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a.--

WORKS

SAMUEL DEXTER BRADFORD, LL. D.

* * * " What ia writ, is writ,—
Would it were worthier." Chiide Harold's Pilgrimage.

BOSTON:
PHILLIPS, SAMPSON & COMPANY,
13 Winter Street.
1858.

' /
PRESS OF
S. ©frtsm.— Jfranfelfn Sftintfng ^ouse,
Corner of Franklin and Hawley Streets,
BOSTON.

DEDICATION.

To SAMUEL DEXTER BRADFORD, Junior, and JOHN HENRY BRADFORD:
My Dear Sons :
Having made a collection of some of my miscellaneous writings,
I have concluded to inscribe them to you.
It was once the custom, on occasions of this kind, to make a
selection of some distinguished name, to whom the author dedicated
his work, and whose favor and protection he invoked in its behalf.
When that distinguished philosopher, John Locke, Gent., had
finished his great Essay concerning the Human Understanding, he
dedicated it to the Right Honorable Thomas, Earl of Pembroke
and Montgomery, with a list of other titles too long to enumerate,
and he said, that, " as it had grown up under his Lordship's eye,
he had a natural right to come to his Lordship for protection."
In the present case, I have no occasion to prefer a request of
that nature to any one, as this collection has been made for circula
tion only amongst a few particular friends, so that it is not deemed
necessary, (as is so often done,) to invoke even the tender mercies
of critics or reviewers, should this work be ever so unfortunate, as
to pass into their hands, and be considered worthy of their perusal.
The mode I have adopted of collecting my writings, and having
them bound together in one volume, cannot fail to call your atten
tion to them, and, if they do not interest you now, whilst you are

iv DEDICATION.
so young, I cannot doubt they will do so presently, when you will
naturally desire to know what your father's opinions were upon
the various subjects discussed.
You will perceive the collection dates from the 19th October,
1813, more than forty-four years ago, at which time, you must
remember, how inferior were the means of obtaining a good educa
tion, compared with those in use at present. Teachers, books,
schools, colleges, were few and imperfect. I was almost twelve
years old before I entered a school, or commenced the study of
grammar. The appearance of things, around the mansion of my
kind and most excellent father, in Roxbury, was very different
then from that presented now. The house was almost surrounded
by woods. Very httle of the land was cleared or cultivated.
Rabbits and wild squirrels were very abundant, not to mention
other animals of a less pleasing description, which made sad havoc
in the poultry yard. The woods were filled with wild pigeons,
partridges, woodcocks, and quails, holding out such inducements for
boys addicted to hunting, (as all such sports were then called,) as
cannot be readily conceived of at the present time, when the forests
are gone, the ground shot over by so many people, and almost
without game of any kind. Like other boys of my age, I passed
most of my time in the woods, with my dog and my gun. The
beautiful white rabbits, which abounded in those days, had greater
attractions for me than books of any kind.
On the seventh of September, 1807, I was persuaded, by the
kindest and most affectionate of mothers, to enter the family of the
Rev. Joshua Bates, of Dedham, who prepared me for college,
and I was admitted a member of the Freshman Class at Cambridge,
on the first of September, 1810, and graduated" nearly three
months before I was nineteen years of age. I mention this to
account, in part, for the imperfection of my college exercises, a
few of which are contained in this volume.

DEDICATION. V
Of the kindness and attention I received from my preceptor, Dr.
Bates, afterwards President of Middleborough College, I cannot
speak in terms of too exalted praise. He was a scholar, and —
what is more important — a wise and good man. He graduated at
Cambridge in 1800, having obtained the first honor in a class,
which contained Joseph Stevens Buckminster and Chief Justice
Shaw amongst the graduates of that year.
I studied very hard at Cambridge ; observed all the college rules
and regulations ; was never fined during the four years I remained
there ; was always commended by my teachers, and rewarded upon
every suitable occasion. There were many in my class who were
devoted to their studies ; and some who have greatly distinguished
themselves since. One ofthe number, William H. Prescott, the his
torian, has nearly as many titles to his name in the college cata
logue as a Spanish grandee ; and I will add that nearly every one,
who has sustained a high reputation since, was a good scholar at
Cambridge, thus confirming the observations of the great Lord
Chancellor Eldon, who, as late as 1836, wrote the following most
excellent advice to a grandson about to be entered at Oxford :
" It will depend much upon yourself what degree of benefit you may reap there.
Of the young, it has been said, ' Gaudent, equis, canibusque, et aprici gramme
campi,' or something to that effect. Of extravagant gratification of that passion in
young men, I well remember the pains which were taken in Oxford to restrain it.
What are precisely the rules of the university, in this respect, now, I cannot say ;
but so much I can say, that, after long and great experience, I never knew a young
man who had indulged too much in those amusements at Oxford, to the neglect of
very diligent, if not severe duty, who ever afterwards in life graced his friends >
family or country, as I hope and pray you may hereafter grace them ; and I never
knew one who signally devoted his time at Oxford to study, who did not, in after
life, become a blessing and ornament to his family and country.
" Be very select in the company you keep at Oxford, and never forget, what so
many forget, that the university is not a place for amusement, but of constant
study, to be interrupted only by necessary attention to health."

vi DEDICATION.
These are the words of Lord Eldon, but they are as wise as
those of Solomon, and ought to be placarded in letters of gold upon
tablets of silver within the walls of every college in the country.
Let them sink deep into your hearts, and be impressed upon your
memory, and time will prove how true and wise they are.
When I graduated, in August, 1814, the country was engaged
in a disastrous war with Great Britain. Commerce was paralyzed.
Our ships were perishing with the dry-rot at our wharves, or upon
our rivers, where they had been towed to save them from seizure
by the enemy. Our merchants were in despair.
Having a salutary dread of idleness, although inclined to become
a merchant, I immediately entered the office of my uncle, the late
Judge Ward of Boston, and commenced the study of the law,
which, however, I abandoned at once, on the news of peace, in
February, 1815, when I entered the counting-room of an import
ing house in Broad Street ; was soon after admitted a partner ; and
embarked for England to conduct the business of the house there.
I have visited that country many times since, and have resided
there altogether about seventeen years, having been engaged in a
large and laborious business, which occupied all my time and
thoughts, left me no leisure to review the books I had studied at
Cambridge, and often deprived me of the time required for
recreation and health.
Knowing how busy I was for so many years, taking care of the
affairs not only of my own house, but of another very exten
sive one, located in New York, Messrs. Peter Remsen & Co.,
you will not be surprised at any errors you may find in the vol
ume inscribed to you ; nor can you expect those graces of style and
composition, which are found in the works of professed scholars,
but are not expected in those of the active and busy merchant
I have endeavored, however, always to express myself with

DEDICATION. vii
perspicuity, which always pleases the reader, as he is able so easily
and readily to comprehend the author he is perusing.
You may not have decided yet to what you will turn your
attention, after you have obtained your education ; but I trust that
a perusal of the lives of great and good men, will stimulate in
you a desire to excel ; that you will take a lofty model for your
guide, and that you may fully appreciate the value and indispen
sable necessity of religion, industry, perseverance, and self-denial.
Remember that, with these qualities, there is scarcely any eminence
which may not be obtained ; and that without these no satisfactory
progress can be made.
Remember the proverbs of Solomon : " My son, forget not my
law, but let thy heart keep my commandments. For length of
days, long life and peace shall they add to thee. Keep thy heart
with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life."
I will conclude with an Eastern apothegm, which I have always
admired, not only for the beauty of the language, but also for the
excellent moral it contains.
On parents' knees a naked, new-born child,
Weeping thou sat'st, whilst all around thee smiled ;
So live, that, sinking in thy last, long sleep,
Calm, thou may'st smile, whilst all around thee weep.
I remain your ever affectionate Father,
SAMUEL DEXTER BRADFORD.
West Koxbttry, January 1st, 1858.

CONTENTS.

fagL
I. A Latin Oeation, delivered at the Exhibition at Cambridge,
on the 19th of October, 1813  1
II. An Address delivered the 14th of May, 1814, before the Relig
ious Club, at Cambridge, in the presence of President Kirk-
land, Professors Hedge, and Farrar ; Andrews Norton, and
several graduates of the Divinity School at Cambridge. 5
III. A Dissertation delivered at Cambridge, on the 28th of July,
1814, in the presence of the Faculty and Students; to
which had been previously assigned, by the Government of
the College, the second Bowdoin Prize Medal of thirty dol
lars, to be contended for by the members of the Junior
Class  24
IV. A Deliberative Discussion, delivered at Cambridge, on Com
mencement Day, the 31st of August, 1814. ... 44
V. A Thesis for Commencement Day, 31st of August, 1814. . 60
VI. An Obituary Notice of Benjamin Billings. ... 52
VII. An Obituary Notice of Peter Remsen  55
VIII. A Letter from Carlsbad, in Austrian Bohemia ; first published
in the Boston Morning Post, of the 21st of December, 1835. 58
IX. A Letter from Manchester, England ; first published in the
Boston Morning Post, of the 28th of January, 1837. . 67
X. An Article on the Boston Banks ; first published in the
Boston Morning Post, of the 22d of March, 1838. . . 73
XI. A Letter from Manchester, England ; first published in the
Boston Morning Post, of the 11th of January, 1840. . . 77
XII. Editorial Article from the Manchester Guardian, of the 15th
of January, 1842, on the capture and detention of American
vessels in the African seas, by the cruisers of Great Britain. 81
B

CONTENTS.

Page.

!iy

Review of the above-named article, with the prefatory remarks
of the editors ; first published in the Manchester Guardian,
of the 22d of January, 1842  83
Rejoinder to the Remarks of the Editors of the Guardian ; first
published in the Guardian, of the 29th of January, 1842.
XIII. A Letter from London ; first published in the Boston Morning
Post, of the 10th of July, 1843  116
XIV. Three Letters to the Hon. Abbott Lawrence, in reply to
those addressed by him to the Hon. William C. Rites, of
Virginia, (hereunto prefixed ;) first published in the Boston
Morning Post, of the 17th, 18th and 19th of February,
1846. Also, the Faneuil Hall Proceedings in favor of Free
Trade, in the year 1820  128
XV. A Criticism upon "Naomi, or Boston Two Hundred Years
Ago ; " first published in the Boston Morning Post, of Janu
ary 27th, 1848  184
XVI. A Report from memory, of a Lecture delivered at Boston, on
the 2d February, 1848, before the Mercantile Library Asso
ciation, by Hon. B. F. Butler, of New York. . . 194
XVII. A Letter to Theodore Parker ; first published in the Bos
ton Morning Post, 14th of June, 1848  201
XVHI. Letter addressed to the Hon. Harrison Gray Otis, but never
published ; Mr. Otis having died the day before its intended
insertion in the Boston Post  210
XIX. Five Letters addressed to the Hon. "William M. Meredith,
Secretary of the Treasury ; first published in the Boston
Morning Post, of the 1st, 2d, 4th, 5th and 6th February, 1850. 221
XX. Obituary Notice of Captain Bursley ; first published in the
Boston Morning Post, of the 15th of February, 1850. . 263
XXI. A Speech delivered before the Norfolk Agricultural Society,
at Dedham, the 25th of September, 1850 ; first published
in the Boston Morning Post, of the 9th of- October, 1850. 270
XXII. A Letter to the Electors of the County of Norfolk ; first pub
lished in the Boston Morning Post, of the 4th of November,
1850  282
XXIII. A Speech delivered at the Grand Union Meeting, in Faneuil
Hall, on the 26th of November, 1850 ; first published in the
Press and Post, of the 28th of November, 1850, . . 287
XXIV. A Letter addressed to the Legislature of Massachusetts ; first
published in the Boston Morning Post, of the 8th of Janu
ary, 1851, upon the election of Charles Sumner to the
Senate of the United States  293

CONTENTS.

p«r«.

XXV. An Address to the Democrats of Norfolk County ; read and
approved in the Convention assembled at Dedham, 14th of
September, 1851  299
XXVI. A Speech delivered at Dedham, on the 20th of July, 1852, at
the Democratic Ratification Meeting, . . . . 314
XXVII. An Obituary Notice of the Hon. David Henshaw ; first pub
lished in the Boston Morning Post, of the 20th of November,
1852. .  329
Also, An Account of his funeral  334
XXVIII. An Obituary Notice of Mrs. Susannah Billings ; first pub
lished in the Christian Register, of the 16th April, 1853. 340
XXIX. A Letter containing an Account of the Obsequies of the
Rev. Joshua Bates, at Dudley, Massachusetts ; first pub
lished in the New York Journal of Commerce, the 21st
of January, 1854. ...'...-. 345
XXX. A Speech delivered at the Apollo Rooms, in New York, at a
meeting of the Stockholders of the New York and New
Haven Railroad ; first published in the New York Herald,
of the 4th of October, 1854  350
XXXI. A Speech delivered at New Haven, Connecticut, at a meeting
of the Stockholders of the New York and New Haven Rail
road, on the 8th of November, 1854 ; first published in the
New York Journal of Commerce, of the 11th of November,
1854  356
XXXII. Remarks made before the Board of Overseers of Harvard
College, on the 12th of April, 1855, on the question of
confirming the appointment of Rev. F. D. Huntington, as
Plummer Professor ; first published in the Boston Daily
Advertiser, of the 14th of April, 1855  367
XXXIII. Speech delivered at New Haven, Connecticut, on the 10th of
May, 1855, at the.Annual Meeting of the New York and
New Haven Railroad Company ; first published in the New
York Journal of Commerce, on the 12th of May, 1855. 376
XXXIV. An Obituary Notice of Mrs. Mary Langdon Greenwood ; first
published in the Boston Daily Advertiser, of the 12th of
June, 1855  385.
XXXV. Remarks made before the Board of Overseers of Harvard Col
lege, on the 14th of February, 1856, on the rejection of
Edward G. Loring, Esq., as Law Lecturer at Cambridge, on
the 15th of February, 1855 ; first published in the Boston
Daily Atlas, of the 16th February, 1856. ... 389

xii CONTENTS. Pas©
XXXVI. Correspondence with President Jackson  398
XXXVII. Decision of the Court of Appeals of the State of New York, in
the case of the President, Directors, and Company, of the
Mechanics Bank, of the city of New York, against the New
York and New Haven Railway Company, and confirmatory
of the opinion expressed in the speeches of S. D. Bradford,
delivered on the 4th of October, the 8th of November, 1854,
and on the 10th of May, 1855  401

W ORKS

SAMUEL DEXTER BRADFORD, LL. D.

A LATIN ORATION

NATIONIBUH QLORIAM UTTERS AFFERUNT.
Inter causas multas, quae aliis temporibus addiderunt
dignitatem honoremque nationibus, doctrina et eruditio
conspicuum illustremque locum tenent.
Btsi Mars imperatorum votis respondeat, tamen est
Minerva sola, " quse dictis moerentia pectora mulcet, animi
motus sedat, et homines esse sapientes docet."
" Qui bene placarit Palladi, doctus erit."
Ille, qui hostes externos vicerit, urbes, quas subegit, e
manibus suis eripi haud raro videt, et suas possessionesferro
invadi ab hostibus, quos ante contemserit; sed vetustas,
quse omnia alia consumit, artium scientiaaque monumenta
non delere potest, sed laude postera crescunt. Imperium
Romanum jam pridem non levi ruina disjectum, at Virgi-
lius, Horatius, Livius, Tacitusque omnis aavi oblectamenta-
admiratioque manent, et manebunt. Doctrinam et eru,
ditionem animos mollire, irasque temperare, barbararum

2 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
et rudium gentium conditio maxinie probat. " Pleni om-
nes sunt libri, plena? sapientium voces, plena exemplorum
vetustas, qua^ jacerent in tenebris omnia, nisi lumen
literarum accederet." " Antequam lux sciential in animos
indoctorum et rudium hominum penetret, tempus per
otium transigunt, nudi atque intecti, sicuti peregrinantes
vivunt." Cum vero doctrine amore semel ardent, for-
tuna simul cum moribus immutatur. " Quae homines
arant, navigant, aadificant ; virtuti omnia parent."
Hactenus nationum rudium conditionem contemplavi-
mus, antequam artes utiles colentur ; sed cum scientise
fundamentum posuerint, aadificium artes ingenuae elegant-
esque cito extruunt.
" Didicisse fideliter artes, emollit mores, nee sinit esse feros."
Cato ille censor fertur invidiam subiisse, quod artium
Graecarum admissionem in Italiam impedire obniteretur.
Tamen constat, eum a sententia sua non solum discessisse
sed senem Graecas literas didicisse. Btsi conceclatur,
rerum abundantiam opesque. cupiditates inanes nonnun-
quam gignere, et luxuriam doctrinag et eruditionis comitem,
tamen servitutem, paupertatem, miseriamque ignorantise
comites, nemo negare potest.
Quod malum gravius hominis animum invadere possit,
quam superstitio, qua? ex ignorantia procreatur, et timore
alitur? Cum ilia oculis nubem objicit, quid caligiuem
dispellere potest, nisi philosophia atque eruditio ? Ut oriens
sol rorem matutinum dispergit, sic lux sciential, cum ani
mum ignorantia ac superstitione oppressum intraverit*
tenebras mentis discutit, liberatque omni inani timore.
Alexander magnus, (ut Cicero ait) multos scrip tores
secum habuisse dicitur ; atque is, cum in Sigeo ad Achillis
tumulum adstitisset, "0 fortunate," inquit, "adolescens,
qui tuse virtutis Homerum praaconem inveneris." "Et
jure optimo ; nam nisi Ilias ilia exstitisset, idem tumulus,

A LATIN ORATION. 3
qui ejus corpus contexerat, nomen etiam obruisset." Ii,
qui in omni aavo damno aut poena doctos afficere aggressi,
aut tyranni, aut homines indocti rudesque fuerunt. Etsi
tamen Caligula crudelis Virgilii Homerique libros perdere
conatus est, tamen, cum ingenii egre&ia facinora, sicuti
anima ipsa, immortalia sint, manent, manebunt in animis
hominum in saacula saaculorum.
" Trahimur omnes laudis studio, et optimus quisque maxime gloria ducitur."
Is itaque, qui viros laudem mereri spe famaa glori-
aaque incitet, magna aastimatione semper habendus est.
Talis poeta et historian scriptor est, ad quos pertinet,
magnorum, illustrium, et sapientium virorum res gestas
posteris tradere. Hoc modo, nomen civis illustris, ac
insignis imperatoris, non cum corpore peribit, sed postera
laude crescet. Nisi Tyrtaaus cecinisset, Lacedaamonii non
vicissent. Igitur cum imperator prudentia atque virtute
patriaa hostes fuderit, et sapiens civis improborum homi
num clandestina consilia invenerit, poetaa et historiae
scriptori laudis aliquam partem tribuamus.
Sed ut haec non falsa videantur, ad Graaciam Romamque
spectemus. In Graacia, tarn inclyta non solum propter
eruditionem artesque, sed etiam res prosperas in bello,
militum duces oratores fuerunt, omnesque regebat elo-
quentia. Tanta Grsecorum doctrina, et scientia, ut Graacia
non terraa nomen, sed eruditionis et eloquentiaa habebatur.
Imperatores Graeci, cum hostes externos vicerint, laurea
atque omnium laude donati in urbem rediere. Post non
multos dies, libris poetaa in coelum tolluntur. Hac spe
elati, Themistocles, Alcibiades, Pericles, atque Miltiades,
ense in bello, consiliis sub placida pace, patriam defend-
erunt. Si ad Romam contra spectemus, omnem illustrem
civem Uteris initiatum invenimus, et oratorem " qui (ut ait
Pindarus) non pluvias aquas colligit, sed vivo gurgite
exundat," quique dictis Romanorum animos tarn diu

4 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
regebat, doctrina atque optimarum artium studiis erudi-
tissimum. Nam etsi Cicero se popidi Romani saluti
devovit, tamen libri, quos, posteritatem ut delectarent reli-
quit, ad ejus laudem plus contulerunt, quam labores, quos
consul aut senator sustinuit. Historiam Romanam legen-
tes, ducem illustrem magnanimumque admiratione, sed
Ciceronem quadam pietate contemplamur.
Si dubitetur nam spes laudis famaaque saape homines
alliciat de patria sua bene mereri, respondeo, omnium illus-
trium et insignium virorum vitas hanc sententiam confir-
mare. " Dum gloria est consentiens laus bonorum, et
incorrupta vox bene judicantium de excellente virtute,
hanc laudem mereri omnes decet." " Nullam enim virtus
aliam mercedem laborum periculorumque desiderat,praater
laudem ac gloriam."
Sed quid enumerem artium multitudinem, sine quibus
vita omnino nulla esse possit ? " Quis enim aagris subve-
niret, quaa esset oblectatio valentium, qui victus, aut
cultus, nisi tarn multaa nobis artes ministrarent, quibus
rebus exculta hominum vita tantum distat a victu et
cultu bestiarum ? " Sed ut verbo uno dicam, quo plures
sapientes viros ulla terra contineat. hoc felicior ac doctior
erit. Talis gentis gloria, ut sol nulla nube obscuratus,
summo splendore enitescit : atque cum in tali terra literaa
auctoritate publica sustentantur, duplici laude florent.
Quamquam in nostra patria nunc rauco strepunt cornua
cantu, atque pax, felicitas, honorque ab oculis eripiuntur,
tamen diu expectatum diem venturum speramus, quando
docti eruditique ab omnibus in maxima aastimatione
habeantur, quando America in artibus et omni virtute
Europam aemuletur ; et omnes, qui in Senatus consiliis
versantur, ut Hamilton, omni virtute praaditi ; et impe-
ratores nostri, ut Washington, omni laude digni sint;
Washington, quern omnes boni venerantur, amantque,
" Nil oriturum alias, nil ortum tale fatentes."

A DISSERTATION

ON THE EIGHT .VXD DUTY OF FREE INQUIRY IN MATTERS OP RELIGION.
1st of Corinthians, x. 15. — " I speak as to wise men, judge ye what I say."
It has ever been the lot of some opinions, as of some
men, to have their claims acknowledged, because no one
has had the confidence to dispute them, and to escape
the censure of the public, because they were supported
by rank and elevated station, or because they favored the
indidgence of some favorite inclination. Perhaps, how
ever, none has had more advocates, or been maintained
with greater zeal, than the unreasonable maxim, that, as
rehgion is a system, which we can but imperfectly com
prehend, it should never be examined ; that the Bible is
a book, which demands implicit obedience and belief,
though infinitely above our comprehension ; and that,
since it contains a variety of sacred doctrines, which it
surpasses the strength of the human understanding to
comprehend, we should resolve to live in ignorance of the
reasons of its commands, and, at the same time, yield an
unlimited obedience to its dictates. By some, the world
is represented as lost in tenfold ignorance and error ; the
understanding as obscured by the degeneracy of our first
parents ; and the whole human race as incapable of every
meritorious and virtuous action.
It has always been the practice of the artful and design
ing, when the absurdity of their opinions was about to be

6 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
exposed by the light of reason, to declaim upon the falli
bility of man, and the imperfections of the human mind.
By these means, the grossest absurdities have been often
imposed upon the credulity of the inexperienced and
unlearned, by assuring them that the opinions they were
solicited to embrace were mysteries and truths too ab
struse for a vulgar understanding, but which, at the same
time, demanded their confidence and belief. Doctrines,
wholly contradictory to common sense, have been palmed
upon mankind, under the veil of mystery, or the ignorant
have confided in them, because an apparent sanctity had
been thrown over them by time, or they have gained
admittance by receiving the support of the great and
powerful. Would to Heaven I could add that this mis
taken zeal, that this artful policy, which has served so
long to support the tottering throne of popery, had been
confined to the church of Rome ; that it had prevailed
in those countries alone, where the clergy were too profli
gate, and the impositions of hierarchy too daring and
oppressive, to endure the clear and convincing light of
reason, and impartial examination. But a portion of the
same spirit has descended to later times, and prevailed in
countries where the Bible is not taken from the possession
of the people by the daring and unhallowed hand of
public authority; where the clerg}^ are highly distin
guished for the purity of their lives, and the simplicity
of their manners, no less than for eminent learning and
zeal in their profession ; and where civil government im
poses no restraints upon the consciences of its subjects,
but grants them religious liberty in its fullest extent.
Since, however, there is no unjust or impolitic measure,
which has not some advocates, who pretend to assign the
reasons of their support ; and since it is a question of no
small importance, whether the Christian should not be per
mitted and exhorted to exercise all his reasoning powers

FREE INQUIRY AS RESPECTS RELIGION. 7
upon the subjects of religion ; I propose, in the following
observations, to consider the right and duty of private
judgment, and free inquiry in the concerns of religion,
and some of the objections, which have been made to the
use of reason, in examining the truths of Christianity. I
shall commence my observations with acknowledging it as
an indisputable principle, that the understanding is natu
rally right, and capable of distinguishing truth from error,
and right from wrong ; because, to deny this maxim is to
subvert the whole structure of society.
Like an ancient philosopher, we shall prove the fallacy
of our reasoning, by saying that everything is doubtful,
and, at the same time, making pretensions to the discovery,
that it is certain, that everything is uncertain.
The right of examining the truths of religion is one of
the most important and valuable we possess, and, as it con
stitutes one of those inalienable privileges, which belong
to us in every situation in life, so it should never be resigned,
while we make any pretensions to the name of reasona
ble beings, or to the inestimable right of religious liberty.
There are many other privileges, which are possessed
in a state of nature, which require that a portion of them
should be surrendered to civil authority for the public
good. But, with respect to this, the case is far otherwise,
and it can never be restrained or limited by civil govern
ment, without a surrender of an invaluable privilege and
security. As the right of self-preservation can never be
resigned, without exposing our temporal interest to a vari
ety of dangers, so that of free inquiry into the concerns of
religion can never be renounced, without hazarding our
eternal welfare, and subjecting ourselves to be deceived by
the wildest absurdities. As a right to the salubrious air
is necessary to the health and vigor of the body, so this
is no less requisite to the preservation of the same qual
ities in the human mind. The ambitious ruler may per-

8 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
suade a deluded people, to make a surrender of their nat
ural hberty, and a spiritual despot may assume the privi
leges of infallibility, deceive with making claims to divine
authority, or terrify by the thunders of the church ; but
all such pretensions are vain, and the arts of ambitious
men, by which they hope to rise to eminence on the ruins
of truth and reason, and should therefore be rejected with
that calm but firm and spirited opposition, which they so
justly deserve.
Having said thus much upon the right of free inquiry,
I proceed to inquire what is implied in an impartial exam
ination of religion. When a number of persons are
selected to decide upon the claims of two contending
parties, it is always considered as a necessary qualifica
tion, that their judgment should be unbiased, and open to
conviction. He likewise, who examines the doctrines of
religion, and the opinions of the different sects into which
the Christian world has been divided, should come to the
inquiry with a mind free from prejudice, and ready to be
convinced by sufficient evidence. He who desires to
know the whole truth, will never suffer himself to be influ
enced by old prejudices and prepossessions, but will
endeavor to preserve that state of equilibrium, which is
so necessary in the examination of rehgious subjects. The
person who wishes to discover the truth of a particular
doctrine which suffers the indulgence of some favorite but
criminal pursuit, will hardly listen to objections. The
syren voice of pleasure will sound too sweetly in his ears
to leave room for the harsh, yet certain voice of reason.
The man who wishes an opinion to be true is half con
vinced of its truth already, will turn a deaf ear to all
objections, and live as if there were none. But, if it
requires fairness to collect the evidence of different rehg
ious tenets, it is likewise necessary that no less time than
attention should be employed to estimate that evidence,

FREE INQUIRY AS RESPECTS RELIGION. 9
and to give to each portion its proper degree of influence.
Here the aid of reason, and the rules of fair criticism, are
most required, and he who rejects their assistance, because
they are sometimes perverted, and lead to dangerous con
sequences, acts a part no less absurd than he who, because
his eyesight is sometimes injured by excess of light or
other causes, resolves to extinguish his eyes at once, and
grope in darkness. Here the scholar may display the
depth of the metaphysician, the acuteness of the logician,
and the candor of an honest man. Without these precau
tions, error will assume the specious garb of truth, delu
sions resemble the sound deductions of reason, and the
dogmas of enthusiasm, the sacred appearance of inspira
tion. In the last place, judging with impartiality implies
that, in assenting to a proposition, our belief be propor
tionate to its evidence. All truths are not equally obvi
ous and incontestable. Many lie far beyond our sight ;
some just dawn upon the view ; others appear in a clear
and convincing light, while others glare upon us with all
the force of demonstration. Without a just proportion of
our assent, we shall hardly arrive at just conclusions; and
if the intermediate degrees of evidence be omitted, the
moralist, like the mathematician, who has lost some inter
mediate step in the demonstration, when about to infer the
conclusion from the premises, will soon discover that the
chain is imperfect, and that a new link must be supplied
before he can arrive at certainty and satisfaction in the
process. ¦ The duty and the obligation which we are under of
examining the doctrines and commands of Scripture,
which- 1 proposed secondly to consider, is no less obvious
than the right. It is proved by the danger of submitting
to the decisions of men fallible in their judgment, and
often prejudiced in their determinations ; by the circum
stance of our being endowed with reason ; but, above all,

10 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
by the example and command of our blessed Savior. ^ The
motives which lead to erroneous sentiments in religion
are extremely numerous. The spirit of party, the love of
novelty, and an evil desire of reputation, all these are so
many allurements which serve to draw mankind from the
path of truth and reason.
The authority of men is one of the most fruitful sources
of prejudice and error. Religious sentiments are some
times firmly believed because they were professed by our
parents, instructors, or friends; and antiquity seems often
to cast a mist over the minds of men, which it seems
impossible to dissipate. To place, however, implicit confi
dence in the opinions of our ancestors, because they were
peculiar to them, and not because they are founded in
truth, is to assign to ourselves but an inferior rank in the
creation, to deny the gradual progress of the understand
ing in the pursuit of truth, and to suppose our ancestors
the standard of all that is sublime and perfect in religion,
or elegant and learned in literature. But had our ances
tors no imperfections ? Is the candle of the Lord, which
has so long enlightened the human race, almost consumed,
and will it consequently be soon extinguished ? Or does
it rather consist of more durable materials, and may we
not expect that it will burn forever ?
Indeed, to believe all that our predecessors have asserted,
is to keep the mind in everlasting infancy, and to check
every noble and exalted effort. Had such been the
method pursued in former times, what would the world
exhibit but a scene of error and superstition ? In vain
should Ave look for the .sound and convincing reasoning of
a Socrates, or the sublime and pathetic sentiments of a
Cicero. But had those who have preceded us, no heresies in
religion, or absurdities in philosophy? The answer is
obvious, and had succeeding generations been content

FREE INQUIRY AS RESPECTS RELIGION. H
with the discoveries and principles of their progenitors,
the vast and comprehensive mind of Locke would have
explored the regions of thought in vain, and the maxims
of Aristotle been still the standard of perfection. The
investigations of this wonderful man would have been
considered as the productions of a lively imagination,
instead of the sound deductions of reason. The everlast
ing law of gravitation, which holds the planets in their
orbits, and subjects them to a regular revolution, would
have still existed, but the concentric spheres of the
ancients would have retained the confidence and belief of
men. The earth would have continued to turn upon its
axis, but it would still have been heresy to maintain and
publish an opinion so contradictory to reason, and dan
gerous in its consequences. The opinions of our parents,
and of the wise and virtuous, should be always treated with
becoming deference, and, though we should embrace them,
as grounded in truth, before age and information have
qualified us for an impartial examination, still there is a
point beyond which belief is idle veneration, and submis
sion slavery. Our Maker has given no human being a
sovereignty over the faith of others, and he who assumes
it usurps the empire of reason.
But, admitting that we ought to be determined in the
articles of our faith by the authority of men, instead of
drinking the draughts of knowledge and divine instruc
tion from the pure and unruffled fountain of heavenly
wisdom ; to what sect or denomination of Christians shall
we apply for information ? There have been nearly as
many sects as disputed opinions in the world, and there
are but few truths which have not been questioned by
different men. Thus, on whatever side we view the prac
tice of adopting the opinions of others without examina
tion, the experiment seems big with danger.
Our obligation to embrace no doctrines which have

12 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
been professed by others without sufficient evidence, is, in
the next place, apparent from our being endowed with
reason. No anatomist, when dissecting the human body,
and explaining the several offices which belong to the
different parts, could ever say, with truth, that a single
portion of this complicated whole was useless. There
may be a few small fibres, or other minute divisions of
the human frame, the use of which he might not be able
exactly to define ; but no one, who possesses skill in his
profession, or a just sense of the imperfections of human
knowledge, would ever affirm that a single fibre was, in
reality, without its legitimate and determined function.
Now if we apply the same mode of reasoning to the
faculties of the mind, we may easily prove, that each has
its appropriate sphere of action, from the single circum
stance of its being implanted in our nature. As our eyes
were formed for seeing, and our feet for walking, so was
the faculty of reason implanted, to enable us to improve
in moral and religious truth, to detect the errors of soph
istry, and to arrive at just conclusions in all the employ
ments and concerns of life. And what sublimer subjects
can engage our attention, than those of religion ? What
concerns exercise our reason, or occupy our thoughts, upon
which more depends, both in the present and a future
world ? The inventions of the arts and sciences, and
all those things which administer to the comfort and ease
of life, may employ our intellectual faculties, but these
are but earthly cares. The pleasures of this life are like
the bright days of winter, of flattering aspect, but of short
duration, while the joys of heaven flow from a fountain
which is inexhaustible in its nature, and never ruffled by
commotion. Virtue alone can procure that independence,
which is the end of human wishes.
Perhaps, however, the duty of exercising reason in the
concerns of religion, receives the highest confirmation

FREE INQUIRY AS RESPECTS RELIGION. 13
from the example of our blessed Savior. We can no
where find, in the volume of inspiration, a single precept
to be influenced in our faith by the authority of men,
rather than by the conviction of our own minds. Our
Lord and Master was always ready to submit his creden
tials to the examination of all. He always appealed to
the judgment of his hearers, and, instead of demanding a
blind obedience to the precepts he delivered, proved to
them the authority of his mission by the miracles he per
formed. Do the multitude doubt his power over the
confines of the grave, immediately he utters the solemn
and memorable words, "Lazarus, come forth," and the
grave gives up its dead. Do they distrust his power to
heal the infirmities of the sick, or to restore the power of
walking to the lame ? No sooner does he utter the com
mand, " Take up thy bed and walk," than the lame man
rises, and returns to his house. Before his awful
summons, the demons are deprived of all their influence ;
at his command, the withered hand is restored to vigor,
and the blind receive their sight. In short, the whole
Bible seems clearly to testify, that our Savior required
the exercise of reason in its fullest extent. He reproves
the unbelieving Jews for the confidence they reposed in
the Scribes and Pharisees, who were their spiritual
guides, and exhorts them to examine for themselves.
" But I," says Christ, " have greater witness than that
of John ; for the works that the Father hath given
me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness of
me, that the Father hath sent me." Such, too, I might
easily show, was the method of instruction used by the
apostles. They claimed not to be received without suf
ficient evidence of their authority ; and it is the advice of
St. Paul, " Prove all things ; hold fast that which is good."
It appears, then, that all who discourage freedom of
inquiry encroach upon the natural rights of mankind,

14 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
and oppose their own authority to that of Christ and his
apostles. I might easily mention many practices in the
Christian church which have evidently this tendency.
But, as they are well known to my learned and highly
respected audience, it is unnecessary to mention them,
and sufficient to notice some of their dangerous conse
quences. And it is obvious to remark, that they tend
to check all religious knowledge and improvement, to
confine the mind in useless chains and fetters, and to
entail ignorance and superstition upon posterity. These,
and many other inconveniences, are hardly to be bal
anced by the advantages which these practices seem to
afford. It is asserted, however, that all these endeavors
to restrain free inquiry, have been made with the purest
intentions, and most disinterested motives ; that, by these
means, the church has been preserved from heretics,
and those who are unsound in faith; those, in other
words, who have never been accustomed to measure
their piety by the number of speculative principles to
which they could subscribe their names ; or those who
have not imbibed their sentiments from the confessions
of men, but from the oracles of God.
The spirit of free inquiry, like most other blessings,
has been sometimes carried to excess, and it is a mel
ancholy truth, that so powerful are the allurements of
novelty and singularity, and so overbearing the love of
reputation for uncommon learning, that men are some
times found weak enough to imagine that they can never
think with sufficient freedom and independence, till they
have rejected all that has been believed by their pred
ecessors ; men who support their pride and evil inclina
tion, by endeavoring to undermine the sacred fabric of
religion, instead of adding new pillars to support its
weight. But these instances are not extremely frequent,
and men are more prone to embrace the opinions of a

FREE INQUIRY AS RESPECTS RELIGION. 15
court or majority, and blindly to follow their spiritual
guides, than to expose themselves to the danger of losing
the road to preferment and favor, while searching after the
path that leads to truth.
There is a necessity of encouraging, rather than of
depressing, a spirit of free and impartial inquiry ; and I
hold it as a maxim no less applicable to religion than pol
itics, that few persons, who have once tasted the honey
of favor, will readily consent to return to hunger and
philosophy. I shall now attempt briefly to answer some of the
objections, which have been made against the principle I
support. It has sometimes been asserted, that a free
examination has a dangerous tendency to disturb the
peace of the church with erroneous opinions and heresies,
and that it exposes religion to the attacks of rash and
unprincipled infidels. This objection seems grounded
upon the supposition, that our religion is of such a
nature, that it will not bear the test of examination, and
that he, who investigates its principles, will necessarily be
led to dangerous conclusions ; and that his reason, instead
of enlightening the path which leads to truth, will con
duct to error. But is it the province of reason to mis
lead ? Does history justify the conclusion ? Is it not
rather her province to enlighten the ways of science, to
"illumine what is dark," and to detect what is erroneous ?
If our religion be founded in truth, it has nothing to fear
from impartial examination. Like a rock in the midst of
the ocean, the waves of infidelity, and the violence of
passion, may dash against its sides, but it will remain
unmoved. The clouds of scepticism may hover round its
surface, but it will still remain amidst all the gloom with
with it is surrounded. It may be concealed for a season
by the fog of error or superstition, but the full sunshine
of reason will at last dissipate the darkness.

16 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
To magnify the dangers of free inquiry, is tacitly to
confess that we doubt the truth of the system we support.
Opinions founded in reason and revelation, have nothing
to fear from the minutest investigation. The better they
are understood, the more shall we discover of their intrin
sic excellence ; the better they are known, the greater
will be our approbation. It is the nature of falsehood
alone to shun the light of day, to involve itself in mys
tery, and to demand belief without examination. But
truth solicits an investigation, and, being founded in the
constitution of things, must ever remain the same while
nature herself endures.
The doctrines of religion may sometimes be attacked
by violent and ignorant opponents ; but this is an evil,
the remedy of which would be worse than the disease.
Rehgious freedom is an inestimable blessing, but, like
other privileges, is attended with some inconveniences.
Our most exquisite joys, when they surpass a certain
limit, are followed by the most painful consequences ; and
our most valuable mental endowments may subserve the
cause of error and deception.
Another objection is drawn from the unsettled state of
mind, which is supposed to attend a free inquiry in the
concerns of religion. This, however, should always be
expected, since our faculties are limited, and there are
many questions, which are indeterminate in their nature.
But the same difficulties are common to all the sciences,
and we have nothing to apprehend from this source ; since
questions of this nature are generally such as are purely
speculative, and possess but little influence on practice.
By accustoming ourselves to habits of close examina
tion, we may possibly lessen the number of our tenets,
but I doubt whether our piety will be diminished. We
may lose some portion of our respect for men, but our
reverence for God may be increased. A corrupt govern-

FREE INQUIRY AS RESPECTS RELIGION. 17
ment may attempt to destroy the liberty of the press,
because it serves to expose the baseness of their conduct,
or to enlighten the public mind. A corrupt and preju
diced ecclesiastic may likewise conceal his ambition under
the veil of piety, or rise to eminence, because the people
are too ignorant to detect the imposition, or too enslaved
to resist his measures. Yet the freedom of the press must
always be regarded as the palladium of our civil liber
ties, and free inquiry as the only security from fraud and
delusion. But, though I think there is but little weight in all the
objections, which have or can be made against freedom
of inquiry, still I am of opinion that it should be con
ducted with prudence and moderation. There have been
too many contentions for victory instead of truth, too many
attempts to support a party instead of religion ; and
too much zeal, uninfluenced and undirected by charity.
Those, who have engaged in controversies, have often
displayed more of temper than argument, and a zeal
" which was not according to knowledge." Instead of
" speaking the truth in love," they have uttered their sen
timents in the tone of anger and resentment. In short,
polemic skill must always be regarded as a dangerous
qualification, and, if not governed by charity, wisdom, and
integrity, may betray the possessor into intemperate zeal,
or absolute indifference for truth. Every object assumes
an importance, in our estimation, in proportion to the
labor and attention we bestow. But the real value of any
doctrine can be determined only by its influence on the
conduct of man with respect to himself, his fellow crea
tures, and his God. And it has been well observed, by an
author, that " some kinds of error are so intimately con
nected with truth and virtue, as to render the separation
of them impracticable without doing violence to both."
It is better, therefore, according to our Savior's advice, to

18 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
permit a few tares to grow up with the wheat, than to
endanger the destruction of the wheat by rooting up the
tares. It now remains to make some application of the senti
ments above advanced to our own condition.
If any class of persons are under an obligation to
examine with care and attention the truths of our holy
religion, it is certainly the duty of those who are favored
with the means of intellectual and moral improvement.
" To whom much is given, of him shall much be required,"
is a sacred declaration, but no less sacred than reasonable
and important. If it be ever necessary, that we should
entertain correct views of the doctrines and precepts of
religion, the time has certainly arrived, when we should
commence the duty to be performed.
There is a becoming respect, with which we should treat
the opinions of our parents or early instructors, and those
from whom we imbibed our first sentiments. This is but
a just tribute to parental affection, and superior informa
tion and experience. But there is a season when we
should examine for ourselves, and inquire into the founda
tion of the sentiments which we have embraced. We
need never blush to maintain opinions, which differ from
those of our parents and connections, if they have been
.adopted upon sufficient evidence.
To promote and encourage this impartial inquiry, is one
of the objects of this society ; and as our future conduct
must, in no small degree, depend upon the sentiments we
here embrace, it can surely be esteemed a duty of no
minor consideration, that we endeavor, by reason and
application, and, above all, by the kind assistance of our
Maker, to discover those principles, which will guide us
safely in our future career, and cultivate that spirit of
piety, the exercise of which constitutes no inconsiderable
portion of the Christian's happiness. It is vain and dan-

FREE INQUIRY AS RESPECTS RELIGION. 19
gerous to suppose, that we can live in safety without any
religious sentiments. The human mind resembles a piece
of ground, which will, by no means, be wholly barren, but
will either bring forth the noxious Aveeds of vice, or the
Avholesome fruits of righteousness, according as it is
neglected or cultivated Avith care. The short period we
here devote to the services and the duties we owe our God,
cannot but be attended with improvement.
The prayer, in Avhich Ave here engage, has a greater
tendency, than more public forms of devotion, to revive,
and fasten upon our minds, the general principles of
religion. We are here permitted to particularize our
necessities and Avants in a greater degree than is practi
cable in the house of public worship ; and it should
always be remembered, that all forms of public adoration
are less interesting than services of the kind in Avhich we
engage ; and that the ardor of devotion is better sup
ported, and the sympathy more easily propagated, through
a small assembly connected by ties of familiarity than in
the presence of a mixed congregation.
As the dangers to which youth is exposed seem to arise
rather from thoughtlessness and levity than from any
prejudice against religion, if Ave habituate ourselves to
abstract our thoughts from the external objects which sur
round us, and with the intellectual eye to examine our
own minds, Ave shall not only correct this dangerous habit,
and fix our wavering thoughts and resolutions, but accom
plish another important end ofthe society to which we
belong. Religion is a subject upon which our present^and
future happiness depends ; and, as it is often the topic of
conversation and controversy, to havre a comprehensive
view of its evidences, and to be able to assign the reasons
of our belief, should be the desire of all.
Having once obtained this object, we shall feel an
assurance in our faith,- which all the arts of infidelity will

20 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
be unable to destroy. For unbelievers can only go round
and round the same topics in an eternal circle, without
advancing a single step. It produces no neAV forces ; it
only brings those again into the field, which have been
already baffled and subdued. Let us not be prevented
from the performance of our religious duties by the com
mon complaint, that we have not time for the services of
religion. The cares and avocations of this life are often
urged as an excuse for our neglects, but they Avill have
but little weight with him who reflects that we are placed
in this world only to prepare for another, and that the
troubles and solicitude of our earthly career are so many
trials of our patience and fortitude. But we seem ever
ready to forget that an unruffled flow of pleasures is not
to be expected, and that there is no pursuit so important
and interesting as to afford a continual subject of medita
tion, and to employ all the powers and faculties of our
nature, except eternity. But, if we consider this world as
only a passage to a more perfect state, and as a removal
from a scene of confusion and discord to one of everlasting
peace and happiness,
" To die is landing on some silent shore,
Where billows never beat, nor tempests roar,
Ere well we feel the friendly stroke, 'tis o'er."
He who, with such prospects before him, can complain
of heaven, and repine at death, acts a part no less absurd
than he who, proposing to himself a delightful tour into
an unknown country, should lament that he cannot take
up his residence, and remain forever at the first noisy and
inconvenient inn he meets with on the road.
From the above observations, we may likeAvise perceive
the importance of acquiring all that knowledge and infor
mation, which may lead us to entertain just views of the
important subjects of religion, and enable us to expose the

FREE INQUIRY AS RESPECTS RELIGION. 21
"traditions of men." Ignorance is the road which is gen
erally travelled by the idle, and Ave should always preserve
a caution that Ave never mistake a lazy and blind devo
tion for an enlightened, generous, and industrious piety.
But let us think no knowledge so important as that which
pertains to religion. The glory Avhich letters bestow is,
no doubt, greatly desirable ; yet it is difficult to acquire.
It is much easier to live a life of virtue than a life of
fame. We pardon a man though he be undignified in
his manners and address, and unacquainted with all the
elegances of polite literature, but we never forgive him,
if he be deficient in goodness and honesty of character.
On this subject, we perfectly accord with Themistocles,
who, observed, "that he loved the man without letters
much better than letters without the man." If we owe
much to the fathers of our bodies, how much more are we
indebted to those who have formed our minds? For-the
knowledge of letters has a favorable tendency to produce
within us just sentiments, elegant manners, and, what is
far more important, to enable us to defend our religion.
That the world contains no substantial happiness, that,
without the expectation of another, the soul has nothing
upon Avhich it may repose itself, is a common observation ;
but, though it be confirmed by a variety of examples, it
seems to have but little influence upon our lives. The
more we know of the world, its phantoms and enchant
ments, the more do we feel the want of some grand idea
to elevate the soul above the discouragements which con
tinually occur. When we engage in the pursuits, of honor,
fame, and gratitude, we find everywhere illusions and mis
takes. If we make no uncommon exertion, and leave our
vessel in the harbor, the success of others dazzles and
disturbs us; if we spread our sails, we are the plaything
of the winds. Activity, inactivity, ardor, indifference, all
have their cares and difficulties, No person is sheltered

QQ

WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.

from the caprices of fortune. Her wheel is forever in
motion. We tremble on its summit, in the middle we are
suspended, and, at the bottom, we are trampled under
foot. When Ave have reached the summit of our Avishes,
sadness and languor are preparing to frustrate our hopes,
and dissipate the enchantment. If such then be the
instability of the world, and the uncertainty of all earthly
possessions, to Avhoin shall we go but unto God ? And
how shall we obtain his mercy but through the merits of
his Son ? It is virtue alone which can render us superior
to fortune, and, if we quit her standard, the combat is no
longer ours. Let not then the important Avork of salva
tion be longer neglected.
But the prayer of too many is, "Lord, make me virtu
ous and continent, but not too soon." "Wait, I beseech
thee, till the season of pleasure be passed, and the ardor
of passion subsided." "The time will come when I shall
have little inclination for vice, and when satiety and dis
gust will prevent all danger of a relapse." To ask in such
a manner, is, indeed, to ask in vain. If Ave would find our
God, Ave must seek him early. Hoav often have we Avit-
nessed the danger of postponing the duties of religion !
With how many lessons for youth has experience fur
nished us ! Let, then, our solicitude be in some propor
tion to our danger. Let us make it the important busi
ness of our lives to fix the purest and most sacred princi
ples in our hearts, and lay the foundation of that solid
peace through life, Avhich, once lost, is neA^er perfectly
recovered ; not even under the direction of the brightest
understanding, and most fervent piety. If such be our
conduct, Ave shall have but little reason to find fault with
the difficulties of this life. Those who utter the loudest
complaints have generally wasted or misimproved their
time. "If the tumult of your souls." says St. Austin,
"Avould subside, you avouH not be moved by outward

FREE INQUIRY AS RESPECTS RELIGION. 23
noises. When the mind is calm, the confusion of outward
objects is disregarded. In this happy state of the soul,
neither the clouds which fly around us, or even the thun
der which rolls over our heads, is able to disturb her seren
ity. Safe in the port, she beholds, but feels not, the
tumult." " Behold, now is the accepted time ; behold,
uoav is the day of salvation.

DISSERTATION
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DOCTRINE OF A FUTURE STATE.
One of the Subjects of the Bowdoin Prize Dissertations for 1814.
" He that cometh to God, must beUeve that he is ; and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek Him." — Hebrews x. 6.
In religion, as in the arts and sciences, there are a feW
important principles, which serve as the support and
foundation of all the rest. The great object, therefore, of
the inquirer after truth should be, to ascertain, in every
science, which is the subject of his examination, what are
its fundamental truths. Having satisfied himself in this
important inquiry, he has laid a solid basis, and will be
able, without much difficulty, to raise the superstructure.
As religion is a concern not confined to any particular
class of people, but universal in its obligations, and ever
salutary in its effects, it is a circumstance which deserves
our warmest gratitude to the Parent of the universe, that
its two essential constituents are so clearly manifested to
mankind, that they are discoverable by the light of rea
son. The existence of one God, and a future state of
rewards and punishments, form the grand basis of this
interesting and important science. He who would destroy
or weaken the evidence of either of these doctrines, aims
a deadly blow at the peace and happiness of mankind.
To exemplify and display the influence of the persuasion
of a future state of recompenses upon the order and well-
being of society, is the design of the following dissertation.

DOCTRINE OF A FUTURE STATE. 25
To the Christian, who reflects how numerous have been
the endeavors of unbelievers, in every age, to overturn
this important doctrine, and to prove it to be the vain
imagination of the enthusiast, and how ingenious have
been the attempts of the profligate and Avicked, to demon
strate the fallacy of an opinion, which they tremble to
believe as true, it can afford no small degree of satisfaction,
that the basis of the Christian's hopes is no less supported
by reason than revelation, and that the infidel must destroy
the dictates of reason, as well as the authority of revealed
religion, before he can demolish or undermine the firm fab
ric of his faith. Those, Avho have Avished to prove that the
present life is the whole duration of our existence, and thus
to destroy the validity of revelation, have argued, that the
ancients had no expecta'tion of a future state of recompen
ses, by comparing their different opinions with one another,
and showing the diversity of sentiment, which prevailed
amongst them. Should, however, the endeavors of this
class of sceptics be crowned with complete success, and
should it be demonstrated, that Aristotle, Plato and Cicero,
had all different ideas, and confused notions of a future
world ; still, this mode of arguing can have no influence
upon this interesting inquiry. A sufficient answer to all
such unbelievers, is, that, prior to philosophy, or the exist
ence of the school-men, there was everywhere a common
consent on the subject of a future state ; and should
philosophy claim the honor of having discovered this
important doctrine, its claims should be rejected, and we
shall probably be indebted to tradition for this interesting
truth. Now that such was the common persuasion of
mankind, prior to revelation, is clearly proved from the
appeal which is made by every writer on the subject, to
the common consent of men, which is always used as one
of their chief arguments. This almost universal agree
ment is the voice and law of nature, because that of

¦26 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
which are all persuaded, must have had a common origin,
and must, therefore, have proceeded, in the first instance,
from the Parent of mankind. The fictions of the poets,
and subtleties of the philosophers of antiquity upon this
subject, are well knoAvn; but, however the notion may
'have been confused by them, the common consent of the
universe, and the evidence of nature, are the same, and,
though entangled by perplexities, can never be extin
guished. The rational proofs of a future state can never
be lost upon the sincere and pious Christian ; and, since
such is the preeminence of reason, that no opinion is to
be credited when contrary to its dictates, the man of virtue
and religion will feel no small gratification, Avhen he dis
covers, that every part of revelation is grounded upon
truth and reason. As it is the beauty of the laws by
which a sovereign governs the people of a country, that
they be established upon the immutable nature and con
stitution of man, so, likewise, it is the excellency of the
Christian dispensation, that all the doctrines it contains,
are not only reasonable, but so admirable in their nature,
as no reason could discover.
Among the doctrines of revelation, that of a future
¦state of rewards and punishments is one ; and Avhen the
•Christian finds that reason conspires with revealed religion,
requires the same important duties, and enforces them by
the same motives, Avith the additional advantage on the
side of revelation, that it teaches us our whole duty ; the
Christian, I say, when he calls to mind all these circum
stances, must feel a complacency and delight, Avhich are
wholly unknown to one Avho has never observed this
perfect harmony and order.
Having premised the above observations upon the uni
versality of the belief of a future state, I proceed to
consider Avhat is the immediate object of the dissertation,
viz., its influence upon the order and well-being of society;

DOCTRINE OF A FUTURE STATE. 27
and, in prosecuting my design, I know of no- more effec
tual method of showing its vast importance, to the peace
and happiness of mankind, than by proving the insuffi-
ciencj- of all other motives to piety and virtue. Such is;
the frame of our nature, and so violent are the j^assions:
of mankind, that he, who should destroy the belief of the-
doctrine of a future life of recompenses, avouIc! abolish
almost every motive to decency and order, and fill the-
Avorlcl with every species of vice and immorality. He
who attempts to overturn the religious sentiments of any
class of believers, must always presume, that those, whose-
opinions he has controverted, will ask of him some new
principles, Avhich they may substitute, in the place of those
which he has rejected Avith so much confidence. Accord
ingly, we find, that this method has been pursued in the
controversy between the advocates of the truth of reve
lation, and those who have rejected the divine authority
of Jesus Christ, and the latter, with much ingenuity and
skill, have substituted every motive, Avhich their imagina
tions could suggest. Since, hoAvever, in the commence
ment of their arguments, they had rejected the only
powerful consideration to piety and .religion, their endeav
ors havTe been unsuccessful, and no principle has been
discovered, or alleged, which, like a state of future recom
penses, operates at all times, and upon all descriptions of
persons. It has not unfrequently been asserted that, though
there were no belief of a future state impressed upon the
minds of men, yet that, since God is a being of infinite
wisdom and unbounded goodness, mankind ought, and
naturally would, adore and worship him, for these and
other inestimable perfections. It is the argument of
some, that, from the impulse of nature, we respect and
esteem the wise and virtuous of the earth, and that,
from the same principle, we should be led to worship and

28 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
to reverence the Maker and Preserver of the universe
without the intervention of a revelation.
That mankind OAve unbounded gratitude, love and
adoration, to him, who formed and upholds the world,
will not be denied ; but that the perfections of his charac
ter alone are sufficient to ensure the performance of these
and other duties, is contradicted, both by the testimony
of experience, and the consideration that the great mass
of the people are not influenced by the contemplations
and speculations of philosophers, but by the passions which
reign within their own breasts. Every argument drawn
from the perfections of the Deity, and the propriety of
worshipping him on their account, is of no great weight
vriien opposed to the passions and inclinations of mankind.
Self-love is the great handle by which religion takes hold
of the fears and affections of mankind. The same person
Avho, under the persuasion that death was the extinction
of his being, would defile himself with every species of
vice, when assured of the certainty of a future state of
recompenses, would sacrifice his disorderly passions to his
duty, and lead a rational and virtuous life. Should it be
said, that virtue and piety, to be acceptable to God, must
proceed from purer motives than a servile fear of punish
ments, I answer, I am of the same opinion. But may not
this fear in early life, sow the seeds of future piety and
devotion? May not the man, who once acted chiefly
from an apprehension of punishment, after a contempla
tion of the goodness of God and the duties which he owes
to so benevolent a Father, be actuated by nobler
motives? He, on the other hand, who has grown to
manhood, under the impression that he shall never be
required to answer for his conduct, will, at that period of
his life, when reason is able to discover his obligations to
his Maker, be destitute of those restraints upon his pas
sions and inclinations, which are experienced by him, who

DOCTRINE OF A FUTURE STATE. 29
has been educated under the opposite impression. While
the latter comes to examine the truths of religion, unin
fluenced by importunate inclinations ; the former coming
to the examination under the influence of prejudices,
which he is unAvilling to resign, and under the govern
ment of desires and feelings, Avhich it is irksome to
sacrifice to reason and propriety, will readily seek for
objections to those doctrines, Avhich he Avishes to be false,
slight all objections to the opposite opinions, and probably
end the examination with a full conviction of the fallacy
and unimportance of religion.
The insufficiency of every motive, except that of a
future state, to lead men to the worship and reverence of
God, and to a conduct conformable to his will, is most
clearly proved by the concurrent testimony of history.
To form hypotheses, when we possess the richest stores of
information, derived from a knoAvledge of antiquity, is
useless and absurd. In confirmation of the preceding
observations, we find, that, in Greece and Rome, there
were some philosophers, who believed in the immortality
of the soul, and hence inferred the probability of future
recompenses; but we likewise discover, that the lower
classes of the community seldom perplexed themselves
with the speculations of philosophers, and were almost
wholly regardless of the consequences to be deduced
from the nature of the soul ; and Ave have the authority
of Cicero for saying, that the thoughts of Socrates, him
self, upon the immortality of the soul, were both fluctua
ting and undetermined. The generality of the people
felt no interest in the subtleties of philosophy, and would
certainly be at no trouble to discover the truth of a
doctrine, which must either produce a change of conduct,
or fill them with fears and apprehensions for their future
welfare. The worship of one God is established in almost
all parts of the habitable globe, because almost all are

30 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
possessed of a belief in a future state of rewards and
punishments, and he Avho should destroy this belief, would
probably abolish every form of Avorship. Though it be
true, that it is the will of God that Ave should adore and
reverence his name, yet the greater part of mankind are
too gross in their ideas of things, and too much enchained
by the allurements of the world, to be influenced by
this consideration alone ; and Avhoever expects universal
obedience from any arguments wholly addressed to the
understanding of the human race, must be grossly igno
rant of human nature.
I come now to consider another motive to piety and
virtue, and Avhich has been exalted to an high elevation
in the writings of those, who have denied a future state,
viz., a sense of honor and decorum. Though, in the esti
mation of different persons, this term seems to have a
variety of senses, I knoAV of none better, than that of a
celebrated writer, Avho defines the laws of honor, to be
" a system of rules constructed by people of fashion, to
facilitate their intercourse Avith one another." Whatever
candid person reflects, for a moment, how few are influ
enced by the laws of honor, and how many shelter them
selves under those of the land, which, like Solon's, may
possibly detect some daring offenders, but, like cobwebs,
permit the greater number to escape Avith impunity, will
hardly be so unfair, as to compare honor, as a principle of
virtue, Avith a future state of recompenses. He, Avho has
offered every argument in favor of its claims, must con
fess, that the sphere of its influence is extremely limited,
and that, though this principle might have some influence
upon men of rank and elevated station, still that the
greater part of mankind are left Avholly without the circle
of its operation.
But, after all that can be said in favor of reputation, or
the laAvs of etiquette, hoAv are those rules of conduct

, DOCTRINE OF A FUTURE STATE. 31
Avorthy of much consideration, which have no other stand
ard than custom, or the fashion of the day ? If our con
duct is to be directed by rules of this kind, those actions,
which, in one age or period, are esteemed innocent, or even
praise-Avorthy, may possibly, in the next, or at another
period, be considered as highly criminal. Indeed, with
out some other standard, by which to judge of the pro
priety of our conduct, we may fall into the grossest
absurdities, and the most dangerous practices. The state
may be deprived of its most eminent Avarriors and states
men, by the destructive habit of duelling, and he who
meets disappointments or vexations in life, may, Avithout
the infringement of any law, terminate his existence by
suicide. The punishments of civil government, will, equally
with the common opinion of the community, to which
any person belongs, be too weak to ensure safety and
peace either to the individual or magistrate. The rod,
which is in the hand of the civil governor, and the sword
which is wielded by public opinion, will be hardly suf
ficient to check the inroads of vice, or ensure the per
formance of moral duties. It is obvious to remark, that
the influence of laws is confined within a narrow circle,
and that a person may escape their animadversion, and,
at the same time, be stained with some of the foulest
actions. The deficiency of laws seems to arise chiefly from two
causes. First, that many actions are wholly without the
sphere of their operation, because they possess no dis
criminate character, by which they may be defined.
Secondly, because they are in their nature such as may
easily be evaded. He who, with respect to the laws of
the civil magistrate, is blameless, may still be destitute of
humanity and benevolence, may plunge his afflicted
country into unnecessary wars, in order to render his

32 AVORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
services desirable, may be treacherous in his friendships,
and indeed destitute of every active virtue. The impor
tant duties of charity and humility may have never
influenced one action of him, Avho in the eye of the law
is wholly free from guilt.
The excellent doctrines of our holy religion, on the
other hand, while they ensure the perfect security and
encouragement of the sovereign, teach those humbler,
but not less important duties, Avhich constitute the glory
and happiness, both of the individual, and the community.
In case, however, these obligations should be disregarded,
it does not appeal to the imperfect authority of a human
sovereign, but to the tribunal of an almighty Judge. The
sentence of the former may be influenced by a variety
of motives, which may effect our deliverance, though not
restore our innocence, but in the latter case we stand
before a Judge of infinite wisdom, and unbounded good
ness, but of perfect justice.
As, in all these instances, the penalties of human laws
may be evaded, and the guilty escape with impunity;
so there are many actions, concerning which we can only
be interrogated at the tribunal of our own consciences.
And yet conscience itself is a mere name, a mere bug
bear, independent of the notion of a future retribution.
Let us be cautious, then, hoAV Ave weaken the authority of
a Judge so faithful, energetic, and enlightened. Let us
reflect, that, when Ave have overturned his powerful
empire, we have opened the flood-gates of licentiousness
and vice ; that the cement is loosened, the cohesion
broken, and that the torrent of immorality and wicked
ness must rise superior to every barrier.
Indeed, the supposition that public opinion can ever
subdue the power of inclination, or restrain, Avithin due
bounds, the violence of passion, seems wholly unsupported
by fact. Such an hypothesis is contradicted by the very

DOCTRINE OF A FUTURE STATE. 33
nature of man, who, in order to persevere in the paths of
rectitude, must be influenced by some adequate motive.
Besides, those who are chiefly the objects of public atten
tion, are not the Ioav and impotent, but those who have
attracted the admiration, or drawn upon themselves the
detestation, of the public, by eminent services, or notori
ous frauds. The opinion of the Avorld exercises its au
thority over those, Avhose rank or employment throAVS
some splendor upon their earthly career ; while the con
duct of the private individual is less within the circle of
its influence. Those, therefore, whose time is devoted to
dissipation, and whose behavior has no connexion with
the grand interests of the community, are, in some
measure, independent of the opinion of the world. Their
actions are confined to too humble a condition to excite
public admiration, or to draw forth much censure and
rebuke. Thus a large portion of every community who
are distinguished by no ornaments of riches or privilege
of title, are uninfluenced by this love of reputation, or
desire of fame, which has been ranked as so important a
principle by many writers. "Every thing valuable seems
therefore to depend upon religion. It surrounds the
whole compass of morality, resembling that universal
and mysterious force of physical nature which retains the
planets in their orbits, and subjects them to a regular rev
olution, and which, amidst the general order it maintains,
escapes the observation of many, and appears to their
feeble sight unconscious of its own work."
Much has been written upon the loveliness of virtue,
and the intrinsic excellency of certain actions, and the
deformity of vice, and yet the observation and experience
of mankind unite to prove that, however the world may
admire, or be enamored of virtue, she is seldom chosen.
Though I could never discover any internal goodness or
immorality in actions, independent of the motives with

34 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
which they were performed, yet it is not denied that some
are found to lead to happiness, while others tend to make
us miserable. Those of the former class may therefore
be figuratively denominated virtuous, and those of the
latter immoral, and destructive of happiness. Noav it
seems someAvhat absurd, if not impious, to extol the
beauty and excellency of virtue, and yet to suppose that,
with all her claims to notice and consideration, a Being
Avho delights in goodness has been regardless of her claims,
and made no difference between herself and her irrecon
cilable enemies, vice and immorality. He, who believes
in the goodness of God, must be mad to suppose that he
can view vice and virtue with the same feelings. Yet
upon the supposition that this life is the whole duration
of our existence, we are compelled to admit the conclu
sion that virtue loses her reward, and that vice is com
pletely successful. It is the test of a true patriot, when
private advantage is opposed to public good, to sacrifice
his own convenience to that of society. So likewise we
may denominate him virtuous, who, Avhen duty and incli
nation are at variance, sacrifices his propensity to the
dictates of reason. If, however, mankind are actuated by
no apprehensions of future consequences, it is no hard
matter to predict which of these two principles of action
will prevail. If virtue, without the authority she acquires
from the consideration of a future life, be opposed to vice,
with all the passions on her side, it would be absurd to
suppose that she could possibly succeed against such pow
erful enemies, united by a common interest. Over
powered by superior force, she must soon be vanquished,
and leave the field in the possession of her lawless and
barbarous invaders. Many writers avJio have endeav
ored to prove that the consideration of a future state of
recompenses is unnecessary to the support of piety and
virtue, seem to have had very indeterminate notions of

DOCTRINE OF A FUTURE STATE. 35
these important qualities in the Christian character. They
do not consist of show or ostentation, or in performing a
few hasty and benevolent actions, while under the influ
ence of some violent emotion. Virtue, or an upright con
duct towards our felloAV-beings, and temperance as it
respects ourselves, depends upon religion as its chief
support ; and he who destroys the confidence of another
in a future state, has taken from him the vital princi
ple of his virtue. Those Avho maintain the opposite opin
ion seem never to have considered that piety is an in
ternal principle of the heart; and that those who are
flattered for their benevolence or liberality are often des
titute of all true virtue.
There are but few who are so hardened as to commit
such crimes as both reason and the laAvs condemn in the
full sunshine of day; because, though possibly they might
escape the cognizance of law, yet the natural sense of
right and wrong found amongst all classes would condemn
such actions, and the perpetrators be thus exposed to dis
grace and ignominy. But since it is not always day, and
since there is the greatest necessity for some internal prin
ciple which is obligatory at all times, and upon all descrip
tions of persons, but little reflection must be sufficient
to convince us that all others are insufficient, and that
a future state of recompenses alone is able to effect
this important end. It is this alone which can restrain
the dangerous machinations of him who would subvert
the laws of his country. It is this alone which can-
defeat the wicked designs of the robber, murderer, or thief,
and, without this belief to influence the actions of man
kind, every species of vice and immorality must prevail.
Without this fear, the unprincipled ruler may destroy the
best interests of his country with impunity, and the
ambitious general has nothing to prevent his rendering
himself absolute as soon as he can obtain the consent of

36

WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.

that army upon which he depends for his support. In
short, were this principle banished from the world, all
confidence and security in our fellow beings would be
lost in the general confusion which must ensue.
Should it be said that the natural consequences of vice
in this Avorld are themselves sufficient to ensure the vic
tory to sobriety over immorality and licentiousness, and
that guch are the salutary effects of virtue, that, to be
admired, she needs but to be known, I answer that these
natural consequences may, with justice, be alleged as
proof of the manner in which God considers the virtu
ous and the vicious ; but are certainly insufficient of them
selves to maintain the supremacy of piety and virtue.
How numerous are the instances of pers'ons ruined in
their fortunes, and depressed by sickness, on account of
the irregularities of their past lives, and yet, how many
do we find rushing inconsiderately into the same excesses,
through looseness of principle, or the violence of passion!
In other words, how many do we find "who need the smart
of pain, to make them prudent"! Whatever may have
been the losses or sufferings of others, in the same career,
many will be always found who, having never made the
experiment, will be led to believe that they shall be more
successful. Indeed, without the assurance or presumption of a
future state, indulgence in sensual gratifications would
hardly deserve the name of criminal ; since the Governor
of the universe, upon that supposition, makes no distinction
between the virtuous and the vicious ; and I see no suffi
cient reason why, upon that supposition, we should not
adopt the language of the sensualist, "Let us eat and
drink, for to-morrow we die." To-morrow we cease to
exist, like the beasts which perish; and, whatever may
have been our conduct in this world, our condition after
death will be the same ; since death is an eternal sleep.

DOCTRINE OF A FUTURE STATE. 37
Upon the hypothesis that the present life is the whole
of our existence, the Avicked are completely successful,
while those of the opposite character must be exposed to
ridicule and disgrace, as solitary beings, avIio are contin
ually perplexing themselves Avith possibilities, and passing
their lives in a manner both disagreeable and absurd.
Besides, it should never be forgotten that there are many
actions highly criminal in their nature, which raise the
perpetrators of them to places of honor and distinction,
instead of bringing upon them the punishment they so
justly deserve. The unprincipled usurper, for instance, is
found to make his way to empire by the most barbarous
and disgraceful actions, and afterwards to enjoy those
privileges which, in justice, belong only to the lawful
heir. The opulent and powerful baron has been often
known to oppress his numerous dependents, and yet to
escape the penalty of law, through the affluence of riches,
or magnitude of authority. While mankind have the fear
of a state of future recompenses to influence their conduct,
the unfortunate and impotent have some protection and
security against the wiles of the crafty and oppressive ;
but, without this restraint, they must be exposed to every
species of injury and insult.
It here seems worthy of observation, that those writers,
who, denying a future state of recompenses, have affirmed
that a belief in it is unnecessary to the support of morality,
have an advantage over those, Avho maintain the opposite
opinion, which is hardly discerned at first, and which often
passes wTholly unnoticed. For those several motives,
which they have substituted in the place of rewards and
punishments, would be of but little, if any weight, when
deprived of the support, which they derive from the same
doctrine which they have attempted to prove fallacious.
Our opponents, therefore, to reason Avith justice and can
dor, ought not to allege these motives as they now exist

38 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
in the minds of those who enjoy the light of revelation,
but should look for them, as they exist in that portion of
the world which has never been visited by the genial
influence of religion, and to those, dark regions Avhich
have never been illuminated by the glorious light of reve
lation. They will find, upon inquiry, that, before the
world had been favored by the Christian dispensation,
amongst the most polished nations of antiquity, their
sense of decency and decorum was not so delicate, but it
Avould admit of the grossest obscenities, and actions too
offensive to be named ; that their sense of virtue Avas not
so strong and determinate, but it would admit of the expo
sure of helpless infants and aged parents, whenever the
infirmities of their nature, or the larJse of years, had ren
dered the latter unfit for the common business and duties
of active life ; that their concejotions of the gods were
not so accurate and just, but they would alloAV them to
suppose, that they felt no interest and concern in the
affairs of mortals; in short, that their sense of honor was
not so enlightened, but it would lead one of their most
polished scholars and philosophers to remark, that "sui
cide Avas the noblest privilege which the gods had conferred
on man." When, therefore, our opponents assert that
the opinions and principles, Avhich men must naturally
imbibe from their intercourse Avith each other, would
afford a sufficient encouragement to good morals and
religion, they forget that all these principles are derived
immediately from the doctrines of religion, and that
connexion which subsists between the creature and Crea
tor ; and that, when you have destroyed religion, you have
dried up the fountain from which these opinions are
derived. The instances we sometimes discover of sceptics who
maintain good moral characters, has been likeAvise urged
to prove the behef of a future state unnecessary to the

DOCTRINE OF A FUTURE STATE. 39
support of virtue. Other reasons, however, than the
internal loveliness of virtue, may easily be assigned to
account for this phenomenon. Religion suffers nothing
from the discovery. In the first place, those unbelievers
who ansAver to this description, ha\Te been generally per
sons av1io had acquired habits of reflection and study, and
contracted a love of scientific distinction, and had few
temptations to resist, and feAV unlawful desires which they
wished to gratify. As they were removed from the
bustle of the Avorld, and separated from those who might
endanger their virtue, so they have been seldom found to
fall into gross irregularities. Where this has not been the
case, their conduct has been as wicked and profligate as
their speculations have been absurd and impious. Bol-
ingbroke may serve as a remarkable example, and strik
ing illustration of the truth of this remark. Persons of the
above description have often avoided the extremes of
profanity, drunkenness, or debauchery; but they have
likewise been destitute of those excellent feelings of the
mind, and those nicer emotions of the heart, which dis
tinguish and exalt the most humble Christian.
In the second place, it is worthy of remark, that unbe
lievers of the class now under consideration have been
generally speculative men, and members of some sect,
whose opinions they were bound to defend ; and, as it
has been their wish to increase their number, they have
preserved that course of conduct, which has the greatest
tendency to secure this end. Few of them have ever
been in places of high responsibility and trust, subject to
be seduced from the path of rectitude by flattery and
intrigue, or exposed to the temptations of interest, or the
dangers of pride and vanity. They Avere content with
their humble condition, and have seldom risen to the hon
ors ofthe world, which are justly termed the precipices of
virtue. I know of no greater incitement to diligence and

40 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
circumspection than that impulse of the soul, which always
actuates him who meets opposition to prove the sound
ness of his principles by the propriety and virtue of his
conduct. Vice and immorality are not the only evils which arise
from the disbelief of a future state of recompenses ; but
mankind would be extremely miserable, were not this
doctrine founded in truth. The virtuous, but unfortunate
person, when afflicted by the rod of the tyrant, or the
injustice of the powerful, consoles himself Avith the reflec
tion that this world is not his eternal home, or lasting
residence ; but, through a state of trial, that the time will
come when the whole human race shall be rewarded
according to their works, by a Judge of impartial justice
and infinite knowledge. Upon the supposition that there
is no state of future recompenses, reason, far from being
a blessing or privilege to our species, must be considered
as a quality of the mind, which serves no other purpose,
but to disappoint and render us unhappy. It would serve
as a lamp to light us to our solitary dungeon at our death,
there to be deprived of existence, and never to rise again.
The assurance of non-existence after death might liberate
the wicked from those gloomy apprehensions and fears
which disturb the guilty mind ; yet the better part of the
community must be deprived of their best hopes, which
illuminate the dark and dreary path of life, and refresh
the weary traveller at every stage of his long and tire
some pilgrimage. Every advantage arising from this
unreasonable supposition, belongs to the profligate and
wicked ; that class of persons, in every community, which
nothing but the apprehension of extreme punishment in
a future Avorld, can induce to sacrifice a single gratifica
tion to the peace and happiness of society. Persons of
all descriptions would be extremely unhappy, though the
wise and virtuous would lose more of their enjoyments

DOCTRINE OF A FUTURE STATE. 41
than the hardened and abandoned sinner. Those who
had devoted themselves to the pleasures and vanities of
life would, at the approach of death, be very reluctant to
leave a Avorld of enjoyment for a dark and gloomy grave;
which must forever terminate their existence. The vir
tuous, who had long endured all the sufferings of an
earthly residence, and had been comforted, in every adver
sity, with the hopes of a happier existence beyond the
tomb, when told that, after death, they were to rise no
more, would be struck with astonishment and dismay ;
and their reason would exalt them above the brutes
only to increase the sum of human misery. By a kind
disposition of Providence, the brute creation are unable
to foresee the approach of death, and are therefore
deprived of no portion of present happiness by gloomy
apprehension. But death, which, to the Christian, is often
a place of refuge from the trials and persecutions of the
world, to him who disbelieves the immortality of the soul,
can afford but a gloomy prospect. Whatever may be said
ofthe wisdom of the heathens, before the glorious light
of revelation had burst upon the world, it cannot be
denied, that, with no other guide but reason, we may fall
into dangerous errors on the subject of religion. Revela
tion has displayed, Avith all the brightness and splendor
of noonday, those truths, which were but imperfectly
viewed through the dim twilight of reason. Reason,
when applied to religion, is the sun in an eclipse ;.
but revelation is the sun shining with his meridian
splendor. Amongst heathen moralists, there prevailed
great diversity of opinion on man's identity, and so
discordant were their sentiments upon this and many
other questions with respect to the body after death,
that many were induced to reject the doctrine of the
immortality of the soul, as the dogma of some philoso
pher. Their ideas upon the nature and duration of a
future state were confused and indeterminate, while the

42 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
Christian can contemplate, with confidence and assur
ance, the existence and enjoyments of a future world.
He, who imagines himself the child of blind and
undiscerning chance, has formed too grovelling an idea of
his own nature, to permit him to aspire to virtue and dis
tinction. He possesses a temporary faculty, which is
denominated reason, but it is only to light him to the
grave, and there to vanish for eternity. He has a soul
capable of great improvement, and vast expansion, but it
is only to continue during its infancy, and perishes before
it can produce those salutary fruits, Avhich fill the mind
Avith insatiable delight.
Though man is the most excellent part of this lower
creation, and though his intellectual faculties give him, in
this Avorld, a vast superiority over the rest of the beings
of the earthy yet he is, on some accounts, the least pro
vided for, if there be no future state. For Avhat encourage
ment would there be, to sacrifice private interest to pub
lic good, or to deny present appetites and passions ?
What inducement to practise self-denial, and to seek the
happiness of particular persons, if there be no future state
of recompenses? What profit would be derived from
the cultivation of our minds, and advancement in knowl
edge, if the progress of it is to end at death, and can last
no longer? To be assured that our souls are immor
tal, revives the drooping spirits, and fills the mind with
unspeakable delight. How pleasing is the thought, that we
are to live beyond the grave, and that our condition, in
that state of existence, will depend upon our conduct in
the present ; that there is no respect of persons, and that,
in that scene, the weary traveller finds a heavenly home !
Having burst asunder the chains Avhich confine the soul,
and divested ourselves of the external garment, how
pleasing, how consoling, is the thought, that we shall be
clothed with an immortal robe ! The greatest anxiety,
the severest pains, which can surround a death-bed, are

DOCTRINE OF A FUTURE STATE. 43
the fears of future punishments ; but, if the soul can cast
itself upon God, and place an entire confidence in the
Rock of Ages, death is then no more than a sigh, or a
short passage, from a world of trouble and perplexity, to
a Avorld of immortality and endless felicity.
Thus have I completed what I designed to say, upon
the important and interesting subject of a future state.
That the above observations are very obvious and com
mon, and that the whole composition has probably many
faults and imperfections, the writer has little doubt. That
the subject, too, is but in part unfolded, and that many
important observations, which arise from it have been
omitted, is likeAvise probable. It is hoped, however, that
its complicated nature, and its various connections and
dependencies, will serve, in some measure, to extenuate
those imperfections. Let it be remembered, that such is
the nature of the subject, and so various its relations, that
a full investigation could hardly be expected from one,
whose attention has never been expressly and particu
larly devoted to the numerous and interesting subjects
and speculations, which belong to religion, but distracted
with a variety of studies and pursuits. It is now sub
mitted, such as it is, to the candid examination of those,
whose age and learning have supplied them with more
enlarged views, but who are not unmindful of the diffi
culties which must attend the pursuits of those, Avho are
just entering within the mazes of science, which must
necessarily produce some uncertainty and confusion of
thought. "Whatever may be the reception or fate of
this performance," to use the words of another, " the writer
flatters himself with the reflection, that it has not been
wholly without advantage to himself, and that, in every
stage of its progress, he has found in it, that alone, which
can alleviate our pains, or give a zest to our enjoyments,
occupation, and engagement."

