Reminiscences of public men in Alabama : for thirty years, with an appendix, Part 77

Author: Garrett, William, 1809-
Publication date: 1872
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga. : Plantation Pub. Co.'s Press
Number of Pages: 826

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If the power and duty of the Federal interference be conceded, two hostile sec- tional parties must be the inevitable result; the one inflaming the passions and ambition of the North, and the other of the South, and each struggling to use the Federal power and authority for the aggrandizement of its own section, at the ex- pense of the equal rights of the other, and in derogation of the fundamental

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principles of self-government which were firmly established in this country by the American revolution, as the basis of our entire republican system.

During the memorable period of our political history, when the advocates of Federal intervention upon the question of slavery in the Territories had well nigh "precipitated the country into a revolution"-the Northern interventionists de- manding the Wilmot proviso for the prohibition of slavery, and the Southern in- terventionists (then few in number, and without a single representative in either house of Congress) insisting upon Congressional legislation for the protection of slavery in opposition to the wishes of the people -- in either case it will be remem- bered that it required all the wisdom, power and influence of a Clay, and a Web- ster, and a Cass, supported by the Whig and Democratic parties of that day, to devise and carry out a line of policy which would restore peace to the country, and stability to the Union. The essential living principle of that policy, as ap- plied to the legislation of 1850, was, and now is, non-intervention with slavery in the Territories.

The fair application of this just and equitable principle restored harmony and fraternity to a distracted country.

If we can depart from that wise and just policy which produced these happy results, and permit the country to be again distracted, if not precipitated into a revolution, by a sectional contest between pro-slavery and anti-slavery interven- tionists, where shall we look for another Clay, another Webster, or another Cass, to pilot the ship of State over the breakers into a haven of peace and safety ?

The Federal Union must be preserved, and the Constitution must be maintained inviolate in all its parts. Every right guaranteed by the Constitution must be pro- tected by law in all cases where legislation is necessary to its engagement. The judicial authority, as provided in the Constitution, must be sustained, and its de- cisions implicitly obeyed and faithfully executed. The laws must be administered and the constituted authorities upheld, and all unlawful resistance suppressed. These things must all be done with firmness, impartiality, and fidelity, if we ex- pect to enjoy, and transmit unimpaired to our posterity, that blessed inheritance which we have received in trust from the patriots and sages of the Revolution. With sincere thanks for the kind and agreeable manner in which you have made known to me the action of the Convention, I have the honor to be, very respect- fully, your fellow-citizen,

S. A. DOUGLAS.

THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM, ADOPTED BY THE MARYLAND INSTITUTE CONVENTION, AT BALTIMORE, JUNE 23, 1860.

ORIGINALLY ADOPTED BY A PORTION OF THE SECEDERS AT CHARLESTON, APRIL 30, 1860.

Resolved, That the platform adopted by the Democratic party at Cincinnati, be affirmed with the following explanatory resolutions:

1. That the Government of a Territory organized by an act of Congress is pro- visional and temporary, and during its existence all citizens of the United States have an equal right to settle, with their property, in the Territory, without their rights, either of person or property, being destroyed or injured by Congressional or Territorial legislation.

2. That it is the duty of the Federal Government, in all its departments, to protect the rights of persons and property in the Territories, and wherever else its Constitutional authority extends.

3. That when the settlers in a Territory, having an adequate population, form a State Constitution, the right of sovereignty commences, and being consummated by their admission into the Union, they stand on an equality with the people of other States, and a State thus organized ought to be admitted into the Federal Union, whether the Constitution prohibits or recognizes the institution of slavery.

Resolved, That the Democratic party are in favor of the acquisition of the Island of Cuba, on such terms as shall be honorable to ourselves and just to Spain, at the earliest practicable moment.

Resolved, That the enactments of State Legislatures to defeat the faithful exe- cution of the Fugitive Slave Law are hostile in character, subversive of the Con- stitution, and revolutionary in their effect.

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Resolved, That the Democracy of the United States recognize it as the impera- tive duty of the Government to protect the naturalized citizen in all his rights, whether at home or in foreign lands, to the same extent as its native-born citizens.

