THE LOSING FIGHT.
Benton had now finished his fifth and last term in the United States
Senate. He had been chosen senator from Missouri before she was admitted
into the Union, and had remained such for thirty years. During all that
time the state had been steadily Democratic, the large Whig minority
never being able to get control; but on the question of the extension of
slavery the dominant party itself began at this time to break into two
factions. Hitherto Benton had been the undisputed leader of the
Democracy, but now the pro-slavery and disunionist Democrats organized a
very powerful opposition to him; while he still received the
enthusiastic support of an almost equally numerous body of followers.
Although the extension of slavery and the preservation of the Union were
the two chief and vital points on which the factions differed, yet the
names by which they designated each other were adopted in consequence of
their differing also on a third and only less important one. Benton was
such a firm believer in hard money, and a currency of gold and silver,
as to have received the nickname of "Old Bullion," and his followers
were called "hards;" his opponents were soft money men, in addition to
being secessionists and pro-slavery fanatics, and took the name of
"softs." The principles of the Bentonians were right, and those of their
opponents wrong; but for all that the latter gradually gained upon the
former. Finally, in the midst of Benton's fight against the extension of
slavery into the territories, the "softs" carried the Missouri
legislature, and passed a series of resolutions based upon those of
Calhoun. These were most truculent and disloyal in tone, demanding that
slavery be permitted to exist in all the new states to be admitted, and
instructing their senators to vote accordingly. These resolutions were
presented in the senate by Benton's colleague from Missouri, Atchison,
who was rather hostile to him and to every other friend of the Union,
and later on achieved disreputable notoriety as a leader of the "border
ruffians" in the affrays on the soil of Kansas. Benton at once picked up
the glove that had been flung down. He utterly refused to obey the
resolutions, denounced them savagely as being treasonable and offensive
in the highest degree, asserted that they did not express the true
opinions of the voters of the state, and appealed from the Missouri
legislature to the Missouri people.
The issue between the two sides was now sharply brought out, and, as
this took place towards the end of Benton's fifth term, the struggle to
command the legislature which should reelect him or give him a successor
was most exciting. Benton himself took an active part in the preliminary
canvass. Neither faction was able to get a majority of the members, and
the deadlock was finally broken by the "softs" coming to the support of
the Whigs, and helping them to elect Benton's rival. Thus, after serving
his state faithfully and ably for thirty years, he was finally turned
out of the position which he so worthily filled, because he had
committed the crime of standing loyally by the Union.
But the stout old Nationalist was not in the least cast down or even
shaken by his defeat. He kept up the fight as bitterly as ever, though
now an old man, and in 1852 went to Congress as a representative Union
Democrat. For thirty years he had been the autocrat of Missouri
politics, and had at one time wielded throughout his own state a power
as great as Calhoun possessed in South Carolina; greater than Webster
held in Massachusetts, or Clay in Kentucky. But the tide which had so
long flowed in his favor now turned, and for the few remaining years of
his life set as steadily against him; yet at no time of his long public
career did he stand forth as honorably and prominently as during his
last days, when he was showing so stern a front to his victorious foes.
His love for work was so great that, when out of the Senate, he did not
find even his incessant political occupations enough for him. During his
contest for the senatorship his hands had been full, for he had spoken
again and again throughout the entire state, his carefully prepared
speeches showing remarkable power, and filled with scathing denunciation
and invective and biting and caustic sarcasm. But so soon as his defeat
was assured he turned his attention immediately to literature, setting
to work on his great "Thirty Years' View," of which the first volume was
printed during his congressional term, and was quoted on the floor of
the House, both by his friends and foes, during the debates in which he
was taking part.
In 1852, when he was elected to Congress as a member of the House, he
had supported Pierce for the presidency against Scott, a good general,
but otherwise a wholly absurd and flatulent personage, who was the Whig
nominee. But it soon became evident that Pierce was completely under
the control of the secession wing of the party, and Benton
thereafterwards treated him with contemptuous hostility, despising him,
and seeing him exactly as he was,--a small politician, of low capacity
and mean surroundings, proud to act as the servile tool of men worse
than himself but also stronger and abler. He was ever ready to do any
work the slavery leaders set him, and to act as their attorney in
arguing in its favor,--to quote Benton's phrase, with "undaunted
mendacity, moral callosity [and] mental obliquity." His last message to
Congress in the slavery interest Benton spoke of as characteristic, and
exemplifying "all the modes of conveying untruths which long ages have
invented,--direct assertion, fallacious inference, equivocal phrase, and
false innuendo." As he entertained such views of the head of the
Democratic party, and as this same head was in hearty accord with, and a
good representative of the mass of the rank and file politicians of the
organization, it is small wonder that Benton found himself, on every
important question that came up while he was in Congress, opposed to the
mass of his fellow-Democrats.
Although the great questions to which he devoted himself, while a
representative in Congress, were those relating to the extension of
slavery, yet he also found time to give to certain other subjects,
working as usual with indomitable energy, and retaining his marvelous
memory to the last. The idea of desponding or giving up, for any cause
whatever, simply never entered his head. When his house, containing all
the manuscript and papers of the nearly completed second volume of his
"Thirty Years' View," was burned up, he did not delay a minute in
recommencing his work, and the very next day spoke in Congress as usual.
His speeches were showing a steady improvement; they were not
masterpieces, even at the last, but in every way, especially in style,
they were infinitely superior to those that he had made on his first
entrance into public life. Of course, a man with his intense pride in
his country, and characterized by such a desire to see her become
greater and more united in every way, would naturally support the
proposal to build a Pacific Railroad, and accordingly he argued for it
at great length and with force and justness, at the same time opposing
the propositions to build northern and southern trans-continental roads
as substitutes for the proposed central route. He showed the character
of the land through which the road would run, and the easiness of the
passes across the Rockies, and prophesied a rapid increase of states as
one of the results attendant upon its building. At the end of his speech
he made an elaborate comparison of the courses of trade and commerce at
different periods of the world's history, and showed that, as we had
reached the Pacific coast, we had finally taken a position where our
trade with the Oriental kingdoms, backed up by our own enormous internal
development, rendered us more than ever independent of Europe.
