uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of
bankruptcies throughout the United States."
But let us notice the matter of foreign emigration to this country. In
that fragment of a nation, composed of three and a quarter millions,
which accomplished the American Revolution, there were in the United
Colonies, in the year 1775, just 20,000 more foreigners than now come
into this country in six months!
The progress of emigration into this country, as shown from the State
Department at Washington, is after this fashion:
In the year 1852, 375,000
In the year 1853, 368,000
In the year 1854, the returns of the first six months
warrant the estimate for the entire year of 500,000
---------
The aggregate, for the first four and a half years of
this decennial term, is 1,801,000
There is no reason for believing that the vast immigration
of this year will diminish. In fact, there is no
limit to its rate of progress but the means of conveyance.
Now, then, we have upon this basis an aggregate
for the six years and a half intervening between
this period and 1860, of 3,250,000
---------
Making for the current ten years, the astounding aggregate
of 5,051,000
Let Americans charge continually that the righteous ground upon which it
plants itself is, THAT AMERICANS SHALL RULE AMERICA. Let them point the
voters of the country to solid facts, from which there is no escape.
Tell them that the emigration to this country, according to the Census
records at Washington, was:
From 1790 to 1810 120,000
" 1810 to 1820 114,000
" 1820 to 1830 203,979
" 1830 to 1840 778,500
" 1840 to 1850 1,542,850
--and that statistics show that during the present decade, from 1850 to
1860, in regularly increasing ratio, nearly four millions of aliens will
probably be poured in upon us.
Point to the fact, that from this immigration spring nearly four-fifths
of the beggary, two-thirds of the pauperism, and more than three-fifths
of the crime of our country; that more than half the public charities,
more than half the prisons and alms-houses, more than half the police
and the cost of administering criminal justice, are for foreigners,--and
let the demand be made, that national and State legislation shall
interfere, to direct, ameliorate, and control these elements, so far as
it may be done within the limits of the Constitution.
Let Americans everywhere, and at all times, charge home and force upon
the attention of the people the alarming fact that if immigration
continues at the above rates, in thirty years from this time the
population of this country will exceed that of France, England, Spain,
Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland, all combined; that in fifteen years
the foreign will outnumber the native population; that in 1854 the
number of foreign immigrants was 500,000, of which 307,639 arrived at
the port of New York; that the white population of North Carolina is
only a little over 500,000--so that enough come to settle a State as
populous as North Carolina in a year. Set forth the statistical facts,
as shown by the last Census, that the immigration of 1854 was more than
equal to the white population of either one of eighteen States of this
Union; and in proof, point them to the following startling facts:
A. Table comparing the white population of the States therein
enumerated, with the foreign immigration of 1854, and showing the excess
of foreign immigrants for this year above the respective population of
the several States.
White population. Excess of
States. immigrants.
Arkansas 162,189 337,811
Alabama 426,514 73,486
California 91,635 418,365
South Carolina 274,563 226,437
Connecticut 363,099 136,901
Delaware 71,169 328,831
Florida 47,203 452,717
Iowa 191,881 308,119
Louisiana 225,491 374,509
Maryland 417,943 82,057
Michigan 395,071 104,929
Mississippi 295,718 204,282
New Hampshire 317,456 182,514
New Jersey 465,509 34,491
Rhode Island 143,875 356,125
Texas 154,034 345,946
Vermont 213,402 186,598
Wisconsin 304,756 195,244
Analyze this table, and show from it that the foreign immigration of
1854 was sufficient to have settled three States equal to Arkansas,
three equal to Iowa, three equal to Texas, two to Louisiana, four to
Rhode Island, five to California, seven to Delaware, or ten to Florida;
so that under the principle of the Kansas and Nebraska act, while
immigrants continue pouring in upon us at the present rate, we may have
within one year ten new States applying for admission into the Union,
entitled to their twenty Senators in the United States Senate; and yet
this would be but the Senatorial representation of 500,000 foreigners.
Let the light of truth be heard upon the great question of immigration,
and let the people see that if the ratio of immigration continues as it
has been since 1850, during the ten years from 1850 to 1860 there will
have come four millions of foreigners into this country--enough to
settle eighty States equal to Florida, thirty-two equal to Rhode Island,
sixteen equal to Louisiana, or eight equal to Maryland, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi, Vermont, Alabama, New
Hampshire, or New Jersey. So the Senatorial representation of foreigners
may reach one hundred and sixty members in the United States Senate, and
cannot be less than twenty in a body composed of but sixty-two members
representing thirty-one States.
UNITED STATES COAST SURVEY--FOREIGNISM AND NATIVEISM.
The reader will find below a list of the names of the employees in the
Coast Survey, classified according to birth, and their respective
salaries:
Natives. Salary. | Foreigners. Salary.
|
E. Nutty $1,200 | J. E. Hilgard $2,200
J. T. Hoover 600 | S. E. Werner 1,419
J. H. Toomer 519 | C. A. Schott 1,500
J. E. Blackenship 500 | J. Main 1,100
R. Freeman 350 | G. Rumpf 1,000
H. Mitchell 1,000 | J. Weisner 900
H. Heaton 700 | L. F. Pourtales 1,500
R. S. Avery 660 | S. Hein 2,500
J. Kincheloe 339 | J. Welch 1,565
G. C. Blanchard 339 | A. Brschke 1,408
R. E. Evans 339 | ---- Balback 639
R. L. Hawkins 1,200 | ---- Lendenkehl 782
W. McPherson 700 | W. P. Schultz 704
W. M. C. Fairfax 1,800 | G. McCoy 2,000
M. J. McClery 1,600 | A. Rolle 1,700
---- Poterfield 1,000 | G. B. Metzenroth 1,095
L. Williams 860 | J. C. Koudnip 939
John Key 782 | J. Rutherdall 526
---- Martin 751 | J. Barrett 375
B. Hooe 419 | J. Vierbunchen 1,095
F. Fairfax 500 | P. Vierbunchen 281
H. McCormick 156 | T. Hunt 704
E. Wharton 1,100 | J. Missenson 626
J. Knight 1,700 | R. Schelpass 469
F. Dankworth 1,700 | C. Ramkin 313
J. V. N. Throop 1,252 | F. White 960
R. Knight 939 | D. Flyn 600
C. A. Knight 626 | T. Kinney 525
G. Mathiot 1,800 | C. Kraft 420
S. Harris 519 | B. Neff 526
S. D. O'Brien 1,059 | A. Maedell 1,095
A. Geatman 704 | -------
H. Tine 626 | $31,867
C. B. Snow 1,000 |
J. Smith 593 |
G. Hitz 313 |
J. Cronion 519 |
A. W. Russell 1,300 |
---- Tansill 660 |
V. E. King 720 |
F. Holden 500 |
J. Mitchell 331 |
W. Bright 216 |
------- |
$24,429 |
The whole number of natives, 43; number of foreigners, 31. Amount paid
natives, $24,429; amount paid foreigners, $31,867. The average salary of
the natives is $568 12 per year; of the foreigners, $1,029 98 per
year--nearly double that of the natives. Is not this _favoritism_ to the
foreigner, and _discrimination_ against the native? The disbursing
officer, S. Hein, receives $2,500.
The result of the last Presidential election was controlled by _foreign
votes_, beyond all question. Look at the figures--see how they foot
up--and see that the country is controlled by foreigners:
Electoral
Foreign Foreign Pierce's vote for
States. population. vote. majority. Pierce.
New York, 655,224 93,317 27,201 35
Pennsylvania, 303,105 43,300 19,446 27
Maryland, 51,011 7,287 4,945 8
Louisiana, 67,308 9,615 1,392 6
Missouri, 76,570 10,938 7,698 9
Illinois, 111,860 15,980 15,653 11
Ohio, 218,099 31,157 16,694 23
Wisconsin, 110,471 15,781 11,418 5
Iowa, 20,968 2,995 1,180 4
Rhode Island, 23,832 3,404 1,109 4
Connecticut, 38,374 5,482 2,870 6
Delaware, 5,243 749 25 3
New Jersey, 59,804 8,543 5,749 7
California, 21,628 10,000 5,694 4
-------- ------- ------- ----
258,548 120,094 152
RECAPITULATION.
Pierce's vote, 1,602,663
Scott's vote, 1,385,990
---------
216,673
Foreign vote, 367,320
Pierce's majority, 216,673
---------
150,647
The foreign vote exceeded Pierce's majority over Scott, 150,647 votes.
It is thus demonstrated that in each of these fourteen States the
foreign vote was larger than the majority given for General Pierce; and
it is also demonstrated that the aggregate foreign vote of these
fourteen States is more than twice the whole number of General Pierce's
majorities in said States. If even one-half of the foreign vote had been
given to General Scott, he would have been elected instead of General
Pierce!
The following New York City statistics set forth the amount of _crime_
committed in that city for six months ending in June, 1855:
"It appears that the number of arrests made during that time
were 25,110. Of these, no less than 9,755 were for intoxication
and disorderly conduct combined; and 7,025 for crimes that had
their origin in the dram-shops, to wit:
"Assault and battery, disorderly conduct, vagrancy, &c. The
greatest number of arrests were in June, showing that during
the hot weather, as is generally the case, more liquor was
drank. The birth-place of the criminals, for two months, was as
follows:
United States, 1,750
Ireland, 5,117
Germany, 1,010
All other places, 4,847
"It needs no argument to prove if there had been no
intoxicating liquor sold in that city, a large portion of the
crimes and the misery resulting therefrom would have been
prevented."
MORE INSTRUCTIVE STATISTICS.--The Jersey City Sentinel of the 22d ult.
publishes statistics of crime and pauperism in Jersey City and Hudson
County, as follows:
"Number of inhabitants in Jersey City, 21,000, viz.: natives,
13,000; Irish, 5,000; other foreigners, 4,000. Number of
persons who have been confined in the city prison, 4,100, viz.:
natives, 75; Irish, 3,550; other foreigners, 475. Number of
persons confined in the county jail at present, 68, viz.:
natives, 2; Irish, 58: other foreigners, 8. Of 188 persons who
have been inmates of the Almshouse, none have been natives, and
no foreigners except Irish. Of 723 who received aid from the
Poor-master, 2 were natives, and 721 were Irish."
We will now submit, as authorities, some names which ought to have
weight with the American people, and which demonstrate, beyond all
contradiction, that we have had "Know Nothings" in our country in
former days, if they were not called by that name! Here are the words
and sentiments of these "dark-lantern patriots:"
"Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, (I conjure
you to believe me, fellow-citizens,) the jealousy of a free
people ought to be constantly awake. It is one of the most
baneful foes of a Republican government."--WASHINGTON.
"I hope we may find some hope in future of shielding ourselves
from foreign influence, in whatever form it may be attempted. I
wish there were an ocean of fire between this and the old
world."--JEFFERSON.
"Foreign influence is a Grecian horse to the republic: we
cannot be too careful to exclude its entrance."--MADISON.
"There is an imperative necessity for reforming the
Naturalization Laws of the United States."--DANIEL WEBSTER.
"It is high time we should become a little more Americanized,
and instead of feeding the paupers and laborers of England,
feed our own; or else, in a short time, by our present policy,
we shall become paupers ourselves."--ANDREW JACKSON.
"I agree with the father of his country, that we should guard
with a jealousy becoming a free people, our institutions,
against the insidious wiles of foreign influence."--HENRY CLAY.
"Our naturalization laws are unquestionably defective, or our
alms-houses would not now be filled with paupers. Of the
134,000 paupers in the United States, 68,000 are foreigners,
and 66,000 natives. The annals of crime have swelled as the
jails of Europe have poured their contents into the country,
and the felon convict, reeking from a murder in Europe, or who
has had the fortune to escape punishment for any other crime
abroad, easily gains naturalization here, by spending a part of
five years within the limits of the United States. Our country
has become a Botany Bay, into which Europe annually discharges
her criminals of every description."--JOHN M. CLAYTON, United
States Senator.
