approved of the Compromise measures; and when Boston had rebelled
against the fugitive-slave law, he declared he would enforce the
law or burn the city, and it was enforced. We had extremists at
both ends of the Union. Formerly, the Nashville Convention said the
Union should be dissolved unless the Missouri Compromise line should
be adopted. Now, the black Republicans said it should be dissolved
unless it was restored.
Mr. Fillmore, in his message, said the existing laws were a
finality on the subject of slavery--both the great parties said
so in 1852, and agreed to abide by it. Did they do it? No; hence
the troubles we now have. He had no doubt but that Mr. Pierce had
acted honestly, but he had appointed freesoilers from the North and
fire-eaters from the South, in order to reconcile all; but this had
not been the result, and the country could only be saved by the
honest men of both parties. He, therefore, advocated the principles
of the American party--that Americans should rule America--that
the influence of foreigners was great--that it gave the North a
preponderating increase of population--that it ought to be checked,
and that foreigners ought to remain here twenty-one years before
voting, and that Catholics who owed allegiance to the Pope ought not
to be allowed to hold office; that no one could insist that this was
persecution; that the charge that it was was false and unfounded,
and it was known to be so.
He then asked who was the founder of the American party. Said it was
George Washington, and read from several of his letters to show it.
He also read from a speech of Mr. Buchanan as to foreign influence,
etc., and, after justifying the course of his party as to the
Catholics, he closed, having spoken two hours and ten minutes.
Governor Bragg arose, and said: Two years ago this summer he closed
the canvass with his then competitor. It had pleased a majority of
the people of the State to elect him Governor. He had acted as such
since the first of January, 1855. He had endeavored to discharge all
his duties faithfully. The people, however, would be the judges of
that. He would say, however, that he was not aware of any charges
against him for not doing so; and if there was no just ground for
complaint, then he submitted to all fair-minded men whether he had
not now some right to ask at their hands a liberal and generous
support in the present contest.
He said he concurred with Mr. Gilmer as to the beauty and fertility
of their country, and as to what he had said in relation to its
improvement, and hoped to see the day when its now comparatively
hidden and locked up resources would be laid open and developed.
He said that he was surprised to hear his competitor to-day enter
into the discussion of some matters which he had not supposed would
be brought into this canvass, and he was still more surprised to see
the manner in which he had treated them. His competitor complained
that the _Standard_ had assailed him for his vote some years ago
as to the distribution of the school fund. This was a mistake. The
_Standard_ had never, to his knowledge referred to it at all. It may
have been done in some other paper, but his competitor would find,
as _he_ had done in a former contest, that it was useless to notice
attacks of that kind. If he did, he would have his hands full. But,
from the course of his competitor, he rather thought he was availing
himself of this matter to get votes in this section. He had made
an elaborate argument to show the gross injustice of the present
mode of distributing the school-fund, and had undertaken to show
that the Democratic party was responsible for it; that the original
pledge for distributing the fund had been violated; that the West
had not been true to her own interests, or she would have defeated
Governor Reid; and he had made a strong appeal to the people here as
a Western man.
Now, said Mr. Bragg, I claim not your support either as an Eastern
man or a Western man, but as one who intends to discard all
sectional questions, looking to the interests and wishes of the
whole State. But Mr. Gilmer is in error as to one thing--the fund
chiefly for common schools was not raised by Mr. Yancey's bill, but
came from the General Government as part of the surplus revenue
under General Jackson's administration. Nor did the Democrats of
1842 introduce the present mode of distribution by a repeal of any
other law, but it was done before that time--it was not a party
vote, but it was one about which there was difference of opinion
and contest without the slightest regard to party. Time and again
the matter was brought before the Legislature, but for several
years past the question had ceased to be raised. It was considered
as settled. In the last contest it was so considered between him
and his competitor, and he regretted that Mr. Gilmer had deemed it
proper to reopen it. It would do no good; it would again lead to
sectional strife; it would retard the public improvements of the
State, and nothing practical would come of it, because experience
had shown that it could not be changed. It would even injure the
common schools which were now doing well and improving under the
efficient management of our State Superintendent. Governor Bragg
said that he had no wish to conceal his own opinions on this
subject. He was against disturbing the matter. He would say so in
the West; he would say so in the East. And now, said he, turning to
Mr. Gilmer, I want my competitor to state his position. He has said
a great deal about the matter, but has not told you what he will
recommend in case he should be elected.
(At first Mr. Gilmer declined to answer, but before the discussion
closed he said that the opinions advanced by him were his _private_
opinions; but if elected Governor he would not recommend any change,
but would acquiesce in the present law, whatever his own opinions
might be.)
