ammcan 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 JOHN T. MORSE, JR. 
 
American 
 
 LEWIS CASS 
 
 ANDREW c. MCLAUGHLIN 
 
 . 
 
 ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 
 
 BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
 HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 
 
 1891 
 
Copyright, 1891, 
 BY ANDREW C. McLAUGHLIN. 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
 The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A. 
 Electrotyped and Printed by H. 0. Houghton & Company 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 I HAVE made no effort in the pages of this book 
 to give more than the leading facts of the public 
 life of Lewis Cass. He has been studied as the 
 representative of a section of the country ; yet his 
 general influence and his personal characteristics 
 have been briefly presented. Little material was 
 found ready at hand for the task. He left no 
 diary or accumulated correspondence, and only a 
 few volumes of printed speeches and addresses. 
 The personality of the man had to be gathered 
 from a careful consideration of his public utter 
 ances, and from the recollections of his friends. 
 Some of these are still living, and have kindly and 
 generously assisted me. I have neither cared nor 
 dared to place an estimate upon his character dif 
 ferent from that held by the men who knew him 
 and trusted him. I have conferred with political 
 foes as well as political friends, and have found 
 a remarkable consensus of opinion. It is to be 
 hoped, therefore, that the judgments of the book 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 will not be attributed to the natural partiality of 
 a biographer. 
 
 I have received but little help from either of the 
 biographies of General Cass, both of which were 
 written during his lifetime. There has been dan 
 ger in coming into close contact with their indis 
 criminate justification, and yet such volumes aid 
 us in appreciating the limitations and conditions 
 of a political period which we have ourselves out 
 grown. Mr. Smith, while writing " The Life and 
 Times of Lewis Cass," seems to have had access 
 to a diary which was kept by Cass when on his 
 tour to Greece and the far East. Of the original 
 I can find no trace, and have felt at liberty to refer 
 to Mr. Smith s excerpts. In other particulars the 
 pages of the public documents and of established 
 authorities have furnished me with materials. The 
 references that are indicated do not purport to in 
 clude a complete list of the sources of information 
 or of the books used in preparing this volume. 
 There has been no attempt to strengthen every 
 assertion by appropriate reference to authority. 
 When a suggestion has been consciously taken from 
 some well-known writer, or a phrase has been bor 
 rowed because of its peculiar aptness, an acknow 
 ledgment has been made by a foot-note. Occa 
 sionally an unexpected, novel, or pivotal statement 
 
PREFACE. vii 
 
 has been supported by exact reference to the 
 sources of information. 
 
 I have received valuable suggestions from Judge 
 James V. Campbell and Judge Isaac P. Chris- 
 tiancy. Both these men have died since this book 
 was begun ; I desire, however, to acknowledge the 
 help received from them. I wish to express my 
 thanks to the Hon. G. V. N. Lothrop and to the 
 Hon. Alpheus Felch. Grateful acknowledgments 
 are also due to the Hon. Charles H. Bell, of 
 Exeter, New Hampshire, and to Professor Isaac 
 N. Demmon, of the University of Michigan. 
 Judge Thomas M. Cooley, the learned historian of 
 Michigan, has given me assistance and encourage 
 ment. Mrs. Ledyard has given me every aid in 
 her power in my endeavor to obtain materials for 
 this life of her father. 
 
 ANDREW C. MCLAUGHLIN. 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, 
 March 1, 1891. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I. THE OLD NORTHWEST 1 
 
 II. EABLY LIFE 33 
 
 in. THE WAR OF 1812 ...... 53 
 
 IV. GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY . . 86 
 
 ~"V. SECRETARY OF WAR 130 
 
 VI. MINISTER TO FRANCE 164 
 
 VII. A DEMOCRATIC LEADER ; THE BISECTION OF 1844 . 193 
 VIII. SENATOR; CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY; 
 
 SQUATTER SOVEREIGNTY . . . . 221 
 IX. SENATOR; THE COMPROMISE OF 1850 . . 258 
 X. THE REPEAL OF THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE ; 
 
 THE NORTHWEST FORMS A NEW PARTY . 287 
 XI. SECRETARY OF STATE ; SECESSION ; THE LAST 
 
 YEARS 322 
 
LEWIS CASS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE OLD NORTHWEST. 
 
 THE five States north of the Ohio River form an 
 historical and a geographical unit. They have their 
 individual peculiarities, but possess common tradi 
 tions and doubtless a common destiny. Their his 
 tory does not begin with the Ordinance of 1787. 
 Long before this characteristic American constitu 
 tion was passed, or the Puritan of New England 
 sought a new home west of the Alleghanies, this 
 portion of our country had its records and its 
 annals. In its later development under Ameri 
 can auspices it felt the fashioning influences of the 
 past. Tendencies strengthened by age cannot be 
 counteracted in a moment. Time and trial are 
 necessary elements in such a transformation as that 
 which rejuvenated the old Northwest, filled it with 
 vigor, with energetic American life and modern zeal 
 for industry and political activity. The United 
 States was the third power to occupy it. The earlier 
 tenures by France and England furnished obsta 
 cles in the way of later American progress. 
 
2 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 The Norths esc is the first foster child of the Re 
 public. The principles of Americanism now seem 
 inborn and inbred; but foster child it is, and its 
 growth has been influenced by its parentage and 
 early training. Into parts of the country north of 
 the Ohio the people from the South and East came 
 suddenly and in swarms, which changed the face of 
 nature so quickly that the historian has been con 
 tent with exclamation. But Michigan was not thus 
 re-clothed and energized in a moment. Wisconsin 
 lagged and shuffled in her progress. Even Illinois 
 and Indiana were slightly retarded by inherited 
 incumbrances. It is true that " north of the Ohio 
 the regular army went first," 1 and the settler fol 
 lowed in its wake. But the regular army does not 
 transform and renovate or sweep away on its bayo 
 nets the customs of a century s growth. 
 
 American statesmanship is not confined to wa 
 ging political warfare or to winning victories of 
 diplomacy. A good portion of the life of Lewis 
 Cass was spent in striving to Americanize Mich 
 igan and other portions of the Northwest, to intro 
 duce popular government, modern methods of legal 
 procedure, modern habits of life, modern civiliza 
 tion. In the development of Michigan from ter 
 ritorial confusion and uncertainty to the order of 
 statehood, there were constant exertions to over 
 come inertia and to break away from the sluggish 
 forces of the past. While guiding and directing 
 these exertions, while inculcating democratic ideas, 
 
 1 Roosevelt, Winning of the West, vol. i. p. 24. 
 
THE OLD NORTHWEST. 3 
 
 while holding forth attractions to settlers, while 
 struggling for the independence of the Northwest 
 against British aggressions, Cass was performing 
 the work of a national statesman and his efforts 
 were of national concern. 
 
 Popular government was but slowly introduced 
 into a territory which had been long contentedly 
 under the sway of absolutism. Sault de Ste. Marie 
 was established fourteen years before Philadelphia ; 
 Detroit but nineteen years after her Quaker sister. 
 And yet, a hundred and twenty -five years after 
 Penn begged his colonists not to be " so govern- 
 mentish," the inhabitants of Michigan were living 
 without capacity to appreciate or desire to know 
 the delights of political controversies, which were 
 so dear to the Americans of the coast. For more 
 than a century after the exploration of the North 
 west its history pertained to that of Canada, and 
 that portion of the country, which was first settled 
 and first came under Canadian influence, was the 
 last to free itself from trammels of Celtic bondage 
 and provincial ignorance. 
 
 The French with gracious ease seemed to insinu 
 ate themselves into the western country, following 
 the watercourses as great highways to the unex 
 plored interior. Long before the institutional Eng 
 lishman plodded his way westward to the Allegha- 
 nies, the Frenchman had traversed the country of 
 the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Valley and 
 was familiar with the haunts of the beaver. The 
 proselyting spirit of religion and the spirit of trade 
 
4 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 vied with each other in efforts to lead the way. 
 Early in the seventeenth century, Recollet fathers 
 landed at Quebec, prepared to begin a work of con 
 version among the Indians. Five years before the 
 founding of Plymouth Champlain knew something 
 of the great West. Gradually, by way of the Ot 
 tawa River and Georgian Bay, the Western coun 
 try was discovered, French soldier or priest boldly 
 entering unexplored rivers or skirting the coasts of 
 unknown lakes with calm courage or with a simple 
 faith which drove out fear. Wisconsin was known 
 before Rhode Island was settled ; and the hardy 
 Jesuits began their work in northern Michigan 
 before Puritanism had more than emerged from 
 behind its stockades in a corner of rocky New 
 England. 
 
 But the Iroquois could not be charmed by 
 chanted vespers nor softened by Christian influ 
 ence. The priest endured tortures and prayed with 
 out ceasing and without avail. Had he been suc 
 cessful, the Indians of Western New York and 
 Northern Ohio would have been won over to pur 
 poses of French statecraft. They would have 
 become an implacable enemy to Dutch aggression, 
 an impassable barrier to the advance of English 
 traders. As it was, England s enemies were pushed 
 northwest into the upper lake region, and the Ohio 
 Valley was kept by the savage, until the English 
 farmer, in response to demands of trade and agri 
 culture, carried with him over the mountains the 
 Penates of a constitutional state. Ohio had no 
 
THE OLD NORTHWEST. 5 
 
 history until the American colonist was ready to 
 enter the country, ready to establish there real 
 nerve centres of English influence, real vital and 
 life-giving homes of English politics and English 
 civilization. 
 
 There is nothing more interesting in the course 
 of history. The heathen and savage guarded till 
 the fullness of time a land destined to become 
 the home of American constitutionalism, not to 
 be blighted by imposed governments ordained by 
 Richelieu and the state - absorbing monarchs of 
 France. Long after Illinois and Wisconsin were 
 known and their rivers described with some pre 
 tense at accuracy, Ohio was a terra incognita^ the 
 shores of Lake Erie unknown, the Ohio and the 
 Wabash confused. Not till after the middle of the 
 last century was there anything like an accurate 
 knowledge of that portion of the Northwest which 
 was nearest to English settlements and naturally 
 the most accessible to the French. Even the Con 
 necticut Land Company in 1796 found, by its sur 
 veys, that the Connecticut Reserve had a million 
 acres less than geographical ignorance had antici 
 pated. 1 This explains to some extent why the oc 
 cupancy of Ohio, signalized by the landing of the 
 " new pilgrims," at Marietta, differs from the occu 
 pation of many other portions of the Northwest. 
 
 Neither the daring voyages of Hennepin, whose 
 lies reveal a glimmer of truth and cloud an envi 
 able reputation, nor the explorations of Joliet and 
 
 1 Hinsdale, The Old Northwest. 
 
6 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 Marquette need be recounted here. The journey of 
 La Salle, who in 1682 floated his canoe down the 
 Mississippi and took possession of the country in 
 the name of King Louis, proclaimed the birth of 
 New France with its two heads, as Parkman has so 
 graphically expressed it, one in the cane-brakes of 
 Louisiana and the other amid the snows of Canada. 
 But the task of connecting these two heads, of vital 
 izing the whole monster, of filling its veins with 
 life-giving blood, was difficult and in the end im 
 possible. Efforts were strenuously made to hold 
 firmly the portions first known to French influence. 
 Jesuits and traders settled in Wisconsin and Mich 
 igan. In 1671 Saint-Lusson, in solemn fashion, 
 in presence of Indian braves and Frenchmen at 
 the Sault, took possession of the surrounding coun 
 try with overawing pomp and splendor. The great 
 historian of French America may well suggest that 
 all that remains of this pompous sovereignty is the 
 " accents of France on the lips of some straggling 
 boatman or vagabond half-breed." Yet this occu 
 pancy meant the introduction of French ideas, of 
 French methods and policy of state, of French civ 
 ilization guarded or retarded by the dictates of an 
 absolute monarch. It meant that a century and a 
 half was to pass before Michigan could cast aside 
 her foreign trappings and take her place as a pros 
 perous American territory with progressive Amer 
 ican ideas. Ohio, which hardly knew the face of a 
 white man until the New Englander came over the 
 mountains with school-book and hymnal in his 
 
THE OLD NORTHWEST. 7 
 
 hands, was ready for statehood in fifteen years from 
 that immigration. Michigan had to serve a dreary 
 and necessary tutelage of nearly one hundred and 
 seventy-five years from its first settlement before it 
 struggled irregularly to its place beside the neigh 
 boring States. Wisconsin, discovered by the push 
 ing fur trader two hundred and fifty years ago, has 
 seen only within the last half century the begin 
 nings of agricultural and manufacturing life. 
 
 The fur trade induced the French to take posses 
 sion of Michigan and to hold it against all English 
 aggression. Late in the seventeenth century there 
 were efforts on the part of the English of New 
 York to attract the Indians with English goods 
 and rum, but all efforts to turn the fur trade from 
 Montreal to New York were unavailing. If these 
 attempts had been successful the history of the 
 northern lake region would have been totally differ 
 ent. Michigan would have been an English colony 
 before Georgia, and in all probability would not for 
 a century have lagged behind that State in progress. 
 Nothing but concentrated and patriotic action could 
 win the Northwest to England. For Louis XIV 
 took thought for the fur trade, and every element 
 of Canadian progress or failure was of interest to 
 him. 1 He subsidized trade ; he encouraged neces 
 sary charitable institutions ; he was ready to fleece 
 old France that new France might have a covering. 
 Whatever revenue he obtained from Canada was 
 derived from the fur trade, and this trade must be 
 
 1 Parkraan s Old Regime in Canada. 
 
8 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 supported by the power and cunning of France. 
 He was ready to salve his conscience with the state 
 ment that brandy not only secured the trade of In 
 dians but drew them from English Protestantism 
 within the blessed influences of the true religion. 
 
 Yet the Northwest was really held for France by 
 those whom Governor Denonville himself described 
 as the damaging element in Canadian life. The 
 fur trade was " hardy, adventurous, fascinating." * 
 Every effort was made to keep it under the control 
 of the government, that the king might find remu 
 neration for vast outlays and that the colonists 
 might not feel its fascinations too strongly. Trade 
 was put in a straight-jacket and chained to Mon 
 treal ; monopoly succeeded monopoly in successive 
 failures. But trade is aggressive if it exists at all, 
 and it broke from its fastenings and flung away 
 restraints. The Indians were intercepted on their 
 way to Montreal, 2 were " drenched with brandy," 
 and their beaver skins bought for a song. Finally 
 the adventurous and reckless among the settlers 
 fled to the western woods, where they might live or 
 trade as they desired. These law-breakers did now 
 for France the work which she was not quite ready 
 to do for herself. These wandering bush-rangers 
 held the Northwest against the English, and be 
 came the first white settlers of the Northern States. 
 The English of New York were feeling their way 
 in the direction of the fur country, and even before 
 
 1 Parkman s Old Regime in Canada. 
 
 2 Ibid. 
 
THE OLD NORTHWEST. 9 
 
 the end of the seventeenth century the Northwest 
 might have fallen into the grasping clutches of 
 English trade, to be settled by Englishmen and 
 ruled with English methods, if the hardy, lawless 
 coureur des bois had not pushed his way into the 
 coveted country. 
 
 The bush-rangers hated England and adored the 
 France whose laws they disregarded. They estab 
 lished trading posts throughout the wilderness some 
 years before they made the attempt at permanent 
 settlement. With an accurate knowledge of the 
 topography of the country they took positions 
 which in later years have been singled out for pur 
 poses of trade as well as defensive warfare. Du 
 Lhut established a post on the northern shore of 
 Lake Superior to prevent the possible approach of 
 the Hudson Bay Company from the north. Gov 
 ernor Denonville was obliged to ask this man, who 
 at one time was in danger of attracting all the 
 youths of New France to the woods, to fortify the 
 straits as a barrier to English advance in the South. 
 In spite of restrictive laws and the displeasure of 
 Louis himself, who, with a natural love of order 
 and method, was sorely annoyed at the irregulari 
 ties of the straggling coureurs des bois, who seemed 
 to be destroying his fondest hopes of systematic 
 and concentrated settlement along the St. Law 
 rence ; in spite also of hardships and privations, 
 the reckless bush-rangers increased in numbers, 
 until it was said that every family of quality in 
 Canada could count its friends and relatives among 
 
10 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 the rollicking outlaws, while the despairing Eng 
 lish, longing for the beaver of Michigan, announced 
 that they too must have " bush lopers." 
 
 A " picturesque " element were these men in the 
 life of early Canada, picturesque on their return to 
 brawl and gamble in the settlements after a long, 
 successful journey of fur hunting, and " artistic," 1 
 as with courage and reckless thoughtlessness they 
 made their way into the western wilderness. But 
 they were more than picturesque and artistic. 
 They early influenced the savages to hate the Eng 
 lish, and to look upon the French as their allies, 
 and this was of vast importance in the after efforts 
 for domination. Moreover, with a marvelous 
 adaptability, many assumed Indian habits and in 
 gratiated themselves by becoming Indians. After 
 years of law-breaking or wood - ranging, unused 
 to the amenities of civilization or the restraints of 
 law, they settled through the western country with 
 Indian wives or concubines, raised a brood of half- 
 breed children, and passed their days in worse than 
 savage idleness. 
 
 When the time came to change French for Eng 
 lish control, the Indians reluctantly consented, and 
 down to the middle of the present century, al 
 though the British were generally preferred to the 
 Americans, the French were greatly preferred to 
 either. "Whatever may have been the reason," 
 said Governor Cass, " the fact is certain that there 
 is in the French character peculiar adaptations to 
 
 1 Parkman s Old Regime in Canada. 
 
THE OLD NORTHWEST. 11 
 
 the habits and feelings of the Indians, and to this 
 day the period of French domination is the era of 
 all that is happy in Indian reminiscences." l At 
 the Sault de Ste. Marie, in 1826, a Chippewa chief, 
 addressing the American agent, thus pathetically 
 referred to the happy days of the French dominion 
 in the West : " When the Frenchmen arrived at 
 these falls they came and kissed us. They called 
 us children and we found them fathers. We lived 
 like brethren in the same lodge, and we had always 
 wherewithal to clothe us. They never mocked at 
 our ceremonies, and they never molested the places 
 of our dead. Seven generations of men have 
 passed away, but we have not forgotten it. Just, 
 very just, were they towards us." 2 
 
 "The French empire in America," says Park- 
 man, " could exhibit among its subjects every shade 
 of color from white to red, every gradation of cul 
 ture from the highest civilization of Paris to the 
 rudest barbarism of the wigwam." 3 The savoir 
 vivre of these people displayed itself. With their 
 influence over the Indians and their traditions of 
 inertia, their hatred of innovation and their utter 
 lack of ability to understand constitutional princi 
 ples or legal procedure, they formed a conditioning 
 element in the development of the West. An ex 
 perienced observer writing in 1845 assures us that 
 the average French - Canadian voyageur had less 
 
 1 Historical Sketches of Michigan, p. 24. 
 
 2 Mrs. Jameson, Winter Studies, etc., p. 130. 
 
 3 Conspiracy of Pontiac, p. 69. 
 
12 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 perception and general intellectual capacity than 
 his Indian companion. 1 These men, and their 
 fathers before them, living in ignorance, fell to a 
 plane below the ignorant savage with whom they 
 mingled. At the present day the half-breeds form 
 a large shiftless element among the woodsmen of 
 the northern lake region. Many of these bush 
 rangers, leading Indian lives, were scattered among 
 the western tribes, but besides these a large num 
 ber of watermen, retired from active employment, 
 formed rude settlements along the streams and 
 bays which open into the great lakes. Here in un 
 ambitious content they spent their lives and per 
 petuated their lazy characteristics in a numerous 
 progeny. Often Indian wives tilled the fields 
 while the gossiping vogageur smoked away the day. 
 In some of the more regular settlements there were 
 French women, and though there was a remarkable 
 ignorance of agricultural methods, the men suc 
 ceeded in raising enough to keep their families in 
 comfort. 
 
 The first settlements in Wisconsin were all of this 
 irregular kind. Eetired watermen, in their narrow 
 farms fronting the river, lived in blissful ignorance 
 of any aim in life except to live. The coureur des 
 bois settled thus as fancy dictated. Such an irre 
 sponsible settlement was the one at Prairie du Chien. 
 And a like settlement gradually grew up at Green 
 Bay, begun near the middle of the last century, 
 and slowly augmented by the advent of unemployed 
 1 H. R. Schoolcraft, Oneota. 
 
THE OLD NORTHWEST. 13 
 
 enyagees. Their small farms were tilled with care 
 sufficient to secure the necessary crops of wheat 
 and peas. At the beginning of this century it was 
 impossible to tell what blood flowed in the veins of 
 the settlers. There was only one woman, we are 
 told, in the latter settlement who pretended to be 
 " all white," and she had been " accidentally " im 
 ported. Nevertheless the manners of these simple 
 people were fascinating, for in spite of the admix 
 ture of the blood of the red man, who has his own 
 dignity and stately ease, they never lost the graces 
 of old France. Here at Green Bay there were 
 good examples of what these semi-French con 
 ceived to be goverment. Many are the amusing 
 stories of how Justice Keaume, in patriarchal fash 
 ion, enforced his own sweet will as the law of the 
 land. Well on in the present century, when Wis 
 consin was fairly under American government and 
 there was an effort to introduce popular methods, 
 this curious old justice knew much more of Cou- 
 tume de Paris than of the common law. His jack- 
 knife in the hands of an extemporized constable 
 performed the functions of a common seal, and he 
 gave his unique decisions in his broad French or 
 broken English without reference to anything but 
 the law of prejudice. 
 
 Turning to Michigan, we find there various set 
 tlements of this kind, founded under similar condi 
 tions ; but these did not become centres of growth 
 and development under the French regime* Mich 
 igan was the home of the beaver, and the French 
 
14 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 authorities soon realized the importance of secur 
 ing this portion of the West by responsible settle 
 ments. La Motte Cadillac seems first to have 
 entertained the idea of making " the straits " a 
 centre of French control in the West, to defend 
 the fur trade, prevent English encroachments, and 
 assure permanent influence over the neighboring 
 Indian tribes. Already renowned as a faithful offi 
 cer and soldier, he at last gained the end of his de 
 sires, and in 1701 reached Detroit with his company 
 of soldiers and artisans. These early settlers were 
 not lowborn or lawless. Everything was conducted 
 in an orderly and systematic manner, under the 
 auspices of government. The slur passed upon 
 the citizens of Detroit by Governor Hull and 
 Judge Woodward in October, 1805, was a need 
 less one. "When it is remembered," they said, 
 " that the troops of Louis XIV came without wo 
 men, the description of persons constituting the sec 
 ond generation will not be difficult to conceive." 1 
 La Hontan s graphic description of how women 
 were sent over in cargoes to become the wives of 
 the Canadian settlers is well known. Mother Mary, 
 not entirely pleased with such consignments of 
 mixed goods (" une marchandaise melee "), com 
 plained of "~beaucoup de scandale" Doubtless 
 Canada has been feebly blessed by these persons 
 and their descendants. But such were not the 
 early settlers of Detroit. The whole history of 
 that city shows that the residents were of no mean 
 
 1 Michigan Pioneer Co/., vol. viii. p. 404. 
 
THE OLD NORTHWEST. 15 
 
 birth, surely not in a demoralized condition, or 
 from a low and depraved ancestry. Into various 
 portions of Canada many respectable and even 
 noble persons immigrated, and the permanent set 
 tlements of Michigan were not less favored. 
 
 For various reasons Detroit developed but slowly 
 after this auspicious foundation. At times the 
 French authorities were unfriendly to colonization. 
 They were encouraged in their hostility by the 
 missionaries on the one hand, who feared the vices 
 of civilization, and who desired that the Indians 
 should come in contact with none but themselves, 
 and by the fur trader on the other, who was natu 
 rally averse to the advance of the homes of men into 
 the midst of the lodges of the beaver. Moreover 
 there was no instinctive appreciation of the fitness 
 of things. Land was granted under the most 
 absurd feudal restrictions, so to be held until 
 American practical sense disposed of the absurdi 
 ties. The place was, however, a centre of French 
 influence in the West, and gradually assumed per 
 manence and a degree of prosperity. It was not 
 an ill-formed, straggling village, where rough water 
 men and half-breeds passed their lazy lives. We 
 have reason to believe that from the first there was 
 comfort, and occasionally even an approach to ele 
 gance, in the houses that clustered in and around 
 the stockade. For some of the early townsmen 
 were artisans, who desired by work and by a very 
 moderate thrift to establish themselves and their 
 families in comfort. It will not do, however, to 
 
16 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 banish entirely from the colony the picturesque 
 bush-ranger. The town, which had been placed in 
 the very midst of his hunting grounds, was often 
 visited when savings were to be squandered in merri 
 ment and riot ; the descendants of these happy trap 
 pers and watermen were the boatmen of the ear 
 lier part of this century ; their frail canoes carried 
 Cass to many a treaty ground, from Detroit to the 
 head of Lake Superior, to Green Bay or Chicago. 
 
 Seventy-five years ago Detroit was still a French 
 settlement, and fifteen years ago its French char 
 acteristics were evident to the stranger in a cas 
 ual visit to the city. The few Scotch who came 
 in during the latter years of the English domin 
 ion affiliated with the French and appreciated their 
 conservatism. In consequence of this ancestry, 
 there has always been a steadiness and sobriety 
 in business and a caution and reserve in society. 
 It has not felt until recently the stir of American 
 life as has Buffalo, or Cleveland placed in the 
 heart of "New Connecticut." It can scarcely be 
 doubted that conservative French Catholicism has 
 had its influence in giving a peculiar tone and set 
 ting a dignified pace. It is true that after Detroit 
 had been ostensibly an American city for forty 
 years, the introduction of New England life gave 
 the town a look of prosperity and activity which 
 was lacking to the Canadian towns across the river. 
 But the comparison rather accentuates than contra 
 dicts the previous assertions. Not long ago, easily 
 within the memory of men now living in Detroit, 
 
THE OLD NORTHWEST. 17 
 
 the well-to-do French peasant held his acres and 
 refused twice their value, or demanded perhaps 
 that the city put a rail-fence on each side of the 
 street which eminent domain had forced through 
 his land. In 1818 the people of Michigan refused 
 to take upon themselves the popular privileges 
 offered by the charter of 1787. A number of 
 other examples might be given of how conserva 
 tism has influenced Michigan and its chief city in 
 their development into modern American life. 
 
 For a long time Detroit was practically Mich 
 igan. For French and American tendencies are 
 different. If the Americans had first settled Mich 
 igan, the farmer would have pressed into the coun 
 try in the footsteps of the fur trader, farms would 
 have appeared in secluded places in the forests, 
 and a town would have grown up from natural 
 causes and developed as the needs of the farming 
 community of the back-country dictated. But as 
 the gregarious and social tendencies of the French 
 have made Paris the centre of their life, so in the 
 western woods all roads led to the rude metropolis, 
 and it had an unusual dignity and importance. We 
 are enabled, therefore, to concentrate our atten 
 tion ; and in examining with some care the life of 
 Detroit and its vicinity we shall see the lives of the 
 better element of the French settlers in the North 
 west. Their habits are the best guide-posts to 
 their characters, and best indicate the peculiar po 
 sition of these people in northwestern history. 
 
 Down to 1763 the city grew slowly by the immi- 
 
18 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 gration of discharged soldiers or settlers from Can 
 ada. In the time of the English domination there 
 came a few English traders and a few canny Scotch 
 with their habits of thrift and deftness. But the 
 French habitant does not allow his ease to be in 
 terfered with. Everywhere the world presents the 
 same roseate hue to his contented vision. After 
 1796 some Americans, making their way into the 
 Territory, jostle him about a little, insist on trial 
 by jury, talk to him of popular elections and other 
 incomprehensible problems, suggest the idea that 
 Detroit may become a great commercial centre. 
 He is called upon by an impudent investigating 
 committee to show the title deeds to the farm which 
 his father and father s father held before him. A 
 look of uncertainty and mild inquiry occasionally 
 appears on his placid face. The narrow streets are 
 filled with Indians rushing to exchange their pel 
 tries for American goods, and to pay enormous 
 prices for inferior articles. After the war of 1812 
 a few Marietta settlers find their way to the straits, 
 and a few educated families from New England 
 form a conspicuous element in the city s life. But 
 the Frenchman passes this all by with a shrug at 
 the curious activity of the energetic " Bostonais" 
 His social life flows smoothly on in the same old 
 channels. Until the people from New England 
 and New York begin to pour into the Territory 
 through the newly-opened Erie canal, one can trace 
 few changes in the general characteristics of the 
 place. Detroit iii the first quarter of this century 
 
THE OLD NORTHWEST. 19 
 
 has still the tint of a by-gone age. One feels, as he 
 looks at her, that he has slipped back into the Mid 
 dle Ages, long before there was any prophetic con 
 sciousness of the dust, din, and uproar of the busy 
 and scientific nineteenth century. He sees a picture 
 of unpretentious comfort and happy listlessness. 
 Without even the knowledge that Protestantism 
 was a religion, the habitant clung to his beloved 
 Catholic worship. His daily life was graced with 
 interruptions of picturesque festivals, cheered with 
 merry-makings and adorned with highly-colored 
 ceremonies. Like the neighbors of Goldsmith s 
 good vicar, he " observed festivals and intervals of 
 idleness and pleasure ; kept up the Christmas carol, 
 sent true-love knots on Valentine morning, ate 
 pancakes on Shrovetide, and religiously cracked 
 nuts on Michaelmas eve." With the simple joy 
 which comes with the consciousness of irresponsi 
 bility, he took part in games and jollities, which 
 are far below the responsible dignity of later Amer 
 ican money-making. 
 
 The habitants, whose farms stretched back from 
 the river, with scarcely a gap between them from 
 Lake Erie to Lake St. Clair, had in general the 
 characteristics of the better class of Canadian 
 farmers. 1 They were honest, hospitable, religious, 
 inoffensive and uninformed, possessed of simplicity 
 and civility. Without ambition and attached to 
 ancient prejudices, they sought no more than the 
 necessaries of life. Many, as a result of happy in- 
 
 1 George Heriot, Travels in Canada, London, 1807. 
 
20 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 action, were poor without realizing their poverty ; 
 some were well-to-do without boasting of their 
 wealth. Strangers were received with unembar 
 rassed politeness, without traces of rusticity in man 
 ners or speech. Mrs. Jameson, the delightful critic 
 of Shakespeare, who visited this western country in 
 1837, writes, in wondering admiration of the pol 
 ished address of the simple farmer : " If you would 
 see the two extremes of manner brought into near 
 comparison, you should turn from a Yankee store 
 keeper to a French Canadian." His language, too, 
 betokened his pure descent ; for the patois of the 
 French settler of the Northwest is largely a myth 
 created by the reasoning imagination of thoughtless 
 travelers or indiscriminating writers. The bush 
 ranger, whose settlements have been described, 
 doubtless often cumbered his speech with Indian 
 words and confused it with half-remembered con 
 structions. But such was not the case with the 
 habitants near Detroit or the average farmer of 
 Canada. It was " curious " but not unusual to 
 find in the western wilderness "a perfect specimen 
 of an old-fashioned Norman peasant all bows, 
 courtesy, and good humor;" and his speech was 
 not less purely Celtic than were his unalloyed 
 courtesy and grace. 
 
 The Frenchman is dependent on companionship. 
 The pioneer life of the American farmer ripens in 
 dividuality and intensifies salient characteristics, 
 until the word " character " itself is synonymous 
 with person ; but nothing is more evident than the 
 
THE OLD NORTHWEST. 21 
 
 utter lack of individuality or aggressive personality 
 among the western Frenchmen. When one of a 
 class is seen all his fellows are known to us. The 
 Frenchman could not think of going alone into the 
 woods to cut out of the very forest a home for him 
 self and family, a feat of wonderful self-sufficiency 
 so common to the independent American farmer. 
 One farm must be within hailing distance of an 
 other, or the French farmer is miserable in his lone 
 liness. Down the Detroit Eiver the farms extended 
 back from the stream, each having its own water 
 frontage. Such " pipe stem " tracts may still be 
 seen in the vicinity of Detroit, like those of the 
 quaint settlements along the St. Lawrence and its 
 tributaries. The social farmers could shout to one 
 another from their doorsteps, 1 and would carry on 
 their gossipy conversations when they ought to 
 have been tilling their fields. The stream-haunt 
 ing Canadian has been happily compared to the 
 beaver or the muskrat. At times he seemed to 
 live in the waters and marshes around him, build 
 ing his cabin where it was accessible only to a 
 canoe. The miasma which he breathed seemed to 
 furnish him with food rather than engender disease. 
 A century and more after the founding of Detroit 
 the farms still clung lovingly to the river banks, 
 and a mile back from the streams was still seen 
 the untouched forest. The troops, who came from 
 Ohio to Detroit in 1812, found only one muddy 
 road winding along between stream and wood, a 
 
 1 Bela Hubbard, Memorials of a Half Century, p. 116. 
 
22 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 situation which offered the lurking savages every 
 opportunity for ambush and attack. What roads 
 there were, the water-loving habitant despised ; but 
 over his rough highways he jogged merrily to 
 market with a two-wheeled Norman cart and rough 
 dwarfish pony, a curious mongrel animal of un 
 known pedigree, but with an endurance and pos 
 sible speed which delighted the simple peasant or 
 his rollicking sons. 
 
 Covetousness was the most infrequent vice ; for, 
 although they did not know the best arts of hus 
 bandry, these simple farmers nevertheless provided 
 from their own resources everything necessary to 
 supply their wants. The arts of the tailor and 
 mason were often added to the clumsy skill of the 
 agriculturist ; while tanning and shoemaking were 
 not uncommon acquirements. Their implements 
 were crude, rough, and heavy; their methods of 
 tillage ludicrous to the modern farmer. The cum 
 bersome plough, to which was attached a pony, or 
 mayhap a cow or steer, was used somewhat effec 
 tively, but the corn was tilled with the Indian hoe 
 in the simple fashion learned from the red man. 
 In fruit-raising they excelled ; beautiful orchards 
 were often crowded into the narrow farms ; cher 
 ries and peaches furnished by distillation an exhil 
 arating drink, and cider continually provided a 
 mild stimulant. But the French farmer did not 
 succeed in becoming the ruling spirit and progres 
 sive citizen of the West, because, as a French 
 traveler gravely suggests, he talked too much and 
 
THE OLD NORTHWEST. 23 
 
 consulted his wife too often, and spent his time in 
 argument rather than in work. 
 
 The ordinary habitant, however listless and un 
 ambitious, did not lack many comforts. Gay and 
 happy with a little, he often indulged even in the 
 pomps and vanities of life. Some of the families 
 had plate and silks and luxuries of various kinds, 
 which, though not paraded, revealed noble descent, 
 and argued the existence of at least the traditions 
 of wealth. 1 The houses were simple, of hewn logs, 
 occasionally covered with clapboards, and lighted 
 in the low upper story with quaint dormer windows, 
 which gave, to those in the town especially, a Dutch 
 appearance, and suggested to the New York immi 
 grant, as he entered the Territory, the Knicker 
 bocker region of his own State. Here the people 
 lived in simple and picturesque fashion. Their 
 amusements were many, and their gayeties intense. 
 When Detroit under its American rulers began to 
 take on business airs, many were the grumblings 
 at the ordinances which prevented horse-racing 
 through the narrow streets, or interfered with the 
 jolly game of ten-pins, for which the street was 
 used as an alley, and a cannon ball as- a missile. 
 When winter set in, the people gave themselves up 
 to pleasure-seeking. Their shaggy ponies, which 
 had been allowed all summer long to roam the 
 woods or scamper uncontrolled along the river 
 banks, now became their special pride. The swiftest 
 of the herd was dearly cherished ; and the highest 
 
 1 Campbell, Outlines of Political History of Michigan, p. 212. 
 
24 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 ambition of the farmer was to drive the fastest 
 pony. The frozen river was the theatre of delights, 
 or the " Grand Marais " l a few miles above the 
 city, swollen with autumn rains, offered its icy at 
 tractions. Sunday, as in most Catholic countries, 
 was a day for enjoyment as well as solemn worship, 
 and Saturday was generally an occasion of unre 
 strained merry-making. Indeed, one need not 
 single out days. Sleigh-riding, dancing, feasting, 
 and uncontrolled levity filled up the passing winter 
 weeks. A summer s providence was easily lost in 
 a winter s mild dissipation. 
 
 Such was the life of a simple and illiterate people, 
 and such it long continued to be. Years after the 
 introduction of American farming methods, busi 
 ness enterprise and governmental policy, we find 
 the same unprogressive spirit, unaffected by the 
 serious humor with which the American undertakes 
 both his work and his pleasure. One naturally lin 
 gers over this picture of early social simplicity and 
 unrestrained gayety ; for, leaving out of considera 
 tion the influences on history and development, all 
 that now remains is a " pipe-stem " farm or a huge 
 old pear-tree, to remind us of this mediaeval mosaic 
 snugly fitted into modern civilization. 
 
 One must not think, however, that all the settlers 
 were of this fortunate, light-hearted, comfortable 
 class, who labored lazily in summer and spent the 
 winter in energetic frivolity. These formed the 
 
 1 Sheldon, Early History of Michigan, p. 371 ; Memorials of a 
 Half Century, p. 141. 
 
THE OLD NORTHWEST. 25 
 
 majority at Detroit and in the eastern portion of 
 Michigan. But two classes can be differentiated. 
 There were some of the lower class who gave up a 
 life of wandering but never became used to the 
 graces and loose restraints of such civilization. A 
 few retired watermen and bush - rangers settled 
 there, in despair over their vanishing profession. 
 The " dark - complexioned imps with high cheek 
 bones and indescribably mischievous eyes," whom 
 Harriet Martineau described as Flibbertigibbets 
 rowing or diving or playing pranks on the shores 
 of Michigan, were the half-breed progeny of these 
 men, who joined themselves in informal wedlock 
 with the beauties of the forest. There were some 
 of these bronzed watermen, unattractive though 
 picturesque, even in Acadian Detroit; and they 
 formed the most ignorant and the rudest element 
 of early Michigan. 
 
 Frenchtown, where Monroe now stands, had a 
 goodly number of farms nestling up to each other, 
 with their heads on the banks of the river Eaisin ; 
 and these were mostly inhabited by French Cana 
 dians quite inferior to those near Detroit. They 
 exhibited more than the usual density of ignorance 
 and stupidity in tillage. As late as 1816 General 
 Cass, in a letter to the Secretary of War, stated 
 that not a pound of wool was manufactured by a 
 person of Canadian descent in the Territory, al 
 though four fifths of the inhabitants were of that 
 descent ; the fleece of the sheep was thrown away 
 or used to cover up a cellar window. The making 
 
26 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 of soap for family purposes was an American inno 
 vation. Especially the Raisin settlers, it is ap 
 parent, were slothful to the point of poverty. In 
 the destruction and desolation left by the war of 
 1812, they seemed caught in the meshes of igno 
 rance and despair ; and the bounties of government 
 were needed to extricate them. In 180T the 
 farmers of Canada had begun to adopt from the 
 English the idea of fertilizing their exhausted 
 farms ; 1 but long after that the French of Michigan 
 dumped all fertilizers into the rivers. 2 
 
 Once more a comparison between Michigan and 
 Ohio will show how different were the American 
 and the earlier French settlers. One of the first 
 acts of the Ohio Company was to provide for the 
 services of a suitable person as a public teacher for 
 the settlement on the Ohio. The directors were 
 " requested to pay as early attention as possible to 
 the education of youth and the promotion of public 
 worship among the settlers," and to employ an in 
 structor " eminent for literary accomplishments." 
 In Michigan, a hundred years after its settlement, 
 general education was unthought of. A few of the 
 more wealthy and worldly of the Detroit townsmen 
 sent their sons to the East. An occasional school 
 was of no influence, no centre of enlightenment. 
 In 1817 the " Gazette," a struggling newspaper of 
 Detroit, thus encouraged the French to effort : 
 " Frenchmen of the Territory of Michigan, you 
 
 1 Travels in Canada, George Heriot. 
 
 2 Cass s Letters, State Archives, Lansing, Michigan. 
 
THE OLD NORTHWEST. 27 
 
 ought to begin immediately to give an education to 
 your children. In a little time there will be in this 
 territory as many Yankees as French, and if you 
 do not have your children educated the situations 
 will all be given to the Yankees," a touching 
 utilitarian appeal to come in the very year when 
 curious old Judge Woodward was coining from his 
 inventive brain " Catholepistemiad, or University 
 of Michigania." For just at that time the Yankee 
 minority were beginning to think of the text-book 
 and the ferule. Many a year after this editorial 
 the French seemed fully convinced that it is folly 
 to be wise. Few children learned to read, but the 
 patient priest taught them their catechism and 
 showed them how to tell their beads with devo 
 tional regularity. 1 The people were ignorant of 
 the English language, and often did not know of 
 the legislation enacted by their new rulers. In 
 1810 a petition was presented requesting the pub 
 lication of laws in French as well as English. 
 
 The slow method of conducting legal business, 
 coming in with the Americans, was a source of 
 never ending surprise to the ordinary inhabitant, 
 who had rarely come into contact with any but the 
 sharp edge of the law. The proceedings of the 
 new courts puzzled him. Unaccustomed to trial 
 by jury, he could see no advantage in that intricate 
 and tedious method of deciding a suit which would 
 have been disposed of in a moment by the French 
 or the English authorities before the arrival of the 
 
 1 Memorials of a Half Century, p. 140. 
 
28 LEWIS CAS8. 
 
 technical American. For a long time all legal 
 business, where a Frenchman was concerned, was 
 carried on through the medium of an interpreter 
 a clumsy method at the best. The attorney was 
 a new species, which seemed, ghoul-like, to fatten 
 on others misfortunes, and to take a gruesome 
 pleasure in seeking out forgotten titles and undi 
 vided interests. The Americans have not unjustly 
 been called a litigious people. Often the enthu 
 siastic western lawyer encouraged litigation, and 
 there was every temptation at Detroit to peer into 
 neglected corners ; for scarcely a landholder in the 
 Territory knew how he held his land. The French, 
 on the other hand, were exasperating to the busy 
 Yankee ; for they never did to-day what could be 
 delayed till the morrow. 1 
 
 The first public building in an American settle 
 ment is the court-house, the second the jail, and 
 the third the schoolhouse, where religious services 
 are sometimes held. 2 The first thing the French 
 do is to erect a church under the direction of a 
 fatherly priest, and the village clusters around it, 
 or stretches out from it along the river bank. The 
 noticeable feature to-day in the antique villages of 
 Canada is the little chapel surmounted by a cross. 
 By its side are the priest s tidy dwelling and flower 
 garden, all in a neat and holiday attire in compari- 
 
 1 Report of Committee of House of Representatives relative to 
 State of Territory of Michigan, 1807. 
 
 2 Schoolcraft, Journey in Central Portion of Mississippi Valley, 
 p. 37. 
 
THE OLD NORTHWEST. 29 
 
 son with the houses which crouch in humble pen 
 itence near by. 
 
 Kaskaskia and Vincennes and other settlements 
 were places of importance in northwestern history, 
 and there, too, the French influence is discernible. 
 But though more than once French conservatism 
 acted as a brake on the wheels of progress, Illinois 
 and Indiana did not feel the burden of the old 
 occupancy as did Michigan. The old towns of 
 these two States had passed a century of listless 
 existence, not varied by the introduction of new 
 ideas, or bothered by needless civilization, when 
 the pushing American settler came to turn them 
 upside down with his provoking hurry and energy. 
 
 Lewis Cass was a statesman of the Northwest. 
 He was for a number of years engaged in the ad 
 ministration of northwestern affairs ; and when he 
 passed to a broader field, he remained for years 
 the most conspicuous representative of the people 
 of the Northwest. In the earlier period he was a 
 leader, and guided rather obeyed the reins of the 
 popular will. When in later years he ceased to 
 guide, he long represented his constituents. Their 
 progress can be seen in a study of his life. His 
 life can be seen in studying the progress of his sec 
 tion of the country. No adequate portrait of the 
 man can be obtained, unless there is a background, 
 which will throw his characteristics into relief. In 
 the pages which follow there will be no effort to 
 measure exactly French resistance to American 
 civilization and government, or to determine accu- 
 
30 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 rately the weight of Cass s influence in making 
 Michigan American. Such tasks are from the 
 nature of things impossible. But there will be an 
 attempt to recount his work, and to exhibit him in 
 proper perspective. It is evident that there were 
 difficulties to be overcome. The Northwest was a 
 natural pendant to the St. Lawrence Valley ; but 
 won by the English, and later won from them by 
 the Americans, it became pendant to the country 
 east of the Appalachians. Its political allegiance 
 was thus determined. But its social existence, its 
 real political life, its individuality could not be 
 recreated by force and arms. As the civil law 
 remained in Louisiana, it is not chimerical to imag 
 ine that Michigan might have continued hostile to 
 the common law and the common life of America, 
 had it not been for the energy of one of the most 
 American of American statesmen. Might not the 
 French of Michigan and Wisconsin under other 
 circumstances have continued an unassimilated, 
 dissatisfied class as they have in Canada, a problem 
 to the government, a nation within a nation ? All 
 the characteristics of the French settlers have their 
 importance in northwestern history. As the wheels 
 of government in Illinois were almost stopped in 
 the days of her early statehood, because the French 
 citizen could not appreciate his privileges, or be 
 driven to the polls, so in other places and for many 
 years his presence presented difficulties, and affected 
 the whole development of the country. Judge Sib- 
 ley, of Detroit, thus wrote in 1802 to Judge Bur- 
 
THE OLD NORTHWEST. 31 
 
 net : " Nothing frightens the Canadians like taxes. 
 They would prefer to be treated like dogs, and ken 
 neled under the whip of a tyrant, than contribute 
 to the support of a free government." : 
 
 One other phase of northwestern history needs 
 to be examined if we are to understand the devel 
 opment of the country, or appreciate the work of 
 its statesmen. The possessors of the St. Lawrence 
 Valley had a traditional control over the Indians. 
 Wolfe s victory on the Plains of Abraham has been 
 called the most important date in modern history, 2 
 and the beginning of the history 3 of the United 
 States. It had its influence on the Northwest. 
 English rum took the place of French brandy. 
 English presents supplanted French tact. For the 
 rest of the century the Indians looked to the Eng 
 lish for encouragement and protection. During 
 the Eevolution, Detroit was the centre of their 
 dealings. Hamilton, "the hair buyer," paid the 
 bounty on American scalps, and doled out rum in 
 enormous quantities. " I observe with great con 
 cern," wrote Governor Haldiman, " the astonishing 
 consumption of rum at Detroit, amounting to the 
 rate of 17,500 gallons per year." 4 By the peace 
 of 1783 the Northwest was ceded to the United 
 States, but the military posts were not given up by 
 the British. The Indians were encouraged to pre- 
 
 1 Notes on the Northwest. 
 
 2 Fiske, American Political Ideas. 
 8 Green, Short History of England. 
 
 4 Haldiman Papers, Michigan Pioneer Collection. 
 
32 LEWIS CAS8. 
 
 vent the Americans from entering the country north 
 of the Ohio, and only a corner of that region was 
 occupied before Wayne s victory over the Indians 
 in 1794. As the French fur trader had hindered 
 the encroachments of the British, so now the fur 
 trader of English Montreal intrigued to prevent 
 the Americans from entering the fur region of the 
 Northwest. Detroit was not given up till July 11, 
 1796. It is said that, on leaving the fort, the Eng 
 lish filled the wells with rubbish, and destroyed 
 the windmills of the vicinity. This may be an ill- 
 humored tradition ; but beyond all doubt they left 
 behind them the rubbish of a cruel and unneces 
 sary occupancy, much less easily removed and much 
 more inimical to the advancement of American in 
 terests than was any material debris. The Indians 
 long remained dependents of the British ; the white 
 settlers of Sault de Ste. Marie and Green Bay con 
 tinued attached to British interests, even raising 
 volunteers for the war of 1812. A great portion 
 of the life of Cass was devoted to winning the 
 Indians to their proper allegiance, and obtaining 
 a proper respect for American authority. All the 
 energies of this northwestern leader were not ab 
 sorbed by two tasks, counteracting British influ 
 ences and introducing American democracy. But 
 these first presented themselves as he entered the 
 field of national statesmanship ; these form the 
 starting point, and explain many a circumstance 
 throughout the whole course of his life. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 EARLY LIFE. 
 
 ONE who examines the genealogical records of 
 New England will observe that the name Cass ap 
 pears not infrequently. One branch of the family 
 is easily traceable to James Cass, of Westerly, 
 from whom seems to have come Joseph Cass, who 
 was living in Exeter, N. H., in 1680. A son of 
 Joseph, who bore the national praenomen of Jona 
 than, was in the latter half of the last century a 
 young man of vigor and promise in Exeter. The 
 place of his residence is pointed out with interest, 
 and local antiquarians find temptation to portray 
 him in a manner likely to enlist sympathy and 
 attention. At the outbreak of the Ke volution 
 Jonathan was an energetic young blacksmith, too 
 full of life and eager restlessness to be wedded to 
 the fiery joys of the forge, and too full of patriot 
 ism to await the second call to arms when the bat 
 tle of Lexington proclaimed that war was actually 
 begun. His comrades afterwards remembered him 
 as an erect handsome man with keen black eyes, 
 and so he appears in the artistic portrait still pre 
 served by his descendants. 
 
34 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 He must have been in his twenty-third 1 year 
 when he entered the army, which he is said to have 
 done almost immediately after Lexington. He was 
 present at the battle of Bunker Hill, and seems to 
 have been actively engaged at Princeton, Trenton, 
 Monmouth, and all the other important battles of 
 the war in the central and northern part of the 
 country. His merits won him an ensigncy as early 
 as 1777, and by the close of the war he had secured 
 a captain s commission. At that time he returned 
 to Exeter, to remain till other duties called him 
 once more to a life of greater excitement and activ 
 ity when the presence of British emissaries in the 
 West demanded a second enlistment. 
 
 In 1781 he married Mary Oilman, who belonged 
 to a branch of the Gilman family which traces its 
 ancestry back to Norfolk, England, where, in 1558, 
 were living the forefathers of those who in 1635 
 landed in Boston, and began life in the New World. 
 In a house which stood on the east side of Cross 
 Street, now Cass Street, Exeter, Lewis Cass was 
 born October 9, 1782. The house was not, as Mr. 
 Smith describes it, a " small unpretending wooden 
 dwelling-house," nor is there any reason for cred 
 iting the tradition that young Lewis was cradled 
 in "a sap-trough." The building was large for 
 those days, or at least far from small and humble. 
 It was one of the customary pine boxes of New 
 England, with a central chimney and a front hall, 
 
 1 Niles, vol. xxxix. p. 157 ; Evarts, MusJcingum County, Ohio, 
 p. 352. Contra, Smith s Life and Times of Lewis Cass, p. 15. 
 
EARLY LIFE. 35 
 
 on each side of which opened large, square, com 
 fortable rooms. The poor but industrious Jonathan 
 no doubt was able to furnish a good cradling for 
 his firstborn; Lewis was the eldest of six children, 
 the youngest of whom was only eight years his 
 junior. 
 
 His boyhood fell in the uneasy anxious times of 
 the Confederation. The air was full of political 
 clamor, and electric with dreaded disaster. State 
 selfishness and political greed were the accompani 
 ments of personal selfishness. Avarice and dis 
 honesty were the natural effects of a demoralizing 
 war. All, who thought, hoped desperately or fore 
 told the worst. In after years Lewis Cass looked 
 back upon those boyhood years with a memory re 
 tentive of their deep impressions. If in later 
 years he had a never-failing love for the Union and 
 the Constitution, he might trace it in part to the 
 relief that came when the Constitution was adopted, 
 and the Union was no longer a shadow. "You 
 remember, young man," he said to James A. Gar- 
 field in 1861, " that the Constitution did not take 
 effect until nine States had ratified it. My native 
 State was the ninth. It hung a long time in doubt 
 ful scale whether nine would agree ; but when, at 
 last, New Hampshire ratified the Constitution, it 
 was a day of great rejoicing. My mother held me, 
 a little boy of six years, in her arms at a window, 
 and pointed me to the bonfires that were blazing in 
 the streets of Exeter, and told me that the people 
 were celebrating the adoption of the Constitution. 
 
36 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 So I saw the Constitution born, and I fear I may 
 see it die." 
 
 His native State had known, before that joyful 
 ratification, much of turbulence and disorder. The 
 paper-money mob of 1786 was one of those ex 
 plosions which were only too common throughout 
 the distraught Confederation. Paper money had 
 played many a prank in colonial times, but the fa 
 vors of an unlimited issue were still eagerly sought 
 by those whom the war had impoverished, and 
 by those who, restless when the war was over, de 
 manded new opportunities, and were dissatisfied 
 because a war for liberty had not brought them 
 wealth, honor, and the golden age which had been 
 preached as the ever-present heaven of democracy. 
 The contest which ensued between the supporters 
 of law and the mob is graphically described by 
 local historians. 1 Jonathan Cass, whose zeal for 
 authority and love of order are apparent through 
 out life, was so carried away by enthusiasm, tra 
 dition tells us, that in his eagerness to charge 
 upon the grumbling mob he leaped his horse over 
 a well. A trivial incident this, no doubt, but 
 it shows what sort of blood was in the family 
 veins. 
 
 It usually falls to the lot of a biographer to nar 
 rate at least a few instances of prophetic precocity. 
 But none are to be told of Lewis Cass. It is clear 
 that in early years he was fond of study, and 
 evinced a capacity which encouraged his father to 
 
 1 History of New Hampshire, by McClintock, p. 371. 
 
EARLY LIFE. 37 
 
 give him an education beyond the means, one would 
 think, of the mechanic and soldier, who must have 
 had some difficulty in making both ends meet. In 
 1792, when the boy was scarcely ten years old, 
 he entered the academy in Exeter, and came into 
 the stimulating presence of Benjamin Abbott. The 
 stern discipline and accurate scholarship of the 
 principal had a moulding influence on the minds 
 of his pupils, and the years spent at the academy 
 were important ones in the life of Cass. Nothing 
 especial, however, is known of this period of his 
 career. Presumptions of fine scholarship have 
 been made, perhaps not without warrant. Web 
 ster thirty years afterwards remembered him as 
 " a clever fellow, good-natured, kind-hearted, ami 
 able, and obliging." Perhaps he was one of those 
 considerate school-fellows who refrained from 
 laughing at the rustic manners and uncouth ap 
 pearance of the youthful Daniel, and thus won his 
 grateful remembrance. 
 
 Meantime his father, who had been unsuccess 
 fully presented to Washington as a suitable marshal 
 for the State, had accepted a commission in the 
 army raised for the defense of the western fron 
 tier, and was with " Mad Anthony " in his cunning 
 and vigorous campaign. Major Cass was left in 
 command of Fort Hamilton, and retained command 
 until the treaty of Greenville. There were some 
 amusing yet pathetic letters written from that 
 dreary western country to the boy at Exeter ; let 
 ters which by their quiet reticence concerning 
 
38 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 sufferings and hardships give us only the clearer 
 insight into lives which had never risen to an 
 appreciation of their misfortunes. Debby, the 
 oldest daughter, once added a significant postscript 
 in which she urged the favored student to save his 
 school books for the rest of the family. Another 
 letter, signed " your affectionate parents, J. & P. 
 Cass," announces somewhat ambiguously that " my 
 leg is gaining strength," and " commands " the son, 
 who by that time was deeply engrossed in Latin 
 and Greek, and was ready for an introduction to 
 the mysteries of rhetoric and philosophy, to pay 
 attention to his handwriting as his brothers and 
 sisters were doing in the Ohio wilderness. There 
 is always something touching in the uninitiate s 
 reverence for good penmanship. But such words 
 are simply illustrative of the level, from which the 
 oldest son, with better opportunities, was preparing 
 to push himself forward to a prominence which 
 gives to these letters a significance and an interest 
 not their own. 
 
 There have been many conflicting statements, 
 needlessly inaccurate, concerning the education 
 which Cass received. There is still in existence in 
 Exeter a certificate, supposed to be a copy in the 
 handwriting of Cass himself, which very plainly 
 sets forth the advantages which he secured. It is 
 there stated that he had been a member of the 
 academy for seven years, and had acquired the 
 principles of the English, French, Latin, and Greek 
 languages, geography, arithmetic, and practical 
 
EARLY LIFE. 39 
 
 geometry ; that he had made " valuable progress 
 in the study of rhetoric, history, natural and moral 
 philosophy, logic, astronomy, and natural law." 
 The usual testimony of good moral character fol 
 lows this enumeration of his acquirements. 
 
 The course of Cass s life immediately subsequent 
 to his residence at the academy is not easily dis 
 cernible. His father had returned from the West 
 some time after the treaty of Greenville, and in 
 1799 was stationed, probably in some military capa 
 city, at Wilmington, Del. A few months, passed 
 in teaching in an academy at that place, seem to 
 have satisfied young Cass that the uneventful life 
 of the schoolmaster was not to his liking. The 
 major had returned from the new West with glow 
 ing accounts of opportunities, and pedagogics were 
 laid aside for the hardships and excitement of 
 pioneering. Nothing could be much more incon 
 gruous than Lewis Cass in the class-room in those 
 restless days of his young manhood when he was 
 energetic to the very point of wastefulness, and 
 burned with an ardor for trial, activity, combat. 
 The family slowly made their way into the Ohio 
 valley. Lewis, with his bundle on his back, plodded 
 over the mountains into the " Old Northwest," 
 which was yet young enough, and bore the wrin 
 kles of age only where the Frenchman had intro 
 duced antiquity and sloth. Major Cass resigned 
 his commission at Pittsburgh, and pushed on into 
 Ohio. 
 
 The wilderness which he had left after the treaty 
 
40 LEWIS CAS 8. 
 
 of Greenville was a wilderness no longer. Now at 
 the beginning of the new century towns were start 
 ing up as apparitions, here and there, with ghost-like 
 quickness. The long stretches of lonely forests, 
 which he had known, were now alive with busy 
 farms and bright with wheat and maize. All down 
 the Ohio valley were the buzz and bustle of indus 
 try. The New Englanders were there with their 
 thrift and their parsimony and their shrewd busi 
 ness methods which astonished and annoyed the 
 easy-going Southerner. For the slave-owner, too, 
 was there, a slave-owner no longer. Many such 
 had moved to the unshackled Northwest, now that 
 the fear of the Indians was removed, and with a 
 magnanimity useless on the plantations of the South 
 had given freedom to their slaves. Virginia, Ken 
 tucky, and North Carolina lost many energetic citi 
 zens, who sought the untarnished freedom of that 
 new land, where the curse of slavery could not be 
 bequeathed to their children. Still other immi 
 grants from the South, however, never gave up the 
 hope of introducing the system which the Or 
 dinance of 87 forbade. At Marietta and in its 
 vicinity were the driving sons of Puritanism, who 
 had begun a settlement with much of the same 
 serious purpose and the same sad energy which had 
 marked their ancestors of the rock bound coast. 
 School and church were there; and much of the 
 puritanic ideal alloyed with modern zeal for mate 
 rial prosperity. But farther to the West, in the 
 direction of Cincinnati, were Southerners full of 
 
EARLY LIFE. 41 
 
 characteristic hospitality and magnanimity and Jef- 
 fersonism, and a few full of ignorance and sloth 
 and the lazy disposition of more sunny and smiling 
 skies. This was no place, one would say, for him 
 who was not ready to make his way with hoe and 
 axe. Yet in southern Ohio there still remains a 
 certain modicum of this unprogressive, indolent 
 element, continually presenting the query, whence 
 came the motive and the energy to move to the 
 northern woods at all. 
 
 Major Cass seems to have brought his family to 
 Marietta in October, 1800, and to have gone north 
 to the vicinity of Zanesville the next year. Lewis 
 Cass probably settled in Marietta in the latter part 
 of 1799, 1 and began there his study of the law in 
 the office of Mr. R. J. Meigs who was afterwards 
 governor of the State of Ohio. The major located 
 forty land warrants, for one hundred acres each, in 
 the vicinity of Zanesville, and Lewis spent at least 
 a portion of his time in the wilderness, helping his 
 father to hew his way to comfort. Solomon Sibley 
 on his way to Detroit found his friend of after 
 years pounding corn in a hollow stump before his 
 
 1 It is almost impossible to determine this date with accuracy. 
 I have thought best, in spite of strong evidence for the date 1800, 
 to adapt the one given in Young s Life of Cass, inasmuch as 
 Mr. Young is supposed to have had the advice of Cass himself in 
 the preparation of the book, and the copy from which I take the 
 statement was the general s own copy. If such an evident mis 
 take had been made, I am inclined to think that it would have 
 been indicated on the margin by the subject of the memoir. 
 There are many other reasons for deciding upon this date. 
 
42 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 father s door, and the traveler was invited to par 
 take of the evening meal, the preparations for 
 which were thus primitively begun. The young 
 man, eager for a career, and fond of study, learned 
 from experience the privations of frontier life. He 
 felt the impulses, generous and strong, which come 
 to the woodsman. The settlers in the West of 
 after years needed to tell him nothing. He knew 
 their needs, he realized their capacities, he sympa 
 thized with their longings. All this appreciation 
 of northwestern characteristics moulded his career 
 and increased his usefulness. 
 
 There were various and different elements in 
 the population of Ohio, as already suggested ; but 
 everything in frontier life calls for activity and 
 stimulates to energy. Only those of restless dis 
 position or fearless independent thought were apt 
 to leave their homes in the East to begin life again 
 in the West. There were no prescribed customs, 
 no rut for thought s progress, no smothering upper 
 crust of wealth and aristocracy. Everybody knew 
 what everybody else was worth, and measured with 
 rude exactness the height of the true man without 
 reference to the length of the purse or to the pedes 
 tal of inherited position. Intimate acquaintance 
 with Nature suggested to the settler breadth, gener 
 osity, and the spirit of sturdy independence. Land 
 was almost his only possession, and from the time 
 of Tacitus land-owning and Anglo-Saxon freedom 
 have been curiously interwoven. Is there no in 
 dication of race decay in these latter days when 
 
EARLY LIFE. 43 
 
 Americans give over to Germans and Swedes the 
 title to their western prairies ? 
 
 In those days, when the common man, by virtue 
 of his own inherent vigor, was pushing his way to 
 independence, there came a faith in the energy, the 
 sagacity, the proper impulses of this same common 
 man. Though Cass in his study for the bar spent 
 much of his early manhood in Marietta, a town of 
 New England prejudices, he was carried away with 
 enthusiasm for popular sovereignty and faith in the 
 people, the loudly proclaimed doctrines of Jeffer 
 son, who with wondrous cunning was shaping for 
 practical political service in America the edge-tools 
 of Kousseau, which, roughly handled, had cut so 
 many grievous wounds in the body of distressed 
 France. Jefferson was to Americanize and make 
 practical the French extravagances. Yet all the 
 antecedents of Lewis Cass were Federalist. Can 
 it be fairly charged, as it was in after years in the 
 heat of party contests, that he became a disciple of 
 the new school only for office and lucre ? It would 
 seem not. Meigs was a Jeffersonian. Others of 
 the pushing politicians were Virginians. The Fed 
 eralists, in the dread of the nightmare Jeffer- 
 sonism, opposed the entrance of Ohio into the 
 Union, and even Manasseh Cutler himself was in 
 opposition to a policy which the ambition of youth 
 desired. Surely, if prejudice does not blind, one 
 can see other forces than avarice driving the young 
 barrister into the camp of the Democracy. Ohio, 
 in her haste to become a State, and in her hatred 
 
44 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 of those who hindered her, in her dread of the med 
 dling policy represented by St. Clair, adopted a 
 constitution which ought to have warmed the heart 
 of the loudest advocate of a weak government, and 
 came into the Union as a Jeffersonian State. 
 