Forty years ago, this subject came up in the Congress of the United
States, and that far-seeing statesman and patriot, JOHN RANDOLPH, of
Virginia, made a speech, from which we take the following extract:
"How long the country would endure this foreign yoke in its
most odious and disgusting form he could not tell, but this he
would say, that if we were to be dictated to and ruled by
foreigners, he would much rather be ruled by a British
Parliament than by British subjects here. Should he be told
that those men fought in the war of the Revolution, he would
answer, that those who did so were not included by him in the
class he adverted to. That was a civil war, and they and we
were at its commencement alike British subjects. Native
Britons, therefore, then taking arms on our side, gave them the
same rights as those who were born in this country, and his
motion could be easily modified so as to provide for any that
might be of this description, but no such modification, he was
sure, would be found necessary, for this plain reason, to wit:
"Where were the soldiers of the Revolution who were not
natives? They were either already retired or else retiring to
that great reckoning where discounts were not allowed. If the
honorable gentleman (opposing the proposition) would point his
finger to any such kind of person now living, he would agree to
his being made an exception to the amendment. It was time that
the American people should have a character of their own, and
where would they find it? In New England and in Virginia only,
because they were a homogeneous race--a peculiar people. They
never yet appointed foreigners to sit in that house (of
Congress) for them, or to fill their high offices. In both
States this was their policy: it was not found in, nor was it
owing to their paper constitutions, but what was better, it was
interwoven in the frame of their thoughts and sentiments, in
their steady habits, in their principles from the cradle--a
much more solid security than could be found in any abracadabra
which constitution-mongers could scrawl upon paper.
"It might be indiscreet in him to say it, for, to say the
truth, he had as little of that rascally virtue, prudence, he
apprehended, as any man, and could as little conceal what he
felt as affect what he did not feel. He knew it was not the way
for him to conciliate the manufacturing body, yet he would say
that he wished with all his heart that his bootmaker, his
hatter, and other manufacturers, would rather stay in Great
Britain, under their own laws, than come here to make laws for
us, and leave us to import our covering. We must have our
clothing home-made, (said he,) but I would much rather have my
workmen home-made, and import my clothing. Was it best to have
our own unpolluted republic peopled with its own pure _native_
republicans, or erect another Sheffield, another Manchester,
and another Birmingham, upon the banks of the Schuylkill, the
Delaware, and the Brandywine, or have a host of Luddites
amongst us--wretches from whom every vestige of the human
creation seemed to be effaced? Would they wish to have their
elections on that floor decided by a rabble? What was the ruin
of old Rome? Why, their opening their gates and letting in the
rabble of the whole world to be their legislators!"
"If (said he) you wish to preserve among your fellow-citizens
that exalted sense of freedom which gave birth to the
Revolution--if you wish to keep alive among them the spirit of
'76, you must endeavor to stop this flood of immigration! You
must teach the people of Europe that if they do come here, all
they must hope to receive is protection--but that they must
have no share in the government. From such men a temporary
party may receive precarious aid, but the country cannot be
safe nor the people happy where they are introduced into
government, or meddle with public concerns in any great
degree."
* * * * *
"This (said Mr. Randolph) is a favorable time to make a stand
against this evil (immigration,) and if not _this_ session, he
hoped that in the _next_ there would be a revisal of the
naturalization laws."
A few short epistles from the pen of Gen. WASHINGTON, and we will close
this chapter. These we take from the "Papers of Washington by Sparks."
George Washington, justly styled the "father of his country," was a
great and good man--a primitive Know Nothing--a praying Protestant--and
withal, the man who was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the
hearts of his countrymen." Here are the honest sentiments of this man:
TO RICHARD HENRY LEE.
"MORRISTOWN, May 17, 1777.
"DEAR SIR:--I take the liberty to ask you what Congress expects
I am to do with the many foreigners they have at different
times promoted to the rank of field-officers, and, by the last
resolve, two to that of colonels.... These men have no
attachment nor ties to the country, further than interest binds
them. Our officers think it exceedingly hard, after they have
toiled in this service and have sustained many losses, to have
strangers put over them, whose merit, perhaps, is not equal to
their own, but whose effrontery will take no denial.... It is
by the zeal and activity of our own people that the cause must
be supported, and not by a few hungry adventurers....
"I am, &c.,
"G. WASHINGTON."
[Vol. IV., p. 423.]
* * * * *
TO THE SAME.
"MIDDLEBROOK, June 1, 1777.
"You will, before this can reach you, have seen Monsieur
Ducoudray. What his real expectations are, I do not know; but I
fear, if his appointment is equal to what I have been told is
his expectation, it will be attended with unhappy consequences.
_To say nothing of the policy of intrusting a department, on
the execution of which the salvation of the army depends, to a
foreigner who has no other tie to bind him to the interests of
this country than honor_, I would beg leave to observe that by
putting Mr. D. at the head of the artillery, you will lose a
very valuable officer in General Knox, who is a man of great
military reading, sound judgment, and clear conceptions, who
will resign if any one is put over him.... I am, &c.,
"G. WASHINGTON."
[Vol. IV., p. 446.]
* * * * *
TO GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, ESQ.
"WHITE PLAINS, July 24, 1778.
"DEAR SIR:--The design of this is to touch cursorily upon a
subject of very great importance to the well-being of these
States: much more so than will appear at first view. I mean
_the appointment of so many foreigners to offices of high rank
and trust in our service_.
"The lavish manner in which rank has hitherto been bestowed on
these gentlemen, will certainly be productive of one or the
other of these two evils--_either to make us despicable in the
eyes of Europe, or become a means of pouring them in upon us
like a torrent, and adding to our present burden_.
"But it is neither the expense nor trouble of them that I
dread: there is an evil more extensive in its nature and fatal
in its consequences to be apprehended, and that is the driving
of all our own officers out of the service, and throwing not
only our army but our military councils entirely into the hands
of foreigners.
"The officers, my dear sir, on whom you must depend for the
defence of this cause, distinguished by length of service,
their connections, property, and military merit, will not
submit much, if any longer, to the unnatural promotion of men
over them who have nothing more than a little plausibility,
unbounded pride and ambition, and a perseverance in application
not to be resisted but by uncommon firmness, to support their
pretensions: men who, in the first instance, tell you they wish
for nothing more than the honor of serving in so glorious a
cause as volunteers, the next day solicit rank without pay, the
day following want money advanced to them, and in the course of
a week want further promotion, and are not satisfied with any
thing you can do for them. The expediency and the policy of the
measure remain to be considered, and whether it is consistent
with justice or prudence to promote these military
fortune-hunters at the hazard of your army.
"Baron Steuben, I now find, is also wanting to quit his
inspectorship for a command in the line. This will be
productive of much discontent to the brigadiers. In a word,
although I think the Baron an excellent officer, _I do most
devoutly wish that we had not a single foreigner among us,
except the Marquis de Lafayette_, who acts upon very different
principles from those which govern the rest. Adieu.
"I am most sincerely yours,
"G. WASHINGTON."
[Vol. VI., p. 13.]
* * * * *
TO JOHN ADAMS, VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
"PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 27, 1794.
"DEAR SIR:--... My opinion with respect to immigration is, that
except of useful mechanics and some particular description of
men or professions, there is no need of encouragement. I am,
&c.,
"G. WASHINGTON."
[Vol. XI., p. 1.]
* * * * *
TO J. Q. ADAMS, AMERICAN MINISTER AT BERLIN.
"MOUNT VERNON, Jan. 20, 1799.
"SIR:--... You know, my good sir, that it is not the policy of
this country to employ aliens where it can well be avoided,
either in the civil or military walks of life.... There is a
species of self-importance in all foreign officers that cannot
be gratified without doing injustice to meritorious characters
among our own countrymen, who conceive, and justly, where there
is no great preponderancy of experience or merit, that they are
entitled to the occupancy of all offices in the gift of their
government.
"I am, &c.,
"G. WASHINGTON."
[Vol. XI., p. 392.]
* * * * *
SAME DATE, TO A FOREIGNER APPLYING FOR OFFICE.
"DEAR SIR:--... It does not accord with the policy of this
government to bestow offices, civil or military, upon
foreigners, to the exclusion of our own citizens. Yours, &c.,
"G. WASHINGTON."
[Vol. XI., p. 392.]
* * * * *
INSTRUCTIONS OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR TO THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL.
"WAR DEPARTMENT, Feb. 4, 1799.
"... For the cavalry, for the regulations restrict the
recruiting officers to engage none _except natives_ for this
corps, and those only as from their known character and
fidelity may be trusted."
[From the Knoxville Whig for March, 1856.]
WHO IS MILLARD FILLMORE?
A Brief history of the American nominee for the Presidency is this: He
was born in the year 1800, in Cayuga county, New York, and is now
fifty-six years of age. His father was then, as he now is, a farmer, in
moderate circumstances; and now lives in the county of Erie, a short
distance from Buffalo. The limited means of the family prevented the old
gentleman from giving his son Millard any other or better education than
was obtained in the imperfect common schools of that age.
In his sixteenth year, Mr. Fillmore was placed with a merchant tailor
near his home to learn that business. He remained four years in his
apprenticeship, during which time he had access to a small library,
improving the advantages it offered by perusing all the books therein
contained. Judge Wood, of Cayuga county, pleased with his intellectual
advancement, urged him to study the profession of the law; and as his
poverty was the only obstacle in his way, Judge Wood advanced him the
necessary means, relying upon his making a lawyer, and being able by the
practice of the profession to refund the money again. With a portion of
this money young Fillmore bought his unexpired time, which was for the
winter, and he pursued his legal studies with energy and success, in the
office of the noble Judge.
In 1822, he removed to Buffalo, where he was admitted to the bar. His
object in removing to Buffalo was to complete his studies and to obtain
a license. This accomplished, he removed to Aurora, not far from where
his parents resided, and there commenced the practice of his profession.
The confidence of his neighbors in his integrity and abilities was such
that he found himself in the midst of a lucrative practice at once. In
1826, he was married to Miss Powers, the daughter of a clergyman in the
village of Aurora, and this excellent woman lived to see him elected
Vice-President of the United States.
In 1829, Mr. Fillmore was elected from the county in which he married
and where his parents lived to the General Assembly of New York, and for
three years continued a member of this body, distinguishing himself by
his energy, tact, and wisdom in legislation. Through his energy and
speeches, _Imprisonment for Debt_ was abolished, and this so increased
his popularity throughout the State, that it was apparent that he could
be elected to any office in the gift of the people of that State.
In 1829, he was admitted a counsellor in the Supreme Court of New York,
and in 1832 he removed to Buffalo, where he settled permanently and
enlarged his practice as an attorney. In 1832, he was elected a
representative in the 23d Congress, in which he served with industry and
credit to himself and his district. At the end of his term he renewed
the practice of the law, of choice, but, in 1836, was prevailed on to
again serve his district in Congress; and in the celebrated New Jersey
contested elections, distinguished himself. He was chosen to the next
Congress by the largest majority ever given to any man in the district;
and as Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, acquired a
reputation that any man might be proud of.
At the close of the 27th Congress, his friends were anxious for his
continuance in public life, but he declined. And in his address to his
constituents, dated at Washington, July 11th, 1842, he says:
"Pardon the personal vanity, though it be a weakness, that
induces me to recur for a moment to the cherished recollections
of your early friendship and abiding confidence. I cannot give
vent to the feelings of my heart without it. It is now nearly
fourteen years since you did me the unsolicited honor to
nominate me to represent you in the State Legislature. Seven
times have I received renewed evidence of your confidence by as
many elections, and, at the expiration of my present term, I
shall have served you three years in the State and eight years
in the National Councils. I cannot recall the thousand acts of
generous devotion from so many friends, without feeling the
deepest emotions of gratitude. I came among you a poor and
friendless boy. You kindly took me by the hand and gave me your
confidence and support. You have conferred upon me distinction
and honors, for which I could make no adequate return, but by
honest and untiring effort faithfully to discharge the high
trust which you confided to my keeping. If my humble efforts
have met your approbation, I freely admit, next to the approval
of my own conscience, it is the highest reward which I could
receive for days of unceasing toil and nights of sleepless
anxiety. I profess not to be above or below the common
frailties of our nature. I will therefore not disguise the
fact, that I was highly gratified at my first election to
Congress; yet I can truly say that my utmost ambition has been
gratified. I aspire to nothing more, and shall retire from the
exciting scenes of political strife to the quiet employments of
my family and fireside, with still more satisfaction than I
felt when first elevated to distinguished station."