Then, said Governor Bragg, there is practically no difference
between us. But my competitor makes a public argument in order to
express his private opinions, and makes it in such a way as he
thinks will get him votes here. I hope, said Governor Bragg, he will
take the same course all over the State.
As to free suffrage, Governor Bragg said that his competitor
professed to be a great free-suffrage man, but somehow always voted
against it. Formerly, we were told that it was wrong to pass it by
the Legislature; that it must be done by a convention. That was the
objection two years ago. He had then told the people that it was
idle to talk about a convention; that the action of the several
Legislatures for years past had shown it to be so; that we must take
things as they are, and act accordingly. Now he would remind the
people of what he said, and would ask if it was not true, for, if
they would examine the journals of the last General Assembly, they
would find that the convention bill, when offered in the Senate,
received the votes only of some sixteen out of the fifty members,
and in the House of Commons never received, in any of the different
shapes in which it was offered, more than forty out of one hundred
and twenty members, thus showing, conclusively, that there was a
large majority--two to one--against a convention in the Commons,
in which house the West has a majority opposed to the call of a
convention; whilst upon the passage, in the same House, of the
free-suffrage bill, there were only fifteen votes against it, the
members from Cherokee and most of the mountain counties who had
voted for a convention voting for the bill. But his competitor,
as already stated, had in every case voted against the bill, and
says he is yet against it, unless an amendment offered by him, or
some other, could be adopted; and, as that cannot be done now, the
bill having passed through one Legislature, and to amend it would
be to destroy it, of course his competitor was opposed to it.
Governor Bragg said that the opponents of this measure were always
finding some objection to it. First, it was to be done by an open
convention, then by a restricted convention, and now it seems his
competitor falls back upon an old objection always urged by those
in favor of keeping things as they are, that there is danger that
the landed interest would be burdened unduly with taxes. This was
altogether chimerical--such had not been the case in other States.
It was the largest and most powerful interest in the State, and
members of the Assembly could not do such a thing and sustain
themselves at home. Nor was it likely they ever would attempt it,
inasmuch as they themselves must be landholders, and would suffer as
well as other land proprietors. The thing was preposterous. Let the
freemen of the State, then, be true to themselves, and the measure
would be passed. But let them be on their guard. Every effort will
be made by open enemies and pretended friends to defeat it.
As to the tempting bait held out to them of having cheap courts
and trials of petty offenses before justices of the peace, and
thus keeping such matters out of court, no one know better than
Mr. Gilmer that the Legislature had power to do that without a
convention; and if he thought it expedient, he ought to have done it
when in the Legislature.
As to Mr. Gilmer's bank notions, in relation to which he wished to
know Governor Bragg's opinion, he, Governor Bragg, stated he should
have it whenever he would set them out with such plainness as to
enable him to see what they were.
His competitor made brave promises, however, to the people that
it would pay the interest on the State debt, and save them from
taxation. He would say this--he did not believe that interest,
debts, and taxes could be paid by any such legislative _hocus
pocus_. As to small notes, the Governor said that the matter was not
one of a party character; that he had no wish to follow Mr. Gilmer
into that discussion, as it would consume all his time, and he much
preferred to discuss what the Know-Nothing platform called the
"Paramount Principles of Americanism"; and he would proceed to that
after saying a word as to Mr. Gilmer's idea that our State bonds and
the interest thereon should all be payable in North Carolina. Had
he seen as much of this matter as I have done, said Governor Bragg,
since I went into office, he would change his opinion. He said it
would all be well enough to have our bonds paid here, if they could
be sold here in sufficient quantities. But our public works would
have stopped had they depended on sales in North Carolina, and our
Treasurer and railroad presidents would tell him so; and moreover,
that bonds payable here could not be sold in New York.
The Legislature had not taken the view of his competitor, and he
thought they had acted wisely.
Governor Bragg said that he thought that the allusion of Mr. Gilmer
to Mr. Fillmore and his execution of the fugitive-slave law was
exceedingly unfortunate. In that case the negroes were allowed to be
taken away from the United States authorities and carried off. In
the case of Mr. Pierce, Anthony Burns, by the aid of the whole power
of the Government was returned to his owner.
His competitor talked a great deal about the peace and quiet of
Mr. Fillmore's administration, and charges Black Republicans and
Democrats with causing all the excitement and danger of the existing
troubles, and he stands upon a platform, said Governor Bragg, which
denounces the administration for having recklessly and unwisely
repealed the Missouri Compromise--a pretty platform for a Southern
man to stand upon, especially when adopted in place of that of the
year before. He read from the speech of Mr. Badger to show that
all the Whig Senators from the South supported the Kansas-Nebraska
Bill, except one, and that the measure was passed by Northern and
Southern Democrats and Southern Whigs, and that Mr. Badger said it
was right and proper that it should pass.
