decision was to establish, in theory at least, the validity of these bonds; but as, without an appropriation by the Legislature of sufficient funds out of the public treasury, they could not be paid, the decision was of little use to the bondholders. The recollection of this obnoxious opinion might, nevertheless, have defeated his reëlection, but that he was elected by the people of a district, and not by the whole state, and in that district the repudiating class was not as numerous as in others. It was fortunate for the state, that this circumstance prevented the election to the Supreme Bench, in lieu of Judge Sharkey, of an individual of opposite sentiments, and thus excluded from the fountain of justice the contaminating doctrine that the debtor shall be the judge of his own liability to the creditor.' Those desirous of learning the reason of the Supreme Court on this longmooted and agitating question, may be gratified by referring to the case of Campbell vs. Mississippi Union Bank, 6 Howard, Miss. Rep. 625.”

In 1850, the excitement in the South, and in Mississippi especially, in relation to "the Compromise Measures" and "the Wilmot Proviso," was such as to fill our wisest statesmen with alarm. Governor Quitman, whose influence and popularity were paramount, committed himself strongly to the views of secession promulgated by South Carolina. Senator Davis, and the state delegation to Congress, except Senator Foote, were, almost to a man, secessionists. In the midst of this excitement the famous Nashville Convention assem bled, on the action of which so much depended. Chief Justice Sharkey was called on to preside, and by him the resolutions and address were drafted. His patriotic counsels moderated the ardor of the South, restored the discussion to legal limits, and, more than any one cause, prevented the formation of a treasonable Southern Confederacy. While, by his firmness and discretion, he exposed himself to the hostility of the Hotspurs of his own section, he won, by the timely exercise of the same

qualities, a place among the statesmen of the Union, by whom the pacification of 1850 was effected.*

The national administration, conscious of these services, and of his abilities, firmness and judgment, has lately appointed him consul at Havana; an office which, from our relations with Cuba and Spain, is one of great delicacy and importance.

The neighboring states of Tennessee and Mississippi have been, from the first, congenial homes for Irishmen. The influence of the Jacksons, Carrolls, Coffees, Brandons, and Sharkeys, has justly rendered the Irish name honorable on this bank of the great river. In the commerce-of the South, many emigrants from Ireland have made immense fortunes. The Irish merchants of Baltimore and Charleston have ranked among the foremost for enterprise and probity. In Virginia, the largest fortune ever made by commerce was that of Andrew Beirne, who was as remarkable for his munificence in prosperity, as he had been for his sagacity and industry. In Missouri, the largest fortune was, perhaps, that of Bryan Mullanphy, of St. Louis, whose eccentricities furnish as many anecdotes to that neighborhood, as those of Girard and Astor to Philadelphia and New York. Mr. Mullanphy left one son, a lawyer and judge, who died unmarried, at St. Louis, in 1850. He bequeathed the princely sum of $200,000 for the relief of emigrants entering the Mississippi. At New Orleans, the same year, died John M'Donogh, born in Baltimore, of Irish parents, who, by a long life of penurious and unnatural parsimony, acquired the largest single property in the Southern States. He left an unamiable character, a doubtful will, and legacies which seem more likely to be inherited by the lawyers than those for whom he

* "He was nominated a candidate for the Convention called in conformity to an act of the Legislature, and was elected. During the canvass he spoke frequently to immense assemblies, composed of individuals from remote quarters, many of whom declared that, having heard Judge Sharkey's opinion, they would return home without any further doubts on the subject. To no man is the cause of the Union more indebted for the immense majority by which the disunion party was defeated in Mississippi, than to Judge William L. Sharkey." American Whig Review, May, 1852.

designed them. If mere wealth, unrefined by the graces, and uninspired by the charities of life, was respectable, this man would merit more of our space. But the hardy pioneer, the brave soldier, the close student, and the faithful public servant, are those we can freely honor. All the wealth of John McDonogh cannot purchase him a better name than his life deserved. A very different character was Daniel Clarke, a wealthy merchant, of Irish birth, who settled at New Orleans, in the year 1795. He acquired immense estates, which he was ever ready to use for the public service. At the time of his migration from the United States to New Orleans, (Louisiana then belonged to France,) he became, or was sent out as, United States consul. In the quasi-French war he offered his entire property for the defence of the Mississippi against the threatened invasion. He died at New Orleans, in 1813, leaving a princely estate, which has also been in great part dissipated through litigation.*