During this same year he returned to the practice of his profession,
and, in 1844, the Whig State Convention of New York put him in
nomination for the office of Governor, in opposition to Silas Wright.
This was the only conflict in which he ever suffered defeat, and the
race was close. In 1847, without seeking or desiring the highly
responsible office, he was elected Comptroller of the Finances of the
State, and removed to Albany, where he discharged the duties of the
office with great credit to himself and usefulness to the State,
resigning the office in February, 1849, to enter upon the duties of the
office of Vice-President, to which he had been called by the election in
1848. Gen. Taylor dying, he became President, and every patriot in the
land remembers and admires the history of his administration. Gen. Cass
and other distinguished Democrats said his career had been one of
genuine patriotism, honor, and usefulness; and Gov. Wise, upon the stump
in Virginia, characterized it as "Washington-like;" while the Democratic
papers and orators, from Maine to California, declared that he ought to
have been nominated in lieu of Gen. Scott, because he was one of the
best men in America.
He is now in Europe, familiarizing himself with the workings of the
despotic governments of that country. Before leaving, almost one year
ago, he told his friends, in answer to questions relating to the
presidency, not to start any newspapers for his benefit--not to publish
any documents--not to make any speeches, or even electioneer--and added,
that if the American people nominated him, of their own free will and
accord, he would accept their nomination, and if elected, he would serve
them to the best of his abilities. His nomination, therefore, under the
circumstances, is a great honor, and shows the implicit confidence the
real people have in the integrity, patriotism, and qualifications of the
man. That he will go into the presidential chair almost by acclamation,
we have not the shadow of doubt.
As to Mr. Fillmore's chances, we consider them excellent, and growing
brighter every day. The indications are now very clear that he will
obtain a _plurality_, if not a _majority_ vote, in most of the Northern
States; and under the most unfavorable circumstances, he will be sure to
divide the electoral vote of the South, so as to carry more States than
MR. BUCHANAN. Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Alabama, are
the only four States we concede to the Cincinnati nominee and _one_ of
these, we confidently expect to carry. Georgia and Arkansas we set down
as doubtful, and we contend that Buchanan can't get either of them
without a severe struggle.
We then make this estimate, and claim as certain for FILLMORE and
DONELSON the following States, viz.:
Massachusetts 13
Rhode Island 4
New York 35
New Jersey 7
Pennsylvania 27
Maryland 8
Kentucky 12
Tennessee 12
North Carolina 10
Louisiana 6
Missouri 9
California 4
Delaware 3
Florida 3
This makes a total of 157--_eleven,_ more than is necessary to an
election. This is not an extravagant, but a very fair estimate. The
friends of the American ticket have a right to feel encouraged. With
proper exertions our ticket will carry. Let every American consider
himself a sentinel upon the watch-tower--let every friend of the party
do his duty, and the result will not be doubtful. And let all who
believe that "Americans ought to rule America," take courage--"the skies
are bright and brightening."
As it regards MR. FILLMORE'S Americanism, _that_ is settled--he has been
a Protestant American _fifteen years in advance_ of the party, as it now
exists. The Hon. J. T. HEADLEY, Secretary of State of New York,
delivered a speech at the Capital of his State, March 7th, 1856, in
which he spoke of Mr. Fillmore in the following language:
"Now, in the first place, he was an American years before those
who denounce him ever thought of Americanism. The Police
constable of Newburg elected last year on the American ticket,
told me, that years ago, when that well-known conflict occurred
between the citizens of Buffalo and the foreign population,
that a combination was formed called the "_American League_."
The members of this League entered into _a solemn compact to
stand together and fight together for the rights of Americans_.
This constable was at the time an humble mechanic in Buffalo,
and he said that _he constantly met Mr. Fillmore (who was a
member of that League with him) at the Council Room_. Thus you
see that those who would arrogate to themselves the title of
Americans, and yet carp at Mr. Fillmore as wanting in American
sentiment, are really recent volunteers compared with him. Mr.
Fillmore carried his American principles still farther and
became (so an officer in the same order informs me) _a member
of the United Americans_. He has always been a true American,
_he is now, and ever will be_, and is worthy to move at the
head of the glorious column over which floats the flag bearing
the inscription, 'Americans shall rule America.'"
After the defeat of MR. CLAY, in 1844, MR. FILLMORE addressed him this
noble _American_ letter:
"BUFFALO, Nov. 14, 1844.
"MY DEAR SIR:--I have thought for three or four days that I
would write to you, but really I am unmanned. I have no courage
or resolution. All is gone. The last hope, which hung first
upon the city of New York, and then upon Virginia, is finally
dissipated, and I see nothing but despair depicted upon every
countenance.
"For myself, I have no regrets. I was nominated for Governor
much against my will, and though not insensible to the pride of
success, yet I feel a kind of relief at being defeated. But not
so for you or the nation. Every consideration of justice, every
feeling of gratitude conspired in the minds of honest men to
insure your election, and though always doubtful of my own
success, I could never doubt yours, till the painful conviction
was forced upon me.
"The Abolitionists and _Foreign Catholics have defeated us in
this State_. I will not trust myself to speak of the vile
hypocrisy of the leading Abolitionists now. Doubtless many
acted honestly and ignorantly in what they did. But it is clear
that Birney and his associates sold themselves to Locofocoism,
and they will doubtless receive their reward.
"_Our opponents, by pointing to the Native Americans and to Mr.
Frelinghuysen, drove the Foreign Catholics from us and defeated
us in this State._
"But it is vain to look at the causes by which this infamous
result has been produced. It is enough to say that all is gone.
I must confess that nothing has happened to shake my confidence
in our ability to sustain a free government so much as this.
"MILLARD FILLMORE."
But here is one other letter, written to ISAAC NEWTON, just before MR.
FILLMORE left the United States for Europe. A more patriotic letter,
breathing more of the genuine American spirit, we have never met with:
"BUFFALO, N. Y., Jan. 3, 1855.
"RESPECTED FRIEND ISAAC NEWTON:--It would give me great
pleasure to accept your kind invitation to visit Philadelphia,
if it were possible to make my visit private, and limit it to a
few personal friends whom I should be most happy to see; but I
know that this would be out of my power, and I am therefore
reluctantly compelled to decline your invitation, as I have
done others to New York and Boston, for the same reason.
"I return you many thanks for your information on the subject
of politics. I am always happy to hear what is going forward,
but, independent of the fact that I feel myself withdrawn from
the political arena, I have been too much depressed in spirit
to take an active part in the late elections. I contented
myself with giving a silent vote for Mr. Ullman, for Governor.
"While, however, I am an inactive observer of public events, I
am by no means an indifferent one, and I may say to you in the
frankness of private friendship, that I have for a long time
looked with dread and apprehension at the corrupting influence
which the contest for the foreign vote is exerting upon our
elections. This seems to result from its being banded together,
and subject to the control of a few interested and selfish
leaders. Hence it has been a subject of bargain and sale, and
each of the great political parties of the country have been
bidding to obtain it, and, as usual in all such contests, the
party which is most corrupt is most successful. The consequence
is, that it is fast demoralizing the whole country; corrupting
the very fountains of political power; and converting the
ballot-box--that great palladium of our liberty--into an
unmeaning mockery, where the rights of native-born citizens are
voted away by those who blindly follow their mercenary and
selfish leaders. The evidence of this is found not merely in
the shameless chaffering for the foreign vote at every
election, but in the large disproportion of offices which are
now held by foreigners at home and abroad, as compared with our
native citizens. Where is the true-hearted American whose cheek
does not tingle with shame and mortification to see our highest
and most coveted foreign missions filled by men of foreign
birth to the exclusion of native-born? Such appointments are a
humiliating confession to the crowned heads of Europe that a
Republican soil does not produce sufficient talent to represent
a Republican nation at a monarchical court. I confess that it
seems to me--with all due respect to others--that, as a general
rule, our country should be governed by American-born citizens.
Let us give to the oppressed of every country an asylum and a
home in our happy land, give to all the benefits of equal laws,
and equal protection; but let us at the same time cherish, as
the apple of our eye, the great principles of constitutional
liberty, which few who have not had the good fortune to be
reared in a free country know how to appreciate and still less
how to preserve.
"Washington, in that inestimable legacy which he left to his
country--his farewell address--has wisely warned us to beware
of foreign influence as the most baneful foe of a republican
government. He saw it to be sure in a different light from that
in which it now presents itself; but he knew it would approach
us in all forms, and hence he cautioned us against the
_insidious wiles of its influence_. Therefore, as well for our
own sakes, to whom this invaluable inheritance of
self-government has been left by our forefathers, as for the
sake of unborn millions who are to inherit this land--foreign
and native--let us take warning of the Father of his Country,
and do what we can justly to preserve our institutions from
corruption and our country from dishonor, but let this be done
by the people themselves in their sovereign capacity by making
a proper discrimination in the selection of officers, and not
by depriving any individual--native or foreign-born--of any
constitutional or legal right to which he is entitled.
"These are my sentiments in brief; and although I have
sometimes almost despaired of my country when I have witnessed
the rapid strides of corruption, yet I think I perceive a gleam
of hope in the future, and I now feel confident, that when the
great mass of intelligence in this enlightened country is once
fully aroused, and the danger manifested, it will fearlessly
apply the remedy, and bring back the government to the pure
days of Washington's administration. Finally, let us adopt the
old Roman motto, '_Never despair of the Republic._' Let us do
our duty, and trust in that Providence which has so signally
watched over and preserved us for the result. But I have said
more than I intended, and much more than I should have said to
any one but a trusted friend, as I have no desire to mingle in
political strife.
"Remember me kindly to your family, and believe me truly your
friend,
"MILLARD FILLMORE."
In March, 1851, LEWIS CASS, than whom there is not a more devoted
partisan in the Democratic ranks, delivered a speech on the floor of the
United States Senate, in the course of which he paid the following just
compliment to Mr. Fillmore's integrity, and to his efficiency in
"_pacifying the country_," while he was President. We quote from the
Congressional Globe, and hold it up as a withering rebuke to those
"lesser lights" of Democracy, who are now defaming this pure and
patriotic statesman:
"The Administration has placed itself high in the great work of
_pacifying the country_, and they received the meed of
approbation from political friends and political foes. _I
partake of the same sentiment._ I do them justice. But I am a
Democrat, and, God willing, I mean to die one. This is a Whig
administration, but there is no reason I should not do them
justice; and I do it with pleasure, in this great matter of
_the salvation of this country_--if I may say so. I have done
so; shall continue to do so, whatever sneers their papers may
contain; for I do it not for their sake, but _for the sake of
their country_."
The _Democratic Review_--the highest Democratic authority in the United
States--for December, 1855, commenting upon the Compromise Measures of
1850, thus spoke of Mr. Fillmore, in a moment of candor, long before Mr.
