benevolence, firmness, and energy. It were a waste of time to dwell upon these traits of his character, for his military career has afforded such abundant examples of his exercise of these qualities as to render them familiar to every one who has heard or read of the man. The following extracts from Taylor's official despatches at different periods of his life, are characteristic of his determination and unsurpassed bravery. In his letter to General Howard, giving the details of his expedition against the British and Indians on Red river in September, 1814, he says : — " I collected the oflicers together and put the following question to them : ' Are we able, 334 effective men, to fight the enemy with any pros- pect of success V They were of opinion the enemy was at least three to one, and that it was not practicable to effect the object. I then deter- mined to drop down the river and erect a fort; and should the enemy attempt to descend the river in force before the fort can be completed, every foot of the way from the fort to the settlements shall he contested.''^ In his letter to the adjutant-general of the army, dated Point Isabel, May 7, 1846 (more than thirty years after the above), he uses similar lan- guage, viz. : — " I shall march this day, with the main body of the army, to open a communication with Major Brown, and to throw forward supplies of ord- nance and provisions. If the enemy opposes my march, in whatever force, I shall fight hi?n." In person. General Taylor is about five feet eight inches in height, and slightly inclined to corpulency. His complexion is dark, his forehead high, and his eyes keen and penetrating, indicating uniform good humor, his face careworn, but extremely intelligent, and generally lit up with a benevolent smile. He dresses at all times with great simplicity, and is kind and affable in his manners. He has been but once married, and has had four children — one son and three daughters. Of the latter, one mar- ried Dr. Wood, of the U. S. army ; another (since deceased) married Colonel Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, who commanded the Mississippi volunteers at Buena Vista; the third married Colonel W. W. S. Bliss, of the army, who, as before mentioned, accompanied the general in his cam- paigns in Mexico. Colonel Bliss and lady reside with the president. On the 24th of January, General Taylor took his departure for Wash- ington, to enter upon the duties of the high office to which he had been elected by the suffrages of the people. On the day previous to his ta- king leave of his home and his immediate friends and neighbors, the cit- izens of Baton Rouge, without distinction of party, assembled spontane- ously, to pay him their respects and bid him farewell. A large procession was formed, which proceeded to his residence where he was app'"opriate- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. 541 ly addressed on belitilf of the citizens, by one of their number. To this address he made a brief but touching reply, in which he assured them that it was with feelings of no ordinary character, that he met with his fellow- citizens on such an occasion, many of whom he had been associated with more than a quarter of a century. Had he consulted his own wishes, he said he should have preferred the office he was then about to vacate, and have remained among his old friends ; but that as the people had, without his solicitation, seen fit to elevate him to another station, though he dis- trusted his abilities satisfactorily to .discharge the great and important du- ties thus imposed upon him, yet he assured them that he should endeavor to fulfil them without regard to fear, favor, or affection from any one. In conclusion with his prayers for the welfare of his fellow-citizens of Ba- ton Rouge, he bade them an affectionate farewell. The day succeeding General Taylor's departure. Colonel Bliss, assist- ant adjutant-general, issued an order announcing the resignation of the gen- eral, and his final withdrawal from the military service of the army. In resigning his commission, General Taylor expressed his "regret at his separation from a service to which he was attached by so many pleasing and proud associations. To the officers and men who had served under his immediate orders, he expressed his hearty thanks for their zealous and cordial support in the execution of the duties confided to him during a long and eventful service. To them and to all he extended a heartfelt farew^ell, and his warmest wishes for tlieir continued happiness and suc- cess in the arduous and honorable career which they had chosen." Thus terminated Taylor's connexion with the army, after a service of more than forty years. On his journey to Washington, by way of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, the Cumberland road, and the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, the president elect was met with the liveliest expressions of gratitude and re- spect by the people in the diflerent places along his route. After a long and fatiguing journey, interrupted by the public demonstrations in the va- rious cities and towns through which he passed, he arrived at Washing- ton, on the evening of the 23d of February, the anniversary of the battle of Buena Vista — and was received with every demonstration of joy by the citizens and others assembled at the national capital. From the re- lay house, on the railroad, about thirty miles from Washington, he was at- tended by the mayor and several members of the city council. The de- lay at the relay house, where he was welcomed by deputations from Bal- timore, caused his arrival at the metropolis after nightfall — but the stars shone brightly, and the railroad track was occasionally illuminated by bon- fires on the route. By the roaring of cannon and flights of brilliant rock- ets was the general heralded into the city, and escorted by a large con- course of people to his quarters at Willard's hotel, on Pennsylvania ave- nue, where he remained until the day of his inauguration. 542 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. The joint committee of the senate and house of representatives appoint- ed to wait on the president and vice-president elect and inform them of their election to those high offices, having accordingly waited on General Taylor, after his arrival at the seat of government, and through their chair- man, Colonel Jefferson Davis of Mississippi (his son-in-law), performed that duty ; " the president elect, in signifying his acceptance of the of- fice to which he had been chosen by the people, evinced emotions of the profoundest gratitude, and acknowledged his distrust of his ability to ful- fil the expectations upon which their confidence was based, but gave as- surances of a fixed purpose to administer the government for the benefit and advantage of the whole country. " In alluding to the fact to which his attention had been drawn, that the chairman of the committee represented a public body, a majority of whom were opposed in political opinion to the president elect, and accorded with that majority, he recognised in it the deference to the popular will consti- tutionally expressed, on which rests the strength and hope of the republic, and he said that it was to have been expected from the senate of the Uni- ted States. " He expressed an ardent wish that he might be able in any degree to assuao-e the fierceness of party, or temper with moderation the conflicts of those who are only divided as to the means of securing the public welfare. " He said, having been reminded that he was about to occupy the chair once filled by Washington, that he could hope to emulate him only in the singleness of the aims which guided the conduct of the man who had no parallel in history, and no rival in the hearts of his countrymen. " In conclusion, he announced his readiness to take the oath of office on the 5th of March, proximo, at such hour and place as might be desig- nated." The report of the committee being made to the senate on the 27th of February, that body appointed as a committee to make the necessary ar- rangements for the reception of the president elect on the 5th of March, Senators Reverdy Johnson, Jefferson Davis, and John Davis. THE INAUGURATION. At the appointed time, Monday, March, 5, 1849, the inauguration of General Zachary Taylor as president of the United States, took place, in front of the great portico of the capitol. The multitude of people assem- bled on the occasion from every part of the Union, for the purpose of wit- nessing the interesting ceremony, is supposed to have been much larger than was ever before collected in Washington. The weather, although the sky was clouded, was as pleasant as usual at this season of the year. At the break of day the strains of martial music resounded along the princi- pal avenues of the city, and hundreds of national flags were unfolded to the breeze. The bells of the city then rang a stirring peal, and long be- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. 543 fore the usual hour of breakfast, the people were wending their way in immense masses to the capitol. At nine o'clock, one hundred citizens who officiated as marshals on horseback, proceeded in a body to Willard's hotel, for the purpose of pay- ing their respects to General Taylor. After the ceremony of introduc- tion, the marshals retired to attend to their official duties, and the presi- dent elect, who was dressed in a plain suit of black, and in the enjoyment of his usual good health, returned to his apartments to prepare for the pro- cession. At half past eleven o'clock, the procession took up its line of march from the hotel to the capitol. The military of Washington, Baltimore, &c., who formed part of the procession, presented an imposing appearance. The carriage in which the president elect was escorted was drawn by four gray horses. Ex-President Polk, Mr. Speaker Winthrop, and Mr. Sea- Ion, mayor of Washington, accompanied General Taylor in the carriage. Pennsyh-ania avenue, along which the procession passed, was thronged with thousands of people ; many of the roofs of the houses were also cov- ered, and every window was occupied by spectators. The time occupied by the procession in reaching the east front of the capitol was about an hour, and after the conclusion of the inaugural ceremonies, the booming of artillery resounded through the city. The senate being convened at eleven o'clock, after prayer by the chap- lain, the Hon. David R. Atchison of Missouri, was chosen president, pro tern. The diplomatic corps, representing various foreign nations, were next announced. The brilliancy of some of their costumes appeared in fine contrast with the dark robes of the judges of the supreme court, seated opposite to them. The late vice-president, Mr. Dallas, then conducted to the chair the Hon. Millard Fillmore, the vice-president elect, to whom the oath of office was administered by Mr. Atchison, after which, Mr. Fillmore delivered with calmness and dignity, an appropriate address, and took his seat as president of the senate. At twelve o'clock, the members of the late executive cabinet appeared, and occupied places on the left of the vice-president. All things were now in readiness for the appearance of the president elect, who, after an interval, entered the senate- chamber in company with Ex-President Polk, and took a seat which had been prepared for him ; Mr. Polk occupying another upon his left hand. After a brief pause the order of procession was announced, and the com- pany retired from the chamber of the senate in the order prescribed, to the east portico of the capitol, where an extensive staging had been erected. At about one o'clock, the president elect, in full view of at least twenty thousand people from all parts of the Union, pronounced his inaugural ad- dress. It was delivered in a remarkably distinct voice, and many parts 544 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF TAYLOR. of it were enunciated with a full and clear emphasis, and enthusiastically- responded to by the cheers of the surrounding spectators. As soon as the applause Avhich marked the conclusion of the address had subsided, the oath of office was administered to the president, by Chief-Justice Taney, The president then received congratulations from numerous persons pres- ent, Chi'^f- Justice Taney and Ex-President Polk taking the lead. The ceremonies at the capitol were terminated by salvos of artillery, and the president and the procession returned down the avenue leading from the capitol to the White house, appropriated to the residence of the successive presidents of the United States. At this mansion, the presi- dent received with his accustomed courtesy the salutes of some thousands of his fellow-citizens, and in the evening visited several balls given in honor of the occasion. On the 6th of March, the president nominated to the senate the follow- ing gentlemen to compose his cabinet, and they were, the following day, confirmed by that body, viz. : John M. Clayton, of Delaware, secretary of state ; William M. Meredith, of Pennsylvania, secretary of the treas- ury ; George W. Crawford, of Georgia, secretary of war ; William B. Preston, of Virginia, secretary of the navy ; Thomas Ewing, of Ohio, secretary of the interior; Jacob Collamer, of Vermont, postmaster-gen- eral ; Reverdy Johnson, of Maryland, attorney-general. These officers, with the exception of Mr. Crawford, who arrived from Georgia a {ew days afterward, respectively took the oath of office and en- tered upon their duties on the 8th of March, 1849. DOCUMENTS, HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL. 35 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, JULY 4th, 1776. THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OP AMERICA IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED. ' When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands wliicli have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitled them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should de- clare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident : that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Pru- dence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes ; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufTerable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present king of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world : — He has refused his assent to laws the most wholest)me and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be 548' DECLARATION OF IXDEPENDEXCE. • obtained ; and, when so suspended, lie lias utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other .aws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature — a right inestimable to them, and formi- dable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfort- able, and 'distant from the repository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused, for a longtime after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected ; Avhereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise — the state remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without and convulsions within. He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states — for that purpose obstructing the laws of naturalization of foreigners, refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands. He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior'to, the civil power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws — giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation. For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us ; For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states ; For cutting off our trade Avith all parts of the world ; For imposing taxes on us without our consent; For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury ; For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences ; For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies ; DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 549 For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering, fundamentally, the forms of our governments ; For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated government here by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most bar- barous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executionersof their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. He has excited domestic insurrections among us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, Avhose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions. In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms. Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts, by their legislature, to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have ap- pealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjurbd them, by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connexions and correspondence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separa- tion, and hold them, as Ave hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace, friends. We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in general Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states ; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connexion between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; and that, as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, estab- lish comrherce, and to do all other acts and things which independent 50 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. The foregoing declaration was, by order of Congress^' engrossed and signed by the following members : — JOHN HANCOCK. NEW HAMPSHIRE. JOSIAH Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton. MASSACHUSETTS BAY, Samuel Adams, John Adams, KoBERT Treat Paine, Elbiudge GERRr. . RHODE ISLAND, Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery. CONNECTICUT. Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott. NEW YORK. ^VILLIAM J'LOTD, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris. NEW JERSEY. Richard Stockton, - John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark. PENNSYLVANIA. Robert Morris, Ben-^jamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George TAylor, James Wilson, George Ross. DELAWARE. C^SAR Rodney, George Read, Thomas M'Kean. MARYLAND. Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, [ton Charles Carroll, of Carroll- VIRGINIA. George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, jr. F1J.ANCIS Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton, NORTH CAROLINA William Hooper-, Joseph Hewes, John Penn. SOUTH CAROLINA. Edward Rutlidge, Thomas Hey'ward, je. Thomas Lynch, jr. Arthur Middleton. GEORGIA. Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton. ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, DELEGATES OF THE STATES AFFIXED TO OUR NAMES,' SEND GREETING. Whereas, the delegates of the United States of America in Congress assembled did, on the fifteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven, and in the second year of the independence of America, agree to certain articles of confederation and perpetual Union between the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, in the words following, viz. : — Articles of Confederation and jjcrpctual Union between the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Planta- tions, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Article 1. The style of this confederacy shall be, " The United States of America." Article 2. Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independ- ence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this con- federation expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled. Article 3. The said states hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other for their common defence, the security "of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare ; binding themselves to assist each other against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence Avhatever. Article 4. The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship, and intercourse among the people of the different states in this Union, the free inhabitants of each of these states, paupers, vagabonds, and fugitives from justice, excepted, shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several states ; and the people of each state shall have free ingress and regress to and from any other state, and shall enjoy therein all the privileges of trade and commerce subject to the same duties, im- positions, and restrictions, as the inhabitants thereof respecti^^ely, provided that such restrictions shall not extend so far as to prevent the removal of property imported into any state to any other state, of which the owner is au inhabitant ; provided also, that no imposition, duties, or restriction, 552 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. shall be laid by any state on the property of the United States or either of them. If any person guilty of or charged with treason, felony, or other high misdemeanor, in any state, shall flee from justice, and be found in any of the United States, he shall, upon demand of the governor or executive power of the state from which he fled, be delivered up and removed to the state having jurisdiction of his oiTence. Full faith stnd credit shall be given in each of these states to the records, acts, and judicial proceedings of the courts and magistrates of every other state. .... Article 5. For the more convenient management of the general interests of the United States, delegates shall be annually appointed in such manner as the legislature of each state shall direct to meet in Congress on the first Monday in November, in every year, with a power reserved to each state to recall its delegates or any of them, at any time within the year, and to send others in their stead for the remainder of the year. No state shall be represented in Congress by less than two, nor by more than seven members ; and no person shall be capable of being a delegate for more than three years in any term of six years ; nor shall any person, being a delegate, be capable of holding any office under the United States, for which he, or another for his benefit, receives any salary, fees, or emoluments of any kind. Each state shall maintain its own delegates in a meeting of the states, and while they act as members of the conimitee of the states. In determining questions in the United States in Congress assembled, each state shall have one vote. Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Congress ; and the members of Congress shall be protected in their persons from arrests and imprison- ments, during the time of their going to and from and attendance on Con- gress, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace. Article 6. No state, without the consent of the United States in Con- gress assembled, shall send any embassy to, or receive any embassy from, or enter into any conference, agreement, alliance, or treaty, with any king, prince, or state ; nor shall any person holding any office of profit or trust under the United States, or any of them, accept of any present, emolument, oflice or title of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state ; nor shall the United States in Congress assembled, or any of them, grant any title of nobility. No two or more states shall enter into any treaty, confederation, or alliance whatever, between them, without the consent of the United States in Congress assembled, specifying accurately the purposes for which the same is to be entered into and how long it shall continue. No state shall lay any imposts or duties, which may interfere with any stipulations in treaties entered into by the United States in Congress as- sembled, with any king, prince, or state, in pursuance of any treaties al- ready proposed by Congress to the courts of P^rance and Spain. No vessel-of-war shall be kept up in time of peace by any state, except such number only as shall be deemed necessary by the United States in Congress assembled for the defence of such state or its trade ; nor shall any body of forces be kept up by any state in time of peace, except such number only as in the judgment of the United States in Congress as- ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 553 sembled, shall be deemed requisite to garrison tlie forts necessary for tlie defence of such state ; but every state shall always keep up a well- regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and accoutred, and shall provide and have constantly ready for use, in public stores, a due number of field-pieces and tents, and a proper quantity of arms, ammu- nition, and camp equipage. No state shall engage in any war without the consent of the United States in Congress assembled, unless such state be actually invaded by enemies or shall have received certain advice of a resolution being formed by some nation of Indians to iuA^ade such state, and the danger is so im- minent as not to admit of a delay till the United States in Congress as- sembled can be consulted ; nor shall any state grant commissions to any ships or vessels-of-war, nor letters of marque or reprisal, except it be after a declaration of war by the United States in Congress assembled, and then only against the kingdom or state, and the subjects thereof, against which war has been so declared, and under such regulations as shall be estab- lished by the United States in Congress assembled, unless such state be infested by pirates, in which case vessels-of-war may be fitted out for that occasion, and kept so long as the danger shall continue, or until the United States in Congress assembled shall determine otherwise. Article 7. When land forces are raised by any state for the common defence, all officers of or under the rank of colonel, shall be appointed by the legislature of each state respectively, by whom such forces shall be raised, or in such manner as such state shall direct, and all vacancies shall be filled up by the state which first made the appointment. Article 8. All charges of war, and all other expenses that shall be incurred for the common defence or general welfare, and allowed by the United States in Congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be supplied by the several states in proportion to the value of all land within each state granted to or surveyed for any person, as such land and the buildings and improvements thereon shall be estima- red according to such mode as the United States in Congress assembled shall from time to time direct and appoint. The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the several states, within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled. Article 9. The United States in Congress assembled shall have the sole and exclusive right and power of determining on peace and war, ex- cept in the cases mentioned in the sixth article — of sending and receiving ambassadors — entering into treaties and alliances ; provided, that no treaty of commerce shall be made whereby the legislative power of the respective states shall be restrained from imposing such imposts and duties on foreigners as their own people are subjected to, or from prohibiting the exportation or importation of any species of goods or commodities what- soever — of establishing rules for deciding in all cases, what captures on land or water shall be legal, and in what manner prizes taken by land or naval forces in the service of the United States shall be divided or appro- priated — of granting letters of marque and reprisal in times of peace — ap- pointing courts for the trial of piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and establishing courts for receiving and determining finally appeals in all cases of captures : provided, that no member of Congress shall be appointed a judge of any of the said courts. 554 ARTICLKS OF CONFEDERATION. The United vStates in Congress assembled shall also be the last resort on appeal in all disputes and differences now subsisting or that hereafter may arise between two or more states concerning boundary, jurisdiction, or any other cause whatever ; which authority shall always be exercised in the manner following : whenever the legislative or executive authority or lawful agent of any state in controversy with another shall present a petition to Congress, stating the matter in question, and praying for a hearing, notice thereof shall be given by order of Congress to the legis- lative or executive authority of the other state in controversy, and a day assigned for the appearance of the parties, by their lawful agents, who shall then be directed to appoint by joint consent commissioners or judges to constitute a court for hearing and determining the matter in question; but if they can not agree. Congress shall name three persons out of each of the United States, and from the list of such persons each party sliall alternately strike out one, the petitioners beginning until the number shall be reduced to thirteen ; and from that number not less than seven nor more than nine names, as Congress shall direct shall, in the presence of Congress, be drawn out by lot ; and the persons whose names shall be so drawn, or any five of them, shall be commissioners or judges, to hear and finally determine the controversy, so always as a major part of the judges, ■who shall hear the cause, shall agree in the determination : and if either party shall neglect to attend at the day appointed, without showing reasons which Congress shall judge sufficient, or being present shall refuse to strike, the Congress shall proceed to nominate three persons out of each state, and the secretary of Congress shall strike in behalf of such party absent or refusing ; and the judgment and sentence of the court to be ap- pointed in the manner before prescribed, shall be final and conclusive , and if any of the parties shall refuse to submit to the authority of such court, or to appear, or defend their claim or cause, the court shall never- theless proceed to pronounce sentence or judgment, which shall in like manner be final and decisive, the judgment or sentence and other proceed- ings, being in either case transmitted to Congress, and lodged among the acts of Congress for the security of the parties concerned : provided, that every commissioner, before he sits in judgment, shall take an oath, to be administered by one of the judges of the supreme or superior court of the state, where the cause shall be tiied, " well and truly to hear and deter- mine the matter in question, according to the best of his judgment, without favor, afleclion, or hope of reward :" provided also, that no state shall be deprived of territory for the benefit of the United States. All controversies concerning the private right of soil, claimed under different grants of two or more states, whose jurisdiction as they may respect such lands and the states which passed such grants are adjusted, the said grants or either of them being at the same time claimed to have originated antecedent to such settlement of jurisdiction, shall, on the peti- tion of either party to the Congress of the United States, be finally deter- mined, as near as may be, in the same manner as is before prescribed for deciding disputes respecting territorial jurisdiction between different states. The United States in Congress assembled shall also have the sole and exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value of coin struck by their own authority, or by that of the respective states^fixing the standard of weights and measures throughout the United States — regulating ARTICLES OF COXFEDERATION. 505 the trade and managing all affairs with the Indians not members of any of the states ; provided that the legislative right of any state within its own limits be not. infringed or violated — establishing and regulating postoffices from one state to another throughout all the United States, and exacting such postage on the papers passing through the same, as may be requisite to defray the expenses of the said office — appointing all officers of the land forces in the service of the United States excepting regimental officers — appointing all the officers of the naval forces, and commissioning all otlicers whatever in the service of the United States — making rules for the government and regulation of the said land and naval forces, and directing their operations. The United States in Congress assembled shall have authority to ap- point a committee to sit in the recess of Congress, to be denominated " a committee of the states," and to consist of one delegate from each state ; and to appoint such other committees and civil officers as may be necessary for managing the general affiiirs of the United States, .under their direc- tion — to appoint one of their number to preside, provided that no person be allowed to serve in the office of president more than one year in any term of three years — to ascertain the necessary sums of money to be raised for the service of the United States, and to appropriate and apply the same for defraying the public expenses — to borrow money or emit bills on the credit of the United States, transmitting every half year to the respective states an account of the sums of money so borrowed or emitted — to build and equip a navy — to agree upon the number of land forces, and to make requisitions from each state for its quota, in proportion to the number of white inhabitants in such state ; which requisition shall be binding, and thereupon the legislature of each state shall appoint the regi- mental officers, raise the men, and clothe, arm, and equip them, in a soldier- like manner, at the expense of the United States ; and the officers and men so clothed, armed, and equipped, shall march to the place appointed, and within the time agreed on by the United States in Congress assembled : but if the United States in Congress assembled, shall, on consideration of circumstances, judge proper that any state should not raise men or should raise a smaller number than its quota, and that any other state should raise a greater number of men than the quota thereof, such extra number shall be raised, officered, clothed, armed, and equipped, in the same manner as the quota of such state, unless the legislature of such state shall judge that such extra number can not safely be spared out of the same ; in which case they shall raise, officer, clothe, arm, and equip, as many of such extra number as they judge can be safely spared. And the officers and men so clothed, armed, and equipped, shall march to the place ap- pointed, and within the time agreed on by the United States in Congress assembled. The United States in Congress assembled shall never engage in a war, nor grant letters of marque and reprisal in time of peace, nor enter into any treaties or alliances, nor coin money, nor regulate the value thereof, nor ascertain the sums and expenses necessary for the defence and wel- fare of the United States or any of them, nor emit bills, nor borrow money on the credit of the United States, nor appropriate money, nor agree upon the number of vessels-of-war to be built or purchased, or the number of land or sea forces to be raised, nor appoint a commander-in-chief of the army or navy, unless nine states assent to the same ; nor shall a question 556 ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. on any other point, except for adjourning from day to day, be determined, unless by the votes of a majority of the United States in Congress as- sembled. The Congress of the United States shall have power to adjourn to any time within the year, and to any place within the United States, so that no period of adjournment be for a longer duration than the space of six months ; and shall publish the journal of their proceedings monthly, ex- cept such parts thereof relating to treaties, alliances, or military operations, as in their judgment require secresy ; and the yeas and nays of the dele- gates of each state on any question shall be entered on the journal, when it is desired by any delegate ; and the delegates of a state, or any of them, at his or their request, shall be furnished with a transcript of the said journal, except such parts as are above excepted, to lay before the legis- latures of the several states. Article 10. The committee of the states, or any nine of them, shall be authorized to execute, in the recess of Congress, such of the powers of Congress as the United States in Congress assembled, by the consent of nine states, shall from time to time, think expedient to vest them with ; provided that no power be delegated to the said committee, for the exercise of which, by the articles of confederation, the voice of nine states in the Congress of the United States assembled is requisite. Article 11. Canada, acceding to this confederation, and joining in the measures of the United States, shall be admitted into, and entitled to, all the advantages of this Union ; but no other colony shall be admitted into the same unless such admission be agreed to by nine states. Article 12. All bills of credit emitted, moneys borrowed, and debts contracted, by or under the authority of Congress, before the assembling of the United States, in pursuance of the present confederation, shall be deemed and considered as a charge against the United States, for payment and satisfaction whereof the said United States and the public faith are hereby solemnly pledged. Article 13. Every state shall abide by the decision of the United States in Congress assembled, on all questions which, by this confedera- tion, are submitted to them. And the articles of this confederation shall be inviolably observed by every state, and the Union shall be perpetual ; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them, un- less such alteration be agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterward confirmed by the legislature of every state. And whereas it has pleased the great Governor of the world to incline the hearts of the legislatures we respectively represent in Congress, to approve of and to authorize us to ratify the said articles of confederation and perpetual Union : know yc, that we, the undersigned delegates, by virtue of the power and authority to us given for that purpose, do, by these presents, in the name and in behalf of our respective constituents, fully and entirely ratify and confirm each and every of the said articles of con- federation and perpetual Union, and all and singular the matters and things therein contained ; and we do further solemnly plight and engage the faith of our respective constituents, that they shall abide by the determinations of the United States in Congress assembled, on all questions which, by the said confederation, are submitted to them ; and that the articles thereof shall be inviolably observed by the states we respectively represent ; and that the Union be perpetual. ARTICLES OF COXFEDERATION. 5-57 In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands, in Congress. Done at Philadelphia, in the state of Pennsylvania, the ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight, and in the third year of the independence of America. NEW HAMPSHIRE. JONATHAN Batard Smith, JosiAH Bartlett, William Clingan, John Wentworth, jr. Joseph Reed. MASSACHUSETTS BAY. John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Elbridge Gerry, Francis Dana, James Lovell, Samuel Holten. RHODE ISLAND. "William Ellert, Henry Marchant, John Collins. CONNECTICUT. Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, Oliver. Wolcott, Titus Hosmer, Andrew Adams. NEW YORK. James Duane, Francis Lewis, William Duer, Gouverneur Morris. NEW JERSEY. John Witherspoon, Nath. Scudder. PENNSYLVANIA. Robert Morris, Daniel Robekdeap, DELAWARE. Thomas M'Kean, John Dickinson, Nicholas Van Dyke. MARYLAND. John Hanson, Daniel Carroll. VIRGINIA. Richard Henry Lee, John Banister, Thomas Adams, John Harvie, Francis Lightfoot Lee. NORTH CAROLINA. John Penn, Constable Harnett, John Williams. SOUTH CAROLINA. Henry Laurens, William Henry Drayton, John Matthews, Richard Hutson, Thomas Heyward, jr. GEORGIA, John Walton, Edward Telfair, Edward Langwobthy, CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, COPIED FROM, AND COMPARED WITH, THE ROLL IN THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE. AYe the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America. ARTICLE I. Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a senate and house of representatives. Section 2. The house of representatives shall be composed 6f mem- bers chosen every second year by the people of the several states, and the electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislature. No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states which may be included within this Union, according to their re- spective numbers,* which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The num- ber of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand,! but each state shall have at least one representative ; and until such enumera- tion shall be made, the state of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five. New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, lilaryland six, Virginia ten. North Carolina five. South Carolina five, and Georgia three. • The constitutional provisfbn, that direct taxes shall he apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, to be ascertained by a census, was not intended to restrict the power of imposing direct taxes to states only. — Loughborough vs. Blake, 5 Wheato7i, 319. t See laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 124; iii., 261 ; iv., 332. Acts of 17th Congress, 1st session, chap. x. , and of the 22d and 27th Congress. CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 559 When vacancies happen in the representation from any state, the exec- utive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. The house of representatives shall choose their speaker and other offi- cers ; and shall have the sole power of impeachment. Section 3. The senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each state, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years ; and each senator shall have one vote.* Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into, three classes. The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expira- tion of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every second year ; and if vacancies happen by resig- nation, or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any state, the executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meet- ing of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state for which he shall be chosen. The vice-president of the United States shall be president of the senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. The senate shall choose their other oftlcers, and also a president pro- tempore, in the absence of the vice-president, or when he shall exercise the office of president of the United States. The senate shall have the sole povyer to try all impeachments : When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. Wlien the president of the United States is tried, the chief justice shall preside : And no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to re- moval from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States : but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law. Section 4. The times, places and manner of holding elections for sen- ators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legisla- ture thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing senators. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meet- ing shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different day. Section 5. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business , but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each house may provide. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings,! punish its • See art. v., clause 1. ■f To an action of trespass against the sergeant-at-arms of the house of representatives of the United States for assault and battery and false imprisonment, it is a le sal justifica- tion and bar to plead that a Congress was held and sitting during the period of the tres- passes complained, and that the house of representatives had resolved that the plaintiff had been guilty of a breach of the privileges of the house, and of a high contempt of the dignity 560 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. members for disorderly behavior, and, with tlie concmTence of two thirds, expel a member. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment re- quire secresy ; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house on any question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present^ be entered on the journal. Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the con- sent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting. Section 6. The senators and representatives shall receive a compen- sation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their at- tendance at the session of their respective houses, and in going to and re- turning from the same ; and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any other place. No senator or representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time ; and no person holding any office under the United States, shall be a member of either house during his con- tinuance in office. Section 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the house of representatives ; but the senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills. Every bill which shall have passed the house of representatives and the senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the president of the United States ; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to recon- sider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likcAvise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the pres- ident within ten days (Sunday excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, un- less the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law. Every order, resolution, ox vote to which the concurrence of the senate and authority of the same ; and had ordered that the speaker should issue his warrant to the serge;int-;it-arms, commanding him to take the plaintiff into custody wherever to be found, and to have him before the said house to answer to the said charge ; and that the speaker did accordingly issue such a warrant, reciting the said resolution and order, and commanding the scrgcant-at-arms to take the plaintiff into custody, &c., and deliver the said warrant to the defendant : by virtue of which warrant the defendant arrested the plain- tiff, and conveyed him to the bar of the house, where he was heard in his defence touching the matter of said charge, and the examination being adjourned from day to day, and the house having ordered the plaintiff to be detained in custody, he was accordingly detained by the defendant until he was finally adjudged to be guilty and convicted of the charge aforesaid, and ordered to be forthwith brought to the bar and reprimanded by the speaker, and then discharged from custody, and after being thus reprimanded, was actually dis- charged from the arrest and custody d^ioiesaid.— Anderson vs. Dunn, 6 IVheaton, 204. CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 561 and house of representatives may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the president of the United States ; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being dis- approved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the senate and house of representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. Section 8. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes,* duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States ; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States ; To borrow money on the credit of the United States ; To regulate commerce Avith foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes ; To establish an uniform rule of naturalization,! and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies^ throughout the United States ; To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures ; To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and cur- rent coin of the United States ; To establish postoffices and postroads ; To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for lim- ited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries ; To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court ; To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations ;|| To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water ; To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years ; To provide and maintain a navy ; To nuke rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces ; To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions ; * The power of Congress to lay and collect faxes, duties, &c., extends to the District of Columbia, and to the territories of the United States, as well as to the states. — Loughborotigk vs. Blake, 5 Wheaton, 318. But Congress are not bound to extend a direct tax to tlie district and territories. — Id., 318. j- Under the constitution of the United States, the power of naturalization is exclusively in Congress. — Chivac vs. Chivac, 2 Wheaton, 259. See laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 30 ; ii., 261 j iii., 71 ; iii., 2SS ; iii., 400 ; iv., 564 ; vi., 32. i Since the adoption of the constitution of the United States, a state has authority to pass a bankrupt law, provided such law does not impair the obligation of contracts within the meaning of the constitution (art. i., sect. 10), and provided there be no act of Congress ia force to establish a uniform system of bankruptcy conflicting with such law. — Stia'gess vs. Crowninshield, 4 Wheaton, 122, 192. See laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 368, sect. 2 : iii., 66 ; iii., 158. II The act of the 3d March, 1819, chap. 76, sect. 5, referring to the law of nations for a definition of the crime of piracy, is a constitutional exercise of the power of Congress to de- fine and punish that crime. — United States vs. Smith, 5 Wheaton, 153, 157. Congress have power to provide for the punishment of offences committed by persons on board a ship-of-war of the United States, wherever that ship may lie. But Congress have not exercised that power in the case of a ship lying in the waters of the United States, the words within fort, arsenal, dockyard, magazine, or in any other place or di.itrict of country under the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the United States, in the third section of the act of 1790, chap. 9, not extending to a shipof-war, but only to objects in their nature, fixed and territorial. — United States vs. Bevans, 3 Wheato7i, S90. 