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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atra raproduit en un seul clichA, il est fiimA A partir da I'angia supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut an baa, an prenant la nombra d'images nAcessaira. Las diagrammas suivants illustrent la mAthode. errata to pelure, >n A 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 5 6 '0- ^f. ': :-f:n .'. > T 4 t * ^nm .-^ A M^lORlUA] O^-c^^cz^/ ^^^^^-^ D. !■ Ail!.-.. II » ,'■ Itthahi THIRTY YEARS' VIEW; OR, 'irSTORY OP THE WORKING OF THE AMERICAJ^ GOVERNMENT POR THIRTY YEARS, FROM 1820 TO 18S0. CHIUTLY TAKKM V ■t.M THE CONOHhSa DEBATES, TllK PRIVATE PAPERS OF GENERAL JACKSOM A.ND TliE 8FEEC1TES OF EX-SENATOR BEN'TON. WITH HIS ACTUAL VIEW kj¥ -JIKN AND AFl'AJHJJ; whmi •riORIUAL K0TE3 ASD ELLUSTRATIONS, AND SOME NOTICES OP EMINENT DECEASED COTEMPORARIES: BY A SENATOR OF THIUTY YEARS. IS TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. «K - NEW YORTv: D. APPLET ON AND MP A NX 64 » ft »8 1 H ROAD WAY. LONDON I 10 LITTLE BRITAIN. 1 875. /».. pm>^^ A HI FROM THE HIBTORICi ^^■^AP. jst* .ii ■5.'«:#i;'>,y • ■'*.#•' -/ D .,*,«*,. THIRTY YEARS' VIEW; OR, A HISTORY OF THE WORKING OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT FOR THIRTY YEARS, FROM 1820 TO 1850. OillCTLT TAKKM FROM THE CONGRESa DEBATES, THE PRIVATE PAPERS OF GENERAL JACKSOU AND l-HE SPEECHES OF EX-SENATOR BENTON, WITH HIS ACTUAL VIEW OF MEN AND AFFAIRS: ■wira mBTORICAL NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS^ AND SOME NOTICES OF EMINENT DECEASED COTEMPORARIES : BY A SENATOR OF THIRTY YEARS. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 649 ft 661 BROADWAY. LONDON: 16 LITTLE BRITAIN. 1875. / Ll>3S ,^4-1 e [tlb ^ o \ M. / [The outline I following pages, jpaln from the di ■for a Biography, iBODie chief incid< Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by D. APPLETON & CO., In the Clcrli'ti Oilicc of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New Yorlt. AUTO -BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. [The outlines of the life of the lately dcceued Thomas H. Benton, which are contained in the I following pages, were prepared by the author and subject of them whilst he was suiToring excruciating Ipain from the disease that, a few weeks later, closed his earthly career. They were not intended Ifor a Biography, properly so called, but rather to present some salient points of character and iBome chief incidents of life, and in respect of them, at least, to govern subsequent Biographies.] Thomas Hart Benton, known as a senator for thirty years in Congress, and as Ithe author of several works, was born in Orange County, near Hillsborough, North ICarolina, March 14th, 1782; and was the son of Col. Jesse Benton, an able lawyer a( that State, and of Ann Gooch, of Hanover county, Virginia, of the family of the Joocbes of colonial residence in that State. By this descent, on the mother's side, he Itook his name from the head of the Hart family (Col. Thomas Hart, of Lexington, Kentucky), his mother's maternal uncle ; and so became related to the numerous Hart Ifamily. He was cousin to Mrs. Clay, born Lucretia Hart, the wife of Henry Clay ; and, t)y an easy mistake, was often quoted during his public life as the relative of Mr. Clay himself. He lost his father before he was eight years of age, and fell under the care of . mother still young, and charged with a numerous family, all of tender age — and devot- Qg herself to them. She was a woman of reading and observation — solid rcadinr', and bbaervation of the men of the Bevolution, brought together by course of hospitoi; \} of [hat time, in which the houses of friends, and not taverns, were the universal stopping Places. Thomas was the oldest son, and at the age of ten and twelve was reading solid books with his mother, and studying the great examples of history, and receiving encour- agement to emulate these example? His father's library, among others, contained the [imous State Trials, in the large rolios of that time, and here he got a foundation of kitish history, in reading the treason, and other trials, with which these volumes abound < Ihe was alsc a pious and religious woman, cultivating the moral and religious education ' her children, and connected all her life with the Christian church ; Jirat, as a member the English Episcopalian, and when removal to the Great West, then in the wilder- ess, had broken that connection, then in the Methodist Episcopalian — in which she died. Ill the minor virtues, as well as the greater, were cherished by her ; and her house, the psort of the eminent men of the time, was the abode of temperance, modesty, decorum, pack of cards was never seen in her bouse. From such a mother all t|eJp.im()t^q^X It AUTO.niOORAPIIlCAL SKETCIT. received tho impress of future character; and she lived to sco the fruits of her pious and liberal carca — living a widow above fifty yean*, and to see licr eldest son half through hit senatorial career, and taking his place among tho historic men of tho country for wfaicii she had begun ho early to train him. These details deserve to bo noted, though small in tiicmBclvcfl, an showing how much tho after life of tho man may depend upon the caily carcH and guidance of a mother. His scholastic education was imperfect : ^first, at a grammar school taught by Richard Stanford, Esq., then a young New England emigrant, soon after, and for many years, and until death, a representative in Congress, noted as tho life-long friend of Macon and Ran- dolph. Afterwards ho was at Chapel Hill, tho University of North Carolina, but finished no course of study there, his mother removing to Tennessee, where his father had ac< quired great landed property (40,000 acres), and intended to make Naahvillo his home and now, as tho eldest of tho family, though not grown, the caro and management of al new settlement, in a new country, fell upon him. Tho family went upon a choice trad of 8000 acres, on West Harpeth, twenty-fivo miles south of Nashville, where for several years tlio main care was the opening a farm in tho wilderness. Wilderness ! for suci was tho stato of the country at that time within half a day's ride of tho city of NaahvillcJ " Tho widow Benton's settlement " was the outside settlement between civilication ani the powerful southern tribes which spread to tho Gulf of Mexico. The Indian wars hu just been terminated, and the boundary which these great tribes were enabled to ezacj brought their frontier almost to the gates of Nusbville— within 25 miles I for the lini actually touched the outside line of the estate. The Indians swarmed about it. Theii groat war trace (the trace on which they camo for blood and plunder in time of war, fol trade in time of peace) led through it. Such a position was not to be maintained by small family alone — a widow, and every child under age, only some twenty odd slavei It required strength ! and found it in the idea of a little colony — leases to settlers witl out price, for seven years ; moderate rents afterwards. The tract was well formed fc the purpose, being four miles square, with every attraction for settlement — rich lani fine wood, living streams. Settlers came ; tho ground was covered over : it was call( " Benton Town," and retains the name to this day. A rude log school-house, a meetii bouse of the same primitive structure, with roads and mills, completed the rapid convei sion of this wilderness into an abode of civilization. The seholastio education of her s( had ceased, but reading continued ; and books of solid instruction became his inoesi companions. He has been heard to say that, in no period of his life, has he ever read much, nor with as much system and regularity, nor with the same profit and deligl History and geography was (what he conrldered) hia light reading; national law, t) civil law, the common law — and, finally, the law itself, as usually read by law studenti constituted his studies. And all this reading, and study, was carried on during the actii personal exertions which he gave to the opening of the farm and to the amelioratioi upon it which comfort exacted. Then came tho law license, indulgently granted by the three Superior Court Judj — White, Overton, and Campbell — the former afterwards senator in Congress, Overl ia eminent lawyer before ho was a Superior Court judge, and Campbell, one of ice; and desiring 'k of the Missii AUTOBIOORAnilCAl SKETtll. 1«« it r pious »D<] through hit I y for wbicli| igh small iul on the call;) i by Richard ly year«, and !on and Ran- rcsp«otabl« early scttlem and lawyers of the State. The law liccnMO signed, practic» oUowed, and successful — Gen. Jackson, Gon. James Rubertsun, Judge McNairy, ijlajor Thomas Hardeman, and the old heads of the population giving him tliuir support ud oountaoance as a young man that might become useful to the State, and so deserved o be encouraged. Scarcely at the bar, and a legislative career was opened to him. Ho as elected to the General Assembly of the State; and, though serving but for a single ission, left the impress of his mind and principles on the statute book, and on the •ublio policy. Ho was the author of tho Judicial Reform Act, by which the old system f Superior Courts was substituted by the circuit system, in which tho adminintration , but finishcdKf justice was relieved of great part of its delay, of its expense, and of much of its incon- ithcr had ac-^enienoe to parties and witnesses. And ho was the author of a humane law, giving to laves tho same full benefit of jury trial which was tho right of tho white man under the ,me accusation — a law which still remains on tho statute book, but has lost its cfi'oct nder the fatal outside interference which has checked the progress of Southern slave olicy amelioration, and turned back the current which was sotting so strongly in favor f mitigating the condition of the slave. Returning to the practice of the law, the war of 1812 broko out. Volunteers were Ucd for, to descend the rivers to New Orleans, to meet the British, expected there in the inter of 1812-'13, but not coming until the winter of 1814-'15. Three thousand volun- ers were raised ! raised in a flash 1 under the prestige of Jackson's name — his patriotic iroolamation — and the ardent addresses of Benton, flying from muster ground to muster ound, and stimulating the inherent courage and patriotism of the young men. They ere formed into three regiments, of which Benton was colonel of one. He had been pointed aide-de-camp to Jackson (then a major-general in the Tennessee militia), on e first symptoms of war with Great Britain, and continued to perform many of tho est intimate duties of that station, though, as colonel of a regiment, he could not hold e place. The force descended to the Lower Mississippi : the British did not come ; e volunteers returned to Tennessee, were temporarily disbanded, but called again into rvice by Gen. Jackson at the breaking out of the Creek war. These volunteers lere the foundation of all Jackson's subsequent splendid career ; and the way in which, rough their means, he was enabled to get into the regular army, is a most curious lece of history, not told anywhere but by Col. Benton, as a member of the House of lepresentatives, on the presentation of Jackson's sword (Feb. 26th, 1855). That piece unknown history, which could only come from one who was part and parcel of the nsaction, deserves to be known, and to be studied by every one who is charged with tional law, tile administration of government, and by every one who would see with what difficulties law studentef nius and patriotism may have to contend — with what chances they may have to wrestlo before they get an opportunity to fulfil a destiny for which they were born. The volunteers disbanded, Col. Benton proceeded to Washington, and was appointed Mr. Madison a lieutenant-colonel of infantry in the army (1813) ; and afterwards 14-15) proceeding to Canada, where he bad obtained service, he met the news of ce; and desiring no service in time of peace, he was within a few months on the west ik of the Mississippi, St. Louis his home, and the profession of the law ardently bring the actil amelioratiol Court Judg pgress, Overti bell, one of iv AI'TO-RIOORAPHICAL RKCTriT. r«c(inimjl by demand for office. He was never in any Congress caucus, or convention to nominate I a President or Vico-Presidont, nor oven suffered his namo to go before saoh a body for| any such nominations. Ho refused many offices which were pressed upon him — the mis- sion to Russia, by President Jackson ; war minister, by Mr. Van Buren ; minister tol Franco, by Mr. Polk. Three appointments were intended for him, which he would havel accepted if the occasions had occurred — command of the army by Ooneral Jackson, ii war took place with Mexico during his administration ; the same command by the samol President, if war had taken place with France, in 1836 ; the command of the army inl Mexico, by President Polk, with the rank of lieutenant-general, if the bill for the rankl had not been defeated in the Senate after having passed the House by a general voteT And none of these military appointments could have wounded professional honor, as Go1.| Benton, at the timo of his retiring from the army, ranked all those who have sincel reached its head. • , , » Politically, Col. Benton always classed democratically, but with very little regard for modern democracy, founded on the platforms which the little political carpenters re-j construct about every four years, generally out of offioo-timber, sometimes gref the Territory. Thero was also a class of speeches, of which he delivered many, which wore out of the lino of political or legislativo discus- sion ; and may bo viewed as literary. They woro the funeral oulogiums which the cus- tom of Congress began to admit, though not to tho degree at present practised, over deceased members. These eulogiuma were universally admired, and were road over £urope, and found their charm in the pereeption of eharacter which iheij exhihU$d ; in the perception of the qualities which constituted the man, and gave him identity and individuality. These qualities, thus perceived (and it requires intimate acquaintance with the man, and some natural gift, to make the perception), and presented with truth and simplicity, imparted the interest to these culogiums which survives many readings, and will claim lasting places in biographies. While in the early part of life, at Nashville and at St. Louis, duels and affrays wero common ; and tho young Benton had his share of them : a very violent affray between himself and brother on one side, and Genl. Jackson and some friends on the other, in which severe pistol and dagger wounds were given, but fortunately without loss of life ; and the only use for which that violent collision now finds a reference is in its total ob- livion by tho parlies, and the cordiality with which they acted together for the public good in their subsequent long and intimate publio career. A duel at St. Louis ended fatally, of which Col. Benton has not been heard to speak except among intimate friends, and to tell of the pang which went through his heart when he saw the young man fall, and would have given the world to see him restored to life. As the proof of the manner in which he looks upon all these scenes, and his desire to bury all remembrance of them forever, he has had all the papers burnt which relate to them, that no future curiosity or industry should bring to light what he wishes had never happened. Col. Benton was married, after becoming Senator, to Elizabeth, daughter of Col I James McDowell, of Rockbridge county, Virginia, and of Sarah his wife, born Sarah I Preston ; and has surviving issue four daughters : Mrs. William Carey Jones, Mrs. Jessie I Ann Benton Fremont, Mrs. Sarah Benton Jacob, and Madame Susan Benton Boilleau,now lat Calcutta, wife of the French consul general — all respectable in life and worthy of their I mother, who was a woman of singular merit, judgment, elevation of character, and regard vl AUTO.B10GRAPHICAL SKETCH. >l: for every social duty, crowned by a life-long connection with the chorch in which she was bred, the Proabytcrian old school. Foliuwing fhe example of their mother, all the daughters are members of some church. Mrs. Benton died in 1854, baring been struck with paralysis in 1844, and fiom the time of that calamity her husband was never known to go to any place of festivity or amusement. il Justice to th gaged, is my c ' '? ' ' ■■ the hope of b< ' -"^ ^ ■'!^'V ■ showing its wo ■- -v.\. time, and then .! u- to come, if ma - -' patriotic men ♦ '■'■ '■■*■ is another mol in the speeche ... House of Lordj memory at the .\; , _._^ ^^ remained there ; .-#»*■'♦ mitted us from .'^ i!l i,:sr- dom, you canno . : : ; ..;.--fe myself, I must ^•: >;W-3::rv it has been my ] . ,, .*yk:.. admired the ma .-. -> * -'.-.''j^'i. •agacity, and wi cumstances, no PREFACE 1.— MOTIVES FOR WRITING THIS WORK. I Justice to the men with whom I acted, and to the cause in which we were en- gaged, is my chief motive for engaging in this work. A secondary motive is the hope of being useful to our republican foim of government in after ages by I showing its working through a long and eventful period ; working well all the time, and thereby justifying the hope of its permanent good operation in all time to come, if maintained in its purity and integrity. Justice to the wise and patriotic men who established our independence, and founded this government, is another motive with me. I do not know how young I was when I first read in the speeches of Lord Chatham, the encomium which he pronoimced in the {House of Lords on these founders of our republic ; but it sunk deep into my [memory at the time, and, what is more, went deep into the heart : and has I remained there ever since. "When your lordships look at the papers trans- Imitted us from America ; when you consider their decency, firmness, and wis- idom, you cannot but respect their cause, and wish to make it your own. For Imyself, I must declare and avow, that in all my reading and observation — and lit has been my favorite study — I have read Thucydides, and have studied and ladmired the master states of the world— that for solidity of reasoning, force of [sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, under such a complication of difficult cir^ Icumstances, no nation, or body of men, can stand in preference to the general IV PREFACE. congress at Fhiladelphia." This encomium, so just and so grand, so grave and 80 measured, and the more impressive on account of its gravity and measure, was pronounced in the early part of our revolutionary struggle — in its first stage — and before a long succession of crowning events had como to convert it into his- tory, and to show of how much more those men were capable than they had then done. If the great William Pitt — greater under that name than under the title ho so long refused — ^had lived in this day, had lived to see these men making themselves exceptions to the maxim of the world, and finishing the revolution which they began — seen them found a new government and adminbter it in their day and generation, and until " gathered to their fathers," and all with the same wisdom, justice, moderation, and decorum, with which they began it : if he had lived to have seen all this, even his lofty genius might have recoiled from the task of doing them justice ; — and, I may add, from the task of doing justice to the People who sustained such men. Eulogy is not my task ; but gratitude and veneration is the debt of my birth and inheritance, and of the benefits which I have enjoyed from their labors ; and I have proposed to acknowledge this debt — to discharge it is impossible — in laboring to preserve their work during my day, and in now commending it, by the fruits it has borne, to the love and care of posterity. Another motive, hardly entitled to the dignity of being named, has its weight with me, and belongs to the rights of " self-defence." I have made a great many speeches, and have an apprehen- sion that they may be published after I am gone — published in the gross, without due discrimination — and so preserve, or perpetuate, things said, both of men and of measures, which I no longer approve, and would wish to leave to oblivion. By making selections of suitable parts of these speeches, and weaving them into this work, I may hope to prevent a general publication— or to render it harmless if made. But I do not condemn all that I leave out. 2.— QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE WORK. Of these I ha"M one, admitted by all to be considerable, but by no means enough of itself. Mr. Macaulay says of Fox and Mackintosh, speaking of their histories of the last of the Stuarts,. and of the Revolution of 1688 : "They had one eminent qualification for writing history; they had spoken history; acted history, lived history. The turns of political fortune, the ebb and flow of popular feeling, the hidden mechanism by which parties are moved, all theso things were the subject of their constant thought, and of their most familiar conversation. Gibbon has remarked, that his history is much the better for hia PREFACE. rave aud lure, was stage — into his- they had m under lee these finishmg aent and fathers," ith which ius might , from the is not my tance, and I proposed io preserve lits it has jntitled to the rights apprehen- the gross, said, both ;o leave to id weaving to render ha\'ing boon nn officor in tho • 'itia, and a mcmbor of the House of Commons. The remark is most just. V 'lave not the smallest doubt that his campaigns, though he never saw an enemy, and hia parliamentary attendance, though he never made a speech, were of far more use to him than years of retirement and study would have been. If the time that he spent on parade and at mess in Hampshire, or on the Treasury bench and at Brooke's, during the storms which overthrew Lord North and Lord Shelbume, had been passed in the Bodleian Library, he might have avoided some inaccuracies ; he might have enriched his notes with a greater number of references ; but he never could have produced so lively a picture of the court, the camp, and the senate-house. In this respect Mr. Fox and Sir James Mackintosh had great advantages over almost every English historian since the time of Burnet." — I can say I have these advantages. I was in the Senate the whole time of which I write — an active business mem- ber, attending and attentive — in the confidence of half the administrations, and a close observer of the others — ^had an inside view of transactions of which the public only saw the outside, and of many of which the two sides were very different — saw the secret springs and hidden machinery by which men and parties were to be moved, and measures promoted or thwarted — saw patriotism and ambition at their respective labors, and was generally able to discriminate between them. So far, I have one qualification ; but Mr. Macaulay says that Lord Lyttleton had the same, aud made but a poor history, because unable to use his material. So it may be with me ; but in addition to my senatorial means of knowledge, I have access to the unpublished papers of General Jack- son, and find among them some that he intended for publication, and which will be used according to his intention. 3.— THE SCOPE OF THE WORK. no means ig of their "They \n historyJ id flow of all thesdl kt familiar Iter for hui I do not propose a regular history, but a political work, to show the practical working of the government, and speak of men and events in subordination to that design, and to illustrate the character of Institutions which are new and complex — the first of their kind, and upon the fate of which the eyes of the world are now fixed. Our duplicate form of government. State and Federal, is a novelty which has no precedent, and has found no practical imitation, and is still believed by some to be an experiment. I believe in its excellence, and wish to contribute to its permanence, and believe I can do so by giving a faith- ful account of what I have seen of its working, and of the trials to which I have seen it subjected. 1 PREFACR ■ » 4— THE SPIRIT OF THE WORK. I write iu the spirit of Truth, but not of unnecessary or irrelevant truth, only giving that which is essential to the object of the work, and the omission of which would be an imperfection, and a subtraction from what ought to be known. I have no animosities, and shall find far greater pleasure in bringing out the good and the great acts of those with whom I have differed, than in noting the points on which I deemed them wrong. My ambition is to make a veracious work, reliable in its statements, candid in its conclusions, just in its views, and which cotemporaries and posterity may read without fear of being misled. i PaauxiWABT Vii CBAP. I. Person IL Admlsj III. Flnanci IV. Belief V. Oregon VL Florida VIL Death < VIIL Death IX Abolltio r. Internal XL OeneiBl Xa Visit of XIIL TheTarl XIV. The A. I XV. Amendn to the: Rldent XVL Internal 1 XVII. President in the : XVIIL Death of. XIX Presidenti oentatiT XX The Oconp XXL Commence tion . XXIL Case of Mr, Appoint XXHL Betlringof XXIV. Bemoval of XXV. TbePanam XXVL Duel Betwe XXVIL Death of Ml I XXVIII. Amendment totbeEle •ident . CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. PAOI. PaauKiKABT ViBW from 1815 to 1820 .... 1 W^ ' • CBAP. XXIX. CHAP. L IL Penonal Aspect of the Oovtrnment Admission of the State of MlMoorl . T 8 XXX. XXXL III. IV. Belief of Poblio Land Debtors , 11 11 XXXIL XXXIIL V. VL VIL Oregon Territory Florida Treaty and Cession of Teiifl Death of Mr. Lowndes 18 14 18 XXXIV. XXXV. VIIL IX. r. XL Death of William PlDkney Abolition of the Indian Factory System . Internal Improvement .... General Bemoval of Indians . 19 90 21 2T XXXVL XIL Visit of Lafayette to the United States . 29 XXXVIL XIIL XIV. The Tariff; and American System The A. B. Plot 82 84 XXXVIIL XV. Amendment of the Constltntlon, in relation to the Election of President and Vice-Pre- sident 87 XXXIX. XL. XVL Internal Trade with New Mexico . 41 XLL XVIL XVIIL Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections in the Electoral Colleges .... Death of John Taylor, of Caroline . 44 45 XLIL XIX. XX. Presidential Election In the House of Repre- sentatives The Oocapation of the Colombia 46 60 XLIU. XLIV. XXL Commencement of Mr. Adams's Adminlstra* tion 54 XXIL XXIIL XXIV. Case of Mr. Lanman— Temporary Senatorial Appointment ftrom Connecticut . Betiring of Mr. Bnttas King .... Bemoval of the Creek Indians firom Georgia 66 6T 58 XLV. XXV. The Panama Mission .... 65 XLVI. XXVL XXVIL Duel Between Mr. Clay and Mr. Kandolph . Death of Mr. Oaillard .... 70 77 XLVIL XXVIIL Amendment of the Constitntlon, In relation to the Election of President and Vioe-Pro- tldMit ...;.... 78 XLVIIL raoK Reduction of Executive Patronage . 66 Exclusion of Members of Congress from Civil Oflfce Appointments ... 82 Death of the ex-Prertdents, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson .... 67 British Indemnity tat Deported Slaves . S3 Meeting of the first Congress Elected under the Administration of Mr. Adams . 81 Revision of the Tariff 98 The Public Lands— Their Pmper Dispo- sition— .Graduated Prices— Pre-emption Bights— Donations to Settlers . . 102 Ceeslon of a Part of the Territory of Ar- ■lansas to the Cherokee Indians . . 107 Benewal of the Oregon Joint Occupation Convention 109 Presidential Election of 1628, and Further Erron of Mons. de Tocquovlite . . Ill Betlringand Death of BIr. Macon . . 114 Commencement of General Jacluon's Ad- ministratlcn 119 First Message of General Jackson to the two Houses of Congress . . . . 121 The recovery of the Direct Trade with the British West India Islands ... 124 Establlsbment of the 0M)» New! from Office .... 1S9 hi. Iniiiar. BovorelKntiM wftbin the Bute* . 168 Lll. Vor Secretary of the Treuoiy . * . 4T0 Dec CXV. Comn Prea CXVL Report CXVIL Frenci CXVIIL French Wrig CXIX. French CXX French CXXL Attemi Jacks CXXIL Alabam CXXIIL TheEx] CXXIV. Expongl Renev CXXV. Branch I Gold ] Carollt OXXVL BeguIaUt CXXVIL Defeat of loss of I CXXVIIL DIstribnt CXXIX Commeni gress— : CXXX. Abolition Columb OXXXL Mail Circi tions CXXXIL French i Squadro |CXXXIIL French Ini ^Indem ICXXXIV. PieaidentJ ICXXXV. BlaveiyAg CXXXVL Bemovalof |!XXXVIL Extension a HI. AdDiMon( Michigan CONTENTS OF VOL L u PAOR. ^m ex. w. 8»4 H CXI. :> 1 CXII. CXIIL CXIV. pro- ^1 cxv. CXVL 1 CXVIL ased ^1 CXVIIL ituro H CXIX. nlon H Mis- 1 KxedR 863 1 ■third ■ CXX. CXXI. CXXIL CXXIIL Presl- ■ CXXIV. Bank 8T8 CXXV. Decl- totb« CXXVL • 8T9 CXXVIL rcasury heDe- 881 cxxvin. • CXXIX. ■cctois, I of the 885 CXXX. of t>.e 893 OXXXL • 3oiiii)l- 899 CXXXII. -Com- ion CXXXIIL jdta— 409 CXXXIV. CXXXV. r.CUf CXXXVL . . 406 JXXXVIL k»on— 1 411 Kvxvm. . • 415 esident of the 428 483 8«n«tpri»l Investtfpktlon of th« Btnk of the United SUt«* .... 4T0 DownlUlofthfl Bulk oftbe United 'Ttate* 4T1 Death of John Bindolph, nf Koknoak* 478 Death of Mr. Wirt 4TS Death of thn last of the Bignen of the Declaration of In(Iei>ondenc« . 476 Commenoement of the Beeslon, 1884-'8S : Preatdent't Meaiage .... 477 BeportoftbeBankCommlttM . . 481 French Spoliations before 1800 . . 487 French Spoliations — Speech of Mr. Wright, of New-Tork ... 489 French SpoUitlons-Mr. Webster's Speech COB French Spollatlons-Mr. Benton's Speech 514 Attempted Aasoaslnatlon of President Jackson SI Alabsms Expunging Besolatlona . 524 The Expunging Besolutlon ... 688 Expunging Besolutlon: Bt^Jectod, and Benewed 649 Branch Mints at New Orleans, and in the Gold Beglons of Georgia and Kortb Carolina 650 Begulation Deposit BUI . : . 653 Defeat of the Defence Appropriation, and losaoftheFortlflcaUonBIU . . 654 Distribution of Bevenne ... 666 Commencement of Twenty-Fourth Con- gress— President's Message . . 668 Abolition of Slavery in the District of Columbia 5T6 Mail Circulation of Incendiary Publioa* tlons 6S0 French AflUn— Approach of a French Squadron— Apology Bequired . . 688 French Indemnities— British Mediation — Indemnitlea Paid .... 600 President Jackson's Foreign Diplomacy 601 Slavery Agitation . . , . . 609 Bemoval of the Oberokeee flrom Georgia 624 Extension of the Missoari Boundary . 626 Admission of tlie States of Aikuuas snd Michigan into the Union , . . MT OBAP. CXXXIX. CXL. CXLL CXLIL CXUIL Attempted Inquiry Into the Military Academy Mllltery Academy— Speech of Mr. Pierce Expunging Beeolatlon — reroratlon of Senator Benton's Second Speech Dlilrlbntion of the Land Bevenue . Becharler of the District Banks— 8pe««h of Mr. Benton— The Parts of Local and Temporary Interest Omitted CXLIV. Independence of Texas CXLV. Texas Independence — Mr. Benton's Speech CXLVL The Specie Circular .... CXLVIL Death of Mr. Madison, Fourth President of the United Stetcs CXLTIIL Death of Mr. Monroe, Fifth President of the United States .... CXLIX. CU CLL CLIL CUIL CLIV. CLV. CLVI. CLVIL CLVIIL CLIX. CLX CLXL CLXIL CLXIIL CLXIV. CLXV. Death of Chief Justice Marshall . Death of CoL Burr, Third Tiee-Presidcnt oftbe United Stetes . Death of William B. Giles, of ViiglnU . Presidential ElecUon of 1886 Last Annual Message of President Jack> Final Bemoval of the Indians Becision oftbe Treasury Circular . Distribution of Lands and Money— Vari- ous Propositions .... Military Academy— Its Biding House Salt Tax-Mr. Benton's Fourth Speech Expunghig Besolutlon- Preparation for Decision Expunging Besolation— Mr. Benton's Third Speech Expunging Besolutlon— Mr. Clay, Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Webeteiv-Last Scene— Besolutlon Passed and Executed 688 641 6:3 Ml «5S 6C5 670 676 678 r9 691 681 683 668 684 690 694 TOT 713 T14 TIT T19 T2T T81 The Supreme Court— Judges and Offlccia Farewell Address of President Jackson —Extract TS9 Conclusion of General Jackmn's Adminis- tration T8S Setidng and Death of GraeTslJaekson— Administration of Martin Van Buren T8> tr. Ben- Bank of kncea— ■arms— ktedlbr 463 463 409 4T0 I TirK w»r with 1812, and ended but a necessary duced several c nxiints of deporti I are necessary to Idcrstand the subs Inicnt, and the VI Iproposcd to bo giv 1. It struggle! at the finances am rithout any prof* kbr which it began, rency — no money, presented the san [irst Bank of the I St in 1811. Gold bcased to be a curi bf merchandise, ar lo foreign countric \j the general us( luced to a small qi ■0 demand ; and, ] lumbrous for a nal verspread the Ian overnment, havin^ kitution, was thr< bans. They, unec pmoved their ow cie with profuse Duble load of nii lopped specie pa; |ew England, whi afavorable to the Jen thr resort c bey T, ere issued ^ing convertible Vol. I.- PRELIMINARY VIEW. FROM 1S15 TO 1820 I TiiK war with Great Britain commenced in 1812, and ended in 1815. It was a short war, I but a necessary and important one, and intro- duced several changes, and made some new I points of departure in American policy, wliich I are necessary to be understoxl in order to un- Idcrstand the subsequent working of the govcm- Imcnt, and the VIEW of thai working which is Iproposcd to bo given. 1. It struggled and labored under the state of the finances and the currency, and terminated vithout any professed settlement of the cause |for which it began. Tliere was no national cur- ency — no money, or its equivalent, wliich re- presented the same value in all places. The irst Bank of the United States had ceased to ex- st in 1811. Gold, from being undervalued, had eased to bo a currency — had become an article bf merchandise, and of export — and was carried foreign countries. Silver had been banished by the general use of bank notes, had been re- kuced to a small quantity, insufficient for a pub- ic demand ; and, besides, wcidd have been too lumbrous for a national currency. Local banks ]>erspread the land ; and upon these the federal overnment, having lost the currency of the con- Ititution, was thrown for a currency and for bans. They, unequal to the task, and having bnioved their own foundations by banishing cie with profuse paper issues, sunk under the Duble load of national and local wants, and lopped specie payments — all except those of |ew England, which section of the Union was afavorable to the war. Treasury notes were jen thf resort ot tiio federal government, hey r, ere issued in great quantities; and not king convertible into coin at the whl of the Vol. I.— 1 holder, soon began to depreciate. In the second year of the war the depreciation bad already be- come enormous, especially towards the Canada frontier, where the war raged, and where money was most wanted. An officer setting out from Washington with a supply of these notes found them sunk one-third by the tiuie he arrived at the northern frontier — his every three dollars counting but two. After all, the treasury notcH could not be used as a currency, neither legally, nor in fact : they could only bo used to obtain local bank paper — itself greatly depreciated. All government securities were under par, even for depreciated bank notes. Loans were obtain- ed with great difficulty — at large discount — al- most on the lender's own terms ; and still at tainablo only in depreciated local bank notes. In less than three years the government, para- lyzed by the state of the finances, was forced to seek peace, and to make it, without securing, by any treaty stipulation, the object for which war had been declared. Impressment was the object — the main one, with the insults and the outra- ges connected with it — and without which there would have been no declaration of war. The treaty of peace did not mention or allude to the subject — the first time, perhaps, in modern his- tory, in which a war was terminated by treaty without any stipulation derived from its cause. Mr. Jefferson, in 1807, rejected upon his own responsibility, without eren its communiciation to the Senate, the treaty of that year negotiated by Messrs. Monroe and Pinkney, because it did not contain an express renunciation of the prac- tice of impressment — because it was silent on that point. It was a treaty of great moment, settled many troublesome questions, was very PRF-LIMINARY VIEW, (IcHirnhlc for what it mntnincl ; but ka it vtm (dlent on the main point, it vrtm rojiTttnl, without cvtn a irfiTC'iirp (o the Senate Now wc were in B Iilc esta))li.sh(>rtation p»'ri<>«U of the rnibargo, and of hontilitics with (in-:\f Bri- tain, and under the frmiKirnry double tliUi<"4 which cnsuef^the war, mid which wrro laid for f '*'»'« revenue. They harl grown n|> to be a larp» interest, and a new one, rlassing in important after agricidturo and comnicnT. The want of articles necessary to national definc»\ and of others essential to indivirlual comfort — then neither importeil nor made at home — had In'en felt during tho interrtiption of commerce occa- sioned by tho war ; and tho advantage of a domestic supjily was brouglit Immo to the con- viction of the public min'l. Tho question of protection for the sake of protection was brouplit forward, and carried (in the year 181(1) ; and very unequivoc.illy ih the viiuimiim provision in reKition to duties on cotton goods. This reversed the old course of legislation — made protection the object instead of the incident, and rcvcnuo the incident instead of tho object; atid w.is another instance of constitutional construction being made dependent, not tipon its own words but upon extrinsic, accidental ond transient cir cumstances. It introduced a new and a largo question of constitutional law, and of national expediency, fnrnght with many and great conse- quences, which fell upon tho period of tho Thirty Years' View to settle, or to grapple with. 4. Tho question of internal improvement within tho States, by the federal government, took a new and largo development after the war. I'he want of facilities of transportation had been felt in our military operations. Roads were bad, and canals few ; and tho question of their con- struction became a prominent topic in Congress common turnpike roads — for railways had not then been invented, nor had MacAdam yet given his name to the class of roads which has since borne it. The power was claimed as an incident to the granted powers — as a means of doing what was authorized — as a means of accomplish- ing an end : and the word " necessary " at the end of the enumerated powers, was the phrase in which this incidental power was claimed to have been found. It was the same derivation which was found for tho creation of a national bank, and involved very nearly the same division of parties. It greatly complicated the national j legislation from 1820 to 1850, bringing the two ! parts of our double system of government — Sta'o PKKUMIN'ARY VIKW. M'^^' mil Fftituli|icrty Jjclonnin^ to tlio United ^tatiH." Tlic iniprovtinint of rivcrn and Irnr- Ijors, wiw a Itranch of the internal improvement (|iiestion, but ri'.--liu;; on a dilllrent clau.te in thi- constitution— the C(nnm<"-vjial and ruvenuf clause — and became roiU|iie.\ and dilllcult fron» lis extension to sinall and local objects. Tiie jiarty of stritt ronstruetion contend for itH restriction to natii)nid objects — rivers of national character, and harbors yielding revenue. 5. The lH)uniIarieH between tlie treaty-mal;- in^ and the letrislntivo (lepartnients of the fiovoMMnent, licciinii' a subject of examination ut'ier the war, and t;i\ve rise to questions deeply fitl'ecting the working of these two departments. A treaty is the supreme law of tlie land, and a.s sui.li it becomes obligatory on tho House of r.i presentutives to vote tlie money which it stipu- lates, and to co-o])erate in forming tho laws necessary to carry it into efl'ect. That is the broad proiM).sitiou. The qualillcation is in the question whether the treaty is confined to tho business of tlic treaty-making iwwer ? to tho subjects which fall under its jurisdiction ? and does not encroach upon tho legislative power of Congress ? This i;' lie qualification, and a vital one : for if the Prctsiuent and Senate, by a treaty with a foreign power, or a tribe of Indians, could exercise ordinary legislation, nnd make it su- premo, a double injury would have been done, and to the prejudice of that branch of the government whi h lies closest to the people, and emanates most directly from them. Confine- ment to their separate jun. dictions is tho duty of each ; but if encroachmeais take place, which is to judge ? If the Preside a; -'v.l Senate invai'o tlie legislative field of Con;jrt^.-. whi';>' is to judge ? or who is to judge bet^'/l.vn thiXi ? or is each to judge for itself? 1 m llna'^- of Repre- .jcntatives, and the Senate ;ii its k-fci ;Ii.,tive capa- city, but iwiwcially tho IIoum\ bm th« groai ronstilutioTial de|ioNitory of the li-)(iNlativu |)Owcr, bii'omvit itM natural gtiardian mid defender, and is entitled to deference, in tho went of a ditTer- encu of opinion Iwtwcc") the two brani hen of the government. The diftcuHHion« in CongroM Im«< twcen lhi5 aiid IN20 greatly elucidated thu (|uestion ; and wiiilo leaving unlmpugncd the obligation of the llouso (o carry into I'tfect n treaty duly mu reference to decide upon the fact of that (K'^ign. The only intent is to show that the existence of that convention raised the ques- tion of secession, and presented tho first instance of the greatest danger in tho working of tho double form of our government — that of a col- lision between a part of tho States and tho federal government. This question, and this danger, first arose then — grow out of the war of 1812 — and were hushed by its sudden termina- tion; but they have reappeared in a dificrent quarter, and will come in to swell th'; objects of the Thirtv Years' View. AttL. time >t '' first appeal unce the right of secc-icn .■ ' pulsed and repudiated by tho di - , { rally, and in a largo degree by the federal party — the difference between a Union and a Leaoue being better understood at that time tvhen so many of tho fathers of the now govern' ment were still alive. Tho leading language in r'"rii1ailon during tlic war <>f IS|2, Iiun Iktouu! n practical qiicKtion (almost) dtirinf^thu Thirty Ykars; and tliiiH far haa Iwi-n " comitroiniswl," not M)ttlc<1. 7. Slavery np;itation took its rise during tliis time (181»-'1.'0), (' li- Ibm of attempted rcHtriction on tV S .»( ■ o; ^1' oiiri— a prohibi- tion to hold ,j|;ivtii, to 1)0 plai"d Hjwn lier as a rondition ofhi.''\d' I 'un inio the Union, and tr bo biiiliii;'; upon hoi nftorwanls. This agita- tion c M ic Com tho North, and »;r''ep a fe( I •xiimUu)*. mi'l 'utmf othrr ilrmx, »til| amoiinit-d l.> inctr-twn . „,n.' <»f dollnr* n( till" |>'rit i ould Ik> paid and cxtiuv'Mi*!)''*) in :% Heason of peoi-e, l(;iviii^ a nation wholly fH<' from thalencunihraiKe; or wlictlur if wn<)toir<> on increasing, i\ burthen in itKill", itnd nbMirt>iiii' with its interest and i Imnges nn aiinnid (ortioii of tho public rtvenue,-'. Tliut f>rf)l)l(in was Holvwl, contrary to the e.xiKTienw of (he world, and tho debt paiti ; and the prmlic ,il henetii addending reduction in tho public taxes. 9. I'ublic distress was a prominent fentiiro of the times to 1)0 embraced in this Phkliminakv ViKW. Tho Hank of tho United States was chartered in 1810, and l)eforc 1820 had jx-rform- eil)l)lo jims- pcrity, followed by actual and wide-sjir.-iid calamity. The whole paper system, of which it was tho head and tho citadel, after a vost e,\i>nn- sion, had suddenly collapsed, spreading de.sola- tion over tho land, and currying niin to debtors. The years 1819 and '20 were a period of glooiu and agony. No money, either gold or silver : no paper convertible into sjiecie: no measure, or standard of value, left remaining. The local banks (all but those of New England), after a brief resumption of sixscie payments, again sank into a stato of suspension. Tho Bank of tho United States, created as a remedy for all those evils, now at the head of tho evil, pi-ostrate and hclplcs-s, with no power left but that of suing its debtors, and selling their property, and purchas- ing for it.sclf at its own nominal price. No prico for property, or produce. No sales but those of the sheriff and the marshal. No purchasers at execution sales but the creditor, or some hoarder of money. No employment for industry — no demand for labor — no sale for the product of tho farm — no sound of the hammer, but that of tho auctioneer, knocking down property. Stop laws — property laws — replevin laws — stay law,H — loan ofHce laws — the intervention of the legis- lator between the creditor and the debtor : this was the business of legislation in three-fourths of the States of the Union — of all south and west of New England. No medium of exchange but dcprwiatfd paper: no change even, but 6 rRELIMINAUY VIKW. k little bits of foul papor, marked so many ceii'-", and si^nieil by some tradesman, barber, or inn- kcejicr: crchanRos dcran^i'd to the extent of fifty or one hundred per cent. Distress, the universal cry of the jK^plc : Ucliec, the univer- sal demand thimdere*! at the doors of all legisla- tures, State and federal. It was at the moment when this distress had reached its maximum — ]H2U-'21— and had come with its accumulated force upon the machine of the fctieral govern- ment, that this ''View" of its working begins. It is a doleful starting point, and may furnish great matter for contrast, or comparison, at its concluding period in 1850. Sii' h were some of the questions growing out of tiie war of 1812, or immediately ensuing its termination. That war brought some difficul- ties to the new generation, but also great advan- tages, at the hcivd of them the elevation of the national character throughout tho world. It immensely elevated the national character, and, as a consequence, put an end to insults and out- rages to which we had l)ccn subject. No more impressments : no more scarcliing our ships: no more killing: no more carrying off to be forced to 8er*e on Hritish ships against their own coun- try. Tho national Hag became respected. It became the A'.pK of those who were under it. The national character ajJiH-ared in a new light abroad. AVc were no longer considere:itation and to s InNo a clau.se in it, ll'rohibit the emigi linto the State ; an I in Congress to rcsi lit was treated as ; JfiHleral constitutio Iprivilcgos in all livery State, of wl Icmigration was on ■being admitteil to ■States, tiii.s prohibi ■to be a violation of tons. But the real •lavery clause, and |tlio State, which it perpetuate. The co lier application for a \icT late delegate ar John Scott ; and on select committee. Carolina, Mr. John nd General Samuel kppointed the comn being from slave Stat |y reported in favor o: put the majority of t s-ay, the resolution w ly a clear slavery a l.xceptions being but If admission, and coi ficir own State. Th( If Massachusetts, and llr. Bernard Smith, Icnate, the applicatio iinilar fate. The con Jommittee of three, Imith, of South Carol: Ihodo Island, and M pia, a majority of who resolution of admi Jassed the Senate — Me ' Maine, voting with bt was rejected in t kcs. A second reso used the Senate, and louse. A motion wai ' Mr. Clay to raise a |ith any committee w ■ the Senate, " to co: bate and the House ANNO 1820. JAMES MONROR, PRESIDKNT. 9 ! Senate 'arolina clawaic ; ;e Logan, ng, since nd Judge rs. Leako pi; Gov- urist and and; Mr. rth Caro- Jonathan ^oble and mer, from [ampshirCL ic compro- ic division yhole vote lative — the imbers, aa outhern — weight American Carolina, iouri com- isure, and racter by ,th. But, g against avowed _;wcen the « of Mis- slavery, with it. ititutions, rersy and for the tranquil- the slava [ished by elections |igator of iing put imber of I the convention — In'ing erjiially opposed to slavery IdK'itation and to shivery extension. Thcra was InNo a clause in it, authorizing the legislature to Itirohibit the emigration of free people of color (into the State ; and this clause was laid hold of |in Congress to resist the adinission of the State. lit was treat(!d as a breach of that clause in the Ifcderal constitution, which guarantees equal Iprivilegcs in all the States to the citizens of livery State, of which privileges tho right of emigration was one ; and free jicople of color being admitted to citizenship in some of the States, this prohibition of emigration was held be a violation of that privilege in their pcr- ons. But the real point of objection was the lavery clause, and tho existence of slavery in he Slate, which it sanctioned, and seemed to rpctuate. The constitution of the State, and er application for admission, was presented by ler late delegate and representative elect, Mr. ohn Scott ; and on his motion, was referred to select committee, ilr. Lowndes, of South arolina, Mr. John Sergeant, of Pennsylvania, id General Samuel Smith, of Maryland, were ppointed tho committee; and tho majority cing from slave States, a resolution was quick- ly reported in favor of the admission of the State, ut the majority of the House being the other ay, the resolution was rejected, 79 to 83 — and ly a clear slavery and anti-slavery vote, the xceptions being but three, and they on the side f admission, and contrary to the sentiment of licir own State. They were Mr. Henry Shaw, if Massachusetts, and General Bloomfield and jr. Bernard Smith, of New-Jersey. In the lenate, the application of tho State shared a milar fate. The constitution was referred to a ramittce of three, Messrs. Judge William mith, of South Carolina, Mr. James Burrill, of hodo Island, and Mr. Macon, of North Caro- iia, a majority of whom being from slave States, resolution of admission was reported, and issed the Senate — Messrs. Chandler and Holmes Maine, voting with the friends of admission ; t was rejected in the House of Rcprescnta- cs. A second resolution to the same effect scd the Senate, and was again rejected in the o\isc. A motion was then made in the House Mr. Clay to raise a committee to act jointly |ith any committee which might bo appointed the Senate, "to consider and report to the nate and the House respectively, whether it !)c expedient or not, to make pro\ision for the ailmission of Missouri into the I'liion on tho same footing as the original Sfate>i, and for the due execution of tho laws of the United ."