Fillmore was nominated by the American party for the Presidency:
"Momentous events were transpiring. The agitation of the
question of slavery was paramount in the public mind. In this
crisis, it was well that so reliable a man as Mr. Fillmore was
found in the Presidential chair. The safety and perpetuity of
the Union were threatened. Already had fanaticism raised its
hydra-head. Schemes and 'isms' leaped from a thousand
ambuscades. The enemies of the Union started forth on every
side--Abolitionism here; secessionism there; acquisition and
filibusterism elsewhere. These were the formidable elements of
misrule with which the Executive had to cope. How well he met,
and how entirely he for the time overcame these enemies of the
peace of the republic, we leave the historian to relate; but
our retrospect would be incomplete and disingenuous, did we not
accord the meed of praise justly due to high moral excellence
and intellectual and administrative honesty and talent, as
developed in the administration of Mr. Fillmore."
Since the foregoing was prepared for the press, Mr. Fillmore's letter of
acceptance has come to hand, greatly to the annoyance of the Democratic
and anti-American fuglemen and politicians. We congratulate the country
upon the patriotic, national, and _truly American_ spirit which pervades
this chaste and well-written document. It is just what we expected from
_one of the very first men in the Nation_. His reference to his past
course as a guaranty for the future is well-timed. _Sectional_
legislation he is opposed to; and sectional agitation he will use his
influence to suppress. We ask every man into whose hands this work shall
fall, to read this admirable letter for himself: it is worthy of the man
and the times; nay, it is the letter of a patriot and a statesman--
"Who for his country feels alone,
And loves her weal, beyond his own."
[COPY.]
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 26th, 1856.
_To the Hon. Millard Fillmore_:
SIR:--The National Convention of the American party, which has
just closed its session in this city, has unanimously chosen
you as the candidate for the Presidency of the United States in
the election to be held in November next. It has associated
with you Andrew Jackson Donelson, Esq., of Tennessee, as the
candidate for the Vice-Presidency.
The Convention has charged the undersigned with the agreeable
duty of communicating these proceedings to you, and of asking
your acceptance of a nomination which will receive not only the
cordial support of the great national party in whose name it is
made, but the approbation also of large numbers of other
enlightened friends of the Constitution and the Union, who will
rejoice in the opportunity to testify their grateful
appreciation of your faithful service in the past, and their
confidence in your experience and integrity for the guidance of
the future.
The undersigned take advantage of this occasion to tender to
you the expression of their own gratification in the
proceedings of the Convention, and to assure you of the high
consideration with which they are yours, &c.
ALEXANDER H. H. STUART,
ANDREW STEWART,
ERASTUS BROOKS,
E. B. BARTLETT,
WM. J. EAMES,
EPHRAIM MARSH.
_Committee, &c._
PARIS, May 21st, 1856.
GENTLEMEN:--I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter informing me that the National Convention of the
American party, which had just closed its session at
Philadelphia, had unanimously presented my name for the
Presidency of the United States, and associated with it that of
Andrew Jackson Donelson for the Vice-Presidency. This
unexpected communication met me at Venice on my return from
Italy, and the duplicate, mailed thirteen days later, was
received on my arrival in this city last evening. This must
account for my apparent neglect in giving a more prompt reply.
You will pardon me for saying that when my administration
closed in 1853, I considered my political life as a public man
at an end, and thenceforth I was only anxious to discharge my
duty as a private citizen. Hence I have taken no active part in
politics. But I have by no means been an indifferent spectator
of passing events; nor have I hesitated to express my opinion
on all political subjects when asked; nor to give my vote and
private influence for those men and measures I thought best
calculated to promote the prosperity and glory of our common
country. Beyond this I deemed it improper for me to interfere.
But this unsolicited and unexpected nomination has imposed upon
me a new duty, from which I cannot shrink; and therefore,
approving, as I do, of the general objects of the party which
has honored me with its confidence, I cheerfully accept its
nomination, without waiting to inquire of its prospects of
success or defeat. It is sufficient for me to know that by so
doing I yield to the wishes of a large portion of my
fellow-citizens in every part of the Union, who, like myself,
are sincerely anxious to see the administration of our
government restored to that original simplicity and purity
which marked the first years of its existence; and, if
possible, to quiet that alarming sectional agitation, which,
while it delights the Monarchists of Europe, causes every true
friend of our own country to mourn.
Having the experience of past service in the administration of
the Government, I may be permitted to refer to that as the
exponent of the future, and to say, should the choice of the
Convention be sanctioned by the people, I shall, with the same
scrupulous regard for the rights of every section of the Union
which then influenced my conduct, endeavor to perform every
duty confided by the Constitution and laws to the Executive.
As the proceedings of this Convention have marked a new era in
the history of the country, by bringing a new political
organization into the approaching Presidential canvass, I take
the occasion to reaffirm my full confidence in the patriotic
purposes of that organization, which I regard as springing out
of a public necessity, forced upon the country, to a large
extent, by unfortunate sectional divisions, and the dangerous
tendency of those divisions towards disunion. It alone, in my
opinion, of all the political agencies now existing, is
possessed of the power to silence this violent and disastrous
agitation, and to restore harmony by its own example of
moderation and forbearance. It has a claim, therefore, in my
judgment, upon every earnest friend of the integrity of the
Union.
So estimating this party, both in its present position and
future destiny, I freely adopt its great leading principles as
announced in the recent declaration of the National Council at
Philadelphia, a copy of which you were so kind as to enclose
me, holding them to be just and liberal to every true interest
of the country, and wisely adapted to the establishment and
support of an enlightened, safe, and effective American policy,
in full accord with the ideas and the hopes of the fathers of
our Republic.
I expect shortly to sail for America; and, with the blessings
of Divine Providence, hope soon to tread my native soil. My
opportunity of comparing my own country and the condition of
its people with those of Europe, has only served to increase my
admiration and love for our own blessed land of liberty, and I
shall return to it without even a desire ever to cross the
Atlantic again.
I beg of you, gentlemen, to accept my thanks for the very
flattering manner in which you have been pleased to communicate
the results of the action of that enlightened and patriotic
body of men who composed the late Convention, and to be assured
that
I am, with profound respect and esteem,
Your friend and fellow-citizen,
MILLARD FILLMORE.
Messrs. Alex. H. H. Stuart, Andrew Stewart, Erastus Brooks, E.
B. Bartlett, Wm. J. Eames, Ephraim Marsh, _Committee_.
WHO IS ANDREW J. DONELSON?
This gentleman being now the nominee of the American party for the
office of Vice-President, naturally attracts much of public attention;
and as a matter to be looked for, and not at all to be regretted, draws
down upon him great abuse and slander from the hireling editors of the
corrupt party opposing him. We will let a neighbor of Major Donelson,
who has had access to his papers, and who has prepared and published in
the _Nashville Banner_ a sketch of his life, answer the question
propounded at the head of this chapter:
"MR. DONELSON is the second son of Samuel Donelson, deceased,
who was the brother of the late Mrs. Jackson. His eldest
brother died in 1817, soon after the Creek War, in which he
participated as a soldier under General Jackson. His death was
announced to Mr. Donelson by General Jackson in the following
terms: 'Whilst we regret his loss, he has left us the endearing
recollection that there was not a stain upon his character. He
has performed his duty here below, and has taken his flight to
realms above, as unspotted as an angel. What a lesson he has
given us! How delightful to dwell upon the idea that he has
walked in the paths of virtue during his whole life, without a
blemish on his character, and that all his friends may recount
his acts with pride and pleasure!' The younger brother is still
living in the paternal mansion, and was a member of the last
Legislature of Tennessee. The mother of these children
afterwards married Mr. James Sanders, of Sumner county,
Tennessee, and is still enjoying good health. She is the only
daughter of Gen. Daniel Smith, who was one of the surveyors of
the line between Virginia and North Carolina, and succeeded
Gen. Jackson in the Senate of the United States.
"General Smith had an important agency in shaping the early
history of Tennessee--having represented a portion of the
people in the North Carolina Legislature, and in the Convention
which ratified the Constitution of the United States. He was
also Secretary of the Territory, and a member of the Convention
of 1796. He was a native of Virginia, and emigrated to
Tennessee soon after he had surveyed the line between that
State and North Carolina, having, while in the execution of
that service, seen the fine lands in Middle Tennessee. He
settled the lands upon which his grandson, Henry Smith, now
resides; and built the mansion, which is still there, at a
period when the men engaged in quarrying the rock had to be
guarded from the attacks of the Indians.
"The father of Samuel Donelson, Col. John Donelson, was also a
native of Virginia, and at onetime a Representative of one of
her oldest counties, Pittsylvania, in the House of Burgesses.
He possessed in an eminent degree the respect of the Provincial
Governor of that Commonwealth, from whom he received the
appointment of Indian Commissioner about the year 1770; and it
is to his bold and enterprising spirit that we are in a great
measure indebted for the Indian Treaties which extended the
settlements of Virginia through Kentucky to the Ohio river. He
left Port Patrick Henry in 1779, descending the Tennessee river
with all his family, in boats built on the Holston, and came up
the Cumberland in those boats as high as the Clover Bottom,
encountering incredible toils and dangers. Three years
afterwards, in 1793, in conjunction with Col. Martin, he
concluded an Indian Treaty, by which the settlements on the
Cumberland river were greatly benefited; but he had, previously
to his departure from Virginia, under a contract with Georgia,
explored the country, and run the line between that State and
North Carolina, as far west as the Mississippi river. After
settling his family near the present site of the Hermitage, he
was killed by the Indians, on a journey to Kentucky, near the
Big Barren River, at the advanced age of 75.
"Samuel Donelson was a lawyer by profession, and the intimate
friend and associate of Gen. Jackson, after whom he named his
son Andrew, who was born on the 25th of August, 1800. On the
second marriage of his mother, this son was taken into the
family of the General, who became his guardian and patron; and
he remained the most of his time with him until he was prepared
to enter the Cumberland College. After finishing his studies at
this school, Gen. Jackson obtained for him a Cadet's warrant,
which enabled him to enter the Military Academy at West Point,
in 1816. He was one of the first class which was graduated
under the superintendence of Col. Thayer--finishing the course
of studies in three, instead of four years; as is customary.
Throughout his service at West Point, he was distinguished for
his proficiency in mathematics, and for the facility with which
he mastered all the studies which appertain to military
science. No higher proof need be adduced of this fact, than the
position assigned to him by the Board of Examiners and
Visitors, when he graduated. He was placed No. 2, in a class of
great merit, notwithstanding he had the studies of two years to
pass through in one year, and was recommended to the Department
of War for a commission in the Engineer Corps--a compliment
accorded only to the most distinguished of the class.
"After obtaining his commission, Mr. Donelson was ordered to
the Western frontier to build a fort; but before he reached
this destination, the War Department, on the application of
Gen. Jackson, allowed him to accept the appointment of
Aide-de-camp in the staff of the General. In this capacity he
attended the General when he took possession of the Floridas,
and remained with him until the latter resigned his commission
in the army.
"At this period, Mr. Donelson seeing no prospect for rapid
promotion in the corps of Engineers, and sharing the conviction
then so prevalent in the army, that the conclusion of the war
with England had shut the door for a long time to come against
those military enterprises which are so tempting to the officer
and soldier, and feeling also that he could be more useful in
the pursuits of civil life, turned his attention to the study
of law. He accordingly resigned his commission; and after
attending the course of law lectures in the Transylvania
University, then under the presidency of Dr. Holly, he received
his license, and appeared at the Nashville bar in 1823, having
formed a partnership with Mr. Duncan. Circumstances, however,
soon occurred, which withdrew him in a great degree from the
practice. General Jackson was again in the field as a candidate
for the Presidency, and needed the services of a confidential
friend to aid him in repelling the bitter assaults which were
made upon his character and services. Animated by a deep sense
of gratitude, no duty could be more pleasing to Mr. Donelson
than that of contributing his labor to advance the great
popular movement which aimed, by the elevation of his
benefactor and friend, to promote the highest interests of the
country. He therefore cheerfully entered again into the
General's family, and travelled with him to Washington City
after the elections in 1824. Those elections devolved the
choice of President upon the House of Representatives. Mr.
Adams was the successful candidate, although Gen. Jackson had a
much larger popular vote, and was evidently the favorite of the
people.
"As is well known to the country, the result of that election
gave increased force to the sentiment which had placed Gen.
Jackson in nomination. The efforts of his friends throughout
the Union became more active, and were never abated until the
decision of the House of Representatives in 1824 was reversed,
and Gen. Jackson placed in the Presidential chair. During these
four years, Mr. Donelson, who had married in 1824, settled upon
his plantation adjoining the Hermitage, and continued there to
promote the cause he had espoused so warmly in the beginning.
"When the elections of 1828 were over, Gen. Jackson insisted
upon the acceptance by Mr. Donelson of the post of private
Secretary. Mr. D. accordingly set out with him in the winter of
1828 for the city of Washington, taking with him his wife, whom
he had married in 1824. This lady was the youngest daughter of
Capt. John Donelson, and was invited by Gen. Jackson to do the
honors of the White House--a position which she held throughout
the greater portion of his Presidency.
"It was in this capacity that Mr. Donelson endeared himself
still more than ever to the Hero of the Hermitage. He spent the
prime of his life, from 1828 to 1836, in his service, and he
felt himself amply rewarded by the knowledge he thus acquired
of public men and measures.
"At the close of Gen. Jackson's Presidency, Mr. Donelson
declined to take office under Mr. Van Buren, being anxious for
a respite from public affairs, and to enjoy the pleasures of
his farm; upon which he remained until he was called
unexpectedly to take a part in the negotiation which brought
Texas into our Union. It was upon this theatre that he
displayed the judgment and tact which brought him prominently
before the country as a man that understood the public
interests, and knew how to take care of them.
"The commission appointing Mr. Donelson Minister to Texas is
dated the 16th of September, 1844. Mr. Calhoun, then Secretary
of State, in the letter enclosing the commission, says:
"'The state of things in Texas is such as to require that the
place (Charge d'Affaires) should be filled without delay, and
to select him who, under all circumstances, may be thought best
calculated to bring to a successful decision the great question
of annexation pending before the two countries. After full
deliberation, you have been selected as that individual; and I
do trust, my dear sir, that you will not decline the
appointment, however great may be the personal sacrifice of
accepting. That great question must be decided in the next
three or four months; and whether it shall be favorable or not,
will depend on him who shall fill the mission now tendered you.
I need not tell you how much depends on its decision for weal
or woe to our country, and perhaps the whole continent. It is
sufficient to say that, viewed in all its consequences, it is
one of the first magnitude; and that it gives an importance to
the mission at this time, that raises it to the level with the
highest in the gift of the Government.
"Assuming, therefore, that you will not decline the
appointment, unless some insuperable difficulty should
interpose, and in order to avoid delay, a commission is
herewith transmitted, without the formality of waiting your
acceptance, with all the necessary papers.'"
President Polk, after this, confided an important and most critical
foreign negotiation to Major Donelson; and his estimate of the prudence,
discretion, and ability with which Major Donelson discharged his trust,
appears from a letter to Major D. from the Hon. John Y. Mason,
President Polk's Secretary of War, dated August 7th, 1845. From that
letter, complimentary from beginning to end, we copy only this portion:
"The services which you have rendered your country in the
delicate negotiations intrusted to you, are justly appreciated.
_Your prudence, discretion, and ability have inspired the
President with a confidence which would make him feel much more
at ease if that delicate task could be in your hands._
"It gives me great pleasure to assure you that _the publication
of your official correspondence will give you a most enviable
reputation for the highest qualities of a statesman and
diplomatist_.
"The President unites in the kindest regards, with your friend,
"J. Y. MASON."
PRESIDENT PIERCE'S opinion of Major Donelson may be learned from the
following letter, written by him to the Major when the latter was the
editor of the _Washington Union_, the National Organ of the Democratic
party:
"CONCORD, May 30, 1851.
"MY DEAR SIR: I rejoice that the leading organ of our party is
now under your control, and regard the change as most
auspicious at this juncture. There is a great battle before
us--a battle for the Union--a battle for the ascendency of the
principles, the maintenance of which so nobly signalized the
administration of General Jackson. THE TONE, VIGOR, AND
STATESMANLIKE GRASP _which you have brought to the columns of
the Union are not merely important, they are_ ABSOLUTELY
INDISPENSABLE _in this crisis_.
"With great respect, your friend and servant,
"FRANK. PIERCE."
The following article is from the _Nashville Union_, of October 15,
1844, the Tennessee Organ of Democracy, published within a few miles of
where Major Donelson lives, and has passed most of his life. This
article shows what opinion was entertained of him before he became a
_Know-Nothing_:
"The diplomatic agency of this government in Texas is, at this
moment, the most important mission abroad; although it ranks
with those of the second class, its high and important duties
require the talents of one every way qualified for the first
foreign mission on the globe.
"_We congratulate the administration on having been able to
secure the services of one so eminently qualified in all
respects for the station, whose thorough knowledge of the
relations subsisting between the two countries, and whose
intimate acquaintance with the prominent statesmen of this and
that government, will place him in the enjoyment of advantages
which cannot fail to secure to us the most desirable results._
"Major Donelson leaves his plantation near the Hermitage
to-day--proceeding overland to the Mississippi river on his way
to the Texan Capital--and we cannot but participate in the
painful emotions with which the word 'farewell' will be
exchanged between himself and his venerable patron, friend, and
relative, 'The Sage of the Hermitage.'
"In view of the advanced age of General Jackson, it is more
than probable that they may never meet again. A relationship
next to that of father and son, if, indeed, it be not equally
near and dear, will be severed perhaps for ever. And we feel
assured that nothing short of a sense of DUTY TO HIS COUNTRY
could have induced an acceptance of the mission. Nor, for this
patriotic reason, would the aged veteran advise him to decline
it.
"Major D. leaves a host of good and true friends, who will
continue to have an abiding solicitude for his health and
happiness, and for his early and complete success in 'extending
the area of freedom.'"
Mr. Clayton, Secretary of State under Gen. Taylor, wrote to Major
Donelson, announcing the expiration of the diplomatic relations between
the United States and Germany, (where the Major was stationed,) and
closed with the following complimentary expressions:
"I am directed by the President to express to you his entire
approbation of your conduct, and I cannot take leave of you in
your public character without adding my testimony to that of
the President to the ability and faithfulness with which you
have discharged the arduous and delicate duties which your
mission imposed upon you.
"JOHN M. CLAYTON."
The Democratic party having always boasted that Gen. Jackson was
unsurpassed in his keen and unerring insight into the characters of men,
we must be permitted to call their attention to a clause in the _Last
Will and Testament_ of Gen. Jackson, as recorded in the county of
Davidson. This clause sets forth the estimate placed upon Mr. Donelson
by the old General, after this fashion:
"HERMITAGE, June 7, 1843.
... "I bequeath to my well-beloved nephew, Andrew J. Donelson,
son of Samuel Donelson, deceased, the elegant sword presented
to me by the State of Tennessee, with this injunction, that he
fail not to use it when necessary in support and protection of
our glorious Union, and for the protection of the
constitutional rights of our beloved country, should they be
assailed by foreign enemies or _domestic traitors_. This, from
the great change in my worldly affairs of late, is, with my
blessing, all that I can bequeath him, doing justice to those
creditors to whom I am responsible. This bequest is made as a
memento of the high regard, affection, and esteem I bear for
him as a _high-minded, honest, and honorable man_."
And now, to show that Gen. Jackson had not changed his opinion of the
Major, we give about the last epistle he ever wrote to him, as it bears
date but a few days previous to his death:
"HERMITAGE, May 24, 1845.
"MY DEAR ANDREW: I received last night your affectionate letter
of the 15th inst., with the enclosed for your dear Elizabeth,
which I sent forthwith, and your kind letter of the 13th this
morning. Your family were here yesterday. All well, but looking
out for you hourly. I assured Elizabeth that you could not
leave your mission before the Texan Congress acted upon the
subject with which you were charged. I shall admonish her to be
patient and await your return, which will be the moment your
honor and duty will permit.
* * * * *
"My dear Andrew:--What may be my fate God only knows. I am
greatly afflicted--suffer much, and it will be almost a miracle
if I shall survive my present attack. I am swollen from the
toes to the crown of the head, and in bandages to my hips.
"How far my God may think proper to bear me up under my weight
of afflictions, he only knows. But, my dear Major, live or die,
you have my blessing and prayers for your welfare and happiness
in this world, and that we may meet in a blissful immortality.
"Your affectionate uncle,
"ANDREW JACKSON."
While editor of the _Washington Union_, Major Donelson frankly admitted,
in his account of the election in Tennessee, between Gov. Campbell and
Gen. Trousdale, that the latter owed his defeat to his opposition to the
Compromise measures, and his sympathies with the Disunionists. In the
_Hartford_ Convention held in Nashville, the Major appeared in person,
and denounced the whole concern as a blow at the Union, and its prime
movers and advocates as _traitors to their country and to the
Constitution_. These _Secession_ Democrats, headed by A. V. Brown,
Eastman & Co., are uncompromising in their hatred of the Major, and they
never will forgive him, while he remains true to the Union of these
States, and the Constitution as it is, which will be to the latest hour
of his earthly existence! Had he never opposed the _treasonable_ designs
of the Nashville Convention--and had he not advocated the doctrines of
the American party, these same men would now be loud in his praise, as
the relative, the political student, and the _successor_ of the Sage of
the Hermitage!
[From the Knoxville Whig of June 14, 1856.]
BUCHANAN NOMINATED AT CINCINNATI.--DISPERSION OF FALSTAFF'S ARMY!
The Cincinnati Anti-American, Anti-Protestant, Foreign Catholic,
Locofoco Pow Wow, has met--transacted its appropriate
business--nominated old Federal James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, for the
Presidency, and Robert C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, for the Vice
Presidency--and dispersed: dealing largely in the old game of _brag_, as
to the _nationality_, _soundness_, and _ability_ of their ticket; when
it is notorious, that they have at the head of their ticket one of the
most vulnerable men in the nation; an old political hack, who has been
"every thing by turns and nothing long;" advocating and opposing all the
leading measures which have agitated the country for the last forty
years, as we shall show in the sequel!
They had an awful time at Cincinnati! They organized by calling to the
chair, temporarily, the notorious _Sam'l. Medary_, the Abolition editor
of the Ohio Statesman. Either the anti-slavery forces were in the
majority, or the "odds and ends" of all parties represented in the
Convention desired to conciliate the Abolition and Black Republican
wings of their _Foreign Corporation_!
The Missouri Delegation were refused their seats, and they openly
rebelled, forcing their way into the Convention with _clubs_, knocking
down and cruelly mangling the head and shoulders of the poor doorkeeper!
From this, it would seem that they were doing business with _closed
doors_! Wonder if they had a _password_! Had they "signs and grips,"
other than those by which they made themselves known to the
_doorkeeper_?
Did they carry with them "dark-lanterns?" Not they--they are opposed to
all _secrecy_--they are opposed to all disorderly conduct--they are the
"harmonious Democracy," and labor alone for the good of the country, and
of posterity! What a farce their Cincinnati Convention was! And what
hypocrites they are!
But two full sets of Delegates appeared from New York, and claimed their
seats; these were _Hards_ and _Softs_--Pierce and
_anti_-Pierce--Nebraska and _anti_-Nebraska--pro-Slavery and
_anti_-Slavery, _Filibustering Foreign Catholic Democrats_! Being
unable to agree among themselves, and the Convention not wishing to
_offend_ either of these wings of the "great Harmonious Democratic
Party," they rejected both delegations! This was having a bad effect, as
a portion of each delegation was out of doors cursing the majority, and
making threats as to what they would do. So the Convention reconsidered
their cases, and ADMITTED BOTH DELEGATIONS TO SEATS. They then
progressed "harmoniously," much after the style of a rickety old cart on
a hill-side, drawn by a balky horse, whose driver curses him when at
fault, and curses him when faultless.
