USA > New Hampshire > History of New Hampshire, Volume III > Part 22
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"The delegation from New Hampshire, with all the glow of state pride, and with all the warmth of personal regard, would not have sub-
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mitted my name to the Convention, nor would they have cast a vote for me, under circumstances other than those which occurred.
"I shall always cherish with pride and gratitude the recollection of the fact, that the voice which first pronounced, and pronounced alone, came from the Mother of States,-a pride and gratitude rising above any consequences that can betide me personally. May I not regard it as a fact pointing to the overthrow of sectional jealousies, and looking to the permanent life and vigor of the Union, cemented by the blood of those who have passed to their reward ?- a Union wonderful in its formation, boundless in its hopes, amazing in its destiny.
"I accept the nomination, relying upon an abiding devotion to the interests, honor, and glory of the whole country, but, above and beyond all, upon a Power superior to all human might-a Power, which, from the first gun of the revolution, in every crisis, through which we have passed, in every hour of acknowledged peril, when the dark clouds had shut down over us, has interposed as if to baffle human wisdom, outmarch human forecast, and bring out of darkness the rainbow of promise; weak myself, faith and hope repose there in security.
"I accept the nomination upon the platform adopted by the conven- tion, not because this is expected of me as a candidate, but because the principles it embraces command the approbation of my judgment; and with them, I believe I can safely say, there has been no word or act of my life in conflict."
This letter of acceptance was recognized at once as frank, sincere and free from evasions and reservations, and it inspired the enthusiasm of a united party.
The Whigs as a party were embarrassed at the outset. The nomination of Daniel Webster, admittedly their greatest states- men, was out of the question. His speech in the Senate on the 7th of March in 1850 in favor of the Compromise measures, in- cluding the Fugitive Slave Act, had made him impossible to that wing of the party which regarded that act with abhorrence. On the other hand Southern Whigs would accept no candidate who was not in favor of these measures as a whole. Mr. Fillmore who had succeeded to the presidency on the death of Gen. Taylor had approved them and he had the Southern support. The North, however, looked at him askance on this very account. In 1848 Gen. Taylor as a colorless and non-committal candidate had carried off both nomination and election, and there was a strong movement in favor of Gen. Winfield Scott as another such can- didate. No one knew what was his position on the subject of the compromises, and the advocates of his nomination were suc- cessful in their efforts to keep the Whig public in this state of
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ignorance. The most strenuous efforts in his favor were from states where he could not well expect a single electoral vote, but these states had the delegates and he was finally on the 53d ballot nominated. Although his nomination met with a chilly reception in many parts of the North, and roused no enthusiasm anywhere, it was, perhaps, as strong as any which could have been made. Had a candidate been named who was identified with the Com- promise measures, as were Mr. Webster and Mr. Fillmore he would have been slaughtered remorselessly by the "Conscience Whigs" of the North, and had an opponent of these measures been selected, he would have failed to secure an electoral vote in the South. Gen. Scott was esteemed as a gallant soldier, but he was not recognized as a statesman and his views were too little known to inspire any section of the country with confidence. On the other hand, though Gen. Pierce had been for several years in voluntary and self-chosen political retirement his views were known to be in accordance with the Democratic platform, a plat- form on which the party was substantially united. The Whig platform, however, was anything but non-committal on the chief issues of the day, states rights and the slavery question, though it maintained the traditional Whig attitude in favor of internal improvements. Three of the declaration of principles may be quoted :
"First, the government of the United States is of a limited character, and it is confined to the exercise of powers expressly granted by the Constitution, and such as may be necessary and proper for carrying the granted powers into full execution, and that powers not granted or neces- sarily implied are reserved to the States respectively and to the people.
"Second, the state governments should be held secure to their reserved rights and the general government sustained in its constitutional powers, and that the Union should be revered and watched over as the palladium of our liberties.
