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-S
THE
LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES
MILLARD FILLMORE
W. L BARRE, OF KENTUCKY.
BUFFALO:
WANZER, MSKIM & CO.
1856.
/
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by
WANZER, MCKIM & CO.,
In the Clerk's office of the District Court for the Northern District
of New York.
CHAS. E. FELTON,
STEKEOTYPER, BUFFALO, N. Y.
JOHN J. REED,
TBREOTTPBS AND PbIHTES,
16 Spniee Street, W. T.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I
Birth of Millard Fillmore — Family reminiscences — Early propensi-
ties— Is started to a primary school — Makes rapid progress —
Enters a higher school — Studies grammar and mathematics —
Is apprenticed to a clothier — His thirst for knowledge — Eeturns
home — Again apprenticed to a clothier — His assiduous applica-
tion — Masters his trade — He teaches school — Studies survey-
ing— Personal appearance — Manners, etc., 11
CHAPTER II.
He resumes his trade — • Determines to study law — Reflections upon
the importance of the step — Reads with Judge Wood — Sketch
of that gentleman — - Goes to Buffalo ' — Lives within his means —
State of society — Political matters — Is admitted to the bar —
Goes to Aurora, and engages in practice — His first case — Teaches
school — Is married — Is regarded as a lawyer of ability — Mature
of his eloquence — Prospects brighten; 25
CHAPTER III.
At the head of his profession — Is offered an excellent connection in
Buffalo — Admitted to the supreme court — Individual sketches —
Legal profundity — Is elected to the Assembly — Sketch of that
body — Evinces legislative capacities — Party politics — Adherence
to his principles — His nature as a debater — Adjournment of tho
2V CONTENTS.
Assembly — His devotion to his profession — Re-elected to that
body — On the committee on Public Defence — The law of im-
prisonment for debt — Governor Throop — Mr. Fillmore's active
endeavors for the repeal of the imprisonment law — His success —
Important measures in the Assembly — Close of the session —
Sketch of Mr. Fillmore in that body — Remarks thereon, . 85
CHAPTER IV.
Mr, Fillmore as a lawyer — Brief review of his legal career — His view
of the law as a science — Advantages of his connection — Spurns
all artifice and chicanery — Responsibilities of the law — His views
of its morality — His capacities as a lawyer — His ardent desire
to promote justice — His weight of character — His faithfulness to
bis clients — In speaking, not a Patrick Henry — Examples of his
success in civil cases — The Cattaraugus Reservation — The great
importance of that case — The remarkable Ontario Bank case —
His argument before the Supreme Court — His success in both, 130
CHAPTER V.
State politics — Political Anti-masonry — The Morgan outrage — The
Clintonians and Bucktails — Anti-masonic convention — How the
action of the Anti-masons should be construed — National poli-
tics of 1832 — Leading measures of the Whig party — Mr. Fill-
more is elected to Congress — Sketch of that body — Jacksonism
and its effects — Mr. Fillmore's view of the U. S. Bank, and the
removal of the deposits — Mr. Clay's Compromise Tariff of 1833 —
Excitements occasioned by the removal of the deposits — Internal
improvements — Mr. Fillmore's efforts to reduce high salaries —
Mr. Fillmore and Mr. Polk — Mr. Fillmore's qualities as a legisla-
tor— Other measures of Congress — Its adjournment, . . 166
CHAPTER VI.
Reelected to Congress — Van Burenism^— Distinguished characters —
Polk elected speaker — Fourth installment of the Deposit Act — A
CONTENTS. V
bill to postpone the payment of the installment — It passes the
senate — Mr. Fillmore's opposition — His able speech against the
bill — Mr. Fillmore gives his views of the U. S. Bank — The pas-
sage of the bill — Mr. Fillmore and Mr. Clay — Slavery in the
District of Columbia — The right of petition — Mr. Clay its cham-
pion in the senate, and Mr. Fillmore in the house — His views on
the subject of slavery at that time — The North and the South —
Mr. Fillmore's conciliatory nature as a statesman — His patri-
otism, 212
CHAPTER VII.
His views on the subject of public defence — The outrageous conduct
of British officers — Awful fate of the Caroline — Mr. Fillmore's
resolution urging redress — A committee reports upon the out-
rage— He opposes the report — Prompt, but not excitable —
His solicitude for the northern frontier — The celebrated Jersey
case — Its importance — Mr. Fillmore's determination to investi-
gate it fairly — Proceedings of the committee on elections — Foul
play — Democratic contestants successful — Letter to his constit-
uents— Twenty-seventh Congress — Great change — Party poli-
tics— Harrison and the Whig party — The nominal president —
John Tyler's treachery — Committee of ways and means — Dis-
tress of the country — Giant efforts of the twenty-seventh Con-
gress — Equal to the emergency — Great innovations, . . 244
CHAPTER VIII.
Tariff of 1842 — A remedy for an existing evil — Protective tariff as
a feature in politics — Tariff men in all parties — Jackson's views —
Early statesmen's views — Clay calls it the American system —
Mr. Fillmore's speech on the Tariff — Conclusions to be drawn
from his course in regard to the Tariff — His high position in Con-
VI CONTENTS.
gress — The Morse Appropriation — Cave Johnson — Close of hia
congressional career — J. Q. Adams and Mr. Fillmore — Campaign of
1844 — Prospects of the whig party — Mr. Fillmore urged as a
candidate for the vice-presidency — Defeat of Clay — Causes which
led to that result — Mr. Fillmore nominated for governor —
Letter to Thurlow Weed — Foreign influence — Letter to Henry
Clay — Extracts showing the cause of defeat — The Comptroller-
ship — Its arduous duties — His report to the state — Its ability —
ffis sympathy for the sufferers of the Emerald Isle, . . . 273
CHAPTER IX.
Another national convention — Great changes — Military glory —
General Taylor nominated for the presidency — Millard Fillmore
for the vice-presidency — Their election — Sketch of the U. S.
Senate — Illustrious names — California asks admission — Section-
alism in the senate — One man at the head — The " omnibus
bill" — Death of President Taylor — Mr. Fillmore communicates
the fact to the senate — Proceedings of the two houses — Mr.
Fillmore takes the oath — Assumes the chief magistracy —
Funeral obsequies, 305
CHAPTER X.
j. Fillmore's Administration — He selects a cabinet — Wisdom
of his selection — Excitement in the senate — Defeat of the omni-
bus bill — The North and the South — Struggle for supremacy —
Three parties in the senate — Wisdom and patriotism — The great
crisis — Mr. Fillmore's firmness and patriotism — Difficulties in
New Mexico and Texas — Passage of the compromise measures —
Their submission to the president — A civic Callimachus —
Fugitive Slave Law — Attorney General — Mr. Fillmore signs the
compromise measures — Is violently assailed in consequence —
Judge McLean's opinion — First annual message — Its ability, 321
CONTENTS. Vll
CHAPTER XI.
Filibustering — The Cuban movement — Proclamation of the presi-
dent — Progress of the adventurers — Their delusion — General
Quitman — The Lopez expedition — Condensed history of that
movement — Its disastrous termination — The Crescent City and
Captain General of Cuba — European interference — Their pro-
posals in regard to Cuba — Mr. Fillmore's views — A second
Hulsemann letter — Mr. Fillmore's course in regard to Cuba —
Kossuth — His mission — His interviews with Mr. Fillmore and Mr.
Clay — Their views of his mission — Sound views in regard to
foreign and domestic policy — Wisdom of Mr. Fillmore's adminis-
tration — The American party — Its rise and progress — Causes that
led to the defeat of the whig party — Mr. Fillmore's American-
ism — His tour to Europe — Reflections, etc. — His nomination
for the Presidency — Mr. Fillmore at home, 352
CHAPTER XII.
Character of Mr. Fillmore as a domestic man — His adaptation for
the family circle — Amiability and industry of Mrs. Fillmore — Mr.
Fillmore as a philanthropist — As a neighbor — His love of
home — Mr. Fillmore as a husband — As a parent — His resi-
dence and its sociabilities — His manners — His order and regu-
larity— His industry — His temperance — His morality — Mr. Fillmore
as a statesman — As a patriot — And as a man — Conclusion, 386
PUBLISHERS' PREFACE.
In presenting to the public the life of so distinguished
a man as the subject of this memoir, the publishers deem
it unnecessary to offer any apology for its appearance,
either politically or generally, as it is not the object of
this publication to inculcate the peculiar principles or
views of any party.
The subject matter has been carefully and thoroughly
prepared by the author, after having had free access to
every aid necessary to render the work authentic and
reliable.
American citizens have always evinced much interest
in the history of those men whose public course has
reflected credit on the times in which they have lived,
and especially when such men have risen from the hum-
ble walks of life to the highest and most honorable posi-
tion in the gift of an intelligent and enterprising people.
The author knows full well how to present a truthful
and interesting record of one, whose early life, untar-
X PUBLISHERS' PREFACE.
nished character, and public career, have created a bright
example for the encouragement of American youth.
This work is designed especially for young men, and,
with the hope that many may find in its pages an incen-
tive to just ambition, we cheerfully submit it to the con-
sideration of the reading public.
WANZER, M9KIM & CO.
Buffalo, August 20, 1856.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
CHAPTER I.
Birth of Millard Fillmore — Family reminiscences — Early propensi-
ties— Is started to a primary school — Makes rapid progress —
Enters a higher school — Studies grammar and mathematics —
Is apprenticed to a clothier — His thirst for knowledge — Keturna
home — Again apprenticed to a clothier — His assiduous applica.
tion — Masters his trade — He teaches school — Studies survey-
ing — Personal appearance — Manners, etc.
Millard Fillmore, the oldest son of Nathaniel and
Phoebe Fillmore, and one of nine children, was born on
the seventh day of January, in the year 1800, at the town
of Locke, Cayuga county, in the state of New York.
For a number of years, his parents remained the
residents of bis birth-place, and here he received the
rudiments of his education. His parents, though very
poor, and obliged to combat the fierce elements of adver-
sity in their darkest aspects, were universally esteemed
as among the most respectable inhabitants of the country.
His father, Nathaniel Fillmore, was a native of Ben-
nington, in the state of Vermont, and well recollects the
victory gained by the immortal Starke, at that place, in
1776. The grandfather of Millard Fillmore was one of
12 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
the early settlers of the New England States, and hero-
ically participated in all the hardships and privations
incident to the pioneers of western civilization. With a
strong arm, and a stronger heart, he endured all the back-
woods' privations of pioneer life, undismayed by the diffi-
culties that surrounded him. A family growing up
around him, of whom he was the head — a devoted wife,
who shared all his toils, and to whom he was ardently
attached, appealing to him for legitimate protection, and
nothing but a wilderness before him, where that protection
was to be sought, in the peaceful asylum of a home, it
must be confessed the prospects were gloomy indeed.
But his was not the heart to quail before such difficul-
ties as these. With that energetic perseverance and
prompt decision that characterized the early settlers of
the New England States, and has ever been a marked
development of his family, no difficulty was too great to
be overcome, no obstacle too great for him to surmount.
At length, the footprints of civilization began to impress
the soil of his adoption, farms opened in the wilderness,
cottages supplanted the rude wigwam of the savage,
abundant crops and well-stored granaries began to reward
the husbandman for his labor. But scarce had these in-
dications of peaceful prosperity received the acclaim of
welcome from the grateful colonists, when, from across
the Atlantic, the news of the infamous Stamp Act
announced the commencement of new troubles. The
call to arms met a response in the breasts of many brave
New Englanders. Among these was the grandfather of
Millard Fillmore.
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE. 13
Seeing the jewel of Colonial Independence in danger
of extermination, and fearing the triumphant exactions
of tyranny upon the fields of his virgin home, he needed
no other incentive. In obedience to the dictates of a pa-
triot heart, he espoused the cause of the colonists, and
rendered efficient service in their resistance to the en-
croachments of foreign aggression. Gallantly did he
defend his country's flag, at the battle of Bennington, and
other ensanguined fields, consecrated by the hero dust of
the Eevolution. He lived, I believe, to see victory percn
upon the banners of his country, and to reap the rewards
of his labors. He lived to see a numerous offspring
growing up around him, universally esteemed as orna-
ments to society. He died at an advanced age, beloved
by all, leaving to his descendants the rich legacy of a
name without a blemish.
Nathaniel Fillmore, the father of Millard, inheriting
all the noble qualities of his ancestry, commenced life
with nothing but an inflexible determination to succeed
for his heritage. He spent his early years in the place
of his nativity; acquiring what knowledge his limited
means would permit, and following the industrial pur-
suits to which he had been carefully reared. His voca-
tion being that of a farmer, wholly dependent upon his
own resources for whatsoever he acquired, he was in a
position admirably calculated to develop a naturally good
physical organization. His habits, from early youth,
were exceedingly regular and temperate — so much so
that he refrained entirely from the use of all stimulants.
So early, indeed, were the formation of his strictly tern-
14 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
perate habits, that in his boyhood he was designated as
a model for the boys of his neighborhood.
At the age of sixteen, he evinced considerable judg-
ment, in regard to the future value of New York lands,
by persuading his father to go to Syracuse, and purchase
lands which were then selling at ten shillings per acre.
His father declined this good advice, assigning as a rea-
son, that " it was too far from market."
He continued the industrial pursuits of his vocation
in his native county, without that accumulation of wealth
he desired, for a number of years. By pursuing a course
of scrupulous integrity toward his fellow men, and cher-
ishing the nicest sense of honor, with an ardent desire to
render himself agreeable and useful, he won the confi-
dence and esteem of all with whom he mingled in the
intercourse of every day life. Though possessing but a
limited education, with naturally a good practical mind,
he had been especially careful to avail himself of every
facility within his reach to improve it, and to acquaint
himself, as far as possible, with the institutions of
his country and the history of the times. Born on the
eve of the Revolution, and cradled amid the thunders of
an enemy's cannon, he learned the lessons of patriotism
on the very battle-fields of liberty. Peace had perched
upon the American banner, and prospects more brilliant
were then before the youth of the land than had hitherto
been known on the continent. Surrounded by the vast,
fertile fields of North America, free to make his own
selection for a home, at the age of twenty-five, Nathaniel
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 1-5
Fillmore began to look around him with a view to a per-
manent settlement.
Consequently, in his twenty-sixth, year, he mar-
ried Miss Phoebe Millard, daughter of Dr. Millard, of
Pittsford, in the state of Vermont. He in his twenty-
sixth and she in her seventeenth year, unknown to fortune
or to fame, possessing nothing but honest, determined
hearts, rich in the possession of each other's love, they
commenced the journey of life — the destined parents of;
Millard Fillmore.
After marriage, he remained in his old county but a
short time. In February, 179S, in company with his
brother, he left his native home, and went to Cayuga
county, New York, in quest of that independency which
seemed so difficult to procure at the home of his youth.
Here, from February, 1798, to January, 1799, he and
his brother lived, alone and almost in the woods, endur-
ing many hardships and privations in making preparations
for the reception of their families, whom they designed
removing the ensuing spring. Scarcely awaiting the
coldest of winters to abate its rigor, he commenced the
difficult process of his family's removal from the state of
Vermont to Cayuga county, New York. Through many
difficulties, however, and after much labor, the task of
removal was accomplished, and the parties installed in
their new home.
Here, active measures were early taken, to perform
the varied duties of practical life, in procuring a compe-
tency, which they required as heads of a young and
growing family. Mr. Fillmore, as he had ever been, by
16 LIFE OP MILLAED FILLMORE.
his kind and courteous demeanor, and irreproachable in-
tegrity, was eminently successful in getting the entire
confidence of his fellow citizens. With such undeviating
rectitude did he pursue the course marked out by vir-
tuous honor, that his words were regarded as bonds by
all who knew him.
As a proof of the high appreciation on the part of his
fellow citizens for his sound judgment and exalted moral
worth, I will state that he was created a justice of the
peace for Cayuga county, the duties of which office he
discharged to the satisfaction of all, and to the promotion
of public justice, for the period of eleven years. The
incumbents of those offices were then invariably selected
from the best men of the country. He held the scales of
justice with an even hand, and often evinced a sound
judgment and a nice discrimination rarely excelled even
by those gifted in the elucidation of legal technicalities.
His early friends in Cayuga county were among the
first citizens, possessing those high traits of character for
which the early fathers of the New England States were
so proverbial. His interests being identified with theirs —
his love of virtue being in common with theirs — he early
became domesticated in their families, and had a place
assigned him in their affections. He had been, as he
thought, successful, too, in accumulating a portion of that
property which the wants of a growing family required.
He had, in fact, by investing the proceeds of his labors in
Cayuga county lands, become the proprietor of quite a
handsome property ; but a deficiency in the title by which
those lands were held being subsequently discovered, it
LIFE OF HOLLAED FILLMORE. 17
was seen that the means which he thought judiciously
appropriated were a total loss: and the lands passed
into other hands. About a year after his removal to Cay-
uga county, Millard was born. Like Washington and
Clay, he was born with no silver spoon in his mouth —
and like them, he was destined to become an enduring
monument of his own architectural genius. Nathaniel
Fillmore continued a resident of Cayuga county for a
number of years, but being deprived of his lands by the
deficiency of title before alluded to, and having quite a
large family to support, he resolved on removing to Erie
county, in the more western portion of the state. He
reached the city of Buffalo with his family, on the
tenth of March, 1820. Buffalo was then becoming a
place of commercial importance, and offered excellent
inducements to the settlers in every department of busi-
ness. He resided near Buffalo for a number of years,
universally beloved and respected. He now lives at the
beautiful village of Aurora, twenty miles from Buffalo,
regarded by all as an embodiment of virtuous integrity.
Though he has reached the advanced age of eighty-six
years, he is in the vigorous possession of his mental fac-
ulties, is in excellent health, and never feels a pain, though
somewhat enfeebled by age. Thus, in the peace and
quiet of healthful old age, as he approaches the grave of
his fathers, he
" Looks back upon life from its dawn to its close,
Nor feels that he 's squandered its treasures away."
Phoebe Fillmore was a lady of prepossessing appear-
ance, and richly endowed with the amiable qualities of
18 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
soul for which the ladies of New England were pro-
verbial in the early days of the republic.
Her father, Doctor Millard, was, in that day, regarded
as an able physician, and a man of considerable attain-
ments in various departments of useful knowledge.
A sympathizer with the colonial sufferers through the
scenes of the Eevolution, after a peaceful adjustment of
the difficulties between the two countries, he was anx-
iously solicitous that his children should receive all the
blessings of our free institutions.
Phoebe Millard, was, therefore, blessed with all the
educational facilities the country could afford, and re-
ceived the kindness of the best of parents.
Thus, in early girlhood, she evinced an amiable dispo-
sition, a spirit of meek forbearance, and a richly stored
intellect, that eminently qualified her for the position she
was destined to occupy.
At the age of sixteen, she became the wife of Nathaniel
Fillmore, and left the paternal home to share the for-
tunes of the young pioneer. Though young in years,
she fully understood the duties and responsibilities of a
wife. Devotedly attached to her husband, she was ever
careful to promote his happiness. With clear concep-
tions of her responsibilities as a mother, she was tenderly
careful to instill into the minds of her children lessons of
virtuous wisdom for their guidance. How much influ-
ence the examples of such parents have had in shaping
the career of their distinguished son eternity alone can
tell. It is a remarkable fact* that, in the perusal of our
great men's early histories, we find they all had excellent
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE. 19
mothers. Nathaniel Fillmore was. peculiarly a domestic
man ; he knew no joys to compare with those that eradi-
ate around the green vales of home. He was ever grati-
fied, therefore, to find his wife endeavoring to make hap-
piness the inmate of his humble abode. She shared his
fortunes with the changeless devotion of a faithful wife,
gladdened his path with the sunshine of her smiles, and
gave into his arms a son, the glory of whose name will
live forever.
In company with her husband, she arrived at the city
of Buffalo on the 10th of March, 1820, where she con-
tinued, zealous in the discharge of every duty, smoothing
the cares of her husband with devotional kindness, and
impressing upon the minds of her children the deathless
example of a virtuous life.
At the time of their arrival in Buffalo, the family had
become quite numerous, and required all the efforts their
parents could bestow. Mrs. Fillmore, by the zeal with
which she guarded the welfare of her children, proved
herself worthy the position she occupied.
During her residence in the vicinity of Buffalo, she won
the esteem of all with whom she became acquainted. Sho
lived to see her children the recipients of public confidence.
She died on the 2nd day of April, 1S31. Heavily, indeed,
did this bereavement weigh upon the minds of her hus-
band and children — he lost the best of wives, they the
best of mothers. Mrs. Fillmore had five brothers and
four sisters : her brothers are good citizens, and her sis-
ters beloved by those who knew them. Nathaniel
Fillmore has several brothers, who are regarded. as excel-
20 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
lent citizens in their respective neighborhoods. Colonel
Calvin Fillmore was a captain under General Scott, in
the war of 1812.
The family of Mr. Fillmore are remarkable for their
strictly temperate habits, and great physical vigor and
longevity. I have deemed it necessary to say this
much of the parentage and relations of Millard Fillmore.
I presume it will be thought quite sufficient to say of a
man's parentage, who owes no part of his fame to an
illustrious ancestry, who plucks no laurels from the
" lineal tree," but who is essentially the architect of his
own fortunes — the builder of his own temple. True, the
ancestry of Mr. Fillmore- vies withtthe oldest and most
respectable of the early New England settlers, but still
their brows are circled with the chaplets of no civic or
military fame. They present themselves to our view
panoplied in the gorgeous drapery of no illustrious deeds,
wherewith to decorate the page of history. Yet, as im-
personations of the purest virtue and patriotism, as men
who strictly abstain from all vicious habits, and, by an
adherence to the principles of temperate morality, live a
life of irreproachable rectitude, and reach an old age in
the full possession of all their faculties, they should
elicit our esteem and emulation.
Men who thus live, careful to leave upon the minds of
their posterity the impress of virtuous example, are
the true noblemen of the country.
Millard Fillmore, in early childhood, possessed a se-
date gravity of manners and a peaceful quietude of dis-
position that was extraordinary in a child of his age.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOBE. 21
Possessing little taste, in common with other children,
for the amusements incident to that age, he was rarely
seen engaged in the sports which were a source of enjoy-
ment to the other boys in the neighborhood. He loved
his young associates, but had no desire to participate in
their frolicsome pastimes. The quality of his disposi-
tion was steady and earnest, yet mild and gentle. These
traits of character, thus indicated at so early an age,
have, to a great extent, grown with his growth, and be-
come marked developments of his maturer manhood. In
childhood, he doted on his parents with an ardor that
knew no abatement, and loved to render implicit obedi-
ence to their commands. He was industriously assidu-
ous in the performance of every duty, and evinced, at a
very early age, a determined spirit of energy, whose rest-
less activity no discouragement could suppre'ss.
Prompted in his earliest undertakings by an emulative
ambition to excel, his efforts were characterized by such
a spirit of vigilant perseverance, that he seldom knew
such a word as " failure," in childhood. His intercourse
with his playmates was quiet, kind, and agreeable. The
acknowledged favorite of his young companions, he was
often chosen arbiter of their little disputes, which he
seldom failed to settle in a manner entirely satisfactory.
Prom his earliest childhood, he was remarkable for these
peaceable traits of disposition.
He was never known to quarrel with other boys, or to
use language in the least exceptionable to any one. At
bix years of age, he was sent to school, in the immediate
neighborhood of his father's, where he commenced learn-
22 LKTE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
ing to read and write. At this school he began to mani-
fest a love for books, and to evince a thirst for useful
knowledge, that has been characteristic of his whole
subsequent life.
At the time of which I am now speaking, there existed
in the New England States no efficiently organized school
system, as at the present day, possessing all the facilities
to rapid advancement in every department of useful knowl-
edge ; and even had such advantages existed, the father
of young Fillmore was too poor to avail himself of them.
The name of the first teacher to whom young Fillmore
was sent was Amos Castle, who, I believe, was a native
of Connecticut. Mr. Castle was a very religious man —
observing the strictest principles of the early Puritans —
but was a man of no extraordinary attainments as a
scholar. He had a good school, and was careful to advance
his pupils as fast as possible ; he was especially careful
in the rigid enforcement of his rules regulating the mor-
als of his school. He was beloved as a teacher of a pri-
mary school, and as a Christian of exemplary piety. At
this school, young Fillmore made such rapid progress in
the elementary branches of learning, that all the scholars,
and even his teacher and father, were surprised at the
ease and facility with which he mastered his lessons. In
a very short time, so rapid had been his progress, that
he was enabled to stand at the head of his classes, and
compete for the prize with the best scholars in the school.
His rapid progress soon became manifest to the whole
school, and though it excited the envy of some, with the
encouragement of his father and his teacher, the spark of
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 23
ambition was kindled in his breast, that was destined to
blaze its light across the world.
Under the parental direction of his father, who had
opened his young mind, thus early, to the importance of
mental culture, and filled his soul with exalted concep-
tions of future success, he soon learned to read and
write, and acquired a superficial knowledge of many
things that were eminently useful. He made considera-
ble proficiency in the different branches of his primary
school, displaying in childhood a strong predilection for
whatever pertained to books. He was extremely careful
to avail himself of all the advantages thrown in his
way, and, passionately addicted to the attainment of
knowledge — so much so that it became the one absorb-
ing desire of his soul, to which all others were subor-
dinate. For the hardships of confinement in a school-
room, he regarded himself richly remunerated by the
accpiisition of knowledge as the fruits of such coercion.
Hence, though very young, instead of the desultory,
irregular efforts at progress, usual among boys of his
age, his mind became engaged in its one absorbing
idea, until the manner of his studies assumed the regu-
larity of system. He did not engage in the prosecution
of his studies as though it was a task imposed upon
him : to him, study was a delightful occupation. He was
never seen engaged in those frivolous occupations of
fishing or hunting, so usual among boys when uncontrolled
by coercive authority. Instead of participating in these
boyish sports, he would pore for whole days over the
pages of a book, with a taste that seemed increased rathei
24 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE.
than diminished hy the perusal of his pages. His grow-
ing passion for books and ardent thirst for knowledge
became a theme of observation and comment on the part
of his acquaintances and associates. They perceived
that his progress was unchecked by any desire to en-
gage in the amusements of his companions, or by his
assiduous application to his studies, and ultimately con-
cluded he loved to study, as his greatest source of enjoy-
ment. He was frequently, when very young, known to
pore for whole days over the pages of a book, the peru-
sal of which could scarcely be imposed upon most boys of
his age as a task, and yet, to him its perusal was a source
of gratification. This love of books and taste for reading,
in his early boyhood, was often a subject of remark.
No scenes of mirthful festivity or boyish sport could
allure him from his favorite pursuit. If asked to par-
ticipate in the amusements of his young companions, he
preferred to remain at home, where, undisturbed and
alone, he could enjoy the glorious luxury of reading.
Not that he had an aversion to the society of his young
friends at this early age ; he had a species of zest for
social intercourse, but never participated in the wild
sports incident to that age. He was calm and social,
but never gay and boisterous. This love of quietude
has always been characteristic of Mr. Fillmore. It seems
a part of his nature.
While young, his enjoyments were somewhat of a pe-
culiar nature. Reading, and reflecting upon what he had
read or seen around him, were for him enjoyments that
far surpassed the transient gaieties of the festive throng.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 25
When very young, he was a close observer, and loved
particularly to study the traits of different characters
with whom he came in contact, and form his own conclu-
sions in regard to the same. Many of those early con-
clusions evince great justness and accuracy, while the
correctness of many of his early delineations of character
would have done credit to a moralist of an older growth.
These traits of close observation seemed peculiarly
manifest in Mr. Fillmore at a very early age, and have
doubtless contributed much to form that correct basis
for his actions through life. At ten years of age, he was
sent to school to a Mr. Western, in the village of Sem-
pronius, Cayuga county, New York. Of this gentleman
I have been able to learn but little, save that he was a
man of correct habits, and was regarded there as a well
educated man.
At this school, young Fillmore commenced the study
of. grammar and mathematics. He took the lead in his
classes, and mastered his studies with an ease and facil-
ity that evinced an intellectual capacity of the first order,
and an indomitable perseverance in overcoming obstacles
to his progress, that would quail before no discourage-
ments. Of young Fillmore it may be truly said, that he
possessed in youth a mind eminently susceptible of an
indefinite expansion in the various departments of scien-
tific literature. Possessing no choice, particularly, for
one branch of learning over another, he had only to seo
that it was knowledge' and become convinced of its util-
ity, when he mastered its intricacies as by the glance ef
intuition. About this time, his youthful predilection for
2
26 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOEE.
books developed itself in its true light. So great was
this propensity that it seemed an inherent, one — born
with him ; the moment a new subject presented itself for
his investigation, his active mind exerted itself with the
promptness of instinct, until its abstrusities were thor-
oughly understood.
The vigorous powers of his intellect thus cultivated
by all the means of which he had been able to avail
himself, became more and more incessant in its restless ac-
tivity to acquire knowledge until those of an intellectual
nature were, at length, the only pursuits in which he took
delight.
From the career of Mr. Fillmore, let the youthful
reader deduce an argument in favor of early application,
to qualify himself for the exalted position of his destiny.
Let him remember that obscure soever as may be his
birth, that it is a distinguishing feature of our social and
political organism to open the avenues to wealth, fame,
and honor, to all who, by application, deserve being the
recipients, irrespective of name, distinction, or birth. Let
him remember when adverse circumstances darken around
his young aspirations, and " chill penury freezes the genial
current of his soul," how like a star young Fillmore arose
from the gloom that enshrouded him, and gradually
ascending, radiant with light, until he took his place
among the brightest that constellate in the horizon of
mind. Let him remember too, that the secret of his suc-
cess and his immortality lies in the fact that the high-
toned resolves of his early boyhood kept him entirely
free from the witching sorcery of evil habits — and that,
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 27
by close application, to qualify himself for the discharge
of after duties, in the prosperity of subsequent life he
never had to look back to the clays of his youth, to com-
mune with " the ghosts of his departed hours."
Up to this time, young Fillmore, by assisting his father
on the farm during the spring and summer months, was
enabled to attend school during the fall and winter months
of each year ; and thus his thirst for knowledge had been
partially supplied by the means offered for its gratifica-
tion. But owing to the limited means of his father, who
was unable to support so large a family as was accumu-
lating upon his hands, he was compelled to quit school,
and smother for a while his young ambition, except when
opportunities presented themselves for its gratification in
the sphere of an apprentice, of which he was sure to
avail himself. It was a source of bitter regret to young
Fillmore, to leave his school-room, where he had made
such rapid progress, and to lay aside his books that had
been his most delightful and familiar friends. He was
the oldest son of a growing family, however, who had no
resources for a support but the labors of his father, and
saw clearly the imperative necessity of being early quali-
fied not only to support himself, but to render his father
assistance in supporting the younger members of the
family. With this view, in his fifteenth year he was
placed under the care of Mr. Hungerford, in the town of
Sparta, Ontario county, (now Livingston,) New York,
for the purpose of learning the clothier's business. Un-
til about this age, he had been timid and diffident, with
no indications of that buoyant health and physical vigor
28 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE.
which he ultimately attained. Taking into consideration
the destitute cireumstances of his father, and hoping he
might be enabled to alleviate them, with a stout heart
young Fillmore cheerfully submitted to the mandate of
necessity, bade adieu to his school-room, left his com-
panions and his home, to commence the arduous duties
of an apprenticeship. Thus, at the tender age of four-
teen, dependent entirely upon his own resources — an
ancestry without a blemish his only legacy — the aristoc-
racy of an honest heart that no evil influences could
corrupt, his only guide — and an indomitable energy that
no difficulties could subdue, his only capital, he com-
menced a career that was destined to become immortal.
His connection with Hungerford, in the capacity of an
apprentice, resulted in no abatement of his thirst after
useful knowledge. Aided by the attainments he had
subsequently made, with a mind whose conceptions be-
came elevated and enlarged, as he advanced in years he
seized those books he could procure best calculated to
familiarize himself with examples of the great and the
good, and devoured their contents with avidity. Care-
fully assiduous to appropriate every moment of his time
not required by the duties of his apprenticeship to the
cultivation of his mind, he accumulated a large amount
of useful information in regard to his own and other
times. One of his favorite pursuits at this time was the
study of history. He loved to confer with the dead as
well as the living, and upon the records of the past to
see the imperishable impress of departed worth.
Though at times young Fillmore longed for better
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 29
opportunities to cultivate his mind than presented them-
selves as a clothier's apprentice, and wished relief from
the coercive restraint under "which his aspiring soul was
fettered, he never uttered a murmur of discontent, or
mourned at his lot. His was not a geuius whose spark
of inspiration could be extinguished by adverse winds
that assailed it. "With a firm reliance upon the happy
result of his continued efforts, and the ultimate triumph
of virtuous perseverance, he pressed steadily forward to
the consummation of his wishes. Many bright geniuses,
situated under circumstances similar to those that sur-
rounded the youth of Mr. Fillmore, have slumbered for-
ever in obscurity. Many sensitive minds, gifted with all
the natural endowments of talent requisite to success,
have been crushed by difficulties of less magnitude than
weighed upon the aspirations of young Fillmore. With
struggling genius thus fetjtered, we can not sympathise
too deeply. No condition of life is, perhaps, so fraught
with mental suffering as that of a young student who as-
pires to a name and is conscious of his own inherent
worth, but feels every energy palsied by the icy chill of
poverty that binds him forever to his original sphere.
Such commence their careers full of bright hopes for
the future ; they breast the storms of adversity for a while
with true courage, but they have no influential friends to
speak well of their efforts ; they possess no combination
of influences favorable to their advancement, and having
to turn aside from their chosen profession to earn the ne-
cessities of life, they see those more favored of fortune
outstripping them, and becoming the recipients of public
SO LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
confidence, and finally, depressed and discouraged, the
word " failure " becomes impressed upon their minds —
they pass into obscurity, or become votaries of dissipation.
This is the fate of hundreds — the history of thou-
sands. The main cause of these disastrous results is a
want of moral courage on the part of young students thus
situated to press steadily forward, over all obstacles, and
wait with patience the reward of merit. Herein consists
an essential element of Mr. Fillmore's greatness; he was
one of the immortal few who had the moral courage to
combat every difficulty, to resist every temptation, and
to await with patience the reward of his labors. He
knew that success was not the creation of an hour, but
the result of labor, of study, and of thought. For all
young men thus situated, he stands a beacon light to
immortality, enduring as the Pyramids, flow worthy
their emulation is his example for the American youth.
The stay of our young apprentice with Hungerford was
a very short one. That gentleman, not having sufficient
work in his clothier's business to require the services of
his apprentices more than half the time, would send them
to other work, when not engaged in the business of the es-
tablishment. This did not suit young Fillmore. He had
left home, and entered the establishment for the purpose
of learning the trade, and when he found that his services,
instead of being confined to that exclusively, were chiefly
required in the labors of another vocation, he resolved on
returning home. This resolution was not without good
reasons — he was anxious to learn a trade, in order to
render his father that assistance, in the support of his
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 31
family, which his limited means required, and to promote
his own advancement. The duties required at his hands,
by his em iloyer, when not engaged in his regular busi-
ness, were of the most onerous nature. Everything, there-
fore, being satisfactorily arranged with Hungerford, he
started for his home in Cayuga county, where he arrived,
after an absence of only a few months. It was in the
fall of the year when he reached home. During the en-
suing winter he remained with his father, cheerfully
assisting him in his out-door labors, and contributing
much to the happiness of their humble home. The home
of Mr. Fillmore was, at this time, comparatively speak-
ing, situated in little less than a wilderness. The country
was but sparsely inhabited, with few indications of the
subsequent prosperity it has attained. What improve-
ments had been made were of a rustic nature, and upon
the strictest principles of economy and simplicity. So-
cial intercourse was restricted to only a few families,
which were the entire community. Schools were few in
number, and not very well sustained. There were none
of those facilities, in fact, for the youthful student, that
are thrown so profusely around the young men of our
day. Books without number, school systems, libraries,
lyceums and Sunday schools, etc., that render such
efficient assistance to young men of the present day, were
advantages unknown to the youth of Mr. Fillmore. Yet,
unaided with these facilities, during the winter, while at
his father's, by applying his leisure moments to reading
what books he was enabled to procure, he added a large
amount of useful information to what he had previously
32 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
acquired. He had a great passion for reading, and a
happy faculty of thinking on what he read. He thus
treasured from the records of the historian, the leading
events, the virtues and wisdom of other times. "With
Grecian and Roman history he became somewhat convers-
ant, and thoroughly imbued with the sentiments of vir-
tuous patriotism of the ancient sages. He was fond of
perusing their history, he loved to treasure their deeds of
renown, and read, with delight, the pages of their match-
less oratory. He fully understood the advantages, in his
youth, of reading; but as a distinguishing trait in his
youthful character from that of most youths, he bestowed
much thought upon what he read. In his reading, he
would compare characters, and seek for the existence of
analogy, or view the beauties of virtue, when contrasted
with the deformities of vice. He loved to analyze the
actions of those of whom he read, and trace the motives
of their origin. By this course, he was seldom incorrect
in the opinions he formed of different characters. He
possessed, in youth, an extraordinary memory. The
most casual occurrence he would never forget, while the
details of all conversations in his presence were remem-
bered with minute accuracy. Though his opportunities
were limited, owing to the scarcity of books, his passion
for reading and general observation, combined with these
retentive faculties of memory, resulted in the accumula-
tion of a vast fund of facts and information, embracing
a portion of almost every department of useful knowledge.
Though deprived of those means of enjoyment so
prized by youth and incident to thickly settled commu-
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE. 33
nities, the boyhood of Mr. Fillmore was not wholly with-
out its pleasantries. With the youths of the neighbor-
hood, when he could get time and his own consent to
forego the pleasure of his studies, he would have consid-
erable pastime. In their little excursions, the peaceable
and quiet disposition of young Fillmore was always man-
ifest. He never gave way to anger, nor permitted his
associates to do so, if he could possibly prevent it. As
illustrative of his peaceful disposition, I will insert the
following incident, that occurred in his thirteenth year.
The peculiar domestic habits of his father often induced
him to have the children of the neighborhood around him,
whose playful gambols were to him a source of delight,
unknown to the morose and misanthropic. Living on
terms of entire sociability with all his neighbors, he had
frequent opportunities of getting all their children to-
gether at his house, for an evening's amusement. It was
on one of those occasions, when quite a number of the
neighbor boys and girls had assembled for the purpose of
enjoying their sports; when at the height of their enjoy-
ment, however, a sudden misunderstanding occurred
among the juveniles, and a quarrel ensued. Young Fill-
more, who had taken no active part in the amusements
of the occasion, on seeing the disturbance, approached
the parties with great gravity, and chided them in the
mildest possible manner for their conduct, and gave
them a moral lecture upon good behavior, telling them
"it was unmanly," — "it was not ladylike," thus to in-
terrupt their evening's entertainment. In this way, he
soon succeeded in restoring quiet, and making the quar-
2*
34 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
relsome parties heartily ashamed of their conduct. He
thus, at a very early age, evinced the desires and capaci-
ties of " peacemaker " that have been eminently charac-
teristic of his subsequent career.
So conspicuous, indeed, was his peaceable, quiet dispo-
sition, that the parents of the community, in correcting
their children for any exhibition of rudeness or ill-tem-
per, would refer to him as an example they should follow.
He was quite a favorite, not only among those of his own
age, but among the elder inhabitants of the neighborhood,
who always felt happy in having him associate with their
children. But the time was near at hand when again he
had to quit his books and leave his friends, for the duties
of an apprenticeship. A portion of the fall and winter
had passed since he left his first employer, embracing a
period of six months. His time had not been wasted or
misapplied. With characteristic energy he had made use
of it to the best advantage. In the spring of his six-
teenth year, he was, for a second time, apprenticed to a
clothier. Eor the business of a clothier young Fillmore
expressed a preference, from the time he became con-
vinced of the necessity of learning a trade, though he
doubtless entertained intentions of a vocation beyond that
at no distant day. As an available facility to promote his
advancement, 'in the selection of his trade, he could not,
perhaps, under the circumstances, have been more for-
tunate. If he expected to follow it, it was a business in
which there existed but little competition ; it was a busi-
ness in the pursuit of which his physical powers were called
into requisition, and his constitutional development and
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 35
vigor promoted ; then, withal, in learning the business,
his application was only required during the spring and
summer months of each year, while he could devote the
fall and winter to other pursuits, and to the cultivation
of his mind. These are the considerations, it is pre-
sumed, whereby he was actuated in his expressed pre-
ference of this for his trade. The most successful results
have demonstrated the wisdom of the selection. The
infinite utility of combining physical with mental labor,
will scarcely be called in question by any one — certainly
not by the intelligent, thinking reader.
The position now occupied by young Fillmore necessa-
rily insured this successful combination. His application
during the time required to the arduous duties of his trade,
resulted in the expansion and development of his physical
powers ; while, during the fall and winter months, the
same spirit of persevering application to his studies re-
sulted in a still happier development of his mental pow-
ers : hence, though his mental capacities are entitled to
superior claims, as being eminently preponderant, both
are remarkable for their vigorous elasticity.
The name of the gentleman under whose charge he
was this time placed was Cheney. He lived in the im-
mediate neighborhood of his father's, so that the regret
it was natural for him to feel on leaving home was not
aggravated by the idea of a distant separation. Of this
gentleman's traits of character I have not been able to
acquaint myself in detail. So far as I have been able to
learn, he was a man highly respected for his business
habits, and many other good qualities of citizenship.
36 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
His business was somewhat extended in its nature, and
required in its prosecution his personal care and super-
vision. In the pursuit of his vocation, he had amassed
considerable property, and been strictly economical in
husbanding his resources. Being ever watchful in guard-
ing the interests of his establishment, the conduct of
his apprentices came under his immediate observation.
Whether he was naturally kind to his apprentices, or the
dictates of feeling prompted him to give them encour-
agement, I cannot say. Certain it is, however, he became
attached to young Fillmore immediately after his entrance
into his service. There was, in fact, between Cheney
and his father, an explicit stipulation, to the effect that
his labors should be confined exclusively to the duties of
his trade. In a strict conformity to this stipulation on
the part of his employer, young Fillmore was, of course,
deeply interested. Not being discouraged by those drafts
upon his time made by his former employer, he pros-
ecuted his trade with an energetic determination to assume
its complete mastery. Cheney was not repulsive and
overbearing towards those in his employ, though he 're-
quired at their hands a faithful discharge of every duty.
Instead of assuming the haughty arrogance of a master,
in his intercourse with those over whom he exercised
control, he was uniformly kind and courteous. Far from
being exacting and tyrannous toward young Fillmore,
he held out to him every inducement, and manifested
great willingness to do all in his power caculated to pro-
mote his advancement in a thorough knowledge of his
business.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 37
Young Fillmore, as he had ever clone toward difficulties
over which he assayed to assume the mastery, evinced a
perceptive aptitude in understanding the peculiarities of
his new vocation. In the pursuit of his trade, he was as
anxious to succeed as when in the pursuit of knowledge,
and applied himself to the duties of his apprenticeship
with the same spirit of assiduity that characterized his
efforts in the school-room.
From his trade, as before indicated, he expected much
assistance in the prosecution of his plans for the future,
and through it, as a medium of support, hoped to reap
the rewards of their effectual maturity. For him to bend
every energy, therefore, to its successful prosecution, the
incentive was a very great one. It was his boyhood lad-
der, whereby he was to climb from obscurity. That he
should be particularly careful in the construction of an
article whereby he was to make an ascent so difficult
should be no matter of sup rise, when we take in consid-
eration the laudable nature of his aspirations. During
this time, while making these exertions, he was not for-
getful of his mind ; but whenever occasion offered, he
would turn aside, and drink draughts from the fountain of
knowledge.
These opportunities, however, did not often occur,
except at night, when after a hard day's toil, instead of
giving way to "tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy
sleep," from his books, by the midnight lamp, he would
cull the jewels of literature. Nights were the only times
he now had to indulge in these, his favorite pursuits ;
for, while in the performance of his duties in the estab-
38 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
lishment, by day he made every thing subordinate to the
main desire of becoming master of his trade. Watchful
of his employer's interests as though they were his own,
he was always careful to promote them by all possible
means in his power. During his entire apprenticeship,
he was scrupulous in the observance of every regulation.
Conducting himself with the strictest propriety, in every
particular, he acted in accordance with every requirement,
and performed the tasks assigned him with cheerful fidel-
ity. He very well knew that in promoting the interests
of employers he was paving the way to his own, and
that, in discharging his duties to them, he was discharg-
ing them to himself. From the dawning of his earliest
aspirations, he acted upon the principle that he had
something to do in life — some duty to perform — some
sphere to fill. He has always felt that, as a citizen of a
free country, he had something to do for that country —
as a member of society, he felt there was a debt due soci-
ety from him : and in order to have just conceptions of
those relative duties, and to qualify himself for their
faithful discharge, he has left no means untried. Ambi-
tious as he was to excel in his undertakings, it was not
that selfish, groveling ambition that glories in the eleva-
tion of self at the prostration of others, and exults at the
consummation of its ends, even though it be at the entire
sacrifice of all moral principle. His was an ambition of
a nobler stamp, whereon the Divinity has left the signet
of approval.
His ambition was of that laudable nature, to cultivate
the faculties that God had given him, to understand fully
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 39
the duties incumbent upon him, and be enabled properly
to discharge them — to make himself worthy the confi-
dence of his fellow men, and be useful to his country. Of
this nature was Mr. Fillmore's youthful ambition — of
this nature it still is. It was this kind of ambition that
actuated the efforts of his boyhood, made him the con-
queror of every difficulty, and ultimately secured his
triumphant success. By pursuing the praiseworthy course
he did during his apprenticeship, he won the unlimited
confidence, not only of his employer, but of every one
connected with the establishment, before the labors of
the first year were concluded.
At the expiration of the summer, the busy season of
his employer being over, he returned he oe, where he
spent the fall and winter pretty much as he had the pre-
ceding ones — dividing his time between his studies and
his labors on the farm with his father. Than the father
of Mr. Fillmore, no one was ever more careful toward a
son. He was gratified at his ambition, and did every-
thing in his power to promote its gratification. He encour-
aged his taste for books, and strengthened his virtuous
resolves by the strongest fortifications of precept and exam-
ple. Without the remotest idea of the future eminence
foreshadowed in his son's ardent thirst for knowledge,
he was careful to keep alive the spark of his ambition.
Seeing his strong inclination for books, he gave him
all the assistance his straitened circumstances would
allow, and watched with pride the development of his
young mind. On one occasion, while his son was intently
absorbed in the contents of some book, he was known to
40 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
ask Mrs. Fillmore, with a degree of pleasantry, the
following question: "Wife," he remarked, "who knows
but Millard will some day be President 1 "
Let us go, in thought, for a moment, to one of the
most thinly populated portions of Cayuga county, New
York, in the year 1813. There, amid almost a wilder-
ness, surrounded with the fearful echo of the wolf's howl,
in a rudely constructed cabin, we see a middle-aged man,
clad in his home-spun, just from his work ; near him,
busily engaged in her household duties, clad with equal
simplicity, we see his wife : that rustic boy at the table,
poring over the pages of a half-worn book, is their son.
We hear the father ask his wife the question, " Who knows
but our son will be President 1 " and smile that the old
man should have such a thought.
Yet, it was literally true — that rustic boy was des-
tined to be President. • It was young Fillmore ; those
were his parents. From that rude cabin, he was destined
to deal justice to his fellow men at the bar — from the
pages of that worn book, he was destined to become the
expounder of international law, and enlighten his coun-
trymen in the congressional halls of the nation. From
that rude cabin he was destined to be transferred to the
presidential chair — the highest position on earth — and
make the monarchs of Europe stand abashed in his
presence. Henceforth, who can tell what cabin walls
inclose our presidents ?
There is, in contemplating the lives and characters of
such men as Mr. Fillmore, something sublime and enno-
bling, that teaches us man is immortal, and stamped with
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 41
the impress of Deity. When emerging from tbe obscu-
rity of his boyhood, we see him, with a bold hand, dash
every obstacle from his pathway, as though they were
but threads of gossamer, and advancing with the strides
of an intellectual giant, from one post of honor to an-
other, until he stands foremost in the galaxy of patriotic
greatness, we are bound to endorse the sentiment that
" there is a divinity that shapes our ends."
In the spring of his seventeenth year, he returned to
his employer and resumed the labors of his apprentice-
ship. He devoted himself to business with the same
assiduous application he had evinced the previous season,
and manifested an anxiety in no way abated by the relax-
ation of his energies in that peculiar sphere. In the
meantime, the same successful results that attended his
efforts in the school-room began to be manifested in his
new sphere. Like all of his other undertakings, he com-
menced learning his trade with " success " engraven upon
his mind for his motto, and resolved by continued perse-
verance to win its valued insignia. So rapid, indeed,
was his progress, that he outstripped his fellow appren-
tices, and was advanced to the position of master work-
man. In this position, he was relieved from that portion
of the labor usually devolving upon apprentices in an
establishment of this sort. The business of the master
workmen, as they were called, was of a more particular
nature, which none but experienced hands were allowed
to perform. The advancement of young Fillmore to this
position, before he had served anything like the time
usually allotted to boys to attain it, certainly speaks well
42 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
of the manner in which he had applied himself to busi-
ness, and shows that he possessed the entire confidence
of his employer. As a master workman, he was entitled
to all the privileges, though not the wages, of journey-
man. The business of finishing, that devolved upon his
hands, though of a less arduous nature than the part of
the labor in which he had been previously engaged,
required the no less strict attention of his mind, nor
permitted any cessation of his labors. Yet, he was highly
pleased at his progress and good fortune, especially as
it afforded a good opportunity to become thoroughly
acquainted with the finer and more difficult part of the
business.
But this was not the only good fortune attendant upon
his labors during that season. His strict adherence to
the principles of justice and honor resulted in such a
high appreciation for the correctness of his character, on
the part of his employer, that he was intrusted with the
books of the establishment. The proper performance of
these duties was a task of no small magnitude. In keep-
ing a series of books, regulative not only of the finances
but of every department of an extensive business in its
minutest branches, there was, of course, a necessity for
the strictest accuracy, on the part of the individual in
whose hands they were intrusted.
When not engaged in the rendition of accounts or
making entries of transactions upon his books, he was
still expected to discharge the duties devolving upon him
as a master workman. Young Fillmore proved himself
equal to the tasks, and discharged the complicated duties
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 43
of his combined capacities in a manner that reflected
great credit to himself, and to the entire satisfaction of
all concerned. His books were kept with an accuracy
and nicety that evinced considerable financiering capaci-
ty, while his finishing wqjk indicated a complete mas-
tery of his business. The reviewal of his books by the
employer resulted in the detection of no inacuracies,
even of the smallest nature, until, thoroughly convinced
of the correctness of his young book-keeper, he felt entire-
ly satisfied that the financial department of his business
was in safe and reliable hands. In keeping the books,
he was obliged to keep a correct record of the transac-
tions of each clay, by making charges and entering credits
upon his day-book, as they occurred, then drawing them
off in his ledger, assigning to each its proper head.
Thus, when wages were to be drawn, bills to be paid, or
accounts to be collected, pertaining to any department
of the establishment, at the clerk's desk, they were prop-
erly made out, with the nicest accuracy. In this, his
employer was relieved from all anxiety in regard to the
correct management of his business, while the whole
department was conducted with regularity and system.
Thus, in a very short time, he not only gained the
complete mastery of a trade that would insure him a
competency through life, if called into requisition, but, by
his regular habits and correct industry, was actually the
financier of an extensive business establishment, possessing
the unlimited confidence of every one connected there-
with. Such men are born to success — their iron enei-gy
cannot be subdued. Be they placed in whatsoever
44 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
capacity they may, though it be of the humblest nature,
and though assigned to them be its most obscure position,
by arousing their latent energies, they will make them-
selves known, and take the lead.
The capacities and energetic perseverance of young
Fillmore would have advanced him to the head of any
vocation. Regardless of the honors conferred upon indi-
viduals by rank or station, instead of expecting to be
honored by his vocation,. his ambition, in whatsoever en-
terprise fie embarked, was to honor his calling. What
intelligent reader will say this is not the true principle of
action, to insure success 1 That individual who aspires
to a position, with a desire to honor it by the faithful
discharge of the duties it involves, and to be useful to
his country, if he succeeds in attaining it, and evinces a
capacity in performing its responsibilities, that reflects
credit upon the station, and proves the usefulness of the
incumbent to the people, that individual finds but few
impediments to his rapid advancement from" one position
of trust to another, by his fellow citizens. They see that
the manner in which he guards the interests reposed in
his keeping reflects credit to the station, and is ameliora-
tive of its condition ; consequently, they are ready to
endorse his aspirations as the offspring of a noble patri-
otism, that aspires to make itself useful to the country,
in any and every shape. While, on the other hand, that
individual whose aspirations to a station are actuated
merely by a contracted desire for self-elevation, and the
honors he expects to derive from the station, instead of
those he expects to confer upon it, though he may, for a
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 45
while, by a species of demagoguery, succeed in deluding
his fellow citizens and reaching some 'post of honor,
they will ultimately perceive that all his protestations
of patriotism are but a glossy film, which he weaves for
the concealment of his real character ; and such an one,
instead^ of occupying a place in the affections of the peo-
ple, and being endorsed, as the embodiment of his preten-
sions, finds himself subjected to the whims and caprices
of unstable friends, who forsake him the moment fortune
begins to wane, and leave him hopelessly wrecked upon
the reefs of his own ambition.
Of the former nature have ever been Mr. Fillmore's
aspirations. We have seen that, in his childhood, regard-
ing obedience as heaven's first law, he was careful to
honor his parents in the filial discharge of every duty.
Afterward, when endeavoring successfully to master the
branches of his primary school, we have seen his anxious
solicitude to honor his teacher, by his own rapid pro-
gress. In the capacity of a clothier's apprentice, we
have seen the ardent desire he manifested to honor his
employer and his business, by assuming its complete
mastery. Thus we have shown, that, up to this time,
every situation in which he had been placed was honored
by the faithful and correct manner in which he discharged
his duties ; and to the reader who follows us through the
pages of this book, we expect to show that every position
he occupied, from the commencement of his alpha, at
the wild-wood home, in Cayuga county, until he vacated
the presidential chair of the United States, was essen-
tially honored by his being the incumbent.
46 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOKE.
He is now about to be introduced to the reader in an
entirely new sphere — one, however, that has been the
starting point of many of our greatest men. In the fall
of his eighteenth year, he opened a three months' school,
in the town of. Scott, about six miles from his father's
residence, and assumed, at this early age, the responsible
duties of a teacher. Among those of our great men
who have figured conspicuously in the history of their
times, and formed the brightest jewels of our national
adornment, whose early vocation was that of school
teaching, we may number a Cass, an Underwood, and a
host of others who made this the commencement of a career
that was to end in their being recipients of the highest
offices in the gift of the people.
Alongside with such names as these, then, we find
young Fillmore's, at their age. The town of Scott was
but a small place, containing no great number of inhabi-
tants. They had possessed but few educational facilities,
and the -manners and customs of the place bore unmis-
takable marks of rustic simplicity. The citizens of the
place, as was the case of most places, in that day, were
but illy prepared to appreciate the advantages of a good
school. Yet for the high moral character, and indomita-
ble energy of young Fillmore, in the prosecution of his
undertakings, they entertained the highest respect. He
opened his first school, therefore, under circumstances
somewhat favorable to entire success. As a remunera-
tion for his services as a teacher of this school, he re-
ceived ten dollars per month, with the privilege of
"boarding around" — it being the custom of teachers to
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE. 47
board with the different patrons of their schools. His
school was liberally patronized by the citizens of the
town, and he as a teacher became universally beloved.
As a teacher, he was fully aware that his position was
one of no ordinary responsibility, and resolved on devot-
ing his entire energies to the duties it required. Among
his pupils there were but few who had made any consid-
erable proficiency in the acquisition of knowledge, though
many of them evinced a strong desire to advance them-
selves as fast as possible. His intercourse with his
scholars was marked with a courteous amiability of tem-
per, and a mild dignity of feeling well calculated to elicit
their warm esteem. He set them an excellent example,
and. was careful to inculcate the necessity of its observ-
ance. Acting upon the principle that it " was better to
rule by love than fear," in conducting his school, he uni-
formly manifested a gentleness of disposition which would
infuse itself into the minds of his scholars, by unvarying
principles of assimilation.
Though scrupulously strict in the enforcement of the
rules he adopted for the regulation of his school, his
reproofs to his pupils for their transgression were mild,
yet firm and decisive. He was very careful to give them
clear conceptions of the future duties devolving upon
them as men, and to create a desire in their minds to
become qualified for their discharge. Among the pupils
attending his school, were several overgrown boys, much
older than himself, who, notwithstanding his courteous
demeanor toward them, but illy brooked their submission
to one so much their junior in years, and rosolved on
48 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
creating a spirit of insubordination throughout the entire
school. The manner by which this was to be accom-
plished was about this : one of the older boys was pur-
posely to transgress the rules of the school, and instead
of submitting to correction for the offence, was to refuse,
and show resistance, when the other boys were to come
to his rescue. Such a plan, however, was not matured
without being detected by the vigilant observation of their
teacher, who awaited patiently for them to put it into
execution. Accordingly, during an afternoon, while en-
gaged in recitation, the older boy who was designated for
that purpose violated a positive rule of the school, in
the grossest manner. His teacher called him forward,
and the boy peremptorily refused to come. Mr. Fillmore
approached him in the sternest manner, and demanded
an apology, which the boy refused to grant. The inflic-
tion of a blow on the back of the refractory pupil was
the preconcerted signal for action, among the boys who
understood the secret. But instead of punishing him
that way, he sternly placed one hand on the boy's shoul-
der, and gave him a cut across the knees with his switch
in the other ; then turning to the other boys, with a look
of stern resolution, that told he knew all about it, and
with a motion of his hand, he so awed them into sub-
mission that they dared not move, while their companion
received a pretty severe castigation for his conduct.
After the excitement had subsided and the boys began
to be ashamed of themselves, he took occasion, in a very
firm, effective manner, to let them know that he would
have order, and be obeyed, and was determined to punish
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE, 49
all who refused obedience ; but hoped that in future there
would exist no necessity for the infliction of punishment.
From this time,'he saw no more exhibitions of insubor-
dination. His patrons commended him very highly, for
the prompt efficiency with which he had quelled the first
indications of disorder in his school, which, had they been
suffered to spread, would have infected the whole school,
and resulted disastrously to its prospects, of success.
Thenceforth, all his scholars became ardently attached
to him ; he taught a good school, and succeeded in getting
the good will of all. In the town of Scott, he was uni-
versally beloved as a teacher, and as a young man of
unexceptionable habits.
Let it not be supposed that while Mr. Fillmore was
thus engaged in the vocation of teaching others he was
forgetful of his own improvement. His active mind,
«ver restless in the acquisition1 of whatever would tend
to its vigorous expansion, suffered no diminution in its
desires to become decorated with the treasures of knowl-
edge. About this time, he evinced a great taste for the
pure mathematics, and, in the solution of the most diffi-
■cult problems, gave evidences of a mind, strong, compre-
hensive, and analytic.
His aptitude in mastering the science of mathematics
was, indeed, extraordinary. For in this department of
scientific investigation, the reasoniug, analytical faculties
of his mind were brought into requisition. Among the
mental attributes of Mr. Fillmore, these strong reasoning
faculties and deep profundity of power have ever been
to some extent, predominant In reasoning from causd
3
50 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
to effect, and investigating perplexing subjects, where the
powers of perceptive analysis are required, to understand
their intricacies, he has had few equals, and no superiors.
There was, perhaps, in this respect, a closer analogy in th.e
mental organism of Daniel Webster to that of Mr. Fill-
more's than any one else whom I can now call to mind..
He studied the theory of surveying, at this time, under a
gentleman by the name of Taylor Stowe. So completely
did he master both the theory and practice of this useful
branch of science, that in a very quick time he became the
best surveyor in the county. This valuable acquisition to
his previous attainments, to say nothing of its great util-
ity to him in his future practice as a lawyer, was subse-
quently of eminent service to Mr. Fillmore ; it was a safe
medium to which he could resort to relieve his pecuniary
difficulties. In personal appearance, at this time, Mr.
Fillmore is described to have been rather slim, with his
proportions undeveloped, and exceedingly awkward in his
movements. The circumstances by which he had been
all his life surrounded prevented him from mingling
much in society, and he was, consequently, entirely des-
titute of those refined graces which are so much the
result of social intercourse.
In a sparsely inhabited community of an' interior
county there was, in fact, no finely cultivated society
with which to mingle, and even had there been, the tem-
perament of Mr. Fillmore would not have adapted itself
to it. His mind at that time was peculiarly sensitive,
and somewhat averse to participating in the gaieties of
fashionable life. He was poor, with nothing prepossess-
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 51
ing in his appearance, and deprived of the means that
were available to those with whom his associations were
confined, he seemed to feel keenly the disadvantages of
his position. These disadvantages, so far as personal
appearance and capacities for society were concerned,
were doubtless greatly magnified by the peculiar sensi-
bility of his temperament. He was exceedingly modest
and diffident, especially when in the presence of superiors,
and the inclination of his sensitive nature was to assign
to almost every one that position, though very far from
deserving it. Another, and the main reason why he
mingled so little in the social circle, and was so seldom
a participant of its enjoyments, was the want of time.
No youth ever had juster conceptions of the value of
time, or made better use of it than did young Fillmore.
The enjoyments he derived from his studies in his leisure
moments he would sacrifice for no other. Save a lofty-
expression of feature that bespoke a consciousness of his
own inherent worth, and a mild, steady eye, that beamed
with a natural love for his fellow men, his countenance
exhibited no extraordinary indications of the great man.
Such is the appearance he presented to the casual ob-
server ; but I am told that the close and observant reader
of human character with no great difficulty could then
discover beneath that uncouth covering the workings of a
mighty soul.
In manners he was at this time no Chesterfield. Spurn-
ing the mere show of exterior politeness, unadorned by
good qualities of heart, the natural dictates of his feel
ings, while they have subdued all semblance of prida
and ostentation, have ever made him the kindest of men,
52 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
CHAPTER II.
He resumes his trade — Determines to study law — Reflections upon
the importance of the step — Reads with Judge Wood — Sketch
of that gentleman — Goes to Buffalo — Lives within his means —
State of society — Political matters — Is admitted to the bar —
Goes to Aurora, and engages in practice — His first case — Teaches
school — Is married — Is regarded as a lawyer of ability — Nature
of his eloquence — Prospects brighten.
The conclusion of the last chapter brings us to the
nineteenth year of. Mr. Fillmore's life. When we take
into consideration the difficulties under which he labored
in the prosecution of his undertakings, we must conclude
that much had been accomplished, and be impressed with
admiration for the energetic spirit displayed in all his
actions up to this time. In the spring of his nineteenth
year, he resumed for the last time the duties of his trade.
Notwithstanding he had been so very careful to acquaint
himself with the mysteries of his trade, with a view to
the assistance he expected to derive from it in the prose-
cution of his studies, he was so successful in his chosen
profession that its advantages were never called into
requisition. He had for some time conceived the idea of
reading law, a profession for which he seemed naturally
to have entertained a strong predilection. And, in fact,
a part of his leisure moments, during the latter portion of
his services in the clothier's establishment, was devoted
to the study of the law. During the spring and summer
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE. 63
of 1818, he prosecuted his business with his employer in
his former double capacity of master workman and book-
keeper. He performed his duties with the same spirit of
prompt alacrity he had evinced in the preceding years,
zealous to acquit himself to the entire satisfaction of every
one connected with the business.
During that fall, so ardent had become his desire to
engage in the study of the law, without the hindrance
imposed by the duties of his trade, that he ventured to
communicate them to his father. His father had for
some time watched his zealous application to his books,
and had often been very desirous of giving him increased
facilities for the improvement of his mind. He was dis-
posed, therefore, to view the wishes of his son in a light
rather favorable than otherwise.
It was about this time he attracted the notice of Judge
Wood, a lawyer of estimable worth, residing at no grent
distance from his father's, who persuaded him to devote
his studies to the law.
Mr. Fillmore accordingly communicated his intentions
to Cheney, his employer, and expressed a wish to pur-
chase the remaining portion of the time for which he was
obligated. So earnest had young Fillmore's endeavors
been to promote the interest of his business from his
earliest connection therewith, that he began to hope his
services would be retained as a fixture to the establish-
ment. He did not, therefore, at first, relish very well a
proposition that was to deprive him of an apprentice
whose services had become so important in the prosecu-
tion of his business. He at first rather dissuaded him
54 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
from abandoning a business for which he had been so
careful to prepare himself, and in the prosecution of
which an independency, if not a fortune, was in store
for him in the future. But young Fillmore was not to
be dissuaded : he had familiarized .himself with the exam-
ples of those who had gone before him ; he had seen them
embark in the study of the same profession, under circum-
stances equally discouraging to those with which he
was surrounded ; he had seen their efforts crowned with
triumphant success ; his young bosom had swelled with
animation at the exhibitions of power and patriotism,
displayed by Clay and others, who commenced the law
under the same circumstances, with nothing for their
reliance but their own determined will, and he longed to
try his own powers.
His conference with his employer in reference to his
contemplated engagement in the study of the law,
resulted in obtaining his consent to allow him to purchase
the residue of his time. This consent, however, was not
procured without some reluctance. The position occu-
pied by Mr. Fillmore in the establishment was one of
no ordinary importance ; and he very well knew that, to
get another incumbent, who would be equally careful in
the discharge of its varied duties, would be exceedingly
difficult. But he sacrificed all these considerations, and
after young Fillmore had obligated himself to remunerate
him for the loss he sustained by his withdrawing from his
services before the expiration of the time specified in
their original agreement, he quit forever the business to
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 55
which he had applied himself with so much zeal and
•spirit.
Cheney was doubtless perfectly honest in his convic-
tions, as regarding the impolicy of the step taken by his
apprentice — throwing all considerations out of the ques-
tion, but those for his own good. He was essentially a
practical man, and much attached to Mr. Fillmore ; and
when he saw him sacrifice the certain profits of a trade,
the entire mastery of which he had attained, to embark in
the uncertainty of a profession, to qualify himself for
the duties of which would require months and years of
close application, he was no doubt honest in his misgiv-
ing, and in thinking the movement exceedingly unwise.
To represent, in its true light, the exact way, not only
in which he looked upon this, as he thought, injudicious
movement, on the part of Mr. Fillmore, but the exalted
opinion which he had conceived for him during their
intercourse, I give the following remark, which he is said
to have made to a friend, a short time after he had left
his employ. He and his friend were together in the yard,
-engaged in conversation, when young Fillmore passed
along in sight, on some business in the neighborhood.
" Do you see that young man, yonder 1 " said Cheney,
pointing to young Fillmore. " Yes," was the reply.
" Well," continued Cheney, " he is, for a sensible young
man, pursuing a very foolish course ; he has been engaged
with me in business for some time ; he was far the best
apprentice I ever had, and the best workman I ever had;
he understands the business perfectly, yet he has aban-
doned his trade, and gone to reading law ! " Herein
56 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
consisted the extreme folly of his course, in the concep-
tions of his employer. Time, however, dispelled the illu-
sion, and demonstrated the course of Mr. Fillmore to have
been most wise. Young Fillmore had not, however, come
to the determination to embark in the study of the law
without mature deliberation, in his own mind, as to the
propriety of such a course. It was a step in which too-
much was at stake for him to take without reflecting well
upon the weighty considerations it involved. On the suc-
cess of such a step, he very well knew, depended, to an
immeasurable extent, that of his eventual destiny. Be-
fore his embarkation, therefore, in a pursuit so pregnant
with the fate of his most cherished hopes, he was par-
ticularly careful to weigh well the chances of success
and defeat, to place them all in the balance, and see which
stood the best chance for predominance. Subjected to
this investigation, the chances of success, contrasted with
those of defeat, would have been extremely diminutive,,
had not their proportions been greatly magnified by the
weight of talent, zeal, and energy, on its side, that were
more than sufficient to counteract all the discouraging
circumstances penury and adversity could array against
him. There are few steps so pregnant with the fate of
a young man's destiny, and the decision of his happiness
or his misery, as the choice he makes of his vocation. It
is certainly one of life's most important events. Young
men who are compelled to rely upon their own judgment,
in a selection so replete with the fate of their eventual
destinies, cannot be too cautious against an inappropriate
investiture of their talents and capabilities. Such invest-
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 57
mentshave resulted disastrously to the prospects, success,
and happiness of hundreds, who, had their efforts been
directed in a proper channel, more congenial with their
talents and qualifications, would have been useful, good
citizens. If, in a hasty preference for a profession, based
mainly upon the dignity and eclat attached to it in the
minds of many, an individual embarks in it without pos-
sessing the requisite qualifications for the discharge of
its duties, he not only subjects himself to infinite mortifi-
cations, by a misapplication of his time, but often takes
the first step that eventuates in his ruin. By such mis-
application of time, they are prostrating their talents,
and rendering them entirely useless for the performance
of duties in a sphere for which they are naturally adapted,
while they are certainly making no progress whatever in
a sphere wholly uncongenial to their entire capacities.
J It is not unfrequently the case, we see young men of
the finest mechanical minds, possessing a peculiar con-
structive aptitude, put into some profession to which their
energy, capacity, and feelings are entirely uncongenial,
where they scarcely succeed in attaining a position of
mediocrity, who, had they chosen a vocation for which
they possessed a natural turn, would have been eminently
useful to the country. Again, we find abstract, metaphys-
ical minds, whose powers of language are scarcely suffi-
cient to elucidate their smallest ideas, engaged in the
study of the law — a profession wherein a fluency of
speech, a retentive memory, and perceptive, analytical
powers of mind, are essentially necessary to success. To
this cause is attributable the larger portion of failures
2*
58 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOEE.
of young men in the outset of their career. Having no
natural taste for their profession, they embark in its duties
as though it was an arduous task imposed upon them, and
devote their leisure to something for which they have a
taste, until they are outstripped by those who are adapted
by nature to their profession. Nothing is more ruinous
in its influence upon a young man in the outset of his
career, than for failure to become associated with his
undertakings. Not that young men should expect entire
success in their early efforts in their vocation, as an inva-
riable consequence of energy ; it takes time, study, and
patience to overcome the inexperience and incapacities of
youth ; and in combating these difficulties, they should
not be too easily discouraged -by an unsuccessful effort, or
a defeat in an undertaking — they are occurrences incident
to the careers of the greatest. But the kind of failure to
which I have reference,, as being peculiarly disastrous in
its results to their aspirations, is their entire failure in a
profession to which they are by nature wholly inadapted.
Before, therefore, young men embark in a vocation, the
discharge of whose duties is to receive the attention of a
lifetime, and which is to form the source of their enjoy-
ment in every condition, and upon the prosecution of
which depends all their hopes of influence and prosperity,
they should have a very just appreciation of the import-
ance of the event, and be well assured, by unmistakable
indications, that they have some natural adaptation to its
pursuit. Then, with energy and perseverance, in using
the appliances thrown in their way, their chosen vocation
being the focus where centre both effort and natural
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 59
inclination, triumphant success will follow as an invariable
result.
From considerations, therefore, of the vast importance
resulting from his choice of a profession, he felt it a
responsible duty to arrive at safe and correct conclusions.
He knew that the step about to be taken was a decisive
one, and though, with spirit and industry, he hoped for
the best, he felt many misgivings in regard to future suc-
cess. He viewed the difficulties with which he knew he
would be surrounded, carefully counted the costs, and
summed up the strength of the opposition against him,
then, like an experienced mariner, setting his compass to
the pole, spreading his sails to the breeze, he launched
upon the uncertain voyage of professional life — willing,
with patient industry, to buffet the turbulent sea, and to
combat the adverse storm, could he but reach the haven
of success in the future.
Nobly triumphant has been the success of the voy-
ager. Proudly did his craft emerge from the mist that
enshrouded it, and speed onward in a course of unsurpassed
success, till she anchored in the proudest harbor of fame.
Gallantly, now, with sails full-spread to the breeze, the
stars and stripes floating from her mast, the constitution
of his country engraven on her sails, " America" written
across her prow, and religious liberty for her propulsion,
she glides onward in triumph, a life-boat of the Union,
carrying more than " Ceesar and his fortunes."
The considerations connected with his profession being
well weighed, and their importance thoroughly appre-
ciated, Mr. Fillmore entered the office of Judge Wood,
9
60 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
Judge "Wood was a man of considerable eminence in the
legal profession, and very correct and accurate in the
transaction of all business entrusted to his care. He
"was one of the early settlers of that part of the country,
and was proverbial for his integrity and high toned moral
worth. He had amassed immense wealth in the pursuit
of hi^ profession, and been exceedingly judicious in his
investments. There was, at that time, a considerable
amount of litigation in that section of the state of New
York; but Judge Wood, though of ackowledged preemi-
nence as a lawyer, did no great amount of practice. He
was successful, however, in establishing himself in a
lucrative business.
The nature of this litigation consisted principally in
the contests between different claimants for lands in their
occupancy. The settlers coming into the county would
purchase government claims and open their farms, and
often were permitted to enjoy their labors but a very
short time, when prior claims to the same parcels of land
would be presented, and the subsequent settlers had to
abandon the premises. Of this nature was the principal
amount of Judge Wood's legal practice ; and, by taking
parts of land thus gained from his clients as remunera-
tion for his services, he became a very extensive land-
holder. But aside from his legal acumen and sound
judgment in whatever pertained to his profession, Judge
Wood was possessed of all those nobler qualities of heart
that endeared him to his fellow men. In business, he
was punctual and regular, manifesting a spirit of the
exactest order, in the minutest details. The association
0
LIFE OP MILLAED FILLMORE. 61
of Mr. Fillmore with a gentleman of these commendable
traits of character could not fail to result most happily.
The office of the Judge was situated several miles from
his father's residence. He boarded at home, however,
during the first months of his studies.
The ready facility with which he comprehended the
principles of law surpassed the progress, rapid as it had
been, he had made in other departments of his studies.
This was owing, doubtless, in a great measure to the
maturer development of his mental powers, and partly
to the peculiar congeniality of this branch of knowledge
to his feelings, and the great importance he felt in the
necessity of progressing as fast as possible.
He felt that this was his life experiment, and upon its
successful demonstration depended the hopes he had
formed and fostered from boyhood.
For rapid advancement in this peculiar sphere, he was
not very well prepared by attainments previously made ;
but he possessed a mind of natural vigor and comprehension
that supplied all deficiencies. For the successful pi-ose-
cution of the law, Mr. Fillmore, by nature, possessed the
happiest endowments. He hoped to be able, through the
medium of this profession, to make an adequate support,
and attain, at last, a position of respectability as a pro-
fessional man, but had no idea that it was to be the
medium through which he was to be the recipient of
undying fame. Yet, his aspirations were contracted by
no limited sphere ; he was anxious to be of service to a
country he had learned to love, and had he known then
he was to fill the highest offices, he could have applied
62 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
himself to the mastery of legal principles with no more
assiduity than marked his eager efforts as it was. The
great profound reasoning powers of his mind, enlarged
and strengthened by their recent subjection to the solution
of mathematical problems, ranged almost with intellec-
tual rapacity through the mystic pages of the legal
commentators, and comprehended their technical abstru-
sities as by the power of instinct ; while the quick
analytical acuteness of his perception, in a thorough com-
prehension of each principle, was ready at a glance to
apply the theory to the practice.
Then, withal, by a close course of reading which he
had been careful to observe for a great while preceding
his commencement of the law, he had become an excel-
lent historian, and as a basis of reflection upon the sub-
jects of law and legal systems, he was somewhat familiar
with the ancient laws of the Grecian and Roman repub-
lics. His spirits were vigorous and buoyant, the glow of
youthful health bloomed upon his cheek, unimpaired by
the vicious excesses too often incident to youth, and with
determined animation he bent himself to the prosecution
of his studies with an ardent zeal that no difficulty could
resist. But, notwithstanding his anxiety to make rapid
progress, and in that desire all else seemed entirely swal-
lowed up, he was not forgetful of the kind courtesies due
from him to those, especially Judge Wood, connected with
the office. He was careful in discharging all these little
courtesies, and to pursue a course calculated to win the
esteem of all. These manifestations of kindness were,
and still are, natural to Mr. Fillmore. He was, at that
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 63
early day, as far from entertaining a feeling of selfish-
ness as though self was a secondary consideration. With
him the elements of happiness have consisted essentially
in seeing those happy around him, and prosperity and
general happiness pervading the common country. Act-
ing in accordance with the dictates of this generous
nature, it was impossible for him to be inattentive to any
duty due those with whom he mingled. Such a course
as pursued by Mr. Fillmore could not fail to be perceived
by Judge Wood. His modest, unassuming deportment,
his kind and generous disposition, and the ready eager-
ness with which he sought to perform every duty, were
well calculated to make a man of the Judge's temperament
look on his young pupil in a very favorable light. One
thing that had much to do in superinducing this favorable
opinion to young Fillmore, was the fact that he saw
the incipient displays of a lofty soul at work in the Her-
culean task of mental labor he performed. The profi-
ciency and ease with which he had comprehended those
intricate parts of the law, the thorough understanding of
which had, for most students, been the work of years,
surprised Judge Wood not a little, and made him regard
his pupil as one of no ordinary intellectual capacities. So
favorable, indeed, was the light in which he now regarded
Mr. Fillmore, and such an influence did his energy and
love of study have upon his mind, that he proposed to
him to come to his house and remain, and what writing
he did for the office should pay his board. Than this
proposition, nothing could have been more congenial to
the feelings of Mr. Fillmore. He embraced it gladly.
64 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
He was now in a position he had much desired for a long
while. The writing in which he was engaged was of a
particular nature, and quite considerable in amount. He
did not mind the imposition of this writing, however,
inasmuch as he was defraying the expense of his studies
and board. Judge Wood being a very careful man, the
exact precision in which he had everything done about
him, doubtless, had a very happy effect in conforming Mr.
Fillmore so happily to the strictest principles of order,
that characterize all his actions. The vast amount of
writing he did, while in the office of the Judge, contrib-
ted much to the acquisition of neatness, regularity and
dispatch of penmanship displayed in all Mr. Fillmore's
compositions.
Few men have ever taken more interest in a pupil than
did Judge Wood in Mr. Fillmore. Few ever felt more
solicitude in the advancement and proper cultivation of
the mind of a pupil than did he. Few pupils, too, have
ever appreciated a solicitude in their behalf more highly
than did Mr. Fillmore the interest Judge Wood mani-
fested in his young aspirations ; and certainly none ever
more sucessfully demonstrated the utility of the instruc-
tions he thus early received. What Chancellor Wythe
was to Henry Clay, Judge Wood was to Millard Fillmore
From the examples of Wythe and Wood, let those pos-
sessed of the means to do so learn to extend encourage-
ment to struggling worth — the ragged newsboys and
apple-venders of our streets may contain "some mute,
inglorious Milton" in their ranks, whose genius, if prop-
erly developed, would shed a halo of lustre upon the land
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 65
of his birth. Had it not been for Chancellor Wythe, Clay
would not, perhaps, have been able to construct upon the
broad pillars of the constitution that pyramid of patriot-
ism— the Compromise;— -and had it not been for Judge
Wood, we might not now, perhaps, have a Fillmore to
protect that noble piece of architecture. Judge Wood
not only extended to him the free use of his office and his
books, and gave him all the encouragement he was able,
but expressed a willingness to advance him means, and
wait until, from the successful results of his professional
labors, he should be enabled to liquidate them. This kind
offer was accepted with feelings of profound gratitude.
But gladly as he embraced this magnanimous proposition,
he was unwilling to incur a debt to his benefactor beyond
the prospects of liquidation in the pursuit of his profession.
As a means of sustaining himself, and of preventing too
great an indebtedness towards Judge Wood, he again
resorted to school teaching. The same happy results
attended his efforts in conducting this school he met with
in the town of Scott, and resulted in the acquisition of
sufficient means to render material assistance in sup-
porting himself.
Mr. Fillmore learned very early to rely exclusively
upon the results, of his own exertions, as the only facili-
ties to his advancement; and though gratefully delighted
at the bestowal of all encouragement, he expected material
assistance from no one ; hence, he was never disappointed
when not its recipient. By teaching school, surveying,
etc., during a portion of each year, he was enabled, from
the profits accruing from these vocations, to defray all
66 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
expenses attendant upon his studies the remaining por-
tion. By this means, he contracted no debts ; and what
was still better, he contracted no evil habits. If bad
habits are, as has been said, the. offspring of idleness,
their infection of Mr. Fillmore would have been illegiti-
mate, for with him idleness was the parent of nothing.
He continued the study of law with Judge Wood
nearly two years ; and, by dividing his time somewhat
between his studies and teaching, kept himself clear of
all obligations. He was, in every sense of the word, of
his own formation. But let not too much merit be
claimed or ascribed to Mr. Fillmore ; because, in early
youth, he had all these difficulties to combat, and triumph-
antly succeeded in winning the proudest laurels of
statesmanship. For so universally has it been the case,
that the great men of the nation, through the happy
'facilities offered by the institutions of our country, have
arisen from the humblest circumstances, that we begin to
feel it is the source from whence they must come. So
remarkable, indeed, does the fact strike the student of
history, that an isolated case, who, from the lap of afflu-
ent wealth, and all the other advantages it could purchase,
should rise to distinction and eminence, would be such a
rarity, that his biographer, in the delineation of his early
career, would have to say his prospects were gloomy
enough, for he had to " combat all the disadvantages that
wealth and ease could bestow."
We should be proud of a country whose peculiar boast
is thus to open all the avenues of her rich resources, and
cherish the remembrance of those who avail themselves
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 67
of them. The associations of young Fillmore with Judge
Wood had not only resulted in the attainment of a vast
amount of legal and other important information, but had
been eminently agreeable in every particular. The Judge
had several sons, with whom he become quite familiar,
and to whom he became considerably attached. The
disparity of circumstances created no barrier to their
social intercourse, and the attachment became mutual.
After enjoying the legal advantages placed in his way
by the kindness of Judge Wood, for a period of near
two years, he resolved on removing to Erie county. The
wisdom of this course was obviously manifest. In the
sparsely inhabited portion of Cayuga county, where the
entire business of a legal nature was in the hands of two
or three, and none of those advantages arising from
social intercourse, the chances of familiarizing himself
with the practical part of his profession were very ordi-
nary indeed. Then, beside, he had reached that age of
maturity that made him desire a more extensive knowl-
edge of his fellow men than the limited associations
of Cayuga county afforded. It was time, too, he had
bestowed some thought upon the people amid whom his
lot would be cast, and identified his interests with theirs.
Then, too, he was anxiously desirous of being so situ-
ated as to be enabled to avail himself of the practical
wisdom of those who were engaged as members of a
talented bar daily in the elucidation of legal principles.
Having once embarked in the law, he did it with a view
of making it his lifetime business; there was then no
time for halting or vacillating between different consid-
68 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMOEE.
erations as to the wisest course for him to pursue in the
regulation of his future career. The Rubicon was crossed —
the die was cast. The considerations of his mind were
directed upon the methods and appliances best calcu-
lated to advance him in the profession he had chosen,
instead of looking round for an outlet by means of which
he could effect an escape, and embark in a vocation that
promised to be more lucrative, if not more honorable.
For this steady determination to devote every energy to the
prosecution of an enterprise, after he had once embarked
in it, Mr. Fillmore had and still has a very happy fac-
ulty. Those unstable desires of individuals to bring
themselves into notoriety, having neither the patience nor
the capacity to achieve anything honorable to themselves
or their country, that induce them to shift sails continu-
ally, hoping thereby to catch a favorable breeze to be
wafted into the coveted- port of fortune and success, were
altogether foreign to those entertained by Mr. Fillmore,
and wholly repugnant to his feelings.
His sails were already spread ; his desires were to sus-
tain them, until sufficiently strong and appreciated, to
catch not only a favoiable but a merited breeze, that
would bear him and his fortunes successfully over the
ocean of his adversity. In this, instead of being disap-
pointed in his expectations, his anxious application has
been rewarded in a manner that has far surpassed the
realization of his brightest dreams as to the result when
he first embarked in the profession.
His father and family had, for some time, been residing
in Erie county, and, aside from the dictates of his own
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 69
inclinations, he was urged by them to go there and con-
tinue the prosecutions of his studies. Accordingly, in
the fall of 1827, he left Cayuga county, and, like the star
of empire, took his way westward. He experienced many
regrets in leaving those places endeared to him by the
tenderest associations. There he had first felt the kin-
dling glow of young ambition swell his bosom ; there he
had first learned the rudiments of an education that he
has endeavored so successfully to honor ; there he had,
by vigilant application to the requirements of his
employer, learned the entire intricacies of a trade- which,
from the extraordinary powers of his own intellect, he
was destined never to follow ; and there he had first
received encouragement that bid his aspirations unfetter
themselves, and, through the " thick gloom of the present,
look forward to a glorious future, bright as the sun in
heaven." So ardent had become the attachment of Judge
Wood to his young student that it was a source of real
pain to part with him; but seeing the wisdom, and the
almost necessity of the course, he was more than willing
to forego all personal considerations, if the sacrifice was
to result in the promotion of his young friend's prospects.
The influence this gentleman exerted over young Fill-
more was certainly very favorable in every essential
feature. So kind had he been, so deep the solicitude he
felt, and so disinterested the friendship he extended to
him, that his affectionate regard was almost equivalent to
that of a parent. How lastingly treasured on the tab-
lets of memory is every kindness extended to youths
under such circumstances as those that surrounded
70 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
Mr. Fillmore, when he first elicited the consideration of
Judge Wood. What an influence such encouragements
not unfrequently, too, have exerted in shaping the desti-
nies of those who were their recipients. When Socrates
was first discovered with his chisel in the rude sculptor's
shop, who would for a moment have conceived he pos-
sessed the almost sacred sparks of Divinity itself, and was
reserved to demonstrate the soul's immortality. Yet,
through the kind intercession of a friend in his behalf, his
mind expanded itself to so lofty a height, that the world
became filled with the blaze of his intellectual philosophy.
When Henry Clay, in the marshy swamps of Hanover
county, Virginia, was benumbed with the blast from
which his tattered garments afforded scarce a perceivable
protection, toiled to feed a helpless mother, who would
have thought that, a second father of his country, he was
to preside over her Senate, and, like a demi-god, reign
king in the proud realm of mind 1 Yet, through the friendly
intercession of a philanthropist, he was made aware of
that genius that blazed like a star of the first magni-
tude, while others seemed but its satelites. When Mil-
lard Fillmore, embosomed amid the wilderness of the
Hampshire Grants, in Cayuga county, was toiling to ren-
der his father assistance in the duties of their wild wood
home, who would' have thought that to him the eyes of a
grateful nation would turn, as the pilot of their ship of
state, the defender of her institutions ? Yet, aided by
the counsels of a friend, and the examples of a friendly
experience, he was enabled to guide her safely to port
through the darkest political storms that have lowered
over the horizon since the day6 of the Revolution.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE, 71
Here, again, allow me to insist upon the minds of those
who are so situated that they can do so entirely consistent
with their own interests, the importance of extending
encouragements and aid to aspiring merit, be it presented
to view in whatsoever garb it may. It is not necess-
arily inferable, because a Clay, a Cass, and a Fillmore,
have succeeded in combating the adverse storms that sur-
rounded their boyhood, and wreathed their temples with
chaplets of fame, that every one of genius and capacity
will accomplish the same results. Those are among the
immortal few of the illustrious names who, from the
very fact that they have been thus successful, will be
handed down to distant posterity, as affording useful and
instructive lessons to the young aspirant after fame. But
what is to become of the Clays, the Fillmores, the Mar-
shalls, the Websters, and a host others in the bright
array of natural talent who slumber in the undisturbed
repose of oblivion — lost to their country, and to their
God ? Of such, no record can be kept. Unseen of men,
their aspirations must remain undeveloped, locked in the
precincts of their own hearts, until they burn and blast
the seat of its vital throb. Unfelt by the responsive
thrills of another's breast, they prey in the bosom until
the life-blood of pulsation is gone, and bury the victim
in the ruin of his blasted hopes. The trumphs of life
are noticed and recorded — they should be. The failures
are not — they cannot be. Men's talents are not always
commensurate with their success, neither is their success
always commensurate with their talents. Success and
prosperity are, therefore, not ^infrequently very unsafe
72 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
criteria whereby to form conceptions of individual capacity.
Having then no correct indication from exterior appear-
ances of the intrinsic value of mental treasure concealed
within, we cannot be too careful to give every possible
encouragement to all who are thus situated.
" The words we speak, the smiles we wear ;
A heart may heal — ■ a heart may break."
It was in the fall of 1821 when Mr. Fillmore reached
Erie county ; during that winter, in connection with the
pursuit of his legal studies, he rendered assistance to his
father in the comfortable arrangement of his domestic
affairs. His father was then residing in the vicinity of
Buffalo, devoting himself to the duties of his vocation, as
a farmer. The application of Mr. Fillmore to his studies
during that winter was distinguished by a restless ac-
tivity unsurpassed. Before the completion of intellectual
tasks assigned himself, minds possessed of less vigor
would have sunk in exhaustion. Having concluded to
go to the city of Buffalo the ensuing spring for the pur-
pose of prosecuting his studies, he was anxious to exhibit
as great a degree of advancement as possible, and applied
himself with all the energy he could command. In the
spring of 1822 he went to Buffalo, and entered the office
of gentleman of considerable reputation as a lawyer. He
was to test the result of his energetic application in a
new and untried field. The situation in which he was
now placed, however, favored him with more available
facilities than he had previously enjoyed, and he made
the best use of them with eager dispatch. Buffalo then
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 73
bore strong indications of becoming enventually a great
city. Though the hum of business that now resounds
through the streets, thronged with her population of
eighty-five thousand, had not then swelled into such a
din of prosperous activity, she bore unmistakable marks
of ultimate greatness as a city. Situated in a very fertile
country, her streets terminating in the very waves of
Lake Erie, she could not fail to become the commercial
emporium of western New York. Between Lakes Erie
and Ontario, she possessed fair anticipations of an excel-
lent railroad communication. Such were some of the
advantages arising from her local position, whose tenden-
cies were the full development of her resources. At the
time of Mr. Fillmore's arrival in that city, society was
established upon a correct basis, cemented by the strongest,
of social compacts, resulting from a complete harmony
of feeling and concert of action, in a cause of common
defence. It had been but a few years since hostile fleets
floated over her beautiful lakes, and hostile troops were
quartered in her streets. The fame of Perry was fresh
in the minds of all, while the fields of Chippewa and
Lundy's Lane still bore marks of the hero blood of her
defenders. Thus, emerging from the smouldering embers,
where the incendiary torch of a rapacious soldiery had
left her, the city of Buffalo smiled with prospects of social
happiness as when first she doned the robes of her
independence.
Society, too, had reached a degree of refinement that
was excelled by few cities in the Union. Much attention
had been manifested on the part of the citizens in regard
4
74 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE*.
to the successful operation of a regular system of instruc-
tion ; "consequently, there was pervading all classes a very
happy diffusion of general intelligence. The establish
ment of libraries, etc., had been undertaken and to a
great degree successfully accomplished ; a large amount
of healthy, high-toned literature was circulated among
the entire population. The business men of the place
manifested great public spirit and national pride, by
decorating their city with public buildings, etc., and every
department of business evinced indications of the most
animated industry. Taking society in the aggregate, it
was refined, moral and high-toned.
Such were the people with whom Millard Fillmore first
cast his lot, thirty-four years ago. Such were the people
with whose fortunes and interests he came, an entire
stranger and mere stripling, to identify those of his own
in the union of permanent citizenship. Yet, this unpre-
tending stripling, who could then look over the entire
city and meet no friendly glance of recognition — who
entered the city, as thousands have done, unseen and
unknown, is the same who, on his recent return from the
old world, in the erective majesty of true nobility,
entered the same city amid the thunders of cannon, the
streaming of banners, the pealing of bells, and the deaf-
ening acclamations of welcome from thirty thousand
freemen, in whose hearts he reigns an idol.
I was tempted into this contrast by the reflections I
had, during the reception extended to Mr. Fillmore by his
fellow citizens, on his arrival home from his recent visit
to Europe. For any digression it may have caused me to
make, I crave the reader's indulgence.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 75
In Buffalo, he prosecuted his legal studies with char
acteristic euergy and perseverance, and continued to make
the same rapid progress he had formerly done. The
expenses attendant upon his studies he had to defray
himself. These, too, were increased by heavier and more
frequent drafts upon his means than he had formerly
experienced in the country. He was frequently aroused
from the enjoyment of his legal and literary studies, by
the voice of a necessity that submitted to no procrasti-
nation. It was a voice, however, with which he had
become perfectly familiar and was accustomed to obey
from his earliest boyhood. They were companions of
old acquaintanceship, but entire success was soon to dis-
solve the copartnership, with a " mutual consent " that
caused no lingering look or parting sigh.
. To sustain himself in his studies, and liquidate the
expenses thereby entailed, he again taught school.
Through this medium he sustained himself, during the
entire time of prosecuting the study of his profession, in
Buffalo. From the increased facilities thrown in his way
to improvement, in the shape of books, young men's
societies, and an uninterrupted intercourse with men of
proverbial talents and attainments, with all the advan-
tages of an enlightened, refined society, he began to
derive very great benefit. By the course of zeal and
industry he pursued, and the kind generosity of his
nature, he could not fail to be universally esteemed by
the citizens of the place. It was no uncommon remark
among the young students in the city at that time, at the
exhibition of unusual application on the part of a fellow
student, that he was as studious as Fillmore.
76 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMOEE.
Mr. Fillmore always made it a point, in his early life,
to live entirely within his means ; and those similarly
situated cannot be too careful in emulating his example
in this respect.
• It was about this time he gave an emphatic endorsement
to the conservative principles of the great whig party.
At the time he adopted those principles, it will not be
amiss to take a casual glance at the state of political
affairs in the country. The nation had just been con-
vulsed with the wildest excitement, by the agitation
growing out of the Missouri question of 1821. In the
whole political history of the United States, there has
never been a period of more momentous importance to
our vitality than the time of the excitement incident to
the adjustment of those troubles, by the Compromise of
1821. So intense was the excitement in the councils
of the nation, that we seemed verging upon the evils of
anarchy.
Mr. Clay took his seat in Congress on the 14th day
of January, 1S21, amid flames of passion rarely seen in
the deliberations of any legislative body, and a spirit of
bitter party denunciation, pregnant with the worst results.
Principally through his agency, these difficulties were
peaceably adjusted, and quiet restored to the country.
The old conservative principles of the whig party were
those regarded as the safe weapons wherewith to combat
the pet bank systems, and other elements of the progres-
sive democracy ; and Mr. Clay, from the wise, conserva-
tive course he pursued in the Missouri and other questions
of vital interest, was rapidly rising into that popular
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 77
favor that was to result in his eventually assuming the
leadership of his party. At the time when Mr. Fillmore
came to Erie county, his great exemplar had just suc-
ceeded in establishing the measures of the Missouri Com-
promise. He endorsed the principles of the whig party,
as embodied in the sentiments of Henry Clay, and to
these principles he adhered with unwavering fidelity ; an
ardent supporter of Clay through all his fortunes, until
the ultimate decay and disruption of that party. In the
adoption of his political creed, it can not be asserted that
he was actuated by motives other than those of the purest
patriotism, for, in the state of New York, the whig party
wasi at that time, in a fearful minority, and the demo-
crats held sway in both branches of her legislature. His
father had ever been sternly identified with the whigs,
and uniform in his support to the champions of his party.
Mr. Fillmore was, at that early day, an ardent admirer
of Henry Clay ; nor was it in subsequent life in the
slightest degree diminished. The similarity of circum-
stances under which they each commenced a career in
which they were to be the acknowledged champions of
conservative patriotism in their respective times was well
calculated to produce a congeniality of feeling in his
breast. The principles entertained by Mr. Clay, and the
lofty patriotism he displayed, were not in confliction with
his own. Side by side with Clay, he afterward fought
most gallantly in their defence. And were Mr. Clay now
living, and engaged in the din of political strife, there is
no doubt but the views he would entertain upon the
different subjects that agitate the country would be
78 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE.
precisely identical with those entertained by Mr. Fillmore
upon the same subjects — essentially patriotic and con-
servative.
In 1823, Mr. Fillmore was admitted to the court of
common pleas in the city of Buffalo. The Buffalo bar
was a very able one, presenting in its members an array of
talent and legal research rarely excelled in any city of the
Union. There were many old lawyers of acknowledged
ability, who, from a long connection with the practice, had
become familiar with all its details. There were, as
practitioners at the bar, many young aspirants to success,
who, from an intimate association with the best legal ad-
visers in the city, and the assistance of every facility to
success they could desire, possessed advantages superior
to those of Mr. Fillmore. It is not surprising, then, that
a man of Mr. Fillmore's unpretending temperament and
natural modesty should feel exceedingly diffident in em-
barking in a profession for the discharge of whose duties
his capacities were wholly untried, among competitors
who had been its successful followers for years. Not
having sufficient confidence in his own ability to make his
first effort in the profession among such learned men as
thronged the Buffalo bar, he removed to Aurora, a village
some eighteen miles from the city. Here, to use his own
words, he "labored as hard as Jacob did for Eachel," for
the glimmerings of a successful result in his profession.
The wisdom of this course is perfectly clear. The village
of Aurora was a quiet little place, with a well cultivated,
refined society, and afforded an opportunity for him to
commence his profession without incurring that array of
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 79
talented competition ■which would have been the result
had he remained in the city. Here he could practice in
the courts, without contending with the overawing weight
of age and experience, until divested of that timidity in-
cident to young lawyers, and peculiarly so to himself, he
could take his position at the bar with a degree of ex-
perience requisite to success. He could not expect at
first to get a practice, the profits accruing from which
would be adequate to defray the expenses he was neces-
sarily compelled to incur at the commencement of his
duties. For a considerable time after his location in
Aurora, he sustained himself by teaching, and devoted his
leisure moments to study. He soon, by pursuing a
course of honor and steady qualities, developed such
traits of character that he became endeared to the in-
habitants of the place, and won the entire confidence and
good will of the whole village. The first case in which
Mr. Fillmore was ever engaged as counsel was one of
larceny. An individual had been arrested for stealing
some articles from a neighbor, and was awaiting his trial.
From the circumstances of the case and the position of
the parties, the cause elicited very general interest, and
was much talked of and discussed by those acquainted
with the facts. The services of Mr.. Fillmore were en-
gaged in the prosecution. This was his first case. What
young attorney has not looked with interest, and attached
a fictitious importance to the issue of his first case 1 He
was extremely careful in the preparation of his case, and
in looking up all the law of any relevancy thereto. In
these preparations he could not have been more careful,
80 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE,
had he believed his entire destiny dependent upon the
successful issue of his effort.
On the day of trial, the court room was densely
thronged with those whom the interest of the occasion had
attracted, as much to witness the debut of young Fillmore
as anything else. The prisoner was arraigned under the
indictment, and the case was opened by the examination
of witnesses by Mr. Fillmore on the part of the common-
wealth. He conducted the examination with great judg
ment, and convinced the attornies of the opposition tha*
they had more to contend with than they had expected.
After they were through with the witnesses Mr. Fillmore
opened the case in a happy display of facts and law, that
proved a great readiness in applying them to each par
ticular feature of the case.
With such clearness and force did he pile fact upon
fact, and quote the particular law by which they were to
be governed, and so perfectly unanswerable were the
arguments he advanced, that before he took his seat, it
began to be whispered in the crowd that " The man will
be found guilty !" while the attornies for the defence, dis-
pairing of success, began to say to each other, " We
shall lose our case !"
The arguments in the defence, though advanced by
men of much greater experience than Mr. Fillmore pos-
sessed, were far from removing the wall of facts showing
their client's guilt, in which the prosecution had enclosed
him. The result was, after the submission of the case,
the prisoner was found guilty of the charge, and sen-
tenced to the penalty of his offence. Thus he had gotten
a case and gained it.
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE. 81
It is a significant fact that his first services in a career
where he was to win such distinction was on the side of
the people, and he was successful. The successful manner,
and the marked ability he displayed in conducting this
case attracted considerable attention. The fact of his
having discomfited the older attornies in a somewhat
closely contested case, by his superior knowledge of law
and facts more than from any aspect of the case favor-
able to his side, was a theme of considerable talk in the
community, and had a very favorable effect upon Mr.
Fillmore,
He continued the practice of his profession at Aurora
with increase of practice and an assiduous application,
until 1830. In 1825, his prospects becoming somewhat
brighter, and his vocation as a lawyer a permanently set-
tled point, he began to contemplate the idea of a perma-
nent location. In the succeeding -year, he was married to
Abigail Powers, the youngest daughter of Rev. Lemuel
Powers, of Erie county. Mr. Powers was a gentleman of
elevated moral worth, and of the strictest religious prin-
ciples, and proverbial for the zeal and earnestness he dis-
played in his ministry throughout the limits of his entire
acquaintance. His daughter had received all the advan-
tages of a liberal education, and been schooled in the
lessons of pure morality. She was possessed of a mild
amiability, that was manifest, in her entire social inter-
course. A modest deportment that obtruded itself upon
the notice of no one, and a love of virtue that could suffer
no abatement, with a desire to promote the happiness of
those around her commensurate with that for the promo-
4*
82 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
tion of her own. The kind gentleness of her manners,
and her daily exemplification of so many virtues, en-
deared her to the hearts of her entire acquaintance.
Such was the happy choice made by Millard Fillmore.
The gentleness of her manners, and the tenderness of
her devotion were admirably adapted to the placidity of
Mr. Fillmore's quiet disposition. The fruits of this mar-
riage were two children, a son and a daughter. The
daughter died at Aurora of cholera, in the summer of
1853. The son is now a practicing lawyer in the city of
Buffalo. In 1827, Mr. Fillmore was regularly admitted as
an attorney. He continued the practice of his profession
with uninterrupted progress, until he occupied an elevated
position in the conceptions of those of much more experi-
ence than himself. During his stay at Aurora, he
studied well, and laid deep the fundamental principles of
the legal profession. So thorough was his comprehension
of the principles of law, and so accurate was his judg-
ment in their application to his cases, that, limited as his
practice had formerly been, he began now to be regarded
as a lawyer of weight and ability, and, in addressing a
jury, he seldom failed to carry conviction by the force of
reason and fact. These qualities have constituted a large
portion of Mr. Fillmore's strength as a lawyer. The elo-
quence of his addresses to a jury did not consist in the
lightening-like impetuosity of Patrick Henry's, that
darted upon the springs of the different natures of which
his jury was composed, and tempered them at will ; nor
was like Clay's, flowing on smoothly, yet broad and deep
like a vast river, bearing his hearers almost insensibly
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 83
along with it, until they reached the point at which he
aimed to bring them. Nor yet, was it like that of Pren-
tiss', that gliding with graceful beauty into the fairy
realms of poesy, would blind the vision of his jury with
tropes and figures, and so lull the sense with the rich exot-
ics of fancy that they lost sight of facts and law alto-
gether. The eloquence of Mr. Fillmore consisted in its
convincing powers. In prosecution, systematic and
methodical, he would pile fact upon fact, with such accu-
rate compactness, and sustain them with such an unbroken
chain of law and evidence, that between the individual
and the chance of escape from conviction, he would
establish a barrier no judge or jury could overleap, with-
out a manifest disregard of official duty. In cases of de-
fence, perceptive and analytic, he would discover the
main cord of hope whereon the prosecution depended for
the conviction of his client, and with ease he would
untwist it, and separating it fibre from fibre, would leave
his client free from its meshes. In the practice of his
profession, Mr. Fillmore has never resorted to the artful
chicanery practiced by many, who regard a talent for that
as being an essential prerequisite to its successful prose-
cution, and which is, generally, about the only talent such
possess. He looked upon the law as a noble profession,
and embarked in it with a view of making himself use-
ful— he has honored the one, and succeeded in the other.
The gloom that had enshrouded the prospects of Mr.
Fillmore from his earlist boyhood now began, gradually,
to disappear, amid the dawning light of a more prosper-
ous future. He hailed the first rays of his rising star
84 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
with emotions of delight. To appreciate the happiness
produced in the breast by these first beams of success, we
must place ourselves in the same position. He had over-
come obstructions of ponderous magnitude, at every step
of his career. With his own young arm, he had pulled
down barriers that had opposed his every effort. Unaided,
by his own stout heart, he had repelled every thought
that bid it throb to notes of despair. He had traversed,
without a guide, save the footprints of those who had
gone before him, a wilderness of terrific gloom, and now,
approaching the vales of prosperity, he hailed their light
as a Bethlehem star, that spoke peace to the soul. As
we have endeavored to follow him through the thick
gloom of the past, we now propose entering with him
those fields of fame, until he plants himself in their midst,
a pillar of colossal dimensions.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 85
CHAPTER III.
At the head of his profession — Is offered an excellent connection in
Buffalo — Admitted to the supreme court — Individual sketches —
Legal profundity — Is elected to the Assembly — Sketch of that
body — Evinces legislative capacities — Party politics — Adherence
to his principles — His nature as a debater — Adjournment of the
Assembly — His devotion to his profession — Re-elected to that
body — On the committee on Public Defence — The law of im-
prisonment for debt — Governor Throop — Mr. Fillmore's active
endeavors for the repeal of the imprisonment law — His success —
Important measures of the Assembly — Close of the session —
Sketch of Mr. Fillmore in that body — Remarks thereon.
The success of Mr. Fillmore in his legal pursuits very
Justly placed him at the head of his profession. He
had applied himself to its labors with such assiduity that
he had become an advocate of distinguished ability ; and,
though he was loved as a man and admired as a lawyer,
these were not the only inducements for clients to seek
to avail themselves of his services. They were afraid of
having him against them. From the high position which
he had attained, and the great reputation he had acquired
as a lawyer of depth and profundity and of apt percep-
tion, he had monopolized pretty much the entire practice
of .the village and vicinity. The success of his efforts
could not fail to attract the notice of the members of the
bar, at all contiguous points, and his name became espe-
cially familiar in the city of Buffalo, and his ingenious
management of cases a theme of comment among the
86 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE.
ablest of the. profession in that city. He had taken sev-
eral cases, the importance of which had elicited general
interest, and been more successful than he had anticipated.
The success that crowned his efforts had placed him
above the appeals of want, and enabled him to sustain
himself without turning aside from the duties of his pro-
fession. He had already realized sufficient means through
that medium to support himself and pay up the old note
with interest, which he had given Judge Wood for means
advanced to him by that gentleman in the outset of his
career. From these unmistakable indications of prosper-
ity and eventual success, he acquired confidence in him-
self, and became divested of that natural timidity under
which he labored when first admitted to the bar. By the
even, consistent course he had pursued, he had won the
good will of his acquaintances, and established himself
firmly in the affections of the people, a position which he
has ever since maintained. He had wooed the law as a
lover, and pursued the study of its abstruse principles
with patient investigation, knowing that it took time to
become a proficient in a science of which the learned and
the great of the world were devotees.
The rewards of success now began to heap themselves
upon him, as remuneration for the privations he had under-
gone in his endeavors to master the profession. He had
not been an inattentive observer to the history of his
country and the signs of the times while thus engaged.
But though he made everything subordinate to success in
the law from his earliest connections therewith, when not
required in its duties, he was careful to acquaint himself
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 87
familiarly with the leading political events of the day, and
the characters figuring most conspicuously therein. So
that in the discussion of the political affairs of the country,
so well acquainted he had become, if a dispute occurred
among the villagers in regard to a matter of importance,
the confident disputant would say : " Go and ask Fillmore,
if I am not right." His decision when thus appealed to
as umpire was as conclusive with the parties as though it
came from the lips of Jefferson himself.
To become familiar with the history of the country and
the wise administration of the government by the early
patriots in the purest days of the Republic, Mr. Fillmore,
as a young man, thought it his imperative duty. He made
the constitution the basis of his investigations, and the
scales in which he weighed the actions of those in whose
hands the management of the country had been entrusted
Patriotism, the prompter of all his actions, in the outset
of his career, he made the constitution the alphabet of his
political creed, and the Mecca at whose shrine he would
immolate his talents. Firm and unflinching has always
been his adherence to that sacred instrument. In the
investigation of his country's history, Washington, Adams,
and other patriots at the helm of state, on whose brow
the majesty of justice sat enthroned in the immaculate
purity of heaven, made lasting impressions upon his
mind ; and though he has ever been an exemplar rather
than a copyist, the patriotism of their course in the ad-
ministration of our government he determined should be
the criteria by which he would shape his own actions
Luminous have been the exemplifications of this patriotism
88 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
in all the relations he has sustained toward our institu-
tions. And as an embodiment of this pure elevation of
soul, whose love of country towers a sightless distance
above the bitterness of party faction, he stands by the
Union and the constitution, almost the last of the Romans,
the Aristides of the times.
Possessing, then, the experience of a considerable prac-
tice in the law, and occupying an elevated position com-
mensurate with that of his professional brethren, and a
knowledge of his country and of constitutional law far
surpassing the attainments many of them had made, in
1829 he was admitted a counsellor in the supreme court
of the state of New York. Than this supreme court,
there were few places in the United States that displayed
a brighter array of talent, or an exhibition of more pro-
found legal research.
At the time of Mr. Fillmore's admission into this court,
Mr. Savage was chief justice. He was one of those men
who, by devoting the energies of a lifetime to the study
of the profession, with such application that the very
brain becomes a legal portfolio, impressed with the
reprints of learned commentators. So perfect was his
knowledge of the law, and so acute his judgment, that,
from the very nature of a case, he was enabled to arrive
at safe conclusions, with the instantaneous alertness and
mathematical precision of a Newton, who could demon-
strate a geometrical problem, on the mere statement of
the proposition. He had been a lawyer of an extensive
practice and acknowledged ability, before he was elevated
to the bench, a position which he had occupied for a con-
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMOEE. 89
siderable length of time. Being a man of quick percep-
tive faculties as well as profound research, he was
remarkable for the facility with which he dispatched the
business of the docket. The nature of some of the cases
tried in his hearing, as the highest tribunal of appeal in
the state, involved not unfrequently considerations of the
weightiest moment, and elicited as well as a general interest
on the part of the citizens concerned, a display of powers
from antagonistic advocates that would not have dis-
graced the Roman forum.
From the chief justice's long connection with the law
and occupancy of the bench, he was admirably calculated
to hear these important cases with dignity, and exhibit
entire and impartial justice in the rendition of his deci-
sions. The first conceptions of Mr. Fillmore in regard
to the chief justice were very favorable. On the coun-
tenance of the man he saw delineated those qualities that
never failed to win his warmest admiration — justice and
virtue; in his actions and dispatch of transacting business,
he perceived those traits of character he never failed to
patronize — industry and regularity ; in his eye he saw
the beams of true nobility, that never failed to kindle his
own bosom — a benevolent, liberal nature toward his fel-
low men, yet of the sternest justice, which Sheridan des-
ci'ibes as being "lovely in her darkest frown." Jacob
Sutherland and Samuel Nelson, the two subordinate jus-
tices, were men of the highest legal attainments, and
were essentially qualified to " don the ermine robes " of
the supreme court. This high tribunal was, in that day,
regarded as an august body, and men of undoubted
90 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
capacity, as well as unsullied reputations, were invariably
elevated to a position where they were to exercise supe-
rior guardianship over the people.
Those were purer days of the Republic, before the hosts
of political vermin had crawled into the temple of justice
and polluted the majesty of her sanctuary with the effects
of selfish ambition. Sutherland and Nelson, in discharging
the duties of their official capacity, evinced a thorough
knowledge of legal principles, and an impartial adminis-
tration of the laws, that proved they were true embodi-
ments of that justice which it was their peculiar province
to promote.
The attorney general was Greene C. Robinson, a gen-
tleman whose talents as a lawyer were acknowledged to
be of the first order, and whose legal successes in a career
of some distinction admirably befitted him for the res-
ponsible position of state prosecutor.
Such was the supreme court of the Empire State, when
Mr. Fillmore was admitted a counsellor, twenty-seven
years ago. The counsellors who practiced at this court
for the most part were lawyers of old experience and
distinguished ability, whose services were solicited on
account of the very great importance of the cases and
their ultimate issue. Among the lawyers of notoriety
for their extensive acquaintance with the principles of
law and the success of their professional career, who fig-
ured somewhat a conspicuous part before the supreme
court, at that time, was J. C. Spencer. This gentleman
was exceedingly popular, and deservedly so, among his
professional brethren, for his talents and ingenuity. He
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMOEE. 91
was a practical lawyer of the first quality, and in the
preparation of his cases to come before the supreme
court he had few superiors. Bacon and Kirkland were
attorneys of eminence, to compete successfully with
whom required a large amount of legal information as
well as natural argumentative talents. The peculiar
strength of these gentlemen consisted in a happy com-
bination of reason and argument, with considerable elo-
quence in enforcing conviction upon the minds of their
hearers. During Mr. Fillmore's practice before the
supreme court, it was often his fortune to come in conflict
with these and other gentlemen of no less distinction for
their legal lore. Mr. Fillmore was much younger than a
large portion of the practitioners before the supreme court,
when he was first admitted to practice there. Yet, from
the first, he occupied a position of prominence among the
other counsellors, and frequently succeeded in discomfit-
ing them in the argument of cases of great importance.
His first appearance in that court was marked with cour-
teous dignity toward the attorneys, and a respectful
deference to the judges due their official station, which
exhibited a refinement of feelings of the highest, order.
It has always been the desire of Mr. Fillmore, both in
public and in private, not only to do his whole duty, but
to do it in such a manner as to make himself beloved.
The hold he has upon the affections of the American
people show to the extent this desire has been gratified.
On his admission into the supreme court he soon gave
displays of those powers of mind he had used so effi-
ciently elsewhere. So profound were the powers of his
92 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
mind in comprehending the fundamental doctrines of the
common law, and in grasping the whole range of learned
disquisitions upon its most intricate and difficult parts,
that he commanded the respect of the entire bench. Yet
the unassuming modesty of his deportment, was as clearly
manifest as though he were entirely ignorant of his pow-
ers. In the establishment of his positions, he ranged
the wide fields of legal research with the restless activity
of thought, culled a casket of facts, and fitted them to his
case with the precise solidity of a marble pyramid. In
demolishing the fortress reared by counsel on the opposite
side, with the perceptive analyses of chemical process, he
would tear it piece from piece, and expose the very foun-
dation as being fallacious and untenable.
But, befora following him through his career in the
supreme court, where he won such glorious laurels and
established a character of civic ability almost unsurpassed
in the annals of judicial renown, it is necessary to notice
the results of his labors in a capacity where the country
was, more generally, the recipient.
The fame of his legal success became the theme of uni-
versal remark. He had reached a position far above
young advocates of no more experience than he had
enjoyed. His character, in fact, was essentially estab-
lished, and the people began to regard him as one from
whom they might expect services ameliorative of their
condition, and in whose hands their interests might with
safety be reposed. And he himself, from the success of
the past, had began to feel and hope that, through the
appliance of the same energy, he might attain a position,
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 93
of usefulness. Already had the village iu which he
lived, and surrounding country, ceased to be the limits of
his professional labors. He had frequently been solicited
to engage as counsel in different places. Surrounded with
these flattering prospects, he was offered a connection
with the most successful law-office in the city of Buffalo.
This connection promised great and very decided advan-
tages, inasmuch as the counsel of the firm, from a posi-
tion of eminence in the law, were doing about the heaviest
practice in the city. Possessed of the capabilities he
was, with the increased facilities afforded by the proposed
connection, he was no longer necessitated to indulge
apprehensions of expenditures not being met through the
medium of his profession. The "Rachel" of success
for which he had " labored, Jacob-like," so earnestly, was
in his embrace, and with this trophy of his triumphs he
could return to the city he had left through timidity and
a want of confidence, to assume his position as a lawyer
with the most respectable at the bar. He accepted a
proposition that promised to result so advantageously to
the development of his faculties. He closed his business
in Aurora, and left the scenes of his first triumphs, and
cast his lot a second time among the citizens of Buffalo,
where he has ever since resided, except when engaged in
official duties at Albany or Washington City.
Immediately after his arrival in Buffalo, he was thrown
into practice of a lucrative nature. The fame of his
ability having preceded him to the city, he found, no dif-
ficulty in the acquisition of clients, or cause to complain
of inactivity. The members of the Buffalo bar soon
94 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
perceived that, during the comparative hermitage of his
Aurora seclusion, like Demosthenes in the cave, he had
developed intellectual powers of a giant nature. Like
that ancient orator who left the city, where he would have
remained to overcome the defects of his speech, and re-
turned again to make her rostrums resound with his
matchless eloquence, he left the city where he studied, to
overcome the defects of his timidity, and returned again
to make her streets resound with the anthems of his fame.
His success at the bar was now excelled by no one of his
age; business flowed in upon him from all sides, he had
no superior at the bar. In his early practice, for days he
attended courts of uninterrupted business from morning
until night, and was counsel one side or the other in every
case. Like Clay, he was a man of the people, and mani-
fested, what he felt, a deep solicitude in having their
rights protected and their wrongs redressed.
Being himself one of the people, their rights he re-
garded as a part of his own, and any infringement there-
upon as an injury to himself, as a member of a great social
compact, formed for mutual protection and defence. This
manifest solicitude and regard, on his part,. toward the
people, could but result in a mutual reciprocity of interest,
and excite in their bosoms feelings of the same regard
and esteem, on their part, toward him. This love of Mr.
Fillmore's for his fellow men has always been wholly di-
vested of selfish motives and considerations. It is the
dictate of a generous heart, whose happiness is commen-
surate with that of the people's. His great life idea has
been to ascertain by what efforts of his the prosperity of
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 9e*
the common country and the happiness of all classes
would be best promoted ; then, with incessant energy, he
has directed them in that channel. In both public and
private capacities the appeals of humanity have never been
silenced by any sordid considerations of his bosom, but
have always met a response of active benevolence. Liberal
and generous, both in his views of policy and the feelings
of his heart, nothing affords him so much gratification as
to be enabled to render assistance in conciliating the
elements of discord in his country, or to alleviate the
sorrows of a fellow creature.
The Athenian* when dying with peace was blest,
Because he had raised no mourner's sad voice ;
But nobler content can beam in his breast,
For he hath in kindness made many rejoice.
Possessing this generous nature, ever watchful for
opportunities to promote the interests of the people and
the prosperity of the common country, it is not surpris-
ing that he should become the most popular man of his
county. So endeared had he become to the hearts of
the people, and so implicit was their reliance in his vir-
tue, patriotism, and capacities, that with great unanimity
he was selected to represent them in the assembly of the
state. This unexpected selection, except as a proof that
he was appreciated by his fellow citizens, afforded no
great gratification to Mr. Fillmore. He was not insen-
sible to the esteem for him, on the part of the people,
conveyed in the selection and their disposition to place
♦Pericles.
98 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE.
him in office. He felt these manifestations of regard with
emotional gratitude.
He had no sordid ambition to gratify. Considerations
of self-elevation have never found an asylum in his bosom.
Though a great portion of his life has been spent in pub-
lic service, devoted to the duties of official station, he has
never sought office. When he has turned aside from the
discharge of his duties as a citizen and as a professional
man to accept office, it has invariably been in compliance
with the strongest solicitations of his fellow citizens.
These solicitations, too, have always been made with
such earnest and unquestionable indications of prefer-
ence, and urgent appeals in behalf of their interests, that
with his non-compliance would have been associated a
manifest disregard of duty.
As Mr. Fillmore, has never sought the honors and
emoluments of office, so h*as he been equally careful
never to shrink from the performance of any duty incum-
bent upon him to discharge. Setting out in his career
with an ardent desire to render himself useful, he reposed
unlimited confidence in the judgment and capacities of
his countrymen, as being sufficient to select their own
public servants.
Ever ready and anxious to be of service to his coun-
try, he was willing for his country to decide in what way
his services would be most acceptable. In common with
every good citizen, with no aspirations whatever for the
elevation of himself, he gave himself to his country;
and, though he has frequently occupied office, when obe-
dience to his personal preferences would have kept him
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 97
In the walks of private life, he has done so under the
strongest convictions of duty. In this respect his whole
career has evinced an exemplification of Henry Clay's
noble sentiment : " I had rather be right than be pres-
ident."
In compliance with the urgent request of the people and
his convictions of duty as to tbe course he should pursue-,
he commenced his political career. He was elected to the
assembly from Erie county in 1828, and took his seat in
that body in the early part of the ensuing January. At
the period Mr. Fillmore became a member of the New
York assembly, the whig party, to which he belonged,
was in a fearful minority in both branches of the state
legislature. The progressive democracy had just com-
menced preparations for a combined onslaught that would
eventuate in the entire annihilation of old conservative
whig principles. Mr. Fillmore was then just twenty-nine
years of age, and the inexperienced representative of a
minority party, he had rather indifferent opportunities of
exhibiting his powers. The democratic representation
had become so accustomed to exert dominant sway, hav-
ing monopolized the seats of both houses for several
years previous, with arrogant assumption presumed to
consummate what measures they deemed proper, regard-
less of the views and indifferent to the opposition of a
respectable minority. It was during the time when,
through the hands of Jackson, the regal or executive
powers of the constitution were taking their defiant march
Into the legislative halls, to the almost entire exclusion
of its demooratical features, and usurping the people's
98 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE,
platform with their royal insignia. It was at the com-
mencement of that political reign of terror that resulted
in the removal of the deposits, and the introduction of a
fiery partisan spirit in all classes of the country, that for
a number of years changed the bonds of union to the
clanking links of a rivalrous antagonism. This spirit of
radical, partisan fanaticism seemed to infuse itself into all-
parts of the country, and wherever it took hold, the influ-
ences were as uncongenial to the prevalence of a patriotic
national feeling favorable to the protection of conserva-
tive principles as darkness to a sunbeam. So infectious
were these incipient effusions of young democracy from
the Jacksonian administration, that almost every depart-
ment of the government became ulcerated with their cor-
ruptive virulence. So fierce was their prevalence in the
halls of congress, and so intense became the excitement
where the wildest passions flashed in the heat of mad-
dened rivalry, that they ultimately bid fair to consume the
very walls of the capitol. The administration, in the
assumption of almost kingly prerogative, under the much
abused name of democracy, impressed the irrevocable
signet of the veto upon measures embracing the true-
import of the word, and placed the approving signature
to those with which it was at direct variance. Incum-
bents of office were led to the block of decapitation, by
an inquisitorial cabinet, with the merciless cruelty of
a Sejanus, and patriotism labeled with the imfarnous
stamp of intrigue.
Such were some of the ultimate results of the almost
usurptional power and innovations that began to he
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 99
developed about this time. They were not confined, how-
ever, to the royal head-quarters of their emanation at
Washington City, but infected the legislative assemblies
throughout the country. Indications of their where-
abouts were beginning to be manifest in the New York
assembly, at the time Mr. Fillmore took his seat in that
body, in 1S29. The active members of that assembly
were mostly of age and experience, and entertaining prin-
ciples opposite to those of the " young member from Erie,"
they expected little opposition from that quarter. But
merit and ability is not to be concealed by the excitement
of party feeling, or the overawing influence of numbers.
Mr. Fillmore took occasion upon some measure of vital
interest to let them know the " young member from
Erie " had not come there for nothing. Immediately
after he took his seat, we find his name in the assembly
journal of that session placed on a very important com-
mittee; and by reference to the same journal we find he
was the most active member of the house. When meas-
ures of a political nature came before the house, he was so
capacitated as to exert no influence by his vote, but the
small minority with which he was indentified never kept him
from a bold and fearless avowal of his principles. Often did
veterans of the " Hickory School" shrink in discomfiture
from the discussion of their principles with the " Erie
member." Though in political questions his vote was of
no significance, on all measures he gave the " aye" or
" nay," according to his principles, even though he met
no response but the echo of his own voice. He was
among the youngest members of the house, but was
100 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
determined not only to avow the principles of his party, but
to contest every inch of ground over which measures were
obliged to pass that were antagonistic with his views.
The boldness of his stand and the unwavering fidelity
with which he maintained it, filled the members of the
house with admiration for his firmness and intrepidity
Even those most bitterly opposed to his principles, who
differed most widely with him upon questions of national
policy, respected him most highly for the unbending de
votion with which he stood by his party, and the tireless
zeal with which he studied the interests of his constitu-
ency. The zeal which Mr. Fillmore manifested in the
advocacy of his principles was not, however, the blind
infatuation of party spirit that sometimes glories in being
in a minority, for the boast of contending against numbers,
and prides itself upon the honors of fighting " alone in its
glory," with none to respond amen. His zeal was the
offspring of patriotism, exhibited in the defence of prin-
ciples, whose establishment he was firmly convinced
would promote the interests of the country. Nor did he
ever in their advocacy manifest the least peevishness
or impatience toward those who thought proper to differ
with him on the subjects of state and national politics.
He entertained opinions cherished from boyhood and en-
doi'sed in maturer manhood ; he was there the representa-
tive of a great party entertaining the same ; he wanted
the privilege of entertaining them, and was willing to
accord to every member on the floor the same liberty.
From the entertainment of different political principles in
regard to the various questions pertaining to national
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 101
politics, he saw no necessity for the existence of personal
bickering and animosities. This is a commendable trait
of Mr. Fillmore's character, impersonated to the same
degree, perhaps, in no other man, so much of whose life
has been devoted to politics and political pursuits as his
has been. Eegarcling the people in their aggregate ca-
pacity as being honest in their convictions in regard to
party issues, he concedes to all the privileges of their
birthrights, nor thinks any less of a man for entertaining
views contrary to his own. Politics and the social circle
he regards as separate and distinct spheres, and though
with intelligent, high-toned men, he could engage in a
political contest for the defence of his principles, at the
threshold of the social circle all antagonism must be
buried for the friendly intercourse of mutual good will.
No man can say Mr. Fillmore ever thought more or less of
him in consequence of the mere political opinion he en-
tertained. Hence the fact of his universal popularity,
irrespective of parties or party influences. Those enter-
taining opinions directly opposite to his, concede that he
is a patriot of valued worth, and a man whom to know
is to love.
Among those with whom he has lived for a period of
thirty years, there is not one who can say he does not
admire Mr. Fillmore. His neighbors and acquaintances
in the city of Buffalo, irrespective of party distinctions,
love him, and love to do him honor. Throughout the
entire Union, men of all parties agree that he is a man
of the purest virtue and the wisest abilities of statesman-
ship. There is no intelligent man, be he blinded as he
102 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
may by sectionalism or party faction, be bis judgment
warped as it may by tbe prejudice of years, who can say
Mr. Fillmore is no patriot. All parties in all sections of
the Union agree in saying that, in his love of country and
his desires to promote her interests, he " knows no North,
no South, no East, no West."
There has not, since the days of Washington, been an
individual who, as a man, has taken such a hold upon the
great mass of the people as Mr. Fillmore. He had
guarded well the interests reposed in his keeping during
the entire session of 1829. In his intercourse with the
members of the house, he evinced all the marked cour-
tesy and unassuming demeanor characteristic of his
nature. In debate, though he displayed great powers of
intellect and a thorough acquaintance with the principles
of international law, he was uniformly kind, courteous,
and dignified. His replications to members in debate
were characterized with no sarcastic repartees or witty
inuendos calculated to leave a sting of mortification.
He was aware that such sallies, though they might irri-
tate and annoy, instead of producing conciliation, and be
attended with convincing powers, would only engender a
spirit of retaliation and animosity of feeling in the end.
In discharging his duties as a member of the assembly,
he displayed great capacities for legislative usefulness,
and exhibited a judgment on which might be placed the
most implicit reliance. Of all measures whose objects
were the promotion of benevolent institutions, the
increase of educational facilities, the development of the
country's resources, or to advance the interest of the
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOEE. 103
country in any particular feature, by reference to the
journals of the house, I find he was a zealous advocate.
Owing. to the minority of his party in the house, the
efficiency of his labors on the final issues of questions
were restricted in fact entirely to measures of a general
nature, with no political bearing. In regard to measures
of this character, he was the most influential member in
the house ; and when such a bill was presented, the
reception of his endorsement was almost equivalent to
its adoption ; for, so proverbial among the members was
his correct judgment, that if one of them was in doubt as
to the propriety of sustaining any such measure, he
would say to those around him : " Fillmore says this bill
is right, and I shall vote for it ! " Or, on the other hand,
if it did not receive his endorsement, its doom was sealed ;
the doubting member would say : " Fillmore says this
measure is wrong, and I shall vote against it ! " This
unlimited confidence they had in his judgment to discrim-
inate between right and wrong, when unbiased by
political prejudices, shows the exalted opinion of his
great worth entertained by that body. Alas, that men
should be so blinded by partisan spirit as to sacrifice
virtuous worth to the caprice of faction ! He closed his
services in that session of the legislative assembly in a
manner highly creditable to his constituency, and that
reflected great credit upon himself. He won the esteem
of every member of the house, whether he entertained
the same political opinions or not, and displayed powers
of legislative usefulness and capacities for political
spheres surpassed by no member on the floor— not even
104 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
the most prominent. The labors of the session were
completed; over the interests of those whom he was
deputed to represent he had exercised a faithful guar-
dianship and he was now ready to embosom himself again
in the midst of his friends and enjoy the quietude of his
home.
On the adjournment of the assembly, he returned to
Buffalo and resumed the practice of the law. To become
a proficient in his profession was his most ardent desire,
and he had not thought of devoting any less energy to its
duties in consequence of his having participated in the
political measures of the day. Mr. Fillmore has always
pursued this course. His being an incumbent of office
has never interfered with his professional labors in the
slightest degree, longer than he was actually engaged in
the discharge of official duty.
At the expiration of- his term of office and the close of
his labors connected therewith, he has always entered
upon the duties of his profession with as much zeal and
earnestness as though he had never been an official incum-
bent, and never expected to be again. This course, to
which he has strictly adhered from the time he became
a practitioner at the bar until he retired from the prac-
tice altogether, shows conclusively that he has never been
a political or partisan aspirant, ready, as many are, to
make everything subordinate to their own elevation, and
to resort to any means, fair or foul, for the subservation
of personal aggrandizement.
When the incumbent of office, he was profoundly
impressed with the responsibilities of the station, and made
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 105
every consideration subservient to the faithful discharge
of duty. Careful to ascertain its requirements, which,
by the assistance of a wise and patriotic judgment, he
seldom failed to do, he was prompt and efficient in coming
up to them. In the capacity of a public servant he has
known no little duties, whose minor importance he could
view in the light of insignificance. If they were duties
at all, within the limits of his official jurisdiction, he
regarded his acceptance of the position as a virtual obli-
gation to those whose interests he was there to protect,
to discharge them faithfully.
As a public servant, no man has ever been more solic-
itous to promote the interests of his constituency, or
endeavored more earnestly, and, I might add, more suc-
cessfully, to ascertain by what means their interests would
be best protected, than has Mr. Fillmore. But when he
ceased to be an official incumbent, he felt, as a public
servant, he had discharged the obligation into which he
entered with the people, and embarked in his profession
as a private citizen, as though he had never labored in
any other sphere.
Here I beg of the reader the indulgence of a short;
digression. The wisdom of this course on the part of
Mr. Fillmore cannot fail to elicit the approval and admi-
ration of all thinking men, especially young lawyers of
correct judgment, in the outset of a professional career.
How many young attornies, immediately after embarking
in their profession, have yielded to the wishes of friends,
and the impulse of feeling, and become the incumbents
of some political station, to the entire destruction of their
5*
106 LIFE OP MILLAKD FILLMORE.
legal prospects ! Their elevation to the office, in itself,
is fraught with no injurious consequences. But, once an
office incumbent, and a participant in the excitements inci-
dent to the station, they become lured and fascinated
with the charms of political life, and lose all relish for
the quiet course, and the monotonous studies of the attor-
ney's office.
On the expiration of their terms of office, instead of
devoting themselves to the duties of their profession
with alacrity, they study and devise means and schemes
through which they may be reelected, or elevated to still
higher positions. A sordid passion for self-elevation
usurps the mind, to the entire exclusion of all nobler
aspirations, until, while scheming and developing plans,
such an one is outstripped by the more studious devotee
to his profession, and his prospects, that were so bright
in the outset, disappear forever.
To young lawyers, this desire to put themselves for-
ward too fast, especially if they have once been hon-
ored, is certainly one of the most dangerous reefs they
encounter on the voyage of professional life. The course
pursued by Mr. Fillmore was certainly a very wise one,
and those similarly situated cannot become too vividly
impressed with his example in this respect.
On Mr. Fillmore's resumption of his practice in Buf-
falo, after the adjournment of the session of the assembly,
he became the leading member of the bar, and the most
actively engaged practitioner in the city. He became
firmly established in a business at once honorable and
lucrative. So untiring had been the application he
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 107
liad made, and so admirably adapted was his mental
organism to the deep legal investigations, that he had
arisen to a prominent position, and took the lead of his
professional brethren. But the quiet pursuits of his pro-
fession, and the domestic" happiness of home, he was not
destined to enjoy uninterruptedly, though it was his
desire to have done so. Contrary to his expectations
and wishes, he was again placed forward as their repre-
sentative for the county of Erie to the state assembly of
1830. So zealous was the activity with which he guarded
their interests and protected their rights the preceding
session, that the people of his county were determined
to avail themselves of his talents and legislative capaci-
ties the ensuing session, and made their requisition upon
his services in such a manner as to admit of no repulsion.
Accordingly, in the early part of January, 1830, he for
a second time took his seat in the state assembly as a
member from Erie county. On the 5th of January, an
organization of the house was effected by the election of
Erastus Root to the speakership, and Francis Seger to
the clerkship. Among the members'who composed this
legislature were many shrewd and experienced politi-
cians. Mr. Savage, Mr. Granger, and Spencer, I find by
reference to the assembly journal, were very active mem-
bers of that body. The democratic party, as they had
done for years, still exerted dominant sway in the house.
The minority party, of which Mr. Fillmore was a repre-
sentative, had undergone no perceptible increase or
diminution, and when he took his seat, the political com-
plexion of parties retained about the same hue it- had the
108 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE.
preceding year. But he occupied a position more favor-
able to the exhibition of his natural powers of intellect
and display of his mental wealth than he had done the
previous session. He had in that very house political
antecedents to which he could appeal as testimonials of
extraordinary legislative capacities. His name was
stamped conspicuously upon the journals of the prece-
dent legislature, and wise and important measures were
upon their pages, marked with legislative enactment, the
data of whose passage were the elicitation of his endorse-
ment. Aided by experience, in the possession of the
unlimited confidence of every member of the assembly,
with a fine practical intellect, he took his seat in the leg-
islature of 1830 under circumstances well calculated to
perform services for his state the intrinsic value of which
would be felt by all classes and in every department of
business.
Divested of the timidity incident to the inexperience of
his first efforts in a legislative capacity; with a heart
whose every beat was for the amelioration of his country's
condition, the identification of his affections, and his
interests with those of the common people being strong
as those of Jonathan and David, and a love of country,
and a patriotism of soul that towered above the fanatical
spirit of party feeling, he took his seat in the assembly,
resolved, with the constitution for his guide, to render
efficient service to his state. On page thirty-eight of the
assembly journal, in conjunction with the names of some of
the most prominent members of the house, I find that
Mr. Fillmore was placed upon the committee on " the
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 109
subject of the public defence." The position assigned
hirn in the appointments of committees was exactly in
common with his feelings. The public defence has always
been the main desire of his nature. The prophetic
sentinel on Horeb's height in the sacred hills of Idumea,
when he thundered forth through the still darkness the
interrogatory of watchman, what of the night? felt no
greater solicitude for the interests of Israel's host and
the ten commandments than has Mr. Fillmore in the public
defence of his country, and the unsullied preservation of
her constitution. In exact keeping, then, with his feelings
was the position he occupied as a committee-man of the
legislature. A sentinel upon the watch-tower of liberty,
he has ever stood hugging to his heart the laws of his
country, and grasping in his hand the sword of justice to
defend them from the rude attacks of fanatical assailants.
At the head of the committee on the " subject of the
public defence," he looked around him to see if there
were no assumptions of power that conflicted with their
interests, and against whose encroachments they needed
defence. His active mind, ever on the alert to be useful,
was not long in seeing where it could exercise its powers
so as to bca benefactor to his state. There had, from her
earliest history, been upon the statutes of New-York a
law whose requisitions were imprisonment for debt.
Than this law no greater species of barbarism ever pre-
vailed in any country that made pretensions to a spirit
of progressive civilization. The infliction of its penalties
was at direct variance with the genius of any institutions
whose purport was the dissemination of republican princi
110 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
pies. Its tendencies were evidently to chill with the
dampness of death the springs of all social organization,
and to cast a withering blight, dark as despair itself,
around the fireside of home. I would have to go too far
back into the musty records of legislative enactment to
lay before my readers the original law, whose tendencies
did so much to retard the progress of the state of New
York for a number of years ; but in order that they may
have just conceptions of its cruelty, and some idea of the
humane nature of the man, principally through whose
efforts it was repealed, I insert the following modification
it underwent for the relief of debtors, in 1S13. On page
three hundred and forty-eight, chapter seventy-one, of the
old laws of the state of New- York, I find the following :
"Act for the Relief of Debtors witJi Respect to the Impris-
onment of their Persons, passed April 1, 1813.
" Be it enacted by. the people of the state of New"
York, represented in the general assembly, That every
person not a freeholder, who shall be confined in goal
upon any execution or other process, or by virtue of any
judgment or order of any court of justice, or by war-
rant from any judge or justice, for any debt, sum of
money, fine or forfeiture, not exceeding twenty-five dol-
lars, exclusive of costs, and shall have remained in goal
for thirty days, if not detained for "any other cause, shall
be discharged from such imprisonment by the keeper of
the goal on application to him by the person so confined;
Provided, always, that nothing herein contained shall
extend to cases of imprisonment under the act entitled
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. Ill
An act for the speedy recovery of debts to the value
of twenty-five dollars.' "
With this modification for the relief of debtors the law
of imprisonment for debt remained upon the statutes of
the Empire State, and preyed upon the vitality of social
happiness from 1S13 until it was wiped from the books
through the instrumentality of Millard Fillmore in 1S30.
It seems strange that a people proverbial for their pro-
gressive refinement as are those of New York, should
have suffered such an enactment to pollute the records of
their judiciary for such a length of time. But a spirit
of radical partisanship pervading all classes of society,
patriotism, and the good of the people, were made second-
ary considerations by politicians, who, through the fac-
tions of a dominant party, exercised especial guardian-
ship over the laws of the state, and under that law the
people were obliged to groan until the elevation to power
of some one who thought more of them than of his own
aggrandizement.
Immediately after the convention of the assembly, Mr.
Fillmore began to devote his talented energy to the
repeal of that odious law. His anxiety for its repeal
was original with himself — the dictates both of his
nature and his duty as a committee-man for the pub-
lic defence, were to plant himself the champion of the
people, to prevent the further operation of a law that
incarcerated the only support and head of a family in a
prison for a debt, no part of which was liquidated by
the cruel process. His strong desire for its repeal orig-
112 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
inated from the humanity of his nature, as well as the
impolicy of the enactment.
I have examined carefully the message of Gov. Throop
to the assembly immediately after that body had con-
vened, and though it is replete with wise suggestions upon
matters of state policy coming legitimately under cog-
nizance of that legislature, I find nothing in relation to
that odious law. Though he showed with mathematical
precision the condition of the state finances, and very
properly called the attention of the members to the con-
dition of the hospitals, asylums, and state prisons, he
made no allusion relevant to the law by whose enforce-
ment the prisons were filled — a law that manacled
instead of protecting the laboring classes, and while it
hand-cuffed the debtor was of no utility to the creditor.
At an early day after the organization of the house,
Mr. Fillmore opened his intentions to the members, con-
cerning the repeal of- that law. Much as they admired
his sagacity and firmness, and well as they were con-
vinced of his intellectual powers, they were not prepared
for this bold stand against a law that had been venerated
by their ancestry, and sacredized by long usage. Though
the stand he took against it was sustained by arguments,
whose justness and logical force were unanswerable, it
met with fierce and instantaneous opposition.
Immediately after the disclosure of his intentions con-
cerning that law his sentiments were endorsed by some
of the leading and most talented members on the floor,
who cooperated with him until it was repealed. Among
these were Thurlow Weed and Francis Granger, men of
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMOEE. 113
acknowledged ability as legislators. On the 13th day of
February, 1830, a memorial was presented to the assem-
bly, signed by a large number of inhabitants of the city
of New York, styling themselves the " general executive
committee of mechanics, working men, and their friends,
praying for the abolishment of imprisonment for debt." I
have inserted this in the precise language in which it is
couched on the records of the assembly, to show to what
classes of population the operation of such a law was
most injurious — "mechanics, working men, and their
friends." This memorial was followed by others of a like
nature, that poured in from all parts of the state, after
the agitation of the measure, until they were piled, a vol-
uminous mass, into the assembly. Such appeals as these,
from mechanics, working men, and their friends, could not
be made in vain to an assembly where Mr. Fillmore was
a prominent member. In all three of these positions he
had been himself. He had been a laborer from boyhood.
He was a mechanic by trade, and though his talents and
energy had placed him at the head of an honorable pro-
fession, and in the assemblies of his country, he was a
friend to the laboring man. To their appeals for the
abolition of a law that fettered their energies and threw
them into prison for every unexpected or unfavorable
turn of fortune, he responded with his efforts in their
behalf.
For the " mechanics, the laboring men and their friends,"
as styled in the language of the memorial, Mr. Fillmore
has always entertained the highest respect, and been
solicitous to promote their interests. He evinced it not
114 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMOKE.
only in his efforts in the assembly, that resulted in the
repeal of a law subversive of their happiness and detri-
mental to their best interests, but his whole career has
been an exhibition of solicitude to protect their interests.
Cradled in a wilderness, the tillage of whose soil was his
early means of support, he was himself a laborer, and has
always regarded " laboring men and their friends" as
the true nobility of the country. Schooled in the lessons
of adversity, as a young tradesman, in a wool carder's
shop, he learned the morality of labor, and became a
sympathizer with the mechanic. Such an appeal as
couched in the language of the memorial, aided by his
own ulterior convictions as regarded the enormity of the
law, induced him to put his whole soul into the work of
its abolition.
Bitter and fierce was the opposition he had to
encounter. Reason and right were on his side as efficient
weapons to contend with an assumptive arrogance and a
dictatorial superiority of feeling on the opposition. In
his advocacy of this measure, Mr. Fillmore was acting in
compliance with a loftier virtue than even patriotism
itself. It was the dictates of philanthropy, whose broad
principles embrace not only a love of country, but
whose divine attributes are a love for the human race,
and a desire to relieve the oppressed. In vindication of
his position against that law, he advanced arguments so
unanswerable, and so calculated to impress conviction,
the general interest created in regard to it became the
one absorbing question of the assembly. Even party
politics were for once forgotten in a democratic legisla-
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 115
ture, and the discordant elements of rivalrous creeds
seemed to harmonize for the purpose of centrality around
this important focus of general attraction.
The principles he entertained in regard to the repeal
of the law he embodied in a bill, with a view to their
ultimate passage, and incorporation into the laws of the
state. The discussion of this bill of Mr. Fillmore's mon-
opolized a large portion of the time and talents of the
entire body throughout the session of 1S30. Mr.
Fillmore was anxious for its passage. The petitions that
flooded the house from all parts of the state, praying
relief, filled his bosom with the warmest sympathies.
Imprisonment for debt was practised by the old Romans,
and other countries of ancient times, and had been handed
down to more civilized ages, till in most of the European
countries, great as was their boasted refinement at that
time, under the sanction of law, the free citizen was
dragged to prison for the non-payment of a debt which he
was wholly unable to discharge. And to see the same
barbarous relic upon the statutes of the greatest state of
the only Republic in .the world was to him a source of
great mortification, to say nothing of the immediate suf-
fering and misery it occasioned in the infliction of its
penalties. Bold and fearless was the stand he took, and
earnest were the denunciations he poured against, its
odious features. In his appeals to the members of the
house upon the expediency of adopting his bill for its
abolition, he gave expositions of its deformities that were
calculated to fill the mind with disgust, when contemplat-
ing it divested of its drapery. With sympathetic pathos
116 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
he portrayed the wretchedness it entailed upon the
domestic circle, by tearing the parent from the embrace
of his offspring, and fettering him in a dungeon. Then,
with indignant warmth, he poured his denunciations
against the cruelty of a law, that gave one individual the
right to deprive another of his liberty, by placing him
in a jail. Then again, he showed the absurd inutility
of a legal enactment that gave to an individual the right
to punish another as remuneration for something of value.
He showed the extreme folly of a measure, the infliction
of whose cruel penalties upon one individual was the
only redress it afforded another; whose evident tendencies
were to foster a spirit of revengeful cruelty on the part
of those disposed to avail themselves of its power.
Then, turning to the prayerful petitions piled upon their
daily deliberations in behalf of suffering humanity, he
appealed to the better feelings of the members of the
house, in order to elicit their support of a measure he
deemed so fraught with blessings to the whole state.
By an industrious application of his energies and tal-
ents to this his favorite measure, he fondly hoped to wit-
ness its passage before the expiration of the session.
When we view the modification of that law, and see the
pernicious influences its enforcement was bound to have
upon society, it seems a matter of surprise that intelligent
legislators would oppose a bill the object of which waS
its repeal. Yet such was the case. A large number
of the members of that legislature arrayed themselves
against the measure, and fiercely contested every inch of
ground over which it had to pass, until its final adoption.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 117
Their arguments were based certainly upon no considera-
tions consistent with the advancement of the people's inter-
est or upon the dictates of a patriotic desire to ameliorate
the condition of the country whose interests it was their
peculiar province to promote.
The idea of a law, prevailing in the most refined state of
a republican government, whose penalty was the impris-
onment of a freeman for the commission of no crime, for
the perpetration of no heinous offence revolting to the
feelings of humanity, no further back than twenty-six
years ago, is strange enough. But to find men of talent
identified with members opposed to the enactment of a
bill whose object was to repeal a law containing such
revolting penalties is still more strange. The only merit
such a law could have was its similarity to some of those
in operation in European and monarchical governments,
and the predication of its principles upon custom and
long usage. Singular enough it seems that the members
of the democratic legislature, so progressive in everything
else, should array themselves in such deadly hostility
against the removal of this barbarous relic from the stat-
utes of the state, and regard Mr. Fillmore's bill in the
light of a dangerous innovation.
Mr. Fillmore, in discussing the principles of his bill,
took the correct view in regard to the utility of measures
calculated to promote the happiness of the people, and to
preserve the dignity of the commonwealth. Imprison-
ment or the deprivation of liberty he regarded as a pen-
alty whose infliction should only be enforced for the
commission of a crime repugnant alike to the laws of
118 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
God and man. As a crime of this nature he was not dis-
posed to view the indebtedness of one man to another.
There are many causes of which such indebtedness may
be the legitimate result. Through the treachery or inca-
pacity of an endorsee, through an unexpected occurrence
of an accidental nature, through an unseen and an unfa-
vorable interposition of Providence, and many other
causes, an individual in affluent circumstances to-day,
to-morrow may be hurled into the abyss of bankruptcy.
Then, under the operation of such a law, though to-day
he is honored and respected, to-morrow, amid the rage
and invectives of importunate creditors, a culpable wretch,
he is torn from his family and thrown into prison. With
such considerations as these, through the deliberations of
the entire session of 1830, did Mr. Fillmore urge upon
the house with zeal and warmth the necessity that existed
for the adoption of his bill. But they remained unmoved.
Though his arguments they could not answer, and saw,
because they were compelled to see, the intrinsic excellen-
cies of the bill, they would not endorse it. They com-
menced a violent opposition to its conditions on its first
agitation in the house, and were determined at least to
prove they were consistent in their hostility.
In the preservation of their consistency they created
such obstacles to the passage of the bill, that the ener-
gies-of its friends were constantly devoted to it through
the labors of the whole session.
From the introduction of the bill into the house, it
had been the leading general measure, and had encoun-
tered the fiercest opposition from some of the most t&U
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOKE. 119
Mited members on the floor. The labors of the session
were drawing to a close, a considerable amount of busi-
ness remained to be transacted, and the friends of the
bill began to despair of its success during that session,
Mr. Fillmore had guarded the interests of his county
with the same fidelity he had the previous year, and in
his advocacy of his bill for the abolishment of imprison-
ment for debt had displayed marked ability and great
legislative zeal. He had proposed and had been chiefly
instrumental in the passage of many local measures, sub-
servative of his constituency's interests, and occupied an
elevated position among the members of the house. So
zealous was he in behalf of his county, that by reference
to the assembly journal of 1830, I find that the city of
Buffalo and Erie county were the recipients of more leg-
islative action upon measures of a local nature than was
any other locality in the state, except Rochester. Ear-
nest as had been his efforts in behalf of his bill, the ses-
sion closed without being able to effect its passage.
On the close of the session he returned to Buffalo and
again resnmed the practice of law, hoping no further ser-
vices of a public nature would be required at his hands
by his fellow citizens. In this, however, he was mistak-
en. Too well were they convinced of the safe repository
of their interests in his hands to allow him to surrender
them to others. His earnest endeavors to be of service
to his county, and the active stand he had taken against
the imprisonment for debt law, had endeared him tc
the people, and especially to the mechanics, laboring men
120 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOKE.
and their friends, who had flooded the halls of the legis-
lature with their prayers for relief.
From the philanthropic manner in which he had res-
ponded to their appeals, they regarded him as the cham-
pion of the laboring man's rights — the protector of the
people's interest. He was reelected to the assembly of
1831, and took his seat on the fourth of January, firmly
resolved to devote himself to the passage ' of the bill
which had elicited such general interest the previous ses-
sion. This session of the legislature was to be one of
unusual interest; the people looked to its labors for the
fulfillment of their hopes, in regard to the adoption of
some measure doing away with imprisonment for debt.
The whole state, in fact, manifested great interest in ref-
erence to that measure from the first agitation on the
floor of the assembly.
From the message of Governor Throop, delivered to
the assembly on the fourth of January, 1831, I make the
following extracts, showing that Mr. Fillmore's measure
of the precedent legislature elicited executive interest
favorable to its adoption : " Our laws relative to impris-
onment for debt should be carefully examined for the
purpose of amendment. The notion of imprisonment, in
the nature of punishment for debt, is repugnant to human-
ity, and condemned by wisdom.
"Imprisonment for debt should be tolerated so far,
only, as it is necessary to enable the creditor to secure
the property of his debtor."
These wise and patriotic sentiments were the same as
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 121
embodied in the bill, for whose passage Mr. Fillmore
labored so earnestly the session before.
Among men of prominence in the assembly who en-
dorsed the principles of the bill and came to its rescue
were J. C. Spencer and John Van Buren, who advocated
its passage until it became a law. In the appointment of
committees, Mr. Fillmore was placed at ihe head of the
committee on. bills coming under the requisitions of the
constitution in accordance with the rules of the house, a
position of considerable importance. Immediately after
organization, the assembly halls were reflooded with peti-
tions in regard to measures embraced in the repeal bill.
It was discussed in the house with all the zeal its friends
could command, and contested with fierceness by its ene-
mies. On the thirty-first of March the house resolved itself
into a committee of the whole upon the bill, and its merits
were discussed in all their bearings. The special com-
mittee to whom it had been referred reported some amend-
ments to it, and it was submitted to the house. This bill
of which Mr. Fillmore was the principal drafter, covers
several pages in the assembly journal, and is one of the
ablest legislative enactments upon the statutes of the state
of New York. That portion of it relating to justices' and
other subordinate courts, is particularly able, and evinces
a thorough understanding of the whole legal complexity
of the times. No one can look over that bill without be-
coming convinced, that its drafter was not only a legislator
of consummate ability and a lawyer of unsurpassed attain-
ments, but that he understood well the principles of good
government, and the nature of laws best adapted to the
6
122 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
necessities of the times. The requisitions of that bill,
while they are sufficiently inductious of a spirit of prompt
punctuality on the part of the debtor, embrace facilities
of vindicatory redress, for the creditor, of a far more effi-
cient nature than were afforded by the old law. While
the humane provisions it embodied protected the creditor
from the infliction of penalties due only the votaries of
crime, they extended to the debtor the safest means for
the recovery of his dues. While they preserved the
liberties that God had given the creditor from subjection
to the rigors of imprisonment, they gave to the debtor the
legalized right to the proceeds of his labor. Thus, by
giving the creditor no means for the collection of his
debts but the chattels of his creditors, the inducements
to permit the contraction of a heavy indebtedness were
curtailed, and, by making the goods of the debtor liable
for his debts, a desire to. live within his means was created.
By its operation, mutual protection was guaranteed to all,
and the interests of the country promoted. Subjected to
some amendments of no very material nature, it was sub-
mitted to the house on the thirty-first of March 1831, and
was passed by a considerable majority ; Mr. Fillmore, J.
C. Spencer, and John Van Buren, voting in the affirma-
tive. This was followed by its immediate passage in the
senate, and, on the twenty-first of April, Mr. Fillmore and
the friends of his measure had the pleasure of seeing it
stamped with executive sanction, by the following message
to the house :
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 123
" To the Assembly :
"Gentlemen: I have this day approved and signed the
bill entitled an 'Act to abolish imprisonment for debt,' etc.
"E. T. Throop."
Thus the bill for whose passage he was so desirous
had passed both houses, received the executive signature,
and was incorporated into the laws of his state. At the
result he was highly gratified. Thus the odious law was
wiped forever from the statutes of the state. To Mr.
Fillmore, more than any one else, are the people of that
state indebted for the removal from their books of a law
whose every feature is repugnant to the genius of a
Christianized country and revolting to humanity itself.
In the passage of many measures of great public utility,
Mr. Fillmore took an active part ; among other laws, the
establishment of a " Mechanics benefit society," and
several measures for the promotion of educational facil-
ities and the protection of industry. For three consecu-
tive sessions he represented his country in the state
assembly. He did it faithfully ; the happy results of his
labors were felt not only over his own county, but over
the entire state. For the repeal of the law of imprison-
ment for debt, he labored with zeal until the last day of
the session, and was rewarded by the passage of his bill
introduced for that purpose. The assembly of 1831,
adjourned April 26th, and Mr. Fillmore returned again to
Buffalo. These were his last services in that body ; he
was never again a member of the assembly. He resumed
the duties of his profession, and the enjoyments of private
124 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
life, with the esteem of his fellow citizens, and the plaudits
of conscience.
The following, among the legislative portraits of the
most prominent members of the assembly of 1831, was
written by an excellent judge of human character, for
one of tbe leading New York journals of that day, and
shows the elevated position occupied by Mr. Fillmore in
that body :
" Millard Fillmore, of Erie county, is of the middle
stature, five feet nine inches in height. He appears to be
about thirty-five years of age, but it is said he is no more
than thirty, of light complexion, regular features, and of
a mild and benign countenance.
"His ancestors were among the hardy sons of the
north, and during the revolution were whigs, inhabiting
the Green Mountains of Vermont. Mr. Fillmore, from
the commencement of his political career, has been a
republican. He is, in the strictest sense of the term, a
self-made man. He was educated and reared in the
western district of our state. At an early period of life
he went to the fulling business; but naturally of an
inquiring mind, and anxious to increase his limited stock
of knowledge, his leisure hours were occupied in reading.
"When about twenty years of age, he retired from his
former pursuits, and after having studied the law as a
profession, he was licensed to practice. He was a member
of the last legislature.
" Although the age of Mr. Fillmore does not exceed
thirty years, he has all the prudence, discretion, and
judgment of an experienced man. He is modest, retiring
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 125
and unassuming. He appears to be perfectly insensible
of the rare and happy qualities of the mind for which he
is so distinguished. He exhibits, on every occasion, when
called into action, a mildness and benignity of temper,
mingled with firmness of purpose, that is seldom concen-
trated in the same individual. His intercourse with the
bustling world is very limited. His books, and occasion-
ally the rational conversation of intelligent friends, seem
to constitute his happiness. He is never to be found in
the giddy mazes of fashionable life, and yet there is in bis
manner an indescribable something which creates a strong
impression in his favor, and which seems to characterize
him as a well-bred gentleman. He possesses a logical
mind, and there is not a member of the house who presents
his views on any subject which he attempts to discuss in
a more precise and luminous manner. He seldom speaks,
unless there appears to be an absolute necessity for the
arguments or explanations which he offers. Nor does he
ever rise without attracting the attention of all who are
within the sound of his voice — a tribute of respect paid
to his youthful modesty and great good sense.
"As a legislator, Mr. Fillmore appears to act with perfect
fairness and impartiality. He examines every subject
distinctly for himself, and decides upon its merits accord-
ing to the best lights of his own judgment or understand-
ing. He is now at an age when his character is to be
irrevocably fixed. As a politician, he is not formed to be
great. He has none of the qualities requisite for a politi-
cal chieftain. He wants that self-confidence and assurance
without which a partizan leader can never hope for fol
126 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
lowers. Mr. Fillmore's love of books and habits of think-
ing will ultimately conduct him to a more tranquil but
higher destiny, if the one is not broken open and the
other diverted from its natural course to the too often
polluted and always turbulent if not mortifying results
of faction. If he has not sufficient courage to resist
the allurements which legislation presents to young and
ambitious men, then ought his friends to act for him, and
refuse him a renomination. It is a life which not only
casts to the winds of heaven all employment as a profes-
sional man, but it uproots sooner or later the germs of
industry and the delights of study. These are the admon-
itions of age and experience. As a debater in the house,
his manner is good, his voice agreeable. Toward his
opponents he never fails to evince a most studied delicacy.
He is mild and persuasive, sometimes animated. His
speeches are pithy and- sententious ; always free from idle
and vapid declamation. His arguments are logically
arranged, and presented to the house without embarrass-
ment or confusion."
The writer of the foregoing judged rightly of the evil
consequences of having once been engaged in politics as
regards the generality of young professional men, but
was wide off the mark if he supposed Mr. Fillmore
would be contaminated by political influences. The sound
judgment and the unambitious feelings of Mr. Fillmore
placed him beyond the necessity of his friends acting for
him. He was well aware of the fascination of political
strife, so far as the average of young men in the outset of
their political careers were concerned ; and to avoid the
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE. 127
consequences of falling into the same error himself, he
was always careful, as before stated, to commence the
duties of his profession as soon as his labors in a public
capacity had ceased. As much sagacity, therefore, as
the writer of the foregoing article displayed, and as much
insight as he evinced, he was much mistaken as to Mr.
Fillmore's capacity to assume the leadership of his party,
or as to his incurring any danger from the contaminating
influences of political station. Yet, as an article showing
not only the high stand occupied by Mr. Fillmore among
the members of the assembly, but the impression he made
upon the spectators, newspaper correspondents, etc., the
above sketch is worthy of note.
It must be borne in mind, that the writer, in his deline-
ations of the various members of that body, confined him-
self to the prominent ones ; hence the portraiture of Mr.
Fillmore is a complimentary classification with those
coming under that head. The confidence and self-assur-
ance wherein he regards Mr. Fillmore so essentially de-
ficient that he could never be a successful political leader,
were then, in Mr. Fillmore's character, developments
marked and conspicuous. The association of modesty
with that of genuine merit, as an invariable accompani-
ment, is universally conceded by the truly refined in feel-
ing, and those best calculated to form just conceptions of
an individual's mental capacity. Luminous exemplifica-
tions of extreme modesty, on the part of those who have
justly figured most conspicuously in the world's moral
progress and developments, generally blaze upon the
pages of their early biography. Washington, when he
128 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
appeared in the house of burgesses, blushed with mani-
fest confusion that in no way abated on being told by a
prominent member of the house " his modesty alone was
equal to his merit. Chief- justice Kenyon, than whom no
greater was ever arrayed in the august robes of the ju-
diciary, was overwhelmed by an inherent modesty, time
and again, in his early legal attempts, that he could not
suppress, until rising on an occasion in the court room,
with his usual timidity and apprehensions of failure, he
felt his wife and child pulling at his coat skirts for means
of sustenance. By a sudden impulse, he launched into
the loftiest sphere of oratory, and produced a master-
piece of forensic eloquence. Modesty is an attendant of
true greatness. Men may be, and often are possessed of
giant intellects, who exhibit no modest propensities ; but
they are invariably men of no great moral calibre. The
man who combines the essential elements of true great-
ness, and personifies them in his daily intercourse, until
worn away and supplanted by experience or dignity of
soul, will be possessed of a modest nature. Some men
have by extraordinary talents constellated in the galaxy
of the world's great, unadorned with the mild light of
modesty, but their greatness consisted exclusively in then-
talents ; the purer fountain, the wellspring of the soul,
from whence flow the better actions and feelings of human
nature, have given no exuberant overflowings of benev-
olence and love, indicative of true worth. A young man
who commences the battle of life with talents, but with
no modesty, is but half armed — he has the sword of
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMOEE. 129
offence, but not the shield of protection. Mr. Fillmore, as
inferable from the foregoing article, had both. He has
established with one, and demolished with the other.
Though his successful career has placed him among the
distinguished of the earth, he is still modest and un-
assuming.
6*
130 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
CHAPTEE IV.
Mr. Fillmore as a lawyer — Brief review of his legal career — His view
of the law as a science — Advantages of his connection — Spurns
all artifice and chicanery — Responsibilities of the law — His views
of its morality — His capacities as a lawyer — His ardent desire
to promote justice — His weight of character — His faithfulness to
his clients — In speaking, not a Patrick Henry — Examples of his
success in civil cases — The Cattaraugus Reservation — The great
importance of that case — The remarkable Ontario Bank case —
His argument before the Supreme Court — His success in both.
It will be remembered that Judge Wood, who first
perceived latent sparks of greatness in Mr. Fillmore
during his early boyhood, was principally instrumental
in directing his mind to the study of the law, and in
inciting it to continual and vigorous prosecution of its
principles. It will also be borne in mind that the diffi-
culties under which Mr. Fillmore labored were of no
ordinary nature, and that in overcoming them he devoted
his energies with unwearied application. The incentives,
as we have seen, for him to assume the mastery of the
profession were of the strongest nature, inasmuch as he
possessed no means to fall back upon in case of failure.
The strong desires of his own bosom were so great to
make rapid proficiency, that he needed no more powerful
incentive. It was then he laid the foundation of his
legal studies, and fixed in his mind the fundamental prin-
ciples of law. His school of preparation was a rigid one.
Those who are in the pursuit of mental acquisition, under
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 131
the tuition of a relentless necessity, have to submit to the
most uncompromising of all task-masters. But the effi-
ciency of this preparatory school was, perhaps, much
increased by its own rigidity. Thus, bound and circum-
scribed by the entire control of its mandates, no avenue
was open for an indiscriminate range of thought or action;
hence a constant concentration of every energy, both
mental and physical, was necessarily secured, and aston-
ishing progress followed as an inevitable result. It is
doubtless owing in a great degree to these very circum-
stances of his being thus situated, that he succeeded in
laying the basis of his legal pursuits upon so correct a
foundation, and impressing his mind so firmly with the
groundwork of the law, that have made him a jurist of
such consummate ability, and an advocate of such con-
vincing powers and acknowledged worth. In fact, on his
first commencement of legal studies, either from his natu-
ral reasoning faculties, or from a profound conviction of
its importance — perhaps both qualities had an influence —
he was particularly careful to acquaint himself thoroughly
with the first principles, and to have a complete compre-
hension of one principle before proceeding to another.
The ground he went over was reviewed, if necessary,
until its maxims were understood with accurate precision.
After his removal to Buffalo, we have seen that the
ardor and anxiety to master his profession suffered no abate-
ment; but, with the increased facilities thrown in his way, .
burned if possible with increased warmth. In Buffalo,
we have seen that he ranked among the most steady
young men of the city, and was proverbial for his
132 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE.
studious habits. Unallured by the fascinations of city
life, he pursued his studies with the quiet, determined
spirit to succeed he had manifested on former occasions,
and was triumphantly successful in attaining a reputation
for sobriety above the generality of young men in the city.
To this unwavering adherence to virtuous principles on
the part of Mr. Fillmore, and the continual enforcement
of his good resolutions to refrain entirely from all actions
not in strict accordance with the dictates of moral prin-
ciple how much of his success is attributable, it is impos-
sible to imagine. Certain it is that it was the correct
course, and the early means of establishing a character for
morality and high-toned feelings, the weight of which he
has ever since maintained. On his admission to the court
of common pleas, which was granted as much through
courtesy as otherwise, we have seen that through his
extreme diffidence he went to a village which was more
the central point of a rural agricultural community than
otherwise. Here, in the pursuit of his profession, the
great importance attached to his first case proves that
he was entirely unconscious of his own great powers.
Here, when the first signs of prosperity began to indi-
cate themselves, he resolves to return to Buffalo. In that
city we find him soon at the head of his profession, in a
connection that was very advantageous to the develop-
ment of his legal capacities, and to ameliorate his pecu-
niary condition. Here, attended with the greatest suc-
cess, we find him engaged in an honorable and lucrative
business, employed as counsel on one side or the other of
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 133
every case for whole days together. We see him preem-
inently successful in all the courts, much more so than
most lawyers of no more experience than he possessed.
We find him loved for his good qualities and respected
for his talents by the entire population of the city, and
rapidly winning his way to the foremost position in the
esteem and regard of his fellow citizens. We find him
studiously endeavoring to promote the general interests
of the people in a manner rendered efficient from
the influential elevation assigned him by his fellow citi-
zens. We find him, too, wending his way into the
supreme court, and competing successfully with, and elic-
iting the esteem of Chief-justice Savage, the other asso-
ciate judges, and the attorneys who practiced at that
higher court. Careers of young attorneys may have been
more brilliant and meteoric, but none have ever been
more staple and sure than the one summed up in the
above brief review. Young lawyers may have advanced
a reputation a little faster than the progress indicated
above, but none have ever established it upon a more
solid basis, or attached to it more force and enduring
qualities.
The meteoric flash of a precocious genius is fre-
quently mistaken for reputation, and regarded by some
as sufficient means for the effectual establishment of a
character. There is a fascinating lure about these evan-
escent blazes of genius that dart their spiral flame above
mediocrity and dazzle the eye for the moment, but
while looking on it at its brightest period, it flickers into
obscurity, and leaves us in darkness. These geniuses
134 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
spring up in a moment, and dart right ahead with impet-
uous velocity, and sometimes win our admiration by the
rapidity of their progress. But their careers are usu-
ally brief ones. A greater luminary, rising slowly but
surely, that was gathering light while the meteor was
flashing past him, soon overtakes it, and it dies out in
the full blaze of his power. Taking the foundation of
his studies, the vast amount of his legal knowledge, the
compact solidity of his attainments, the accuracy of his
judgment, the weight of his character, and all the essen-
tial prerequisites to success, and the career .of Mr.
Fillmore as a lawyer is surpassed by no one up to the
time embraced in the foregoing review.
The law, Mr. Fillmore knew, was a difficult science —
an important one, and, in an eager haste to advance,
anxious as he was to do so, he was determined not to go
over it hastily — hence the solidity of his character as a
lawyer.
As this chapter will contain all we expect to say of
Mr. Fillmore's legal career, an enumeration of some of
the advantages derived from his connection with a law-
firm of eminence and celebrity, in the city of Buffalo, it
is presumed, will not be inappropriate. This connection
was, in the first place, the result of a justly high appre-
ciation for his capacities as a lawyer, and his industrious
assiduity in devoting himself to the interests of his cli-
ents, and the great influence he threw into a case, by the
weight of his character. From the successful result?
of his practice in the village where he had compara-
tively secluded himself, it was plainly inferable on the
LIFE OP MILLAED FILLMOEE. 135
part of the firm by whom the proposition for a connec-
tion was made, that, in the prosecution of a very lucrative
and widely extended practice, his services would be a
valuable appendant.
These, however, were not /the only motives by which
they were actuated in proposing a connection whose
advantages to all parties concerned would be equally
manifest. From a desire to promote the interest and
extend facilities to deserving merit, which they saw
impersonated in Mr. Fillmore, and which they very prop-
erly conceived would, with the extension of some advan-
tages, develop itself, to the honor of the profession and
the country, at no distant day — the equally advantageous
results of such connection was, in making the proposal,
doubtless the principal actuation.
With the formation of this connection, already in a
very heavy business, from Mr. Fillmore's well known
abilities as a practical lawyer of untiring zeal and great
success, the business of the firm increased, until it became
the foremost in the city. One very essential advantage
of this arrangement to Mr. Fillmore, was the removal of
an obstacle which, in the outset of their careers, all young,
professional men are compelled to combat — the influences
of old, established practitioners who, by a successful prac-
tice of years, moncpolize the entire business of that
nature, and leave little room for young aspirants to judi-
cial fame to exert their powers. The business of a legal
nature, at the time of this connection, as is usually
the case in cities of any importance, was in the hands of
those who had been practicing their profession with sue-
136 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
cess, and the firm with which it was made being a resident
one, of course got a liberal share. His connection,
therefore, threw him into immediate practice of a lucra-
tive and an honorable nature without having to combat
the obstacles alluded to, and, by his successful manage-
ment of cases intrusted into his hands, and the position
of universal popularity he attained among the people,
contributed much to increase the business of the office.
Of this, and all such advantages thrown in his way dur-
ing the commencement of his professional life, than Mr.
Fillmore, no one was more sure to avail himself to. the
fullest extent. By no one were such advantages more
thoroughly understood, or their bestowal more highly
appreciated. From this connection, to Mr. Fillmore the
results were most gratifying, and most happy in facilitat-
ing his progress.
Another advantage, and a very decided one, was the
daily association with men -eminent for their legal acumen,
and familiarly conversant with the details of the practice
of a very efficient and talented bar, and immediate con-
nection with an extensive business. The opportunities
were good, under these advantages, for him to become
familiarized with the difficulties of office practice, and to
understand the application of the theoretical to the prac-
tical part of the profession. On Mr. Fillmore's return
to Buffalo, those of a practical nature were the only parts
of the law wherein he was in the least deficient, and only
so in them from want of that experimental exercise neces-
sary to insure, in all cases, a correct application of prin-
ciples to a particular case. The theory of the law few
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 137
understood better; by the strict devotion of his time and
talents to its principles from the time he commenced
reading, he had assumed their complete mastery. In the
admirable school for its consummation, he now found him-
self— with the same zeal that he formerly evinced in
understanding the theoretical, he applied himself to the
practical. The incentive was no greater than formerly,
but less diffident in his nature, and from previous indica-
tions more sanguine of success, his efforts were charac-
terized with a buoyancy of spirit and a vigor of feeling
incident to a consciousness of an appropriate investiture
of talents that did not attend his labors to the same
extent through the wearisome hours of his studentship.
So well had he become aquainted with the theory of law,
and so correct was he in the formation of the basis of
his legal investigations, by a thorough comprehension of
its fundamental principles, that the practice, after he was
once thrown into it, was readily understood.
Mr. Fillmore, in the early part of this connection, was
the practical lawyer of the firm in most cases, and de-
veloped capacities of a truly practical attorney. Mr.
Fillmore is essentially a matter-of-fact practical man. In
discharging the duties of a heavy office practice, mani-
festing no desire for display, or to create an impression
by any extraordinary rhetorical flourishes, he confined
himself exclusively to the points at issue, and said no
more than was necessary to explain the law and the facts.
In doing this, making no attempts at eloquence, indulg-
ing in no witticisms or sarcastic hits, he was plain, ear-
nest, and pointed. He was a business young attorney,
138 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
and consumed no more time than was absolutely neces-
sary in the disposition of cases. Heavy business
pressing upon his hands, the transaction of which de-
manded his constant attention, he killed no precious hours
by indulging in long speeches. Quick and forcible, carry-
ing conviction along with delivery, his addresses to a
jury or a court were only excelled in efficiency by their
brevity. The various courts of the city were excellent
schools wherein he could train his mind to a perfect state
of legal discipline, in the investigation of the various
causes there brought for trial. In the justices' and other
courts, before which for judicial investigation thronged
large numbers of litigants and offenders indicted for such
misdemeanors as are incident to a densely populated city,
he had ample opportunities for the development and cul-
tivation of his legal capacities. Mr. Fillmore derived
great advantages from this connection, from the fact that
he was brought on terms of familiarity, and came daily
in intercourse, both legally and socially, with the numer-
ous friends and acquaintances of the older resident mem-
bers of the firm. In the contraction of acquaintances,
and the social intercourse of the citizens, and keeping
pace with the affairs of the city, this was a medium of
infinite advantage. The natural adaptation of Mr. Fill-
more's character to the formation of friendships, and to
make pleasant those with whom he comes in contact,
made this avenue of social intercourse peculiarly pleasing,
to say nothing of the advantages accruing to a professional
man, from a medium through which he can become
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 189
acquainted with the citizens of a place, with whose interests
he anticipates a permanent identification of his own.
As an instance of the high-toned nature of Mr. Fill-
more in the practice of the law, and to show that duty
and a high appreciation for his fellow-citizens' rights
were his guide, it may be observed that, notwithstanding
a long career of unexampled success as a lawyer, the
friends and associations he formed at that early day are
his friends still. Even those with whom he most
frequently came in contact, in the various courts of their
practice, both counsels and clients, against whom, in the
discharge of his duty as an attorney, he labored, are,
and have always been, his friends. This is indicative of
the very exalted course he has pursued in his practice.
Mr. Fillmore, in the practice of his profession, has taken
the rights of his fellow men for his study, the constitution
of his country for the basis of his actions, and the ten
commandments for his guide. Those contained in Lord
Brougham's celebrated eulogium are the views of Mr.
Fillmore in regard to the law and its duties. His is the
history of a career in the profession of eminent brilliancy,
untarnished by a resort to that chicanery and artifice
with which it is invested in the minds of many persons.
Mr. Fillmore regards the law as a moral superstructure,
round which the rights of the people gather for protection,
and regards it the duty of the attorney to guard those
rights with watchful anxiety. Law he regards as the
noblest of sciences, the leading science as the protector
of all others. The laws of his country he looks upon as
the guarantee of those popular rights belonging to the
140 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
people, in their aggregate capacity, and secondary in point
of morals only to the divine code. Far from the views
expressed by Anacharsis, in regard to the law, are those
entertained by Mr. Fillmore. It has no entangling meshes
of such a peculiar construction that, while the poor man
is warped in its fibres, the wealthy one breaks through
with impunity, and defies with his lucre the violated law.
Based upon that of the divinity itself, though far from
immaculate purity, the law is the palladium of the
people — the bulwark of freedom.
Entertaining exalted conceptions of the laws of his
country second only to those of his God, when he em-
barked in the profession, in vindicating the one he felt his
actions were in obedience to the other. Looking upon
the law as the basis of the people's rights, and the great
umpire to whose decisions their grievances are to be sub-
mitted, he resolved if he impressed it at all, it should be
with the signet of virtue. Esteeming it as the highest
privilege to live the unfettered sovereign of a free soil,
under a system of laws whose principles are equal rights,
in the mazy labyrinths of legal investigation, he resolved
that justice should lead the van. Feeling with the gen-
uine sensibility of nature's nobleman, the responsibilities
resting upon one whose duties are in the very sanctuary
of justice, he determined to make honor the expounder
of his theory, and in practice to be her amanuensis. Erect
in the majesty of his own moral purity, he regarded his
fellow men as his brothers, and resolved to devote his
talents to the promotion of their interests. Regarding
the laws of the land as belonging to the people, as a
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 141
sacred legacy secured by their ancestral blood, be deter-
mined to uphold them by the power of moral force, un-
sullied by any act of his. With these high opinions and
resolves in regard to the laws of his country, he com-
menced their vindication, as a professional practitioner of
their principles. He has maintained their honor and ex-
emplified his good resolutions.
Being thus duly impressed with high and elevated sen-
timents of the law, and having embraced it as his profes-
sion, his next investigation was to ascertain the duties it
involved. High and responsible were his conclusions in
regard to their nature. The lawyer is the defender of
justice — that great potent arbiter of man's destiny — the
blind goddess who weighs our transactions, and hovers
over human destiny with a retributive sword. In her
august presence must the lawyer bring his client, to have
his rights protected and his wrongs redressed. Impartial
to all, blind as she is to all save the equitable rendition of
her own decrees, he must stand in her presence, her own
advocate, or the advocate of a fellow man. The advo-
cate— the defender of justice, the immaculate attribute.
of a God. In what vocation are the responsibilities so
great as in this 1 As a defender of justice, Mr. Fillmore, in
the practice of the law has been blind as she, save in the
attainment of her ends. Justice has been his maxim,
and in the practice of the law he conceived it his duty to
make everything subordinate to its attainment. Instead
of making principle subservient to policy, he always made
policy subservient to principle, and success subservient to
right. Away with the Jesuitical notion of ends sanctify-
142 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
ing the means, when you expect its demonstration by his
resorting to any artifice, not strictly embraced in the true
code of honor, to gain a cause, or to consummate any
other undertaking !
As a follower of a profession whose objects are the
protection of the people's rights and the redress of their
wrongs, to their fullest extent, he has appreciated his
duties as a conservator of the general wellfare. In dis-
charging his duties as a lawyer, he never overlooked
those of a relative nature, but regarding the main object
of his profession the promotion of the general interests
of the country, he was faithful in the discharge of every
duty. Entertaining correct views as to the ennobling
nature of his profession and its objects, when not perverted
for the subservience of individual interests, he felt it his
duty to honor his vocation, and to exemplify that virtue
and justice its design is to promote. As a lawyer, he
was a repository of the people's aggregate interests, and
he felt the magnitude of the responsibility to its fullest
extent. Notwithstanding the chicanery that has become
attached to the law in the minds of many, he fully under-
stood the influence exerted by the profession in moulding
opinion and giving tone to society, and he resolved in his
conduct to personify the virtues to whose protection his
profession was a constant guarantee. This was not
merely the suggestive dictate of the importance of exem-
plifying the virtues of his profession, but it was in obe-
dience to the dictates of a heart ever alive to an active
moral principle. These duties, as pertaining to his pro-
fession, he endeavored to understand thoroughly and to
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE, 143
demonstrate in his daily practice. In both he has suc-
ceeded most admirably.
He also entered upon the law with full convictions as
to its morality. He looked upon it as being a protector
of public and private morals, and felt that, as such, there
was an intrinsic morality attached to law itself. In an
extensive practice of several years, from causes over
which he had no control, he has often been counsel on the
wrong side, but frequently on the right, as preference for
the right side produced some attention on his part to be
there, when not inconsistent with previous arrangements.
This preference indicates his feelings as regards the mor-
ality of the law. He has often, from a nice sense of duty,
declined the acceptance of a fee from individuals, the
gaining of whose cause would be in violation of moral
principle and subversive oi» public justice. In his office,
while engaged in a heavy practice at the different courts
in the city, he was frequently consulted by clients who
were anxious to become acquainted with the law in regard
to certain cases in which they were, or expected to be, lit-
igant parties. It was his custom to answer them frankly,
holding out no false hopes of success beyond those that
really existed; and if, after an investigation, he perceived
there was no chance for the client, he never deluded him
with false hopes of success, for the sake of a fee. On
such occasions, he would tell the applicant frankly there
was no chance of his being successful. These things
show that deep current of moral principle that ever flows
in Mr. Fillmore's bosom. Looking upon the law as a
noble profession, he wished to honor it, and manifest in
144 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
his actions the importance he attached to an exemplary
life as a lawyer.
Mr. Fillmore has always attached a high toned moral-
ity to the law, which he was anxious to see infused into
the minds of his professional brethren, thereby giving
tone to the vocation. This elevated idea was, at that
time, considerably in advance of the day, and is yet, to a
great extent. This high moral principle in connection
with Mr. Fillmore's legal practice has been evinced
on all occasions. He always refrained from taking
advantage of any legal technicality, to gain his case at
the defeat of public justice. In examining creditable
witnesses, he never subjected them to the torture of a
cross-examination, with a view of making them contra-
dict themselves, by becoming so confused as to invali-
date their own testimony. Nor* did he ever twist and dis-
tort evidence elicited before courts for the purpose of
gaining a cause. In no case has he entered into a cause
merely for a triumph, at the sacrifice of justice.
Among the admirably adapted capacities of Mr.
Fillmore for the successful prosecution of the law,
may be classed his extreme coolness and entire self-pos-
session. Be the cause important as it might, and though
it elicited a general interest amounting to excitement,
unmoved in the prevailing tumult, he has sustained his
entire equanimity, and never lost sight of the important
issues involved, or neglected any precautionary step nec-
essary to secure success. Mr. Fillmore is wholly invul-
nerable to the influences of wild excitements and tumult-
uous exhibitions of feeling. He feels upon subjects of
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 145
general interest, as well as those of a professional nature,
the great importance involved in their different bearings,
as keenly as any one ; but the feeling is essentially inside,
and while, with a clear, vigorous perception, he scans the
course for him to pursue, his self-control subdues all man-
ifestations of excitement.
Thus, in the practice of his profession, he coolly, and
by deliberate reflection, investigated his case, and thor-
oughly understood all its points, and the principles of law
relevant thereto, so that, in presenting it to the court, in
a calm, self-possessed manner, he laid it all systematic-
ally open, and by his logical reasoning seldom failed
impressing conviction. This self-control which is of itself
indicative of an elevated soul, threw great weight into
his arguments, especially as it was accompanied by a
forcible impressment of his views. It also gave a true
cast to the natural dignity of his character, that was
always sure to elicit the respect of the court and the entire
members of the bar, who witnessed the management of
his cases.
Instead of being excited himself, the preservation of
his self-control and entire dignity enabled him to eluci-
date the complications of cases in such a manner as to
impress the court with his superior legal attainments,
and to convince it of the force of his reasoning. This
coolness and self-possessed dignity are decided advant-
ages in the practice of the law.
An individual rises before a court as counsel in a case
without these qualities, be he eloquent as he may, though
he succeed in eliciting the respect of the court and the
246 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMOEE,
attention of the jury — though he may please with his
fluency and attract with his gesticulation, his excitement
lessens the potency of his arguments, and, notwithstanding
the rivited attention he secures, he fails to produce con-
viction. He pleases, but does not convince ; and, on>
being replied to by a cool, methodical attorney, who sys-
tematically brings up his facts, his law, and his evidence-
to the point at issue, and throws the weight of his dig-
nity and self-possession into the case, he is lost sight of
altogether.
There is a marked difference in the elements of an
orator whose sphere is to touch the springs of feeling in
mixed and popular assemblages by eloquent appeals,
and those of the practical attorney, whose sphere is to-
investigate the different judicial decisions, and to analyze-
the actions of men when subjected to the test of legal
enactment. Phillips was an orator — a very great onej:
but as a practical attorney, except in cases admissive of
those mighty appeals and spontaneous outbursts of
oratorical powers characteristic of him, he was not very
extraordinary. Of the practical attorney's requisites to-
success, these analytical faculties of mind and clear
reasoning powers may be classed among the most
essential.
There is a potency in this dignity and self-possessionr
go consummate a blending of which we find in Mr.
Fillmore, that is not fully understood by young attorneys,
nor sufficiently sought after in the outset of their profes-
sional career. In an eager haste to drive forward and to-
take a prominent stand at the bar, they too frequently
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 147
attach more importance to display than to the attainment
of the more solid qualifications ; hence, they follow their
profession without the stability of a correct basis, or the
weight of solid proportions. Mr. Fillmore, as a practi-
tioner of superior and inferior courts, always manifested
this trait of his character. He has never had any un-
important cases, upon which he conceived the bestowal
of but little attention a sufficient discharge of duty.
His high conceptions for the rights of his fellow man has
always made him regard all cases where the adjudication
of these rights were involved as a matter of great
importance, and devoted his attention to the promotion
of a little right — to use the expression — with the same
promptness and fidelity that he would a large one. In
this respect he has known no small rights, and discrim-
inated between no small wrongs. The enforcement of
right, be it of whatsoever nature, and the redress of
wrong is sufficient to secure his undivided attention.
Hence, in all cases he maintained his dignity and self-
control, careful not to overlook the performance of duty
from any unimportant aspects of the case. From the
circumstances that surrounded him from his commence-
ment of his studies, in having to use inflexible perseverance,
and in his school of preparation, this quality of self-
control was most happily developed.
Among the attributes of his success, his weight of
character may be ranked prominent and conspicuous.
This, on the part of Mr. Fillmore, was not an attainment
acquired by association or otherwise. In point of sta-
bility of character he was always in advance of his age.
148 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
In early childhood, his quiet, grave, and obedient deport-
ment was superior to other children. In boyhood, an
age when the frolicsome gaieties of youth first begin to
develop themselves, he exhibited these traits of character.
So, we perceive that, instead of its being the result of
association or cultivation, it was an inherent part of his
nature, and the more effective because entirely divested
of all semblance of affectation. In the trial of causes
wherein the talents of the most prominent members of the
bar were secured, this array of reason, fact, logic, and
weight of character, presented by Mr. Fillmore, was a,
formidable barrier, not easy to demolish or overleap.
This is the most important and most difficult of con-
struction of any part of a young professional man's
qualifications.
The first thing to be sought after is the establishment
of a character. This is, and must be, the basis on which
he builds his profession. It is consequently the most im-
portant of all qualifications. No talents, be they tran-
scendent as they may, can exert an influential potency, if
deprived of the moral impetus of character. An indi-
vidual who can throw no weight of character into an
argument can have no great influence in producing con-
viction. One whose talents blaze most conspicuously in
arguments to a court or jury loses more potency than he
is aware of, if deprived of the weight attendant upon a
moral calibre. A man who embarks in the law is pre-
supposed to entertain desires vindicatory of justice, truth,
and moralty. It is very manifest that in such vindication
he loses much power by a continual violation of these
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 149
precepts, in pursuing a course inconsistent with all moral
principle. Such an one may be eloquent — attractively
so, and please the attention, but, like the rainbow, it is
based upon mist, and disappears with the ray that pro-
duced it. Not so with the man of moral calibre. He is
a man of character, of weight — the very fact of his en-
gaging in a cause, gives tone to the side on which his
services are secured. And when it is brought forward for
trial and elucidation, each argument he deduces with a
view to promote justice possesses weight, and is regarded
as such, because his whole past character has been its
exemplification. Any principle he advances, any law he
quotes, any idea he may produce, are favorable to the de-
velopment of truth, because his whole character has dis-
played an undeviating adherence to its principles. All his
actions and movements, instead of being watched like an art-
ful trickster, are regarded as honorable, and receive implicit
reliance, from the fact that his past character is an un-
sullied exhibit of virtuous principles. Such are some of
the advantages possessed by men of moral weight in the
pursuit of a profession. These advantages Mr. Fillmore
has always possessed in an eminent degree. Looking to
his example, let young professional men learn to "get
knowledge," " get an understanding " of their vocation ;
" but with all their getting " let them first get that most
desirable of all qualifications — a character.
Mr. Fillmore, as before indicated, owes no part of his
brilliant success as a lawyer to any extraordinary endow-
ments of forensic eloquence, that moi-e than anything else
builds a man up in the outset of his profession, because
150 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
the deficiency of experience is partially supplied with ora-
torical powers. Unlike Patrick Henry, of whom it has
been said, with six weeks' preparation and hut little
knowledge of the law, he commenced a career of unexam-
pled success, and was in the very outset called the " forest-
born Demosthenes." Mr. Fillmore possessed no such ad-
vantages. He is no orator — makes no pretensions to
oratorical powers, yet, with the other, and not less effective
mental endowments, he is a good speaker, and always says
something to the purpose, and that will be remembered.
For the bar, in judicial proceedings, his eloquence was
well adapted for its convincing and logical attributes.
The earnestness of his manner in addresses to courts and
juries gave great force to his arguments and reasoning, and
has had a very favorable influence to his success. His
zeal in the prosecution of a case, when he had once under-
taken it, was surpassed by no one. On taking charge of
a case, he felt himself the repository of his client's rights,
and was as careful and zealous in a faithful discharge of
duty as if those rights had been his own.
The activity and zeal he always displayed in the pro-
tection of his client's interest, and the faithful guardian-
ship he exercised over the rights reposed in his keeping,
added greatly in the attainment of that universal popu-
larity for which Mr. Fillmore became proverbial, imme-
diately after his embarkation in the practice.
This zeal, too, in the exact preparation of his cases,
and to be in possession of all the law needed in their
prosecution before they came into court, was the precursor
of many early successes, and contributed not a little to
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 151
the establishment of a reputation at once enviable, and
■commensurate with the most successful. From this
careful zeal in the complete arrangement of his business,
before announced from the docket he was fully enabled to
have his thoughts arranged, and prepared to avail himself
of all honorable advantages arising from any deficiency
in that respect, on the part of the opposing counsel
Combining, then, the advantages of these previous inves-
tigations with those derived from his superior insight of
character before mentioned, he came to the case not only
in the " whole armour of the law," but doubly fortified
by extraneous facilities. Mr. Fillmore's appearance
before the court in the argument of cases, though he
threw no enchanting charm about him by a terrific blaze
of oratory that captivates hearers, was one of great dignity,
and calculated to draw the attention of the most casual
observer.
A desire to promote justice in all its impartial rigor,
and to advance the rights of those who came to her temple
for redress, was manifest in his actions. Standing erect
in his dignity, with an expression of feature sternly benevo
lent, self-possessed, and calm, exhibiting a superiority of
which he seemed entirely ignorant, he forcibly, and with
all the earnestness and weight of character belonging to
his nature, presented his case, and piled facts and princi-
ples around it that would be difficult to remove, then gave
it all into the hands of the jury, and took his seat with a
complacent consciousness of having done his duty. I use
the past tense in this connection, as having reference to
Mr. Fillmore's past legal career, before he became invested
152 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMOEE,
with the performance of higher duties that conflicted with
those of his profession.
Among the many examples of Mr. Fillmore's success
in the civil law which show the extent of his legal attain-
ments I have selected the following, decided in the
supreme court of New York. The nature of this case
was well calculated to, and did, elicit very general interest
throughout the country at that time.
The case was originally tried in the Erie circuit court.
December, 1842. It was an action of trover for some
timber that had been cut on, and taken from, a parcel of
land known as the Cattaraugus Reservation, lying partly
in the counties of Erie, Chautauque, and Cattaraugus.
The Cattaraugus Reservation had been subject to the.
government of Massachusetts, prior to 1786, when that
state ceded to the state of New York her title to the gov-
ernment sovereignty and jurisdiction.
New York at the same time ceded to Massa-
chusetts the right of preemption of the soil from the
native Indians, which she then held. It was stipulated,,
that Massachusetts should have the right to sell her right
of preemption to any one who had a right to purchase the
claims of the Indians, who were the original occupants —
such purchase to be confirmed by the state. Massachu-
setts afterwards conveyed by transfer her preemption right
to one Morris, who subsequently disposed of his preemp-
tion right and other interests, to the plaintiffs of this suh%
Ogden and Fellows. It must be borne in mind that a
preemption right was all that either party had acquired
or disposed of by these several transfers. The Indians,
themselves, having the right of occupancy in fee simple.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOEE. 153
The preemption right, therefore, was nothing more than
a right to the ultimate fee, if the Indian title should be-
come extinct. The Reservation was then in the occu-
pancy of the Seneca tribe of Indians — they being one
of six tribes of Indians, between whom and the United
States treaties had been entered into, whereby they held
*by right of occupancy, their several parcels of land.
The Seneca tribe of Indians during the winters of 1833
and 1837, cut and sold saw-logs from the Cattaraugus
Reservation to the value of one thousand and forty-seven
dollars. Ogden and Fellows who had purchased the
preemption right of Robert Morris, assigned him by the
state of Massachusetts, in 1791, averred that this was an
infringement upon their rights. The defendants of the
suit were Lee and Ellsworth, who purchased the logs of
the Indians. The action then was Ogden and Fellows,
against Lee and Ellsworth, for the amount of money
paid by them to the Indians — the value of the logs.
The cause came up in the Erie circuit court before Judge
Dayton, in December, 1S42. Mr. Fillmore was for the
defendants. The value involved in this suit was not very
great, so far as the damages claimed by the plaintiffs
were concerned; but it was not from the amount of
money involved, that the suit derived its importance.
The cause came up before the court in regular order, and
all the treaties between the states of New York and
Massachusetts, with the subsequent transfers to various
individuals, until the preemption right came into the hands
of the plaintiffs, were introduced as evidence to establish
IJC*
154 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
the validity of their claims by purchase. The defendants
moved a nonsuit, upon the grounds of the invalidity of
the plaintiffs' claims to the land from whence the logs
were taken, and consequently their right to any alleged
damages they averred to have sustained. In their mo-
tion for a nonsuit they were unsuccessful, and Judge
Dayton instructed the jury to render the verdict for the
plaintiff. The defendants moved for a new trial on a bill
of exceptions.
This was a somewhat complicated case, and required
consummate ability in a lawyer to combat the opposition
of the plaintiffs' counsel. The only right the plaintiffs
possessed was that derived as the assignees of the Eobert
Morris preemption right, ceded by the state of Massa-
chusetts ; while the defence hinged upon the validity of
the Seneca Indians' claim, and their consequent right to
sell to them the timber in question. In the management of
this case there was a vast amount of labor devolving on
the attornies, in having to look over old Indian treaties
and colonial enactments, whereby the claims of Indians
to the soil by occupancy until extinguished by purchase
was guaranteed and their rights protected. The interest
Mr. Fillmore felt in the issue of this case was very great,
and the indefatigable industry with which he investigated
the whole complexity of its bearings was unsurpassed.
He was compelled to go back to the old decisions for pre-
cedents and to look deep into the intricacies of the law
in regard to it. The decision of the court in favor of the
plaintiffs would have been almost a gross outrage, and, as
we shall presently see, replete with the worst conse-
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 155
quences to the Indian occupants of the reservation, of
whose interest the states of both New York and Massa-
chusetts had been especially careful in all their transac-
tions— so much so, that it was explicitly stipulated by
the convention of 17S6, that Massachusetts could only
transfer the preemption right of the reservation to those
who had the right " to extinguish by purchase the claims
of the Indians." So jealous, in fact, were they of the
rights of this oppressed race, it was stipulated that all
such purchases from the Indians should be invalid, un-
less witnessed by a superintendent appointed by the state.
Mr. Fillmore urged the claims of the defendant to a ver-
dict with the greatest zeal and ability. For reasons which,
will soon be made manifest, he had engaged in few cases
during his entire practice in a favorable issue of which to
his clients he was so much interested and felt so deep a
solicitude. This was one of those causes that have fre-
quently fallen to the lot of Mr. Fillmore to defend where
he knew he was on the right side. He was not only on
the right side so far as pecuniary considerations were con-
cerned, but he was on the right side of morality. Every
speech he made was an appeal in behalf of oppressed hu-
manity, the very vitality of whose existence depended up-
on the issue of this cause. This was one of those cases,
in the management of which all personal considerations
and the emoluments derived from its successful issue were
thrown altogether out of the question, and swallowed up
in the weightier consideration of protecting humanity in
the homes of their fathers. This was a case exactly
adapted to his nature, to his feelings, and the philan
156 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOEE.
thropic promptings of his heart. New York had never,,
and to her honor be it spoken, has yet never procured a
foot of land from the Indians only by purchase in the
return of an equivalent, unless it became extinct by the
desertion of its occupants; and he, in defending this suit,
was not only discharging his professional duty to his
client, but he was preserving his state from the stain of
her people monopolizing the Cattaraugus Eeservation,
whose very name imports its design was the Indians' home
until they became an extinct race. He was not only la-
boring for the untarnished preservation of his state from
that usurptional stain, but he was laboring in the cause
of a suffering, friendless people, the fragment wreck of a
mighty nation, who once, round the shores of his own
beautiful lakes, reigned lords of the soil, and filled the
land with their wildwood joys. It was just the case for
Mr. Fillmore to call • up all the great energies of mind
and body of which he was master. Either one of the in-
centives in this case was usually enough to make him
act, and act nobly. But here, in defending this suit, he
was discharging his duty to his client, in endeavoring to
procure a verdict favorable to his side, and in all the ef-
forts he put forth he was promoting the interests and pre-
serving the honor of his state; and by his masterly ap-
peals in behalf of the remaining relics of a ruined race, he
was pleading the cause of humanity. Here, then, was a
blending of the three great virtues he has so happily
exemplified — duty to his fellow man — patriotism to his
country — philanthropy to the oppressed.
This case, after receiving the laborious attention of the
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 157
counsel on both sides, was finally carried to the supreme
court of the state of New York. Few cases of a civil
nature ever elicited more general interest, and few ever
possessed a nature so complicated and perplexing. In
many features it was a novel case — an extraordinary
one. To give some idea of the nature of patient investi-
gation, and of the legal authorities to which the counsel
was subjected in its prosecution, I insert the following
from the old reports of the supreme court of that day :
" Mr. Fillmore, counsel for the defendants, cited : 1 Bio.
Laws of the U. S„ 307, 309, 311, 377 ; Public Land
Laws, part 2, p. 158 ; Opinions of Att'y Gen. of U. S.,
p. 344 ; Worcester vs. State of Georgia, (6 Peters, 544 ;)
Mitchell vs. United States, (9 Peters, 745;) Georgia
against Canatoo, a Cherokee Indian, (Nat. In. of 1842.) "
These are a few of the authorities cited in the prosecu-
tion of this cause, from its institution in the Erie circuit
court until its final disposition in the supreme court of
the state. From the time Mr. Fillmore first engaged in
it as counsel, he had devoted himself to it when neces-
sary with untiring earnestness. He fought every inch of
"ground over which it passed, from the subordinate court
until it reached the supreme tribunal. Here, with the
same characteristic activity, he prepared for a final strug-
gle. He, with usual promptness, was well prepared to
put forth a powerful effort, and the opposing counsel was
equally so. So much general interest had the cause cre-
ated, that the counsel on each side were exceedingly anx-
ious to gain the case.
After a patient hearing and a fair investigation, the
158 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
decision of this case was given by Justice Bronson, in
October, 1843, in favor of the defendants.
Thus ended a suit, -when we take into consideration all
its bearings, the rights it destroyed, and the injuries it
inflicted, was replete with the most serious consequences
to the state of New York. Few have been more so. The
land from whence the logs were taken was a part of a
large portion held by the Indians as a reservation for
their homes. The whole tract embraced a considerable
area of territory, over which they exercised as occupants
exclusive jurisdiction. Here they had their domiciles and
all their home fixtures — their families, agricultural imple-
ments, and everything necessary to secure comfort and
happiness. The tribes, in their aggregate capacity, num-
bered hundreds. With their families they were pursuing
their vocations in their own rustic simplicity, in the full
enjoyment of quiet repose. The great consideration
involved in this suit was the validity of the Indians'
claim to the entire body of land they occupied. If the
plaintiffs had gained the suit, and there had been no
reversion of the verdict of the Erie county jury, then the
point would have been definitely settled that Lee and
Ellsworth, the defendants to the suit, who purchased the
logs from the Indians, had made the purchase of those to
whom they did not belong. It would then have been
settled that the 81,047 paid to the Indians for the
timber was due Ogden and Fellows, as the rightful own-
ers of the soil ; and by the rendition of a verdict requiring
the repayment of that sum to the plaintiffs, the validity
of their claim to the timber on that specific part of the
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 159
Indian Reservation would have been legally established.
But it does not stop here in influences injuriously detri-
mental to the peace and prosperity of the Indian settle-
ments. An establishment of Ogden and Fellows' right to
the timber upon the basis of the Morris transfer to them
of his preemption right ceded by Massachusetts in 1786,
would have been equivalent to a legal establishment of
similar claims to the timber upon the ground of the entire
Indian settlements, which we may readily believe the
claimants, under such preemptive right, would not have
been slow to assert.
Nor does it yet stop here. Had the plaintiffs been
successful in this action, their right to the timber on the
land claimed by preemptive purchase was established,
and the right of all persons possessing similar claims
would have been established, which would have included
the entire timber on their settlements ; and if by the pur-
chase of preemption right the purchaser acquired a right
to the timber on the land from the date of such purchase,
then they acquired a legal right to the land also, and the
Indians had no valid title to their own lands and their
own homes.
Such would have been the result of Judge Dayton's
decision and the Erie county jury, had it not been
reversed in the supreme court. A casual analysis of the
bearings of the case will convince the reader of the
important considerations it involved, and how replete it
was with the destinies of hundreds of helpless beings, who
were the primal monarchs of the whole country. Let us
look at it a moment as Judge Dayton left it, and see the
160 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
results. Nearly all the land included in the Indian set-
tlements was held in the same way as that was from
which the timber in question was taken. Had the plain-
tiffs the right to one parcel, then those holding similar
claims had the right to theirs. Then, under the seal and
sanction of law, they would have taken possession of the
entire settlements, timber and everything else, and drove
the Indians from the country. Under this state of
case, the solicitude of Massachusetts and New York to
protect the rights of the Indians in the Cattaraugus Eeser-
vation would have amounted to nothing.
These, then, are the considerations involved in the
investigation of tbis case. To those acquainted with Mr.
Fillmore, it is no matter of surprise that he manifested
so much anxiety for the success of a client, in an issue
where not only his, but the fate of hundreds were involved.
The parties against whom the action was brought, the
honor of his state, and the reserved homes of the Indians,
were all involved in the case, and regarded as his client's.
It is questionable whether in the judicial annals of the
state of New York, replete as they are with grave and
important decisions, there is to be found another civil
individual suit, in the investigation of which so much
was involved. The interests attached to it were of a
peculiar nature, as well as of great magnitude. The
whole country was deeply interested in its decision,
especially the counties of Erie, Chatauque, and Cattarau-
gus, in which the reservation was situated.
Another very important case, the novelty of which
elicited a very general interest, and involved some very
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 261
nice principles of law, was that of Lightbody against the
Ontario Bank. The facts in the case were about as fol-
lows : The plaintiff had made a deposit of over two thou-
sand dollars with the Ontario Bank, at their banking house
in Utica. On the thirtieth day of May, 1828, he pre-
sented his check, and drew two thousand dollars. Five
hundred dollars of the money -thus drawn was on the
Franklin Bank of the city of New York, which he sent to
that city the same day. The next day it was returned to
him as being worthless, the Franklin Bank having stop-
ped payment the twenty-ninth day of May — only one
day before he drew the money. He took the five hun-
dred dollars to the Ontario Bank, and demanded the sum
in good money. The bank, at the time they paid him the
notes on the Franklin Bank, did it in good faith, not being
aware of its failure, and refused to make good the five
hundred dollars.
This case, then, was an action of assumpsit, to recover
the amount of the notes received from the Ontario on the
Franklin Bank. Mr. Fillmore was for the plaintiff. The
question involved in this very singular case was, whether
bills received .in payment on a bank that has stopped
payment — both the party paying and the party receiving
being ignorant of such stoppage — should be made good
by the party paying.
The features presented in this case were rather novel
ones. Had the money been paid the day before, it would
have been in the plaintiff 's hands, at the time the Frank-
lin Bank suspended payment ; but, as it was, it was in the
hands of the defendant. The question was, who should
162 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
sustain the loss of the five hundred dollars, it being paid
and received in good faith.
The following arguments urged by Mr. Fillmore, in the
supreme court, will convey some idea of his research and
discrimination :
" When the plaintiff drew his check, the Ontario Bank
was indebted to him in the sum of two thousand dollars,
which has not been paid. One of the bills received by
the plaintiff was not what it purported to be on its face —
the representative value of money, to the amount of five
hundred dollars. For nearly a year afterwards it was
without value, and, in reference to the rights of the par-
ties, must be considered as entirely valueless, as the per-
centage paid by the receiver must be viewed as paid to
the plaintiff for the use of the defendant. The bill was
no better towards satisfying the just claims of the plain-
tiff than had it been counterfeit. The rule of the civil
law is, that if a creditor receive, by mistake, anything in
payment different from what is due, and upon supposi-
tion that it is the thing actually due, as if he receive
brass instead of gold, the debtor is not discharged ; and
the creditor, upon offering to return that which he
received, may demand that which is due by the contract.
" This rule was approved and adopted by this court in
Murkle against Hatfield, 2d Johns. Reports, page 455, in
which it was held, that a counterfeit bank bill received on
the sale of property is no payment, and that the vendor
may treat it as a nullity, and resort to the original con-
tract. The principle of that case controlls the present.
It is conceded the defendants acted in good faith, and
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 163
believed they gave good value, but their obligation to pay-
was not therefore discharged. A bill of sale of a horse
or other animal, not present, believed to be alive, but dead
at the time, does not discharge a contract ; nor is the
transfer of a bill of lading of a vessel at sea operative, if
at the time the cargo is lost by the ship having foundered.
In all these cases, the loss falls upon him who is the
owner at the time of the happening of the event, when
the property becomes of no value ; and notwithstanding
the attempted change of ownership, the parties are re-
stored to their original rights. The bill in this case be-
came of no value on the twenty-ninth of May, the day on
which the bank stopped ; and allowing that, until then, it
was a representative of the currency of the country, and
that the rule of law, as to the receiving of current bills,
is the same as is applicable to the receiving of current
coin, the defendants reap no benefit from it; for on the
thirtieth, when the bill was paid to the plaintiff, it had
ceased to be the currency of the country, it was no longer
the representative of money, although the bills of the
Franklin Bank were current at Utica on that day.
Whether the bills of a bank represent the currency of
the country is not to be tested by the value put upon
such bills in one or another section of the state, but by
the ability of the bank to meet its engagements. When
the bank stops payments, its bills cease to be the repre-
sentative of the currency of the country, and are no
longer entitled to be treated as cash. This rule deter-
mines with certainty, uniformity and universality the time
when the notes of a bank become worthless, and closes the
164 LIF*E OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
door, against frauds upon the uninformed by those having
superior facilities of early intelligence. But it is insisted
that a bank note in this country is not money, except by
conventional regulation, and the negotiation of the note
of the Franklin Bank in this case is subject to the same
rule which governs the transfer of the notes of individuals,
according to which the transfer of a promissory note is
no payment of a pre-existing debt, unless it be expressly
agreed to be received as payment at the time of transfer.
Chitty on Bills, Starkee's Evidence, etc. The cases in
Strange show that a goldsmith's note or banker's check,
taken for a precedent debt, is no payment if the drawer
fail after the negotiation and before presentment. Here
the bank had already failed, when the bill was passed to
the plaintiff. The receipt of dividends from the receiver
of the bank does not prejudice the plaintiff; 10 Vessay
206 ; 6 Wendell 369 ; its only effect is to reduce his claim."
The above extract shows the practical analysis of Mr.
Fillmore's mind as a lawyer, and conveys some idea of its
grasping and logical powers. We do not often see a
specimen of more systematic reasoning than is displayed
in the foregoing. The supposition of the existence of
parallel cases in the extract evinces a perceptive aptitude
in arguing cases of extreme nicety in principles of law.
To this argument the opposing attorneys replied in a
very able and elaborate manner, displaying Considerable
ingenuity in the management of the case. But the force
and clearness of Mr. Fillmore's reasoning had made the
matter too plain to admit of effective argumentation from
the opposite side. The decision was by Chief-justice
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 165
Savage, and given for the plaintiff. Mr. Fillmore's legal
career is replete with difficult complex civil cases, where
the nicest points of law and great interests were involved.
He has been in many criminal suits of great importance,
that created considerable excitement at their respective
times of adjudication ; but I presume quite sufficient has
been said under this head. Mr. Fillmore's life as a
lawyer, though pregnant with no very great events, is
impressed with true greatness. Though there are con-
nected with it no extraordinary exhibitions of eloquence,
and no fitful blazes of excitement, it has been the consis-
tent flow of a moral current, broad and deep, continually
gathering strength in its progress. Mr. Fillmore's com-
pliance to the urgent appeals of his friends to engage in
other duties has frequently exerted an influence to his
practice injurious and detrimental. As this 4s the last I
expect to say of his legal career, I must be allowed to
call the minds of young men commencing the law to the
importance of building upon a moral basis, of acting from
correct principles, emulative of those I have endeavored
to set forth in the foregoing.
166 LIFE OF MILLARB FILLMORE.
CHAPTER V.
State politics — Political Anti-masonry — The Morgan outrage — The
Clintonians and Bucktails t- Anti-masonic convention — How the
action of the Anti-masons should be construed — National poli-
tics of 1832 — Leading measures of the Whig party — Mr. Fill-
more is elected to Congress — Sketch of that body — Jacksonism
and its effects — Mr. Fillmore's view of the U. S. Bank, and the
removal of the deposits — Mr. Clay's Compromise Tariff of 1833 —
Excitements occasioned by the removal of the deposits — Internal
improvements — Mr. Fillmore's efforts to reduce high salaries —
Mr. Fillmore and Mr. Polk — Mr. Fillmore's qualities as a legisla-
tor— Other measures of Congress — Its adjournment.
Before giving a record of Mr. Fillmore's congressional
career, it is necessary, perhaps, to take a casual glance
at the aspect of state and national politics. The politics
of New York had assumed a somewhat singular feature,
growing out of a most outrageous affair connected with
the respected and ancient order of Free Masons. As Mr.
Fillmore commenced his political career as an Anti-mason,
it would have been more proper, perhaps, to have adverted
to it at his outset. But the excitement growing out of
the affair that originated eventually in the formation of
Masonic and Anti-masonic political parties did not assume
so serious an aspect until August, 1830, two years previous
to Mr. Fillmore's election to Congress. To infer from the
fact of his being an Anti-mason that Mr. Fillmore enter-
tains principles opposed to those embodied in Masonry
would be doing him very great injustice. The affair
that threw him into the ranks of the anti-masctos,
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMOKE. 167
placed him with some of the ablest statesmen and
wisest patriots in the state of New York. The excite-
ment and the formation of parties by blending Masonry
and politics, resulted from the Morgan outrage. I do-
not expect to enter into the details of that affair in
this connection, nor would I advert to it at all were I not
aware that misconceptions exist in the minds of some irs
regard to Mr. Fillmore's early Anti-masonic principles.
Morgan was a resident of Batavia, Genesee county, in
the state of New York, and belonged to the fraternity of
Masons. From some source it became known to the or-
der that he was preparing a book for publication, contain-
ing a full exposition of the mysteries of Free Masonry.
On the eleventh of September, Morgan was seized upon a
charge of larceny, and carried as a prisoner to Canan-
daigua county, to be tried for the offence. The investi-
gation of the case resulted in his acquittal, but he was
rearrested upon a process for debt. Judgment was ob-
tained, and on the issue of the execution Morgan was
thrown into prison. The day after his imprisonment, he
was released for a still greater outrage. He was gagged,
and carried with the utmost secrecy and dispatch to Fort
Niagara, and with merciless cruelty concealed in the mag-
azine of the fort.
But secret as had been this movement, the vigilance of
an excited populace was not long in finding a clue to the
perpetrators. The Masons in the neighborhood of Bata-
via being apprized of Morgan's intentions of exposing
their mysteries, and resolved on the suppression of his
forthcoming book, had made several violent and unwar-
168 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
rantable attempts in view of accomplishing that purpose.
So great had been the violence of the Masons toward
Morgan from the time they became apprized of his inten-
tions concerning their order, and such vindictive manifes-
tations had been seen on the part of the citizens in the
vicinity of Batavia, that they were immediately settled
upon as the offenders, and openly associated with Mor-
gan's abduction. After Morgan's seizure the feelings of
the community became wrought into a blaze of excite-
ment, and a vigilant search was instituted for the purpose
of discovering his whereabouts, and to ferrit out the
perpetrators. This search was fruitless. Although they
knew it was accomplished through the agency of the
Masons, ■ they could not ascertain on whom to fix the
blame of so outrageous an act. A public meeting was
held at Batavia, and committees appointed for the pur-
pose of making discoveries in regard to the transaction.
These committees succeeded in tracing Morgan to Eoches-
ter, but could not learn anything further. Subsequent
developments brought to light the fact above stated, that
he was carried secretly in the night by relays of horses,
and deposited in the magazine of Fort Niagara, where he
was doubtless murdered in cold blood. The excitement
spread like wild fire over western New York, and a spon-
taneous outburst of indignation issued from the mass of
the people, not identified with the Masonic order, rarely
witnessed. Meetings, expressive of the people's feelings,
similar to the one held at Batavia, were called and held
in all parts of the country. The secrecy which was
practiced in the abduction, and the great mystery that
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 169
enveloped the whole transaction seemed to indicate the
existence of a premeditated design, and an efficiently or-
ganized conspiracy. The secrecy, the boldness and dis-
patch, and the mysterious vagueness connected with Ma-
sonry generally, affixed to this deed a peculiar kind of
horror in the minds of the people, and it became invested
with the drapery of the blackest of crimes — that of
murder.
That the excitement of the people was but natural
will be admitted, when we think of the intolerant attrocity
of the deed. That a foul murder had been committed
they felt well assured; that it had been done by the
Masons or through their operative agency they felt equally
sure. And, as strong confirmation of these suspicions,
the Masons kept entirely cool during the entire excite-
ment that, like a whirlwind of fire, was swallowing up
every other feeling on the part of the people generally.
In all the searches instituted for the discovery of Morgan,
the Masons took no part ; in all their investigation meet-
ings, they did not seem to be the least indignant ; in all
the denunciations heaped upon the perpetrators, they did
not denounce anybody, but kept cool and quiet, taking
no part in the excitement, and manifesting no anxiety in
regard to Morgan or his fate. All these indications
tended to affix to them, in darker hues than ever, the
malignity of the crime, and the people became more
incensed than before. At these indications so confirma-
tory of their guilt, the people regarded them as a band
who would not hesitate to murder a fellow man to pre-
8
170 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
serve their secrets, or to make the laws of their country
subordinate to the requirements of their mystic rituals.
The circumstances connected with the whole transac-
tion were of a very aggravated nature from first to last j
and in that day, before the principles of Masonry became
so widely diffused as at the present, it is no matter of
surprise that the fraternity, in its aggregate, was impli-
cated in the murder of Morgan. The zeal manifested by
the citizens, in their endeavors to unravel the whole, and
through the mist in which it was enveloped, to see the
true state of the case, was certainly commendable. The
allegation of larceny, brought against Morgan in the first
place, was but a pretext, to which they resorted to effect
the suppression of his forthcoming exposition of their
creed, as was already shown on the subsequent trial,
where, for the want of the smallest evidence to establish
his guilt, he was acquitted. The failure to produce any
evidence showed the fabrication of the whole thing,
When Morgan was released, they availed themselves of
a law then operative, and had him thrown into prison for
a small debt, and to complete the outrage, under pretext
of relief, conveyed him in the night time to the seclu-
sion of an old fort at the mouth of Niagara Eiver, since
which time he has never been seen ; and, from the mani
festations of hostility toward him on the part of the
Masons, it is plainly inferable he was cruelly murdered.
These considerations, it will be readily admitted, were
sufficient to arouse the indignation of any people not
wholly insensible to the infliction of the grossest outrages
upon the majesty of that justice to which they looked for
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 171
the protection of their rights and the promotion of their
interests.
It is no matter of surprise, either, that, after the
transaction, from previous indications of the Masons
towards Morgan, and their refusal to take part in their
efforts to discover his whereabouts, that the guilt of the
whole affair should be affixed to them. In the meantime,
Morgan's famous book, which was the origin of the whole
matter, was published despite the efforts of the Masons
to suppress it. The public mind being already agitated
to a perfect state of furor at the startling nature of recent
events, was badly prepared for the reception of the still
more startling and exaggerated disclosures of Morgan's
book. So eager was the excitement to get hold of that
celebrated effusion of the traitorous Morgan that, like a
Pandora box, was to reveal the awful mysteries of a
sect whom it had invested with the sable of crime, that
they would almost have protected its issue at any risk.
The book, when it was at length issued, contained fea-
tures of a more glaring nature than they even supposed,
dark as had become their suspicions in regard to the
secret order. Among other things in that book of a
startling nature, calculated to impress one with feelings
of extreme horror for an order, who presumed to go by
its ritual as their fraternal creed, was an oath imposed on
all initiates, to espouse the cause of their brothers in
distress, and devote their energies to secure their extri-
cation, even though it were in direct violation of all law.
Another oath enjoined the strictest secrecy in regard to
all crimes or misconduct committed by the brotherhood,
172 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
except murder or high treason. A third, and more terri-
ble oath still, and one the meaning of which was more
immediately connected with Morgan's abduction, bound
the initiate to a revengeful retribution upon those who
disclosed the secrets of the order. Such disclosures were
sworn to be avenged with death to the offender !
Here was an oath contained in a book purporting to
be a fair and correct expose of the whole Masonic frater-
nity, thrown upon the public in the heat of a great excite-
ment, engendered by recent developments coinciding pre-
cisely with its requirements. The public very readily
believed the contents of the book, and construed these
dark oaths into a literal interpretation. In the heated
state of the public mind, and surrounded by such coincident
circumstances, this literal interpretation was nothing
strange. There was the oath by which they were sworn
to keep each others' secrets inviolate ; there was the oath
by which they were sworn to kill a brother who published
their secrets. Morgan had published them — there was
a violation of the rule, to which was affixed the severest
penalty. Morgan, subsequent to such violation, disap-
peared ; therefore, the penalty had been incurred. The
Masons took no part in ferreting out the cause of his dis-
appearance ; therefore, it was in strict accordance with
the oath to keep inviolate each others' secrets.
Morgan's book conveyed the idea of great and very
exaggerated mysteries connected with the measures of
the whole order ; the disappearance of the author was all
shrouded in the vaguest mystery, therefore the book was
literally true.
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 173
That Morgan was murdered somewhere on Niagara
Eiver, not far from the old fort to which it was subse-
quently ascertained he was removed, there was and still
is but little doubt. The disappearance and mystery
connected therewith were so coincident with the require-
ments of the booh, that, they produced a belief that every
word in it was true ; while the oaths and mysteries of the book
fitted the abduction so well, that it was supposed by the
most incredulous before, that Morgan had been visited
with its penalties. Such was the coincidence, that while
the book established conclusively the guilt of the Masons
in the murder of Morgan, his mysterious disappearance
established the correctness of the book — one confirming
the other. On the reception of the publication, the excite-
ment of the people knew no bounds. To see such defiance
of all law, both human and divine, as contained in Morgan's
book, looked like treachery, and the sudden disappearance
of its author like the fruits of it ; and they thought it was
incumbent on them to seek the perpetrators and have
redress, and when the individuals who perpetrated the deed
could not be found, they laid the whole crime upon
Masonry in the aggregate, as a compliance with their
creed, a correct publication of which they honestly
believed was in their possession. Such became the excite-
ment to ascertain who were the real actors in this atrocious
tragedy, that the towns and cities generally throughout
the surrounding country participated in it, and expressed
their feelings in the most indignant manner. Politics
had not, however, entered as a feature into these measures,
or actuated the committees in their investigations, in any
174 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
degree. The Clintonians and Bucktails were the names
by which the two parties in New York polities were
designated at that time, De Witt Clinton and William B.
Rochester being their respective leaders. These gentle-
men in the fall of 1826 became candidates for governor
$f the state. Though the Masons were, by a great many,
implicated in the outrage, both of the candidates being
members of that faternity, masonry did not become a
feature of discussion in the canvass. The excitement
engendered by the outrage was confined to neither
political party, but prevailed throughout the entire com-
munity, irrespective of opinions or party predilections.
The refusal of the Masonic fraternity to participate in
their public meetings, and to endeavor to relieve them-
selves of the odium attached to them by the outrage,
invitations to which were often extended to them, made the
prejudices against them much greater than it otherwise
would have been. " There were some who early implicated
the whole Masonic fraternity in the guilt of the transaction.
" This, however, was not at first the general public sen-
timent ; but when, as the investigation proceeded, it was
found all those implicated in the transaction were Masons ;
that, with scarce an exception, no Mason aided in the
investigation ; that the whole crime was made a matter
of ridicule by the Masons, and even justified by them
openly and publicly ; that the powers of the law were
defied by them, and the committee taunted with their ina-
bility to bring the criminals to punishment before tribu-
nals where judges, sheriffs, jurors, and witnesses were
Masons ; that witnesses were mysteriously spirted away,
and the committees themselves personally vilified and
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 175
abused for acts which deserved commendation, the impres-
sion spread rapidly, and seized a strong hold upon the
popular judgment that the Masonic institution was in
fact responsible for this daring crime. Upon this partic-
ular point, the public at the west early began to divide
into parties, and take sides not as a political question at
first, upon the fact whether the Masonic institution and
Masons generally were essentially and morally guilty of
the crime which had been perpetrated."* From the above
extract it will be readily perceived that a determination
on the part of the citizens to assert the supremacy of the
laws of the country over all creeds and rituals was the
incipient origin of the Anti-masonic party. In January,
1827, Lawson and others of the alleged participants in
the outrage were arraigned for trial, and plead guilty of
the offence, thereby disappointing public expectation in
regard to the developments which was supposed would be
elicited in the prosecution of the case. Judge Throop,
who was afterward governor of the state, in passing sen-
tence upon them, used the following language, which
shows the Anti-masonic party was actuated by patriotic
principles, and was composed of the ablest men who fig-
ured in New York politics at that day:
" Your conduct has created in the people of this section
of the country a strong feeling of virtuous indignation.
The court rejoices to witness it — to be made certain that
a citizen's person cannot be invaded by lawless violence,
without its being felt by every individual in the commu
aity. It is a blessed spirit, and we do hope that it will not
* Hammond's Political History.
176 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOEE.
subside, that it will be accompanied by a ceaseless vigil-
ance and untiring activity, until every actor in this profli-
gate conspiracy is hunted from his hiding place, and
brought before the tribunals of his country, to receive the
punishment merited by his crime. "VVe think we see in
this public sensation the spirit which brought us into
existence as a nation, and a pledge that our rights and
liberties are destined to endure. "
The above language shows in what light the Anti-
masonic feeling was viewed by the purest patriots of the
land — "the spirit that brought us into existence as a
nation" — Mr. Fillmore's identification with this party
then, was an identification with the 'patriots, where he has
ever since been found. Subsequent to Lawson's trial, a
number of delegates from various committees met in con-
vention at Lewiston, on Niagara River, and ascertained
by their investigations the fate of Morgan. The details
of their discoveries flew like lightening over the country,
in a thousand exaggerated forms, and fanned the blaze of
excitement into still greater intensity and magnitude. At
the ensuing election, Clinton was elected governor, and the
Bucktails got majorities in the legislature. The excite-
ment incident to a political campaign having subsided,
that engendered by Masonry increased, there being nothing
else on which to exhaust itself. In 1827, the sentiment
was embodied, in a resolution adopted by some of their
meetings, that Free Masons endorsing the Morgan outrage,
thereby making" the law subsidiary to their rituals, were
not proper persons to receive the suffrages of the peopl8
at the ballot-box. Masonry was first brought to this test
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 177
in the counties of Genesee and Monroe, and originated as
much in the efforts of the Masons to put down the
committees as anything else. At all events, it was
the starting-point of an organized political Anti-free-
masonry. But it was some time after this, that, from the
aspect assumed by both state and national politics, it be-
came an efficiently organized political party. After
.Clinton's election as governor, and his avowal to support
Jackson for the presidency, those of the Clintonian party
who were Anti-masons and on the investigating commit-
tees, by appealing to the prejudices of an excited popu-
lace, successfully construed Clinton's support of Jackson
as being the result of Masonic influence — both Clinton
and Jackson being High Masons. Thus those Anti-masons
who had supported Clinton denounced their leader, and
with success appealed to those Bucktails who were Anti-
masons, to give up Jackson upon the grounds of the al-
leged Masonic league existing between the two.
In this way, by the assistance of politicians, in no way
chagrined at the turn things had taken — the Anti-masonic
party was formed, composed of an amalgamation of
Clintonian and Bucktail seceders.
From various causes, this new party gained strength with
unprecedented rapidity. Though disavowing any feature
of a political nature, the Anti-masons, irrespective of
party politics, presented their nomination, against those
of the Adams and Bucktail parties, and carried several
counties at the election by very respectable majorities.
This was the dawning of their success, and indicated
pretty strongly, the eventual strength it attained. Many
i78 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
Masons left the order after the publication of Morgan's
disclosures, and were enrolled into the ranks of the Anti-
masons. The party now began to be quite formidable —
so much so that, early in the spring of 1828, a general
convention was held at Le Roy, with a delegated repre-
sentation from twelve counties. This was the first gen-
eral Anti-masonic convention, where it assumed an avowed
political aspect. This body recommended the holding of
a state convention at Utica in the ensuing August, and
appointed a number of their leading men, among whom
was Thurlow Weed, as a central committee. Jackson
was a Mason of a high degree, and Adams was not ; con-
sequently, there was a strong indication on the part of
the Anti-masons to vote for Adams.
While occupying an independent position of hostility
to both the political parties, manifesting no desire of
affiliation whatever, Anti-masonry was somewhat petted
by the friends of both presidential aspirants, with a view
of conciliating them to their particular favorite. In the
winter of 1829, the Anti-masons again assembled in con-
vention at Albany, for the purpose of establishing their
influence upon a consolidated basis, and to produce con-
cert of action. At the election of 1829, they carried
western New York by an overwhelming majority. They
met in convention again at Albany, in February, 1830,
and drew up a memorial which was subsequently pre-
sented to the legislature of the state, requesting the
appointment of a committee to investigate the conduct of
the Masons in regard to the Morgan outrage. This
request was refused by a large majority of the members,
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 179
and was construed by the petitioner's into hostility against
them, on the part of the legislature.
This conviction of legislative hostility was increased,
by the reduction of John 0. Spencer's salary, who, under
a law passed in 1828, was acting as special counsel to
investigate the Morgan outrage.
The fund appropriated for such services was two thou-
sand dollars, but was reduced to one thousand. This was
construed into a premeditated insult — Spencer resigned
his seat, and the Anti-masons became firm and decided in
their hostility. to the Jacksonian dominant party.
An Anti-masonic convention was held again at Utica,
in August, 1830, and for the first time openly avowed
their sentiments upon the political measures of the coun-
try. They nominated Mr. Granger for governor, who,
notwithstanding the most sanguine expectations, was
beaten by a considerable majority. In 1833, the excite-
ments connected with the outrage and the progress of the
party subsided to a great extent, and the Anti-masonic
became identified principally with the whig party. So
much for political Anti-masonry. It had its origin in the
murder of Morgan, and the disclosures connected with the
book gained strength by some injudicious measure of the
legislature, and was fanned into public sentiment through
a desire to maintain the supremacy of the laws. Ham-
mond, in his Political History of New York, says : " It
must be believed that, from honest convictions of its pro-
priety, most of those joined the party of Anti-masons."
He further says, that such men as " Thomas 0. Love,
Millard Fillmore, Albert H. Tracy, of Buffalo ; William
ISO LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
H. Seward, of Cayuga ; John C. Spencer, and Join
Birdsdale, could hardly have joined the Anti-masonic party
from mere personal or selfish considerations." Among
'the hest men of the country was of that party — men
whose patriotism cannot be called in question. That it
did much to establish the ascendancy of the whig party
in that state no one will deny. In fact, the political his-
torian, in speaking of the Anti-masons, says : " The whig
ascendency in this state, (New York,) is mainly indebted
for its permanence, if not for its first success, to the
steady opposition of the Anti-masonic, counties, and to
the uniformly heavy majorities which those counties have
constantly given at every contested, election." It is evi-
dent that, through the unwavering hostility of that party
to the Van Buren party, the aspect of state politics under-
went an entire change.
Mr. Fillmore became identified with the Anti-masonic
party, at the early stages of its development, from the
wise and patriotic considerations above mentioned — to
assert the supremacy of the law. Mr. Fillmore was a
young man at the time it was first brought upon the tapis ;
and after the perpetration of such an outrage, and the
taunting defiance manifested by some to the investigat-
ing committees ; after the publication of Morgan's awful
disclosures, oaths, etc. ; after it had received the support
and commendation of such men as Throop, Spencer,
Birdsdale, and William Wirt himself, it is not strange
that Mr. Fillmore should become an Anti-mason. It
must be remembered too, that, at that time, Masonry was
not so fully understood as at the present day, and the literal
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 181
interpretation given to Morgan's book, immediately after
the occurrence of such atrocious and coincident cir-
cumstances, was nothing unnatural. To the causes,
embraced in the foregoing, may be attributed Mr.
Fillmore's identification with that party; the high position
assigned him in it by Hammond, in his Political History,
is attributable to the same causes that his high position
in every other sphere is — his superior capacity and
matchless industry. More has been said on this subject
than I had anticipated, but no more I trust than was
necessary to its full elaboration.
As the conclusion of this synopsis of political Anti-
masonry brings us to the time of Mr. Fillmore's com-
mencement of his congressional career, when his talents
are to be exercised in the national councils, it may not
be amiss to take a glance at the aspect of national, as we
have of state politics.
Jackson had been elected to the presidency, and, in the
exercise of the veto power, and by dismissing from office
old incumbents, and the almost regal enforcement of
many other measures hostile to what the people conceived
to be their best interests, was filling the whole country
with the wildest excitement. On his reelection to the
presidency, the very fact of the vote he received was
construed into an emphatic endorsement on the part of
the people of all the measures of his previous administra-
tion ; and, throwing off the mask of conciliation, in the
assumption of executive power, he was piloting the ship
of state to whatsoever port he thought proper, dismissing
all officers of the old vessel who refused to render implicit
182 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
obedience to his commands. Excitements engendered by
his veto of the bill for the recharter of the United States
Bank, were agitating the country from one end to the
other. The commercial business that had been trans-
acted with the cities and states of the south, south-west,
and the Atlantic states, the people alleged was interfered
with to a material extent. Checks which they received
in the south for their produce and stock on the United
States Bank, at a premium of one-half per centum, they
averred would be exchanged for one of two and a half
per centum, thereby producing an aggregate expenditure
on the part of the producer that would be enormous.
Some of the western states, entirely deficient in specie-
paying banks, had but little circulating medium, except
the bills of the United States Bank and its branches.
The thirty millions of dollars with which they were sup-
plied through that institution, they alleged, was a great
stimulant to industry and enterprise. Deprived of that
facility in the liquidation of such a sum, inevitable ruin
and general bankruptcy was predicted. The purchase of
public lands, they said, was interfered with. The mer-
chants and manufacturers of the Atlantic states com-
plained that, in the destruction of the checks on the
United States Bank, for which they had been supplying
the merchants of the west, their business sustained a
serious injury. The facilities of remittance they declared
annihilated, and business essentially crippled in every
department. A public distress, bankruptcy, and general
business prostration was predicted, in various forms, as
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 183
an inevitable result of the veto of the bill, and the con-
sequent removal of the deposits.
The old United States Bank was incorporated in 1816,
under a charter limited to twenty years, and so long had
it been regarded as the protector of American finance,
that the evils predicted to result from the veto of the bill
for its recharter were greatly magnified, and have been
subsequently proven to be pregnant with no such disas-
trous consequences as were anticipated. The excitement
the veto created was very intense, and prevailed through-
out the extremities of the Union. The charter, according
to the twenty years limit, expired in 1836. A bill for its
recharter had passed the senate by a majority of eight
votes, and, after going into the house, and being dis-
cussed, and having produced crimination and recrimina-
tion, it passed that body by a majority of twenty-two
votes. This was a leading, and the most engrossing of
all the questions involved at that time in national politics.
Both in the senate and in the house, it elicited the gravest
considerations, and excited interest from all parties.
The friends of the measure regarded it as of extreme
vitality to the existence of a healthful currency, while its
enemies were equally sure that it was a disadvantage to
the country. That both the senate and house of repre-
sentatives regarded it as of essential utility, is tested by
the fact of the bill's passage through both. The recharter
of the bank they regarded as sure, and the currency of
the country safe ; but on the tenth of July, 1832, President
Jackson returned it to the senate with his veto, and, for
184 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
want of a concurrence of two-thirds of the members in
favor of the bill, it was defeated.
Both branches of the national legislature were being
flooded with petitions in regard to this, then considered,
high-handed act of the president, praying for the enact-
ment of measures avertive of the ruin they saw foreshad-
owed in the destruction of the United States Bank. Henry
Clay was pouring forth his eloquent denunciations against
the president, and portraying the sufferings he presumed
would grow out of a refusal to recharter that institution.
All parts of the country seemed to be startled by his
alarms, and infected with his feelings, until Jackson, the
veto, and the deposits formed a theme of discussion among
all parties, and of excitement for all communities. Such
was the condition of oue of the leading measures of
national politics, in 1832, when Mr. Fillmore was first
thrown upon the arena, to take active part therein.
The old protective tariff that had been in operation for
years met with bitter denunciation and the deadliest hos-
tility from the southern states, especially South Carolina,
headed by Mr. Hayne. The American system of protec-
tion was vigorously assailed, and the assailants as vigor-
ously and promptly met, Clay figuring with his usual con-
spicuity among the defenders of protective industry. The
existing system, by its assailants, was alleged to be un-
constitutional and legally inoperative, and defended by its
friends by enumerating the advantages of a protective
tariff, and reference to the signature of George Washing-
ton for its constitutionality. Thus, the debates and ex-
citements upon that subject were continued until numer
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 185
cms propositions for the reduction of duties on various
articles imported were brought before the house. In July,
1832, John Quiucy Adams presented a bill in Congress,
modifying the existing protective system. This measure
was not satisfactory entirely to those who had assailed
the old tariff; but, inasmuch as it was less obnoxious to
their feelings than the old one, and reductive of former
duties, they made a virtue of necessity, and the tariff of
1832, as it is called in the political history of the country,
was adopted, and became the American protective system,
until the subsequent measures embraced in Mr. Clay's
compromise tariff of 1833 made the scale of duties on
imported commodities still more diminutive. This was a
leading feature in the political controversies of the day
for a number of years, and cuts a pretty conspicuous
figure in the history of the country's politics. With the
reduction of duties embraced in the Adams' measures, it
was still a measure of Congressional interest at the time
of Mr. Fillmore's election to that body.
The public land question, also, had just received the pol-
ish of Mr. Clay's genius and statesmanship, by his devis-
ing his great plan for the distribution of their proceeds
among all the states. The large bodies of public lands,
over the distribution of the sale of which there existed for
a number of years such an incessant excitement, out of
which was built so many hobbies of political preferment,
consisted in parcels ceded to the government by the At-
lantic states, in very extensive possessions in the west-
ern states and territories, and in immense parcels acquired
by treaties and negotiations with the aborigines, and the
186 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
purchase of Louisiana and Florida. At the time that
part of the lands owned by cession came into the hands of
the government, a large portion of the old Revolutionary
war debt remained unliquidated, and these lands were de-
signed to assist in its payment. During Jackson's admin-
istration there existed some indications of the entire liqui-
dation of that old debt, and he recommended to Congress
to convey the public lands to the several states wherein
they were situated. Disputes in regard to the public
lauds were of very early origin. Jefferson, it will be
remembered, as far back as 1806, recommended the adop-
tion of such measures as would secure the proceeds of
these lands to internal improvements and educational
purposes.
During the presidential campaign of 1S32, Clay and
Jackson both being in nomination, the friends of Jackson
required of the then acting committee on manufactures,
information as to the most suitable appropriation of the
public lands. Mr. Clay was chairman of that committee,
and just at that particular time, the duty required at his
hands was of a very delicate natm-e. For the presenta-
tion of such a report, without incurring the censure of
either the old thirteen states, or those recently coming
into the union, would have taken more than human wis-
dom and sagacity. Mr. Clay, however, by one of those
masterly strokes of ability for which he was so justly
celebrated, devised his plan for the distribution of the
proceeds of the public lands. This was the first occasion
on which that plan, as a famous article of the old whig
creed, became incorporated into the party. It afterwards,
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 187
however, cut no small figure in the history of its politics.
Until then, this great plan for the distribution of the pro-
ceeds had not been devised. Thus, this new plank had
just been hewn, and put into tne whig platform, about the
time Mr. Fillmore was ushered upon it in a national offi-
cial capacity. The sub-treasury — another measure that
afterwards figured pretty largely in the political discus-
sions of the country — had not then assumed the importance,
as a national question, it eventually acquired. Internal
improvements and other measures were not themes of
legislative discussion, to any great extent, everything
being swallowed up in the more engrossing topics of
banks and tariffs.
Such was the condition of the great leading political
measures of the country in 1832. The bank veto and
protective system were the most exciting questions of
the day, and pretty much monopolized the talents of both
houses of the national Congress. The blaze of nulli-
fication was being kindled into a perfect fury in South
Carolina, and Mr. Clay was putting forth his greatest
efforts to allay the excitement. Mr. Fillmore took his
seat in Congress at a time of great political excitement —
a time when some of the most talented statesmen of
America were figuring in her national councils. In the
senate, Mr. Clay, Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Benton, Webster, and
many other statesmen of eminent distinction, figured in
all their power of eloquence and wisdom. Among the
members of Congress who distinguished themselves both
there and in subsequent capacities, were Polk, Dickinson
and others of no less note. The senate and house of
»
188 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
representatives, in their combined capacity, presented an
array of talent and patriotism rarely convened together
at the capital of any nation. The names connected with
the proceedings of the twenty-third Congress have had a
powerful influence in shaping the destinies of this country,
and in moulding public sentiment so as to make it accord
with the dictates of patriotism. Of the greatness and
worth of the men who composed that Congress, the insti-
tutions of our common country, in all their glorious ma-
jesty stand unmarred, as living authority.
The house was organized by the election of Andrew
Stevenson of Virginia, speaker, and Mr. Franklin, clerk.
On the third of March, 1833, President Jackson sent his
annual message to* Congress, from which I make the fol-
lowing extract, as having direct reference to the exciting
questions of the day : " Since the last adjournment of
Congress, the secretary of the treasury has directed the
money of the United States to be deposited in certain
state banks designated by him, and he will immediately
lay before you his reasons for this direction. I concur
with him entirely in the view he has taken of the subject;
and some months before the removal, I urged upon the
department the propriety of taking that step. The near
approach of the day on which the charter will expire, as
well as the conduct of the bank, appeared to me to call
for this measure, upon the high consideration of public
interest and public duty. The extent of its misconduct,
however, although known to be great, was not at that
time fully developed by truth. It was not until late in
the month of August that I received from the govern-
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 1S9
ment directors an official report, establishing beyond
question, that this great and powerful institution had been
actually engaged in attempting to influence the election
of the public officers, by means of its money; and that, in
express violation of the provisions of its charter, it had,
by a formal resolution, placed its funds at the disposition
of the president, to be employed in sustaining the political
power of the bank. ******
" In my own sphere of duty, I should feel myself called
on by the facts disclosed, to order a scire facias against
the bank, with a view to put an end to the chartered
rights it has so palpably violated, were it not that the
charter itself will expire as soon as a decision would
probably be obtained from the court of last resort.'*
The language of the foregoing extracts was well cW-
culated to produce in Congress the very results that were
manifest. The United States Bank, and the removal of
the deposits to which it had reference, were, from the first
of the session, the leading topics of congressional discussion,
and the causes of excitement throughout the entire country.
Of those who were most fierce in their denunciations, and
irreconcilable to what they regarded as an unjust exercise
of executive power, Mr. Clay was the acknowledged
leader in the deliberations of Congress. The position
assigned Mr. Fillmore was on the committee on the
District of Columbia, a position where he had no power
particularly to display his talents and capacities for legis-
lative usefulness, which he possessed to an eminent degree.
In an assemblage of the ablest and most experienced
legislators that America has ever produced, it could not
190 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
reasonably be expected that a young man of Mr. Fill-
more's modest, unassuming deportment, would evince any
great exhibitions of talent and intellectual powers — espe-
cially in the midst of that kind of an assembly, the lead-
ing topic of whose discussion he could not feel interested
to the same extent. Subsequent events have shown Mr.
Fillmore's views on the leading questions exciting the
deliberations of that day to have been most wise, and in
advance of the times and his party. Keen and penetrat-
ing as was Mr. Clay's sagacity, he attached a fictitious
magnitude to the evils resulting from the refusal to rechar-
ter the United States Bank, and the subsequent removal of
the deposits. The disastrous consequences that seemed
oliin. foreshadowed in the consummation of those meas-
es have never befallen the country.
Mr. Fillmore never fully endorsed the denunciatory
views entertained by a large number of his party, in re-
gard to these measures and the evils apprehended there-
from. He never attached that importance to the useful-
ness of a United States bank, to feel that a financial
crisis and a severe panic would be the inevitable conse-
quences of its veto. Instead, therefore, of participating
in the discussions of a subject definitely settled, and in
regard to which, the president had already asserted that
"the responsibility had been taken," — a measure whose
pregnancy with such direful calamities to the country he
could not discover ; he studied the interests of his con-
stituency, and the country generally, with reference to
their promotion, and devoted himself to the discharge of
his duties with characteristic energy and devotion.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 191
Though, in the twenty-third Congress, he won no very
great civic laurels, he made it an excellent school to learn
the fundamental basis of government organization, and
won the respect and esteem of the house. Unpretending
as he was, no duty was neglected, and in all measures of
interest, he was always at his post, and ready to promote
the right. The support he" gave his party was firm and
unwaveriug. He made no long speeches, nor evinced the
smallest desire of attaining notoriety. Throughout the
entire deliberations of the twenty-third Congress, Mr.
Fillmore, though a new member and the representative
of a minority party, was vigilant in the discharge of every
duty devolving upon him as a member of the house, and
in studying the interest of those whom he was deputed to
represent in that body.
Mr. Fillmore, in this and the subsequent sessions of
Congress to which he was elected, exemplified the time-
honored maxim of, in time of peace keep prepared for
defence. As will be seen in his subsequent labors in
Congress, he urged upon that body the necessity of forti-
fying the northern frontier, in a very masterly style.
This principle of being prepared for emergencies he
regarded as the safest means of preserving the dignity of
the nation from insult and injury. The Canadian insur-
rection, and developments connected with that movement,
that occurred no very great while after this, evinced the
wisdom of the measure, and suggested the necessity of
keeping the northern frontier in a state of defence suffi-
cient to awe the invaders, and divert their rapacious
intentions into another channel. On the twenty-third of
192 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
December, Mr. Fillmore introduced the following resolu-
tion into Congress, regulative of the military department.
" Resolved, that the committee on military affairs be
instructed to inquire into the expediency of so modifying
the existing law in relation to the militia of the several
states as to permit each state, in time of peace, in the
discretion of its legislature, to require no person to bear
arms, under twenty-one or over forty years of age ; and
to permit the inspection of arms to be taken by companies
instead of by regiments or battalions; and also, into
the propriety of providing arms and accoutrements at the
public expense, for those liable to bear arms; and that
they be required to report to this house by bill, or
otherwise."
This resolution was afterwards changed, with its refer-
ence to a select committee, whose duty it was to inves-
tigate measures of this character.
The objects embraced in the resolution are the relief
from military service of all persons over the age of forty
and under twenty-one, and the supervision, on the part of
committees, over the condition of the militia, thereby
insuring an efficiently organized corps brought under the
immediate superintendence of the national legislature.
Mr. Fillmore, though strictly a conservative man, and
opposed to all dangerous innovations in his public services
to the country, has always advanced the doctrince that
to be well prepared with means of public defence was an
essential prerequisite to the maintenance of public peace.
In this, his views have been in uniform coincidence with
the wisest patriots who have presided over the destinieB
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 193
of our country. Jefferson, and even Washington himself,
embodied this principle in their respective administrations,
as being the safest measures of insuring tranquility by
presenting an appearance of being prepared for the attacks
of the foes of freedom. The northern frontier was
exposed to these attacks more than other portions of the
country, and hence the solicitude in regard to her prepar-
ations of defence. Already had she been the theatre of
a devastating invasion, and felt the heel of the foe upon
the very vital seat of her existence. Her towns and
cities had been burned by the incendiary torch of foreign
troops, and the whole frontier thrown into the greatest
consternation. To prevent a recurrence of these trans-
actions, and the reenactment of such scenes as were com-
mitted through the want of means of public defence, iff
was certainly the duty of all the lovers of their country
to take these preparations for defence into consideration,
and to make them subjects of legislative action. This is
a duty of paramount importance, on the legislation of
which our government has, perhaps, always been too
remiss. With those at the head of affairs who justly
appreciate the measures of defence, and of being pre-
pared for war in time of peace, the vast resources of
America could soon be so developed, and put into such
shape as to present giant military preparations that would
be equaled by no power under heaven. More deficient
than perhaps any other feature has been the govern-
ment in regard to these preparations, and the keeping effi-
cient operative means at command to combat the events
of anv unforeseen emergencv, great soever as it mav be.
9
194 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
Few legislators seem to have understood the very greaS
importance of such measures. Mr. Fillmore, throughout
his labors in Congress, manifested much solicitude in this
particular. He wished to see his country, while conser-
vative and patriotic, occupying a position of defence cal-
culated to awe into respect the invidious monarchies who
were watching with a jealous eye the development of her
gigantic proportions.
As the celebrated compromise tariff of 1833 had just
gone into operation when Mr. Fillmore took his seat in
Congress, and produced a temporary settlement of some
of the leading measures of political controversy, a brief
history of that act, though not strictly pertaining to our
narrative, is deemed necessary.
0 On the twelfth of February, 1833, Mr.. Clay introduced
his measures in the United States senate, with some able
remarks, of which the following is an extract :
" In presenting the modification of the tariff laws
which I am now about to submit, I have two great objects
in view. My first object looks to the tariff. I am com-
pelled to express the opinion, formed after the most delib-
erate reflection and on full survey of the whole country,
that, whether rightfully or wrongfully, the tariff stands
in imminent danger. If it should be preserved through
this session, it must fall at the next session. By what
causes, and through what causes has.arisen the necessity
of this change, in the policy of our country, I will not
pretend now to elucidate. Others there are who may
differ from the impressions which my mind has received
on this subject. Owing, however, to a variety ^of concur-
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 195
rent causes, the tariff as it now exists is in imminent
danger ; and if the system can be preserved beyond
the next session, it must be by some means not now in
the reach of human sagacity. The fall of that policy
would be productive of consequences calamitous indeed.
" History can produce no parallel to the extent of the
mischief which would be produced by such a disaster.
The repeal of the edict of Nantes itself was nothing in
comparison to it. That condemned to exile and brought
to ruin a great number of persons. But, in my opinion,
sir, the sudden repeal of the tariff policy would bring
ruin and destruction on the whole people of this country.
There is no evil, in my opinion, equal to the consequences
which would result from such a catastrophe."
This bill came into the deliberations of that body under
the denomination of " An act to modify the act of the
fourteenth of July, one thousand eight hundred and
thirty-two, and all other acts imposing duties on imports."
The act, of which it was designed to be a modification,
was the Adams' act of the previous year, before referred
to. The provisions of the act were substantially as fol-
lows. That all ad valorum duties of more than twenty
per cent, should, on the thirty-first of December, 1833,
be reduced one-tenth, and such reduction to take place
on the thirty-first of December, 1835, and so continue,
once in two years, until 1841, one-half of the excess to
be taken off; and from June, 1842, the other half. In
this bill were involved some very excellent and wise
principles. It was the effectual abolishment, from and
196 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
after the thirty-first of June, 1833, of all credits for amounts
due the government on foreign imports, thereby requiring
payment before the goods exchanged hands. By its
requirements, also, all value of goods had to be assessed
in the ports at which they were landed ; thereby prevent-
ing any advantages by practicing fraudulent invoices, etc.,
on the part of foreign speculators.
Such were the provisions of the measures introduced
into the legislative councils of the preceding Congress
by Mr. Clay, since known in our political history by the
"Compromise Act of 1833." This bill created great
excitement both in the senate and in the house. The
diminutive scale of reduction on duties on imports was
firmly resisted. In the discussion and eventual enact-
ment of this measure, difficulties of the greatest magni-
tude were to be overcome. Its way to final adoption was
immediately under the hammer of the veto of President
Jackson, and over the heads of South Carolina nullifica-
tion. The fiery ordeal of the heated southerns passed.
It was subjected to the president, who had no hesitancy
in taking responsibilities. Nullification in the south was
raging in a perfect blaze. Between Jackson and Clay, the
greatest political, if not personal, enmity existed. He
was in no way favorable to Mr. Clay, or any measures in
whose origin and advocacy he took an active part. Old
party lines were to be redrawn, and able advocates and
warm friends were to become alienated and arrayed one
against the other in all the heat of talented antagonism
Friends were to change place with foes, and the aspect
of things to undergo a political transmogrification.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 197
Majorities were to be created for it by convincing proofs
of its utility to the country, and through the influence of
such majorities Jackson was to be conciliated and the
veto withheld. All these difficulties were to be over-
come before the compromise tariff could be adopted by
Congress. The opposition to the measures of that com-
promise was led by some of the most talented men in the
senate and house, and was of the most relentless nature.
It was a complete and masterly change of the old system
of protective policy, and was regarded by some as a very
dangerous one. Mr. Forsyth, of Georgia, was among the
formidable of the opposition. So far did he carry his op-
position, that he heaped ridicule upon some of the mea-
sures of the act, and contested the passage of others with
zeal and warmth. He met the arguments of its advocates
with sarcasms and inuendoes, and in every way mani-
fested the deadliest hostility to the entire measure. Web-
ster, of Massachusetts, was identified with the opposition to
the compromise. Other northern senators of no less dis-
tinction opposed it with all their talents and energies.
The position they took was, that the proposed diminution
was too great a surrender, and too great a sacrifice of pro-
tective principles. Webster took that view of the case,
that it was equivalent to an entire' destruction of the
American policy of protection. He threw his mighty
talents into the opposition with all their force. That
great excitement should be engendered by the collision
of two such minds as his and Clay's, should be no mat-
ter of surprise when the resistless perseverance of both
is taken into consideration. Together they had been used
198 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE.
to laboring long and hard, and when they thus labored
they overcame all opposition; but when one was arrayed
against the other, it was the only opposition they could
not overcome. Clay and Webster could rule a senate
when combined, but when one came in contact with the
other, one man was more than either could overcome.
The compromise tariff was finally, after being discussed
in all its ramifications, submitted to the house of represen-
tatives on the twenty-sixth of February, and passed by a
majority of twenty votes. Mr. Fillmore, as will be shown
in the passage of the tariff in 1S42, was always a friend
to the American pi*otective policy, and had a fair oppor-
tunity of giving evidences of that friendship in the various
discussions upon that branch of American politics during
the different sessions he served with such distinguished
ability. This compromise act was among the most im-
portant measures adopted by the preceding Congress.
From the discussions it had elicited, and the vote of Con-
gress on the subject, all doubts in regard to its being a
revenue bill, which was an objection urged against it by
some of the opposition, were removed, and on the tenth
of March it passed the senate by a majority of thirteen
votes. Thus the measure, notwithstanding the fierce
opposition it encountered at every step, and the great
obstacles that impeded its progress from its incipient
agitation, by the almost superhuman efforts of the friends
of protective policy, passed both houses, and escaped
the veto.
As the veto of the United States Bank by President
Jackson, and hu removal of the deposits which had just
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 199
talien place prior to the convention of the present Congress,
formed the principal grounds for discussion and excitement
In that body ; though in such discussion Mr. Fillmore par-
ticipated to a very limited extent, to be enabled more thor-
oughly to understand and appreciate his views upon these
measures, some remarks in regard to them are deemed
indispensable.
On the second of March, 1833, from inferences drawn
from the president's message in regard to the removal of
the deposits, the following resolution was introduced into
the house of representatives : " That the government de-
posits may, in the opinion of the house, be safely continued
in the Bank of the United States." This resolution passed
by a vote of a hundred and ten for, and forty-six against
it. This resolution, however, was effective of no good
or harm, so far as the deposits were concerned. Over-
looking the fact entirely, that the secretary of the trea-
sury, as the executive of Congress, was amenable to that
body for his action in the discharge of his official duties,
he was regarded by the president as rather his agent, for
the execution of his requirements. On the third of June,
the president communicated to Mr. Duane, the secretary
of the treasury, his intentions concerning the deposits, in-
forming him, that his cabinet was divided in opinion in
regard to their removal, and desiring him to give his
opinion in regard to that measure. On the twenty-second
of July, he was asked whether his intention was to refuse
to remove the deposits, to which Duane replied in sub-
stance, that he would resign his office, in case of a non-
eoncurrence with the views of the president in regard to
200 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
the measure. This course of Mr. Duane was by no means
satisfactory to the president, and a pretty lengthy corres-
pondence, of no very amiable nature, ensued between the
parties, until a positive refusal of the secretary to remove
the deposits elicited the following quietus from the
president :
The President of the United States to the Secretary of the
Treasury :
September 23, 1833.
Sir : Since I returned your first letter of September
twenty-first, and since the receipt of your second letter
of the same day, which I sent back to you at your own
request, I have received your third and fourth letters of
the same date. The last two as well as the first, contain;
statements that are inaccurate; and as I have already
indicated in my last note to you that a correspondence
of this description is inadmissible, your last two letters
are herewith returned. But from all your recent com-
munications, as well as your recent conduct, your feelings
and sentiments appear to be of such a character that,
after your letter of July last, in which you say, should
your views not accord with mine, " I will, from respect to
you and myself, afford you an opportunity to select a
successor, whose views may accord with your own on the
important matter in contemplation," and your determina-
tion now to disregard the pledge you then gave, I feel
myself constrained to notify you that your further services
as secretary of the treasury are no longer required.
I am, respectfully, your obedient servant,
Andrew Jackson.*
*Niles' Register.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 201
This dismissal of the secretary of the treasury, who
had accepted the post by solicitation, because he refused
to indorse and assist in the removal of the deposits from
the United States Bank, was regarded by Mr. Clay and
others opposed to the Jackson administration as an un-
warrantable exercise of executive power, and created
very great excitement. The alarm was sounded from Dan
to Beersheba, and awful results predicted from the catas-
trophe, which, however, never came to pass to the extent
anticipated. Mr. Taney, who was afterwards chief-justice,
was appointed secretary of the treasury, in the place of
Duane, the former incumbent. On the first of October,
1833, Mr. Taney, in compliance with the president's com-
mand, removed the deposits from the United States Bank,
and placed them in the different banks specified ; and on
the convention of the twenty-third Congress, made to that
body a full report of his proceedings as secretary of the
treasury. On the reception of that report, the subjoined
resolutions were presented by Mr. Clay :
" Resolved, that by dismissing the late secretary of the
treasury, because he would not, contrary to his sense of
his own duty, remove the money of the United States
deposited with the bank of the United States and its
branches, in conformity with the president's opinion, and
by appointing his successor to effect such removal which
has been done, the president assumed the exercise of a
power over the United States treasury not granted to
him by the constitution and laws, and dangerous to the
liberties of the people."
" Resolved, that the reasons assigned by the secretary
202 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
of the treasury for the removal of the money of the
United States, deposited in the bank of the United States
and its branches, communicated to Congress on the third
of December, 1833, are unsatisfactory and insufficient."
The resolutions were adopted almost by acclamation ;
so intense had the excitement become, that any resolu-
tion denunciatory of the movement would have been
adopted, even though they transcended the bounds of
moderation and propriety. During all the excitement
and prediction of ruin to the country incident to these
measures, Mr. Fillmore as a member of the twenty-
third Congress examined the causes engendering it,
with solicitous care. The United States Bank and the
removal of the deposits, and their bearings upon the
prosperity of the country, he studied, with an ardent
desire to acquaint himself familiarly therewith. With
that keen and penetrating sagacity which so eminently
qualified him to foresee the result of important national
measures, he acquainted himself thoroughly with the
whole subject. With financial capacities of no ordinary
nature, as will be shown when we come to investigate his
duties as the incumbent of an office exclusively financial,
he weighed well the circumstances likely to grow out of
the measure.
Coolly and dispassionately he went to work, as though
it was a great mathematical problem he had to solve, and
in the solution paid great attention to all the points
involved. The result of this investigation, notwithstand-
ing the excitement of those about him, and the predic-
tions of such ruinous consequences to the country, was
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOEE. 203
bis conviction that the calamitous consequences appre-
hended were not justified by the aspects of the case. He
felt well assured that they were magnified, and were cre-
ating unnecessary alarms. Subsequent events have shown
that these convictions were correct, and that his foresight
upon the great question of the day was superior to the
leading men of his party, and in advance of the times.
This is a very happy faculty of Mr. Fillmore's. Be
questions exciting as they may, though the whole spirit of
the country be fanned into a terriffic blaze, he stands
unmoved, facing every danger, looking coolly on, and
making safe and reliable calculations of escape. These
calculations and conclusions are seldom incorrect, as is
proven by his views on the great questions of which we
have been speaking. Not being infected with the excite-
ments that rage around him, he forms them by judgment
and wisdom, and the subsidence of the excitement dis-
closes their correctness, as in the case of the measures
discussed in the foregoing. He never attached the impor-
tance to a United States Bank and the deposit operation
that Mr. Clay and the leading men of that day did. Mr.
Fillmore's views in regard to these measures were correct;
time has demonstrated their genuineness and wisdom.
As a committee-man on the District of Columbia, the
plan for the construction of the Potomac bridge devolv-
ing on that committee, Mr. Fillmore, with the aid of
his associates, proposed a plan for the erection of the work
by which it would not exceed in cost the sum of $130,000,
while the president proposed a plan to the secretary of
the treasury running up the cost to three millions. This
204 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
"was a difference well worthy of eliciting the considera-
tion and action of the house. The question being before
the house, comments were made by several members as
to what committee's jurisdiction it more properly belonged,
when " Mr. Fillmore advocated the claims of the com-
mittee of the district to have the subject referred to them,
and he considered that it was unreasonable to suppose
that this committee would not be as much disposed to
check extravagance as any other committee. Without,
therefore, wishing to detract from the intelligence, patri-
otism, and purity of conduct, which the chairman of the
committee on roads and canals, and the other members
of that committee, acted, it was only fair to suppose that,
if the subject was sent to the committee on the district,
they would act up to their economical views ; and, having
an opportunity to examine witnesses, from their testimony
have new light thrown upon the subject." Here we
have a principle by which Mr. Fillmore has been guided
in all his relations, both public and private. He learned
in early boyhood to entertain economical views, and he
demonstrated them through the career of his studentship,
and practiced them in his profession. When he became
the public repository of the people's interests, he was
careful still to give them a strict adherence, by retrench-
ing, as much as possible, all expenditures of the public
funds. In this respect, in all the capacities in which he
has served as a public servant, he has been especially
careful. His disposition to check extravagance in the
outlay of the public fund has been manifested en all
occasions in a happy degree. The careless manner of
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 205
transacting business and making appropriations for public
works on the part of those to whose views of expediency
and propriety the squandering of vast sums of public
treasure is a matter of no moment, never failed to receive
the proper censure of Mr. Fillmore.
In propositions before legislative assemblies of which
it has been his fortune to be a member, to make appro-
priations for public improvements, his first object was to
investigate the utility of the measure proposed, being
thoroughly satisfied of which, with economical views he
devoted his attention to the ascertainment of its cost, and
. opposed a heavier draft upon the treasury than was abso-
lutely necessary to its completion. Being a man of great
practical as well as theoretical talents, he was always, in
proposing such plans and arrangements, happily consti-
tuted to see what was necessary, and to retrench useless
expenditures. The public treasury he has always watched
with a jealous eye.
During the entire deliberations of the twenty-third
Congress, the interminable bank excitement raged inces-
santly, and the halls of legislation were continually
flooded with petitions praying relief from the oppression
weighing upon different sections of the country, in regard
to the veto of the United States Bank, and for a rechar-
ter of that institution. On the seventeenth of March, a
large number of petitions and remonstrances were pre-
sented, by the citizens of different states through their res-
pective representatives, among others, was one from the
city of Boston signed by several thousand citizens of that
place ; one from Vermont, signed by a large number of
206 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
voters of that state; one from the city of Buffalo, pre-
sented through their representative, Mr. Fillmore, signed
by several hundred names, and accompanied by certain
resolutions, expressive of their views upon that exciting
measure, without reference to party or party feelings.
Mr. Fillmore presented the memorial and resolutions,
desiring to explain the hostility manifested by his con-
stituents against a United States Bank on former occa-
sions. After the memorial was read, setting forth their
grievances, and the disastrous consequences they saw
impending over them by the veto of the bank, and pray-
ing its recharter or some mode of relief, Mr. Fillmore
moved that it be laid on the table. This was the univer-
sal consignment of that species of document. So numer-
ous had they become, the bestowal of more time than
was required for their reception was utterly impracticable.
This shows the extent to which these memorials were
sent into Congress, praying redress for the infliction of
what was conceived to be an incurable ulcer upon the
system of American currency.
This was a duty which Mr. Fillmore several times had
to perform during the sessions of Congress. No section
seemed to take greater interest, or manifest more concern,
in reference to the movements of the president, than did
the people of western New York. These petitions and
memorials, when they came to his hands from his con-
stituents, invariably received the attention from him due
the people from their public servant. Faithfully devoted
to the preservation of the interests of .those he was repre-
senting, whether he attached the importance to certain
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE. 207
measures they did was not a consideration to deter him
from giving his attention to their views and wishes.
Representative he construed into its proper interpretation,
and felt that he was there for the people — standing in
their place — and was faithful to their interests. He
stood up to his party with the same unflinching zeal that
characterized his labors in the state assembly, giving his
influence and his vote to the advocacy of his principles
upon all political measures, and in all matters of a gen-
eral nature he was assiduous to promote the local inter-
ests of his constituents. There have been men in
Congress who, during their first session, developed a more
brilliant career than did Mr. Fillmore; but none were
ever more faithful ; none were ever the recipients of
greater approbation, in both the plaudits of his constit-
uents and his conscience. Some may have won brighter
laurels, but none ever more enduring ones.
On the seventeenth of August, 1834, an amendment to
the annual appropriation bill being before the house, and
the exorbitance and inequality of many officers' salaries
in government employ under discussion, Mr. Fillmore
urged the reduction of certain high salaries, as follows :
" He insisted that, as the measures of the government
had the effect of raising the value of money, whilst on
the opposite side they depreciate ihe means of subsistence ;
it was only acting justly to the people, from whom these
salaries were derived, to place them on a similar footing,
in these points, with themselves ; and he contended that,
if three dollars could now purchase those articles which
it formerly would have taken four to do, the salaries of
208 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
their public officers, with the reduction now contemplated
by the amendment, would be practically as high as they
had been. The objection as to the time of making these
reductions did not appear to him to be so essentially
important, when the necessity of doing so was so gen-
erally conceded. He found there were propositions in the
bill granting increased compensation. If it Was proper,
then, in the estimation of the committee, thus to alter
the salaries of officers, fixed by law, he could not see the
force of any objection to their reducing the amount. He
referred to the salaries paid in the state of New York, as
instances how "much more economically the highest
offices in that state were filled, in comparison with those
under the general government ; from which he inferred
that, as these offices were all well filled, and the appoint-
ments not objected to, but sought for on the score of
emolument by the .most competent men in the state, one
or the other of the rates of paying for public services
might be unjust. He referred to the fact that the judges
of the supreme court of New York received but two
thousand dollars a year. He desired to have a reduction
now, instead of waiting the result of an inquiry, for
another reason. It would become the interest of those
whose salaries are reduced, and which they would never
do in any other case, to come forward and oppose the
effects upon them, and in this way only could they expect
that any inquiry could be promoted with any hope of a
good result."
From the considerations embraced in the foregoing
extract, he voted for the amendment to the appropriation
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE, 20^
bill, having for its object the curtailment of certain
salaries, among others that of the commissioner of the
land office, whose salary was as much as the judge's of the
supreme -court of the state of New York. The argu-
ments in the foregoing are plain, practical, sound, and
common-sense like, displaying the reasoning, penetrative
qualities of his mind, characteristic of all his speeches,
The sentiments embodied in the remarks are those which
he has evinced in every public capacity, a disposition to
effect a retrenchment of the expenditures of the public
moneys, to give to the various public servants in govern-
ment employ nothing more nor less than value received
for such services, with a watchful care that all moneys
expended were for services absolutely required by the
government.
Among other improvements of a national character pro-
moted by Congress, was the erection of a harbor at
George's Island, the design of which was for fortification
more than otherwise. Judicious investments for internal
improvements, especially if their design was to increase
the means of public defence, always found in Mr. Fillmore
a zealous advocate. One of the leading men in the oppo-
sition to the construction of this harbor was Mr. Polk,
He opposed the measure, and Mr. Fillmore advocated it,
It is a little singular that Mr. Fillmore, the leading man
for, and Mr. Polk, the leading man against, that measure,
should have both been elevated to the chief magistracy of
the United States. The circumstance of the harbor
erection was an enterprise of no great magnitude; but it
is illustrative of the spirit of the times, and shows in.
210 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
what attitude these two statesmen stood in relation to
each other in the comparative outset of their political
careers. Mr, Polk was in the majority party, and the
warm friend of President Jackson ; Mr. Fillmore was in
the minority, and not identified with the Jackson party ;
consequently the former was at that time in the smoothest
way to success. Subsequent developments threw them
both into the presidential chair — both were incumbents
of that high office during times of great excitement ; both
evinced great capacities as statesmen ; both have left
their names upon the pages of their country's history ; and
both were great men.
Many other very important measures came before the
twenty-third Congress, both of a local and general nature,
upon the action of which Mr. Fillmore participated with
great credit to himself, and usefulness to his constituency
and country. The proceedings of that Congress were
marked by a spirit of excitement and party feelings,
engendered by the course of the president in his veto of
the bank bill and the removal of the deposits, rarely
witnessed in a legislative body. But amid all the excite-
ments of party and party animosity, he maintained his
characteristic firmness, and guarded with special cai*e the
interests reposed in his keeping, throughout the entire
session. The compromise tariff of Mr. Clay, as before
stated, had effected a temporary settlement of some of
the leading measures advocated by his party, and to the
remaining ones he gave an undeviating adherence. Inter-
nal improvements found in him a warm and zealous advo-
cate, who, on all proposed investments of a nature to
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 211
develop the resources of the country, took favorable and
deckled ground. The local measures, in whose passage
his constituency was immediately concerned, suffered not
the least neglect. Modest, unassuming, courteous, and
dignified, he elevated himself to a very enviable position,
for a young member in his first session. He was always
at his post rendering service in the various measures of
the day,' never exhibiting the least neglect of duty as
a legislator.
He won the respect and esteem of the entire body, and
established himself in the hearts of his constituency.
He was among the most industrious and vigilant
members of the twenty-third Congress.
An enumeration of all the measures in which he par-
ticipated, and proposed, during that session of Congress,
would swell the pages of this chapter to too great a
length. Suffice it to say, that every measure he advo-
cated and everyvote he cast met the entire approbation
of those he represented, from the assemblage of Congress
to its adjournment.
212 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
CHAPTER VI.
Reelected to Congress — Van Burenism — Distinguished characters —
Polk elected speaker — Fourth installment of the Deposit Act — A
bill to postpone the payment of the installment — It passes the
senate — Mr. Fillmore's opposition — His able speech against the
bill — Mr. Fillmore gives his views of the TJ. S. Bank — The pas-
sage of the bill — Mr. Fillmore and Mr. Clay — Slavery in the
District of Columbia — The right of petition — Mr. Clay its cham-
pion in the senate, and Mr. Fillmore in the house — His views on
the subject of slavery at that time — The North and the South —
Mr. Fillmore's conciliatory nature as a statesman — His patri-
otism.
The commencement of this chapter takes Mr. Fillmore
again from the retirement and pursuits of his professional
labors, so congenial to his feelings, in which he was
placed by the adjournment of the twenty-third Congress.
After the close of his labors in that body, he resumed the
practice of his profession in the city of Buifalo, which he
continued with marked success and distinguished ability
until 1836. The high estimate placed upon him by his
fellow citizens, from the faithful manner in which he had
discharged his duties as a public servant, would not per-
mit him long to enjoy the retiracy of private life. In the
fall of 1836 he was again elected to Congress by the peo-
ple of his district. Since his last labors in that body, the
political elements had again been stirred with the thun-
ders of party strife. Jackson's star was not so brightly
in the ascendant, and the bank deposit excitement had, to
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 213
some extent, been supplanted by Van Burenism and the
sub-treasury. Van Buren and Harrison were the presi-
dential candidates during the campaign of 1836. The
majority for Van Buren over the whig candidate, Harri-
son, was overwhelming, while White received the vote of
a fragmental portion of the democratic party. Thus, the
incoming administration bid fair to give its adherence to
the Jacksonian principles of the previous one, with a
strong progressive tendency opposed to the fostering of
conservative measure. The democrats still held sway in
the house by a pretty large majority. Among the mem-
bers of the twenty-fifth Congress who have figured con-
spicuously in the politics of the nation and enrolled their
names high in the book of fame, was Millard Fillmore, J.
Q. Adams, J. R. Underwood, James K. Polk, and Henry
A. Wise. To the great service these gentlemen have
been to the country, her own great institutions bear the
best attestation. Three of them filled the presidential
chair. A fourth occupied an elevated position in the
United States Senate, as the colleague of Henry Clay,
second to none; and in the adjustment of the fearful diffi-
culties of 1849 and 1850, rendered efficient and patriotic
services that entitle him to the lasting gratitude of the
country. A fifth is the acting governor of Virginia. All
five of these gentlemen were colaborers in the twenty-
fifth Congress.
Congress was organized by the election of James K.
Polk to the speakership, and the message of President
Van Buren was received on the fifth of September.
One of the first measures of importance proposed in
214 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
the first session of this Congress was from the committee
on finance. This committee, the day after its appoint-
ment, reported, through their chairman, the following
" Bill to Postpone the Payment of the Fourth Installment
of Deposits with the States.
" Be it enacted hy the senate and house of representa-
tives of the United States of America in congress assem-
bled, that the transfer of the fourth installment of
deposits directed to be made with the states, under the
thirteenth section of the act of June 23, 1836, be, and
the same is, hereby postponed until further provision by
law."
This bill, having originated in the senate, elicited the
opposition of Calhoun, and the non-concurrence of
Webster, though he was of the finance committee, from
whence it was reported. These two gentlemen were the
leaders in the opposition to the bill, while Mr. Wright
was its warmest advocate. The bill was warmly dis-
cussed in the senate for several days, until it became the
leading subject. After being before the senate for two
or three weeks, it was, after some amendments, submit-
ted to that body, and passed by a majority of eleven
votes — Mr. Clay voting against it.
The deposit act of 1836 made it the duty of the sec-
retary of the treasury to ascertain the precise amount of
surplus that would be due each state on the first day of
the ensuing January. In compliance with that act, in
his report to Congress, he had specified exactly these sev-
eral amounts, and three of the installments had been duly
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 215
paid over to those properly delegated to receive them.
The bill introduced into the senate by the committee on
finance was to postpone the payment of the fourth install-
ment, upon the ground of the embarrassed condition of
the government, without specifying any time when such
payment should be made, leaving that entirely to the
discretion of Congress. Taking into consideration the
fact of the secretary's having already made his reports,
and giving the amounts of these several installments, the
opponents, with great justice, argued the inconsistency
of the measure that would counteract their payment as
promised.
This bill was introduced into the house on the eight-
eenth of September ensuing its passage in the senate.
It' became a subject of great interest, in the house of
representatives, and on the twenty-fifth of September, it
being the special business of the house, a very animated
discussion was being carried on, in regard to it, by some
of the most prominent members, when Mr. Fillmore,
among others, delivered the following speech, which is
inserted as showing the views he entertained at that time,
on the great questions of national politics, and the style
of his address in legislative bodies :
" I am now prepared, sir, notwithstanding the lateness
of the hour, to offer what I have to say on this subject ;
but if the committee prefer to rise, and continue the dis-
cussion to-morrow, it will suit me quite as well. For the
purpose of testing the sense of the committeee on that
point, I will cheerfully yield the floor for a motion to rise.
" What then, sir, is the history of this surplus revenue,
216 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOEE.
upon which the bill upon your table is to operate, and
which has elicited such a warm discussion ? It is this,
sir — our revenue had been graduated upon a scale suffi-
ciently large, for many years, to collect from the people,
chiefly by duties, a sum, which, together with moneys'
received from the sale of public lands, not only defrayed
all the expenses of government, but left annually a large
surplus to be applied in payment of the national debt.
This debt, sir, which, at the adoption of the federal con-
stitution, was upwards of $75:000,000, had, by the opera-
tion of this system, been gradually reduced, so that, in
1S12, before the commencement of the last war, it was
only about $45,000,000. . The expenses of that war, sir,
again increased this debt, so that, in 1816, it was upwards
of $127,000,000. A wise forecast had made ample pro-
vision for its payment, and year by year it was lessened,
until 1834, when it was finally extinguished.
"It was apparent, sir, to all, before this debt was
finally liquidated, that when that event did occur, the
same system of indirect taxation, which could not sud-
denly be changed without injury to our manufactures,
must throw a large amount of surplus revenue into the
treasury. This money having been thus collected from
the people, or being the avails of the public lands, it was
thought no more than reasonable, as it was not wanted
for government purposes, to return it again to the people,
from whom it had been taken, and whose it was. I shall
not now stop, sir, to inquire into the justice or constitu-
tionality of the measure. It was clearly just. The
government had this fund as the agent of the people. I
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE. 217
hold, sir, that the government, in all cases, is but the
agent and instrument of the people, constituted to execute
their collective will.
" To restore this large amount of money to the use of
those from whom it had been taken, with as little injury
as possible to the country, Congress passed a law on the
twenty-sixth day of June, 1836, by which it was declared
that the secretary of the treasury should, on the first day
of January, 1837, ascertain how much money there was
in the treasury, and deduct from the whole sum thus
found $5,000,000, and that the remainder should be de-
posited with the several states, or such of them as should
consent to receive the same, one-fourth on each of the
first days of January, April, July, and October, in 1837,
upon the conditions prescribed in the act; which were,
that the states should keep it safely, and return it again
to the United States, in sums not exceeding $10,000 per
month, from any one state, and so in the like proportion
from other states, when wanted for the use of the gov-
ernment, and demanded by the secretary of the treasury.
But the secretary was authorized to draw for $20,000 on
giving thirty days' notice. I do not pretend, sir, to give
the words of the act verbatim, as I have it not before me,
and I only speak from recollection. But this is the sub-
stance of the act of Congress.
" This, sir, was the proposition on the part of the Unit-
ed States of the terms upon which they were willing
to deposit this money with the states. This, too, was
a proposition emanating from the highest — nay, from all
the separate departments of this government. It was
10
218 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
pledging the national faith in the most solemn manner
that it could be pledged, by a law which received the
assent of both houses of Congress, and, the approbation
of the president.
" The state of New York, sir, by an act of its legisla-
ture, passed, I think, in January, 1837, agreed to accept
this proposition made by the United States, and to receive
the money, and safely keep and return the same when
called for, according to the terms of said act of Con-
gress ; and pledging the faith of the state for the faithful
performance of these acts. This, then, constituted the
contract or compact between the parties.
" The secretary of the treasury, as directed by the act
of Congress, ascertained, on the 1st day of January last,
the amount of money in the treasury, and after deducting,
as he supposed, $5,000,000 from that sum, found there
remained to be deposited with the states $37,468,859.^7.
I say, as he ' supposed,' sir ; for it now appears by his
late report to this house, that there was $1,670,137.52
in the treasury, (that is, sir, in the pet banks,) on that
day, of which he had received no account. So that, in re-
ality, he reserved $6,670,137.52, instead of the $5,000,000,
as directed by the act.
" Well, sir, the portion of this which belonged to the
state of New York, by the terms of the compact, was
$5,352,694. 28, three-fourths of which has been received
by that state, and the bill now on your table proposes to
postpone the payment of the remaining $1,33S,173.57, to
which that state will be entitled on the first day of October
next, by the terms of the compaot.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 219
" Now, sir, let it be borne in mind that this is one entire
contract, in reference to one entire sum of money, and
that it has been partially performed. I say, sir, the sum
is entire. Although it was to be paid at different times,
yet the appropriation was of the entire sum that should
be found in the treasury on a certain day. That sum,
when ascertained in the manner prescribed in the act,
was the money set apart for this specific purpose. It
was, in legal intendment, as definite and fixed as though
the money had been counted out at the several banks
where it was deposited on that day, and laid aside for this
object. True, it was to be paid out at different times ;
but this was to accommodate the banks, and prevent a
derangement of the currency, and consequent distress of
the community, by calling for too large sums at once.
" But, Mr. Chairman, I am opposed to the bill upon
your table. I am opposed to it, first, sir, on the ground
that it is hypocritical and false in its language. The title
of the bill is an ' act to postpone' the payment of this
fourth installment. This is a false label, sir, to the door
through which we are to enter into the mysteries of this
bill. But let us look at the bill itself. It declares that
the payment of this installment ' shall be postponed until
further provision hy law.' What is this, then, sir, but a
repeal of so much of the act jof 1836 as authorizes the
payment of this fourth installment 1 It does not merely
postpone the payment to a definite time, then to be made
without any further legislative action ; but it postpones it
until further ' provision by law,' that is, until by a new
law Congress shall direct this payment to be made. If
220 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
this bill pass, nothing short of a new law can ever give
this money to the states. Then the effect of this bill is
to repeal the law of 1836.
" Why not say so, then 1 Why profess to postpone
when you absolutely revoke? Why not call things by
their right names 1 Is there some iniquity in the trans-
action that it is necessary to conceal ? Is it intended to
excite expectations among the people that are never to
be realized ? Sir, I disdain such a course. I will never
give my vote for a law that, on its face, bears evidence of
fraudulent concealment and hypocritical designs.
" I am aware, sir, that an amendment has been offered
by the gentleman from South Carolina, (Mr. Pickens,)
that, if adopted, would obviate this objection. But as
that amendment is undoubtedly intended to sugar over
this nauseous pill, to make it a little more palatable to
some who loathe it now, and as I should still be opposed
to the bill if the amendment were adopted, for reasons
which I shall hereafter give, I am inclined to let those
who are prepared to swallow anything take the dose as it
is, and vote against the amendment as well as the bill.
If this money be not now paid, I have no idea that the
states will ever receive it. Let us have it now, accord-
ing to promise, or tell us at once we have nothing to
expect. Do not tantalize us by exciting further hopes
that are never to be realized.
" But, sir, I am also opposed to the bill for another
reason, and that is, that this sudden change of the destiny
of near ten millions of dollars is calculated still further
to derange the currency and business operations of the
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 221
country, and add to the accumulated distresses of the
community under which they now labor. If there be one
truth, above all others, well settled in political economy,
it is this : that if you would make a nation prosperous
and happy, give them a uniform and unchangeable cur-
rency. It is as essential as uniformity and stability in
your weights and measures. This currency is the life-
blood of the body politic. Its supply should be equal
and uniform.' Every throb of the heart is felt to the
utmost extremities. If the regular flow and pulsation
fail, languor and faintness follow; but ' overaction,' as
the president calls it, often produces instantaneous paral-
ysis and prostration. The political empyrics have admin-
istered dose upon dose, and tried experiment after
experiment, until the patient is prostrate and hopeless,
writhing in agony and imploring for relief. If ever there
was a nation or an individual to whom that epitaph was
peculiarly appropriate, it is this nation and this admin-
istration :
'" I was well ; I wished to be better ;
I took physic, and here I am."
" I am also opposed to this bill, sir, for another reason.
Its object and intent is to violate the plighted faith of this
nation. I shall not enter into an examination to see
whether the offer on the part of the United States, which
was acceded to by the state of New York, in the manner
that I have already stated, was or was not a pecuniary
contract, according to the strict rules of the common law,
which might be enforced in a court of justice. This
point has been most fully and eloquently discussed by
222 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOEE.
my colleague immediately in front of me, (Mr. Sibley.)
I could add nothing to what he has said on that subject.
It is said that the United States have received no consid-
eration for the promise. But, sir, I am disposed to place
this question on higher grounds. Does it become this
nation or the American Congress to stand here paltering
about the redemption of its plighted faith to one of the
daughters of the Union, on the ground that it has
received no consideration for the promise which it has
made 1 Has this nation, indeed, sunk so low that it
takes shelter from its engagements, when it finds it incon-
venient to perform them, behind the statute of frauds %
The reason why a consideration is required to enforce a
contract between individuals does not apply to this case.
That is a rule adopted by the courts to protect the incon-
siderate and the unwary from the consequences of their
own folly, in making hasty promises without considera-
tion. But, sir, even as between individuals, if the man-
ner in which the contract has been made evinces a due
degree of deliberation, then the courts will enforce it.
If, for instance, the contract be sealed, that is regarded
as so solemn an act, and evidences such caution and
deliberation that the courts, by the common law, preclude
all inquiry into the consideration, and compel the obligor
to perform his contract. This case shows the reason of
the rule, and I submit that it has no applicability here.
Will gentlemen say that Congress was surprised into
the promise ? that there was not due deliberation had on
the subject ? or that the congregated wisdom of this
nation requires such a miserable subterfuge as this, to
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE. 223
justify to its own conscience the violation of its plighted
faith 1 Sir, was not the contract sufficiently solemn ? It
is among the sacred archives of your nation. It is of
the same high and solemn character with your treaties
with foreign nations. Nay, if possible, sir, it is still
higher, and more obligatory upon the nation. A treaty
is only sanctioned by the president and the senate. This,
sir, has been sealed with the national honor, and attested
by the national faith of both branches of Congress and
the executive ; and you may call it contract, compact, or
treaty, it is clearly a promise by the nation, in the most
solemn form that a promise can be made.
" Sir, have gentlemen who are in favor of this bill duly
reflected upon its nature and consequences ? Have they
duly considered the value of the national honor 1 Would
any one dare to make a proposition to break our national
faith, if it had been pledged to a foreign power, as it has
been to the several states of our Union 1 I trust not.
Then, sir, is the obligation less sacred to the various
states of this confederacy, especially when made for the
benefit of the people themselves, in reference to their own
money 1 I hope not. But, sir, if we violate our plighted
faith here, may we not do it in other cases ? Your pen-
sion laws, passed for the relief of the care-worn veteran
and hardy mariner, promise to those individuals a mere
gratuity. It is the bounty which a generous nation
bestows upon its brave defenders. But it has no elements
of a pecuniary contract. There is no such reciprocity in
those cases, as in this, to continue a contract. No prom-
ise or service is required from the pensioner, as a quid
224 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
pro quo for the bounty you bestow. But in this case jou
have required and received the plighted faith of the state
of New York to receive the money, keep it safely, and
repay it in certain proportions. Would any member of
this house have the hardihood to propose a bill to with-
hold the payment of these pensions, and then assign as a
reason that there is no valid contract for paying them 1
I presume not. Sir, there is something of more value to
a nation than money. It is untarnished honor — unbro-
ken faith. They should be as spotless as female chastity.
" One false step in vain we may deplore ;
We fall like stars that set to rise no more.
" The reason why every promise should be performed
is, that it has raised expectations which, in justice, ought
not to be disappointed. The whole business of life is
an endless chain of confidence growing out of these prom-
ises, express or implied. And frequently the breaking of
one link sunders a thousand.
" Whatever link you strike,
Tenth, or ten-thousandth, breaks the chain alike.
" Look at its effects, in this case, upon the state of
New York. That state, relying upon the plighted faith
of this nation, has gone on and agreed to loan out all
this money to citizens throughout the state, giving to
each town and ward their ratable proportion. Bonds and
mortgages have been taken for the whole amount ; and
the three-fourths which has been received by the state
from this government, has been paid over to the bor-
rowers, and promises in the shape of certificates given to
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 225
pay over the remaining fourth on the first of October.
The state has relied upon the promises of this govern-
ment for the money to pay these certificates. Now, sir,
unless the money can be raised in some other way by the
state, if these be withheld, all those numerous borrowers
must be disappointed. Those who have struggled from
day to day, and from week to week, to bear up against
.the pressure of the times, until they could obtain this
pittance of relief, are to sink down in utter despair.
"But, sir, what is the difference between the promise on
the part of the state to lean this money to individuals,
and the promise on the part of this government to deposit
this money with the states ? A deposit is a loan; and
the person with whom the deposit is made becomes the
borrower, liable to pay the money according to the terms
agreed. This government, then, has agreed to loan the
money to the state of New York ; and has taken the
bond and mortgage of that state, in the shape of a solemn
act of its legislature, to repay it on certain terms. The
state has agreed to loan the same sum to individuals, and
has taken their bonds and mortgages for the repayment
of the same. Then, if this government can be justified
in breaking this agreement, much more will the state of
New York be justified in the breach of the agreement to
the individual borrowers. The state may not only plead
the high example of this nation in the breach of its
promise, but may urge, with perfect justice, that the
breach of faith by the United States, on which the state
had unfortunately relied, had prevented the state from ful-
filling its engagements. Will any of my colleagues who
22Q LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
now urge a breach of faith on the part of the United
States, in withholding this installment, say that they be-
lieve the state of New York will be guilty of a similar
breach to the borrowers of this money ? I know they
will not stain her honor by such an insinuation. Then
how can they justify themselves to their God or their
country, in lending their votes or their voices to dishonor
this nation in such a manner as would be regarded a re-
proach and disgrace to the state in which we live? I
hope gentlemen will pause and reflect before they finally
" Let me not be misunderstood in what I am about to
say. I have never been a particular friend of the United
States Bank. I regard it, as I do all other banks, as a
necessary evil. I have never been its advocate, and am
not now. It has gone down to ' the tomb of the Cap-
ulets ; ' let it rest in peace. And I should have great
doubts of the expediency of establishing a new United
States Bank at this time, for the relief of the community.
I fear that an attempt to put it in operation would rather
aggravate than mitigate our sufferings. But on this point
it is not necessary to express an opinion. I only allude
to it> to prevent any improper inference, and that the
committee may understand that all I have to say of the
United States Bank is as matter of history, and not of
opinion, as to its expediency or usefulness at this time.
Times have essentially changed; and what might have
been proper or useful then, may be wholly improper or
useless now. Then, such a bank, with the confidence of
the government and people, might be useful in regulating
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 227
the currency. Since the war upon that institutions banks
have multiplied beyond all former example. To add
another at this time, and collect together the requisite
specie to put it in operation, would, I fear, add greatly to
our present embarrassments. People must learn from
actual suffering that it is much more easy to tear down
than to build up, to destroy than to create, and to derange
than to restore. Ignorance and folly may accomplish the
one ; wisdom, prudence, and time can alone perform the
other.
" But, sir, I said I was opposed to these measures,
because they promised no permanent relief to the country.
Why has the president, after witnessing the sufferings of
this community — after calling us together, as every one
supposed, to propose some measure of relief — turned thus
coldly away, without recommending anything to restore
a uniform currency ? Are the prayers, and tears, and
groans of a whole nation, suffering all the horrors of im-
pending bankruptcy, not worthy of his consideration?
Are members of the administration prepared to return
and look their constituents in the face without making one
effort for the relief of the country 1 We, of the minority
can do nothing. We are powerless. But you have all
power. Then why not exert it to bring back the days of
prosperity and sunshine that existed before this fatal war
upon the currency, and commerce, and business of our
country. ********
" But, sir, this war against t|je United States Bank, got
up for political effect, regardless of the peace of society
or the interests of the country, was made to unite the
228 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
extremes of society. The more intelligent of the middle
class never engaged in it ; or were drawn into it, from
political associations, with reluctance. It was really a
war of the state banks against the United States Bank,
got up by artful politicians to elevate Mi*. Van Buren to
the presidency. They tempted the cupidity of the thou-
sand officers and stockholders interested in these banks,
with the bribe of the public deposits, and the prospect of
destroying a hated rival that kept them in check, and
loaned money at six per cent. It was a Shylock feeling
of avarice and revenge. On the other hand, all the affili-
ated presses connected with state banks cried out against
the monster, until the more ignorant part of the com-
munity thought their liberties in danger, and joined the
strong bank party against the weaker, to put down the
United States Bank. Having effected this and brought
the country to the verge of ruin, and overwhelmed these
state banks with infamy and disgrace, is it strange that
the same unprincipled course should be pursued against
them, that has been pursued against the United States
Bank 1 It is what they had a right to expect. It is but
• commending the poisoned chalice to their own lips.'
We may pity their folly ; we may condemn the heartless
perfidy that first seduced them from their duty, and pros-
tituted them to the vilest purposes of partisan warfare,
until their infamy has rendered them useless, and now
casts them aside ; but we cannot deny that the retributive
hand of justice is seen in their sufferings.
" Sir, in corroboration of what I have said about this
being a war of the state banks against the United States
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 229
Bank, got up by designing politicians, I will mention a
few facts connected with a little secret history on this
subject in my own state.
"It is known, sir, that we have a peculiar system of
banking in the state of New York, called the safety-fund
system. It had its origin with Mr. Van Buren, when
governor of the state in 1829. Although he did not claim
the merit of an original inventor, yet he adopted it as his
own, and recommended it to the legislature. This sys-
tem, sir, establishing a community of intjrest between the
banks, and being under the immediate supervision of three
bank commissioners, is admirably well calculated for use
as a political engine. It was no sooner put in operation,
than it was brought to bear upon the legislature of that
state. In 1830 or 1831, while I was honored with a seat
in the legislature of that state, resolutions were introduced
into that body against a recharter of the United States
Bank. These resolutions, sir, originated with the banks
in that state. Not one solitary petition from the people
on that subject had been presented to the legislature.
The bank then had three branches in that state : one at
New York, one at Utica, and one at Buffalo ; and the peo-
ple were contented with the currency which they fur-
nished. No murmur, no complaint, was heard from the
people. But, sir, day by day, as those resolutions were
under discussion in that legislature, the birds of ill-omen,
that deal in bank stock, hovered round that hall, and
watched the progress of this unholy proceeding with an
intense anxiety.
" But no farmers, no mechanics, were there. They had
230 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE.
not been consulted ; they took no interest in the proceed-
ing. They had no share at that time in this conspiracy
of the state banks against their interest. They were
delving at their labor, and slumbering in security, while
these banks were forging the chains with which they have
since bound them. Yes, sir, I was informed, and I be-
lieve it, that nightly, during the discussion of those reso-
lutions, their supporters in the legislature met in conclave,
in one of the principal banks in that city, to devise ways
and means to carry them through. They were carried.
These banks, with the aid of the party screws, proved too
powerful for the independence and honesty of that body ;
and the result was proclaimed as the sense of the people
of that great state against the United States Bank. This
state bank, sir, had its reward — it shared the spoils. But,
sir, my colleague (Mr. Foster) has taken occasion to
eulogize his safety-fund system. He says it works like
a charm. I shall not deny, sir, that it has some good
qualities; but I am far from thinking it so charming as
my honorable colleague. I doubt not it appears so, sir,
to many who share in its golden harvest, and enjoy its
exclusive privileges ; but to the great majority of the
people, who, like myself, deal not in bank stock, but occa-
sionally see or feel the tyranny of these little monsters,
the working of this political engine is anything but
charming. Sir, I conceive it had its origin in the foul
embraces of political ambition, and cunning, heartless
avarice. ' It was conceived in sin, and brought forth in
iniquity.' It has spread its baleful influence over that
state, corrupting the fountains of power, and demoralizing
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 231
the whole community, hy the manner in which its privi-
leges have been granted and its stock distributed. Banks
have been granted, and the stocks distributed, to party
favorites, as a reward for party services. They have
been the mercenary bribe offered to the community to sap
the foundations of moral honesty and political integrity.
But I will not enter into the disgusting details. As to
those who wish to see the workings of this charming sys-
tem of my colleague, I will refer them to an examination
of our state legislature, last winter, and the proceedings
of that body upon the report of their committee upon a
single bank. I believe the very day on which the report
was made, it showed such abominable corruption and
abuses, that a bill was introduced to repeal its charter,
and, within one or two days, passed through all the forms
of legislation in the popular branch without a dissentive
vote ; and also passed the senate with but three or four
votes against it. Does my honorable colleague think that
a system which produces banks like this works like a
charm 1 But, sir, I perceive that this incestuous connec-
tion between the politics and banks of that state has been
festering and corrupting until it is about to fall asunder
from its own rottenness. I, for one, have no tears to shed
at the dissolution. I only regret that many of these
banks, since they were chartered, have passed into the
hands of honest and honorable men. I fear that the
odium which rests upon this corrupt system, and which,
in my opinion, is in nowise necessarily connected with
banking, will sink the whole, without discrimination. The
vengeance of an insulted and oppressed community is
232 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOEE.
terrible and overwhelming in its course. It stops not al-
ways to discriminate between the 'just and the unjust,'
between the proper use and improper abuse of a particular
system ; but in the wild madness of popular fury, they
hurl the whole to destruction. I warn them to stay their
desolating hands. All sudden changes are dangerous.
Let us not destroy, but purify this odious system. We
cannot live without banks and banking. Credit in some
shape is indispensable to our prosperity. Were we re-
duced to a specie circulation, as now proposed by the
president, property would not be worth twenty-five per
cent, what it now is, and would soon be wholly absorbed
by the wealthy capitalists of our country. The debtor
part of the community would be utterly ruined. Then
let us purge this vile system of its corruptions and abuses,
and strip it of its odious monopoly, and open the privilege
of banking to all who comply with such prescribed rules
of the legislature as secure the bill-holder and public
generally from fraud and imposition. I hope, sir, to live
to see the day when this shall be done, and the . moral
pestilence of political banks and banking shall be unknown."
The foregoing speech was delivered at a time when
party spirit raged in the legislative halls of our country
with a fierceness rarely excelled in the annals of the repub-
lic. It was not directed against the United States Bank,
but against the bill before the house for the postponement
of the fourth installment, as before stated. A miscon-
struction having been placed upon it in the Congressional
Globe, Mr. Fillmore sent the subjoined note to the pub-
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 233
iishers of that paper, where, upon the bank subject, his
views are sufficiently indicated :
"House of Representatives, )
September 27th, 1837. )
" Gentlemen : My attention has been this moment
drawn to a remark in the Globe of last evening, purport-
ing to give the proceedings of the house on Monday eve-
ning, in which I find the following statement :
" ' Mr. Fillmore resumed and continued his remarks on
the subject, with the addition of a lengthy argument in
favor of a Bank of the United States.'
" Passing over some evident misapprehensions of your
reporter as to the purport of my remarks generally, I wish
to say that he is entirely and most singularly mistaken in
saying that I made a lengthy argument in favor of the
United States Bank. I made no argument in favor of the
United States Bank, nor of a United States Bank ; but, on
the contrary, expressly disclaimed ever having been the par-
ticular friend of the United States Bank, and expressed my
sincere doubts whether the incorporation of a new United
States Bank, at this time, would relieve the present embar-
rassments of the community. Will you do me the justice
to correct the mistake ?
" Respectfully yours, Millard Fillmore.
" Messrs. Blair and Rives."
This speech, though not remarkable for its features of
eloquence, embodies a vast, fund of facts, showing the
speaker to have been thoroughly informed upon . the con-
dition of the finances and matters of public interest gen-
234 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
erally. During its delivery, he exhibited a tabular view
of the annual expenses of the government for twelve con-
secutive years, prepared with the exactest mathematical
precision.
We rarely have the good fortune to read a speech of no
greater length, that is so replete with evidences of research
and sound judgment. I have inserted these extracts as a
specimen of his political oratory.
The bill, against the passage of which this speech was
made, passed the house, after being so amended as to spe-
cify the first of January, 1839, as the day of making the
transfer, and was approved the second day of October,
1837. Mr. Clay's position in the senate in regard to this
measure was Mr. Fillmore's in the house.
The coincidence of the views of these gentlemen on
many subjects of vital interest can but be observed by
the student of their respective characters. Mr. Clay
had assumed that leadership in the senate which, as we
shall presently see, Mr. Fillmore assumed in the house,
and though the excitement in regard to the bank question
was participated in by Mr. Clay to a much greater extent
than Mr. Fillmore conceived the circumstances justified
exhibiting himself, on many other subjects their views
were as similar as though they were colleagues acting in
concert upon them. Subsequent events will show, too,
that there were feelings of unison between these two dis-
tinguished gentlemen, not restricted to the conventional
formalities of public station.
Petitions and memorials for the abolition of slavery in
the District of Columbia poured in upon the deliberations
LIFE OP MILLAED FILLMORE. 235
of the present session of Congress from all quarters, and
elicited no little controversy. The subject involved in
these controversies was the right of petition upon the
subject of slavery. On the eighteenth day of September,
1837, Mr. Wall, of New Jersey, presented a memorial in
the senate from the ladies of New Jersey, praying for
the abolition of slavery in the District. Many members,
very tender upon this subject, were disposed to. look unfa-
vorably upon the memorial, and even went so far as to
say that it was prompted by a spirit of fanaticism.
The right of petition has always, in the estimation of
the wisest statesmen and purest patriots of our country,
been regarded as sacred, and the petitioners as entitled to
courtesy and respect, at least. To wise statesmen, who
wish to pursue a peaceful, conciliatory course, prudence,
if no higher consideration, should dictate the extension
of respectful attention to such memorialists, on all occa-
sions. And those who refuse such respect, unless of no
ordinary nature, upon the ground that the petitioners are
fanatics, merely because they presume, in the form of a
memorial, to couch their wishes in regard to certain
important measures, usually evince a much greater spirit
of fanaticism themselves than do those who produce the
petitions.
The memorial referred to by the New Jersey ladies,
elicited quite an animated debate in the senate, com-
mencing as follows :
" Mr. Hubbard moved to lay the motion on the table.
" Mr. Clay wished the motion withdrawn for a moment
It was manifest that the subject of slavery in the Dis-
236 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE.
trict of Columbia was extending itself in the public
mind, and daily engaging more and more of the public
attention. His opinions, as expressed in the legislature
of the country, were, he believed, perfectly well known.
He had no hesitation in saying that -Congress ought not
to do what was asked by the petitioners without the con-
sent of the people of the District of Columbia. He was
desirous of inquiring of the senator from New Jersey, or
any other conversant with the subject, whether the feel-
ing of abolition in the abstract was extending itself in
their respective states, or whether, it was not becoming
mixed up with other matters — such, for instance, in the
belief that the sacred right of petition had been assailed.
It became the duty of the senate to inquire into this busi-
ness, and understand the subject well.
" There were many, no doubt, of these petitioners, who
did not mean to assert that slavery should be abolished,
but were contending for what they understood to be a great
constitutional right. Would it not, then, under this
view of the subject, be the best course to allay excite-
ment, and endeavor to calm down and tranquilize the
public mind 1 Would it not be wiser to refer the sub-
ject to the committee for the District of Columbia, or
some other committee, that would elicit all the facts, rea-
son coolly and dispassionately, presenting the subject in
all its bearings to the citizens of non-slaveholding states,
and in a manner worthy of the great subject 1 Would
not such a proceeding be well calculated to insure har-
mony and amity in all parts of the Union 1 On this sub-
ject there was, he was aware, a great diversity of opinion,
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 237
and he rose merely for the purpose of making these sug-
gestions to the senate.
" Mr. Calhoun said he had foreseen what this suhject
would come to, he knew its origin, and that it lay deeper
than was supposed; it grew out of a spirit of fanaticism,
which was daily increasing, and, if not in limine, would,
by and by, dissolve the Union. It was particularly our
duty to keep the matter out of the senate — out of the
halls of the national legislature. These fanatics were
interfering with what they had no right. Grant the
receptions of these petitions, and you will next be
required to act upon them. He was for no conciliatory
course — no temporizing; instead of yielding one inch, he
t would rise in opposition, and he hoped every man from
the south would stand by him, to put down this growing
evil. There was but one question that would ever destroy
this Union, and that was involved in this principle. Yes;
this was potent enough for it, and must be early arrested,
if the Union was to be preserved. A man must see little
into what is going on, if he did not see that this spirit
was growing, and that the rising generation was becoming
more strongly imbued with it. It was not to be stop-
ped by reports on paper, but by action — very decided
action."
Mr. Clay opposed the above remarks in a very mild,
conciliatory manner, assuring the gentleman that the
Union was in no danger of dissolution. No man ever
understood better than Mr. Clay the effect of a concilia-
tory course. Bold and fearless as he was, when occasion
required, he was always for cementing the bonds of union,
238 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
by the golden chain of national brotherhood ; and decided
as were his convictions on the subject treated of in the peti-
tions that came into Congress, he knew that by their dis-
respectful repulsion, the very excitement they wished to
allay would be kindled into an intenser heat, and courte-
ous petition be changed to indignant denunciation. Then,
besides the motives of policy and prudence, to the dic-
tates of which all legislators should give watchful heed,
by which he was actuated to the defence of the memori-
alists, the right of petition he conceded as an inherent
one in the free exercise of which, no barrier should be
raised between legislators and the people-between the sen-
tinels and the camp. Such was the attitude, the right of
petition presented in the senate, with Mr. Clay for its
defender; it remains to be considered in what light it
was regarded in the house, and who was its defender
there.
On the twelfth of December, 1S37, J. Q. Adams pre-
sented in the house a petition praying the abolition of
slavery in the District of Columbia.
This, in connection with former petitions presented by
that gentleman, was signed by fifty-thousand persons,
embracing the most influential of his constituency. He
moved that the memorials be referred to the committee
on the District of Columbia.
Mr. Wise moved that it be laid on the table. The
house voted on Mr. Wise's motion, which was carried by
a large majority, Mr. Fillmore voting with the minority
in the negative, sustaining the right of petition. Several
lengthy memorials were presented by the same gentle-
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 23&
man, of the same nature, all of which, on motion of Mr.
Wise, were tabled, Mr. Fillmore, with characteristic con-
sistency, voting uniformly in the negative. Mr. Fillmore
entertained the same views in regard to the right of peti-
tion that Mr. Clay did ; on the presentation of the memorials
that flooded Congress during that session, though they
were most usually tabled, he occupied grounds favorable
to their reception and respectful consideration. Many of
Mr. Fillmore's constituents, however, notwithstanding the
uniformity of his votes in Congress sustaining the right
of petition, were not satisfied with his views upon that
and other subjects connected with the delicate question
of slavery. There was then in Erie county an anti-
slavery society, who regarded the considerations con-
nected with that subject as paramount to all others, and
when Mr. Fillmore was again placed by his fellow
citizens before the people, for a seat in the twenty-
sixth Congress, the chairman of a committee appointed
by that society addressed the following interrogatories to
Mr, Fillmore :
" 1st. Do you believe that petitions to Congress on the
subject of slavery and the slave trade ought to be
received, read, and respectfully considered by the repre-
sentatives of the people ?
" 2d. Are you opposed to the annexation of Texas to
this Union under any circumstances, as long as slaves are
held therein 1
" 3d. Are you in favor of Congress exercising all the
constitutional power it possesses to abolish the interna]
slave trade between the states 1
240 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
" Are you in favor of immediate legislation for the
abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia ? "
From the subjoined reply to the above questions, Mr.
Fillmore's views are fully ascertained and appreciated
upon the subjects under consideration:
"Buffalo, October 17th, 1838.
"Sir: — Your communication of the 15th inst., as
chairman of a committee appointed by ' The Anti-slavery
Society of the County of Erie,' has just come to hand. I
am much engaged, and have no time to enter into an
argument or to explain at length my reasons for my opin-
ion. I shall, therefore, content myself for the present by
answering all your interrogatories in the affirmative, and
leave for some future occasion a more extended discussion
of the subject. I would, however, take this occasion to
say, that in thus frankly giving my opinion, I would not
desire to have it understood in the nature of a pledge.
At the same time that I seek no disguises, but freely give
my sentiments on any subject of interest to those for
whose suffrages Ipa candidate, I am opposed to giving
any pledges that shall deprive me hereafter of all discre-
tionary power.
" My own character must be the guarantee for the general
correctness of my legislative deportment. On every im-
portant subject I am bound to deliberate before I act, and
especially as a legislator, to possess myself of all the in-
formation, and listen to every argument that can be
adduced by my associates, before I give a final vote. If
I stand pledged to a particular course of action, I cease
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 241
to be a responsible agent, but I become a mere machine.
Should subsequent events show, beyond all doubt, that the
course I had become pledged to pursue was ruinous to
my constituents and disgraceful to myself, I have no
alternative, no opportunity for repentance, and there is no
power to absolve me from my obligations. Hence the
impropriety, not to say absurdity of giving a pledge.
" I am aware that you have not asked any pledge, and
I believe I know your sound judgment and good sense too
well to think you desire any such thing. It was, however,
to prevent any misrepresentation on the part of others,
that I have felt it my duty to say thus much on this
subject.
" I am, respectfully, your most ob't servant,
"Millard Fillmore.
" W. Mills, Esq., Chairman, &c."
Here, by an emphatic, unequivocal affirmative reply to
the questions proposed by the chairman, his views are
fully elicited upon the right of petition on the subject of
slavery in the District of Columbia. There is certainly
an effective power of conciliation embraced in them. A
courteous and respectful deference to the feelings and
views of others, in both public and private stations, is
much the surest way of quelling excitements, even though
such views differ widely from our own.
If the northern and southern states would but take
into consideration the important fact, that they are so
many members of a united family, whose maternal deriv-
ative is liberty, and study their relative duties as such,
11
242 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
instead of being so excited upon the subject of eacb
otter's peculiar institutions, much trouble and alarm-
would be allayed. If, instead of croaking disunion, ruinT
slavery, and civil war, they would occupy liberal conserv-
ative ground, conceding to each their own views, and
manifest a respectful bearing to those entertaining themy
the storm clouds would soon roll from the political horizon,
and leave us with a clear national shy, each independent
star undimned. If the public servants of the country
would be willing, in the true spirit of liberality, to make-
some concessions, instead of piercing each other with the
porcupine quills of sectional partisanship, our Congress,
instead of becoming a gladiatorial amphitheatre for ban-
dying opprobrious epithets and originating affairs of honor,,
would be an assemblage of patriots studiously endeavoring
to promote the national welfare. When, in the spirit of
mutual concession and good-will, the north and the south
will shake hands across Mason & Dixon's Line, and bury
their animosities in the tomb of oblivion, we will certainly
have attained a " consummation devoutly to be wished/'
Than Mr. Fillmore, no one has evinced a greater desire,
or manifested more solicitude in subduing all excitements
of a dangerous tendency. He is no partisan, though firm
in his views upon what tends to the public good. In a
long career of usefulness to his country, he has discharged
the duties of official station upon the soundest conserv-
ative principles, and in a spirit of liberality, showing
the greatest anxiety of equal rights to all, irrespective
of party faction or local prejudice. Mr. Fillmore, as a
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 243
statesman, though decisive and patriotic, is eminently
conciliatory. 9
There is not in the Union another man so mnch of
whose life has been devoted to public service, who can
cull from his antecedents so many evidences of concilia-
tory capacities.
In the defence of the right of petition, side by side we
again find him with the immortal Clay, earnestly, though
in a minority party, defending those liberal conciliatory
principles. His whole congressional career was an ex-
hibit of earnest desire to be useful, and a casual retro-
spect of it when we arrive at its close will be sufficient
to convince us of their gratification.
244 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
CHAPTER VII.
His views on the subject of public defence — The outrageous conduct
of British officers — Awful fate of the Caroline — Mr. Fillmore's
resolution urging redress — A committee reports upon the out-
rage— He opposes the report — Prompt, but not excitable —
His solicitude for the northern frontier — The celebrated Jersey
case — Its importance — Mr. Fillmore's determination to investi-
gate it fairly — Proceedings of the committee on elections — Foul
play — Democratic contestants successful — Letter to his constit-
uents — Twenty-seventh Congress — Great change — Party poli-
tics— Harrison and the Whig party — The nominal president —
John Tyler's treachery — Committee of ways and means — Dis-
tress of the country — Giant efforts of the twenty-seventh Con-
gress — Equal to the emergency — Great innovations.
We have before indicated that, as a legislator, Mr.
Fillmore felt the necessity in time of peace of being pre-
pared for war, and making such arrangements for public
defence as would be necessary to protect the national
honor and prosperity against any sudden or unforeseen
attack or outrage. His course in the present Congress,
in regard to the requirement of redress from Great Britain,
for an outrage perpetrated upon the northern frontier,
shows his views upon the subject of public defence more
fully, and also furnishes evidence of his activity as a
member of Congress.
The cause for the demand for redress on the part of
Congress, originated in the dastardly conduct of a British
officer stationed at Chippewa, in Canada, in command of a
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 245
large body of troops, toward a citizen of Buffalo, in seiz-
ing a vessel belonging to him, then plying on Niagara
River. It was during the Canadian insurrection, or the
Patriot war. McNab, the British officer in command at
Chippewa, fitted out an expedition against the Caroline,
the vessel alluded to. On the twenty-ninth of December,
they fired a heavy volley of musketry into the vessel at
Black Rock, on the American side. She sustained no
injury, however, from this insult, and had the outrage
stopped here, no great harm would have been done. But
after nightfall, while cabled at Schlosser's dock, and after
the larger part of the crew were asleep, she was boarded
by the piratical expedition of McNab, set on fire, and sent
over the rapids of Niagara, wrapped in flames, with
twelve souls on board.
On the 5th of January, 1838, Mr. Van Buren sent a
message to the senate and house of representatives, in
regard to the northern frontier, of which the following is
an extract : " Present experience on the southern bound-
ary of the United States and the events now daily occurr-
ing on our northern frontier, have abundantly shown that
the existing laws are insufficient to guard against hostile
invasion from the United States of the territory of friendly
and neighboring nations." In the senate, on the recep-
tion of' the message,
" Mr. Clay rose to express his full conviction of the
necessity of some early action on this important subject.
No spectacle could be more revolting to the feelings of a
free people than either a war among themselves or with
another country. The views of the executive met his
246 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
highest approbation ; but it was the duty of Congress to
examine, and if the existing laws were not adequate to
prevent the alleged interference of our citizens, others
should be forthwith enacted for the full accomplishment
of an object so desirable. He adverted in connection to
the vexatious and unsettled state of our northern bound-
ary, which state of things tended to increase the danger
which now threatened us. He had witnessed a similar
course of policy, on the part of our citizens, during recent
occurrences of a similar character in another quarter, on
which subject, however, he had never expressed his opin-
ions, nor should he do so now." This, in the senate, was
a subject of very great interest, and the sentiments
embodied in the message were approved by most of the
leading members. The necessity of placing the northern
frontier in a position of protection, after the perpetration
of so flagrant an outrage against all neutrality relation-
ship, and revolting to humanity itself, was too paramount
to be overlooked. Canada, as the rendezvous of an
armed band of twenty-five hundred soldiers, led by such
hyenas as MclSTab, who would not hesitate to send an
unarmed crew, engaged in their daily avocation, in a
burning ship over the cataract of Niagara, was too con-
tiguous to the territory of the United States not to excite
serious alarm on the part of the national legislatures.
The message coming up in Congress the same day, Mr.
Fillmore offered the following resolution :
" Resolved, that the president be requested to commu-
nicate to this house any information in his possession of
acts endangering the amicable relations between this
OPE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 247
^OTerament and that of Great Britain, either by the sub-
jects of Great Britain, or by our own citizens, on the
Oanada frontier, and what measures have been adopted
by the executive to preserve our neutrality with said
Mngdom, or repel invasion from a foreign country ; and
that he furnish the information called for by each of these
•resolutions, in separate communications."
Various resolutions and amendments were presented,
among others an amendment by Mr. Adams, requiring of
the president all documents and information in regard to
the preservation of our neutrality with Mexico and the
British provinces north of the United States.
An amendment to this was offered by Mr. Fillmore, as
follows : " And that the president be requested to com-
municate to this house any additional information in his
possession of acts endangering the amicable relations of
this government and that of Great Britain, either by the
subjects of Great Britain or by our own citizens, on the
Canadian frontier, and what measures have been adopted
by the executive to preserve* our neutrality with that
kingdom." In support of this amendment Mr. Fillmore
remarked, that the house was aware that there had been,
and now was, a great excitement existing on the Niagara
frontier, and that there had been movements in Buffalo in
reference to the revolution now raging in Canada. They
were probably aware that an armament had been fit-
ted out, mostly by American citizens, which had made
a stand upon Navy Island, which is within British terri-
tory, in Niagara River, twenty miles from Buffalo, and
two or three miles above the Falls, the lowest point at
248 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOEE.
which a crossing can be safely effected from the main
shore."
Mr. Fillmore here gave a full account of the outrage
of MclSTab upon the United States government, in the
destruction of the Caroline, and read letters containing
full particulars of the same, and desired to know if the
president was in possession of any information in regard
to the proceedings. Mr. Adams made some remarks in
support of his original amendment, indicating that the
various suggestions and amendments were postponing the
question, and deferring action upon it until it would be
too late to accomplish their object.
In reply to the remarks of Mr. Adams, Mr. Fillmore
said he " could not conceive bow his proposition could
possibly tend to embarrass the action of the house upon
the resolution offered by the committee on foreign affairs,
It was certainly very easy for the president to distin-
guish between the different kinds of information sought
for by the different propositions. He had tried every
other way to bring his proposition before the house, and
could not present it in any form which would secure its
immediate consideration, excepting that in which it now
stood. For if it were offered as an independent resolu-
tion, it would take its place behind all others now on the
speaker's table. Its great importance would not permit
him to expose it to such a risk, and he had, therefore,
offered it in the form of an amendment to the original
resolution of the committee on foreign affairs, in whioh
shape he hoped it would pass.
" As to the expression which he had used in relation
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 249
to the disturbances of the Niagara frontier, that this
country was on the eve of a war with Great Britain,
perhaps it was too strong an expression. But certainly
all the facts demonstrated that there was imminent dan-
ger of such a result. The citizens of the United States,
while in the peaceful pursuit of their business, had been
attacked by an armed force from a foreign nation, and a
portion of the militia of the country is even now ordered
to repel such hostility.
" He well knew that the spirit of the people on the
United States side of that frontier would not permit them
to stand tamely by, and witness such assaults. These
were facts, vouched for by respectable citizens as true
and authentic ; and he must ask if they were not such as
to warrant the offering of such a proposition as he had
moved. It makes no difference, he contended, whether
one or one hundred miles of the territory of the United
States has been invaded by the arms of a foreign nation ;
the jurisdiction of this country is coextensive with the
utmost limits of her territory. Even if the vessel which
was attacked had been carrying munitions of war to the
revolutionists on Navy Island, she was only liable, he
contended, to be attacked while within the British lines.
As it was, he agreed with the gentleman from Massachu-
setts, (Mr. Adams,) that there was scarcely a parallel to
this act upon the pages of our history as a nation ; and
it was to suppose an absolute impossibility, for a moment
to imagine that the people on that frontier will ever sub-
mit to the occurrence of such acts, without complaint and
redress. It was, therefore, in any view, highly important
11*
250 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
that the house should obtain all possible information
upon a subject so important."
These extracts are sufficient indications of Mr. Fill-
more's patriotism, in resisting the taunts and insults of a
neighboring nation. Buffalo being so near the seat of
strife during the insurrectionary movements of the Cana-
dians in 1837-8, that it is not surprising, serious appre-
hensions should be felt by the citizens concerning her
commercial interests, especially after such an outrage as
had been committed upon the Caroline by McNab.
The following extract from some remarks of Mr.
Fillmore's, delivered on a subsequent occasion in Con-
gress, shows the views he entertained upon the neces-
sity of preparing means of public defence. It was while
urging the adoption of some resolutions he had presented
relative to the northern frontier difficulties, and the neu-
trality of our government toward that of Great Britain.
An individual had been arrested, who was a participant
in certain disturbances, and the frontier excitement was
raging most fiercely. The resolutions which he was
urging before Congress passed, and resulted in the
elicitation of all the correspondence between the two
governments in regard to the transactions of the British
troops, and the frontier difficulties generally. The occur-
rences growing out of the insurrections in Canada were
of a very unpleasant nature. Buffalo, situated not much
further than a stone's throw from Canada, of course was
in incessant alarm, dreading a repetition of such outrages
upon her commerce as was inflicted upon the unfortunate
Caroline, by McNab, in the fall of 1837. After the
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 251
©orrespondence had been laid before Congress, it was
referred to the appropriate committee to report thereon.
The report made by the committee to whom the corres-
pondence was referred was so inflammatory, and coupled
with it such evidences of bitter hostility, whose evident
tendencies were to excite rather than allay the existing
troubles, that many members of the house were decidedly
against its adoption. Among these was Mr. Fillmore.
Notwithstanding his patriotism, and the just cause which
he felt his country had for being indignant at the infa-
mous conduct of MoNab, and other outrages she had
endured, his conciliatory nature forbade his concurrence in
a report whose tone was to excite, and not allay. Satis-
fied his country had been insulted, with the truest dignity
he was the first to resent it. But there was a proper
way to resent ; and, with characteristic firmness and delib-
eration, that proper way he wished to be the executor of
pacific negotiations. And if all other means failed, then
the sword.
These are his principles in regard to the adjustment
of national difficulties — principles of which his whole
public career has been an exemplification. Prompt and
conciliatory, he leaves no means untried to retain amica-
ble relations ; but if those measures fail, equally prompt
and decided, he is ready to meet the emergency. In this
case of the Canada troubles, he was first to introduce a
resolution in the house, asking information, etc. When
the information was received, and the oommittee reported
thereon, he opposed the report because its tone was
fraught with too much excitement. Try pacific, concilia-
252 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE.
tory measures first, if they fail, then resort to other
expedients. No man has ever been more prompt in
resenting national insults than has Mr. Fillmore, and by
the sound judgment and spirit of conciliation he has man-
ifested, none has evinced a happier combination of
qualities, or those better adapted to awe into the pro-
foundest respect, while they elicit the warmest esteem.
This is a combination rarely possessed to the same ex-
tent by the legislators of the country ; yet it is certainly
one of the most essential to correct statesmanship. The
very tenor of the subjoined shows the man — while he is
ready to make every consistent effort for peace, he is, in
case of failure, equally ready for war :
" But one thing, at all events, should be borne in mind
by all whose duty requires them to act on this subject
here. There is a great state of excitement on that
frontier, which might by possibility lead to an outbreak.
My objection to the printing of the report was, that it
was calculated to inflame the public mincl ; and I was
governed in that vote by three reasons. In the first place,
I did not wish that anything should be done here which
might have a tendency to do injustice to the individual
who is soon to be tried by the laws of the state of New
York. I desire that the law should have its free action,
that no excitement should be raised against McLeod,
which might prevent a fair and impartial trial. In the
second place, I do not desire that any action on the part
of this house should compromise or Control the executive
of this nation in the negotiations now pending between
the government of the United States and the government
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMOEE. 253
of Great Britain. I have all confidence in the incoming
administration. If this controversy can be amicably and
honorably settled between the two governments, I desire
that it should. But there is a third and very strong
reaso.1 in my mind against anything being done to exas-
perate the public mind on the subject of war with Great
Britain. It is this : for three or four years I have used
all the exertions in my power to induce this administra-
tion, which is responsible to the country, to provide some
means of defence on our northern frontier. But all my
efforts were in vain. And yet the gentleman from South
Carolina (Mr. Pickens) now tells us that the course to be
pursued to avoid a war with Great Britain is to stand up
to her — to threaten her — to take a high stand ; and
that, he says, will avert a war. I may have been mis-
taken in the meaning. I know that those were not his
words. But I would submit to him that the best way to
avoid a war with Great Britain, is to show that we are
prepared to meet her, if there is to be war; because
reasonable preparations for defence are better than
gasconading."
Mi\ Fillmore then alluded to the defenceless condi-
tion of the northern frontier. He desired, and believed
the whole country desired, that we should yield nothing to
the demands of Great Britain, to which she was not fairly
entitled. But, at the same time, he regarded it as rather
the act of a madman, to precipitate the country into a
war before it was prepared for it, than the act of a states-
man. In his section of country, the people would yield
nothing to Great Britain to which she was not justly en-
254 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMOEE.
titled ; or they would yield it only with the last drop of
their blood. But he did not wish prematurely to be drawn
into war; he did not wish to invite Great Britain to in-
vade our defenceless coast. The true plan was to prepare
for war if we had yet to come to it ; but to do noJ ±iing in
the way of bragging. If it did come, gentlemen would
not find his people shrinking from their just share
of responsibility. All they had — their property, their
lives, everything — they were willing to devote, if
need be, to the service and honor of their country. But
was it not the part of wisdom and prudence, before
we made a declaration of war, to prepare for it ? This
was all he desired ; and if this report was calculated to
stir up a war feeling, without corresponding preparation
being made to meet the consequences, he, for one, was
opposed to it. He did not wish the country to be dis-
graced by defeat. When she must go to war, he desired
to see her prepared for it ; he desired to see her placed in
a situation which would enable her to bid defiance to the
power of any government on earth."
No member of Congress manifested the solicitude, in
regard to fortifying and putting in a condition of defence
the northern frontier that Mr. Fillmore did. The labors
he put forth in that body for the attainment of this object
were incessant. Living on that frontier himself, he had
the fairest opportunities of understanding and appreciating
the evils incident to their defenceless condition, open as it
was to the inroads of an insurrectionary soldiery.
The deliberations of the twenty-sixth Congress com-
menced amid the greatest excitement engendered by the
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMOEE. 255
contest for their seats by the New Jersey members. On the
second of December, the clerk of the house called the roll
of the members, and when he got to the state of New
Jersey, after pronouncing the name of one member from
that state, he remarked that the seats of five of the six re-
presentatives of that state were contested. Considerable
feeling upon the subject ensued immediately in the house,
in regard to the claims of the New Jersey representation.
Mr. Fillmore, on the second day of the session, while
various propositions were being made, arose and desired
that all the facts and the law regulating the case be
laid before the house before proceeding to debate the
matter. This was a case of great importance, in which
the rights of a sovereign state were involved, and he felt
much interest in behalf of the Jersey members, and
evinced a determination, at this early stage of the pro-
ceedings, to commence its investigation upon facts and laws
regulating such cases. Had this wise course been pur-
sued when subjected to the law and the evidence govern-
ing elections, the difficulties of the several claimants
would have been easily adjusted, and, instead of deferring
the organization of the house for weeks by an incessant
wrangle over individual opinions, it would have been or-
ganized immediately.
That portion of the New Jersey members who pre-
sented certificates of election endorsed by the executive
of the state averred they had a right to their seats under
the laws of the country, and a right of participation in
the proceedings of the house, until its organization was
effected, and the oaths of office came to be administered.
256 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
On the third day of the session the clerk, who had inter-
fered with the organization by a refusal to call the roll
of the members from New Jersey, upon the ground of
conflicting evidence, proposed reading a prepared docu-
ment to the house, purporting to lay information before it
concerning the case. Several members objected to the
reading of this prepared document, on the ground that it
was calculated to produce false impressions in regard to
the claimants to seats from New Jersey.
On the 16th of December an organization of the house
was effected, and still the investigation of the Jersey case
had but fairly commenced. Mr. Fillmore was appointed
one of the committee on elections, the responsibilities of
which, next to those devolving upon that of ways and
means were, in view of the contested Jersey case, the
greatest belonging to any committee of the house. On
the 28th of February the house adopted a resolution
directing the committee on elections to report forthwith,
which five of the ten delegates claiming seats from the
state of New Jersey received the largest number of votes
at the election in that state in the year 1838. Mr. Fill-
more was anxious to amend the resolution, the substance
of which is embraced above so as to read, the greatest
number of lawful votes. He was anxious the case should
be fairly investigated, and so adjusted as to do justice to
all parties. In view of the above resolution, and the fact
that in the adjudication of the case there was a disposi-
tion to take all sorts of votes into account, and of evidence
in his possession that illegal votes had been polled at the
election before mentioned, Mr. Fillmore introduced a
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 257
subsequent resolution, in substance, as follows : That
the committee take their report into consideration, with
instructions to ascertain, with all possible dispatch, which
five of the ten claimants to seats from New Jersey
received the greatest amount of lawful votes at the pre-
ceding cougressional election in that state.
The solicitude he felt in regard to that contest was
exceeded by that of no member in the house ; but in this,
he was determined that his great life principle should
govern him, and that right should be his aim, in connection
with its investigation. The law and the facts were what
he wished laid before the house, the second day of the
session — the law and the facts were what he desired to
ascertain still. Indications of an unfair issue had become
developed in the house, and to counteract them he threw
his whole great talents and energies into a fair and law-
ful investigation of the whole affair, commencing at the
ballot-box. The report that had been made to Congress
established the right of five claimants to seats, to the
exclusion of some whose claims were evidently more
valid than theirs, if subjected to the strictly legal inves-
tigation proposed by Mr. Fillmore's resolution.
On the tenth of March the democratic contestants from
New Jersey were recognized as members of the twenty-
sixth Congress, duly qualified, and took their seats, under
a resolution to that effect, with a proviso that such recog-
nition was not, in any way, to interfere with any subse-
quent investigations the committee might think proper to
institute. Their title to seats in that body was con-
firmed, by the final adoption of the majority report of the
258 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
committee on elections, the sixteenth of July. On the
adoption of this report, the minority report of the com-
mittee was presented. A portion of the committee on
elections, among whom was Mr. Fillmore, was satisfied
that three of the gentlemen, (whigs,) excluded by the adop-
tion of the majority report, were entitled to seats, and
had been dealt with unfairly by being deprived of them
through testimony believed to be incompetent. After
being satisfied from all the evidence in the case, that
these three whigs were the rightful claimants to seats,
Mr. Fillmore became warmly interested 'in their behalf.
But a majority of both the house and^the committee were
against him ; the whole investigation was conducted upon
party considerations, and in a legislative body where the
majority was democratic, and on a committee where the
majority were opposed to his views, the result was what
might have been anticipated — the whigs, to a man, were
excluded, and the democrats admitted.
The views he entertained in regard to the justness of
the whig claimants, were endorsed by a respectable
minority of the committee, who presented the report
referred to, elaborately giving their views and convictions
upon the whole case, the substance of a part of which is
above enumerated. On the 6th of March preceding the
final adoption of the majority report adjusting the Jersey
contest, when the excitement in regard to it was raging
in its fiercest heat, Mr. Fillmore, while making some
remarks in reference to the superior claims to seats of
those embraced in the minority report, was suddenly
called to order. Appeal was made to the chair, who
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 259
decided Mr. Fillmore was in order, and had a right to
proceed with his remarks. The objector appealed from
this decision of the chair to the members of the house.
Mr. Fillmore then required the gentleman to reduce his
point of order to writing, saying that he had been often
enough put down by a mere numerical force in everything
relating to this New Jersey election. Gentlemen on the
other side would hear nothing — see nothing — but would
decide everything.
The objector was sustained in his appeal from the
decision of the chair, and Mr. Fillmore was silenced
by a numerical force that was determined to over-
leap all reason, propriety, and fairness, in securing seats
in Congress for their favorite claimants. As a free-
man, representing as high-toned a constituency in the
national Congress as any over which that body exercised
jurisdiction — one that had proven the highest appreciation
by his third election as their representative — Mr. Fillmore
felt indignant at this infringement upon the freedom of
speech. It was not the first time during the exciting
Jersey controversy a disposition had been manifested by
the dominant party to render his talented, opposition as
inefficient as possible, by calls of previous questions and
resorts to various tricks of legislative chicanery. The
firm stand he took, on the second day of the session, to
have the affair investigated by subjecting it to the infalli-
ble test of law and facts, and his subsequent avowals and
determined energy to have justice prevail, made him an
antagonist much to be feared ; and the talents they could
260 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOEE.
not compete with in argument, they resolved to silence
by questions of order. Speaking of the unworthy manner
in which Mr. Fillmore was treated on this occasion, a
leading paper in New York made the following remarks :
" When a party or faction, for the time being in the
majority, are resolved to accomplish merely party objects,
to break through all rules and trample on the laws and
rights of the minority, it has always been deemed expedi-
ent to prostrate the freedom of speech, in order that the
enormity of their acts may not be exposed on the spot.
This has been eminently the fact in the management of
the New Jersey case in the house of representatives. A
few days since, Mr. Fillmore, a member of the committee
on elections, in addressing the house, attempted to read
a resolution passed by the committee, which was decided
not to be in order. He then attempted to proceed in his
speech without reading it, and the house decided he had
lost his right to speak, except by their permission, which
he scorned to accept, refusing .to receive, as a matter of
grace from a majority, what he claimed. as aright."
Mr. FillmOre, after receiving such treatment from the
house, and seeing the utter hopelessness of being heard
in the halls of Congress, addressed a letter to his constit-
uents, in which he went into a detailed elaboration of the
Jersey case, and all the difficulties connected therewith.
The letter is an able document, evincing the soundest
judgment as a legislator, and the wisest patriotism as a
statesman. The following extracts from it will indicate
more fully his views in. regard to that the most exciting sub
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 261
ject of the twenty-sixth Congress. Speaking of the
ourageous proceedings of the majority party, he says :
" Let us, like true philosophers, draw wisdom from
this calamity, and turn to that revered charter of our
liberties and calmly review its provisions, before we con-
clude its venerated authors contemplated a proceeding
so revolting and dangerous as that which has just been
witnessed. The constitution provides that, ' each house
shall be the judge of the election returns and qualifica-
tions of its own members.' It is clear that this clause
of the constitution created the house a high judicial
tribunal to hear and finally determine; first, who was
'elected;' secondly, who was 'returned;' thirdly, whether
the person thus elected and returned possessed the requi-
site ' qualifications.' I conceive that these three subjects
of judicial investigation by the house are entirely dis-
tinct, and that any attempt to confound them must inevi-
tably lead to confusion and error.
" It is obvious that one man may be duly elected, by
receiving the greatest number of legal votes ; and that, by
some accident or fraud, another may be duly returned ;
and that a man may be duly elected and returned, and
yet not be qualified ; for the constitution expressly
declares, " that no person shall be a representative who
shall not have attained the age of twenty-five years, and
been seven years a citizen of the United States ; and who
shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in
which he shall be chosen.' "
Mr. Fillmore continues his letter at some considerable
length, showing that the parties, in the investigation
2(52 ' LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
raised no questions upon the most important of these
constitutional requisitions. He shows that their inquiries
were directed upon the election and return, without any
attention to qualification whatever. After showing with
great cleai*ness the partiality evinced in the adjudication
of the case, and the palpable violations of the constitu-
tion it developed, he says :
" I, therefore, submit it to you, as my immediate con-
stituents, to whom I am responsible for my official act, to
say whether I have done right in opposing this disorgan-
izing and unlawful proceeding from the commencement ;
whether I have done right in insisting that the persons,
only, returned should, in the first instance, take their seats ;
whether I have done right, after these returns and the
laws and commissions from the executive of a sovereign
state were trampled under foot, to insist on a full inquiry
into all the frauds charged, to ascertain who was elected ;
and, finally, whether I did right, when I saw the most
venerated and sacred principle of the constitution about
to be desecrated, and the right of speech tyrannically
suppressed, to stand up and resist the despotic assump-
tion of power to the last."
His reelection to the next Congress, by a larger majority
than was ever given in his district to any congressional
aspirant, told in the plainest terms that he was right.
Before going into the investigation of Mr. Fillmore's
career in the twenty-seventh Congress, it is necessary to
notice briefly the passing current of intermediate events,
replete with glorious results to our common country,
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE, 268
but which were afterwards a source of the most mournful
melancholy.
Another political revolution had swept over the country
and nipped the opening flower of progressive democracy
with a withering blight. Van Burenism and the adherent
principles of the Jacksonian administration had been
eclipsed by the unprecedented triumph of the hero of
Tippecanoe. The campaign of 1840, between Harrison
and Van Buren, was, perhaps, the most exciting that ever
occurred in our political annals. Unprecedented was
the intensity of feeling that manifested itself on every
hill and in every vale of the Union, from Maine to
Texas.
Old party lines were destroyed j the rivalrous feelings
of factional antagonisms were subdued ; the adherents to
democratic principles, so long in the ascendant, seemed to
forget the hero of New Orleans, whose star, though
resplendent with the halo of "battle target red," had
gone down. Men of all parties seemed, for once, to bury
the animosities of a radical partisanship, " Change,"
" change," the evanescence of whose label is stamped upon
all earthly measures, seemed to be the watchword of each
battalion, that, to the notes of " Tippecanoe and hard
cider," marched into the political battle of 1840. The
victory was a glorious one ; and, but for the perfidy of a
partisan Iscariot, would have resulted in a triumphant
establishment and vindication of conservative, time-
honored principles.
Harrison was borne into executive power by the
mightiest tide of revolution— of prosperity— to the whig
264 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
party that ever swelled the current of national politics
Whig principles had not only been successful in his
elevation to the presidency, but were brightly in the
ascendancy in both branches of the national legislature.
So triumphant had been the revolution, that the veteran
chief at the head of affairs could look down through a
long line of subordinate officials, and see a large majority
marshaled under the same banner. In Congress, a large
majority presented an array of patriotic talent, rendered
courageous by their success, to sustain his administration.
The senate, reinvigorated by the successful charge led
by their Clay, stood a Macedonian phalanx around
their civic chief, ready to vindicate his administration.
Of this administration the most glorious results had
been predicted; and, upon the terrific ruins of old institu-
tions that marked the line of march pursued by Jackson-
ism, the sage of Ashland thought to build them up again
in all their primal purity. The great battle of 1840 had
been fought and won under banners flung to the breeze,
inscribed with the avowed principles of a party whose
maturity they presumed would be the result of victory.
After that victory had perched upon their banners, as the
surest means of putting those principles into successful
operation, on the thirty-first of May, 1841, an extra session
of Congress was called.
But, before the convention of that Congress that was
to be a realization of the hopes entertained by the whig
party, Harrison died, and in his grave was buried the
prospects of the whig party. Enshrouded in a winding-
sheet as dark — aye, darker, because it was the blackness of
LIFE OF SlILLAED FILLMORE. 265
treachery — as wrapped their lamented chief, their princi-
ples were buried. John Tyler, like Judas Iscariot,
betrayed his master ; and, with a more horrid steel than
Cascas' blade, murdered the party that placed him in
power.
Tyler was called President at the time the twenty-
seventh Congress first met.
By what right he was so designated, I shall not pre-
tend to say. By the same right, I presume, the famous
Captain Kidd retained the name of Captain : he was
commissioned to clear the seas of pirates ; but, after get-
ting among them, he buried his Bible, turned pirate him-
self, and he was still Captain Kidd. In the cases, there
is certainly some analogy.
Tyler was commissioned to assist in the promulgation
of whig principles, and upon the endorsement of those
principles was elected by his party ; but when he came
into power, like Kidd, he buried his creed, and plunged
the stiletto of treason in its heart. The infamous turpi-
tude of Tyler, in the betrayal of his party, stands a
blackened monument of political treachery that will tower
conspicuously through distant ages. And yet he was
president. But we must discriminate. He was not pres-
ident by election, nor was he president by the moral force
of constitutional power. He was elevated to the vice-pres-
idency by the people ; but to have been president, in the
true sense of the term, he should have been reelected
upon the principles he endorsed, after his repudiation of
those upon whose avowal he was elected. After the
death of Harrison, the constitution empowered him to
12
266 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE,
take his place as president. Did lie do it 1 He took the
chair, but murdered his principles ; instead, therefore, of
taking the place of Harrison, he took his chair merely ;
and as executive, occupied a position directly opposite to
him, in the administration of the government.
The reversional revolution produced by the summerset
of whig principles, under the treachery of Tyler, was
almost as dark as the one of Harrison's election was glo-
rious. The great measures, whose enactment the party
anticipated with joyous gratification, were knocked off
under the hammer of his veto with as little hesitancy as
though he had been elected for their express repudiation.
The old Harrison cabinet, who had been selected as a
body-guard to the principles expected to be carried out
by the administration, on seeing them cast to the four
winds, resigned their places with unfeigned disgust.
The language applied to him by a distinguished gentle-
man who witnessed' with regret his dastardly conduct, for
its peculiar applicability is worthy of insertion. Looking
at the change in the aspect of affairs, and knowing the
cause was the recreant Tyler, he exclaimed :
"False to his friends and to himself, he stands before
the American people as a warning alike in the disinterest-
edness of a patriot, the fidelity of an associate, and the
honor of a gentleman."
One of his earliest measures, after his inauguration,
was the veto of the bank bill passed by the called
session. The principle doings of his waZ-administration
consisted in his undoing. The most commendable quality
he possessed, was a finely developed imbecility.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 267
The most efficient services he rendered the country,
were those he withheld. The consistency of his deceit
was the only spot in his character sufficiently bright to
be labeled with treason. The only bright sun that shone
upon his administration was the one that set on its last
day. Rufus Choate would have to cull the vocabulary
of language for its most opprobrious epithets, to write an
eulogy for John Tyler.
"Is there not some chosen curse,
Some hidden thunder in the storms of heaven,
Red with uncommon wrath, to blast the man,
Who owes his greatness to his country's ruin ? "
On the assemblage of the twenty-seventh Congress, in
consequence of the experience and legislative capacity
evinced on previous sessions, Mr. Fillmore was made
chairman of the committee on ways and means, by far
the most responsible position in that body.
The most important measure of the ever memorable
twenty-seventh Congress was the passage of the tariff of
1842. The political revolution that placed the whigs in
power had made them hope for the establishment of many
other cherished measures belonging to the old whig creed.
The bank bill, as we have seen, passed by Congress imme-
diately after the convention of its extra session was vetoed.
The distribution of the proceeds of the public lands was
prevented through the faithless perfidy of the executive.
Yet, than that body, never were legislators more faith-
ful. They had been placed in power by the uprising
masses of a people smarting under the lash of misrule, that
268 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
had marked the course of national officials for the period
of twelve years. A nobler array of talent and a wiser
embodiment of patriotism never convened in any con-
gressional assembly. The vast amount of labor looming
before them required just such a Congress. Theirs was
emphatically a business of reconstruction. In 1S23, the
country was in a prosperous condition under the safe guid-
ance of first principles. Subsequent to that period, "bar-
gain and intrigue " was saddled upon her purest patriots.
Old and time-honored institutions were toppled from their
base, and regal assumptions of power were exercised by
the national executive ; the currency of the country was
destroyed; the principles of Washington were forgotten;
another race arose up, " who knew not Joseph ;" and in
their progressive innovations had left a cancerated ulcer
upon the national system, that had been preying upon
its vitals for a dozen years, with the most destructive
virulence. The business of the present Congress was its
removal ; to them the people looked with hopeful expect-
ancy, as the great physician that was to extract the in-
fectious seeds of extravagance and corruption that had
found their way into the very heart of the national system,
and were fast polluting every fibre of its delicately consti-
tuted organism. The administration of Jackson began
the work of demolition, and Van Buren, in the development
and elaboration of his stupendous sub-treasury schemes,
magnified the ruin. The awful extravagancies of these
administrations, the despotic assumptions incident to their
development, and the admirably concocted plans to secure-
payment to all officials, were it not for names, times, and
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 269
places, the student of them would conclude he was read-
ing the history of some consulate or triumvirate.
The enormous extravagance of government expendi-
tures were so unparalleled that serious apprehensions
were entertained on the part of the people in regard to a
curtailment of their privileges, by the imposition of oner-
ous taxations to maintain a tyrannous oligarchy, whose ad-
hesive principles were the loaves and fishes. With the
deepest solicitude, then, they looked for an alleviation of
their distresses to the twenty-seventh Congress. The
sequel will show they did not look in vain. The political
revolution that placed a majority of whigs in the present
Congress developed a distressing condition of American
nationality, rarely, if ever, witnessed in times of peace.
With as little compunction as Caesar did, when, with
sword in hand, he took the gold from the Roman guards
to aid him in making war against his own commonwealth,
the treasury had been robbed, and its contents pandered
to the caprice of a corrupt official crew, until it was al-
most bankrupt. The old system of protective policy had
been tattered and torn piece from piece, until but frag-
mental shreds remained scarce sufficient to indicate its
once useful proportions. The reservoirs of specie circu-
lation had, one by one, been effectually demolished, until
from the happiest mediums of remittance and circulation,
we had been hurled into the stagnant consequences of a
broken-down currency. Commerce, trade, and manufac-
tures, the great heart of national prosperity, to whose
healthful pulsation a sound circulative currency is as es-
sential as is the blood to the life-throb of the human
270 LIFE OP MILLAED FILLMORE.
heart, in consequence of the destruction of these arterial
facilities, was in a state of hopeless inactivity. Gloom,
distress, and national depression stared in the face of the
twenty-seventh Congress, with the question, " Is there
no balm in Gilead 1 " On that Congress devolved the ar-
duous task of taking the old ship of state from the high
and dry strand whereon she was run by Jackson and Van
Buren, and reconstructing her after the old model. They
had to pour the elixir of life into a jaundiced nationality,
and reinvigorate it with healthful vitality. They proved
themselves worthy ; and, with the cooperation of an effec-
tive chief magistrate, of whom they had been deprived by
Providence and treachery, they would have relieved the
public distress entirely.
As before remarked, the business of this Congress was
a reorganization of things that had been so transformed
into a pell-mell, topsey-turvey heterogeneousness, that
powers, prerogatives, accounts and salaries, were all amal-
gamated in indiscriminate confusion, without order or
system. For years, nothing had been fixed or definite —
salaries and expenditures had been particularly indefinite.
The progressive rates of extravagant licentiousness devel-
oped in the few years preceding this Congress would
have resulted, before now, in the conversion of official
quarters into sumptuous seraglios. Right faithfully did
they commence the work of investigation and retrench-
ment. Mr. Fillmore, from the peculiarity of his position,
and with a natural acuteness of perception that sees any-
thing " rotten in Denmark " almost by intuition., was ena-
bled to assist in discoveries of a startling nature.
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 271
The universal complaint of a financial distress, that
weighed like an incubus upon all departments of business
and thrilled them with strokes of incurable paralysis,
Congress very justly concluded must be attributable to
some remedial cause. But on investigating the condition
of the national system, the corruption which they knew
was preying upon it was seen to have eaten much deeper
than was imagined. It was an ulcer that would take
time to heaL They instituted true searching committees
to ascertain the extent of the corruptive influences
exerted by the precedent administrations. In this duty,
these committees were faithful to the very letter.
The first discovery resulting from this scrutiny was the
economical proceedings of a Van Buren administration,
Item first, showed two hundred and eighty-seven dollars
and a quarter for each member's stationery, for a period
of nine months, in a democratic Congress ; item second,
showed twenty-five dollars for each member's wafers, for
the same length of time. These awful expenditures, and
a perfect recklessness on the part of officials, had pro>-
duced the great financial crisis.
They greatly diminished the amount of the annual
appropriations, and boldly marched ahead in the com-
mendable work of retrenchment. The closer the investi-
gation, the deeper the infection of licentiousness became
perceptible. Every department of the whole government
machinery had become infected. The expenses of the
government, it was seen, were twice as enormous as they
had been in former years, and they resolved on effecting a
reduction to their reasonable limits before the political
272 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOEK.
Robespiere and Danton commenced their Heign of Ter-
ror, and raised the guillotine to the head of American
finance.
They spared neither time nor pains in these investiga-
tions, and counted by thousands in their curtailments of
all extravagance developed by their scrutiny. The many
instances, and the largeness of the amounts lopped off by
these conservative financial excisors, would swell these
remarks to too great a length by their enumeration. The
military expenses were greatly curtailed, and the whole
system remodeled.
By reference to the proceedings of that Congress, I find
that a complete transformation was effected in a little
time. The navy and the army were recipients of wise
and judicious legislation ; extra pays, contingent allow-
ances, and loose means of doing government business,
were all done away with. Everything, in fact, under-
went a radical change. In all these reformations, Mr.
Fillmore, as chairman of the committee of ways and
means, led the van in the house, and helped to wipe out
the traces of political vermin that had usurped the offices
of government for- a number of years.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 273
CHAPTER VIII.
Tariff of 1842 — A remedy for an existing evil — Protective tariff as
a feature in politics — Tariff men in all parties — Jackson's views- —
Early statesmen's views — Clay calls it the American system —
Mr. Fillmore's speech on the Tariff — Conclusions to be drawn
from his course in regard to the Tariff — His high position in Con-
gress — The Morse Appropriation — Cave Johnson — Close of his
congressional career — J. Q. Adams and Mr. Fillmore — Campaign of
1844 — Prospects of the whig party — Mr. Fillmore urged as a
candidate for the vice-presidency — Defeat of Clay — Causes which
led to that result — Mr. Fillmore nominated for governor —
Letter to Thurlow Weed — Foreign influence — Letter to Henry
Clay — Extracts showing the cause of defeat — The Comptroller-
ship — Its arduous duties — His report to the state — Its ability —
His sympathy for the sufferers of the Emerald Isle.
The tariff of 1842 is too well known to require an
enumeration of its principles in this connection. Then
it was regarded a wise measure, and denominated by Mr.
Clay, The American system. The friends of the measure
were prompted by the immediate remedy for the distress
of the times, to lend it their support. Like the old bank-
rupt law enacted by the same session, it was to meet the
demand of an existing, but very undesirable necessity.
Mr. Fillmore, though the author of that measure, was not
ultra, or prompted by any spirit of partisanship, in his
advocacy of it. He saw the financial distress, and thought
the measure would be remedial of it, and true to his
12*
274 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
nature, he wished to test his conviction. The origination
of that measure hy Mr. Fillmore, then, instead of being
construed into an endorsement of the peculiar views of a
party in regard to protective policy, should be regarded
as an earnest desire to remedy the existing evils. Men
of all parties, from the earliest days of the republic,
have been friends of a protective policy, though they
have differed widely in regard to the establishment of
such systems. It has been a leading feature in the his-
tory of party politics, from the earliest administrations.
The country has, time and again, been convulsed with
disastrous revulsions, that have made the enactment of
different protective principles imperatively necessary.
Periods of financial depression have existed, the only rem-
edial agency of which consisted in certain enactments to
protect the revenue. These tariffs, and tariff modifica-
tions, have resulted as did the one of 1842, from the ab-
solute necessities of the case. Jackson himself was a
protectionist, convinced of its propriety from the wants
of the country at a particular time.
The advocacy of a protective tariff has been regarded as
belonging to the whigs, exclusively, and that measure as
an article in the whig creed, that received the repudiation
of all other parties. The following extract of a letter
from Jackson shows that men may entertain views favor-
able to protective principles, and not be whigs. It shows,
from peculiar exigencies, men may advocate such a meas-
ure, as an immediate operative remedy, without reference
to the abstract principles involved in it, as a plank in the
platform of a great party. The letter was written to a
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 275
friend of the General's, in North Carolina, in August,
1824.
" I will ask, what is the real situation of the agricul-
turist? Where has the American farmer a market for his
surplus produce ? Except for cotton, he has neither a
foreign nor a home market. Does not this clearly prove,
when there is no market at home or abroad, that there is
too much labor employed in agriculture ? Common sense
at once points out the remedy. Take from agriculture in
the United States six hundred thousand men, women, and
children, and you will at once give a market for more
breadstuffs than all Europe now furnishes us with.
"In short, sir, we have been too long subject to the
policy of British merchants. It is time we should become
a little more Americanized, and, instead of feeding
paupers and laborers of England, feed our own ; or else,
in a short time, by continuing our present policy, we shall
be paupers ourselves.
"It is, therefore, my opinion, that a careful and judi-
cious tariff is much wanted, to pay our national debt and
to afford us the means of that defence within ourselves
on which the safety of our country and liberties depend ;
and last, though not least, to give a proper distribution of
our labor, which must prove beneficial to the happiness,
wealth, and independence of the community.
" I am very respectfully, your odedient servant,
''Andrew Jackson."
Jefferson, and all the early presidents, irrespective of
party, saw clearly the necessity of establishing some pro
276 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMOEE.
tective measures, to remedy the evils of a defective
revenue. The frauds practiced for years upon the country
by foreign speculators, and the imposition of heavy duties
upon our people, showed to all parties the importance
of some protective system. From the subjoined remarks
of Mr. Fillmore, delivered in the advocacy of his bill, it
■will be seen that, as the originator of it, he took no ultra
partisan grounds upon the measure whatever. The
remarks are clearly indicative of the fact, that he viewed
it as a remedy for existing evils :
" I prefer my own country to all others, and my opinion
is that we must take care of ourselves ; and while I
would not embarrass trade between this and any foreign
country by any illiberal restrictions, yet, if" by legislation
or negotiation an advantage is to be given to one over
the other, I prefer my own country to all the world besides.
I admit that duties may be so levied, ostensibly for rev-
enue, yet designedly for protection, as to amount to pro-
hibition, and consequently to the total loss of revenue.
I am for no such protection as that. I have no disguise
of my opinions on this subject. I believe that if all the
restrictive systems were done away with, here and in
every other country, and we could confidently rely on
continued peace, that would be the most prosperous and
happy state. The people of every country would then
produce that which their habits, skill, climate, soil, or
situation enable them to produce to the greatest advan-
tage ; each would then sell where he could obtain the
most, and buy where he could purchase cheapest ; and
thus we should see a trade as free among the nations of
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 277
the w?rlJi a3 we now witness among the several states of
this iMon. But, however beautiful this may be in theory,
I look for no such political millennium as this. Wars
will occur until man changes his nature ; and duties will
be imposed upon our products in other countries, until
man shall cease to be selfish, or kings can find a more
convenient mode of raising revenue than by imposts.
" These, then, form the true justification for laying du-
ties in a way to protect our own industry against that of
foreign nations : First, a reasonable apprehension of
war — for no nation can always hope to be at peace. If,
therefore, there is any article that is indispensably neces-
sary'for the subsistence of a nation, and the nation can
produce it, that nation is not independent if it do not. If
it is necessary, the production should be encouraged by
high duties on the imported article. This should be done,
not for the benefit of persons who may engage in the man-
ufacture or cultivation of the desired article, but for the
benefit of the whole community : what though each pays
a little higher for the article in time of peace than he
otherwise would , yet he is fully compensated for this in
time of war. He then has this necessary, of which he
would be wholly deprived had he not provided for it by a
little self-sacrifice. We all act upon this principle indi-
vidually ; and why should we not as a nation 1 We ac-
cumulate in time of plenty for a day of famine and dis-
tress. Every man pays, from year to year, a small sum
to insure his house against fire, submitting willingly to
this annual tax, that, when the day of misfortune comes,
(if come it shall,) the overwhelming calamity of having
278 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
all destroyed may be mitigated by receiving back from
the insurer a partial compensation for the loss. It is
upon the same principle that we maintain an army and a
navy in time of peace, and pour out millions annually for
their support : not because we want them, but because it
is reasonable to apprehend that war may come, and then
they will be wanted ; and it is a matter of economy to pro-
vide and discipline them in time of peace, to mitigate the
evils of war when it does come. The same reason re-
quires us to encourage the production of any indispensable
article of subsistence. I shall not stop now to inquire
what these articles are. Every one can judge for himself.
But that there are many such, no one can doubt.
" But I make a distinction between the encouragement
and protection of manufacturers. It is one thing for the
government to encourage its citizens to abandon their
ordinary pursuits and engage in a particular branch of
industry; and a very different thing whether the govern-
ment is bound to protect that industry by laws similar to
those by which it encouraged its citizens to embark in it.
In the first case there is no obligation on the part of the gov-
ernment. Its act is entirely voluntary and spontaneous.
It may or may not encourage the production or manufac-
ture of a particular article, as it shall judge best for the
whole community. Before attempting it, the government
should weigh well the advantages and disadvantages
which are likely to result to the whole, and not to the
particular class which may be tempted to engage. If a
particular branch of industry is so important in its bear-
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 279
ings upon the public wants, on account of its providing
in time of peace for some necessary article in time of
war, then, as the strongest advocates of free trade them-
selves admit, the government may and should legislate
with a view to encourage its establishment ; and so, like-
wise, if it be necessary to provide a home market for our
products in consequence of the prohibitory duties levied
upon them by foreign countries. But all these are ques-
tions to be decided according to the circumstances of
each particular case ; and the decision should be
made with a view to the benefit of all, and not of a
few, or of any particular class or section of the country.
But when the government has decided that it is best to
give the encouragement, and the citizen has been induced
by our legislation to abandon his former pursuits, and to
invest his capital and apply his skill and labor to the pro-
duction of the article thus encouraged by government,
then a new question arises — for another party has
become interested — and that is, whether we will, by our
subsequent legislation, withdraw our protection from the
citizen whom we have thus encouraged to embark his all
in a particular branch of business for the good of the
public, and overwhelm him with ruin by our unsteady,
not to say perfidious, legislation. I can consent to no
such thing. It seems to me to be manifestly unjust. Our
act in the first instance is free and voluntary. We may
give the encouragement or not ; but, having given it, the
public faith is, to a certain extent, pledged. Those who
have accepted our invitation, and embarked in these new
pursuits, have done so under the implied promise on our
280 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE.
part that the encouragement thus given should not be
treacherously withdrawn, and that we would not tear
down what we had encouraged them to build up. This I
conceive to be a just, clear, and broad distinction between
encouragement beforehand and protection afterward. The
former is voluntary, depending wholly upon considerations
of public policy and expediency ; the latter is a matter
of good faith to those who have trusted to the national
honor."
The high position occupied by Mr. Fillmore in the
twenty-seventh Congress, and the absolute leadership
assumed in that body, is evinced by the following letter,
published in a leading paper of the metropolis. We can
but think of the "legislative portrait," elsewhere pub-
lished in this work, while he was a member of the assem-
bly at Albany, where it was predicted he could never be
a political leader. Though both letters are highly com-
mendatory of Mr. Fillmore, there is considerable differ-
ence in their tones ; not more, however, than circum-
stances justified :
" Millard Fillmore is the distinguished representative
from the city of Buffalo, and at present chairman of the
committee of ways and means, a situation both arduous
and resposible. He stands in the same relation to the
United States government in the house of representatives
that the chancellor of the exchequer does to the govern-
ment of Great Britain in the houses of Parliament. He
is emphatically the financial organ of the legislature. In
the house of representatives all bills affecting the revenue
originate. These are presented by the ways and means
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 2S1
committee — matured by it — and its chairman has to
explain their object and the data upon which they are
based. He is obliged to make himself thoroughly
acquainted with the situation of the national treasury ;
has to examine its details ; become familiar with its wants,
its expenditures, its income, present and prospective ; and
be ever ready to give the house a full exposition of all
the measures be may present for consideration. To dis-
charge the duties which this post enjoins, faithfully,
requires both physical and mental capacity of a high
order ; and I believe they could not have devolved upon
an individual better qualified than the subject of this
notice. In every respect will he be found equal to the
task assigned him.
*********
" His judgment is very clear, and he has no emotions
which ever over-ride it ; is always to be relied upon, and
whatever he undertakes he will master. He never takes
a stride without testing his foothold. He belongs to that
rare class whose merits are developed with every day's
use ; in whose minds new beauties and new riches are
discovered as they are examined into. He has a high
legal reputation ; possesses great industry ; is agreeable
in conversation, and his information upon general subjects,
without being profound, is varied and extensive. As a
shrewd, sagacious politician — by this I do not mean that
he is particularly skilled in mere partisan strategy —
there are few men in the country superior to him — per-
haps none.
*********
282 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
"As a public man, I know of none — not one — of
greater promise than Mr. Fillmore. He has many of the
highest attributes of greatness, smd is still a young man,
not to exceed forty-one years of age, and must continue
to rise in public estimation as his character shall be
developed. He has been a member of Congress some
six years, and was previously an active member of the
state assembly. As a useful, practical, efficient, and
enlightened legislator, he has no superior, and very few
equals among his associates."
His career in Congress was drawing to a close. As
indicated above, he had been four sessions a member of
that body, and served with distinguished ability to the
country and the greatest credit to himself. The twenty-
seventh Congress was a very active one ; many useful
measures had been passed; the sub-treasury act was
repealed, and useful appropriations had been made. One
appropriation was made, against much opposition, that
deserves notice. Prof. Morse was just on the eve of
making a successful experiment of his telegraph, by put-
ting a' line in operation from Baltimore to Washington
City. He asked Congress for an appropriation. Much
depended on his getting it. He was there with scarcely
a dollar in his pocket, and the lightnings of heaven at
bay. Mr. Fillmore became his warmest friend, and,
through the great influence he had with that body, pro-
cured the Morse appropriation.
It was violently opposed by many members of the
house. Cave Johnson was furious at the result, and pub-
licly declared that the appropriation of the same amount
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 2S3
by Congress for the purpose of investigating mesmerism,
would have been more useful. Time has shown who bad
tbe soundest, judgment in regard to it.
Mr. Fillmore addressed a letter to his constituents, in
the summer of 1842, containing his determination not to
be a candidate for reelection. Notwithstanding this let-
ter, bowever, he was nominated by acclamation, in tbeir
ensuing convention. But be adhered to bis determina-
tion. From bis letter of declension, the following extracts
may prove interesting :
"Fellow Citizens: Having long since determined
not to be a candidate for reelection, I have felt that my
duty to you required that I should give you seasonable
notice of that determination. Tbe chief causes which
have brought me to this resolution, being mostly of a
personal character, are unimportant, and would be unin-
teresting to you or the public. It is sufficient to say that
I am not prompted to this course by anything in the
present aspect of political affairs. Many of you know
that I desired to withdraw before the last congressional
election, but, owing to the importance of that contest,
the desire for unanimity, and the hope that, if the admin-
istration were changed, I might render some essential
local service to my district and those generous friends
who had so nobly sustained our cause, I was induced to
stand another canvass. But how sadly have all been dis-
appointed ! How has that sun, which rose in such joyous
brightness to millions, been shrouded in gloom and sor-
row ! The lamented Harrison, around whom clustered a
284 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
nation's prayers and blessings, is now no more. For rea-
sons inscrutable to us, and known only to an all-wise
Providence, lie was cut down in a moment of triumph,
♦and in his grave lie buried the long-cherised hopes of a
suffering nation.
" It is now nearly fourteen years since you did me the
unsolicited honor to nominate me to represent you in the
state legislature. Seven times have I received renewed
evidence of your confidence, by as many elections, with
constantly increasing majorities; and, at the expiration of
my present congressional term, I shall have served you
three years in the state, and eight years in the national
councils. I can not call to mind the thousand acts of
generous devotion from so many friends who will ever be
dear to my heart, without feeling the deepest emotion of \
gratitude. I came among you a poor and friendless boy.
You kindly took me by the hand, and gave me your con-
fidence and support. You have conferred upon me dis-
tinction and honor, for which I could make no adequate
return but by an honest and untiring effort faithfully to
discharge the high trusts which you confided to my keep-
ing. If my humble efforts have met your approbation, I)
freely admit, that, next to the approval of my own con-
science, it is the highest reward which I could receive foi
days of unceasing toil, and nights of sleepless anxiety.
" I profess not to be above or below the common frail-
ties of our nature. I will, therefore, not disguise the fact
that I was highly gratified at my first election to Con-
gress ; yet I can truly say that my utmost ambition has
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 2S5
been satisfied. I aspire to nothing more, and shall retire
from the exciting scenes of political strife to the quiet
enjoyments of my own family and fireside with still more
satisfaction than I felt when first elevated to this distin-
guished station.
" In conclusion, permit me again to return you my
warmest thanks for your kindness, which is deeply en-
graven upon my heart.
" I remain, sincerely and truly,
" Your friend and fellow citizen,
"Millard Fillmore."
The close of the twenty-seventh Congress placed Mr.
Fillmore again in retirement. Laden with honors, he re-
turned to the shades of private life, with the complacent
consciousness of having done his duty. A number of
years he had spent in public life, to the entire satisfaction
of the people. It is a little remarkable that, as much as
Mr. Fillmore has served in public life, he has never
given a vote but was approved by his constituents. Of
his career in Congress, J. Q. Adams bore the following
testimony : speaking of Mr. Fillmore, he said, he was
was one of the ablest, most faithful, and fairest-minded
men with whom it had been his lot to serve in public life.
Subsequent to that time, Lewis Cass has made some sim-
ilar expressions, and declared, in substance, that his pa-
triotism, ability, and correct judgment are above all ques-
tion. During the summer of Mr. Fillmore's residence at
home, after the close of his congressional labors, and not
long before that old and patriot statesman was seized,
286 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
while at bis post, in Congress, with a paralysis that ter-
minated in death, and called from his lips, " I am content,"
J. Q. Adams visited Buffalo. Mr. Fillmore was deputed
by the committee of arrangements, who had made prepa-
rations to give him a reception. A large concourse of
people had assembled to witness the occasion. The fol-
lowing is Mr. Fillmore's address :
" Sir : I have been deputed by the citizens of this
place to tender you a welcome to our city. In the dis-
charge of this grateful duty, I feel that I speak not only
my own sentiments, but theirs, when I tell you that your
long and arduous public services — your lofty independ-
ence — your punctilious attention to business, and, more
than all, your unsullied and unsuspected integrity, have
given you a character in the estimation of this republic,
which calls forth the deepest feelings of veneration and
respect.
" You see around yon, sir, no political partisans seeking
to promote some sinister purpose ; but you see here
assembled the people of our infant city, without distinc-
tion of party, sex, age, or condition — all — all anxiously
vying with, each other to show their respect and esteem
for your public services and private worth.
" Here, sir, are gathered in this vast multitude of what
must appear to you strange faces, thousands whose hearts
have vibrated to the chord of sympathy which your writ-
ten speeches have touched. Here is reflecting age, and
ardent youth, and lisping childhood, to all of whom your
venerated name is as familiar as household words — all
anxious to feast their eyes by a sight of that extraordin-
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMOEE. 287
ary and venerable man of whom they have heard and
read and thought so much — all anxious to hear the voice
of that ' old man eloquent,' on whose lips wisdom has
distilled her choicest nectar — here, sir, you see them all,
and read in their eager and joy-gladdened countenances
and brightly beaming eyes a welcome — a thrice-told,
heart-felt, and soul-stirring welcome, to 'the man whom
they delight to honor.' "
The occasion was an interesting one. Mr. Adams, in
a long life of usefulness to the countiy, was an impersona-
tion of the " awful virtues of the Pilgrim fathers." Ven-
erable and experienced, he had stood on the battle-field
of many a political struggle. Between him and Mr. Fill-
more, from the congeniality of their virtuous patriotism
evinced in years of public service, a warm friendship
existed. There was a peculiar fitness in Mr. Fillmore
being selected to deliver the address of welcome. The
following is from the reply of Mr. Adams :
"Mr. Fillmore, Mr. Mayor, and Fellow Citizens :
I must ask your indulgence for a moment's pause to take
breath. If you ask me why I ask this indulgence, it is
because I am so overpowered with the eloquence of my
friend, (the chairman of the committee of ways and
means, whom I have so long been accustomed to refer to
in that capacity, that, with your permission, I will con-
tinue so to denominate him now,) that I have no words
left to answer him. For so liberal has he been in
bestowing that eloquence upon me which he himself pos-
sesses in so eminent a degree that, while he was ascribing
to me talents so far above my own consciousness in that
288 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
regard, I was all the time imploring the god of eloquence
to give me, at least at this moment, a few words to justify
him before you in making that splendid panegyric which
he has been pleased to bestow upon me ; and that the flat-
tering picture which he has presented to you, may not
immediately be defaced before your eyes by what you
should hear from me.
" I congratulate you again upon your possession of
another dear and intimate friend of mine, in the person
of the gentleman who has just addressed me in your
name, and whom I have taken the liberty of addressing
as chairman of the committee of ways and means — the
capacity in which he has so recently rendered services of
the highest importance to you his constituents, by whose
favor he was enabled to render them — to us, and our
common country. And I cannot forbear to express here
my regret at his retirement in the present emergency from
the councils of the nation. There, or elsewhere, I hope
and trust he will soon return ; for, whether to the nation
or to the state, no services can be, or ever will be, ren-
dered by a more able or a more faithful public servant."
The regret expressed by Mr. Adams in the above, at
Mr. Fillmore's withdrawal from the national councils,
was universal among all classes of his fellow-citizens.
He remained true to his purpose. The close of the
twenty-seventh Congress left him in possession of the
brightest civic laurels. His political career had been a
glorious one. He remained, after the close of that Con-
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMOEE. 289
gress, in the shade of private life, and in the duties of
his profession, until other events called him again to the
service of his country.
It is now rny duty to notice very briefly another polit-
ical revolution, pregnant with the most disastrous results,
one of which was the infliction into the heart of the
whig party of its eventual death-stab. The whig national
convention met at Baltimore, for the purpose of nominat-
ing candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency of
1844. The result of the deliberations of that convention
was the selection of Henry Clay, of Kentucky, for pres-
ident, and Frelinghuysen for vice-president. Clay was
nominated by acclamation. Never did a party enter a
political contest more sanguine of success than did the
whigs in 1844. Never was a nomination more enthusi-
astically received. From northern New York to the
Carolinas, a simultaneous outburst of joy arose from the
ranks of the whig party. Banners were flung to the
breeze in a thousand cities, and along the line pseans of
victory were heard, and the blaze of triumph gleamed on
every countenance. But, fair as were all these indica-
tions, Clay was beaten. Which were the more surprised
at this result, the whigs or the democrats, would be diffi-
cult to say. Among the causes that led to the defeat of
Henry Clay may be enumerated the annexation question ;
the bankrupt law ; and the efforts of Cassius M. Clay in
the north. Tyler had some influence, which he exerted
against Clay's election. The large amount of abolition
votes in the north contributed to his defeat. The want
of efficient party organization did much harm. The too
13
290 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE,
sanguine hopes of the party was another cause ; the out-
bursts of enthusiasm prevented their zealous eo5perative
labors. Corruption, in the large cities, at the ballot-box
exerted considerable influence. These are some of the
minor eauses that led to the defeat of Clay; but the
great and true cause was foreign influence. The fraudu-
lent issue of naturalization papers was developed to an
alarming extent. In Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland,
Pennsylvania, and New York City, this and other illegal-
means were resorted to, for the purpose of electing
Polk in 1844.
At the Baltimore convention Mr. Fillmore was put in
nomination for the vice-presidency ; it was regarded by
many as unfortunate that he did not get it. It was well
known that the result of the presidential election, in 1844,
depended greatly upon the state of New York. Mr.
Fillmore was the choice for vice-president throughout
that state. On the ticket with Clay, the state, it was
thought, could have been carried. Disappointed in their
desires to place him before the people as a candidate for
the vice-presidency, the voters of New York, of his party,
were unanimous in their wishes to place him on the ticket
as candidate for governor. Mr. Fillmore felt no desire to
engage in political struggles, and expressed himself
opposed to complying with the wishes of the people.
The following extracts from a letter published in the
Albany Journal, edited by Thurlow Weed, shows his
feelings in regard to the gubernatorial canvass of 1844 ;
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 291
New York, May 16th, 1844.
Thurlow Weed, Esq. — My Dear Sir: Being here
in attendance upon the supreme court, my attention has
been called to an article in your paper of the 8th instant,
and to some extracts from other journals in yours since
that time, in which my name is mentioned as a candidate
for nomination to the gubernatorial office in this state.
You do me the justice to say that ' I have never desired
the office of governor, though I admit the right of the
people to the services of a public man in any station they
may think proper to assign him.' My maxim has always
been that individuals have no claim upon the public for
official favors, but that the public has a right to the ser-
vice of any and all of its citizens. This right of the
public, however, must in some measure be qualified by the
fitness and ability of the person whose services may be
demanded for the station designed, and the propriety of
his accepting the trust can only be properly determined
when all his relations, social. and political, are taken into
account. Of the former, I am ready to concede that the
public must be the proper and only judge. In regard to
the latter, the individual himself has a right to be consulted.
These notices of the public press are from such sources,
and so flattering, as to leave no doubt either of the sin-
cerity or friendship of the authors. And the office itself,
in my estimation, is second in point of dignity, honor, and
responsibility only to that of president of the United
States. When we reflect that it has been held by a Jay,
a Tompkins, and a Clinton, who in the discharge of its
g92 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
various and responsible duties, acquired a fame that has
connected them with the history of our country, and ren-
dered their names immortal, all must agree that its honors
are sufficient to satisfy the most lofty ambition. For my-
self, I can truly say, that they are more than I ever
aspired to.
" But the whig party of this state now presents an array
of talent and of well-tried political and moral integrity
not excelled by that of any state of the Union. From
this distinguished host it can not be difficult to se-
lect a suitable candidate for the office of governor —
one who is capable, faithful, true to the cause and the
country, and who will call out the enthusiastic support of
the whole whig party. To such a candidate I pledge in
advance my most hearty and zealous support. Let us
add his name to those of Clay and Frelinghuysen, and
our success is certain.
"But while I thus withdraw from competition for the
honors, be assured that I do not shrink from the labors or
responsibilities of this great contest. We have a work to
perform in this state which calls for the united effort and
untiring exertion of every true whig. Here the great
battle is to be fought. For myself, I am enlisted for the
war. Wherever I can be of most service, there I am
willing to go ; I seek no distinction but such as may be
acquired by a faithful laborer in a good cause. I ask no
reward but such as results to all from a good government
well administered; and I desire no higher gratification
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 293
than to witness the well merited honors with which victory
will crown my numerous whig friends.
" I am truly yours,
"Millard Fillmore."
But, notwithstanding the reasons advanced in the fore-
going letter, and the unequivocally expressed preference
to remain in private life, he was nominated by the state
convention for governor, by acclamation. The pride they
felt in presenting him as the candidate of their choice, is
evinced in the following resolution, adopted among others
by that convention :
"Besolved, that we announce to the people of r this
great commonwealth, with peculiar and triumphant satis-
faction, the name of our candidate for the chief magistracy
of the state — a nomination which we were called together
not to suggest but to declare, as the previously expressed
will of the people — a nomination which we have there-
fore made unanimously without a moment's delay, and
without a thought of dissent — and that we rejoice in the
opportunity thus to show a grateful people's high appre-
ciation of the modest worth, the manly public virtue, the
spotless integrity, and unchangeable fidelity of that emi-
nent champion of whig principles, the dauntless vindicator
of the outraged popular suffrage in the case of the insulted
'broad seal' of New Jersey in 1850, the valiant and vic-
torious leader of the patriotic whigs of the immortal
twenty-seventh Congress in their long and trying warfare
against corruption and despotism, the laborious author
and eloquent defender of the whig tariff — Millard
Fillmore."
294 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
Mr. Fillmore was beaten and shared the general fate
of whig principles in 1844. The same agencies enumer-
ated in the causes of Clay's defeat, had been actively
worked against Mr. Fillmore. This is the only instance
in which Mr. Fillmore has ever known defeat, and to him,
so far as he was concerned personally, it was no source
of regret ; but the great pang to him was, it sealed the
doom of Henry Clay. Depressed under a consciousness
of this fact, immediately after the result, he wrote the fol-
lowing letter to Mr. Clay :
"Buffalo, November 11th, 1844.
" My Dear Sir : I have thought, for three or four days,
that I would write you, but really I am unmanned. I
have no courage or resolution. All is gone. The last
hope, which hung first upon the city of New York and
then upon Virginia, is finally dissipated, and I see nothing
but despair depicted on every countenance.
" For myself I have no regrets. I was nominated
much against my will, and though . not insensible to the
pride of success, yet I feel a kind of relief at being
defeated. But not so for you or for the nation. Every
consideration of justice, every feeling of gratitude con-
spired in the minds of honest men to insure your election ;
and though always doubtful of my own success, I could
never doubt yours, till the painful conviction was forced
upon me.
" The abolitionists and foreign catholics have defeated
us in this state. I will not trust myself to speak of the
vile hyprocrisy of the leading abolitions now. Doubtless,
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOEE. 295
many acted honestly but ignorantly in what they did.
But it is clear that Birney and his associates sold them-
selves to locofocoism, and they will doubtless receive
their reward.
" Our opponents, by pointing to the native Americans
and to Mr. Frelinghuysen, drove the foreign catholics
from us, and defeated us in this state.
" But it is vain to look at the causes by which this
infamous result has been produced. It is enough to say
that all is gone, and I must confess that nothing has hap-
pened to shake my confidence in our ability to sustain a
free government so much as this. If with such issues
and such candidates as the national contest presented, we
•can be beaten, what may we not expect ? A cloud of
gloom hangs over the future. May God save the country,
for it is evident the people will not."
We have stated that the main cause of these defeats
were the effects of foreign influence ; in support of this
assertion, read the following extracts of letters to Mr.
Glay immediately afterwards, by distinguished gentlemen,
and notice the corroborative evidence contained in the
foregoing letter, from Mr. Fillmore himself :
From Ambrose Spencer, of New York :
" The foreign vote destroyed your election. * * *
One sentiment seems to prevail universally, that the nat-
uralization laws must be altered ; that they must be re-
pealed, and the door forever shut on the admission of
foreigners to citizenship, or that they undergo a long pro-
bation. ' I am for the former.
M The Germans and Irish are in the same category ;
296 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOKE.
those who know not our language, and are as ignorant a^
the lazzaroni of Italy, can never understandingly exercise
the franchise ; and the other, besides their ignorance, are
naturally inclined to go with the loafers of our population."
From Philip Hone, of New York city :
"Foreigners who have 'no lot or inheritance' in the
matter, have robbed us of our birth-right, the ' sceptre,
has departed from Israel.' Ireland has re-Conquered the
country which England lost ; but never suffer yourself to
believe that a single trace of the name of Henry Clay is
obliterated from the swelling hearts of the whigs of New
York."
From John H. Westwood, of Baltimore :
" It was foreign influence, aided by the Irish and Dutch
vote, that caused our defeat. As a proof, in my native
city alone, in the short space of two months there were
over one thousand naturalized. Out of this number, nine-
tenths voted the loco-foco ticket. Thus men who could
not speak our language were made citizens and became
politicians too, who, at the polls were the noisy revilers
of your fair fame. Thus you have been well rewarded
for the interest you ever took for the oppressed of other
nations. Notwithstanding the ingratitude of the Irish
and German voters, if the abolitionists of New York had
done their duty, all would have been well."
From Mr. Frelinghuysen, of New-Jersey :
" The foreign vote was tremendous. More than three
thousand, it is confidently said, have been naturalized in
this city, (New-York) alone, since the first of October.
It is an alarming fact, that this foreign vote has decided
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 297
the great questions of American policy, and counteracted
a nation's gratitude."
These extracts, showing the great cause to' which the
disastrous results of 1844 were attributable, are fully
corroberated by numerous other letters from distinguished
men from all parts of the Union, to Mr. Clay. By refe-
rence to Colton's life and times of Henry Clay, many
letters of the above nature are found, but we have pub-
lished enough for our purpose. The conclusions naturally
arrived at, at this time, by the perusal of the above
extracts, are connected with the formation of a great
American party. These letters are suggestive of an im-
perative necessity of a resort to some national step to
counteract the pernicious effect of foreign influence. But
more of this in the proper place.
In 1847 Mr. Fillmore was elected to the comptroller-
ship of the state of New York, by a large majority. He
endeavored by every means in his power to refuse the
I
solicitations of his fellow citizens to become an incum-
bent of that office, and when he eventually signified his
acceptance it was with extreme reluctance. As superin-
tendent of the bank department in the Empire State of the
Union, the duties devolving upon him were numerous and
of the most onerous nature. Over the various funds
belonging to the state, he exercised entire control, as being
at the head of her finance. The plain, matter-of-fact,
practical qualities of Mr. Fillmore's mind, and his untir-
ing industry, eminently qualified him to fill that office
with service to the country, and credit to himself. The
precise accuracy of all his calculations rendered him
13*
298 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOSE.
well fitted for the discharge of the duties of an office
exclusively financial in its nature. The following let-
ter, published in one of the ablest conducted papers of
the state, indicates both the nature of these duties, and
the faithful manner in which they were discharged :
" There is no officer of the state whose duties and pow-
ers are so diversified, so extensive, and complicated, as
those of the comptroller; nor is there any who is placed
in a more commanding position for exercising a political
influence. From a simple auditor of accounts, and a
watch upon the treasury, he has sprung up into an officer
of the first eminence in the administration ; supplanting,
by degrees, some departments which were once of equal,
if not higher, regard, as auxiliaries and advisers of the
executive power. He is the one-man of the government.
He is not simply an officer, but a bundle of officers.
There is hardly a branch of the administration of which
he is not a prominent member — so prominent, in some
cases, that the affairs of that branch cannot be conducted
without his actual presence, although personally, he may
be a minority of those having it in charge. He is the
chief of the finances ; the superintendent of the banks ;
and the virtual quorum of the commissioners of the canal
fund, with all the power which such a position gives him
in the canal board. While other state departments have
no more than maintained their original sphere of authority,
or have suffered material diminution, particularly of influ-
ence, the office of the comptroller has been a favorite of
the legislature, and the chief object of its confidence,
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 299
entrusted with high, if not extraordinary, powers of
government.
" To form an adequate idea of the mass of duty he has
in charge, it is necessary not only to survey the summary
contained in the revised code of our laws, but to trace
out the statutes from year to year ; to review the reports
of his office ; and to follow him and his numerous assist
ants in "the actual discharge of their various labors in the
financial, banking, and tax bureaus of his department.
But it is inconsistent with the designed brevity of these
papers to enter into the details which alone can convey a
suitable notion of the magnitude and responsibility of bis
trust and influence. As the department is now organized,
it is overgrown and cumbersome ; and to perform with
intelligence and conscientiousness, without error or delay,
all its requisite offices of supervision and of action,
requires the sight of an Argus, with his hundred eyes,
and the activity of a Briareus, with his hundred hands."
Herein consists the infinite advantages of having such
men as Mr. Fillmore for public servants — -plain, business,
practical men. In every capacity in which Mr. Fillmore
has been placed, he has proven himself to be a working
man. Such men are of practical utility to the country.
This office of comptroller was one which required those
peculiar kind of talents which Mr. Fillmore possessed to
such an eminent degree. In all the duties he has had to
discharge, the greatest amount of labor to be accom-
plished in the least time, has been his desire. Instead of
laboring for display and show, he has labored to be use-
ful. In his speeches, he says as little as possible, and says
300 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMOEE.
it as plain as possible. In his writings lie is careful to
make everything plain and accurate. The faithful and
correct performance of duty in any and all stations, has
been the great aim of his life. The report he made, as
comptroller of the state, showed the exact condition of
the finances, exhibited with mathematical precision. Much
clearness and financial capacity is exhibited in the comp-
troller's report, prepared by Mr. Fillmore. The very
great amount of attention he devoted to the duties of the
office is elearly indicated in the report of its condition.
The following is a portion of the report :
" The comptroller believes that the safest way to make
a sound paper currency is to have, at all times, ample se-
curity for its redemption in the possession of the state.
In order to make this security ample, it should be not
only sufficient in amount, but should be of such a nature
that it may be readily converted into cash without loss.
It is not enough that the security be ultimately good or
collectable ; delay in redeeming the circulation causes it
to depreciate, and is almost as fatal to the poor man who
cannot wait, as ultimate insolvency. He becomes at once
the victim of the broker.
"A bond and mortgage may be good — that is the
whole amount secured by them may be collectable ; but
the bill-holder can not wait for this. They must be con-
vertible into cash by sale ; and if, for any reason, this can
not be done, they are not of that kind of security which
should be required. All the experience of this depart-
ment shows that bonds and mortgages are not the best
security for this purpose, and while better security can be
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 301
had, it is deeply to be regretted that they were ever re-
ceived. The apprehension that there may be a defect of
title, that the lands mortgaged may have been appraised
too high, or that there may be some legal defence to a
suit of foreclosure, all conspire to depreciate their value
in the estimation of purchasers, -when offered for sale at
auction on the failure of a bank.
"Capitalists are cautious about purchasing, and the
consequence is that they have sometimes sold for less
than twenty per cent, on the amount received by them ;
and the average amount for which all have been sold, for
the last ten years, is only thirty-seven and seventy-one
hundredths per cent., while the average amount for which
the five per cent, stocks of this state have sold is ninety-
two and eighty-six one-hundredths per cent., or ninety-two
dollars and eighty-six one hundredths for every hundred
dollars of stock. This shows that a six per cent, stock,
such as is now required, would doubtless have sold at
par, and- the bill-holder would have received dollar for
dollar for the circulation.
" Should the country remain at peace, it can not be
doubted that the stocks of the United States will be a
safe and adequate security. The comptroller would,
therefore, recommend that the law be so changed as to
exclude bonds and mortgages from all free banks which
shall hereafter commence business, and to prevent the
taking of any more from those now in operation, and to
require that ten per cent, per annum of those now held
as security be withdrawn, and their places supplied by
stocks of this state, or of the United States. If this
302 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
recommendation be adopted, at the end of ten years the
whole security will be equal to a six per cent, stock of
this State, or of the United States, which it is presumed
will be ample security for the redemption of all bills in
circulation.
" Could this system of banking be generally adopted in
the several states, it can hardly be doubted it would prove
highly beneficial. It would create a demand for their
own state stocks. The interest paid upon them would be
paid to their own citizens. Every man who held a bank-
note, secured by such stock, would have a direct interest
in maintaining inviolate the credit of the state. The
blasting cry of repudiation would never again be heard,
and the plighted faith of the state would be as sacred as.
national honor; and lastly, it would give them a sound
and uniform currency.
" If then, in addition to this, Congress would authorize
such notes as were secured by stocks of the United States
to be received for public dues to the national treasury,
this would give to such notes a universal credit, coextens-
ive with the United States, and leave nothing further to
be desired in the shape of a national paper currency.
This would avoid all objection to a national bank, by
obviating all necessity for one, for the purpose of furnish-
ing a national currency. The national government might
be made amply secure. The law might provide that all
bills secured by United States stock should be registered
and countersigned in the treasury department, as the notes
circulated by the banks in this state are registered and
countersigned in this office. This would enable every
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 303
collector, postmaster, or other receiver of public moneys,
to know that they were receivable for public dues.
" The stock of the United States by which their re-
demption was secured, might be so transferred to the
state officer holding the same, that it could not be sold or
transferred by him without the assent of the secretary of
the treasury ; and, in case of the failure of the bank to re-
deem its notes, it might be optional with the secretary of
the treasury to exchange the notes held by the govern-
ment for an equal amount of United States stock held for
their redemption, or let it be sold and receive the govern-
ment's share of the dividends. In this way the national
government would always be secure against loss.
" But this suggestion is foreign from the chief object
of this report, and is merely thrown out to invite attention
to the subject. But in conclusion, the comptroller has no
hesitation in recommending that the free bank system be
modified in the particulars above suggested, and that it
be then adopted, in preference to the safety-fund system,
as the banking system of this state.
" It can not be supposed that the banking under this
system will be as profitable as it has been under the
safety-fund system. It is therefore desirable that every
facility should be given to capitalists who engage in it
that can be granted consistent with the security of the
public, and that no unreasonable or unjust system of tax-
ation should be adopted which discriminates invidiously
against them ; but persons engaged in banking should be
taxed like all other citizens."
It was about this time when the calamitous results of
304 LIFE OF MILLAJJD FILLMORE.
famine were sweeping over the land of Erin, and philan-
thropy was appealing across the waters to the humane
feelings of Americans, for their manifestations of liberality
in behalf of the sufferers.
These appeals were not made in vain to a people ever
alive to the dictates of an active benevolence. Meetings
were held all over the land, and the most munificent spirit
of liberality prevailed throughout the entire Union.
Among the places of the North that responded with open
hands and hearts to her distressing appeal was the gener-
Dur city of Buffalo. A meeting was held in that place
expressive of their sympathy for the sufferers of the
Emerald Isle. Mr. Fillmore, ever alive to the calls
of humanity, addressed a letter upon that subject,
expressive of entire approval of the spirit manifested in
their behalf, and breathing the purest sentiments of
philanthropy.
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE, 305
CHAPTER IX.
Another national convention — Great changes — Military glory —
General Taylor nominated for the presidency — Millard Fillmore
for the vice-presidency — Their election — Sketch of the U. S,
Senate — Illustrious names — California asks admission — Section-
alism in the senate — One man at the head — The "omnibus
bill " — Death of President Taylor — Mr. Pillmore communicates
the fact to the senate — Proceedings of the two houses — Mr.
Fillmore takes the oath — Assumes the chief magistracy —
Funeral obsequies.
During the time he was incumbent of the comptroller-
ship another whig national convention assembled at Phil-
adelphia, for the purpose of selecting political standard-
bearers for the campaign of 1848. Previous to the
assemblage of that convention, much had been said in
regard to the presidential candidate. Great changes had
taken place since it met four years before. War had
raged with a neighboring nation, and victory perched
upon the banners that waved in triumph over the peaks of
the Cordilleras. Texas had come into the Union as a
state, and the territorial acquisition of California had
fringed that side of our possession with its golden colors.
Banks and bank excitements had been silenced in the din
of progress. The sage of Ashland had been defeated.
The fame of Taylor had dazzled, on the fields of Palo
Alto, the heights of Monterey, and rose to its acme at
Buena Vista. Scott had placed the American flag upon
the heights of San Juan d' Ulloa, flashed like a meteor
306 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
over the crests of Cerro Gordo, Molina Del Rey, and
erected his trophies in the halls of the Montezurnas.
The proud Tlascalan's land, the domain of the Aztecs,
had submitted to the American arms. These two heroes
circled in the halo of military fame, were looked upon
with a view to the presidency. A strong feeling prevailed
throughout the country favorable to Taylor ; but so much
of his life had been spent in the field and around the
camp fire, that they were ignorant of his political creed,
or whether he had any creed other than pertained to mil-
itary tactics. The following letter in reply to previous
inquiries on the subject, which was circulated throughout
the country, was far from being satisfactory upon the
subject of his political faith :
" Baton Eouge, La., January 30th, 1848.
" Sir : In reply to your inquiries, I have again to
repeat, I have neither the power nor the desire to dictate
to the American people the exact manner in which they
should proceed to nominate candidates for the presidency
of the United States. If they desire such a result, they
must adopt the means best suited, in their opinion, to the
consummation of the purpose ; and if they think fit to
bring me before them for this office, through their legis-
lature, mass meetings, or conventions, I can not object
to their designating these bodies as whig, democrat, or
native. But in being thus nominated, I must insist on
the condition — and ,my position on this point is immuta-
ble— that I shall not be brought forward as the candidate
of their party, or considered as the exponent of their party
doctrines.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 307
" In conclusion, I have to repeat, that if I were nomi-
nated for the presidency, by any body of my fellow
citizens, designated by any name they might choose to
adopt, I should esteem it an honor, and should accept
such nomination, provided it had been made entirely
independent of party considerations.
" I am, sir, very respectfully,
" Your obedient servant,
"Z. Taylor.
" Peter S. Smith, Esq., Philadelphia."
The following, known as the Allison letter, is a little
more explicit :
" I will proceed now to respond to your inquiries :
" 1. I reiterate what I have so often said : I am a
whig. If elected, I would not be the mere president of
a party. I would endeavor to act independent of party
dominion. I should feel bound to administer the govern-
ment untrameled by party schemes.
" 2. The Veto Power. The power given by the con-
stitution to the executive to interpose his veto is a high
conservative power ; but, in my opinion, should never be
exercised except in cases of clear violation of the consti-
tution, or manifest haste and want of consideration by
Congress. Indeed, I have thought that for many years
past the known opinions and wishes of the executive have
exercised undue and injurious influence upon the legisla-
tive department of the government ; and for this cause I
have thought that our system was in danger of undergo-
ing a great change from its true theory. The personal
308 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE.
opinions of the individual who may happen to occupy
the executive chair ought not to control the action of
Congress upon questions of domestic policy ; nor ought
his objections to be interposed where questions of consti-
tutional power have been settled by the various depart-
ments of government, and acquiesced in by the people.
" 3. Upon the subject of the tariff, the currency, the
improvement of our great highways, rivers, lakes, and
harbors, the will of the people, as expressed by their re-
presentatives in Congress, ought to be respected and
carried out by the executive."
One point was pretty well settled by the above letter,
viz., that if he was a military chieftain, in case of his
election to the presidency, he would not be a Jackson,
and in the assumption of the regal powers of the execu-
tive, forget the democratical ones of Congress.
Taylor, Scott, Clay, "Webster, McLean, and Clayton,
were presented before the convention as candidates for
the presidency. On the fourth ballot Taylor was declared
the nominee of the convention, over Scott, Clay, and
Webster — McLean and Clayton being scarcely con-
sidered. After the selection of a candidate for president,
Millard Fillmore and the late Abbott Lawrence were put
in nomination for the vice-presidency. On the second
ballot, Mr. Fillmore was declared the nominee, having re-
ceived more votes than were given to Taylor. This an-
nouncement was received with unbounded delight. Proud
of Fillmore, New York had long been advocating his
claims to that office ; a happier selection could not have
been made. Mr. Fillmore was informed of the result of
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOEE. 309
the Philadelphia convention, and made the following
reply :
" Albany, N. Y., June 17th, 1848.
" Sir : — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of
your letter of the 10th inst., by which I am notified that
at the late whig convention held at Philadelphia, Gen.
Zachary Taylor was nominated for president, and myself
for vice-president, and requesting my acceptance.
" The honor of being thus presented by the distinguished
representives of the whig party of the Union for the
second office in the gift of the people — an honor as un-
expected as it was unsolicited — could not fail to awaken
grateful emotions, which, while they can not be sup-
pressed, find no appropriate language for utterance.
" Fully persuaded that the cause in which we are en-
listed is the cause of the country ; that our chief object is
to secure peace, preserve its honor, and advance its pros-
perity ; and feeling, moreover, a confident assurance that
in General Taylor, whose name is presented for the first
office, I shall always find a firm and consistent whig, a
safe guide and an honest man, I can not hesitate to as-
sume any position which my friends may assign me.
" Distrusting, as I well may, my ability to discharge
satisfactorily the duties of that high office, but feeling
that in case of my election, I may with safety repose
upon the friendly aid of my fellow whigs, and that efforts
guided by Jionest intentions will always be charitably
judged, I accept the nomination so generously tendered,
and I do this the more cheerfully, as I am willing, for
such a cause and with such a man, to take my chances of
310 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMOEE.
success or defeat, as the electors, the final arbiters of our
fate, shall, in their wisdom, judge best for the interests of
our country.
" Please accept the assurance of my high regard and
esteem, and permit me to subscribe myself
" Your friend and fellow citizen,
"Millard Fillmore."
The result of this nomination was an election by a
large majority.
Cass and Butler, the democratic candidates, were beaten
by thirty-six electoral votes, Mr. Fillmore was immedi-
ately, after this result became known, honored in New
York City by the general committee, giving him their
congratulations, and an address through their chairman.
In a private letter, written immediately afterwards, Mr.
Fillmore makes the following remarks :
" The cordiality and unanimity with which the whig
ticket has been sustained everywhere, north and south,
east and west, is a just cause of national felicitation. It
proves that the great whig party is truly a national
party — that it occupies that safe and conservative ground
which secures to every section of the country all that it
has a right to claim under the guarantee of the constitu-
tion — that such rights are inviolate — and as to all other
questions of mere policy, where Congress has the consti-
tutional right to legislate, the will of the people, as ex-
pressed through their representatives in Congress, is to
control, and that will is not to be defeated by the arbi-
trary interposition of the veto power.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 311
M This simple rule, which holds sacred all constitutional
guarantees, and leaves the law-making power where the
constitution placed it, in Congress, relieves the party at
once from all the embarrassing questions that arise out of
sectional differences of opinion, and enables it to act har-
moniously for the good of the country. "When the presi-
dent ceases to control the law-making power, his individ
ual opinions of what the law ought to be, become com-
paratively unimportant. Hence we have seen General
Taylor, though attacked as a slaveholder and a pro-slavery
man at the north, cordially supported and triumphantly
elected by men opposed to slavery, in all its forms ; and
though I have been charged at the south, in the most
gross and wanton manner, with being an abolitionist and
an incendiary, yet the whigs of the south have cast these
calumnies- to the winds, and, without asking or expecting
any thing more than what the constitution guarantees to
them on this subject, they have yielded to me a most
hearty and enthusiastic support. This was particu-
larly so in New Orleans, where the attack was most
violent.
"Keally, these southern whigs are noble fellows
Would you not lament to see the Union dissolved, if
for no other cause than that it separated us from such
true, noble, and high-minded associates ? But I regard
this election as putting an end to all ideas- of disunion. It
raises up a national party, occupying a middle ground,
and leaves the fanatics and disunionists, north and south,
without the hope of destroying the fair fabric of our con-
stitution. May it be perpetual !"
312 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
Let the attention of all parties, in both extremes of our
union, be called to the noble, patriotic sentiments con-
tained in the foregoing. Men of the south, let them sink
into your hearts and become impressed upon your minds.
"Beally, these southern whigs are noble fellows.
Would you not lament to see the Union dissolved, if
for no other cause than that it separated us from such
true, noble, and high-minded associates ? "
Look again at the closing sentence of this patriotic let-
ter. It was a private letter, never intended for the pub-
lic eye ; hence, it must be admitted as a true index of the
man.
Mr. Fillmore resigned the comptrollership in February,
1849, to assume the responsible duties of the vice-presi-
dency, and on the fifth of March was inaugurated as the
Incumbent of that office. The occasion was one of
solemnity and importance. Vast multitudes assembled
at the capitol to witness the ceremony. The following
are Mr. Fillmore's remarks to the senate on the occasion :
" Senators : Never having been honored with a seat
on this floor, and never having acted as the presiding ofli-
cer of any legislative body, you will not doubt my sincer-
ity, when I assure you that I assume the responsible du-
ties of this chair, with a conscious want of experience, and
a just appreciation that I shall often need your friendly
suggestions, and more often your indulgent forbearance.
I should, indeed, feel oppressed and disheartened, did I
not recollect that the senate is composed of eminent
statesmen, equally distinguished for their high intellec-
tual endowments and their amenity of manners, whose
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 313
persuasive eloquence is so happily tempered with habitual
courtesy, as to relieve your presiding officer from all that
would be painful in the discharge of his duty, and render
his position as agreeable as it must be instructive.
"Thus encouraged and sustained, I enter upon the
duties assigned me, firmly resolved to discharge them
with impartiality, and to the best of my ability. But I
should do injustice to the grateful emotions of my own
heart, if I did not, on this occasion, express my warmest
thanks for the distinguished honor that has been con-
ferred upon me, in being called by the voice of the nation
to preside over your deliberations.
" It will not, I trust, be deemed inappropriate to congrat-
ulate you on the scene now passing before us. I allude
to it in no partisan aspect, but as an ever-recurring event
contemplated by the constitution. Compare the peace-
ful changes of chief magistrate of this republic with the
recent sanguinary revolutions in Europe.
" There the voice of the people has only been heard
amid the din of arms and the horrors of domestic con-
flicts ; but here, in our own favored land, under the guid-
ance of our constitution, the resistless will of the nation
has, from time to time, been peaceably expressed, by the
free will of the people, and all have bowed in obedient
submission to their decree.
" The administration which but yesterday wielded the
destinies of this great nation, to-day quietly yields up its
power, and, without a murmur, retires from the capitol.
" I congratulate you senators, and I congratulate my
country, upon these oft-recurring and cheering evidences
14
814 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
of our capacity for self-government. Let us hope that
the sublime spectacle we now witness may be repeated
as often as the people shall desire a change of rulers,
and that this venerated constitution, and this glorious
Union may endure forever."
At the time this administration came into power, many
changes had just taken place of no ordinary nature, and
numerous discordant elements were about wrapping the
political horizon in a blaze of fire. It was on the eve of
the fierce struggle relating to the balance of power,
between the slaveholding states of the south, and the
non-slaveholding states of the north. Secession conven-
tions were being held in the south, and anti-slavery meet-
ings in the north. Led by Rhett, Sharkey, and others,
the southern secessionists were fomenting the wildest
excitements, and were beginning to advocate disunion.
Headed by Hale and others, the anti-slavery adherents
of the north were creating animosity of the bitterest
nature, and saying to slavery, " Thus far and no farther
shalt thou come."
Disunion conventions were beginning to be agitated,
and the southern disunionists subsequently met in con-
vention, in the city of Nashville, with delegated repre-
sentatives from most of the southern states. The whole
political organism had begun to rock and heave with con-
vulsive throes, preceding the mighty shock that was to
pour its eruptive lava upon the green vales of union.
Lightnings of fanaticism flashed in the heavens, and the
muttering thunders of the approaching storm rolled their
awful peals in the distance. Quick, and wild with the
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE. 315
fitful blaze of excitement, the national leaders looked on
each other as rivals instead of colleagues, and kindled
instead of allayed the furies of the coming crisis. Sec-
tional strifes and fanatical discords of different natures,
diffused with the most rancorous irritation, sparkled their
fierceness from under the panoply of the YvTilmot Proviso.
It was on the eve of the mighty storm, pregnant with
such fearful bolts, that Mr. Fillmore assumed the speak-
ership of the senate.
Let us glance, for a moment, at the elements of that
august body, over which he had to preside. There was
the venerable Clay, who had for years been woven with
his country, by the web of destiny. From Ashland he
bent his steps again to the scenes of his early triumphs.
Though venerable in years, he was an intellectual giant
that nothing could overcome. Curtius-like, he had gone
there to throw his virtue and patriotism into the breach
that was opening about his country's capitol, and to die,
a self-immolated martyr to patriotism. The immortal
Webster was there, thundering forth his lion-tones of " I
know no north, no south," upon the ears of a captive
senate. Benton was there, enthroned upon " thirty
years' " experience, a pillar of firmness, fixed as the
poles. Dickenson was there, with his great perceptive
powers, to raise his arm and voice for union. The patriot
Cass was there, exhibiting the stern inflexibility of jus-
tice and right.
J. R. Underwood was there, side by side with Clay,
throwing his talents into the task of pacification, with a
spirit of patriotic virtue, true as steel. Foote was there
316 LIFE OF MILLARD 2ILLM0RE.
the great antagonist of Benton, the Phocion of the
south. What a seven were these. Imagine them stirred
into strife, as they were destined to be. Imagine how
vast the mental volcano, when lit with the phrenzies of
discord. Imagine bow resistless the torrent, when that
realm of mind boiled over with excitement, and wonder
how they passed the ordeal of 1849-50. Tbey had one
man at their head fit to be their pilot. Such was the
senate — the memorable senate of that fearful epoch.
The first measure that tended to fan the elements of
discord into an unexampled fury, was the application of
California to be admitted as a state into the Union.
Before coming as a sister into the family of Union, it was
insisted that the mantle of the Wilmot Proviso had to
wrap her fair proportions. Here the whole subject of
slavery began to roll its dark evolvements thick about the
political sky. California, spreading her lap, a golden El
Dorado, lured to her plains the restless adventurers from
all parts of the world, and became densely populated,
with unprecedented rapidity. So fast had she been set-
tled, that under a state constitution adopted by the people,
she was knocking at the door for admission into the
Union.
Her admission, as the admission of many other states
into the Union, involved the slavery question. Was she
to come in as a free or a slave state ? She demanded
admittance as a free state. This the South, of course,
opposed ; and the only way of conciliating them was to
compromise by the introduction of some measure possess-
ing the merits of mutual concession. This resulted in
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 317
the elaboration of the compromise measures of Mr. Clay.
"We have before remarked that Mr. Clay well understood
the principles of conciliation. By a masterly stroke of
the most consummate statesmanship, he demonstrated
this attribute in the present emergency. He was opposed
to California's admission into the Union as a free state
without a corresponding area of territory to maintain the
balance of power in the senate. The compromise he
introduced specified that certain parcels of territory which
it organized into governments should decide by the voice
of the people upon the subject of slavery. Here was a
concession to the south, in the event of California's ulti-
mate admission as a free state. His measure also settled
the Texas boundary question, and embraced certain por-
tions of the fugitive slave law, which was afterwards
adopted by congress. Embracing as it did all these
designs, it was denominated the " omnibus bill."
The great equality it possessed was that of mutual con-
cession on the part of the North and South, so as not to
endanger the balance of power. Had the senate endorsed
these sentiments, the terrific excitements of that session
would have been allayed in the incipient stages of their
development. Webster, Cass, Underwood, and others,
came to the rescue, and rendered patriotic services.
While excited over this question, and that excitement
still on the increase, as if to strike an awful bolt of
" beware ! " into their deliberations, General Taylor died.
General Taylor was a great and a good man, though pol-
itics were evidently not his sphere. The reins of gov-
ernment, in this instance, instead of passing from old
318 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE.
hands into new, passed from the hands of inexperience
into those of skill, ability, and experience. They could
have found no safer repository. Taylor died on the 9th
of July, 1850, exclaiming, "I am prepared — I have
tried, to do imj duty." On the next day, the following
communication was sent to the senate and house by Mr.
Fillmore :
"Washington, July 10th, 1S50.
"Fellow citizens of the Senate and of the House of Ee-
presentatives : I have to perform the melancholy duty of
announcing to you that it has pleased Almighty God
to remove from this life Zachary Taylor, late President
of the United States. He deceased last evening at the
hour of half-past ten o'clock, in the midst of his family,
and surrounded by affectionate friends, calmly, and in the
full possession of all his faculties. Among his last words
were these, which he uttered with emphatic distinctness :
' I have always done my duty — I am ready to die ; my
only regret is for the friends I leave behind me.'
" Having announced to you, fellow citizens, this most
afflicting bereavement, and assuring you that it has pen-
etrated no heart with deeper grief than mine, it remains
for me to say, that I propose this day, at twelve o'clock,
in the hall of the house of representatives, in the presence
of both houses of Congress, to take the oath prescribed
by the constitution, to enable me to enter on the execution
of the office which this event has devolved on me.
" Tours, respectfully,
" Millard Fillmore."
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 319
v
The senate, pursuant to previous arrangements, of a
committee appointed under resolutions for that purpose,
proceeded to the hall of the house, where Judge Cranch
administered the oath of office to Mr. