97.-FRANKLIN PIERCE AND HIS ADMINISTRATION.

Franklin Pierce, the son of a revolutionary officer, and Governor of New Hampshire, was born at Hillsborough, New Hampshire, November 23, 1804. Receiving a liberal education, he studied law and commenced practice in 1827, and two years after was elected to the Legislature, where he served four years, and two of them as Speaker. He had many of the elements of popularity, which kept him in public life. At the close of his service in the Legislature, he was elected to Congress, where he served four years, and was then elected to the United States Senate. He served in that body until 1842, when he resigned and resumed the practice of his profession. When the Mexican War commenced, he volunteered as a private, but was soon commissioned as a colonel and then as a brigadier-general by President Polk, who, when signing the latter commission, said to the writer that he was destined to become President of the United States. Mr. Polk's prophecy became history. He fully met the expectation of his friends, and returned with increased reputation, receiving unbounded applause in his State. On returning home from the war, he resumed the practice of the law, with distinguished success. He was soon elected a member of the convention to revise the State constitution, and manfully exerted himself to rid that instrument of the provision excluding Catholics from office in the State.

At the Baltimore Democratic Convention in 1852 he was nominated, and in the fall elected President by a very large vote over General Scott, nominated by the Whigs. On the 4th of March, 1853, he entered upon the duties of President. A dispute with Mexico, concerning our boundary in the Mesilla Valley, resulted in the acquisition of what is now called Arizona. It was under Mr. Pierce's directions that Secretary Marcy wrote his celebrated Martin Koszta letter, which has justly become so famous in the annals of diplomacy.

In January, 1854, Mr. Douglas, Senator from Illinois, made a report to Congress, accompanied by a bill, to create a Territory now constituting the States of Kansas and Nebraska, leaving the Missouri Compromise to stand. Subsequently the bill was recom

mitted and a new one reported, creating two new Territories and repealing the Compromise Act. This bill passed, and aggravated a controversy, begun long before, which precipitated secession and disunion. It brought the abolitionists and Whigs together, fighting side by side, upon exciting questions. Disunion really began in Kansas. The South claimed the right to remove there with slaves, and the united Whigs and abolitionists disputed that right. Societies with large capital, sometimes incorporated, were established, members of Congress participating, to control the politics. of Kansas. Contributions were taken up and sermons preached for the same purpose. Even children were robbed of their pennies to aid the work of politicians. The Word of God and "Minnié and Sharpe's rifles" were mingled in the clergyman's study, if not in his pulpit. This war, for it was emphatically such, was not ended in Mr. Pierce's time, but was left as a fatal legacy for his successor, Mr. Buchanan. It was the cord which bound the Whigs and abolitionists together, proving in the end the instrument with which the Whigs were strangled and the abolitionists secured their power. Mr. Pierce was not responsible for this unfortunate Kansas legislation. He vetoed two bills, one relating to the repair of certain public works, and the other distributing ten millions of acres of public lands to the States for relief of indigent insane. In this he was clearly right, as neither was authorized by the Constitution. His veto of the increased appropriation for the Collins steamers met with the hearty acquiescence of the public. Millions have been squandered upon private steamship companies, without the Government receiving any adequate return. Such acts are unconstitutional. The British minister, Mr. Crampton, became a party to the illegal enlistments in this country for the Crimean War, and his recall was demanded by Mr. Pierce. This being refused, he dismissed both him and the British consuls at Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and New York. This decision and firmness was highly gratifying to the country. In August, 1856, Congress adjourned without making appropriations for the support of the army, in consequence of a limitation imposed in the army bill, in the House, forbidding its use in sustaining the territorial laws in Kansas. Mr. Pierce convened Congress by procla

mation on the 21st of August, when the bill without the proviso was passed and approved. After retiring from public life, Mr. Pierce travelled extensively in Europe, returning in 1860, since which he has resided in his native State, appearing once or twice before the public in an address, declaring himself against secession and disunion, and urging the people to give the national administration a vigorous support in putting down the rebellion.