Frequently the scenes of confusion and excitement were alike disgusting
and alarming. The friends of Douglass, Pierce, and Buchanan, were alike
bitter, and each disposed to ruin the party if they should fail to get
their man nominated. The anti-slavery portion of the Convention were
much incensed against the South for the "_lam-basting_" given to
_Senator Sumner_ by _Representative Brooks_, for words spoken in debate.
One of Buchanan's men boasted that the assault of Brooks on Sumner had
gained _twenty_ votes for "Old Buck!" And others of the Buchanan wing,
out of doors, were stating that they had reliable evidence that "Old
Buck" did not approve the assault, while Pierce and Douglass did! We
have no doubt that this sort of influence, added to Buchanan's _known
hostility to slavery_, secured for him the nomination. And, as if
desirous to atone for the sin against the South of nominating an old
_Anti-Slavery Federalist_, they came into a Southern State, Kentucky,
and selected a young and inexperienced politician, Mr. Robert C.
Breckenridge, for the Vice Presidency. As Breckenridge is brave, and has
challenged his man for a _duel_, they can now turn about and appeal to
the Church-going folks to sustain their ticket _for what_ they implored
them to repudiate the Whig ticket in 1844! Besides, Breckenridge
_approves_ the basting of Sumner by Brooks, and this will _offset_
Buchanan's opposition to that _Southern Democratic measure_!
Breckenridge has another virtue, which aided in securing his nomination.
Though the nephew of those _able Know-Nothing Presbyterian Preachers_ of
that State, he has the independence to come out in opposition to them,
and the insulting claims set up by _Protestants generally_, and to
advocate and defend the Roman Catholics.
The "rich and racy" scenes that came off in the Convention, we will
leave our several friends from Nashville, who were there as reporters in
the Convention for the American papers, to set forth. With more truth
than poetry, the "unterrified Democracy" convened at Cincinnati can say,
"Our army swore terribly in Flanders!" And how could it have been
otherwise? The Convention was large--composed of several hundred
delegates, drawn together from all sections of the country, East, West,
North, and South--"held together by the cohesive power of public
plunder"--and representing every variety and shade of opinion known and
held under the much abused but comprehensive name of Democracy! Nor was
the moral and personal character of the Convention less mixed and
many-colored than was its politics.
In looking over the proceedings of this coalition and combination of
Bogus Democrats, Foreign Pauper Advocates, and anti-Protestant lovers of
Religious Liberty, we have looked in vain for the names of distinguished
Tennesseeans, who ought to have been second best, to say the least of
it, in the ballots for a nomination! It was that Aaron V. Brown, "the
son of a now sainted father," was put in nomination for the office of
Vice President, by a Mr. Brown, supposed to be his nephew; but making no
run at all, he was taken off the track instantly--rubbed down and salted
away!
But Andrew Johnson, who was to have been nominated for the first office
within the gift of the American people and no mistake, (!) was not even
named, and some say he was not even thought of for the position. We had
supposed that there existed among the leaders of the self-styled
Democracy, a determination to doom to utter extinction the light that
has guided the children of Political Reform in Tennessee, and throughout
the known world, and now we know it! The opposers of intellectual
emancipation, of "Jacob's Ladder Democracy," so superior to
Christianity, have triumphed at Cincinnati, and trampled under foot,
with impunity, the soul-stirring doctrine of "converging lines." The
next steps with these "enemies of righteousness" will be the rack, the
gibbet, and a second edition of the infernal inquisition! Will the
friends of the "White Basis" Governor of Tennessee tamely surrender
their dearest rights to these Cincinnati _crusaders_, without a single
struggle? Will they allow the saddle of Federal domination to be quietly
thrown on their backs? Ye Greene county delegates forbid it!
But Johnson is doomed to an inglorious retirement from public life. He
can console himself with the reflection, that rank only degrades--wealth
only impoverishes--ornaments but disfigure him! The man who discovered
that the Bogus Democracy of the nineteenth century leads fallen sinful
man to the throne of God, needs no office to elevate him. These Johnson
Democrats enjoy the pure religion of Democracy--a religion which enters
the closet--pours forth its supplications in private, feeds the poor,
clothes the naked--inflames not the prejudices of Protestant sects--is
modest and unassuming in its demeanor--is charitable and kind to the
persecuted and pious Catholics--bears with the infirmities of Foreign
Paupers--is not ambitious and designing, seeking to accomplish vast
schemes by doubtful means!
While Old Federal Buck was nominated on the seventeenth ballot, after
much excitement, wrangling and abuse, young Breckenridge, whose only
merit is his having challenged the Hon. Francis B. Cutting, of New York,
to fight a duel, two years ago, was nominated on the second ballot. The
ballot for a candidate for the Vice Presidency resulted as follows:
John C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, 55
John A. Quitman, of Mississippi, 59
Linn Boyd, of Kentucky, 33
Benjamin Fitzpatrick, of Alabama, 11
Aaron V. Brown, of Tennessee, 29
Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia, 31
Thomas J. Rusk, of Texas, 2
Wm H. Polk, of Tennessee, 5
J. C. Dobbin, of North Carolina, 13
A second ballot was entered into, when Hon. John C. Breckenridge, of
Kentucky, was unanimously chosen.
Tennessee, in voting for a Presidential candidate, voted SIX times for
Pierce, and EIGHT times for Douglass, and never came over to old Federal
Buck until they could do nothing for Pierce or Douglass. Buck seems to
have been a fill for Tennessee! But now, the Tennessee Democracy say:
"With hounds and horn,
At rosy morn,
We _Bucks_ a hunting go!"
Well, we Americans will get after Old Buck's venison too, and between
this and November next, many will be the steak we shall eat out of his
old Federal carcass. It is venison worthy of the chase, for
----"Finer or fatter
Ne'er roamed in the forest,
Or smoked in a platter."
So--
"Hi, ho, Chevy,
Hark away, hark away, tantivy,
Here rests the burthen of my song,
This _time_ a stag must die."
But Democracy have commenced their old game of brag, by puffing their
ticket as a national and conservative ticket, the very thing they
denied. Now let us look into the soundness and nationality of the HEAD
of the ticket. We have before us a copy of a work published in 1839, by
Robert Mayo, M. D., entitled, "Political Sketches of Eight Years in
Washington, in four parts." This work has gone through various editions,
having been published by Fielding Lucas, Jr., of Baltimore; Garret
Anderson, of Washington; J. R. Smith, of Richmond; Carey, Hart & Co., of
Philadelphia, and by others in New York and Boston. On page 38 of this
work, which Mr. Buchanan has never contradicted, he is reported to have
denounced the visions, patronage, and corruptions of the Democratic
Administrations, while he, Buchanan, was a member of the Old Federal
Party.
On page 6 of this work, in the preface, the author says, in speaking of
Buchanan before he turned Democrat:
"The declarations of some of these new disciples of Democracy
in past times are striking enough. MR. BUCHANAN of
PENNSYLVANIA, while he acted in his true character, DECLARED
THAT IF HE HAD A DROP OF DEMOCRATIC BLOOD IN HIS VEINS, HE
WOULD LET IT OUT! He put his royal declaration on paper, and it
has risen up against him."
A recent brief memoir of Mr. Buchanan, put forth in Pennsylvania, states
that he was elected to the Legislature in 1815, where he distinguished
himself by those exhibitions of intellect which gave promise of future
eminence. The Lancaster _Register_, published in the immediate vicinity
of Mr. Buchanan's residence, asks _by whom_ was he elected? and thus
supplies the record for 1815:
ASSEMBLY.
For JAMES BUCHANAN, Federal 3051
" Molton O. Rogers, Democrat 2502
The memoir sets forth that Mr. Buchanan was elected to Congress in 1820,
and that he retained his position in that body for ten years,
voluntarily retiring.
The Lancaster _Register_ inquires if he were elected as a _Democrat_,
and answers the inquiry by the following historical facts:
CONGRESS.
1820--James Buchanan, Federal 4642
" Jacob Hibsman, Democrat 3666
1822--James Buchanan, Federal 2153
" Jacob Hibsman, Democrat 1940
1824--James Buchanan, Federal 3560
" Samuel Houston, Democrat 3046
1826--James Buchanan, Federal 2760
" Dr. John McCamant, Democrat 2307
1828--James Buchanan, Jackson 5203
" William Hiester, Adams 3904
The Lancaster _Register_ then pursues its criticism as follows:
"On the 4th of July, 1815, Mr. Buchanan, when he was a
candidate for Assembly on the _Federal ticket_, delivered 'an
oration' in Lancaster, in which he showed his _love_ of
Federalism and _hatred_ of Democracy, by attacking the
Administration of James Madison. He said:
"'Time will not allow me to enumerate all the other evils and
wicked projects of the Democratic administration.'
"And again, in the same oration, he said:
"'What must be our opinion of an opposition whose passions were
so dark and malignant as to be gratified in endeavoring to
blast the character and imbitter the old age of Washington?
After thus persecuting the saviour of his country, _how can the
Democratic party dare to call themselves his disciples_?'"
And who does not recollect, in Tennessee, with what force and effect
JAMES C. JONES used to point out JAMES BUCHANAN as one of the _rank old
Federalists_ who had come over to the Democratic ranks, and was battling
with _Col. Polk_, side by side, while he was consuming half his time in
abuse of the Federal party? When the Democratic candidate for Congress
in this District, JULIUS W. BLACKWELL, charged _Federalism_ upon the
Whig party, who does not recollect with what effect and spirit JOHN H.
CROZIER ran over the list of ODIOUS OLD FEDERALISTS, then fighting under
the Democratic flag, among them naming out JAMES BUCHANAN? And will not
the files of the KNOXVILLE POST, edited by Capt. JAMES WILLIAMS, show
how he held up JAMES BUCHANAN and others as an _old Federalist of the
first water_?
On the subject of _Slavery_ the memoir is not definite, and the
Lancaster Register comes to its aid by publishing the following
proceedings of a public meeting held in that city on the 23d of
November, 1819:
"WHEREAS, the people of this State, pursuing the maxims and
animated by the beneficence of the great founder of
Pennsylvania, first gave effect to the gradual abolition of
slavery by a national act, which has not only rescued the
unhappy and helpless African within their territory from the
demoralizing influence of slavery, but ameliorating his state
and condition throughout Europe and America; and whereas, it
would illy comport with those humane and Christian efforts to
be silent spectators when this great cause of humanity is about
to be agitated in Congress, by fixing the destiny of the new
domains of the United States: therefore,
"_Resolved_, That the representatives in Congress from this
district be and they are hereby most earnestly requested to use
their utmost endeavors, as members of the National Legislature,
to prevent the existence of slavery in any of the Territories
or new States which may be created by Congress.
"_Resolved_, As the opinion of this meeting, that as the
Legislature of this State will shortly be in session, it will
be highly deserving of their wisdom and patriotism to take into
their early and most serious consideration the propriety of
instructing our representatives in the National Legislature to
use the most zealous and strenuous exertions to inhibit the
existence of slavery in any of the Territories or States which
may hereafter be created by Congress; and that the members of
Assembly from this county be requested to embrace the earliest
opportunity of bringing this subject before both Houses of the
Legislature.
"_Resolved_, That, in the opinion of this meeting, the members
of Congress who at the last session sustained the cause of
justice, humanity, and patriotism, in opposing the introduction
of slavery into the State then endeavored to be formed out of
the Missouri Territory, are entitled to the warmest thanks of
every friend of humanity.
"_Resolved_, That the proceedings of this meeting be published
in the newspapers in this city.
"JAMES HOPKINS,
WM. JENKINS,
JAMES BUCHANAN."
"The foregoing resolutions being read were unanimously adopted,
after which the meeting adjourned. (Signed)
WALTER FRANKLIN, Ch'n.
"Attest--WM. JENKINS, Sec'y."