 The first certificate of admission to the bar under 
 the new constitution of 1802 was given to Lewis 
 Cass, probably in the autumn of 1802. Ebenezer 
 Zane had cut a post-road from Wheeling to Lewis- 
 ton, perhaps the first piece of " internal improve 
 ment " undertaken by the government. " Zane s 
 trace," a winding bridle-path with " Corduroy " 
 bridges, earned for its creator three sections of 
 land on the Muskingum, and there in 1799 Zanes- 
 ville was founded. Soon after his admission to the 
 bar Cass began practice in this little town, which 
 was then struggling up in the wilderness. The 
 " streets," filled with underbrush and lined with 
 blackened stumps, offered but slight aesthetic at 
 tractions ; but in 1804 Muskingum County was 
 created, and Zanesville assumed the dignity of a 
 county seat. Cass this year was elected prosecuting 
 attorney and began his public career. The reputa 
 tion of the young lawyer seems to have been already 
 somewhat widely diffused. This was partly due to 
 his influential friends in Marietta and to his ac 
 quaintance in other portions of the State. 
 
 In those days a young barrister s duties were not 
 confined to hanging out a sign and listening for a 
 client s footsteps. The county seats were widely 
 separated by long stretches of wilderness. Journeys 
 
EARLY LIFE. 45 
 
 of a hundred or a hundred and fifty miles were 
 not uncommon. Judge and lawyers mounted their 
 horses and started on the circuit. Occasionally an 
 old Indian trail offered unusual facilities for travel. 
 Sometimes eight or ten days were spent on a jour 
 ney, the travelers finding shelter where they best 
 could, at times thankful for dry ground to lie upon, 
 and again warmly welcomed to a lonely log cabin, 
 where some trustful farmer from over the moun 
 tains was endeavoring to subsist with his crop of 
 Indian corn planted at random in a half-cleared 
 field. Danger often added dramatic interest to 
 weariness. Streams swollen with rains l must not 
 be regarded as barriers, and the horse which could 
 not swim was of little use to the barrister. Cass 
 in after years merrily recalled " the dripping spec 
 tacle of despair " which he exhibited when in cross 
 ing Scioto Creek his faithless horse threw him and 
 his luggage into the water. " These, however, were 
 the troubles of the day ; but, oh, they were recom 
 pensed by the comforts of the evening, when the 
 hospitable cabin and the warm fire greeted the 
 traveler ! when a glorious supper was spread 
 before him, turkey, venison, bear s meat, fresh 
 butter, hot corn bread, sweet potatoes, apple sauce, 
 and pumpkin butter ! and then the animated con 
 versation, succeeded by a floor and a blanket and a 
 refreshing sleep ! " 2 
 
 Courts were held where necessity or convenience 
 
 1 Letters from Illinois, p. 61, London, 1818. 
 
 2 France, its King, Court, and Government, by Lewis Cass, p. 121. 
 
46 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 dictated, often in a log court-house with generous 
 interstices neither chinked nor daubed ; at times in 
 a public house where judge, jury, lawyers, and wit 
 nesses were huddled together in perplexing con 
 fusion ; not infrequently in a settler s cabin where 
 a court-room was quickly improvised, and the judge 
 made use of the bed for his august bench. In 
 these curious journeys there was merriment as well 
 as danger and fatigue ; and in these strange court 
 rooms there was much of legal learning and forensic 
 skill. There was also rare opportunity for sharpen 
 ing wit and increasing self-reliance. Justice was 
 meted out with a quickness and directness often 
 unknown in these artificial days of the dilatory plea. 
 Perhaps it was a result of communion with Nature, 
 but however this may be, certain it is that he who 
 was not ready, direct and keen, fitted into no place 
 in the judicial system of Ohio in those days of itin 
 erant courts and direct justice. 
 
 The constitution of Ohio provided that no person 
 should be a representative who had not attained 
 the age of twenty-five years. In October, 1806, 
 Cass completed his twenty-fourth year, and in spite 
 of in eligibility was that month elected to the Legis 
 lature and took his seat on the first Monday of 
 December. He became at once an influential 
 member. A new country bestows no premium on 
 the experience, of age ; young men are for counsel 
 as well as for war. 
 
 This year Burr began his sinuous operations in 
 the West. The affair was long a puzzling episode 
 
EARLY LIFE. 47 
 
 in our history. Burr, fallen from his high estate, 
 was prompted by a restless ambition to win new 
 glories in the West. Did he mean to establish a 
 colony on the Washita River ? Was he planning 
 an expedition against the Spanish Dons ? Did he 
 fancy himself sitting on the throne of the Monte- 
 zumas ? Did he actually so misinterpret south 
 western spirit that he hoped he might detach the 
 western States from the Union ? Only recent in 
 vestigations 1 have given decided answers to these 
 questions. The first was his ostensible design, the 
 last his fondest hope. He possibly dreamed of 
 being able to make his colony, or perchance New 
 Orleans, the basis of other conquests, relying on his 
 star of destiny to guide him to Mexican wealth and 
 grandeur. But his real purpose was undoubtedly 
 to seek a much fouler fame as the leader of a west 
 ern revolution. The plaudits of the southwestern 
 cities in an earlier visit had kindled his desires 
 and fanned into a blaze his cynical ambitions. He 
 lacked all moral basis for his intellectual judg 
 ments. He was unable to appreciate moral enthu 
 siasm as distinct from personal greed. He could 
 not sympathize with the generous patriotism and 
 devotion and the warm love of country in the 
 hearts of an open-hearted people, whose grumblings 
 he would torture into treason. Parton tells us in 
 an adroit paradox that the public mind was pre 
 pared to believe anything of Burr, provided only 
 that it was sufficiently incredible. But Burr him- 
 
 1 History of the United States, Henry Adams. 
 
48 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 self also, in the dark recesses of his bright mind, 
 was curiously credulous of the impossible. 
 
 Blennerhassett, a fanciful Irish gentleman, had 
 expended a good portion of a modest fortune in 
 the purchase and adornment of a small island in 
 the Ohio River some twenty miles southwest of 
 Marietta. Peace, tranquillity, innocence, idyllic 
 repose, were said by the eloquent Wirt to be the 
 tutelary deities of this new Eden. Into this gar 
 den of primitive bliss or modern folly Burr came 
 with his insinuating manner and winning address. 
 Mrs. Blennerhassett was charmed, and her imagi 
 native husband soon quivered with eagerness for 
 colonization and conquest. It is true he was so 
 near-sighted that on his gunning expeditions a ser 
 vant aimed his gun for him and told him when to 
 pull the trigger ; but he was now ready to hunt for 
 Spanish Dons and to begin with Burr a military 
 expedition, the end of which he must have partly 
 understood. 
 
 Blennerhassett s island was taken as a ren 
 dezvous for the conspirators. But General Wil 
 kinson, on whom Burr had relied for assistance, 
 concluded that he did not wish to become a " Wash 
 ington of the West ; " and President Jefferson, not 
 loath to suspect, and yet surprisingly blind, dis 
 patched a " confidential agent " to the scene of the 
 incipient expedition. By him Governor Tiffin was 
 informed that there was something of strange pur 
 port going on within the limits of the State. A 
 message stating the suspicions of the governor was 
 
EARLY LIFE. 49 
 
 sent by him to the legislature, and that body was 
 advised to take necessary measures of precaution. 
 Cass was a member of the committee appointed in 
 pursuance of the governor s recommendation. He 
 had often visited the island, and had listened to 
 the eulogies which the giddy Blennerhassett lav 
 ished upon Burr, and now that his suspicions were 
 aroused he soon found reason for hardening them 
 into conviction. Young as he was, he seems to 
 have been the influential and active member of the 
 committee. He drafted a bill which the committee 
 reported, and he vigorously supported it before the 
 House. The governor was authorized to use the 
 forces of the State for suppressing the undertaking, 
 and he acted with corresponding promptness and 
 decision. Boats, gathered at Marietta, were seized 
 by the militia, and some companies of young woods 
 men and farmers, who were gayly bent on adven 
 ture and had been charmed with the novelty and 
 possibly the glory of the enterprise, were intercepted 
 on their way to the place of rendezvous. This was 
 the " first blow " to the conspiracy, as Jefferson 
 confessed. A presidential proclamation was issued 
 shortly before the Ohio law. Burr, meeting on his 
 way down the Mississippi with the news of disaster, 
 resolved to trust the wilderness rather than the 
 courts of law. He was captured, brought to trial 
 at Eichmond, but acquitted for lack of evidence of 
 participation in an overt act of treason. 
 
 In the mean time, at the instigation of Cass, the 
 Ohio legislature adopted a resolution expressing 
 
50 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 to President Jefferson its attachment to the gov 
 ernment, its confidence in his administration, and 
 its abhorrence of rebellion and insurrection. This 
 won from the President a politic reply, in which 
 with charming adroitness he magnified popular 
 sovereignty and pushed his pet principle of the 
 necessary vigor of state authorities under the con 
 stitution. He was still somewhat fearful of slum 
 bering conspiracies, and is said to have suggested 
 to Governor Tiffin the advisability of removing all 
 postmasters west of the mountains who might be 
 fairly suspected of " being unfriendly to the unity 
 of the nation." Practical civil administration would 
 always teach that postmasters are ex officio dan 
 gerous conspirators. 
 
 President Jefferson did not forget the young ad 
 vocate who had so effectively supported his govern 
 ment, and in 1807 Cass was tendered a commission 
 as United States marshal. He hesitated to receive 
 it, fearing that it would interfere with the practice 
 of his profession. But he recognized that the ap 
 pointment, coming as it did, was a distinction and 
 an announcement of the President s confidence and 
 gratitude. So he accepted and retained the office 
 until after the outbreak of the war of 1812. 
 
 In 1806 Cass was married to Miss Elizabeth 
 Spencer, a descendant of General Spencer of Eevo- 
 lutionary reputation. The history of his domestic 
 life is the simple one of uneventful happiness. So 
 even and uniform was his private life, so blessed 
 with a paucity of annals, that nothing more than 
 
EARLY LIFE. 51 
 
 this direct assertion is needed to embrace the whole 
 truth. About the time of his marriage he built on 
 his father s farm what was then considered a hand 
 some " double " house. It was of logs, as all the 
 mansions were in those days, and part of it is still 
 standing. Here his elder children were born, and 
 this was his home for nearly ten years. 
 
 The legal profession in Ohio in early days was 
 not a remunerative one, and yet in the first few 
 years of practice, Cass had achieved reputation and 
 accumulated a little property. He was known as 
 one of the foremost men at the bar. His natural 
 capacity for grasping legal distinctions and for 
 mastering details was aided by continuous industry 
 and by a vigor and dignity of speech which were 
 always impressive, often eloquent, and seldom failed 
 to influence. One of his very last acts as a prac 
 ticing lawyer was the defense of two judges of the 
 State of Ohio, who, in the plenitude of their judi 
 cial authority, had ventured to declare an act of the 
 legislature unconstitutional, and were impeached 
 for their presumption. This is an amusing in 
 stance of how completely Ohio, framed on the 
 shores and ways of Federalism, once fairly launched, 
 had swung into the current of ultra-democracy. 
 The trial of the judges was sensational. The State 
 was filled with excitement. The speech of Cass on 
 this occasion was masterly and convincing, an 
 epoch in the judicial and constitutional history of 
 Ohio, possibly an epoch in the judicial history of 
 our country. The acquittal of the judges was a 
 
52 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 victory for the young lawyer ; but it meant also a 
 victory for the dignity of a collateral branch of the 
 state government. It had its influence in counter 
 acting a dangerous tendency in the political thought 
 of the period. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE WAK OF 1812. 
 
 IN many ways the history of our country in the 
 first forty years of its existence as an independent 
 nation does not furnish a story to be read with 
 unmingled delight. The fierce opposition to the 
 adoption of the Constitution perpetuated itself in 
 party opposition and obstruction after 1789. And 
 scarcely had the infant state been given vigorous 
 development by the tender care of the party which 
 had stood sponsor at its birth, when it was turned 
 over to those who had been its opponents and might 
 still prove untrustworthy managers of its affairs. 
 Political feeling ran high in 1801, when the Feder 
 alists in their horror of Jefferson plotted seriously 
 to bestow the chief magistracy on Burr. With a 
 sense of strange familiarity one comes into that 
 atmosphere of sectional strife. It is discouraging 
 to see how long there has been " solidity " north and 
 south of Mason and Dixon s line. The British 
 cruiser boarded New England vessels and impressed 
 New England seamen. Napoleon pounced upon 
 our defenseless commerce, and skillfully avoided all 
 consideration of redress. Nor was it because a 
 Boston merchant thought more of his cargo than he 
 
54 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 did of his countrymen, doomed to fight as Eng 
 lishmen whether they would or not, that he bore 
 English cruelty with patience, and fumed only at 
 the arrogance of France. It was largely because 
 the southern party, the party of Jefferson, which 
 the New Englander detested, could see no wrong in 
 French aggressions that the New England Feder 
 alist saw very clearly the reverse. Nor is the exas 
 perating timidity of Jefferson to be overlooked. 
 In pursuance of the " terrapin policy " of his ad 
 ministration the country had drawn itself within 
 its shell, in the hope of being coaxed out by sweet 
 concessions. But the embargo, which was said at 
 one time to be a measure for the protection of 
 commerce, and at another to be retaliatory, proved 
 destructive of no interests save our own. Jeffer 
 son s ridiculous gunboats were literally a standing 
 statement of his conviction that commerce was an 
 unnecessary excrescence on the healthful state. 
 Yet the Eastern States were developing a com 
 merce of no mean proportions, flourishing in 
 stealthy trade in spite of the damage inflicted by 
 the combatants of Europe. But their commerce 
 never entirely recovered from the disastrous effects 
 of non-intercourse and the embargo. By a singu 
 lar irony of fate, Madison, on whose shoulders 
 had fallen the peaceful robe of Jefferson, was 
 driven into a war of conquest and aggression, a war 
 for which a timorous policy had ill prepared the 
 country. It is not to be wondered at that the war 
 of 1812 was a sectional and party contest, and that, 
 
THE WAR OF 1812. 55 
 
 by merely bringing it to a close, the administration 
 won unprecedented popularity. 
 
 Our attention in this volume is confined to the 
 progress of events in the West, where from the 
 first hostilities were fathered with a warm affec 
 tion. Madison and his fellows of the agricultural 
 party had been set in motion by an infusion of 
 young blood from the South, and especially the 
 Southwest, which played strange pranks in the 
 veins of the old Democracy. Vigorous and active 
 was this young Democracy. It made itself felt in 
 Congress in the persons of Clay and Grundy. It 
 was strong in Ohio and in the Territories, which 
 had not yet put on the toga virilis of statehood. 
 For the occupation of new territory is an employ 
 ment analogous to conquest. Only in the more set 
 tled portion of Ohio had the rifle as yet been rele 
 gated to an ornamental position in the chimney 
 corner ; the farmer in the other portions of the 
 Northwest still considered it an implement of hus 
 bandry. Moreover, the remembrance of British in 
 trigues, hostile to the safety of the settler, was still 
 fresh in his mind, and his hatred of England had 
 not entirely passed away. He readily attributed 
 the present uneasiness of the Indians to her artful 
 and cunning interference. 
 
 The plantation owner of the South might possi 
 bly clamor for a war which would in all likelihood 
 damage chiefly the commerce of his political oppo 
 nent. But the pioneer of the West had not the 
 spirit of sectional prejudice, nor was he hypocriti- 
 
56 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 cal in his zeal for war ; he knew full well that, if 
 hostilities began, the Indian war-whoop would be 
 his reveille. There was a strong national pride in 
 this portion of our country, which had been held 
 as a national domain while the other States were 
 wrangling as selfish members of an impotent con 
 federation. The pride of the northwestern settler 
 was not narrowed by petty traditions of a neigh 
 borhood. He at the very least divided his affec 
 tions between his old eastern home and his new 
 western one. He might believe theoretically in the 
 sovereignty of his new State, but he felt that he 
 had brought over the mountains a portion of the 
 holy fire which was still burning on the altar of the 
 mother Republic. State sovereignty or spiteful 
 sectionalism could not grow in rank luxuriance in 
 the Northwest, as the one did under the fierce heat 
 of slavery, and the other in the equally torrid zone 
 of trade and tariff. 
 
 The suspicions of the western settler were not 
 unfounded ; for British interference in the affairs 
 of this country was not confined to impressment 
 of seamen and the seizure of our merchantmen, nor 
 was all hope of the disintegration of the Union re 
 linquished when the frontier posts were at last de 
 livered in 1796. For many years after that, there 
 was an astute surveillance of western affairs, and 
 an attentive sympathy on the part of the English 
 government for the Indian hunter, who was losing 
 his hunting ground at the advance of the Ameri 
 can farmer. As the war cloud in Europe became 
 
THE WAR OF 1812. 57 
 
 darker, and the relations with America became 
 more strained, there was renewed interest on the 
 part of England in the welfare of the poor red man. 
 Efforts to attach the Indian to the British inter 
 ests were evident. There was a feeling of uneasi 
 ness in Detroit as early as 1806. In 1807 direct 
 solicitations for the Indian alliance were begun by 
 the English. 1 In 1810 and 1811 presents were 
 handed out at Maiden to the visiting Indians with 
 excessive generosity. The value of goods dealt out 
 in the latter year exceeded that of common years 
 by twenty thousand pounds sterling. " All their 
 peltries," said Governor Harrison, "collected on 
 the Wabash in one year, if sold in the London 
 markets, would not pay the freight of the goods 
 which have been given to the Indians." 2 The 
 efforts of Tecumseh and the Prophet to form a 
 complete confederation of the tribes of the West 
 may be attributed to lofty Indian patriotism on 
 the part of this red Alexander the Great and the 
 medicine man, his brother. But there is little rea 
 son to doubt that much of their energy was due 
 to British instigation, 3 and that the battle of 
 Tippecanoe, in 1811, where Governor Harrison 
 
 1 American State Papers, Indian Affairs, vol. i. p. 746. 
 
 2 Farmer s History of Detroit and Michigan, p. 273 ; American 
 State Papers. 
 
 3 A Chapter of the War of 1812, by William Stanley Hatch, p. 
 102 ; North American Review, vol. xxiv. p. 381 ; Outlines of Po 
 litical History of Michigan, Campbell, p. 257 ; Eggleston s Te 
 cumseh, pp. 91, 92, 126, 127, etc. ; Drake s Life of Black Hawk, 
 pp. 62, 63. 
 
58 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 met and defeated those who had been enticed into 
 the goodly fellowship of the Prophet, was the real 
 beginning of the war of 1812 in the West. 
 
 Claims have been made that it was because of 
 American greed and cruelty that the English were 
 successful where the Americans desired to be ; but 
 such assertions are without basis in the facts. Dur 
 ing the Revolution the English government put a 
 bounty on an American scalp as it might on the 
 hide of a wolf ; and as the war of 1812 came on, 
 the United States government endeavored to per 
 suade the Indians not to yield to the solicitation 
 of British agents, but did not endeavor until late 
 in the war to procure assistance 1 even from those 
 tribes which could not be brought into the British 
 alliance. 
 
 The remembrance of these facts has faded from 
 the memory of those who goad themselves to a 
 pitch of patriotism by recalling the arrogance of 
 Britain on the sea. But these are facts, and there 
 is no desire to heighten animosity by a recoloring 
 of what may very well fade into indistinctness. 
 The judgment of history, however, needs to be 
 just. So long as such a book as James s " Military 
 Occurrences " is seriously read and referred to in 
 England as history, a plain statement of truth can 
 not be amiss. The Indians themselves on more 
 than one occasion said that "their Great Father, 
 the President, did not ask them to involve them- 
 
 1 Governor Hull s Address to Indians, 1809, Michigan Pioneer 
 Coll., p. 597. 
 
THE WAR OF 1812. 59 
 
 selves in the quarrels of the white people, but to 
 remain quiet spectators." l 
 
 All this may seem to have little to do with the 
 young lawyer, whom we left practicing his profes 
 sion with diligence, and performing his official 
 duties as United States marshal. But it has much 
 to do with him ; it is a part of his life. His whole 
 career was changed by the outbreak of the war ; 
 a great portion of his life was devoted to coun 
 teracting the effect of British influence over the 
 Indians ; and an intimate acquaintance with Eng 
 land s ambition and diplomatic stealth made him 
 through his whole life suspicious of her. 
 
 Cass himself said in 1827 that the hope of pos 
 sessing Canada had no more influence upon the 
 declaration of war than the possession of Paris in 
 1814 by the allies had upon the origin of the 
 Napoleonic war. It is true that the United States 
 would not have begun the war simply for purposes 
 of conquest ; she was driven into it by a succession 
 of annoyances which had grown absolutely unbear 
 able. But Cass, when he made this statement, 
 must have forgotten the enthusiasm of his earlier 
 days. Clay s proud boast that with a few Ken- 
 tuckians he could conquer poor, oppressed Canada, 
 found an echo in all the country west of the Alle- 
 ghanies. There was an intense desire to invade the 
 neighboring province, and ask England how she 
 liked to wear the boot on the other foot. A firm 
 belief in the blessings of American liberty per- 
 
 1 American State Papers, Indian Affairs, vol. i., passim. 
 
60 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 suaded the western citizen that the Canadian was 
 waiting with impatience the opportunity to make 
 such blessings his own. In no one had this adula 
 tion of Americanism developed more strongly than 
 in Cass, and it was coupled with a fierce energy 
 which seemed an augur^ of success. 
 
 On February 6, 1812, Congress authorized the 
 President to accept and organize certain volunteer 
 military corps ; and on April 10th he was author 
 ized to require the executives of the several states 
 and territories to take effectual measures to organize 
 and equip their respective portions of 100,000 mili 
 tia. Ohio was called upon for her quota of men ? 
 and in May twelve hundred volunteers were called 
 together at Dayton. They were divided into three 
 regiments. Colonel McArthur had command of 
 the first, Colonel Findlay, of the second, and Lewis 
 Cass was colonel of the third. 
 
 Cass here made his first address to his troops : 
 " Fellow-citizens, The standard of our country is 
 displayed. You have rallied around it to defend 
 her rights and to avenge her injuries. May it 
 wave protection to our friends and defiance to our 
 enemies ! And should we ever meet them in the 
 hostile field, I doubt not but that the eagle of 
 America will be found more than a match for the 
 British lion ! " These exclamatory antitheses were 
 said to have been received with " rapturous en 
 thusiasm." 
 
 In May Governor Hull, who at that time held 
 the governorship of Michigan Territory, was ap- 
 
THE WAR OF 1812. 61 
 
 pointed brigadier-general. He had at first refused 
 appointment partly because he differed from the 
 administration as to the advisability of a land ap 
 proach to Canada, without support on the lakes, 
 and partly also, doubtless, because he desired to shun 
 responsibility, and dreaded to go back to Detroit 
 as an active commander, where he had miserably 
 failed as a civil governor, because of his pompous 
 vacillation and ponderous indecision. However, he 
 finally accepted, took command of the troops at 
 Dayton, and marched to Urbana, where he was 
 joined by the fourth regiment of regular infantry, 
 about three hundred strong, under the command 
 of Colonel Miller. This regiment had seen service 
 under General Harrison in the Tippecanoe expedi 
 tion, and was made up of tried men. The march 
 to Detroit was a burdensome one. Part of the 
 way had to be cut through the persistent under 
 brush, and from the Maumee northward the road 
 in its normal condition was primeval mud and water. 
 On June 26th, when he was not far from the Mau 
 mee, General Hull received word from Washington, 
 written early on the 18th, the very day on which 
 war was declared, urging him to proceed to Detroit 
 with all possible speed. The same day Colonel 
 McArthur received a letter from Chillicothe stat 
 ing that before the letter reached him war would 
 be begun. But the actual announcement that war 
 had begun was not received until July 2d. 
 
 There is no need of covering up the multitude 
 of sins of the Madison administration with any 
 
62 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 cloak of charitable inferences. It is simply inex 
 cusable that the British at Maiden should have 
 received word two days earlier than Hull did, and 
 that every effort was not made to give full infor 
 mation to our army, which was marching practi 
 cally into the very face of the enemy. In fact the 
 message did not reach Cleveland until the 28th, 
 ten days after the declaration. The administration 
 was creeping like a snail complainingly to war. 
 But that does not entirely excuse Hull for trusting 
 his baggage and papers to a vessel which, sailing 
 on the 1st from the Maumee, was captured by the 
 English off Maiden. He seems to have taken very 
 literally the trenchant irony of Eandolph, who 
 portrayed a " holiday campaign " in which Canada 
 was to " conquer herself " and " be subdued by the 
 principle of fraternity." 
 
 It will be necessary in portraying this portion of 
 Cass s life to enter somewhat fully into this inglori 
 ous campaign. For the wisdom of Hull s action is 
 still a subject of discussion, and his descendants, 
 with an amiable regard for his memory have en 
 deavored to defend his actions as wise, humane, 
 and based on good military principles ; while Cass, 
 who was the chief witness afterwards against the 
 general, has been accused of unworthy motives, as 
 being the tool of an impotent administration, and 
 a vile intriguer for favor. 
 
 On July 5th the army reached Detroit. The 
 men were quite ready to rest. Cass himself re 
 called in after years his feeling of gratification that 
 
THE WAR OF 1812. 63 
 
 the long journey was over. The " raw militia " of 
 whom Hull complained had marched over two hun 
 dred miles through forest and swamps, building 
 bridges over smaller streams, and enduring hard 
 ship and fatigue. They found Detroit a French- 
 American village of quaint aspect, a piece of old 
 France partly inoculated with Americanism. An 
 entirely new stockade had been erected by Gov 
 ernor Hull in 1807, and everything had a well-kept 
 appearance. Cass afterwards stated that he thought 
 some of the embrasures defective and the platform ^ 
 in need of repair. This may have been true, yet 
 Hull is probably not justly chargeable with negli 
 gence for not putting the fort into better condition. 
 There were in the whole of Michigan at that time 
 about five thousand persons, and in Detroit proper 
 not far from a thousand. The Americans in the 
 Territory had used every means to acquaint the 
 government with their dangers. They were a 
 " double frontier," they said, for no farm was pro 
 tected by another. With a trust that the govern 
 ment would help those who helped themselves, they 
 had raised four companies of militia, which were 
 at this time commanded by Judge Witherell, an 
 experienced Eevolutionary officer. They were men 
 accustomed to the privations of frontier life, and 
 had been in continual readiness for war since 1805. 
 Hildreth s estimate 1 that the militia of the Terri 
 tory raised Hull s force to 1,800 is a very low one. 
 Nor will it do to pass over men of this kind with a 
 1 Hildreth, Hist, of U. &, vol. vi. p. 338, 
 
64 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 slur at " militia." The militia of Michigan were 
 
 /no weaklings, and the Ohio troops were of the 
 
 material which by many a hard fight has given the 
 
 American volunteer system a glory above a sneer. 
 
 /That Hildreth s estimate, evidently based on Hull s 
 own statement, 1 is too low is quite apparent from 
 the fact that Judge Witherell stated that he re 
 ceived a letter from Hull, dated June 14th, announ 
 cing that he would soon be at the Kiver Raisin with 
 about 2,200 men ; and that the general also wrote 
 to the Secretary of War that he was confident that 
 his force would be superior to any which would be 
 opposed to it, inasmuch as the " rank and file " ex 
 ceeded 2,000. The roU of troops at Fort Findlay 
 showed 2,075 men. Hull s defenders 2 do not deny 
 that this number is substantially correct, but he 
 asserted that there were 392 men more than the 
 President had ordered, and that he had no author 
 ity to take any surplus under his command. There 
 were something like four hundred men 3 in the 
 Michigan militia, and there can be no doubt that 
 Hull s effective army, after liberal deductions be- 
 <f cause of garrison duty, illness, and other causes, 
 reached over two thousand on July 6th. 
 
 Now was the time for action. The enemy at 
 Maiden had an advantageous position; for they 
 were south of Detroit, and could easily cross the 
 river and intercept supplies. Hull afterwards said 
 
 1 Hull s Defense (Appendix to Trial), p. 42. 
 
 2 History of the Campaign of 1812. 
 
 Hull s Memoirs, p. 125; HulVs Trial, p. 94. 
 
THE WAR OF 1812. 65 
 
 that, had he not been ordered to Detroit, he would 
 have begun an attack upon the British from an 
 other quarter. This is all ex post facto imagina 
 tion. He knew when he left Dayton that he was 
 bound for Detroit. And now when he was at De 
 troit he refused to enter Canada until he received 
 authority from Washington. He preferred to leave 
 the enemy their advantage rather than take active 
 measures of hostility. 
 
 The morning after the arrival of the army at 
 Detroit, Colonel Cass was sent to Maiden with a 
 flag of truce to obtain, if possible, the baggage and 
 prisoners taken from the schooner which Hull had 
 trustfully sent to Detroit from the Maumee. He 
 was led blindfolded into the presence of the com 
 manding officer, and his demands were refused ; 
 but before he reached the fort he was able to make 
 a casual survey, which induced him to believe that 
 it was indefensible, and he so declared to Gen 
 eral Hull. An examination of it a year later 
 convinced him that his first assumption was well 
 founded, and, inasmuch as Hull in previous years 
 had been at Maiden several times, there was no 
 reason why he also should not have appreciated its 
 weakness. On the 9th orders were received from 
 Washington authorizing the army to cross into 
 Canada and begin offensive operations. A council 
 of war was called, and Cass argued eagerly for 
 immediate . action. Deserters from Canada ac 
 quainted the Americans with the numbers of the 
 British forces, and gave clear indication of the 
 
66 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 feeling prevailing among the inhabitants of upper 
 Canada. Offensive operations were determined 
 upon in the council, and the young officers were 
 jubilant. But Hull was not hopeful. He advised 
 the Secretary of War not to be " too sanguine," as 
 the " water and the savages " were commanded by 
 the enemy. He did not care to burn all argument 
 ative bridges behind him, even when he must have 
 known that his force greatly outnumbered the 
 enemy ; and it is to be hoped that in after years, 
 in his peaceful, bucolic existence, he found true 
 satisfaction in the remembrance of his lugubrious 
 reports. In the latest review of this campaign, 
 written with rare judgment and impartiality, the 
 statement is made that Hull from the first " looked 
 on the conquest of Canada as a result of his ap 
 pearance." J The extract just made from his letter 
 to the Secretary of War, his hesitation in accept 
 ing the commission in the first place, his timid 
 policy and delay, are hardly reconcilable, it seems 
 to me, with this lenient interpretation of his con 
 duct. 
 
 Cass, we are told, took his stand in the bow of 
 the first boat in which the troops were conveyed 
 across the river, and was the first American to set 
 his foot on Canadian soil after the declaration of 
 war. This well suggests the ardor of the young 
 colonel, whose zeal for war left no room for inde 
 cision and hesitation. He had used every means 
 
 1 History of the United States of America during the First Ad 
 ministration of James Madison, by Henry Adams, vol. ii. p. 802. 
 
THE WAR OF 1812. 67 
 
 of obtaining information, and was satisfied that a 
 prompt and bold attack would insure the fall of 
 Maiden and the conquest of Upper Canada. The 
 troops reached the Canadian shore just above the 
 present town of Windsor, and the young Ohio 
 colonel, who was always in the lead, hastened to 
 raise the stars and stripes over the sleepy French 
 settlement of Sandwich. A detachment of the 
 enemy had abandoned their position opposite De 
 troit, and had hastened beyond the Canard River, 
 nearer to the fort, which was twenty miles to the 
 south of Hull s position. 
 
 Two hundred copies of a proclamation, in which 
 the fraternity theory was given full vent, were at 
 once distributed. Subsequent events clothed it in 
 a humorous garb, but it was declared able and vig 
 orous by the press of the day, and there can be no 
 doubt of its influence. No less an authority than 
 Judge Campbell, in his " Outlines of the Political 
 History of Michigan," attributes this document to 
 Cass ; others whose means of information were 
 good, and who were his personal friends, have 
 made the same assertion. It certainly bears marks 
 of the pomposity and incisiveness of Cass s earlier 
 style. The American army was said to have come 
 to rescue the perishing Canadians from the dragon 
 of tyranny, to pour the balm of liberty and frater 
 nal love into their wounds. They were called upon 
 not to raise their hands against their " brethren." 
 No assistance was required, for a force was at hand 
 which would " look down all opposition," and was a 
 
68 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 mere " vanguard " of the host which was to follow. 
 Kare sport had the cunning pamphleteers afterwards 
 with this confident announcement of success. The 
 " Wars of the Gulls " represents Madison, the 
 "Great Mogul," soliloquizing as follows: "By 
 proclamation, my illustrious predecessor defended 
 this extensive region during a long and warlike 
 reign of eight years, and brought the belligerent 
 powers of Europe to his feet. By proclamation I 
 have commenced this great and perilous war, and 
 by proclamation I will carry victory into the very 
 chimney corner of the enemy." 
 
 The inhabitants of Canada were warned, in this 
 circular, that they need expect no quarter if found 
 fighting by the side of an Indian, and that " the 
 first stroke of the tomahawk, the first attempt of 
 the scalping-knife " would be the signal " for an 
 indiscriminate scene of desolation." This clause 
 was the occasion of some contention between the 
 commissioners at Ghent, where the American repre 
 sentatives attempted to disown the whole proceed 
 ing, asserting that it was unauthorized by their 
 government. But such was not the fact. " Your 
 letters, . . . together with your proclamation, have 
 been received," wrote Secretary Eustis on August 
 1, 1812. " Your operations are approved by the 
 government." The English commissioners shud 
 dered in well counterfeited horror at the idea that 
 an invading army should encourage treason and 
 rebellion among the inhabitants of a neighboring 
 province. But there is no doubt that such was the 
 
THE WAR OF 1812. 69 
 
 principle of the " fraternal " conquest of Canada ; 
 and it is equally true that England on her own part 
 attempted to stimulate into open enmity the New 
 England Federalists, who grumbled without ceas 
 ing at the party war which bade fair to leave noth 
 ing more substantial than a remembrance of their 
 commerce, which the embargo had already " pro 
 tected " into debility. 
 
 The effect of this proclamation was immediate. 
 Vaporous as it seems in the light of subsequent 
 events, it was admirably adapted to win the disaf 
 fected, and to encourage the French habitants, who 
 naturally sympathized with the Americans. The 
 commander at Maiden wrote despondently to Gen 
 eral Brock, who was governor in Upper Canada, 
 and who, released from his civil duties, soon be 
 came the inspiring genius and hero of the war. 
 " Hull s invidious proclamation," wrote Brock to 
 Governor Prevost, " herewith inclosed, has already 
 been productive of considerable effect on the minds 
 of the people. In fact, a general sentiment pre 
 vails that, with the present force, resistance is un 
 availing." 1 So widespread was the despondency 
 that some of the militia in Upper Canada peremp 
 torily refused to march, as many as five hundred 
 settlers in the western district sought the protec 
 tion of the enemy, 2 and the Indians on the Grand 
 River refused to take up arms. Even Hull was 
 
 1 Brock to Prevost, July 20, 1812. Tupper s Life and Cor 
 respondence of Sir Isaac Broek, p. 203. 
 
 2 Ibid. p. 204. 
 
70 LEWIS CA8S. 
 
 encouraged to hope for success, and continued to 
 " look down " all opposition with a masterly inac 
 tivity which never deviated into generalship. 
 
 Colonel Cass now urged that the army move im 
 mediately upon Maiden, to take a position at least 
 as near as the Canard River, which was some five 
 miles from the British fort. But there were ex 
 cuses : more desertions ought to be encouraged ; the 
 Fabian was the only true policy. In spite of the 
 fact that comparatively few Indians had yet joined 
 the British, General Hull seemed to feel that each 
 bush concealed a lurking foe, and that the proper 
 plan was to win the Indians to his side and to in 
 spire them with confidence by sitting composedly at 
 Sandwich, twenty miles from the enemy s fort, and 
 calling upon his government for reinforcements. 
 With only one exception, not an aggressive step 
 was taken from this time on, save at the earnest 
 pleading of his subordinate officers. Colonel Mil 
 ler, with a few troops, made an expedition into the 
 country, and, returning with provisions, demon 
 strated the weakness of the enemy. Cass, because 
 of his much asking, was allowed to take two hun 
 dred and eighty men and push his way as near as 
 possible to the enemy s stronghold for the purpose 
 of ascertaining its condition. He wanted nothing 
 better. The river Tarontee, as the Indians called 
 it, which has generally figured in history under 
 its French name of the Canard, is a stream of 
 considerable depth, flowing through low, marshy 
 ground into the Detroit. Here a detachment of 
 
THE WAR OF 1812. 71 
 
 the enemy was posted, and here was fought the 
 first battle of the war. Cass, to divert the atten 
 tion of the enemy, left a company of riflemen 
 near the bridge which crossed the stream not far 
 from its mouth. He proceeded with the rest of 
 his troops five miles up the stream to a ford, and 
 came down the left bank. An impetuous charge 
 upon the hostile line threw it into confusion. 
 Three times the British formed, and were as often 
 beaten back. But night was falling. Cass recalled 
 his men to the bridge, and sent word of his success 
 to General Hull. 
 
 This first victory of the war was accepted 
 through the country as prophetic of success, and 
 Cass was hailed as the " Hero of the Tarontee." l 
 " Hold the bridge, and begin operations at once," 
 was the eager advice of the young officers. But 
 no " It is too near the enemy," was Hull s reply. 
 Hull finally said that Miller and Cass might use 
 their own judgment; they withdrew, for they in 
 sisted that the commanding officer ought to have the 
 responsibility. A withdrawal meant a proclamation 
 to all Canada that the American general consid 
 ered himself as yet too weak to take a stand nearer 
 than twenty miles from the enemy, who were then, 
 undoubtedly, greatly outnumbered. The young- 
 officers now openly murmured. They had hardly 
 expected that sluggishness would degenerate into 
 absolute immovability. There is little reason to 
 doubt that from this time the feeling of distrust 
 1 Lossing s Field-Book of the War of 1812, p. 265. 
 
72 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 of their general steadily increased, until Me Arthur, 
 Findlay, and Cass actually plotted his deposition 
 and the installation of McArthur as the command 
 ing officer. Cass constantly urged movement and 
 action, except on one occasion, when he deferred to 
 the superior technical wisdom of the artillery com 
 manders. In various skirmishes he showed his 
 ardor for the conflict. 
 
 General Hull had charge of more than the mili 
 tary operations in Upper Canada ; he was, as well, 
 governor of Michigan Territory ; yet for some rea 
 son, he took no step to announce the outbreak of 
 hostilities to the American garrison at Mackinaw, 
 and the first announcement they received was the 
 summons to surrender, accentuated by the frown 
 ing muzzles of British artillery, which had been 
 cleverly placed to command the fort at the weak 
 est point. Of course the island was surrendered, 
 and a post which might have retained a controlling 
 influence over the northern Indians was turned 
 over to the British. This has been attributed to 
 the criminal remissness or imbecility of the Secre 
 tary of War. 1 But the truth of this assertion is 
 no justification for Governor Hull s failure to put 
 himself into communication with the different por 
 tions of his territory. The army in Canada was 
 now distracted, restless, grumbling. The general 
 had no confidence in himself or in others, and the 
 fall of Mackinaw took away even that which he 
 had. Hourly the northern Indians might appear 
 
 1 Lossing s Pictorial Field-Book of the War of 1812, p. 271. 
 
THE WAR OF 1812. 73 
 
 ! upon the scene, and Hull was borne down with a 
 dread of their barbarous warfare. 
 
 Colonel Proctor arrived at Fort Maiden with 
 some reinforcements, and an aggressive warfare on 
 the part of the English began. Word was re 
 ceived that the provisions and men for which Hull 
 had been calling had been sent forward by Gov 
 ernor Meigs, and were at the River Raisin. Cap 
 tain Brush, who was in command of these rein 
 forcements, asked for an escort; for the British 
 could easily cross the river and intercept him on 
 his way to Detroit. Hull hesitated. But the 
 Ohio colonels forced him into compliance. An 
 inadequate force was then sent under Major Van 
 Horn. They were repulsed with loss, and Hull s 
 mail fell into the hands of the British authorities. 
 Again Cass and the other colonels said : " Send five 
 hundred men to escort Brush to Detroit." " I can 
 only spare a hundred," : replied Hull from behind 
 his defenses at Sandwich. At length, on August 
 7th, stung into motion by the insistence 2 of his 
 subordinates, he announced a general and immedi 
 ate attack on the British fort. The army were 
 joyfully engaged in active preparations when Hull 
 summoned his officers and told them that he had 
 decided to recross to Detroit, and on August 8th 
 the army slunk back to its own territory disheart 
 ened, mutinous, and surly. Another force, under 
 
 1 Lossing, p. 277. 
 
 2 Forbes s Report of Trial of Brigadier-General William Hull, 
 p. 57- 
 
74 LEWIS CAS8. 
 
 Colonel Miller, was sent down the river to escort 
 Captain Brush. When they had completed about 
 half the distance to the Raisin, a deadly fire was 
 opened upon them from Indians and English in 
 ambush. The men responded gallantly to Colonel 
 Miller s " Charge ! boys, charge ! " and one of the 
 most brilliant engagements of the war resulted in 
 a victory for the Americans. But the victory had 
 to be followed up, or Proctor would hurry across 
 from Maiden with more troops ; for he well knew 
 that Hull had given up all idea of offensive action. 
 Colonel Miller reported his success, and asked for 
 provisions. He had been injured by a fall from 
 his horse, but he did not ask to be recalled. On 
 the way to Detroit his messenger met Colonel Cass, 
 and that officer, learning of Miller s condition, 
 added the following characteristic dispatch : " Sir, 
 Colonel Miller is sick ; may I relieve him ? L. 
 Cass." But the eagerness of Cass and the 
 bravery of Miller must go for naught. Miller 
 was immediately ordered back to Detroit, while the 
 general contented himself with lamenting that the 
 blood of seventy-five men had been shed in vain. 2 
 
 The colonels now seriously thought of deposing 3 
 their general ; but they finally agreed that Gov 
 ernor Meigs should hasten to Detroit with assist- 
 
 1 Lossing s Field Book of the War of 1812, p. 282. The only 
 authority I can find for statement in the text. 
 
 2 Armstrong s Notices of the War of 1812, vol. i. p. 30. 
 
 3 A Chapter of the War of 1812, William Stanley Hatch, p. 40, 
 and other references ; Letter of Cass to Secretary of War, Sep 
 tember 10, 1812. 
 
THE WAR OF 1812. 75 
 
 ance, and they hoped that he would accept the 
 command. Cass at once wrote a cautious letter to 
 the governor, hinting at Hull s incompetence, and 
 stating that Maiden might have fallen, but that 
 the " golden opportunity " had passed. Before the 
 letter was signed the following significant post 
 script was added : " Believe all the bearer will tell 
 you. Believe it, however it may astonish you, as 
 
 much as if told by one of us. Even a C is 
 
 talked of by the . The bearer will fill the 
 
 vacancy." l 
 
 Brock, a general of dash, vigor, and wonderful 
 self-confidence, now arrived at Maiden. A few regu 
 lars and nearly three hundred militia 2 accompanied 
 him. The numbers of the Indians had lately in 
 creased somewhat, although none of the northern 
 Indians appeared at Detroit until some time after 
 the catastrophe of this serio-comic drama. Brock 
 erected a battery where it might effectually play 
 upon the American fort. But no attempt was 
 made to prevent the erection of this work or to 
 drive the enemy from it ; General Hull, with admi 
 rable sententiousness, replied to Captain Dalliby, 
 who asked permission to open fire upon them: 
 " Mr. Dalliby, I will make an agreement with the 
 enemy that, if they will never fire on me, I will 
 never fire on them. Those who live in glass houses 
 must not throw stones." 
 
 Events now hurried to a crisis. On August 14th 
 
 1 Niles s Register, vol. iii. p. 39. 
 
 2 Life of Brock, p. 335. 
 
76 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 McArthur and Cass with three hundred and fifty 
 men were sent as an escort to Captain Brush, who 
 had determined to find his way to Detroit by a 
 trail which ran some thirty miles back from the 
 river. These young officers were becoming alto 
 gether too restless, and might be seriously thinking 
 of mutiny, or, more terrible still, of fighting ! On 
 August 15th Brock sent Hull the following letter : 
 " The force at my disposal authorizes me to require 
 of you the immediate surrender of Detroit. It is 
 far from my inclination to join you in a war of 
 extermination ; but you must be aware that the 
 numerous body of Indians, who have attached 
 themselves to my troops, will be beyond my control 
 the moment the contest commences. You will find 
 me disposed to enter into such conditions as will 
 satisfy the most scrupulous sense of honor. Lieu 
 tenant-Colonel McDonell and Major Glegg are fully 
 authorized to conclude any arrangement that may 
 lead to prevent the unnecessary effusion of blood." l 
 Hull detained the messenger some two hours, and 
 then returned an answer fairly bristling with defi 
 ance. 
 
 HEADQUARTERS, DETROIT, August 15, 1812. 
 
 I have received your letter of this date. I have no 
 other reply to make than to inform you that I am pre 
 pared to meet any force which may be at your disposal, 
 and any consequences which may result from any exer 
 tion of it you may think proper to make. 2 
 
 I am, etc., . . . WILLIAM HULL, etc. 
 
 1 Tupper s Life of Brock, p. 231 ; Hull s Memoirs, p. 95. 
 - Hull s Memoirs, p. 96. 
 
THE WAR OF 1812. 77 
 
 Immediately the British guns opened on Detroit, 
 and the American guns replied. Some damage 
 was done to the frail structures of the town, which 
 was beginning to present a spectacle demoralizing 
 and pitiful. The people of the neighborhood had 
 crowded into the place for protection. Trembling 
 women and bewildered children pleaded by their 
 presence for a bold stand against Indian cruelty 
 and vengeance. All had lost confidence in their 
 obsolete general, and he, tenderhearted and com 
 passionate, was overwhelmed with dread and op 
 pressed with responsibility. Occasionally the old 
 Revolutionary spirit awakened within him, but it 
 was generally smothered by the kindly weakness 
 and hesitancy which prompted to pity and ended 
 in cruel inactivity. 
 
 The quiet, beautiful Sabbath morning of August 
 16th was rudely disturbed by the booming of the 
 British cannon. Again were pictured forth to the 
 general s mind awful scenes of Indian atrocities, 
 the unspeakable horrors of the tomahawk and 
 scalping-knife. His memory of border tales and 
 fables furnished food to his greedy imagination. 
 " My God ! " he exclaimed, " what shall I do with 
 these women and children ? " On the ground, with 
 his back toward the wall of the fort, his face white 
 from fear, save where it was defiled with tobacco 
 juice, which he nervously rubbed over his face 
 or allowed to drop and ornament his ruffled shirt, 
 sat the poor old general of the northwestern army, 
 who had come to " look down opposition, not to 
 
78 LEWIS CA8S. 
 
 fight it." 1 The enemy cross the river ; not a shot 
 from American guns or cannon threatens them. 
 They march toward Detroit along a narrow road, 
 where a well-posted battery can shatter their lines. 
 Not a gun is fired to check them ; but a ball from 
 the battery at Sandwich takes effect in the fort; 
 women are carried away senseless ; men are killed, 
 and a white flag flutters over the bastions of the 
 American defenses. 
 
 That was the end of the " proclamatory " inva 
 sion of Canada. Cass and McArthur were hurry 
 ing back, hoping to reach the fort before there was 
 any real danger, or to attack the enemy in the rear 
 if he was on the American side of the river. But 
 the white flag had spiked the British guns, and, as 
 they neared Detroit, not a cannon shot awakened 
 the echoes to summon them to action. They soon 
 found that Hull had included them and their force 
 in his capitulation, without giving them a chance 
 to escape. Cass, exasperated beyond endurance, 
 snapped his sword in twain, rather than disgrace 
 himself by its surrender. " Basely to surrender 
 without firing a gun ! " he moaned in mingled anger 
 and chagrin. " Tamely to submit without raising 
 a bayonet ! " Even Brush and his men were in 
 cluded in the surrender at Hull s own instance. 
 For forty years to come Detroit citizens could not 
 remember the occurrence without flushing with 
 mortification. Hull did not have the courage of 
 brave Croghan, who, with his little garrison sur- 
 
 1 Wars of the Gulls. 
 
THE WAR OF 1812. 79 
 
 rounded by thirty times its numbers, answered a 
 summons to surrender with the reply, " When the 
 fort shall be taken there will be none to massacre." 
 On this sad 16th of August a band of Kentucky 
 volunteers, collected to reinforce Hull, were listen 
 ing at Georgetown to the eloquence of Clay, who 
 pictured in joyful anticipation the capture of Mai 
 den and the conquest of Upper Canada. 
 
 It is difficult to ascertain with exactness the 
 number of the men surrendered or of those com 
 manded by Brock. Hull estimated his own effect 
 ive force at less than 1,000,* Cass at 1,060, 2 not 
 including either the 300 Michigan militia on duty 
 or the detachment sent to meet Brush. Brock, in 
 toxicated with success, reports the capture of 2,500 
 men. 3 This was undoubtedly an exaggeration. 
 His own men, however, aggregated, according to 
 his own report, 1,330, including 600 Indians. Pos 
 sibly he underestimated, for his own glorification, 
 the number of his savage allies. To an inferior 
 besieging force, for the Indians are notoriously 
 useless in attacking a fortress, Hull surrendered 
 with such indecent speed that he made no provision 
 for the Canadians who had deserted to him, nor for 
 the men who were with him and had been eager 
 to fight by his side. 
 
 The same mad horror of Indian outrages had 
 
 1 Hull s Memoirs; Clarke s History of the Campaign of 1812, 
 etc., p. 386. 
 
 2 Niles s Register, p. 38 ; Cass s Letter to the Secretary of War ; 
 IMVs Trial, Appendix No. II. p. 27. 
 
 3 Tupper s Life of Brock, p. 247. 
 
80 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 influenced him to send orders for the evacuation of 
 Fort Dearborn, where Chicago now stands, and in 
 spite of the intercession of those who realized the 
 danger, Captain Heald obeyed the order, withdrew 
 his garrison and the families from the fort, and 
 began the long, dreary march to Detroit. They 
 knew that they were marching to their doom, 
 and as they left their fort, where they might per 
 haps have remained in safety until reinforcements 
 came, their little military band is said to have 
 struck up the Dead March in Saul. It was at 
 least appropriate. Men, women, and children were 
 murdered in a desperate conflict, scarcely any es 
 caping to relate to what extent Hull s order for 
 evacuation had saved bloodshed at Chicago. 
 
 One problem remains to be examined : how to 
 account for Brock s rash attack upon a strong for 
 tress defended by a superior force. The answer 
 has been already suggested. He discovered Hull s 
 trepidation, was sure that his opponent was weak, 
 faltering, and despondent. He thus exultingly 
 wrote to his brothers on September 3d : 
 
 Some say that nothing could be more desperate than 
 the measure ; but I answer that the state of the province 
 admitted of nothing but desperate remedies. I got pos 
 session of the letters of my antagonist addressed to the 
 Secretary at War, and also of the sentiments which hun 
 dreds of his army uttered to their friends. ... It is 
 therefore no wonder that envy should attribute to good 
 fortune what, in justice to my own discernment, I must 
 
THE WAR OF 1812. 81 
 
 say proceeded from a cool calculation of the pours and 
 centres. 1 
 
 The soldiers were paroled, and went, shamefaced 
 and angry, to their homes. Hull was taken to 
 Montreal, but was released by his crafty captors, 
 in hopes that his loud laments over the imbecility 
 of the administration might heighten disaffection. 
 Cass, paroled, under Colonel McArthur s orders, 
 hastened to Washington, and made a report to 
 the Secretary of War, which, full of indignation 
 and disgust, was yet a fair statement of the dis 
 astrous incompetence of the general. The peo 
 ple were wild with excitement, and poured out 
 abuse on all concerned in the childish totterings of 
 the campaign. The administration and its feeble 
 generals, quite willing to secure a victim for the 
 sacrifice, led Hull, complaining, to the altar. A 
 prejudiced court-martial, which, however, arrived 
 at a just verdict, met at Albany in January, 1814. 
 Major-general Dearborn, whose considerate and 
 peaceful mode of warfare had prevented him from 
 making a diversion in Hull s favor, sat as presi 
 dent, and Martin Van Buren, then rising to full 
 fame, with political shrewdness and legal lore 
 mixed in scarcely equal proportions, appeared as 
 special judge advocate. Cass was the first witness. 
 His testimony was convincing and overwhelming, 
 and was corroborated by that of McArthur and 
 others. Yet his statements have been attributed 
 to sinister motives. He has been charged with 
 
 1 Tupper s Life of Brock. 
 
82 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 duplicity as a tool of the administration, although 
 it is perfectly evident that his enmity towards Hull 
 began in those dreary lazy days in Canada, when 
 Hull s energy was absorbed in summoning councils 
 and discovering excuses for fatal delay. A letter 
 written by Cass to his brother-in-law, Silliman, a 
 few days before the surrender, introduced by Hull 
 to prove the inconsistency of his accuser, has been 
 forced to carry that burden even by later writers. 
 But a fair interpretation will show neither inconsis 
 tency nor equivocation. 
 
 The court found General Hull guilty of cow 
 ardice and neglect of duty, and sentenced him to 
 be shot. Madison, tempering justice with mercy, 
 approved the sentence, but remitted its execution, 
 out of respect for the past services of one who, as 
 a boy fresh from college, entered the patriot army 
 immediately after Lexington, fought with cool and 
 fearless energy, endured sufferings and fatigues 
 with noble cheerfulness, and received acknowledg 
 ments of faithfulness from Washington himself. 
 His last years were spent in comfort, but not in 
 luxury. Presiding with simple unaffectedness at 
 the " bounteous Thanksgiving dinner," or watch 
 ing his merry grandchildren dancing in time to the 
 music "of old Tillo s fiddle," 1 he was much nearer 
 his proper occupation than when commanding a 
 rough, boisterous, backwoods army in a dangerous 
 and important campaign. 
 
 1 Memorial and Biographical Sketches, James Freeman Clarke, 
 p. 439. 
 
THE WAR OF 1812. 83 
 
 In December, 1812, Cass was appointed major- 
 general in the Ohio militia, but he was not yet 
 exchanged, and was prevented by his parole from 
 entering into active service. In January the Pres 
 ident determined to raise two regiments of reg 
 ular troops in Ohio, and Cass, instructed to raise 
 one, was appointed a colonel in the army, February 
 20, 1813. 1 His parole was removed about the mid 
 dle of January, and he then proceeded with his 
 task. Ohio and Kentucky were furious at the 
 defeat and surrender of Hull. A perfect tidal 
 wave of patriotism and resentment swept over these 
 states, and Cass had no difficulty in obtaining his 
 quota of men. The government, oonfiding in his 
 fidelity and energy, now made him brigadier-gen 
 eral 2 in the regular army, to act under Major-gen 
 eral Harrison in the West. 
 
 In January, 1813, General Winchester had 
 marched toward Detroit with a fine army of stal 
 wart Kentuckians, the foremost young men in the 
 State, who were burning to avenge the surrender 
 of Detroit, and to give a sound whipping to the 
 Indians, whose successful insolence was maddening 
 to a Kentucky pioneer. The massacre at the River 
 Raisin was the sad end of their hopes. Robbing, 
 plundering, murdering, scalping, vile mutilations, 
 barbarities too horrible to mention, followed the 
 fall of the brave Kentuckians, who had come so 
 full of eager pride and bravery. From that time 
 
 1 Records of War Department. 
 
 2 March 12th. Records of War Department. 
 
84 LEWIS CA8S. 
 
 to the battle of the Thames the Indians, unre 
 strained by the infamous Proctor, were a continual 
 menace to the whole territory of Michigan. Their 
 cruelties were constant. Property was wasted or 
 destroyed ; everywhere were confusion, misery, and 
 fear. 1 
 
 General Cass was actively engaged in the cam 
 paign of 1813. He was, as before, energetic and 
 hopeful, a strong support for General Harrison, who 
 relied upon his advice and trusted in his wisdom. 
 They worked well together. After yearh found 
 Cass a courageous defender of the " Hero of Tip- 
 pecanoe," when political scribblers fought the bat 
 tles over again, and sought to prove the victor a 
 slovenly child of fortune. Some manoauvrings in 
 the neighborhood of Sandusky were without impor 
 tance to the main body of the army, though ren 
 dered famous by Croghan s courageous defense of 
 his fort. On September 10th Commodore Perry 
 sent Harrison his famous laconic, " We have met 
 the enemy, and they are ours." The victorious 
 fleet at once conveyed Harrison to Canada. In 
 spite of the taunts of Tecumseh, who likened the 
 retreating general to a " fat dog that drops his tail 
 between his legs and runs off," Proctor aban 
 doned Maiden and retreated to the interior. He was 
 pursued and defeated at the battle of the Thames. 
 
 1 Michigan Pioneer Collection, vol. iv. p. 320 ; Wisconsin His 
 torical Collection, vol. iii. p. 318, Witherell s Reminiscences ; Niles s 
 Register, vol. i. p. 91, giving Judge Woodward s letter to General 
 Proctor ; Barbarities of the Enemy, A Report of the Committee 
 of the House of Representatives (1813), Troy, 1813. 
 
THE WAR OF 1812. 85 
 
 " Kentuckians, remember the River Raisin ! " was 
 the inspiring battle-cry. Tecumseh, a braver and 
 abler general than his white chief, was there killed 
 by Colonel R. M. Johnson. Only a small portion 
 of Cass s command was present at this fight. He 
 acted, therefore, as aide-de-camp to General Harri 
 son, and was rewarded with a complimentary notice 
 of his services in the general s report to the Secre 
 tary of War. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 
 
 THE battle of the Thames secured the North 
 west to the Americans. General Harrison, desiring 
 to cooperate with our army in eastern Canada and 
 New York, left the command of Detroit and the 
 subjugated portion of western Canada to General 
 Cass. The situation was not a simple one. The 
 Indians, excited by the bloodshed and pillage of 
 the preceding winter and spring, were restless and 
 a constant menace to the little village and the 
 people of the whole region, which was already deso 
 lated by the war. On October 29th the President 
 appointed Cass governor of Michigan Territory. 
 He prepared at once to assume the arduous duties 
 of his new office. During a portion of the succeed 
 ing winter he attended the trial of Hull at Albany, 
 where he was the chief witness. With the excep 
 tion of some such temporary absences as this, he 
 was continually resident in the Territory for the 
 next eighteen years, giving to its people the energy 
 of his young manhood and vigorous middle age, 
 and inseparably connecting his name with the found 
 ation and progress of Michigan and the develop 
 ment of the Northwest. 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 87 
 
 Life at the frontier post was occasionally ro 
 mantic, but never free from grave responsibility 
 and anxiety. At the outset duties pressed upon 
 him in battalions. Although General Harrison 
 had concluded an armistice with the greater portion 
 of tribes, many hostile Indians were still in the 
 neighborhood, and must be kept in subjection. The 
 homeless fugitives, robbed of their all by the hire 
 lings of Proctor, needed protection and support. 
 Detroit, itself in confusion and anarchy, demanded 
 the careful, firm, and kind hand of friendly au 
 thority. Through the whole winter of 1813-14 
 Michigan Territory was in a pitiful condition. The 
 poor people from the Raisin district, whose houses 
 had been burned or left in desolation, without food 
 or means to obtain it, hovered, clamoring, in the 
 village where the young governor was expected to 
 turn the stones into bread. The lives of the French 
 people had been spared by the Indians because of 
 the general friendliness between the two races, but 
 the hungry savages had killed their cattle, carried 
 off the fruit from the orchards, burnt the fences 
 and the floors of the houses, and left the habitant 
 in the direst destitution. Above all, many Indians, 
 no longer supplied from the train-bands of the 
 British army, were themselves thrown on the mercy 
 and humanity of the Americans. The public stores 
 were used to drive away actual starvation ; but so 
 great was the want and poverty that a petition for 
 help was sent to Washington ; in response to which 
 the President asked Congress for a special appro 
 priation. 
 
88 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 Nothing can be said in exaggeration of the deso 
 late state of Michigan for about two years after its 
 recovery by the Americans. The French at the 
 River Raisin, who, with all their ignorance of farm 
 ing, had had comfortable cabins, as well as fields 
 and orchards which supplied their humble wants, 
 were reduced to such penury on their return to 
 their farms that even very meagre food was ob 
 tained with difficulty. They lacked the nervous 
 tension and vigor which tones up the American 
 pioneer to resist expected danger and surmount 
 difficulties. Light-hearted and cheerful in all 
 ordinary trials, their easy-going dispositions, their 
 unfamiliarity with the common devices which neces 
 sity begets in the frontier life of the inventive 
 Yankee, their content with the past, and faith in 
 the unearned blessings of the future, kept them 
 penniless and breadless when keener intelligence 
 might have lifted them above want. The settlers 
 near Detroit were in woeful straits, but everything 
 seems to show that the French of the River Raisin 
 were more ignorant and less thrifty than the habi 
 tant to the north, and upon them had come the 
 extreme cruelty and destruction of the war. Cass 
 worked for his hungry Territory with untiring vigi 
 lance, distributing largesses from the public stores, 
 calling upon the government for aid, organizing 
 and instructing with zeal and energy. No portion 
 of his career is more worthy of admiration than 
 this, when his direst enemies were anarchy and 
 hunger. A true picture of the governorship of 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 89 
 
 Cass and the early history of the reclaimed Terri 
 tory will be shaded into its proper depth of color 
 by a remembrance of the peculiar trials attending 
 them. 
 
 Besides the general poverty and distress of the 
 Territory, other dangers confronted the people of 
 the " double frontier." When the Indians, threat 
 ened by starvation, were not praying for sustenance 
 at the hands of the authorities, they seem to have 
 been satisfying their hatred of the " big knives," 
 as they called the Americans, by unexpected at 
 tacks upon them and their property. They be 
 leaguered the little village, pillaging, murdering, 
 and scalping in the ruthless fashion which they had 
 adopted under Proctor s tender instruction. Cass 
 felt that his great task was to restore confidence to 
 the cowering people, to induce them to return to 
 their homes, and to begin again their peaceful lives. 
 As a first step to this end, he decided that these 
 annoyances from the savages must cease. A bold 
 attack upon the Indians seemed the most satisfac 
 tory method of procedure ; and, successful in that, 
 a stockade might be built and block-houses reared 
 at the expense of the general government, to pro 
 tect the frontier and overawe the red men. In 
 September, 1814, the settlement was in especial 
 danger from these marauding bands, and the young 
 men of the village organized for an attack. Gen 
 eral Cass led the little company into a bloody 
 skirmish, in which the Indians were beaten. Dur 
 ing the whole affair Cass displayed that calm ignor- 
 
90 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 ing of danger which was so characteristic of him, 
 and which powerfully influenced the impressionable 
 savage. Riding at the head of his men, he was ad 
 vised by one of his company, Major Whipple, to 
 fall back to the centre, as, should he be killed, it- 
 might create confusion ; but he answered, " Oh, 
 major, I am pretty well off here ; let us push on." 
 Various sallies of this character upon the Indians 
 skulking along the river soon freed the people of 
 their more abject fear. All had confidence in their 
 young governor, and willingly followed him into 
 any danger. " His constant, unremitting vigilance, 
 and energetic conduct saved our people from many 
 of the horrors of war, and he was sustained by our 
 habitants" l 
 
 The savages had rendered the British such effi 
 cient service that in 1814 our government strove to 
 obtain like aid. Possibly we can plead in justifi 
 cation that this was merely a defensive measure, 
 but we cannot deny the fact. July 22, 1814, Gen 
 eral Harrison and Governor Cass met in council 
 with a number of Indians at Greenville, Ohio, and 
 there entered into an agreement in which the In 
 dians promised assistance, and the commissioners 
 pledged protection. Cass returned to Detroit, ac 
 companied by a band which became personally at 
 tached to him. Fortunately his influence over 
 them was so great that the disgraceful scenes of 
 Proctor s occupation were not repeated. The use 
 of savages in civilized warfare is inexcusable ; but 
 
 1 Witherell s Reminiscences, Wisconsin Hist. Col. vol. iii. p. 324. 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 91 
 
 in this case the disastrous consequences were re 
 duced to a minimum. 
 
