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 JOHN BELL. 
 
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 HON. JOHN BELL, 
 
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 Life, Speeches, and Public Services 
 
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LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES 
 
 HOJSr. JOHN BELL. 
 
 The emergency in whicli the country is now placed is 
 one that requires skilful pilotage at the helm of State ; 
 seldom since the troublous times at the outset of our 
 national life has there been such need of calm and mode- 
 rate counsels, of considerate and well-tried patriotism, of 
 eminent judgment, of spotless probity, of sterling states- 
 manship, of long experience in the man who for four 
 years is to direct, and in a great degree control, the 
 weighty affairs of public life. Strife and partisanship 
 are rife ; politics is but another word for discord ; at the 
 North and at the South passion rages ; blood has even 
 been shed in the broils that have arisen ; fraternal har- 
 mony, such as has hitherto existed, seems banished from 
 the breasts of all ; the watchwords of party are substi- 
 tuted for the signals of concord ; European senators 
 comment openly in parliament on the lamentable state 
 of affairs that prevails here, and warn the reformers of 
 
6 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 the results to which republicanism has already led ; 
 English journals point their articles with allusions to 
 our sad condition, and openly proclaim that the demo- 
 cratic States of America are a failure. Many even 
 among ourselves sadly acknowledge the force and the 
 truth of these reproaches. Among those of truest patri- 
 otism and profoundest wisdom not a few despair of the 
 accomplishment of that destiny which it once seemed 
 was secure. The broils and turmoils, the confusion and 
 discord, the hatred and ill words that are now daily to 
 be seen and heard by him who watches the current of 
 public affairs, are enough to dishearten indeed the faint 
 and distrustful. 
 
 But instead of sitting with folded hands and averted 
 eyes, instead of bewailing a calamity which, although 
 impending, has yet not befallen us, it is the part of true 
 lovers of their country to be up and doing. When a 
 fire is discovered in a household, the family do not 
 forthwith lament and tear their hair because destruction 
 and conflagration are imminent. They set to work to 
 put out the flame before an absolute blaze is kindled ; 
 and the nearer the danger, the harder they work. 
 When a party on board ship is about to mutiny, those 
 who remain firm do not calmly submit, but if they are 
 wise, endeavor to control the dangerous crew, to induce 
 as many as possible to adhere to the rightful authority, 
 to put down if possible all who oppose the proper ofii- 
 cials and the correct management of the vessel. The 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 7 
 
 captain has a right under such circumstances to call 
 upon even the passengers to arm themselves and render 
 him their assistance. If instead they remain helplessly 
 wringing their hands, they deserve their fate ; they are 
 as bad as the mutineers. Just such is the condition ol 
 this country at present. Her peril was never greater, 
 but it is not unavoidable. It behooves those who wish 
 to see her extricated from that peril to leave nothing 
 undone to accomplish their object. If the ship is sink- 
 ing, let all hands go to the pumps. 
 
 In this strait a number of men, honest, upright, 
 known for their long public services, their unblemished 
 integrity, and their unquestioned patriotism, have nomi- 
 nated for the Presidency John Bell of Tennessee. That 
 he should have received the nomination at the hands of 
 such men and at such a time ; that so many from the 
 Korth and the South, old Democrats, and old Whigs, 
 and former members of the American party, men who 
 had many of them recently kept aloof from politics, but 
 who, impelled by the desperate state of the country, make 
 now a strong effort to save it from disunion, that such 
 men should concur in selecting John Bell as the fittest 
 of all in the nation to embody their doctrines, and to 
 uphold their standard, to lead their hosts in the furious 
 strife sure to ensue, is certainly reason why his claims 
 upon his countrymen should be fairly considered. 
 
 John Bell is a native of the great west ; he represents 
 that immense and growing empire which already exerts 
 
8 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 such a mighty influence ; he is neither from the extreme 
 south nor the extreme north ; his birth-place is neutral 
 ground. He was born on a farm near Nashville, Ten- 
 nessee, on the 18th of February, 1797. At that era in 
 
 f, our country Washington still lived ; indeed, he had not 
 yet retired from the Presidency. Hamilton and Pinck- 
 ney, and Jefferson and Adams, and the worthies who 
 had brought the nation triumphantly through the troubles 
 that beset its growth immediately after the close of the 
 Eevolution, were in the palmiest days of their genius, 
 at home ; abroad. Napoleon was rising into prominence ; 
 the French revolutionists were, however, not entirely 
 subdued by the might of his will who was then over- 
 running Italy with a magical celerity. Talleyrand, and 
 Burr, and Madison were discussing French and Ameri- 
 can affairs; and in England, Fox, and Pitt, and Burke, 
 and Sheridan were the magnates of the day. At such 
 an epoch, when so many and such great men were 
 crowding the public stations of the Western and the 
 Eastern world, away in the forests of occidental Ten- 
 nessee, the young child came into existence who was 
 destined, after the lapse of half a century, to be as pro- 
 minent as any of them all. Many of these men had 
 never heard, and never did afterwards in all their lives, 
 hear of the spot where Bell was born ; it was then 
 
 f almost a wilderness ; it was a backwood where now it 
 is a garden, it was a wild and rough region, inhabited in 
 great part by such as Daniel Boone and David Crocker, 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. ' 9 
 
 pioneers of that teeming civilization which now crowds 
 cities by the side of cites, and long ago thrust out the 
 red race to make room for the white men, to whom the 
 continent is given. Tennessee has produced her share 
 of worthies ; she has given two Presidents to the Union, 
 although neither of them was born on her soil : but at 
 the time Bell came into the world, she had few either 
 worthy or unworthy inhabitants. However, many who 
 lived within her borders had emigrated thither from 
 more cultivated regions ; many were persons originally 
 of culture and intelligence, and although they lacked 
 the exciting influences of attrition and contact with 
 congenial mind, they did not lose all regard for educa- 
 tion and refinement. That this was the case with the 
 family of Bell is evident, for his father, although only in 
 moderate circumstances, was careful to prepare his son 
 to receive a collegiate education, and afterwards sent him 
 to Cumberland College, now Nashville University, 
 where he graduated in 1814, at the early age of seven- 
 teen. In those seventeen years his native State had 
 therefore increased in wealth and population sufficiently 
 to support an institution of the dignity of a college ; and 
 of course, the young student must have been diligent 
 and his parents anxious, or amid so few advantages as 
 were accessible, he would hardly have been ready to 
 avail himself of those offered by his alma mater, especially 
 at so almost juvenile an age. 
 
 The law is in this country the field that presents most 
 1* 
 
10 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 attractions to an aspiring youth. It seems to hold out 
 the promise of a speedier entrance ujDon a career, to 
 afford a training for the after struggles of political life, 
 to be the sphere where intellectual gladiators most like 
 to contend, next after that grand arena in which the fate 
 of nations is decided. To the law, therefore, young 
 Bell, whose budding talents already gave promise of the 
 future harvest into which they were to ripen, to the law 
 young Bell directed his attention. So assiduous were 
 his studies and so unflagging his energies that in two 
 years, when he was but nineteen, he was admitted to the 
 bar of Tennessee. He was already a man, if not in 
 years, yet in maturity of judgment and development of 
 
 ; his powers, and established himself at Franklin, in 
 Williamson county, Tennessee. The estimate put upon 
 his abilities by his new neighbors, the mark that he 
 immediately made among men is evinced by the fact that 
 in less than a twelvemonth he was nominated and elected 
 to the State Senate ; not yet twenty years of age. There 
 he soon found that experience comes not without years, 
 if talent does ; and although a re-election was proffered 
 him by his constituents, he wisely declined the honor, 
 and for ten years thereafter devoted himself to the per- 
 sistent practice of his profession. The little episode in 
 the State Senate, of not a year, was all that he saw of 
 political or public life until he was nearly thirty years old. 
 Mr. Bell entered Congress in 1827, when the discus- 
 
 ^'"'Isions concerning the United States Bank were at their 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. ii 
 
 height. James K. Polk and David Crocke^ were among £ 
 his colleagues ; his election was carried while Adams 
 and Jackson were rival candidates for the Presidency ; 
 there were giants in those days, but even among such 
 men as" Benton, and Buchanan, and Crawford, and Ean- 
 dolph, the young politician held his own. He was origi- 
 nally elected over Felix Grundy, one of the most promi- 
 nent men of the day, and who was upheld by Jackson, 
 then President, and of course immensely powerful in 
 Tennessee, but not powerful enough to defeat this tyro ; 
 so popular had Bell already become' among those with 
 whom he lived, and who therefore knew him best. Their 
 estimation of his ability and his services continued; they 
 were evidently amply satisfied with his endeavors, for 
 they re-elected him to Congress for fourteen successive ^•'' 
 years. His first important vote in the House of Eepre- . 
 sentatives was against allowing the sale of the United T^ 
 States Bank stock held by the Government ; this suffi- 
 ciently indicates his politics at that time. Indeed,' he 
 entered Congress a warm admirer of John C. Calhoun, >< 
 but, as his after course sufficiently demonstrates, not a 
 blind follower of the great South Carolinian. That Mr. 
 Bell deserved well of his constituents, is evidenced by 
 the promptness with which he began to labor for their 
 interests. Exactly one month from the date of his 
 entrance into Congress, he made a short speech in support 
 of a resolution offered by himself, favoring the establish- ^ 
 ment of an armory on Harpeton Kiver, in Tennessee. 
 
12 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 This may seem a shght circumstance, hut it is full of sig- 
 nificance ; it indicates that the young Congressman was 
 anxiously caring for his native State. And the cogency 
 of his arguments, together with the skill with which they 
 were presented, was such as to induce the House to agree 
 to his resolution without a division. A happy augury 
 for the career thus successfully begun. Mr. Bell has 
 never since forgotten that he represents the West, and 
 although by no means bigoted in his attachment to that 
 part of our common country, he has always striven to 
 further her welfare and advance her true progress. That 
 his abilities were conspicuous, although he was surrounded 
 by men like Everett, and Letcher, and Choate, is mani- 
 fest from the repeated compliments paid to his judgment 
 and wisdom by different members of the House in the 
 course of the most animated debates ; even Edward 
 Everett, so excellent a judge of oratory, speaking of 
 " the manly force which enchained the attention" of his 
 auditors. A very able speech made by Bell, late in his 
 .^ first session, on " Land Claims in Tennessee," proves that 
 he had still at heart the welfare of those by whom he 
 had been sent to Congress. He who so faithfully served 
 a portion of the country, would not be unlikely to serve 
 the whole with equal fidelity : we have high authority 
 for saying, " thou hast been faithful over few things, I 
 will make thee ruler over many things." And amidst 
 • all his close attention to the peculiar welfare of Tennes- 
 see, Mr. Bell was never accused of narrow-minded or 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 13 
 
 bigoted preference of lier interests ; he could take in the 
 whole, and was not anxious to sacrifice the North or the 
 South to benefit the rest. 
 
 A proof that he was actuated only by what he 
 considered true policy, and not by prejudice, may be 
 found in the fact that, although a Western man, he 
 opposed the appropriation of money by the general 
 Government for the construction of roads and canals 
 in the States. Western States, of course, would have 
 been the ones most to benefit by such a measure, but as 
 his views of the powers of Government did not favor 
 such a construction of the Constitution, he never allowed 
 his inclinations to influence his judgment. In this may 
 be seen a peculiar trait of Mr. Bell's character, a freedom 
 from undue partiality ; a really unbiased judgment : 
 always moderate, calm, and conservative, amid the wild- 
 est strife of party, he was conscientious, and unmoved by 
 any considerations save those of patriotism and honor. 
 He kept his head clear from prejudices either towards one 
 side or the other, and was able to steer clear of those that 
 beset the violent on either hand. . He has been, not exactly 
 such a character as Lord Halifax is described by Macau- 
 lay, not a " Trimmer," but one who held the scales with 
 equal hand, and balanced all the arguments pro and con. 
 Such a man may not have aroused either the bitter ani- 
 mosities of foes, or the quite as violent predilections of 
 friends ; he may never have been prominent as a parti- 
 san, but he is a truer statesman, a realer friend to his 
 
1^ Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 country than many who make louder professions, but 
 are ready to sacrifice their country either to hate or to 
 love, in an emergency. In medio tutissimus ibis, is a 
 good maxim in politics as well as in poetry, and although 
 Mr. Bell has never hesitated to take a decided stand on' 
 all public questions of moment, he has not taken an 
 exaggerated one. He has been willing to acknowledge 
 the good to be seen and said on both sides of all ques- 
 tions. This same peculiarity is still further evidenced by 
 the fact that although objecting to parts of the system of 
 Internal Improvements, he was favorable to the policy 
 of improving the great rivers and lake harbors. It 
 requires some force of character to withstand the gibes 
 of opponents at apparent inconsistency, but every sensi- 
 ble man must be apparently inconsistent at times, although 
 perhaps never more really consistent with his own cha- 
 racter than at the very moment he is accused of fluctua- 
 tions. Mr. Bell was proof against such attacks ; secure 
 in the rectitude of his intentions, and convinced of the 
 justice of his views, he calmly but determinately persisted 
 in his course. That he has not changed in this regard, 
 may be seen in the fact that he is to-day the candidate 
 of the party whose rallying word is conservatism ; which 
 is eminently the moderate one, which goes all lengths 
 with neither side, and is content to bear the reproaches 
 of lukewarmness and uncertainty from the more violent 
 adherents both of the .South and the North, rather than 
 to war openly against those whom it considers brethren. 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 '5 
 
 How Mr. Bel] was regarded as a business man in tlie 
 House may be judged when it is stated that he was 
 fifteen years Chairman of the Committee on Indian ^ 
 Affiiirs ; and a quarter of a century or more ago, Indian 
 affliirs constituted an important subject of legislation. 
 JSTo estimate can be formed of their consequence then, 
 from what is accorded them now. The committee was 
 undoubtedly one of the most important, and the position 
 of its head reflects equal credit on Mr. Bell's judgment 
 and abilities. To have so long sustained the position 
 also indicates his political consequence, for the Speaker 
 of the House would not have been likely to appoint a 
 man of inferior influence to a place of such importance. 
 During the second Congress in which he served, Mr. 
 Bell spoke on the following subjects: The AVestern 
 Armory, a New- York Memorial respecting Southern 
 Indians, the Condition of the Indians, the Removal of 
 the Indians, a Memorial of the New England Society of 
 Friends, the Printing of the State Laws in relation to 
 Indians, Revolutionary Pensions, the Case of Judge 
 Peck, Tennessee Refuse Lands, Baltimore and Ohio 
 Railroad, the Message Vetoing the Maysville Road Bill ; 
 a list which shows the grasp of his mind, and the energy 
 with which he applied his abilities to the various subjects 
 which rose into prominence. Many of his speeches, it 
 will be seen, related to the Indians, whose removal be- 
 yond the Mississippi was at that time frequently discussed 
 in Congress. 
 
l6 Life of Hon. John BellJ 
 
 Anotlier subject that then agitated the public, and 
 continued to do so for many years, was the Tariff ques- 
 tion. Mr. Bell was at this time opposed to the protective 
 system ; indeed his political friends were, for some years 
 after his entrance into public life, especially those of 
 Calhoun. He opposed Mr. Clay and John Quincy 
 Adams particularly in the matter of the Tariff, making 
 a speech against protection in 1832. He, however, after- 
 wards saw reasons to change his views, and like Clay 
 himself, in our own country, with regard to the United 
 States' Bank, and Sir Kobert Peel on the Corn Laws, in 
 England, and other great statesmen, did not hesitate 
 openly to avow a change when it was once formally con- 
 summated in his own mind. Herein is a mark of an 
 intellect superior to petty considerations ; the mind itself 
 grew into another state, did not remain dormant and 
 stupid, developed into another phase, and its owner was 
 true to himself by casting the slough of his former 
 convictions when once it was outgrown. He had no 
 scruples of pride in this matter ; he was honest and 
 fearless in avowing that he entertained different notions 
 on this subject from those he had once professed, and 
 the manly independence of the avowal must recommend 
 itself to all who admire either manliness or independence. 
 A little soul would have hesitated, and parleyed, and 
 equivocated, and deceived. Other little souls may per- 
 haps not recognise or appreciate the magnanimity of the 
 course taken instead by the subject of this memoir. 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 17 
 
 It may not be amiss to allude here to the fact that 
 even political friendships and personal preferences were 
 not allowed to stand in the way of what John Bell con- 
 sidered to be his duty. Despite his warm attachment to ^ 
 Mr. Calhoun, despite his hearty approbation of many of f^ 
 Calhoun's doctrines, Mr. Bell was no blind adherent. " 
 He openly opposed the great southerner's course in 
 regard to Nullification, and was made Chairman of the 
 Judiciary Committee with especial reference to the ques- 
 tions connected with that subject which might have to 
 be considered and reported on. Another instance this 
 of profound and lofty patriotism rising superior to all 
 other considerations, and similar to what occurred at the y 
 final rupture between Mr. Bell and Gen. Jackson, which NsZ 
 took place some years after. The latter circumstance 
 was in consequence of the famous Kemoval of the 
 Deposits, of which Bell did not approve, and against 
 which he formally protested. When that act was con- 
 summated, he withdrew his adherence from the former 
 chief of his party, preferring what he regarded as prin- 
 ciple to the chances of success with a party with whose 
 doctrine he no longer concurred. This proceeding on his 
 part, as well as his previous action in regard to Nullifica- 
 tion, is significant of the fact that Mr. Bell had a mind 
 of his own — he formed his own opinions, and determined 
 upon his own conduct. Although never violent, he was , 
 yet inflexible when he desired to be so : excellent traits ^ p. 
 these in a man who may be destined to wield the execu- 
 
l8 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 tive powers of the American government. He will be 
 no tool in the hands of others ; he, so calm in judging, 
 can yet be nnmovable when once he has judged ; neither 
 the threats of foes nor the persuasions of friends, nor 
 the considerations of mere party ascendancy or personal 
 popularity, avail to swerve him from the course he 
 regards as right. 
 
 His views in relation to canal improvements may be 
 gathered in an extract from a speech made by him in 
 January 1831, which will be found in the appendix. 
 They are characterized by far-seeing judgment and admi- 
 rable policy, and expressed in a terse and manly style. 
 His independence is manifested in this very speech, which 
 might be supposed to conflict with the doctrines advanced 
 by him in relation to the famous Cumberland road. 
 However, he held that different doctrines should be 
 applied to roads from those referring to canals ; and he 
 did not hesitate to uphold the distinction with all the 
 ability of his logical mind. This speech recommends 
 Mr. Bell to the warmest friends of Western progress. 
 Made thirty years ago, without the remotest prospect of 
 its being used when he should be a Presidential candi- 
 date, its sincerity is unquestionable as its logic is unan- 
 swerable. 
 
