History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 83

Author: George Dallas Albert, editor
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Fremont was defeated, and the troubles in Kansas grew worse and worse, until its situation was little better than that of civil war. In 1860 all the ele- ments of the opposition in Pennsylvania united to form a "People's Party," sending delegates to the Chicago Convention which nominated Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Cowan was an elector, and was active in that memorable campaign. In January, 1861, he was elected to the United States Senate, taking his seat on the 4th of March, 1861. Secession was now rife in the cotton-growing States, and the situation was

one of extreme difficulty. The South relied on the "Declaration of Independence" to justify their secen- sion ; the North, on the other hand, contended that the Constitution was paramount, and established a " Perpetual Union" of the States, in which the mi- nority of the people of any State had an equal right to maintain it with the majority, that the latter had no more right to secede than the former. Here per- haps it is safe to say that upon a fair count of the Southern people there was a majority for the Union, and upon a poll of the free States a majority would have voted against " war" to compel the seceders to come back. The minds of men everywhere were unsettled, the administration was embarrassed, and hesitated as to the proper course to take.

After five or six weeks of this painful uncertainty South Carolina settled it, 12th April, 1861, by an at- tack on Fort Sumter, then in the possession of the Federals. The North was ablaze in an instant, the insulted flag was on every housetop, and war was inevitable." It is curious to look back and observe how ignorant even the wisest men were as to the nature of the terrible conflict which was to follow. Jefferson Davis calculated that thirty thousand men could de- fend the Confederacy, and Mr. Seward predicted that in ninety days the Rebellion would be suppressed. Davis failed with half a million of as brave men as ever lived, and Seward had to wait four years before his prophecy could be verified.

Mr. Cowan, in view of the war, laid down for his own guidance at least certain rules, from which he never swerved, and which in all his speeches he en- deavored to enforce :

1. The Union having been created by the Constitu- tion, to violate it was to justify disunion. The North can only justify herself in coercing the South by standing strictly on the Constitution.

2. There are two elements to be concilated,-First, the Democratic party in the free States; second, the Union men of the border States and the Confed- eracy. This can only be done by avoiding all legis- lation offensive to them, and all partisan crimination of which the secessionists could take advantage.

3. Congress should confine itself to providing suf- ficient revenue and raising armies, ignoring all party politics.

4. The war should be waged according to the rules of civilized warfare and the laws of nations, as be- came the dignity of the republic.

5. That the war being made to suppress a rebellion and not to make a conquest of the Confederate States, as soon as the rebels submitted the States should re- sume their functions in the Union according to the pledges of Congress on that subject.

In pursuance of these rules he voted steadily against all unconstitutional projects,-"legal tender," "confis- cation," "national banks," "tenure of office," "reson- struction," "Freedman's Bureau," "civil rights," etc. He also opposed "test oaths," expulsion of senators

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on party grounds, and the giving negroes the right of suffrage, etc.

Mr. Cowan was chairman of the Committee on Pat- ents, a member of the Judiciary Committee, and after- wards of the Finance Committee. . He was the author of the three hundred dollar clause in the conscription law, and he was mainly instrumental in preventing the bridge at Steubenville from being built with one- hundred-feet spans only ten feet above high-water mark with a draw. He had it raised to ninety feet, with spans three hundred feet. The original bill had passed the House, and had been favorably reported upon in the Senate before it attracted any attention. Had it passed it would have inevitably destroyed the lumber and coal trade of Western Pennsylvania on the Ohio River.

Mr. Cowan was an "old-line Whig," and was largely instrumental in fusing that element with the " American and Republican" elements in Pennsylva- nia, on the sole ground of opposition to the intro- duction of slavery in the Territories of the United States. The canvass in Pennsylvania in 1860 was made on that issue, abolition being repudiated.

When elected to the Senate he was almost entirely unknown, except in Southwestern Pennsylvania, hav- ing never held any office higher than that of school director; but he was known then as a leading lawyer, a classical scholar in ancient and modern literature, besides being fully abreast in science and philosophy with the best thought of the time. As a lawyer, in the Senate he took rank with Collamer, Browning, the elder Bogart, Reverdy Johnson, and Trumbull. Governor Hendricks, of Indiana, of Mr. Cowan says, "He was always listened to with interest. He was a dashing debater, and came into any controversy when it was at the highest, and was able to maintain him- self against much odds."

