USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > Washington : the capital city and its part in the history of the nation > Part 7
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This was Douglas's shrewd bid for the Presi- dency, to compass which had now become his dominant aim. Southern politicians could not reject this proposal and retain their influence at home, while Northern politicians who op- posed it must give up all hope of national pre- ferment, which then seemed to depend upon Southern support. Douglas, however, did not fully reckon with the force of Northern public opinion, nor with the anger sure to be aroused
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by the ruthless repeal of a compact between the sections which had long been looked upon as having the moral force of an article of the Constitution itself. " Could anything but a de- sire to buy the South at the Presidential sham- bles dictate such an outrage?" asked John Van Buren, and to this trenchant question Douglas and his friends could make only shuffling and evasive answer.
Chase led the fight against the Nebraska bill in the Senate; Wade, Seward, Everett, and Sumner opposed it in powerful speeches, and the Northern press and people, the latter speaking through their State Legislatures and crowded public meetings, denounced it in un- measured terms. Protests, however, were for the moment without avail. The Democrats counted a majority in both branches of Con- gress, the Administration gave unqualified, if reluctant, support to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and Douglas, backed by Cass, Toombs, Dixon, and others, put forth all his strong and subtle powers as an advocate in support of the scheme which had now become part and parcel of his political fortunes. What was proposed, he adroitly argued, was the final
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settlement of a continuing agitation by leaving to the people of the Territories themselves the question whether they should protect or pro- hibit slavery. Defeat of such adjustment would sever the Democracy, and, precipitating civil war, destroy the Union. And so, borne on- ward by the aggressive spirit of slavery, political ambition, the force of party discipline, and the dread of sectional discord, the Nebraska bill was passed by the House and the Senate, and on May 30, 1854, received the signature of the President.
Slavery had won, but there never was a more costly victory for the victors. " Pierce and Douglas," wrote Greeley, " have made more abo- litionists in three months than Garrison and Phillips could have made in half a century;" and this statement had prompt and practical con- firmation. The day after the Nebraska bill passed the House thirty Whigs and Democratic members met at the call of Israel Washburn and agreed to the organization of a new po- litical party hostile to slavery extension, to which, at the suggestion of Seward, was given the name Republican. The movement thus set upon foot was instantly taken up in all parts
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of the North. Michigan chose a Republican governor in November, 1854. At the same time a majority of Anti-Nebraska men were elected to the popular branch of Congress, and this change in conditions bore exciting fruit when, on December 3, 1855, the House proceeded to the election of a successor to Linn Boyd, who had presided over the two preceding Congresses. Though in a majority, the anti-slavery men were not yet fused into a homogeneous party, and it was only at the end of a sixty-one days' contest that a choice was made. There were five aspirants for Speaker at the outset, but in the end the race narrowed down to Nathaniel P. Banks, of Massachusetts, a moderate anti- slavery man, and William Aiken, of South Carolina, a pro-slavery Democrat. The crisis came on February 2, 1856, when the House agreed that if, after three more ballots had been taken, no candidate had received a majority, a plurality vote should elect. Neither candidate had a majority on any of the three ballots. The fourth and decisive ballot gave Banks one hun- dred and three votes and Aiken one hundred, with ten votes scattering. The friends of free- dom, in the election of Banks, gained their first
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decisive victory in Congress, but the method of its achievement was full of meaning for those who feared sectional divisions; all of the votes for the anti-slavery candidate were from the North, while those cast for Aiken were, save a trifling number, from the South.
Meanwhile, the repeal of the Missouri Com- promise was bearing sinister fruit in the West. Douglas's bill in its final form divided the terri- tory dealt with into two parts, calling the north- ern portion Nebraska and the southern Kansas, the boundaries of the latter being substantially the same as those of the present State. Doubt- less, the purpose which Douglas had in. view by his division was to make one slave and one free State. The South so regarded it, and no sooner had the bill been passed and signed than a movement began in Western Missouri with the avowed object of making Kansas slave ter- ritory. This was promptly answered by organ- ized efforts in the free States to fill Kansas with anti-slavery settlers; and thence arose a conflict which kept the Territory in a state of confusion and bloodshed, and excited party feel- ing, both in and out of Congress, to fever heat.
