Chapter XX: ――history (15)

By this treaty, the French government agreed to pay to the United States, for seizures, captures, sequestration, or destruction of their vessels, cargoes, or other property, 25,000,000 francs, in six equal annual instalments. The government of the United States on their part, agreed to pay 1,500,000 francs to the government of France, in satisfaction of all claims in behalf of France, its citizens, or the royal treasury, either for ancient supplies or accounts, or for unlawful seizures, captures, detentions, arrests or destruction of French vessels, cargoes, or other property, in six annual instalments, to be reserved out of the instalments payable to the United States; interest at the rate of four per cent., is to be allowed on the above sums, from the exchange of the ratifications. The sum thus stipulated to be paid by France did not amount to more than one-third of the just claims of the citizens of the United States, but their liquidation, even upon terms comparatively unfavorable, was so desirable, that the conclusion of this treaty was hailed by all parties.

During the spring of 1832 hostilities were commenced by the Sac and Fox Indians on the western borders of the United States, under the celebrated chief, Black Hawk. This aggression created a necessity for the interposition of the Executive, who ordered a portion of the troops under Generals Scott and Atkinson, together with a detachment of militia from the state of Illinois, into the field. After a harassing warfare, prolonged by the nature of the country and the difficulty of procuring subsistence, the Indians were defeated, and Black Hawk and the Prophet were taken prisoners. The confederated tribes of the Sacs and Foxes have long been distinguished for their spirit of adventure, as well as their restless and savage disposition. During the late war with Great Britain they aided her by their arms. In 1829 and 1830, these tribes, claiming a part of the country upon Rock river, attempted to establish themselves in that quarter, and the necessary consequence of which was frequent collisions with the white inhabitants. In 1831, their aggressions were so serious as to require a detachment of troops in the field. The appearance of these alarming the Indians they agreed to confine themselves to their own lands west of the Mississippi. Scarcely, however, had this arrangement been settled, before a party of these Indians assaulted and murdered a number of the Menomonies, a tribe friendly to the United States, while encamped in the village of Prairie du Chien. This wanton outrage, it was deemed necessary to rebuke, lest these disaffected Indians should harass and disturb the border settlements. Accordingly, General Atkinson was ordered, March 7th, 1832, to demand the surrender of the Menomonie murderers. This demand was disregarded. Hostilities immediately ensued, which were terminated in the month of August following by a general battle, which led to the entire rout of the Indians, and of the delivery of Black Hawk and the Prophet, on the 27th of August, as prisoners of war. These leaders of the war were conducted to Washington, whence they passed through some of the principal cities of the United States, and were sent home, having pledged to conduct themselves with due regard to the United States.

On the 3d of December, 1832, the twenty-second congress commenced its second session. In his message, the President, having alluded in brief but appropriate terms to the cholera, which had been spreading its desolations over portions of the United States, represented the relations of the country with foreign powers in a state of amity. The finances of the country were in a prosperous state; the national debt on the first of January, 1833, would be reduced to about seven millions; doubts were expressed as to the safety of the deposits in the United States Bank, and a decision of the question as to the disposal of public lands was urged.

