Chapter I: Front Matter

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LIFE
OF
JAMES BUCHANAN

FIFTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

BY
GEORGE TICKNOR CURTIS

_IN TWO VOLUMES_
VOL. II.

NEW YORK
HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE
1883

Copyright, 1883, by GEORGE TICKNOR CURTIS.

_All rights reserved._

_Stereotyped by Smith & McDougal._

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
1848-1852.

PAGE

Purchase of Wheatland—Nomination and Election of General 1
Taylor—His Death and the Accession of President
Fillmore—The Compromise Measures of 1850—Letters to Miss
Lane—Public Letters on Political Topics

CHAPTER II.
1852.

The Presidential Nominations of 1852—Election of General 34
Franklin Pierce to the Presidency—Buchanan’s Course in
regard to the Nomination and the Election—His Efforts to
defeat the Whig Candidate

CHAPTER III.
1852-1853.

Personal and Political Relations with the President—Elect 68
and with Mr. Marcy, his Secretary of State—Buchanan is
offered the Mission to England—His own Account of the
Offer, and his Reasons for accepting it—Parting with his
Friends and Neighbors in Lancaster—Correspondence with his
Niece

CHAPTER IV.
1853-1856.

Arrival in London—Presentation to the Queen at Osborne—The 99
Ministry of Lord Aberdeen—Mr. Marcy’s Circular about Court
Costumes, and the Dress Question at the English
Court—Letters to Miss Lane

CHAPTER V.
1853-1856.

Negotiations with Lord Clarendon—The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty 126
and Affairs in Central America—The Crimean War and the new
British Doctrine respecting the Property of Neutrals

CHAPTER VI.
1853-1856.

British Enlistments in the United States—Recall of the 134
English Minister at Washington—The Ostend Conference

CHAPTER VII.
1854-1855.

The Social Position of Mr. Buchanan and his Niece in England 142

CHAPTER VIII.
1856.

Return to America—Nomination and Election to the 169
Presidency—Significance of Mr. Buchanan’s Election in
respect to the Sectional Questions—Private Correspondence

CHAPTER IX.

1857-1858.

Inauguration as President—Selection of a Cabinet—The 187
Disturbances in Kansas—Mr. Buchanan’s Construction of the
Kansas-Nebraska Act, and of the “Platform” on which he was
elected—Final Admission of Kansas into the Union

CHAPTER X.
1857-1861.

Foreign Relations during Mr. Buchanan’s Administration 211

CHAPTER XI.
1858-1860.

Complimentary Gift from Prince Albert to Mr. Buchanan—Visit 228
of the Prince of Wales—Correspondence with the Queen—Minor
Incidents of the Administration—Traits of
Character—Letters to Miss Lane—Marriage of a young Friend

CHAPTER XII.
1860—March and June.

The so-called “Covode Investigation.” 246

CHAPTER XIII.

Summary of the Slavery Questions from 1787 to 1860—The 262
Anti-Slavery Agitation in the North—Growth and Political
Triumph of the Republican Party—Fatal Divisions among the
Democrats—Mr. Buchanan declines to be regarded as a
Candidate for a second Election

CHAPTER XIV.
1860—October.

General Scott’s “Views.” 297

CHAPTER XV.
1860—November.

Election of President Lincoln—The Secession of South 315
Carolina—Nature of the Doctrine of Secession—President
Buchanan prepares to encounter the Secession
Movement—Distinction between making War on a State and
enforcing the Laws of the United States

CHAPTER XVI.
1860—December.

The President’s Annual Message of December 3, 1860 330

CHAPTER XVII.
1860—December.

Reception of the President’s Message in the Cabinet, in 352
Congress, and in the Country—The firm Attitude and wise
Policy of Mr. Buchanan

CHAPTER XVIII.
1860—December.

General Scott again advises the President—Major Anderson’s 365
Removal from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter—Arrival of
Commissioners from South Carolina in Washington—Their
Interview and Communication with the President—The
supposed Pledge of the _Status Quo_—The “Cabinet Crisis”
of December 29th—Reply of the President to the South
Carolina Commissioners—The anonymous Diarist of the _North
American Review_ confuted

CHAPTER XIX.
December, 1860-January, 1861.

Resignation of General Cass from the Department of 396
State—Reconstruction of the Cabinet which followed after
the Resignations of Messrs. Cobb, Thompson, and Thomas

CHAPTER XX.
1860—December.

The Resignation of Secretary Floyd, and its Cause—Refutation 406
of the Story of his stealing the Arms of the United
States—General Scott’s Assertions disproved

CHAPTER XXI.
November, 1860-March, 1861.

The Action of Congress on the Recommendations of the 418
President’s Annual Message—The “Crittenden
Compromise”—Strange Course of the New York
_Tribune_—Special Message of January 8, 1861

LIFE OF JAMES BUCHANAN.

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