In another speech he discussed very intelligently, and with his usual
complete command of the facts of the case, some of the contemporary
Indian uprisings in the far West. He attacked our whole Indian policy,
showing that the corruption of the Indian agents, coupled with astute
aggressions, were the usual causes of our wars. Further, he criticised
our regular troops as being unfit to cope with the savages, and
advocated the formation of companies of frontier rangers, who should
also be settlers, and should receive from the government a bounty in
land as part reward for their service. Many of his remarks on our Indian
policy apply quite as well now as they did then, and our regular
soldiers are certainly not the proper opponents for the Indians; but
Benton's military views were, as a rule, the reverse of sensible, and we
cannot accept his denunciations of the army, and especially of West
Point, as being worth serious consideration. His belief in the marvelous
efficacy of a raw militia, especially as regards war with European
powers, was childish, and much of his feeling against the regular army
officer was dictated by jealousy. He was, by all the peculiarities of
his habits and education, utterly unfitted for military command; and it
would have been an evil day for his good fame if Polk had succeeded in
having him made lieutenant-general of our forces in Mexico.
His remarks upon our Indian policy were not the only ones he made that
would bear study even yet. Certain of his speeches upon the different
land-bounty and pension bills, passed nominally in the interests of
veterans, but really through demagogy and the machination of
speculators, could be read with profit by not a few Congressmen at the
present time. One of his utterances was: "I am a friend to old soldiers
... but not to old speculators;" and while favoring proper pension bills
he showed the foolishness and criminality of certain others very
clearly, together with the fact that, when passed long after the
services have been rendered, they always fail to relieve the real
sufferers, and work in the interests of unworthy outsiders.
But his great speech, and one of the best and greatest that he ever
made, was the one in opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska bill, which was
being pushed through Congress by the fire-eaters and their Northern
pro-slavery followers. His own position upon the measure was best
expressed by the words he used in commenting on the remarks of a
Georgian member: "He votes as a Southern man, and votes sectionally; I
also am a Southern man, but vote nationally on national questions."
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 had expressly abolished slavery in the
territory out of which Kansas and Nebraska were carved. By the proposed
bill this compromise was to be repealed, and the famous doctrine of
non-intervention, or "squatter sovereignty," was to take its place, the
people of each territory being allowed to choose for themselves whether
they did or did not wish slavery. Benton attacked the proposal with all
the strength of his frank, open nature as "a bungling attempt to smuggle
slavery into the territory, and throughout all the country, up to the
Canada line and out to the Rocky Mountains." He showed exhaustively the
real nature of the original Missouri Compromise, which, as he said, was
forced by the South upon the North, and which the South now proposed to
repeal, that it might humiliate the North still further. The compromise
of 1820 was, he justly contended, right; it was like the original
compromises of the Constitution, by which the Slave States were admitted
to the formation of the Union; no greater concession of principle was
involved in the one case than in the other; and, had either compromise
failed, the Union would not now be in existence. But the day when
compromises had been necessary, or even harmless, had passed. The time
had come when the extension of slavery was to be opposed in every
constitutional way; and it was an outrage to propose to extend its
domain by repealing all that part of a compromise measure which worked
against it, when the South had already long taken advantage of such
parts of the law as worked in its favor. Said Benton: "The South divided
and took half, and now it will not do to claim the other half." Exactly
as a proposition to destroy the slavery compromises of the Constitution
would be an open attempt to destroy the Union, so, he said, the attempt
to abrogate the compromise of 1820 would be a preparation for the same
ending. "I have stood upon the Missouri Compromise for about thirty
years, and mean to stand upon it to the end of my life ... [it is] a
binding covenant upon both parties, and the more so upon the South, as
she imposed it."
The squatter sovereignty theories of Douglas he treated with deserved
ridicule, laughing at the idea that the territories were not the actual
property of the nation, to be treated as the latter wished, and having
none of the rights of sovereign states; and he condemned even more
severely the theory advanced to the effect that Congress had no power to
legislate on slavery in the territories. Thus, he pointed out that to
admit any such theories was directly to reverse the principles upon
which we had acted for seventy years in regard to the various
territories that from time to time grew to such size as entitled them to
come into the Union as states. After showing that there was no excuse
for bringing in the bill on the plea of settling the slavery question,
since there was not a foot of territory in the United States where the
subject of slavery was not already settled by law, he closed with an
earnest appeal against such an attempt to break up the Union and outrage
the North by forcing slavery into a land where its existence was already
forbidden by law. His speech exceeded the hour allotted to it, and he
was allowed to go on only by the courtesy of a member from Illinois,
who, when some of the Southerners protested against his being heard
farther, gave up part of his own time to the grand old Missourian, and
asked the House to hear him, if only "as the oldest living man in
Congress, the only man in Congress who was present at the passage of
the Missouri Compromise bill." Many a man at the North, ashamed and
indignant at seeing the politicians of his own section cower at the
crack of the Southern whip, felt a glow of sincere gratitude and
admiration for the rugged Westerner, who so boldly bade defiance to the
ruling slave party that held the reins not only in his own section, but
also in his own state, and to oppose which was almost certain political
death.
The Gadsden treaty was also strongly opposed and condemned by Benton,
who considered it to be part of a great scheme or movement in the
interests of the slavery disunionists, of which he also believed the
Kansas-Nebraska bill to be the first development,--the "thin end of the
wedge." He opposed the acquirement even of the small piece of territory
we were actually able to purchase from Mexico; and showed good grounds
for his belief that the administration, acting as usual only in the
interest of the secessionists, had tried to get enough North-Mexican
territory to form several new states, and had also attempted to purchase
Cuba, both efforts being for the purpose of enabling the South either to
become again dominant in the Union or else to set up a separate
confederacy of her own. For it must be kept in mind that Benton always
believed that the Southern disunion movements were largely due to
conspiracies among ambitious politicians, who used the slavery question
as a handle by which to influence the mass of the people. This view has
certainly more truth in it than it is now the fashion to admit. His
objection to the actual treaty was mainly based on its having been done
by the executive without the consent of the legislature, and he also
criticised it for the secrecy with which it had been put through. In
bringing forward the first objection, however, he was confronted with
Jefferson's conduct in acquiring Louisiana, which he endeavored, not
very successfully, to show had nothing in common with the actions of
Pierce, who, he said, simply demanded a check from the House with which
to complete a purchase undertaken on his own responsibility.
Throughout his congressional term of service, Benton acted so as to
deserve well of the Union as a whole, and most well of Missouri in
particular. But he could not stem the tide of folly and madness in this
state, and was defeated when he was a candidate for reelection. The
Whigs had now disappeared from the political arena, and the
Know-nothings were running through their short and crooked lease of
life; they foolishly nominated a third candidate in Benton's district,
who drew off enough votes from him to enable his pro-slavery Democratic
competitor to win.