 In spite of the successful vigor of Cass, his sit 
 uation was perilous and anxious until the close of 
 the war. Having resigned his military commis 
 sion April 6, 1814, 1 he found himself in the anom 
 alous position of bearing responsibility unassisted 
 by the requisite authority. The few United States 
 troops that had been left at Detroit objected to 
 receiving commands from a civil officer ; the con 
 stant presence of threatening Indians, and the 
 disordered condition of the defenses of the town 
 called for action in preparation for a possible recur 
 rence of the events of 1812. Should our army 
 prove ineffective in the East, or should affairs in 
 Europe suddenly take a different turn, Detroit 
 might again, in an instant, become a salient point 
 and a position of great strategic importance. A 
 letter of August 13th, from the Secretary of War, 
 authorized the governor, in the absence of a general 
 officer, to take command of all the forces at De 
 troit in case of attack. But with such half-hearted 
 trust he was not content. All save a very few 
 troops were bravely sent to the East to assist the 
 movement of our army on the Niagara frontier, 
 and he was obliged to rely mainly on the volunteer 
 services of the weary and pillaged inhabitants of 
 the Territory. Even in these straits he did not 
 stand all the day idle, complaining of his helpless 
 ness ; but with his " pet Indians " he gave material 
 
 1 Records of War Department. 
 
92 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 aid in the progress of the war by making feints 
 against the Canadian inhabitants and property in 
 the eastern portion of Upper Canada. He asserted, 
 however, in his communications to the War De 
 partment, that should a general attack be made by 
 the British forces, he should retire from the Terri 
 tory, unaided as he was by the militia from the 
 south, which he had had every reason to expect. 
 Amid all these troubles and anxieties, the work of 
 bringing order and tranquillity into the disordered 
 Territory went bravely on. 
 
 Peace came to a jubilant country before another 
 campaign brought its load of mingled victory and 
 defeat. Men wept in each other s arms in joy that 
 the war was over, a war conducted with neither 
 energy nor skill, and concluded by a treaty that 
 was little more than an armistice, settling none of 
 the questions for which we had blustered into the 
 war, with our armor rusty and our flintlocks out of 
 repair. Our victories on the sea had, however, 
 beaten into our opponents a modicum of respect 
 for us. Now, at last, to the happy people the sky 
 seemed spanned by a bow of promise, no more 
 impressments, no more highway robbery of men 
 and goods from well-behaving neutrals. The pot 
 of gold at the foot of this rainbow did not, how 
 ever, lie in the neighborhood of Detroit. Peace 
 for a moment shed its warming rays into that des 
 olate country ; but it served only to render more 
 visible the havoc of the war, and to show the im 
 mensity of the task of restoring prosperity and 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 93 
 
 confidence and of raising the Territory into a self- 
 sustaining portion of the country. 
 
 The work of General Cass s governorship natu 
 rally divides itself into a series of undertakings, 
 which clearly present themselves as one glances 
 back over the period, and the importance of which 
 he, at the time, fully realized. By his apprecia 
 tion of the peculiar duties laid upon him, he made 
 them more distinct, and gave to his administration 
 a singular completeness and unity. His greatest 
 problem, embracing or touching all the rest, was 
 to convert the French settlement, at present tor 
 tured by actual want and, at its best, defenseless, 
 foreign, and slow, into an active American commu 
 nity, prosperous and progressive in peace, capable 
 of self-defense in war, a real buckler to that North 
 west which never ceased to tempt the covetous 
 eyes of the English. Michigan must be Ameri 
 canized and colonized ; its strategic value must be 
 estimated aright and its physical charms displayed ; 
 the whole Northwest must be so protected and 
 guided that the tide of immigration which had set 
 in over its southeastern border would encounter no 
 wall in its onward sweep, until it had carried the 
 schoolhouse and the newspaper into the farthest 
 corner of that land where the Jesuit had, a century 
 before, planted his cross and sung his ave. In 
 1846-47, thirty years after the first trials of his gov 
 ernorship, Cass was struggling in the Senate for the 
 possession of the far Northwest above the line of 
 49 ; that contest was the afterglow of the fire of 
 
94 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 his younger life, which had been devoted to the 
 extension of his country s civilization into its re 
 mote and seemingly unattractive corners. 
 
 The distress consequent upon the British and 
 Indian occupation of Michigan was, as has been 
 said, partly relieved before the war was finished. 
 But through the whole summer of 1815 many of 
 the inhabitants needed assistance. In May, 1815, 
 the War Department authorized Governor Cass to 
 distribute $1,500 among the poor of the Territory. 
 This trifling sum, which would hardly keep starva 
 tion at bay, much less provide for making the people 
 self-supporting, he was directed to spend with care 
 and economy, and to draw for more if necessary. 1 
 The national government was not so freighted with 
 a surplus after the war that it could afford to do 
 more than dribble out its dollars. This money, 
 spent in flour to be given to the Raisin settlers, 
 was a temporary relief, but not a remedy for the 
 ills of the Territory. 2 So many of the people were 
 without the fundamental ideas of sensible farming 
 that thrift and prosperity could not be purchased by 
 occasional alms. The happy French farmers near 
 Detroit were content with their big orchards and 
 shaggy ponies. The poorer ones, brought for the 
 time being out of actual suffering, began again 
 their careless farming, making no attempt to push 
 back into the unbroken forests which hemmed 
 them in to the river s brink. Cass proclaimed the 
 
 1 Archives in State Department of Michigan. 
 
 2 Ibid. 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 95 
 
 need of American enterprise and skill. If a few 
 Eastern farmers could display before the astonished 
 eyes of the French Canadian their habitual provi 
 dence and energy, the old wooden ploughshare and 
 clumsy hoe might give place to more modern imple 
 ments. With this idea in mind, Governor Cass 
 proceeded to make its necessity evident by direct 
 statement of his desires. But the indirect method 
 seemed, on the whole, more efficacious. If lands 
 were offered freely for sale, and their attractions 
 and value demonstrated by successful tillage, Amer 
 icans from the older States might be attracted into 
 the Territory. His efforts towards the accomplish 
 ment of this purpose furnish in detail an interest 
 ing study. The following outlines are suggestive. 
 
 By an act of Congress, passed at the beginning 
 of the war, 2,000,000 acres were to be selected in 
 Michigan, to be given as bounty lands to volunteers. 
 Cass desired that these surveys should be quickly 
 made in order that at least a few settlers, taking ad 
 vantage of the gift, might make their homes in the 
 Territory, and introduce a larger American element 
 on which and with which to work. But disappoint 
 ing delays awaited him. The surveyors, to whom 
 had been given the task of running the proposed 
 meridian line from the Au Glaize River due north, 
 beginning their task in the early winter, returned 
 to Ohio after a short absence with a most lugubri 
 ous account of the cheerless Territory. Cass had 
 been in communication with the Indians, and was 
 able to assure the surveyors that there was no rea- 
 
96 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 son to fear; but either hardship and fatigue, or 
 dread of attack, had so perverted their judgment 
 of the country that they described the interior of 
 Michigan as one vast morass, its monotony occa 
 sionally broken by sandhills without the covering of 
 attractive vegetation. The President, assured by 
 the commissioner of the land office that scarcely 
 one acre in a thousand was fit for cultivation, ad 
 vised Congress, in February, 1816, that the quota 
 of bounty lands assigned to Michigan might better 
 be located in other parts of the Northwest. 
 
 The people of the Eastern States, receiving this 
 official condemnation of the country, believed for 
 years that the rich, rolling lauds of the southern 
 peninsula of Michigan were a barren waste. The 
 great American desert has been a very movable 
 spot in our geography. Cass was never entirely 
 successful in relieving the Territory of the weight 
 of this truthless description. For years it lay like 
 a millstone on the shoulders of the struggling 
 young province. Disappointed and discomfited, 
 the governor did not despair. Insisting upon the 
 good character of the soil and climate, he finally 
 secured, }n 1818, the location of a public land office ; 
 lands were offered for sale, and the history of Mich 
 igan, as an American settlement, began. Slowly it 
 rose to a position of dignity and power, as its re 
 sources and beauties were made known. Some 
 twenty years later Harriet Martineau, riding 
 through the Territory, charmed by the luxuriant 
 woods, with their beautiful openings, and the wild 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 97 
 
 flowers scattered in profusion by the roadside, ex 
 claimed : " Milton must have traveled in Michigan 
 before he wrote the garden parts of 4 Paradise 
 Lost. " 1 The progress of the State was slow, but 
 its advance was due to the tireless devotion of its 
 second territorial governor. 
 
 The work of Governor Cass in bringing Michigan 
 out from its Gallic sloth was coupled with the task 
 of asserting northwestern independence and our 
 national dignity in opposition to British interfer 
 ence. In its more evident form this arrogant inter 
 meddling with our concerns ended about two years 
 after the war. But the insidious efforts of the 
 English authorities to render insecure the American 
 occupation of the Northwest continued with more 
 or less heartiness through the whole of Cass s gov 
 ernorship, and, indeed, can be detected until within 
 two or three years of the Ashburton treaty of 1842. 
 In case of another war with America, the Great 
 Lakes and the states bordering upon them would 
 offer special inducement for naval and military 
 movements. An idea of the mighty growth of the 
 young republic permeated the English mind but 
 slowly. It was only during the Rebellion that a 
 sense of our power was first conveyed to the average 
 Englishman by our enormous armies and our naval 
 enterprises. In consequence of this long ignorance 
 and contempt, for years after the Northwest was a 
 vigorous and well-settled region, the English culti 
 vated its scattered tribes of Indians with remem- 
 
 1 Society in America, vol. i. p. 325. 
 
98 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 brance (indistinct, it is to be hoped) of the char 
 acter of their services in the war of 1812. As we 
 can now look back on the fruitlessness of such ef 
 forts and notice the steady advance of the pioneer 
 into the forests and over the plains of the West, we 
 can pass the fact by with a shrug, half of amuse 
 ment at the persistence of our fond mother-country, 
 who so long yearned for her wayward child. But 
 for at least ten years after the treaty of Ghent, 
 these efforts were far from amusing, and, while the 
 " era of good feeling " was casting its genial warmth 
 upon the eastern partisans, the Northwest was in 
 danger of having its progress retarded by hostile 
 Indians, whom British presents incited to animosity 
 against the Americans and won to loyalty and re 
 spect for the Union Jack. Had a war with Eng 
 land broken out before 1840, in all likelihood a 
 great portion of the Indians would have gone where 
 British presents and brilliant tinsel called them. 
 These dangers Cass fully appreciated ; and the in 
 sult to American independence and American hu 
 manity he deeply resented. So keenly did he feel 
 the injustice and perversity of England that he 
 never recovered from his suspicions of her. His 
 dislike of her aggrandizement was natural, and, 
 under the circumstances, justifiable ; it colored his 
 whole public career. With annoying frequency, 
 through the whole of his governorship, arose these 
 evidences of British influence. Nothing but his 
 own good sense, promptness, and bravery, checked 
 the insolence of the red man thus encouraged and 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 99 
 
 abetted, and rendered the Northwest habitable and 
 peaceful. 
 
 It has been suggested by our general historians 
 that England entered into the treaty of peace of 
 1783 with the hope that our loose-knit confederacy 
 would soon burst its bonds and give her a chance 
 to absorb the repentant, disconsolate states singly ; 
 but our people have perhaps not realized the lon 
 gevity of that hope. A series of incidents, which 
 I shall not attempt to give in chronological connec 
 tion with the other events of Cass s governorship, 
 will substantiate the general statements already 
 made. 
 
 The bold, ill-concealed interference with our af 
 fairs and the projecting of British authority into 
 our territory are partly attributable to the reckless 
 ness of local authority, partly, it must be thought, 
 to that widespread feeling of our helplessness, which 
 prompted adherence to the search and impressment 
 doctrine long after the war of 1812. Vessels were 
 stopped and searched on their way to Detroit as 
 late as the middle of 1816. Governor Cass col 
 lected sworn testimony, and transmitted it to Wash 
 ington. Expostulating with the British authorities, 
 he insisted that the conduct of the boarding officers 
 was arrogant and imperious, and that such actions 
 were contrary to the law of nations and destructive 
 of friendly relations between the two governments. 
 His remonstrances apparently stopped these open 
 violations of our rights upon the Lakes. 
 
 Before this, there were various troubles with the 
 
100 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 soldiers in Canada. A series of letters l which 
 passed between Governor Cass and Colonel James, 
 in command of the forces across the river, discloses 
 these difficulties and the unwarranted attitude as 
 sumed by the English. The ill feeling and lawless 
 ness of the Indians, some of whom still remained 
 in Canada and received sustenance from the public 
 stores, were continually exhibited in petty acts of 
 annoyance and in deeds of violence, for which there 
 was no excuse. The agent of our government, left 
 temporarily in charge of stores at Amherstburg, 
 was insulted and assaulted by these lawless braves. 
 There was no strong reason for not sending them 
 away and ceasing to recognize them as allies ; but 
 the English authorities, in excuse, pleaded the force 
 of compassion and the difficulty of controlling 
 them. On the other side, it cannot truthfully be 
 asserted that the Americans were always courteous 
 and honest. The stragglers in a disorganized coun 
 try, demoralized by war, are apt to cause annoy 
 ances to a hated enemy so temptingly near as were 
 the troops and people in Canada. But while the 
 Indians were still kept in idleness and mischief by 
 the presents from the British, Cass was authorized, 2 
 May 25, 1815, not to give the Indians presents, in 
 asmuch as the reason for doing so had passed away. 
 To our former enemies the necessities appeared 
 quite different. 
 
 In September, 1815, nine months after the close 
 
 1 In the Archives of the State Department at Lansing. 
 
 2 Letter to Cass from War Department, Archives, Lansing. 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 101 
 
 of the war, a robbery and desertion from ? British 
 man-of-war gave an opportunity f or an offensive 
 violation of our sovereignty. A lieiit4i>a1r and 
 boat s crew, sent out to v - ^jrrest -the culprit/ sought 
 him on American soil. They prosecuted the search 
 arrogantly, entering and examining several houses, 
 and evidently conducting themselves in such a 
 domineering spirit that the citizens were aroused 
 to resistance. One resident of Detroit at the 
 time related that the English " placed sentinels 
 on our highway, one of which fired at a citizen." 1 
 The deserter for whom they were searching was 
 seized ; but meanwhile the behavior of the invad 
 ing party had so exasperated the citizens that they 
 flew to arms, and turned the tables upon the in 
 truders by arresting the lieutenant and conducting 
 him with due pomp to the fort, while the boat s 
 crew hurried their captive on board their vessel. 
 Colonel Miller gave up jurisdiction in the matter 
 to Governor Cass, as the head of the civil authority. 
 Commodore Owen demanded the return of the lieu 
 tenant. Cass answered at some length. With only 
 a half-starved Territory at his back he knew how 
 to resent contempt and neglect for well-known prin 
 ciples of law. 
 
 Lieutenant Vidal was arrested and brought to me for 
 apprehending forcibly a person in the Territory and 
 conveying him on board a British armed vessel. In so 
 doing he has violated the laws of the country, and sub- 
 
 1 Niles, vol. ix. p. 104. Also ibid. p. 187. Letters in State De 
 partment, Lansing. 
 
102 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 jected ^himself to the penalty it prescribes for such con 
 duct. Permit me fo Deserve that your demand for Lieu 
 tenant Vict?l> without offering to restore the person seized 
 an3 transported By hhr.,-w&s not to have been expected. 
 There are no treaty stipulations between the United 
 States and Great Britain for the restoration of persons 
 deserting from the service of the one and seeking refuge 
 in the territory of the other. Such an arrangement was 
 proposed by our commissioners, but not acceded to. The 
 subject, therefore, rests upon the general principles of 
 international law, and I need not remind you, sir, that 
 that law gives no right to a British officer to enter the 
 territory of the United States and forcibly transport 
 thence any person, whatever may be his description or 
 of whatever crime he may be accused. . . . But, sir, the 
 subject involves considerations of greater interest than 
 those personally affecting the offender. An armed force 
 in the service of her Britannic Majesty has apprehended 
 a person within this Territory. ... It becomes, there 
 fore, my duty to request of you his immediate return. 1 
 
 The circumstances under which this intrusion 
 had taken place partly extenuated it ; but it was a 
 transference to land of that abominated claim, that 
 deserters from English ships could be seized and 
 forced back to their allegiance, a claim which, when 
 carried out with exasperating additions, had in 
 flamed our country, and driven us into a war for the 
 defense of our self-respect. Cass was determined 
 to take a bold stand upon principle. Vidal was 
 imprisoned, tried, convicted, and fined. An appeal 
 for his release was sent to Washington by the Eng- 
 
 1 Letters in Archives of State Department of Michigan. 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 103 
 
 lisli authorities. Our government expressly ratified 
 the action of Governor Cass ; but, in order to avoid 
 possible complications and ill-feeling, advised the 
 return of the money received as a fine, if it had not 
 been covered into the treasury. The advice came 
 too late. The hungry coffers of the Territory had 
 quickly absorbed such an unexpected addition to 
 their store. 1 
 
 Another instance, occurring in October, 1815, 
 illustrates more clearly the desires and the assump 
 tion of the British. Colonel James, in command 
 at Sandwich, wrote to Cass, complaining that an 
 Indian had been " murdered under most aggravat 
 ing circumstances, in a canoe close to Grosse Isle, 
 by a shot fired from an American, boat." " I need 
 not point out to you," said the choleric colonel, 
 " the line of conduct necessary on this occasion. 
 I shall direct an inquest to be held to-morrow 
 morning, and I beg leave to remind you that the 
 murder has been committed on the body of an un 
 offending Indian, and my pointing out the custom 
 of the savages would be unnecessary in the present 
 instance." 
 
 The last allusion, a petty threat, awakened the 
 ever-watchful dignity of the young governor. He 
 informed Colonel James that he would make in 
 quiries. "If a murder has been committed by 
 American citizens, and the perpetrators can be 
 detected, they will suffer the punishment which the 
 laws of civilized nations provide for the offense. 
 
 1 Letters in Archives of State Department of Michigan. 
 
104 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 In an application of this kind it was unnecessary 
 to allude to the Indian custom of retaliating upon 
 innocent individuals injuries which any of their 
 tribe may have received. The laws of the country 
 operate with rigid impartiality upon all offenders, 
 and confident I am that no dread of the conse 
 quences will ever induce the courts of justice to 
 punish the innocent or screen the guilty." 1 An 
 examination speedily proved that the Indian had 
 been killed not only in self-defense, but on Ameri 
 can territory. " The event," wrote Cass to James, 
 " was connected with the predatory system- pursued 
 by Indians on the islands at the mouth of the river, 
 and which, if not checked, will be attended with 
 still more disastrous consequences. The Indian was 
 killed within territorial jurisdiction of the United 
 States, and a British officer has, therefore, no right 
 to ask, nor ought an American to give an expla 
 nation." 2 
 
 In connection with the same event came a letter 
 from James, inclosing one from a British Indian 
 agent, which set up claims made by the Indians 
 for some horses stolen from them by the Ameri 
 cans. Cass answered in a trenchant letter quietly, 
 but sharply, asking that questions which did not 
 concern Canadian authority or jurisdiction might 
 be left out of consideration by over-zealous officials. 
 " We do not acknowledge in principle, nor shall 
 we ever admit in practice, the right of any foreign 
 authority to interfere in any arrangement or discus- 
 
 1 Letters in Archives of State Department of Michigan. 
 
 2 Ibid. 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 105 
 
 sion between us and the Indians living within our 
 territory." That statement was the basis for the 
 work of his whole governorship. His rights and 
 duties were logically presented, should horses be 
 stolen in Upper Canada and brought upon American 
 soil, all reasonable efforts would be made to return 
 them. But in this instance such was not the case. 
 " In application of these principles, I have only to 
 observe that Stony Island, whence these horses were 
 stated to have been taken, is in this Territory, that 
 the horses were not taken from there to Canada, 
 and that a British officer has consequently no right 
 to make a claim in behalf of the Indians on the 
 subject." 1 This application, of no special impor 
 tance in itself, was part of a general programme for 
 retaining the affection and dependence of the In 
 dian, for perpetuating his distrust of the Ameri 
 cans, for rendering his presence in the Northwest a 
 menace to American settlement, and for giving him 
 an exalted idea of the friendship, dignity, and 
 power of the British government. On October 
 18th there issued from the magistrate of the west 
 ern district of Canada a circular announcing that 
 a Kickapoo Indian had been " willfully murdered," 
 and offering a reward of five hundred dollars for the 
 capture of the perpetrators of the deed. This in 
 sidious announcement, shrewdly calculated to attract 
 the Indians and possibly intended to induce some 
 avaricious Americans to transport their fellow-citi 
 zens to Canada for punishment, was deeply resented 
 
 1 Niles s Register, vol. ix. p. 242. 
 
106 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 by Governor Cass. He at once published a stir 
 ring counter-proclamation, stating that the Indian 
 was killed on American soil, that the affair was en 
 tirely without the jurisdiction of the officious magis 
 trates, and that such pretensions were unfounded 
 and unjustifiable. He called upon the citizens of 
 the Territory to repel by force any attempt "to 
 apprehend any person on the west side of the mid 
 dle water communication " between lakes Huron 
 and Erie. 
 
 A letter to Secretary Monroe from Cass, in ex 
 planation of this affair, charges that such difficul 
 ties were due to the " ungovernable temper of James 
 and to designs, which every day more fully dis 
 closes, of using every incident which occurs as a 
 means of acquiring and strengthening their influ 
 ence over the Indians. . . . On the other side of 
 the river the design is avowed of serving their pro 
 cess upon any part of the river or upon any islands 
 of it. The tenor and the object of their measures 
 is to teach the Indians to look to them for protec 
 tion. Much sensation is thereby excited, and it is 
 surprising with what eagerness they gave credit to 
 the report that the British would punish the man 
 who killed their countryman." 1 
 
 In this letter he called attention to the fact that 
 dollars, the American currency, instead of pounds, 
 were offered in the circular as a reward, with the 
 intent, evidently, of influencing persons in Ameri 
 can territory. Even more explicitly were the pre- 
 
 1 Letter in Archives of State Department of Michigan. 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 107 
 
 tensions of England stated by Colonel James a few 
 days after this controversy. He acknowledged the 
 receipt of the stolen horses, which had been returned 
 through the generous efforts of Cass, and added a 
 few telling words. The treaty of Ghent, he as 
 serted, amply provided for the Indians who had 
 been in alliance with Great Britain ; all the tribes, 
 even those whose country extended as far as the 
 Mississippi and who were included in the treaty, 
 looked to the English for a fulfillment of an 
 "agreement which insured to them ingress and 
 egress through all parts of America, the same as 
 previous to the year 1811." l The acts of the Brit 
 ish Indian agents for many years after this speak 
 more loudly than words of a design to protect their 
 past allies and to keep a guardian hand on all, as 
 far west as the Mississippi. 
 
 The patriotic zeal of General Cass was applauded 
 in the East as his deeds of bold opposition were 
 recounted in the papers. But few have gathered 
 any idea of the continuance of this trouble, which 
 presented itself in its most virulent form in the 
 first three years of his administration. A study of 
 the Indian treaties which he negotiated shows him 
 continually trying to win the affection and respect 
 of many who were inclined to believe in the power 
 and generosity of the British government. The 
 radius of his influence was constantly lengthening, 
 and the fear and respect for the power which he 
 represented increased. When he began his govern- 
 
 1 Letters in Archives of State Department of Michigan. 
 
108 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 orship, he strove to overcome Indian antipathy in 
 the very neighborhood of Detroit. Twelve years 
 later in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota he re 
 lieved the Indians from want, and with gentle 
 reproof took from the necks of their chieftains their 
 British medals, and placed in their stead a minia 
 ture of their great and mighty " Father at Wash 
 ington. " But in spite of the widening circle of 
 successful management, he cannot be said to have 
 been entirely relieved of his task until he left the 
 Territory. In June, 1819, George Boyd, the In 
 dian agent at Mackinaw, wrote to Cass : " A large 
 body of Indians took their departure hence three 
 days ago for Drummond s Island for the purpose 
 of receiving, it is said, large disbursements of Indian 
 presents at the hand of the Duke of Richmond, 
 and perhaps with a view to influence their attend 
 ance on the treaty about to be held by your Ex 
 cellency the ensuing fall at Saginah." 1 In May, 
 1822, the same agent wrote again on this interest 
 ing question : " At all events, I trust that the stand 
 now taken by the government . . . will not be 
 lightly abandoned. To temporize with them, as 
 regards their intercourse with the British posts, 
 will, in the end, prove as injurious to them as it 
 will be disgraceful to us, and I see no better time to 
 draw the strong line between American and British 
 Indians than the present. Whenever I shall have 
 met them fully in council, the result shall be im 
 mediately communicated to your Excellency." 2 
 
 1 Boyd Papers, in the Library of Wisconsin Historical Society. 
 
 2 Ibid. 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 109 
 
 Other words in this letter suggest the present fear 
 of English influence, and the danger that, should 
 another war occur, the Indians would be attracted 
 to our open-handed enemies. 
 
 One or two other facts will add to the evidence 
 of British intrigue and intrusion. December 4, 
 1823, nearly ten years after Cass had been ordered 
 to cease furnishing presents to the tribes lingering 
 around Detroit, we find him writing to Calhoun, 
 the secretary of war, in a tone not of the utmost 
 confidence, and as if the troubles were well known 
 and discouraging, that he will use every effort 
 which prudence dictates to prevent the Indians 
 from passing through the country to Maiden to 
 receive gifts, and that a celebrated half-breed has 
 just gone through for the purpose of extending 
 British influence among the Indians. 1 In Septem 
 ber, 1829, Niles quoted from the Canadian " Colo 
 nial Advocate " the statement that " about sixty tons 
 of Indian presents are on their way to Amherst- 
 burg and Drummond s Island ; they are chiefly dis 
 tributed among British Indians, but great numbers 
 of Indians from the United States territories also 
 partake. Fifty or sixty tons more of presents are 
 on their way up the Alciope. There is no doubt 
 but that they cost the British government an im 
 mense sum annually." A large body of Indians at 
 that time passed through northern Ohio on their 
 way to the field of tinsel and brass. The sage 
 Niles remarks mildly that this " policy of the Brit- 
 
 1 Archives, Governor s Office, Lansing, Michigan. 
 
110 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 ish government should be checked by prompt meas 
 ures." One of the scenes familiar to the people 
 of Detroit, the remembrance of which has not yet 
 passed away, is that of the tippling, carousing red 
 men, who, loaded with nicknacks and gewgaws in 
 Canada, came across the river, and, exchanging 
 what of their treasures they might to obtain some 
 beloved firewater, held their maudlin encampment 
 on the attractive camping ground below the city. 
 
 In the north, near the head of Lake Huron, 
 these gifts were made to American Indians as late 
 as 1839. Had the Caroline affair brought on the 
 war which at one time seemed imminent, the 
 tomahawk and scalping - knife might have done 
 their execution ; or, had the northeastern boundary 
 trouble been more sanguinary than the " battle of 
 the maps," the war-whoop might again have been 
 heard through northern Michigan and Wisconsin. 
 Without presuming to cast the horoscope of a hypo 
 thetical past, one may insist that these assertions 
 have more than a visionary foundation. Mrs. 
 Jameson, in her "Winter Studies and Summer 
 Rambles in Canada," has left us a graphic, artless, 
 and interesting picture of a great Indian council 
 held upon Great Manitoulin Island, in which the 
 policy of the English government is well presented. 
 She prefaces her description by a confession that the 
 assembling of all Indians within British territory 
 " who are our allies and receive our annual pres 
 ents seems reasonable and politic." By this time 
 it was the policy of Great Britain to gather the 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. Ill 
 
 Indians together from the northern part of the 
 United States, to settle them in British territory, 
 and bind them to British allegiance by annual 
 bestowal of gifts. Can this be charged to sheer 
 philanthropy, to a desire to take the poor red man 
 from our jurisdiction, and to lay the burden of his 
 sustenance upon the grumbling taxpayer at home, 
 to a willingness to increase the weight of the great 
 Indian problem to the British and Canadian gov 
 ernments ? 
 
 In the council of 1837, as described by Mrs. 
 Jameson, the Indians were informed that their 
 " Great Father the King " would continue to give 
 presents to the Indians of Canada, but that only 
 " for three years, including the present delivery," 
 should the tribes within the limits of the United 
 States be so treated ; the United States, the agent 
 said, justly complained against this policy, which 
 gave "arms and ammunition to Indians of the 
 United States, who are fighting against the gov 
 ernment under which they live;" the people of 
 England grumbled at the great expense. " But, 
 children ! " he continued, " let it be distinctly un 
 derstood that the British government has not come 
 to the determination to cease to give presents to 
 the Indians of the United States. On the con 
 trary, the government of your Great Father will 
 be most happy to do so, provided they live in the 
 British empire ; " 1 the giving of presents to those 
 
 1 Mrs. Jameson s Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Can 
 ada, vol. ii. p. 289. 
 
112 LEWIS CA8S. 
 
 residing without the jurisdiction of England would 
 " bring on war between your Great Father and 
 the Long Knives." This needs no interpretation. 
 At least as late as the Ashburton treaty England 
 had on our northern frontier a body of dependent 
 allies, a band of savage mercenaries bought by 
 beads and calico, ready at her word to collect in 
 war-paint and feathers, and to enter upon the das 
 tardly horrors which Michigan had learned to fear. 
 It was due to the efforts of Governor Cass that 
 many were brought to fear and respect him, and 
 that so many were turned from their devotion to 
 the implacable mother of our country. 
 
 Observing this work of Governor Cass with the 
 Indians, we find a career of monotonous responsi 
 bility broken at intervals by romantic and pictur 
 esque incidents. Until April, 1816, Michigan 
 included all the land east of a line drawn through 
 the middle of Lake Michigan and north of a line 
 drawn from the southern end of that lake eastward 
 until it intersected Lake Erie. In 1816 Indiana 
 was admitted to the Union with a slice pared from 
 the southwestern portion of Michigan. After 
 April. 1818, all land east of the Mississippi and 
 north of the northern line of Illinois was under 
 the supervision of Governor Cass. For the re 
 maining years of his governorship he had control 
 of this vast region. He was ex-officio superin 
 tendent of Indian affairs in the Territory. He 
 had, in addition, for a great portion of the time, 
 charge of agencies at Chicago, Fort Wayne, Piqua, 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 113 
 
 and other sub-agencies. In the capacity of special 
 agent and commissioner he came into contact with 
 the Indians of the whole Northwest. He entered 
 into a score of treaties of such importance, and his 
 personal influence was so great, that there is little 
 exaggeration in claiming that the actual possession 
 of the Northwest was due to his exertions. He 
 traveled through the wilderness, enduring hard 
 ship and fatigue, everywhere and always studying 
 how he might open up all the vast region for peace 
 ful settlement, how he might win the red man to 
 civilization and comfort. He was the first white 
 man to ride over the Indian trail which became 
 the great highway between Detroit and Chicago. 
 The merry voyageurs carried him in their bark 
 canoes over the lake and stream until the North 
 west, with its resources and splendid possibilities, 
 was familiar to him. For weeks at a time he was 
 absent from home on long voyages, accompanied 
 by one or two companions of his liking and by the 
 hardy boatmen whose steady, swinging stroke car 
 ried him over the waves of the Great Lakes. It is 
 still remembered how the ringing boat-song would 
 awaken the little village on his return, as the long 
 canoe came flying down the river, and the cheery 
 boatmen, bending to their work, lifted their voices 
 in measured cadences of weird and fascinating 
 music. 
 
 Duncan McArthur was appointed in 1817 to 
 cooperate with Cass in obtaining land in northern 
 Ohio and Indiana. By a successful treaty this 
 
114 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 commission acquired for settlement a great deal of 
 land, and obtained the grant of three sections for 
 the " College at Detroit," a gift of value, afterward, 
 for higher education in Michigan. The following 
 year Cass met the Indians at St. Mary s, in Ohio, 
 and entered into a fruitful negotiation for a vast 
 stretch of territory. At Saginaw, in 1819, a large 
 portion of Michigan was secured, and at Chicago, 
 in 1821, he obtained all the southwestern part of 
 the State of Michigan, south of the Grand River. 
 In the latter part of November, 1819, he wrote to 
 Secretary Calhoun for authority to make an ex 
 tended tour along the southern shore of Lake 
 Superior, thence to the source of the Mississippi, 
 and home by way of Prairie du Chien and Green 
 Bay. He desired to investigate the Indian tribes, 
 to induce them no longer to go to Canada for pres 
 ents, to obtain plots of ground at Sault de St. 
 Marie and other places, and to investigate the min 
 eral resources of the country, with special refer 
 ence to copper, which was reported to exist in 
 abundance. " All that will be required," he said, 
 "is an ordinary birch bark canoe, and permission 
 to employ a competent number of Canadian boat 
 men." He suggested, in addition, an " officer of 
 engineers to make a correct chart," and "some 
 person acquainted with zoology, botany, and min 
 eralogy." The plan was received favorably at 
 Washington. A topographical engineer was at 
 tached to the expedition. Mr. Henry E. School- 
 craft was selected to conduct the scientific re- 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 115 
 
 searches, and has left an account of the incidents 
 and discoveries of the journey in his book entitled 
 "Discovery of the Sources of the Mississippi 
 River." 
 
 The voyagers, in three birch canoes, left Detroit, 
 May 24th, amid the shouts and acclamations of 
 the people, who were deeply interested in the 
 efforts of Governor Cass. Schoolcraft gives a 
 vivid description of the strange scene. The In 
 dians, who had been secured as the hunters of the 
 expedition, were in one canoe, vainly striving to 
 pass by the hardy Canadians, who, in their turn, 
 starting their familiar boat-song, began their steady 
 strokes, and soon gave evidence of their firmer 
 muscle and more enduring nerve. The large or 
 chards and windmills, and the quaint houses lining 
 the river for miles, added a foreign flavor. Skirt 
 ing the storm-battered shores and long-winding 
 beaches of Lake Huron, the expedition, after a 
 journey of more than three hundred miles, came 
 to Mackinaw on June 6th. A few days later they 
 reached the Sault de St. Marie, where it was Cass s 
 intent to obtain possession of a piece of ground 
 formerly conveyed to the French, our right to 
 which the Indians had acknowledged in various 
 treaties. 
 
 The braves, evidently restless and out of humor, 
 assembled to meet the Americans. Arrayed in 
 their best attire, and many of them adorned with 
 British medals, they seated themselves with even 
 more than their wonted solemnity and dignity, and 
 
116 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 prepared to hear what Governor Cass desired. At 
 first pretending not to know of any French grants, 
 they finally intimated that our government might 
 be permitted to occupy the place if we did not use 
 it as a military station. The governor, perceiving 
 that their independence and boldness verged on 
 impudence and menace, answered decisively that 
 as surely as the " rising sun would set, so surely 
 would there be an American garrison sent to that 
 point, whether they received the grant or not." 
 The excitement which had been ready to break 
 forth now displayed itself. The chiefs disputed 
 among themselves, some evidently counseling mod 
 eration, others favoring hostilities. A tall and 
 stately-looking chieftain, dressed in a British uni 
 form with epaulets, lost patience with moderation 
 and delay. Striking his spear into the ground, he 
 drew it forth again, and, kicking away the presents 
 that lay scattered about, strode in high dudgeon 
 out of the assembly. 
 
 The Indian camp was on a small hill a few hun 
 dred yards from that of the Americans. The dis 
 satisfied chiefs went directly to their lodges, and 
 in a moment a British flag was flying in the very 
 faces of the little company of white men. The 
 soldiers were at once ordered under arms. Every 
 one expected an immediate attack, for the In 
 dians, greatly outnumbering the Americans, had not 
 disguised their insolence and contempt. In an in 
 stant Governor Cass took his resolution. Reject 
 ing the offers of those who volunteered to accom- 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 117 
 
 pany him, with no weapon in his hands and only 
 his interpreter beside him, he walked straight to 
 the middle of the Indian camp, tore down the Brit 
 ish flag, and trampled it under his feet. 1 Then 
 addressing the astonished and even panic-stricken 
 braves, he warned them that two flags of different 
 nations could not fly over the same territory, and 
 should they raise any but the American flag, the 
 United States would put its strong foot upon them 
 and crush them. He then turned upon his heel and 
 walked back to his own tent, carrying the British 
 ensign with him. An hour of indecision among 
 the Indians ensued. Their camp was quickly 
 cleared of women and children, an indication that a 
 battle was in immediate prospect. The Americans, 
 looking to their guns, listened for the war-whoop 
 and awaited attack. But the intrepidity of Gov 
 ernor Cass had struck the Indians with amazement. 
 It showed a rare knowledge of Indian character, of 
 which his own companions had not dreamed. 2 Sub 
 dued by the boldness and decision of this action, 
 the hostile chiefs forgot their swaggering confi 
 dence, and in a few hours signed the treaty which 
 had been offered them. The friends of Governor 
 Cass who witnessed the scene never wearied of 
 describing it and of commenting on his bravery. 
 One whose knowledge of Indian character was 
 almost equal to that of the governor was wont to 
 remark that for fair, frank courage in the face of 
 
 * Trowbridge s account, Wisconsin Historical Collection. 
 2 Schoolcraft s Summary Narrative, etc., p. 80. 
 
118 LEWIS CABS. 
 
 danger this action surpassed all others he had ever 
 known. 1 The habitual courage and dignity of Gov 
 ernor Cass, coupled with honesty and mercy, won 
 from the Indians a respect and even love for their 
 " Great Father at Detroit," and gradually forced 
 westward and northward allegiance to Britain and 
 undue respect for her power. 
 
 From the Sault de St. Marie the party skirted 
 the southern shores of Lake Superior to its west 
 ern end. By way of the Fond du Lac or St. Louis 
 river, and by means of various portages, they 
 reached the Mississippi, and proceeded up it a dis 
 tance estimated at three hundred and fifty miles to 
 what was known as Ked Cedar Lake, but which 
 Schoolcraft on his map and in his report named 
 Cass Lake, in token of the " energy and enlight 
 ened zeal of the gentleman who led the expedition." 
 Had it not been for the low state of the water, 
 General Cass would in all probability have dis 
 covered the true source of the Mississippi as early 
 as 1820. From this point the company paddled 
 between the beautiful banks of the mighty river 
 to Prairie du Chien, and thence made their way 
 across Wisconsin to Green Bay. Here General 
 Cass caused a series of investigations to be con 
 ducted for the purpose of discovering the truth or 
 falsity of the theory that there were tides in the 
 Great Lakes as in the ocean. Experiments seemed 
 to prove complete irregularity in the rise and fall 
 
 1 Mr. C. C. Trowbridge, companion and secretary of the gov 
 ernor. 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 119 
 
 of the water-fluctuations, which were in all proba 
 bility due to the wind and the currents of the 
 lakes. In later years Cass made more extended 
 tests, and published the results of his studies. At 
 Green Bay the company divided, one part going 
 north, the other, including the governor, to Chi 
 cago, whence he proceeded overland to Detroit by 
 the old Indian trail. The expedition had been a 
 most successful and profitable one. Mr. School- 
 craft, in his report to the Secretary of War, affirmed 
 that the mineral resources of the country were 
 great, and called special attention to the indica 
 tions t)f wonderful copper and iron deposits. The 
 Indians were visited, and given an object lesson in 
 the daring and resolution of the Americans. The 
 topography of the country, described with some 
 detail, furnished basis for further explorations and 
 induced greater immigrations. 
 
 During these years the internal political affairs 
 of the Territory were not neglected by Governor 
 Cass. When he came into office, the first system 
 of government established under the Ordinance of 
 1787 was in vogue. The governor and judges 
 were omnipotent, save as they were restrained by 
 the general terms of their fundamental charter. 
 The citizens had taken no interest in the manage 
 ment of the Territory. The habitant could not 
 conceive of the necessity or the pleasure of inter 
 ference with the divine right of government. But 
 their new governor intended that democratic prin 
 ciples should hold sway as widely as possible under 
 
120 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 his guidance. The people were tempted into self- 
 government. The laws were codified and pub 
 lished, and, so arranged, have since been known as 
 the " Cass Code." Counties were laid out as rap 
 idly as convenience directed. As the Americans 
 came into the Territory in greater numbers, the 
 governor allowed the settlers of each locality to 
 suggest names of persons to be appointed to local 
 offices, and thus practically deprived himself of 
 a prerogative which he might have used for his 
 own ends. He adhered with tenacity to the doc 
 trine that the people should have a direct voice 
 in appointments and in other political affairs in 
 the Territory. In the spring of 1818, the people 
 were invited to decide by a general vote whether or 
 not to proceed to the semi-representative govern 
 ment permitted by the Ordinance. But the lethar 
 gic French and others, who appreciated the good 
 they had, voted against change. For five years 
 the governor and judges retained their autocratic 
 position, at the end of which time the second form 
 was established ; a council of nine came into ex 
 istence, the members of which were selected by 
 the President and confirmed by the Senate from 
 eighteen names presented as the choice of the peo 
 ple. In 1819 the right to elect a delegate to Con 
 gress was granted. In 1825 thirteen councilmen 
 were allowed, and in 1827 the people chose the 
 whole number. The judicial system was gradually 
 elaborated to meet the growing needs of the Ter 
 ritory. 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 121 
 
 The industrial condition of the Territory rapidly 
 improved after 1818. Cass, appreciating the needs 
 of the people, urged upon Congress the building 
 of a road around the end of Lake Erie, as a high 
 way for commerce and an actual necessity for mili 
 tary movements in case of war. National aid was 
 secured. A portion of the small resources of the 
 Territory was appropriated for making a suitable 
 wagon road to Chicago. The stagnant province, 
 even before 1820, took new life, showing by the 
 census a marked increase in population. Before 
 1830 the barren waste, Michigan, was actually ex 
 porting flour to the East, and there was an air of 
 comfort on her borders and an appearance of thrift 
 along her inland roads, which spoke of the success 
 of Governor Cass s efforts to attract eastern know 
 ledge and energy. By the third census of the 
 century Michigan was shown to have over 30,000 
 people, and to have just claims for speedy admit 
 tance as a State. The little frontier settlements 
 which Governor Cass was summoned to defend in 
 1813 " had extended and spread to the dimensions 
 of a commonwealth under his judicious and states 
 man-like care and nurture." l The settlers in Mich 
 igan were from New York and Massachusetts. 
 Many of those from the former State had previ 
 ously lived in New England. In consequence, the 
 political spirit which was being breathed into the 
 nostrils of Michigan was the spirit of local self- 
 government in church and state, and in many 
 
 1 Michigan, by Thomas Mclntyre Cooley, p. 203. 
 
122 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 crises of our history she has given evidence of her 
 parentage. Cass encouraged in every way the 
 growth of political feeling among the people. He 
 was a " democrat by conviction, and not merely in 
 a party sense." l " In proportion as all govern 
 ments recede from the people, they become liable 
 to abuse. Whatever authority can be conveniently 
 exercised in primary assemblies may be deposited 
 there with safety." 2 This was his published creed. 
 Intellectually and socially the Territory made ad 
 vances. Governor Cass extended his democracy 
 from politics to learning. Appreciating that reli 
 gion, morality, and knowledge were "necessary to 
 good government and the happiness of mankind," 
 he assisted the church and gave his public encour 
 agement to the school. The percentage of illit 
 eracy in Michigan was very large in its early years 
 as an American province.; but in accordance with 
 the comprehensive suggestion of Governor Cass, a 
 broad and generous basis for public education was 
 established, on which has been reared a school sys 
 tem which has become the model for the newer 
 States of the West, and stands to-day as the most 
 perfect embodiment of popular American educa 
 tion in our country. The foundation for this 
 structure bears marks of the broad sympathetic 
 democracy of General Cass. He was a Jeffer- 
 sonian in all that related to education, and used his 
 influence for popularizing the school-book and the 
 ballot. 
 
 1 Michigan, by Thomas Mclntyre Cooley, p. 205. 
 
 9 Journal of the Legislative Council of Michigan, 1826> 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 123 
 
 " Of all purposes," he declared, " to which a 
 revenue derived from the people can be applied 
 under a government emanating from the people, 
 there is none more interesting in itself, nor more 
 important in its effects, than the maintenance of a 
 public and general course of moral and mental 
 discipline. . . . Many republics have preceded us 
 in the progress of human society ; but they have 
 disappeared, leaving behind them little besides 
 the history of their follies and dissensions to serve 
 as a warning to their successors in the career of 
 self-government. Unless the foundation of such 
 governments is laid in the virtue and intelligence 
 of the community, they must be swept away by 
 the first commotion to which political circumstances 
 may give birth. Whenever education is diffused 
 among the people generally, they will appreciate 
 the value of free institutions ; and as they have 
 the power, so must they have the will to maintain 
 them. It appears to me that a plan may be de 
 vised which will not press too heavily upon the 
 means of the country, and which will insure a com 
 petent portion of education to all youth in the 
 Territory." l Such views as these were in advance 
 of the thinking of the time. Platitudes upon en 
 lightenment and liberty grew in plenty ; but these 
 practical propositions of Governor Cass mark an 
 era in the history of Michigan and of popular edu 
 cation in the United States. 
 
 1 Journal of Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan, 
 
 1826. 
 
124 LEWIS CASS, 
 
 In Indian affairs Cass was not idle in the decade 
 between 1820 and 1830. The treaty of Chicago 
 has already been mentioned and its importance 
 suggested. Other negotiations were soon under 
 taken. For a long time the constant warfare be 
 tween the Sacs, Foxes, Sioux, and other tribes in 
 the West, had given vexation to the general gov 
 ernment and endangered the peace of the frontier. 
 In company with Governor Clark of Missouri, Cass 
 met the Indians at Prairie du Chien in August, 
 1825, and secured a treaty determining boundaries 
 and promising peace. The following year, accom 
 panied by Colonel Thomas L. McKenney, he jour 
 neyed to Fond du Lac, and entered there into 
 negotiations with the Chippewas for peace with the 
 other tribes. The Indians were encouraged by 
 direct aid to lead civilized lives, money was prom 
 ised them for a school, and the United States was 
 granted permission to search for minerals through 
 out the North. Colonel McKenney s " Tour to 
 the Lakes" l contains the incidents of the journey, 
 related in the charming, romantic, personal style 
 of fifty years ago. Other treaties were obtained 
 this year by the governor in the more southern 
 portion of the Northwest. 
 
 It was necessary to make still further arrange 
 ments for determining definite boundaries between 
 the tribes in the West. In the summer of 1827 
 General Cass was absent from Detroit for two 
 months, engaged in one of the most important and 
 
 1 Baltimore, 1827. 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 125 
 
 perilous of his undertakings. Proceeding to Green 
 Bay, with Colonel McKenney as associate commis 
 sioner, he found that the Winnebagoes, whom he 
 had expected to meet with the other tribes, were 
 not there. Eumors that they had put on the war 
 paint were in the air, and Cass determined as usual 
 upon crushing out hostilities by prompt and deci 
 sive action. He neither delayed nor sent a mes 
 senger. He manned his canoe, and made his way 
 up the Fox and down the Wisconsin rivers, for the 
 purpose of discovering the actual condition of 
 things and of communicating with the forces at 
 St. Louis by the quickest possible method. On 
 his way down the Wisconsin he landed boldly at 
 a Winnebago village. There were indications of 
 hostile movements. He remonstrated with the 
 chiefs arid warned them of the results of war. As 
 he turned to leave, a young brave aimed his gun at 
 him and pulled the trigger. The gun missed fire, 
 however, and his life was saved. The older chiefs, 
 realizing what the death of Governor Cass would 
 involve, seized the offender and soundly upbraided 
 him ; but smouldering discontent was evident. 
 The canoe hurried on its journey to the south and 
 west. Evidences of war became more clear. The 
 citizens of Prairie du Chien, in momentary dread 
 of attack, had crowded together and hastily thrown 
 up some rude defenses. Alarm, consternation, and 
 confusion appeared throughout the mining district 
 of northern Illinois ; the roads were lined with 
 the frantic and fleeing people who had dared to 
 
126 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 enter the wilderness in the delirium of the lead 
 fever of 1826-27. The little village of Galena was 
 filled with the settlers of the outlying districts, and 
 overwhelmed by disorder and panic. Governor 
 Cass quickly organized the people for defense at 
 Prairie du Chien ; brought confidence to Galena by 
 his energy and decision ; collected volunteers at the 
 latter place, and sent troops immediately up the 
 river where there was more actual danger. He 
 then hastened on to St. Louis to confer with Gen 
 eral Atkinson, who at once moved northward with 
 a force sufficient to overawe the Indians, who, find 
 ing themselves overtaken in their designs, aban 
 doned their hostile purposes with ill-concealed 
 chagrin. The promptness of the governor s action 
 prevented a devastating war over the whole north 
 western frontier. He returned to Green Bay, by 
 way of Chicago, and completed the negotiations he 
 had intended to conduct. The incidents of his fly. 
 ing trip to St, Louis, the light canoe flitting through 
 the dark night down the Mississippi, the silence, 
 the wildness of the scenery, the intense excitement 
 and anxiety lest his efforts should be too late, made 
 the deepest impression upon his own imagination 
 and memory. Years after, in the palace of St. 
 Cloud, the scene came back to him with all its 
 vividness, and he compared the timid Seine with 
 the mighty Mississippi and the even more mighty 
 Missouri, remembering how he was whirled along 
 through the night on a race for peace and the lives 
 of his people. 1 
 
 1 Three Hours at St. Cloud, by an American. 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY. 127 
 
 During these latter years he had opportunity for 
 literary work and for a more general interest in 
 politics. He was summoned to cooperate with 
 Governor Clark in outlining for the government a 
 plan for the treatment of the Indians and for the 
 rearrangement of the concerns of the Indian de 
 partment. The Territory, now independent and 
 eager for advancement, appreciated his work and 
 honored him. In 1831 he was called to leave his 
 tasks in the Northwest and to take his part in the 
 broader fields of national politics and administra 
 tion. 
 
 The great factor in his successful administration 
 was honesty. That there was scrupulous honesty 
 in the business of the Territory needs no proof. 
 But fair, honorable dealing with the Indians was 
 a rarer virtue, and in this he never faltered. He 
 was wont to say in after years that he never broke 
 his word to an Indian and never expected to find 
 that the red man had broken his. Every exertion 
 was made to have the funds and the allowances 
 ready upon the day upon which they had been 
 promised. Promptness and boldness in action, a 
 firm self-reliance, a presumption that the power of 
 the United States was mighty and would be obeyed, 
 appealed to the Indian sense of awe and reverence. 
 Treaties were negotiated with fairness, and he 
 warned the general government that if benignant 
 peace was to smile upon the Northwest, the letter of 
 the agreement must be fulfilled. He did not seek 
 to secure the greatest possible advantage in the 
 
128 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 present without looking to the future or without 
 considering the equities of the case. He informed 
 the department at Washington that neither justice 
 nor the policy of far-seeing wisdom would prompt 
 him or them to take advantage of temporary wants 
 and sufferings. He not only strove to carry out 
 every promise or understanding with an Indian in 
 the most liberal fashion, but he included in his 
 treaties plans for the betterment of the race and 
 for attracting them to peace and civilization. Their 
 beloved fire-water was the Indians curse. He took 
 every available opportunity to induce them to give 
 up its use. At Prairie du Chien he addressed the 
 assembled braves on the sin and folly of drunk 
 enness, and to point his moral by showing that 
 stinginess was not actuating him, he broke in the 
 heads of several casks and allowed the liquor to 
 rush out upon the ground amid the despairing cries 
 of the thirsty warriors. His keen eye was ever 
 on the watch for those who were seeking to violate 
 the law, cheat the childish red man, and give him 
 the cursed drink. 
 
 The respect and even affection which the In 
 dians had for their " Great Father at Detroit " 
 was often manifested, and once felt was not forgot 
 ten. Twenty-five years after his governorship was 
 ended, he came unexpectedly into a meeting of 
 Indian chiefs in Detroit ; in a moment, forgetting 
 the object of their conference and losing their 
 stoical dignity, they crowded around him to grasp 
 the hand from which they had received so many 
 
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY 129 
 
 favors. 1 For he had always stood ready to help 
 them and to treat them with kindness. During 
 many years after the war, when they had once been 
 brought into subjection, they were continually in 
 Detroit, often with frank curiosity or open friend 
 ship making their way unannounced into his house, 
 and expecting to be met with courtesy. They 
 made large and unexpected demands upon a gen 
 erous hospitality ; for the British across the river 
 would often welcome the chiefs to their tables, and 
 it would not do for the governor, who appreciated 
 their sensitive natures, to rebuff them openly. His 
 tact, careful study of Indian nature, his punctilious 
 respect for his word, his dignity, his kindness, all 
 display themselves in brilliant contrast with many 
 of the brutal dishonesties which have given " Ra- 
 mona "and such sentimentality more than a fanci 
 ful foundation. 
 
 1 Young s Life of Lewis Cass. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 SECRETARY OF WAR. 
 
 THE dissolution of President Jackson s first Cab 
 inet occasioned great excitement throughout the 
 country. It was considered high-handed and au 
 tocratic. Former presidents had retained their 
 cabinet officers, except when necessity dictated a 
 change, and only in the case of the elder Adams 
 had there been anything like a sudden reorganiza 
 tion after the administration had fairly begun. 
 This reconstruction, however, was arranged with 
 some skill, with something of the deftness that 
 might be expected where the shrewd Van Buren 
 was concerned so deftly, indeed, that it was not 
 at first evident why the resignations were given or 
 what was the animus of the whole affair. In fact, 
 two causes cooperated. The President discovered, 
 by a disclosure from the piqued Crawford, that 
 Calhoun, to whose interests part of the Cabinet 
 was devoted, had some twelve years before been in 
 favor of punishing him for his conduct in the Sem- 
 inole difficulty, and for his unwarranted proceed 
 ings in Florida. Jackson never forgave. From 
 this time forth Calhoun was his enemy. The gen 
 eral s mind was so constituted that no one could 
 
SECRETARY OF WAR. 131 
 
 occupy middle ground ; whoever was not for him 
 was against him. Those in the Cabinet who could 
 consider with any degree of complacency the prob 
 able succession of the Carolinian to the presidency 
 were, in his view, unfit to be his advisers, and ab 
 solutely incapable of fair and honorable service. 
 The warrior President was in a continual contest 
 with persons. Persons principles, not principles 
 per se, always filled the lens of his vision. The 
 cabinet ministers devoted to Calhoun were there 
 fore regarded by Jackson not only as personal en 
 emies, but as hostile to his administration. 
 
 But, possibly, a much more trivial and absurd 
 reason had even greater influence in bringing about 
 the transformation. The President, with all the 
 energy of an old Indian fighter, espoused the cause 
 of Mrs. Eaton, the wife of his secretary of war, and 
 insisted that she should be received within the 
 charmed circle of Washington society. The victor 
 of New Orleans discovered, however, that mere 
 forcible denunciation would not penetrate into the 
 holy precincts or break down the strong barriers of 
 social prejudice. Mrs. Calhoun, with quiet deter 
 mination, refused to meet Mrs. Eaton or to recog 
 nize her as an equal, and declined to be commanded 
 in her social intercourse by mandates from the 
 White House. The wives of several members of 
 the Cabinet as quietly and firmly upheld their inde 
 pendence, while Van Buren, the courtly widower, 
 ingratiated himself with the President by bestow 
 ing on the social outcast his sweetest smiles and 
 
132 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 studied attentions. It is a curious commentary on 
 the dignity of free government that, by careful 
 politeness to a woman, to whose skirts still clung 
 the dust of an ambiguous past, the secretary of 
 state was enabled to become the recognized heir- 
 apparent of a great popular hero, who, as the 
 " tribune " of the common people, had begun a 
 " reign " of arrogance and anger. 
 
 Jackson was incapable of discerning the relative 
 importance of things. He lived on a dead level of 
 intensity ; every matter which enlisted his sympa 
 thies or aroused his attention was of tragic import. 
 He fought " Peggy " Eaton s battles with the same 
 burning vigor he had used against the British at 
 New Orleans or the Spaniards and Indians of 
 Florida. He threatened to send home the minister 
 from Holland " and his wife," because the Dutch 
 dame had treated his secretary s wife with scant 
 courtesy, by refusing to sit by her at the ball given 
 by the Russian minister. He swore that justice 
 must be done, acted the " roaring lion," and inti 
 mated, through the medium of Colonel Johnson, 
 that at least when large parties were given, Mrs. 
 Eaton must be invited, if the Cabinet was to retain 
 its present composition ; he would " be cut into 
 inch pieces on the rack " before he would allow 
 either Major Eaton or his wife to be injured by 
 vile calumnies ; for the woman was pure and inno 
 cent as a babe, and he would show foreign minis 
 ters and cabinet officers that persecution and con 
 spiracy would not be tolerated. 1 
 
 1 Niles s Register, vol. xl. p. 377 fl. 
 
SECRETARY OF WAR. 133 
 
 Early in 1831 a reorganization of the Cabinet 
 was determined upon ; for the Eaton difficulty was 
 much too stimulating to the presidential temper, 
 and Calhoun s hopes of the succession must be 
 crushed by depriving of public office and influence 
 those who might favor him. As early as 1829 the 
 canny ones among the politicians had begun in 
 trigues in favor of the secretary of state, and he 
 himself had by this time taken Jackson s heart by 
 storm. His assiduous attentions to Mrs. Eaton, his 
 deference and continual kindness were of much 
 more value than even his considerable ability in 
 statesmanship. His coolness and calmness, his 
 quiet and affable manners, the unruffled composure 
 with which he smiled at the important trivialities 
 which vexed the irritable general, endeared him to 
 the old warrior, whose nerves were quieted by the 
 secretary s soothing presence. It was impossible 
 to rave and pace the floor and invoke anything 
 " eternal " or transient while this placid gentleman 
 was sitting by in serene silence. Eaton resigned 
 April 7, 1831. Van Buren followed on April llth, 
 with a letter admirably adapted to conceal the real 
 reason for his withdrawal, while it set forth mod 
 estly the fact of his own future candidacy for the 
 presidency, which "disturbing topic" he had in 
 vain attempted to " discountenance." 1 Barry, the 
 postmaster-general, was asked to remain. The other 
 three, who were known as " Calhoun men," were not 
 in the best of humor, and did not appreciate Van 
 
 1 Niles s Register, vol. xl. 43. 
 
134 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 Buren s suggestion that the Cabinet should be a 
 unit. Ingham, the secretary of the treasury, and 
 Branch, the secretary of the navy, tendered their 
 resignations on the 19th, but they made at the same 
 time the distinct statement that they understood at 
 last that their presence in the Cabinet was no longer 
 desired. Berrien retired from the office of attor 
 ney-general on June 15th with a similar announce 
 ment. The newspapers of the day teemed with 
 abuse and recrimination. Ingham asserted that 
 Eaton had formed a conspiracy to murder him. 
 Eaton accused Ingham of wanton insult, and finally 
 demanded " satisfaction." The affairs of the Eaton 
 family were presented for general inspection, and 
 a most savory ragbag of old scandal was opened 
 for the gratification of a keen-scented public. 
 
 The new Cabinet was a very able one. It could 
 be counted on as opposed to Calhoun and devoted 
 to Jackson and his heir-apparent. Undoubtedly 
 the President profited by the change. Edward 
 Livingston of Louisiana became secretary of state ; 
 Louis McLane of Delaware, secretary of the treas 
 ury ; Levi Woodbury of New Hampshire, secretary 
 of the navy ; Roger B. Taney of Maryland, attor 
 ney-general. Barry retained his position as post 
 master-general until 1835, when he became minis 
 ter to Spain, and was succeeded by Amos Kendall, 
 who, holding the position of fourth auditor, had 
 been an adviser in the "kitchen cabinet " from the 
 beginning of the administration. It was intended 
 that Judge White, senator from Tennessee, should 
 
SECRETARY OF WAR. 135 
 
 become secretary of war, and give Eaton a chance 
 to fill the vacancy in the Senate. But White re 
 fused, and Cass was offered the portfolio. Kumor 
 assigned the ex-secretary to Michigan to take 
 Cass s place, but he was finally appointed Governor 
 of Florida, and went to seek consolation for abuse 
 and insult in the everglades of that wild territory. 
 In August, 1831, therefore, Cass assumed the duties 
 of secretary of war. 
 
 National politics were in a peculiar condition. 
 Though he had lost no opportunity to keep him 
 self informed of what was going on in the higher 
 governmental circles, he could not have anticipated 
 the conditions which he discovered. We are but 
 just coming to an appreciation of what this period 
 signifies in our development as a constitutional 
 state. It meant that national politics and meth 
 ods were mob politics and methods. The trickster 
 politicians who had been turning thumb-screws 
 and pulling wires for thirty years in the States 
 now transferred their machinery to a broader field. 
 Jackson was not a demagogue. He sincerely be 
 lieved in the doctrines he preached and in the sen 
 timents which he put into practice. But he was 
 the conduit pipe through which flowed into the 
 field of national administration the tide of political 
 proscription, intrigue, and legerdemain which had 
 been long triumphantly deluging the States. Van 
 Buren has been charged with introducing the 
 " spoils system " from New York, where from the 
 beginning of the century removal from office fol- 
 
136 LEWIS CAS8. 
 
 lowed change in party control, as night follows 
 day. But the fact is that the virus was well on its 
 festering way in the national system before Van 
 Buren s responsibility began. Although the " Lit 
 tle Magician " must have aided by his counsel and 
 given the benefit of his experience, no one man can 
 be charged with the establishment of the practice 
 of spoils distribution. It carne by natural evolu 
 tion. The scrambling, punch-drinking mob which 
 invaded Washington at Jackson s inauguration, 
 besieging his hotel, crowding and pushing their way 
 into the White House, tipping over tubs of punch 
 and buckets of ices, standing with muddy hob 
 nailed shoes on the damask furniture, thrusting 
 themselves into the nooks and corners of the execu 
 tive mansion with the air of copartners, who had at 
 last an opportunity to take account of the assets of 
 the firm, these were the people who demanded 
 that aristocratic incumbents be deprived of their 
 offices by him who was elected as the representa 
 tive of "the people," the soldier, the rough and 
 ready statesman who despised the borrowed con 
 ventionalities of so-called good society. Such was 
 the inauguration of the spoils system. The offices 
 of trust were handed over to the men who brought 
 the greatest pressure to bear, and could make plain 
 their political influence to the scullions of the 
 " kitchen cabinet." If the student of American 
 politics is to understand the place which the spoils 
 system holds he must see that its introduction was a 
 natural phase in our national development, not a 
 
SECRETARY OF WAR. 137 
 
 mere incident without antecedent causes rooted in 
 the past. It was when Jackson was installed that 
 " the people " first realized their power and de 
 manded that the divinity of vox populi be recog 
 nized. There was great talk about " the people " 
 in those canting years, as if our social or political 
 system gave place for classes or privilege. On that 
 notable fourth of March the crowds invaded Wash 
 ington to shout for a new-found liberty ; a Bastille 
 of respectability had fallen, and the guillotine soon 
 lopped off the heads of the office-holding nobility, 
 who had too long lived in aristocratic ease above 
 "the people." 
 
 The new Cabinet had a dignity of its own. Now 
 that the line of succession was determined upon and 
 the wires laid for eight years to come, there was 
 not so much room for the back-stairs influence. In 
 all the more important matters of state, the real 
 Cabinet worked its will and had its proper influ 
 ence. Only where cunning manipulation was ne 
 cessary for political prosperity did the spirits of the 
 " kitchen cabinet " introduce their sinister methods. 
 Jackson himself was the presiding genius of his 
 own administration and its mastering spirit. He 
 came to his conclusions swiftly and by instinct, and 
 although they were often tenable only by the help 
 of the blindest obstinacy, his obstinacy was always 
 as blind as the occasion required. But a word of 
 flattery or the right insinuation at the nick of time 
 would start the wheels of his prejudice in the direc 
 tion desired by a cunning politician. Thus he was 
 
138 LEWIS CAS8. 
 
 often influenced and guided by men of less real 
 ability and strength of character than his own. 
 