A DELIBERATIVE DISCUSSION,
ON THE EXPEDIENCY OF ENCOURAGING MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS IN
THE UNITED STATES.
It has generally been thought that our country is not
yet ready to engage in manufactures with success. This
opinion, which was expressed by some of our ablest
writers, when our present government was formed, has lost
but little of its truth by change of circumstances. So
long as the strength of a nation consists in the wealth,
numbers and character of its people, and manufactures
are found to be incompatible with these objects of national
grandeur and prosperity, so long it is no less the duty
than the policy of our citizens, to discourage them. A
successful prosecution of domestic manufactures can be
the offspring only of an overflowing population, and ample
capitals, but is impracticable for the United States, con
taining extensive tracts of territory, which require but
the hand of industry to produce the most abundant fruits.
American manufactures will never increase our wealth,
while our population is yet small, and the price of labor
extremely high. Our citizens will never consent to sacri
fice all the elegant and beautiful productions of European
ingenuity, to humor the caprice, or to flatter the vanity, of
any class of pohticians, who, like the enlightened philoso
phers of China, imagine their own country to be a sort of
paradise, amidst a degenerate and impoverished world;
the seat of all that is elegant in literature, profound in
science, or grand in nature. Whatever may be said bf

MANUFACTURES IN THE UNITED STATES. 45
that noble independence which our country would enjoy,
if it had no intercourse with foreign nations, the prudent
politician Avill ever remember the useful maxim, "that
national honor should never be viewed as distinct from
national interest." The pursuit of independence, undi
rected by prudence, is a blind and romantic passion, and
some reasons may be alleged to show that it is even desir
able that our country should, in a degree, depend upon
other nations. A situation of this nature restrains the
violence of passion, and curbs that arrogance and national
pride which are generated by prosperity, and not unfre-
quently induce the corrupt and unjust ruler to invade the
unoffending provinces of neighboring empires. Com
merce, which must always be regarded as the most fruit
ful source of national wealth, should never be impeded
by the encouragement of domestic manufactures. But all
the advantages to be derived from foreign intercourse may
be lost, if, through a blind attachment to the productions
of our own country, we neglect to form commercial rela
tions with the nations of Europe in this infancy of our
Republic. When they have once discovered that our
commerce is not necessary, either to their subsistence or
prosperity, it may be too late to obtain the advantages of
their trade. The dews of the morning Avill have passed,
and we shall vainly attempt to pursue the chase by the
meridian splendor. I am no.t anxious to accelerate the
approach of that period, when our citizens, instead of
enjoying in security the beauties of nature, shall be envel
oped in the smoke of factories, or be dizzied with the ham
mering of presses, the clatter of engines, and the whirling
of wheels ; when, instead of gamboling and sporting in
the rich ocean of commerce, they shall be compelled for
ever to behold the expert and active seaman transformed
to the teamster; and the rapid and majestic motion ofthe
merchant vessel exchanged for the slow, dull creaking of

46 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
the wagon. If, therefore, our agriculture and commerce
should be lost in an experiment to try Iioav Avell our coun
try would succeed Avithout them, there is reason to appre
hend that our situation would be indeed deplorable, and
that we should become a nation of ferocious and stupid,
and, at the same time, poor and sordid barbarians, with
out enjoyment and without hope. Private interest will
ensure the wealth and prosperity of a country with much
greater certainty than the refinements of state. The mis
taken politician may imagine that he has augmented the
happiness of his people by the support he affords to one
species of labor, Avhile he discourages another ; or that the
desire of gain will be more ardent when cherished by the
favor of public authority; but in reality he has only
attempted to increase what is already sufficiently vehe
ment ; " he has dashed with his oar to hasten the cataract,
and waved Avith his fan to give speed to the winds."
It is the very nature of manufactures to afford but a
precarious subsistence. A foreign war, or a change of
fashion, (which, of all things, is most changeable,) are often
sufficient to throw thousands out of employment, and to
reduce them to the extreme of poverty. A person, while
toiling in a factory, is exercising no faculties of his mind
or body, Avhich can ensure happiness or prosperity in
declining years; when the decrepitude of age has succeeded
to the strength of manhood, and the enfeebled limbs
refuse to fulfil their respective offices. In short, the igno
rant and impotent manufacturer has been justly denomi
nated one of that class of persons whom we cannot prove
to be a human being by any rational characteristic, but
must admit to be so by a sort of redudio ad absurdam,
because he cannot possibly be anything else ; and I think
it must be allowed by all, that the eighteen persons who,
in an European factory, are engaged in manufacturing a
single pin, fulfil an office which requires no very great

MANUFACTURES IN THE UNITED STATES. 47
exercise of the faculties of the mind. These and other cir
cumstances, Avhich might be mentioned, cannot be favora
ble to the increase of population, because, whatever im
poverishes the parent, incapacitates him, in the same degree,
for the maintenance and education of his children. In
confirmation of this remark, it is computed that, in
every manufacturing town in Europe, not one-third of the
offspring ofthe poor arrive at maturity; aud that, in Eng
land, Avhose extension of commerce and refinement in the
arts during the last century, are unparalleled in the history
of nations, the number of paupers in the same period has
increased in a fourfold proportion, and is noAV rated at one-
tenth of her Avhole population. The increase of our pop
ulation by the emigration of foreigners has likewise been
alleged as a reason why we should engage in the support
of manufactures. That our numbers would be increased
by the accession of foreigners, who might transplant
themselves to America to engage in the pursuit of gain,
will not be denied ; but, before I can assent to the expe
diency of such a measure, I must be convinced that our
republican institutions are sufficiently firm and durable
to bear the ungoverned violence and daring innovations
of so heterogeneous a mass of citizens. Patriotism, to
become a powerful principle, must be impressed upon the
mind by association and habit; or else it is the watch
word of party, or a factitious spirit, which leads to disorder.
But hoAV, I would ask, can the bosoms of those glow with
an enlightened love of country, who visit the United
States only to increase their fortunes ; who learn only
from the speeches of our Presidents, or from our public
prints, that they are our countrymen ; and who refuse to
contribute to the support of government, while they pos
sess a full share, though but little skill, in making our
rulers ? As well might we expect political virtue and an
enlightened mind from the wandering Arab, or Indian

48 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
hunter, as from the foreign artisan, whose only knowledge
is that of his profession, Avhose only pursuit is gain. Those
kinds of manufactures which are conducted in the house
hold by persons under the inspection of guardians and
friends, are probably highly beneficial to our country,
because, vriiile they increase its wealth, they do not pollute
the morals, nor destroy the health. But those kinds
which can be rendered profitable only by a minute
division of labor, and by the employment of women and
children separated from the care of connections, I cannot
but condemn. I can discern in them no spirit favorable
to our republican institutions; no circumstances, which
are not hazardous to the morals, the patriotism, the happi
ness, and the lives of our countrymen. It is the glory
and peculiar blessing of our country that its inhabitants
are not, like some of the European nations, grouped in
large collective bodies ; and that the air which they
breathe is uncontaminated with the destroying pestilence
which pervades those manufacturing toAvns and cities
which overflow with numbers. Places of this description
are the seats of all that is hostile to civil liberty, to
morality, and religion. An infuriated populace assumes the
sovereign command, and the virtuous are compelled to
enlist under their banners, because they are unable to
resist their fury.
In seasons of public disorder, the advice of such as pos
sess wisdom and integrity will be disregarded. The cen
sure of the majority will be dreaded, and their favor
sought. For the punishments inflicted by an enraged
multitude are just causes of terror ; and there are but few
who can contemplate, with philosophical composure,
" That baleful star, whose horrid hair
Shakes forth the plagues of down and tar."
If, therefore, good morals are essential to the preserva-

MANUFACTURES IN THE UNITED STATES. 49
tion of our republican institutions, and manufactures have
a tendency to corrupt them, let us cordially unite in the
wish, Avhich was long since uttered by the third President
of the United States, avIio, while contemplating, with the
eye of unprejudiced reason, the circumstances of our coun
try, expressed his desire, that, " while we have land to
labor, our Avorkshops might remain in Europe." Let us
encourage no species of labor which is incompatible with
the security and happiness of our country. And, may the
tree of liberty, Avhich was reared and nurtured by the care
of our pious ancestors, be ever guarded by the vigilance,
defended by the energy, and protected by the patriotism,
of their descendants !

THESES -RHETOEICdS.
RHETORICE ORNATE LOQUI, ET REBUS VERBA APTARE, DOCET.
Ut naturae jura prius extiterunt, quam homines societate
conjuncti, aut mores legibus formati sint, sic oratores
fuerunt, antequam rhetores dicendi praacepta tradi-
derunt
Loquendi consiha sunt quatuor ; intellectui lucem afferre,
imaginationem delectare ; animi affectiones excitare ;
et voluntatem movere.
Evolvendi penitus auctores, qui de pietate, fortitudine,
temperantia, et philosophia paacipiunt ; et rerum pluri-
marum scientia comprehendenda, sine qua orator frus-
tra eloquens sit. " Nam eloquentia nihil aliud est,
quam copiose loquens sapientia."
Omnis orationis vis et facultas in quatuor partes distrib-
uta est ; invenire quid dicetur ; inventa disponere ;
deinde ornare verbis; vel inventa eloqui; turn ad
extremum agere ac pronuntiare cum dignitate ac venus-
tate.
Apud antiquos genera tria orationis fuerunt : demonstra-
tivum, deliberativum, et judiciale.
His aliud genus concionale nunc adjectum, quod in Dei
templis exercetur.
Genus demonstrativum laudando et vituperando utitur.
In genere deliberativo quaaritur, quid utile, et in judi-
ciali, quid justum sit.
Homines docere et emendare, atque eos a " peccatorum

THE CONSTITUENTS OF RHETORIC. 51
via convertere," oratoris Christiani officium praacipuum
est. Itaque incumbat, primum ut ii, qui audiant, cog-
noscant, quid elegendum et quid vitandum sit ; et turn
ad extremum virtutis amore arderent.
Tres sunt facti generales status ; conjecturae, finitionis, et
qualitatis ; aut tria sunt, quaa in omni disputatione quaa-
runtur ; An sit, quid sit, quale sit.
Partes orationis sunt exordium, propositio, probatio, ac
peroratio.
Rhetores jubent exordire ita, ut eos, qui audiant, benev-
olos, et attentos, et dociles reddemus.
Deinde rem ita proponere, ut verisimilis, ut aperta, ut
brevis narratio sit; ut auditores, facile cognoscant, quid
confirmandum, aut refutandum sit.'
Omnis probatio constat argumentis, quaa ex loco, tempore,
et fine ducantur.
Peroratio sequitur, quaa rerum repetitione et congregatione
constat. Hie si usquam, totos eloquentiaa aperire fontes,
et hie auditorum animos possidere, totaque pandere
possumus vela.
Pronuntiatio duas partes continet, vocem et motum ; et
affectus omnes languescant certum est, nisi orator voce,
vultu, totius prope habitu corporis inardescat.
Omnis oratio causae, auditoribus, personaa ac tempori accom-
modanda est.
In stylo necesse est, primum ut purus ; deinde ornatus
figurarum vrarietate, et ad rerum dignitatem accommo-
datus ; sed ante omnia dilueidus ; nam orationis virtus
praacipua est perspicuitas,
Samuel D. Bradford.

CHARACTER OF BENJAMIN BILLINGS.
Died, in Roxbury, on Thursday, August 20th, 1829, Mr.
Benjamin Billings, aged sixty-four years. The decease of
this excellent man will be a subject of deep regret to a
large circle of relatives and friends, and to all, who had
the privilege of his acquaintance. It appears to us, that,
when the great and the good are taken away, whose lives
have been distinguished by uncommon acts of virtue and
kindness, they should not be permitted to be silently
numbered with the dead, without that tribute of respect
to their memory, which is the just reward of excellence.
The subject of this notice was a person of extraordi
nary worth ; and we have never been called to mourn
the death of any one, whose life was passed in the per
formance of more virtuous and disinterested actions.
His youth was marked by respect for his superiors in
age and experience ; by uncommon industry ; and moral
rectitude ; and he formed, early in life, habits of close
attention to business, which continued, without relaxation,
in after years, and contributed so largely to his success.
He was the friend of religion, and of good order in society ;
and was always ready to contribute liberally in aid of
measures, which should benefit the interest of the town in
which he resided. When any work of utility was to be
accomplished, his name was among the very first, upon
the list of contributors ; although his acts of public munifi
cence were few, compared with those of a private nature,
which he was in the habit of constantly performing. His

CHARACTER OF BENJAMIN BILLINGS. 53
mode of life Avas quiet and unobtrusive. He avoided dis
play and ostentation, and sought no other reward than
that Avhich he found in the approbation of his oavu con
science. Of his domestic qualities, his affectionate devotion to
his family and friends, (scenes which least attract public
attention and notoriety,) we cannot speak in terms of too
exalted praise. As a husband, he Avas attentive and affec
tionate ; as a father, indulgent and kind ; and, as a mas
ter, humane and merciful. He seemed particularly formed
for domestic enjoyments ; and it was in the circle of his
family and friends that his character appeared to the
greatest advantage. Indeed, by those, who were inti
mately acquainted with Mr. Billings, scarcely any degree
of commendation Avould be deemed exaggeration.
We might dwell much longer upon the qualities of his
heart, and speak of his perfect integrity, his love of truth,
his hospitality, and the uncommon candor of his disposition.
We might attempt to explain that power and influence
about his manners and address, by which he was enabled
to acquire so many friends, who survive deeply to lament
his loss, and to whom his memory will be forever dear.
There are many, who feel that his death has dissolved
some of the strongest ties, which human nature can know ;
but we forbear. The heart is now cold, which once glowed
with friendship and philanthropy ; and the ear, which was
always open to the tale of distress, hears not our tribute
of applause ; but it is not possible that the impression,
which his exemplary life and character have left upon our
memories, can be easily or suddenly effaced.
No man, whom we have ever known, had more sincere
and devoted friends ; and, should we admit that he had
any enemies, it would only prove that there are some
hearts, which no degree of kindness can soften.
He displayed throughout his protracted sickness the
most unbounded patience and fortitude, and in the last

54 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
melancholy scene, the resignation Avhich he discovered,
evinced the efficacy of those religious principles, by which
he had always been governed.
It may be deemed superfluous, to add, that, by the
death of such a man, his afflicted family, his relatives and
friends, the town in Avhich he resided, and the religious
society to which he belonged, have sustained an irrepara
ble loss. But the event was ordered by better wisdom than
ours, and Christianity would teach us rather to be grate
ful that his valuable and useful life was spared so long,
than to complain that it was not continued longer.
" Thy fate, then, shall we ever mourn,
Placed, as thou art, in happier realms above 1
No ! — We scarce wish thee to return ;
Sainted and blest, if virtue Heaven approve."

CHARACTER OE PETER REMSEN.
Died, on Friday, August 26th, 1836, at his country seat
at Newtown, Long Island, in the sixty-sixth year of his
age, Peter Remsen, Esq., late principal of the house of
Peter Remsen & Co., of New York.
The decease of such an eminent merchant, and excel
lent man, as Avas the subject of this notice, cannot fail to
be a source of deep regret to a large circle of friends in
this city and its vicinity. It will remind some, of numer
ous favors received ; others, of the ties of a long cherished
friendship, which are now forever broken ; and all, who
enjoyed his acquaintance, of the loss of an individual,
who was highly valued, and who possessed a character of
very uncommon excellence and worth.
The situation, which he filled so long, as the head of a
commercial house, so extensiA^ely known and so highly
esteemed, both at home and abroad, and the close con
nexion he sustained, for so many years, with all the most
important interests of the city of NeAv York, cannot fail
to impart an interest to the announcement of his death,
which will be deeply felt on both sides of the Atlantic.
He came to New York so early in life, and while that
city was almost in a state of infancy, as respects its com
mercial relations, continued there so long, and for so many
years filled so prominent a station, that the history of his
commencement, his growth, and his prosperity, seems
almost identified with that of the city itself. And it may
well be so; for he held, for many years, the very first rank
as the head of an establishment, second to none, at the

56 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
time, in the union ; and his industry, integrity, and unwa
vering regard to the interests of his correspondents, were
folloAved by the usual reAvard of a rich harvest of wealth,
honor, and esteem. He took a deep interest in the rising
greatness of that city, to which he contributed by all the
means in his poAver. By the establishment of a commer
cial house conducted on principles like his own, he offered
powerful inducements to the merchants of other coun
tries, to give the market of New York a preference over
all others ; and no plan could possibly have been adopted,
more effectual to make the city of his adoption, wdiat it
has now become, the greatest commercial emporium upon
the American continent.
No situation, however elevated, could make him forget
the claims of those, who had done him a kindness, espec
ially when he was commencing life with but slender means ;
and he used, in later years, to dAvell with much pleasure,
on the early confidence which was reposed in him by
some friends at Boston, and especially by the late Francis
C. Lowell, whose sagacious mind made an early discovery
of Mr. Remsen's worth and fidelity. It may be truly
said, that this kindness extended even to the descendants
of these early patrons. This aid, thus promptly applied,
no doubt quickened his advancement; but, at the same
time, it is believed that he possessed such untiring indus
try, unwavering integrity, and close attention to the
interests of his correspondents, as could not have failed,
in time, to bring him into the foremost rank, even under
circumstances less auspicious. His death will be especially
regretted by many of the young and middle-aged, Avho are
now filling respectable and responsible stations in life, and
who feel how great a debt of gratitude they owe to his
memory ; not only for the benefit of his valued counsel
and advice, but also for his active exertion and substan
tial favors in their behalf; and probably the city of New
York has never been called to mourn the loss of an indi-

CHARACTER OF PETER REMSEN. 57
vidual, to Avhom so many of the junior members of society
are indebted ; for he had a most rational view of the
Avorth of money, aud considered it as valuable only in
proportion as it confers happiness on the possessor, and
those Avithin his sphere of action.
He possessed, too, a mind of great discrimination, and
a judgment which seldom erred in its decisions ; and he
could remain cool and under the influence of his reason,
Avhile all around him were under excitement, and the
influence of temporary feeling ; and this, no doubt, was one
of the principal causes of his great success. His prudence
and wisdom, in this respect, may be Avell recommended to
persons of every age ; and especially at the present crisis
of affairs in our country. He was very kind and charitable
to the poor, and, if his name was sometimes found wanting
upon the numerous lists, which are so constantly presented
to us at the present time, it was because his better judg
ment told him that some are of a nature, and for a pur
pose, from which the virtue is greater to withold, than to
afford our aid and support. The example of such a man
should not be slightly passed over, or soon forgotten. The
lesson it teaches of the value of industry, integrity, and a
faithful discharge of the duties of life, may be perused
with benefit by all.
Mr. Remsen was never married, but those Avho knew
him most intimately, felt assured that, had he taken upon
himself the relations incident to that connexion, they
would have been sustained Avith the same fidelity and
steadiness, Avith which he fulfilled the other duties of life.
He has left but few near relatives, but they knew how to
appreciate his numerous virtues, and possessed his entire
love, confidence and esteem ; and, although the declining
state of his health, for several years past, had forbidden
the hope of his long continuance, his death will have
inflicted a wound upon their hearts, which time only can
cicatrize and heal.

LETTER FROM CARLSBAD

[AVe hope that the length of the following letter will not deter any of our read
ers from its perusal, for it will be found to be of a very interesting character.
The description of the venerable Coke, (to whom, we believe, the writer carried
letters, from the President,) the warm friend of America, who made the motion, in
the House of Commons, that " the thirteen American Colonies should be free,"
and carried up the Address to the Throne, for which he was never forgiven, will
be read with great pleasure. The writer is a Boston merchant, of high standing
and intelligence, and every way worthy of the liberal courtesy extended to him.
We hope his tour may prove as beneficial to his health as it must gratifying to his
feelings, and, in a short time, find him safely restored to the bosom of his very
numerous friends here, who are awaiting his return with impatient anxiety.
Boston Post.]
Kingdom of Bohemia, Baths of Caklsbad,
July 30, 1835.
My Dear Sir : — Soon after the date of my last letter,
I proceeded, by invitation, to Holkham, in Norfolk, the
residence of the celebrated agriculturalist, Mr. Coke, Avhere
I Avas detained, by his kindness and attention, nearly a
Aveek ; Avas conducted, by him, over the greater part of
his estate, consisting of 40,000 acres, and made acquainted
with his numerous and valuable improvements in the art
of agriculture. He also introduced me to several of his
tenants, of which, he has a great number, and some of Avhom
rent parcels of his land, amounting from 1500 to 2000
acres, paying for the same, £1800 to £2500 sterling, per
annum. He gives no leases for less than twenty years,
and some of his tenants are nearly as old as himself, pos
sessing properties from £30,000 to £50,000 sterling,
keeping a great number of horses, cows, and large flocks

DESCRIPTION OF CARLSBAD. 59
of sheep ; and, in some instances, fine hunting horses, and
packs of hounds. Mr. Coke retains about 1700 acres of
his land, for his own use and cultivation ; has 400 head of
cattle, nearly all of the North Devon breed ; 4000 sheep ;
a vast many swine, of the Neapolitan breed, and a. great
number of horses, for pleasure, and, also, for the use of
the farm. His park is seven miles in circumference ; and
about 40,000 head of game are killed upon his whole
estate, per annum. These consist of pheasants, par
tridges, Avooclcocks, snipes, hares, and rabbits. Mr. Coke,
himself, is a great sportsman ; and, although noAV eighty-
two years old, seldom alloAVS a fine day to pass, during the
sporting season, without improving it. He went out every
fine day, during my visit, and never missed a shot.
His chaplain, Mr. Collier, records, in a book, the game
which is killed, every day, by Mr. Coke himself, and his
guests, describing the number of each sort.
Mr. Coke has been twice married. He had three dausrh- o
ters by his first wife — Lady Andover, Lady Anson, and
Mrs. Spencer Stanhope, who are .all living ; and the tAvo
last named Avere making their annual visit, at Holkham,
while I was there. I have never seen two ladies, who
appeared to possess more excellent qualities, and shall ever
feel indebted for the kindness and hospitality Avith which
they treated me. Mr. Coke's present wife Avas Lady Ann
Keppel, daughter of the Earl of Albemarle ; and they
Avere married on the 22d February, 1822. She was then
nineteen years old, and he was sixty-nine years. By her,
he has had five sons, and one daughter, all iioav living, and
a more beautiful or promising family of children, I am
quite sure, cannot be found in England. The eldest son,
Thomas, goes to Eaton next year ; and, when he is of age,
will, no doubt, be Earl of Leicester. Mr. Coke, himself,
has received the offer of a title seven times ; but, having
incurred the displeasure of George III., on account of his

60 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
active measures, in concert with the late Mr. Fox, in favor
of American Independence, he would never accept, after
wards, of any honor, which the court would confer.
Indeed, he had risen, already, so high, that no title, even
that of king, could make him greater.
I regretted, very much, being deprived of the society of
Lady Anne Coke, during my visit ; but she was confined
to her room, having given birth to her fifth son, about ten
days previous to my arrival. Before my departure, how
ever, she requested Mr. Coke to have me conducted to her
apartment ; and, there, I found her reclining on a sofa.
She gave me a most kind and hearty welcome to Holk-
ham ; regretted her indisposition had prevented her
receiving me sooner, after my arrival ; expressed a hope I
should renew my visit, at a future time, and, on taking
leave, presented me with engravings of the portraits of
herself, and her four eldest boys. I had heard of her
great personal attractions before, but they much exceeded
my anticipations, and her whole countenance was marked
by an expression of benevolence and kindness, which I
have seldom, if ever, seen equalled. Indeed, I Avas ready
to believe ' that she was, Avhat Mr. Coke had previously
assured me she was, " a perfect model of a wife and
mother." She mingles very little Avith the gay world;
and nearly all her time is devoted to the care of her
family, and the wants of her numerous tenants.
Mr. Coke has an income of £70,000, sterling, per annum,
and this immense wealth, possessed by two persons, of such
unbounded benevolence and generosity, enables them to do
a vast deal of good. Indeed, their tenants almost idolize
them. I very much regret that our country, in general, is
not sufficiently aware of what she owes to Mr. Coke. He
has been the oldest, and firmest, and most active friend
America ever had, in England. He was the bosom friend
of Mr. Fox, and concerted, with him, most of the measures,

DESCRIPTION OF CARLSBAD. 61
in the British Parliament, which paved the way to the
acknoAvledgment of the American Independence. In
short, he made the motion, in the House of Commons,
that " the thirteen American Colonies should be free," and
carried up the Address to the Throne ; and, for doing
Avhich, the king never forgave him. He was in thirteen
consecutive parliaments, occupying a space of more than
fifty years ; and concluded his parliamentary life, by the
passage of the Reform Bill, Avhich passed through the
House of Commons, just fifty years from the clay on
which Mr. Coke made his famous motion in Parliament
in favor of reform. Mr. Coke pointed out to me, in his
library, an engraving ofthe Declaration of Independence,
which, he remarked, " had been sent to him by order of
the American Congress, and which," he said, he " consid
ered the greatest honor ever conferred upon him." I
wish, however, that Congress would take some measures
which should cause his services to be more known, and
more justly appreciated by the Avhole American nation ;
for Mr. Coke, like Fox or Jefferson, has ever been the
steady and consistent friend of civil and religious freedom
throughout the Avorld. Allow me, my dear sir, to invite
your attention to this subject, and something valuable, I
think, may be accomplished. Mr. Coke takes a lively
interest in all the concerns of America ; is a great
admirer of General Jackson, and thinks him the best
President we have had since the time of Washington.
He told me that Earl Gray remarked to him, " that the
late Ministry in England, having read many of the violent
newspaper attacks on General Jackson, copied into the
London papers, had anticipated difficulties in the negotia
tion with America, during the Presidentship of the
General ; but that, instead of anything unpleasant, " he
had never conducted a correspondence, with any country,
so agreeably, as Avith America, during the administration of

62 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
President Jackson." Mr. Coke says, there is no man
living he so much wishes to see ; and he has sent him, by
me, an invitation, to visit Holkham, and insists upon it, that
the general shall visit England, after his present term of
office expires. " Tell him," says he, "it will do him much
good, and that he is not too old, being quite a boy, com
pared to me." • For myself, I can truly say, nothing could
give me more pleasure ; and I would readily consent to
cross the Atlantic, the eleventh time, to accompany so
illustrious a character. Indeed, I find the character of the
President justly appreciated, and held in the most exalted
estimation, in every part of Europe, which I have visited.
No man, since Washington, has been so generally known,
or so much admired. The fact is, that the people of
Europe, Avith a sudit undimmed by that film of prejudice,
Avhich the violence of party zeal has draAvn over the eyes
of the enemies of the administration in America, are doing,
now, that justice to the great merits and services of
General Jackson, which, a part of his ungrateful country =
men, and which posterity, without any exception, are
sure to render, after a time.
I left London for Paris, on the 10th of February, and,
after remaining there three Aveeks, crossed the Alps, over
Mount Cenis, on the 4th of March, and next day arrived
at Turin. Fron Turin, I went to Genoa, Leghorn, Pisa,
Florence, Rome, Naples, Bologna, Venice, and Milan,
remaining in each principal city about three Aveeks; and,
on the 4th of July, I left the Lakes of Maggiore and
Como, intending to pass over the Rhaatian Alps, through
the Tyrol to Innsruch, Vienna, Prague, Dresden, Leipsic,
and Berlin, to Lubec, on the Baltic sea, and there to take
the steamboat for St. Petersburg. The distance is about
1200 miles, and I have already accomplished about 750
miles of it, having arrived here a feAV days ago from
Prague, to see the most celebrated baths in Europe, and

DESCRIPTION OF CARLSBAD. 63
to drink the Avaters for a fortnight, for the further improve
ment of my health. I find travelling in Germany very
agreeable. The posting is excellent; my carriage is light ;
I have fresh horses every nine miles, and accomplish about
nine posts, or seventy-five miles a day. I travel, attended
only by my servant, and have done so ever since I left
Paris in February. It is sometimes rather solitary, and a
little expensive ; but I have a perfect command over my
time and movements, and not having to consult with any
travelling companion, there is no danger of any collision
or quarrel, as to Avhether our hermitage shall be red or
white. I hope to reach St. Petersburg by the Oth of
September, and London by the 15th of October; and
where, among my letters, I hope to find one from you.
I wish you would arrange your affairs, so as to visit Eng
land, and travel with me in that country. It would do
your health much good, and your acquaintance with the
French language would make you feel quite at home in
nearly every part of Europe. I think, too, it would cause
you to estimate our excellent and free institutions, even
more highly than you do at present. I wish that some of
those persons in America, Avho complain " of the arbitrary
measures " of the American government, would cross the
Atlantic, and take a survey of some of the governments
of Europe ; that, for instance, of the king of Sardinia,
Carlo Alberto, who is probably the most perfect model of
a tyrant, Avhich Europe contains. Fie maintains an im
mense army, at a great expense, not to guard his kingdom
against foreign invaders, but to protect his OAvn person
against the indignation of his own subjects. In Genoa,
only, he has 14,000 soldiers, and eight citadels with their
guns all pointed towards the city. No soldier dares speak
to a citizen, as they might contrive a plot together; and
every person is watched, and even in his OAvn house.
This government fears and hates foreigners of eA^ery kind;

64 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
but especially those Avho are the subjects of free states.
It was, perhaps, on this account I was imprisoned at Alex
andria, (a very strongly fortified town,) on my way from
Turin to Genoa. I had been in the town only four hours,
and had left my hotel only twenty minutes before, Avhen
standing for a moment in the public highway, looking
towards the citadel, I was suddenly arrested, (as also my
servant,) by tAVO soldiers belonging to the fortress, and
taken before the governor of the citadel, on a false charge
of having taken a drawing of the citadel — was repri
manded, and then handed over by him to the governor
of the town, who refused to hear any explanation —
addressed us in the most offensive language, and then
committed us to another guard of soldiers, directing them
to imprison us closely in one of the barriers of the town,
and to Avait for his further orders. This Avas soon done,
and we were lodged in a place nine feet long, by eight
broad, having on the floor a bed of oak, with a pillow of
the same, and without any covering at that cold season of
the year. Our persons were also searched, and every
thing in our pockets taken away, and conveyed to the
governor. We could do nothing. Our passports were
set at nought, as affording us no protection. After our
liberation, (which was done also in a very offensive man
ner, and without any apology or excuse,) I learned that a
respectable citizen of Leghorn, had a year ago been
imprisoned eleven months, and supplied only with bread
and water by this same governor, for having taken two
letters of a stranger as he was leaving Marseilles in the
steamboat for Genoa, and which, unknown to the passen
ger, happened to be addressed to some persons at Genoa,
who were concerned in what is called " the rebellion of
1821." This man was wholly innocent, and never inter
fered with politics, and was liberated after a confinement
of eleven months, only by the interference of the Grand

DESCRIPTION OF CARLSBAD. 65
Duke of Tuscany, to whom Leghorn is subject. The treat
ment I received Avas shameful — I Avas perfectly innocent —
had no materials about me for taking a drawing, and had
never thought of attempting one. I have had the deposi
tion of my servant taken before the American Consul at
Rome, stating the facts of the case — I will have the case
laid before the American Government for the vindication
of mj" rights, and the protection of other Americans who
may chance to travel through the dominions of that des
picable tyrant, Carlo Alberto, king of Sardinia. Such is
the nature of all governments which have no constitution,
charter, or fixed laws. The person or property of no man
is safe for a moment. There is no trial by j ury in any of
these arbitrary governments. The military are the judges,
and accusation is generally equivalent to conviction and
death ; or, Avhat is far worse, imprisonment in one of their
charnel-houses. During my stay at Naples, the squadron
arrived there from Gibraltar. This was a pleasing occur
rence, and I had many very agreeable interviews with
the officers; particularly with Captain Nicholson of the.
Delaware. I cannot, of course, attempt to give you any account
of the countries or things, which I have seen during my
tour. The weather has been uniformly fine, and I can
accomplish much in the long summer days. I wonder peo
ple will visit Italy, or any other country, in the winter.
One should see Italy, at any rate, in the spring or summer.
The most beautiful spot I have seen, was the Lake of
Como, near Milan ; and if heaven be a place, I cannot
help thinking it is certainly something like the banks of
this lake. But all such places must be seen in warm
weather, and in summer. I am pleased with Carlsbad also.
It is a pleasant place ; and about 4,000 persons have
already arrived here this year, to take the waters. They
have produced some cures, which were almost miraculous.

66 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
The water of one of the springs is hot enough to make
tea. The people place earthen ware in the Avater to have
it baked hard. The Grand Duke, Michael, of Russia, is
here, and many Russians, Poles, Germans and French. I
have now almost travelled beyond the range of the English,
and there are only two or three families here. It is a
general remark, that the English are omnipresent ; but I
have never found them agreeable people on the continent.
In their own country, they are hospitable, and have much
to say ; but, on the continent, they are silent when they
meet you ; or, if they speak, it is with the manner of a
bad boj-, whom his parents have just flogged, and who
gives an answer, sullenly, to some question asked him.
I see that the English papers say that you are going
on swimmingly in America. I also see that the United
States Bank, just as its charter is expiring, has increased
its loans to sixt}^ millions. BeAvare. We may have
" another crisis ; " and, if we should, I predict it will be
more severe, and ruin more people, than the last. There
is no remark older, or more false, than, " that mankind
grow wiser or more cautious by experience ; " and I affirm,
and Avill affirm, that a man who has once committed a rash
or foolish deed, and suffered for it, is more likely to com
mit the same again, than another person, Avho has never
done the foolish act, or acquired this " experience," as it is
called. But I must conclude. My medical attendant, who
has the care of my eyes, has just called, and, seeing my
long letter, has blamed me for writing it.
To Hon. David Henshaw, Boston.

LETTER EROM MANCHESTER.
Manchester, Dec. 24th, 1836.
Dear Sir, — When we last met, you were pleased to
express a desire that I should address you, occasionally,
from this side of the water. A Avish, on my part, to prove
that I duly appreciate your politeness, and not the most
distant hope that I can communicate any thing either new
or interesting, impels me to comply with your request.
At a time like the present, when Banks and Banking are
almost the only topics of conversation, I might, perhaps,
be thought inexcusable should I touch upon any subject
but " the currency," which occupies, it would appear, the
minds and thoughts of all on both sides of the Atlantic.
You will all have heard ofthe rise in the value of money
here to 5 1-2 per cent ; the curtailment of credit, and the
dulness of trade. There have also been one or two stop
pages of what are called " the Joint Stock Banks," and, in
one instance, one of these institutions, viz., the Northern
and Central Bank of England, (the head of which is located
here,) has been obliged to ask aid of the Bank of Eng
land. This has been an occasion of regret to the friends
of joint stock companies, but of great triumph to the bank
itself. This institution, viz., the Northern and Central,
has been doing an immense business, and had forty branches
and agencies. They also issued bank notes payable on
demand, and, in this way, offended the Bank of England,

68 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
which, in March last, offered almost any accommodation,
provided the Northern and Central would withdraw its own
notes, and circulate those of the Bank of England. This
offer was declined, and, in July last, a committee was
raised by Parliament, " to inquire into the state of the
joint stock banks, Avith leave to send for witnesses and
papers." This led to an exposition of the affairs ofthe Northern and
Central Bank, by which it was discovered that, although its
paid up capital was only £712,000, it had, in circulation of
notes, £340,000 ; owed £379,000 to its depositors, and had
allowed those with Avhom it had done business to over
draw their accounts to the extent of over a million of
pounds! To meet these liabilities, all its ready money
means amounted to only £87,000 ; and, in case of any
panic, it depended solely upon re-discounting in London
the notes receivable, which it had received of its custom
ers ; and it had formed the erroneous opinion that its
security was so good there never could come a time when,
with its securities, it could not re-discount in London its
notes or bills receivable to any, the most unlimited extent.
In this, the bank was deceived, and the examination of its
chief manager, Mr. Cassels, having been published among
the parliamentary papers, the public, seeing its condition,
began to doubt its credit ; the moneyed interest of Lon
don would not discount its bills, because the Bank of
England would not take those bills again ofthe bill-brokers
and bankers ; and, in this emergency, the Northern and
Central Bank was compelled to apply to the Bank of
England, which, with true consistency, said to the direct
ors, — " We know well enough that you are good, and safe,
and solvent, and, although we Avould not take your bills
when offered by the bill-brokers, still we will take them of
you direct to the extent of £500,000 or more, if you
request, on the condition that you will close and wind up

JOINT STOCK BANKS IN ENGLAND. 69
your branches, all or nearly all, issue no more notes of
yours, but circulate ours."
Humiliating as Avas the proposal, the Northern and
Central could do no better, and accepted it, and the tri
umph of the National Bank Avas complete ! So much for
becoming extended, and doing too much business ! Few
persons appear to have any doubt, that the raising ofthe
whole committee itself Avas a plan concerted on the part
of the bank and a few of its friends, to put clown the
Northern and Central Bank, and similar institutions ; and
this opinion will be strengthened in the mind of any man,
Avho will read the whole examination of Avitnesses, filling
two hundred and fifty folio pages in the Parliamentary
Reports. You will perceive, by the London papers, that,
although the Bank of England has only about four mil
lions of bullion in lieu of eight, which is the lowest sum it
ever ought to have, when its liabilities are thirty-two
millions of pounds, yet it continues to increase its secur
ities or discounts, and appears to have very little regard
to the foreign exchanges, which can be made favorable
only by a curtailment of its discounts. The only way to
account for this, is the opinion that, in case money affairs
become worse, and the bank continues to lose its bullion,
it intends to apply at once to the government to have the
restriction repealed, by Avhich it is compelled now to
redeem its notes by its gold, in the same manner in which
it was done in the time of Mr. Pitt. What a scene in
England, and indeed everywhere else, would be produced
by such a measure as this, I cannot attempt to describe.
So much for raising up a mammoth institution, like the
Bank of England, in copartnership with the government !
There can be no doubt, that joint stock banks, since
their commencement in 1827, have been multiplied far
beyond the wants of the country ; have been, in some
instances, very imprudently conducted, and have caused

70 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
much over-trading; but these things are the natural
effects of the want of proper bounds and restrictions in
their charters, and an attempt will probably be made by
Parliament, when it meets, to correct the errors which
former legislators have committed.
These banks must, hoAvever, be all eventually safe ; for
every person Avho holds a single share of their stock, is
liable to make good all their engagements to the last
pound of property he possesses. The Northern and Cen
tral Bank, before mentioned, has 1264 shareholders. The
influence of these banks Avill continue to increase, prob
ably, and they are likely to do aAvay, in a great measure,
Avith private bankers, and eventually, perhaps, Avith the
bank of England itself; for that institution has always
failed to exercise that boasted salutary influence over " the
currency," to which it has always laid claim. England,
like the United States, appears destined to continue sub
ject to alarming panics and violent revulsions; and, while
they continue, Ave hear much of the cruelty of banks and
bankers ; " of their shameful disregard of contracts entered
into before ; " and their refusal to aid those of their friends
Avho are " hard-pressed," and find it difficult or impossible
to meet their engagements ; whereas, there is reason to
suspect, often, that the banks and bankers themselves, at
such times, stand quite in as much need of aid, if not
more in need, than their customers ; and every panic
which occurs should teach every man that banks and
bankers are seldom ready to accommodate their friends
at those times when their aid is most required, and is
asked by those who need it most. It would appear that
banks and bankers have a sort of prescriptive right to do
what would be deemed highly improper in others, and
generally they do it Avith impunity, because their victims
are almost ahvays indebted to them, and, on this account,
dare not resist oppression.

JOINT STOCK BANKS IN ENGLAND. 71
The banks in America, resemble, in this respect, Avhat
are called spiel-huyses, in Amsterdam, Avbich are crowded
with females of easy virtue, for the accommodation of the
public. The proprietors of these establishments entice
their victims into their dens of misery and vice by furnish
ing them, in the first place, Avith fine clothes on their
admission, by which means the}' become indebted to their
keepers, and, after this is accomplished, they find no diffi
culty in practising upon them every kind of imposition,
cruelty, and unfair usage. On this account, the moneyed
institutions of the United States should be subjected to
the severest discipline on the part of the Legislature ;
but here, again, the same difficulty occurs ; and, from the
lenient manner in which they are dealt with, when
brought before their judges, there is great reason to fear
many of the legislators themselves have long since put on
the livery of the spiel-huys, and dare not do their dut}'
like freemen, and independent members of the Legisla
ture. In this way, many of the banks in the United
States have become nuisances, which ought to be abated,
and would not be tolerated in any other portion of the
globe ; and this proves that a country may have free and
liberal institutions, and make their own laws, and yet, for
want of the requisite virtue, and moral courage, which
should always guide the counsels of such a free country,
may be subject to a great many abuses of power, and
subjected to numerous inconveniences, almost as great as
those which exist under a despotic government. But we
all admit these evils, but who shall point out the remedy?
Alas ! that question it is difficult to answer, for mankind
do not grow wise by experience.
I wish it were in my power to report a more favorable
state of things in England ; but the improvement in the
moneyed affairs of the country, which seemed near at hand
a few days since, has not been realized, and most persons

72 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
look forward to the future with considerable apprehen
sion. The prices of manufactured goods, however, do not
fall, and holders here, like the same class in America,
appear resolved to make any sacrifice rather than to sub
mit to a reduction in price.
It was supposed the shipments to the United States
would almost cease, in a time like the present, especially
as this is declared to be the only way in which trade
can be brought back to its usual channels ; the interest of
money reduced, and business be conducted once more
with any kind of satisfaction. Instead of this, however,
the vessels now sailing for America, have full freights,
and nearly as many manufactures as last year, but I
should fear that, while this continues, the embarrassments
at present existing in America, will not be removed. A
rise in the necessaries of life has taken place here, very
similar to what has occurred in the United States. Wheat
has advanced from thirty-six shillings a quarter, (the price
in July, 1835,) to sixty shillings. Potatoes, which usually
bring six shillings and sixpence a load, are liow twelve shil
lings and sixpence. StraAV has advanced from three and
two pence to seven shillings a stone, of fourteen pounds;
and the price of hay has doubled. The poor, of course, feel
this advance sensibly, but thus far, fortunately, the winter
has been very mild, and much like the weather which is
usual in the spring; although at sea there have been
violent gales, and many vessels wrecked. The last three
packets have made their passages from New York, each
in seventeen days.
Believe me to remain, dear sir, very respectfully,
Your friend and obedient servant.

To C. G-. Greene, Esq.
Editor of the Boston Morning Post.

THE BOSTON BANKS.
The subject of currency and banking, which has so
much engaged the public attention of late, has, unluck
ily for the cause of truth, been so mingled with the party
politics ofthe day as to induce many to suppose that there
is some natural connexion between them. No two sub
jects, however, are more distinct in themselves, and all
must regret the unfortunate coincidence, by which a con
nexion has appeared to subsist between them. It is no
easy thing to establish the principles of a sound and safe
currency for a great commercial country like our own,
even when the mind comes to the inquiry unfettered by
prejudice or passion. It is a topic on which the wise and
good of both parties may agree to differ ; but, when we
look at the manner in which our banks in Boston, or (to
speak with greater caution) some of our banks in Boston,
have been conducted of late years, especially when one
calls to mind the facts which have been disclosed during
the past twelve months, all, it is believed, will admit that
the time has arrived when the shareholders in those insti
tutions should call the managers of them to a strict and
" searching " examination.
Some years since, it was the boast of our city that a
bank failure had never occurred in it, and that, during
the commercial panics, in which the banks of other por
tions of our country, (including even New York and Phil
adelphia,) violating every principle of their charters, as
well as every obligation of honor and honesty, had sus-
10

74 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
pended specie payments, the banks of Boston had never
swerved from the path of duty. Many of our merchants
must remember when, some twenty or thirty years since,
it was announced, in State street, that a deficiency had
been found in the accounts of one of our bank officers.
The news of a general war in Europe Avould scarcely pro
duce such surprise and consternation at the present time.
But what a sad reverse have we witnessed of late ! With
in the past twelve months, several banks in our city, and
its immediate vicinity, have actually failed. In one or
more instances, the managers, after purloining a part of
the capital of the institution, absconded ; and, in other
instances, the shareholders have been obliged to dismiss
certain leading officers for gross dereliction of duty. In
most cases, where the probe has been made to enter, it
has been found to pierce only rottenness and decay; and
quite sufficient has come to light to excite our fears and
alarms that, should the examination be persisted in, a
further amount of decay and rottenness would be dis
closed. Much has been said and written upon what is called
"the sub-treasury system of Mr. Van Buren," and upon
the great risk of loss the public would incur, by entrust
ing large sums of the revenue to individuals called sub-
treasury agents, instead of depositing the public money in
our banks, governed and guarded, as they are, by twelve
or more directors to each institution ; and looking at what
has occurred in Boston, as well as in many other places,
one might dwell upon the fallacy of such an argument.
were this the place for such a discussion. Enough, how
ever, has come to light to convince any prudent and
thinking man that the stocks of our banking compa
nies can no longer be considered as furnishing safe invest
ments for money, conducted as many of them have been
of late years ; and that a thorough reform has become a

BANKING IN BOSTON. 75
matter of absolute necessity. And when I consider that
the banking capital of this city is over twenty millions of
dollars, and that the funds of every class of our citizens,
as also of our savings banks, and many other corporations,
are invested in them ; not to mention the property of the
widoAvs and orphans, Avhose all, in many instances, depends
upon the upright management of those institutions ; I am
utterly astonished at the apathy Avith which this subject
has been vieAved, and at the surprising supineness with
which the stockholders stand still, and see their property
mismanaged, wasted, or purloined.
That these institutions ought, long since, to have been
subjected to the most severe legislative enactments, and
the infraction of them summarily punished, no person of
just views can doubt ; but experience forbids the expec
tation that any thing is to be hoped for in that quarter ;
and, therefore, the shareholders should take the business
into their own hands, and that without a moment's delay.
Let the proprietors of each and every bank appoint two or
more persons amongst themselves, whose duty it shall be
to visit, twice or more times a year, the several banks ; to
call for officers, clerks and papers, and to examine every
evidence of property the banks have. Let them look
sharply to the accounts of the presidents, cashiers, and
directors themselves ; see that no private ledger or port
folio is kept ; that no due-bills on demand are set down as
cash actually in possession ; that no heavy loans are made
to favored individuals, or to persons who have become so
needy as to compel them to pay a usurious rate of inter
est for the accommodation. Let them inquire whether
the bank which they are visiting, when the last dividend
was declared, had actually the earnings on hand, or made
it out of profits to be realized at a future day ; or, (what
is alleged to have been sometimes done,) borrowed the
money at twelve per cent, per annum, to make a divi-

76 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
dend to the stockholders at the rate of six per cent. Let
them ascertain how many New York, and Philadelphia,
and Baltimore notes the bank holds, which have been dis
counted at an usurious rate of interest for the accommo
dation of traders and speculators in those cities, and to
enable them to take aAvay the little foreign commerce
which remains to our city,-Avhile the paper of our mer
chants and of our own young men, who have grown up
amongst us, settled amongst us, and Avho have to pay our
taxes, is thrown out, because a just regard to their rights
or their credit would not alloAV them to pay over six per
cent, for money. Let them further inquire whether the
capital of the bank has been lent to its depositors and
responsible customers, and in due proportion to each, and
at the rate of interest established by the law of the State ;
or whether it has been disposed of to brokers, or needy
applicants, or overgrown corporations in large sums on
pledges, and at an illegal rate of interest. Let all these
points be ascertained, and, if such practices have or do
prevail, let the unjust stewards who are guilty of them be
dismissed. Let each bank be directed by its stockholders
to publish, a quarterly account of its situation, that all the
stockholders may have access to it, and judge for them
selves. Let these measures be adopted, and we shall have
no more bank failures, and no more derelictions of duty
among the officers of the banks. The stocks of these insti
tutions will no longer be selling at a discount of ten to
twenty per cent. ; the property of our Avidows and orphans
will become safe again in their former depositories, and
the banks of Boston will once more deserve and acquire
the high character which they once maintained, cato.

LETTER ON CURRENCY. Manchester, Nov. 30, 1839.
My Dear Sir: — I had lost this pleasure, by the
steamer, since which, nothing of much importance has
occurred on this side the Atlantic. The pressure upon
the money market is as great as ever ; and the circula
tion is said to be as low as in 1822. In the issues of the
Bank of England alone, there is a reduction of three mil
lions sterling, and the deposits were never so small.
These circumstances, occurring at the same time, have
almost entirely removed all apprehension of a suspension
of specie payments on the part of the bank, or of the issue
of one pound notes. Commerce, in the mean time, is
greatly depressed ; people in trade find it very difficult to
meet their engagements, and there is a general complaint
of " bad times." Of the various causes which have pro
duced this state of things, the heavy import of corn, the
reckless and profligate course pursued by the Bank of
Pennsylvania, and the disasters occasioned by it in America,
the destruction of so much British property in China, in
the shape of opium, and the necessary doubt how the
trade with that empire is to be conducted in future, are
the principal ; and it is difficult, at this moment, to predict
what the result may be. Our dates, from New York, are
to the 8th of November, and are looked upon as more
favorable — while the conduct of the New York and Bos
ton Banks, in maintaining their integrity, is the theme of
universal encomium. At the same time, Mr. Biddle, and

78 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
his bank, are only mentioned in terms of execration, and
Avill not soon be forgotten. We shall, very soon, expect to
hear of a resumption, by the solvent banks of Philadel
phia, Baltimore, and Virginia ; for, Avith the exchange on
London and Paris, at three and four per cent, below par,
so that a remittance of gold or silver would produce a
considerable loss, Ave cannot understand how solvent insti
tutions can remain much longer in their present degraded
condition. The question for every one, noAV, to ask him
self, is, " Hoav are we to avoid, in future, a recurrence of
the events of the past three years, and save ourselves
from becoming a nation of bankrupts ? " for, if there be one
plan more sure and efficacious than another, for convert
ing the most moral and virtuous people upon earth into a
nation of bankrupts^ swindlers, and rogues, it may be found
in just such a system of banking, and paper money as
exists in the United States of America, at the present
time. Among the various remedies recommended, that
alone, which can be proposed to our State Legislatures,
with any prospect of receiving their sanction, is the pro
hibition of bank notes under the denomination of twenty
dollars ; and the adoption of such a rule would give us a
sound and healthy circulation. If you agree with me in
this opinion, as I hope you do, permit me to implore yon
to use all the weight of your influence to produce this
desirable reform, so essential to the best interests of our
country. America, without the adoption of this plan, can
never retain among her population such an amount of gold
and silver as is absolutely essential to the stability of her
moneyed institutions, or to the solvency and honorable
standing of her merchants. Gold and silver will not long
remain in a country having apaper circulation like that
of our own. But let us appeal to facts.
In Great Britain, prior to 1822, and while the Bank of
England remained, like the banks of Philadelphia now, in

ON CURRENCY. 79
a state of suspense, and refused to redeem her paper, the
circulation amounted to £04.000,000, and was made up
thus : —
- Bank of England Notes, £30,000,000
Country Bank Notes, 23,000,000
Gold, 4,000,000
Silver, 7,000,000

Making in all £64,000,000
In 1822, the bank Avas compelled by Parliament, amidst
the predictions of universal ruin on the part of the Direc
tors and the Tories, to return once more to specie pay
ments, and to issue no notes under £5, and noAV let us see
hoAv the circulation Avas made up ten years after, in 1832,
as given in Parliament by the Duke of Wellington. It
was made up thus : —
Bank of England Notes, £19,900,000
Country Bank Notes, 9,200,000
Gold, 28,000,000
Silver, 8,000,000

£65,100,000
Need I add another line to establish- the position
assumed ?
A question of this important kind, which concerns the
honor of our country both at home and abroad, should
never be mixed up with party considerations. Our
future character as a nation, our rank as a great commer
cial people, the duty we owe ourselves, and the good
example we should leave our children, demand an imme
diate, a radical, and a thorough reform in the circulation
of the United States.
In my last, I had the pleasure of mentioning a very
pleasant visit I had received from Mr. and Mrs. Van
Buren who passed three days with myself and family on
their way from the Duke of Cleaveland's to Bristol, to
embark, and now I have the great satisfaction of record-

80 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
ing a most agreeable visit just concluded, from our justly
valued, -and very talented minister, Mr. Stevenson, and
his very amiable and accomplished lady.
You are aAvare hoAV many difficult questions Ms.
Stevenson has had to discuss with the British Cabinet,
and how ably and triumphantly he has advocated the
rights of -his country. It always gratifies me to hear the
way in which the English speak of him. He possesses
great natural eloquence, improved by frequent practice
and is a most beautiful and animated speaker. It is said
his speeches at Glasgow, and before the British Institution
at Birmingham, have seldom, if ever, been surpassed. I was
pleased to hear that he had obtained of England the
indemnity of £30,000 for the slaves which were unjusti
fiably set at liberty from a ship, Avhich was wrecked at or
near Nassau. If America has been fortunate in one thing
more than in another from the peace of 1783, it has
been in the character of the distinguished persons whom
we have sent abroad to represent us in Europe; and
what can be more important than to employ the most
able men, since foreigners judge us so much by our
ministers? s. d. b.
To the Editor of the Boston Post.

CAPTURES IN THE AFRICAN SEAS.
[From the Manchester Guardian, January 15, 1842.]
UNITED STATES. — THE RIGHT OP SEARCH.
The packet-ship New York, which arrived at Liverpool on
Wednesday, has brought American papers to the 22d ult., but
they do not contain any news of importance. The American
editors, having pretty nearly disposed of M'Leod, and the burn
ing of the Caroline, are now busily engaged in discussing the
merits of the correspondence between the English government
and Mr. Stevenson, the late American envoy, on the subject of
certain alleged outrages upon American vessels by British cruisers
on the coast of Africa. The tone of these discussions is, in gen
eral, abundantly angry and pugnacious ; and we find, that parties
connected with the United States, are not free from apprehensions
of a war arising out of the misunderstanding which exists on this
subject. To us, however, this apprehension seems a little chi
merical ; for the claims set up by the American envoy, and sup
ported in the American papers, are so utterly unreasonable — we
might, indeed, say absurd and preposterous — that any govern
ment which should resort to a war for the purpose of enforcing
them would expose itself, not merely to the grave censures, but
almost to the ridicule, of the civilized world. Put into plain-.
English, and divested of extraneous topics, with which it is-
invested in the course of the discussion, the American claim
amounts to this — that no vessel carrying the American flag shall
be visited by a British cruiser, even for the purpose of ascertain
ing whether she is, or is not, entitled to carry that flag. It is
true, that the Americans do not put their claim in this form,
which would be too absurd for any diplomatist to venture upon ;
n

82 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
but it is the real essence of what Mr. Stevenson says upon the
subject ; and when that is pointed out by Lord Palmerston and
Lord Aberdeen, instead of showing that those noble lords have
misunderstood his allegations, and that he really means some
thing else, the American envoy shelters himself under vague
generalities, Avhich may mean any thing or nothing at all.
One fallacy under which Mr. Stevenson seeks to cloak his
meaning, or his want of meaning, is an allegation, which he
repeats many times, and in support of which he quotes various
authorities on international law, — to the effect that the right of
search is a belligerent right ; and that, as Great Britain is not at
war, she has no right to ascertain the nationality of vessels bear
ing the American flag on the African coast. Mr. Stevenson had
no need to quote Vattel, or Lord Stowell, to prove his allega
tion ; the right of search is belligerent ; but then, what is a bellige
rent right ? Why, in this case, nothing more than the right of
one vessel to make war upon, and to capture other vessels. A
national ship, of a country at war, that meets with an enemy's
vessel, — any ship that meets with a pirate, the common enemy of
all mankind, — any revenue cruiser that finds a smuggler, — and
also any English, French, Spanish, or Portuguese ship of war,
that meets Avith a slaver of any one of those nations, — has the
undoubted right to attack it with fire and sword, to capture, and,
if resisted to a sufficient extent, to destroy it, Avith its crew.
These are all and equally belligerent rights ; and they all and
equally give the right of visitation of vessels under circumstances
which induce a fair suspicion that they come within the category
of enemies. The Americans, however, set up a claim to have all
American vessels exempted from visitation by the cruisers engaged
in putting down the slave trade ; and they require that the simple
display of an American ensign shall be taken as proof of national
character. In other words, they require that all British, French,
Spanish, or Portuguese slavers shall be enabled to shelter them
selves, and carry on their horrid trade with impunity, by the very
cheap expedient of carrying a piece of bunting, with certain stripes
and stars upon it. But upon what definite grounds do they rest
this extraordinary claim ? We have searched in vain in Mr.
Stevenson's notes, and in the leading articles of American news-

CAPTURES IN THE AFRICAN SEAS. 83
papers, for any intelligible statement on this point. If the claim
should be conceded by the English government (of which, by the
way, there is very little danger,) Ave presume the next demand
would be, that any suspicious-looking, lugger-rigged vessel that
might be found lurking about the English or Irish coast, should
be exempted, not merely from capture, but from visit and examina
tion, by hoisting an American flag. The one demand is just as
reasonable, just as consistent with common sense and interna
tional law, as the other, and just as likely to be conceded by the
English government.
We confess that Ave have no fear of war -on any such grounds.
American envoys (especially when desirous of giving trouble to
the government that has recalled them) may write waspish and
unreasonable notes, and American editors may indite blustering
articles, on such subjects ; but the American government is not
so destitute of common understanding, as to plunge their country
into a war on any such ridiculous grounds.

[From the Manchester Guardian, January 22, 1812.]
ENGLAND AND THE UNITED STATES — THE RIGHT OF SEARCH.
We have received, from a highly respectable American gentle
man resident in this town, the following letter in reference to an
article on this subject, Avhich recently appeared in the Guardian,
with a request that we will give it insertion. To this request, we
most readily accede ; and, though the great length of the letter
makes such a course somewhat inconvenient, we place it in the
most prominent situation we can command for it ; at the same time
requesting that those of our readers who feel an interest in ques
tions of international law will read it, not only with care and atten
tion, but with that feeling of indulgence which ought always to
be extended to a gentleman who comes forward in a foreign land
to maintain his views of the interests and the honor of his country.
In the present state of the relations between England and the
United States, it is important that Englishmen should make them
selves acquainted, not only with the real merits of the great ques-

84 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
tions that divide the two countries, but also with the interests and
-even the prejudices which prevent others from taking a just and
dispassionate view of them. Inveterate prejudices are best worn
away, as hard substances are polished, by rubbing them together ;
and we can conceive no practice more likely to abate certain
unfriendly feelings prevailing on both sides of the Atlantic, than
the practice of Englishmen in America, and Americans in Eng
land, stepping forward, as our correspondent has done, and fairly
and fully advocating the opinions generally entertained by their
fellow-countrymen. With this preface, we give the letter above referred to, hoping
that our readers will not be deterred by its length from giving it a
perusal ; and we subjoin some observations to which we beg also
to direct their attention.
To the Editor of the Manchester Guardian :
Sir, — I have read with attention some editorial remarks
contained in your paper of the 15th instant, under the
head of '< The Right of Search," relating to the recent
correspondence between the American ambassador in
London, and her majesty's late and present secretaries of
state. The conclusions at which you appear to have
arrived, seem to me so unsupported by the terms of that
correspondence that I find it difficult to believe that you can
have read it Avith your usual attention and care. The
charge against Mr. Stevenson, the late American ambas
sador, that " he has sheltered himself under vague gen
eralities," and that it would appear, by the tenor of his
letters, — "that the Americans require that all British,
French, Spanish and Portuguese slaves, shall be enabled
to shelter themselves and carry on their horrid trade with
impunity, by the cheap expedient of carrying a piece of
bunting with certain stripes and stars upon it," has no
foundation, so far as I can find, in the letters ofthe above-
named individual. On the contrary, the subjects in dis
pute between the two countries appear to me to have

CAPTURES IN THE AFRICAN SEAS. 85
been treated, on the part of Mr. Stevenson, Avith courtesy,
dignity, and consummate ability ; nor have I been able to
find, in the replies of the British secretaries, any satisfac
tory ansAver to the powerful arguments advanced. On
reference to the correspondence, I find no less than three
letters from Lord Palmerston, in Avhich he expressly dis
claims all right, on the part of Great Britain, " to search
and detain vessels, Avhich are the property of citizens of
the United States, when navigating the high seas." In
his letter, dated 5th August, 1841, to Mr. SteA^enson, who
had called upon her majesty's government for reparation
for losses sustained by a recent detention, by one of her
majesty's cruisers, of an American vessel called the Doug
las, his lordship does not undertake to justify the same by
reason of any right of search, or detention, possessed by
Great Britain, but assigns, as a reason and excuse for the
proceeding, an agreement alleged to have been entered
into by the American commander, Paine, of the American
navy, with the commander of her majesty's cruisers in the
African seas, according to each other, for a season, a
mutual right of search; and his reply to Mr, Stevenson is
in the following words : " Although it was indisputable
that British cruisers have no right as such to search and
detain vessels Avhich are the property of citizens of the
United States, even though such vessels may be engaged
in the slave trade, yet, in these cases, these vessels acted
in pursuance of a special engagement with a naval officer
ofthe United States." Again, on the 27th August, Lord
Palmerston informs Mr. Stevenson, " that the government
had written to the commissioners of the British court, at
Sierra Leone, that British ships of Avar were not author
ized to visit and search American vessels on the high seas."
And, in another letter of his lordship's, of the same date,
he declares : " Such things, however, will not happen again,
because orders have been given, Avhich will prevent their

86 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
recurrence ;" and he adds, " her majesty's government do
not pretend that her majesty's naval officers have any
right to search American merchantmen, met with, in time
of peace, at sea." Can any language be more decisive or
unequivocal than this ? But what will your intelligent
readers say, when informed that, before concluding this
same letter, after making, Avith more flippancy than good
taste, some very indiscreet and uncourteous remarks upon
the American flag, his lordship proceeds to cancel eArery
thing which he had Avritten before, and puts in the claim
of Great Britain to the odious right of search, in a form
never before avoAved, and to an extent never before
asserted ? In this communication, with a sophistry which,
in the history of special pleading, was never surpassed ;
and with a chicanery almost without parallel in the rec
ords of diplomacy, he undertakes to vindicate the claim
of Great Britain, by attempting to prove a difference
between the right of search and the act of arresting, vis
iting, and detaining a vessel upon the high seas, examin
ing her papers, and ascertaining (to use the words of the
secretary) " that she is a vessel of the United States, and
navigated according to law." It is true, as remarked by
Mr. Stevenson, that his lordship has omitted to mention
by what law he required these American vessels to be
navigated. To this communication, the American ambas
sador replies, under date of the tenth September, and
most triumphantly refutes the sophistical reasoning of the
British secretary. He proves, beyond all doubt, that the •
claim asserted by Great Britain is, undisguisedly, the same
right of search, and the same attempt to exercise a juris
diction upon the high seas, against Avhich America has
always contended ; and to which she will never submit
under any circumstances whatever. This is the letter in
which Mr. Stevenson, with so much force, calls the atten
tion of Lord Palmerston to a decision of the late Sir Wil-

CAPTURES IN THE AFRICAN SEAS. 87
Ham Scott, in 1817, relating to a French slaver, which had
been eaptured by an English cruiser, and condemned, as
Sir William contended, against the law of nations. The
words of that eminent and learned man are so remarkable,
and apply Avith so much force to the dispute existing at
present between England and America, I cannot forbear
their quotation, " that no authority could be found, which
gave any right of visitation or interruption over the ves
sels or navigation of other states on the high seas, except
that which the right of war gives to belligerents against
neutrals ; and that Great Britain had no right to force her
way to the liberation of Africa, by trampling upon the
rights or independence of other nations, for any good,
however eminent."
From the above premises, and the admissions and dec
larations of Lord Palmerston himself, the following con
clusion is unavoidable, namely, that whereas, in his ear
lier communications, Lord Palmerston unequivocally dis
claimed " a right to search American vessels on the high
seas in time of peace," some circumstance must have
occurred between the fifth and twenty-seventh of August,
of no ordinary importance, to have induced the British
cabinet to assume this new and unexpected position, and
to assert the above-named odious claim in the manner
already described. In seeking for the cause of this sud
den change, the mind is carried at once to the treaty
recently proclaimed as having been made by Great Brit
ain Avith the other four great powers of Europe, and which
Lord Palmerston, with so much complacency, has named
" The Christian League." It is true that the treaty was
openly proclaimed and published only a few weeks since ;
and all must remember with what a flourish of trumpets it
was ushered in on the part of the British press, on account
of the astounding effect it would have upon the United
States ; (no doubt in enabling Great Britain, after a trial

88 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
of more than half a century, to establish the right of
search ;) but no one has informed us at Avhat precise time
its principal articles were agreed upon. Lord Palmerston,
under date of 27th August, informs Mr. Stevenson, that
" the treaty will be a dead letter," unless America will
become a party to it, which proves his anxiety upon the
subject ; nor is it any violent presumption, that Great
Britain, to carry her point, may have engaged with France,
for instance, to require of the United States to accede to
the terms of the treaty ; and, in case of refusal, to force a
compliance by a violation of her rights upon the higlrway
of nations. Agreements of this character, in the form of
what are called secret articles, are events of no uncom
mon occurrence between the crowned heads of Europe.
France is understood to have been the power which hesi
tated the longest ; and, looking at the character of that
proud monarchy, and the well-known hatred and jealousy
entertained by the people of that country towards Great
Britain, it is no improbable supposition that the motive
for her present compliance with the earnest solicitations
of Great Britain may have been the hope of producing a
war between her ancient rival and the United States. It
would not be the first time that a British Secretary of
State has been made the dupe of the crafty diplomacy of
France ; nor could the government of France have taken
a safer position ; for, if Great Britain shall determine to
exercise the right asserted, war is inevitable.
And now, sir, since you have been pleased to pro
nounce the claims of America so " unreasonable," " absurd,"
and " preposterous," permit me to ask a few plain and
simple questions. If the United States had placed them
selves in a false position, or asserted unjust or unreason
able claims, why did Lord Palmerston, when called upon
by the American government for reparation for losses
sustained by the detention of certain American vessels

CAPTURES IN THE AFRICAN SEAS. 89
upon the African seas, justify the same by reason of the
agreement betAveen the English and American naval
commanders already mentioned ? Why did he not say
at once„ " We had a right to arrest and detain these ves
sels, and shall do so again under similar circumstances ? "
What emergency has arisen to authorize Great Britain to
interpolate the laAV of nations, or to render the surveil
lance of British cruisers necessary or just over the ship
ping of the United States ? TAventy-six years have
elapsed since the peace and treaty of Ghent were con
cluded, during Avhich time the slave-trade has been car
ried on, as Mr. Buxton and others assure us, to the great
est extent upon the African and other seas; and yet,
Great Britain has never ventured, until now, to assert
the right of violating the American flag. Is America,
with a population of seventeen millions, and a fleet tre
ble in power to that she possessed in 1812, less able now
to execute her laws for the suppression of the slave-trade
than she has been ? Is there a single inhabitant of Great
Britain mad enough to suppose, that America will permit
any nation upon the earth to dictate to her what she
ought to do ? Have not only the laws of nations, but of
England too, as expounded by Sir William Scott, become
changed, because what are called the five great powers of
Europe (three of which can scarcely be called commer
cial nations) have ordered to be put the signatures of
their respective ambassadors to a piece of parchment,
called, by Lord Palmerston, " The Christian League ? "
And last, but not least, if Great Britain or her allies have
a right to exercise the power claimed over American ves
sels, why has Great Britain, as stated by Lord Aberdeen
in his letter of the 13th October last, deemed it neces
sary to request the permission of America, or, in other
words, to solicit her to become a party to the treaty
which should contain that permission ?
12

90 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
The truth is, the position now maintained by America
is not "any extraordinary claim," as has been asserted,
but is as old as the American government. Its infringe
ment by Great Britain was one of the principal causes
of the war of 1812. As long ago as 1812, Mr. Madison, in
his message to the American Congress, informs them,
" that the British cruisers have been in the continued
practice of violating the American flag on the great high
way of nations, and of seizing and carrying off persons
sailing under it, not in the exercise of a belligerent right,
founded on the law of nations, against an enemy, but of
a municipal prerogative over British subjects." — " British
jurisdiction," says he, "is thus extended to neutral vessels
in a situation where no laAVS can operate but the law of
nations, and the laws of the country to which the vessels
belong ; and the practice is so far from affecting British
subjects alone, that, under the pretext of searching for
these, thousands of American citizens, under the safe
guard of national laAV, and of their national flag, have
been torn from their country and everything dear to them,
have been dragged on board of ships of war of a foreign
nation, and exposed under the severities of their disci
pline, to be exiled to the most distant and deadly climes,
to risk their lives in the battle of their oppressors, and
to be the melancholy instruments of taking away those
of their own brethren."
Thus wrote President Madison, in his address to the
American Congress, in June, 1812; and who, after its
perusal, can feel any surprise that America should look
Avith suspicion, in 1842, upon propositions touching this
same right of search, and coming from the same British
government, whose unjust and violent proceedings are
detailed above inthe year 1812? In the editorial
remarks contained in the Guardian of the 5th instant,
you impute the feeling of disaffection between England

CAPTURES IN THE AFRICAN SEAS. 91
and America to the contiguity of the possessions of the
two countries, and to the large military force on foot in
Canada ; and you speak of " the remarkable patience "
of the Americans, under Avhat you appear to consider
such a heavy grievance. I am quite at a loss, however,
to understand what proof }7ou havre that America has
ever considered the standing army in Canada as a griev
ance, or a subject of Avhich she had any right to com
plain. I am not aware that any feeling of that charac
ter has ever manifested itself on the part of the American
government or people ; nor have they ever ventured to
interfere as to the manner in which Great Britain should
govern her foreign possessions in North America, or any
other part of the globe. On the contrary, most well-
informed Americans, I believe, have, for a long time,
looked upon the Canadas as rather an expense and
source of weakness to Great Britain than an advantage ;
and have commiserated her being obliged to retain her
dominion over the Canadians by a standing army of
16,000 men, in a time of profound peace. They have
seemed to me to entertain the opinion expressed by Lord
Ashburton some time since in the House of Lords, in the
debate upon the affairs of Canada, " that it may be well
doubted if there be a power in Europe, possessing a
foreign colony, which Avould not be advantaged by the
loss of it."
Three questions now- divide England and America :
the boundary ; the right of search or visitation of Ameri
can vessels in the African seas ; and the attack upon the
Caroline. Respecting the first, you long since had the
independence and candor to insert in the Guardian, a
communication received from the United States, which
you pronounced at the time quite satisfactory, as
establishing the justice of the American claim. There
are, however, as I conceive, intrinsic difficulties apper-

9% WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
taining to that question which can never be surmounted,
except by a reference of the Avhole dispute to the arbitra
tion of some friendly power. As regards the second,—
the right of search, — I have endeavored, in my previous
remarks, to justify the conduct of the American govern
ment, as respects the demand of Great Britain, and I
hope with impartiality. In the case of the Caroline, it is
well known, that a company of her majesty's soldiers,
under the command of a British officer, invaded the
American territory, seized and burnt an American vessel,
murdering one or more persons on board ; that this act
was contrary to the express orders of Sir Francis Head ;
that, notwithstanding, it has been since approved by
Great Britain, and the commanding officer rewarded.
America has demanded reparation ; but it has not been
given. Should she continue to press the demand, it
may be, that Lord Aberdeen may persevere in deny
ing her redress, and remind her present ambassador, as
he did Mr. Stevenson, "that it is for the American
government to determine what may be due to a just
regard for the national dignity and national interests."
His lordship may rest assured, that America will not be
found wanting in the maintenance of either ; and that,
upon this occasion as upon others, she will strictly adhere
to the rule laid down by that distinguished citizen and
patriot, Andrew Jackson, " to ask nothing that is not
clearly right, but to submit to nothing which is wrong."
The above language of Lord Aberdeen may well be
denominated " pugnacious." It is that of pride and hau
teur. It is the same which Great Britain has too often
used to nations less powerful than herself. It will not be
heeded in America, but will be answered only by resist
ance. War may be the result ; but the United States,
animated by the justice of their cause, will not wait to
count the cost, when the question of national honor is

CAPTURES IN THE AFRICAN SEAS. 93
concerned. Great Britain Avould not, it is believed, have
ventured, under similar circumstances, to have used the
same language to France. The navy of the latter is too
powerful ; the blood of Frenchmen is too warm ; the Brit
ish isles are too near to Cherbourg and Toulon. It is
only the other day, in a war Avhich Great Britain is
Avaging for trade, and for the right of poisoning the
Chinese, by introducing among them, against the edicts
of the emperor, a deadly drug, upon which, we are
informed, the profits have amounted to four millions ster
ling a year, that we have heard of an attack upon a forti
fied city called Amoy, when a mandarin came out to meet
the attacking fleet with a flag of truce, inquiring " Avhy
so many ships had come ' there to trade at one time, and
what commodities they required." What is still more
remarkable, the despatch of the commanding officer,
detailing the destruction of the citadel and capture of the
toAvn, presented the anomaly of having no list of persons
killed, and there were only nine wounded. But let not
Great Britain flatter herself that it will always be practica
ble to gain her victories upon such easy terms. One can
easily call to mind engagements by land and upon the
sea, where the result has been very different from the
above. Finally, it is understood to be agreeable to the
self-complacency of Englishmen, in reference to the exten
sive foreign possessions of Great Britain, to be called " the
modern Romans." Let them, then, learn a lesson from
the history of Rome, that a lawless ambition for conquest,
and injustice towards the governments and people of other
countries, are sure, sooner or later, to be followed by the
decline and fall of the nation which avails itself of such
unwarrantable means of aggrandizement. AN AMERICAN.
January 20th, 1842.

94 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
In replying to this letter, Ave may as well observe, at the outset,
that, for the present, at any rate, Ave shall abstain from any partic
ular reference to a considerable number of subjects to which the
writer has adverted. Not that we have the slightest disinclination
to discuss, with our correspondent, his particular A'iews of the
burning of the Caroline, the situation of Canada, the war with
China, or any other of the topics — somewhat extraneous to the
question of the right of search — which he has introduced into his
letter ; but because Ave hold that that question is of itself of suffi
cient magnitude aud importance to require the undivided attention
of both writer and reader ; and that the mixing up with it of other
matters, though it may tend to mystify the subject, and to conceal
unsound reasoning, can never aid in the elucidation of truth. We
shall, therefore, in this article, confine ourselves strictly to the
question — or rather the questions, for there are two — arising out
of the recent correspondence between the American envoy and the
British government, in reference to what is commonly, but rather
inaccurately, termed " the right of search."
In commencing this task, we feel a difficulty, arising out of a
fact which, we dare say, will haA^e become apparent, from the peru
sal of the letter of An American to some of our readers who have
paid attention to the subject ; namely, that it scarcely presents a
single definite or tangible proposition Avith which we contend,
Though professedly written in reply to our article of Saturday
last, it does not even attempt to answer one of our arguments
against the claim which Mr. Stevenson sets up. Our cor
respondent denies our charge, that Mr. Stevenson has sheltered
himself under generalities, instead of replying closely to the argu
ments of the British ministers. If we were not afraid of leading
the minds of our readers from the main point at issue, we could
easily prove our allegation by extracts from the correspondence ;
and An American must excuse us if Ave say that he has treated our
article very much in the same way in Avhich Mr. Stevenson treated
Lord Palmerston's letters. After we had done our best to strip
the real question at issue of all the unimportant considerations with
which it had been loaded, our correspondent has been very suc
cessful in smothering it with extraneous topics, until its real shape
is effectually concealed. Can any man, who reads the letter of An

CAPTURES IN THE AFRICAN SEAS. 95
American, deduce from it the actual points of difference between
the English and American governments ? We defy him to do so.
When professing to describe the English claim, the Avriter huddles
it up under the vague term " right of search," with an allegation,
most inaccurate and unfounded, that it is the same claim which was
advanced in and prior to 1812, and which gave rise to the Avar
with America ! As no discussion can proceed satisfactorily, until
its basis is ascertained and defined, we shall proceed to state at
once what are the two distinct questions arising out of the recent
correspondence, and then show in what manner our correspond
ent has been misled, by mixing these tAvo questions together.
The questions are these :
1st Have British ships a right to capture or detain American
vessels known or suspected to be engaged in the slave trade ?
2d. Has a British naval commander a right to visit a vessel
displaying an American flag, but reasonably suspected to be, in
fact, a British, French, Spanish, or Portuguese slaver ; for the pur
pose of ascertaining, from her papers, whether she is an American
or not ?
These are questions so thoroughly separate and distinct, that any
writer who mixes them together must either be mistaken himself,
or endeavoring to mislead his readers. Yet, throughout the whole
correspondence of Mr. Stevenson, there is an obvious disinclina
tion to keep them separate ; and he repeatedly answers the argu
ments of Lord Palmerston on one question, by allegations which
really apply only to the other. Of course, it is not our business
to impute motives to Mr. Stevenson ; and all that we shall say
about the course he has taken on this point is, that it has evi
dently misled our correspondent, who, through the whole of his
letter, never once seems to suspect that two different questions
had been under discussion ; and hence he has fallen into some
very extraordinary mistakes, and has charged Lord Palmerston
with inconsistencies which have no existence, except in his own
imagination. For instance, complaints were made by Mr. Stevenson, to the
effect that English vessels had captured vessels known to be
American, which Avere found or alleged to be engaged in the slave
trade ; and these complaints gave rise to the first question above

96 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
enumerated. Upon that question, and in ansAver to Mr. Steven
son's complaints, Lord Palmerston most distinctly stated, that
Great Britain claimed no right, under the law of nations, or under
any general treaty, to capture or detain any American vessel, or
even to visit any vessel known to be American ; and to this dis
claimer he adhered throughout the whole of his correspond
ence. Subsequently, however, in answer to other complaints, not
of capture, but of visitation and inspection of papers, which gave
rise to the second of the two questions above stated, his lordship
contended that the mere hoisting of an American flag could not be
taken as proof of the nationality of a vessel ; because that flag can
be just as easily hoisted by an English, French, Brazilian or Span
ish slaver, as by an American ; and he claimed for British cruis
ers the right of visiting and examining any vessel Avhich they had
reason to suspect to be one of those which they were empowered
to capture, and of ascertaining her real character from her papers.
Of course, if she Avas found to be American, even if filled with
slaves, all right of interference with her ceased at once ; and she
must be permitted to proceed on her voyage.
Now, in all this, we can see neither sophistry, nor special plead
ing, nor chicanery, nor inconsistency. It seems to us that the
ground taken by Lord Palmerston, in reference to the two distinct
questions brought under his notice, is perfectly clear, candid,
straightforward, and consistent. That our correspondent (no
doubt misled by Mr. Stevenson's letters,) has not understood the
real points in dispute, is manifest from a question Avhich he asks,
as if he thought it conclusive of the whole matter. He says —
" And now, sir, since you have been pleased to pronounce the claims of America
so ' unreasonable,' ' absurd,' and ' preposterous,' permit me to ask a few plain,
simple questions. If the United States had placed themselves in a false position,
or asserted unjust or unreasonable claims, why did Lord Palmerston, when called
upon by the American government for reparation for losses sustained by the deten
tion of certain American vessels upon the African seas, justify the same by reason
of the agreement between the English and American naval commanders already
mentioned ? Why did he not say at once, ' We had a right to arrest and detain
these vessels, and shall do so again under similar circumstances ' ? "
We should have thought that even the slightest attention to the
correspondence would have guarded our correspondent from the

CAPTURES IN THE AFRICAN SEAS. 97
error into which he has here fallen, by following the example of
Mr. Stevenson, and applying to one question the facts and the
reasons which belong only to the other. Lord Palmerston could
not, under a claim of right to visit vessels for the purpose of
ascertaining their national character, justify the capture of a ves
sel ascertained to be an American ; and he, therefore, showed that
where such capture had taken place, they had been made under
a special convention concluded between the British and American
naval commanders on the African coast. With respect to that
conA'ention, and to the captures made under it, all Ave shall say is, that
the American government must settle with its own officer any
complaints arising out of them ; and we have mentioned it now
only for the purpose of showing the error into which our corre
spondent has fallen, respecting the real nature of the claim set up
by the English government. A mistake of a similar character has
given rise to another question of the same kind. Our correspond
ent asks, —
"And last, but not least, if Great Britain or her allies have a right to exercise
the power claimed over American vessels, why has Great Britain, as stated by
Lord Aberdeen in his letter of the 13th October last, deemed it necessary to
request the permission of America, or, in other words, to solicit her to become a
party to the treaty which should contain that permission ? "
To this question we again reply, that nobody claims a right to
exercise any power over American vessels known to be such ; but,
if America would become a party to the treaty of Avhich our cor
respondent speaks so sneeringly, but the real nature of which he
apparently does not understand, all the contracting parties would
have a right to capture a slaver, even though known to be an
American ; and the exercise of this right would do much to put
down the slave-trade, for which the American flag is now almost
the sole refuge, — which will sufficiently account for the anxiety
of Lord Palmerston, that America should become a party to the
treaty. That treaty, by the way, gives no new power to England,
but merely puts the stipulations hitherto contained in separate
treaties with different foreign powers, into one general convention
executed jointly by all.
But, to return to the claim, advanced by England, of a right
of visitation of vessels suspected to be engaged in the slave trade,
13

98 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
and liable to capture by British vessels : we shall be glad if our
correspondent, from whom we hope to hear again, will state his
views as to the law of nations upon this, the only point at present
really in dispute in connection with the subject of search. As
he has asked some questions which did not bear upon the point,
we will take the liberty of asking him one or tAVO which, in our
opinion, do bear upon it, and to which we shall be exceedingly
glad to have his answers. He is, no doubt, well aware of the
fact, pointedly alluded to in the message of President Tyler, and
perfectly notorious to the world, that, in carrying on the slave-
trade at the present time, " the American flag is greatly abused
by the abandoned and profligate of other nations ; " that, in fact,
the Spanish slavers from Cuba almost invariably sail under it, and
seek to protect themselves by assuming an American character.
Now we beg that he, keeping this fact in mind, will reply to the
following queries, — which, in our judgment, go to the root of the
matter in dispute :
1. When a captain of an English cruiser, acting under a treaty
with Spain for suppressing the slave-trade, sees a vessel which he
has reason to believe to be a Spanish slaver, but which hoists an
American flag, does our correspondent maintain that the English
officer has no right to visit such vessel, and examine its papers ?
2. Suppose the officer, though acting in good faith, should be
mistaken, and that the vessel should prove to be an American,
would such visit and inspection involve a breach of international
law ?
3. If so, upon what opinions, decisions, or analogies, does our
correspondent rest his opinion 1
We think that, if our correspondent will answer these questions
candidly, sincerely, and dispassionately, he may do much good
in the way of removing prejudice and misconception from the
minds of others ; and perhaps, in the course of the investigation
which the framing of his answers will require, he may possibly
discover that he has himself been a little mistaken ; in which case
we feel confident, that we onty do him justice in believing that
he will not shrink from avowing his change of opinion. At all
events, it is exceedingly desirable that the merits of the question
should be fully understood ; and if the Americans will, as our

CAPTURES IN THE AFRICAN SEAS. 99
correspondent intimates, go to war, provided the British claim of
visitation be persisted in, we hope that they will, at any rate,
take care to inform themselves as to what that claim really is, and
not commence hostilities under an impression that it is the same
claim of searching for and impressing seamen in American vessels,
which gave rise to the last Avar between the two countries.
We purposely abstain from noticing some little topics of irrita
tion, which we think would be much better omitted in discussions
of international questions ; but there is one point mentioned by
our correspondent, on which we cannot help saying a feAV words.
Our correspondent charges Lord Palmerston with flippant, indis
creet, and uncourteous remarks upon the American flag ; but we
think that a very little consideration will convince him that his charge
has no good foundation. Of the real and genuine American flag,
the emblem of the power and independence of the United States,
neither Lord Palmerston nor any other sensible man would speak
otherwise than with respect. But when a flag is forged and
counterfeited, — when, instead of truly representing the national
character of the vessel that bears it, it is made the cover of deceit
and falsehood, — whether it may resemble the " star-spangled ban
ner," or the union jack, it is nothing better than a fraudulent rag,
and deserves no respect from anybody. Now, it was of this coun
terfeit and fraudulent flag that Lord Palmerston spoke in his letter ;
and we cannot but think, that the sensitiveness which our corre
spondent displays on the subject is very much misplaced.

