A biographical history of eminent and self-made men of the state of Indiana : with many portrait-illustrations on steel, engraved expressly for this work, Volume II, Part 18

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1006

USA > Indiana > A biographical history of eminent and self-made men of the state of Indiana : with many portrait-illustrations on steel, engraved expressly for this work, Volume II > Part 18

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"On Polk and Dallas we'll unite, Because their principles are right."

(Dallas and Frelinghuysen were the candidates of the respective parties for Vice-president.) The Whigs

associated the name of Mr. Polk disparagingly with the plant known as the polk-stalk, the root of which is said to be poison; but the Democrats came back at them with,

"We'll teach the Whigs that polk is poison To Henry Clay and Frelinghuysen,"

The Democrats turned the tables on their opponents completely by adopting the polk-stalks and hickory boughs as their emblems (the latter because Polk was from Tennessee and a friend of General Jackson, and hence called Young Hickory). These emblems were often stuck up over the door or gate to indicate the politics of the family, and, in the great political gatherings of the day, every Democratic wagon would be adorned with them. It was undoubtedly the most spirited canvass that ever took place in this country, and the success of the Democrats, under the seemingly fearful odds against them, wonderful. After the election of Mr. Polk to the presidency, to which Mr. English largely contributed, as an active and efficient politician in his section of the country, he was tendered an appointment in the Treas- ury Department at Washington, which he accepted, and continued to discharge its duties during that administra- tion. He was not the man to disguise his principles or make an effort to keep a place under an administration he had opposed. He voted for the nomination of Cass in the National Convention, and had strenuously op- posed the election of General Taylor. He, therefore, on the day preceding the inauguration, sent to Mr. Polk a letter of resignation, which was extensively copied by the Democratic press, with comments approv- ing the independent spirit of its author. In the Na- tional Convention of 1848 his father, Elisha G. English, and his uncle, Revel W. English, were vice-presidents, and two other uncles delegates. It was in that conven- tion he first met the now celebrated Samuel J. Tilden, who was a delegate from the state of New York. In this connection it may not be out of place to mention that four of these English brothers were members of the Legislature in four different states at the same time, and all of the Democratic faith. It will be observed that Mr. English is a Democrat not only by the sober judgment of his mature manhood, but by inheritance and the traditions of his family, and it may be said that the commanding positions he has held, his large experi- ence, and his knowledge of men and measures, all com- bine to strengthen his convictions that the principles of the Democratic party must prevail if we are to have a united and prosperous country. His own idea of what these principles are will be best understood by the fol- lowing vigorous and forcible words uttered by him in a late published interview :

"I am for honesty in money, as in politics and morals, and think the great material and business inter- ests of this country should be placed upon the most

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[7th Dist.

solid basis, and as far as possible from the blighting influence of damagogues. At the same time I am op- posed to class legislation, and in favor of protecting and fostering the interests of the laboring and producing classes in every legitimate way possible. A pure, economical, constitutional government, that will protect the liberty of the people and the property of the people, without destroying the rights of the states, or aggrandizing its own powers beyond the limits of the Constitution, is the kind of government contemplated by the fathers, and by that I think the Democracy pro- pose to stand."

But Mr. English was not permitted to remain long out of public life. His abilities were universally recog- nized. He was a clerk of the Claims Committee in the United States Senate during the memorable session of the compromise of 1850; heard Calhoun and Cass, Clay and Webster, Benton, and other great statesmen of the age, in those able forensic efforts which obtained so much celebrity, and led to the results so gratifying to every American patriot. Hon. A. H. Stephens, in his late eulogy of Senator Houston, truly said : "The Amer- ican Senate was, perhaps, at this period the most august body ever before assembled in this country. Cass was there. Hunter was there. Seward was there. Davis and Foote, of Mississippi, were there. Douglas was there. It was by this body and the House of Repre- sentatives, after a most exciting and protracted debate for months, that the great sectional questions were peacefully adjusted in 1850, under the lead and auspices mainly of Clay, Webster, Cass, Foote, and Douglas. Mr. Calhoun died while the debate was going on." And the pure patriotism of such men, the grantleur of their eloquence, the far-reaching benefits of the measure pro- posed and advocated, left a fadeless impression on Mr. English's mind, that inspired his ambition, broadened his views, and contributed largely in giving him influ- ence in the councils of the nation when he became a member of the national Legislature. At the close of the session he resigned his position and returned to his home in Indiana. The people of that state had just decided to call a convention to revise the state Consti- tution, which had been adopted in 1816, and, after an existence of over a third of a century, the adoption of a new Constitution, in accord with the spirit of the times, was approached with much caution. Every one felt the necessity of confiding the trust to the wisest and best men of the state; and it is doubtful whether a superior body of men ever assembled for a like pur- pose to that which assembled at Indianapolis in Oc- tober, 1850, to prepare a Constitution for the great state of Indiana. Mr. English had the distinguished honor of being elected the principal secretary of the conven- tion, and of officially attesting the Constitution which was prepared by the convention, after over four months' deliberation, and ratified by an overwhelming vote of the people. Some idea of the high character of this

body may be formed by the fact that over twenty of its members have since held high official positions in the state and national governments: two were elected Vice-presi- dents of the United States (Colfax and Hendricks), two to the United States Senate, four to the Supreme Bench of the state, twelve were elected to Congress, two elected State Treasurer, two Auditor of State, and many to other honorable positions. At the adjournment, the convention assigned to Mr. English the important trust of supervising the publication of the Constitution, the journals, addresses, etc. As secretary of the conven- tion, he added largely to his reputation, and the fact was recognized that his abilities were of a character to command a wider sphere of usefulness to the party and to the country. The adoption of the new Constitution made a necessity for a thorough revision of the laws of the state, and the same high order of talent was needed to mold the laws as had been required to prepare the Constitution itself. It was, therefore, a great honor to Mr. English that, in 1851, he was elected to represent his native county in the state Legislature, against an opposition majority, and over a competitor considered the strongest and most popular man of his party in the county. This was the first meeting of the Legislature under the provisions of the new Constitu- tion, and judgment and discretion were required of the Legislature to put the new state machinery into harmo- nious and successful operation. It was, therefore, no small compliment for so young a man as Mr. English to have been chosen over so many older and more experienced citizens. But a still greater honor awaited him, for, notwith- standing he was then but twenty-nine years of age, and it was his first session as a member, and, also, that there were many old, experienced, and distinguished men in that Legislature, when the caucus to nominate speaker was held, he received twenty-two votes, to thirty-one for Hon. John W. Davis, who had been long a mem- ber and speaker of the United States House of Repre- sentatives, and had also been Minister to China. Early in the session, on a disagreement between the House and Speaker Davis, he called Mr. English to the chair, and resigned the position of speaker. The next day Mr. English was elected by twenty-eight majority, and it may be mentioned, as an evidence of his ability and popularity as a presiding officer, that, during his long term of service (over three months), no appeal was taken from any of his decisions. This was the more remarkable as it was the first session under the new Constitution, when many new points had to be de- cided. In the course of his remarks on assuming the chair, he said :

"We represent, in the aggregate, a million of peo- ple, with, probably, as many great interests to protect, and conflicting opinions to reconcile, as can be found in any state of the confederacy.

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REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

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" The new Constitution, as well as the wishes of our constituents, demand the enactment of a full and com- plete code of laws, general in their application, corre- sponding with and carrying out the principles of the Constitution, adapted to the spirit of the age, and the wants and expectations of the people. The limits and restrictions thrown around future Legislatures by our organic law make it necessary that this great work should be completed at the present session. If well done, as it should be, it is truly a Herculean task, re- quiring greater research and more intense application and labor than has devolved upon all the Legislatures of this state combined for the last eight years."

This Legislature, which convened on the Ist of De- cember, 1851, continued in session until late in the fol- lowing June, being by far the longest and most impor- tant session ever held in the state. We give somewhat lengthy extracts from Mr. English's valedictory address, because of its historical interest as a clear and concise statement of the great reforms then made in our entire system of laws and state government, and the Legisla- ture which did this great work. He said :

"Never have I known the members of any assembly manifest stricter integrity of purpose, more laborious application, more gentlemanly deportment, or a greater desire to promote the interests of the people, and avoid the useless consumption of time.

"It is true the session has been of unusual length, but no one conversant with what was to do, expected it to be otherwise. The Constitutional Convention, fore- seeing the necessity, wisely exempted the first General Assembly from the restriction as to length of session. The whole temple of government, from spire to founda- tion stone, had to be taken down, remodeled, and re- built, so as to conform to the new Constitution and the progress and improvements of the age.

"An examination of the acts of previous Legisla- tures, other than local, will show that the average num- ber passed at each session does not exceed fifty. There have been introduced into the present General Assembly not less than five hundred and sixty bills, besides innu- merable resolutions, constitutional inquiries, reports, and propositions, some of them involving questions of the greatest moment, and all requiring more or less consideration. Of all the bills introduced some two hundred and fifty have become laws of the land-prob- ably equaling the aggregate number of the general acts passed by the five preceding Legislatures-extend- ing to every essential subject of government, and recon- ciling differences and interests widely sundered by geographical positions, diversity of habits, opinions, and | become their standard-bearer in the race for Congress. employments, inequality in the size of the counties, and the previous system of local legislation."

Mr. English concluded by saying :

" If a feeling of enmity has been engendered in any heart, let it not be taken beyond these walls. Let us separate as a band of brothers, each one prepared to say of the other through the rest of life, 'He is my friend; we served together in the first Legislature un- der the new Constitution.' "

friend, Mahlon D. Manson, then a member from Mont- gomery County, since then a member of Congress, a hero in two wars, a general, and now Auditor of State. In glancing over the list of members of this, the first House of Representatives under the present Constitution, the writer recognizes, among those believed to be yet living, such distinguished names as I. D. G. Nelson, A. J. Hay, W. S. Holman, P. M. Kent, D. C. Stover, J. S. Huffstetter, G. O. Behm, J. V. Lindsey, Willard Carpenter, R. M. Hudson, J. F. Suit, Calvin Cowgill, H. Brady, R. Hucy, J. Dice, Judges Gookins, Stanfield, and Eccles, Messrs. Shanklin, Foster, and King ; but, as in the case of the House of 1843-44, most of the members have passed away, including such well-known names as W. B. Beach, W. Z. Stuart, T. W. Gibson, Samuel H. Buskirk, J. W. Dobson, Robert Dale Owen, John W. Davis, J. R. M. Bryant, and General Schoonover. Just before the election of Mr. English as speaker, he was selected by Speaker Davis as one of a committee of five to revise the laws of the state, but declined. But many radical and highly ben- eficial reforms in the laws of the state were made at this session, which Mr. English in some instances origi- nated, and to the success of which he largely contribu- ted, such as the change in the system of taxing railroads, and the substitution of the present short form of deeds, mortgages, etc., for the long intricate forms. Mr. English has, in an eminent degree, that force and energy of character which leads to successful action, and has left his impress upon the measures of every deliberative body, company, or association to which he has be- longed. In a word, he has all the elements of a bold, aggressive, and successful leadership. If lost with a multitude in a pathless wilderness, he would not lag behind waiting for some one else to plan or open up the pathway of escape. He would be more apt to promptly advise which was the best way out, or make the road himself and call upon his comrades to follow. With the close of the long session of the Legislature of 1851, in which Mr. English had earned golden opinions from men of all parties, he was justly regarded as one of the foremost men of the state, and the Democrats of his district, with great unanimity, solicited him to He was nominated, and in October, 1852, was elected by four hundred and eighty-eight majority over his very worthy competitor, John D. Ferguson, now deceased, with whom he was always on terms of the warmest per- sonal friendship. Mr. English was an active participant in the canvass which resulted in the election of the then comparatively unknown, but really great and good man, Franklin Pierce, over the world-renowned Gen- eral Winfield Scott. Mr. English entered Congress at the commencement of Mr. Pierce's administration, and

Mr. English was placed in nomination for speaker by his friend Andrew Humphreys, then, as now, a Repre- 'sentative from Greene County ; and seconded by his | gave its political measures a warm and hearty support.

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It was a memorable period in the history of the country, a time when questions of far-reaching consequences had their birth; and which, a few years subsequently, tested to the utmost limit the strength of the Repub- lic. It was the time for the display of unselfish patriotism, lofty purpose, moral courage, and un- wavering devotion to the Constitution. Mr. English met the demand. He was equal to the responsi- bility of the occasion. He never disappointed his con- stituents, his party, or his country. He displayed his national qualities of prudence, sagacity, and firmness. It was at the opening of this Congress that the famous Kansas-Nebraska bill was introduced. Mr. English was a member of the House Committee on Territories, which was charged with the consideration and report of the bill. He did not concur with the majority of the com- mittee in the propriety and expediency of bringing for- ward the measure at that time, and made a minority report, on the 3Ist of January, 1854, proposing several important amendments, which, although not directly adopted, for reasons hereafter explained, probably led to modifications of the bill of the Senate, which was finally adopted as an amendment to the House bill, and enacted into a law. Both the House and Senate bill, at the time Mr. English made his minority report, contained a provision "that the Constitution, and all laws of the United States which are not locally inappli- Cable, shall have the same force and effect within the said territory as elsewhere in the United States;" and then followed this important reservation :

"Except the eighth section of the act preparatory to the admission of Missouri into the Union, approved March 6, 1820, which was superseded by the principles of the legislation of 1850, commonly called the compro- mise measures, and is hereby declared inoperative."

Mr. English proposed to strike out this exception, and insert the following :

" Provided, that nothing in this act shall be so con- strued as to prevent the people of said territory, through the properly constituted legislative authority, from pass- ing such laws in relation to the institution of slavery, not inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States, as they may deem best adapted to their locality, and most conducive to their happiness and welfare; and so much of any existing act of Congress as may conflict with the above right of the people to regulate their domestic institutions in their own way be, and the same is hereby, repealed."

In the history of this subject given in the first vol- ume of Mr. Horace Greeley's " American Conflict," the opinion is expressed that this proposition of Mr. English could not have been defeated on the call of the yeas and nays; and the author goes on to explain and con- demn the new and ingenious parliamentary maneuver resorted to at the time, which cut off all amendments but the substitution of the Senate bill for the bill of the House. "Thus," says Mr. Greeley, "the opponents

of the measure in the House were precluded from pro- posing any amendments or modifications whatever, when it is morally certain that, had they been permitted to do so, some such amendment as Governor Chase's or Mr. English's would have been carried." The parliamen- tary maneuver referred to brought the House to a vote on the Senate bill, which, in the mean time, had been offered as a substitute for the House bill, was adopted, and became the law. Now, there is one point in the history of this important measure, not very clearly de- veloped in Mr. Greeley's account (in the main fair and accurate), which it will be well to refer to. It is true the Senate and House bills were substantially the same on the 31st of January, when Mr. English offered his amendments; but, before the 8th of May, when the House substituted the Senate bill for its own, and passed it, material modifications had been made in the Senate bill. It was the modified bill, and not the bill of the 3Ist of January, that became the law. For ex- ample, on the 15th of February, two weeks after Mr. English submitted his amendments (the Senate and House bills being up to that time in substantially the same shape), the Senate adopted an amendment, which had been submitted by Senator Douglas on the 7th of February, striking out a portion of the same clause Mr. English had proposed to strike out, and substitut- ing the following :

"Which, being inconsistent with the principle of non-intervention by Congress with slavery in the states and territories, as recognized by the legislation of 1850, commonly called the compromise measures, is hereby declared inoperative and void ; it being the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any territory or state, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and reg- ulate their domestic institutions in their own way, sub- ject only to the Constitution of the United States."

This amendment satisfied some of those members who at first regarded the measure with disfavor, and a comparison will show to what extent it embodied or harmonized with the amendment Mr. English had pre- viously offered. It is undoubtedly true, as the congres- sional records will show, that Mr. English brought forward the "popular sovereignty " idea in the minority report made by him to the House of Representatives in January; that the same idea was submitted to the Senate in February and adopted by that body; that the House then adopted the amended bill of the Senate as a substitute for the House bill, and it thus became a law. Hence the debate and public attention was di- rected almost exclusively to the Senate bill. The objec- tions made in Mr. English's minority report to the proposed boundaries of the territory were also obviated by amendments. No doubt these modifications, and a desire to act in harmony with the Democratic adminis- tration, influenced some of the Democratic members

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from the free states to support the bill, who, like Mr. English, thought its introduction unfortunate and ill- timed. Senator Douglas was justly regarded as the great leader and champion of the "popular sover- eignty" idea. So far as the advocacy of that principle was concerned, Mr. English was with him, and it will not be out of place to state here that, although some slight political differences ultimately sprung up between them in relation to the "English bill," hereafter men- tioned, they were always personal friends, and for many years the relations between them were of the most intimate character. As far back as 1845 Mr. Douglas wrote President Polk urging that Mr. English be ap- pointed recorder of the general land office, and Mr. English has many letters from Mr. Douglas expressing the most cordial friendship. The controversy about the institution of slavery, which had been going on, with but little intermission, ever since the formation of the government, raged with greatly increased bitterness during the eight years immediately preceding the war. During all this period, Mr. English was in Congress, and more or less identified with the measures involving the question of slavery. It is therefore, perhaps, proper to briefly define the position he occupied upon this great question of the age, as gleaned from his speeches and the congressional history of the period. "I am," said he, in one of his speeches, "a native of a free state, and have no love for the institution of slavery. Aside from the moral question involved, I regard it as an injury to the state where it exists, and, if it were proposed to introduce it where I reside, would resist it to the last extremity." On the other hand, he greatly deprecated and unsparingly denounced the aggressive measures of the Abolitionists, and their persistent agita- tion of the subject. He believed in faithfully maintaining all the rights of the slave-holding states, as guaranteed by the Constitution, and that it would be wisest to refer the question of slavery to that best and safest of all tribunals-the people to be governed. "They are the best judges of the soil and climate and wants of the country they inhabit ; they are the true judges of what will best suit their own condition, and promote their welfare and happiness." Speaking for himself and his constituents, he said, upon another occasion : "We do not like this institution of slavery, neither in its moral, social, nor political bearings, but consider that it is a matter which, like all other domestic affairs, each organ- ized community ought to be allowed to decide for itself." The idea of "leaving the people of every state and territory perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States," seemed to be in accordance with the genius of our American institutions; but the storm raised by the passage of the Kansas-Ne- / braska bill resulted in the defeat of nearly all the mem-

¡ bers from the free states who voted for it. In fact, Mr. English was one of the only three in the United States who commanded strength enough to survive the storm. He was unanimously nominated for re-election to Con- gress, and elected by five hundred and eighty-eight ma- jority-an increase of one hundred-over his Whig and Know-Nothing opponent, Judge Thomas C. Slaughter, now deceased, a bitter partisan, but a warm personal friend of Mr. English to the end of his life. During Mr. English's congressional career the country, in addi- tion to other causes of agitation, was visited with a fanatical cyclone known as Know-Nothingism, that, for a time, threatened to overwhelm and obliterate the tra- ditions and laws of the country, and to create the most odious distinctions of citizenship, based upon religion and nationality. Never did the war of prejudice and ignorance beat with greater force upon the most sacred guarantees of the Constitution; never was the public mind more thoroughly permeated with hostility to- ward men of foreign birth; nor was there ever a period in the history of the Republic when religious animosities assumed such a repulsive and defiant aspect. Foreign-born citizens were to be ostracized, and men's freedom to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences was to be restricted. The virus spread in every direction. It laid hold upon young and old ; Know-Nothing lodges sprung up every-where ; hates engendered in every home lurked in every hiding place, and found expression in every meeting of the mysterious order. To expose the evil designs of the or- der, to break its power and arrest its progress, was no easy task. The work required courage of the highest order, and into it Mr. English threw himself in a spirit of self-abnegation which commanded the applause of all right-thinking men. In Mr. English the foreign-born citizen had a friend indeed. The force of his logic and the fearlessness of his denunciations battered down sophisms, prejudices, and the spirit of exclusiveness wherever they offered resistance ; reason regained its su- premacy, and after a brief period Know-Nothingism dis- appeared, to take its place in history beside witchcraft and other monstrous delusions that have from time to time cursed the world. It was a Democratic victory to which no man in the nation contributed more than did William H. English, in his gallant canvass against the Know-Nothings in the Second Congressional District of Indiana in 1854. It would be difficult for persons now to comprehend the great excitement in the country at this time, and particularly in Mr. English's district, sepa- rated from Louisville only by the Ohio River, at which place many foreigners had recently been killed by a mob growing out of the Know-Nothing agitation. The same spirit existed on the Indiana side, but Mr. English, with that boldness which has ever characterized him, fought the doctrines of the Know-Nothing party, and

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A biographical history of eminent and self-made men of the state of Indiana : with many portrait-illustrations on steel, engraved expressly for this work, Volume II, Part 18

Author: Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1006

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1006