 The only Indian war in the Northwest after 
 1815 occurred almost immediately after Cass ac 
 cepted the war portfolio. Black Hawk, a Sac chief, 
 refused to remain in the reservation beyond the 
 Mississippi. Early in the spring of 1832 he en 
 tered Wisconsin and Illinois, and spread alarm and 
 consternation through the West. United States 
 troops were hurried to the spot. Volunteers were 
 called from Michigan and Illinois, and a border 
 war was soon devastating the country. The War 
 Department seems to have been managed with alert 
 ness. Cass had been too long acquainted with In 
 dian characteristics not to realize the importance 
 of rapidity and the prompt exhibition of authority. 
 But the terrible ravages of the cholera were added 
 to the horrors of war. The troops died in such 
 numbers that panic and disease seemed likely to do 
 much greater damage than any human enemy. The 
 dreadful summer of 1832 was long remembered by 
 the citizens of the Northwest. A portion of its 
 perils was over when the Indians were nearly anni 
 hilated in a battle on August 2d. Black Hawk 
 escaped death, but was imprisoned, and the next 
 year was shown around the country as a triumphal 
 captive. The successful administration of Indian 
 affairs during Cass s governorship, and the peace 
 which prevailed during that time, lead one to be 
 lieve that had he still been governor and superin 
 tendent he would have quieted the Indians with 
 out all the fuss and flourish of war. 
 
SECRETARY OF WAR. 139 
 
 The actual conduct of the affairs of the War De 
 partment involved, of course, in the main a great 
 deal of routine work. But the details of that 
 work scarcely need to be given here. In the great 
 questions of Jackson s administration Cass was 
 more than an interested spectator. His position 
 brought him into active cooperation with the Pres 
 ident, whose influence had a great effect on his 
 later political life. 
 
 An affair more important to the country than an 
 Indian war occupied the attention of his depart 
 ment in the autumn of 1832. Calhoun s damp 
 ened ambitions sought encouraging warmth from 
 the fires of state jealousies. The reorganization 
 of the Cabinet in opposition to him, the known hos 
 tility of the President, the evident drift of political 
 favor in the direction of Jackson and his cajolers, 
 quenched his burning hope, and left him but the 
 ashes of disappointment. His native State was 
 uneasy under a tariff which seemed to be all for 
 the manufacturers of New England, and his zeal 
 for national glory gave place to sectional jealousy, 
 which now blazed brightly forth. His whole life 
 henceforth was given to the support of what he 
 thought were the interests of his State. His elab 
 orate arguments, woven with greatest care, fur 
 nished a protecting garment for slavery. His keen 
 eyes were always endeavoring to pierce the veil of 
 the future, and he endeavored to show in prophetic 
 vision before his countrymen the weal and woe 
 which he fancied that he himself discerned. Al- 
 
140 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 though he seemed to see farther than his contem 
 poraries, the truths of the future were perverted 
 by his diseased imagination into falsehood, and 
 though he was a seer he did not become a sooth 
 sayer. When slave labor comes into competition 
 with free labor, it shows an economical and there 
 fore an incurable weakness. It is interesting to 
 notice that the first practical application of the 
 doctrine of nullification, the sister of secession, 
 came as the result of industrial differences be 
 tween the North and the South. The most earnest 
 advocates of nullification tilted at the tariff wind 
 mill as the cause of their woes, and would not 
 confess, or did not see, the deadening influence of 
 slavery. The tariff of 1828 was so absurd in its 
 provisions that it fairly won the epithet " abomina 
 ble," but this act did not drive the South to extreme 
 measures. It was left for the more moderate and 
 sensible measure of 1832, which decreased the reve 
 nue by several millions, to induce South Carolina 
 to bluster forth in nullification. Calhoun had 
 already begun to print his finely wrought treatises. 
 McDuffie, on the floor of the House, gave utterance 
 to the opinion of his State, when he proclaimed 
 that, if she failed in the struggle she was waging, 
 the brief days of American liberty would be num 
 bered. 
 
 South Carolina was frantic because her threats 
 were simply neglected, and during the summer and 
 autumn of 1832 meetings were held, fiercely de 
 nouncing protection to Yankee industries, and pro- 
 
SECRETARY OF WAR. 141 
 
 claiming that for the cause of liberty and honor a 
 stand must be made against the tyranny of trading 
 New England. The legislature, which was sum 
 moned in October, issued a call for a state conven 
 tion, and on November 19th the delegates met at 
 Columbia. The practical workings of the nullifi 
 cation theory were now to be exhibited. Cal- 
 houn saw more clearly than had Jefferson the log 
 ical relationship between the federal government 
 and the States of our Union, if it was the result of 
 a compact between sovereignties. He saw that in 
 the State, and not the legislature of the State, 
 must reside this extraordinary power of nullifica 
 tion and resistance. Jefferson, in the angry haste 
 of politics, propounded a half-formed illogical doc 
 trine, based on falsehood and carried to an absurd 
 conclusion. Calhoun selected his course to suit the 
 prejudices of " King Cotton," but when once he 
 had turned the historical compass to a false pole he 
 followed its direction with patient regard for the 
 stern laws of logic. Nullification, as it showed 
 itself in South Carolina, was a legitimate expres 
 sion of state-sovereignty, and the method of its 
 actual application was an illuminating lesson to 
 those who had not followed argument or appre 
 ciated the ends of theory. 
 
 A committee of twenty-one, appointed by Gov 
 ernor Hamilton, who was president of the popular 
 convention, drew up an " Ordinance," " To provide 
 for arresting the operation of certain acts of the 
 Congress of the United States, purporting to be 
 
142 LEWIS CA88. 
 
 laws laying duties and imposts on the importation 
 of foreign commodities." The obnoxious laws 
 were declared null and void, and the legislature 
 was authorized to adopt such measures as might be 
 necessary to give full effect to the views of the 
 convention. All appeals to the Supreme Court of 
 the United States were forbidden, and all officers 
 and jurors were to be bound by oath to observe the 
 ordinance and the laws of the legislature passed in 
 pursuance of it. If there was an attempt on the 
 part of the central government to enforce the tariff 
 laws, the people of the State, it was announced, 
 would consider themselves absolved from all further 
 political obligation as a member of the confederacy, 
 and would prepare to do all the acts of a sovereign 
 and independent community. An address to the 
 people of the United States abounded in mathe 
 matical and rhetorical figures, whose services were 
 invoked to prove the injustice of the tariff and to 
 portray the position of the State. " We would 
 infinitely prefer," proclaimed these inconsistent 
 slave barons, forming a political and social oli 
 garchy, " that the territory of the State should be 
 the cemetery of freemen than the habitation of 
 slaves." 1 Not till February 1st, however, was 
 there to be a resistance to the laws of the United 
 States. 
 
 It was boldly done. But "Old Hickory" at 
 Washington was prompt and energetic. In the 
 
 1 Full proceedings of convention, Niles, vol. xliii. pp. 219, 230, 
 etc. 
 
SECRETARY OF WAR. 143 
 
 heat of the presidential campaign, when the people 
 were shouting themselves hoarse for their hero, and 
 raising tall hickory poles as party emblems, the 
 old general had turned uneasily toward South Car 
 olina, and listened for premonitory rumblings of 
 fche earthquake. He did not waste his energy in 
 wringing his hands, as did Buchanan in another 
 fateful crisis in our history. On October 6th the 
 collector of customs was given explicit directions 
 what to do in case there was any attempt to avoid 
 payment of duties. As early as October 29th 
 Major-general Macomb sent word to Major Heile- 
 man, commanding the troops of the United States 
 in Charleston, that information received by the Ex 
 ecutive suggested the possibility of an attempt to 
 seize the forts, and the commander was warned 
 to be on his guard. 1 Additional troops were sent 
 to Fort Moultrie, November 7th, and on the 18th 
 Cass wrote to General Scott, directing him to pro 
 ceed at once to Charleston for the purpose of 
 examining the defenses, and to hold himself in 
 readiness to assist the civil officers of the United 
 States, if occasion should make it necessary and 
 the President should so direct. A fortnight later 
 a confidential letter from the War Department 
 complimented General Scott on the discretion and 
 good judgment he had manifested. The following 
 sentences from Cass s letter very succinctly state 
 the attitude of the general government toward the 
 whole conspiracy : "I cannot but hope that the 
 
 1 American State Papers, Military Affairs, vol. v. p. 158. 
 
144 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 good sense and patriotism of the citizens of South 
 Carolina will still prevent the occurrence of those 
 consequences which must result from the attempt to 
 enforce the ordinance recently passed by the con 
 vention of that State. In any event, the President 
 will perform his duty, and only his duty, under 
 the Constitution of the United States." l Rein 
 forcements were sent to Charleston on the 4th. 
 
 Congress assembled on December 3d, and read a 
 very quiet and restrained message from the Presi 
 dent, in which there was no blare from the trumpet 
 of war. Yet Jackson was excited enough. If his 
 annual message was calm, the storm was to follow. 
 His practical sense pierced the bubble arguments 
 of the nullifiers, and in homely phrase he summed 
 up the dire results of state sovereignty. " If this 
 thing goes on," he said to his friend Dale, " our 
 country will be like a bag of meal with both 
 ends open. Pick it up in the middle or endwise, 
 and it will run out. I must tie the bag and save 
 the country." When South Carolina adopted the 
 ordinance, and nullification was fairly in view, he 
 was prepared to strike. It was generally believed 
 that he had made up his mind to seize Calhoun on 
 the charge of treason, the instant force was used 
 against the officers of the United States, and many 
 believed that the fear of such consequences in 
 fluenced the final settlement of the controversy. 
 On December llth appeared his celebrated procla 
 mation, full of earnest, pathetic pleading, strong 
 
 1 American State Papers, Military Affairs, vol. v. p. 159. 
 
SECRETARY OF WAR. 145 
 
 assertion, and profound argument. Verbally it be 
 longs to Livingston, but it is filled with the spirit 
 of Jackson. On that hang his claims to grateful 
 remembrance. That he was instrumental in infect 
 ing the body politic with the loathsome disease of 
 spoils distribution, that his blundering financial 
 management hastened and aggravated a disastrous 
 panic, that under the fostering wings of his admin 
 istration a whole brood of evil political fledglings 
 matured, all these faults will be forgotten by the 
 people who remember that the hero of New Or 
 leans bruised with his heel the hissing head of nul 
 lification. 
 
 Vessels were sent to Charleston by the Navy De 
 partment in December, and as February 1st ap 
 proached every precaution was taken by the War 
 Department to prepare for forcible resistance. Cass 
 wrote to General Scott, ordering him again to 
 Charleston (January 26th) to repel with force any 
 attempt to seize the forts, but throughout all to use 
 the utmost discretion and self-restraint. This letter, 
 in some unknown way, reached the public press, and 
 the contents of the last clause, which suggested that 
 two places be examined as possible strategic points 
 for the federal army, caused considerable excite 
 ment in the angered State. General Scott assures 
 us, in his eulogistic autobiography, that if a spade 
 had been put into the ground at this time for a 
 new work beyond Sullivan s Island, civil war would 
 have been inaugurated on the spot. The popular 
 imagination pictures Jackson raving for war and 
 
146 LEWIS CAS 8. 
 
 aching to crush Calhoun and his fellow - plotters. 
 There is no doubt that he occasionally gave way to 
 wrath, and expressed his opinion with more vehe 
 mence than grace ; it is perfectly clear that he 
 made every preparation against forcible resistance 
 to federal authority ; but it is just as clear that he 
 was anxious to avoid a conflict if possible. The 
 letters of Cass at this period show very distinctly 
 the extreme solicitude which tempered the stern 
 decision of the administration. There is good rea 
 son to believe that a letter, purporting to come 
 "from one of the ablest men in the country," 
 which appeared in the " Richmond Enquirer " 
 under date of December 13, 1832, was written by 
 Cass himself at the request of the President. 
 Artfully suggesting the importance of Virginia, 
 this letter proposes that the Old Dominion, " in one 
 of those forcible appeals she so well knows how to 
 make," should urge upon Congress a great reduc 
 tion of the tariff, and " plead as a suffering sister 
 with wayward South Carolina." 1 The suggestion 
 was followed. Virginia, whether influenced by this 
 appeal " from one of the ablest men," or not, pre 
 pared to play the r61e of umpire, sending B. W. 
 Leigh as envoy to Charleston. He was there re 
 ceived with honor, and though his pleadings prob 
 ably had little direct influence, Virginia s interces 
 sion gave another excuse for backing down from 
 the high ground of the ordinance. Such was un 
 questionably Jackson s attitude. While presenting 
 
 1 Smith s Life and Times of Lewis Cass, p. 274. 
 
SECRETARY OF WAR. 147 
 
 a bold front and making every preparation to de 
 fend federal property and execute federal law, while 
 angry with all the heat of his choleric nature at 
 the nullifying conspirators, while every warlike 
 impulse was opposed to capitulation with a state in 
 arms, he nevertheless had a fervent love for the 
 Union, of which even his own unreasoning wrath 
 could not deprive him. 
 
 The end of the controversy can be stated in a 
 word. Pending conciliatory measures on the part 
 of the general government, the time for putting the 
 nullifying laws into practical operation was post 
 poned. The President, in a message issued Janu 
 ary 16th, asked Congress to make certain regula 
 tions with regard to the customs districts, and to 
 authorize the use of the military force for the pur 
 pose of protecting and assisting the civil officers in 
 the discharge of their duties. A bill drafted to 
 meet these suggestions was introduced into Con 
 gress. Perfectly right on every constitutional and 
 political ground, such a proposition was received 
 with some dismay by conservative lovers of peace, 
 and the bill as drafted soon labored under unpop 
 ular epithets, and was commonly known as the 
 "force bill " or " bloody bill." Verplanck, a rep 
 resentative from New York, had already intro 
 duced nto the House a measure for the reduction 
 of the tariff. This was so sweeping in its provi 
 sions that it meant practically an abandonment of 
 the protective policy and a complete surrender to 
 South Carolina. Clay, the great compromiser, 
 
148 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 now came forward, February 12th, with a plan for 
 a gradual reduction of the revenue. Great was 
 the consternation at the North when the father of 
 the " American System " was beheld preparing to 
 murder his own child by slow poison. Manufac 
 turers hastened to Washington to prevent such 
 action ; but some saw their danger, and remained 
 to advocate the passage of the measure. It was 
 passed side by side with the "force bill." Both 
 were signed by the President on March 2d, and 
 thus with mingled threats and coaxings the petu 
 lant State was won back to obedience. On the 
 whole, it was a shameful victory for state impu 
 dence. Although the " force bill " was passed, and 
 Jackson upheld the national dignity, nullification 
 accomplished its purpose, the reduction of the 
 tariff. The objectionable ordinance was repealed 
 by South Carolina, but at the same time she pro 
 claimed the " force bill " null and void within her 
 limits. 
 
 This was an instructive period in the life of 
 Cass. He completed his fiftieth year in the midst 
 of the controversy, and as yet he had seen very lit 
 tle of national politics. The long years of his 
 governorship had been spent in active management 
 of local concerns, or in long journeys through the 
 wilderness. His constant reading had made him 
 more familiar with questions of national politics 
 than most men would have been had they spent a 
 score of years in a frontier settlement, where for a 
 considerable period even newspapers, with their 
 
SECRETARY OF WAR. 149 
 
 stale news, came late and irregularly through the 
 mails. His first practical training in national poli 
 tics he received in the stern Jacksonian school, a 
 school whose cardinal regulations possessed a mis 
 chievous inconsistency. Love for the Union, ha 
 tred of foreign aggression, championship of popu 
 lar rights, spoils distribution, machine politics, 
 were badly mingled ; strict construction of the 
 Constitution struggled in equal conflict with a reck 
 less abuse of power ; and high-handed interference 
 was supported by appeals to the " people," who are 
 unknown in our political system except as they 
 express their will by constitutional and prescribed 
 methods. Cass did not forget the stand taken 
 against nullification. From this time he was a 
 radical Jacksonian Democrat. The success of the 
 administration in its foreign relations also met with 
 his approbation, and increased the feeling which he 
 already had, that our country should present a bold 
 front to other nations. Jackson won his deepest 
 admiration, and inspired him with the love which 
 the peremptory old general seemed often to force 
 upon those about him by his indefinable grace, and 
 by an unexpected and curiously vigorous sweetness 
 in-the-rough. 
 
 In 1833 Jackson went north on a tour for rec 
 reation and applause. Cass accompanied him. 
 Crowds cheered the tough old general who had 
 just put down nullification. Cities tendered him 
 their freedom and the mob went wild. The aristo 
 crats averted their faces, but the popular enthusiasm 
 
150 LEWIS CAS8. 
 
 was undoubted. Harvard, to the disgust of the 
 learned, dubbed his illiterate excellency Doctor of 
 Laws. From these scenes of merry-making and 
 exultation, and before the exhausting itinerary was 
 finished, the President hurried home, on the plea 
 of illness, to strike another blow at the Bank of the 
 United States. It is possible that he was moved by 
 proper motives. But sheer malice against Nicho 
 las Bid die and his moneyed monster was probably 
 the chief cause. With a reckless indifference to 
 the effect on the business of the country, an indif 
 ference which arose from a complete ignorance of 
 the laws of finance and the sensitive nature of 
 capital, he dashed into a contest with the national 
 bank as if he were hunting Indians in the swamps 
 of Florida. By law, the public funds were to be 
 deposited in the bank, subject to removal by the 
 Secretary of the Treasury, who was to give his 
 reasons to Congress in case of removal. Jackson 
 determined upon a removal of the deposits and a 
 distribution of the money among the various state 
 banks. He had difficulty in getting his Cabinet to 
 agree to this. Duane, the Secretary of the Treas 
 ury, was determined to stand on what he consid 
 ered his prerogative, and refused to remove the 
 deposits at the President s request. He was dis 
 missed, and Taney was transferred to the Treasury, 
 ready to do Jackson s bidding and elaborately to 
 defend his action. McLane, who in thte early part 
 of the year had been transferred from the Treasury 
 Department to that of State, and had all along 
 
SECRETARY OF WAR. 151 
 
 been averse to a removal of the deposits, was still 
 strongly opposed to the measure. He wished to re 
 sign, but was dissuaded. On September 23d Cass 
 made an appointment with Lewis to discuss the 
 matter. Lewis was the head of the " kitchen cabi 
 net," the familiar of Jackson. " He commenced the 
 conversation," l wrote Lewis, " by remarking that 
 his object in desiring to see me before I left was to 
 inform me that he had determined to resign his 
 seat in the Cabinet, and wished to converse with 
 me upon the subject before he handed his letter of 
 resignation to the President. He said he differed 
 with the President with regard to the measures 
 which were about to be adopted for the removal of 
 the public deposits from the United States Bank, 
 and as his remaining in the Cabinet might embar 
 rass his operations, he owed it, he thought, both to 
 himself and the President, to withdraw." Lewis 
 urged him to acquaint Jackson with his intention 
 before he actually resigned, and the result of the 
 interview between the secretary and his chief was 
 that Cass was asked to remain, with the under 
 standing that the responsibility for the act should 
 rest, not with the Cabinet, but with the President 
 alone. In a later Cabinet meeting, when asked his 
 opinion of the measure, Cass simply and frankly 
 said : " You know, sir, I have always thought that 
 the matter rests entirely with the Secretary of the 
 Treasury." 
 
 The political affiliations of the new West during 
 
 1 Parton s Jackson, vol. iii. p. 501. 
 
152 LEWIS CAS8. 
 
 these years are evident. Michigan was a Territory 
 struggling vehemently until 1837 for admission. 
 Her last successful efforts were stimulated, perhaps, 
 by a hope that if she was admitted to the Union a 
 small rill from the plethoric national treasury would 
 trickle into her ready coffers. Party organization 
 on national lines was hardly known as yet. On all 
 great questions the people naturally belonged with 
 their brethren of New York and New England ; but 
 of course there was great admiration among the poor 
 settlers for the " man of the people," and Michigan 
 may be counted in the line of Democratic States un 
 til the slavery question offered a great moral issue. 
 There were occasional backslidings from the true 
 Democratic faith. The hard times which followed 
 the financial disasters of 1837 turned people against 
 "the little magician," whose magic wand had 
 lost its cunning. The people of Michigan shouted 
 themselves hoarse for Harrison and " hard cider " 
 in 1840, and the State was carried by the Whigs 
 by some 2,000 as against a majority of 3,000 for 
 Van Buren in 1836, when the vote of the quasi 
 State was only about one fourth of what it was four 
 years later. But it will be noticed that in 1840 
 Harrison was the popular hero the stalwart " Old 
 Tip ; " " Matty " Van Buren was the aristocrat of 
 the White House, who was rolling in wealth and 
 supping from golden spoons, while the people who 
 had elected him were starving. The students of our 
 politics have not fully confessed the efficiency of 
 poverty as a political motor. Our practical poli- 
 
SECRETARY OF WAR. 153 
 
 ticians in these latter days have carefully conned the 
 lessons of the past, and cover up most dexterously 
 any advantage their candidate may have by reason 
 of superior education or the ability inherited from 
 good ancestry. 
 
 In the other States of the Northwest somewhat 
 similar courses can be traced, varied by the pecul 
 iarities of their settlement. Ohio, with her strong 
 eastern flavor, inclined with some constancy to 
 whiggery. Of the Northwestern States, Illinois 
 alone in 1840 clung by a small majority to the fail 
 ing cause of Jacksonism, and cast its electoral votes 
 for Van Buren. But that State had all along been 
 peculiarly Democratic. It had a strong southern 
 element. Many of the poor whites pushed their way 
 north over the prairies of Illinois. From 1826 every 
 general election resulted in favor of Jackson and his 
 party until the old general went into restless retire 
 ment at the Hermitage. Doubtless the persistency 
 of Illinois in her political course can be attributed 
 largely to this strong southern element. But it 
 would be anticipating later political divisions to 
 attribute such Democratic affiliation entirely to the 
 southern settlers. Jacksonian Democracy was the 
 political faith of the masses, of those most easily in 
 fluenced by the tricks of the politician and the wire 
 puller. " The people " were Democrats, from what 
 ever part of the country they came. Cook County, 
 which was settled by Yankees, pushing and vigorous 
 men, did not fall behind the settlers of southern 
 Illinois in zeal for Democracy. This county was 
 
154 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 Democratic even in 1844, casting 2,027 votes for 
 Polk and only 117 for Clay. Democracy was 
 firmly planted and unbending. Party lines at first 
 were not closely drawn, but there was no hope for 
 the man who was opposed to the " man of the peo 
 ple." The campaigns were conducted in that new 
 western country in a manner which leads us to look 
 with more equanimity upon the vices of modern 
 politics. The saloons in the county seats were 
 chartered by the candidates for popular favors ; 
 whiskey in vast quantities heightened the fervor of 
 the people, whose voice was to be the voice of God. 
 Governor Ford, who was an interested spectator on 
 these occasions, tells us of a minister of the gos 
 pel whose " morality was not of the pinched kind 
 which prevented him from using all the common 
 arts of a candidate for office." He went forth to 
 election with a Bible in one pocket and a bottle 
 of whiskey in the other, prepared to make himself 
 agreeable to all. So fully had the people adopted 
 the creed of " Old Hickory " that we are told that 
 Democrats were divided in that pork-packing State 
 into " whole hog " Jackson men and nominal Jack 
 son men. 1 The people had come into the West in 
 order to better their condition, and politics were 
 considered by many a legitimate road to bodily 
 comfort. Few seemed to realize that they were 
 laying the foundations of a great commonwealth; 
 but the race of politicians developed, as in the 
 East. The politician " for revenue only " prac- 
 
 1 Ford s History of Illinois, p. 105. 
 
SECRETARY OF WAR. 155 
 
 ticed his clever tactics, and early in the history of 
 these frontier States wires were laid as skillfully as 
 in the more populous States of the coast. The peo 
 ple, on the whole, took far more interest in politics 
 than in political principles. 
 
 The Western States developed rapidly during 
 these years. The craze for internal improvement 
 left some good behind, and the wild speculation in 
 land drew immigrants into the country by thou 
 sands. Steamers on the lakes were crowded with 
 families on their way to Michigan and the West. 
 Ninety steamers arrived at Detroit in May, 1836, 
 crowded with new settlers and with those who were 
 anxious to speculate in the western lands. Land 
 sales were enormous. The roads in the interior of 
 Michigan were thronged with wagons. The immi 
 grants of this period were, as before, chiefly from 
 New York and New England. Others, from Ire 
 land and Germany, however, began about 1832 to 
 find their way in small numbers into the West. 
 
 One other matter of importance remains to be 
 discussed in this period of Cass s life. The re 
 moval of the Florida Indians to reservations west 
 of the Mississippi was carefully considered by Cass 
 as soon as he became secretary. He had long con 
 templated the desirability of such a plan. No one 
 better understood the condition of the red man in 
 the Northwest, or more keenly appreciated the dif 
 ficulties of the Indian problem. His work in 
 Michigan amply proves his fairness and honesty, 
 his humanity and sympathy. In 1830 he wrote 
 
156 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 for the " North American Review " a long article 
 on the subject of removal. It is candid in its tone 
 and exhaustive in treatment, pointing out the woeful 
 condition of the Indians in their present situation, 
 picturing their degradation as victims to the vices 
 of Christian civilization. He contended that they 
 must be removed, and that speedily, if a remnant 
 was to be saved. He showed no sympathy for the 
 maudlin sentimentality which would weep over the 
 sorrows of the noble warrior and suggest no rem 
 edy for evident evils. 
 
 Later animosity has declared that the whole 
 plan of removing the southern Indians was one of 
 the satanic wiles of the slaveholder. But it will 
 not do to antedate political motive. The planters 
 did wish to get possession of the land held by the 
 Creeks and Seminoles, and the planter was a slave 
 holder. But there is no need of attributing the 
 desire to the political greed of the slavocracy. 
 This error is more plainly illustrated by an earlier 
 instance. Calhoun s plan, when secretary of war 
 under Monroe, to remove the Indians of New York 
 into the western part of Michigan Territory, now 
 Wisconsin, has been seriously referred, not to a 
 desire to release New York, but to a wish to bur 
 den the free Northwest and retard its development. 
 It is true that the contradictory interests of North 
 and South came out pretty clearly in the Missouri 
 compromise discussion ; but it is anticipating later 
 politics and entirely misconstruing the growth of 
 Calhoun as a statesman and a slavocrat to think 
 
SECRETARY OF WAR. 157 
 
 that he or any one foresaw in 1820 the whole drift 
 of southern efforts to obtain room for slavery ex 
 tension. It is just as much the part of folly to 
 announce that Cass was a " doughface " in 1831, 
 pandering to southern prejudices and bending a 
 pliable conscience, as it is to state that his good 
 sense in 1820 concerning the removal of the New 
 York Indians was due to a desire to circumvent a 
 plan of a plotting slaveholder. He was a western 
 man, not a southerner, and his action was a western 
 action, based on western appreciation of the In 
 dian character and of the relation of the tribes to 
 the general government. 
 
 The idea of removing the Indians was, as Ben- 
 ton says, as old as Jefferson. It had been dis 
 cussed at various times. Monroe, in his annual 
 message in 1824, set forth the desirability of trans 
 porting them into the West. Cass elaborated a 
 plan in his first report in 1831. He believed 
 that the Indians would be better off if freed from 
 the influence of the whites. He feared the practi 
 cal application of the doctrine announced by the 
 Supreme Court, that a tribe within the limits of 
 the State was exempt from state control ; he real 
 ized that the executive and the court were at vari 
 ance on the subject, and that a uniform basis of 
 management ought to be determined upon if possi 
 ble. It is apparent that he sided with the Presi 
 dent in maintaining the authority of the executive 
 as a " coordinate branch of the government," and 
 perhaps thought that, as far as it affected a present 
 
 
158 LEWIS CA88. 
 
 practical question, Jackson was right in his famous 
 opposition to the judiciary : " John Marshall has 
 given his judgment, let him enforce it if he can." 
 Indeed, Cass the next year, March, 1832, seems 
 to have printed an exhaustive argument in the 
 " Globe," attempting to prove that the Supreme 
 Court was wrong and Jackson was right in the 
 Cherokee matter. " When a solemn and final de 
 cision was pronounced, and Georgia refused to obey 
 the decree of the court, no reproof for her refrac 
 tory spirit was heard ; on the contrary, a learned 
 review of the decision came out, attributed to exec 
 utive countenance and favor." l When one of the 
 Cabinet spent his time in writing a long refutation 
 of a judicial decision of the Supreme Court, affairs 
 of state were assuredly in a badly mixed condition. 
 But the Jackson ian party was a creature more curi 
 ous than any curiosity of mythology ; although its 
 body and legs were popular sovereignty and mob 
 democracy, the head and arms were monarchical 
 arrogance and the invincible obstinacy of self- 
 reliance. 
 
 We need not go into the woeful scenes which 
 resulted from the effort to remove the Creeks and 
 Seminoles. As in other difficulties of this kind, the 
 wrong was not all on one side. Sentimental igno 
 rance alone represents the cruel Oceola as a noble 
 brave, fighting with generous patriotism for the 
 lands of his family and the graves of his sires. 
 On the other hand, no one can look upon this 
 
 1 From a speech by Mr. Miller, in Senate, 1833. 
 
SECRETARY OF WAR. 159 
 
 scene from the history of a slave-owning country 
 without feelings of shame and indigation. Before 
 there was any excuse far war, the slave dealers 
 were too anxious to get control of the negroes of 
 the Seminoles. Actual hostilities were begun by 
 a wanton outrage ; the wife of Oceola was seized 
 as the daughter of a slave, and was carried away 
 into slavery. Oceola s vengeance was felt, and he 
 was captured by treachery. One who respects his 
 country shrinks from poking into the slime of the 
 disgraceful contest, where our government became 
 a trafficker in human flesh, and used its power in 
 behalf of the lowest passions of man. Had it not 
 been for the shameful greed of the slave dealer, 
 who longed to get possession of the negroes who 
 were either held in slavery by the Seminoles or 
 lived with them on terms of equality, the course of 
 the war would have been different and the contest 
 more honorable. But these human vampires re 
 spected no treaties and regarded no rights. In the 
 end, the war was not successful. After the expen 
 diture of not less than 130,000,000 and the loss of 
 many lives, after eight years of slave chasing and 
 Indian hunting in the miasmic swamps and ever 
 glades, under the torrid sun of Florida, the gov 
 ernment was obliged to take the advice which Cass 
 had given when war had fairly begun obtain 
 peace by giving Florida to the possession of armed 
 settlers. 1 
 
 Many charges and recriminations were the fruits 
 
 1 Schooler s History of the United States, vol. iv. p. 319. 
 
160 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 of this shameful affair. Scott was charged with 
 inefficiency. Cass was accused of negligence. 
 Abuse was heaped on all* interested. Jackson, as 
 usual, lost himself in a paroxysm of rage because 
 all went not well. " Let the damned scoundrels 
 defend their country," he exclaimed ; " he could 
 take fifty women, and whip every Indian that ever 
 crossed the Suwanee." l A fair examination ab 
 solves the Secretary of War from the charge of 
 carelessness or neglect. He apparently acted on 
 the knowledge sent him, and supplied the generals 
 at the front with all the troops they asked for or 
 suggested the need of. The truth is, that it was 
 no easy task to drive a handful of determined men 
 from retreats which were almost inaccessible, and 
 the deeds of the army, as such, were by no means 
 without honor. But Cass cannot be relieved of 
 the charge that negro slavery did not appeal to 
 him in its awfulness, and that he could see no 
 harm in returning the fugitive slaves to bond 
 age. Who in those days did see the institution in 
 its proper light ? The war was nearly finished be 
 fore even Giddings of Ohio branded it as a slave 
 chase and pointed the finger of shame. This war, 
 indeed, marks the lowest depth to which northern 
 apathy sank. After 1841, not a step could be 
 taken by the government that suspicious abolition 
 ists did not peer about for a possible proslavery 
 motive. 
 
 The War Department, at the period of which we 
 
 1 Niles, vol. lii. p. 98. 
 
SECRETARY OF WAR. 161 
 
 are speaking, had charge of many matters which 
 are now cared for by the Department of the Inte 
 rior. The details of the office demanded constant 
 attention, and it is apparent from the long reports 
 which General Cass made that he studied with care 
 all portions of his duties. He entered into an elabo 
 rate discussion of the necessity for coast defenses. 
 Arguing that a navy was the best fortification, he 
 advised the building of a navy which would be at 
 least nearly adequate for purposes of defense. He 
 examined with care the condition of the army, and 
 it may be said, to his honor, that he advocated that 
 the practice of giving whiskey rations to the sol 
 diers should be stopped. 
 
 Until Cass took the war portfolio, his life had 
 been spent in active employment. During his 
 governorship he had passed months at a time travel 
 ing over the western country, and now incessant 
 sedentary labor and constant attention to the de 
 tails of his office were impairing his health, and it 
 soon became evident that he must have change and 
 diversion. The President therefore offered to ap 
 point him minister to France, and Cass accepted 
 the offer, with the understanding that he should 
 be allowed to leave Paris on a tour for recreation 
 and pleasure. James Buchanan has left us the 
 improbable story that Cass was transported because 
 Jackson desired to get rid of him and to employ 
 some one possessed of more alertness and business 
 ability. According to this account, the President 
 used the following language : " I can no longer 
 
162 LEWIS CAS 8. 
 
 consent to do the duties both of the President and 
 Secretary of War. General Cass will decide noth 
 ing for himself, but comes to me constantly with 
 great bundles of papers, to decide questions for 
 him which he ought to decide himself." 1 The 
 light of events to be recorded hereafter will prop 
 erly illumine this statement made by Buchanan, 
 whose indecision and vacillation cannot be rea 
 soned out of the memory of the American people. 
 Every circumstance refutes it. Jackson admired 
 Cass; Cass loved Jackson. The visitor at the 
 Hermitage in later years saw in the hall the bust 
 of the northwestern statesman. Their whole inter 
 course is the best proof of mutual consideration 
 and respect. That a man who had continuously 
 acted with promptitude and boldness from the bat 
 tle at the Eiver Canard until he became Secretary 
 of War should suddenly become timid and hesitat 
 ing is beyond belief. Twice during Jackson s ad 
 ministration Cass offered to resign, and twice was 
 persuaded to keep his office. At the end Jackson 
 accepted the resignation with reluctance. After 
 the return of Cass from France, the venerable ex- 
 President, praising him for his services abroad, re 
 ferred to their pleasant official relations and to the 
 efficiency with which the affairs of the War De 
 partment had been conducted. 2 If the secretary 
 had been grossly incapable, Jackson would not 
 have waited until the closing months of his admin- 
 
 1 Curtis Life of Buchanan, vol. ii. p. 399. 
 
 2 Private Papers of Lewis Cass. 
 
SECRETARY OF WAR. 163 
 
 istration before he put the department into more 
 competent hands. In June, 1836, the appointment 
 as minister to Paris was sent in to the Senate, and 
 immediately received the unanimous consent of 
 that body no slight compliment, if we consider 
 the height of political animosity in those bitter 
 days. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MINISTER TO FRANCE. 
 
 THE diplomatic relations between France and 
 the United States were not altogether harmonious 
 between 1833 and the date of the appointment of 
 Cass. A succcessful treaty, negotiated in 1831, 
 had won from France a promise to pay for the 
 Napoleonic spoliations of American commerce. The 
 United States had long awaited the time when 
 their rights in this matter would be fairly consid 
 ered, until patience, long continued, was in danger 
 of being construed as timidity. Under Jackson s 
 sway, however, a new system was adopted ; when 
 our dignified demands for the fulfillment of the 
 treaty of 1831 were disregarded, and the Chamber 
 of Deputies refused to pass the appropriation bill, 
 the President stormed in the White House, and 
 the shrill voice of John Quincy Adams was heard 
 in Congress calling upon the people to resent a 
 wanton insult and prepare the country for war. 
 In January, 1835, the French minister at Washing 
 ton was recalled, and in April Livingston left 
 Paris. But judicious and expressive threats had 
 the proper effect. The money was paid. Louis 
 Philippe sat on a tottering throne, and he knew 
 
MINISTER TO FRANCE. 165 
 
 that a war with America would deprive him of 
 popular support. He had, moreover, a real affec 
 tion for the republic, and an admiration for the 
 vigorous old warrior of the White House, who so 
 fully represented self-confident democracy. The 
 " bourgeois king " had visited America in his ear 
 lier days, and had become personally acquainted 
 with men and manners. A tour through the back 
 woods of Pennsylvania and Ohio brought to him a 
 knowledge of the roughness, heartiness, and good 
 fellowship of the democratic West, and he retained 
 a kingly sympathy and a generous enthusiasm for 
 whole-souled western uncouthness and the virile 
 Americanism which Jackson personified. 
 
 Cass continued to perform the duties of secre 
 tary of war through the summer of 1836, and in 
 October sailed for England, there to remain until 
 assured that an American minister would be re 
 ceived in France. After a brief delay on this 
 account, he repaired to Paris and entered upon his 
 duties. The ordinary affairs of the legation occu 
 pied his attention for some time. Business had 
 accumulated during the suspension of diplomatic 
 relations, and it now demanded immediate settle 
 ment. But a minister s chief function in peaceful 
 times is to be the representative of his country at 
 court, and to care for the social as well as the more 
 material interests of itinerant fellow-countrymen. 
 Even in those days this was no slight task. Some 
 times in a single evening he presented as many as 
 fifty of his countrymen to the " citizen king." 
 
166 LEWIS CA8S. 
 
 American visitors in Paris at this time spoke of 
 the respectful attention they received from the 
 legation. The plain, straightforward diplomat 
 from the wilds of the Northwest, whose victories in 
 the crooked and narrow art had hitherto been won 
 over the red savage of the western woods, quickly 
 assumed a prominent and influential position at 
 the gay capital. It looked as if the days when 
 Franklin received the admiration of the gaudy 
 court, or when Gouverneur Morris practiced his 
 charms, had returned. The minister became the 
 personal friend of the king, and was treated as an 
 intimate. 
 
 Actual business of the embassy was not so con 
 fining that no opportunity was left for other pur 
 suits. The peculiarities of European life and 
 politics possessed a unique interest for one whose 
 general reading had never been supplemented by 
 travel or a wide experience. Nothing seemed to 
 escape him. His pen was at work a good portion 
 of the time, making his impressions permanent. 
 The ineffectual uneasiness of the French people as 
 he now saw them, and the misunderstandings be 
 tween governors and governed, were unceasingly 
 curious to one who had never known classes, and 
 whose whole political theory and practice had been 
 based 011 the principle of equality and the rights 
 of self-government. In a real scientific spirit he 
 traveled through France, noticing the condition of 
 the people and learning continual lessons. He vis 
 ited England, but a nearer acquaintance did not 
 
MINISTER TO FRANCE. 167 
 
 deprive him of that deep-rooted suspicion and dis 
 trust which are so evident in all his public career. 
 He saw Victoria crowned as queen. But all the 
 splendor of court seemed only to harden and sharpen 
 his democratic loyalty. He carried his criticism of 
 English aristocratic life to an absurd extent. 1 He 
 belonged to the school of triumphant democracy. 
 The crass ignorance of the English concerning 
 American life, and the unfriendly criticism of their 
 captious travelers, filled him with an indignation 
 which now is quite amusing. 
 
 In accordance with the understanding at the 
 time of his appointment, he left his post at Paris 
 for his vacation. In May, 1837, he set sail with 
 his family from Marseilles on board the old frigate, 
 The Constitution, commanded by Commodore Elliot. 
 A description of his itinerary would now be unin 
 teresting, but to him the journey gave the greatest 
 pleasure. Naturally of a philosophic and scholarly 
 turn, he experienced the delight of the philosopher 
 and scholar in visiting places of historical and archa3- 
 ological interest. On the other hand, his strong 
 practical sense and his sympathy for humanity pre 
 vented him from losing himself in the admiration 
 of past glories, when political wrongs and social 
 evils and stagnation everywhere met his eyes. He 
 admired the beauties of Italy and Greece, but they 
 taught him a lesson for America. Everything 
 possessed for him a present and a human interest : 
 no palace or hovel or beautiful landscape won his 
 
 1 France, its King, Court, and Government. By an American. 
 
168 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 attention because of mere picturesqueness, or lost 
 for him its peculiar place in the life and history of 
 man. Greece and Italy furnished him an oppor 
 tunity for studying the real humanities, not their 
 dead languages, but the places these nations had 
 actually held and were holding in the great drama 
 of the world s history, whose denouement he be 
 lieved would be the complete freedom, the ideal 
 liberty. He saw in the Parthenon more than a 
 relic and a ruin ; he mused over Salamis and Mar 
 athon without shadowy romanticism, for he saw 
 before him spots where the destiny of Europe was 
 decided. Delphi itself appealed to no shallow 
 imagination, but awakened thoughts of the eternal 
 power of God, and the shifting, transient nature 
 of the works of man. " Parnassus indeed is there, 
 with the clouds resting on its snowy summit, and 
 the blue waves of the Gulf of Corinth rolling at 
 its feet, in a stream as bright and clear as when 
 its waters purified the persons of the ministers 
 and votaries of the temple, but could not cleanse 
 their hearts from a debasing superstition. But 
 these are the works of God which mock the pride 
 of man and bid defiance to his power, witnesses 
 of change themselves unchangeable." 
 
 By special permission from the Sultan the Amer 
 ican frigate sailed to Constantinople and on into 
 the Black Sea. The travelers stood in the shadow 
 of St. Sophia; and here again the teachings of 
 sacred and profane history were emphasized and 
 illustrated. A sail through the JEgean recalled 
 
MINISTER TO FRANCE. 169 
 
 the beauties and the grandeur of the " inland seas." 
 and there came vividly to the mind of Cass an 
 other scene, when through the islands at the north 
 of Michigan wound a fleet of three hundred In 
 dian canoes. There is something pathetic in the 
 way in which, amid scenes of unbroken interest or 
 magnificence, his mind continually reverted to the 
 rough picturesqueness and daring life of the fron 
 tier. The JEgean suggested similarities, the pal 
 ace at St. Cloud contrasts. At the age of fifty- 
 five he was becoming acquainted with a broader 
 world ; with a wider retrospect he was preparing 
 for twenty years of political conflict. Egypt and 
 Palestine were included in the journey, and the 
 Pyramids and the Jordan encouraged more mono 
 logue ; which, it must be confessed, partook some 
 what extravagantly of the stilted grandiloquence 
 common to the rhetoric of fifty years ago. A visit 
 to the islands of Candia and Cyprus called out 
 two interesting articles, which were sent to the 
 " Southern Literary Messenger," published at 
 Richmond. These are full of historic information 
 and of practical philosophy, for after all Cass was 
 a scholar to the end rather than a political trickster, 
 and nothing shows his scholarly inclinations more 
 than the trip to the old East. 
 
 In November, 1837, the general returned to 
 Paris, invigorated in body and mind. For some 
 time no very important diplomatic problems were 
 presented for solution, and the time was employed 
 in a study of French manners and political condi- 
 
170 LEWIS CAS8. 
 
 tions. As has already been said, the king became 
 a close friend of the American minister, so inti 
 mate, indeed, that the other ambassadors are re 
 ported to have been jealous of the undue influence 
 of the republican representative. Louis Philippe 
 was an affable and courteous man, possessed of 
 a wonderful store of knowledge, and he won the 
 admiration and even affection of Cass. There is no 
 doubt that the citizen king had many noble quali 
 ties. His shabby treatment of Gouverneur Morris, 
 who furnished him with funds for his travels in 
 America, and gave him unlimited credit with his 
 own New York banker, is not a complete index to 
 his character. There was much in him that merited 
 admiration, though he had some bourgeois propen 
 sities and certain tendencies to smallness where a 
 greater breadth was to be expected. And yet he 
 was a real king, and his grasp of affairs often belied 
 the maxim of the doctrinaires, that the king reigns 
 but does not rule. Thiers served him with his bril 
 liance and Guizot with his philosophic wisdom, but 
 the constitutional " King of the French," did not 
 always give himself up to their guidance. Physical 
 courage he did not lack, but he seems to have needed 
 political energy, promptness, and decision. This 
 weakness afterward showed itself in the evil days of 
 February, 1848, when too complacently he yielded 
 to insurrection, and gave up his crown, soon to be 
 seized by one with more cunning and with more 
 relentless ambition. 
 
 The happiness of the domestic life of the king 
 
MINISTER TO FRANCE. 171 
 
 and his personal attractions blinded Cass to polit 
 ical faults. He had begun to take notes of his 
 impressions of France and Europe when he came 
 to Paris, and he now published in an American 
 periodical an account of the life of King Louis 
 Philippe, with a commentary on French govern 
 ment and the conditions of the people. In 1840 
 these articles were published in New York in book 
 form, with the title "France, its King, Court, and 
 Government. By an American." The book has 
 many merits. It recounts the life of Louis Phi 
 lippe in his early days of adversity, when he fled 
 from revolutionary France ; it relates his travels in 
 an easy flowing narrative, and gives an attractive 
 picture of his wanderings in America and his visit 
 to the western country with which the writer was so 
 well acquainted. There is a vein of pleasantry and 
 humor in this portion of the story, though Cass by 
 mental construction was ill adapted to light and vi 
 vacious description ; nevertheless certain aspects of 
 western life are presented with vividness, and there 
 is the charm which always comes with the tale of 
 one who writes of what he knows and loves. The 
 later life of the king and his character are set forth 
 in an interesting fashion. The description of politi 
 cal France of fifty years ago gives the book lasting 
 historic value. It is apparent that he had peered 
 with no careless glance into the woeful depths of 
 seething Paris ; that he appreciated the uneasiness 
 and discontent of its hidden life, that from the stand 
 point of happy democracy he could judge with pe- 
 
172 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 culiar advantage the fruitless longings and insen 
 sate clamorings of the people who did not know 
 the good they had, and sought what they could not 
 use. " God be praised ! " wrote Cass, " we have 
 no Paris, with its powerful influence and its inflam 
 mable materials. He who occupies the lowliest 
 cabin upon the very verge of civilization has just 
 as important a part to play in the fate of our coun 
 try as the denizen of the proudest city in the land." 
 From such observations and studies as these, Cass 
 was called to important diplomatic duties. For 
 some time England and the United States had 
 been giving each other the retort courteous, from 
 which the next step is the cut direct. The north 
 eastern boundary question had become an active 
 stimulant to disorder. Maine would not be robbed, 
 and Canada would not be cheated. Even more 
 serious complications had arisen, growing out of the 
 Canadian rebellion of 1837 and the turbulence in 
 western New York consequent upon it. At that 
 time an invasion of the province was threatened by 
 some fugitives and by American sympathizers. A 
 small steamer, the Caroline, was to be used for 
 this purpose, but when lying at the American shore 
 in the Niagara Eiver she was seized by an expedi 
 tion from Canada and sent over the falls. A citizen 
 of the United States was killed in the affray, and 
 the excitement did not die out in a moment. Three 
 years later Alexander McLeod came from Canada 
 to New York, and openly claimed the honor of hav 
 ing killed the American. He was at once arrested 
 
MINISTER TO FRANCE. 173 
 
 on the charge of murder, and held for trial. His 
 detention immediately became a serious diplomatic 
 difficulty. Lord Palmerston demanded McLeod s 
 release. Our government had not charge of the 
 prisoner and could not surrender him, for Governor 
 Seward positivily refused to renounce the jurisdic 
 tion of the State of New York. The English now 
 acknowledged the Caroline affair as an interna 
 tional one, and assumed the position that not Mc- 
 Leod, but the British government was responsible, 
 if any breach of law had been committed. It 
 looked in the early part of 1841 as if war with 
 Great Britain was imminent. "If he should be 
 condemned we must throw away the scabbard," 
 wrote Mr. Harcourt, in March. Upon Webster, 
 who had been called to the foreign office by Harri 
 son, and retained in his position when Tyler became 
 President, devolved the task of guiding the country 
 through the difficulties which now beset it. 
 
 Cass had a point of vantage from which to view 
 European affairs and to watch the shifting clouds 
 of war and politics. Even Stevenson at the Court 
 of St. James did not have such extra-official means 
 of discovering the popular sentiment of England as 
 were furnished to Cass by the English colony at 
 Paris. On March 5, 1841, Cass wrote to Webster 
 that he had reliable information that the English 
 fleet was preparing for the order to sail to Halifax. 
 " Of one thing I am sure : there is a bad feeling 
 against us in England, and this feeling is daily and 
 manifestly augmenting." The terrible efficiency of 
 
174 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 the steam frigates, with their heavy guns " carrying 
 balls weighing from sixty to a hundred pounds," l 
 warned defenseless America to forge her coat of 
 mail. Ten days after this first warning another let 
 ter was sent relating in confidence the substance of 
 several interviews with the king, who asserted that 
 the French antipathy to England would implicate 
 France in the war if it were once begun. The hos 
 tility to England entertained by our minister to 
 France was beginning to affect his speech a little. 
 There was no need of his announcing to Webster, 
 in a strident missive, that the English were the 
 "most credulous people upon the face of the earth 
 in all that concerns their own wishes or preten 
 sions ; " that they were " always right and every 
 body else wrong." He added advice : " Bend all 
 your effort to steam. Equip all the steam vessels 
 you can." "Webster already appreciated the dan 
 ger, and such peremptory language was a little be 
 yond the margin of good taste and discretion. 
 There is no evidence that Webster resented it at 
 the time, but when an opportunity for retaliation 
 offered itself he seized upon it in a manner which 
 suggests the energy of accumulated resentment. 
 
 In good season all danger of war from this affair 
 disappeared, when McLeod was acquitted by a jury 
 in New York, in October, 1841. 
 
 The winter of 1842 was the beginning of the 
 end of Cass s diplomatic career ; it was also the be 
 ginning of a new period in his life, the interpre 
 tation of which requires patient discrimination. 
 1 Curtis, Life of Daniel Webster, vol. ii. p. 63. 
 
MINISTER TO FRANCE. 175 
 
 Did he from this time on consciously endeavor to 
 reach the presidential chair by any and all means ? 
 Are his acts all to be read in the light of a con 
 suming ambition? Did he henceforth stifle his 
 conscience and give up his principles in exchange 
 for the political support of the slaveholder ? The 
 slavery question was fairly in politics. The slave- 
 baron had catechised Van Buren when he came 
 before the people for election. The nefarious gag 
 laws had aroused northern indignation. The ex. 
 treme abolitionists were continuing their crusade 
 with wonted vehemence and fanatical vigor. But 
 the day had gone by when Garrison could be 
 dragged through the streets of Boston at the end 
 of a halter, or Prudence Crandall insulted and 
 impoverished in puritanic Connecticut. In the 
 wavering North the ultra-abolitionist was allowed 
 in peace to denounce the Constitution as " a league 
 with death and a covenant with hell." The mod 
 erate abolitionists, at the same time, prepared to 
 fight with the ballot in accordance with rule and 
 reason. In the midst of all the sound and nonsense 
 of the "hard cider" campaign of 1840 little at 
 tention was paid to the nominees of the Liberty 
 party. For them a vote was cast so trifling that it 
 scarcely caused a ripple on the placid satisfaction 
 with which the country welcomed the election of 
 plain " Old Tip." But the slavery question was 
 fairly in politics. Henceforth a candidate for 
 favors must run the gauntlet for southern inspec 
 tion, and soon for northern investigation as well. 
 
176 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 In December, 1841, the representatives of Eng 
 land, France, Prussia, Eussia, and Austria, high 
 contracting parties at London, entered into a treaty 
 for the suppression of the slave-trade. The cruisers 
 of each nation were accorded the right to detain and 
 search vessels belonging to any one of the others, 
 if such vessel should "on reasonable grounds be 
 suspected of being engaged in the traffic in slaves." 
 Inasmuch as English ships of war outnumbered 
 those of the other countries, this gave to England 
 special facilities for checking this traffic, against 
 which she had proclaimed a war to the knife. 
 Moreover the treaty was a pretentious and suspi 
 cious formality, for the Mediterranean was spe 
 cially excluded, and no ship belonging to Eussia, 
 Austria, or Prussia had ever been engaged in the 
 slave-trade, or been interfered with, on that charge, 
 by British vessels. That England had the motive 
 of bolstering up her claims to search and visitation 
 seems, therefore, undeniable. Cass was uneasy. 
 The people whom he hated had gained possession of 
 a leverage. Stimulated by his antipathy his imagi 
 nation conjured up evils to come. On February 1, 
 1842, a pamphlet from his pen was published in 
 Paris, inveighing against the treaty and attempting 
 to infer the purpose of England from her past 
 assumption of right. It bore the title, " An Exam 
 ination of the Question, now in Discussion, between 
 the American and British Governments, concern 
 ing the Eight of Search, by an American," and 
 had for a motto, " When we doubted, we took 
 
MINISTER TO FRANCE. 177 
 
 the trick. London Times, January, 1842." The 
 pamphlet contained a discussion of the whole ques 
 tion of the right of search, showing the insolence 
 of Britain in the past, her steady progress toward 
 dominion on the sea, and the reasons for fearing 
 that the quintuple treaty was simply another step 
 toward a consummation she so devoutly wished. 
 The suspicions of the design of England were 
 perhaps partly unfounded; but she had no right 
 to complain because she was suspected. Lord 
 Brougham, in the House of Lords (February 21, 
 1842), announced that the sole wish of England 
 was " to see the infernal slave traffic put down," 
 and that "any general right of search," or any 
 object except the prevention of slave-trade in Af 
 rica was not sought or contemplated. 1 We now 
 may do England more justice than Cass could then 
 do her. But in view of all her conduct, then fresh 
 in men s minds, the United States was bound to 
 object to such apparent justification by the other 
 four great nations of Europe. 
 
 The pamphlet was received with approbation in 
 America. Niles printed the document in full, to 
 the exclusion of " other matter," remarking that it 
 was " attributed to the pen of our vigilant and tal 
 ented minister at the French court." 
 
 On February 13th a protest against the concur 
 rence of the French government in the quintuple 
 treaty was written at the American legation at 
 Paris and transmitted to M. Guizot, minister of 
 
 1 Hansard s Parliamentary Debates, vol. Ix. p. 718. 
 
178 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 foreign affairs. This asserted that England had 
 recently been vigorously claiming the right to enter 
 and examine American vessels for the purpose of 
 ascertaining their nationality ; the ratification of 
 the treaty under consideration might seem to sanc 
 tion this right claimed by one of the contracting 
 parties. " The United States," it continued, " do 
 not fear that any such united attempts will be 
 made upon their independence. What, however, 
 they may reasonably fear is that in the execution 
 of this treaty measures will be taken which they 
 must resist." The appeal to French jealousy of 
 England, the covert intimation that war might 
 ensue, " one of those desperate struggles which 
 have sometimes occurred in the history of the 
 world," sufficed to turn France into opposition, 
 and she refused to ratify the treaty. The sensitive 
 French people felt that England was far too con 
 descending ; and, moreover, France had her own 
 sweet sins ; for many of her southern ports had 
 more than a vicarious interest in the remunerative 
 traffic. Not till 1845 did the two countries agree 
 to keep an effective double fleet on the coast of 
 Africa to crush the trade, a plan which, it will be 
 seen, was an imitation of the one adopted by 
 America in 1842. England was greatly annoyed 
 at the withdrawal of France. Lord Brougham at 
 tacked Cass as a leader of low American de 
 mocracy pandering to mob jealousy of England. 
 Wheaton, however, asserted that the treaty of 
 Washington was the determining influence which 
 
MINISTER TO FRANCE. 179 
 
 brought about the rejection of the treaty by 
 France, and Webster and Cass afterwards had a 
 spirited controversy on the subject in the Senate, 1 
 in April, 1846. 
 
 The American government sanctioned the pro 
 test which Cass had sent Guizot on his own author 
 ity, and accepted its doctrines. " Tyler too," the 
 quasi- Whig, who had been borne into office with 
 Democratic luggage in the whirlwind of popular 
 enthusiasm for Harrison, and was now ruling in 
 solitary state, a president without a party, was not 
 the man to object because of too much zeal for 
 slavery. Webster, although he publicly approved, 
 looked somewhat askance at the pamphlet and pro 
 test, and privately commented severely on the con 
 duct of both Cass and Stevenson. " They thought," 
 he said, " to make great political headway upon a 
 popular gale." 2 Even the pamphlet he declared 
 " quite inconclusive " as a " piece of law logic," 
 however distinguished it might be for ardent Amer 
 ican feeling. 3 History, however, has proved the 
 reverse. All flat denunciations of search and visita 
 tion were unsuccessful, while the inconclusive " law 
 logic" of Cass has become a recognized rule in 
 international law. He plainly propounded a prin 
 ciple which Mr. Webster seemingly failed to grasp, 
 although it is the only reasonable and sensible 
 ground for determining such difficulties. It would 
 
 1 Congressional Globe, 1st Session, 29th Congress, p. 627. 
 
 2 Memoirs of John Quincy Adams, vol. xi. p. 243. 
 8 Curtis s Life of Daniel Webster, vol. ii. p. 118. 
 
180 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 not do to declare : " if you touch our vessels we 
 will fight." Were we to protect every piratical 
 slaver which insolently raised our flag? The 
 principle, as laid down in the pamphlet, and 
 years afterward, through the efforts of Cass, ac 
 knowledged by England to be correct, was simply 
 this : you have no right to touch our vessels on the 
 high seas ; if you suspect that a vessel carrying 
 our flag is not entitled to it, you examine her papers 
 at your peril ; if you are mistaken, you must answer 
 to the American government. This reasoning un 
 derlies the whole common law, and Mr. Webster 
 ought to have been wiser than to sneer at it. 
 
 In political circles in America the action was 
 widely discussed. Adams called Cass s protest 
 "absurd," and finally poured out upon it one of 
 those pieces of venomous resentment which some 
 times issued from him when the thought of the in 
 iquity of slavery caused the old man s blood to boil. 
 He wrote : " Cass s Protest of the 13th of Febru 
 ary, 1842, against the ratification by France of 
 the treaty signed and sealed by her own ambassa 
 dor, is a compound of Yankee cunning, of Italian 
 perfidy, and of French legerete, cemented by 
 shameless profligacy, unparalleled in American di 
 plomacy. Tyler s approval of it is at once dishon 
 est, mean, insincere, and hollow-hearted." 
 
 There was, however, great diplomatic wisdom in 
 the movement. Tyler wrote to Webster that he 
 had " risen from the perusal of the foreign news- 
 
 1 Memoirs, vol. xi. p. 338. 
 
MINISTER TO FRANCE. 181 
 
 papers with a feeling essentially in favor of Gen 
 eral Cass s course." " The message has been the 
 basis of his movements, and the refusal of France 
 to ratify the treaty of the five powers give us more 
 sea-room with Lord Ashburton. . . . The Times 
 of London assumed a tone which looked confound 
 edly as if the ratification by the five powers was 
 afterward to be proclaimed as equivalent to the 
 establishment of a new rule of national law." 1 
 There was exultation in more than one quarter. 
 " For the first time in our history," wrote Wheaton 
 from Berlin, " could it be said that the American 
 government had exerted an influence on the policy 
 of Europe." 2 The wisdom of the action can be 
 determined only by a consideration of the circum 
 stances of the case. It is easy enough now to hurl 
 invectives because our foreign minister interfered 
 with a treaty, the ostensible intent of which was to 
 check the slave-trade. It is easy enough to at 
 tribute it all to the craving ambition of a crafty 
 " log roller," as does Von Hoist. 3 He sums up the 
 whole matter in one of his heavy sentences, which 
 fairly reek with disgust at American duplicity. 
 " The scheming political log roller, with a high 
 aim at the object of his own personal ambition, 
 and the hot temperament of the would-be great 
 man of mediocre endowments and mediocre educa 
 tion, cooperated to give such a form to the effusions 
 
 1 Letters and Times of the Tylers, vol. ii. p. 233. 
 
 2 Quoted ibid. 
 
 5 History of the United States, vol. ii. p. 489. 
 
182 LEWIS CA8S. 
 
 of the ardent patriot that Adams hard judgment 
 upon them seems scarcely exaggerated." This 
 keen German critic of our country s history, who 
 has so shrewdly interpreted and so skillfully ar 
 ranged his facts, has frequently failed to pierce 
 into American popular feeling and emotion ; more 
 over, an affectionate regard for Adams has often 
 blinded him to the faults of the noble old man, and 
 a bitter entry in a diary replete with denunciation 
 has been taken as temperate criticism. No one 
 can estimate too highly the life and work of that 
 last of the Puritans ; but he who writes history by 
 the fitful light of such comment will see but 
 darkly. 
 
 The prime motive for the action of Cass in this 
 affair was his inveterate dislike and distrust of 
 England, sentiments which he had good cause to en 
 tertain. It will be remembered that not until 1839 
 (less than three years before the date of his pam 
 phlet) did the English give up their efforts in the 
 Northwest, as already described, and that his whole 
 life preceding his admission to Jackson s cabinet 
 had brought him into antagonism with British ag 
 gression. Filled with pride for America and her 
 institutions, he had met in Europe the sneers and 
 condescensions of English travelers, who looked 
 pityingly upon his country and with qualified ap 
 probation upon France. His writings in the early 
 years of his ministry shadow forth the same sus 
 picion. Yet no one can say decisively that the sla 
 very question did not also move him. The pamphlet 
 
MINISTER TO FRANCE. 183 
 
 announced that the writer was no slaveholder, that 
 he never had been, and never should be ; but he 
 found his way to the beaten track of biblical justi 
 fication, and pointed to Joseph in the bondage of 
 Egypt. A few months before his objection to the 
 treaty he had been proposed as a candidate for the 
 presidency by a meeting in Philadelphia, and had 
 published in the " Philadelphia Sentinel " a care 
 fully worded reply. " He certainly does not in his 
 letter," says Niles, "court a nomination to that 
 office ; but yet admits that in the contingency of 
 being called upon by the general voice of the Dem 
 ocratic party he would not withhold his assent." 1 
 But even on the supposition that the presidential 
 bee had begun its buzzing, it is anticipating later 
 political tactics to suppose that, as the prime condi 
 tion of Democratic support, he threw himself into 
 the arms of the slavocracy. " The favoring gale," 
 which would waft him on his way, was bold oppo 
 sition to England, ardent Americanism, and evi 
 dent disapproval of forcible abolition. 
 
 Admitting as possible the play of various mo 
 tives, it is still true that the pamphlet and protest 
 were entirely justifiable. England had been as 
 serting with renewed vigor her right of visitation, 
 which she now cleverly distinguished from search, 
 and had carried her principles into exasperating 
 practice. Mr. Eugene Schuyler, in speaking of 
 the treaty, has left the weight of his undoubted 
 authority in favor of General Cass s action. " For- 
 
 1 Niles, Ixi. p. 80, October 2, 1841. 
 
184 LEWIS CAS8. 
 
 innately," he writes, " our minister to Paris at that 
 time was General Lewis Cass, a man of great ex 
 perience, of decided views, and who had succeeded 
 in obtaining a very intimate and friendly footing 
 with the French government." 1 This author shows 
 more plainly than any one else has done, how the 
 defense of American rights on the seas is coupled 
 with the name of Cass. 
 
 The Ashburton treaty was signed at Washington 
 August 9, 1842. It was ratified by the Senate 
 August 26th, by a vote of thirty-nine to nine. 
 Webster could fairly pride himself upon the result 
 of the negotiations ; and the approval of the Senate 
 seems very complimentary to his efforts, if one 
 considers his anomalous condition. Even before a 
 treaty was signed, there were clamorous demands 
 for his resignation by the Whig newspapers ; for it 
 was hard to bear with equanimity that their own 
 giant should be used to sustain the renegade Whig 
 who occupied the presidential chair. Yet Tyler s 
 own self-satisfied suavity, it may be said, had aided 
 not a little in smoothing out the " wrinkles of ne 
 gotiation." 2 Virginian though he was, he first 
 suggested that each nation should keep a squadron 
 on the coast of Africa to suppress the slave-trade, 3 
 a stipulation which forms article eight of the treaty. 
 The squadrons were to be independent of each 
 other, but the two governments agreed, neverthe- 
 
 1 American Diplomacy and the Furtherance of Commerce, p. 252. 
 
 2 Schouler s History of the United States, vol. iv. p. 403. 
 8 Letters and Times of the Tylers, vol. ii. p. 219. 
 
MINISTER TO FRANCE. 185 
 
 less, to give such orders to the officers commanding 
 the respective forces as should enable them " most 
 effectually to act in concert and cooperation, upon 
 mutual consultation," as exigencies might arise, for 
 the execution of all such orders. 
 