The "Perry County Democratic Press," for April 9th, 1856, an able paper
published at Bloomfield in Pennsylvania, shows up the _Federal
anti-slavery, anti-Democratic, turn-coat character_ of Mr. Buchanan,
after this fashion:
JAMES BUCHANAN'S SOMERSETS.
"No man in the United States has turned his political coat as
often as James Buchanan. He has espoused the principles of
every party that has had an existence since the memorable
Hartford Convention, and has been on all sides of political
questions.
"A brief reference to his history will establish conclusively
our assertions."
HIS FEDERALISM.
"He entered political life in 1814 as a rank Federalist, and by
the Federal party he was elected to the Legislature of the
State. He was re-elected in 1815, defeating Molton C. Rogers,
the Democratic candidate, and afterwards one of the Supreme
Judges of the State.
"In 1820, he was the Federal candidate for Congress, and was
elected over Jacob Hibsman, the Democratic candidate, by 976
majority. In 1822, he was reëlected over the same man by 813
majority. In 1824, he was the Federal candidate for Congress,
and elected over Samuel Houston, the Democratic candidate, by
519 votes. In 1826, he was re-elected over Dr. John McCamant,
the Democratic candidate, by 453 votes. His majorities were
becoming less each time, and in order to satisfy his Federal
friends of his fidelity to the party, he had to declare that
'if he had a drop of Democratic blood in his veins, he would
open them and let it out.'"
HE BECOMES A DEMOCRAT.
"Two years after this, he changed his coat and became a
full-blooded Democrat, and ran for Congress as the Democratic
candidate, and was elected by virtue of General Jackson's
popularity. He was afraid to run a second term, and he
declined."
HIS TEN CENT SPEECH.
"In 1843, in the United States Senate, he made a speech
advocating the principle that ten cents is a sufficient
compensation for a day's labor. Hence he is called 'Ten Cent
Jimmy.'
"In 1845, he became Secretary of State under Polk's
administration, and consented to give away about half of the
Territory of Oregon to the British government, after he had
proven that they had not a spark of title to it.
"He extolled the Federal administration of John Adams, and
endorsed the abominable Alien and Sedition laws of the Federal
reign of terror. He bitterly denounced the administration of
that pure Democrat, James Madison, and ridiculed what he termed
the follies of Thomas Jefferson."
HIS SLAVERY SOMERSETS.
"In 1819, at a meeting in Lancaster, he reported resolutions
favoring resistance to the extension of slavery and the
admission of the State of Missouri as a slave State.
"In 1847, he wrote to the Democracy of Berks county, saying
that the Missouri Compromise had given peace to the country,
and that instead of repealing it he was in favor of its
extension and maintenance.
"In 1850, in a letter to Col. Forney, he rejoiced over the
settlement of the slavery agitation by the passage of the
compromise measures during Fillmore's administration, and hoped
that before a dissolution of the Union he might be gathered to
his fathers, and never be permitted to witness the sad
catastrophe.
"In 1852, he wrote to Mr. Leake, of Virginia, concerning
Fillmore's compromise measures of 1850, which had been passed
by Congress, and said, 'that the volcano has been extinguished,
and the man who would apply the firebrand to the combustible
materials still remaining, will produce an eruption that will
overwhelm the Constitution and the Union."
BUCHANAN'S LAST SOMERSET.
"On the 28th of December, 1855, about three months ago, Mr.
Buchanan, in a letter to John Slidell, of Louisiana, says: 'The
Missouri Compromise is gone, and gone for ever. It has
departed. The time for it has passed away, and the best, nay,
the only mode now left of _putting down_ the fanatical and
reckless spirit of the North is to adhere to the existing
settlement without the slightest thought or appearance of
wavering, and without regarding any storm which may be raised
against it."
Here, then, is an authentic record--if the reader please, a GILT-FRAME
PENNSYLVANIA LOOKING-GLASS, in which the Democracy of the South who
admire the nominee of the late Cincinnati Convention can _see him as he
is_! Heretofore, to use the language of Holy Writ, they have seen him
"through a glass darkly, but now face to face." Here they see him
standing erect upon the floor of the United States Senate, in all the
pride of that _aristocracy_ which has characterized his course in life,
and giving vent to the old and bitter feelings of the _royalists_ in
Pennsylvania, by advocating the _oppressive British doctrine_, that TEN
CENTS PER DAY _is enough for a poor white man as a day-laborer_! And
here, too, our hard-fisted working-men, North and South, can see what
sort of a man the Democracy are asking them to vote for for the
Presidency!
In his Fourth of July oration in 1815, delivered in the hearing of an
immense crowd, and afterwards published in all the leading papers of
Pennsylvania, Mr. Buchanan came out as a _Know-Nothing_, which he has
now to repudiate in stepping upon the _Anti-American Catholic Platform_
prepared for him at Cincinnati! Here is what he said in that celebrated
oration:
"The greater part of those foreigners who would not be thus
affected by it, have long been the warmest friends of the
party. They had been _one of the great means of elevating the
present ruling_ (Democratic) party, and it would have been
ungrateful for that party to have abandoned them. To secure
this foreign feeling has been the labor of their leaders for
more than twenty years, and well have they been paid for their
trouble, for it has been one of the principal causes of
introducing and continuing them in power. Immediately before
the war this foreign influence had completely embodied itself
with the majority, particularly in the West, and its voice was
heard so loud at the seat of government, that President Madison
was obliged either to yield to its dictates or retire from
office. The choice was easily made by a man who preferred his
private interests to the public good, and therefore hurried us
into a war for which we were utterly unprepared."
And then again:
"We ought to use every honest exertion to turn out of power
those weak and wicked men whose wild and visionary theories
have been tested and found wanting. Above all, we ought to
drive from our shores foreign influence, and cherish American
feeling. Foreign influence has been in every age the curse of
republics--its jaundiced eye sees every thing in false
colors--the thick atmosphere of prejudice by which it is ever
surrounded, excluding from its sight the light of reason. Let
us then learn wisdom from experience, and for ever banish this
fiend from our country."
And here is what JACKSON thought of BUCHANAN. The Democratic Washington
correspondent of the New York Evening Post, who was favorable to the
nomination of Pierce, makes this statement--a statement we have often
heard before, and never heard contradicted:
"On the night before leaving Nashville to occupy the White
House, Mr. Polk, in company with Gen. Robert Armstrong, called
at the Hermitage to procure some advice from the old hero as to
the selection of his cabinet. Jackson strongly urged the
President-elect to give no place in it to Buchanan, as he could
not be relied upon. It so happened that Polk had already
determined to make that very appointment, having probably
offered the situation to the statesman of Pennsylvania. This
fact induced Gen. Armstrong subsequently to tell Jackson that
he had given Polk a rather hard rub, as Buchanan had already
been selected for Secretary of State. 'I can't help it,' said
the old man: 'I felt it my duty to warn him against Mr.
Buchanan, whether it was agreeable or not. Mr. Polk will find
Buchanan an unreliable man. I know him well, and Mr. Polk will
yet admit the correctness of my prediction.'
"It was the last visit ever made by Mr. Polk to the old hero
when this unavailing remonstrance was delivered, but the new
President, long before the end of his administration, had
reason to acknowledge its propriety and justice, and in the
diary kept by him during that period may still be read a most
emphatic declaration of his distrust of Mr. Buchanan. Every one
is aware of two marked instances in which, as Secretary of
State, the latter failed to support the policy of the
administration, viz., on the question of the tariff of 1846,
and the requisition of the ten regiments voted by Congress for
the Mexican war. On both of these measures he was known to be
opposed to the wishes of Mr. Polk."
_Mr. Charles Irving_, the Democratic editor of the Lynchburg Republican,
and a delegate at Richmond in the State Convention, thus disposes of Mr.
Buchanan in a long and able letter, dated May 7th, 1856:
"If silence during the battle constitutes a claim for office,
how can the South expect Northern statesmen to uphold her
banner, when abolitionists are seeking to tear it to tatters?
If an ability to get free-soil votes makes a candidate
available, and that species of availability is recognized as a
merit at the South, Northern statesmen should court
free-soilers, and not struggle with them, if they wish to be
Presidents. Such availability may be very desirable to those
who wish success alone, but those who look to the interests of
the country may well be excused if they prefer a different
standard. I certainly _prefer_ that the South shall PREFER the
selection, not only of a sound man, but that she shall vote for
the nomination of no man upon any such ground of availability.
The coming election must settle the slavery agitation. I do not
wish a single free-soiler to vote the Democratic ticket, nor
will I willingly afford them the slightest excuse for so doing.
A prominent North-West Democrat told me to-day, that the
nomination of Mr. Buchanan would enable Trumbull, Wentworth,
and other free-soilers to come back into the party. I am not
anxious to get back such characters. These are some reasons for
not preferring Mr. Buchanan.
"But there is still another reason. That reason is in his
record. To carry the entire South, we must have not only a
sound man, but one who is above impeachment--whose record is as
stainless as the principles he advocates. Is such the case with
Mr. Buchanan? Let the record answer.
"On the 27th of December, 1837, Mr. Calhoun submitted to the
Senate that celebrated series of resolutions, the great objects
of which were to set forth with precision and force the
constitutional rights of the slaveholding States, and to
attract to their support an enlightened public opinion against
the attacks of Northern fanaticism. The second resolution was
in these words: (Calhoun's Works, volume 3, page 140.)
"'_Resolved_, That in delegating a portion of their powers to
be exercised by the Federal Government, the States retained
severally the exclusive and sole right over their own domestic
institutions and police, and are alone responsible for them,
and that any intermeddling of any one or more States, or a
combination of their citizens, with the domestic institutions
and police of the others, on any ground or under any pretext
whatever, political, moral, or religious, with a view to their
alteration or subversion, is an assumption of superiority not
warranted by the Constitution, insulting to the States
interfered with, tending to endanger their domestic peace and
tranquillity, subversive of the objects for which the
Constitution was formed, and, by necessary consequence, tending
to weaken and destroy the Union itself.'
"Mr. Morris of Ohio, who was then the only avowed Abolitionist
in the Senate, moved to strike out the words 'moral and
religious.' Had the motion prevailed, the effect would have
been to encourage agitation in the form in which it would be
most likely to be fatal to the South. It would have been a
direct encouragement to the Abolitionized clergy of the North
to take the very course which was taken by the 'three thousand
and fifty divines' who, in 1854, sacrilegiously assumed, 'in
the name of Almighty God, and in his presence,' to denounce the
repeal of the Missouri Compromise as 'a violation of plighted
faith and a breach of a national compact.' Subsequent events
have abundantly attested the truth of what Mr. Calhoun said,
when arguing against the motion, 'that the whole spirit of the
resolution hinged upon that word _religious_.'
"The vote taken on Mr. Morris's amendment stood as follows:
(Congressional Globe, volume 6, page 74.)
"Yeas--Messrs. Bayard, BUCHANAN, Clayton, Davis, McKeon,
Morris, Prentiss, Robbins, Ruggles, Smyth of Indiana,
Southward, Swift, Tipton, and Webster--14.
"Nays--Messrs. Allen, Black, Brown, Calhoun, Clay of Alabama,
Clay of Kentucky, Cuthbert, Fulton, Hubbard, King, Knight,
Linn, Lumpkin, Lyon, Nicholas, Niles, Norvell, Pierce, Preston,
Rives, Roane, Robinson, Sevier, Smyth of Connecticut, Strange,
Walker, Wall, White, Williams, Wright, and Young--31.
"The fifth resolution to which Mr. Calhoun here referred, and
which he justly regarded as the most important of all, and
struggled most perseveringly to have passed without amendment,
was strictly as follows:
"'Resolved, That the intermeddling of any State or States, or
their citizens, to abolish slavery in this District, or in any
of the Territories, on the ground, or under the pretext, that
it is immoral or sinful, or the passage of any act or measure
of Congress, with that view, would be a direct and dangerous
attack on the institutions of all the slaveholding States.'