Governor Bragg then gave the history of the Missouri Compromise
line--showed how unjust it was to the South originally, that the
South had, however, shown every disposition to abide by it, and had
time and again sought to have it extended over the new territory to
the Pacific, while the North repudiated that line. The South was,
therefore, not properly chargeable with any breach of faith, and
was right to get rid of the odious act. Now, he said, there were
questions of vital importance growing out of that matter, and he
wished to know where our Know-Nothing opponents stood with regard
to them. But no one could tell. What was Mr. Fillmore's opinion
upon any one of these questions? Nobody knew. He had said nothing
while at home, and at the last accounts, strange as it might seem
to Know-Nothing ears, he was in the city of Rome partaking of the
hospitalities of the Pope. When the matter is pressed, we are told
that the party eschews all sectional questions, state and national,
in order that the "Paramount Principles of Americanism" may have
full play, thus raising the question only, who shall hold the
offices of the country, and not, in what manner our government shall
be administered. Can it be possible, said Governor Bragg, that the
people will be thus humbugged and trifled with when the country is
in danger?
Governor Bragg said he would then examine the claims of this new
party. He went into a full examination of its principles; stated
what had been its history North and South; what had been its fruits
in different sections; how it sent nothing but abolitionists and
freesoilers to Congress, and challenged his competitor to point to
one solitary Northern national man of his party in either house of
Congress; gave the history of the election of Speaker of the House
of Representatives, and how not one of them voted for Aiken when the
contest was between him and Banks, although five of them had voted
for him the day before, including their candidate Fuller.
He then examined into its origin, and traced out the machinery of
the whole thing; showed that it was a monstrous attempt to subvert
the plan of government adopted by our fathers, and to substitute in
its stead these worse than midnight Jacobin clubs. But I am unable
to follow the Governor through this part of his speech without too
much prolixity.
He exposed their constitutions, rituals, obligations and oaths, some
of which he read. Said they had been hunted from their dark places
in this State, and now profess to have done away with all this--how
and in what way does not appear--while at the North these councils,
as appears from their last national platform, are still kept up.
He concluded by saying that such a party did not deserve support
of a free people, nor did he believe they would receive it. He was
willing to go before the people of North Carolina on this subject,
and should do so confident of success.
* * * * *
Mr. Cowper himself selected Governor Bragg's account of the
discussion above given as illustrative of his judicial fairness of
mind, and I have adopted it for all purposes. Of course there is
nothing in it to show Bragg's strength of intellect. The discussion
as reported is interesting, however, as a side-light on those times.
Bragg was essentially a lawyer. His practical sagacity and hard
common sense, however, as well as his wide political reading, made
him a success both in politics and law, a rare combination.
His speech in the Holden impeachment would give a better idea of his
talents, but it is too long for the scope of this work; and all the
facts and speeches of every trial should be published together in
justice to the accused.
This sketch was written in 1891, and is here given in a slightly
abbreviated form.
[Illustration: WILLIAM A. GRAHAM.]
WILLIAM A. GRAHAM.
BY MONTFORD McGEHEE.
William Alexander Graham was born on the 5th day of September,
1804, in the county of Lincoln. He was fortunate alike in the race
from which he sprang and in his own ancestry. The race was that
which, by a change of residence from Scotland to Ireland, anterior
to its immigration to this country, acquired, as it were, a double
nationality and name, to wit: Scotch-Irish.
The ancestry of Mr. Graham were deeply imbued with the spirit of
this people. His maternal grandfather, Major John Davidson, was
one of the signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration, and acted a
conspicuous part in the Revolution. The name of his father, General
Joseph Graham, is one of the best known in our Revolutionary annals.
The biographical sketch incorporated into _Wheeler's History_ is a
brief but noble record.
His mother was distinguished for her personal beauty--distinguished
as well for her sense, piety and many amiable virtues. But death
deprived him of her fostering care before he had attained his fourth
year, and he was then consigned to the care of an elder sister. The
tender affection and respect with which he always referred to this
sister, attests how fully she discharged a mother's duty.
He received the rudiments of his education in the common schools of
the country. He commenced his classical education in the academy
at Statesville, then under the care of the Rev. Dr. Muchat, a
scholar of good repute. Mr. Graham verified the apparent paradox of
Wordsworth,
"The child is father of the man."