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Brooks's assault on Sumner added fuel to the flames. On May 19 and 20, 1856, the Massachusetts Senator delivered an elaborate and carefuly prepared speech on the "Crime against Kansas," in which he sharply censured Senator Butler, of South Carolina. Two days later, as Sumner was sitting, after the adjourn- ment, writing at his desk alone in the Senate chamber, Preston S. Brooks, a relative of But- ler's and a member of the House from South Carolina, entered the room, and, after speaking a few words to Sumner, struck him on the head with a heavy cane. Penned under his desk, Sumner could offer no resistance, and Brooks continued the blows o'n his defenceless head. Stunned and blinded, Sumner finally succeeded in gaining his feet, but while he was reeling and staggering about Brooks took hold of him, and struck him again and again. Nor did the assailant desist until his victim, covered with blood, fell insensible to the floor. Sumner was long incapacitated for public service, and never fully recovered his former health and vigor.
Northern anger at this outrage was still hot when representatives of the newly formed Re-
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publican party, by this time firmly established in a score of States, met in national convention and nominated John C. Fremont for President. The Democrats again put Douglas aside and named James Buchanan, who, as minister to England, had been out of the country for sev- eral years, and had thus kept himself free from the dissensions which were fast rending his party in twain. Fremont's nomination evoked unbounded enthusiasm in the North, and there is little doubt that he would have been elected had it not been for one of those curious popu- lar movements which now and then wipe out party lines. In 1852 what was known as the American party came into favor. This was an oath-bound order formed for the avowed purpose of checking the influence of foreign- born voters. Because its members expressed utter ignorance of its existence, they became known as Know-Nothings.
The party flour- ished exceedingly for several years, and in 1855 carried important elections in the East, South, and West. In 1856 Millard Fillmore accepted its nomination for President, and in so doing brought defeat to the Republicans. Fremont carried eleven Northern States, but the inter-
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position of Fillmore's candidacy lost him Penn- sylvania and Illinois, and Buchanan was elected. Yet the revolution had begun, and four years later another and greater battle at the polls was to settle the slavery question once and for all.
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CHAPTER VI
THE END OF AN ERA
J AMES BUCHANAN at no stage of his long life was counted a popular hero, and his in- duction into the Presidency on March 4, 1857, was, in the main, a perfunctory affair. It made up, however, in numbers what it lacked in en- thusiasm, and twoscore militia companies and campaign clubs had places in the procession which escorted the President-elect from his lodgings to the Capitol and thence to the White House. He read his inaugural address from a platform erected over the steps of the east por- tico of the Capitol, and was then sworn into office by the venerable Chief Justice Taney. An impromptu reception followed his arrival at the White House, and the usual inauguration ball was given in the evening. Many of those in attendance at the latter function danced until daylight, and one of its historians gravely re- cords that " although the consumption of punch, wines, and liquors was great, there were no signs of intoxication."
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The new President, a tall, white-haired, clean- shaven man of sixty-six, with the speech and bearing of a courtier, had served in both branches of Congress, as minister to Russia and England, and as Secretary of State. A ma- jority of the men whom he called to his Cab- inet also had been long in public life. Lewis Cass, of Michigan, was made Secretary of State ; Howell Cobb, of Georgia, Secretary of the Treasury; John B. Floyd, of Virginia, Secre- tary of War: Isaac Toucey, of Connecticut, Secretary of the Navy; Jacob Thompson, of Mississippi, Secretary of the Interior; Aaron V. Brown, of Tennessee, Postmaster-General ; and Jeremiah S. Black, of Pennsylvania, At- torney-General. Brown was succeeded in 1859 by Joseph Holt, of Kentucky, but with this ex- ception the Cabinet underwent no change until December, 1860. Its ablest member was At- torney-General Black, a man of ample mental endowment, and of rugged and winning per- sonality.
Buchanan was one of the most methodical of men, and his habits as President recalled those of John Quincy Adams in an earlier time. He rose early, was in his office every week-day II .- 10
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morning at eight o'clock, and, save for a brief luncheon, did not leave his desk until five in the afternoon, when it was his custom to take an hour's walk. He read every letter addressed to him, and answered by his own hand all com- munications of a purely personal nature. He also kept a watchful eye upon the expenditures of his household, which were paid out of his private purse, and never departed from a rule he had early adopted, to make no use of public money and property for private pleasure. He exacted the same practice from those about him, and when he learned that the expenses of a luncheon on the steamer which had conveyed the Prince of Wales to Mount Vernon were about to be paid by the Treasury Department, he ordered the bills sent to him with intent to pay them himself. They were paid, instead, by Secretary Cobb, who claimed the right to do it as the originator of the affair. The issue of this rigid honesty. deserves to be noted. Bu- chanan during his Presidency expended con- siderably more than the salary of his office, and left the White House a poorer man than he had entered it.
Methodical habits, however, did not prevent
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him from being a genial and delightful compan- ion with his intimates. He had also a keen sense of humor, and he knew how to dispose of place- hunting visitors, and yet send them away happy. A diverting account of his manner with the office-seeker that has come down to us from an eye-witness describes Smith as calling with a letter from Jones introducing Smith to the President. Buchanan would read the letter, and directing that Smith be shown in, would greet him with the greatest cordiality. Placing his left hand on Smith's shoulder, and taking Smith's hand in his right, Buchanan would pro- ceed :
" Mr. Smith, I believe. Glad to meet you, sir. Friend of Mr. Jones's, I understand. Warm friend of mine for twenty years is Mr. Jones. Are you married, Mr. Smith?"
This question answered in the affirmative, there would follow earnest inquiries as to Mrs. Smith, the number and health of the Smith children, the welfare of Mr. and Mrs. Jones and the Jones children, and the health of Jones's friend Hopkins, and of Hopkins's wife and children, ending with,-
" I am delighted-delighted to have met you,
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Mr. Smith. Any friend of my old friend Jones is welcome, and I will pay especial attention to your request, Mr. Smith. If you will leave your papers I will look them over. Mr. Sec- retary," turning to his secretary, "take Mr. Smith's papers,-he is introduced by my dear friend Jones,-and put them where I shall see them; in fact, mark them so I shall be sure to see them. Delighted to have met you, Mr. Smith. Remember me to my old friend. Good- morning, Mr. Smith." And Smith would there- upon make room for the waiting Brown, when the President would go through the same scene with the new-comer. And each man, for the moment, felt sure he had carried his point with the elderly gentleman who gave him so hearty a welcome. Mayhap, he never heard from his papers, but that was another matter.
Buchanan was the first bachelor President. When a young lawyer in Lancaster, Pennsyl- vania, he was engaged to be married to a maid of that town to whom he was devotedly at- tached. A lovers' quarrel separated them, and the girl's sudden death intervened to prevent a reconciliation. The course of true love, says his biographer, " ran in this case pure and un-
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broken in the heart of the survivor,-a sacred sorrow buried deep in the breast of a man who was formed for domestic joys. His pecu- liar and reverential demeanor towards women, never varied by rank or station or individual attractions, was doubtless in a large degree caused by the tender memory of what he found or fancied in her whom he had lost in his early days by such a cruel fate."
Among the living the most secure place in the President's affections was held by his niece, Harriet Lane, to whom he was as a father. He gave her his confidence in increasing measure as she grew from girlhood into womanhood, and at length the young lady, with mature in- tellect wisely guided and instructed, became her uncle's faithful and trusted companion, and the mistress of his establishment in London and at Washington. A more beautiful woman has never presided over the White House. She was a blonde of a regal and superb type, with man- ners well-nigh perfect in their subtle blending of cordiality and dignity, and her grace and kind- liness did much to render the Buchanan Admin- istration a successful one, from a social point of view. The entertainments given at the White
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House were liberal and refined, and without reproach. Once a week some of the members of the Cabinet and their wives dined with the President in an informal way, and a series of state dinners were given during eacli session of Congress.
Buchanan, following the social code of Wash- ington, accepted no dinner invitations, and made few visits among the residents of the capital. One of the few carried him to the death-bed of Thomas H. Benton. The great Missourian, after the expiration of his single term in the House, busied himself with an abridgment of the debates in Congress from 1789 to 1850. The burden of the years, however, hung heavy upon him, and it was only by a characteristic exhibition of fortitude and endurance that he finished the task he had set for himself. He employed an amanuensis when he became too feeble to write, and carried on the work by dictation, shaping the last few pages in the very shadow of death. Then he sent for sev- eral old friends to bid them farewell. Among them was the President, who hastened to obey the summons, for the two men had served to- gether in the Senate, and had long been on inti-
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mate terms. "Buchanan," said the dying Ben- ton, " I supported you in preference to Fremont because he headed a sectional party, whose suc- cess would have been the signal for disunion. I have known you long, and I knew you would honestly endeavor to do right." The President voiced a few broken words in reply, and then they parted for the last time. It was Benton's request that no formal notice should be taken of his death, but Congress adjourned out of respect to his memory, and the day of his funeral was one of general mourning at the capital.
Incidental reference has been had to the Prince of Wales. It was in the autumn of 1860 that the future king visited the United States, coming hither from Canada at the instance of President Buchanan, who welcomed him at the White House as the guest of the nation. The Prince greatly enjoyed his stay in Washington, and with reason, for every opportunity was given him to follow his wishes, and he could not have had more amiable comrades than the young mistress of the Executive Mansion and her cir- cle of friends. He was, indeed, repressed in only one thing. A lover of dancing, the pres-
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ence of the Marine Band and the dimensions of the East Room combined to make it possible to enjoy this pastime; but not even for the Prince of Wales would President Buchanan break the precedent, set by Washington and rigidly adhered to by every one of his suc- cessors, excluding dancing from the Executive Mansion. The Prince gracefully submitted, and the young people did their dancing at the home of the British minister, Lord Lyons. The Prince remained a week at the White House, and dur- ing his stay, as already noted, went to visit the tomb of Washington at Mount Vernon, where, after kneeling with bared head before the ashes of the first President, he planted a tree that flourishes to this day.
An exciting Presidential contest was in prog- ress when the Prince visited the United States. and, as a matter of fact, Buchanan's term in office was coincident with a continuous battle between the political organizations which then commanded public attention. There had been during the preceding ten years only two changes in the make-up of the Supreme Court: Benja- min R. Curtis, of Massachusetts, had been ap- pointed to fill the vacancy caused by the death
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of Justice Woodbury, in 1859, and a few months later John A. Campbell, of Alabama, succeeded to the seat of Justice Mckinley. Thus it was by a body in which Southern men predomi- nated that, two days after Buchanan's inaugu- ration, an opinion was rendered which added greatly to the growing tension between the sec- tions. This was the famous Dred Scott decision, in which the Supreme Court declared that slaves were not regarded as persons, but only as prop- erty, by the Constitution; that, as property, they were protected from hostile legislation on the part of Congress; and that Congress could no more legislate this form of property out of the Territories than it could exclude property of any other kind, but must guarantee to every citizen the right to carry this, as he might carry all other forms of property, where he would. within the territory subject to Congress. This decision, written by Chief Justice Taney,-Jus- tice Curtis, who soon resigned, to be succeeded by Nathan Clifford, of Maine, alone dissented to it,-sustained the whole Southern claim as to slavery, and took the ground from under those who, like Douglas, had contended that the peo- ple of each Territory should be left to decide
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for themselves when entering the Union whether they should admit or exclude that institution.
It came as a blow in the face to the Re- publicans, who found added cause for alarm and anger in the course of events in Kansas. The pro-slavery element in the Territory, in October, 1857, framed and adopted a consti- tution which provided for the establishment and perpetuation of slavery. The free settlers re- jected this instrument when submitted to a vote of the people, but early in 1858 Buchanan, who owed his election to Southern votes and was guided mainly by the counsel of the Southern members of his Cabinet, sent a message to Con- gress urging the admission of Kansas to the Union under it. The whole influence of the Administration, during the next few months, was put forth in support of this policy, but from the first it encountered energetic and ef- fective opposition in the House, while in the Senate it was bitterly fought by Douglas, who, faithful to his principle of popular sovereignty, would not consent to force an unwelcome con- stitution upon the people of Kansas, although by his refusal he lost the Southern following for which he had paid so heavy a price.
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The opening of the fight in the House against the admission of Kansas as a slave State was attended by one of the most remarkable inci- dents in the history of Congress. The Demo- crats then counted a majority in the House, James L. Orr, of South Carolina, being Speaker. When Buchanan's message recommending the admission of Kansas with slavery was received, those opposed to it moved to refer it to a special committee of fifteen instead of the standing committee on Territories, a majority of whose members were Democrats. There followed a heated session protracted far into the night. A barricade of motions and roll-calls kept the House from making progress. Early morning found the desks and chairs strewn with sleepers, while those who kept awake were at full strain, and " some had added copious libations, which had not calmed their nerves."
A spark only was needed to kindle a flame, and this was supplied when, towards three o'clock, Grow, of Pennsylvania, who had charge of the anti-Administration forces, crossed to the Democratic side to consult with John Hickman, a Douglas Democrat from his State. Just then Quitman, of Mississippi, arose and asked con-
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sent to make a few remarks. The filibusters did not want talk but to keep on voting, and Grow promptly objected to Quitman's proposal.
" If you are going to object," shouted Keitt, of South Carolina, who was sitting near, "re- turn to your own side of the House. You have no business over here, anyway."
" This is a free hall," Grow responded, "and everybody has the right to be where he pleases."
Keitt, at this reply, sprang to his feet and advanced towards Grow, closely followed by Reuben Davis, of Mississippi. "I want to know," he demanded, " what you meant by such an answer as that."
"I meant just what I said," was Grow's reply. "This is a free hall, and everybody has the right to be where he pleases."
"Sir," said Keitt, attempting to seize Grow by the throat, "you are a black Republican puppy."
"Never mind what I am," Grow retorted, knocking up his hand. " No negro-driver shall crack his whip over me."
Keitt again attempted to grasp Grow by the throat, but the latter struck out from the shoul- der, and he fell to the floor. Instantly Potter,
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of Wisconsin, followed by Elihu Washburn and others, rushed to the scene of trouble. Potter, as he reached Grow, hit Davis with one hand, and Barksdale, of Mississippi, who had hold of Grow,-in no angry mood but in way of friendly restraint,-with the other. Barksdale, not knowing where the blow came from, turned to Elihu Washburn and asked if the latter had struck him. Washburn replied that he had
not. " You are a liar!" said Barksdale, and loosing Grow caught hold of Washburn. Cad- walader Washburn, coming up at this point and seeing Barksdale and his brother in a clinch, struck out for Barksdale and hit him a glancing blow on the forehead which knocked off his wig. Barksdale, picking it up, put it on back- side first, which gave him such a grotesque appearance that everybody near by broke out into a loud guffaw. Meantime, the Speaker had called upon the sergeant-at-arms to restore or- der. The rush of members into the aisle had prevented Keitt from immediately regaining his feet, but as soon as he did the sergeant-at-arms led him out to the door opening into the corridor in the rear of the Speaker's desk. Then the combatants, still laughing at the ludicrous spec-
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tacle presented by Barksdale, drew off one by one, and quiet was restored.
Before that, however, many blows had been given and taken, with much pulling and haul- ing. Lovejoy, of Illinois, and Lamar, of Mis- sissippi, were pawing each other in the area, each seeking to persuade the other to be still. Mott, a gray-haired Quaker from Ohio, was seen in the mêlée, his hand bleeding, but he afterwards declared that he intervened in the interests of peace. Covode, of Pennsylvania, grabbed a heavy stone spittoon sitting by his desk and marched down the broad aisle into the area in front of the Speaker. In the end he placed the cuspidor on a desk and returned to his seat, but, his attention being called to it, he carried it to its place. Questioned later as to his purpose, he said he thought that some one might draw a " weepin," and if so he in- tended to " spot" him. The final issue of the struggle over Buchanan's message was its ref- erence to the proposed committee of fifteen, nor, though there were Democratic majorities in both branches of Congress, could a measure be gotten through the House embodying its recommendations. All attempts at compromise
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