^tafes within Missouri 7 and if not. wheth t any other, and what provision adapteo made by law." This motion was adopte;o of having sla\es if slic chose. Tho question itself, under other forms, has survived, and still sur- vives, but not under the formidable aspect which it wore during that controversy, when it divided Congress geographicallj', and uj)on the slave lino. Tho real struggle wius political, and for the balance of power, as frankly declared by Mr. Rufus King, who disdained dissimulation ; and in that struggle the non-sliiveholding States, though defeated in tho State of Missouri, were successful in producing tho "compromise," con- ceived and passed as a Southern measure. The resistance made to tho admission of the State on account of the clause in relation to free people of color, was only a mask to the real cause of opposition, and has since shown to be so by the facility with which many States, then voting in a body against the admission of Missouri on that account, now exclude the whole class of the free colored emigrant population from their borders, and without question, by statute, or by consti- tutional amendment. For a while this formida- ble Missouri question threatened the total over- throw of all i)oliticaI parties upon principle, and tho substitution of geographical parties discrimi- nated by tho slave line, and of course destroying the just and proper action of the federal govern- ment, and leading eventually to a separation of tho States. It was a federal movement, accru- ing to the benefit of that party, and at first was overwhelming, sweeping all tho Northern de- mocracy into its current, and giving the supre- macy to their adversaries. When this effect was perceived the Northern democracy became alarmed, and only wanted a turn or abatement in tho popular feeling at homo, to take the first opportunity to get rid of tho question by ad- mitting the State, and re-establishing party lines upon tho basis of political principle. This was the decided feeling when I arrived at Washing- ton, and many of the old Northern democracy took early opportunities to declare themselves to me to that efl'cct, and showed that they were ready to vote the admission of tho State in on* I form which would answer tho purpose, and savjl themselves from going so far as to lose thtirl own States, and give tho ascendant to their po litical adversaries. In the Senate, Messrs. Ix)\v He and Roberts, from Pennsylvania ; Messrs! Morril and Parrott, frf)m New-Hampshire ;| Messrs. Chandler and Holmes, iVom Maine; Mr. William Hunter, fVom Rhode Island; anul Mr. Southard, from New- Jersey, were of thall class ; and I cannot refrain from classing withl them Messrs. Horsey and Vandyke, from Dela-I ware, which, though counted as a slave State, yct| from its isolated and salient position, and small number of slaves, seems more justly to belonj to the other side. In the House tho vote ofl nearly two to one in favor of Mr. Clay's resolu- tion for a joint committee, and his being allowedl to make out his own list of tho House commitT tee (for it was well known that he drew up tlicl list of names himself, and distributed it througM the House to be voted), sufBciently attest 1;l'el temper of that body, and showed tho determiiia*! tion of tho great majority to have the questioii| settled. Mr. Clay has been often compliment as the author of tho " compromise " of 1820, id spite of his repeated declaration to the contraryl that measure coming from the Senate ; but he m the undisputed author of the final settlement ofl the Missouri controversy in the actual admissiool of the State. He had many valuable coadjutors] from the North — Baldwin, of Pennsylvania Storrs and Meigs, of New-York j Shaw, of Ma sachusetts: and he had also some opponentil from the South — members refusing to vote fo| the " conditional " admission of tho State, hold ing her to be entitled to absolute admission- among them Mr. Randolph. I have been minuU in stating this controversy, and its settlemenlj deeming it advantageous to tho public intere^ that history and posterity should see it in th proper point of view ; and that it was a politic movement for tho balance of power, balked b| the Northern democracy, who saw their ov overthrow, and the eventual separation of tb States, in tho establishment of geographical pa ties divided by a slavery and anti-slavery line. CUA riSANCE3.-KEI The distress of tho government. Small diture then was, onl; pf dollars (including jient or incidental ob lor the revenues of tl Jrous period, Rcdu( came the resort, ai olicy in all times — Ihc forced policy of t |ar army was the firs vhich tho reduction vaa reduced nearly !,000 men. The nav Appropriation of on( eing reduced to half pen and armament ( ho like process. R( blace at many other pen of a clerkship ol ^ttorney General, w clow the economica kfler all a loan beca president was authori: dollars. The sun ben to be raised for ^cnt, small as it no\ Duble the amount re fcnses of the govcmi cnse of its administr Jachinery. More tha ■ incidental objects, 1 Irest of the public del radual increase of th bns, one and a hal 800,000 ; arms, muni pall items, about two dole about eleven mi Ipense of keepmg tl Dnt in operation, aboi Id which was reduci Jns after the reduc lectcd. A sum of on Id above the estim; Ivernment, was alwaj AXXO 182a JAME8 MONROE, nUlslDK.XT 1) CUAPTEU III. FINANCE9.-KEDUCTI0N OP THE ARMY. riiE distress of tho country became that of the covcmment. Small as tho government expen- diture then was, only about twenty-one millions pf dollars (including eleven millions for perma- nent or incidental objects), it was still too great lor the revenues of the government at this disas- trous period. Reductions of expense, and loans, came the resort, and economy — that virtuous olicy in all times — became the obligatory iind Ihc forced policy of this time, Tho small regu- lar army was the first, and the largest object on s-liich tho reduction fell. Small as it was, it Koa reduced nearly one-half — from 10,000 to 6,000 men. The navy felt it next — the annual Appropriation of one million for its increase cing reduced to half a million. The construc- tion and armament of ibrtifications underwent ho like process. Reductions of expense took klace at many other points, and even the aboli- ion of a clerkship of $800 in the office of the Attorney General, was not deemed an pbject clow the economical attention of Congress. Liler all a loan became indispensable, and the President was authorized to borrow five millions dollars. The sum of twenty-one millions hen to be raised for the service of the govern- jicnt, small as it now appears, was more than ouble the amount required for the actual ex- lenses of tho government — for the actual ex- pnse of its administration, or the working its Machinery. More than half went to permanent - incidental objects, to wit : principal and in- Ircst of the public debt, five and a half millions ; radual increase of the navy, one million ; pen- pns, one and a half millions ; fortifications, |BGO,000 ; arms, munitions, ordnance, and other Ball items, about two millions ; making in the liole about eleven millions, and leaving for the Jpense of keepbg the machinery of govern- cnt in operation, about ten millions of dollars ; kd which was reduced to less than nine mil- Ins after the reductions of this year were Iccted. A sum of one million of dollars, over Id above the estimated expenditure of the Ivernmcnt, was always deemed necessary to be provided and left in the treasury to meet con* tinfrcncics — a sum which, though small in itself, was alisolutfly unnecessary fur that pur|>oso, and the necessity for which was fuumlcil in thu mistaken idea that the government exiK>nd)( every year, within tho year, the amount of its income. This is entirely fallacious, and never did and never can take place ; fur a lar(;c portion of tho government payments accruing within the lat- ter quarters of any year arc not paid until the next year. And so on in every quarter of every year. The sums becoming payable in each quarter being in many instances, and from the nature of ^ tho service, only paid in tho next quarter, while new revenue is coming in. This process regu- larly going on always leaves a balance in tho treasury at tho end of the year, not called for until the beginning of the next year, and when there is a receipt of money to meet tho demand, even if there had been no balance in hand. Thus, at tho end of tho year 1820, one of the greatest depression, and when demands pressed most rapidly upon the treasury, there was a balance of above two millions of dollars in the treasury — to be precise, $2,070,607 14, being one-tenth of the annual revenue. In prosperous years the balance is still larger, sometimes amounting to the fourth, or tho fifth of the an- nual revenue ; as may be seen in the successive annual reports of tho finances. There is, there* fore, no necessity to provide for keeping tny balance as a reserve in the treasury, though in later times this provision has been carii. d up to six millions — a mistake which economy, the science of administration, and the purity of the government, requires to be corrected. C H A P T E It J V EELIEF OF PUBLIC LAND DEBTOKa Distress was the cry of the day ; relief tho general demand. State legislatures were occu- pied in devising measures of local reUef ; Con- gress in granting it to national debtors. Among these was the great and prominent class of the public land purchasers. The credit system then prevailed, and the debt to the government had 12 THIRTV YEARS' VIEW. trciinni1ntf( settlers ; aned from votiJ on account of his interest. The motion to excvj was rejected, on the ground that his interest 1 general, in common • vith the country, and particular, in relation to hunself : and that constituents were entitled to the benefit of i vote. hereon," accompanied blete with valuable si AXNO 1920. JAMES MONROE, PKESIDENT. 13 CHAPTER v. OI;EOON TEnuiTor.Y. The session of 1820-21 k remarkable as being ^lic first at which any propoiiition was made in Congress for the occupation and settlement of kur territory on the Columbia River — the only Lart then owned by the United States on the Pacific coast. It \fPM made by Dr. Floyd, a rc- prcscntativo from Virginia, an ardent man, of rcat ability, and decision of character, and, Jfrom an early rcside»iC0 in Kentucky, strongly Imbued with western feelings, lie took up this Subject with the energy which belonged to him, Lnd it required not only cnercy, but courage, to pmbrace a subject which, at that time, seemed nore likely to bring ridicule than credit to its kdrocatc. I had written and published some Usays on the subject the year before, which he bad read. Two gentlemen (Mr. Ramsay Crooks, kf New- York, and Mr. Russell Farnham, of jilassachusetts), who had been in the employ- ncnt of Jlr. John Jacob Astor in founding his lolony of Astoria, and carrying on the fur trade In the northwest coast of America, were at [Vashington that winter, and had their quarters [t the same hotel (Brown's), where Dr. Floyd nd I had ours. Their acquaintance was natu- lally made by Western men like us — in fact. I pew them before ; and their conversation, rich mformation upon a new and interesting coun- Iry, was eagerly devoured by the ardent spirit If Floyd. He resolved to bring forward the luestion of occupation, and did so. He moved pr a select committee to consider and report jpOD the subject. The committee was granted ly the House, more through courtesy to u re- pccted member, than with any view to business bults. It was a committee of three, himself hairman, according to parliamentary rule, and |homas Metcalfe, of Kentucky (since Governor the State), and Thomas V. Swearingen, from Tcstcm Virginia, for his associates — both like Jmself ardent men, and strong in western feel- They reported a bill within six days after lie committee was raised, " to authorize the oc- ppation of the Columbia River, and to regulate lade and intercourse with the Indian tribes kereon," accompanied by an elaborate report, kplete with valuable statistics, in support of the roeasurv. The fur trade, the A.»iatic trade, and the preservation of our own territory, were the advantages proposed. The bill wa.s treated with the parliamentary courtesy which n.'8|icct for the ci^mntittcti required : it was rend twice, and committed to a committee of the whole lIou.so for the next day — most of the members not considering it a serious proceeding. Nothing further was done in the House that session, but the first blow was struck : public attention wa.s awakened, and the geograplucal, historical, and statistical facts set forth in the rc])ort, made n lodgment in the public mind which promised eventual favorable consideration. I had not been admitted to my seat in the Senate at the time, but was soon after, and quickly came to the support of Dr. Floyd's measure (who continued to pursue it with zeal and ability) ; and at a subsequent session presented some views on the subject wliich will bear reproduction at this time. The danger.of a contest with Great Bri- tain, to whom we had admitted a joint posses- sion, and who had already taken possession, was Strongly suggested, if we delayed longer our own occupation ; " and a vigorous eflbrt of policy, and perhaps of arms, might bo neces.sary to break her hold." Unauthorized, or individual occupa- tion was intimated as a consequence of govern- ment neglect, and what has since taken place was foreshadowed in this sentence : " mere ad- venturers may enter upon it, as .lUneas entered upon the Tiber, ind as our forefathers came upon the Potomac, the Delaware and the Hud- sou, and renew the phenomenon of individuals layhig the foundation of a future empire." The efl'ect upon Asia of the arrival of an American population on the coast of the Pacific Ocean was thus exhibited : " Upon the people of Eastern Asia the establishment of a civilized power on the opposite coast of America, could not fail to produce great and wonderful benefits. Science, liberal prinqiples in government, and the true religion, might cast their lights across the inter' vening sea. The valley of the Columbia might become the granary of China and Japan, and an outlet to their imprisoned and exuberant popula- tion. The inhabitants of the oldest and the newest, the most despotic and the freest govern- ments, would become the neighbors, and the friends of each other. To my mind the proposition is clear, that Eastern Asia and the two Americas, as they become neighbors should become friends 14 THIRTY YEAIW VIEW. I »!i'l I for one had us liof wo Amcrimn miniHtors pfiinjr to tho omiKTors of China and Japan, to Iho kinff of Persia, and even to the Grand Turk, iM to see them danrinp: attendance upon those Kiiropoan lejjitimates who liold every thing Anierirnn in contempt and detestation." Thus I f:p()kc ; and thi.s I behove van tho first time that a finppestion for scndinj? ministers to the Oriental nations wa.s publicly made in the United States. It was then a " wild " sugges- tion: it is now history. Hesidcs the preserva- tion of our own territory on tho Pacific, the estnbhshment of a port there for the shelter of onr commercial and military marine, the protec- tion of tho fur trade and aid to the whaling vessels, the accomplishment of Jfr. JcfTerson's idea of a commercial communication with Asia through tho heart of our own continent, was constantly insisted upon as a consequence of planting an American colony at the mouth of tho Coliunbia. That man of large and useful idoas — that statesman who could conceive mea- sures useful to all mankind, and in all time to come — was the first to propose that commercial communication, and may also bo considered the first discoverer of the Columbia River. His philo- sophic mind told him that where a snow-clad mountain, like that of the Kocky Jlountains, shed tho waters on one side which collected into such a river as the Jlissouri, there must be a corresponding shedding and collection of waters on tho other ; and thus he was perfectly assured of the existence of a river where the Columbia baa since been found to bo, although no naviga- tor had seen its mouth and no explorer trod its banks. His conviction was complete; but the idea was too grand and useful to be permitted to rest in speculation. He was then minister to France, and the famous traveller Ledyard, hav- ing arrived at Paris on his expedition of discov- ery to tho Nile, was prevailed upon by Mr. JefTcrson to enter i.^)on a fresher aad more use- ful field of discovery. He proposed to him to change his theatre from tho Old to the New World, and. proceeding to St. Petersburg upon a passport he would obtain for him, he should there obtain permission from the Empress Cath- arine to traverse her dominions in a high north- ern latitude to their eastern extremity — cross the sea from Kamschatka, or at Behring's Straits, and descending the norihwest coast of America, come down upon the river which must head op- posite tho head of the Misrauri, a.sccnd it to jiti Hounxs in tho Rocky Mountains, and then follo»l the Missouri to tho French settlements on wA Upper Mississippi ; and thence home. It wui magnificent and a daring project of discoTcrrf and on that accoimt the more captivating to tM ardent spirit of Ledyard. lie undertook il-l went to St. Petersburg — received tho pcrmissioil of tho Empress— and had orrivcd in Sibcrjl when ho was overtaken by a revocation of thd permission, and conducted as a spy out of tf country. Ho then re* arned to Paris, and sumed his original design of that exploration ol| tho Nile to its sources which terminated in premature death, and deprived tho world of i young and adventurous explorer, from who ardour, courage, perseverance and genius, and useful results were to have been expcctc Mr. Jefferson was balked in that, his first i\\ tempt, to establish the existence of tho Columbii River. But a time was coming for him to underj take it under better auspices. He became Pr sident of the United States, and in that charade projected tho expedition of Lewis and Clark obtained tho sanction of Congress, and sent t!icii forth to discover the head and course of th river (whoso mouth was then known), for double purpose of opening an inland commcrcii communication with Asia, and enlarging tii boundaries of geographical science. The con mercial object was placed first in his mcssagt and as the object to legitimate the expedition And thus Mr. Jefferson was the first to proj the North American road to India, and the in trodnction of Asiatic trade on that road ; and that I myself have either said or written on thi subject from the year 1819, when I first took up, down to the present day when I still contei for it, is nothing but the fruit of the seed planij ed in my mind by the philosophic hand of Jl( Jefferson. Honor to all those who shall assii in accomplishing his great idea. CHAPTER VI. FLOEIDA TREATV AND CESSION OP TEXAS. I WAS a member of the bar at St. Louis, in tiJ then territory of Alissouri, in the year 18li Itvht'n tho Washington C llinown tho progress of th ■which was signenlvy S|Miin. In thr inran time Mr. Clay had mailu a niuvi'inent a^rtiinst it in thi; House of KoprcKentativi'H, un.succ('s.sfiil. ofcourso, but cxcitinj; some sensation, Iwth for llio reasons he pftve ami tho vote of Honio thirty-odd mcni- Irts who conciirrwl with him. Tiiis movement vory certainly induced the letters of Mr. Monroe to (jencral JuckHon and Mr. Jelltrson, as they were contemporaneous (May, 182ft), and also Bonie cxprcs.sions in the letter to Gonorul Jack- son, whicli evidently referred to Mr. Clay's movemcn'. Tho ratillcation of Spain was piven October, 1820, and being after tho time limited, it bccareo necessary to submit it again to tho American Senate, which was done at tho session of 1820-21. It was ratified again, and almost unanimously, but not quite, four votes being given against it, and all by western senators, namely : Colonel Kichard M. Johnson, of Ken- tucky ; Colonel John Williams, of Tenncssco ; Mr. James Brown, of Louisiana, and Colonel Trimble, of Ohio. I was then in Washington, and a senator elect, though not yet entitled to a scat, in consequence of the delayed admission of the new State of Missouri into the Union, and so I had no opportunity to record ray vote against tiie treaty. But tho progress of events soon gave mo an opportunity to manifest my opposi- tion, and to appear in tho parliamentary history 03 an cnem}' to it. The cose was this : While tho treaty was still encountering Spanish pro- crastination in the delay of exchanging ratiiica- Itioas, Mexico (to which tho amputated part of 1 Louisiana and the whole of Texas was to be at- Itached), itself cca.sed to belong to Spain. She I established her independence, repulsed ull Spa- Inish authority, and remained at war with the Imother country. The law for giving effect to Itho treaty by providing for commissioners to Irun and mark the new boundary, had not been ||iasscd at tho time of the ratification of the [treaty ; it camo up after I took my seat, and |was opposed by me. I opposed it, not only upon the grounds of original objections to tho ^rcaty, but on the further and obvious ground, khat the revolution in Mexico — her actual inde- pendence — had superseded the Spanish treaty in Iho whole article of the boundaries, and that it rts with Mexico herself that we should now ettlc them. The act was passed, however, by a seeping majority, tho administration being for 2 if. and Hfnafors holding thrni'W'lvoH coinn)ittei.<>Hiiii)n to it. Tho country Ix'inj? in |)ossr8.>i<>n of Mexii-o, and kIu- at wnr with Spain, no SjinniJi comnii-isiontTS roidd i;o there to join ours in t-xiM-utiiig it; and so tin act remained a diad letter upon tho statute- book. Its futility was nflorwanls acknowlecleiMl by our govermni'nt, and the misstep corrcctiMl by establishing tho >iouniIary with Mexico lur- self. This was done by treoty in tho year 1828, adopting tho boiinilaries previously agriod upon with Spain, and consequently amputating our rivers (tho Red and tho Arkansas), and dis- membering the valley of tho Mississippi, to tho same extent as was done by the Spanish treaty of 1819. I opposed the ratification of tho treaty with Mexico for the same reason that I opposed its oiiginal with Spain, but without sticcess. Only two senators voted with me, namely. Judge William Smith, of South Carolina, and Mr. Powhatan Ellis, of Mississippi. Thus I saw this treaty, which repulsed Texas, and dismem- bered tho valley of tho Mississippi — which placed a foreign dominion on tho upper halves of tho Red River and the Arkansas — placed a foreign power and a wilderness between Mis- souri and New Mexico, and which brought a non-slaveholding empire to tho boundary line of tho State of Louisiana, and almost to tho southwest corner of Missouri — saw this treaty three times ratified by tho American Senate, ns good as unanimously every time, and with the hearty concurrence of the American press. Yet I remained in tho Senate to sec, within a few years, a political tempest sweeping tho land and overturning all that stood before it, to get back tliis very country which this treaty had given away ; and menacing tho Union itself with dis- solution, if it was not immediately done, and without regard to consequences. But of this hereafter. Tho point to be now noted of this treaty of 1819, is, that it completed, very nearly, the extinction of slave territory within tho limits of the United States, and that it was tho work of southern men, with tho sanction of the South. It extinguished or cut off the slave territory beyond tho MLssissippi, below 36 degrees, 30 minutes, all except the diagram in Arkansas, which was soon to become a State. The Mis- souri compromise line had interdicted slavery in all the v&st expanse of Louisiana north of 36 !'-,r- T^m 18 TIIIKTY YKAHS* \".T,U'. (l.'KfWH, 3(> minuton j thin treaty (rave »wny. flrnt to SjMiin, «n- lle vfM Ifft hy Ihu Spaninh treaty woh as>ti^rnl'•l in |)ori»ctiiity by lawn and by trcaticH to difforcnt 'In'lian trlbc«. Thcno trcatiM (Indinn and Spnn- InIi), together with the Misnoiiri compromise lino — % mcaiiuro contcmpor»ncoiis with the treaty — cxtinKuiNht-d Hiavo noil in all the United States territory west of tho MisniRdippi, except in tho diagram which wa« to constitnto tho State of ArkansaH } and, including tho extinction in Texas consoqiicnt upon its ccsHion to a non- slaveholdinK power, constituted tho largest tcr- ritoriiil ntiolition of slavery that was ever effect- ed by tho political power of any nation. Tho ordinance of 1787 had previously extinguished sliivory in all tho northwest territory — all tho country east of tho Mississippi, above tho Ohio, and out to tho great lakes; so that, at this moment — era of tho second election of Mr. Mon- roe— slave soil, except in Arkansas and Florida, *ft8 extinct in tho territory of tho United States. Tho growth of slave States (except of Arkansas and Florida) was stopped ; tho increase of free .states was permitted in al! tho vast expanse from Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, and to Oregon ; and there was not a ripple of discontent visible on the sur- tace of tho public mind at this mighty transfor- mation of slave into free tcrritcy. No talk then about dissolving the Union, if evc-v citizen was not allowed to go with all his " property," that is, all his slaves, to all tho territory acquired by tho "common blood and treasure" of all the Union. But this belongs to the chapter of 1844, whereof I have the material to write tho true and secret history, and hope to use it with fairness, with justice, and with moderation. Tho outside view of the slave question in the United States at this time, which any chronicler can write, is, that the extension of slavery was then arrested, circumscribed, and confined within narrow terri- torial limits, while free States were permitted an almost unlimited expansion. That is the out- side view; the inside is, that all this was the work of southern men, candidates for the presi- dency, some in abeyance, some in prtssenti^ and all yielding to that repugnance to territorial ag- grandizement, and slavery extension in the south- west, which Mr. Monroe mentioned in his letter to General Jackson as the " internal diflBculty" which orcaNioncil tho rexirion of Tviaii to Spain. Thifi chapter is a |M)int in tho liictory of thotiaoi which will require to Iw imdenttood by all who wish to imdersland ane eTtnti and actors of twenty ycara later. C II APT E R VII. DEATH OF Mn. LOWNDES. I HAP but a slight acquaintance with Mr, Lowndc:^. He resigneil his place on account ol declining health soon after I came into Congress; but all that I saw of him confirmed the impres- sion of tho exalted cliaracter which the public voice had ascrilicd to him. Tirtue, modesty, benevolence, patriotism were tho qualities of his heart ; a sound judgment, a mild iM^rsuasive elo- cution were tho attributes of his mind ; his man- ners gentle, natural, cordial, and inexpressibly engaging. lie was one of the galaxy, as it wm well called, of the brilliant young men which South Carolina sent to the House of Represent- atives at the beginning of the war of 1812 — Cal- houn, Choves, Lowndes ; — and was soon the brightest star in that constellation. He was one of those members, rare in all assemblies, who, when he spoke, had » cluster around him, not of friends, but of the House — members quitting their distant seats, and gathering up close about him, and showing by their attention, that each one would feel it a personal loss to have missed a word that he said. It was the attention ot affectionate confidence. He imparted to others the harmony of his ovro feelingfl, and was tli( moderator as well as the leader of the House and was followed by its sentiment in all case in which inexorable party feeling, or some pow- erful interest, did not rule the action of the mem- bers,; and even then he was courteously and deferentially treated. It was so the only time I ever heard him speak — sessMn of 1820-21- and on the inflammable subject of the admission of the State of Missouri — a question on which t!ie inflamed passions left no room for tho influenro of reason and Judgment, and in which the mem- bers voted by a geographical line. Mr. Lowndes was of the democratic school, and strongly indi t;iiem tb III" was nominated I live State for tho elw fore the event came i [iresscfi that sentime itKclf, and so Woiiiii was true, "That th ni itlier to bo xought, the npe of forty-two ; n^'e, and in the im|K.>r country, was felt by |iublic and national biographies, but note somo eminent deccas f:irao belongs to the c up its own title to tho C H A P T DEATH OP Wl He died at Wawfiingti tiie Congress of which tho Supreme Court of tioner. He fell like thi of his strength, and oi under the double laboi and of the Senate, and ccntration of thought preparation of his specc in his day the first o will hardly keep that cause ho sprfke more t reader — to the present avoided the careful \ speeches. He labored for the effect of their d( of present victory. He the crowded gallery — tl which went forth from which crowned the effoi lication of what was : applause, giving as a rer speech would not sust delivered one. Ills fort ANNO IS31 JAMES MONROF; PI»>ll>KNT. ID taic>u OoiTrt and of tho Senate, and under the immense con- centration of thought which he gave to the preparation of his speeches. He was considered in his day the first of American orators, but will hardly keep that place with posterity, be- cause he spcflve more to the hearer than to the reader — to tho present than to the absent — and avoided the careful publication of hia own speeches. He labored them hard, but it was for the effect of their delivery, ond the triumph of present victory. Ho loved the admiration of the crowded gallery — the trumpet-tongued fame which went forth from the forum — the victory which crowned the cflbrt ; but avoided the pub- lication of what was received with so much applause, giving as a reason that the published fpeech would not sustain the renown of the delivered one. Ilia/orte as a speaker lay in his jiktirnicnt, hU loRio, 1ii>t \»*vr of Kr(;unHs Senatus. illustrious for thirty years of diplo- r.iatic atid senatorial service, and for great dig- nity of I'fe and chaincter. He had ample time for preparation, and availed himself of it. Mr. King !iad spoken the session before, and pub- lished the "Substance" of his speeches (for there were two of them), after the adjournment of Congress. They were the signal guns for the Missouri controversy. It was to these published speeches that Mr. P nkney replied, and with the interval between two sessions to prepare. It was a dazzling and overpowering reply, with the prestige of having the union and the harmony of the States for its object, and crowded with rich material. The most brilliant part of it was a highly-wrotight and Fplcndid amplification (with illustrations from Greek and Roman his- tory), of that passage in Mr. Burke's speech upon " Conciliation with the Colonies," in which, and in looking to the elements of American re- sistance to British power, he looks to the spirit i- 20 THIRTY YEAIW VIEW. of the Kiavcholdin); colonics as a iiiniu inf;n>use of Representatives, intcrrupt- ng for that purpose an angry debate, then raging, with a l>cautiful and apt quotation from the quarrel of Adam and Eve at their expulsion from paradise. The published debates give this account of it : ''Mr. Randolph rose to announce to the House an event which he hoped would put an end, at least for this day, to all further jar or collision, here or elsewhere, among the members of this body. Yes, for this one day, at least, let us say, as our first mother said to our lirst father — ' While yet we live, scarce one »liort hour pcrbapa, Between us two let tliere be peace.' " I rise to announce to the House the not un- looked for death of a man who filled the first place in the public estimation, in the first profes- sion in that estimation, in this or in any other country. Wo have been talking of General Jackson, and a greater than him is, not here, but gone for ever. I allude, sir, to the boast of Maryland, and the pride of the United States — the pride of all of us, but more particularly the pride and ornament of the profession of which you, Mr. Speaker (Mr. Philip P. Bar- bour), are a member, and an eminent one." Mr. Pinkney was kind and afiablo in his temper, free from every taint of envy or jealousy, conscious of his powers, and relying upon tiiem alone for success. He was a model, as I have already said, and it will bear repetition, to all young men in his habits of study and applica- tion, and at more than sixty years of age was still a severe student. In politics he classed democratically, and was one of the few of our eminent public men who never seemed to think of the presidency. Oratory was his glory, the law his profession, the bar his theatre ; and his service in Congress was only a brief episode, dazzling each House, for ho was a momentary member of each, with a single and splendid speech. CHAPTER IX. ABOLITION OF THE INDIAN FACTORY BTSTEM. The experience of the Indian factory system, is an illustration of the unfitness of the federal government to carry on any system of trade, the liability of the benevolent designs of tbo gov- ANXO 1822. JAMFS MOXROE, PRESIDENT. 21 entary )lcndid STEM. rstem. ledcral trade, L gov- ernment to be abusefl, and the difficulty of de- tecting and rcdrcs.sing abuses in the nianapemcnt 1 of our Indian airain<. Thi.s system originated in the year 1790, under the recommendation of President Wafihington, and was intended to counteract the influence of the British traders, then allowed to trade with the Indians of the United States within our limits ; al.so to protect the Indians from impositions from our own trad- cr.'f, and for that purpose to sell them goods at cost and carriage, and receive their furs and pel- tries at fair and liberal prices ; and which being sold on account of the United States, would de- fray the expenses of the establishment, and pre- serve the capital undiminished — to bo returned to the treasury at the end of the experiment. The goods were purchased at the expense of the Unit- ed States — the superintendent and factors were paid out of the treasury, and the whole system was to be one of favor and benevolence to the Indians, guarded by the usual amount of bonds and oatlis prescribed by custom in such cases. Being an experiment, it was first established by a temporary act, limited to two years — the usual way in which equivocal measures get a foothold in legislation. It was soon suspected that this system did not work as disinterestedly as had been expected — that it was of no benefit to the Indians — no counteraction to British traders — an injury to our own fur trade — and a loss to the United States ; and many attempts were made to get rid of it, but in vain. It was kept up by continued temporary renewals for a quar- ter of a century — from 1796 to 1822 — the name of Wasliington being always invoked to continue abuses which he would have been the first to re- press and punish. As a citizen of a frontier State, I had seen the working of the system — seen its inside working, and knew its operation to bo entirely contrary to the benevolent de- signs of its projectors. I communicated all this, soon after my admission to a seat in the Senate, to Mr. Calhoun, the Secretary at War, to whose department the supervision of this branch of service belonged, and proposed to him the abolition of the system ; but he had too good an opinion of the superintendent (then Mr. Thomas L. McKinncy), to believe that any thii^ was wrong in the business, and refused his countenance to my proposition. Confident that I was right, I determined to bring the ques- tion before the Senate— did so— brought in a bill to abolish the factories, and throw open the fur trade to iny a viuw of the oxton^ivc field over wliirh it would operate. Tlie Unitetl Slntes are cx- jjosed to inva,sioii throuph the whole extent of their Atlantic coant (to which may now be add- ed seventeen dcfrrecs of the I'Aciiic coast) by any European power with whom we inifrht be cngajred in war: on the northern and north- western frontier, on the side of Cana-Ja. by Great Britain, and on the southern by Spain, or any power in alliance with her. If internal im- provements are to be carried on to the full extent to which they may be useful for military puqwscs, the power, as it exists, mus*; apply to all the roads of the Union, there being no limita- tion to it. Wherever such improvements may facilitate the march of troops, the transportation of cannon, or otherwise aid the operations, or mitigate the calamities of war along the coa.st, or in the interior, they would be useful for mili- tary purposes, and might therefore be made. They must bo coextensive with the Union. The power following as an incident to another power can be measurcvl, as to its extent, by reference only to the obvious extent of the power to which it is incidental. It has been shown, after the most liberal construction of all the enumerated powers of the general government, that the ter- ritory within the limits of the respective States belonged to them ; that the United States had no right, under the powers granted to them (with the exceptions specified), to any the smallest portion of territory within a State, r,ll those power.s operating on a different principle, and having their full effect without impairing, in the slightest degree, this territorial right in the States. By specifically granting the right, as to such small portions of territory as might be ne- cessary for these purposes (forts, arsenals, mag- azines, dock-yards and other needful buildings), and, on certain conditions, minutely and well defined, it is manifest that it was not intended to grant it, as to any other portion, for any purpose, or in any manner whatever, ine right of the general government must be complete, if a right at all. It must extend to ery thing necessary to the enjoyment and protection of the right. It must extend to the seizure and condemnation of the property, if necessary; to the punishment of the offenders for injuries to the roads and canals ; to the ostablishraeut and enforcement of tolls J to the unobstructed construction, protec- tion, and preservation of the road.^inF.XT. 25 to act leend coin- Union, fence" grant cot and cnume- icnse in )mpany mation btained thus in perfect B tran- f nillity, provide for the common defence, promote the poneral welfare, and si-curc the hles,sin}r< of lUrty to ourselves and our jwsterity, do ordain ,11(1 establish this constitution." These arc the objects to bo accomplished, but not by allowing ("ansrcss to do what it pleased to accomplish tliciii (in which case there would have been no Ucd for investing it with specific powers), but to {ih; accomplished by the exercise of the powers nuiicd in the body of tlie instrument. Con- i/l<:rcd as a distinct and separate grant, tho owcr to provide for the ' common defence " lid the " general welfure," or either of them, ould give to Congress tho command of the liolo force, and of all the resources of the uioii — absorbing in their transcendental power 11 otber powers, and rendering all tho grants jiJ restrictions nugatory and vain. The idea of ihcsc words forming an original grant, with un- iuiited power, superseding every other grant, is must be) abandoned. The government of tho pnited States is a limited government, instituted r t'reat national pui-po.scs, and for those only. thcr interests are left to the States individually, hose duty it is to provide for them. Koads d canals fall into this class, the powers of the eneral Government being utterly incompetent the exercise of the rights which their con- ruction, and protection, and preservation re- iiire. Mr. Monroe examines the instances of lads made in territories, and through the In- ian countries, and tho one upon Spanish tern- iry below the 31st degree of north latitude ith the consent of Spain), on the route from thcns in Georgia to New Orleans, before we uircd the Floridas ; and shows that there was objection to these territorial roads, being all them, to tbe States, ex-territorial. He exam- s the case of the Cumberland road, made thin the States, aad upon compact, but in ich the United States exercised no power, ndcd on any principle of "jurisdiction or hi." He says of it : This road was founded an article of compact between the United tc8 and the State of Ohio, uuder which that ,tc came into the Union, and by which the ex- se attending it was to be defrayed by the ap- ati}n of a certain portion of the money aris- from the sales of the public lands within the tc. And, in this instance, the United States c exercised no act of jurisdiction or sovereign- within either of the States through which the road nms, by taking the land from the proprie- tors }iy force — by passing arts for the protection of the road — or to raise a rcvi-nuc from it by the cstablisluncnt of turnpikes and t 20 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. botljr to iU own iliscretion, and bccomcH as absorb- inj; and tranxccndt-ntal in its scope as the " gen- eral welfare" and "common defence clauses " would Itc themselves. G. The ])0wer to dispose of, and make all nee j- ful rules ami regulations resficcting the territory or other property of the United States. This clause, as a source of power for making roads and canals within a State, Mr. Monroe disposes of summarily, as having no relation whatever to the subject. It grew out of the cessions of ter- ritory which difl'ercnt States had made to the United States, and relates solely to that terri- tory (and to such as has been acquired since the adoption of the constitution), and which lay without the limits of a State. Special provision was deemed necessary for such territory, the main powers of the constitution operating inter- nally, not being applicable or adequate thereto ; and it follows that this power gives no authority, and has even no bearing on the subject. Such was this great state paper, delivered at a time when internal improvement by the fede- n>. government, having become an issue in the canvass for the Presidency, and ardently advo- cated by three of the candidates, and qualifiedly by two others, had an immense current in its favor, carrying many of the old strict constitu- tionists along with it. Mr. Monroe stood ."^rm, vetoed the bill which assumed jurisdiction over the Cumberland rood, and drew up his senti- ments in full, for the consideration of Congress and the country. His argument is abridged and condensed in this view of it ; but his posi- tions and conclusions preserved in full, and with scrupulous correctness. And the whole paper, as an exposition of the differently understood parts of the constitution, by one among those most intimately acquainted with it, and as ap- plicable to the whole question of constructive powers, deserves to bo read and studied by every student of our constitutional law. The only point at which Mr. Monroe gave Way, or yielded in the least, to the temper of the times, was in admitting the power of appropriation— the right of Congress to appropriate, but not to apply tnoney — to internal improvements ; and in that ho yielded against his earlier, and, as I believe, better judgment. He had previously condemned the appropriation as well as the application, but finally yielded on this point to the counsels that beset him J but nuptorially, as appropriation without application was inoperative, an'' a balj to the whole system. But an act was pa.«fi)Oth of public money and public atten- iion, luM degenerated into a common hi|;hway, ^D(l is entirely superseded by the parallel rail- route. The fiamo may be said, in a Ichs de- e, of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, once a Lational object of federal legislation intended, as Its nnmo imports, to connect the tide water of he Atlantic with the grrat rivers of tho West ; Lw a local canal, chiefly used by some com- panies, very beneficial in its place, but sunk from be national character which commanded for it he votes of Congress and large appropriations am the federal treasury. Mr. Monroe was one |f the most cautious and deliberate of our pub- ; men, thoroughly acquainted with the theory nd the working of the constitution, his opinions Lpon it entitled to great weight ; and on this oint (of internal improvement within the States ly the federal government) his opinion has be- lome law. But it does not touch the question f improving national rivers or harbors yielding bvcnue — appropriations for tho Ohio and Missis- ■ppi and other large streams, being easily had }hcn imincumbered with local objects, as shown - the appropriation, in a sopar-xte bill, in 1824, ' $75,000 for the improvement of these two Irers, and which was approved and signed by Ir. Monroe. CHAPTER XI. GENERAL BEMOVAL OF INDIANS. it Indian tribes in the difterent sections of the oion, had experienced very different fates — in (e northern and middle States nearly extinct — i the south and west they remained numerous bd formidable. Before the war of 1812, with eat Britain, these southern and western tribes (Id vast, compact bodies of land in these ates, preventing tho expansion of tue white Jttlements within their limits, and retaining a Lngerous neighbor within their borders. The Ictories of General Jackson over the Creeks, |d the territorial cessions which ensued made ! first great breach in this vast Indian domain ; ^t much remained to be done to free the south- 1 and western States from a useless and dan- Dus population— to give them the use and |risdiction of all the territory within their lits, and to place them, in that respect, on an equality with the northern and middle Stntos. From the CArlifst |)erio ritories would not, and certainly ought not to be satisfied, until all their soil was open to settle- ment, and subject to their jurisdiction. To the Indians themselves it was equally essential to be removed. The contact and pressure of the white race was fatal to them. They had dwindled un- der it, degenerated, become depraved, and whole tribes extinct, or reduced to a few individuals, wherever they attempted to remain in the old States ; and could look for no other fate in the new ones. "What," exclainncd Mr Elliott, senator from Georgia, in advocating a system of general re- moval — " what has become of the immense hordes of these people who once occupied the soil of tlie ■ , - 5, 28 THIRTY YF.APS' VIEW. older StnJcs ? In New Plnplaml, whore niitncr- oiiH nnut two thoiisanisi[[. and his plan had I)oen acted upon in Fomc c gnx», I)Otli by himself and his immediate siiro. sor. But it was reserved for Mr. Monroe's t'j ministration to take up the subject in its w sense, to move upon it as a system, and to t,\ complish at a single operation tho removal i all the triljes from the east to the west side ( the Mis.sissippi — from tho settled States andij ritorics, to the wide and wild expanse of I.oui/ ana. Their preservation and civilization, jji permanency in their new possessions, were toll their advantages in this removal — delusive, might be, but still a respite from impending c struction if they remained where they were. TlJ comprehensive plan was advocated by Mr. Cjl houn, then Secretary of ^Var, and charged va the administration of Indian affairs. It was a [j'J of incalculable value to the southern and wcj em States, but impracticable without the heart concurrence of the northern and non-slavchokiij States. It might awaken the slavery questioi hardly got to sleep after the alarming agitatioj of the Missouri controversy. The States i territories to be relieved were slaveholding. remove tho Indians would make room for tlj spread of slaves. No removal could be eflccli without the double process of a treaty and i appropriation act — the treaty to be ratified i| two thirds of the Senate, where the slave i free States were equal, and the appropriation | bo obtained from Congress, where free Stal held the majority of members. It was evid that the execution of the whole plan was in hands of the free States ; and nobly did they ^ their duty by the South. Some societies, some individuals, no doubt, with very hun motives, but with the folly, and blindness, j injury to the objects of their care which gencr attend a gratuitous interference with the affal of others, attempted to raise an outcry, and niij themselves busy to frustrate the plan ; but I free States themselves, in their federal acti and through the proper exponents of their » 1— their delefiitions in Congress — cordially currcd in it, and faithfully lent it a helping i efiBcient hand. The Pre.sident, Mr. Monrotl the session 1824-'25, recommended its adopiil to Congress, and asked the necessary appropij tion to begin from the Oongress. A bill wasj ported in the Senate for that purpose, and un mously passed that body. What is mq treaties made with fibos in 182'i, for th ANNO 182t. JAMKS MoNUOf; mFSIUKNT. 