No sooner had he lost his seat in Congress than Benton, indefatigable as
ever, set to work to finish his "Thirty Years' View," and produced the
second volume in 1856, the year when he made his last attempt to regain
his hold in politics, and to win Missouri back to the old Union
standard. Although his own son-in-law, Fremont, the daring western
explorer, was running as the first presidential candidate ever nominated
by the Republicans, the old partisan voted for the Democrat, Buchanan.
He did not like Buchanan, considering him weak and unsuitable, but the
Republican party he believed to be entirely too sectional in character
for him to give it his support. For governor there was a triangular
fight, the Know-nothings having nominated one candidate, the
secessionist Democrats a second, while Benton himself ran as the choice
of the Union Democracy. He was now seventy-four years old, but his mind
was as vigorous as ever, and his iron will kept up a frame that had
hardly even yet begun to give way. During the course of the campaign he
traveled throughout the state, going in all twelve hundred miles, and
making forty speeches, each one of two or three hours' length. This was
a remarkable feat for so old a man; indeed, it has very rarely been
paralleled, except by Gladstone's recent performances. The vote was
quite evenly divided between the three candidates; but Benton came in
third, and the extreme pro-slavery men carried the day. After this,
during the few months of life he yet had left, he did not again mingle
in the politics of Missouri.
But in the days of his defeat at home, the regard and respect in which
he was held in the other states, especially at the North, increased
steadily; and in the fall of 1856 he made by request a lecturing tour in
New England, speaking on the danger of the political situation and the
imperative necessity of preserving the Union, which he now clearly saw
to be gravely threatened. He was well received, for the North was
learning to respect him, and he had gotten over his early hostility to
New England,--a hostility originally shared by the whole West. The New
Englanders were not yet aware, however, of the importance of the
secession movements, and paid little heed to the warnings that were to
be so fully justified by the events of the next few years. But Benton,
in spite of his great age, saw distinctly the changes that were taking
place, and the dangers that were impending,--an unusual thing for a man
whose active life has already been lived out under widely different
conditions.
He again turned his attention to literature, and produced another great
work, the "Abridgment of the Debates of Congress from 1787 to 1856," in
sixteen volumes, besides writing a valuable pamphlet on the Dred Scott
decision, which he severely criticised. The amount of labor all this
required was immense, and his health completely gave way; yet he
continued working to the very end, dictating the closing portion of the
"Abridgment" in a whisper as he lay on his death-bed. When he once began
to fail his advanced years made him succumb rapidly; and on April 10,
1858, he died, in the city of Washington. As soon as the news reached
Missouri, a great revulsion of feeling took place, and all classes of
the people united to do honor to the memory of the dead statesman,
realizing that they had lost a man who towered head and shoulders above
both friends and foes. The body was taken to St. Louis, and after lying
in state was buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery, more than forty thousand
people witnessing the funeral. All the public buildings were draped in
mourning; all places of business were closed, and the flags everywhere
were at half-mast. Thus at the very end the great city of the West at
last again paid fit homage to the West's mightiest son.
Benton's most important writings are those mentioned above. The "Thirty
Years' View" ("a history of the working of the American government for
thirty years, from 1820 to 1850") will always be indispensable to every
student of American history. It deals with the deeds of both houses of
Congress, and of some of the higher federal officials during his thirty
years' term of service in the Senate, and is valuable alike for the
original data it contains, and because it is so complete a record of our
public life at that time. The book is also remarkable for its courteous
and equable tone, even towards bitter personal and political enemies. It
shows a vanity on the part of the author that is too frank and free from
malice to be anything but amusing; the style is rather ponderous, and
the English not always good, for Benton began life, and, in fact,
largely passed it, in an age of ornate periods, when grandiloquence was
considered more essential than grammar. In much of the Mississippi
valley the people had their own canons of literary taste; indeed, in a
recent book by one of Benton's admirers, there is a fond allusion to his
statement, anent the expunging resolution, that "solitary and alone" he
had set the ball in motion,--the pleonasm being evidently looked upon in
the light of a rather fine oratorical outburst.
"The Abridgment of the Debates of Congress from 1789 to 1856" he was
only able to bring down to 1850. Sixteen volumes were published. It was
a compilation needing infinite labor, and is invaluable to the
historian. While in the midst of the vast work he also found time to
write his "Examination of the Dred Scott case," in so far as it decided
the Missouri Compromise law to be unconstitutional, and asserted the
self-extension of the Constitution into the territories, carrying
slavery with it,--the decision in this case promulgated by Judge Taney,
of unhappy fame, having been the last step taken in the interests of
slavery and for the overthrow of freedom. The pamphlet contained nearly
two hundred pages, and showed, as was invariably the case with anything
Benton did, the effects of laborious research and wide historical and
legal learning. His summing up was, "that the decision conflicts with
the uniform action of all the departments of the federal government from
its foundation to the present time, and cannot be accepted as a rule to
govern Congress and the people, without severing that act and admitting
the political supremacy of the court and accepting an altered
constitution from its hands, and taking a new and portentous point of
departure in the working of the government." He denounced the new party
theories of the Democracy, which had abandoned the old belief of the
founders of the Republic, that Congress had power to legislate upon
slavery in territories, and which had gone on "from the abrogation of
the Missouri Compromise, which saved the Union, to squatter sovereignty,
which killed the compromise, and thence to the decisions of the supreme
court, which kill both." In closing he touched briefly on the history of
the pro-slavery agitation. "Up to Mr. Pierce's administration the plan
had been defensive, that is to say, to make the secession of the South a
measure of self-defense against the abolition encroachments and crusades
of the North. In the time of Mr. Pierce the plan became offensive, that
is to say, to commence the expansion of slavery, and the acquisition of
territory to spread it over, so as to overpower the North with new Slave
States, and drive them out of the Union.... The rising in the Free
States, in consequence of the abrogation of the Missouri Compromise,
checked these schemes, and limited the success of the disunionists to
the revival of the agitation which enables them to wield the South
against the North in all the federal elections and all federal
legislation. Accidents and events have given the party a strange
preeminence,--under Jackson's administration proclaimed for treason;
since at the head of the government and of the Democratic party. The
death of Harrison, and the accession of Tyler, was their first great
lift; the election of Mr. Pierce was their culminating point." This was
the last protest of the last of the old Jacksonian leaders against that
new generation of Democrats, whose delight it had become to bow down to
strange gods.
In his private life Benton's relations were of the pleasantest. He was a
religious man, although, like his great political chief, he could on
occasions swear roundly. He was rigidly moral, and he was too fond of
work ever to make social life a business. But he liked small dinners,
with just a few intimate friends or noted and brilliant public men, and
always shone at such an entertainment. Although he had not traveled
much, he gave the impression of having done so, by reason of his wide
reading, and because he always made a point of knowing all explorers,
especially those who had penetrated our great western wilds. His
geographical knowledge was wonderful; and his good nature, as well as
his delight in work for work's sake, made him of more use than any
library of reference, if his friends needed information upon some
abstruse matter,--Webster himself acknowledging his indebtedness to him
on one occasion, and being the authority for the statement that Benton
knew more political facts than any other man he had ever met, even than
John Quincy Adams, and possessed a wonderful fund of general knowledge.
Although very gentle in his dealings with those for whom he cared,
Benton originally was rather quarrelsome and revengeful in character.
His personal and political prejudices were bitter, and he denounced his
enemies freely in public and from the stump; yet he always declined to
take part in joint political debates, on account of the personal
discourtesy with which they were usually conducted. He gave his whole
time to public life, rarely or never attending to his law practice after
he had fairly entered the political field.
Benton was one of those who were present and escaped death at the time
of the terrible accident on board the Princeton, during Tyler's
administration, when the bursting of her great gun killed so many
prominent men. Benton was saved owing to the fact that,
characteristically enough, he had stepped to one side the better to note
the marksmanship of the gunner. Ex-Governor Gilmer, of Virginia, who had
taken his place, was instantly killed. Tyler, who was also on board, was
likewise saved in consequence of the exhibition of a characteristic
trait; for, just as the gun was about to be fired, something occurred in
another part of the ship which distracted the attention of the fussy,
fidgety president, who accordingly ran off to see what it was, and thus
escaped the fatal explosion. The tragic nature of the accident and his
own narrow escape made a deep impression upon Benton; and it was noticed
that ever afterwards he was far more forbearing and forgiving than of
old. He became good friends with Webster and other political opponents,
with whom he had formerly hardly been on speaking terms. Calhoun alone
he would never forgive. It was not in his nature to do anything by
halves; and accordingly, when he once forgave an opponent, he could not
do enough to show him that the forgiveness was real. A Missourian named
Wilson, who had been his bitter and malignant political foe for years,
finally becoming broken in fortune and desirous of bettering himself by
going to California, where Benton's influence, through his son-in-law,
Fremont, was supreme, was persuaded by Webster to throw himself on the
generosity of his old enemy. The latter not only met him half-way, but
helped him with a lavish kindness that would hardly have been warranted
by less than a life-long friendship. Webster has left on record the
fact that, when once they had come to be on good terms with each other,
there was no man in the whole Senate of whom he would more freely have
asked any favor that could properly be granted.
He was a most loving father. At his death he left four surviving
daughters,--Mrs. William Carey Jones, Mrs. Sarah Benton Jacobs, Madame
Susan Benton Boilleau, and Mrs. Jessie Ann Benton Fremont, the wife of
the great explorer, whose wonderful feats and adventures, ending with
the conquest of California, where he became a sort of viceroy in point
of power, made him an especial favorite with his father-in-law, who
loved daring and hardihood. Benton took the keenest delight in Fremont's
remarkable successes, and was never tired of talking of them, both
within and without the Senate. He records with very natural pride the
fact that it was only the courage and judgment displayed in a trying
crisis by his own gifted daughter, Fremont's wife, which enabled the
adventurous young explorer to prosecute one of the most important of his
expeditions, when threatened with fatal interference from jealous
governmental superiors.
He was an exceptionally devoted husband. His wife was Miss Elizabeth
McDowell, of Virginia, whom he married after he had entered the Senate.
Their life was most happy until 1844, when she was struck by paralysis.
From that time till her death in 1854, he never went out to a public
place of amusement, spending all his time not occupied with public
duties in writing by her bedside. It is scant praise to say that, while
mere acquiescence on his part would have enabled him to become rich
through government influence, he nevertheless died a poor man. In
public, as in private life, he was a man of sensitive purity of
character; he would never permit any person connected with him by blood
or marriage to accept office under the government, nor would he ever
favor any applicant for a government contract on political grounds.
During his last years, when his sturdy independence and devotion to the
Union had caused him the loss of his political influence in his own
state and with his own party, he nevertheless stood higher with the
country at large than ever before. He was a faithful friend and a bitter
foe; he was vain, proud, utterly fearless, and quite unable to
comprehend such emotions as are expressed by the terms despondency and
yielding. Without being a great orator or writer, or even an original
thinker, he yet possessed marked ability; and his abounding vitality and
marvelous memory, his indomitable energy and industry, and his
tenacious persistency and personal courage, all combined to give him a
position and influence such as few American statesmen have ever held.
His character grew steadily to the very last; he made better speeches
and was better able to face new problems when past three score and ten
than in his early youth or middle age. He possessed a rich fund of
political, legal, and historical learning, and every subject that he
ever handled showed the traces of careful and thorough study. He was
very courteous, except when provoked; his courage was proof against all
fear, and he shrank from no contest, personal or political. He was
sometimes narrow-minded, and always wilful and passionate; but he was
honest and truthful. At all times and in all places he held every good
gift he had completely at the service of the American Federal Union.
INDEX.
Adams, John Quincy:
In presidential election of 1824-5, 59-61;
makes Clay secretary of state, 61;
and is assailed therefor, 62;
outlines Whig policy in his inaugural, 63;
on the Panama mission, 64;
in election of 1828, 69;
preserves purity of civil service, 81;
on recognition of Texas, 180.
"Albany Regency," the, adopts "spoils system," 81.
Arnold, Benedict:
compared with Burr and J. Davis, 163.
Atchison, protests against admission of California, 338.
Benton, town of, founded, 25.