[From the Manchester Guardian, January 29, 1842.]
THE RIGHT OF SEARCH.
We have received the following further communication from the
writer of the letter which appeared in the Guardian of Saturday
last :
To the Uditor of the Manchester Guardian :
Sir, — In sending you a communication under date the
20th instant, nothing could be more distant from my

100 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
thoughts than entering upon a newspaper controversy ;
nor is it my intention to continue a discussion which, I
fear, must have already wearied the patience of your read
ers. It appeared to me, on the perusal of your editorial
remarks of the fifteenth of January, upon the correspond
ence between Lords Palmerston and Aberdeen, and the
American ambassador, that you had mis-stated, not to say
perverted, unintentionally or otherwise, the true meaning
of, at any rate, one of the writers ; and, being a personal
friend of Mr. Stevenson, and always desirous of defend
ing the character of my country when unfairly attacked,
my wish was solely to call the attention of your readers
to the correspondence itself, hoping they might find in it
a refutation of your statements, and a confirmation of my
own. The prominent place assigned by you with so much
courtesy to that communication, together Avith your
remarks, leads me to believe that my object will have
been attained; and, therefore, our correspondence must
end with the present letter.
You commence your remarks by saying, that my com
munication, " though professedly written in reply to your
article of Saturday, the fifteenth of January, does not
even attempt to answer one of your arguments against
the claim which Mr. Stevenson has set up." In answer to
this, permit me to observe, that Mr. Stevenson " has set
up no claim whatever." On the contrary, it is Great Brit
ain, or rather her government, which " has set up a claim,"
as I trust I have proved in my first letter ; and, if my
communication of the twentieth instant was no reply to
your article of the fifteenth instant, as asserted by you, I
may truly aver that I have only followed the example
which I had before me in your editorial remarks of the
above-named date, upon the correspondence itself. After
repeated reference to those remarks, I have been utterly
unable to discover any thing which has even the sem-

CAPTURES IN THE AFRICAN SEAS. 101
blance of '• an argument." I was, therefore, compelled to
have recourse to the correspondence itself; and, in com
mencing my observations, I spoke accordingly, not of
your " arguments," but of " your remarks," " the conclu
sions at which you had arrived," and of " the charge
against Mr. Stevenson." The greater part of the article
is taken up in an attempt to define the word " belligerent
right." in Avhich I must think that you have succeeded
wonderfully in introducing confusion into what was before
quite plain and evident. After having called the claim
alleged by you to have been set up by Mr. Stevenson
" unreasonable," " absurd," and " preposterous," it was
incumbent upon you to prove it so. Instead of this, after
having, as it appears to me, mis-stated his argument, and
charging him with claiming Avhat he never did claim, you
undertake to give your readers a list of what you assert
may be called " belligerent rights."
You never attempt to prove the difference, (Avhich
hoAveArer, you assert exists,) between a right to search for
British seamen on board of American vessels, (which I
have declared was one of the principal causes of the war
of 1812,) and a search for slaves, which is the claim now
set up by her majesty's government. But every one
must perceive it can make no difference to America what
may be the object of the search, provided a foreign nation
shall have assumed it against her permission, and in viola
tion of that freedom of the seas which is guarantied to
her by the law of nations. If Great Britain, in conse
quence of having made a treaty with the four other great
powers of Europe, can assume with impunity the right of
establishing what a London journal has rightly denom
inated '' a police," upon the high seas, and in the exercise
of the same, can subject American vessels to search and
detention, in pursuit of slaves, what can prevent her
assumption of the same power for any other object she

102 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
may desire to accomplish? We all know what these
great powers have done upon the continent in the form of
what are called passports, Avhich subject every foreigner
to expensive and vexatious detentions and annoyances
from every petty custom-house subaltern met with on the
road. We also know that British travellers have been the
loudest and most violent in their condemnation and exe
cration of this system, which they have denounced as the
meanest and most degrading species of espionage, tyr
anny, and oppression. Indeed, many of them have
openly resisted it. What, then, must be our surprise,
when we uoav Avitness the attempt of the government of
Great Britain to establish the same kind of offensive
police upon the seas ? Who Avould eA'er have expected to
have found its establishment and exercise defended in the
far-famed Quarterly Iicvieiv upon the very same grounds?
As if there was any analogy between the sea — the high
way of nations — and the territory of a continental king,
emperor, or petty prince, who possesses indisputably the -
right of establishing what regulations he pleases, upon his
own territory, and over his own subjects, but whose power
stops there. It only proves that the Quarterly Review, as
also Lord Palmerston, Lord Aberdeen, and the editor of
the Guardian, are ready to avail themselves of every spe
cies of aid, to acquire the jurisdiction, so long desired, over
the freedom of the seas, and the ships of the commercial
rival of Great Britain.
You have evaded an answer to my question, why Lord
Palmerston, when called upon by Mr. Stevenson for
reparation of losses sustained by the detention of certain
vessels sailing under the American flag, availed himself
of the alleged agreement between the English and Amer
ican commanders, by attempting to prove that Mr. Ste
venson's complaint respected " the capture " of a vessel
sailing under the American flag, and not its search or

CAPTURES IN THE AFRICAN SEAS. 103
detention. On reference to the correspondence, I do not
find the word " capture," or any other Avord having its
meaning, in one of the earlier letters of Mr. Stevenson, or
of Lord Palmerston. In his lordship's note to Mr. Steven
son, dated the 17th August, 1841, he informs him, "that
he sends him a copy of the agreements entered into
between the English and American commanders, on the
subject of the detention of the vessels, the Douglas, the
Iago, and the Hero, by her majesty's cruisers." The first
time we meet Avith the word •' capture " is in Lord Pal-
merston's note of the 27th August, relating to the brig
called the Mary. In this, his lordship, after having stated
the circumstances under Avhich that vessel was seized,
remarks: "Under these circumstances, the undersigned
is of opinion that the commander of her majesty's ship
Forrester was fully justified in considering the Mary to
be a Spanish vessel, and, consequently, in taking her
before the British and Spanish court ; and, accordingly,
when the British commissioners reported to her majesty's
government, that the judges had refused to allow the
Mary to be libelled in that court, under the impression
that the mere fact of her having the American flag
hoisted should have protected her from visitation and
search by a British cruiser, the British commissioners
were told that there was, in the opinion of her majesty's
government, reason to suppose that the Mary was a
Spanish, and not an American, vessel; and that the
judges ought, therefore, to havre allowed her to be libelled
in the British and Spanish court." You state, that I
have confounded two things essentially different, and
that " two distinct questions " were brought by Mr. Ste
venson under the notice of Lord Palmerston. I have
searched in vain to find " these two distinct questions "
in the letters of Mr. Stevenson ; nor does Lord Palmers
ton anywhere speak of them when called upon for repara-

104 WORKS OF S. D BRADFORD.
tion. The complaint of the first is always of the " deten
tion " or " search " of certain vessels sailing under the
American flag ; and the reply of the latter is always the
same, viz., — " that it Avas done in consequence of the
agreement " before mentioned. Again, Lord Palmerston,
in his letter dated the 27th August, informs Mr. Steven
son, " that if, in some feAV cases, such merchant-men have
been searched, when suspected of having been engaged
in the slave trade, this has been done solely because the
British officer who made the search imagined that he
was acting in conformity with the wishes of the United
States government." I would here call your attention to
the reason assigned by the British commissioners for
having refused to libel the Mary, viz., — that, in their
opinion, " the fact of her having the American flag hoisted
should have protected her from visitation and search by
a British cruiser." Permit me to inquire, why these
commissioners came to this conclusion in the case of the
Mary, unless they had always acted upon this principle
in former cases of detention or seizure, which may have
been brought under their notice ; and, if so, does it not
prove conclusively, that the British government, in giv
ing them new instructions, are attempting to set up a
new claim, as was asserted in my last communication ;
or, rather, that it has revived its claim " to the odious
right of search in a form never before avoAved, and to an
extent never before asserted ? "
You will please also, to observe, that Lord Palmerston
explicitly disclaims all right to search American vessels,
even " Avhen suspected of having been engaged in the
slave-trade," and apologizes for what had occurred in the
same manner as before. Not a word is said about cap
turing prior to his letter of the 27th August. And now,
will the editor of the Guardian inform his readers, in what
possible way Great Britain can execute the treaty she

CAPTURES IN THE AFRICAN SEAS. 105
has signed, without frequently violating the American
flag in the manner already described, and which Lord
Palmerston admits she has no right to do ? And who,
that reflects for a moment upon the incessant and inter
minable complaints and reclamations which the exercise
of such a claim must inevitably produce between '-'two
such energetic people," would desire to see it attempted ?
Nor is your reply more successful to another question
of mine ; viz., Why, if Great Britain had a right to exer
cise the power claimed over American vessels, has she
requested " permission " of America to do so, or, in other
words, solicited her to become a party to a treaty which
should contain that power ? Here you assert that " I
have fallen into another error," of " a similar character "
to the first ; and in consequence, so far as I can understand
your meaning, of not comprehending the stipulations of
the treaty concluded by the " Christian League." You
claim to have a superior knowledge of the treaty ; and, if
so, why have you not stated what its terms are, to which
Great Britain has solicited America to accede ? If the
principal article in it be not "the permission" to board,
visit, or search vessels sailing under the American flag, in
the African seas, what is it ? Have you omitted to fur
nish the information required, because, as very conveniently
alleged by you in reference to another declaration of mine,
" you were afraid of leading the minds of your readers
from the main point at issue ? " You assert "that the
treaty gives no new power to England ; " but the London
Morning Post, of the 21st December, declares, " that it
gives extended powers to the right of search, in order to
give the fuller effect to the provisions of the treaty."
Which statement are we to believe ? You intimate that
the principal article respects "the right to capture a
slaver, even though known to be an American; " in other
words, to permit English cruisers to execute the laws
14

106 WORKS OF S. D BRADFORD.
which the United States have passed so many years since,
for the suppression of the slave trade. But you have
not informed your readers how an American or other
vessel could be ascertained to be a slaver without first
boarding, detaining, or searching her ; and, therefore, that
permission must also have been asked ; for surely you
would not have a vessel captured upon the African seas,
when met with by one of her majesty's cruisers, without
first ascertaining that she was a slaver. But if you have
omitted to inform your readers what the treaty does con
tain, Lord Aberdeen has supplied that omission ; for, in
his letter of the 13th October, he declares "his proposal"
to have been, not — Avhat you have intimated — " the right
to capture American vessels," but a right to search them.
" A mutual right of search," says his lordship, " regulated
in such a manner as to prevent the occurrence of any
irritating circumstances, has always appeared to the
undersigned as the most reasonable, the most simple, and
most effectual method of attaining the great object which
both governments have in view." Let your impartial
readers compare this open declaration of Lord Aberdeen
with the various passages contained in your article of the
22d instant, in which, unable to answer satisfactorily the
questions proposed, you have charged me with having "mis
understood the real points in dispute," of " having fallen
into an error," of " unsound reasoning," of " being a little
mistaken," and of "smothering the real question with extra
neous topics." May I not be permitted to repeat, what I
stated in my first communication, that " I find it difficult
to believe that you can have read the correspondence
with your usual attention and care ? " In my last com
munication, I stated that "the right of search," now
claimed by Great Britain, is the same which was advanced
in and prior to 1812, and which gave rise to the war with
America. This assertion you have ridiculed as "most

CAPTURES IN THE AFRICAN SEAS. 107
inaccurate and unfounded." What, then, will be the
astonishment of your readers to be informed, that, if they
will only refer to your editorial remarks contained in the
Guardian of the 5th January, they will there find the same
assertion made by yourself? In detailing the various
causes of disaffection between England and America, you
express yourself in the following words : — " Thus the old
boundary question, which, as a matter of popular excite
ment, had slumbered from 1783 to 183G, has become
exceedingly prominent on account of the supposed weak
ness of England, arising from the disaffection of the Cana
dian people ; and the old and much-vexed question ofthe
right of search has received new importance from the
affair of the Caroline, and the recent captures or deten
tions of vessels, alleged to be American, on the coast of
Africa " !
As respects the charge of my having spoken " sneer-
ingly " of the treaty entered into by the " Christian
League," it is too early to have heard what reception the
news of its signature may have met with in the United
States ; but if its reception there be the same which it
has encountered here, and from a journal too Avhich may
almost be denominated an Englishman's testament, the
London Times, it is to be feared the self-complacency of
Lord Palmerston will not be much gratified. In refer
ence to that treaty, in the London Times of the twenty-
second of December last, will be found the following
remarks, which I recommend to the particular attention
of the editor of the Guardian, and of his readers : " The
French slave-trade, though nominally suppressed in 1819,
has never ceased to be carried on systematically, and with
vigor. Nor is very much gained, by the concession, on
the part of Austria, Prussia, and Russia, that the same
measure may be dealt to their subjects. It is not from
these states, confined, as their power and influence is, to

108 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
the eastern hemisphere, or even within narrower bounds,
nor even from France, despoiled of her colonies, that we
can look for any really effectual cooperation in putting an
end to this standing iniquity. Prussia and Austria may
well afford, (honest people !) to sit at home, and denounce
and renounce all slave dealers, with their aiders and abet
tors, as if the colliers of Staffordshire and manufacturers
of Derbyshire were to sign a round robin against smug
gling of French brandy. Such documents cost little, and
do little; but try Dorsetshire and the Isle of Wight.
" It is not your inland poAvers, with half-a-dozen sea
ports, and no trade beyond the Mediterranean or Baltic,
however great their European credit, whose influence
will be here effectual. Spain, Portugal, the Brazils, and
America, — these are the criminals, and these only are
the powers, from whose assistance, voluntary or other
wise, any true amelioration must result. And while, in
spite of the meagre concessions which we have extorted
from Spain by ' legitimate influence,' or bought from her
by our gold, her Cuba merchants can show fortunes
made in their infamous traffic, and complacently boast
that, if but one out of three ventures escape the
British cruisers, it well answers their purpose; while par
liamentary evidence tells us that, before the court of
Havana, established for the express purpose of con
demning slavers, no seizure of a slave vessel has ever
taken place but at the interference and denunciation of
the British commissioners ; and that, even then, such
seizure has only been made to be followed by perfect
acquittal in the Spanish tribunals ; as long as this goes
on on the spot, it is a mere farce to congratulate ourselves
on the protest, noble protest it may be, of distant powers
scarcely interested in the question, or able to exercise an
influence upon it, as if we had gained any real and sub
stantial victory. If we can believe Mr. M'Culloch,

CAPTURES IN THE AFRICAN SEAS. 109
that, between the years 1680 and 1700, no less than three
hundred thousand slaves were imported into the West
Indies, and that, in the succeeding eighty-six years, six
hundred and ten thousand Avere imported into Jamaica
only, Ave cannot but feel thankful that these times of
guilt seem, at any rate, gone for ever."
From the above statement of the number of slaves im
ported into Jamaica, the conclusion would seem to follow
that, if importations of slaves have been made into the
other colonies of her majesty upon a similar scale, they
must be well stocked ; and a person disposed to be unchar
itable in his judgment of the motives of Great Britain,
might attribute her extraordinary zeal to prevent the
further extension of the slave-trade to the desire to in
crease the value of what persons in trade denominate
" stock on hand ; " for, although an Act of Parliament has
emancipated the slaves in the British colonies, every one
knows, that the value of a West India estate depends upon
the price of sugar and coffee ; and the readers of the
Guardian, at any rate, cannot be ignorant, that the prin
cipal competitor, with Avhich the British West India Pro
prietors have to contend, is the Brazils, into which slaves
continue to be imported, as is affirmed, at the rate of fifty
thousand a year.
And now, as respects the questions contained in your
article of the twenty-second instant, were I disposed, I
might deny the courtesy of your proposing questions to
be answered by me, until you had first replied to those
which I had previously put to you ; and I trust I have
proved, that to neither of my interrogatories can any
answer be found in your article of the twenty-second
instant. But I would not avail myself of any want of
inclination or of ability on your part ; and therefore, in
reply to your first question, viz., — " When a captain of an
English cruiser, acting under a treaty with Spain, for sup-

110 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
pressing the slave-trade, sees a vessel, which he has rea
son to believe to be a Spanish slaver, but which hoists an
American flag, does our correspondent maintain that the
English officer has no right to visit such vessel, and exam
ine its papers ? " — my answer is, that America seeks no
jurisdiction over, nor does she protect the ships, be they
slavers, suspected slavers, or what they may, of any for
eign nation sailing under any flag they may choose to
hoist ; but does, and always will deny the right to stop,
examine, detain, or interfere, in any way whatever, with
American ships sailing under her own flag, in time of
peace, upon the high seas ; and that, if the right now
claimed by Great Britain, in order to execute the terms
of her treaty with the other great powers of Europe, can
not be exercised Avithout " that visitation " or " interrup
tion " over her vessels and navigation, described by
Sir William Scott, and which he declares to be contrary
to the law of nations, America will never submit to the
exercise of that right, contrary to her consent, either on
the part of Great Britain, or of any other nation upon the
face of the globe.
From this it follows, in answer to your second ques
tion, — viz., " Suppose the officer, though acting in good
faith, should be mistaken, and that the vessel should
prove to be an American, would such visit and search
involve a breach of international laAV ? " — that such con
duct would "involve a breach of international law."
And, finally, to your third and last question — viz., " If
so, upon what opinions, decisions, or analogies, does our
correspondent rest his opinion ? " — my answer is, that, in
spite of your very friendly suggestion as respects " the
investigation which the framing of my answers will
require," after the decision so emphatically pronounced
by Sir William Scott and resting upon a well-known law
of nations, I would not be guilty of the presumption of

CAPTURES IN THE AFRICAN SEAS. HI
adding another Avord upon a point Avhich has been settled
by such high authority, and which no one, to my knowl
edge, has ever A'entured to call in question. I do not
forget the courteous and feeling manner in which you
solicited " the indulgence " of your readers for my last
communication ; but I must think that a newspaper dis
cussion, upon a point so well established, would be deemed
a Avork of supererogation, not only on the part of the
humble individual who now addresses you, but even on
that of the editor of the Manchester Guardian. AN AMERICAN.
January 27th, 1842.
Of the preceding very long letter, the two last paragraphs, con
taining together about fifty lines, are to the purpose, because they
relate to the only point now at issue between the British and
American governments. As to the rest of the letter, with all due
respect for our correspondent, we feel bound to say, that it has
apparently been written for the purpose of keeping that point as
much as possible out of sight, and diverting the attention of the
reader to topics which are either wholly immaterial, or of compara
tively small consequence. Perhaps we should have best consulted
the taste and convenience of our readers, by confining our remarks
entirely to the two paragraphs above specified ; but we must crave
their indulgence for a brief allusion to one or two points in the
previous portion of the letter, which seems in some degree neces
sary for the purpose of clearing the way to the real question at
issue. It will be seen, that a large portion of the letter is devoted to a
very elaborate attempt to prove, that the right of visitation, for the
purpose of ascertaining national character, now claimed by Great
Britain, is precisely the same right of search which was formerly
resisted by the Americans, and which gave rise to the last war
between the two countries. Our correspondent says, that we
" never attempt to prove the difference between a right to search
for British seamen on board of American vessels, and a search for
slaves, which is the claim now set up by her majesty's govern-

112 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
ment." If this statement Avas correct, — if the English government
did set up any claim to search American vessels for slaves, there
would be, at all events, some analogy between the tAvo questions,
and it might have been incumbent upon us to show the difference
between them. But how stands the fact? Does Great Britain
set up any claim of right to search American vessels for slaves ?
Nothing of the sort : any such right is distinctly and emphatically
disclaimed by Lord Palmerston; and therefore there is not the
slightest resemblance between the right of visitation now claimed
(the exercise of which, in time of Avar, was never objected to by
anybody,) and the power of examining and impressing the crews
of American vessels, which the government of that country most
strenuously, and, we think, with good reason, disputed and
resisted. This fact disposes at once of the greater part of our correspond
ent's remarks, and furnishes the ground of an ansAver to the two
long paragraphs Avhich our correspondent has devoted to a defence
of the two questions contained in his former letter. He now
intimates, that we were incorrect in saying, that Mr. Stevenson
complained of the capture of certain American vessels, and says,
that he can find no use of the word " capture," or any analogous
word, in Mr. Stevenson's letters. Very likely not ; but he will
find a statement of facts, which amount to something very like
capture. At all events, after the visitation for the purpose of
ascertaining national character, vessels alleged to be, and appear
ing from their papers to be, American, were detained for several
days. Yet our correspondent asked, Why did not Lord Palmers
ton seek to justify this protracted detention of a vessel known to
be American, under the alleged right of visitation, for the purpose
of ascertaining national character ? He might just as well have
asked, why his lordship did not set up that right of visitation as
a justification of the burning of the Caroline. But such are the
absurdities into which very acute men are perpetually driven when
seeking to prop up a bad cause.
As to the allegation, that we have asserted the identity of the
old question of the right of search with that which has recently
sprung up, our correspondent must have been disposed to be face
tious when he penned that part of his letter. The quotation from

CAPTURES IN THE AFRICAN SEAS. H3
the Guardian bears no such meaning as that which he ascribes
to it. Enough, however, on these preliminary points. Oar corre
spondent has, at last — and evidently Avith much reluctance, at
which Ave do not wonder — come fairly up to the real point in dis
pute ; and to that Ave shall address the few additional remarks
Avhich we have to make. It will be seen, that our correspondent,
in replying to our questions (in one of which, by the Avay, he has,
we hope, unintentionally made an important alteration, by substi
tuting the word " search " for " inspection,") says, as we expected
he would say, that a Arisitation of an American vessel, for the mere
purpose of ascertaining her national character, though made under
reasonable grounds of suspicion that she was Spanish, would
involve a breach of international law ; and he says, this is a well-
established point, and has been settled by a decision of Sir
William Scott, which is referred to by Mr. SteA^enson, in his cor
respondence with Lord Aberdeen. Erom the Avay in which our
correspondent speaks of this decision, those of our readers who
have not paid much attention to the subject may probably suppose
that it was made upon some case involving the point now in dis
pute ; that Sh William Scott had actually pronounced a judgment
upon the question of visitation, for the purpose of ascertaining
national character. They will be somewhat surprised to learn,
that no such point was involved in the case ; Avhich was one of
actual capture and confiscation. A French vessel, engaged in the
slave-trade, was taken by an English cruiser, at a time when there
was no treaty between the two countries authorizing the capture.
Sir William Scott, of course, pronounced the capture illegal ; and
the only wonder is, that any body should ever have held a con
trary opinion. But this decision has no more bearing upon the
right of visitation, than the judgment which displayed the wisdom
of Solomon.
We should not, however, be acting candidly by our readers, if
we did not state that, in giving his judgment as to the illegality of
the capture, Sir William Scott made use of some expressions which,
at first sight, seem to countenance the opinion advanced by our cor
respondent. Sir William said :
15

114 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
" I can find no authority that gives the right of interruption to the navigation of
states upon the high seas, except that which the right of war gives to belligerents
against neutrals. No nation can exercise a right of visitation and search upon
the common and unappropriated parts of the ocean, except upon the belligerent
claim.'' Now this observation, inasmuch as it did not apply directly to
the case before the court, was what lawyers call an obiter dictum,
which is never considered as having the authority of a decision,
nor indeed any authority at all in governing subsequent decisions.
At the time when it was uttered, the question of the right of vis
itation, as now claimed by the English government, had never, so
far as we know, been called in question, and had certainly not been
argued before the court. Even supposing, therefore, that Sir
William Scott had directly, and in express terms, intimated an
opinion adverse to the right of visitation, that opinion Avould
amount to little or nothing. But has he expressed any such opin
ion ? He says that, except in particular cases, no nation can exer
cise a right of visitation and search. But what does he mean by
" search " ? We know no more than our correspondent. We can
only infer, from the previous contentions upon the subject, and the
decisions which the learned judge had been called upon to pro
nounce, that he meant something very different indeed from the
mere inspection of papers to ascertain the national character of a
vessel. Undoubtedly, if Sir William Scott, after full argument and con
sideration, had decided against the right of visitation as now claimed,
we think that no Englishman would venture to question the sound
ness of the decision ; but to lay hold of a doubtful expression of
opinion on a point not arising in the cause before the judge, and
to apply it to a question which, we imagine, had never been
brought before him, argues a conscious weakness on the part of
those who support the American claim, and sufficiently accounts
for the disinclination of our correspondent to grapple with the
real question at issue, as well as the manifest soreness which per
vades the preceding letter.
Our correspondent has alleged, more than once, that Mr. Ste
venson has set up no claim on behalf of the United States ; and,
perhaps, in point of form, that statement is correct ; but the ground

CAPTURES IN THE AFRICAN SEAS. H5
taken by him, in his correspondence with Lord Aberdeen, and
now assumed by our correspondent, amounts in substance to a
claim that the American flag shall be taken as proof of national
ity, and, by necessary inference, that every slaver or pirate that
chooses to carry an American flag shall be free from question or
examination. That any such claim as this, as absurd in its charac
ter as it Avould be monstrous in its consequences, can be admitted
by England, is, we imagine, wholly out of the question ; and we
cannot believe that either the government or the people of the
United States will persist in it.
In concluding this discussion with our correspondent, we can
not avoid saying, that, upon one point to which his remarks have
been addressed, we were in error. Since his first letter appeared,
we have taken an opportunity of reading Mr. Stevenson's letters
to Lord Aberdeen with more care than we had previously bestowed
upon them ; and we feel bound to admit, that that perusal has
removed the impression which we previously entertained, that Mr.
Stevenson had avoided the real question at issue between the two
countries. Being satisfied as to the injustice of our former
remarks upon this point, we should have felt it necessary to say
so, even if there had been no friendship subsisting between our
correspondent and Mr. SteA'enson ; but the knowledge that there is
such a friendship, renders the admission of our error more imper
atively necessary.

AMERICAN MANUFACTURES. London, June 16th, 1843.
Dear Sir : — You will have heard, by the last steamer,
of the importation into this country of four hundred
bales of domestics, for sale, on account of one of the
LoAvell manufactories, and of the sensation produced by
the arrival of such a valuable consignment at the port of
London. The public curiosity was greatly excited to
know who in America could have ventured upon such a
novel experiment : and the question was put to almost
every American, " Is it decided that your country is to
supply us in future with cotton goods ?" All this appeared
sufficiently surprising, as you may well suppose ; but one
of the late Boston steamers has brought us a letter,
apparently the production of a Lowell manufacturer, of
such an extraordinary character, I cannot forbear sending
it for publication in the Boston Post. It should be read
by every person in the country, and be carefully pondered
by the next Congressional Committee on whom shall
devolve the duty of preparing a new tariff for the people
of the United States. It is only just that our merchants,
once engaged in the foreign trade, whose business has
been destroyed, and that our ship owners, whose vessels
are returning from Europe empty, should understand for
whose benefit the tariff of 1842 has been imposed. As
they have listened so often to the complaints of the
manufacturers for want of patronage and protection at
home, it is but right, that they should know what their

AMERICAN MANUFACTURES. 117
language is, when they have occasion to address their
correspondents abroad. It will be seen that the writer of
the above-mentioned letter states, " that America will
soon export largely of twist, as Avell as of all manufac
tured fabrics of yarn under Number Thirty's ; " and that,
"where the principal elements, entering into the cost of
an article, are composed of raw cotton and power,
America Avill compete successfully with any country in
the Avorld." Mr. Greg also declares that " he is prepared
to prove that the Americans can already produce coarse
domestics, drills, and everything of that kind at least one
and one-half pence a pound cheaper than the English,"
and that " they have beaten them out of the markets of
India and China already ;" and this declaration the author
of the letter confirms. Noav I cannot but think that
some persons in America, when they read this flourishing
account of the condition of American manufacturers, will
be surprised to hear that the supposed writer of the letter
signed A. L., is the leader of that party in the United
States called, par excellence, — "the American system
party;" that he has been the chief promoter of every
tariff" imposing high and onerous duties which has been
passed since the year 1828 ; and that, upon these very
Middlesex cotton drills, which he informs Mr. Greg he has
shipped to the Messrs. Baring Brothers in London, and
for which his price in England is three and a half pence
a yard, he has a protective duty of over seven cents a
yard, besides the other expenses of importation, making
the whole to amount to one hundred and twenty per
cent. !
Are the people of America aware that they have
passed a tariff* imposing a duty of one hundred per cent.
to protect certain corporations of manufacturers at
Lowell, who, when a new tariff is about to be passed, cry
aloud for further protection and higher duties, and make

118 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
long and pathetic speeches upon the injustice of bringing
the labor of " the wretched operatives of England," into
competition with that of the young ladies who work the
machinery at Lowell ; but who, when they have occasion
to correspond with the employer of those operatives
abroad, give him to understand that, so far from needing
any protection, they are able already "to compete in
cheapness with any nation in the world ? " One is
astonished at the boldness of such an avowal, when one
calls to mind the meetings assembled at Boston and else
where, only a year since, to protest against a reduction of
the duties to the standard fixed upon by the Compromise
Act of 1832 ; and the pertinacity Avith which these same
manufacturers continued their exertions until Congress
was induced to violate every engagement solemnly
entered into in 1832, and to pass the tariff" of 1842;
thereby almost destroying the whole foreign trade, and in
a single day annihilating the business and occupation of
vast numbers of persons. It is common for Americans to
descant upon the despotism of certain European govern
ments, and yet, it is believed, there is not a dynasty in
Europe which would have ventured upon such a measure
as the tariff of 1842. In England certainly such a
measure, producing all at once such a violent and ruinous
change in the occupations of the people, would have
been resisted almost to bloodshed, and the ministry
attempting it would have been driven from power ; but,
somehow or other, the people have a way, in republican,
free America, of doing the most despotic acts without
shame, and with impunity.
It is consolatory to find that the writer of the letter
signed A. L. believes " that the world is large enough to
consume all the productions of labor under just and wise
regulations." It is only to be regretted that he has
omitted to state what those just and wise regulations are.

AMERICAN MANUFACTURES. 119
Perhaps among them may be the following, which may
be found in the tariff of 1812, viz: — Giving a protection
of one hundred per cent, to the manufacturers of cotton,
who declare " they can compete already in price with
any country in the world ;" imposing a duty of thirty per
cent, upon silver plate ; another of twenty-five dollars a
ton upon iron costing from five to six pounds sterling;
another of forty dollars a ton upon hemp for the
encouragement of American shipping; taxing coarse
fabrics made of cotton and worsted, and such as are used
by the poor, seventy per cent. ; or laying a prohibitory
duty on flannels to keep out the cheaper article of
Europe. A person who has been instrumental in making
such regulations as these, may declare his belief that
"the world is large enough to consume all the produc
tions of labor," but by his acts he proves the insincerity
of his assertion, and evinces his desire that his part of
the world, at any rate, shall use only the productions of
his own mills. It is this grasping spirit of selfishness,
which is so disgusting and reprehensible in the con
duct of American manufacturers. The history of their
acts would disclose a system of deception, and excessive
avarice unequalled in any other country. Who can have
forgotten the Harrisburg convention, and the crisis
amongst the manufacturers of New England, which fol
lowed the tariff of 1828 ? It ruined the fortunes of
many of the oldest and wealthiest families in Boston and
the vicinity, and compelled some of the richest citizens to
mortgage their estates acquired by almost half a century
of toil in the foreign trade, to borrow money to pay
instalments upon their manufacturing stock; and although
we hear much said at present of the great riches of the
few, who are supposed to have made fortunate invest
ments at Lowell, none appear disposed to take a lesson of
prudence from the disasters of thousands who have been

120 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
the victims of the manufacturing system, and are remem
bered no longer.
The export of the four hundred bales of domestics
seems to have inspired the author of the letter signed
A. L. Avith excellent spirits, and, pursuing his pleasant
visions of future profits, he adds, "The hard times, through
which we have passed and are passing, have taxed the
wits of our ingenious mechanics, and what has appeared
to us a great misfortune may, in the end, prove a high
advantage, by opening foreign markets for our products,
which could not be the case while we were in a state of
apparently the highest prosperity." The writer is sup
posed to refer to the years 1830 to 1837, during which
period there was a national bank, and an almost unlimited
issue of paper money. What a confession this, coming
too from the leader of that party by which heretofore it
was confidently asserted that, Avithout a national bank and
vast circulation of paper, there could be no prosperity;
that our exchanges could never be regulated in any other
way; and that our merchants and manufacturers would be
all destroyed! What a tribute to the wisdom of General
Jackson and of the cabinet which supported him in those
days of alarm and consternation, and who dared to assert
that no national bank did, or ever could regulate the
exchange of a great commercial country; that a vast
circulation of paper does not constitute the wealth of a
nation; and that the destinies of a free and powerful
country like America could never depend upon the will
of a money king, lodged in his marble palace in Phil
adelphia. Pew persons, however, in Boston, were prepared in
1836 to receive such heresies as these ; and fewer still of
our citizens can have forgotten the visit of President
Biddle to Boston in the summer of 1834, or the day
when, descending with high and lofty step from the

AMERICAN MANUFACTURES. 121
granite temple near the head of State Street, he was
conducted in triumph upon the Boston Exchange to see
his vassals, resting upon the arms of two eminent mer
chants and manufacturers as his dexter and sinister
supports. Some time after, in 1838, we were informed
by this eminent financier that, without the aid of his
bank and " its penitentiary notes," " the cotton and other
products of America could not be wafted down the Mis
sissippi to the Atlantic ;" but what a striking falsification
of this doctrine have we witnessed the present year, in
the immense production of cotton and other articles in
the south and west, and in their unprecedentedly early
shipments at the seaports! Truly it is high time that the
leader of the tariff party, and the party itself, should
begin to have a doubt whether, from 1830 to 1836, we
were " in a state of the highest prosperity." As the
season will soon arrive when Congress will be called upon
to pass a new tariff, (for the present one has been found
not only unjust, but highly unproductive also,) the citizens
of Boston engaged in the foreign trade, and all Avho are
in favor of just and equitable duties, and are opposed to
such a bill of abominations as the tariff of 1842, should
be upon the alert, and take activ7e measures to enlighten
the minds of the legislature upon the important duty
which is so soon to devolve upon them ; and among other
documents which they may lay before them, let them not
forget the letter signed A  L  , to R. H. Greg, of
Manchester. I am, dear sir, very respectfully, Your friend, M.
To Chaeles G. Greene, Esq.
16

122 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD. Nokcliite, May 31st, 1843.
To the Editor of the Manchester Guardian :
Sir, — In the early part of the present month, four hundred
bales of American cotton manufactures, consigned to Messrs.
Baring Brothers, of London, arrived by the ship Niagara.
An event so remarkable in itself Avould possibly have passed
unheard of or unheeded, but for the fortunate accident, as I esteem
it, of the seizure of the said bales at the custom house, under some
misapprehension as to the origin or destination of their contents ;
the cause of which, I believe, you correctly suggested at the time
the seizure took place.
Public attention having now been directed to the circumstance
by accident, it may not be without its use. I said, long ago, that
nothing short of the sale of foreign goods on the Manchester
Exchange would make our manufacturers believe that other nations
could compete with us even in their own markets, and I trust the
arrival of four hundred bales of American domestics will not be
wholly without its effect in awakening them to a sense of the
precarious position they at present occupy.
When I look at the probable fate of our cotton manufactures,
the raw material brought from the country of our manufacturing
rivals, and charged with no trifling duty before being entered for
consumption, our exchanges crippled by corn laws, and our
machinery now freely exported, I confess I am not without the
darkest apprehensions. Under these discouraging circumstances,
and I fear overwhelming difficulties, instead of combining to
procure some means of escape, we are disputing amongst ourselves
— workmen, masters, and the legislature — about " ten hours'
bills," multiplying restrictions of every kind, and actually pro
posing to limit the energies of our steam engines and water-wheels,
to the extent of twenty per cent. When Lord Ashley's motion
comes on, for a restriction of the hours of labor in factories to ten,
or, including the short time on Saturday, to nine and a half hours
daily, surely this fact, of American manufactures being now
imported for sale into this country, will save us from the folly of
such legislation.
Being in London last week, I went to Messrs. Barings, to see

AMERICAN MANUFACTURES. 123
the goods in question, and inquire into the circumstances of their
importation. I found them to consist of only one kind of goods, viz. : cotton
drills, a stout, twilled nankeen, used for summer trousers. This
article the house in which I was concerned used to manufacture
largely for export ; but our correspondents diminished their orders
until at last they stated they could buy the article in America ten
per cent, cheaper than we could afford to send them from here.
These articles, and the common plain domestics, have long since
replaced the English article in the markets of South America and
Canton, and they are now, it seems, come to supply our own.
They are on sale, either for the home or any foreign market ; and,
as Messrs. Baring remarked, the ten per cent, protection duty on
such articles, is only equal to the duty of five-sixteenths of a penny
per pound, paid by the English manufacturer on the raw material
— consequently the protection under the tariff is worse than merely
nominal, being also delusive.
The following letter, received from the shipper of the four
hundred bales in question, an entire stranger to me, contains so
much interesting matter, you will perhaps give it insertion in the
Guardian ; and also, if not trespassing too much upon your limits,
the paragraph in the American newspaper, to Avhich the writer
alludes. The information contained in them respecting the American
manufactures, and in the letter to Messrs. Jones, Gibson & Ord,
in the Guardian of this morning, stating the exports from the
. United States to China alone, during the present season, to amount
already to two hundred and fifty thousand pounds of twist, and
four hundred and twenty thousand pieces of cotton cloth, must
surely tend to awaken from their apathy both our manufacturers
and the government. I am your obedient servant, ROBERT HYDE GREG.

124 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
[Copy.]
Boston, United States, April 29, 1843.
Robert Hyde Greg, Esq.
Dear Sir, — Although a stranger, I am induced to Avrite to you,
in consequence of having read a speech of yours, delivered in
Manchester, December, 1841, and which was published in the
Manchester Guardian. That part of it relating to the cotton
manufacture of this country has proved prophetic.
The vieAvs you then presented were so much in accordance with
my own, and so practical in their character, that I laid the speech
aside for future reference.
Early in the present month I shipped to the address of Baring
Brothers, of London, a quantity of cotton drills, which forcibly
brought to my mind the declarations in your speech.
I have, therefore, in justice to you, as well as to record the fact
as a matter of history, published an extract from your speech,
which will be found in the Boston Advertiser, herewith enclosed.
i
I am quite satisfied we shall soon become extensive exporters of
twist, as Avell as of all manufactured fabrics of yarn under
Number Thirties.
The quantity of cotton shirtings, sheetings, and drills, now
exporting from this country, is much larger than at any former
period ; the prices have been materially reduced by the reduction
in the prices of cotton and labor.
I am fully impressed with the idea that, where the principal
elements entering into the cost of an article are composed of raw
cotton and power, we shall compete successfully with any country
in the world. You have, however, many advantages over us at
present ; possessing cheaper labor and capital, and more knowledge
of the arts and sciences. We have compensation in part in the
abundance of water power, and a soil and climate adapted to the
cultivation of cotton, to an extent which can hardly be estimated.
Those are natural advantages of which we cannot be deprived.
Time is the only panacea for our wants in other respects.
In all the finer fabrics we shall continue to be large customers
to Great Britain ; and I doubt not, from this time it will be found
that the exports from Great Britain to this country will increase.

AMERICAN MANUFACTURES. 125
Trade appears to be improving, and will, by the autumn, again
flow in its natural and accustomed channels in this country.
We are literally burdened with agricultural products. The
prices are very low, which necessarily reduces the value of labor,
and this reduction has caused many articles to be exported the past
year which have never before been sent out of the country.
I believe the world is large enough to consume all the products
of labor, under just and wise regulations ; and it is to be hoped
that we in this country may, in a small, comparative degree, enjoy
the advantages of exporting our coarse manufactures to those
countries whose produce we require for the consumption of this
growing Republic.
I shall be happy to furnish you with samples of our manufac
tures, and compare the cost of production with those of England.
Meantime, pray excuse the freedom I have thus taken in addressing
you, etc., etc. Yours respectfully, etc., A— L  .

[For the Boston Daily Advertiser and Patriot.]
Mr. Hale : — I send for publication in your paper an extract from
the Speech of Robert H. Greg, Esq., which appeared in the Man
chester (Eng.) Guardian of the 18th December, 1841. Mr. Greg
presided at the great meeting of cotton manufacturers and others
interested,- held at Manchester on the tenth of the same month,
and is himself one of the largest cotton spinners in the world.
Improbable of accomplishment as the prediction contained in the
following extract seemed at the time it was spoken, it has already
been fulfilled. Last week, I noticed that a vessel cleared at this
port for London, with four hundred bales of drillings on board,
which are believed to be the first American cotton fabrics sent to
Great Britain.
All the statements made by Mr. Greg are believed to be cor
rect. The self-acting mule to which he refers has been introduced,
and will doubtless be adopted throughout the country, particularly
in the manufacture of fine goods. In every description of cotton
and woollen goods, since December, 1841, there have been great
reductions in the cost of manufacturing, and I have no doubt there

126 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
will be still greater. Further improvements will be made in the
preparation, as well as in the spinning and weaving of cotton,
which will materially reduce the cost of production. The hard
times, through which we have passed and are passing, have taxed the
wits of our ingenious mechanics, and what has appeared to us a great
misfortune may, in the end, prove of high advantage by opening
foreign markets for our products, which could not be the case
while we were in a state of apparently the highest prosperity.
" There are, in the United States, nine hundred cotton mills :
a capital of ten million pounds sterling (fifty million dollars) is
invested in the cotton manufacture ; they have nearly forty thou
sand looms, and produce two hundred and fifty millions of yards
in a year. And I can state, also, on the very best authority, that
the Lowell mills, which consume sixty thousand bales (out of three
hundred thousand, the total consumption) produce a greater quan
tity of yarn and cloth, by each spindle and each loom, in a given
time, than is produced by any other mills in the world. They
turn off fifty yards a day in all their looms at LoAvell, and we all
know that no English mills produce any thing like that quantity.
To be sure, they work rather longer hours than we do here. They
work at LoAvell seventy-three hours and a half a week ; in other
mills in America, seventy-five hours and a half. I got a return
only last week from a friend of mine who has been at Lowell, of
the work performed in the last new mills which have been built
there. We are familiar with the coarse drills, that we all used to
make immense quantities of at one time, to supply pantaloon stuffs
for the India and China markets, and now they are used all over
America; and which, not very many years ago, the house in which
I am concerned used to make and ship to a great extent. The
new mills at Lowell produce those at three and a half pence per
pound from the cotton, six cents and three quarters, (in the other
mills, seven cents,) which, Avith the cotton six pence, brings the
cost to nine and a half pence per pound for those articles. As to
the advantage they have over us, I do not exaggerate when I state
it at upwards of one penny per pound in cotton alone ; the freight
to the American mills being about half the average freight to Eng
land, and there is our duty and other expenses. In the concern

AMERICAN MANUFACTURES. 127
in which I am interested, the extra tax paid, owing to the high
price of flour, amounts to a tax of one thousand pounds a year
upon our mills, as compared with their mills in America. (Hear.)
Then their water power costs, at the highest rate, three pounds
ten shillings per horse power ; whilst the lowest rate in this country
is twelve pounds per horse power. I have not the smallest doubt,
indeed, I am prepared to prove, that they can produce coarse
domestics, drills, and every thing of that kind, at least one penny
and a half cheaper than we can. (Hear.) They have beaten us
out of the India and Chinese markets ; of course, they produce
for all their own consumption, and, after a Avhile, I have little
doubt that we shall have them introduced very largely here.
(Hear, hear.)
" The last thing they will do is to attack the enemy in his own
camp ; but I am quite sure we shall see it by-and-by ; of that, I
think there cannot be a doubt. The rate of wages is considerably
higher there ; but the great obstacle to the rapid spread of produc
tion in the American mills, is the difficulty of getting mule
spinners. When they get self-acting mules, that difficulty van
ishes. We must make up our minds to prepare for the loss of
these markets ; it is of no use to disguise the fact ; it is of no use
any of us saying, ' I can hold out as long as my neighbor ; there
is nothing for it but to push the weaker ones to the wall.' That
is an idle and selfish way of expression, (to say no worse of it,)
which I regret too many of us have been indulging in. (Hear.)
Let us take care that the strong be not also pushed to the wall ;
because we may depend upon it, in production, there are stronger
countries than we are ; and if we are, as a country, the weaker
one, we shall all go to the wall together."

FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION.
[From the Richmond Whig.]
RESOURCES OF VIRGINIA.— THE REVENUE QUESTION.
We invite the attention of our readers to the interesting commu
nication of a distinguished citizen, in our columns to-day. It is
a subject which comes home to the " business and bosoms " of us
all — the interests and improvements of our own State. Mr. Law
rence, during his service in Congress, was most advantageously
known to the whole Union by the clear-sighted sagacity and strong
practical sense, which always distinguished his views of public
measures. He is eminently national in his sentiments and feelings,
and has ever shown himself a true friend of the South. Sugges
tions from so liberal and enlightened a source, naturally commend
themselves to the cordial and respectful attention of Virginians.
We shall have great pleasure in laying before our readers the
additional communication he gives us reason to expect.
Boston, January 7, 1846.
My Dear Sir, — When you were with us the' last summer, I
more than half promised to make you a short visit in February,
and I have not yet given up, entirely, the long anticipated
pleasure of doing so.
I have not forgotten our conversation on the condition of our
country generally, and more particularly the strong desire mani
fested by you, to improve the condition of the people of your own
State. I have always entertained feelings of high regard for the
" Ancient Dominion," arising, probably, from the intimate revolu
tionary associations between her and our " Old Bay State," as well
as from my having looked upon her as the mother of many of the
greatest statesmen, and purest patriots, which our country has
produced.

WANTS OF VIRGINIA. 129
I am not surprised that you, of Virginia, should desire to do
something by which the matchless natural resources of your native
State should be developed. 1 have thought that the State of
Virginia, with its temperate climate, variety and excellence of soil,
exhaustless water poAvcr, and exuberant mineral wealth, contains
within herself more that is valuable for the uses of mankind, in
these modern days, than any other State in our Union.
I need not say to you, that these gifts of Providence are of little
consequence to your people, or to our common country, unless
developed and improved, for the purposes for which they Avere
intended. When the constitution of the United States was adopted,
"V irginia contained double the population of New York, and now,
New York contains double the number of people in Virginia. I
do not propose to inquire into the causes that have produced such
a mighty change in the relative numerical condition of these two
states. I do propose, however, to state to you some of the reasons
why you should noAV set about doing something, to bring back that
prosperity, which many of your people believe is forever lost.
The truth is, and not to be denied, that Nature has been profuse
in her gifts, in behalf of your people, and you have done but little
for yourselves. The settlement and deArelopment of the resources
of the western country have brought into existence an active and
effectual competition with your people in the great staples of 3rour
agricultural products, viz., wheat, Indian corn, and tobacco. Mary
land and North Carolina, like yourselves, are essentially affected
by competition from the same quarter ; from Ohio, Kentucky, Indi
ana, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa. The great
West is now supplying largely the New England, and other
States, which are consumers of these agricultural staples, in quan
tity and value to a greater extent than all the foreign Avorld besides.
The internal improvements of the country already finished, haA'e
brought Boston, by steam, within the distance of four days' travel
of Cincinnati, by way of Buffalo ; and a contemplated railroad
from Burlington, Vermont, to Ogdensburg, New York, will bring
us practically yet nearer to those fertile regions of the west. The
expense of transportation is essentially reduced wherever railroads
or canals have been constructed ; and even the Mississippi herself
17

130 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
bears down upon her bosom the products of the west, at less than
half the freight that was charged a few years ago.
Thirty years since, a few small schooners were sufficient to carry
on the commerce between this city and New Orleans ; now, within
the last year, we have had one hundred and sixty-five arrivals from
New Orleans at this port, and many of the vessels are of the largest
class ; ships from five hundred to seven hundred tons burden.
They have brought us tobacco, Indian corn, flour, cotton, beef, pork,
lard, lead, etc., amounting in the aggregate to many millions of
dollars. Of the first three of these articles, which now come to
us in such quantities from New Orleans, our importations in former
times were almost exclusively from Virginia, North Carolina, and
Maryland. Can you expect to compete, successfully, '-Avith the
western regions of our country, Avhere, without much labor, the
soil produces double, and sometimes even more, to the acre than
the average crops of the last mentioned states ? This competition
will increase, and it appears to me that the remedy for its inaus
picious effects upon your welfare, is to create a market at home for
your surplus agricultural products, by establishing such manufac
tures as may be adapted to the peculiar condition of your labor.
There are two classes of labor, intelligent and unintelligent ; the
former is that kind of labor which requires a considerable amount
of mental culture, with active physical power. This combination
is capable of applying science to art, and of producing results that
are difficult, and oftentimes complicated. The latter description of
labor is of that character which depends principally on physical
strength ; this quality of labor you have in abundance ; and I hope
you are not Avithout a tolerable supply of the higher class. You
may, without doubt, commence the manufacture of almost every
description of articles, requiring but little skill, and prosecute the
work with success. Manufactures of such articles as iron, hemp,
wool, cotton, leather, etc., wrought into the coarser and more
common articles, would succeed.
You will find, very soon after a regular system of the division
of labor shall have been introduced, that a desire for knowledge
will be created ; more education, more intellectual cultivation, will
be desired by those engaged in the mechanical departments, and,

WANTS OF VIRGINIA. 131
with this eagerness for knowledge, will follow skill and cleverness
in the use of tools, and then will follow the inventive power, for
which our people have become so distinguished in the estimation
of the world.
You cannot do anything in Virginia, that will so completely
promote the introduction of railroads, as the placing of manufac
turing establishments on your beautiful water-falls. The Avater-
power on the James river, at Richmond, is unrivalled ; and it
seems a great waste of natural Avealth, to permit it to run into the
sea, having hardly touched a water-wheel. If the prominent men
of Virginia, of both political parties, will give up their party war
fare, and resolve themselves into a " Committee of the Whole, on
the Commonwealth, to improve the state of Agriculture," by mak
ing two blades of grass grow, where there is now but one, will
establish manufactures, and carry on a well-adjusted system of
internal improvements, they will then have done something that
will be substantial, abiding, — which will stand as memorials of their
patriotic devotion to the interest of the people, through all time_
Let your common school system go hand in hand with the employ
ment of your people, you may be quite certain that the adoption
of these systems at once, will aid each other.
You cannot, I should suppose, expect to develop your resources,
without a general system of popular education ; it is the lever to>
all permanent improvement. It appears to me essential to the
preservation of our republican institutions, that the people of this
country should be educated, and that all intellectual culture should
be founded upon our holy religion : the pure precepts of the
gospel are the only safe source from which we can freely draw
our morality. It is essential that we should have an educated
population; inasmuch as every man can exercise the right of
suffrage : the elective franchise in the hands of an ignorant and
debased population, would very soon place our country in a state
of anarchy. We should strive to elevate the laboring, and less
favored classes. In Europe, the great body of the people have
nothing to do with the election of their rulers ; even in England,
free as she is, compared with many of the continental states, the
mass of the people do not exercise the elective franchise. This is a
point of primary importance ; and your people may rest assured,.

132 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
that taxes for education, even as a matter of pecuniary gain, would
greatly enhance the value of their property. I am, therefore, clear
in my convictions, not only of the duty, but the expediency of
introducing manufactures extensively into your state, with an expan
sive system of popular education, and from these movements, will
soon be seen the happiest results, in a healthful prosperity, and a
striking improvement in the condition of the people.
Just for a moment imagine the whole supernumerary population
of Virginia, employed at a rate of wages, such as are paid in the
northern and eastern states ; what, think you, would be the effect ?
I have not a doubt that the value of land would increase within five
miles around each manufacturing village, equal to the cost of all
the machinery in it. The sphere of labor must be enlarged ; diver
sified, if you would bring out the energies of your people. I yet
hope to see Virginia take that place, among the old Thirteen, that
seemed by ProAddence to be assigned to her. It can only be achieved
by energy and perseverance, on the part of those who have the
destinies of their fellow citizens in keeping. Let the law-makers,
and those who administer them, not only speak out, but act, give
an impetus to labor ; let it be respectable for every man to have a
vocation, and to follow it. If not for his own pecuniary profit, let
him labor for character, which he is certain to obtain, if his labors
benefit others. I intended to make some remarks on the recom
mendation of the President in his annual message, and the report
of the honorable secretary of the treasury, to change our whole
revenue system. The plan proposed, if carried out, has an import
ant bearing on the subject of this letter, which is, however, already
sufficiently long. Reserving, therefore, my remarks upon the last
mentioned topics, for another communication,
I remain, very faithfully,
Your friend and obt. servant,
ABBOTT LAAVRENCE.
To the Hon. W. C. Rives,
Castle Hill, Albemarle County, Virginia.

TARIFF OF 1846. 133
We cheerfully give up our own space to-day, to a second letter
from the Hon. Abbott LaAvrence, and feel sure that our readers
will thank us for the substitution. We have taken but a mere
glance at this document, but think we may safely say, it is a pow
erful and impressive paper — throwing much light upon subjects of
particular interest to Virginia, and indeed to the Avhole country :
Boston, January 16th, 1846.
My Dear Sir : I stated, in my letter of the seventh, that I
should write to you again, upon the subject of the entire change
proposed by the President of the United States, and the Secretary
of the Treasury, in our Revenue Laws. It is no other than the
adoption of ad valorem for specific duties, and a reduction of the
whole to twenty per cent. ; this being the maximum at which the
Secretary supposes the largest revenue can be obtained. I shall
not now discuss the rates of duty that will produce the greatest
amount of revenue. I will leave the Secretary to settle that ques
tion ; but shall endeavor so show what the effects Avill be upon
the country if his recommendation should be adopted by Con
gress. I deem the scheme proposed to Congress, in the main, a
currency question, and one, if carried out, that will reach, in its
operation, the occupation and business of every man in the United
States. I believe the most economical member of Congress will agree
that thirty millions of dollars will be required, annually, to carry
on this government, for the next five years, and that this estimate
does not include large sums that may be wanted to settle our
affairs with Mexico, Texas, etc. ; and that this sum is to be raised
from foreign importations, and the public lands. The goods, sub
ject to duty, imported the last year, amounted, in round numbers,
to ninety millions of dollars, and the goods free of duty to about
twenty-five millions. I have not the returns at hand, and may not
be exactly correct as to amounts ; but they are near enough to
illustrate my arguments : the formerapaid an average duty of about
thirty-two per cent., creating a revenue, say of twenty-eight mil
lions. If the revenue derived from an importation of ninety mil
lions, gave twenty- eight millions of dollars, what amount must be
imported, to produce the same sum at twenty per cent, ad valorem ?

134 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
The answer is, one hundred and forty millions ; add to this, the
free goods, about twenty-five millions, and we have an importation
of one hundred and sixty -five millions of dollars. Our exports have
not exceeded, nor are they likely at present to increase above one
hundred and twenty millions : we then have a deficit of forty-five
millions to provide for ; and how is this balance to be paid ?
State stocks are no longer current in Europe. Even the stocks of
the United States cannot be negotiated on favorable terms.
We, who are merchants, can answer this question, having often
been obliged to make our remittances in coin, when our imports
have exceeded our exports.
If we are obliged to import one hundred and forty millions of
goods subject to duty, to meet the wants of the government, it is
quite certain that the coin must be exported to meet the deficiency.
If the importations fall short of one hundred and forty millions, we
then have an empty treasury. In one case, the country will be
made bankrupt, to fill the treasury ; and, in the other, the treas
ury will be bankrupt, and resort to Congress for treasury notes and
loans. It may be said, that our exports will increase with our
imports. This supposition I think fallacious. The policy of Great
Britain, and that of all Europe has been, and is likely to continue,
to protect every thing produced either at home, or in their col
onies. In Great Britain, the article of cotton is now admitted free,
the duty having been repealed the very last year. This was owing
to repeated representations of the Manchester spinners to Parlia
ment as to the necessity of such a measure in consequence of the
competition from foreign countries in the coarse fabrics manufac
tured from cotton produced in, and shipped from, the United
States. The argument presented in the house of commons was,
that the Americans had taken possession of every market, Avhere
they were admitted on the same terms, with their coarse goods.
This is a true representation, and I apprehend the repeal of the
duty on cotton will not enable the British manufacturer to again
obtain possession of those maj? kets, for the heavy descriptions of
cotton fabrics.
What other article of importance does the government of Great
Britain admit free of duty ? I know of none. Cotton is admitted
free of duty from necessity. How is it with tobacco ? A duty is

TARIFF OF 1846. 135
paid of twelve hundred per cent. Wheat is prohibited by the
" sliding scale," and, in case of a total repeal of the corn laAvs, very
little wheat would be shipped from this country, inasmuch as it can
be laid down, in ordinary years of harvest, much cheaper from the
Baltic. Beef and pork are burdened with a heavy duty. The
duty and charges on a barrel of American pork laid down in Liv
erpool, with the commission for sales, amount to five dollars and
seventy -five cents ; so that the quantity of this article shipped to
England must be inconsiderable, unless the prices here should be
so low as to be ruinous to the farmer.
I cannot find, in the catalogue of our strictly agricultural prod
ucts, a single article that is not burdened Avith a high duty, in
England, or other parts of Europe, if it comes in competition with
their own products ; nor can I discover that there is a disposition,
on the part of a single European nation, to relax theh stringent
system of duties on imports from this country. It is possible that
Great Britain may abate her corn laws, so far as to admit Indian
corn at a nominal duty. If it should be done, I have little faith
in our being able to ship it to advantage. I state the fact, then,
that exports will not increase in consequence of a reduction, or
even a total repeal, of the present tariff. The duty in Great Brit
ain, on all the products of the United States, received in that
kingdom, including cotton, is not less than forty-eight per cent.,
and exclusive of cotton, three hundred per cent. ; and this, too,
on raw produce generally, where the charge of freight consti
tutes from one-tenth to one quarter of the cost here, and this is
free trade !
I hope you, of Virginia, will examine this matter, and ask
yourselves where the best customers are to be found for your agri
cultural products. I will just state to you, here, that Massachu
setts takes more flour, Indian corn, pork, and many other articles,
annually, the productions of the west, as well as of Virginia, than
all Europe.
The question then arises, What will be our condition after the
proposed plan of low duties goes into operation ? In twenty days
after the bill becomes a law, it will have reached every country in
Europe with which we have trade ; the manufactories are all set in
motion for the supply of the American market ; the merchandise is

136 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
shipped on account of foreigners, in many cases with double
invoices, one set for the custom house, and another for the sales, so
that, instead of the duty amounting to twenty per cent., it will not
probably exceed fifteen per cent. This has been the experience of
the American importers in New York, who, previous to the pas
sage of the tariff of 1842, had, (most of them,) abandoned the
business, not being able to compete successfully with fraudulent
foreigners. I will not say that all foreigners commit frauds on the
revenue ; — far from it ; — but I do say, that enormous frauds have
been perpetrated by foreigners, on the revenue, under ad valorem
duties, and will be again — prostrating the business of honest for
eign and American importers. In less than twelve months after
the new plan shall have been in operation, this whole country will
be literally surfeited with foreign merchandise ; if it be not so, the
revenue will fall short of the wants of the government ; we shall
then owe a debt abroad of millions of dollars, which must be paid
in coin. The exchanges go up to a point that makes it profitable
to ship specie ; money becomes scarce in the Atlantic cities ; yet
bills on England and France do not fall ; the loans made to the
south and west are called in ; demands for debts due from those
sections of country, are made ; exchange cannot be obtained ; prod
uce is purchased and shipped ; and, when it arrives at the north,
it will not command the cost in the west ; a paralysis will have
struck the business of the country ; produce will no longer answer
to pay debts due at the north, and the next resort is to coin, which
is to be collected, and sent down the Mississippi, or over the moun
tains, to Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. West
ern and southern credits are cut off, as the people of those sections
can no longer promptly meet their engagements. The new states,
and the outer circle of the Republic, are the weak points ; and the
first giving way of the banks, is heard from those points, where
there is the least amount of capital. We see the storm approach
ing, like a thunder shower in a summer's day ; we watch its prog
ress, but cannot escape its fall. It at last reaches the great marts
of trade and the exchanges, having swept everything in its course ;
and the banks of the Atlantic cities, after a violent effort to main
tain their credit and honor, are forced to yield to this Utopian
experiment on the currency. I have no hesitation in stating that

TARIFF OF 1846. 137
all this Avill take place Avithin the space of eighteen months from
the time this experimental bill goes into operation ; and not a spe
cie-paying bank doing business, will be found in the United States.
Where will be the revenue which was to produce such a mighty
sum under low duties ? Where is the Treasury, and the Secretary,
and the President, and his cabinet ? The treasury is empty ; the
secretary is making his estimates of income for 1849, and preparing
to ask Congress for a large batch of treasury notes ; or, perhaps,
the deficit is so large that a loan may be required. We have now
come to a point of depression in the great business of the country,
which has attracted the attention and anxiety of all classes of peo
ple, all having felt its blight, excepting the great capitalists and
money-holders, who are reaping golden harvests by the purchase of
property, which the wants of the unfortunate throAv into the mar
ket at ruinous rates. It is now seen and felt from the Ioav Avages
of labor, and the great number of persons unemployed, with the
cries of distress from all quarters, that it is the labor and not the
capital of the country that suffers by violent revulsions caused b)r
unwise legislation. Have the people of the south and west forgot
ten their troubles of 1837 to 1842, to the hour of the passage of
that law, which has redeemed the credit of the government, and
restored prosperity to the country ? I have intimated that there is
less capital in the new states, than in many of the old ones ; it will
not be denied that the moneyed capital of this country is held in
the northern and eastern states, and that the south and west are
usually largely indebted to them. Now, I should be glad to be
informed what benefit is to be derived by a planter in Alabama or
Mississippi, or a farmer in Ohio or Illinois, by a change like that I
have described ; particularly, if by chance he should be in debt ?
Do the people of the south believe they can raise the price of cot
ton, or be able to negotiate loans, to prosecute the construction of
their contemplated railroads ? Do Ohio, Louisiana, Illinois, Mich
igan, believe they are to create a better market for their produce,
or sooner complete the harbors, so much desired on the shores of
those " inland seas," and be able to negotiate loans, and obtain
subscribers to the stock of their intended railroads, by the adop
tion of this new system of political economy ? And now, what
say the great States of New York and Pennsylvania to this pro-
is

138 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
posed experiment ? Can they afford to try it, and are they ready ?
If they are, it will be adopted ; if they are not, the present law
will stand, and the country will repose for a while in happiness
and prosperity. Any one would suppose that those states that are
now just emerging from embarrassment, which at one time seemed
almost sufficient to overwhelm them in ruin, would be unwilling to
try an experiment, Avhich is certain, in my judgment, to place them
in a position that will be the means of destroying the fair prospects
of thousands, who are resting in quiet security upon the faith of what
they deem a paternal and wise government. The question of an
important alteration in our revenue laws should not be kept in
suspense. The treasury will feel its effects before the end of the
present year. The expectation of a great reduction of duties pre
vents the merchants from going on with their usual business.
Voyages are delayed, and orders for goods are held back, until this
important question shall be settled. I say, therefore, if we are to
go through this fiery ordeal, let it come at once, — we cannot prob
ably place ourselves in a better condition than we are now, to meet
the troubles that await us.
Mr. Walker proposes to substitute ad valorem for specific duties,
in opposition to our own experience, and that of almost every other
country. I have never yet found an American merchant, who has
not been in favor of specific duties, Avherever it can be done with
convenience to the importer and the government. I confess it is a
bold measure to propose a total and entire change of a revenue
system, which was established with the government, and has stood
the test of experience through all the trials of political parties and
administrations, from General Washington to Mr. Polk. It
appears more extraordinary at this time, as the country is in a high
state of prosperity. The revenue is enough for all the reasonable
wants of the government, and the people appear to be satisfied with
their condition. The resources of the country were never devel
oping more rapidly ; the increase of our population the present
year, will probably equal that of the last, which I estimate at six
hundred thousand souls ; our Avealth, too, has been wonderfully
augmented by the construction of railroads ; there has been a great
increase of our shipping, engaged in the domestic commerce of the
country, not only by sea, but upon our rivers and great lakes ;

TARIFF OF 1846. 139
the manufacturing interest has been largely extended ; and the
soil, too, has been made to produce vastly more than at any former
period. The whole productive power of the country has been
greater in three years, (that is, since the passage of the tariff of
1842,) than during any equal space of time in our national history.
There have been three periods of universal distress throughout our
land, since the peace of 1783, and, in each case, under low duties.
I appeal to those who remember those periods ; and to others,
I refer to the annals of our country. Those periods were from
1783, (the conclusion ofthe revolutionary Avar,) to 1789 ; 1815 to
1824 ; 1837 to 1842.
I would respectfully recommend to the Secretary of the Treasury,
who appears to have received new light upon the subject of our
national economy, to examine the history of the legislation of
Congress, at the above periods. He will find in his own depart
ment of the government, an abundance of evidence of the distress
that existed under low duties, and a deranged currency.
There is a prevalent idea abroad, that the capital of the country
will suffer exceedingly by a revulsion in its business, and that the
tariff of 1842 has operated in favor of the capital, and not the labor
of the country. There can be no doubt that capital is generally
profitably and safely employed, and well paid. The profits of
capital are low, when wages are low ; but capital has usually had
the power to take care of itself, and does not require the aid of
Congress to place it in any other position, than to put the labor in
motion. Congress should legislate for the labor, and the capital
will take care of itself. I will give you an example of the rate
of wages under low duties, and under the tariff of 1842. In 1841
and 1842, the depression, in all kinds of business, became so
oppressive, that many of the manufacturing establishments in New
England were closed, the operatives dismissed, the mechanical
trades were still, and every resource for the laboring man seemed,
dried up.
In the city of Lowell, Avhere there are more than thirty large
cotton mills, from six to sixteen thousand spindles each, it was
gravely considered, by the proprietors, Avhether the mills should
be stopped. It was concluded to reduce the wages ; this was done
several times, until the reduction brought down the wages from

140 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
about tAvo dollars, to one dollar and fifty cents per week, exclusive
of board ; this operation took place upon between seven and eight
thousand females ; the mills run on ; no sales were made of the
goods ; the south and Avest had neither money nor credit ; and,
finally, it was determined to hold out till Congress should act upon
the tariff. The bill passed, and, of course, the mills were kept
running, which Avould not have been the case, if the act had been
rejected ; and now the average wages paid at LoAvell, — taking the
same number of females, for the same service, — is two dollars per
week, exclusive of board. Yet, Mr. Walker says, labor has fallen.
Where are 'the wages for labor, I ask, lower than they Avere in
1842 ? Who is to be benefited by the adoption of a system that
gives up everything, and gives no reasonable promise of anything?
I have succeeded, I trust, in showing that there is no probability
of our exports increasing, in consequence of a reduction of the
tariff, and that the products of the western states find the best
market among the manufacturers at home. In regard to the
southern and cotton-growing states, they are to be greatly bene
fited by the increase of consumption of their staples at home.
No appreciable quantity can be shipped to England, if the tariff
should be repealed, it being already free of duty. The establish
ment and successful prosecution of the spinning of cotton, in this
country, has enabled the planters to obtain, for several years past
at least, an additional cent per pound on the Avhole crop, and,
perhaps, even more. The Americans are the greatest spinners of
that article in the world, the British excepted. This competition
has kept the price from falling to a ruinous point, on several
occasions, and it has been acknowledged, by many of the most
intelligent planters in the south. Our consumption reached, the
last year, one hundred and seventy-six millions of pounds, Avhich
is equal to the whole crop of the Union, in 1825, and equal to
the whole consumption of Great Britain, in 1826. This is a
striking fact, and one that should be remembered by the planters.
The history of the production and manufacture of cotton is so
extraordinary, that I propose to send to you some statistics on the
subject, furnished me by a friend. I hope you will not deem me
over-sanguine when I tell you it is my belief that the consumption
of cotton in this country will double in eight or nine years, and

TARIFF OF 1846. Ill
that it will reach four hundred millions of pounds in 1856 ; and
further, that we are not only destined to be the greatest cotton-
groAvers, but the most extensive cotton-spinners in the world. We
have all the elements among ourselves to make us so. The manu
facture of cotton is probably in its infancy ; but a moderate portion
of mankind have yet been clothed with this healthful and cheap
article. Nothing can stop the progress of this manufacture, but
some suicidal legislation, that will prostrate the currency of the
country, and deprive the people of the means of consuming. There
can be no legislation that Avill break down the manufacture of
cotton and wool, excepting through the operations of the currency.
We may be disturbed by Ioav duties ; the finer descriptions of
cotton and woollens, printed goods, and worsted fabrics, would
be seriously affected by low ad valorem duties ; but the coarser
fabrics, such as are generally consumed by the great body of the
people, will be made here under any and all circumstances. If
we have competition from abroad, the labor must and will come
down ; this has been often tested, and our experience establishes
the fact.
In Virginia and other southern states, and even at the west,
many persons have believed that the protective system was made
by and for New England, and that New England, and particularly
Massachusetts, could not thrive without it. Noav this is an error ;
the south and Avest began the system of high protective duties, for
the purpose of creating a market for their produce, (although the
principle of discrimination was recognized and established when the
first tariff was enacted.) It is not true, that we are more dependent
on a protective tariff, than the middle, western, or southern states.
Those states that possess the smallest amount of capital, are the
most benefited by a protective tariff. We have in New England
a great productive power ; in Massachusetts far greater than any
other State, in proportion to population. We have a hardy, indus
trious, and highly intelligent population, with a perseverance that
seldom tires, and we have also acquired a considerable amount of
skill, which is increasing every day ; besides, Ave have already accom
plished a magnificent system of intercommunication between all
parts of this section of the country by railroads ; this is the best
kind of productive power, having reduced the rate of carriage to a

142 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
Avonderful extent ; this being done, we have money enough remain
ing, to keep all our labor employed, and prosecute our foreign and
domestic commerce, without being in debt beyond the limits of our
own state. Now I ask, how we shall stand, compared with Penn
sylvania, Ohio, Alabama, Georgia, or Louisiana, when the day of
financial trial shall come. I do not deny we shall suffer ; but as it
has been in times past, we shall go into, and come out of the troubles
far stronger than any other state out .of New England. It is not
my purpose to present to you the balance-sheet of Massachusetts,
but it is due to her character and her dignity that she should stand
before you in her true position. I have never advocated a protec
tive tariff for my own or the New Engfand States exclusively ; nor
have those gentlemen with whom I have been associated in this
cause, at any time, entertained a narroAv or sectional view of the
question. We have believed it to be for the interest of the whole
country, that its labor should be protected ; and so far as I have had
to do with the adjustment of those difficult combinations embraced
in a tariff bill, I have endeavored to take care that the interests of
all the states were protected, whether they were large or small. I
say now to you, and it should be said in Congress and to the country,
that Massachusetts asks no exclusive legislation. If Pennsylvania,
New York, and Ohio, the three great states, with Kentucky, Geor
gia, Missouri, Alabama, and Louisiana, wish to try an experiment
on iron, coal, hemp, cotton bagging, sugar, etc., etc., I am ready as
one citizen of Massachusetts to meet it, and await in patient sub
mission the result, which I doubt not will be found, within eighteen
months, in the realization of all I have predicted. I say, again, I
would not, if I could, have a tariff made for Massachusetts alone.
If, however, there should be a new one, let our interests, with those
of every other in the Union, share that protection to which we are
all entitled, and of which we claim our full share. I can, with con
fidence, assure you, that we shall go upward and onward. We
will work. If twelve hours' labor in the twenty-four will not
sustain us, we can, and will work fourteen ; and, at the same time,
feel that Congress cannot take the sinews from our arms, or rob us
of the intelligence acquired from our system of public schools,
established by the foresight and wisdom of our fathers.
At the risk of writing a long letter, I cannot forbear alluding to

TARIFF OF 1846. 143
the fact, that the habitual agitation of this question of the tariff has
worked, in the main, to the advantage of New England.
We were, previous to the Avar of 1812, an agricultural and navi
gating people. The American system was forced upon us, and
done for the purpose of creating a home market for the products of
the soif of the south and west ; we resisted the adoption of a sys
tem, which we honestly believed would greatly injure our naviga
tion, and drive us from our accustomed employments, into a busi
ness we did not understand. We came into it, however, reluc
tantly, and soon learned, that, with the transfer of our capital,
we acquired skill and knoAvledge in the use of it, and that so far
from our foreign commerce being diminished, it was increased, and
that our domestic tonnage and commerce were very soon more than
quadrupled. The illustrations were so striking in every department
of labor, that those who, fifteen years ago, were the strongest oppo
nents among us, have given up their theories, and acknowledged
that the revelations are such as to satisfy the most sceptical. We
have gone forAvard steadify, till many descriptions of manufactures
are as well settled in New England, as the raising of potatoes.
Our experience has given us skill, and of course we have confi
dence in our own resources that does not exist elsewhere.
When I converse with gentlemen from the south and west res
pecting the establishment of manufactures, they reply that they
should long ago have engaged in it, but the repeal of the tariff, the
action of the government, prevented them. Now you cannot blame
us, if this constant agitation of the tariff question has tended to
give New England, not a monopoly, but advantages which she has
not been instrumental in bringing about. I have no doubt we have
been gainers on the whole by these agitations, yet we have at times
been great sufferers. I wish those states that have withheld their
energies from entering upon these industrial pursuits, to examine
this matter, — and, if I am right, to take an observation and a new
departure. We have no jealousy whatever concerning the estab
lishment of manufactories in all parts of the country ; on the con
trary, I believe those gentlemen from the south and west Avho have
been here, will bear witness to the desire, on the part of the people
Avho are engaged in manufactures, to impart all the information in
their power. There is room for us all. When the southern and

144 WORKS OF S. D BRADFORD.
western states shall manufacture their own clothing, we shall have
become extensive exporters of the variety of manufactures produced
here. We have the ships, and the men to navigate them. We
shall pursue an extensive foreign commerce Avith manufactures,
and bring home the produce of other countries, such as coffee, tea,
etc., and pay for the produce of the south and west, with for
eign luxuries, and necessaries of life. It has often been said here
by us who advocate protection to American labor, that, in wearing
British cottons, woollens, etc., we are consuming British wheat,
beef, pork, etc. I am happy to find authority of the highest
respectability for this opinion, in the person of one of the most
eminent merchants, as well as one of the best and most honorable
men in England, Mr. William Brown, of Liverpool — lately the
free trade candidate for Parliament from the county of Lancaster.
In a letter to John Rolfe, Esq., a landholder, upon the advantages
of free trade, he says: "You next allude to the league wishing to
injure you. I presume it will not be denied, that all interests in
the kingdom are so linked together, that none of them can suffer
without the others being injured. We must sink or swim together!
Paradoxical as it may appear, I think Great Britain is the largest
grain-exporting country in the world, although it is impossible
to estimate accurately, what quantity of grain, etc , is consumed in
preparing £50,000,000 value of exports, by which you are so
greatly benefited. It is placed in the laboratory of that wonderful
intellectual machine, man, which gives him the physical power,
aided by steam, of converting it into broadcloth, calico, hardware,
etc., and in these shapes your wheats find their way to every
country in the world."
I thank Mr. Brown for the clear statement he has presented, of
the importance of a home market, and commend this extract from
his letter to the consideration of every farmer in the United States ;
it is perfectly sound, and applies with particular force to our pres
ent condition. To place the people in a condition of permanent
and solid prosperity, you must encourage home industry, by obtain
ing the greatest amount of production ; this can only be obtained
by diversifying labor, which will bring with it high wages ; and
unless the labor is well paid, our country cannot prosper. Agri
culture, the foundation of all wealth, depends on production, and

TARIFF OF 1846. 145,
a market for those products. The encouragement of agriculture,
in the establishment of manufactures, if maintained, will be cer
tain to secure a market.
I ask the farmer to look for a moment at the following state
ment. American flour in Cuba pays a duty of about ten dollars
per barrel : in Rio Janeiro, five to six dollars ; and in many other
ports, the duties vary from fifty to one hundred and fifty per cent.;
in return, Ave take coffee, most of Avhich we pay for in coin, free
of duty — and this is free trade. We have, too, treaties of reciproc
ity with foreign countries ; and, among others, Great Britain, (not
including her colonies,) by which her ships are admitted into our
ports on the same terms as our own ; they come freighted with
her minerals and manufactures, which are sold here, and take in
return a variety of articles, the produce of the United States, such
as timber, lumber, fish, etc., touch at New Brunswick, or some
other colony, and go home, free of duty. We have, too, triangu
lar voyages made from England to Jamaica, and other British
islands, with cargoes, and thence to the southern states, where
they load with cotton, tobacco, and other produce for England :
this, too, is called free trade.' I will not pursue this branch of the
subject, but give you a fact. Not long since, the foreign carrying
trade was nearly all in our own hands ; now the reciprocity system,
not including the colonies of foreign nations, gives to foreigners
more than one-third of all the carrying trade of the United States ! !
I cannot believe the time is far distant when the government of the
United States will protect, as it ought, the foreign navigating inter
est of this great country. If we would have American seamen ta
man our navy, the mercantile marine must be protected in the car
rying of our own productions. One more fact, and I will close
these long, and, I fear you will think, desultory remarks. Some-
years since, a few bales of American coarse cottons were sent from,
this country to Hindostan, as a commerciai experiment ; the superi
ority of the frabric, and the material out of which it was made, grad
ually brought the goods into notice and use in that country, and
the annual exportation from the United States increased from a few
bales up to three and four thousand per annum. The British
manufacturers were much annoyed at this interference, and it is
presumed that it was through their influence that the East India
19

146 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
Company (the government of that country) have repeatedly aug
mented the discriminating duty on these goods, (Avhich are called
drillings,) for the purpose of protecting their own manufactures
against those of the United States. Prior to 1836, the duty was
five per cent, in favor of British goods ; in that year, it was
increased to eight and a half per cent.; a few years after augmented
to ten and a half per cent.; and even this rate of differential duty
proved insufficient to keep out the Americans, Avho drove a profit
able trade, notwithstanding the great difference against them.
And now, within a few months, the East India Company have
been compelled again to increase the discriminating duty to fifteen
per cent., in order to exclude our goods altogether ; and this dif
ference, will, without doubt, accomplish the object. These facts
are deserving of a passing remark, as illustrative of the energies
and resources of the United States. As late as the declaration of
the last war in 1812, this country imported almost all its coarse
cotton fabrics from Hindostan, whence they came literally by ship
loads, and were paid for almost altogether in coin. No country
seemed to be more abundant in means necessary to supply such
goods cheaply, than Hindostan : its soil furnished an abundance of
cotton, which, though not of equal quality to that of the United
States, was much less in price, and labor Avas cheaper than in any-
country iii the Avorld. Cotton spinning machinery was available
through the medium of British capital, and the manufacturers
received a protection of ten and one-half per cent., against foreign
interference. No country seemed more secure from foreign com
petition in these goods, than Hindostan, and least of all was there
fear of competition from the United States ; a country fifteen thou
sand miles distant, where a day's labor will earn about twenty-five
pounds of good rice, while, in Hindostan, it obtains less than ten
pounds of very inferior rice. But the American planter furnished
a better raw cotton ; the manufacturer, a better and cheaper fabric ;
the ship owner, a speedy and cheaper conveyance. Their united
efforts drove the British manufacturer of these coarse goods from
the largest British colonial market, and which the American would
now be in possession of, but for the interposition of the East India
Company, with another protective duty to sustain their manufacto
ries. I have no fault to find with the course pursued by the British

TARIFF OF 1846. 147
in these regulations. I have introduced these frets, to exhibit to
you the transcendent folly of attempting a system of low duties and
free trade, where it is all on one side. I have not yet known the
British government to reduce the duties to a point, that has reached
a single important interest. Their free trade and low duties never
apply to any article that seriously competes with their oavh labor,
nor are they likely to adopt such measures. The free trade of the
political economists of Great Britain is a transcendental philosophy,
which is not likely to be adopted by any government on the face of
the globe, unless it be the Chinese, and we haAre already the earnest
ofthe effect of low duties on the internal condition of that country.
The trade of that empire is fast approaching to barter ; the precious
metals having been drained, to pay for the foreign products intro
duced into it.
I am aware that I have written a long letter, but I could not
well abridge, consistently, with glancing at many topics in which I
take a deep interest. The subject is boundless, and I would cheer
fully carry out, by illustrations and examples, many of the points
upon which I have touched, but I forbear for the present. When
I have the pleasure to meet you, we can discuss all these questions,
embracing not only the present condition, but the future prospects
and destiny of our beloved country, for which I entertain the
strongest attachment. Our strength and glory is in upholding and
maintaining the Union.
I shall send, in a few days, statistics, furnished me by a friend,
who is intelligent, careful and accurate in these matters, and Avho
holds himself responsible for all that will be stated.
I pray you, my dear sir, to accept the assurances with which I
remain, most faithfully, your friend and obedient servant,
ABBOTT LAWRENCE.
To the Hon. William C. Kives,
Castle Hill, Albemarle County, Virginia.

148 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
West Roxbury, 16th February, 1846.
Dear Sir, — I send you, this morning, three communica
tions, containing some comments on two letters of the
Honorable Abbott Lawrence, addressed to Mr. Rives, of
Virginia, which were recently published in the Richmond
Daily Whig, and also in the Boston Daily Advertiser.
They were first offered to the editors of the first-named
journal, but, not having heard from them in reply, in the
time specified, I had a personal interview, on Saturday
last, with Nathan Hale, Esq., editor of the Boston Daily
Advertiser, and desired him to give them a place in the
columns of his paper. This request, Mr. Hale thought
proper to decline. They are now offered, for insertion, in
the Boston Post. I remain, clear sir, very respectfully,
your friend and obedient servant,
S. D. BRADFORD.
C. G-. G-eeene, Esq.,
Editor of the Boston Post.