December 10th, the President issued a solemn and impressive proclamation addressed to the citizens of the United States, in relation to the hostile attitude of South Carolina to the Union, in consequence of the acts of congress of 29th May, 1828, and of 14th of July, 1833, altering and amending the several acts imposing duties on imports――which acts had, in a convention of the above state, held at Columbia, November 24th, been pronounced to be unconstitutional, and therefore void, and of no binding force within the limits of that state. This proclamation was an able document, furnishing a sound exposition of the principles and powers of the government, and breathing a spirit of patriotic devotion to the constitution and union of the states. It evinced a fixed determination to maintain the laws and to resist all treasonable and disorganizing measures. Happily, this firmness of the Executive, with subsequent conciliatory measures of congress, saved the Union. For a considerable period the southern states, with the exception of South Carolina, had been considered, opposed to the exercise of power by the federal government. This state, although voting with the adjacent states on all local and on most national questions, had on some occasions, as in 1816, been foremost in asserting the right of congress to legislate on certain disputed points. Among these were the subjects of internal improvement, the United States Bank, and the tariff. A change of opinion had now taken place there, and it began to go beyond any of the advocates of state rights in its assertion of state sovereignty. A vehement opposition to the tariff, both in 1824 and on the subsequent modification in 1828, had been led by the talented delegation from South Carolina in congress; and when they were defeated in the halls of legislation, with characteristic energy they renewed their efforts to overturn the system, and to render it unpopular with the people. In the latter part of November, 1832, a state convention assembled at Columbia, which, at length, passed an ordinance, by which they declared: “That the several acts and parts of acts of the congress of the United States, purporting to be laws for the imposing of duties and imports on the importation of foreign commodities, and now having actual operation and effect within the United States, and more especially” two acts for the same purposes passed on the 29th of May, 1828, and on the 14th of July, 1832, “are unauthorized by the constitution of the United States, and violate the true meaning and intent thereof, and are null and void, and no law,” nor binding on the citizens of that state or its officers; and by the said ordinance it is further declared to be “unlawful for any of the constituted authorities of the state or the United States, to enforce the payment of the duties imposed by the said acts within the same state, and that it is the duty of the legislature to pass such laws as may be necessary to give full effect to the said ordinance.” This tone of menace naturally aroused the Executive to corresponding energy and decision. He immediately issued a proclamation, which will be long admired for its sound and able exposition of the principles of the constitution――for its breathings of a spirit of exalted patriotism――and its eloquent appeal to Carolina herself and to the other states, which were perhaps ready to join her standard, to remember the toil and blood which American liberty cost――the sacredness of the constitution――and the importance of the preservation of the Union. While the proclamation of the President was commended by most of the states of the Union, as an able and judicious document, it served to increase, rather than allay, the excited citizens of South Carolina. The legislature of that state being in session, authorized and instructed her governor to issue a counter proclamation, which he did on the 20th of December, in which, in consonance with the legislative resolutions, he “solemnly warned the citizens of South Carolina against all attempts to seduce them from their primary allegiance to the state.” “I charge you,” said he, “to be faithful to your duty as citizens of South Carolina, and earnestly exhort you to disregard those ‘vain measures’ of military force, which, if the President, in violation of all his constitutional obligations, and your most sacred rights, should be tempted to employ, it would become your solemn duty at all hazards to resist.” On the same day general orders were issued by authority of the legislature, to raise volunteers, either in companies, troops, battalions, squadrons, &c., for the purpose of repelling invasion and in support of the rights of the state. Under a deep sense of the importance of energy befitting the emergency, the President, January 16th, 1833, addressed a message to congress, in which, after giving a history of proceedings both on the part of Carolina and the general government, he recommended the adoption of such measures as would clothe the Executive with competent power to suppress the risen spirit of insubordination――sustain the public officers in the discharge of their duties――and give power to the courts to carry out their constitutional decisions. While the storm was apparently thus gathering strength, and was ready to burst in still greater violence upon the nation, two events occurred which served to allay it, and indeed were the harbingers of comparative peace and amity. The first of these was an affectionate appeal of the general assembly of Virginia to the patriotism and magnanimity of South Carolina, expressed in a preamble and resolutions, as honorable to the “Ancient Dominion” as any act of her life, and worthy of her in the days of Patrick Henry and his contemporaries. The other event was the passage of a bill introduced by Mr. Clay, termed the “compromise bill,” which was designed as an act of pacification between the north and south――a middle course between extremes; and although not entirely satisfactory perhaps to either party, it was accepted by both, and was the means, under Providence, of staying the risen storm. A convention was soon after held in South Carolina, which, in view of the appeal of Virginia, and the modification of the tariff, proceeded to recommend the following ordinance: “Whereas, the congress of the United States by an act recently passed has made such a reduction and modification of the duties upon foreign imports, as amounts substantially to an ultimate reduction of the duties to the revenue standard, and that no higher duties shall be made than may be necessary to defray the expenditures of the government:” “It is therefore _ordained_ and _declared_, that the ordinance, entitled ‘An ordinance to nullify certain acts of the congress of the United States, purporting to be laws laying duties on the importation of foreign commodities,’ and all acts passed in pursuance thereof, be henceforth deemed and held to have no effect; provided, that the act entitled ‘An act further to amend the militia laws of this state,’ passed on the 20th day of December, 1832, shall remain in force until it shall be repealed, or modified by the legislature.”

The excitement at Washington at this time was seldom if ever surpassed. Every day was prominent with important measures and occurrences. The reception of, and debate upon, Mr. Clay’s “compromise bill” were things not to be forgotten. The senate, we are told, was a scene of the most intense interest. A multitude of both sexes filled the hall. Profound silence and gravity prevailed, and a deep sensation was evinced, as much by that general silence, as by the marked interruption of it once or twice by audible emotions. There was an opinion expressed on many sides that the “tariff bill would not, after all, pass the senate.” But the opinion was not, we see confirmed, by the issue. It passed that body by a vote of twenty-nine to sixteen. It was called the “bloody bill,” by the government journal, and was held by it to represent “the mortal remains of state rights.”

Congress adjourned on Friday morning, March the 1st, at one o’clock. On the following Monday, General Jackson, who had been re-elected President, was inaugurated with much parade and amid great shoutings. His address on the occasion, was received with great applause. The oath was administered to him and Mr. Van Buren by the chief justice. The President in his address recognised the importance of state rights, but properly insisted upon the equal, if not superior value of the Union, and the sacred duty of every state to contribute to its preservation by a liberal support of the government. He recognised the interest and importance of the time, and promised all his powers to sustain that principle which should make and continue us a united and happy people.

During the summer of 1833, the President visited New England, by the way of Philadelphia and New York; and, having proceeded as far as Concord in Massachusetts, returned again to the seat of government.