29 trc^tioH made with the Kanwu and Osage fi{)Os in 182.J, for the cefwk)n to the United kati* of all their vast territory wcHtof MisHoiiri h(l Arkanww, except small reserves to them- klros, and which treaties hod been made with- lit previous authority from the government, and Ir thi' purpose of acijuirinf; new homes for all L Indians east of tho Mississippi, were duly ^(1 rondily ratified. Those treaties were made ; St. Louis by General Clarke, without any au- Lority, so far as this large acquisition was con- Irnod, at my instance, and upon my assurance lat the Senate would ratify them. It was done. hey were ratified : a great act of justice was Indireil to the South. Tho foundation was |J for tho future removal of tho Indians, which I followed up by subsequent treaties and acts ' Con,;res3, until tho southern and western ales were as free as the northern from tho in- jimbrance of an Ine new generation, l)<)rii since tlmt time, it wns tho apparition of ••' istoricul clmrncti'r, familiar from tho cradle ; and comliiniii'; all tin- titles to love, admiration, gratitude, cnthu^itusin, which could act upon the heart and the iiiia).'iiiatiun of tho young ond tho ardent. He vi.^iled every Stato in tho Union, doubled in nuinber .since, as tho friend and pupil of Washington, ho had spilt Ills blood, and lavished his foi tune, for their in- dependence. His progress through the States was a triumphal proces-siun, such iw< no llonian ever led up — a procession not through a city, but over a continent — followed, not by captives in chains of iron, but by a nation in the bondd of all'ection. To him it was an unexpected nud ovcriHJwering reception. His modest estimate of himself had not allowed him to suppose that ho was to electrify a continent. He expected kind- ness, but not enthusiasm. He expected to meet with surviving friends — not to rouse a young gen- eration. As he approached the harbor of New- York, ho mode inquiry of some ncquuiiitancc to know whether ho could find a hack to convey him to a hotel ? Illustrious man, and modest as illustrious ! Little did he know that all Ame- rica was on foot to receive him — to take posses- sion of him the moment he touched her soil — to fetch and to carry him — to feast and applaud him — to make him the guest of cities. State;?, and tho nation, as long as he could be detained. Many wore the happy meetings which he had with old comrades, survivors for near half a century of their early hardships and dangers ; and most grateful to his heart it was to see them, so many of them, exceptions to the maxim which denies to the beginners of revolutions the good fortune to conclude them (and of which maxim his own country had just been so sad an exemplification), and to see his old comrades not only conclude the one they began, but live to enjoy its fruits and honor.-^. Three of his old as.sociate9 he found ex-presidents (Adams, Jefferson, and Madison), enjoying the respect and atl'ection of their country, after having reached its highest honors. Another, and tl>.e last one that Time would admit to the Presidency (Mr. Monroe), now in the Presidential chair, and inviting him to revisit the land of his adoption. Many of his 30 TIIIRTV TKARS* VIEW. i-arly »»cotMatcH wrn in the two Ilniinofl of Con- (TTCKH — many in Uk« Stntw (jovcmniPnU, «nII>F.XT. 31 »tc in ilch«tc upon the prinripio of the hill, or [ |n move anj anicmlnu'nt to it. Ho ailmilttvl KiAt, when Hiich thinpi were 0O,OOO. These were his moneyed advances, 8e8,and sacrifices, £Teat in themselves, and of at value to our cause, but perhaps exceeded r the moral effect of his example in joining us, his influence with the king and ministry, |iich procured us the alliance of France. iThe grants were voted with great unanimity, 1 with the general concurrence of the Ameri- 1 people. Mr. Jefferson was warmly for them, jring as a reason, in a conversation with me while the grants wore doprndinp (for the hill wan passerl in tin- ('liii«tmas hnliilityx, when I had gone to Vir>;inin. and took the o|i|iorlniiity to cftll \i\«>\\ tli:it iiTvat n»an), wliirli Khnwe< at home, and his far-seeing sngarity into future events. Ho said there woidd be a ohnnfre in France, and Ijifayetto would bo at the hend of it, and ought to 1)0 easy and independent in hi.s eircum- stanccs, to bo able to act eftkienf ly in conVlf .13 THIKTV YKAIW VIKW. CIlArTKU XIII. Tin: TAIilKI-, AM) AMKKH'AS HVHTEM. | TiiK rivisioii (»r llio Taiiir, uitli a viow to tlio liroti'ction of homo industry, nnrl to the cMtab- | li^liiiiiiil of wliiit wiw tliiii calliil, ''Tlio Aiiifri- nui Systiiii," wan oiiu t)f tlic Iiirjco subjects Jitforu Cou^jrcss iit the session lMl].'{-2t,nnidentiai election heinj; tlien deiH-ndiiiff, the , Bubjift becnnio tinctured willi party politics, in which, so far as that ingredient was concerned, nnd was not controlled by other considerations, members divided jjretty much on the line which always divided them on a question of construct- ive powers. The protection of domestic indus- try not beiii;; among the granted powers, was looked for in the incidental ; and denied by the strict constructionists to be a substantive power, to be exercised for the direct purpose of jirotec- tion; but admitted by all at that time, and ever since the first taritl' act of 1789, to be an inci- dent to the revenue raising power, and an inci- dent to bo regarded in the exercise of that I)Ower. I'evenuo the object, protection the inci- dent, had been the rule in the earlier tarifls : now that rule was sought to be reversed, and to make protection the object of tlic law, and reve- nue the incident. The revision, and the aug- mentation of duties which it contemplated, turned, not so much on tlio emptiness of the treasury and the necessity for raising money to fill it, as upon the distress of the country, and the necessity of creating a home demand for la- bor, provisions and materials, by turning a larpicr proportion of our national industry into the channel of domestic manufactures. Mr. Clay, the leader in the proix»sed revision, and the champion of the American System, expressly placed the proposed augmentation of duties on this ground ; and in his main speech upon the question, dwelt upon the state of the country, and gave a [licture of the public distress, which deserves to bo reproduced in this View of the working of our government, both as the leading argument for the new tariff, and as an exhibi- tion of a national distrcM, which Ihonv who «(•, not coteni|.<>mry with the nlato of thingM u|i»| be de'-crilxd, would find it dilllcult to conarj or to realize. III! said : " In costing our eyes around um, the tno^l jiroininent rircnnistonro which fixes our ntii- tion and challenges our st regret, is i;. general distress which |)ervtty tlie diminished exfiorts of native pr J (luce ; by the depressed and reduceil state of oj foreign navigation ; by our duninished mil merce ; by successive unthreshed crojis of gra:/ iierishing in our barns for want of a markul by the alarming diminution of the circulaiir; medium; by the nimu'rous bankrujitcies ; liy, universal complaint of the want of tmploymiii'J and a consequent reduction of the wages ofl bor ; by the ravenous pursuit after public r.itu tions, not for the sake of their honors, and \[\ performance of their public duties, but as i means of private subsistence ; by the reluctai resort to the perilous use of paper n)oney ; J the intervention of legislation ni the delical relation between debtor and cieditor ; ma above all, by the low and depressed state of il value of almost every description of the whoi mass of the property of the nation, which I J on an average, sunk not less than about I per centum within a few years. This distnj pervades every part of the Union, every clas.s(i society ; all feel it, though it may be felt, at ferent places, in difrercnt degrees. It is like tiJ atmosphere which surrounds us : all must it] halo it, and none can escape from it. A fj years ago, the planting interest consoled ita with its happy exemptions from the general c lamity ; but it has now reached this interest alii which experiences, though with less severitj the general suffering. It is most painfVil to i to attempt to sketch, or to dwell on the pio of this picture. But I have exaggerated nothijj Perfect fidelity to the original would havei thorized me to Imvo thrown on deeper darker hues." Mr. Clay was tlic leading speaker on the ] of the bill in the House of Representatin but he was well supported by many able effective speakers — by Messrs. Storrs, Tr Jphn W. Taylor, from Now- York ; by Mess Buchanan, Todd, Ingham, Hemphill, Andn Stewart, from Pennsylvania ; by Mr. LcJ McLane, from Delaware; by Messrs. BucbT F. Johnson, Letcher, Metcalfe, Trimble, ^Vl Wicklifle, from Kentucky; by Messrs, Cad bell, Vance, John W. Wright, Vinton, Whitlj sey, from Ohio; Mr. Daniel P. Cook, Illinois. "Within my own cause for such gloomy kiitation. In resjtect Slates, with the condit acquainted, they pre.sen pineral pros|)i'rity, Sii 111- a depression of price.- rcxsure ; the next inqu |ilat evil, A depreciate jreat part of the countn Jegree as that, at one ' the centre and tlie norti r cent. The Bank of Instituted to correct th riiich it is not now nc< lid not for some years 1 bf the country to a soinv he British House of Con potc, decided that the n unts by the Bank of ; leferrcd beyond the ens llien bi'cn in a state of si Ivc years). The pajit-r ;rtaiiily communicated kropcrty. It had cncou pelted overtrading, AVI me, and this violent pre t the same moment on Jngland, inflated and unr [ept up no longer, A rhich has been estimated lual to a fall of thirty, [he depression was univ ^as felt in the United S )t equally so in every i b time of these foreign ptem underwent a ch lu.«es, in my view of the Mucc the great shock w Immercial cities, and tin |e country. The year 1 .■rous failures, and very M would have furnishe [an exist at present for t lion which hits bjen pre Vol. I._3 AXN») 1X21. .lAMI-S MoNKMF, I'lU.-IM.M. 33 Xr, Wrbtitcr wax the lear nn tlif OtliiT Mnlc. >iii|iiiu-trcMt H'liK'li linu\! «ii)'|«'nMi<>ii of till) Kiiiik of Kn^likiiil ; denied tlic niHcsttily for incnusod |irott'tti«»n to nmnufuo- tiiri"*, uii'l it"* inudiniiiiry. if ^'ininti'd, to the rtliif i,f the country wliiic distress priviiiKd ; and lioiitestLHl tlio proj)riety of liijrli or pmliihitory (lulies. in tlio [ircHent uctive and intellipnt state (pf tiie worhl. to Hlimulate industry and nmnu- Ifatturing enterprise. IIu said: •WitJiin my own oliservntion, tlicro is no I cause for surli gloomy and terrify in(j a repre- iKiitation. In reHjiect to the New England ISittteH, with tlic condition of which I am best larquainted, tliey present to mo a period of very Ipumnil prosi)ority. Snpponinp; tiie evil then to |lio ft depression of prices, and a partial pecuniary resMire ; the next inquiry in into the causea of III lit evil. A depreciated currency existed in a great part of the country — depreciated to .such a degree as that, at one time, exchange between |tlic centre and the north wa.s as hi^h as twenty er cent. The Bank of the United iStates was Instituted to correct this evil ; but, for causes vliich it is not now neces.sary to enumerate, it jliil not for some years bring back the currency bf the country to a sound state. In May, 181U, Ihe British IIouso of Common.s, by nn unanimous Vote, decided that the resumption of cash pay- mnts by the Bank of England should not be deferred beyond the ensning February (it had liien been in a state of suspension near twcnty- Vc years). The pnptr system of England had CTtaiiily communicated an artificial value to Iropcrty. It had encouraged spcculaiion, amt |xcited overtrading. When the shock therefoir luis (xi'.ti'd. in \itiif till' ii>iinlr_\, to i«--ii(' pa|nr money, as a proof nf gnat existing dilVir-ulii •.-■. I lecnid it niihir as a Very productive caiiM' nf tlio^c ditlicnhii s ; uinl we cannot fail to olisrixe, timt there >■> at thi^ moment much the jniidrst cnniplauit of ih-lnss prccixly where Ihi ii' 1ms l«'cn (he greatest ut- lenipt to relieve ii by a system of pu|Kr credit. Let us not suppose that \\o lire liit/inniiii/ the iiroteclion of inaiiul'iu'tures by duties on imports. I.ook to the hisliiry of our laws; look to the pre. cut state i>f our laws, ('onsider that our whole revenue, with a trilling exception, is col- lected from the custom-house, and ulways bus U'en ; and then say what propriety iheii- is in calling on the government for protection, as if no protection had heretofore been alliirded. On the general question, allow me to ask if the doctrine of prohibition, as a general doctrine. Ih.' not preiK)sterous ? Suppose all nations to act upon it: they would be prosperous, then, accord- ing to the argiunent, precisely in the proportion in which they abolished intercoinse with one another. The best ajiology for laws of prohibi- j tion and laws of monopoly, will be found in that I state of society, not only uneidighteneil, but sluggish, in which they are most generally es- talilished. I'livate industry in tho.se days, re- quired strong provocatives, which govenmient was seeking to administer by these means. Something was wanted to actuate and stinuilatu men, and the prospects of such profits as would, in our times, excite unbounded competition, would hardly move the sloth of former ages. In some instances, no doubt, these laws produced an etiect which, in that period, would not have taken pliir. willn ut them. (Instancing the pro- tfccti" ii> the English woollen manufactures in the iiijK of the Henrys and the Edwards). Hut oicakcr l>eiiig himself a cantli- date for tlic l'resi] wards had avowed himself to be the author A. B., and others said that he had not done so remarked, that they must have misunderstood tl 'address,' for Gov, Edwards had pledged b honor to me that he was not the author of A. B. Other witnesses testified to his denials, Mhi the nomination was depending, of all authors] of these publications : among them, the cditoi of the National Intelligencer, — friends to .Vi Crawford, Mr, Edwards called at their o; at that time (the first time he had been thi within a year), to exculpate himself from tl imputed authorship ; and did it so earnestly tl the editors believed him, and published a conti diction of the report against him in their pa] stating that they had a " good reason " to km that he was not the author of these publicatioi That " good reason," they testified, was his oi voluntary denial in this unexpected visit to tl office, and his declarations in what he caliedj "frank and free'' conversation with them on subject. Such testimony, and the absence ofi proof on the other side, was fatal to the acci tions, and to the accuser. The committee ported honorably and unanimously in favon Mr, Crawford ; the Congress and the counl accepted it ; Mr, Edwards resigned his coi sion, and disappeared from th» federal polil theatre : and that was the ena of the A, B, which had filled some newspapers for a year publications against Mr. Crawford, and wl might have passed into oblivion, as the cui productions and usual concomitants of a Pi dential canvass, had it not been for their foi communication to Congress as ground of peachment against a high officer. That munication carried the " six charges," and ten chapters of specifications, into our pi mentary history, where their fate becomes of the instructive lessons which it is the proi of history to teach. The newspaper in wliiclj A. B. papers were published, was edited war-office clerk, in the interest of the war tary (Mr. Calhoun), to the serious injury of| gentleman, who received no vote in any voting for Mr. Crawford. ii'ROPEAN writers on A )f mistakes on the work id tb-se mistakes are g( if the democratic elemen id in their ignorance of he theory and the worki |lection of the two firsi 'rench writers are strik Tocqueville and Thiers, id the theory of our gc icuJar to be the same, th electors, to whom th )wer of election belongs ( iG hence attribute to i these electors the mer linent Presidents who hi ;ntial chair. This mistak ;tice is known to every iould be known to enligh Iho wish to do justice to electors have no prac ;tion, and have had non »n. From the beginni !dged to vote for the car early elections) by th irds, by Congress caucu icuses followed the publi icmblages called conveu low the public will or nc ;tor has been an instrun ticular impulsion ; and ( mid be attended with inl lalty which public indi{ )m the begimung these and an inconvenic n the people and the o in time, may become d iless inconvenient, and s iger; having wholly faile for which they were ich purpose no one wou 'lies a just conclusion itild be abolished, and th liie direct vote of the pp( ANNO 1924. JAMES MONROE, PilFSIDENT. 37 CHAPTER XV. ^KENnMENT OP THE CONSTITUTION IN RELA- TION TO THE ELECTION OF rUESIUENT AND VIOE-PKESIDENT. Ei'BOPKAN writers on American affairs arc full l(f mistakes on the working of our government ; nd tb"se mistakes are generally to the prejudice tf the democratic clement. Of these mistakes, nd in their ignorance of the difference between Ihe theory and the working of our system in the Election of the two first officers, two eminent french writers are striking instances: Messrs. e Tocqueville and Thiers. Taking the working nd the theory of our government in this par- Ifcular to be the same, they laud the institution electors, to whom they believe the whole lower of election belongs (as it was intended) ; — hence attribute to the superior sagacity these electors the merit of <'h<; . , n,ll the unent Presidents who have ado* .- ' presi- Itntial chair. This mistake betwc ... theory and ttice is known to every body in America, and lould be known to enlightened me;i in Europe, |ho wish to do justice to popular government, electors have no practical power over the ction, and have had none since their institu- |)n. From the beginning they have stood dged to vote for the candidates indicated (in early elections) by the public will; after- krds, by Congress caucuses, as long as those ucuses followed the public will ; and since, by Bcmblages called conventions, whether they jlow the public will or not. In every case the ctor has been an instrument, bound to obey a •ticular impulsion ; and disobedience to which ^uld be attended with infamy, and with every palty which public indignation could inflict, om the beginning these electors have been floss, and an inconvenient intervention be- tn the people and the object of their choice ; , in time, may become dangerous : and being tless inconvenient, and subject to abuse and Bger ; having wholly failed to answer the pur- for which they were instituted (and for lich purpose no one would now contend) ; it omes a just conclusion that the institution luld be abolished, and the election committed Ihe direct vote of the pf'ople. And, to obvi- ate all excuse for previous nominations by intcr- me«liate bodies, a second cKction to l»e luM forthwith between the tv.-o hijrhe.st or leading candidates, if no one lia, liy j(L'rinittin<: sudden alterations or. the eve of an election, and to annihilate the right of tlie ^nlall States, !»}• enabling the large ones to f'dnliinc. an districts, equal to the whole nunil)er of votes to be given, and the jieople of each district would Ikj governed by its own niiijority, and not by a majority existing ill some remote part of the State. This would be agreeable to tlie riirhts of inilividuals: for, in entering into society, aii;ons entitled to one elector, should have the light of giving one vote, according to their own seiiso of their own interest. '• The general ticket syste-:! now existing ii, ten States, was the oilspring of policy, and not of any disposition to give fair jilay to the will of the people. It was adopted by the leading men of those States, to enable them to consolidate the vote of the State. It would be easy to prove this by referring to facts of historical notoriety. It contributes to give power and consequence to the leaders who miinage the elections, but it is a departure from the intention of the constitution ; violates the rights 'if the minorities, and is at- tended with many other evils. The intention of the constitution is violated, because it was the intention of that instrument to give to each mass of persons, entitled to one elector, the power of giving an electoral vote to any candidate they preferred. The rights of minorities are violated, because a majority of one will carry the vote of the whole State. This jirinciple is the same, whether the elector is chosen by general ticket or by legislative ballot; a majority of one, in either ra.«e, carries the vote of the whole Sta'. In New -York, thirty-six electors are cl om i; nineteen is a majority, and the candidate receivin this majority is fairly entitled to count ninetin, votes ; but he count* in reality, thirty-six : b . cause the minority of seventeen are added to th majority. Tlie.se seventeen vo»es belong to sevti . teen ma.sses of people, of 40,000 souls each, in a ; 080,000 people, whose votes are seized ujif.: taken away, and pnsented to whom the majoriir pleases. Extend the calculation to the scvcntea States now choosing electors by general tick ; or legislative ballot, and it will show that tlire millions of souls, a population equal to tha; which carried us tlirough the Revolution, inu, have their votes taken from them in the sum way. To lose their votes, is the fate of all id. norities, and it is their duty to submit ; but thji is not a ca.se of votes lost, but of votes tatu; awur "^.dded to those of the majority, a;vi given to a person to whom the minority w, opposed. " lie said, this objection (to the direct vote o: the people) had a weight in the year 1787, to whic; it is not entitled in t'v year 1824. Our goveit ment was then young, schools and colleges wt;;| scarce, political science was then confined to fei and the means of diffusing intelligence were bo;i| inadequate and uncertain. The exj^ .r'nient ol popular governmeni, was just beginning; i people had been just released from subjectioiii, an hereditary king, and were not yet practis; in the art of choosing a temporary chief f themselves. But thirty-six years have revcrsej this picture. Thirty-six years, which have jji duced so many wonderful changes in Amciii have accomplished the work of many centiiris upon the intelligence of it.? inhabitants. AVitii that period, schools, colleges, and universiti },ive multiplied to an amazing extent. Tl means of diffusing intelligence have been wc: derfully .augmented by the establishment of hundred newr,papers, and upwards of five cho; sand post-offices. The whole course of an Ann ican's life, civil, social, and religious, has becoi one continued scene of intellectual and of mo: improvement. Once in every week, more eleven thousand men, eminent for learning a; for piety, perform the double duty of amumlii the hearts, and enlightening the understandin; of more than eleven thousand congregation: people. Under the benign influence of a f; government, both our public institutions and p vate pursuits, our juries, elections, courts ofj tice, the liberal professions, and the mechi arts, h .ve each become a school of jiolitical ence and of mental improvement. The feda legislature, in the annual message of the Vi dent, in reporis from heads of departments, committees of Congress, and speeches of m< bersj pours forth a flood of intelligence w carries its waves to the remotest confines of republic. In the different States, twenty-ti State executives and State legislatures area; oily refx-ating the si limited .sphere. The liii;', !ind the practice ilioi.^ht, are continui pince of the countrj-, The face of our count prand and varied fcal the lium,in intellect, I.e.ss than half a cen liberty has given prai moral truth, that, un( Iio»vcr of the intollecl rules the affairs of mt pence the only durrb lircfernient. The con lias created an univer for reading, and has cc the endowments of h( the heart, are the o il inestimable riches \>-:. ]iOi-terity. '•This objection (th violence at the election tory of the ancient repi ary 'lections of Komt jilstne.ss of the example thing in the laws of pi hnrallel between the i volatile Greek, and th There is nothing in thi countries, or in their r makes one an example ninns voted in a mass j ■even when the qualifiVd lions of persons. They mil divided into classes l>ut by centuries. In tl 'he voters were brough :ity, and decided the co; ile. In such assimbla" lo violence, and the mca'i frcpared by the governn tsd States all this is dif Ksembled in small bodie ilaces, distributed over a I'liey come to the polls •ilious distinctions, with fiolence, and with every i f heated during the day lipon returning to their licir ordinar;- occupation ' IJut let us admit the ;t us admit that the A as tumultuary at theii Here the citizens of tl le election of theL- chii len ? Are we thenco ( the officers thus eleete fgradation of the coun resided? I answer no. sert the superiority of Jhers ever obtained foi per by hereditary succ< Kt mode of election. I j AN'XO iBi-l. «aMKS MONHOE, I'.'Ui^IDKNT. 3^ ally ri'iK'.itinp; the same nrorcss '.vitliin a more liiiiiti'l sphere. The habit of imiversnl travel- liii;:. ''iti'l the practice of universal interthanpo of tlioii^ht, arc continually circulating the intclli- e country, and aujimentiii;; its mass. W face of our country itself, its vast extent, its "rand and varied features, contribute to exj)and t^he human intellect, and to magnify its power. less than half a century of the enjoyment of liberty has given practical evidence of the great nioral truth, that, under a free government, the jiowcr of the intellect is the only jwwer •,,hich rules the affairs of men j and virtue ami intelli- rcnce the only durrbl'; passports to honor and preferment. The CD'iviction of this great truth 1 lias created an universal taste for learning and for reading, and has convinced every parent that the endowments of he mind, and the virtues of the heart, are the o \]y imperishable, the only ini'stiniable riches \t-I..2h he can leave to his jiostority. I '-This objection (the danger of tumults and violence at the elections) is taken from the his- tory of the ancient republics ; from the tunmltu- [ary .'lections of Rome and Greece. But the ] jrtstness of the example is denied. There is no- liliing in the laws of physiology which admits a Ijnrallel between the sanguinary Koman, the Ivolatile Greek, and the phlegmatic American. I'lhcre is nothing in the state of the respective Icountries, or in their manner of voting, which Iniakcs one an example for the other. The Ro- mans voted in a mass, at a single voting place, f vcn when the qualified votei s amounted to mil- Dions of persons. They came to the polls armed, ^11(1 divided into classes, and voted, not by heads, but by centuries. In the Grecian Republics all Mie voters were brought together in one great Vity, and decided the contest in one great strug- bli'. In such assemblages, both the inducement lo violence, and the means of committing it, were krepared by the government itself. In the Uni- |ed States all this is different. The voters are .1''. in whii'h the whole body of tlu' citizens voted dirocl for the cliiof olticLT of their country. Take the history of that romninr. wealth which yet shines as the leading st'./ in the firmament of natioiH. Of the twenty-tivc centuries th.it the Roman state has existed, to what period do we look lor the generals ami statesmen, tho jjoets and ora tors, tho philosophers and historians, tho scuijH tors, painters, and architects, whose immortal works have fixed upon their country the admir- ing eyes of all succeeding ages ? Is it '. • the reigns of the seven first kings ? — to the reigns of the emperors, proclaimed by the praUorian bands ? — to the reigns of the Sovereign PontitVs, choson by a select body of electors in a conclave of most holy cardinals ? No — We look to none of these, but to that short interval of four cen- turies and a half which lies between the expul- sion of tho Tarquins, and the re-cstablishmcnt of monarchy in the person of Octavius Casar. It is to this short period, during which the con- suls, tribunes, and praetors, were annually elected by a direct vote of the people, to which we look ourselves, and to which wo direct the infunt minds of our children, for all the works and monuments of Roman greatness ; for roads, bridges, and aqueducts, constructed ; for victo- ries gained, nations vanquished, commerce ex- tended, treasure imported, libraries foimded, learning encouraged, the arts flourishing, tho city embellished, and the kings of the earth humbly suing to be admitted into the friendship, and taken under the protection, of the Roman people. It was of this magnificent period that Cicero spoke, when he proclaimed the people of Rome to be the masters of kings, and the, con- querors and commanders of all the nations of the earth. And, what is wonderful, during this whole period, in a succession of four hundred and fifty annual elections, the people never once preferred a citizen to the consulship who did not carry the prosperity and the ,^'ory of tho Re- public to a point beyond that at which he had found it. "It is the same with the Grecian Ropubllcs, Thirty centuries have elapsed since they were founded ; yet it is to an ephemeral jicriod of one hundred and fifty years only, tho period of jiojiu- lar flections which intervened between the dis- persion of a cloud of petty tyrants, and the coming of a gr \t one in the person of Philip, king of Macedon, that we arc to look for thut galaxy of names which shed so much lustre upon their country, and in which we are to find the first cause of that intense sympathy which now bums in our 'josoms ^t the name of Greece. '• These short and brilliant periods exhibit the great triumph of jiopular elections; often tu- multuary, often stained with blood, but always ending gloriously for the country. Then t \h- 40 THIRTY' YEARS' VIEW. ri?ht of sii(rrni;t' wns nijoycil ; flic soverei|rnty of the |K'0|ili' waH no fiction. Then a Kul)!ini(? HjRctiick- was swn. whvn t}ic K')mftn citizen iulvancfd to the [lOlIs and j)roc!ftiini't, but for their devotion to a particular party, for their manners, and their talent at elect ioncerini,-. The elector miiy betray the liberties of the pco- 1 pie, by selling his vote. The operation is ea. The ( institutions of the Ligurian, Cisal- j])ine, and Parthcnopian Republics, were all Iduplicatcs of the mother institution, at Paris ; lo'id all shared the same fate. The French con- sular constitution of the year VIII. (the last year of French liberty) preserved all the vices of the electoral system ; and from this fact, klone, that profound observer, Neckar, from [he bosom of his retreat, in the midst of the |Alps, predicted and proclaimed the death of Liberty in France. He wrote a bock to prove Ihat 'Liberty would be ruined by providing Ixy KIND OF SUBSTITUTE FOR POPULAR Ei.EC- tioss : ' and the result verified bis prediction in ■our years." CHAPTER XVI. ISTEKNAL TUADE WITH NEW MEXICO. [he name of Mexico, the synonyme of gold and liver minea possessed always an invincible parm for the people of the western States, luarded from intrusion by Spanish jealousy nd despotic power, and imprisonment for life, : labor in the mines, the inexorable penalty for kery attempt to penetrate the forbidden coun- ly, still the dazzled imaginations and daring lirits of the Great West adventured upon the Iterprise; and failure and misfortune, chains Id labor, were not sufilcient to intimidate Piers. The journal of (the thei» lieutenant, afterwards) General Pike inflamed this spirit, and induced new adventurers to hazard the on- terprlse, only to meet the fate of their prwlecos- sors. It was not until the Indejicndence of Mexico, in the year 1821. that the frontiers of this vast and hitherto sealed up country, were thrown open to foreign ingress, and trade and intercourse allowed to take their course. The State of Misso'iri, from her geographical posi- tion, and the adventiirous spirit of her inhabit- ants, was among the first to engage in it ; ami the "Western Internal Provinces" — the vast region comprchei;ding New Mexico, El Paso del Norte, New Biscay, Chihuahua, Sonora, Sinaloa, and all the wide slope spreading down towardi? the Gulf of California, the ancient " Sea of Cor- tez" — was the remote theatre of their cour- ageous enterprise — the further off and the less known, so much the more attractive to their daring spirits. It was the work of individual enterprise, without the protection or co'inte ancc of the government — without even its know- ledge — and exposed *o constant danger of life and property fro. j untamed and predatory savages, Arabs of the New World, which roam- ed over the intermediate country of a then' and miles, and considered the merchant and his goods their lawful prey. In three years it had grown up to be a new and regular branch of in- terior commerce, profitable to those engaged in it, valuable to the country from the articles it carried out, and for the silver, the furs, and the mules which it brought back ; and well entitled to the protection and care of the government. That protection was sought, and in the form which the character of the trade required — a right of way through the countries of the tribes between Missouri and New Mexico, a road marked out and security in travelling it, stipula- tions for good behavior from the Indians, and a consular establishment in the provinces to bo traded with. The consuls could be appointed by the order of the government ; but the road, the treaty stipulations, and the substantial pro- tection against savages, required the aid of the federal legislative power, and for that purpose a Bill was brought into the Senate by me in the session of 1824-25; and being a novel and strange subject, and asking for extraordinary legislation, it became necessary to lay a foun- dation of facts, and to furnish a reason and an argument for every thing that -was asked. I t • 42 THIRTY YEARS' VIEVT jircxliiced a statcimnt from those cnpipwl in the trade, amonjr otlit-rH from Mr. AupuHtiis StorrH, )nfc of Nl'W IlaiiipKliire, then of Missouri — a jri'iitlinian of cliaractiT and intellijrcncc, very capable of rtlatin^ tlilnps as they were, and in- rnimhle of nlalin;? tlicm otherwise; and who h;i(l been (HT' oiially enjraged in tho tnulc. In presentin;? his statement, and moving to l.ivo it printed for tho use of tho Senate, I said : '• Tliis frtiitkinan liad been one of a caravan of eiphty persons, one liundred and lifty-six horses, and twenty-three wagons und carriajrea, which had made tiic expedition from Missouri to Santa Fe (of New Mexico), in the months of May and June last. His account wa.s full of interest and novelty. It .sounded like romance to hear of caravans of men, liorses, and wa^ns, travers- ing with their merchandise tho vast plain which lies between tho Mississippi and tho Hio del Norti; The story seemed better adapted to Asia than to North America. IJut, romantic as it might seem, the reality hnd already exceeded the visi MIS of the wildest imn^ination. The journey to N i!w Mexico, but lately deemed a chimerical project, had become an affair of ordinary occur- lence. Santa Fu, but lately tho Ultima Thule of American enterprise, was now considered as a stage only in tho progress, or rather, a now point of departure to our invincible citizens. Instead of turning back fiom that point, tho caravans broke up there, and the subdivisions branched olf in diilerent directions in search of new theatres for their enterprise. Some pro- ceeded down the river to tho Paso del Norte ; some to the mines of Chihuahua and Durango, in the province of Now Biscay ; some to Sonora and Sinaloa, on the Gulf of Califoniia; and some, seeking new lines of communication with the Pacific, had undertaken to descend tho west- ••rn slope of our continent, through the unex- plored regions of the Colorado. Tho fruit oi" these entcrpiisc'S, for tho present year, amounted to ^1 yO.OOO in gold and silver bullion, and coin, ami precious furs ; a sum considerable, in itself, in tho coinmerco of an infant State, but chiefly deserving a statesman's notice, as an earnest of what might be expected from a regulated and protected trade. The principal article given in exchange, is that of which wo have the greatest abundance, and which has the peculiar advantage of making the circuit of the Union before it departs from the territories of the republic — cotton — which grows in tho South, is manu- factured in tho North, and exported from tho West. " That tl'.e trade will bo beneficial to the inhabitants of tho Internal Provinces, is a pro- position too plain to bo argued. They arc a people among whom all the arts arc lost — the ample catalogue of whose wants may be inferi-od from the lamentable details of Mr. Storrs. No l)ookBl no newspapers ! iron a dollar a \\n\\r\i\ cultivatinfi: tho earth with wooeoplo whoso fathers wore tho proud title of •* Citrnpierora ;" whoso ancestors, in the timu of I Charles the Fifth, were tho pride, tho terror, nn! I tho moflel of Europe; and such has lieen tl:i jiowcr of civil and religious despotism in accoin. I plishing tho degradation of tho human specie-: To a people thus abated, and so lately arrivcc] at the |)Ossc88ion of their liberties, a supply of I merchandise, upon tho cheapest terms, is thtl least of the bcnoflts to be derive^ donee. Gradually, fields were opened, housej built, orchards planted, flocks and herds acquire and slaves bought. Tho acquisition of thijJ comforts, relieving tho body from the torturinj wants of cold and hunger, placed the mind inf condition to pursue its improvement. — This, Jlil President, is tho true secret of the happy ailj^ vauce which the southern tribes have made i acqiiiring the arts of civilization ; this has f titJ them for tho reception of schools and missiomf and doubtless, tho same cause will produce ttf same elfects among the tribes beyond, which q has produced among the tribes on this side a tho Mississippi. " Tho right of way is indispensable, and i committee have begun with directing a bill to li reported for that purpose. Happily, there i no constitutional objections to it. State ri^bl ANNO lSi4. .IAMF>* MONR(»K. rUKslDF.NT. 4.T are in no tlanjrt'r ! Tliu rond which is oontein- tilati-rson unself. In a late excursion to Virginia, I lailed myself of a broken day vo call and pay Iv respents to that patriarchal statesman. The Idividual must manage badly, Mr. President, who can find hiinvelf in th(» |in"!fiici-> of that great man, and retire fn)m it without Juiiiiriinr otfsome (wt, or suuie iimxini, of ciiiiiioiit utility to ttie huninn rnce. I tiiist that I did not s.i manage. I trust Ihiit, in hrin^'inj; i>ir n (art which le"<' '"" ''*'' »H tln'y suit or rross our |iiir|)Osi'H. Tlie ra-xu of thcrowl iiiailu \>y Mr. Jcllirson wan ililltrfnt. Thnt roftil was inao notions of pro|R'rty. Hut tin- jiroiHiscd road now to Ikj markc>d out would piitiH tlirou;rh wild triU'S who tliink of nothing hut killing and rohhinj; a whitt- man tlie ninmcnt they seo him, and would not be ri'strainod liy treaty ohli-rationH even if tlicy entered into them. Col. Johnson, of Kentucky, had neier lic-ilated to vote tho mon«'y which was necessary to protect tlio lives or j)ropcrty of our Kca-furing men, or for Atlantic fortifica- tions, or to su|)press piracies. We had, nt this session voted SioOO.OOC suppress piracy in the ■\Vest Indies. We build ships of war, erect light- houses, spend annual millions for the protection of ocean commerce ; and ho could not suppose that the sum proposed in tliis bill for the protec- tion of an inland branch of trade so valuable to the West could bo denied. Mr. Kelly, of Ala- bama, said the great object of tho bill was to cherish ami foster a branch of commerce already in existence. It is carried on by land throngh several Indian tribes. To be safe, a road must be had— a right uf way — "a trace," if you please. To answer its purpose, this road, or ^^ trace," must pa.ss tho boundary of the United States, and extend several himdred miles through tho wilderness country, in tho Mexican Republic to tho settlements with which tho trafBc must bo carried on. It may bo well to remember that tho Jloxican government is in the germ of its exist- cnoe, struggling with difficulties that wo have long since surmounted, and may not feel it con- vci^ient to make the road, and that it is enough to permit us to mark it out upon her soil ; which Is all that this bill proposes to do within her limits. Mr. Smith, of Maryland, would veto for tho bill. The only question with him was, whether commerce could be carried on to advantage on the proposed route; and, being satisfied that it could be, he should vote for the bill. Mr. Brown, of Ohio (Ethan A.), was very glad to hear such sentiments from the Senator from Maryland, and hoped that a reciprocal good feeling would always prevail between different sections of the Union. He thought there could be no objection to the bill, and approved tho policy of getting the road upon Mexican territory with tho consent of the .Mexican jrovcmmcnt, The bill prw*ic| pie, brought forward by the masses. .MrJ Adams and Mr. Clay were brought forward \m bodies of their friends in different States. Tfci whole number of electoral votes was 2G1 ; dl which it required 131 to make an election. .\J one had that number. General Jackson the highest on tho list, and had 99 votes ; .Mi| Adams 84 ! Mr. Crawford 41 ; Mr. Clay No one having a majority of the whole of ela ors, tha electioo devolved upon the House o CHAPTE DEATH OF JOHN TA ANNO 1824. JAMF>* MoMlOt; rUtXIDKNT. 4:) ReprcTCntatircfi ; of whirh an anrotint will be OTVvn ill a separate chnitter. Ill tho vice |irt>aiiii'iitial election it wad ilif- fcniit. Mr. John C. Calhoun (who in tho l>c- cinnini; <>( tho canvaxH had l>ccn a canilidalc for tiic Presidency, but hail Iwon witlulrawn by his fiioihls in Pennsylvania, and put forwanl f,ir Vioe-l'resident), received 1H2 votes in the eloctiiral cullcf^, and was elected. Mr. Nathan Sanilford, Senator in ConpresH from New-York, lmwn odlrtT of KlizilK'tli and Juiiics)— in wliicli it \h dn-Hswl. Devotion to Stntc riKhtH wns the ruling feature fif ]m j«»liry; nnH, ai r iia- of inne to edir thirty-sixth Mr. Jelfei '!\, and two were divi Irallot Mr. Jefferson (Iwrtecl. General Han [iiiidie life, took a decit ii>iiig above all personi liuiis, and urging the fi I iiing to vote for Mr. Je cratic principle prevail U'ople was elected by t tivi's; and the struggle had o|)poKed that princ 1V.1H broken down, and jclfotions, was left in a s didatu at the ensuing pr led but fourteen votes Lvcnty-six. Burr, in Iwhose connivance tho f Vis ruined—fell under t ^liirty, disappeared from ] fccn afterwards in crimi'i ip; his life in want and tion itself, in that parti( lion), was broken down, a IS to separate tho presidei Jcniial ticket, giving eat tlio event of no electic ;'es, sending each to sep |iit;hcst on tho presidentii IcprescntativcB,— the tw presidential, to tho Seni lie first struggle hi the ives (in relation to the Etween the theory of th cmocratic principle— triu iiintoitsoppo.ser8,andd tho constitution, whi< ^niggle. Tho second presidential 'Representatives was afti ' a century, and under ^tion, which carried tho « to the House when n ' the electoral votes. { i>hnQuincy Adams, and 1, were the three, their f) 8^, 41 ; and in this a AXXO 18i8. JAMt-S MDMIOF; »'1:I>11)KNT. 47 tlie fciKrnl St«lo« undirtook to oleot Mr. Biirr, | mil l^i'Pt "I* "'" *n had ton Slates and was (lictcMJ. Gunural Hamilton, thoui^h not then in Tiiililic lift', took a decided part in thiii election, ri-iiiK aliovc all |H.>rsonal and all party conoidora- tions, and urpnt; tho federaliHtii fmm tho bc(;in- ,iin;» to vote for Mr. JelFerson. Thus tho demo- cratic principle prevailed. Tho choice of tho I p<^)(ile wa.s elected by tho Ilouao of IleprcHcnta- Itivcs; and the Rtru^fi;lo was fatal to thoso who liiid opi)osed that principle. Tho federal party |\v,iH broken down, and at tho ensuing Congress Icl^'otions, was left in a sniuU minority. Its can- Idiilate at the ensuing presidential election recoiv- |(ii hut fourteen votes out of one hundred and L,vcnty-six. Burr, in whoso fiuor, and with Iwiiosc connivance tho struggle had been made, |\vas ruined — fell under tho ban of tho republican tiarty, disappeared from public life, and was only [iccn afterwards in crimmal enterprises, and end- ng Iiis life in wiuit and misery. The constitu- kion itself, in that particular (tho raodo of dec- lion), was broken down, and had to bo amended so ks to separate tho presidential from the vice-presi- peniial ticket, giving each a scparato vote; and 1 tlio event of no election by tho electoral col- ;;cs, sending each to separate houses — the three jiij^hcst on tho presidential lists to the IIouso of [leprcscntativcB, — tho two highest on the vice- krcsidential, to tho Senate. And thus ended jlio first struggle in tho House of Rcpresenta- pves (in relation to tho election of President), etwccn the theory of tho constitution and the |cmocratic principle — triumph to tho principle, lin to its opposers, and destruction to tho clause tho constitution, which permitted such a Itnigglo. j Tho second presidential election in the IIouso f Representatives was after the lapse of a quarter a century, and under tho amended consti- btion, which carried tho three liighest on the pt to the House when no one had a majority the electoral votes. General Jackson, Mr. ^hn Quincy Adams, and Mr. William H. Craw- d, were tho three, their respective votes being f, 84, 41 ; and in this case a second struggle Uwk pliire iH'twwn the theory of t?io ooiislitu tiun and tliu dcnxM-mlic principle ; aiiri( of llmt principle, though tein|K»rarily Hiure-wfnl. .Mr. Aduni'* wn* ele<:'tei relied upon in debates in Congress, greatly to the dissatisfaction of many of my own purtr. There was no mistake in the date, or the fact. I left Washington the 15th of December, onij visit to my father-in-law, Colonel James JIcj Dowell, of Rockbridge county, Virginia, when Mrs. Benton then was ; and it was before I m Washington that I learned from Mr. Clay liiu. self that his intention was to support Mr. Adams. I told this ut that time to Colonel Mi Dowell, and any friends that chanced to be pJ sent, and gave it to the public in a letter which v, copied into many new^spapcrs, and is preseni^l in Niles' Register. I told it as my belief to)i\\ Jefferson on Christmas evening of the sameyi when returning to Washington and making a on that illustrious man at his seat, Monticello ; believing then that Mr. Adams would be elcci and, from the necessity of the case, would hai to make up a mixed cabinet, I expressed t belief to Mr. Jefferson, using the terra, familii in English history, of ^^ broad bottomed ;" asked him how it would do? lie answctdl " Not at all — would never succeed — would all engaged in it." Mr. Clay told his intenti to others of his friends from an early pcii but as they remained his friends, their testim( was but little heeded. Even my own, in violence of party, and from my relatioilship Mrs. Clay, seemed to have but little effect, imputation of "bargain" stuck, and doubtli had an influence in the election. In fact, circumstances of the whole affair — previous tagonism between the parties, actual support the election, and acceptance of high office, up a case against Messrs. Adams and Clay itl it was hardly safe for public men to create to brave, however strong in their own conscK ness of integrity. Still, the great objectioD the flection of Mr. A of the principle demot tion which it raiser! of to choose a safe Pre.« letter which I wrote i blissoiiri, before ho ga ilr. Adams, and whicl itcly afterwards, plac Ihin high ground; an( \Mnly fought, and wi irincipic, and should i JmiAsion of an unfo IIISC. This presidential elect inder another aspect le practice of caucus n< lency by members of C )nccntrating public op ' ns the eminent mi fhom public opinion aw jsing away, and when •etensions, were comir 'M tried several times a )probation, public sent wed, and not led, by t impted in 1824, and fa; iwford only attending. it from any repugnance ivious conduct had sho lown that Mr. Crawfor ir of friends in Congresi 'eive the nomination. fused to go into it : all lucus candidate," as Mr united in painting the |nof these caucus nom ilj of members of Con{ theirjoint efforts they the fact though not in th '" Congress caucus n^ Fopic, and broke ther >ppcd, and a different n 'lie oi)inion was adopted [ions bj conventions ol ites. This worked well ipcople being strictly ob( I the majority making t uickly degenerated, and I the objections to Cong 's, and many others be >gress still attended then as lobby managers. P Vol. I.— 4 ANNO 1825. JAMFS MONROE, rHK.SIDKNT. 