Benton, Thomas Hart:--
local character of his statesmanship, 13;
birth, 23;
boyhood and education, 24 _et seq._;
religious training, 26;
fights a duel, 27;
affray with Jackson, 28;
admitted to the bar, 29;
in legislature of Tennessee, 29;
on the Hartford Convention, 31;
a slave-holder, 31;
favors war of 1812, 32, in service, 32; befriends Jackson, 32;
associations in Tennessee, 33 _et seq._;
some traits of character, 34;
settles in Missouri, 35;
surroundings and influences there, 40;
speech on treaty with Spain concerning Florida, 41;
first position concerning slavery, 43;
enters U. S. Senate, 44;
honorable financial sacrifice, 45;
position on the Oregon question, 50-53, 65, 263-270, 273-279,
281-289;
bill to establish a trading road through Missouri, 53;
on the removal of the Indians, 55;
votes for Clay's protective tariff bill, 58;
opposes internal improvements and Cumberland Road bill, 58;
condemns election of John Q. Adams to Presidency, 60;
supports Clay, then Jackson, 61;
will not join outcry against Adams and Clay, 61;
a leader of the opposition to Adams in the Senate, 63;
represents ultra-Southern feeling concerning revolted
Spanish colonies, 65;
vote on the protective tariff of 1828, 66, 91, 102;
efforts concerning disposal of public land, 68, 77, 149, 154, 217;
hostility to the Northeastern States, 76;
in the Webster-Hayne debate, 78;
opposes Jackson's "spoils system," 79-85;
leader of the Jacksonians in the Senate, 85, 86;
shows that protective tariff has not helped the West, 91;
urges repeal of the tax on salt, 92, 227;
vigorously sustains Jackson in the nullification troubles, 100-105;
sustains the Force bill, 105;
opposes Clay's compromise measure, 107-109;
remarks on his position at this period, 112;
campaign against the Bank of the United States, 114, 130, 136, 143;
speech on the currency, 122, 136-138, 253;
conflict with Clay, 129;
on the removal of the deposits, 131;
opposes the resolution of censure against Jackson, 133;
and pushes through his own expunging resolution, 134-136, 139-142;
advocates establishment of mints at the South, 144;
opposes distribution of surplus, 145, 149;
wishes it used for fortifications, 146, 150-153;
advocates insisting on our claims against France, 147;
but opposes paying claims of American citizens, 148;
opposes the so-called specie circulars, 154;
views concerning Southern slavery politicians, 162;
opposed to the Abolitionists, 165;
criticises Calhoun, 167, 168;
aids to defeat bill prohibiting circulation of abolition
documents through U. S. mails, 169;
carries bill extending boundaries of Missouri, 170;
urges admission of Michigan, 171;
carries through treaty with Cherokees, 171;
defends governmental treatment of Indians, 172;
condemns treaty establishing Southwestern boundary, 175;
position concerning annexation of Texas, 180-183;
hostility to separatist doctrines, 188;
blames bankers and politicians for financial crisis of 1837, 190,
194;
his forebodings of this trouble, 191-193;
demeanor in the crisis, 197;
supports issue of Treasury notes, 198;
opposes payment of further installment of surplus, 199;
supports scheme for independent Treasury, 200, 207;
action concerning resumption by bonds, 203;
a supporter of the administration in these times, 263;
his knowledge, 204;
hostile to paper currency, 206;
defends administration in matters of Seminole war, 212;
theory for conducting this war, 215;
advocates; homestead law, 217;
opposes assumption of State debts by national government, 220;
explains greater rapidity of progress at North than at South, 222;
on the tariff of 1833, 224-230;
defends Jackson and Van Buren against charges of squandering
public moneys, 230;
in the Harrison campaign, 233;
holds the Democrats for the Union, 234;
feeling concerning slavery about Van Buren's time, 235;
leads the Democrats in struggle between President Tyler and Clay,
240-244;
exalts the "Democratic idea," 241;
comments on Tyler's first message to Congress, 245;
opposes sub-Treasury bill, 246;
also the bank, distribution and bankruptcy bills, 246-249;
opposes the hour limit for speeches in the Senate, 250-252;
speech concerning the district banks and the currency, 253;
opposes effort to establish a national bank during Tyler's
administration, 255-258;
opposes new form of Treasury notes, 258;
opposes subsidizing steamship lines, 258;
also the abuse of the pension system, 258;
always an advocate of extending the national boundaries, 263, 267;
opposes the Ashburton treaty, 269, 273-279;
remarks concerning the Caroline imbroglio, 270;
opposes making an efficient navy, 272;
references to slavery in speeches on the Ashburton treaty, 274, 280;
on the Oregon question, 281-289;
position concerning annexation of Texas in time of Polk, 299-317;
opposes the South, 301;
opposes Calhoun's treaty, 306-310;
hoodwinked by the annexationists, 313;
attacks Calhoun and opposes the Mexican war, 315;
offered the command of the army, 318;
awakes to importance of slavery question, 318;
his later position concerning it, 320, 333-336;
contests with pro-slavery Senators, 322, 323;
opposes Calhoun as to power of Congress over slavery in territories,
323-327;
and as to admission of Oregon, 328;
criticises Polk's administration, 328;
visits New York in presidential campaign in 1848, 329;
defends Taylor's message, 331;
opposes Clay's compromise, 332, 333-336;
more antagonism towards Calhoun, 333;
position on the Wilmot Proviso, 336;
advocates admission of California as a Free State, 337;
refuses to support Fugitive Slave Act, 339;
nickname of "Old Bullion," 342;
opposition to him in Missouri, 342;
defeated, 343;
goes to House of Representatives, 343;
begins work on the "Thirty Years' View," 344;
supports Pierce for Presidency, 344;
but later goes into opposition, 345;
supports scheme for Pacific Railroad, 346;
discusses the Indian policy, 347;
speeches on land-bounty and pension bills, 348;
opposes Kansas-Nebraska bill, 349-352;
discusses historically the Missouri Compromise, 349;
ridicules squatter sovereignty, 350;
opposes the Gladstone treaty, 352;
view of Southern disunion scheme, 352;
again defeated in Missouri elections, 353;
returns to labor on "Thirty Years' View," 354;
votes for Buchanan, 354;
candidate for governorship, 354;
stumps the State, 354;
respected at the North, 355;
prepares his "Abridgment of the Debates of Congress," 356;
death, 356;
value of his works 357;
criticism of the Dred Scott case, 358;
and of the new Democratic theories, 358;
domestic relations, 360;
extensive knowledge, 360;
on board the Princeton at time of explosion of great gun, 361;
generous temper, 362.
Biddle, Nicholas:
president of Bank of United States, 116;
his errors, 124;
his bank goes to pieces, 208.