West Roxbury, (near Boston.)
February 5th, 1846.
Dear Sir, — I have read with attention the two letters
recently addressed by you to your friend, Mr. Rives, of
Virginia, and being unable to admit many of your
premises, or, having admitted them, being compelled to
draAV from them opposite conclusions, 1 avail myself of
the earliest opportunity in my power to address you upon
the various subjects brought under consideration. This is
of the greater importance, because, looking at the time
you have chosen to reappear before the public ; the chan
nel of commmunication you have selected, as well as the
nature of the arguments you have used, no one can doubt

TARIFF OF 1846. 149
that your object is to act upon the Congress now assem
bled at Washington, and to do what you can to prevent
any change or reduction in the tariff of 1842. This is
all fair, and was to be expected. We all like to have our
OAvn way, and, when one is doing Avell, and engaged in a
highly prosperous business, it cannot be supposed he
would desire a change.
I do not propose to say anything on the subject of your
first letter, devoted almost exclusively to the suggestion of
a plan for restoring the State of Virginia to her former
riches and magnificence, because my opinion of it will be
easily deduced from the general remarks I shall offer
upon your second letter. No one can wonder that you
should propose, for adoption by Virginia, a scheme which
you have found to answer so admirably for yourself, and
the other manufacturers, Avith whom you are connected.
Whether, however, you have not acted, as some doctors
do, who, having confidence in only one medicine, propose
it as the panacea for all kinds of diseases, however
different in character, may admit of some doubt. Leav
ing then this point unsettled, I pass directly to the topics
discussed in your second letter.
From the intimation given near the close of your first
communication, I had made up my mind that your second
would be devoted to break down, demolish, and overthrow
the report of Mr. Walker, Secretary of the Treasury; nor
could I wonder that you should desire to do so. This
public document had attracted universal attention, not
only in America, but in Europe also, especially in England,
where it had been hailed as the olive branch of peace,
and had rendered almost acceptable to that proud nation
the high and lofty pretensions of the President's message.
It had been mentioned as a most extraordinary state
paper by the Governor of Massachusetts in his annual
message. It had charged upon the protective system, as

150 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
sustained by the tariff" of 1842, the greatest injustice and
inequality. It had attempted to sIioav how it enriched
the few at the expense of the many; how the highest
rates of duty were paid upon the articles consumed princi
pally by the poorer classes ; how oppressive it was to our
commerce and navigating interest; and unjust also towards
the agriculturists and planters, in limiting their markets.
Mr. Walker had estimated the sum of extra taxation
imposed in this manner upon the country for the particu
lar benefit of the manufacturers, as amounting to fifty-four
millions of dollars per annum ; being equal to double the
amount of the revenue of the whole United States. These
are high charges, and ought to be disproved, if they can
ba I hope, however, that you will pardon my freedom
of speech, and impute it only to my regard for the truth,
when I assure you that I have been unable to find in your
letter the refutation of any one of the charges above
enumerated. You commence by saying that the proposal to change or
reduce the tariff of 1842, is a " question of currency,"
and, having stated the amount of revenue likely to be
wanted for the next three years, (equal to thirty millions
a year,) you assume it cannot be raised by the rates of
duty likely to be recommended by Mr. Walker, (viz., about
twenty per cent, ad valorem,) without an importation of
one hundred and sixty-five millions a year. You then
describe the disastrous effects of over-importation, the
drain of our coin to pay our foreign debts, the probable
suspension again of specie payments by our banks, and
the general, if not universal, prostration of the commerce,
occupations, and prosperity of the country. We all
remember the fearful convulsions in the trade of the
country, which have happened so often ever since the
peace of 1815 ; and, had you assumed, as a caption to
your letter, the following : " Remarks on the Ruinous

TARIFF OF 1846. 151
Consequences of Over-banking, and of Excessive Issues of
Paper Money;" or had you taken the still shorter one of
"A Defence of the Sub-treasury System," I should have
said you had made a good argument, and that the verdict
ought to be given in your favor. But, when you attribute
all these disastrous panics and revulsions to a certain
ordinance called a tariff, and to u low duties," I perceive
at once you have fallen into an error, very common in
practice, but often vrery fatal in its consequences, of con
sidering certain occurrences, because they happen to be
cotemporary. as causes and effects. " There have been
three periods," you remark, " of universal distress through
out our land since the peace of 1783; and in each case
under low duties. Those periods were from 1783 to 1789
—1815 to 1824— and 1837 to 1842."
Respecting the first-named period, you, as Avell as
myself, must have reference only '¦ to the annals of our
country." No doubt the country was distressed, and this
was to be expected at the conclusion of a long and disas
trous war, which was carried on by the colonies, consisting
of thirteen distinct States, refusing "to form a union for
the benefit of all ;" owing a vast debt incurred during the
revolutionary struggle ; without credit, and almost without
hope ; but how that distress could have been alleviated
by imposing a high tariff of duties upon this poor and
miserable nation, deprived of the means of payment, I
am unable to comprehend. Your remark, as respects this
first period, of course has reference to the tariffs estab
lished by the different States themselves, as our present
United States Government dates only from 1789.
As respects your second period, 1815 to 1824, I must
express my surprise Iioav you can call that a period of Ioav
duties under the tariff of 1816. If you will refer to the
debates of that time, you will find it was considered as
imposing very high duties. This was the tariff, into which

152 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
was introduced, for the first time in our country, that
legislative puzzle called "-minimums" which used to per
plex us so much in casting the duties on our importations.
It may be called a happy invention of the government
for taxing an article seventy-five per cent, on its cost
under a pretended duty of twenty-five per cent, ad valorem.
It was found to succeed, that is, to create a revenue ; and
was at a later period extended to woollen goods as you
may remember, in the celebrated tariff of Henry Clay in
1828, which soon after produced such a frightful revulsion
in the business of the country, and caused the rebellion
in South Carolina,
With regard to the third period you have named, from
1837 to 1842, the duties, although on the leading articles
of importation much above a revenue standard, were no
doubt considerably lower than those imposed by the tariff
of 1828 ; and let me remind you what was accomplished
during the existence of the tariff then in being, which
commenced in 1832. General Jackson completed the
payment of the public debt, amounting at the conclusion
of the war to one hundred and fifty-eight millions of
dollars ; and besides providing for all the annual expenses
of the government, amounting to an average of nineteen
millions per annum, actually paid back to the different
States the sum of thirty-seven millions, being the surplus
then on hand in the public treasury. Such results as
these are unparalleled in the history of our own or any
other country. If from 1837 to 1842 the last half of the
ten years, during which the tariff of 1832 existed, there
were violent revulsions in the trade of the country, the
true cause of them may undoubtedly be found in the
previously inflated condition of the currency.
I do not intend to deny, nor to extenuate in any way.
the frightful crisis which took place from 1837 to 1842,
commencing in the spring of the first-named year, when

TARIFF OF 1846. 153
our whole paper money system, having been somewhat
convulsed and shaken from the date of the famous specie
circular ofthe eleventh of July, 1830, gave way, and sank
into chaos ; when some of the richest and most extensive
manufacturers in Boston are said to have had a meeting
to deliberate whether they should stop payment, or compel
the banks to do so ; and Avhich ended in the surrender of
the last named, in defiance, as Mr. J. Q. Adams justly said
at the time, " of every principle of honor and justice."
We all remember those times " which tried men's souls,"
and their pockets too ; but if you attribute them to the
tariff, you deceive yourself. They were produced by our
system of banking, and abuse of paper money ; and
although at present the mountain appears to stand so
strong that nothing can move it, yet its foundation rests
on paper as much as ever ; and what happened in 1837
may occur again under similar circumstances at any time.
Every reflecting mind must see the subject in this light ;
and this fact, coupled with another, viz., that property,
which rests on the continuance of high protective duties,
can never be depended upon, is the reason why some of
the Lowell shares in companies, which make a profit of
thirty per cent, per annum, have been sold at par or
under, and can even now be had at thirty per cent.
advance. Call to mind for a moment two facts which
illustrate the frightfully inflated state of the currency
during the time now under consideration. In 1833, the
foreign importations amounted to one hundred and eight
millions. In 1836, they rose to one hundred and ninety
millions. In 1833, the sales of the public lands were five
millions. In 1836, they were twenty-five millions ; and
had not General Jackson, with an energy which never
faltered, and a vigilance which never slept, promptly
issued his specie circular, (so much abused and misrepre
sented in Boston,) the whole public domain would have
20

154 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
been soon in the hands of reckless speculators. In 1838,
when the paper money system had fallen into a state of
collapse, the sales of the public lands amounted to less
than two millions. No country in modern times has
probably suffered so much from paper money as our own,
except perhaps China some time ago, before America had
any trade with her. If you happen to own, or have
access to a certain book on China, written by an author
named Claproth, you may find there a full account of
what that country endured, strikingly similar to what has
occurred in our own. The emperor finally abolished the
use of paper money altogether, to save the empire from
entire destruction.
Convinced, as I think you must be, of the fatal conse
quences of paper money, and filling, as you have at times,
a place in the legislative halls of our country, I have
looked with aching eyes to see you attempt some remedy
for so great an evil. Year after year I have waited to
see you use your powerful influence to have some
measures adopted to increase our specie basis, to do away
with the circulation of small notes, and to subject our
eight or nine hundred banking corporations to some more
stringent and necessary regulations, in order to prevent
the recurrence of such a frightful revulsion, as you predict
will happen again, should the present tariff be reduced.
There is no country in the world which has the means
of giving itself a better currency than our own. There
is no empire or kingdom in Europe, where it is so bad. I
have seen it recently stated that there is one State
(Michigan) in which every bank has failed, that has been
established there since its admission into the Union.
Another gentleman in Boston occupies a position some
what similar to yours, the Hon. Nathan Appleton, of
whom I have also at times had some hope, as he has,
during, I believe, almost every crisis we have had since the

TARIFF OF 1846. 155
war, written a very sound and sensible letter upon the
currency; but I cannot call to mind any effort of his
when in public life to carry his views into effect. This
gentleman, also, during the discussion of most of the
tariffs Avhich have passed, has published communications
upon the impolicy of having very high duties, and yet he
held up his hand in Congress in favor of the tariff of
1842, which Avas carried by a majority of only one vote,
which led some one to remark that " Mr. Appleton was
the gentleman, who always wrote right, but voted wrong."
I do not intend to speak invidiously of a gentleman so
much esteemed as Mr. Appleton, for whose opinions the
public have so much respect. I only regret that, when in
his sound judgment he had decided against a measure as
injurious or impolitic, he should, under any circumstances,
have been induced to give it his support. From able
communications of Mr. Appleton before the public, I
conclude he must have considered many of the duties
imposed by the tariff of 1842 as too high.
To return to your prediction that, under the tariff to be
submitted by Mr. Walker, it will require an annual impor
tation of one hundred and sixty-five millions to raise a
revenue of thirty millions, it might be sufficient to reply
that as yet the financial scheme of Mr. Walker has not
been published, nor definitely decided upon at Washington.
It will be in time to show its fallacy, when we are in actual
possession of it. Without any great stretch of the imag
ination, I can conceive of a plan, by which the required
revenue may be obtained without increasing the importa
tions a single dollar beyond the amount received last
year. The amount, you say, imported in 1845, was one
hundred and fifteen millions, of which ninety millions
were subject to an average duty of thirty-two per cent.
This, you think, may be reduced to twenty per cent.
That would produce a deficiency of ten million eight

156 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
hundred thousand dollars. Now it is Avell known that
the annual consumption of tea in this country is about
sixteen million of pounds, and of coffee about one
hundred millions, which are now free from duty. Lay
an average duty on tea of thirty-seven cents per pound,
and on coffee a duty of five cents, and you have the
deficiency made good, and a surplus of one hundred and
twenty thousand dollars. This you may consider a bold
proceeding, but I would remind you that, up to the
twentieth of May, 1830, there was a duty on coffee of
five cents per pound, of which, even then, when the price
was double what it is at present, I do not remember to
have heard any great complaints ; whereas now, on
account of the low price of the article abroad, the
consumer here, after paying a duty of five cents, could
be supplied at the cost of twelve and a half to fifteen
cents. The duty on tea also, you may remember, was at
one time very high, amounting to from twelve to fifty
cents per pound.
Be pleased to understand that I do not admit that there
would be the deficit you name under any modification of
the tariff, which Mr. Walker would be likely to propose
On the contrary, I am confident that, on many articles
of import, the revenue would be increased by reducing
the duty, because, as the secretary very justly remarks,
"many of the duties imposed by the tariff of 1842 are
becoming dead letters, except for the purpose of prohibi
tion, and if not reduced will ultimately compel their
advocates to resort to direct taxation to support the
government." I am against exorbitant rates of duty
altogether, and would therefore avoid, if I could, imposing
so high a rate upon coffee and tea. I have merely named
these two articles to prove to you that, were it necessary,
we could make up the deficit you have so confidently
predicted, by imposing on two articles only a rate of duty

TARIFF OF 1846. 157
which, although very heavy on the cost of those commo
dities, Avould, after all, be scarcely felt by the consumers.
If they pay already fifty-four millions per annum for the
exclusive benefit of the manufacturers alone, not one
dollar of which ever reaches the public treasury, they
could well afford to exchange this enormous burthen for
the tax I have proposed on tea and coffee, and would
make a saving of more than forty millions.
I need not remind you of the inevitable result, which
ahvays follows the reduction of duty upon a commodity.
Look at the avooI trade in England. Prior to 1824, the
duty on wool was sixpence sterling per pound, and the
imports about ten millions of pounds. In 1825, that free
trader, Mr. Huskisson reduced it to one penny. The con
sequence was, that the very next year, the imports
amounted to forty-two million, eight hundred and thirty-
seven thousand, eight hundred and sixty-one pounds. The
farmers in England, Avho had "slumbered so long under
the tree of protection," like our farmers in 1828, 1832,
and 1842, cried out they should be ruined. Now listen
for a moment to the remarks of the talented author of the
article upon the woollen trade of Great Britain in the last
edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. " The reduction"
says he, '¦ has produced the most beneficial effects, not
merely on manufactures, but also on the steady price of
English wools, which have been much higher on the aver
age since the reduction than they Avere before, although
we have become importers to the extent of half the whole
quantity we consumed when Mr. Vansittart imposed the
tax of sixpence per pound in 1819." I hope the agri
culturists of America will read and ponder upon this when
the manufacturers would attempt to persuade them that
they can flourish only " whilst slumbering under the tree
of protection."
" We, the manufacturers," you say, " have no jealousy

158 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
whatever concerning the establishment of manufactories
in all parts of the country," and you have recommended
this plan to Virginia. Why, then, have you such a jeal
ousy of foreign manufactures that you would have them
prohibited, or subject to such exorbitant duties ? There
are some manufacturing establishments at the south
already; and I have been informed that they, finding it
difficult to compete with the manufacturers of New Eng
land, are desirous of being protected against the Yankees.
This might have been anticipated; for, the purpose of pro
tection being to sustain an interest which cannot support
itself, the principle is the same in both cases.
In my next letter, I shall offer some remarks upon what
you have alleged as to the illiberality of England in refus
ing to take our products, and upon the great increase in
our shipping and general prosperity, which I shall attempt
to show Ave are in possession of, not in consequence of our
high protecting duties, but in spite of them. I may also
submit some observations on other topics of your com
munication, Avhich do not occur to me at the present
moment. I remain very truly,
Your friend and obedient servant,
S. D. BRADFORD.
To the Hon. Abbott Lawrence, Boston.

West Roxbury, (near Boston,)
February, 7th, 1846.
Dear Sir, — I promised, in my last communication, to
offer some remarks in the present upon what you have
alleged respecting the illiberality of England in her com
mercial dealings with us ; upon the great increase in our
shipping and general prosperity ; and perhaps, also, upon
some other topics discussed in your letter. In order to

TARIFF OF 1846. 159
decide the first point, no method can be so fair as to com
pare the amount Ave import from England with the
amount which she imports from America. In a word,
we must cipher a little, in order to settle the mat
ter ; as you have done to ascertain how large our im
portations Avould have to be, in case the present tariff
should be reduced.
I have not before me the official returns of our imports
and exports for the last year, but I have those of 1838,
Avhich probably will do just as well ; as if any material
change has since occurred, it will most likely shoAv a rela
tive increase of our exports to Great Britain.
I find, then, that, in 1838, our total of exports amounted to $108,486,610

Of this amount, England took 50,445,076
Scotland, 1,695,978
Ireland, 38,555
The British West Indies, Gibraltar, Malta, British East Indies,
British American Colonies, Cape of Good Hope, Australia,
Honduras, and British Guiana, 6,663,802

Making a grand total of $58,843,412
It Will be seen, by this, that Great Britain furnished a
market for more than one-half of our exports to all parts
of the world ; and, on cotton, Avhich constituted, in that
year, sixty per cent, of our total exportations, the duty im
posed was only two shillings and eleven pence, or seArenty
cents per hundred weight, equal to about eight or nine
per cent, on the cost of the article during that year ; not
seventy-five to one hundred per cent., which we were
exacting at the time on many kinds of her coarse cotton
manufactures. Our imports during the same year from
Great Britain and her possessions abroad, before enume
rated, amounted to forty-nine million, fifty-one thousand,
one hundred and eighty dollars, and the greater part of
them were subject to very high rates of duty, varying

160 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
from ten to one hundred per cent. ; as any one may see
by turning to the tariff of 1832.
During this year, you perceive the exports exceeded the
imports by the sum of nine million, seven hundred and
ninety-two thousand, two hundred and thirty-two dollars ;
but, on reference to the official value of imports and exports
during the year ending thirtieth of June, 1844, 1 find our ex
ports to Great Britain and her foreign possessions amounted
to sixty-one million, seven hundred and twenty-one thou
sand, eight hundred and seventy-six dollars, whilst our
imports from these countries amounted to only forty-five
million, four hundred and fifty-nine thousand, one hun
dred and twenty- two dollars ; showing a balance against
Great Britain of sixteen million, two hundred and sixty-two
thousand, seven hundred and fifty-four dollars in a single
year ! Surely, if such a result be a proof of illiberality, I
hope we may continue to have many such, not only from
Great Britain, but from all the other countries in the
world. I find, also, on turning to the annual circular of Messrs.
Colin Campbell & Son, of Liverpool, that the total import
of cotton into the United Kingdom in 1845, Avas one mil
lion eight hundred and fifty-six thousand, eight hundred
and sixty-five bales, of which one million, five hundred
thousand, three hundred and sixty-nine bales were from
America ; aud that this amount exceeded that of 1844,
by two hundred and fifty-two thousand, six hundred and
eighty-four bales ; equal to more than half of all the cot
ton consumed in the United States, according to your
own estimate. How can you expect the intelligent plant-
ers of South Carolina, and of the other cotton-growing
states, to be content with the narrow-contracted market
you have offered them, when they have before them such
a fact as this ; when they see that single illiberal nation,

TARIFF OF 1846. 161
called Great Britain, has taken, in one year, very nearly
two-thirds of all the cotton produced in the country ?
I do not find that you are contented with the home
market for the sale of your manufactures. On the con
trary, it would seem, by your account, that you have
invaded with them South America, India, China, and have
even sent a few hundred bales of " cotton drills " to Lon
don, in order that you might " beard the lion in his den ;"
writing to your friend, Mr. Greg, late member of Parlia
ment for Manchester, at the same time saying that you
were quite satisfied " the Americans would soon become
extensive exporters of twist, as well as of all manufactured
fabrics of yarn under Number Thirties," and that, "where the
principal elements entering into the cost of an article are
composed of raw cotton and power, America will compete
successfully with any country in the world," whilst, at the
same time, such cotton drills were subject to a duty of
seventy-five to one hundred per cent, in this country, not
one fraction of which are you willing to relinquish. The
letter to Mr. Greg, in which you made the above state
ment, was published both in England and America.
You have informed Mr. Rives how you, or some of
your friends, have been treated by the East India Com
pany, (at Calcutta, I suppose,) " having increased the dis
criminating duty on some coarse cottons, (Suffolk drills, I
have understood they are called,) for the purpose of pro
tecting their own manufactures against those of the United
States." You add, — " you have no fault to find with the
British, in these regulations ; " nor could you, with any
propriety, do so, knowing the tariff of 1842, which you
are so desirous to perpetuate, affords you a protection, as
I have before observed, on a similar article of British.
manufacture, of more than four times the amount.
I do not think, however, that you more than half like
this fiscal regulation after all, or you would not have
21

162 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
devoted so much of your letter to a statement of it. You
should remember it is one of the legitimate consequences
of the protective system, and from this example you may
be able to form some conception how the manufacturers
of Europe felt when they received the news of the passage
of the tariff of 1842. I should be reluctant to repeat the
execrations I heard some of them utter, especially those
who had shipped their property to our shores upon the
faith of the American government, that a duty only of
twenty per cent, should be exacted ; whereas that actu
ally demanded, and paid also, amounted, in many instances,
to more than one hundred per cent. They called it a
legislative fraud.
I cannot say I think you have spoken Avith justice or
candor of the motives Avhich actuated the British gov
ernment in the total repeal of the duty on cotton. The
struggle was long and animated, and finally terminated
victoriously for the manufacturers, in consequence of the
untiring exertions of those free traders in Manchester and
the vicinity, whose system of political economy you char
acterize as a "transcendental philosophy," fit only for
adoption by the Celestials of China, I suppose, whose
commerce you represent as haAang been revolutionized
by this novel fallacy called free trade. "It is fast
approaching," you say, " to barter, the precious metals
having been drained to pay for foreign productions."
Probably a large proportion of these "products" con
sisted of Lowell cottons. Indeed, we all know this to be
the fact; and how can you, of all men in the world,
complain of this ? In what other way do you expect to
find a vent for the manufactures, in which are to be
consumed "the four hundred millions of pounds of
cotton," which you say will be required in 1856? "But
a moderate portion of mankind," say you, " have as yet
been clothed with this cheap ahd healthful article." Free

TARIFF OF 1H46. 163
trade, according to your account, is fast producing this
desirable result. If the manufacturers or merchants have
found their recent shipments less profitable than before, it
arises probably from their having sent too many goods.
You and I recollect very Avell when the Chinese would
take nothing from us but specie : and the fitting out of
half a dozen Chinamen by the late Theodore Lyman, and
the present T. H. Perkins, and Bryant & Sturgis, pro
duced a revulsion in the money market of the country,
similar to that which occurs iioav in London, when there
is a bad harvest, and the Bank of England is called upon
to furnish gold to pay for foreign corn. What has saved
us from this revulsion noAv but free trade, according to
your own account ?
The true reason Avhy the British government did not
abandon the duty on cotton sooner, was, that they deemed
it absolutely necessary to enable them to maintain the
public faith. It amounted to about three millions of
dollars, and being obliged to raise two hundred and fifty
millions per annum, to pay the expenses of the govern
ment and the interest of the national debt, they could not
then see any way to do without it. It was, however,
finally relinquished ; government at the time remarking
to the deputation which Avaited upon them, they regretted
not having it in their power to repeal some other taxes
on commodities connected with the prosperity of British
manufactures. In speaking of the increase of our shipping, I am in
some doubt whether you have referred to our foreign or
domestic tonnage, or to both. That the first should have
greatly increased was to have been expected, from the
great addition to our population, and from the vast
increase of our productions. I am, hoAvever, wholly
unable to see any connection between this increase and
the protective system. On the contrary, I believe it

164 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
would have been vastly greater without it. I will give
you my reasons. I find, on reference to the statistics of
our country, that, as long ago as the year 1807, wdien our
population was only six and a half millions, the foreign
exports amounted to the astounding sum of one hundred
and eight millions, and our imports to one hundred and
thirty-eight millions; whereas, for the year ending thirtieth
June, 1844, when our population was estimated at about
twenty millions, the exports were only one hundred and
eleven millions, and the imports one hundred and eight
millions, exactly what the exports amounted to thirty-seven
years before! The duties at that time, too, (1807,) were
very low. Surely there must be a cause for such stupen
dous effects, and here again you must pardon me if I can
find it only in free trade.
The fact is, our government, at that period, was adminis
tered upon wise and elevated principles. Our legislators
were followers of the maxims laid down with so much force
and illustrated in such beautiful language in the third
book of Telemachus, where Narbal explains to him the
way in which Tyre had become such a rich and commer
cial city; for I can assure you that this "transcendental
philosophy," as you call it, is as old as the seventeenth
century, and was proclaimed in France during the reign
of Louis XIV. by Fenelon. "Soyez constant," says he,
"dans les regies du commerce;" which may be fairly
translated "alter your tariff as seldom as possible." Mr.
Walker says ours has been changed thirty times since
1789. It was under the wise and paternal administrations
which ruled and watched over the welfare of our country
from 1789 to 1807, that so many of the citizens of Boston,
Salem, and other towns acquired those large fortunes,
which made the names of Gray, Thorndike, Peabody,
Lyman, Perkins, and several others, famous all over the

TARIFF OF 1846. 165
world. In 1807 came the embargo; the non-intercourse
followed ; in 1816, the tariff! These gentlemen seldom
made any great voyages afterwards. The evidence is
perfectly satisfactory to my mind that our tonnage, espe
cially that engaged in the foreign trade, is nothing like
what it would have been, had it not been crippled and
crushed by the protective system. Look at the public
documents, and see Avhat a tale they unfold. Since 1815
we have had five tariffs, viz : In 1816, 1824, 1828, 1832,
and 1842. All of them, except that of 1832, called the
" Compromise Act," have raised the duties, especially that
in 1828. Now let us see the changes in our tonnage at
or near the above named periods :

Tons.

In 1815 the tonnage registered, enrolled and licensed was

1,368,127

1818

1,225,184

1828

1,741,391

1829

1,260,797

1830

1,192,776

In 1832, as I have already said, was passed the Com
promise Act reducing the rates of duty.
Let us now see how the account stands.
In 1832 the tonnage was 1,439,450
In 1833 1,601,149
and it went on increasing every year until 1837, when it
reached 1,896,685 tons.
I remember it was stated in 1828, the year in which
you took such an active part in the famous Harrisburg
Convention to stimulate the government to pass the
tariff of that year, that, in the great commercial city of
New York, there could not be found a ship upon the
stocks in all the numerous ship-yards there ; and that to
every part of the Union, where vessels are constructed,
countermands had been sent in cases where any were
building. This statement may not have been true to the

166 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
letter, but the falling off of the tonnage in a single year to
the extent of four hundred and eighty thousand five hun
dred and ninety-four tons, (a circumstance almost incred
ible, if it were not proved by the public documents,) gives
to it a sufficient confirmation.
I hope, however, that portion of our nation connected
with the building or navigating of vessels, will remember
what happened in 1829, when they are called upon to
give their votes for candidates, who support high protective
duties. Your statements respecting the tonnage are so extra
ordinary, I apprehend the printer of your letter must
have fallen into a great error.
Speaking of your commencement in manufacturing
you say — "We (meaning, I suppose, the manufacturers of
Lowell and other parts of Massachusetts,) came into it,
however, reluctantly, and soon learned that with the
transfer of our capital we acquired skill and knowledge
in the use of it, and that so far from our foreign com
merce being diminished, it was increased, and that our
domestic tonnage and commerce were very soon quad
rupled." I do not know the exact period from which you date,
but presume you refer to 1828, Avhen you first engaged
in domestic manufactures. The American Almanac states
the amount of tonnage for that year to have been one
million seven hundred and forty-one thousand three
hundred and ninety-one tons, and on the thirtieth of
June, 1844, two million two hundred and eighty thousand
and ninety-five tons, an increase of only thirty-one per
cent, in sixteen years; whereas, according to your state
ment, it ought to have been seven millions!
I infer, from your remarks upon our navigating interest,
that you disapprove of what you call " the reciprocity
system," which allows foreign vessels to enter our ports

TARIFF OF 1846. 167
upon the same conditions accorded to American ships
entering the ports of foreign nations. If these reciprocity
treaties are of a comparatively recent date, commencing,
I believe, from 1815, the reason may be found in the
illiberal and unwise legislation of other countries. From
what Ave know of the enlightened policy of Washington,
Hamilton, Madison, and nearly all our great statesmen,
it may be inferred they would have approved of the
"reciprocity," which you would discard. Indeed, the
first treaty of the kind was made with England by Mr.
Madison, and is dated third of July, 1815.
Thus Ave perceive that Great Britain, the most commer
cial and enlightened nation in Europe, adopted it first;
the Netherlands followed next. Later, came Denmark
and Prussia. You think this system does not Avork well.
" Not long since the foreign carrying trade," say you, "was
nearly all in our own hands. Now the reciprocity sys
tem, not including the colonies of foreign nations, gives to
foreigners more than one-third of all the carrying trade
of the United States." Probably you have particular
reference to those cheaply navigated vessels from Bremen,
Hamburg, and Sweden, which are so fast driving our mer
chant ships from the ocean. Would you know how this
has come to pass? Turn to the debates of Congress, and
you will find an admirable speech of Mr. Webster's, to
which I had the pleasure of listening in the House of Repre
sentatives at Washington, in 1824, when he was the cham
pion of free trade, and the inflexible opponent of the pro
tective system.
He was giving his reasons for opposing the high duties
on iron, hemp, canvas, and the other articles entering into
the construction of a ship, in answer to the arguments of
Henry Clay and others ; when he made an estimate of
what the extra cost of a vessel would be, if Congress should
sanction the rates then proposed, amounting, if I remem-

168 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
der rightly, upon a ship ofthe usual demensions, from four
to six thousand dollars. He spoke of the madness and
folly of such a tax, and predicted that it would ruin our
ship-owners, and that foreigners would take away our car
rying trade. Time has proved the truth of Mr. Webster's
predictions, and so it has of all the principles he laid down
in the famous Faneuil Hall resolutions, sustained by him
with so much power and eloquence in 1820.
Mr. Webster and yourself were both, at that period, the
advocates of free trade and low duties. Of late years, at
any rate since 1828, you have sustained the protective
system with all your energies and power. The question
is often asked how all the opinions upon political econ
omy, which you and Mr. Webster must be presumed to
have adopted after long and mature consideration, could
all at once have become so changed ; how you could have
been induced to abandon the great and immutable truths
so firmly established by such great men as Adam Smith,
Ricardo, and Brougham, and become the disciples of the
doctrines of the late Judge Baldwin and Henry Clay.
Be assured you cannot retain the foreign carrying trade,
and a high protective tariff at the same time. To com
pete successfully with the cheap vessels of Bremen, Sweden,
Hamburg, and other places in Europe, you must enact
laws to favor the navigating interest, not to oppress it by
excessive taxation. Hamburg and Bremen, you know,
are free Hanseatic cities. Commerce requires freedom.
It cannot live without it. Look at Rotterdam and
Amsterdam, if you wish to see the effects of high protec
tive duties. Hamburg is now what Tyre once was. Its
population, at the time I was there, in 1840, was estimated
at one hundred and twenty-five thousand. The import
and export trade amounted to seventy millions of dollars
per annum ; and what think you was the duty paid on
this sum ? It amounted to only one hundred and fifty

TARIFF OF 1846. 169
thousand dollars, about equal to what is paid at New
York on the arrival of a Liverpool or Havre packet.
Do you wonder that we should hear the exclamation
made every day how New York is falling off in the
increase of its commerce and riches compared to what
they might hav7e been under a more enlightened and lib
eral policy ? And yet, after all, there is something so
deceptive in the name of " protecting home industry,"
that many of the friends of the protective system may be
found amongst the most active merchants in that city. I
am not quite certain that the citizens of New York could
not afford to have a fire every year nearly as destructive
as that of July last, if, by that means, they could be
relieved from the incubus of the protective system.
There are a few other statements made in your letter
of the sixteenth January, which I am unwilling should pass
without comment ; but my remarks upon these must be
deferred for my third and concluding communication.
I remain, very truly,
Your friend and ob't serv't,
S. D. BRADFORD.
To the Hon. Abbott Lawkence, Boston,

West Boxbury, (near Boston.)
February 10th, 1846.
Dear Sir, — In your letter to Mr. Rives, of the six
teenth of January, in speaking of Mr. Walker's report,
you say — " it is no other than the adoption of ad valorem
for specific duties, and a reduction of the whole to twenty
per cent." In another part of your letter you call it " a
total and entire change of a revenue system, which was
established with the government, and has stood the test
of experience through all the trials of political parties and
administrations from General Washington to Mr. Polk."
22

170 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
Now I would appeal to you, as a candid inquirer after
truth, whether the above be a fair representation of the
case. How can Mr. Walker's plan be called " an entire
change," when the ad valorem system is as old as the
American government ; and when even last year, the
revenue arising from ad valorem duties exceeded that
realized from specific duties ; although the average of ad
valorem duties was twenty-three per cent., and the aver
age of specific duties forty-one per cent. ? If you had
said that the adoption of specific duties, now so much in
favor Avith the protectionists, because they cut off importa
tions, was an innovation upon the system of revenue which
has usually been adopted, it would have received the
general assent of your readers.
The first tariff established by the administration of
Washington is now before me. It is dated 20th July,
1790. The duties imposed by it are in general ad
valorem ; and the rate on woollens, cottons, silks, linens,
and upon fabrics of a mixed character, is only tAvelve and
a half per cent, ad valorem. These five descriptions of
goods must then, as since that period, have constituted
the principal value of our imports. There were a few
commodities on which was imposed a duty of fifteen per
cent, ad valorem ; and four articles were doomed to pay
twenty per cent., viz : coaches or chariots, girandoles, glass
and looking-glasses, being no doubt considered luxuries,
and therefore subjected to a higher duty, agreeably to the
principle recognized in Mr. Walker's last report. There
are also specific duties on liquors, teas, coffee, and some
other commodities, such as have usually been taxed in this
way. It was under this tariff that our Republic made
such rapid advances, and our merchants acquired such
large fortunes. Our ships were upon every sea.
You dwell upon the frauds which have been committed
upon the revenue heretofore, and which you think will

TARIFF OF 1846. 171
be again ; but you do not even allude to the smuggling,
which exorbitant duties are sure to produce in .every
country Avhich adopts them. You must have read of the
effects they have produced in Spain, and some other
countries in Europe. The estimate has been made that
three-fourths of the whole foreign trade of Spain is in the
hands of smugglers. Mr. McCulloch, so frequently quoted
by Sir Robert Peel as an authority, writing upon smug
gling, remarks — "It does not originate in any depravity
inherent in man, but in the folly and ignorance of legisla
tors. To create, by means of high duties, an overwhelming
temptation to indulge in crime, and then to punish men
for indulging in it, is a proceeding subversive of every
principle of justice. The true Avay to put down smuggling
is to render it unprofitable."
Is this sound doctrine, or is it false ? Let it be adopted
in the next tariff, and you will have very little cause in
future to complain of "fraudulent foreigners," or double
invoices. The protectionist and the smuggler have a close
affinity. The one produces the other. Lord John Russell
recently said in Parliament, that " protection was the bane
of agriculture." It is equally true that smuggling is the
bane of protection. The government may commission
thousands of custom-house officers; may line our coast
with troops; may establish coast guards from Massachu
setts to Florida — but smuggling and defrauding the rev
enue will continue so long as the duties are prohibitive, or
exorbitantly high.
I do not think you are quite just towards our southern
brethren in the account you give of the origin of what
you call the "American system," which you say Avas
"forced upon the north, and done for the purpose of
creating a home market for the products of the soil of the
south and west." At the assembling of the Congress
which passed the tariff of 1810, the public debt of the

172 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
United States — principally incurred in the Avar against
Great Britain, which ended in 1815 — amounted to one
hundred and fifty-eight millions of dollars. Nearly all the
banks in the Union had suspended specie payments. The
government was without credit, and almost without rev
enue. During the war, a new interest had grown up, viz. :
the manufacturing; and when the Secretary of the
Treasury was about to prepare his report, or to bring in
his budget, he was beset on the one hand by the manu
facturers, and on the other by the merchants engaged in
the foreign trade, who, notwithstanding all their losses by
the embargo, non-intercourse, and Avar, continued even
then to retain a good part of those riches they had before
acquired under that system of free trade and low duties
which I attempted to describe in my last communication.
These were the parties whose interests had to be consid
ered by Congress, in enacting a new tariff. The high-
minded and patriotic statesmen of the south, J. C. Calhoun,
William Lowndes, and others from that section of the
country, came forward, as they had always done before,
and responded to the necessities and wants of the nation.
Their means were the least considerable. They had
suffered incredible hardships and losses during the war,
but they said the honor of the country must be preserved,
and they passed the tariff of 1816 ; not so much, as you
seem to suppose, to create a home market, as to sustain
the credit of the country, and to liquidate the enormous
debt Avhich then oppressed it.
That novel experiment, called " the minimums," was at
this time introduced, because the people of this country
being then principally clothed in cotton fabrics imported
from India, it did not occur to the wisdom of Congress
that the revenue then wanted (about twenty-three millions)
could be raised in any other way. Such, I believe, is to
be a true account of the introduction of what you call

TARIFF OF 1846. 173
" the American system." You would date its birth from
1816 ; I, from 1828. You Avould attribute its paternity to
J. C. Calhoun or William Lowndes; I would say it was
unlawfully begotten by Henry Clay.
There is one portion of your letter in which I fully concur.
I allude to that part in Avhich, speaking of protection, you
remark that " New England, and particularly Massa
chusetts, could thrive Avithout it." There can be no doubt
of this, for it is confirmed by the experience of all those
countries in Europe, which have avoided the protective
system. In what parts of the old world have manufactures most
flourished since the peace of 1815? The answer is, in
Switzerland and Saxony, where there is no protective duty
whatever. The manufactures of Switzerland can only be
said to have been established since 1813; about the time
we began to manufacture by power in the United States ;
and now they enter into competition with those of Great
Britain in the markets of the East, and are sent to America
and Brazil in large quantities.
As respects Saxony, her woollen, cotton, and linen man
ufactures have reached a degree of perfection and cheap
ness unequalled upon the continent of Europe. In the
manufacture of cotton hosiery, she has deprived Great
Britain of nearly all her foreign markets ; and the beaux
of Broadway, who, when you were engaged in the import
ing business, used to appear clad in one of Thomas Shep
herd's best, are now clad in superfine from Saxony.
In Austria, on the contrary, where the protective system
has always prevailed, the manufacturers are in a state of
bare existence. In Great Britain, the same results have
been witnessed in the silk trade. It was, until 1824, a
monopoly. French silks were prohibited, but the trade of
Spitalfields presented only a succession of the most ruinous
bankruptcies, until 1824, when Mr. Huskinson reduced the

174 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
duty on raw silk to three pence per pound, and permitted
French manufactured silks to be admitted for home con
sumption, at a duty of thirty per cent. The usual effects
soon followed. The silk trade revived at once, and in nine
years afterwards, (1833,) had more than doubled. "To
the prohibitive system," said Mr. Huskinson, " it was to be
attributed that, in silk only, in the whole range of manu
factures, are we left behind our neighbors." From the
above remarks, you will perceive that, in my opinion, low
duties are most favorable, even for the manufacturers
themselves. You have made a strong and animated appeal to the
people of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and other states, to alarm
their fears for the safety of the protection of their " iron,
coal, hemp, cotton bagging, sugar, etc., etc." No one can
mistake the object of this. You would have them to
understand, I suppose, that if they fail in their duty of
protecting the cottons and woolens of New England, they
can no longer expect the aid of this section of the country,
in protecting the manufactures or productions in which
they are interested. If, however, those states are ready
to try " the experiment," you add that "you, as a citizen
of Massachusetts, are ready to meet the result, which you
doubt not will be found within eighteen months in the
realization of all you have predicted." You then add —
" We will work ; if twelve hours labor in the twenty-four
will not sustain us, we can and will work fourteen."
I would be the last person to doubt the energy or perse
verance of New England, but I may perhaps be permitted
to suggest that, in my opinion, the plan you have proposed
for meeting the frightful revulsion you predict, in "the
failure of all the banks," "the drain of our coin," "the
surfeit of foreign goods," etc., appears a most extraordinary
one. The very nature of the crisis anticipated supposes
an almost total cessation of business transactions. I have

TARIFF OF 1846. 175
witnessed in Europe, in 1819, and in 1837 to 1842, the
most disastrous crises amongst the manufacturers, and the
method they adopted to save themselves from ruin, was to
shorten the hours of labor, instead of increasing them.
Sometimes they have been compelled to dismiss all their
operatives, and shut up their mills.
And noAv, as respects the selfish and unaccommodating
disposition of Europe in general. " You cannot discover,"
you say, " that there is a disposition, on the part of a single
European nation, to relax their stringent system of duties
on imports from this country." If this anti-commercial
spirit really exists, how was our distinguished and talented
ambassador at Berlin, Mr. Wheaton, able to negotiate the
Zollverein treaty ? and by whom was this first-born of free
trade and reciprocity strangled in the Senate of the United
States? by the manufacturers, or by the advocates of a
more liberal system of legislation ? We all know that the
manufacturing interest opposed this treaty, as it probably
will all others, founded upon a reciprocal reduction of our
own and foreign tariffs to a revenue standard.
Has Sir Robert Peel made no reduction in the English
tariff upon various articles produced in this country ?
Has his recent resignation nothing to do with an attempt
on his part to greatly reduce, or repeal altogether the
duty on corn ? We shall soon see. Would it not be some
thing for our grain-producing states to have their bread-
stuffs admitted, duty free, into a country containing twenty-
seven millions of people, estimated to consume sixty
millions of quarters, or four hundred and eighty millions
of bushels of corn per annum ? I use the word corn as it
is understood in England, representing wheat, and other
descriptions of grain.
But how can we expect foreign nations to make us any
concessions, when we refuse to make any to them ? You
are aware that most of the governments of Europe are

176 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
despotisms. The people have no concern in making the
tariffs or the laws. In England, where the people are
daily acquiring more power, they are making unheard-of
exertions in favor of free trade. I need not remind you
what have been the herculean labors of C. P. Villiers,
Richard Cobden, J. B. Smith, John Bright, and a host of
others, in the cause of free trade ; nor what they have
accomplished. All Europe is looking on with amazement
and admiration. Their ranks have been recently increased
by the addition of Lord John Russell, Lord Morpeth, and
Mr. Labouchere ; and it is supposed Sir Robert Peel
himself is only waiting a convenient opportunity to follow
suit. Such changes are remarkable, and foreshadow what
may be expected in future.
You say, " I state the fact, then, that exports will not
increase, in consequence of a reduction, or even a total
repeal of the present tariff." I only state my opinion that
your prediction will prove false. Already I have shown
what was the result in England, with regard to the silk
trade. Not only was the home consumption, but the
export also, doubled in nine years after the reduction in
the duty. This vieAV of the subject is confirmed not only
by the experience of our own country, but by the history'
of other nations.
You have remarked that "but a moderate portion of
mankind have yet been clothed with the healthful and
cheap article of cotton," and hence you have predicted
that the consumption of that article in this country will
have reached four hundred millions of pounds in 1856, a
considerable part of which will have to be exported.
I, on the other hand, would remind you, that but "a
moderate portion " of the people of Great Britain are fed
with corn and butcher's meat ; and that, in Ireland alone,
we are assured by a strong protectionist in the British
Parliament, " there are five millions of people who rejoice

TARIFF OF 1846. 177
on potatoes." All these people are in want of the bread-
stuffs and provisions, which can be supplied in such vast
abundance by our brethren in the west ; and how can you
venture to predict that they cannot compete with foreign
nations in their productions, as you say you have done
with your cotton manufactures ? Free trade has already
obtained the total repeal of the duty on raw cotton. The
next steamer may bring us the neAVS of the total repeal of
the duty on bread-stuffs ; and who can doubt that ere long
there will be a total repeal of the provision laws ? *
It may be considered as almost certain, especially if we
will reduce our tariff to a revenue standard, as recom
mended by Mr. Walker.
Let this be once done, so that we may import freely the
productions of other nations, and instead of our having to
intercede with the governments of those countries, their
own people would do the work for us, as soon as they
began to experience the difficulty of getting back their
returns. This is the plan recommended by the first polit
ical economists of Great Britain, who are now perfectly
satisfied that their country has become great and powerful,
and acquired its great preeminence in manufactures, not
in consequence of protection, but in spite of it.
Go from one end of Europe to the other, as I have done,
and hear the opinion the wisest statesmen and most intel
ligent merchants express of American legislation, espe
cially as respects our commercial policy, and our paper
* This third letter to Mr. Lawrence was handed to the Editors of the Post on the
18th of February, for insertion the next day. Late on the evening of the same
day, the Cunard Steamer Cambria arrived at Boston, in fourteen days from Liverpool,
with the tidings that, on the 27th of January, Sir Robert Peel had brought a bill
into Parliament, repealing not only the corn, but the provision laws also ; so that
the same number of the Post that contained the prediction concerning those laws,
comprised a copy of the bill which had been introduced for their repeal. This bill
was soon after passed by Parliament ; has not been essentially altered since ; and
under it the exports of Great Britain have increased from forty- seven millions of
pounds sterling in 1846, to about one hundred and twenty-seven millions in 1857.
23

178 WORKS OF S. D BRADFORD.
money currency. You will find it anything but flattering.
But you are satisfied with the protective system, and
its "illustrations," you inform Mr. Rives, " are so striking in
every department of labor, that those Avho, fifteen years
ago, were the strongest opponents among us, have given
up their theories, and acknowledge that the revelations
are such as to satisfy the most sceptical."
You refer, I presume, especially to certain citizens of
Boston, who, having been free traders in 1831, are now
protectionists; and what you state is, unfortunately, too
true. We all remember Irving's amusing story of Rip-
Van-Winkle, who, having had a sleep of twenty years in
the Kaatskill mountains, when he returned to his native
village on the Hudson, was so changed that no one knew
him, and that " troops of strange children ran at his heels,
hooting after him." This must have been a great altera
tion indeed. But if those free traders just mentioned,
will only refer to the principles they advocated once, or
go back to the famous Faneuil Hall resolutions, to which
you yourself were a party, and compare them with the
doctrines they advocate now, they will find the change
quite as great as was that of Rip-Van- Winkle. Rip im
puted his metamorphose to a certain intoxicating draught.
"That flagon last night," said Rip, "has addled my poor
head sadly." Perhaps those ci-devant free-traders, but
now protectionists, have had their "poor heads addled,"
by extravagant dividends of twenty to thirty per cent, per
annum. But there are many exceptions to your remark, even in
Boston. I have not changed ; and the more I compare the
condition of my own country with that of others in which
I have travelled or resided, the more I am convinced of
the injurious effects of the protective system. There was
a period when our opinions were the same, and we acted
in concert. You and I began life nearly at the same time.

TARIFF OF 1846. 179
We launched our barks upon the Avide and uncertain
ocean of commerce, it might be said, on the same day.
For many years Ave sailed along, almost always in sight of
one another. The best and kindest feelings always
prevailed between us. We felt there was sufficient
room for all. Some time about 1828, you decided, to use
a simile of your own, to " take an observation and a new
departure." In process of time you have become, far
excellence, the great manufacturer, whilst I may be said
only to have contributed probably a larger sum to the
public treasury, during the twenty-nine years I have been
in business, than any individual of the same age in the
United States. The foundation, then, of your fortune was
laid in Leeds, Huddersfield, and Bradford in Wiltshire, and
not in Lowell. If you are indebted for the larger part
of it to the carding, roving, spinning, and weaving of
cotton, you owe a respectable portion of it to the scribbling,
scouring, slubbing, and teasing of wool. I have no fault
to find on this account with you. 1 would on no account
speak invidiously of one for whom I entertain the most
friendly feelings, and whose energy and enterprise I so
much admire ; nor would I be personal in my remarks.
My objections are to the system itself, and to the policy of
the government, which has disfigured this young republic
of ours, by clothing it with the cast-off garments of Europe,
in the shape of protection and monopoly.
Do what you will, you cannot destroy free trade, nor
retard its progress much longer. Its course is " upward
and onward." It is being adopted by the nation which
General Cass informs us "possesses already one-seventh
of the whole earth, and whose government rules over
one-eighth of all the inhabitants of the globe." It has
recently overthrown the strongest, and, in my opinion,
the best ministry which has existed in England for a
long time, because they hesitated to repeal the corn law.

180 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
It will overthrow the next probably, unless they will
agree to remove the restrictions on provisions, and also
on tea, coffee, and sugar. It is destined to change the
fiscal regulations of the whole world. The opinion is
becoming almost universal, that, when Great Britain shall
adopt a scale of duties, founded on a true revenue princi
ple, the tariffs of all other nations will soon fall before it.
It does not ask whether the industrious but suffering oper
ative dwells in the mountains of Switzerland, or upon the
steppes of Russia. Its philanthropy is expansive. It
embraces the whole world. It assists the deserving, and
relieves the wants of the suffering, wherever they may be
found. It is the herald of peace and civilization. Free
trade may be compared to an Alpine plant. It is healthy
and hardy, and survives the concussions of the severest
tempests, for it depends on itself alone for support. Pro
tection is a hot-house plant, always kept alive at a great
expense, often sickly, and requiring constant attention.
What wise legislator would hesitate to which he should
give the preference ?
I remain, very truly,
Your friend and ob't serv't,
S. D. BRADFORD.
To the Hon. Abbott Lawrence, Boston.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE FANEUIL HALL MEETING,
IN THE YEAR 1820.
The famous Faneuil Hall resolutions, of 1820, having
been alluded to in one of the letters forming a part of
the present correspondence, and so many years having
elapsed since their first publication, it has been deemed
proper to have them annexed to the present publication.
They are now, therefore, given with a part of "the

TARIFF OF 1846.

181

record " of the different meetings of the merchants which
preceded them.
At a numerous meeting of the merchants and others,
interested in the prosperity of the commerce and agricul
ture of the State of Massachusetts and of the United
States, convened at Concert Hall, in the town of Boston,
the 17th day of August, 1820, to take into consideration
a communication from the Chamber of Commerce, of Phil
adelphia, —
The Hon. William Gray in the chair, William Foster,
Jr., Secretary, —
Voted, That the Hon. William Gray, John Parker, Esq.,
and William Sturgis, Esq., be a committee of nomination to
designate and to fix the number of a committee.
Voted, On the report of the committee of nomination, that the
following persons be a committee :

WILLIAM GRAY,
JAMES PERKINS,
JOHN DORR,
NATHANIEL GODDARD,
BENJAMIN RICH,
ISRAEL THORNDIKE, Je.,
WILLIAM SHIMMIN,
THOMAS W. WARD,
WILLIAM HARRIS,
DANIEL WEBSTER,
NATHAN APPLETON,
ABBOTT LAWRENCE,
JOSEPH SEWALL,
JONATHAN PHILLIPS,

LOT WHEELAVRIGHT,
CALEB LORING,
SAMUEL A. WELLES,
GEORGE BOND,
GEORGE HALLET,
SAMUEL GARDNER,
JOSIAH KNAPP,
ISAAC WINSLOW,
WINSLOW LEWIS,
THOMAS WIGGLESW0RTH,
JOHN COTTON,
JOHN PARKER,
WILLIAM STURGIS.

Voted, That a committee of twenty-eight be appointed to con
sider what measures are proper to be pursued, in order to avert
the calamity which must eventually flow from the passage of" the
tariff bill, referred to the ensuing session of Congress ; and this
•committee be invested with plenary powers to carry into effect
such measures as may by them be deemed most expedient on the
occasion. Voted, That this meeting be adjourned to the first Monday in
October next, then to meet at Faneuil Hall, at eleven o'clock,
A. M., for the purpose of receiving the report of their committee,

182 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
and adopting such farther measures as the meeting may think
expedient. Provided, That this committee be authorized to call the meeting
together at an earlier period, if they should think it necessary.
Signed, William Foster, Jr., Sec'y.
Mr. Webster having been the first named upon a com
mittee subsequently appointed " to prepare and publish
an address," is understood to have been the author of the
address, which may be found in the papers of the day,
and also of the following resolutions :
[From the N. E. Palladium and Commercial Advertiser.]
GENERAL MEETING.
Yesterday, an adjourned meeting on the subject of the proposed
tariff, was held at Faneuil Hall, Hon. William Gray, Chairman,
and William Foster, Jr., Secretary.
A long and interesting report was read from the respectable com
mittee appointed at a former meeting, which concluded with the
following resolves :
Resolved, 1st. That we have regarded with pleasure the establish
ment and success of manufactures among us, and consider their
growth, when natural and spontaneous, and not the effect of a
system of bounties and protection, as an evidence of general
wealth and prosperity.
2d. That, relying on the ingenuity, enterprise, and skill of our
fellow citizens, we believe that all manufactures adapted to our
characters and circumstances will be introduced, and extended, as
soon and as fast as will promote the public interest, without any
further protection than they now receive.
3d. That no objection ought ever to be made to any amount of
taxes equally apportioned, and imposed for the purpose of raising
revenue necessary for the support of government ; but that taxes
imposed on the people for the sole benefit of any one class of men
are equally inconsistent with the principles of our constitution,
and with sound policy.

TARIFF OF 1846. 183
4th. That the supposition that, until the proposed tariff, or
some similar measures be adopted, we are, and shall be dependent
on foreigners for the means of subsistence and defence, is, in our
opinion, altogether fallacious and fanciful, and derogatory to the
character of the nation.
5th. That high bounties on such domestic manufactures as are
principally benefited by that tariff, favor great capitalists rather
than personal industry, or the owners of small capitals, and, there
fore, that we do not perceive its tendency to promote national
industry. 6th. That we are equally incapable of discovering its beneficial
effects on agriculture, since the obvious consequence of its adoption
would be, that the farmer must give more than he now does for all
he buys, and receive less for all he sells.
7th. That the imposition of duties, which are enormous, and
deemed by a large portion of the people to be unequal and unjust,
is dangerous, as it encourages the practice of smuggling.
8th. That, in our opinion, the proposed tariff and the princi
ples on which it is avowedly founded, would, if adopted, have a
tendency, however different may be the notions of those who
recommend them, to diminish the industry, impede the prosperity,
and corrupt the morals of the people.
James T. Austin, Esq., and the Hon. Daniel Webster
addressed their fellow citizens in favor of the report and resolves
in speeches which were distinguished for closeness of argument,
variety of illustrations, and abundance of fact.
The report was then accepted, and the resolves recommended
by the committee, unanimously passed.
A vote of thanks to the Hon. Mr. Otis, of the Senate, and to
those members from this state, in the House of Representatives of
the United States, who opposed the new tariff, was unanimousiy
agreed to.
The report, constituting the preamble to the above resolutions,
is too long for insertion this day, forming twenty-three manuscript
pages. It is to be printed in a pamphlet.

NAOMI;
OR, BOSTON TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO.
This is the title of a book recently published, and
understood to have been written by a lady belonging to
Boston or its vicinity. It is intended to portray the
manners, feelings, and customs of the above-named city,
in or about the year 1660; especially the intolerance of
its people towards the Quakers ; whose persecution at
that early period of our history, and by persons, too, who
assigned, as their principal reason for coming to this west
ern wilderness, (as it was truly called in those days,) the
desire of escaping from the persecution of Europe, and of
worshipping God according to the dictates of their con
science, has always been considered so disgraceful in the
conduct of the early Puritans.
The writer is evidently one, who has acquired many of
the graces of composition, especially in describing natural
scenery, and the effects produced on external nature by
the revolution of the seasons. The book also gives evi
dence of a familiar acquaintance with the early history of
our ancestors, and of the characteristics by which they
were most distinguished. It has been often said, that, in
the composition of a letter or work of any kind, the most
difficult part was the commencement ; but the writer of
this pleasant book cannot have found it so, as the two first
chapters, giving an account of Naomi's arrival and settle
ment at the house of her step-father, " on the south side

PECULIARITIES OF BOSTON. 185
of Avhat is now called Washington street," are Avritten
with an ease and elegance, and the semblance of one
relating an undoubted historical fact, which have, it is
believed, been seldom surpassed. The characters of
Naomi, of Faith, of Mr. Aldersay, Herbert, the reverend
Mr. Wilson, the reverend John Norton, and last, though
not least, of Sambo, all claim the attention of the reader,
and Avill reAvard a careful perusal.
Some persons, perhaps, especially the young and inex
perienced, having read the book, will lay it doAvn and
exclaim, Could the inhabitants of Boston have ever been
the hypocritical, illiberal, exclusive, aristocratic and intol
erant people they are represented to have been by the
writer of Naomi ? Could they have ever proscribed their
fellow citizens, of unblemished character and excellent
life, merely because they differed with them upon the
subjects of religion and politics ? Can it be that the great
and eminent men there were ever like Mr. Aldersay, " a
zealous church member," " a magistrate," " a keen detector
of heresy of opinion," "having the outside demeanor of
sanctification," and yet stained with " those mean and
grovelling propensities which are honored because wealth
and luxury attend them ; " and who, under the garb of
humility, " carried an expression upon his brow that ever
said, There is between us an immeasurable gulf; stand
thou aside, I am holier than thou ? " But, hoAvever bold
the assertion may appear to some, it is believed that there
is the most undoubted evidence to prove that what Boston
was in 1660, it continues to be in 1848, and that the same
exclusive and uncharitable feelings continue to fill the
hearts of the people, and to control their conduct. No
doubt some will smile at this — that any one should ven
ture to affirm that the capital of the Bay State is essen
tially now the same it was in 1660. To such may be
addressed the words of Horace :
24

186 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
" Quid rides ? mutato tempore, de te
Fabula narratur."
It may be true that this spirit does not exhibit itself
under the same form. Time and circumstances may have
changed the objects, against Avhich it is directed. It is
impossible, for instance, to persecute the Quakers, because
it is not known that a single member of that drab-coated
sect can now be found within the precincts of the tri-
mountain city. It would be also a fruitless undertaking
to attempt to drive out or banish the Roman Catholics,
the Calvinists, Episcopalians, or the Unitarians, because
each denomination has become formidable by its num
bers, its Avealth, and its power. All this may be admitted
readily ; but it does not prove that the spirit which ani
mated the Reverend John Norton in 1660, has ceased to
exist ; or that Christian charity and love have taken the
places of exclusiveness and uncharitableness. In confir
mation of this opinion may be adduced the severe and
unhalloAved zeal which is weekly, if not daily, displayed
in the religious publications of Boston ; evTen such as hold
the highest place in the estimation of the rival sects
Avhich divide the community ; the Recorder, the Chris
tian Observatory, and the Christian Register ; which word
Christian, however, must not be understood, it is pre
sumed, in its literal sense. The writer of Naomi has fur
nished us with a short extract from one of the addresses of
the Reverend John Norton in 1660, where "he paused
in his sermon, and said, in a stern voice, ' What do you
here, children of the devil, daughters of blasphemies, and
inheritors of lies?'" but there is reason to fear that few
of the sermons of that exemplary divine have come down
to posterity. It may be doubted, however, whether they
would have contained any thing more bitter, more
unchristian, or more severe, than four articles which may
be found, not in a religious publication of 1660, but in

PECULIARITIES OF BOSTON. 187
the Christian Register, dated the 15th January, 1848,
and published at Boston, under the motto of " Liberty,
Holiness, Love," and to Avhich it is hoped the reader of
this may have time and inclination to refer. Two of the
articles are copied from the Recorder and Christian Obser
vatory, and the remaining two are editorial on the part of
the Register. No unprejudiced person can read these
ebullitions of religious hatred and priestly spite Avithout
admiring, and feeling grateful also to the founders of our
republic for having withheld from the clergy, as a body,
all semblance of religious or political power ; and no one,
Avho has well considered the lessons taught by history,
can doubt that, if we have any religious freedom at pres
ent, we owe it not to any increase of charity on the part
of the clergy since the time of Naomi, in 1660, but to
other circumstances altogether.
In this connection one need only to refer to the vio
lent language and proceedings of Unitarians as respects
slavery and the Mexican war, and to the recreant spirit
they have recently manifested in yielding to the dictation
of their brethren in England, and sending a memorial
to Congress requesting our legislators to withdraw7 our
troops from the soil of "our sister republic," "offering
the amplest atonement in our power for the wrongs we
have done her," and thus disgracing the name of our
country ; although the Honorable Reverdy Johnson, of
Maryland, one of the senate, a distinguished lawyer and
whig, and an opponent of the present administration,
declared himself, only a few days since, from his seat in
the senate chamber, in the following words : " The Avar is
just, because Mexico commenced it. It does exist by her
act ; and so help me God, but for this conviction, as I rev
erence truth and detest falsehood, I would never have
voted for the act of the 15th of May, 1846."
It is quite a work of supererogation on the part of our

188 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
wealthy men, giving and bequeathing their money to build
up a sect, the spiritual guides of which have thus abused
the functions of their sacred office. It was announced
only in the January number of the Christian Examiner,
(the Avords of one of its editors are here quoted,) that
" at the last annual meeting of the British and Foreign
Unitarian Association, in London, a Avarm discussion arose
in consequence of a passage in the report of the com
mittee, alluding, in friendly terms, to an invitation which
had been sent from this city, (Boston,) to our English
brethren to attend our anniversary meetings. The invita
tion proceeded from a few individuals, but was unhappily
supposed to have emanated from the American Unitarian
Association, which had committed the offence of including
a slaveholder in the number of its vice-presidents." It is
well known what exertions the Unitarians are making to
increase the number of their converts in the southern
states, where their peculiar belief is considered as amongst
the deadly sins ; and where, having gained over the distin
guished jurist, Judge Wayne, of Georgia, they were
probably anxious to stimulate his zeal in the cause by
conferring upon him the honor of being enrolled amongst
their vice-presidents ; and this is understood to have been
the cause of the severe reprimand they have received at
the meeting in London. From this it may be inferred
that the spirit of exclusiveness is not confined to Boston,
but has crossed the Atlantic. It remains to be seen what
order will be taken in relation to this proceeding. It is
hoped that there will be more firmness and consistency
displayed than there has seemed, at any rate, to have been
exhibited in relation to some matters nearer home. No
one, it is presumed, can have forgotten the violent discus
sions and recriminations with which the religious journals
and papers were filled, about three years since, when the
true faith was supposed to have been attacked. The

PECULIARITIES OF BOSTON. 189
preachers of the day rushed to their pulpits to denounce
the heres}r, with all the vehemence, if not with the elo
quence of Cicero, AA'hen he ascended the forum to denounce
the conspiracy of Catiline. It seemed almost a sin, for a
season, to preach upon any other topic ; as, in the time of
Naomi, every faithful servant of the Lord was expected to
cry out against the Quakers. Recently, however, no more
is heard of the heresy ; although it has never been
announced that the heretic has recanted. Then the heresy
emanated from a hamlet near Boston. Since then, its sup
porters have erected a public altar in the holy city. One
or two other societies have been formed, Avhere similar
opinions are advocated ; and of a class of twelve students,
who graduated in July last at the Divinity School of
Harvard University, fully one half are suspected of favor
ing the proscribed doctrines.
But too much time has probably been already devoted
to what may be considered only one view of the subject.
An exclusive disposition has many ways of exhibiting itself
besides as relates to religion ; but, in other respects, there
is great reason to fear that Boston now is essentially the
same it used to be. Even that eminent divine and distin
guished philanthropist, the late Dr. Channing, a year or
two before his death, when addressing his fellow citizens,
pronounced these words : " Shall I say a word of evil of
this good city of Boston ? Among all its virtues, it does
not abound in a tolerant spirit. The yoke of ojoinion is a
heavy one, often crushing individuality of judgment and
action. No city in the world is governed so little by a
police, and so much by mutual inspection, and what is
called public sentiment." And, at a later period, in speak
ing to a friend and brother, in allusion to the same subject,
he used these remarkable words, as true now as in 1660:
" No man, Mr.  , can draw a long breath in Boston."
That record stands, and cannot be blotted out.

190 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
If reference be had to the state of political feeling in
Boston, its intolerance would probably appear incredible
to one Avho had never lived there. The late prime min
ister of France, M. Thiers, in his celebrated History of the
French Revolution, in allusion to the hatred which the
Spaniards entertained towards Napoleon and the French
nation, when that country was invaded by the imperial
troops, recites a part of a catechism, which the Spanish
priests were accustomed to teach the people, especially the
junior part of the population, of Avhich the following is a
literal translation :
" Who art thou ? A Spaniard, by the grace of God. Who is
the enemy of our happiness ? The Emperor of the French. How
many natures has he ? Two ; the one human, the other diabolical.
How many emperors have the French ? One true one in three
deceptive persons. What are they called ? Napoleon, Murat, and
Manuel Godoi. Which of them is the most wicked ? They are
all equally bad. Of whom was Napoleon born ? Of sin. Murat ?
Of Napoleon. And Godoi 1 Of the fornication of the two. Is
there any sin in killing a Frenchman ? No ! my father, the way
to gain heaven is to kill those heretical dogs."
Now it would not be, perhaps, accurate to say that in
Boston there is a precise form of questions which the
candidate for the favor and good will of the people is
called upon to answer ; but yet it may be truly asserted
that he is obliged to submit to an ordeal equally inquisi
torial ; and the catechism by which he may be said to be
examined, runs thus:
" Who is your father ? Do you belong to a high or a
low family ? Are you acquainted Avith any of our prominent
people ? What is your religion ; but above all, Avhat are
your politics ? Are you a true whig ? Do you hate and
detest democracy and the vulgar locos ? Are you in
favor of an United States Bank, having a large capital

PECULIARITIES OF BOSTON. 191
to lend to the manufacturers, and Avhich shall issue notes
having the ' odor of nationality ? ' Do you wish your
country to incur a heavy national debt, the interest upon
Avhich will be so great as to compel the country to impose
high taxes upon foreign imports? Is it your opinion
that the most effectual AAray to raise a large revenue is
to lay prohibitory duties ? " If the candidate can answer
these questions in the affirmative, all other considera
tions are of trivial importance, and he receives a free
pass. The political course pursued by the people of Boston,
has been a most unfortunate and peculiar one ever since
the commencement of the government in 1789. Guided
by a sordid spirit of selfishness, they have opposed every
enlightened plan, by Avhich our greatest statesmen have
attempted to extend the limits of the United States since
the adoption of the constitution ; beginning with the
acquisition of Louisiana, and ending with that of Texas.
If their counsels had prevailed, the noble river of the
Mississippi would, at this moment, have been under the
jurisdiction of France. It was with reference to this
magnificent purchase by that great man, Thomas Jeffer
son, that a member of the French chamber of deputies,
in 1835, during the discussion upon the payment of the
indemnity demanded Avith so much determination by that
distinguished patriot, President Jackson, gave, as a reason
for his refusal to vote the money, that " he, for one, had
never forgiven America for having acquired for so incon
siderable a sum the finest, most fertile, and most valuable
region of the globe." Yet the people of Boston de
nounced Mr. Jefferson and the democratic party which
enabled him, against the votes of the federalists, (so
called at that time) to acquire this right arm of our con
federacy; and, at a later date, they opposed with violence
the war with Great Britain, so ably advocated in those

192 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
days by Henry Clay, Avho declared in Congress that
Josiah Quincy, the representative of Boston, and the
apologist of Great Britain, "had soiled the carpet on
which he stood." Some years after this, on the receipt
of the news of the lamented death of Jefferson, Daniel
Webster pronounced an eulogy upon the patriot and
philosopher, and the people applauded it ; thus confirm
ing the truth of a remark, made so long since by Dr.
Franklin, that " whatever one might think of America
as a country to live in, it was certainly the finest one to die
in upon the globe ; as no sooner was a man dead than
all the papers announced what a good father, brother,
son, or patriot he was." Mr. Webster, not' long ago, in
a speech he delivered at Philadelphia, pronounced a
similar eulogy upon General Jackson, calling him a
patriot and benefactor to his country, or using words to
that effect. Such is the power of truth ; and sooner or
later its voice will be heard.
About the same time, however, at a meeting of the
common council of Boston, on the 19th June, 1845, S.
Abbot Lawrence, having moved the passage of an order
" to devise such measures as may be suitable to mark the
respect of the city government for the memory of General
Andrew Jackson, late President of the United States," it
is stated, in the journals of the day, that a " considerable
debate arose ; " and the result was, that twelve persons
were found who actually voted against the passage of the
order. Those persons were Messrs. Brown, Cook, Demerest,
Gibson, Green, Hayden, Hooper, Littlehale, Sampson, Sea-
ver, Thayer, and Williams. It is only necessary to name
them. All comment would be quite superfluous.
It may also be mentioned, that, whenever a new state
has applied for admission to the Union, the people of Bos
ton have always received her with coldness and reluctance,
not as one having a right to become one of the family, but

PECULIARITIES OF BOSTON. 193
as an. unwelcome step-sister, whose admission would dimin
ish the amount of the inheritance.
It would be an easy task to trace the workings of this
same exclusive spirit in various other Avays ; particularly
in the division it has made of the people into numerous
cliques, each jealous of the other, and separated by lines
of demarcation, which it would be impossible to define by
any rules or principles recognized by any other city in the
world. No person who has watched the way in which
they imitate the manners and customs of the privileged
classes in Europe, and especially of England, can doubt
for a moment that, should the various orders of nobility
be introduced here, as they exist on the other side of the
Atlantic, there would be a multitude of candidates for the
prizes, ready to cry,
" Good-morrow to my sovereign king and queen,
And princely peers ; a happy time of day ! "
It is not deemed expedient, however, to pursue the sub
ject at present ; especially as, from some intimations in
Naomi, there is reason to believe that the intolerance of
the literary emporium, which has thus been so imperfectly
alluded to, has not escaped the notice of the writer of that
work; and that one of the objects in publishing it may
have been to rebuke it. On this account, it is sincerely
hoped that the same lady will direct her attention to the
subject, as the readers of Naomi feel assured that one who
has so well described what Boston was in 1660, could not
fail in giving to the public a true and interesting picture
of what it is in 1848. PILGRIMENSIS.
25

HONORABLE BENJAMIN F. BUTLER,
OF NEW YORK.
A lecture was delivered at the Temple in Boston, on
Wednesda}7 evening week, by the above-named gentleman,
before the Mercantile Library Association. It occupied
an hour and a half, and was listened to by a numerous
auditory Avith profound attention and delight. Such of
the persons present as were personally acquainted with
the learned and accomjdished lecturer, who possessed a
knowledge of the exalted place he holds as a member of
the New York bar, or who remembered the distinguished
talents he displayed as a statesman, when connected with
the administration of President Van Buren, were fully
prepared to expect a performance of great brilliancy and
power ; and yet, it may be truly affirmed, that even their
anticipations were more than realized. The subject, most
happily chosen by Mr. Butler, was " The Anti-Federalists
of the Olden Time," which must be understood, however,
to refer to a part only of the eminent patriots and sages,
who were members of the convention which assembled in
Philadelphia in 1787, for forming the present constitution
of the United States. It was well known, the lecturer
remarked, that great diversity of opinion existed in the
convention, upon the various provisions proposed to be
introduced into that instrument, and that many of the
delegates had received the most stringent instructions from
their constituents, in relation to the votes they might be

DEMOCRATS OF 1776. ly.;,
called upon to give. Such instructions might always be
considered as imperative and obligatory upon the repre
sentative, Avhenever the action upon a measure is final and
irrevocable ; but, in the assembly at Philadelphia, the mem
bers were called upon to pass upon an instrument which
was to be afterwards laid before the people for their
acceptance or rejection, on which account, there is reason
to believe, that several ventured to give their assent to it,
contrary to the directions they had received from their
constituents. The people Avere much attached to the con
stitution of 1778, under Avhich they were then living; and
the prevailing opinion was, not that a new one Avould be
proposed, but that the old one would be new modelled, and
invested Avith enlarged powers. When, therefore, it was
decided by the majority of the convention to adopt an
entirely new constitution, some of the delegates felt that
they had not permission or power to give their assent, par
ticularly as, in their opinion, it was wanting some of the
safeguards of civil liberty, which they considered as of
vital importance, and especially as it contained no pro
vision for the freedom of religion, of speech, or of the
press; and had altogether omitted that stipulation so dear,
from that day to this, to the heart of every anti-federalist,
that " 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."
Indeed, it did not contain a bill of rights. Even Hamil
ton, who labored so strenuously, and in connection Avith
Messrs. Madison and Jay, wrote so much and so power
fully to render the constitution palatable to the people, in
the eighty-fourth number of the Federalist, (particularly
mentioned by Mr. Butler,) admitted those defects, which
it was impossible to conceal ; adding, in his forcible lan
guage, "I never expect to see a perfect work from
imperfect man." Under these circumstances, fourteen

196 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
members actually withdrew from the convention, and
refused to sanction the new constitution by their signa
tures. This number comprised many of the most eminent
patriots and statesmen of the day, constituting, in fact,
the founders of the anti-federal party, which has existed
in the United States from 1787 to the present time; and
it is only necessary, said Mr. Butler, to study the records
and proceedings of those days with impartiality and care,
to be convinced, not only of the unsullied purity of the
lives, and of the patriotism, which actuated the conduct
of the anti-federalists, but also to be carried to the conclu
sion, that, but for their exertions in the cause, the consti
tution could have never been adopted, and that thus our
glorious Union might have never been formed.
In nearly all the thirteen states of the old confederacy,
the new constitution, when proposed to the people in their
conventions for adoption, was received with coldness and
distrust, especially in Massachusetts, which, at that early
period of our history, possessed such a controlling influ
ence, and was so looked up to by her sister states, many of
which refused to act definitively, until they had received
the decision of Massachusetts. When the convention
assembled at Boston, it was soon found that the friends of
adoption were in a hopeless minority ; and, after a pro
tracted discussion, the vote was about to pass in the nega
tive, when John Hancock came to the rescue, and, by a
fortunate suggestion, understood, however, to have been
previously agreed upon by himself and the other leaders
of the anti-federalists, saved this palladium of American
freedom and happiness. Mr. Hancock readily admitted the
various defects of the instrument, which had also been
pointed out by Elbridge Gerry, and other patriots in the
convention, but suggested it would be best to adopt it
notwithstanding, with the addition, however, of certain
amendments, securing those great principles of civil

DEMOCRATS OF 1776. 197
and religious liberty, which have been already mentioned.
His proposition Avas seconded by Samuel Adams, and thus,
through the interposition of these tAvo anti-federalists, the
constitution was adopted by a small majority. It was
soon afterwards accepted by New Hampshire, which had
been apparently waiting the action of Massachusetts, but
with the same condition, as respected the amendments,
which were to be recommended for adoption to the first
Congress, which should be assembled under the new act of
Union. The great state of New York soon followed New
Hampshire, but not until after long and laborious discus
sions, in which the two Clintons took part against the
adoption, as the instrument then stood, and which was
finally carried by a majority of only three votes. It was
even proposed, by some of the leading politicians of the
day, in New York, to invite the other states to call a new
general convention, which suggestion, had it succeeded,
must have proved fatal to the constitution which we now
possess. The leader of the opposition in Virginia was the
celebrated Patrick Henry, whose eloquence, during the
debates upon the subject, is said to have been never sur
passed, if indeed, it had been ever equalled. It is asserted
by his biographer, that he even surpassed himself; and
the lecturer mentioned that Mr. Wirt had stated that
Henry, upon this occasion, availed himself one day of a
violent storm of thunder and lightning, Avhich occurred
during the description he was giving of the ruin which
would fall upon the country, if the constitution should be
adopted as it then was, in a manner, and with a power so
terrific that the members of the convention could not
endure it, but actually arose from their seats before the
regular hour of adjournment, and left, in a body, the house
where they had been assembled. Edmund Randolph was
another of the distinguished patriots in Virginia, Avho
spoke and voted on the same side with Patrick Henry.

198 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
At length, however, an anti-federalist, who had heretofore
opposed the adoption of the instrument as it was, proposed
a similar expedient to that Avhich had proved so successful
in Massachusetts, and thus, gaining the support of the
majority of his party, was able to secure the adoption of
the constitution in the Old Dominion. Mr. Jefferson was
in Paris at the time, but was kept advised of the proceed
ings of his friends in Virginia, and approved the amend
ments, without which it was his decided opinion the
constitution ought not to be accepted by his native state.
Some letters of his have been published, confirming this
view of the subject. It might almost appear, said Mr. But
ler, to be an act of the retributive justice of heaven that two
citizens of Boston, John Hancock and Samuel Adams,
whom George III. had denounced as traitors, should have
had the glory and honor of acting so conspicuous a part
in the establishment of a constitution under which the
United States have become so great and powerful. The
lecturer then gave a most interesting account of the pro
ceedings of the several conventions in the other states, and
displayed a knowledge of the transactions of those days,
which to some persons might appear almost incredible,
unless the lecturer had devoted his whole life to the con
sideration of the subject.
In this part of his address, he paused to bestow a beau
tiful and well merited eulogium upon Washington, and
dwelt, for a moment, upon the "almost superhuman
wisdom " of the Father of his Country, in the selection of
the members of his first cabinet. He said it was worth a
journey to Boston at any time, to have an opportunity of
contemplating the character of Washington in this new
point of view, Avhich had not, so far as he could judge,
been duly appreciated by others. Sensible that the new
constitution was received with distrust by many of the
states, and that certain of its provisions were not approved

DEMOCRATS OF 1776. 199
by some of the best men in the nation, Washington had a
proper regard to this feeling, and called to his councils
Thomas Jefferson and Edmund Randolph, one as Secretary
of State, and the other as Attorney-General, both anti-
federalists, and known to be opposed to the adoption of
the constitution Avithout the amendments. Such a course
could not fail to conciliate the favor of the opposition.
In speaking of Washington, Mr. Butler was more ani
mated than ever. There was a beauty, as well as a force
in his language, which his hearers will not soon forget. It
was easy to perceive that he had not studied the eloquent
productions of Patrick Henry in vain. As an additional
proof how highly esteemed and beloved were the anti-fed
eralists of those days, mention was made by Mr. Butler, of
the high offices of power and trust conferred upon them
by the people. John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and
Elbridge Gerry were chosen governors of Massachusetts,
and the latter, in 1813, was elected Vice-President of the
United States. The two Clintons, in New York, were also
elected gOArernors of the state. In Virginia, the three
individuals who were amongst the most active in opposi
tion to the constitution, were James Monroe, afterwards
President of the United States, and Messrs. Harrison and
Tyler, whose sons, some years later, were also honored
with the highest place in the gift of the people. It had
not always been the custom, Mr. Butler remarked, to speak
of these great and eminent men, as they deserve ; and
even the anti-federalists of the present day, the descend
ants of such virtuous and patriotic ancestors, did not seem
always to duly appreciate the wisdom, patriotism, and good
ness, which distinguished their lives and characters. He
earnestly hoped, therefore, that they would all read the
proceedings of the convention in Philadelphia, which were
not published till 1819, and of the state conventions, that
they might realize, as they should, to whom they are in

200 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
truth indebted, for the glorious constitution under which
we live, and have acquired so high a rank among the
nations of the earth. Mr. Butler concluded his lecture
at nine o'clock, and took his leave amidst loud, hearty, and
prolonged plaudits.
It was gratifying to witness such a full attendance on
the part of the young men of Boston, who are destined
soon to mark the future character of the city. All
attempts to change the views of the members of the Hart
ford Convention, or Essex junto, by any arguments or
proofs, however incontrovertible, would be a hopeless
undertaking ; but, fortunately for the fame of the capital
of Massachusetts, its political reputation will hereafter
depend upon another, and, we trust, a different race of
persons. UN' AUDITORE.

GENERAL JACKSON AND THEODORE
PARKER.
[The following interesting correspondence puts to rest the charge lately brought
against General Jackson, of having been a "slave dealer," in the sense intended
by Air. Parker. The friends of the noble old general will feel grateful to Mr.
Bradford for his prompt exposure and effectual refutation of the misstatement
contained in Mr. Parker's address. — Boston Post.]
West Roxbury, (near Boston,) 8th June, 1848.
Sir, — In reading a letter of yours " to the people of
the United States, touching the matter of slavery," pub
lished at Boston during the last winter, my attention was
particularly drawn to a statement made by you upon the
fortieth page, in the following Avords : " General Jackson
was a dealer in slaves, and, so late as 1811, bought a coffle,
and drove them to Louisiana for sale." The statement
upon its very front seemed to me improbable ; and
desirous to defend the character of my lamented friend
against such a charge, if it could be done, I addressed a
letter, on the 11th of February last, to Francis P. Blair,
Esq., of Silver Spring, near Washington, D. C, mention
ing the statement you had made, and requesting him to
furnish me with such evidence of the truth or error of
the same, as might be in his power. Mr. Blair, you may
perhaps remember, was for many years the editor of the
Washington Globe. He was the intimate and faithful
friend of General Jackson, who, prior to his decease, gave
26

202 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
him his papers, and left it in charge to him " to take care
of his character Avhen dead."
Upon receiving my letter, Mr. Blair immediately wrote
to AndreAv Jackson, the adopted son of the late President
Jackson, with the above extract, and requesting him to
communicate with me or with himself upon the subject.
That gentleman, indignant at the charge, did not hesi
tate a moment to give it a positive denial ; and being
then at a distance from home, (at Memphis,) promised
upon his return to furnish such evidence as should
remove all doubt upon the question. He accordingly, on
reaching Nashville, called upon his neighbors, who had
known the general before and after the year 1811, and
they haAre furnished him with the folloAving statements,
which will be published in the Boston Post, together with
this explanatory communication to you. I have under
stood that your letter containing the charge has been
extensively read; on which account it seemed to me
only just and proper that these communications contain
ing its refutation should have such a circulation, as it might
be in my power to give them. To my mind they are
perfectly conclusive ; and, therefore, unless I am deceived,
you will see at once the error into which you have fallen,
in having made so grave a charge against the character of
one, who will live forever in the grateful remembrance
and admiration of his country. Assertions of this kind,
in derogation of the reputation of the good and great,
may answer for the World's Convention at Exeter Hall, and
escape contradiction ; but, when an author undertakes, as
you have done, to write and publish an elaborate letter,
addressed " to the people of the United States," he should
carefully examine the testimony upon which his state
ments are made, and have always in remembrance those
lines of the poet Burns :

DEFENCE OF GENERAL JACKSON. »03
«' If there s a hole in u' your coats,
1 rede you tent it :
A duel's amang you taking notes,
And, faith, he '11 prent it."
If you are in possession of any evidence to sustain the
allegation that General Jackson Avas a shave-dealer, you
will, of course, now have an opportunity of informing the
public what it is.
It has been the fortune of but few persons to contend with
such injustice and detraction as General Jackson encoun
tered, during the eight years he Avas President ; but, even
prior to his decease, most of the unjust charges, Avhich
various persons had made against him, had been retracted
by their authors ; the Senate of the United States had
expunged from their journal, the celebrated resolution of
Mr Clay, alleging that he had violated the constitution by
the removal of the public deposits, and he had, in a good
measure, realized the exalted praise which will be awarded
him by the pen of the impartial historian. Mr. Webster, even,
who opposed him for so many years in the Congress of the
United States, has since availed himself of more than one
occasion, to do justice to his memory ; and, in his speech
at Philadelphia, reported in the Boston Daily Advertiser, of
the 7th December, 1846, in speaking of him, made use of
the following remarkable Avords : " He was a man of
sense, and a man of strong character. I believe that his
aims were all for the happiness and glory of his country.
I thought, to be sure, that, to extend and perfect that
glory, he did exercise a little more power than he was
constitutionally in possession of; but candor compels me to
say, that I ever thought he meant well, and while, to a
certain extent, he sought his own glory and renown, that
he connected the glory and renown of his country."
On this account, the charge you have made now, seemed
to me gratuitous and uncalled for, by the subject under

204 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
consideration. You may be of opinion that he had his
imperfections ; but yet, I cannot doubt, that you have the
greatest veneration for the public and private life of Gen
eral Jackson. It was my fortune to be educated amongst
those Avho were accustomed to speak evil of him ; but
when I became personally acquainted with him, and could
appreciate all the excellencies of his character, I found
him to be a hero, a patriot, and a Christian. About the
year 1828, I happened to read, in a newspaper, a letter of
his to Mr. Monroe, written during the darkest period of
the war with England, which commenced in the summer
of 1812. General Hull had surrendered, with his army,
at Detroit; the city of Washington had been entered by
the British troojjs, and the public buildings had been burnt.
In this dilemma, not knowing which way to turn, Mr.
Monroe, who was the Secretary of State, and, I believe,
also acting Secretary of War, wrote to General Jackson,
then living in a distant state, for counsel and advice. The
letter Avas a private one, and the writer had no reason to
suppose that it would ever be made public. General
Jackson replied to it at once, and, amongst other lessons
of wisdom Avhich he gave, expressed himself, as nearly as
I can remember, in the following words : " In times like
the present, when our country is in danger, all party dis
tinctions must be forgotten. The crisis is such as to
demand the greatest talents, and the most exalted patriot
ism. In all your future appointments, let the only inquiry
be, Is the candidate capable, is he patriotic, is he fit for
the station?"
I laid down the paper, and I said, The writer of this
may not be a Greek, or Roman, but I have read the annals
of Greece and Rome in vain, if a nobler sentiment, if a
more exalted love of country, can be found in them. Some
time after, I made his personal acquaintance, and, as his
public measures seemed to me the most conducive to the

DEFENCE OF GENERAL JACKSON. 205
greatness and best interests of my country, I gave them, at
all times, my most cordial support.
A few years only have passed aAvay since General
Jackson occupied the presidential chair, yet, the great
principles, which he proclaimed Avith such intuitive wis
dom, have already become the settled policy of the
nation. As respects the character of the testimony sent me by
Mr. Jackson, nothing need be said. The names of the
gentlemen avIio have thus joined in vindicating the repu
tation of their venerated fellow citizen, are well known to
the country, and require no endorsement of mine.
The letter from Major Thomas Claiborne, mentioned in
Mr. Jackson's letter of 23d April, not having been yet
received, it has been decided to publish the other com
munications without further delay.
I remain, sir, truly your most ob't servant,
S. D. BRADFORD.
To Rev. Theodore Parkek, Boston.

Silver Spring, (near Washington City,)
Feb. 23, 1848.
Dear Sir, — The kind interest you have always taken in the
honest fame of General Jackson, is in good keeping with your own
high character. Allow me to thank you for the present instance of
it. It evinces how well he placed his confidence in regarding you
as a friend, on whom he might fix his strong attachment.
On the reception of your letter, I enclosed it to Andrew Jackson,
and desired him to obtain from the general's old neighbors a con
tradiction of the story, which I knew must be false. He was not
at home, but replies from Memphis, Tennessee, and contradicts,
absolutely, the charge as quoted in your letter from the statement
of the traducer. He says : " You are at liberty to state to Mr.
Bradford, that my lamented father was never engaged in the slave
trade, as can be proved by highly respectable citizens of Nashville

206 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
and its neighborhood, Avell acquainted with all the transactions
before and after 1811, the period assigned for his participation in
this traffic. Their testimony I will get, and forward, as soon as I
return home."
Supposing that the author ofthe accusation could not invent such
a calumny without being the dupe of some misrepresentation, the
letter suggests that "the reverend gentleman may have been
imposed upon by some false relation of an occurrence, in which
General Jackson was engaged a few years anterior to 1811, touch
ing some slaves in the low country, the property of a Mr. Coleman.
This gentleman came to Nashville, introduced to the good offices
of the general as a man of fortune, high standing, great enterprise,
and public sphit. He was plausible and ingratiating, and gained
confidence by entering largely and successfully into the western
trade. The extent of his business, and his apparent means com
manded, as they required, large credits. In the course of his
negotiations with the banks, among others he involved General
Jackson to a considerable amount, as an endorser. Thus sustained,
after having pushed his speculations in tobacco, cotton, and other
produce, he undertook himself to become a planter ; he bought
slaves in Virginia, and settled plantations in Louisiana and Mis
sissippi. In this career he broke, and left General Jackson to pay a
large amount of his debts. The general, with his characteristic
energy, immediately mounted his horse, and hastened to the low
country to secure himself, in some degree, out of the Avreck of the
estate there. He found some negroes, which he secured and
brought home with him, travelling along with them through the
wilderness and Indian nations. The Indian agent, Dinsmore, who
lived in the Choctaw country, was in the habit of extorting con
siderable sums for safe passports, through the terror of the tribes he
controlled, from emigrants and other travellers. When such were
without money, he detained them, and made them work for a pas
sage. The general resolved to put an end to this abuse. At the
head of his negroes he marched through the agency and the sur
rounding Indians with a countenance that defied Dinsmore, Avho,
in this instance, waived his demands. But General Jackson was
not satisfied with immunity in his own case. He wrote to Mr.
Madison, and had Dinsmore dismissed.