He was noted, from his earlier years, for his industry, his thirst
for knowledge and his aptitude to learn. One who knew him well
testifies that from his childhood he was no less remarkable for
his high sense of truth and honor than for his exemption from the
levities and vices common to youth. At this academy he applied
himself to his studies with the most exemplary diligence. A
classmate at that time says of him, "He was the only boy I ever knew
who would spend his Saturdays in reviewing the studies of the week."
An incident which occurred about this time affords a striking proof
of his early force of character. General Graham was a pioneer in
a branch of industry yet but little developed in this State--the
manufacture of iron. Upon his removal to Lincoln he established a
furnace and forge, which, at the time now spoken of, had become
quite extensive. From some cause the works were left without a
superintendent. The General installed his son William, though
then but a boy, and wholly without experience, at the head of the
establishment; and the energy and judgment with which he conducted
it, obtained his father's entire approval. He was next sent to the
academy at Hillsborough.
From this academy he went to the University of the State, where he
was matriculated in the summer of 1820. His course throughout his
college life was admirable in every way. He appreciated the scheme
of study there established, not only as the best discipline of the
intellect, but as the best foundation for knowledge in its widest
sense. He mastered his lessons so perfectly, that each lesson became
a permanent addition to his stock of knowledge. The professors
rarely failed to testify by a smile, or some other token, their
approval of his proficiency. On one occasion, Professor Olmstead
(who has achieved a wide reputation in the field of science)
remarked to one of his classmates that his lecture on chemistry
came back as perfectly from Mr. Graham as he had uttered it on the
previous day.
Some thirty years after, the same professor in a letter to Mr.
Graham (then Secretary of the Navy) uses this language: "It has
often been a source of pleasing reflection to me, that I was
permitted to bear some part in fitting you, in early life, for
that elevated post of honor and usefulness to which Providence has
conducted you."
His high sense of duty was manifested in his conscientious
deportment under the peculiar form of government to which he was
then subject. His observance of every law and usage of the college
was punctilious; while, to the faculty, he was ever scrupulously and
conspicuously respectful.
His extraordinary proficiency was purchased by no laborious
drudgery. The secret of it was to be found in the precept which he
acted upon, through life: "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do
it with thy might." His powers of concentration were great, his
perceptions quick, his memory powerful, prompt, and assiduously
improved. By the joint force of such faculties, he could accomplish
much in little time. Hence, notwithstanding his exemplary attention
to his college studies, he devoted much time to general reading.
It was at this time, no doubt, that he laid up much of that large
and varied stock of information upon which he drew, at pleasure, in
after life.
Intent upon availing himself to the full, of every advantage
afforded him, he applied himself assiduously to the duties of
the Literary Society of which he was a member. He participated
regularly in the debates and other exercises of that body. For
all such he prepared himself with care; and it is asserted by the
same authority, to which I have already referred--a most competent
judge--that his compositions were of such excellence that, in a
literary point of view, they would have challenged comparison with
anything done by him in after life.
His engaging manners brought him into pleasant relations with all
his fellow-students. He lived with them upon terms of the frankest
and most familiar intercourse. In their most athletic sports he
never participated, but he was a pleased spectator, and evinced by
his manner a hearty sympathy with their enjoyments. His favorite
exercise was walking, and those who knew him well will recollect
that this continued to be his favorite recreation while health was
spared him. With his friends and chosen companions he was cordial
and easy, and always the life of the circle.
The class of which he was a member was graduated in 1824. It was
the largest up to that time; and, for capacity and proficiency,
esteemed the best. It was declared by Professors Olmstead and
Mitchell, that Yale might well have been proud of such a class. It
embraced many who afterward won high distinction in political and
professional life.
No one could have availed himself to a greater extent than Mr.
Graham did, of the opportunities presented in his collegiate career.
"His college life, in all its duties and obligations," says the
gentleman before quoted, "was an epitome of his career upon the
stage of the world." He adds that on the day when he received his
diploma, he could, with his usual habits of study, have filled
any chair with honor to himself and acceptance to his class. Such
is the emphatic testimony of one who himself graduated with high
distinction in the same class. Might we not subjoin, building upon
the above remark, that his career in after life was, in great part,
the logical result of the discipline and training to which he
submitted himself, so conscientiously, in his college life?
After graduation he made an excursion to some of the western
States, which occupied a few months. While at Lexington, he heard
Mr. Crittenden address the jury in a great slander or libel case.
The speech, which was worthy of the great advocate's fame, made a
profound impression upon Mr. Graham. It may have had some influence
in determining his choice of a profession, or in fixing it, if
already made. From this tour he returned in 1824, and entered upon
the study of the law in the office of Judge Ruffin.