Chapter XII: Section 8: , Article I., says: "Congress shall have power to establish a (2)

"The father of Samuel Donelson, Col. John Donelson, was also a
native of Virginia, and at onetime a Representative of one of
her oldest counties, Pittsylvania, in the House of Burgesses.
He possessed in an eminent degree the respect of the Provincial
Governor of that Commonwealth, from whom he received the
appointment of Indian Commissioner about the year 1770; and it
is to his bold and enterprising spirit that we are in a great
measure indebted for the Indian Treaties which extended the
settlements of Virginia through Kentucky to the Ohio river. He
left Port Patrick Henry in 1779, descending the Tennessee river
with all his family, in boats built on the Holston, and came up
the Cumberland in those boats as high as the Clover Bottom,
encountering incredible toils and dangers. Three years
afterwards, in 1793, in conjunction with Col. Martin, he
concluded an Indian Treaty, by which the settlements on the
Cumberland river were greatly benefited; but he had, previously
to his departure from Virginia, under a contract with Georgia,
explored the country, and run the line between that State and
North Carolina, as far west as the Mississippi river. After
settling his family near the present site of the Hermitage, he
was killed by the Indians, on a journey to Kentucky, near the
Big Barren River, at the advanced age of 75.

"Samuel Donelson was a lawyer by profession, and the intimate
friend and associate of Gen. Jackson, after whom he named his
son Andrew, who was born on the 25th of August, 1800. On the
second marriage of his mother, this son was taken into the
family of the General, who became his guardian and patron; and
he remained the most of his time with him until he was prepared
to enter the Cumberland College. After finishing his studies at
this school, Gen. Jackson obtained for him a Cadet's warrant,
which enabled him to enter the Military Academy at West Point,
in 1816. He was one of the first class which was graduated
under the superintendence of Col. Thayer--finishing the course
of studies in three, instead of four years; as is customary.
Throughout his service at West Point, he was distinguished for
his proficiency in mathematics, and for the facility with which
he mastered all the studies which appertain to military
science. No higher proof need be adduced of this fact, than the
position assigned to him by the Board of Examiners and
Visitors, when he graduated. He was placed No. 2, in a class of
great merit, notwithstanding he had the studies of two years to
pass through in one year, and was recommended to the Department
of War for a commission in the Engineer Corps--a compliment
accorded only to the most distinguished of the class.

"After obtaining his commission, Mr. Donelson was ordered to
the Western frontier to build a fort; but before he reached
this destination, the War Department, on the application of
Gen. Jackson, allowed him to accept the appointment of
Aide-de-camp in the staff of the General. In this capacity he
attended the General when he took possession of the Floridas,
and remained with him until the latter resigned his commission
in the army.

"At this period, Mr. Donelson seeing no prospect for rapid
promotion in the corps of Engineers, and sharing the conviction
then so prevalent in the army, that the conclusion of the war
with England had shut the door for a long time to come against
those military enterprises which are so tempting to the officer
and soldier, and feeling also that he could be more useful in
the pursuits of civil life, turned his attention to the study
of law. He accordingly resigned his commission; and after
attending the course of law lectures in the Transylvania
University, then under the presidency of Dr. Holly, he received
his license, and appeared at the Nashville bar in 1823, having
formed a partnership with Mr. Duncan. Circumstances, however,
soon occurred, which withdrew him in a great degree from the
practice. General Jackson was again in the field as a candidate
for the Presidency, and needed the services of a confidential
friend to aid him in repelling the bitter assaults which were
made upon his character and services. Animated by a deep sense
of gratitude, no duty could be more pleasing to Mr. Donelson
than that of contributing his labor to advance the great
popular movement which aimed, by the elevation of his
benefactor and friend, to promote the highest interests of the
country. He therefore cheerfully entered again into the
General's family, and travelled with him to Washington City
after the elections in 1824. Those elections devolved the
choice of President upon the House of Representatives. Mr.
Adams was the successful candidate, although Gen. Jackson had a
much larger popular vote, and was evidently the favorite of the
people.

"As is well known to the country, the result of that election
gave increased force to the sentiment which had placed Gen.
Jackson in nomination. The efforts of his friends throughout
the Union became more active, and were never abated until the
decision of the House of Representatives in 1824 was reversed,
and Gen. Jackson placed in the Presidential chair. During these
four years, Mr. Donelson, who had married in 1824, settled upon
his plantation adjoining the Hermitage, and continued there to
promote the cause he had espoused so warmly in the beginning.

"When the elections of 1828 were over, Gen. Jackson insisted
upon the acceptance by Mr. Donelson of the post of private
Secretary. Mr. D. accordingly set out with him in the winter of
1828 for the city of Washington, taking with him his wife, whom
he had married in 1824. This lady was the youngest daughter of
Capt. John Donelson, and was invited by Gen. Jackson to do the
honors of the White House--a position which she held throughout
the greater portion of his Presidency.

"It was in this capacity that Mr. Donelson endeared himself
still more than ever to the Hero of the Hermitage. He spent the
prime of his life, from 1828 to 1836, in his service, and he
felt himself amply rewarded by the knowledge he thus acquired
of public men and measures.

"At the close of Gen. Jackson's Presidency, Mr. Donelson
declined to take office under Mr. Van Buren, being anxious for
a respite from public affairs, and to enjoy the pleasures of
his farm; upon which he remained until he was called
unexpectedly to take a part in the negotiation which brought
Texas into our Union. It was upon this theatre that he
displayed the judgment and tact which brought him prominently
before the country as a man that understood the public
interests, and knew how to take care of them.

