[1] Capitolinus states that he was originally called Catilius Severus
after his mother's grandfather; if so the name was early discarded.
[2] Aurelius has been severely criticized for sending Verus. Among
various reasons, the most convincing is that the presence of Aurelius
was required in Rome; moreover, the real leader was evidently
Cassius.
MARCY, WILLIAM LEARNED (1786-1857), American statesman, was born in
Southbridge (then part of Sturbridge), Massachusetts, on the 12th of
December 1786. He graduated at Brown University in 1808, studied law,
was admitted to the bar in Troy, New York, and began practice there in
1810. During the War of 1812 he served first as a lieutenant and
afterwards as a captain of volunteers, and on the 22nd of October 1812
took part in the storming of the British post at St Regis, Canada. In
1816 he became recorder of Troy, but as he sided with the Anti-Clinton
faction of the Democratic-Republican Party, known as the "Bucktails," he
was removed from office in 1818 by his political opponents. As editor of
the Troy _Budget_ (daily) he was a vigorous supporter of Martin Van
Buren, and when Van Buren's followers acquired control of the
legislature in 1821 Marcy was made adjutant-general of the New York
militia. From 1823 to 1829 Marcy was comptroller of the state, an office
then especially important on account of the large expenditures for
internal improvements, and during this period he became the leading
member of the famous "Albany Regency," a group of able Democratic
politicians who exerted a powerful influence throughout the state by
their control of the party patronage and machinery. He was one of the
associate justices of the New York Supreme Court from 1829 to 1831,
presiding over the trial of the alleged murderers of William Morgan and
in other important cases; and was a member of the United States Senate
from December 1831 to July 1832, when he resigned to become governor of
New York. In a speech in the Senate defending Van Buren against an
attack by Henry Clay, Marcy made the unfortunate remark that "to the
victors belong the spoils of the enemy," and thereby became widely known
as a champion of the proscription of political opponents. He served as
governor of New York for six years (Jan. 1, 1833 to Dec. 31, 1838), but
was defeated in 1838 by the Whig candidate, William H. Seward. As
governor he checked the issue of bank charters by the legislature and
secured the enactment, in 1838, of a general banking law, which
abolished the monopoly features incident to the old banking system. In
1839-1842 Marcy was a member of a commission appointed by President Van
Buren, in accordance with the treaty of 1839 between the United States
and Mexico to "examine and decide upon" certain claims of citizens of
the United States against Mexico. In 1843 he presided over the
Democratic state convention at Syracuse, and in 1844-1845 he was
recognized as one of the leaders of the "Hunkers," or regular Democrats
in New York, and an active opponent of the "Barnburners." He was
secretary of war under President Polk from 1845 to 1849, and as such,
discharged with ability the especially onerous duties incident to the
conduct of the Mexican War; he became involved, however, in
controversies with Generals Scott and Taylor, who accused him, it seems
very unjustly, of seeking to embarrass their operations in the field
because they were political opponents of the administration. In the
Democratic convention at Baltimore, in 1852, Marcy was a prominent
candidate for the presidential nomination, and from 1853 to 1857 he was
secretary of state in the cabinet of President Pierce. Few cabinet
officers in time of peace have had more engrossing duties. His circular
of the 1st of June 1853 to American diplomatic agents abroad,
recommending that, whenever practicable, they should "appear in the
simple dress of an American citizen," created much discussion in Europe;
in 1867 his recommendation was enacted into a law of Congress. One of
the most important matters with which he was called upon to deal was the
"Koszta Affair";[1] his "Hülsemann letter" (1853), is an important
state paper, and the principles it enunciates have been approved by
leading authorities on international law. In the same year he secured
the negotiation of the Gadsden Treaty (see GADSDEN, JAMES), by which the
boundary dispute between Mexico and the United States was adjusted and a
large area was added to the Federal domain; and in June 1854 he
concluded with Lord Elgin, governor-general of Canada, acting for the
British Government, a treaty designed to settle the fisheries question
and providing for tariff reciprocity (as regards certain enumerated
commodities) between Canada and the United States. In 1854 Marcy had to
deal with the complications growing out of the bombardment of San Juan
del Norte (Greytown), Nicaragua, by the United States sloop-of-war
"Cyane" for insults offered the American minister by its inhabitants and
for their refusal to make restitution for damages to American property.
The expedition of William Walker (q.v.) to Nicaragua in 1855 further
complicated the Central American question. The Crimean War, on account
of the extensive recruiting therefor by British consuls in several
American cities, in violation of American neutrality, led to a
diplomatic controversy with Great Britain, and in May 1856 the British
minister, John F. T. Crampton (1805-1886), received his passports, and
the exequaturs of the British consuls at New York, Philadelphia and
Cincinnati were revoked. The incident created great excitement in
England, but in 1857 the British government sent Sir Francis Napier to
Washington to take Crampton's place. To the Declaration of Paris of
1856, prescribing certain rules of naval warfare, Marcy on behalf of his
government refused to subscribe, because Great Britain had rejected his
proposed amendment exempting from seizure in time of war all private
property not contraband. The diplomatic relations of the United States
and Spain furnished, perhaps, the most perplexing of Marcy's problems.
Upon the seizure (on Feb. 28, 1854) of the American vessel "Black
Warrior," the confiscation of her cargo, and the fining of her captain
by the Cuban authorities, on the ground that this vessel had violated
the customs regulations of the port of Havana, slavery propagandists
sought to force the administration into an attitude that would lead to
war with Spain and make possible the seizure of Cuba; and it was largely
due to Marcy's influence that war was averted, Spain restoring the
confiscated cargo and remitting the captain's fine.[2] The secretary,
however, was not averse to increasing his popularity and his chances for
the presidency by obtaining Cuba in an honourable manner, and it was at
his suggestion that James Buchanan, J. Y. Mason and Pierre Soulé, the
ministers respectively to Great Britain, France and Spain, met at Ostend
and Aix-la-Chapelle in October 1854 to discuss the Cuban question. But
the remarkable "Ostend Manifesto" (see BUCHANAN, JAMES), the outcome of
their conference, was quite unexpected, and Marcy promptly disavowed the
document. Marcy died at Ballston Spa, New York, on the 4th of July 1857,
a short time after the close of Pierce's administration. In domestic
affairs Marcy was a shrewd, but honest partisan; in diplomacy he
exhibited the qualities of a broad-minded, patriotic statesman, endowed,
however, with vigour, rather than brilliancy, of intellect.
For his early career, consult J. S. Jenkins, _Lives of the Governors
of New York_ (Auburn, New York, 1851), and for his work as secretary
of state, see James Ford Rhodes, _History of the United States_ (vols.
i. and ii., New York, 1892), and an article by Sidney Webster, "Mr
Marcy, the Cuban Question, and the Ostend Manifesto," in vol. viii. of
the _Political Science Quarterly_ (New York, 1893).