36 562 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. To provide foi organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress ;* To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States,! and to exercise like authority over all places pur- chased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings ; — And To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this con- stitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof-l Section 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by * Vide amendments, art. ii. t Congress has authority to impose a direct tax on the District of Columbia, in propor- tion to the census dii'ected to be talien by the coustitutioa. — Loughborough vs. Blake, 5 Wheaton, 317. But Congress are not bound to extend a direct tax to the district and territories.— Id., 322. The power of Congress to exercise exclusive jurisdiction in all cases whatsoever within the District of Colunibia, includes the power of taxing it.— Id., 324. J Whenever the terms in which a power is granted by the constitution to Congress, or whenever the nature of the power itself requires that it should be exercised exclusively by Congress, the subject is as completely taken away from the stale legislatures as if they had been expressly forbidden to act on H.—Sturgess vs. Cromiinshieid^ 4 Wheaton, 193. Con<^ress has power to incorporate a bank. — McCulloch vs. State of Maryland, 4 mieaton, 316. . . The power of establishing a corporation is not a distinct sovereign power or end of gov- ernment, but only the means of carrying into effect other powers which are sovereign. Whenever it becomes an appropriate means of exercising any of the powers given by the constitution to the government of the Union, it may be exercised by that government. — Id., 411,421. , . If a certain means to carry into effect any of the powers expressly given by the constitu- tion to the government of the Union, be an appropriate measure, not prohibited by the constitution, the degree of its necessity is a question of legislative discretion, not of judi- cial cognizance. — 7a'.,42!. . , ., The act of the 19th April, IS16, chap. 44, to incorporate the subscribers to the bank of the United States, is a law made in pursuance of the constitution.— Id., 424. The bank of the United States has constitutionally a right to establish its branches or offices of discount and deposite within any state.— 7d., 424. There is nothing in the constitution of the United'States similar to the articles of confed- eration, which excludes incidental or implied powers.— Jd., 403. If the end be legitimate, and within the scope of the constitution, all the means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, and which are not prohibited, may con- stitutionally be employed to carry it into effect.— /d., 421. The powers granted to Congress are not exclusive of similar powers existing in the states, unless where the constitution has expressly in terms given an exclusive power to Congress, or the exercise of a like power is prohibited to the states, or there is a direct re- pugnancy or incompatibility in the exercise of it by the states.— Howsion vs. Moore, 5 Whea- toi^, 49. The example of the first class is to be found in the exclusive legislation delegated to Con- gress over places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state jn which the same shall be for forts, arsenals, dockyards, &c. Of the second class, the prohibition of a state to coin money or emit bills of credit. Of the third class, the power to establish a uni- form rule of naturalization, and the delegation of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. — 7d., 49. In all other classes of cases the states retain concurrent authority with Congress. — Id., 48. But in cases of concurrent authority, where the laws of the states and of the Union are in direct and manifest collision on the same subject, those of the Union being the supreme law of the land, are of paramount authority, and the state so far, and so far only as such incompatibility exists, must necessarily yield. — Id., 49. The state within wluch a branch of the United States bank may be established, can not, CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 563 the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dol- lars for each person. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may re- quire it. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over those of another : nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one state, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of ap- propriations made by law ; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States : And no per- son holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the con- sent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state. Section 10. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confedera- tion ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of credit ; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts,* or grant any title of nobility. without violating the constitution, tax that branch. — McCulloch vs. State of Maryland, 4 Wheaton, 425. The state governments have no right to tax any of the constitutional means employed by the government of the Union to execute its constitutional powers. — Id., 427. The states have no power by taxation, or otherwise, to retard, impede, burden, or in any manner control, the operation of the constitutional laws enacted by Congress, to carry into effect the powers vested in the national government. — Id., 436. This principle does not extend to a tax paid by the real property of the bank of the Uni- ted States, in common with the other real property in a particular state, nor to a tax im- posed on the proprietary which the citizens of that state may hold in common with the other property of the same description throughout the state. — Id., 436. * Where a law is in its nature a contract, where absolute rights have vested under that contract, a repeal of the law can not divest those rights. — Fletctier vs. Peck, 6 Cranch, 88. A party to a contract can not pronounce its own deed invalid, although that party be a sovereign state. — Id., 88. A grant is a contract executed. — Id., 89. A law annulling conveyance is unconstitutional, because it is a law impairing the obliga- tion of contracts within the meaning of the constitution of the United States. — Id. The court will not declare a law to be unconstitutional, unless the opposition between the constitution and the law be clear and plain. — Id., 87. An act of the legislature of a state, declaring that certain lands which should be pur- chased for the Indians should not thereafter be subject to any tax, constituted a contract ■which could not, after the adoption of the constitution of the United States, be rescinded by a subsequent legislative act ; such rescinding act being void under the constitution of the United States. — State of New Jersey vs. Wilson, 7 Cranch, 164. The present constitution of the United States did not commence its operation until the first Wednesday in March, 1789, and the provision in the constitution, that " no state shall make any law impairing the obligation of contracts," does not extend to a state law enacted before that day, and operating upon rights of property vesting before that time. — Oxvinss vs Speed, b Wheaton, ^^0,^21. ^ An act of a state legislature, which discharges a debtor from all liability for debts con- tracted previous to his discharge, on his surrendering his property for the benefit of his creditors, is a law impairing " the obligations of contracts," within the meaning ol the con- stitution of the United States, so far as it attempts to discharge the contract ; and it makes no difference in such a case, that the suit was brought in a state court of the state of which both the parties were citizens where the contract was madej and the discharge obtained. 564 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws : and the net produce of all duties and im- posts, laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States ; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress. No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of ton- nage, keep troops, or ships-of-war in time of peace, enter into any agree- ment or compact with another state, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. ARTICLE II. Section 1. The executive power shall be vested in a president of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years,* and, together with the vice-president, chosen for the same term, be elected, as follows : Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct,! a number of electors, equal to the whole number of senators and representatives to which the state may be entitled in the Congress : but no senator or representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector. [|Tiie electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for two per- sons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with them- selves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each ; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the president of the senate. The president of the senate shall, in the presence of the senate and house of representa- tives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person hav- ing the greatest number of votes shall be the president, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the house of representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for president ; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said house shall in like manner choose the president. But in choosing the president, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of the states, and a majority of and where they continued to reside until the suit was brought. — Farmers and Mechanics' Bank vs. Smith, 6 Wlieaton, 131. The act of New York, passed on the 3d of April, ISll (which not only liberates the per- son of the debtor, but discharges him from all liability for any debt contracted previous to his discharge, on his surrendering his property in the manner it prescribes), so far as it at- tempts to discharge the contract, is a law impairing the obligation of contracts within the meaning of the constitution of the United States, and is not a good plea in bar of an actioa brought upon such contract. — Sturgess vs. Crowninshield, 4 Wheaton, 122, 197. Statutes of limitation and usury laws, unless retroactive in their effect, do not impair the obligation of contracts, and are constitutional. — Id., 206. A state bankrupt or insolvent law (which not only liberates the person of the debtor, but discharges him from all liability for the debt), so far as it attempts to discharge the con- tract, is repugnant to the constitution of the IJnited States, and it makes no ditference in the application of this principle, whether the law was passed before or after the debt was contracted.— McMiZ/ara vs. McNeill, 4 Wheaton, 209. The charter granted by the British crown to the trustees of Dartmouth college, in New Hampshire, in the year 1769, is a contract within the meaning of that clause of the consti- tution of the United States (art. i., sect. 10) which declares, that no state shall make any law impairing the obligations of contracts. The charter was not dissolved by the revolu- tion. — ColU'^e vs. Woodard, 4 Wlieaton, 518. An act of the state legislature of New Hampshire, altering the charter of Dartmouth col- lege in a material respect, without the consent of the corporation, is an act impairing the obligation of the charter, and is unconstitutional and void. — Id., 518. * See laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 109, sect. 12. f See laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 109. % Vide amendments, art. xii. CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 5C5 all the states shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the president, the person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the vice-president. But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the senate shall choose from them by ballot the vice-president.*] The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors,! and the day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall be the same throughout the United States 4 No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall be eligible to the office of president ; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States. In case of the removal of the president from office, or of his death, resig- nation,^ or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the vice-president, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or inability, both of the president and vice-president, declaring what officer shall then act as president, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a president shall be elected. || The president shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a compen- sation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the follow- ing oath or affirmation : — " I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that 1 will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States." Section 2. The president shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States ;T[ he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive depart- ments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the senators present concur ; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the supreme court, and all other officers of the United States, whose ap- pointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which sha^ be es- * This clause is annulled. See amendmen'ts, art. xii. t See laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 104, sect. 1. j See laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 109, sect. 2. § See laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 104, sect. 11. II See laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 109, sect. 9 ; and vol. iii., chap. 403. IT The act of the state of Pennsylvania, of the 2Sth March, 1814 (providing, sect. 21, that the officers and privates of the militia of that state neglecting or refusing to serve when called into actual service, in pursuance of any order or requisition of the president of the United States, shall be liable to the penalties defined in the act of Congress of 2Sth Febru- ary, 179,5, chap. 277, or to any penalty which may have been prescribed since the date of that act, or which may hereafter be prescribed by any law of the United States, and also providing for the trial of such delinquents by a state court-martial, and that a list of the delinquents fined by such court should be furnished to the marshal of the United States, &c. ; and also to the comptroller of the treasury of the United States, in order that the fur- ther pniceedings directed to be had thereon by the laws of the United Slates miglit be com- pleted), is not" repugnant to the constitution and laws of the United Slates. — Houston \3- Moore, 5 JV/ieaton, 1, 12. 5C6 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, tablished by law : but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the president alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments. The president shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the senate, by granting commissions which shall ex- pire at the end of their next session. Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress informa- tion of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extra- ordinary occasions, convene both houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper ; he shall re- ceive ambassadors and other public ministers ; he shall take care that the laws be faithfidly executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States. Section 4. The president, vice-president and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and con- viction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. ARTICLE III. Section 1. The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.* The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. f Section 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority ; — to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls ; — to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; — to controversies to which the United States shall be a party ; — to controversies between two or more states ; — between a state and citizens of another state ; — between citizens of different states,;}: — between citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants of different states, and between a state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens or subjects. § In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a state shall be party, the supreme court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the supreme court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.| • Congress may constitutionally impose upon the judges of the supreme court of the Uni- ted States the burden of holding circuit courts. — Stuart vs. Laird, 1 Cranch, 299. t See laws of the United States, vol. ii., chap. 20. X A citizen of the District of Columbia is not a citizen of a state within the meaning of the constitution of the United States. — Hepburn et al vs. EUzey, 2 Crunch, 445. § The supreme court of the United States has not power to issue a mandamus to a secre. tary of state of the United States, it being an exercise of original jurisdiction not warranted by the constitution, notwithstanding the act of Congress. — Marbury vs. Madison, 1 Cranch, 137. See a restriction of this provision. — Amendments, art. xi. II The appellate jurisdiction of the supreme court of the United States extends to a finaJ judgment or decree in any suit in the highest court of law, or equity of a state, where is drawn in question the validity of a treaty, &c. — Martin vs. Hunter's lessee, 1 W/ieaton, 304. Such judgment, &c., may be re-examined by writ of error, in the same manner as if ren- dered in a circuit court. — Id. If the cause has been once remanded before, and the state court decline or refuse to carry CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 567 The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury ; and such trial shall be held in the state where the said crimes shall have been committed ; but when not committed within any state, the trial into effect the mandate of the supreme court thereon, this court will proceed to a final de- cision of llie same, and award execution thereon. Quere. — Whether this court has authority to issue a mandamus to the state court to en- force a former judgment ^ — Id., 362. If the validity or construction of a treaty of the United States is drawn in question, and the decision is against its validity, or the title specially set up by either party under the treaty, this court has jurisdiction to ascertain that title, and determine its legal vaJidity, and is not confined to the abstract construction of the treaty itself — Id., 362. Qucre. — Whether the courts of the United States have jurisdiction of offences at common law against the United States ? — United States vs. Coolidge, 1 Wheaton, 415. The courts of the United States have exclusive jurisdiction of all seizures made on land or water for a breach of the laws of the United States, and any intervention of a state au- thority, which by taking the thing seized out of the hands of the United States' ofiicer, might obstruct the exercise of this jurisdiction, is illegal. — Slocum vs. Mayherry et al, 2 Wkeaton ,1,9. In such a case the court of the United States have cognizance of the seizure, may enforce a redelivery of the thing by attachment or other summary process. — Id., 9. The question under such a seizure, whether a forfeiture has been actually incurred, be- longs exclusively to the courts of the United States, and it depends upon the final decree of such courts, whether the seizure is to be deemed rightful or tortuous. — Id., 9, 10. If the seizing officer refuse to institute proceedings to ascertain the forfeiture, the district court may, on application of the aggrieved party, compel the officer to proceed to adjudica- tion, or to abandon the seizure. — Id., 10. The jurisdiction of the circuit court of the United States extends to a case between citi- zens of Kentucky, claiming lands exceeding the value of five hundred dollars, under differ- ent grants, the one issued by the state of I-Centucky, and the other by the state of Virginia, upon warrants issued by Virginia, and locations founded thereon, prior to the separation of Kentucky from Virginia. It is the grant which passes the legal title to the land, and if the controversy is founded upon the conflicting grants of different states, the judicial power of the courts of the United States extends to the case, whatever may have been the equitable title of the parties prior to the grant. — Colson et al vs. Lewis, 2 TVIieaton , 377. Under the judiciary of 1789, chap. 20. sect. 25, giving appellate jurisdiction to the supreme court of the United Stales, from the final judgment or decree of the highest court of law or equity of a state, in certain cases the writ of error may be directed to any court in which the record and judgment on which it is to act may be found ; and if the record has been re- mitted by the highest court, &c., to another court of the state, it may be brought by the writ of error frotn that court. — Gelston vs. Hoyt, 3 W/ieato7i, 246, 303. The remedies in the courts of the United States at common law and in equity are to be, not according to the practice of state courts, but according to the principles of common law and equity as defined in England. This doctrine reconciled with the decisions of the courts of Tennessee, permitting an equitable title to be asserted in an action at law. — Robinson vs. Campbell, 3 l-fheatoyi, 221. Remedies in respect to real property, are to be pursued according to the lex loci rei sitM. —Id., 219. The courts of the United States have exclusive cognizance of questions of forfeiture upoa all seizures made under the laws of the United States, and it is not competent for a state court to entertain or decide such question of forfeiture. If a sentence of condemnation be definitively pronounced by the proper court of the United States, it is conclusive that a for- feiture is incurred ; if a sentence of acquittal, it is equally conclusive against the forfeiture, and in either case the question can not be again litigated in any common law for ever. — Gel- ston vs. Hoyt, 3 Wheaton, 246, 311. Where a seizure is made for a supposed forfeiture under a law of the United States, no action of trespass lies in any common-law tribunal, until a final decree is pronounced upon the proceeding in rem to enforce such forfeiture : for it depends upon the final decreee of the court proceeding in rem, whether such seizure is to be deemed rightful or tortuous, and the action, if brought before such decree is made, is brought too soon. — Id., 313. If a suit be brought against the seizing ofiicer for the supposed trespass while the suit for the forfeiture is depending, the fact of such pending may be pleaded in abatement, or as a temporary bar of the action. If after a decree of condemnation, then that fact may be pleaded as a bar : if after an acquittal with a certificate of reasonable cause of seizure, then that may be pleaded as a bar. If after an acquittal without such certificate, then the officer is without any justification for the seizure, and it is definitively settled to be a tortuous act. If to an action of trespass in a state court for a seizure, the seizing officer plead the fact of forfeiture in his defence without averring a lis pendens, or a condemnation, or an acquittal, with a certificate of reasonable cause of seizure, the plea is bad: for it attempts to put in issue the question of forfeiture in a state court. — Id., 314. Supposing that the third article of the constitution of the United States which declares, that " the judicial power shall extend to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction" 5G8 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law hare di- rected.* Section 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in vested in the United States exclusive jurisdiction of all such cases, and that a murder com- mitted in the waters of a state where the tide ebb^ and flows, is a case of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; yet Congress have not, in the Sth section of the act of 1790, chap. 9, " for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States,'' so exercised this power, as to confer on the courts of the United States jurisdiction over such murder. — United States vs. Bevans, 3 Wkeaton, 336, 387. Quere. — Whether courts of common law have concurrent jurisdiction with the admiralty over murder committed in bays, &c., which are enclosed parts of the sea ? — Id., 3b7. The grant to the United States in the constitution of all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, does not extend to a cession of the waters in which those cases may arise, or of general jurisdiction over the same. Congress may pass all laws which are necessary for giving the most complete effect to the exercise of the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction granted to the government of the Union ; but the general jurisdiction over the place subject to this grant, adheres to the territory as a portion of territory not yet given away, and the residuary powers of legislation stUl remain in the state. — /(/.,'389. The supreme court of the United States has constitutionally appellate jurisdiction under the judiciary act of 17&9, chap. 20, sect. 25, from the final judgment or decree of the highest court of law or equity of a state having jurisdiction of the subject matter of the suit, where is drawn in question the validity of a treaty or statute of, or an authority exercised under, the United States, and the decision is against their validity : or where is drawn in question the validity of a statute of, or an authority exercised under any state, on the ground of their being repugnant to the constitution, treaties, or laws of the United States, and the decision is in favor of such their validity : or of the constitution, or of a treaty, or statute of, or com- mission held under the United States, and the decision is against the title, right, privilege, or exemption, specially set up or claimed by either party under such clause of the constitu- tion, treat)', statute, or commission. — Cohens vs. Virginia, 6 Wheaton, 264, 375. It is no objection to the exercise of this appellate jurisdiction, that one of the parties is a state, and the other a citizen of that state. — Id. The circuit courts of the Union have chancery jurisdiction in every state : they have the same chancery powers, and the same rules of decision in equity cases, in all the states. — United States vs. Houiand, 4 Wkeaton, lOS, 115. Resolutions of the legislature of Virginia of ISIO, upon the proposition from Pennsylvania to amend the constitution, so as to provide an impartial tribunal to decide disputes be- tween the state and federal judiciaries. — Note to Cotiens vs. Virginia. Notes 6 Wheaton, 35S. Where a cause is brought to this court by writ of error, or appeal from the highest court of law, or equity of a state, under the 25th section of the judiciary act of 17S9, chap. 20, upon the ground that the validity of a statute of the United States was drawn in question, and that the decision of the state court was against its validity, &c., or that the validity of the statute of a state was drawn in question as repugnant to the constitution of the United States, arrd the decision was in favor of its validity, it must appear from the record, that the act of Congress, or the constitutionality of the state law, was arawn in question. — Miller vs. Nickolls, 4 Wheaton, 311, 315. But it is not required that the record should in terms state a misconstruction of the act of Congress, or that it was drawn into question. It is sufficient to give this court jurisdic- tion of the cause, that the record should show that an act of Congress was applicable to the case. — Id., 315. The supreme court of the United States has no jurisdiction under the 25th section of the judiciary act of 17S9, chap. 20, unless the judgment or decree of the state court be a final judgment or decree. A judgment reversing that of an inferior court, and awarding a venire Jhcias de novo, is not a final judgment. — Houston vs. Moore, 3 Wheaton, 433. By the compact of 1S02, settling the boundary line between Virginia and Tennessee, and the laws made in pursuance thereof, it is declared that all claims and titles to land derived from Virginia, or North Carolina, or Tennessee, which have fallen into the respective states, shall remain as secure to the owners thereof, as if derived from the government within whose boundary they have fallen, and shall not be prejudiced or affected by the establishment of the line. Where the titles of both the plaintiff and defendant in ejectment were derived under grant from Virginia to lands which fell within the limits of Tennessee, it was held that a prior settlement right thereto, which would in equity give the party a title, could not be asserted as a sufficient title in an action of ejectment brought in the circuit court of Ten- nessee. — Robinson vs. Campbell, 3 Wheaton, 212. Although the state courts of Tennessee have decided that, under their statutes (declaring an elder grant founded on a junior entry to be void), a junior patent, founded on a prior en- try, shall prevail at law against a senior patent founded on a junior entry, this doctrine has never been extended beyond cases within the express provision of the statute of Tennessee, and could not apply to titles deriving all their validity from the laws of Virginia, and con- firmed by the compact between the two states. — Id., 212. • See amendments, art. vi. CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 569 levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture ex- cept during the life of the person attainted.* ARTICLE IV. Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the pub- lic acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. f And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.^ Section 2. The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states. A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another state, shall on demand of the executive authority of the state from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the state having jurisdiction of the crime. No person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due. Section 3. New states may be admitted by the Congress into this Union ; but no new state shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state ; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as of the Congress. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States ; and nothing in this constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular state. Section 4. The United States shall guaranty to every state in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion ; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature can not be convened) against domestic violence. ARTICLE V. The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it neces- sary, shall propose amendments to this constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a conven- tion for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this constitution, when ratified by the legis- latures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be pro- posed by the Congress ; provided that no amendment which may be made • See laws of the United States, vol. ii., chap. 36. f A judgment of a state court has the same credit, validity, and efTect, in every other court ■within the United States, which it had in tlie court where it was rendered ; and whatever pleas would be good to a suit thereon in such state, and none others can be pleaded in any other court within the United States. — Hampton vs. McConnell, 3 Wheaton, 234. The record of a judgment in one state is conclusive evidence in another, although it ap- pears that the suit in which it was rendered, was commenced by an attachment of property, the defendant having afterward appeared and taken defence. — Mayhew vs. Thacher, 6 Whea- ton, 129. \ See laws United States, vol. ii., chap. 38 j and vol. iii., chap. 409. 570 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any man- ner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first arti- cle ; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the senate.* ARTICLE VI. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this constitution, as under the confederation. This constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof ; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, un- der the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land ;t and the judges in eveiy state shall be bound thereby, anything in the con- stitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.:]: The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the m.embers of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this constitution ;'^ but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. ARTICLE VIL The ratification of the conventions of nine states, shall be sufficient for the establishment of this constitution between the states so ratifying the same. Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present, the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Ijord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven and of the independence of the United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names. Go. Washington, President, and deputy from Virginia. PENNSYLVANIA. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris. DELAWARE. George Reed, Gunning Bedford, jr., John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom. MARYLAND. James M'Henry, Daniel of St. Tho. Jenifer, Daniel Carroll. William Jackson, Secretary. • See ante art. i., sect. 3, clause L t An act of Congress repugnant to the constitution can not become a law. — Mnrhvrv vs. Madison, 1 Crancli, 176. X The courts of the United States are bound to take notice of the constitution.— MarftMrw vs. Madison, 1 Cranch, 178. A contemporary exposition of the constitution, practised and acquiesced under for a period of years, fixes Us construction.— S/war^ vs. Laird, 1 Cranch, 299. The government of the Union, though limited in its powers, is supreme within its sphere of action, and its laws, when made in pursuance of the constitution, form the supreme law ol the \a.nd—McCvUoch vs. Sratc of Maryland, 4 Wheaton, 405. § See laws of the United States, vol. ii., ciKip. 1. NEW HAMPSHIRE. John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman. MASSACHUSETTS. Nathaniel Gouham. RuFus King. CONNECTICUT. William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman. NEW YORK. Alexander Hamilton. NEW JERSEY. William Livingston, David Brearley, William Paterson, Jonathan Dayton. Attest : VIRGINIA. John Blair, James Madison, jr. NORTH CAROLINA. William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Hugh Williamson. SOUTH CAROLINA. John Rutledge, Charles C. Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler. GEORGIA. William Few, Abraham Baldwin. CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 571 AMENDMENTS* TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, RATIFIED ACCORDING TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE FIFTH ARTICLE OF THE FOREGOING CONSTI- TUTION. Article the first. Congress shall make no law respecting an estab- lishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ; or the right of the people peacea- bly to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Article the second. A well-regulated militia, being necessaiy to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. Article the third. No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in a time of war, but iu a manner to be prescribed by law. Article the fourth. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and eflects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon prob- able cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Article the fifth. No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger ; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ; nor shall private property be taken for public use, with- out just compensation. Article the sixth. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall en- joy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against him ; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his fa- vor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence. Article the seventh. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.f Article the eighth. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor exces- sive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. * Congress, at its first session, begun and held in the city of New York, on Wednesday, the 4th of March, 1789, proposed to the legislatures of the several states twelve amend- ments to the constitution, ten of which, only, were adopted. t The act of assembly of Maryland, of 1793, chap. 30, incorporating the bank of Colum- bia, and giving to the corporation a summary process by execution in the nature of an at- tacliment against its debtors who have, by an express consent in writing, made the bonds, bills, or notes, by them drawn or endorsed, negotiable at the hank, is not repugnant to the constitution of the United States or of Marylaiid.— £anA: of Columbia vs. Okeiy, 4 Wheaton, 23G, 249. But the last provision in the act of incorporation, which gives this summary process to the bank, is no part of its corporate franctuse and may be repealed or altered at pleasure by the legislative will. — Id., 245. 572 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. Article the ninth. The enumeration in the constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. Article the tenth. The powers not delegated to the United States, by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.* Article the eleventh.! The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state. Article the twelfth. | The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for president and vice-president, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves ; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as president, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as vice-president, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as president, and of all persons voted for as vice-president, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the president of the senate ;^ — the president of the senate shall, in the presence of the senate and house of representa- tives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted ; — the person having the greatest number of votes for president, shall be the pres- ident, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors ap- pointed ; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons hav- ing the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as president, the house of representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the president. But in choosing the president, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two * The powers granted to Congress are not exclusive of similar powers existing in the states, unless where the constitution has expressly in terms given an exclusive power to Congress, or the exercise of a like power is prohibited to the states, or there is a direct re- pugnancy or incompatibihty in the exercise of it by the states. — Houston vs. Moore, 5 Whea- ton, 1, 12. The example of the first class is to be found in the exclusive legislation delegated to Con- gress over places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be for forts, arsenals, dockyards, &c. Of the second class, the prohibition.of a state to coin money or emit bills of credit. Of the third class, the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and the delegation of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. — Id., 49. In all other classes of cases, the states retain concurrent authority with Congress. — Id. 49. But in cases of concurrent authority, where the laws of the states and the Union are in direct and manifest collision on the same subject, those of tlie Union being the supreme law of the laud are of paramount authority, and the state laws so far, and so far only as such incompatibility exists, must necessarily yield. — Id., 49. There is nothing in the constitution of the United States similar to the articles of confed- eration, which excludes incidental or implied powers. — McCullochys. State of Maryland, 4 Wheaton, 406. If the end be legitimate, and within the scope of the constitution, all the means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, and which are not prohibited, may con- stitutionally be employed to carry it into effect. — Id., 421. The act of Congress of 4th May, 1812, entitled, " An act further to amend the charter of the city of Washington,"' which provides (sect. 6) that the corporation of the city shall be empowered for certain purposes and under certain restrictions, to authorize the drawing of lotteries, does not extend to authorize the corporation to force the sale of the tickets in such lottery in states where such sale may be prohibited by the state laws. — Cohens vs. Virginia, 6 Wheaton, 264, 375. t This amendment was proposed at the first session of the third Congress. See ante art. iii., sect. 2, clause I. X Proposed at the first session of the eighth Congress. See ante art. ii., sect. 1, clause 3. Annulled by this amendment. § See laws of the United States, vol. ii., chap. 109, sect. 5. CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 573 thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the house of representatives shall not choose a presi- dent whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the vice-president shall act as president, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the president. The person having the greatest number of votes as vice- president, shall be the vice-president, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the senate shall choose the vice- president ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two thirds of the whole number of senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of pres- ident shall be eligible to that of vice-president of the United States. Note. — Another amendment was proposed as article xiii., at the second session of the eleventh Congress, but not having been ratified by a sufficient number of states, has not yet become valid as a part of- the constitution of the United States. It is erroneously given as a part of the constitution, ui page 74, vol i., laws of the United States I have examined and compared the foregoing print of the constitution of the United States, and the amendments thereto, with tlie rolls in this office, and find it a faithful and literal copy of the said constitution and amendments, in the text and punctuation thereof. It ap- pears that the first ten amendments, which were proposed at the first session of the first Congress of the United States, were finally ratified by the constitutional number of states, on the 15th day of December, 1791 ; that the eleventh amendment, which was proposed at the first session of the third Congress, was declared, in a message from the president of the United States to both houses of Congress, dated Sth January, 1798, to have been adopted by three fourths, the constitutional number of states ; and that the twelfth amendment, which was proposed at the first session of the eighth Congress, was adopted by three fourths, the constitutional number of states, in the year one thousand eight hundred and four, according to a public notice thereof, by the secretary of state, under date the 25th of September, of the same year. Daniel Brent, Chief Clerk. Department of State, Washington, 25th Feb., 1828. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE AMERICAN UNION. Ji. brief History of the Events and Circumstances which led to the Union of the States, and the formation of the Constitution. In the early history of the New England colonies, we find the first in- stance of the association of the people of America for mutual defence and protection, while they owed allegiance to the British crown. In 1643, the colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven, un- der the impression of danger from the surrounding tribes of Indians, en- tered into a league, offensive and defensive, firm and perpetual, under the name of the United Colonies of New England. They vested in an an- nual congress of commissioners, delegated from each colony, the authority to regulate their general concerns, and especially to levy war and make requisitions of men and money, upon the several members of the union in a ratio to their respective numbers. This confederacy subsisted for up- ward of forty years, and, for part of the time, with the countenance of the government in England, and was dissolved under King James II., in the year 1686. This association is generally considered as the foundation of subsequent efforts for a more extensive and perfect union of the British North Ameri- can colonies ; and the people of this country continued, after the dissolu- tion of this league, to afford other instructive precedents of associations for their safety. A congress of governors and commissioners from other colonies, as well as from New England, was occasionally held, the better to make arrangements for the protection of their interior frontier, of which we have an instance at Albany, in the year 1722 ; and a much more in- teresting congress was held at the same place in the year 1754, which consisted of commissioners from the colonies of New Hampshire, Massa- chusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ma- ryland. It was called at the instance of the British government, to take into consideration the best means of defending America, as a war with France was then apprehended. The object of the British government, in calling this congress, was to effect treaties with the Indian tribes ; but the commissioners, among whom was Dr. Franklin, and other distinguished 576 Historical sketch of t!ik amkricax union. men in the colonies, had more enlarged views. They asserted and pro- mulgated some invaluable truths, the proper reception of which in the minds of their countrymen prepared the way for their future independence and union. The commissioners unanimously resolved that a union of the colonies was absolutely necessary for their preservation. They likewise rejected all proposals for a division of the colonies into separate confeder- acies, and adopted a plan of federal government, drawn up by Dr. Frank- lin, consisting of a general council of delegates, to be chosen by the provincial assemblies, and a president general to be appointed by the crown. In this council were proposed to be vested, subject to the nega- tive of the president, many of the rights of war and peace, and the right to lay and levy imposts and taxes ; and the union was to embrace all the colonies from New Hampshire to Georgia. But the times were not yet ripe, nor the minds of men sufficiently enlarged, for such a comprehensive proposition ; and this bold project for a continental union, had the singular fate of being rejected, not only by the king, but by every provincial as- sembly. We were to remain some years longer separate and alien com- monwealths, emulous of each other in obedience to the parent state, but jealous of each other's prosperity, and divided by policy, interest, preju- dice, and manners. So strong was the force of these considerations, and so exasperated were the people of the colonies against each other in their disputes about boundaries, that Dr. Franklin, in the year 1761, observed, that a union of the colonies was absolutely impossible, or at least without being forced by the most grievous tyranny and oppression.* The seeds of union, however, had been sown, and its principles were to gather strength and advance toward maturity, when the season of com- mon danger approached. When the first attempt upon our liberties was made by the British government, by the passage of the stamp act, in 1765, a congress of delegates from nine colonies assembled in New York, in October of that year, at the instance and recommendation of Massachu- setts. The colonies of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and South Caro- lina, were represented. This congress adopted a declaration of rights, in which, the sole power of taxation was asserted to reside in the colonial legislatures, and they also declared, that the restrictions imposed by sev- eral late acts of parliament on the colonies were burdensome, and would render them unable to purchase the manufactures of Great Britain. An address to the king, and a petition to each house of parliament, were adopted. These state papers evince the talents, as well as firmness, tempered with wisdom and moderation, of this first American congress ; composed, as it was, of some of the most distinguished statesmen from the several colonies therein represented. f * Kent's Historical Lecture in 1795. f Pitkin. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE AMERICAN UNION, 577 The congress of 1765, was only a preparatory step to a more extensive and permanent union, whicli took place at Philadelphia, in September, 1774, and thereby laid the foundations of this great republic. The more serious and impending oppressions of the British parliament at this last critical era, induced the twelve colonies which spread over this vast continent, from Nova Scotia to Georgia, to an interchange of political opinions, and to concur in choosing and sending delegates to Philadelphia, " with authority and direction to meet and consult together for the common welfare." The assembling of this congress was first recommended by a town-meeting of the people of Providence, Rhode Island, followed by the colonial assemblies of Massachusetts and Virginia, and by other public bodies and meetings of the people. In some of the legislatures of the colonies, delegates were appointed by the popular or representative branch ; and in other cases, they were appointed by conventions of the people in the colonies. The congress of delegates (calling themselves, in their more formal acts, " the delegates appointed by the good people of these colonies") assembled on the 4th of September, 1774 ; and having chosen officers, they adopted certain fundamental rules for their proceed- ings. All the colonies were represented, except Georgia. Thus was organized, under the auspices, and with the consent, of the people, acting directly in their primary, sovereign capacity, and without the intervention of the functionaries to whom the ordinary powers of gov- ernment were delegated in the colonies, the first general or national gov- ernment, which has been very aptly called " the revolutionary govern- ment," since, in its origin and progress, it was wholly conducted upon revolutionary principles. The congress, thus assembled, exercised, de facto and de jure, a sovereign authority ; not as the delegated agents of the governments de facto of the colonies, but in virtue of original powers derived from the people. The revolutionary government thus formed, terminated only when it was regularly superseded by the confederated government, under articles finally ratified, as we shall see, in 1781.* The first and most important of their acts was a declaration, that in de- termining questions in this congress, each colony or province should have one vote ; and this became the established course during the revolution. They proposed a general congress to be held at the same place in May, in the next year. They appointed committees to take into consideration their rights and grievances ; asserted by number of declaratory resolu- tions, what they deemed to be the unalienable rights of English freemen ; pointed out to their constituents the system of violence which was pre- paring against those rights ; and bound them by the most sacred of all ties, the ties of honor and their country, to renounce commerce with Great Britain, as being the most salutary means to avert the one, and to secure the blessings of the other. These resolutions were received with univer- 37 * Judge Story's Commentaries. 578 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE AMERICAN UNION. sal and prompt obedience ; and the union being thus auspiciously formed, it was continued by a succession of delegates in Congress ; and through every period of the war, and through every revolution of our government, it has been revered and cultivated as the tutelary guardian of our lib- erties.* In May, 1775, the second continental congress of delegates from all the colonies (except Georgia), assembled at Philadelphia, and were invested by the colonies with very ample discretionary powers. These delegates were chosen, as the preceding had been, partly by the popular branch of the legislatures when in session, but principally by conventions of the people in the various states. In July, Georgia acceded to, and completed the confederacy. Hostilities had already commenced in the province of Massachusetts Bay, and the unconditional sovereignty of the British parlia- ment over the colonies was to be asserted by an appeal to arms. Congress, charged with the general interests and superintending direction of the Union, and supported by the zeal and confidence of their constituents, prepared for defence. They published a declaration of the causes and necessity of taking up arms, and forthwith proceeded to levy and organize an army, to prescribe rules for the regulation of their land and naval forces, to emit a paper currency, contract debts, and exercise all the other prerogatives of an independent sovereignty, till at last, on the 4th day of July, 1776, they took a separate and equal station among the powers of the earth, by de- claring the united colonies to be free and independent states. This memorable declaration, in imitation of that published by the Uni- ted Netherlands on a similar occasion, recapitulated the oppressions of the British king, asserted it to be the natural right of every people to with- draw from tyranny, and made a solemn appeal to mankind, in vindication of the necessity of the measure. By this declaration, made in the name, and by the authority, of the people, these United States were absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and all political connexion be- tween them and the state of Great Britain was totally dissolved. The principles of self-preservation, and of social happiness, gave a clear sanc- tion to this act of separation. When the government established over any people becomes incompetent, or destructive to the ends for which it was instituted, it is the right and the duty of such people, founded on the law of nature, and the reason and practice of mankind, to throw off such gov- ernment, and provide new guards for their future security. The establishme"nt of the republics of Holland and Switzerland bears a striking analogy to that of the United States, in the causes which produced them, and in the manner in which they were conducted. The United Netherlands were formerly a part of the immense dominions of the Span- ish empire ; but the violent government of Philip the Second, and the un- relenting intolerance of the inquisition, drove those distant provinces to • Kent. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE AMERICAN UNION.' 579 onion and resistance. In 1579, by the celebrated treaty of Utrecht, they entered into a league for their mutual defence, and that treaty was always considered as the bond of their union, and the foundation of their republic. But although they had for sometime made open resistance to the force of Spain, yet it was not till the 26th of July, 1581, after all hopes of recon- ciliation were lost, and the authority of Philip had been for some time virtually renounced, that the confederated provinces, equally distinguished for their forbearance and firmness, solemnly declared themselves inde- pendent states, and absolved from all allegiance to the Spanish crown. It is well known that Spain continued to make long and powerful efforts to reduce them to obedience, till at last, exhausted herself, she was reluc- tantly compelled to a permanent recognition of their independence at the treaty of Westphalia. Similar to that of the Netherlands was the case of Switzerland, which formerly fell under the dominion of the Germaa em- pire, acknowledging the counts of Hapsburg for her protectors, and faith- fully preserving her allegiance after that family, under the well-known name of the house of Austria, succeeded to the imperial crown. The tyranny of the imperial bailiffs became insupportable, and three of the Swiss cantons threw off the Austrian yoke in the year 1308, and confed- erated together for their common defence. The house of Austria carried on an implacable war against them for more than a century. That cele- brated confederacy, which originally consisted of only the three cantons of Uri, Schweitz, and Underwalden, kept continually increasing in strength, by the accession of other cantons from conquest or alliance ; but the union of the thirteen cantons was not completed for two centuries, nor was their independence fully and finally acknowledged by the house of Austria, till the treaty of Westphalia, in 1648.* To return to the history of our own government : the general sentiment of the importance of the union appears evident in all the early proceedings of Congress. In July, 1775, a year before the declaration of independ- ence. Dr. Franklin submitted to the consideration of Congress, a sketch of articles of confederation between the colonies, to continue until their reconciliation with Great Britain, and in failure of that event, to be per- petual. This plan appears to have never been discussed in Congress. f But during the time that the declaration of independence was under con- sideration, Congress took measures for the formation of a constitutional plan of union. On the 11th of June, 1776, it was resolved that a committee should be appointed to prepare and digest the form of a confederation to be entered into between the colonies ; and the day following a committee, con- sisting of one member from each colony, was appointed, to perform that duty. Upon the report of this committee, which was laid aside on the 20th of August, 1776, and not resumed till the 7th of April, 1777, the subject was from time to time debated, until the 15th of November, 1777, when a copy • Kent's Historical Lecture. f J- Q- Adams's JubOee Discourse, 1839. 5S0 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE AMERICAN UNION. of the articles of confederation being made out, the same was finally agreed to. Congress, at the same time, directed that the articles should be pro- posed to the legislatures of all the United States, to be considered, and, if approved of by them, they were advised to authorize their delegates to ratify the same in the Congress of the United States ; which being done, the same should become conclusive. On the 29th of November ensuing, a committee of three was appointed, to procure a translation of the articles to be made into the French language, and to report an address to the in- habitants of Canada, &c. On the 26th of June, 1778, the form of a rati- fication of the articles of confederation was adopted, and it was ordered that the whole should be engrossed on parchment, with a view that the same should be signed by the delegates, in virtue of the powers furnished by the several states.* On the 9th of July, 1778, the articles were signed by the delegates of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Carolina. The delegates from New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, informed Congress that they had not yet received powers to ratify and sign. North Carolina and Georgia were not represented — and the ratification of New York was conditional, that all the other states should ratify. The delegates from North Carolina signed the articles on the 21st of July, 1778 ; those of Georgia on the 24th of the same month; those of New Jersey on the 26lh of November, 1778 ; those of Delaware on the 22d of February, and 5th of May, 1779 ; but Maryland held out to the last, and positively refused the ratification, until the question of the con- flicting claims of the Union and of the separate states, to the property of the crown-lands, should be adjusted. This was finally accomplished by cessions from the claiming states to the United States, of the unsettled lands, for the benefit of the whole Union. The cessions of the claiming states of the crown-lands to the Union, originated the territorial system, and, eventually, in the ordinance for the government of the Northwestern territory (passed by Congress in July, 1786). It also removed the insuperable objection of the state of Maryland to the articles of confederation ; and her delegates signed them on the 1st of March, 1781, four years and four months after they had been submitted by Congress to the sovereign states, with a solemn averment that they could no longer be deferred ; that they seemed essential to the very exist- ence of the Union as a free people ; and that, without them, they might be constrained to bid adieu to independence, to liberty, and safety. f The confederation being thus finally complete, by the ratification of the delegates from Mar)4and, on the 1st of March, 1781, the event was joy- fully announced by Congress, and, on the 2d of March, that body assem- bled \mder the new powers. • Force's National Calendar, 1830. f Adams's Jubilee Discourse. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE AMERICAN UNION. 581 It will be observed, that the term of the continental Congress is properly divided into two periods, namely : the first extending from the first meet- ing, on the 4th of September, 1774, until the ratification of the confedera- tion, on the 1st of March, 1781 ; the second, from the 1st of March, 1781, until the organization of the government under the constitution, on the 4th of March, 1789. The first period may be called that of " the revolutionary national government ;" the second was that of " the confederation." The question naturally presents itself, if the declaration is to be consid- ered as a national act, in what manner did the colonies become a nation, and in what manner did Congress become possessed of this national pow- er ? The true answer must be, that as soon as Congress assumed powers and passed measures, which were in their nature national, to that extent the people, from whose acquiescence and consent they took effect, must be considered as agreeing to form a nation. The Congress of 1774, look- ing at the general terms of the commissions under which the delegates "were appointed, seem to have possessed the power of concerting such measures as they deemed best to redress the grievances, and preserve the rights and liberties* of all the colonies. The Congress of 1775 and 1776 were clothed with more ample powers, and the language of their commis- sions generally was sufficiently broad to embrace the right to pass meas- ures of a national character and obligation. The Congress of 1775 ac- cordingly assumed at once the exercise of some of the highest functions of sovereignty. They took measures for national defence and resistance ; they followed up the prohibitions upon trade and intercourse with Great Britain ; they raised a national army and navy, and authorized limited na- tional hostilities against Great Britain ; they raised money, emitted bills of credit, and contracted debts upon national account ; they established a national postoffice ; and, finally, they authorized captures and condemna- tion of prizes in prize courts, with a reserve of appellate jurisdiction to themselves. The same body, in 1776, took bolder steps, and exerted powers which could in no other manner be justified or accounted for, than upon the sup- position that a national union for national purposes already existed, and that the Congress was invested with sovereign power over' all the colonies, for the purpose of preserving the common rights and liberties of all. The validity of these acts was never doubted or denied by the people. On the contrary, they became the foundation upon which the superstructure of the liberties and independence of the United States has been erected. From the moment of the declaration of independence, if not for most purposes at an antecedent period, the united colonies must be considered as being a nation de facto, having a general government over it, created and acting by the general consent of the people of the colonies. The powers of that government were not, and indeed could not be, well de- fined. But still its exclusive sovereignty, in many cases, was firmly es- 582 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE AMERICAN UNION. tablished ; and its controlling power over the states was in most, if not in all national measures, universally admitted. The articles of confederation were not ratified so as to become obligatory upon all the states, until March, 1781. In the intermediate time, Congress continued to exercise the powers of a general government, whose acts were binding on all the states. In respect to foreign governments, we were politically known as the United States only ; and it was in our national capacity, as such, that we sent and received ambassadors, entered into treaties and alliances, and were admitted into the general community of nations, who might exercise the right of belligerents, and claim an equality of sovereign powers and prerogatives.* The continental congress, upon trial, soon found that the powers de- rived from the articles of confederation were inadequate to the legitimate objects of an effective national government. Defects were more particu- larly manifest, whenever it became necessary to legislate upon the subject of commerce and that of taxes ; and it was at length indispensably neces- sary to amend the articles in such a way as to give authority and force to the national will in matters of trade and revenue. This was from time to time attempted, until the present constitution of the United States was adopted. The most important movements in Congress showing the prog- ress of constitutional legislation, were on the 3d of February, 1781, April 18, 1783, April 26, 1783, April 30, 1784, March 3, 1786, September 29, 1786, and October 23, 1786.t Peace came (in 1783). The heroic leader of the revolutionary armies surrendered his commission. The armies were disbanded, but they were not paid. Mutiny was suppressed ; but not until Congress had been sur- rounded by armed men, demanding justice, and appealed in vain for pro- tection to the sovereign state within whose jurisdiction they were sitting. A single frigate, the remnant of a gallant navy, which had richly shared the glories, and deeply suffered the calamities of the war, was dismantled and sold. The expenses of the nation were reduced to the minimum of a peace estabUshment, and yet the nation was not relieved. The nation wanted a government founded on the principles of the Declaration of In- dependence — a government constituted by the people. In the congress of the confederation, the master-minds of James Madi- son and Alexander Hamilton were constantly engaged through the closing years of the Revolutionary war, and those of peace which imrrtediately succeeded. That of John Jay was associated with them shortly after the peace, in the capacity of secretary to the congress for foreign affairs. The incompetency of the articles of confederation for the management of the affairs of the Union at home and abroad, was demonstrated to them by the painful and mortifying experience of every day. Washington, though in retirement, was brooding over the cruel injustice suffered by his asso- • Story's Commentaries. f Force's Calendar, 1830. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE AMERICAN UNION. 583 ciates in arms, the warriors of the revolution ; over the prostration of the pubUc credit and the faith of the nation, in the neglect to provide for the payment even of the interest upon the public debt ; over the disappointed hopes of the friends of freedom ; in the language of the address from Con- gress to the states, of the 18th of April, 1783 — "the pride and boast of America, that the rights for which she contended were the rights of human nature." At his residence of Mount Vernon, in March, 1785, the first idea was started of a revisal of the articles of confederation, by an organization of means differing from that of a compact between the state legislatures and their own delegates in Congress. A convention of delegates from the state legislatures, independent of the Congress itself, was the expedient which presented itself for effecting the purpose, and an augmentation of the pow- ers of Congress for the regulation of commerce, as the object for which this assembly was to be convened. In January, 1786, the proposal was made and adopted in the legislature of Virginia, and communicated to the other state legislatures. The convention was held at Annapolis, in September of that year. It was attended by delegates from only five of the central states, who, on comparing their restricted powers with the glaring and universally-ac- knowledged defects of the confederation, reported only a recommendation for the assemblage of another convention of delegates to meet at Philadel- phia in May, 1787, from all the states, and with enlarged powers. The constitution of the United States was the work of this convention. But in its construction, the convention immediately perceived that they must retrace their steps, and fall back from a league of friendship between sovereign states, to the constituent sovereignty of the people — from power to right — from the irresponsible despotism of state sovereignty, to the self- evident truths of the Declaration of Independence. From the day of that declaration, the constituent power of the people had never been called into action. A confederacy had been substituted in the place of a govern- ment, and state sovereignty had usurped the constituent sovereignty of the people. The convention assembled at Philadelphia had themselves no direct authority from the people. Their authority was all derived from the state legislatures. But they had the articles of confederation before them, and they saw and felt the wretched condition into which they had brought the whole people, and that the Union itself was in the agonies of death. They soon perceived that the indispensably-needed powers were such as no state government ; no combination of them was, by the principles of the Declaration of Independence, competent to bestow. They could emanate only from the people. A highly respectable portion of the assembly, still clinging to the confederacy of states, proposed, as a substitute for the con- stitution, a mere revival of the articles of confederation, with a grant of 584 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE AMERICAN TTNION. f additional powers to the Congress. Their plan was respectfully and thor- oughly discussed ; but the want of a government, and of the sanction of the people to the delegation of powers, happily prevailed. A constitution for the people, and the distribution of legislative, executive, and judicial powers, was prepared. It announced itself as the work of the people themselves ; and as this was unquestionably a power assumed by the con- vention, not delegated to them by the people, they religiously confined it to a simple power to propose, and carefully provided that it should be no more than a proposal, until sanctioned by the confederation Congress, by the state legislatures, and by the people of the several states, in conven- tions specially assembled, by authority of their legislatures, for the single purpose of examining and passing upon it. And thus was consummated the work, commenced by the Declaration of Independence ; a work in which the people of the North American Union, acting under the deepest sense of responsibility to the Supreme Ruler of the universe, had achieved the most transcendent act of power that social man, in his mortal condition, can perform ; even that of dis- solving the ties of allegiance by which he is bound to his country — of re- nouncing that country itself — of demolishing its government, of instituting another government, and of making for himself another country in its stead. The revolution itself was a work of thirteen years — and had never been completed until that day (when Washington was inaugurated, on the 30th of April, 1789). The Declaration of Independence and the constitution of the United States, are parts of one consistent whole, founded upon one and the same theory of government, then new, not as a theory, for it had been working itself into the mind of man for many ages, and been espe- cially expounded in the writings of Locke, but had never before been adopted by a great nation in practice.* Proceedings of commissioners from certain states, assembled at Annapolis, in September, 1786, to consider on the best means of remedying the defects of the federal government. Annapolis, in the state of Maryland, September 11, 1786. — At a meeting of commissioners from the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia : present. New York: Alexander Hamilton, Eg- bert Benson ; New Jersey : Abraham Clark, William C. Houston, James Schureman ; Pennsylvania : Tench Coxe ; Delaviare : George Read, John Dickinson, Richard Basset ; Virginia : Edmund Randolph, James Madi- son, jr.. Saint George Tucker. Mr. Dickinson was unanimously elected chairman. The commissioners produced their credentials from their respective states, which were read. After a full communication of sentiments, and deliberate consideration of what would be proper to be done by the commissioners now assembled • Adams's Jubilee Discourse. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE AMERICAN UNION. 585 it was unanimously agreed, that a committee be appointed to prepare a draught of a report to be made to the states having commissioners attend- ing at this meeting. Adjourned till Wednesday morning. Wednfsday, Sept. 13. — Met agreeable to adjournment. The committee appointed for that purpose reported the draught of the report, which being read, the meeting proceeded to the consideration thereof, and after some time spent therein, adjourned till to-morrow morning. Thursday, Sept. 14. — Met agreeable to adjournment. The meeting re- sumed the consideration of the draught of the report, and after some time spent therein, and amendments made, the same was unanimously agreed to, and is as follows, to wit : — To the honorable the legislatures of Virginia, Delaivare, Pennsylvania, Nem Jersey, and New York, the co7nmissioners from the said states, respec- tively, assembled at Annapolis, humbly beg leave to report : — That, pursuant to their several appointments, they met at Annapolis, in the state of Maryland, on the 11th day of September, instant, and having proceeded to a communication of their powers, they found that the states of New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, had, in substance, and nearly in the same terms, authorized their respective commissioners " to meet such commissioners as were or might be appointed by the other states in the union, at such time and place as should be agreed upon by the said commissioners, to take into consideration the trade and commerce of the United States, to consider how far a uniform system in their commer- cial intercourse and regulations, might be necessary to their common in- terest and permanent harmony, and to report to the several states such an act relative to this great object, as, when unanimously ratified by them, would enable the United States, in Congress assembled, effectually to pro- vide for the same." That the state of Delaware had given similar powers to their commis- sioners, with this difference only, that the act to be framed in virtue of these powers, is required to be reported " to the United States, in Con- gress assembled, to be agreed to by them, and confirmed by the legisla- tures of every state." That the state of New Jersey had enlarged the object of their appoint- ment, empowering their commissioners " to consider how far a uniform system in their commercial regulations, and other important matters, might be necessary to the common interest and permanent harmony of the sev- eral states ;" and to report such an act on the subject, as, when ratified by them, " would enable the United States, in Congress assembled, effectually to provide for the exigencies of the Union." That appointments of commissioners have also been made by the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and North Carolina, none of whom, however, have attended ; but that no information has been received by your commissioners of any appointment having been made by the slates of Connecticut, Maryland, South Carolina, or Georgia. That the express terms of the powers to your commissioners supposing a deputation from all the states, and having for object the trade and com- merce of the United States, your commissioners did not conceive it advi- sable to proceed on the business of their mission under the circumstances of so partial and defective a representation. Deeply impressed, however, with the magnitude and importance of the object confided to them on this occasion, your commissioners can not for- 586 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE AMERICAN UNION. bear to indulge an expression of their earnest and unanimous wish, that speedy measures may be taken to effect a general meeting of the states, in a future convention, for the same and such other purposes as the situa- tion of public affairs may be found to require. If, in expressing this wish, or in intimating any other sentiment, your commissioners should seem to exceed the strict bounds of their appoint- ment, they entertain a full confidence, that a conduct dictated by an anxiety for the welfare of the United States, will not fail to receive an indulgent construction. In this persuasion, your commissioners submit an opinion, that the idea of extending the powers of their deputies to other objects than those of commerce, which has been adopted by the state of New Jersey, was an improvement on the original plan, and will deserve to be incorporated into that of a future convention. They are the more naturally led to this con- clusion, as, in the course of their reflections on the subject, they have been induced to think that the power of regulating trade is of such com- prehensive extent, and will enter so far into the general system of the fed- eral government, that to give it efficacy, and to obviate questions and doubts concerning its precise nature and limits, may require a correspon- dent adjustment of other parts of the federal system. That there are important defects in the system of the federal govern- ment, is acknowledged by the acts of all those states which have concur- red in the present meeting ; that the defects, upon a closer examination, may be found greater and more numerous than even these acts imply, is at least so far probable, from the embarrassments which characterize the present state of our national affairs, foreign and domestic, as may reason- ably be supposed to merit a deliberate and candid discussion, in some mode which will unite the sentiments and councils of all the states. In the choice of the mode, your commissioners are of opinion, that a con- vention of deputies from the different states, for the special and sole pur- pose of entering into this investigation, and digesting a plan for supplying such defects as may be discovered to exist, will be entitled to a prefer- ence, from considerations which will occur without being particularized. Your commissioners decline an enumeration of those national circum- stances on which their opinion respecting the propriety of a future con- vention, with more enlarged powers, is founded ; as it would be a useless intrusion of facts and observations, most of which have been frequently the subject of public discussion, and none of which can have escaped the penetration of those to whom they would, in this instance, be addressed. They are, however, of a nature so serious, as, in the view of your com- missioners, to render the situation of the United States delicate and criti- calj calling for an exertion of the united virtue and wisdom of all the members of the confederacy. Under this impression, your commissioners, with the most respectful deference, beg leave to suggest their unanimous conviction, that it may essentially tend to advance the interests of the Union, if the states, by whom they have been respectively delegated, would themselves concur, and use their endeavors to procure the concurrence of the other states, in the appointment of commissioners, to meet at Philadelphia on the second Monday in May next, to take into consideration the situation of the United States, to devise such further provisions as shall appear to them necessary to render the constitution of the federal government adequate to the exi- gencies of the Union ; and to report such an act for that purpose, to the HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE AMERICAN UNION. 587 ,-x..>. .ites, in Congfress assembled, as, when agreed to by them, and afterward confirmed by the legislatures of every state, will effectually pro- vide for the same. Though your commissioners could not, with propriety, address these observations and sentiments to any but the states they have the honor to represent, they have nevertheless concluded, from motives of respect, to transmit copies of this report to the United States, in Congress assembled, and to the executives of the other states. By order of the commissioners. Dated at Annapolis, September 14th, 1786. In Congress, Wednesday, February 21, 1787. — The report of a grand committee, consisting of Messrs. Dane, Varnum, S. M. Mitchell, Smith, Cadwallader, Irvine, N. Mitchell, Forrest, Grayson, Blount, Bull, and Few, to whom was referred a letter of the 14th September, 1786, from J. Dickinson, written at the request of commissioners from the states of Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, as- sembled at the city of Annapolis, together with a copy of the report of the said commissioners to the legislatures of the states by whom they were appointed, being an order of the day, was called up, and which is con- tained in the following resolution, viz. : — • Congress having had under consideration the letter of John Dickinson, Esq., chairman of the commissioners who assembled at Annapolis, du- ring the last year ; also the proceedings of the said commissioners, and entirely coinciding with them, as to the inefficiency of the federal govern- inent, and the necessity of devising such further provisions as shall render the same adequate to the exigencies of the Union, do strongly recommend to the different legislatures to send, forward delegates, to meet the proposed convention, on the second Monday in May next, at the city of Phila- delphia. The delegates for the state of New York thereupon laid before Con- gress instructions which they had received from their constituents, and in pursuance of the said instructions, moved to postpone the further consider- ation of the report, in order to take up the following proposition, viz. : — " That it be recommended to the states composing the Union, that a con- vention of representatives from the said states respectively, be held at , on , for the purpose of revising the articles of confederation and per- petual union between the United States of America, and rejiorting to the United States, in Congress assembled, and to the states respectively, such alterations and amendments of the said articles of confederation, as the representatives, met in such convention, shall judge proper and necessary to render them adequate to the preservation and support of the Union." On the question to postpone, for the purpose abovementioned, the yeas and nays being required by the delegates for New York, the question was lost by the following vote, three states only voting in the affirmative. The names of the members who voted in the affirmative are in italic. Massachusetts: Messrs. King, Da7ie ; Connecticut: Messrs. Johnson, S. Mitchell ; New York, Messrs. S?nith, Benson ; New Jersey : Messrs, Cadwallader, Clark, Schureman ; P ennsyhania : Messrs. Irvine, MerC' dith, Bingham; Delaware: Mr. N.Mitchell; Maryland: Mr. Forrest; Virginia : Messrs. Grayson, Madison ; North Carolina : Messrs. Blount, Hawkins ; South Carolina : Messrs. Bull, Kean, Huger, Par- ker ; Georgia : Messrs. Few, Pierce. 588 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE AMERICAN UNION. A motion was then made by the delegates for Massachusetts, to post- pone the further -consideration of the report, in order to take into con- sideration a motion which they read in their place ; this being agreed to, the motion of the delegates for Massachusetts was taken up, and being amended was agreed to, as follows : — " Whereas, there is provision in the articles of confederation and per- petual union, for making alterations therein, by the assent of a Congress of the United States, and of the legislatures of the several states ; and whereas, experience hath evinced that there are defects in the present confederation, as a mean to remedy which, several of the states, and par- ticularly the state of New York, by express instructions to their delegates in Congress, have suggested a convention for the purposes expressed in the following resolution ; and such convention appearing to be the most probable means of establishing, in these states, a firm national government: " Resolved, That, in the opinion of Congress, it is expedient that, on the second Monday in May next, a convention of delegates who shall have been appointed by the several states, be held at Philadelphia, for the sole and express purpose of revising the articles of confederation, and reporting to Congress, and the several legislatures, such alteration and provisions therein, as shall, when agreed to in Congress, and confirmed by the states, render the federal constitution adequate to the exigencies of the govern- ment, and the preservation of the Union." In compliance with the recommendation of Congress, delegates were chosen in the several states, for the purpose of revising the articles of con- federation, who assembled in Philadelphia, on the second Monday in May, 1787. General Washington was chosen president of the convention. On the 17th of September, 1787, the convention having agreed upon the several articles of the federal constitution, it was adopted and signed by all the members present. On Friday, the 28ih of September, 1787, the Congress having received the report of the convention, with the constitution, recommended for rati- fication by the several states, and by Congress, adopted the following res- olution : — " Resolved, unanimously. That the said report, with the resolutions and letters accompanying the same, be transmitted to the several legislatures, in order to be submitted to a convention of delegates chosen in each state by the people thereof, in conformity to the resolves of the convention, made and provided in that case." The constitution having been ratified by the number of states required, the following proceedings took place in the old Congress, preparatory to organizing the new government. Saturdai/, September, 13, 1788. — On the question to agree to the follow- ing proposition, it was resolved in the affirmative, by the unanimous votes of nine states, viz., of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia. " Whereas, the convention assembled in Philadelphia, pursuant to the resolution of Congress, of the 21st of February, 1787, did, on the 17th of September, in the same year, report to the United States, in Congress as- sembled, a constitution for the people of the United States ; whereupon, Congress, on the 28th of the same September, did resolve unanimously, ' that the said report, with the resolutions and letter accompanying the same, be transmitted to the several legislatures, in order to be submitted to HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE AMERICAN UNION. 5S9 a convention of delegates, chosen in each state by the people thereof, in conformity to the resolves of the convention, made and provided in that case ;' and whereas the constitution so reported by the convention, and by Congress transmitted to the several legislatures, has been ratified in the manner therein declared to be sufficient for the establishment of the same, and such ratifications, duly authenticated, have been received by Congress, and are filed in the office of the secretary, therefore — " Resolved, That the first Wednesday in January next be the day for appointing electors in the several states which before the said day shall have ratified the said constitution ; that the first Wednesday in February next be the day for the electors to assemble in their respective states, and vote for a president ; and that the first Wednesday in March next be the time, and the present seat of Congress [New York] the place, for com- mencing proceedings under the said constitution." Delegates to the Convention which met at Philadelphia, in May, 1787, to frame a new Constitution. New Hampshire, on the 27th of June, 1787, appointed John Langdon, John Pick- ering, Nicholas Gilman, and Benjamin West. Massachusetts, on the 9th of April, 1787, appointed Francis Dana, Elbridge Gerry, Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King, and Caleb Strong. Connecticut, on the second Thursday of May, 1786, appointed William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman, and Oliver Ellsworth. New York, on the 6th of March, 1787, appointed Robert Yates, John Lansing, jr., and Alexander Hamilton. New Jersey, on the 23d of November, 1780, appointed David Brearly, William Churchill Houston, William Paterson, and John Neilson ; and on the 8th of May, 1787, added William Livingston and Abraham Clark; and on the 5th of June, 1787, added Jonathan Dayton. Pennsylvania, on the 30th of December, 1786, appointed Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Jared Ingersoll, Thomas Fitzsimons, James Wilson, and Governeur Morris; and on the 28th of March, 1787, added Benjamin Franklin. Delaware, on the 3d of February, 1787, appointed George Read, Gunning Bedford, jr., John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, and Jacob Broom. Maryland, on the 26th of May, 1787, appointed James M'Henry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll, John Francis Mercer, and Luther Martin. Virginia, on the 16th of October, 1786, appointed George Washington, Patrick Henry, Edmund Randolph, John Blair, James Madison, jr., George Mason, and George Wythe. Patrick Henry having declined his appointment as deputy, James M'ClurE; was nominated to supply his place. North Carolina, in January, 1787, elected Richard Caswell, Alexander Martin, William Richardson Davie, Richard Dobbs Spaight, and Willie Jones. Richard Cas- well having resigned, William Blount was appointed a deputy in his place. Willie Jones having also declined his appointment, was supplied by Hugh Williamson. South Carolina, on the 8th of March, 1787, appointed John Rutledge, Charles Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and Pierce Butler. Georgia, on the 10th of February, 1787, appointed William Few, Abraham Bald- win, William Pierce, George Walton, William Houston, and Nathaniel Pendleton. Dates of the Ratification of the Constitution hy the Thirteen Old States, Delaware December. .,7, 1787 South Carolina. ...May 23, 1788 Pennsylvania December. .12, 1787 New Hampshire June 21^ 1788 New Jersey December.. 18, 1787 Virginia June 26, 1788 Georgia January 2, 1788 New York July 26, 1788 Connecticut January 9, 1788 North Carolina. . ..November 21, 1789 Massachusetts February. . .6, 1788 Rhode Island, May 29, 1790 Maryland AprU 28, 1788 590 C3VGRESS AT ALBANY, 1754. States since admitted into the Vermont March 4, 1791 Kentucky June 1, 1792 Tennessee June 1,1 796 Ohio February. . 19, 1803 Louisiana April 8, 1812 Indiana December..ll, 1816 Mississippi December. .10, 1817 Illinois December.. ..3, 1818 Union by acts of Congress. Alabama December 14, 1819 Maine March .... 15, 1820 Missouri August. ..10, 1821 Arkansas June 14, 1836 Michigan January . . 26, 1837 Florida March 3, 1845 Texas December.24, 1S45 Iowa, 1846. Wisconsin, 1848 CONGRESS AT ALBANY, 1754 The day appointed for the meeting of the commissioners, at Albany, in the state of New York, was the 14th of June, 1754, but they did not as- semble until the 19th of June, when it was found that seven colonies were represented, viz : — New York. James Delancy, Joseph Murray, William Johnson, John Chambers, William Smith. Massachusetts. Samuel Welles, ' John Chandler, Thomas Hutchinson. Oliver Partridge, John Worthington. Connecticut. William Pitkin> Roger Wolcott, Eiisha Williams. Rhode Island. Stephen Hopkins, Martin Howard. Pennsylvania. John Penn, Benjamin Franklin, Richard Peters, Isaac Norris. Maryland. Benjamin Tasker, Abraham Barnes. New Hampshire. Theodore Atkinson, Richard Wibird, Meshech Weare, Henry Sherburne. The whole number of commissioners appointed was twenty-five, who all attended, as above named. Virginia and New Jersey, though ex- pressly invited, did not attend. Having completed a treaty with the Indians, the commissioners took up the subject of a plan of union. A committee, consisting of one mem- ber from each colony, was appointed to draw a plan, viz. : Messrs. Hutch- inson of Massachusetts, Atkinson of New Hampshire, Pitkin of Con- necticut, Hopkins of Rhode Island, Smith of New York, Franklin of Pennsylvania, and Tasker of Maryland. Several plans were proposed, but an outline presented by Dr. Franklin, before he arrived in Albany, was preferred by the committee, and reported to the Congress on the 28th of June. The debates on the various topics embraced in the plan of union continued for twelve days, when the one reported, substantially as drawn by Doctor Franklin, was adopted ; and the Congress adjourned on the 11th of July. This scheme of general government received the assent of all the commissioners, except those from Connecticut. Indeed, Governor Hutchinson, in his history of Mas- sachusetts, says the vote was unanimous in the Congress ; but this is con- tradicted by the Connecticut historians. It was, however, to be of no CONGRESS AT NEW YORK, 1765. 591 force unless confirmed by the several colonial assemblies — and not one of tliem, when the report was made by their delegates, inclined to part with so great a share of power as was to be given to this general government. The plan met with no better fate in England, where it was laid before the king and the board of trade. Doctor Franklin says : " The colonial as- semblies all thought there was too much prerogative in it, and in England it was thought to have too much of the democratic in it." Considering the rejection by the two parties, for opposite reasons, it was Franklin's opinion, thirty years afterward, that his plan was near the true medium. It is remarkable how nearly the basis approaches the constitution of the United States.* CONGRESS AT NEW YORK, 1765. The proposal for holding a congress of delegates from the respective colonies, in consequence of the passage of the stamp act and other op- pressive measures of the British parliament, was made by the correspond- ing committee of the New York assembly (appointed in October, 1764), and was repeatedly agitated in the different colonial legislatures. In June, 1765, the popular branch of the legislature of Massachusetts issued a cir- cular letter proposing " a meeting of committees from the house of repre- sentatives or burgesses of the several British colonies on this continent, to consult together on the circumstances of the colonies, and the difficulties to which they are and must be reduced by the operation of the acts of parliament, for levying duties and taxes on the colonies ; and to consider of a general and united, dutiful, loyal, and humble representation of their condition to his majesty aud to the parliament, and to implore relief ; also, that such meeting be at the city of New York, on the first Tuesday of Oc- tober next." In consequence of the circular letter referred to, the fol- lowing gentlemen met at New York, on the 7th of October, 1765, viz. : — Massachusetts. New Jeksey. James Otis, go^f t Ogden Oliver Partridge, Hendnck Fisher, Timothy Ruggles. Joseph Borden. Pennsylvania. Rhode Island. j^^„ Dickinson, Metcalf Bowler, John Morton, Henry Ward. George Bryan, r^ ^ „XT.- Delaware. Connecticut. _, ,,,,^ Thomas M'Kean, Eliphalet Dyer, Cffisar Rodney. David Rowland, Tvr.„,rT ,»,,. William S. Johnson. ,..^ ™ ; , William Murdock, New York. Edward Tilghman, „ , ^ „ T • • * Thomas Ringgold. Robert R. Livingston, ^ John Cruger, South Carolina. Philip Livingston., - Thomas Lynch, William Bayard, Christopher Gadsden. Leonard Lispenard. John Rutledge. • See Pitkin's Tolitical History, and Franklin's Works. 592 PRESIDEXTS OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia, were not rep- resented ; but their assemblies wrote that they would agree to whatever was done by the Congress. Timothy Ruggles, of Massachusetts, was, by ballot, chosen chairman of the Congress, and John Cotton, clerk.* This Congress continued in session, from day to day, until the 24th of October, 1765, and their proceedings were approved by all of the dele- gates, except Mr. Ruggles, of Massachusetts, and Mr. Ogden, of New Jersey, both of whom left New York without signing the address or peti- tions. The proceedings of the Congress were afterward sanctioned by the various colonial assemblies. CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. Presidents of the Continental Congress, from 1774 to 1788. FROM ELECTED. Peyton Randolph Virginia September.. 5, 1774 Henry Middleton South Carolina October. ..22, 1774 Peyton Randolph Virginia May 10, 177.5 John Hancock Massachusetts May 24, 1775 Henry Laurens South Carolina .November.. 1, 1777 John Jay New York December 10, 1778 Samuel Huntington Connecticut September 28, 1779 Thomas M'Kean Delaware July 10, 1781 John Hanson Maryland November.. 5, 1781 Elias Boudinot New Jersey November. .4, 1782 Thomas Mifflin Pennsylvania November.. 3, 1783 Richard Henry Lee Virginia November 30, 1784 Natha-nicl Gorham Massachusetts June 6, 1786 Arthur St. Clair Pennsylvania February. ..2, 1787 Cyrus Griffin Virginia January.. 22, 1788 Sessions of the Continental Congress. The sessions of the continental Congress were commenced as follows : September 5, 1774, also May 10, 1775, at Philadelphia ; December 20, 1776, at Baltimore; March 4, 1777, at Philadelphia ; September 27, 1777, at Lancaster, Penn. ; September 30, 1777, at York, Penn. ; July 2, 1778, at Philadelphia ; June 30, 1783, at Princeton, New Jersey ; No- vember 26, 1783, at Annapolis, Maryland ; November 1, 1784, at Trenton, New Jersey ; January 11, 1785, at Neio York, which, from that time, continued to be the place of meeting till the adoption of the constitution of the United States. From 1781 to 1788, Congress met annually on the first Monday in November, pursuant to the articles of confederation. • Journal of the First American or Stamp- Act Congress, of 1765, published in Niles's Register, 1812, and by E. Winchester, New York, 1845. MEMBERS OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, FROM 1774 TO 1788. (Arranged from the Journals of Congress, for the American Almanac of 1834.) New Hampshire. From Bartlett, Josiah 1775, Blanchard, Jonathan 1783, ( 1774, Folsom, Nathaniel < 1777, ( 1779, Foster, Abiel 1783, Frost, George 1777, Oilman, John Taylor 1782, Oilman, Nicholas 1786, Langdon, John < ,-ro<-' Langdon, Woodbury 1779, Livermore, bamuel •< i~o- ( i / oO, Long, Pierce 1784, Peabody, Nathaniel 1779, Sullivan, John < ,~on ' ( 1 / 80, Thornton, Matthew 1776, Wentworth, John, jr 1778, Whipple, William 1776, White, Phillips 1782, Wingate, Paine 1787, Massachusetts Adams, John Adams, Samuel Gushing, Thomas Dana, Francis. Dane, Nathan. , Gerry, Elbridge Gorham, Nathaniel Hancock, John Higginson, Stephen, Holten, Samuel Jackson, Jonathan King, Rufus Lovell, James Lowell, John Osgood, Samuel. . . . Otis, Samuel A Paine, Robert Treat '85 '79 '83 '88 '77 '87 '80 '83 '86 '86 '80 '75 '81 '78 '79 '79 '80. Partridge, George < Frntn Sedgwick, Theodore < . .. . 