49 I the flection of Mr. Adam.i was in tho Tiolntion ^ Lf the principle (temo.i kraleo ; and in tho ques- i Ition which it raisod of the cni»acity of the demos Ito cliooso a ."afo President for themselves, A i llttter which I wrote to tho representative from , |>Iissoari, before ho gave tlio vote of tho State to Cilr. Adams, and which was published immcdi- ' itclj" afterwards, placed the objection upon Ihiij high ground ; and upon it tho battio wa.s nainly fought, and won. It was a victory of principle, and should not be disparaged by tho dminsion of an unfounded and subordinate ause. This presidential election of 1824 is remarkable ^ndcr another aspect — as having put an end to ho practice of caucus nominations for tho Presi- hcncy by members of Congress. This mode of onccntrating public opinion began to be prac- kscd OS the eminent men of the Revolution, to Ihom public opinion awarded a preference, were ssing away, and when new men, of more equal iretensions, were coming upon the stage. It tus tried several times with success and general nprobation, public sentiment having been fol- kvred, and not led, by the caucus. It was at- Impted in 1824, and failed, tho friends of Mr. awford only attending — others not attending, |it from any repugnance to tho practice, as their •cvious conduct had shown, but because it was town that Mr. Crawford had the largest num- Ir of friends in Congress, and would assuredly Iceive the nomination. All the rest, therefore, |fuscd to go into it : all joined in opposing tho aucus candidate," as Mr, Crawford was called ; I united in painting tho intrigue and corrup- In of these caucus nominations, and the ano- y\y of members of Congress joining in them. ' their joint elforts they succeeded, and justly khe fact though not in tho motive, in rendering fse Congress caucus nominations odious to ! people, and broke them down. They were bpped, and a different mode of concentrating pile opinion was adopted — that of party nomi- lions by conventions of delegates from the Ites. This worked well at first, the will of [people bfiing strictly obeyed by the delegates, the majority making tho nomination. But luickly degenerated, and became obnoxious to jthe objections to Congress caucus nomina- Is, and many others besides. Members of ngress still attended them, either as delegates |as lobby managers. Persons attended as Vol. I.— 4 delegates who had no constituency. Delegntcrt attended u|M)n equiviyal iipi)ointn)ents. Double sets of clele^atcs sometimes came from the State, and cither were admitted or repulsed, as suited tho views of the majority. Proxies were in- vented, ^lany delof^atcs attended with the solo view of establishing a claim for office, and voted accordingly. Tho two-thiitls rule was invent- ed, to enable tho minority to control the ma- jority ; and tho whole proceeII)[:NT. 51 bill. IimJ no* y^i'on (inticipatcl. Surh an assault iiiiil however, Vk'C'ii made hy the iwnator from k',.\v Jersey (Mr. I).), and Mr. B. would Ix; L^fjjithfiil to Ins duty if he did not rt'j)el it. In Bischfirt^infr this duty, lie would lose no time in toiii" >»Vcr tiic gentleman's calculations ahout Ihe expense of gettinfr a member of Congress from the Oregon to the Potomac ; nor would he olve his dilHculties about the shortest and best (,„tc— whether Cape Horn should be doubled, a L.W route explored under the north pole, or nountiins climbed, whose aspiring summits prc- Ljit twelve feet of defying snow to the burning avs of a July sun. Air. B. looked upon these aiculations and problems as so many dashes of he pontleman's wit, and admitted that wit was In excellent article in debate, equally convenient or embellishing an argument, and concealing bie want of one. For which of these purposes he senator from New Jersey had amused the Icnntc with the wit in question, it was not for Jr. B. to say, nor should he undertake to dis- firb him in the quiet enjoyment of the honor Ihich he had won thereby, and would proceed Irectly to speak to the merits of the bill. f " It is now, Mr. President, continued Mr. B., lr"ci.sely two and twenty year^ since a contest \v the Columbia has been going on between the Initcd States and Great Britain. The contest Vidnatcd with the discovery of the river itself. Ihe moment that we discovered it she claimed I ; and without a color of title in her hand, she hs labored ever since to overreach us in the tts of negotiation, or to bully us out of our dis- Ivcry by menaces of war. ['In the year 1790, a citizen of the United latcs, Capt. Gray, of Boston, discovered the jolumbia at its entrance into the sea ; and in m\ Lewis and Clarke were sent by the gov- Inment of the United States to complete the jscovcry of the whole river, from its source bwnwards, and to take formal possession in Ic name of their government. In 1793 Sir Bexander McKenzie had been sent from Canada ■ the British Government to effect the same Iject ; but he missed the sources of the river, I upon the Tacoutche Tesse, and struck the lieilic about five hundred miles to the north of 1 month of the Golumbia. I In 1803, the United States acquired T^uisiana, bl with it an open question of boundaries for lit vast province. On the side of Mexico and prida this question was to be settled with King of Spain; on the north and north- Ist, with the King of Great Britain. It pprned in the very time that we were signing laty in Paris for the acquisition of Louisiana, kt we were signing another in London for the luptment of the boundary lino between the fthwest possessions of the United States and King of Great Britain. The negotiators each were ignorant of what the others had \iv ; and (m remitting the two treaties to the lato of the United States for ratification, that I the purchase of Louisiana was ratified with- out restriction ; the otlicr. with the exception of the fifth article. It wa^^ this article which iid- ju8te' line between the I'niteil Slates anil (rieat Uritaiu, from the Lake of the Woods to the head of the .M i>sissippi ; nnrentlctnen in the same letter), we did not n-isert that the United States had a perfert rifjht to tiiat country. Imt insisted that tiieir claim was nt least frood a;:ainst ( < ivat iJritain. We did not know with precision what value our povcrn- irient set on the country to the westwanl of these mountains ; but we were not authorized to enter into any agreement which should l>e tantamount to an !iltan<]oninent of the claim to it. U wn lit last agreed. Imt, as we thoiipht, with someu- liirtfiiirc on the part of the Hiilish plcnipoter; tiaries, that the country on the northwest coa.st, clainied hy either party, should, without preju- dice to the claims of either, and for a limited time, l)e opened for the purpo.ses of trade to the inhabitants of both countries.' •• 'J'hc substance of this agreement was inserted in the convention of October, 1818. It con- stitutes the third article of that treaty, and is the same upon which the senator from New Jersey (Mr. Dickerson) relies for excluding; the United States from the occupation of the Columbia. " In subsequent negotiations, the British agents further rested their claim upon the discoveries of McKonzie, in 1793, the seizure of Astoria du- ring the late war. and theNootka Sound Treaty, of 1790. '• Such an cxlnl)ition of title, said Mr. B., is riiiiculous, and would be contemptible in the hands of any other power than that of Great Britain. Of the live grounds of claim which slie has set up, not one of them is tenable against the slightest examination. Cook never saw, much less took possession of any part of the northwest coast of America, in the latitude of the Columbia River. All his discoveries were far north of that point, and not one of them was followed np by possession, withou* which the fact of discovery would confer no title. The Indians were not even named from whom the purchases are stated to have been made anterior to the Revolutionary War. Not a single parti- cular is given which could identify a transaction of the kind. The only circumstance mentioned applies to the locality of the Indians supposed to have made the sale ; and that circumstance invalidates the whole claim. They are said to have resided to the ' soutlC of the Columbia ; by consequence they did not reside upon it, and could have no right to sell a country of which they were not the possessors. " McKenzie was sent out from Canada, in the year 1793, to discover, at its head, the river which Captain Gray had discovered at its mouth, three years before. But McKenzie missed the objcxjt of his search, and struck the Pacitic five hundred miles to the north, as I have already stated. The seizure of Astoria, during the war, was an operation of arms, conferring no moi-e title upon Great Britain to the Columbia, than the capture of Castiue and Detroit gave her to Maine and Michigan. This new pound ofcii^l I was set uj) by Mr. Bagot, his Britannic MujcstTi ; minister to this i-epublic, in 1817, and wi oil in a way to contradict and relinquish all thuj other pretended titles. Mr. Bagot was n-inojl j strating against the occupation, by the Uniit{| j States, of the Columbia River, and recitin'r \\A it had been taken possession of. in his Majmivf name, during the late war, ' and had »in(k(4i| oNsiDKRKi) informing a part o/hia Majemiim dominioun. The word ''since? is exclusive V| aii previous pretension, and the Ghent Trcair w' jh stijjulatcs for the restoration of all J captured posts, is a complete extinguisher to tl idle pretension. Finally, the British negotiatoi have been driven to take shelter under the X ka Sound Treaty of 1790. The character t(| that treaty was well understood at the time tl it was made, and its terms will speak for tin selves at the present day. It was a treaty concession, and not of a(;quisition of righti the part of Great Britain. It was so charocu ized by the opposition, and so admitted to be the mmistry, at the time of its communicatioa the British Parliament. [Here Mr. B. read pas.sages from the spceol of Mr. Fox and Mr. Pitt, to prove the chara of this Treaty.] "Mr. Fox said, 'What, then, was thecxti of our rights betore the convention — (\,hei admitted or denied by Spain was of no coi qucnce) — and to what extent were they secured to us ? We possessed and exercised free navigation of the Pacitic Ocean, without straint or limitation. We porscssed and e: cised the right of carrying on fisheries in South Seaa equally unlimited. This was barren right, but a right of which we had ai ed ourselves, as appeared by the papers on table, which showed that tiie produce of it increased, in five years, from twelve to nini seven thousand pounds sterling. This estat« had, and were daily improving ; it was not to disgraced by the name of an acquisition. Th: mission of part of these rights by Spain, was all had obtained. Our right, before, was to settlii any part of the South or Northwest Coast America, not fortified against us by prc\i occupancy j and we svere now restricted to in certain places only, and under certain rest tions. This was an important concession on part. Our rights of tishing extended to whole ocean, ar J now it, too, was limited, id bo carried on within certain distances of Spanish settlements. Our right of making tlements was not, as now, a right to build lii but to plant colonies, if we thought pn Surely these were not acquisitions, or ral conquests, as they must be considered, if were to judge by the triumphant language spccting theui, but grea*' and important coi sions. By the tliird article, we are «utlioi to navigate the Pacific Ocean and ^utli unmolested, for the purpose of carrying oi fisheries, and to land ou the unsettled coastS|| the purpose of tr««lii (aftei' this pompous ro ration, fishery, and > irtide, the sixth, whic landing, and erecting iny purpose but that < ind amounts to a cc ijrlit to settle in anj imracrcc with the x\i inenliiri/ History. Vol. ".Mr." Pitt, in reply, lart of Mr. Fox's spe© viwration, Mr. Pitt pn laincly, that gcntlenw that the other articles ncre concessions, and i ;irer to this, Mr. Pitt hat this country har' ic«' rights, it certainly IV'e had, before, a right ";hory, and a right to isheries in the Pacific Ihe coasts of any part > mt that right not only edged, but disputed an- he convention, it was sc tance which, though nc ivantage.'— .Saj?ie— p. ; '•But, continued Mr. ikc the characljr of th foh authority of tiiese ri [h Parliament. The tre have it in my hand, anc !lied upon to sustain tJi folumbia River. 'AKTICLE TUinO OF TIJKA' 'In order to strengthi ip, and to preserve, in iny and good understau ntrncting parties, it is icctive subjects shall •lesled, either in na' their fisheries in th( South Seas, or in la lose seas in places not ah rposo of carrying on th< fives of the country, or ■jre; the whole subject, trictions and provisions lowing articles.' "The particular clause n by the advocates foi t which gives the right the Northwest Coast, i the purpose of carryii iking settlements. The km this clause is, whcth itude cf the Columbia R the date of the Nootka S Wcr IS in the affirmat ther the English Jauded as so unoccupied ? T ■five ; and this answer r ision of British claim foun R AXXO 1825. JAMES MONKOK, PRESIDENT. 53 Ithe purpose of tradinp; with the nativtfi; but, Lfler this pompous rccopnition of rifrht to navi- Ljtion, fishery, ami coiniucrco, comes anotliur brtiiK', the sixth, which takes away tir'. sea to .sea; and it luis been formei'.'nd'il that no boundary line -hould be ufjn • i njiop 'vitii the I'nited .States, wtii<'ii did not giw rho •.''.>- lumbia Biier to the British; and i.'i '!'iii.>h ministry declare that none other shit!! b ■ , >■ nvd. lie ))ro]K)sed i" obtani th'i cointoand i»^ the I'lir trade from latitulo -15 degt.'os north ; smd they liave it even to liie .Mandau villa'j^es. and the n 'ifrhborhood of tlie (Jo\mcil Biutls. Jforecom- ii; aded tli^- e.xpulsion of American traders from tliL' whole rej^ion west of !i,e Rocky Mountains, and (jiey are expelled from it. He proposed to comnir.! i the commerce of th.; Pacific Ocean; and it wiil be conuiianded the moment a British lleet take.', j. option in the mouth of the Colum- l.'ia. Besides llicse specified advantages, McKen- zio alludes to .tJier 'political considerations' which it was m ' necessary for him to particu- larize. Doubtless it was not. They were suf- liciently understood. They are the same which induced the retention of the northwestern posts, in violation of the treaty of 1783; the .same which inuj.ocd the acquisition of Gibraltar, Malta, the Cajw of Good Hope, the Islands of Ceylon and Madagascar ; the same which makes Great Britain covet the possession of every com- manding position in the four quarters of the globe." I do not argue the question of title on the part of the United States, but only state it as founded upon — 1. Discovery of the Columbia Bivcr by Capt. Gray, in 1700 ; 2. Purchase of Louisiana in 1803 ; 3. Discovery of the Colum- bia from its head to its mouth, by Lewis and Clarke, in 1803 ; 4. Settlement of Astoria, in 1811; 5. Treaty with Spain, 1819; C. Contigu- ity and continuity of settlement and possession. Nor do I argue the question of the advantages of retaining the Columbia, and refusing to di- vi !<• or alienate our territory u|)on It. 1 nitrrh stalo them, and leave their value to result frorj th') "numeration. 1. To keep out a foiti-, iwwer; 2. To j;ain a seaport with a military ar,| naval sto'vion, on the coast of the Pacilif ; !, ; save the fur trade in that rcfjion, and '"rev o.i,- Indians from being tampered with by B;i' tru'iers; 4. To open a communicatioij for c mtnial purjio.ses between the Mi.ssiR-ippi ?., the I'acific; .">. To seivl the h^hts of sc; ?jci. a; of niij'ion into o item Asia. CiIAPT^:Tl XXL commk:'cj-mest ok mr. ad.«:;?ss VOMIUISr TlON. Ov (ho 4th of March he delivered his inaugurj adlress, and took the oath of office. That aJ-l til ess — the main feature of the inatjguration oil e ery President, as giving the outline of the f«l licy of his admimstration — furnisiied a tofJ against Mr. Adams, and went to the rcconstrucl tion of parties on the old line of strict, or latitiif dinous, construction of the constitution. It vd the topic of internal national improvement h\ the federal government. The address i| in which the toi)ic of internal improvement again largely enforced, other subjects recoaj iiuniieil which wouli riii.-iriictive jwwers, a the I'resident had ac llhe .American States •iiini-tcrs to their pi l.'liiiiis of Panama. 11:01.. I. It be.:- ijuing thj j»as ;■> have ;i 'ettled t I that ibundc ; ia princ; ,u: ;int!).!.;.v 4ndei hi''ili. :»nder different forms, which hvldi.'ii parties at the commencement (,f the federal government. Men of the old fchool— survivors of the contest of the Adams andJeflerson timer., with some exceptions, divid- iil ncc inl''. gly— he federalists going for Mr. AduiU', iVie republicans against him, with the univs of li'O younger generation. ■,c Scnai'i a decided majority was against lim, coinpreijeuding (not to speak of younger lien afterwards become eminent,) Mr. JIacon of \orth Carolina, Mr. Tazewell of Virginia, Mr. an Burcn of New- York, General Samuel m.th of JIaryland, Mr. Gaillard of South Ca- ■oluia (the long-continued temporary President f the Senate), Dickerson of New Jersey, Oovcr- lor Edward Lloyd of Maryland, Rowan of Ken- ucky, and Findlay of Pennsylvania. In the louse of Representatives there was a strong inority opposed to the new President, destined be increased at the first election to a decided lajority : so that no President could have com- icnced his administration under more unfavor- iblc auspices, or with less expectation of a pop- Jar career. ■ •• The cabinet was composed of able and expe- ienccd men — Mr. Clay, Secretary of State ; Mr. ichard Rush, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the reasury, recalled from the London mission for lat purpose ; Mr. James Barbour, of Virginia, rotary at War ; Mr. Samuel L. Southard, of lew Jersey, Secretary of the Navy under Mr. onroe, continued in that place ; the same of T. John McLean, of Ohio, Postmaster General, d of Mr. Wirt, Attorney General — both occu- ing the same places respectively under Mr. onroe, and continued by his successor. The lace of Secretary of the Treasury was offered Mr. Adams to Mr. William H. Crawford, id declbed by him — an offer which deserves to commemorated to show how little there was personal feeling between these two eminent citizens, who had just iK-en rival candidates for the rn>i(loury of the Lnited Slatis. If Mr. Crawford had accipted the Troa.sury department, the a'lministration of Mr. John Quincy .Vianis would have boon entirely composed of the ^aiiio individuals which composwi that of .Mr. Monroe, with the exception of the two (himself and Mr. Calhoun) elected President and Vice-President ; — a fact which ought to have been known to Mon.s. do Tocqueville, when he wrote, that '• Mr. Quincy Adams, on his entry into otlice. discharged the majoriiy of 'ho individuals wl«> had been ap- pointed by his predecessor." There was opposition in the Senate to the con- firmation of Mr. Clay's nommation to the State department, growing out of his support of Mr. Adams in the election of the House of Represen- tatives, and acceptance of office from him ; but overruled by a maj jrity of two to one. The af- firmative votes were ^lessrs. Barton and Benton of Missouri ; Mr. Bell of New Hampshire ; Messrs. Bouligny and Josiah F. Johnston of Louisiana; Messrs. Chandler and Holmes of Maine ; Messrs. Chase and Seymour of Vermont ; Messrs. Thomas Clayton anil Van Dyke of Dela- ware; Jlessrs. DeWolf and Knight of Rhode Island ; Mr. Mahlon Dickerson of New Jersey ; Mr. Henry W. Edwards of Connecticut; Mr. Gaillard of South Carolina; Messrs. Harrison (the General) and Ruggles of Ohio ; Mr. Hen- dries of Indiana ; Mr. Elias Kent Kane of Illi- nois; Mr. William R. King of Alabama; Messrs. Edward Lloyd and General Samuel Smith from Maryland ; Messrs. James Lloyd and Elijah II. Mills from Massachusetts ; Mr. John Rowan of Kentucky ; Mr. Van Buren of New- York — 27. The negatives were : Messrs. Berrien and Thos. W. Cobb of Georgia ; Messrs. Branch and Ma- con of North Carolma ; Messrs. Jackson (the General) and Eaton of Tennessee ; Messrs. Find- lay and Marks of Pennsylvania ; Mr. Hayne oi South Carolina; Messrs. David Holmes and Thomas A. Williams of Mississippi ; Mr. Mcll- vaine of New Jersey ; Messrs. Littleton W. Taze- well and John Randolph of Virginia ; Jlr. Jesse B. Thomas of Illinois. Seven senators were absent, one of whom (Jlr. Noble of Indiana) declared he should have voted for the confirma- tion of Mr. Clay, if he had been present ; and of those voting for him about the one half were his political opponents. k 56 THIR'n' YEARS' VIKW. C; II A P T V. 11 XXII. I I CASK OK Ml!. I.ANMAN T1.\1I'c superseded by j; apiKiintment in any ca.<«cin which the le^slatn- could act, whether they actcy the povernnr of the Stato, in February, 1801, to fill thevi-l cancy to occur upon the expiration of his oti term, on the 3d of March following ; of Jose|i Anderson, of Tennessee, appointed by the pov- crnor of the State, in February, 1800, to fill tli» [ vacancy which the expiration of liis own ttnii would make on the 4th of March following ; of John Williams, of Tennessee, appointed by the | governor of the Stato, in January, 1817, to the vacancy to occur from the expiration of his | term, on the en.suing 3d of March ; and in sll these cases the persons so appointed had bwn I admitted to their seats, and all of them, except in the case of Mr. Tracy, without any question being raised ; and in his case by a vote of 13 to 10. These precedents were not satisfactory to the Senate ; and after considering Mr. Lanman's case, from the 4th to the 7th of March, the no- tion to admit him to a seat was rejected by » vote of 23 to 18. The senators voting in favor of the motion were Messrs. Bell, Bouligny, Cha.*, Clayton, DeWolf, Edwards, Harrison (General). Hendricks, Johnston of Lousiana, Kane, Knight Lloyd of Massachusetts, McIIvaino, Mills, Noble, Rowan, Seymour, Thomas — 10. Those votin* against it were Messrs. Barton, Benton, Berrien. I Branch, Chandler, Dickerson, Eaton, Findlav.l Gaillard, Hayne, Holmes of Maine, Holmes of I ]Mi.ssissippi, Jackson (General), King of Ala- 1 bama, Lloyd of Maryland, Marks, Macon, Rug- gles, Smith of Maryland, Tazewell, Van Burca Vandyke, Williams, of Mississippi — 23 j ami with this decision, the subsequent practice of the Senate has conformed, leaving States in part I or in whole unrepresented, when the legislature | failed to fill a regular vacancy. CHAP T K RKTIKINO OF .\ Is the siunmer of this mmiitwl a long anil high (ii'partjuent of the federa! tiri'ly to quit its service tilt; new President, Mr. ilif place of Minister Pic K.vtraordinary to the C fame place to which he yiars before, and from ■Senate) by President Hhieh ho had not been Jilierson, at the revolii liwk place in 1800. I with the government for in the Congress of the I Ih? convention which fr •stitiition (in both places I of Massachusetts), in the I of New- York, being one of j that State, elected in 178 J Schuyler, the father-in-lav I He was afterwards minis j -again senator, and agaii I the mean time, declined tl jdrtit Washington to be h I lie was a federalist of tl I head of that party after ( I Hamilton; and when the jiarty, with whose views Jsy.stems of policy, General jfoincidevas most essential) exerte Ifor the defence of his adoj l(on the strength and cond llhea depended) ; assistmg rolunteer regiments and mil pting with the republican pns and Mr. Van Buren), i^tate of New-York in th ANNO 1825. JOHN QUINCV ADAM.'^ I'Rl-^IDKNT. 57 CHAP T K 11 XXII I. KtTlilINO OF MK. KIFUS KINO. In the suminor of this year, tliis pcntlcmnii ter- imn:!!^! a lonp nml liifili career in the lo};i.slati\ o (lipartiui-nt of the federal povcrnincnt, but not en- tjri'ly to quit its service. lie was appointed hy ilii' niw President, Mr. John Qiiinry Adams, to the place of Minister Plenipotentiary and Knvoy Extraordinary to the Court of St. James, the fame place to which he had been apjiointcd thirty j yiars before, and from the same place (the I .Si'imtc) by President Wasliinjjton ; and from which lie had not been removed by Presii at Jc'tlcrson, at the revolution of parties, wliich tijok place in 1800. lie had been connected I with the government forty years, having served in the Congress of the Confederation, and in Ihi convention which framed the federal con- stitution (in both places from his native State of Massachusetts), in the Senate from the State of New- York, being one of the first senators from that State, elected in 1789, with General Philip Schuyler, the father-in-law of General Hamilton. He was afterwards minister to Great Britain, I —again senator, and again minister — having, in I the mean time, declined the invitation of Presi- Ident Washington to be his Secretary of State. I He was a federalist of the old school, and the I head of that party after the death of General I Hamilton; and when the name discriminated a mrty, with whose views on government and Isystems of policy, General Washington greatly I coincided. As chief of that party, ho was voted I for as Vice-President in 1808, and as President |in 1810. He was one of the federalists who pOHition which the war in rannda and n'pupr* nance to the war in New Kii;;!.iii'l, n nderol ch- ficntial to the welfare of the I'liioii. Ifistnry I should remenilicr this patriotic conduct of Mr. I Kinp, and record it for the iM-aulirul nud instruc- tive lc8.son which it teaches. Like Mr. Macron and Joliii ', .lylor - pearetli, 1S24), wo rarriwl §75,000 for iiiijiroNiii^c tlif iiavipition of the Mw- «k>*i|i|ii niul thu Oliio. I niiKlc a poixl sik'itIi, liiit IK) ]>art of it will 1)0 imlilislicd. I s|M)kc in I'jihj, aii'l witli fitnx nml aiiimntion. Wlu-n it wottoviT, Mr. Kinjr, of N. Y., came and sat down in a diair \>y mi-, and took hold of my Imnd nnil said 111! would si)iak to mo an ii fiiUicr— that I had groat jioworH, and that he felt a Kinrore pieits- nro in .socin;; ma advance and rise in the world, and that ho would take the lilwrty of warninjr mo a>;ainst an clTect of my temporariient when hoateilhyojiimsition; that under those circumstan- ces I took an authoritative manner, and a look and tone of defiance, whicii sat ill upon the older mem- bers; and advised mo to modtrato my manner." This was real friendship, eniianccd by the kindness of manner, and had its cflcct. 1 sup- pressed that speoch, through compliment to him, and have studied moderation and forbearanco ever since. Twcnty-fivo years later I served in Congress with two of Mr. King's sons (Mr. Jumcs Gore King, representative from New- York, and Mr. John Alsop King, a rei'rescnta- tivo from New Jersey) ; and was glad to lot them both sec the sincere respect which I had for the memory of their father. In one of our conversations, and upon the for- mation of the constitution in the federal conven- tion of 1787, he said some things to mo which, I think ought to bo remembered by future genera- tions, to enable them to appreciate justly those founders of our goTornmont who were in favor of H stronger organization than was adopted. He said : " You young men who have been bom since the Revolution, look with horror upon the name of a King, and upon all propositions for a strong government. It was not so with us. AVe were born the subjects of a King, and were accustomed to subscribe ourselves 'His Majesty's most faithful subjects ; ' and wo began the quar- rel which ended in the Ilevolution, not against the King, but against his parliament; and in making the new government many propositions wore submitted which would not bear discus- sion ; and ought not to be quoted against their authors, being offered for consideration, and to bring out opinions, . nnd which, though behind ihe opinions of this day, were in advance of those of that day." — These thmgs were saiil chiefly in relation to General Hamilton, who had Mihmit. ted )>ro|)OsitionH stronger tlian thoso ndnptt-l but nothing like those which party spirit ai(r. butiil to him. I heard tin so words, I hope, wi;, profit ; ami commit them, in the wimo hop<>. ti after generation.s. CIIAPTEll XXIV. REMOV.M. OF TlIK CUKEK INDIANS FP.OM OKOliOI.V By an agreement with the State of Georgia ia I the year 1802, the United States liccame boiml, in consideration of the cession of the wcstcm territory, now constituting the States of Alahomi and Mississippi, to extinguish the rtmainder of the Indian title witliin her limits, and to remove the Indians from the State ; of w^hich largii and valuable portions were then occupied by th Creeks and Cherokces. No time was limiH for the fulUlmont of this obligation, and near i quarter of a century had passcfl away witlioiitl seeing its full execution. At length Georgia, sotin» I no end to this delay, became impatient, and jut [ ly so, the long delay being equivalent to a breaci I of tho agreement; for, although no time vrul limited for its execution, yot a reasonable tim I was naturally understood, and that incessant and I faithful endeavors should be made by the Unitrij States to comply with her undertaking. In tbol years 1824-'25 this had become a serious qiios-l tion between tho United States ond Georgia- 1 the compact being but portly complied with— ami I Mr. Jlonroo, in tho last year of his Administwl tion, and among its la.st acts, had the satisfaction I to conclude a treaty with the Creek Indians fotl a cession of all their claims in tho State, and tkul removal from it. This was tho treaty of Iktl Indian Springs, negotiated the i2th of Februairl 1825, tho famous chief, Gen. Wm. Mcintosh, M some fifty oth r chiefs signing it in the prescnal of Mr. Crowell, the United States Indian agciit| It ceded all the Creek country in Georgia, a:* also several millions of acres in the State of Al»| bamo. Complaints followed it > Washington ul having been concluded by Mcintosh without thi authority of the nation. The ratification of tliel treaty was opposed, but finally carried, and bJ ill.' strong votf of ^4 to ,>|,|iii.,it,on to tho treaty ,ipiitinti!H'KNT. 50 iiie giroiiR vole of .14 to I. r)isBj)|K>iiitcil in tlwir „|,«),sil,on to the ticuly ot W'aHhinpton, the arty IxTainci violent at home, kilkW .Mclnl""'' o'l'l nnothiT chirf, (kchired forciblo rc- M«ta:iw to tlio cxiH'ution of tlio treaty, ami prc- . ;tri'(I to rusist. Gvoi^ia, on her part, (k'tcmiin- ,1 to execute itlty tttkin(?j>ossesnion of thec'"k'h tri'uty uinl implied a rcuHiin.' ii|ion its authors. Northern senators voted in a txxly to do this great act of justi'o to ( i''iir^:ii», re- (itraine\ And thus wiw tarried into elfcrt, after a 'K-iny of a quarter of a century, and alter greai and just complaint on tho part of Georgia, the coniftnct between that State and the United Si;itosof 1^02. Gi-orgia was i)aid at liust for her greui cession ol territory, and obtained tho removal of an Indian community out (if her limits, and tho us<> ami dominion of all her soil for settlement and juris- diction. It was an incalculable advantage to her, and sought in vain under three ,-itccessive Southern Presidents — Jefferson, Madison, Monroe — (who could only obtaifi part coiccssions from the In- dians) — and now accomplished under a Northern President, with the full concurrence and support of the Northern delegations in Congress : for tho Northern representatives m the House voted tho appropriations to carry the treaty into effect as readily as the senators had voted tho ratification of tho treaty itself. Candid men, friends to tho harmony and stability of this Union, shoidd re- member these things when they hear tho North- ern States, on account of the conduct of somo societies and individuals, charged with unjust and criminal designs towards the South. An incident which attended the negotiation of the supplemental article to tho treaty of January deserves to be conmiemorated, as au instance of the frauds which may attend Indian negotiations, and for which there is so little chance of detection by either of tho injured parties, — by the Indians themselves, or by tho federal government. When tho President sent in tho treaty of January, and after its njection by tho Senate became certain, thereby leaving tho federal government and Georgia upon the point of collision, I urged upon Mr. James Bar- bour, the Secretary at War (of whose depart- ment the Indian Office was then a branch) the necessity of a supplemental article ceding all the Creek lands in Georgia ; and assured him that, with that additional article, the treaty would be ratified, and the question settled. The Secre- tary was very willing to do all this, but said it was impossible,— that tho chiefs would not agree to it. I recommended to him to make them some presents, so as to overcome their opposi- J , ■■],'■' < CO TlllU'n' TFARS" VIEW tinn ) which hliii(>ironii«<- it woiiM iiavor of >iril>«>ry. In tlic in«*«n tiinn it linij \ II ('iiiiriil<-il. to nil', tlmt tin- trciity ftlri'aiiy iiiinio wiis itxt'lf tin- woik of jrn'dt lirild-ry; tho niini of .(!otiatiii;; cliicfs. would insure' tlit'ir nssi'iit to tlio sii|i|iicni('iUal article without the iniiiiri'nicnt of further ini'scnts, I ha,iMHi a vri- and iither ciinsiilcraljiins, (•hoiihl Ik* paid lo i|. ('reNsiiin k Isd'J. wire iindir oMvatioiis to oxtinpniNh. Tl, bill from the other House to carry this tnai, into ellect. directed ||mt the money shoiil.j \i paid and distnliuted aiiion^r tho chiefs and wn riors. That bill came to llie Senate, and ii m,,. lideiitinl coniniiinicalion wa made to the Sennti from which it appenred tlmt stnmg suspicini,, were entertained tl \t a design existed oii ih. part of the chiefs wl,(» made tho treaty, to pn, . tiso a fraud on the Creek nation, by dividin;; th. money amongst themselves and as-sociates. Vi amonilincnt was pniposed by tho Senate, win , provided for the payment "of tlioso inonevs n, tho usual way, and tho distribution of tht'in in tho usual manner, and in tho usual proportinn to which the Indians wcro entitled. That ainoudnunt was scut to tho other House, wini unadvised as to the facts which were knowa tl the Senate, refused to concur in it, and asko I i conference, Tho conferees, on tho port of tlin Senate, communicated their suspicions to tht conferees on tho part of tho llonse, and asknl them to unite in an application to the Depart- ment of AVar, (or information on tho sulijict, This was accordingly done, and tho dociimtnti sent, in answer, were a letter from tho Sccrt. tary of War, and a report by Mr. SIcKenncy, From that report it appeared clear ond satisfac- tory, that a design thus existed on the part of the Indians, by whom the treaty wos nogotiateil to distribute of tho S247,(X10 to bo paid for the cession by tho United States, ^159,750 among them.selves, and a few favorite chiefs at home, and throe Cherokee chiefs who Imd no iutirest | in tho property. Kidge and Vann were to r?- ceivo by tho original treaty .§5000 each. By this agreement of tho distribution of the monc'v each was to receive 1^15.000 more, niakinj; 1^20,000 for each. Kidge, the father of UuM who is here, was to receive .§10,000. The other $100,000 was to bo distributed, .§5000, and. in some instances, §10,000 to the chiefs who nfj-o- tinted tho treaty hero, varying from ono to ttn thousand dollars each. "Mr. V. B. said, in his judgment, the char- acter of the government was involved in this subject, and it would require, under the circum- stances of this case, that they should take c\wl step they could rightfully take to exculpaiel theiu.selves from having, in any degree or form. I concurred in this fraud.' The fontiment oftlitj American people where he resided was, and haiil been, highly excited on this subject; they hull applaudeil. in the most ardent manner, the zeslf manifested by the government to preserve them-L selves pure in their negotiations with the Indiansl and though he was satisfied— though ho decmiill „ ini|i«i|ii piVlTIIIIU'tlt (Dllll! llllVI ■ I' '.IIS fraud, y<-i ( ill ill' (AMI which reijiiii lilt' iK'^otitttion of the I „i (li» .'«iippleniciitary ar ivastiiiully adopted, all oiiaiiiiiiiicaled to the Id mo ('lieroki-es. .Mr. \ |]iir|«is«), Id'causc the net ri'ijiiire it, to nay what I'li^'iit (0 have done, oi ■'..I. hIrii the informatio litil known him many ; ail lioiicstnr man, or a i cuiititry, than that geni («i(l it was not for him I Imve been tlio course I'liiU'd States, if the infi to iiiiii on the subject. a iiKHtifying and most iht minds of tho people tlmt no means whate\ Mipprcssion of this fii liiure ougiit to be. an ex ill tho public mind. " ' Mr. Benton said, tin of the views of tho ct wliidi had been given by York (Mr. Van Buren),' to a statement of facts ( (111 wliich references hat soiml knowledge. • The Secretary of AVai hti letter to the committi that the Secretary had i j:ratuities to tho Civck Miccess of the negotiatio idirect. Mr. B. hafl hir Jiicretary to do so ; it wa Jays after the treaty liad fiirod to a paper which Utii or loth of March, an si):ncd in the month of J was dune at the time thai I sirvices to procure tho s I be adopted. The Secreta till' practice of giving the I said he had rccommendi of treating with barbaria tied in this way, the chii iicfintiation, at a great dai tnimcnt, until they got way or other, or defeated lie considered the practici the usage of tho United i to be conunon in all barl I many that were civilized |nrticle in tho federal co; Kviving '^preaentt" from lliroof that the conventio striction to be necessary, e 'The time at which Mr. I vices to aid this nogotiatioi to be eminently critical, and y ANN«» lH2rt. JOHN griNCY ADAMS, IUK>II>KNT et iti\|M>«itil>lo to Nii|i|ii)Mu for » iiiiiiiii>nl (hat ^iivvniiiuMit (iiiilil lmvi> oxiiitciiiiiiri'il llu* prnr- r i.iiK fruinl, yet llii'U' wt-ni crcuniKiitiK-c.N „, III' mMi H hu'li rin|uii'fK witv iiiiiii»iir|M>-<>), livcauM.' till* iiecL-ssily of thu ruMv ilnl not ri(|iiirc it, to duy whul thu .Strriitury of War Mf}\t to havo tlotif, or to ceiisiiru what iio iliil 1,1, hIii'I) thu iiifurtnatiuii wait civfii to him. lie hill known him iiiaiiy years, and tlioru was not III liDucittiir man, or n innn iiioru duvotcil to his iDiintry, thim tliut pontlunian wu.<«. Mr. V. J{. (till it wan nut for liini to iiavu Huic'cretary to do so ; it wos, however, about forty I days nicer the treaty had been signed. He re- llrrud to a paper which fixed the date to the I lull or loth of March, and the treaty hnd been si|.'ncd in tho month of January preceding. It was dune at the time that Mr. U. Iiad oH'ei-ed his services to procure the supplemental article to k adopted. The Secretary entirely condemned the practice of giving these gratuities. Mr. li. said he had recommended it as the only way of treating with barbarians ; that, if not grati- lled in this way, the chiefs would prolong the iic;:otiation, at a great daily expense to the gov- Icnimcnt, until they got their gratuity in one way or other, or defeated the treaty altogether. I 111! considered the practice to be sanctioned by I the usage of tho United States : he bcliuved it I to be common in all barbarous nations, and in I many that were civilized ; and referred to the I Article in the federal constitution against re- jiiiving "prc»en<*" from foreign powers, as a proof that the convention thought such a re- |striction to be necessary, even among ourselves. ''The time at which Mr. B. had otfered his ser- I rices to aid this negotiation, had appeared to him Ito be eminently critical, and big with consequences which hii wiiM anxioiio lo avert. It was aftor till- iiiiiiniilti-c \y.\t\ ri'^iilri- nport ai:iuii-.t the n<-w treaty, and Im lore they had iimilc the ri'imrt to the S'lirtlc. The ili'i'isiiiii, Mliat>.s'\cr It mi^'llt Im>, and the ctinsci|ucnt diM'iiNNiniiM. criiiiiiialinnM, and recnminittions, wvn^ i':ili'iiliite two lloiiMes (I'nr a relcreiuu i.Aliibiiiiia that was injured by the loss of some millions of acres, wliidi she had acipiired under the treaty uf 1m!.'), and lust under that uf 1820. Her case coniniiindeil his regrets and sympathy. She had lost the right of jurisdiction over a considerable extent of ter- ritory ; and thu advantages of .settling, cultivat- ing, and taxing the same, were postponed ; but, he hoped, nut indelinitely. But these were «'t»/i- aiijuenlUU advantages, resulting from an act which tho guvernmunt was not hound to du ; and, though tho loss uf them was an injury, yet this injury could not be considerutl as ;» violation of vestej)le of the Union were excited in Iwhalf of ' the children of the forest,' who were represented as indignantly spuming the gold, which was otUn,! to entice them from the graves of their fathers and resolutely determined never to abandon them, The incidents of the plot being thus prepared, tlii. affair hastens to its consummation. A new treaty is negotiated here — a pure and spotless traitii. The rights of (Jeorgia and of Alabama are sacri- ficed ; the United States obtain a part of tlie lands, and pay double the amount stipulated by the old treaty ; and those poor and noble, and unsophis- ticated sons of the forest, having succeeded in imposing on the simplicity of this government, next concert, under its eye, and with its know- ledge, the means of defrauding their own constitii- 1 ents, the chiefs and warriors of the Creek natic " For their agency in exciting the Creeks to I resist the former treaty, and in deluding this government to annul it, three Cherokees- Ridge, Vann, and tlie father of the former— m to receive forty thousand pollars of the money stipulated to be paid by the United States | to the chiefs of the Creek nation ; and the govern- ment, when informed of the projected fraud, deems I itself powerless to avert it. Nay, when apprised liy your amendment, that you had also detected it, that government does not hesitate to intcrjiosi, by one of its high fimctionaries, to resist yoiir proceeding, by a singular fatuity, thus giving in countenance and support to the conimission of the fraud. Sir, I speak of what has passfll before your eyes even in this hall. " One fifth of the whole purchase money is to I be given to three Ch'^okees. Tkn thols.akd DOLLARS reward one ;f the heroes of Fort I Minis — a boon which i so well becomes us to I bestow. A few chotan favorites divide anion; themselves upwards of one hundred and fiftvI thousand dollars, leaving a pittance for distri-l bution among the great body of the chiefs and] warriors of the nation. " But the administration, though it condemns the fraud, thinks that we have no power to [iix'-j vent its consummation. What, sir, have we nol power to see that our own treaty is carried into I effect? Have we no interest in doing so 1 Iliivej wo no power? We have stipulated for the pav[ ment of two hundred and fortv-seven thou.sjinJ I dollars to the chiefs of the Creek nation, /ofel distnbuted among the chiefs and warriors A that nation. Is not the distribution part (Ji[ the contract as well as the payment 7 We knowl that a few of those chiefs, in fraudulent violatiMl of the rights secured by that treaty, are alonil to appropriate this money to themselves. Artl we powerless to prevent it? Nay, must ml too. suffer ourselves to be made the conscioml instruments of its consummation? We liiml made a bargain with a savage tribe which youl choo.se to dignify with the name of a treaty! cmccrning whom we nnt. or without it. a eves. We know tlmt liieni are aljout to che h.ive the means in out their corrupt purpo.se ca we not the right to sec ( honestly fulfillwl? Coi honesty, nan we put the the contract into the 1 know are about to dc inisted them ? Sir, the ••Mr. Forsyth (of th( tives) said : A sttipendo intended by the delegatic ihe S'-cretary of War, < chiefs coi.ip^sing the Cr sisted by thei Cheroket iiad combined to put intc ihn.se of a few select fr t!iree fourths of the first ; the second cession of th sia. The facts connectei althongh concealed fron I second contract was befo and from the House whe 10 (arry it into effect wi ivere perfectly understooi [mont by the Secretary, i is called the head of tb Thomas L. JIcKinnoy). [some strange fortune, di fraud, after the ratificatic before they acted on the a ed, by an amendment to t J success of the profitable s( House, entirely ignorant j. suspecting the motive of tl Ijected it, insisted upon th land a committee of the twc Iconferred on the subject. ; lascertained by the separai Imittecs, there can bo no d tiie great point of defeating Jrv of the delegation and se [tribe. The only matter w Jsion, is, how shall the trc -how shall the Creek tri Jtlio abominable designs o [iinprincipled agents ? Wil V'ed by the committee ret plan is, to pay the mone divided among the chiefs the direction of the Secrc ^ouncil of the nation, conve suppose the council in solei lefore them, and the divisi mder the dii'ection of the nay not the chiefs and tl he money, as promi.sed to tl Ind how will the Secretar [he claim ? They assented- pive that the only difHcuK Ihe bribe. The Secretary \ liigh as five thousand dol ANNO l<^2rt. JOHN QUINrV ADAMS, PRESIDENT. 63 .■.mccrninp wliom we lepislntc with their con- viit. or witlioHt it. as it seems pood in our eve'?. ^^*5 know thnt some ten or twenty of tiiem nre nlxMit to cheat the remainder. We l,avc the means in otir hands, without which iheir corrupt purpose cannot he effected. Have vie not tlio ripht to sec that our own harpain is honestly fuHliler sulmiit- ted to that l)ody, brought a pajx'r. the i)recious list of the price of each traitor, f()r tho inspection and information of the head of tho btireau and the head of the department ; an Si C4 TIlIRrV' YEARS' VIEW, }iav<; olitikiiU'fl from inili^'idiinls, if IiIh title had li]K)n his iiiciiio- ry. and tlie caii.se wiiich. in the eyes of our ail- niiiiistralion iiewsiiaiK;rt'(htor.s. Hcrihhlers, and re- viewers, Justilied his exenition. Now, sir, the executioners are to Itc rewarded by pillapin^ the piihiic Trea>\'e owe u j istice to the tribe. This ainen(hnent, he feared, would not do justice. The power of Confrress should be cxertecl, not only to keep the money out of the hands of the.sc wretch- es, but to secure a faithful and equal distribution of it among the whole Creek nation. The whole tribe hold the land ; their title by occupancy resides in all ; all are rightfully claimants to equal ywrtions of the price of their removal from it. The country is not aware how the Indian annui- ties are distributed, or the moneys paid to the tribes disposed of. They are divided according to the discretion of the Indian government, com- pletely aristocraticftl — all the powers vested in a few chiefs. Mr. I'\ had it from authority he could not doubt, that the Creek annuities had, for years past, been divided in very unequal pro- portions, not among the twenty thou.sand souls of which the tribe was believed to be composed, Ijut among about one thousand live hundred chiefs and wari'iors. "Mr. For.syth expressed hi.s hope that the House would reject the report of the committee. Ik'fore taking his scat, he asked the indulgence of the House, while he made a few comments on tliis list of worthies, and the prices to be paid to each. At the head of the list stands Mr. Ilidge, with the stmi of jj!l5,000 opposite to his elevated name. This man is no Creek, but a Cherokee, educated among the whites, allied to them by marriage — has received lessons in Christianity, morality, and sentiment — {terfectly civilized, ac- cording to the rules and customs of Cornwall. This negotiation, of which he has been, cither as actor or instrument, the principal manager, is an admirable proof of the benefits ho has derived from his residence among a moral and religious people. Vann, another Cherokee, half savage and half cinli/.cd, succeeds him with S15.0U0 bounty. A few inches below comes another Kidgo, the major, father to the secretary — a gal- lant ohl fellow, who did .some service against the hostile Creok.s, during the late war, for which ho deserved and received acknowledgments — but what claims he had to this Creek money, Mr. F. <'ould not comprehend. Probably his name was used merely to cover another gratuity for the son, whose modesty would not permit him to take more than .Ijl 15,000 in his own name. The.se ('herokces were topethcr to receive .S4(i.(Hiii ,/ Creek money, and the .Secretary of Wuy i, , opinion it is quite consistent with the ciinirfic whicli provides for the distribution of it tuui,i ■ the chiefs and warriors of the Creeks. |,(k,^" sir. at the (iistinctiitory of this mi.* HJii (I'ur it never took c jaiietioned by both IIoi .iiTvcs a place in this insi ofoiir government. Tl into oblivion, and its nai iras a master subject oi uiiring its day; and gav national, and of constitui Liial policy, the importa the occasion from which iliition of which' (as tl iomc guide to future actio igain occur. Besides th( rliich the subject gave ri •aue one of unu.sual anc It agitated the people, mad lie two Houses of Congre ions of parties and individi ;fore which Congress be; !tn-een the President and tlie duel between Mr. Ra was an administration r ail the means known t was evidently relied upo E upon the people— as a "lich might have the effect lich was then running higl |d Mr. Clay on account of mse of Representatives, i les of the inaugural addrc jal message: and it \i ;ined for that purpose. : ffemcnt, and republican. the American states of Spa lor their mutual safety presenting the natural w ites to place herself at t !st si.ster of the new repu 'se example and institutio wed. The monarchies of j Holy Alliance," to cheol i«y: it seemed just that Xew W'orlil should confec gcrs of de.spoti.sm. The su t; and the name and pla( ANNO 1826. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, I'ULslDENT. Gft CHAPTER XXV. THE PANA.MA MISSION. fur. lii.story of this mission, or attempted mis- Lioii (lor it never tooit edect, though eventually Lanctioned by both Houses of Congres.s), de- I fiTves a place in this inside view of the working lofoiir government. Though long since sunk liiuo oblivion, and its name almost forgotten, it Las a master subject on the political theatre luiiring its day ; and gave rise to questions of Inational, and of constitutional law, and of na- Lional policy, the importance of which survive Ithc occasion from which they sprung ; and the oliUion of which (as then solved), may be Lome guide to future action, if similar questions Lain occur. Besides the grave questions to irhicb the subject gave rise, the subject itself K-aue one of unusual and painful excitement. It agitated the people, made a violent debate in llie t«o Houses of Congress, inflamed the pas- Ions of parties and individuals, raised a tempest lefore which Congress bent, made bad feeling letweeu the President and the Senate ; and led ) the duel between Mr. Randolph and Mr. Clay. t was an administration measure, and pressed rail the means known to an administration. [was evidently relied upon as a means of act- Ig upon the people — as a popular movement, hich might have the effect of turning the tide bich was then running high against Mr. Adams |d Mr. Clay on account of the election in the louse of Representatives, and the broad doc- nes of the inaugural address, and of the first bual meiisage: and it was doubtless well gincJ for that purpose. It was an American bvemeiit, and republican. It was the asseml)Iy |the American states of Spanish origin, counsel- lor their mutual safety and independence; 1 presenting the natural wish for the United ktes to place herself at their head, as the ]est sister of the new republics, and the one cse example and institutions the others had bned. The monarchies of Europe had formed flloly Alliance," to check the progress of krty; it seemed just that the republics of jXew World should confederate against the Igcrs of despotism. The subject had a charm i It; and the name and place of mneting re- \ Vol. I.— 5 called chwsic and cherished recollect ion.'*. It was on an isthmus — the Isthmus of Panama — which connected the two Americas, the (irccian republics had their isthmus — that of Corinth — where their deputies assembled. All the ad- vantages in the presentation of the w and ever have been more uiianimoiis, tlian that which denies, not merely the exiMMliency. bn*. ^ho rijjht of intermeddling with the internal air;\i,-- of other states; and espe- cially .')■ Kcekjiig le alter any provision they may have il' -'it jiroper to adopt as a fundamental law, o?" ■■'■■ iMve incorporatud with their iwliti- cal coi,^l. .'.ions. And if there bo any such subit!;t more h;. ! and delicate than another, as to which th i -ited States ought never to interined mit themselves to be associated with tliesu rj.| tions in any general congress, nssomblod fif' discussion of common plan.'!, in the way atref!':;| European interests, they will, by such an net.: The advantage of pi maintaining friendly i • entangling alliances presented in a brief am " And the United St ill happiness, to their .strict observance of th( of policy, and by mai and most profound resj must prepare to embai uion an unknown and by little experience, ani haven. In such a voyi king between thentsel ill interest, character, lai customs, habits, laws, particular : and the rivj must surely produce an crate discords, which, if hope of its successful t< even success itself tJie ul direful conflicts between hcen the issue of all si time ; and we have then expect in the future, sim causes. The committee dissen on the point of his right without the previous adi I Senate. The President ; .•;o: butdeemt-d it advist cumstances, to waive the I vice. The committee av( Senate to decide directly I this new mission ; groun originality, and holding th J is to be instituted it is th( j not the filling of a vacancj I have a right to decide upo: I office itself. I spoke myself on this < jpoints which it presented, [rehations with Haiti (on' jwas to be determined on. AXXO 182«. JOHN QUIXCY ADAMS, I'UF-SIDKNT. CD Rico, could condi- ed any tion tn anil it orac- To tk I pressd lent un- 1 them enable I 3r thin I It I position I mani- ;le thei: imcriiil :e wliiciil D.\crtoil| lesi^iv-"! tes p:-\ Vifw r.j'l for-'. attbfti: nlv ilcprivc themselves of the Miility tlioy now iir,s'*s8, of rcn neitlier altered, nor dist'U.s.stil in any foroi;;n .t;- scinbly ; and especially in tho one prDiKKfl ; all the other parties to which had already phicd the two races (blaok and white) on the ba.>-is nf political co- mii.go, has been tixed for three and thirty ye.irs. We tralt>inatic relntioiis have been established between us. We purchii'^o colfee from her, and pay her for it ; but we inter- change no consuls or ministers. We receive i.o mulatto consuls, or black anibassmlors from luv. And why? IJecause the peace of eleven ,'^(«trs iu this Union will not permit the Irnits of a suc- cessful negro insurrection to be exhibited amon^ them. It will not permit black consuls nml aii.- bas.sadors to establish themselves in our citit'>. and to parade through our country, and give to their fellow blacks in the United States, proof in hand of tho honors which await them, for a like successful effort on their part. It will iiuc permit the fact to be seen, and told, that for tl.o murder of their masters and mistresses, they i;rc to Rnd friends among the white people of the.so United States. No, this is a question which has been determined ukre for tliree and tliirty years ; one which has never been open for dis- cussion, at home or abroad, neither under llio Presidency of Gen. Washington, of the first Mr. Adams, of Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison, or .Mr. Monroe. It is one which cannot be (lisc\Is^e.l in this chamber on this day ; and shall wo f;:j to Panama to discuss it? I take it in the iniiil- ust supposed character of this Congress — shall we go there to advise and consult in council al)Out it? Who are to advise and sit in judg- ment upon it? Five nations who have already put the black man upon an equality with tlu3 white, not only in their constitutions but in real life ; live nations who have at this moment (:i.t least some of tliem) black generals in their ar- mies and mulatto senators in their congresses ! No question, in its day, excited more heat and intemperate discussion, or more feeling between a President and Senate, than this proposed mis- sion to the congress of American nations at Pan- ama; and no hcatod question ever cooled off, and died out so suddenly and completely. And now the chief benefit to be derived from its retrospect — and that indeed is a, real one — is a view of the firmness with which was then main- tained by a minority, the old policy of tho Uni- ted States, to avoid entangling alliances and in- terference with the affairs of other nations ; — and the exposition of the Monroe doctrine, from one so competent to give it as Mr. Adams. 70 THIRTY YKARS' VIKW. OIIAI'TKU XXVI. |ili;i. IIKTWKKX Mil. CLAV AND MU. UANDOM'II. 1 1 wiiK Saturday, the first flay of April, towards i.'foii, tlio Sfimte not hfiiif; that day in session, t'l.il Mr. lUndoliih came to my roomnt Brown's Ifiitul, and (without expluininnjtho reason of the i|iit'stioii) asked me if I was a l)lood-relation of Mrs. Clay ? I answered that I wa.s, and ho im- mediately ri'i'lied that that jjiit an end to a rc- (luest which ho had wished to make of me ; and tiien went on to tell me that he had just received n ch;illenf;e from Mr. Clay, had accepted it, was roady to po out, and would apply to Col. Tat- ii:ill to be his sccnd. Before leavinp;, ho toM me he would make my boson\ the depository of a secret wliich he should commit to no other per- son : it was, that he did not intend to fire at yir. Clay, lie told it to me because he wanted a. witness of his intention, and did not mean to tell it to his second or any body else ; and en- joined inviolable secrecy until the duel was over. This wius the first notice I had of the affair. The circumstances of the delivery of the challenge 1 had from Gen. Jesup, Mr. Clay's second, and they were so perfectly characteristic of Mr. Ran- dol;>h that I j^ive them in detail, and in the Gen- eral's own words : " I was unable to see Mr. Randolph until the morning of the 1st of April, when I called on him for the puipose of deliverin}? the note. I'revious to j)res;entlnK it, however, I thought it prop(;r to ascertain from Mr. Randolph himself whether the information which Mr. Clay had received — that he considered himself personally accountable for the attack on him — was correct. 1 accordingly informed Mr. Randolph that I was the bearer of a message from Mr. Clay in conse- quence of an attack which he had made upon his private as we'll as public character in the Senate ; that 1 was aware no one had the light to ques- tion him out of the Senate for any thing said in debate, unless he chose voluntarily to waive his privileges as a member of that body. Mr. Ran- dolph replied, that the constitution did prot(^t liini, but lie would never shield himself under i such ft subterfuge as the pleading of his privilege as a senator from Virginia ; that he did hold him- self accountable to Mr. Clay; but he said that \ gentleiniin had tii-st two ))ledges to redeem : one ; that he had bound I imself to fight any member ] of the House of Representatives, who should ac- knowledge himself the author of a certain pub- | lication in a Philadelohia paiwr; and the otliir that he stood pledget! to establisli certain fa"', in regani to a great nnn, whom he would nm name ; but, lie adde;iit find necessary to take would be satisfactorv I took leave of him ; and it is duo to his meniori I to say tliiit his bearing was, throughout the iii- terview, that of a high-toned, chivalrous gcntli.- I man of the old school." These were the circumstances of the delivery ol the challenge, and the only thing necessary to give them their character is to recollect that, with this prompt acceptance and positive refusal to explain, and tliis extra cut about tlio two plcJ- gi's, there was a perfect determination not to iiro at Mr. Clay. That determination rested on two | grounds ; first, an entire unwillingness to hurt .Mr. Clay ; and, next, a conviction that to return tli.' fire would be to answer, and would be an implid I acknowledgment of Mr. Clay's right to make him | answer. This he would not do, neither by inipL- cation nor in words. He denied the right of auj I person to question him out of the Senate foi words spoken within it. He took a distinction [ faction for what wa.' would receive, but not much as to say : Afr. ivlint has offended him the fire, admit his rip fiibtle distinction, and death, and not very clet hut to Af r. Randolph I His allusion to the " u niiicli he might have pi eliallengo, and would n^ cut at Mr. Adams and '. satisfiiction for cuts alri her of the House" was Pennsylvania, who, at t tial election in the Hous< avoTved himself to bo the liuMication, the writer i threatened to call to ac< I himself— and did not. President Adams, with ^ a newspaper controversy I fact,— which had been p, must pervade eveiy AX.VO 18.!0. JOHN QUJNCV ADAMS. I'nF.slDF.NT. 71 ktwr>t''i man an'liiiv'. He li.nl heen inrornied tliat Mr. KaiKJolpli. ill his sjicerh, liiul avoivcl his rtspon- niliility (o .Afr. Clii}', uiiil wuived liis piivilejic — a tliinj; whicii, if it hml been done, would have heen a defbnee, and stood for an invitation to Mr. Clay to Kend a challen};e. Mr. I'andoljih, thronnh Col. Tatnall. disavowed that inipnted avowal, and confhied his waiver of privilc^^e to Ihu time of the delivery of the ehallenjio, and in answer to an in<|iiiry before it was delivered. The following; are the coinnuiiiications between tiie respective .seconds on tliis point : "In regard to the prnlpst with wliich Mr, Ilandolph's note concludes, it is due to Mr. Clay to saj" that he had Jieen inlbrniod Mr. Randolph did, and would, liold himself responsible to him for any observations he nii;jht make in relation to him ; and that I (Gen. Jesup) distinctly un- derstood from 3Tr. Randolph, before 1 delivered the note of Mr. 'Jlay, that he waived his privilege as a senator. " To this Col. Tatnall replied: ••As this expression (did and woiih? Uc'tibi^n- pelf resjwn.sible, &c.) may b'? con^ii i- i to iw an that Mr. Randolph had givei. tliisintiai.iuor not only before called ujwn, but in such a lift uner a.s to throw out to Mr. Clay something like an invitation to make such a call, I have, on the l)art of Mr. Randolph, to disavow any disposition, when expressing his readiness to waive his privi- lege as a senator from Virginia, to invite, in any case, a call upon him for personal satisfaction. The concluding paragraph of your note, I pre- Burae, is intended to show merely that you did hot present a note, such as that of Mr. Clay to Mr. Randolph, until you had ascertained his willingness to waive his privilege as a senator. This I infer, as it was in your recoRection that the expression of such a readiness on the part of Mr. Randolph was in reply to an inquiry on that point made by yourself. " Thus an irritating circumstance in the affair was vii'tually negatived, and its offensive import whol- ly disavowed. For my part, I do not believe that Mr. Randolph used such language in his speech. I have no recollection of having heard it. The published report of the speech, as taken down by the reportei's and not revised by the speaker, con- tains nothing of it. Such gasconade was foreign j to Mr. Han'lolph's character. Tlio occasion ,v„ not one in which ll'-so wrt of defiances ?,, thrown ont, which are either to piirclnse a 'hco., reputation when it is known tiny will be <' . '. ed, or to get an advantage in extnictitir n i.ln, Vw/v wlitn there is a desipi to kill, >.r. Jhn- tlolph had none of these views with resiK-ct to Mr, Clay. He had no desire to fight him, or to hnrt him, or gain cheuj) cliaractur by appearing; to bully him, lie was above all that, and \a\ settled accounts with liim in his P|)cech, in,! wanted no more. I do not believe it was suil. but there wa.s u part of the speech which mi:;Lt have received a wrong ajiplication, and led to tl. . erroneous report : a part which applied to a quoted passage in Mr, Adams's Panama messni. which he condemned and denounccr. or misrepresenting anj lat the term blackleg was not \ him. " JTo this exposition of the grc laint, Col. Tatnall answered : Mr. Randolph informs nio id by him in debate were as ItliouRht it would bo in my iitnt^ siiflBr otiy presumpti lar..tte (county) jury that th Inufactured here— that Salazo las bearing a strong likeness [the other papers. I did n live this, but expreR,sod my sii It was so. I applied to the ac pilot, puritanic-Kliplomatic-bli histration. ' Mr. Randolph, Irds as those uttered by him i ling to alford any explanation i |and application." In this answer Mr, Randolph original ground of refusing to ISenate for words spoken with F^'s the statement of the ken greatly ameliorated the o coarse and insulting words, ^Vying, " being disavowed, a « not used, and are not to b( [lished report. The speech wa AKXO 182.1. JOHN QLIN( Y AbAMf^ I'lai^lUKNT. 73 -Thnt ft lotto. >ron» (^cnornl SalazJir, the Mi-xi- l.^i, j|ii,istinmo tiino, tlint .(\[r. Unniloljili) hold liim(.(lf |h isonully rc- i^,:iU' for all that he Imd sai'l. " X!iU WHS tho report to Mr. Clay, and upon niiKli he gavo tho ahsoluto rhallcngc, and rc- vi'l tho nhsohito oeceptiinco, which shut out 11 ini|uiry l)ctwc'('i\ i ho principals into the causes If the (luarrel. Tho secoiids dctennifier<'d coalition Ixtwein Mi iv atid .Mr Adams with n'H|Krt to the election, and thoit ell'ort.'* to pet up a iMipiiIar rpiestictn cfintrary to i>iir policy of iion-eutanplemiiit with foni'.'n na- ivmti. in sendins; niini.>iti'rM to tlie coii;:i(j.s of the American .'^tatcH of Spanish origin at the l.^thnum of Panama. I heard it all, and, though sharp and cutting, I think it mi).'ht iiuse been luiird, lmli iiabled him to obtain fromthe South American luinistcrs the invitations that ho wanted ; and not at all that they wore spurious fabrications. As to the expression, '^blackleg and puritan,^^ it wua merely a sarcasm to strike by antithesis, and which, being without foundation, might have been disregarded. I presented these views to tho parties, and if tl 'y had come from Mr. Himdolph they might have been suflkient ; but he was in- exortiblo, and would not authorize a word to be said beyond what ho had written. All hope of accommodation having vanished, the -I'conds proceeded to arrange for the duel. The iiftcrnooa of Saturday, the 8th of Apiil. was fixed upon for tho time ; the right bank f the Potomac, within the State of Virginia, abcive tho Little Falls bridge, was the place, — pistols the weapons, — distance ien paces ; each party to bo attended by two seconds and a surgion, and my- self at liberty to attend as a mutual friend. There was to be no i)ractising with pistols, and there was none ; and tho words " one, " " two, " " three, " " stop, " after the word " fire, " were, by agreement between tho seconds, and for tho humane purpose of reducing the result as near as possible to chance, to bo given out in quick succession. The Virgim'a side of the Potomac was taken at the instance of Mr. Randolph. IIo went out as a Virginia senator, refusing to com- promise that character, and, if he fell in defence of its rights, Virginia soil was to him tho chosen ground to receive his blood. There was a statute of tho State against duelling within her limits ; but, as he merely went out to receive a fire with- out returning it, ho deemed that no fighting, and consequently no breach of her statute. This reason for choosing Virginia could only bo ex .,(*»«:' I • . /V I 'fi >-, '^^'K^^' Q *. 1^..^. *^ '»' IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 121 125 u, m I.I lU u 140 •Uuu L25 ||||j U ill 1^ 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WIST MAIN ^TM IT WEBSTIR.N.Y. 14580 (716)172-4503 74 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW If I ill $ 1 1 til. ■' ^ plained to mo, as I alono was the depository of his Rccr<:t. The wtfk's dulay which tbo seconds had con- trived was a)x>tit expiring. It was Friday even- ing, or rattier ni^ht, when I went to see Mr. Clay for the lost time before the duel. There had been some alienation between us since the time of the presidential election in the House of Representa- tives, and I wished to give evidence that there was nothing personal in it. The family were in the parlor — company present — and some of it staid late. The youngest child, I believe James, went to sk'ep on the sofa — a circumstance which availed me for a purpose the next day. Mrs. Clay wa.s, as always since the death of her daugh- ters, the picture of desolation, but calm, conversa- ble, and without the slightest apparent conscious- ness of the impending event. When all were gone, and she also had left the parlor, I did what I came for, and said to Mr. Clay, that, notwith- standing our late political differences, my perspnal feelings towards him were the same as fomerly, and that, in whatever concerned his life or honor my best wishes were with him. Ho expressed his gratification at the visit and the declaration, and said it was what he would have expected of me. We parted at midnight. Saturday, the 8th of April — the day for the duel — had come, and almost the hour. It was noon, and the meeting was to take place at 4^ o'clock. I had gone to see Mr. Randolph before the hour, and for a purpose ; and, besides, it was so far on the way, as he lived half way to Georgetown, and we had to pass through that place to cross the Potomac into Virginia at the Little Falls bridge. I had heard nothing from him on the point of not returning the fire since the first communication to that effect, eight days before. I had no reason to doubt the steadiness of his determination, but felt a desire to have fresh assurance of it after so many days' delay, and so near approach of the trying moment. I knew it would not do to ask him the question — any question which would imply a doubt of his word. His sensitive feelings would be hurt and annoyed at it. So I fell upon a scheme to get at the inquiry without seeming to make it. I told him of my visit to Sir. Clay the night before — of the late sitting — the child asleep — the uncon- scious tranquillity of Mrs. Clay ; and added, I could not help reflecting how different all that might be the next night. He understood roe pcrlbctly, and immediately said, with a quicto^ of look and expression which seemed to rcbuu an unworthy doubt " I thaU do nothing to du- turb the Bleep of the child or the repoge of ti,, mother," and went on with his employment— (b I seconds bemg engaged m their preparations in 1 1 different room) — which was, making codicils ul his will, all in the way of remembrance ttl friends; the bequests slight in value, but inT;l.| uable in tenderness of feeling and beauty of e!.[ pression. and always appropriate to the rccciT>i.l To Mr. Macon he gave some English sliilliii«^| to keep the game when he played whist. Hi I namesake, John Randolph Bryan, then at fichooll in Baltimore, and since married to his niece, hit been sent for to see him, but sent off before tlil hour for going out, to savo the boy from a \m\ ble shock at seeing him brought back. Hi| wanted some gold — that coin not being then iil circulation, and only to be obtained by favor otl purchase — and sent his faithful man, Johnnri to the United States Branch Bank to got a fnl pieces, American bemg the kind asked fcrj Johnny returned without the gold, and dclinrtil the excuse that the bank had none. Instantljl Mr. Randolph's clear silver-toned voice nl heard above its natural pitch, exclaiming, " Tlitit| name is legion ! and they are liars from the t»| ginning. Johnny, bring me my horse." own saddle-horse was brought him — for 1 never rode Johnny's, nor Johnny his, thoui both, and all his hundred horses, were of i finest English blood — and rode off to the down Pennsylvania avenue, now Corcoran I Riggs's — Johnny following, as always, fort paces behind. Arrived at the bank, this ticcDt according to my informant, took place : " Mr. Randolph asked for the state of Iiis kJ count, was shown it, and found to be some fog thousand dollars in his fiivor. He asked for 1 The teller took up packages of bills, and ciTill| asked in what sized notes he would have it want money,' said Mr. Rtmdolph, putting phasis on the word ; and at that time it reqtiin a bold man to intimate that United States Bui notes were not money. The teller, beginning t understand him, and willing to nuuce sure, inquiringly, 'You want silver?' 'I wanti money ! ' was the reply. Then the teller, 111 boxes to the counter, said politely : ' Have ; a cart, Mr. Randolph, to put it in?' 'Thtti| my business, sir,' said ho. By that time the I tention of the cashier (Mr. Richard Smith) i attracted to what was going on, who came up, i understanding the question, and its cause, tot ANNO 1826. JOHN QUISCY ADAMi^ rK*>*Il)KNT. 40 kir. Rumlulph tlicro wu a roisUke in the answer liven to his ocrvnnt ; that thcv bad gold, and he Viil lifM, on the first Thursday and 8uc- roixlinp Friilay. in the month of DccemlKT, then nixt ensiling, between the persons havinii; the ^tto hij?he8t numbers, for the office of Presider t : vhich Si'cond election shall b« condiicte*!, the «su!t certified, and the votes counte- rcsentatives is allowed ; it being nntinnnlhj un- important which is elected where the- candidntos were exactly equal in the public estimation.-— Such was tho plan the committee reported ; and it is tho perfect plan of a popular election, and has the advantage of being applicable to all elec- tions, federal ani State, from the highest to the lowest. The machinery of its operation is easy and simple, and it is recommended by every con- sideration of public good, which requires the aban- donment of a defective system, which has failed — the overthrow of usurping bodies, which have seized upon the elections — and the preservation to the people of the business of selecting, as well a.s electing, their own high officers. Tho plan was unanimously recommended by the whole com- mittee, composed as it was of experienced men taken from every section of the Union. But it did not receive the requisite support of two- thirds of the Senate to carry it through that body ; and a similar plan proposed in the House of Representatives received the same fate there — reported by a committee, and unsustained by two-thirds of the House : and such, there is too much reason to apprehend, may be the fate of future similar propositions, originating in Con- gress, without the powerfid impulsion of the peo- ple to urge them through. Select bodies are not the places for popular reforms. These reforms are for tho benefit of the people, and should be- gin with tho people ; and the constitution itself, sensible of that necessity in this very case, has very wisely made provision for the popular initi- ative of constitutional amendments. Tho fifth artic.e of that instrument gives the power of be- ginning the reform of itself to the States, in their legislatures, as well as to the federal government in its Congress: and there is the place to begin, and before the people themselves in their elections to the general assembly. And there should be no despair on account of the fail- ures already suffered. No great refonn is carried suddenly. It requires years of persevering exer- tion to produce the unanimity of opinion which is necessary to a great popular reformation: buf; because it is difficult, it is not impossible. The greatest reform ever effected by peaceful means 80 TIIIRTV YEAllS' VIEW in the hJHtory of any government was that of the |inrlianiuntnry reform of Great liritain, by which the rotten boroughs were disfrancliiscd, populous towns admitted to representation, tho elective franchise extended, tho House of Commons puri- fied, ond made the predominant branch — tho master branch of tiio British government. And iiow was tiiat great reform effected ? By a few desultory exertions in the parliament itself? No, but by forty years of continued exertion, and by incessant appeals to tho people themselves. The society for parliamentary reform, founded in 1792, by Earl Grey and Major Cartwright, suc- ceeded in its efforts in 1832; and in their success thero is matter for encouragement, as in their conduct thero is an example for imitation. They carried the question to the people, and kept it there forty years, and saw it triumph — tho two patriotic founders of tho society living to see the consum- mation of their labors, and tho country in the enjoyment of the inestimable advantage of a '• Reformed Parliament." CIIAPTEIl XXIX. EEDUCTION OF EXECUTIVE PATRONAGE. In the session 1825-'2G, Mr. Macon moved that tho select committee, to which had been com- mitted the consideration of tho propositions for amending the constitution in relation to the elec- tion of President and Vice-President, should also be charged with an inquiry into the expediency of reducing Executive patronage, in cases in which it could be done by law consistently with the constitution, and without impairing the effi- ciency of the government. The motion was adopt- ed, and the committee (Messrs. Benton, Macon, Van Buren, AVhite of Tennessee, Findlay of Penn- sylvania, Dickerson, Holmes, IlajTie, and John- son of Kentucky) made a report, accompanied by six bills ; which report and bills, though not acted upon at the time, may still have their use in showing the democratic principles, on practical points of that day (when some of the fathers of tlie democratic church were still among us) ; — and in recalling the administration of the govern- ment, to the simplicity and economy of its early days. The six bills reported wore. 1. Tort. I gulato the publication of tho laws of the UiijIki States, and of the public advertisements. 2. To I secure in ofHco the faithf\il collectors and disburv | ersof the revenue, and to displace defaulters. To regulate tho appointment of postmasters, \ I To regulate the appointment of cadets. 5, f, I regulato the appointment of midshipmen. G, To I prevent military and naval oilicers from Icii^l dismissed the service at the pleasure of tlie P|^l sident. — In favor of the general principle, mujI objects of all the bills, the report accompanjiu >[ them, said: "Incoming to the conclusion thit ExcciitiTil patronage ought to bo diminished and regulatril on the plan proposed, the committee rest thtirl opinion on the ground that the exercise of p^A patronage in the hands of one man, has a tonsUml tendency to sully tho purity of our institutioml and to endanger the liberties of the country. ThJ doctrine is not new. A jealousy of power, injl of the influence of patronage, which must alwinl accompany its exercise, has ever been a distjij guished feature in tho American character. M displayed itself strongly at the period of thcfc mation, and of tho adoption, of the federal i.. stitution. At that time the feebleness of tlic oiJI confederation had excited a much greater dn of anarchy than of power — 'of anarchy an tho members than of power in the head '-_ although the impression was nearly univeri that a government of more energetic characli had become indispensably necessary, yet, en, under the influence of this conviction — such m the dread of power and patronage— that m States, with extreme reluctance, yielded thj a.ssent to the establishment of the federal emment. Nor w^as this the eftoct of idlel visionary fears, on the part of an ignorant mulj tude, without knowledge of the nature and tg dency of power. On the contrary, ic result| from the most extensive and profound politi knowledge,— from the heads of statesmen, uns passed, in any age, in sagacity and patriotia Nothing could reconcile the great menofti day to a constitution of so much jiower, but tl guards which were put upon it against the abpij of power. Dread and jerflousy of this kbuse i played itself throughout the instrument TotI spirit we are indebted for the freedom of{ press, trial by jury, liberty of conscience, fre of debate, res{ionsibility to constitu- nts, pon of impeachment, the control of the Senate d appointments to office ; and many other pni sions of a like character. But the committceo not imagine that the jealous foresinht of the t great as it was, or that any human sagi could have foreseen, and placed a competent j upon, every possible avenue to the abuse J power. The nature of a constitutional act i eludes tho possibility of combining minute p ANNO 182ft. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. I'UESIDENT. 81 1. TotM 10 Unite s. 2. To I (I (lisburv I niters, listen. 4, 1 is. 5. tJ en. G. Til rrora Icii:;! >f the Pn-j nciplc, rtill :on]pan;iii:l it resulli C)und polil |e.smcn, (id patriot] men of Bwcr, but hnRt tlie abi Ibis ^buse nent. To leedom of |ience, ft Jtu- nts, \e Senate other pi lommittee lit of the nan saj upetcnt Ithe abu« iional act minute fiction with pt-niTal oxccllcnce. After tlio exer- tion of M |)08.siblo vigilanco, NomotliinR of what uuzht to have been done, ha.s lx>cn omitted ; and much ofwliat lias been attempted, has been found insutficicnt and unavailing in practice. Much re- mains for us to do, and much will still remain for I iKWterity to do — for those unborn gencration.s to I'io. on whom will devolro the sacred task of Unarding the temple of the constitution, and of Ikwp'nR a'''® ^^^ vestal flame of liberty. I >• The committee Ijoliovo that they will be not- [ing in the spirit of the constitution, in laboring | |t() multi|ily the guards, and to strengthen the llurricrs. against the possible abuse of power. I i coniniimity could bo imagined in which the BaffU should execute themselves — in which the Offer of government should consist in the enact- ^lent of laws — in such a state the machine of ovcrnmcnt would carry on its operations with- Eiit jar or friction. Parties would be unknown. Ld the movements of the political machine would Lt little more disturb the passions of men, than liey arc di.sturbed by the operations of the great liws of the material world. But this is not the The scene shifts from this imaginary re- on, where laws execute themselves, to the thea- of real life, wherein they are executed by civil 1(1 military officers, by armies and navies, by urts of justice, by the collection and disburse- B^ent of revenue, with all its train of salaries, lbs, and contracts ; and in this aspect of the re- lity, we behold the working of patronaor, and [scover the reason why so many stand rea Unless the revenue be then reduced, a work IdifOcult in republics as in monarchies, the nage of the federal government, great as it idy is. must, in the lapse of a few years, re- [e a vast accession of strength. The revenue If will be doubled, and instead of one half ig applicable to objects of patronage, the lie will take that direction. Thus, the reduc- of the public debt, and the increase of reve- will multiply in a four-fold degree the num- |of persons in the service of the federal gov- ent, the quantity of public money in their and the number of objects to which it is icable; but as each person employed will V-OL I.— 6 have a circle of greater or less dinmctcr. of which ho is the ci-ntix- and the soul — a circle composed of friends and relations, and of individuals em- ployed by hiniself on jmblic or on private account — the actual increase of federal jHJwer anion.J and substitute "good behavior" for thoclm^l which now runs " during tho pleasure of tfc. President. " Tho clause in tho existing com- 1 mission was copied from those then in use, d~ rived from tho British government; nn.1, J making army and navy officers subject to di* I mission at tho will of tho Prcmdcnt, departs f™| tho principle of our republican institutions, »i>if lessens tho independence of tho officers. CHAPTER XXX. EXCLUSION OF MEMBERS OF COXOREfS F&OI CIVIL OFFICE AITOINTMENTS. An inquiry into the expediency of amend tho constitution so as to prevent the appointi of any member of Congress to any federal oJ of trust or profit, during the period for wliiciil was elected, was moved at the session 1825-3 by Mr. Senator Thomas W. Cobb, of Gcorjal and his motion was committed to the consid ation of the same select committee to which I been referred the inquiries into the exj of reducing executive patronage, and amend the constitution in relation to the election President and Vice-President. The motion i submitted only applied to the term for which i senator or representative was elected— oii carried the exclusion to the end of his const tional term ; but the committee were of opin that such appointments were injurious to the i dependence of Congress and to the puritj legislation ; and believed that the limitation the eligibility of members should be more comp honsive than the one proposed, and should exit to tho Prcoidcnt'fi i Nnc*! M well a« (he possibility for* ' nifnt fn.in tho Pro* Imt a iul>8ervionl ilinvfi'd their chnii I nTfonlingly. This miwle, chielly founder frtloml convention v I «nil tho proceedings J jitntcs which adopts I cxrlu. altered, and its inter Inty of a single vote, in ■ehtatesby whichit h "following the constit ntions which ratified it f Vl "'® ^^ew-York co: pJed, as follows : ■■'That no senator „ Ifing the time for whi ^omted to any office ■ United States. !•( I ANNO isirt. J«>nN gLINcY AI>AM"*. ria>II>r.ST. S3 to the PrcftlilcntV term iinjcrs ; and aftcrwanls modiflei('ntntiv<'i shall U- iiicliiriMe to. and in- ••n|i«ldi' III' liojilin'^. any civil olMce uiiiLt tl.e aiilli'iiity "f the I iiitfd Stiiti-n. dmiiti; iliv Icmi for whii'h thi-y shiill ri>|iiM'iivi'ly Ik> ckrtfd.' '• Hv the Norlii (-'aroliiiu ennvi'iition, the Knnit' amenilment wa.s recoiiniieiiiled, in tliu suiiie word.'*. ■• In tho first session of the first Congn-ss. wliicli was held iiihUt tli('c«)nstitutiiin. a mi'iiiber of th*; Huiiso of lleprescDtatives sulmiitted a siiiiilur pro|io.Hition of ninendinent ; and. in tho third Hi-ssion of the eleventh CoiigR'ss, .liiiiieH Mndi.sun being President, a like pmimsitioii was ntuwn submitted, and iR-ing refeireil to a ronunittee vf tho House, was ru[)orted by them in tho following words : '■ • No senator or representative shall be ni>- jiointed to any civil otHee, place, or emoliinient, under the niithority of tho I'nited States, nntill tho expiration of the presidential term in which such iKTHon shall have served as a senator or representative.' " Upon tho question to adopt this resolution, tho vote stood 71 yeas, 40 nays, — wanting but tlireo votes of the constitutional number for referring it to tho decision of tho States. " Having thus shown, by a reference to tlio venerable evidence of our early hi.story. that tlio principle of tho amendment now under consider- ation, has had the support and approbation of the first friends of the constitution, the coinmitteo will now declare their own opinion in favor of its correctness, and expresses its belief that the idl- ing principle in tho organization of the federal government demands its adoption." It is thus se«n that in the formation of tho constitution, and in the early ages of our govern- ment, there was great jealousy on this head — great fear of tampering between the President and tho members — and great effort.s made to keep each independent of tho other. For the safety of the PresidjAt, and that Congress should not have him in their power, hu was niado inde- pendent of them in point of salary. I3y a con- stitutional provision his compensation was neither to be diminished nor increased during tho term for which ho was elected ; — not diminished, lest Congress should starve him into acquiescence in their views ; — not increased, lest Congress should seduce him by tempting his cupidity with an augmented compensation. That provision secured tho independence of the President ; but the independence of tho two Houses was still to be provided for ; and that was imperfectly effect- ed by two "provisions — the first, prohibiting office holders under tho federal government from tak- , ing u seat in either House ; the second, by pr» 84 TllIllTV VEAltV VIEW. liiliiiiiiK tli'ir a|i|Miiiitiiii-iit In iiiiy rivit olllor tlint iihkIiI liavi' Ut'ii i-rcntv'l. or its I'liioliiiiii'iiU iii- rn'n«.<*. A very Hlronx instaitfo of this oliscrvancc svns (ho rasi> of Mr. .McxaniliT Sinytlic, of VirKiiiiii, <]iirin); tho ailiiiiiiistration of I*rcsii|i>nt Monroe. Mr. .Sinytho had been a iiii'inhvr of tho IIoiiMt of UepR'nentatives, and in that capacity had voted for the estubhNhment ofa jiidieirtl (hstrict in Western Virpnia, and by wliich the otiico ofjiidge wa.s created. His term of service liad expired: he was proposed for tho jnd(jeshi|>: tiie letter of tho constitution ix-rniitted tho op- [lointnicnt: hut its spirit did not. Mr. Sniythe was entirely fit for the place, and Mr. Monroe entirely willing to bestow it upon him. Ihit ho looked to tho spirit of thu act, and tho mischief it was intended to prevent, o.s well as to its let- ter ; anil could hoc no dilFcn-nco between bestow- im tho appointment tho day after, or the day het'ore, tho expiration of Mr. Smythc's term of service: and ho refused to niaku the appointment. This was protecting tho purity of legislation ac- cording to tho mtont of tho constitution ; but it has not always been so. A glaring case to the contrary occurred in tho jKTson of Mr. Thomas Uutler King,imdcr the presidency of Mr. Fillmore. Mr. King was elected a member of Congiess for the term at which tho ofHco of collector of the customs at San Francisco had been created, and had resigned his place : but tho resignation could not work an evasion of the constitution, nor af- fect the principle of its provision. IIo had been appointed in the recess of Congress, and sent to take the place before his two years had expired — and did take it ; and that was against tho words of the constitution. Ilis nomination was not sent in until his term expired — the day afler it expired — having been held back during the regu- lar session; and was confirmed by the Senate. I had then ceosed to be a member of the Senate, and know not whether any question was raised on the nomination ; but if I had been, there should have been a question. But tho constitutional limitation upon tho ap- pointment of members of Congress, even when executed beyond its letter and according to its opirit, nn done by Mr. Monroe, ii but a r, ;, Nuiall n-Ntraiiit u|>i)n their npixjiutmunt, only i plying to the few comck of new otTloeN rreatMJ. ,^ of roiii|ionsation increased, during thu Iteriod^f their memU'rty nn cxerrim,„f the removing |iowcr, ore opened ! and letwi. these two xourcvs of supply, tho fund is aiiii,, for as largo a commcrco l>etwcen memliirs n,, tho President — In-'twcen subservient votes on (n, hide, and executive appointments on the utlur^ I as any President, or any set of menil)erx, niii,-!)! choosy to carry on. And hero is to bonoUdJ wide departure from the theory of tho govin. mcnt wi'r of iliMiii-i.-inn fn)iii otilcr hiw aliatiiliiniMl to tliu l>n-Hiiit nioiio ; aixl, witli lli« (tiiiiliimcnU nwy Im- iiMTPJiMMl. ilnrinu eho term offlrrr. w> tho rnnwnt of the »*mP hni\y irnu!.| ,f iln'ir flwtion. No "llitfK, llii-nliiri', onn Iki tctllOIlt to tllV CXINtln^ IDfllllMTM, Illlt HIII'll AM ninv Iktoiiio vocant liy untiiuinj ciitiiiillifit ; Dllii til KII|I|H»W thnt tllCM> Mould \H' Mltlil'lfllt to |)iirclia''«' thit KunriliaiiM of tli<> [ivoiilc, hdcfti'il dy ilii- |)C(i|ile thi-nitk'lveM, iri t«) ri'iioimce i-vory ruli> .•,U„tuto nn iiichMTiininalo u...l ui.lH.umlo.l '""'l""*'""" "f tl'"« I'r.ro^,.t.vo. the i-.w.t nml ;aloii.Hy, with whicli all n!tt>oninK iiiumI be vain." |>»troimfn' of (he pnKi.U'iitial olllw wan iiistmiily I incrunst'd to an iiitli'tlniti- rxti'nt ; ami tho nrj:M- .siicli was thi'ir dofonr*— tbo l)OHt wliidi Ihcir mi'Ht of tlii« Fi'diTaii.st ajriiiiiNt tlu' raparity of tho pial iiliiliticd, nml ardent zi-al, ami |mlriotie do- I'rfxidfiit to corriii.t iiu nilKr^ of (.'onjrri'-M, \.)tion, toiild fiM7ii»ili. Thoy toiiltl not deny the founded on the xniiiil number of plaecx \vlii< b iljnpor. To diminish its (immtum, and to cover he eonid use for that |iur|>ose, woh tolully ovi r- I with a brilliant declamation tho little thnt re- throw n. This is what has Urn done by etm- iiiaincd, was their rcNource. And, certainly if stniclion. Now for tho elfects of leuisintion: iho workinj; of tho povcrnment had been accord- anil without jtoin^ into nn enumeration of sta- ll. jr to their mipposition, their defence would have ! tiites so widely extendinR and incrcnHinj? cxicii- llcrn good. I have taken tho liberty to mark in • tlvo patrona^'o in tho niultipliention of ollici <<, li'nlic!i tl'o ruling words contained in the quota- 1 jobs, contracts, afjencios, retniners, and seiiuitnr-* Itiin which I have made from their works — of all sorts, holding ut the will of tho I'resid'Ut, •onHnary caauatticg." And what were they ? it is enough to point to a sinji^lc act — th»i four IdiiitliB, resignations, removals upon impcach- Iracnt, and dismissions by tho President and Sc- Itate. This, in fact, would constitute n very knmll amount of vacancies during tho presidential :tnn ; and as new offices, and those of increased kjinpcnsation, were excluded, tho answer was [indoubtedly good, and oven justified tho visible «utempt with which tho objection was repulsed. but what has been the fact ? what has been the jrorking of tho government at this point ? and m stands this narrow limitation of vacancies '^ordinary casualties ? " In tho first place, |ic main stay of tho argument in tho Federalist \ knocked from under it at tho outset of the |Dvemmcnt; and so knocked by a side-blow om construction. In tho very first year of tho iition a construction was put on that in- ument wliich enabled the President to create I many vacancies as ho picascti, and at any loment that he pleased. This was effected by lading to him the kingly prerogative of dismiss- ! officers without the formality of a trial, or i consent of tho other part of the appointing ivcr. The authors of tlie Federalist had not Tseen this construction : so far from it they 1 asserted the contrary : and argumg logically 1 the premises, " that the dismissing power appurtenant to the appointing power," ' bad maintained in that able and patriotic irk— (No. 77) — that, as the consent of the pate was necessary to the appointment of an years' limitation act ; which, by vacating almost tho entire civil list — (ho whole " lUue Hook " — tho 40,000 places which it registers — in every period of a presidential term — puts more oHJces at the command of the President than the nutliors of tho Federalist ever dreamed of ; andenouph to eiiuip all tho members and nil their kin if tiny chose to accept his favors. Ihit this is not tho end. Large as it ojkhs tho field of pntronngo, it is not tho end. There is a prnctico grown \\\\ in these latter times, which, upon every revolu- tion of parties, makes a political exodus among tho adversary office-holders, marching them off into tho wilderness, and leaving their places for new-comers. This practice of itself, also unfore- seen by tho authors of tho Federalist, again over- sets their whole argument, and leaves the mis- chief from wliich they undertook to defend tho constitution in a degree of vigor and universality of which tho original opposers of that mischief had never formed the slightest conception. Besides the direct commerce which may take place between the Executive and a member, there are other evils resulting from their ap- pointment to office, wholly at war with tho theory of our government, and the purity of its action. Responsibility to his constituents is the corner-stone and sheet-anchor, in the system of representative government. It is the substance without which representation is but a shadow. To secure that responsibility the constitution 86 TiiniTY YKAIW VIKW. Ims provided tliat tlie memljcrs shr.ii Ik? pcriwli- cally nturiiwl to their coiistiliKnts— those of the House ut the end of every two years, tlioso of the Senate at the end of every six— to pass in review )M.'l'oro them — to account for wliat may have been done amiss, and to receive the reward or censure of (;o(m1 or bad coinhict. This re- sponsibilily is totally destroyed if the I'resident takes a meinljcr out of the hands of his constit- Whon I first came to tiie Senate thirty y,.,;, npo. oped inemlxrs were accustomed to tell i; that there were always members in tlie nmrki;. waiting to render votes, and to receive o|]ic(.; and that in any closely contested, or ncarii balanced ciuestion, in which the administration took an interest, they could turn the dcci>ioii which way they pleased by the help of tlits^ marketable votes. It was a humiliating rcvLlj. iients. prevents his return home, and places hm tion to a young senator— but true; and I hav, in a situation where he is indci)endent of their : seen too much of it in my time— seen mcmUp censure. Ajjain : the constitution intended that l wliosc every vote was at tlie service of povin. ment — to whom a scat in Congress was bm the stepping-stone to executive appointmcnt-to whom federal office was the pabulum for which | their stomachs yearned — and who to obtain :, were ready to forget that they had cither cfin. | stitucnts or country. And now, why !' .. tifying exhibition of a disgusting depravity? answer — to correct it : — if not by law and con- 1 stitutional amendment (for it is hard to p:\\ the three departments of the government, — the executive, the legislative, and the judicial — should be independent of each other : and this inde()endencc ceases, between the executive and legislative, the moment the members become | expectants and recipients of presidential favor ; — the more so if the President should have owed his oflice to their nomination. Then it becomes a commerce, upon the regular principle of trade— a commerce of mutual beneht. For \ lawgivers to work against themselves), at lew this reason Congress caucuses for the nomination \ by the force of public opinion, and the stern rt of presidential candidates fell unII)i;NT. 87 tMnvcntion,k which would have sent such suppliants for tvir from his presence. And I, who was senator for tliirty years, and never had ofRce for myself fir any one of my blood, have a right to con- demn a practice which my conduct rebuke*, and which the purity of the government requires to lic abolished, and which the early Presidents carefully avoided. CHAPTER XXXI. liEATIl OF THE EX-rUESIDENTS .lOlIN ADAMS AND TU0MA3 JEFFEliSON. It comes within the scojkj of this View to notice tlic deaths and characters of eminent public men i who have died during my time, although not my I contemporaries, and who haye been connected with the founding or early working vf the fed- eral government. This gives me a right to head a chapter with the names of Mr. John Adams land Mr. Jefferson — two of the most eminent [political men of the revolution, who, entering I public life together, died on the same day, — I July 4th, 182G,— exactly fifty years after they Iliad both put their hands to that Declaration of llndcpcndcnco which placed a new nation upon Ithc theatre of the world. Doubtless there was ■enough cf similitude in their lives and deaths to |excus3 the belief in the interposition of a direct jiroridcnce, and to justify the feeling of mys- jlorious reverence with which the news o» their co- Incident demise was received throughout the wintry. The parallel between them was com- plete. Born nearly at the same time, Mr. ^dams the elder, they took the same course in |fe— with the same success — and ended their irthly career at the same time, und in the same |fay :— in the regular course of nature, in the ro- ose and tranquillity of retirement, in the bosom If their families, and on the soil which their ►bors had contributed to make free. Born, one in Massachusetts, tho other in Vir- inia, they both received liberal educations, em- Ticcd the same profession (that of the law), bixcd literature and science with their legal studies and pursuits, and rnterended solely u|)on the sense \vlii»'h n-sult-i I)i iw text of the article in dis|iiito. docs nut tl';.. : tiinis4'ir called ujion 'o de<'iile hiTo any question relative to what ihu laws of war permit or forbid to the beiligcrents ; but, always fiiithfiil to the (;ramniatical interpretation of the first ar- ticle of the treaty of (Jhent, his Imixrial Mujcsty declares, a second time, that it appears tu him, according to this interpretation, that, in quittin;^ tho places and territories of which the treaty oi Ghent stipulates tho restitution to the United States, his Britannic Majesty's forces had no right to carry away from tho same places and territories, absolutely, any slave, by whatever means ho had fallen or come into their i)owcr." This was tho second declaration, the second de- cision of the point; and both parties having bound themselves to abide tho decision, be it what it might, a convention was immediately con- cluded for the purpose of carrying the EniiKjror's decision into effect, by establishing a board to ascertain the number and value of the deported slaves. It was a convention formally drawn up, signed by the ministers of the three powers, done in triplicate, ratified, and ratifications ex- changed, and tho affair considered finished. Not so the fact ! New misunderstanding, new nego- tiation, five years more consumed in diplomatic notes, and finally a new convention concluded ! Certainly it was not the value of the property in controversy, not tho amount of money to bo paid, that led Great Britain to that pertinacious resistance, bordering upon cavilling and bad faith. It was the loss of an advantage in war — the less of the future advantage of operating upon tho slave States through their slave property, and wliich advantage would be lost if this compensa- tion was enforced, — which induced her to stand out so long against her own stipulations, and the decisions of her own accepted arbitrator. This now or third treaty, making indemnity for these slaves, was negotiated at London, No- vember, 1820, between Mr. Gallatin on the part of the United States, and Messrs. Huskisson and Addington on tho part of Great Britain. It com- menced with reciting that " diflicultics having arisen in tho execution of tho convention conclud- ed at St. Petersburg, July 12th, 1822, under the mediation of his majesty tho Emperor of all the Russios, between tho United States of America and Great Britain, for tho purpose of carrying into ofiect tho decision of bia Imperial Majesty ■) , * t- .