In Arkansas there has been recently some emigration from Ireland, partly induced by the establishment of the diocese of Little Rock, over which the Rt. Rev. Andrew Byrne, a native of Dublin, so worthily presides. A large number of farmers from Wexford county, some three years back, made their homes in that state, under the guidance of their pastor, Father Hoar. The colony, we believe, has not been very successful.

* The celebrated "Gaines case," arose from Mrs. Gaines' claims against the property of Daniel Clarke.

CHAPTER XXV.

NEW STATES OF THE NORTH-WEST -SENATORS CASS AND FITZGERALD, OF MICHIGAN, ALLEN, OF OHIO, AND HANNEGAN, OF INDIANAHON. MR. RYAN, OF ILLINOIS HUGH O'NEIL, OF INDIANA - THE DOWLINGS — LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR BYRNE, OF WISCONSIN -IRISH PIONEERS IN IOWA REFLECTIONS.

THE six states carved out of the north-western Indian territories since the beginning of this century, have been the favorite goals of all recent emigration. The facilities of transit offered by the canals and railroads leading from the old Atlantic States westward, and the adaptability of the west for agriculture, attracted and made easy the progress of the Celtic multitude. If, in our own age, this young nation has been able to export its superfluous breadstuffs to the other side of the Atlantic, one of the chief causes is to be found in the constant supply of cheap Irish labor, which, for fifty years, has been poured along all the avenues of the west. If, moreover, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa, have done much to increase the wealth and glory of the Union, a large share of the historical honor is due to Irish fugitives from British oppression, and their more fortunate sons, born as freemen.

A glance at the growth of the general population, since the reclamation of the North-west, will enable us to estimate, in one way, its importance to the Union. In 1800, the "Union" counted 5,305,625 souls; in 1810, 7,239,814; in 1820, 9,654,596; in 1830, 12,868,020; in 1840, 17,069,453; in 1850, about 23,250,000. Not only has the increase been mainly in the North-west, but the abundant produce of that fertile region has fed and distended even the older states. For every emigrant who goes up the lakes in spring, an increase of produce, or its price, comes down in harvest. The army of labor makes an annual campaign, and gives a good account of

itself in every engagement with the wilderness, and the desolation of ancient barrenness. The host that unfurled its standard at Bunker's Hill, and took the British colors down at Yorktown, is scarcely more entitled to be called the army of liberation, than this emigrant multitude, who, armed with the implements of labor, smite the forest from the morning until the evening, and plant, in advance of the ages to come, the starry banner of the nation against the frontier skies.

Who constitute this host? In every case it has been nearly half Irish. Until 1819, there was, unfortunately, no customs record of emigrant arrivals; until the Atlantic States, within ten years back, appointed local Commissioners of Emigration, we had no exact returns of the classes and origin of those who did arrive. But the names of men and places, the number of Catholic churches erected in, and the Irish feelings represented by, the public men of the west, enable us to estimate the share of that people in the population of the six new states of that quarter.*

In the United States Senate, Michigan has been represented by Generals Cass and Fitzgerald, both of Irish origin; Ohio was long represented by Mr. Allen, still in the vigor of his public life, — a man of real ability, and not only by blood, but by sympathy, allied to the fatherland of Burke and O'Connell. Indiana has sent to the

* Certainly one half of the recent arrivals from Ireland has been added to the population of the Western States. How large a proportion these bear to all other settlers, may be conjectured by the following summary of the arrivals at New York alone, which we take from the Annual Reports of the Commissioners of Emigration for that State, for 1848, '49 and '50.

Passengers arriving in New York in the years ending 31st of December, 1848, 1849, and 1850, for whom commutation and hospital money was paid. (Americans not included.)