1785, Sullivan, James 1782, Thacher, George 1787, Ward, Artemas 1780, Rhode Island Arnold, Jonathan Arnold, Peleg Collins, John , Cornell, Ezekiel Ellery, William Hazard, Jonathan Hopkins, Stephen Howell, David Manning, Marchant, Henry. . Miller, Nathan Mowry, . . . . Varnum, James M. Ward, Samuel ,1782, 1787, 1778, 1780, 1776, 1783, , 1787, 1774, 1778, 1782, 1785, 1777, 1783, 1785, 1781, 1780, 1786, 1774, Connecticut. r 1777 Adams, Andrew i i78l' Cook, Joseph P 1784^ Deane, Silas 1774, Dyer, Eliphalet | ]]Iq'^ Edwards, Pierpont 1787, Ellsworth, Oliver 1777, Hillhouse, William 1783, Hosmer, Titus j |^!^^' tr .• . -D • • S 1780,' Huntmgton, Benjamin.... < ,jo-r Huntington, Samuel 1776, Johnson, William S 1784, r 2777 Law, Richard < nsi' C 1783^ Mitchell, Stephen M < 1785, ( 1787, Root, Jesse 1778, Sherman, Roger 1774, Spencer, Joseph 1778, Strong, Jedediah 1782, Sturges, Jonathan 1785, Treadwell, John 1785, '82 '88 '81 '84 '88 '83 '83 '80 '85 '88 '77 '85 '86 '80 '84 '86 '81 '82 '87 '76 '80 '82 '88 '76 '79 '83 '88 '84 '86 '73 '79 '84 '88 '84 '87 '78 '84 '04 '06 '88 '83 '84 '79 '84 '87 '86 594 MEMBERS OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. From Trumbull, Joseph 1774, Wadsworth, James \ 1785' Wadsworth, Jeremiah 1787, Williams, William > HBs' Wolcott, Oliver j ^yso' New York. Alsop, John 1774, Benson, Egbert < 1786' Boerum, Simon 1774, Clinton, George 1775, De Witt, Charles 1783, Duane, James 1774, Duer, William 1777, Floyd, William J {!J Jg' Gansevoort, Leonard 1787, Hamilton, Alexander < 1787' tj • T 1, S 1774^ Haring, John < jyg^ T T 1 S ^"^74^ Jay, John < ms, Lansing, John 1784, Lawrence, John 1785, Lewis, Francis 1777, Livingston, Philip 1774, Livingston, Robert R < 1779' Livingston, Walter 1784, Low, Isaac 1774, c 1779 L'Hommedieu, Ezra < 1787* Morris, Gou verncur 1777, Morris, Lewis 1775, M'Dougall, Alexander j 1784* Paine, Ephraim 1784, Piatt, Zephaniah 1784, ( 1775 Schuyler, Philip < 1778' Scott, John Morin 1780, Smith, Melancthon 1785, Wisner, Henry 1774, Yates, Abraham, jr 1787, Yates, Peter W 1785, New Jersey. Beatty, John 1783, Boudinot, Elias < 1781' Burnett, W 178o', Cadwalladcr, Lambert 1784, Clark, Abraham j ^^g-,' Condict, Silas 178l' Cooper, John 1776, Crane, Stephen 1774, Davlon, Elias 1787, DeHart, John 1774, '76 '85 '88 '77 '77 '85 '84 '78 '77 '83 '88 '83 '88 '75 '88 '77 '79 '88 '87 '79 '78 '77 '81 '85 '75 '83 '88 '80 '77 '82 '85 '85 '86 '75 '81 '83 '88 '76 '88 '87 Dick, Samuel. Elmer, Jonathan. Fell, John Frelinghuysen, Frederick. Henderson, Thomas. Hopkinson, Francis. Hornblower, Josiah. Houston, William C. Kinsey, James Livingston, William.. Neilson, John Scheurman, J Scudder, Nathaniel. . . Sergeant, Jonathan D. Smith, Richard Stewart, Stockton, Richard.... Symmes, John C Witherspoon, John . . . . From 1783 1776 1781 1787 1778 1778 1782 1779 1776 1785 1779 1784 1774 1774 1778 .1786 1777 1776 1774 1784 ,1776 1785 1776 Pennsylvania. Allen, Andrew 1775, Armstrong, John ) i''87' Atlee, Samuel 1778, Bayard, John. 1785, Biddle, Edward < 1778' Bingham, William 1787^ Clarkson, Matthew 1785, Clingan, William 1777, r^^ r^ ^ 1776, Clymer, George ^ j-^^q'^ Dickinson, John 1774, Fitzsimmons, Thomas 1782, Franklin, Benjamin 1775, Galloway, Joseph 1774, Gardner, Joseph 1784, Hand, 1784, Henry, William 1784, Humphreys, Charles 1774, Ingersoll, Jared 1780, Irwine, 1786, Jackson, David 1785, Matlack, Timothy 1780, M'Clene, James 1778, Meredith, 1787, ( 1774 Mifflin, Thomas < 1782' Morris, Charles 1783, Morris, Robert 1776, Montgomery, John 1780, Morton, John 1774, Muhlenber?, Frederick A 1778, Peters, Richard 1782, Pettit, Charles 1785, Read, 1787, Reed, Joseph 1777, Rliodes, Samuel 1774, Roberdeau, Daniel 1777, To '84 '78 '84 '88 '80 '79 '83 '80 '77 '86 '82 '85 '75 ■76 '79 '87 '79 '77 '76 '85 '77 '86 '83 '76 '80 '88 '82 '87 '76 '79 '88 '86 '79 '78 '83 '76 '83 '76 '75 '85 '85 '86 '76 '81 '88 '86 '81 '80 '88 '76 '84 '84 '78 '84 '77 '80 '83 '87 '88 '78 '75 '79 MEMBERS OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 595 From Ross, George 1774, Rush, Benjamin 1776, Searle, James 1778, Shippen, William 1778, ■Smith, James 1776, Smith, Jonathan B 1777, Smith, Thomas 1780, St. Clair, Arthur 1785, Taylor, George 1776, Willing, Thomas 1775, ( 1775, Wilson, James < 1782, ( 1785, Wynkoop, Henry, 1779, Delaware. Bedford, Gunning > 1786' Bedford, Gunning, jr 1785, Dickinson, John > 1 77q' Dickinson, Philemon 1782, Evans, John 1776, Kearney, Dyre 1786, M'Comb, Eleazer, 1782, Mitchell, Nathaniel 1786, M'Kean, Thomas \ |!j!^g' Pattern, John 1785, Peery, William 1785, Read, George 1774, ( 1774, Rodney, Caesar / 1777, ( 1783, Rodney, Thomas j j^g^' Sykes, James 1777, Tilton, James 1783, Van Dyke, Nicholas 1777, Vining, John 1784, Wharton, Samuel 1782, Maryland. Alexander, Robert 1775, Carmichael, William ... 1778, Carroll, Charles 1776, Carroll, Daniel 1780, Chase, Jeremiah T 1783, Chase, Samuel < ijra' Contee, Benjamin 1787, Forbes, James 1778, Forrest, Uriah 1786, Goldsborough, Robert 1774, H^"'J°^" \ml: Hanson, John 1781, Harrison, William 1785, Hemsley, William , . 1782, Henry, John < j,j,g^' Hindman, William 1784' Howard, John E 1787, '78 '82 '87 '77 '76 '78 '83 '87 '83 '85 '87 '86 '77 '80 '83 '77 '88 '84 '88 '76 '83 '86 '86 '77 '76 '78 '84 '83 '87 '78 '85 '82 '86 '83 From Jenifer, D., of St. Thomas 1778, Johnson, Thomas 1775, Lee, Thomas Sim 1783, Lloyd, Edward 1783, Martin, Luther 1784, M'Henry, James 1783, Paca, William 1774, Plater, George 1778, Potts, Richard 1781, Ramsay, Nathaniel. 1785, Ridgely, Richard 1785, Rogers, John 1775, Ross, David 1786, Rumsey, Benjamin 1776, Scott, Gustavus 1784, Seney, Joshua 1787, Smith, William 1777, Stone, Thomas j ^Ti^> Tilghman, Matthew 1774,' Wright, Turbett 1781, Virginia Adams, Thomas 1778, Banister, John 1778, Bland, Richard 1774, Bland, Theodorick 1780, Braxton, Carter 1776, Brown, John ,, 1787, Carrington, Edward 1785, Fitzhugh, i779j Fleming, William 1779, Grayson, William 1784, Griffin, Cyrus 5 jj^8. Hardy, Samuel 1783* Harrison, Benjamin 1774, Harvie, John 1778, Henry, James 1780, Henry, Patrick 1774, Jefferson, Thomas j j J^^' ( 1777 Jones, Joseph ? , ' ' ' ' ^ i/ou, Lee, Arthur 1781, Lee, Francis Lightfoot 1775, Lee, Hsnry 1785, Lee, Richard Henry j J^J^' Madison, James, jr J ]~rf:' Mercer, James 1779, Mercer, John F 1782, Monroe, James 1783, Nelson, Thomas ^ ^Llg' Page, Mann 1777^ Pendleton, Edmund 1774, Randolph, Edmund 1779, Randolph, Peyton 1774, Smith, Merewether 1778, Washington, George 1774, Wythe, George 1775, To '82 '77 '84 '84 '85 '86 '79 '81 '82 '87 '86 '76 '87 '78 '85 '88 '78 '79 '85 '77 '82 '80 '79 '76 '83 '76 '88 '86 '80 '81 '87 '81 '88 '85 '78 '73 '81 '76 '77 '85 '78 '83 '84 '80 '88 '80 '87 '83 '88 '80 '85 '86 '77 '80 '77 '75 '82 '75 '82 '75 '77 596 MEMBERS or THE CONTINENTAL COTN'GRESS. North Carolina. From Ashe, John B 1787, Bloodworth, Timothy 1786, <, 1782, Blount, William < j^j^g Burke, Thomas 1777, Burton, Robert 1787, Caswell, Richard 1774, Cumming, William 1784, Harnett, Cornelius 1777, ' . . S 1781, Hawkins, Benjamin ^ j^gg^ s 1774' Hewes, Joseph i j^TQ Hill, Whitmill 1778' Hooper, William 1774, Johnston, Samuel 1780, Jones, Allen. 1779, Jones, Willie 1780, Nash, Abner ^ j^gg^ Penn, John < jy77 Sitgreaves, John > . . 1784, Sharpe, William 1779, Spaight, Richard D 1783, Swan, John 1787, Williams, John 1778, TT T. S 1782, Williamson, Hugh > 1787 White, Alexander 1786, South Carolina. Bee, Thomas 1780, Beresford, Richard 1783, Bull, John 1784, Butler, Pierce > 1787, Drayton, William Henry 1778, Eveleigh, Nicholas 1781, Gadsden, Christopher 1774, Gervais, John L 1782, Hey ward, Thomas, jr 1776, Huger, Daniel 1786, Hutson, Richard 1778, Izard, Ralph 1782, Kean, John 1785, '87 '83 '87 '81 '88 '76 '84 '80 '84 '87 '77 '80 '81 '77 '82 '80 '81 '84 '86 '76 '80 '85 '82 '85 '88 '79 '85 Kinloch, Francis. . Laurens, Henry. . . Lynch, Thomas. . . . Lynch, Thomas, jr, Matthews, John. . . Middleton, Arthur. Middleton, Henry. Motte, Isaac. . . . . . Parker, John Pinckney, Charles. Ramsay, David .... Read, Jacob Rutledge, Edward. . Rutledge, John.... Trapier, Paul Tucker, Thomas T. Georgia. Baldwin, Abraham Brownson, Nathan Bullock, Archibald Clay, Joseph Few, William Gibbons, William Gwinnett, Button Habersham, John Hall, Lyman Houston, John Houston, William Howley, Richard Jones, Noble Wimberly < Lang worthy, Edward Pierce, W Telfair, Edward j Walton, George. Wood, Joseph . . . Zubly, John J.. From To 1780, '81 1777, '80 1774, '76 1776, '77 1778, '82 1776, '78 1781, '83 1774, '76 1780, '82 1786, '88 1777, '78 1784, '87 1782, '84 1785, '86 1783, '85 1774, '77 1774, '77 1782, '83 1777 '78 1787, '88 1785 '88 1776 '78 1775 '76 1778 '80 1780 '82 1785 '88 1784 '86 1776 '77 1785 '86 1775 '79 1775 '77 1784 '87 1780 '81 1775 '76 1781 '83 1777 '79 1786 '87 1777 '79 1780 '83 1776 '79 1780 '81- 1777 '79 1775 '76 SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, JULY 4, 1776. The following list of members of the continental Congress, who signed the Declara- tion of Independence (although the names are included in the general list of that Congress, from 1774 to 1788), is given separately, for the purpose of showing the places and dates of their birth, and the time of their respective deaths, for con- venient reference. DELEGATED NAMES OF THE SIGNERS. BORN AT FROM DIED Adams, John Braintree, Mass., 19 Oct. 1735 Massachusetts, 4 July, 1826 Adams, Samuel . Boston, " 27 Sep. 1722 Massachusetts, 2 Oct., 1803 Bartlett, Josiah . Amesbury, " in Nov. 1729 New Hampshire, 19 May, 1795 Braxton, Carter . Newington, Va., 10 Sep. 1736 Virginia, 10 Oct., 1797 Carroll, Cha's, of Car'lton Annapoli-s, Md., 20 Sep. 1737 Maryland, 14 Nov., 1832 Chase, Samuel . Somerset co., Md., 17 Apr. 1741 Maryland, 19 June, 1811 Clark, Abraham Elizabetht'n, N. J. 15 Feb. 1726 New Jersey, — Sept., 1794 Clymer, George . Philadelphia, Penn., in 1739 Pennsylvania. 23 Jan., 1813 Ellery, William . Newport, R. I., 22 Dec. 1727 R. I. & Prov. PL, 15 Feb., 1620 Floyd, William . Suffolk CO., N. Y., 17 Dec. 1734 New York, 4 Aug., 1821 Franklin, Benjamin . Boston, Mass., 17 Jan. 1706 Pennsylvania, 17 April, 1790 Gerry, Elbridge . Marblehead, Mass., 17 Jul. 1744 Massachusetts, 23 Nov., 1814 Gwinnet, Button . England, in 1732 Georgia, 27 May, 1777 Hall, Lyman Hancock, John Onnn in 17T1 Georgia, Massachusetts, Feb. 1790 Braintree. Mass., in 1737 8 Oct.,' 1793 Harrison, Benjamin Berkely, Virginia, Virginia, — April, 1791 Hart, John . Hopewell, N. J., about 1715 New Jersey, , 1780 Heyward, Thomas, jr. St. Luke's, S. C, in 1746 South Carolina, — Mar., 1809 Hevves, Joseph . Kingston, N. J., in 1730 North Carolina, 10 Nov., 1779 Hooper, William Boston, Mass., 17 June, 1742 North Carolina, — Oct., 1790 Hopkins, Stephen Scituate, " 7 Mar. 1707 R. I. & Prov. PI. 13 July, 1785 Hopkinson, Francis Philadelphia, Penn., in 1737 New Jersey, 9 May, 1790 Huntington, Samuel . Windham, Conn., 3 July, 1732 Connecticut, 5 Jan., 179<) Jefferson, Thomas Shad well, Va., 13 Apr. 1743 Virginia, 4 July, 1826 Lee, Francis Lightfoot Stratford, " 14 Oct. 1734 Virginia, — April, 1797 Lee, Richard Henry . Stratford, " 20 Jan. 1732 Virginia, 19 June, 1794 Lewis, Francis . Landaff, Wales, in Mar. 1713 New York, 30 Dec, 1803 Livingston, Philip Albany, N. Y., 15 Jan. 1716 New York, 12 June, 1778 Lynch, Thomas, jr. St. George's, S. C, 5 Aug. 1749 South Carolina, lost at sea 1779 M'Kean, Thomas Chester co.. Pa., 19 Mar., 1734 Delaware, 24 June, 1817 Middleton, Arthur Middleton Place, S. C, in 1743 South Carolina, 1 Jan., 1787 Morris, Lewis Morrisania, N. Y., in 1726 New York, 22 Jan., 1798 Morris, Robert Lancashire, Eng., Jan. 1733-4 Pennsylvania, 8 May, 1806 Morton, John Ridley, Penn., in 1724 Pennsylvania, — April, 1777 Nelson, Thomas, jr. York, Virginia, 26 Dec. 1738 Virginia, 4 Jan., 1789 Paca, William W^ye-Hill, Md., 31 Oct. 1740 Maryland, , 1799 Paine, Robert Treat . Boston, Mass., in 1731 Massachusetts, 11 May, 1804 Penn, John Caroline co., Va., 17 May, 1741 North Carolina, 26 Oct., 1809 Read, George Cecil CO., Md., in 1734 Delaware, , 1798 Rodney, Cassar . Dover, Delaware, in 1730 Delaware, , 1783 Ross, George New Castle, Del., in 1730 Pennsylvania, — July, 1779 Rush, Benjamin, M. D. Byberry, Penn., 24 Dec. 1745 Pennsylvania, 19 April, 1813 Rutledge, Edward Charleston, S. C, in Nov. 1749 South Carolina, 23 Jan., 1800 Sherman, Roger . Newton, Mass., 19 Apr. 1721 Connecticut, 23 July, 1793 Smith, James Pennsylvania, 11 July, 1806 Stockton, Richard Princeton, N. J., 1 Oct. 1730 New Jersey, 28 Feb., 1781 Stone, Thomas . Charles co., Md., in 1742 Maryland, 5 Oct., 1787 Taylor, George . TmliTifl in 17Tfi Pennsylvania, 23 Feb., 1781 Thornton, Matthew . 11 ;., i-yi A New Hampshire, 24 June, 1803 Walton, George . Frederick co., Va., in 1740 Georgia, 2 Feb., 1804 Whipple, William Kittery, Maine, in 1730 New Hampshire, 28 Nov., 1785 Williams, William Lebanon, Conn., 8 Apr. 1731 Connecticut, 2 Aug. 1811 W ilson, James . Scotland, about 1742 Pennsylvania, 28 Aug., 1798 Witlierspoon, John Yester, Scotland, 5 Feb. 1722 New Jersey, 15 Nov., 1794 Wolcott, Oliver . Windsor, Conn.. 26 Nov. 1726 Connecticut, 1 Dec, 1797 Wythe, George . Elizabeth city co., Va., 1726 Virginia, 8 June, 1806 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS, From the commencement of the Government under the Constitution, to the end of the Tv>e?ity-ninth Congress, March 3d, 1847, with the beginning and termination of their respective periods. [Corrected from the Treas- urer's Accounts.] We are indebted to the American Almanac for 1844 for such part of the following list as extends from the first Congress, in 1789, to the end of the twenty-seventh Congress^ March 3d, 1843 ; and have availed ourselves of the permission of the proprietors of that useful work, to copy the same, with corrections and additions for the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth Congresses. Maine.— 1820. Senators. From To Chandler, John 1 820, '29 Dana, Judah 1836, '37 Evans, George 1841, '47 Fairfield, John 1843, '51 c igoQ '27 Holmes, John ^ ^^28,' '33 Parris, Albion K 1827, '28 Ruggles, John 1835, '41 Sprague, Peleg 1829, '35 Shepley, Ether 1833, '36 Williams, Reuel 1837, '43 Representatives. Allen, Elisha H 1841, '43 Anderson, Hugh J 1837, '41 Anderson John 1825, '33 Bailey, Jeremiah 1835, '37 Bates, James 183 1, '33 Bronson, David 1841, '43 Burleigh, William 1823, '27 Butman, Samuel 1827, '3 1 Carey, Shepard 1843, '45 Carter, Timothy J 1837, '38 Cilley, Jonathan 1837, '38 Clifford, Nathan 1839, '43 Cushman Joshua P 1821, '25 Dane, Joseph 1821, '23 Davee, Thomas 1837, '41 Dunlap, Robert P 1 843, '47 Evans, George 182S, '41 Fairfield, John 1835, '39 Fessenden William P 1841, '43 Hall, Joseph 1833, '37 Hamlin, Hannibal 1843, '47 Harris, Mark 1822, '23 Herrick, Ebenezer 1821, '27 Herrick, Joshua 1843, '45 Hill, Mark L 1821, '23 Holland, Cornelius 1831, '33 Jarvis, Leonard 1831, '37 From Kavanagh, Edward 1 83 1 Kidder, David 1 823 Lincoln, Enoch 1821 Littlefield, Nathaniel S 1841 Longfellow S i823 Lowell, Joshua A 1839 Marshall, Alfred 1841 Mason, Moses 1834 M'Crate, John D 1845 M'Intire, Rufus 1826. Morse, Freeman H 1843 Noyes, Joseph C 1837 O'Brien, Jeremiah 1823 Parks, Gorham 1833 Parris, Virgil D 1838 Randall, Benjamin 1839 Ripley, James W 1827! Robinson, Edward 1838! Sawtelle, Cullen 1845^ Scammon, John F 1845, Severance, Luther 1843 Smith, Albert 1839 Smith, F. O, J .1833 Sprague, P 1825! White, Benjamin 1843 Whitman, E 1821 Williams, Hezekiah 1845 Williamson, W. D 1821 Wingale, J. F 1827 To '35 '27 '26 '43 '25 '43 '43 '37 '47 '35 '45 '39 '29 '37 '41 '43 '31 '39 '47 '47 '47 '41 '39 '29 '45 '22 '47 '23 '31 New Habipshire. Senators. Atherton, Charles G 1843, '49 Bell, Samuel 1823, '35 Cutts, Charles 1810, '13 Gilman, Nicholas 1805, '14 Hill, Isaac 1831, '36 Hubbard, Henry 1835, '41 Langdon, John 1789, 1801 Livermore, S 1793, 1801 Mason, Jeremiah 1813, '17 Jenness, Banning W 1845, '46 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. 599 Morrill, David L. Olcott, Simeon.. . . Page, John Parker, Nahum... Parrott, John F. . Pierce, Franklin.. Plumer, William. . Sheafe, James. . . . Storer, Clement . . Thompson, T. W. Wilcox, Leonarl. Wingate, Paine.. Woodbury Levi. . Representatives. Atherton, Charles G Atherton, C. H Barker, David Bartlett, Ichabod Bartlett, Josiah Bean, BenningM Betton, Silas Blaisdell, Daniel Brodhead, John Brown, Titus Bufl'um, Joseph Burke, Edmund Burns, Robert Butler, Josiah Carlton, Peter Chamberlain, J. C Chandler, Thomas Cilley, Bradbury Clagett, Clifton Cushman, Samuel Dinsmoor, Samuel , Durell, Daniel M Eastman, Ira A Eastman, Nehemiah Ellis, Caleb , Farrington, James Foster, Abiel < Freeman, Jonathan Gardner, Francis Gilman, Nicholas Gordon, William Hale, Salma. Hale, William Hale, John P Hall, Obed Hammons, Joseph . . . Harper, John A Harper, Joseph M. . . Harvey, Jonathan. . . Harvey, Matthew. . • . Haven, Nathaniel A. Healy, Joseph Hough, David Hubbard, Henry Hunt, Samuel From To 1817, '23 1801 '05 1836 '37 1807 '10 1819 '25 1837 '42 1802 '07 1801 '02 1817 '19 1814 '17 1842 '43 1789 '93 1825 '31 1841; '45 1837 '43 1815 '17 1827 '29 1823 '29 1811 '13 1833 '37 1803 '07 1809 '11 1829 '33 1825 '29 1819 '21 1839 '45 1833 '37 1817 '23 1807 '09 1809 ni 1829 '33 1813 '17 1803 '05 1817 '21 1835 '39 1811 '13 1807 '09 1839 '43 1825 '27 1805 '07 1837 '39 1789 '91 1795 1803 1797 1801 1807 '09 1789 '97 1797 1800 1817 '19 1809 '11 1813 '17 1843 '45 1811 '13 1829 '33 1811 '13 1831 '35 1825 '31 1821 '25 1809 ni 1825 '29 1803 '07 1829 '35 1802j '05 From Johnson, James H 1845 Livermore, Arthur \ jg.-,^ Livermore, S 1789 Matson, Aaron 1821 Moulton, Mace 1845 Norris, Moses, jr 1843 Parrott, John F 1817 Pierce, Joseph 1 80 1 Pierce, Franklin 1833 Plumer, William, jr 1819 Reding, John R. 1841 Shaw, Tristam 1839 Sheafe, James 1799 Sherburne, J. S 1793 Smith, Jedekiah K 1807 Smith, Jeremiah 1791 Smith, Samuel 1813 Sprague, Peleg 1797 Storer, Clement 1707 Sullivan, George 1811 Tenney, Samuel 1800 Thompson, T. W 1805 Upham, George B 1801 Upham, Nathaniel 1817 Vose, Roger 1813 Webster, Daniel 1813 Weeks, John W 1829 Weeks, Joseph 1835 Whipple, Thomas 1821 ¥/i]cox, Jeduthun I8l3 Williams, Jared W 1837 Wilson, James 1809 Wingate, Paine 1793 Vermont. — 1791. Senators. Bradley,S.R | J^^J; Chase,Dudley ) 182^' Chipman, Nathaniel 1797, Crafts, Samuel C 1842, Fisk, James 1817, Paine, Elijah 1795, Palmer, William A 1818, Phelps, Samuel S 1839, Prentiss, Samuel 1831, Robinson, Jonathan 1807, Robinson, Moses 1791, Seymour, Horatio 1821, Smith, Israel 1802, Swift, Benjamin 1833, Tichenor, I | {gj^ Upham, William. 1843, Representatives, Allen, Heman { 1827, ( 1833, Bradley, William C \ jggs'. Buck, Daniel 1795^ To '47 '21 '25 '93 '25 '47 '47 '19 '02 '37 '25 '45 '43 1801 '97 '09 '97 '15 '99 '09 '13 '07 '07 '03 '23 '17 '17 '33 '39 '29 '17 '41 '11 '95 '95 '13 '17 '31 1802 '43 '18 1801 '25 '51 '42 '15 '96 '33 '07 '39 '97 '21 '49 '19 '28 '39 '15 '27 '97 600 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. To '25 '29 '15 '33 '05 '11 '17 '13 '47 '25 '35 '47 '09 '43 '09 '15 '41 '47 '43 '11 '32 '19 '37 '17 '23 '17 '17 From Buck,D. A. A \ jg27' Butler, Ezra 1 813* Cahoon, William 1829, Chamberlain, William < I8O9' Chipman, Daniel 1815, Chittenden, M 1803, Collamer, Jacob 1843, Crafts, Samuel C 1817, Deming, Benjamin F 1833, Dillingham, Paul, jr 1843, Elliot, James 1803, Everett, Horace 1 829, Fisk, James j }gJJ' Fletcher, Isaac 1837, Foot, Solomon 1843, Hall, Hiland , 1833, Hubbard, Jonathan H 1809, Hunt, Jonathan 1827, Hunter, William 1817, Janes, Henry F 1835, Jewett, Luther 1815, Keyes, Elias 1821, Langdon, C 1815, Lyon, Asa 1815, Lyon, Matthew 1797, 1801 Mallary, Rollin C 1819, '31 Marsh, Charles 1815, '17 Marsh, George P 1843, '47 ( 1821, '23 Mattocks, John < 1825, '25 ( 1841, '43 M-^h'E^^- 11825; '27 Merrill, Orsamus C 1817, '19 Morris, Lewis R 1797, 1803 Niles, Nathaniel 1791, '95 Noyes, John 1815, Olin, Gideon 1803, Olin, Henry 1824, Rich, Charles j jgj^' Richards, Mark 1817, Shaw, Samuel 1808, Skinner, Richard 1813, Slade, William 1831, Smith, Israel \ ll^J' ( JoUl, Smith, John 1839, Strong, William ^ j^JJ' Swift, Benjamin 1829^ Wales, George E 1825, White, Phineas 1821, Witherell, James 1807, Young, Augustus 1841, Massachusetts. Senators, Adams, John Q 1803, '08 Ashmun, Eli P I8I6, '18 From To Bates, Isaac C 1841, '45 Cabot, George 1791, '96 Choate, Rufus 1841, '45 Dalton, Tristam 1789, '91 ^--^s,^<^^- llsl: 'sl Dexter, Samuel 1799, 1800 Foster, D\vis;ht 1800, '03 Goodhue, Benjamin 1796, 1800 Gore, Cliristopher 1813, '16 Ti , T ^ 1808, '13 Lloyd, James j jg^o '26 Mason, Jonathan 1800, '03 Mellen, Prentiss I8I8, '20 Mills, Elijah H 1820, '27 Otis, Harrison G 1817, '22 Pickering, Timothy , 1803, '1 1 Sedgwick, Theodore 1796, '99 Silsbee, Nathaniel 1826, '35 Strong, Caleb 1789, '96 Varnum, Joseph B 1811, '17 Webster, Daniel ^ j^27, Hi Representatives, Abbott, Amos 1843, '47 Adams, Benjamin I8I6, '21 Adams, J. Q 1831, '47 Allen, Joseph 1810, '11 Allen, Samuel C 1817, '29 Ames, Fisher 1789, '97 Appleton, Nathan \ jg^^' '42 Ashmun, George 1845, '47 Bacon, Ezekiel 1807, '13 ' Bacon, John 1801, '03 Bailey, John 1823, '31 Baker, Osmyn 1840, '45 Barker, Joseph 1805, '09 Barstow, Gideon 1821, '23 Bartlett, Bailey 1797, 1801 Bates, Isaac C 1827, '36 Baylies, Francis 1821, '27 Baylies, William [f^^^ ?^ Baylies, William 1 833,' '35 Bidwell, Barnabas 1805, '07 Bigelow, Abijah 1810, '15 Bigelow, Lewis 1821, '23 Bishop, Phanuel 1799, 1807 Borden N B 5 ^^^^' '^^ rioraen,iN. J3 ^ j^^^, '43 Bourne, S 1791, '95 Bradbury, George 1813, '17 Bradbury, Theophilus 1795, '97 Brigss, George N 1831, '43 Brigham, Elijah 1811, '16 Brown, Benjamin 1815, '17 Bruce, Phineas 1803, '05 Bullock, Stephen 1797, '99 Burnell, Barker 1841, '43 Calhoun, William B 1835, '-13 Carr, Francis 1812, '13 Carr, James 1815, '17 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. 601 From Chandler, John 1805, Choate, Rufus 1831 Cobb, David 1793 Coffin, Peleg 17!)3 Conner, Samuel S 1815 Cook. Orchard 1805 Crowninshield, B. W 1823 Crowninshield, Jacob 1803 Gushing, Caleb 1835 Cushman, JoshuaP 1819 Cutler, Manasseh 1801 Cutts, Richard 1801 Dana, Samuel 1814 Davis, John 1825 Davis, Samuel 1813 Deane, Josiah 1807 Dearborn, Henry 1793 Dearborn, H. A. S 183 1 Dewey, Daniel 1813 Dexter, Samuel 1793 Dowse, Edward 1819 Dwight, Henry W 1821 Dwight, Thomas 1803 E]y,^Villiam 1805 Eustis, William < i's':>n Everett, Edward 1825 Fletcher, Richard 1837 Folger, Walter 1817 Foster, Dwight 1793 Freeman, Nathaniel 1795 Fuller, Timothy 181? Gage, Josiah 1817 Gannett, Barzillai 1809 Gardner, Gideon 1809 Gerry, Elbridge 1789 Goodhue, Benjamin 1789 C 1820! Gorham, Benjamin < 1827 ( 1833 ( 1805 Green, I. L. 1811 Grennell, Georjje, jr 1829 Grinnell, Joseph 1843 Grout, Jonathan 1789 Hastings, Seth 1801 Hastinss, William S 1837 Hill, Mark L 1819 Hoar, Samuel 1835 Hobart, Aaron 1826 Hodges, James L 1827 Holten, Samuel 1793 Holmes, John 1817 Hubbard, Levi 1813 Hudson, Charles 1841 Hulbert, John W 1814 Isley, Daniel 1807 Jackson, William 1834 Kendall, Joseph 1819 Kendall, J. G 1829 King, Cyrus 1813 Kins:, Daniel P 1843 Kinsley, Martin 1819 Larnedj Simeon 1804 To '08 '35 '95 '95 '17 '11 '31 '08 '43 '21 '05 '13 '15 '34 '15 '09 '97 '33 '14 '95 '20 '31 '05 '15 '05 '23 '35 '39 '21 '99 '99 '25 '19 '11 '11 '93 '96 '23 '31 '35 '09 '13 '39 '47 '91 '07 '42 '21 '37 '27 '31 '95 '20 '15 '43 '17 '09 '37 '21 '33 '17 '47 '21 '05 From To Lathrop, Samuel 1819, '27 Lawrence, Abbott J Jgj^ [f^ Lee, Silas 1799, 1801 Leonard, George j ^^^J ,g- Lincoln, Levi 1799, 1801 Lincoln, Levi 1834, '41 Lincoln, Enoch 1818, '21 Livermore, Edward S 1807, '11 Locke, John 1823, '29 Lyman, Samuel 1795, 1800 Lyman, William 1793, '97 Mason, Jonathan 1817, '20 Mattoon, Ebenezer 1800, '03 Mills, Elijah H 1815, '19 Mitchell, Nahum 1803, '05 Morton, Marcus 1817, '21 TVT 1 T ■ u S 1805, '07 Nelson, Jeremiah i iRi- >9q Orr, Benjamin ISh' '19 Osgood, Gayton P 1833, '35 Otis, Harrison G 1797, 1801 D 1 T S 1813, '15 Parker, James < 1819 '21 Parker, Isaac 1797^ '99 Parmenter, William 1 837, '45 Parris, A. K 1815, '18 Partridge, George 1789, '91 Phillips, Stephen C 1835, '39 Pickering, Timothy 1813, '17 Pickman, Benjamin 1809, '1 1 Quincy, Josiah 1805, '13 Read, John 1795, 1801 x> A r y. ^ 1813, '17 Reed, John ( l82l] '41 Reed, Nathan 1800^ '03 Reed, William 1811, '15 Rice, Thomas 1815, '19 Richardson, J.., 1827, '31 Richardson, W. M 1811, '14 Rockwell, Julius W 1843, '47 Ruggles, Nathaniel 1813, '19 Russell, Jonathan 1821, '23 Saltonstall, Leverett 1839, '43 Sampson, Zabdiel 1817, '20 Seaver, Ebenezer 1 803, '13 c A ■ 1 rr < 1789, '96 S^'^g^^'^^'T 1 1799; 1800 Sewall, Samuel 1796, 1800 Shaw, Henry 1817, '21 Shepard, William 1797, 1803 Sibley, Jonas 1823, '25 Silsbee, Nathaniel 1817, '21 Skinner, Thomson, jr | ^f^ ^^^ Smith, Josiah 1801, '03 Stearns, Asahel 1815, '17 Stedman, William 1803, '10 .Story, Joseph 1808, '09 Strong, Solomon 1815, '19 Taggart, Samuel 1803, '17 Tallman, Peleg 1811, '13 Thacher, George 1789, ISOl 602 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. From Thachcr, Samuel 1802, Turner, Charles 1809, Upham, Jabez 1807, Varnum, John 1825, Varnum, Joseph B 1795, Wadsworth, P 1793, Ward, Artemas 1791, Ward, Artemas 1813, Webster, Daniel 1823, Wheaton, Laban 1809, White, Leonard 1811, Whitman, h. < 1817 Widsery, William 1811,' Williams, Henry 1839, Williams, Lemuel 1799, Wilson, John ) 1817' Winthrop, Robert C < 1845* Wood, Abiel 1813^ Rhode Island. Senators.— 1790. Bradford, William 1793, Burrill, James 1817, Champlin, C. G 1809, DeWolf, James 1821, Dixon, Nathan F 1839, Ellery, Christopher 1801, Fenner, James 1805, Foster, Theodore 1790, Francis, John Brown 1844, Greene, Ray 1797, Greene, Albert C 1845, Howell, Jeremiah B 1811, Howland, Benjamin 1804, Hunter, William 1811, Knight, Nehemiah R 1821, Majbone, Francis 1809, Matthewson, Elisha 1807, Potter, Samuel J 1803, Robins, Asher 1825, Simmons, J. F 1841, Sprague, William 1842, Stanton, Joseph 1790, Representatives. — 1790. Arnold, Lemuel H 1845, Boss, John L 1815, Bourne, Benjamin 1790, Brown, John 1799, Bnrsess, Tristarn 1 825, Champlin, C. G 1797, Cranston, Robert B 1837, Cranston, Henry Y 1843, Durfee, Job 1821, Eddy, Samuel 1819, Hazard, Nathaniel 1819, Jackson, Richard S 1808, Knight, Nehemiah 1803, Malbone, Francis 1793, Mason, James B 1815, To '05 '13 '10 '31 1811 1807 '95 '17 '27 '17 '13 '11 '21 '13 '45 1805 '15 '19 '43 '47 '15 '97 '21 '11 '25 '42 '05 '07 1803 '45 1801 '51 '17 '09 '21 '41 '09 '11 '04 '39 '47 '44 '93 '47 '19 '96 1801 '35 1801 '43 '47 '25 '25 '21 '15 '08 '97 '19 From Pearce, Dutee J < , q^^' ( Jo<)4, Potter, Elisha R j | '^^^' Potter, Elisha R., jr 1843* Sprague, William, jr 1835, Stanton, Joseph 1801, Tillinghast, Joseph 1837, ( 1797 Tillinghast, Thomas > jg^J' Wilbur, Isaac 1807^ Connecticut. To '33 '37 '97 '15 '45 '37 '07 '43 '99 '03 '09 Senators. Betts, Thaddeus 1839 Boardman, Elijah 1821 Daggett, David 1813 Dana, Samuel W 1810, Edwards, H. W 1823 Ellsworth, Oliver 1789 Foot, Samuel A 1827 Goodrich, C 1807 Hillhouse, James 1796 Huntington, Jabez W .... 1840, Johnson, William S 1789 Lanman, James 1819 Mitchell, S. M 1793 Niles, John M \ ,040 Sherman, Roger 179 1 Smith, Nathan 1833 Smith, Perry 1837 Tomlinson, Gideon 183 1 Tracy, Uriah 1796 Trumbull, Jonathan 1795 Willey, Calvin 1825 Representatives. Allen, John 1797, Baldwin, John 1825, Baldwin, Simeon 1803, Barber, Noyes 1821, Boardman, William W 1841, '40 '23 '19 '21 '27 '96 '33 '13 1810 '51 '91 '25 '95 '39 '49 '93 '36 '43 '37 1807 '96 '31 '99 '29 '05 '35 '43 Brace, Jonathan 1798, 1800 Brockway, John H 1S39, '43 Burrows, Enoch 1821, '23 Catlin, George H 1843, '45 Champion, Epaphroditus 1807, '17 Coit, Joshua 1793, '98 Dana, Samuel W 1796, 1810 Davenport, James 1796, '98 Davenport, John 1799, 1817 Dixon, James 1845, '47 Dwight, Theodore 1806, '07 Edmond, V/illiam 1798, 1801 Edwards, H. W 1819, '23 Ellsworth, W. W 1829, '34 ( 1819, '21 Foot, S. A \ 1823^ '25 ( 1833, '34 Gilbert, Sylvester 1818, '19 Goddard, Calvin 1801, '05 Goodrich, C 1795, 1801 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. GO- From To Good.i^ .Clizur 1799, 1801 Grjswold, Roger 1795, 1805 Haley, Elisha 1835, '39 Hillhouse, James 1791, '96 Holmes, Uriel 1817, '18 Holt, Onin 1837, '39 Hubbard, Samuel D 1845, '47 Hunlington, B 1789, '91 Huntington, E J j^jj^' ,'Jl Huntinston, J. W 1829' '34 Ingersoll, Ralph J 1825, '33 Ingham, Samuel 1835, '39 Judson, Andrew 1835, '36 Larned, Amasa 1791, '95 Law, Lyman 1811, '17 Merwin, Orange 1825, '29 Moseley, Jonathan 1805, '21 Osborne, Thomas B 1839, '43 Perkinsj Elias 1801, '03 p^^'i'^'E Will: :io Phelps, Launcelot 1835, '39 Pitkin, Timothy 1805, '19 Plant, David 1827, '29 Rockwell, John A 1845, '47 Russ, John.., 1819, '23 Seymour, Thomas H 1843, '45 Simons, Samuel 1843, '45 Sherman, Roger 1789, '91 Sherwood, S. B I8l7, '19 Smith, John C 1800, '06 Smith, Nathaniel 1795, '99 o •„ T ^ 1839, '43 Smith, Truman ) 1845 '47 Stephens, James 1819^ '21 Sterling, Ansel 1821, '25 Stoddard, Ebenezer 1821, '25 Storrs, William L J Jggg' ,'^q Sturges, Jonathan 1789* '93 Stursres, Lewis B 1805, '17. Stewart, John 1843, '45 Swift, Zephaniah 1793, '97 Talmadge, Benjamin 1801, '17 Terrv, Nathaniel 1817, '19 Tomiinson, G 1819, '27 Toucey, Isaac 1835, '39 Tracv, Uriah 1793, '96 Trumbull, Jonathan 1789, '95 Trumbull, Joseph 1839, '43 Tweedy, Samuel 1 833, '35 Wadsworth, Jeremiah 1789, '95 Whitman, L 1823, '25 Whittlesey, Thomas T 1 836, '39 Wildman, Zalmon 1835, '36 Williams, Thomas S 1817, '19 Williams, Tliomas W 1839, '43 Young, Ebenezer 1829, '35 New York. Senalors, ^— »'.j°^" W'^i: :ii Bailey, Theodorus 1803 Burr, Aaron 1791 Clinton, DeWitt 1802 Dickinson, Daniel S 1844 Dix, John A 1845 Dudley, Charles E 1828 Foster, Henry A 1844 German, Obadiah 1809 Hobart, John S 1797 vr- T> r S 1789 King, Rulus < .Q^., Lawrence, John 1796 Marcy, William L 1 83 1 Mitchell, Samuel L 1804 Morris, Gou verneur 1 800 North, William 1798 Sanford, Nathan ^ , o.-.^ ( lo25 Schuyler, Philip 1789 Smith, John 1804 Tallmadge, Nathaniel P 1833 Van Buren, Martin 1821 Watson, John 1798 Wright, Silas 1833 Representatives. Adams, John Adams, Parmenio. Adgate, David ■ Allen, Judson Allen, Nathaniel Anderson, Joseph H Andrews, John T Angel, William G < Arnold, Benedict Ashley, Henry Avery, David < Babcock, Alfred , Babcock, William , Badger, Luther Bailey, Theodorus Baker, Caleb Barnard,D. D Barstow, Gamaliel H Barton, Samuel Beardsley, Samuel Beekman, Thomas Belden, George Benson, Egbert Benton, Charles S Bergen, John T Betts, Samuel R Bicknell, Bennet Bird, John Birdsall, James Birdsall, Samuel Birdseye, Victory Birdseye, Victory Blair, Barnard Blake, John .,.,'. ,1833 ,1823 1815 1839 1819 1843 1837 1825 1829 1829 1825 1811 1816 1841 1831 1825 1793 1799 1819 1827 1839 1831 1835 1831 1829 1827 1789 1843 1831 1815 1837 1799 1815 1837 1815 1841 1841 1805 T» '04 '97 ^03 '51 '49 '33 '45 '15 '98 '96 '25 1800 '32 '09 '03 '98 '21 '31 '91' '13 '44 '28 1800 '44 '35 '27 '17 '41 '21 '47 '39 '27 '33 '31 '27 '15 '17 '43 '33 '27 '97 1803 '21 '29 '45 '33 '37 '36 '31 '29 '93 '47 '33 '17 '39 1801 '17 '39 '17 '43 '43 '09 604 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. Bleecker, Hermanus .... Bockee, Abraham Bodle, Charles Borland, Charles Borst, Peter J Bouck, Joseph Bovee, Matthias J Bowers, John M Bowne, Samuel S Boyd, Alexander Brewster, David P Broadhead, John C Bronson, Isaac H Brooks, David Brooks, Micah Brown, Anson Brown, John W Bruyn, Andrew D. W. . . Bunner, Rudolph Cady, Daniel Cady, John W Cambreleng, Churchill C Campbell, Samuel Campbell, William W. . . Carey, Jeremiah E Carpenter, Levi D Carroll, Charles H Case, Walter Chapin, G. H Chase, Samuel , Childs, Timothy Chittenden, Thomas C. . , Clark, Archibald S , Clark, Lot , Clark, Robert Clark, Samuel Clarke, John C Clarke, Staley N Clinton, George Clinton, James G Cochran, John Colden, Cadwallader D. Collin, John F Collins, Ela Collier, John A Comstock, Oliver C Conklin?, Alfred Cook, Bates Cook, Thomas B Cooper, William Cowles, H. B Craig, Hector Cramer, John Crocheron, Henry Crocheron, Jacob Cruger, Daniel Culver, Erastus D From To .1811 , '13 1829 , '31 1833 , '37 1833 '35 1821 '23 1829 , '31 1831 '33 1835 '37 1813 '14 1841 , '43 1813 '15 1839 '43 1831 '33 1837 '39 1837 '39 1797 '99 1815 '17 1839 '40 1833 '37 1837 '39 1827, '29 1815 '17 1823 '25 1821, '39 1821 '23 1845 '47 1843 '45 1843, '45 1843 '47 1819 '21 1835 '37 1827, '29 1829, '31 1835, '39 1841, '43 1839, '43 1816 '17 1823, '25 1819, '21 1833 '35 1827, '29 1837, '43 184] '^3 1804 '09 1841 '45 1797 '99 1821 '23 1845 '47 1823 '25 1831 '33 1813 '19 1821, '23 1831, '33 1811 '13 1795 '97 1799 1801 1829 '31 1823 '25 1829 '30 1833 '37 1815 '17 1829 '31 1817 '19 1845 '47 From Curtis, Edward 1837, Cushman, John P. 1817, Dana, Amasa < isiq' Davis, Richard D 184 1' Day, Rowland < IS'^q' Dayan, Charles 183 1^ De Graff, John I \ 1837' Deitz, William 1825^ De Mott, John 1845, De Witt, Charles G 1829, De Witt, Jacob H 1819, Dickmson, J. D < , ^ny Dickson, John 1831, Doig, Andrew W 1839, Doneyelles, Peter 1813, C 183 1 Doubleday, Ulysses F < 1835' Drake, John R IS07' Dwinell, Justin 1823, Eager, S. W 1830, Earll,Nehemiah H 1839, Earll, Jonas 1827, Eaton, Lewis 1823, Edwards, John 1837, Effner, Valentine 1835, Egbert, Joseph 1841, Eilicott, Benjamin I8l7, Ellis, Cheselden 1843, Ellsworth, Samuel S 1845, Elmendorf, Lucas 1797, Ely, John 1839, Emott, James 1809, Faber,' 1828, Farlin, Dudley 1835, Fay, John 1819, Ferris, Charles G 1841, Fillmore, Millard J {^3^' Finch, Isaac 1829, Fine, John 1839, Fish, Hamilton 1843, Fisher, George 1829, Fisk, Jonathan iisn' Fitch, Asa I8I1' Floyd, Charles A 1841, Floyd, John G 1839, Floyd, William 1789, Foote, Charles A 1823, Ford, William D 1819, Fosdick, Nicoll 1825, Foster, A. Lawrence 1841, Foster, Henry A 1837, Frost, Joel 1823, Fuller, Philo C 1833, Fuller, William K 1833, Gallup, Albert 1837, Gardinier, Barent 1807, Garney, Daniel G 1825, Garrow, Nathaniel 1827, To '41 '19 '41 '45 '45 '25 '35 '33 '29 '39 '27 '47 '31 '21 '23 '31 '35 '43 '15 '33 '37 '19 '25 '31 '41 '31 '25 '43 '37 '43 '19 '45 '47 1803 '41 '13 '29 '37 '21 '43 '35 '43 '31 '41 '45 '30 '11 '15 '13 '43 '43 '91 '25 '21 '27 '43 '39 '25 '37 '37 '39 '11 '30 '29 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. 605 Gates, Selh M Gebhard, John Geddes, James Gilbert, Ezekiel Gillett, R. H Glen, Henry Goodyear, Charles Gold, Thomas R j Gordon, James Gordon, Samuel \ Granger, Francis < Grant, Abraham P Gray, Hiram Green, Byram Greig, John Grinnell, Moses H , Griswold, G ■ Gross, Ezra C ■ Grosvenor, T. P Grover, Martin Guyon, John Hackley, A Hall, George Hallock, John Halsey, Jehiel H Halsey, Nieoll Halsey, Silas Hammond, Jabez D Hand, Augustus C Hard, Gideon Harris, John Hasbrouck, Abraham Hasbrouck, A. B Hasbrouck, Josiah j Hathaway, S. G , Hathorne, John J Havens, J. N Hawkes, John Hawkins, Joseph Hayden, M Hazeltine, Abner ■ Herkimer, John Herrick, Richard P Hobbie, Selah R Hoffman, Martin Hoffman, Michael Hoffman, Ogden Hogan, William Hogeboom, J. L Holmes, Elias B Hopkins, S. M Hosmer, Hezekiah L Hough, William J Houck, Jacob, jr Howell, Edward Howell, N.W Hubbard, T.H From To 1839 , '43 1821 , '23 1813 '15 1793 '97 1833 , '37 1793 1801 1845 '47 1809 '13 1815 '17 1791 '95 1841 '43 1845 '47 1835 '37 1839 '43 1837 '39 1837 '39 1843, '45 1841 '42 1839, '41 1803 '05 1819 '21 1813, '17 1845 '47 1820 '21 1819 '21 1819 '21 1825, '29 1829 '31 1833 '35 1805 '07 1815 '17 1839, '41 1833 '37 1807 '09 1813 '15 1825 '27 1803, '05 1817, '19 1833, '35 1789, '91 1795, '97 1795, '99 1821 '23 1829, '31 1823 '27 1833, '37 1817 '19 1823 '25 1845 '47 1827 '29 1825 '29 1829, '33 1837 '41 1831, '33 1823, '25 1845 '47 1813 '15 1797 '99 1845 '47 1841 '43 1833 '35 1813 '15 1817 '19 1821; '23 From Hubbell, William S 1843 Huguenin, Daniel 1825 Hungerford, Orville 1843 Hunt, Washington 1843 Humphrey, Charles 1825 Humphreys, Reuben 1807 Hunt, Hiram P j i oon Huntington, Abel 1833 Irvine, William 1814, Jackson, Thomas B 1837 Jenkins, Lemuel 1 823 Jenkins, Timothy 1845 Jewett, I^reeborn G 1831 Johnson, Charles 1839 Johnson, Jerome 1825, Johnson, Noadiah 1833 Jones, Nathaniel 1837 Keese, Richard ', . . . .1827 Kellogg, Charles 1825 Kemble, Gouverneur 1837 Kempshall, Thomas 1839 Kent, Moss 1813 King, John 1831 King, Perkins 1829 King, Preston 1843 Kirkland, J 1821 Kirkpatrick, W 1807 Kirtland, D 1817 Knickerbacker, Herman 1809 Lansing, G. Y 1831 Lawrence, C. W 1833 Lawrence, John 1789 Lawrence, Samuel 1823 Lawrence, John W 1845 Lawyer, Thomas 1817 Lay, George W 1833 Lee, Gideon 1836 Lee, Joshua 1835 Letferts, John 1813 Lent, James W 1829 Leonard; Stephen B < ,o'„q Leonard, Moses G 1 843 Lewis, Abner. 1845 Linn, Archibald L 1841 Litchfield, Elisha 1821 Litchfield, Elisha 1823 Livingston, Edwd. 1795 Livingston, H. W 1803 Livingston, Robert L 1809 Loomis, Arphaxad 1837 Love, Thomas C 1835 (, 1813 Lovett, John. 1815 Lyman, J. S 1819 Maclay, William B 1843 Magee, John 1827 Mallory, Meredith 1839 Mann, Abijah, jr 1833 Markell, Henry 1825 Markell, Jacob 1813 Martindale, H. C . . . . . 5 1823 > 1833 To '45 '27 '47 '47 '27 '09 '37 '43 '37 '19 '41 '25 '47 '33 '41 '29 '35 '41 '29 '27 '41 '41 '17 '33 '31 '47 '23 '09 '19 '11 '37 '34 '93 '25 '47 '19 '37 '37 '37 '15 '33 '37 '41 '45 '47 '43 '23 '25 1802 '07 '12 '39 '37 '14 '17 '21 '47 '31 '41 '37 '29 '15 '31 '35 606 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. From Marvin, Dudley 1823, Marvin, Richard P 1837, Mason, William 1835, Masters, Josiah 1805, Mattliews, Vincent 1809, Maxwell, Thomas 1829, Maynard, John j jg^^ ' M'Carty, Richard 1821^ M'Clellan, Robert 5 184l' MX'ord, Andrew 1803^ M'Keon, John < isii' M'Manus, William 1825,' M'Vean, Charles 1833, Meigs, Henry 1819, Metealf, Arunah 1811, Miller, John 1825, Miller, M. S 1813, Miller, William S 1845, Mitchell, Charles F 1837, Mitchell, Henry 1833, Mitchill, Samuel L i JgJJ' Moffet, Hosea 1813*, Monroe, James 1839, Montanya, J. L. D 1839, Moore, Ely 1835, Morgan, Christopher 1839, Morgan, John J 1821, Morrell, Robert < lonq' Morris, Thomas 1801, Moseley, William A 1843, Mumford, Gurdon S 1805, Murphy, Henry C 1843, Nicholson, John 1809, Niven, Archibald C 1845, Noble, William H 1837, Norton, Ebenezer F 1829, 0^^leY,T.J \\ll^l Ogden, David A 1817, Oliver, William M 1841, Page, Sherman 1833, Palen, Rufus 1839, Palmer, Beriah 1803, Palmer, John 1817, Palmer, John 1837, Parker, Amasa J » 1837, Partridge, Samuel 1841, Patterson, John 1803, Patterson, Walter. . . . = 1821, Patterson, William 1837, Patterson, Thomas J 1843, Paulding, William 181 1, Peck, Luther C 1837, Peek,H 1819, Pendleton, Edmund H 1831, Phelps, Oliver 1803, Phosnix, J. Philips 1843, Pierson, Jeremiah H 1821, PiersoHj Job 1831, To '29 '41 '37 '09 '11 '31 '29 '43 '23 '39 '43 '05 '37 '43 '27 '35 '21 '13 '27 '15 '47 '41 '35 '04 '13 '17 '41 '41 '39 '43 '25 '21 '31 '03 '47 '11 '45 '11 '47 '39 '31 '15 '29 '19 '43 '37 '41 '05 '19 '39 '39 '43 '05 '23 '39 '45 '13 '41 '21 '33 '05 '45 '23 »35 From Pitcher, Nathaniel j J^J^' Piatt, Jonas 1799', Pond, Benjamin 1811, Post, Jotham 1813, Porter, James 1817, Porter P B ^ ^^^^' Porter, Timothy H 1825, Powers, Gershom 1829, Pratt, Zadock j jg^j^' Prentiss, John H 1837, Purdy, Smith M 1843, Rathbun, George 1843, Reed, Edward C 1831, Reynolds, Joseph 1835, Richards, John 1823, Richmond, Jonathan 1819, Riggs, Lewis 1841, Riker, Samuel < iso?' Rochester, "William B 1821, Robinson, Orville 1843, Rogers, Edward 1839, Rogers, Charles 1843, Roosevelt, James 1 1841, ri803, I 1809, Root, Erastus { 1812, j 1815, (1831, Rose, Roberts > 1829 Ross, Henry H 1825^ Rugsjles, Charles H 1821, Russell, David 1835, Russell, John 1805, Russell, Jeremiah 1843, Russell, Joseph 1845, Sage, Ebenezer < 1819 Sailly, Peter I8O4' Sammons, Thomas < , gQg' Sands, Joshua > ] 8''5' Sandford, Jonah 1830, Sandford, John 1841, Savage, John < 1815, Schenck, Abraham H 1815, Schoonmaker, C. C 1791, Schureman, Martin G 1805, Schuy]er,J 1817, Scudder, Treadwell 1817, Seaman, Henry 1 1845, Selden, Dudley 1833, Seymour, William 1835, Seymour, David L 1843, Sharpe, Peter 1823, Sherwood, Samuel 1813, Shipherd, ZebulonR 1813, Sibley, Mark H 1837, Sickles, Nicholas 1835, To '23 '33 1801 '13 '15 '19 '13 '16 '27 '31 '39 '45 '41 '45 '47 '33 '37 '25 '21 '43 '05 '09 '23 '45 '41 '45 '43 '05 '11 '13 '17 '33 '27 '31 '27 '23 '41 '09 '45 '47 '15 '20 '07 '07 '13 '04 '27 '31 '43 '19 '17 '93 '07 '19 '19 '47 '35 '37 '45 '25 '15 '15 '39 '37 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. 607 Silvester, Peter Smith, John Smith, William S Smith, Albert Soule, Nathan , Spencer, Ambrose Spencer, Elijah Spencer, James B , Spencer, John C Sterling, Micah Stetson, Lemuel Storrs, H. R ■ Stow, Silas Stower, John G Street, Randall S Strong, James Strong, Theron R Strong, Selah B Strong, Stephen Swart, Peter Talbot, Silas Tallmadge, James Taylor, J. W Taylor, William TenEyck,E Thomas, David Thompson, Joel Thompson, John Throop, Enos T Tibbets, George Titus, Obadiah Tomlinson, Thomas A. . . . Tompkins, Caleb Townsend, George Tracy, Albert H Tracy, Phineas L Tracy, Uri Treadwell, T Turrell, Joel Tyler, Asher Tyson, Jacob Vail, Henry Van Allen, James I Van Allen, John E Van Buren, John Van Cortlandt, Philip Van Cortlandt, Pierre Vanderpoel, Aaron Vanderveer, Abraham. ... Van Gaasbeck, Peter Van Hoiiton, Isaac Van Ness, John P Van Rensselaer H Van Rensselaer, J Van Rensselaer, KillianK. Van Rensselaei", Solomon. . Van Rensselaer, Stephen . • Van Wyck, William Verplanck, Daniel C I From Verplanck, Gulian C 1825 Wagner, Peter J 1839 W^alker, Benjamin 1801 Walworth, Reuben H 1821 ( 1825 Ward, Aaron < 1831 ( 1841 Ward, Jonathan 1815 Wardwell, Daniel 1831 Watts, John 1793 Wendover, Peter H 1815 Westerloj Rensselaer 1817 Whallon, Reuben 1833 Wheaton, Horace 1843 Wheeler, Grattan H 1831 White, Bartow 1825 White, Campbell P 1829 White, Hugh 1845' Whittemore, Elisha 1825 Whittlesey, F 1831 Wickes, Eliphalet 1805 Wilkin, James W 1815 Wilkin, Samuel 1 1831 C 1814 Williams, Isaac < 1817 ( 1823 Williams, John 1795 Williams, Nathan 1805 Willough'by, Westel 1816! Wilson, N 1808 Winter, Elisha J 1813 Wood, Fernando 1841 Wood, John J 1827 Wood, Silas 1819 Wood, Bradford R 1 845! < 1821 Woodcock, David. 1827 Woodruff, Thomas M 1845 Woods, William 1823 Wood worth, William W 1845 Wright, Silas 1827 Yates, John B 1815 Young, John 1841 To '33 '41 '03 '23 '29 '37 '43 '17 '37 '95 '21 '19 '35 '47 '33 '27 '35 '47 '27 '35 '07 '19 '33 '15 '19 '25 '99 '07 '17 '09 '15 '43 '29 '29 '47 '23 '29 '47 '25 '47 '29 '17 '43 New Jersey. Senators. Bateman Ephraim 1826, '29 Condit, John 1803, '17 Davenport, Franklin 1798, '99 Dayton, Jonathan 1799, 1805 Dayton, William L 1842, '51 Dickerson, Mahlon 1817, '33 Dickerson, Philemon 1790, '93 Elmer, Jonathan 1789, '91 Frelinghuysen F 1793, '96 Frelinghuysen, Theodore 1 829, '35 Kjtchell, Aaron 1805, '09 Lambert, John 1809, '15 Miller, Jacob W 1841, '47 M'llvaine, James 1823, '26 Ogden, Aaron 1801, '03 Patterson, William 1789, '90 Rutherford, John 1791, '98 608 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. Schureman, James. Southard, Samuel L Stockton, R Wall, Garrett D Wilson, James J Representatives. Aycrigg, John B . • , Baker, Ezra Bateman, Ephraim. Beatty, John Bennett, Benjamin. Bines, Thomas. . . . Bloomfield, Joseph. Boudinot, Elias. . . . Boyd, Adam CaSwallader, Lambert. Cassady, George Clark, Abraham Condit, John Condit, Lewis Condit, Silas 1837, 1841, .1815, .1815, .1793, ,1815, 1814, 1819, 1817, 1789, 1803, 1808, 1789, 1793, 1821, ,1791, 1799, 1803 1819, '20 '39 '43 '17 '23 '95 '19 '15 '20 '21 '95 '05 '13 '91 '95 '27 '94 Cooper, Richard M. . Cooper, AV. R Cox, James Cox, William Darby, Ezra Davenport, Franklin. Dayton, Jonathan. . . , Dickerson, Philemon. Edsall, Joseph , Elmer, Ebenezer. . . . . Elmer, Lucius Q. C. Farlee, Isaac G Fowler, Samuel , Garrison, Daniel Halstead, William . . . . Hampton, James G... Helms, William Henderson, Thomas.. . Holcombe, G. E Hufiy, Jacob Hughes, Thomas H. . . Itnley, James H. . ., . . Kille, Joseph Kinsey, Charles Kirkpatrick, Littleton. From To i From 1799, 1801 I Matlack, James J821, Maxwell, George C 1811, Maxwell, J. P. B \ ]^^J' ( lo41, Morgan, James 181], Mott. James 1801, Newbold, Thomas 1807, Parker, James 1833, Pierson, Isaac 1827, Randolph, James F 1828, Randolph, Joseph F 1737, Runk, John 1845, Ryall, D. B 1839, Schenck, F. S 1833, C 1789, Schureman, James < 1797, ( 1813, Shinn, William N 1833, Sinnickson, Thomas 1 1797' Sinnickson, Thomas 1828, Sloan, James 1803, Smith, Barnard 1819, Smith, Isaac 1795, Southard, Henry ) 1815' Southard, Isaac 183 1' Stockton, Richard 1813, Stratton, Charles C ) I84l' Swan, Samuel 1821, Sykes, Georsre 1843, Thompson, Hedge 1 827, Thompson, Mark 1795, Tucker, Ebenezer 1825, Vroom, Peter D 1839, Ward, Thomas 1813, Wright, Samuel G 1845, Wright, William 1843, 5 1837, I 1841, 1811, 1821, 1831, 1829, ,1839, ,1809, 1813, 1806, 1799, 1801 1791, '99 Kitchell, Aaron. Lambert, John. Lee, Thomas... Linn, James . . Linn, John. ... 1833, 1839, 1845, 1801, .1843, 1843, ,1833, 1823, 1837, 1841, 1845, 1801, 1795, 1821, 1809, 1829, 1797, 1801 1839, '41 1817, 1820, 1843, 1791, 1794, 1799, 1801 1805, '09 1833, '37 1799, 1801 Yorke, Thomas Jones. To '25 '13 '39 '43 '13 '05 '13 '37 '31 '33 '43 '47 '41 '37 '91 '99 '15 '37 '91 '99 '29 '09 '21 '97 '11 '21 '33 '15 '39 '43 '31 '47 '28 '99 '29 '41 '17 '46 '47 '39 '43 Pennsylvania. Senators. Barnard, Isaac D 1827, '31 Binsrham, William 1795, 1801 Buchanan, James 1835, '45 Cameron, Simon 1845, '49 Dallas, Georse M 1831, '33 Findlay, William 1 821, '27 Gallatin, Albert 1793, '94 Gre??, Andrew 1807, '13 Lacock, Abner 1813, '19 Leib, Michael 1808, '14 Losan, George 1801, '07 Lowrie, Walter 1819, '25 Maclay, Samuel 1803, '08 Maclay, William 1789, '91 Marks, William 1825, '31 M'Kean, Samuel 1834, '39 Morris, Robert 1789, '95 Muhlenbcr?, Peter 1801, '01 Roberts, Jonathan 1814, '21 1817, '21 ! Ross, James 1794, 1803 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. 609 From To Stnrceon, Daniel 1840, '51 Wilkins William 1831, '34 Representatives. — 1790. Adams, William 1825, '29 Allison, James 1823, '25 Allison, Robert 183 1, '33 Anderson, Isaac 1803, '07 Anderson, Samuel 1 827, '29 Anderson, William j j^J^' ,' j^ Anthony, J. B 1833' '37 Armstron?, James 1793, '95 Ash, Michael W 1835, '37 Baldwin, Henry 1817, '22 Banks, John 1831, '36 n A T, A S 1795, '99 Bard, David J ^3^3^ ,J5 Barlow, Thomas 1827, '29 Barnitz, Charles A 1833, '35 Beatty, William 1837, '41 Beaumont, Andrew 1833, '37 Beeson, Henry W 1841, '43 Biddle, Richard 1837, '41 Bidlack, Benjamin A 1841, '45 Binney, Horace 1833, '35 Black, James 1843, '47 Blanchard, James 1845, '47 Boden, Andrew 1817, '21 Boude, Thomas IfiOl, '03 Breck, Samuel 1823, '25 Brodhead, Richard, jr 1843, '47 Brown, Charles 1841, '43 Brown, Jeremiah 1841, '45 Brown, John 1821, '25 Brown, Robert ...1798, 1815 Buchanan, Andrew 1835, '39 Buchanan, James 1821, '31 Bucker, John C 1831, '33 Buffinijton, Joseph 1 843, '47 BuTd, George 1831, '35 Eurnside, Thomas 1815, '16 Campboll, John H .'1845, '47 Chambers, George 1833, '37 Chapman, John 1797, '99 Clark, M. S 1820, '21 Clark, William 1833, '37 I Clay, Joseph 1803, '08 Clymer, George 1789, '91 Conrad, Frederick 1803, '07 Conrad, John 1813, '15 , Cooper, James 1839, '43 Coulter, Richard 1827, '35 Crawford, Thomas H 1829, '33 Crawford, William 1809, '17 Crouch, Edward ....1813, '15 Darlington, Edward 1833, '39 Darlington, Isaac 1817, '19 Darlington, William < 18 Ip' '23 Darragh, Cornelius 1843, '47 Davies, Edward 1837, '41 Davis, John 1839, '41 Davis, Roger 1811, '15 39 From To Dennison, George . 1819, '23 Denny, Harmar....' 1829, '37 Dewart, Lewis 1831, '33 Dickey, John 1843, '45 Dimock, Davis, jr 1841, '42 Edwards, John 1839, '43 Edwards, Samuel 1819, '27 Ege, Geor-e 1796, '97 Ellis, William C 1823, '25 Erdman, Jacob 1845, '47 Evans, Joshua 1829, '33 Ewing, John H 1845, '47 Farelly, Patrick 1821, '26 Findlay, John 1822, '27 Findlay, William 1791, '99 Findley, William 1803, '17 Fitzsimmons, Thomas 1789, '95 Ford, James 1829, '33 Fornance, .Toseph 1839, '43 Forrest, Thomas ^ J^^^| '^^ Forward, Chauncey 1825', '31 Forward, Walter 1822, '25 Foster, Henry D 1843, '47 Frey, Joseph 1827, '31 Fry, Jacob, jr 1835, '39 Fuller, Gcor?e 1843, '45 Fullerton, David 1819, '20 Galbraith,John ^839* '4^ Gallatin, Albert 1795' 1801 Garven, William S 1845, '47 Gerry, James 1839, '43 Gilmore, John .-.1829, '33 Glasgow, Hugh 1813, '17 Green, Innis , .'...1827, '31 Gresra:, Andrew 1791, 1807 GritUn, Isaac 1813, '17 Gross, Samuel 1819, '23 Gustine, Amos 1841, '43 Halm, John 1815, '17 Hamilton, John 1805, '07 Hammond, Robert H 1837, '41 Hanna, John A 1797, 1805 Harper, James 1833, '37 Harris, Robert , 1823, '27 Harrison, S. S 1833, '37 Hartlev, Thomas 1789, 1800 Hays, Samuel 1843, '45 Heister, Daniel 1789, '96 Heistcr, Daniel 1809, '1 1 Heister, John 1807, '09 Heistcr, Joseph | Is^s'/^'OQ Heister, William 183 !,' '37 ( 1801, '03 Hemphill, Joseph ? 1819, '27 ( 1829, '31 Henderson, Joseph 1833, '37 Henderson, Samuel 1814, '15 Henry, Thomas 1837, '43 Hibshman, Jacob.... 1819, '21 Hill, Thomas 1824, '26 Hoge, John 1804, '05 610 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. Hoge, William < Hook, Enos Hopkinson, Joseph Horn, Henry Hosteler, Jacob Hubley, Edward B Humphreys, Jacob Hyneman, John M Ihrie, Peter Ingersoll, Charles J < Ingersoll, Joseph R < Ingham, Samuel D < Irvin, James Irvine, William Irwin, Jared Irwin, Thomas Irwin, William W Jack, William Jacobs, Israel James, Francis Jenkins, Robert Jenks, Michael H Jones, William Keim, George M Kelly, James King, Adam King, Henry Kittera, John W Kittera, Thomas Klingensmith, John, jr Krebs, Jacob Kremer, George Lacock, Abner Laporte, John Lawrence, Joseph < Leet, Isaac Lefevre, Joseph Leib, Michael Leib, Owen D Leiper, George G Levin, Lewis C Logan, Henry Lower, Christian Lucas, John B Lyle, Aaron Maclay, Samuel Maclay, William < Maclay, William P Mann, Job Mann, Joel K Marchand, A. G Marchand, David Markley, Philip S Marr, Alem M'Clenachan, Blair M'Clean, Moses M'Coy, Robert , M'Creedy, William From To 1801 '04 1807 '09 1839 '41 1815 '19 1831 '33 1819 '21 1835 '39 1819 '20 1811 '13 1829 '33 1813 '15 1841 '47 1835 '37 1842 '47 1813 '18 1822 '29 1841 '45 1793 '95 1813 '17 1829 '31 1841 '43 1841 '43 1791 '93 1839 "43 1807 '11 1843, '45 1801, •03 1838 '43 1805, '09 1827, '33 1831 '35 1791, 1801 j 1826, '27 1835, '39 1826, '27 1 1823, '29! 