In this tour, the President was received in every place through which he passed with those demonstrations of respect and attention which are overdue to the chief magistrate of a free and enlightened people. Whatever opinions were entertained of his administration by his political opponents, they united in every suitable expression of honor to the man, whom the suffrages of a majority had elevated to the highest office in the nation. The President’s tour commenced on the 6th of June, and was suddenly terminated in the beginning of July――his return to Washington being hastened, as was said, by the state of his health, which had become too feeble to endure the fatigue incidental to such an expedition.

About this time several changes were effected in the cabinet. Edward Livingston, secretary of state, received the appointment of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States to the court of France, and Louis M’Lane, secretary of the treasury, took his place, and William J. Duane, the office of Mr. M’Lane.

On the 18th of September, a communication was read to the cabinet by the President, showing his decision on the subject of the removal of the public deposits from the Bank of the United States. His own mind was determined upon that of removal; and he begged his cabinet “to consider the proposed measure as his own――in which he should require no one to sacrifice opinion or principle.” Mr. Duane being opposed, as was thought, to this course of the President, was removed, and R. B. Taney appointed in his place.

On Monday, the 30th of June, congress terminated its session. A few days before the close of the session, Andrew Stevenson was nominated as minister to the court of St. James, and Roger B. Taney, as secretary of the treasury. The latter gentleman had received his appointment from the President, during the recess of the senate. It had been the uniform practice for appointments of this kind to be laid before the senate, at the commencement of the session; but General Jackson had withheld his name till near its close; and for nearly seven months Mr. Taney had been permitted to discharge the duties of an office, which, according to the substantial meaning, if not the literal construction of the constitution, he had no right to hold.

The rejection of Mr. Stevenson was justified, on the principles early advanced by General Jackson, that the appointment of members of congress to important offices was calculated to introduce corruption into the government. But other reasons operated, and among them, the disclosure made to the senate of the assurance of the President months previously, through the secretary of state, to Mr. Stevenson, that he should have the appointment. This promise was made, it was said, under the expectation that Mr. Stevenson would carry out the views and several measures of the Executive; and in this view the ratification of his nomination was deemed highly improper.

Before the session closed, the following nominations were made and confirmed. John Forsyth, of Georgia, to be secretary of state; Levi Woodbury, of New Hampshire, secretary of the treasury; Mahlon Dickerson, of New Jersey, secretary of the navy; William Wilkins, of Pennsylvania, minister to Russia.

Just before the termination of the session, June 21st, the President communicated to congress, in a special message, the death of the illustrious La Fayette, which took place at his residence, La Grange, in France, on the 20th of May, at the advanced age of seventy-six. At the same time, orders were issued to the army and navy to honor the memory of the last of the generals of the Revolution. The house and senate chamber were both hung in black, agreeably to a resolution, unanimously adopted. It was also recommended by resolution, to the people of the United States to wear a badge of mourning for thirty days; and John Quincy Adams was appointed to deliver at the next session of congress, an oration on the life and character of our country’s friend.

The second session of the twenty-third congress commenced December 1st, 1834. The foreign relations of the country were represented by the President in his message to be unimpaired, and with all countries, save France, the understanding was such as was desirable. That government, however, still continued to persevere in her omission to satisfy the conceded claims of our citizens. The other prominent subjects regarded the United States Bank――the regulation of the deposits――and the impolicy and unconstitutionality of appropriations for internal improvements. The conduct of France towards the United States, in neglecting the payment of a just and already allowed debt, was generally censured in the United States. The President informed congress, “that, in his opinion, the United States ought to insist on a prompt execution of the treaty, and should an appropriation not be made by the French Chambers at their next session, prompt measures would not only be most honorable and just, but have the best effect on our national character.” This recommendation of the President was considered by some, in its practical effect, as a declaration of war, and especially as he recommended, in case of longer neglect, a law authorizing reprisals upon French property. But the expediency of reprisals upon French property recommended by the President, or indeed of any immediate action on the part of the national government, was considered by many extremely doubtful; and the senate, on the 14th of January, by a unanimous vote, stated this to be its opinion in a resolution to that effect. A similar resolution was adopted by the house. The prospect of a serious collision between these two nations, for a time so dark, at length passed away. In 1835, the President announced that France had acknowledged the validity of our claims as liquidated by the treaty of 1831, although payment was still withheld.

It may here be added, that during the year 1836, the President announced to the great satisfaction of the country that the appropriations having been made, our diplomatic relations with France had been resumed, and promised to be mutually beneficial to the two countries.

On the 6th of July, occurred the death of the venerable John Marshall, in Philadelphia, in the eighty-eighth year of his age. He had long been an ornament to the legal profession, and for several years had filled with distinguished ability the office of chief justice of the United States. To great talents and distinguished attainments, he united that integrity which inspired all parties with confidence, and that Christian principle which caused the nation to mourn over him at his decease, as “a great man fallen in Israel.”

The twenty-fourth congress commenced its first session on the 7th of December, 1835. James K. Polk was elected speaker. Among the appointments by the President at this period, were those of Roger B. Taney, as chief justice of the United States, and Andrew Stevenson, minister to Great Britain. The nomination of the latter met with strong opposition in the senate.