 Indicaj:ions of the views held by Mr. Bell in regard to 
 
 nullification are readily to be found. The position he 
 
 viheld as Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary made 
 
 , it his duty to report a bill providing for the execution 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 '9 
 
 of the revenue bills, in certain cases, which was the 
 famous Enforcement bill ; this portion of his career shows 
 two things very plainly ; first, that he had no sympathy 
 thirty years ago with those who were anxious to go out \Q 
 of the union because certain circumstances in it were 
 disagreeable; and secondly, that he was anxious to 
 enforce the laws of the land, however distasteful under 
 certain circumstances they might be. Applying the 
 same rules that governed his conduct then to the present 
 emergencies in public affairs, we learn that he would 
 probably have no sympathy with the hot heads of to-day, 
 who, because they are aggrieved at some circumstances 
 doubtless displeasing, and naturally so, are willing to 
 rush off in a state of anarchy and break asunder the 
 bonds that unite the confederacy; and also, that they 
 who, disliking a constitutional provision which, it may be, 
 is offensive to their feelings and repugnant to individual 
 judgments, counsel open violation and disobedience of 
 the law, can get no aid or comfort from him ; nay, more, 
 that he would again, now, as he did in '32, favor an 
 •' enforcement" of whatever is law. What better doctrine 
 for this crisis can be had than such as dictated the con- 
 duct of Mr. Bell a quarter of a century ago, and is as 
 applicable to the contests of to-day as it was to the strug- 
 gles about nullification and the enforcement of the 
 revenue laws? In these instances Bell rose superior to 
 party, and personal considerations. He was an admirer 
 of Calhoun ; he was a free tariff man ; but he frowned 
 
20 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 on nullification, and defended the enforcement of a law 
 of whose policy he did not approve. His example might 
 be studied and imitated with profit now. 
 
 Mr. Bell's conduct in regard to the United States Bank 
 was similar to that of a large number of old Jackson Demo- 
 
 , crats. He was in favor of the bank, althouojh he voted 
 against its re-charter in 1832, because he believed the 
 subject -was brought forward with a partisan purpose, 
 and solely with a view to injure Gen. Jackson. The 
 question was raised four years before the expiration of 
 the old charter, and Bell supposed that the President 
 would veto the bill (as he did), and that consequently his 
 popularity would be affected immediately previous to the 
 Presidential election. When, however, ' Gen. Jackson 
 went so far as to remove the deposits, Bell entirely dis- 
 approved of that remarkable measure, and refused to 
 vote for a resolution approving it ; here, again, manifest- 
 ing a supremacy to mere party views. This refusal was 
 the commencement of his rupture with the President ; 
 the breach was widened, and eventuated in his accession 
 to the Whig party of which he was so long a member 
 and a leader. 
 
 This change of party relations was accelerated by his 
 
 K election to the Speakership of the House of Kepresenta- 
 
 ^ tives in 1834. In June of that year, Mr. Stevenson, who 
 
 had held the position for several sessions of Congress, was 
 
 appointed minister to England, and resigned his former 
 
 place, when James K. Polk became the candidate 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 21 
 
 of the Jackson party for the succession. Mr. Bell was 
 supported against the entire administration influence and 
 the old Democratic party, by the Whigs and that portion 
 of the Democracy which sympathized with him and the 
 Whigs, in their opposition to Yan Buren, who was to 
 succeed Jackson as head of the party. Bell was elected, 
 and Jackson never forgave him. 
 
 The complete change in his political relations was 
 however only consummated when the Presidential elec- 
 tion came round, and Bell absolutely supported another i 
 man than Yan Buren for the office. The doctrine that 
 all subordinate officials who disapprove of the conduct 
 of their superiors in any degree, should be forthwith 
 removed, was strongly upheld by Jackson and Yan 
 Buren, but was regarded by Bell and his friends as highly 
 reprehensible. This was the ostensible reason of their 
 final accession to the ranks of the Whig party, a move- 
 ment which, however, began years before, and was only 
 perfected by their support of White for the Presidency 
 in opposition to Yan Buren. Judge White carried the 
 State of Tennessee (Jackson^s own State) ; doubtless in a ; 
 great measure this success was owing to the effiDrts of 
 Bell. It had been imagined that Tennessee could not 
 possibly oppose its old hero ; there had scarcely existed 
 an organized opposition there for years ; Jackson's per- 
 sonal and political influence was absolute and overwhelm- 
 ing ; but the political character of the State was entirely 
 changed ; in the four succeeding presidential campaigns, 
 
22 Life of Hon.* John Bell. 
 
 Tennessee was found arrayed against the Democratic 
 party. The influen9.e of Bell may be judged of from 
 these facts ; for if this remarkable change was not entirely 
 owing to him, he probably contributed quite as signally 
 as any other man to its production. He was himself of 
 course re-elected to Congress, and continued a member 
 of it as a Whig, until 1841. During this time he twice 
 was nominated against Mr. Polk for the Speakership, 
 and thus identified himself as the head of the Congres- 
 sional opposition to Yan Buren's administration ; but the 
 dominant party each time outvoted him, although only 
 by a dozen ballots. His prominence is sufficiently indi- 
 cated by the fact that his political friends so repeatedly 
 selected him, and it will be remembered successfully, as 
 the antagonist of Mr. Polk (from the same State with 
 himself), and as their leader in those close and continual 
 contests which marked the last years of the Jackson and 
 Van Buren dynasty. Successful in 1888, in wresting 
 the electoral vote of Tennessee away from Van Buren, 
 when only two States in the entire Union were able to 
 cast their vote for "White, and three times candidate 
 against Van Buren's nominee for the Speakership of the 
 House, Mr. Bell was fully prepared for the position 
 among the Whigs which he assumed at the time of Gen. 
 Harrison's nomination, ' It would be singular, if after 
 the lapse of so many years, he should be destined to 
 succeed his old competitor in a higher seat than that for 
 which they so often contended with varying fortune; 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 23 
 
 if after Polk has been in his grave for more than a 
 decade, Bell also should be elected President of the 
 United States. 
 
 Mr. Bell's career in Congress previous to the great 
 Harrison campaign was not marked by any peculiar 
 circumstances, other than those we have already 
 recounted ; several of his speeches in opposition to the 
 Van Buren administration will be found in the after 
 portion of this volume ; they display especially his eager 
 desire that the government should be economically 
 carried on, and afford a key-note to the conduct likely 
 to be his, should he himself be elevated to the control _ 
 of public affairs. One of these speeches is an able 
 defence of the dignity and rights of the House of Kepre- 
 sentatives, showing conclusively that Mr. Bell's sympa- 
 thies were eminently with the popular branch of the 
 .government; he frequently made attempts to curtail 
 unnecessary expenditures, and to check the extravagance 
 of the administration which he opposed. Those extra- 
 vagances, and the general mismanagement of affairs, were 
 such as to provoke the remarkable rising of the people 
 which resulted in the election of Gen. Harrison to the 
 presidency. Bell's determined opposition to the Yan 
 Buren democracy was by this time so prominent, and 
 his talents and political character were regarded as 
 so entirely national in their renown and influence, that -^nJ^ 
 no one was surprised when he entered the cabinet of 
 Harrison as Secretary of War; a reward for his long and 
 
24 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 important services that was universally recognised as 
 his due. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to relate the facts relative to 
 Gen. Harrison's short-lived presidential career. Every 
 reader of political history, or even of general affairs, 
 knows that he summoned a Congress, but died before 
 its meeting, and within a month of his inauguration. 
 Every One knows too that President Tyler, retaining the 
 cabinet of his predecessor in their places, the Congress 
 was convened under his auspices ; and that the great 
 cardinal measure of Whig policy, the establishment of a 
 new United States bank, was one of the first subjects 
 of discussion and preparation among the eminent men 
 who composed the national legislature. As the Whig 
 party had a very decided majority in both Houses, the 
 measure was passed without delay, although deliberately, 
 and sent to the President for his sanction ; he, instead, 
 vetoed the bill, but promised to approve of another 
 under certain conditions. The Whigs, under Clay, 
 forthwith prepared another bill, and subjected it before- 
 hand to the inspection of the President, that they might 
 be secure against the mortification of a second veto from 
 the man whom they had themselves put into power. 
 The first veto was resolved upon, and the message for it 
 drawn, without a consultation of the President with his 
 Cabinet — without reference to them, and without their 
 knowledge, except from hearsay and accident. They 
 first became aware of it by street rumor, and in para- 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 25 
 
 graphs in the Madisonian, and letters to the New York 
 Herald, and their first absolute knowledge of it was 
 obtained on coming in upon the President while he was 
 drawing it. This was a great slight to his Cabinet, and 
 very unaccountable to ministers who, only two short 
 months before, had been solicited to remain in their 
 places, had been saluted with expressions of confidence, 
 and cheered with the declaration that their advice and 
 counsel would be often wanted. They felt the slight 
 of the neglected consultation as well as disappointment 
 at the rejected bill, but the President consoled them for 
 the disappointment by showing himself ready and even 
 impatient for another bill. The Secretary of War (Mr. 
 Bell) gives the following account of an interview with 
 Mr. Tyler. 
 
 " I called on the President, on official business, on the 
 morning of Monday, the 16th of August, before the first 
 veto message was sent in. I found him reading the 
 message to the Secretary of the Treasury (Mr. Ewing). jp-^ 
 He did me the honor to read the material passages to me. 
 I also congratulated him upon the happy circum- 
 stance of the delay which had taken place in sending 
 his veto message. The heat and violence which might 
 have been expected, if the veto had been sent in imme- 
 diately upon the passage of the bill, would now be 
 avoided. Time had been given for cool reflection ; and 
 as the message did not exclude the idea of a bank in 
 some form, no unpleasant circumstance would be likely 
 to follow. He expressed his great surprise that there 
 should be so much excitement on the subject ; said that 
 
26 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 he had had his mind made up on the bill before him 
 from the first, but had delayed his message, that there 
 should be time for the excitement to wear off; that 
 nothing could be more easy than to pass a bill which 
 would answer all necessary purposes ; that it coald be 
 done in three days. The next day, having occasion to 
 see the President again, he requested me to draw up a 
 brief statement of my views upon the subject, showing 
 the practical advantages and necessity of such a fiscal 
 institution as he had thought of proposing. Such infor- 
 mation as I could hastily collect from the heads of the 
 principal disbursing bureaus of the department I handed 
 him on the evening of the same day, knowing that time 
 was of the utmost importance, in the state in which the 
 question then was. He received the statements I gave 
 him with manifest indifference, and alarmed me by 
 remarking, that he began to doubt whether he would 
 give his assent (as I understood him) to any bank." 
 
 The second veto came ; and the entire cabinet, except 
 Mr. Webster, immediately resigned. Thus, the talented 
 government composed of Webster, Bell, Ewing, Badger, 
 Crittenden, and Granger, was disbanded. The Whig 
 party throughout the country approved of the conduct 
 of the cabinet. The Whig majority of the Tennessee 
 Legislature signified its approbation of the step, in the 
 particular instance of Mr. Bell, by offering him at the 
 next session after his withdrawal from the cabinet, the 
 office of United States Senator ; but he declined it, and 
 remained in retirement until 1847. 
 
 On the Slavery question, Mr. Bell's course has always 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 27 
 
 been characterized by extreme moderation and wisdom, 
 as well as by the natural concomitant of those traits — 
 profound patriotism. When the agitation, which is now 
 so violent, took its rise, so long ago as in 1836, or even 
 sooner, Mr. Bell, a Southern man, but living so near the 
 North as to have become national rather than exclu- 
 sively Southern, took that middle and moderate ground 
 which he has ever since maintained. The presentation 
 of anti-slavery petitions in Congress was the first step in 
 the agitation which is now culminating. Those petitions 
 awakened the most violent discussions in the House of 
 Representatives, of which, in 1836, Mr. Bell was a mem- 
 ber. He alone, of the Tennessee delegation, favored 
 their reception ; and, although assailed for this at home, 
 was sustained by the people. Although he did not 
 sympathize with the aim of the petitioners — to abolish 
 slavery in the District of Columbia — he yet recognised 
 and upheld the right of petition, however offensive even 
 to his own notions the exercise of the right might chance 
 to be. Still later, in 1838, when resolutions were intro- 
 duced to receive such petitions, and lay them on the 
 table, he voted in the negative, in order that they might 
 be referred to a committee. What stronger evidence 
 than this could be asked for, in a consistent Southern 
 man, of a desire to yield something to the North, of an 
 anxiety for harmony and concord between the conflict- 
 ing elements in the nation? His speeches give ample 
 evidence of the same spirit, throughout the long and 
 
28 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 trying period during which he was a member of the 
 United States Senate — from 1847 to 1859. 
 
 The South never accused him of being derelict to her 
 interests ; some few violent men were dissatisfied with his 
 course, but he was promptly re-elected to his seat in the 
 Senate at the expiration of his first term of service. He 
 was at one time, indeed, requested by the State Legislature 
 ^ of Tennessee to resign, but the people supported him in 
 ■^ his resolution to refuse acceding to this request. It was 
 made four years after the vote complained of, and by men 
 who were not members of the State Legislature at the 
 time the vote was cast ; and Mr. Bell considered himself 
 perfectly justifiable in disregarding it. With this solitary 
 exception, there is no instance of dissatisfaction from his 
 native State having been manifested towaixis her faithful 
 son. F^r more than thirty years he served her in the 
 national councils, and she was all that while a slave 
 state ; for all that time Mr. Bell upheld moderately but 
 firmly the rights and interest of slaveholders, and was 
 recognised by the South as one of her devoted sons. 
 And yet he has studiously, meanwhile, preserved the 
 kindest relations with the North ; he has of late received 
 the nomination for the presidency from a convention in 
 which northern men greatly predominated. 
 
 The estimation in which he is held has been caused by 
 
 his consistent and pa4:riotic endeavors to stem the current 
 
 1^ of violence and disunion. Mr. Bell, as a Whig, was studi- 
 
 ously opposed to the policy of annexing Mexico and 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 29 
 
 the other Spanish American States ; and when the storms 
 of discord rose highest his efforts at effecting a compromise 
 were persistent. He endeavored incessantly to allay the 
 troubled waves, to pour oil on the waters of strife ; he 
 brought in a compromise bill, but, without any vanity 
 or pique, laid it aside when he discovered that it did not 
 prove acceptable ; for with him personal honor or success 
 was always subordinate to patriotism. He favored the 
 great compromise measures of 1850, although he would 
 have been glad to see the issues then mooted fully 
 settled by the division of Texas into states, as provided 
 in the act of annexation; for he apprehended whenever 
 the question of that division should arise, that the har- 
 mony of the nation might be again disturbed. 
 . In 1854, when Mr. Douglas introduced the famous 
 Nebraska bill and the repeal of the Missouri compromise, 
 Mr. Bell again was mindful of the entire country and not V 
 of a single portion of it only, although that portion was "^ 
 his home, and the State which he represents belonged to 
 it. He 'protested against the passage of the measure, 
 denouncing it as a violation of a compact fairly sealed, 
 as an unsettling of principles already settled, as a reopen- 
 ing of the sectional controversies of which the country was 
 perfectly tired, as an imperilling of the peace and safety of 
 the Union. Mr. Bell's course in this emergency was, how- 
 ever, unavailing to stem the torrent of feeling aroused by 
 Mr. Douglas. But he persisted in the line of conduct he 
 had chosen. He was determined to know no north and 
 
30 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 no south, and did whatever in him lay to assuage the agi- 
 tations of the time. He had endeavored successfully to 
 recommend the compromises effected by Clay and Web- 
 ster to the reception of his constituents and of the entire 
 South, and now he was anxious, since the Nebraska bill 
 had become a law, that no worse results should flow from 
 it than were unavoidable. So he again showed his mode- 
 ration, his fairness, his love of justice, when the Kansas 
 question arose. In the controversy on the admission of 
 that territory Mr. Bell took decided ground against the 
 Lecompton Constitution, and made an elaborate speech, 
 charging that the measure was ill-timed and likely to 
 prove disastrous alike to its originators and to the union. 
 And yet, with all his anxiety for fairness, he never 
 swerved in his fealty to the South or her institutions. 
 His speeches are full of indications of his loyalty. He 
 maintains the peculiar institution to be, in many of its 
 peculiarities, excellent, and expresses an opinion that 
 abstract notions must not be allowed to conflict with prac- 
 ticalities, or if they do, must give way. Universally 
 beloved and esteemed by his Southern colleagues, the 
 integrity of his motives and the well-intentioned character 
 of his acts have never been impugned by the most facti- 
 tious. Some may have thought him too much inclined 
 to yield, too willing to accede for the sake of peace, but 
 he has in no instance been accused of recreancy. And 
 he has indeed always been willing to yield somewhat ; he 
 has openly avowed this as a principle ; he boasts that he 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 31 
 
 is not impracticable. Rather than that the fabric of our 
 union should be destroyed, he has been ready to sacrifice 
 several minor things ; emulous in this of the character 
 of Clay and Webster and other worthies of that high 
 sort. He is anxious, and has always been so, to cultivate 
 the kindest relations with both of the great portions of 
 our common country, to obey the parting mandate of 
 Washington and know no north and no south ; he is, and 
 has always been, emphatically, a Union man, a Union 
 lover, a Union preserver. His whole career from the 
 start has been of this sort ; every act indicates it ; every 
 speech expresses it. 
 
 Kot remarkable, however, only for love of country, but 
 for ability to serve it ; not only for moderation and 
 patriotism, and conservatism, excellent and desirable as 
 these qualities are ; not only for eminent impartiality ; not 
 only for those lofty traits of character, which indicate 
 worth rather than talent, which give weight, and import- 
 ance, and influence to men in everyday afiairs as well as 
 to a statesman in public life, which are to the full as 
 essential as talent — for what is talent without integrity 
 and firmness, but a misdirected power, an engine without 
 a master, a railroad train without a conductor — Mr. Bell 
 is acknowledged by all to possess these characteristics ; 
 he has passed through a long career of public useful- 
 ness unblemished by reproach, without having ever ex- 
 cited personal vituperations, or having ever suffered ob- 
 loquy or disgrace. His State, and his constituents, and his 
 
32 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 country have retained him in postg of consequence, and 
 offered him honors, even when he has been obliged to 
 decline them. All this indicates not only worth but 
 ability. 
 
 A clear head, penetration into character, and ability 
 to perceive the significance of events, far-sightedness in 
 politics, excellent judgment, so much that he has been 
 able always to remain moderate, and no greater proof of 
 judgment could be furnished, — ^logical ability, and 
 (in his service on committees, as well as in the period 
 during which he was a member of Gen. Harrison's and 
 President Tyler's cabinets) administrative talent were 
 evinced, abundant energy, the most thorough atten- 
 tion to the duties of whatever office, undoubted industry, 
 — surely the traits most desirable in governmental offi- 
 cers, are all his. Firmness seems a trait especially likely 
 to be put to the test in the next incumbent of the Presi- 
 dential chair, and firmness has been evinced on several 
 occasions by John Bell in a remarkable degree. Pos- 
 sessing so many indispensable qualifications, fitted by 
 his long experience and his mature age for the most im- 
 portant posts, the list of his powers is altogether posi- 
 tive. Should he be placed in the lofty post of President 
 of the United States, there can be but little doubt that 
 all the anticipations of the warmest friends of himself 
 and of his country will be realized, and all the enco* 
 miums hitherto paid him amply justified. 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 33 
 
 THE SPEECHES OF HOK JOHN BELL. 
 
 The speeches that constitute the remainder of this 
 volume, are, with one or two exceptions, selected from 
 those made in Congress, by the subject of this memoir ; 
 it has been deemed advisable to furnish only such por- 
 tions of them as iudicate Mr. Bell's sentiments and con- 
 duct in regard to the great public questions which have 
 arisen during his career. As in every speech there 
 must be much matter pertinent only at the moment of its 
 delivery, we have endeavored to free the pith or core so 
 far as possible from the less material parts that envelop 
 it, never, however, in any instance garbling, nor omitting 
 any sentences or words from those passages pretended to 
 be presented to our readers. A completely faithful expo- 
 sition of Mr. Bell's views on the subjects discussed, will, 
 we beheve, be thus afibrded. 
 
 EDUCATION IN TENNESSEE. 
 