Birney, James G.:
abolitionist candidate for Presidency, 291, 292;
folly of nominating him, 293, 294, 310.
Blair, Francis C., displaced, 317.
Buchanan, James:
on annexation of Texas, 310;
Benton votes for him, 354.
Burr, Aaron:
introduces "spoils system" in New York, 81;
compared with Benedict Arnold, 163.
Calhoun, John C.:
rupture with Jackson, resignation from Vice-Presidency, 86;
position concerning tariff in 1816, 89;
position as a nullifier, 96;
introduces nullification resolutions, 103;
threatened with hanging, 104;
arranges compromise with Clay, 106;
subsequent quarrel with Clay concerning this, 110;
his purposes at this time, 111;
assails Jackson, 132;
opposes Webster's bill for rechartering bank, 133;
on the expunging resolution, 141;
proposes constitutional amendment for distribution of Treasury
surplus, 144;
opposes appropriating Treasury surplus for fortifications, 146;
attack on President Pierce, 166;
his honesty, 168;
on admission of Texas 180;
in connection with trouble with Mexico, 260;
on the Oregon question, 285;
instrumental in election of Polk, 292;
letter to Lord Aberdeen, 300;
assailed by Benton as to annexation of Texas, 307, 309;
action as to legislation about Texas, 313;
relations as to Mexican war, 314;
and the Wilmot Proviso, 323;
resolution as to power of Congress over slavery in the territories,
323-326;
not a "Union man," 326;
on the admission of Oregon, 326, 327, 328;
dislikes Taylor's message to Congress, 331.
California, admission of, 337.
Caroline, affair of the, 270.
Cartwright, Peter, 33.
Cass, Lewis: nominated for Presidency, 329.
Cherokees, treaty for their removal, 171.
Clay, Henry:
introduces his first tariff bill, 58;
secretary of state under Adams, 61;
assailed therefor, and fights Randolph, 62;
devises the Panama mission, 63;
leader of National Republican or Whig party, 86;
defies "the South, the President, and the devil," 90;
erroneous statement as to effect of tariff in the West, 91;
angers the nullifiers, 99;
defeated in presidential election in 1832, 100;
alarmed at position of Calhoun, 106;
and prepares compromise, 106;
afterward quarrels about it with Calhoun, 110;
befriends Bank of the United States, 124, 127, 129;
effect on his political fortunes, 125;
introduces resolution for return of deposits, 131;
also for censuring President Jackson, 132;
opposes Webster's bill for rechartering Bank, 136;
on the expunging resolution, 141;
opposes establishment of mints at the South, 144;
also appropriating surplus for fortifications, 146;
in financial crisis of 1837, 200;
on the sub-Treasury bill, 201, 205;
on resumption, 202, 203;
opposes payment of state debts by national government, 221;
prepares financial measures upon Tyler's accession, 240, 244;
construction of a presidential election, 241;
programme for legislation under Tyler, 245;
attempts to introduce hour-limits for speeches in Senate, 250-252;
lectures Tyler in the Bank debate, 256;
defeated by Polk, 290;
causes thereof, 310;
attacks Taylor's message to Congress, 331;
proposes compromise of slavery controversy, 331;
defeated by Benton, 336;
compared with Benton, 339.
Crawford, William H.:
adopts the "spoils system," 80.
Crockett, David, 27, 33;
berates Jackson, 113.
Cumberland Road, Benton votes against bill for, 58.
Davis, Jefferson:
compared with Benedict Arnold, 163;
a repudiator, 220;
and Calhoun's resolution as to slavery in the territories, 325;
protests against admission of California, 338.
Drayton, family, loyalty of the family in South Carolina, 96.
Florida, the treaty securing it to the United States, 41.
Foote, Senator from Mississippi, opposition to his public land scheme
by Benton and Webster, 77.
Fremont, John C.:
explores Rocky Mountains, 283;
Benton will not vote for, 354;
Benton's interest in his explorations, 363.
Giddings, Joshua R., sound policy of, 294.
Harrison, Wm. Henry:
election not affected by slavery question, 235;
death and character, 237.
Hartford Convention, criticised by Benton, 31, 78;
causes of, 49.
Houston, Samuel, 34:
wins victory of San Jacinto, 180;
hates Van Buren, 188; description of, 327;
votes to admit California, 338.
Indian tribes, Benton on the removal of, 55;
criticism on treatment of, 57, 172, 347;
removal of Cherokees in 1836, 171.
Jackson, Andrew:
affray with Benton, 28;
befriended by Benton at Washington, 32;
in presidential election of 1824, 29, 60;
incensed against Adams and Clay, 61;
success in election of 1828, 59;
character of his following, 71, 74, 75;
his opponents, 72;
his victory compared with Jefferson's, 73;
compared with Wellington, 73;
foster-father of the "spoils system," 79, 82;
inferior character of his cabinet, 86;
relations of his followers with those of Clay and Calhoun, 86;
struggles with the Bank and the nullifiers, 88;
expected to support nullification, 96;
but does not, 97;
repudiates Calhoun and adopts Van Buren, 97;
at the Jefferson birthday banquet, 98;
again defines his position, 99;
signs new tariff bill, 99;
reelected in 1832, 100;
issues proclamation against nullification, 101;
special message on nullification, 102;
opinion on tariff, 102;
threatens to hang Calhoun, 104;
signs "Force Bill," also Clay's compromise bill, 108;
behaves badly in case of Georgia, 112;
attack on U. S. Bank, 114 _et seq._;
reasons of his political success, 116;
opposes re-charter
of Bank in message of 1829, 117;
vetoes bill for re-charter, 127;
reelected, 130;
removes the deposits, 130;
protests against Clay's resolution of censure, 133;
continued
assaults on the Bank, 139;
gives a dinner to the expungers, 141;
signs bill for distributing Treasury surplus, 153;
issues Treasury order concerning payments for public lands, 155;
Kitchen Cabinet and "machine politics," 184, 185;
liking for Van Buren, 186;
his nationalism, 234;
praised by Benton for hanging Arbuthnot and Ambrister, 272;
favors annexation of Texas, 298;
and Van Buren, 299.
Jefferson, Thomas:
character of his following, 70, 71;
his victory compared with Jackson's, 73;
his pseudo-classicism, 92;
quoted as authority for nullification, 95;
celebration of birthday of, 97.
Lee, Robert E.:
military standing of, 38.
Lincoln, Abraham:
services in anti-slavery cause, 159.