During this session the committee on naval affairs in the senate reported a bill, directing an “exploring expedition” to the Pacific Ocean and the South Seas, and authorizing the President to send out a sloop of war for that purpose. Mr. Reynolds, who may be considered the father of the scheme, presented the subject with much eloquence in the hall of representatives, at Washington. But the most important act of the legislature, was the “deposit or distribution act”――or a law requiring and regulating the deposits of the money of the United States with the banks of the several states, and the distribution of the surplus revenue among the several states. In the senate, the vote on the engrossment of the bill was, yeas, forty; nays, six. In the house, yeas, one hundred and sixty-three; nays, forty-four.

In April, an act had passed congress establishing the territory of Wisconsin. In June, Arkansas was admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original states――together with Michigan, under certain conditions. The act of admission settled the boundary dispute between Ohio and Michigan――and Michigan was admitted on her assent to the act.

Congress adjourned on the 4th of July――without any other event of much importance within the walls of the capitol. The only appointment of note made near the close of the session, was that of Lewis Cass, as minister to France.

One week after the close of the session, (July 11th,) an important circular was issued from the treasury department in relation to money to be received in payment for public lands. By this circular the receivers of public money were instructed, after the 15th day of August next ensuing, to receive in payment of the public lands nothing except what is directed by the existing laws, viz., gold and silver, and in proper places, Virginia land scrip. In order to secure the faithful execution of these instructions, all receivers were strictly prohibited from accepting for land sold, any draft, certificate, or other evidence of money or deposit, though for specie, unless signed by the treasurer of the United States, in conformity to the act of April 24th, 1820.

The last annual message of General Jackson was transmitted to the twenty-fourth congress, on the 6th of December, 1836, that body having entered upon its second session the preceding day.

The foreign relations of the country the President represented as amicable. In regard to the “deposit or distribution act,” passed by the last congress, it had received, he said, his “reluctant approval,” and “the consequences apprehended from it had been measurably realized. It was an act merely for the deposit of the surplus moneys of the United States in the state treasuries for safe keeping, until wanted for the service of the general government――but it had been spoken of as a _gift_――would be so considered――and might be so used.”

Contrary to the views of a large portion of the citizens of the United States, the President represented the “specie circular” of the 11th of July, as producing many “salutary consequences.” “It is confidently believed,” said he, “that the country will find in the motive which induced that order, and the happy consequences which will have ensued, much to commend and nothing to condemn.” In opposition to this opinion of the President, there were those who attributed to the operation of that circular a great part of the pecuniary embarrassment and disturbances of the currency, which afflicted the country.

Early in 1837, (January 14th,) a resolution called the “expunging resolution,” originally introduced into the senate, March 18th, 1833, and which had given birth to long and even acrimonious debates, was adopted by a majority of that body. The object of this resolution was to obliterate, or expunge from the senate journal a resolution adopted March 28th, 1834, censuring the President for removing Mr. Duane, and assuming power over the public revenue not conferred by the constitution. This latter resolution had given the President and his friends serious annoyance, and frequent but vain efforts had been made to blot it from the journal. At length, Mr. Benton succeeded by a small majority; and late at night, on the 10th of January, 1837, the secretary of the senate, by order, brought the journal of 1833–4, into the senate chamber, and spread open the condemned page upon the table. He then proceeded to draw black lines on the four sides of the recorded resolution, and on the face of it wrote――“_expunged by order of the senate, January 16th, 1837_.” Against this proceeding, Daniel Webster, in behalf of himself and colleague, read a solemn protest.

The time for the election of a successor to General Jackson having arrived, the ceremony of counting the votes given by the several electoral colleges for that object took place in the presence of both houses of congress, on the 8th of February, 1837, when Martin Van Buren was declared to be elected President for four years from the 4th day of March. The candidates were five in number. Mr. Van Buren, received of the votes cast, one hundred and seventy; William Henry Harrison, seventy-three; Hugh L. White, twenty-six; Daniel Webster, fourteen; and William L. Magnum, eleven.

In reviewing the administration of General Jackson, it is not to be denied that he was a remarkable man. He doubtless possessed many of those great qualities which give to one the indisputable command over the many. He was early inured to hardship and danger, and early acquired great independence of thought and action, and a contempt of opposition, which followed him through all the vicissitudes of his career. He made no pretensions to learning, or scholarship of any kind; indeed, his education was superficial and but barely sufficient to conduct him decently through life. In an accurate knowledge of the theory and science of government, and the details of legislation, many of his contemporaries were immeasurably his superior; but what he lacked in knowledge, he made up in boldness and decision. His measures were often hastily conceived, but pertinaciously adhered to. Obedience to his commands were as much required, while President of the United States, as while a general at the head of our armies. It is not to be denied, that he entered upon the discharge of his duties as president with an honest desire to serve his country faithfully, but such was the natural pertinacity of his character, that in the opinion of his political opponents, he was led to insist upon measures, the wisdom of which, under other circumstances, he himself would have questioned. The destruction of the United States Bank was in reality the great measure of his administration, he early conceived a prejudice against the officers of that institution, and was probably honest in the belief that its management was wrong. Hence, he was led with characteristic ardor to commence measures of hostility against it, which, it is well known, ended in the ruin of that great fiscal institution of the country. Its fall involved the fortunes of hundreds and thousands, whose entire means of subsistence were embarked in its immense capital. The ruin of this institution, in the belief of many, was conducive to the interests of the country, notwithstanding the sufferings it entailed upon thousands. Another portion of the community believe its downfall to have been the precursor of that wide spread commercial embarrassment――that derangement of the currency――that blight and bankruptcy of thousands, which for years distressed and harrassed the country. General Jackson, as a military commander, had doubtless his defects. He was stern, imperious, and determined. Yet, for his bravery, his patriotism, his success, he deserves a grateful remembrance; and due respect will doubtless be paid to his memory by the generations that follow. His reputation as a statesman will not be so unequivocal. Different estimates will be made――different views will be entertained. All will accord to him energy, independence, promptness, and determination; while some will not give him credit for having pursued that line of policy which resulted in the greatest prosperity to his country.