Whereas, One of the greatest necessities of the age, in a political, commercial, postal, and military point of view, is a speedy connection between the Pacific and Atlantic coasts; therefore, be it

Resolved, That the National Democratic party do hereby pledge themselves to use every means in their power to secure the passage of some bill, to the extent of their Constitutional authority by Congress, for the construction of a Pacific Rail- road from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, at the earliest practical moment.

MR. BRECKINRIDGE'S LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE.

WASHINGTON CITY, July 6, 1860.

DEAR SIR-I have your letter of the 23d ultimo, by which I am officially in- formed of my nomination for the office of President of the United States, by the Democratic National Convention, lately assembled at Baltimore. The circum- stances of this nomination will justify me in referring to its personal aspect.

I have not sought nor desired to be placed before the country for the office of President. When my name was presented in the Convention at Charleston, it was withdrawn by a friend, in obedience to my expressed wishes. My views had not changed when the Convention reassembled at Baltimore; and when I heard of the differences which occurred there, my indisposition to be connected prominently with the canvass was confirmed, and expressed to many friends.

Without discussing the occurrences which preceded the nominations, and which are, or soon will be, well understood by the country, I have only to say that I ap- proved-as just and necessary to the preservation of the National organization, and the sacred right of representation-the action of the Convention over which you continued to preside; and thus approving it, and having resolved to sustain it, I feel that it does not become me to select the position I shall occupy, nor to shrink from the responsibilities of the post to which I have been assigned. Ac- cordingly, I accept the nomination from a sense of public duty, and, as I think, uninfluenced in any degree by the allurements of ambition.

I avail myself of this occasion to say that the confidence in my personal and public character, implied by the action of the Convention, will always be grate- fully remembered; and it is but just also to my own feelings, to express my grat- ification at the association of my name with that of my friend General Lane, a patriot and a soldier, whose great services in the field and in council, entitle him to the confidence and gratitude of his country.

The resolutions adopted by the Convention have my cordial approval. They are just to all parts of the Union-to all our citizens, native and naturalized- and they form a whole policy for any administration.

The questions touching the rights of persons and property, which have of late been much discussed, find in these resolutions a Constitutional solution. Our Union is a confederacy of equal, sovereign States, for the purpose enumerated in the Federal Constitution. Whatever the common Government holds in trust for all the States must be enjoyed equally by each. It controls the Territories in trust for all the States. Nothing less than sovereignty can destroy or impair the rights of person or property. While they continue to be Territories, they are under the control of Congress; but the Constitution no where confers the right on any branch of the Federal Government the power to discriminate against the rights of the States, or the property of their citizens in the Territories. It fol- lows that the citizens of all the States may enter the Territories of the Union with their property, of whatever kind, and enjoy it during the Territorial condition, without let or hindrance, either by Congress, or either by the subordinate Terri- torial Governments.

These principles flow directly from the absence of sovereignty in the Territo- rial Governments, and from the equality of the States. Indeed, they are essen- tial to that equality which is, and ever has been, the vital principle of our Consti-

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tutional Union. They have been settled legislatively-settled judicially-and are sustained by right reason. They rest on the rock of the Constitution. They will preserve the Constitution. They will preserve the Union.

It is idle to attempt to smother these great issues, or to misrepresent them by the use of partisan phrases, which are misleading and delusive. The people will look beneath such expressions as "intervention," "Congressional Slave Code," and the like, and will penetrate to the real questions involved. The friends of Constitutional equality do not, and never did, demand a "Congressional Slave Code," nor any other " code" in regard to property in the Territories. They hold the doctrine of non-intervention by Congress, or by a Territorial Legislature, either to establish or prohibit slavery; but they assert (fortified by the highest judicial tribunal in the Union) the plain duty of the Federal Government, in all its departments, to secure, when necessary, to the citizens of all the States, the enjoyment of their property in the common Territories, as everywhere else within its jurisdiction. " The only logical answer to this would seem to be to claim sover- eign power for the Territories, or to deny that the Constitution recognized property in the services of negro slaves, or to deny that such property can exist.