"The commission appointing Mr. Donelson Minister to Texas is
dated the 16th of September, 1844. Mr. Calhoun, then Secretary
of State, in the letter enclosing the commission, says:

"'The state of things in Texas is such as to require that the
place (Charge d'Affaires) should be filled without delay, and
to select him who, under all circumstances, may be thought best
calculated to bring to a successful decision the great question
of annexation pending before the two countries. After full
deliberation, you have been selected as that individual; and I
do trust, my dear sir, that you will not decline the
appointment, however great may be the personal sacrifice of
accepting. That great question must be decided in the next
three or four months; and whether it shall be favorable or not,
will depend on him who shall fill the mission now tendered you.
I need not tell you how much depends on its decision for weal
or woe to our country, and perhaps the whole continent. It is
sufficient to say that, viewed in all its consequences, it is
one of the first magnitude; and that it gives an importance to
the mission at this time, that raises it to the level with the
highest in the gift of the Government.

"Assuming, therefore, that you will not decline the
appointment, unless some insuperable difficulty should
interpose, and in order to avoid delay, a commission is
herewith transmitted, without the formality of waiting your
acceptance, with all the necessary papers.'"

President Polk, after this, confided an important and most critical foreign negotiation to Major Donelson; and his estimate of the prudence, discretion, and ability with which Major Donelson discharged his trust, appears from a letter to Major D. from the Hon. John Y. Mason, President Polk's Secretary of War, dated August 7th, 1845. From that letter, complimentary from beginning to end, we copy only this portion:

"The services which you have rendered your country in the
delicate negotiations intrusted to you, are justly appreciated.
_Your prudence, discretion, and ability have inspired the
President with a confidence which would make him feel much more
at ease if that delicate task could be in your hands._

"It gives me great pleasure to assure you that _the publication
of your official correspondence will give you a most enviable
reputation for the highest qualities of a statesman and
diplomatist_.

"The President unites in the kindest regards, with your friend,

"J. Y. MASON."

PRESIDENT PIERCE'S opinion of Major Donelson may be learned from the following letter, written by him to the Major when the latter was the editor of the _Washington Union_, the National Organ of the Democratic party:

"CONCORD, May 30, 1851.

"MY DEAR SIR: I rejoice that the leading organ of our party is
now under your control, and regard the change as most
auspicious at this juncture. There is a great battle before
us--a battle for the Union--a battle for the ascendency of the
principles, the maintenance of which so nobly signalized the
administration of General Jackson. THE TONE, VIGOR, AND
STATESMANLIKE GRASP _which you have brought to the columns of
the Union are not merely important, they are_ ABSOLUTELY
INDISPENSABLE _in this crisis_.

"With great respect, your friend and servant,

"FRANK. PIERCE."

The following article is from the _Nashville Union_, of October 15, 1844, the Tennessee Organ of Democracy, published within a few miles of where Major Donelson lives, and has passed most of his life. This article shows what opinion was entertained of him before he became a _Know-Nothing_:

"The diplomatic agency of this government in Texas is, at this
moment, the most important mission abroad; although it ranks
with those of the second class, its high and important duties
require the talents of one every way qualified for the first
foreign mission on the globe.

"_We congratulate the administration on having been able to
secure the services of one so eminently qualified in all
respects for the station, whose thorough knowledge of the
relations subsisting between the two countries, and whose
intimate acquaintance with the prominent statesmen of this and
that government, will place him in the enjoyment of advantages
which cannot fail to secure to us the most desirable results._

"Major Donelson leaves his plantation near the Hermitage
to-day--proceeding overland to the Mississippi river on his way
to the Texan Capital--and we cannot but participate in the
painful emotions with which the word 'farewell' will be
exchanged between himself and his venerable patron, friend, and
relative, 'The Sage of the Hermitage.'

"In view of the advanced age of General Jackson, it is more
than probable that they may never meet again. A relationship
next to that of father and son, if, indeed, it be not equally
near and dear, will be severed perhaps for ever. And we feel
assured that nothing short of a sense of DUTY TO HIS COUNTRY
could have induced an acceptance of the mission. Nor, for this
patriotic reason, would the aged veteran advise him to decline
it.

"Major D. leaves a host of good and true friends, who will
continue to have an abiding solicitude for his health and
happiness, and for his early and complete success in 'extending
the area of freedom.'"

Mr. Clayton, Secretary of State under Gen. Taylor, wrote to Major Donelson, announcing the expiration of the diplomatic relations between the United States and Germany, (where the Major was stationed,) and closed with the following complimentary expressions:

"I am directed by the President to express to you his entire
approbation of your conduct, and I cannot take leave of you in
your public character without adding my testimony to that of
the President to the ability and faithfulness with which you
have discharged the arduous and delicate duties which your
mission imposed upon you.

"JOHN M. CLAYTON."

The Democratic party having always boasted that Gen. Jackson was unsurpassed in his keen and unerring insight into the characters of men, we must be permitted to call their attention to a clause in the _Last Will and Testament_ of Gen. Jackson, as recorded in the county of Davidson. This clause sets forth the estimate placed upon Mr. Donelson by the old General, after this fashion:

"HERMITAGE, June 7, 1843.

... "I bequeath to my well-beloved nephew, Andrew J. Donelson,
son of Samuel Donelson, deceased, the elegant sword presented
to me by the State of Tennessee, with this injunction, that he
fail not to use it when necessary in support and protection of
our glorious Union, and for the protection of the
constitutional rights of our beloved country, should they be
assailed by foreign enemies or _domestic traitors_. This, from
the great change in my worldly affairs of late, is, with my
blessing, all that I can bequeath him, doing justice to those
creditors to whom I am responsible. This bequest is made as a
memento of the high regard, affection, and esteem I bear for
him as a _high-minded, honest, and honorable man_."

And now, to show that Gen. Jackson had not changed his opinion of the Major, we give about the last epistle he ever wrote to him, as it bears date but a few days previous to his death:

"HERMITAGE, May 24, 1845.