"Eighth, that the series of acts of the Thirty-second Congress, the act known as the Fugitive Slave Law included, are received and acquiesced in by the Whig party of the United States as a settlement in principle and substance of the dangerous and exciting questions which they embrace ; and, so far as they are concerned, we will maintain them, and insist upon their strict enforcement, until time and experience shall demonstrate the necessity of further legislation to guard against the evasion of laws on the one hand and the abuse of their powers on the other, not impairing their present efficiency; and we deprecate all further agitation of the question thus settled, as dangerous to our peace, and will discountenance
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all efforts to continue or renew such agitation, whenever, wherever, or however the attempt may be made; and we will maintain this system as essential to the nationality of the Whig party and the integrity of the Union."
Their last declaration was vigorously opposed in the conven- tion, but was finally adopted. It is needless to say that the plat- form was distasteful to a large section of the party. On vital issues there was but little to chose between platforms. The measures advocated by one party and resisted by the other through a long series of years had ceased to become the pivots on which the election would turn. The question became largely one of the personality of. candidates. The issue was tersely stated by Hawthorne in the closing paragraph of his campaign life of his college friend and classmate, Franklin Pierce :
"It remains for the citizens of this great country to decide, within the next few weeks, whether they will retravel the steps of human progress by placing at its head an illustrious soldier, indeed, a patriot, and one indelibly stamped into the history of the past, but one who has already done his work, and has not in him the spirit of the present or of the coming time,-or whether they will put their trust in a new man, whom a life of energy and various activity has listed, but not worn out, and advance with him into the auspicious epoch upon which we are about to enter."
The result was evident from the beginning of the cam- paign. A few Whigs hoped, but it was hoping against hope. Thirty-one states participated in the election. The popular vote in thirty states-South Carolina choosing her electors by her legislature-was: Pierce, 1,601,274; Scott, 1,386,580; John P. Hale of New Hampshire, Free Soil, 155,825. Gen. Pierce re- ceived the electoral vote of 27 states, 254, and Gen. Scott 42 from the four states of Vermont, Massachusetts, Kentucky and Tennessee. On the score of electoral unanimity there had been nothing like it since the almost unanimous vote by which James Monroe was re-elected in 1820, a unanimity broken only by the vote of a single New Hampshire elector, William Plumer.
The election over, the question of cabinet selections came immediately to the front, and this question was an all important one. Gen. Pierce was the youngest man ever elected to the presidency. up to that time. Buchanan, Marcy, Cass and the veterans of the party had been passed by, but they gave the
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successful candidate cordial and hearty support. He was sup- posed to have come to his high office without trammels or pledges, and he doubtless believed this to be the case. He cer- tainly had theories of his own in the matter of selecting his immediate official family, as is evident from a letter he addressed to James Buchanan, asking the advice of the latter, under date of December 7, 1852. He wrote :
"My thoughts for the last four weeks have been earnestly turned to the formation of a cabinet. And although I must in the end be responsible for the appointments, and consequently should follow my own well considered convictions, I cannot help saying often to myself how agreeable it would be to compare conclusions upon this or that point with Mr. Buchanan. I do not mean to trouble you with the many matters of difficulty that evi- dently lie in my path. So far as I have been able to form an opinion as to public sentiment and reasonable public expectation, I think I am expected to call around me gentlemen who have not hitherto occupied cabinet position, and in view of the jealousies and the embarrassments which environ any other course, this expectation is in accordance with my own judgment, a judgment strengthened by the impression that it is sanctioned by the views expressed by you. . You will confer a great favor by writing me as fully as you may deem proper as to the launching (if I may so express myself) of the incoming administration, and more especially in regard to men and things in Pennsylvania. In relation to appointments requiring prompt action after the inauguration, I shall as far as practicable leave Concord with purposes definitely formed, and not likely to be changed."
In his reply Mr. Buchanan expressed his gratification and belief that he had not been asked to accept a portfolio, and then proceeded to give the advice asked for freely and frankly. He wrote :
"I cannot assent to the correctness of the general principle you have adopted to proscribe in advance the members of former cabinets; nor do I concur with you in opinion that either public sentiment or public expecta- tion requires such a sweeping ostracism. I need scarcely, therefore, say that the impression which you have derived of my opinion in favor of the measure from I know not whom, is without foundation. I should be most unjust towards my able, enlightened and patriotic associates in the cabinet of Mr. Polk, could I have entertained such an idea. So far from it that, were I the president-elect, I should deem it almost in- dispensable to avail myself of the sound wisdom and the experienced judgment of one or more members of that cabinet to assist me in conducting the vast and complicated machinery of the federal government. Neither should I be diverted from this purpose by the senseless cry of 'Old Fogyism' raised by Young America.
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"I think the members of Mr. Polk's cabinet should be placed upon the same level with the mass of their fellow citizens, and neither in a better nor a worse condition. I am not aware that any of them, unless it may be Governor Morey either expects or desires a cabinet appointment ; and certainly all of them will most cheerfully accord to you the perfect right of selecting the members of your own cabinet. Still to be excluded from your consideration, merely because they had happened to belong to Mr. Polk's cabinet could not be very gratifying to any of them.
"To apply your own metaphor, 'the launching of the incoming ad- ministration,' will, perhaps be a more important and responsible duty than has ever fallen to the lot of any of your predecessors. On the selection of the navigators to assist you in conducting the vessel of state will mainly depend the success of the voyage. No matter how able and skillful the commander may be, and, without flattery, I cheerfully accord to you both ability and skill, he can do but little without the aid of able and skillful subordinates. . So firmly am I convinced of this truth, that I should not fear to predict the result of your administration as soon as I shall learn who are the members of your cabinet. You occupy a proud and independent position and enjoy a popularity which will render any able and honest Democrat popular who may be honored by your choice for a cabinet position, provided they are properly distributed over the Union. In this respect you are placed in a more enviable position than almost any of your predecessors. It was a maxim of old Simon Snyder, the shrewd and popular governor of our state, that the very best man ought to be selected for the office, and if not popular at the moment, he would soon render himself so. In view of these important considerations, I would earnestly recommend to you the practice of General Washington, never finally to decide an important question, until the moment which required its decision had nearly approached. I know that a state of sus- pense is annoying to the human mind, but it is better to submit to this annoyance for a season than to incur the risk of a more permanent and greater evil. You say you will leave Concord 'with purposes definitely formed and not likely to be changed.' But is Concord the best locality in the world for acquiring reliable information and taking extended views of our whole great country? To Boston, I should never resort for this purpose."
This advice of Mr. Buchanan was for the most part wise, and there was evidently need of caution against over precipitancy on the part of the president-elect in the choice of cabinet officers. At the very time he wrote Buchanan asking his advice he had already taken what he himself supposed to be decisive action relative to at least one member of his cabinet. Almost imme- diately after the result of the election was known he had invited Gen. John A. Dix of New York to visit him at Concord. Gen. Dix had been one of the leaders of the Free Soil Democracy of
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New York, a supporter of Van Buren in 1848, and had been foremost in promoting a union of the rival factions of "Hards" and "Softs," "Hunkers" and "Barnburners" in support of the successful ticket of 1852. Visiting Concord, he was informed by the president that he had been selected for the position of secre- tary of state, and this information was coupled with the further statement that of all the men in the country there was none whom he more earnestly desired to have connected with his administration. When Gen. Dix left Concord for home it was with the clear and definite understanding that he was to be the premier of the new cabinet.
No sooner was this purpose relative to the appointment of Gen. Dix known, than there was developed the strongest and most bitter opposition. This opposition naturally came from the South and from the wing of the Northern Democracy with which Gen. Pierce had been identified. He was told that the appointment of Dix would handicap his administration from the very outset; that on the questions of the day, especially where the question of slavery was involved, the cabinet should be a unit; that the hearty support of administration measures by Southern Senators and Congressmen could not be expected if a prominent Free Soiler was to be at the presidents right hand. The result was that the purpose of appointing Gen. Dix was abandoned, the latter relieving the president-elect as much as possible from his embarrassment. The affair was unfortunate. Matters were not helped. The factional contest in New York was only made more bitter than ever, and pressure brought to bear on the president-elect by extremists both North and South was redoubled, when once the impression gained ground that pressure could be made effective. He was thenceforth given neither peace nor rest. When he went to Washington in Feb- ruary, so almost unendurable had become the attentions and importunities of the office-seekers, that, to escape them, he rode from Baltimore to Washington in a baggage car, half disguised, thus escaping the notice of the crowd and the recognition of even his personal friends when he arrived in Washington. On a plea of indisposition he saw only such of the party leaders as he summoned to meet him in the privacy of his hotel. It is true that the newspapers published a cabinet list a week before the inauguration, which subsequently proved to be the correct one,
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but it is also true that the day after the inauguration it had not been definitely determined who should be secretary of state, and the portfolio had not then been tendered to Gov. Marcy. In fact, it was not till March 7, that the cabinet list was sent to the Senate.
The list showed that all attempts to secure recognition for the Free Soil element of the party had been abandoned, and that the cabinet had been selected to harmonize with the utter- ances of the inaugural address of three days before.
The tone of the inaugural was clear and unmistakable on such questions as might be regarded at issue. There was a brief reference in the opening sentences of the president's address to the deep personal sorrow which pressed heavily upon him caused by the tragic death of his only son, a few weeks before in a railroad accident, and then a declaration of the principles which would govern his administration. Regarding the civil service he said: "Good citizens may well claim the protection of good laws and the benign influence of good government, but a claim for office is what the people of a republic should never recognize. No reasonable man of any party will expect the Administration to be so regardless of its responsibility and of the obvious elements of success as to retain persons known to be under the influence of political hostility and partisan preju- dice which will require not only some labor, but cordial co- operation. Having no implied engagements to ratify, no rewards to bestow, no resentments to remember, and no personal wishes to consult in selections for official station, I shall fulfill this diffi- cult and delicate trust, admitting no motive as worthy either of my character or position, which does not contemplate an efficient discharge of duty and the best interests of my country. I acknowledge my obligations to the masses of my countrymen and to them alone." This was no reiteration of the dictum an- nounced some years before by the man who was to become premier of the new administration, "to the victors belong the spoils of the enemy," but if any Whig official counted on the utterance as guaranteeing his continuance in office, he was doomed to disappointment.
On the question of state rights, the inaugural was in har- mony with the views which Gen. Pierce had been known to hold for years, and to which he had given utterance in his letter
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of acceptance. He said : "The great scheme of our constitutional liberty rests upon a proper distribution of power between the state and federal authorities, and experience has shown that the harmony and happiness of our people must depend upon a just discrimination between the separate rights and responsi- bilities of the states and of our common rights and obligations under the General Government; and here, in my opinion, are the considerations which should form the true basis of future concord in regard to questions which have most seriously dis- turbed public tranquility. If the Federal Government will con- fine itself to the exercise of powers clearly granted by the Con- stitution, it can hardly happen that its action upon any question should endanger the institutions of the states or interfere with their right to manage matters strictly domestic according to the will of their own people."
On the question of slavery he called attention to the fact that his sentiments were well known before his nomination and election :
"My own position upon this subject was clear and unequivocal, upon the record of my words and my acts, and it is only recurred to at this time because silence might perhaps be misconstrued. * * * The field of calm and free discussion in our country is open, and will always be so, but never has been and never can be traversed for good in a spirit of sectionalism and uncharitableness. The founders of the Republic dealt with things as they were presented to them, in a spirit of self-sacrificing patriot- ism, and as time has proved, with a comprehensive wisdom which it will always be safe for us to consult. Every measure tending to strengthen the fraternal feeling of all the members of our Union has had my heartfelt approbation. To every theory of society or government, whether the off- spring of feverish ambition or of morbid enthusiasm, calculated to dissolve the bonds of law and affection which unite us, I shall interpose a steady and stern resistance. I believe that involuntary servitude, as it exists in different states of this Confederacy is recognized by the Constitution. I believe that it stands like any other admitted right, and that the states where it exists are entitled to efficient remedies to enforce the constitutional provisions. I hold that the laws of 1850, commonly called the compromise measures are strictly constitutional and to be unhesitatingly carried into effect. I believe that the constituted authorities of this Republic are bound to regard the rights of the South in this respect as they would view any other legal and constitutional right, and that the laws to enforce them should be respected and obeyed, not with a reluctance encouraged by ab- stract opinions as to their propriety in a different state of society, but cheer- fully and according to the decisions of the tribunal to which their exposition
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belongs. Such have been, and are, my convictions, and on them I shall act. I fervently hope that the question is at rest, and that no sectional or ambitious or fanatical excitement may again threaten the durability of our institutions, or obscure the light of our prosperity. * We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis. Wise counsels like those which gave us the Constitution, prevailed to uphold it. Let the period be remembered as an admonition, and not as an encouragement, in any section of the Union, to make experiments where experiments are fraught with such fearful hazard. Let it be impressed upon all hearts that, beautiful as our fabric is, no earthly power or wisdom could ever reunite its broken fragments. Standing, as I do, almost within view of the green slopes of Monticello, and, as it were within reach of the tomb of Washington, with all the cherished memories of the past gathering around me like so many eloquent voices of exhortation from heaven, I can express no better hope for my country than that the kind Providence which smiled upon our fathers may enable their children to preserve the blessings they have inherited."
The cabinet list sent to the Senate three days after the inaugural was a notable one, and was in harmony with the spirit of that address, showing clearly and unmistakably the bias of the new administration for the South and its peculiar institution, which in spite of compromises had by no means ceased to be threatened. The list was: Secretary of State, William L. Marcy, of New York; Secretary of the Treasury, James Guthrie, of Ken- tucky ; Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi; Secre- tary of the Navy, James C. Dobbin, of North Carolina ; Secretary of the Interior, Robert McClelland, of Michigan; Postmaster- General, James Campbell, of Pennsylvania; Attorney-General, Caleb Cushing, of Massachusetts. This cabinet was one which at first sight would seem to be satisfactory to the free state section of the country. Four members, Marcy, Campbell, Mc- Clelland and Cushing, were Northern men, while the Slave States had but three representatives. The war, navy and treasury portfolios, however, were in the hands of Southern men. McClel- land and Campbell were inoffensive men in inoffensive positions.
Robert McClelland, who had been elected governor of Michi- gan in 1852 for a term of four years, and who resigned the office to accept the Interior portfolio, was regarded as the representa- tive of Lewis Cass, at whose request he was appointed. He was a strong Cass partisan and had championed his cause in the National Conventions of 1848 and 1852. What his political future might have been had he remained true to the convictions
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which made him one of the eighteen Democratic members of the National House, who joined with David Wilmot of Penn- sylvania in passing the historic Wilmot Proviso, may only be conjectured, but all his Free Soil tendencies and inclinations had disappeared before he entered the cabinet of Pierce, and at the close of the administration he retired to private life, and there- after dropped out of the public mind.
The appointment of James Campbell of Pennsylvania to the Post Office Department was strongly urged upon the president- elect by the Buchanan element of the party and as strongly opposed by prominent Pennsylvania Democrats. Campbell, though only forty years of age, had been on the bench for eight years, and at the time of his appointment was attorney-general of his state. Col. John W. Forney was sent to Concord to protest against Campbell's appointment. "When we got to Boston," writes Col. Forney, "I had a dispatch from the president-elect, telling me he would meet me in the railroad station in Concord ; and at the station we found him on our arrival, handsome, bright, cordial and most receptive. His first greeting was: 'Well, I have appointed James Campbell, of Pennsylvania, Postmaster- General of the United States, so that part of your mission is disposed of. But in the next place you are to be retained as one of the editors of the Washington Union, which with your salary as Clerk of the House ought to be sufficient.' And that was all. Nothing was said afterwards, and when General Pierce's Admin- istration was organized, I had no sincerer or more unselfish friend during his career of four years in the postal department than James Campbell of Pennsylvania." Twenty-one years later, Forney, then a thorough-going Republican, wrote of Campbell who had dropped entirely out of public life, as in appearance "cool and quiet as when everybody honored him for his honest administration of a difficult office."
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