Livingston, Edward:
aids in preparing proclamation against nullification, 101.
Lucas, Benton's duel with, 28.
Madison, James, quoted, 163.
Marcy, Wm. L., adopts "spoils system," 81;
cringes to the South, 108.
McDuffie, passage at arms with Benton, 304, 305;
deceives Benton as to taxes, 313.
McLeod, Alexander, case of, 271.
Missouri, character of its population, 39;
admission to the Union, 43, 47;
land titles in, 45.
Missouri Compromise bill, 43;
not the beginning of the slavery and anti-slavery divisions in the
Union, 48;
Benton concerning repeal of, 349.
Monroe, James, remarks, 47, 58, 59;
signs bill for trading road, 53.
New Orleans, Benton's astonishing description of, 93.
Oregon, disputed between Great Britain and the United States, 50;
Benton's remarks concerning, 51;
comes into notice again in J. Q. Adams's term, 65;
final settlement of the matter, 260-273;
neglected in Ashburton treaty, 278,
and by Calhoun, 278,
and others, 279;
Benton's feeling about, 281, 284;
bill for settlement of, 284;
Calhoun on the admission of, 326-328.
Panama mission, disputes concerning, 63-65.
Phillips, Wendell, estimate of, 160.
Pierce, Franklin, assailed by Calhoun, 166;
relations with Benton, 344, 345;
a valuation of, 345;
Benton upon pro-slavery tendencies of, 359.
Polk, James K., character of his following, 234;
and the Southwestern boundary, 287;
elected President, 290, 310;
estimate of, 292;
deceives Benton as to Texas, 313;
displaces Blair, 317;
relations with various portions of Democratic party, 317, 318.
Randolph, John:
duel with Clay, 62.
Rynders, Isaiah, a type, 291, 292.
Seminoles, war with, 209-216.
Taney, Roger B., removes the deposits, 130;
afterward made chief justice, 131;
criticised by Benton for his opinion in Dred Scott case, 358.
Taylor, Zachary, elected President, 329;
character, 330, 337;
message to Congress, 331;
dies, 337.
Tyler, John, opposes "Force Bill," 105;
estimate of, on his accession, 237;
his political affiliations, 238-240;
first message to Congress, 245;
conduct concerning bill for establishing a bank, 254-257;
his cabinet resigns, 257;
identifies himself with the separatist Democrats, 298;
schemes for annexation of Texas, 300, 306;
assailed by Benton, 307, 309;
behavior at time of explosion of gun on board the Princeton, 361.
Van Buren, Martin, supports Crawford for Presidency in 1824, 61;
adopts "spoils system," 81;
adopted by Jackson as his heir, 97;
Vice-President, 100;
product of "machine politics," 184;
befriended by Jackson, 186;
sketch of, and causes of his elevation, 186-188;
his inaugural, 188;
financial crisis and his doings therein, 189 _et seq._,
194, 196, 197;
financial measures, 200;
has to deal with the Seminoles, 209;
public dishonesty under, 219;
charged with squandering the public money, 230;
significance of his defeat, 234;
slavery question did not arise in his administration, 235;
champion of old-style Union Democrats, and opposed to annexation
of Texas, 298;
candidate for Presidency, 299, 310;
and the Free Soil party, 329.
War of 1812, a cause of the, 7;
political influence on Benton, 30.
Warsaw, social habits of the town, 36.
Webster, Daniel, position of, concerning Clay's first tariff bill, 58;
position on the tariff question in 1828, 67;
in the debate on Foote's resolution concerning sales of public land,
77, 97;
leader of National Republican, or Whig, party, 86;
aids Jackson in nullification troubles, 103, 104;
advocates the "Force Bill," 105;
resolute in opposition to the South, 106, 107, 108;
remarks as to his services, 111;
befriends Bank of United States, 124, 126, 127, 129;
personal relations with the Jacksonians, 131;
introduces bill for re-charter of Bank, 136;
on the expunging resolution, 142;
supports establishment of mints at the South, 144;
opposes appropriating Treasury surplus for fortifications, 146;
in financial crisis of 1837, 200;
on sub-Treasury scheme, 201, 205;
opposes payment of state debt by national government, 221;
remains in Tyler's cabinet, 257;
negotiates treaty with England, settling boundaries between United
States and British possessions, 260, 262, 268;
criticised by Benton, 273-277, 280;
neglects Oregon controversy, 278;
compared with Benton on the slavery question, 320, 339;
compliments Benton's knowledge, 360;
on friendly terms with Benton, 362.
Wellington, Duke of, compared with Washington and Jackson, 73.
Wilmot Proviso, Benton's remarks upon, 323, 336.
Wright, Silas, adopts "spoils system," 81;
expresses the "dough face" sentiment at time of nullification
troubles, 107.
American Statesmen
Edited by John T. Morse, Jr.
Each, 16mo, cloth, gilt top, $1.25; half morocco, $2.50.
The set, 31 volumes, half levant, $77.50.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. By John T. Morse, Jr.
SAMUEL ADAMS. By James K. Hosmer.
PATRICK HENRY. By Moses Coit Tyler.
GEORGE WASHINGTON. By Henry Cabot Lodge. 2 vols.
JOHN ADAMS. By John T. Morse, Jr.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. By Henry Cabot Lodge.
GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. By Theodore Roosevelt.
JOHN JAY. By George Pellew.
JOHN MARSHALL. By Allan B. Magruder.
THOMAS JEFFERSON. By John T. Morse, Jr.
JAMES MADISON. By Sydney Howard Gay.
ALBERT GALLATIN. By John Austin Stevens.
JAMES MONROE. By President D. C. Gilman.
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. By John T. Morse, Jr.
JOHN RANDOLPH. By Henry Adams.
ANDREW JACKSON. By Prof. William G. Sumner.
MARTIN VAN BUREN. By Edward M. Shepard.
HENRY CLAY. By Carl Schurz. 2 vols.
DANIEL WEBSTER. By Henry Cabot Lodge.
JOHN C. CALHOUN. By Dr. H. Von Holst.
THOMAS HART BENTON. By Theodore Roosevelt.
LEWIS CASS. By Prof. Andrew C. McLaughlin.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. By John T. Morse, Jr. With Portrait and Map. 2 vols.
WILLIAM H. SEWARD. By Thornton K. Lothrop.
SALMON P. CHASE. By Prof. A. B. Hart.
CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. By C. F. Adams.