 A copy of the treaty, and the news of its ratifi 
 cation, reached Paris September 17th, and Cass 
 immediately sent word to his government that he 
 could no longer be useful in his position, and that 
 his private affairs demanded his attention at home. 
 When later he had received letters and dispatches 
 from Mr. Webster in relation to the matter, he sent 
 a long communication in which he complained be 
 cause there was no renunciation by Great Britain 
 of her right of search. The pretensions of the 
 English in this regard had of late been productive 
 of some injury. American traders had been 
 stopped and searched with a view to ascertaining 
 their real nationality, and whether or not they were 
 slavers. Cass by his pamphlet and protest had 
 identified himself with the controversy, and now 
 that a treaty had been made and ratified he felt 
 piqued that England was not forced to forego 
 her assumption; his government had not gone so 
 far as he had expected, or as his protest had prom 
 ised. He was in an awkward position, and he tried 
 to extricate himself by criticising Webster and by 
 objecting to the treaty after it had been signed and 
 ratified. His own enthusiasm and sense had 
 prompted him to oppose Great Britain, and the 
 President had approved his conduct. But now 
 
186 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 affairs had taken a different turn. Resignation 
 was open to him, and a dignified withdrawal would 
 have been sufficient. A bitter correspondence, 
 however, which attracted a great deal of attention, 
 was begun between Cass and Webster. Adams 
 wrote about it in that bitter diary : " The contro 
 versy between Lewis Cass and Daniel Webster 
 about the Ashburton Treaty, the rights of visitation 
 and of search, and the Quintuple treaty, still, with 
 the comet, the zodiacal light, and the Millerite pre 
 diction of the second advent of Christ and the end 
 of the world within five weeks from this day, con 
 tinue to absorb much of the public and of my at 
 tention." He compared the " rumpus " to the com 
 plaints of Silas Deane and to Monroe s famous 
 attack upon the Washington administration. 
 
 The letters which passed between the ex-minister 
 and the Secretary of State have been published in 
 the public documents, and do not need presentation 
 here. The President reported them in answer to a 
 request from the Senate. Cass insisted that he was 
 thrown into an embarrassing position by Webster s 
 action, and charged that the country, through the 
 Secretary of State, had stultified itself in not making 
 a renunciation of the right of visitation and search 
 a condition precedent to the consideration of the 
 matters which were treated of in the eighth article. 
 He did not directly criticise the President and Sen 
 ate, but announced his belief that the ratification 
 of the treaty ought to have been coupled with an 
 express denunciation of the right of search. Web- 
 
MINISTER TO FRANCE. 187 
 
 ster, on the other hand, asserted that no such stand 
 was needed on our part, that the Ashburton treaty 
 reaffirmed and made stronger America s opposition 
 to English assumption on the seas, that the govern 
 ment of the United States relied on its own power 
 and not upon statements in treaties or conventions. 
 Again Mr. Webster ought to have been wiser. 
 Our vessels were being visited and searched in 
 spite of our " power " and our denial of such a 
 right. Short of war, negotiation was the only 
 means of obtaining cessation of such annoyances. 
 He himself found it necessary to protest in later 
 years. The odious right was claimed, and occa 
 sionally exercised, by Great Britain for sixteen 
 years, until Cass himself as Secretary of State took 
 up the old argument of his pamphlet which Web 
 ster had deemed inconclusive, and compelled the 
 English government to recognize its cogency and 
 publicly to abandon her pretensions. What Cass 
 said in these letters to Webster had already been 
 suggested in the debates in the Senate, and events 
 soon proved him "in the right and Mr. Webster 
 in the wrong." l The secretary in this correspond 
 ence quoted with approbation a passage from the 
 President s message, which intimated that the clause 
 of the treaty providing for cruisers on the coast of 
 Africa had removed "all pretext on the part of 
 others for violating the immunities of the Ameri 
 can flag on the seas." But English statesmen at 
 once repelled such an interpretation. " Nor do we 
 1 Schuyler s American Diplomaey, p. 255. 
 
188 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 understand," said Sir Robert Peel, then prime 
 minister, "that in signing that treaty the United 
 States could suppose that the claim was abandoned." 
 It was undoubtedly unfortunate that, at a time 
 when the statement would have carried peculiar 
 force, Webster did not see fit to announce our 
 unflinching adherence to our rights. 
 
 In one particular the ex-minister was wholly at a 
 disadvantage. The treaty as ratified was none of 
 his special business, and he was not called upon to 
 denounce it except as a private citizen. On the 
 other hand Webster was, as Sumner said, as pow 
 erful as he was unamiable, and the lack of good 
 humor gave his adversary an opportunity for effec 
 tive retort which he might otherwise have missed. 
 The quarrel continued until March, 1843, some 
 months after the return of General Cass from 
 Paris ; but, of course, nothing was accomplished by 
 it. It may be doubted whether this ill-natured 
 controversy was of great assistance in the race 
 for the presidency; probably it did help a little, 
 although the people of the country were, on the 
 whole, pretty well satisfied with the Ashburton set 
 tlement, and did not perceive the need of a bolder 
 stand against English presumption. 
 
 This matter has heretofore been treated of in a 
 partisan manner. The lives of Webster hold his 
 letters up for admiration. Cass s letters appear 
 without their answers in his biographies. Mr. Peter 
 Harvey has left us a story in his " Personal Remi 
 niscences and Anecdotes of Daniel Webster," 
 
MINISTER TO FRANCE. 189 
 
 which has found credence in the minds of more 
 trustworthy writers. According to this account, 
 Cass was so overwhelmed by the replies of Webster 
 to his attacks that he confessed himself beaten, 
 said his position was unbearable, and begged that 
 he be allowed to write another letter to which the 
 secretary should promise to make no surrejoinder. 
 This tale bears its own refutation on its face, but 
 it has been accepted even by those who have gen 
 erally placed the correct value on Mr. Harvey s 
 productions. 1 Cass was applauded and toasted for 
 his success in the controversy, and it is perfectly 
 clear that it did not detract from his popularity 
 and the high estimation in which he was held at 
 the time. Moreover in recognizing him as one of 
 their great leaders the Democracy accepted his at 
 tacks upon Webster. He had lost his senses, if 
 he whined for pity, as Harvey asserts that he did. 
 I have the explicit denial of this fact from Mr. 
 Charles E. Anderson, who was secretary of the le 
 gation at Paris, and who knew Cass with a keener 
 appreciation and with a better judgment than this 
 " loving and devoted Boswell " knew W r ebster. 
 
 " The sage of Marshfield " was mighty in argu 
 ment, but Cass was well able to hold his own. His 
 ability, of which there cannot be the slightest doubt, 
 his strength in debate, and his power in argument 
 
 1 Mr. Lodge in his life of Webster has declared that a more 
 untrustworthy book it would be impossible to imagine." Yet his 
 own admirable sketch of Webster s career has given new currency 
 to the tale. 
 
190 LEWIS CAS8. 
 
 have been greatly under-estimated since his death. 
 The eulogistic biographies which appeared in his 
 lifetime, though not without their merits, lack dis 
 crimination and lose the weight belonging to judi 
 cious approval. The generation of the Rebellion, 
 naturally enough, is but just emerging from a state 
 of antipathetic criticism of all who were not of the 
 vehement antislavery school. Those still living, 
 who knew Cass in his vigor, are not willing to 
 admit, whatever may have been their political con 
 victions, that in real strength and capacity, in men 
 tal virility or acumen, he was overmatched by any 
 save the very greatest of his day. His placid, 
 kindly disposition won for him a lasting affection 
 among those who knew him, and remembrance may 
 have warped judgment; but the name of Cass 
 recalls to an old Michigan "Whig a friend to be 
 loved and admired, and a foe to be dreaded. Of 
 the statesmen of his generation, only Webster sur 
 passed him in profundity of argument. Calhoun 
 excelled him in keenness and directness of debate. 
 Clay outstripped him in fiery beauty of eloquence 
 and in power for popular leadership. Although he 
 never tried to imitate the professional tactics of 
 Van Buren, the only Democratic leader comparable 
 to him, he at least equaled the " Little Magician " 
 in all the more graceful and honorable arts of 
 statesmanship. 
 
 The American citizens of Paris were loath to bid 
 farewell to the representative of their country, 
 whose constant attention and courtesy they appre- 
 
MINISTER TO FRANCE. 191 
 
 ciated. His residence was elegant and attractive. 
 " General Cass s hotel is furnished sumptuously," 
 wrote Charles Sumner in his journal. " The table 
 was splendid, and the attendance perfect ; servants 
 in small clothes constantly supplying you with some 
 new luxury. . . . Mr. Cass is a man of large pri 
 vate fortune, and is said to live in a style superior 
 to that of any minister ever sent by America." l 
 On November llth a public dinner was given the 
 retiring minister by his resident countrymen. The 
 expressions of regret at his departure were many, 
 and seemingly from the heart. The master of the 
 feast in his address reminded the company that 
 they had come together, without distinction of party, 
 to testify affectionate respect for their distinguished 
 guest. Making due allowance for the flattering 
 unction of post-prandial phrases, we still see that 
 the news-correspondent was right in his message, 
 which announced : " General Cass has won all 
 hearts at Paris. They loved the man ; they ad 
 mired the dauntless envoy of their country." 2 The 
 speech of General Cass in answer to the toast, 
 "Honor to our illustrious fellow-citizen, and a 
 happy return to a grateful country," was a finished 
 piece of declamation over the smiling Providence, 
 which especially shapes the ends of the United 
 States of America. His eloquence had the old- 
 fashioned sonorous quality. He offered none of 
 
 1 Memoirs and Letters of Charles Sumner, by Edward L. Pierce, 
 vol. i. p. 253. 
 
 2 Communication to New York Courier and Enquirer. 
 
192 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 " the foam Aphrodite of Bacchus s sea," nor the 
 froth and airy nothingness of modern after-dinner 
 speech-making. There was little to lighten the 
 heavy rhythm of his sentences. His response was, 
 as his addresses usually were, scholarly, philoso 
 phic, sensible, and, above all, democratic. He 
 could continually strike the keynote of the demo 
 cratic anthem, leaving the frivolous overtones for 
 more frolicsome speakers and writers. The pecul 
 iar victory of Cass as the champion of American 
 rights was applauded in the toast, " The sovereignty 
 of the seas, common to all nations, but exclusive 
 under every flag." 
 
 Another chapter of the career of Cass was ended. 
 He had conducted himself with rare discretion as 
 an American minister, and had quite outdone him 
 self as a politician. Diplomatic missions are usu 
 ally dangerous to political ambition, for absence 
 does not make the voter s heart grow fonder ; but 
 his six years residence abroad had increased his 
 reputation and his popularity. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A DEMOCRATIC LEADER. THE ELECTION OF 1844. 
 
 GENERAL CASS left his son-in-law, Mr. Ledyard, 
 as charge d affaires at Paris. After a voyage of 
 three weeks, not a slow trip for those times, he 
 arrived in Boston on December 6, 1842. The 
 people of the country were ready to welcome him 
 with enthusiasm. Immediately upon his arrival 
 the " citizens of New England," in a flattering let 
 ter, congratulated him on his safe return to his 
 native country, " after faithful and energetic service 
 in an important crisis " of his mission, and asked 
 for a meeting with him in Faneuil Hall, " the spot 
 in which of all others America would desire to 
 welcome her deserving ones." He was obliged by 
 other arrangements to forego the pleasure and the 
 profit of communion with the political spirit of 
 New England, and contented himself with meet 
 ing informally at his hotel those who wished to 
 pay their respects to him. In New York even 
 greater honors awaited him. A new luminary had 
 been discovered by the sweeping astrolabe of the 
 political astrologer. Ignorant of his fame and 
 unappreciative of the popular curiosity, he had in 
 tended to hurry on to Washington, and thence 
 
194 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 home, where business matters claimed his immedi 
 ate attention. But metropolitan democracy has 
 generally obtained what it has sought. The gov 
 ernor s rooms were tendered him, and there he was 
 received with cheers and all the approbation of 
 party and patriotic devotion. Such ceremonies 
 were bearding Van Buren in his very den ; but as 
 yet they could be accounted for as admiration for 
 the envoy whose boldness had dignified America. 
 
 These evidences of popular approval in Northern 
 States prove that his opposition to the quintuple 
 treaty was not considered truckling to the slave- 
 power. Although an abolitionist was still an out 
 cast, if no longer an outlaw, nevertheless open 
 bidding for southern favor or the use of a diplo 
 matic mission for the defense of slavery would have 
 been promptly resented. The political " bossism " 
 of the southerner added a sting to what might 
 have been otherwise harmless. Indeed that fact 
 must be remembered through the whole history of 
 the slavery question. Without doubt the immoral 
 ity of human bondage aroused the slumbering 
 consciences of the people ; the shrill cries of the 
 fanatic, the pleading eloquence of Phillips, the 
 wonderful bravery of Giddings and Adams, the 
 incessant agitation of a subject which would not 
 down, were more than mere steps in a progress 
 toward united northern sentiment ; they were pro 
 ductive of a thought which, in the end, led the 
 people, rejecting extravagances, to accept what was 
 politically sound and morally right. But the in- 
 
A DEMOCRATIC LEADER. 195 
 
 famous three fifths compromise gave power to the 
 owner of chattels, and allowed the representation 
 of things ; the domineering slave-baron, in the halls 
 of Congress, kindled by his insolent orderings the 
 resentment of the " d d trading Yankee." With 
 out doing injustice, therefore, to the impetus of 
 higher motives, or under - estimating the mighty 
 propelling power of any moral movement, simply 
 because it is moral, we must admit that, from the 
 contest in the constitutional convention down almost 
 to the closing scene in the drama, the North was 
 animated to special effort principally by the desire 
 for political equality. In every bitter struggle 
 with the South where northern representatives 
 showed themselves persistent and energetic, there 
 was some cement other than the moral one holding 
 them to their duty. So, even if hatred of the black 
 sin of the South had as yet found no broad resting- 
 place, jealousy of southern dictation, as well as 
 national pride and human shame, would have pre 
 vented the people of New York and Boston from 
 receiving with acclamations any one who in their 
 opinion had used a diplomatic office to pander to 
 the prejudices of the slave-owner, and had for per 
 sonal glory sought to shield a piratical traffic behind 
 his country s name and his country s honor. 
 
 Cass was welcomed at Washington by the Con 
 gressmen and satellite politicians who wished to 
 scan the face of a new prophet. All the way from 
 the capital to his Michigan home there were ap 
 plause and curiosity sufficient to satisfy the most 
 
196 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 hungry. He did not reach Detroit until February 
 14th, and his way from Washington was one tri 
 umphal march. The legislatures of Pennsylvania 
 and Ohio welcomed and honored him, and the gov 
 ernors and principal officers came out several miles 
 to escort him to their respective capitals, under the 
 firing of artillery, ringing of bells, martial music, 
 and a general turnout of all the volunteer militia. 
 It is interesting to read in Niles an item recounting 
 the popular enthusiasm over Cass, and by its side 
 to see another short paragraph telling how Henry 
 Clay was boisterously applauded at each step of a 
 journey through the South. There were warmth 
 and color in those young days of our country. 
 There were heroes and a hero worship strange to us 
 in these later days. A committee from Detroit met 
 their returning fellow-citizen at Ypsilanti, and he 
 was conducted to his home by the route he had 
 taken thirty years before, when he had hoped to 
 escort Brush with his supplies to the assistance of 
 Hull. Nothing speaks so well for Cass as the 
 honor he had at his own home. The city was en 
 thusiastically devoted ; he was the political Nestor 
 of the State. Without using the arts of machine 
 politics he retained his hold on the popular confi 
 dence and support, until the later spirit of liberty 
 demanded a new leader inspired by the gospel of a 
 new dispensation. 
 
 At a banquet given in his honor soon after his 
 return Cass was heartily toasted, with the hope of 
 adding another spark to the kindling enthusiasm of 
 
A DEMOCRATIC LEADER. 197 
 
 the country. His name was now fairly before the 
 people, and letters began to pour in upon him asking 
 him all conceivable questions and propounding a 
 series of enigmas, with the intention of ascertaining 
 his exact political belief by the Socratic and Yan 
 kee method of discovering truth. Before Cass had 
 reached Boston, on his return from France, the 
 Democratic Central Committee of Shelby County, 
 Indiana, summoned a convention of all who were in 
 favor of "the nomination of either General Cass or 
 Richard M. Johnson." In November, almost be 
 fore the glare of the rockets of the congressional 
 election had faded away, a convention of his friends 
 in Harrisburg announced their preference for Lewis 
 Cass as the next Democratic candidate for the 
 presidency. The " New York Herald," indorsing 
 the action of this convention, demanded new men 
 and a new movement. The congressional election 
 of 1842 had been unusually mild and sensible, and 
 in this sluggish indisposition the " Herald " saw 
 need for the tonic of novelty. None of the old 
 leaders could longer awaken enthusiasm ; " but the 
 movement now first made in Pennsylvania looks 
 more like the real spirit of the people than any 
 thing we have seen of late. In that State, and 
 in that way, did the name of Jackson and Har 
 rison come up, and carry all before them." Cass 
 was the very man, this paper declared, who could 
 with proper attention and effort be carried into the 
 presidency with a universal shout of acclamation. 
 The " Herald " went at it with a will, issued extra 
 
198 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 copies, and shouted in leaded lines for another hero 
 of 1812, believing that a new Jackson was found 
 to lead the chosen Democratic seed back from 
 captivity. 
 
 The Whig papers, curious and incredulous, 
 doubted the orthodoxy of the new candidate, and 
 the Democrats desired to be sure of him. Hardly 
 had he landed when a letter from Mahlon Dicker- 
 son, a fellow-member of Jackson s Cabinet, was sent 
 asking him for a full confession of faith. The 
 answer was frankly given. " I am a member of the 
 Democratic party, and have been so from my youth. 
 I was called into public life by Mr. Jefferson, thirty- 
 six years ago, and am a firm believer in the princi 
 ples laid down by him." Two short paragraphs, 
 in addition to this shrewd statement of old Repub 
 lican affiliation, announced hostility to a national 
 bank and belief in the saving efficacy of specie 
 payment. 
 
 Interrogatories to the various candidates before 
 the country were issued by a convention at Indi 
 anapolis early in 1843. To these, answers were 
 sent by Calhoun, Buchanan, Johnson, and Cass. 
 All sound the tocsin of faithful partisanship with no 
 uncertain sound. Even Calhoun, long a free lance 
 ready to strike at anything opposed to his cherished 
 state sovereignty and organized anarchy, seemed 
 to have temporarily left his nomadic politics. He 
 replied that he had no reason to doubt that his 
 friends would abide by the decision of a convention 
 fairly summoned to express the wishes of the party. 
 
A DEMOCRATIC LEADER. 199 
 
 All this looked like happiness and harmony. Cass 
 gave his answers to the questions at some length 
 and with great good sense. Having always enter 
 tained a doubt of the constitutionality of a bank, 
 he now condemned it ; the proceeds from the sale 
 of public land should not be distributed among the 
 States, because it was simply taking the money out 
 of one pocket to drop it into the other, and sums 
 equal to those distributed must needs be raised 
 again by taxation ; a tariff for revenue with inci 
 dental protection should be " wisely and moderately 
 established and then left to its own operation, so 
 that the community could calculate on its reason 
 able duration and thus avoid ruinous fluctuations ; " 
 an amendment to the Constitution limiting the 
 veto power seemed at the time unnecessary and 
 therefore inexpedient. All this constituted a suf 
 ficiently good platform. As affairs then stood the 
 Democratic party was without doubt lying quietly 
 at good anchorage. Would it be content without 
 the excitement and flurry of new and momentous 
 issues ? 
 
 On Jefferson s birthday the Democratic citizens 
 of Philadelphia celebrated the occasion, and Cass 
 was invited to be present. His well-worded letter 
 of regret was read amid the enthusiasm of those 
 present, and the following toast was offered : " Gen 
 eral Lewis Cass, the soldier, the diplomatist, and 
 the statesman : his correspondence with Webster 
 proves his knowledge of the American character, 
 and his ability to defend it." Lord Brougham s 
 
200 LEWIS CAS8. 
 
 bitter attack on Cass aided his popularity and his 
 chances for nomination. That noble lord accused 
 him of debasing himself to pander to the lowest, 
 meanest feeling of the " groveling and groundling " 
 politician, and asserted that he, an American minis 
 ter, had appealed to the hatred of England felt by 
 the " rabble." Such charges by a British aristocrat 
 were sweet morsels for the democracy on whom 
 Cass hoped to rely. In various portions of the 
 country wires were pulled for the new Michigan 
 candidate. A friend in New York insisted that 
 the elective offices ought to be divided among the 
 adherents of Cass and Calhoun as well as of Van 
 Buren, " so as to divide the loaves and fishes party." 
 Men in Pennsylvania, in accordance with Cass s 
 desires, deprecated the attacks upon Van Buren, lest 
 such conduct might react and insure the persistent 
 enmity of his followers. 1 
 
 Early in 1843, therefore, eighteen months before 
 the day of election, candidates for the Democratic 
 nomination were fairly before the country with a 
 careful, reserved, and negative policy. The only 
 difficulty seemed to lie in the choice of any one of 
 them as standard bearer. Many felt that Van 
 Buren had been harshly treated in 1840, and hoped 
 that the people, returning to reason, would undo 
 the riot of the last campaign and put the " Little 
 Magician " in the White House again. He had been 
 a brave and consistent leader ; and had been beaten 
 rather by the financial distress of the country and 
 
 1 Private papers of Lewis Cass. 
 
A DEMOCRATIC LEADER. 201 
 
 the sins which Jackson had visited upon him than 
 because of any errors of his own. But poetic jus 
 tice is not political justice ; and when once a candi 
 date has been defeated there is a natural hesitation 
 about sacrificing party interest on the altar of ide 
 alistic honor. Moreover Van Buren had had his 
 turn, and of course had satisfied only a portion of 
 the horde of hungry office - seekers. Those not 
 satisfied with their share of the spoils would natu 
 rally seek another leader, from whom they might 
 expect to obtain their desires. If he could not be 
 elected with prestige of success to buoy him up, 
 with the power of the office-holder to aid him, 
 what reason was there to expect his election after 
 he had been defeated, and when the office-holders 
 had nothing to gain and everything to lose by his 
 election ? Although the majority of the party were 
 still favorably disposed towards him, therefore, and 
 though many of the politicians still obeyed the 
 customary rein, and did becoming homage to their 
 peerless teacher, there was good reason to believe 
 that, even if no new issue presented itself, there 
 would be a strong effort for a new candidate in 
 whom the people might imagine any and all virtues, 
 and whose unknown quantity might be substituted 
 to solve widely different problems. 
 
 Buchanan could rely on the strong support of 
 Pennsylvania, his own State. He belonged to the 
 school of the cautious, judicious politicians, who 
 seek a safe retreat from worry and vexation in a 
 mild policy of indecision and wise delay. Richard 
 
202 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 M. Johnson of Kentucky was the reputed slayer of 
 Tecumseh. It might be doubted whether this fact 
 of itself qualified him for the presidency ; but that 
 was not the point at issue. It unquestionably added 
 to his availability as a nominee. He had been a 
 convenient and obedient cat s-paw for Jackson, a 
 harmless and purposeless Vice-President under Van 
 Buren, and was now refreshingly frank and coyly 
 open in the expression of his wants ; he would take 
 either the presidency or the vice-presidency as the 
 party desired. 
 
 There was never any real hope of Calhoun s nom 
 ination. His opinions were too dangerously evi 
 dent, and he was the enemy of the dying sage at the 
 Hermitage. He exhibited unexpected strength, 
 however, even in New York where Van Buren was 
 supposed to dominate matters ; for the young men 
 of the party admired the towering ability of the old 
 nullifier, who had now apparently drifted back 
 fairly within the headlands of the Democratic 
 haven. The experienced voter learns to estimate 
 aright the superiority of mediocrity ; but the young 
 voter places too high a valuation upon greatness. 
 Beyond all, Calhoun was of Irish descent, and the 
 potent bond of Celtic sympathy held for him the 
 allegiance of a powerful political constituency in 
 the great cities of the Atlantic seaboard, an ele 
 ment which has never been addicted to fair-weather 
 voting, or to off-year epidemics, or to despising the 
 primary meeting. Since the days of Jefferson 
 there has been an intimacy between the aristocratic 
 
A DEMOCRATIC LEADER. 203 
 
 South and the congested population of northern 
 cities, a union based partly, perhaps, on the very 
 name of the favorite party ; partly on the fact that 
 Federalists, Whigs, and Republicans have repre 
 sented the tariff, the bank, internal improvements, 
 and strong government ; partly on the fact that the 
 immigrant, who has come to the " land of freedom," 
 gravitates without thought to the party which was 
 born of opposition to centralization, and was the ad 
 vocate of individualism ; partly on the fact that de 
 mocracy represents what is peculiar to America, 
 and is forcibly distinct from the civilization of trans- 
 Atlantic countries, and is therefore attractive to him 
 who has shaken from his feet the dust of old asso 
 ciation. At this time the foreign element, especially 
 the Irish, was strongly Democratic ; for the Whigs 
 seem to have repelled them, and driven them to 
 vote " en masse against the candidates of the Whig 
 party." l For immigration had begun and had 
 awakened the fears of many Americans. In the 
 fourth decade of the century 538,381 emigrants, 
 and in the fifth decade about three times that num 
 ber, landed on our coast. 
 
 The old competitor of the Democracy was in its 
 turn girding itself for the race. There could be 
 no doubt who would be its leader. The victory of 
 Harrison and Tyler in 1840 had proved but a de 
 feat for the Whigs. Perhaps it was a just retribu 
 tion upon a party which had contented itself with 
 declamation and innuendo, and had drawn to itself 
 
 1 W. H. Seward s Works, vol. iii. p. 387. 
 
204 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 all the vexed spirits and the homeless malcontents 
 whose teeth had been set on edge by the personal 
 government of Jackson or the panic of 1837. 
 With one accord this conglomerate party, which 
 disappointment had pressed into some degree of 
 coherency, was decided this time upon the nomina 
 tion of nobody of unknown principles. It was 
 already shouting for " Harry of the West," who 
 was the very impersonation of Whig doctrine and 
 desire. When a party is unwilling to trust its 
 fortunes and its principles to its true leader, and 
 when in the hour of hope it deserts him on whom 
 it relies in the hour of trial and despair, its for 
 tunes are without real value and its principles of 
 no worth. If one were to seek for the secret of 
 the cohesion and the permanence of the Democratic 
 party he would find it largely in its devotion to its 
 leaders and its faith in itself. 
 
 There was another party, whose presence in the 
 coming election, was to have decisive influence, 
 which remained unnoticed in the early days of this 
 long campaign. Reference has already been made 
 to the Liberty party, composed of voting aboli 
 tionists, who had determined upon reaching their 
 ends by political means. Their insignificant vote 
 in 1840 had not discouraged them, and they were 
 again marshaling for the conflict with unsubdued 
 energy and enthusiasm. Northern opposition to 
 the "gag laws " had borne fruit in tolerance for 
 abolitionism. Adams and Giddings, on the floor of 
 Congress, had fought a good fight, which had won 
 
A DEMOCRATIC LEADER. 205 
 
 the admiration of the people. The " old man elo 
 quent" had lashed the slaveholders till they writhed 
 in mingled anger and chagrin, and the new Ohio rep 
 resentative, censured by the House for presumptuous 
 resolutions concerning slavery as a " municipal " 
 and not an international institution, had resigned 
 his seat, to be reflected by an overwhelming ma 
 jority. These men were the prophets crying in the 
 wilderness, making straight the way for final salva 
 tion from the curse of slavery. Adams was antici 
 pating the creed of the Republican party by twenty 
 years, devoted to the Union, opposed to the barbar 
 ism of the South, prophesying that slavery would 
 be engulfed in the abyss if the Southern States, 
 in the love of their sweet sin, should endeavor to 
 separate themselves from the Union. Although 
 neither of these men can be considered a member 
 in good standing of the Liberty party as a politi 
 cal organization, they blazed the way for constitu 
 tional and legal opposition. They attracted the 
 attention of the thoughtful, and won the respect 
 and sympathy of the generous. Yet Birney himself 
 fiercely assaulted Adams in a letter to his party, 
 and in the very district of the old hero cooperated 
 with the Democrats to defeat him. It was one of 
 the best instances of the way in which principle 
 sometimes runs away with reason, and sense is 
 smothered in sentiment. 
 
 Of the Tyler faction there is little to be said. 
 With a great estimation of himself and his popu 
 larity in the country, the President seems actually 
 
206 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 to have anticipated the support of the people. He 
 had turned his back on every Whig measure and 
 read every Whig guide-post backward, until at the 
 end of his administration he had passed by even 
 ultra-Democracy, and was hand and glove with 
 John C. Calhoun himself. A free use of the spoils 
 of office had failed to create a party devoted to 
 his interests, and in isolated self-sufficiency his 
 complacency was fed by the flattery of a cunning 
 " kitchen cabinet," which ruled him and moulded 
 his whims to suit themselves. The people abso 
 lutely refused to dance to his piping, and his " great 
 country party " proved but a sorry court party of 
 office-holders and office-seekers and political pa 
 riahs. 
 
 One question was coming ever more prominently 
 before the country should Texas be annexed ? 
 It will not do to go into the early history of the 
 Lone Star Kepublic and show how it broke away 
 from stagnant Mexico, how it was colonized by 
 slave-owners from the Southern States, who were 
 intent from the first on gaining new fields and in 
 troducing their system, and by that element of our 
 population which is always ready for excitement 
 and peril. The annexation plan began in conspi 
 racy ; it was carried along by the dark and devious 
 machinery of sly diplomacy ; it ended in a dis 
 graceful war, waged under false pretenses, and 
 brought by swaggering success to a shameful end. 
 
 Tyler thrust the Texas question into the face of 
 the country. Webster retired from the foreign 
 
A DEMOCRATIC LEADER. 207 
 
 office in May, 1843, and after a short interim, when 
 the duties of the office were performed by Legare, 
 Upshur was appointed, to be followed on his death 
 by Calhoun. The appointment of the great advo 
 cate of slavery meant that annexation would be 
 carried to a conclusion. The plan had for some time 
 been cautiously whispered over in meetings of the 
 President s intimates. Upshur had used a bullying 
 tone to Mexico, and hints of affectionate consider 
 ation had been given to Texas. Calhoun, now at 
 the head of a proslavery Cabinet, and the adviser 
 of a slaveholding President, bent his energies to 
 obtain more territory where the industrial system 
 of the South might have more room and full play. 
 The annexation of Texas is the first great effort 
 on the part of the slave States to get vantage 
 ground for bond labor in its unequal wrestle with 
 the labor of the North. Of course, vainglory and 
 national pride clothed a loathsome plan with pa 
 triotism, and blinded the eyes of many people to 
 its real intent. Immediate " re-annexation " was 
 daily becoming more popular as a campaign cry, 
 and it soon became evident that it must be a deter 
 mining quantity in the coming election. In spite 
 of the fact that the idea had at first shocked and 
 surprised the people, when they were allowed to 
 look behind the curtain, they soon endured it, and 
 at last embraced it. Every day the danger became 
 more imminent that no candidate could expect 
 southern sympathy and support who was unwilling 
 to adopt as his own this unjustifiable scheme. It 
 
208 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 did not appear to the whole North in its worst 
 light, for there was a cry that England had her 
 hand in the mess, and that if the United States was 
 not on the watch the Lone Star would be added to 
 the Union Jack. Such artful and revolting deception 
 was enough to awaken the patriotism of the North, 
 although the truth seems to be that all that Eng 
 land desired was to win Texas for abolition and 
 liberty, at the same time, however, probably de 
 siring that no other power should profit by annex 
 ation. 
 
 On the same day in April, 1844, two letters ap 
 peared opposing the acquisition of Texas. One 
 was from Clay, who believed that he could recon 
 cile friends and foes. 1 The other was from Van 
 Buren, who entered into a full discussion of the 
 matter from its beginning, and expressed his un 
 qualified dissent from annexation. Clay had not 
 materially injured his chances, for the Whig party 
 was never so strong in the South or so bed-ridden 
 with slavery as was the Democratic ; but from the 
 date of this letter Van Buren s prestige began to 
 decline. Hitherto he had bent the suppliant knee 
 to the slavocracy ; but here was a breach of disci 
 pline not to be tolerated, and a search was begun 
 for a candidate who could be relied on. Jackson 
 had already written a letter in favor of annexa 
 tion, in which he spoke of the necessity of having 
 Texas for military reasons, and called up the hor 
 rors of a servile insurrection which might be en- 
 
 1 Coleman s Crittenden, p. 218. 
 
A DEMOCRATIC LEADER. 209 
 
 gendered by a British army, if the territory did 
 not fall to us. A second letter from Old Hickory, 
 wrung from him by Van Buren s friends, disclosed 
 him clinging to both poles, true to Van Buren 
 and true to annexation, intimating that his past 
 grand protege had spoken in ignorance, and that 
 all would be right when it came to the pinch. 
 
 Cass was ready to throw himself into the breach. 
 He had been urged by friends to embrace his op 
 portunity the moment that Van Buren declared 
 against Texas. A letter written from Detroit, May 
 10th, was decidedly for annexation. It was ad 
 dressed to Hon. E. A. Hannegan, at Washington. 
 Its publication won for him support from the im 
 mediate annexationists. It struck the old key, and 
 the only one which could awaken a sympathetic 
 response in the North. Praising the " intuitive 
 sagacity " of Jackson, and appealing to American 
 fear and jealousy of English ambition, Cass put 
 this question, shrewdly adapted to inspire the pa 
 triotism of the North and to excite the South to 
 fury : " What more favorable position could be 
 taken for the occupation of English black troops, 
 and for letting them loose upon our Southern 
 States than is afforded by Texas ? " The end of 
 this letter was worthy of the beginning : " Every day 
 satisfies me more and more that a majority of the 
 American people are in favor of annexation. Were 
 they not, the measure ought not to be effected. 
 But as they are, the sooner it is effected the better. 
 I do not touch the details of the negotiation. That 
 
210 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 must be left to the responsibility of the govern 
 ment." 1 Vox populi, vox del. Into how many 
 slums and sloughs of wickedness did that absurd 
 Democratic shibboleth summon the country ! There 
 was to be no virtue in statesmanship except in 
 clairvoyant reading of the popular will. Obedi 
 ence was the first and greatest commandment, and 
 a regard for it allowed the politician and self-seeker 
 to pose as a ministering angel obeying the divine 
 voice. 
 
 Yet one who studies the career of Cass from the 
 beginning will see elements of earnestness and 
 sincerity in this letter, demagogic as it seems at 
 first. It was another instance of his somewhat 
 absurd yet natural antipathy to England. More 
 over, his practice had been from the beginning to 
 respect and cherish the whims and fancies of the 
 people ; his admiration for Jackson was not feigned. 
 Had he opposed the annexation of Texas he might 
 have had little chance of nomination in 1844, but 
 his reputation for honesty and independence would 
 be higher with this generation. It is nevertheless 
 not fair to brand a man as a " doughface " because 
 he happens to be desirous of office and to advocate 
 a plan of action to which thousands around him 
 are attracted. Had he not been a candidate for 
 honors in the Democratic convention, his wish for 
 Texas would not seem strange to any one ; it would 
 be entirely consistent with his vigorous American 
 nature, with his broad western enthusiasm for 
 
 1 Niles, vol. Ixvi. p. 197. 
 
A DEMOCRATIC LEADER. 211 
 
 "bigness" and empire. His later championship 
 of our right to " all Oregon " has never been at 
 tributed to demagoguery and insincerity, nor could 
 it be. The longing for territory is much the same, 
 whether the land lies toward the equator or the 
 pole. To call a man a " doughface " and a " north 
 ern man with southern principles," without at 
 tempting to show acts inconsistent with character, 
 training, sectional influence, and previous beha 
 vior ; to denounce him as a hypocrite without stat 
 ing more than one fact from which to infer hypoc 
 risy, is a practice more fitted to political harangues 
 than to history. We are just recovering from the 
 habit of talking as if every one who was not an 
 abolitionist or directly in favor of the uprooting of 
 slavery was morally weak, if not spiritually and 
 mentally crooked. This condemns nine out of ten 
 men at the North in the fifth decade of the cen 
 tury. It gives no room even for the play of con 
 servatism, for doubt, for mental inertia, for the 
 feeling so common at the beginning of every great 
 moral movement that the agitator is a senseless fa 
 natic. 
 
 After the appearance of Clay s letter, there was 
 short time for discussion before the Whig conven 
 tion assembled at Baltimore. Of course Clay was 
 nominated by acclamation ; a very whirlwind of ap 
 plause announced the beginning of a campaign with 
 confidence and enthusiasm. Theodore Frelinghuy- 
 sen was nominated for vice-president. A ratifica 
 tion meeting, one of the greatest pageants in the 
 
212 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 history of electioneering pomps, was addressed the 
 next day by the orators of the party. Even Web 
 ster, leaving his dalliance with " Tylerism," found 
 his way back into the old ranks, and thundered 
 out his approbation of the work of the convention. 
 There was no long and involved statement of prin 
 ciples. The name of Clay was enough. The con 
 vention was content with a short creed : " A tariff 
 for revenue to defray the necessary expenses of the 
 government, and discrimination with special refer 
 ence to the protection of the domestic labor of the 
 country ; the distribution of the proceeds of the 
 sales of public lands ; a single term for the presi 
 dency ; a reform of executive usurpations ; and 
 generally such an administration of the affairs of 
 the country as shall impart to every branch of the 
 public service the greatest practicable efficiency, 
 controlled by a well-regulated and wise economy." 
 
 Upon the publication of Van Buren s letter op 
 posing annexation, the South looked around cau 
 tiously for another candidate on whom it could 
 rely, and when the convention met Van Buren did 
 not receive the full vote of a single slaveholding 
 State except Missouri. Calhoun had withdrawn. 
 The South had fallen away to Cass and Johnson. 
 Except to those who saw how set the wind, the 
 nomination of Van Buren must have seemed pre 
 destined. State conventions in all parts of the 
 Union had instructed their delegates to vote for 
 him, and it was certain that he would have a ma 
 jority on the first ballot. Mutterings and com- 
 
A DEMOCRATIC LEADER. 213 
 
 plaints, ominous of disaffection, were heard in the 
 Southern States, and yet no one could have fore 
 seen that opposition to re-annexation had so under 
 mined him. This convention is an interesting one 
 from more than one point of view. The northern 
 wing of the Democratic party was clipped and crip 
 pled, as it was to be so many times in the future. 
 The South, with definite purpose begotten of com 
 mon material interest, won its way. This convention 
 marks a differentiation between the Democracy with 
 its southern proclivities and the Whig party, which 
 was hourly drifting farther from such moorings. 
 The Democracy was going over to the South ; the 
 Whig party was getting entangled in the skein of 
 "free soil and free men." In spite of the fact that 
 the Van Buren men had a majority of the conven 
 tion, and indeed because of that fact, a motion was 
 adopted requiring that a vote of two thirds was 
 necessary for a choice, a plan used in two previous 
 conventions. That the motion could be carried 
 amid much argument for its democracy and other 
 absurd falsehoods, proves that delegates instructed 
 to vote for Van Buren were ready to defeat him 
 and to vote for Cass or any other available Texas 
 candidate. Butler of New York and others ar 
 gued against the adoption of that rule, which has 
 more than once muzzled a Democratic convention, 
 but it was adopted by a vote of 148 to 118, almost 
 every one of the Southern States voting solidly for 
 the resolution. 
 
 The convention met on May 27th. The first 
 
214 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 ballot was taken on the afternoon of Tuesday, 
 giving 151 for Van Buren, 83 for Cass, 24 for 
 Johnson, and scattering votes for other candidates. 
 This showed a clear majority of 31 for Van Bu 
 ren. Seven ballots were taken in succession. 
 In the second Cass s vote increased to 94, aided 
 especially by votes from the New England States. 
 The seventh gave Van Buren 99, and Cass 123. 
 Every ballot showed the Michigan man steadily 
 gaining, and no other candidate holding his own. 
 But after an ineffectual effort to have the two thirds 
 rule rescinded, the convention adjourned until the 
 next morning. During the night the wire-pullers 
 set their machine in motion. Amid a great deal 
 of confusion and display of ill-temper an eighth 
 vote was taken, in which Cass fell to 114, and 
 James K. Polk of Tennessee received 44. The 
 trap had been sprung. A stampede, that well- 
 known phenomenon of these latter days, was begun. 
 The States swung slowly over to the new man, and 
 before the ninth ballot was finished the convention 
 was in an uproar. States changed their votes 
 from Cass, and Polk was unanimously nominated. 
 Cass had directed the delegates from Michigan to 
 withdraw his name at any time in the interest of 
 harmony. Texas annexation had won the day. 
 The Democratic party, shorn of its manhood, was 
 wooing the infamous policy of Tyler, Calhoun, and 
 slavery extension. George M. Dallas of Penn 
 sylvania was chosen for second place on the ticket, 
 to mollify the protectionists of the home-market 
 State. 
 
A DEMOCRATIC LEADER. 215 
 
 Polk was the first " dark horse " of the political 
 race-course. " The nomination was a surprise and 
 a marvel to the country." J Ben ton could find but 
 two small occurrences which might have served as 
 a warning of what was coming. These were well 
 calculated to deceive the people, and the conse 
 quence was that the result of the convention be 
 wildered the common voter. "Who the devil is 
 Polk?" was an inquiry constantly made, furnish 
 ing the Whigs with unlimited glee. The idea of 
 pitting an unknown fledgeling against their peerless 
 Clay seemed ridiculous, and Whig success from 
 the outset was believed to be assured. The con 
 vention is an early example of the efficiency of 
 such a tool in the hands of the skillful politician, 
 who has room for his work from the primary cau 
 cus up to the final nomination. 
 
 Had Cass been nominated, inasmuch as he was 
 pledged for annexation, he would without doubt 
 have been elected, and the canvass would have been 
 a fair combat with equal weapons ; but as Polk 
 was nominated by underhand methods, and against 
 the wishes of the bulk of the party, so the cam 
 paign was one of falsehood and intrigue. The 
 Democrats were at first capable only of sad jollity 
 in the presence of the excitement and confidence 
 of the Whigs, but as the months went on this 
 unknown chieftain aroused unexpected enthusi 
 asm, and it became apparent that Polk, with the 
 added cubit of annexation, was not the pigmy 
 1 Benton s Thirty Years View, vol. ii. p. 594. 
 
216 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 which he had been first considered by his supercili 
 ous opponents. " Polk, Dallas, and the Tariff of 
 1842 " was a mighty battle-cry. Never has there 
 been anything more shameful in political warfare 
 than the brazen charge in the North that Polk was 
 more friendly to the tariff than was Henry Clay 
 himself. With magnificent effrontery the Whigs 
 were dared to repeal their pet tariff. But Texas, 
 not the tariff, was the question of the campaign, 
 and had Clay been guided to the end by his earlier 
 and better motives, he might have won the day. 
 Texas was destined to be an American State, its 
 annexation meant more territory for slavery ; and 
 it can hardly be claimed that Clay seriously ob 
 jected because such would have been the result of 
 its acquisition. Nevertheless, had the Whigs been 
 victorious, the Mexican war might have been 
 averted ; Texas perhaps might have been secured 
 without a shameless disregard of constitutional law 
 and common national courtesy. 
 
 Clay, however, was uneasy. Trustful in his own 
 tact and his knowledge of the popular feelings, his 
 ready pen flowed smoothly on in letter after letter, 
 until at last appeared his famous Alabama letter : 
 " Far from having any personal objection to the 
 annexation of Texas, I should be glad to see it 
 annexed without dishonor, without war, with the 
 common consent of the Union, and upon just and 
 fair terms." The letters, written to win southern 
 voters, did not win them, but simply weakened his 
 support at the North. For the Liberty party was 
 
A DEMOCRATIC LEADER. 217 
 
 again in the field, with Birney at its head for the 
 second time, and the " Alabama letter " was an effi 
 cient weapon in many of the Northern States. In 
 the North Clay was attacked as a friend to annexa 
 tion, and in the South as a foe to it. One Whig 
 afterwards wittily remarked that " the only qualifi 
 cation he should ask of a candidate in the future 
 would be that he could neither read nor write." 
 It has been positively asserted recently that Bir- 
 ney s vote was greatly decreased by the " Garland 
 forgery," concocted by the Whig central committee 
 of Michigan ; 2 but without doubt Clay s letter 
 added more to the Liberty vote than was lost by 
 any other means. How deeply that shaft struck 
 home is apparent in reading the autobiography of 
 Thuiiow Weed, where he exposes the inmost re 
 cesses of his political soul; he sighs and mourns 
 over that fatal blunder years after it had dealt its 
 destruction. The vote of the Liberty party was 
 greater in New York than the Democratic majority, 
 and if they had united against Polk and annexation, 
 Clay, who represented the better elements of the 
 political life of the time, would have been elected. 
 Birney s home was now in Michigan, and here, too, 
 his party held the balance of power. It was omi 
 nous. The free Northwest was becoming imbued 
 with the abolition feeling. Cass s own State was 
 drifting away from proslavery Democracy. It will 
 
 1 Quoted in Schouler s History of the United States, vol. iv. p. 
 478. 
 
 2 James G. Birney and His Times, p. 354. 
 
218 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 be seen later how his fortunes were influenced by 
 the growth of this sentiment. " The abolitionists 
 deserve to be damned, and they will be," was a 
 usual expression of a common feeling. But only 
 four years later the Whigs of the Northwest were 
 dangerously near the principles of the party so 
 forcibly condemned in 1844. 
 
 Cass took an active part in the campaign, not 
 traveling over the whole country to speak for Polk 
 and Texas, but using his influence steadily for the 
 ticket, and not sulking in his tent because of his 
 own failure. A grand Democratic mass meeting 
 at Nashville, where Polk himself was present, was 
 one of the monster meetings so frequent during that 
 summer when men, dropping ordinary pursuits, 
 gave themselves up to the joyful excitement so dear 
 to the politics-loving people of the country. Cass 
 was one of the orators of the occasion, and on his way 
 back to Detroit addressed " immense multitudes " 
 at various places in Ohio and Indiana on the issues 
 of the campaign. All audiences were then " huge 
 concourses" or "immense multitudes," if we are 
 to believe the head-lines of the times ; and without 
 doubt the Northwest was alive and interested. 
 Cass returned to Detroit, prophesying that the 
 Northwest would give its suffrages for the Demo 
 cratic ticket. All but Ohio answered his expecta 
 tions, and in that State Clay received about 20,000 
 less votes than Harrison had received four years 
 before. The Northwest, in spite of the fact that 
 it had begun to lean toward free soil, was evidently 
 
A DEMOCRATIC LEADER. 219 
 
 still clinging to the idol of its youth. If Cass was 
 in favor of annexation so was his section, so were 
 his friends and companions in business and poli 
 tics. This is not complete justification. A states 
 man should be a leader, and should create sound 
 public sentiment. But we must remember that a 
 belief in the sacredness of popular clamor was a 
 living faith with the true Democratic statesman of 
 that time ; we must remember that Cass was a 
 western man, and filled with the western spirit ; 
 national grandeur and boldness in action, so much 
 admired by the western settler, had their charms 
 for him. It is just to take into account atmosphere 
 and environment. 
 
 The " dark horse " and his black policy, sped by 
 fraud and political trickery, won the day. The 
 nation seemed hushed and dumbfounded at its own 
 act. There was little rejoicing among the success 
 ful, and no glorification ; for many had voted for 
 Polk only in reluctant obedience to the party whip. 
 " It is hardly possible at this day," says an obser 
 ver, " to conceive the distress which pervaded the 
 city of Philadelphia the night following the news, 
 and for many days after. It was as if the first 
 born of every family had been stricken down. 
 The city next day was clothed in gloom ; thousands 
 of women were weeping, but none exulting." l 
 The election of Polk meant the immediate annex 
 ation of Texas, war with Mexico, the consequent 
 purchase of California, Nevada, and Arizona ; it 
 
 1 Sargent, Public Men and Events, vol. ii. p. 250. 
 
220 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 meant that the golden sands of that western wil 
 derness would be sifted and its quartz crushed, that 
 a magnificent city of American industry and 
 American liberty would stretch itself along the 
 windy heights within the Golden Gate ; it meant 
 that American civilization was to penetrate into the 
 nooks and corners of a country which might not 
 have given its blessings to the world for centuries if 
 held by the nerveless hand of Mexico. But one is 
 led to query whether wealth and national grandeur 
 are fairly purchased by dishonor. Even before the 
 great apostle of annexation reached the presidential 
 chair, Tyler and Calhoun had made the last propose 
 tion, and only the finishing touches were needed to 
 bring Texas within the fold. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SENATOR. CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY. - 
 SQUATTER SOVEREIGNTY. 
 
 ON February 4, 1845, Cass was elected to the 
 United States Senate from Michigan, and he was 
 present at the special session in March. He was 
 appointed to the second place on the Committee 
 on Foreign Relations, and during the remainder 
 of his public life was greatly interested in matters 
 of international concern. He at once took a prom 
 inent and influential position, and was recognized 
 as one of the leaders of the Senate. His speeches 
 were often too learned and too long to be convinc 
 ing ; his cumbersome sentences were not always 
 enlivening ; but when he rose to speak on a sub 
 ject in which he was much interested he was always 
 impressive. His large figure, his finely shaped 
 head, his firm mouth, and intelligent features 
 bespoke earnestness, thoughtfulness, and intellec 
 tual integrity. Through the rest of his life he was 
 the great champion of Americanism and national 
 honor; and though his continual guardianship of 
 of our country sometimes caused a laugh at his 
 expense in the few merry days which the Senate 
 enjoyed during these troublous times, his true pa 
 triotic fervor and his serious appreciation of our 
 
222 LEWIS CAS 8. 
 
 needs and our dangers won respect, while his cour 
 teous demeanor and his frank friendliness, which 
 knew not jealousy or envy, endeared him to politi 
 cal foes, and disarmed factious opposition. 
 
 The Democratic convention of the preceding cam 
 paign had mollified northern resentment by coup 
 ling the " re-occupation " of Oregon with the " re- 
 annexation" of Texas. Care for Oregon had long 
 been a favorite northwestern policy, and no doubt 
 the proclamation of these unexpected bans by the 
 Democratic party contributed largely to its success 
 in that portion of the country. Cass entered the 
 Senate bent on re-occupation, filled as usual with 
 the aggressive, hastening spirit of his ambitious 
 section. Polk, in his inaugural, had declared the 
 undoubted right of the United States to the whole 
 of Oregon, and now the country rang with another 
 artful alliteration, which was intended to drown 
 all feeble appeals to sense. Russia had receded 
 into the rains of Alaska north of 54 40 , and 
 America now claimed all the country intervening 
 between the northern boundary of California, then 
 Mexican territory, and the southern line of the 
 Russian possessions. " Fifty-four forty or fight ! " 
 was well calculated to tickle the brains of the 
 thoughtless and to arouse the ambition of the West. 
 There has always been an uneasy element in our 
 country preferring the adventure of new settlement 
 to the restriction and comfort of existence in older 
 communities. The rough Northwest was already 
 getting too crowded for these restless spirits. 
 
SENATOR. 223 
 
 People started in long caravans on their tiresome 
 journey over the dry and dreary plains of the West 
 in search of new homes on the Columbia River, 
 encouraged by the burning hope of the adventurer 
 and by patriotic devotion, fully persuaded of a duty 
 to wrest Oregon, as well as Texas, from the clutch 
 of England. 
 
 But Polk was only half-hearted. Texas was 
 made ours, and afterward Oregon seemed not of so 
 much consequence to him. Buchanan, the new 
 secretary of state, offered to accept the line of 49, 
 which already bounded our possessions as far as the 
 Rocky Mountains. The proposition was immedi 
 ately rejected by the British minister ; and our 
 government, piqued at the refusal of a fair compro 
 mise, presented claims to the whole region. Such 
 was the state of affairs when Congress assembled 
 in December, 1845. Although a new member, Cass 
 was not a stranger to national affairs, and the Ore 
 gon matter came near to northwestern feeling and 
 appealed peculiarly to personal prejudices. On 
 December 9th he introduced a resolution on the 
 defenses of the country, 1 and a few days later sup 
 ported it in an able speech, in which he held up 
 the spectre of war, and insisted that nothing but 
 sensible precautions would avoid armed collision 
 with Great Britain. This was the beginning of the 
 " exciting and at times inflammatory debates on the 
 Oregon question, which lasted, with intervals, for 
 months." 2 In January he delivered a long and 
 
 1 Congressional Globe. 
 
 2 Sargent, Public Men and Events, vol. ii, p. 271. 
 
224 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 eloquent address on European interference in Amer 
 ican affairs, and until the determination of the con 
 troversy he was the leader of the "fifty-four forties " 
 in the Senate. His continual reference to an " in 
 evitable " war came to be a source of amusement 
 to the senators ; but in the midst of all the heat 
 and anger of a discussion, which almost equaled in 
 acerbity the fiercest debates on the slavery question, 
 Cass never forgot his courtesy or lowered his dig 
 nity by personal abuse. The good humor of his 
 intense earnestness is illustrated by the story of his 
 rising to speak with the statement that he was not 
 going to make a war speech nor use the word " in 
 evitable." He had not proceeded far, however, be 
 fore the use of the familiar word put the House into 
 roars of laughter at his expense, in which he joined 
 as heartily as any. 1 It was during these debates 
 that Crittenden castigated Allen of Ohio so severely 
 for his superciliousness and invective, and that Han- 
 negan of Indiana made use of an expression often 
 appropriated since in political screeds : if Polk, he 
 said, had, during election, advocated the occupation 
 of Georgia for mere buncombe and claptrap, he 
 would be doomed "to an infamy so profound, a 
 damnation so deep, that the hand of resurrection 
 will never be able to drag him forth." 2 
 
 It is impossible to go into the whole discussion 
 of the Oregon question. Such controversies which 
 
 1 Sargent, Public Men and Events, vol. ii. p. 273. Newspaper 
 clippings in private papers of Cass. 
 
 2 Benton, vol. ii. p. 665. 
 
SENATOR. 225 
 
 find their origin and arguments in the diplomacy 
 of long past days, or in the uncertainties of dis 
 covery and exploration, can be ended by compro 
 mise alone, unless the stern hand of war interferes. 
 America had a color of title to the territory as far 
 as the possessions of Russia ; but that is about all 
 that can be said of it. Claims were traced back to 
 the early Spanish discoveries on the one hand, and 
 to the voyage of the buccaneer Drake on the other. 
 For Spain by the treaty of 1819 had ceded all her 
 claims to the United States. In spite, therefore, of 
 a number of long orations from Cass, who showed 
 a depth of historical knowledge and a power of 
 arrangement and argument which made him the 
 equal of Webster and of Benton in these debates, 
 the controversy ended in compromise. Seldom 
 does a senator in his first session step forward into 
 leadership ; but Cass seemed in a moment to be 
 at home, and was recognized immediately as chief 
 opponent or ally. He was of course struggling to 
 keep himself so before the public that his nomina 
 tion in 1848 might be certain. His speeches were 
 carefully printed, and a judicious circulation of them 
 kept him prominent as the patriotic champion of 
 American privileges. Although attached to party, 
 he absolutely refused to be identified with the ad 
 ministration on this issue. It was a movement of 
 his own. He could count on the sympathy of the 
 West, at least, and upon the common jealousy of 
 England ; and in so far as the Oregon question as 
 sumed serious form, or in so far as threats and 
 
226 LEWIS CAS8. 
 
 precautionary preparations for hostility brought 
 England to less arrogant consideration of the case, 
 the credit is largely due to Cass. 
 
 England was not pleased at all this. The Presi 
 dent, in a special message in March, advised an in 
 crease of the army and navy. On the receipt in Lon 
 don of the news that the House had passed a joint 
 resolution to give the one year notice for terminating 
 the joint occupancy of Oregon, stocks fell one per 
 cent, and consols more than two per cent. 1 Both 
 countries, however, soon softened down for amicable 
 settlement. The forty-ninth parallel was taken as 
 the boundary as far west as its intersection with the 
 channel " which separates the continent from Van 
 couver s Island." Cass and thirteen other extrem 
 ists voted against ratification in vain. Compromise 
 was sensible ; but had it not been for the " bluff " 
 of the " fifty-four forties" a fair bargain would 
 have been reached only with difficulty, if at all. 
 Had every one been as ready to renounce all claims 
 as were Webster and others from the beginning, 
 the outcome would have been doubtful. 
 
 Even more serious matters were holding the at 
 tention of the President and the country. The an 
 nexation of Texas had not driven Mexico to imme 
 diate war, but every day made hostilities more cer 
 tain. Slowly and craftily Polk proceeded to win the 
 coveted prize of California, to bully and to bribe 
 until poor Mexico should satisfy the unjust ambition 
 of a people who boasted of their liberty and enlight- 
 1 Niles, vol. Ixx. p. 65. 
 
SENATOR. 227 
 
 enment. The events of Folk s administration show 
 us how slavery had poisoned the whole national 
 system. After failure in secret negotiations, which 
 relied on a craven and abject spirit in the Mexicans, 
 General Taylor was ordered to occupy the territory 
 between the Nueces and the Eio Grande, a portion 
 of Mexico to which Texas had not the slightest 
 claim, except a paper one unsupported by successful 
 adverse occupation. His position threatened Mata- 
 moras. An engagement ensued. The President 
 proclaimed that American blood had been spilled 
 011 American soil, and Congress declared that war 
 existed by act of Mexico. 
 
 The legislation which carried on this war, begun 
 with these specious falsehoods, cannot here be 
 reviewed; but in these Democratic straits Cass 
 came forward once more as the champion of na 
 tional rights, and was the main stay of the Presi 
 dent and his party. The Machiavellian methods 
 of the administration have been fully made known 
 only recently, and we cannot charge that every 
 supporter of the war countenanced the whole pro 
 cedure, and was partlceps criminis to the whole 
 extent of the crime. Cass s speech on the Ten 
 Regiment Bill was good campaign powder. Not 
 that his defense of the measure was disingenuous or 
 insincere ; for no one can say that when once the 
 war was begun it ought not to have been carried 
 on effectually. The conduct of Cass as a Demo 
 crat is open to little criticism at this juncture ; and 
 possibly it would not be fair to expect him to see 
 
228 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 so clearly as those Whigs whose party interests 
 made their very prejudices incline towards the 
 right course, or as the younger men of the North, 
 who were growing restive under the saddle and 
 bridle of slavocratic masters. 
 
 Considerable space has been given to Texas and 
 the piratical assault on Mexico because the most 
 prominent fact of the later career of Cass is con 
 nected with this acquisition of new territory. On 
 August 8, 1846, a resolution was offered in the 
 House to appropriate 12,000,000 " for the purpose 
 of defraying any extraordinary expenses which may 
 be incurred in the intercourse between the United 
 States and foreign nations." This signified that 
 land was to be acquired from Mexico by purchase, 
 and in the course of the discussion David Wilmot, 
 a representative from Pennsylvania, offered an 
 amendment providing that the fundamental condi 
 tion to the acquisition of any territory from Mexico 
 should be that slavery should never exist in any 
 portion of it. The bill with the amendment was 
 passed by the House. But in the confusion at the 
 end of the session it was talked to death in the 
 Senate by Senator Davis of Massachusetts, who 
 was effusively defending the proviso when Congress 
 adjourned until the next session. Immediately 
 after the adjournment of the Senate Cass said that 
 he was sorry that the proviso had been lost. His 
 later acts were inconsistent with the inference 
 drawn from this remark, and great political capital 
 was manufactured in consequence. 
 
SENATOR. 229 
 
 At the next session of Congress, 1847, the pro 
 viso came up again as a rider to the appropriation 
 by the House of $3,000,000 for the purposes men 
 tioned before. But the Senate would not be thus 
 circumvented, and forced the House to agree to the 
 appropriation, riderless. During the session Cass 
 spoke often on the general proposition of voting 
 money to the government. On March 1, 1847, he 
 came out directly in opposition to the proviso. His 
 reasons were six : 1. The present was not the time 
 to introduce a sectional topic. 2. It would be quite 
 in season to provide for the government of a terri 
 tory after it was obtained. 3. Any such proviso 
 expressed too much confidence in the outcome of the 
 war. 4. Legislation at that time would be inopera 
 tive, and not binding on succeeding Congresses. 
 5. The adoption of the proviso might bring the war 
 to an untimely issue. 6. It would prevent the ac 
 quisition of a single foot of territory, and thus dis 
 appoint a vast majority of the American people. 
 He attempted to show by a course of very hollow 
 reasoning that the northern legislatures which had 
 passed resolutions deprecating the spread of slavery 
 would not be satisfied by the adoption of the pro 
 viso. Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, 
 New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and 
 Michigan had already passed such measures. The 
 Democratic legislature of Cass s own State had ad 
 vocated the extension of the Ordinance of 1787 
 over any new territory acquired. 
 
 This speech is the beginning of another chapter 
 
230 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 in the career of Cass. He had been the leader and 
 the prophet of his State and the Northwest. His 
 political life from this time on illustrates north 
 western development from the reverse side. His 
 energetic constituents, breathing the free air of the 
 West, their eyes open to national needs and to the 
 immorality of slavery, however much it might be 
 supported by constitutional props, have now out 
 stripped their leader, and erelong he will be looked 
 upon as the representative of their past beliefs and 
 their bygone acquiescence in a corroding sin. This 
 is the true interpretation of Cass s political life. 
 This is what makes him the best centre from which 
 to study the development of the Northwest as a 
 portion of the nation. The great movement against 
 slavery, it must be remembered, came from new 
 men. The old statesmen, who had grown used to 
 the pollution, were unable to take a stand in opposi 
 tion ; not Webster or Cass, but Seward and Lincoln 
 and Chase put the proper estimate upon the institu 
 tion. Yet the remarks of Senator Miller, after 
 Cass s objection to the proviso, are worth record 
 ing : " He was connected in many honorable ways, 
 in war and in peace, with the history of the North 
 west, and he is now one of its brightest ornaments, 
 commanding a position so high and so influential, 
 it was hoped, nay expected by all the free North, 
 that he would on this occasion have given all the 
 talent and influence within his control to extend 
 and secure to other territories that great ordinance 
 of free labor, the practical advantages of which, 
 
SENATOR. 231 
 
 % 
 
 social and political, he was so fully awaj e [of], and 
 no doubt highly appreciated." 1 s * 
 
 As the campaign of 1848 approached, it became 
 apparent that Cass was to be the favorite of the 
 Democratic party. His views on various subjects 
 were in consequence sought with care, and in the 
 course of the catechism he promulgated a doctrine * 
 which furnished material for discussion until de 
 bate was silenced by the more eloquent bombard 
 ment of Sumter. This was the doctrine of popular 
 sovereignty in the Territories. It was first fairly 
 announced by Cass ; he first introduced it as an 
 active principle in the political life of the time ; 
 he first marshaled arguments in its defense. It will 
 not do to say that he created it. No great thought 
 influencing the career of a free nation is begotten 
 in the brain of a single man, to spring into existence 
 at once endowed with full vigor. Senator Dickin 
 son of New York had already suggested the idea. 
 But Cass took the wandering, tentative suggestions 
 of statesmen and people, and combined them and 
 arranged them in a clear, succinct statement of a 
 great political principle. He first struck the clear 
 note, for which others had been unconsciously or 
 furtively feeling. In that sense he was the author 
 of the doctrine of which Stephen A. Douglas after 
 wards became godfather and fiercest defender. So 
 intimately did the later debates between Douglas 
 and Lincoln associate this theory with the name 
 of the former, that an explicit statement of its 
 
 1 Congressional Record, vol. xvii. p. 551. 
 
232 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 true origin is needed here. The " Little Giant," 
 a ready and active debater in years when Cass was 
 beginning to feel the burdens of age, leveled his 
 lance in agile defense of this proposition so often 
 and so valiantly, that to him has been attributed 
 a paternity to which he has no right. 
 