A very graphic description of Mr. Cowan is given by the poet, N. P. Willis, in the Home Journal, as follows :

"The drive to Hall's Hill was exceedingly beautiful, like an excursion in early October, made mainly interesting to me, however, by the com- pany of the eloquent senator who shared our carriage, the finest speci- men I have yet seen of brilliancy and learning, sprouting like luxuriant tendrile upon the rough type of a Kentucky Anak. Of bis powerfully proportioned frame and finely-chiseled features the senator seemed as nat- urally unconscious as of his singular readiness and universal erudition. He comes from the western part of Pennsylvania, and has passed his life as half-huntsman, half-schoolmaster and lawyer, being a distinguished man only because other people were not so, evidently quite unable to help it. His speech for the flags, very flowing and fine, has been reported at length in the papers.1 It was stirring to watch the faces of the men as

they looked co and listened to him. I realesd what dieqsenso might do in the inspiring of pluok for the battle !"

The Washington correspondent of the Boston Post thus describes Senator Cowan :

" As Trumbull and Johnson occupied the leading position in the ex- citing debate en the Civil Rights INUI, I find I have left myself too little cpece in which to strive to convey come fair ides of Cowren, of Pennayl- vanla, measuring come six feet three inches, possessed of a voice like the diapason of a small church organ, ned a habit of using it in two distinct octaves. Benstor Cowan is certainly a most pecular ned impressive speaker, ned possessse one great merit, that of never speaking unless be bes comsething to may. When he riese in the central aisle, and with his tall Agare dwarfing everything about him, conde his rolling voice mailing on the waves of fetid air that forme the atmosphere of the ill-ventilated chamber, he reminds one of the description Carlyle gives of Mirabesa In the French Convention of 1789. He is to the Conservative Republi- cans what Johneon is to the Democrats ned Tramball to the Radicals, the oratorical exponent of policy. If he is less philosophie than Johnson, sad if he be not as casaletic as Trumbull, be possesess more of that peculiar quality, clear common ernes, and a practical way of thating it than either."

A correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial gives the following sketch of Senator Cowan, the accuracy of which will be appreciated by all acquainted with the gentleman. Alluding to the late debate on the Post-office Bill, the writer says,-

" And now a gaunt, angular man at the right of Mr. Doolittle takes the floor. You are struck Arst with his height, sharpness of vinge, and extraordinary powers of voice. In the management of the latter. it seems as if those guttural tones were lowered to the utmost for the ex- press accommodation of men of less altitude and ameller grasp of the perceptive faculties. There is a musical rumble; and a most plessing diction, however, about every period, and such an assumption of power

and hold up before the eyes of your children, so that the glorious record em- blasoned upon them may incite them to imitate your exampleand ema- late your courage in the defense of their country and its constitution. . . . What a magical influence that symbol of our country's national honor exerts over us all ! In the month of April lest the loyal people were plowing and sowing in the fields, hammering in the workshops, and trading at the counters and upon the wharves, incredulous of dna- ger and careless of the coming storm. Suddenly the news came, Hiko an electric shock, that the rebels round Fort Semster bad fred on our fog. Startled and indiguant, so if the shoe had been directed against himself, every true man was on his feet in an instant, and the Launer thus ia- salted was immediately consecrated the idol of the people. It was every- Where, it waved on every house-top, it flattered in every breese, and it was conclusive proof of disloyalty not to bow before it in the day of its first humiliation. The great heart of the nation was stirred to its very depths, and its beating might be heard in the heavy tramp of thousands of armed men hurrying to the field of battle to wipe out the national diagrace and visit dire retribution upon the beads of those who bad caused it. . . . These are the flags of that 'destiny.' To your hands I commit them. I know that then they will never be dishonored. You have both of you (Col. Samuel Black and Col. J. W. McLean) long years ago givia a soldier's carnest of your fidelity to the Republic. You bave already followed its flag in the conquest of an empire. One of you assisted in carrying it in a continued succession of triumphe from the Rio Grande to Buena Vista, through Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey,-all now names in history, and monuments of a renown in which your share was honorable. The other accompanied it from Vers Orus to Mexico, and saw the glories of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Molina del Rey, Chapultepec, and Tacubaya by the way, till it waved finally in undisputed mastery over the balls of the Montezumas. Never can they be confided to more deserving hands. Take them, they are still auspicious of victory, and the righteous cause which has hallowed them over-THE CAUSE OF THE PEOPLE-will hallow them still, and amsure it. The spirits of your fathers, mighty dend, will hover over your battle-fields, silent witnesses of your heroism in showing yourselves worthy of such sires. The God of battles, too, watches over the brave and true. His blessing is upon you, and the sheltering wing of his mercy is about you and us, to save us all by you, in this the darkest hour of the nation's peril."