"MY DEAR ANDREW: I received last night your affectionate letter
of the 15th inst., with the enclosed for your dear Elizabeth,
which I sent forthwith, and your kind letter of the 13th this
morning. Your family were here yesterday. All well, but looking
out for you hourly. I assured Elizabeth that you could not
leave your mission before the Texan Congress acted upon the
subject with which you were charged. I shall admonish her to be
patient and await your return, which will be the moment your
honor and duty will permit.

* * * * *

"My dear Andrew:--What may be my fate God only knows. I am
greatly afflicted--suffer much, and it will be almost a miracle
if I shall survive my present attack. I am swollen from the
toes to the crown of the head, and in bandages to my hips.

"How far my God may think proper to bear me up under my weight
of afflictions, he only knows. But, my dear Major, live or die,
you have my blessing and prayers for your welfare and happiness
in this world, and that we may meet in a blissful immortality.

"Your affectionate uncle,

"ANDREW JACKSON."

While editor of the _Washington Union_, Major Donelson frankly admitted, in his account of the election in Tennessee, between Gov. Campbell and Gen. Trousdale, that the latter owed his defeat to his opposition to the Compromise measures, and his sympathies with the Disunionists. In the _Hartford_ Convention held in Nashville, the Major appeared in person, and denounced the whole concern as a blow at the Union, and its prime movers and advocates as _traitors to their country and to the Constitution_. These _Secession_ Democrats, headed by A. V. Brown, Eastman & Co., are uncompromising in their hatred of the Major, and they never will forgive him, while he remains true to the Union of these States, and the Constitution as it is, which will be to the latest hour of his earthly existence! Had he never opposed the _treasonable_ designs of the Nashville Convention--and had he not advocated the doctrines of the American party, these same men would now be loud in his praise, as the relative, the political student, and the _successor_ of the Sage of the Hermitage!

[From the Knoxville Whig of June 14, 1856.]

BUCHANAN NOMINATED AT CINCINNATI.--DISPERSION OF FALSTAFF'S ARMY!

The Cincinnati Anti-American, Anti-Protestant, Foreign Catholic, Locofoco Pow Wow, has met--transacted its appropriate business--nominated old Federal James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, for the Presidency, and Robert C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, for the Vice Presidency--and dispersed: dealing largely in the old game of _brag_, as to the _nationality_, _soundness_, and _ability_ of their ticket; when it is notorious, that they have at the head of their ticket one of the most vulnerable men in the nation; an old political hack, who has been "every thing by turns and nothing long;" advocating and opposing all the leading measures which have agitated the country for the last forty years, as we shall show in the sequel!

They had an awful time at Cincinnati! They organized by calling to the chair, temporarily, the notorious _Sam'l. Medary_, the Abolition editor of the Ohio Statesman. Either the anti-slavery forces were in the majority, or the "odds and ends" of all parties represented in the Convention desired to conciliate the Abolition and Black Republican wings of their _Foreign Corporation_!

The Missouri Delegation were refused their seats, and they openly rebelled, forcing their way into the Convention with _clubs_, knocking down and cruelly mangling the head and shoulders of the poor doorkeeper! From this, it would seem that they were doing business with _closed doors_! Wonder if they had a _password_! Had they "signs and grips," other than those by which they made themselves known to the _doorkeeper_?

Did they carry with them "dark-lanterns?" Not they--they are opposed to all _secrecy_--they are opposed to all disorderly conduct--they are the "harmonious Democracy," and labor alone for the good of the country, and of posterity! What a farce their Cincinnati Convention was! And what hypocrites they are!

But two full sets of Delegates appeared from New York, and claimed their seats; these were _Hards_ and _Softs_--Pierce and _anti_-Pierce--Nebraska and _anti_-Nebraska--pro-Slavery and _anti_-Slavery, _Filibustering Foreign Catholic Democrats_! Being unable to agree among themselves, and the Convention not wishing to _offend_ either of these wings of the "great Harmonious Democratic Party," they rejected both delegations! This was having a bad effect, as a portion of each delegation was out of doors cursing the majority, and making threats as to what they would do. So the Convention reconsidered their cases, and ADMITTED BOTH DELEGATIONS TO SEATS. They then progressed "harmoniously," much after the style of a rickety old cart on a hill-side, drawn by a balky horse, whose driver curses him when at fault, and curses him when faultless.

Frequently the scenes of confusion and excitement were alike disgusting and alarming. The friends of Douglass, Pierce, and Buchanan, were alike bitter, and each disposed to ruin the party if they should fail to get their man nominated. The anti-slavery portion of the Convention were much incensed against the South for the "_lam-basting_" given to _Senator Sumner_ by _Representative Brooks_, for words spoken in debate. One of Buchanan's men boasted that the assault of Brooks on Sumner had gained _twenty_ votes for "Old Buck!" And others of the Buchanan wing, out of doors, were stating that they had reliable evidence that "Old Buck" did not approve the assault, while Pierce and Douglass did! We have no doubt that this sort of influence, added to Buchanan's _known hostility to slavery_, secured for him the nomination. And, as if desirous to atone for the sin against the South of nominating an old _Anti-Slavery Federalist_, they came into a Southern State, Kentucky, and selected a young and inexperienced politician, Mr. Robert C. Breckenridge, for the Vice Presidency. As Breckenridge is brave, and has challenged his man for a _duel_, they can now turn about and appeal to the Church-going folks to sustain their ticket _for what_ they implored them to repudiate the Whig ticket in 1844! Besides, Breckenridge _approves_ the basting of Sumner by Brooks, and this will _offset_ Buchanan's opposition to that _Southern Democratic measure_! Breckenridge has another virtue, which aided in securing his nomination. Though the nephew of those _able Know-Nothing Presbyterian Preachers_ of that State, he has the independence to come out in opposition to them, and the insulting claims set up by _Protestants generally_, and to advocate and defend the Roman Catholics.