 In answer to queries from Mr. A. O. P. Nichol 
 son of Nashville, Tennessee, Cass wrote a letter, 
 December 24, 1847, which was the first embodi 
 ment of the doctrine of " squatter sovereignty." 
 The Wilmot proviso, he said, had been long before 
 the people, and he was impressed with the belief 
 that a change had been going on in the public mind, 
 and in his own as well as in the minds of others ; 
 doubts were resolving themselves into convictions 
 that the principle involved should be kept out of 
 the national legislature. He went on to argue that 
 the central government did not have the authority 
 to govern the Territories under those provisions of 
 the Constitution which grant " the power to dispose 
 of and make all needful rules and regulations re 
 specting the territory and other property belonging 
 to the United States ; " that the lives and posses 
 sions of citizens could not be controlled by an au 
 thority which was merely " called into existence 
 for the purpose of making rules and regulations 
 for the disposition and management of property." 
 "If the relation of master and servant may be 
 regulated or annihilated ... so may the relation of 
 husband and wife, of parent and child, and of any 
 other condition which our institutions and the habits 
 
SENATOR. 233 
 
 of our society recognize." The internal concerns 
 of the Territories ought, he maintained, to be regu 
 lated by the people inhabiting them, without mo 
 lestation or direction from Congress. " They are 
 just as capable of doing so as the people of the 
 States ; and they can do so at any rate as soon as 
 their political independence is recognized by their 
 admission into the Union." Even if the central 
 government could interfere with the internal affairs 
 of the Territories, a proposition which he denied, 
 it would be inexpedient to exercise a doubtful and 
 invidious authority that statehood would soon 
 brush away. 
 
 The Ordinance of 1787, under which Cass had 
 acted as governor, and which bestows upon the 
 appointees of the central government almost de 
 spotic power, did not furnish good material for his 
 arguments. But he succeeded in presenting with 
 great ability his belief that the Territories ought 
 to decide for themselves whether or not slavery 
 should exist within their limits. It was not such 
 an easy task as it might seem at first to prove the 
 unreasonableness of this doctrine. It was after 
 wards so ably defended as to win the favor of the 
 northern Democracy until the outbreak of the war. 
 Nevertheless, the author of a principle which half 
 the North accepted has, without fact or testimony, 
 been charged with selfish insincerity in its inception 
 and advocacy. We can judge of animus and mo 
 tive only from acts. The rest of the life and con 
 duct of Cass furnish 110 evidence to sustain the 
 
234 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 charge of inconsistency or insincerity in the Nich 
 olson letter. While governor he had encouraged 
 popular participation in the affairs of the Ter 
 ritory, had aided and promoted local self-govern 
 ment, had obeyed the wishes of the people without 
 regard to his own official right of appointment, 
 and had yielded other high prerogatives. His 
 democracy was orthodox, and his practice cannot 
 be shown to have varied from his fundamental 
 theory. His article on the removal of the Indians, 
 published twenty years before this, contains an ex 
 act parity of reasoning. Moreover, if in drafting 
 this letter he was hollow and insincere, hoping by 
 dodging an issue to win southern support without 
 losing northern favor, the same indictment must be 
 brought against many others in whom the people 
 of Michigan have had the utmost confidence. He 
 was warned by the most influential of his col 
 leagues from his State of the danger of writing 
 letters, but when this letter was shown them before 
 its publication they accepted its principles. 1 From 
 the information I have been able to obtain by con 
 versation with those who were intimate with Gen 
 eral Cass at the time, I have been induced to draw 
 the conclusion that his Nicholson letter was a frank 
 statement of his conscientious belief, not an avoid 
 ance of a dreaded issue nor an attempt to devise 
 new interpretations. 2 
 
 1 Conversation with Governor Alpheus Felch, Senator from 
 Michigan, 1847. 
 
 2 See, also, Judge Cooley s Michigan, p. 205. 
 
SENATOR. 235 
 
 Within three years after the appearance of Cass s 
 letter four distinct solutions of the problems aris 
 ing from the acquisition of new territory were pre 
 sented and found their advocates : first, the prin 
 ciple of the Wilmot proviso : that slavery should 
 be entirely excluded ; second, the doctrine of Cal- 
 houn : that slaves were property, and that it was 
 the bounden duty of Congress to protect the rights 
 of the southerner to his slaves within territory of 
 the United States, just as the law protected prop 
 erty in sheep and oxen ; third, that the line of 
 36 30, extended to the Pacific, would be an equi 
 table division ; fourth, that the people of the 
 Territories ought to be allowed to decide the ques 
 tion for themselves. This last was nicely calcu 
 lated to take its skillful way between the two ex 
 tremes. It is not unreasonable to think that Cass 
 hoped and believed that popular sovereignty would 
 show the advantage of freedom over slavery, and 
 that the Territories would be won naturally for 
 and by free labor. Thus his action is interpreted 
 by men who were his political opponents at the 
 time. 1 In February, 1848, the treaty of Guadalupe 
 Hidalgo added to the United States a half million 
 of square miles. Whether or not this territory, 
 stretching away from the western boundary of 
 Texas to the Pacific, was to be inundated by the 
 black tide of slavery or consecrated to freedom, 
 was the question which awakened the people of 
 the country ; and all the hushing cries of the con- 
 
 1 Private correspondence with the author. 
 
236 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 servatives, who cried down and frowned down 
 "agitation," could not lull the men of the North 
 to sleep. 
 
 Cass received from various quarters recommen 
 dations and nominations for the presidency in 
 1848. His only serious competitor was Buchanan, 
 and when Pennsylvania announced in convention 
 that Cass was her second choice, the people of the 
 country saw that she had practically given way 
 before the popular demands for the northwestern 
 candidate. But the party was not without its 
 schisms. New York was torn by conflicting fac 
 tions, separated largely on personal issues. The 
 fond personal attachment for Yan Buren, which 
 argues more strongly than words that he was not 
 all a political juggler, held many old stalwarts of 
 the party in faithful adherence to him. His rejec 
 tion by the convention of 1844 because of his op 
 position to annexation had won a semi-trustful 
 respect from the haters of slavery who were not of 
 his party, and had kindled an unexpected spark in 
 the hearts of his old friends, who had seen no 
 wrong in human bondage till their chief was repu 
 diated by the slave-owners. Silas Wright, a Van Bu 
 ren Democrat, had accepted the nomination for gov 
 ernor in 1844, and his name was invoked in behalf 
 of Polk and the straight ticket. In spite of this, 
 the " wheelhorses " of the party were not rewarded 
 for their labors ; after some offers to give what the 
 Van Buren faction did not want, the spoils were 
 turned over to the other faction by the President, 
 
CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 237 
 
 who was thrown into an agony of jealousy when it 
 was asserted that Wright had elected him. Hun 
 ger for office, therefore, and disappointment put the 
 disaffected ever more at variance with the ortho 
 dox Democrats who supported the administration. 
 The supporters of Wright and Van Buren were 
 sneered at as "Barnburners," a name borrowed from 
 the recent disturbances in Ehode Island, where the 
 defeated Dorrites, it was alleged, had sought revenge 
 by burning the barns of the law-and-order party. 1 
 Their tampering with anti-slavery suggested that 
 the name was an allusion to an " anti-Radical story 
 of a thick-skulled Dutchman who had burnt his barn 
 to clear it of rats and mice." 2 Marcy s faction, 
 representing the conservative men of the party, 
 who were ready to abide by the pro -slavery acts of 
 the administration, were dubbed " Old Hunkers," 
 the name referring to their " hankering " for office, 
 or perhaps simply to their heavy, plodding conser 
 vatism in matters of state policy. As the slavery 
 question came more prominently before the coun 
 try, the Barnburners and the Whigs in New York 
 cooperated to discountenance slavery extension, 
 and the two factions of the Democracy became 
 more widely separated. Many, of course, were not 
 so much friends of freedom as foes to those who 
 had disappointed their own fond hopes for their 
 chief ; and longings for revenge were at the bottom 
 of many of their aspirations for free soil. Such per- 
 
 1 Autobiography of Thurlow Weed. 
 
 f> TIT"? A 1 _ _ -I O 4f\ -t -t 
 
 Whig Almanac, 1849, p. 11. 
 
238 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 sons ultimately dropped back into the pro-slavery, 
 non-interference wing of the party, so soon as per 
 sonal disputes again gave place to vital political 
 principles. A moral reform gets no real life blood 
 from pique. 
 
 After the Democratic convention of Syracuse, 
 September, 1847, the warring cliques were so 
 widely separated by questions of policy, as well as 
 by jealousy, that they can scarcely be considered 
 portions of one party. At that time a resolution 
 was offered on the part of the Barnburners, de 
 claring " uncompromising hostility " to the exten 
 sion of slavery into the Territories then free. The 
 refusal of the convention, which was plainly in the 
 hands of the Hunkers, to accept this caused the 
 secession of their opponents, who thereupon or 
 ganized for themselves, and prepared to contest the 
 seats of the delegates chosen for the national 
 Democratic convention. The Van Buren men an 
 nounced the severance of all bonds which would 
 bind them to vote for a presidential candidate who 
 was pledged against the Wilmot proviso. Thus 
 the fall elections of 1847 in New York showed 
 how utterly demoralized the party was in that 
 State ; the Whigs elected their ticket by over thirty 
 thousand majority, and unless these grievous 
 wounds could be healed there was little hope for 
 the candidates presented by the Baltimore conven 
 tion. 
 
 But the healing art is quite beyond the intelli 
 gence of a popular gathering, and when the na- 
 
CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 239 
 
 tional convention met, in May, 1848, it attempted 
 a simple cure by offering to admit both factions to 
 active participation in its proceedings. The com 
 mittee on credentials first tried to bind both dele 
 gations to abide by the decision of the convention. 
 This the Barnburners refused to consent to, and 
 in consequence New York had no further share in 
 the proceedingSo Cass was nominated on the 
 fourth ballot. General William O. Butler of Ten 
 nessee was presented for vice-president. These 
 nominations were received with satisfaction by the 
 party. Independent newspapers acknowledged the 
 upright character and ability of General Cass, and 
 prophesied his election unless the Whigs should 
 present a man who possessed the popular confi 
 dence and respect. Success was, however, far 
 from certain. The Hunkers acquiesced quite 
 readily, and were thus fairly installed as the " reg 
 ular " Democratic party of New York. But the 
 Barnburners were now more fierce than ever, for 
 the Van Buren men had never forgiven Cass for 
 his candidacy in 1844 ; and, moreover, he now 
 stood out conspicuously as the opponent of the 
 Wilmot proviso. Those who were Free-Soilers for 
 personal considerations, as well as those who had 
 conscientious scruples, were held by this nomina 
 tion in political affinity. 
 
 The Baltimore convention handled the slavery 
 question with that masterly caution which was to 
 characterize its action until the Rebellion. The 
 southern wing must be kept true to its work by 
 
240 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 statements which were also shrewdly calculated not 
 to turn away northern adherents. From this time 
 forward the regular programme was to deprecate 
 discussion, and to beseech the people of the North 
 to rest in security on the bosom of the Constitu 
 tion. A platform of platitudes declared that Con 
 gress had no authority to interfere with slavery in 
 the States, a very safe proposition, and then 
 condemned all efforts to induce it to interfere with 
 questions of slavery, or to take " incipient steps 
 thereto." Yancey of Alabama offered a resolution 
 so cleverly worded that Benton himself seems to have 
 misunderstood the meaning of its rejection : " The 
 doctrine of non - interference with the rights of 
 property of any portion of this confederation, be 
 it in the States or in the Territories, by any other 
 than the parties interested in them, is the true re 
 publican doctrine recognized by this body." This 
 article of faith was rejected by a vote of 246 
 against 36. The non-interference advocated by 
 Yancey was apparently the absolute " non-inter 
 ference " of Calhoun. The refusal of the con 
 vention to accept the resolution may have come 
 merely from a wish not to publish its sentiments ; 
 but, on the other hand, it may have been a tacit 
 declaration of a belief in the right of States and 
 Territories to " interfere " and to settle the ques 
 tion of slavery within their limits, which was the 
 Cass doctrine of popular sovereignty. 
 
 Upon receiving the news of his nomination, 
 General Cass wrote a brief letter of acceptance, 
 
CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 241 
 
 acquiescing in the platform of the convention. He 
 stated his determination, if elected, not to be a 
 candidate for reelection, a pledge that seems to 
 have had a certain popularity in those days. He 
 believed that the real difference between the two 
 great parties was the difference between Hamil- 
 tonism and Jeffersonism. With a " sacred regard 
 to the principles and compromises of the Consti 
 tution, " he earnestly desired their maintenance 
 " in a spirit of moderation and brotherly love so 
 vitally essential to the perpetuity of the Union. 
 He at once resigned his seat in the Senate as incon 
 sistent with his presidential candidacy, and pre 
 pared for the active work of the campaign. 
 
 The Whig party had no principle it dared to 
 avow. It had been so long toying with its better 
 self that a serious regard for its own high aims 
 seemed lost in the frivolity of the excited hunt 
 for office. At the best the party was moribund ; 
 but it was determined now upon one frantic effort 
 for success ; for the dragon of Democracy seemed to 
 sit as perpetual guardian of the golden apples of 
 the public patronage. Yet its course for the past 
 few years had been its greatest. Its leaders had 
 constantly objected to the crimes of " Polk the 
 Mendacious ; " and had it now dared to utter the 
 thought which arose in it, a new lease of life would 
 have been given to it ; nay, more, the very foun 
 tain of youth was at its lips, offering a vigor which 
 it had never yet possessed in the vital elixir of a 
 great moral principle. Clay, still at the head of 
 
242 LEWIS CASb. 
 
 the party, held the deep affection of its members. 
 His many defeats, however, had tempered their 
 admiration with discretion, and though he was 
 hopeful and bright under the lengthening shadows 
 of age, and felt his heart beat as quickly at the 
 prospect of success as it had done twenty years 
 before, even some of his personal friends and devo 
 tees searched for some one who would win more 
 votes and appeal to the people with the enthusiasm 
 of novelty. Webster never had any chance for 
 nomination to the presidency, as indeed no New 
 England man of principle and vigor could have. 
 Scott had won his spurs in the war of 1812, and 
 had since that time been kept before the people 
 because of his military position. The Mexican 
 war gave him opportunities to attract attention, 
 but he was from the first overshadowed by Taylor, 
 whose rough energy had caught the popular fancy, 
 ever ready to clothe with heroic ornaments and to 
 endow with heroic spirit the image of its own wor 
 shiped self. Such has been the history of the Dem 
 ocratic spirit. Not even Jefferson, who taught and 
 led, became the perfect popular hero ; but Jackson, 
 who certainly did not pose above the people to in 
 fluence or instruct them, became the one real dic 
 tator whom the country has had. Taylor, there 
 fore, from the first was sure of strong support in 
 opposition to the other three possible candidates, 
 if he could be brought before the people with 
 adroitness, and could be shown in politics, as well 
 as in war, to be possessed of a rough, hearty devo- 
 
CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 243 
 
 tion to his country s interests. He must, of course, 
 have slight predilections to Whiggery to keep the 
 party in countenance. But the country was for 
 the moment weary of this ceaseless conflict of old 
 party principles, of questions about national banks 
 and internal improvements ; the Whigs desired 
 above all to shun any true issue brought up by the 
 war and the new territory ; and the candidate who 
 has no gospel to preach is sure of the support of 
 those who would rather talk than listen. 
 
 Thurlow Weed takes to himself the credit of first 
 proposing the name of General Taylor. Soon after 
 the battle of Resaca de la Palma, in May, 1846, 
 this cunning prophet, who in the past had often 
 played the Cassandra in Whig councils, met the 
 brother of Zachary Taylor, and after asking him of 
 the general s health and inquiring as to his political 
 " prejudices," remarked quietly, " Your brother is 
 to be our next president." Weed thought it advis 
 able to send the " rough and ready " soldier some 
 suggestions concerning his conduct, and they ad 
 mirably illustrate the nature of this whole cam 
 paign from the Whig standpoint. The general 
 was warned that if he kept "his eyes toward 
 Mexico, closing them and his ears to all that was 
 passing behind him, the presidential question would 
 take care of itself and of him; . . . and that, 
 finally, if General Taylor himself left the question 
 entirely to the people they would certainly elect 
 him." At the start Taylor was probably quite in 
 earnest in his short letter, which said that he had 
 
244 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 enough on hand in Mexico without paying any 
 attention to presidential prospects. Until the con 
 vention he was fairly circumspect and silent. In 
 the beginning surprised at his own prominence and 
 distrusting his own ability, he soon came to look 
 with the eyes of others, and to entertain an ambi 
 tion which bade fair to make him dangerously rest 
 less. But he consistently proclaimed himself a 
 candidate of the whole people rather than a strait 
 ened party man, and finally said he would not with 
 draw even if Clay were nominated, for no nomina 
 tion, he said, would occasion a change of principles 
 or make him the creature of party prejudices. 
 
 The Whig convention assembled in Philadel 
 phia June 7, lff 8. An exciting contest followed. 
 While the majority of the party still clung fondly 
 to the idol of their past, the chief engineers of the 
 machine had determined that sentiment must make 
 way for availability. On the first ballot Taylor 
 received 111 votes, Clay 97, Scott 43, Webster 22. 
 On the fourth Taylor had 171 and Scott 63. Clay 
 had but 32 and Webster 13. Millard Fillmore 
 of New York was nominated for vice-president. 
 Such was the result of the convention, which was 
 branded as the " slaughter-house of Whig princi 
 ples." 
 
 There was only one issue before the country, and 
 that was whether or not the new territory of the 
 West was to be given to slavery or dedicated to 
 freedom. But the convention retained its self-pos 
 session with regard to this matter as patiently as 
 
CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 245 
 
 had its opponent, and was content to push on to 
 the hustings a man who stood for no policy, whose 
 ideas were not known on a single great problem of 
 government, who had no experience in civil life, 
 who had never so much as exercised the right of 
 suffrage, whose knowledge of public men and events 
 was confined to the information he might desulto 
 rily gather at a frontier post from the newspapers 
 and periodicals of the day. But there were many 
 members of this assembly who would not be bound 
 by its insolent indifference to the sentiment animat 
 ing the great mass of the party, especially in New 
 England and the Northwest. In Massachusetts 
 there was a division into "Cotton Whigs" and 
 "Conscience Whigs," and in the Northwest not 
 only did the Liberty party have strength, but the 
 Whigs also in various ways had proclaimed oppo 
 sition to slavery extension. In the convention, im 
 mediately after the announcement that Taylor had 
 received the nomination, a series of declarations 
 were made by delegates from Massachusetts and 
 Ohio which caused the wildest excitement, and 
 showed clearly enough the disorganization of the 
 old party. Allen of Massachusetts pronounced the 
 Whig party disbanded, uttering the prophetic 
 words that " under the providence of God its disso 
 lution may be for the benefit of humanity." Henry 
 Wilson proclaimed that he would not recognize the 
 nomination. " We have nominated a candidate 
 who has said to the nation that he will not be 
 bound by the principles of any party. Sir, I will 
 
246 LEWIS CA8S. 
 
 go home, and, so help me God, I will do all I can 
 to defeat the election of that candidate." Many 
 complained because " free soil and free territory " 
 had yielded to the discipline of the selfish heavily- 
 laden South, and because machine politics and chi 
 canery had overborne the real wishes of the people. 
 "That great moral principle," said Campbell of 
 Ohio, " which has fastened itself so firmly on the 
 free Whigs of Ohio, will arouse to action, in all 
 the majesty of her strength, the young giant of the 
 West." How true this was the speaker himself 
 could not have known ; the whole gigantic power 
 of the West was to arise in a righteous fury in 
 defense of this great moral idea ; caution and old- 
 fashioned regard for order and organization might 
 still keep many within the old lines ; but the recre 
 ancy of the Whig party to the fondest hopes of the 
 free Northwest must sooner or later occasion the 
 conception of a new and overshadowing party, un- 
 trammeled by a past, unburdened by dead issues, 
 pressing forward to the goal of a high calling. 
 
 If the two great parties were satisfied to shut 
 their eyes to danger, and to pretend that there was 
 none, simply because they would not see it, such 
 voluntary blindness was intolerable for many whose 
 vision had been touched by the entering light of 
 truth. In the evening after the nomination of 
 Taylor, fifteen of the dissatisfied delegates met to 
 consider plans for the future. A mass convention 
 of the citizens of Ohio in favor of " free territory " 
 had been summoned to meet in Columbus in June, 
 
CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 247 
 
 and these fifteen conspirators for liberty decided 
 to use their efforts to persuade this convention to 
 issue a call for a national gathering at Buffalo. 
 The Ohio convention issued such a summons for 
 August 9th. About the same time the Barnburn 
 ers met in Utica. A letter was read from Martin 
 Van Buren, expressing his determination not to 
 accept a nomination, declaring his inability to vote 
 for either Taylor or Cass, and branding the exten 
 sion of slavery as a " moral curse." In spite of 
 this declaration he was chosen by the convention. 
 Henry Dodge, United States Senator from Wiscon 
 sin, was selected as the candidate for vice-presi 
 dent. Van Buren accepted. Dodge concluded to 
 support Cass. In November, 1847, the Liberty 
 party had nominated John P. Hale of New Hamp 
 shire for president, but there was definite hope that 
 the action of the Buffalo convention would be rati 
 fied. All waited, therefore, with some anxiety for 
 that meeting. Already the Democratic papers were 
 furious because the " Little Magician " had forgot 
 ten his past " greatness," and revealed the truth of 
 the " federal charges " that " Mr. Van Buren s dis 
 tinguished characteristics are selfishness and a pro 
 pensity for intrigue." 1 Even if there were no con 
 fluence of the different anti-slavery streams, Cass s 
 chances in New York were greatly lessened by the 
 Barnburner discontent, and party hatred of the 
 "renegades " was proportionately increased. 
 
 On August 9th there assembled at Buffalo a 
 
 1 New York Sun. 
 
248 LEWIS CASK. 
 
 strange company. The Barnburners, who had 
 been orthodox Democrats, supporters of Jackson 
 and Van Buren in the palmy days of the party, met 
 with delegates of the Liberty party, who not long 
 before had been hated as crazy fanatics ; the " Con 
 science Whigs " of Massachusetts, the free-territory 
 men from Ohio, the disappointed Clay Whigs, 
 who had cursed the supporters of Birney four years 
 before, the " Land Reformers " and " Workingmen 
 of New York," and the advocates of cheap postage, 
 came together as strange bed-fellows in the misery 
 of an eventful crisis. This Free-Soil movement 
 has often been denominated a Democratic move 
 ment. The enumeration of the elements given above 
 shows us that no old established party name can be 
 applied to it. The party was composed of various 
 elements now united for a common purpose. Some 
 of the men of this convention were to drop back 
 into the old Democratic ranks ; others were to be 
 charter members of the Republican party. Sam 
 uel J. Tilden was there as well as Charles Francis 
 Adams and Salmon P. Chase. 
 
 The platform, chiefly the work of Mr. Chase, 1 
 was a masterpiece, filled with ringing sentences, 
 and charged with enthusiasm. " Congress," it 
 declared in a forcible aphorism, " has no more power 
 to make a slave than to make a king." " Thunders 
 of applause " followed the reading of such clarion- 
 toned sentences as this : " Resolved, that we in 
 scribe on our banner free soil, free speech, free 
 
 1 Political Recollections, G. W. Julian. 
 
CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 249 
 
 labor, and free men, and under it we will fight on 
 and fight ever, until a triumphant victory shall 
 reward our exertions." The convention from the 
 first seemed impressed with the solemnity of the 
 occasion and the weight of its responsibility. And 
 yet one must confess that there was a very mun 
 dane alloy in this heavenly sentiment ; for many 
 longed for revenge on Cass and the Hunkers, and 
 were willing to obtain it by shouting for free soil. 
 Van Buren was nominated amid acclamations of 
 enthusiasm. The conscientious Free-Soilers were 
 willing to take the bitter potion in humble hope 
 that good would result. The name of Charles 
 Francis Adams, the son of John Quincy Adams, 
 was placed below that of the old chief of the Al 
 bany Regency, the calm and gentle man to whom 
 " the old man eloquent " had once ascribed " fawn 
 ing servility" and "profound dissimulation and 
 duplicity." How strangely in 1837 would have 
 sounded the war-cry of 1848, "Van Buren and 
 Free Soil Adams and Liberty." 
 
 This Buffalo convention was a prominent event 
 in the life of Cass. The nomination of Van Buren, 
 this combination of dissatisfied Democrats and Lib 
 erty men, assured his defeat, unless his party, in 
 spite of its distressed condition in New York, 
 should work with a rare courage and vehemence. 
 But Cass s career is peculiarly connected with the 
 development of the Free-Soil movement from the 
 point of view of principle. He was hailed through 
 out this campaign as the candidate of the vigorous 
 
250 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 West. He was rightly called the " Father of the 
 West." " The history of the Western States forms 
 a part of his biography," the " Detroit Free Press " 
 said with truth. But a calm scrutiny of the forces 
 at work in the old Northwest, for which he had 
 done so much, shows that its vigor was no longer 
 his. Its strong and characteristic sections, which 
 had formed its very pith and marrow, were no 
 longer in sympathy with their great leader and rep 
 resentative. Already the Western Reserve had 
 shown its parentage by sending Giddings to Con 
 gress to labor by the side of Adams. The Puritan 
 stock of Ohio, awakened to the existence of a new 
 crusade for liberty, brought forward its hard sense, 
 sound morality, and obstinate adherence to princi 
 ple. " Beware ! the blood of the Roundheads is 
 aroused," shouted a delegate in the Buffalo Conven 
 tion. This is not mere metaphor, it is sober state 
 ment of fact. The counties of the Northwest first 
 settled by New Englanders furnished early sup 
 porters of the Liberty party, active advocates of 
 free soil. There the Republican party had its 
 strength in the days of its youth, when all the vigor 
 of its new life was given to assailing the aggressions 
 of a national sin. Political affiliations are not soon 
 forgotten, and to-day Republican strength lies in 
 this old robust region of Ohio. A political party 
 could gerrymander the State successfully if its 
 managers were acquainted with the genealogy of its 
 counties. The New Connecticut has given us Gid 
 dings and Garfield. It has given us many path- 
 
CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 251 
 
 finders in unexplored regions of culture, education, 
 and liberal citizenship. We must not omit, how 
 ever, the influence of that milder Puritan of mysti 
 cism, the Quaker ; his kind and gentle influence is 
 traceable through the Northwest. The inhabitants 
 of Pennsylvania pushed their way westward through 
 the middle of Ohio across the Indiana line. 
 
 Speaking generally, the New England township 
 system has most effectually made its way westward 
 along the parallels of latitude. Michigan and Wis 
 consin adopted the township nearly in its primitive 
 simplicity. There was the same tendency in north 
 ern Ohio ; and wherever we see the self-governing 
 spirit of New England, there we see in the field of 
 national affairs a relationship with the politics of 
 the same stalwart section. The early settlers of 
 Michigan were in a marked degree from Massachu 
 setts or from New York, to which latter State many 
 of them had moved from homes east of the Hudson. 
 The political and educational history of Michigan 
 has its individuality, but the influence of inherited 
 tendencies is apparent. Of course in early days 
 the popular creed of Jacksonian Democracy made 
 itself felt among the people of a new country. 
 But it is fair to assume that Michigan would have 
 swung into the Whig column much sooner if it had 
 not been for the personal admiration and respect 
 which its people felt for Lewis Cass. 
 
 An examination of the vote of Ohio in 1844 will 
 exhibit the truth of these general statements. There 
 were seventy-nine counties in Ohio in 1844, but 
 
252 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 Trumbull County alone, the heart of this western 
 New England, gave one eleventh of all the votes 
 cast for the Liberty ticket in Ohio. Five counties 
 of this same region, containing one eleventh of the 
 total vote of the State, gave more than one fourth 
 of the Liberty vote. And if one examines more 
 closely he will see even more definite proof of the 
 assertion. The Whigs, of course, had their strength 
 largely in the districts where the Liberty and Free- 
 Soil movement manifested itself. In 1848 the 
 twentieth Congressional district, including the 
 counties of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, and 
 Lake, cast 7,338 Free-Soil votes, only 700 less than 
 the whole Liberty vote of Ohio in 1844. That dis 
 trict gave Van Buren three fourths as many votes 
 as were received by both Cass and Taylor. In this 
 election the Free-Soilers held the balance of power 
 in the State, casting 35,354 votes ; but of these 
 nearly one half were cast by the three districts of 
 the Western Reserve, although there were twenty- 
 one districts in the State. 
 
 But northeastern Ohio, the peculiar centre of west 
 ern New Englandism, has not simply followed and 
 reproduced. Modern Puritanism and the spirit of 
 the latter-day Ironsides have here deeply cut their 
 lines. The saying is not uncommon that the West 
 ern Reserve is more New England than New Eng 
 land herself. 1 Here the Yankee character developed 
 under new and inspiring conditions, and furnished 
 brain and conscience, sincerity and moral enthusiasm 
 1 The Old Northwest, Hinsdale, p. 388. 
 
CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY. . 253 
 
 to the whole country. Its earlier inhabitants were, 
 it is true, rough in their manners and " stupid " in 
 religion ; 1 most of its first settlers perhaps hurried 
 to the West to escape the iron-clad theology and 
 the stilted social regime of old, dogmatic, straight- 
 laced Connecticut, and there in the freer air of a 
 new country, unburdened by prescription, there 
 grew a more liberal theology, a more generous citi 
 zenship, and a more human idea of liberty. Slip 
 ping their old cables, these thoughtful people drifted 
 off occasionally into " isms " and fanaticisms. But 
 this was the natural revolt from a sad theology and 
 acrid Federalism, and with this personal freedom of 
 thought was a sound Puritan principle and a guid 
 ing common sense. President Storrs of Western 
 Reserve College preached anti-slavery doctrines as 
 early as 1832, 2 and planted the humanizing seed in 
 youthful minds of northeastern Ohio. The result 
 was that the Western Reservd had a definitely 
 formulated anti-slavery sentiment before any other 
 section of the country. John Quincy Adams led 
 his district and showed it the way. But Giddings 
 was the child of his surroundings, the voice and 
 expression of the will of his constituents. 
 
 Ohip has been taken to illustrate the energy of 
 New England in the West, because, the early set 
 tlers coming into the State within well-known geo 
 graphical lines, their influence is easily traceable 
 and capable of definite description and comparison. 
 
 1 Robbins s Diary, p. 225. 
 
 2 The Old Northwest, Hiusdale, p. 392. 
 
254 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 The compact New Englandism of the Western 
 Reserve has made itself conspicuous, but the same 
 general statements of tendencies and influences will 
 hold true of the whole Northwest. When once 
 Michigan was aroused to a sense of the real state 
 of things she too fell in beside Ohio, and has re 
 mained her political sister. 
 
 Cass was admired and respected by his State. 
 Even those who disagreed with him in politics 
 found it hard to oppose him at the polls. Upon 
 the appearance of the Nicholson letter, many of 
 his old admirers felt constrained to turn against 
 him. Yet they still had faith in him as a man. 
 " From the time of the publication of this letter," 
 writes one of his friendly enemies, who used every 
 effort to defeat him, "I opposed the election of 
 General Cass to the presidency, though it cost me 
 a pang as keen as to have set myself against my 
 own father." 1 It- was believed by those who knew 
 the liberal character of the general that he thought 
 his theory of " popular sovereignty " would assure 
 in the end free Territories. And so it would, if the 
 slave power had allowed a fair application of it, 
 and not simply used it until it was no longer ser 
 viceable. The consistency of Cass was lyiques- 
 tioned by all who knew his previous career; his 
 sterling character, his honesty, his uprightness in 
 political affairs, the purity and charm of his pri 
 vate life were admired by all who were not blinded 
 by party animosity. So in spite of differences and 
 
 1 Private and confidential letter to the author. 
 
CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 255 
 
 these Free-Soil antipathies, in spite of the most 
 malignant attacks upon Cass by the Whig news 
 paper of his own city, which denied him credit 
 even for his masterly governorship, Cass carried 
 Michigan by a good plurality. Yet Van Buren re 
 ceived over 10,000 votes, more than Cass s major 
 ity over Taylor. Cass also received the support 
 of Ohio, a rare tribute to the personal admiration 
 and respect for the man. He received 16,415 votes 
 more than Taylor, whereas Clay had defeated Polk 
 by 5,940. The northwestern candidate received the 
 electoral vote of every northwestern State, but in 
 each one the Whigs and the Free-Soilers together 
 outnumbered the Democrats. Even young Wis 
 consin gave 10,418 votes for Van Buren, more 
 than one fourth of the total vote of the State. A 
 prophet was not needed to trace the future political 
 development of the Northwest. 
 
 Cass was bitterly attacked in some portions of 
 the country, particularly in his own section, because 
 he had not accepted an invitation to attend a con 
 vention at Chicago, called to discuss the subject of 
 internal improvements. The New West needed 
 the aid of the general government in developing 
 its resources, especially in opening its harbors for 
 commerce. The Democrats, never lenient toward 
 such hopes, had recently been charged with " salt 
 water " interpretation of the Constitution, and the 
 residents on the fresh water of the Great Lakes 
 wanted a recognition of their claims. Cass always 
 disclaimed hostility to national improvements, and 
 
256 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 afterwards, in a speech in the Senate in 1851, 
 proved that his course had been in favor of such 
 assistance from the government. But he was now 
 running on a platform which denied the constitu 
 tionality of a general improvement system, and the 
 severe and continuous attacks upon him in the 
 Whig papers on this ground probably reduced his 
 vote to some extent. 
 
 The slavery question was, however, the promi 
 nent if not the determining factor of the campaign 
 of 1848. Taylor was a southern man, a plantation 
 owner and a slave-owner. The South felt that it 
 could trust him, that a southern man with southern 
 interests was preferable to a northern man, how 
 ever southern might be his principles. A mass 
 Democratic convention of the citizens of Charles 
 ton selected Taylor as their candidate. The " Rich 
 mond Times " said that he was " thoroughly identi 
 fied with the South in feeling and interest." He 
 was represented in Alabama as one who loved " the 
 South and her cherished institutions ; " and so, 
 while the Free-Soilers were designating Cass and 
 Taylor as " the Devil and Beelzebub," and the 
 northern man was being castigated in the North 
 for his apostasy to slavery, he was marked by 
 southern Democrats as an unsafe candidate because 
 he was not, as Taylor was, a slaveholder. Polk 
 carried Georgia in 1844. Cass lost it. The same 
 is true of Louisiana. Everywhere south of Ma 
 son and Dixon s line the Democracy lost ground. 
 Yet the Democratic support of Van Buren in New 
 
CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 257 
 
 York was decisive. This cannot be attributed to 
 anti-slavery sentiment. The Barnburners, fight 
 ing for political existence and revenge, and aided 
 by opponents of slavery, polled more votes than 
 the " regular " faction. This fact proves that per 
 sonal pique was the great motive in that State of 
 politicians. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SENATOR. THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 
 
 THE Buffalo convention and the evident uneasi 
 ness of the North had perhaps influenced Congress, 
 as it droned along far into the summer of 1848. 
 A territorial government was given to Oregon, by 
 an act approved August 14th, which extended over 
 that territory the Ordinance of 1787 with its " re 
 strictions and prohibitions." But in the mean time 
 new complications had arisen, for California was 
 even more in need of organization and government 
 than Oregon had been a year before. Although it 
 was known when California was acquired that gold 
 had been found there by the Mexicans, the idea of 
 a New Eldorado did not immediately take hold of 
 the people. An accidental discovery by workmen 
 of the yellow grains of gold in January, 1848, 
 soon set the country afire, and a perfect exodus 
 from the East began in the early summer. Busi 
 ness men and school-teachers, lawyers and clergy 
 men, forsook their callings to hasten to the gold 
 fields ; the restless and unemployed class of every 
 community begged or borrowed money for the 
 journey. The young men especially were over 
 come with anxiety to make a fortune in a moment, 
 
SENATOR. -THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 259 
 
 and quickly broke all ties which bound them to the 
 humdrum life of the plodding East. The " New 
 York Tribune " estimated that 8,098 persons had 
 set sail for California between December 7, 1848, 
 and February 8, 1849. The very crews of the 
 vessels deserted to dig for gold when once they had 
 reached the fabled coast. "Nothing, sir," wrote 
 Commodore Jones from Monterey, "can exceed 
 the deplorable state of things in all Upper Califor 
 nia at this time, growing out of the maddening 
 effects of the gold mania." 1 He described the 
 country as in a very " whirlwind of anarchy and 
 confusion confounded," where life and property 
 were everywhere in great jeopardy. 
 
 When Congress met, in December, 1848, it had 
 to face a stormy and unsatisfactory session. None 
 of the real problems before the country had been 
 solved. On the contrary, there were feelings of 
 greater bitterness than ever. All were uncertain 
 about the meaning of the election, except that it 
 had disclosed great opposition in the North to the 
 extension of slavery and an unexpected defection 
 from the ranks of the old parties. No one knew 
 where the President elect would stand on the mo 
 mentous issues which were agitating the country. 
 Had Cass been elected, every one would have 
 known his position, his belief in the absolute uu- 
 constitutionality of excluding slavery from the 
 Territories by act of Congress. Yet even an ad 
 mirer of him, with confidence in his sincerity, his 
 1 October, 1848. Niles, vol. Ixxv. p. 113. 
 
260 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 uprightness and honor, would hesitate to assert 
 that under such circumstances his election would 
 have been for the best interests of the country. 
 Possibly the election of Taylor showed much more 
 clearly than anything else could have done the 
 utter futility of the Whig organization and the 
 folly of dodging principles. The only thing that 
 the Whigs gained by the election was a redistribu 
 tion of the spoils. Inwardly, the party knew not 
 itself. One of its greatest men, William H. Sew- 
 ard, who, faithful to his party, was faithful also to 
 freedom and free territory, who had shown many 
 times before his readiness to withstand the slave 
 power with boldness, was to take his place in the 
 Senate on the same day that a slaveholder, a mem 
 ber of the same party, took the oath as president. 
 Under such circumstances it was impossible to 
 foretell the future, or to see even so far as to the 
 end of this Thirtieth Congress. In Ohio politics 
 were in such a condition that Chase, the author of 
 the Buffalo platform, was during the winter elected 
 to the Senate. He had been a Democrat, and per 
 haps never entirely freed himself from the funda 
 mental ideas of the Democracy, but his clear vision 
 led him away from the fold of the old party, and 
 his election was an era in the progress of Free-Soil 
 ideas in the free Northwest. 
 
 Measures were at once introduced into the House 
 which tested its sentiment and disclosed unusual 
 harmony among northern members. From this 
 time the part which the Democracy had played 
 
SENATOR. THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 261 
 
 since 1844 began to react against it. Contrary to 
 its inherited belief that such issues were not proper 
 material for political discussion, it had allowed the 
 slavery question to become an active political prin 
 ciple. By its energetic advocacy Texas and the 
 vast territory to the west had been acquired, and 
 now the Nemesis was upon it. The party must 
 either divide into two opposing wings incapable of 
 working together, or the northern wing must make 
 itself subservient to the interests of the slave 
 holders. To such action we can trace its ultimate 
 loss of power in the agricultural States of the 
 North, which by all the traditions of the past were 
 the natural allies of the planting South. For the 
 free northern farmer, whatever might be his eco 
 nomic interests, was unable to remain in a party 
 which was devoted to slave labor. 
 
 President Polk, in his annual message, called the 
 attention of Congress to the anomalous condition 
 of New Mexico and California, and advised that they 
 be given territorial governments at once, and that 
 the Missouri line be extended to the Pacific. But 
 it was not easy to do anything in this short session, 
 and it wore away to its close without any decision 
 of the great question. 
 
 In January, 1849, the legislature of Michigan 
 elected Cass as a senator to fill the vacancy caused 
 by his own resignation. He presented his creden 
 tials, and was sworn in on March 3d. He was a 
 member of the Senate during the famous debate 
 on the appropriation bill, which lasted well on into 
 
262 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 the morning of the 4th. But he refused to take 
 any part in the discussion, on the ground that the 
 Senate was adjourned by lapse of time at mid 
 night between the 3d and 4th. 
 
 Taylor took the oath of office on Monday, the 
 5th of March. His Cabinet did not stand for a 
 distinct principle : it contained four southern rep 
 resentatives, one of whom was an avowed pro-slavery 
 man, and three northern men, of whom one had an 
 anti-slavery record. The President himself was 
 unquestionably determined to do what seemed to 
 him right, and he proved himself singularly fair 
 and candid. That the South should be robbed of 
 its property seemed to him wrong ; on the other 
 hand, he could see no justice in the demand that 
 the western Territories should be admitted with 
 slavery, if the people themselves did not want 
 it. He was able to make the non-interference 
 rule work both ways. The South was furious. 
 The idea that the domain for which it had plotted 
 and fought was to be lost to slavery, after all, was 
 simply maddening. California, however, was in 
 need of some government at once. The existing 
 military rule was inappropriate and inadequate, 
 and it seemed unjust that the people should be left 
 in anarchy till Congress could come to some con 
 clusion on slavery, a question which little troubled 
 the average gold hunter of the Pacific slope. The 
 President was ready to protect the people if they 
 took steps to organize a state government. 
 
 The people of California now gave a remarkable 
 
SENATOR. THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 263 
 
 example of the wonderful institutional instinct of 
 the Anglo-Saxon. Of their own accord they 
 adopted a constitution, October, 1849, established 
 a government, and applied for admittance to the 
 Union as a State, without having passed through 
 the stage of territorial pupilage. This step was 
 entirely in accord with the wishes of President 
 Taylor, who had already sent an agent to suggest 
 this very move, which was begun, however, before 
 he arrived. A clause prohibiting slavery was 
 adopted unanimously in the convention, and the 
 constitution was ratified by the people with only 
 811 dissenting votes. This was a severe blow to 
 the South. It brought the slaveholders face to 
 face with the weakness of their peculiar institu 
 tion ; they saw the need of the artificial aid of the 
 national government if slavery was to maintain 
 itself against the power of free labor and the 
 mighty energy of the North. Hence came the bitter 
 vehemence of despair and the instinctive fierceness 
 of a struggle for self-preservation. From this time 
 forward the thought of dissolution of the Union 
 gradually grew into a confirmed belief of its neces 
 sity, and continually became more familiar to the 
 southern people. 
 
 In January, 1849, the legislature of Michigan 
 passed a joint resolution concerning the extension 
 of slavery to the new Territories. It repudiated 
 squatter sovereignty, and asserted that Congress 
 had the power, and that it was its duty, to prohibit 
 by enactment the introduction of slavery into the 
 
264 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 West. The senators were "instructed" and the 
 representatives requested to use their efforts to 
 accomplish such an object. Cass was elected to 
 the Senate but a few days after these resolutions 
 were approved, and he therefore began his second 
 term with the knowledge on both sides that his 
 own beliefs on the great question were different 
 from those of a majority of the legislature and of 
 his constituents. His election under these circum 
 stances shows that he was still trusted, even if he 
 did hold disagreeable theories concerning slavery. 
 Strong opposition to him had appeared in the nom 
 ination by the separate houses ; and in the joint 
 election the vote was close. The first ballot, which 
 actually tested his strength, gave him 44 votes and 
 to all others 38. This indicated quite a change in 
 feeling when compared with the action of the leg 
 islature in 1845, when the opposition was scarcely 
 worthy of consideration. To vote against General 
 Cass was a severe trial to some of his old friends, 
 who loved him personally and admired him as a 
 statesman ; but Michigan was on the high road to 
 its later Eepublican beliefs, and in reelecting its 
 trusted leader it was simply postponing the day of 
 separation from him. 
 
 Some hoped that the resolution of the legisla 
 ture would be binding on him ; others expected 
 that the difficulty would blow over, and that Cass 
 would thus avoid without disobeying the instruc 
 tions. How clear and firm his opinions were, how 
 ever, is illustrated by his correspondence during 
 
SENATOR. THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 265 
 
 tlie following autumn. In November he received 
 a letter from prominent Democrats of New York, 
 among them Daniel E. Sickles and Charles O Con- 
 or, asking him to name a day for a public dinner 
 in his honor. " Even amid the fierce contests of 
 party," they said, " all men have awarded to you the 
 praise and admiration due to one who has so highly 
 distinguished himself as the father of the West, a 
 soldier in war, a statesman in peace, an eloquent 
 advocate and defender of the honor of his country 
 both in councils at home and in her representation 
 abroad ; and therefore you cannot be surprised to 
 learn that the Democracy of this city, whose leader 
 and champion you are, regard you with an affec 
 tion almost filial." He declined the invitation in 
 a vigorous letter, in which he discussed at some 
 length the topics of the day. His strong western 
 spirit plainly forms part of his robust nature still ; 
 and though growing out of harmony with his 
 section in some particulars, he has not lost his 
 sense of its desires or tendencies. " An emigrant 
 to the West in early youth, the better portion of 
 my life has been passed in that great contest with 
 nature in which the forest has given way and an 
 empire has arisen, already among the most magnifi 
 cent creations of human industry and enterprise. 
 Placed in a geographical position to exert a pow 
 erful influence upon the duration of the confederacy 
 of republics, attached to the Union, and to the 
 whole Union, and attached equally to the princi 
 ples of freedom, and to the Constitution by which 
 
266 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 these are guarded and secured, should the time 
 ever come, as I trust it will not, and come 
 whence and why it may, when dissolution shall 
 find advocates, and the hand of violence shall 
 attempt to sever the bond that holds us together, 
 the West will rise up as one man to stay a deed so 
 fatal to the cause of liberty here and throughout 
 the world, aye, and it will be stayed. Success 
 can never hallow the effort." He clearly foresaw 
 the meaning of the coming contest, and appreciated 
 the loyal Union spirit of his constituents. This 
 statement comes from the leader of the Democratic 
 party who has been accused of weak-kneed subser 
 viency to the South, from the leader of a party 
 whose northern members ten years later too often 
 decried " a Union founded on force." This is one 
 of the first frank announcements from a Demo 
 cratic politician of the North that peaceful dissolu 
 tion is impossible, aye more, that dissolution can 
 and will be prevented. Such gift of prophecy lay 
 in his sympathetic appreciation of popular feeling, 
 in his clear perception of actual facts. 
 
 The Thirty-first Congress was very able, and one 
 of the most famous in our history. The session 
 lasted nearly ten months, dragging its weary length 
 through the summer of 1850. Nearly the whole 
 of the first month was consumed by the House in 
 an endeavor to elect a speaker, a difficult task, 
 inasmuch as the balance of power was held by the 
 " immortal nine," dogged opponents of slavery. 
 But the territorial contest, once fairly begun, con- 
 
SENATOR. THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 267 
 
 tinned with unflagging energy for months. The 
 President s message told of the action of Califor 
 nia, recommended its admittance should its " con 
 stitution be conformable to the Constitution of the 
 United States," and advised Congress to abstain 
 from the discussion of " those exciting topics which 
 have hitherto produced painful impressions on the 
 public mind." So mild an exhortation to temper 
 ance sounded almost ludicrous in the midst of the 
 intense excitement. 
 
 On December 27th Foote of Mississippi offered 
 a resolution that it was the duty of Congress to 
 establish suitable territorial governments for Cal 
 ifornia, Deseret (Utah), and New Mexico. Cass 
 spoke on this resolution January 21st and 22d. 
 He desired to make a complete exposition of his 
 views, and, if possible, to influence his own State ; 
 for he felt that if the legislature persisted in its 
 instructions he must resign. He spoke for the 
 greater portion of two days with great clearness 
 and force, and this speech stands to-day the 
 most complete defense of the doctrine of " squat 
 ter sovereignty " that has ever been given. He 
 argued that the people of the Territories were 
 capable of governing themselves, and that the ex 
 ercise of powers of government by Congress would 
 be an act of unwarranted tyranny, contrary to the 
 great principles of American liberty. Moreover 
 there was, he contended, no clause in the Constitu 
 tion which gives to Congress express power to pass 
 any law respecting slavery in the Territories. 
 
268 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 Such power was not contained in the clause which 
 gave Congress power to make " all needful rules 
 and regulations respecting the territory or other 
 property belonging to the United States," for that 
 was a power over property and not persons; a 
 misconception had arisen because of a confusion 
 between " territory " and " Territory," which latter 
 was not land, but a political community organized 
 as a territorial government. This proposition he 
 discussed at length, and with great keenness. He 
 then denied that the authority of Congress could 
 be deduced from the war or treaty-making power ; 
 for that would not account for congressional con 
 trol over territory not acquired by war or treaty, 
 and no agreement with the individual States could 
 enlarge the competence of Congress under the 
 Constitution. The right to admit new States was 
 equally ineffectual; the reasoning on this clause 
 was simply analogical, and not convincing ; though 
 the Territories might be likened to boys in pupil 
 age, the analogy was not perfect, nor could such sup 
 positions bestow authority upon a body possessed of 
 enumerated powers. The right to sell, the right of 
 ownership, and the right or duty of settlement 
 were equally insufficient privileges from which to 
 deduce a right to govern persons; for every im 
 plied power ought to bear a fair relation to the 
 specific one. The right of sovereignty, the nature 
 of government, nationality, and the principles of 
 agency and trust had all been summoned to do bat 
 tle in opposition to " squatter sovereignty ; " but 
 
SENATOR. THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 269 
 
 these principles overlooked the character of the 
 Constitution itself, and lost sight of the doctrines 
 of that " noble state paper," the Virginia Resolu 
 tions of 1799. 
 
 Other more technical reasons for claiming that 
 this power was inherent in Congress he brought 
 up and combated. The right of self-government 
 by the people of the Territories was given by no 
 earthly potentate or people. "They got it from 
 Almighty God ; from the same omnipotent and 
 beneficent Being who gave us our rights, and who 
 gave to our fathers the power and the will to as 
 sert and maintain them." He ended by asking 
 those who could think that there was any constitu 
 tional basis for the Wilmot proviso to consider 
 the circumstances of the times and the inexpediency 
 of the measure. His closing sentences were as 
 follows : " I will endeavor to discharge my duty, 
 as an American Senator, to the country and to the 
 whole country, agreeably to the convictions of my 
 own duty and of the obligations of the Constitu 
 tion, and when I cannot do this I shall cease to 
 have any duty here to perform. My sentiments 
 upon the Wilmot proviso are now before the Sen 
 ate, and will soon be before my constituents and 
 the country. I am precluded from voting in con 
 formity with them. I have been instructed by the 
 legislature of Michigan to vote in favor of this 
 measure. I am a believer in the right of instruc 
 tion when fairly exercised, and under proper cir 
 cumstances. There are limitations upon this exer- 
 
270 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 else ; but I need not seek to ascertain their extent 
 or application, for they do not concern my pres 
 ent position. I acknowledge the obligation of the 
 instructions I have received, and cannot act in 
 opposition to them. Nor can I act in opposition 
 to my own convictions of the true meaning of the 
 Constitution. When the time comes, and I am 
 required to vote upon this measure as a practical 
 one, in a bill providing for a territorial govern 
 ment, I shall know how to reconcile my duty to 
 the legislature with my duty to myself, by surren 
 dering a trust I can no longer fulfill." l 
 
 The modern student, thinking calmly on these 
 great questions, soon finds common sense a suffi 
 cient rebuttal of " squatter sovereignty." If the 
 Constitution is to be strictly construed, then Con 
 gress has no power to acquire territory. But if 
 such a power is admitted, government is essential 
 to complete acquisition, and follows as a natural 
 consequent upon the very heels of possession, if it is 
 not actually a part of it. Such authority has been 
 exercised by the national government from the be 
 ginning of its history. It throws a strong light 
 on the confusion of the times that such self-evident 
 propositions were rejected by a large portion of 
 the people, and that "squatter sovereignty" was 
 accepted as logically sound and conclusive ; but we 
 must remember that the Rebellion has cleared the 
 air for us, and we now see plainly what was be 
 fogged forty years ago. 
 
 1 Appendix to the Congressional Globe, vol. xxii. pt. 1, p. 74. 
 
SENATOR THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 271 
 
 On January 29th Clay introduced a series of 
 eight resolutions, the intent of which was to compro 
 mise the conflicting claims of North and South. 
 The first proposed the admission of California with 
 out any restriction by Congress ; the second, that, 
 inasmuch as slavery was not likely to exist in any of 
 the territories obtained from Mexico, governments 
 ought to be established there without restriction or 
 condition on the subject of slavery ; the third, that 
 the boundary between Texas and New Mexico 
 should be agreed upon ; the fourth, that Texas be 
 paid a sum of money in consideration of giving 
 up in large part her claims to land in New Mex 
 ico ; the fifth, that the abolition of slavery in the 
 District of Columbia under present circumstances 
 was inexpedient ; the sixth, that it was expedient 
 to prevent the slave-trade in the District of Colum 
 bia ; the seventh, that a more effectual fugitive slave 
 law ought to be passed ; the eighth, that Congress 
 had no power to prohibit the slave-trade between 
 slave States. Clay begged the senators to refrain 
 from discussing this measure until they had taken 
 time to consider it ; but debate immediately ensued, 
 and continued for months. Cass was on his feet 
 often during these debates, a steady and consistent 
 advocate for putting an end to an unnecessary agi 
 tation. In addition to his arguments on unconsti- 
 tutionality, he insisted that the law of nature had 
 banished slavery forever from California, and that 
 the proviso discussion was one of selfish sentiment. 
 
 The presentation of a petition by Senator Hale 
 
272 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 of New Hampshire for the peaceable dissolution of 
 the Union called forth (February 12th) an elo 
 quent and forcible address from Cass. " To dissolve 
 this Union peaceably ! " he exclaimed. " He who 
 believes that such a government as this, with its 
 traditions, its institutions, its promises of the past, 
 its performances of the present, and its hopes of 
 the future, living in the heart s core of almost every 
 American, can be broken up without bloodshed, 
 has read human nature and human history to little 
 purpose." February 20th he frankly outlined his 
 course in regard to the proviso. He confessed his 
 inconsistency. The " retailing of conversations in 
 railroad cars " was not needed to prove that at first 
 he was ready to vote for the measure. A calm in 
 vestigation and unimpassioned consideration of ex 
 pediency had led him to change his mind. With 
 unusual vehemence he repelled the insinuation that 
 he was a " doughface " because he was not ready 
 to " cover the country with blood and conflagration 
 to abolish slavery." On the conclusion of his 
 speech Clay thanked him, and agreed with him that 
 the country was in danger because of " ultraism," 
 which made calm discussion an impossibility. No 
 one can read these fervid speeches without being 
 convinced of Cass s thorough sincerity and intense 
 moral earnestness. He believed slavery was a mis 
 fortune to the South ; yet that only the passing ages 
 could bring about emancipation without the de 
 struction of both races ; but that " God in his prov 
 idence" might bring it about. Only one who is in- 
 
SENATOR. THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 273 
 
 tent upon finding chicanery and low ambition in this 
 period of his life will fail to sympathize with his in 
 tense, however mistaken, eagerness for compromise. 
 
 "Webster s famous 7th of March speech, in which 
 he deplored unnecessary agitation, advocated com 
 promise, and lamented sentiment, had direct effect 
 at the North. It was itself the expression of reac 
 tion and conservatism. It aided the growing desire 
 to settle the question and to restore harmony, and 
 seems to have influenced the legislature of Michi 
 gan to reconsider its instructions and requests to the 
 congressmen of the State. 1 April llth Cass exult- 
 ingly read to the Senate resolutions freeing him 
 from any obligation to vote contrary to his judg 
 ment, and heartily approving the patriotic stand 
 taken by those who had " united their efforts to 
 preserve the Union one and indivisible." 
 
 This was a session of great speeches. On March 
 4th Calhoun s views were read to the Senate by a 
 fellow-senator. He himself was too weak to speak. 
 The old nullifier was dying. But his last energies 
 were devoted to the South and to slavery, to a cause 
 that was doomed and to a system that had cast its 
 blight on the State which he had loved so well and 
 served so faithfully. His argument was simple 
 equilibrium must be maintained ; the encroachments 
 of the North must be prevented ; only by a zealous 
 care for southern interests, by a maintenance of po 
 litical equality, could harmony be secured and the 
 
 1 Private correspondence between the author and a member of 
 the legislature at that time. 
 
274 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 Southern States remain in the Union consistently 
 with their honor and safety. " The cry of Union, 
 Union, the glorious Union ! can no more prevent 
 disunion than the cry of Health, health, glorious 
 health ! on the part of a physician, can save a pa 
 tient lying dangerously ill." The South, he said, 
 must be protected by some constitutional provision, 
 which there would be no difficulty in devising. 
 He referred, doubtless, to his plan of electing two 
 presidents, one from each section, who should pro 
 tect their respective interests, a plan he had already 
 worked out in his " Discourse on the Constitution 
 and Government of the United States." 
 
 As Webster s 7th of March speech expressed the 
 longing for peace and the growing weariness at the 
 North of the endless discussion, and was a mani 
 festation of conservatism and reaction, so on the 
 other hand Seward s and Chase s words declared 
 the unwavering zeal of the earnest and serious, who 
 were content with no temporizing compromise, and 
 demanded principles in accord with the "higher 
 law." Seward s speech was one of the greatest in 
 the annals of American oratory ; he saw so clearly, 
 he felt so keenly, he argued so calmly and logically. 
 " I feel assured that slavery must give way, and will 
 give way, to the salutary instructions of economy, 
 and to the ripening influences of humanity ; that 
 emancipation is inevitable, and is near ; that it may 
 be hastened or hindered ; and that, whether it be 
 peaceful or violent, depends on the question whether 
 it be hastened or hindered . . . that all measures 
 
SENATOR. THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 275 
 
 which fortify slavery, or extend it, tend to the con 
 summation of violence ... all that check its exten 
 sion and abate its strength tend to its peaceful extir 
 pation." Webster and Clay and Cass saw through 
 the glass of past prejudices but darkly. Seward 
 and Chase read the present and the future face to 
 face. Cass in an elaborate address on March 13th 
 and 14th sharply rebuked Seward for accepting 
 office under a Constitution which recognized the 
 necessity of an " immoral " fugitive slave law, and 
 criticised the " equilibrium " propositions of Cal- 
 houn. 
 
 There was great disagreement concerning the 
 various proposals of Clay s compromise measure. 
 One objected to one clause and another to another 
 clause, and finally the whole subject was on April 
 13th referred to a select committee of thirteen, of 
 which Clay was chairman, and Cass was a mem 
 ber. On May 8th this committee reported, and 
 recommended three bills. The first provided for 
 three distinct objects : the immediate admittance 
 of California, the establishment of territorial gov 
 ernments for New Mexico and Utah, with the stip 
 ulation that the territorial legislature should pass 
 no law with reference to slavery, the settlement of 
 the boundary of Texas, and the payment to that 
 State of a sum of money, as a recompense for her 
 giving up her claim to part of New Mexico. The 
 second bill provided for the return of fugitive 
 slaves ; the third for the discontinuance of the 
 slave-trade in the District of Columbia. This 
 
276 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 report had been agreed upon by the committee after 
 long discussions and debates. Its reception by the 
 Senate was not flattering. Some of the radical 
 southern members demanded that California should 
 not be admitted. Others from the North, on the 
 other hand, asserted that the admission of California 
 should not be made conditional upon the formation 
 of territorial governments, and desired that the 
 principle of the Wilmot proviso should be applied 
 to the Territories. It seemed absolutely impossible 
 to harmonize differences. The debate went on day 
 after day with mechanical regularity, but with un 
 failing vehemence and bitterness. Cass was con 
 tinually on his feet, the able and persistent ally of 
 Clay and a champion of the compromise. 
 
 President Taylor had been drawn into obstinate 
 opposition to the committee s plans, partly because 
 his loyal heart was stirred to resentment by the 
 treasonable threats of the South, and partly because 
 he had from the first been in favor of admitting 
 California with her constitution as adopted. On 
 July 9th he died. Presidential duties had worried 
 and annoyed him, and had told severely upon him. 
 His last words tell the tale of an unpretentious life, 
 whose late ambition had not brought peace or hap 
 piness : " I have always done my duty ; I am ready 
 to die ; my only regret is for the friends I leave 
 behind me." Fillmore became President, and the 
 weight of executive influence was thrown in favor 
 of the compromise measure. 
 
 On June llth and August 12th the doctrine of 
 
SENATOR. THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 277 
 
 non-interference, of the absolute and divine right of 
 the people of the Territories to govern themselves, 
 was ably discussed and defended by Cass. He 
 fondly believed that the compromise would still the 
 raging tempest. " There can be no Wilmot proviso, 
 and no one proposes to interfere with the claims of 
 Texas. Then why not terminate this whole contro 
 versy, and thus banish its remembrances from our 
 councils and country. . . . That done, we should 
 enter again upon a glorious career, with none to 
 trouble us or to make us afraid. God grant that 
 the denunciation contained in the command to the 
 prophet may not already have gone out against us. 
 Say ye not a confederacy, to all them to whom this 
 people shall say a confederacy; neither fear ye 
 their fear, nor be afraid." 
 
 He was winning his State to a temporary faith in 
 his beliefs. A Democratic convention of Michigan 
 in June passed resolutions in favor of the compro 
 mise, and eulogized the " patriotic efforts " of Gen 
 eral Cass. "Placing himself in the breach, and 
 stemming a current of popular prejudice and fanat 
 icism as relentless and prescriptive in its character 
 as it is sectional and destructive in its objects, he 
 has achieved a moral triumph no less creditable to 
 himself than it is salutary in its results upon the 
 permanency of our republican form of government." 
 The convention also advocated congressional non 
 intervention as the only sound basis for the Demo 
 cratic party. 
 
 The different provisions of the compromise bill 
 
278 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 were finally passed piece-meal. Territorial govern 
 ments were given to Utah and to New Mexico. Cal 
 ifornia was admitted. Texas was given $ 10,000,000 
 in lieu of all title to land organized as part of New 
 Mexico. The slave-trade in the District of Colum 
 bia was abolished. An infamous fugitive slave law 
 was passed, providing for summary proceedings 
 and a shameful disregard for the rights of free 
 blacks. Undoubtedly the country breathed more 
 easily when the compromise was adopted, and many 
 deceived themselves into believing that strife was 
 forever stifled. But the act contained the seeds of 
 its own destruction. Slave hunting in the North 
 began at once, and in earnest. Greeley l estimated 
 that within the first year of the existence of these 
 new regulations more persons were seized as fugi 
 tive slaves than during the preceding sixty years. 
 Cass had been in favor of making the original slave 
 law of 1793 more effective by adequate amend 
 ments. He was willing to do " justice " to the 
 South. But the South on its part did not, and 
 could not, appreciate northern hatred of slave 
 hunting ; and the consequent result of this strict 
 law was to bring the evils of slavery, in its most 
 revolting and inhuman aspects, home to the con 
 sciences of a people whose moral sense was not 
 blunted. The compromise of 1850, which was 
 hailed as the final settlement of sectional differences, 
 in fact precipitated the Kebellion, and hastened the 
 destruction of the " institution " of the South. 
 
 1 The American Conflict, p. 216. 
 
SENATOR. THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 279 
 
 Strange does it seem now that a representative of 
 the free Northwest could not see more clearly, could 
 have thus lost moral insight into the first princi 
 ples of respectable republican liberty. He desired, 
 it is true, that provision should be made for a jury 
 trial in the State to which the alleged runaway 
 might be transported, but he voted against allow 
 ing such a safeguard of liberty in the North, because 
 that would be doing " injustice " to the South. 
 He refused to favor an amendment to this infa 
 mous law, which would have permitted the issue of 
 a writ of habeas corpus. A dark complexion was a 
 crime which freed the nation from all consider 
 ation. 
 
 Those who had worked so strongly through the 
 long oppressive weeks of summer for a compro 
 mise which would save the Union were terribly 
 disappointed and goaded to a pitch of anger because 
 there was still agitation and opposition. The 
 strong and uncompromising adherents of free soil 
 were thought to be nursing " in their bosoms the 
 feelings of disappointment and hate," and to 
 have shut their eyes to the fruits of a happy Union 
 " which compromise ushered into existence." l Yet 
 unquestionably there was on the whole a feeling of 
 rest and relief because the crisis had passed with 
 out destruction. A great reaction toward conser 
 vatism had made itself felt among the mercantile 
 classes of the North, who began to realize how much 
 the industries of the country would be disturbed by 
 , 1 Smith, Life and Times of Lewis Cass, p. 710. 
 