<■ '.( ■ I ■ti 90 TIIIRTV VEARS' VIEW. »ij)On tlic | point for tho consideration of his government. irA in the mean time, allowing and facilitating M taking of schedules of all slaves taken awar-l names, ages, sex, former owners, and Stateil from which taken. The British govemmeM resisted compensation upon the ground of vi^ captures ; that, being taken in war, no nattJ how, they became, like otljcr plunder, the pn perty of the captors, who had a right to disjx of it as they pleased, and had chosen to sctij free; that tho slaves, having become free, longed to nobody, and consequently it was i breach of the treaty stipulation to carry tb away. This ground was contested by the Cooj gross of the confederation to the end of its m cnco, and afterwards by the new federal gorei mcnt, from its commencement until the clii for indemnity was waived or abandoned, i tho conclusion of Jay's treaty, in I79C. very first message of Washington to Congi when he became President, presented the iDenj cution of the treaty of peace in this partiouk among others, as one of the complaints justi existing against Great Britain ; and all the d plomacy of his administration was exerted t obtain redress — ^in vain. The treaties of '94 1 '96 were both signed without allusion to thcsolil ject ; and, being left unprovided for in these trl ties, the claim sunk into tho class of obsolete li mands ; and the stipulation remained in the tn a dead letter, although containing the pn ANNO 1827. JOHN' QVINCY ADAMS, rUISlIvENT. 91 ,oriknnrty for public use. Three thousand slaves, the property of ascertained individuals, protected by a treaty stipulation, and afterwards abandoi)e benefit of liis own words, both in making i';, dis<-laiiner, and in giving tho account of i^ abortion of an impracticable scheme which lia] go lately been prosecuted, and opposed, with «., much heat and violence in our own country. J|„ said of it : " Disclaiming alike all right and all intcntinn I of interfering in those concerns which it is the prerogative of their independence to regulate t^ to them shall seem fit, we hail with joy every indication of their prosperity, of their harraonv of their persevering and inflexible homajie to those principles of freedom and of equal ri>»ht! I which are alone suited to tho genius and temper I of tho American nations. It has been thcrcfortl with some concern that wo have observed indi- cations of intestine divisions in some of the r^ I publics of tho South, and appearances of lec^l union with ono another, than wo believe to\A the interest of all. Among tho results of tlijj I state of things has been that the treaties con[ eluded at Panama do not appear to have boeal ratified by the contracting parties, and that thJ meeting of tho Congress at Tacubaya has bwJ indefinitely postponed. In accepting the invjt].! tions to be represented at this Congress, while tl manifestation was intended on the part of thtl United States, of tho most friendly dispositioJ towards the Southern republics by whom itl had been proposed, it was hoped that it woulJ furnish an opportunity for bringing all the iu-| tions of this hemisphere to the common acknowT ledgment and adoption of the principles, in (tA regulation of their international relations, whicil would have secured a lasting peace and harmonrl between them, and have promoted the cause 'i| mutual benevolence throughout the globe. Bail as obstacles appear to have arisen to the rc'l assembling of the Congress, ono of the two niii istcrs commissioned on tho part of the Unite States has returned to the bosom of his count^J while the minister charged with the ordinal mission to Mexico remains authorized to attenj at the conferences of the Congress whencTuI they may be resumed." This is the last that was heard of that so mutt vaunted Congress of American nations , and ii| the manner in which it died out of itself, amoq those who proposed it, without ever having I reached by a minister from the United Statt^ we have tho highest confirmation of tho sounjj ness of the objections taken to it by the opp tion members of the two Houses of oar Coi gross. In stating the condition of the finances, I message, without intending it, gave proof of thj paradoxical proposition, first, I believe, broaclii ANNO 1828. JOHN QUINCY ADAM!*, rRJ>II»r.NT. 93 \,\ my'^'l'^i t'"^^ "> Annual revenue to the extent j 3 fiiurtli or a fifth below the annual expendi- uiro. i< sufllcient to meet that annual expendi- ,„ri' ; ann the receipts arc equal, or superior I ;,i tlic cxiienditurc. He said : 'The balance in the trcasiiry on the first I lofJaniinry Inst was six millions three hun- 1 [ilreil and iifty-cight thousand six hundred and |,j_-|ity-,six dollars and eij;htcen cents. The 1 nwipt-'' from that day to the 30th of Septem- Ut last, ns near as the returns of them yet |ro(civcd can show, amount to sixteen millions Lisht hundred and eighty-six thousand five lliiimlred and eighty-one dollars and thirty-two jftiits. The receipts of the present quarter, jestimatcd at four millions five hundred and fif- |u«n thousand, added to the above, form an ag- |jn*!3ite of twenty-one millions four hundr«l Ithoiisand dollars of receipts. The expenditures |(if the year may perhaps amount to twenty-two linillions three hundred thousand dollars, prcsent- liisasniall excess over the receipts. But of lihesc twenty-two millions, upwards of six have kn applied to the discharge of the principal of klie public debt; the whole amount of which, tpproaching seventy-four millions on the first of paniiary last, will on the first day of next year p\ Ehort of sixty-seven millions and a half. The balance in the treasury on the first of Jan- uary next, it is expected, will exceed five millions luiir hundred and fifty thousand dollars ; a sum Iscmling that of the first of January, 1825, lhoii;rh falling short of that exhibited on the first ff January last." In this statement the exi)enditures of the year i shown to exceed the income, and yet to leave [balance, about equal to one fourth of the whole the treasury at the end of the year; also jiat the balance was larger at the end of the preceding year, and nearly the same at the end the year before. And the message might flTC added, that these balances were about the kme at the end of every quarter of every year, |id every day of every quarter— all resulting rom the impossibility of applying money to ob- pcts until there has been time to apply it. Yet fthe time of those balances of which Mr. Ad- ! speaks, there was a law to retain two mil- bns in the treasury ; and now there is a law to Itain six millions ; while the current balances, )the rate of a fourth or a fifth of the income, are any times greater than the sum ordered to be Jtained; and cannot be reduced to that sum, regular payments from the treasury, until the revnue itself Is rif lured below the ex- penditure. Tliis is a financial paradox, sustain- able upon reason, proved by facts, and vUiblo in the state of the treasury at ail tinio.<*; yet I have endeavored in vain to cstabli.>h it; and Congress is as careful as ever to provide an an- nual income equal to the annual exjjenditure ; and to make permanent provision by law to keep up a reserve in the treasury ; which would bo there of itself without such law as long as the revenue comes within a fourth or a fifth of the expenditure. The following members composed the two Houses at this, the first session of the twentieth Congress : 8EKATE. JIaine— John Chandler, Albion K. Tarris. New HAMrsHiiiK— Samuel Lell, Levi Wood- bury. Massachusetts— Xatlianiel Silslwe, Daniel Webster. Connecticut— Samuel A. Foot, Calvin Willey. Rhode Island— Xehemiah li. Knight, Asher Robbins. Vkrmont — Dudlcjr Chase, Horatio Seymour. New-Yokk— Martm Van Buren, Nathan San- ford. ' New Jersey — Mahlon Dickerson, Ephraim Bateman. Pennsylvania— William Marks, Isaac D. Barnard. Delaware— Louis M'Lane, Henry M. Ridge- ley. Maryland— Ezekicl F. Chambers, Samuel Smith. Virginia— Littleton W.Tazewell, John Tyler. P- North Carolina— John Branch, Nathaniel Macon. South Carolina— William Smith, Robert Y. Hayne. Georcia- John JITherson Berrien, Thomas W. Cobb. ' Kentuck y — Richard M. Johnson, John Rowan Tennessee— John H. Eaton, Hugh L. White. Ohio— William H. Harrison, Benjamin Rug-/'- gies. ,; Louisiana — Dominique Bouligny, Josiah S. Johnston. Indiana— William Hendricks, James Noble. Mississippi— Powhatan Ellis, Thomas II. Wil- liams. Illinois — Elias K. Kane, Jesse B. Thomas. Alabama— John McKinley, William R. King. Missouri— David Barton, Thomas H. Benton. HOUSE OF EEPEESENTATIVE8. Maine— John Anderson, Samuel Butman, Rufus MIntire, Jeremiah O'Brien, James W. Ripley, Peleg Sprague, Joseph F. Wingate— 7. New Hampshire— Ichabod Bartlett, David ( i. ! ' i! ! r !■: .rliJ' •/-' Ju."- in 94 THIRTY TEARS' VIEW. Av A : ..■ Barker, jr., Titiis Brown, Joseph Ilealcy, Jona- tlmn Ilarvcy. Thomfts Whipple, jr. — (J. Massaciii'hktts — Sainiiol C. Allen, John Bai- Ic}', I.s.sac C. Bates, B. W. CrowninNhieUl, John l/avifl, Henry W. Dwight, Edn-arl Everett, Benjamin (Jorham, James li. Ho. Gkoroia — John Floyd, Tomlinson For* 1 Charles E. Hay nes, George R. Gilmer, AVjIm, J Lumpkin,Wiley Thompson,Richard H. Wilde—; Kentuc KY — Richani A. Buckncr, James Clark Henry Daniel, Joseph Lccompte, Rol^rt pi Letcher, Chittenden Lyon, Thomas Mutcaif. Robert M'Hatton, Thomas P. Moore, Charles \, Wickliffo, Joel Yancey, Thomas Chilton— Ij. Tennessee — John Bell, John Blair, I)avi.|| Crockett, Robert Desha, Jacob C. Isacks, Prvo- Lea, John H. Maroble, James C. Mitchell, Jma K. .golk— 9. (PM...,.rt*v,^'/'7Y?' '^ Ohio — Mordccai Bartlcjf, Pnilcmon Bowhcr 1 A\'illiam Creighton, jr., John Davenport, Jam«l Findlay, Wm. M'Lean, William Russell. John I Sloano, William Stanberry, Joseph Vance. Samuel | F. Vinton, Elisha Whittlesey, John Woods, John I C. Wright— 14. Louisiana — William L. Brent, Henry il.| Gurley, Edward Livingston — 3. | Indiana — Thomas H. Blake, Jonathan Jei>| nings, Oliver H. Smith— 3. Mississippi — William Haile — I. Illinois — Jo.seph Duncan — 1. Alabama — Gabriel Moore, John M'Keel George W. Owen — 3. Missouri— Edward Bates — 1. :, ^ £ (,. ,^, i DKtEOATES. ^'^^'^-' " Arkansas Territory — A. H. Sevier. Michigan Territory — Austin E. Wing. Florida Territory— Joseph M. White. This list of members presents an immcnal array of talent, and especially of business talent! and in its long succession of respectable name^l many will be noted as having attained natioiull reputations— others destined to attain that dis-l tinction — while many more, in the first class of| useful and respectable members, remained without national renown for want of that faculty nhichl nature seems most capriciously to have scattcnJ ainong the children of men — the faculty of flucjij and c opio us speech ; — giving it to some of judgment — denying it to others of equal, orltil greater judgment — and lavishing it"upon scm of no judgment at all. The national eyes i fixed upon the first of these classes — the boi of judgment and copious speech ; and evcnthos in the third class obtaui national notoriety; whiii| the men in the second class — the men of ju(ij ment and few words — are extremely valued i respected in the bodies to wliich they bcIoDj and have great weight in the conduct of busines They are, in fact, the business men, often m practical and efficient than the great oratoi This twentieth Congress, as all others that hiH ciiapte: REVISION OF Che tariff of 1828 is j teinu the event from ANNO 1828. 1 < QUINCY ADAMf, rRESll>ENT. 95 K^n. contained a larp: proportion of these mont laiihl and rcHpcctable members; and it will bo Lvf plea.e exclusively for the benefit of New Kii;'U,, to be brought forward bv her ngenoy, nml r. signed to gratify the eupitlity of her wialtliv, tablishments. " IJoth rlmrges, sir. are equally without t.l slightest foundation. The opmion of Ni« };• | land, up to 1H24, was founded in the conviri; that, on the whole, it was wisest nnd U^t. 1,, for herself and others, that manufacturers slicm nuike haste slowly. She felt a reluctance to tpi,.! great interests on the foimdation of govcmn,.ii;| patronage ; for who could tell bow long micJ patronage would last, or with what stemltif.^ skill, or jicrsevernnre, it would continue to i«L granted? It is now nearly fifteen years, sini>| among the first things which I ever ventiirwltJ soy hero, was the expression of n serious (loiil,t| whether this government was fitted by its (vj. btruction, to administer aid and protection J particular pursuits ; whether, having called si;ci| pursuits into being by indications of its favor. ;i would not, afterwards, of 1824 received the sanction of both lluusis ( Congress, and settled the policy of the countn What, then, was New England to do? Slieirij fitted for manufacturing operations, by l amount and character of her population, by \ii capital, by the vigor and energy of her freelaM by the skill, economy, enterprise, and pcrscvd ance of her people. I repeat, what was slie, i dor these circumstances, to do ? A great ii| prosperous rival in her near neighborhood, thn ening to draw from her a part, perhaps a ^ part, of her foreign commerce ; was she to i or to neglect, those other means of seclcinj; 1 own prosperity which belonged to her cliararti and her condition ? Was she to bold out, fJ ANNO Ui«. John gL'INCY AI»AMS. I'llt-HlliKNT. 97 fur n'.'niiHt f'o tflurse of tlio (rnvrmmptit, nii'I ,, III rxlf I""*!";;, tui oni- siilc. nml \rl makiinr uo /'iris to su«tniii In rsvlf on tin- olhtT / N<>, Mir. \ lliini? "OS Itfl to New ^'.n^rlnllll, nftir the «rt 1«J4, t'lit to c-oiifonii hiTsi'lf to tho will of „.|-^. Nothing was left to luT, Init to considtT [ I tiiit till' pivi'iiiim'iit hill! (ixi'ii nml orted the motion with some reasons, ami some views of the former cultivation of that plant in tho Southern States, and itK present decline, thus : '• Mr. TIenton then proposed an amendment, in imiH)se a duty of 'J') cents pr pound on imixirted imiigo, with a progressive iiierea.so at the rate of •-T) cents [nr iK)uml ikt annum, until tho whole duty amounted to $1 ]>cr ])ounrta(ioii nrnil to I.I.Vi.oiHi IhN.rostinK n frnr'tlon Iff^ than two inillHuiM of ilolliirs. nml liaHed to lay instanter uiK>n the very cloth which this indipi was intended to dye. In the end it would make all indigo come cheaper to the manufacturer, as the home supply would soon Iw (•(liial, if not suiwrior to the demand ; and in the mean time, it could not bo considered a tax on the manufacturer, as he would levy the advance Khicli he had to jmy, with a good interest, upon the wearer of the cloth. > •• .i:,' v-^ Nje^< ■ " Mr. li. then went into an exposition of the reasons for encourapinp; the homo production of indigo, and showed that the life of the American System depended upon it. Neither cotton nor woollen manufactures could be carried on with- out indigo. The consumption of that article vraa prodigious. Even now, in the infant state of our manufactories, the importation was worth two millions of dollars: and must soon bo worth double or treble that sum. For this groat sup- ply of an indispensable article, we were chiefly indebted to the jealous rival, and vigilant enemy, of these very manufactures, to Great Bri- tain herself. Of the 1,150,000 lbs. of indigo im- ported, wo bring (320,000 lbs. from the British East Indies; which ore word from the British povemment would stor, ,br ever ; we bring the further quantity of 120,000 lbs, from Manilla, a Spanish possession, which Briti.sh influence and diplomacy could immediately stop : ond the re- mainder came from dill'erent parts of South Ame- rica, and might be taken from us by the arts of diplomacy, or by a monopoly of the whole on tho part of our rival. / stoppage of a supply of in- digo for one year, would prostrate all our manu- factories, and give them a bb^ from which they would not recover in many pean.'. Great Britain could effect this ctoppage to the ?> mount of three fourths of the whole quantity hj . pf" king a sin- gle word, and of the remainder b;.' v light e:;or- tion of policy, or the expenditi're o' ■ nuin tfi- tient to monopolize for one ycir 'So purcldie of what South America sent into the mark'. ',. " Mr. B. said he expected .v »mantr,i;ns vote in favor of bis amendment. Tlie North should vote for it to wcnn> the life of the Ani-rirnn Sv.. tern ; to give a pn>of of their reu'^trd ("' the .S.Kiii, to hhow that the country M>wth of -he Pi luin, m inclu'lfil III the bill fur mmeothi'i piir|xi«<. ),.. sideH that of oppression. The South ilxilf. ,i . though op|K)sed to the further iiicreast of dnti,,, should vote for this duty ; that tho hill, if |, pnss»'S, may contain one provision fnoralilr to it, interests. The West hliouM Vole I'ur it tliruii.', (rratitiKlo for fifty years of guardian protirii. :, u'ciieniuH defence, and kind assiNtance, wlmh tl,,. .South had given it under all its trials; iiii>l ri,r tho iiurixise of enlarging the market, incna>ii ,. the demaml in the South and its ability tn pur! chase the horses, mules, and provisions whidithH West ran sell nowhere else. For himself In. l,,i| personal reasons for wishing to do this little jn.. tico to the South, lie was a native of one ,( these Slates (X. Carolina) — tho bones of his fi ther and his grandl'athers rested there. ||,r Senators and ilepresentatives were his enrlv v. his hereditary fi it'iids. Tho venerable Siininr | before him (Mr. Macon) had been the friind i him and his, through four generations in j | straight line ; tho other Senator (Mr. liinniii) was his schoolfellow : tho other branch of iIk legislature, tho House of Bepresentntives, «lx) j showed liim in the North Carolina delefration, tho friends of liim and his thron|.'h sii(assi\» generations. Nor was this all. Ho felt for the i sad changes which had taken }>lncc in the Sdntli in the last fifty years. Before the Revolution it 1 was tho seat of wealth as well as of hosiiitalitv, Money, and all that it commanded, aboiiii(k|| there. But how now ? All this is reversed, " Wealth hoi [ from the South, and settWl in tho regions lorth of the Potomac, and tliisial the midst of tlio fact that the South, in four staplci I alone, in 'cotton, tohacco, rico ond indigo (while I indigo was one of its staples), had exported pro- 1 duce since the Revolution, to the value of ci|:litl hundred million of dollars, and tho North had I exported comparatively nothing. This sum was I prodigious ; it was nearly equal to half the coin. I age of the mint of Mexico since tho conquest kl C'ortez. It was twice or thrico tho amount oil the product of the three thousand gold and silver I mines of Mexico, for tho same period of i years. Such an export' would indicate uii|arai.| leled w^calth ; but what was the fact ? ' ' ti .^^ of wealth, a universal pressure for mon^ sS'i felt; not enougii lor current expenses ; i, i ,"f' of all property down ; the country drc languishing ; towns and cities decaying , ai. frugal habits of the people pushed to the vergtl of universal self-denial, for the preservation c their family estates. Such a result is a .stran^l and vonderful phenomenon. It calls upon .states.| r-.en to inquire into the cause ; and if they ia-l quire upon tha theatre of this strange mctanlO^I phof' . they will receive one universal anwerj from all ranks and all ages, that it is fedcnil legi.uation which has worked this ruin. Undal this legislation the exports of the South han been made the basis of the federal revenue. Hnl ANNO I«J«. JOIIS QIINCY Alt.VMS rur>ll»KNT. 90 i-rrntr (xl't niilliont unnunlly IcTiml iipnn itn- 'urtcii tr Ari< ilcliii'lt'il nut nf iho |li«i-i-o. i •' .t hi jIi«' rici' wliirli llu-y rifi'iv r IIii-m' htnpli'A ;) fiiivi)t» l>ortH, i>r in tlio iiirrciiscil priit- which ;!,,•» jittv for tiio »rticl('« tlicy have ti> duihiiiik' ii liidiic' Virt;i.)iiv th.i two ( 'iin)lini«H mul < Jwir(?i», uitr 'w f^ 1 lodifniy thnw roiirlhH of theaiinuitl ,'S|icn.H' of Hii|>[Kjrcinf{ the frdt-ral (xovcriitnont ; ,nli>fthis|{rcnt mini niiinuillv fnniishfil l>y thciii, >iihintf. or next to nothinir. is n'tiirtud to thi-m III iho "impo of Rovcnitncnt ciiilituru llowH ill an o|i|H>sito (iirirtion ; it ilavs northwardly, in one iiiiit'orin, uiiintc-rriipU'il :,:i,| |)i'n-nnial Htrt'iiiii ; it takuH tlic our ' of irndu ,nii i)f ''xdinnpe ( and thin iH '!,<• lOu on why iroalili di'*opii«ftr(4 fwin tlio ■ i 'n . id i c. npin I the North. Federal k'p lation 'o. > h oI ciernall; tiikinf^ I mav from the South nn ' a' :i;,j. ,„»ihinp; to If it rcturnc ' ti- tho Soum tho wi olo, or I inn » (?o« ' pni" ' ^'"it it oxftited, th* four MiUH south o< I'u I'otomac iiii;;ht ^tanii w.c Liionof this Hysl.uj, as thf cnrth is enuljled to I .lanil till oxhaustinj; intinonco io exhausted of its money and its pro- l]«rty by a course of legislation which is for ever uking fi'Oin it, and never roturnini; any thing to • Every now tariff increases tho force of this Isction. No taritl" has ever yet included Virginia, I the t>vo Carolinas, and Georgia, within its pro- Ivi^ions, except to increase the burdens imposed liipon tliem. This one alone, presents tho oppor- Itinity to form an exception, by reviving and re- storing the cultivation of one of its ancient sta- liiks,— one of tho sources of its wealth before the Ikevolution. Tho tariff of 1828 owes this repara- Ition to the South, because the taritf of 1810 con- Itrilmtcd to destroy the cultivation of indigo; Ipiiuk the duty on the foreign article, from twenty- live to fifteen cents per pound. These aro the basons for imposing the duty on indigo, now pro- osc'l. What objections can possibly bo raised 10 it? Not to the quality; for it is tho same Jrvliicl) laid the foundation of the British manu- cs, and sustn'nod their reputation for moro 'fa cent . , not to the quantity; for |u io C'arolmas and Georgia alone raised as niicli fifty years ago as we now im{)ort, and we bvc now the States of Louisiana, Alabama, and llississippi, and the Territories of Florida and Ar- pnsas, to add to the countries which produce it ; lot to the amount of the duty ; for its maximum till be but fortjr per cent., only one half of the luty laid by this bill on the cloth it is to dve ; pi that maximum, not immediate, but attained Jy slow degrees at the end of four years, in order ) pivc time for the domestic article to supply the [lace of the imported. And after all, it is not a uty on the manufacturer, but on tho wearer of the |rnom alMin ho Irrii"", with ft powl iiiterot on the iifiif of ItiK cUiHm. all tliitt be ex* IMii'N in the pHifhase of iivaieriaU. For oiioo, Mild .Mr. Ii.. I I ^ «<'l M >innriiniiii|N vntroit «rUiiMi ill the tnrill'. I iih u, ' jo rlauM> iuttHM bMe (lie »>iiit;ulnr and nnpreo'deiiK'd b'mor nf an nhaiii- mous voici'in it.'>"' "mst votr l<>r it, to revive the ciiltu , nn <>f otie i>t its tttrmf »n«'ieiit and vnliinlilo Ndiplos ; th<- NVe-t mu^t vote f«t It through gratitude for past fii\ rs — thnmph grati- tinle for the vole on hemp lis night* -mid to save, enlarge, nii I iiien-ase the market for ilxowii Iirodiirtinns ; the North must vote for it to khow their dixiiiterestedness ; to give one iirfMif of JumI feeling towards the South ; and, a)K)ve all to save their favorite Aniericnn ."System from ltii« deadly b'ow whieh (ireat Britain can at any tii«>- nient give it by stopping or interrupting the sn|>- plics of foieiL'n indigo; and the whole Union. Hid entire legislative body, must vote for it, and vote for it with joy and cnthusiii.sm. Is'enu.w it is itn- possible that .Americans can deny to sister States of tho t'onfeileraey what a Uritish King and ii IJrI'ish I'arliament granted to these same States when thoy were colonies and dependencies of the British crown." Mr. Ilaync, of South Carolina, seconded my motion in a speech of which this is an extract : "Mr. Ilaync snid he was opposed to this lii!l in its principles as well us in its details. It could assume no shape which would make it accepta- ble to him, or which could prevent it from ope- rating most oppressively and unjustly on his constituents. With these views, ho had deter- mined to inako no motion to amend the bill in any respect whatever : but when such motions were made by others, and ho was compelled to vote on them, ho knew no better rule than to endeavor to make tho bill con.sistent with itself. On this principle he had acted in all the votes he had given on this bill. lie had endeavored to carry out to its legitimate consequences what gentlemen are plea.sed to mi.scall the ' American .System.' With a fixed resolution to vote against the bill, he still considered himself at liberty to assist in so arranging the details as to extend to every great interest, and to nil portions of the country, as far as may be practicable, equal pro- tection, and to distribute tho burdens of the system equally, in order that its benefits as well as its evils may be fully tested. On this prin- ciple, he should vote for the amendment of the gentleman from Missouri, because it was in strict conformity with all the principles of the bill. As a southern man. he would ask no boon for tho .*v)uth — he shoulil propose nothing; but he must say that the protection of indigo rested on tho same jirinciplcs as every other article proposed • "Tho vote on liemp tlil» nliilit.'' In rejecting Mr. Web* Btcr's motion to strik* .«iit the duty on Iiemp, Rnd s vote In whloli tlie South went unaolmnusly with tlie Vi'eai.—KuU lij Mr.B, ■\ ' 1 i ',' ■, ■ I f ' 100 THIRTY YKAUS' VIF.W. .1 ti) lie iirotcctcd liv tliis hill, arwl ho rian who records these disasters will have to n,. cribc them to mca-sures of this description. I di, sincerely believe that neither this government nor any free government, can exist for a quarter of a century, under such a system of legislation. Its inevitable tendency is to corrupt, not only the public functionaries, but all those portions of tin Union and classes of society who have an inttre,«t, real or imaginary, in the bounties it provides, !iy taxing other sections and other classes. What. sir, is the essential characteristic of a freeman,' It is that independence which results from an habitual reliance upon his own resources and his own labor for his support. He is not in fact a I freeman, who habitually looks to the government for pecuniary bounties. And I confess that no- 1 thing in tiie conduct of those who are the prorai- ntnt .advocates of this system, has excited more I apprehension and alarm in my mind, than the constant efforts made by all of them, from the Secretary of the Treasury down to the humblest coadjutor, to impress upon the public mind, the idea that national prosperity and individual | wealth are to be derived, not from individual in- dustry and economy, but from government boiin- 1 ties. An idea more fatal to liberty could not k inculcated. I said, on another occasion, that the days of Roman liberty were numbered when the I people consented to receive bread from the ]i\]\yl lie granaries. From that moment it was not the I patriot who had shown the greatest capacity anJ I made the greatest sacrifices to serve the republic. | but the demagogue who would promise to riis- tribute most profusely the spoils of the plunded I provinces, that was elevated to office by a degen- 1 erate and mercenary populace. Every thing be- 1 canio venal, even in the country of Fabricius. un- 1 til linally the empire itself was sold at publkl auction 1 And what, sir, is the nature and ten- 1 dency of the system we are discussing ? It bearil an analogy, but too lamentably striking, to thslj which corrupted the republican purity of ihil ANNO 1828. JOHN Ql'INCV ADAM.~». PRIMDF.NT. H'l lloman people. (Jixl forhid tlint it .shoulil con- suiimiiite its tn 'iiph over llie piililie lilierty, \>y a similar cata.stroi)he, tlioiiL'h even tli;it is an ivint t>y no mcan.s iinprohalile, if wo rontmue ti> loi^slatc periodically in this way, ftn sections. In tho colonial state, the Soutlurii were the rich jjart of the colonics, and evjiecti'd to do well in a state of independence. They li;i 1 the exports, and felt secure of their inosperity : not so of the North, whose agricidtunil re.-io\ircos were few, ami who expected privations from tin- loss of British fuNOr. But in tho first half cen- tury after Independence this expectation was rever.sed. The wealth of the North was enor- mously aggrandized : that of the South had do- clincd. Northern towns had become great cities : Southern cities had decayed, or become station- ary ; and Charleston, tho principal port of tlio South, was less considerable than before tho Revolution. Tho North became a money-lend' r to the South, and southern citizens made pil- grimages to northern cities, to raise money upon the hypothecation of their patiimonial estates. And this in tho face of a southern export since tho Revolution to the value of eight hundred millions of dollars ! — a sum e((ual to tho product of the Mexican mines since the days of Cortex I and twice or thrice the amount of their product in the same fifty years. The Southern States attributed this result to the action of the federal government — its double action of levying reve- nue upon tho industry of one section of the Union and expending it in another — and espe- cially to its protective tarifl's. To some degree this attribution was just, but not to the degree assumed ; which is evident from the fact that tho protective system had then only been in force for a short time — since tho year 181G ; and the re- versed condition of tho two sections of tho Union had commenced before that time. Other causes must have had some effect : but for the present wo look to the protective system ; and, without admitting it to have done all the mischief of which tho South complained, it had yet done enough to causo it to be condemned by every friend to equal justice among the States — 113' every friend to the harmony and stability of tho Union— by all who detested sectional legislation — by every enemy to tho mischievous combina- tion of partisan politics with national legislation. >;;' ■»' '■'>'': J 02 THIRTY YEARS' VIEW. And lliis was the fetliiij; witli tlie mass of the democratic members wlio voted for the tariff of 1S'2H, and who were determined to act upon that fi-eling iii)oii tlie ovcrliirow of the jwhtical party which advocated the protective pystem; and whicii overthrow they believed to be certain at tlio ensuing presidential election. CIIAPTEll XXXV. THE ruBi.icLANDs-Tiinin rnoPKi: nisrosmoN — GIIADUATKI) IM;l(i;S-l'i:E-E.Ml'T10>f KIGllTS— DONATIONS TO SKTTLEliS. AiiouT the year 1785 the celebrated Edmund IJurke brought a bill into the British House of Commons for the sale of the crown lands, in which he laid down principles in political econ- omy, in relation to such property, profoundly sagacious in themselves, applicable to all sove- reign landed possessions, whether of kings or republics — applicable in all countries — and no- where more applicable and less known or ob- served, than in the United States. In the course of the speech in support of his bill he said : '• Lands sell at the currenc rate, and nothing can sell for more. But be the price what it may, a great object is always answered, whenever any jiroperty is transferred from hands whicli are not lit for that property, to those that are. The buyer and the seller must mutually profit by such a bargain ; and, what rarely happens in matters of revenue, the relief of the subject will go hand in hand with the profit of the Exchequer. * * * The revenue to be derived from the sale of the forest lands will not be so considera- ble as many have imagined ; and I conceive it would be unwise to screw it up to the utmost, or even to suffer bidders to enhance, according to their eagerness, the purchase of objects, \vhereiii the expense of that purchase may weaken the capital to be employed in their culti- vation. * * * The principal revenue which I propose to draw from these uncultivated wastes, is to spring from the improvement and popula- tion of the kingdom; events infinitely more advantageous to the revenues of the crown than the rents of the best landed estate which it can liold. * * * It is thus I would dispose of the unprofitable landed estates of the crown : throw them into the moss of private property: by which they will come, through the course of cir- culation and through the jwlitical secretions of the Slate, into well-regulated revenue. "♦ * ♦ Thus would fall an expensive agency, with »;; the influence which attends it." I do not know how old, or rather, how youn; I was, when I first took up the notion that sak-s of land by a government to its own citizens, ani to the highest bidder, was false policy ; and that gratuitous grants to actual settlers was the triiu policy, and their labor the true way of extnu-.. ing national wealth and strength from the uoil, It might have been in childhood, when readiii" the Bible, and seeing the division of the prom- ised land among the children of Israel : it might have been later, and in learning the operation of the feudal system in giving lands to those wlio would defend them : it might hare been in carlv life in Tennessee, in seeing the fortunes and re- spectability of many families derived from tin 640 acre head-rights which the State of North Carolina had bestowed upon the first settlers, It was certainly before I had read the speech of Burke from which the extract above is taken; for I did not sec that speech until 182G ; anj seventeen years before that time, when a very young member of the General Assembly of Tennessee, I was fully imbued with the doctrine of donations to settlers, and acted upon the prin- 1 ciple that was in me, as far as the case admitted, in advocating the pre-emption claims of the set- tlers on Big and Little Pigeon, French Broad, I and Nolichucky. And when I came to the thcu | Territory of Missouri in 1815, and saw land ex- posed to sale to the highest bidder, and leid I mines and salt springs reserved from sale, and rented out for the profit of the fbderal treasury, I felt repugnance to the whole system, and 4- 1 termined to make war upon it whenever I should [ have the power. The time came round with my election to the Senate of the United States in 1820 : and the years 1824, '26, and '28, found mo doing battle for an ameliorated system ot disposing of our public lands; and with some success. The pre-emption system was cstab-l lished, though at first the pre-emption claimant was stigmatized as a trespasser, and repulsed as a criminal ; the reserved lead mines and salt I springs, in the State of Missouri, were broughl I into market, like other lands ; iron ore lands, in [ tended to have been withheld from sale, wert I rescued from that fate, and brought into market | Still the two repulsive features of the federal land system — sales to the highest bidder, and! donations to no one — with an arbitrary mininiira I )crennial, and the ini AXXO 1828. JOHN QUlNCi' ADA5IS, rilK.-ilDEXT. 103 r^ioc which placed tlic cost of all lands, go*Ml , tnri bud, at tho samo uniform rate (artor the , auctions were over), at one dollar twi-nty-flve „,i;s i)cr acre. I resolved to move against the ffiiole system, and especially in favor of grmlu- ! jti'4 prices, and donations to actual and destitute , PottltTs. I did so in a bill, renewed annually f ,r a hnrc8cnted, and often enforced, in the course of the several speeches which I made in support of my graduation and donation bills : and, on tho point of population, and of freeholders, against tenants, I gave utterance to these senti« ments: " Tenantry is unfavorable to freedom. It lays 104 THIRTY YF.ARV VIEW. the foundation for ( land for the P vtiuie out of the jni a'liting lead mi ljnk>. with all its trt a\ military agcnt.s, w |i.;n'il. 1 tru,st that Lnvi'tlie subject a pla( j,,:il the aid of his rec( I ( ! fo great an olyec |o,[ifcially. should fix IfRs^, They arc a rc| I lie live. National mil Idiitateof i)riidenee, Jy licunoiny, and by the Itwryage and countr}' Jin that business. T lirnmciit, created for \f. pjnc to work amoi ijK.r Louisiana, to give Cloiibt. of the celebrate) wjohn Law. For tl Lre nor less than a j lilt of the same ide President, upon the Imoii? the same hole f lie's men in 1720; a Iroken picks, and mot Mbratcd projector, is low at work ; and, thai e wanting to complete ^ertnking. the task of lorn these operations, Jreminj, but to the l\ \ "Salines and salt spri ■ine system — reserved : purjiose of raising Jyself that I see the em rstsm. The debate v leks ago on the bill to m salt, is every won 1 ivhich I have introdt fecrved salt springs, Urdingly, and shall ej Ic advocates for the r Icr the bill for the sale It to the vote." lArgument and sarcasn lion to the mineral and pte in which I lived- 1 act was passed in li I mass of private propt Icr public lands. An liment, in that State, go profitable pursuit; an Jeholders instead of fed Ibly R'ere developed in ( )pursuits of private ind 1 stagnated in the han( lants. But it was co ANNO 1828. JOHN QUIXCY ADAMS, I'RF^inKNT. 103 ifuse laii'ii good land ud mineral salt water, of tenantn | ments : bident, that I lit will not I iotisin, nor ifuriortoi Enii-*' rftriiatni-nt in politinnl wisdom. I do If.;.! and iK'lieve that this whole system of holil- , |.,j, lip land for the ri.se, endeavoring to make pieiiiie out of tlie soil of the country, lca.«inp L^l aiitiiii? h'ad min^.s, salt springs, and iron iiinks with all it.s train of penal laws and civil a:il inilit-'H'y agents, will Ijc condemned an pjnc to work among the lead mines of Up- lorto(l with stakes, to jiri'vent tlifir ponderous wtijclit from ttariii^ up the vine, and rolling to tlic Ijoltoni of the hillH. There was just room at . their ha.se for a road to run hetween, and not room for a house, to find a level place for its foiin- (lulion ; for which pur|>ose a [lart of the hill had to be (liijj awa}'. Vet, from tluM hoj)eless l>egin- iiiu^', Willi the advanta-io of a little jiieco of friounil that was her own, this nj.'t.'d widow, and two little grandchildren, of eifrht or nine yeans old, ailvanced herself to comparative wealth: money, slaves, hor.scs, cattle; and her fields ex- tended into the valley below, and her orjjhan pandcliildren, raised up to honor and indepen- dence : these were the fruits of economy and in- dustry and a noble illustration of the advantage of giiHii^ land to the poor. But the federal gov- ernment would have demanded sixty-two dollars and fifty cents for that land, cash in hand ; and old (iranny White and her grandchildren might have lived in misery and sunk into vice, before the opponeuLs of this bill would have taken Ic e."' I quoted the example of all nations, ancient and modern, republican and monarchical, iu fa- vor of giving lands, in parcels suitable to their wants, to meritorious cultivators ; and denied that there was an instance upon earth, except that of our own federal government, which made merchandise of land to its citizens — exacted the highest price it could obtain — and refused to suf- fer the country to bo settled until it was paid for. The " promised land " was divided among the children of Israel — the women getting a share where there w'as no man at the head of the family — as with the daughters of Manasseh. All the Atlantic States, when British colonies, were settled upon gratuitous donations, or nominal sales. Kentucky and Tennessee were chiefly settled in the same way. The two Floridas, and Upper and Lower Louisiana, were gratuitously distributed by the kings of Spain to settlers, in quantities adapted to their means of cultivation — and with the whole vacant domain to select from according to their pleasure. Land is now given to settlers in Canada ; and £30,000 ster- ling, has been voted at a single session of Par- liament, to aid emigrants in their removal to these homes, arid commencing life upon them. The republic of Colombia now gives 400 acres to n settler : other South American republics give more or less. Quoting these examples, I added : " Such, ]Mr. President, is the conduct of the free republics of the South. I say republics : for it is the same in all of them, and it would be tedious and monotonous to repeat their numerous decrees. In fact, throughout the New World, fiom Hudson's Bay to Capo Horn (with if, single exception of these Lnited States), 1,.,,^ I the gifl of (jo<1 to man, is also the gilt of ii^j government to its citizens. Nor is this wy policy conflneII>i:NT. 107 njHii thtir voice against t)ti:i hard jiolicy b«forc litiiic into the national councils. My own was |i.> n nu>ilacc in oiir Ifoloral land policy dnring my time : and that the :,atimont of Congress, and that of the public • n. rally. ha.'J become much more liberal in land Lknations; and is approximating towards the luutliccnt .systems of the rest of tho world. But \\K members in Congress from the new States Ifh'iild not intermit their e.xertions, nor vary ItLur [wlicy ; and should fix their eyes steadily lii>.n the period of the speedy extinction of the K^lifal title to all the lands within tho limits tf their respective States ; — to bo cflected by trc-tinption rights, by donations, and by the ulo (of so much as shall be sold), at graduated prices,— adapted to the different qualities of the tcts, to be estimated according to tho time it i amained in market unsold — and by liberal nt.5 to objects of general improvement, both lational and territorial. CHAPTER XXXVI. SJIOM OP A PART OF THE TERRITORY OF AKKANSAS TO TUE CHEROKEE INDIANS. ^KANSAS was an organized territory, and liJbccn so since tho year 1819. Her western bundary was established by act of Congress in [ay 1824 (chiefly by the exertions of her then [legate, Henry W. Conway), — and was an ex- ision of her existing boundary on that side ; I for national and State reasons. It was an Ibide territory — beyond the Mississippi — a Intier both to Mexico (then brought deep into Valley of tho Mississippi by the Florida laty which gave away Texas), and to the nu- pus Indian tribes then being removed from 1 South Atlantic States to tho west of the iFsissippi. It was, therefore, a point of national |icy to make her F*rong — to make her a first > State, — both for her own sake and that of i Union, — and equal to all the exigencies of [ advanced and frontier position. The exten- 1 was on the west — the boundaries on the ler throe sides being fixed and immovable — and added a firtilo belt — a pnralkloKrnin i>\' forty miles by three hnndrcor Kepresentatives voted the appropriations to can it into effect; and thus acquiesced in the rot^; of an act of Congress by the President. Si'i:aJ and Cherokee Indians ; and these nppropriatioj were voted with the general concurreiioe of iJ southern members of the House. And (|,„ another slice, and a pretty largo one (twdj thousand square miles), was taken off of slaJ territory in the former province of Louisiai which about completed the excision of \\\ had been left for slave State occupation nfn the Missouri compromise of 1820, nnl [U cession to Texas of contemporaneous duce, y] previous cessions to Indian tribes. And this was the work of southern men, who il i saw no objection to the Congressional hx lation which acted upon slavery in tiriil tork^ — which further curtailed, and even tj tinguishcd slave soil in all the vast c.\panJ of the former Louisiana — save and except tl/ comparative little that was left in the State « Missouri, and in the mutilated Territory of .\i kansas. The reason of the southern mcmbeij for promoting this amputation of Arkansas J favor of the Cherokees, was simply to ml in inducing their removal by adding the part of Arkansas, with its salt springs, to i ample millions of acres west of that tcrriloij already granted to them; but it was a tuitous sacrifice, as the largo part of the tnli| had already emigrated tc the seven millkt of acres, and the remainder were \vaitingfi( moneyed inducements to follow. And beside the desire for this removal could have no ( upon the constitutional power of Congress l legislate upon slavery in territories, or uponi! policy which curtails the boundaries of a futol slave State. I have said that the amputated part of I kansas was an organized part of the territottj divided into counties, settled and cultiratd Now, what became of these inhabitants ?-tlii CHAPTER AXXO 1829. JOHN t;UlNCY ADAMS, PUESIDKNT. 100 Lunrty ? and possessions ? They were bouglit ^t bv tlic fitlornl govcrnnifnt ! A simultanfous .t was passed, making a donation of three hun- u,,l and twenty acres of land (within the re- fining part of Arkansas), to each head of a milv who would retire from the amputated j,ri- and subjecting all to military removal lijit tlitl not retire. It was done. They all Xj,i|,irew. Three hundred and twenty acres of kid in front to attract them, and regular troops J the rear to push them, presented a motive turer adequate to its object ; and twelve thou- uid square miles of slave territory was evacu- toi by its inhabitants, with their Hocks, and Itnls, and slaves; and not a word was said )cut it ; and the event has been forgotten. But I is necessary to recall its recollection, as an Lportant act, in itself, in relation to the new lute of Arkansas — as being the work of the louth— and as being necessary to be known in [dcr to understand subseiiuent events. CHAPTER XXXVII. tsEWAL OF THE OHEGON JOINT OCCUrATION CONVENTION. \x American settlement at the mouth of the plumbia, or Oregon, was mode in 1811. It was 1 act of private enterprise, done by the eminent jerchant, Mr. John Jacob Astor, of New- York ; the young town christened after lus own me, Astoria : but it was done with the conu- sance and stipulated approbation of the gov- nent of the United States ; and an officer of [ United States navy — the bravo Lieutenant lorn, who was with Decatur at Tripoli, and \o afterwards blew up his ship in Nootka nd to avoid her capture by the savages Bowing himself, crew and savages all into the |),— was allowed to command his (Mr. Astor's) ng vessel, in order to impress upon the en- prisc the seal of nationality. This town was |)turcd during the war of 1812, by a ship of r detached for that purpose, by Commodore plyar, commanding a British squadron in the Icific Ocean. No attempt was made to recover paring the war; and, at Ghent, after £ome ef- fortJt on the part of the British commissioner", to set up a title to it, its restitiition was slipii- latert.s nnd ImrlxtrH. and of niivijyatinj? tho riviTH of each other. 