CHARLES SUMNER. By Moorfield Storey.
THADDEUS STEVENS. By Samuel W. McCall.
_CRITICAL NOTICES._
_FRANKLIN._ He has managed to condense the whole mass of matter gleaned
from all sources into his volume without losing in a single sentence the
freedom or lightness of his style or giving his book in any part the
crowded look of an epitome.--_The Independent_ (New York).
_SAMUEL ADAMS._ Thoroughly appreciative and sympathetic, yet fair and
critical.... This biography is a piece of good work--a clear and simple
presentation of a noble man and pure patriot; it is written in a spirit
of candor and humanity.--_Worcester Spy._
_HENRY._ Professor Tyler has not only made one of the best and most
readable of American biographies; he may fairly be said to have
reconstructed the life of Patrick Henry, and to have vindicated the
memory of that great man from the unappreciative and injurious estimate
which has been placed upon it.--_New York Evening Post._
_WASHINGTON._ Mr. Lodge has written an admirable biography, and one
which cannot but confirm the American people in the prevailing estimate
concerning the Father of his Country.--_New York Tribune._
_JOHN ADAMS._ A good piece of literary work.... It covers the ground
thoroughly, and gives just the sort of simple and succinct account that
is wanted.--_New York Evening Post._
_HAMILTON._ Mr. Lodge has done his work with conscientious care, and the
biography of Hamilton is a book which cannot have too many readers. It
is more than a biography; it is a study in the science of
government.--_St. Paul Pioneer Press._
_MORRIS._ Mr. Roosevelt has produced an animated and intensely
interesting biographical volume.... Mr. Roosevelt never loses sight of
the picturesque background of politics, war-governments, and
diplomacy.--_Magazine of American History_ (New York).
_JAY._ It is an important addition to the admirable series of "American
Statesmen," and elevates yet higher the character of a man whom all
American patriots most delight to honor.--_New York Tribune._
_MARSHALL._ Well done, with simplicity, clearness, precision, and
judgment, and in a spirit of moderation and equity. A valuable addition
to the series.--_New York Tribune._
_JEFFERSON._ A singularly just, well-proportioned, and interesting
sketch of the personal and political career of the author of the
Declaration of Independence.--_Boston Journal._
_MADISON._ The execution of the work deserves the highest praise. It is
very readable, in a bright and vigorous style, and is marked by unity
and consecutiveness of plan.--_The Nation_ (New York).
_GALLATIN._ It is one of the most carefully prepared of these very
valuable volumes, ... abounding in information not so readily
accessible as is that pertaining to men more often treated by the
biographer.--_Boston Correspondent Hartford Courant._
_MONROE._ President Gilman has made the most of his hero, without the
least hero-worship, and has done full justice to Mr. Monroe's "relations
to the public service during half a century." ... The appendix is
peculiarly valuable for its synopsis of Monroe's Presidential Messages,
and its extensive Bibliography of Monroe and the Monroe Doctrine.--_N.
Y. Christian Intelligencer._
_JOHN QUINCY ADAMS._ That Mr. Morse's conclusions will in the main be
those of posterity we have very little doubt, and he has set an
admirable example to his coadjutors in respect of interesting narrative,
just proportion, and judicial candor.--_New York Evening Post._
_RANDOLPH._ The book has been to me intensely interesting.... It is rich
in new facts and side lights, and is worthy of its place in the already
brilliant series of monographs on American Statesmen.--Prof. MOSES COIT
TYLER.
_JACKSON._ Professor Sumner has ... all in all, made the justest long
estimate of Jackson that has had itself put between the covers of a
book.--_New York Times._
_VAN BUREN._ This absorbing book.... To give any adequate idea of the
personal interest of the book, or its intimate bearing on nearly the
whole course of our political history, would be equivalent to quoting
the larger part of it.--_Brooklyn Eagle._
_CLAY._ We have in this life of Henry Clay a biography of one of the
most distinguished of American statesmen, and a political history of the
United States for the first half of the nineteenth century. Indeed, it
is not too much to say that, for the period covered, we have no other
book which equals or begins to equal this life of Henry Clay as an
introduction to the study of American politics.--_Political Science
Quarterly_ (New York).
_WEBSTER._ It will be read by students of history; it will be invaluable
as a work of reference; it will be an authority as regards matters of
fact and criticism; it hits the key-note of Webster's durable and
ever-growing fame; it is adequate, calm, impartial; it is
admirable.--_Philadelphia Press._
_CALHOUN._ Nothing can exceed the skill with which the political career
of the great South Carolinian is portrayed in these pages.... The whole
discussion in relation to Calhoun's position is eminently philosophical
and just.--_The Dial_ (Chicago).
_BENTON._ An interesting addition to our political literature, and will
be of great service if it spread an admiration for that austere public
morality which was one of the marked characteristics of its chief
figure.--_The Epoch_ (New York).
_CASS._ Professor McLaughlin has given us one of the most satisfactory
volumes in this able and important series.... The early life of Cass was
devoted to the Northwest, and in the transformation which overtook it
the work of Cass was the work of a national statesman.--_New York
Times._
_LINCOLN._ As a life of Lincoln it has no competitors; as a political
history of the Union side during the Civil War, it is the most
comprehensive, and, in proportion to its range, the most
compact.--_Harvard Graduates' Magazine._
_SEWARD._ The public will be grateful for his conscientious efforts to
write a popular vindication of one of the ablest, most brilliant,
fascinating, energetic, ambitious, and patriotic men in American
history.--_New York Evening Post._
_CHASE._ His great career as anti-slavery leader, United States Senator,
Governor of Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury, and Chief Justice of the
United States, is described in an adequate and effective manner by
Professor Hart.
_CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS._ His wise statesmanship before the Civil War,
and the masterly ability and consummate diplomatic skill displayed by
him while Minister to Great Britain, are judiciously set forth by his
eminent son.
_SUMNER._ The majestic devotion of Sumner to the highest political
ideals before and during his long term of lofty service to freedom in
the United States Senate is fittingly delineated by Mr. Storey.
_STEVENS._ Thaddeus Stevens was unquestionably one of the most
conspicuous figures of his time.... The book shows him the eccentric,
fiery, and masterful congressional leader that he was.--_City and State_
(Philadelphia).
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO.
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Transcriber's Notes: Minor typographical errors and inconsistencies
have been silently normalized.
End of Project Gutenberg's Thomas Hart Benton, by Theodore Roosevelt