280 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 disunion. Trade is always timid. The steady 
 compromisers were therefore honored at the marts 
 of trade and commerce. A number of citizens of 
 New York gave Cass a public reception November 
 28, 1850, just before the opening of Congress. His 
 " eloquent address " was received with " vehement 
 applause." l It was an earnest appeal for content 
 ment, and for a recognition of the finality of the 
 compromise. A member of the Congress which 
 had just passed one of the most shameful acts that 
 ever sullied a statute book, depriving a man with a 
 black skin of all security in liberty or in the pur 
 suit of happiness, talked about the " precious heri 
 tage of liberty." ..." And where in the long 
 annals of mankind do we find a people so highly 
 favored as we are at this moment, when we seem to 
 be struck with judicial blindness almost ready, I 
 may say, in the language of Scripture, to rush upon 
 the thick bosses of Jehovah s buckler ? The sun 
 never shone upon a country as free and prosperous 
 as this, where human freedom finds less oppression, 
 the human intellect less restraint, or human indus 
 try less opposition." 
 
 There was a vigorous desire on the part of the 
 people to reason themselves to sleep, and to make 
 use of all sorts of devices to rid themselves of this 
 horrid insomnia ; but it was a hard task, although 
 there was an evident backsliding after the high 
 excitement of 1850. Cass was elected senator in 
 February, 1851, by a handsome majority. This is 
 
 1 Newspaper article. 
 
SENATOR. THE COMPROMISE OF 1S50. 281 
 
 a clear indication of the acquiescence in the " final 
 ity" of the compromise. Many people of the 
 North were prepared to assert that they would take 
 no thought for the morrow. The appalling cases 
 of cruelty were too frequent, however ; and action 
 was bound sooner or later to follow reaction. Ora 
 tors might depict the beauties of patriarchal sla 
 very, but the despair of the captured fugitives, 
 their readiness to die rather than to be taken back 
 to the South, belied all efforts of that kind. The 
 contradictions of pamphleteers and deluded con 
 servatives were daily made more glaring ; the sen 
 timentalists of the North were upbraided because 
 they discountenanced the capture of slaves and 
 their return to the blessed and happy bondage, 
 from which ecstatic state they were escaping in 
 hundreds to the ruin of their kind, gentle, and 
 Christian masters. 
 
 Other orators and statesmen used words similar 
 to those of Cass. But all Union-saving speeches 
 and prayers were ineffectual. When Congress 
 met, in December, it was apparent that, although 
 there was a calm after the storm, some would insist 
 on being shocked and horrified at the fugitive 
 slave act. President Fillmore s message indorsed 
 the finality of the compromise. But the indorse 
 ment itself called forth a bitter debate. " The 
 farmer of Ohio," said Giddings, " will never turn 
 out to chase the panting fugitive." Petitions 
 against the act came in scores. Cass lamented 
 that sentiment and ultraism had bewitched the 
 
282 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 people. In a speech in the Senate (February 
 1851) he deplored the statement that the law was 
 contrary to public sentiment, and could not be en 
 forced. He read a ringing resolution adopted by a 
 meeting in Springfield, Massachusetts, which hailed 
 the escape of a hunted slave, and avowed the hope 
 that, " law or no law, constitution or no constitution, 
 Union or no Union, the hospitality of Massachu 
 setts will never be violated by the deliverance of 
 any fugitive from oppression to his tyrant again." 
 Such "unpatriotic" resolutions he attributed to the 
 teachings of English emissaries, who were jour 
 neying over our land, preaching abolition and the 
 sinfulness of the Constitution. 
 
 As the campaign of 1852 approached, it became 
 evident that the Democrats had the advantage of 
 harmony and discipline. Not all Democrats were 
 in favor of the fugitive slave act, but there was no 
 such division in their ranks as in those of the 
 Whigs, where the anti-slavery sentiment would not 
 down. The conservative reaction was still vig 
 orous during the summer of this year. Those who 
 were crying " Peace, peace," would evidently still 
 cling to the old parties, and many would turn to 
 the one whose history promised no attack upon 
 the " peculiar institution " of the Southern States. 
 The horrors of the slave chase were not yet com 
 pletely brought home to the northern conscience 
 and sympathy. The National Democratic Conven 
 tion met in Baltimore on June 1st. On the first 
 ballot Cass was the favorite. He received 116 
 
SENATOR. THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 283 
 
 votes ; Buchanan received 93 ; Marcy, 27 ; and 
 there were 27 scattering. The contest was long arid 
 exciting. Cass was still recognized as the leader 
 of his party ; but the practical politician is loath 
 to place in nomination a man once defeated, whose 
 weak points have been brought into view, and who 
 no longer can awaken enthusiasm from novelty. 
 The balloting continued ; Cass s vote at one time 
 dropped to 25. Douglas, on the thirtieth ballot, 
 had as many as 92. On the thirty-fifth Cass s vote 
 reached 131. Then the name of Franklin Pierce 
 was introduced. Marcy was still formidable, re 
 ceiving 97 on the forty-fifth ballot ; but on the 
 forty-ninth the New Hampshire man was chosen. 
 The second place on the ticket was given to Wil 
 liam E. King of Alabama. 
 
 The candidates were suited to the task assigned 
 them. Pierce is not one of the great men of our 
 political history, but belongs in the column of pres 
 idential accidents. He had served in Congress for 
 some ten years, and had been a brigadier-general 
 in the Mexican war. He had in no way shown 
 any preeminent ability. What was wanted was 
 precisely such a colorless candidate to carry the 
 standard of the party announcing the " finality " 
 of the compromise of 1850. Resolutions were 
 adopted declaring that Congress had no power to 
 interfere with the domestic institutions of the sev 
 eral States, and that all the efforts of the aboli 
 tionists to induce Congress to take such steps were 
 calculated to lead to the most alarming conse- 
 
284 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 quences. The party was pledged to resist all at 
 tempts at " renewing " the agitation of the slavery 
 question in Congress or out of it. Pierce accepted 
 the nomination, and approved heartily of the plat 
 form. 
 
 The Whig convention, which met soon after 
 ward, seemed to have as great travail as its rival 
 had suffered in bringing forth a candidate. Its 
 southern members had already indicated the neces 
 sity of agreeing to the compromise, while at the 
 North there was a strong element of the party 
 which was no longer bound to it by principles, but 
 simply by past associations. Scott, Fillmore, and 
 Webster were the candidates. The first was nomi 
 nated on the fifty-third ballot. Had Webster been 
 nominated the campaign might have taken a differ 
 ent line, for his readiness to accept radical conser 
 vatism on the slavery question had already been 
 demonstrated ; but he did not receive a single 
 southern vote in the convention. The platform, 
 supposed to have been the work of Webster, 
 adopted adjustment and finality, and acquiesced in 
 the fugitive slave law. The party had passed its 
 last resolution. There was truth in the epitaph 
 which the public wrote upon its tomb : " Died of 
 an attempt to swallow the Fugitive Slave Law." 
 
 A Free - Soil National Convention in August 
 nominated John P. Hale for president and George 
 W. Julian for vice-president. Both the great par 
 ties were pronounced hopelessly corrupt and un 
 worthy of confidence ; and were wittily character- 
 
SENATOR. THE COMPROMISE OF 1950. 285 
 
 ized as the " Whig and Democratic wings of the 
 great Compromise party of the Nation." This 
 campaign was conducted with great enthusiasm 
 and with the courage of moral earnestness ; but 
 the result seemed to furnish even less encourage 
 ment than had been offered four years before. 
 The vote had actually fallen off. It represented, 
 however, the actual strength of the anti-slavery 
 men in politics unaided by any side issue. There 
 was great zeal in the North to lie prostrate in wor 
 ship before the Constitution, compromise, and con 
 ciliation. In New York, where Van Buren had 
 received such a great vote in 1848, the Free-Soil- 
 ers did not hold even the balance of power. In 
 Michigan there were 3,000 less votes cast for Hale 
 than had been cast for Van Buren. The same 
 proportionate falling off appears in the other North 
 western States, including Ohio, and yet this por 
 tion of the Union was especially true to the faith. 
 Most of the old Barnburners of New York forgot 
 their free soil aberration, and voted and worked 
 for Pierce. Many of the northern Whigs found 
 it hard to be reconciled ; they were said, in the 
 slang of the day, " to swallow the candidates and 
 to spit upon the platform." 
 
 The Democrats had felt great confidence in their 
 success, but no one had anticipated such a victory 
 as they won. Scott received only 42 electoral 
 votes, carrying in the North Massachusetts and 
 Vermont, in the South Kentucky and Tennessee. 
 Not a single State especially interested in slavery 
 
286 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 deigned to reward the party which had been for 
 years stifling all its better feelings and hopes out of 
 tender consideration for the " rights " of the South. 
 The popular plurality was not so crushing, only 
 202,008 ; but Taylor had beaten Cass by a plural 
 ity of 138,447. There was no excuse for the Whigs 
 longer to pretend to exist as a party. They had been 
 kept together since 1848 by spoils and the memory 
 of past glory. In the light of this defeat even 
 memory lost its sweetness. Though some were still 
 obstinate and used the old name, the party was 
 gone. Some rude shock was necessary to shake 
 into crystals the different elements held in the 
 solution of uncertainty and doubt. Such a shock 
 soon came, and the study of the next eight years 
 of this sixth decade of our history may be devoted 
 to watching the effect upon the North of blow after 
 blow from the arrogant South. The Democracy, 
 now given up to southern policy and flushed with 
 victory, scarcely realized the danger of presump 
 tion until the free Northwest had brought into be 
 ing a gigantic young party filled with the enthusi 
 asm of youth, principle, and patriotism. Not till 
 the Whigs were disorganized and thrown into con 
 fusion by overwhelming defeat, was there an oppor 
 tunity for a recombination in opposition to slavery. 
 The triumph of the compromise was all that was 
 needed to destroy it. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE REPEAL OF THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 
 THE NORTHWEST FORMS A NEW PARTY. 
 
 A STUDY of the popular vote of 1852 might 
 have made the Democratic party somewhat cau 
 tious ; for its actual majority was very small. But 
 compromise and finality, as represented by Pierce, 
 seemed to be triumphant, and the new president was 
 eager for adjustment and for the enforcement of 
 the law. His message, December, 1853, once more 
 proclaimed that the slavery contest should be 
 considered settled. From its uneasy slumbers the 
 country was suddenly awakened on January 16, 
 1854, by Senator Dixon of Kentucky. The suc 
 cessor of Henry Clay gave notice that when a bill 
 to establish a territorial government in Nebraska 
 should come up for consideration, he should offer a 
 resolution repealing the Missouri compromise and 
 permitting the citizens of the several States and Ter 
 ritories to take and hold their slaves within any of 
 the Territories of the United States. January 23d, 
 Stephen A. Douglas reported from the Committee 
 on Territories a bill for the formation of two Terri 
 tories, Kansas and Nebraska, which provided 
 that all cases involving the title to slaves and ques- 
 
288 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 tions of personal freedom should be referred to the 
 local tribunals with right of appeal to the Supreme 
 Court of the United States. This, of course, meant 
 the repeal of the Missouri compromise. It was 
 declared to be the intent of the act to carry into 
 practical operation the principles established by the 
 compromise measure of 1850. Non-intervention 
 was now made applicable, not alone to the " broken 
 crests and deep valleys," nor to the mountain tops 
 " capped by perennial snow," nor to the barren 
 mountain sides of New Mexico and Utah, but to 
 the broad rolling prairies west of the Mississippi. 
 The section of the Missouri compromise, excluding 
 slavery north of 36 30 , was declared inoperative 
 and void, as being inconsistent with the principle 
 of non-intervention recognized by the legislation of 
 1850. There is ostensible but not real truth, there 
 fore, in the statement of Jefferson Davis that the 
 Missouri line was erased, not in 1854, but by Clay s 
 last effort at mediation. 
 
 The act as adopted, contained the following 
 statement, afterwards a subject of some discussion : 
 " It being the true intent and meaning of the act 
 not to legislate slavery into any Territory or State, 
 nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people 
 thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their 
 domestic institutions in their own way, subject only 
 to the Constitution of the United States." Jeffer 
 son Davis, in his work on the Rise and Fall of 
 the Confederate Government," maintains that the 
 claim afterwards advanced by Douglas and others, 
 
REPEAL OF THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 289 
 
 that this declaration was intended to assert the right 
 of the first settlers of the Territory to determine 
 the character of its institutions, led to the dissen 
 sions which resulted in a rupture of the Demo 
 cratic party. He insists that this right to " regu 
 late their domestic institutions " belonged to the 
 people of a Territory only at the moment of form 
 ing a constitution for admittance into the Union. 
 The same statements have been made by other 
 writers in behalf of the "Lost Cause." The " Lit 
 tle Giant," who declaimed in his frenzied fashion 
 in favor of the rights of the slaveholder, until he 
 was abused and execrated by the more advanced 
 people of the North, is now slandered and maligned 
 by the advocates of the South. He is described as 
 an " able and eloquent demagogue," whose popular 
 sovereignty was merely " a short cut to all the ends 
 of Black Republicanism." The truth is, however, 
 that the South, finding itself beaten at its own 
 game, thereupon followed the advice of the old 
 lawyer to a member newly admitted to the profes 
 sion : having neither law nor facts in its favor, it 
 abused the other side. An unprejudiced reading of 
 the speeches of Cass and Douglas on the act of 
 1854 will show that popular or "squatter sov 
 ereignty" meant control over legislation by the 
 people of a Territory. Cass made two eloquent and 
 skillful speeches on the subject, clear as the sun at 
 noonday. The fact is that the remarkable infatu 
 ation of the South allowed it, even as late as 1854, 
 to believe that it could compete for the western 
 
290 LEWIS CA88. 
 
 prairie with the free North, whose population was 
 far greater, and which was constantly receiving 
 such additions from the old world that it could 
 pour a steady stream of immigrants into the new 
 territories. Not until the painful truth came home, 
 that competition with the free North in expansion, 
 in power, in vigor, was a hopeless task, did the 
 ordinary slave-owner abuse popular sovereignty and 
 demand the affirmative protection by Congress of 
 all his rights to property in persons. We shall see 
 that in this hopeless contest he at last turned even 
 to the nefarious slave-trade, which had been piracy 
 for forty years and illegal for fifty, hoping in spite 
 of defeat that the forests of Africa would give 
 the means to counteract the emigration from the 
 crowded fields and cities of Europe. 
 
 Cass, as the inventor of popular sovereignty, has 
 been burdened with abusive epithets, and accused 
 of pernicious intents ; but, after all, popular sover 
 eignty, though artificial, and an absurd deduction 
 from general principles, if honestly carried out 
 would have chained slavery within its early limits, 
 wherein it was doomed to destruction by the silent 
 operation of economic and industrial laws. But 
 the South would not live up to the doctrine when 
 the struggle went against it. California was lost ; 
 the mountain passes -of New Mexico were forbid 
 ding ; and the plains beyond the mountains had not 
 yet suggested their beautiful transformation at the 
 touch pf irrigation and modern mechanical skill. 
 The Kansas and Nebraska country, stretching away 
 
REPEAL OF THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 291 
 
 to the Rocky Mountains and north to the British 
 provinces, the remaining portions of the Louisiana 
 purchase, must be won for slavery, or the slave- 
 baron could no longer crack his whip in the halls 
 of the capitol in defiance of northern sentiment and 
 " sentimentality." 
 
 Cass lamented the reopening of the slavery con 
 test by this bill. He regretted that it should be 
 necessary to reconsider a compromise of over thirty 
 years standing ; but he admitted that the line of 
 demarcation was inconsistent with the theory of 
 non-intervention, and he believed that the complete 
 recognition of that theory was the only means of 
 obtaining peace. He therefore announced his ad 
 herence to the bill. He did not believe that the 
 South would gain anything by the equality she de 
 manded, for he trusted that the region in dispute 
 was so ill adapted to slave labor that no human 
 power could ever establish it there. Borrowing the 
 famous words of Webster, he exclaimed, " It is ex 
 cluded by law, superior to that which admits it else 
 where, the law of nature, of physical geography, 
 the law of the formation of the earth. That law 
 settles forever, with a strength beyond all terms of 
 human enactment, that slavery cannot exist there." 
 Curiously enough, the eloquent historian of our 
 civil war, Dr. Draper, propounded the same opinion 
 as late as 1867 ; l but the learned advocate of the 
 control of nature over man hit upon an unfortunate 
 example. The Great American Desert has bloomed 
 
 1 History of American Civil War, vol. i. p. 411. 
 
292 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 as if touched with the wand of Ceres herself, and 
 the skill of man, by upturning the soil, has brought 
 rain from the clouds ; the dry plains of Kansas and 
 Nebraska are dry no longer, and the rough buffalo 
 grass and cactus have given place to more useful 
 and luxuriant crops. It is fortunate that the 
 American people were not willing to trust to the 
 apparent infertility of their wild lands, but aroused 
 themselves to active opposition. For the South 
 was determined that at least one more slave State 
 should be added to the list. The passage of the 
 Kansas-Nebraska bill was the beginning of the end. 
 The advice of Seward had been neglected. The 
 slave States, ignorant of their own inherent weak 
 ness, madly began a struggle for equality, demand 
 ing an opportunity for the contest. 
 
 President Pierce signed the measure May 30, 
 1854. The day of compromise was past. They who 
 had boasted of final adjustment by the compromise 
 of 1850 now disregarded one which had been con 
 sidered inviolable. The basis was non-interference. 
 Freedom must be attained, not by " bargains of 
 equivocal prudence," but by fair legislation, by the 
 vigor of free labor and free thought, now by south 
 ern folly given fair play without let or hindrance. 
 The shifting sands of compromise were gone. 
 "This seems to me," exclaimed Seward, "auspi 
 cious of better days and better and wiser legislation. 
 Through all the darkness and gloom of the present 
 hour bright stars are breaking, that inspire me 
 with hope and excite me to perseverance." Cass 
 
REPEAL OF THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 293 
 
 did not see so clearly nor feel so deeply as the men 
 of the new generation. His companions in thought 
 had gone, and he lingered still, one of the old 
 school who had loved the Union with a tenderness 
 and loyalty which could be known only by those 
 who had seen it rise and prosper, and who had 
 helped make it what it was. He hoped and be 
 lieved that his doctrine of non-intervention would 
 preserve the Territories for freedom. The violence, 
 the greed, the stern resolve of the leaders of the 
 new South appeared as dire portents to Seward, to 
 Chase, to Sumner ; but they were hidden from the 
 patriarch of a generation whose memories recalled 
 southern hospitality and true chivalry, when as yet 
 embittering topics had not arisen. 
 
 His opinions are well expressed in a letter writ 
 ten to a friend in Detroit, June 4th : " As you are 
 aware we have passed the Nebraska bill. I believe 
 it was a wise measure, and that it will have the 
 effect of forever withdrawing the slavery contest 
 from Congress. And it is founded on the true 
 American principle of allowing every political 
 community tor regulate its own domestic concerns 
 for itself. I am aware that the measure has ex 
 cited a good deal of opposition in our State, but I 
 believe that the more it is examined and becomes 
 known, the more favor it will meet from reasonable 
 men of both parties." l 
 
 The repeal of the Missouri compromise came 
 like a whirlwind upon the people of the North. At 
 
 1 Letter to Mr. J. H. Cleveland, Detroit. 
 
294 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 a time when the Federal Government was giving 
 itself up to the demands of slavery, the sentiment 
 of liberty was growing. The Democratic party had 
 surrendered to the South, but it was called to reckon 
 with true democracy at the North. Many who had 
 not been aroused hitherto now shouted for the 
 sacredness of the bargain of 1820. The awaited 
 shock had come. Indignant Democrats who had 
 voted for Pierce in 1852, thinking that the last 
 word had been said for slavery, joined with Whigs 
 who were half gleeful that their boastful old-time 
 enemies had not found such easy sailing, and half 
 angry that the compromise of their own chieftain 
 had been abandoned. Crystallization into a new 
 party came at once. Emigrant aid societies and 
 private benevolence armed the sturdy New Eng- 
 lander and hurried him off to the new territory to 
 hold the doubtful ground for liberty with the rifle. 
 Earnest men in all the North, startled by seeing 
 the last barrier broken, demanded an end of irreso 
 lution and trifling. The Whigs and the Democrats 
 who were provoked to opposition wasted too much 
 time and thought on " breach of faith," and la 
 mented with over-much sorrow the destruction of a 
 geographical line, which had been for many years 
 the bane of our politics. Such persons, however, 
 were soon found hand in glove with the Free-Soilers, 
 who saw in the obnoxious measure only an instance 
 of the perfidy of slavery and the folly of compro 
 mises and bargains with sin. 
 
 The Republican party was born in the North- 
 
THE NORTHWEST FORMS A NEW PARTY. 295 
 
 west. It breathed its early life in that virile re 
 gion which had never felt the enervating influence 
 of colonialism, in a section which was now filled 
 with the power of a highly developed and organ 
 ized society, and yet had not lost the zeal, vitality, 
 and energy of a primitive and newly settled coun 
 try. Men of the young West easily free them 
 selves from associations of party and leave the 
 shallow ruts of custom. They do not know the 
 burdening weight of tradition and inheritance, and 
 they readily think for themselves and act as they 
 think. The pioneer who has wrought his own 
 work and fought his own fight has no respect for 
 prescription, and bases superiority on skill and 
 endurance. Yet side by side with this marked 
 individualism and independence, there is a generous 
 altruism and a comprehension of society. Lessons 
 are learned from nature. Her breadth and lib 
 erality do not teach the settler selfishness. He may 
 lose opportunities for refinement and culture, but 
 his views are not limited to a narrow horizon. 
 These characteristics display themselves variously ; 
 there is a deep, broad, and fervent love of country, 
 an admiration of her greatness and an appreciation 
 of her manifest destiny. Geography teaches patri 
 otism. " Vast prairies covered by the unbroken 
 dome of the sky, and navigable rivers all converg 
 ing to a common trunk, perpetually suggest to him 
 Unionism." l He is proud of the mightiness of the 
 Eepublic. Without acute susceptibility to criti- 
 
 1 Draper s History of the American Civil War, vol. i. p. 412. 
 
296 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 cism, he delights in praise of the grandeur and 
 glory of his country. "The true American is 
 found in the Great Valley." Naturally, therefore, 
 in 1854, old party trammels were soonest cast aside 
 by the people of the Northwest. They most read 
 ily bent to the task of forming a party upon the 
 corner-stone of unionism and freedom, a party op 
 posed to state sovereignty and to a sectional con 
 stitutional interpretation which would shield wrong. 
 They gave their strength to the party which advo 
 cated nationalism. From 1854 until the close of 
 the civil war, the upper part of the Great Valley 
 was the centre of loyalty arid Kepublicanism. Here 
 was the early home of the new union-anti-slavery 
 party, and it has never yet wandered far from its 
 birthplace ; every one of its successful candidates 
 for the presidency has come from the Old North 
 west, and all its nominees, save one, have been west 
 ern men. 
 
 In addition to this natural tendency, there were 
 two other reasons for the appearance of the Repub 
 lican party in the West, before the East was ready 
 to break old party lines. The South long counted 
 on the influence of commercial conservatism in the 
 North, and it cannot be denied that this operated 
 much more strongly in the mercantile centres of 
 the East than in the farming West, which had few 
 commercial relations with the cotton States. The 
 second reason was an equally potent one. The 
 Northwest was honeycombed by the underground 
 railroad. The fugitives from service found their 
 
THE NORTHWEST FORMS A NEW PARTY. 297 
 
 way to Canada by the shortest road, and the slave 
 chase awakened northwestern resentment. 
 
 Upon the passage of the Nebraska bill there 
 came a demand for a new party. Men who had 
 never voted a Free-Soil ticket now avowed their 
 willingness to support any candidate on a sound 
 anti-slavery platform. The East, with its usual con 
 servatism, hesitated to break old ties and to launch 
 a new party without prestige and traditions. Pos 
 sibly the very first active suggestion of the new 
 party came from the little town of Ripon, Wiscon 
 sin. There, in February, 1854, while the obnox 
 ious act was under discussion in Congress, a local 
 meeting was held, and the principles for the coming 
 emergency were considered. On March 20th, in a 
 town meeting, the committees of the Whig and 
 Free - Soil parties were dissolved and a new com 
 mittee was chosen, composed of three Whigs, one 
 Free-Soiler, and one Democrat. Thus in miniature 
 were the dissolution of the old and the formation 
 of the new faithfully typified. The " solitary tal 
 low candle " and the " little white schoolhouse " 
 have become immortal in our history. In May, 
 immediately after the passage of the Kansas-Ne 
 braska bill, some thirty congressmen at Washing 
 ton met and considered the formation of the 
 " [Republican " party. 
 
 By that time the name was in the air. It was a 
 question as to where and by whom it should be 
 adopted. Horace Greeley, who had fought so val 
 iantly against slavery, was getting disheartened. 
 
298 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 " I faintly hope the time has come predicted by 
 Dan Webster when he said : 1 think there will be 
 a North. The veterans of the East listened to 
 calls from the excited Northwest. Editors " can 
 direct and animate a healthy public indignation, 
 but not create a soul beneath the ribs of Death." * 
 Greeley wrote to Jacob M. Howard of Michigan, 
 that Wisconsin on July 13th would adopt the name 
 Republican, and he advised Michigan to anticipate 
 such action in the convention summoned for the 
 6th. 2 But no such advice was needed ; the work 
 of arousing interest in such a plan was already 
 begun, and to Michigan belongs the honor of really 
 conceiving and christening the Republican party. 
 The " Detroit Tribune," June 2d, formulated its 
 proposition frankly : " Our proposition is that a con 
 vention be called, irrespective of party organiza 
 tion, for the purpose of agreeing upon some plan 
 of action that shall combine the whole anti-slavery 
 sentiment of the State upon one ticket." The 
 " call " published in that paper, said to be the work 
 of Isaac P. Christiancy, began with the words, 
 " A great wrong has been perpetrated." It invited 
 all, " without reference to former political associa 
 tions, who think the time has arrived for Union 
 at the North to protect liberty from being over 
 thrown and downtrodden, to assemble in mass 
 convention, Thursday the sixth of July next, at 
 
 1 Greeley, quoted in Fowler s History of the Eepublican Party, 
 p. 163. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 173. 
 
THE NORTHWEST FORMS A NEW PARTY. 299 
 
 one o clock, at Jackson, there to take such meas 
 ures as shall be thought best to concentrate the 
 popular sentiment of this State against the en 
 croachments of the slave power." 
 
 On that date, July 6, 1854, the Whigs and Free- 
 Soilers, or the " Free Democracy " of Michigan, 
 met and formed a single party. The name Repub- 
 lican was adopted. A powerful platform, attrib 
 uted to Jacob M. Howard, was accepted as the 
 basis of the new party. It resolved "That in 
 view of the necessity of battling for the first prin 
 ciples of republican government and against the 
 schemes of aristocracy, the most revolting and 
 oppressive with which the world was ever cursed 
 or man debased, we will cooperate and be known 
 as Republicans until the contest be terminated." 
 The strength of the new party was at once great. 
 Wisconsin took the same position the next week. 
 In the East the Whigs, as a rule, maintained their 
 organization. The Northwest was on its feet and 
 equipped for battle. 
 
 Under these circumstances General Cass had a 
 hard campaign in Michigan. The theory of " squat 
 ter sovereignty," which he first had amply un 
 folded to the world, was now made applicable to 
 nearly all the Territories ; but his own State had 
 inaugurated an attack upon the doctrine, and in 
 his own city strong men were loathing it. He 
 spoke at length before the Democratic convention 
 of Michigan in September, and took an active 
 part in the campaign, ably defending his theory of 
 
300 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 the Constitution and the incompetence of Congress 
 in territorial government. In the course of his 
 speech before the convention he denounced slavery 
 as a great social and political evil, asserted that he 
 had said the same thing more than once in the 
 Senate, and that he never entertained any other 
 opinion regarding it. His whole career attests the 
 truth of this. But the slaveholders, now keenly 
 sensitive to unkind allusions, resented such un 
 pleasant truths. The South fondly nursed the 
 viper which was poisoning its life. The " Rich 
 mond Enquirer " arraigned Cass before the bar of 
 popular judgment : " If this language be correctly 
 given in the report of his speech, he has severed 
 the last cord which bound him to the Democracy 
 of the South." Cass had tried to do " justice " to 
 both sections, and had fallen into disrepute with 
 each. It is pathetic to see him left naked to his 
 enemies after all his zealous service and honest 
 striving after duty, which in the corrupt currents 
 of the world does not always lie in the trimming 
 consideration of contesting principles. The " En 
 quirer " ranked him with those " illustrious apos 
 tates," Benton and Van Buren, " in the limbo of 
 lost and dishonored politicians," a trio, one 
 would think, of no mean proportions. On Novem 
 ber 4th, in a "grand rally " at Detroit, Cass elab 
 orately defended his spoiled child, " squatter sov 
 ereignty." He took leave of the South, but avowed 
 his purpose manfully to defend its constitutional 
 rights. He pleaded with friends of the Union to 
 
THE NORTHWEST FORMS A NEW PARTY. 301 
 
 be moderate and forbearing, so far as mere per 
 sonal interests were concerned, but counseled that 
 they be vigilant for the maintenance of justice and 
 law. It was an able and noble speech. This man, 
 who has been accused of vacillation and skillful 
 legerdemain in politics, knew how to cling amid 
 the abuse of foes, and of old-time friends, to a posi 
 tion which he thought right. The spirit of Henry 
 Clay and of the past generation permeated the 
 speech of the 4th of November. It contained the 
 old calmness, the fairness, and the judicial blind 
 ness which would not and could not see that moral 
 enthusiasm was awakened, and that argument could 
 no more lull it to sleep than whistling could calm 
 a tempest. 
 
 The result of the elections showed the strength 
 of protest against the violation of the compromise. 
 The Northwest vigorously supported the new party. 
 Michigan elected the whole state ticket, and three 
 out of four congressmen. Cass seemed ill requited 
 for his services to the old party, but a comparison 
 of the figures will prove that, though his influence 
 had waned, it was still of weight. Two of the 
 three congressmen elected in Wisconsin were Re 
 publicans. In Illinois, the Nebraska and Douglas 
 Democrats were 18,000 behind in the vote of the 
 State, although two years before Pierce had had a 
 clear majority of more than 5,000 over Scott and 
 Hale, the last having received less than 10,000 
 votes. Even in Indiana the Republicans had a 
 majority of some 14,000. Ohio, of course, came 
 
302 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 prominently forward. The old Western Reserve 
 district cast two Republican votes for every one 
 cast for Nebraska and " squatter sovereignty." 
 Maine was the only one of the Eastern States that 
 adopted for the campaign the new name or elected 
 a Republican ticket. 
 
 The different elements in northwestern life once 
 more gave evidence of the power of inherited ideas 
 and prejudices. The southern element, as if in 
 obedience to the famous words of King James s 
 charter, 1609, advanced into the country on a line 
 running "west and northwest," its presence is 
 evident in the southern counties of Indiana, and 
 running northward penetrated as far north as the 
 centre of Illinois. In the northern tier of coun 
 ties, which were settled from New York and New 
 England, the Republican vote was 8,372, and the 
 Nebraska vote 2,776 ; in the ninth district, in 
 the southern point, 2,911 votes were cast for the 
 Republican candidate, and 8,498 for the Demo 
 cratic. Possibly the most characteristic and star 
 tling exception, which proved the rule, was the vote 
 of Madison County, the former home of Edward 
 Coles, who moved from Virginia to Illinois to free 
 his slaves, and left the impress of his character on 
 the surrounding country. Madison County cast 
 2,220 Republican baUots, and but 393 "for Ne 
 braska." 
 
 The great danger to the Republican party seemed 
 to be the American party, a sub rosa organiza 
 tion, which attempted to substitute another question 
 
THE NORTHWEST FORMS A NEW PARTY. 303 
 
 for the slavery question, and to excite the people 
 by holding up the spectre of Rome and the tyranny 
 of Catholicism. This party was not built on the 
 broad foundation of the necessity of preserving a 
 pure ballot and free government by maintaining 
 sound American doctrine and insisting upon good 
 American intelligence as a basis for suffrage. 
 Its platform was not so much its oft - repeated 
 " America for Americans," as it was America for 
 Protestants, and anything to avoid a decision on 
 the real problems of the day. Its secret organ 
 ization was at once an insult to the people and the 
 assurance of its failure. No " order " having an 
 hierarchy and degrees, and encumbering a politi 
 cal topic with paraphernalia and mystic symbolism, 
 can rise to dignity in a free country and dominate 
 a frank and thoughtful people, the very essence of 
 whose institutions is common participation, common 
 undertaking, and common judgment. So great, 
 however, was the desire of men in those harrowing 
 days to avoid responsibility that this organization 
 assumed alarming proportions, and threatened the 
 success of the party which faced present realities. 
 It served a purpose quite different from the one 
 hoped for or contemplated. Whigs and Democrats 
 too obstinate or proud to transfer their allegiance 
 at once to the Republicans took this secret passage, 
 and finally emerged thence into good standing with 
 the anti-slavery party, without the shame of having 
 changed their coats in broad daylight. 
 
 This organization appeared in 1852. At first it 
 
304 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 simply interrogated candidates, but in 1854 it mas 
 queraded as a political party, and for a few years 
 played its role not without some success. In some of 
 the Eastern States, especially, it held its head high ; 
 and in the border States it long lingered, until west 
 ern Kepublicanism with its sense of present duty, 
 sincerity, and actuality shamed it out of sight. The 
 real name adopted by these whispering politicians 
 was as silly as their purpose. " The Sons of 76, 
 or the Order of the Star-Spangled Banner," was 
 the title used in its inner mysterious circles. The 
 sobriquet, " Know-Nothing," arose from the an 
 swers of its members, who uniformly replied " I 
 don t know " to all inquiries as to the name and pur 
 pose of the organization ; only those who had taken 
 the higher degrees knew its more serious intents or 
 how ambitiously it had been christened. No party 
 can hope to succeed in the United States which 
 has but one aim, and that, too, not a political one. 
 The success of the Republican party has often 
 been cited to disprove such a statement and to fur 
 nish inspiration for new movements. The historic 
 analogy is deceptive. The Republican party, al 
 though inspired with a truly moral purpose, was a 
 political party, with a well-known and well-defined 
 policy in affairs of state, and not simply a combi 
 nation of enthusiasts burning with zeal for the 
 realization of a single idea. The Know-Nothing 
 party had no political virility. " It would seem," 
 sneered Greeley, " as devoid of the elements of per- 
 
THE NORTHWEST FORMS A NEW PARTY. 305 
 
 sistence as an anti-cholera or an anti-potato-rot 
 party would be." * 
 
 Such an unwholesome fungus was specially ob 
 noxious to Cass, who was peculiarly liberal and 
 sympathetic. He was too much of a scholar to be 
 a bigot, and too much a man of affairs to be a ped 
 ant. He lamented that such narrow and bitter 
 intolerance could exist. " Mr. President," he said 
 in the Senate, " strange doctrines are abroad, and 
 strange organizations are employed to promulgate 
 and enforce them. Our political history contains 
 no such chapter in the progress of our country as 
 that which is now opening. The grave questions 
 of constitutionality and policy, which have been so 
 long the battle-cry of parties, are contemptuously 
 rejected, and intolerance, religious and political, 
 finds zealous, and it may be they will prove suc 
 cessful, advocates, in this middle of the nineteenth 
 century, boasting with much self-complacency of its 
 intelligence, and, in this free country, founded 
 upon immigration, and grown powerful and pros 
 perous by toleration. It is a system of proscrip 
 tion which would exclude the first general who fell 
 at the head of an organized American army . . . 
 from all political confidence, because he happened 
 to be. born on the wrong side of the Atlantic, and 
 would exclude, also, the last surviving signer of 
 the Declaration of Independence from any similar 
 token of regard because he was a Catholic, were 
 those eminent leaders in our revolutionary cause 
 1 Whig Almanac, 1855, p. 23. 
 
306 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 now living to witness this appeal to local and secta 
 rian prejudices," 1 This spirit of fanaticism and 
 intolerance Cass unfortunately considered a part 
 and parcel of that northern enthusiasm which had 
 begotten the Republican party. He did not see 
 that nativism was merely histrionic. Hamlet, 
 called to duty, feigns a silly madness, goes about 
 unkempt, wreaks in sudden wrath unpremeditated 
 vengeance on poor old Polonius, arranges a pretty 
 mimicry of the murder in the garden, all to tickle 
 his imagination, consume time, and delay action. 
 
 Resolutions from the legislature of Michigan 
 were presented in the Senate, February 5, 1855, by 
 Mr. Stuart, the colleague of General Cass, instruct 
 ing these two gentlemen, and requesting the rep 
 resentatives, to vote for an act prohibiting slavery 
 in the Territories, and for the repeal of the Fugi 
 tive Slave law. Cass replied at length, refusing to 
 obey the dictates of a party which had suddenly 
 and, as he believed, temporarily become possessed 
 of the government of the State. When instructed 
 before, he had acknowledged that such instructions 
 were valid " under proper circumstances," but as 
 serted that there were " limitations upon this exer 
 cise." He now thought these limitations in force. 
 He was fully persuaded that the adoption of the 
 measure proposed " would be the signal for the 
 breaking up of the government and the dissolution 
 of the Confederacy." Mr. Stuart followed the ex 
 ample of his senior colleague. 
 
 1 Cong. Globe, vol. xxx. p. 556. 
 
THE NORTHWEST FORMS A NEW PARTY. 307 
 
 The South was alert in many directions during 
 these years. Its appetite, only whetted by the 
 acquisition of Texas and the West, those pleasing 
 results of southern " filibustering," craved more 
 for slavery. Cuba, almost touching Florida, was 
 provokingly near, and the South was tantalized by 
 the propinquity. Not to speak of attempts at rob 
 bery, more than one attempt had been made in pre 
 vious years to secure the island honorably. In 
 1852 England and France suggested to the United 
 States that the three countries pledge themselves 
 not to make any effort to acquire Cuba. Our 
 country refused. In August, 1854, James Buch 
 anan, J. Y. Mason, and Pierre Soule, ministers 
 to England, France, and Spain, were instructed to 
 meet and to adopt measures for perfect concert of 
 action directed to the end of obtaining Cuba from 
 Spain. From Aix la Chapelle, in October, they 
 issued what is known as the Ostend Manifesto. 
 After outlining how profitable and honorable a sale 
 of the " fair isle " would prove for Spain, this no 
 torious document pointed to the needs of the United 
 States in the premises, and contemplated the pos 
 sible necessity of " wresting " the treasure from its 
 owner. It was said that we should be " recreant 
 to our duty and unworthy of our gallant forefathers, 
 and commit base treason against our posterity, 
 should we permit Cuba to be Africanized and be 
 come a second St. Domingo with all its attendant 
 horrors to the white race, and suffer the flames to 
 extend to our own neighboring shores, seriously to 
 
308 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 endanger, or actually to consume, the fair fabric of 
 our Union." This shameful proclamation, charac 
 terized by the Kepublican platform of 1856 as " the 
 highwaymen s plea, that might makes right," was 
 at first scarcely credited in its enormity at home or 
 abroad. It was not, however, discountenanced by 
 the Pierce administration. The free American 
 Eepublic held itself out to the world as the armed 
 champion of slavery, and acknowledged its brutal 
 indifference in the face of Christendom. The 
 countries of Europe, too apt to hide larceny under 
 the cloak of diplomacy, looked upon our avowed 
 greed with a sense of awe, surprise, and shame at 
 the inartistic nudity of our propositions, not cov 
 ered even by respectable and cunning verbiage. 
 
 Such schemes attracted the attention of Cass. 
 He had a never-failing ambition for his country 
 and a never-ceasing suspicion of England. In 
 February, 1854, he called the attention of the 
 Senate to a speech delivered by Lord Clarendon, 
 in which it was announced that on questions of pol 
 icy the French and English nations were in entire 
 accord in every part of the world. Cass then de 
 clared that this meant opposition to our acquisi 
 tion of Cuba ; and, though Lord Clarendon after 
 ward, in referring to this statement, disclaimed all 
 such agreements or intentions, and was said to be 
 " the most astonished man in Europe at General 
 Cass s construction of his speech," yet circumstan 
 tial evidence strongly contradicts his denial. Al 
 luding again in February, 1855, to the general 
 
THE NORTHWEST FORMS A NEW PARTY. 309 
 
 subject of our foreign relations, after the issue of 
 the Ostend Manifesto, Cass in a masterly speech 
 resented the interference of foreign countries. 
 Yet the stealing of Cuba he heartily condemned : 
 " Such a case of rapacity will, I trust, never stain 
 our annals." While condemning all allusions to 
 " filibustering, and the bullying spirit of Demo 
 cracy," and while irritated by the paternal tone of 
 European nations, he did not forget common de 
 cency or advocate robbery in behalf of slavery. 
 
 This buccaneering spirit, grown so great by feed 
 ing on the coarse meat of slavery, manifested itself 
 in many ways. An attempt was made to conquer 
 and colonize Nicaragua and to give it up to the 
 unique civilization of the South. The Democratic 
 convention which nominated Buchanan actually 
 proclaimed that the people of the United States 
 could but " sympathize with the efforts which are 
 being made by the people of Central America to 
 regenerate that portion of the continent which cov 
 ers the passage across the inter-oceanic isthmus." 
 A belief in the " positive goodness " of slavery had 
 made the South mad. This " regenerating " pro 
 cess was unsuccessful. Moreover, those who had 
 longed for more territory in the West now asked 
 for more slaves to fill it. " We are losing Kan 
 sas," said the " Charleston Standard," in 1856, 
 "because we are lacking in population." The only 
 remedy seemed a reopening of the traffic which had 
 been piracy for thirty years and more. 
 
 The attitude of Cass on the questions of interna- 
 
310 LEWIS CASS, 
 
 tional concern from 1850 to 1856 was not far from 
 right. He made a number of very able speeches, 
 all showing his old-time jealousy of interference by 
 foreign powers. The Clayton-Bulwer treaty he 
 had accepted with the hope that it would settle 
 some of our difficulties regarding Central America. 
 But when England, desiring a substantial footing 
 in that reentrant angle of our continent, began to 
 quibble and demur, he expressed his usual anti 
 pathy to what he considered her ambitious dupli 
 city. The last speeches of his active life in the 
 Senate exhibit little decline in vigor of thought and 
 feeling. 
 
 In the mean time the contest for the possession 
 of Kansas was waging. Such scenes a modern 
 American would wish to pass by with averted eyes. 
 Missouri poured armed ruffians over the border to 
 hold the Territory for slavery, and for some time 
 this element seemed to have its own way. A pro- 
 slavery territorial government was established early 
 in 1855 by wholesale fraud and intimidation. A 
 series of acts were passed which savored of the 
 blackest of the early laws of South Carolina. Gov 
 ernor Keeder vetoed such bills, but they were 
 passed without hesitation over his veto. At the 
 petition of the pro-slavery men he was removed, 
 and Wilson Shannon of Ohio was named in his 
 stead. At the outset this man apparently showed 
 a zeal for ruffianism and barbarity, and in the end 
 was incompetent. The Free-State men, in October, 
 1855, formed a constitution and, after the adoption 
 
THE NORTHWEST FORMS A NEW PARTY. 311 
 
 of it by the people, they applied for admittance 
 into the Union. In March, 1856, the House sent 
 a committee, composed of William A. Howard of 
 Michigan, John Sherman of Ohio, and Mordecai 
 Oliver of Missouri, to examine the proceedings in 
 Kansas. The first two members declared in their 
 report that elections were carried by fraud and 
 violence, and that this constitution framed by the 
 convention embodied the will of a majority of the 
 people. A bill to admit Kansas under this free 
 constitution, at first defeated in the House, was 
 afterwards passed by a majority of two. The Sen 
 ate, however, preferred to pass an act for authoriz 
 ing the formation of a constitution under which 
 the Territory could be admitted. Cass was se 
 lected to propose the memorial of the Topeka legis 
 lature asking for the admittance of the State. Yet 
 he was opposed to the recognition of an instrument 
 agreed upon by " one portion " of the people. He 
 was in favor of allowing the citizens of the Terri 
 tory to vote fairly upon the question ; but he did 
 not approve of admitting the State under the 
 Topeka Free-State constitution above referred to, 
 asserting that such a course would simply perpetu 
 ate ill feeling and division. On May 12 and 13, 
 1856, he spoke at length on this topic, severely 
 arraigning Seward and others who tried to heap 
 upon the administration the opprobrium of the 
 anarchy of Kansas. 
 
 Sumner followed Cass on the 19th and 20th. 
 This famous speech reached the highest point in the 
 
312 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 denunciation of slavery and its devotees. The 
 northern men with southern principles were de 
 nounced as bitterly as the southern men with no 
 principles. Senator Butler of South Carolina was 
 depicted as the Don Quixote of slavery, accom 
 panied by Douglas as its very Sancho Panza. 
 There was no cowardly mincing of terms, but the 
 crime against Kansas was presented with all the 
 burning eloquence of this classicist among Ameri 
 can orators. Because of his tendency to load his 
 speech with overwrought and hyper-cunning phrases, 
 and to burden it with historic allusions and Latin 
 quotations, highly dramatic passages sometimes fell 
 flat before an unappreciative audience. But now 
 he was so much in earnest, so bitter in his intensity, 
 that the galleries and the Senate listened with 
 breathless attention to his daring, scathing attack, 
 and watched him in bewilderment as he tore gar 
 ment and veil from the foul creature he detested. 
 He ended with an appeal for the purity of the bal 
 lot and protection against violence, that free labor 
 might not be blasted by unwelcome association 
 with slave labor. "In dutiful respect for the 
 early Fathers, whose aspirations are now ignobly 
 thwarted; in the name of the Constitution which 
 has been outraged, of the laws trampled down 
 of justice banished of humanity degraded of 
 peace destroyed of freedom crushed to earth; 
 and in the name of the Heavenly Father, whose 
 service is perfect freedom, I make this last appeal." 
 When Sumner sat down Cass rose. He had 
 
THE NORTHWEST FORMS A NEW PARTY. 313 
 
 listened, he said, with equal regret and surprise to 
 this speech, " the most un-American and unpatri 
 otic that ever grated on the ears of the members of 
 this high body." Douglas followed with a highly 
 personal and offensive speech, ranting like a com 
 mon scold, and storming about with wild and un 
 couth gesticulations. Sumner s reply to these re 
 spondents so amply discloses his estimate of the 
 character of each that it merits passing attention. 
 The following reference to Cass shows the respect 
 of this ardent anti-slavery man, and goes far to dis 
 prove the groundless attacks upon Cass s conduct 
 and character which became so common at the 
 North in the heat of the slavery discussion : " The 
 senator from Michigan knows full well that no 
 thing can fall from me which can have anything but 
 kindness for him. He has said on the floor to-day 
 that he listened to my speech with regret. I have 
 never avowed on this floor how often, with my 
 heart brimming full of friendship for him, I have 
 listened with regret to what has fallen from his 
 lips." Douglas was treated to a castigation, which 
 must have made the " Little Giant " squirm, bold 
 as he was. " No person with the upright form of a 
 man can be allowed, without violation of all decency, 
 to switch out from his tongue the perpetual stench 
 of offensive personality." These parallel passages 
 illustrate the kindness felt for the sincere, earnest, 
 scholarly, mistaken advocate of " squatter sover 
 eignty," and the dislike for the younger advocate 
 of the same false doctrine. 
 
314 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 This speech, too caustic and trenchant to be re 
 ceived with calmness by southern members, was 
 ground for personal assault. Preston S. Brooks, a 
 member of the House from South Carolina, took it 
 upon himself to avenge the honor of the South and 
 his State. A day or two after the speech was 
 delivered, he entered the senate chamber, and find 
 ing Mr. Sumner at his desk he brutally attacked 
 him, striking him over the head with a heavy 
 walking cane, and leaving him bruised and insen 
 sible on the floor. It was years before Sumner re 
 covered his health and strength sufficiently to con 
 tinue his duties, and he was never again the same 
 man ; his physical vigor was permanently impaired. 
 His empty chair long stood as a mute appeal to the 
 thoughtful lovers of justice. 
 
 Cass was elected by the Senate a member of a 
 committee to investigate the circumstances of the 
 assault. It is to be regretted that he did not find 
 words to denounce such a shameful attack upon 
 free speech. The Senate committee reported lack 
 of jurisdiction, and the House of Kepresentatives 
 was unable to secure the necessary two thirds for 
 the expulsion of Brooks. Because of the implied 
 censure in the resolutions, however, he resigned, 
 and asserted that the House had no jurisdiction 
 over him. He was quickly reelected by his district, 
 where he was received with enthusiasm and affec 
 tion. " Hit him again," were the words of admoni 
 tion from his constituents, and the southern papers 
 applauded his "elegant and effectual" blows. 
 
THE NORTHWEST FORMS A NEW PARTY. 315 
 
 This assault, as much as any other one thing 1 , 
 opened the eyes of the North to the brutality, the 
 roughness, and the hopeless vulgarity of the " di 
 vine institution." " There is no denying the hu 
 miliating fact," said the " Springfield Republican," 
 " that this country is under the reign of ruffianism. 
 The remedy for ruffianism is in a united North." 
 The disease begat the remedy. 
 
 The campaign of 1856 followed close upon these 
 exciting events. The Democratic National Conven 
 tion met in Cincinnati in June. Buchanan had the 
 lead from the start, and was nominated. Cass 
 received only five votes on the first ballot, and at 
 no time showed great strength, though retaining a 
 few faithful adherents to the end. John C. Breck- 
 inridge of Kentucky was nominated as vice-presi 
 dent. The convention adopted a platform on the 
 old lines, repudiating "all sectional parties . . . 
 whose avowed purpose, if consummated, must end in 
 civil war and disunion." " Non-interference " was 
 once more proclaimed the sovereign remedy. The 
 American party put Fillmore in nomination, and he 
 attracted the few Whigs who still answered to the 
 name. The Republicans, holding their first national 
 convention at Philadelphia, selected as their candi 
 dates John C. Fremont of California and William 
 L. Dayton of New Jersey. The platform was defi 
 nite and decided. It recounted the crimes against 
 Kansas, and advocated its immediate admission as 
 a State under a free constitution ; it denied " the 
 authority of Congress, of a territorial legislature, 
 
316 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 of any individual or association of individuals, to 
 give legal existence to slavery in any Territory of 
 the United States," and proclaimed its belief that 
 Congress had " sovereign power over the Territories 
 of the United States." The issue between the two 
 great parties was sharply drawn. One announced 
 that Congress had authority over the Territories, 
 and was in duty bound to exercise it for the pre 
 vention of slavery. The other advocated the uni 
 form application of the " democratic principle " of 
 non-interference in " the organization of the Terri 
 tories and the admission of new States." 
 
 The campaign was one of the most serious, ear 
 nest, and enthusiastic in our history. Fremont, 
 because of his romantic career and personal charms, 
 was easily converted into an ideal champion, 
 strongly appealing to the imagination and the 
 affection of the vigorous young party of freedom. 
 Everywhere in the North went up the rallying cry, 
 " Free soil, free speech, free men, and Fremont." 
 The times were not yet ripe for complete success. 
 The Democratic party gained the day, carrying 
 every Southern State save Maryland, which gave 
 itself up to Know-Nothingism. But such a victory 
 was the victory of Pyrrhus. The Republicans cast 
 more votes in the free States than did the Demo 
 crats. In the East only Pennsylvania and New 
 Jersey, in the West only Illinois, Indiana, and 
 California cast their electoral votes for the Demo 
 cratic candidate. In the first of these alone, Buch 
 anan s own State, did the Democrats outnumber 
 
THE NORTHWEST FORMS A NEW PARTY. 317 
 
 the Republicans and Know-Nothings combined. 
 The " sectional party " exhibited a wonderful 
 vigor. The threat was often heard in the campaign 
 that its success meant the separation of the Union. 
 From the time of this election that was a standing 
 menace. 
 
 It was a source of regret to Cass that a party 
 with a " sectional " aim should find support in the 
 country. For above all else he loved the Union, 
 and he hoped against hope that harmony would be 
 restored by the old sedatives with which he was 
 familiar. Michigan, so long faithful to him, now 
 gave Fremont a popular plurality of nearly twenty 
 thousand, and elected a legislature with an over 
 whelming Republican majority. January 10, 1857, 
 Zachariah Chandler was elected to succeed the 
 great advocate of popular sovereignty, whose doc 
 trine his own State now so vehemently condemned. 
 Of 106 votes cast by both houses of the legisla 
 ture, Cass received only 16. His defeat was a 
 great triumph for the Republicans of the nation. 
 Though they had failed to elect their " Pathfinder" 
 president, they felt as if the signal rebuke admin 
 istered by Michigan was equivalent to a victory. 
 
 Meanwhile matters were in a woeful condition in 
 stricken Kansas. Governor Shannon had resigned 
 in despair, feeling, as he afterwards expressed it, 
 as if one might as well attempt " to govern the 
 Devil in hell " as to govern Kansas. John W. 
 Geary of Pennsylvania succeeded to the trust. 
 The Territory was literally in a state of war. 
 
318 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 While the marching and counter-marching of elec 
 tion parades were exciting the enthusiasm of the 
 people of the States, men in the harassed Territory 
 carried the rifle instead of the campaign torch, and 
 filled their pouches with powder and shot as the 
 most eloquent campaign arguments. Before the 
 opening of the new year the fighting seemed to 
 have ceased, though each party held its breath 
 expectantly. The Free -State government still 
 claimed legal and effective existence, while the ter 
 ritorial legislature, described as a " vulgar, illit 
 erate, hiccoughing rout," plotted and planned for 
 slavery. Governor Geary, suspecting the sincerity 
 of the administration, and perceiving that the elec 
 tion of Buchanan meant a victory for pro-slavery 
 partisanship in Kansas, resigned March 4, 1857. 
 The history of the remaining months of the year 
 is quickly told. Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, 
 appointed to succeed Governor Geary, prevailed 
 upon the Free-State men to cease dallying longer 
 with their mythical state constitution, and to join 
 in the territorial elections of the autumn. As a 
 consequence, these resulted in the choice of a Free- 
 State legislature. In the mean time, however, a 
 convention summoned by the old pro-slavery legis 
 lature had met at Lecompton and adopted a con 
 stitution recognizing slavery. It was submitted to 
 the people ; but instead of being allowed to cast a 
 ballot either for or against the constitution, they 
 were compelled to choose between adopting it " with 
 slavery" or "without slavery." The Free-State 
 
THE NORTHWEST FORMS A NEW PARTY. 319 
 
 men refused to vote, and it consequently received 
 a great majority of the ballots cast. The Lecomp- 
 ton constitution, thus adopted by the pro-slavery 
 voters of the Territory, was accepted by the Presi 
 dent, and the next year it was actually recognized 
 by the Senate, although meanwhile, on a fair bal 
 lot, it had been emphatically rejected by the peo 
 ple. By the early part of 1858 the pro-slavery 
 party was so hopelessly in the minority that the 
 only question was whether Kansas should be ad 
 mitted as a free State or barred out entirely. In 
 fact, not until the withdrawal of the southern sen 
 ators, after the election of Lincoln, did the Senate 
 consent to its admission with a constitution forbid 
 ding slavery. 
 
 The Kansas trouble is a long and bloody disser 
 tation on the theme of popular sovereignty. The 
 immigrants from the free States had won the day 
 against slavery. Kansas was saved, not by the 
 Eepublican party, nor by the abolitionists, who 
 talked and agitated, but by the men who went to 
 the spot to express their " sovereignty " and to 
 fight for freedom. It must be confessed that, as 
 far as saving the Territories from becoming slave 
 States is concerned, popular sovereignty had not 
 been unsuccessful. But no one cared to see again 
 the disgraceful scramble and the rough-and-tumble 
 contest for vantage ground. By the beginning of 
 Buchanan s administration many Democrats began 
 to deny that the people of a Territory had a right 
 to regulate the subject of slavery, save by determin- 
 
320 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 ing, at the moment of their entering the Union, 
 whether they should come in as a free or a slave 
 State. To the people of the South popular sover 
 eignty had become so objectionable, because of its 
 failure for their purposes, that it was openly 
 spurned, and recourse was had to the solid ground 
 of Calhoun s dogmas: that slaves were property, 
 and that the United States government was in duty 
 bound to protect such property everywhere. Op 
 posed to this was the assertion of the Republicans : 
 that slaves were not property save by the " muni 
 cipal " law of certain States ; that Congress could 
 not and must not, by act or omission to act, allow 
 the Territories of the Union to be sullied by the 
 foot of a slave. 
 
 Buchanan, in his inaugural, while reaffirming 
 the right of the people of a Territory to decide for 
 themselves what their constitution should be, took 
 all the pith and marrow from the doctrine of pop 
 ular sovereignty by doubting their right to such a 
 determination, except at the time of their forming 
 a state constitution. He humbly referred the mat 
 ter, however, to the Supreme Court, of whose com 
 ing decision he seems to have had knowledge. 
 
 The Dred Scott decision, March, 1857, did not 
 help matters. The solemn statement, coming from 
 a portion of a divided court, of the great histori 
 cal falsehood that negroes were not and could not 
 become citizens ; the promulgation of an obiter 
 dictum calculated to have effect in the domain of 
 politics; the assertion that the Missouri compro- 
 
THE NORTHWEST FORMS A NEW PARTY. 321 
 
 mise was beyond the competence of Congress, that 
 slaves were property when taken into the Territo 
 ries, and that all " needful rules and regulations " 
 of Congress must respect the private property of 
 the slave - owner, all this simply awakened the 
 Republican party to greater effort. Wrong now 
 came clothed in the ermine of justice. Effort must 
 not cease until the disgraceful decision was blotted 
 from the records of the court. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 SECRETARY OF STATE. SECESSION. THE LAST 
 YEARS. 
 
 FOR the sake of as much perspicuity as limited 
 space would allow, the history of " bleeding Kan 
 sas " under border ruffians has been thus briefly 
 outlined, and the contest of arguments until the 
 secession of the Southern States has been suggested 
 in advance. It will now be necessary to turn from 
 internal politics and the hurly-burly of the ap 
 proaching " irrepressible conflict," and to look into 
 the quieter paths of administration and diplomacy. 
 Cass s more active career ended with the 4th of 
 March, 1857. He remained a political mentor to 
 many in his party and took a sad interest in the 
 never-abating struggle ; but he was old, the excite 
 ment of continual controversy was distasteful, and 
 his new position fortunately gave him employment 
 for which his experience and talents well fitted 
 him. He accepted the office of secretary of state 
 from President Buchanan, and entered upon his 
 duties at once. His companions in the Cabinet 
 were Howell Cobb of Georgia, secretary of the 
 treasury; John B. Floyd of Virginia, secretary 
 of war; Isaac Toucey of Connecticut, secretary 
 
SECRETARY OF STATE. 323 
 
 of the navy ; Aaron V. Brown of Tennessee, post 
 master-general ; Jacob Thompson of Mississippi, 
 secretary of the interior ; and Jeremiah S. Black 
 of Pennsylvania, attorney-general. This Cabinet 
 was an able one, but its four southern members 
 well indicated that the body of the Democratic 
 party was in the South, and that an administration 
 had begun which would treat slavery with tender 
 ness and handle secession with gloves. 
 
 A number of interesting diplomatic problems 
 were offered for solution during the years of Cass s 
 secretaryship. The Clayton-Bulwer treaty pre 
 sented the usual amount of uncertainty and em 
 barrassment, and an even more serious cause of 
 disagreement with Great Britain came up for con 
 sideration. By a strange irony of fortune the most 
 important correspondence conducted by the foreign 
 office during Buchanan s administration had to do 
 with the right of search and with the irritating 
 claims put forth by Great Britain of a right to ex 
 amine our vessels to determine whether they were 
 slavers. In the celebrated controversy between 
 Mr. Webster and Mr. Cass in 1842-43, the latter 
 had contended that our government should have 
 stipulated or at least vigorously asserted that such 
 aggressions were illegal and must be stopped. In 
 the letters with which he so utterly " demolished " 
 the petulant ex-minister, Mr. Webster declared 
 that such a stipulation was needless. Now the 
 question arose anew under more unfortunate cir 
 cumstances. 
 
324 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 It could not be denied that during the years of 
 Buchanan s administration the South was hungry 
 for more slaves. Its woeful defeat in the Territo 
 ries, and its continual failure to hold its own in 
 wealth and population in comparison with the 
 North, directed its eyes to the only means of com 
 petition, the increase of the dead weight of the 
 laboring population. In many portions of the 
 South the reopening of the slave-trade was pub 
 licly advocated. Governor Adams of South Caro 
 lina, in 1857, denounced the laws which forbade 
 the traffic. During the succeeding year the same 
 yearnings were exhibited by remarks in conven 
 tions and by paragraphs in the southern papers. 
 The genial soil of Florida received many new car 
 goes of inhabitants, and the vessels of the commer 
 cial North lent their aid to the infamous trade. 
 But English cruisers, altogether too zealous in ha 
 tred of the nefarious commerce, appeared off the 
 coast of Cuba and in the Gulf of Mexico with 
 orders to search merchantmen suspected of carry 
 ing slaves. However laudable the object, its exe 
 cution was exasperating as well as absolutely un 
 justifiable. In the spring of 1858 the Gulf of 
 Mexico and neighboring waters frequented by 
 American merchantmen were patroled by a police 
 force of British cruisers in a manner calculated to 
 incense all sections of the country and the mem 
 bers of all political parties. American vessels 
 were searched, or " visited," as the English would 
 say in more polite parlance, with an insolence which 
 
SECRETARY OF STATE. 325 
 
 awakened the animosity of the very haters of sla 
 very. 
 
 In April, 1858, in response to a call from the 
 Senate for information concerning the slave-trade, 
 the secretaries of state and of the navy furnished 
 dispatches and correspondence. Although our 
 government professed becoming zeal in the matter, 
 it was evident that the efforts of the British and 
 the American cruisers on the coast of Africa were 
 not efficacious. The slave-trade was flourishing. 
 In May the President responded to another call 
 from the Senate for information about search or 
 seizure in the Gulf of Mexico. The correspondence 
 sent in by Secretary Cass showed atrocious inter 
 ference with our commerce by English cruisers ; 
 some of our vessels were fired upon, and a number 
 searched after the insulting fashion which marked 
 so much of our treatment from England before 
 1861. Warlike speeches followed in Congress. 
 At the suggestion of Cass, war vessels were sent 
 into southern waters, while he prepared to contest 
 the case with the English government in diplomatic 
 dispatches. 
 
 He entered gladly into the controversy, for the 
 circumstances seemed powerfully to vindicate his 
 arguments in his correspondence with Webster. 
 On April 10th he wrote to Lord Napier an able 
 letter. He denied that there was any fundamental 
 difference between " visit " and "search." The 
 right to examine and pass upon a vessel s national 
 character and identity he denied. " To permit a 
 
326 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 foreign officer to board the vessel of another power, 
 to assume command in her, to call for and examine 
 her papers, to pass judgment upon her character, 
 to decide the broad inquiry, whether she is navi 
 gated according to law, and to send her in at pleas 
 ure for trial, cannot be submitted to by any inde 
 pendent nation without dishonor." l He announced 
 the principle, which makes perfectly clear and rea 
 sonable the distinction for which he had always 
 contended between searching a real and a spurious 
 American vessel. It had been argued that if 
 American vessels could not be visited and investi 
 gated, any foreign ship, even one belonging to a 
 nation which had a treaty with England allowing 
 search for the prevention of the slave-trade, might 
 carry on such trade with impunity by merely hoist 
 ing the American flag. In the following words 
 the secretary cleared the subject of its fog : "A 
 merchant vessel upon the high seas is protected by 
 her national character. He who forcibly enters 
 her does so upon his own responsibility. Undoubt 
 edly, if a vessel assume a national character to 
 which she is not entitled, and is sailing under false 
 colors, .she cannot be protected by the assumption 
 of a nationality to which she has no claim. As 
 the identity of a person must be determined by the 
 officer bearing a process for his arrest, and deter 
 mined at the risk of such officer, so must the na 
 tional identity of a vessel be determined, at the 
 like hazard to him, who, doubting the flag she dis- 
 1 Senate Documents, vol. xii., 1857-58. 
 