1811, '13 1833, '37 1825, '29 1841, '43 1829, '31 1811, '13 1799, 1806 1845, '47 1 1829 '31 1845, '47 1835, '39 1805, '07 1803, '05 1809, '17 1795 '97 1815, '16 1817, '19 1816, '21 1835 '37 1831 '35 1839 '43 1817 '21 1823 '27 1829 '31 1797 '99 1845 '47 1831 '33 1829, '31 From M'Culloch, George 1840, M'Cullough, Thomas G 1820, M-Ilvaine, Abraham R 1843, M'Kean, Samuel 1823, M'Kennan, Thomas M. T. . j Jg^2' M'Sherry, James 1821, Miller, Daniel H 1823, Miller, Jesse 1833, Milnor, James 1811, C 1807, Milnor, William { 1815, ( 1821, Miner, Charles 1825, Mitchell, James S 1821, Mitchell, John 1825, Montgomery, Daniel 1 807, Montgomery, William 1793, Moore, Robert 18 17, Moore, Samuel 1819, Morris, Matthias 1835, Morris, Samuel W 1837, Morris, Edward J 1843, Muhlenberg, Frederick A. ... 1789, Muhlenberg, Henry A 1829, C 1789, Muhlenberg, Peter { 1793, ( 1799, Murray, John 1817, Murray, Thomas 1821, Nay lor, Charles 1837, Nes, Henry 1843, Newhard, Peter 1839, Ogle, Alexander 1817, Ogle, Charles 1837, Orr, Robert 1825, Paterson, Thomas 1817, Paulding, Levi 1817, Paynter, Lemuel 1 837, Petriken, David 1837, Phillips, John 1821, Philson, Robert 1819, Piper, William 1811, Plumer, Arnold j Jg^'J' Plumer, George 182]' Pollock, James 1843, Porter, John 1806, Potter, William W 1837, Potts, David, jr ' 1831, Pugh, John 1805, Ramsay, Robert ) l84l' Ramsay, William 1827, Ramsay, William S 1839, Ramsey, Alexander 1843, I^^^'Jo^" Jl8l3| Read, Almon H 1842, Reed, Charles M 1843, Reily, Luther 1837, Richards, Jacob 1803, Richards, John 1795, Richards, Matthias 1807, To '41 '22 '47 '29 '39 '43 '23 '31 '37 '13 '11 '17 '22 '29 '27 '29 '09 '95 '21 '22 '39 '41 '45 '97 '38 '91 '95 1801 '21 '23 '41 '45 '43 '19 '41 '29 '25 '19 '41 '41 '23 '21 '17 '39 '43 '27 '47 '11 '40 '39 '09 '35 '43 '31 '41 '47 'U '15 '43 '45 '39 '09 '97 '11 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. 611 From Hitter, John 1843, Roberts, Jonathan I8l], Rodman, William 1811, Rogers, Thomas 1 1818, Ross, John 5 J^09, Russell, James M 1842, Say, Benjamin 1808, Scott, John 1829, Scott, Thomas j j^^^^' Sergeant, J | j^^^' Sergeant, John 1837, Seybert, Adam 5 J^';'^' ( ioll, Sheffer, Daniel 1837, Sill, Thomas H 1829, Simonton, William 1839, Sitgreaves, Samuel 1795, Slaymaker, Amos 1814, Smilie, John ^ ^^^^' To M7 '14 '13 '24 '11 '18 '43 '09 '31 '91 '95 '23 '29 '42 '15 '19 '39 '31 '43 '98 '15 '95 1799, 1813 Smith, George 1809, '13 Smith, Isaac 1813, '15 Smith, Samuel 1805, '09 Smith, Samuel A 1829, '33 Smith, Thomas 1815, '17 Smith, John T 1843, '45 Snyder, John 1841, '43 Spangler, Jacob 1817, '18 Stephens, Philander 1829, '33 Stephenson, James S 1825, '29 Sterigere, John B 1827, '3 1 C 1821, '29 Stewart, Andrew ■? 1831, '35 ( 1843, '47 Stewart, John 1800, '05 Strohm, John 1845, '47 Sutherland, Joel B 1827, '37 Swan wick, John 1795, '98 Tannehill, Adamson 1813, '15 Tarr, Christian ^ ]8''o' '21 Thomas, Richard 1795, 1801 Thompson, Alexander 1824, Thompson, James 1845, Tod, John 1821, Toland, George W 1837, ( 1813, '26 '47 '24 '43 '15 '21 '25 '29 '05 '41 '21 Wain, Robert 1798, 1801 Udree, Daniel { 1820, I 1822, Van Home, Espy 1825, Van Home, Isaac 1801, Wasener, D. D 1833, Wallace, James M 1815, Watmoush, John G 1831, '35 Wayne, Isaac 1823, '25 Westbrook, John 1841, '43 Whitehill, James 1813, '14 Whitehill, John 1803, '07 Whitehill, Robert 1805, '13 Whiteside, John 1815, '19 From To Wilmot, David 1845 '47 Wilson, Henry 1823 '26 Wilson, James 1823, '28' Wilson, Thomas 1813, '17 Wilson, William 1814, '19 Wolf, George 1824, '29 Woods, Henry 1790, 1803 Woods, John 1815, '17 Wormon, Ludwig 1820, '22 Wurtz, John 1825, '27 Wynkoop, Henry 1789, '91 Yost, Jacob S 1843, '47 Delaware. Senators. Bassett, Richard 1789, '93 Bayard, James A 1804, '13 Bayard, Richard H ^ !o^^' ?t ( 1841, 45 Clayton, John M 5 ^^29, '3T ^ ' I 1845, '51 Clayton, Joshua 1798, '99 Clayton, Thomas 1823, '26 Clayton, Thomas 1837, '47 Horsey, Outerbridge 1810, '21 Johns, Kensey 1794, '95 Lattimer, Henry 1795, 1801 M'Lane, Louis 1827, '29 Naudain, Arnold 1 829, '36 Read, George 1789, '93 Ridgeley, Henry M 1826, '29 Rodney, Caesar A 1821 '23 Rodney, Daniel 1826' '27 Van Dyke, N 1817, '26 Vining, John 1793^ jgg Willes, William H \ J^^^, 1804 ( 1813, '17 White, Samuel 1801, '10 Representatives. ayard, James A. 1797, 1803 '07 '17 '17 '21 '47 '31 '95 '27 '39 '93 '97 '15 '41 '05 '22 '23 '45 '11 '92 Broome, James M 1805, Clayton, Thomas. . . . ,. 1815, Cooper, Thomas 1813, Hal], Willard 1817, Houston, John W 1845, Johns, Kensey 1827, Lattimer, Henry 1793, M'Lane, Louis 1817, Milligan, John J .'..1831, Paton, John < 1792, ( 1795, Ridgeley, Henry M 1811, Robinson, Thomas 1839, Rodney, Caesar A 5 ]^^^> ( 1821, Rodney, Daniel 1822, Rodney, George B 1841, Van Dyke, N 1807, Vining, John 1789, Maryland. Senators. Carroll, Charles 1789, Chambers, Ezekiel F. = 1826, '92 '35 612 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS- From Goldsborough, Robert H 1813, Goldsborough, Robert H 1835, Hanson, Alexander C 1816, Harper, Robert G 1815, Henry, John 1789, Hindman, William 1800, Howard, John E 1796, Johnson, Reverdy 1845, Kent, Joseph 1833, Kerr, John L 1841, Lloyd, Edward 1819, Lloyd, James 1797, Merrick, William D 1838, Pearce, James A 1843, Pinkney, William 1819, Potts, Richard 1792, Reed, Philip 1806, Smith, Samuel J J^^^' Spcnce, John S 1837', Wright, Robert iSOl, Representatives. Archer, John.. 1801, ^-'^-'S \ml: Baer, George | J^^J' Barney, John 1825, Bayley, Thomas 1817, Bowie, AValter 1802, Brangle, Francis 1843, Brown, Elias 1R29, Brown, John 1809> Campbell, John 1801, Carmichael, R. B 1833, Carroll, Daniel 1789, Carroll, James 1839, Causin, John M. S 1843, Chapman, John G 1845, f 1793 Christie, Gabriel j 1799' Constable, Albert 1845, Contee, Benjamin 1789, Covington, Leonard 1805, Crabb, Jeremiah 1795, Craik, William 1796, Culbreth, Thomas 1817, Dennis, John. 1797, Dennis, John 1837, Dennis, L. P 1833, Dent, George 1793, Dorsey, Clement 1825, Duvall, Gabriel 1794, Edwards, Benjamin 1794, Forrest, Uriah 1793, Gale, George 1789, Gale, Levin 1827, Giles, William F 184.5, Goldsborough, C. W 1805, Hanson, Alexander C 1813, Hayward, William 1823, Heath, James P 1833, Heister, Daaiel 1801, To '19 '37 '19 '16 '97 '01 1803 '51 '38 '43 '26 1800 '45 '49 '22 '96 '13 '15 '33 '41 '06 '07 '17 '21 '01 '17 '29 '23 '05 '45 '31 '10 '11 '35 '91 '41 '45 '47 '97 1801 '47 '91 '07 '96 180] '21 1805 '41 '35 1801 '31 '96 '95 '94 '91 '29 '47 '17 '16 '25 '35 '04, From To Herbert, John C 1815, '19 Hillen, Solomon, jr 1839, '41 Hindman, William 1792 '99 Howard, Benjamin C ^ Ion?' '^^ ' ^ 1835, '39 Jenifer, Daniel J {gj. ',33 Johnson, William C j ] ^33, |35 Jones, Isaac D 1841, '43 Kennedy, John P | jg8, ;39 K-^'J'^-P^ Iml: '26 Kerr, John L \]^ If^ Key, Philip 179l', '93 Key, Philip B 1807, '13 Lee, John 1823, '25 Ligon, Thomas W 1845, '47 Little Peter ^ 1811, '13 Inline, feier ^ ^^^^^ ,^9 Lloyd, Edward 1806, '09 Long, Edward 1S45, '47 Masruder, Patrick 1805, '07 Martin, Robert N 1S25, '27 Mason, John T 1841, '43 Matthews, William 1797, '99 M'Creary, William 1803, '09 M'Kim, Alexander 1809, '15 Mliim, Isaac ^ ^^3^^ ,^^ Mercer, John F 1792, '94 Mitchell, George E | J^~^^ ,|^ Montgomery, John 1807, '1 1 Moore, Nicolas R \ 11^,1' ',]l ' ( 1813, '16 Neall, Raphael 1819, '25 Nelson, John 1821, '23 Nelson, Roser 1804, '10 Nicholson, Joseph H 1799, 1806 Pearce,JamesA \\lf^'^ l^ Perry, Thomas 1845, '47 Peter, George i 1825,' '27 Pinkney, William 179 1', '92 Pinkney, William 1815, '16 Plater, Thomas 1801, '05 Preston, Jacob A 1843, '45 Randall, Alexander 1841, '43 Tj 1 T)i,r ^ 1817, '19 Reed, Phihp J jg2l| '23 Ringgold, Samuel, J 18 !?' '21 Semmes, Benedict J 1829, '33 Senoy, Joshua 1789, '92 Sheredine, Upton 179 1, '92 o -.u Q , < 1793, 1803 Smith, bamnel ) 18I6 '22 Smith, William 1789' '91 Sollers, Ausnstus R 1841, '43 Spence, Thomas A 1843, M5 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. 613 Spence, John S Spencer, Richard Sprigg-, Michael C Sprigg, Richard Sprigg, Thomas Steele, John N Sterrett, Samuel Stoddard, J. T Stone, Michael Strudwick, William E. Stuart, Philip ■ Thomas, Francis Thomas, John C Thomas, Philip F , Turner, James ■ Van Home, Archibald., Vans, William Mun-ay Warfield, Henry R Washington, George C . . . , W^ecms, John C W^ethered, John Williams, James W Wilson, E. K Worthington, J. T. H.... Worthington, Thomas C . . . Wright, Robert Virginia. Senators. From 1823 1831 .1829 .1827 1796 1801 .1793 ,1835 .1791 ,1833 .1789 . 1796 .1811 ,1831 . 1799 ,1839 ,1833 ,1807 ,1791 .1819 1827 1835 ,1826 ,1843 ,1841 ,1827 1831 1837 ,1825, 1810 1821 To '25 '33 '31 '31 '99 '02 '96 '•37 '93 '35 '91 '97 '19 '41 1801 '41 '37 '11 '97 '25 '33 '37 '29 '45 '43 '31 '33 '41 '27 '17 '23 Archer, William S Barbour, James Brent, Richard Eppes, John W Giles, William B Gray.son, William Lee, Richard H Leigh, Benjamin W Mason, Armisted C Mason, Stevens T Monroe, James Moore, Andrew Nicholas, Wilson C. Penny backer, Isaac S Pleasants, James Randolph, John Rives, William C Roane, William H Taylor, John. Tazewell, Henry Tazewell, Littleton W Tyler, John Vennble, Abraham B Wiilker, John Representatives. Alexander, Mark Allen, John J Allen, Robert Archer, William S Armstrong, William Atchinson, Archibald Austin Archibald Baker, John Ball, William L Banks, Linn Barbour, John S Barbour, Philip P \ Barton, Richard W Bassett, Burwell < Bayley, Thomas M Bayley, Thomas H Beale, James M. H Bedinger, Henry Beirne, Andrew Bland, Theodore Botts, John M Bouldin, James W Bouldin, Thomas T Breckenridge, James Brent, Richard Browne, John Brown, William G Burwell, William A Cabell, Samuel J Caperton, Hugh Carey, George B Chinn, Joseph W Chapman, Augustus A. . Chilton, Samuel Chinn, Joseph W Claiborne, John Claiborne, Nathaniel H. . Claiborne, Thomas Clark, Christopher Clay, Matthew Clopton, John Coke, Richard Coles, Isaac Coles, Walter Colston, Edward Craig. Robert Crump, John Davenport, Thomas Dawson, John Doddridge, Philip Draper, Joseph Dromgoole, George C . . . From To 1819 '33 1833 '35 1827 •'33 1820 '35 1825 '33 1843 '47 1817 '19 1811 '13 1817 '24 1838 '42 1823 '33 1814 '25 1827 '30 1841 '43 1805 '13 1815 '19 1821 '31 1813 '15 1843 '47 1833 '37 1845 '47 1837 '41 1789 '90 1839 '43 1833 , '39 1829 '33 1809 , '17 1795 '99 1801 '03 1789 '92 1845 '47 1806 '21 1795 1803 1813 '15 1841 '43 1831 '35 1843 '47 1843 '45 1831 '35 1805 'OS 1825 '37 1793 '99 1801 '05 1804 '06 1797 1813 1795 '99 1801 '16 1829 '33 1789 '91 1793 '97 1835 '45 1817 '19 1829 '33 1835 '41 1826 '27 1825 '35 1797 1814 1829, '32 1830 '31 1832, '33 1835, '41 1843, '47 614 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. From Eggleston, John 1798, Eppes, John W > iSls' Estill, Benjamin 1825 Evans, Thomas 1797 Floyd, John 1817 Fulton, John H 1833 Garland, David S 1809 Garland, James 1835 Garnett, James M 1805 Garnett, Robert S 1817 Gholson, J. H 1833 Gholson, Thomas 1808 Giles, William B < „„ Gilmer, Thomas W 1841 Gogsin, William L 1839 Goode, Samuel 1799 Goode,W. O 1841 Goodwin, Peterson 1803 Gordon, William F 1829 Gray, Edwin 1799 Grav, John C 1820 Griffin, Samuel 1789 Griffin, Thomas 1803 Hancock, George 1793 Harris, William A 1841 Harrison, Carter B 1793 Hawes, Aylett 1811 Hayes, Samuel 1841 Heath, John 1793 Hill, John 1839 Holleman, Joel 1839, Holmes, David 1797 Hopkins, George W 1835' Hubard, Edmund W 184 1 Hungerford, John P 1813 < 1837 Hunter, R. M. T. 1845 Jackson, Edward B 1820 C 1795 Jackson, John George < 179P ( 1813 Johnson, James 18 13 C 1823 Johnson, Joseph < 1835 ( 1845 Johnson, Charles C 183 1 Jones, James 1819 Jones, John W 1835 Jones, Walter j ^ oX„ Kerr, John 1813 Leake, Shelton F 1845 Lee, Henry 1799 Lee, Richard Bland 1789^ Leffler, Isaac 1827 Leftwich, Jabez 1821 Lewis, Joseph 1803 Lewis, William J 1817 Love, John 1807 Loyall, George 1831 Lucas, Edward 1833 To 1801 '11 '15 '27 1801 '29 '35 '11 '41 '09 '27 '35 '16 '98 '02 '43 '45 1801 '43 '18 '35 1813 '21 '95 '05 '97 '43 '99 '17 '43 '97 '41 '41 1809 '47 '47 '17 '43 '47 '23 '97 1810 '17 '20 '27 '41 '47 '32 '23 '45 '99 '11 '17 '47 1801 '95 '29 '25 '17 '19 '11 '37 '37 From To Lucas, William 5 ]l^.^> '-ji ' ( 1843, '4o Machir, James 1797, '99 Madison, James 1789, '97 Mallory, Francis J jg]^ '^^ Marshall, John 1799* 1800 Mason, James M 1837, '39 Mason, John Y 1831, '37 Max well, Lewis 1 827, '33 M'Carty, William M 1840, '41 M'Comas, William 1833, '37 M'Coy, William 1811, '33 M'Kinley, William 1810, '11 Mercer, Charles F 18 17, '40 Moore, Andrew < iSi)"?' '04. Moore, S. M'D 1833^ '35 Moore, Thomas L 1820, '23 Morgan, Daniel 1797, '99 Morgan, William S 1835, '39 Morrow, John 1805, '09 Nelson, Hugh 1811, '23 Nelson, Thomas M 1816, '19 Nevel, Joseph 1793, '95 New, Anthony 1793, 1805 Newton, Thomas 1 1831' '33 Newton, Willoughby " 1843*, '45 Nicholas, Wilson C 1807, '09 Nicholas, John 1793, 1801 Page, John 1789, '97 Pas:e, Robert 1799, ISOI Parker, Josiah 1789, 180] Parker, Severn E I8l9, '21 Patton, John M 1830, '38 Pegram, John 1818, '19 Pendleton, John S 1845, '47 Pennybacker, Isaac S 1837, '39 Pindall, James 1817, '20 Pleasants, James 1811, '19 Powell, Alfred H 1825, '27 Powell, Cuthbert 1841, '43 Powell, Levin 1799, 1801 Preston, Francis 1 793, '97 ri799, 1813 Randolph, John j J^J^| !^^ [l827^ '29 Randolph, Thomas M 1803, '07 Rives. Francis E 1837, '41 Rives, William C 1823, '29 13 T I, S 1827, '31 Roane, John j jggg^ ,37 Roane, John J ,...1831, '33 Roane, John T 1809, '15 Roane, William H 1815, '17 Robertson, John 1834, '39 Rutherford, Robert 1793, '97 Samuel, Green B 1839, '41 Sfdden, James A 1845, '47 ShefTey, Daniel 1809, '17 Smith, Arthur 1821, '25 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. G15 Smith, Ballard 1815, Smith, John 1801, Smith, William 1821, Smith, William 1842, Smyth, Alexander ) i S07' Steenrod, Lewis 1839, C 1803, Stephenson, James < 1809, ( 1822, Stevenson, Andrew 1821, Stratton, John 1801, Strother, Geors;e F 1817, Stuart, Archibald 1837, Stuart, A. H. H 1841, Summers, George W 1841, Swearingen, Thomas V 1819, Swoope, Jacob 1809, Taliaferro, John ] 1 S 1 1 ' Taliaferro, John < 1835' Tate, Magnus 1815, Taylor, Robert 1825, Taylor, William P 1833, Taylor, William 1843, Tazewell, Littleton W 1800, Thompson, Philip R 1801, Tread way, William M 1845, Trezvant, James 1825, Trigg, Abram 1797, Trisjs:, John 1797, Tucker, H. St. George 1815, Tucker, George 1819, Tyler, John I8I6, Venable, A. B 1791, Walker, Francis 1793, White, Alexander 1789, White, Francis 1813, Williams, Jared 1819, Wilson, Alexander 1804, Wilson, E. C 1833, Wilson, Thomas 1811, Wise, Henry A 1833, North Carolina. To '21 '15 '27 '43 '25 '30 '45 '05 '11 '25 '34 '03 '20 '39 '43 '45 '22 '11 '03 '13 '31 '43 '17 '27 '35 '47 '01 '07 '47 '31 1809 1804 '19 '25 '21 '99 '95 '93 '15 '25 '09 '35 1 '13 I '43 Senators, Bloodworth, Timothy. Branch, John Brown, Bedford Franklin, Jesse Graham, William A. . . Hawkins, Benjamin . . . Haywood, William H. . Iredell, James Johnston, Samuel Locke, Francis Macon, Nathaniel. . . . Mangum, Willie P.... Martin, Alexander.. . . Stokes, Montfort .1795, 1801 1823, '29 1829, '41 1799, 1805 1807, '13 ,1841, 1789, 1843, 1828, 1789, 1814, 1815, 1131, 1841, 1793, 1816, Fiom To c, T, •, (, 1801, '07 Stone, David j 1813^ '14 Strange, Robert 1837*, '41 Turner, James 1805, '16 Repres€7iiatives. Alexander, Evan 1805, '09 Alexander, N 1803, '05 Alston, Willis 1799, 1803 Alston, Willis, jr > 1825 '31 Arrington, A. H 184l' '45 Ashe, John B 1790, '93 Barringer, Daniel L 1826, '35 Barringer, Daniel M 1843, '47 Bethune, Lauchlin 1831, '33 C 1803, '09 Blackledge, William S < 1811, '13 i 1821, '23 Bloodworth, Timothy 1790, '91 C 1793, '99 Blount, Thomas ] 1 805, '09 ( 1811, '12 Branch, John 1831, '33 Biggs, Asa 1845, '47 Bryan, Nathan 1795, '98 Bryan, John H 1825, '27 Bryan, Joseph H 1815, '19 Burgess, Dempsey 1795, '98 Burton, Hutchins G 1819, '24 Bynum, J. A 1833, '41 Caldwell, Green W 1841, '43 Carson, Samuel P 1825, '33 Clark, James W 1815, '17 Clarke, Henry S 1845, '47 Clingman, Thomas L 1843, '45 Cockran, James 1809, '13 Conner, H. W 1821, Ml Crudup, Josiah 1821, '23 ri807, '09 I 1813, '17 Culpeper, John J, 18 19, '21 j 1823, '25 tl841, '43 Daniel, John R. J 1841, '47 Davidson, William 1818, '21 Dawson, William J 1793, '95 T^ u r-j J ^ 1829, '31 Debery, Edmund < 1833 '45 Dickens, Samuel 1816, '17 Dixon, Joseph 1799, 1801 Dobbin, James C 1845, '47 Dockery, Alfred 1845, "47 Dudley, Edward B 1829, '31 Edwards, Weldon N 1816, '27 Fisher, Charles i 1839* '41 Forney, Daniel M 1815^ '18 Forney, Peter 1813, '15 Franklin, Jesse 1795, '97 Franklin, Meshack 1807, '15 Gaston, William 1813, '17 Gatlin, Alfred M 1 823, '25 616 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. Gillispie, James. Graham, James Grove, William B Hall, Thomas H Hawkins, M. T Henderson, Archibald. Hill, John Hill, William H Hines, Richard Holland, James Holmes, Gabriel Hooks, Charles Johnston, Charles.... Kenan, Thomas Kennedy, William. King, William R Locke, Matthew Long, John Love, William C. . .. . Macon, Nathaniel.... Mangum, Willie P M'Bride, Archibald. . . M'Dowell, Joseph..., M'Farland, Duncan.. . M'Kay, James J M'Neill, Archibald.... Mehane, Alexander. . . Mitchell, Anderson. . . Montgomery, William . Mumford, George Murfree, William H.. Outlaw, George B. . . . Owen, James Pettigrew, E Pierson, Joseph Pickens, Israel Potter, Robert Purviance, Samuel D. Rayner, Kenneth Reid, David S Rencher, Abraham. . . Saunders, Romulus M. Sawyer, Lemuel. Sawyer, S.T Settle, Tliomas Sevier, John , Shadwick, William Shepard, Charles Shepard, William B..., ShepperJ, Augustus H. Frnm To 1793, '99 1803, '05 1833, '43 1845, '47 • 1791 1803 '25 1817, 1827, '35 .1831, '41 . 1799, 1803 1839, '41 .1799, 1803 1825, '27 1795, '97 1801, '11 1825, '29 1816, '17 18)9, '25 1801, '02 1805, '11 1803, '05 1809, '11 1812, '15 1811, '16 1793, '99 1821, '29 1815, '17 1791, 1815 1823, '26 1809, '13 1793, '95 1797, '99 1805, '07 1831, '47 1821, '23 1825, '27 1793, '94 1842, '43 1835, '41 1817, '19 1813, '17 1824, '25 1817, '19 1835, '37 1809, '15 1811, '17 1829, '31 1803, '05 1839, '45 1843, '47 1829, '39 1841, '43 1821, '27 1841, '45 1807, '13 1817, '23 1825, '29 1837. '39 1817, '21 1790, '91 1796. '97 1837, '41 1827, '37 1829, '39 1841, '43 From To Slocum, Jesse 18l7, '21 Smith, James S 1817, '21 Speight, Jesse 1829, '37 Speight, Richard D 1798, 1801 Speisht, Richard D 1823, '25 Stanford, Richard 1797, 1816 Stanley, Edward 1837, '43 o. 1 T », ^ 1801, '03 Stanley, John > 1809 '11 Steele, John 179o' '9.3 Stewart, James 1818, '19 Stone, David 1799, 1801 Tatum, Absalom 1795, '96 Turner, Daniel 1827, '29 Vance, Robert B 1823, '25 Walker, Felix 1817, '23 Washington, W. H 1841, '43 Williams, Benjamin 1793, '95 Williams, Lewis 1815, '42 Williams, Marmaduke 1803, '09 Williams, Robert 1797, 1803 Williamson, Hugh 1790, '93 Winston, Joseph ) jj^jjj' ,^^ Wynn, Thomas I8O2', '07 Yancey, Barllett 1813, '17 South Carolina. Senators. Butler, Pierce J J^^^ [^ Calhoun, J. E 1801^ '02 r. 11 T u r- ^ 1832, '42 Calhoun, John C J 1845 '47 Gaillard, John 1804* '26 Harper, William 1826, '26 Hayne, Robert Y 1823, '32 Huger, Daniel E 1842, '45 Hunter, John 1796, '98 Izard, Ralph 1789, '95 M'Duffie, George 1843, '49 Miller, Stephen D 1831, '34 Pinckney, Charles 1798, 1801 Preston, William C 1834, '42 Read, Jacob 1795, 1802 o .., wir 5 1816, '23 Smith, William ) 1826 '31 Sumter, Thomas I8O2', '10 Taylor, John 1801, '16 Representatives. Alston, Lemuel J 1807, '11 Barnwell, Robert 1791, '93 Barnwell, R. W 1829, '33 Bellinger, Joseph 1817, '19 Benton, Lemuel 1793, '98 Black, James A 1843, '47 T(i • T ^ 1821, '22 Blair, James > 18''9 '34 Brevard, .Tames 1819^ '21 Burke, Edamus 1789, '91 Burt, Artcmas 1843, '47 Butler, Samson H 1840, '43 SENATORS AND RKI'RESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. 617 Prom Butler, William 1801, Butler, William 1841, Caldwell, P. C 1841, Calhoun, John C 1811, Calhoun, Joseph 1807, Campbell, John , \ ]fz^' ( loot, Campbell, R.B ^ |^;^' ( looO, Campbell, Thomas F 1834, Carter, John 1822, Casey, Levi 1803, Chappell, John J 1813, Cheves, Langdon 1810, Clowney,W. K J J^^^' Davis, W. R 1827,' Drayton, William 1825, C 1805, EarlCjElias < 1811, t 1817, Earle, John B 1803, Earle, Samuel 1795, Elmore, F. H 1837, Evans, David R 1813, Felder, John M 1831, Farrow, Samuel 1813, Gillon, Alexander 1793, Gist, Joseph 1821, Gourdin, Theodore 1813, Govan, A. R 1822, Grayson, William J 1833, Griffin, J. K 1831, Hamilton, James 1822, Hammond, James H 1835, Hampton, Wade J J^^^' Harper, R. G 1794', 1801 Holmes, Isaac E 1839, M7 rj -a ■ ■ ^ 1799, 1805 nuger, BenjaniD > 181^ '17 Huger, Daniel. . 1789^ '93 Hunter, John 1793, '95 Irwin, James 1817, '21 Kershaw, John 1813, '15 Legare, Hu-h S 1837, '39 Lowndes, Thomas 1801, '05 Lowndes, William 1811, '22 Manning, R. J 1834, '36 Marion,' Robert 1805, '10 Martin, William D 1827, '33 Mayrant, William 1815, '16 M'Duffie, George 1821, '35 M'Ready, James 1819, '21 Middleton, Henry 1815, '19 Miller, S. D ...1817, '19 ( 1821, '23 Mitchell, T. R { 1825, '29 ( 1831, '33 TVT TU 1815 '17 Nesbitt, Wilson 1817* '19 Nott, Abraham 1799, 1801 Nuckolls, WiUiam C 1827, '33 To '13 '43 '43 '17 'II '31 '45 '25 '37 '35 '29 '07 '17 '15 '35 '39 '35 '33 '07 '15 '21 '05 '97 '39 '15 '35 '15 '94 '27 '15 '27 '37 '41 '29 '37 '97 '05 Prom verstreet, James 1819, Pickens, Andrew 1793, Pickens, Francis W 1&35, Pinckney, Charles 1819, Pinckney, H. L 1833, Pinckney, Thomas 1797, Poinsett, Joel R 1821, Rhett, Robert B 1838, Richardson, John P 1837, Rogers, James < .ooq' Rutledge, John 1797' Simpkins, Eldrid 1818, Simpson, Richard F 1843, Sims, A. D 1845, Smith, O'Bryan 1805, Smith, William 1789, Smith, William 1797, Sumter, Thomas j |I^^' Sumter, Thomas D 1 840,' Taylor, John 1807, Taylor, John 1815, Thompson, Waddy 1835, Tucker, Starling 1817, Tucker, Thomas T 1789, Williams, David R J j^^^' Wilson, John 1821,' Witherspoon, Robert 1809, Woodward, William 1815, Woodward, Joseph A 1843, Wynn, Richard ^^ }J^^' Georgia. Senators. Baldwin, A 1799, Berrien, J. M J jg^^' Bibb, William W 1813,' Bullock, William B 1813, Cobb, Thomas W 1824, Colquitt, Walter T 1843, Crawford, William H 1807, Cuthbert, Alfred 1835, Elliot, John 1819, Few, William 1789, Forsyth, John ^ }^J^^ ( 1789 Gunn, James > i7qi' C 1793 Jackson, James } lom' ^ JoUjI, Jones, George , 1807, King, John P 1834, Lumpkin, Wilson 1838, Milledge, John 1806, Prince, Oliver H 1828, Tait, Charles 1809, Tatnall, Josiah 1796, t™up,g.m lllll'^ To '22 '95 '43 '21 '37 1801 '25 '47 '40 '37 '43 1803 '21 '47 '47 '07 '97 '99 '93 1802 '43 '10 '17 '41 '31 '93 '09 '13 '27 '11 '17 '47 '97 •13 1807 '29 '47 '16 '13 '28 '49 '13 '43 '25 '93 '19 '34 '90 1801 '95 '06 '07 '38 '41 '09 '29 '19 '99 '18 '34 618 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. Walker, Freeman 1819, Walker, John 1790, Walton, George 1795, Ware, Nicholas 1821, Representatives. Abbott, Joel Alvord, Julius C Baldwin, A Barnett, William Bibb, Wm. W Lumpkin, Wilson. Black, Edward J Bryan, Joseph Carnes, Thomas P. . . . Cary, George Clayton, Ausustine S- Cleaveland, J. F Clinch, Duncan L Chappell, Absalom H. Cobb, Howell Cobb, Thomas W I Coffee, John Colquitt, Walter T \ Cook, Zadock Cooper, Mark A \ Crawford, Joel Cuthbert, A \ Cuthbert, John A Dawson, W. C Early, Peter Floyd, John Forsyth, John \ Fort, Tomlinson Foster, Thomas S Foster, Thomas F Gamble, Roger L \ Gilmer, George R. . Glascock, Thomas. Grantland, Seaton. Habersham, R. W. Hall, Boiling Hammond, Samuel. Haralson, Hugh A. Haynes, Charles E. Holsey, Hopkins. . . Jackson, Jabez.. . . Jackson, James. . . . Jones, James Jones, Seaborn Kins:, Thomas Butler. Lamar, Henry G .1817 ,1839 , 1789' .1812. .1806 1839 1842 1803 1793 1823 1831 1836 1843 1843 1807 1843 1817 1823 1833 1839 1842 1817 1839 1842 1817 1814 1821 1819 1837 1802 1827 1813 1823 1827 1829 1841 1833 1841 1821 1827 1833 1836 1835 1839 18J1 1803 1843 1825 1835 183H 1836 1789 1799 1833 1845 1839 1815 1829 '25 '42 '99 '15 '14 '41 '45 '06 '95 '27 '35 '39 '45 '45 '12 '47 '21 '24 '37 '41 '43 '19 '41 '43 '21 '17 '27 '21 '42 '07 '29 '18 '27 '29 '35 '43 '35 '43 '23 '29 '35 '39 '39 '43 '17 '05 '47 '31 '39 '39 '39 '91 1801 '35 '47 '43 '47 '33 From To 5 1815, '17 •'I 1827, '31 Lumpkin, Joseph H 1843, '47 Matthews, George 1789, '91 Meriwether, Daniel. 1802, '07 Meriwether, James 1825, '27 Meriwether, J. A 1841, '43 C 1792, '93 Milledge, John \ 1795, '99 ( 1801, '02 Newman, Daniel 1831, '33 Nisbet,E. A 1839, '42 Owens, George W 1835, '39 Reid, Robert R 1818, '23 Schley, William 1833, '35 Smelt, Dennis 1806, '11 Spalding, Thomas 1 805, '06 Stephens, Alex. H 1S43, '47 Stiles, William H 1843, '45 Taliaferro, Benjamin 1799, 1802 Tatnall, Edward F 1821, '27 Telfair, Thomas 1813, '17 Terrill, William 1817, '21 Thompson, Wiley 1821, '33 Toombs, Robert 1845, '47 Towns, George W. B ^ Jg^| ',f^ Troup, George M 1807^ '15 Warren, Lott 1839, '43 Wayne, Anthony 1791, '92 Wavne, James M 1829, '35 Willis, Francis 1791, '93 i 1815, '17 Wilde, Richard Henry { 1824, '25 ( 1827, '35 Alabama. — 1819. Senators. Bagby, Arthur P 1842, M9 Chambers, Henry 1825, '26 Clay, Clement C 1827, '42 Kelly, William 1822, '25 King, William R I8l9, '44 Lewis, Dixon H 1844, '47 M'Kinley, John 1826, '31 Moore, Gabriel 183 1, '37 Walker, John W 1819, '22 Representatives. Baylor, R. E. B 1829, '31 Belser, James E 1843, '45 Chapman, Reuben 1835, '47 Clay, Clement C 1827, '35 Crabb, George W 1839, '41 Crowell, John 1817, '21 Dargin, Samuel D 1845, '47 C 1839 '41 Dellet, James > 1843* '45 Hilliard, Henry W 1843^ '47 Houston, George S 1841, '47 Hubbard, David 1839, '41 Kellv, William 1821, '22 Lawler, Joab 1835, '.38 Lewis, Dixon H 1829, '44 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. 619 From Lyon, Francis S 1835, Mardis, Samuel W 1831, Martin, Joshua L 1835, M'Connell, Felix G 1843, M'Kee, John 1823, M'Kinley, John 1833, Moore, Gabriel , 1822, Murphy, John 1833, Owen, George W 1823, Payne, Winter W 1841, Shields, Benjamin G 1841, Yancey, William L 1844, Mississippi. — 1817. Senators. Adams, George 1829, Black, John 1834, Chalmers, Joseph W 1845, Ellis, Powhatan j jggy' Henderson, John 1839, Holmes, David 1820, Leake, Walter 1817, Poindexter, George 1831, Read, Thomas B \ Jooo' Speight, Jesse 1845, Trotter, James 1838, "Walker, Robert J 1836, Williams, Thomas H 1817, Representatives. Adams, Stephen 1845, Brown, Albert G 1839, Cage, Henry 1833, Claiborne, J. F. H f 1835, Davis, Jefferson 1845, Dickson, David 1835, Gholson, S. H 1837, Greene, Thomas M 1802, Gwin, William M'K 1841, Haile, William 1826, Hammet, William J 1843, Hinds, Thomas 1828, Hunter, Nars worthy 1801, Laltimore, William < ISn' Plummer, Franklin E ) 1834' Poindexter, George < ISI?' Prentiss, Sergeant S 1838', Rankin, Christopher 1819, Roberts, Robert W J843, Thompson, Jacob 1839, Tucker, Tilshman W 1843, Word, Thomas J 1838, Louisiana. — 1812. Senators. Barrow, Alexander 1841, Brown, James / 1819* '30 '38 '47 '26 '33 '45 '25 '20 '35 '27 '29 '51 '39 '45 '31 From Bouligny, Dominique 1824, Claiborne, William C. C 1817, Conrad, Charles M 1842, Fromentin, Eligius 1813, Gayarre, Charles A 1835, C 1 8l8 Johnson, Henry < isi^' Johnston, Josiah S 1824, Livingston, Edward 1829, Magruder, Allan B 1812, Mouton, Alexander 1837, Nicholas, R, C 1836, Porter, Alexander 1 834, Posey, Thomas 1812, Waggaman, George A 1831, Representatives. Brent, William L 1823, Bullard, Henry A 1831, Butler, Thomas I8l8, Chinn, Thomas W 1 839, Clark, Daniel 1806, Dawson, John B 1841, Garland, Rice 1834, Gurley, Henry H 1823, Harmanson, John H 1845, Johnson, Henry 1835, Johnston, Josiah S 1821, Labranche, Alcee 1843, La Sere, Emile 1846, Livingston, Edward 1823, Moore, John 1841, Morse, Isaac E 1843, Overton, Walter H 1829, Poydras, Julian 1809, Ripley, Eleazar W 1835, Robertson, Thomas B 1812, Slidell, John 1843, Thibodeaux, B. G 1845, Thomas, Philemon 1831, White, Edward D \ ] ^zt' ( iooVf Arkansas.— 1836. Senators. Ashley, Chester 1845, Fulton, William S 1836, Sevier, Ambrose H 1836, Representatives. Cross, Edward 1839, Yell, Archibald \ |^^!' ^ Io4o, To '29 '18 '43 '19 '36 '24 '49 '33 '31 '13 '42 '41 '37 '13 '35 '29 '34 '21 '41 '09 '45 '40 '31 '47 '39 '23 '45 '47 '29 '43 '47 '31 '12 '39 '18 '45 '47 '35 '34 '43 '47 '47 '43 '45 '39 '47 Tennessee. — 1796. Senators. Anderson, Alexander 1840, '41 Anderson, Joseph 1797, 1815 Blount, William 1796, '97 Campbell George W > ikIj' '18 620 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. Cocke, William Eaton, John H Foster, Ephraim H Grundy, Felix Jackson, Andrew Jarnagin, Spencer Nicholson, A. 0. P. Smith, Daniel Turney, Hopkins L. . .^ Wharton, Jesse White, Hugh L Whiteside, Jenkin Williams, John.. . 5 1829, ( 1839, Representatives. Alexander, Adam R Allen, Robert Arnold, Thomas D Ashe, John B Bell, John Blackwell, Julius tV Blair, John Blount, William G Eowen, John H Brown, Aaron V Brown, Milton Bryan, Henry H Bunch, Samuel Campbell, G. W Campbell, Thomas J Campbell, William B Cannon, Newton Carter, William B Caruthers, Robert L , Chase, L. B Cheatham, Richard Claiborne, Thomas , Claiborne, William C. C Cocke, John Cocke, William M Crockett, David Crockett, John W , Crozier, John Cullom, Alvan , Desha, Robert , Dickinson, D. W , Dickinson, David W Dickson, William Dunlap, William C Ewing, Edwin H Fitzgerald, William , Forrester, J. B , ,1823, .1819, 183], 18-11, .1843, ,1827, 1839, 1843, .1823, 1815, 1813, 1839, 1841, 1819, 1833, 1803, 1841, 1837, 1814, 1819, 1835, '41 1841, '43 1845, '47 1837, '39 1817, '19 1797, 1801 1819, '27 184.5, Gentry, Meredith P. Grundy, Felix. ...... 1827, 18,33, . 1837, .1845, .1845, .1827, .1833, ,1843, .1801, '07 ,1R33, '37 .1845, ,1831, .1833, 1839, 1845, ,1811, From Hall, William 18:J1, Harris, Thomas K 1813, Henderson, Bennett H 1815, Hogg, Samuel J8l7, Houston, Samuel 1823, Humphreys, Perry W 1813, Huntsman, Adam 1835, Inge, William M 1833, Isaacs, Jacob C J823, Jackson, Andrew 1796, Johnson, Cave Johnson, Andrew 1843, Jones, Francis 1817, Jones, George W 1843, Lea, Luke. 1833, Lee, Prior 1827, Marable, John H 1825, Marr, George W. L 1817, Martin, Barclay 1845, Maurv, Abraham P 1835, M'Cldlan, Abraham 1837, Miller, Pleasant M 1809, Mitchell, James C , 1825, Peyton, Bailie 1833, Peyton, Joseph H 1843, Polk, James K i825, Powell, Samuel 1815, Reynolds, James B \ ]^l^> 5 1803, I 1817, Sandford, James T 1823, Senter, William T 1843, Sevier, John 1811, Shields, Ebenezer J 1835, Standifer, James J „~ ' Stanton, Frederick P 1845, Stone, William 1838, Thomas, Isaac 1815, Turney, H. L 1837, Watterson, Harvey M 1839, Weakley, Robert 1809, Wharton, Jesse 1807, White, James 1792, Williams, Christopher H 1837, Williams, Joseph L 1837, Rhea, John. To '33 'J5 '17 '19 '27 '15 '37 '35 '33 '97 '37 '45 '47 '23 '47 '37 '31 '29 '19 '47 '39 '43 '11 '29 '37 '45 '39 '17 '17 '25 '15 '23 '25 '45 '15 '39 '25 '37 '47 '39 '17 '43 '43 '11 '09 '94 '43 '43 Kentucky. — 1792. Senators. Adair, John 1805, '06 Barry, William T ,.1814, '16 TJKK n T»* ^ 1811, '14 Bibb, George M ) 1829, '35 Bledsoe, Jesse. ; 1813,' '15 Breckenridge, John 1801, '05 Browne, John 1792, '05 ( 1806, '07 Clay, Henry / 1810, '11 I 1831, '42 ( 1817, '19 Crittenden, John J < 183.5, '41 ( 1842, '49 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. 621 From Edwards, John 1792, Hardin, RIartin T 1816, Johnson, Richard M 1819, Logan, AVilliam 1819, Marshall, Humphrey 1795, Morehead, James T 1841, Pope, John 1807, Rowan, John 1825, Talbot, Isham < ]82o' Thurston, John Buckner 1805, Walker, George 1814, Represeniatives. Adair, John 1831 Allan, Chilton .....1831 Anderson, Richard C 1817 Anderson, S. H 1839 Andrews, L. W 1839 Barry, William T 1810 Beatty, Martin 1833 Bedin?er, George M 1803 Bell, Joshua F.^ 1845 ■OAT- 5 1835 Boyd, Linn | i839 Breckenrid^e, J. D 1821 Brown, William 1819 Buckner, Richard A 1823 Bullock, Wingfield 1820 Butler, William O 1839 Caldwell, George A 1843 Calhoun, John 1835 Campbell, John 1837 Chambers, John < 1035 Chilton, Thomas j ^^'^.^ Christie, Henry 1809 Clark, James \ j go j^ ( 1811 Clay, Henry S.1815 ( li<23 Coleman, Nicholas D 1829 Daniel, Henry 1827 Davis, Amos 1833 Davis, Garret 1839 Davis, Thomas T 1797 Desha, Joseph .•• 1807 Duval William P 1813 Fletcher, Thomas 1816 Fowler, John 1797 ^ ^ r.- u ^ S 1835 French, Richard < j g^3 Gaither, Nathan 1829 Graves, William J 1835 Green, Willis 1839 Greenup, Christopher 1792 Grider, Henry 1 843 C 1815 Hardm, Benjamin < 1819 i 1833 Harlan, James 1 835 Hawes, Albert G 1831 To '95 '17 '29 '20 180J '47 '13 '31 '19 '25 '10 '15 '33 '37 '21 '41 '43 '11 '35 '07 '47 '37 '47 '23 '23 '29 '21 '43 '45 '39 '38 '29 '39 '31 '35 '11 '16 '31 '14 '21 '25 '31 '33 '35 '47 1803 '19 '15 '17 1807 '37 '45 '33 '41 '45 '97 '47 '17 '23 '37 '39 '37 Hawes, Richard Hawkins, Joseph W. . . Henry, Robert P Hopkins, Samuel Howard, Benjamin Jolinson, Francis Johnson, James Johnson, John T Johnson, Richard M. . . ■ Kincaid, John Lecompte, Joseph Letcher, Robert P.". . . . Love, James Lyon, Chittenden Lyon, Matthew Marshall, Thomas A . . . Marshall, Thomas F. . . Martin, John P M'Hatton, Robert M'Henry, John H M'Kee, Samuel M'Lean, Alney Menifee, Richard H.. . . Metcalfe, Thomas Montgomery, Thomas. . Moore, Thomas P Murray, John L New, Anthony Ormsby, Stephen Orr, Alexander D Owsley, Bryan Y Pope, John Pope, P. H Quarles, Tunstall Robertson, George C. Rowan, John Rumsey, Edward Sanford, Thomas Sharpe, Solomon P Smith, John S Souihgate, William W. . Speed, Thomas Sprigg, James C Slone, James Taul, Micah Tibbatts, John W Thomasson, William P. Thompson, John B.... Thompson, Philip Tompkins, Christopher. Trimble, David Triplett, Philip Trumbo, Andrew Underwood, Joseph R. . Walker, David Walton, Matthew White, David White, John 622 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. From Wickliffe, Charles A 1S23, Williams, Sherrod 1835, Woodson, Samuel H 1820, Yancey, Joel 1827, Young, William F 1825, Young, Bryan R 1845, Ohio.— 1803. Senators. Allen, William 1837, Brown, Ethan A 1822, Burnett, Jacob 1828, Campbell, Alexander 1809, Corwin, Thomas 1845, Ewing, Thomas 183 1, Griswold, S 1809, Harrison, William Henry 1825, Kerr, Joseph 1814, Meigs," Return J 1808, Morris, Thomas 1833, Morrow, Jeremiah 1813, Ruggles, Benjamin 1815, Smith, John 1803, Tajjpan, Benjamin 1839, Tiffin, Edward 1807, Trimble, William A 1819, Worthington, Thomas \ jg j^' Representatives. Alexander, John 1813 Alexander, J., jr 1837 Allen, William 1833 Allen, John W 1837 Andrews, S. J 1841 ( 1817 Barber, Levi. 1821 Bartley, Mordecai 1823 Beall, Rezin 1813 Beecher, Philemon > 18''3 Bell, James M 1833 Bond, William K 1835 Brinkerhoff, Henry R 1843 Brinkerhoff, Jacob 1843 Brush, Henry 1819 Caldwell, James 1813 Campbell, John W 1817 Chambers, David 1821 Chaney, John 1833 Clendenen, David 1815 Coffin, Charles G 1838 Cooke, Eleutheros 1831 Corwin, Thomas 1831 Cowen, Benjamin S , 1841 Crane, Joseph H 1829 < 1815 Creighton, William. 1827 Cummins, John D 1845 Cunningham, Francis A 1845 Davenport, John 1827 Dean, Ezra 1841 To '33 '41 '23 '31 '27 '47 '49 '25 '31 '13 '51 '37 '09 '28 '15 '10 '39 '19 '33 '08 '45 '09 '22 '07 '14 '17 '39 '35 '41 '43 '19 '23 '31 '15 '21 '29 '35 '41 '44 '47 '21 '17 '27 '23 '39 '17 '39 '33 '40 '43 '37 '17 '33 '47 '47 '29 '45 From Delano, Columbus 1845, Dean, Ezra 1841, Doane, William 1839, Duncan, Alexander \ isj-j' Faran, James J 1845, Findlay, James 1825, Florence, Elias 1843, Fries, George 1845, Gazley, James W 1823, Giddings, Joshua R 1839, Goode, Patrick G 1837, Goodenow, John M 1829, Hamer, Thomas L 1833, Hamlin, Edward S 1844, Harper, Alexander > 1843' Harrison, William Henry 1816, Hastings, John 1839, Herrick, Samuel 1817, Hitchcock, Peter 1817, Howell, Elias 1835, Hunter, William H 1837, Irvin, William W 1829, Jennings, David 1825, Johnson, Perley B 1843, Jones, Benjamin 1 833, Kennon, William \ jg^^' Kilborn, James 1813, Kilgore, Daniel 1835, Leavitt, Humphrey H 1831, Leadbetter, D. P 1837, Loomis, A 1837, Lytle, Robert T 1833, Mason, Samson 1835, Mathiot, Joshua 1841, Matthews, James 1841, M'Arthur, Duncan 1823, M'Causlen, William C 1843, M'Dowell, Joseph J 1843, M'Lean, John 1813, M'Lean, William 1823, M'Lene, Jeremiah 1833, Medill, William 1839, Mitchell, Robert 1833, Moore, Heman A 1843, Morris, Calvary 1837, Morris, Joseph 1843, C 1803 Morrow, Jeremiah < i84l' Muhlenberg, Francis 1828, Parish, Isaac < 1845' Patterson, John 1823, Patterson, William 1833, Pendleton, N. G 1841, Pcrrill, Augustus L 1845, Potter, Emery D 1843, Ridge way, Joseph 1837, Root, Joseph M 1845, Ross, Thomas R 1819, Russell, William \ l84l' SENATORS AND RETRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. G23 Sawj'er, William. . . Schenclc, Robert C. Sliannon, Thomas. Shepier, Matthias.. Shields, James. • . • Sloane, John Sloane, Jonathan. . Spangler, David ■ . . • Stanberry, William Starkweather, D. A St. John, Henry. . . Stokeley, Samuel. . Storer, Bellamy.. . . Stone, Alfred P... Swearingen, Henry Sweeney, George . . Taylor, Jonathan.. Thompson, John. . . Thurman, Allen G. Tilden, Daniel R.. Vance, Joseph.... Van Metre, John J Vinton, Samuel F. . Webster, Taylor.. . Weller, John B.... Whittlesey, Elisha. Wilson, William.. Woods, John Wright, Jolti C... Indiana. — 1816. Senators. Bright, Jesse D 1845, Hanna, Robert 1831, Hannegan, Edward A 1843, Hendricks, William 1825, Noble, James 1816, Smith, Oliver H 1837, Taylor, Waller 1816, Tipton, John 1832, White, Albert S 1839, Representatives. Blake, Thomas H 1827, Boone, RatlilT < 18''9' Brown, William J 1843^ Call, Jacob 1824, Ca">John I {gg^^ Cathcart, Charles W 184.5, Cravens, James H 1841, C 1835, Davi3,John W < 1839, t 1843, Dunn, George H 1837, ^ . - , < 1833, Ewing, John < Ig27 From To 1845, '47 1843, '47 1826, '27 1837, '39 1829 '31 1819, '29 1«33, '37 1833 '37 1827, '33 1839, '41 1845, '47 1843 '47 1841 '43 1835 '37 1844 '45 1839 '41 1839 '43 1839 '41 1825 '27 1829 '37 1845 '47 1843 '47 1821 '35 1843 '47 1843 '45 1823 '37 1843 '47 1833 '39 1839 '45 1823 '39 1823 '27 .1825 '29 1823 '29 From To Graham, William 1837, '39 Hannegan, Edward A 1833, '37 Hendricks, William 1816, '22 Henley, Thomas J 1843, '47 Herod, William 1837, '39 Howard, Tilghman A 1839, '40 Jennings, Jonathan 1822, '31 Kennedy, Andrew 1841, '47 Kinnard, George L 1833, '37 Lane, Amos 1833, '37 Lane, Henry S 1841, '43 M'Carty, Jonathan 1831, '37 M'Gaughey, Edward W 1845, '47 Owen, Robert Dale 1843, '47 Pettit, John 1843, '47 Prince, William 1823, '24 Proffit, George H 1839, '43 Rariden, James 1837, '41 Sample, Samuel C 1843, '45 Smith, Oliver H 1827, '29 Smith, Caleb B 1843, '47 c uu rru () 1839, '41 Smith, Thomas < i g^o -47 rr . T 1, <> 1823', '27 lest, John > ]829 '31 Thompson , Robert W 1 84 1 ^ '43 Wallace, David 1841, '43 White, Albert S 1837, '39 White, Joseph L 1841, '43 Wick, William W J Jg^?' ',^7 Wright, Joseph A 1843,' '45 Illinois. — 1818. Senators. Baker, David J 1830, '31 Breese, Sidney 1843, '49 Edwards, Ninian 1818, '24 Ewing, William L. D 1836, '37 Kane,Elias K 1825, '36 Tv/r.T T V, ^ 1*^24, '25 M'Lean, John j jggg' '30 M'Roberts, Samuel 1841, '43 Robinson, John M 1831, '41 Semple, James 1843, '47 Thomas, Jesse B 1818, '29 Young, Richard M 1837, '43 Representatives. Baker, Edward D 1845, '47 Casey, Zadock 1833, '43 Cooke, Daniel B 1819, '27 Douglass, Stephen A 1843, '47 Duncan, Joseph 1827, '35 Ficklin, Oriando B 1843, '47 Hardin, John J 1843, '45 Hoge, Joseph P 1843, '47 May, William L 1835, '39 M'Lean, John 1818, '19 M'Cleonand, John A 1 843, '47 Tj ij T V S 183.5, '37 Keynolds, John > 1839 '43 G24 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. From Siade, Charles 1833, Smith, Robert 1843, Snyder, A. W 1837, Stuart, John T 1839, Wentworth, John 1843, Missouri. — 1821. Senators. Atchison, David R 1843, Barton, David 1821, Benton, Thomas H 1821, Bucknor, Alexander 1831, Linn, Lewis F 1834, Representatives. Ashley, William H 1831, Bates, Edward 1827, Bower, Gustavus B 1843, Bowlin, James B 1843, Bull, John 1833, Edwards, John C 1841, Harrison, Albert G 1835, Hughes, James M 1843, T T u ^ 1840, Jameson, John < i84q Miller, John 1837*, Pettis, Spencer 1829, Phelps, John S 1845, Price, Sterling 1845, Relfe, James H 1843, Scott, John 1821, Sims, Leonard H 1845, Michigan,— 1836. Senators. Cass, Lewis 1845, Lyon, Lucius 1836, Norvell, John 1836, Porter, Augustus A 1840, Woodbridge, William 1841, Representatives. Chipman, John S 1845, Crary, Isaac E 1836, Howard, Jacob M 1841, Hunt, James B 1843, Lyon, Lucius 1843, M'Clelland, Robert 1843, Florida.— 1845. Senators. Ynlee [Levy], David 1845, Westcott, James T 1845, Representatives. Cabell, Edward C. (rejected) . . 1845, Brockenbrough, W. H 1845, Texas.— 1845. Senators. Houston. Samuel 1846, Rusk, Thomas J 1846, To '34 '47 '39 '43 '47 '49 '31 '51 '33 '43 Prom To Representatives. Kauffman, David S 1846, '47 Pilsbury, Timothy 1846, '47 DELEGATES FROM TERRITORIES. Northwest Territory (0/iio, 183] '*?? Woodbridge, William 1819', '20 jdrkansas. Bates, James W 1820, '23 Conway, Henry W 1 823, '29 Sevier. Ambrose H 1829, '36 Florida. Call, Richard K 1 823, '25 Downing, Charles 1837, '41 Hernandez, Joseph M 1 822, '23 Levy, David 1841, '45 White, Joseph M 1825, '37 Wisconsin. Dodge, Henry 1841, '45 Doiy, James D 1839, '41 Jones, George W 1837, '39 Martin, Morgan L 1845, '47 Iowa. Chapman, William W 1839, '41 Dodge, Augustus C 1841, '47 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. 62-5 MEMBERS OF THE THIRTIETH CONGRESS. Matnk. John Faii-KeKl,* Wyman B. S. Moore,t Hannibal Hamlin, James W. Bradbury. New Hampshire. Charles G. Athertou, John P. Hale. Vermont. William Upbam, Samuel S. Phelps. Massachusetts. Daniel Webster, John Davis. Rhode Island. Albert C. Greene, John H. Clarke. CONNECTTCUT. Jahez W. Huntington,* John M. Niles, Roger S. Baldwin. New York. John A. Dix, Daniel S. Dickinson. New Jersey. ■William L. Dayton, Jacob W. Miller. Pennsylvania. Simon Cameron, Daniel Sturgeon. Delaware. John M. Clayton,! Presley Spruauce. John Wales. SENATE. Maryland. James A. Pearce, Reverdy Johnson. Virginia^ James M. Mason, Robert M. T. Hunter. North Carolina. George E. Badger, Willie P. Mangum. South Carolina. A. P. Butler, John C. Calhoun. Georgia. Walter T. Colquitt,^ Herscbel V. Jobixson, John M. Berrien. Florida. James D. Westcott, Jr., David Levy Yulee. Alabama. Arthur P. Bagby,| Wm. R. King, Dixon H. Lewis,* Benjamin Fitzpatrick. Mississippi. Jesse Speight,* Jefferson Davis, Henry S. Foote. Louisiana. Henry Johnson, Solomon U. Downs. Tennessee. Hopkins L. Turney. John Bell. Kentucky. John J. Crittenden,t Thomas Metcalf, Joseph R. Underwood Ohio. William Allen, Thomas Corwin. Michigan. Lewis Cass,t Thomas Fitzgerald.t Alpheus Felch. Indiana. Edward A. Hannegan Jesse D. Bright. Illinois. Sidney Breese, Stephen A. Douglass. Missouri. David R. Atchison, Thomas H. Benton. Arkansas. Ambrose H. Sevier,t Solon Borland, Chester Ashley,* Wm. K. Sebastian. Texas. Thomas J. Rusk, Samuel Houston. Iowa. Augustus C. Dodge, George W. Jones. Wisconsin. Henry Dodge, Isaac P. Walker. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Robert Charles Winthrop, of Massachusetts, Speaker. Maine. 3. Belcher, Hiram, 2. Clapp, Asa W. H., 4. Clark, Franklin, 1. Hammons, David, 5. Smart, Eph. K., 6. W^iley, Jnmes S., 7. Williams, Hezekiah. New Hampshire. 4. Johnson, .lames H.. 2. Peaslee, Charles H., 1. Tuck, Amos, 3. Wilson, James. V Vermont. 2. Collamer, Jacob, 1. Henry, William, 3. Marsh, George P., 4. Peck, Lucius B., > Died. 40 Massachusetts. 3. Abbott, Amos, 6. Ashmun, George, 10. Grinnell, Joseph, 9. Hale, Artemas, 5. Hudson, Charles, 2. King, Daniel P., 8. Mann, Horace, 4. Palfrey, John G., 7. Rockwell, Julius, 1. Winthrop, Robert C. Rhode Island. 1. Cranston, R. B., 2. Thurston, Benj. B. Connecticut. 1. Dixon, James, 2. Hubbard, S. D., 3. Rockwell, John A., 4. Smith, Truman. t Appointed by governor to fill vacancy. New York. 22. Birdsall, Auburn, 27. Blaokmar, Esbon, 18. Collins, William, 25. Conger, Harmon S., 23. Duer, William, 24. Gott, Daniel, 6. Greeley, Horace, 32. Hall, Nathan K., 28. Holmes, Elias B., 34. Hunt, Washington, 20. Jenkins, Timothy, 14. Kellogg, O. D., 15. Lawrence, Sidney, 26. Lawrence, W. T., 1. Lord, Fred. W., 4. Maclay, Wm. B., 31. Marvin, Dudley, 19. Mullin, Joseph, 2. Murphy, Henry C, 7. Nelson, William, X Resigned. 626 SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS. Nicoll, Henry, Petrie, George> Putnam, Harvey, Reynolds, Gideon, Rose, Robert L., Rumsey, David, Sherrill, Eliakira, Slingerland, J. J , Starkweather, G. A St. John, D. B., Sylvester, Peter H., Tallmadge, F. A., \Varren, Cornelius, White, Hugh, New Jerset. Edsall, Joseph E., Gregory, Dudley S., Hampton, James G., Newell, Wm. A., Van Dyke, John. Pennsylvania. Blanchard, John, ' Brady, Jasper E., Bridges, Samuel A., Brodhead, R., Brown, Charles, Butler, Chester, Dickey, John, Eckert, George N., Farrelly, John W., Freedley, John W., Hampton, Moses, Ingersoll, Charles J., Ingersoll, Joseph R., Ir\'in, Alexander, Levin, Lewis C, Maun, Job, M'llvaine, A. R., Nes, Henry, Pollock, James, Stewart, Andrew, Strohra, John, Strong, William, Thompson, James, Wilmot, David. Delaware. Houston, John W., Maryland. Chapman, John G., Christield, John W., Evans, Alexander, Ligon, Thomas W., M'Lane, Robert M., Roman, James D., North Carolina Barriuger, D. M., Boydon, Nathaniel, Clingman, T. M., Daniel, J. R. J., Donnell, R. S., M'Kay, James J., Outlaw, David, Shepperd, A. H., Veuable, A. W., South Carolina. Burt, Amistead, Holmes, Isaac E., Rhett, R. B., Simpson, R. F., M'Queen, John, Wallace, Daniel, Woodward, J. A., 1. 7. 8. 6. 9. 4. 5. 5. 6. 7. 2. 4. 1, 3. Georgia. 6. Cobb, Howell, 4. Haralson, H. A., 2. Iverson, Alfred, 3. Jones, John W., 1. King, Thomas B., 5. Lumpkin, J. H., 7. Stephens, A. H., 8. Toombs, Robert. Alabama. 7. Bowdon, F. W., 6. Cobb, W. R. W., 1. Gayle, John, 3. Han-is, S. W., 2. HiUiard, H. W., 5. Houston, George 8., 4. Inge, Samuel W., Mississippi. 4. Brown, Albert Q., 2. Feathcrston, "W. S., 1. Thompson, Jacob, 3. Tompkins, P. W., Louisiana. 3. Hamianson, J. H., 1. La Sere, Emili, 4. Morse, Isaac E., 2. Thibodeaux, B. G., Tennessee. 8. Barrow, Washingtqn, 9. Chase, Lucien B., 2. Cocke, William M.; 3. Crozier, John H., 7. Gentry, Meredith P., U. Haskell, William T., 4. Hill, H. L. W., 1. Johnson, Andrew, 5. Jones, George W., 10. Stanton, Frederick P., 6. Thomas, James H., Kentucky. 6. Adams, Green, 1. Boyd, Linn, 4. Buckner, Avlett, 3. Clark, Beverly L., 7. Duncan, Garnett, 9. French, B.ichard, 10. Gaines, John P., 8. Morehead, C. S., 2. Peyton, Samuel O., 5. Thompson, J. B., Virginia. 1. Atkinson, Archibald, 7. Bayly, Thomas H., 8. Beale, R. T. L., 10. Bedinger. Henry, 4. Bocock, Thomas S., 6. Botts, John M., 15. Brown, William G., 3. Floumoy, Thomas S., 13. Fulton, Andrew 8., 5. Goggin, William L., 11. M'Dowell, James, 2. Meade, Richard K., 9. Pendleton, J. S., 12. Preston William B., 14. Thompson, R. A. John Qviincy Adams, of Mass., John M. Holley, of N. Y., .lames A. Black and A. D. Sims, of S. C, and John \V. Horiibeck, of Penn., members of the hou.se, died during tlxis Congress. Ohio. 4-. Canby, Richard S., 19. Crowell, John, 16. Cummins, J. D., 6. Dickinson, R., 10. Duncan, Daniel, 9. Edwards, Thomas O., 14. Evans, Nathan, 1. Faran, James J., 2. Fisher, David, 17. Fries, George, 20. Giddiugs, Joshua R., 15. Kennon, William, jr., 18. Lahm, Samuel, 11. Miller, ,Tohn K., 7. Morris, Jonathan D., 13. Richey, Thomas, 21. Root, Joseph M., 5. Sawyer, William, 3. Scheuck, Robert C., 8. Taylor, John L., 12. Vinton, Samuel F., Michigan. 3. Bingham, K. S., 1. M'Clelland, Robert, 2. Stuart, Charles E., Inbiana. 9. Cathcart, C W., 6. Dunn, George G., 1. Embree, Elisha, 2. Henley, T. J., 8. Pettit, John, 3. Robinson, J. L., 10. Rockhill, William, 4. Smith, Caleb B., 7. Thompson, R. W., 5. Wick, William W. Illinois. 3. Ficklin, O. B., 7. Lincoln, Abraham, 2. M'Clemand, J. A., 5. Richardson, W. A., 1. Smith, Robert, 6. Turner, Thomas J , 4. W entwortli, John. Missouri. 1. Bowlin, James B., 3. Greene, James S., 5. Hall, Willard P., 2. Jamieson, John, 4. Phelps, John 8. Arkansas. 1. Johnson, Robert W., Florida. 1. Cabell, Edward C, Texas. 1. Kaufman, David S., 2. Pillsbury, Timothy. Iowa. 2. LefHer, Shepherd, 1. Thompson, William, Wisconsin. 1. Darling, Mason C, 2: Lynde, William Pitt. SESSIONS OF CONGRESS. 627 SESSIONS OF CONGRESS. Table showrng the Commencement, Close, and Duration of each Session of Congress, the Number of Acts and Resolutions passed, and of Bills vetoed or retained by the Executive, and the bpeakers of the House of Representatives. [From the American Almanac] V c Session. to o m '^ Speakers. o * Commenced. Terminated. M JJ O (/] 210 ■< 0. > ( 1 Marcli 4, 1789 Sept. 29, 1789 29 \\ 2 Jan'y 4. 1790 Aug. 12, 1790 221 49 F. A. Muhlenberg, I 3 Dec. 6, 1790 March 3, 1791 88 29 ! Penn. ^\ 1 2 Oct. Nov. 24, 5, 1791 1792 May 8, Mar. 2, 1792 1793 198 118 45 32 1' ; Jon. Trumbull, Ct. 1 Dec. 2, 1793 June 9, 1794 190 60 3 \ 2 Nov. 3, 1794 Mar. 3, 1795 121 53 F. A. Muhlenberg. ( 1 Dec. 7, 1795 June 1, 1796 178 55 : 4 } 2 Dec. 5, 1796 Mar. 3, 1797 89 30 1 Jona. Dayton, N.J. ( 1 May 15, 1797 July 10, 1797 . 57 17 A 2 Nov. 13, 1797 July 16, 1798 246 90 Jona. Dayton. \ 3 Dec. 3, 1798 Mar. 3, 1799 91 49 > '\ 1 Dec. 2 1799 May 14, 1800 165 76 > 2 Nov. iv! 1800 Mar. 3, 1801 107 36 : T. Sedgwick, Mass. 7 j 1 o Dec. Dec. 7, 6, 1801 1802 May 3, Mar. 3, 1802 1803 148 88 55 40 Nath. Macon, N. C. ( 1 Oct. 17, 1803 Mar. 27, 1804 163 62 8j 2 Nov. 5, 1804 Mar. 3, 1805 119 46 Natk Macon. ( 1 Deo. 2, 1805 Apr. 21, 1806 141 46 9 i 2 Dec. 1, 1806 Mar. 3, 1807 S3 49 Nath. Macon. \ 1 Oct. 26, 1807 Apr. 25, 1808 183 68 2 Nov. 7, 1808 Mar. 3, 1809 117 37 J. B. Vamnm, Mass. C 1 May 22 1809 June 28, 1809 38 17 • "? 2 Nov. 27', 1809 May 1, 1810 156 51 J. B. Vamum, I 3 Dec. 3, 1810 Mar. 3, 1811 91 45 2J ..j 1 2 Nov. Nov. 4, 2, 1811 1812 July 6, Mar. 3, 1812 1813 246 122 142 66 1 Henry Clay, Ky. 13^ 1 May 24, 1813 Aug. 2, 1813 71 59 " Henry Clay. 2 Dec. 6. 1813 Apr. 18, 1814 134 99 I Lang. Cheves, S. C. ( 3 Sept. 19, 1814 Mar. 3, 1815 166 113 ij ") 1 Dec. 4, 1815 Apr. 30, 1816 149 181 2 Dec. 2 1816 Mar. 3, 1817 92 117 Henry Clay. 15 j 1 Dec. 1'. 1817 Apr. 20, 1818 151 142 « 2 Nov. 16, 1818 Mar. 3, 1819 108 114 1 Henry Clay. ■ej 1 Dec. 6, 1819 May 15, 1820 162 143 ■ Henry Clay. 2 Nov 13, 1820 Mar. 3, 1821 111 65 J. W. Taylor, N.Y. 17 j 1 2 Dec. Dec. 3, 2, 1821 1822 May 8, Mar. .3, 1822 1823 157 92 133 106 ' P. P. Barbour, Va. ( 1 Dec. 1, 1823 May 27, 1824 179 212 < 18? 2 Dec. <>, 1824 Mar. 3, 1825 88 124 Henry Clay. 19 j 1 2 Dec. Dec. 5, 4, 1825 1826 May 22, Mar. 3, 1826 1827 169 90 162 103 > John W. Taylor. ( 1 Dec. 3, 1827 May 26, 1828 176 158 ' 20 j 2 Dec. 1, 1828 Mar. 3, 1829 93 67 ! A. Stevenson, Va. 21 1 2 Dec. Dec. 7, 6, 1829 1830 May 31, Mar. 3, 1830 1831 176 88 243 126 4 A. Stevenson. • 22 j 1 2 Dec. Dec. 5, 3, 1831 1632 July 14, Mar. 3, 1832 1833 223 91 311 147 3 1 A. Stevenson. 23 j 1 Dec. 2, 1833 Juno 30, 1834 2U 277 1 > A. Stevenson. 2 Dec. 1, 1834 Mar, 3, 1825 93 113 John Bell, Tenn. 24 j 1 2 Dec. Dec. 7, 5, 1835 1836 July 4, Mar. 3, 1836 1837 211 89 377 81 1 Jas. K. Polk, Tenn. c 1 Sept. 4, 1837 Oct. 16, 1837 43 11 ■ 25) 2 Dec. 4, 1837 July 9, 1838 218 277 ' James K. Polk. ( 3 Dec. 3, 1838 Mar. 3, 1839 91 249 ' 26 j 1 2 Dec. Dec. 7, 1839 1840 July, 21, Mar. 3, 1840 1841 233 87 106 41 R.M.T. Hunter, Va. c 1 May 31, 1841 Sept. 13, 1841 106 30 3) 27) 2 Dec. 6, 1841 Aug. 31, 1842 269 299 4, John White, Ken. \ 3 Dec. 5, 1842 Mar. 3, 1843 89 186 : =8) 1 Dec. Dec. 4, 1843 1844 June 17, Mar. 3, 1844 1845 196 91 188 93 2! John W. Jones, Va. 29^ li Dec. Dec. 1,' 7, 1845 18-i6 Aug. 10, Mar. 3, 1846 1847 253 87 185 124 2( John W. Davis, Ind. 628 VOTES FOR PRESIDENTS AND VICE-PRESIDENTS, FROM 1789 TO 1845. tpimt oi "^ 'n [''•'-'X CS CO CO •'PIW i 1 1 1 1 1 1 •>i-ivl II 1 1 1 1 i •OHi' 1 ! 1 1 1 1 1 •sill i 1 1 i 1 1 •puii 1 1 1 r CO •o'qOl 1 1 1 ^ CO r 1 ^ (J l^ .00 00 •^Hi 1 "^ '^ 1 Tt ■^ .' "* '* |00 00 (N 1^ 05 oi TT in 05 Ol O^ OJ a> oi Oi o> ^ •I'H Tf Tl< Tj< rr n. oco ■^ -g- rr rf Tf TT rf Tj> •SSBJ^ o o (£> ro CO CO CO CC CO 05 03 Ci Ol Oi t- r- (» i-H 00 0» O) O) eS >- > ^ <» c M ^ § g c H i-s Q 0) CS (i;Q 1 r4 D oc ?H > § ti li ^►^O c „- c Ph - S S 3 - — 00 i-" '■3^. =« ID E CO f^ "r? cri a u > ■>M ; cs -3 . \>< s I^Z EH "3 Oh Q s i4o S ^^^ a; b big S a! a 5Pi( 1 «OEH 10 m l; fLt P4 > >^ ^ •W 1-^^ i^-~ MP= ^y e? m - SM H % ?o -si NiJ §^ '^ ^ S! 00 - Ph > 630 VOTES FOR PRESIDENTS AND VICE-PRESIDENTS, FROM 1789 TO 1845. RECAPITULATION AND REMARKS. 1st Term, 1789. Electors 69, and 69 votes for G, Waslnns:ton. J. Adams had 34 ; John Jay (IST. J. 5, Del. 3, Va. 1) 9 ; R, H. Harrison (Md. 6) 6; J. Riitled?e (S. C, 6) 6; J. Hancrck (Pa. 2, Va. 1, S. C. 1) 4; G. Clinton (Va. 3) 3 ; S. Huntinston (Ct. 2) 2; John Milton (Ga. 2) 2 ; J. Armstrong (Ga. 1) 1 ; Ed. Telfair (Ga. 1) 1 ; B. Lincoln (Ga. 1) 1 — total 69. Rhode Island, New York, and North Carolina, did not assent to the constitution in season to vote for president in 1789. 2d, 1793. Electors 135. 132 votes for G. Washin^^ton, and 3 (Md. 2, S. C. 1) vacancies. J. Adams received 77 votes; G. Clinton 50; Th. Jefferson (Ky. 4) 4; A. Burr (S. C. 1) 1— total 132. 3d, 1797. Electors 138. J. Adams received 71 votes; Th. Jefferson 68; Th. Pinckney 59; A. Burr 30 ; S. Adams (Va. 15) 25; 01. Ellsworth (N. H. 6, Mass. 1, R. I. 4) 11 ; G. Clinton (Va. 3, Ga. 4) 7 ; John Jay (Ct. 5) 5 ; James Iredel (N. C. 3) 3; G. Washington (Va. 1, N. C. 1) 2 ; J. Henry (Md. 2) 2; S. Johnson (Mass. 2) 2; Ch. C. Pinckney (N. C. 1) 1. 4th, 1801. Electors 138. Th. Jefferson received 73 votes; A. Burr 73; J. Adams 65; Ch. C. Pinckney 64 ; John Jay (R. I. 1) 1. The election was carried to the house of representatives, and Mr. Jefferson was, on the 36th ballot, chosen pres- ident by the votes of N. Y., N. J., Pa., Md., Va., N. C, Ga., Tenn., and Ky. ; and Mr. Burr, vice-president. After this the constitution was altered, so as to require the president and vice-president to be separately voted for. 5th, 1805. For a full view of the votes see table. 6th, 1809. For President : J. Madison 122 votes ; Ch. C. Pinckney 47 ; G. Clin- ton (N. Y. 6)6; vacancy (Ky.)— total 176. For Vice-President: G. Clinton 113 votes ; Rufus Kin? 47 ; J. Langdon (Vt. 6, Ohio 3)9; J. Madison (N. Y. 3) 3 ; J. Monroe (N. Y. 3) 3 ; 1 vacancy (Ky.)— total 176. 7th. 1813. See table. One vacancy in Ohio. 8th, 1817. For President : J. Monroe 183 votes; Rufus King 31; 4 vacancies (Del. 1, Md. 3) 4 — total 221. For Vice-President : Daniel D. Tompkins 183 votes ; John E. Howard (Mass. 22) 22; James Ross (Ct. 5) 5 ; J. Marshall (Ct. 5) 5; R. G. Harper (Del. 3) 3 ; 4 vacancies (Del. 1, Md. 3)— total 221. 9th, 1821. For President : J. Monroe, 231 ; J. Q. Adams (Mass. 1) 1— total 232. For Vice-President : D. D. Tompkins 218; R. Stockton (Mass. 8) 8; D. Rodney (Del. 4) 4 ; R. Rush (N. H. 1) 1 ; R. G. Harper (Md. 1) 1— total 232. 10th, 1825. For President: A. Jackson 99 votes; J. Q. Adams 84; Wm. H. Crawford 41 ; Henry Clay 37 — total 261. Mr. Adams was elected by the house of representatives. See table. For Vice-President: J. C. Calhoun 182; N. Sanford 30 ; N. Macon (Va. 24) 24 ; A. Jackson (N. H. 1, Ct. 8, Md, 1, Mo. 3) 13 ; M. Van Buren (Ga. 9) 9; Henry Clay (Del. 2) 2; 1 vacancy (R. I.)— total 261. nth, 1829, See table. 12th, 1833. For President : A. Jackson 219 votes; Henry Clay 49 ; J. Floyd (S. C. 11) 11; W. Wirt (Vt. 7) 7; 2 vacancies (Md.)— total 286. For Vice-President : M. Van Buren 189; John Serjeant 49; Wm. Wilkins (Pa, 30) 30; Henry Lee (S. C. 11) 11 ; Amos Ellmaker (Vt. 7) 7— total 286. 13th, 1837. For President: M. Van Buren 170; Wm. H. Harrison 73; Hugh L. White 26; Daniel Webster 14; W. P. Mangum 11— total 294, For Vice-Pres- ident : R. M. Johnson 144 ; Francis Granger 77 ; John Tyler 47 ; Wm. Smith 23— total 294. 14th, 1841. For President : W. H, Harrison 234 ; M. Van Buren 60— total 294. For Vice-President: John Tyler 234; R. M, Johnson 48; L. W.Tazewell 11 ; J. Polk 1— total 294. 15th, 1845, For full vote see table. 16th, 1849. Sec table. SUCCESSIVE ADMINISTRATIONS FROM 1797 TO 1846. G31 SUCCESSIVE ADMINISTRATIONS, FROM 1789 TO 1846. FIRST ADMINISTRATION— 1789 to 1797.— eight years. President : George Washington, Virginia. Vice-President : John Adams, Massachuseiis. Secretaries of State : Thomas Jefferson, of Va., Sept. 26, 1789 ; Edmund Ran- dolph, of Va., Jan. 2, 1794; Timothy Pickering, of Pa., Dec. 10, 1795. Secretaries of the Treasury: Alexander Hamilton, of New York, Sept. 11, 1789; Oliver Wolcott, of Conn., Feb. 3, 1795. Secretaries of War : Henry Knox, of Mass., Sept. 12, 1789 ; Timothy Picker- ing, of Mass., Jan. 2, 1795; James M'Henry, of Md., Jan. 27. 1796. Secretaries of the Navy : No navy department during this administration. Postmasters-General : Samuel Osgood, of Mass., Sept. 26, 1789 ; Timothy Pick- ering, of Mass., Nov. 7, 1794; Joseph Habersham, of Ga., Feb. 25, 1795. Years. Expenditures. Public Debt. Total. 1789— The expenditures from 4th March, 1789, to 31st December, 1791, are 1790 included in 1791. 1791 $1,921,589 52 $5,285,949 50 $7,207,539 02 1792 1,877,913 68 7,263,655 99 9,141,569 67 1793 1,710,070 26 5,819,505 29 7,529,575 55 1794 3,500,546 65 5,801,578 09 9,302,124 74 1795 4,350,658 04 6,084,411 61 10,435,069 65 1796 2,531,930 40 5,835,846 44 8,367,776 84 $15,892,708 55 $36,090,946 92 $51,983,655 47 SECOND ADMINISTRATION— 1797 to 1801.— four years. President : John Adams, Massachusetts. Vice-President : Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Secretaries of State : Timothy Pickering, continued in office ; John Marshall, of Va., May 13, 1800. ' Secretaries of the Treasury : Oliver Wolcott continued in office ; S. Dexter, of Mass., Dec. 31, 1800. Secretaries of War : James M'Henry continued in office ; S. Dexter, of Mass.. May 13, 1800; Roger Griswold, of Conn., Feb. 3, 1801. Secretaries of the Navy: George Cabot, of Mass., May 3, 1789, declined ; Benjamin Stoddart, of Maryland, May 21, 1798. Postmaster-General : Joseph Habersham, continued. Years. Expenditures. Public Debt. Total. 1797 $2,833,590 96 $5,792,421 82 $8,626,012 78 1798 4,623,223 54 3,990,294 14 8,613,517 68 1799 6,480,166 72 4,596,876 78 11,077,043 50 1800 7,411,369 97 4,578,369 95 11,989,739 92 $21,348,351 19 $18,957,962 69 $40,306,313 88 THIRD ADMINISTRATION— 1801 to 1809.— eight years. President : Thomas Jefferson, Virginia. Vice-Presidents: Aaron Burr, New York; George Clinton, New York. Secretary of State: James Madison, of Virginia, March 5, 1801. Secretaries of the Treasury: S. Dexter continued in office; Albert Gallatin, of Pa., Jan. 26, 1802. Secretary of War : Henry Dearborn, of Mass., March 4, 1801. Secretaries of the Navy: Benjamin Stoddart continued in office; Robert Smith, of Maryland, Jan. 28, 1802. 632 SUCCESSIVE ADKINISTRATIONS, FROM 1797 TO 1846. Postmasters-Genekal : Joseph Habersham continued in office ; Gideon Granger, Conn., Jan. 26, 1802. Years. Expenditures. Public Debt. Total. 1801 $4,981,669 90 $7,291,707 04 $12,273,376 94 1802 3,737,079 91 9,539,004 76 13,276,084 67 1803 4,002,824 24 7,256,159 43 11,258,983 67 1804 4,452,857 91 8,171,787 45 12,624,645 36 1805 6,357,234 62 7,369,889 79 13,727,124 41 1806 6,080,209 36 8,989,884 61 15,070,093 97 1807 4,984,572 89 6,307,720 10 11,292,292 9.9 1808 6,50^,338 85 10,260,245 35 $65,186,398 53 16,764,584 20 $41,100,787 68 $106,287,186 21 FOURTH ADMINISTRATION— 1809 to 1817.— eight years. President : Jamfs Madison, Virginia. Vice-Presidents: George Clinton, Now York; Elbridge Gerry, Mass. Secretaries of State: Robert Smith, of Md., 6th March, 1809; James Monroe, of Va., Nov. 25, 1811. Secretaries of the Treasury: Albert Gallatin continued in office; George W. Campbell, of Tenn., Feb. 9, 1814 ; Alexander J. Dallas, of Pa., Oct. 6, 1814. Secretaries of War; Wm. Eustis, of Mass., March 7, 1809; John Armstrong, of N. Y., Jan. 19, 1813 ; James Monroe, of Va., Sept. 26, 1814; Wm. H. Crawford, of Ga., March 2, 1815. Secretaries of the Navy: Paul Hamilton, of S. C, March 7, 1809; William Jones, of Pa., Jan. 12, 1813 ; Benjamin W. Crowninshield, of Mass., Dec. 19, 1841. Postmasters-General: Gideon Granger continued in office; R. J. Meigs, of Ohio, March 17, 1814. Years Expenditures. Public Debt. Total. 1809 $7,414,672 14 $6,452,554 16 $13,867,226 3f 1810 5,311,082 28 8,008,904 46 13,319,986 7- 1811 5,592,604 86 8,009,204 05 13,601,808 9 1812 17,829,498 70 4,449,622 45 22,279,121 1 1813 28,082,391 92 11,108,128 44 39,190,520 3 1814 30,127,686 28 7,900,543 94 38,028,230 2 1815 26,953,571 00 12,628,922 35 39,582,493 S 1816 23,373,432 58 $144,684,939 76 24,871,062 93 $83,428,942 78 48,244,495 f $228,113,882 .' • FIFTH ADMINISTRATION— 1817 to 1825.— eight years. President : James Monroe, Virginia, Vice-President : Daniel D. Tompkins, New York. Secretary of State : John Q. Adams, of Mass., March 3, 1817. Secretary of the Treasury : Win. H. Crawford, of Ga., March 5, 1817. Secretaries of War: Isaac Shelby, of Ky., March 5, 1817, declined the appoint- ment; John C. Calhoun, of S. C, Dec. 16, 1817. Secretaries of the Navy: Benjamin W. Crowninshield, continued in office; Smith Thompson, of N. Y., Nov. 30, 1818; S. L. Southard, of N. J., Dec. 9, 1823. Postmasters-General: Return J. Meigs continued in office; John M'Lean, of Ohio, Dec. 9, 1823. Public Debt. Total.' $25,423,036 12 $40,877,646 04 21,296,201 62 3,5,104,875 40 7,703,926 29 24,004,199 73 8,628,494 28 21,763,024 85 8,367,093 62 19,090,572 69 7,848,949 12 17,G76,.529 67 5,530,016 41 15,314,171 00 16,568,393 76 31,898,538 47 Years. Expenditures. 1817 $1.5,454,609 92 1818 13.808,673 78 1819 16,300,273 44 1820 13,134,530 57 1821 10,723,479 07 1822 9,827,580 55 1823 9,784,154 59 1824 15,330,144 71 104,363,446 63 $101,366,111 22 $205,729,557 85 SUCCESSIVE ADMINISTRATIONS, FROM 1797 TO 184S. 6.33 SIXTH ADMINISTRATION— 1824 to 1829.— four years. President : John Quincy Adams, Massachusetts, Vice-President : John C. Calhoun, South. Carolina. Secretary of State : Henry Clay, of Ky., March 8, 1825 Secretary of the Treasury : Richard Rush, of Penn., March 7, 1825. Secretaries of War . Jas. Barbour, of Va., March 7, 1825 ; Peter B. Porter, of N. Y., May 26, 1828. Secretary of the Navy -. Samuel L. Southard, continued in office. Postmaster-General : John M'Lean continued in office. Years 1825 1826 1827 1828 Expenditures. $11,490,459 94 13,062,316 27 12,653,096 65 13,296,041 45 Public Debt. $12,095,344 78 11,041,082 19 10,003,668 39 12,163,438 07 $45,303,533 43 Total. $23,585,804 72 24,103,398 46 22,656,765 04 25,459,479 52 $50,501,914 31 $95,805,447 74 SEVENTH ADMINISTRATION— 1829 to 1837.— eight years. President : Andrew Jackson, Tennessee. Vice-Presidents: John C. Calhoun, South Carolina; Martin Van Buren, New York. Secretaries of State: Martin Van Buren, of New York, March 6, 1829; Ed. Livingston, of La., 1831 ; Louis M'Lane, of Del., 1833 ; John Forsyth, of Ga., 1834. Secretaries of the Treasury: Samuel D. Ingham, of Pa., March 6, 1829; Louis M'Lane, of Del., 1831; Wm. J, Duane, of Pa., 1833; Roger B. Taney, of Md., 1833 — not confirmed by the senate; Levi Woodbury, of N. H.^ 1834. Secretaries of War : John H. Eaton, of Tenn., March 9, 1829 ; Lewis Cass, of Ohio, 1831. Secretaries of the Navy: John Branch, ofN. C, March 9, 1829; Levi "Wood- bury, of N. H., 1831 ; Mahlon Dickerson, of N. J., 1834. PosTiMASTERS-GENERAL : Wm. T. Barry, of Ky., March 9, 1829; Amos Kendall, of Ky., 1835. Years. Expenditures. Public Debt. Total. 1829 $12,660,490 62 $12,383,867 78 $25,044,358 4f) 1830 13,229,533 33 11,355,748 22 24,585,281 55 1831 13,864,067 90 16,174,378 22 30,038,446 12 1832 16,516,388 77 17,840,309 29 34,356.698 06 1833 22,713,755 11 1,543,-543 38 24,257,298 49 1834 18,425,417 25 6,176,565 19 24,601,982 44 1835 17,514,950 28 58,191 28 17,573,141 56 1836 29,621,807 82 $144,546,404 08 29,621,807 82 $65,532,603 36 $210,079,007' 44 EIGHTH ADMINISTRATION— 1837 to 1841.— four years. President : Martin Van Buren, N''w York. Vice-President : Richard M. Johnson, Kentucky. Secretary of State : John Forsvth, appointed June 27, 1834, resigned March 3, 1841. Secretary of the Treasury : Levi Woodbury, appointed June 27, 1834, re- signed March 2, 1841. Secretary of War : Joel R. Poinsett, appointed March 7, 1837, resigned March 2, 1841. Secretaries of the Navy: Mahlon Dickerson, appointed June 30, 1834, re- sianed June, 1838; James K.Paulding, appointed /rom June 30, 1838; resigned March 2, 1841. Postmasters-General: Amos Kendall, appointed May 1, 1835, resigned; John M. Niles, appointed /ro?n May 25, 1840, resigned March 1, 1841. 634 SUCCESSIVE ADJIINISTRATIONS, FROM 1797 TO 1846. Years Expenditures. Public Debt. Total. 1837 $31,793,587 24 $21,823 91 $31,815,410 15 1838 34,578,785 08 5,605,720 27 37,184,505 35 1839 2.5,488,547 73 11,127,987 42 36,616,534 15 1840 23,327,772 11 4,086,614 70 27,414,386 81 $112,188,692 16 $20,842,146 30 $133,030,836 46 NINTH ADMINISTRATION— 1841 to 1845.— four years. President : Gen. William Henry Harrison, Ohio. Died April 4, 1841. Vice-President : John Tyler, Virginia, President: John Tyler, Virginia (from April 4, 1841). Secretaries of State: Daniel Webster, appointed March 5, 1841, resigned May 8, 1843; Hugh S. Legare, appointed May 9, 1843, died June 20, 1843; Abel P. Up- shur, appointed June 24, 1843, died February 28, 1844; John Nelson, acting, Febru- ary 29, 1844; John C. Calhoun, appointed March 6, 1844, resigned March 1, 1845. Secretaries of the Treasury: Thomas Ewing, appointed March' 5, 1841, re- signed; Walter Forward, appointed September 13, 1841, resigned ; George M. Bibb, appointed June 15, 1844, resigned March 3, 1845. Secretaries of War: John Bell, appointed March 5, 1841, resigned; John C. Spencer, appointed October 12, 1841, transferred to treasury department; James M. Porter, appointed March 8, 1843, rejected by the senate; William Wilkins, appointed February 15, 1844, resigned March 3, 1845. Secretaries of the Navy: George E. Badger, appointed March 5, 1841, re- signed; Abel P. Upshur, appointed September, 13, 1841, transferred to department of state; David Henshaw, appointed July 24, 1843, rejected by the senate; Thomas W. Gilmer, appointed February 15, 1844, died February 28, 1844; John Y. Mason, appointed March 14, 1844, resigned March 3, 1845. Postjiasters-General : Francis Granger, appointed March. 6, 1841, resigned; Charles A. Wicklifl'e, appointed September 13, 1841, resigned March 3, 1845. Years Expenditures. Public Debt. Total. 1841 $26,196,840 29 $5,600,689 74 $31,797,530 03 1842 24,361,336 59 8,575,539 94 32,936,876 53 1st Jan. to Jan. 30, 1843 11,256,508 60 861,596 55 12,118,105 15 For the year endmg Jan. 30, 1844 20,650,198 01 2,991,802 84 33,642,010 85 From July to Dec. 31, 1844 11,700,159 50 1,538,478 06 13,238,637 56 $94,164,952 99 $29,568,207 13 $123,838,160 12 TENTH ADMINISTRATION— 1845 to 1849. President : James Knox Polk, Tennessee. Vice-President : George M. Dallas, Pennsylvania. Secretary of State : James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, appointed March 5, 1845. Secretary of the Treasury : Robert J. Walker, of Mississippi, appointed March 5, 1845. Secretary of War: William L. Marcy, of New York, appointed March 5, 1843. Secretary of the Navy : George Bancroft, of Massachusetts, appointed March, 1845. JoHjr Y. Mason, of Virginia, appointed 1846. Postmaster-General: Cave Johnson, of Tennessee, appointed March 5, 1845. MINISTERS TO FORElCiN COUNTRIES. 635 PUBLIC MINISTERS OF THE UNITED STATES, TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES, FROM 1789 TO 1846. To Great Britain. Gouverneur Morris, of New Jersey, commissioner, October 13, 1789. Thomas Pinckney, of South Carolina, minister plenipotentiary, January 12, 1792. John Jay, of New York, envoy extraordinary, April 19, 1794. Rufus King, of New York, minister plenipotentiary. May, 20, 1796. James Monroe, of Virginia, minister plenipotentiary, April 18, 1803. James Monroe and William Pinkney, jointly and severally, ministers plenipoten- tiary and extraordinary, May 12, 1806. William Pinkney, of Maryland, minister plenipotentiary, May 12, 1806, renewed February 26, 1808. John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipo- tentiary, February 28, 1815. Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, December 16, 1817. Rufus King, of New York, ei^voy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, May 5, 1825. Albert Gallatin, of Pennsylvania, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentia- ry. May 10, 1826.' James Barbour, of Virginia, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, May 23, 1828. Louis M'Lane, of Delaware, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, February 10, 1830. Martin Van Buren, of N.Y., envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, 1831. Aaron Vail, of New York, charge d'aflaires, 1832. Andrew Stevenson, of Virginia, envoy extraordinarj' and minister plenipotentia- ry', 1836. Edward Everett, of Massachusetts, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipoten- tiary, 1841. Louis M'Lane, of Maryland, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentia- ry, 1845. To France. William Short, of Virginia, charge d'affaires, April 6, 1790. Gouveraeur Morris, of New Jersey, minister penipotentiary, January 12, 1792 James Monroe, of Virsinia, minister plenipotentiary, May 28, 1790. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, of South Carolina, minister plenipotentiary, Septem- ber 9, 1796. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Elbridge Gerry, and John Marshall, jointly and severally, envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary, June 5, 1797. Oliver Ellsworth, Patrick Henry, and William Vans Murray, envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary, February 26, 1799. William Richardson Davie, of North Carolina, in place of Patrick Henry, Decem- ber 10, 1799. James A. Bayard, of Delaware, minister plenipotentiary, February 19, 1801. Robert R. Livingston, of New York, minister plenipotentiary, October 2, 1801. John Armstrons;. of New York, minister plenipotentiary, June 30, 1804. Joel Barlow, of Connecticut, minister plenipotentiary, February, 27, 1811. W^illiam H. Crawford, of Georgia, minister plenipotentiary, April 9, 1813. . Albert Gallatin, of Pennsylvania, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentia- ly, February 28, 1815. James Brown, of Louisiana, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, De- cember 9, 1823. William C. Rives, of Virginia, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, February 10, 1830. Edward Livingston, of Louisiana, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipoten- tiary, 1833. Lewis Cass, of Ohio, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary', 1836. William R. King, of Alabama, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipoten- tiary, 1844. 636 MINISTERS TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES. To Spain. William Carmichael, of Maryland, charge d'affaires, April 11, 1790. William Carmichael and William Short, commissioners, March 16, 1792. William Short, of Virginia, minister resident. May 28, 1794. Thomas Pincliney, of South Carolina, envoy extrordinary, November 24, 1794. David Humphreys, of Connecticut, minister plenipotentiary, Mav 20, 1196. Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina, minister plenipotentiary, June 6, 1801. James Monroe, of Virginia, minister extraordinary and plenipotentiary, Octo- ber 14, 1804. James Bowdoin, of Massachusetts, minister plenipotentiary, November 22, 1804. George W. Erving, of Massachusetts, minister plenipotentiary, August 10, 1814. John Forsyth, of Georgia, minister plenipotentiary, February 16, 1819. Hugh Nelson, of Virginia, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, June 15, 1823. Alexander Hill Everett, of Massachusetts, envoy extraordinary and minister plen- ipotentiary, March 9, 1825. Cornelius P. Van Ness, of Vermont, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipoten- tiary, February 10, 1830. William T. Barry, of Ky., envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, 1835. John H. Eaton, of Tenn., envoy extraordinary and njinister plenipotentiary, 1836. Aaron Vail, of New York, charge d'affaires, 1840. Washington Irving, of N. Y., envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, 1842. Romulus M. Saunders, of North Carolina, envoy extraordinary and minister pleni- potentiary, 1546. To the Netherlands. William Short, of Virginia, minister resident, January 16, 1792. John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, minister resident. May 30, 1794. William Vans Murray, of Maryland, minister resident, March 2, 1797. William Eustis, of Massachusetts, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary December 10, 1814. Alexander H. Everett, of Massachusetts, chara:e d'affaires, November 30, 1818. Christopher Hughes, of Maryland, charge d'all'aires, March 9, 1825. Albert Gallatin and William Pitt Preble, agents in the negotiation and upon the umpirage relating to the northeastern boundary of the United States, May 9, 1828. William Pitt Preble, of Maine, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiarv, February 10, 1830. Auguste Davezac, of Louisiana, charge d'affaires, 1831. Harmanus Bleecker, of New York, charge d'affaires, 1839. Christopher Hughes, of Maryland, charge d'affaires, 1842. Auguste Davezac, of New York, charge d'aflaires, 1845. • To Portugal. David Humphreys, of Connecticut, minister resident, February 21, 179J. John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, minister plenipotentiary. May 30, 1796. William Smith, of South Carolina, minister plenipotentiary, July 10, 1797. Thomas Sumpter. of S. Carolina, minister plenipotentiary (in Brazil), March 7, 1809. John Graham, of Virginia, minister plenipotentiary (in Brazil), January 6, 1819. Henry Dearborn, senior, of New Hampshire, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary. May 7, 1822. Thomas L. L. Brent, of Virginia, charge d'affaires, March 9, 1825. Edward Kavenagh, of Maine, charge d'affaires, 1835. Washington Barrow, charge d'affaires, 1841. Abraham Rencher, of North Carolina, charge d'affaires, 1843. To Prussia John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, minister plenipotentiary, June 1, 1797. Henry Clay (secretary of state), special commissioner, with full power to conclude a treaty with the government of Prussia, April 18, 1828. Henry Wheaton, of Rhode Island, minister plenipotentiary, 1837. Andrew J. Donelson, of Tennessee, minister plenipotentiary, 1846. To Jltistria. Henry A. Muhlenberg, of Pennsylvania, minister plenipotentiary, 1838. Daniel Jenifer, of Blaryland, minister plenipotentiary, 1841. William A. Stiles, of Georgia, charge d'affaires, 1845. MINISTERS TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 637 To Russia. John Qufncy Adams, of Massachusetts, minister plenipotentiary, June 27, 1809. James A. Bayard, of Delaware, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, February 28, J8l5. William Pinkney, of Maryland, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, April 26, 1815. George W. Campbell, of Tennessee, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipoten- tiary, April 16, 1818. Henry Middleton, of South Carolina, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipoten- tiarj', April 6, 1820. John Randolph, of Virginia, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, 1830. James Buchanan, of Penn., envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, 1831. William Wilkins, of Penn., envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, 1834. John Randolph Clay, of Pennsylvania, charge d'affaires, 1836. George M. Dallas, Penn., envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, 1837. Churchill C. Cambreleng, of New York, envoy extraordinary and minister pleni- potentiary, 1840. Charles S. Todd, of Ky., envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, 1841. To Sweden, Jonathan Russell, of Rhode Island, minister plenipotentiary, January 18, 1814. Christopher Hughes, jr., of Maryland, charge d'atiaires, January 21, 1819. William C. Somerville, of Maryland, charge d'affaires, March 9, 1825. John James Applcton, of Massachusetts, charge d'affaires. May 2, 1826. Christopher Hughes, of Maryland, cliarge d'affaires, March 3, 1830. George W. Lay, of New York, charge d'affaires, 1842. Henry W. Ellsworth, of Indiana, charge d'affaires, 1845. Negotiators of the Treaty of Ghent. John,Quincy Adams, Albert Gallatin, and James A. Bayard, envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary, April 17, 1813. {See rot. 1, pages 363, 366.) Henry Clay and Jonathan Russell were added to this commission on the 18th of January, 1814. To Denmark. Henry Whcaton, of New York, charge d'affaires, March 3, 1827^ Jonatlian F. Woodside, of Ohio, charge d'affaires, 1835. William W. Irwin, of Pennsylvania, charge d'affaires, 1843. To Belgium. Hugh S. Legare, of South Carolina, charge d'affaires, 1832. Virgil Maxcy, of Maryland, charge d'aiTaires, 1837. Henry W. Hilliard, of Ahibama, charge d'affaires, 1842. Thomas G. Clemson, of Pennsylvania, charge d'affaires, 1844. To the Two Sicilies. John Nelson, of Maryland, charge d'affaires, 1831. Enos T. Throop, of New York, charge d'affaires, 1838. William Boulware, of Virginia, charge d'affaires, 1841. William H. Polk, of Tennessee, charge d'affaires, 1845. To Sardinia. H. Y. Ro!rers,charge d'affaires, 1840. Ambrose Baber, of Georgia, charge d'affaires, 1841. Robert Wickliffe, jr., of Kentucky, charge d'affaires, 1843. Turkey. David Porter, of Maryland, charge d'affaires, 1831. David Porter, minister resident, 1839. Dabney S. Carr, of Maryland, minister resident, 1843. To Guatemala {Central .America). William Miller, of North Carolina, charje d'affaires, March 7, 1825. John Williams, of Tennessee, charge d'affaires, December, 9, 182.5. William B. Rochester, of New York, charge d'affaires, March 3, 1827. Charles G. DeWitt, of New York, charge d'affaires, 1833. John L. Stephens, of New York, minister resident, 1839. 638 MINISTERS TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES. • To Mexico. Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, January 27, 1823. {Declined the appointment.) Ninian Edwards, of Illinois, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, March 4, 1824. Joel R. Poinsett, of South Carolina, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipoten- tiary, March 8, 1825. Anthony Butler, of Mississippi, charge d'affaires, March 12, 1830. Powhattan Ellis, of Miss., envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, 1837. Waddy Thompson, of S. C, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, 1842. Wilson Shannon, of Ohio, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, 1844. John Slidell, of Louisiana, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, 1845. To the Republic of Colombia. Kichard C. Anderson, of Virginia, minister plenipotentiary, January 27, 1823. Beaufort T. Watts, of South Carolina, charge d'affaires, March 3, 1827. William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipoten- tiary. May 24, 1828. Thomas P. Moore, of Kentucky, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, March 13, 1829. To Brazil. Condy Raguet, of Pennsylvania, charge d'affaires, March 9, 1825. William Tudor, charge d'affaires, December 27, 1827. Ethan A. Brown, of Ohio, charge d'affaires, 1830. William Hunter, of Rhode Island, charge d'affaires, 1834. William Hunter, of Rhode Island, minister plenipotentiary, 1841. George H. Proffit, of Indiana, minister plenipotentiary, 1843. Henry A. Wise, of Virginia, minister plenipotentiary, 1844. To the Republic of Buenos .Ayres. CtEsar A. Rodnej'', of Delaware, minister plenipotentiary, January 27, 1823. John M. Forbes, of Florida, chai-ge d'affaires, March 9, 1825. Francis Baylies, of Massachusetts, charge d'affaires, 1832. William Brent, jr., of Virginia, charge d'affaires, 1844. To the Republic of Chili. Heman Allen, of Vermont, minister plenipotentiary, January 27, 1823. Samuel Earned, of Rhode Island, charge d'affaires, February 9, 1828. John Harum, of Ohio, charge d'affaires, 1830. Richard Pollard, of Virginia, charge d'affaires, 1834. John S. Pendleton, of Virginia, charge d'affaires, 1841. William Crump, of Virginia, charge d'affaires, 1844. To Peru. James Cooley of Ohio, charge d'affaires, May 2, 1826. Samuel Earned, of Rhode Island, charge d'affaires, December 29, 1828, Emanuel J. West, of Illinois, charge d'affaires, March 12, 1830. Samuel Earned, of Rhode Island, charge d'affaires, 1831. James B. Thornton, of New Hampshire, charge d'affaires, 1836. James C. Pickett, of Virginia, charge d'affaires, 1838. Albert G. Jewett, of Maine, charge d'affaires, 1845. To Venezuela. J. G. A. Williamson, of North Carolina, charge d'affaires, 1835. Allen A. Hall, of Tennessee, charge d'affaires, 1841. Benjamin G. Shields, of Alabama, charge d'affaires, 1845. To New Grenada, Robert B. M'Afee, of Kentucky, charge d'affaires, 1833. James Semple, of Illinois, charge d'affaires, 1837. William M. Blackford, of Virginia, charge d'affaires, 1842. Benjamin A. Bidlack, of Pennsylvania, charge d'affaires,, 1845. MI.N'lSTtRS TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 639 Assembly of American nations, proposed to be held at Panama. Richard C. Anderson, of Virginia, and John Sergeant, of Pennsylvania, envoys ex- traordinary and ministers plenipotentiary, March 14, 1826. Joel R. Poinsett, of South Carolina, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipoten- tiary, February 12, 1827. To Texas. Alcee Lahranche, of Louisiana, charge d'affaires, 1837. George H. Flood, of Ohio, charge d'affaires, 1840. Joseph Eve, of Kentucky, charge d'afiaires, 1841. William S. Murphy, of Ohio, charge d'afiaires, 1843. Andrew J. Donelson, of Tennessee, charge d'affaires, 1845. To China. Caleb Gushing, of Massachusetts, commissioner, 1843. Alexander H. Everett, of Massachusetts, commissioner, 1845. To Sandwich Islands. George Brown, of Massachusetts, commissioner, 1843. Anthony Ten Eyck, of Michigan, commissioner, 1845. The pay of ministers plenipotentiary is $9,000 per annum, salary, beside $9,000 for an outfit. Secretaries of legation receive $2,000, and charge d'affaires, $4,500 per annum. To entitle any charge d'affaires, or secretary of any legation or embassy to any foreign country, or secretary of any minister plenipotentiary, to the above com- pensation, they must respectively be appointed by the president of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the senate; but in the recess of the senate, the president is authorized to make such appointments, which must be submitted to the senate at the next session thereafter, for their advice and consent ; and no compensa- tion is allowed to any charge d'affaires, or any secretary of legation, embassy, or minister, who shall not be so appointed. Consuls of the United States, generally so called, are, in effect, agents for commerce and seamen ; which latter denomination, for particular reasons, is given to some of this class of public officers. They receive no yearly salaries (except at Paris and London, Tangier, Tunis, and Tripoli, where they have an annual salary of $2,000), and their compensation is derived from the fees which are allowed by law. The amount of these fees depends, of course, upon the state of foreign trade, which is perpetually fluctuating. Consuls of the United States, for commercial purposes, are regularly ad- mitted and recognised, as to their official functions, in the ports of Christian Europe; but in the colonies of the European nations, agents for commerce and seamen mostly exercise the duties of their station under courtesy, without any formal recognition ,• and, in some instances, from the jealousy of colonial policy, they have not been per- mitted to exercise them at all. In their public capacity, consuls and agents for com- merce and seamen are principally occupied in verifying, in different forms, the legality of the trade of the United States with foreign nations, and in relieving and sending home American seamen, who, by accident or misfortune, are left destitute within the jurisdiction of their several consulates and agencies. The compensation of the following public officers of the United States is at present fixed by law at the amounts stated : — President of the United states, $25,000 per annum; vice-president, $5,000 per an- num; secretaries of state, treasury, navy, and war, each, $6,000 per annum; post- master-general, $6,000 per annum ; attorney-general, $4,000 per annum ; chief jus- tice of the supreme court, $5,000 per annum ; associate justices, $4,500 per annum. From the first Congress, in 1789, inclusive, until March 4, 1795, senators and rep- resentatives received each $6 per diem, and $6 for every twenty miles travel. From March 4, 1795, to March 4, 1796, senators received $7, and representatives $6 per diem. From March 4, 1796, until December 4, 1815, the per diem was $6, and the mileage $6, to senators and representatives. From December 4, 1815, until March 4, 1817, each senator and representative received $1,500 per annum, with a propor- tional deduction for absence, from any cause but sickness. The president of the sen- ate pro tempore, and speaker of the house, $3,000 per annum, each. From March 4, 1817, the compensation to members of both houses has been $8 per diem, and $8 for every twenty miles travel ; and to the president of the senate pro tempore, and speaker of the house, $16 per diem. 640 MINISTERS TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES. MINISTERS, &c., TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES, from 1845 to 1849. MIIVISTERS PLENIPOTENTIAHT. Great Britain, — George Bancroft, of Massachusetts, 1846, France. — Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, 1847. Prussia. — Edward A. Hannegan, of Indiana, 1849. Russia. — Ralph J. Ingersoll, of Connecticut, 1846. « Arthur P. Bagby, of Alabama, 1848. Brazil— Day\d Tod, of Ohio, 1847. Empire of Germany. — Andrew J. Donelson, of Tennessee, 1848. Turkey. — George P. Marsh, of Vermont, mmister resident, 1849 CHARGE d'affaires. Denmark. — R. P. Flenihen, of Pennsylvania, 1847. Two Sicilies. — John Rowan, of Kentucky, 1848. « Thomas W. Chinn, of Louisiana, 1849. Sardinia. — Nathaniel Niles, of Vermont, 1848. Portugal. — George W. Hopkins, of Virginia, 1847. Central America. — Elijah Hise, of Kentucky, 1848. « E. G. Squires, of Ohio, 1849. Rome. — J. L. Martin, of Pennsylvania, 1848. « Lewis Cass, jr., of Michigan, 1849. ilfearjco.— Nathan Cliflbrd, of Maine, 1848. Argentine Republic {Buenos Ayres). — William A. Harris, of Virginia, 1846- Chili. — Soth Barton, of Louisiana, 1847. Peru. — John Randolph Clay, of Pennsylvania, 1847. Bolivia. — John Appleton, of Maine, 1848. « Alexander K. McClung, of Mississippi, 1849. Ecuador. — Vanbrugh Livingston, of New York, 1848. « John Trumbull Van Alen, of New York, 1849. Netv Grenada. — Thomas M. Foote, of New York, 1849. COMMISSIONERS. China. — John W. Davis, of Indiana, 1848. Mexico. — Nicholas P. Trist, of Virginia, 1847. ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COUHT. Robert C. Grier, of Pennsylvania, appointed IS46. SUPREME COURT. 641 SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES. Chief Justices of the Supreme Court, since 1789. John Jay, of New York, commissioned September 26, 1789. William Cusliinir, of Massachusetts, January 27, 1796. Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut, March 4, 1796. John Jay,» of New York, December 19, 1800. John Marshall, of Virsinia, January 31, 1801. Roger B. Taney, of Maryland, March 15, 1836. Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, since 1789. John Rutledse, of South Carolina, September 26, 1789. William CusWns, of Massachusetts, September 27, 1789. Robert H. Harrison, of Maryland, September 28, 1789. James Wilson, of Pennsylvania, September 29, 1789. John Blair, of Virginia, September 30, 1789. James Iredell, of North Carolina, February 10, 1790. Thomas Johnson, of Maryland, November 7, 1791. William Patterson, of New York, March 4, 1793. Samuel Chase, of Marjland, January 27, 1796. Bushrod Washinston, of Virq-inia, December 20, 1798. William Johnson, of South Carolina, March 26, 1804. Brockholst Livinsfston, of New York, January 16, 1807. Thomas Todd, of Virginia, March 3, 1807. Levi Lincoln, of Massachusetts, Januai-y 7, 1811, John Qiiincy Adams,* of Massachusetts, February 22, 1811. Gabriel Duvall, of Maryland, November 18, 1811. Joseph Story, of Massachusetts, November 18, 1811. Smith Thompson, of New York, December 9, 1823. Robert Trimble, of Kentucky, March 9, 1826. John M'Lean, of Ohio, March 7, 1829. Henry Baldwin, of Pennsylvania, January 6, 1830. James M. Wayne, Georiiia, January, 1835. Philip P. Barbour, of Viri^inia, March 15, 1836. William Smith.f of Alabama, March 8, 1837. John Catron, of Tennessee, March 8. 1837. John M'Kinley, of Alabama, September, 1837. Peter V. Daniel, of Virginia, March 3, 1841. Samuel Nelson, of New York, February, 1845. Levi Woodbury, of New Hampshire, Januarj', 1846. Attorneys-General of the United States, since 1789. Edmund Randolph, of Virginia, September 26, 1789. William Bradford, of Pennsylvania, January 27, 1794. Charles Lee, of Virginia, December 10, 1795. Levi Lincoln, of Massachusetts, March 5, 1801. Robert Smith, of Maryland, March 3, 1805. John Breckenridge, of Kentucky, January 17, 1806 Cnesar A. Rodney, of Delaware, January 20, 1807. William Pinkney, of Maryland, December 11, iSll. Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, February 10, 1814. William Wirt, of Virginia, December, 16, 1817. John M'Pherson Berrien, of Georgia, March 9, 1829. Roger B. Taney, of Maryland, December, 1831. Benjamin F. Butler, of New York, January, 1834. Felix Grundy, of Tennessee, August, 1838. Henry D. Gilpin, of Pennsylvania, January, 1840. John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky, March, 1841. Hugh S. Lesare. of South Carolina, Sepiember, 1841. John Nelson, of Maryland, July, 1843. John Y. Mason, of Virginia, March, 1845. Nathan Clillord, of Miiiiie, 1846. Isaac Toucey, of Connecticut, 1848. Declined the appointment. T iVIr. Smith declined, and Judge M'Kjnley waa appointed. 41 642 PRESIDENTS OF THE SENATE. PRESIDENTS OF THE SENATE. VICE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. Congresses. 1 to 4. 5 and 6. 7 and 8. 9 to 12. 13 and 14. 15 to 18. John Adams - Thomas Jefferson - Aaron Burr George Clinton* Elbridge Gerry* Daniel D. Tompkins Elected. ■ 1789 ■ 1797 • 1801 • 1805 • 1813 1817 Congresses. Elected. 19 to 22. John C. Calhounf - 1825 23 and 24. Martin Van Buren - 1833 25 and 26. Richard M. Johnson 1837 27 and 28. John TylerJ - - 1841 29 and 30. George M. Dallas - 1845 31 and 32. Millard Fillmore - 1849 PRESIDENTS OF THE SENATE— P»-o tern. 1st Congress. 2d « 3d « 4th " 5th " eth " 7th " 8th « 9th " 10th « 11th « 12th " 13lh " 14th " 15th 16th " 17th " 18th " 19th " 20th " 21st " 22d " 23d « 24th « 25th « 26th " 27th " 28th " 29th " 30th " John Langdon, of New Hampshire. Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia. John' Langdon, of New Hampshire. Ralph Izard, of South Carolina. Henry Tazewell, of Virginia. Samuel Livermore, of New Hampshire. William Bingham, of Pennsylvania. William Bradford, of Rhode Island. Theodore Sedgwick, of Massachusetts. James Ross, of Pennsylvania. Samuel Livermore, of New Hampshire. James HiJlhouse, of Connecticut. ; Abraham Baldwin, of Georgia. Stephen R. Bradley, of Vermont. John Brown, of Kentucky. Jesse Franklin, of North Carolina. Joseph Anderson, of Tennessee. ; Samuel Smith, of Maryland. ' Samuel Smith, " ' Samuel Smith, " ' Stephen R. Bradley, of Vermont. ' John Milledge, of Georgia. Andrew Gregg, of Pennsylvania. John Gaillard, of South Carolina. John Pope, of Kentucky. William H. Crawford, of Georgia. John Gaillard, of South Carolina. John Gaillard, " j John Gaillard, " ; James Barbour, of Virginia, i James Barbour, " •'John Gaillard, of South Carolina. ■ John Gaillard, " John Gaillard, " Nathaniel Macon, of North Carolina- ; Nathaniel Macon, " [ Samuel Smith, of Maryland. ' Samuel Smith, " j Littleton W. Tazewell, of Virginia. I Hugh L. White, of Tennessee. i George Poindexter, of Mississippi. { John Tyler, of Virginia. William R. King, of Alabama. William R. King, " William R. King, " Samuel L. Southard, of New Jersey. Willie P. Mangum, of North Carolina. David R. Atchison, of Missouri. David R. Atchison, of Missouri. • Died in oifice. t Resigned Dec. 28, 1832. J Became president by death of Harrison, CENSUS OF THE UNITED STATES. 643 SUMMARY OF THE CENSUS OF THE UNITED STATES, JUNE 1, 1840. Free or Non-Slaveholding States. States and Territories. Whites. Free Colored. Slaves. Total, Maine 500,438 1,355 501,793 New Hampshire 284,036 537 1 284,574 Vermont 291,218 730 291,948 Massachusetts 729,030 8,668 737,698 Rhode Island 105,587 3,238 5 108,830 Connecticut 301,856 8,105 17 309,978 Total, New England.. .2,212,165 22,633 23 2^34,821 New York 2,378,890 50,027 4 2,428,921 New Jersey 351,588 21,044 674 373,306 Pennsylvania 1,676,115 47,854 64 1,724,033 Ohio 1,502,122 17,342 3 1,519,467 Indiana 678,698 7,1 65 3 685.866 Illinois 472,254 3,598 33 1 476J 183 Michi2;an 21 1,560 707 212,267 Wisconsin '. . . . .30,749 185 11 43,1 12 Iowa 42,924 172 16 30,945 Total, Free States 9,557,065 170,727 1,129 9,728,921 Slaveholding States. Delaware 58,561 16,919 2,605 78,085 Maryland 318,204 62,078 89,737 470,019 District of Columbia 30,657 8,361 4,694 .43,712 Virginia 740,968 49,842 448,987 1,239,797 North Carolina 484,870 22,732 255,817 753,419 South Carolina 259,084 = . . .8.276 327,038 494,398 Georsria 407,695 2,753 280,944 691,392 Florida 27,943 8l7 25,717 54,477 Alabama 335, 185 2,039 253,532 590,756 Mississippi 179,074 1,369 195,211 375,654 Louisiana 158,457 25,502 168,451 352,411 Arkansas 77,174 465 19,935 97,574 Tennessee 640,627 5,524 183,059 829,210 Kentucky 590,253 7,3 17 182,258 779,828 Missouri 323,888 1,574 58,240 383,702 Total, Slave States 4,632,640 21 5,568 2,486,226 7,334,434 Total, United States. . . . 14,189,705 386,295 2,487,355 17,063,355 PROGRESS OF POPULATION IN THE UNITED STATES FOR FIFTY YEARS, FROM 1790 TO 1840. First Census, .August 1, 1790. Whites. Free Colored. Slaves. Total. Free States 1,900,772 26,831 40,850 1,968,453 Slave States 1,271,692 32,635 645,047 1,961,374 ToUl 3,172,464. 59,446 697,897 3,929,827 644 CENSUS OF THK UNITED STATES. Second Census, August 1, 1800. Whites. Free Colored. Slaves. Total. Free States 2,601,509 47,154 35,946 2,684,609 Slave States 1,702,980 61,241 857,095 2,621,316 Total 4,304,489 108,395 893,041 5,305,925 Third Census, August 1, 1810. Free States 3,653,219 78,181 27,510 3,758,910 Slave States 2,208,785 108,265 1,163,854 3,480,904 Total 5,862,004 186,446 1,191,364 7,239,814 Fourth Census, August 1, 1820. Free States 5,030,371 102,893 19,108 5,152,372 Slave States 2,842,340 135,434 1,524,580 4,502,224 Total 7,872,711 238,197 1,543,688 9,654,596 Fifth Census, June 1, 1830. Free States 6,876,620 137,529 3.568 7,017,717 Slave States 3,660,758 182,070 2,005,475 5,848,303 Total 10,537,378 3 19,599 2,009,043 12,866,020 Sixth Census, June 1, 1840. Free States 9,557,065 170,727 1,129 9,723,921 Slave States 4,632,640 215,568 2,486,226 7,334,434 Total 14,189,705 386,295 2,487,355 17,063,355 OCCUPATIONS OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE CENSUS OF 1840. Number of Persons employed in Agriculture. Manufactures, Commerce. New England States 414,138 187,258 17,157 Middle States 808,633 333,947 50,077 Southern States 955,729 87,955 12,962 Southwestern States 650,548 37,899 14,496 Northwestern States 890,905 144,690 22,315 Total, 1840 3,719,951 791,749 117,607 Total, 1820 2,070,646 349,506 72,493 Other Occupations, by the Census of 1840. Namber of Persons employed in Mining in the United States 15,211 « « « Navigation of the Ocean 56,021 *e « « Internal Navigation 33,076 <* « *' Learned Professions, including Engineers.... 65,255 SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. 645 SYNOPSIS OF THE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE SEVERAL UNITED STATES. ADOPTION OF THE FIRST STATE CONSTITUTIONS. The continental Congress, on the 10th of May, 1776, recommended to the assemblies and conventions of the several colonies where no govern- ments sufficient to the exigencies of their affairs had been established, to adopt such systems as, in the opinion of the representatives of the people, would best conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents in particular, and British America in general. The difficulties in forming state governments or constitutions, were much less than in forming a system embracing all the states. The people had long been familiar with the civil institutions of their respective states, and could, with comparative ease, make such alterations as would suit their new political situation. The people of Connecticut and Rhode Is- land had, from their first settlement, chosen all their rulers, and in these states, a change of forms was only requisite. Massachusetts, after the alteration of her charter by parliament, con- tinued her old system as far as practicable, agreeably to the advice of Con- gress, until she was able and had leisure to form a new and more perma- nent one. From the peculiar situation of New Hampshire, Virginia, and South Carolina, Congress in November, 1775, recommended to them, if they judged it necessary for their peace and security, to establish govern- ments, to continue during the disputes with Great Britain. In pursuance of these recommendations, the states of New Hampshire, South Carolina, Virginia, and New Jersey, established new systems of government before the declaration of independence. They were followed by four other states, during the year 1776, and with the exception of that of Virginia, these state systems of government were expressly limited in their duration to the continuance of the dispute between the colonies and Great Britain. In all the constitutions thus formed, except that of Pennsylvania, the legis- lative power was vested in two branches.* Vermont did not become a member of the Union until 1791. That state was originally settled under grants from New Hampshire, and prin- cipally by the hardy yeomanry of New England, who became acquainted with the country in the war of 1756. It was a long time known by the name of " the New Hampshire grants," and its inhabitants were called " the green-mountain boys." It was claimed by New York, under the old • Pitkin's History of the United States. 646 SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. grant to the duke of York ; and in 1764, on an exparte application to the king and council, the country, as far east -as Connecticut river, was placed under the jurisdiction of that province. This was done without the knowledge and contrary to the wishes of the inhabitants, who at the rev- olution declared themselves independent, and in J777 established a tem- porary government. They afterward requested to be admitted a member of the confederacy, but were opposed by New Hampshire and New York, and Congress were unwilling to offend those states. A frame of state government was established July 4, 1786, and in 1790 New York was in- duced, by the payment of $30,000 to withdraw its claims, and in 1791 Vermont was admitted into the Union. The following are the dates when the first constitutions of the old states were adopted : — New Hampshire, January 5 1776 South Carolina, March 24 1776 Virginia, June 29 1776 New Jersey, July 2 1776 Maryland, August 14 1776 Pennsylvania, September 1776 Delaware, September 1776 North Carolina, December 1776 New York, April 1777 Massachusetts, March 1780 Vermont, July 4 1786 Georgia, May 1789 A synopsis or outline of the principal features of the Constitutions of each of the United States. MAINE. The constitution of this state was formed in 1819, and went into oper- ation in 1820. The legislative power is vested in a senate and a house of representa- tives, both elected annually by the people, on the second Monday of Sep- tember. These two bodies are together- styled the Legislature of Maine. The number of representatives can not be less than 100, nor more than 200. A town having 1,500 inhabitants is entitled to send one representa- tive ; having 3,750, two; 6,775, three; 10,500, four; 15,000, five; 20,250, six ; 26,250, seven ; but no town can ever be entitled to more than seven representatives. The number of senators can not be less than twenty, nor more than thirty-one. The legislature meets (at Augusta) annually, in the month of May; it formerly met in January. The executive power is vested in a governor, who is elected annually by the people, on the second Monday in September, and his term of office commences on the first Wednesday in January. A council of seven mem- bers is elected annually, by joint ballot of the senators and representatives, to advise the governor in the executive part of government. The right of suff'rage is granted to every male citizen aged twenty-one years or upward (excepting paupers, persons under guardianship, and In- dians not taxed), having had his residence established in the state for the term of three months next preceding an election. The judicial power is vested in a supreme judicial court, and such other courts as the legislature may, from time to time, establish. All the judges are appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the council ; and they hold their ofllces during good behavior, but not beyond the age of seventy years. SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. 