The "rich and racy" scenes that came off in the Convention, we will leave our several friends from Nashville, who were there as reporters in the Convention for the American papers, to set forth. With more truth than poetry, the "unterrified Democracy" convened at Cincinnati can say, "Our army swore terribly in Flanders!" And how could it have been otherwise? The Convention was large--composed of several hundred delegates, drawn together from all sections of the country, East, West, North, and South--"held together by the cohesive power of public plunder"--and representing every variety and shade of opinion known and held under the much abused but comprehensive name of Democracy! Nor was the moral and personal character of the Convention less mixed and many-colored than was its politics.

In looking over the proceedings of this coalition and combination of Bogus Democrats, Foreign Pauper Advocates, and anti-Protestant lovers of Religious Liberty, we have looked in vain for the names of distinguished Tennesseeans, who ought to have been second best, to say the least of it, in the ballots for a nomination! It was that Aaron V. Brown, "the son of a now sainted father," was put in nomination for the office of Vice President, by a Mr. Brown, supposed to be his nephew; but making no run at all, he was taken off the track instantly--rubbed down and salted away!

But Andrew Johnson, who was to have been nominated for the first office within the gift of the American people and no mistake, (!) was not even named, and some say he was not even thought of for the position. We had supposed that there existed among the leaders of the self-styled Democracy, a determination to doom to utter extinction the light that has guided the children of Political Reform in Tennessee, and throughout the known world, and now we know it! The opposers of intellectual emancipation, of "Jacob's Ladder Democracy," so superior to Christianity, have triumphed at Cincinnati, and trampled under foot, with impunity, the soul-stirring doctrine of "converging lines." The next steps with these "enemies of righteousness" will be the rack, the gibbet, and a second edition of the infernal inquisition! Will the friends of the "White Basis" Governor of Tennessee tamely surrender their dearest rights to these Cincinnati _crusaders_, without a single struggle? Will they allow the saddle of Federal domination to be quietly thrown on their backs? Ye Greene county delegates forbid it!

But Johnson is doomed to an inglorious retirement from public life. He can console himself with the reflection, that rank only degrades--wealth only impoverishes--ornaments but disfigure him! The man who discovered that the Bogus Democracy of the nineteenth century leads fallen sinful man to the throne of God, needs no office to elevate him. These Johnson Democrats enjoy the pure religion of Democracy--a religion which enters the closet--pours forth its supplications in private, feeds the poor, clothes the naked--inflames not the prejudices of Protestant sects--is modest and unassuming in its demeanor--is charitable and kind to the persecuted and pious Catholics--bears with the infirmities of Foreign Paupers--is not ambitious and designing, seeking to accomplish vast schemes by doubtful means!

While Old Federal Buck was nominated on the seventeenth ballot, after much excitement, wrangling and abuse, young Breckenridge, whose only merit is his having challenged the Hon. Francis B. Cutting, of New York, to fight a duel, two years ago, was nominated on the second ballot. The ballot for a candidate for the Vice Presidency resulted as follows:

John C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, 55
John A. Quitman, of Mississippi, 59
Linn Boyd, of Kentucky, 33
Benjamin Fitzpatrick, of Alabama, 11
Aaron V. Brown, of Tennessee, 29
Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia, 31
Thomas J. Rusk, of Texas, 2
Wm H. Polk, of Tennessee, 5
J. C. Dobbin, of North Carolina, 13

A second ballot was entered into, when Hon. John C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, was unanimously chosen.

Tennessee, in voting for a Presidential candidate, voted SIX times for Pierce, and EIGHT times for Douglass, and never came over to old Federal Buck until they could do nothing for Pierce or Douglass. Buck seems to have been a fill for Tennessee! But now, the Tennessee Democracy say:

"With hounds and horn,
At rosy morn,
We _Bucks_ a hunting go!"

Well, we Americans will get after Old Buck's venison too, and between this and November next, many will be the steak we shall eat out of his old Federal carcass. It is venison worthy of the chase, for

----"Finer or fatter
Ne'er roamed in the forest,
Or smoked in a platter."

So--

"Hi, ho, Chevy,
Hark away, hark away, tantivy,
Here rests the burthen of my song,
This _time_ a stag must die."

But Democracy have commenced their old game of brag, by puffing their ticket as a national and conservative ticket, the very thing they denied. Now let us look into the soundness and nationality of the HEAD of the ticket. We have before us a copy of a work published in 1839, by Robert Mayo, M. D., entitled, "Political Sketches of Eight Years in Washington, in four parts." This work has gone through various editions, having been published by Fielding Lucas, Jr., of Baltimore; Garret Anderson, of Washington; J. R. Smith, of Richmond; Carey, Hart & Co., of Philadelphia, and by others in New York and Boston. On page 38 of this work, which Mr. Buchanan has never contradicted, he is reported to have denounced the visions, patronage, and corruptions of the Democratic Administrations, while he, Buchanan, was a member of the Old Federal Party.

On page 6 of this work, in the preface, the author says, in speaking of Buchanan before he turned Democrat:

"The declarations of some of these new disciples of Democracy
in past times are striking enough. MR. BUCHANAN of
PENNSYLVANIA, while he acted in his true character, DECLARED
THAT IF HE HAD A DROP OF DEMOCRATIC BLOOD IN HIS VEINS, HE
WOULD LET IT OUT! He put his royal declaration on paper, and it
has risen up against him."

A recent brief memoir of Mr. Buchanan, put forth in Pennsylvania, states that he was elected to the Legislature in 1815, where he distinguished himself by those exhibitions of intellect which gave promise of future eminence. The Lancaster _Register_, published in the immediate vicinity of Mr. Buchanan's residence, asks _by whom_ was he elected? and thus supplies the record for 1815:

ASSEMBLY.

For JAMES BUCHANAN, Federal 3051
" Molton O. Rogers, Democrat 2502

The memoir sets forth that Mr. Buchanan was elected to Congress in 1820, and that he retained his position in that body for ten years, voluntarily retiring.

The Lancaster _Register_ inquires if he were elected as a _Democrat_, and answers the inquiry by the following historical facts:

CONGRESS.

1820--James Buchanan, Federal 4642
" Jacob Hibsman, Democrat 3666
1822--James Buchanan, Federal 2153
" Jacob Hibsman, Democrat 1940
1824--James Buchanan, Federal 3560
" Samuel Houston, Democrat 3046
1826--James Buchanan, Federal 2760
" Dr. John McCamant, Democrat 2307
1828--James Buchanan, Jackson 5203
" William Hiester, Adams 3904

The Lancaster _Register_ then pursues its criticism as follows:

"On the 4th of July, 1815, Mr. Buchanan, when he was a
candidate for Assembly on the _Federal ticket_, delivered 'an
oration' in Lancaster, in which he showed his _love_ of
Federalism and _hatred_ of Democracy, by attacking the
Administration of James Madison. He said:

"'Time will not allow me to enumerate all the other evils and
wicked projects of the Democratic administration.'

"And again, in the same oration, he said:

"'What must be our opinion of an opposition whose passions were
so dark and malignant as to be gratified in endeavoring to
blast the character and imbitter the old age of Washington?
After thus persecuting the saviour of his country, _how can the
Democratic party dare to call themselves his disciples_?'"

And who does not recollect, in Tennessee, with what force and effect JAMES C. JONES used to point out JAMES BUCHANAN as one of the _rank old Federalists_ who had come over to the Democratic ranks, and was battling with _Col. Polk_, side by side, while he was consuming half his time in abuse of the Federal party? When the Democratic candidate for Congress in this District, JULIUS W. BLACKWELL, charged _Federalism_ upon the Whig party, who does not recollect with what effect and spirit JOHN H. CROZIER ran over the list of ODIOUS OLD FEDERALISTS, then fighting under the Democratic flag, among them naming out JAMES BUCHANAN? And will not the files of the KNOXVILLE POST, edited by Capt. JAMES WILLIAMS, show how he held up JAMES BUCHANAN and others as an _old Federalist of the first water_?

On the subject of _Slavery_ the memoir is not definite, and the Lancaster Register comes to its aid by publishing the following proceedings of a public meeting held in that city on the 23d of November, 1819:

"WHEREAS, the people of this State, pursuing the maxims and
animated by the beneficence of the great founder of
Pennsylvania, first gave effect to the gradual abolition of
slavery by a national act, which has not only rescued the
unhappy and helpless African within their territory from the
demoralizing influence of slavery, but ameliorating his state
and condition throughout Europe and America; and whereas, it
would illy comport with those humane and Christian efforts to
be silent spectators when this great cause of humanity is about
to be agitated in Congress, by fixing the destiny of the new
domains of the United States: therefore,

"_Resolved_, That the representatives in Congress from this
district be and they are hereby most earnestly requested to use
their utmost endeavors, as members of the National Legislature,
to prevent the existence of slavery in any of the Territories
or new States which may be created by Congress.

"_Resolved_, As the opinion of this meeting, that as the
Legislature of this State will shortly be in session, it will
be highly deserving of their wisdom and patriotism to take into
their early and most serious consideration the propriety of
instructing our representatives in the National Legislature to
use the most zealous and strenuous exertions to inhibit the
existence of slavery in any of the Territories or States which
may hereafter be created by Congress; and that the members of
Assembly from this county be requested to embrace the earliest
opportunity of bringing this subject before both Houses of the
Legislature.

"_Resolved_, That, in the opinion of this meeting, the members
of Congress who at the last session sustained the cause of
justice, humanity, and patriotism, in opposing the introduction
of slavery into the State then endeavored to be formed out of
the Missouri Territory, are entitled to the warmest thanks of
every friend of humanity.

"_Resolved_, That the proceedings of this meeting be published
in the newspapers in this city.

"JAMES HOPKINS,
WM. JENKINS,
JAMES BUCHANAN."

"The foregoing resolutions being read were unanimously adopted,
after which the meeting adjourned. (Signed)

WALTER FRANKLIN, Ch'n.

"Attest--WM. JENKINS, Sec'y."

The "Perry County Democratic Press," for April 9th, 1856, an able paper published at Bloomfield in Pennsylvania, shows up the _Federal anti-slavery, anti-Democratic, turn-coat character_ of Mr. Buchanan, after this fashion:

JAMES BUCHANAN'S SOMERSETS.

"No man in the United States has turned his political coat as
often as James Buchanan. He has espoused the principles of
every party that has had an existence since the memorable
Hartford Convention, and has been on all sides of political
questions.

"A brief reference to his history will establish conclusively
our assertions."

HIS FEDERALISM.

"He entered political life in 1814 as a rank Federalist, and by
the Federal party he was elected to the Legislature of the
State. He was re-elected in 1815, defeating Molton C. Rogers,
the Democratic candidate, and afterwards one of the Supreme
Judges of the State.

"In 1820, he was the Federal candidate for Congress, and was
elected over Jacob Hibsman, the Democratic candidate, by 976
majority. In 1822, he was reëlected over the same man by 813
majority. In 1824, he was the Federal candidate for Congress,
and elected over Samuel Houston, the Democratic candidate, by
519 votes. In 1826, he was re-elected over Dr. John McCamant,
the Democratic candidate, by 453 votes. His majorities were
becoming less each time, and in order to satisfy his Federal
friends of his fidelity to the party, he had to declare that
'if he had a drop of Democratic blood in his veins, he would
open them and let it out.'"

HE BECOMES A DEMOCRAT.

"Two years after this, he changed his coat and became a
full-blooded Democrat, and ran for Congress as the Democratic
candidate, and was elected by virtue of General Jackson's
popularity. He was afraid to run a second term, and he
declined."

HIS TEN CENT SPEECH.

"In 1843, in the United States Senate, he made a speech
advocating the principle that ten cents is a sufficient
compensation for a day's labor. Hence he is called 'Ten Cent
Jimmy.'

"In 1845, he became Secretary of State under Polk's
administration, and consented to give away about half of the
Territory of Oregon to the British government, after he had
proven that they had not a spark of title to it.

"He extolled the Federal administration of John Adams, and
endorsed the abominable Alien and Sedition laws of the Federal
reign of terror. He bitterly denounced the administration of
that pure Democrat, James Madison, and ridiculed what he termed
the follies of Thomas Jefferson."

HIS SLAVERY SOMERSETS.

"In 1819, at a meeting in Lancaster, he reported resolutions
favoring resistance to the extension of slavery and the
admission of the State of Missouri as a slave State.

"In 1847, he wrote to the Democracy of Berks county, saying
that the Missouri Compromise had given peace to the country,
and that instead of repealing it he was in favor of its
extension and maintenance.

"In 1850, in a letter to Col. Forney, he rejoiced over the
settlement of the slavery agitation by the passage of the
compromise measures during Fillmore's administration, and hoped
that before a dissolution of the Union he might be gathered to
his fathers, and never be permitted to witness the sad
catastrophe.

"In 1852, he wrote to Mr. Leake, of Virginia, concerning
Fillmore's compromise measures of 1850, which had been passed
by Congress, and said, 'that the volcano has been extinguished,
and the man who would apply the firebrand to the combustible
materials still remaining, will produce an eruption that will
overwhelm the Constitution and the Union."

BUCHANAN'S LAST SOMERSET.

"On the 28th of December, 1855, about three months ago, Mr.
Buchanan, in a letter to John Slidell, of Louisiana, says: 'The
Missouri Compromise is gone, and gone for ever. It has
departed. The time for it has passed away, and the best, nay,
the only mode now left of _putting down_ the fanatical and
reckless spirit of the North is to adhere to the existing
settlement without the slightest thought or appearance of
wavering, and without regarding any storm which may be raised
against it."

Here, then, is an authentic record--if the reader please, a GILT-FRAME PENNSYLVANIA LOOKING-GLASS, in which the Democracy of the South who admire the nominee of the late Cincinnati Convention can _see him as he is_! Heretofore, to use the language of Holy Writ, they have seen him "through a glass darkly, but now face to face." Here they see him standing erect upon the floor of the United States Senate, in all the pride of that _aristocracy_ which has characterized his course in life, and giving vent to the old and bitter feelings of the _royalists_ in Pennsylvania, by advocating the _oppressive British doctrine_, that TEN CENTS PER DAY _is enough for a poor white man as a day-laborer_! And here, too, our hard-fisted working-men, North and South, can see what sort of a man the Democracy are asking them to vote for for the Presidency!

In his Fourth of July oration in 1815, delivered in the hearing of an immense crowd, and afterwards published in all the leading papers of Pennsylvania, Mr. Buchanan came out as a _Know-Nothing_, which he has now to repudiate in stepping upon the _Anti-American Catholic Platform_ prepared for him at Cincinnati! Here is what he said in that celebrated oration:

"The greater part of those foreigners who would not be thus
affected by it, have long been the warmest friends of the
party. They had been _one of the great means of elevating the
present ruling_ (Democratic) party, and it would have been
ungrateful for that party to have abandoned them. To secure
this foreign feeling has been the labor of their leaders for
more than twenty years, and well have they been paid for their
trouble, for it has been one of the principal causes of
introducing and continuing them in power. Immediately before
the war this foreign influence had completely embodied itself
with the majority, particularly in the West, and its voice was
heard so loud at the seat of government, that President Madison
was obliged either to yield to its dictates or retire from
office. The choice was easily made by a man who preferred his
private interests to the public good, and therefore hurried us
into a war for which we were utterly unprepared."

And then again:

"We ought to use every honest exertion to turn out of power
those weak and wicked men whose wild and visionary theories
have been tested and found wanting. Above all, we ought to
drive from our shores foreign influence, and cherish American
feeling. Foreign influence has been in every age the curse of
republics--its jaundiced eye sees every thing in false
colors--the thick atmosphere of prejudice by which it is ever
surrounded, excluding from its sight the light of reason. Let
us then learn wisdom from experience, and for ever banish this
fiend from our country."

And here is what JACKSON thought of BUCHANAN. The Democratic Washington correspondent of the New York Evening Post, who was favorable to the nomination of Pierce, makes this statement--a statement we have often heard before, and never heard contradicted:

"On the night before leaving Nashville to occupy the White
House, Mr. Polk, in company with Gen. Robert Armstrong, called
at the Hermitage to procure some advice from the old hero as to
the selection of his cabinet. Jackson strongly urged the
President-elect to give no place in it to Buchanan, as he could
not be relied upon. It so happened that Polk had already
determined to make that very appointment, having probably
offered the situation to the statesman of Pennsylvania. This
fact induced Gen. Armstrong subsequently to tell Jackson that
he had given Polk a rather hard rub, as Buchanan had already
been selected for Secretary of State. 'I can't help it,' said
the old man: 'I felt it my duty to warn him against Mr.
Buchanan, whether it was agreeable or not. Mr. Polk will find
Buchanan an unreliable man. I know him well, and Mr. Polk will
yet admit the correctness of my prediction.'

"It was the last visit ever made by Mr. Polk to the old hero
when this unavailing remonstrance was delivered, but the new
President, long before the end of his administration, had
reason to acknowledge its propriety and justice, and in the
diary kept by him during that period may still be read a most
emphatic declaration of his distrust of Mr. Buchanan. Every one
is aware of two marked instances in which, as Secretary of
State, the latter failed to support the policy of the
administration, viz., on the question of the tariff of 1846,
and the requisition of the ten regiments voted by Congress for
the Mexican war. On both of these measures he was known to be
opposed to the wishes of Mr. Polk."

_Mr. Charles Irving_, the Democratic editor of the Lynchburg Republican, and a delegate at Richmond in the State Convention, thus disposes of Mr. Buchanan in a long and able letter, dated May 7th, 1856:

"If silence during the battle constitutes a claim for office,
how can the South expect Northern statesmen to uphold her
banner, when abolitionists are seeking to tear it to tatters?
If an ability to get free-soil votes makes a candidate
available, and that species of availability is recognized as a
merit at the South, Northern statesmen should court
free-soilers, and not struggle with them, if they wish to be
Presidents. Such availability may be very desirable to those
who wish success alone, but those who look to the interests of
the country may well be excused if they prefer a different
standard. I certainly _prefer_ that the South shall PREFER the
selection, not only of a sound man, but that she shall vote for
the nomination of no man upon any such ground of availability.
The coming election must settle the slavery agitation. I do not
wish a single free-soiler to vote the Democratic ticket, nor
will I willingly afford them the slightest excuse for so doing.
A prominent North-West Democrat told me to-day, that the
nomination of Mr. Buchanan would enable Trumbull, Wentworth,
and other free-soilers to come back into the party. I am not
anxious to get back such characters. These are some reasons for
not preferring Mr. Buchanan.

"But there is still another reason. That reason is in his
record. To carry the entire South, we must have not only a
sound man, but one who is above impeachment--whose record is as
stainless as the principles he advocates. Is such the case with
Mr. Buchanan? Let the record answer.

"On the 27th of December, 1837, Mr. Calhoun submitted to the
Senate that celebrated series of resolutions, the great objects
of which were to set forth with precision and force the
constitutional rights of the slaveholding States, and to
attract to their support an enlightened public opinion against
the attacks of Northern fanaticism. The second resolution was
in these words: (Calhoun's Works, volume 3, page 140.)

"'_Resolved_, That in delegating a portion of their powers to
be exercised by the Federal Government, the States retained
severally the exclusive and sole right over their own domestic
institutions and police, and are alone responsible for them,
and that any intermeddling of any one or more States, or a
combination of their citizens, with the domestic institutions
and police of the others, on any ground or under any pretext
whatever, political, moral, or religious, with a view to their
alteration or subversion, is an assumption of superiority not
warranted by the Constitution, insulting to the States
interfered with, tending to endanger their domestic peace and
tranquillity, subversive of the objects for which the
Constitution was formed, and, by necessary consequence, tending
to weaken and destroy the Union itself.'

"Mr. Morris of Ohio, who was then the only avowed Abolitionist
in the Senate, moved to strike out the words 'moral and
religious.' Had the motion prevailed, the effect would have
been to encourage agitation in the form in which it would be
most likely to be fatal to the South. It would have been a
direct encouragement to the Abolitionized clergy of the North
to take the very course which was taken by the 'three thousand
and fifty divines' who, in 1854, sacrilegiously assumed, 'in
the name of Almighty God, and in his presence,' to denounce the
repeal of the Missouri Compromise as 'a violation of plighted
faith and a breach of a national compact.' Subsequent events
have abundantly attested the truth of what Mr. Calhoun said,
when arguing against the motion, 'that the whole spirit of the
resolution hinged upon that word _religious_.'

"The vote taken on Mr. Morris's amendment stood as follows:
(Congressional Globe, volume 6, page 74.)

"Yeas--Messrs. Bayard, BUCHANAN, Clayton, Davis, McKeon,
Morris, Prentiss, Robbins, Ruggles, Smyth of Indiana,
Southward, Swift, Tipton, and Webster--14.

"Nays--Messrs. Allen, Black, Brown, Calhoun, Clay of Alabama,
Clay of Kentucky, Cuthbert, Fulton, Hubbard, King, Knight,
Linn, Lumpkin, Lyon, Nicholas, Niles, Norvell, Pierce, Preston,
Rives, Roane, Robinson, Sevier, Smyth of Connecticut, Strange,
Walker, Wall, White, Williams, Wright, and Young--31.

"The fifth resolution to which Mr. Calhoun here referred, and
which he justly regarded as the most important of all, and
struggled most perseveringly to have passed without amendment,
was strictly as follows:

"'Resolved, That the intermeddling of any State or States, or
their citizens, to abolish slavery in this District, or in any
of the Territories, on the ground, or under the pretext, that
it is immoral or sinful, or the passage of any act or measure
of Congress, with that view, would be a direct and dangerous
attack on the institutions of all the slaveholding States.'

"This resolution covered the whole premises. It met the issue
boldly and fully. No Southern Democrat can hesitate to say that
it embodied a great truth, to which events have borne emphatic
testimony. Mr. Clay, of Kentucky, moved to strike it out, and
insert the following as a substitute:

"'Resolved, That when the District of Columbia was ceded by the
States of Virginia and Maryland to the United States, domestic
slavery existed in both of those States, including the ceded
territory; and that, as it still continues in both of them, it
could not be abolished within the District without a violation
of that good faith which was implied in the cession, and in the
acceptance of the territory, nor unless compensation were made
for the slaves, without a manifest infringement of an amendment
of the Constitution of the United States, nor without exciting
a degree of just alarm and apprehension in the States
recognizing slavery, far transcending, in mischievous tendency,
any possible benefit which would be accomplished by the
abolition.' (Congressional Globe, vol. 6, page 58.)

"The utter insufficiency of this temporizing amendment scarcely
need be pointed out. Objectionable as it was in conceding to
Congress the constitutional power to abolish slavery in the
District of Columbia, and declaring against the exercise of
that power only on the ground of inexpediency, it was still
more so in this, that it made no reference whatever to the
territories of the United States. The passage of Mr. Calhoun's
resolution would have committed the Senate, not only against
the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, but
against the application of the Wilmot Proviso and kindred
measures to the Territories. Mr. Clay's amendment was entirely
silent on the subject. It is true, that in another resolution
which he proposed to have adopted as an additional amendment,
it was declared that the abolition of slavery in the Territory
of Florida would be highly inexpedient, for the principal
reason 'that it would be in violation of a solemn compromise
made at a memorable and critical period in the history of this
country, by which, while slavery was prohibited north, it was
admitted south of the line of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes
north latitude.' The defect in the first amendment can hardly
be considered by Southern men as remedied by another which
recognized the binding force of the Missouri Compromise.

"On the question to strike out Mr. Calhoun's resolution, and
insert Mr. Clay's as an amendment, after it had been modified
by striking out the part relating to compensation for slaves,
the vote stood--yeas 19, nays 18. (Congressional Globe, vol.
6, page 62.) _Mr. Buchanan's name stands recorded in the
affirmative._

"On a subsequent occasion, Mr. Calhoun, with a view to infuse
vitality into Mr. Clay's amendment, moved to insert that any
attempt of Congress to abolish slavery in the Territories,
'would be a dangerous attack upon the States in which slavery
exists.' Mr. Buchanan opposed the amendment, and it was in
reply to his speech that Mr. Calhoun made the remarks which may
be found in the third volume of his works, pages 194 to 196,
and which he commenced by saying that 'the remarks of the
Senator from Pennsylvania were of such a character that he
could not permit them to pass in silence.'

"From these votes, and this language of Mr. Buchanan, it is
clear:

"1st. That he was not opposed to the _religious_ agitation of
the slavery question--a species of agitation which Mr. Calhoun
justly regarded as more fatal than any other.

"2d. That he recognized the constitutional power of Congress to
abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, opposing its
existence only on the ground of its inexpediency--a proposition
which the position of Mr. Van Buren shows affords no reliable
protection to Southern institutions.

"3d. That he refused to commit himself fully on the great
question as to the power of Congress over the Territories of
the United States, and as far as he did go, evidently left it
to be understood that the abolition of slavery by Congress in
those Territories would be no attack on the States in which it
exists.'

"If his opinions, in these respects, have undergone any
material change, the country has not yet been authoritatively
apprised of the fact. The reflections cast by him on the
institution of slavery, in one of his speeches in England, and
the studied design he has manifested to keep aloof from the
excitement growing out of the repeal of the Missouri
Compromise, are not well calculated to inspire confidence, that
if his views have undergone any change, it has been a change
for the better."

After thus disposing of the _slavery issue_, _Mr. Irving_ thus turns to the _Tariff Question_:

"So much for the slavery issue. How does Mr. Buchanan stand
upon the tariff? Will the Sentinel say that he is sound, or
justify his 'low wages' speech? How does he stand upon the
French Spoliation bill, which President Polk and President
Pierce vetoed? Everybody knows that he was in favor of it. How
does he stand upon the Pacific Railroad? He declared himself in
favor of an appropriation of public money to build it, as is
notorious. In fact, is there a single Federal measure except
that of the United States Bank, upon which he is not recorded
against Democratic principles? How can we hope to carry the
united South with such a record? Will Southern Democrats
overlook this record? Will Northern Nebraska men overlook this
ignoring of Pierce and Douglass? Is there no danger that in
admitting the abolitionist Trumbull, we may not dishearten the
gallant Douglass? Is there no fear that in reinstating the
free-soil Hickman, who is in favor of Reeder, we may not palsy
the arm of Richardson? In fine, is there no fear that in hoping
for free-soil aid, we may not lose the few real friends the
South has in the North? It is evident to the commonest
understanding, that the first step of Northern Black
Republicanism is to kill off all those influential men at the
North, like Pierce or Douglass, who have actively participated
in the fight for our rights. Is not the South aiding them in
this first step, when it not only ignores its own sons, but
also ignores, upon the ground of availability, those Northern
men identified with the late Kansas-Nebraska bill? This is a
question the South would do well to ponder. If Mr. Buchanan is
to be nominated, and Pierce and Douglass in the North ignored,
let the responsibility rest elsewhere than upon the State of
Virginia. He may be, and probably is sound, but these are times
when more than ordinary caution is necessary. It may become the
duty of the South to support him. When that time arrives I can
discharge the duty; but I do think that the reasons above
stated exempt me from any blame for not advocating him until
that responsibility devolves upon me. Very respectfully, CHAS.
IRVING.

The Southern Dough-faces of the Foreign Catholic party pretend to hold Mr. Fillmore responsible for a letter he wrote more than twenty years ago, in which he answers certain interrogatories in reference to slavery, _affirmatively_, and in opposition to the extension of slavery! The _latest_ record of Buchanan is in 1844, and proves him to be an ABOLITIONIST OF THE BLACKEST DYE. About the last speech he ever made in Congress, was IN OPPOSITION TO SLAVERY, in secret session of the Senate, just before Mr. Polk, in opposition to the wishes of Gen. Jackson, gave him a seat in his cabinet. This speech will be found in the Congressional Globe for 1844, an extract from which is in these _explicit_ and _memorable_ words:

"In arriving at the conclusion to support this treaty, I had to
encounter _but one serious obstacle_, AND THAT WAS THE QUESTION
OF SLAVERY. Whilst I have ever maintained, and ever shall
maintain, in their full force and vigor, the constitutional
rights of the Southern States over their slave property, I yet
feel a strong repugnance by any act of mine to extend the
limits of the Union over a new slaveholding territory. After
mature reflection, however, I overcame these scruples, and now
believe that the acquisition of Texas will be the means of
limiting, not enlarging, the dominion of slavery.