DEFENCE OF GENERAL JACKSON. 207
" From this narrative, you will perceive that my father, so far from
selling the negroes in the slave market, Avhere he might have
turned them to the best account, saved them from this fate at con
siderable hazard to himself. Others of Coleman's negroes might
have been sold there to discharge his obligations, and probably out
of this the misrepresentations in regard to my father may have
sprung." In this, you have, my dear sir, a sufficient reply to the imputa
tion which you have had the goodness to bring to my notice.
With great respect, I am, dear sir, yours, etc.,
P. P. BLAIR.
To S. D. Bradford, Esq.

Silver Spring, May 4, 1848.
My Dear Sir, — I received yesterday the enclosed letters from
Andrew Jackson, and hasten to transmit them to you, trusting that
your generous feeling will at once employ them to clear up the
unjust aspersions cast by Mr. Parker on General Jackson's charac
ter. Probably it would be well, in any communication you make
to the public press, to connect, with the letters sent now, a portion
of Mr. Jackson's former fetter, the substance of which I gave in
my letter to you. This would show that the matter commanded
early attention, and was only deferred by Mr. Jackson's absence
from home. I leave it, however, altogether to your management,
and shall only repeat my thanks for your kind interposition, Avith
my entire confidence in the prudence with which it will be
directed. Yours truly,

F. P. BLAIR.

To S. D. Bradford, Esq.

Nashville, April 23, 1848.
Dear Sir, — Enclosed I forward you a statement of Major
W. B. Lewis, also Judge Balch's, on the subject of the slan
der against my venerated father, and which you will please
forward to Mr. Bradford, and in a few days our friend, Major
Thomas Claiborne, will write Mr. B. a full statement of facts,
etc., and if that will not answer for the reverend gentleman,

208 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
we can get the statements of at least fifty old settlers here to the
facts, etc., that my father was never considered a slave-dealer in
the sense intended to be applied to him. To be sure he occasion
ally bought a few for his own use, but never soid any ; nor did
he ever traffic any in that way. What he had, and what he kept,
loved him like children, and were treated as such, etc. If at any
time you or friend Bradford wish any information on the subject,
please address me, and it shall be punctually attended to.
Respectfully, your friend and ob't servant,
A. JACKSON.
F. P. Blair, Esq.

Nashville, April 24, 1848.
Dear Sir, — I have read an extract from a pamphlet recently pub
lished by the Rev. Theodore Parker, in which he charges that
General Andrew Jackson was a negro trader, and that, " as late as
1811, he drove a coffle of slaves to New Orleans, Avhere they were
sold on his account."
I became a resident of the immediate vicinity of Nashville in
1812. In 1813, General Jackson and myself were qualified as
executors of the last will and testament of a gentleman who died,
leaving a large estate, which was involved in difficulties. We
were then brought into intimate private relations. It was well
known to the people here generally, that General Jackson made a
journey by land to Natchez, in 1811 — that he went there to secure
himself from injury, in consequence of being bound as surety for
some persons, whose names I do not now remember — that he in
demnified himself by purchasing from those persons a parcel of
slaves, which he brought to Tennessee and placed on his own
plantation, where the survivors and the descendants of those who
have died, now are.
That I might be satisfied of the correctness of my recollection
of this ancient transaction, I have conversed with a person of this
city, Avho became a resident of it in 1809, and who differed politi
cally with General Jackson. He Avill testify to the truth of all
that I have here stated. This gentleman is known to maintain the
highest character for veracity.
I have no doubt that the reverend divine has published to the

DEFENCE OF GENERAL JACKSON. 209
world a vile and atrocious calumny, to injure the character of your
honored and deeply lamented father.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
ALFRED 1'ALCH.
To A. Jackson, Esq., Hermitage.

Fairfield, April 20, 1848.
Dear Sir, — I have just received your note enclosing a letter from
Mr. Bradford, of Roxbury, together with an extract from a pamph
let written by Theodore Parker, who charges General Jackson
with having been engaged in the slave trade, and "that, as late as
1811, he drove a coffle of slaves to New Orleans, where they were
sold on his account."
Supposing, from my long acquaintance with the general, and inti
mate knowledge of his business transactions generally, that I would
be likely to know the truth or falsity of this charge against your
deceased father, you ask me if there is any foundation for it. In
answer I say, Not the slightest. He never was engaged at any
time in the " slave trade." I have had no opportunity, since the
receipt of your note, of conversing with any of the early settlers
of this country, but I feef confident that there is not one of them,
who would not testify to the correctness of this assertion.
The general did go down to the lower Mississippi in 1811, as
alleged ; but Mr. Parker is altogether mistaken in regard to the
object of his visit to that country. It was not for the purpose of
selling slaves, but to secure a debt, for Avhich he had become
responsible ; and, to effect this, he was necessarily compelled to take
a parcel of negroes. But, instead of selling them there, where
they would have commanded the highest prices, he brought them
home with him, and put them on his own plantation, where they
remain to this day ; or such of them, at least, as are still living.
No, sir ; your father was no trafficker in slaves. He occasionally
bought a few for the use of his own estate, hut I never knew him,
in my life, to sell any. The reverend abolitionist, therefore, has
done great injustice to the memory of your illustrious father, in
charging him with having been engaged, at any period of his life
in the slave trade. I am, dear sir, very truly yours, W. B. LEWIS.
To Andrew Jackson, Esq., Hermitage.
27

LETTER TO THE HON. H. G. OTIS.
West Roxbury, (near Boston,)
October 30th, 1848.
Sir, — Upon a recent occasion you have thought proper
to address a long and elaborate letter to " the People of
Massachusetts," touching the pending election for Presi
dent of the United States. I have bestowed upon that
communication all the time and consideration Avhich are
due to the subject discussed, and to the distinguished source
from which it emanated, and, although but an humble
individual, and without any of the testimonials of public
favor which have marked your career, yet, as one of the
people to whom your letter was addressed, I venture to
offer some obvious remarks upon some of the topics to
which you have invited the public attention. Referring
to "your personal friend, but political antagonist," Mr.
Van Buren, and his present position before the country,
you say " you have scarcely recovered from the astonish
ment and perplexity excited by his course ; " and yet, I
am sure your astonishment could not have equalled mine,
when, upon taking up the Boston Daily Advertiser, I found
you had enlisted as a volunteer under the standard of
General Taylor, a southerner, a slave-holder, a military
chieftain, a person whom you have never seen, with whom
you have no personal acquaintance, and of whom you can
know absolutely nothing, as respects his qualifications for
the presidency, except upon the report of others. It is
the peculiar property of military achievements, to dazzle

THE HARTFORD CONVENTION. 211
and bewilder; and it would be very easy to mention
instances, in Avhich young and inexperienced persons, under
the influence of this feeling, have left friends and home to
seek their fortunes in the tented field; but, from those
who haATe reached your matured years, one looks for
caution, and a thorough examination of the credentials of
such as would claim confidence and credit. If you had
volunteered a letter in favor of Mr. Clay, the champion of
Prohibitory Duties, the advocate of a National Bank, the
opposer of the Sub-treasury system, it would have excited
the surprise of no one. It would have corresponded with
the opinions and sentiments which you have always been
understood to entertain, and which, so far as you have had
the opportunity, you have always maintained and sup
ported. In the case of General Taylor, however, you have
no evidence whatever that he would be in favor of one of
the above-named measures ; and as they are all diametri
cally opposed to the sentiments of the people amongst
whom "he has lived, and moved, and had his being,"
there is a strong probability that not one of them would
receive his favor. He has said already, to his supporters,
" You must take me on your own responsibility " — '¦ I will
not be the candidate of a party; nor will I be the expo
nent of your party principles ; nor look to the doctrines
of your party as the rule of my actions." He has posi
tively declined to give his opinion on any one question
except the practical use of the veto power ; refused to be
governed by the action of the Philadelphia Convention,
and would have accepted a nomination from the Conven
tion assembled at Baltimore, and have become the candi
date ofthe Democratic party. He has never filled a civil
station ; has publicly declared that he has never sufficiently
considered the leading questions, which divide the public
mind, to give an opinion upon them; and has no expe
rience of public affairs, except as a military commander.

212 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
All these things were known to the Whig delegates at
Philadelphia, and yet they nominated him, as Mr. Webster
has honestly and truly declared, on account of his
" availability." " The nomination," says Mr. Webster, in
his speech at Marshfield, " is not satisfactory to the Whigs
of Massachusetts, and it would be idle to conceal the fact.
General Taylor was nominated exactly for this reason :
that, believing him to be a Whig, they thought he could
be more easily chosen than any other Whig. That is the
whole of it ; " and in another place he adds, " There is no
man who is more firmly of opinion than myself, that such
a nomination was not fit to make." Such are the views
of Mr. Webster, of whom you have spoken in such terms
of panegyric, and who has returned the compliment by
saying, in a more recent speech, that your letter " exhibits
the vigor of youth, and the wisdom of age." Surely, he
must have forgotten, at Abington, on the 9th of October,
the sentiments he expressed at Marshfield on the 1st of
September; for few things can be found to differ more
than Mr. Webster's first speech, and your letter. Mr.
Webster would have General Taylor supported, if at all,
upon the principle of " availability ; " you, on the other
hand, would claim the suffrages of the people for him on
account of his own intrinsic merit ; and, in your ardor for
his cause, have compared him to the great Duke of
Marlborough and the Duke of Wellington. He must be
a bold man, who would deny the transcendent talents of
either of those great generals. Their military achieve
ments can be never forgotten ; and yet, few persons would
venture, probably, to propose them as models for the
presidency of the American republic. However brilliant
may have been the victories gained by Marlborough, the
fact is no longer attempted to be concealed, that a long
and most burthensome war was continued against France,
for sake of the spoils and plunder, which were wanted to

THE HARTFORD CONVENTION. 213
satisfy the cupidity of the Duchess of Marlborough ; and
a spirited Aviiter in France, M. Scribe, in the amusing
historical comedy of the Verre d' Eau, has ably shown that,
however great may have been the duke in the field, there
was a greater (his wife,) in the court at home ; and that
if the duchess had not spilt the glass of water upon the
dress of Queen Ann, Avhich occasioned a quarrel, and a
change of ministers, the Avar might have been continued
for an indefinite period. Of the Duke of Wellington, as
a civilian and minister, it is praise enough to say that, not
originating, but yielding his assent to the various wise and
useful reform measures proposed by Sir Robert Peel, he
has clearly proved, by his example, how much better it is
sometimes to follow than to lead. Of Napoleon and
Washington, whose examples you have also cited as proofs
that General Taylor ought to be the next President, little
need be said. The sounds of the Te Deums, which were
chanted in Boston, for the downfall of the first, as "the
greatest of tyrants and usurpers," can almost even now
be heard. As respects General Washington, he had been
engaged in the councils of his country from the commence
ment of the troubles with Great Britain ; he had been a
member of the Continental Congress, and was as much
admired for his wisdom and prudence in debate, as for his
courage and conduct in war. That the negative of all
this is true as respects General Taylor, has been proved
already, and is denied by none.
In reading your panegyric of these eminent military men,
the mind is involuntarily carried a few years back to 1828,
when the people of the United States, mindful of his past
sacrifices and unwearied labors for the happiness of his
country, were about to elevate General Jackson to the
presidency. It was declared by the party to which you
belong, to be a "precedent fraught with the greatest
danger to the republic, to elevate a military chieftain to the

214 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
presidency." The history of Greece and Rome was
searched through to find instances confirmatory of the
assertion. It was said that General Jackson would declare
war against England, and that he had not the qualifica
tions for filling the office it was proposed to give him.
The people, however, often wiser than those wdio would be
their leaders, heeded not these vaticinations of the Whigs,
and raised him to the place, which he dignified so much
during the eight years he filled it. Time would fail me
should I attempt to recite the noble and disinterested
actions which distinguished his previous life : his labors as
a judge, a senator, and a leader in the long and bloody
wars against the Indians, in which he ruined a constitution,
once one of the firmest, by enduring hardships and priva
tions of the severest kind. All those noble deeds and
sacrifices are part and parcel of the history of our country,
and can never be blotted out ; and this is an account of
the patriot and sage whose administration, in your letter
to the people of Massachusetts, you have thought proper
to assail ; and which you say " you regard as the fountain
of all subsequent abuses." What those abuses are, must
be a matter of conjecture, as you have not named them.
His use of the veto is probably one ; although this same
power was exercised twice by General Washington, six
times by Mr. Madison, and once by Mr. Monroe, at
periods in the history of our country when our legislation,
as all must admit, was, comparatively speaking, pure and
disinterested. General Jackson was president eight years,
during a period of great political excitement, and exer
cised the veto power only three times oftener than Mr.
Madison. But if the administration of General Jackson be,
as you now assert, " the fountain of all subsequent abuses,"
why did you oppose the measures of Mr. Jefferson, and
his successor, Mr. Madison, from 1801 to 1817? why, in
almost every instance, did you denounce the plans from

THE HARTFORD CONVENTION. 215
year to year submitted by those patriots for the good of their
country, and do A'our utmost, by the pen and the tongue,
to drive them from poAver? Surely those abuses must
have had a much earlier origin in your opinion ; as the
contrary supposition would go to prove that your only
object, prior to 1829, in opposing the measures of the
Anti-Federalists, Avas to gain for yourself and friends
their places of emolument and poAver.
I have already stated the surprise I felt, at your coming
out in favor of General Taylor ; but the feeling I entertain
on account of the attack you have made upon the admin
istration of General Jackson, is one of regret, not on his,
but on your account. It evinces a bad taste, and a want
of a just appreciation of the admiration entertained for
him by his countrymen in all sections of the country, and
by people of both political parties. Even Mr. Webster, as
if conscience-stricken for his opposition to him for so many
years in the senate, has availed himself of more than one
opportunity of doing justice to his memory in the midst of
his countrymen. Comparisons, they say, are odious ; and
yet, sometimes they are apposite and useful. Let, then, the
parallel be drawn between what you have done for your
country, and General Jackson. I have already mentioned
his toils and sacrifices in the Indian wars. One other
achievement of his, the defence of New Orleans, and final
defeat and dispersion of the British army on the memora
ble 8th of January, 1815, shall suffice. It is admitted
by all, that but for the unparalleled exertions and great
skill of General Jackson, that important city would have
fallen under the dominion of the enemy.
Permit me to inquire, what were you, sir, doing for the
safety and preservation of your country, in December,
1814, and January, 1815 ? According to a letter of yours,
printed by your authority, in 1814, you, and eleven other
citizens of Massachusetts, in secret conclave, assembled

216 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
at Hartford, on the 15th of December, 1814, and
remained in deliberation till the 5th of January, 1815,
plotting, as was reported at the time, and has, in the opin
ion of many persons, been never refuted since, a dissolu
tion of the Union ! I do not assert this, but I have before
me, a letter of the late John Quincy Adams, addressed
to you and others, and dated the 30th of December,
1828, hiAvhichhe reiterates a statement he had previously
made to certain members of Congress, and adds, " it was
in those letters of 1808, and 1809, that I mentioned the
design of certain leaders of the Federal party, to effect a
dissolution of the Union, and the establishment of a
Northern Confederacy. This design had been formed in
the winter of 1803, and 1804, immediately after, and as
a consequence of the acquisition of Louisiana." In another
part of the letter, he adds, " That project, I repeat, had
gone to the length of fixing upon a military leader for its
execution, and, although the circumstances of the times
never admitted of its execution, nor even of its full devel
opment, I had yet no doubt in 1808 and 1809, and have
no doubt at this time, that it is the key to all the great
movements of those leaders of the Federal party of New
England, from that time forward, till its final catastrophe
in the Hartford Convention." I hope you will not think
me unreasonable, in saying that you ought to vindicate
your name against such a charge, before you venture to
designate General Jackson, an " Iron-willed oppressor."
You will, doubtless, remember this remarkable letter of
Mr. Adams, which he addressed to you and twelve other
gentlemen, of Boston and Salem, in 1828, from the pres
idential chair, and in answer to one from you and others,
in consequence of an article Mr. Adams was understood to
have caused to be inserted in the National Intelligencer of
the 21st of October, 1828. The ostensible object of the
letter was to inquire "who were the persons designated

THE HARTFORD CONVENTION. 217
as the leaders of the party prevailing in Massachusetts, in
1808, Avhose object Avas, and has been for several years, as
Mr. Adams had asserted, a dissolution of the Union ; " and,
secondly, " the whole evidence on Avhich that charge was
founded." It must haA^e excited a smile upon the face of
Mr. Adams, the inquiry by you, Avho Avere the persons desig
nated as the leaders of the party prevailing in Massachu
setts in 1808, "Avhose object he asserted to be the dissolution
of the Union ? " Mr. Adams, in his reply, remarked that
"your avowed object was controversy," and in confirmation
of that, he reminded you that, in the statement ofthe charge
to Mr. Jefferson and others,, he had asserted " that, although
he knew it from unequivocal evidence, yet it was not
provable in a court of laAV." You perceive hoAv he con
nected the proceedings of 1803 and 1804 with those of
the Hartford Convention in 1814. He never retracted the
charge ; and concluded his memorable letter in these
words : " It is not improbable that, at some future day, a
sense of solemn duty to my country may require of me
to disclose the evidence, which I do possess, and for which
you call. But of that clay, the selection must be of my
own judgment, and it may be delayed till I myself shall
have gone to answer for the testimony I may bear before
the tribunal of your God and mine. Should such disclo
sure of names even then be made by me, it will, if possible,
be made with such reserve, as tenderness to the feelings
of the living, and the families and friends of the dead
may admonish." These are words of fearful import,
especially when one considers by whom they were uttered.
Some persons will be unable to resist the conclusion that
Mr. Adams' celebrated journal must have contained some
entries confirmatory of what he had stated. More than
eight months, however, have elapsed, since Mr. Adams has
gone, to use his own words, " to answer for the testimony
he bore, before the tribunal of his God and yours," and
yet, it has never been stated that you have called upon
28

218 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
his son and executor, to disclose the evidence, for which
the public has been Avaiting so long, and which must
contain the proofs of your innocence or guilt. Nay, Mr.
Adams has ordered, in his will, a fire-proof building to be
constructed at Quincy, to contain, I suppose, the evidence
to which he had referred, in his letter of 1828. It must
be in the possession of his son, Charles Francis Adams, if
in existence, and should be produced, not only for your
sake, but for that, also, of your native state. Furthermore,
it will be remembered, that, in March last, certain citizens
of Boston, to illustrate the decease of Mr. Adams, like the
ancient Greek inhabitants of what was once called Par-
thenope, (now Naples,) erected, at the Revere House, a
" mensa," or eating-table, whereon a Silicernium, or funeral
repast, was served. The only difference was, that amongst
the Greeks, the worth of the deceased was extolled pre
vious to the repast ; but in Boston, after clue justice had
been clone to the viands. At this funeral feast, according
to the journals, you attended, and took an active part.
The circumstance need only be mentioned. All comment
would be quite superfluous.
I am aware, that the paternity of the Hartford Conven
tion, has been, by you, ascribed to another ; and that, in
1824, you Avrote and published a series of letters in its
justification. But few persons, there is reason to think, were
convinced by the arguments adduced at the time ; and a
lapse of twenty-four years has added nothing to their force.
The secret conclave at Hartford, cannot, under the most
favorable construction, be viewed in any other light than
a bold attempt to intimidate the national government, and
to compel it to make peace with the enemy, on such
terms as might be offered. The recent assemblies in Ire
land, of the Repealers, and in England, of the Chartists,
have attempted to produce the same result but by differ
ent means ; and every arrival from England, is bringing
us account of the trial and conviction of the leaders.

THE HARTFORD CONVENTION. 219
But I return to your support of General Taylor, and,
with a feAv more observations, I will conclude. It seemed
probable, from the first, that some powerful motive must
have actuated you to advocate, as you have done, the
claims of General Taylor ; and some persons have sup
posed you must have had a sight of his mysterious letter
to Mr. Lawrence, to Avhich he alluded in Faneuil Hall, and
also in Vermont ; and that it must have promised, in the
event of his election, a restoration of the Tariff of 1842.
Since, however, the speech of Mr. Webster, on the 24th of
October, in Boston, all doubt upon the subject is over, as
that gentleman plainly tells us, that the Whigs must strive
to elect General Taylor, because then they will be able to
re-establish the high tariff of 1842. Mr. Webster com
plains that " it is difficult to borrow money now ; "
and thinks the sub-treasury act should be repealed ;
although this measure has been daily gaining converts,
even in the ranks of those Avho once opposed it so much ;
and, amongst others, Albert Gallatin, a Whig, and claimed
by his party, to be the greatest financier in the country,
in his letter, dated the first of February last, upon the
expenses of the war, makes use of these words : " It is
true, that the sub-treasury act is an experiment, which no
one state has attempted to try for itself. But I wish it
may have fair play ; for I am clearly of opinion that it is
equally necessary for the government, for the public at
large, and for the banks themselves, that they should never
be permitted to use the public moneys, for the purpose of
increasing their discounts." According to Mr. Webster,
however, and the Whigs, the sub-treasury act must be
repealed, and the whole fiscal concerns of the coun
try be revolutionized ; and then, they predict, money
will be abundant. In other words, all their zeal for
electing General Taylor, and all this profession of patri
otism, resolves itself into an affair of dollars and cents.
I will not trespass longer, upon your time and patience..

220 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
I have endeavored to express myself with measure and
moderation, without forgetting what is due to you, or to
my own self-respect. Should you think I have been daz
zled with the splendor of military glory, in defending the
administration of General Jackson, I may, perhaps, be
permitted to remark, that you have been betrayed into
the same weakness, in blazoning the merits of General
Taylor. I would not, willingly, say anything to give
offence, nor, on any account, be personal. I have spoken
only of events and public measures, which are recorded in
the archives of our native state. You have shown, in the
case of Mr. Van Buren, that there is no necessary opposi
tion between being a " personal friend and political antag
onist ; " and I have never failed, at any time, to duly
appreciate that rare combination of talents, so remarkably
exhibited in your case, which have enabled you to become
so distinguished as a finished orator, an able advocate, a
learned judge, and eminent senator. Some of our coun
trymen, Avith qualifications inferior to yours, have attained
the highest offices in the gift of the nation ; but their idea
of patriotism embraced the whole United States. They
would not " give up to a party, what Avas meant for man
kind ; " and a membership with the Essex Junto, or the
Hartford Convention, they would have considered as an
offence against their country. Is there not some reason
to suppose, that, could you be permitted to live your long
and eventful life over again, you would avoid the errors
which have been pointed out ? May we not, at any rate,
hope that your example will be heeded by the young men
of our country ; and that they will learn from it that
lesson which it is so eminently adapted to teach ?
I remain, sir, very respectfully,
Your most ob't servant,
S. D. BRADFORD.
To the Hon. H. G. Otis, Boston.

LETTERS TO THE HON. WILLIAM M.
MEREDITH. West Koxbury, (near Boston,)
February 1st., 1850.
Dear Sik, — I send you, to-day, some letters addressed
to Mr. Meredith, Secretary of the Treasury, of which I
ask the insertion in your paper. They were written, with
the exception of a few trifling additions, in November last,
several weeks before Mr. Meredith's report was published.
So accurately had public rumor foreshadowed the policy
which such a document, emanating from such a quarter,
was likely to recommend, that I have had occasion to alter
only one paragraph, in which I had taken it for granted,
that the secretary would propose an increase of the duty
upon iron and coal, distinctly and by themselves. Forget
ting, for a moment, the profession to which he recently
belonged, and that a lawyer is like a pilot, Avho often takes
an oblique course to reach a point of land, which he could
never fetch by sailing upon a straight and direct line, I
had supposed that Mr. Meredith would place the two
favorite articles of his native state, in the foremost rank,
as every one knows they must have occupied the first
place in his thoughts. I could not have anticipated,
at the time, that not only the report itself, but the subse
quent proceedings of the secretary, in conducting the
business of his office, would have called forth such a host
of critics and commentators in the papers of New York,

WORKS OF S. D BRADFORD.
and of nearly every other city in the Union, writing over
every variety of signature except their own. It did not
seem to me that the moment had arrived for publishing
the letters, because congress, ever since the session com
menced, having been occupied with only two things — the
choice of a speaker and the slavery question — no one
appeared ready for a discussion upon the tariff.
The consequence probably is, that some of my remarks
and statements may have been anticipated by the writers
I have just named, and a further delay may increase the
difficulty. On this account, and that the public may not
be more wearied than is necessary, in reading discussions
upon a subject so threadbare, and upon which so little of
novelty can be expected, (though so important, that it
should be well understood,) I send you the letters for
publication in your valuable journal, without further
delay. I have made no comment on that part of Mr. Meredith's
report, which recommends an increase of duty on cottons
and Avoollens. I have not seen an account of any conven
tion of the cotton or woollen manufacturers, to request of
the government more protection ; and most of them are
either so prosperous already, or have such a brilliant future
before them, that I cannot persuade myself they intend
making any appeal to the sympathy, or the justice of con
gress, this year, at any rate. Should they do so, it will be
time to examine their claims, after they shall have been
presented. But if our manufacturers are prosperous, it
would be the grossest flattery to assert that they have
improved, as they should have clone, and as the manufac
turers of other countries have clone. The duties now paid
are too high to expect much improvement; and the manu
facturers " slumber too soundly under the tree of protec
tion," to attempt making the finer fabrics of cotton. They
continue to manufacture, principally, coarse, grey sheetings,

FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 223
or printing cloths. They have gone largely into the
former, since the passage ofthe tariff of 1846 ; and should
it be necessary hereafter to publish an account of all the
investments they have made, in land, Avater privileges,
mills, and machinery, since that date; it Avould, if I mistake
not, unfold a tale of which your distant readers have a
very imperfect conception.
I remain, dear sir, very truly,
Your friend and ob't servant,
S. D. BRADFORD.
To the Editor of the Boston Post.

West Koxbury, (near Boston,)
February 1st., 1850.
Sir, — I have not the pleasure of your personal acquaint
ance, and yet, I shall offer no apology for addressing to
you the observations I may deem it my duty to make,
upon the late treasury report, which, in obedience to cus
tom and the law, you have recently prepared, and laid
before congress. The occasion is one of the greatest
national importance, and concerns the interest and welfare,
of every individual in the country. The subjects dis
cussed, and the recommendations offered, affect deeply our
national growth, our wealth, and our prosperity. The
person, therefore, who fills the office A\diich you hold,
should not belong to any particular clique, political, min
eral, or metallic, but should possess those high and eminent
qualifications, which distinguish the patriot and statesman.
The successor of Hamilton, Gallatin, Woodbury, and
Walker, should be one animated by the same elevated
spirit, and having always near his heart, not the particu
lar exclusive interest of the state, to which he happens to
belong, but the general welfare and prosperity of the

224 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
whole nation. On a review of your report, it is painful
to remark the want of all these essential qualifications.
We look for Avise, and well-considered counsels from the
Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, but we '
find only the unwise and inconsiderate recommendations
of the agent, or attorney, of the iron masters, and owners
of coal mines in Pennsylvania. It is true, you have,
nowhere in your report, devoted a distinct paragraph to
recommending an increase of duty npon iron or coal by
themselves The practice of your profession had, no
doubt, taught you that, being a native of Pennsylvania,
you would be more likely to obtain your object by placing
those articles in juxtaposition with sugar and other com
modities. " Cosi all'egrofanciul porgiamo aspersi
Di soavi licor gli orli del vaso : "
The most casual reader, however, cannot fail to have
remarked that iron and coal are always uppermost in your
thoughts, and that, on these articles especially, you would
have the duty increased. Indeed, Ave all knoAV that, ever
since March last, the protectionist journals through the
whole land, have spoken of the assembling of congress, as
if its principal business would be to give additional pro
tection to iron and coal.
The position, in which you have placed yourself, is the
more painful to contemplate, because having, before your
acceptance of office, belonged to a liberal profession, in
which you had acquired an ample independence, and
never having had occasion to serve that apprenticeship of
servility, deceit, and tergiversation, which constitute the
preliminary education of so many American politicians,
the public had expected better things of you — your
friends, and those too, who differed Avith you in politics,
were willing to forget those memorable words of Junius,

FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 005
who, in addressing another distinguished member of your
profession, remarked, " that the indiscriminate defence of
right and Avrong contracts the understanding, while it cor
rupts the heart ; that subtlety is soon mistaken for wisdom,
and impunity for virtue ; and that if there be any instances
upon record, (as some there are, undoubtedly,) of genius
and morality united in a lawyer, they are distinguished
by their singularity, and operate as excejitions." If I
Avere personally unfriendly to you, if I had any private
antipathies to gratify, I would dwell upon the elevated
standing you recently occupied at the bar. I avouIc! speak
of the reputation for candor and independence conceded
to you by the other members of the profession, and by
the public at large. I would repeat the vaticinations of
some of your friends, that having accepted office Avithout
solicitation or pledges of any kind, you Avould act up to
the principles laid doAvn by the President himself, (and
which he has so flagrantly violated,) when he said to the
Whigs, " You must take me on your own responsibility. I
will not be the candidate of a party, nor will I be the
exponent of your party principles." But although actu
ated by no unfriendly feelings, I would not fail to do what
I can to expose the injurious effects of the policy you have
recommended, before it shall be adopted by congress, and
receive the sanction of the laws.
" The evil that men do lives after them ;
The good is oft interred with their bones."
As you had accepted the office of a cabinet minister
from a President Avho had publicly declared he had never
sufficiently considered the leading questions which divide
the public mind, to give an opinion upon them ; and who
had never any experience in public affairs except as a
military commander, the eyes of the whole country were
turned upon you as the Mentor, whose duty as well as

226 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
whose pleasure it would be to enlighten the ignorance, to
guide the inexperience, and to direct the public measures
of your neophyte. It was taken for granted that you had
been an observer of the events which have been passing
of late years in Europe, especially in England ; where a
nation, once amongst the most restrictive in its commer
cial laAvs and regulations, had, upon conviction of their
impolicy, cast aside the rags of protection, abandoning
them to the Russians, and other uncivilized hordes,
and inviting all other nations to join them in an unbounded
freedom of trade and commerce. It was deemed impos
sible that the wise and far-sighted measures of Mr. Walker,
which have filled his country with such unexampled pros
perity, and secured for their distinguished author a world
wide reputation, could have escaped your observation;
and it was hoped that you would have had the good sense
and humility to have imitated the example of one of the
most illustrious of our patriots and statesmen, (Mr. Van
Buren,) and have publicly declared that you considered it
" glory enough to follow in the footsteps of your illustri
ous predecessor." Such were the anticipations of many,
both Whigs and Democrats, at the time it was announced
that General Taylor had offered you a seat in the cabinet.
How these expectations have been disappointed is the
subject of daily remark, and is known to all. In mention
ing, as I have, your immediate predecessor, (Mr. Walker,)
and the happy effects of his measures upon the welfare
and prosperity of the country, I do not speak as a personal
friend or partisan, but express only the sentiments and
convictions of the candid and intelligent of both political
parties. The just and judicious tariff, which he prepared
and recommended to the adoption of congress; the life,
energy, and order which he infused into his department of
the government; the valuable statistics which he caused
to be collected to guide the legislature in their action

FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 227
upon the difficult questions of finance and revenue; the
introduction of the Ava rehouse system, and, above all, the
distinguished and unrivalled ability, by Avhich he sustained
the credit of the country and supplied the means for con
ducting a foreign and expensive Avar, (negotiating most of
the public loans at a premium,) have extorted the admi
ration of those Avho differed most with the secretary in a
political point of view, and can never be forgotten by the
nation. The merchants of New York, of both political
parties, testified their approbation by tendering him a
public dinner; and, Avhatever part of the country he
visited, he was received as a public benefactor.
Such are a feAV of the measures of that minister and
statesman, whose revenue system you avouIc! subvert. and
destroy by recommending a new and different tariff; by
dismissing from the public service without the least cause
of complaint most of the collectors, public appraisers, and
other officials, in Avhom he reposed the greatest confidence ;
and by every other method in your power ; and all this,
too, by the most reckless violation of the pledges volun
tarily given by the President, your superior, Avho, in his
inaugural address, declared, " So far as it is possible to be
informed, I shall make honesty, capacity, and fidelity, indis
pensable prerequisites to the bestowal of office ; and the
absence of either of those qualities shall be deemed suffi
cient cause for removal." Of course, then, the thousands,
who have been removed under the most proscriptive
administration, which has existed since the commencement
of the government, have all fallen under one of these
categories, and are deemed unworthy to serve their coun
try longer. " Credat Judseus Appella,
Non ego."
But you assign what some persons may consider satisfac-

oog WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
tory reasons for these changes, and you assert that the
imposts on some articles, especially iron, coal, Avoollens,
cottons, etc., are too low and variable ; that specific are to
be preferred to ad valorem duties ; and that, in adjusting
the same, protection should be afforded to such domestic
manufactures as require it. You have not ventured to
designate the amount of protection, and, unlike some pro
tectionists, Avho would destroy our foreign trade and com
merce altogether, you intimate that, " if required, you will
hereafter present a plan in detail." Fearing, probably,
that you might alarm your patient by practising upon the
Allopathic system, you have adopted the Homoeopathic,
and recommend only " unknown and indefinite portions "
of protection for the body politic. By this you betray
the weakness of your cause, and give occasion to your
opponents to doubt if you have confidence in your own
specifics ; for surely, if a little protection be such a good
thing, a great deal could not fail to be much better; and
a total prohibition of importations, as was recommended
some years since by a distinguished manufacturer and pro
tectionist in Boston, Mr. Brown, would be best of all.
Mr. Baldwin, in 1824, and Mr. Clay, in 1828, had no
scruples of this kind, and some of the duties then recom
mended Avere prohibitory, as they intended they
should be. The duty on bar and rolled iron, for instance,
by the tariff of 1828, Avas twenty-two and thirty-seven dol
lars per ton. The legislation upon this article, (iron,)
has been of a character truly unique. The duty upon
it has been changed by nearly every tariff adopted by
congress, and the same individuals have sometimes voted
for raising it, and at other times for loAvering it, actuated
by motives, which all may easily imagine, but which need
not now be characterized. When, for instance, in 1824, it
was proposed in congress, to raise the duty on this article
from fifteen to twenty-two and a half dollars a ton, Mr.

FREE TRADE AND PROTKCTION. 229
Webster inveighed against it Avith all the poAver of his
arguments and eloquence. " The present duty," he said
" on the imported article, is fifteen dollars a ton; and as this
duty causes, of course, an equivalent augmentation of the
price of the home manufacture, the Avhole increase of
price is equal to seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars
annually. This sum Ave pay on a raw material, and on an
absolute necessary of life. The bill proposes to raise the
duty from fifteen to tAventy-tAvo and a half dollars a ton
Avhich would be equal to one million one hundred and
tAventy-five thousand dollars, on the whole annual con
sumption ; so that, suppose the point of prohibition Avhich
is aimed at by some gentlemen to be attained, the con
sumers of the article avouIc! pay this last mentioned sum
every year to the producers of it, over and above the
price at which they could supply themselves with the
same article from other sources. There would be no miti
gation to this burthen, except from the prospect, (Avhatever
that might be,) that iron would fall in value by domestic
competition, after the importation should be prohibited.
It will be easy, I think, to shew that it cannot fall, and
supposing for the present that it shall not, the result will
be, that we shall pay, annually, a sum of one million one
hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, constantly
augmented, too, by increased consumption of the article,
to support a business which will not support itself. It
is of no consequence to the argument that this sum is
expended at home ; so it would be, if we taxed the people
to support any other useless and expensive establishment ;
to build another capitol, for example, or to incur an unne
cessary expense of any sort." " These are sound princi
ples," says a distinguished writer upon political economy,
Henry Lee, Esq. " They may be denied, renounced, and
even assailed, by those who once maintained them, but
they cannot be subverted. Talents and ingenuity can do

230 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
much. They can, when misapplied, as they too often are,
mislead the selfish and the ignorant; but they cannot
unsettle or overturn those original and self-evident princi
ples which lie at the foundation of truth and justice."
These memorable words of Mr. Webster, were addressed,
twenty-six years ago, to the assembled wisdom of the
nation, and they will favorably compare with any thing
wdiich can be found in the profound works of Adam Smith,
Ricardo, McCulloch, or any other writer on political econ
omy. They were, no doubt, at the time,' the sincere con
victions of Mr. Webster's mind, fixed there by extensive
reading, reflection, and observation. They are a complete
refutation of the sophisms daily advanced by manufac
turers, essayists, politicians, and others in our midstyand
should, it seems to me, have been well considered by you,
before you decided to recommend an increase of the duty
upon iron.
The further consideration of this subject will be con
tinued in my next communication.
I remain, very respectfully,
Your most ob't servant,
S. D. BRADFORD.
To the Hon. William M. Meredith,
Secretary of the Treasury, Washington, D. C.

West Roxbury, (near Boston,)
February 2d, 1850.
Sir, — Mr. Webster, when he made the speech, from
which my last communication contained an extract, had
been, for several years, a member of congress, had placed
himself in the foremost rank of statesmen, and his argu
ments urged, at that time, against protective and prohibi
tory duties, have lost none of their force by lapse of

FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 231
years. I cannot help thinking they are his real opinions
now; and I am not Avithout a hope that he may yet
declare them to be so. He has an illustrious example in
Sir Robert Peel, who, having been a member of parlia
ment for over thirty years, and having always sustained
protective and prohibitory duties on corn, and nearly all
other articles of import, had the magnanimity, at the age
of fifty-eight, to make an honest confession of his error,
and to become a leader in the cause of free trade. He
made one of his last great speeches in parliament, holding
in his hand a volume of Adam Smith, and recommendinc-
it as a text-book, for the study and guidance of all states
men. I am not Avilling to believe that Mr. Webster is
second in magnanimity to his illustrious cotemporary on
the other side of the Atlantic. I do not forget his votes
in congress since 1821, nor his elaborate speech in Faneuil
Hall, in October, 1848, against the sub-treasury, and the
tariff of 1846; nor his plea for the iron masters of Penn
sylvania, in Avhich, hoAvever, he omitted to mention what
rate of duty he would consider sufficient on iron ; but on
that point, we may probably expect him to define his posi
tion during the present session of congress. Let every
traveller over our six thousand miles of railroads, ponder
these calculations of Mr. Webster, made in 1824, and ask
himself to whom he is indebted for the facility he pos
sesses of safe and rapid locomotion, and of the transporta
tion of commodities at the moderate price which he is
called upon to pay. Surely, not to the manufacturers of
domestic railroad iron ; for they, before the passage of the
tariff of 1846, and the fall of the metal in England and
Wales, had fixed their price at seventy dollars a ton ;
whereas, the article can now be had for forty dollars.
Take, for instance, the railroad now in process of construc
tion from New York to Albany, by the Hudson river, esti
mated to require eighteen thousand tons of rails. The

232 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
difference between the domestic price some time since, and
the foreign value hoav, being thirty dollars per ton, would
amount to the sum of five hundred and forty thousand dol
lars on that enterprise.
That you should have proposed, in your report, to im
pose a duty upon some of the articles AAdiich are iioav free,
to provide a larger revenue, might, perhaps, have been
expected; but that you should have recommended an addi
tion to that on iron and coal, may well excite our special
wonder. Who does not knoAV that this commodity, (iron,)
is absolutely essential for the machines of manufacturers,
for all the implements of agriculture, and all the tools of
the mechanic arts ? It is largely used, also, in the manu
facture of nails, in which we had arrived, many years ago,
to such a degree of excellence, that they had become an
article of export, and a single firm, in a neighboring county,
manufactured of them, forty-five thousand casks a year, as
long ago as 1832. That the manufacturers of cottons,
woollens, machinery, etc., should favor an increase of duty
on iron or coal, can only be accounted for, by supposing
that they havre received pledges from the owners of those
articles, that they will vote for representatives, who will
use their influence to increase the duty on the commodi
ties in which they are interested. It is recorded, that "the
annual consumption of coal at Lowell only, was, several
years ago, (1843,) six hundred thousand bushels;" and in
another statistical account of the same place, compiled
some years since, it is stated " that the Locks and Canal
Company there, employ five hundred laborers, and, some
times, twice as many, and manufacture, annually, one
thousand two hundred and tAventy-five tons of Avrought
iron." How can they expect to supjoly the home demand
with cottons and woollens, and to be able to export the
former with a profit, having to pay for iron the price set
upon it by the iron masters, seventy dollars a ton, whilst

FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 233
the same article is used by their competitors, the British,
at thirty dollars a ton ? Our ships, too, Avhich have to
meet such a sharp rivalry, not only with those of Great
Britain, but Avith the cheaper and inferior vessels of Bre
men, Hamburg, Sweden, and Norway, in Avhat Avay can
Ave so effectually enhance their cost, as by adding to the
price of iron ? Mr. Webster, in 1821, computed the value
of that metal used in the construction of a ship of the
ordinary dimensions, at from four thousand to six thou
sand dollars.
r The annual production of iron in the United States, is
now estimated at eight hundred thousand tons. The
importation Araries from year to year, according to circum
stances. It may amount, the present year, to three hundred
thousand tons. The annual consumption of this country
is, by some very intelligent iron masters, estimated as high
as one million of tons ; and by others, at somewhat less.
The correct amount must, of course, be conjectural only ;
but all agree it is very great, is yearly increasing almost
beyond computation, under the present moderate cost and
duty, and is constantly entering more and more into the
construction of dwelling-houses, Avarehouses, bridges, etc.,
where its high price once precluded its being used. The
import of iron into the port of New York, from the 1st
of March to the 1st of September, 1849, is stated, by that
valuable commercial paper, the Netv York Journal of Com
merce, to have been one hundred and twelve thousand and
ten tons, valued at a cost of four million, one hundred and
fifty-five thousand, four hundred and eighty dollars, and
fifty-eight cents. The price having fallen to a Ioav figure
in England, on account of the deranged state of commer
cial affairs since 1847, and the railroad panic, which has
caused the suspension or abandonment of so many rail
ways, the American manufacturers have found it impossi
ble to realize the price, which, at one time, they had
30

234 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
expected to obtain, and attribute their disappointment to
the tariff of 1846, which imposes a duty on iron of thirty
per cent. The actual duty, paid since 1846, is estimated
at about nine dollars a ton ; Avhereas, had it been fifteen
dollars, it is alleged, by some persons, that they might
have continued the business, and have received a fair com
pensation. It is presumed that this calculation must have
been made when the price of bar iron in England was
nine pounds a ton. The price recently paid having been
five pounds, sixteen shillings, eleven pence, it could be
imported to cost only forty-eight dollars, under a duty of
fifteen dollars, so that the iron masters could scarcely
expect consumers to pay the price required two years
ago — seventy dollars a ton. It is a recorded fact, that the
Hudson River Railroad Company, of New York, contracted
with a company in New Jersey, in August, 1847, for six
thousand tons of rails, at sixty-seven dollars, fifty cents,
on which they afterwards paid a considerable sum as an
indemnity, for having a part of the order cancelled after
the fall of the metal abroad.
If, under these circumstances, some of the iron masters
of Pennsylvania, or other states, have been obliged to limit
their production, or where the capital employed had been
borrowed, they have been compelled, in some instances, to
discontinue their operations altogether, the occurrence
need not excite any surprise, as the same thing is con
stantly happening in England and Wales, into which coun
tries the usual annual amount of iron, imported princi
pally from Sweden, and paying a duty of thirty shillings
sterling a ton, is only about twenty thousand tons ; so that
the iron masters may be said to have the almost entire
supply of the home market. Digging for gold, silver,
copper, or lead, has always been amongst the most hazard
ous and uncertain of human pursuits. The most frightful
revulsions often occur amongst persons engaged in that

FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 2 35
kind of business. At one time, they make money very
fast, and then lose it again as rapidly as it had been made.
It Avas stated in England, in 1839, that, out of the several
large companies engaged, in 1837, in Avorking the Cornwall
copper mines, (the produce of Avhich was at that time about
one million, five hundred thousand pounds sterling per
annum,) nearly every one Avas in difficulty, and a pecuniary
crisis during that year.
Such Avas the depression in iron of all kinds in 1843,
and so low Avas the price in consequence of the inability
of the iron masters to hold their stocks, that the Messrs.
Rothschild, of London, were said to have purchased a
large quantity of pig iron in the Clyde at thirty shillings
sterling a ton. It Avas Avorth, a short time previous, four
pounds; and it sold in 1825 at from twelve to thirteen
pounds a ton ! It is absurd to assert that protecting
the article would prevent these fearful fluctuations.
It would be far more likely to increase them. The
most severe crisis our cotton and woollen manufac
turers ever passed through, was after the passage
of the high and impolitic tariff of 1828, the paternity of
which has generally been ascribed to Henry Clay. Some
of the wealthiest families in New England, especially in
Boston, who, stimulated by the unwise policy of the
government, had entered largely into the business, were
reduced to absolute want; and some of our richest cap
italists to a state of the most unenviable embarrassment.
The iron masters here, then, must do as those engaged
in the same business do in England and Wales, when the
price of the metal is low, introduce improved and cheaper
methods of manufacturing it, extinguish such blasts as are
not wanted, and more than supply the demand, and wait
for that improvement Avhich is sure to come soon, and
will give them employment again. Calling upon the
government to lay new burdens on one class of the peo-

236 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
pie for the benefit of another, " to support a business (to
use Mr. Webster's expressive Avords) which will not sup
port itself," would be neither just nor expedient, and in
the end would prove injurious to the manufacturers them
selves. This is proved by the history of similar attempts
in England and in other countries.
Some facts, which I have to adduce in confirmation of
this assertion, and some further observations upon iron in
general, will form the subject of my next communica
tion. I remain, very respectfully,
Your most obedient servant,
S. D. BRADFORD.
To the Hon. William M. Meredith,
Secretary of the Treasury, Washington, D. C.

West Roxbury, (near Boston,)
February 4th, 1850.
Sir, — I promised in my last letter to adduce some facts
to prove that high protective or prohibitory duties are
injurious to the manufacturers themselves, and also to
offer some further remarks upon the subject of iron.
Let us look, then, at the example of England, which for
so many centuries pursued a restrictive and prohibitory
policy. In 1840, the House of Commons appointed a com
mittee comprising the names of some of the most eminent
statesmen in the kingdom, to thoroughly investigate the
restrictive system. Amongst a great number of witnesses
who Avere called, was Mr. William Leaf, an extensive silk
merchant in London, who, in speaking of the silk trade,
thus testified: "When I first kneAV Manchester, which
was about the year 1816 or 1817, there was but one silk
manufacturer there, and he upon a very small scale, and

FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 237
even up to the year 1825, Avhen the reduction on silk
took place, there Avere but ten silk manufacturers in
Manchester. I estimated the Avhole return of Manches
ter in silk goods then at four hundred and fifty thousand
pounds, and uoav (1840) the return in goods, entirely silk,
is from one million six hundred thousand pounds, to one
million eight hundred thousand pounds per annum."
He added, •• The distress, Avhich so frequently visited
Spitalfields, during the term of prohibition, has never
returned to the same extent since French goods were
introduced. Though silk is at this moment higher than
it has been for the last ten years, yet goods range now
from twenty to thirty per cent, lower than they did in
1825 and 1826, arising entirely from improved modes of
manufacture, stimulated by the competition arising from
a freer state of trade."
And upon the same occasion, the late James Deacon
Hume, on being asked if it was his opinion " that protec
tion is always imposed at the expense of the consumer,"
answered " I think that is manifest. I have always con
sidered that the increase of price in consequence of pro
tection amounted to a tax. I pay it with regret, because
it does not go to the revenue of the country. I must be
taxed a second time for the state. It is tempting parties
to embark in a trade by a fictitious support, which, in the
end, may prove a fallacious one. I have often Avondered
how any rulers could consent to incur the responsibility
of such a policy." The authority of Mr. Hume, as a
sound political economist, and, what some persons may
value much more, as one who had had the largest experi
ence, having been in the British customs thirty-eight
years, and for eleven years a member of the board of
trade, acting as the very high priest of monopoly and
protection, at a time when the duties were nearly all pro
tective or prohibitory, may be considered, I think, as

238 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
beyond appeal ; and I would venture to recommend his
reasonings and statements upon the subject now under
consideration, (should they have escaped your notice,)
to your particular and careful attention. He is often
quoted as an authority by Sir Robert Peel; and most of the
changes recommended by him in the British tariff in 1840,
have been since adopted, and have produced the most
beneficial effects.
But to return to' the subject of iron. Many persons, I
apprehend, are not aware how heavy the duty and
charges upon it are already, amounting to fifty-seven and
a half per cent, ad valorem ; so that a ton of iron, costing
in England five pounds sixteen shillings and eleven pence,
cannot be landed in this country under forty dollars and
ninety-two cents. Some manufacturers, it is said, have
admitted that these charges are high enough, but demand
that the duty should be specific so as always to remain
the same, or should be regulated by a sliding scale. Thus
far, however, I have seen no good reason assigned for the
adoption of either plan. The ad valorem system has many
and great advantages over all others, on Avhich account
it was adopted by Mr. Hamilton at the commencement
of our republic, and has been continued ever since. The
protectionists themselves, whatever they may allege
against it now, must have approved the system highly,
when they arranged the tariff of 1842, (of which they
always speak in such terms of panegyric,) as out of a
revenue of one hundred and two millions of dollars col
lected under it, sixty millions were levied upon the ad
valorem principle.
As respects adopting a sliding scale, that has become a
by-word. It sounds harshly to the ears. It was in
England a weapon taken from the armory of want and
starvation, to compel the poor to buy dear bread, or none
at all.

FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 239
Let it not be introduced into this land of plenty, to
enhance the price of iron, or any other necessary of life.
WliAr should the government become the makers of sliding
scales, or of any other contrivances to guard the iron
masters against those fluctuations in trade, to which they
are subject in common Avith the agriculturist, the merchant,
and the manufacturers of other articles ? The constitution
authorizes congress '•' to lay and collect taxes, duties,
imposts, and excises " for reA'enue, and not for protection.
If by impolitic laws it compels one individual to purchase
of another a domestic production at a higher price than
he could procure one of foreign manufacture of the same
quality, is not the buyer impoverished to the extent of the
difference in the price, and is the country made richer for
it ? This and simflar questions have been often asked, and
it is time they should receive a satisfactory answer.
But it seems that the iron masters did not think it expe
dient to await the assembling of congress ; and the Phila
delphia papers announced, in November last, that at a
meeting of the iron masters of Pennsylvania, assembled
at Pittsburgh, the following resolution was proposed and
adopted :
Resolved, That it is the sense of this convention, at the present
state of the foreign market, that it will require a duty of ten dollars
a ton on pig iron, and twenty dollars per ton on common bar, and
a corresponding increase on all other iron and manufactures of iron,
in proportion to cost of make, to protect the American market.
The present cost of pig iron in England and Wales being
two pounds, eleven shillings, sixpence, or eleven dollars,
forty-four one-hundredths, the duty called for amounts to
about eighty-seven and a half per cent, on the value
abroad ; and if there be added to this the other expenses
of importation, premium on exchange, freight, insurance,
etc., amounting to twenty-seven and a half per cent, more,

210 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
the whole protection claimed is one hundred and fifteen
per cent. ! The present cost of bar iron being five pounds,
sixteen shillings, eleven pence, or twenty-five dollars,
ninety-seven one-hundredths, the duty asked for is equal to
about seventy-seven per cent, on the foreign value, or
adding the other expenses of importation, equal to a pro
tective duty of one hundred and four and a half per cent. !
No one can accuse these Pennsylvania gentlemen of
excessive modesty in the call they have made for legisla
tive aid ; but I have deemed this meeting Avorthy of par
ticular mention, on account of the remarkable similarity
of the proceedings at Pittsburg, in 1849, to those Avhich
took place at Harrisburg, in the same state, in August,
1827. Every one may not remember the famous conven
tion Avhich assembled there, to stimulate the government
to enact the tariff of 1828. Thirteen states were repre
sented by delegates. Messrs. H. Niles, from Maryland,
C. J. Ingersoll, T. Ewing, and J. Tallmadge were of the
number. They assembled in the " splendid hall " of the
state ; and after having made the protestations of patriot
ism and duty to their constituents, and " the American
system," usual in similar assemblies, called together to
overawe the government, they proceeded to business.
Mr. II. Niles, of Maryland, was selected to prepare "an
address to the people of the United States," in Avhich he
made the following declaration, in the spirit of which our
legislators have since made so many unjust and prohibitory
laws. " The constitution of the United States," he said,
" was made for the farmers, manufacturers, and mechanics ;
not for the merchants ; the last being only a small number
of the whole ! "
This new method of expounding the constitution by the
gentlemen from Maryland, may possibly surprise some
persons not so Avell versed in the study of that instrument.
It Avould probably have produced quite a sensation in

FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 211
1787, Avhen the convention assembled in Philadelphia, to
form a constitution, were about to adopt the eighth section
of article first, " to regulate commerce with foreign
nations, and among the several states," had some member
risen in his place and opposed it, alleging that " the con
stitution Avas not to be made for the merchants, they being
only a small portion of the whole." Another member
charged Avith making a report upon " the British trade
and prohibitory laAvs," in speaking of the corn laws and
other prohibitory imposts of England, said, " Were the
British ports uoav open to the reception of our grain at a
fair rate of duty, the fee of Pennsylvania Avould be worth
a hundred millions of dollars more than it now is, and her
one million, two hundred thousand freemen would rejoice?
whilst the SAveat poured down their manly brows, in the
fatness of their fields, the capacity of their barns, and just
reward of their honest and honorable labor. We do not
speak without thought, for if by the increased demand
abroad the price of flour should be advanced, as it certainly
would be, that advance would be obtained on all the sur
plus products of all farmers, whether for foreign or domes
tic use." These are sound free trade doctrines, and Avould,
no doubt, receive the full concurrence of Mr. Cobden or
Mr. Walker. But if the fee of Pennsylvania would have
been worth in 1827 a hundred millions of dollars more,
'• if the British would have opened their ports to our
grain at a fair rate of duty," what, it may be inquired,
may the value be now, in the opinion of the same honora
ble member, and of the protectionists in general, when
not only our grain and cotton, but most of our provisions
also, are admitted without any duty whatever? Is it
generous, is it honest, under such circumstances, to call
upon the government to increase the duty upon any
article produced by Great Britain, beyond the rate
31

242 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
required to raise the revenue necessary for the support
of government, and the gradual extinction of the national
debt? But what especially deserves our notice in the proceed
ings of the convention of 1827, is the resolution offered
and adopted upon iron, which recommended an increase
of the duty from eighteen dollars to twenty-two dollars
and a half a ton, " which would really have the effect,
it was said, to furnish the article cheaper to the con
sumer, because the home market would be secured for
the home supply." As the price of bar iron in Great
Britain at that time (1827,) was nine pounds, ten shillings,
instead of five pounds, sixteen shillings, and eleven pence,
its present value, the duty then asked for was only about
fifty per cent, instead of seventy-seven, the rate now
required. What a comment do these proceedings offer
upon the allegations so often made by the protectionists,
that "by the aid of a protecting duty to sustain and
encourage the first attempts of an infant manufacture,
the assistance of the government will soon cease to be
required, and that competition amongst the manufac
turers themselves will insure at all times an ample supply
of a superior quality, and at a reduced price ! "
Does not this seem to prove that protected manufac
turers are like spoiled children — never satisfied with any
given quantity of kindness, but always clamoring for
more ? In the latter, as in the former case, the only
expedient method of proceeding, is to act with firmness
and decision, and to all unreasonable requests to return
a prompt and peremptory answer in the negative. This
will be the duty of the Congress noAv assembled at Wash
ington ; and the people, their constituents, will not fail
to watch their proceedings with vigilance.
In my next communication, I propose to point out the

FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 243
causes which have produced the present depression in
the iron business, and to conclude the observations I have
to offer upon the proposal to increase the duty on iron.
I remain, very respectfully,
Your most obedient servant,
S. D. BRADFORD.
To the Hon. William M. Meredith,
Secretary of the Treasury, Washington, D. 0.

West Roxbury, (near Boston,)
February 5th, 1850.
Sir, — I proceed now to state the causes Avhich have, in
my opinion, produced the present depression in the iron
trade ; and I would remark that if, as is asserted by some
persons, the business be in a very unsatisfactory condi
tion, so that some masters have curtailed their operations,
and others, who depended upon borrowed capital, pos
sessed fewer local advantages, or did not avail themselves
of the best and most scientific methods of manufacturing,
have been compelled to abandon their works altogether,
it requires no great wisdom to assign the cause. It has
in fact been assigned in 1847, by the iron masters them
selves, and is contained in two words, protection and over
production, caused by the tariff of 1842, which it is now
attempted to restore. I have before me a pamphlet
entitled " Pennsylvania, the Pioneer of Internal Improve
ment. The coal and iron trade, embracing statistics of
Pennsylvania ; a series of articles published in the Phila
delphia Commercial List, in 1847, prepared by C. G.
Childs, editor." This pamphlet contains an account of
several conventions of the iron masters from 1830, and
ends with that called " Tho Committee of the Iron and
Coal Association of the State of Pennsylvania, which met:

244 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
in Philadelphia on the ninth January, 1846 ; " from
Avhose report it appears that up to 1842 the charcoal fur
naces in Pennsylvania amounted to two hundred and six,
producing
173,369 tons.
The anthracite amounted to seven, producing 16,487 tons,
together, say 189,856 "
New charcoal furnaces since, 67, producing 75,200 "
New anthracite, 36, producing 103,000 «'

Total, 316 furnaces, producing 368,056 "
Increase on old furnaces, 37,971 "
on new « 178,200

216,171

more than one hundred per cent, since the bill of 1842,
and requiring a capital of fourteen million, six hundred
and sixty-nine thousand, eight hundred and eighteen dol
lars, in the rude state of the metal, and of twenty million,
two hundred and one thousand, four hundred dollars, in its
converted state. These figures are taken from the pamph
let itself.
What bill, it may be asked, could have produced such
an extraordinary increase as the above, in four years and
three months, in a country where the population requires
twenty-three years to double its numbers ? The answer
is, the tariff of 1842, which laid a duty of seventeen dol
lars a ton on iron in bars, not rolled, of twenty-five dollars
on iron rolled and railroad iron, and of nine dollars on
pig iron.
In 1830, the production of iron in the United States
was estimated at only one hundred and sixty-three thou
sand, five hundred and forty-two tons, whereas, here in a
single state, we find an increase of two hundred and six
teen thousand, one hundred and seventy-one tons in four
years and three months !
Well might the editor of the pamphlet exclaim, after

FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 245
giving the above statements, and alluding particular^' to
the anthracite furnaces, '• the increase of this branch of the
iron trade in this state, (Pennsylvania,) has no parallel
in histoiy." Who can wonder that the iron masters, hav
ing doubled their production in the time mentioned, uncles
the influence of the various and impolitic stimulus fur
nished by the government, should, in some instances find
themselves embarrassed, and in want of sufficient cus
tomers to take off this extraordinary supply ? No doubt
in some cases the loss of capital will be heavy, as must
always happen when a revulsion comes in a business which
has been pushed beyond its natural capacity and bounds,
by what is called "the fostering care of government."
Let it be a Avarning to our legislators, in all coming time,
never to fall into the same lamentable error again.
The sum, then, of the whole matter is this : It having
been ascertained, from an inspection of the invoices, that
the average cost of common bar iron, imported into New
York, from the 1st of March to the 1st of September,
1849, was five pounds, sixteen shillings, and eleven pence,
and the duty and expense of importation being fifty-seven
and a half per cent, ad valorem, the article can be laid down
in any of our Atlantic cities at a cost of forty dollars and
ninety-tAVO cents. The iron masters, in their convention
at Pittsburg, require a duty of twenty dollars per ton,
which would enhance the cost to fifty-three dollars for the
imported, and also fix the value of the domestic article at
the same, or a higher price. If, then, the annual con
sumption be eight hundred thousand tons, as has been
estimated by some of the most extensive manufacturers
themselves, and the demand of the iron masters having
been granted, the people shall be called upon to pay even
fifty-three dollars per ton for what they could otherwise
have obtained for forty dollars and ninety-two cents, the
difference would amount to nine million, six hundred and

246 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
sixty-four thousand dollars per annum. If the manufac
turers could obtain sixty-seven dollars and fifty cents, the
price asked, and obtained, too, in August, 1847, it would
amount to twenty-one million, two hundred and sixty-four
thousand dollars.
Not one dollar of this large sum would go into the pub
lic treasury, but into the pockets of the iron masters, and
would thus be a tax upon the farmers, merchants, and
other consumers of iron, amounting to about a third of
the annual revenue of the United States. Can it be pos
sible that any respectable number of senators or represent
atives in congress, will be found to vote for such an unjust
and unnecessary burden ? We all remember what an out
cry was made when Mr. Walker, to sustain the credit of
the country during an expensive foreign war, called for a
duty of three millions only, on tea and coffee, especially by
our brethren in the west. Will they ever consent to lay
this heavy duty on iron imported principally from the
country which has now become the best customer for their
breadstuff's and provisions ?
Formerly, the city of Boston alone imported from Swe
den fifteen thousand to seventeen thousand tons of iron
per annum. The importations at present amount to only
about three thousand tons. Our annual importations from
Russia amounted, a few years since, to seven thousand
tons, whereas, in 1848, they were only one thousand tons,
and last year, were only six hundred tons.
In 1826, the whole exports of the products ofthe United
States, as stated in 1827, by Mr. H. Niles, of Maryland,
amounted to only twenty million, four hundred and thir
teen thousand, two hundred and sixteen dollars, of which,
eighteen million, six hundred and four thousand, and ninety-
four dollars was in cotton and tobacco, leaving for all the
rest, only one million, eight hundred and nine thousand,
one hundred and twelve dollars. In 1848, not 1847, the

FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 247
year of famine, (as it is called by the protectionists,) Great
Britain took from us in domestic exports, cotton, rice, to
bacco, breadstuff's, provisions, etc., of the value of sixty-four
million, two hundred and twenty-two thousand, two hun
dred and sixty-eight dollars, exclusive of specie. During
this same year, ending June 30th, 1848, our exports of
breadstuff's and provisions only, amounted to the sum of
thirty-seven million, four hundred and seventy-two thou
sand, seven hundred and fifty-one dollars, being more than
double the average annual export under the tariff of 1842.
Our tonnage increased, during the same time, from two
million, eight hundred and thirty-nine thousand, and forty-
six, to three million, one hundred and fifty thousand, five hun
dred and two tons. The total revenue was thirty-one
million, seven hundred aucl fifty-seven thousand, seventy
doUars, and ninety-six cents, being more, by nearly eight
miUions, than the annual average of the revenue during
the tariff of 1842.
It had been predicted in 1846, by the protectionists,
that, " in case our imports should amount to one hundred
and forty miUions of dollars, under Mr. Walker's proposed
tariff, our coin would have to be exported to meet the
deficiency; that, if they should fall short of that sum, we
should have an empty treasury, and that our exports
would not increase with our imports." Time has shown
the fallacy of all these predictions, our imports having
been, during the year ending 30th June, 1848, one hun
dred and fifty-four million, nine hundred and seventy-
seven thousand, eight hundred and seventy-six dollars,
and our exports one hundred and fifty-four million, thirty-
two thousand, one hundred and thirty-one dollars. The
treasury, in the mean time, instead of being empty, was
always well supplied, and the demands upon it met Avith
the greatest promptitude ; the government having, in June,
negotiated a loan of sixteen millions of dollars, at a pre-

248 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
mium of nearly half a million, at the moment of the termi
nation of a long and expensive war, leaving a national
debt of sixty-five millions of dollars. Had not the tariff
of 1842 been repealed, there is good reason to believe
that the public debt, in October, 1848, would have
amounted to ninety-three millions of dollars.
If any occurrences of a similar character can be found
in the previous history of our country, during the days of
protective or prohibitory duties, I have been unable to
find the page where they are recorded. Our intelligent
brethren of the south and the west cannot have failed to
have noticed all these evidences of prosperity and national
advancement since 1846, and to have connected them
with the changes then made in our commercial policy.
Any attempt to restore a different policy, which has been
tried and found wanting, cannot and will not succeed.
The iron masters, if they were wise and far-sighted,
would not desire to disturb the tariff of 1846, and to pro
duce another inflation of the business, such as has occurred
since 1842. One of their own number has recently stated,
in a letter published in the Philadelphia and Washington
papers, " that the profits are now fully equal to those of
any other kind of business ;" and he computes the cost of
manufacturing pig iron in Pennsylvania, with anthracite
coal, at from twelve to fifteen dollars a ton ; whereas the
cost of a ton of the same imported into New York or
Philadelphia, he estimates at twenty-one dollars and ninety
cents. " The business is now," he says, " overdone, but the
demand is gradually growing upon the supply, and if the
tariff is let alone, the business will, in another year, be
healthful and prosperous." This prediction may or
may not be fulfilled in the time mentioned; but that
the iron business, "if left alone," will presently become
profitable and prosperous again, cannot be doubted by any
one, who has watched its course either in Great Britain or

FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 249
this country ; and no person will deny that immense for
tunes Avere made by the iron masters many years since,
Avhen the duty Avas seven and a half to fifteen per cent.,
and long before the process of manufacturing by anthra
cite coal had been introduced. That dates only from 1840.
The annual production of iron in England and Wales is
estimated in your report at one million, two hundred
thousand tons. You have not given the authority upon
which this statement is made ; but, if it be correct, those
countries must have sadly retrograded in the production
of the metal, for, Avhen Sir John Guest Avas called, in 1840,
before a committee of the House of Commons, to give his
evidence upon the article, he stated " that the produce of
iron in those countries had been raised from one hundred
and twenty-five thousand tons, in 1796, to more than one
million, five hundred thousand tons, in 1839." This extract
I have made from a copy of the parliamentary papers, and
I am the more particular in calling your attention to
it, as otherwise the estimate I have given of the American
production, eight hundred thousand to one million of tons,
might appear extravagant. Sir John Guest, at the time
he gave this evidence, was proprietor of one of four iron
establishments in South Wales, which produced above one
quarter of the whole amount of iron manufactured in the
empire. If it were necessary to assign any further reasons
why the duty on iron should not be increased, it might be
added that the money derived from it is wanted to meet
the current expenses of government, and pay the interest
upon the national debt. After the passage of the tariff
of 1842, raising the duty, the revenue derived from iron
and manufactures of iron, from October, 1842, to 30th
June, 1843, amounted to only nine hundred, two thousand,
and fifty-four dollars, and eighty-three cents. The next
year it reached the sum of two million, four hundred and
seventy-seven thousand, three hundred and forty-two dol-

250 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
lars, and thirty-five cents, but under the reduced tariff of
Mr. Walker, during the year ending the 30th June, 1848,
it amounted to the enhanced sum of three million, seven
hundred and thirty-six thousand, two hundred and twenty-
three dollars, and twenty cents; and during the year ending
the 30th June, 1850, it will probably reach the sum of
five millions of dollars. The fact that the way to augment
the amount of revenue derived from an article is to lower
the duty to a revenue standard, and not to increase it, so
as to make it protective or prohibitory, is too well estab
lished now to require further argument ; and yet in your
report, surrounded as you are on every side with the evi
dences of the truth of this proposition, you have recom
mended raising the duties to obtain more revenue. Of
all the positions assumed by you, this, if I mistake not,
will be considered the most extraordinary, unsound, and
paradoxical. One would have supposed that the state of
the post office receipts, since the rates have been reduced,
not only in Great Britain but in the United States also,
as exhibited in the postmaster general's report, might
have furnished you with a safe and useful guide in pre
paring a programme for a tariff of duties upon imports.
It cannot be denied, that the theory of monopoly and
protection, under Avhatever aspect the subject may be
viewed, is founded upon scarcity as its principal support.
It is a system which looks upon plenty and abundance,
not as blessings to be desired, but as a calamity to be
deprecated and avoided. It is akin to the error which
induces the workmen in times of manufacturing distress,
to band together and break the machinery in the factories
and Avorkshops, because it increases the quantity of manu
factures, and, as they ignorantly suppose, lowers the wages
of labor. The protectionist papers, in announcing the
arrival of several packets from Liverpool or Havre, at
New York, with woollens, cottons, linens, and silks, for the

FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 251
supply of our Avants, are accustomed to speak of our beino-
"inundated Avith goods," as if some destructive river had
broken through its boundaries, or what they call, at New
Orleans, a crevasse, had taken place.
The American Congress, ever since 1816, with one or
two short intervals, have been passing haws to sustain this
faUacy ; for high tariffs can only accomplish their work by
enhancing the price of commodities in one mode or
another. The legislators, the manufacturers, the politi
cians, Avho cater for the taste of the multitude, and traffic
in patriotism by professions of their devotion to what they
call " the American system," all sustain the sophism that
scarcity is to be desired. They seem unconscious that
man is a being Avho consumes, as well as produces, and
that if, as a seller, his interest be promoted by having the
article he deals in, dear and scarce, yet, as a buyer, a
cheap market and abundance are what he most desires.
The iron masters would have a monopoly of iron; the
owner of coal mines one of coal ; and the manufacturer of
cottons, woollens, etc., would have foreign importations
prohibited, to give him " the supply of the home market."
The consumer, on the other hand, desires that all these
articles may be abundant, and that he may supply his
wants at the most moderate prices. Surely, then, AA'hen
the government interposes its authority, and passes laws
in favor of one class, and that consisting of the smaller
number, against the rights and interests of the other
classes, which compose the majority, it seems to me to
exercise a power which may be usurped by a despot, but
should never be conferred by the suffrages of a free and
intelligent community upon their rulers. These truths
would appear to be simple and obvious enough, and yet,.
how little have they been heeded, untd recently, by gov
ernments and legislators! Even now we find persons
amongst us of talents and education, and filling an ele-

252 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
vated rank in society, who continue to speak of what they
sneeringly call " free trade," as " an abstraction," " a
dream," " a chimera," which it is impossible, were it desir
able, to reduce to practice, whilst daily experience teaches
us that every one is, in fact, a free trader, so far as his
actions can prove him to be so ; as no person ever knoAV-
ingly goes to a dear shop to purchase Avhat he wants, but
always to that Avhich can supply him Avith the best article
at the lowest price. All commerce is conducted on this
principle, and ever must be. It is only after some men
have become interested in a manufactory, that they begin
to protest against using foreign productions, and " employ
ing the pauper labor of Europe," and talk loud about
" philanthropy " and the " home market," " patriotism "
and rich dividends of eighteen per cent, per annum.
These remarks upon free trade and protection, are not
made with any unfriendly feelings towards the iron
masters of Pennsylvania, or the manufacturers of New
England. I am perfectly aware how unwelcome such
observations will be to the great majority of the people of
Boston and its vicinity, where a most bigoted and illiberal
spirit prevails on subjects of this character, so that to him
who entertains and openly professes such opinions, may be
literally applied the words of the Latin satirist,
" Non uxor salvum te vult, non filius ; omnes
Vicini oderunt, noti, pueri atque puellEe."
They may appear futile and unpalatable to you also, since
you have become a member of General Taylor's cabinet ;
but the principles I have endeavored to establish, I believe
to be founded upon truth and justice, and that, sooner or
later, they will be adopted by those who deserve the
name of statesmen, everywhere.
The last steamer only from Liverpool, brought the
announcement that the President of the French nation

FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 253
Avas about to have " his tariff' of duties revised with refer
ence to some important reductions;" "that the Dutch,
encouraged by the example of the English, were about to
take measures to repeal their navigation laws ; " and last,
though not least, that " the representative of her majesty,
Queen Victoria, at St. Petersburgh, had opened negotia
tions with the minister of the Emperor Nicholas, with the
view of increasing the commercial relations betAveen the
two nations." It is added that " a considerable change is
contemplated in the import duties on articles of British
manufacture, and in cotton, especially, a great though
gradual ad valorem reduction will be made." By this you
will perceive that you have lost already your most faith
ful and trustworthy ally, the Emperor of all the Russias,
in sustaining longer the restrictive system which you are
endeavoring to restore. But I am not sure that even this
will have any effect in inducing you to retrace your steps ;
for it is impossible not to draw the inference, both from
your report and your treasury circulars since, that you do
not expect to continue in the service of the nation long,
when you probably intend to return to Philadelphia, and
" order your buggy for the home circuit again."
It will not answer longer to assert that free trade must
fail unless adopted by the nations in general. The con
trary of this has been proved by the example of Great
Britain, which has, ever since 1842, been fighting the hos
tile tariffs of other countries by free imports, and always
gaining the victory. For six years before 1842, the year
in which the English tariff began to be modified, the
annual exports of the United Kingdom, being British prod
uce and manufactures, amounted to forty-nine million,
two hundred and ninety-six thousand, eight hundred and
ninety-five pounds, whereas the annual exports during the
six succeeding years, have been found to be fifty-six mil-

254 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
lion, seven hundred and forty-two thousand, two hundred
and ninety-seven pounds.
Such results as these offer very little inducement to
return to monopoly or protection ; and, although the
Duke of Richmond, Earl Stanhope, Col. Sibthorpe, or Mr.
Disraeli, in their present agitation of the subject of free
trade and protection, may receive the support of needy
noblemen or landlords, whose estates are heavily mort
gaged, and Avho cannot or will not reduce their rents,
they will receive very little sympathy from the people at
large. These gentlemen complain bitterly of the present
price of wheat, forty shillings and ninepence sterling a
quarter, and impute it to the repeal of the corn laws.
They have probably forgotten that the price, in 1835, Avas
only thirty-six shillings, when the corn laws, enacted
expressly to raise the price of food and land, were in full
operation, and the cry of agricultural distress was heard
from one end of England to the other.
I have already alluded to the specific duties, which you
so much approve ; but, upon that part of your report, in
which you recommend that " the ad valorem duties shall
be levied on the market value in the principal markets of
our country at the time of arrival," I do not design at
present to say a single word. The suggestion is so
"childish," (to borrow a word from the London Times, in
their review of your report,) and, I will add, so utterly
impracticable too, that I incur no risk in asserting that
no committee of Congress will be found to entertain such
a proposition for a moment.
I will here conclude what I had proposed to say upon
the increase of duty, which you have recommended on
iron, by which you will perceive, I trust, that if I would
oppose an increase of duties in general, it is because I
believe such an augmentation would be unjust to the

FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 255
people at large, and, if rightly understood, unfavorable
to the best interests of the manufacturers themselves.
This opinion, if I am not deceived, is daily acquiring
advocates, not only in our halls of legislation, but amongst
the people themselves ; and therefore, whenever the sub
ject of repealing the tariff of 1846 shall come before Con
gress, I shall confidently expect to see the project rejected
by a large and decisive vote. The country, it seems to
me, is ready for the question now ; nor will the friends
of free trade and of a liberal commercial system shrink
from the trial, let it come when it may.
I remain, very respectfully,
Your most obedient servant, S. D. BRADFORD.
To the Hon. William M. Meredith,
Secretary of the Treasury, Washington, D. C.

West Roxbury, (near Boston,)
February 6th, 1850.
Sir, — In several former communications, I have taken
occasion to address you upon the subject of iron ; and if I
have felt constrained to expresss my sentiments freely
upon the increase of duty, which you have thought it
expedient to recommend upon that article, the addition,
you would have imposed upon coal may be considered
perhaps even more surprising and objectionable.
The remarks heretofore made upon the former, as an
essential necessary of life, of almost universal use, and vast
consumption, apply perhaps with still greater force to the
latter. The history of the coal trade is of too recent date, and
too familiar to almost every one, to require more than a
passing notice. Anthracite coal was first used in this

256 WORKS OF S. D BRADFORD.
country upon tide-Avater in 1820, and the total quantity
dug from the mines and sent to market in that year
amounted to only three hundred and sixty-five tons. For
a long time, the difficulty of kindling it prevented its
coming into general use. After, however, this obstacle
had been overcome, the consumption increased at a rapid
pace for several years. In 1821, it nearly trebled, having
reached. one thousand and seventy-three tons. In 1822,
the quantity received in Philadelphia from the various
mines in Pennsylvania amounted to two thousand two
hundred and forty tons ; and it went on increasing from
year to year at a rate never probably conceived of in any
other country, until, in 1846, the last year of the tariff of
1842, (under which the duty on imported coal was one
dollar and seventy-five cents a ton,) it amounted to two
million, seventy-seven thousand, two hundred and eighty
tons. In 1847, the first year of Mr. Walker's tariff, which
reduced the duty from one dollar and seventy-five cents
a ton, to thirty per cent, ad valorem, (equal to an average
of about sixty cents a ton upon the several costs and
qualities imported,) the quantity received from the mines
at Philadelphia reached the unprecedented amount of
two million, six hundred and fifteen thousand, six hun
dred and thirty tons, and in 1848 it Avas still larger. So
immense had the trade become, that in 1846 the total
number of clearances from the port of Philadelphia of
vessels or boats loaded with anthracite coal, amounted to
eight thousand nine hundred and fifty-three, carrying one
million, sixty-five thousand, two hundred and twenty-
eight tons ; in addition to the quantity shipped in boats
from the Lehigh mines. The article has come into exten
sive use for domestic purposes, for producing steam in
manufactories, for propelling steamboats and railway
locomotives, and since 1840 for the manufacture of iron.

FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 257
One company alone in Philadelphia, the Reading Rail
road, has already expended the vast sum of sixteen mil
lions of dollars, in conveying part of the above mentioned
quantity from the mines in the interior of Pennsylvania
to tide-water, at or near Philadelphia.
Having glanced thus at the origin and rapid increase
of the coal trade in Pennsylvania, I proceed to inquire
what may be the foreign competition, with which it has
to contend, of which such severe complaints are made by
the protectionists. On reference to official documents, I
find the rivalry to be with Great Britain and Nova Scotia,
and that the total amount of coal imported amounted in
1842 to
1843 "
1844 "
1845 "
1846 "

making the average annual importation, for the term of
five consecutive years, one hundred and two thousand,
three hundred and seventy-three tons, equal to less than
one-fifth of the increase of Pennsylvania coal in a single
year from 1846 to 1847, and amounting to about the
quantity brought from the interior to Philadelphia in a
single month by the Reading Railway. The above state
ments are given principally upon the authority of the
pamphlet before mentioned, by C. G. Childs, editor. The
quantity imported during the year ending the 30th June,
1849, is understood to have been one hundred and ninety-
eight thousand two hundred and thirteen tons, and the
present year will probably show an increase upon even
this amount.
The truth is, there is an increase since 1846, in the im
portation of almost every article, which conduces to the
comfort and well-being of the community, as well as an
33

141,526

tons,

41,163

a

87,073

.(

85,771

(<

156,853

a

611,860

u

258 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
increase in the exports of our surplus products ; which the
advocates of free trade predicted would take place from
the beginning. The effects produced by our present lib
eral tariff, are being more and more developed daily, and
are visible in the unexampled prosperity of the country in
all its diversified pursuits. The people were never before
so abundantly fed, so comfortably clad, nor so well em
ployed, at good wages too.
Who can have forgotten, soon after the passage of Mr.
Clay's impolitic and prohibitory tariff of 1828, the pros
trate condition of our foreign commerce, the numerous '
bankruptcies amongst the manufacturers, for whose special
benefit it had been made, and the general derangement of
commercial affairs ? Our numerous shipyards were
deserted, and the operatives without employment. Our
exports of domestic produce from 1828 to 1832, the year
of the compromise, averaged only fifty-eight million, forty-
nine thousand, two hundred and eighty-one dollars per
annum. The average, from 1832 to 1837, under the
reduced duties of the compromise act, was ninety-one mil
lion, tAvo thousand, four hundred and seven dollars.
What a change do we witness now ! A short time since
a statement was made of the number of vessels which had
been built in New York, and launched, or were then upon
the stocks in 1849, and they consisted of eight steamships,
eighteen steamboats, twenty-five ships, three barks, four
schooners, six ferryboats, and three sloops, say sixty-seven
vessels, having a tonnage of sixty-three thousand, six hun
dred and seventy-five tons. In Massachusetts, and espec
ially in Maine also, the shipbuilders, it is believed, were
never so full of orders. In the small village of Medford,
five miles from Boston, containing, in 1840, only two thou
sand, four hundred and seventy-eight inhabitants, there
were built and launched last year, twenty-one vessels,
most of them large ships, of admirable workmanship and

FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 259
beauty of proportion, having a tonnage of thirteen thou
sand, two hundred and fifty tons. In the district of Bath,
in Maine, there were also built in 1849, forty-four vessels,
and the tonnage was tAventy-two thousand, two hundred
and sixty-three tons. So certain is it that a nation has
only to establish wise and liberal regulations amongst its
own people and with foreign nations, and navigation and
commerce are sure to flourish there. The greater freedom
they have the better, and above all, let the custom house
regulations be simple, uniform, and changed as seldom as
possible. " Le commerce',' says a celebrated French author,
" est comme certaines sources ; si vous voulez detourner leur cours,
vous les fades tarir."
In watching the wonderful progress of our country
since 1837, every candid observer must have perceived, I
think, that the two great measures, to which we owe not
only our prosperity but our stability also, are the tariff of
1846, and the sub-treasury act. For the first we are
indebted to the clear judgment and unwearied persever
ance of Mr. Walker, never forgetting the patriotic and
intrepid conduct of the vice president, Mr. Dallas, in giving
the casting vote ; and for the latter to the wisdom and
patriotism of Mr. Van Buren. Let our gratitude be in
proportion to the value of the benefits conferred.
But let us inquire in what respects the owners of coal
mines in Newcastle, England, or Nova Scotia, have any
particular advantages over those of Pennsylvania, that the
latter should be deemed entitled to any special protection
by government. The invoices and documents before me,
are not of a character to authorize any such addition of
duty as probably wdl be asked for, nor indeed any increase
at all. The cost price of a ton of Newcastle coal, landed
at Boston, New York, or Philadelphia, is about seven dol
lars and thirty cents, and of Sydney, four dollars to four
dollars and twenty-five cents. This supposes the shipment

260 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
to be made at the most favorable season of the year, and
at a reasonable rate of freight.
The cost of anthracite in the above named cities is about
four dollars and seventy-five cents to five dollars ; four
dollars and fifty cents to four dollars and seventy-five
cents ; and two dollars and seventy-five cents to three dol
lars and thirty cents ; by which it will be seen that the
Newcastle costs the consumers nearly double the price of
the domestic article, and that the price of Nova Scotia
coal is nearly the same as that of anthracite. Why, under
these circumstances, should more duty be asked for, except
to give the coal-owners in Pennsylvania a monopoly, and
thus enable them to compel the consumers to pay them
an enhanced rate ?
Thus far, my remarks have related principally to anthra
cite coal found in Pennsylvania ; but mines of bituminous
have been discovered in Cumberland, in the state of Mary
land, and are now coming into use, especially on board
steamers engaged in long voyages, where the best article
is required, and it is said to be superior for that purpose to
any found even in South Wales. The owners, it is alleged,
offer now to deliver it at Boston or New York, at six dol
lars and twenty-five cents per ton ; and, next year, when a
certain canal is finished, expect to deliver it at five dollars a
ton. As coal wanted for similar purposes cannot be imported
from South Wales, for less than six dollars to six dollars
and twenty-five cents the ton, why should the duty on
foreign coal be increased ?
The statement, which has sometimes been made, that
the present duty is only about forty-five cents a ton, would
appear to be incorrect. The custom house returns show
it to be about sixty cents on the whole average annual
quantity imported. It is very evident that the coal busi
ness in Pennsylvania, is progressing Avith a speed never
before equalled, and it would no doubt be greater still if

FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION. 261
capital could be had to multiply the means of transporta
tion from the mines to tide-Avater. The city of Boston is
said to have lent some millions of dollars to promote this
object. London, NeAV York, and other cities, have done
their part ; but yet capital is said to be wanted. The con
sumption of coal in Great Britain was estimated, in 1840,
at fifteen millions of tons ; but the increase since must
have been vast, and almost beyond belief.
But what further aggravates the unreasonableness of
demanding a high protective or prohibitory duty upon
foreign coal, is that it is a different article from the anthra
cite, is used for purposes for which the latter would not be
equally fit, and that to prevent its importation would be,
for the present, at any rate, to deprive the country of the
privUege of using it. Should the owners of the Cumber
land mines be ever able to supply the demand, and the
quality prove as good as is anticipated, as the price is so
low, the coal of Great Britain or Nova Scotia may soon
cease to be wanted ; but let us not, in the mean time, be
left to the tender mercies of the owners of the mines in
Pennsylvania. Besides, to some persons, the use of anthracite coal is
exceedingly unpleasant, if not intolerable ; and why should
they be deprived of the bituminous, or have to purchase
it at a price unnecessarily increased by the interference of
government, not for the sake of an increased revenue, but
to enhance the profits of certain owners of mines in Penn
sylvania ? Such a proposal should receive no countenance
in the national legislature; and should the attempt be
made by interested parties to induce congress to increase
the duty on this essential article, I trust it will be rejected
with a unanimity and promptitude, which will prevent any
future enterprise of the same kind.
There are other recommendations in your report, of
which it would be easy to show the inexpediency or entire

262 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
impracticability, as must be obvious to every experienced
merchant. It does not, however, seem advisable to discuss
their merits or demerits at the present time, when there
appears no reason to suppose that any committee can be
found in congress to recommend any material changes in
a tariff, (much less its repeal,) which has so approved itself
to the great majority of the people, and so admirably
answered the purposes of those who framed it, and caused
it to be adopted. In conclusion, then, it only remains for
me to add once more that
I remain, very respectfully,
Your most obedient servant,
S. D. BRADFORD.
To the Hon. William M. Meredith,
Secretary of the Treasury, Washington, D. C.

THE LATE CAPTAIN BURSLEY.
Lost at sea, off the coast of Ireland, on the 13th of Jan
uary last, Ira Bursle}-, master ofthe New York packet ship
Hottinguer. The account of the wreck of the Hottinguer, and the
circumstances under which the life of her heroic com
mander was sacrificed to his zealous desire to discharge his
duty, have been already given in the pubhc journals, and
need not be repeated here ; but justice and gratitude both
demand that when such a person is numbered among the
dead, the event should be suitably noticed, and some men
tion be made of the many uncommon and estimable qual
ities which distinguished him. The announcement of his
loss will have caused many a heart to ache, and many a
tear to fall amongst a very numerous circle of acquaint
ances and friends, beside those who were connected with
him by the ties of relationship. He belonged to a class of
men, who, for nautical skill, intrepid courage in the hour
of danger, and gentlemanly conduct always, have never
been surpassed, and of which America may justly be proud.
Their superiority has been universally admitted, and has
called forth the admiration and encomiums of travellers
from every clime.
Since the introduction of steamers, which have now in
a great measure monopolized the passengers who once
depended upon our packet ships, less is heard of these
American shipmasters ; but all who used to cross the Atlan
tic before the steamers had commenced their career, can
never forget how much they owe to them during a ser-

264 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
vice of more than twenty years. Those can best appre
ciate these advantages and privileges, who have been so
unfortunate as to have had occasion to make voyages under
a foreign flag.
Captain Bursley was a native of Barnstable, Cape Cod,
a section of our state to which we are indebted not only
for so many of our enterprising and excellent shipmasters,
but also for some of our most distinguished and wealthiest
merchants. He came to Boston at a very tender age,
absolutely without any pecuniary means, but he brought
with him Avhat is incomparably more valuable, a character
for industry, sobriety, and good conduct, and immediately
entered upon that career, for which probably the place of
his nativity upon the seashore had given him a preference,
under the care and guidance of one of our most skilful
navigators, as well as most successful merchants, Daniel
C. Bacon, Esq.
He rose rapidly in his profession, and became master of
a vessel at an unusually early age. At a later date, he
commanded, for several years, one of the ships which
belonged to the Liverpool and Boston line of packets, and
never can the writer forget his departure one day during
that period from the end of the Long wharf in the packet
ship Dover, for Liverpool. The wind being perfectly fair,
and the heavens bright and clear in the month of October,
that graceful vessel started upon her voyage with an unu
sual speed, and bounded over the Avaves like spme beautiful
bird winging its way over the waters. Captain Bursley
had taken his station far aft in the vessel, upon the part
called the hurricane house. He was in the prime of life,
full of health and vigor, and so majestic appeared his
noble figure, more like that of the Apollo of the Vatican
than of any one else, that it seemed impossible to with
draw one's eyes from him, and the writer stood gazing
and watching him sailing over the sea, until distance con-

CHARACTER OF CAPTAIN BURSLEY. 265
cealed him from his view. It Avas not Apollo, however,
as he is sometimes described, the mere representation of
personal beauty, but Apollo, as he is portrayed in the
classics, having just defeated the giant Tityus, or slain the
serpent Python. The writer has been affected in a sim
Uar manner whilst standing before some of the chef
d'ceuvres of Grecian art in Rome or Florence ; but never
before by looking upon any living man.
The soul, the spirit within, was worthy of the form
which contained it. No dangers could appal him ; no
difficulty cause him to hesitate or falter. He had a sound
judgment, and never decided rashly ; but, when he had
marked out his course, no obstacle could turn him aside.
Had he belonged to the navy, and, in some engagement
with the foe, received a mortal wound, his last words would
have been those of the immortal Lawrence, "Don't give
up the ship ! " Had he belonged to the army, and been
left behind, as Marshal Ney was by Napoleon, in the
retreat from Moscow, in a hostile country, surrounded by
a victorious army, with thousands of his own soldiers
daily falling victims to famine and cold, he would never
have abandoned his flag, or his companions in arms, but
would have reached Smolensk with that part of his divis
ion, which had survived the sufferings of that dreadful
march, as did the great marshal ; of whom history relates
that, "when at two leagues distance, Napoleon heard that
Ney was coming, he leaped for joy, shouted aloud, and
exclaimed, ' I have saved my eagles, then. I would have
given three hundred millions of my treasure to save the-
life of such a man.' "
The same historian, the Count Segur, his companion in
arms, in speaking of Marshal Ney, adds, " that so simple-
and unpretending was he in his disposition and manners,.
that, had it not been for the signs of astonishment and
admiration which he could not help observing in the eyes,
34

266 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
the gestures, and the acclamations of his companions in
glory, he would have remained unconscious of his having
performed a sublime action."
No words could better describe the modest, unaffected
manners of him whose loss is so deeply deplored, and who
has been so suddenly taken away.
Much as he valued his home, (and few men had more
reason to love their homes,) and dear to him as were the
relations of Avife and children, in the hour of danger he
seemed only to think of what he owed to his character as
a commander, to his passengers and crew, the owners of
the vessel and cargo, and the underwriters. Who can
have forgotten his noble conduct during the great gale in
Liverpool, on the 7th January, 1839, when the English
coast, for miles below that town, was strewed with wrecks,
and three New York packets were stranded ; the wind
raging furiously, his noble ship, the Cambridge, swinging
to and fro, having already dragged her anchors, and being
only within a few feet of the granite dock walls, (against
which it Avas expected every moment she would strike
and go to pieces,) he hoisted a placard upon the stern of
his vessel, on which were inscribed, in large characters,
these words :
" One thousand pounds for any one who will bring me
a steamer to take my ship into the stream."
Three brave feUows procured a rope, dashed into a
boat, and attempted to carry it on board, but Avere imme
diately overwhelmed in the boiling surge, and drowned.
The escape was a narrow one; but the ship was saved
with a cargo valued at three hundred thousand dollars ;
and the brave captain arrived safe at New York to carry
out the first news of the gale, and ofthe loss of that excel
lent man, Captain Smith, (who commanded one of those
packets already named, and who lost his life in attempting
to save her;) and to receive the congratulations of his friends

CHARACTER OF CAPTAIN BURSLEY. 267
and the thanks of the underwriters. No doubt he looked
for a similar result upon the recent emergency, Avhich has
proved so fatal to his hopes.
It would seem that his judgment and skill were equal
to his heroism and intrepidity ; for Avhen the tide arose
the vessel floated from off the BlackAvater bank, on
which she first struck, and would perhaps have been
saved, had not she struck a second time upon the Arklow
bank, upon which she foundered. It must be remembered
that he had sent his passengers and half of his creAV ashore
the day before, and therefore had only a part of his men
on board. Probably the rudder had become deranged,
so that the ship would not steer. The writer was on
board his ship, the Hottinguer, during a tempest by night,
when "the waters of the great deep seemed to be break
ing up," the waves roaring like some famished wild beast
impatient for its prey ; the thunder rolling, the lightning
flashing, and he stood gazing upon the fearless commander
with wonder and admiration, as he passed with rapid step
from one part of the vessel to another, giving a word of
command here, and another of encouragement there,
whilst all around him were momently expecting ship
wreck, and he himself was as calm and composed as upon
some quiet Sabbath morning in the country in the sea
son of summer. In seasons of great danger, like that
now described, he seemed more like some Grecian or
Roman Deity, Jupiter or Neptune, than a man. Many
other instances might be mentioned of his presence of
mind and fearless conduct.
In all his dealings with others he was systematic, exact,
prompt, and honorable ; as a shipmaster and navigator, he
may have had equals, but, it is believed, no superior.
It is not remembered that during the more than thirty
years he was a master he ever lost a ship, or met with

268 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
any serious disaster previous to that which terminated
his life.
To admit that such a man had faults, would be only to
say that he was human. The writer would be amongst
the last to admit the validity of the maxim which directs
us to say " nihil nisi honuni demortuis;" but it may be
asserted Avith the strictest truth, that not many instances
can be found of men, who had fewer failings or so many
amiable traits of character; and it was these qualities
which rendered him such a valued and agreeable compan
ion whilst living, and will preserve his memory fresh and
green in the hearts of his relatives and friends, now that
he is no more with them.
It is not denied that he sometimes gave way to sudden
bursts of passion, and this might have been expected ; for
there is a beautiful harmony, consistency, and proportion
in the works of nature, and men endowed with rare
talents and uncommon physical power, have often pas
sions graduated by the same scale.
But whenever he yielded to feelings of this nature,
reason almost instantly resumed its empire, and he lost
no time in making a full and generous reparation. He
has been known, in a moment of excitement, on account
of some omission or mistake committed, by one of his
crew, to strike him, and, immediately after, taking from his
pocket a considerable sum of money, hand it to him,
make an apology, and desire him to think no more of it.
He said to the writer one day, " I know I sometimes give
way to my temper, but I never harbor any bad feelings
towards any one a moment afterwards. I strive very
hard to correct this fault. I have many blessings, and
have been a successful man, and I endeavor to be a good
citizen, a good neighbor, and to contribute my share to
supply the wants of those who have need of my assistance."

CHARACTER OF CAPTALN BURSLEY. 269
It would be easy to mention many instances in confirma
tion of the sincerity and truth of this declaration, but
here let this imperfect account of him be concluded.
He has gone from us, no more to be seen by mortal
eyes. His pleasant and encouraging voice will no more
be heard. His requiem wUl be chanted only by the
surges of the broad Atlantic. His body, if not recovered,
is under or upon the sea, his favorite element ; but his
soul has gone to God, who gave it. s. D. B.

SPEECH AT DEDHAM.
West Boxbury, (near Boston,)
October 1st, 1850.
Dear Sir, — In the report of the fair and cattle-show at
Dedham, on the 25th ultimo, which was published in your
paper on the 27th of September, it is stated that "S. D.
Bradford, Esq., of Roxbury, quietly worked in some free
trade philosophy as an antidote to some strong tariff sug
gestions, which had fallen from some of the speakers who
had preceded him."
From this some persons, I regret to say, have drawn an
inference that I made an unjustifiable use of an occasion
devoted exclusively to the subject of agriculture, to intro
duce certain opinions of my own, upon free trade, which
are supposed not to accord with the general sentiments
ofthe people of Norfolk county. I should have considered
it most impolitic and improper, upon such an occasion, to
have entered upon the discussion of politics, free trade,
protection, or any other subject upon which the public are
much divided ; and that I avoided falling into that error
will, I am sure, be evident to any one who takes sufficient
interest in the subject to read the speech I delivered, of
which I now send you a corrected copy, having, however,
added a few paragraphs which were omitted in the deliv
ery, for want of time. Should you find room for it in the
columns of the Post, it will confer a favor on,
Dear sir, your friend, and
Most obedient servant,
S. D. BRADFORD.
Charles G. Green, Esq.,
Editor Boston Post.

IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE. 271

REMARKS OF S. D. BRADFORD,
AT THE CATTLE-SHOW, AXD FAIR OF THE NORFOLK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY,
AT DEDHAM, SEPTEMBER 25TH, 1850.
Being called upon by the president, the Hon. MarshaU
P. Wilder, Mr. Bradford rose and said :
Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen, — In rising to
answer the call Avhich has been made upon me by our
worthy president, and to return thanks for the honor con
ferred, I have not the vanity to suppose that I shall be
able to offer any suggestions which may have the charm
of novelty, or prove of beneficial consequence to the inter
ests of this society. I see around me a large number of
farmers belonging not only to this, but to other counties
in the state, and some also from other states of our Union,
distinguished not only for a knowledge of the theory, but
the practice also of agriculture ; and should I attempt to
lay down any new rules, or prescribe any new methods
for the management of their farms, I feel confident I
should soon discover upon their countenances a certain
smile, such as I have sometimes seen upon those of some
experienced tars at sea, when some unfortunate novice has
essayed for the first time to go aloft. As I do not wish to
have my feet tied, I will get to the land as fast as possible.
My course of life, as all who know me are aware, has been
for the most part through a path very remote from that
of agriculture. It is true that during my wanderings and
travels through nearly every country of Europe, for a
period of time almost equal to a third of my life, my
attention has often been called to that subject. It could
not be otherwise. The first exclamation a stranger makes
in passing through the cultivated fields of England, of parts
of Scotland, Italy, Holland, or Belgium, is, what wonders

272 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
have been effected by agriculture in those countries!
What a garden the labor and skill of man have made of
soils once considered worthless or indomitable ! Even in
Russia, the traveller may find at Tsarskoe-Selo, near St.
Petersburg, lawns, which for smoothness will compare with
those of England ; gardens filled with the choicest fruits
and flowers, and a collection of farm animals selected from
the best breeds of Europe. No person can have visited, I
think, the model farm and school of Fellenberg, at Hof-
wyl, near Bern, in Switzerland, in sight of the Alps, push
ing their summits almost to heaven, covered with eternal
ice and snow, without being filled with admiration at what
agriculture has achieved, not only there, but through a
great part of the whole canton of Bern, under a most in
hospitable climate. There not only
" Winter lingers in the lap of May,"
but the inhabitants have only three or four months, in
which to prepare and plant their lands, and to reap the
harvests. I retain a pleasant recollection of these and
other places ; but the estate which has left the deepest
and most lasting impression upon my mind is that of the
late Thomas William Coke, of Holkham, county of Nor
folk, England, with whom I had the privilege of passing
some days in 1835, being indebted, for his acquaintance,
to a letter of introduction from the late General Jackson,
at that time President of the United States.
As the life of that great and remarkable man is con
nected, not only with the history of agriculture, but with
that also of my country, and, as I do not remember to
have seen any book containing an account of what he did
for America in its colonial state, I will, with your per
mission, recount some particulars, not only of the estate,
but also of the life of this, the greatest agriculturalist
which England has produced.

IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE. 278
His estate consisted of forty thousand acres, all in a con
dition of the highest and most perfect cultivation. He
retained for his own use about seventeen hundred acres,
and leased the remainder, on a term of twenty-one years,
to his tenants, some of whom had acquired fortunes of
forty to sixty thousand pounds sterling, kept packs of
fox-hounds, and enjoyed not only the necessaries, but the
luxuries of life. He had four hundred head of cattle, aU
ofthe North Devon breed, which he preferred to all oth
ers ; four thousand sheep, and sixty working horses. At
the time I speak of, he had four hundred acres devoted
to the production of turnips, and seventy-five to that of
mangel-wurtzel. The game killed annually upon the
estate, consisting of pheasants, partridges, woodcocks,
snipes, hares, and rabbits, amounted to forty thousand in
number. He had a chaplain who, in addition to his usual
official duties, kept an exact account of all the game
kUled upon the estate during the sporting season.
The damage done annually to the crops by the rabbits
was estimated at five thousand pounds sterling. The
usual course of his crops was, first turnips, next bar
ley, thirdly clover, and fourthly wheat ; and the produc
tion of the latter was generally equal to sixty bushels to
the acre; although when he first took possession of the
estate, rye was almost the only crop attempted, and his
neighbors told him the land was too poor to grow
wheat. The usual rent he obtained was at the rate or
twenty-five shillings sterling, equal to about six dollars 01
our money, per acre. He had a magnificent park, of ten
miles in circumference, containing three thousand five
hundred acres; the choicest of the trees having been
planted by his own hand. His income was estimated at
sixty to seventy thousand pounds sterling per annum.
At the date of my visit, he was in his eighty-second
35

274 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
year. By his first wife, whom he married in 1775, he had
three daughters, but no son. He married secondly, in
1822, Lady Anne Amelia Keppel, daughter of his partic
ular friend, the late Earl of Albemarle, the bride being in
her nineteenth, and the bridegroom in his sixty-ninth
year; a difference of just half a century. By her, he
had five sons and a daughter. The youngest child was
only a few days old at the date of my visit. His oldest
son is now a member of the house of lords, and his second
a member of the house of commons. Both are gentle
men of great worth of character, and do honor to the
family from which they descended. Lady Anne was dis
tinguished for her various accomplishments, — for beauty,
but above all for domestic virtues. She, as well as Mr.
Coke, was almost adored by the tenants, whom she always
visited in times of sickness, and administered to their
wants. Their children were educated in the vicinity, at
schools under her particular care and inspection.
Mr. Coke was over fifty years a member of parliament,
took a deep interest in the contest between the mother
country and the colonies, and, because he favored the
latter, was called for many years the American rebel. It
was this intrepid and independent farmer who had the
courage, first of all, to rise in parliament and offer the
celebrated resolution, that, "The American colonies, now
the United States of America, are and ought to be declared
free and independent." He did this in concert with
another friend of America, Charles James Fox, who prom
ised to second the motion, and to advocate it by a speech.
It was adopted by only one vote. Those who are famU-
iar with English history at that period, may easily imagine
what a sensation the passage of such a resolution must
have produced. It required some intrepidity in those
days to be a patriot and politician, and oppose the king

IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE. 275
and his ministers. An active opponent of the govern
ment was in danger of being sent to the tower and tried
for treason, a crime very imperfectly defined at that epoch.
The king, George III., had said that he would insult
publicly, any member of parliament, who should dare
to bring to the throne an address containing the reso
lution I have named. Mr. Coke, on hearing this, pre
sented it to his majesty clad in the suit of clothes he
was accustomed to wear during a fox-chase, instead of
those in which he usually appeared in parliament, but the
king took good care not to insult him, and received him
with all those marks of respect due to his character and
rank. It was this same independent farmer, also, who first
ventured, in 1782, to offer another celebrated resolution
in the house of commons, viz., " That this house is thor
oughly corrupt, and ought to be reformed." It was made
at periods afterwards, for half a century, ineffectually,
however; for the reform bill was finally passed in 1832,
just fifty years, by the records of the house, from the day
on which Mr. Coke first made the motion I have recited !
Many here present may probably remember the commo
tion it produced in England, and that a hundred thousand
men were said to be in readiness, at or near Birmingham,
to have marched upon London, if the house of lords had
rejected it.
Mr. Coke, having now carried his favorite measure for
reforming parliament, retired from public life, and seldom
took an active part in politics afterwards. He had refused
a title from seven prime ministers of England, including
the celebrated Lord North, and declared to me, in 1835,
his determination never to be ennobled. In 1836, how
ever, he received a visit from the Princess Victoria, now
Queen of England ; and the king, William IV., being
unwell at the time, some one remarked at the table one

276 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
day, that the princess would probably be soon called to
ascend the throne ; upon which the princess declared that
whenever that event should occur, the first title she should
confer would be upon her worthy host ; and that, coming
from a lady, he could not and must not refuse it. The
queen was proclaimed on the 20th of June, 1837, and, on
the 12th of August following, the great Norfolk farmer
was ennobled by her majesty, under the name and title
of Earl of Leicester, and Viscount Coke.
Mr. Coke was born on the 6th of May, 1753. Six vil
lages in the vicinity annually celebrated his birth-day, by
dinners and festive games. He died in August, 1843, at
the good old age of ninety. The American Congress was
in session at the time, and I could have wished that they
had adopted measures to express the nation's sense of his
great worth, and its gratitude for what he did for our
country. I regret, however, to say, that in the hurry and
turmoil of politics this sacred duty was omitted ; and but
few Americans, I apprehend, have any adequate knowl
edge of the history of this eminent patriot and unrivalled
farmer, of whom I have attempted to give some particulars
in so imperfect *a manner.
But to speak of persons and things nearer home. The
time was, when the name of a farmer (in this country)
seemed to signify some one who was obliged to labor
daily for his bread. It sometimes also seemed to imply
a want of information or refinement. Farmers were
sometimes called clod-hoppers, although it is difficult
to see how any of us would be able to hop long with
out them. That day has passed away, and agriculture
now numbers amongst its votaries the most accomplished
gentlemen, the profoundest scholars, and the most distin
guished statesmen. The great Washington himself was
a skilful agriculturist, and found time, during the most
critical periods of the revolutionary war, to prepare and

IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE. 277
transmit to his overseer in Virginia weekly directions for
the management of his farm. The distinguished gentle
man Avho recently represented this state in the senate of
the United States, Mr. Webster, has also found time,
amidst his arduous engagements, for the pursuit of agri
culture ; and if Ave may credit only a part of the accounts
which every now and then find their way into the public
journals respecting his farm at Marshfield, it will sustain
a comparison, in point of cultivation, with the estates of
some of the great landed proprietors in England. He
told you himself, in this town last year, that " he had tur
nips there which he was willing to compare with any
farmer in Yorkshire." He urged, you may remember,
the importance of cultivating this root, and added that
without it Great Britain would be unable to feed her
sixty or seventy millions of sheep and her fat cattle, or to
pay the interest on the national debt.
I have mentioned already that the late Mr. Coke
devoted four hundred and seventy-five acres to the cul
ture of this root and mangel-wurtzel, which seems to con
firm the opinion expressed by Mr. Webster. A single
acre of land in Ayrshire, in Scotland, has been made to
produce sixty tons of turnips, without the tops. The
land always remembers a kindness done it, and if wed
fed, will feed us in return. "It is never" — as a politician
once said to me, (who had been recently deserted by his
friends and lost his election,) as we were inspecting a
field of his which had been highly manured and was
covered with an abundant crop, — "the land is never
ungrateful." We are all accustomed to hear of the vast exports of
Great Britain — the country upon which the sun is said
never to set. They amounted, during her former restric
tive system, to fifty-five millions of pounds sterling, equal
to two hundred and seventy-five millions of dollars. Since

278 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
the repeal of the corn laws and the changes made in the
English tariff by that great and good man, the late Sir-
Robert Peel, they are eight mUlions of pounds sterling
more. The tears are scarcely dry which England has
shed over the grave of that distinguished statesman,
patriot, and philanthropist. All classes in Great Britain
feel that the country, by his death, has sustained an
irreparable loss-
In my opinion, America, and I will add, the whole
world, has the strongest and most powerful reasons also
to lament his death. I have always considered his life
as the best guarantee we could have for continued peace
and amity between Great Britain and the United States.
One city after another in his native land is taking mea
sures to honor his memory, and the poor and laboring
classes are about to erect a monument to him by subscrip
tions of a penny each. They feel that they have lost
their best friend. On this monument it has been pro
posed to inscribe the concluding words of Sir Robert's
celebrated speech, delivered in 1846, as he was about to
resign the seals of office into the hands of the queen.
They are so beautiful, so modest, and so prophetic, too,
that, with your leave, I will recite them to you. " Recol
lect," as some one has well said, "they were delivered at
the moment of his severest trial, Avhen he was about to
close his official career; after speaking of the ties of
party, which he had severed forever ; of the political
friendships he had converted into bitter enmities ; of the
floodgates of calumny he had let loose upon himself —
after recounting, mournfully, but without repining, the
sacrifices he had made, he turned for sympathy and jus
tice to the mass of the people, and closed with the follow
ing words : "
"It may be that I shall leave a name sometimes
remembered with expressions of good Avill in the abodes

IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE. 279
of those Avhose lot it is to labor, and earn their daily bread
by the sweat of their brow, when they shall recruit their
exhausted strength with abundant and untaxed food, the
sweeter because it is no longer leavened by a sense of
injustice." Well, Mr. President, great as those exports of England are,
amounting last year to sixty-three millions of pounds ster
ling, equal to about three hundred and fifteen millions of
dollars of our currency, I remember that in a speech made
a few years since by a distinguished scholar, who, at that
time, represented this country at the court of St. James, he
stated that the grass crop of Great Britain only, had been
estimated as of greater value than the whole of her foreign
exports ; and he added that he was satisfied with the evi
dence on which this statement had been made. We are
too much accustomed, I fear, to over-estimate the amount
of our foreign imports, and to undervalue that of our
home production. The former varies from one hundred
and twenty-five millions of dollars, to one hundred and fifty
millions of dollars per annum ; whereas, the aggregate
ofthe products of the labor and capital of the United
States amounted, in 1847, according to the report of the
patent office, to one billion, seven hundred and thirty-
eight million, seven hundred and seventy-nine thousand,
nine hundred and seventy-five dollars.
There is another aspect, Mr. President, in which agri
culture may be considered, in some respects, the most
important of all. I refer to its conservative influence in
sustaining civil governments. Deprived of this I am con
vinced that no government could long subsist in any
country. Look at the revolutions which have taken place
in France since 1793, and have crimsoned the fields of
that fine country with blood ! Where did they originate,
and where were they all concocted ? In the country,
amongst the farmers, or in the cul-de-sacs — the crowded

280 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
courts, and the loathsome cellars of Paris? This has
become so evident now that I will venture the opinion
that no government, republic or monarchy, can be estab
lished in France, which shall have any considerable dura
tion until the seat of the government is removed from its
present position. The prophetic wisdom of the founders
of our republic foresaw this difficulty, as may be ascer
tained by a perusal of the debates in convention, and on
that account they resolved to erect the capitol not at
Philadelphia or Baltimore, but at Washington, in an
agricultural district.
The oldest republic in the Avorld is that of San Marino,
near the Adriatic, in Italy, surrounded by despotism and
oppression. It dates from the fourth century. It has
maintained its liberty, laws, and territory, for thirteen
hundred years. It was respected by Napoleon in the
height of his power ; and he received a deputation from it
at Milan with the most distinguished honors. It is said
to be almost without criminals or poor-rates. There has
not been an execution there for a hundred and fifty years.
I remember having visited it in 1837, and after inspect
ing its public buildings, to have called at the house of the
jailer to inquire how many prisoners there were under his
care. The door was opened by an interesting young
woman, who, holding the keys in her hand, stated that
the prison was at present without an occupant. She
added that the doors of the cells were all open, and I
could inspect them for my own satisfaction, should it be
my wish to do so. This republic consists wholly of
agriculturalists. I need not tell you how conducive agriculture is to
health and vigor of body, and peace and tranquillity of
mind. It is also most favorable to the growth of the
domestic virtues. No one, I think, can have owned a
farm, especially if it happen to have been that upon

IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE. 281
which he Avas born, and where his parents have always
resided, without having felt that there was one spot on
earth Avhich claimed his attachment, and which he could
call by the endearing name of home. Such an one is
always prepared to exclaim, with the Latin poet :
" O Melibcee, Deus nobis hfec otia fecit."
He can truly realize not only the poetry, but the truth
also, of those beautiful lines of the great English poet :
" 'Tis sweet to hear the watch-dog's honest bark,
Bay deep-mouthed welcome as we draw near home;
'Tis sweet to know there is an eye will mark
Our coming, and look brighter when we come ;
'T is sweet to be awakened by the lark,
Or lull'd by falling waters ; sweet the hum
Of bees, the voice of girls, the song of birds,
The lisp of children, and their earliest words."
Ladies and gentlemen, I wUl not detain you longer.
I thank you sincerely for the great attention with which
you have listened to me. I congratulate you upon the
success which has attended this society thus far, and I see
no reason to doubt that its future career will realize the
most sanguine expectations of its patrons and friends.
I give you in conclusion — Prosperity and success to
the Norfolk Agricultural Society.

DECLENSION OE OFFICE.

[We are very sorry to announce that Samuel D. Bradford, Esq., declines being a
candidate for congress in the eighth district. His letter to this effect will be found
below. It was sent to the committee appointed to inform him of his nomination
on the day of its date ; but its publication has been delayed until now, in hopes
that he might be induced to withdraw it. Notwithstanding, however, pressing
solicitations to allow his name to be presented for the suffrages of his fellow citi
zens, he feels compelled to adhere to his first resolution. Mr. Bradford is so admi
rably qualified for the position which his friends desire to see him occupy, by
education, talents, experience, integrity, and general popularity, that it is truly a
misfortune to the cause of liberal principles and enlightened legislation, that cir
cumstances compel him to decline the prominent attitude a large portion of the
freemen of his district are anxious he should fill. — Boston Post.]
West Koxbury, (near Boston,)
October 16th, 1850.
Gentlemen, — I have had the honor to receive your com
munication, dated the 11th instant, informing me that I
have been nominated by the convention assembled at
Dedham on the 8th of October, as a candidate to repre
sent the eighth district in the Congress of the United
States. My grateful acknowledgments are due to the gentle
men of the convention, for this unexpected testimonial of
their confidence and favor, which I shall never cease
duly to appreciate and value most highly ; and the first
impulse of my heart would be to make almost any per
sonal sacrifice to comply with their wishes. I know it is
sometimes said that the honor of having a place in the
national councils is not now what it once was, and that it
has ceased to be the object of a worthy ambition'. This

DECLENSION OF OFFICE. 283
opinion has no doubt some advocates, and, if it be founded
in truth, it furnishes the strongest reason why every true
patriot should take the front rank in our popular elec
tions, and do all in his power to restore the former high
character of our national legislature. Let it be granted
that we have Avitnessed of late less moderation of lan
guage, or dignity and propriety of manners, than prevailed
there formerly, and yet it ought, I think, to be consid
ered a distinction Avhich any citizen, however elevated,
may justly prize, to have a seat in those halls of legisla
tion which have been dignified by the presence of the
most eminent patriots and statesmen, who have illustrated
and adorned the annals of our country. When, therefore,
I announce to you my intention to decline the nomina
tion so kindly offered, it is not because I do not value the
honor you would confer upon me, nor because I do not
feel grateful for the preference you have given me ;
especiaUy when it is remembered that so much of my life
has been passed abroad ; that, since my return, I have had
the pleasure of making the acquaintance of but a very
limited number of the electors ; and have never, upon any
occasion, taken a part in a political meeting of any kind.
Do not infer from this, that I have been indifferent to
the success or progress of those noble principles of Ub
erty which, first proclaimed by Hampden and Sidney in
England, and afterwards by Franklin, Jefferson, and other
Ulustrious patriots in this country, constitute the political.
creed of the great Democratic party. What American but
must have been proud of the triumphs achieved by it
since 1801 ?
To whom, but the anti-federalists, are we indebted for
the acquisition of Louisiana and Florida; the demolition
of that political monster, the United States Bank ; the
introduction and successful working of the sub-treasury
system, reforming and improving our currency ; the repeal
of the unjust and unconstitutional bankrupt act ; and the

284 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
passage of the tariff of 1846, not for protection, but for
revenue, as was contemplated by the constitution of the
United States? What party in any country can justly
claim to have been the authors of so many great and
important measures, all conducing to the prosperity and
happiness of the people ? Nor have the people been
ungrateful ; for, with the exception of four years and a
month, the government of the United States has been in
the hands of this same Democratic party from 1801 to
1849, and, for aught I know, Avould have continued there
till 1949, had it always remained united as formerly.
Surely its principles must be founded in truth and justice,
to have taken such deep root in the American heart, and
to have controlled the action of the government for so
many years. In fact, they control it noAV, for the position
of parties in this country, at present, is unprecedented.
The government is nominally in the hands of the Whigs,
and yet, after a struggle of seven long months, the late
president, with all his personal popularity, (the usual
attendant upon military success,) and his whole cabinet,
were not able to carry a single measure of their own.
Every important act which has been passed since the
decease of Gen. Taylor, has been either a democratic
measure, or the administration has been indebted for its
passage to the favor and cooperation of the Democratic
party. An anomaly of this kind could not have occurred in
England, for, there, the cabinet would have been compelled
to resign their places of emolument and power into other
hands; but the complacency of our constitution permits
to the holder a continuance of office, after the people have
repudiated his measures. It would, however, be surpris
ing if the electors should permit this state of things to be
prolonged for a single day after the time prescribed for its
termination by the constitution and the laws.
Having declined to be a candidate for the suffrages of

DECLENSION OF OFFICE. 285
my felloAV citizens, it might appear presumptuous on my
part, to volunteer any opinion upon the great and delicate
political questions Avhich have recently so agitated the
public mind. I cannot, however, refrain from the expres
sion of the deep regret I feel for the unhappy division,
which one of those questions has, to some extent, produced
in the ranks of our party. It seems to me as unnecessary
as it is unfortunate and impolitic. In England, we have
frequently witnessed the permission of what are called
" open questions," even amongst the members of the same
cabinet, consisting of only a few persons, upon Avhose
united decisions the fate of that great monarchy depends.
Even in the house of commons, members of the same cab
inet are sometimes found voting against one another, and
yet the action of the government is unimpeded and with-
out interruption. Why, then, should not some open ques
tions be permitted amongst those who advocate our
cause, consisting of so many millions of persons, without
preventing their harmonious action upon the great and
leading questions, concerning which they all agree ? With
out union and harmony, nothing valuable can be accom
plished. " United Ave stand ; divided we fall." There are
good men and bad men belonging to every party ; and
whilst all classes reprobate the political agitator, Avho vio
lently denounces such as differ from him for the sake of
acquiring an unenviable political notoriety, or the emolu
ments of office, ought we not at the same time to exer
cise a Christian charity towards those who honestly enter
tain opinions upon some collateral subjects different from
our own ? It is this union of action only which will
restore to our ancient county of Norfolk the high position
it once occupied, and which was the subject of so much
pride to every patriot living within its borders. To men
tion only one instance. Its former representative in Con
gress, the late Ebenezer Seaver, of Roxbury, heedless of
the floodgates of calumny which he let loose upon him-

286 WORKS OF S. D BRADFORD.
self, had the independence and moral courage, in 1812,
to give his vote in favor of that war which the federalists
opposed with so much violence, but which, every one now
sees, was demanded by every sentiment of patriotism and
duty, and which raised our country to such a high posi
tion amongst the nations ofthe earth.
But to return to the subject of your communication.
In declining, as I now do, the nomination so kindly and
unanimously offered to represent in congress my native
county, to which I am attached by so many and such
strong ties, it is quite unnecessary that I should mention
the various and cogent reasons Avhich have conduced to
this decision. I have always, heretofore, upon every suit
able occasion, declared my preference for continuing to
occupy the place I now hold, that of a private citizen ; and
if any one had announced to me his intention of nominat
ing me previous to the meeting at Dedham, I should have
declined the proposed honor in advance. You have done
me the favor to speak, in your communication, of "my
support of Jeffersonian democratic principles," and I can
assure you, that my devotion to them was never greater
than at the present moment. If I mistake not very much
the signs of the times, they are destined to be soon in the
ascendant again. I shall continue to support and advo
cate them so long as I believe them conducive to the honor,
the integrity, and the happiness of our common country.
Returning to you and those other members of the con
vention whom you represent, my sincere thanks for this
proof of esteem and confidence.
I remain, very respectfully,
Your fellow citizen, and
Most obedient servant,
S. D. BRADFORD.
To Edward Casneau, Esq., President.
W. Gl. Lewis, Esq. )
John Green, Esq. > Secretaries.
Joseph Barney, Esq. )

MEETING AT FANEUIL HALL.
Mr. Chairman and Fellow Citizens, — I hold in my hand
a note from the committee of arrangements of this meet
ing, which I received yesterday, inviting me " to meet
them punctually at four o'clock at Faneuil Hall, and to
make a short address." I have interpreted this to mean
that if it would not exceed fifteen minutes, you would listen
to me, and I will endeavor not to exceed the time men
tioned. In rising to address you upon this important occasion, I
feel oppressed by a sense of the responsibility I have
assumed, and must throw myself entirely upon your can
dor and kindness. After the profound, spirited, and
eloquent addresses to which you have listened, from the
learned and talented gentlemen who have preceded me,
it would be presumptuous on my part to enter upon a
constitutional argument, or to attempt more than a glance
at the interesting subjects which have been discussed. I
am proud to say that I belong to the great Democratic
party, but I have not come here to-day as a Democrat or
a Whig, or as belonging to any party organization what
ever, but as an American citizen, to take part and act in
concert with good and true men, of any and every party,
to sustain the Union, the Constitution and the Laws. I
rejoice to see before me such a large number of my fellow
citizens, who, having left their usual engagements and
pursuits, have come forward and filled this vast hall to

288 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
overflowing. It cannot be any ordinary occasion which
has produced such a gathering as this. It reminds one
of days gone by, when our country being engaged in a
disastrous war with Great Britain, and the ships of the
enemy almost within our harbor, the people were accus
tomed to come up here to take counsel together for the
safety and welfare of the republic. The country, thank
God, is not attacked by any foreign foe. We are at peace
with all the world, so far as our foreign relations are con
cerned ; but unhappily we have an enemy within and in
our very midst, that has destroyed the peace and happi
ness of more nations than foreign war, pestilence, or
famine ; and that is the spirit of disunion and insubordi
nation to the laws.
The country is prosperous beyond all former precedent,
labor is well paid, the people are employed, our commerce
is upon every sea, we have passed the Rocky mountains,
and acquired a vast empire upon the shores of the Pacific.
All Europe is looking upon our progress and growth, our
institutions and laws, with admiration and envy ; and yet,
strange to say, there are persons amongst us, and I regret
to add, American citizens too, who seem to place no value
upon all these blessings, and who are doing all they can
to destroy our glorious Union, to which we are indebted
for all these privileges.
They would enter the temple of Liberty raised by the
hands of our forefathers, after so many years of labor and
sacrifice, throw down the pillars which support it, and
scatter the broken fragments to the winds.
And Avhy, permit me to ask, must the constitution, the
charter of our liberties, the work of Washington, Frank
lin, Adams, Jefferson, and of the other illustrious states
men and sages who formed it, be destroyed ? The answer
is, because according to them it contains an article opposed
to what is called, in the cant of the day, "the higher law,"

DUTY OF OBEDIENCE TO THE LAWS. 289
which forbids, they allege, the restoration, to his master
and owner, of a fugitive slave. We have been living
under this article of the constitution, and under the law
of 1793 made to enforce it, and signed by Washington,
fifty-seven years, and, until vrery recently, have heard of
no complaint against it ; but iioav, all at once, the cry is
raised by some persons, that it is unconstitutional and
must be resisted, even unto blood, and to the dissolution
of the Union. Where, let me inquire, have these fanat
ics, with such tender consciences, been living during all
this long period? Have they, like Rip Van Winkle, been
asleep in the Kaatskill mountains, not twenty, but fifty-
seven years, and have they just awoke on the eve of the
recent elections? I have remarked, on former occasions,
that the qualms of their consciences have been periodical,
as Kean, the actor, once said, the taste for Shakspeare
was in Boston; and that they were always most distress
ing a short time previous to the second Monday in
November. But have they read the fugitive slave bill of the last
session, and compared it with that of 1793 ? If they wiU
do so, they will find it rather a recognition of an old law,
with the addition of certain needful amendments, than a
new one. It was not passed hastily, as some have asserted,
but was discussed in the senate during four long summer
days from the 19th to the 23d August, section by section,
and received the sanction of some of the greatest and best
men in the nation. The yeas and nays were many times
called for, and the latter seldom exceeded eleven, Avhilst
the former were double or treble that number. The oppo
sition to it, in the senate, so far as one can judge by a
report of the speeches, (I do not say it invidiously,) was
feeble and inefficient. The impression left upon the mind
ofthe reader is, that the gentlemen who spoke against it
37

290 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
were acting under a restraint, perhaps imposed by the
legislatures of the states to which they belonged.
" But no individual in the senate," to use the words of
Mr. Clay, " was hardy enough to maintain that a fugitive
slave ought not to be returned to his owner and lawful
master." Should any one be of opinion that parts of the fugitive
slave bill of 1850 are more stringent than that of 1793, he
should remember its enactment would not have been
called for, had the old law been enforced in accordance
with its true spirit, and as Washington, who signed it,
intended it should be. Do you, can you believe, for a
moment, that it would have been sustained by Mr. Clay,
General Cass, Mr. Foote, and by the other distinguished
statesmen in the senate who advocated it, had they
believed it unconstitutional or unjust ? Who does not
know that the law of 1793 has been pronounced consti
tutional by Chief Justice Taney, by Mr. Justice Story,
and by many other profound jurists who might be named;
and, as respects the bill of 1850, Mr. Webster, who long
since was proclaimed the "Defender ofthe Constitution,"
and has now acquired, and justly too, the honorable title
of " Champion of the Union," has not only declared it to
be constitutional, but has also said " that no one, whose
opinion was worth regarding, has pronounced it otherwise."
The same opinion has been given by the distinguished coun
sellor, Mr. Curtis, to whom we have all had the pleasure of
listening this evening, and who, every citizen of Boston
knows, holds the very first place in his profession here. He
must be a bold man who would venture to oppose his indi
vidual opinion to such authority as this. But, then, the
objection is made that, if the fugitive slave bill be consti
tutional, it is, after all, opposed to what is called the "higher
law." This phrase, "higher law," perverted, as it has

DUTY OF OBEDIENCE TO THE LAWS. 291
been by fanatics, is fast becoming a by-word. Its real
meaning is nullification, repudiation, or abolitionism;
and we all know what these words mean. But may
not a law be too high ?
I remember to have seen in a conspicuous place in Flor
ence, in Italy, an elevated column surmounted by a figure
of Justice with the scales ; and I also remember, th*at a
citizen of Florence passing by, and seeing a foreigner
gazing at it, is said to have remarked to him, that " Justice
was so high in Florence, that no one could reach it." The
same charge, I strongly suspect, may be made against " the
higher laAv " of the nullifiers and abolitionists. It is above
justice, for it refuses to return the property of our breth
ren of the south, when found within our precincts. Well !
what then, fellow-citizens, is to be done in this crisis of our
public affairs ? Does any one believe that the south wiU
continue to remain in the Union, unless the fugitive bUl
be carried into effect according to its true spirit ? Can we
expect it ; or should we respect our brethren in the south
were they to remain indifferent spectators of the violation
of the law ? It must, then, be carried into effect ; peace
ably if we can, forcibly if we must ; or the Union will be
dissolved, and the nation will be plunged into all the hor
rors of anarchy, and probably of civU war. Can it be that
we have those amongst us, and American citizens too, who
would raise their parricidal hands against the ul essed Union,
the work of our forefathers, and the foundation of that
noble structure erected upon it, the United States of
America ? It is difficult to realize it, or, at any rate, that
they can be found in Massachusetts, the state which struck
the first blow for liberty and independence in 1775. But
if it be otherwise, and the spirit of disunion and fanati
cism cannot be extinguished in any other way, we all re
member what was done in 1833, by that hero, patriot, and
statesman, President Jackson, during a crisis in some

292 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
respects resembling the present, and how nobly the country
supported him, both Whigs and Democrats. The procla
mation he issued will never be forgotten by Americans,
and will ever hold a high, if not the highest, place in the
archives of the nation. But he was prepared and deter
mined, too, to execute the law by the other means, had
that'appeal proved insufficient. Let the memorable words
which he used then, " The Union; it must be preserved," be
our Avatchword now ; and let us frown indignantly upon
every one, (whatever may be the party name under which
he may range himself,) who would lay his sacrilegious
hands upon the ark of our safety, the union of the states.
Let us no longer inquire so much of candidates for office,
Are you Whigs or Democrats; are you for protection or
free trade ; for a large expenditure of the public money
for internal improvements, or a small one ; but rather let
us put these questions to them : Are you for obeying the
laws of your country, or for breaking them ; are you in
favor of jeopardizing the Union by a further agitation of
the slavery question ; or will you do all you can to give
peace and quiet to this distracted country, of which it
stands so much in need ? Let us support them, or other
wise, according to the answer they may give.
In this way only, may we still preserve our glorious and
once-happy Union, and hand it down with all its blessings
to succeeding generations.

LETTER TO THE LEGISLATURE.
West Roxbury, (near Boston,)
January 7th, 1851.
Gentlemen, — I am not one of your number, and occupy
only the place of a private citizen, and yet I will offer no
apology for addressing you at the present crisis. It is
enough that I am one of the great Democratic party,
whose principles I have always supported, and to whose
conduct of our public affairs, during the various trials
through which it has heretofore been called to pass, I
have looked back with pride and satisfaction. It dates
from the commencement of the government ; has been
the object of unceasing opposition and attack from 1789
to the present day, but has been nearly always in the
ascendant, and has deserved and received the cordial sup
port of the people. I have always hoped and believed
that its future career would fulfil all the bright promises
of the past. Judge, then, of my surprise and dismay on
seeing, in a morning paper to-day, the foUowing announce
ment: " The Negotiations. — The Democrats and Free Soilers held
meetings in the State House fast evening, and mutually ratified the
terms agreed upon by the conferees, viz : giving to the Democrats,
the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, State Treasurer, five Council
lors, and the United States Senator for the short term : giving to
the Free Soilers the Senator for the long term, Secretary of the
Commonwealth, the State Auditor, four Councillors, and the

294 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
Sergent-at-Arms. In the reports, no names of candidates were
mentioned ; but Charles Sumner will certainly be proposed by the
Free Soilers as the candidate for the long term in the Senate."
In other words, we see it here announced that " the Dem
ocratic party is to be abolitionized, and merged into that
of the Free Soilers," and the consideration too " is nomi
nated in the bond," viz., one governor, one lieutenant
governor, one state treasurer, five councillors, and a United
States senator for the short term !
These are the gilded baubles which the Free Soilers are
holding up before your eyes to seduce you from your alle
giance, crying out, " Come buy, come buy." They have
probably ticketed each of the offices, like other articles
for sale in the shop windows. Surely it was not without
reason that John Randolph, in writing to a friend, in 1815,
remarked : " I am more and more convinced that, with a
few exceptions, this world of ours is a vast madhouse."
It is not even pretended, by any one entitled to any
credit, that the coalition entered into in the autumn, in
certain counties, between the Democrats and Free Soilers,
was to have any relation except to state offices and state
concerns ; and yet, here we see it announced that, at such
a crisis as this, a red-hot Abolitionist is to be sent, like a
fire-brand, for six years, into the senate chamber of the
United States, and by the aid of Democratic votes !
Gentlemen, I have a personal acquaintance with but
very few of your members, but it seems to me impossible
to realize that you have entered into such a monstrous
agreement as this. Had I supposed such an agreement
possible, I would have addressed you at an earlier period-
If it be not too late, I conjure you to stop short upon the
abyss which is yawning before you — to consider your
position, standing, as you do, upon the very brink of
political annihilation, and to retrace your steps. It will
be soon too late ; for, when the act is once consummated,

CHARLES SUMNER'S ELECTION AS SENATOR. 295
you may call yourselves Democrats, but all who deserve
the name Avill repudiate you throughout our wide-extended
Union ; and the Free Soilers even will look upon you with
contempt and derision. Already, even before you met or
counselled together, they have almost exhausted their
voluminous dictionary of vituperative terms in character
izing you as " villains," " liars," ¦' slave-catchers," and
" friends to the Union," which they have done all in their
poAver to destro}^ ; and when you have deserted your prin
ciples, and voted Avith them in the choice of a senator,
they will say, with justice, that you have deserved the
charges made.
Can you, for the sake of a little brief authority, and a
few paltry offices, which may be holden by you, for only
a year at farthest, consent to place yourselves in such
a position as this ? If you hesitate, turn to the records of
the past, so full of political tergiversation and corruption.
Read the history of William Pulteney, the patriotic Whig,
in the time of George I., and Sir Robert Walpole, who, for
so many years, opposed the corruptions of the court and
ministry, but who, in an evil moment, accepted a peerage,
and, from that day, sank into insignificance and contempt.
" So mortified was he," remarks a faithful historian of that
period, " that he is said, in the agony of his shame and dis
gust, to have trampled the patent of his peerage under his
feet." And, be assured, if you give your votes for Charles
Sumner, or any other Free Soiler, Abolitionist, or Disunion-
ist, the day will come when you would rejoice to obliterate
the memory of the transaction, and when you will be
ready to trample under your feet also the record of such a
proceeding. How can you, not only as democrats, but as philanthro
pists and as friends of the slave, do any act to increase
the power and influence of that party, by whose assumed
regard for that unfortunate race their emancipation has

296 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
been put back a century, or certainly a generation, and
can probably be never accomplished so long as their vio
lence continues ? It is a true maxim, and has been exem
plified in the pretended regard for the slaves in this coun
try, that " men are never made so ridiculous by the qual-
ties they possess as by those they affect to have." We all
know how to estimate that sensibility for the Avrongs of
the African race, which begins generally upon the hust
ings, becomes more and more noisy in the halls of legisla
tion, but ceases all at once on the acquisition of office.
How can you avoid seeing that, if you give your vote for
an Abolitionist, as a United States senator, you abandon
and prove false to all the pledges you have given in vari
ous conventions for so many years, and do all you can for
the repeal of those compromise measures to which the
good faith of the nation is engaged, and without which,
probably, the Union would have been dissolved ?
You have, no doubt, seen the letter recently addressed,
by a leading member of the Free Soil party, Mr. Palfrey,
to that section of the legislature, and I commend it to
your careful perusal. It seems to me to express the sen
timents of an honest man, who appears to feel that those
whom he has addressed are in great danger, and, on this
account, he points out the only course they can pursue to
preserve their integrity and honor. It remains to be seen
how far they will follow it. " Whatever you do," says Mr.
Palfrey, " do not vote for Mr. Boutwell for governor, who
would do nothing for freedom. In my opinion, you have
as good a chance of choosing both officers, governor and
senator, as of choosing either one in the way proposed,
perhaps a much better chance."
He recommends, you perceive, what has been called
sometimes " a masterly inactivity," and, if ever such a
policy was wise and expedient, it is upon the present
occasion. No man can withhold his vote too long when,

CHARLES SUMNER'S ELECTION AS SENATOR. 297
by casting it, he abandons his principles, and sacrifices his
honor. But it may be asked, on your part, what is to be done ?
Are we not bound to organize the government, and to
place Mr. Boutwell in the chair of state designed for him
by the votes of thirty-six thousand freemen ? In answer
to this I would say, Better never have another governor
than violate your principles, and bring disgrace upon the
party to which you profess to belong, and which has
guarded the fortunes of our country so gloriously for so
many years ; and this, be assured, must be the feeling o'f
every honest man of every party. On the present, as on
every occasion, a straight course is not only the best and
most politic, but the only one to follow. If this be not
evident to every one now, it soon will be.
I have not intended, gentlemen, to give offence to any
one by the way I have spoken of the Abolitionists or Free
Soilers, whom I look upon as the same, for they are now
everywhere considered as identical. I have spoken freely,
but I believe also justly, of them ; or perhaps I should
add, of those who direct their movements ; for I own,
gentlemen, that there are good as well as bad men of
every political denomination. When, however, I see one
of their leaders, Mr. Giddings (their apostle, as he is some
times called by them,) rise in his place in congress, as he
did at the commencement of the present session, and com
pare our present distinguished secretary of state, Dan
iel Webster, who has devoted a long life to the service of
his country, to Dr. Webster, the murderer, I blush for my
country ; and I am prepared to say and to maintain that
any party which sustains such leaders, and advocates such.
principles, is deserving of the execration of every Amer
ican citizen.
Gentlemen, 1 have written in great haste, and may have
said some things I ought not to have said ; but I am told.

298 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
that every moment is precious, and that the question may
be decided in the legislature to-day or to-morrow; or that
it is perhaps decided now. Do not imagine, for a moment,
that this is a question which concerns only our native
state ; for it embraces the whole country, and will decide
the character of the whole national Democracy. In con
clusion, I will only add that the eyes of the whole nation
are fixed upon you, and that to your hands are com
mitted the future destinies of the Democratic party.
Pardon, I pray you, the freedom with which I have
addressed you ; it is no time for soft words when the
character and integrity of that party are at stake. Reflect
long and well before you give the decisive, I hope it may
not prove the fatal, vote ; and I feel assured that the decis
ion wiU be such as will preserve your honor, that of the
commonwealth to which you belong, and the blessed
Union itself.
I remain, gentlemen, with sincere respect,
Your fellow citizen and obedient servant,
S. D. BRADFORD.
To the Democratic Members
of the Legislature of Massachusetts.

ADDRESS AND RESOLUTIONS,
ADOPTED BY THE DEMOCRATS OF NORFOLK COUNTY.
Committee on the Address, — Samuel D. Bradford, West Koxbury ;
Nathaniel B.. Childs, Dorchester ; Ezra Wilkinson, Dedham.
Committee on Resolutions. — A. Loring Cushing, Dorchester ;
Caleb Stetson, Braintree ; William W. Comstock, Wrentham.
ADDRESS.
Fellow Citizens, — The duty has been assigned to us of
preparing an address to accompany the report of the pro
ceedings of the convention assembled at Dedham on the
14th of October. It is a task which, at such a period as
this, few persons would probably have desired, but which
should not, in our opinion, be declined.
The time has evidently arrived when at least a respect
able number of the Democrats of Massachusetts, dissatis
fied, if not utterly disgusted, with the proceedings of a
portion of the Democratic party in the legislature during
last winter and spring, have resolved to remain merely
lookers on no longer, but to take a more active part, and
to do what they can to place that party once more upon
the platform of the Union, the constitution, and the laws.
It will not be necessary, nor is it deemed expedient, to
enter, at any great length, into the detail of those pro
ceedings, which have gained, for our state and county,
such an unenviable reputation. The history. of them will
not be forgotten soon, and is one which every true patriot
would blot out from the record if he could. The highest

300 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
offices in the commonwealth put up for competition, and
bargained for like other merchandise on sale in the very
capitol of the state ; Democrats, Free Soilers, and Abolition
ists, all holding sessions at the same time, and sending and
receiving delegations from one another, to agree upon the
prices which should be paid; resolutions introduced into
the senate, (and passed, too, by that body,) by the mem
ber for Middlesex, (who long since expressed the hope
" that he might live and die in the faith of the Hartford
Convention,") which it would seem could have had no
object or intent but to irritate and offend our brethren in
the south, " to characterize parties by geographical dis
criminations," and to produce " those jealousies and heart
burnings," against which Washington warned us in his
Farewell Address: the time and money of the people
wasted in electioneering and intrigue; dissensions and
recrimination between members of the same party ; and
last, though not least, the election of one as United States
senator, who had always acted in concert with Whigs,
Free Soilers, and Abolitionists, who, in a volume of his
published addresses and speeches, has inserted one deliv
ered in Faneuil Hall, on the 3d October, 1850, in which,
denouncing the President of the United States for having
signed the fugitive slave bill, he remarked, " There are
depths of infamy, as there are heights of fame ; " and added,
" Better for him had he never been born ; better for his
memory, and for the good name of his children, had he
never been president." These, fellow citizens, are some
ofthe fruits of the far-famed coalition (so called) of last
year. If they be such as you approve, and as, in your
opinion, do credit to the state, you will enter into it again
in November next. If, on the contrary, you consider them
as disgraceful, and would put the' seal of your condemna
tion upon such proceedings, you will condemn and avoid
such an unnatural union, and will cast your votes for such

FREE SOIL COALITION IN MASSACHUSETTS. 301
candidates only as deserve your confidence and support.
The portrait here presented is no production of fancy
or the imagination. The charges here made are not
denied by the parties themselves. Some of them have
been defended upon various, but, to our minds, frivolous
excuses ; but, of the traffic in offices, we are not aware
that any defence has been attempted by any person of
character or respectability. Nor can this excite any sur
prise amongst those at any rate, who can call to mind a
similar charge, in 1825, against Mr. Clay, of having prom
ised to Mr. Adams the vote of Kentucky on condition that
Mr. Adams would, if elected, make him hi^ secretary of
state ; which, up to that time, had almost invariably proved
the next step to the presidency. Who, that was Uving
then, can have forgotten the burst of indignation, which
the very suspicion of such a bargain (for, it is believed, it
was never proved,) produced from Maine to Georgia ; or
who can doubt that, but for that imputation and the
change of his politics, this eloquent statesman of the west,
who, for so many years, was the leader ofthe Democratic
party in congress, and who has since held the same place
amongst the Whigs, would long since have reached the
highest honor in the gift of the nation ? His rejection,
under the circumstances, is creditable to the people of the
United States, and evinces a regard for principle which
we should do Avell to imitate; as all must admit that a
candidate for that high office should be, "like Caesar's wife,
not only pure, but above suspicion." Can we Avonder, then,
at the astonishment produced by this wholesale auction of
offices in January last, or that it was unequivocally con
demned in every state of the Union ?
If, then, Massachusetts has been thus disgraced, and her
good name brought into question, what advantages, it
may be asked, social, political, or physical, has she received
from the coalition ? Mention has been made by the Free

302 WORKS OF S. D BRADFORD.
Soil press of three, the secret ballot, the homestead exemp
tion bill, and the general corporation law. These, of
course, are new measures and untried experiments, the
value of which can only be proved by time and expe
rience. It is hoped they will be found to work well, and
to promote the good of the people ; but, whatever may be
their operation, they sink into utter insignificance in com
parison with the question of sustaining the honor and
former high character of the state. In the mean time, it
is a subject ofthe deepest regret and mortification to your
committee, and, as we believe, to a large majority of the
people of Massachusetts, that the choice of United States
senator for six long years has fallen upon a Whig and
Abolitionist, who has publicly denounced a law of con
gress, as unconstitutional and unjust, which was enacted
to preserve the Union at the moment of its greatest dan
ger, and who, comparing it to the stamp act of 1765,
expressed the hope " that the parallel might be contin
ued until it should produce the same burst of public feel
ing against any action under it, which glowed in the
breasts of our fathers against the former law." How
speedily the wishes of Mr. Sumner were realized by the
disgraceful proceedings in Boston, where the officers
of the court were resisted and overcome ; where the
majesty of justice and law was openly insulted and vio
lated under the very eyes of the judge, and the pris
oner assisted in making his escape, you all have witnessed,
and wUl no doubt long remember. The rebellion of Dan
iel Shays, in 1786, which alarmed so much the early guard
ians of our republic, was an offence of a venial character
compared to this. He only sent a message to the judges
of the supreme court in session at Springfield, ordering
them not to open the court, or indict the rebels. The Free
Soilers and Abolitionists at Boston burst open the doors
of the court house, and liberated the prisoner.

FREE SOIL COALITION IN MASSACHUSETTS. 303
The history of this fugitive slave bill, and the opposi
tion Avhich has been made to it, are amongst the most
extraordinary events of the day. Prior to 1850, the
country had been living under a similar law for fifty-
seven years, and before the organization of the Abolition
party, it had always been carried into effect when cases
arose under it, without complaint from any quarter. It
was passed during the administration of Washington,
received his signature, and was approved by the coun
try. In August, 1850, a similar bill was passed by the
national legislature, which might be characterized as
rather an old law than a new one — having, however,
certain amendments, which had become necessary on
account of certain enactments by two or three state legis
latures, which had impaired the effect of the former law.
It was considered by competent judges more favorable
to the slave than the law of 1793, had been pronounced
constitutional by every distinguished jurist whose atten
tion had been caUed to it, passed both the senate and
house of representatives by large majorities, after a pro
tracted debate in the former of three days, and seemed,
at the time, to be satisfactory to both of the great polit
ical parties in Congress. Shortly after, however, an agi
tation was commenced against it of the most violent and
determined character, and combinations were formed for
resisting it, even to violence and bloodshed. A large
meeting was convened at Faneuil Hall on the 3d of
October last, where violent speeches were made, and res
olutions adopted, which, by some persons, were declared
to involve the crime of treason — and the agitation has
been continued ever since, in different parts of the
country, attended, in some cases, with loss of life, and
the most flagrant violations of the laws of the land.
The chief, if not the sole participators in these acts of
violence and resistance to the constituted authorities have

304 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
been Free Soilers and Abolitionists, or persons influenced
by them to commit these outrages. The cause or excuse
generally assigned has been compassion for the slave, and
a regard to what has been called " the higher law." How
far these motives have influenced the actors, you can all
determine for yourselves ; but it is certain that, until lately,
some of the leaders were never suspected of having an
extraordinary degree of philanthropy, and have been
petitioners for offices, which require a solemn oath that
" they will, to the best of their ability, preserve, pro
tect, and defend the constitution of the United States."
Indeed, the organization, if not the very name of the
Free Soil party, dates only from 1848, the year in which it
made so formidable a demonstration at Buffalo. It had its
origin in disappointed ambition, and a desire to prevent
the election of General Cass to the presidency. It suc
ceeded in accomplishing its object, and there its career
should have ended. Without doubt it would have termi
nated there, had it not been sustained by disappointed
Whigs and Democrats, who have since kept it alive to ad
vance their own selfish purposes and designs. It has found
a new and powerful ally in the coalition of last vfinter,
and how much it values the alliance, and feels its depend
ence upon it, is proved by the imploring and beseeching
manner in which it begs the Democrats to continue the
unequal and nefarious connection. Prior to the copartner
ship, the Democrats who ventured to advocate the execu
tion of the fugitive slave bill, were called, by the leading
organs of the Free Soil press, "abandoned scoundrels,"
" slave-catchers," " voluntary serfs and minions of the slave
power," " dupes and doughfaces," " hirelings and mercenary
traitors." The public were cautioned against all associa
tion with them, and their presence was declared to be " a
defilement." What a change do we witness now, upon the eve of

FREE SOIL COALITION IN MASSACHUSETTS. . 305
another election, on the part of the same Free Soilers !
Our ears are dulcified by the soft sounds of " charity," and
" Christian forgiveness." In one of their leading journals,
we were reminded, only a few days ago, of the necessity
of " generous concession," " candor," and " a little worldly
wisdom." " Agreeing," says this exponent of Free Soil
principles before alluded to, " what is to be done, it is per
fectly immaterial Avho does it. Extremists must moderate
their views somewhat ; they must remember that honesty
is not a plant of peculiar local or individual growth, but is
to some extent indigenous to all minds. Free Soilers can
not be expected to vote for men who have labored, in
season and out of season, to ridicule and reproach them ;
nor can Democrats vote for Free Soilers who, in all un-
charitableness, have pronounced them ' to be almost if not
altogether accursed.' Such men should tarry in the shade
awhUe, and divest themselves of their censoriousness and
undue heat."
Such, fellow citizens, are the instructions which your
newly acquired aUies, the Free Soilers, would lay down
for your guidance on the second Monday of November
next. Surely you will say of the writer of these instruc
tions, as Othello said of Iago,
" This fellow 's of exceeding honesty,
And knows all qualities, with a learned spirit
Of human dealings ; "
and, if we mistake not, you will be of the opinion that such
rules " are more honored in the breach than the observ
ance." It requires but a plain statement of facts to perceive
what deception has been practised upon you from the
commencement. It has been repeatedly asserted by some
of the most truthful and respectable individuals composing
the Democratic party, that it was fully agreed and perfectly
38

306 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
understood between the members of the iavo parties, who
entered into the coalition at first, that it should be eon-
fined strictly and solely to state affairs and politics, and
should not be extended to national concerns at all. Now
be pleased to compare this statement with that of a writer
in the Commonwealth journal, who addressed a letter to the
editors of that paper, on the 30th of January last, over the
initials of H. W., understood to have been those of the
Honorable Henry Wilson, late president of the senate.
In that communication, General Wilson remarks : " The
Free Soil committee proposed to concede the governor to
the Democrats, on condition that the United States sena
tor should be conceded to Free Soilers. The committee
stated that the Free Soil party went into the late election
for the purpose of securing the senator. The Free Soilers
had avowed this in their journals before the people. This
was the motive that induced them to form the union with
the Democracy for the choice of senators and representa
tives!" If this statement be correct, those Democrats
who entered into the coalition in November last, have
been grossly deceived, and should they consent to continue
it, would seem to verify those lines of Hudibras,
" Doubtless the pleasure is as great,
Of being cheated as to cheat."
To mention another instance of want of sincerity, if not
of honesty, on the part of the Free Soilers : The reputed
author of the Whig State Address, Mr. Everett, has stated,
" that, of the Free SoU party, one half at least must be
supposed to have been originally Whigs, and to concur
with the mass of the Whig party in their views of gen
eral political questions." This estimate must be supposed
to be correct upon the principle that every shepherd is
supposed to know his own sheep better than a stranger.
Yet the reason the Free Soilers allege for having left the

FREE SOIL COALITION IN MASSACHUSETTS. 307
Whigs, is " their subserviency to the slave power," and
" their having deserted the ground upon which, it is
asserted, they once stood ; " and this is the principal, if
if not the sole cause Ave have seen assigned ; and, to rem
edy this difficulty, they have united with the Democratic
party, which advocated the annexation of Texas, voted for
the war with Mexico, and against the Wilmot proviso, and
heretofore have always been charged, by the Free Soilers
and Abolitionists, as the chief supporters of slavery ! One
of their pleas for this is, that they sympathize with the
Democrats "in desiring certain state reforms," which, how
ever, are of a character which they had heretofore opposed
from the beginning. Mr. Palfrey, too, the present candi
date for governor, in his letter to the Free Soil members
of the legislature, dated the sixth of January last, stated
that he should have voted for Mr. Winthrop for speaker
of the congress house of representatives, had he not con
sidered him " as wanting in his attachment for freedom."
Do not suppose, then, that, in voting with Free Soilers,
you are promoting the cause of a party having any fixed
and defined principles of their OAvn. That would be to
commit a great error.
If the Free Soilers do sympathize so warmly with the
Democrats, and approve so highly " the state reforms "
already achieved, and others understood to be in contem
plation, why have they not declared, in advance, their
intention to vote for our present justly popular chief mag
istrate on the second Monday of November, instead of
enacting the pitiful farce of holding a state convention at
Worcester, for nominating a gentleman for governor, who,
they knew, could never be elected by the people, and
whom they doubtless intend to desert upon the first oppor
tunity when, it having been decided that there is no
choice by the people, the election will devolve upon the
legislature, when they probably intend to vote for Gov-

308 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
ernor BoutweU again. That would have been the honest
course, and one which would have commended itself to
men of honest minds. It may, perhaps, excite the won
der of some persons that any respectable gentleman can
be found who wUl permit "his name to be associated (to
use the words of the candidate of the Free Soilers) with
the votes they are about to cast."
It cannot, it is hoped, be necessary to enlarge upon
these topics to open the eyes of all true Democrats to the
real character of the persons with whom they have been
acting in concert. Let any one ask himself the ques
tions, — Why should such a coalition be continued ? Is
there any union of opinion or sympathy of feeling between
Democrats and Free Soilers? Has not each party repeat
edly expressed the detestation it has of the principles
and sentiments entertained by the other ? Has not Free
Soilism now, Avhatever it may have been once, become
identified with Abolitionism and resistance to the laws ?
Is it not sectional, whereas Democracy is and always has
been national, in the most enlarged sense of the word ?
Turn to the resolutions adopted by the Democratic
convention, assembled at Worcester on the 20th August.
Do they not sustain the Union, the constitution, and the
compromise measures, including the fugitive slave bill,
all of which the Free Soilers have denounced ? What
question, except that of obedience to this bill, is now a sub
ject of much discussion or interest, either in the halls of
legislation, or at public meetings of any kind ? And not
without good cause ; for any person of observation or
reflection must perceive that on its just and faithful
execution the Union itself depends.
At no former period were so many of our brethren in
the south anxiously watching the proceedings of the
people of Massachusetts, and one may not fear to venture
the assertion that the success or defeat of the disunionists

FREE SOIL COALITION IN MASSACHUSETTS. 309
in South Carolina, Georgia, and Mississippi, depends on
the execution or defeat of the fugitive slave bill in this
and the other free states of the republic. In the selec
tion of candidates, therefore, to represent you in the legis
lature or in a national convention, it is of vital importance
that you should select such persons as will sustain " the
compromise measures as they are, and will oppose all
agitation of the questions settled by them." Will you
continue to act another year with those who have deceived
you, have compromised the good character of the com
monwealth, and openly advocated resistance to the laws ?
Why, fellow citizens, we may take an example of what we
ought to do, even from one of the leaders of the Free
Soil party itself, the learned gentleman who has been
nominated for the office of governor for the ensuing year.
In the letter, to which we have already referred, when he
perceived that the members of his party were about to
join a coalition with the Democrats, which his conscience
told him could not be honestly done, he urgently besought
them not to vote for Mr. Boutwell, " who," he said, " would
do nothing for freedom." In the same spirit we would
say to you, Avith all due respect, Do not on any account
vote for a Free Soiler or Abolitionist, who will be certain
to do all he can to agitate the people to resist the laws, to
sow dissension and discord between the free and the slave
states, and, if his object cannot be accomplished in any
other way, to dissolve the Union.
Do not hesitate to strike off the names of all such per
sons from the votes you may give on the second Monday
of November next.
Be assured the longer you continue the connection the
deeper the moral and political corruption will sink into
your souls. Every patriot must grieve to perceive to what
a degree it has tainted the public sentiment already.
Surely there was great truth as Avell as pertinent meta-

310 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
phor in those words of Bishop Watson after D'Alembert,
when speaking of court favors, and the corrupting influ
ence of the emoluments of office, he remarked, that " the
highest officers in church and state resemble a pyramid,
whose top is accessible to only two sorts of animals, eagles
and reptiles. My pinions," he added, " were not strong
enough to pounce upon its top, and I scorned by creeping
to ascend its summit." If our politicians would be gov
erned by this honorable and independent spirit, we should
not be soon called upon to wipe off the disgrace of another
coalition. We have thus endeavored, fellow citizens, to give you
a plain, unvarnished history of the past, that you may be
able to act understandingly for the future. It has not
been our intention to speak with harshness, but with mod
eration and truth. We have no personal injuries to
redress, no private animosities to gratify. Our hopes and
aspirations begin and end in the honor, the integrity, and
the success of the great national Democratic party, which
is connected with so many glorious reminiscences of the
past, and encouraged by so many animating hopes for the
future, if it prove true to its principles, and to the cause
of liberty and truth. On no account would we attempt
to influence you by dictation, or by any other unworthy
means. The issue is in your hands, where we cheerfully
leave it. Look back to the unworthy expedients which
have been adopted to place you in the position you now
hold, and forward to the consequences, should the coalition
be longer continued.
Remember that " the constitution is the object of our
reverence, the bond of our Union, our defence in danger,
the source of our prosperity in peace," and that Free Soil-
ism resists its injunctions and violates its laws. Remem
ber, too, the exalted attitude exhibited by Norfolk, during
the memorable contest with England in 1812 ; and what-

FREE SOIL COALITION IN MASSACHUSETTS. 3H
ever may be the course pursued by other sections of the
state, let there be one spot, at any rate, uncontaminated
by the slime of coalition, and which is true to the princi
ples of ' 76 and ' 98.
Recollect that the vote you will soon be called upon to
give, concerns not only the honor and integrity of our
county, but of our state and of our common country ; and
that you cannot be Democrats and Free SoUers at the
same time.
Reflect serioushy upon these things, and we feel assured
that your decision Avill be just, and will do credit to your
selves, and to our ancient county and commonwealth.

RESOLUTIONS.
1. Resolved, That the great objects ofthe Democratic party are,
and ever have been, from the date of its origin, the preservation,
unimpaired, of the great republican principles expressed in our
constitution, and from time to time embodied in it, by Adrtue of,
and according to, its own provisions — the faithful performance of
all compacts and agreements therein contained or entered into under
it — the determined and honest support of every law constitutionally
enacted, Avithout distinction, so long as it remains a law, and its
continuance as a law, so long as the constitution requires it — secu
rity to the rights and liberties of -all by a strict construction of the
constitution, and, above all, the continuance of peace, good fellow
ship, and prosperity within our borders, by opposing all interference
on the part of one state with another ; it is not by any new test
that therefore opposition to the new compromise measures is con
sidered a departure from the Democratic platform, but by an appli
cation of old principles to a new emergency.
2. Resolved, That the obligation to deliver up fugitives from
service, upon claim, to whom such service may be due, is fully
recognized by the constitution of the United States, and consequently

312 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
an unconditional repeal of the present fugitive slave law, leaving no
law enforcing such constitutional obligation, is a violation of the
constitution itself, being a refusaf to carry out and fulfil its plainest
requirements by the only means through which such obligation can
be enforced — a substitution of anarchy and confusion for law and
order, and an act of treachery to our sister states — that, therefore,
the Free Soil party, organized to effect such a repeal of the fugitive
slave law, is, so far, a party arrayed against the constitution, the
laws under the same, and the peace and good order of the Union.
3. Resolved, That the principles of the Whig party of to-day,
manifested in opposition to all reforms with reference to the sub
stantial good of the whole, and in favor of special legislation only
for the benefit of the few — in their general distrust of the people,
and in their attempt to enslave domestic labor, under the specious
cry of protection against foreign fabor, are the same against which
the Democracy of the country have been called upon to defend our
institutions and the rights of all under them, from their very origin
in our earlier times " that tried men's souls " — in the foreign war
of 1812, in the almost civil war during the administration of the
illustrious Jackson, and in their base treachery to our noble soldiery
while fighting our country's battles in the wilds of Mexico.
4. Resolved, That a coalition with any party, having objects to
accomplish, and with views antagonistic to our own, for any politi
cal purpose, is utterly inconsistent with a strict fidelity to the prin
ciples we profess, as it cannot be effected without giving strength
to the party with which such a coalition may be formed ; thereby
aiding and encouraging enemies to the cause of true republicanism
— weakening our influence for good — paralyzing our efforts, and
spreading distrust and confusion throughout the great national
Democratic party.
5. Resolved, That we most heartily approve of the reformatory
measures of the last session of our state legislature, as emphatically
Democratic in their character — in the general banking law, and the act
relating to joint stock companies, giving to all equally, as a right,
what heretofore has been granted to a few onfy as a privilege — in
the secret ballot act, protecting from insulting espionage the exer
cise of a freeman's most sacred right, the right to vote uninfluenced
but by his just sense of duty to himself, his country, and his Maker

FREE SODL COALITION IN MASSACHUSETTS. 313
— to vote in secret, as he worships in secret, — in the act relating to
insolvent corporations, bringing them more directly within the reach
of the law and their creditors — in the homestead exemption act,
securing to all a home, a haven of rest at the close of the voyage of
life — and especially, in the act relating to a revision of the constitu
tion by the people, that it may more fully harmonize with the prog
ress and spirit of the age ; — and being determined to advance to
other and even more salutary reforms, we cordially invite the
cooperation of all friends of Democratic equality to join us in the
cause of the people.
6. Resolved, That, having entire confidence in the integrity,
ability, and nationality of George S. Boutwell and Henry W. Cush-
man, we most cordially respond to their nominations for governor
and lieutenant governor of this commonwealth ; and we here pledge
ourselves to use every honest endeavor to reinstate them in those
offices which they have adorned by a strict and faithful discharge of
their respective duties.
40

DEMOCRATIC RATIFICATION
MEETING.

BEGULAR TOASTS.
1. Franklin Pierce and William R. King — They deserve, and will receive the
support of the Democracy of the Union, in November next. Nine cheers.
2. Democracy and the Union — one and inseparable ! who ever knew a Demo
crat hostile to the Union ? Music.
3. The Democracy of the town of Randolph — always on hand when true men
are to be supported — and just measures to be sustained. Nine cheers.
4. The Whig candidate for the Presidency — selected for his availability — the
Democracy of the Union, by the election of Franklin Pierce, will render availa
bility unavailable. Three cheers.
5. The Press — The watchmen on the watch tower — They proclaim that the
fires burn brightly in the Democratic wigwam. Three cheers.
6. Disaffection to the Union — known only among the opponents of Democracy.
Six cheers.
7. The election in November — the Democracy of the nation is united — victory
is certain ! Six cheers.
8. The Democratic platform — it places the Democratic party on the high
national and patriotic ground, for which it has ever been distinguished. Nine
cheers. 9. The memory of General Jackson — " He lives forever in the voice of fame."
Music — Dirge.
10. General Scott — Fired with indignation, he took a hasty plate of soup.
Three cheers.
11. The sages and the heroes of the Revolution — the Democracy will secure
the fruits of their wisdom and their valor. Six cheers.
12. The most impudent man living — The Massachusetts Democrat who carps
at the Democratic platform. Nine cheers.
13. The Democracy of the eighth district — they will give a good account of
themselves in November next. Nine cheers.
After the dinner, the following sentiment was proposed
by Arthur W. Austin, Esq., one of the vice presidents :
The late Democratic convention at Baltimore — it made no mistakes.
To which the Hon. Samuel D. Bradford responded in
the following speech :

ELECTION OF GENERAL PD3RCE. 315

SPEECH OF S. D. BRADFORD, ESQ.
Gentlemen, — In rising to address you upon this occa
sion, I feel it is one of the most interesting and joyful
upon which we have ever assembled. You did me the
honor, in October last, to elect me your delegate to the
Baltimore convention, and inclination as well as custom
prompt me to come before you this day, and give an
account of the manner in which the trust committed to
me has been discharged. That convention met by
appointment on the first Tuesday of June, and on the
fifth of June made the nominations which have been
announced; and we have come up here to-day, as I
understand it, to express our opinion upon the same, and,
if we approve, to ratify them. For the first time in the
history of our republic, the nomination has fallen upon a
Democrat who is a native and resident of New England ;
and, what is equally worthy of note, his name was first
proposed to the convention by Virginia, the venerable
mother of states, statesmen, and heroes, and the native
state of Washington. Yes, gentlemen, it was the noble
state of Virginia which first cast its vote for our honored
nominee, and we are assured by the nominee himself that
" the delegation from New Hampshire, with all the glow
of state pride, and all the warmth of personal regard,
would not have submitted his name to the convention,
nor would they have cast a vote for him under any cir
cumstances other than those which occurred." No occa
sion, it seems to me, then, could be more interesting than
this, or awaken in our hearts more lively sentiments of
patriotism, of friendship for our brethren of the south, and
of love of our blessed and happy Union. It was pecu
liarly gratifying at a period like this to receive such a
mark of confidence and regard from a sister state, possess-

316 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
ing as she does so many great and distinguished statesmen
of her own. It produced the happiest effect in the con
vention, and mainly contributed to the fortunate result
which we have recently witnessed. May I not, then,
gentlemen, express the hope that the proceedings of the
convention have met your entire approbation, and that
you are ready to ratify and confirm them ? If any
dependence can be placed upon the public press, it seems
to me they have received the unanimous approbation of
the whole Democratic party from Maine to Georgia. At
all events, I may venture to say that your delegate, as
well as his substitute, the Hon. Bradford L. Wales, who
was also present at Baltimore, were very desirous of meet
ing your wishes, and acted in the manner which they
deemed best for the interest of the great republican
party, without favor or partiality. It was not, of course,
entirely a question of who was the best man ; but we had
to consider who was fit for the office, and who, also, could
command two-thirds of all the votes. If I consented to
accept the appointment of your delegate with reluctance
at first, candor requires me to confess that I have been
well rewarded for any time or attention I may have
devoted to it, and that the proceedings, especially of the
last day, were interesting in the highest degree, and avUI
be long remembered. It was gratifying to witness the
perfect harmony and courtesy which prevailed from first
to last.
I do not remember to have heard a disparaging remark
made by any one during the five days we were in session ;
and those discordant words, Freesoiler and Abolitionist,
only once grated upon my ears. But what, most of all,
excited my admiration, was the kind spirit and generosity
displayed by the several delegations on the last day of
the session, in giving up their favorite candidates, (to
whom some of them had unalterably adhered during more

ELECTION OF GENERAL PIERCE. 3 17
than forty ballotings, and upon whom all their future
hopes of political advancement might be supposed to
depend,) and, for the sake of harmony and union, casting
their votes for a candidate Avho was personally unknown
to most of them, and whose good qualities could only be
confirmed to them by the report of others — thus laying
doAvn all their personal predilections and preferences on
the altar of patriotism.
It was a noble spectacle — one which could be witnessed
only in our beloved country — and I may add, I believe,
without exaggeration, only in a Democratic convention.
Virginia first set the example, which was soon followed by
all her sister states, and Avith a cheerfulness and alacrity
which I shaU never forget.
The name of our distinguished nominee was received
with a welcome, and seemed to inspire a confidence and
joy which I cannot express. A short time before, after
three whole days of balloting, without any result, we felt
as if unanimity in the selection of a candidate was impos
sible, and that, perhaps, we might be compelled to return
home, leaving our work undone. But the name of Frank
lin Pierce, as soon as it was proposed, seemed to act like a
charm, and all our difficulties were overcome in a moment.
The delegates rose and felicitated one another, as if they
had escaped from some great and common danger. Joy
beamed on every countenance; congratulation was upon
every tongue. It would not, perhaps, be quite true to
say that the joy experienced, was wholly without any emo
tion of regret, for no doubt the thoughts of some would turn
to the other candidates, whose hopes had been disappointed,
and many probably regretted that they had only one such
high distinction to confer.
Amongst the candidates, first and foremost, was the
distinguished statesman and diplomatist, General Cass,
who with such singular ability succeeded in preventing

318 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
France from becoming a party in 1842, to the quintuple
treaty, which was designed to institute an odious and vex
atious police over the freedom of the seas. Next came
James Buchanan, the favorite son of the Keystone state,
of incorruptible integrity, of great experience and wis
dom in council, who had served his country faithfully and
long, and was admirably qualified for any appointment,
however high. There was Governor Marcy, too, the
favorite adopted son of the Empire State, always a great
favorite with all true Democrats, never swerving in his
principles or friendships, and whose administrative talent,
as secretary, contributed so largely to the brilliant victo
ries and triumphant success of the Mexican war ; and
then came Stephen A. Douglass, a native of the Green
Mountains of Vermont, but now from Illinois, who has
been called "the young giant of the west," because, I sup
pose, he has grown so rapidly in favor, and exhibited such
sagacity and ability in the councils of the nation, that at
the convention ninety-two delegates cast for him their
votes, and pronounced him fit to be the successor of Wash
ington, Jefferson, and the other great men who have
filled the presidential chair. Besides these, there were
others, whom time will not permit me to name, but who
had "many times and oft," exhibited proofs of their devo
tion to their country. Well have these statesmen and
patriots proved that our estimate of them was not too
high, by the noble and generous manner in which they
have come forward and pledged their support to the nom
inations which have been made. Need I say to you, gen
tlemen, that I sustained the nomination of Franklin
Pierce, and that, for the first time during forty-nine ballot
ings, the Massachusetts delegates were unanimous in
awarding to him the vote of the state ? Need I add that
I approve the nomination, that I rejoice in it, and that it
deserves and shall receive all the support which it may

ELECTION OF GENERAL PIERCE. 3 19
be in my power to give it ? I like it, because it promises
us an honest and economical administration of the govern
ment, a strict construction of the constitution, and a just
and equitable execution of the laws. I like it, because,
should our nominee be chosen president, his high character
wUl enable him to form a cabinet of the ablest and best
men in the nation.
We shall have no omnibus internal improvement and
river and harbor bUls, but every expenditure of the pub
lic money wUl be regulated by justice and the constitu
tion. I like the nomination, because, beyond all others
which could have been made, it unites the Democratic
party throughout the country; abolishes those abomin
able nick-names of barn-burners and the like, and pro
duces harmony and peace even in the Empire State. In
confirmation of this, already has John Van Buren, the
leader of the Free Soil party, at the ratification meeting
on the 9th of June, in New York, come back to the
Democratic fold, given in his adhesion to our nominees,
and promised to support them "most cheerfully;" and if
we may judge by the warmth of the expressions he used,
no Swiss soldier, after a four years' service under a foreign
flag, ever returned more delighted to his native moun
tains, or listened once more with greater joy to the favor
ite national song of the Ranz des Vaches. I like it,.
because, under the administration of our nominee, I feel
a perfect assurance that peace will be cultivated, and a
liberal intercourse encouraged with all nations, and our
glorious Union be defended against its enemies, be they
foreign or domestic. I am certain, also, that our nominee-
will be true to the platform of principles which has beea
established at Baltimore, and which was received with
such unanimity and favor by the convention. Finally, I
Uke the nomination because it has fallen upon one who is
a wise legislator, a brave soldier, and an honest man,.

320 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
universally respected and admired by all who have the
pleasure of knowing him.
I am no political partisan nor man-worshipper, and
never will be. I shall not, in my ardor to promote the
election of General Pierce, ascribe to him the wisdom of
Solomon, nor shall I assert, that, as a military man, he is
equal to Marshal Turenne. His best eulogium is a recital
of the actions of his past life, with which probably all of
you are by this time familiar, in which case I am sure you
cannot wonder at the enthusiasm with which his name was
received by the convention. Although admirably quali
fied to fill any office, however high, such was his modesty,
we find he positively declined to be nominated as gov
ernor of New Hampshire, refused the appointment of
attorney-general tendered him by his personal friend,
President Polk, and prevented the legislature of hia
native state from nominating him for the presidency, an
office so much sought for by all, and which some one has
called " the highest upon earth."
Such conduct reminds one of the innate modesty of
Washington, who, after all the brilliant victories he had
gained over the French in 1759, returned to Virginia to
receive a vote of thanks from the House of Burgesses, and
of whom it is related that, " when the speaker, obeying
the resolve of the house, gave him the thanks of Virginia
for his services to his country, the young man, taken by
surprise, hesitated for words as he rose to reply, "Sit
down," rejoined the speaker, " your modesty is equal to
your valor, and that surpasses the power of any language
I possess." I will only detain you, gentlemen, to dweU
for a moment upon the conduct of General Pierce in Mex
ico. Those who have read his life will have observed
that when, in 1846, he declined a seat in the cabinet of
President Polk, he told him " that, when he resigned his
seat in the senate in 1842, he did it with the fixed inten-

ELECTION OF GENERAL PIERCE. 331
tion never again to be voluntarily separated from his fam
Uy for any considerable length of time, except at the call
of his country in the time of Avar ; a very singular resolu
tion for a civilian to make Avho had never mixed in any
way in the din and bustle of war, and who was pursuing
his profession in the quiet town of Concord ; and it proves
his intense love for his country. Soon after, in the midst
ofthe contest Avith Mexico, the president sent a requisition
for a battalion of volunteers to New Hampshire, upon
which General Pierce enrolled as a private, and was drilled
in the ranks. The brave Ransom, who afterwards fell in
Mexico, was of this regiment ; and General Pierce wrote to
the president, and requested him to appoint Colonel Ran
som to the command ; but the president decided other
wise, and appointed our illustrious nominee brigadier-
general. Through his exertions, the battalion was soon
raised, and he and his "cheerful lads" (as he afterwards
called them ) embarked for Vera Cruz, and, as soon as he
was able, he pushed forward for the interior, and joined
General Scott. He took an active part in the several
brUliant actions which foUowed, at the head of his regi
ment. Wherever the danger was the greatest, there he
and his brave soldiers were to be found. In one attack,
having fallen from his horse, like Antseus, he rose again,
but not the stronger for the fall ; for he was seriously in
jured ; but he mounted another horse, refused to leave
the field, and, except on one occasion, when sickness con
fined him to his bed, he continued to battle for his coun
try untU the flag, with the stars and stripes, was seen
floating over the walls of the city of the Montezumas.
The war being ended, he resigned his commission, was
complimented by the warmest declarations of approbation
from his brother officers, and especially from the com
mander-in-chief, General Scott, and returned to his native
state, New Hampshire, there to receive the thanks of his
41

WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
grateful countrymen, having nobly fulfilled the pledge
which he gave, when taking leave of some friends in Bos
ton, — " I will come back with honor, or I will not come
back." Gentlemen, can you conceive of any conduct more pat
riotic, more heroic, than this ? It was well and truly said
by Mr. Buchanan, in his admirable letter, which was
recently published, upon the qualifications of our nominees,
" that General Pierce's military services in Mexico consti
tute a beautiful episode in his life." Had he been a grad
uate of West Point, or belonged to the regular army, as
was the case with General Scott, his conduct would not
have excited any surprise, for he would have done only
what the government had called upon him to do ; but,
situated as he was, to become thus a volunteer, to break
away from all the cords and ties which bound his heart so
firmly to his family, and abandon a lucrative ^profession in
which he held the very first place — all these things prove
the patriotism and heroism of our illustrious nominee. The
convention were aware of these things, and, as a proof of
their gratitude, they nominated him for the presidency.
The nation, in November next, will ratify that choice, and
elevate him to the high place he so well deserves.
You may have seen, perhaps, that some of the Whig
papers have recently indulged in a good deal of pleasantry
concerning General Pierce's fall from his horse in Mexico.
I am sorry to expose the ignorance of these writers, but as
they may have recurrence to the same subject again, it may
perhaps be as well to recommend to them now to read
Froissart, before they indite any more articles on that topic,
and they will find that the rules of chivalry required one of
two things of a true knight before he could be admitted
" to all the honors," viz., " a fall from his horse, or to
receive a wound," and it is well known that, at the famous
battle of Cressy, Edward III. refused to send succors to

ELECTION OF GENERAL PIERCE. 323
the Black Prince - until he should hear he was Avounded
or dismounted," being determined, as the historian adds,
"that he should, on that memorable day, have full
opportunity to win his spurs."
Gentlemen, I will detain yon no longer upon the per
sonal qualifications of our candidate for president. I fear
I may have dwelt upon them too long already. They
speak for themselves ; and Shakspeare also says :

 'tis very silly ^
To gild refined gold, or pair.t the lily.
Of the qualifications of the gentleman who is the nom
inee for the vice-presidency, Colonel W. R. King, of Ala
bama, it seems quite a work of supererogation that I
should say a single word. A person who has been in the
national councils over thirty years ; who, as long ago as
1812, gave his vote for Mr. Madison's war ; who has served
his country as ambassador abroad with such distinguished
ability, and whom the senate of the United States, as if
anticipating the verdict of the people, have long since
chosen to preside over their deliberations, requires no
eulogium from me. With great force has Mr. Buchanan
said of him, in the letter before mentioned, that " he is
one ofthe purest, the best, and most sound-judging states
men he has ever known ; a firm, enlightened, unwaver
ing democrat, an amiable, honorable, and benevolent gentle
man." The delegates at Baltimore seized with avidity the
opportunity afforded them of testifying their gratitude
and admiration of one who had done so much for his
country, and been always such a consistent politician ; and
his nomination was unanimously agreed upon, as soon as
his name was proposed to the convention. Gentlemen, I
have not yet mentioned the platform which was estab
lished at Baltimore, and yet no one can place too high
a value upon that part of our work. To have left it

324 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
undone would have implied, in my opinion, a great want
of firmness, if not of principle, on the part of the con
vention. I know how often it has been said, in certain
quarters, that the Baltimore platform of 1848 was wide
enough, large enough, strong enough, and comprehensive
enough ; and no doubt it was for the year in which it
was made, as an almanac is always supposed to be good
for the year for which it was calculated, but not for
another. Since 1848, however, certain important acts, called the
compromise measures, have been passed by congress, and
violently opposed in some sections of the country by per
sons calling themselves Democrats ; by some of Avhom they
have even been called unconstitutional. It was quite nec
essary and fit, therefore, that the great Democratic party,
in council assembled, should declare their opinion upon
these measures, and pass the resolves which were adopted.
On the first test in the committee on resolutions, all
but four of the states came upon the platform at once,
and it was adopted with a unanimity seldom witnessed
in such an assembly. We have now a rule and standard
by which we can measure any one who professes to be a
Democrat, whilst at the same time he is something else,
and this has been wanted by us all. But it has been asserted
by some persons, that we require no platform or declara
tion of principles whatever. The founders of our republic
were not of this opinion, when, on the 4th of July, 1776,
they prepared and adopted that immortal document called
the Declaration of American Independence. Not require
any declaration of principles ! Why, principles make the
Christian; principles make the statesman and patriot;
principles make the Democrat ; principles make the honest
man ; and it is the want of principles which makes some men
what they are. But why do certain persons, calling them
selves Democrats, object to the platform of 1852, which

ELECTION OF GENERAL PIERCE. 325
has been called the " Democratic creed ? " They never
objected to that of 1848. They even commend it now.
Perhaps it forbids some sin they are accustomed to com
mit. It is related of some clergymen, who were once dis
cussing the propriety of religious creeds, that one of them
remarked, when asked his opinion, that he supposed
" almost any one would be willing to lengthen his creed if
he could only shorten the commandments." Probably the
Democratic creed of IS 52 contains some commandment
Avhich those gentlemen are in the habit of violating.
But, gentlemen, if any one disapproves the platform
established at Baltimore on the 5th of June, or refuses to
stand upon it, be assured he is no true Democrat, by what
ever name he may be designated. He has not learnt the
first duty of a good citizen, obedience to the laws of his
country. Gentlemen, I highly approve the recommendation of
General Cass, in his ratification speech at Washington, as
to the manner in which the approaching campaign should
be conducted, and I hesitate to say a single word concern
ing the Whig party, because it is at present in such a
delicate and critical position. I regret the division
amongst the Whigs. I had hoped that they might have
met us on the second of November next, with banners
flying, and full ranks, that we might, for once, have had a
regular Waterloo day. I regret that they should, for the
third time, have been so regardless of the Avelfare of their
country, as to nominate another "mUitary chieftain" for
president, which, in 1828, on the nomination of General
Jackson, they declared " to be a precedent, which augured
the speedy dissolution of our glorious Union, and the
extinction of our liberty and independence." I regret it,
on another account, because for the sake of the friends of
Mr. Webster, if not on his own account, I had hoped he
might have received the Whig nomination at Baltimore ;

326 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
he who has defended so nobly the Union, as to have
acquired and merited, too, the name of its champion;
whose fame has become the property of the nation, and
who has displayed such amazing talents in the forum, in
the senate, and, indeed, in every station which he has
been called upon to fill, that we hear him daily spoken
of as the greatest statesman of the age. I knew the
Whigs owed him a debt of gratitude so vast they never
could pay him if they would, but until recently I never
even suspected they would not if they could.
Before I sit down, I would make a special appeal to my
brother farmers, who have favored us with their company
to-day, and also to those who may- have been prevented
from coming, and I would bespeak their aid and assistance
in the coming contest ; for I feel that without them, little
would be accomplished. I fear we do not realize as we
should how much we are indebted to them, and how
much we depend on the honest labor of their hands.
Truly has the poet said of them —
" Princes and lords may flourish or may fade,
A breath can make them, as a breath has made ;
But a bold yeomanry, their country's pride,
When once destroyed, can never be supplied."
When I reflect upon their vast number and great
strength, though they are so still and quiet, and compare
them with our politicians, who, though really small in
number, are so boisterous and noisy, I am reminded of a
comparison of Mr. Burke's, when speaking of some agita
tors in England, during the French revolution, he said,
" Because half a dozen grasshoppers under a fern, make a
whole field ring with their importunate clink, whilst hun
dreds of noble cattle, under the British oak, chew the cud
and are silent, we must not suppose they are the only
tenants of the field."

ELECTION OF GENERAL PIERCE. 327
If you, brother farmers, will, on the second of November
next, promise me to give the long pull, the strong pull,
and the pull altogether, our success, I think, may be
considered as certain.
Well, then, felloAv-citizens and fellow-townsmen of the
eighth district, Avhom I am happy to meet in such num
bers on this occasion, we behold the campaign fairly opened,
and Ave have chosen for our standard-bearers Pierce and
King ; and let me ask you, could the choice have fallen
on two statesmen and patriots more worthy of our confi
dence, or who Avould carry it higher ? Who would hesi
tate to enlist under such a flag ? On it are inscribed,
"The Constitution, Union, Liberty, Independence."
We have opposed to us, General Scott and Mr. Graham.
The former, we are told, " was never beaten ; " and I may
add, that our champion, too, was never beaten, and, in my
opinion, never will be.
In the same way you may remember they had a war
rior amongst the ancient Greeks, Achilles, the bravest of
them all, who was declared "invulnerable," and Vulcan
made for him a suit of armor which nothing could pierce ;
but this proved to be a mistake, for when Thetis plunged
him into the river Styx, she held him by the heel, which
failed to acquire this quality of invulnerability, and he
was afterwards killed by Paris, whilst he was soliciting
the hand of a lady in the temple of Minerva.
Who knows, gentlemen, that General Scott has not
some place about him, in the heel or somewhere behind,
which is also vulnerable ? for we all remember what a
dread he has always had " of being taken in the rear."
But let him engage in combat with our champion when
he will, I predict he will find out the unguarded place, if
he has one, and that the hero of Lundy's Lane will not
have the good fortune to escape, as he did at Queenstown,
with being only taken prisoner.

328 WORKS OF S. D BRADFORD.
I thank you profoundly, gentlemen, for the kind and
flattering attention with which you have listened to me.
I could not even hope to reward your attention, by relat
ing anything new, after the full, accurate, and highly
graphic account of the proceedings at Baltimore, by the
Hon. Mr. Hallet, published a few days since, and who, I
had hoped, would have been present here to-day. As
regards that convention, he could truly say not "quorum
pars magna fui," but " quorum pars maxima fui," and well
has he described the proceedings. Once more, gentlemen,
accept the tender of my sincere thanks, and in due time
may we all meet here again to ratify, confirm, and cele
brate, not the nomination, but the election, of Pierce and
King!

HON. DAVID HENSHAW.
The great heart of the nation has not ceased to throb
from the severe and sudden shock it received from the
death of the exalted leader of the Whig party, Mr. Web
ster, when it is violently agitated and grieved again by
the announcement that the great, the good, and the dis
tinguished leader of the Democratic party, David Hen-
shaw, is also numbered with the dead ! The tears of the
nation for the loss of the former are not yet dry ; the
habUiments of mourning, Avith which our public and many
of our private buildings were' shrouded, have not been
removed, Avhen we are caUed upon to shed fresh tears
over the tomb of another patriot and statesman, no
less venerated and beloved. It was only yesterday that
the papers announced that the Hon. David Henshaw died
on the 11th instant, at Leicester,. his native place, at the
age of sixty-one years, having been born on the 2d of April,
1791; admired, beloved, and revered by all who knew him.
Like the illustrious defender of the constitution, he died
in the town and upon the sjoot which he had chosen as the
place of his retreat, upon his retirement from the more
active duties of life, and surrounded by those relatives and
friends who were so dear to him whilst living, and who
will never cease to venerate his memory now that he is
dead. A distinguished statesman, General Pierce, in giving
utterance to his grief upon the decease of Mr. Webster, after
mentioning the great men who have recently been called to
" pass through the dark valley " — Wright, Woodbury, Cal-
42

330 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
houn, and Clay — has feelingly asked, " who are to take their
places in the perUs through which our country may be called
to pass ? " In the same spirit would we inquire who, in
future, is to counsel and guide the Democratic party in
Massachusetts ? In whom can they confide at all times
of difficulty or danger as in him whose loss we are called
upon to deplore ?
Should any one hereafter attempt to write his Ufe, it
would involve the history of the party for the last twenty-
five years ; for no important movement has . been made
without his concurrence, and the most important measures
which have been adopted were many of them suggested
by him. General Jackson, at an early period, discovered
the incorruptible integrity, fidelity, and talents, which dis
tinguished him, and appointed him collector of Boston and
Charlestown — a post he held for so many years with such
honor to himself, and such universal approbation on the
part of the merchants of both political parties. Indeed,
his administration of that office is often spoken of now,
after a lapse of so many years, as a model for imitation.
By President Tyler he was appointed secretary of the
navy, which place, however, he did not hold long, on
account of a combination of circumstances existing at the
time, such as, it is believed, never existed before, and, it is
hoped, for the honor of the nation, will never exist again ;
but he held it long enough to display a skill and an admin
istrative capacity such as astonished persons who were
strangers to Mr. Henshaw, but which only confirmed the
predictions ' of his friends. It is scarcely a week since
meeting, in the street in Boston, a venerable and distin
guished officer of the navy, he remarked, whilst speaking
of Mr. Henshaw, " We never had such an admirable sec
retary before, and I doubt if we ever shall have again ; "
and this was the opinion of the whole nation.
Convinced, early in life, of the truth of democratic prin-

CHARACTER OF DAVID HENSHAW. 331
cipies, he advocated them fearlessly, and with an ability
seldom equalled. Although not educated for any of the
learned professions, so called, there was no question of
morals, jurisprudence, or equity, which he shrank from
discussing, and with an ability seldom if ever surpassed.
Upon several occasions, he wrote upon some of the most
intricate and difficult questions which can exercise the
understanding. The points he attempted to establish on
pobtical questions were almost always opposed to the opin
ions generally received in Boston ; but few, if any, persons
ever ventured to reply ; and it is not remembered that he
ever had occasion to resort to a rejoinder.
He had a great original mind, formed and adapted to
consider and . weigh questions of mighty import ; and it is
not doubted that, had he been educated for the bar, he
would have left a name second to none in the brilliant
galaxy of American jurists. He was a diligent reader ;
but, what is far more uncommon, he was a profound
thinker also, and was never satisfied with any present
attainments. His books were his great solace under the
pain and confinement of the complaint (the gout) with
which he was so seriously afflicted for so many years,
and which he endured with a patience and resignation
which excited the admiration of all his friends.
Of his patriotism, it is impossible to speak in terms of
too exalted praise. He thought no sacrifice too great to
promote the glory, the prosperity, and the happiness of his
country, and he took a deep interest in all the great
public measures of the last twenty-five years. He was
an uncompromising defender of the principles of Jeffer
son, Jackson, and of the other fathers of our republic, at
a time when a defender of these measures required some
courage, patience, and Christian fortitude. He never
waited to see whether a great pubUc measure would
probably be popular or otherwise ; but, if he approved

332 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
it, and believed it would promote the good of the coun
try, he advocated it without fear or hesitation. He sus
tained two administrations in their refusal to re-charter the
United States Bank. He advocated powerfully the sub-
treasury system, at one time so denounced as pernicious
if not impracticable, but now admitted, by both political
parties, as a Avise and salutary regulation, and as the guard- •
ian and preserver of our moneyed institutions, instead of
their destroyer. Free trade found in him a most constant
and able advocate and defender; but, at the same time,
no one took a livelier interest in the prosperity of our
home manufactures, which, however, he believed, would
be injured rather than benefited, by high protective duties.
In his devotion to the Union, which he considered always
as the foundation stone of our greatness and happiness as
a nation, he was second to none, and avaUed himself of
every proper occasion to impress a love of it upon the
hearts of the people..
To say that such a man was permitted to remain at all
in private life, and that the people of his native state did
not invite and urge him at all times to accept the highest
and most important offices in their gift, is only to admit
that the people do not always reward great talents and
exemplary public and private worth as they deserve.
Office, however, could confer no real distinction on such
a man, although the public service may be greatly injured
by being entrusted to less able and deserving hands.
There was no situation, however high, not even the
highest, to which Mr. Henshaw would not have brought
talents, zeal, and ability, equal to any emergency which
could have arisen. No subject, however difficult or
abstruse, seemed too high for his comprehension ; and he
possessed a power of investigation and anahysis such as
falls to the lot of very few persons.
To describe the domestic life and character of our

CHARACTER OF DAVID HENSHAW. 333
departed friend would be to present a portrait of all the
virtues Avhich are most esteemed amongst men. The good
ness of his heart Avas as great as the power of his under
standing. Benevolent to a degree seldom witnessed, he
was never so happy as when he could do a kindness to
another. Hospitable in the largest sense of the word, he
Avas always gratified Avhen he could receive and entertain
strangers or friends. He had a Avise and sensible appre
ciation of money, avoiding equally avarice and prodigal
ity, and this is no small praise ; for, as a distinguished
English author has said, " a right measure and manner in
getting, saving, spending, giving, taking, lending, borrow
ing, and bequeathing, would almost argue a perfect man."
In all these respects, the example of Mr. Henshaw was
one to be imitated and folloAved.
But it has pleased our heavenly Father to call him out
of this world, and we shall no more look upon his noble
and benevolent countenance. A few short weeks only
have elapsed since he returned from Europe, where he
had been passing two or three months for the benefit of
his health ; and it was our happiness to congratulate him
on the improvement which had taken place, and Avhich
filled us with the hope that he might live many years
Little did we anticipate that, when he left Boston for
Leicester, it was to be for the last time. If, however, the
decree had gone forth that he was to die so soon, it is
some consolation to reflect that he died where he did,
upon the site of that old Indian fort upon his paternal
estate, in the arms of his nearest and dearest relatives ;
and in the. vicinity of those respected neighbors and friends
who valued him so highly, and who now so deeply lament
his loss. At one time, we had great fears he might pass
away in a foreign land, in the midst of strangers. We
may, therefore, apply to him the words of Tacitus, in
lamenting the. death of his father-in-laAv, the distinguished

WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
Roman general, Agricola : " Tu vero felix, non vitas tantum
claritate, sed etiam opportum'tate mortis. Admiratione te potius,
temporalibus laudibus, et, si natura suppeditet, simitudine decore-
mus."

FUNERAL OF HON. DAVID HENSHAW.
Leicester, Nov. 16th, 1852.
Having seen in your paper the obituary notices of the
great statesman and philanthropist, David Henshaw, whose
death we have so recently been called upon to mourn,
your readers, or, at any rate, some of them, may, perhaps,
feel an interest in reading a brief account of his funeral,
which took place to-clay in this, his native town. It was
an occasion which has made a deep impression upon the
minds of all present, and which will be long remembered.
The directors of the Worcester railway, with which Mr.
Henshaw was connected for so many years, and of which
it may in fact be said, he was one of. the principal found
ers, seized the opportunity to place a special train at the
service of such persons in Boston and its vicinity, as might
desire to pay the homage of their respect to the memory
of the deceased ; and Mr. Twitched, the attentive and
courteous superintendent, accompanied the train to Wor
cester, and then proceeded to Leicester in one of the
numerous carriages which had been ordered for the occa
sion. The directors of the company also attended the
funeral, and the arrangements were all well made, and
executed in the most prompt and most effectual manner.
The engine employed, said to be the most' poAverful one
on the line, was called David Henshaw, and was draped
with the habiliments of mourning. The train left Boston
at half past eight o'clock, A. M. On reaching Framing
ham, half way, it was joined by several families, who had

FUNERAL OF DAVID HENSHAW. 335
been Avaiting its arrival there ; and on reaching the
terminus at Worcester, at ten o'clock, it was almost sur
rounded by the carriages which had been ordered to con
vey the passengers to the late residence of the deceased,
distant about six miles. The morning was bright, clear,
and cold ; the ground under the trees by the roadside was
strewed with fading or dead leaves, so emblematic of the
season of the year ; and the funeral cortege, on being
formed in a long, straight line, presented a sight most
imposing, and such as is not often seen in this part of the
country. The gathering about the terminus, the array of vehicles,
the quiet, dejected aspect of the people — everything indi
cated that some important but painful occurence had taken
place. On arrival at the late residence of Mr. Henshaw, almost
the first object seen was the metallic case or coffin contain
ing his body, placed upon a support upon the lawn, oppo
site the principal entrance to the house, as was done at the
funeral of Mr. Webster, at Marshfield ; and there the com
pany had an opportunity of gazing, for the last time, upon
the mild and benevolent countenance of their departed
friend. It was as placid, composed, and peaceful, as if he
had only just fallen asleep. A procession was soon formed,
and moved in the direction of the church, distant about a
mile. As it passed over the hills and through the valleys
of this beautiful town, not a person was seen at work in
the fields ; the plough was laid aside ; the- sound of the
anvil was nowhere to be heard ; the shops were closed,
and hung with black, and on reaching the church it was
shrouded in mourning. In a few minutes it was filled to
overflowing, and the solemn religious services commenced,
being performed by the Rev. Dr. Nelson, assisted by his
colleague, Rev. Mr. Dennison. They consisted of two
prayers, the singing of the two hymns, commencing " God

336 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
moves in a mysterious way," and " Whilst Thee I seek,
protecting Power," and a short, but appropriate eulogy upon
the life and qualities of the deceased, by the Rev. Dr. Nel
son, in which he spoke of the most salient points in the
character of Mr. Henshaw ; his incorruptible integrity ; his
indomitable energy; his untiring industry; of the able
manner in which he filled so many important places ; of
his unwearied exertions in the introduction, progress, and
perfection of railways, and of his unbounded charity and
benevolence. He alluded to the recent death of the other
distinguished statesmen, Calhoun, Clay, and Webster, and
said that we must now add that of David Henshaw, which
proved that
"Death loves a shining mark."
The speaker Avas evidently aware of the irreparable loss
sustained by the town, by the state, and by the nation ; but
yet it might not be quite true to say that he compre
hended fully the genius and mental powers of Mr. Hen
shaw, in all their grandeur and extent ; and possibly this
arose from the very circumstance of his nearness to him ;
as great men, like lofty mountains, require to be viewed
from a distance, fully to comprehend their vast majesty
and height. The mind of Mr. Henshaw was like the won
derful productions of some of the old masters in painting.
which, every time you look at them, display some new
beauty and power. Like an autumnal landscape, as the
sun strikes upon it first, in its full effulgence, and then,
after passing through a cloud, some new phase of beauty
and variety is every moment presented to the view. Dr.
Nelson spoke also of the great antiquity, as well as of the
elevated character of Mr. Henshaw's ancestry, (higher
even than any one suspected until reference had been
had to the 'Herald's College in London, hy a relative,) and
of the important part they acted in the early history of

FUNERAL OF DAVID HENSHAW. 337
New England ; and he stated that, although Mr. Henshaw
was one of nine brothers and sisters, the circle had never
before been broken by death since 1801, a period of over
half a century, a circumstance which he believed to be
almost without a parallel.
He made some very pertinent and useful remarks on
the manner in Avhich the deceased passed his evenings
when an apprentice in Boston ; reading and studying use
ful books, instead of wasting the seed-time of life, and he
expressed a hope that his example might be followed by
the young men of the present day. He did not speak, but
others have spoken, of his great love of children, of his
delight in the society of intelligent and educated ladies,
and of his kindness in aiding so many young men by his
useful counsels, and •in other ways ; services which no one
perhaps has rendered more freely ; and to which so many
perspns are ready to bear witness.
Such is a brief outline of the character of this great man,
as portrayed by Dr. Nelson, and " 0 ! how devoutly to be
wished it is" that all our distinguished public men were like
Mr. HenshaAV, morally virtuous and good as well as intellect
ually great ; that they could feel and realize that a country
can be progressive without, at the same time, becoming
aggressive ; that fidelity to treaties, to truth, justice, and the
laws of God, is the best and only foundation on which the
liberties of a nation can permanently rest ; and that even
the suspicion that a nation would take by violence the prop
erty of another, especially should it be a weaker power,
must tarnish its reputation, and effectually destroy its
moral influence forever ! Let all our public men adhere
to principle, and " do justly." Then may ours indeed be
called, with truth, " the model republic," and we may expect
soon to realize the beautiful vision of the Hon. R. J.
Walker, in his recent letter to Arthur Davies, Esq., of
"London, in having " our confederacy embrace the whole
43

338 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
earth, with one untaxed and unrestricted commerce, one
language, and one Christianity, all enlightened, educated,
and trained in moral, scientific, political, and religious cul
ture — each state, as under our Union, taking charge of its
own local concerns, and the general government exercis
ing but few powers under specific provisions. . Such a gov:
ernment would present incalculable advantages for ,the
advancement of the human race."
But to return to the obsequies. The services in
the church having been concluded, the procession was
again formed, and followed the body, which had been
replaced upon the hearse, to the new cemetery called
the Pine Grove, where it was deposited in the receiv
ing tomb, from which it will be removed to-morrow
to the family tomb in the burial-ground of Leicester,
from which, in due time, it will be taken to a new
tomb about to be constructed by the surviving relatives of
Mr. Henshaw, in the Pine Grove Cemetery, whose beauti
ful grounds are being laid out like those of Mount Auburn
or Forest Hill, near Boston.
Mr. Henshaw's farm consists of about three hundred
acres, and the land, in general, is of excellent quality.
Amongst the persons present were His Excellency Gov
ernor Boutwell, Hon. Albert Smith, of Maine, Hon. B. F.
Hallett, Hon. Isaac Emery, Major Grafton, several members
of the governor's council, and many others too numerous
to mention. The pall-bearers were eight neighbors of Mr.
Henshaw, all belonging to Leicester.
Thus ended a day which will be long remembered in
Leicester, as that devoted to the funeral of its most beloved,
most liberal, and most distinguished citizen ; a statesman,
philanthropist, and patriot, such as would do honor to any
town, or any country. It remains to be seen if the Demo
crats, no, not the Democrats, (for Mr. Henshaw, like Mr.
Webster, cannot be said to have belonged to any party,'

FUNERAL OF- DAVID HENSHAAV. 339
but to the nation,) but the Whigs, and, in short, all who
love their country and the Union, A\dll be content to rest
here. Mr. Henshaw Avas eminently the friend of the
laborer and the poor ; and, should an appeal be made to the
masses, as was done in England, when she lost that great
and good man, Sir Robert Peel, it could not fail to be fol
lowed by a like result ; for the masses never desert such a
man, and are always true to his memory ; and if this be
the monumental age, and if great excellences and distin
guished pubhc services are to be marked and commemo
rated by marble, granite, or bronze, let it be remembered
that, amongst the arches or columns to be erected,
David HenshaAv, the originator of the printed vote, merits,
and ought to have, one of the tallest and most magnifi
cent. ." Plokatoe."
To the Editors of the Boston Post.

CHARACTER OE MRS. SUSANNAH
BILLINGS.
Died, in West Roxbury, on Saturday, the second of
April, 1853, Susannah Billings, aged eighty-two years.
It was an observation of that great man, Lord Bacon,
"I have 'often thought of death, and I find it the least of
all evils." And so might any. one say, whose life had
been beautiful and blameless, like that. of our departed
friend, whose loss we have so recently had occasion to
deplore. A character so adorned with all the Christian
graces is not often found. It is pleasant, as well as useful,
to dwell for a moment upon such an example.
Mrs. Billings belonged to an ancient and most respecta
ble family of Roxbury, consisting of four sons and seven
daughters, all ' of whom are now deceased, except one.
The last brother, who died but a short time since, was Daniel
Weld, for so many years a devoted member of Hollis
Street Church in Boston, and upon whose life and charac
ter the Rev. Thomas Starr King pronounced a warm, but
well deserved eulogy, on the ninteenth of September last,
which was published. The brothers were all distinguished
for enterprise, industry, and the strictest integrity ; and*
the sisters for those social, amiable, and domestic qualities
which endear the wife and mother, and render home what
it always should be. Their devotion to the cause of relig
ion was constant and unwavering ; and " their good works
were known unto all men."
The object of this notice was singularly endowed with

CHARACTER OF SUSANNAH BILLINGS. 34 1
all those Christian virtues, Avhich inspire us with love and
admiration. United early in life to one Avho Avas a model
of everything AA'hich is excellent and praise-worthy in the
human character, and blessed Avith children affectionate as
they were dutiful, almost the first affliction Avhich arrested
the even course of her happiness, was occasioned by the
death of her esteemed and beloved consort, who died on
the twentieth of August, 1829, at the age of sixty-four
years. This must arwa}Ts be a bereavement of the most
painfid character to a loving and affectionate wife ; and
life can never be again what' it was before. Then, more
than eATer, is she dependent upon the sympathy, kindness,
and devotion of her children. In this respect, Mrs. Bil
lings Avas truly blessed ; and if, from her happy abode in
heaven, she be cognizant of what is passing upon earth,
we may easUy imagine her saying, to each of her chUdren,
Ah! weep not — it shall be
An after thought to cheer thee,
That while mine eyes could see,
And while mine ears could hear thee —
Thy voice and smile were still
The spells on which I doated,
And thou, through good and ill,
To me and mine devoted.
It would be grateful to specify and dwell upon the
various excellences which marked the character of the
deceased; but to such as enjoyed the privilege of her
acquaintance it is unnecessary, as they are engraved
already too deeply upon the memory ever to be effaced.
Benevolence, or a desire to make others happy, was the
predominant sentiment which directed and controlled all
her actions.
Few persons were so free from selfishness. Her gener
osity had • not the irregularity or impetuosity of the tor
rent,. but, like some gentle fountain, was never failing, and
always equable in its course. The kindness of her heart

342 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
was such as to be ever moved by a tale of suffering and
distress, and she always relieved it when she could. She
was a kind neighbor and a faithful friend. So unfailing
was she in performing all the duties of her station, that
her example diffused a wholesome influence upon all
around her. Her approbation was esteemed a test of
worthiness and good conduct. The young looked up to
and reverenced her. The middle-aged could conceive of
nothing more beautiful than an old age like hers. In her
religion she was full of faith ; and she trusted implicitly in
the promises of the Savior, which Avere her best solace in
all the trials of life ; but she was liberal towards those
who entertained different sentiments from her own, and
believed in the efficacy and indispensable necessity of
good works, without which she conceived there could be
no true discipleship. She was a communicant of the
church, and so long as her health permitted, was a con
stant and devout attendant upon the ministrations of the
sanctuary. Nothing could exceed the' interest she. took
in the parish to which she belonged, or her kindness and
consideration for the ¦ ministers, who, during her protracted
residence in Roxbury, were her spiritual guides. If the
fathers live no longer to testify to this, yet some of their
children survive:
•• And the tear that they shed, though in secret it rolls,
Shall long keep her memory green in their souls."
We might speak also of her fine person, (the beauty
and comeliness of which even extreme old age had but
little impaired,) and of her benignant and pleasant coun
tenance, which was a true index of her mind.
The closing scene of the life Ave have so imperfectly
described, was worthy of its previous stages. Although
her last illness continued for a month, during part of which
time her sufferings were intense, arising from that severe

CHARACTER OF SUSANNAH BILLINGS. 343
and painful complaint,' inflammatory rheumatism, not a
word of impatience or complaint escaped her lips. Instead
of saying. " How long Avilt thou forget me, oh Lord?" her
ejaculations were, "I will love thee, 0 Lord, my strength."
"The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer."
"A father ofthe fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is
God in his holy habitation."
A part of the time it appeared as if her thoughts were
wholly withdraAvn from earth, and rested amongst the
blessed spirits of heaven; and she seemed listening to
those beautiful words in Revelation, "And he said to me,
These are they which came out of great tribulation, and
have Avashed their robes, and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne
of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and
he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
They shall hunger no more, neither, thirst any more ;
neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For
the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed
them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters,
and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."
Many days previous to her decease, she had taken an
affectionate and most affecting leave of her children and
her grand-children, like one about to commence a long
journey ; and she died surrounded by the former, upon
the arm of one of whom she rested at the moment of
death. She had been her staff and constant attendant in
life, and became her support when her spirit took its flight
to God who gave it.
It may be deemed perhaps superfluous to add, that by
the decease of one of such uncommon excellence and
worth, her relatives and friends, the town where she
resided, the poor whom she assisted, the young Avhom she
counselled and advised, and the religious society to which
she belonged, have sustained a heavy loss. If, however,

344 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
we continue to think of her as we ought ; to follow her
example ; and to reverence her memory as it deserves,
may we not say, " She is not dead, but sleepeth ? "
May we not realize the truth as well as the poetry of
these lines?
" 'T is said, that when life is ended here.
The spirit is borne to a distant sphere ;
That it visits its earthly home no more,
Nor looks on the haunts it loved before.
'T is a cruel creed, believe it not !
Death to the good is a milder lot.
They are here — they are here — that harmless pair,
In the yellow sunshine and flowing air,
They watch, and wait, and linger around,
Till the day when their bodies shall leave the ground."

EUNERAL OE PRESIDENT BATES,

Dudley, Mass., Jan. 19, 1854.
As you will have seen in so many papers obituary
notices of that excellent and distinguished divine, the
Rev. Dr. Bates, who died at this place on the 14th
instant, at the age of seventy-eight years, some of your
readers, who have known him, may feel an interest in
reading a short, imperfect account of his funeral, which
took place on Tuesday, the 17th instant. It was an occasion
fuU ofthe most painful interest for those who were present ;
and cannot faU to excite a corresponding feeling in the hearts •
of many relatives and friends in various sections of our
extended country. Few persons were so distinguished
as the deceased in the various situations he has filled,
or were so extensively known, not only in New Eng
land, but in places far removed from that which gave
him birth. The day was ¦ cold and severe. A piercing
wind, which seemed to come from regions of frost and
ice, the ground covered by a slight coating of snow,.
the trees deprived of their foliage, and waving to and
fro under the influence of the current of air, reminded'
us all that we were in the midst of a New England
winter. As this romantic town is made up of lofty hiUs and
valleys, one might almost imagine himself in parts of
North or South Wales. It is most pleasantly situated, and
stands on the Quinnebaug and French rivers. It was a
44

346 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
favorite spot with Dr. Bates and his family, and he had
become much attached to the people, by whom he was
almost idolized.
It was evident, early in the day, that some severe loss
had faUen upon the town. The cessation from labor, the
walking to and fro of the people, seemingly without any
fixed purpose, their quiet but dejected looks, everything
indicated that some important but painful occurrence had
taken place. At noon arrived the carriages from Web
ster, distant three miles, and bringing the railway passen
gers from Boston and the intermediate towns, who had
left their homes and usual occupations, to pay this last
tribute of respect and love to their departed friend. The
church beU commenced to ring soon after ; an appropri
ate and fervent prayer was made at the parsonage by the
Rev. Mr. Bardwell, of Oxford, and the body was then
removed to the meeting-house, parts of which were draped
in the habiliments of mourning, and which was crowded
by an audience such as is seldom seen on such a day in
a country town.
The services commenced at about two o'clock, with the
reading of the hymn :
" There is an hour of peaceful rest,
To mourning wanderers given."
The Rev. L. Griggs, of Millbury, then made a prayer.
This was followed by another hymn :
" There is a land of pure delight,
Where saints immortal reign."
The Rev. William B. Sprague, D. D., of Albany, then
delivered the funeral discourse, which, for beauty of lan
guage, discrimination of character, and true eloquence
has been seldom if ever surpassed, and which will be long
remembered. The sentiment was taken from the third
chapter of Isaiah, first and second verses :

OBSEQUIES OF REV. JOSHUA BATES. 347
" For behold the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem, and
from Judah, the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of
water. The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the
prudent, and the ancient."
The three last characteristics of " the prophet," " the
prudent," and " the ancient," were those upon which Dr.
Sprague particularly dwelt in illustrating the character of
Dr. Bates. He gave a succinct but most interesting
account of his life ; spoke of his having been the class
mate of that distinguished and almost angelic divine, the
Rev. Mr. Buckminster, at Harvard College, and attaining
the first honor on graduating; of his settlement at Ded
ham, near Boston, in 1803 ; of his unwearied labors to
buUd up the University at Middlebury, Vermont, during
the twenty-one years he was its president ; of his appoint
ment as chaplain to Congress by the recommendation of
the late Silas Wright and other friends ; and finally, of his
settlement at Dudley, in 1843, when he had reached his
sixty-seventh year ; an instance of so late a settlement in
the Christian ministry, that it is believed to have no pre
cedent in the history of New England churches. He paid
a just' and well merited compliment to the people of Dud
ley, who, deviating from the usual custom of selecting the
young and inexperienced as pastors, could discern and
knew how to appreciate those uncommon qualities which
he possessed as a religious teacher and pastor ; and to
which, it is believed, very few could lay claim in an equal
degree. He dwelt on the logical accuracy of his mind, his love
of investigation, and his determination to sound the depths
of every subject to which he turned his attention ; adding
that all the faculties of his mind were so highly cultivated,
so nicely balanced, and in such harmony with one another,
it was difficult to say for which he was most distinguished.
Finally, he addressed the mourners with a pathos, a

348 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
tenderness, and propriety, which would not suffer in com
parison with the most successful efforts of Bossuet or Mas-
sUlon. He mentioned that Dr. Bates, some years since?
had requested him to perform this last melancholy duty
in case he should survive him, and had given him the
leading particulars of his life. In this he displayed the
same judgment and discrimination which so distinguished
him upon other occasions.
Horace, in his ode " Ad Lollium," has said :
" Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona
Multi ; sed omnes illacrimabiles
TJrgentur ignotique longa *
Nocte, carent quia vate sacro."
I rejoice that this cannot be said of our departed friend,
and no one could look upon Dr. Sprague during the deliv
ery of his discourse without being reminded of another
ode of Horace to Virgil, where he says :
" Multis, ille bonis flebilis occidit
Nulli flebilior quam mihi."
But it is unnecessary to dwell longer upon the discourse
of Dr. Sprague, as it will, of course, be published, be
widely circulated, and read by the numerous relatives and
friends of Dr. Bates. The opinion was expressed by every
one, that, while it. extolled so highly the various excel
lences and virtues which distinguished the character of
the deceased, it had not over-estimated them in the least}
but had done justice to them with great discrimination,
and truth, and feeling.
The services in the church were closed by singing the
hymn : '< AVhen I can read my title clear,
To mansions in the skies."
and by the benediction.
A procession was then formed, which followed the body

OBSEQUIES OF REV JOSHUA BATES. 349
from the church to Webster, where, at half-past six o'clock,
P. M., it was taken on board a railway car, and conveyed
to Worcester, from which it was next day carried to Mid
dlebury, Vt., there to be interred by the side of his first
wife and three of his children, whom he had survived. It
was attended by three of his mourning and affectionate
sons, and by a deputation from the church and parish of
Dudley. Thus ended a day which will be long remembered by
the people of this town as that which dissolved forever in
this world their connection with one who, as a husband, a
father, a citizen, a pastor, and a man, was beloved, esteemed
and venerated by aU who knew him. He has been taken
from us by the decree of a wise and just, but merciful
Providence, in the fulness of his intellectual and physical
powers ; for, though aged in years, there were scarcely
any marks or evidences of age about him ; and every day
he lived, and every literary effort he made, seemed to add
to his reputation for wisdom, learning, and goodness.
Those, however, (and they are many,) who have been his
pupils, and listened to his words of wisdom and instruction;
those who have been benefited by his counsels and exam
ple, or encouraged by his always cheerful advice ; his
bereaved consort, the object of his constant solicitude and
care ; his sons and daughters, whom he loved so tenderly,
and whose affection and kindness in return have been so
exemplary ; in a word, every one here and elsewhere,
who enjoyed the privilege of his acquaintance, will never
forget the Christian philanthropist whom they have lost.
" And the night dew that falls, though in silence it weeps,
Shall brighten with verdure the grave where he sleeps,
And the tear that we shed, though in secret it rolls,
Shall long keep his memory green in our souls." S. D. B.
To the Editor of the Boston Daily Advertiser.

[From the New York Herald of October 3d, 1854.]
THE SCHUYLER SWINDLE.
MEETING OF THE STOCKHOLDERS OF THE NEW YORK AND NEW HAVEN RAILROAD.
AN EXCITINQ FIGHT BETWEEN MASSACHUSETTS, CONNECTICUT, AND WALL STREET.
THE POLICE CALLED IN TO SUSTAIN THE CHAIR.
New York, October 3d, 1854.
A special meeting of tbe stockholders of the New York and
New Haven Railroad, was held yesterday morning, at 11 V clock,
at the Apollo Rooms, in accordance with the notice previously
published. The meeting was well attended, there being present
about four hundred stockholders.
W. W. Boardman was called to the chair.
Upon taking the chair, he addressed the meeting, and said the
over-issues of Robert Schuyler demanded action. A great fraud
had been perpetrated, and somebody must be the loser. There
were two parties assembled there — the hoiders of the good and of
the bad stock. The directors, he said, had carefully prepared a
report for the stockholders, which he would now lay before them.
" Gentlemen," said he, " what is your pleasure 1 Shall the report
be now read 1 "
Several Voices. " Yes," " yes."
Chairman. " The secretary will now read the report."
As soon as the reading of the report was finished, a gentleman,
dressed in a blue coat, with brass buttons, and looking very much
like the late Daniel Webster, arose, and began to speak. It was
evident his bearing and appearance impressed every one present
with the idea that he Avas some gentleman of importance who stood

THE SCHUYLER FBAUD. 351
before them; and immediately there were cries of "name,"
" name." Chairman. "Mr. Bradford, of Roxbury, (Massachusetts,)
gentlemen." Several Voices. "Take the stand." "Take the platform."
" Let us all hear."
Chairman. " Keep order, gentlemen, and you shall all hear."
" Mr. Bradford, will you come to the stand ? "
Mr. Bradford, in obedience to the call, then mounted the
platform, and spoke as follows :
Mr. President and Gentlemen, — Being the holder of a
considerable amount of stock in the New York and New
Haven Railroad from its commencement ; having bought
it as an investment of capital only, and having never
purchased or sold a share since I became one of the orig
inal subscribers ; having been intrusted also with a large
number of proxies by shareholders residing in Boston
and its vicinity, I hope I may not be considered as mak
ing an unreasonable demand upon your time or patience,
by offering a few observations upon the business which
has called us here to-day. A fraud has been committed
by one " who (we are told in the report which has been
read) had sustained the highest reputation for intelligence
and integrity, and was particularly distinguished for his
experience and skill in the construction and management
of raUroads," of such a stupendous character as to be
almost, if not quite, without a parallel in the history of
the past, or in the experience of any one living. The
sum of two miUions of doUars, or about that amount, has
been obtained by fraud, by Robert Schuyler, late Presi
dent of the New York and New Haven Railroad ; and we
have been called here (many of us from our distant
homes) to see what order we will take in this emergency.
Various plans have been proposed, by the public press and
by individuals, and some of the holders of the fraudulent

352 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
certificates have, as might have been expected, expressed
the confident opinion, that this company is bound to
assume those certificates which have been fraudulently
issued, and amounting to nearly two millions of dollars.
On the other hand, the directors, a few days ago, have
published their report, in which they have abstained from
expressing any opinion upon the liability of the company,
but have laid before you the opinion of high and eminent
counsel in New York, who declare that the corporation
is free from all Uability.
I have read with care that opinion of the learned coun
sel, which, I may add, has only confirmed the conclusion
which I had previously formed ; and unless I am greatly
deceived, it will be triumphantly sustained by the
stockholders assembled here to day.
What I, as an individual, may think upon the subject,
may be quite immaterial ; but I have had many oppor
tunities of hearing the opinions of able lawyers, learned
judges, and distinguished counsellors in my own state,
(Massachusetts,) and I have not yet met with the first
man, who expressed the opinion that the corporation is
liable. Indeed, I apprehend that, if the fact could be
ascertained, the same opinion would be found to prevail
generally throughout the community. We must all
regret the heavy loss which is likely to fall upon some
persons who are the innocent holders of the fraudulent
certificates, and who lay so much stress upon the acts of
an agent as binding his employers, reminding us of that
principle of law " quifacit per alium facit per se" forgetting,
however, altogether, that other useful caution, "caveat
emptor." It seems, however, almost incredible, that any
disinterested person should expect this company to make
good to the holders of the spurious shares the loss they may
have sustained ; as every one must see that, were they dis
posed to do so, they have not the power without violating

THE SCHUYLER FRAUD. 353
the charter, and the rights of such shareholders as might
refuse their consent ; besides establishing a principle which
would be fatal to the safety and security of every kind of
incorporated property. No doubt, Mr. President, many
gentlemen here present, like myself, are owners of prop
erty in incorporated companies ; but let it once be settled
that an agent or officer, whom we appoint to do certain
acts permitted by the charter, can do any other he pleases,
in violation of that' instrument, and by an act of fraud
annihilate the property he was chosen to guard and pro
tect, who, permit me to inquire, under such circumstances,
would continue to hold property so situated I I would
not for one ; and all such investments would soon have few
if any advocates.
A corporation is, as it has been defined, " a society." It
consists of many persons or partners, who unite for the
general good of all concerned. Every holder of shares in
the New York and New Haven Railroad, is the partner, in
this sense, of all others holding shares. Now, Mr. Presi
dent, let me inquire of any merchant here present how
he would act in a case which I wUl suppose to happen. I
wUl suppose him to be a special partner in what is called
a limited copartnership, under the revised statutes of New
York, and to have furnished all the capital agreed upon.
He lives, perhaps, at a distance from the city, Uke many
of the stockholders in this company, but occasionally visits
New York ; and, in going to his counting-room some morn
ing, finds it full of new and strange faces. He calls one of
his original general partners aside, and inquires who they
are, and receives for answer, that he, the general part
ner, wanting to raise a certain sum of money to pay hi*
private debts, had, for a valuable consideration, (but in
violation of the articles of copartnership,) admitted several
new special partners into the concern. Let me next
inquire, what course would probably be taken by the orig-
45

354 WORKS OF S. D BRADFORD.
inal special partner under these circumstances? Would
he assume the new special spurious partners, or would he
inform them of the error they had made, demand their
withdrawal, and, on receiving their refusal, call in the
police ?
It is easy to answer a question of this kind, because no
one feels any pecuniary interest in it ; but this is precisely
the case of the holders of the fraudulent certificates in this
company, who demand of the original stockholders to
assume the same. To such a proposition I feel assured
you will never agree, but wUl reject it with unanimity.
I am aware that such a decision may lead to litigation,
and that it has been announced already that " the Board
of Brokers in New York, have had a meeting, and
appointed several members of the board a committee
to defend the rights of the members in the matter
of the New York and New Haven Railroad Com
pany, and to fight the case with the funds of the
Board, by employing counsel, and taking other needful
measures." It has also been announced, that they have
employed Charles O'Connor. But who's afraid, Mr. Presi
dent ? We live, I hope, in a land of law; and the great
est eloquence and most profound learning must, and I trust
will, yield to justice. I, for one, do not fear the result ; and
I do not think you need have any serious apprehensions.
I cannot see why the Board of Brokers have any special
reason to complain. I hope I have as much respect for
them as I ought to have, but they must forgive me if I
look to another and a different quarter, to learn the rules
of morality, truth, and justice.
It is not true that this company have repudiated, or
intend to repudiate, any debt they owe. They repudiate
only the fraud of Robert Schuyler. They acknowledge
the validity of all acts of his which he did by their author
ity ; but they never empowered him to do what they could

THE SCHUYLER FRAUD. 355
not do themselves, or, colore officii, to cheat and defraud the
public to raise money to pay his private debts. For such
he is answerable, but not the company.
I come here, gentlemen, the representative of nearly all
the stock in this road owned in Boston and its vicinity, which,
unsolicited on my part, has been committed to my care.
AU the gentlemen who have given me their proxies, (and
more high-minded or upright men can nowhere be found,)
have instructed me to vote against the assumption of those
spurious certificates, and I shall do so, not only in obedience
to their requests, but also in obedience to my own sense of
what is just and right.
We are a peaceful corporation, and would prefer to be
at peace (to use the words of General Taylor) " with all
the world, and the rest of mankind." Our desire is peace ;
but, should the holders of the spurious stock pursue us
through the law, we will, I trust, be found ready to defend
our rights ; and, in the language of Lord John RusseU on
the Turkish war, " May God defend the right."

[Reported for the New York Journal of Commerce.]
MEETING OE THE NEW YORK & NEW
HAVEN RAILROAD STOCKHOLDERS.
GREAT GATHERING IN BREWSTER'S HALL, NEW HAVEN.
THE SPEECHES AND THE RESOLUTIONS.
The long-talked-of meeting of the stockholders, and others
interested in the affairs of the New York and New Haven Rail
road Company was held in Brewster's Hall, New Haven, yester
day, pursuant to the following notice :
Notice is hereby given, that a special meeting of the stockholders of the New
York and New Haven Railroad Company will he held at Brewster's Hall, in the
city of New Haven, on Wednesday, the eighth day of November next, at eleven
o'clock, forenoon, to take such order as they may deem expedient, upon the issues
of fraudulent certificates of stock by Robert Schuyler, late President and Transfer
Agent of the Company, and to transact any other business that may come
properly before said meeting. WILLIAM W. BOARDMAN, President pro tempore.
New York, October 15.
Immediately on the arrival of the eleven o'clock train from New
York, the hall became pretty well filled, and the Hon. William
W. Boardman took the chair. There was a large delegation pres
ent from New York, and severaf persons from Boston, Providence,
and Philadelphia. We saw one solitary lady in the audience, who
appeared to take a deep interest in the proceedings. Mr. E.
S. Abernethy, the Secretary, having read the above call, Mr.
Robinson, of Philadelphia, rose and said :
Mr. President, — It is very clear that, before we get through
this day's work, there will be occasion to take a scale vote, and I

LIABILITY OF STOCKHOLDERS. 357
therefore hope a committee may be appointed to decide upon this
question, and decide what is good and what is bogus stock. I
therefore beg leave to offer the following resolution :
Rtsolved, That a committee of two be appointed to ascertain what stockholders
are present in person, and by proxy ; and to act as judges of the vote, in the event
of a scale vote being called for.
Mr. Homer, of Bpston, and Mr. Brown, of Providence, were
appointed said committee,, when
Mr. S. D. Brabford, of Boston, rose and said :
Mr. Chairman : The Committee of Investigation are ready to
present their report, prepared at the request of the meeting held
in New York on the 3d of October.
Mr. Bradford, as chairman of this committee, now read the
following
REPORT.
At a meeting of the stockholders of the New York and New
Haven Railroad, held at the Apollo Rooms, Broadway, New York,
on the third day of October, 1854, it was voted :
Whereas it is believed, by the shareholders of the New York and New Haven
Railroad Company, that, owing to the manner in which its affairs have hitherto
been conducted, the earnings of the road have been less than they should be ; and
that a road which has the capacity of becoming one of the most profitable in the
Union, has, for a considerable time, made no return whatever to the holders of the
shares; therefore
Resolved, That a Committee, consisting of — persons, be chosen'from among its
shareholders, to investigate and review the proceedings of its managers and em
ployes, from its commencement to the present time, and see if any favoritism has
been used in the giving out of contracts, or making purchases on account of the
road ; if all its income has been duly accounted for, and appropriated to legitimate
purposes ; if suitable and eapable employes have been engaged by its managers to
perform, the various duties devolved upon them j and to report, at a future meet
ing ofthe shareholders, the result of said investigations; making, at that time, a
full disclosure of all proceedings which may have come under their inspection,' by
reason of which the shareholders have suffered any damage or loss, or have a claim
upon any person or persons, for injuries received, or for acts in violation of the
charter. Voted, That S. D. Bradford, of West Roxbury, Massachusetts ; Charles G. -Gris
wold, of Lyme, Connecticut; Eli A. Elliott, of Clinton, Connecticut; H. G. Dyar,
and Philip Dater of New York ; be appointed the committee under the preced
ing vote."

358 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
The committee, to whom the investigation of the affairs of the
New York and New Haven Railroad was thus delegated, beg leave
respectfully to report, that, as the committee was directed " to
investigate and review the proceedings of the managers and em
ployes of the New York and New Haven Railway from its com
mencement to the present time," a period of eight years, it became
apparent at once that to accomplish such a work in a satisfactory
manner would require much time and labor, and incur considerable
expense. Those who are conversant with such investigations must
be aware that there are many perplexities to be disentangled ; that
to seek is not always to find ; that one inquiry often leads to
another, and that success. is not easily attained. In confirmation of
this, it may not be out of place to state that a similar investigation
of the affairs of another railroad, under a resolution very much like
the one already cited, was ordered about two years ago in another
state, (Vermont,) on the 5th of May, 1852, but the report of the
committee, consisting of three gentlemen, distinguished, perhaps,
beyond all others for their skill and knowledge of railroad affairs,
was not made until the 1st of July, 1853, and at an expense of
fifteen thousand dollars, which had been provided for by the vote
ordering the inquiry to be made. They were also fully empow
ered to employ such means, and to hire such assistance, as they
might think necessary.
Your committee sought personal interviews not only with gen
tlemen who had performed a similar service, but with experienced
accountants .atso most accustomed to such examinations, but no one
named less than six months as the period which such an investiga
tion as is called for by the resolutions would require. It is true
that your committee were ordered to report at " a future meeting,"
and not on the second Wednesday of November ; but it seemed
nevertheless the wish and expectation, at the meeting at the Apollo
Rooms, that they should be prepared to report on that day, and
they very much regret that it has been found impracticable to do
so. It was admitted, on all hands, that the time would not per
mit such an examination to be made as the occasion seemed to
demand, and that an imperfect or incorrect report would be
unsatisfactory, and without any beneficial result.
Under these circumstances, your committee, after much anxious

LIABILITY OF STOCKHOLDERS.

359

consultation and reflection, came to the conclusion that to proceed
with the investigation would be doing injustice, not only to them
selves, but also to the best interests of the company, and they trust
the course pursued will be approved by the stockholders.
Your committee conclude by requesting that they may be dis
charged from the trust which was committed to their hands on the
3d of October last. Mr. Dater, of New York, having declined to
act upon' the committee, his name is not appended to this report.
S. D. BRADFORD,
CHARLES G. GRISWOLD,
ELI A. ELLIOT,
H. G. DYAR.
New Haven, November 6, 1854.
After Mr. Bradford had read the report, he said :

MR. BRADFORD'S SPEECH.
Mr. Chairman, — Having, upon a former occasion,
expressed my opinion upon the course which, as stock
holders of the New York and New Haven Railway, we
ought to take, and that we are not liable on account of
the fraud committed by Robert Schuyler, I would ask
your indulgence for a short time only, whilst I offer a few
observations upon the position in which we find ourselves
placed at the present time.
You must be all aware that, since our last meeting, high
legal advice has been taken by the holders of the fraudu
lent certificates, and that several learned counsellors in
New York have given an opinion in favor of the liability
of the company. This is a fact which is not to be con
cealed, and which, I presume, no one present has any dis
position to deny ; but still, Mr. Chairman, I cannot per
ceive .any particular reason for apprehension on this
account. I know not why it is so, but such opinions do
not alarm people now as they once did. It was remarked
by Junius, (an acute observer of men and manners) nearly
a hundred years ago, in speaking of lawyers, " That the

360 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
indiscriminate defence of right and wrong contracts the
understanding, whilst it corrupts the heart ; and that, if
there be any instances upon record (as some there are
undoubtedly) of genius and morality united in a lawyer,
they are distinguished by their singularity, and operate as
exceptions." I am not sure, Mr. Chairman, that I would be willing
to go quite so far as this, and I am very desirous to do full
justice to the high character and standing of the learned
gentlemen employed by the holders of the fraudulent
certificates ; nor would I undervalue their power because
they are opposed to us; but yet I must confess that,
whilst I was reading their elaborate opinion, I could not
help thinking that, had they in the first instance been
engaged by the holders of the original and true shares.
these ingenious gentlemen would have made a much more
powerful argument for our side, and for a very good rea
son, too — because I believe it to be the right one. It has
been said, (though I will not vouch for the truth of
the statement,) that it is the custom for the lawyers in
New York to give an opinion in favor of the wishes of
the persons who consult them. If that be so, the matter
is explained at once. No doubt you all remember the
story of the advocate, who, having made a learned and
eloquent speech against his own side by mistake, as soon
as he had discovered his error, making a long pause, said,
" Gentlemen of the jury, such are the arguments which
will no doubt be made by my opponent. Now you will
please listen to me whilst I lay before you my side of the
case." I stated, you may remember, at our last meeting, that
I had nowhere met with a judge or lawyer in Boston or
its vicinity, who had expressed an opinion that the com
pany are liable; and you will no doubt recollect how that
statement was commented upon, and has since furnished

LIABILITY OF STOCKHOLDERS. 361
the subject for so many communications for the press. I
repeat, however, that statement here to-day; and have
heard of no change since our last meeting. I have met
with no one ready to maintain the doctrine of unlimited
power in a transfer agent, as laid down by Judge Bronson
and others ; nor do I believe it will, be sustained by the
courts of law. Why, such a latitudinarian principle
would jeopardize, or wholly destroy, the security of all
kinds of incorporated or other, property intrusted to the
care of directors or agents. The treasurer of the United
States might defraud the government of all the money in
the sub-treasury in a single day. A person having mil
lions of property holden in this way, might go to bed as
rich as Croesus, and wake up next morning as poor as
Lazarus. And yet we are gravely tolcl that, if we deny
this unlimited power to a transfer agent, no one will
invest any longer in our railway, or other incorporated
companies. But who, let me inquire, would ever invest
in them at all hereafter, if the principle be once admitted
that property in them can be rendered valueless, nay,
annihilated, by the fraud of one of the officers or
employes of such a company? Mr. O'Connor informs us
that if we will assume the fraudulent shares, the capital
stock of the company will be depreciated only forty per
cent. Of course, had Mr. Schuyler issued fifty thousand
instead of twenty thousand shares, it would, by the same
arithmetic, have been annihilated, or rendered worthless.
But these certificates, we are told by the learned coun
sellors, passing from hand to hand, are very convenient,
and if we deny the transfer agent the power of doing as
he likes, and issuing as many as he pleases, it will greatly
and injuriously retard the present expeditious mode of
doing business, and incommode the Stock Exchange. Well,
Mr. Chairman, suppose this be admitted, what then ? When
we lend our money on mortgage, we require the registry
46

362 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
of deeds to be searched to ascertain that the property is
unincumbered ; and we require, also, to have a certificate
from some able lawyer that the title is good; and in some
places in my native state, when a person lends money to a
town, he requires not only the note of the town treasurer,
but also a copy of the vote of the town authorizing him to
borrow the money. Why, let me ask, should we not use
as much caution when we invest our money in railway or
other incorporated companies, or lend it upon a hypothe
cation of their shares ? Can any one doubt that this stu
pendous fraud of Robert Schuyler will introduce new
safe-guards in the transfer of stocks of every kind ? I shall
be very much mistaken if it does not.
Those of you who have carefully read the opinions of
the counsel in favor of the liability of the company, can
not, I think, have failed to remark that the principal
reasons assigned by them are, first, that the power of the
transfer agent is unlimited ; and, secondly, that ¦ a person
buying shares or lending money upon them had no access
to the books of the company, and could not, therefore,
ascertain whether he had over-issued or not. Judge Bron-
son, however, says that "if, as transfer agent, Schuyler had
issued a promissory note in the name of the company, he
would have stepped entirely beyond his powers, and would
have bound no one but himself. " It is consoling to hear
from one of the learned counsellors, that there was any
thing he could not do, as agent of the company ; but is it
not plain also, that " he stepped equally beyond his pow
ers " when he issued certificates of shares which had no
existence in fact, which had and could have no value, and
which were prohibited by the charter ? And in case he
had issued a promissory note in the name ofthe company,
I can see no reason why it would not have been as bind
ing as his issue of these fraudulent certificates, for the
purchaser or holder in that case, also, could not have

LIABILITY OF STOCKHOLDERS. 363
access to the books, and might have supposed that, as he
was president of the company, he might have been author
ized to issue the note by a special vote of the directors.
If the argument be good in the one case, it would seem
that it ought to be equally good in the other. You will.
also have probably remarked that there is a discrepancy
in the opinions given by Mr. O'Connor and Judge Buonson-
The first says : " I am of opinion, that the directors may
refuse to recognize as stock all shares which can be clearly
and certainly traced to an origin in the over-issue." The
latter, however, speaking of those who are holders of what
are called spurious certificates, says, " Those who have, in
the usual way, obtained certificates in their own names, are
stockholders in the company, and are entitled to be treated
as such for all purposes." Such are the contradictions into
which even the most learned and ingenious fall, when they
undertake to support a doctrine not founded on truth and
reason. " Who shall decide -when lawyers disagree,
And learned casuists doubt, like O and B } "
Well, Mr. Chairman, if I have succeeded in making
myself understood, it will have been readily seen that.
in my opinion, this question can be settled only by
the judicial tribunals of the country, and there, I hope,
we shall leave it. I have no fears of the result, if the case
can only be brought fairly under their cognizance. But
to depreciate the stock two-fifths of its value by assum
ing the fraudulent shares, is what, I trust, we shall never
consent to do. I believe we have no right to do so, if we
would. At the same time, unless compelled, I see no
good reason for taking a formal vote upon the question.
It was a remark of the late Mr. Webster, in his cele
brated speech of the 7th of March, that "it was not
expedient to re-enact a law of God." May we not say,
with equal truth, that it is inexpedient " to re-enact " a

364 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
law of the sovereign state of Connecticut ? The shares
which Robert Schuyler issued by excess are,. in my opin
ion, null and void by the charter, and let that content us.
By refusing, however, to assume them, we do not (as some
have erroneously stated) refuse to pay a debt, for we do
not owe one. We repudiate only the fraud of the trans
fer agent. But since the directors informed us, at our
last meeting, that they wanted our advice, if it be your
opinion that there is the remotest danger of their assum
ing the fraudulent certificates, or making a compromise ;
and that our omission to take a formal vote on the subject
might be considered an implied approval, on our part, of
such a course, in that case, my opinion is, that the
sooner we settle the question by a stock vote, the better.
But whatever, Mr. Chairman, we may decide to do, let
us reject the pernicious counsel of those who would rec
ommend a compromise. Indeed, I cannot but express
my wonder that any one should make such a suggestion.
Coalition in politics, and compromise in the payment of
debts ! Such are the proposals which we too often hear
made in these degenerate days, and which may be consid
ered as one of the worst omens for the future. Who does
not perceive at once that this company is liable, or that it
is not liable ? And if it be liable, has it come to this, that
we are ready to compound a fraud, and, instead of paying
what we owe, to make a compromise, and, like unfortunate
or dishonest debtors, pay but a part of what is due our
creditors ?
There may be those who would recommend such a
course ; but I cannot believe they can be found in Con
necticut, the state so distinguished for religion, morality,
and high commercial honor. We are out of the atmos
phere of Wall street now, and who does not feel that he
breathes a purer and a freer air ? When I contemplate
the character of the state and of the city in which we

LIABHITY OF STOCKHOLDERS. 365
have met together to-day, consecrated by the memory of
so many illustrious, good, and distinguished men, I would
say to each one of you, in the language once addressed
from heaven to the Hebrew prophet, " Put off thy shoes
from off thy feet ; for the place whereon thou standest is
holy ground." Remember that we are not acting for our
selves alone, but for the widows, orphans, poor clergymen,
and savings banks, which have placed their confidence in
the honor and safety of this company, and have invested
their hard earnings in its stock. They look to us to do
them justice, and can you doubt that they are watching
our proceedings here to-day with the most painful solici
tude ? The tidings of what we do wdl soon cross the
Atlantic, and be made known in England, France, Ger
many, and even amidst the smiling valleys and snow
capped mountains of Switzerland ; for we have stockholders
in all these countries, and also in the East Indies.
Let me implore you, then, so to act to-day, that, if their
property is to be taken from them, the blame may not be
laid to our charge, but rather to that of the established
judiciary of the land. They are ready and wiUing to
assume the responsibility, and in their hands, I hope, we
shall leave the case.
Mr. Chairman, I need to say but a very few words in
respect to the resolutions that I am about to offer. One
should speak of himself as little as possible ; but perhaps
there is a propriety in my presenting these resolutions, as
it is well known that I entered the campaign against Rob
ert Schuyler as long ago as 1849, and have never taken
off my armor since. Let it not now be said that I would
kick the dead lion after having encountered him in his
very den. If the resolutions offered by Mr. Young, at the
meeting held in 1849, had been acted upon and followed,
we should have been saved all this trouble to-day, and the
road would, in all probability, now have been in the most

366 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
prosperous condition. These resolutions not only meet
my own approbation, but also that of every member of
the committee. ' They are as follows :
Whereas, it is apparent that, to promote the prosperity and suc
cess of the New York and New Haven Railroad Company, its
affairs shouid be conducted by managers or directors enjoying the
full and entire confidence of the stockholders, and it is believed
that the gentlemen at present holding the place of directors do not
possess that confidence believed to be so essential ; therefore,
Resolved, That the directors be, and they are hereby requested
to form a new board, by successive resignations, and by filling
vacancies, agreeable to the sixth section of the act of incorporation.
Resolved, That the following persons be, and they are hereby
proposed, as suitable persons to fill such vacancies, viz., James J.
Roosevelt, New York ; J. Phillips Phenix, do. ; George N. Mil
ler, do. ; Dennis Kimberly, New Haven ; Nathaniel A. Bacon, do. ;
Moncure Robinson, Philadelphia ; William L. Lyon, Greenwich ;
Peter T. Homer, Boston ; William W. Billings, New London.
Resolved, That the directors be requested to engage the services
of the Hon. Roger S. Baldwin, of New Haven, as associate coun
sel with Messrs. Noyes and Wood, to defend the corporation in all
actions which have been, or may be brought against it.
Resolved, That we approve of the course of the directors, in
having submitted the question of liability to- the eminent counsel,
Messrs. Noyes and Wood, and we recommend said opinion as a
safe guide for their future action, and that it would be unwise,
inexpedient, and hazardous for this meeting, this corporation, or
its directors, to attempt, in any form, to subject the stockholders
to a burthen which neither the law nor equity impose upon them.

THE PLUMMER PROFESSORSHIP.
[The following are the remarks made by Hon. S. D. Bradford, in the Board
of Overseers of Harvard College, on Thursday afternoon last, on the question of
confirming the appointment of Rev. F. D. Huntington to be Plummer professor.
— Boston Daily Adi-ertiser, April lith, 1855.]
Mr. President, — I rise with great reluctance to offer a
few observations upon the question now under discussion,
viz., the confirmation by this board of the nomination of
the Rev. F. D. Huntington, as Plummer professor in the
University at Cambridge.
Finding that great injustice was done to the motives
which governed the vote I gave upon the confirmation of
another nomination, that of Judge Loring, upon a recent
occasion for another professorship, I am unwilling by
giving a silent vote to-day, to subject myself to a repeti
tion of the. same difficulty. On that occasion, my vote
was declared, by one part of the public press, to have
been in favor of Judge Loring, and, by another, against
him, which could not have happened had a discussion
taken place as I considered most expedient; but other
counsels prevailed. The question before us to-day must,
I think, on many accounts, be considered as the most im
portant which has been brought to the notice of the
board for a great number of years.
It seems to me to open the whole question of the
establishment of sectarian religion in the college at
Cambridge. I intend to use the word sectarian in no offensive sense,

368 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
but as indicating certain opinions in religion, entertained
by a party which has separated itself from the established
church, (where one exits,) or which holds tenets different
from those of the prevailing denomination in a kingdom
or state.
Perhaps, to prevent all misconception, I ought rather
to have said that it opens the whole question of uniting
religious with secular instruction in the university.
I would not, on any account, impute to the government
of the college the design of establishing sectarian religion
there, for I believe there is nothing more remote from their
intentions or wishes ; but I may, I hope, be permitted to
express the strong fears I have that, if the Plummer pro
fessorship be established, they will be suspected, if not
actually charged, with such a design; and that it may lead
to consequences of the most injurious character to the
prosperity and welfare of the university.
No one can have attended to the reading of the statutes
or rules of the proposed professorship, without perceiving
that they establish a religious teacher in the university.
The professor is to officiate at morning and evening
prayers, to preach to the government and students on
Sundays, to deliver lectures, and to cultivate with the
students habits of the closest intimacy, with a view to
their religious and moral improvement.
I remember that, during a discussion at Cambridge, in
1853, upon the question of appointing a pastoral teacher
for the college, when the question was asked, by a member
of the board, why, if such a proceeding were expedient,
measures were not taken to re-establish or revive the
Hollis professorship, the answer was, that the very
name had such an effect upon the religious sensibilities of
some persons, it was dangerous even to speak of it ; and
now, as I am obliged to look upon the question, the
proposition before this board is to supersede the Hollis

THE PLUMMER PROFESSORSHIP. 369
professorship, and establish another in its place, with duties,
responsibilities, and functions, of a greatly extended
character. I was four years at Cambridge, under the late Profes
sor Henry Ware, who was then Hollis professor of Divin
ity; but, if I understand the statutes or rules of the
Plummer professorship, they require double the duty to
be performed by Mr. Huntington which was ever performed
by the late Dr. Ware, with the exception of hearing the
students recite.
In those days, there was very httle of any personal
intercourse between the Hollis professor and the under
graduates; and the sight of a professor in a student's room
was as rare and uncommon as that of a bishop, a few
years since, in some of the rural districts of England.
I can speak feelingly on this subject, for, having been
appointed, in my junior year, to deliver a sermon before
a certain religious society, to which I belonged, we invited
the Hollis professor to be present ; and, much to my aston
ishment and dismay, he attended, but never can I forget
the effect it produced on me. Vox hcesit faucibus.
Now, Mr. President, if the consequences of having had
a Hollis professor, (with the limited duties he had to per
form,) have been such, formerly, that it is dangerous even
to allude to the subject, may we not anticipate still more
serious consequences from the proposed establishment of
the Plummer professorship, upon the more extended scale
I have mentioned ? It seems to me it cannot be other
wise, and that such a state of things must be prejudicial
to the interests of the college, which I am most anxious
to preserve from being charged with sectarian influence of
any kind.
It is but a short time since the complaint was frequently
heard, that there was little if any addition, from year to
year, to the number of students at Cambridge, and the
47

370 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
question was often asked, how happens it, when every
thing else in this state has increased so much, (the popula
tion having then reached nearly a million,) the number
of students at Cambridge is almost stationary ?
Now for the last few years we have witnessed a most
gratifying change. The students have greatly increased
in number, and are beginning to be sent there in an
increased ratio, by Orthodox, as well as Unitarian, parents;
and I had fancied it was partly because our Orthodox
friends, (a good number of whom are now members of this
board,) have inquired into the matter for themselves,
found all right at Cambridge, and have made a favorable
report to their brethren, that there really is no religious
test at the college, and that each and every sect is fairly
dealt with. I believe this has always been the case, but I
have heard that, at one time, a different opinion prevailed
in the country, and that it was supposed to have had an
injurious effect upon the prosperity and growth of the
college. Some persons may perhaps think that I am unnecessa
rily alarmed on the subject of sectarian religion as con
nected with education ; but it has been my fortune to
witness the evil effects of attempting to unite religious
with secular instruction, not only in my own country, but
in Great Britain also, where it has defeated every attempt
of the government to establish a system of national educa
tion. Ministry after ministry has brought forward its plan
to accomplish an object of such vast importance, but every
one has failed on this account.
Most educationists agree that religion is too important
a part of education to be omitted in any complete system,
if men could only agree in defining religious truth, and
the proper mode of imparting it ; but this agreement seems
to be utterly impracticable.
In a debate, some time ago, in England, on this subject,

THE PLUMMER PROFESSORSHIP. 371
Lord Brougham addressed the House of Lords in a speech
of great power, a few paragraphs of which, with your per
mission, Mr. President, I will read to the board. It was
during a debate on education.
The Marquis of Lansdowne intimated that the govern
ment had seriously considered the practicability of a plan
which had been proposed, but had given it up on account
of the religious dissensions which stood in the way.
Lord Brougham exposed this mischievous odium theologi-
cum very happily.
" But why," said he, " could not such a system be adopted ?
He could tell their lordships frankly, very frankly ; it was because
they had two classes of the community, for both of which he had the
most profound and inviolable respect, he meant the members of the
church and members of dissenting congregations, each in their sphere,
great promoters of education, and deeply interested in the training of
youth. He was not speaking of the clergy, but of the community,
although the clergy were most sedulously bent on the promotion
of education. But there was one thing which both the church and
the dissenters preferred, and that was controversy, which made
them neglect the great object of education, and made them prefer,
more than anything else, victory. They lost sight of the main
object in the glory of the victory. That was what he universally
found. The church would not have any system which was so com
prehensive as not to allow of any clerical interference ; the dis
senters would not have any system that allowed the least interference
on the part of the church ; and, therefore, unhappily between the
two, education went more or less to the wall."
Since the delivery of this speech, various plans have
been proposed, especially one by Mr. Cobden, dividing the
kingdom into districts, appointing in each nine commis
sioners of education, no two of which should be of the
same religious opinions; but all have failed, for the
reasons given by Lord Brougham; and the work of
national education stands still.

372 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
Such have been the effects of attempting to unite
religious and secular education in England, and against '
which I wish, if possible, to guard our beloved university.
My desire is to open its gates as wide as possible, that
students of all denominations may come in and share the
great advantages it affords, without distinction of sect or
party. The picture I have drawn so feebly, is no fancy sketch,
but a similar state of things may arise amongst ourselves
sooner than we anticipate.
I have already said, that I consider the Plummer as
superseding the Hollis professorship ; and when I reflect
how generously that noble benefactor, Hollis, bestowed
his money upon the college, (commencing in 1719
and ending only with his life,) having given it a
sum valued at six thousand pounds, (a vast amount in
those days,) I cannot help feeling that a professorship
bearing his venerated name is the last one which should
be permitted to fall into abeyance, or be superseded by
another. I would not express any opinion upon the right or
propriety of appropriating funds, not otherwise disposed
of, to increase the income of some particular professorship,
but, if this be ever done, I can conceive of no case which
has such claims as the Hollis professorship.
When I consider, too, the noble liberality of Hollis, so
that, when preparing the rules for his professorship, he
required no subscription to a creed, nor any confession of
faith, except that "the Scriptures of the Old and New
Testament are the only rule of faith and practice ; " and
that, though he was a Baptist himself, all he asked was
that a person's being one might not operate to his exclu
sion as a candidate for the professorship, I cannot express
the admiration I feel for the character of such a Christian ;
and I have long thought that to have appointed one of

THE PLUMMER PROFESSORSHIP. 373
his own sect to the professorship he established, (had it
been deemed proper by the corporation,) would have
been a most appropriate tribute to the universal respect
and esteem which every one has for his memory.
Mr. President, I would, on no account, find fault with
the corporation for the interpretation they have put
upon the words of Miss Plummer's will to establish a
professorship "upon the Philosophy ofthe Heart" I can
easily imagine their task to have been anything but an
easy one, and that, had the duty been assigned to seven
different persons having no communication with one
another, each might have produced several pages of stat
utes or rules having nothing in common, and each differ
ing from the other. I wdl add that it is with much
regret I find the words have been construed in such a
manner that I cannot vote in the way I could have
wished. After due deliberation and reflection, is the necessity of
making this appointment so urgent as some have sup
posed ? And here I cannot avoid expressing the surprise
which has filled me when I have heard some persons
speak of the religious and moral condition of the students
at Cambridge, lamenting that there were "no religious
influences in operation there." No religious influences at
Cambridge ! Is that fiction, or is it fact ? Are there not
religious exercises in the chapel twice a day ? Is there
not divine service on Sundays also in the chapel ? Do
not the students use the works of Paley, Butler, and
other writers on religion or morals as text-books ? And do
not their teachers always impress upon them, when they
can, the necessity of religion and good morals?
There are some persons of such looks and manners, you
cannot come into their presence without feeling that they
exercise a religious and salutary influence over you ; and
I have always felt that the president of the university

374 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
was one of that number, and I doubt not many others
have had that feeling, and the students also, whose con
duct, at the present time, I am firmly convinced, would
bear a favorable comparison with that of, any former
period in the history of the college.
We ought to think of the unruly part of the students,
(and there will be some such in every college,) as Burke
said during the French revolution the people of England
should think of certain persons in that country, "Because,"
says he, "a parcel of grasshoppers, on a summer's day
under a fern, make a whole field resound with their
importunate clink, whilst hundreds of noble cattle under
the British oak chew the cud and are silent, we must
not think that they are the only tenants of the field."
No doubt there is room for improvement there, and the
attempt, on the part of the corporation, to improve the
moral condition of those entrusted to their care is praise
worthy in the highest degree. I can also easily believe
that Mr. Huntington is eminently qualified for the office
it is proposed to assign him ; but I cannot permit this
consideration to influence me so far as to give my vote
in favor of establishing this new professorship, which
afterwards we may have reason to regret.
The moral propriety of separating secular from relig
ious instruction is gaining advocates, I think, everywhere.
Some time ago it received an unexpected sanction, as it
were, from the other world, in a posthumous declaration
of the late Dr. Chalmers in favor of the separation.
It required some moral courage to express such an
opinion, in Scotland, too, a country in which, I remember,
some years since, that the works of Sir Walter Scott were
voted out of a circulating library at Aberdeen, as of an
irreligious tendency on account of the manner in which
he had written concerning the Covenanters, nor is it prob
able Dr. Chalmers would have ever expressed such an

THE PLUMMER PROFESSORSHIP. 375
opinion had it not been forced upon him by the convic
tion that otherwise the work of education would continue
to stand still. No one, I believe, dared to apply to him
the epithet of infidel, though it had been applied to so
*many others who had ventured to advocate the same
doctrine. Should there appear to be any inconsistency on my
part in favoring the reestablishment of the Hollis, whilst
I oppose the establishment of the Plummer professorship,
I would remark that many reasons might be assigned
in favor of an ancient professorship which formed a part
of the college for so many years, which do not apply
to the one last named ; but they are so easfly perceived,
it is not necessary to name them.
There are other suggestions, Mr. President, I might
make in favor of the view I have felt constrained to take
of the question before us, but I have already occupied
too much time, and will conclude by again expressing my
regret that I cannot cast my vote in favor of the
proposition laid before this board by the corporation.

CONDUCT OF THE PRESS.
REMARKS MADE AT THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE NEW YORK AND NEW HAVEN
RAILROAD COMPANY, HELD AT NEW HAVEN, MAY 10, 1855.
Mb. President, — It gives me great pleasure to meet
you and our other fellow stockholders once more in this
good city of New Haven, not upon any extraordinary
call of the directors or shareholders, as happened last
year, but at our annual meeting, as prescribed in the
charter. I do not know that there is any particular reason why I
should make any demand upon your time and patience
upon this occasion, but, as some too partial friends have
suggested that my sdence might be misunderstood, I pro
pose to make a few observations, to which your attention
is respectfully invited. You may probably recollect that,
when we assembled here on the eighth of November last,
it devolved upon me, as chairman of a committee, chosen
in New York, to make a full and particular report upon
the affairs of the New York and New Haven Raflroad,
past, present, and future ; but that, for want of time, it was
not forthcoming.
It was perceived that a new board of directors would
probably be chosen soon ; that then a thorough examina
tion would have to be made, and could be prosecuted under
their direction at the office in New York, and without the
large expenditure thait the investigation first called for
must have cost.

CONDUCT OF THE PRESS. 377
By the printed report ofthe president and directors just
published, you will have seen how thorough and searching
their examination must have been, and what a full state
ment of facts they have been able to lay before us, espe
cially as relates to the stupendous fraud of Robert Schuyler,
which seems to increase in magnitude as the investigation
proceeds. The results at which the directors have arrived, are
deduced from an examination of the books of the company,
and answer some of the resolutions which were passed at
the meeting in New York in October last, but there are
others which could be answered in a satisfactory manner,
only by having the power to send for persons and papers
under the authority of a subpoena, which the directors had
no right to use. Further important disclosures may, per
haps, be made during the trial of cases now in progress in
the courts at New York.
It gives me great pleasure to state that, so far as I have
been able to ascertain the sentiments of the numerous
stockholders, (whose proxies I hold,) they highly approve
of the injunction obtained on the 30th of January last, to
prevent the holders of the fraudulent certificates commenc
ing any new suits, (which would have been attended with
great expense to the company,) and obliging them all to
come in under the general bill of interpleader, prepared
by our distinguished and vigilant counsel, Messrs. Noyes,
Powers, and Tallmadge.
With respect to the course adopted here in November,
in voting not to assume the spurious shares, or to appoint
a committee of compromise, I think I may safely say that,
whatever doubts there may have been in the minds of
some persons, upon the expediency and justice of the
decision then taken, there is now almost a universal con
sent amongst people of reflection, everywhere, that the
plan adopted was just, honorable, and the only one likely
48

378 WORKS OF S. D BRADFORD.
to lead to any satisfactory result ; that the idea of a com
promise was impracticable, if not degrading and Utopian ;
and that, if there ever was a case in which an appeal to
the judiciary was imperatively called for, this was that
case. I wdl add, that amongst all the stockholders
in New England, with whom I have conversed on the
subject, only one has suggested an adjustment by
compromise. We were told, you may perhaps remember, at both our
meetings, by certain gentlemen, that, if we would only
assume the fraudulent shares, (as the stockholders in the
Parker Vein Coal Company, and the Vermont Central
Railroad had done, upon discovering the frauds of which
they had been the victims,) all our difficulties would dis
appear, we should regain the confidence of the public,
and our stock would rise to a high figure in the market.
How this prediction has been falsified in the cases cited,
I need not relate. The prices at which such scrip is sell
ing, speak in a language which none can misunderstand,
and warn us, in a manner we should never forget, that the
advice of interested parties should always be received with
great caution, and be well considered before adopting it.
The last quotation I have seen of Vermont Central, was
two dollars and eighty-seven and a half cents a share !
Corporations, deeply indebted, and not knowing which
way to turn, may feign to act with liberality in assuming
debts which legally they do not owe ; but they should
always be just before they are generous, and pay their old
debts before they incur new ones. The New York and
New Haven Railroad Company have no occasion or desire
to buy a credit on such conditions.
You may, perhaps, remember also, that a day or two
previous to our meeting at the Apollo Rooms, in New
York, there was a public notice given in the New York
Herald, that a numerous committee had been appointed

CONDUCT OF THE PRESS. 379
by the Board of Brokers, " to fight the New York and
New Haven Railroad Company," with ample funds, which
had been provided for the purpose.
It was not particularly stated in what manner the con
test was to be carried on, whether through the press, or
the method usual in such cases, the courts of law. The
notice was no doubt official, and, from the violence and
malignity of the newspaper communications, which
appeared between our first meeting in New York and
that which took place on the eighth of November, at New
Haven, it would now appear that the press was the prin
cipal organ selected for carrying on the war, together
with the circulation of certain legal opinions which had
been purchased for the same purpose, and sent broadcast
through New York and Connecticut. It happened, how
ever, that, soon after the signal defeat which the holders
of spurious shares met with at New Haven, little was said
upon the subject in the newspapers, and many persons
supposed that the firing had ceased for want of ammunition,
or that they had changed their opinions as to the validity
of their shares. Recently, however, the attacks have been
repeated, with increased virulence ; and I presume you
must all remember the pathetic appeals, which were made
a few weeks ago in the Herald, to some of " the prominent
merchants and citizens of New York " who were share
holders, to stop the bill of interpleader, and to force a
compromise ; and you must also have observed what a
withering reproof they received in the perfect apathy of
the stockholders, and in their determination not to
interfere. It is painful to paint such a portrait of the press as it
exists in our country, because, with all its defects, we are
so much indebted to it for our civd and religious rights..
Every one knows what good it is capable of achieving
when guided by justice and truth, and that, fortunately,.

380 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
in the minds of respectable persons, it signally defeats its
own object when it becomes venal, false, and malicious.
If, however, when a case involving a large pecuniary
sum is soon to be acted upon in the courts of law, the
custom is growing up in New York (as is daily asserted)
of prejudging it by means of newspaper communica
tions, by personal attacks of the most malignant character
upon one side or the other, with the intention of influenc
ing not only public opinion at large, but the judges and
juries also who are to try the cause, I say, if such a prac
tice is to be tolerated, we may retain the forms of jus
tice, but the spirit will leave us, and our boasted freedom
will be only a name. It cannot fail, unless reprobated
and put down, to deteriorate the character of the Bench,
of which we have long been so justly proud, and to
which we are all so much indebted, for no country can
have any great reason to complain when the judges are
governed by the principles of truth and justice, and
when the law is equitably administered. It was the
purity of the ermine, which probably preserved England
from a revolution, previous to the passage of the Reform
Bill in 1832 ; for a people will endure a great inequality
in their civil rights so long as they can look up to the
judges on the bench as equally the defenders of the
rich and the poor, the high and the humble. May our
judges ever remain just and true men, so that each may
be able to exclaim, in the words of the poet,
" Welcome business, welcome strife,
Welcome the cares of ermined life ;
The visage wan, the purblind sight,
The toil by day, the lamp by night,
The tedious forms, the solemn prate,
The pert dispute, the dull debate,
The drowsy bench, the babbling hall, —
For thee, fair Justice, welcome all ! "
What I have said of the press in general will not apply

CONDUCT OF THE PRESS. 381
to all the public journals, for the Journal of Commerce, and
a few others, have pursued a course, as respects this
contest, of which no one could justly complain.
And now, for a moment, let us inquire what have the
shareholders of the New York and New Haven Radroad
Company done to call down upon them the denuncia
tions of the press ? They have charged Robert Schuy
ler with forgery ; with procuring money upon false pre
tences ; and with having exceeded his power as transfer
agent, but in a manner not binding upon the corporation.
They have lost, by their connection with him, at a moder
ate estimate, a million of dollars, for it has been computed,
by a competent engineer, that his having accepted the
road, before it was properly completed, has probably cost
the company half a million, not to mention other heavy
losses, as is proved by the books. Who will deny these
charges ? In consequence of Mr. Schuyler's having left
the company, with a floating debt of four hundred and
forty-three thousand dollars, instead of one hundred and
forty thousand dollars, (as stated by him on the eleventh
of May, 1854) they have still a debt of one hundred and
twenty-six thousand dollars, and yet these holders of
spurious certificates turn round and abuse the company,
because they wdl not acknowledge them, and speak of
them as retaining dividends which should . be distributed,
when they ought to know there is no money on hand to
divide, nor is there likely to be any soon. They know
they cannot be admitted as stockholders, without violat
ing the charter, even if they had any right to be so
admitted, and they confess it would reduce the value of
the shares to sixty cents upon the dollar ; and yet the
Mechanics Bank of New York, in its action against the
company, have demanded payment at the rate of ninety-
four cents on the dollar of the spurious stock, being

382 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
upwards of fifty per cent, more than the genuine shares
are worth, if the principle the bank contends for, prevails.
Unjustifiable and disgraceful, however, as the assaults
have been, I am glad the company have preserved a
dignified silence, trusting to the justice of their cause;
and I am not aware of the expenditure of a single dollar
on their part to influence public opinion one way or the
other. They have acted, from first to last, upon the
principle, — " Virtus tutissima cassis."
They have appealed to the established tribunals of the
country, not doubting that they will decide the question
at issue according to justice and the law.
The principle involved in the decision, whatever it may
be, is second, probably, in importance to none which has
ever before exercised the legal acumen of the Bench, and
no doubt they so consider it. If decided against the
company, no prudent man will ever invest again in a
corporation of any kind. He will also dispose of any
property he may hold thus situated with the least possible
delay ; but a decision drawing after it such consequences
I trust we are never destined to deplore.
Mr. President, I am gratified to see around me such a
general attendance of stockholders, and I hope this wdl
continue not only during the difficulties under which we
labor at present, but also when those embarrassments
shall have passed away. I have not attended the annual
meetings as I should have done. It is true I had great
fears for the safety of the corporation for several years
before the forgery and escape of Schuyler were dis
covered, and communicated them to other shareholders.
I had no personal acquaintance with the president, but
it required very little foresight to perceive that he must
soon break down, with four railroads upon his back;
and then I hoped there would have been an end to his

CONDUCT OF THE PRESS. 383
mismanagement of our property. I was active, also, in
cooperation with Mr. Henry Young, of New York, and
other stockholders, in November, 1849, in the attempt to
get rid of him; but we were outvoted, principally by
proxies in the hands of Schuyler and his particular
friends, and so his power was prolonged untd these
embarrassments have come upon the company.
It has been said, by a profound moralist, that no man
becomes a villain all at once, and by that rule it is
reasonable to suppose that Schuyler commenced his
nefarious practices long before he became connected with
the New York and New Haven Railroad Company, and
probably continued them during the eight years he acted
as president. The annual meetings, I have heard, were
not well attended ; and thus we may all learn a lesson,
that it is by vigilance only we can maintain our liberty or
our prosperity.
Permit me, before I take my seat, to thank you, fellow
stockholders, for the patience with which you have listened
to my remarks upon the present and upon prior occa
sions. I beheve it is known to most of you already, that
I was no volunteer in the war now being carried on
between the company and the holders of the fraudulent
certificates of shares. The laurels to be gained by a con
test with Wall street, are not of a character which my
ambition has ever coveted. You may remember, perhaps,
the report of the Schuyler directors, which was read at
the Apollo rooms, to which was annexed the opinion of
two most eminent counsel of New York, that the company
were in no way liable for the fraudulent issues; but when,
after reading the report, the president rose, and said he
considered it was a case for compromise, I could remain
silent no longer. Although a stranger to almost every
one in the room, my remarks were received with favor,
and, from that time to the present, I have done what I

384 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
could to keep the company out of the hands of the Phflis-
tines ; and have labored, that equal justice should be done
to all. My course on that occasion was also approved by
the shareholders in Boston and its vicinity, so that, at the
next meeting, without any solicitation on my part, they
sent me their proxies to vote upon nearly two thousand
shares. I have reason to believe that a legal decision wdl be
given in the suit of the Mechanic's Bank, in the course of
a few weeks, by the Superior Court of New York, consist
ing of six judges, presided over by that distinguished jurist,
Judge Oakley ; and I trust that, in due time, the New
York and New Haven Railroad may be extricated from
all its difficulties, and become, not only one of the best con
ducted, but also one of the most profitable thoroughfares
in the country.

CHARACTER OF MRS. GREENWOOD.
[We published, a few days since, a notice of a venerated and much-beloved lady,
and from another friend we have received the following. — Boston Daily Advertiser.]
Died, in this city, on Tuesday, June 5th, Mrs. Mary
Langdon Greenwood, widow of the late W. P. Greenwood,
and mother of the late distinguished divine, F. W. P.
Greenwood. Several days have elapsed since the papers announced
the decease of this excellent woman, and, on Thursday last,
her remains were conveyed to their final resting-place,
at Mount Auburn, foUbwed by many of her attached
relatives and friends. It was on a summer's day, when all
nature was radiant with beauty and loveliness, and seemed
to rejoice amidst the richness of the verdure, and the
fragrance of the blossoms and flowers, which, by contrast,
seemed, if possible, to increase the sorrow which weighed
so heavily upon the hearts of the mourners. The country,
on some accounts, appeared more lovely than ever before;
as if nature intended to make amends for the length and
severity of the last' tedious winter. Autumn, towards its
close, would have been a more appropriate emblem of the
scene ; for then the decay of vegetation, and the fading of
the leaves, are significant of death, and remind us all that
" our life is a shadow which continueth not."
Every thing without indicated joy and happiness ; every
thing within, that a beloved relative and friend had
departed for another and better world. Every eye was
moistened with tears, whilst every tongue spoke of the
49

386 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
uncommon virtues and excellences which distinguished
the character of the deceased ; and who can wonder at
this, that ever enjoyed the privilege of her acquaintance,
or was favored with her confidence and regard? To
describe her domestic life and character would be to pre
sent a portrait of most of the virtues which are most val
ued and esteemed in the world. Benevolent to a degree
seldom witnessed, she was never so happy as when she
could do a kindness to another. Hospitable in the largest
sense of the word, she was always gratified when she could
receive and entertain her friends. She was a noble speci
men of a woman ; such as is but seldom seen, and can
never be forgotten. Nature had endowed her not only
with one of the kindest of hearts, but also with remark
able mental powers, so that her conversation instructed
whilst it delighted the hearer. In early life, she evinced
a decided talent as a writer, especially as a discriminat
ing reviewer of the compositions Of others ; and, had her
domestic occupations permitted, it is not doubted she
might have gained an enviable reputation as an author.
Her reading was extensive, and there was a discrimina
tion about her mind, which is found but in few persons.
Her conversation was various, discursive, and highly enter
taining, but always marked by wisdom and goodness. Her
perception was quick and discerning, and this continued
to the last. The body only seemed enfeebled by disease,
and not the mind; for the decay of physical strength, and
the want of her usual activity, seemed rather to increase
the powers of her mind. Her interest in the happiness
and welfare of others appeared to become greater as her
own strength and health continued to fail ; and she
thought more of others at the time when most people
think more and more of themselves. Nothing could
exceed the cares she manifested for the happiness of her
chddren and grandchildren; and their love and attach-

CHARACTER OF MARY LANGDON GREENWOOD. 387
ment for her seemed always in proportion to the kindness
conferred, and gratified her much. Her manner towards
the young proved that she had explored every avenue to
the youthful heart.
It has been said, by a beautiful German writer, that
" a contemplative, meditative, and evective life is the most
exalted state of existence, and that it is only in old age it
can be fully enjoyed ; as at an earlier period it is con
stantly coming into collision with our necessities and active
duties." Our departed friend was a striking example
ofthe correctness of this; remark and, if it be true that it
sometimes requires a hundred years for the oak to come
to perfection, it may also seem sometimes to require a
period of nearly the same length to produce such a woman
as Mary Langdon Greenwood.
"The spirit increases in perfection," says Cornaro, "as
the body grows older ; " which was also illustrated in her
life; and if the theory of a recent French writer be true,
that " the second period of old age begins at eighty-five,"
it may be safely affirmed that, in this case, the mind was
fully equal to another term, and required only a new
body. Even her memory was quick and retentive to the
last. Her countenance was full of intelligence, and very
pleasing; her figure was noble and commanding ; and the
soul, the spirit within, was worthy of the form which
contained it.
It has pleased a wise and just, but merciful Providence,
to take her from us in a good old age, honored and
esteemed by all; but those who have been benefited by
her counsels and example; the poor, who for so many
years have shared her bounty ; the young, who have been
guided and cheered by her wisdom and advice ; her
bereaved children, grandchildren, and other relatives and
friends who have always taken so much delight in her
society, and to whom she was so much attached ; in short,

388 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
every one who had the good fortune of knowing her will
never forget the exemplary Christian and friend, whom
they have lost. Her surviving relatives may think that
such various excellences of character require no mon
ument of brass or marble ; and when those who knew
her in life shall recognize her resting-place in Mount
Auburn, they may be reminded, perhaps, of one of the
apothegms of Lord Bacon, who relates that, " when Cato the
elder, at a time when many of the Romans had statues
erected in their honor, was asked by one in a kind of won
der, why he had none, he answered, 'He had much rather
men should ask and wonder why he had no statue, than
why he had a statue.' " s. D. B.

VINDICATION OE THE OVERSEERS OF
HARVARD COLLEGE.
[At the meeting, Thursday afternoon, of the overseers of fiarvard College, while
the report of the committee, recommending a concurrence with the corporation in
the establishment of a new professorship in the Law School was under considera
tion, Samuel D. Bradford, Esq., a member of the board, made the following remarks
in vindication of the action of the overseers upon the nomination of Judge Loring.
Boston Atlas.]
Mr. Pbesident, — I rise with some reluctance to offer a
few observations upon a subject not now before this board,
but upon which so much has been said by the press and
the public generally, that I may almost claim a portion
of your time and attention for the sake of making a
personal explanation.
I allude to the rejection of the nomination of Edward
Greely Loring, Esq., as lecturer in the Law School at Cam
bridge, on the 15th of February last, concerning which
such bitter complaints have been made, and such unworthy
motives imputed to the members of this board, who voted
in favor of that rejection.
As one of that number, I have long desired an occa
sion for stating the motives which governed my vote,
and I avad myself of this first appropriate opportunity
of doing so.
In order, however, to have the question fully under
stood, it will be necessary to recite briefly the history of
the case, and to begin with Mr. Loring's first connection
with the Law School, which dates from the 31st of Jan
uary, 1852, on which day it appears that, at a meeting of
the president and fellows, the following votes were passed,
viz. :

390 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
Voted, That the Honorable Edward Greely Loring be appointed
lecturer in the Law School for the remainder of the academical
year. Voted, That the compensation of the law lecturer be at the
rate of one thousand dollars per annum.
This nomination was presented to the board of over
seers, at their meeting, held on the 5th of February,
1852, and, at an adjournment of said meeting, on the
19th of February, 1852, was confirmed, and was, of course,
to continue for a little over six months, viz., to the end of
the academical year.
When this appointment was first announced, nearly four
years since, it would be no exaggeration to say that it
produced not a little surprise amongst some of the mem
bers of the Suffolk bar, and it is confidently believed that
the public generally regarded it as one of doubtful
expediency, and there is reason to believe, also, that
many, amongst the overseers themselves, were in great
doubt how they ought to vote.
The fact of his being judge of probate for the county
of Suffolk was considered, by many, as a weighty objec
tion, and this may have made a deeper impression on their
minds from the circumstance that there had been one or
more attempts made to raise his salary, as judge of pro
bate, and much had been said, in the public journals and
before the legislature, concerning the multifarious and
severe duties of that office ; and it actually appears by
the record that, when the vote was finally taken, of the
thirty members of the board who were present, four
abstained from voting, one cast a blank vote, and seven
voted in the negative.
If the nomination had been for a longer term, or had it,
after a discussion, been referred to a committee, it may be
a question if the nomination would have been confirmed.
On the 23d of December, 1853, Mr. Loring had been
law lecturer sixteen months after his term had expired,

REJECTION OF EDWARD GREELY LORING. 391
by its own limitation, and now a second time our attention
is called to him. On that day the corporation established
a new professorship in the Law School, and elected Mr.
Loring university professor of law, with a salary of
twenty-five hundred dollars per annum.
These proceedings were laid before the overseers, at
their meeting, on the 25th of January, 1854, and at an
adjourned meeting, on the 9th of February following, the
whole subject, on the suggestion of Mr. Winthrop, and on
the motion of Mr. Bassett, was referred to a committee
appointed by Governor Washburn, then in the chair.
This committee made a very elaborate and thorough
examination of the whole subject, and, at an adjourned
meeting of the board, held the 9th of March, 1854, pre
sented, through Mr. Bassett, their chairman, a very able
report, and unanimously recommended that the overseers
should not concur with the corporation.
After having given some account of the Law School
from its commencement, and of the course of education
there, and made some remarks on the question of the
expediency of establishing a new professorship, they
proceed as follows :
" There are some views which might be taken with regard to
the proposition to establish a new professorship, if that proposi
tion stood alone, detached from other propositions. But it does
not stand alone. The subject of a professorship comes to this
board with a professor to occupy it, already elected on the part of
the corporation. The committee have felt obliged to consider the-
choice of the professor as bearing directly on the question of a
professorship. " Of the terms and conditions upon which the office is tendered to-
the professor, the committee must freely and fully speak, and they
require the careful attention of this board.
" It is well known that the gentleman elected now holds the
important and responsible office of judge of probate for the county of
Suffolk, and your committee have been informed and believe that

392 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
he is to continue to hold that office. The proposition, therefore,
is to establish a new professorship, with a gentleman to fill the
office, who is charged with all the duties and responsibilities of the
judge of probate for the county of Suffolk.
" The duties of the judge must of course take precedence of the
duties of the professor. To form some idea of the extent to which
the duties of the judge wili interfere with the duties of the pro
fessor, it may be needful to refer briefly and generally to the duties
of the judge of probate for the county of Suffolk.
" There are, within his jurisdiction, one hundred and forty or fifty
thousand inhabitants, with more than two hundred millions of
taxable property. The annual number of deaths of these inhab
itants is about four thousand, and the number of estates to be annu
ally settled must be large. For several years, the annual amount
of property entered in the probate of Suffolk is believed to have
been about seven millions of dollars ; and, the last year, it may
probably have been ten millions. The amount of property, there
fore, which comes within the jurisdiction of this judge is immense,
and, in regard to it, he has great duties to perform. Grave and
difficult questions of law and equity are to be examined and set
tled. Contested matters of fact are to be patiently heard and
decided. Administrators, and guardians, and trustees, are to be
appointed ; bonds to a great amount are to be approved and taken ;
and complicated accounts are to be examined and allowed ; and
there is a great amount of other matters, which need not be
particularly mentioned.
" The relation of the judge of probate to the inhabitants is pecu
liar, and requires that he should be within its jurisdiction, and
always accessible to the bereaved and friendless, the widows and
orphans who are particularly under his care and protection. From
this brief view, it would seem quite apparent that the duties of the
judge cannot be fully and faithfully performed without much time
and labor, and great and constant care and watchfulness.
" But, besides matters of property, the judge of probate has juris
diction of questions deeply affecting personal liberty. Applica
tions are made to him to place under guardianship persons who
are alleged to be insane ; and also persons who are spendthrifts.
These are often cases of great delicacy and difficulty, requiring

REJECTION OF EDWARD GREELY LORING. 393
long and patient hearing, and most careful and thorough inquiry
and research. If a professor is required and expected to perform
his duty in the schooi, it would seem hardly suitable to select a
person encumbered with such additional duties, unless, from his
character and standing, he could render as much aid and assistance
to the school as another man without these incumbrances. Such
was the case of Judge Story. His great fame, great tatents, and
great attainments, enabled him to do more for the school, with all
his judicial duties upon him, than could be done by any other
man, who was free from such other labors. But Judge Story was
an extraordinary man, and his case forms an exception, not a rule."
No part of this report has been ever published. It was
known at the time, that this portion of it was written by
the distinguished gentleman who had then recently retired
from the bench of the Supreme Court.
The report gave rise to an animated and protracted dis
cussion. No definitive vote was taken ; and, on the motion
of the Rev. Dr. Worcester, of Salem, who desired to express
his views in favor of the report, the same was laid aside
without being disposed of, and the board adjourned to
March the 23d. Every appearance, however, indicated
that it would have been accepted by a decisive vote, had
it been taken.
At the adjourned meeting, on the 23d of March, the
president of the university laid before the board a vote of
the corporation, rescinding their former votes to establish
a new professorship, and nominating Mr. Loring as its
occupant, and withdrawing the same altogether ; and the
overseers took no further action as to said report.
But, Mr. President, we have not yet done with the Hon.
E. G. Loring; for, on the 25th of January, 1855, at the
annual meeting of the overseers, a vote of the corporation
was laid before the board, nominating him as lecturer in
the Law School, but without mentioning any term for
which he was to hold the office.
60

394 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
This nomination, with others, was postponed till the
adjourned meeting on the 15th of February, when Mr.
Loring was rejected by a vote of about two to one.
Such is a brief and concise statement of the case ; and
who, after hearing it, will venture to affirm that those
gentlemen who voted in the negative on the 15th of Feb
ruary, did so without the most substantial and satisfactory
reasons ? I can speak for myself, at any rate, and wdl
say that, before I cast my vote, I made the most particular
inquiries, from various members of the bar, as to Mr. Lor-
ing's qualifications, all of whom expressed the opinion,
that the nomination ought not to be confirmed. Being
personally unknown to the gentleman, I availed myself of
the information of others, who had always known him in
his profession.
They all spoke highly of him as a gentleman and esti
mable citizen, but did not consider him as well adapted to
the offiee of law lecturer. No doubt, other members of
the , board were equally diligent in their inquiries, and
voted against his nomination for the same reasons which
influenced me ; and yet, we all remember what unworthy
motives were assigned to them by the press, and they were
condemned at a meeting of the law students at Cambridge,
no doubt because the young gentlemen there were unac
quainted with the facts in the case ; for I would not do
them the injustice to suppose they would have passed the
resolutions they did had they known all the particulars.
But, besides the objections already named, there was
another, entitled to no small consideration, to the appoint
ment of Mr. Loring as law lecturer at Cambridge. This
was the circumstance, (since become so prominent,) that
he was, at that very time — the 15th of February, 1855, a
commissioner of the Circuit Court of the United States, to
perform various duties pursuant to several acts of congress ;
and, by the act passed in 1850, was intrusted with large

REJECTION OF EDWARD GREELY LORING. 395
powers and duties. In that capacity, he is liable at all
times to be called upon to act in cases of extradition of
fugitives from justice from foreign countries, with whose
governments we have treaties on the subject; also, as
relates to revolts and mutinies on board of ships, and
crimes on the high seas ; and, by the act of 1850, called
the Fugitive Slave law, according to Mr. Loring's own con
struction of its provisions, (as appears by his remonstrance
to the last legislature) : —
" The duty of commissioners of the Circuit Court of the United
States is imperative upon them ; for, by the terms of the act,
they are not merely authorized, but they are expressly required, to
exercise and discharge all the powers and duties conferred by the
act. An application made, pursuant to law, to any commissioner,
fixes that duty on him, and, after such application, he can neither
decline nor evade it ; for, if he could legally do so, all others
might : and then not only the statute, but the constitution of the
United States, would be violated, and the public faith pledged to
itj-and the oaths taken to support it, would be broken."
I am sure, Mr. President, I need not enter into all the
particulars of what Mr. Loring may be called upon at any
time to do under such a commission ; for I cannot doubt
it will be seen at once, that holding such an appointment
may become at any time quite incompatible with his duty
of lecturing or holding moot courts at Cambridge.
Let it not, however, be understood that I find any fault
with Mr. Loring's course in relation to these matters. So
long as he holds the important office, which he has always
indicated it was his intention to retain, I trust he will always
discharge his duty in the same fearless, upright, and inde
pendent manner on all occasions, as he has done heretofore ;
and I will venture here to add, that, when upon a recent
occasion an attempt was made to deprive him ofthe office,
the duties of which he had so conscientiously performed, I
believe that no one in the commonwealth rejoiced more
than I did, that the executive power was in the hands of

396 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
a chief magistrate who had the moral courage to support
the independence of the judiciary, the bulwark of our
safety, and to sustain Judge Loring for having been true to
the constitution, the Union, and the laws. At the same
time, were I called upon to act on his nomination again, I
would not confer on him an important office in the college,
the performance of the duties of which might become, at
any time, incompatible with his other great and onerous
duties. Before I take my seat, Mr. President, there is one other
subject on which I would say a few words, and that is the
imperative duty of the members of the corporation, as
also of this board, (whatever we may do,) to be governed
always by considerations only of what is right, and wdl
promote the best and highest interests of the college ; but
never to act with reference to the interest of personal
friends or connections. Let us abjure the spirit of nepot
ism, that we may avoid the fatal consequences which it
never fails to produce.
Now, may Heaven forgive me if I do injustice to any
one by the suspicion, but it did seem to me that in
the case of Mr. Loring there must have been influences
at work which caused his nomination to be pressed upon
the board with so much pertinacity beyond any intrinsic
merits which any candid person could assign to him. I
am confirmed in this opinion by the unusual, and I must
call it unwarrantable, course, pursued by his friends.
When his nomination was finally rejected, on the 15th
of February last, was it such a course as a true regard for
the welfare of the college dictated, or such a one as it was
supposed would most promote the private interests of
Mr. Loring? It was at once proclaimed by his friends, in
the newspapers and elsewhere, that his rejection was to
be attributed wholly to his decision in the case of Burns;
the fugitive slave ; a statement, in my opinion, without
the least foundation, but one at the same time better

REJECTION OF EDWARD GREELY LORING. 397
calculated than any other, to injure the Law School, by
preventing young gentlemen from the South connecting
themselves with it ; and, if there has been any decline in
the number of the students, it may probably be imputed
to this cause.
This statement was sent broadcast through the land,
and I noticed was copied in extenso by those editors in
New York and other places, whose religious sentiments
were opposed to those which, it has sometimes been asserted,
are most favored at Cambridge.
Had the charge been true, instead of being, (as I believe,)
whoUy unsupported by evidence, no true friend of the
college would have aided in giving it circulation, as was
done by the friends of Mr. Loring, in such a persevering
and determined manner. It certainly seemed as if an
attempt was made to make it appear that he was a perse
cuted and injured man, and had been rejected for having
done his duty as United States Commissioner; and as this
was a subject which touched the sensibility of so many
persons, the country or the government at Washington
were perhaps expected to compensate him for his loss.
Mr. President, I will here conclude the remarks I pro
posed to offer on this subject, in order to remove the
wrong impression under which the public mind has
labored heretofore. I have long felt that a vindication of
the conduct of -the overseers who voted to reject Mr.
Loring against such unjust charges was imperatively called
for, and I regret it has fallen into such feeble hands.
I thank you for the patience and attention with which
you have listened to my defence, and I shall have been
well rewarded should it be admitted hereafter, (as I think
it ought to be,) that the overseers acted with becoming
firmness on the occasion, and would have surrendered
rights and privileges incontestably belonging to them, had
they voted otherwise.

LETTER TO PRESIDENT JACKSON,
West Roxbuet, (near Boston,)
February 16th, 1837.
Mt Dear Sir, — I have long wished to have the date of
the visit, with which you were pleased to honor me on the
first of July, 1833, at Roxbury, engraved upon some tablet
more durable than that of memory.
During my recent extensive tour in Europe, as I was
walking one day through the Royal Museum, at Naples,
my attention was arrested by a portrait of Columbus, by
Parmigiano, who died in 1540. As I gazed on the picture
of that great man, I began to think of my country, and of
you, who have twice saved it ; once by the valor of your
arms, when it was attacked by a powerful foreign enemy ;
and again, upon an occasion more recent, but of danger
not less imminent, when its union was threatened to be
dissolved by a combination of powerful individuals in a
southern state.
It occurred to me, that you might like to have a correct
likeness of the discoverer of that country, over whose des
tiny you have presided so long, with singular wisdom,
prudence, and good fortune. The original could not be
had, for it belonged to the government of Naples ; but I
was able to find an artist on the spot, who could take a
copy, and who has succeeded so well in the task, that it is
said, by some, to be superior to the original.
I have had inscribed upon one corner of the canvass,
the name of my native town, and the date of your visit.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH PRESIDENT JACKSON. 399
I have sent the portrait to your address at Washington,
and ask the favor of your acceptance of the same,°as a
testimonial of the gratitude I feel for the honor you con
ferred upon me by the time you passed with me at Rox
bury, and as a proof of the admiration and respect with
which I remain Your much obliged friend, and
Most obedient servant,
S. D. BRADFORD.
To Andrew Jackson,
President of the United States, Washington, D. C.

(COPY.)
REPLY OF PBESIDENT JACKSON.
Washington, February 21, 1837.
My Dear Sie, — Your letter of the 16th instant, communicat
ing the flattering feebng under which, when abroad, your heart
prompted the noble offering of the portrait of Columbus, is
received at a time to make such gift most welcome.
Returning to the Hermitage, to see its walls adorned by the
likeness of the heroic discoverer, and that by the hand of a too
partial friend, who has deemed the destiny which I have fulfilled
somewhat worthy to associate me, in his thoughts, with the firm,
daring, lofty spirit which gave a continent to civilization, and liberty
a land to abide in, while it must fill me with humility by the
comparison, cannot but be gratifying to that pardonable feeling
which has animated me, through a long career of unceasing labor,
in the hope that I might live in the good opinion of my country.
I thank you, my dear sir, for your much esteemed present.
I shall look upon it with pride while I live, for the sake of the
gift and the giver, and shall leave it as a relic never to be removed
from the halls of the Hermitage, where, I trust, the memorial will

400 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
be considered well placed, as showing that I could fully appre
ciate, however feebly communicate, my sense of the sublime genius
it calls up to mind.
Be so kind as to present to your amiable sister, my kind
salutations, and believe me, Very respectfully Your friend,
ANDREW JACKSON.
To Samuel D. Bradford, Esq.,
Roxbury, Mass.

COURT OF APPEALS.
THE PRESIDENT, DIRECTORS, AND COMPANY, OF THE MECHANICS' BANK, IN THE
CITY OF NEW YORK, AGATNST THE NEW YORK AND NEW HAVEN RAILROAD
COMPANY. [This cause was heard at the last April term of this court, at Albany, before Hon.
HiraTn Denio, Chief Justice, and Hons. A. S. Johnson, G. F. Comstock, Wm. B.
Wright, Wm. Mitchell, and F. Hubbard, Justices ; and was argued by Messrs.
William Curtis Noyes and George Wood, (with whom was associated Nicholas
Hill, Jr., Esq.,) for the defendants ; and by Messrs. E. S. Van Winkle and Daniel
Lord, for the plaintiffs. It was kept under advisement until the 17th of June,
1856, when the following unanimous opinion of the court was delivered. — New
York Times, June 26, 1856.]
Comstock, J. — This is an action for damages founded on a cer
tificate for eighty-five shares of stock in the defendants' corporation,
issued to Alexander Kyle, upon the security of which the plain
tiffs loaned to that person a sum of money ; and the first inquiry
naturally is, what was the force and effect of the certificate in his
hands ? The mode of presenting this inquiry most favorable to the
plaintiffs is, to consider it as free from the difficulty that there was
no power in the corporation, its board of directors, or any of its
agents, to create the shares of stock in question. Assuming that
the corporation had stock at its own disposal, and that Robert
Schuyler, as agent, had full power to sell it in market, and issue
the proper certificates therefor, it is clear that any person dealing
with him in good faith, and paying value, would become entitled
to all the rights and privileges of a stockholder, although the agent,
by a secret fraud, intended the transaction to be for his own benefit,
and used the funds which he received for his own private pur
poses. In such a case, the acts of the agent being such as the cor
poration was competent to perform, and strictly within the powers
51

402 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
delegated to him, upon principles entirely familiar, the law would
not permit third persons to suffer by a secret abuse of the trust.
But it is equally clear, that no rights would be acquired by a
party not dealing with the agent in good faith, and receiving a cer
tificate of stock without paying any value therefor. To say that
the original holder of such a certificate could not be admitted to a
participation with the genuine and bona fide stockholders in the
property, franchises and revenues of the corporation, is a proposi
tion so plain that it needs only to be stated. Such was the situa
tion of Alexander Kyle, the original holder of the certificate now
in question. To what extent he was implicated in the frauds of
Schuyler, is not material. The certificate is admitted to have been
issued fraudulently, and he paid nothing for it ; on this ground
it was in his hands spurious and void ; and this is a conclusion which
is reached without calling in question the power of the corporation
to create the stock, or of Schuyler, as agent, to issue the proper
evidence thereof to a purchaser in good faith.
The certificate in the hands of Kyle was also void, for the
reasons which will now be mentioned :
First, Schuyler, as the agent of the company, had no power to
issue a certificate for shares of stock, except upon the conditions
precedent of a transfer on the books by some previous owner, and
the surrender of that owner's certificate. He was the transfer
agent merely, and his powers were expressly limited to that depart
ment of the business of the corporation. He had no general certi
fying power, nor any power at all to certify, except as incidental,
to a transfer of stock by its owner to some one else, and, as an
incidental power, it could only be exercised upon the conditions
named. Second, Neither the board of directors by whom Schuyler was
appointed agent, nor the whole body of the corporation, had power
to create the stock which the certificate issued to Kyle professed to
represent ; and if the stock itself could not be brought into exist
ence by the whole power of the corporation, the certificate issued
as the evidence of its existence, and the right of the holder thereto,
was necessarily void. Upon the premises last stated, the conclu
sion would be the same, even if Kyle had paid to the transfer agent
the full value of the stock. He could purchase stock of any person

LIABILITY OF SHAREHOLDERS. 403
who owned it, but he could not, under any conditions, obtain it
from the corporation or its agents, because there was none to be had,
and none could be created.
Thus far, I do not understand that my conclusions differ essen
tially from the views of the counsel who have argued the cause for
the plaintiffs ; and, if I was not mistaken in regard to the general
scope of their argument, they conceded the further result, that the
plaintiffs, holding the certificate by transfer from Kyle, have no
rights as stockholders, merely for the particular reason, that the stock
cannot exist under the charter ; the essential ground of the action in
the view of the counsel, being the injury sustained by dealing upon
the faith of the false representation of stock which the certificate
contains. The opinions, however, of the judges in the court below,
are before us for examination, as well as those of eminent lawyers,
who have not appeared upon the argument, and I think it proper
to refer to these opinions for the purpose of bringing into view all
the theories upon which, it has been supposed, the plaintiffs' rights
depend. Mr. Justice Hoffman, in the opinion pronounced by him, holds
that the certificate was not void, as transcending the powers of the
corporation in the creation of stock and issuing certificates therefor,
or those delegated to Schuyler as the transfer agent. He, therefore,
considers the obligation to be one which the defendants can perform,
and ought to perform, according to its terms. He admits that the
effect of an over-issue is to increase the number of shares, but not
the actual capital ; and, according to his view, the spurious certifi
cates are to be made good by a reduction in the actual value of
those that are now genuine. He holds, therefore, that the defend
ants were bound to admit the plaintiffs as stockholders, and to
register their shares on the books accordingly ; and that this suit
depends, purely and simply, on the non-performance of that duty,
after being requested to perform it. " Without a demand," he says,.
" and refusal to transfer, there woufd be no ground of action
whatever." Directly opposed to these views are those of Chief Justice Oakley.
He holds the certificate utterly void, because it transcended the
powers of the transfer agent, whose commission, he thinks, was
special, and not general ; and, if the action depended on the vabd-

404 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
ity of the certificate, he says, the following questions would have
to be answered : First, Whether the plaintiffs, as bona fide holders,
could acquire any rights under it superior to those of Kyle, in
whose hands it was void ? And, secondly. Whether the plaintiffs
can be considered as bona fide holders ?
As to the last point, he inclines to think that the plaintiffs were
bound to see that Schuyler, as agent, did not exceed his special
powers, and, therefore, if they chose to deal in the stock without
inquiring as to that fact, they took the certificate from Kyle at their
peril. But the learned chief justice, nevertheless, holds the
defendants liable, on the ground that the certificate was a false rep
resentation that Kyle held stock, when in truth he did not. He
thinks that Schuyler, the agent, had an implied authority from the
company to make such a representation — an authority resulting
from his constant habit of issuing certificates in the same form in
the course of the regular business of the corporation. If, as he
assumes, the certificate was void, tested simply by the authority
given to the agent, and if, as he also assumes, the plaintiffs were
bound to take notice of the want of authority, with deference, it
appears to me, that they are affected by the same considerations
when they change the grounds of complaint to misrepresentation
and fraud. Can an agent's authority to misrepresent, in the course
of a dealing, be inferred, when it is admitted he has no authority to
enter into the dealing at all ?
Justices Bosworth and Slosson, if I do not misunderstand them,
both admit, that there was no power in the corporation to create
the shares of stock which the certificate professes to represent, and
that the instrument, considered as a real representation of stock, was
void for that reason ; thus discarding the only ground upon which,
in the opinion of one of their brethren, the action can be main
tained. They nevertheless hold, that the suit is not founded upon
the motion of misrepresentation and fraud, thus as distinctly reject
ing the theory of the other. They appear to me to have found a
middle ground of liability, which is, perhaps, fairfy expressed in
the following language of Justice Bosworth : " The certificate," he
says, " so far as any inferences can be drawn from its terms or
appearance, purports to be, and is as much the act of the defend
ants, as any certificate that has been issued by the company repre-

LIABILITY OF SHAREHOLDERS. 405
senting genuine stock. The plaintiffs took it, believing it to be
what it purports to be, and their action is based on the theory that,
as between them and the defendants, it is, in judgment of law, the
act of the defendants ; and that the defendants are estopped from
asserting the contrary, so far as the question of their liability for
refusing to reimburse to the plaintiff the amount of their loan to
the extent of the value of the stock is concerned." And again, he
says : " The action is based on the assumption, so far as the right to
be compensated in damages is concerned, that the company has
given an assurance that Kyle owned the stock, which the certificate
represents stood to his credit on its books." The reasoning by
which these results are reached, is, in substance, that the act of
Schuyler, in issuing the certificate, was within the apparent scope of
his powers, and, therefore, although the contract was void, because
it transcended all the powers of the corporation, and was impossible
to be performed for the same reason, the defendant must, neverthe
less, make it good in damages upon an assurance that it was valid ;
the assurance being a part of the contract itself. I confess my own
impression to be, that this reasoning is too refined. Admitting
that the agent acted within the scope of the power delegated to him
by the board of directors, I do not clearly see how certificates of
stock, which they themselves had no authority to issue, void in
their origin, and under all conceivable circumstances, can be made
the basis of a liability ruinous to the genuine stockholders, by turn
ing the spurious instruments into a promise or undertaking that the
stock in fact existed.
The extreme difficulty which has been encountered in endeavor
ing to find a principle on which to rest the action, may be further
illustrated by reference to the professional opinions which have
been submitted to our examination. In one of them — certainly
entitled to the very highest respect, the reasoning of which, I think,
must have been in substance approved by Mr. Justice Hoffman — it
is claimed that all the over-issued certificates are valid, so far as
question of corporate power is concerned ; that the multiplication
of shares did not increase the capital stock, but merely reduced the
value of the shares ; that the acts of Schuyler, in issuing such cer
tificates, were done within the scope of his authority as agent; and,
as a conclusion from these premises, that all the holders in good

406 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
faith, who had not already received new certificates in their own
names, were entitled to receive them, and so to be admitted to all
the rights and privileges of stockholders. In another of these
opinions, distinguished by great acuteness and force of reasoning,
the clear and emphatic concession is made, that the defendants have
no corporate right to create a valid title to a single share of stock
beyond the prescribed number ; that the corporation, being prohib
ited from issuing more than thirty thousand shares, was, by neces
sary consequence, forbidden to recognize, as a part of its stock, any
share known to have been issued contrary to that prohibition, and
consequently, that the directors might refuse to recognize alf shares
which could be clearly traced to an origin in the over-issue. In
respect to all such shares it is claimed, however, that compensation
in damages must be made by the corporation to the innocent hold
ers, who, by dealing in them, have suffered pecuniary foss. The
issue of false certificates, it is insisted, was a failure of corporate
duty, an act of negligence by the -corporation, for which it is liable
to the party injured. The company, it is also said, is bound by an
estoppel in favor of the innocent shareholder, and must either recog
nize him as a stockholder, or respond in damages as a wrong-doer
for withholding his apparent right.
If those who assert that this action can be maintained, had been
able to agree upon a reason for that opinion, there would be fewer
propositions to discuss than I shall feel obliged to examine.
I have already stated, in general terms, my own conclusion to be
on the side of the invalidity of the so-called spurious shares, upon
the ground of a want of corporate power to create them, and I will
now give some further expression to my views on that question.
By the charter of this railroad company, its capital stock was
Hmited to three millions of dollars, to be divided into shares of
one hundred dollars each. It is admitted that the whole capital
was subscribed and paid in, and that certificates of stock were issued
representing the thirty thousand shares actually subscribed and paid
for. Now if it is plain, as all concede, that the capital could not
be increased beyond the three millions, it seems to me equally
plain, that no more than thirty thousand shares could be created
Both are unalterably fixed by the charter ; the capital, by express
ing the aggregate amount, and the number of shares by expressing

LIABILITY OF SHAREHOLDERS. 407
the amount of each. The whole capital is divided into shares of
one hundred dollars each, and the mathematical result is thirty
thousand in all. Viewing the question, therefore, as one of abstract
power, nothing appeal's to be wanting to a complete demonstration
that additional shares could not be created. There is, under the
charter, no more capacity to increase the nominal capital by multi
plying the shares to an indefinite extent, than to increase the real
capital by an actual subscription indefinitely beyond the specified
limit. But it is important to observe that the question has other rela
tions than those which belong to it as one of simple capacity and
power. The thirty thousand shares of original stock, subscribed
and paid for by the persons to whom the genuine certificates were
issued, beionged to them in their individual right, and were as
much their separate and individual property as any other possession
which they could acquire. The enthe capital was represented in
the property and franchises of the corporation, and the owner of
each share was entitled to a fixed and unalterable proportion of
that capital. And from this it follows that any attempt to create a
greater number of shares by the issue of additional certificates, is
not only a violation of the organic law of the corporation, but a
direct invasion of the contract between it and each holder of its
original stock. Now, while it cannot be denied that the value of
every share may be reduced by misfortune or accident in the man
agement of the business of the corporation, or by the neglect and
misconduct of its agents acting within their acknowledged powers,
it is equally plain that this result cannot be effected by a change in
the fixed proportion which each share bears to the aggregate num
ber. It has been said, that the limitation of the capitai and the
number of shares, was imposed from considerations of public policy
alone. This is not so. Those who asked for the charter, and pro
posed to invest their private capital in the enterprise which it con
templated, required such a limitation for their own protection ; and
every individual who subscribed and paid for shares of stock must
be deemed to have done so relying upon the charter for the safety
of his investment.
The conclusion to which I am brought upon this question, is
not impeached by the consideration (if such is the fact) that there

408 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
are shares and certificates of stock, beyond the original limit, which
cannot be traced to an over-issue by the fraudulent agent of the
company. I know not how the facts may be in this respect, nor
is it material to the argument. The corporation may be compelled
to respond to the holders of certificates, amounting in the aggre
gate to more than its capital, because it cannot distinguish those
which are spurious and those which are genuine. Thus the num
ber of shares to be recognized may be practically increased, not
for the reason that all over-issues are not void, but because, in a
given instance, the corporation cannot show that the shares claimed
are of that character. No question of this kind arises in the case
before us.
I have also stated, in general terms, as one of my conclusions,
that the certificate issued to Kyle, was void in his hands, upon the
more special ground that the agent could not certify, except upon
conditions which did not exist in respect to that transaction. I
observe now, further, that a third person, dealing with Kyle, and
taking from him a transfer of the certificate, doubtless had reason
to suppose that it had been duly issued. Whether a dealing with
him under that belief, created new rights against the corporation,
I shall presently examine. But Kyle himself dealt directly with
the agent of the company, and . he knew the conditions had not
arisen, on which the power to certify depended. He knew this,
because he surrendered no previous certificate, and had no transfer
on the books, or otherwise, from any actual shareholder. Now, I
do not understand it to be claimed, on the part of the plaintiffs,
that the acts of the agent, in issuing the spurious certificates, were
within any actual power which the corporation ever attempted to
confer upon him, nor, that all persons proposing to deal in the
stock, were not chargeable with a knowledge of the extent and
limit of his authority. He was known to be a transfer agent,
merely of existing and genuine shares, and in that character his
name was signed to the certificate in question, and all others.
What is claimed I understand to be precisely this : — That the
false certificates, being regular on their face, and the same in form,
as those which were genuine, presented to third parties dealing in
them, all the appearances of having been duly issued, although, in
fact, the agent had no authority to issue them, and although the

LIABILITY OF SHAREHOLDERS. 409
exact extent of his authority was known. But these appearances
were known to be false, by those who dealt directly with the
agent ; and with that knowledge it is not pretended that they can
assert any claim against the corporation. Such was the situation
of Kyle.
It is as well, in this connection as any other, to notice a special
feature of the transaction, which, I think, imparts neither strength
nor weakness to the plaintiff's case. The facts as they appear in
the finding of the judge are, that Kyle received the certificate, not
for his own but the agent's use, and having negotiated with the
plaintiffs a loan, by pledging it as security, paid the proceeds of
the transaction over to the agent. But these facts were not known
to the plaintiff. They dealt with Kyle as the owner. Upon that
theory they have a right now to rely, and I understand them to do
so. It is the best the case will admit of. If they choose to take
the facts as they actually are, and to regard Kyle as a negotiator
merely between them and the fraudulent agent of the corporation,
they would then stand in the position of an immediate dealer with
the agent, receiving from him a certificate of stock issued without
authority ; and this position, as I have shown, would be fatal to
their claim. They justly prefer to be regarded, and I do regard
them, as third parties, dealing with Kyle as the apparent owner of
stock. In order to keep in view the exact conditions of the general
question, I think it proper to state the conclusions which I con
sider thus far established. They are as follows : First. The cer
tificate was void in the hands of Kyle, the first holder, because
it was fraudulently issued, and he paid nothing for it. Second.
It was also void in his hands because issued by an agent
without authority, there being no surrender of a previous
certificate, and no transfer to him on the books of actual stock ;
and this want of authority was known to him. Third. It was
void because the stock it professed to represent had no existence,
and could not exist under the charter of the company ; all the
powers of the corporation in the creation and issue of stock being
exhausted. In respect to the conclusion last mentioned, it must
be, and I think is conceded, that, as a further result, the certificate
is 'void under all possible circumstances, so that no person, in
52

410 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
whatever situation, can claim under it the rights of a stockholder,
or damages on the ground of a refusal to admit him to such rights.
As the law will not require the defendants to violate their charter
by creating an excess of stock to supply this spurious certificate, so
it will not furnish them in damages for refusing simply to be
guilty of such violation. I consider this result so necessary and so
evident as not to require further discussion.
I will proceed, however, to a more particular examination of the
plaintiffs' rights as the transferrees of Kyle ; and, giving them the
most favorable view of the case, will consider the certificate as void
in his hands only on the grounds that it was issued fraudufently,
without consideration, and without any authority contained in the
terms of Schuyler's appointment as transfer agent. In this view,
the defendant's corporation is regarded as competent to recognize
the certificate, and, if they are bound to do so, they must respond
in damages upon their refusal. The question, therefore, will be,
Are they so bound, or, to state it in another form, are the plaintiffs
in a situation to assert any rights against the company which Kyle,
their assignor, did not possess.
By the charter of this corporation the shares of its capital stock
were made transferable in such manner and in such places as the
by-laws should direct ; and the by-laws declared that all transfers
should be made in the transfer-book, kept at the proper office ; and
where a certificate of the stock had been issued, that the same
shouid be surrendered prior to the transfer being made. The cer
tificate now in question, as ail others, declared on its face the same
conditions. This certificate has, in fact, never been surrendered,
and no such transfer has ever been made. The plaintiffs, on
making their loan to Kyle, took from him an assignment and power
of attorney in blank, but paid no regard to the fundamental con
ditions on which alone a legal title to the stock could be transferred.
Of these conditions of course they had notice.
I am aware it is common to deal in this manner in the stock of
corporate companies, and I do not say that any rule of law or of
public policy is violated by it. The dealer undoubtedly acquires
an equitable title to the stock of his vendor, and, if the vendor's
title is open to no impeachment, he has a right to call upon the
corporation to clothe him also with the legal title by permitting a

LIABILITY OF SHAREHOLDERS. 411
transfer to himself on its books, and to demand a new certificate in
his own name. But the question here is, not whether the pur
chaser is clothed in equity with all the rights of the seller, but
whether, by a transfer not made, according to the laws of the cor
poration, he acquires new and superior rights as against the corpo
ration itself ; in short, whether his title is good when that of his
vendor was good for nothing.
So, too, it is common to deal in this manner with respect to obli
gations of every description. If extreme caution is exercised, the
purchaser will inquire of the maker of the obligation, and procure
his admission of its validity, and his assent to the tiensfer ; and have
ing done so, an estoppel will arise in his favor, not because he has
invested his money in the purchase, but because he purchased after
procuring such admission or consent, and npon the faith thereof.
Where there is no estoppel of this sort to rely upon, then the ques
tion whether the transferree of an obligation apparently sound, and
from the apparent owner, acquires any better right to enforce it
than his assignor had, depends on the nature of the obligation
itself. The general and familiar rule is, that he does not. If the
instrument has negotiable qualities, then he may. In the case of
negotiable instruments, the legal title passes by mere indorsement
or delivery. When they are not negotiable, an equitable title is
all that can be acquired ; and this suggests the further observation
that, as between equities merely, the prior one, as a general rule,
prevails. The prior equity, as well as the law, is in favor of the
party who made the obligation, if, for any good and valid reason, he
ought not to be bound by it. The principle is so familiar that
authorities need not be cited. It seems to me, therefore, that we
are brought directly to the question whether certificates of stock
in the defendants' corporation are to be regarded as negotiable
instruments in the sense of the commercial law, so that, by their
indorsement and delivery to a purchaser in good faith, a title to-
the stock they profess to represent may be acquired, although
in the hands of the vendor they are spurious and void, and
although the company itself has never recognized the transfer.
This question, I think, must be answered in the negative. They
contain, in the first place, no words of negotiability. They declare'
simply that the person named is entitled to certain shares of stock.

412 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
They do not, like negotiable instruments, run to the bearer, or
to the order of the party to whom they are given. They com
mence, it is true, with the words, " Be it known," but such words
have no tendency to show that they possess the quality claimed for
them. A phraseology quite similar may be found on bonds and
other instruments which no one ever thought to be negotiable.
But, aside from the absence of any language of these certificates
which can impart to them a negotiable character, both the laws of the
corporation, and the certificates themselves, contain special restric
tions, which seem to me to put this question at rest. I do not
suppose that a corporation, without something very extraordinary
in its charter, can place such restraints upon the sale of its stock,
that the individual holder may not transfer as good a title in equity
as he himself possesses, by any mode of assurance good upon gen
eral principles of law. But, if a natural person has an undoubted
right so to express the terms of his obligation that it shall not be
negotiable in the commercial sense, or in any sense which can give
to the purchaser a title superior to that of his vendor, I see no
reason to doubt that corporations possess the same right. Have
the defendants so expressed themselves in these certificates of stock ?
I think they have. They have distinctly declared, both in their
by-laws, and on the face of the certificates, that shares can be trans
ferred only on the books, and on the surrender of the evidence of
the previous owner's title. If an illustration were wanting of the
value of such a restriction, it is furnished in the present case. But,
whatever its value, the restraint is lawful in itself, and one which
the corporation had an undoubted right to impose. I do not say
that it prevents the owner of stock from selling his shares by an
outside transfer, so that his vendee will acquire in equity his own
rights ; but to say that the holder of a false and fraudulent certif
icate, by indorsing and delivering it to another person, can create
a title hostile to the corporation itself, would be to deny to the
restriction any meaning or effect whatever.
I have examined attentively the authorities cited upon the ques
tion, but do not find that the doctrine contended for, has in them
the least support. In the case of Kortright vs. The Commercial
Bank of Buffalo, (20 Wend., 91, L. C. in error, 22 Wend., 348,)
it was held that an action of assumpsit, will lie against a corpora-

LIABILITY OF SHAREHOLDERS. 413
tion in favor of the assignee of a stock certificate, for refusing to
permit a transfer on the books. This and the class of cases to
which it belongs, prove that a transfer not made according to the
charter or by-laws of a corporation, confers upon the transferree, in
an equitable sense, the title of the previous owner; that, being
thus clothed with the equitable title, it is the duty of the corpora
tion to permit him to take a legal transfer on the books ; and that
the law will imply an assumpsit for the performance of that duty.
For a breach of this duty, actions of assumpsit and case have been
indifferentty maintained. In principle, the remedy should have
been a special action on the case. Such was the opinion of Chief
Justice Nelson in the case referred to — but he adds, " It being
once settled, (that assumpsit will lie,) there is no occasion for dis
turbing it." It is only material to observe that the assumpsit is
not in the certificate itself, and so passing by indorsement and
delivery to the transferree, but is implied after the transfer, from
the duty of the corporation to clothe the equitable owner with the
legal title. Such cases, so far from tending to show that a dealer
in certificates acquires rights better than those of the person with
whom he deals, seem to me to justify quite an opposite conclusion.
They necessarily assume that the change of title is incomplete,
until the proper transfer is made on the books.
In the case of Fatman vs. Loback, (1 Duer, 354,) no question
arose involving the rights of the corporation. The decision is
directly opposed to that of Chancellor Walworth in Stebbins vs.
Phenix Bank, (3 Paige, 350,) and my own impression is, that it
cannot be sustained. I find in it, however, nothing which can
affect the question I am considering. The case was disposed of
upon principles which were not asserted as having any peculiar
apphcation to dealing in stocks or negotiable securities. The case
of Stoney vs. The American Life Insurance and Trust Company,
(11 Paige, 635,) only held that the negotiable security of a corpo
ration, appearing on its face to have been duty issued, was valid in
the hands of a bona fide holder, although, in fact, issued contrary
to law. The case of Delafued vs. The State of Illinois, (2d Hill,
159,) related to state bonds, payable to bearer, and strictly- nego
tiable. Such securities are sometimes called stocks, but a confusion
of terms should not involve principles in obscurity.

414 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
In the case of Fisher vs. The Morris Canal and Banking Com
pany, (3 Am. Law Reg., 423,) the question was, whether the
bonds of a railroad corporation, payable to bearer, issued for the
purpose of raising money, with interest coupons annexed, also
payable to bearer, were negotiable in such a sense, that a purchaser
for value took them free from any equities between the company
and the seller. The decision was in favor of the purchaser, and I
fully concur in the doctrine. The distinction between such a
security and a stock certificate, which by its very terms is not
negotiable, and which is not a security for money at all, it seems
to me, is too plain to escape observation.
These are the only authorities cited in favor of the doctrine
contended for. It is quite evident that they have no tendency in
that direction. I will now mention some which are decisively the
other way. In the case of the Union Bank of Georgetown vs.
Laird, (2 Wheaton, 390,) the stock was transferable only on the
books of the corporation. The precise propositions decided were, that
no legal title to shares could be acquired except by a transfer made
according to the requirement, and that the equitable title of the
transferree was subject to all the rights of the corporation against
his assignor. The same doctrine was held by Chancellor Walworth
in Stebbins vs. Phcenix Fire Insurance Company, (3 Paige, 350.)
In the State of Connecticut, there have been a series of cases
going still further. There the registry on the books, when
required by the charter or by-laws of a corporation, is deemed the
originating act in the change of title to stock, and a transfer not so
made, is regarded as ineffectual for any purpose. (2 Cown., 529 ;
3 ib., 544 ; 5 ib., 246 ; 6 ib., 552.) So rigorous a doctrine has
not been followed elsewhere, and I think the established rule now
is, that a transfer of stock not made in the manner prescribed is,
nevertheless, valid so as to pass in equity all the rights of the seller,
but no greater. (See further, Angell and Ames on Corporations,
352, 353, 3d ed., where the rule is stated, and the cases cited.)
Looking at the question upon principle, I am not aware of any
thing in the nature or uses of this kind of property which requires
an application of the rules which belong to negotiable securities.
Stocks are not, like bank bills, the immediate representative of
money, and intended for circulation. The distinction between a

LIABILITY OF SHAREHOLDERS. 415
bank bill and a share of bank stock is not difficult to appreciate.
Nor are they, like notes and bills of exchange, less adapted to
circulation, but invented to supply the exigencies of commerce,
and governed by the peculiar code of the commercial law. They
are not like exchequer bills and government securities, which are
made negotiable either for circulation or to find a market. Nor
are they like corporation bonds, which are issued in negotiable
form for sale, and as a means for raising money for corporate uses.
The distinction between all these and corporate stocks is marked
and striking. They are all in some form the representative of
money, and may be satisfied by payment in money at a time spec
ified. Certificates of stock are not securities for money in any
sense, much less are they negotiable securities. They are simply
the muniments and evidence of the holder's title to a given share
in the property and franchises of the corporation of which he is a
member. The primary use and design, 1 must be allowed to say,
of this species of property, is to afford a steady investment for cap
ital, rather than to feed the spirit of speculation. I am aware that
people will speculate in stocks, as they sometimes do in lands, and
there is no law which absolutely forbids it ; but such, I am per
suaded, is not the use for which we should hold them chiefly
intended. The question is capable of some further elucidation, by attend
ing to the rules which have been settled in regard to the transfera
bility of other instruments and the effect of transfer. A certificate
of stock is, in some respects, like a bill of lading, or a warehouse
or wharfinger's receipt. Each is the representative of property
existing under certain conditions, and the documentary evidence of
title thereto. They are all alike transferable by indorsement and
deHvery, and the title to the property, thus represented, passes by
such transfer. So far, they resemble each other, but there are dis
tinctions to be noted. Bills of lading and wharfingers' receipts,
are commercial instruments, and their transferability, or, as it is
sometimes termed, their " quasi-negotiability," depends on the
custom of merchants, and the conveniences of trade. Certificates
of stock are not commercial instruments, and the title to the prop
erty they represent, passes in equity only by indorsement and
delivery, where, by any law or rule of the corporation, the transfer

416 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
is required to be made on the books. With these resemblances
and these distinctions, if a bill of lading is not negotiable, in the
sense which must be contended for in the present case, there is
much greater difficulty in affirming that such a quality belongs to
a stock certificate.
In the great case of Lichbarrow vs. Mason, (2 Term Rep., 63 ;
5 id., 367,) it was held that the consignor of goods had lost his
right of stoppage in transitu, when the consignee, holding the bill
of lading indorsed in blank by the consignor, delivered it to a
third person, who received it in good faith, and made advances
upon it. This has been the settled rule ever since. But, in such
cases, it is to be observed, the legal title to the goods has vested
by the sale and consignment in the consignee, subject only to the
peculiar and anomalous right of arresting their delivery, in the
event of insolvency. If, therefore, before this right is exercised,
the consignee transfers the bill of lading to another person, who
takes it in good faith and 'for value, the latter acquires the title
which his vendor had at the time of the transfer, and which the
consignor cannot afterwards take from him, by stopping the goods
before they have reached their destination. In this doctrine,
which was settled after a very remarkable contest in the courts of
England, is contained all the negotiable quality that belongs to a
bill of lading, and it requires but little discrimination to see that
this is not negotiability in any just sense of that term. On the
other hand, it has been held by the Supreme Court, and the late
Court of Errors of this State, — (Saitus vs. Everett, 15 Wend., 475 ;
20 id., 267,) that a bill of lading, covering goods shipped, but
made without the owner's authority, cannot affect the owner's title,
into whatsoever hands the instrument may come. So it has been
lately held in the English Queen's Bench, (Gurney vs. Behrend.
3 Ellis and BL, 622,) that, if a bill of lading is misappropriated, as
if it be indorsed in blank by the consignor, and sent to his corre
spondent, but not intending thereby to have it transferred, and the
person receiving the bill transfers it for value, the title to the goods
is not affected by the transaction. Lord Campbell, in delivering
the judgment in that case, very explicitly denied the negotiability
of such instruments. In Covill vs. Hill (4 Denio, 323,) Chief
Justice Bronson had occasion to say, " If the master of a vessel,

LIABILITY OF SHAREHOLDERS. 417
after signing a bill of lading to the owner of the goods, should give
one to another person, it would confer no rights upon those who
were misled by the false and fraudulent paper." See also Thomp
son vs. Dominaj, (14 Mees and W., 402,) Zachrisson vs. Ahman,
(2 Sand, 68,) Commercial Bank of Rochester vs. Cole, (15 Barb.,
506.) It is conceded that Kyle, the first holder of the certificate in
question, could assert no title to the stock it appears to represent,
and that, in his hands, it was spurious and void, for all the reasons
which have been mentioned. Before its transfer to the plaintiffs
can be admitted to confer any better title upon them, it must be
shown to have not only all the negotiable qualities of a bill of
lading, but others also which that instrument does not possess.
Testing this question, therefore, in any conceivable mode,
whether by the express terms of these certificates, by their general
nature and character, by the authority of adjudged cases, or by the
most favorable anologies, I have no hesitation in saying, that the
doctrine contended for, is entirely without foundation. It is
mainly by assuming, for these instruments, the possession in a
greater or less degree of the peculiar qualities of negotiable securi
ties, that the plaintiffs claim to have acquired, by transfer, better
rights than their assignor had ; and, as that assumption fails, this
claim must fall to the ground.
It was also said, on the argument, that those certificates of stock
are in the nature of general letters of credit, on the faith of which
any one might act ; and upon this idea, it was insisted that the
defendants are in some way bound by the obligation in the hands
of the plaintiff. I am unable to see the analogy suggested. By
attending to a mere definition of a letter of credit, it will be seen
there is no resemblance. Thus, in McCulloch's Commercial Dic
tionary, it is defined to be " a letter written by one merchant or
correspondent to another, requesting him to credit the bearer with
a sum of money." Or, to take the further definition of another
writer, it is " an open or sealed letter from one merchant in one
place, directed to another in another place, requiring him, that, if
the person therein named, or the bearer of the letter, shall have
occasion to buy commodities or to want moneys, he will procure
the same, or pass his promise, bill, or other engagement, for it, on
53

418 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
the writer of the letter, undertaking that he will provide him the
money for the goods, or repay him by exchange, or give him such
satisfaction as he shall require." (3 Chitty, Com. Law, 336 ;
Bouvier's Law Dictionary.)
Now, while it may be the effect of a stock certificate to give the
holder a credit, its terms do not request, invite, or guarantee it.
So the possessor of property of any description, or of the evidence
and muniments of title thereto, in their effect give to the possessor
a credit with other men. In this sense, every chose in action
invites a credit in favor of him who holds it, and so do the title-
deeds of his real estate. Innocent parties may deal with him and
be deceived. They may lend their money and lose it. Nothing
more than this can be said of a certificate of the ownership of
stock in a corporation. Regarded as a promissory instrument,
imposing obligations to be performed by the artificial person which
makes it, it is like any other chose in action, except as greater restric
tions may be placed upon its transfer and sale. Regarded as a
muniment of title merely, it is like any other instrument by which
title is manifested. But to say that, like a letter of credit, it con
tains a request, express or implied, addressed to any one in par
ticular, or to the community in general, to deal with, or advance
money to, the holder, or that it contains any assurance or guarantee
addressed to the dealer, of the safety of the transaction, is, in my
judgment, to confound plain and long-settled distinctions.
I wiil now briefly examine the validity of the plaintiffs' title in
another aspect, still keeping out of view, however, the absolute
want of power in the corporation to create the stock in question.
It has been mentioned as one of the reasons why the certificate
was void in the hands of Kyle, that Schuyler, the agent, was not
acting within the scope of his powers when he issued it. The full
effect of this particular objection upon the plaintiffs' rights as the
transferrees of Kyle, has not been considered. And I observe
now, in the first place, that if, upon a vague theory of negotia
bility, (already examined,) they could overcome the difficulties
arising out of the fraud of the agent toward the company as his
principal, and out of the want of consideration, this objection
would still have to be removed. It is obvious, upon a moment's
reflection, that negotiability can impart no vitality to an instrument

LIABILITY OF SHAREHOLDERS. 4 19
executed under a power where the agent has exceeded his actual
or presumptive authority. Whoever proposes to deal with a
security of any kind appearing, on its face, to be given by one man
for another, is bound to inquire whether it has been given by due
authority, and if he omits that inquiry, he deals at his peril.
It is not denied, that the plaintiffs, in taking the certificates in
question, were chargeable with notice of the extent and limit of
the powers of Schuyler as transfer agent. All that is claimed in
their behalf is, that his act in issuing it was apparently and pre
sumptively, although not actually, within his authority. Upon
this ground it is urged, that, according to the rules which
govern the relation of principal and agent, the defendants are
bound in some way to make the obligation good. The extent of
the authority, it is admitted, the plaintiffs knew, or were bound to
know ; but it was not known, they say, that the act done was not
within such authority.
There are, iu the books, many loose expressions concerning the
distinction between a general and special agency. The distinction
itself is highly unsatisfactory, and will be found quite insufficient
to solve a great variety of cases. It is not profitable to dwell upon
that distinction. Underlying the whole subject, there is this funda
mental proposition, that a principal is bound only by the authorized
acts of his agent. This authority may be proved by the instrument
which creates it ; and beyond the terms of the instrument, or the
verbal commission, it may be shown that the principal has held the
agent out to the world, in other instances, as having an authority
which will embrace the particular act in question. I know of no
other mode in which a controverted power can be established.
But in whichever way this is done, it cannot be limited by secret
instructions of the principal on the one hand, nor can it be enlarged
by the unauthorized representation of the agents on the other.
These principles, I think, are elementary.
But suppose an agent is authorized, by the terms of his appoint
ment, to enter into an engagement, or series of engagements, on
behalf of his principal, and while the appointment is in force, he
fraudulently makes one in his own or a stranger's business, but in
the form contemplated by the power, and which he asserts to be in
the business of his employer, by using his name in the contract,

420 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
can the dealer rely upon that assertion, and hold the principal, or
is he bound to inquire and to ascertain at his peril whether the
transaction is, not only in appearance but in fact, within the
authority ? According to the decision of the Supreme Court of
this State, in the case of The North River Bank vs. Aymer,
(3 Hill, 362,) he can. There the agent was authorized to draw
and indorse notes in the name and for the benefit of his principal.
He drew various notes, which in their appearance were within the
power, but really had no connection with the business, of his prin
cipal. The plaintiff's bank, which had the letter of attorney in its
custody, discounted them, and it was held they could be recovered
against the principal. Justice Cowen and Chief Justice Nelson
delivered opposing opinions, in which the question is very elabo
rately discussed. The decision was reversed in the Court of
Errors, but the case is not reported in that court. If the reversal
proceeded, as I suppose it must, upon a doctrine directly opposite
to that held by the Supreme Court, then the case certainly sug
gests a limit of great importance to the liability of principals, the
recognition of which would be decisive of the present controversy.
So in Grant vs. Norway, (10 Com. Bench, 665,) it was held, after
full discussion, that the master of a ship signing a bilf of lading for
goods not actually shipped, was not to be considered the agent of
the owner of the vessel, so as to make him responsible to one who
made advances upon the faith of the bill. That is a strong case.
The master is the general agent of the owner as to all matters
within the scope of his duty and employment ; and has unques
tionable power to sign bills of lading for goods shipped ; and every
bill asserts, as it did in that case, that the goods are received on
board. The act, therefore, judged by its appearance and the
representation of the agent, was strictly within the power. But
the principal was held not to be liable, because it was not so in
fact. The doctrine of that case was affirmed by the English Court
of Exchequer in Huberisey vs. Ward, (8 Exchequer Rep., 330,
S. O, 18 Eng. Law and Eq. Rep., 551 ;) and again with great
deliberation by the Common Pleas in Coleman vs. Riches, (29 Eng. ,
Law and Eq. Rep., 323.)
The distinction is not always attended to between the apparent
powers of an agent and his acts apparently but not really within

LIABILITY OF SHAREHOLDERS. 42 1
the power. An agent's apparent powers are those which are con
ferred by the terms of his appointment, notwithstanding secret
instructions, or those with which he is clothed by the character in
which he is held out to the world, although not strictly within his
commission. Whatever is done under an authority thus mani
fested is actually within the authority, and the principal is bound
for that reason. But it is obvious that an agent may clothe his
act with all the indicia of authority, and yet the act itself may not
be within the real or apparent power. The appearance of the
power is one thing, and for that the principal is responsible. The
appearance of the act is another, and for that, if false, I think the
remedy is against the agent only. The fundamental proposition, I
repeat, is, that one man can be bound only by the authorized acts
of another. He cannot be charged because another holds a
commission from him, and falsely asserts that his acts are within it.
Cases may often arise, which, to a casual observation, might
appear to be within the principles stated, but which really are not.
Thus an agent may be authorized to give notes for his principal in
order to raise money to be used in the business of the latter. A
third person may inspect the power, advance the money in good
faith, and the agent appropriate it to his own use. In such a case,
I should hold the principal responsible, not because the act of the
agent appeared to be within the authority, but because the author
ity actually included the transaction. A power given to an agent
to borrow money upon notes, or otherwise, implies that the money
may be paid to him, and so the whole transaction is strictly and
literally authorized. But suppose the power to give the note is on
its face conditional. It then has no existence until the condition
has been fulfilled. To a confiding dealer who believes that the
agent would not do an improper act, the note will certainly carry
the appearance of due authority, but if it turns out that the con
ditions had not occurred, on which the exercise of the power
depended, then he was trusting to the representation of the agent,
and, I think, must look to him alone. As the principal never
authorized the transaction at all, he is bound neither by the con
tract, nor by the representation. If not by the former, then it is
extremely plain he is not by the latter.
Connected with the observations last made, it is proper, though,

422 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
perhaps, scarcely necessary, to notice another doctrine which has
been much urged, under some disguise, it is true, but, in effect,
that the very employment of an agent in situations of trust and
confidence is a recommendation and certificate of his character,
so that, if he deceives others to their injury, the principal must
make compensation. If by this it were only meant, that, where
the agent is guilty of fraud or deceit in doing his employer's
business, the latter is responsible, the doctrine is entirely true.
— (Story's Agency, § 462, and cases cited.) But, in all its other
aspects and forms of statement, the doctrine is unsound. If the
agent, in dealing for his principal, and within the power, com
mits a fraud, the principal is liable ; not upon the ground that
he holds the agent out to the world as an honest man, but
because the fraud enters into and is a part of the authorized
transaction. If the agent deals dishonestly for his principal, it is in a just sense
a wrong done by the principal himself, although unknown and unau
thorized. But the dealing itself must be authorized. If the trans
action is not within the power, then, as the dealing is imputed to the
agent personally, so necessarily are all the circumstances attending it,
and all the means and instrumentalities by which the fraud is consum
mated. The power of the agent to charge his principal by doing
a wrong must be traced directly to his authority, and it cannot be
referred to an increased facility for imposing on the credulity of
others derived incidentally from his appointment to a situation of
trust. If the fraud consists in an over -representation of his power
to act, by which others are drawn into dealing with him, then it is
a self-evident proposition, that a man can no more enlarge than he
can create a power by such a representation.
Applying the principles which have been stated in this branch
of the discussion, they are decisive against the plaintiff. If the cor
poration had held stock, and Schuyler had been the agent to sell it,
and issue certificates therefor, a sale and a certificate issued by him
would have been valid against his principals, although, by a private
fraud, he applied the proceeds to his own use. The transaction
with the purchaser, in all its branches, the sale, the certificate, and
the payments to him of the money, would have been not only
apparently but actually within the powers. His misappropriation

LIABILITY OF SHAREHOLDERS. 423
of the proceeds would have been a mere breach of trust, relating
to moneys in his hands, and upon the principles of trust, his inten
tion to misappropriate would not affect an innocent party.
But such were not the relations between Schuyler and the cor
poration, nor Avas he held out to the world as standing in such
relations. He had no power to sell stock at all, and none to issue
certificates, except as incidental to a sale between existing stock
holders ; and then, it depended on the conditions precedent of a
transfer on the books, and a surrender of a previous certificate for
the same stock. The authority which he- assumed to exercise,
therefore, confessedly, never had an actual existence, and, within
the principles which have been stated, it never had an apparent
existence. His appointment in its very terms, which all dealers
are supposed to have been acquainted with, did not include his
acts, and there is no pretence that the authority it conferred was
ever enlarged by any holding out or recognition of such acts. All
that can be said in behalf of the plaintiffs is, that the certificate
itself implied a representation or assurance that it was issued
within the power ; in other words, that the conditions on which
the power depended had been fulfilled. Even this representation,
when closely scanned, was no more than an inference of the dealer,
that, as the agent had no authority to certify, except under conditions,
those had been in fact performed. But the conclusive answer is,
that the defendants never authorized any such representations. To
say that they had, woutd be simply saying that they authorized the
certificate, because the representation was contained in that, and
existed nowhere else, and this would be assuming the very point in
dispute. The representation or assurance, therefore, if such we
call it, was the unauthorized act of the agent. Upon this the
plaintiffs naturally, no doubt, relied, and so, doubtless, the dealer
did upon the bill of lading, in Norway vs. Grant, (supra,) which
contained an express declaration that the goods were shipped.
The precise difficulty is, that they relied upon the appearance
which the agent gave to the act, and by that they were deceived.
They were under no deception as to the power in its real or appar
ent scope. Testing the question by any rule of agency with which
I am acquainted, the defendants were not bound by the transaction.
If any one of the main conclusions, at which I have arrived in

424 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
this discussion, is sound, there is no remaining ground on which
the action can be sustained. Viewing the certificate in question,
as unaffected by the want pf power in the corporation, to create or
recognize the stock it appears to represent, we have seen that it
was void in its origin, because issued without consideration, and in
fraud of the defendants' rights. We have, also, seen that those
objections were equally fatal to its validity in the hands of the
plaintiffs, as the assignees of the first holder. It has been further
shown, that the instrument imposed no obligation or duty on the
defendants, upon the more special ground, that the act of Schuyier,
in issuing it, was not within any authority which they ever, in fact
or in pretence, conferred upon him as their agent ; and, if this
objection is sound, the further observation has been made, and, I
doubt not, assented to, that it cannot be overcome, by allowing to
the certificate, the transferable quality • and immunity which
belongs to negotiable paper. Unless these conclusions can be
overthrown, they are subversive of the entire ground of action.
The notion of estoppel which has been advanced in the argu
ment, not as a distinct ground of liability, but blended with other
principles, deserves by itself very little consideration. Every cor
porate as well as private obligation or instrument undoubtedly
contains an express or implied representation of facts upon the faith
of which innocent parties may deal. If it be a promissory note,
value received is a fact expressed or implied, and, although the
fact may not be so, the maker is bound to pay the obligation in the
hands of an innocent third party, not upon any theory of estoppel,
but upon principles peculiar to that species of security. Where
the instrument is not negotiable, the maker may, as I have hereto
fore observed, be affected by an estoppel in pais, if it be transferred
upon his representation of its validity, and the dealer acts upon
that representation. But to say that he is estopped by the instru
ment itself simply because he made it, and a third party has dealt
with it, is only asserting in another form that fraud, mistake, duress,
illegality, want of consideration, or want of authority, when the act
is one of pretended agency, is no defence. This would subvert the
settled maxim that the assignee or purchaser takes subject to all
equities between the original parties. It would also subvert another
maxim which belongs to the doctrine of estoppel itself. That

LIABILITY OF SHAREHOLDERS. 425
maxim is, that an admission or representation is no estoppel in favor
of a stranger to whom it is not made, and whose conduct it was not
expressly designed to influence. (3 John's Cases, 101 ; 6 Hill, 534 ;
3 Id., 215 ; 7 Barb., 644.) The result is, that before the princi
ples of estoppel can be applied to this controversy, it must be
asserted and proved, that a certificate of stock, differing from all
other modes and forms of obligation used in the transactions of
men, contains within itself a representation or admission of facts
which any dealer, however remote from the original parties, may
accept as addressed to himself, and intended to influence his con
duct. For such a doctrine no authority has been cited, and it has
no foundation in any principle hitherto recognized.
As I have once mentioned, a theory of the action prominently
urged upon the argument, assumed, that the corporation had no
power to create more than the original three millions of stock, or
to issue certificates for a greater amount. That this is so, I think
I have demonstrated. But, assuming these premises, it was then
insisted that the certificate in question was, therefore, false, and that
the action would be on this ground. The essential principle of the
case in this view would be, that as the defendants, for want of cor
porate power, cannot recognize the certificate as the true representa
tion of stock, and so respond to the engagement which it implies,
they must make compensation in damages for the injury sustained
in consequence of the representation regarded as false.
Now, by presenting the falsehood alleged in the certificate, and
the consequent injury as the ground of the action, a plausible
appearance is given to this view of the case. But it is essentially
illogical. The falsehood, viewed in this aspect alone, really con
sists in a want of corporate power to enter into the engagement,
and that, instead of being a cause of the action, is a serious diffi
culty to be removed. If an agent, irrespective of all questions
arising out of the special limitations of his own authority, as
derived from the board of directors, cannot bind a corporation, or
affect the rights of its genuine stockholders by the terms of an
over-issued certificate, there is great difficulty in affirming that the
result may be indirectly reached by thus changing the ground of
liability. If a corporation has received the benefit of its agent's
misrepresentation or fraud in a transaction unauthorized by its
54

426 WORKS OF S. D. BRADFORD.
charter, I will not say there is no mode of redress. I am not an
advocate of the doctrine that a corporation cannot be responsible
for a wrong, or may not in some form be liable when its agents
enter into engagements which its charter forbids, and the benefits
of the transaction can be traced to its stockholders, or are held for
their benefit. But such is not the case before us. The stock
holders of this corporation are in no wise connected with the mis
conduct of their agent, nor have they been benefited by it. It is
true, they trusted him, but it is not alleged that they had not
ample reasons for so doing. Conceding that Schuyler's authority,
derived from his appointment as transfer agent by the board of
directors, might apparently include his fraudulent acts, the diffi
culty is only removed one step further back. The directors them
selves were not the corporation, but its agents only. It may be
granted that they wielded all the corporate powers, but among
those powers the one in question is nowhere to be found. It did
not even have apparent existence. The argument concedes this
absolute want of power, and I have yet to discover the principle
on which the genuine stockholders can be made liable in any form
for an attempt to exercise it, by any of their agents, for their own
individual benefit.
But such a point need not be determined. Before reaching this
ultimate question, the action fails upon the special grounds which
have been examined at large. Conceding to the defendants the
power, if they so elect, to recognize and perform the obligation
under which their agent attempted to place them, then, if they are
not liable upon their refusal to do so, for the reasons which have
been stated, it is extremely plain they are not if the power to do
so is wanting. To say that their agent's false representation of
stock, which did not and could not exist, can render them liable to
dealers in the spurious certificates, when they would not be bound
to recognize the same dealers, if the stock in fact existed, and the
representations were therefore true, involves a fallacy so evident,
that it needs only to be suggested. This is the error in the argu
ment which places the defendants' liability on the simple ground
that the certificate is a fraudulent representation of non-existing
stock ; the alleged fraud consisting in the statement of that false
hood alone. In this view of the controversy, the other fatal

LIABILITY OF SHAREHOLDERS. 427
objections to the action are overlooked. If I have been successful
in showing that the plaintiffs can have no title to the shares of
stock mentioned in the certificate, for the particular reasons which
have been given, then manifestly the non-existence of the shares,
or the false assertion of their existence, is no ground of complaint.
In concluding, it is proper to say, that the case of The Bank of
Kentucky vs. The Schuylkill Bank, (1 Parsons' Select Eq. Cases,
180,) has not been overlooked. That case has been much relied
on as an authority in point upon the general question before us,
and it is certainly true, that in the opinion delivered on pronounc
ing the judgment, some principles were stated scarcely reconcilable
with the conclusion to which we have come. In that case, however,
the suit was brought by the corporation against its own fraudulent
agent, after it had recognized the spurious issue under an enabling
act of the legislature ; and in many essential circumstances the
controversy differed from the present one. After a careful consid
eration, we are unable to yield to that decision any controlling
influence upon the question now to be determined. We are all of
opinion that the judgment, should be reversed, and a new trial
granted. Ordered accordingly.
A Copy. F. KERNAN, State Reporter.
Tracy,' Powers and Tallmadge, defendants' attorneys ; E. S. Van Winkle,
plaintiffs' attorney.

Ill