"This resolution covered the whole premises. It met the issue
boldly and fully. No Southern Democrat can hesitate to say that
it embodied a great truth, to which events have borne emphatic
testimony. Mr. Clay, of Kentucky, moved to strike it out, and
insert the following as a substitute:
"'Resolved, That when the District of Columbia was ceded by the
States of Virginia and Maryland to the United States, domestic
slavery existed in both of those States, including the ceded
territory; and that, as it still continues in both of them, it
could not be abolished within the District without a violation
of that good faith which was implied in the cession, and in the
acceptance of the territory, nor unless compensation were made
for the slaves, without a manifest infringement of an amendment
of the Constitution of the United States, nor without exciting
a degree of just alarm and apprehension in the States
recognizing slavery, far transcending, in mischievous tendency,
any possible benefit which would be accomplished by the
abolition.' (Congressional Globe, vol. 6, page 58.)
"The utter insufficiency of this temporizing amendment scarcely
need be pointed out. Objectionable as it was in conceding to
Congress the constitutional power to abolish slavery in the
District of Columbia, and declaring against the exercise of
that power only on the ground of inexpediency, it was still
more so in this, that it made no reference whatever to the
territories of the United States. The passage of Mr. Calhoun's
resolution would have committed the Senate, not only against
the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, but
against the application of the Wilmot Proviso and kindred
measures to the Territories. Mr. Clay's amendment was entirely
silent on the subject. It is true, that in another resolution
which he proposed to have adopted as an additional amendment,
it was declared that the abolition of slavery in the Territory
of Florida would be highly inexpedient, for the principal
reason 'that it would be in violation of a solemn compromise
made at a memorable and critical period in the history of this
country, by which, while slavery was prohibited north, it was
admitted south of the line of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes
north latitude.' The defect in the first amendment can hardly
be considered by Southern men as remedied by another which
recognized the binding force of the Missouri Compromise.
"On the question to strike out Mr. Calhoun's resolution, and
insert Mr. Clay's as an amendment, after it had been modified
by striking out the part relating to compensation for slaves,
the vote stood--yeas 19, nays 18. (Congressional Globe, vol.
6, page 62.) _Mr. Buchanan's name stands recorded in the
affirmative._
"On a subsequent occasion, Mr. Calhoun, with a view to infuse
vitality into Mr. Clay's amendment, moved to insert that any
attempt of Congress to abolish slavery in the Territories,
'would be a dangerous attack upon the States in which slavery
exists.' Mr. Buchanan opposed the amendment, and it was in
reply to his speech that Mr. Calhoun made the remarks which may
be found in the third volume of his works, pages 194 to 196,
and which he commenced by saying that 'the remarks of the
Senator from Pennsylvania were of such a character that he
could not permit them to pass in silence.'
"From these votes, and this language of Mr. Buchanan, it is
clear:
"1st. That he was not opposed to the _religious_ agitation of
the slavery question--a species of agitation which Mr. Calhoun
justly regarded as more fatal than any other.
"2d. That he recognized the constitutional power of Congress to
abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, opposing its
existence only on the ground of its inexpediency--a proposition
which the position of Mr. Van Buren shows affords no reliable
protection to Southern institutions.
"3d. That he refused to commit himself fully on the great
question as to the power of Congress over the Territories of
the United States, and as far as he did go, evidently left it
to be understood that the abolition of slavery by Congress in
those Territories would be no attack on the States in which it
exists.'
"If his opinions, in these respects, have undergone any
material change, the country has not yet been authoritatively
apprised of the fact. The reflections cast by him on the
institution of slavery, in one of his speeches in England, and
the studied design he has manifested to keep aloof from the
excitement growing out of the repeal of the Missouri
Compromise, are not well calculated to inspire confidence, that
if his views have undergone any change, it has been a change
for the better."
After thus disposing of the _slavery issue_, _Mr. Irving_ thus turns to
the _Tariff Question_:
"So much for the slavery issue. How does Mr. Buchanan stand
upon the tariff? Will the Sentinel say that he is sound, or
justify his 'low wages' speech? How does he stand upon the
French Spoliation bill, which President Polk and President
Pierce vetoed? Everybody knows that he was in favor of it. How
does he stand upon the Pacific Railroad? He declared himself in
favor of an appropriation of public money to build it, as is
notorious. In fact, is there a single Federal measure except
that of the United States Bank, upon which he is not recorded
against Democratic principles? How can we hope to carry the
united South with such a record? Will Southern Democrats
overlook this record? Will Northern Nebraska men overlook this
ignoring of Pierce and Douglass? Is there no danger that in
admitting the abolitionist Trumbull, we may not dishearten the
gallant Douglass? Is there no fear that in reinstating the
free-soil Hickman, who is in favor of Reeder, we may not palsy
the arm of Richardson? In fine, is there no fear that in hoping
for free-soil aid, we may not lose the few real friends the
South has in the North? It is evident to the commonest
understanding, that the first step of Northern Black
Republicanism is to kill off all those influential men at the
North, like Pierce or Douglass, who have actively participated
in the fight for our rights. Is not the South aiding them in
this first step, when it not only ignores its own sons, but
also ignores, upon the ground of availability, those Northern
men identified with the late Kansas-Nebraska bill? This is a
question the South would do well to ponder. If Mr. Buchanan is
to be nominated, and Pierce and Douglass in the North ignored,
let the responsibility rest elsewhere than upon the State of
Virginia. He may be, and probably is sound, but these are times
when more than ordinary caution is necessary. It may become the
duty of the South to support him. When that time arrives I can
discharge the duty; but I do think that the reasons above
stated exempt me from any blame for not advocating him until
that responsibility devolves upon me. Very respectfully, CHAS.
IRVING.
The Southern Dough-faces of the Foreign Catholic party pretend to hold
Mr. Fillmore responsible for a letter he wrote more than twenty years
ago, in which he answers certain interrogatories in reference to
slavery, _affirmatively_, and in opposition to the extension of slavery!
The _latest_ record of Buchanan is in 1844, and proves him to be an
ABOLITIONIST OF THE BLACKEST DYE. About the last speech he ever made in
Congress, was IN OPPOSITION TO SLAVERY, in secret session of the Senate,
just before Mr. Polk, in opposition to the wishes of Gen. Jackson, gave
him a seat in his cabinet. This speech will be found in the
Congressional Globe for 1844, an extract from which is in these
_explicit_ and _memorable_ words:
"In arriving at the conclusion to support this treaty, I had to
encounter _but one serious obstacle_, AND THAT WAS THE QUESTION
OF SLAVERY. Whilst I have ever maintained, and ever shall
maintain, in their full force and vigor, the constitutional
rights of the Southern States over their slave property, I yet
feel a strong repugnance by any act of mine to extend the
limits of the Union over a new slaveholding territory. After
mature reflection, however, I overcame these scruples, and now
believe that the acquisition of Texas will be the means of
limiting, not enlarging, the dominion of slavery.
"In the government of the world, Providence generally produces
great changes by gradual means. There is nothing rash in the
counsels of the Almighty. May not, then, the acquisition of
Texas be the means of gradually drawing the slaves far to the
South to a climate more congenial to their nature; and may they
not finally pass off into Mexico, and THERE MINGLE WITH A RACE
WHERE NO PREJUDICE EXISTS AGAINST THEIR COLOR? The Mexican
nation is composed of Spaniards, Indians, and Negroes, blended
together in every variety, who would receive our slaves on
terms of perfect social equality. To this condition they never
can be admitted in the United States.
"That the acquisition of Texas would ere long convert Maryland,
Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, and probably others of the more
Northern Slave States, into free States, I entertain not a
doubt....
"But should Texas be annexed to the Union, causes will be
brought into operation which must inevitably remove slavery
from what may be called the farming States. From the best
information, it is no longer profitable to raise wheat, rye,
and corn, by slave labor. Where these articles are the only
staples of agriculture, in the pointed and expressive language
of Randolph, if the slave does not run away from his master,
the master must run away from the slave. The slave will
naturally be removed from such a country, where his labor is
scarcely adequate to his own support, to a region where he can
not only maintain himself, but yield large profits to his
master. Texas will open an outlet; and slavery itself may thus
finally pass the Del Norte, and be lost in Mexico. One thing is
certain, the present number of slaves cannot be increased by
the annexation of Texas.
"I have never apprehended the preponderance of the slave States
in the councils of the nation. Such a fear has always appeared
to me visionary. But those who entertain such apprehensions
need not be alarmed by the acquisition of Texas. More than
one-half of its territory is wholly unfit for the slave labor;
and, therefore, in the nature of things must be free. Mr. Clay,
in his letter of the 17th of April last, on the subject of
annexation, states that, according to his information--
"'The Territory of Texas is susceptible of a division into five
States of convenient size and form. Of these, two only would be
adapted to those peculiar institutions (slavery) to which I
have referred; and the other three, lying west and north of San
Antonio, being only adapted to farming and grazing purposes,
from the nature of their soil, climate, and productions, would
not admit of these institutions. In the end, therefore, there
would be two slave and three free States probably added to the
Union.'
"And here permit me to observe, that there is one defect in the
treaty which ought to be amended if we all did not know that it
is destined to be rejected. The treaty itself ought to
determine how many free and how many slave States should be
made out of this territory."
On the 11th of April, 1826, James Buchanan, who is now being supported
by _Southern slaveholders_, made a speech in Congress, _eleven years
after_ his Fourth of July oration, from which the following is taken:
"Permit me here, Mr. Chairman, for a moment, to speak upon a
subject to which I have never before adverted upon this floor,
and to which, I trust, I may never again have occasion to
advert. I mean the subject of slavery. I BELIEVE IT TO BE A
GREAT POLITICAL AND A GREAT MORAL EVIL. I THANK GOD, MY LOT HAS
BEEN CAST IN A STATE WHERE IT DOES NOT EXIST.... IT HAS BEEN A
CURSE ENTAILED UPON US BY THAT NATION WHICH MAKES IT A SUBJECT
OF REPROACH TO OUR INSTITUTIONS." (See Gales and Seaton's
Register of Debates, page 2180, vol. ii., part 2.)
MORE BUCHANAN ANTECEDENTS.
When a "_Uniform Bankrupt Law_" was enacted by Congress, after the
election of General Harrison, there were on the files of the Judiciary
Committee of the Senate _fifty-one petitions_, praying for the passage
of such a law. Twenty-nine of these were from New York, five from New
Jersey, three from Ohio, two from Indiana, two from Massachusetts, and
_one_ from each of the States of Tennessee and Mississippi. There were
_twenty-five_ other petitions praying for "_A General Bankrupt Law_;"
_fifteen_ of which were from New York, and eight from Pennsylvania; and
how will the Democracy like to see it hereafter proven that BUCHANAN
presented these petitions, and voted for the law? If it shall turn out
that "Old Buck" did really go for the "odious Bankrupt Law," let his
friends defend him on the ground that his _State_ desired it, and had
always favored the measure!
In the House of Representatives, in Congress, January 3, 1815, _Mr.
Ingersoll_, a notorious Democrat from Pennsylvania, and a _Boy Tory_ of
the war of the Revolution, from the Committee on the Judiciary, reported
a bill to establish _a uniform law of Bankruptcy throughout the United
States_! If these facts should not turn out to be a sufficient
justification of _Mr. Buchanan's course_, provided he went for this
Bankrupt Law, let his friends present these facts, and show that he was
in good old Federal Democratic _company_:
NUMBER 1. On the 5th of September, 1837, Mr. Van Buren's _Democratic_
Secretary of the Treasury made a report to Congress, praying the passage
of a _uniform Bankrupt Law_, which was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.
NUMBER 2. On the 13th day of January, 1840, _Mr. Norvell_, a Democratic
Senator from Michigan, moved that the Judiciary be instructed to inquire
into the expediency of reporting a bill for the establishment of a
_General Bankrupt Law_.