647 NEW HAMPSHIRE. A constitution was established in 1784; and in 1792, this constitution was altered and amended by a convention of delegates held at Concord, and is now in force. The legislative power is vested in a senate and house of representa- tives, which, together, are styled the General Court of Neio Hampshire. Every town, or incorporated township, having 150 ratable polls, may send one representative ; and for every 300 additional polls, it is entitled to an additional rejiresentative. The senate consists of twelve members, who are chosen by the people in districts. The executive power is vested in a governor and a council, which con- sists of five members. The governor, council, senators, and representatives, are all elected an- nuall}'-, by the people, on the second Tuesday in March, and their term of service commences on the first Wednesday in June. The general court meets annually (at Concord) on the first Wednesday in June. The right of suffrage is granted to every male inhabitant of twenty-one years of age, excepting paupers, and persons excused from paying taxes at their own request. The judiciary power is vested in a superior court, and a court of com- mon pleas. The judges are appointed by the governor and council, and hold their offices during good behavior, but not beyond the age of seventy years. VERMONT. The first constitution of this state was formed in 1777, and revised in 1786 ; the one now in operation was adopted on the 4th of July, 1793 , and an amendment establishing a senate was adopted in January, 1836. The legislative power is now vested in a senate and house of represen- tatives, elected by the people annually, on the first Tuesday in September. The senate consists of thirty members ; each county being entitled to at least one, and the remainder to be apportioned according to population ; and the house of representatives is composed of one member from each town. The senators must be thirty years of age, and the lieutenant-gov- ernor is ex-officio president of the senate. The legislature is styled the General Assembly of the State of Vermont, and meets annually, on the second Thursday of October, at Montpelier. The executive power is vested in a governor, or, in his absence, a lieu- tenant-governor, both elected annually by the people, on the first Tuesday in September, and their term of office expires on the second Thursday in October. The judiciary powers are vested in a supreme court, consisting of five judges, chosen every year by the legislature ; in a county court, consisting of three judges, chosen in the same manner (one of the judges of the su- preme court being chief-justice), who hold courts twice a year, in their respective counties, and in justices of the peace, appointed in the same manner. . The constitution grants the right of suffrage to every man, of the full age of twenty-one years, who has resided in the state for the space of one whole year, next before the election of representatives, and is of quiet and peaceable behavior. A council of censors, consisting of thirteen persons, are chosen every 648 SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. seven years (first elected in 1799), on the last Wednesday in March, and meet on the first Wednesday in June. Their duty is to inquire whether the constitution has been preserved inviolate ; whether the legislative and executive branches of government have performed their duty as guardians of the people ; whether the public taxes have been justly laid and col- lected ; in what manner the public moneys have been disposed of ; and whether the laws have been duly executed. MASSACHUSETTS. The constitution of this state was formed in 1780, and amended, by a state convenlion and the people, in 1821. Several amendments have since been recommended by the legislature, and adopted b)'' the people. The legislative power is vested in a senate and house of representa- tives, which together are styled the General Court of Massachusetts. The senate consists of forty members, who are chosen annually by the people, by districts, or counties, according to population. The house of representatives consists of members chosen annually by the cities and towns, according to population, every town having 300 ra- table p()lls electing one representative, and for every 450 more, one addi- tional representative. Any town having less than 300 polls, to be repre- sented as many years within ten years, as 300 is contained in the product of the number of polls in said town, multiplied by ten. When there is a surplus of polls over a sufficiency for one or more representatives, multi- ply the surplus by ten, and divide by 450, and the quotient will show how many years of the decennial period the town shall be allowed an addi- tional representative. The supreme executive magistrate is styled the Governor of the Com- monwealth of Massachusetts, and has the title of " His Excellency." The governor is elected annually by the people, and at the same time a lieu- tenant-governor is chosen, who has the title of " His Honor." The gov- ernor is assisted in the executive department, particularly in appointments to office, by a council of nine members, who are chosen by the joint ballot of the senators and representatives, from the senators ; and in case the persons elected councillors decline the appointment, others are chosen by the legislature from the people at large. The annual election is held on the second Monday in November, and the general court meets at Boston, on the first Wednesday of January. The right of suffrage is granted to every male citizen twenty-one years of age and upward (excepting paupers and persons under guardianship), who has resided within the commonwealth one year, and within the town or district in which he may claim a right to vote, six calendar months next precedmg any election, and who has paid a state or county tax, assessed upon him within two years next preceding such election ; and also every citizen who may be by law exempted from taxation, and who may be in all other respects qualified as abovementioned. The judiciary is vested in a supreme court, a court of common pleas, and such other courts as the legislature may establish. The judges are appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the council, and hold their offices during good behavior. RHODE ISLAND. The charter granted to the colony of Rhode Island, by King Charles 11., in 1663, formed the basis of the state government, until the present SVNTOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. 649 constitntion was framed, which was adopted in November, 1842, and went into effect on the first Tuesday of May, 1843. I3y this constitution the legislative power is vested in a senate and house of representatives, who are together styled the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The senate consists of the governor, lieutenant-governor, and one sen- ator from each of the thirty-one towns in the state. The house of representatives consists of sixty-nine members, appor- tioned among the towns according to population. Each town is to have at least one, and no town more than twelve representatives. The executive power is vested in a governor, being, with the lieuten- ant-governor, senators, and representatives, elected annually by the people, on the first Wednesday of April, for the year commencing the first Tues- day of May, when the general assembly meets at Newport ; and adjourned sessions are held alternately at Providence, East Greenwich, and Bristol. The judges and other public officers, except those chosen by the people, are appointed annually by the general assembly. The judicial powers are vested in a supreme court, consisting of a chief- justice and three associate justices, who hold their offices until they are removed by a resolution passed by both houses of the assembly, and in a court of common pleas for each county, consisting of a justice of the su- preme court, and two associate justices. The right of suffrage is vested in all male native citizens of the United States, who have resided in the state two years, and in the tovv'n where they propose to vote, six months ; who have been registered in the town clerk's office at least seven days before the election ; have paid within one year a tax of one dollar, or have done military duty within the preceding year; likewise, in all male citizens (naturalized foreigners) of the United States, who in addition to the preceding qualifications, possess real estate in the town or city, worth $134 over all incumbrances, or which rents for $7 per annum. CONNECTICUT. The charter granted in 1662 by Charles II., formed the basis of the government of Connecticut till 1818, when the present constitution was framed. The legislative power is vested in a senate and house of representa- tives, which together are styled the General Assembly. The members of the house of representatives are chosen by the differ- ent towns in the stale ; the more ancient towns, the majority of the whole number, send each two representatives ; the rest only one each. The present number is 220. The senate must consist of not less than eighteen, nor more than twenty- four members, who are chosen by districts. The present number is twenty-one. The executive power is vested in a governor. A lieutenant-governor is also chosen, who is president of the senate, and on whom the duties of the governor devolve, in case of his death, resignation, or absence. The representatives, senators, governor, and lieutenant-governor, are all elected annually by the people, on the first Monday in April. The general assembly has one stated session every year, on the first Wednesday in May, alternately at Hartford and at New Haven. Every while male citizen of the United Slates, who shall have gained 650 SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. a settlement in this state, attained the ao;e of twenty-one years, and resi- ded in the town in which he may offer himself to be admitted to the priv- ilege of an elector, at least six months preceding, and have a freehold es- tate of the yearly value of seven dollars, in this state ; or having been enrolled in the militia, shall have performed military duty therein for the term of one year next preceding the time he shall offer himself for admis- sion, or being liable thereto, shall have been, by authority of law, excused therefrom ; or shall have paid a state tax within the year next preceding the time he shall present himself for such admission, and shall sustain a good moral character ; shall, on the taking such an oath as may be pre- scribed by law, be an elector. The judicial power is vested in a supreme court of errors, a superior court, and such inferior courts as the general assembly may, from time to time, establish. The judges are appointed by the general assembly ; and those of the supreme and superior courts hold their offices during good be- havior, but not beyond the age of seventy years. No person is compelled to join, support, or to be classed with, or asso- ciated to, any congregation, church, or religious association. But every person may be compelled to pay his proportion of the expenses of the so- ciety to which he may belong; he may, however, separate himself from the society by leaving a written notice of his wish with the clerk of such society. NEW YORK. The present constitution of the state of New York, was formed in 1846. Every male citizen, twenty-one years of age, ten days a citizen, one year next preceding any election an inhabitant of the state, for the last four months a resident of the county where he may offer his vote, and for thirty days next preceding the election, a resident of the district of his candidate, may vote in the election district of which he shall at the time be a resident, and not elsewhere. No man of color shall vote unless he shall have been for three years a resident of the state, and, for one year next preceding the election, shall have owned a freehold worth two hun- dred and fifty dollars above all incumbrances, and shall have paid a tax thereon. And no person of color shall be taxed unless he shall own such real estate. Persons convicted of any infamous crime, and those who have made, or become directly or indirectly interested in any bet upon an election, may by a law be deprived of their vote therein. The state shall be divided into thirty-two districts, each of which shall choose one senator to serve for two years. A census of the state shall be taken in 1855, and in every ten years afterward. The legislature, at the next session after such census, shall reorganize the districts on the basis of population, excluding aliens and persons of color not taxed ; and the districts shall remain unaltered until the next census. Members of the assembly, one hundred and twenty-eight in number, and apportioned among the several counties according to the population, excluding aliens and persons of color not taxed, shall be elected annually and by single districts. Each county, except Hamilton, shall have at least one member of the assembly ; and no new county shall be made unless its population entitle it to a member. The pay of the senators and representatives shall not be more than three dollars a day, with one dollar for every ten miles of travel, nor exceed in the whole three dollars per diem allowance. In extra sessions it shall be three dollars a day. The speaker shall receive SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. 651 one third additional to his per-diem allowance. No member of the legis- ture sliall, during his term, be appointed to any office ; and no one holding office under the United States, and no member of Congress shall belong to the legislature. The election shall be on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November; and the legislature shall assemble on the first Tuesday of the following .January. The assembly may impeach by a ma- jority vote of all the members elected. The governor and lieutenant-governor, chosen by a plurality of votes, shall hold office for two years. In case two persons have an equal and the highest vote, the legislature, at its next session, by joint ballot shall decide between them. They must be thirty years old, citizens of the United States, and have been, for five years next preceding their election, residents in the state. The governor may veto a bill ; but two thirds of both houses may pass it again, notwithstanding his veto. The lieutenant- governor shall be president of the senate, with only a casting vote ; and if the office of governor be vacant, he, and, after him, the president of the senate, shall act as governor. The secretary of state, comptroller, treasurer, attorney-general, state-engineer, and surveyor, shall be chosen at a general election, and hold office for two years. The treasurer may be suspended from office by the governor, during the recess of the legis- lature, and until thirty days after the beginning of the next session. At the first election, three canal commissioners, and three inspectors of pris- ons shall be chosen, to hold office one, two, and three years, respectively, as shall be determined by lot ; and afterward one shall be elected annu- ally to hold office for three years. The inspectors shall have charge of the stateprisons, and shall appoint all officers therein. The court of appeals shall consist of eight judges, four to be elected by the people of the state, to serve eight years, and four selected from the justices of the supreme court, having the shortest time to serve. The judges shall be so classified that every two years one shall leave office, and a new judge be elected to serve eight years. The state shall be divi- ded into eight judicial districts, of which New York city shall be one ; where the number of judges is to be fixed by law. The other districts shall each elect four justices of the supreme court to serve eight years. The justices shall have general jurisdiction in law and equity, and shall be so classified that every two years one in each district shall go out of office. Each county, except the city and county of New York, shall elect one county judge for four years, who shall act as surrogate and hold the county court. Counties of more than forty thousand inhabitants may elect a separate surrogate. Towns may elect justices of the peace to serve four years. Cities may have inferior local courts of civil and criminal jurisdic- tion. Tribunals of conciliation may be established whose judgment shall be binding only upon parties who voluntarily submit their matters in dispute, and agree to abide the result. A clerk of the court of appeals, to be ex- officio clerk of the supreme court, shall be chosen by the people for three years. Sherifl's, county-clerks, coroners, and district attorneys, shall be chosen by counties once in three years, and as often as vacancies happen. Sheriffs shall hold no other o'ffice, and be ineligible for the next three years after the termination of their office. From June 1, 1846, there shall be paid each year out of the net reve- nue of the state canals, one million, three hundred thousand dollars, until June 1, 1855 ; and from that time one million, seven hundred thousand dollars a year, as a sinking fund for the payment of the canal debt of the 652 _ SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. State. Afterward, from the remaining revrpniies of the canals, there shall be paid from Jnne 1, 1846, until the canal debt is extincruished, three hun- dred and fifty thousand dollars a year ; and afterward, one million, five hundred thousand dollars a year, for the redemption of the general fund and all contingent debts. Of the balance of the canal revenues, a sum not above two hundred thousand dollars a year (which may, if necessary, after eight j^ears be increased to three hundred and fifty thousand dollars per annum, and which, after the above debts are paid, and certain now unfin- ished canals completed, may be still further increased to six hundred and seventy two thousand, five hundred dollars a year), shall be devoted to pay the necessary expenses of the state ; and the balance shall be expended to complete the still unfinished canals. The principal and income of these sinking funds shall be sacredly applied to the purposes for which they were created ; and, if either proves insufficient, its revenues shall be suf- ficiently increased by taxes to preserve perfectly the public faith. The state canals shall never be sold, leased, or otherwise disposed of. The state shall never give its credit to any individual or corporation ; nor shall it ever contract a debt, except to meet casual deficits in the rev- enue, or to suppress insurrection, or for defence in war, unless such debt be authorized for some single work by a law which shall provide by a di- rect annual tax, to be irrepealable until the debt is extinguished, for the payment of the interest annually, and of the principal within eighteen years, and which shall be passed by yeas and nays, and be submitted to the people, and receive a majority of all the votes at a general election, to be held not less than three months after its passage, and at which no other law or any amendment to the constitution is voted for; and, on its final passage by the legislature, the question shall be taken by yeas and nays, and three fifths of all the members elected shall form a quorum. All moneys arising from such loan shall be applied only to the objects of the loan. No payment shall be made out of the funds of the state, unless by a law distinctly specifying the sum and object of the appropriation. Pub- lic moneys or property can not be appropriated for local or private pur- poses, except by a two thirds vote of the members elected to each branch of the legislature. Corporations, with the individual liability of the corporators, may be formed under general laws which may be altered or repealed. They shall not be created by special act, except for municipal purposes, and when the objects of the corporation can not be gained under general laws. No special charter shall be granted for banking purposes ; and after January 1, 1850, stockholders in banks shall be individually liable, to the amount of their stock, for debts incurred after that date. If a bank is insolvent, the bill-holders shall be preferred creditors. The capital of the common school and literary funds shall be preserved inviolate, and its revenue applied to the support of common schools and academies. All persons, from scruples of conscience, averse to bearing arms, shall be excused therefrom upon such conditions as may be pre- scribed by law. No one shall be incompetent as a witness on account of his opinions upon religion. In all libel cases the truth may be given in evidence, and the jury shall have the right to decide the law and the fact. All feudal tenures, with all their incidents, are abolished ; except such rents and services certain as have been lawfully created or reserved. No lease or grant of agricultural land for more than twelve years, hereaf- ter made, in which any rent or service is reserved, shall be valid. SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS, • G53 Amendments to the constitution must be agreed to by a mnjority vote of the members elected to each of the two houses ; be entered on their jour- nals with the yeas and nays ; be referred to the legislature to be chosen at the next general election of senators, and published three months previous to such election ; be passed by a majority of all the members elected to this legislature ; be then submitted to the people, and if a majority approve the amendments, they shall become a part of the constitution. In 1866, and every twentieth year thereafter, and at such times as the legislature may provide, the question of a revision of the constitution shall be submitted to the people ; and, if a majority decide in favor of a convention, the legisla- ture at its next session shall provide for the election of delegates thereto. NEW JERSEY. The original constitution of New Jersey was formed in 1776, and no revision of it took place until the adoption of the present constitution, in 1844, except that the legislature undertook to explain its provisions in particular parts. In May, 1844, a convention of delegates, chosen by the people, assem- bled at Trenton, and prepared the draught of anew constitution, which was submitted to the people on the 13th of August, was adopted by a large majority, and went into operation on the 2d of September, 1844. The legislative power is vested in a senate and general assembly, who are styled the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey, under which title laws are enacted. The senate consists of one senator from each county, elected by the people for three years, one third going out each year. Their present number is nineteen. The general assembly consists of not more than sixty, chosen annually by the people of each county, by apportionment according to the number of inhabitants. The members of the senate and of the general assembly are elected on the second Tuesday of October, and meet at Trenton on the second Tues- day in the next January, when the legislative year commences. Charters for banks and money corporations require the assent of three fifths of the members elected to each house, and are limited to twenty years. The executive power is vested in a governor, elected by the people once in three years, at the general election. He has the power of nomi- nating and appointing to office, with the advice and consent of the senate, the chancellor, justices of the supreme court, judges of the court of errors and appeals, and all other officers not otherwise provided for by law. The judicial power is vested in a court of errors and appeals, com- posed of the chancellor, the judges of the supreme court, and six other judges ; a court for the trial of impeachments ; a court of chancery ; a supreme court, of five judges ; and courts of common pleas. The chan- cellor and judges of the supreme court hold their offices for seven years ; the six judges of the court of errors and appeals, for six years, one judge vacating his seat each year in rotation. The right of suffrage is exercised by every white male citizen of the United States, who has resided in the state one year, and in the county where he votes five months (paupers, idiots, insane persons, and criminals excepted). 654 SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. PENNSYLVANIA. The first constitution of Pennsylvania was adopted in 1776 ; a second one in 1790 ; and the present amended constitution was adopted in 1838. The legislative power is vested in a general assembly, consisting of a senate and house of representatives. The senators are chosen for three years, one third being elected annu- ally, by the people, by districts. Their number can not be greater than one third, nor less than one fourth of the number of representatives. The present number is thirty-three. The representatives are chosen annually on the second Tuesday of Oc- tober, by the citizens of Philadelphia, and each county respectively, ap- portioned according to the number of taxable inhabitants. The number can not be less than sixty nor more than one hundred ; which latter is the present number chosen. The general assembly meets annually at Harrisburg, on the first Tues- day of January, unless sooner convened by the governor. The supreme executive power is vested in a governor, who is chosen on the 2d Tuesday in October, and who holds his office during three years from the third Tuesday of January next after his election ; and he can not hold it longer than six years in any term of nine years. The judicial power is vested in a supreme court, in courts of oyer and terminer, and general jail delivery, in a court of common pleas, orphans' court, register's court, and court of quarter sessions of the peace for each county, in justices of the peace, and in such other courts as the legislature may from time to time establish. The judges of the supreme court, court of common pleas, and other courts of record, are appointed by the governor, with the consent of the senate — the judges of the supreme court for fifteen years ; the president judges of the court of common pleas, and other courts of record, for tea years ; and the associate judges of the courts of common pleas, for five years. The right of suffrage is exercised by every white freeman of the age of twenty-two years, having resided in the state one year, and in the elec- tion district where he offers his vote ten days immediately preceding such election, and within two years paid a state or county tax, which shall have been assessed at least ten days before the election. White freemen, citizens of the United States, between the ages of twenty-one and twenty- two years, having resided in the state one year, may vote without paying taxes. DELAWARE. The constitution was formed in 1792, and amended in 1831. The legislature is styled the General Assembly, and consists of a senate and house of representatives. The senators are nine in number, namely, three from each county, and are elected for a term for four years. The representatives are elected for a term of two years, and are twenty- one in number, seven from each county. The general assembly meets at Dover, biennially, on the first Tuesday in January, unless sooner convened by the governor. The general election is held biennially, on the second Tuesday in No« vember. The executive power is vested in a governor, who is elected by the people for a term of four years, and is not eligible for a second term. SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. G55 The judicial power is vested in a court of errors and appeals, a supe- rior court, a court of chancery, an orphans' court, a court of oyer and ter- miner, a court of general sessions of the peace and jail delivery, a regis- ter's court, justices of the peace, and such other courts as the general assembly may, by a vote of two thirds of each house, establish. The right of suffrage is granted to every white male citizen of the age of twenty-two years, or upward, having resided in the state one year next before the election, and the last month in the county where he votes ; and having within two years paid a county tax. Also, to every white male citizen over twenty-one, and under twenty-two years of age, having resi- ded as aforesaid, without payment of any tax. MARYLAND. The constitution of this state was first formed in 1776, since which time many amendments have been made by the legislature, which has the power, if amendments are passed by one legislature and confirmed by the next in succession. By the constitution as it stands at present, the legislative power is vested in a senate consisting of twenty-one members, and a house of rep- resentatives of seventy-nine members, and these two branches united are styled the General Assembly of Alary land. The senators are elected by the people, one from each county, and one from the city of Baltimore, and hold their seats for six years, one third being chosen annually. The members of the house of delegates are elected annually by the people ; the city of Baltimore to send six delegates ; counties having more than 35,000 inhabitants, six delegates ; less than 35,000 and more than 25,000, five delegates ; less than 25,000 and more than 15,000, four dele- gates ; less than 15,000, three delegates. The executive power is vested in a governor, who is chosen by the people, and holds his office for three years from the first Monday of Jan- uary, but is ineligible for the next succeeding term. The state is divided into three districts, and the governor is taken from each of the districts, alternately. The governor nominates, and with the consent of the senate, appoints all officers whose offices are created by law. The annual election is held on the first Wednesday in October, and the general assembly meets at Annapolis, on the last Monday in December. The judicial power is vested in a court of chancery, a court of appeals of six judges, county courts, and orphans' courts. The state is divided into six judicial districts, and for each district there are a chief judge and two associates, who constitute the county courts for the respective coun- ties in the district. The six chief judges constitute the court of appeals for the state. The chancellor and judges hold their offices during good behavior. The constitution grants the right of suffrage to every free, white male citizen, above twenty-one years of age, having resided twelve months in the state, and six months in the county, or in the city of Annapolis or Bal- timore, next preceding the election at which he offers to vote. VIRGINIA. The old constitution of this state was formed in 1776, and continued in operation until 1830, when the present amended constitution was formed by a convention, and accepted by the people. 656 SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. By this constitution the legislative power is vested in a senate and a house of delegates, which are together styled the General Assembly of Virgiiiia. The house of delegates consists of 134 members, chosen annually; thirty-one from the twenty-six counties west of the Allegany mountains ; twenty-five from the fourteen counties between the Allegany mountains and Blue Ridge, forty-two from the twenty-nine counties east of the Blue Ridge, and above tide-water, and thirty-six from the counties, cities, towns and boroughs, lying upon tide-water. .The senate consists of thirty-two members ; thirteen from the counties west of the Blue Ridge, and nineteen from the counties, cities, towns, and boroughs, east thereof. The senators are elected for four years ; and the seats of one fourth of them are vacated every year. In all elections to any office or place of trust, honor, or profit, the votes are given openly, or viva voce, and not by ballot. A reapportionment for representation in both houses, is to take place every ten years, commencing in 1841, until which time there is to be no change in the number of delegates and senators from the several divisions, and after 1841, the number of delegates is never to exceed 150, nor that of the senators 36. The time of election of delegates is fixed by the general assembly, and at present takes place in April. The general assembly meets annually at Richmond, on the first Monday in December. The executive power is vested in a governor, elected by the joint vote of the two houses of the general assembly. He holds his office three years, commencing on the first of January next succeeding his election, or on such other days as may be from time to time prescribed by law ; and he is ineligible for the three years next after the expiration of his term of office. There is a council of state, consisting of three members, elected for three years by the joint vote of the two houses, the seat of one being va- cated annually. The senior councillor is lieutenant-governor. The judges of the supreme court of appeals and of the superior courts, are elected by a joint vote of both houses of the general assemldy, and hold their offices during good behavior, or until removed by a concurrent vote of both houses ; but two thirds of the members present must concur in such vote, and the cause of removal be entered on the journals of each house. The right of suffrage is extended to every white male citizen of the commonwealth, resident therein, aged twenty-one years and upward, who is qualified to exercise the right of suffrage according to the former con- stitution and laws ; or who owns a freehold of the value of twenty-five dollars ; or who has a joint interest to the amount of tweniy-five dollars, in a freehold ; or who has a life estate in, or reversionary title to, land of the value of fifty dollars, having been so possessed for six munihs ; or who shall own and be in the actual occupation of a leasehold estate, hav- ing the title recorded two moiiths before he shall offer to vote — of a term originally not less than five years, and of the annual value or rent of two hundred dollars ; or who for twelve months before ofi^ering to vote, has been a housekeeper and head of a family, and shall have been assessed with a part of the revenue of the commonwealth, within the preceding year, and actually paid the same. SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. 657 NORTH CAROLINA. The constitution of North Carolina was originally framed and adopted in December, 1776, and certain amendments agreed upon by a convention in 1835, and ratified by the people, went into operation on the first of January, 1836. The legislative power is vested in a body styled the General Assembly, consisting of a senate and house of commons, both elected biennially by the people. The senate consists of fifty members, elected by districts, laid off and apportioned according to the amount of taxes paid by the citizens into the treasury of the state. The house of commons consists of one hundred and twenty members, chosen by counties, according to their federal population, that is, according to their respective numbers, determined by adding to the whole number of free persons (including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed) three fifths of all other persons (slaves). All freemen (people of color excepted) of the age of twenty-one years, who have been inhabitants of any one district within the state for twelve months preceding the day of any election, and are possessed of a freehold within the same district, of fifty acres of land, for six months next before and at the day of election, are entitled to vote for senators. The constitu- tion grants the right of voting for governor and members of the house of commons, to all freemen of the age of twenty-one years, who have been inhabitants of the state twelve months immediately preceding the election. The executive power is vested in a governor, who is elected by the people biennially ; is to enter on the duties of his office on the first day of January next after his election ; but he is not eligible more than four years in any term of six years. He is assisted by a council of state of seven persons, elected by the legislature. The time of holding the election for governor and members of the gen- eral assembly, is appointed by the legislature ; at present it is fixed for the first Thursday in August, biennially. All elections by the people are by ballot. The general assembly meets biennially, at Raleigh, on the third Monday in November. The judicial power is vested in a supreme court of three judges, and in a superior or circuit court of seven judges ; besides inferior courts. The state rs divided into seven circuits, in which the superior court is held half yearly in the several counties. As judges of the superior courts of law they have jurisdiction of all pleas, whether brought before them by original or mesne process, or by certiorari writs of error, or appeal from any inferior court, also of all pleas of the state, and criminal matters. As judges of the courts of equity, they have all the powers of courts of chan- cery. The judges of the supreme and superior courts are elected by the legislature, in joint ballot, and hold their offices during good behavior. SOUTH CAROLINA. The first constitution of this state was formed in 1775 ; the present constitution was adopted in 1790. The legislative authority is vested in a general assembly, consisting of a senate and a house of representatives. The senate consists of forty-five members, who are elected by districts for four years, one half being chosen biennially. 42 658 SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. The house of representatives consists of one hundred and twenty-four members, who are apportioned among the several districts, according to the number of white inhabitants and taxation, and are elected for two years. The representatives and one half of the senators are chosen every second year, on the second Monday in October, and the day following. The executive power is vested in a governor, who is elected for two years, by a joint vote of the senate and house of representatives, at every first meeting of the house of representatives. A governor, after having performed the duties of the office for two years, can not be re-elected till after the expiration of four years. At the time of the election of governor, a lieutenant-governor is chosen in the same manner, and for the same period. The general assembly meets annually, at Columbia, on the fourth Mon- day in November. The judicial power is vested in such superior and inferior courts of law and equity as the legislature shall, from time to time, direct and establish. In December, 1835, a change was made in the judiciary, though the judges remained the same. The old court of appeals of three judges was abol- ished, and two of the judges were made chancellors in equity, and the other one of the common law judges. The present court of appeals is constituted of the judges of the courts of law, and chancellors, who meet twice a year at Columbia, and twice a year at Charleston. There are four chancellors in equity, and seven judges of the general sessions and com- mon pleas. The chancellor and judges are appointed by joint ballot of the senate and house of representatives, and hold their offices during good behavior. The constitution grants the right of suffrage to every free white male citizen, of the age of twenty-one years, having resided in the state two years previous to the day of election, and having been possessed of a freehold of fifty acres of land, or a town lot, at least six months before such election, or (not having such freehold or town lot) having been a res- ident in the election district in which he offers his vote, six months before said election, and having paid a tax the preceding year, of three shillings sterling toward the support of the government. GEORGIA. The first constitution of Georgia was formed in 1777; a second in 1785 ; and a third, the one now in operation, in 1798. The legislative power is vested in a senate and house of representa- tives, which together are styled the General Assembly. The members of both houses are chosen annually, by the people, on the first Monday in October. The number of representatives is in propor- tion to population, including three fifths of all the people of color ; but each county is entitled to at least one member. The constitution was altered by the legislature in 1844, so as to divide the state into forty-seven senato- rial districts, and to reduce the number of representatives from 20 J to 130. The legislature have the power of altering the constitution, provided two thirds of each branch agree on amendments proposed by one legislature, and confirmed by their successors by a two-third vote, at the following session. The executive power is vested in a governor, who was formerly elected by the general assembly; but he is now (and since 1824) elected by STNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. C59 the people, on tlie first Monday in October ; and he holds the office for two years. The general assembly meets at MilledgeviUe, on the first Monday in November, unless convened at another time by the governor. The judicial power is vested in a superior court, and in such inferior ju- risdictions as the legislature may, from time to time, ordain and establish ; and the superior and inferior courts sit twice in each county every year. The state is divided into eleven circuits, with a judge of the superior court for each circuit. An inferior court is held in each county, composed of five justices, elected by the people every four years. These courts possess the powers of courts of probate. The judges of the superior court are elected by the legislature for three years ; the justices of the inferior courts, and justices of the peace are elected quadrennially by the people ; and the clerks of the superior and inferior courts, biennially. The constitution grants the right of suffrage to all citizens and inhabit- ants who have attained the age of twenty-one years, and have paid all the taxes which may have been required of them, and which they may have had opportunity of paying, agreeably to law, for the year preceding the election, and shall have resided six months within the county. FLORIDA. The constitution of this state was formed by a convention of delegates chosen by the people, and was adopted by said convention in January, 1839, but Florida remained under a territorial government until the 3d of March, 1845, when it was admitted into the Union as a state by act of Congress. The legislative power is vested in a General Assembly, consisting of a senate and house of representatives. The senators are elected by the people, in districts, for two years, one half of the number going out of office every year. The present number of senators is seventeen. The representatives are elected by the people, by counties, annually, their number never to exceed sixty ; at present, forty-one are chosen. The annual election takes place on the first Monday in October, and the legislature meets at Tallahassee on the first Monday in November of each year. The executive power is vested in a governor, who is chosen by the people once in four years, and he is not eligible for the four years next succeeding his term of office. The judicial power is vested in a supreme court, having appellate juris- diction only, and composed of the circuit judges for five years after the election of those judges, and thereafter until the general assembly shall otherwise provide ; also in circuit courts, the state being divided into four circuits, in each of which a judge of the supreme court has jurisdiction. These judges have also equity powers until a separate chancery court shall be established by the legislature. The judges are elected by the legislature, at first for five years ; after that term, during good behavior. There are also courts of probate, held by a judge of probate, one being appointed for each county in the state. The right of suffrage may be exercised by every free white male, aged twenty-one years, or upward, who has resided in Florida for two years, and in the county for six months, and who shall be enrolled in the militia, or by law exempted from serving therein. The general assembly shall provide for the registration of all qualified voters. 660 SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. No laws shall be passed to emancipate slaves, or to prohibit the immi- gration of persons bringing slaves with them. The general assembly may prevent free colored persons from entering the state. No act of incorporation shall be passed or altered, except by the assent of two thirds of each branch of the legislature. No bank charter shall be granted for more tlian twenty years, nor shall it ever be extended or renewed. The capital of a bank shall not exceed one hundred thousand dollars, nor shall a dividend be made, exceeding ten per cent, a year. Stockholders shall be individually liable for the debts of the bank, and no notes shall be issued for less than five dollars. The credit of the state shall not be pledged in aid of any corporation whatsoever. For an amendment of the constitution, two thirds of both houses of the general assembly must assent ; the proposed alteration must then be pub- lished six months before the succeeding election, and then be again ap- proved by a two-third vote in the succeeding assembly. ALABAMA. The legislative power is vested in two branches, a senate and house of representatives, which together are styled, the General Assembly of the State of Alabama. The representatives are elected annually, and are apportioned among the different counties in proportion to the Avhite population ; the whole number can not exceed one hundred, nor fall short of sixty. The present number is one hundred. The senators are elected for three years, and one third of them are chosen every year. Their number can not be more than one third, nor less than one fourth of the number of representatives. There are thirty-three at present. The executive power is vested in a governor, who is elected by the people for two years ; and is eligible four years out of six. The representatives and one third of the senators are elected annually on the first Monday in August, and the day following ; and the governor is elected biennially at the same time. The general assembly meets annually, formerly at Tuscaloosa, in future at Montgumery, on the fourth Monday in October. The right of suffrage is possessed by every white male citizen of twenty- one years of age, who has resided within the state one year preceding an election, and the last three months within the county, city, or town, in which he offers his vote. The judicial power is vested in a supreme court (consisting of three jus- tices), which has appellate jurisdiction only; in a court of chancery, consist- ing of three chancellors, the state being divided into three chancery dis- tricts ; in circuit courts, each held by one judge, the state being divided into eight circuits, and such inferior courts as the legislature may es- tablish. The judges of the supreme and circuit courts, and the chancel- lors, are elected by a joint vote of the two houses of the general assembly, for six years. MISSISSIPPI. The original constitution of this state was formed at the town of Wash- ington, near Natchez, in August, 1817; and the present revised constitu- tion was formed by a convention, at Jackson, in October, 1832. The legislative power is vested in a senate and house of representa- tives, together styled the Legislature of Mississippi. The senators are SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. 661 cliosen for four years, by the people, by districts, one half being elected biennially ; and their number can not be less than one fourth, nor more than one third of the whole number of representatives. The representatives are chosen by the people, by counties, every two years, on the first Monday in November, and the day following ; their number not to be less than thirty-six nor more than one hundred, which" last is the present number fixed. The legislature meets at Jackson, on the first Monday in January, biennially. The executive power is vested in a governor, who is chosen by the people, qualified as electors, for two years, and can not hold the office more than four years, in any term of six years. The secretary of state, treasurer, and auditor of public accounts, are all chosen by the people, for two years. The judicial power is vested in a high court of errors and appeals, held at least twice a year, consisting of three judges, chosen by the people for six years, one being elected in each of the three districts into which the state is divided, and one of the three judges being chosen biennially ; in a circuit court, held in each county at least twice in each year, the judges being chosen by the people of each judicial district, and holding their office four years ; in a superior court of chancery, the chancellor being chosen by the people of the whole state for six years ; in a court of pro- bate, the judge being elected by the people of each county for two years ; justices of the peace and constables are also elected for two years. Every free white male person, of the age of twenty-one years or up- ward, who shall be a citizen of the United Stafes, and shall have resided in the state one year next preceding an election, and the last four months within the county, city, or town, in which he offers to vote, is a qualified elector. The mode of election is by ballot. LOUISIANA. The original constitution of this state was formed ia 1812, and the pres- ent revised constitution formed by a convention of delegates in May, 1845, was accepted by the people in November, 1845. The legislative power is vested in a senate and house of representa- tives, both together styled the General Assembly of the State of Louisiana. The senators are elected by the people, by districts, for a term of four years, one half being chosen every two years, at the time of the election of representatives. The present number of senators is thirty-two. The representatives are elected by the people by parishes, apportioned according to population, for a term of two years. Their present number is ninety-eight. The executive power is vested in a governor, who is elected by the people for a term of four years ; and is ineligible for the next four years. The biennial elections are held in November, and the sessions of the legislature are to be held biennially, at such place as may be fixed upon by the legislature, which must not be at New Orleans, or within sixty miles of that city. The sessions are to commence in January, and the puriod of the session is limited to sixty days. The legislature is prohibited from granting any bank charters, or renew- ing any now in existence ; it is prohibited also from loaning the credit of the state, or borrov.'ing money, except in case of war, invasion, or insur- rectioQ. QQ2 SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. The judicial power is vested in a supreme court of five judges, whicli has appellate jurisdiction only, and such inferior courts as the legislature may establish. The state is divided into ten districts, in each of which there is a judge for the district courts. The life-tenure of the judges is abolished by the new constitution ; those of the supreme court are to be appointed for eight years, and of the lower courts for six years. Sheriffs, coroners, clerks of court and justices of the peace, are to be elected by the people. The right of suffrage is extended to all white males above twenty-one years of age, who have resided two consecutive years in the state ; pro- vided that no naturalized citizen can vote until two years after he becomes a citizen. All citizens are disfranchised, both as to voting and holding office, who may fight, or in any way be connected with fighting a duel, either in or out of the state. ARKANSAS. The constitution of this state was formed by a convention of delegates, at Little Rock, in January, 1836. The legislative power is vested in a general assembly, consisting of a senate and house of representatives. The senators are elected by the people, by districts, for a term of four years ; the representatives by counties, for two years. The senate con- sists of not less than seventeen nor more than thirty-three members ; the house of representatives of not less than fifty-four, nor more than one hundred members. The general elections are holden every two years, on the first Monday in October, and the general assembly meets biennially, at Little Rock, on the first Monday of November. All general elections are to be viva voce, until otherwise directed by law. The executive power is vested in a governor, elected by the people once in four years ; but he is not eligible for more than eight years in any term of twelve years. The judicial power is vested in a supreme court of three justices, hav- ing appellate jurisdiction only, except in particular cases pointed out by the constitution ; in circuit courts, of which there are seven in the state, each held by one judge ; in county courts and justices of the peace. The judges of the supreme and circuit courts are chosen by the gene- ral assembly, the former for a terra of eight years, the latter for four years. Justices of the peace are elected by the people for a term of two years. Judges of the county courts are chosen by the justices of the peace. Every white male citizen of the United States, who has been a citizen of the state of Arkansas for six months, is deemed a qualified elector, and entitled to vote al elections. Provided that soldiers and seamen of Ihe array or navy of the United States are not so entitled. TENNESSEE. In 1796, the people of Tennessee, by a convention at Knoxville, formed a constitution ; and Tennessee was, the same year, admitted info the Union as an independent state. On the third Monday in May, 1834, a convention met at Nashville, for the pupose of revising and amending the constitution ; and the constitution, as amended by the convention^ was rat- ified by the people in March, 1835. SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. 663 The legislative authority is vested in a general assembly, consistincr of a senate and house ot' representatives. The number of representatives is apportioned among the several counties, according to the number of qualified voters, and can not exceed seventy-five (the present number), until the population shall be a million and a half, and can never afterward exceed ninety-nine. The number of senators is apportioned among the several coun- ties according to the number of voters, and can not exceed one third of the number of representatives. The present number is twenty-five. The time for the election of the governor, senators, and representatives, is on the first Thursday in August, once in two years, and the time of the meeting of the general assembly is on the first Monday in October, next ensuing the election, at Nashville. The supreme executive power is vested in a governor, who is chosen by the people for two years, and is not eligible more than six years in any term of eight. Every free white man of the age of twenty-one years, being a citizen of the United States, and a citizen of the county wherein he may offer his vote, six months next preceding the day of election, is entitled to vote for civil officers. The judicial power is vested in one supreme court, and such inferior courts as the legislature may, from time to time, ordain and establish, and in the judges thereof, and in justices of the peace. The supreme court is composed of three judges, one of whom must re- side in each of the three grand divisions of the state. The judges are elected by a joint vote of both houses of the general assembly, those of the supreme court for the term of twelve years, and those of the inferior courts for eight years. Attorneys for the state are elected in the sam.e manner, for six years. Ministers of the gospel are not eligible to a seat in either house of the legislature. No person who denies the being of a God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, can hold any civil office. Lotteries are pro- hibited ; and persons who may be concerned in duels are disqualified for holding office in the state. KENTUCKY. On the separation of Kentucky from Virginia, in 1790, a constitution was adopted which continued in force till 1799, when a new one was formed instead of it ; and this is now in force. The legislative power is vested in a senate and house of representatives, which together are styled the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The representatives are elected annually, and are apportioned, every four years, among the different counties, according to the number of elec- tors. Their present number is one hundred, which is the highest number that the constitution authorizes ; fifty-eight being the lowest. The senators are elected for four years, one quarter of them being cho- sen annually. Their present number is thirty-eight ; and they can not exceed this number, nor fall short of twenty-four. The executive power is vested in a governor, who is elected for four years, and is ineligible for the succeeding seven years after the expiration of his term of office. At the election of governor, a lieutenant-governor is (564 SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. also chosen, who is speaker of the senate, and on whom the duties of the governor devolve, in case of his absence or removal. The representatives and one quarter of the members of the senate are elected annually by the people, on the first Monday in August ; the gov- ernor is elected by the people, every fourth year, at the same time ; and he commences the execution of his office on the fourth Tuesday succeed- ing the day of the commencement of the election at which he is chosen. The polls are kept open three days ; and the votes are given openly, or viva voce, and not by ballot. The general assembly meets at Frankfort annually, on the first Monday in December. The constitution grants the right of suffrage to every free male citizen (people of color excepted) who has attained the age of twenty-one years, and has resided in the state two years, or in the county whete he offers his vote, one year, next preceding the election. The judiciary power is vested in a supreme court, styled the court of appeals, and in such inferior courts as the general assembly may, from time to time, erect and establish. The judges of the different courts, and justices of the peace, hold their offices during good behavior. OHIO. The constitution of this state was formed at Chillicothe, in 1802. The legislative power is vested in a senate and house of representatives, which together are style the General Assembly of the State of Ohio. The representatives are elected annually on the second Tuesday in October ; and they are apportioned among the counties according to the number of white male inhabitants above twenty-one years of age. Their number can not be less than thirty-six, nor more than seventy-two. The senators are chosen biennially, and are apportioned according to the number of white male inhabitants of twenty-one years of age. Their number can not be less than one third, nor more than one half of the num- ber of representatives. The executive power is vested in a governor, who is elected by the people for two years on the second Tuesday in October ; and his term of service commences on the first Monday in December. The general assembly meets annually, at Colamhus, on the first Mon- day in December. The right of suffrage is granted to all white male inhabitants above the age of twenty-one years, who have resided in the state one year next pre- ceding the election, and who have paid, or are charged with, a state or county tax. The judicial power is vested in a supreme court, in courts of common pleas for each county, and such other courts as the legislature may from time to time establish. The judges are elected by a joint ballot of both houses of the general assembly, for the term of seven years. INDIANA. The executive power is vested in a governor, who is elected by the people, for a term of three years, and may be once re-elected. At every election of governor, a lieutenant-governor is also chosen, who is presi- dent of the senate, and on whom, in case of the death, resignation, or re- moval of the governor, the powers and duty of governor devolve. SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. GG5 The legislative authority is vested in a General Assemhhj, consisting of a senate, the members of which are elected for three years, and a house of representatives, elected annually. The number of representatives can never be less than thirty-six, nor more than one hundred ; and they are apportioned among the several counties according to the number of white male inhabitants above twenty- one years of age. The number of senators, who are apportioned in lijie manner, can not be less than one third, nor more than one half, of the number of representatives. The representatives and one third of the members of the senate are elected annually, on the first Monday in August ; and the governor is cho- sen on the same day, every third year. The general assembly meets annually, at Indianapolis, on the first Mon- day in December. The right of suffrage is granted to all male citizens of the age of twen- ty-one years or upward, who may have resided in the state one year im- mediately preceding an election. The judiciary power is vested in one supreme court, in circuit courts, and in such other inferior courts as the general assembly may establish. The supreme court consists of three judges ; and each of the circuit courts consists of a president and two associate judges. The judges are all appointed for the term of seven years. The judges of the supreme court are appointed by the governor, with the consent of the senate ; the presidents of the circuit courts, by the legislature ; and the associate judges are elected by the people. ILLINOIS. The original constitution of Illinois was framed in August, 1818. The present constitution was adopted by a state convention in August, 1847, and accepted by the people in March, 1848. The legislative authority is vested in a general assembly, consisting of a senate, the members of which, twenty-five in number, are elected for four years, one half every two years ; and of a house of representatives, seventy-five in number, elected for two years. These numbers to be in- creased after the population of the state shall be one million, but the num- ber of representatives shall never exceed one hundred. Senators must be thirty years of age, and five years inhabitants of the state. Representa- tives must be twenty-five years of age, citizens of the United States, and three years inhabitants of the state. The governor and lieutenant-governor, chosen by a plurality of votes, once in four years, on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, shall be thirty-five years of age, citizen of the United States for fourteen years, and residents of the state for ten years. The governor is notehgi- ble for two consecutive terms. A majority of members elected to both houses may defeat the governor's veto. A majority of the members elected to each house, is required for the passage of any law. The general assembly meets biennially at Springfield, on the first Mon- day in January ; and the governor is authorized to convene it on extraor- dinary occasions at other times. All white male citizens, twenty-one years old, resident in the state for one year, may vote at elections. The judicial power is vested in a supreme court of three judges, elected 6G6 SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. by the people, for a term of nine years at the first election, and afterward for three years ; also in circuit courts of one judge each, elected by the people in nine judicial circuits into which the state is divided ; and county courts of one judge each elected by the people for four years. No state-bank can be created or revived. Acts creating banks must be submitted to the people. Stockholders are individually liable to the amount of their shares. Slavery and lotteries are prohibited. The credit of the state can not be lent. Corporations, not for banking purposes, may be established under general laws. MICHIGAN. The constitution of Michigan was formed by a convention of delegates at Detroit, in May, 1835, and ratified by the people in October following. The legislative power is vested in a senate and house of representa- tives. The senators are elected by the people, by districts, for a term of two years, one half of the whole number, as nearly as may be, being chosen annually. The representatives are elected by the people, by covmties, annually, and their number can not be less than forty-eight, nor more than one hundred ; the senators at all times are to be equal, as nearly as may be, to one third of the number of the house of representatives. The present number of senators is eighteen ; of representatives, fifty-three. The annual election is held on the first Monday in November, and the following day. The legislature met at Detroit, until the year 1847, when the seat of government was permanently located at Lansing. The supreme executive power is vested in a governor, elected by the people, who holds his office for two years, and a lieutenant-governor, who is chosen at the same time, in the same manner, and for the same term, as the governor. The lieutenant-governor is president of the senate. The judicial power is vested in a supreme court, consisting of a chief- justice and three associate justices ; in a court of chancery, held by a chancellor, at five different parts of the state within the year, the state being divided into five chancery circuits ; in circuit courts, there being four judicial circuits, in each of which one of the judges of the supreme court sits as presiding judge (in each county one or two terms of the cir- cuit court are held annually) ; also in county courts, and in such other courts as the legislature may from time to time establish. The judges of the supreme court are appointed by the governor and senate for the term of seven years. Judges of all county courts, associate judges of circuit courts, and judges of probate, are elected by the people for the term of four years. Each township is authorized to elect four justices of the peace, who hold their offices for four years. In all elections, every white male above the age of twenty-one years, having resided in the state six months next preceding any election, is en- titled to vote at such election. All votes are given by ballot, except for such township officers as may by law be directed to be otherwise chosen. Slavery, luttenes, and the sale of lottery tickets, are prohibited. MISSOURI. TriE constitution of this state was formed by a convention at St. Louis, in June, 1820. In January, 1846, a new constitution was formed by a state convention at Jefl'erson ; which was submitted to the people on the first Monday of August in the latter year, and rejected. The constitution SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. G67 adopted in 1820, is therefore, still in force, and the outlines thereof are as follows : — The legislative power is vested in a senate and house of representa- tives, styled together the General Assembly. The senators, in num- ber not fewer than fourteen, nor more than thirty-three, shall be thirty years old, have the qualification of representatives, be inhabitants of the state for four years, and shall be chosen bj' districts, for four years, one half every second year. The representatives, in number not more than one hundred, shall be chosen in counties every second year ; they must be free white male citizens of the United States, twenty-four years old, in- habitants of the state for two years and of the county for one year next before the election. Every free white male citizen of the United States, twenty-one years old, resident in the state one year before the election, and three months in the place where he offers his vote, may vote at elections. The elections are held biennially, on the first Monday in August. The legislature meets every second year, on the first Monday in November, at the city of Jefferson. The executive power is vested in a governor, who is elected by the people, once in four years, and is ineligible for the next four years. A lieutenant-governor is also chosen, for the same term, who is, ex officio, president of the senate. The governor and lieutenant-governor must be thirty-five years old, natives of the United States, or citizens thereof at the adoption of the constitution. The governor may veto a bill, but a majority of both houses may pass it, notwithstanding his veto. If the office of governor be vacant, it shall be filled by the lieutenant-governor, and after him by the president of the senate pro tern. The supreme court consists of three judges, appointed by the governor and senate, and has appellate jurisdiction only. Circuit courts have ex- clusive criminal jurisdiction, unless deprived of it by law, and hear all civil cases not cognizable by a justice of the peace. The equity jurisdic- tion is divided between the circuit and supreme courts. Judges of the su- preme court must be thirty years old, may hold office until sixty-five, and may be removed upon address of two thirds of both houses of the legislature. One bank, and no more, may be established, with not more than five branches, and a total capital of not more than five millions of dollars, one half, at least, reserved to the state. The general assembly, by a vote of two thirds of the members, may propose amendments to the constitution, and if, at the first session there- after, they are confirmed by a vote of two thirds of the members, they be- come part of the constitution. IOWA. The constitution of the state of Iowa, was adopted by a state conven- tion at Iowa city, on the 18th of May, 1846, and accepted by the people in August of the same year. The general assembly consists of a senate and house of representatives, the sessions of which, held at Iowa city, are biennial, commencing on the first Monday in December after their election, which takes place on the first Monday of August, biennially. Senators, not less than one third, nor more than one half as numerous as the representatives, must be twenty- five years of age, chosen for four years, one half bieimially. Representatives shall be chosen for two years ; they must be twenty-one years of age, and have resided in the state one year at least, and in their district thirty days 65S SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. previous to the election. The representatives shall not be less than twen- ty-six, nor more than thirty-nine, till the white population amounts to one hundred and seventy-five thousand ; afterward they shall not be less than thirty-nine, nor more than seventy-two. Every white male citizen of the United States, twenty-one years old, idiots, insane, or infamous persons excepted, having resided in the state six months, and in the county where he claims to vote twenty days, has the right of suffrage. The executive power is vested in a governor, chosen by a plurality of votes for a term of four years ; he must be thirty years old, and have re- sided in the state for two years. If the governor, for any cause, be dis- abled, the secretary of the state, and after him the president of the sen- ate, and after him the speaker of the house, acts as governor. The judicial authority is vested in a supreme court, consisting of a chief justice and two associates, elected by the general assembly for six years ; in district courts, the judges of which are elected by the people in their respective districts, each for five years ; and in justices of the peace. No state debts can be created exceeding one hundred thousand dollars, except in case of war or insurrection, unless authorized by a special law approved by a majority of the votes of the people. No corporation with banking privileges shall be created, and private banking shall be prohibit- ed by law. Other corporations may be organized under general laws, with certain restrictions. The state shall never become a stockholder in any corporation. A superintendent of public instruction is chosen by the people once in three years ; also a secretary of state, an auditor, and a treasurer, once in two years. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of crimes, shall ever be tolerated in this state. To amend the constitution, the general assembly must submit the question of a convention to the peo- ple at the next general election ; and if a majority are in favor thereof, the assembly shall provide for the election of delegates to a convention to be held in six months after the vote of the people in favor thereof. WISCONSIN. The constitution was adopted by a state convention at Madison city, February 1, 1848. The legislature consists of a senate and assembly, and meets annually on the first Monday in January, at Madison. The senators, in number not more than one third, nor fewer than one fourth, of the assembly, are chosen by the people, in districts for two years, one half each year. Members of the assembly, in number not fewer than fifty-four, nor more than one hundred, must be qualified elec- tors in their districts, resident one year in the state, and chosen annually on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday of November. All males twenty-one years old, residents of the state for one year next before the election, who are white citizens of the United States, or white foreigners who have declared their intention to become citizens, or per- sons of Indian bipod, once declared by the laws of the United States to be citizens, or civilized persons of Indian descent, not members of a tribe, may vole at elections. The executive power is vested in a governor, who is chosen by the people, by a plurality of votes, for a term of two years. In default of the governor, his duties are discharged by a lieutenant-governor, who is cho- SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. 6C9 sen by a plurality of votes, for tho same term and with the same qualifica- tions as the governor, and is president of the senate, with a casting vote. The governor's veto may be overruled by a vote of two thirds of the mem- 'bers present in each house. The judicial power is vested in a supreme court, in circuit courts, judges of probate, and justices of the peace, all elected by the people. Judges of the circuit courts are chosen at a separate election by the people, by circuits, for six years. The same judges sit as a supreme court, to try cases upon appeal, without a jury. The legislature may erect a separate supreme court, to consist of three judges chosen by the people for six years, in which case, the number of circuit judges may be reduced. Probate jud- ges and justices of the peace are elected by the people for two years. In every organized county the legislature may appoint one or more persons, with powers not exceeding those of a circuit judge at chambers. The credit of the state shall never be lent ; nor shall any debt be con- tracted, nor money paid for internal improvements, unless the state hold trust property dedicated to such purposes. Except in case of war, inva- sion, or insurrection, no debt shall be contracted, exceeding one hundred thousand dollars. The legislature shall prevent towns and cities from contracting debts. No general or special law to create a bank or banks shall be passed, till a majority of the votes at a general election shall have been in favor of a bank, and until such a majority have afterward approved the act as passed. Corporations, except banks, may be created under general laws, but not by special acts, except in specified cases. Slavery and imprisonment for debt are prohibited. A state superintend- ent of education shall be chosen by the people. Amendments to the constitution agreed to by a majority of members of both houses of the legislature, if again approved by a majority of the suc- ceeding legislature, shall be submitted to the people, and if approved by a majority of their votes, shall become a part of the constitution. A ma- jority of each house may recommend a convention to change the consti- tution, and a majority of votes at a general election afterward, may author- ize the calling of such convention. TEXAS. The constitution of the state of Texas was adopted by a convention of delegates at the city of Austin, in August, 1845, and was approved by the people on the 13th of October following. The legislative power is vested in a senate and house of representatives, styled together the Legislature of the State of Texas. The style of laws is, " Be it enacted by the legislature of the state of Texas." The senators are elected by the people, by districts, for the term of four years, one half being chosen biennially ; their number is not to be less than nineteen, nor more than thirty-one. The representatives are elected for two years, by the people, by counties, apportioned according to their free population ; the number is not to be less than forty-five nor more than ninety. Elections by the people are to be held in the several counties, cities, or towns, at such times as may be designated by law. The sessions of the legislature are to be held at the city of Austin, at such times as may be prescribed by law, until the year 1850, when the seal of government shall be permanently located by the votes of the people. The executive power is vested in a governor, elected by the people, at 670 SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. the time and places of elections for members of the legislature ; he holds his office for the term of two years, but is not eligible for more than four years in any term of six years. At the same time, a lieutenant-governor is chosen for the same term, who is president of the senate, and succeeds the governor in case of death, resignation, removal from office, inability, refusal to serve, impeachment, or absence from the state, of the latter. The judicial power is vested in a supreme court of three judges, in dis- trict courts, and in such inferior courts as the legislature may, from time to time, establish. The judges of the supreme and district courts are ap- pointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of two thirds of the senate ; and the judges hold their offices for six years. The right of suffrage is granted to every free male person over the age of twenty-one years (Indians not taxed, Africans, and descendants of Af- ricans, excepted), who shall have attained the age of twenty-one years, and who shall be a citizen of the United States, or who was, at the adop- tion of this constitution by the Congress of the United States, a citizen of the republic of Texas, and shall have resided in this state one year next preceding an election, and the last six months within the district, city, or town, in which he offers to vote ; provided that soldiers and sea- men or marines of the army or navy of the United States, shall not be entitled to vote at any election created by this constitution. The legislature shall have no power to pass laws for the emancipation of slaves, without the consent of their owners. No banking or discount- ing company shall hereafter be created, renewed, or extended. No per- son shall be imprisoned for debt. COMPARATIVE VIEW OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. In the six New England states^ the executive and legislative branches of the government are all elected annually. The representation in the lower branch of the legislature is more numerous in those states than in the other states of the Union ; the representatives in the New England states being elected by towns to the house of representatives, while in all other parts of the Union the representation in that branch of the legisla- ture is by counties ; districts in South Carolina, and parishes in Louisiana, being local divisions synonymous with counties. An executive council, elected by the people, is peculiar to the state of New Hampshire. There are, however, executive councils, elected by the legislature, in Maine, Massachusetts, Virginia, and North Carolina. The governor possesses the veto power, or qualified negative, on bills and resolutions which have been passed by the legislature, in the follow- ing twelve states, viz. : Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New- York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Michigan, Texas, Iowa, and Wisconsin ; in these states the executive veto can only be over- ruled by a two third vote of both branches of the legislature. In the following ten, states the governor may return bills or resolutions passed by the legislature, but his veto may be overruled by a majority of SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. 671 the members elected to both houses, viz. : Vermont, Connecticut, New Jer- sey, Alabama, Florida, Arkansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Mis- souri. In the following eight states, the approval of the governor is not required to bills or resolutions passed by the legislature, but the same may become laws, after receiving the signature of the speaker or presiding officer of each branch of the legislature, viz. : Rhode Island, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Ohio. In all of the states, except Virginia and South Carolina, the governor is elected by the people ; in those two states he is chosen by the legisla- ture. Lieutenant-governors are chosen by the people in Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Kentucky, Indiana, Illi- nois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Michigan, and Texas ; in Virginia and South Carolina, by the legislature. In the other states, the office of lieutenant- governor does not exist. In the New England states, a majority of all the votes given is required to constitute a choice, in elections generally, by the people ; there are exceptions in Maine, Vermont, and Connecticut, in elections for state senators, and in Connecticut, on second trials, at adjourned meetings, for the choice of representatives to the general assembly, in which cases a plurality of votes only is required for a choice. In Maine, New Hamp- shire, and Connecticut, members of Congress are also elected by plurality. In all of the states except those of New England, a plurality of votes given effects a choice in elections by the people. In all of the states, at popular elections, the manner of voting is by ballot, except in Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, and Arkansas, in which states, in all elections to any office of trust, honor, or profit, with excep- tions as to electors of president and vice-president, the votes. are given openly, or viva voce, and not by ballot. North Carolina is now the only state which requires a freehold qualifi- cation for electors for either branch of the legislature, members of the senate in that state being chosen by freemen possessed of a freehold with- in the district where they reside and vote, of fifty acres of land. In Vir- ginia, freeholders may vote for members of the house of delegates, in any county where they own a freehold of the value named in the constitution ; housekeepers and heads of families who shall have been assessed with a part of the revenue of the commonwealth, within the preceding year when they vote, are also entitled to vote at elections. Persons of color are entitled to vote at elections in the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. In the state of New York, they are also qualified to vote, if possessed of a freehold estate of the value of two hundred and fifty dollars, without any incumbrance. In all other states of the Union, persons of color, or those of African descent, are excluded from the right of voting at elections. 672 SYNOPSIS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. Ministers of the gospel are not eligible as legislators in Maryland, Vir- ginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. In South Carolina, Ken- tucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Missouri, they are eligible neither as governors nor legislators. In Delaware, they are not eligible to any office whatever. New Hampshire and Massachusetts are the only states whose constitu- tions make provision for religious establishments. In New Hampshire the legislature is empowered to authorize, and in Massachusetts the legis- lature is enjoined to require, the seA^eral towns, parishes, &c., in the state to make adequate provision, at their own expense, for the support and maintenance o( protcstant teachers, or ministers of the gospel. The con- stitution of 'New Hampshire requires the governor, members of the coun- cil, and of both branches of the legislature, to be " of the protestaiit re- ligion." The council of censors is peculiar to Vermont ; that body is chosen once in seven years, and among their other powers, they can call a con- vention to amend the constitution of the state. Massachusetts and New Hampshire are the only states whose consti- tutions appoint titles to the officers of government. The governor of Mas- sachusetts is entitled " His Excellency," and the lieutenant-governor " His Honor.'''' The governor of New Hampshire is entitled " His Excellency.''^ CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE Of the principal political and other Events in American History, from the Discovery in 1492 to 1846. 1492. Aug. 3, Columbus sets sail from Palos, in Spain. " Oct. 12, First land discovered (one of the Bahamas). " " 27, Cuba discovered. " Dec. 6, Hayti or Hispaniola discovered. 1493. Jan. 16, Columbus returns to Spain. " Sept. 25, Columbus sails from Cadiz on his second voyage. " Dec. 8, Columbus lays the foundation of Isabella, in Hispaniola, the first European town in the New World. 1494. May 5, Jamaica discovered. 1496. Mar. 10, Columbus sails again for Spain. 1497. June 24, Newfoundland discovered by the Cabots. 1498. May 30, Columbus sails from Spain on his third voyage. " July 31, Trinidad discovered. " Aug. 1, America discovered by Columbus. 1499. June 16, America discovered by Americus Vespucius. 1500. Amazon river discovered by Pinzon. " April 23, Brazil discovered by Cabral. 1502. May 11, Columbus sails on his last voyage. " Aug. 14, Bay of Honduras discovered by Columbus. 1504. Sept. 2, Columbus returns to Spain. 1506. May 20, Columbus dies, in his fifty-ninth year. 1508. St. Lawrence river first navigated by Aubert. 1512. April 2, Florida discovered by Juan Ponce de Leon. " Baracoa, the first town in Cuba, built by Diego Velasquez. 1513. Sept. 25, Pacific ocean discovered by Vasco Nunez de Balboa. 1516. Rio de la Plata discovered by Juan Diaz de Solis. 1517. Patent granted by Charles V. for an annual import of 4,000 negro slaves tO Hispaniola, Cuba, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. " Yucatan discovered by Francis Hernandez Cordova. 1519. Mar. 13, Cortes lands at Tabasco, in Mexico. " April 22, Cortes arrives at San Juan de UUoa. *' Vera Cruz settled by Cortes. " Nov. 8, Cortes enters Mexico. 1520. Montezuma dies. « Nov. 7, Straits of Magellan discovered by Ferdinand Magellan. 1521. Aug. 13, Mexico taken by Cortes. 1522. Bermudas discovered by Juan Bermudez. 1525. First invasion of Peru by Pizarro and Ahnagro. 1528. Pizarro appointed governor of Peru. J531. Second invasion of Peru by Pizarro. 1532. First colony founded in Peru by Pizarro. 1535. Chili invaded by Almagro. 1537. California discovered by Cortes. 1539. May 18, Ferdinand de Soto sails from Havana, on an expedition for the con- quest of Florida. 1541. Aug. 6, Orellana explores the Amazon, and arrives at the ocean. 1545. Mines of Potosi, in South America, discovered. 1548. Platina discovered in the south of Mexico. 1563. Slaves first imported into the West Indies by the English. 1576. Elizabeth's and Frobisher's straits discovered by Martin Frobisher. 1585. June 26, Virginia visited by Sir Walter Raleigh. 43 674 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 1586. Tobacco introduced into England by Mr. Lane. 1587. Aug. 13, first Indian baptized in Virginia. 1602. May 15, Cape Cod named by Bartholemew Gosnold. " " 21, Martha's Vineyard discovered by Gosnold. 1607. May 13, Jamestown, Virginia, founded. 1608. July 3, Quebec founded. 1609. Hudson river discovered by Henry Hudson. 1611. Lake Champlain discovered by Champlain. 1616. Baffin's bay discovered by Baffin. 1617. Pocahontas dies in England. 1619. June 19, first general assembly in Virginia. 1*0 19. May 20, Long Island sound first navigated by Dermer. 1620. Aug. 5, Puritans sail from Southampton, England, for America. " Nov. 10, Puritans anchor at Cape Cod. *' " first white child born in New England. " Dec. 11, first landing at Plymouth. " " 25, first house built at Plymouth. " Slaves first introduced into Virginia by the Dutch. 1621. May 12, first marriage at Plymouth. 1630. Boston settled. " Oct. 19, first general court of Massachusetts colony, holden at Boston. 1631. Delaware settled by the Swedes. 1632. First church built at Boston. 1633. First house erected in Connecticut, at Windsor. 1634. Maryland settled. " Roger Williams banished from Massachusetts. 1636. Hartford, Connecticut, settled. " Providence founded by Roger Williams. 1637. J'irst synod convened at Newtown (now Cambridge), Massachusetts. 1638. New Haven founded. " Harvard college founded. " June 1, earthquake in New England. 1639. Jan. 14, convention at Hartford, Connecticut, for forming a constitution. " April, first general election at Hartford- " First printing-press established at Cambridge, Massachusetts, by Stephen Day. 1642. Oct. 9, first commencement at Harvard college. 1643. May 19, union of the New England colonies. 1646. ^ First act passed by the general court of Massachusetts, for the spread of the gospel among the Indians. 1647. May 19, first general assembly of Rhode Island. 1648. First execution for witchcraft. " New London settled. 1650. Harvard college chartered. " Constitution of Maryland settled. 1651. Navigation-act passed by Great Britain. 1652. First mint established in New England. 1654. Yale college first projected by Mr. Davenport. 1663. Jan. 26, earthquake felt in New England, New Netherlands, and Canada. 1664. Aug. 27, surrender of New Amsterdam to the English. 1665. June 12, New York city incorporated. 1672. First copyright granted by Massachusetts. 1673. Mississippi river explored by Marquette and Joliet. 1675. June 24, commencement of King Philip's war. 1676. Aug. 12, death of King Philip. 1681. Mar. 4, grant of Pennsylvania to William Penn. 1682. Oct. 24, arrival of William Penn in America. " Louisiana taken possession of by M. de la Sale. 1683. First legislative assembly in New York. " Roger Williams dies, in his eighty-fourth year. 1686. First episcopal society formed in Boston. 1687. First printing-press established near Philadelphia, by William Bradford. 1688. New York and New Jersey united to New England. 1690. Feb. 8, Schenectady burned by the French and Indians. " First paper-money issued by Massachusetts. 1692. William and Mary college, Virginia, chartered. CBRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 675 1693. Episcopal church established at New York. " First printing-press established ia New York, by William Bradford. 1695. Rice introduced into Carolina. 1698. First French colony arrive at the mouth of the Mississippi. 1699. Captain Kidd, the pirate, apprehended at Boston. 1700. Episcopal church established in Pennsylvania. 1701. Oct., Yale college chartered and founded at Saybrook. 1702. Episcopal church established in New Jersey and Rhode Island. 1703. Culture of silk introduced into Carolina. " Duty of £4 laid on imported negroes, in Massachusetts. 1704. Tonnage duty laid by Rhode Island on foreign vessels. " Act " to prevent the growth of popery," passed by Maryland. " First newspaper (Boston News Letter) published at Boston, by Batholomew Green. 1706. Bills of credit issued by Carolina. 1709. First printing-press in Connecticut, established at New London, by Thomas Short. 1711. South Sea Company incorporated. 1712. Free schools founded in Charlestown, Massachusetts. 1714. First schooner built at Cape Ann. 1717. Yale college removed from Saybrook to New Haven. 1718. Impost duties laid by Massachusetts on English manufactures and English ships. 1719. First presbyterian church founded in New York. 1720. Tea first used in New England. 1721. Inoculation for smallpox introduced into New England. 1722. Paper-money first issued in Pennsylvania. 1725. First newspaper in New York (the New York Gazette), published by Wil- liam Bradford. 1726. First printing-presses established in Virginia and Maryland. 1727. Earthquake in New England. 1730. First printing-press and newspaper established at Charleston, South Carolina. 1732. Tobacco made a legal tender in Maryland at Id. per pound, and corn at 20d. per bushel. " Feb. 22, George Washington born. " First printing-press and newspaper established at Newport, Rhode Island. 1733. Georgia settled. " Freemason's lodge first held in Boston. 1737. Earthquake in New Jersey. •1738. College founded at Princeton, New Jersey. 1741. Jan. 1, General Magazine and Historical Chronicle, first published by Ben- jamin Franklin. 1742. Faneuil Hall erected at Boston. 1750. First theatrical performance in Boston. 1754. Columbia college founded in New York. 1755. Defeat of General Braddock. " Sept. 8, battle of Lake George. " Earthquake in North America. " First newspaper (Connecticut Gazette) published at New Haven. 1756. May 17, war declared with France by Great Britain. " First printing-press and newspaper established at Portsmouth, New Hamp- shire, by Daniel Fowle. 1758. July 26, Louisburg taken by the English. " Aug. 27, Fort Frontenac taken by the English. " Nov. 25, Fort Du Quesne (now Pittsburgh) taken by the English. 1759. Ticonderoga taken by the English. " Sept. 18, Quebec taken by the English. 1761. Mar. 12, earthquake in New England. 1763. Feb. 10, treaty of peace signed at Paris, between the English and French. " First newspaper published in Georgia. 1764. Mar., right to tax American colonies voted by house of commons. " April 5, first act for levying revenue passed by parliament. " " 21, Louisiana ordered to be given up to Spain. 1765. Stamp act passed by parliament. " Mar. 22, stamp act receives the royal assent. 676 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 1765. May 29, Virginia resolutions against the right of taxation. " June 6, general congress proposed by Massachusetts. " Oct. 7, congress of twenty-eight delegates convenes at New York, and pub- lishes a declaration of rights. 1766. Feb., Dr. Franklin examined before the house of commons, relative to the repeal of the stamp-act. " Mar. 18., stamp-act repealed. 1767. Tax laid on paper, glass, painters' colors, and teas. 1760. Dartmouth college incorporated. " American philosophical society instituted at Philadelphia. 1770. Tea-plant introduced into Georgia. 1773. Tea thrown overboard at Boston. 1774. Boston port-bill passed. " Sept. 4, first continental Congress at Philadelphia. " Dr. Franklin dismissed from the postoffice. 1775. April 19, battle of Lexington. " May 10, Ticonderoga taken by the provincials. « June 17, battle of Bunker's Hill. " July 2, General Washington arrives at Cambridge. " Dec. 13, resolution of Congress to fit out a navy of thirteen ships. " " 31, assault on Quebec, and death of General Montgomery. 1776. Jan. 3, battle near Princeton. " March 17, Boston evacuated by the British. " July 4, declaration of independence. " Sept. 11, battle of Brandywine. ** " 15, the British take possession of New York. " " 27, the British take possession of Philadelphia. " Oct. 4, battle of Germantown. « " 22, battle of Red Bank. *' « 28, battle of White Plains. ** Nov. 16, capture of Fort Washington by the British. « Dec. 26, battle of Trenton. J 777. Sept. 19, battle near Stillwater. 1778. June 28, battle at Monmouth courthouse. " Dec. 29, Savannah taken by the British. 1780. Aug. 16, battle near Camden. 1781. Bank of North America established. " Jan. 17, battle of Cowpens. « March 15, battle of Guilford. " Sept. 5, Fort Trumbull, Conn., taken by Arnold, and New Londoa bornt « " 8, battle at Eutaw. " Oct. 19, surrender of Lord Cornwallis. 1782. March 4, resolution of the house of commons in favor of peace. " April 19, independence of United States acknowledged by Holland. " July, evacuation of Savannah. •* Dec. 14, evacuation of Charlestown. 1783. Jan. 20, cessation of hostilities agreed on. " Feb. 5, independence of the United States acknowledged by Sweden. « « 25, « « « Denmark. « March 24, « « « Spain. " July, « « « Russia. " April 11, proclamation of peace by Congress. " " 19, peace proclaimed in the army by Washington. " Sept. 3, definitive treaty of peace signed at Paris. " Oct. 18, proclamation for disbanding the army. " Nov. 2, Washington's farewell orders. " " 25, New York evacuated by the British. 1784. Feb., first voyage to China from New York. 1785. July 9, and Aug. 5, treaty with Prussia. 1786. Shay's insurrection in Massachusetts. " Sept. 20, insurrection in New Hampshire. 1787. Sept. 17, federal constitution agreed on by conventioa. 1788. Federal constitution adopted. 1789. March 3, George Washington elected president, " April 30, inauguration of George Washington. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 677 1790. District of Columbia ceded by Virginia and Maryland. " May 29, constitution adopted by Rhode Island. 1791. Mar. 4, Vermont admitted into the Union. " Bank of the United States established. " First folio Bible printed by Worcester of Masa. 1792. June 1, Kentucky admitted into the Union. 1793. Washington re-elected president. " Death of John Hancock. 1794. Insurrection in Pennsylvania. 1796. June 1, Tennessee admitted into the Union. " Dec. 7, Washington's last speech to Congress. 1797. March 4, John Adams inaugurated president. 1798. Washington reappointed commander-in chief. 1799. Dec. 14, death of George Washington. 1800. Seat of government removed to Washington. " May 13, disbanding of the provisional army. 1801. March 4, Thomas Jefferson inaugurated president. 1802. July 20, Louisiana ceded to France by Spain. 1803. Feb. 19, Ohio admitted into the Union. 1803. April 30, Louisiana purchased by the United States. " August, Commodore Preble bombards Tripoli. 1805. June 3, treaty of peace with Tripoli. 1806. Expedition of Lewis and Clark to the mouth of the Columbia. 1807. June 22, attack on the frigate Chesapeake. " July 2, interdict to armed British vessels. " Nov. 1 1, British orders in council. " Dec. 17, Milan decree. " " 22, embargo laid by the American government. 1808. Jan. 1, slave-trade abolished. " April 17, Bayonne decree. 1809. March 1, embargo repealed. " " 4, James Madison inaugurated president. 1810. March 23, Rambouillet decree. 1811. May 16, engagement between the frigate President and Little Belt. " Nov. 7, battle of Tippecanoe. 1812. April 3, embargo laid for ninety days. " June 19, proclamation of war. (War declared June 18th.) *' " 23, British orders in council repealed. " Aug. 15, surrender of General Hull. ** Action between the frigates Constitution and Guerriere. " Nov., defeat at Queenstown. *' Action between the Frolic and Wasp. « " " United States and Macedonian. " April 8, Louisiana admitted into the Union. 1813. April 27, capture of York, Upper Canada. « May 27, battle of Fort George. ** June 1, Chesapeake captured by the Shannon. " Sept. 10, Perry's victory on Lake Erie. «* Oct. 5, battle of the Thames. « Dec. 13, Buffalo burnt. 1814. March 28, action between the frigates Essex and Phoebe, ** July 5, battle of Chippewa. « " 25, battle of Bridgewater. ** August, Washington city captured, and capitol burnt. " " 9, 11, Stonington bombarded. « " 11, M'Donough's victory on Lake Champlain. •* Sept. 12, battle near Baltimore. " Dec. 24, treaty of Ghent signed. " " 25, battle of New Orleans. 1815. Feb. 17, treaty of Ghent ratified by the president. " March, war declared with Algiers. 1817. Mar. 4, James Monroe inaugurated president. " Dec. 10, Mississippi admitted into the Union. 1818. Dec. 3, Illinois « « 1819. Dec. 14, Alabama « « 678 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 1819. May, first steamship sailed for Europe. 1820. Mar. 15, Maine admitted into the Union. 1821. July 1, Jackson takes possession of Florida. " Aug. 10, Missouri admitted into the Union. " First settlement of Liberia. 1824. March 13, convention with Great Britain, for suppression of slave-trade. " April 5, convention with Russia in relation