SECRETARY OF STATE., 327 
 
 plays, searches her to ascertain her true character. 
 There no doubt may be circumstances which may 
 go far to modify the complaints a nation would 
 have a right to make for such a violation of its 
 sovereignty. If the boarding officer had just 
 grounds for suspicion, and deported himself with 
 propriety in the performance of his task, doing no 
 injury, and peaceably retiring when satisfied of his 
 error, no nation would make such an act the sub 
 ject of serious reclamation." This was much the 
 same as the logic of his pamphlet issued in 1842, 
 and which had been so unjustly condemned as " in 
 conclusive." In fact it was sound, conclusive, and 
 unanswerable. From the early years of his gov 
 ernorship Cass had pondered this subject, and he 
 was now prepared to write the exhaustive dispatch 
 which contained the thought of years in its irre 
 futable arguments. His quotations from English 
 authorities were so appropriate and his reasoning 
 so true that the English government had perforce 
 to abandon a claim which had been a source of 
 vexation and annoyance since the definitive treaty 
 of 1783. Various communications passed between 
 the two countries after the writing of this impor 
 tant dispatch of April 10th. Cass insisted that 
 search and visitation must cease. On June 8th, 
 1858, G. M. Dallas, our minister to the court of 
 St. James, wrote to our foreign office the summary 
 of one of the most important interviews in the 
 diplomatic history of the United States. 
 
 Beginning his letter somewhat disconsolately, 
 
328 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 Mr. Dallas continued : "I had written thus far 
 when I was obliged to hurry off and keep an en 
 gagement to meet Lord Malmesbury at his resi 
 dence in Whitehall Gardens at twelve o clock, and 
 I returned after an hour s interview with a result 
 little expected when I went. 
 
 " Something within the last twelve hours had 
 shifted Jiis lordship s mind to an opposite point of 
 the compass. He talked a great deal and I lis 
 tened. He was anxious to fix as precisely as possi 
 ble what the American government wanted on the 
 right of search, and I said, in as gentle a manner 
 as could be distinct : Discontinuance, nothing 
 more, nothing less ; that, at all events, was my 
 present aim. General Cass had the broad subject 
 between himself and Lord Napier, and I was not 
 authorized to meddle with that. He recurred to 
 your admirable letter of the 10th of April last, 
 lying before him, and read a number of passages. 
 He expressed his entire assent with your position 
 on international laws on the illegality of visit or 
 search except by conventional agreement, and 
 seemed full of admiration for its ability. ... In 
 fine, we came to an understanding." l A minute 
 of the conference, written by Lord Malmesbury 
 himself, gave proof of the withdrawal of Great 
 Britain from the position she had held so long and 
 so provokingly. " Her Majesty s government rec 
 ognizes the principle of international law as laid 
 down by General Cass in his note of the 10th of 
 
 1 Senate Docs. 2d Sess. 35th Cong., vol. i. p. 34. 
 
SECRETARY OF STATE. 329 
 
 April." 1 In his annual message of December 6, 
 1858, President Buchanan said : " I am gratified 
 to inform you that the long-pending controversy 
 between the two governments, in relation to the 
 question of visitation and search, has been ami 
 cably adjusted." 2 During the succeeding year, 
 correspondence was conducted between Secretary 
 Cass and the English and French governments, 
 which resulted in the agreement upon certain rules 
 and instructions to seamen, concerning the right of 
 visitation. Singular enough does it seem to see 
 the government of Great Britain explicitly telling 
 her naval officers that " no merchant vessel navi 
 gating the high seas is subject to any foreign juris 
 diction. A vessel of war cannot, therefore, visit, 
 detain, or seize (except under the treaty) any mer 
 chant vessel not recognized as belonging to her own 
 nation." 3 The commanders of her ships of war 
 were instructed to treat vessels bearing a foreign 
 flag with the utmost deference ; only under cases 
 of the strongest suspicion might they stop a ship 
 and examine her papers for the purpose of ascer 
 taining her real character, and then for such con 
 duct an officer must consider himself as possibly 
 responsible for damages, inasmuch as any unjusti 
 fiable inquiry would be basis for a claim for in 
 demnity. 4 Our government sent substantially sim- 
 
 1 Senate Docs. 2d Sess. 35th Cong., vol. i. p. 35. See, also, pp. 
 36-39, ibid. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 12. 
 
 8 Senate Docs. 1st Sess. 36th Cong., p. 78. The italics are my own. 
 * Ibid., p. 78. 
 
330 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 ilar instructions to the commanders of our African 
 fleet. Because of other exciting topics, the greatness 
 of this diplomatic victory attracted comparatively 
 little attention. Yet it was one of the most just 
 and most brilliant triumphs of which to this day 
 our diplomacy can boast. The withdrawal of Eng 
 land s claims to extra-territorial jurisdiction has 
 never been associated as it should be with the 
 name and fame of Cass, who pushed his argument 
 so strongly and clinched it so effectively. Unfor 
 tunately for him his distinguished success in this 
 business was thrown into obscurity by the lowering 
 clouds of secession and rebellion, portentous of 
 the awful catastrophe of 1861. 
 
 Serious difficulties with Mexico during Presi 
 dent Buchanan s administration also called forth 
 many dispatches from our foreign office, which are 
 full of dignified American feeling and replete with 
 pithy maxims of sound international law. The gov 
 ernments of Mexico were at this time turning on 
 their axes in a series of well-executed revolutions, 
 performed with such rapidity that our government 
 scarcely knew in whom to recognize the legitimate 
 authority. General Cass s message to Mr. Mc- 
 Lane, minister resident to that country, contains an 
 application of the Monroe doctrine very succinctly 
 worded : " While we do not deny the right of any 
 other power to carry on hostile operations against 
 Mexico, for the redress of its grievances, we firmly 
 object to its holding possession of any part of that 
 country, or endeavoring by force to control its 
 
SECRETARY OF STATE. 331 
 
 political destiny." Had it been possible for our 
 government to adhere to this policy, the interfer 
 ence of the French and the unhappy fate of Maxi 
 milian might have been averted. 
 
 The best known and not the least important of 
 Cass s dispatches and instructions is one sent by 
 him to our various representatives in Europe, June 
 27, 1859, on the outbreak of the Italian war. 
 It outlined the neutral character and policy of the 
 United States, and denned our position on the sub 
 ject of commercial blockades in such judicious 
 terms that his words have since been frequently 
 quoted by writers on the law of nations. But gen 
 eral rules in such a matter are dangerous. Only 
 two years before the Rebellion, when our govern 
 ment established the most extensive commercial 
 blockade ever made effective and legitimate in the 
 history of the world, and that too under circum 
 stances which go far to shake any a priori argu 
 ments concerning the right of such action, our Sec 
 retary of State entered into a long and learned 
 disquisition, asserting the injustice of any but very 
 limited, definite, and effectual restrictions upon 
 commercial intercourse. This same dispatch con 
 tained a summary of the attitude of the United 
 States toward the treaty of Paris and the rights of 
 neutrals. 
 
 While engaged in the congenial work of diplo 
 macy Cass could not lose sight of the disturbed 
 condition of the country in internal politics. The 
 growth of the Republican party, protesting against 
 
332 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 the Dred Scott case and the injustice to Kansas, 
 seemed so perilous to the South during the later 
 years of Buchanan s administration, that threats 
 of secession in case of its final success were made 
 with frankness. Cass, more than many of the 
 prominent men of the time, saw and felt the im 
 pending danger. The violence of political feeling, 
 the virulence of party action, the antipathy to 
 slavery, and the hatred of southern bravado, which 
 no State exhibited better than his own, affected the 
 old statesman with misgivings, and filled the last 
 days of his active life with acute grief and fore 
 boding. 
 
 Singularly simple in its real meaning, the cam 
 paign of 1860 seems, at first sight, unusually intri 
 cate and complex. The Democratic party was split 
 into two factions. The first was composed of 
 those who were unwilling to give themselves up 
 entirely to southern dictation, or to turn their 
 backs on the doctrine of " squatter sovereignty," 
 which had carried them through the last two elec 
 tions ; they clung to old principles, though profess 
 ing a willingness to abide by the decisions of the 
 Supreme Court. They nominated Stephen A. 
 Douglas for president and Herschel Y. Johnson of 
 Georgia for vice-president. The southern wing of 
 the Democracy, with those northern men who were 
 willing to accept the Dred Scott case and to see 
 in it a final decision establishing the legality of 
 slavery in the Territories, nominated John C. Breck- 
 inridge of Kentucky and Joseph Lane of Oregon. 
 
SECRETARY OF STATE. 333 
 
 A third ticket was presented by a party styling 
 itself the Constitutional Union party, a mere re 
 miniscence of the days when words were called 
 upon to fill political chasms and to conceal facts. 
 The nominees of this party were John Bell of 
 Tennessee and Edward Everett of Massachusetts. 
 It stood for union under the laws and the Con 
 stitution, which could mean nothing when the 
 question was, " What are the laws and the Con 
 stitution?" The Republican party, meeting in 
 convention at Chicago, nominated Abraham Lincoln 
 of Illinois and Hannibal Hamlin of Maine. Theirs 
 was a northern platform, denouncing the spread of 
 slavery and denying the power of Congress or of 
 any territorial legislature to legalize slavery in the 
 Territories. The popular tactics of the managers 
 of the party, and their shrewdness in appealing to 
 the enthusiasm as well as the moral motives of the 
 people, insured success against the quarreling fac 
 tions of the enemy. The old Northwest was faithful 
 to its party and its principle, even Illinois giving 
 Lincoln a clear majority over all of nearly 5,000, 
 while Michigan gave over 20,000, and Ohio a plu 
 rality of nearly 45,000. The North was solid, with 
 the exception of New Jersey, which was divided. 
 Lincoln was elected by a popular plurality of 
 491,654, and by a decided electoral majority. 
 
 The Republican victory furnished excuse for 
 putting into active operation the plots for secession 
 which had been long contemplated by the advanced 
 conspirators of the South. On November 10th a 
 
334 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 bill to raise and equip 10,000 volunteers was intro 
 duced into the legislature of South Carolina, and 
 her senators resigned their seats in Congress. The 
 Gulf States fell into line with some hesitation, 
 while the border States held back, deploring the 
 hasty action of the more slave-cursed States of the 
 South. The Cabinet, of which General Cass was 
 a member, was the centre if not the source of the 
 conspiracy. From it flowed suggestion and inspi 
 ration for the active agitators in the South ; into it 
 percolated all the sly schemes and wily devices of 
 the crafty leaders of the Rebellion. Floyd, the 
 Secretary of War, Thompson, the Secretary of the 
 Interior, Cobb, the Secretary of the Treasury, were 
 engaged in correspondence with the enemies of the 
 Union, furnishing them with munitions of war, 
 treasonably using their authority and the resources 
 of the nation, filling the vacillating mind of the 
 wavering President with gloomy fears and excuses 
 for delay. Buchanan, lacking the courage to fol 
 low out any distinct line of policy, contented himself 
 with argument and appeal. The Assistant Secre 
 tary of State was an active conspirator for seces 
 sion, even before the election. 
 
 Cass himself held a fair and consistent position. 
 Lamenting the threatened disruption of the Union, 
 he was not ready to yield every point for the sake 
 of avoiding trouble. " At a Cabinet meeting, held 
 November 9th, General Cass spoke with much ear 
 nestness and feeling about the impending crisis, 
 admitted fully all the great wrongs and outrages 
 
SECRETARY OF STATE. 335 
 
 which had been committed against the South by 
 northern fanaticism, and deplored it. But he was 
 emphatic in his condemnation of the doctrine of 
 secession by any State from the Union. He 
 doubted the efficacy of the appeal for a convention, 
 but seemed to think it might be well enough to try 
 it. He spoke warmly in favor of using force to co 
 erce a State that attempted to secede." This is the 
 testimony of Secretary Floyd himself. Though it 
 is doubtful if Cass ever emphatically acknowledged 
 the right to coerce a State as such, his opinions 
 were substantially those here attributed to him. 
 He was decidedly for the Union. The conspiracy 
 widened and deepened. The Secretary of War, 
 openly disowning secession, covertly gave secret in 
 formation to the foes of the government, who 
 knew before it was transmitted to Congress what 
 would be the position of the President in his mes 
 sage to Congress in December. 
 
 General Cass seems, at least at first, to have 
 acquiesced in the general tenor of the President s 
 message, so far as the theoretical relation between 
 the national government and the States was con 
 cerned. Secretary Floyd tells us that when por 
 tions of it were first read to the Cabinet for ap 
 proval Cass heartily commended it ; for it then 
 inculcated, it seems, submission to Lincoln s elec 
 tion, and perhaps even intimated the use of force 
 to compel such submission. The document, when 
 finished, presented a combination of power and 
 weakness in the central government which were 
 
336 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 conditions of complete inertia. After charging the 
 present unpleasantness upon the sectional antip 
 athy of the North, the message gave a detailed 
 argument on the subject of secession and the pow 
 ers of the national government secession is ille 
 gal, the union is by nature indissoluble, but there 
 is no power in Congress or in any branch of the 
 federal government to compel a State to remain in 
 the Union ; it is the duty of the President to en 
 force the laws ; but, if it is impracticable to do so 
 by the ordinary methods, as at present in South 
 Carolina, Congress should determine whether or 
 not existing laws should be amended to carry out 
 effectually the objects of the Constitution ; amend 
 ments to the Constitution are advisable. The last 
 proposition was absurd. The amendments sug 
 gested would have granted all the South had con 
 tended for, and would have nullified the voice of 
 the people as expressed in the last election. 
 
 The subtle principles of law propounded by the 
 President were too finely spun to be readily ac 
 cepted by the practical people of the North. That 
 immaterial entity, the State, may be incapable of 
 coercion, may not be within reach of the iron hand 
 of the law ; the federal government under the Con 
 stitution may not have been expressly given power 
 to wage war upon a recalcitrant State ; one of the 
 great instruments of that great sovereignty, the 
 people of the United States, may refuse to perform 
 its functions ; but the federal authority comes into 
 contact with individuals, and they can be held to 
 
SECRETARY OF STATE. 337 
 
 their allegiance ; the property of the federal state 
 can and must be protected, and its laws must act 
 and its writs must run within the borders of every 
 State ; war upon States is unnecessary, for an in 
 destructible State, though refusing to perform its 
 functions, can never cease to be a member of an 
 indestructible Union. Such sound, practical sense 
 soon found its place in the minds of the sobered 
 people of the North, although not for months were 
 they fully aroused to fight for its logical conclu 
 sions and assert in arms that the Nation was an 
 organic whole. But argument was unnecessary and 
 entirely beside the mark; it was the duty of the 
 executive to enforce the laws. Even Buchanan 
 admitted that the central government operated 
 directly on persons. There was, as yet, no practi 
 cal instance of secession, and if the President had 
 held firmly in his hands the reins of government, 
 quickly dismissed the conspiring secessionists from 
 his Cabinet, used his power as the executive and 
 commander-in-chief to protect the property and en 
 force the laws of the United States, there is good 
 reason to think that secession would have meant 
 less in our history. 
 
 Though apparently agreeing with the argument 
 of the message, and believing that a State could not 
 be coerced, Cass was not willing to admit that the 
 federal government was impotent. At various 
 Cabinet meetings he insisted that the forts in 
 Charleston harbor should be reinforced, and that, 
 in view of the well-known conspiracy to disobey the 
 
338 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 laws, steps should be taken to strengthen the hand 
 of the government in the Southern States. On 
 December 13th he made a last effort to convince 
 the President of the necessity of such action, but 
 he was rebuffed. " These forts," he said, " must 
 be strengthened. I demand it." "I am sorry to 
 differ from the Secretary of State," the President 
 replied. "I have made up my mind. The interests 
 of the country do not demand a reinforcement of 
 the forces in Charleston. I cannot do it, and I 
 take the responsibility on myself." The next day 
 General Cass handed in his resignation as Secre 
 tary of State. Mr. Cobb had already resigned the 
 treasury portfolio because of what he considered 
 the " paramount " claims of his State. The resig 
 nation of the Secretary of State, added to the pre 
 vailing excitement, was almost universally com 
 mended by the papers of the North that were not 
 indissolubly wedded to the inactive policy of the 
 administration. His house was filled for the next 
 few days with congratulating friends, and Zach- 
 ariah Chandler called to welcome him into the fold 
 of the Republican party. The old statesman was 
 still consistent, however ; he was a Democrat, but 
 a Jackson Democrat. 
 
 The action of General Cass has been criticised 
 by Buchanan s apologists who, now that the whole 
 conspiracy is as clear as noonday, still claim that it 
 was not the President s duty to act until something 
 was done, and until Congress gave further power. 
 That the southern forts were in danger there could 
 
SECESSION. 339 
 
 be no doubt; Buchanan s message confessed that 
 South Carolina was on the point of lawless disre 
 gard of the behests of the central government ; 
 conventions to consider secession had been called 
 throughout the Southern States ; the Cabinet itself 
 was in conspiracy against the government; the 
 very air was heavy with threats of secession and 
 violence. Mr. Buchanan s most learned and fa 
 mous apologist has sneered at the prophetic saga 
 city of Cass. Not clairvoyance or the spirit of 
 prophecy, but decision, observation, and common 
 sense were the attributes of one who saw, not 
 what might be, but what was. 
 
 December 20th Washington was electrified by 
 the announcement that South Carolina had at last 
 adopted an ordinance of secession. Mr. Benson J. 
 Lossing, the skillful writer of American history, 
 was at the house of Cass when a bulletin telling of 
 this action was received. " The venerable states 
 man read the few words that announced the star 
 tling fact, and then, throwing up his hands, while 
 tears started from his eyes, he exclaimed with un 
 common unction : Can it be ! can it be ! Oh, he 
 said, I had hoped to retire from the public service, 
 and go home to die with the happy thought, that I 
 should leave to my children, as an inheritance from 
 patriotic men, a united and prosperous republic. 
 But it is all over ! This is but the beginning of 
 the end. The people in the South are mad; the 
 people in the North are asleep. The President is 
 pale with fear, for his official household is full of 
 
340 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 traitors, and conspirators control the government. 
 God only knows what is to be the fate of my poor 
 country ! to Him alone must we look in this hour of 
 thick darkness. " : It will be seen, however, that 
 he advocated that action be superadded to faith and 
 devotion. 
 
 One other topic remains to be considered in con 
 nection with Cass s resignation from the Cabinet. 
 The letter, dated December 12th, assigned as a rea 
 son the President s refusal to reinforce the Charles 
 ton forts, and his neglect to prepare for the collec 
 tion of duties at that port. President Buchanan 
 in accepting the resignation, without deigning to 
 argue the question, stated his belief that reinforce 
 ments at Charleston were unnecessary, and ex 
 pressed his regret that anything should occur to 
 disturb the official relations existing between him 
 and his secretary. From memoranda printed in 
 the " Life of James Buchanan," 2 it appears that 
 Cass announced his purpose to resign as early as 
 the llth. Newspapers of the time make it evident 
 that nearly a week before the letter was handed in 
 rumors of Cass s resignation were rife. His with 
 drawal was received with marked gratification by 
 many, even of those who had not become converts 
 to " black Republicanism." In spite of these facts, 
 Buchanan records that, on December 17th, Black 
 and Thompson both informed him that Cass desired 
 to withdraw his resignation. It is always hard to 
 
 1 Pictorial History of the Civil War, Lossing, vol. i. p. 141. 
 
 2 By George Ticknor Curtis. 
 
SECESSION. 341 
 
 prove a negative, but direct and circumstantial 
 evidence contradicts this statement. In the first 
 place, members of his family who were with him at 
 the time, and were well aware of his thoughts and 
 feelings, positively deny the truth of such asser 
 tions. This alone might be sufficient. But, more 
 over, the resignation, as already suggested, was not 
 unpremeditated ; all the world knew of his emphatic 
 disapproval of the President s negligence and timid 
 ity, and he found himself lionized and applauded 
 by nearly all save the avowed secessionists. Even 
 the "Charleston Mercury" hastened to add its 
 modicum of praise by styling him a " hoary trick 
 ster and humbug," and comparing " his present 
 imbecility " with his " past treachery to the South." 
 " The past secretary will survive," remarked the 
 "New York Times," with laconic sarcasm, as it 
 quoted these expressions of southern rage. That 
 under such circumstances he should contemplate 
 the backward step of seeking reinstatement is sim 
 ply incredible and ridiculous. 
 
 " Oh, for an hour of Andrew Jackson," sighed 
 the " Springfield Republican." That was what was 
 wanted. With Jackson in the White House and 
 Cass as Secretary of War the rebel armies would not 
 have been equipped with governmental arms and 
 accoutrements. The fire and vigor of " Old Hick 
 ory " had given to Cass his first great inspiration in 
 national politics. All he could do now was to ad 
 minister a silent rebuke to timidity where hesitation 
 and cowardice were crimes. " Ain t it too bad," said 
 
342 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 a prominent senator, " that a man has to break his 
 sword twice in a lifetime, at the beginning and at 
 the end of his eventful career. At the surrender 
 of Hull at Detroit, Cass was so disgusted at the con 
 duct of his commander, and at not having a fight, 
 that he broke his sword. Now he breaks it because 
 his chief won t fight." l 
 
 The events rapidly following upon one another 
 through the dreadful winter of 1860-61 do not form 
 part of our story. The treachery of the Cabinet, 
 the lethargy of the Executive, the confusion and dis 
 may, the low-hanging clouds of war and distress, 
 the frenzy of the insane South and its boastful 
 preparations for a grand confederacy on the corner 
 stone of slavery, left their sorrowful shadows upon 
 the Union-loving people of the North and filled 
 with gloomy forebodings the mind of the old states 
 man whose life had been given to his country. 
 When the bombardment of Sumter thrilled the 
 continent and fired the popular heart, Cass was 
 ready with his word of encouragement. At an im 
 mense Union meeting in Detroit, April 24th, he 
 was made chairman and delivered in a few words 
 an eloquent address. Cheer followed cheer, as the 
 old general, with dramatic effect, thanked God that 
 the American flag still floated over his home and 
 his friends. "No American can see its folds 
 spread out to the breeze without feeling a thrill of 
 pride at his heart, and without recalling the splendid 
 
 1 Quoted in Life and Public Services of Andrew Johnson, by John 
 
THE LAST YEARS. 343 
 
 deeds it has witnessed. ... You need no one to tell 
 you what are the dangers of your country, nor what 
 are your duties to meet and avert them. There is 
 but one path for every true man to travel, and that 
 is broad and plain. It will conduct us, not indeed 
 without trials and sufferings, to peace and to the 
 restoration of the Union. He who is not for his 
 country is against her. There is no neutral posi 
 tion to be occupied. It is the duty of all zealously 
 to support the government in its efforts to bring 
 this unhappy civil war to a speedy and satisfactory 
 conclusion, by the restoration, in its integrity, of 
 that great charter of freedom bequeathed to us 
 by Washington and his compatriots." Sorrowing 
 over his country torn by civil war, the old man was 
 not weakened by age into imbecile maunderings 
 about senseless compromise ; by word and example 
 he inspired the patriotic hearts of his fellow citi 
 zens. If he was occasionally downcast, his desire 
 for union never faltered. Referring at one time to 
 the bonfires with which New Hampshire celebrated 
 the formation of the Republic, " I have loved the 
 Union," he exclaimed, " ever since the light of 
 that bonfire greeted my eyes. I have given fifty- 
 five years of my life and my best efforts to its pres 
 ervation. I fear I am doomed to see it perish." 
 It was such a spirit as this which had made him 
 the advocate of compromise and consideration, and 
 which now made him zealous for force. 
 
 The last public speech of General Cass was de 
 livered at Hillsdale, Michigan, August 13, 1862, 
 
344 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 at a " war meeting " called for the purpose of 
 arousing enthusiasm and raising volunteers for the 
 service. The address was short and impressive. 
 He spoke for some twenty minutes earnestly and 
 from the heart. He began with a truthful refer 
 ence to his own patriotism. " I am sufficiently 
 warned by the advance of age that I can have but 
 little participation in public affairs, but if time has 
 diminished my power to be useful to my country, 
 it has left undiminished the deep interest I feel in 
 her destiny, and my love and reverence for our glo 
 rious Constitution which we owe to the kindness of 
 Providence and to the wisdom of our fathers." The 
 whole speech breathes forth the broad sympathy 
 and love of Union which marked his life. Age 
 which is proverbially kind did not bring with it 
 enervated principles and the sentimentality of 
 moral and mental languor. He referred to the 
 energy of his own State and praised the exertions 
 it was making for the general welfare. He had 
 visited many portions of it before the Indian had 
 given way to the industry and enterprise of the 
 white man. " I have lived to see it rivaling its 
 sister States in the sacred work of defending the 
 Constitution. And now the course of events has 
 rendered it necessary for the government to appeal 
 again to the people. Additional troops are re 
 quired for the speedy suppression of the Rebellion. 
 Patriotism and policy equally dictate that our force 
 should be such as to enable us to act with vigor 
 and efficiency against our enemies, and promptly to 
 
THE LAST YEARS. 345 
 
 reduce them to unconditional submission to the 
 laws." Of all the statesmen of his generation, Cass 
 has been understood the least. In the eyes of 
 many, he still appears as a " Northern man with 
 Southern principles," a " doughface," as false and 
 untrustworthy ; while Henry Clay and Daniel Web 
 ster, whose aims were identical with his, have de 
 fenders and apologists by the score ; while there 
 is condonation for the rankest acts of the " Copper 
 heads," who maligned and vilified and hissed at 
 home while our soldiers were fighting in the field ; 
 while men who proved false to their oaths, and 
 gave their energies to the destruction of their 
 country, are given high offices of honor and of pub 
 lic trust. 
 
 One more event of importance intruded itself 
 into the sadly quiet life of the old statesman. 
 Throughout his career he had suspected and op 
 posed the cunning designs of England, had resented 
 her effrontery, had vindicated our rights against 
 her. A fitting close of a public life, which had 
 been strangely consistent and direct, was an act of 
 justice toward England in following out the lines 
 of comity for which he had so often contended. In 
 the latter part of 1861, two commissioners from 
 the Confederacy, intended for England and France, 
 were taken on board the English ship Trent. An 
 American steamer, the San Jacinto, stopped the 
 Trent on her voyage, took from her the Confeder 
 ate commissioners and proceeded with them to Bos 
 ton. England claimed with justice that this was 
 
346 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 a direct violation of her sovereignty, an insult for 
 which immediate atonement was demanded. Our 
 government hesitated. England did not, but im 
 mediately made arrangements for war and to mo 
 bilize her forces ; issued a proclamation to prevent 
 the exportation of arms and ammunition ; ordered 
 her minister at Washington to withdraw unless the 
 prisoners were released and our government offered 
 apology within a few days. Flaring into unbecom 
 ing wrath, she lavished, it is said, not far from 
 <5,000,000 in preparation for a war which, in spite 
 of the vexations of this whole affair, was need 
 less, and which would not have been nearly so 
 imminent had not her blustering hardened our 
 people into obstinacy. While our government de 
 layed, the people were anxious in spite of their 
 dislike of England s haste. General Cass was be 
 sought by some of the influential citizens of De 
 troit to throw the weight of his advice into the 
 scale, with the purpose of inducing our government 
 to surrender the commissioners and to prevent war. 
 He was persuaded, and wrote a long telegraphic 
 dispatch l covering the whole ground, and bringing 
 to bear his learning and the experience of fifty years 
 in which he had thought over and discussed the 
 question of search and visitation. The Cabinet de 
 cided to humble itself, that it might be exalted on 
 the altar of law and honesty. Seward is reported 
 afterwards to have intimated that Cass s dispatch 
 
 1 Personal information obtained from manager of telegraph 
 line. 
 
THE LAST YEARS. 347 
 
 was of determining weight in the Cabinet discus 
 sions on the question of surrender. The report 
 seems well founded ; but, whether it was thus deter 
 minant or not, the dispatch is a graceful end of a 
 life of public service which had been devoted to 
 America, and had resented encroachments upon her 
 dignity. 
 
 The last years of Cass were spent quietly at his 
 home in Detroit. He lived to see the Union re 
 stored, and the black curse of our country wiped 
 out by the war. His love of books and his schol 
 arly tastes helped him to fill his last days with 
 pleasurable occupation. His many friends, whom 
 he had assisted and to whom he had given a true 
 affection during the years of his active life, did 
 not forsake him when the evil days of sorrow and 
 weakness came upon him. Lifted up by an unfal 
 tering trust, he patiently and cheerfully awaited 
 the end. He was sometimes noticed walking the 
 well-known streets, which he had seen develop 
 from the narrow, crooked ways of the rambling 
 French town into the broad avenues of a modern 
 city. But his work was over ; he had reached ad 
 vanced age before his retirement from public life, 
 and all that was left him was the sorrowful pleas 
 ure of peaceful waiting. He died June 17, 1866, 
 in the eighty-fourth year of his age. The reports 
 in the public papers, the resolutions of societies, 
 the farewell comments of friends, betoken the 
 esteem in which he was held and the grief at his 
 death. Members of the bar, who had known his 
 
348 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 faithful service to the State, spoke in loving admi 
 ration of his life. Many men in the prime of life, 
 or nearing the easy descent of age, recalled with 
 gratitude the encouragement and aid given them 
 in the uncertain days of their young manhood. 
 There was no one to cavil. Even his political 
 career, ending in patriotic devotion to country and 
 love for his State and the Union, left little room 
 for fault-finding to those who remembered his pure 
 private life, and his generous friendship and high- 
 minded regard for truth and fairness in all matters 
 of daily business and intercourse. The Republi 
 can paper of Detroit, not failing in discrimination 
 while discussing the events of his life, showed a 
 hearty respect for the patriot, the citizen, and the 
 man. Private uprightness, sincerity, and rugged 
 stalwartness of character conquered partisan acri 
 mony in days when even the bitterness of politics 
 seemed sweeter than honey in the honeycomb. 
 
 If the foregoing sketch is at all adequate, no 
 elaborate assignment of attributes is needed in con 
 clusion. The character of Cass is presented by 
 his acts, by his attitude on great public questions, 
 and by the results of a life given to the service of 
 his country. Scarcely another man in our history 
 was for so many years so closely connected with 
 the rise and progress of the United States. He 
 stands as a representative of the Old Northwest. 
 Taking his life as a centre, we can trace the politi 
 cal, social, and industrial development of this sec 
 tion of the Union, which, in large part because of 
 
THE LAST YEARS. 349 
 
 his efforts, changed in a generation from wildness 
 and stagnation into order and activity. He was the 
 " Father of the West," but his generous patriotism 
 left no room for selfish provincialism. He was a 
 democrat in the general sense of the word, incul 
 cating throughout his career with unflinching zeal 
 the great doctrine of faith in the people, and in 
 the dignity and worth of the common American 
 voter; but his love of individual liberty and his 
 advocacy of personal rights did not blind his eyes 
 to the grand individuality of the nation, and the 
 bright destiny of a Union which was more than a 
 union of States. With an extreme Americanism 
 he indorsed in his life the party doctrine that the 
 " world is too much governed ; " but he did not 
 lose himself in silly sentimentalities about the need- 
 lessness of government, nor confound lawlessness 
 and liberty. He was a Democrat in the party 
 sense of the word, a strong adherent to the party 
 organization ; but he did not let his hunger for suc 
 cess or his thirst for revenge deaden his senses to a 
 perception of justice, nor cause him to see liberty 
 in rebellion and freedom under the manacles of the 
 slave. 
 
 He was fair and honest, winning by his frankness 
 the confidence of fellow-partisans and opponents. 
 The Republican party seemed to him at first a sec 
 tional party, built upon localism and inconsider- 
 ateness, but, when it proved the defender of the 
 Union, although he never forsook his own standard, 
 nor capitulated in dogma, he gave advice and coun- 
 
350 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 sel in behalf of the great purpose of those against 
 whom he might have stored up wrath. In his 
 speeches in the Senate, in private conversation, and 
 in correspondence with friends, he always pleaded 
 for the broader sympathy and more charitable 
 interpretation. In spite of the vigor of his utter 
 ances and the force of his speech when once 
 aroused to defend a great national principle or to 
 expound party doctrine, the records of Congress 
 will be searched in vain for a prevailing or even 
 passing feeling of ill-will against him. Those who 
 came in contact with him were disarmed of suspi 
 cions by his benignant frankness and the complete 
 good faith which action and word emphasized. 
 Yet his sincerity has been especially stabbed by 
 innuendo, and attacked by open statement, until 
 those who have not known him as he was pass him 
 by as a man who smothered his small principles 
 and traded conscience for applause. That the 
 hope of the presidency did not dazzle his judgment 
 until it could not read in the inner white light 
 of his heart, it would be presumptuous to declare. 
 Blind self-deception, so ready to answer our call 
 for guidance, may have led him into the ditch. 
 But we turn to a full record of his life, and ask 
 that those who cavil at a part may construe with 
 the context before them. The doctrine of popular 
 sovereignty has added its blight to his name, but it 
 was not for him a new doctrine ; his more promi 
 nent political life was begun in an effort to promote, 
 among the body of the people, interest and action 
 
THE LAST YEARS. 351 
 
 in local affairs. His love of union, his great feel 
 ing of nationalism, and his resentment of foreign 
 interference, gave a coherence and consistency to 
 his life, and prove by their continuance his thor 
 oughness, earnestness, and sincerity. 
 
 The daily social and family life of General 
 Cass was one of such even courtesy and kindness 
 that mere assertion leaves little room for explana 
 tion or addition. To those who came to him for 
 aid or advice he was an interested friend ; young 
 men especially attracted him, and he took great 
 pleasure in giving them encouragement, in offering 
 them help in their times of doubt or need. He 
 was not fond of general society ; his simple tastes 
 and quiet, abstemious habits held him back from 
 an indulgence in the mere frivolity and formality of 
 Washington life. In his own home, however, he 
 dispensed a large and delightful hospitality. From 
 1831 until his withdrawal from Buchanan s Cabi 
 net, he spent the greater portion of his time away 
 from Detroit ; but his old house at that place, 
 filled with curios and interesting relics from the 
 frontiers of America and the gay capitals of Eu 
 rope, was not infrequently occupied, and he there 
 received his friends with generous, unstinted wel 
 come. He then had the finest library in Michigan, 
 and the room which held his favorite books was his 
 own peculiar home. There he often entertained 
 small companies of more intimate friends and of dis 
 tinguished men. While agreeable and entertaining 
 in private conversation, showing wide reading and 
 
352 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 broad comprehension, impressing all who listened 
 to his unpretentious talk with the feeling that 
 they were in the presence of a well-informed and 
 cultured gentleman, he had none of the rarer 
 charms of personal grace or of wit and brilliance ; 
 there was no flash of sudden genius or warmth of 
 kindling enthusiasm over a keen or subtle argu 
 ment. On the contrary, in public and in private 
 speech, his face generally maintained a certain 
 immobility. His features were heavy, only occa 
 sionally lighted up when unusual circumstances 
 called for the determination, boldness, and vigor of 
 the man. Even then he was impressive, ponder 
 ous, sternly dominant. Yet a customary look of be 
 nignity softened the severity of his face ; in hours 
 of political success or defeat he maintained his 
 serenity and hopefulness ; he habitually, in his pri 
 vate conversations, refrained from rancor or tren 
 chant criticism and imputation. 
 
 Before the public, General Cass was a man who 
 carried weight by the density and compactness of 
 his arguments, by the vigor of his language, and 
 the gravity of his sense. He was not always right ; 
 his earlier vigor and fire were tempered into bold 
 ness and decision in middle age, and became un 
 bending, consistent conservatism in the days of his 
 later public service, a conservatism which often led 
 him to adopt political inexpedients and did not re 
 strain him from error. But his public utterances 
 always made an impression, and doubtless served to 
 dampen a too ardent impetuosity. He often, per- 
 
THE LAST YEARS. 353 
 
 haps usually, read his speeches from manuscript. 
 They were skillfully and elaborately prepared. His 
 large figure and his erect bearing aided the dignity 
 of his words ; and often where a man of less sig 
 nificant appearance would escape attention, or leave 
 an audience unaffected by his appeals, the physical 
 poise and stateliness of Cass would arrest the at 
 tention of the heedless, and compel conviction in 
 the doubting. So universally thoughtful and well- 
 considered, however, were his public addresses, that 
 mere physical greatness was not needed to make 
 them worthy of notice. What was worth doing 
 at all seemed worth doing well ; his orations at 
 agricultural meetings and at great industrial cele 
 brations show the customary breadth of scholarship 
 and careful preparation. He was not an orator in 
 the sense that Henry Clay and Patrick Henry were 
 orators. He belonged rather to the unimpassioned 
 school of steady thinkers and not too ready speak 
 ers, whose words come for a purpose and with the 
 stored-up energy of conviction. An opponent was 
 rather crushed by the dead weight of argument 
 than taken captive by blandishments of rhetoric. 
 
 He was a scholar and a man of books as well 
 as a politician and a statesman. His essays were 
 often even graceful, and always bore the same 
 marks of care which his speeches presented. When 
 starting on one of his long voyages in his bark 
 canoe in the days of his governorship, he used to 
 supply himself with a number of books ; and, as he 
 journeyed, he read them thoughtfully, or he listened 
 
 d 
 
354 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 while one of his companions read them to him. 
 The information, thus stored away in his mind, 
 often in later years showed itself in some rare and 
 unexpected piece of knowledge. He never was 
 enticed by the excitement of politics entirely to 
 forsake his books. He could not become a pro 
 found scholar in the midst of his active life, but 
 his learning was unusually wide, often surprising 
 by its scope even those who knew him well and 
 had reason to respect his studies. To an intimate 
 acquaintance with the great facts of history he 
 added no meagre knowledge of science and litera 
 ture. In 1827 he read before the Detroit Histori 
 cal Society an essay on the Early History of De 
 troit and the Conspiracy of Pontiac, a valuable 
 contribution to historical literature. This essay 
 and three others by fellow-members of the society 
 have been published under the title " Sketches of 
 Michigan." In 1830 he delivered a scholarly ad 
 dress before the Association of Alumni of Hamil 
 ton College, and in 1836, as first president of the 
 American Historical Association, he read an arti 
 cle which bears the marks of thoughtful prepara 
 tion, as well as knowledge and appreciation of the 
 great truths of history and of political philosophy. 
 His articles in the "North American Eeview " 
 treat generally of Indian and Western subjects, 
 and show his great acquaintance with Indian charac 
 ter and of the problems which affect our country s 
 progress. These essays are long and discursive, 
 written at a time when our important magazines 
 
THE LAST YEARS. 355 
 
 invited profound and exhaustive treatment of in 
 teresting and serious topics. While Secretary of 
 War he prepared for the " American Quarterly 
 Eeview " an account of the siege of New Orleans. 
 The article, covering some sixty pages of the mag 
 azine, is of lasting historic value, inasmuch as it 
 was Ibased upon papers and information intrusted 
 to him by General Jackson. His most valuable 
 literary work was in connection with the history of 
 New France. Dr. Francis Parkman acknowledges 
 his indebtedness to " Hon. Lewis Cass for a curious 
 collection of papers relating to the siege of Detroit 
 by the Indians." 1 While minister in France, he 
 collected and examined documentary evidence re 
 lating to the French power in America, and pro 
 cured important papers which were published by 
 the Wisconsin Historical Society. He not only 
 gave material and inspiration to Mrs. Sheldon for 
 her " Early History of Michigan," but aided and 
 encouraged M. Pierre Margry to begin the studies 
 which have resulted in such valuable additions to 
 historical information. His own studies of contem 
 porary France, while representing our own govern 
 ment, were embodied in a book already mentioned, 
 " France, its King, Court, and Government," a 
 book of 190 closely printed octavo pages. About 
 the same time he published " Three Hours at 
 Saint Cloud," and an article of no little worth in 
 the "Democratic Review" on " The Modern French 
 Judicature." All the contributions to periodicals 
 
 1 Conspiracy of Pontiac, Preface. 
 
356 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 were more than mere trivialities dasned off in haste 
 for a penny a line ; they are real additions to 
 knowledge. 
 
 In public and private life he was honest. About 
 1815 he bought, with funds received from the sale 
 of lands in Ohio, a large tract of land near Detroit. 
 As the city grew, this property came into demand, 
 and its sale in lots made him wealthy. He had no 
 temptation to be dishonest in public dealings, or, 
 as is sometimes charged, to be a " money-maker." 
 He was completely free from the taints of finan 
 cial corruption. To honesty he added temperance. 
 He seldom tasted wine of any kind, though not 
 refusing to provide his guests with the best. His 
 public work in behalf of temperance has been 
 spoken of ; when Secretary of War he called at 
 tention to the subject of intemperance in the army, 
 and advocated that other rations be substituted for 
 whiskey. He also spoke publicly of the evils of 
 drink. His moderation reached beyond the limits 
 of meat and drink, and showed itself in a life 
 strangely regular and methodical, prolonged, in 
 consequence, to an advanced age, unimpaired by 
 disease, or weakened by aught save the attacks of 
 time. 
 
 The name of Lewis Cass will not be written in 
 the future with those of the few men whose influ 
 ence is everywhere discernible, and who perpetuate 
 themselves in institutions and in national tenden 
 cies. He was not a Washington, nor a Lincoln, 
 nor a Hamilton, nor a Jefferson, nor a John Quincy 
 
THE LAST YEARS. 357 
 
 Adams. But he was a great American statesman, 
 building up and Americanizing an important sec 
 tion of his country, struggling in places of trust 
 for the recognition of American dignity and for 
 the development of generous nationalism. With 
 the great slavery contest his name is inseparably 
 connected ; he stood with Webster and Clay for 
 Union, for conciliation, for the Constitution as it 
 seemed to be established. He was one of those 
 men whose broad love of country and pride in her 
 greatness, however exaggerated, however absurd it 
 may seem in these days of cynical self-restraint, 
 lifted her from colonialism to national dignity, and 
 imbued the people with a sense of their power. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abbott, Benjamin, 37. 
 
 Adams, Charles Francis, nominated 
 
 for vice-presidency, 249. 
 Adams, John Quincy, 164, 204. 
 American party, origin, 302. 
 Ashburton treaty, ratified, 184. 
 
 Bank of the United States, attacked 
 by Jackson, 150 et seq. 
 
 Barnburners, origin, 237 ; progress of 
 movement, 238 et seq. 
 
 Barry, W. T., postmaster - general, 
 134. 
 
 Bell, John, nominated for president, 
 333. 
 
 Black Hawk war, 138. 
 
 Black, J. S., attorney-general, 323. 
 
 Blennerhassett, H., connection with 
 Burr s plans, 48-50. 
 
 Blockade, commercial, 331. 
 
 Boyd, George, letters quoted, 108. 
 
 Brown, Aaron V., postmaster-general, 
 323. 
 
 Breckinridge, J. C., nominated for 
 vice-president, 315 ; nominated for 
 president, 332. 
 
 Brock, General, in charge of English 
 forces, 75-81. 
 
 Brooks, P. S., attack upon Sunnier, 
 314. 
 
 Brougham, Henry, attacks Cass, 199. 
 
 Buchanan, James, in the campaign of 
 1844, 198 ; secretary of state, 223 ; the 
 Ostend Manifesto, 307 ; nominated 
 for presidency, 315; his inaugural 
 address, 320 ; announces end of vis 
 itation and search, 329 ; message on 
 secession, 335 et seq. ; charges that 
 Cass wished to reenter Cabinet, 340. 
 
 Burr, Aaron, conspiracy, 46-50. 
 
 Butler, General William O., nominated 
 for vice-president, 239. 
 
 Cabinet, reorganization of, 130 et seq. 
 Cadillac, La Motte, founds Detroit, 
 
 14. 
 Calhoun, John C., relations with Jack 
 
 son, 130 ; connection with nullifica 
 tion in South Carolina, 139 et seq. ; 
 the election of 1844, 202 ; secretary 
 of state, 207 ; his doctrine concern 
 ing slavery in Territories, 235 ; last 
 speech, 273 ; his arguments adopted 
 by the South, 320. 
 
 California, 258, 262, 278. 
 
 Caroline affair, 172. 
 
 Cass, James, 33. 
 
 Cass, Jonathan, career, 33-40; his 
 patriotism and energy, 36 ; with 
 northwestern army, 37 ; goes to 
 Zanesville, 41. 
 
 Cass, Joseph, 33. 
 
 Cass, Lewis, work as an American 
 statesman, 2 ; describes influence of 
 French over Indians, 10; letter to 
 secretary of war, 25 ; a representa 
 tive of the Northwest, 29 ; his first 
 duties of national statesmanship, 
 32 ; birth, 34 ; boyhood, 35 et seq. ; 
 education, 37, 38 ; teaching, 39 ; 
 goes to Northwest, 39 ; studies law, 
 41 ; becomes a Democrat, 43 ; ad 
 mitted to bar, 44 ; elected prosecu 
 ting attorney, 44 ; on the circuit, 
 45; elected to the legislature of 
 Ohio, 46 ; connection with Burr s in 
 trigue, 49 ; appointed United States 
 marshal, 50 ; married, 50 ; defends 
 Ohio judges, 51 ; denies that war of 
 1812 was aggressive, 59 ; colonel of 
 militia, 60 ; statement concerning 
 defenses at Detroit, 63 ; sent with 
 flag of truce to Maiden, 65 ; leads 
 the invasion of Canada, 66 ; possible 
 author of Hull s proclamation, 67 ; 
 at the Canard, 70 ; plots deposition 
 of Hull, 72, 75 ; urges adequate as 
 sistance for Brush, 73 ; sent to es 
 cort Brush to Detroit, 76 ; enraged 
 at Hull s surrender, 78 ; estimate of 
 Hull s forces, 79 ; reports to secre 
 tary of war, 81 ; witness at Hull s 
 trial, 81 ; made brigadier-general 
 in regular army, 83 ; in campaign of 
 
360 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 1813, 84; appointed governor of 
 Michigan Territory, 86 ; difficulties 
 of his governorship, 88 et seq. ; fight 
 with the Indians, 89 ; treaty of 
 Greenville, 90 ; resigns commission, 
 91 ; efforts to relieve distress in 
 Michigan, 93 et seq. ; to secure land 
 sales, 95; opposes English aggres 
 sions, 97 et seq. ; contest with Colo 
 nel James, 100, 103-107; resents 
 British interference with Indians, 
 107-112 ; duties as superintendent 
 of Indian affairs, 112 ; enters into 
 treaties, 113, 124; expedition to 
 sources of Mississippi, 114 et seq. ; at 
 Sault de St. Marie, 115-118 ; care 
 for affairs of the Territory, 119- 
 123 ; efforts for general education, 
 122 ; Winnebago war, 125 ; outlines 
 plan for treatment of Indians, 127 ; 
 honorable treatment of Indians, 127 
 et seq. ; appointed secretary of war, 
 135 ; Black Hawk war, 138 ; makes 
 preparation against forcible nullifi 
 cation, 143 ; goes north with Jack 
 son, 149 ; attitude on the bank ques 
 tion, 151 ; advocates removal of 
 Indians, 155 ; directs Seminole war, 
 160 ; charged with incompetence, 
 161 ; appointed minister to France, 
 163 ; leaves for France, 165 ; travels 
 in France, 166 ; tour of, 167 ; rela 
 tions with Louis Philippe, 170; 
 writes on French life, 171; warns 
 Webster of English hostility, 172 ; 
 criticises the quintuple treaty, 175 ; 
 protest, 177 ; supported by his gov 
 ernment, 179 ; criticised by Adams, 
 180; motives, 182; resigns, 185; 
 controversy with Webster, 186 ; 
 popularity in Paris, 191 ; a Demo 
 cratic leader, 193-196 ; proposed for 
 the presidency, 197 ; his political 
 principles, 199 ; the charges of Lord 
 Brougham, 199; favors annexation 
 of Texas, 209 ; explanation of his 
 attitude toward annexation, 210 ; 
 the Democratic convention of 1844, 
 212 ; in the campaign, 218 ; elected 
 senator, 221 ; in favor of the whole 
 of Oregon, 222 ; believes war with 
 England inevitable, 224 ; prominent 
 in the Senate, 225 ; attitude toward 
 Mexican war, 227 ; against the Wil- 
 mot proviso, 229 ; separates from 
 the tendencies of the Northwest, 
 230 ; propounds doctrine of popular 
 sovereignty, 231 ; his motives, 234, 
 235 ; mentioned for presidency in 
 1848, 236 ; nominated, 239; accepts, 
 240 ; relation to anti-slavery move 
 ment, 249 ; receives support of 
 Northwest, 254 ; position on inter 
 nal improvements, 255 ; opposed by 
 
 South, 256 ; elected senator again, 
 261 ; instructed to vote for Wilmot 
 proviso, 263; letter to New York 
 committee, 265 ; speaks in behalf of 
 popular sovereignty, 267, 277, 289 ; 
 advocates Clay s compromise meas 
 ure, 271 ; declares peaceable disun 
 ion impossible, 272 ; is released from 
 instructions, 273 ; rebukes Seward, 
 275 ; favors Fugitive Slave law, 278 ; 
 speaks in New York, 280 ; reelected 
 senator, 280 ; deplores " ultraism," 
 281 ; the Democratic convention of 
 1852, 282; supports Kansas -Ne 
 braska bill, 288, et seq. ; belongs to 
 a past generation, 293 ; in the cam 
 paign of 1854, 299; attacked by 
 southern press, 300; opposes the 
 American party, 305; receives in 
 structions to vote for repeal of Fu 
 gitive Slave law, 306 ; declines to 
 obey, 306 ; his attitude toward the 
 acquisition of Cuba, 308; toward 
 the admission of Kansas as a State, 
 311 ; characterization by Sumner, 
 313 ; a member of committee to in 
 vestigate attack upon Sumner, 314 ; 
 the Democratic convention of 1856, 
 315 ; defeated for reelection to Sen 
 ate, 317; becomes secretary of 
 state, 322 ; transmits information 
 concerning "search" and "visita 
 tion," 325; writes to Lord Napier 
 on the subject, 325 ; England ac 
 knowledges his argument, 328; 
 makes application of Monroe doc 
 trine, 330 ; writes on the subject of 
 commercial blockades, 331 ; fears 
 secession and rebellion, 332 ; advo 
 cates use of force to compel obedi 
 ence to federal government, 335, 
 337 ; resigns, 338 ; laments over se 
 cession of South Carolina, 339 ; al 
 leged desire to withdraw resigna 
 tion, 340 ; speaks at Detroit, 342 ; 
 zealous for coercion, 343 ; last 
 speech, 343 ; advocates surrender of 
 Confederate commissioners, 345 ; 
 death, 347 ; honors shown him, 348 ; 
 character, 189, 212, 221, 224, 254, 
 348 et seq.; his literary work, 171, 
 353 et seq. ; place in history, 356. 
 
 Champlain, Samuel de, discovers the 
 great West, 4. 
 
 Chandler, Zachariah, elected senator, 
 317. 
 
 Chase, S. P., at Buffalo convention, 
 248; elected senator, 260; speaks 
 on the compromise of 1850, 274. 
 
 Christiancy, I. P., 298. 
 
 Clay, Henry, in favor of war, 55 ; in 
 troduces compromise tariff meas 
 ure, 147 ; the election of 1844, 208 
 et seq.; defeated, 216 et seq.; de- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 361 
 
 sires nomination in 1848, 241 ; com 
 
 promise of 1850, 271. 
 Cobb, Howell, secretary of the treas 
 
 ury, 322; implicated in secession, 
 
 334 ; resigns, 338. 
 Compromise of 1850, 267 et seq.; 
 
 passed, 278. 
 Convention, Democratic, 212, 239, 282, 
 
 315, 332; Republican, 315, 333; 
 
 Whig, 211, 244, 284. 
 Coureurs des bois, the early settlers 
 
 in Northwest, 9; characteristics, 
 
 10 ; at Detroit, 15. 
 Courts, early, in Ohio, 45. 
 Cutler, Manasseh, 43. 
 
 Dallas, G. M., nominated for vice- 
 
 president, 214 ; minister to Eng 
 
 land, 327. 
 
 Davis, Jefferson, 288. 
 Dayton, W. L., nominated for vice- 
 
 president, 315. 
 Detroit, early conditions, 15 et seq. ; 
 
 surrender of, 62-81 ; condition after 
 
 war of 1812, 87 et seq. 
 Dodge, H., 247. 
 Douglas, S. A., candidate for the 
 
 nomination for presidency, 283 ; re 
 
 ports Kansas-Nebraska bill, 287; 
 
 nominated for president, 332. 
 Dred Scott case, 320. 
 
 Eaton, J. H., in Jackson s Cabinet, 130 
 
 et seq. 
 
 Eaton, Mrs. J. H., 131. 
 Education of French, 26; in Michi 
 
 gan, 122. 
 Election, of 1840, 152; of 1844, 215; 
 
 of 1848, 249 ; of 1852, 297 ; of 1856, 
 
 316; of 1860, 332. 
 England, retains control of military 
 
 ports, 31, 32; intrigues with In 
 
 dians, 57, 99-112; claims the Ore 
 
 gon country, 223 et seq. ; final ef 
 
 forts at search, 324. 
 Eustis, W., 68. 
 Everett, Edward, nominated for vice- 
 
 president, 333. 
 Exeter, 34, 38. 
 
 Filibustering, 307. 
 
 Fillmore, Millard, nominated for 
 
 vice-president, 244 ; becomes presi 
 
 dent, 276. 
 Floyd, J. B., secretary of war, 322; 
 
 implicated in secession, 334. 
 France, relations with United States, 
 
 164 ; condition, 171 ; refuses to rat 
 
 ify quintuple treaty, 178. 
 ree-Soil party, or 
 tion of 1852, 284. 
 
 Free- 
 
 rty, origin, 248; in elec 
 
 Frelinghuysen, Theodore, nominated 
 for vice-president, 211. 
 
 Fremont, J. C., nominated for presi 
 dent, 315. 
 
 French, exploration in the West, 3-7 ; 
 influence the Indians, 10 et seq. ; at 
 Detroit, 17 et seq.; methods of 
 farming in Michigan, 22 et seq.; 
 gayeties, 23 ; in Wisconsin, 12 ; in 
 Michigan after war of 1812, 88, 94. 
 
 Frenchtown, description of, 25. 
 
 Fugitive Slave law, effect of, 278. 
 
 Geary, J. W., 317. 
 
 Giddings, J. R., 204, 250. 
 
 Gilman, Mary, married to Jonathan 
 
 Cass, 34. 
 
 Greeley, Horace, 278, 297, 304. 
 Guizot, F. P. G., Cass sends protest 
 
 to, 177. 
 
 Haldiman, Governor, quoted, 31. 
 
 Hale, J. P., 247 ; nominated for presi 
 dent, 284. 
 
 Hamilton, Governor, 31. 
 
 Hamlin, Hannibal, nominated for vice- 
 president, 333. 
 
 Hannegan, E. A., letter of Cass to, 
 209. 
 
 Harrison, W. H., quoted in regard to 
 Indian presents, 57 ; wins battle of 
 Thames, 84 ; at Greenville, 90. 
 
 Hull, William, quoted with reference 
 to characteristics of French settlers, 
 14 ; brigadier-general, 60 ; slow ad 
 vance to Detroit, 62 ; reports num 
 ber of troops, 64; at Detroit, 65; 
 enters Canada, 66 ; proclamation, 
 67 ; surrenders Detroit, 73-80 ; trial 
 of, 81 ; later years, 82. 
 
 Hunkers, origin of party, 237 et seq. 
 
 Illinois, early political lite in, 153. 
 
 Indians, influence of French over, 10 
 et seq. ; influence of English over, 
 31, 32, 91-112 ; treaties of Cass with, 
 his influence over them, 112-118, 
 124-129 ; removal of, 155 et seq. 
 
 Iroquois, retard French progress in 
 America, 4. 
 
 Jackson, Andrew, character, 130 et 
 seq. ; dissolution of his first Cabinet, 
 130 et seq.; opposes nullification, 
 142 et seq. ; share in introduction of 
 spoils system, 135 ; removal of In 
 dians, 158; demands fulfillment of 
 treaty from France, 164 ; relations 
 with Cass, 162; favors annexation 
 of Texas, 208. 
 
 James, Colonel, correspondence with 
 Cass, 100 et seq. 
 
 Jameson, Mrs., quoted, 20, 111. 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, his political tenets 
 attract Cass, 43 ; checks Burr s con- 
 
362 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 spiracy, 48 ; appoints Cass marshal, 
 50. 
 
 Johnson, H. V., nominated for vice- 
 president, 332. 
 
 Johnson, R. M., kills Tecumseh, 85; 
 desires nomination for presidency, 
 202, 214. 
 
 Julian, G. W., nominated for vice- 
 president, 284. 
 
 Kansas, struggle for, 310, 317. 
 Kansas-Nebraska bill, 287 et sea. 
 Kaskaskia, 29. 
 
 King, W. R., nominated for vice- 
 president, 283. 
 Know-Nothings. See American party. 
 
 Lane, J., nominated for vice-presi 
 dent, 333. 
 
 La Salle, 6. 
 
 Lawyers, journeys of, in Ohio, 45. 
 
 Lewis, W. B., reports conversation 
 with Cass, 51. 
 
 Liberty party, 204, 217. 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, nominated for pres 
 ident, 333. 
 
 Livingston, Edward, secretary of state, 
 134 ; returns from France, 164. 
 
 Lossing, B. J., quoted, 339. 
 
 Louis XIV., interest in New France, 7. 
 
 Louis Philippe, attitude toward Amer 
 ica, 165 ; character, 170. 
 
 Macomb, Major-General, 143. 
 
 Madison, James, 54, 55, 68 ; pardons 
 Hull, 82. 
 
 Marietta, Cass studies law at, 41. 
 
 Martineau, Harriet, quoted, 25, 97. 
 
 McArthur, Colonel, 60, 61 ; sent to 
 escort Brush, 76. 
 
 McKenney, T. L., treats with Indians, 
 124, 125. 
 
 McLane, Louis, secretary of treasury, 
 134. 
 
 Meigs, R. J.,41,43. 
 
 Mexico, war with, 226 et seq, 
 
 Michigan, developed slowly, 6, 26; 
 population of 1812, 63 ; militia of, 
 64 ; condition of, 86-98 passim ; de 
 velopment of, 119-123 ; political 
 leanings, 152 ; character of popula 
 tion, 254. 
 
 Miller, Colonel, in charge of fourth 
 regiment, 61, 70, 74. 
 
 Mississippi, journey to sources of, 114- 
 119. 
 
 Missouri compromise repealed, 287 
 et seq. 
 
 Monroe doctrine, Cass s statement of, 
 530. 
 
 New England, influence in the West, 
 260. 
 
 New Hampshire, ratifies the Constitu 
 tion, 35. 
 
 Nicaragua, 309. 
 
 Nicholson, A. O. P., letter to, 232. 
 
 Northeastern boundary, 172. 
 
 Northwest, 1-32 passim ; development 
 after treaty of Greenville, 40 ; some 
 characteristics of, 250 et seq. ; in the 
 election of 1852, 301. 
 
 Nullification, 140 et seq. 
 
 Oceola, 158, 159. 
 
 Ohio, characteristics of early settlers, 
 
 42; admitted to statehood, 44; 
 
 judges of, impeached, 51 ; some 
 
 characteristics of, 250. 
 Oregon controversy, 222 et seq. 
 Ostend Manifesto, 307. 
 
 Paper-money mob, 36. 
 
 Pierce, Franklin, nominated for presi 
 dent, 283. 
 
 Pioneer, characteristics of, 42. 
 
 Polk, James K., nominated for presi 
 dency, 214 ; in the election of 1844, 
 215, et seq. ; attitude toward Oregon 
 question, 223. 
 
 Popular sovereignty, origin of, 231 et 
 seq. ; motive of Cass in advocating, 
 233, 234 ; defense of, 267 ; rejected 
 by the South, 289 ; its results, 319. 
 
 Prevost, Governor, 69. 
 
 Proctor, Colonel, 73, 84. 
 
 Quintuple treaty, 176 et seq. 
 
 Reaume, Justice, at Green Bay, 13. 
 Republican party, origin, 294 et seq. ; 
 
 progress, 299. 
 River Raisin, settlers at, 26, 88, 94; 
 
 massacre, 83. 
 
 Schoolcraft, H. R., expedition to 
 sources of Mississippi, 114 et seq. 
 
 Schuyler, Eugene, quoted, 183. 
 
 Scott, Winfield, 145, 244 ; nomination 
 for president, 284. 
 
 Search and visitation, 176 et seq. 324 
 et seq. 
 
 Secession, 333 et seq. 
 
 Seminoles, removal of, 156 et seq. 
 
 Seward, W. H., 173 ; elected to Senate, 
 260; on the compromise of 1850, 
 274 ; quoted, 292. 
 
 Shannon, Wilson, 310. 
 
 Sibley, Judge, characterizes Canadi 
 ans, 30 ; first meeting with Cass, 41. 
 
 Slave-trade, attempt to reestablish, 
 324. 
 
 South Carolina, nullification, 140 et 
 seq. 
 
 Spencer, Elizabeth, marries Cass, 50. 
 
 Spoils system, 135. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 363 
 
 Squatter sovereignty. See Popular sov 
 ereignty. 
 
 St. Lawrence Valley, possessors of, 
 control Indians, 31. 
 
 Sumner, Charles, describes the home 
 of Cass in Paris, 191 ; famous speech 
 of, 311 ; attacks upon, 314. 
 
 Taney, Roger B., attorney - general, 
 134. 
 
 Taylor, Zachary, in Mexican war, 227 ; 
 candidate for president, 242 et seq. , 
 255; attitude toward slavery ques 
 tion, 256, 262 ; death, 276. 
 
 Tecumseh, 57, 84. 
 
 Texas, annexation of, 206 et seq.. 220, 
 226. 
 
 Thompson, J., secretary of the inte 
 rior, 323 ; implicated in the Rebel 
 lion, 334. 
 
 Tiffin, Governor, of Ohio, 50. 
 
 Tippecanoe, battle of, begins war of 
 1812, 57. 
 
 Toucey, I., secretary of navy, 323. 
 
 Trent affair, 345. 
 
 Tyler, John, ratifies protest against 
 quintuple treaty, 180 ; candidate in 
 1844, 205 ; secures Texas, 220. 
 
 Van Buren, Martin, influence with 
 Jackson, 131 ; resigns, 133 ; the 
 election of 1844, 200, 212, 214 ; op 
 
 poses annexation of Texas, 208; 
 Barnburner movement, 256 ; candi 
 date for president, 247, 249, 255. 
 
 Vidal, Lieutenant, 101. 
 
 Vincennes, 29. 
 
 Virginia intercedes with South Caro 
 lina, 146. 
 
 Walker, R. J., 318. 
 
 War of 1812, 53 et seq. 
 
 Webster, Daniel, recollections of Cass, 
 37; secretary of state, 173; negotiates 
 Ashburton treaty, 184 ; controversy 
 with Cass, 185 et seq., 323; the 
 election of 1844, 212 ; 7th of March 
 speech, 273. 
 
 Weed, Thurlow, 217, 243. 
 
 Western Reserve, 250 et seq. 
 
 Wilmot proviso, 228 ; attitude of Cass 
 toward, 267. 
 
 Wilson, Henry, 245. 
 
 Winchester, General, at the River 
 Raisin, 82. 
 
 Winnebago war, 124 et seq. 
 
 Wisconsin, early settlements in, 4, 12. 
 
 Witherell, Judge, in command of Mich 
 igan militia, 63. 
 
 Woodbury, L. , secretary of navy, 134. 
 
 Woodward, Judge, 14, 27. 
 
 Wright, Silas, 236. 
 
 Zanesville, 41, 44. 
 
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