'Jhis would itnply tluit each jroverntncnt jiosscKSi'd in that quarter, jiorts, anil liarhorH, and navij;al>lo riverH ; and were alxiut to bring them into hotch-iioteh for mutual en- joyment. No such thinp. There is hut one port, and that the n.outh of the (Jolumhia — but one river, nnd that tho CoIun)})ia itself: and both port and river our own. AVc pive tho equal use of these to tho Uritish, and receive nothing in re- turn. Tiio conventi(m says that tho "claim" of neither party is to be jirejudiced by tho joint possession. This admits that (ireat Uritain has a claim — a thing never admitted Inifore by us, nor pretended by her. At (Jhent sho stated no claim, and could stftto none. Her ministers merely askod for the river as a boundary, as bo- i:ig tho most convenient ; and for tho use of tho harbor at its mouth, as being necessary to their ships and trade ; but stated no claim. Our com- missioners reported that thoy (tho British com- missioners) endeavored ' to lay a nest-egg ' for a future pretension ; which they failed to do at Ghent in 1815, but succeeded in laying in Lon- don in 1818 ; and before tho ten years arc out, a full grown fighting chicken will bo hatched of that egg. There is no mutuality in any thing. Wo furnish tho whole stake - country, river, harbor; and shall not even maintain tho joint use of our own. Wo shall be driven out of it, and tho British remain sole possessors. The fur trade is tho object. It will fare with our traders on tho Columbia under this convention as it fared with them on tho Miami of the Lakes Tand on tho lakes themselves), under tho British ticaties of 'D4 and 'i)0, which admitted British traders into our territories. Our traders will be driven out ; and that by the fair competition of trade, even if there should bo no foul play. The ditrcrcnco between free nnd dutied goods, would work that result. The British traders pay no duties : ours pay above an average of fifty per centum. No trade can stand against such odds. But tho competition will not be fair. The sav- ages will be incited to kill and rob our traders, nnd they will be expelled by violence, without waiting the slower, but equally certain process, of expulsion by underselling. The result then i^, that wo admit tho British into our country, our river, and our harbor ; and wo get no admit- tance into theirs, for they have none — Frazer's River and New Caledonia being out of the ques- tion — that they will become sole possessors of our river, our harbor, and our country ; and at the end of the ten years will have an admitted ' claim ' to our property, nnd the actual posses- sion of it." Thus I wrote in the year 1818. when the joint occupation convention of thot year km proi,. gntwl. I wrote in arlvanco ; nnd long Ixfnn. (ij ten years were out, it was all far more ttjJ verified. Our traders were not only driven fr the mouth of tho Columbia River, but from ■] its springs and branches; — not only from all i' Valley of tho Columbia, but from tho whole rJ gion of tho Rocky Moimtains between 4[i a J 42 degrees ;— not only from all this moum-J region, but from tho tipper waters of all our i distant rivers— tho Missouri, tho Yellow St. nJ tho Big Horn, tho North Platte ; nnd all tinJ mountain tributaries. And, by authentic rctic- made to our government, not less than five hJ dred of our citizens had been killed, nor Icssthu five hundred thousand dollars worth of poJ and furs robbed from them ; — the Britisli rel maining tho undisturbed possessors of all tJ Valley of tho Columbia, acting as its masters, anl building forts from the sea to tlio mountaij This was tho cfToct of tho first joint occiipatij treaty, and every body in tho West saw its ti preaching termination with pleasure ; but i false step which tho government had made iJ duced another. They had admitted a"c!ainl on tho part of Great Britain, and given hertij solo, under tho name of a joint, possession ; A now to get her out was the difficulty. It coiji not bo done; and tho United Sta c agreed toj further continued "joint " occupation (as it A illusively called in tho renewed convention), dJ for ten years more, but " indefinitely, " detcnnij able on one year's notice from either partv ll the other. The reason for this indefinite, injurious continuance, was sot forth in the pJ amble to the renewed convention (Mr. Gallati now the sole United States negotiator); recited that the two governments " being de.«irol to prevent, as far as possible, all hazard of ml understanding, and with a view to give furltJ time for maturing measures which shall havei their object a more definite settlement of t| claims of each party to tho said territory i thereupon agree to renew the joint occupatiJ article of the convention of 1818, &c. Thus, i had, by our diplomacy in 1818, and by thep mittcd non-execution of the Ghent treaty in tl delivery of the post and country, hatchdl question which threatened a " misunderstand] between the two countries ; and for matnn measures for tho settlement of which iiidcli time was required — and granted — Great Briaj ANNO 18'M. JOHN QUINCY AHAIH, runslPFNT. Ill l^^iiiii^r. in tho moan timo, «i)le occupant of the „|o I oiiiitry. TliM wnn all that hIic could avk, L-ilall thiit wo coulil prnnt, even if wo actually ,n!i'scelf to opjwsition to tho treaty. I proposed, j«!l as opposed; and difccstcd my opinions lito tl'cc resolves ; and had them spread on the iSKUt'Ve journal, and mado part of our parlia- bcntfif v" history for future reference. Thi; asolvcs were: 1. " That it is not expc- lent fir tho United States and Great Britain to let further in relation to their claims on the Lrthwcst coast of America, on the basis of a joint occupation by their respective citizens. 2. lat it is expedient that the joint-occupation Irticle in the convention of 1818 be allowed to pirc upon its own limitation. 3. That it is ex- jient for the government of the United States |i continue to treat with His Britannic Majesty I relation to said claims, on the basis of a so- ution of interests, and the establishment of a krmtinent boundary between their dominions btward oi" tho Rocky Mountains, in the short- It possible time. " These resolves were not j;ed upon ; but the negative vote on the rati- Btion of the convention showed what the vote loiikl have been if it had been taken. That sitive vote was — Messrs. Benton, Thomas , Cobb of Georgia, Eaton of Tennessee, Ellis I Mississippi, Johnson of Kentucky, Kane of linois, and Rowan of Kentucky — in all 7. [ghtccn years afterwards, and when we had I to the cry of " inevitable war, " I had the [itilication to see the whole Senate, all Congress, d all the United States, occupy the same ground l.clation to this joint occupation on which only ten senators stood at the time the conventron it was ratified. CIIAPTKU XXXVIII. l'KWn)F.NTIA[. ri.KCTIOV OF ISH AMI Kl KTIIK.R KUKolI.S (iK Mo.V:*. UK Tut t^l l.VII.I.i:, Geneh-m, JArK^oN and Mr. Adams were the candidates ; — with tho latter, Mr. Clay (his Secretary of State), so intimately associated in tho public mind, on account of the circunistanres of tho previous presidential election in tho House of llepresentativcs, that their names and intcn-sts were inseparable during tho canvass, (icncral Jackson was elected, having received 178 elec- toral votes to 83 received by Mr. Adnnis. Mr. Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, was tho vice- presidential candidate on tho ticket of Mr. Adams, and received an equal vote with that pcntlcnian : Mr. Calhoun was tho vice-presidential candidate on tho ticket with General Jackson, an K«»verniiiint. For nltliDiidh Mr. Ailuiim liu'l n'ccivro, nml h»i' of lli'|in-sontativ('H, his aflinitii-s, and |x)lioy, lacnrnc those of his former party : and as u |mrty, with many individual exceptions, they liecame his siiii|H)rterH and his Ktrepj;th. (s«' it, that is, my knowKdifp, („,i tlippant and HJiallow HtatementN of .Mimis, ij,. | , (|iu'villc. " A iniin iif viiilt'iil tfiiiftfry |,||,„( to know Hoinetliing about that — conteuiiiorjr„ w ill understand tho allusion — and I can siy (uj Cieneral Jack.son had a good tcmiH-r, kind ivj hospitable to every body, and a feeling of proi« tion in it for the whole human race, ami ot. cially tho weaker and humbler part of it. \U\A few quarrels on his own account ; and linilmi, , tho very ones of which Mons. do Toc(|iitvi||(. ijj heard were accidental, against lii,s w ill. nri,| tho succor of friemls. '• Mrdiocre tnknt. uA no capacity to gurem a free peopie.^^ In first place, free jn-ople are not govenuil livm,j man, but by laws. Jlut to understand the |,lira^ an pi'rhaps intended, that he had m. ni|iii('itvi civil administration, let the condition of thu roiinJ try at the rc.sjwctivo periods when ho tiMik J and when )io laid down the admiiiistraii answer, lie found the country in donii',stic mj tress — pecuniary distress — and the national ui state legislation invoked by leading politjcjansi relieve it by empirical remedies; — tarill's, lo rej lieve one part of tho community by taxin" J other; — internal improvement, to distribute puj lie money ; — a national bank, to cure tho paw money evils of which it was tho author ;-tl< public lands the pillage of broken bank [inpir;- depreciated currency and ruined cxc'-.angcs J a million and a half of "unavailable funds' j the treasury ; — a large public debt ; — the publjl money tho prey of banks ; — no gold in the com try — only twenty millions of dollars in silrij ar.d that in banks which refused, when tin pleased, to pay it down in redemption of tb own notes, or even to render back to dtposito Stay laws, stop laws, rejilcvin laws, basele^ paper, the resource in half the States to save il debtor from his creditor ; and national bankrJ laws from Congress, and local insolvent laws.} the States, the demand of every session, Indi tribes occupying a half, or a quarter of the ami southern States, and unsettled questions of v arid insult, with half the poweis of i'.wA Such was tho state of the countiy when (lineij Jackson became President : what wan it v\t he left the Presidency? Protective t.-iiilfs,! federal internal improvement di.scankd; tlicn tional bank left to expire upon its own liniid tion ; the public lands redeemed from tlic pilla of broken bank paper; no more ''unavailil ANXO L«.i8. JollN Ql'INtV AI-AM-t. rKI>IlH:ST. 113 1 .,,[s ; " uii al)tiiiilntit p"M «ni| nIIvit ctirri'tirv ; I [;,f |iiil>li<' "Kilt |miil nil; tlic triU'iiry iiiiulc I ii,J(|icn'< lit «f l>uiil\s; tilt) ImliiUi tnlK'.n rt'iimv- ' ,1 fpiiii till-' Sittics; inilciunitif.H DlitniiKMl from I ,; fiirii^'ii |i«)\virs fur nil jmst ajTRnssions, nnd i,ni.»v ones (•oiiiiiiiHo''!*l ri'liff. This Ih thi} nuHWcr which jiin. rcsiKM'tivc jK'riods of the iK'ginnin); and the Itiilmg of (it'Mcral Jackson's achuinistration IpvoH to the flippant imputation of no capacity Ifr civil irovcrumcnt. 1 pass on to tho next. 'The maj'^i'i'li/ of the enlh^htenerl classes at- lUf opponfd It) h iiii." A majority of those class- It: which -Alons. tic Tocqucvillo would chiefly see 111 he cities, and along tho highways — bankers, lliiokcrs. jobbers, contractors, politicians, andspe- silators — were certainly against him, nnd he as rwinly against them ; but tho mass of the in- gence of the country was with him! nnd BJlaitR'il him in retrieving tho country from the jtploralilo condition in which tho " enlightened b^ses " had sunk it ! and in advancing it to tlint btc of felicity nt homo, nnd respect abroad, Ihih has made it tho envy nnd admiration of le civilized world, and tho absorbent of popnla- ions of Europe. I pass on. •' liaised to the Pre- ikwj and viaintaiued there soleltj bij the mlkctiim of the victory at New Orleans." lire recollection, nnd military glare, reverse the Ition of their ever previous attributes, and be- Ime stronger, instead of weaker, upon the lapse f time. The victory at New Orleans was gain- iin the first week of the year 1815; and did It bear this presidential fruit until fourteen nnd |htecn years afterwards, and until three previ- 5 good seasons had passed without production. |iere was a presidential election in 181G. when t victory was fre.sh, and the country ringing, il imaginations dazzled with it: but it did not ^kc Jackson Prcsidi.nt, or even bring him for- irJ as a candidate. The same four years after- Js, at the election of 1820 — not even a can- to then. Four years still later, at the election |1824. he became a candidate, and — was not Vol. I.— 8 •Kjirtul;— rwtixttig but t''.* fUi'tiiral votes out o( 2(11. In »h* y»»r lM'>< ho wa.H first elect.d, re- iviNin^ 17t< out of '201 votis; nnd in \s:)2 ho wa.H • Hi'ctmil time elfc-ted, n-coiviin; 'Jl'.i out "f 'J>S votes. Surely thero must have Im-i n Miiiicthing be-sidt'S an old military recollection to mako tlii'so two elerlions so iliHi-rcnt fron> the t\\.» former; nnd thrre wiis! That somrthin;: elsf this chapter as enter- ing into thccnnMtsK of If^'JS, and ruling its i.^-uf I pass on to tho last ilisparngement. "A victory which was a very ordinary achievement, and only to Ih; rememlK'red where battles weio rare'' Such was not the battle nt New (irKiuH. It was no ordinary achievement. It wv.s a victory of 4.(11)0 citizens just called from their homes, without knowledge of scientific war, umler a lead- er as little .schooled as themselves in that parti- cular, without other advantages than a sli^ilit field work (a ditch and a bank of earth) hastily thrown up — over double their numbers of IJritish veterans, survivors of the wars of the French Revolution, victors in the Peninsula and at Toulouse, under trained generals of the Wel- lington school, and with a disparity of loss never before witnes.sed. On one side 700 killed (in- cluding tho first, second and third generals); 1400 woundctl ; 500 taken prisoners. On the other, six privates killed, nnd seven wounded ; and tho total repulse of nn invading army which instantly fled to its " wooden walls," and never again plojctl a hostile foot on American soil, SiiC'.v an ae'iii'jvcrrent is not ordinary, much less "very" ordinary. Does Mona. de Toctiuevillc judge the iniprrtnnco of victories by tho num- bers engaged, .ind the quantity of blood shed, or by their con.scquences ? If the former, tho can.ionade on tho heights of Valmy (which was not a battle, nor even a combat, but a distant cannon firing in which few were hurt), must seem to him a very insignificant afTair. Yot it did what the marvellous victories of Champau- bcrt, Montmirail, Chiteau-Thiorry, Vauchamps and MonterOau could not do — turned back the invader, and saved the soil of Franco from the iron hoof of tho conqueror's horse! and e(|iU'iices, insteiul of by the numbers cngaperl. And so the victory at New Orleans will remain in history as one of the (rreat achievements of the world, in spite of the low opinion which the writer on American democracy entertains of it. Hut .Afons. do Twqiievillc's disparagement of Ckneral Jackson, and his achievement, docs not Ktop at him and his victory. It goes beyond l)Oth, and readies the American people, their re- publican institutions, and the elective franchise : It represents the people as incapable of self- ji;overnment — as led off by a little military glare to elect a man twice President wh.o had not one qualification for the place, who was violent and mediocre, and whom the enlightened classes op- (Kised : all most unjustly said, but still to pass for American history in Europe, and with some Americans at home. Ilcgard for Mons. de Tocquevillo is the cause of this correction of his errors : it is a piece of respect which I do not extend to the rifTrafT of European writers who come hero to pick up the gossip of the highways, to sell it in Europe for American history, and to requite with defama- tion the hospitalities of our houses. lie is not of that class : he is above it : he is evidently not intentionally unjust. But he is the victim of the company which he kept while among us ; and his book must pay the penalty of the impositions Iiractiscd upon him. The character of our coun- try, and the cause of republican government, require his errors to be corrected : and, unhap- pily, I shall have further occasion to perform tliat duty. CHAPTER XXXIX. HETIRINO OF MR MACON. Philosophic in his tomperamcr^t and wise in his conduct, governed in all his actions by reason and judgment, aud deeply imbued with Bible images, this virtuous and patriotic man (whom Mr, Jefferson called " the last of the Romans) " had long fixed the term of his ix>Iitical existence >t the age which the Psalmist assigns for the limit of manly life : " The days of our yptirs ari threes<'ore years and ten ; and if by reayon of strength they be fourKcore years, yet is tl^.f strength labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut olF and we lly away. " He touched that a(^ i„ 1828 ; and, true to all his purposes, he was fnie to his resolve in this, and crecuted it with tlie quietude and indifl'erencc of an ordinary transac- tion, lie was in the middle of a third scnatoria! term, and in the full possession of all his fiicultlt.^ of mind anil body ; but his time for retirement had come— the time fixed by himself; but fijf,j upon conviction and for well-considered reasons and inexorable to him as if fixed by fate. To the friends who urged him to remain to the end of his term, and who insisted that his mind wps as good as ever, he would answer, that it was good enough yet to let him know that he ought to quit ofiico before his mind quit him, and tiiat I he did not mean to risk the fate of the Archbishop of Grenada. He resigned his senatorial honors as he had worn them — meekly, unostcntatiouslv, in a letter of thanks and gratitude to the General i Assembly of his State; — and gave to repose at home that interval of thought and quietude \vl;ic!i every wise man would wish to place between ihe | turmoil of life and the stillness of eternity. He had nine years of this tranquil enjoyment, a,., | died without pain or sufiering June 29th, 1831, — characteristic in death as in life. It was ci^ht I o'clock in the morning when he felt that the su- premo hour had come, had himself full-dressed I with his habitual neatness, walked in the room and lay upon the bed, by turns conversing kind- 1 ly with those who were about him, and showing I by his conduct that he was ready and waiting,! hurrying nothing. It was the death of Socrates, I all but the hemlock, and in that full faith of I which the Grecian sage had only a glimmering, I H« directed his own grave on the point of a sterile I ridge (where nobody would wish to plougi),! and covered with a pile of rough flint-stone; I (which nobody would wish to build with),(leeni-j ing this sterility and the uselessness of this rock) the best security for that undisturbed repose off the bones which is still desirable to those wbc| are indifferent to monuments. In almost all strongly-marked characters thml is usually some incident or sign, in early life I wliich shows that character, and reveals to tlxl close observer the type of the future man, Sol it was with Mr. Macon. His firmness, bis pi' I ANNO 1828. JOHN (jriNCV ADAM^, I'UESIDKNT 115 rriotism. his sclMenial. his devotion to duty t..(l (lisrcp^rd of odlcc aivl t tnolnment ; liis mod- f«tv, intejrritr, self-control, and Rulyection of wnJuct to the convictions of reason and the dic- ates of virtue, all so steadily excmplitied in a Ion? lifo. were all shown from the early ajrc of eiihtccn, in the miniature representation of indi- n\u\ action, and only confirmed in the subse- oiient public cxliibitions of a long, bcaiitiful, and tialtcd career. He was of that age, and a student at Princeton 1 oitllfge, it the time of the Declaration of Ameri- csn Indciwndence. A small volunteer corps was then on the Delaware. He quit his books, join- cii it. served a torin, retjirned to Princeton, and I rcfumed his rstudics. In the year 1778 the South- ern States had become a battle-field, big with their own fate, and possibly involving the issue of the war. British fleets and armies appeared there, strongly supported by the friends of the I British cause ; and the conquest of the South tas fully counted upon. Help was needed in tiicse States ; and Mr. Macon, quitting college, Iretamcd to his native county in North Carolina, 1 joined a militia company as a private, and march- (td to South Carolina — then the theatre of the Irnewj's operations. He had his share in all the Ihinlships and disasters of that trying time ; was lit the fall of Fort Moultrie, surrender of Charles- Iton, defeat at Camden ; and in the rapid winter Iretreat across the upper part of North Carolina. Ill' was in the camp on the left bank of the Yad- Ikin when the sudden flooding of that river, in Ithe brief interval between the crossing of the ].\mcricans and the coming up of the British, ar- sted the pursuit of Cornwallis, and enabled IGrccne to allow some rest to his wearied and bhausted men. In this camp, destitute of every ng and with gloomy prospects ahead, a sum- mons came to Mr. Macon from the Governor of forth Carolina, requiring him to attend a meet- bg of the General As.sembly, of which he had Icon elected a member, without his knowledge, fy the people of his county. lie refu.sed to go : id the incident being talked of through the lamp, came to the knowledge of the general. Greene was a man himself, and able to know a mil. He felt at once that, if this report was true, (lis young soldier was no common character ; and letermined to verify the fact. He sent for the loung man, inquired of him, heard the truth, ud then asked for the reason of this unexpected conduct — tlii^ prof('rrn''P f'>r a suin'rir.": camp over a romfnrtahlo scat in tlic (iiiifral Assciti- bly ? Mr. M-icon answori'd him. in his qtiaint and sontpiifioii'4 way, that ho had seen tin- farm of the British m.-iny times, but had never seen their backit, and meant to stay in the nnny till he did. nrccne instantly saw the material tin- young man was made of, and the handle by which he was to be worked. That material was patriotism ; that handle a .sense of duty ; and laying hold of this handle, he quickly woikeil the young soldier into a dillerent conclusion from the one that he had ari'ivcd at. He told him h'! could do more good as a member of the (k'ner.il Assembly than as a soldier ; that in the army he was but one man, and in the General Assem- bly he might obtain many, with the supplies they needed, by showing the destitution and suffering which he had seen in the camp ; an'l that it was his duty to go. This view of duty and usefulness was decisive. Mr. Macon obeyeil the Governor's summons ; and by his repre.'^en- tations contributed to obtain the supplies which enabled Greene to turnback and face Cornwallis, — fight him, cripple him, drive him further back than ho had advanced (for 'Wilmington is South of Camden), disable him from remaining in the South (of which, up to the battle of Guilford, ho believed himself to bo master) ; and sending him to Yorktown, where he was captured, and the war ended. The philo.«ophy of historj* has not yet laid hold of the battle of Guilford, its consequences and effects. That battle made the capture at York- town. The events are told in every historj'; their connection and dependence in none. It broke up the plan of Cornwallis in the South, and changed the plan of Washington in the North, Cornwallis was to subdue the Southern States, and was doing it until Greene turned upon him at Guilford. Washington was occupied with Sir Henry Clinton, then in New-York, with 12,000 British troops. He had formed the heroic design to capture Clinton and his army (tho French fleet co-operating) in that city, and there- by putting an end to the war. All his prepara- tions were going on for that grand consummation when he got the news of the battle of Guilford, the retreat of Cornwallis to Wilmington, his in- ability to keep the field in the South, and his return northward through the lower part of Virginia. lie saw his advantage — an easier prey If if ti IIG rniRTY YEARS' VIEW. —ami the fiamc result, if successful. Cornwallis or Clinton, eithiT of tliein captured, would put nil end to tlie war. "Washinpton changed his plan, deceived Clinton, moved rapidly upon the wi-aker general, captured him and his 7000 men; and ended as much as any. On thi.s principle ho voted against the bill for Lafayette, against all tlie modern revo- lutionary pensions and land bounty acts nni refu,sed to take any thing under them (for manv were applicable to himself). His political principles were deep-rooted in- nate. subject to no change and to ao macliinerv of party. lie was democratic in the broad seai »f the word, as signifying a capacity in the people for self-government ; and in its party sease as in favor of a plain and economical admini.stra tion of the federal government, and against lati- tudinarian constructions of the constitution. He was a party man, not in the hackneyed sense of the word, but only where principle was concern- ed; and was independent of party in all his so- cial relations, and in all the proceedings which ho disapproved. Of this he gave a strong in- stance in the case of General Ilamilton, whom he deemed honorable and patriotic ; and utterly refused to be concerned in a movement propoa'd to affect him personally, though politically op- posed to him. IIo venerated Washington, ad- mired the varied abilities and high qualities of Hamilton ; and esteemed and respected the enii< nent federal gentlemen of his time. He bad af- fectionate regard for Madison and Monroe ; but I Mr. JefTerson was to him the full and perfuii exemplification of the republican statesman, His almost fifty years of personal and political friendship and association with Mr. Randolph ii historical, and indissolubly connects their names and memories in the recollection of their friends, I and in history, if it does them justice. He was I the early friend of General Jackson, and intimate I with him when he was a senator in Congress I under the administration of the elder Mr. Adams; [ and was able to tell Gongfcss and the world wb I he was when he began to astonish Euroi/; ami I America by his victories. Ue was the kind ob-j server of the conduct of young men, encouragl ing" them by judicious commendation when li<| saw them making efibrts to become useful i respectable, and never noting their faults. JIsI was just in all things, and in that most difiiculll of all things, judging political opponentg,-lJ whom he would do no wrong, not merely ill word or act, but in thought. He spoke frequiniH^ ly in Congress, always to the point, and brie™ ANNO 18.28. JOHN guiNCT adamj^ ri:i>;ir)i:NT. 117 12x1 wisely ; and was one of those spr>nkcrR wlik'h yr. Jeilcrson dcBorilxKl Dr. Frnnkliii ti> liavo been— a speaker of no pretension and pnut per- fdiniance. — who spoke more pood Kcnse while he wa-s fretting »ip out of his chair, and Retting back into it, than many others did in long dLscoiirst's ; and he BiiffcKMl no reporter to drctw up a kijcccIi for him. lie wns above the pursuit of wealth, but alHo ibnvc dependence and idleness ; and, like an old Roman of tho elder Cato's time, worked in the fields at the head of his slaves in the intervals of public duty ; and did not cease this labor until advancing age rendered him unable to stand the hot sun of summer — tho only season of the yenr when senatorial duties left him at liberty to fol- low the plough, or handle tho hoe. I think it was the summer of 1817, — that was the last time (he told me) he tried it, and found the sun too hot for him— then sixty years of age, a senator, and the refuser of all office. IIow often I think of him, when I sec at Washington robustious men going through a scene of supplication, tribu- lation, and degradation, to obtain office, which the salvation of the soul does not impose upon the vilest sinner ! His fields, his flocks, and his herds yielded an ample supply of domestic pro- ductions. A small crop of toldicro — three hogs- heads when the season was good, two when bad j -purchased the exotics which comfort and ne- I ccssity required, and which the farm did not pro- duce. He was not rich, but rich enough to dis- pense hospitality and charity, to receive all guests in his house, from tho President to tho day la- borer—no other title being necessary to enter his house but that of an honest man; rich I enough to bring up his family (two daughters'' a accomplished ladies, and marry them to ac- I tomplished gentlemen — one to William Martin, ■ Esq., tho other to William Eaton, Esq.,of Koan- loke, my early school-fellow and friend for more I than half a century ; and, above all, he was rich [mough to pay as he went, and never to owe a ollar to any man. He was steadfast in his friendships, and would Iftakc himself for a friend, but would violato no Ipoint of public duty to please or oblige him. Of Itliis his relations with Mr. Randolph gave a sig- Inal instance. He drew a knife to defend him in Itlie theatre at Philadelphia, when menaced by komo naval and military officers for words ipoken in debate, and deemed offensive to their profewiion"* ; y<'t, when K|H'ftkiT of tlic Hodsp of Kcpri'scntativo.x. he iII»i;NT. 119 ADMINISTKATION OF ANDREW JACKSON, CHAPTER XL . (PMMFA'CEMENT OF OKNERAL JACKSON'S AD- MINISTRATION'. Ox tlie 4th of March, 1829, the new President was inaugurated, with the usual ceremonies, anJ delivered the address which belongs to the occasion ; and which, like all of its class, was a general declaration of the political principles by which the new administration would be guided. Tiie general terms in which such addresses are necessarily conceived preclude the possibility of minute practical views, and leave to time and i veutsthe qualification of the general declarations. Such declarations are always in harmony with the grounds upon which the new Presideni's 1 ilection had been made, and generally agreeable to his supporters, without being repulsive to his opponents ; harmony and conciliation being an especial object with every new administration. So of General Jackson's inaugural address on this occasion. It was a general chart of demo- cratic principles ; but of which a few paragraphs will bear reproduction in this work, as being either new and strong, or a revivtil of good old I principles, of late neglected. Thus : as a military man his election had been deprecated as possibly leading to a military administration : on the con- trary he thus expressed himself on tho subject I of standing armies, and subordination of the I military to the civil authority: "Considering Iftanding armies as dangerous to free govern- Iment, in time of peace, I shall not seek to en- jlarge Jiir present establishment ; nor disregard that salutary lesson of political experience which teaches that the military should be held subor- dinate to the civil power. " On tho cardinal doctrine of economy, and freedom from public debt, he said : " Under every aspect in which it can bo considered, it would appear that advantage must result from the observance of a strict and faithful economy. This I shall aim at the more anxiously, both because it will facilitate the ex- tinguishment of the national debt — the unneces- sary duration of which is incompatible with real independence; — and because it will counteract that tendency to public and private prolligacy which a profuse expenditure of monej by tho government is but too apt to engender." Reform of abuses and non-interference with elections, were thus enforced : " The recent demonstration of public sentiment inscribes, on the list of ex- ecutive duties, in characters too legible to bo overlooked, tho task of reform, which will re- quire, particularly, the correction of those abuses that have brought tho patronage of the ft^deral government 'nto conflict with the freedom of elections. " The oath of office was administered by the venerable Chief Justice, Marshall, to whom thftt duty had belonged for about thirty years. The Senate, according to custom, having been convened in extra session for the occasion, tho cabinet appointments were immediately sent in and confirmed. They were, Martin Van Buren, of New- York, Secretary of State (Mr. James A. Hamilton, of New- York, son of the late General Hamilton, being charged with tho duties of the office until Mr. Van Buren could enty the death of Mr. Ju.stice Trimble, of Kentucky, Mr. McLean was appointed to fill it; and a further vacancy soon after occurring, the death of Mr. Justice Bushrod AVasliington (nei)he\v of General Washington), Mr. Henry Baldwin, of Pennsylvania, was appointed in his ji'ace. The Twenty-first Congress dated the .••itniincncement of its legal existence on the day of the commencement of the new administration , and its members were as follows : SENATE. Maine — John Holmes, Pelcg Spragne. New Ha.mpsuirk bury. MASSJ.CIIUSETTS — Nathaniel Webster. Connecticut — Samuel A. Foot, Calvin Willey. Rhode Island — Nehcmiah 11. Knight, Asher Robbins. Vkhmont — Dudley Cha.se, Horatio Seymour. New-Yokk — Nathan Sanford, Charles E. Dud- ley. New Jersey* — Tlieodore Frelinghuyscn, Mah- lon Dickerson. Pennsylvania — William Marks, Isaac D. Barnard. Delaware — John JL Clayton, {Vacant.) Mauvlanu — Samuel Smith, Ezekiel F. Cham- bers. Virginia — L. W. Tazewell, John Tyler. North Carolina — James Iredell, (Vacant.) South Carolina — William Smith, Robert Y. Hayne. Georgia — George M.Troup, John Forsyth. Kentucky — John Rowan, George M. Bibb. Tennessee — Hugh L. AVIiite, Felix Grundy. Ohio — Benjamin Ruggles, Jacob Burnet. Louisiana — Josiah S. Johnston, Edward Liv- iigston. Indiana — William Hendricks, James Noble. Mississippi — Powhatan Ellis, ( Vacant.) Illinois — Elias K. Kane, John McLane. Alabama — .John McKinley, William R. King. Missouri — David Barton, Thomas H. Benton. HOUSE OF EEPEESENTATIVES. Maine — John Anderson, Samuel Butman, George Evans, Rufus Mclntire, James W. Ripley, Joseph F. Wingatc — G. ( One vacant.) Nkw HA.Mi>siiiRr — John BroKs. coiiflntMl ns this latter mu.«t bo. to a declaration of jft'ncrul iiriiicipliw. That of General Jackson, (Jelivtrf 1 the 8th of Dccemt)cr, 1829, was therefore anximmly looke^l for; and did not disappoint the pulilit' e.xpeota- tion. It was stronj^ly democratic, aii'l contained many recommendations of a nature to simplify, and purify the working of the povcrnmcnt, an 1 to carry it bock to the times of Mr. Jefferson — to promote its economy and elliciency, and to maintain the rights of the people, and of the States in its administration. On the subject of electing a President and Vice-President of tho United States, ho spoke thus : "I consider it one of tho most urpent of my duties to bring to your attention tho propriety of amending that part of our Constitution which relates to the election of President and Vice- President. Our system of government was. by its framers, deemed an experiment ; and they, therefore, consistently provided a mode of remu- dying its defects. " To the people belongs the right of electing their chief magistrate: it was never dcsigne(l that their choice should, in any ca.se, bo defeated, either by tho intervention of electoral colleges, or by the agency confided, under certain contin- gencies, to the House of Representatives. Expe- rience proves, that, in proportion as agents to execute the will of the people are multiplied, there is danger of their wishes being frustrated. Some may bo unfaithful : all are liable to err. So far, therefore, as the people can, with conve- nience, speak, it is safer for them to express their own will. " In this, as in all other matters of public con- cern, policy requires that as few impediments as possible should exist to the free operation of the public will. Let us, then, endeavor so to amend our system, as that the office of chief magistrate may not be conferred ujion any citizen but in pursuance of a fair expression of the will of tho majority. "I would therefore recommend such an amend- ment of the constitution as may remove all in- termediate agency in the election of President and Vice-President. The mode may be so regu- lated as to preserve to each State its present relative weight in the election; and a failure in the first attempt may be provided for, by con- fining the second to a choice between the two highest candidates. In connection with such an amendment, it would seem advisable to limit the service of tno chief magistrate to a single term, of cither four or six years. If, however, it should not be adopted, it is worthy of consideration whether a provision disqualifying for office the Representatives in Cingress on whom such an election may have devolved, would not bo proper." 122 THIRTY YEARS* VIEW. Thi» rocomniumlation in relation to our elec- tion s}Hfiin h&n ni)t yet l)een cftrrie«l into effect, f lionph (loiihtloss in Imnnony with the principles of our povcrjiinent, necessary to prevent abuses, and now frenerally demanded by this voice of the lit>op!f. IJiit the initiation of amendments to the frind you that whatever may bo the pro posed object of its establishment, or whatcvi may be the prospect of temporary advantaj resulting therefrom, it is demonstrated uy I experience of all nations, who have ventured fij into naval policy, tbit such prospect is ultimat* ly delusive ; and tl.it a navy has ever in pracdiij been known more as an instrument of po\re^ a source of expense, and an occasion of collisiv and wars with other nations, than as an instr ment of defence, of economy, or of protection ( commerce. )) These were the doctrines of the republi party, in the early stage of our govemment- thc great days of Jc£fcrson and bis comp ANNO 18-W. ANDKKW JACKSOX. IKHslUF.NT. 123 I ffc luwl « |iolicy then — tlic result of thotipht, of isJ^nicnt, ond of exiK-rii-nco : a navy for di-fcnco, un,l not for conqucat: and, conseijiicntly, con- l,,^,Uc to a limited nunilKT of 8hi|)8, adequate to Lfir tlefinsive olijcct — insteatl of thousands, L,,„ti<; At tiiu dominion of the bcos.,!. Tiiat policy Ljj overthrown by the success of tour naval Luibats (luring; the war ; and tho idea of a great Iciw became popular, without any definite view iui cost and consequences. Admiration fur |r<^l iiphting did it, without havinj; tho same Irfrtt on the military policy. Our army fought also, and excited admiration ; but without Subverting the policy which interdicted standing limiics in time of peace. Tho army was cut Idoffn in peace: tho navy was building up in icaco, In this condition President Jackson ^ound tho two branches of tho service — the array Juccd by two successive reductions from a nfn body to a very small one — GOOO men — and ilthough illustrated with military glory yet rc- IfiianK to recommend an army increase : the navy, bn a small one during the war, becoming large Buring the peace — gradual increase the law — Ihip-building tho active process, and rotting pm the active effect ; and thus we have been [oing on for near forty years. Correspondent 5 his army policy was that of President Jack- |ou in relation to tho navy ; he proposed a Lse in tho process of ship-building and ship- nttJDg. He recommended a total cessation of |he further building of vessels of the first and icond class — ships of tho line, and frigates — rith a collection of materials for future use — |ii(l the limitation of our naval policy to the ob- !ct of commercial protection. He did not even licludc coast defence, his experience having pwn him that the men on shore could defend p land. In a word, he recommended a naval plicy ; and that was the same which the re- plicans of 1798 had adopted, and which Vir- ]ia made obligatory upon her senators in too ; and which, under the blaze of shining jctorics, had yielded to tho blind, and aimless. Id endless operation of building and rotting «ful ships of war, lie said : I'ln time of peace, we have need of no more lips of war than are requisite to the protection I our commerce. Those not wanted for this kjcct must lay in the harbors, where, without pper covering, they rapidly decay ; and, even der the best precautions for their preserva- |n, must soon become useless. Such is already [ the rase with many of our fhu-Mt vi-ssi-ls ; whirli. tliuu^h uiitliii>lieor clement. On Oils sulijeet there ran Ih- but little doubt that best |M)liry would In, to ion of ample materials, prepared for the emergencies of war, thon to the number of ves- sels which wo can lloat in a season of j)euee, as the index of our nuval jwwer." This was written twenty years ago, and by n President who saw what he described — many ot our finest ships going to decay before they were finished — demanding repairs before they had sailed — and costing millions for which there was no return. We have been going on at the same rate ever since — building, and rotting, and sink- ing millions ; but little to show for forty years of ship-carpentry ; and that little nothing to do but to cruise where there is nothing to catch, and to carry out ministers to foreign courts who arc not quite equal to tho Franklins, Adamses and Jeffersons — the Plnckncys, llufus Kings, and Marshalls — tho Clays, Gallatins and lay- ards — that went out in common merchant ves- sels. Mr. Jefferson told me that this would bo the case twenty-five j'cars ago when naval glory overturned national policy, and when a navy board was created to facilitate ship-construction. But this is a subject which \yill require a chapter of its own, and is only incidentally mentioned now to remark that we have no policy with re- spect to a navy, and ought to have one — that there is no middle point between defence and conquest — and no sequence to a conquering navy but wars with the world, — and the debt, taxes, pension list, and pauper list of Great Britain. The inutility of a Bank of tho United States as a furnisher of a sound and uniform currency, and of questionable origin under our constitution, wof. thus stated : " The charter of the Bank of ihe United States expires in 183G,and its stockholdt rs will most pro- bably apply for a renewal of their privileges. In order to avoid the evils resulting from precipi- tancy in a measure involving such imjiortant principles, and such deep pecuniary interests, I feel that J cannot, in justice to the parties inter* ested, too soon present it to the deliberate con- sideration of the legislature and the people. Both the constitutionality and the expediency of the law creating this bank, are well ques- tioned by a large portion of our fellow-citizens • aud it must be udmittcd by all, that it has failed 124 TlIIR'n' WMIH' VIEW. in the (rrtat vwl of o.-^lnljli.'-hin^ a unifonn ami bouiiil ciirrin;orie into history), into an attatk iiiKin tlie Imnlv — a war \i\xm tiic hank — with a bail mo- tive attrihiitwl for a war no wanton. At the mine time nothing could bo more fair, and just, nnd more in consonance with the constitution which rcquircH the President to make the leps- lative recommendations which he believes to be proper. It was notice to all concerned— the ba"k on one side, and the people on the other — that there would l>o questions, and of high import — constitutionality and expediency — if the present corporators, at the expiration of their charter, should apply for a renewal of their privileges. It was an intimation against the institution, not against its administrators, to whom a compliment was paid in another part of tiie same message, in ascribing to the help of their "judicious arrange- ment " the averting of the mercantile pressure which might otherwise have resulted from the iudden withdrawal of the tweive and a half mil- lions which had j ust been taken from the bank and ipplied to the payment of the public debt. But of this hereafter. The receipts and expenditures were itated, respectively, for the preceding year, ftnd estimated for the current year, t. le former at a fraction over twenty-four and a half millions — the latter a fraction over twenty-six millions — with largo balances in tho treasury, exhibiting the constant financial paradox, so difficult to bo •'ndorstood, of permanent annual balances with an even, or even deficient revenue. The passage of the message is in these words : " Tho balance in the treasury' on the 1st of January, 1829, was five millions nine hundred and Eevent3'-two thousand four hundred and thirty-five dollars and eighty-one cents. The receipts of the current year are estimated at twenty-four millions, six hundred and two thou- sand, two hundred and thirty dollars, and the expenditures for the samo time at twenty-six millions one hundred and sixty-four thousand five hundred and ninety-five dollars ; leaving a balance in tho treasury on the 1st of January next, of four millions four hundred and ten thou- sand and seventy dollars, eighty-one cents." Other recommendations contained tho sound democratic doctrines — speedy and entire extinc- tion of the public debt— reduction of custom- house duties — equal and fair incidental protec- tion to the great national interests (agriculture, manufactures and commerce)— the disconnection of |X)ljticH and tnrifTs — and the duty of n»(rpn J nu-nt by discontinumg and abulislnn^ all u^, ulliccs. In a wonl, it was a inessa^ro of tho,, rcpulilican school, in which President Jjd; j had l>crn bred ; and from which ho Im'l nevJ dcpartcil ; and which cncouragcfl the yoiin<: ciplis of democracy, and consoled tho old wirt J ing fathers of that school. CHAPTER XLII. TIIK KKCOVKnT OF TIIK DIRKCT TI!A!)K V^ TlIK BUrridil WKST INDIA ISLANli.s. The recovery of this trade had been a lurpci, jcct with tho American government from i|^ time of its establishment. As British coloni wo enjoyed it bf foro tho Revolution ; as rcvol;« colonics we lost it ; and as an independent i tion wo sought to obtain it again. Tho posiiid of these islands, so near to our ports and short — tho character of tho exports they rcccivJ from us, being almost entirely tho product i our farms and forests, and their large amoiigl always considorallo, and of lato some four mil lions of dollars per annum — the tropical pri ductions which we received in return, and in largo employment it gave to our navigatioo- all combined to give a cherished value to t branch of foreign trade, and to stimulate oij government to tho greatest exertions to obu and secure its enjoyment ; and with the advi^ tago of being carried on by our own vcss But these were objects not easily attainaU and never accomplished untn. i,ne administiati of President Jackson. All powers are jcaloj of alien intercourse with their colonics, and m a natural desire to retain colonial trade in tin own hands, both for commercial and mlitig reasons ; and have a perfect right to do soj they please. Partial and conditional admisiiJ to trade with their colonies, or total exclusit from them, is in the discretion of the moth country ; and any participation in their by virtue of treaty stipulations or legislatii enactment, is the result of concession— gener ly founded in a sense of self-interest, or at 1 in a calculation of mutual advantage. No I than six negotiations (besides several MmA at "concerted legislation") had becncarriedj ANNO 1839. ANDREW JACKSON. I'KI>n)F.NT. 125 as rcvoltJ jion— genet *stj or at 1 age. Xo 1 eral attcni ecn carridil L.«ecD the I'nitol StatcH and (irt-at Britain on \i}0 lubject ; and all, until the iccond 3-ear of lotDcrtl JackHoii'x adiniiiiMtration, n>siiltin^ in lM(hiiiR more tlinn liinitfd cc ' -vif;ation in the ltriti>li Kiiro|N'iiii iI<>iiiiiiii>ih could l>« added tlic privilcp- of carrvin:; dirti'tlv from the Tniti-d StatcM to the Itrilish \Vr-.i In- dien in our own Ixittoms p'twraliy, or of ctTtiiiii 8|KTi(ied burthenN, the arlirloii whidiKy thv Ait of Pariinnient, '2i*, fonnH>). in rn^o th« iet of I'nrliflrnont wiw Hiitixfii/'l'iry to liiiii. to o|k'Ii tin- |Kirti of Ihf I'liitfil S(nt<-8 to ItritiMli vcmm-N \ty liw iirfioln- tiinlioii. 'I'hu art of I'nrliniiiciit wa.s fni'rlimmli()ii wiis arconliiifrly issued, ancf tlii' trmli' coinini'icfil. I'lir'irtiiimte- \y for our rotnrncrri', nnill was drafted in Ih'Zi Jiy Mr. Adams, then iSeen-tary ofiStatc, and pa-sst^l hoth Houses, with little, it any, dehate. I voted for it, In-Iievin^j that it met. in a spirit of reci- i)rooity, the IJritish act of I'arlianient. This bill, liowever, contained one little word, '' el.scwiicrc," which completely defeated all our expectations. It wa.s noticed by no one. 'I'lio senator from Mas- sacliu.setts (Mr. AVebstcr) may liavo nnderstootl its elll-ct. If he did so understand it, ho was si- lent. The eflect of that i^ord "elsewhere " was to a.s.snmu the pretensions alluded to in tho in- structions to Jlr. Mclianc. (Pretension to a '• ^i^'ht " in the trade.) Tho result wa.s, that the British government sliiit their colonial ports im- mediately, and thenceforward. This act of 1822 ^ave us a monopoly (virtually) of tho West In- dia trade. It admitted, free of duty, n variety of articles, such as Indian corn, meal, oats, peas, and bcan.s. Tho British povernment thought we entertained a belief that they could not do without our produce, and by their acts of the 27th June and 5th July, 1825, they opened their ports to all tho world, on terms far less advan- tageous to the United States, than those of the act of 1822." Such is the imix>rtant statement of General Smith. Mr. Webster was present at tho time, and said nothing. Both these acts were clear rights on the part of Great Britain, and that of 1825 contained a limitation upon the time within which each nation was to accept tho privilege it offered, or lose tho trade for ever. This legisla- tive privilege was accepted by all nations which had any thing to send to the British West Indies, except the United States. Mr. Adams did not accept the proffereil privilege — undertook to ne- gotiate for better terms — faile»l in tho attempt — and lost all. Mr. Clay was Secretary of State, Mr. Gallatin the United States Minister in Lon- don, and the instructions to him were, to insist upon it as a "right " that our produce should be admitted on the same terms on which i)roduce from the British possessions were admitte*niKNT. 