Inexorable logic, which works its steady way through clouds and passion, com- pels the country to meet the issue. There is no evasive, middle ground. Already the signs multiply of a fanatical and growing party, which denies that under the Constitution, or by auy other law, slave property can exist; and ultimately the struggle must come between that party and the National Democracy, sustained by all the other conservative elements in the Union.

I think it will be impossible for a candid mind to discern hostility to the Union or a taint of sectionalism in the resolutions adopted by the Convention. The Con- stitution and the Union repose on the equality of the States, which lies like a broad foundation underneath our whole political structure. As I construe them, the resolutions simply assert this equality. They demand nothing for any State or section that is not cheerfully conceded to all the rest. It is well to remember that the chief disorders which have afflicted our country, have grown out of the violation of State equality; and that as long as this great principle has been re- spected, we have been blessed with harmony and peace. Nor will it be easy to persuade the country that resolutions are sectional which command the support of a majority of the States, and are approved by the bone and body of the old Dem- ocracy, and by a mass of conservative opinion everywhere, without regard to party.

It has been necessary, more than once in our history, to pause and solemnly assert the true character of this Government. A memorable instance occurred which ended in the civil revolution of 1800. The Republicans of that day, like the Democracy of this, were stigmatized as disunionists, but they nobly conducted the contest under the Constitution, and saved our political system. By a like con- stitutional struggle it is intended now to assert and establish the equality of the States as the only basis of union and peace. When this object, so National, so constitutional, so just, shall be accomplished, the last cloud will disappear from the American sky, and with common hands and hearts, the States and the people will unite to develop the resources of the whole country, to bind it together with the bonds of intercourse and brotherhood, and to impel it onward in its great course. The Constitution and the equality of the States ! these, are symbols of everlasting Union; let these be the rallying cries of the people.

I trust that this canvass will be conducted without rancor, and that temperate arguments will take the place of hot words and passionate accusations. Above all, I venture humbly to hope that Divine Providence, to whom we owe our origin, our growth, and all our prosperity, will continue to protect our beloved country against all danger, foreign and domestic.

I am, with great respect, your friend,

JOHN C. BRECKINRIDGE.

Hon. C. Cushing, President of the Democratic National Convention.

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Reminiscences of Public Men in Alabama.

CHAPTER XL.

Literary Characters of Alabama-Authors of History and Romance.

The character of each State, and of each community, is more or less respected abroad, from the ability and accomplishments of its authors and its literary classes. By this standard the claims of Alabama may be judged, in part, by the list here introduced.

JOSEPH G. BALDWIN, author of the " Flush Times of Alabama and Mississippi," and of "Party Leaders," has been noticed else- where in this work, as a member of the Legislature.

FREDERICK A. P. BARNARD, LL.D., was born in Massachu- setts, in 1809, and graduated at Yale College, with high honors, in 1828. In 1829, he was appointed Tutor in that institution. In 1831, he was one of the Instructors in the American Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb at Hartford, Connecticut, and, in 1833, he transferred his employment to the New York Institute for the Deaf and Dumb, where he taught until 1838.

In 1838, he accepted the Professorship of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in the University of Alabama, which he held until 1848, and afterward filled the Chair of Chemistry until 1854. From Alabama, he passed, in 1854, to the Chair of Mathematics and Astronomy in the University of Mississippi, and, in 1856, he was elected its President. In consideration of his great learning, the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him by Jeffer- son College, in that State.

The published works of Prof. Barnard include a small treatise on Arithmetic, in 1830, and one on Grammar, in 1834. In 1855, he published Letters on College Government, and a Report on Collegiate Education, made to the Faculty of the University of Alabama, of which he had been many years the Secretary.

Professor Barnard was a very industrious and prolific writer. Besides contributing many articles to the newspapers, he wrote for the magazines, especially for the American Journal of Educa- · tion, from the commencement. From science and literature, he would expand into the most graceful humor, as the occasion might justify. At other times, he was grave and didactic. Some years ago, he took orders for the ministry, in the Episcopal Church.

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Besides his superior qualifications as a scholar, Prof. Barnard was a bright Mason. On the 24th of June, 1841, he deliv- ered an address before Rising Virtue Lodge, No. 4, Tuskaloosa, on the "Claims of Masonry upon the Respect and Veneration of Mankind," which was published in pamphlet form at the request of the Lodge.

On 11th July, 1854, the anniversary of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, Professor Barnard pronounced an oration of great merit, entitled " Art Culture: Its relation to National Refinement and National Morality," which was published in a pamphlet of 43 pages.

The present location and employment of Professor Barnard may be seen by the following extract from a message of Gov. Patton, dated January 15, 1867:

While in New York I conferred fully with the United States Commissioners for the Paris Exposition. I found that they took a lively interest in having all the States properly represented. It may not be improper to observe that Alabama's interest has a special friend in F. A. P. Barnard, late of the University of Ala- bama, and now President of Columbia College, in New York. That learned gen- tleman is the principal Commissioner for the United States, and is particularly solicitous for a liberal contribution of the various mineral, and other specimens which will properly represent the vast natural resources of Alabama. I arranged with the Commissioner for the transportation, from New York to Paris, of all such articles as might be prepared and forwarded. A considerable variety of valuable specimens has already been furnished, and many more are confidently expected. I respectfully submit to the Legislature the question of making a limited appro- priation to pay the expenses of transporting specimens from the interior of the State to Montgomery, and hence to New York. Several gentlemen of the State will visit Paris during the ensuing Spring, some of whom have kindly consented to act as agents to represent Alabama's interest at the Exposition.

The Commissioners at the Paris Universal Exposition, severally made reports which were published, in six volumes, by order of Congress. The third volume, profusely illustrated, consists of the Report of President Barnard on the "Machinery and Processes of the Industrial Arts; and Apparatus of the Exact Sciences." It is a very elaborate paper of 650 pages, in print, justly placing him in the front rank of men of science, in this or any other country.

JOHN G. BARR, when a portionless boy, attracted the friendly notice of Mr. Daniel M. Boyd, a merchant tailor of Tuskaloosa, who sent him to the University of Alabama, where he graduated with the first honor, in the class of 1841. Afterward he was em- ployed as a tutor, and gave himself up to his passion for elegant literature, in which he excelled as a writer and speaker. No one ever left the institution with more credit. In the Mexican war he was Captain of a company of volunteers from Tuskaloosa county.

His service in the Mexican war gave him great popularity at

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home. On his return, he was for some time connected with the editorship of the "Flag of the Union," the organ of the Demo- cratic party. In the meantime, his lively and graphic pen furnished many articles for the Northern magazines and papers, which af- forded him a liberal compensation. He wrote fine things for "Porter's Spirit of the Times," in New York, which were much admired by the public.

In 1856, Capt. Barr was appointed on the Electoral ticket, and canvassed with great power and effect for Buchanan and Breckin- ridge. His political information was sound, and his style of speak- ing very attractive. Crowds followed to hear him. At the session of the Legislature in 1857, a flattering testimonial was furnished him, signed by all the Democratic members, and the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House, recommending the President to give him an appointment worthy of his distinguished talents and great party services. He visited Washington, and delivered his papers. After some delay, President Buchanan gave him the Consulship at Melbourne (in Australia). While on his passage, he died at sea, and was buried in its billows, whose dirge was his only requiem. In the Summer of 1858, a Montgomery paper thus announced the sad event:

DEATH OF CAPT. JOHN G. BARR .- It will be seen from the official notice from the State Department, published in another column, that Capt. John G, Barr, of this State, lately appointed United States Consul at Melbourne, died on his way to his station, on the 18th of May last, from sunstroke. This will be melancholy tidings to the numerous friends of this gentleman, and especially to the citizens of Tuskaloosa, where he was well known and highly appreciated for his many virtues. In the death of Capt. Barr, Alabama loses a patriotic and valuable citi- zen-a son whose future promised to adorn a bright page in her history.

JEREMIAH CLEMENS, in addition to authorship, was a politi- cian. His course in the Legislature, and in the Senate of the United States, has been noticed elsewhere in this volume; also the works which he published.

MISS AUGUSTA J. EVANS, a native of Georgia, first appeared before the public in 1859, as the author of "Beulah," a novel of great intellectual power and graphic force, which secured at once a reputation among the very highest in that department of litera- ture. This work was succeeded by "Macaria, or the Altar of Sacrifice," "St. Elmo," and "Vashti." Her earliest production was "Inez, a Tale of the Alamo." Miss Evans resided in Mobile during the composition of her works, except the first, when her parents were in Texas. In the meantime, the family name has been changed, and she is now Mrs. Wilson, as happy in domestic life as she was brilliant in another sphere.

MRS. CAROLINE LEE HENTZ is a Northern lady, whose family name was Whiting. She married Professor Hentz, of the Uni-

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versity of North Carolina. Afterward, they removed to Alabama, and, for a number of years, resided in Florence. About 1842, they came to Tuskaloosa, and, for several years, had charge of the Female Institute under the patronage of the Presbyterian Church. Thence Mrs. Hentz removed to Columbus, Georgia, where she was Principal of a Female Seminary. While on a visit to one of her married daughters, in Florida, she died there in 1856.

She wrote "De Lara, or The Moorish Bride," a dramatic poem, to which was awarded a prize of $500. It was performed in the Philadelphia Theaters, and had quite a run. Her other works have been-

1. Aunt Patty's Scrap Bag. 1846.

2. The Mob Cap. 1848.

3. Linda, or The Young Pilot of the Belle Creole. 1850.

4. Rena, or The Snow-Bird. 1851.

5. Marcias Moreland, or The Long Moss Spring. 1852.

6. Eoline, or Magnolia Vale. 1852.

7. Wild Jack. 1853.

8. Helen and Arthur, or Miss Theresa's Spinning Wheel. 1853.

9. The Planter's Northern Bride. 1854.

10. Ernest Linwood. 1856.

Many of these works have been republished by the book-sellers in uniform editions, and have had quite a circulation.

The fact that Mrs. Hentz resided many years in Alabama, and became cordially identified in feeling with Southern society, gives us the right to enroll her bright name among the professional authors of the State.

HENRY W. HILLIARD was born in North Carolina, in 1808, and now resides at Augusta, Georgia. The prime of his life was passed in Alabama, where he attained high public honors. These are noticed under another head in this work. A volume of his Speeches, Essays and Addresses, on various occasions, was pub- lished many years ago by Harper & Brothers, New York. He is a gentleman of culture and refinement, and so far as he has acted the part of author, in annotations to "Roman Nights," he has been successful.

JOHNSON J. HOOPER, as author of "Simon Suggs," and other tales of a grotesque yet popular class, enjoyed a large degree of public favor in his day. Remarks on his life, and as a writer, will be found elsewhere in this volume.

MRS. OCTAVIA WALTON LE VERT, a grand-daughter of George Walton, one of the signers of the Declaration of American Inde-

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pendence in 1776, was born at Augusta, Georgia. Thence her fa- ther removed to Pensacola, Florida, in 1832. In one of her jour- neys in the stage, before the time of railroads, she traveled a few days most agreeably with Washington Irwing, then on his journey to or from the far West. She frequently visited Washington City, where she passed much of her time, and was an attentive listener to the debates of Congress-occasionally taking notes of such speak- ers as Clay, Calhoun, Webster, McDuffie and Benton ; and then in social argumentation with some of these gentlemen, she would greatly surprise them by quoting their own language.

In 1836, she married Dr. Henry S. Levert, of Mobile. She made two visits to Europe, and went to Rome, where she was pre- sented to His Holiness the Pope. An account of the interview is given in her "Souvenirs of Travel," published in two volumes after her return, in 1857. She has written many fine things, and has been quite a favorite with the public. For the last several years, she has resided in the city of New York.

ALEXANDER BEAUFORT MEEK was born in Columbia, South Carolina, in the year 1814. His father, Dr. Samuel Meek, after- ward removed to Alabama, and settled in Tuskaloosa, where the son graduated in the State University, with the degree of Master of Arts, in the class of 1833.

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Reminiscences of public men in Alabama : for thirty years, with an appendix, Part 77

Author: Garrett, William, 1809- Publication date: 1872 Publisher: Atlanta, Ga. : Plantation Pub. Co.'s Press Number of Pages: 826

Author: Garrett, William, 1809-
Publication date: 1872
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga. : Plantation Pub. Co.'s Press
Number of Pages: 826