Mr. Pierce has a pleasing address and is a great favorite in society. Although at first not successful as a speaker, he afterward became one of our happiest orators, often presenting his thoughts in a style that would do credit to any age or nation. His remarks at the tomb of Mr. Webster are unexcelled in the English language. The untoward events during the last two years of his administration, for which he was not responsible, clouded his popularity, but did not destroy the confidence of his friends either in his ability or honesty. These events had their origin with others seeking political power, and over whom he could exercise no control. From the commencement of his political life down to the present time, he has been a Democrat of the strictest kind. Few men have ever adhered more closely to the Constitution, or struggled more manfully to sustain it. In matters of mere policy he might have yielded; but where the Constitution was concerned, he never submitted to compromise. It is to be regretted that there are not more who entertain his convictions on constitutional questions, and possess his firmness in dealing with them. The duration of our republic depends upon a rigid adherence to the Constitution, not only in letter, but in spirit.

98.-JAMES BUCHANAN.

Events of an anomalous character, over which he had no control, temporarily obscured the brilliancy of Mr. Buchanan's character. Like that of an eclipse of the sun, the obscurity will have but a brief duration. He was held accountable for acts he never performed, and challenged for those of others which he never prompted or approved. A division of his own party, for which he was not responsible, left him without the means of accomplishing good and staying evil, in conformity to the promptings of his

own judgment and his views of duty. It became fashionable to excuse everybody else, and heap all faults upon him. The public mind, not fed with truth or properly aided in its pursuit, at first halted, then doubted, and finally, knowing that there was wrong somewhere, charged him as responsible. But Truth has awakened from her slumbers, and History, brushing away the clouds and mists, is doing him justice. His own defence of his administration, not yet extensively read, is a triumphant vindication from all the charges made against him.

During his administration the allied Whigs and abolitionists were his enemies and accusers. Half of his own party withdrew from him their support, and neither contradicted nor refuted the known false accusations brought against him. His defence rested with that limited number who adhered to and confided in him. Under such circumstances it is not strange that he should be broadly misunderstood. Those who were actors against him will be slow in searching for truth and not prompt in yielding to it. But time corrects all damaging errors, and he will stand before his countrymen and in history as pure and unspotted as when the people made him their President, before any portion of the Democratic party found it agreeable or advantageous to join his political enemies in traducing him.

Mr. Buchanan was born April 23, 1791, in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, his father being Scotch-Irish, and his mother a daughter of Pennsylvania. He was well educated, studied law, and was admitted to practice in 1812. His industry, learning, and capacity, soon brought him an abundance of business. At the age of twenty-three he was elected to the State Legislature. When the British destroyed the capitol, in Washington, in 1814, he headed a list of volunteers, and, as a private, proceeded to Baltimore. The company were soon after discharged. In 1822 he entered Congress, and continued until 1831, when he declined a reëlection. In 1832 he was sent by General Jackson minister to Russia, where he effected an important treaty. Mr. Buchanan at first declined this mission, but he was persuaded to take it, as he was the best man in the country to make the desired treaty. The fact that it has stood the test of more than a genera

tion, and that it is without a single alteration, is but another example of General Jackson's sagacity in selecting men for important service. On his return in 1834 he was elected to the United States Senate to fill a vacancy, and in 1837 was reëlected, and again reëlected in 1843. On being appointed Secretary of State, in 1845, by Mr. Polk, he resigned his seat in the Senate. In 1853 he was appointed by Mr. Pierce minister to London, where he remained until 1856. He was regarded by some as the ablest representative of America ever sent to the court of St. James. On his return he was nominated for the presidency by the Democratic party, and elected in the fall of that year, was sworn into office on the 4th of March, 1857, and served the full term of four years.

His residence, since he commenced the study of the law, has been at the city of Lancaster, latterly at his place called Wheatland, a short distance out of the city, where he now resides, enjoying good health and the respect of all those who know him. In early life he was classed with the Federalists, but all sympathy with that party ended with their opposition to the War of 1812, and their effort to cause our country to be beaten in that conflict. The residue of his life has been devoted to the active support of the Democratic party, and the principles upon which it

is founded.

At the called session of 1841 Mr. Buchanan greatly distinguished himself in the discussions on chartering a Bank of the United States. He probably never appeared to better advantage, although his management of the impeachment of Judge Peck, when he was in the House, won him much applause, and proved his high qualifications as a lawyer.

On a former occasion, the writer, in describing Mr. Buchanan, used this language: "He receives his company with a courtesy and simplicity that make every one feel at his ease, though he never appears undignified. His conversation has a peculiar charm, because he uses, as Mr. Calhoun did, common and plain language to communicate his thoughts. He never confounds you with language or words that you do not understand, nor does he attempt to dazzle by striking expressions, or applying pungent