1J7 llniifh ^V<'>'t IndicH ooiild not pJiiNt witlioiit her LrlJii"-; nii'l timi >lie iiii;:ht, thcn'fon', coiniicl ji .,,1 lltit.iiii to ii|K'n ilic iiilcri'Durxo on any Itrm""'''' pi''"*'''!. I (lixflniini'd nny Mirh M'wf L iiiti'iitiiin rui tlif pari "f tlio liiiti-*! SlnU-x. lib! It «|'|iui>r*ki>.son, lliat lie Hits ml'iuif rntliiT iin- l^-thp inlliitiicf iif irritatcil fcflin^-*, on nn-oiint ^r4«tevi'ii»'<, than with a view to tho mutual jure.tx of Iwth parlius." jlij^ WHS Mr. flallatin's Iitst disjiatcli. An fl-f in council was issued, intiTdiclin^ the trade l, tl:' I'nited States; and lio returned home. Ir. James IJarhour, Secretary at War, was sent )I,(inilon to replacu )iim, and to attempt a(;nin Iv rc'piilseed to a mere recurrence i the old long-established principle of colonial Uopoly, nnd at tho same time to a feeling of tiitinent, because the offers of an act of Par- Iniont. oiiening tho colonial ports upon certain mdilions, had not been grasped at with sufficient kriiiss by an instantaneous conformity to U. At a subsequent period it has been inti- (itwl th;it the new exclusion was in resentment, ause a prior act of Parliament, of 1822, open- certain colonial porta, under heavy and bur- mmt> restrictions, to vessels of the United lates. had not been reciprocated by an admis- In of British vessels from tho colonics, and Vir cargoes, without any restriction or discrimi- )tion whatever. But, be tho motive for the lerdiction what it may, tho British government ire manifested no disposition, either by negoti- JoD or by corresponding legislative enactments, (recede from it ; and we have been given dis- Jclly to understand that neither of tho bills lich were imder the consideration of Congress I their last session, would ba,ve been deemud Hti(11ri<>nt in ihcjr ct>nr«"«)iion'« to lmTi« Imth n-wnr I. ed by any nliixation from tlic llnti^h uili nliif. The Uritiidi pivi'rnnu'ut luivo not only dirlmril rH>(;otlntion u|K)n the subjift, Imt, by ihc |iiiiici- |>lu thcv have a.»4utiu>d with rel'iTi-iii')' to it. liiiMt prt'cludetl even the nicauH of ncKotintioii. It U- owni'S not the wll-resiR-et of the I iiittil .*>tnl>s, either to solicit gratuitous fiivoiirs. or to uc- tiation, and the hope of it, having thus terminat- ed, President Adams did what tho laws reoint of a '• right " in us to have our productions admitted into her West Indies on the same terms OS British productions were received; that we were willing to take the trade as a "privilege,'' and simply and unconditionally, under the act of Parliament of 18:25. Instructions to that effect had been drawn up by Mr. Van BuR'n, Secretary of State, under the sj[K'cial directions of General Jackson, who took this early occasion to act upon his cardinal maxim in our foreign intcr- cour.se : " Ask nothing but leliat is right — sub- mit to nothing wrong. " This frank and candid policy had its efli'ct. The great object was ac- comi)lished. The trade was recovered; and wiiat had been lost under one administration, and precariou.sly enjoyed under others, and been the subject of fruitless negotiation for forty years, and under six dif'i^cnt Presidents — Washington. John Adams, Jeflerson, Madison, Monroe, Quincy Ad- ams — with all their accomplished secretaries and ministers, was now amicably and satisfactorily obtained under the administration of General Jackson ; and upon the basis to give it perpetu- ity — that of mutual interest and actual recipro- city. The act of Parliament gave us the trade on terms nearly as good as those suggested by Washington in 1781); fully as good as those asked for by him in 1794; better than those in- serted in the treaty of that year, and suspended by the Senate ; and, though nominally on the same terms as given to the rest of the world, yet practically better, on account of our proximity to this British market; and our superabundance of articles (chiefly provisions and lumber) which it wants. And the trade has been enjoyed un- der this act ever since, with such entire satisfac- tion, that there is already an oblivion of the forty years' labor which it cost us to obtain it ; and a generation has grown up, almost without know- ing to whom they are indebted for its present enjoyment. But it made its sensation at the time, and .1 great one. The friends of the Jack- son administration exulted ; the people rejoiced ; gratillcation was general — but not uiiiTers*!.! and these very instructions, under which sn^J great and lasting advantages had been ohLimtfif were made the occassion in the Senate of tf J United States of rejecting their ostensildu m,(| J as a minister to London. But of this licrcal\(t The auspicious conclusion of so delicate an af-l fair was doubtless first induced by General Jaci J .son's frank policy in falling back upon Wasjiin*. ton's ground of " privilege, " in contradi,stinctioj to the new pretension of " right, '■' — helpcU out little, it may be, by the possible after-clap ^uj gested in the second part of his maxim. Go sense and good feeling may also have had its j fluence, the trade in question being as disirahlJ to Great Britian as to the United States auj better for each to carry it on direct in their ow vessels, than circuitously in the vessels of otlicrsl and the articles on each side being of a kind i solicit mutual exchange — tropical productions one part, and those of the temperate zone on \\t other. But there was one thing which certain! J contributed to the good result, and that was thj act of Congress of May 29th, of which Genon Samuel Smith, senator from Maryland, was tU chief promoter ; and by which the President ivj authorized, on the adoption of certain measure by Great Britian, to open the ports of the UniJ States to her vessels on reciprocal terms. tJ ciTect of this act was to sti-engthen GencralJaclj son's candid overture; and the proclainatiJ opening the trade was issued October tlie5tl 1830, in the second year of the first terra of ill administration of President Jackson. And uadi that proclamation this long desired trade been enjoyed ever since, and promises to be e joyed in after time co-extendingly with the dui tion of peace between the two countries. CHAPTER XLIII. ESTADLIsnMENT OF THE GLOBE NEWSPAPEl At a presidential levco in the winter of 18j -'31, Mr. Duff Green, editor of the T./OToi newspaper, addressed a person then and non respectable resident of Washington city (.Mr, j M. Duncanson), and invited him to call at f house, as ho had something to say to him wbl AXXO 1829. AXnilEW JACKSON, riirMDEXT. 129 II. foalJ ri'iniio a confiJontial interview. The call »isDiaili'r ""^l l*'*! ol>ject of the interview di.s- {lojcd, wliicli was nothing le.ss tlian to engngo ^.j. (Mr. Duncan.son's) a.s.si.stanco in tho execu- ^^n of a scheme in relation to tlio next presiden- lal flection, in which General Jackson should I ii prevented from becoming a candidate for re- flrt'tion, and Jlr. Calhoun should bo brought for- fanl in his iilacc. He informed Mr. Duncanson liiat a rupture was imi)cnding between General Jackson and Mr. Calhoun ; that a correspond- ence liad taken place between them, brought iliout (as he alleged) by the intrigues of Mr. I Vj„ Burun ; that tho correspondence was then ia print, but its publication delayed until certain I jirangements could bo made ; that the demo ■ Icratic papers at the most prominent points in jilie States were to be first secured ; and men well I known to tho people as democrats, but in tho ex- Ic'.ujive interest of Mr. Calhoun, placed in charge Icfthcm as editors ; that as soon as the arrange- Lents were complete, the Telegraph would |fta.lle the country with the announcement of Itlie difficulty (between General Jackson and IJIr. Calhoun), and the motive for it; and that ill the secured presses, taking their cue from tho wpekgraph, would take sides with Mr. Calhoun, mil cry out at the same time ; and tho storm tould seem to bo so universal, and tho indigna- pou against Mr. Van Buren would appear to be great, that even General Jacksons popularity tould be unable to save him. Jfr. Duncanson was then invited to take part 1 the execution of this scheme, and to take irgeof the Frankfort (Kentucky) Argus } and littering inducements held out to encourage him D do so. Mr. Duncanson expressed surprise and »«ret at all that he heard — declared himself the [icnd of General Jackson, and of his re-election ■opposed to all schemes to prevent him from King a candidate again — a disbeliever in their lioccss. if attempted — and made known his de- raiinatioii to reveal the scheme, if it was not landoned. Mr. Green begged him not to do so aid that the plan was not fully agreed upon ; 1 mip:ht not be carried out. This was the end Itiie first interview. A few days afterwards , Green called on Mr. Duncanson, and inform- |him that a rupture was now determined upon, 1 renewed his proposition that ho should take bge of some paper, either as proprietor, or as |iir on a liberal salary — one that would tell on Vol. I.— 9 the farnuTs am! mechanics of the cDuntry, and made m cheap as to go into every workshop and cabin. Mr. l)uncaiis(>n was a practical printei — owned a good job office — was doing a large business, cf j)ccially for tho dej artmcnt.s — and only wished to remain as he was. Mr. Green oflered, in both interviews, to relievo him from that concern by purchasing it from him, and as- sured him that ho would otherwise lose the printing of the departments, and bo sacrificed. Mr. Duncanson again refused to have any thing to do with tho scheme, consulted with some friends, and caused the whole to bo communicat- rd to General Jackson. Tho information did not take the General by surprise ; it was only a con- ii' nation of what he well suspected, and had been wisely providing against. The history of tho movement in Mr. Monroe's cabinet, to bring him before a military court, for his invasion of Spanish territory during tho Seminole war, had just come to his knowledge; tho doctrine of nullification had just been broached in Congress; his own patriotic toast: "The Federal Union: it must be preserved " — had been delivered ; his own intuitive sagacity told him all the rest — the breach with Sir. Calhoun, tho defection of the Telegraph, and the necessity for a new paper at Washington, faithful, fearless and incorruptible. The Telegraph had been the central metro- politan organ of his friends and of the demo- cratic party, during tho long and bitter canvass which ended in tho election of General Jackson, in 1828. Its editor had been gratified with the first rich fruits of victory — the public printing of the two Houses of Congress, the executive patronage, and the organship of tho administra- tion. Tho paper was stii'. (in 1830) in its columns, and to tho public eye, the advocate and supporter of General Jackson ; but ho knew what was to happen, and quietly took his mea- sures to meet an inevitable contingency. In the summer of 1830, a gentleman in one of the pub- lic offices showed him a paper, the Frankfort (Kentucky) Argus, containing a {towcrful and spirited review of a certain nullitication speech in Congress. He inquired for tho author, a.scer- tained him to bo Mr. Francis P. Blair — not tho editor, but an occasional contributor to tho Argua — and had him written to on tho subject of tak- ing charge of a paper in Washington. The ap- plication took Mr. Blah* by eurpriso. lie waa uot thinking of changing his residence and pur< 130 THIRTY Y?:ARS' view. suits. He wns well occii|)it' 's- jsouri. this surrender would be equal to tv, . - . u: ■ is lofthe State, comprising about forty '■" i.ud Luarc miles, covering the whole valley of the lo ed to be fatal to her." Still enlarging its circle, but as yet still confincl to tho sale and disposition of the public lands. tho debate went on to discuss the propriety ol I selling them to settlers at auction prices, and at an abitrary minimum for a1! qualities, and a r^ fusal of donations ; and in this hard policy the I North was again considered as the exacting pan I of the Union — the South as thu favorer of lil)or»l terms, and the generous dispenser of gratuitous I grants to the bcttle^s in the new States aud Tor- 1 ritories. On this point, Mr. Hayne, of Soutli | Carolina, thus expressed himself: " The payment of 'a penny,' or a FFF'I corn,' was the stipulated price which our fathers along the whole Atlantic coast, now composin: the old thii'teen States, paid for their lands; anJ even when conditions, seemingly more suustan-j tial, were annexed to the grants ; such for instance | as ' settlement and cultivation ; ' these were (ui;- [ sidered as substantially complied with, by llit I cutting down a few trees and erecting a log cabai I — the work of only a few days. Even thesewn- 1 ditions very soon came to be considered as mereljl nominal, and were never required to be pursiiedl in order to vest in the grantee the fee sinipie(l| the .soil. Such was the system under which t country was originally settled, and under whichl the thirteen colonies tiouri.shcd and grew up ttl that early and vigorous manhood, which emmt them in a few years to achieve their indepcndcDftf iml I '>(■!? pentlomc fict. that while the 10 the mother count industry wen suffer hands. Now, what. fon which has indue fVitonj in tho set! I'an it 1)0 any other only :erto*n mcnn.s o iK.puIous States ? candid corsideration [ifliicy so diametrically iicen invariably pursiii wards the new States .0 just and liberal, as to ix'lieve. Certain i( nics to the north of tis, to the south and wes reared up under a ver' [ which had been for fifli ■ every settler, without pense of the survey, v into the hands of the wle at the highest pri the Hiost favorable sea5 ,1 .spirit of the wildest ( with a limitation that J heipw a certain minim as it would seem, the ci not to settle the countr I tion of new States, bu ing our lands into goh The debate was tak I eign to the expectation [olution, and which, in I nations, would only inf ling to any practical i [this; and to get rid of jits indefinite postponei I motion lie delivered a I new topics, and greatlj |e.\tended the length of jposwl to terminate. Jferredto the author«;ai ling the famous ordina lernment of the Northw Ipecially in relation t( AXXO 1829. ANDREW JACKSON, VUrsinrNT. 133 jivl I '•*"!? pentloincn to rcmllcct. nnd note tlio fict, that, while they pnifl siilistniitinlly nnthiiia: 1(1 the mother oonntry. the whole profits of t!uir iniliistry ^»ero Kiiflcrcd to n-iimin in their own haiwis. Now, what, lot iis inquire, wns tlie rea- ^n which has induccfl all nations to arlojit this fvstcm in the settlement of new countries? (^'an it 1)C any other than this ; that it atlbnis the only :erto*n means of building; up in a wilder- ness, preat and prosjierous communities ? Was not that policy founded on the universal belief, that the conquest of a new coimtry, the drivinc out " the savage beasts and still more savape men," ni'.'njrdown and subduinp the forest, and cn- fflimtcrinR all the hardships and privations neces- varilv incident to the conversion of the wilder- ness into cultivated fields, wns worth the fee sim- ple of the soil ? And wi « it not believed that the mother country foun \ ample remuneration fur the value of the land no j,rantcfl, in the addi- tions to her jK>wcr and the new sources of com- merce and of wealth, furnished by prosperotis and populous States ? Now, sir, I submit to the candid consideration of gentlemen, whether the lolicy so diametrically opposite to this, which has ken invariably pursued by the United States to- iiards the new States in the West has been quite .0 just and liberal, as we have been accustomed ti) ix'Iieve. Certain it is. that the British colo- nies to the north of us, and the Spanish and French to the south and west, have been fostered and icared up under a very different system. Lands, which had been for fifty or a hundred years open to every settler, without any charge beyond the ex- pense of the survey, were, the moment they fell into the hands of the United States, held up for Nile at the highest price that a public auction, at the niost favorable seasons, and not unfrequently a. spirit of the wildest competition, could procuce ; with a limitation that they should never be sold below a certain minimum price ; thus making it. (IS it would seem, the cardinal point of ou? policy, not to settle the country, and facilitate the forma- tion of new States, but to till our colters by coin- ing our lands into gold," The debate was taking a turn which was for- I eign to the expectations of the mover of the res- I olution, and which, in leading to sectional crimi- 1 nations, would otly inflame feelings without lead- ling to any practical result Sir. Webster saw I this; and to get rid of the whole subject, moved [its indefinite postponement; but in arguing his I motion he delivered a speech which introduced I new topics, and greatly enlarged the scope, and [extended the length of the debate which he pro- Iposwl to terminate. One of these new tc^ics re- iferred to the authorship, and the merit of pass- ling the famous ordinance of 1787, for the gov- Ifrnraent of the Northwestern Territory, and es- Ipecialiy in relation to th.e antislavcry clause which that ordinance rontninod. Mr. Wi')i»t(r clninu'il the m>'rit of this authorship for Mi. Niithnu Dane — an eminent Jurist of Mnssaclni- sett.s, and avowed that '• it van rnrrii'il Inj Ih^. Ninth, anil by the North iilnnr.^^ I repliiiK claiming the authorship for Mr. JefTerson. and showing from the .louninl.s that he (Mr. .led'er- .son) brotight the measure into Congress in the year 1784 (the 10th of April of that yenr), n< chairman of a committee, with the antislavcry claiisc in it, which Mr. Speight, of North Caroli- na, moved to strike out ; and it was struck out — the three Southern States present voting fi>i the striking out, bccau.so the clause did not tluii contain the provision in favor of tha recovery of fugitive slaves, which was afterwards ingrafted upon it. Mr. Webster says it was struck out becau.se •' nine States " did not vote for its reten- tion. That is an error arising from confounding tlie powers of the confederation. Nine States were only required to concur in measures of tlic highest import, as declaring war, making peace, negotiating treaties, &c., — and in ail ordinary legislation the concurrence of a bare majority (seven) was sufficient ; and in this case there were only six States voting for the retention. New Jersey being erroneously counted by ^Ir. Webster to make .seven. If she had voted the numljer would have been seven, and the clnnso would have stood. He was led into the error by seeing the name of Mr. Dick appearing in the call for New Jersey ; but New Jersey was not present as a State, being represented by only one member, and it requiring two to constitute the presence of a State. Mr. Dick was indulged wiili putting his name on the Journal, but his vote was not counted. Mr. Webster snys the ordi- nance reported by Jlr. Jefferson in l78 1. did not- pass into a law. This is a mistake again. L did pass ; and that within five days aftei the antislavery clause was struck out — and that without any attempt to renew that clause, althoug'i the competent number (seven) of non-slaveholding States were present — the col- league of Jlr. Die'., naving joined him, and con- stituted the presence of New Jersey. Two years afterwards, in July 1787, the ordinance was pas.s- ed over again, as it now stands, and was pre- eminently the M-ork ol the South. The ordi- nance, as it now stands, was reported by a com- mittee of five members, of whom three were from slaveholding States, and two (and one of /; ;■ [?- ^ . t 134 TimiTi' YEAHS* VIEW. tii'.'iii lli<; cJiiiiritmiij wcru frotn \'irf:iiiia alone. It iTcttivt'd ilH flrnt reiKliiiK the dny it wns re- ] irlcil — its .Kfcond ninliiif? the next dny. \v\wi\ KtR- other State had nppc'ari;d — thi- thinl readinjr till tho (lay cnhiiiiif; ; Roing through nil the tonus of loni.slatinii, niiil hccoiiiiiit; a law in three (lays — receivinj; the votes of tho ci^^ht States J. resent, and the vote of every nieinl>>- "'' cnrh Slate, e.voept one; and that one f^-or free State north of the Potomac. These tils I verified hy producing the Journals, t;nd showed (iiider the date.s of July 1 1 lh,1787, and July 12th and loth, the votes ncuinlly friven for the ordi- nance. The same vote repealed the ordinance (Mr. .felTerson's) of 1784. I rend in the Senate the pa.s.saf;eH from the Journal of the Congre.ss of the confederation, the pas.snges which showed these votes, and incorpornied into the speech which I published, the extrnct from the Journal which 1 jiroduced ; and now incorporatn the s.. ae in this work, that the nuthorsliip of that ordi- nawcc of 17S7, and its passage through the old (/'ongrcss, may be known in all time to come as the indisputable work, both in its conception and consunnnation, of tho South. This is the ex- tract: THE JOURNAL. Wednesday, July H/A, 1787. '• Congress assembled : Present, the seven States above mentioned." (Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia — 7.) '• The Committee, consisting of Mr. Carring- ton (of Virginia), Mr. Dane (of Massachusetts), Mr. It. II. Lee (oi' Virginia), Mr. Kean (of South Carolina), and Mr. Smith (of New York), to whom was referred the report of a committee touching the temporary government of the AV'est- crn Territory, reported an ordinance for the go- vernment of the Territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio ; which was itad a first time. "Ordered, That to-morrow bo assigned for the second reading." " rhnrsdurj, July \2th, 1787. " Congress assembled : Present, Massachu- setts, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Vir- ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Geor- gia-(8.) "According to order, the ordinance for tho government of the Territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, was read a second time. "Ordered, That to-morrow be assigned for the third reading of said ordinance." '• Friilay, July l.'i/A, 1787. '• Congress n.<;scmblcd : Pre.sont, m yestpffl,,. '• According to order, the ordinanri> for tl» government of the Territory of the United Stuu^ northwest of the river Oliio, was read a thinl time, and ji.assed as follows." [Here follows the whole ordinance, in ti,,. very words in which it now apjiears nmcnp tlii' laws of the United States, M-ith the non-slaverv clau.se, the provisions in favor of schools anl education, against impairing the obligation o*' contracts, laying the foundation and security nf all these stipulations in compact, in favor of n. storing fugitives from service, and repealing tliu ordinance of 2;id of April, 1784— the one rciiort cd by Mr. Jefferson.] "On pa.s.sing the above ordinance, the ycaj and nays being required by Mr. Y'ntcs : Massachusetts — Mr. Ilolten, aye ; Mr. Dani' aye. New York — Mr. Smith, aye; Mr. Yates no: Mr. Harring, aj'c. New Jersey— Mr. Claike, aye ; Jlr. Schcur- man, aye. Delaware— yir. Kearney, aye ; Mr. Mitchell aye. Virginia— Mr. Grayson, aye; Mr. R. II, I,,^ aye ; Mr. Carrington, aye. North Carolina — Mr. Blount, aye; Mr. Ilaw. kins, aye. Hou'th Carolina — Sir. Kean, aye ; Mr. IIu. ger, aye. Georgia — Mr. Few, aye ; Mr. Pierce, aye. So it was resolved in the alfiimativc." (I'a;;! 754, volume 4.) The bare reading of these passages from tho Journals of the Congress of the old confedera- tion, shows how erroneous Mr. Webster was in these portions of his speech : " At tho foundation of the constitution of tlioH^ new northwestern States, we are accustonu"!. sir, to praise the lawgivers of antiquity ; wt help to ])crpetuate the fame of Soion and Lycur- gus ; but 1 doubt whether one single law of any lawgiver, ancient or modem, has produced eflects of more distinct, marked, and lasting character, than the ordinance of ^87. That instrumem, was drawn by Nathan Dane, then, and now, a citizen of Massachusetts. It was adopted, a.s I think I have understood, without the slightest altqration ; and certainly it has happened to (m men to be the authors of a political measure of more large and enduring consequence. It fixed, for ever, the character of the population in the vast legions northwest of the Ohio, by exclud- ing from thein involuntary servitude. It im- pressed on the soil itself, while it was yet a wil- derness, an incapacity to bear up an/ other tlun free men. It laid the interdict against personal servitude, in original compact, not only deeper thou all local law, but deeper, also, tlian all kal institutions. Un< .M^tini. I llied to his a wilderness, and b .up of tho Allcgha would li'ivo contribi iitss of that common not to be doubted, tli produced an effect n< measured in tho gri extent and increase .'^ir, this great measu north, and by the no deed, individuals cist i! was supported as votes of the northcri liaJ been gover: d views now ascrioed was. of all others, th( j^ jier purposes. It w means of rendering from her own popu looked to that conseq j 81ie deemed the regu i tlie States that would ml advantageous to aiiiered to the princij after year, until it wa "An attempt has b the North to the Soui I .'ion of slavery from I The journal, without I futes such attempt. was made, March, 17i I following, a commiti Ijctrerson, Chase, and I for a temporary govci iviiich was this artic 1 1800, there shall be i imtary servitude in ar I wise than in punishn J party shall have beei I of North Carolina, j paragraph. Theques I the form then pract Island, as part of the lEhire, Massachusetts, lout, New York New I— seven States, voted jland, Virginia, and S( Itive. North Carolina Isent of nine States ■could not stand, and \ |Iy. Mr. Jefferson vo lovemilcd by his colle, I "In March, the ne; ■of Massachusetts, sec ■Rhode Island, propo AXN'O U-29. ANDREW JACKSON. I'Rfyir>EXT 13d OT«til'ition'^' I'mltT tho rirctimstanrcs t!u!n viitini. 1 l'>olc wpon this nripinal an'l scnson- » lie provision, a.s a real good attained. Wo we <;, ifinsi'iiucnccH at tliia moment, ami wc shall livcT ciiise to see them, perhajis, while the t)hio .hall tlort'. It was a great and salutary measiii-c „l |,n.nintion. Sir. I should fear the rebuke of ;,,) inlilligent gentleman of Kentucky, were I t,i iuik whether if such an ordinance could have luiii iipplicd to hi.s own S»ate, while it yet was a wildtrness, and before Boon had passed the ;.-a|) of tho Alleghany, ho does not supj^se it ivould liavo contributed to the ultimate great- juss of that communwealth ? It is, at any .-ate, not to be doubted, that where it did apply it has proiluceil an eflcct not easily to bo described, or iiicasurud in tho growth -^f tho States, and the istcnt and increase of their population. Now, fir. this great measure again was carried by the north, and by the north alone. There were, in- (Ititl. imlividuals elsewhere favorable to it ; but it was supported as a measure, entirely by the votes of the northern estates. If New England had been gover: d by the narrow and selfisli vions now ascrioed to her, this very measure was, of all others, tho best calculated to thwart , hir purposes. It was, of all things, the very inc'iins of rendering certain a vast emigration from her own population to the west. She looked to that consequence only to disregard it. [she deemed the regulation a most useful one to the States that would spring up on the territory, ml advantagcouc to the country at large. She alhcred to the principle of it persevcringly, year after year, until it was finally accomplished. • An attempt has been made to transfer, from I the North to the South, the honor of this exclu- sion of slavery from the northwestern territory. The journal, without argument or comment, re- I lutes Buch attempt. Tho cession by Virginia was made, March, 1784. On the 19th of April following, a committee, consisting of Messrs. Jefferson, Chase, and Howell, reported a plan for a temporary government of the territory, in ivhich was this article : ' that, after the year 1800, there shall be neither slavery, nor invol- untary servitude in any of the said States, other- I wise than in punishment of crimes, whereof the (party shall have been convicted.' Mr. Speight, I of Xorth Carolina, moved to strike out this I paragraph. The question was put, according to I the form then practised: 'Shall these words I stand, as part of the plan,' &c.l New Hamp- j shire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecti- jcut. New York New Jersey, and Pennsylvania -seven States, voted in the aflBrmative. Mary- jland, Virginia, and South Carolina, in the nega- Itive. North Carolina was divided. As the con- Isent of nine States was necessary, the words Icould not stand, and were struck out according- lly. Mr. Jefferson voted for the clause, but was |«vcrrulcd by his colleagues. " In March, the next year [1785], Mr. King Icf Massachusetts, seconded by Mr. Ellery of iRhode Island, proposed tho formerly rejected article, with this addition : '.I/k/ that thi» r^i^i Idllon nhfill lie nn article of com part, ami re- main iij'imtliimriitnl iirinciftle - vision was again n-J-cted by the southeiJi States The iKTseverance o"f the north held out. and two years afterwards the object was attained."' This is shown to be all erroneous in relation to this ordinance. It was not first drawn by Mr. Dane, but by Mr. Jefferson, and thai nearly two years before Jlr. Dane came into Congress. It was not passed by tho North alone, but equally by tho South — there being but eight States pre- sent at the passing, and they equally of the North and tho South — and tho South voting unani* mously for it, both as States and as individual members, while the North had one member against it. It was not baffled two years for tlie want of nine States; if so, and nip" States had been neces- sary, it would not ha.. a passed when it was, and never by free State votes alone. There were but eight States (both Northern and Southern) present at tho passing ; and there were not nine free States in the confederacy at that time. There were but thirteen in all : and tho half of these, as nearly as thirteen can be divided, were slavo States. The fact is, that the South only delayed its vote for tho antislavery clause in tho ordi- nance for want of the provision in favor of re- coverinL; fugitives from service. As soon as tiiat was added, she took the lead again for the ordi- nance — a fact which gives great emphasis to the corresponding provision in tho constitution. Mr. Webster was present when I read these extracts, and said nothing. lie neither reaffirm- ed his previous statement, that Mr. Dane was the author of the ordinance, and that '• Ihia great measure teas carried by the North, and by tho North alone" lie said nothing ; nor did he af- terwards correct the errors of his speech : and they now remain in it ; and have given occasion to a very authentic newsptper contradiction of his statement, copied, like my statement to the Senate, from the Journals of the old Congress It was by Edward Coles, Esq., formerly of Vir- ginia, and private secretary to President Jladi- Bon. afterwards governor of the State of Illinois, and now a citizen of Pennsylvania, resident of 13G THIUTY YEAIIS' VIEW Diiladcliihin. Ho iimilc lii« cniroclion tliroiiKli tlie N'atioiial Iiitcllij^fnocr, of Wa>:liin;itoii City ; and Iniing ilrawn from the wmu' soiirtx-s it opri'cs entirely with my own. And tliUK tlie South is cntitloil to tlie creilit of oripn^ting and jiass- ing tliis great meo-siirc — a circiimstunix' to \ic rc- memlieri'd and (untt'd, as showing the South at that time in taking the lead in curtailing and re- Btricling tho existence of slavery. The cause of Mr. WtbKter's mistakes may he found in tlic fact tliat tho ordinance) was three times before the old Congress, and once (the third time) in tho liands of a committee of winch Mr. Dane was a member. It was first reported by a committee of tliree (April, 1784) of which two were from slave states, (Mr. Jellcrfion of Virginia and Mr. Cliase of Maryland,) Mr. Howard, of- Rhode Island ; and this, as stated, was nearly two years before Mr. Dane became a member. Tlio anti- slavery clause was then dropixjd. there being but six States for it. The next year, the antislaver}' clause, with. some modification, was moved by Mr. liufus King, and sent as a proposition to a. commit- tee : but did not ripen into a law. Afterwards the whole ordinance was passed as it now stands, upon the report of a committee of six, of whom Mr. Dane was one ; but not the chairman. Closely connected with this question of author- ship to which Mr. Webster's remarks give rise, was another which excited some warm discussion — the topic of slavery — and the effect of its ex- istence or non-existence in different States. Kcn- tuckj'and Ohio were taken for examples, and the superior improvement and population of Ohio were attributed to its exemption from the evils of slavery. This was an excitable subject, and the more so because the wounds of the ilissouri controversy, in which the North was the undis- puted aggressor, were still tender, and hardly scarred over. Mr. Ilayne answered with warmth and resented as a reflection upon the slave States this disadvantageous comparison. I replied to the same topic myself, and said : " I was on the subject of slaver\-, as connected with the Missouri question, when last on the floor. The senator from South Carolina [Mr. Hayne] could see nothing in the question before the Senate, nor in any previous part of tho de- bate, to justify the introduction of that topic. Neither could I. He thought he saw the ghost of the Missouri question brought in among us. So did I. He was astonished at the apparition. I was not : for a close observance of the signs iu the West had prepared me for this develop- ment from tho East. I was well jm partil i ,, that invective against (iiavery, and for tlim an,. plilication of the blessings uf exemption li,,.', slavery, cxeuiplilied in the condition of (i|„i, whicii tho senator from Massachusetts iii>|iil.,,| in, and which the oiywt in view required ti,"i,, derived from the Northeast. I cut the roji , f tliat derivation by reading a passag'' "f '"""■ thousnn-I — such wore the nnm- Itri. Tin? rights of the owners over this miilti- ,,,,1.. of human lioinn^ ^*'''*'' *''"' *''' '"'-' ""'^ resenlativjs, to a selvct commit- tee consisting of Mr. Foster of New Hampshire; Mr. Gerry of Massachusetts, Mr. Huntington of Connecticut; Mr. Lawrence of New- York; Mr. Sinnickson of New Jersey; Mr. Hartley of 1'enn.sylvania, and Mr. Parker of A'irginia ; all of them, sir, as you will observe, northern men, but tho '"»st. This committee made a rejiort, which was committed to a committee of tho whole house, and there considered and discussed on several daj's ; and being amended, although in no material respect, it was made to express three distinct propositions on tho subject of slavery and the slave-trade. First, in tho words of the constitution, that Congress could not, prior to the year 1808, prohibit the migration or im|)ortation of such persons as any of the States, then exist- ing, should think proiwr to admit. Second, that Congress had authority to restrain the citizens of tho United States from carrying on the Afri- can slave-trade, for the purpose of supplying foreign coimtries. On this proposition, our laws against those who engage in that traific, are founded. The third proposition, and that which bears on the present question, was expressed in iho following terms: " ' Resohtd, That Congress have Ji.> auvi.ority to interfere in the emancipation of slaves, or in the treatment of them in any of the States ; it re- maining with the several States alone to provide rules and regulations therein, which humanity and true policy may require. ' '' This resolution received tho sanction of the House ofRopresentatives so early as March, 1790. And now, sir, the honorable member will allow mo to remind him, that not only were the select committee who reported the resolution, with a single exception, all northern men. but also that of the members then composing the House of Representatives, a large majority, I believe near* ly two thirds, were northern men also. '' The h3use agreed to insert these resolutions in its journal, and, from that day to this, it has aever been maintained or contended that Con- gress had any authority to regulate, or interfere with, the condition of slaves in the several States. No northarn gentleman, to my knowledge, hu moved any such question in either house of Con- gross. " The fears of the South, whatever fears they night have entertained, were allayed and quieted by this early decision ; and so remained, till they vere excited afresh, without cause, but for col- lateral and indirect purposes. When it became necessary, or was thought so, by some political persons, to find an unvarying ground for the ex- .tlK 138 THinTY YKAR8' VIKW. rliiHiiiii of iinrtlifTii men from conft'lcncf »n ri-pulilic. tlion. nn-'> tlic majrnitude of that IK)pulation has hn pugning itA correctnvHs; and muKt mil that | never saw any thing in Mr. Webster iiu on. |^;,,, with what hu then Kuid ; and lK'li( ve tluttUi same resolves could have iK-en pns.sed in thosiinn woy at any lime fluring the thirty ye.ir.s tlm I wa« in > ongress. But the topic which became the leading fcaiDr.. I of the whole debate ; and gave it uii intcrst which cannot die, was that of nulliliealion-tt* assumed right of a state to annul an act of ('oi>. gross — then first broached in our nationiil led- lat 1 c - and in tho discussion of which Mr. V,\\^ I ster anm|it'llMi}( it to cuiiforiii to thi'ir opinion of tlio ,\wj\t iif its pow<'rH. I uivlcrKtiinii him to inniiitnin thnt the iilti- . ,i;e power of Jud^iiif; of tho <*onstitiilioiml ex- • It of its own autliority is not hnlj^t'd exclusive- .111 till! jrenornl novemincnt, or nny hriiiu'l* of It; hut tliHt. on tho conlmry, tho StateH nmy liMU n'.:er caM) ciiti ever iiriM' tliiiii ex isted under tliii>,o law* ; lui .'"Itairs can ever en- tertain a cleiirer coiivictiou tli:kii the New Kn;:- land State-, then eiit.'riuiiu'il ; nnd if lln-y lind iKH'n uinler the inlliienfe of that hiTcsv «( (i|iiii- i(k|>rialo l.rniirlu'M. Sir, tlio vt-rr Wlio or wimt piven tlicin the rijrht to My i„ „, (liii'f in:ii, fur wliirli tho wliolf |i()ii>.|itiitmn HUH tumuli mikI iulo|itci| wnx. to i>s- ! (or iine piirixiw, will iimlcrUko to (|«-i,|„ ,| 'I iiil.lisli a KoviTiiii'iiil timt slioiild iir.t Ik- ol.lr^'Hl yiir otluT njii'nlH arvi HcrvnntM, np|M.iMtH \ (i) mt tliroii(:li .Sliiti' iip'ii'-y, or ili'|"ii'l on .Stati' opiiiiiiii iuhI .State (liHTction. Tli(! JH-opIo liiid hail <|iiito enoii^rh of tlint kitnl of pivt-rnimiit iiiKlir tin- conlitlrmi-y, I'lKkr that systoin, tho K'pil a<'tioii, thu ni)plication of law to iiidividimln, licioiiKi'd cxciiiRlvidy to thu States. (.'onjtruHs coiilil only rcronmiind ; tlicir wts wcro not of hiiidiiiK forri', till the States had adopted and wiiictioiied them. Are ne in that condition utill / Are we yet at the mercy of Statu dis<;retion, and ijlate eonstnii'lion 7 Sir, if we are, then vain will ho our iittem|pt to luoiiitnin the tonHtitntion imder w Inch wc sit. Jiiit, sir, tho jieoplo have wisely jirovided, in tho constitution itself, a pro- |ier, Kuitahlu mode and trihiwial for settlinp (|iies- tioim of constitutional law. There are, in the constitntion, prants of powers to t'onjrrc.sH, and restrictions on these jiowcrs. There iiro. also, prohihitions on tho Slates. Some anthority must, therefore, necessarily exist, linvinp; the ultimate jurisdiction to li.\ ami ascertain tho in- terjiretation of the.sc prar.ts, restrictions, and l)rohihitions. Tho constitution has, itself, point- ed out, onlained, and estahlished, that authority. How has itaccomplishcil this great and essential end? ]ly declaring, sir, that ' tho const. tution, and the laws of tho United States made in jjur- Huance thereof, sh vll be tho supremo law of the lanl>ii and patriotic Jl„,i,ll but wu havo h ,„.i»Ikii South Caro |i««-iin,' tor the redivi I 111 thu gentleman | ; iiiive ever l>een Iliirtlord Conven |i|;,,ll. Sirj wo would |(f,|il(ii'ullies created b Jfroin the feileral govei Itiir t'ricvaiices. Wo lan'titiilional rights, in lliiit if tlie country shou In I war to-morrow, wi 1(0 ilie standard of ou ■lick the common em |ii{>i I the restoration ol The gentleman has kuloiir scheme prnctii Lrnc't in my view of ■oiT'i. n{ course, that tli W hh^hed, the federal j nsjiiiesee in a solemn lI»F.NT. 141 Hit')' „1 fimUMico, <-xc(>|it in hin own imniiiiuttion. i,ri lii»»*'. ii»'li>u'l, '«-'^'i> tiHtliniTH of till' iKMiplu ill,,* (lisiriflM )i)iii|i(i'<«'t|, nir, of M huh- ,.|,i| ami putnotic iiioii m any country can lt; ''"' *" ''"*'" '"*'' "" '<'oi'venticMi'»sytti ,,,,j«lii'ii South Carolinn Mimll rvnort to hii<;Ii u j,i.ur« t'lr tlio ruilioHiH of Iter uricviuiei-s, lot nu' , ;i tlio );L'ntli'niiin Hint, of all tliu tk>M.-iul)liL's , jt liiive c'vir In-x-n convened in this country, ,ji, llarlforil Convention is tho very liust we ,; ,11 niiisi'nt to lake as iin example ; nor will it "iinl more favor in our eyes, from Iwinj,' reconi- Ijiii'lwl to us by the Kenator from AliWMichu- ,t!v Sir, wu would Kcorn to tuko udvautaj^e cfililticiilties creiitrd by a foreijtn wnr, to wriu).' from the federal piverinnent a redress even of our irrievauceH. Wc nro Htaiulinn up for our QD.titiitiDiial riKbls, in a time of profound pence; Ibit if 'I'l! country should, «inhuppily, bo IuvoIvihI L I war to-morrow, wu hIiouUI bo found ilying (,, tlic litnnilard of our country — llrst drivinjf |l4ck tiio common enemy, and then insisting; ii|,:i llie ristorntion of our rights. • riie p iitleman lias called uiwn ns to cnri-y Hit our sfhomc practi<"ally. Now, sir, if 1 iim ffrtt ill my view of this matter, then it fol- l,),v<. of courso, that the rij^ht of a State beinp it Wished, llio federal Rovernracnt is bound to iiiiiivsce in a solemn decision of a State, acting ; its s()verei;:n capacity, at least so far as to jiiko nil iipiic-al to tho jieoplo for an amendment |o tiio constitution. Ihis colcmn decision of a uto (made either through its legislature, or a iivciition, as may bo supposed to bo tho proper ;ui of its Kovcroinn will — a point I do not pro- 1,0 now to discuss) bin«ls tho federal covern- L. nt, under tho highest constitutional obligation, Kit to resort to anv means of coercion against I' citizens of tho dissenting State. How, then, U liny collision ensue lietween the federal and Itatc governments, unless, indeed, tho former loiild (lolermino to enforce tho law hy uncon- (titntional moans? What could tho federal ]i)rerninent do, in such r caso ? Kesort, says I gentleman, to tho courts of justice. Now, 1 any man belicvo that, in the face of a solemn (cisiou of a State, that an act of Congress is I gross, palpable, and deliberate violation of tho biBtilution,' and tho interposition of its sove- kijn authority to protect its citizens from the tiir|iation, that juries could bo found rcafly leixly to register tho decrees of tho Congress, Iholly regardless of the unconstitutional char- Ittr of their acts t Will tho gentleman con- fnd that juries aro to bo coerced to find verdicts i the point of the bayonet ? And if not, how ethc Uiuted States to enforce an act solemnly lonounced to bo unconstitutional ? But, if the icmpt should bo made to carry such a law |to cHl'ct, by force, in what would the case dif- fiom an attempt to carry into efifoit an act llliiiud by the courts, or to do any other un- " 1 and unwarrantable act 1 Suppose Con- sliould pass an agrarian law, or a law bucipating our slaves, or should commit any other groHK vicihition of our ciinKtitiitioiinl riKhls, will any (ccntliiimii lunU'iid (hat Ihc ili-iiHinnnl' every briiiieh of tin- fidenil jrnvcrniiifiit, in fa\id ! Let their last feehle and linjrenng glance, rather, Ijehold the porfjeoiis ensigii of t!ie republic, now known nnd honored throughout the earth, still full hi^h advanced, its arms and tro|ihies streaming in their original lustre, not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star ob- scured, bearing for its motto no such miserable interrogatory as, Wliat is all this worth ? Nor those other words of delusion and folly, Liberty first, and Union afterwards: but every where, spread all over in characters of living light, blaz- ing on all its ample folds, ,is they Hoat over the sea nnd over the land, and in every wind imder the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every true American heart — I^iberty and Union, now and for ever, one and inseparable ! " These were noble sentiments, oratorically ex- pressed, but too elaborately and too artistically comiKJsed for real grief in presence of a great ca- lamity — o*" which calamity I saw no sign; and therefore deemed it a fit subject for gentle casti- gation : and essayed it thus : " I proceed to a different theme. Among the novelties of this debate, is that part of the speech of the senator from JIassachusetts which dwells with .such elaboration of declamation nnd orna- ment, upon the lovo and blessings of union — the hatred and horror of disunion. It was a I)iirt of the senator's speech which brought into lull play the favorite Ciceronian figure of ampli- fication. It was up to the rule in that particu- lar. But, it seemed to me, that there was an- other rule, and a higher, nnd a precedent ono. which it violated. It was the rule of propriety ; that rule which requires the fitness of things to be considered ; which requires the time, the place, the subject, and the audience, to bo consid- ered ; and condemns the delivery of the argu- ment, and all its flowers, if it fails in congru- ence to these particulars. I thought the essay upon union and disunion had so failed. It came to us when we were not prepared for it ; when there was nothing in the Senate, nor in the coun- try to grace its introduction ; nothing to give, or to receive, effect to, or from, the impassioned scene that we witnessed. It may be, it was the prophetic cry of the distrncted daughter of Pri- am, breaking into the council, nnd alarming its tranquil members with vaticinations of the fall of i i oy : but to mo, it all sounded like the sud- den prociumation for an earthquake, when the sun, the earth, the air, announced no such prodi- gy ; when nil the elements of nature were at rest, and sweet repose pervading the world. There was a time, and you, and I, and all of us, did see it, sir, when such a speech would have found, in its delivery, every attribute of a just and rigorous propriety I It was at a time, when the five-striped banner was waving over the laud of the North ! when the Hartford Cnnvcmi, was in ses.sion ! when the language in the mt j tol was, "Peaceably, if we can; forcibly jf ^'j must ! " when the cry, out of doors, was. •• m J Po'omac the boundary; the negro Statw I J themselves! The Alleghanies the boun(ian'j the Western savages by themselves ! The \|' j sii)pi the boundary, let Missouri be governed \M a prefect, or given up as a haunt for wild b^^(^ ' J That time was the fit occasion for this Kuitii ] and if it had been delivered then, either in tij hall of the House of Representatives, or inti? den of the Hartford Convention, or in the hi^J way among the bearers and followers of tU five-striped banner, what effects mustitnothavJ produced ! What terror and consternation amotil the plotters of disunion ! But, here, in this lovjt and quiet assemblage, in this season of gciu^l tranquillity and universal allegiance, the vhM performance has lost its effect for want of aitiaJ ity, connection, or relation, to any subject 4 pending, or sentiment expressed, in the SenatH for want of any application, or reference, to am'l event impending in the country." I do not quote this passage for any tiiinJ that I now see out of place in that peronJ tion ; but for a quite different purpose— fJ the purpose of showing that I was slow tcl believe in any design to subvert this Union- that at the time of this great debate (Febnian and March, 1830) I positively discredited it.| and publicly proclaimed my incredulity, I c not want to believe it. I repulsed the belief. pushed aside every circumstance tliat Jlr. ^\'t\^ ster relied on, and softened every expression tiuj Mr. Hayne used, and considered him as limitim (practically) his threatened resistance to thet act, to the kind of resistance which Virginj mode to the alien and sedition laws — which vu an appeal to the reason, judgment and fceliiig of the other States — and which had its effect 1 the speedy repeal of those laws. Mr. Calhooj had not then uncovered his position in relatione nullification. I knew that Mr. Webster speaking at him m all that he said to Mr. ilajitJ but I would believe nothing against him exce[(( upon his own showing, or undoubted cvidcm Although not a favorite statesman with me, I fc admiration for his high intellectual endowment^ and respect for the integrity and purity of l private life. Mr. Hayne I cordially loved; 1 believed, and still believe, in the loyalty 1 his intentions to the Union. They were i from the South — that sister Carolina, of vhidj the other was my native State, and in both ( which I have relatives and hereditary friend! C H A P T E EEPEAL OF 1 a« as soon as the war ANNO 1830. ANDREW JACKSON. PRESIDENT. 143 ^.,j for \rhich I still have the aflcctions which .,,[10 but the wickc«l ever lose for the land of their l,;rth; and I felt ns they did in nil that relates n the tarilF— except their rcmcn niid ru- lease of taxes — easy to pet tluin on in a time of necessity — ban! to get them off whi-n tliu nocos- sity has pa.ssc