1 One or two passages fron Senator Cowan's speech at the presentation of the flags will show the importance of flag-influence in war:

" . . . I am also further instructed to say to you that by the terms of the law directing the Governor to procure colors for euch regiment now in the field for the defense of the Union, it was also provided that when the war was over, and you had returned victorious (as it is the earnest wish and prayer of all the people of our good old Commonwealth that you may), your gallant feats in arms will be inscribed on these flags, in order that they may be laid away among the archives of the State, there to re- main for all coming ages, a fit memorial of your valor. It may be, too, that when the republic is again in danger, these standards will be brought out

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THE LEGAL PROFESSION.

and right, figuring in every gesture and mannerism, that it would not be hard to convince the auditors above the floor that this is the Hercules of senatorial debate. Yet there is one other marked and singular char- acteristic of the speaker that astonishes and overshadows the whole effect. It is the abandon of declamation, the continual sway of that towering bulk, and a hap-bazard style of putting those stentorian truths, which, in connection with the magnificent roll and volume of voice, cannot fall to completely engross and surprise the hearer. At this time he is taking the majority of his senatorial coadjutors to task for a want of toleration and a lack of respect for the opinions of the minority. The strictures are put forth with such a sweep and power of utterance- just a shade of ironical pompoalty in the tone-that one can hardly look upon the subjects of such lordly censure without giving way to a nym- pathetic influence to belittle and distract from them too."

Hon. George Sanderson, mayor of the city of Lan- caster, in his paper, sts below quoted from, describes the speech made by Mr. Cowan in that city Sept. 20, 1868, as the ablest and most telling speech of the campaign :

"The Democratic meeting at the court-house on Monday was one of the largest assemblages of the kind over witnessed in this city. Every west was filled, all standing space was occupied, and very many were forced to leave without being able to get inside the large court-toom. It was not a mere partisan demonstration. . It was an assemblage of the carnest, thinking men of Lancaster, drawn together by patriotic motives and a desire to hear the great political questions of the day discussed by . man of the most marked ability, one who faithfully represented the people of Penusyivauia in the highest council of the nation, a man who could not be lured into the indorsement of unconstitutional measures and pernicious legislation by any allurements of place, power, or pecu- niary profit. Hon. Edgar Cowan, the chief orator of the occasion, is respected by honest men of all parties, and esteemed as a truthful, high- minded gentleman, possessing the judgment to discern what the best interests of his country demand, and the resolute will to carry out his conscientious convictions regardless of consequences to himself.

" During Mr. Cowan's speech he was constantly interrupted by spon- taneous outbursts of applause, at one point the audience rising en masse to their feet and cheering with full and united voices. We never saw an audience listen so attentively.

"During two hours scarcely a man in the vast throng moved, though many of them were uncomfortably crowded and numbers compelled to stand."

The Greensburg Herald of Dec. 5, 1860, concerning Mr. Cowan's expected election, has the following :

" It is sad that the ' hour brings the man,' so now we have the man for the hour. In Edgar Cowan, Esq., of Greensburg, all the requisites for the position harmoniously combine. Already is he looked upon by those who know him intimately as one, if not the most prominent among the candidates. This being the fact, it is proper that we should now, in brief, give the public at large not so well posted some of the outlines of Mr. Cowan's fitness.

" He is a native of Westmoreland County, now in his forty-sixth year. Trom infancy almost he was, like many of the great men of our nation, thrown upon his own resources. At the close of bis collegiate course, early in 1840, he commenced the study of law. During that memorable Presidential canvass his eloquent and sonorous voice was often heard in bis native county, ably discussing the questions then at issue before the country. He was a decided favorite among those who sang ' Tippecanoe and Tyler too,' and could never avoid being compelled to respond to the calls for 'a speech from Westmoreland's young orator,' made by every political gathering where it was thought he was one of the number present. His career at the bar has been eminently successful, and we think we will not be charged with making any invidious distinctions when we say that, for his diligence, promptness, and fidelity to the in- terests of bis clients, the power with which he grasps, and the readiness and clearnees with which he unravels all intricate legal questions, as well aq his fairness towards an adversary, he now deservedly ranks among those at the head of the bar in Western Pennsylvania. Thor- oughly booked in all the popular sciences and several modern languages, with great physical and mental self-reliance, he stands forth panoplied to advocate and defend the rights of a free people in every phase of life's checkered pathway, uo matter in how exalted or responsible a position. In short, hir is a self-made unn, who has hewn his way to the position

be now occupies, indebted to nothing but Me own inherent energy and the blessing of health under the free institutions of our country.

" Politically, Mr. Cowan has all his life been an ardent supporter of the doctrines enunciated in the Chicago platform."

The Times has the following :

"SENATOR COWAN.

" When Edgar Cowan was first mentioned in connection with the United States senatorsbip, the questions were almost universally asked, ' Who is he? What is he? and, Where does he come from ?' His wee most assuredly not a State-wide reputation ; he had been no office-seeker, and very little of a politician, and outside of his immediate neighbor. hood his name was almost unknown, except, perhaps, to a circle of chosen friends or to the leaders of his political party. We were told, however, by those whose candidate he was that he was a close student ; a man of extensive and varied learning ; an able, shrewd, and faithful lawyer; a powerful and skillful debater, who would not fail to make bis mark in the Senate; and, above all, an honest man, who would yield neither to the blandishments of power nor the lust of gain, but would act on his own convictions of right and duty, be the consequences what they may. So much we were told : and, beyond this, we had a right to infer, from the fact that he defeated David Wilmot in the Republican caucus, that be was conservative in his views. Indeed, this of itself was enough to satisfy those who opposed him. David Wilmot, bis radical and fanatical competitor, had been laid on the shelf, for the time being at least, and that was glory enough for one day.

" Mr. Cowan was elected and took his seat, modestly sad unassum- ingly, with no flourish of trumpets to herald his fame. He seldom rose to speak during his first session, and his name was but seldom seen in public print, except in the votes he gave, which generally seemed to be honest and conservative. Yet, though unassuming, his reputation was fast spreading among those around him, and at the second session he was placed on the Judiciary Committee, the second in importance of the committees of the Senate."

A prominent newspaper of the day has the follow- ing notice of Mr. Cowan's position on the Confisca- tion Bill :

" HON. EDGAR COWAN ON THE CONFISCATION BILL .- Senator Cowan has received much abuse from the ultra press of the country for his late speech upon the Confiscation Bill of Senator Trumbull. His speech, however, has been indorsed by the President, his Cabinet, . large majority of the leading lawyers and statesmen of Pennsylvania, while Senators Collamer, Fessenden, Doolittle, Browning, and Clarke bare expressed upon the floor their hearty concurrence therein. While he has the confidence of such men, be can well await the ultimate indorse- ment of his. course by the whole reading community, which must cor- tainly follow."

The Tribune, of New York, has the following from a Harrisburg correspondent, dated Dec. 19, 1874:

" Upon the subject of United States senator, within the last week the name of Edgar Cowan has been more frequently mentioned that any other candidate. As a lawyer and a statesman, Mr. Cowan is the peer of any man in the Commonwealth; and if there be a man in the State to whom more than another the Democrats owe a debt of gratitude it is Edgar Cowan. Mr. Cowan has given evidence of more ability, mani- fested more nobility of nature, and exhibited more nerve and independ- ence than any Pennsylvanian that ever filled a seat in the United States Senate, and his election to a seat in that honorable body at this time would do honor to the Democracy, and be greeted with joy by a large majority of the people of the Keystone State."

The following is from the gifted pen of Hon. Wil- liam A. Stokes, editor of the Greensburg Republican :

"HON. EDGAR COWAN.

"It is not for us to pronounce the panegyric of a political opponent, but it is our duty to do justice to all men, for justice is the supreme and all-pervading element of Democracy. Wherefore we have not hesitated, in regard to some leading Republicans, to express our approval of such portions of their conduct as were entitled to commendation, while, on the other hand, we have, with equal freedom, condemned error, even in our political friends. Devoted during life to the disinterested support of Democratic principles, we are, nevertheless, not insensible to the merit, of our opponents or the mistakes of our friends.

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""For naught se vile that ca the earth doth live But to the earth comse special good doth give; Nor aught so good but, strained from that fair wes, Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abues.'

" In this spirit of independent Impartiality we have now both to cop- care and commend the course, somewhat inconsistent, of our neighbor sad friend, Mr. Cowan. For many years this gentlemen was the soul of the Whig and Republican parties in Western Pennsylvania. His inter- rity and intrepidity gave him vast power, and occasional dieagreement with his associates-secondary development of his original Democracy- served only to increase his influence and commend him to the kindly feelings of his opponents. Elected to the Senate, he took his cest the same day ou which Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated President. He heard from his lips, which had just kissed the Bible as he took the constitu- tional oath of office, that he had no design, desire, or power to interfere with slavery or to invade in any manner the rights of States or people.

"Nobly, upon many momentous occasione, was he sustained by the patriotic minority of the Senate,-faithful alone among the faithless, pow- erless in the present, but to whom soon justice will be done, and whose constaat virtue will be embalmed in the bomage of after-ages. In March, 1863, on the question of indemnifying the President and all others for violation of the habeas corpus, he attacked the malignant majority of the Senate, and pointed to the sole path of safety for the republic with power and wisdom in the following language:

. "" It seems to me that if we of the dominant party were more tolerant of the opposition, and instead of taking pains to insult their beliefs and misrepresent their opirions we should carefully avoid any alluelor to them whatever, we would soon disarm that opposition. I have been from the first of opinion that the introduction of any messure, no mat- ter how important it might appear to be in the eyes of its friends, calcu- lated to provoke the hostility of the Democratic party and incite it to opposition was mischievous in the highest degree, and all that we might gain by such a measure would be nothing compared with what we should lose by arousing it to resist it. Their harmonious co-operation with us in the prosecution of the war is worth more to the country a thousand times over than any measure we could propoes, and which would tend to alienate them from us. Is there any man living to-day, who loves his country better than his own bobby, who would not be willing and ready to give up all the causes of differences with that great party, composing one-half of our people, for the sake of insuring its hearty and cheerful co-operation with us in carrylug on the war? Sir, I bad rather have the moral and material ald of the Democratic party in this war than all the legislative projects that could be hatched in the brains of a Congress com- posed entirely of reformers. One kindly pulsation of its great heart and one sturdy stroke of its mighty arm would do more to put down the Re- bellion than all the laws-we could possibly pass. I would cheerfully yield all my preconceived notions at any time to secure its aid in this extremity, and with its ald I believe the unity of the republic would soon be restored and the old fing again afloat everywhere, still more the mobject of veneration and still more the assurance of safety and protec- tion than it ever was. I would respect the traditions of that party, and deal tenderly with its likes and dislikes, and surely, under no circum- stances, would I offend it when it could be avoided.'

. .

. ""The Constitution, then, being the charter by which our government is created, it is easy to see that outside of that charter there is not, nor can there be, any government; there may be force and despotism, but there can be no law nor true government. And the man who for a mo- ment thinks the government can be saved by violating the Constitution is guilty of either supreme folly or supreme wickedness. He has never comprehended the principles of a free government, or his moral nature has been so far perverted as to prevent him from distinguishing between such a government and a despotism. Akin to that notion is another, that the authority conferred and the mode of action prescribed by the Constitution are inadequate to the defense and protection of the liberties of the nation. Now, I venture to assert that nothing could be more nn- founded than such a supposition. So far from it, I have no hesitation in saying that if, at this time, the nation relied solely upon the omnipotent discretion of its rulers, without a written Constitution at all, that those rulera, if they were wise, would adopt for themselves just such a set of rules for their guidance as we now have in the Constitution. It author- izes every politic and forbids all impolitic measures. It rises like a wall, behind which the wise statesman intrenches himself to resist the mad- ness of faction or the bliud folly of the people when, seduced by dema- gugues, they desire to resort to dangerous though plansible schemes, schemes which fur long ages have been tried over and over again, and

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History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 83

Author: George Dallas Albert, editor Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: George Dallas Albert, editor
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: