Chapter VII

A Review of Mr. Kelly’s Congressional Career.—His
Speeches.—He Addresses the House upon the State of
Parties in New York.—Historical Account of Democratic
Divisions in that State.—Hunkers and Barnburners.—Hards
and Softs.—Know-Nothings and Republicans.—Pierce’s
Blunder in Choosing for Administration Leaders
the Opponents of the Compromise of 1850.—Jefferson
Davis Secretary of War.—Famine in the Cape de Verde
Islands.—Twenty Thousand People on the Point of
Perishing.—Archbishop Hughes Appealed to by Bishop
Patricio.—The Archbishop Intrusts the Appeal to John
Kelly, who Lays it before Congress.—Eloquent Speech of
Mr. Kelly in behalf of the Sufferers.—A Vessel Ordered
to Carry Food to the Afflicted Islanders.—Kelly Re-elected
to Congress by an Immense Majority.—A Know-Nothing
Riot in Washington in 1857.—The Mayor
Powerless.—The President Calls out the Marines.—Congress
Asked to Establish an Auxiliary Guard to Protect
Life and Property.—Mayor Swan’s Baltimore Know-Nothings
and Henry Winter Davis’s Plug Uglies.—George
P. Kane, Marshal of Police Redeems Baltimore
from the Rule of Assassins.—His Character and Services.—John
Kelly Favors the Auxiliary Guard Bill.—His
Speech Upon it.—He Rebukes Maynard of Tennessee for
a Know-Nothing Sneer at a “Parcel of Irish Waiters.”—A
Drunken Congressman Murders a Waiter at Willard’s
Hotel.—Kelly Corrects Stanton of Ohio upon a Point of
New York Political History.—The Empire Club in the
Polk and Dallas Campaign.—Bill Poole’s Club.—Poole
Killed.—Mr. Kelly Replies to General Quitman of Mississippi.—Pays
a High Tribute to the Gallant Mississippian.—Describes
the Riotous Scenes at the June Election in
Washington.—The Bill Defeated.—Nichols and Washburne
Attack the Bureau of Statistics in the State Department.—John
Kelly Replies and Turns the Tables
Upon the Attacking Members.—Edmund Flagg a Man
With a Grievance.—Nichols Drops Flagg and Beats a
Hasty Retreat.—The Naval Appropriation Bill.—A Disagreement.—Senate
and House Appoint Conference Committees.—Kelly
One of the Managers on the Part of the
House.—His Speech on the Appropriation for the Brooklyn
Navy Yard.—An Irish Tory’s Book, “The American
Irish.”—John Kelly Traduced by the Author.—Bagenal’s
Calumny Refuted.—Mr. Kelly’s Great Speech on the
Homestead Bill, May 25, 1858.—Advocates Colonization
in the West.—A Life-long Enemy of Monopolies.—Especially
of the Railroad Land-Grabbers.—Demands that
the Public Domain Shall Be Reserved for the People.—John
Kelly’s Standing in Congress.—His Remarkable
Ability Early Recognized.—His Rapid Rise in the House.—Confronts
Seward in Speakership Struggle, and in that
over Collectorship of the Port of New York.—Mr. Schell
Advocated by Kelly and Made Collector.—Personal and
Political Relations of Kelly and Schell.—A Beautiful
Picture of Friendship.—The Two New Yorkers as Devoted
Friends as Gales and Seaton of the National _Intelligencer_,
or the Cheeryble Brothers of Romance.—Society
in Washington in Former Days.—Frugality and Simplicity
the Rule.—Some Ancient Magnates.—Marshall and
Webster Go to Market with Baskets on their Arms.—Chancellor
Bibb as a Fisherman, and John Quincy Adams
a Swimmer in the Potomac.—John C. Calhoun Talks
Philosophy with a Georgetown College Professor.—Monroe
Dies Poor.—Clay Would Rather Be Right than President.—Webster
an Old School Patriot.—Calhoun Loses
Jackson’s Friendship Because Mrs. Calhoun will not Visit
Mrs. Eaton.—Old School Manners Still Flourish During
Kelly’s Terms in Congress. 207