ADMINISTRATION OF MARTIN VAN BUREN.

On the 4th of March, 1837, the inauguration of Mr. Van Buren took place in accordance with the form prescribed by the constitution, in the presence of a large assemblage from all quarters of the country. The ex-president, the President elect, and the chief justice of the United States, arrived at the scene about twelve o’clock; the two former in a beautiful carriage, made from the timber of the frigate Constitution, escorted by the Potomac Dragoons, and a corps of infantry.

The address of Mr. Van Buren, on the occasion of his inauguration, may be said to have disappointed both political parties throughout the country. The _temper_ of it was conceded even by his opposers to be good, and its entire exemption from invidious comparisons and allusions was worthy of all commendation. It was even less partisan, perhaps, than the political friends of the new President expected or desired; but to his opponents it induced the hope, that the vindictive strife which had long harassed the country, would be followed by a more tolerant policy. “If any exception be taken to the address,” said a distinguished journal, soon after its delivery, “it certainly will not be from the south, whose good-will its language is particularly adapted to conciliate.” By way of conciliating the south, he repeated an expression of opinion made before his election, that no bill which had for its object the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia against the wishes of the slave-holding states, would receive his sanction during his presidential career. To this he added: “For myself I desire to declare, that the principle that will govern me in the high duty to which my country calls me, is a strict adherance to the letter and spirit of the constitution, as it was designed by those who framed it. Looking back to it as a sacred instrument carefully and not easily framed; remembering that it was throughout a work of concession and compromise; viewing it as limited to national objects; regarding it as leaving to the people and to the states all power not explicitly parted with, I shall endeavor to preserve, protect, and defend it, by anxiously referring to its provisions for direction in every action. To matters of domestic concernment, which it has intrusted to the federal government, and to such as relate to our intercourse with foreign nations, I shall zealously devote myself; beyond those limits I shall never pass.”

On retiring from the presidential chair, General Jackson published a farewell address to his fellow-citizens, after the example of Washington. By his political friends this address was highly extolled, both for the wisdom and importance of its political maxims, and the warm regard expressed for the country and its institutions.

Others regarded it with less favor. They could admit that it expressed sound constitutional opinions on some important points, and developed the true policy of the federal government in relation to its intercourse with foreign nations――in relation to the several state sovereignties, and to the means of defence by an increase of the navy, and the establishment of more and better constructed fortifications. But they were not prepared to unite with this “second father of his country”――as his warm admirers denominated him――in his views of the _currency_ of the country, nor in the wisdom of the measures which he had pursued, and which he still recommended in relation to it. They also dissented from some of his statements respecting the success of his administration, and particularly from the declaration, that he had left the “people prosperous and happy.”

Immediately after the termination of the twenty-fourth congress, the senate, in conformity with a previous summons issued by the President of the United States, held an extra session, for the purpose of transacting executive business. The following gentlemen having been nominated by the President, were confirmed by the senate, for the offices which they respectively filled, and composed the new cabinet, viz.: John Forsyth, secretary of state; Levi Woodbury, secretary of the treasury; Joel R. Poinsett, secretary of war; Mahlon Dickerson, secretary of the navy; Benjamin F. Butler, attorney-general. These gentlemen, with the exception of Mr. Poinsett, were members of the cabinet of General Jackson.

From whatever source it originated, there was no doubt of the fact, that a most extraordinary pressure in pecuniary affairs was now experienced throughout the country. From New York city a committee of merchants proceeded to Washington to confer with the President, upon the present and the threatening difficulties, and to obtain, if possible, the repeal of the treasury circular. The answer they received was, that it would neither be repealed nor modified. In the month of May, the financial affairs of the country reached a crisis towards which they had for some months past been rapidly hastening. The banks of New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore having suffered a heavy run for specie, which they could now no longer endure, resolved to suspend specie payments; which suspension was soon generally followed by a like suspension on the part of the banks throughout the whole country. Numerous failures of the merchants in all the principal cities were, about the same time, matters of almost daily occurrence. In New York they became at length so much a matter of course that they ceased to excite notice.

The banks in which the United States government deposited the national revenue were involved in the greatest calamity; and of course the law of congress which required these revenues to be deposited in specie-paying banks could not be complied with. The consequent embarrassment experienced by the government, induced the President on the fifteenth day of May, to issue his proclamation for an extra session of congress, to be convened on the first Monday of September following.

The extraordinary condition in which the country now found itself, led to a variety of measures for the purpose of affording temporary relief. Several of the state legislatures passed acts legalizing the suspension of specie payments on the part of the banks, and declaring that it should work no forfeiture of their charters. Some of the city governments passed by-laws, directing the issue of certificates for small sums, from five cents to two dollars, which should be receivable for taxes and debts due to the city government. Baltimore, for example, passed an ordinance for the issue of such certificates for an amount not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars, and Philadelphia a like ordinance for certificates to the amount of one hundred and thirty thousand dollars. The banks themselves were obliged to adopt new rules of business, and the entire pecuniary condition of the country seemed suddenly changed.

On the 4th of September, in compliance with the proclamation of the President, congress assembled in extra session. In his message of the following day, the President alleged as the reason for convening congress in extra session, the inability of the government to comply with the law requiring the revenues to be deposited in specie-paying banks, the apprehension that the suspension of specie payments in addition to the before existing pecuniary embarrassments of the country would so far diminish the public revenue, that it would be insufficient to defray the unavoidable expenses of the government, and the difficulties experienced by the mercantile interest in meeting their engagements. “Sensible that adequate provisions for these unexpected exigencies could only be made by congress, convinced that some of them would be indispensably necessary to the public service before the regular period of your meeting, and desirous also to enable you to exercise your full constitutional powers for the relief of the country,” the President remarks, “I could not with propriety avoid subjecting you to the inconvenience of assembling at as early a day as the state of the popular representation would permit.” The message proceeds to ascribe the pecuniary embarrassments of the country to the redundancy of credit acquired by excessive issues of bank paper, and by means of foreign loans, contracted by the states and state institutions; and above all, by the lavish accommodations extended by foreign dealers to our merchants, and as the consequence of this redundancy of credit, to what the message terms, “a spirit of adventurous speculation, embracing the whole range of human enterprise.” The President next adverted to the best mode of keeping the public funds. A national bank, as a fiscal agent, he repudiated, and also local banks, they having failed to answer the expectations of the government in this particular. He would propose “a separation of the fiscal operations of the government from those of individuals or corporations;” a divorcement of the government from banks and banking, and a thorough change of the custodaries of the public revenue. As a means of immediate relief, he advised to the postponement of the fourth instalment of the deposits with the states, and the issue of treasury notes receivable for all public dues, but without interest. Both by the President and the secretary of the treasury a new mode was proposed of keeping the public revenue. They proposed to place it in the custody of commissioners, or receivers-general, at certain central points; into their hands it was to be paid, and kept by them, subject to the call and control of the treasurer. Most of the money, it was supposed, could be paid out near the places where it was collected, and thus save the expense and hazard of transmission to the seat of government. “This organization,” said the secretary, “would be advantageous as a separate establishment for this business alone, and as an independent check on most of those collecting the revenues. But it would require some addition to the present number of offices, and in the first instance would more increase the public expense.” The whole additional offices supposed to be necessary were ten. The annual increase of expenses was estimated at sixty thousand dollars. The danger of losses would be no greater, and probably less, under this organization, than at present. Such was the general plan proposed for keeping the public moneys, and which it was urged would render the government more independent, and less subject to be affected by the vicissitudes of trade and speculation, and less under the control of selfish and moneyed corporations.

In accordance with the recommendation of the President and secretary of the treasury, a bill was early introduced into the senate for the safe keeping of the public funds, commonly denominated the _Sub-Treasury_ bill. This was intended to be the prominent measure of the session, and was urged with great power and by numerous considerations upon the senate and house of representatives. By the senate it was adopted by a vote of twenty-six to twenty. In the house, after undergoing an animated and protracted discussion, it was laid upon the table, by a vote of one hundred and twenty to one hundred and seven. Subsequently, an effort was made to reconsider the vote by which the bill was laid upon the table, but was lost; the motion for reconsideration being itself disposed of in the same manner by a vote of one hundred and nineteen to one hundred and four.

The extra session of congress was brought to a close on the 16th of October. The two principal measures adopted, designed for the relief of the government, were the postponement to the first day of January, 1839, of the payment of the fourth instalment of the deposits with the states, and the issue of treasury notes to an amount not exceeding ten millions of dollars, reimbursable in one year, and of the denomination of not less than fifty dollars.

In the autumn of 1837, an insurrection broke out in the British provinces of Upper and Lower Canada. Citizens of the United States, sympathizing with the insurgents, enlisted into their cause, and attempts were made, in violation of the laws of the United States, to raise troops in our territory to aid the revolutionists. Great excitement prevailed among the inhabitants along the line of our north-western frontier. The President of the United States in order to sustain the laws, issued his proclamation under date of the 5th of January, declaring that all persons who should compromit the neutrality of the United States, would render themselves liable to punishment under those laws, which would be rigidly enforced. At the same time orders were issued from the war department to General Scott to repair to the Canada frontier with an armed force, to be furnished by the States of New York and Vermont, for the purpose of repelling an apprehended invasion of our soil. The immediate occasion of issuing these orders was an attack made by an armed force from Canada upon the American steamboat Caroline. This vessel, owned by an American citizen, and bound for Schlosser, upon the east side of the Niagara river, and within the United States, was boarded about midnight, on the 29th of December, by seventy or eighty armed men, who immediately commenced an attack upon the crew and passengers with muskets, swords, and cutlasses, and soon set her on fire, towed her into the current of the river, and abandoned her to the mercy of the cataract. Out of thirty-three individuals known to have been on board of her, twelve could not be found, and of those found, one, Amos Durfee, was dead, having been shot through the head with a musket hall, and several others were wounded.

Immediate steps were taken by the department of state to bring the whole subject to the notice of the British government. Sir Allen N. M’Nabb, the commander of the British forces on the Niagara frontier, in justification of this attack on the Caroline, alleged that he had the most positive information that she had been sold to the pirates on Navy Island, and, loaded with provisions and munitions of war, was destined to co-operate with the British rebels. Although the civil war in Canada was soon brought to a close, the difficulties between the two governments, growing out of the attack on the Caroline, still remained unadjusted.

The second session of the twenty-fifth congress commenced on the first Monday of December, 1837. The message of the President represented the condition of our foreign relations as not materially changed since the last annual message of his predecessor. Of questions pending between the United States and foreign governments, the most important regarded our north-eastern boundary. “The sole result of long pending negotiations and a perplexing arbitration,” the President observed, “appears to be a conviction, that a conventional line must be adopted, from the impossibility of ascertaining the true one, according to the description contained in the treaty. Without coinciding in this opinion, which is not thought to be well founded, my predecessor gave the strongest proof of the earnest desire of the United States to terminate satisfactorily the dispute, by proposing the substitution of a conventional line, if the consent of the states interested in the question could be obtained. To this proposition the British government have not yet replied.” The President urges upon the consideration of congress the claims of the government upon Mexico; that government having as yet declined to do any thing satisfactorily for the adjustment of our demands upon her for many cases both of public and private wrongs. The subject of the collection, transfer, and safe keeping of the public moneys was again represented as requiring the attention of the legislative department. The President considered congress as having decided, at the last session, against the creation of a national bank, and also against the deposit system. He therefore brought forward again the sub-treasury scheme as the only remaining expedient. A graduation of the prices of the public lands according to a valuation to be made, and an extension of the pre-emption laws in favor of settlers, were measures which the President seemed to regard with favor. The system of removing the Indians commenced by Mr. Jefferson in 1804, having been steadily persevered in by every succeeding president, was well nigh terminating in complete success, almost all the Indian tribes having been removed and established west of the Mississippi. The war in Florida still continuing, the principal part of the army had been concentrated there, with a view and in the expectation of bringing the war in that territory to a speedy close.

The second session of the twenty-fifth congress was terminated on the 9th of July, 1838, without however any thing having been done for the safe keeping, transfer, collection, and disbursement of the public moneys; and on the 14th of the same month, the secretary of the treasury issued his circular to the collectors and receivers announcing this fact, and urging upon them the necessity of scrupulously enforcing the regulations and instructions of the department, of accuracy in their accounts, punctuality in their returns, promptness in their payments, and of an entire forbearance to use any part of the public moneys. The acts passed at this session of congress were chiefly of a private nature, and few, if any of the measures recommended by the President in his message, were adopted.

On the 13th of August, 1838, by previous concert, many of the banks resumed specie payments. On the 23d of July previous, a convention was held in the city of Philadelphia, in which the banks of the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri, were represented, and which unanimously resolved to recommend the 13th of August as a suitable and convenient time, on which to resume. Accordingly, on the arrival of that day, the resumption was generally effected without commotion, without injury to themselves, and without inconvenience to the mercantile part of the community. This was an event which had been devoutly looked for, and was welcomed by the whole country. Some anxiety was felt as to the effect resumption would have upon the specie-paying banks; but generally, it was accomplished with ease. In Philadelphia, where this anxiety was perhaps the greatest, the demands for specie were confined to the wants of the community for change.

On the 3d of December, 1838, the twenty-fifth congress commenced its _third_ session. On the following day the President transmitted his message, in which he represented the foreign relations of the country as generally friendly. With Mexico an advance had been made toward an adjustment of difficulties by the conclusion of a treaty, which, when ratified, would refer all subjects of controversy to the arbitrament of a friendly power. The work of removing the Indians west of the Mississippi was yet in successful progress, the entire removal of the Cherokees having been now effected.

Of the financial state of the government and country, the President spoke in tones of exultation. “When we call to mind,” said he, “the recent extreme embarrassments produced by excessive issues of bank paper, aggravated by the unforeseen withdrawal of much foreign capital, and the inevitable derangement arising from the distribution of the surplus revenue among the states as required by congress; and consider the heavy expenses incurred by the removal of Indian tribes; by the military operations in Florida; and on account of the unusually large appropriations made at the last two annual sessions of congress for other objects, we have a striking evidence in the present official state of our finances, (estimated at $2,765,000 in the treasury on the 1st of January, 1839,) of the abundant resources of the country to fulfil all its obligations.”

This, by the opposition, was considered an extraordinary representation on the part of the President, when it was considered that the government had resorted to the issue of treasury notes by millions; and had withheld more than nine millions from the states, in order to maintain its credit and continue its operations. But still more extraordinary was it, in the view of some, that all the improvements in the condition of the country should be ascribed to the agency of the general government; when it was well known that the government as such, had done little, if any more than look after its own interest. Not a measure had been adopted for the relief of the banks, except extending the time of payment of the public deposits, which the government could not collect――and nothing for the people, except postponing the payment of bonds for duties to the amount of four or five millions of dollars.

The President also renewed his recommendation of the sub-treasury, and urged its adoption on the ground, as it was then understood, of a recent remarkable defalcation of a collector in one of the principal cities of the Union. This collector, it was subsequently made known to congress by a special message, was Samuel Swartwout, collector of the customs at New York. He was appointed to the office of the customs by General Jackson, in April, 1829, during the recess of the senate. On the 29th of March, 1830, he was nominated to the senate, and confirmed for four years. In 1834, he was appointed again. His term expired in March, 1838. To the nation this defalcation was surprising and distressing, and the more startling, as from the secretary’s report it appeared, that during the whole time of Mr. Swarlwout’s continuance in office, no suspicions had been excited at the treasury, that he was guilty of default. Yet, on investigation, it appeared that his peculations began with the first year of his holding the office, and continued to roll up rapidly to the close. It amounted to about one million and a quarter of dollars.

On the 26th of February, a message from the President was transmitted to congress, in relation to difficulties which existed between Maine and “the disputed territory.” Portions of this territory were under the actual jurisdiction and sovereignty of the British authorities, and other portions was under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the State of Maine. Pending the negotiations between the government of the United States and that of Great Britain, for a final adjustment of the question, it seems to have been understood by the State of Maine, that the actual state of things in the territory was to remain undisturbed――Great Britain exercising her sovereignty where she already held it, and Maine doing the same. It appears, however, that a numerous band of depredators, chiefly from the adjoining British provinces, but without the sanction of their own government, entered on a part of the territory actually held by the State of Maine, and proceeded to cut down and destroy the timber. The governor of Maine, on being apprised of this fact, and under a special resolve of the legislature, despatched the land agent of the state, with what was deemed a sufficient force to repel the aggression. While the agent was proceeding in the accomplishment of his duty, he was seized by the trespassers and conveyed a prisoner into the province of New Brunswick. Thereupon, the governor of Maine dispatched a sheriff, and an officer appointed in place of the land agent, with an armed force, to vindicate the authority and honor of the state. Sir John Harvey, the lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick, took fire, and a warm, if not an angry, correspondence ensued between him and the governor of Maine. The whole country, both on the side of Maine and in the British provinces, was thrown into a state of intense excitement; troops were raised and other hostile preparations made by both parties, and every thing seemed to threaten an immediate collision. In this crisis of affairs, the President of the United States transmitted a special message to congress, inviting their attention to the subject; and Major Gen. Scott received orders to repair to the scene of threatened hostilities, for the purpose of arresting any hostile movement, until an opportunity could be afforded for the two governments to treat upon the matter in dispute. The message to congress resulted in the passing of the act before mentioned, conferring additional powers on the President, and General Scott soon succeeded in restoring the _quasi_ belligerents to a more amicable temper, and in effecting a temporary adjustment of the immediate difficulties. The military forces were to be withdrawn, and a small civil _posse_ was to be left under the land agent to protect the timber, already cut, and to prevent further depredations, and the questions of possession and jurisdiction, were to remain as they were before the strife began.

During the third session of the twenty-fifth congress, an event occurred which excited the sensibilities of the whole nation, and called forth expressions of decided disapprobation from the candid of all parties. This was a _duel_ fought with rifles near the city of Washington, between Jonathan Cilley and William J. Graves, both members of the house, the former from Maine, the latter from Kentucky. On the third fire, Mr. Cilley fell, mortally wounded.

The remains of the murdered man were attended to the grave by the President, the heads of departments, the members of both houses of congress, and a large concourse of citizens. The judges of the Supreme Court, then in session, were invited to attend the funeral. Most honorable to themselves, and honorable to the exalted stations they held, they entered upon their record the following resolves:

_Resolved_, That the justices of the Supreme Court entertain a high respect for the character of the deceased, sincerely deplore his untimely death, and sympathize with his bereaved family in the heavy affliction which has fallen upon them.

_Resolved_, That with every desire to manifest their respect for the house of representatives, and the committee of the house by whom they have been invited, and for the memory of the deceased, the justices of the Supreme Court _cannot, consistently with the duties they owe to the public, attend in their official characters the funeral of one who has fallen in a duel_.