 Shortly after Mr. Bell's entrance into Congress as a 
 member of the Lower House, the question of devoting 
 part of the public lands in Tennessee to the educational 
 purposes of that State, was mooted ; Mr. Bell's maiden 
 effort of any great length or ambition was made on this 
 occasion, April 29, 1828. 
 
 We subjoin a few lines merely, which demonstrate the 
 
34 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 sentiments he entertained on the question at issue, and 
 also evince his anxiety for the best interests of those 
 whom he represented. 
 
 LAND CLAIMS IN TENNESSEE. 
 
 Mr. Bell, of Tennessee, said : — The gentlemen who 
 have spoken in opposition to the bill have declared their 
 readiness to support it if it can be shown that the gene- 
 ral Government is under any obligation to make provi- 
 sion for the support of common schools in Tennessee. 
 This obligation, I think, can be made to appear to the 
 satisfaction of every one. By an express article in the 
 compact entered into in 1787, between the Congress of 
 the Confederation and the people north-west of the river 
 Ohio, it is stipulated on the part of the Confederation 
 that " schools and the means of education should for ever 
 be encouraged." This generous stipulation in favor of 
 light and knowledge may have been in pursuance of the 
 conditions upon which "Virginia ceded that noble region 
 to the United States (my researches on this point have 
 not gone so far back), or it may have been the dictate of 
 the wisdom of those who then had the guidance of our 
 national councils ; but whether it was the offspring of 
 the State which gave, or of the Confederation which 
 received, I conceive it cannot be more highly or appro- 
 priately commended than by saying that it was worthy 
 of a period in which an enlightened love of liberty pre- 
 vailed over the sordid calculations of wealth. When 
 North Carolina ceded her Western Territory, now the 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 35 
 
 State of Tennessee, to the United States, she made it an 
 express condition in her act of cession, that the inhabit- 
 ants of that territory should enjoy " all the privileges, 
 benefits, and advantages" set forth in the ordinance or 
 compact I have already mentioned, one only excepted, 
 not now necessary to be adverted to. 
 
 SPEECH OF JOHN BELL ON HIS ELECTION AS SPEAKER OF 
 THE HOUSE, June 2, 1834. 
 
 Gentlemen of the House of Representatives : — 
 
 With the greatest sincerity I declare to you, that 
 although I am duly and gratefully impressed by this 
 mark of the partiality and confidence of the House, and 
 by no means insensible to the distinction intended to be 
 conferred on me, it is not without some distrust of the 
 wisdom of my course in accepting this station, which 
 your choice has assigned me. Without the slightest ex- 
 perience in the chair, it may be justly apprehended that 
 your selection of a presiding ofiicer has been too much 
 influenced by personal kindness and friendship. And I 
 shall be quite happy if the public interest shall suffer no 
 detriment through a defective administration of the duties 
 of the chair. In ordinary times, and under ordinary 
 circumstances, I could flatter myself that, by diligent 
 application, I might be able, in a short time, to supply 
 the want of experience, and to justify in some degree, 
 the confidence indicated by the House. That more than 
 usual embarrassments must be encountered at this mo- 
 ment, by an incumbent of the chair, will be admitted by 
 all. The impatience, not to say irritation — the natural 
 
36 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 result of a protracted session — the excitement growing 
 out of those sharp conflicts of opinion upon questions of 
 public policy — conflicts exasperated and embittered at 
 the present moment in an extraordinary degree — all pre- 
 sent themselves to increase the difficulties and call forth 
 the exertions of a new and unpractised incumbent of the 
 chair. And I feel, gentlemen, that whatever exertions 
 may be made on my part must be vain, without your 
 forbearance — nay, that they must fail altogether, without 
 your cordial support and co-operation. When I reflect 
 how great are the interests connected with this House, 
 its character and action — interests not of a day nor of a 
 party, but of all time, of posterity, and of all the parties 
 which are or ever will be arrayed against each other — 
 and when I further reflect how much the character and 
 action of this House depends upon a skilful, firm, and 
 impartial administration of the duties of the chair, I con- 
 fess I feel the deepest solicitude. 
 
 It is not so generally understood, I regret to believe, as 
 it should be, in how great a degree the measures of a 
 legislative assembly are modified and influenced by the 
 manner of its deliberations. All will concede that if it 
 shall ever happen that this body shall fall into disrepute, 
 and fail to command the respect and confidence of the 
 people, our institutions will be in the greatest peril. 
 Not only the character of the House, the wisdom and 
 efficiency of its action, but the existence of our admira- 
 ble frame of polity itself, may be said to depend, in some 
 degree, upon the order and dignity of the deliberations 
 of this House. While, then, I entreat the indulgence of 
 the House to my own defects, I earnestly invoke the as- 
 sistance of every member of it in endeavoring to main- 
 tain and preserve, so far as depends upon the proceedings 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. • 37 
 
 of this body, those great and primary interests of consti- 
 tutional government and freedom, in support of which, I 
 am sure, whatever difference of opinion there may be 
 upon points of construction, policy, or administration, 
 there is not a heart here, nor an American heart anywhere, 
 that does not beat high. 
 
 SPEECH OF JOHN BELL ON HIS KETIREMENT FROM THE 
 speaker's chair, March Srdj 1835. 
 
 Gentlemen of the House of Representatives : — 
 
 It is a late hour, but I hope I may be allowed one 
 word, in acknowledgment of the many obligations I 
 am under to this House. 
 
 Duly sensible, as I am, of the value of that testimony 
 of respect for your presiding officer which you have this 
 night ordered to be placed upon the journals of the 
 House, and as much bound as I am by that compliment, to 
 express my sensibility to your kindness, I am still more 
 solicitous, upon this occasion, the last that may offer to 
 me, to express a yet deeper and more abiding sense of 
 gratitude for that continued indulgence to my faults, 
 that marked forbearance and tenderness to my many 
 deficiencies, which have been manifest on your part, from 
 the first moment I took this chair, and which have con- 
 tinued to be manifested up to this, the last allotted hour 
 of the present Congress. The feelings inspired by a 
 recollection of so much generosity I am unable ade- 
 quately to express, but they shall have a place in this 
 bosom so long as there is a pulsation there. 
 
38 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 But this is not the extent of the obligations I am under 
 to you, gentlemen. If the public service had suffered 
 essentially from any defect in me, the memory of your 
 generous indulgence would afford me but a qualified 
 pleasure, but you have, upon every occasion, given to mei 
 your presiding ofi&cer, liable to err, and actually erring, 
 as he often did, your firm support in his efforts to prevent 
 the effect of what seemed to him to be error in others ; 
 and thus you reconciled your continued forbearance 
 towards him with your duty to the public, in supporting 
 the regularity and dignity of the proceedings of the 
 House. 
 
 It is needless to declare to you how feeble, how utterly 
 incompetent, the efforts of any one must be to discharge 
 the duties of this station, without the cordial support of 
 the Members of this House. The satisfaction I derive 
 from the reflection that I have had your cordial and 
 necessary supp">rt, is greatly heightened by two con- 
 siderations — the one personal to myself, the other of a 
 public nature. Inexperienced as I was, when the duties 
 of the Chair were suddenly devolved upon me, I could 
 deserve your support, in attempting to maintain the just 
 authority and respect of the Chair, only by bringing to 
 the discharge of its various duties a resolute determina- 
 tion to perform them with impartiality, and a suitable 
 firmness and decision. However I may have failed in 
 these purposes in particular instances, unconsciously and 
 through the weakness of our common nature, I feel a 
 proud satisfaction in believing that you have always 
 duly appreciated my intentions and my desires. 
 
 But I have yet a higher gratification, founded upon 
 the experience I have had in the Chair ; whatever may 
 be the occasional disorders and intemperance incident to 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 39 
 
 times liigWy excited by party conflicts, we have just 
 reason to hope that there will always remain a collective, 
 an aggregate feeling and determination in this House to 
 forbear those extremes, those excesses, which, if in- 
 dulged, would justly forfeit the respect and confidence 
 of the country. 
 
 None will question, that whatever concerns the charac- 
 ter and respectability of this House, as a co-ordinate 
 branch of the legislative department of the Government, 
 concerns likewise the interests, the very being, of free 
 institutions, and the rights and happiness of the human 
 family. Whether this House shall continue to hold and 
 actually exercise its due proportion of the powers of this 
 Government ; whether it shall continue to contribute 
 its due weight and authority in shaping the policy of 
 this great country, and in elevating it to that high 
 destiny which the friends of political and civil liberty 
 in every part of the world, so devoutly desire ; whether, 
 indeed, such a destiny shall ever be ours, depends greatly 
 upon the rank which this House shall continue to hold 
 in the affections, the respect, and confidence, of the great 
 body of the people. 
 
 The recollection that, while I have had the honor to 
 fill this station, I have had your co-operation and confi- 
 dence in my feeble efforts to sustain the due importance 
 and respectability of this House, will be a source 01 
 high gratification to me in the future vicissitudes of my 
 life, whatever they may be. And now, at the moment 
 of a separation, which, with many of us, may be perma- 
 nent, I may be permitted to say, that if, upon any occa- 
 sion, I have seemed to fail in the respect which is always 
 due from the Chair to the House, and to all its members, 
 I can, with the utmost sincerity, affirm that it was never 
 
40 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 intentional ; and I beg to express my ardent wishes for 
 the continued and uninterrupted health and happiness of t| 
 every individual of which this House is composed. 
 
 SPEECH IN OPPOSITION TO VAN BUREN'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 February 24, 183Y. ] 
 
 The following remarks are presented here as indicat- 
 ing the views entertained by Mr. Bell in regard to the 
 economical administration of the general government, 
 and his aversion to unnecessary expenditure. 
 
 Mr. Bell said : — He rose for the purpose of calling the 
 attention of members to a few facts connected with the 
 subject under consideration, and with the subject of the 
 Treasury, and the expenditures of the Government gene- 
 rally, which he thought were either unknown to many 
 honorable members, or, if known, had not received that 
 attention which, from their extraordinary nature, they 
 were entitled to receive from the representatives of the 
 people and the guardians of the public interests. 
 
 The fact that the permanent expenditures of the 
 Government had been doubled in amount within a few 
 years past had been noticed heretofore. I wish (said Mr. 
 B.) to bring to the notice of honorable gentlemen another 
 most improper and unprecedented anomaly in the action 
 of Congress, upon the subject of the appropriation and 
 expenditure of the public moneys. The Committee of 
 Ways and Means have given their sanction to appropri- 
 ations for the service of the present year, amounting to 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. ^ 41 
 
 upwards of thirty millions, if I have not made some mis- 
 take in the estimate of this amount. Besides these, there 
 are other bills reported by the standing committees of 
 the House, which will swell them to about thirty -five 
 millions — an amount but little short of the appropriations 
 to the same objects made at the last session of Congress. 
 Do the members of this house know what proportion 
 of the appropriations of the last year remain unexpend- 
 ed ? The honorable chairman of the Committee of Ways 
 and Means has told us that the present bill appropriates 
 about nine hundred thousand dollars to fortifications ; 
 and that, he contends, ought to be voted, because it does 
 not exceed the usual amount annually appropriated to 
 the same objects. Sir, it is true that this does not exceed 
 the amount usually appropriated, but the honorable gen- 
 tleman has omitted to inform us that there was on the 
 1st of January a balance of upwards of six hundred thou- 
 sand dollars remaining in the Treasury of the appropria- 
 tions of the last year to the same objects, besides be- 
 tween two and three hundred thousand, in the hands of 
 the disbursing officers, yet unexpended. He has neglected 
 to inform us that, in fact, about nine hundred thousand 
 dollars of the last year's appropriations to fortifications 
 remain to be expended during the present year ; for I 
 take it for granted, that the work upon the fortifications 
 has not been persisted in to any great extent during the 
 winter. Thus, sir, instead of the amount proposed to be 
 applied to this branch of the public service during the 
 present year, we propose to apply double that amount. 
 Is there anything in the present high prices of labor and 
 materials, any thing in the great demand for laborers of 
 all kinds, or is there anything in the present prospect 
 of peace with all nations which calls for this unusual 
 
42 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 amount to be applied to fortifications ? Are we not push- 
 ing these works too rapidly to admit of solid construc- 
 tions ? But, sir (said Mr. B.), I do not attach much im- 
 portance to this view of the subject. Not only double 
 but treble, and quadruple the amount of these appropria- 
 tions can be expended by the government, if it is found 
 necessary in order to increase appropriations — if we shall 
 by our imprudent compliance with the demand of the 
 Executive encourage a race between appropriations and 
 disbursements — if the appropriations are to be increased 
 according to the ability of the Government to expend, 
 or rather waste, as much as this House shall, from year 
 to year, be found willing to appropriate. I repeat, if this 
 shall be the measure of our appropriations, we need not 
 care how large they are, they will be expended. 
 
 ECONOMY. 
 
 The extract here appended is taken from a speech on 
 financial matters, whose interest is now entirely past. 
 The selection is made as afibrding an indication of Mr. 
 Bell's careful attention to the management of the govern- 
 ment in all its details, and his anxiety to avoid every 
 temptation to extravagance. The date of the speech is 
 March 12th, 1887. 
 
 Mr. Bell said he would make but a remark or two 
 upon the motion which he proposed to make in relation 
 to the amendment of the Senate. 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 43 
 
 The House had incorporated the clause for a distri- 
 bution of any surplus which might be in the Treasury at 
 the end of the year, among the States, into the fortifica- 
 jtion bill, by a large and decisive majority. The Senate 
 amended the bill by striking out this most important 
 provision ; and this House, upon a reconsideration of the 
 subject, reaffirmed their first decision, and disagreed to 
 the amendment of the Senate, by a majority equally 
 decisive, and one which, under the circumstances, I 
 might say was overwhelming. The Senate has thought 
 proper, nevertheless, to insist upon its amendment ; and 
 the question is now presented whether we shall recede 
 from the ground we have taken, or firmly adhere to a 
 measure which we believe to be of vital interest. \ The 
 question is one of vast magnitude, of the greatest import- 
 ance, and connected directly with the permanent interest 
 and welfare of the whole country. We have now to 
 decide whether this, the popular branch of the National 
 Legislature, whether we, the representatives of the peo- 
 ple, to whom the Constitution has intrusted in an espe- 
 cial manner the guardianship and the duty of preserving 
 the public treasure, shall surrender up our trust, abandon 
 our own views of public duty, and conform to the wishes 
 of the Senate. A principle of deep interest is thus in- 
 volved in this question besides that of mere expediency. 
 In relation to the particular measure under consideration, 
 can any one doubt the line of duty thus plainl}^ marked 
 out to us ? Are we not bound in justice to ourselves, 
 in justice to the Constitution and to the best interests 
 of the country, firmly to adhere to our first resolve ? 
 Upon the point of expediency, whatever doubt may have 
 existed in the minds of any, whether there would be a 
 surplus of any considerable amount at the end of the 
 
44 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 year, when this proposition was first submitted, surely 
 now, since the land bill has been laid upon the table, 
 and not the slightest prospect remains of reviving it attj 
 the present session, there is no longer any ground of ] 
 uncertainty as to that question. All must now admit f 
 not only that there will be a surplus, but that it will be 
 a very largft one ; and the question is now presented, andi; 
 must be decided by the vote which we are about to take, J 
 whether the fifteen or twenty millions in the Treasury,, 
 over and above the demands of the public service, willl 
 be more secure when deposited with and distributed! 
 among the several States of the Union, or in State banks^ 
 over which we have no control, whose condition at this^ 
 moment is inflated, uncertain, and perilous in the highestt 
 degree. Those who think the States less safe and trust- j 
 worthy than the numerous State banks which hold the^j 
 public moneys in deposit will, of course, be against us. 
 
 Another great question is presented, and must be;! 
 decided by our present action. It is, whether we shall l; 
 suffer a surplus revenue, the unavoidable and unfore-j 
 seen result of past legislation, to remain in the National l! 
 Treasury to tempt the next Congress, as it has done the ; 
 present one, to swell the expenditures of the Government 
 in a degree and in a manner wholly inconsistent with 
 every idea of economy. I do not intend to enter further 
 into the argument. I have observed, at another step of 
 the progress of this measure, that I considered the argu- 
 ment, both for and against, fully before the country ; 
 and I conclude by moving that this House do insist upon 
 its disagreement to the Senate's amendment. \ 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 45 
 
 DEATH OF MR. STANDEFER. 
 
 Friday, Sepiemher 8, 1837. 
 Mr. Bell announced to the House the death of his 
 late colleague, the Hon. James Standefer, in the follow- 
 ing terms : — 
 
 Mr. Speaker : The melancholy duty has been as- 
 signed me, by my colleagues, of announcing to the 
 House the death of one of our members. 
 
 James Standefer, while on his journey to this place, 
 in order to enter upon his duties as a member of this 
 House, was, on the 20th of last month, suddenly arrested 
 by the hand of the Great Destroyer of human existence. 
 By this unexpected event, the country is deprived, at a 
 period of more than common interest and difficulty, of 
 the services of a most devoted and patriotic public 
 servant, and this House of an honest and worthy mem- 
 ber. My late colleague was remarkable for an equani- 
 mity of temper, and a kindness of feeling, combined 
 with a justness of perception in all the concerns of life, 
 at least of ordinary occurrence, which without the ad- 
 vantages of early culture, or of books, at any time, 
 procured for him throughout a life which was not short, 
 the respect and esteem of numerous friends, and raised 
 him to the rank of a useful and meritorious citizen. 
 The same qualities of heart and mind, aided by a repu- 
 tation for honesty which he nobly earned, and continued 
 to maintain by the most scrupulous regard for truth and 
 justice in all his transactions, public and private, caused 
 him to be repeatedly chosen to the Legislature of his 
 
46 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 own State ; of which body he was a usefal and respected 
 member. He was, for many years, a member of this, 
 and I am sure that his quiet and unobtrusive manners — 
 his punctual discharge of all the duties assigned him in 
 the organization of the House, must have secured the 
 respect of his associates. To these evidences of his 
 worth, I might add, that in the late war with Great 
 Britain, he approved himself an intrepid soldier. He 
 was, above most men I have known, who have risen in 
 any degree into public view, under similar circum- 
 stances, free from the pride and vanity of mere station : 
 never anxious to appear what he was not ; content to 
 be classed with the useful and faithful, he made no pre- 
 tensions ; had no aspirations beyond his real deserts. 
 If, therefore, my lamented colleague cannot be said to 
 have possessed any of those shining endowments which 
 are required to make a figure in this House, which 
 strike our fancy, or command our admiration, he might 
 still justly lay claim to other and humbler attributes, 
 which, upon the whole, constitute a character of solid 
 merit, and often one of more enduring fame ; and that 
 the due and usual tribute of respect be paid to his 
 memory by this House, I move, sir, the resolution 
 which I hold in my hand : — ■ 
 
 Resolved^ That as a testimony of respect for the 
 memory of the deceased, the members of this House 
 will go into mourning by wearing crape on the left arm 
 for thirty days. 
 
 The Resolution was unanimously adopted. 
 Mr. Bell then moved that the House adjourn. 
 And it adjourned accordingly. 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 47 
 
 RETRENCHMENT. 
 
 Extract from a speecli made Sept. 19, 1837. 
 
 Note. — Mr. Bell then entered into an elaborate examination of the 
 state of the Treasury, to show that there would be a surplus of twenty- 
 millions ; and then proceeded : 
 
 I have now, sir, shown that, taking the statements of 
 the several reports of the Secretary of the Treasury as 
 correct, if the funds lying dead in the hands of disburs- 
 ing officers be brought forth and applied in aid of the 
 expenditures of the last quarter of the year, as they 
 should be, the fourth instalment due the States can be 
 paid, with all other actual demands against the Treasury 
 during the year, and not scarcely more than a nominal 
 deficit ; but if, as has always been the case heretofore, a 
 portion of the actual demands upon the Treasury shall 
 not be presented for payment at the depositories of the 
 public money within the year, there will be a surplus, in 
 fact, still left in the Treasury at the end of the year. 
 
 The question now is, whether the States have not 
 acquired rights under the act of 1836, which it is not 
 competent for Congress to annul or defeat without their 
 consent. It is a question of power and of right in the 
 Greneral Government, whether, after the States have 
 accepted the terms of the Deposit Act ; after many of 
 them have anticipated the funds which they expected to 
 receive in payment of the fourth instalment, and made 
 other important arrangements connected with their 
 financial interest and condition, they will not have just 
 cause to complain of a breach of faith, if this Govern- 
 ment shall now proceed to abrogate the compact by 
 
48 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 legislative action merely, and -without any communica- 
 tion with the States. I call upon those gentlemen espe- 
 cially, who hold to what is called the State Rights party, 
 to say upon what grounds they can support the bill 
 tinder consideration ? Will it not be a usurpation, a 
 "clear assumption of power on our part, and an insulting 
 disregard of the State sovereignties, if, after deluding 
 them with promises of these funds upon certain con- 
 ditions, which have been acceded to by the States, we 
 should claim the power to postpone the execution of the 
 compact, or to annul the whole proceeding uncondi- 
 tionally, without reference to their wishes or interests, 
 and even without consulting them ? 
 
 But, sir, we have the same grand object, inviting us to 
 reject this bill, which operated with many gentlemen in 
 giving their support to the Deposit Act of 1836. The 
 question is now, as then, whether we shall set about cur- 
 tailing the extravagance and profligacy of the Grovern- 
 ment in its expenditures. We have tried every other 
 plan, every other occasion, in vain. If we would prove 
 ourselves what we profess to be — if we be ourselves in 
 earnest — if we are seriously the advocates of retrenchment 
 and reform, we can never hope, in our time, for a more 
 propitious season to make one more bold and determined 
 effort. '' Now's the day, and now's the hour." If we 
 suffer ourselves to be deluded by the arguments and 
 the devices of the advocates of power, and shall let this 
 opportunity pass, we need never hope again. 
 
 There is only one expedient left, and that is, to with- 
 hold the supplies; stop the money; keep the Treasury 
 drained and low ; cut off the means ; and I engage that 
 the expenditures shall be reduced, for once, to the actual 
 wants of the Government. I call upon the experienced 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 49 
 
 members of tlie House — and there are some who have 
 had seats here for more than twenty years — to say, if any 
 time could be so fit, or promise equal success, in effecting 
 this great object, as the present. I repeat, if the means 
 are not supplied, the expenditures must cease. 
 
 UNION SPEECH. 
 
 Made shortly after Mr. Bell's entrance into the United 
 States Senate, on the 12th of Aug. 1848. 
 
 Mr. Bell said he was a southern Senator, and deeply 
 involved in southern interests ; but he must have greatly 
 mistaken his true course if the arguments to which he 
 had listened were correct. There were wiser heads than 
 his, but still, in the vote which he should give, he must con- 
 form to his own judgment. He believed that the Senator 
 from South Carolina, and those who concurred with him, 
 had placed the South in a wrong position, when they assum- 
 ed that by the decision of this question the die would be 
 cast, and the issue must now be made which involves the 
 dissolution of the Union. He contended that this issue 
 was prematurely made, when it was made, on the Oregon 
 bill. If we are to quarrel with the North, let us be sure 
 that in all respects our ground of dispute is tenable for 
 us. The vote of the House has been cited here as evi- 
 dence that this issue could no longer be avoided. He 
 came to no such conclusion. He knew and felt the influ- 
 ence of too many sympathies with the North. Until a 
 
 3 
 
50 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 vote of Congress should, on the subject of the Southern 
 Territories, actually separate the Union, he never would 
 believe that such a vote could be given. As to this 
 question, he had voted against laying this bill on the 
 Table, and against its postponement, because he desired 
 to give his Southern friends an opportunity of having a 
 committee of conference from which he expected nothing 
 favorable. 
 
 When, in 1850, the anti-Slavery agitation consequent 
 upon the admission of Texas, had become excessively 
 violent, Mr. Bell suggested a plan for accommodating the 
 differences between the North and the South, the gist of 
 which, and his material arguments in its favor, may be 
 learned from the following exordium of a speech made by 
 him February 28, 1850. 
 
 ^: 
 
 I will not trouble the Senate by reading more than 
 the last clause of the short preamble by which I have 
 thought proper to preface the propositions which I design 
 to present. It is in these words : 
 
 Whereas, The joint resolution for annexing Texas to 
 the United States, approved March 1, 1845, contains the 
 following condition and guarantee, that is to say : "New 
 States of convenient size, not exceeding four in number, 
 in addition to said State of Texas, and having sufficient 
 population, may hereafter, by the consent of said state, be 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 51 
 
 formed out of the territory thereof, which shall be enti- 
 tled to admission under the provisions of the Federal 
 Constitution ; and such states as may be formed out of 
 that portion of said Territory lying south of 36° 80' north 
 latitude, commonly known as the Missouri Compromise 
 Line., shall be admitted into the Union with, or without 
 slavery, as the people of each state asking admission may 
 desire ; and in such a State or States as shall be formed 
 out of said territory north of said Missouri compromise 
 line, slavery or involuntary servitude [except for crime] 
 shall be prohibited." 
 
 The first proposition I propose to submit, sir, is in 
 these words : 
 
 ^^ Resolved., That the obligation to comply with the con- 
 dition and guarantee above recited in good faith, be dis- 
 tinctly recognised, and that, in part compliance with the 
 same, as soon as the people of Texas shall, by an act of 
 their Legislature, signify their assent, by restricting the 
 limits thereof within the territory lying east of the Trinity 
 and south of the Red River, and when the people of the 
 residue of the territory claimed by Texas lying south of 
 the 34th degree of north latitude and west of the Trinity 
 shall, with the assent of Texas, adopt a constitution 
 republican in form, they be admitted into the Union upon 
 an equal footing in all respects with the original States." 
 
 " I do not know, Mr. President, that there has been any 
 desire manifested in the Southern States that a new slave 
 State should be now admitted into the Union, if it were 
 practicable. I have seen no notice of any such desire ; 
 no manifestation of any expectation even that such a 
 proposition would be offered. Nevertheles.s, sir, I am of 
 
52 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 opinion that it would have a most salutary and healing 
 influence at this time throughout the whole South. I am 
 aware of the existence of a sentiment, prevalent to some 
 extent at the South, which supposes it probable — so 
 strong is the sentiment at the North, in the free States, 
 against the extension of the slave power in Congress — 
 that at any time hereafter, when in the course of events 
 this proposition shall come directly from the people of 
 Texas, the guarantee and conditions of the joint resolu- 
 tion referred to in the preamble will not be complied with. 
 They feel no assurance on tliis point. 
 
 " I do not say that this expectation or this apprehension 
 is justified by anything I have seen avowed at the North ; 
 certainl}^ not by anything I have heard avowed in this 
 hall ; for upon this point I must do the gentlemen of the 
 North justice, and say that in speaking of the compara- 
 tive extent and quantity of free and slave territory in 
 the United States, the large territories of Texas, embrac- 
 ing some two or three hundred square miles, have been 
 uniformly pointed to as slave territory, out of which 
 other slave States may properly, and without infringing 
 upon the sentiments and opinions of the North, be admit- 
 ted into the Union. It is for the purpose of meeting and 
 quieting this apprehension of the South, and for the 
 soothing effect which the admission of such a State into 
 the Union now would have, that I have thought proper 
 to propose it. 
 
 ''Again, Mr. President, it has been commonly the prac- 
 tice of the Government heretofore, when practicable, that 
 when a slave State has been admitted, a new free State 
 should be contemporaneously admitted. And so when a 
 free State at the North was newly admitted, if found 
 practicable, a new slave State at the South came in at 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 53 
 
 .lie same time. It was upon this principle that Maine 
 was severed from Massachusetts and erected into a sepa- 
 rate State when Missouri came in. Michigan and Arkan- 
 sas were contemporaneously admitted, I believe, in con- 
 formity with the same sentiment. Iowa and Florida 
 were, I believe, admitted in the same way. Sir, I am 
 aware that this practice cannot be long continued. No 
 expectation can be, or is as far as I know, indulged by 
 tlie South, tiiat it can be continued for any length of time 
 to come. But now it is proposed to admit California as 
 a free State. Here is a Territory, here is a population 
 authorizing the admission of a slave State, and thus, if 
 Texas were to assent to the formation of the new State, 
 the practice might be continued up to this time at least. 
 I have said, sir, that no expectation of continuing this 
 practice which has obtained heretofore, can be indulged 
 by the South. Sir, what is the prospect before the slave 
 States on this subject ? Nebraska and the Territory of 
 Minnesota will soon, very soon, form two additional free 
 States. Oregon will present the country with four new 
 Slates ; two very soon, and two more to follow at a sub- 
 sequent time. I speak advisedly on this subject, from 
 my knowledge of the territory there. Two new free 
 States will before a great while be formed there, and two 
 may be postponed to some more remote period. Cali- 
 fornia and New Mexico will give us four new States, if 
 not six. Here, sir, at the lowest calculation, we have 
 four to Oregon, four to New Mexico and California, and 
 two to the new Territories already formed in the North- 
 west ; to say nothing of the territory still further north 
 and west of the waters of the Missouri, we shall have ten 
 new free States ! And where is the equivalent to the 
 slave States to be found? My first proposition is to 
 
54 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 admit one new State now, in conformity with ancient 
 practice, which must soon be abandoned. I propose to 
 restrict the State of Texas, to the territory lying east of 
 the Trinity and south of Eed Kiver ; a territory large 
 enough to form a magnificent State, and one of the first 
 class. The population in these limits is altogether suffi- 
 cient to authorize the formation of a State. I am advised 
 that it is equal to the existing ratio of representation in 
 Congress. 
 
 " The new State proposed to be admitted into the Union 
 with the assent of Texas, includes all the territory now 
 claimed by Texas lying west of the Trinity and south of 
 the thirty-fourth parallel of North latitude. The terri- 
 tory proposed for the new State, it will be perceived, is 
 of very large extent ; the population is more than suffi- 
 cient to justify the formation of a new State, exceeding 
 the population east of the Trinity by many thousands. 
 
 " The proposition does not involve nor ask of the North 
 any violation of sentiment or feeling there, unless it be 
 one based upon a design of violating sacred obligations, 
 which I am sure does not exist. It is in strict conformity 
 with the plighted public faith of the whole country, North 
 and South. What forbids it, then ?" 
 
 CONCILIATIOIT. 
 
 The wisdom and patriotism of the remarks which fol- 
 low commend them to all. They were made in the Se- 
 nate on the 5th of July, 1850. 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 55 
 
 " Sir, — No man wlio loves his country, no man who has 
 any just pride in the reflection that he is an American 
 citizen, but must desire that these dissensions should 
 cease ; for, sir, it is not a mere question whether we shall 
 preserve the union ; for that may be, and yet prove no 
 great boon either to ourselves or to posterity. The ques- 
 tion Is, not whether these States shall continue to be united 
 according to the letter of the covenant by which they 
 are bound together ; it is, whether they shall continue to 
 be practically and efficiently co-operative in carrying out 
 the great end of the association. The question is, 
 whether mutual trust and confidence shall continue to 
 animate and encourage mutual efforts, in promoting and 
 multiplying common benefits ; or whether mutual hatred 
 and distrust shall step in to check all progress, to dis- 
 tract and confound all joint endeavors for the common 
 welfare ; in fine, to entail upon the country all the evils 
 of endless discord ? That is the question. And when 
 you present that issue to me, I say at once, give me 
 separation ; give me disunion ; give me anything in 
 preference to a union sustained only by power; by 
 constitutional and legal ties, without confidence. If 
 our future career is to be one of eternal discord and of 
 angry crimination and recrimination, give me rather 
 separation with all its consequences. If I am to be at 
 peace in reality, and if I am to be at war, let me know 
 it at once, that I may put my house in order, and be 
 ready to meet the consequences. So, sir, if I could dic- 
 tate the course of Congress in the pending difficulties, I 
 would say, let the adjustment be made in the real spirit 
 of concession — compromise and conciliation. Let us 
 have some assurance, that the promised peace shall be 
 permanent. Stay this agitation ; allay this burning fever 
 
56 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 that threatens to consume the system. Terminate this 
 suspense, which is more intolerable than an open rupture. 
 If we of the South have made up our minds to yield 
 nothing ; to endure nothing ; or if a better spirit actuate 
 us, and we are prepared both to yield something and en- 
 dure something, and yet cannot bring our northern breth- 
 ren to any terms of just and equitable arrangement, and 
 they will continue to vex and harass us, now and for 
 ever, let us resolve, ancJ let them suffer us, to manage our 
 own affairs in our own way. But I trust it will never 
 come to this issue. 
 
 " Sir, to suppose that there is one member of this body 
 who is not ready to sacrifice, to concede something of his 
 individual sentiments and opinions to secure an adjust- 
 ment of these questions — were he untrammeled by 
 pledges, to which he may owe his position here, and 
 which he may not violate without dishonor — to suppose 
 that there is one man here from the North or the South, 
 who is not prepared to sacrifice his individual views to 
 the good of his country, were he free to do so, is to sup- 
 pose him utterly unworthy of the station he holds. To 
 suppose th^ there is one member of this body, who, 
 upon a cold and selfish calculation of personal advance- 
 ment, would insist upon extreme issues, is to suppose 
 him a wretch who does not deserve to live. 
 
 " Still it cannot be disguised, that the questions to be 
 decided are beset with difficulties and embarrassments 
 on every side. Whatever way we turn, we are met by 
 obstacles, and opposing interests and influences. To state 
 some of the more prominent of these interests and influ- 
 ences may be of use now in our attempt to compose these 
 distracting questions ; and if we should happily succeed in 
 our efforts to give present quiet to the country, it may 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. ^57 
 
 prove of some advantage to those who come after us briefly 
 to review the causes, remote and proximate, which have 
 precipitated the present crisis. 
 
 " I take the existence of the institution of slavery in a 
 number of contiguous states of the union, composing a 
 somewhat distinct and compact geographical group or 
 section, and the non-existence of any such relation or 
 institution in an equal or greater number of states, -con- 
 stituting an equally distinct and separate group or section, 
 to be the primary cause of the existing embarrassments 
 and dissensions. But I shall assume this to be an inve- 
 terate and incurable disease of our system, one which 
 cannot be eradicated or removed without absolute de- 
 struction. It was born in the system ; it has grown up 
 with it, and while the system itself lasts, for anything 
 we can now descry in the future, it must continue to give 
 rise to occasional paroxysms of annoyance and disturb- 
 ance. The best we can do will be so to accommodate 
 the operation of the system to this inevitable condition 
 of its existence, as to keep down inflammation. 
 
 "From the nature of this inherent element of dissen- 
 sion, it will be readily perceived that one of the most 
 active influences to be encountered by the statesman 
 who desires to preserve our system of government, is 
 the spirit of fanaticism, religious and philanthropic. 
 Another not less active, and more powerful for mischief, 
 is the spirit of party and the rivalries and jostlings of 
 personal ambition. Add to these sectional jealousies — 
 the jealousies of sectional sway and domination — jea- 
 lousies springing in part from economical considerations 
 naturally incident to a country of such vast extent, and 
 of somewhat distinct productive capacity and adaption — 
 jealousies of free and slave labor, incident to the dis- 
 
 3* 
 
58 Life of hon. John Bell. 
 
 tinct and different social relations in the two sections — and 
 we have before us a general outline of the causes wbicli 
 have produced the present disturbances, and . of tli 
 obstacles and influences which exist to prevent aii^ 
 satisfactory adjustment of them." 
 
 FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 
 
 Mr. Bell's views on our foreign relations, and oru 
 European politics generally, are definitely expressed in 
 the following extracts from a speech opposed to inter 
 vention in the struggle between Austria and Hungary,' 
 delivered by him in the Senate, on the 18th of April; 
 1852 : it would be absurd to commend the sentimenti 
 avowed, as they have since been accepted as the expo 
 nents of the national conduct. It is well, however, i^ 
 remember that at the time they were uttered, the current' 
 of popular*feeling and fancy had set in quite the oppc 
 site direction. We also call particular attention to th 
 remarkable prophecy of Louis Napoleon's career, whic.f ^ 
 has since been verified by history. 
 
 " It will be perceived, Sir, from the tenor of these intn 
 ductory remarks, that I have not risen to continue f J 
 discussion upon the subject of the policy of intervent' 
 or non-intervention, by the United States, in the affair^ . 
 quarrels of Europe. It is not a question of intervent' t 
 or non-intervention, then, theoretical or practical ; it is n< 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 59 
 
 the cause of bleeding Hungary, nor of her highly-gifted, 
 though over-zealous and presumptuous chief, who no 
 sooner set his foot upon our shores than he commenced 
 to teach us the true interpretation of international law, 
 and to give us lessons upon the moral duties of oui posi- 
 tion in the great family of nations; nor is it the cause 
 of liberty in Europe or of human rights in general ; nor 
 is it the'question as to what is to be the fate of Europe, or 
 the consequences of recent changes, or the present con- 
 dition of affairs on that continent upon its future destiny 
 — however interesting such questions or inquiries may 
 be — that I avail myself of the privilege of addressing 
 the Senate. 
 I " My purpose is to call the attention of the Senate, and 
 of the country, so far as I may be able by my humble 
 voice, to another question — to another and far different 
 inquiry, suggested by the resolutions under consideration, 
 and fairly embraced within their scope. That inquiry is, 
 how are we to be affected — how is this continent to be 
 affected — how is the New World to be affected by the 
 recent changes and present condition of affairs in the Old 
 World? How are American ideas and interests of 
 government to be affected by European ideas and insti- 
 tutions ? This I consider the great American question 
 of the times; and one which may w^ell occupy the 
 thoughts and attention of the Senate and of the country. 
 I could only desire that the inquiry had an abler exposi- 
 tor than I may hope to be. And I would that I had an 
 opportunity of going into the subject under circumstances 
 ess embarrassing and more propitious and favorable 
 \ > a hearing. I regret — I deplore — that I have neither 
 ^^|e ability nor the favorable occasion for doing justice 
 t^a subject which appears to me to be one of the highest 
 
6o Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 importance to the future condition and fortunes of this 
 country." 
 
 " France holds in her hands the issues of peace or of 
 war. If she is quiet, all may be quiet. But can she — 
 will she be quiet? She cannot. Louis Napoleon must 
 distw^h the peace of Europe or fall. It is upon France that 
 the world now fixes its gaze ; and with whatever seem- 
 ing composure the result of her present anomalous posi- 
 tion, and the development of her policy may be awaited, 
 it is impossible but that the most callous and fearless 
 statesman of the times must expect them with some soli- 
 citude. It is true, this second Napoleon may be suddenly 
 cut off. It is true there may be a revulsion of public 
 sentiment so universal as to drive him from power. In 
 either of these events France may become once more 
 the prey of faction, and relieve the apprehensions of her 
 neighbors, and of all Europe, by exhausting her energies 
 and resources in rending her own vitals. But if Louis 
 Napoleon shall survive the perils which attend him 
 in the initiative operations of his government, then, I 
 say, France will become aggressive. If there was nothing 
 in the singular spirit, and, to me, mystical genius of that 
 daring man, who has seized into his own hands the con- 
 struction of a government for a great people, leading to 
 the conclusion that he would become aggressive, and 
 plunge his country into war, he is still under a political 
 necessity to make war. It is true that in doing so he 
 may but rush upon his fate. Be it so. He cannot pause 
 in his career. He must give employment to his four 
 hundred thousand soldiers, or they will divide and assimi- 
 late with the factions, or fraternize with the republicans. 
 At all events, to prevent these dissensions in his army, 
 ]ie must have the control of large means ; and they can 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 6l 
 
 only be acquired by levying contributions upon the 
 resources of his neighbors. He wants, too, the prestige 
 of military renown to still further conciliate and consoli- 
 date the esteem and affections of Frenchmen. 
 
 " This remarkable man has hitherto, in his policy, his 
 tact and energy in civil affairs, evinced many kindred 
 qualities, and trod with striking fidelity in the footsteps 
 of his illustrious relative. Doubtless like him he con- 
 siders himself the child of destiny — born to carry out all 
 that was projected by the great Napoleon : Imperial 
 power attained — the boundaries of France enlarged to the 
 Rhine — the kingdom of Italy reconstructed and restored — the 
 pride of England humbled^ or her power broken, and a 
 barrier interposed to the ambition of Russia^ or a close league 
 entered into with that great power for an equal partition of 
 the empire of the world." 
 
 " The great curse of Europe of the present day is, that 
 the theories and doctrines of the champions and advocates 
 of liberty and republicanism have all along proceeded 
 upon the same error, which rendered all the philosophy 
 of the schools of antiquity abortive, and, for the most part, 
 utterly useless to mankind. They all proceeded upon 
 abstractions. All their theories of society and govern- 
 ment, all their ideas of liberty and equalitj^, and the 
 forms they would institute to secure them, are founded 
 upon some preconceived notion of what they conceive 
 ought to be right and proper, without the slightest refer- 
 ence to any practical test — to any thing that has been 
 proved to be sound and practicable in the past history of 
 the world. Sir, to get right and to be able to construct 
 true and practical systems of government, they must first 
 reconstruct their system of philosophizing ; they must 
 reconstruct their own theories and adapt them to human 
 
62 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 nature as they have seen it developed in the past — as 
 they see it displayed at present. They must adapt them 
 to the races of men, as they perceive them to exist in all 
 their varieties and differences of capacities and propensi- 
 ties, without troubling themselves about the question of 
 original unity or equality. They must form their theo- 
 ries upon experience, and not upon fancy. They must 
 come to understand that the competency of man for self- 
 government is not a simple or unquestionable, but that- 
 it is a complex and conditional proposition — that it may 
 be true of one and the same people at one stage of their 
 progress and not at another ; and as to races, they must 
 come to learn that every race has a civilization peculiar 
 to itself, and physical and mental faculties of various 
 grades of capacity for improvement and development, as 
 all history testifies. In short, they must adopt the method 
 of reasoning and theorizing pointed out by the great 
 founder of modern progress — Bacon. When they shall 
 have done this they will have taken the first step towards 
 a true progress in the science of government. Discard- 
 ing all unmeaning cant and catch terms about liberty and 
 equality, they must come to know that there is a liberty. 
 — that there is an equality which is agreeable to nature — 
 a liberty and equality resting on a basis that will stand ; 
 and that all else is spurious, delusive, and mischievous." 
 " On the continent of Europe there are now, in truth, 
 but two great Powers — France and Eussia — or at most 
 three, if Prussia be so considered. Austria lies prostrate 
 and paralyzed by the variety and implacable antipathies 
 of the races which occupy her provinces and dependencies. 
 Prussia must be more or less fettered by the jealousies 
 of the petty sovereignties in her neighborhood, and the 
 democratic spirit which may still infect her subjects." 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 63 
 
 THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. 
 
 Mr. Bell's advocacy of the Koad to the Pacific, it will 
 be seen, was earnest, logical, and eloquent. On the 5th 
 of February, 1853, he said : 
 
 " Four years ago, Mr. President, I gave my consent to 
 the project of Mr. Whitney, and I am not prepared to 
 say even at this day that that was a very wild or extrava- 
 gant project. A majority of the Legislatures of seven- 
 teen different States of this Union were brought to concur 
 in the propriety of making that experiment. They did 
 not look nicely at what it might cost the country. They 
 were willing to give the millions of acres of public lands 
 which were proposed by that gentleman for the making 
 of what many of them must have known from the lights 
 that were before them to be an experiment. And so to 
 make a remark pertinent to one that fell from the Senator 
 from South Carolina to-day — that if this road shall turn 
 out to cost fifty per cent, or one hundred per cent, more 
 than we suppose in the bill before us, and prove to be a 
 failure, he considers that all the expense will fall on the 
 Government and be a total loss, I say that even then it 
 will not be a failure. We may be making an experiment 
 as to the cost of the road, it is true, but if it shall cost 
 $80,000 a mile instead of $40,000, I shall consider it 
 a profitable experiment to the country and to the world.. 
 And again, if the road were to stop at the base of the 
 mountains, and could go no farther, still every one hun- 
 dred, or four hundred, or five hundred miles you advance 
 with it, suppose it stops there, is so much space over- 
 come and gained in the transit between the Atlantic 
 
64 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 States and the Pacific Coast. You shorten the land trans- 
 portation, jou shorten the transportation of troops and 
 munitions of war by that much. The expense and labor 
 are not lost. The honorable Senator's argument is a 
 failure when he attempts to show that if we cannot 
 accomplish all we propose, all is lost. Every hundred 
 miles we proceed with the railroad is so much gained. 
 But to recur to the history of this project. 
 
 " The Senator from South Carolina says the project is 
 premature. Five years ago, I believe, we ratified in this 
 body the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Then, if the 
 Senator had anything to object to making inroads upon 
 the Constitution of the land in this age of progress, then 
 was the time for him to come forward with his objections. 
 But from the moment that treaty was ratified, and Cali- 
 fornia became ours by a stronger and more imperative 
 necessity than existed before, when we had only Oregon, 
 it was settled that we were to keep up with this progress, 
 and connect the Atlantic and Pacific together. It was 
 then as inevitable as is now the necessity of making this 
 road, to my mind, and I think it will be to every other 
 Senator who will consider it for a moment calmly and 
 without prejudice. We must have this tie, this bond, 
 this channel of communication, if we mean to hold the 
 territory which was ceded to us b}^ that treaty. And, 
 Sir, for fear I shall forget it, let me now, although it is 
 not strictly in the order of my remarks, call the Senator's 
 attention to another point in answer to one part of his 
 argument in which he complains of the infraction of the 
 Constitution, and of what this progress has done. He 
 should go back to the admission of Louisiana into the 
 Union through a treaty with France, and commence this 
 breach of the Constitution there, and he will trace it on 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 65 
 
 to the admission of Florida through a treaty with Spain, 
 and then I trust he will come to the admission of Texas ; 
 and when he complains of what progress has done in 
 beating down the barriers of the Constitution in regard 
 to the acquisition of territory, and the improvements 
 projected to hold it in our control and dominion, I trust 
 he will reflect upon the mode in which Texas was ad- 
 mitted into the Union. I do not know that he was in 
 public life then, but I know that he is associated with 
 gentlemen who gave their hearty concurrence to the 
 measure for the admission of Texas. The greatest breach, 
 in my opinion, ever made in those barriers, was made by 
 the mode in which Texas was admitted into the Union ; 
 and if the honorable Senator has no fault to find with 
 that, surely he ought no longer to complain. I mean 
 the admission of Texas by a resolution passed by a 
 majority of the two Houses of Congress." 
 
 THE NEBKASKA BILL. 
 
 Mr. Bell's course in relation to this famous measure is , 
 sufficiently stated in his own language, on the 3d of /< 
 March, 1854. 
 
 Mr. Bell said : 
 
 " Mr. President: — I feel greatly embarrassed in under- 
 taking to address the Senate at this time, particularly 
 since the sentiment of the body has been so decidedly 
 expressed, not only in regard to the feature which is 
 considered the most important in the Bill, but in regard 
 
66 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 to every other to which I propose to address my remarks. 
 I regret, Sir, that I feel under any necessity to trespass 
 at all upon the attention of the Senate upon this subject, 
 and particularly when I observe the solicitude of the 
 friends of the Bill for its immediate passage. But the 
 relations in which I stand to this measure, I think, for- 
 bid me to forbear. My own self-respect would forbid 
 that I should forbear, however painful it may be to me 
 to express any views in opposition to a measure which 
 seems to commend itself to the almost unanimous ap- 
 proval and support of my Southern friends. 
 
 " Mr. President, no one in this body knows better 
 than yourself the fact that I took decided grounds in 
 opposition to the Nebraska Bill at the last session of 
 Congress. I opposed it with the greatest earnestness. 
 That bill contained no provision for the repeal of the 
 Missouri Compromise in any form or shape whatever. I 
 wish to state now that I did not advise the introduction 
 of that feature into the bill of this session. It so hap- 
 pened that I was absent from the city when the bill was 
 first reported from the Committee on Territories, of 
 which I was a member, but I was present when the 
 amendment to the original bill, containing a provision 
 for the virtual repeal of the Missouri Compromise, was 
 under consideration in the Committee. It was the first 
 time that the bill of this session in any shape fell under 
 my notice. 
 
 " The first notice I had that the repeal of the Missouri 
 Compromise was in contemplation by any one, was the 
 introduction of the bill for that purpose by my friend 
 from Kentucky (Mr. Dixon), not as I was informed that 
 my friend meant to assume the responsibility of origi- 
 nating such a proposition, but to make the object explicit 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 67 
 
 and unequivocal, which seemed to be implied in one 
 provision of the bill, as first reported. The honorable 
 Chairman of the Committee on Territories (Mr. Douglas), 
 knows that I had barely time, when this bill was first 
 brought to my notice in committee, to glance over its 
 provisions. I saw that the objections I had urged to the 
 Nebraska Bill of the last session of Congress would apply 
 to the measure then before the Committee, and my 
 impressions against the expediency of introducing any 
 clause affecting the Missouri Compromise were strong : 
 but as I had not considered the proposition in all its 
 aspects, I agreed that the amendment might be reported ; 
 but, as the honorable Chairman of the Committee will do 
 me the justice to admit, I did so with the express reserva- 
 tion of the privilege of opposing the passage of the bill, 
 if, upon a careful examination of the subject, I should 
 feel it my duty to do so. (Mr. Douglas bowed his assent 
 to the correctness of the statement.) 
 
 " The question of the repeal of the Missouri compro- 
 mise being thus fairly presented for consideration to the 
 Senate, finding upon inquiry that the general sentiment 
 of Southern senators was favorable to the measure 
 brought forward, as it seemed to be, with the concur- 
 rence of a large number of JSTorthern gentlemen, approv- 
 ing, as I did, the principle of the compromise acts of 
 1850, and not wishing to separate myself from my 
 friends, I resolved to take no step in opposition until I 
 should have full time to consider the subject in all its 
 bearings, and be able to supply the deficiencies of my 
 own judgment and experience from the lights which 
 might be shed by others on the subject in the discussion. 
 I have accordingly voted uniformly with my Southern 
 friends on all questions of amendment, without any par- 
 
68 Life of Ron. John Bell. 
 
 ticiilar examination on my part as to their wisdom or 
 propriety, and leaving it to them to perfect the bill in 
 any way they thought expedient and proper. I have 
 listened with profound interest and attention to all that 
 has been said in debate on both sides of the question. I 
 have sought to be enlightened in the private conferences 
 of the friends of the bill, and have given the subject the 
 most serious reflection, to see if I could discover any suf- 
 ficient grounds or reasons to overrule the objections 
 which had presented themselves to my mind in favor of 
 the course of my friends from the South. I make this 
 statement, not that I suppose any views which I may 
 now be able to present upon this subject will have any 
 greater weight with the Senate, but to explain my silence 
 during the preceding discussions." 
 
 SLAVERY. 
 
 The following extracts from a speech on slavery, made 
 July 2, 1856, are replete with political wisdom, and 
 breathe a spirit of the loftiest patriotism. 
 
 " If there is any one of those theoretic or speculative 
 problems which might have been propounded at an early 
 period of the Government, as to what would be the 
 practical operation of our system under the Constitution, 
 which has been so far solved by experience as to be 
 reduced to an axiom or maxim, it is, that no question 
 of constitutional power of the class called constructive 
 
 \ 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 69 
 
 powers involving any great political party or otlier inte- 
 rest can ever be settled or established by any number 
 of congressional enactments — no, not even by repeated 
 judical decisions. The idea that stability can be given 
 to the decisions of Congress upon such questions is 
 founded upon the false hypothesis that the great material 
 interests of the country, the public exigencies, party com- 
 binations and interests, popular opinions and sentiments, 
 remain the same at all times without change or fluctu- 
 ation. 
 
 " The history of the Government for the last sixty 
 years, furnishes many memorable examples of the sound- 
 ness of this position. Allow me to refer to a few of them. 
 The question of the power of Congress to establish a 
 bank was one of the very first questions of this class 
 which arose, and after the fullest consideration by Con- 
 gress a United States Bank was chartered for twenty 
 years. At the close of that term in 1811, Congress 
 refused to renew the charter for the want of power. In 
 1816 a new bank was chartered, for another term of 
 twenty years, and in 1836 Congress again decided that 
 no power was granted by the Constitution to charter a 
 bank. In the meantime, the Supreme Court of the 
 United States, by repeated decisions, sustained the power, 
 and, Sir, there can be no doubt that when the public 
 exigencies demand it, another United States Bank will 
 be chartered. Then there was the question of the con- 
 stitutional power of Congress to enact a protective tariff. 
 One of the earliest acts of Congress clearly recognised 
 the power, and it was not questioned for a quarter of a 
 century, but at a later period this power was so vigo- 
 rously, if not successfully assailed, that it now stands upon 
 a sort of half-way ground, or a compromise between 
 
70 Life of Hdn. John Bell. 
 
 direct and incidental protection. I may also add tlie 
 question of the power of Congress to improve the great 
 rivers of the interior and the lake harbors, the decisions 
 npon which have fluctuated with almost every change 
 of administration for the last thirty years. 
 
 " Then, Sir, may I not refer to the Slavery Restriction 
 Act of 1820, the repeal of which laid the groundwork 
 of all these Kansas difficulties? That act stood upon the 
 statute book for upwards of thirty years undisturbed, 
 and yet the power of Congress to pass it has lately been 
 successfully questioned." 
 
 " I trust I may be permitted to say, without offence, 
 that, in the long tract of time, no example can be found 
 of a delusion, engendered in the heat of controversy, 
 more complete than that which appears to have taken 
 possession of the minds of those who pressed the Ne- 
 braska Bill to its final passage through Congress." 
 
 " Within the last eighteen or twenty months, an extra- 
 ordinary effort has been made to organize a national 
 party, upon a principle having no connexion with the 
 subject of slavery, which those who conceived and put 
 its machinery in operation supposed had sufficient vital 
 force in every section of the Union to insure its unity, 
 and, while it might not put aside all other questions, yet 
 had strength enough to subordinate and control them ; 
 but it remains to be seen whether the disturbing question 
 of slavery may not render that movement abortive. 
 Should that be the fate of this third part}^, then, unless 
 some effective measure shall be offered for composing 
 the strife in Kansas, by one of the two great parties 
 which are committed to the slavery issues as the basis of 
 the presidential campaign, so fair and reasonable, as to 
 make it dangerous to the other to reject it — the country 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 71 
 
 will soon find itself on tlie verge of a precipice. What- 
 ever deviation may now exist from a distinct geographical 
 line, in the present composition of parties, each day will 
 find them approximating more and more closely to a 
 purely sectional organization. When that result shall 
 appear, then we may know that one step has been taken 
 in a fatal direction, and that but one more will remain 
 to be taken, until we shall be plunged into the vortex 
 of revolution." 
 
 '' The condition of bondage in which the African race 
 is held in some of the States of the Union has been 
 regarded by liberal and enlightened statesmen in every 
 part of the world as a defect or blemish in the fair fabric 
 of liberty erected in America. But while they regret 
 the defacement, they acknowledge and appreciate the 
 force of the circumstances which controlled the skill and 
 genius of the immortal architects ; but. Sir, it unfortu- 
 nately happens that some portion of our own country- 
 men — the political virtuosos and philanthropists, belong- 
 ing to an age softened and refined by a higher cultivation, 
 and having a nicer perception of moral beauty than 
 their rugged ancestors — are so offended at what they 
 regard as a gross deformity, rather than an accidental and 
 enforced blemish in this glorious structure, are prepared, 
 with parricidal hands, to raze it to its foundation, unless 
 they can reform it according to their improved taste. 
 
 "It is fortunate for the happiness, of mankind, Mr. 
 President, that the illustrious founders of our republican 
 system did live in a different age — the age of Franklin, 
 of Washington, and other compatriots of the same 
 period — call it a barbarous age, if you please. It is 
 fortunate for mankind that they belonged also to a far 
 different class of men. They were philosophers and 
 
72 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 statesmen as well as pTiilantliropists ; and whatever 
 difference of opinion or sentiment was held among them 
 on the subject of slavery — some regarding it as a great 
 political, moral, and social evil; and others, doubtless, 
 regarding it as but a process, under Providence, in the 
 great work of the world's civilization — yet, when they 
 came to arrange the plan of a constitution for the United 
 States, they all agreed to regard slavery as an existing 
 and stubborn fact in the social condition of some of the 
 States, and that any attempts to change or control it 
 would be fatal to any efficient plan of union which could 
 be devised. They therefore wisely determined to leave 
 the institution of slavery to be regulated, abolished, or 
 upheld, in the exclusive discretion of the States in which 
 it existed. Foreseeing that slavery would eventually 
 recede from the North, and be confined to the planting 
 States of the South, they provided not only for its pro- 
 tection, but also for the protection of the general interests 
 of the States in which it might exist, against any partial 
 or hostile legislation of the free States. For that pur- 
 pose, they gave to the slave States a representation in 
 the popular branch of the ITational Legislature larger 
 in proportion to their free inhabitants than they gave to 
 the freemen of the North, by adding three-fifths of the 
 slaves to the whole number of free persons. In order 
 to reconcile the people of the North to this concession, 
 they provided what was supposed at the time to be 
 something like an equivalent — the apportionment of 
 direct taxes among the States was to be in the ratio of 
 Federal representation. That they might remove every 
 cause of dissension between the free and the slave States, 
 which they supposed could possibly arise to jeopard the 
 harmony and permanence of the Union they purposed 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 73 
 
 to consolidate, th^j further provided that slaves escaping 
 into the free States should be restored to their masters. 
 
 " But, sir, how feeble and unavailing is the greatest 
 human sagacity in the founding of political systems to 
 provide adequate securities against the disturbing force 
 and influence of faction, of personal ambition, and the 
 love of power. 
 
 " The framers of the Constitution foresaw that in pro- 
 cess of time a strong anti-slavery sentiment would, by the 
 force of habit and early education, spring up in the north, 
 which might become a dangerous source of discord be- 
 tween the free and slave states, and they guarded against 
 that evil by the provisions already mentioned, but they 
 did not foresee or calculate the full effect of the quicken- 
 ing energies of the great governmental machine they were 
 about to put in motion in subduing and driving out the 
 numerous and powerful Indian tribes then inhabiting the 
 region beyond the Alleghany range of mountains — in 
 accelerating the march of settlement and civilization west- 
 ward, until it reached the banks of the Mississippi, then 
 the extreme boundary of the United States ; nor did they 
 foresee how soon this boundary, embracing a territory 
 that seemed to them ample enough to satisfy the wants 
 and ambition of a great republic, would be overleaped ; 
 and the very system of government they were then 
 engaged in founding would be extended into the vast 
 and then unexplored regions beyond the Mississippi ; 
 nor least of all did they foresee that the existence of 
 slavery in one section of the Union, and its non-exist- 
 ence in another, would lead to the practical introduction 
 of a balance-of-power policy in this country, similar to 
 that which has been the source or the pretext for so many 
 desolating wars among the states of Europe." 
 
74 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 THE TENNESSEE RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 We give copious extracts from Mr. Bell's famous 
 speech on this subject. Thej require neither explanation 
 nor comment. Mr. Bell himself (Feb. 23, 1856) details 
 the history of the resolutions and of his own conduct. 
 
 Mr. Bell said : "I desire to present a certain preamble 
 and resolutions, passed by the Legislature of the State of 
 Tennessee ; and I ask that they may be read." 
 
 The Secretary read them as follows : 
 
 " Whereas, the Act of 1820, commonly called the Mis- 
 souri Compromise Act, was inconsistent with the princi- 
 ples declared and laid down in the acts of 1850, better 
 known as the Compromise Acts of that year, and whereas, 
 the Missouri Compromise Act was a palpable wrong done 
 to the people of the slaveholding states, and should have 
 been repealed ; and whereas, the principles of the Kansas- 
 Kebraska Bill meet our unqualified approbation, and 
 should have received the cordial support of our Senators 
 and Representatives in Congress. Whereas, one of those 
 Senators, Hon. John Bell, in a speech delivered against 
 the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, May 25, 1854, said : ' A no- 
 ble, generous, and high-minded Senator from the South, 
 within the last few days before the final vote was taken 
 on the bill, appealed to me in a manner which I cannot 
 narrate, and which affected me most deeply. The recol- 
 lection of it affects and influences my feelings now and 
 ever will. I told the honorable Senator that there was 
 one feature in the bill which made it impossible that I 
 should vote for it if I waived all other objections. I said 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. T5 
 
 to otliers who had made appeals to me on the subject, 
 that while it would afford me great pleasure to be sus- 
 tained by my constituents, yet, if I was not, I would 
 resign my seat here the moment I found my course upon 
 this subject was not acceptable to them. As for my 
 standing as a public man, and whatever prospect a pub- 
 lic man of long service in the councils of the country 
 might be supposed to have, I would resign them all with 
 pleasure. I told that gentleman that, if upon this, or 
 any other great question affecting the interest of the 
 South, I should find my views conflicting materially with 
 what should appear to be the settled sentiment of that 
 section, I should feel it my imperative duty to retire. I 
 declare here to-day, that if my countrymen of Tennessee 
 shall declare against my course on this subject, and that 
 shall be ascertained to a reasonable certainty, I will not 
 be seen in the Senate a day afterwards.' Therefore, 
 
 " Be it resolved by the General Assembly of the State 
 of Tennessee, that we fully concur with the Hon. John 
 Bell as to the duty of a Senator when the voice of his 
 constituency has decided against him on a question mate- 
 rially affecting their interest. 
 
 " Be it further resolved. That in our opinion the voice 
 of Mr. Bell's countrymen of Tennessee, in the recent 
 elections, has declared against his course on the Kansas- 
 Nabraska Bill, a question of vital importance to the 
 South. 
 
 " Be it further resolved. That our Senators in the Con- 
 gress of the United States, are hereby instructed and our 
 Kepresentatives are requested to vote for the admission 
 of Kansas as an independent State, under what is termed 
 the Lecompton Constitution, transmitted to thg Senate 
 and House of Representatives in Congress assembled by 
 
76 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 President Buchanan, in his message to them dated the 
 2d of February, 1858. 
 
 "Be it further resolved. That the Governor of this 
 State forward a certified copy of these resolutions to our 
 Senators and Representatives in the Congress of the 
 United States. 
 
 "Adopted, February 10, 1858. 
 
 "Daniel S. Donelson, 
 " Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 "John C. Bukch, 
 " Speaker of the Senate." 
 
 Mr. Bell said, — " Mr. President, the novel and as I 
 
 A think extraordinary character of these resolutions will, 
 
 Nl I trust, be a sufficient apology for me, if I should extend 
 
 I my remarks somewhat farther on them than under other 
 
 circumstances might seem appropriate and meet for such 
 
 an occasion. 
 
 " The first thing which I think will strike the atten- 
 tion of every gentleman who has listened to the reading 
 of the preamble and the two resolutions, of the series 
 which have been presented to the Senate, will be the 
 time or date of their adoption by the Legislature of Ten- 
 nessee, which was on the 10th of this month, nearly four 
 years after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. You 
 know, Sir, that it has been usual in the past history of 
 this country, when the constituents of a representative in 
 either branch of Congress feel themselves aggrieved by 
 his course or vote upon a question materially affecting 
 their interests, to express their displeasure and declare 
 their censure promptly, or within some reasonable space 
 of time after the knowledge of the obnoxious course or 
 vote has reached them. This is sometimes done by call- 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 77 
 
 ing public meetings of the people for tliat purpose, in 
 other instances bv resolves of the Legislature when it 
 shall be assembled, if it be not in session when the poli- 
 tical transgression occurs. In this case, in regard to my 
 vote on the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, there was no public 
 meeting of the people called to censure or disapprove 
 mj course, nor was there the least excitement among the 
 people on the subject, nor has there been any resolve of 
 the Legislature of my State upon the subject until the 
 present month, nor am I aware that I have lost a politi- 
 cal friend on that ground since the passage of the Kansas- 
 Nebraska Act. 
 
 " The next thing which will be apt to strike the atten- 
 tion of those who have listened to the reading of the first 
 clause of the preamble of these resolutions, with some 
 surprise, is the uncommon hardihood manifested by the 
 majority of the Legislature of my State to indorse and 
 approve unconditionally the repeal of the Missouri com- 
 promise, after the mischievous results of that measure 
 have become so patent and unmistakable in the develop- 
 ments of the last four years. They cannot plead igno- 
 rance of those results, particularly after the President 
 had duly and frankly informed them, in his late Special 
 Message, that one of those results has been the convul- 
 sion of the Union, and has shaken it to its very centre, 
 that it has lighted up the flames of civil war in Kansas, 
 and produced dangerous sectional parties throughout the 
 confederacy. (I use the language of the President.) The 
 question, whether Kansas shall become a Slave State or 
 a Free State, has rivetted the attention of the whole 
 people to such a degree, that no person has thought of 
 anything else. Those who supported this preamble and 
 resolutions may have had some reason to ignore the 
 
78 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 statement of the President, which they do not care to 
 give to the public in express terms. That purpose may 
 be easily conjectured. But I pass on. 
 
 " The majority of the Legislature say, in the first reso- 
 lution of the series — 
 
 " ' That we fully concur with the Hon. John Bell as 
 to the duty of a Senator when the voice of his consti- 
 tuency has decided against him on a question materially 
 affecting their interest.' 
 
 " The second resolution declares — 
 
 " '■ That in our opinion the voice of Mr. Bell's country- 
 men of Tennessee, in the recent elections, has declared 
 against his course on the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, a ques- 
 tion of vital importance to the South.' 
 
 " I agree that the Kansas-Kebraska Bill was a question 
 of the deepest importance to the South, but I disagree 
 with the majority of the members of the Legislature of 
 Tennessee in the opinion expressed by them that the 
 people of Tennessee have declared against my course in 
 the recent elections. 
 
 " I take it for granted that by the * recent elections ' 
 referred to in the second resolution, the three general 
 elections which have taken place in Tennessee since the 
 passage of that act, are included under the descriptive 
 adjective ' recent ;' and I proceed briefly to notice those 
 elections in the order in which they occurred. 
 
 " The first election which occurred in Tennessee after 
 the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act was in August, 
 1855, about fifteen months after the passage of the Kan- 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 79 
 
 sns-Kebraska Act. The staple of the discussion in the 
 canvas which preceded that election was Americanism, 
 oi; the principles and formula adopted by the party 
 which had recently sprung up in the country. This was 
 so on both sides, pro and con. The Kansas-JSTebrask'a 
 Bill may have been adverted to to some extent, but I 
 never heard during the pendency of that election that 
 the Kansas-Nebraska question was made one of any 
 interest except in those districts the former representatives 
 of which had voted against that bill. The result of that 
 election was that the party in opposition to the Demo- 
 cracy, in other words the Americans and Whigs, who 
 did not properly belong to the American party, but who 
 stood in opposition to the Democracy, carried the majo- 
 rity of the members of both Houses of the Legislature ; 
 but the Democratic candidate for governor defeated the 
 American candidate by some three thousand votes. I 
 have not recently referred to the statistics on this subject 
 and state them from my present recollection. I will not 
 go into the particular causes which lead to the defeat of 
 the American gubernatorial candidate in that election, 
 considering it inexpedient under the circumstances, be- 
 cause to do so might lead to a discussion between my 
 colleague and myself, who was the candidate of the 
 Democratic party in that election. 
 
 " In the canvas of that election, I did not participate 
 even to the extent of making a single speech, not feeling 
 called upon to do so by any attack upon my course upon 
 the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. Nor was I called upon by 
 the leaders of the American party to say anything in 
 their support, they feeling the utmost confidence in their 
 strength to carry the election without any aid from me. 
 
 " If I were technically minded on such a subject as 
 
8o Life of Hon. John Bell: 
 
 this, I miglit bar all further proceedings against me as 
 to any pledges I may have made, by pleading that upon 
 questions of political transgression, after so great a lapse 
 of time, there ought to be no reckoning ; but I disdain 
 such a protection. 
 
 " The next election which came off was in November, 
 1856, two years and six months after the passage of the 
 Kansas-Nebraska Bill. In that election, as you know, 
 Sir, Mr. Fillmore was the candidate of the American 
 party — Mr. Buchanan, of the Democratic party. In the 
 canvas which preceded that election, Americanism, as in 
 1855, was the principal subject of controversy. The 
 Kansas-Nebraska Bill, however, was occasionally intro- 
 duced in the public discussions and to some extent debated, 
 but in the progress of the canvas, both these subjects, 
 on the part of the leaders of the Democracy, came to be 
 but little dwelt upon, and towards the close of the canvas 
 they may be said to have been superseded altogether. 
 The strong inclinations developed in the canvas at the 
 North of the probable success of Mr. Fremont, the candi- 
 date of that formidable Republican party which has had 
 such potent effects in the elections of the South, furnished 
 a more powerful aid. 
 
 *' Now as to the question whether at any time, since the 
 passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, there has been any 
 settled sentiment in the South in relation to the wisdom 
 of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, I venture to say that at 
 no time since the passage of that measure has there been 
 any settled sentiment of the people of the South in its 
 favor. If you take the result of the several elections 
 which have taken place during the last two or three years 
 in the South, as a test of the sentiment of the people on 
 this questiouj I grant you that a large majority would 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 81 
 
 appear to have been in favor of it ; but what are those 
 elections in general, and in almost every instance, but a 
 trial of strength between parties in which many other 
 questions are mixed up with this, both in the South and 
 in the North, so that they show nothing conclusively as 
 to the number of citizens anywhere who approved or dis- 
 approved of such a measure. Besides, in several States 
 of the South it may have been that the s^timent in favor 
 of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise appeared too 
 strong to be resisted, and that the opposition, upon princi- 
 ples of expediency, might not choose to make any issue 
 with them upon that subject. 
 
 "Again, there is another consideration entitled to great 
 weight in showing whether these elections afford any 
 proof whatever of a settled sentiment on the part of the 
 people in relation to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. There 
 is in every State of the South, in every community, a 
 large class of quiescent citizens who follow their party 
 leaders and vote with them in all elections, who cannot 
 be moved to investigate or take any interest in questions 
 bearing only remote consequences. Whatever may have 
 been the sentiments of a majority of the people of the 
 South, in the last two or three years, on this subject, I 
 venture the assertion now, that if they were all polled 
 and their free opinions, uninfluenced by party considera- 
 tions, or interest, or associations, ascertained, an over- 
 whelming majority would pronounce the repeal of the 
 Missouri Compromise the most unfortunate measure ever 
 sanctioned by Congress. 
 
 " From these views it will be seen that I do not 
 acknowledge the instructions of my Legislature as carry- 
 ing with them any obligation of obedience ; neverthe- 
 less, there is no member of this body who would be less 
 
82 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 willing to detract from, or to disparage, or to treat with 
 indiiference or disrespect, any expression of the opinions 
 of a legislative body, in whatever form such opinions 
 may be addressed to their Senators and Eeprescntatives, 
 whether in the language of instruction or that of recom- 
 mendation, or any other form which they think proper. 
 Their views and opinions, in all cases, are entitled to 
 respect ; and when their opinions, expressed in the form 
 of instructions, or any other form, appear to have pro- 
 ceeded from convictions springing from a full under- 
 standing of the subject in hand, in all its bearings and 
 consequences, I would say they were entitled to great 
 weight and influence with the Senator in deciding upon 
 his course in relation to it — nay. Sir, in whatever case 
 the expression of the opinions of the Legislature should 
 come to me, formed upon such an understanding of its 
 bearings and consequences as I have described, and 
 involving no constitutional difficulty, I should shape my 
 course in deference to, and in conformity with, that 
 opinion. 
 
 "But, Sir, that is not the present case; and it is un- 
 necessary to inquire under what circumstances of know- 
 ledge, or of influence, this instructing resolution has been 
 adopted by a majority of the members of the Legisla- 
 ture of Tennessee. I know, we all know, that we have 
 not full and satisfactory knowledge of many material 
 and important facts connected with the Lecompton Con- 
 stitution and its presentation here ; and I have no reason 
 to suppose that the members of the Legislature of Ten- 
 nessee had more light or better information than we 
 have here. But if, after availing myself of all the in- 
 formation within my reach, I should find myself con- 
 strained, by a sense of duty, to take a course adverse to 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 83 
 
 that recommended by a majority of the members of the 
 Legislature of Tennessee, it will be some consolation to 
 me to know that when the proposition to instruct their 
 Senators in Congress was first debated and brought to a 
 vote in the House of Eepresentatives of the Legislature 
 of my State, but a few weeks ago, it was voted down ; 
 and it will still be greater consolation to me to know, 
 under all the circumstances, that at least three-fourths, 
 so far as I am informed, of my political friends in the 
 Legislature, and perhaps even a greater proportion to 
 the last, manifested their confidence in me by deciding 
 that, on a question so great and involving such conse- 
 quences as the present, and in the absence of full in- 
 formation upon the subject, I should be left free to take 
 whatever course, in my judgment, should be best and 
 safest for the protection of all great interests of the 
 country. This they did under circunastances which 
 warrant me in declaring that, by their conduct, they 
 furnished a-n example of moral courage rarely, if ever, 
 equalled, and never surpassed, in the political history of 
 the country. 
 
 " They represent slaveholding communities ; they 
 were themselves at the same time sensititively alive to 
 the consequences of any error they might fall into, 
 which course might compromise southern rights. They 
 sat as members of the Legislature, in the midst of a 
 slaveholding community ; and any one can appreciate 
 the embarrassments and obstructions which they had to 
 encounter from the sensitiveness of the owners of slaves, 
 engendered and created by the long-continued agitation of 
 the subject of slavery, to every step or movement of 
 their representatives on a question touching even re- 
 motely their rights and interests. To add to the embar- 
 
84 Li^e of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 rassments arising from this cause, private advices and 
 assurances from persons in Washington, said to be well 
 informed and reliable, were circulated, to the effect that 
 the admission of Kansas, with the Lecompton Constitu- 
 tion, would not only make it a slave State for the 
 present, but that it could be maintained permanently as 
 such. Meanwhile, one of the most influential and lead- 
 ing journals of Tennessee, in the interest of the Ameri- 
 can and Whig parties, took decided ground in favor of 
 the admission of Kansas under the Lecompton Constitu- 
 tion, announcing that the time had come when the South 
 must stand up against the North, come what might, and 
 at the same time pointing its battery on every southern 
 man who should dare to take an opposite course ; and, in 
 effect, denouncing them as recreants to southern rights, 
 and allies of northern Abolitionists. Sir, it is not sur- 
 prising that under such a fire there should be some fal- 
 tering in the ranks of the minority of the Legislature ; 
 but yet the great body of that minority moved steadily 
 on in their course of opposition to the policy of in- 
 struction. 
 
 " I will endeavor not to disappoint their generous 
 confidence in me, and as the best assurance I can give 
 of my gratitude and my high appreciation of their noble 
 daring, I will try to imitate it ; and I now declare that, 
 whatever might have been done under other circum- 
 stances, when I behold the angry storm-cloud which now 
 lowers over my country and theirs, if I should cower to 
 it, and desert my post, I should consider myself self- 
 abased — unworthy of the confidence of such friends, and 
 false to the great trust confided in me by my constituents. 
 I move that the resolutions be printed." 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 85 
 
 LECOMPTON. 
 
 The extracts which follow afford a complete exposi- 
 tion of the character and tone of Mr. Bell's sentiments in 
 regard to the later phases assumed by the slavery agita- 
 tion ; they were made in a speech on the Lecompton 
 Constitution, March 18, 1858. 
 
 " I do not mean to go into an estimate of the value of 
 the Union, nor of the consequences which would flow 
 from its destruction ; but I mean to go into an investiga- 
 tion of the question before the Senate — the proposition 
 to admit Kansas into the Union under the Lecompton 
 constitution — to show that the rejection of this measure 
 would not be a fit pretext to be adopted by the South for 
 the purpose of leading to that final issue to which the 
 Senator from Georgia has alluded. It concerns not only 
 the Senate, but the whole country, to look at this ques- 
 tion in a different light from that in which the honorable 
 Senator from Georgia has presented it. 
 
 " I know that it is supposed by some that the day will 
 come when the North, in the arrogance of its power, will 
 furnish just such a pretext as I have indicated; and the 
 Senator from Georgia and others have argued this ques- 
 tion on the ground that it will come ; but I must see it 
 come before I will calculate the value of this Union. I 
 trust that day will never come. I do not believe it will 
 come, if the South is wise and true to itself. I will not 
 have the South truckle or surrender any of their rights. 
 I would not have them yield one jot or tittle of their 
 rights ; but I would have them make no questionable 
 
86 Life of Hoii. John Bell. 
 
 issues in advance, stir up no strife upon unnecessary 
 abstract questions, having no practical value ; but to do 
 always what is just and right upon all questions. When a 
 people or a territory applies for admission into the Union, 
 under a constitution fairly formed, with the assent of the 
 people excluding slavery, I would admit it promptly ; 
 and when an application comes, on the other hand, from 
 the people of a territory who have fairly formed a con- 
 stitution recognising slavery, I would insist upon its 
 admission as a slave State. If the North should not 
 agree to this, it would then be time enough to consider 
 of the proper remedy. But I would make no such issue 
 with the North now, and before any occasion for it has 
 arisen ; and I regret most sincerely to hear any Senator 
 from the North suggesting that such an issue will ever 
 be tendered from that quarter. 
 
 " With regard to the present question, I lay down as 
 the basis of my conclusion as to what ought to be done, 
 that the solution of it which promises the speediest ter- 
 mination of this dangerous slavery agitation is the true 
 one. This dangerous agitation has continued long 
 enough. There has been no mitigation of it in the last 
 four years. There have been intervals of apparent 
 repose, but it was just such repose as foreboded in- 
 creased disorder and commotion. It is time to termi- 
 nate it. 
 
 . "I consider that the most fearful and portentous of all 
 the results of the Kansas-Nebraska Act was to create, to 
 build up, a great sectional partj^ My friend from Ohio, 
 who sits near me (Mr. Wade), must allow me to say that 
 I regard his party as a sectional one. 
 
 " I consider that no more ominous and threatening 
 cloud can darken the political horizon at any time. 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 87 
 
 How formidable this party has already become may 
 be well illustrated by the fact that its representative 
 candidate, Mr. Fremont, was only beaten in the last 
 Presidential election by the most desperate efforts ; and 
 I feel warranted in saying, but for the imminent prospect 
 of his success, which shone out near the close of the 
 canvas, Mr. Buchanan would not have attained his pre- 
 sent high position." 
 
 Speech on receiving the news of his nomination for the 
 Presidency, made in Philadelphia, May 11, 1860. 
 
 SPEECH OF HON. JOHN BELL. 
 
 " Fellow-Citizens — It would be contrary to the feelings 
 of our nature, if I did not feel deeply sensible of the 
 compliment which you have paid me to-night, by an as- 
 semblage on this occasion, a large portion of whom, I 
 flatter myself, have come hither in approval of the pro- 
 ceedings of the Baltimore Convention which has just 
 adjourned. I know it is impossible, that I can have 
 caused this large assemblage of exclusive friends of 
 mine, or of the cause in which I have been put forward 
 by an assembly, formed, as I am told, of as great, pure, 
 and distinguished individuals, patriots, statesmen, as has 
 ever collected upon any similar occasion in the United 
 States. I know that I cannot have the honor nor the 
 unanimous approval of an assembly like this. Still, 
 I flatter myself that the large majority of them have 
 gathered here to-night to signify their approval, and 
 
88 Life of H6n. John Bell. 
 
 to give their sanction, so far as they can by their 
 manifestations of interest, to the cause in which those of 
 the Convention, as well as myself, are engaged. I do not 
 appear before you, as my distinguished friend did me the 
 justice to state, to make you a regular speech, either 
 upon the topics of the day or upon the issues which 
 have distracted and agitated the country, or for anything 
 else than to express my simple acknowledgments 
 for the honor done me by the nomination at Baltimore, 
 and to thank you for this manifestation of your kindness 
 and confidence in me. If you will allow me to address 
 a few words to you without touching upon those ques- 
 tions about which there may be great differences of 
 opinion, even in this assembly, I would like to call your 
 attention to the causes which have led to the Convention 
 at Baltimore recently. It is not the democratic party 
 that have assembled by their representative delegates 
 there. It is not the republican party, it is not the 
 American party, it is not the whig party. What party 
 is it that is to be the popular party ? " 
 
 A Voice — " The constitutional Union party." 
 Mr. Bell — " Yes, we trust it is to be the party of the 
 country, of the constitution, which cannot be mentioned 
 in this locality without calling up sensations and remem- 
 brances that must thrill every heart, every bosom. It is 
 the cause of the Union, the party of the Union, which 
 we hope the people will inaugurate. I trust they will. 
 (" Cries of They will, they have.") I was not a witness of 
 the proceedings of that Convention, but I repeat again 
 I call it constitutional, judging from the names I have 
 seen of gentlemen who held it to be their duty to 
 come forward at this period of the country, at this 
 crisis, if I may call it such, of the country ; gentlemen 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 89 
 
 wbo had retired long from public affairs, of able and 
 large experience, of comprehensive and sagacious views, 
 who thought that the condition of the country required 
 of them as patriots, as men taking an interest not only 
 in the present, but in the future of these States, to come 
 forth and to manifest, by their presence, by their councils, 
 and b}^ their zeal, their sense of the impending 
 dangers, and to strive, as far as in them might lie, to 
 allay the existing threatening dissensions and alienations, 
 to call back the country to the true objects of govern- 
 ment and the true purposes for which it was instituted, 
 instead of exhausting their time in distracting topics and 
 discussions upon abstract questions, chiefly to the neglect 
 of the great vital and material interests of every section 
 of the Union, to the disparagement of the country, to 
 the withdrawal of vigilance and watchfulness from the 
 conduct of public affairs. This state of things has led 
 to the disparagement of our country, not only in the eyes 
 of its own citizens and of her institutions, but it has cast a 
 stain on us in the opinion of foreign nations, and of the most 
 enlightened friends of liberty and republican institutions 
 throughout Europe. The honor, the purity, and the"^ 
 glory, and the practical results of republican institutions 
 are developed in a way that has not met the anticipation 
 of the fathers and founders of this great government. 
 (Cries of " That's so," and applause.) It is true, it is so. 
 There is no man of reflection and observation but 
 must feel a consciousness of it. We do not feel the same 
 confidence in the practical results of our glorious repre- 
 sentative republican government that we did forty years 
 ago — that we did twenty years ago. My experience, my 
 own feeling and observation have continued long enough 
 for me to perceive clearly and distinctly the marked 
 
go Life of HT)n. John Bell. 
 
 change in the public confidence, not only of our fellow- 
 citizens, but of the most illustrious advocates of repub- 
 lican institutions in every civilized nation of the world. 
 Their eyes are upon us. 
 
 " Those distinguished gentlemen who met at Baltimore 
 the other day, banished from their councils and considera- 
 tions the discussions which have so long prevailed upon 
 the subject of the institutions of the South, and the diver- 
 sity of feeling between the people of the North and the 
 South. They consider those feelings as called up in the 
 canvas and discussed for party purposes, in the main 
 by zealots, notwithstanding there are honest men in 
 both sections of the country who have no party objects 
 in the questions which they have espoused. They 
 do not think that the further agitation and discus- 
 sion of these subjects can lead to any public good, 
 either to the North or to the South, but nothing but mis- 
 chief to one or the other, or both, or to the cause of our 
 common country. These gentlemen have called atten- 
 tion, as far as they could, by their example, by their 
 counsel, by their sentiments and deliberate and wise pro- 
 ceedings, to the necessity of repressing the mischievous 
 doctrines and discussions which have so long agitated 
 the country. My fellow-citizens, I must say I feel 
 it to be a compliment I am unworthy of, that they 
 should think proper, out of the host of distinguished, 
 able, experienced statesmen, such as sat in the Con- 
 vention — the delegates from almost every large State 
 presenting gentlemen, intelligent, capable, experienced, 
 and who have proved themselves worthy of great trusts 
 by a long period of public service — that from among such 
 illustrious and distinguished men, they should have 
 selected me to occupy a position which should rather have 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. gi 
 
 been assigned to another — the highest position in this 
 government, in the hope and trust that in and through 
 me, with the will of the people, they might restore 
 harmony to this distracted country — (Loud cheers) 
 that we should bring back the government to its 
 ancient character, and that questions of domestic po- 
 licy and questions of foreign policy should be national. 
 It might be regarded as a forlorn undertaking to 
 attempt to restore harmony to this country. It would 
 be, my countrymen, if I could not conceive it to be a 
 fact, which I can, that the large majority of the people, 
 both of the Democratic and Kepublican party, were conser- 
 vative in their feelings — loved the Union — would not 
 do anything wilfully or with premeditation that tended 
 to its destruction or to the introduction of anarchy and 
 the overthrow of our glorious constitution. (Applause.) 
 I trust that the masses, that the majority of both parties 
 are sound — that they love the Union as I do — both 
 North and South. There are extreme sentiments, how- 
 ever, that belong to a considerable class in both sec- 
 tions, who, though they may love the Union, have a 
 most unfortunate mode of manifesting it to the country. 
 (Laughter and applause.) I wish to say nothing that could 
 disturb the composure of their feelings, if there be any of 
 them in this assembly to-night. I regard the majority of 
 the Kepublican party and the majority of the Democratic 
 party as devoted to this constitution and this Union. 
 No ! when I come to the conclusion that this is to be 
 doubted, then I shall conclude that it is scarcely worth 
 an effort to preserve the safety of this country. The 
 struggle that we make is against the extremes on both 
 sides. The gentlemen who have been present at the 
 Baltimore Convention have supposed that the contests 
 
g2 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 of these sectional issues are not worth the mischiefs that 
 have grown out of them — that it was not the purpose 
 for which this great government was instituted to settle 
 abstract questions further than they were settled by the 
 constitution. (Applause.) In the spirit of the constitu- 
 tion, and in the spirit of our illustrious ancestors at 
 the organic period of our government, all these ques- 
 tions should be considered — but in no other. It is 
 in the hope that we can inaugurate a party by which 
 these distracting issues shall be banished from the 
 public councils, from the hustings, from our popular 
 elections — that the people will open their eyes to the 
 mischiefs that have flowed, and will continue to flow out 
 from these distractions. It is in this hope that the 
 Baltimore Convention has acted. This is my hope. 
 Whether successful or not — if we can introduce a new 
 era, a new period in the affairs and administration of 
 this government, in relation to these questions, we shall 
 not have labored in vain. Those patriotic hearts will 
 not have been agitated and stirred and excited in vain. 
 Fellow-citizens, I will not continue a discussion of these 
 topics. My course, in regard to them, for the last twenty 
 years, is well known ; and not only in regard to these, 
 but in regard to every question of domestic and foreign 
 policy. I trust that the period is not very remote when 
 the glory, and the honor, and the true interests of this 
 great country will be the only objects that actuate the 
 great parties that will exist hereafter. (Loud applause.) 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 93 
 
 THE CONTENTION. 
 
 The character of the Convention which nominated Mr. 
 Bell is here described in a letter written for the New York 
 Express from Mr. Brooks, one of the New York State 
 Delegates. 
 
 "The best days of the old Whig and Democratic 
 parties never brought a more able body of men together. 
 They represented all classes, and the highest tone and 
 quality of men. Merchants and lawyers, farmers and 
 manufacturers, men of the professions and intelligent 
 men of labor, were all pi'esent. Yirginia sent her A. H. 
 Stewart, Summers, Goggin, Scott, and men of that class. 
 The North Carolina delegation was headed by Govs. 
 Morehead and Gilmer, assisted by many who had been 
 distinguished in the Government and State service. 
 Tennessee came with grandsons of Patrick Henry, one 
 of whom thrilled all hearts with a speech that had the 
 life and nerve of his gi'eat ancestor. Ex-Gov. Brown, 
 Andrew Jackson Donnelson, and other eminent men also 
 formed a part of this distinguished delegation, and of 
 coarse they were a unit for John Bell, and not without a 
 large share of influence for others. The Mississippi dele- 
 gation were led off by Judge Sharkey, a man pre-emi- 
 nent at home, and worthy the confidence and esteem of 
 the country for his high-toned national sentiments. 
 Kentucky was represented by such men as Crittenden 
 and Leslie Coombs, and the former would have received 
 the first honors of the convention if he had consented to 
 the use of his name. Georgia also had an able delegation 
 nearly all of them cotton-planters, and what was better, 
 
94 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 it was one of tbe most conservative and patriotic of the 
 delegations present. Maryland — and Baltimore especi- 
 ally — with the Kennedys and the Mayor of the city, wer^ 
 represented by those equally distinguished for their 
 ability and their hospitality. The Southern Opposition 
 Members of Congress were generally here, but gave way 
 in the convention for those who had been more especially 
 sent from their homes to represent the National and 
 Conservative sentiments of their respective States. If 
 now, you turn to the delegations east and west, you will 
 see a body of men almost equally distinguished. From 
 New England — there were such men as Wilder, Hil- 
 lard, Grinnell, Crocker, Warren, Bell of Mass ; from 
 Vermont, John Wheeler, distinguished for scholarship 
 and personal independence, Phelps, and others ; from 
 Connecticut, the Rockwells, Baldwins, and Dunhams ; 
 from New York, ex-Gov. Hunt, B. Davis, Noxon of 
 Syracuse, Ogden, St. John, Girard, Tallmadge, and 
 many of her merchant princes of town and country ; 
 from New Jersey, Randolph, Bishop, Clark, Condict, 
 including an honorary Vice President of fourscore 
 and eight years, and one almost a public servant of 
 the country as far back as the war of the Revolution. 
 Ohio, too, sent her Pendletons, Harrisons, Trimbles, and 
 other men of note; and Pennsylvania, by J. R. Inger- 
 soll, H. M. Fuller, Markley, and others. These names 
 will give the public some idea of the personnel of the 
 Convention, and the character and deportment of all. 
 The Delegates have won the entire respect and esteem of 
 the whole community. The nominations were received 
 with immense enthusiasm by the Whigs, Americans, and 
 non-partizan men of Maryland, including many Demo- 
 crats. The Mayor of the cit}^, Mr. Swann, promised ten 
 
Life of Hon. John Bell. 95 
 
 tliousancl majority for the ticket and hardl}^ any nomina- 
 tion could be more satisfactory in this conservative 
 quarter of the country. The North Carolina, Kentucky, 
 and Tennessee Delegations promise their States for the 
 new Union Ticket. The Virginians are more than hope- 
 ful of the result, in the present distracted state of the 
 Democratic party. It is a ticket that either wing of the 
 Democratic party will prefer in many parts of the country 
 to the success of either of the Buchanan or Douglas 
 extremes, which so many of them have been opposing 
 for the last three or four 3^ears. The platform came from 
 Kew York, and was unanimously adopted by the Con- 
 vention ; and no one who really honors — 
 
 *' The Constitution of the United States — 
 
 " The Union of the States, and 
 
 " The Enforcement of the Laws — 
 can take exception to it. You can have no idea of the 
 entire unanimity with which the Declaration of Principles 
 was made and received, and the enthusiastic spirit with 
 which it was adopted. The Convention throws aside all 
 mere partisan platforms, and stands upon a record which, 
 while it tolerates all reasonable differences of opinion, 
 submits to the Constitution of the country and the decrees 
 of the Courts as the proper exponent of all disputed 
 claims and questions. If " error of opinion does not 
 cease to be dangerous, when reason is left to combat it," 
 there can be no danger in the ultimate acquiescence of 
 what, under the Constitution, is made the supreme law 
 of the land. 
 
 " There were many impressive and interesting scenes in 
 the Convention, which it did one's heart good to partici- 
 pate in and witness. The fraternal and cordial love of 
 country, manifested by all who were present ; the gene- 
 
96 Life of Hon. John Bell. 
 
 ral respect, sympathy and good will of each member of 
 the Convention towards his friend and the States repre- 
 sented ; the more than loyal devotion to the Union, as it 
 is ; the desire that the past be forgotten, and to let by- 
 gones be by-gones ; the high-toned attachment to the 
 Constitution of the country, and respect to the memory 
 of the men who framed it ; the generally avowed obedi- 
 ence to law, strike where and whom it might ; the 
 touching allusions to Washington, the great political 
 father and example of the country, a full-length portrait 
 of whom adorned the rear wall of the church edifice 
 where the Convention were assembled ; the several 
 addresses — some of them quite unsurpassed for power 
 and eloquence — gave to the proceedings of the two days 
 the most intense interest and the highest satisfaction. 
 Finally, in the evening, two immense mass meetings 
 were held here — one in the church, and the larger one in 
 Monument Square — which was mapped out as with a sea 
 of heads. The speaking, with banners, music, mottoes, 
 portraits, and insignia, was kept up to near midnight; 
 and, finally, another ratification was demanded on the 
 Square, by the multitude, for to-night. The Baltimo- 
 reans, as well as the visitors, seem to have their hearts in 
 the matter, and all believe that if the people will sanction 
 all this National Union Convention has done so harmo- 
 niously, the result will be most glorious for the peace of 
 the country and the prosperity of the whole nation. 
 
 "E. B." 
 
IIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES 
 
 HON. EDWARD EVERETT. 
 
 Edward Everett, one of the most successful and 
 accomplished of American statesmen, is, as is well-known, 
 a Kew Englander, so that the ticket which nominates 
 him for the Yice-Presidencj represents both parts of the 
 Union ; Mr. Everett, however, himself does that ; he is as 
 popular in New Orleans as in Boston. He was the son of 
 a clergyman, the Eev. Oliver Everett, who was not only 
 pastor of the famous ISTew South Church in Boston, but 
 at one time in his life Judge of the Massachusetts Court of 
 Common Pleas. His illustrious son was born on the 7th 
 of April, 1794, in Dorchester. His distinguished talents 
 were early evident, as well as his passion for acquiring 
 knowledge, which is still, perhaps, the most marked 
 peculiarity of his nature. At the unprecedented age of 
 thirteen years he entered Harvard College, and at nine- 
 teen he graduated with the highest honors of his class, 
 thus presaging the future successes he was to attain all 
 through life. Indeed his biography is only a history of 
 successes which now seem likely to be crowned with a 
 more brilliant one than even he has yet achieved. 
 However, after graduating he studied divinity, not 
 
98 Life of Hon. Edward Everett. 
 
 dreaming of the more worldly career in store for him. 
 He was meanwhile appointed tutor in the College where 
 he had so lately been a student, and where he must have 
 been younger by several years than most of those whom 
 he instructed. When only nineteen he became pastor 
 of the Brattle Street Church in Boston, and the next 
 year so great was his reputation for learning that he was 
 chosen Professor of Greek Literature by his Alma Mater. 
 This precocity is as unparalleled as its prompt recogni- 
 tion by his contemporaries. Meanwhile he had pub- 
 lished several books on religious subjects, to which he 
 seems still to have inclined. He went abroad in 1815, 
 spent two years at the University of Gottingen, and 
 altogether four years in Europe, at the expiration of 
 which period he entered upon his Cambridge duties ; at 
 the same time assuming the editorial control of the 
 North American Review, and before laying down this 
 charge in 1824, he published a translation of Buttman's 
 Greek Grammar. 
 
 In 1824 he entered public life, having been elected to 
 Congress, the nomination coming unsolicited and un- 
 sought from the young men of his district. This was 
 during the administration of John Quincy Adams, whom 
 Mr. Everett warmly supported. He was returned to 
 Congress for five successive terms, and served as a mem- 
 ber of the Committee on Foreign Relations during the 
 entire time ; for one term he was its Chairman. The 
 famous report on the Panama mission was drawn by 
 him, and was the first of the State papers for whose 
 composition he has since become renowned. That he 
 should have been selected to write this is a sure proof of 
 the estimation in which 'he was held, for he had but just 
 entered Congress, and was the youngest member of the 
 
Life of Hon. Edward Everett. gg 
 
 Committee from which it emanated. His eloquence at 
 this time had already become remarkable for the grace 
 and spirit which have made him the first of orators. 
 The national attention was first attracted to his extra- 
 ordinary powers by an oration delivered in 1824, 
 daring the visit of Lafayette to this country. The vene- 
 rable Frenchman was present ; the occasion was one 
 fitted to call forth all the talent of the speaker ; he 
 succeeded, and from that time was recognised as one of 
 the most eminent orators of America. In Congress, 
 however, he confined his efforts closely to the subject he 
 was discussing ; he took part in all the great debates on 
 national affairs, but reserved the display of his peculiar 
 powers for other fields. Here he was noted rather for 
 his immense industry and his almost unprecedented 
 learning. 
 
 In 1834 he was elected Governor of Massachusetts, and 
 held the office for four successive years, being re-elected 
 annually. In 1839 Marcus Morton defeated him in a 
 gubernatorial contest, by a majority of one vote. 
 
 In 1841 he was appointed Minister to England, and 
 filled that position for four years ; and it has been uni- 
 versally admitted that our country has never had a 
 representative abroad whose entire conduct reflected 
 more honor on the people and government whose ambas- 
 sador he was. The Maine Boundary question and the 
 famous burning of the Caroline were both subjects of 
 prolonged discussion during his mission, but his skill 
 and independence contributed largely to their satisfactory 
 and honorable adjustment. In 1843 Mr. Everett was 
 appointed Commissioner to China, but declined the post. 
 He returned to this country in 1845, and was imme- 
 diately elected President of Harvard University, with 
 
lOO Life of Hon.* Edward Everett. 
 
 whose history he has been connected in the various capa- 
 cities of student, tutor, professor, president: he remained 
 in the last-mentioned position only three years, when his 
 health obliged him to resign. 
 
 In 1850 he entered Mr. Fillmore's cabinet, being con- 
 sidered both by the President and the country, the man 
 best fitted to fill the place left vacant by the death of 
 Webster. He remained in office only till the expiration 
 of Mr. Fillmore's term, some four months, but crowded 
 an immense deal of business into that short space. He 
 found time to discuss the Lobos question and the fish- 
 eries with Great Britain, to conclude an International 
 Copyright Convention with the same nation, to review 
 the whole subject of Central American affairs, and espe- 
 cially distinguished himself by the masterly discussion 
 of the tripartite Convention proposed by France and 
 Great Britain to the United States, guaranteeing to Spain 
 in perpetuity the possession of Cuba. The document 
 written by him on this occasion is without doubt one of 
 the ablest diplomatic papers that have emanated from 
 the American Government since its origin, and was 
 accepted at the time by the entire country as a complete 
 exposition of the American position It was unanswer- 
 able in logic and perfect in style. Before Mr. Everett's 
 term as Secretary of State had expired, he was elected 
 to a seat in the United States Senate, but retained it only 
 a short while ; during that while, however, he made 
 an elaborate speech on Central American affairs. He 
 resigned in 1853, and since then has been prominently 
 before the public in his orations, which are universally 
 acknowledged to be unrivalled specimens of chaste and 
 elegant English, of felicitous imagery, and graceful 
 thought. Their themes have been various, but their 
 
 /■ 
 
Life of Hon. Edward Everett. loi 
 
 style invariably admirable. An oration on Charity, 
 several times delivered ; one on Astronomy, at the open- 
 ing of the Albany Geological Hall, in August, 1856 ; 
 one delivered at Dorchester on Revolutionary History ; 
 another on Franklin, are familiar to the country as speci- 
 mens of oratory quite unsurpassed, in their peculiar ex- 
 cellences, in our language. 
 
 Perhaps no one thing in his brilliant career has 
 contributed more materially to Mr. Everett's popularity 
 and to the nationality of his fame, than his well-known 
 and recent efforts in the Mount Yernon cause. They 
 have undoubtedly accomplished the result towards which 
 they were directed — the preservation of Washington's 
 home and tomb ; they have also endeared Mr. Everett 
 personally to his countrymen, and essentially widened 
 his fame. Yery possibly they have secured his ele- 
 vation to the post which has been held by Jefferson, 
 and Adams, and Calhoun, and Fillmore, by turns, but 
 by none more accomplished in statesmanship, none purer 
 in patriotism than Edward Everett. 
 
102 The Platform. 
 
 THE PLATFOEM 
 
 OF THOSE WHO SUPPORT BELL AND EVEKETT, IS THE CON- 
 STITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMEKIOA. 
 
 We, 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. 
 
 AETICLE I. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 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 Pepresentatives. 
 
 SECTION 2. 
 
 1. The House of Pepresentatives shall be composed 
 of members chosen every second year by tlie 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. 
 
 2. No person shall be a Pepresentative 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. 
 
 3. Pepresentati ves and'direct taxes shall be apportioned 
 among the several States wliicli may be included within 
 this Union, according to their respective numbers, which 
 shall be determined by adding to the whole number of 
 free persons, including those bound to service f-»r 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 subse- 
 quent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall 
 by law direct. The number of Pepresentatives shall 
 
The Platform. 
 
 103 
 
 not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State 
 shall have at least one Representative ; and until such 
 enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hamp- 
 shire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts 
 eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, 
 Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Penn- 
 sylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia 
 ten. North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Geor- 
 gia three. 
 
 4. When vacancies happen in the representation from 
 any State, the executive authority thereof shall issue 
 writs of election to fill such vacancies. 
 
 5. The House of Representatives shall choose their 
 Speaker and other oflS.cers; and shall have the sole power 
 of impeachment. 
 
 SECTION 3. 
 
 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed 
 of two Senators from each State, chosen by the legisla- 
 ture thereof, for six j^ears ; and each Senator shall have 
 one vote. 
 
 2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in con- 
 sequence 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 expi- 
 ration 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 resignation, 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 vacan- 
 cies. 
 
 3. 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. 
 
 4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be 
 President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless 
 they be equally divided. 
 
104 ^^^ Platform. 
 
 5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and 
 also a President ^ro tempore, in the absence of the Yice- 
 President, or when he shall exercise the office of Presi- 
 dent of the United States. 
 
 6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all 
 impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they 
 shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of 
 the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall pre- 
 side ; and no person shall be convicted without the con- 
 currence of two thirds of the members present. 
 
 7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not 
 extend further than to removal from office, and disquali- 
 fication 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. 
 
 1. The times, places, and manner, of holding elections 
 for Senators and Pepresentatives, shall be prescribed in 
 each State by the legislature thereof: but the Congress 
 may at any time, by law, make or alter such regula- 
 tions, except as to the places of choosing Senators. 
 
 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every 
 year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in 
 December, unless they shall by law appoint a difi'erent 
 day. 
 
 SECTION 5. 
 
 1. 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 busi- 
 ness ; 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. 
 
 2. Each House may detej-mine the rules of its pro- 
 ceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, 
 and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member. 
 
 3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceed- 
 ings, and, from time to time, publish the same, except- 
 ing such parts as may, in their judgment, require 
 
The Platform. 105 
 
 secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the members of either 
 House, on any question, sliall, at the desire of one fifth 
 of those present, be entered on the journaL 
 
 4. Neither House, during the session of Congress, 
 shall, without the consent 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. 
 
 1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive 
 a compensation 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 tlie peace, be privileged from arrest 
 during their attendance at the session of their respective 
 Houses, and in going to, and returning from, the same ; 
 and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall 
 not be questioned in any other place. 
 
 2. 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 continuance 
 in office. 
 
 SECTION 7. 
 
 1. 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. 
 
 2. 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 reconsider it. If, 
 after such reconsideration, two thirdsof that House shall 
 ascree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the 
 objections, to the other house, by which it shall like- 
 wise be reconsidered, and, if approved by two thirds of 
 
 5* 
 
lo6 The Platform. 
 
 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 President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after 
 it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a 
 law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the 
 Congress, b}^ their adjournment, prevent its return, in 
 which case it shall not be a law. 
 
 3. Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the con- 
 currence of the Senate and House of Representatives 
 may be necessary, (except on a question of adjourn- 
 ment,) sliall be presented to the President of the United 
 States ; and before the same shall take etfect, shall be 
 approved by him, or, being disapproved by him, shall be 
 re-passed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Pe- 
 presentatives, according to the rules and limitations pre- 
 scribed in the case of a bill. 
 
 SECTION 8. 
 
 The Congress shall have power, 
 
 1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and ex- 
 cises, to pay the debts, and provide for the common de- 
 fence and general welfare, of the United States ; but all 
 duties, imposts, and excises, shall be uniform throughout 
 the United States: 
 
 2. To borrow money on the credit of the United 
 States : 
 
 3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and 
 among the several States, and with the Indian tribes : 
 
 4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and 
 uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout 
 the United States: 
 
 5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of 
 foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and mea- 
 sures : 
 
 6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the 
 securities and current coin of the United States : 
 
 7. To establish post-offices and post-roads : 
 
 8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, 
 
The Platform. 107 
 
 by securing, for limited times, to aiitliors and inventors 
 the exclusive right to their respective writings and dis- 
 coveries : 
 
 9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme 
 Court : 
 
 10. To define and punish piracies and felonies, com- 
 mitted on the high seas, and offences against the law of 
 nations: 
 
 1 1 . To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, 
 and make rules concerning captures on land and water ; 
 
 12. To raise and support armies ; but no appropriation 
 of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two 
 yeai-s : 
 
 13. To provide and maintain a navy : 
 
 14. To make rules for the government and regulation 
 of the land and naval forces : 
 
 16. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute 
 the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel 
 invasions : 
 
 16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplin- 
 ing, 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, ac- 
 cording to the discipline prescribed by Congress : 
 
 17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cjtses 
 whatsoever, ov^er such district, (not exceeding ten miles 
 square,) as may, by cession of particular States, and the 
 acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the govern- 
 ment of the United States, and to exercise like authority 
 over all places, purchased by the consent of the legislature 
 of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection 
 of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other need- 
 ful buildings : — And 
 
 18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and 
 proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, 
 and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the 
 government of the United States, or in any department 
 or officer thereof. 
 
 SECTION 9. 
 
 1. Tlie migration or importation of such persons, as 
 
io8 The Platform. 
 
 any of the States, now existing, shall think proper to ad- 
 mit, shall not be prohibited by the Conojress prior to the 
 year one thousand eight hundred and eight ; but a tax or 
 duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding 
 ten dollars for each person. 
 
 2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not 
 be suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or inva- 
 sion, the public safety may require it. 
 
 3. No bill of attainder, or ex post facto law, shall be 
 passed. 
 
 4. No capitation or other direct tax, shall be laid, un- 
 less in proportion to the census or enumeration, herein 
 before directed to be taken. 
 
 5.. 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. 
 
 6. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in 
 consequence of appropriations made by law ; and a regu- 
 lar statement and account of the receij^ts and expenditures 
 of all public money shall be published, from time to time. 
 
 7. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United 
 States : And no person, holding any office of profit or 
 trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Con- 
 gress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, 
 of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign 
 state. 
 
 SECTION 10. 
 
 1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or 
 confederation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin 
 money ; emit bills of credit ; make any thing butgold and 
 silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; pass any bill of 
 attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obliga- 
 tion of contracts, or grant any title of nobility. 
 
 2. 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 in- 
 spection laws ; and the net produce of all duties and im- 
 posts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be 
 
The Platform. 109 
 
 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 sliall, without the consent of 
 Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, orsln'ps 
 of war, in time of peace, enter into any agreement or 
 compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or 
 engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such immi- 
 nent danger, as will not admit of delay. 
 
 AKTICLE II. 
 
 SECTION 1. 
 
 1. The Executive power shall be vested in a Presi- 
 dent of the United States of America. He shall hold 
 his office during the term of four years, and together 
 with the Yice-President, chosen for the same term, be 
 elected as follows : 
 
 2. 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 Representa- 
 tives, to which the State may be entitled in the Con- 
 gress : but no Senator or Representative, or person hold- 
 ing an office of trust or protit, under the United States, 
 shall be appointed an Elector. 
 
 3. The Electors shall meet in their respective States, 
 and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one, at 
 least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with 
 themselves. And they shall make a list of all the per- 
 sons 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 Representatives, open all the cer- 
 tificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The per- 
 son having 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, 
 
no The Platform. 
 
 from the five highest on the Hst, the said House shall, 
 in like manner, choose the President. But in choosing 
 the President, the votes shall l)e taken by States, the 
 representation from each State having one vote ; a quo- 
 rum for this purpose, shall consist of a member or mem- 
 bers from two thirds of the States, and a majority of all ^ 
 the States shall be necessary to a clioice. In every case, 
 after the choice of the President, the person having the 
 greatest number of votes of the Electors shall be the 
 Yice-President. But if there should remain two or 
 more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose 
 from them, by ballot, the Yice-President. 
 
 4. 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. 
 
 5. Wo person, except a natnral-born citizen, or a citi- 
 zen of the United States at the time of the adoption of 
 this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of Presi- 
 dent ; 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. 
 
 6. In case of the removal of the President from office, 
 or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the 
 powers and duties of the said office, the same shall, 
 devolve on the Yice-President, and the Congress may 
 by law^ provide for the case of removal, death, resigna- 
 tion, or inability, both of the President and Yice-Presi- 
 dent, 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. 
 
 T. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his 
 services, a compensation, 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. 
 
 8. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he 
 shall take the following oath or affirmation : 
 
 9. " I do solemnly swear, (or affirm,) that I will faith- 
 
The Platform. in 
 
 fully 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 IJnited States." 
 
 SECTION 2. 
 
 1. 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 ; he may require the opinion, in 
 writins:, of the principal officer in each of the execu- 
 tive departments, 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. 
 
 2. 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 minis- 
 ters, and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all 
 other officers of the United States, whose appointments 
 are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall 
 be established 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. 
 
 3. The President shall have power to fill up all va- 
 cancies that may happen, during the recess of the Sen- 
 ate, by granting commissions, which shall expire at the 
 end of their next session. 
 
 SECTION 3. 
 
 1. He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress 
 information of the state of the Union, and recommend 
 to their consideration such measures as he shall judge 
 necessary and expedient ; he may, on extraordinary 
 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 receive ambas- 
 sadors and other public ministers ; he shall take care 
 that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commis- 
 sion all the officers of the United States. 
 
112 The Platform. 
 
 SECTION 4. 
 
 1. The President, Yice-President, and all civil officers 
 of the United States, shall be removed from office, on 
 impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or 
 other high crimes and misdemeanors. 
 
 AETICLE III. 
 
 SECTION 1. 
 
 1. The Judicial power of the United States shall be 
 vested in the 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. 
 
 SECTION 2. 
 
 1. 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 am- 
 bassadors, other public ministers, and consuls; to all 
 cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; to contro- 
 versies 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. 
 
 2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public 
 ministers, and consuls, and those in which a State shall 
 be a party, the Supreme Court shall have original juris- 
 diction. 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. 
 
 3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeach- 
 ment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in 
 the State where the said crimes shall have been com- 
 
The Platform. 113 
 
 mitted ; but when not committed within any State, the 
 trial shall be at such place, or places, as the Congress 
 may by law have directed. 
 
 SECTION 3. 
 
 1. Treason against the United States shall consist only 
 in 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. 
 
 2. The Congress shall have power to declare tlie pun- 
 ishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work 
 corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during the life 
 of the person attained. 
 
 ARTICLE TV. ' 
 
 SECTION 1. 
 
 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State 
 to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings, of 
 every other State. And the Congress may, by general 
 laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, 
 and proceedings, shall be proved, and the elfect thereof. 
 
 SECTION 2. 
 
 1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all 
 privileges and immunities of citizens in the several 
 States. 
 
 2. A person charged in any State with treason, fe- 
 lony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be 
 found in another State, shall, on demand of the execu- 
 tive authority of the State from which he fled, be deli- 
 vered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdic- 
 tion of the crime. 
 
 3. No person held to service or labor in one State, 
 under the laws thereof, escaping into another, sliall, in 
 consequence of any law or regulation therein, be dis- 
 charged from such service or labor, but shall be deli- 
 vered up on claim of the party to whom such service or 
 labor may be due. 
 
114 The Platform. 
 
 SECTION 3. 
 
 1. 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. 
 
 2. 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 con- 
 strued as to prejudice any claims of the United States, 
 or of any particular State. 
 
 SECTION 4. 
 
 1. 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 applica- 
 tion of the legislature, or of the executive, (when the 
 legislature cannot be convened,) against domestic vio- 
 lence. 
 
 ARTICLE Y. 
 
 1. The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses 
 shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to 
 this Constitution, or, on the application of the legisla- 
 tures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a 
 convention for proposing amendments, which, in either 
 case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part 
 of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures 
 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 proposed by the Congress : Pro- 
 vided, that no amendment, which may be made prior to 
 the year one thousand eight hnndred and eight, shall, 
 in any manner, afi*ect the first and fourth clauses in the 
 ninth section of the first article ; and that no State, 
 without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suf- 
 frage in the Senate. 
 
The Platform. 115 
 
 AETICLE YL 
 
 1. All debts contracted, and engagements entered 
 into, before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as 
 valid against tlie United States, under this Constitution, 
 as under the Confederation. 
 
 2. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States 
 which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all trea- 
 ties made, or which shall be made, under the authority 
 of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the 
 land ; and the judges in every State shall be bound 
 thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any 
 State to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 3. The Senators and Representatives before men- 
 tioned, and the members of the several State legisla- 
 tures, 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 yn. 
 
 1. The ratification of the Conventions of nine States 
 shall be sufficient for the establishment of this ConstiHi- 
 tiou between the States so ratifying the same. 
 
 AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 
 
 ARTICLE I. 
 
 Congress shall make no law respecting an establish- 
 ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; 
 or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ; or 
 the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to 
 petition the government for a redress of grievances. 
 
 ARTICLE II. 
 A well regulated militia being necessary to the secu- 
 rity of a free State, the right of the people to keep and 
 bear arms shall not be infringed. 
 
ii6 The Platform. 
 
 AKTICLE III. 
 
 Ko soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in 
 any house, without the consent of the owner ; nor, in 
 time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 
 
 ARTICLE lY. 
 
 The right of the people to be secure in their persons, 
 houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches 
 and seizures, shall not be violated ; and no warrants 
 shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath 
 or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to 
 be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. 
 
 ARTICLE Y. 
 
 N"o 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 jeopordy 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, without just compensation. 
 
 ARTICLE YL 
 
 In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy 
 the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial 
 jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall 
 nave 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 favor ; and to have 
 the assistance of counsel for his defence. 
 
The Platform. 117 
 
 AKTICLE YII. 
 
 In suits at common law, where the vahie in contro- 
 versy 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 com- 
 mon law. 
 
 ARTICLE YIIL 
 
 Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive 
 lines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments in- 
 flicted. 
 
 AETICLE IX. 
 
 The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights 
 shall not be construed to deny or disparage others 
 retained by the people. 
 
 ARTICLE X. 
 
 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 XL 
 
 The judicial power of the United States shall not be 
 construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, com- 
 menced or prosecuted against one of the United States 
 by citizens of another State, or b}^ citizens or subjects 
 of any foreign State. 
 
 ARTICLE XII. 
 
 1. 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 Yice-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 
 
Ii8 The Platform. 
 
 the niimher of votes for each, which hsts they shall sign, 
 and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the 
 government of the United States, directed to the Presi- 
 dent of the Senate ; the President of the Senate shall, in 
 the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, 
 open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be 
 counted ; the person having the greatest number of 
 votes for President shall be the President, if such num- 
 ber be a majority of the whole number of Electors ap- 
 pointed ; and if no person have such majority, then, 
 from the persons having the highest numbers, not 
 exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as Presi- 
 dent, the House of Representatives shall choose imme- 
 diately, by ballot, the President. But, in choosing the 
 President, the votes shall be taken by States, the repre- 
 sentation from each State having one vote ; a quorum 
 for this purpose shall consist of a member or mem- 
 bers from two thirds of the States, and a majority 
 of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if 
 the Plouse 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 Yice-President shall act as President, as in 
 case of the death, or other constitutional disability, of 
 the President. 
 
 2. The person having the greatest number of votes as 
 Yice-President shall be the Yice-President, if such num- 
 ber be a majority of the whole number of electors ap 
 pointed ; and if no person have a majority, then, from 
 the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall 
 choose the Yice-President ; a quorum for the purpose 
 shall consist of two thirds of the whole number of Sena- 
 tors ; a majority of the whole number shall be necessary 
 to a choice. 
 
 3. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the 
 office of President, shall be eligible to that of Yice-Pre- 
 sident of the United States. 
 
 Nov. 8 ISHOT]] 
 
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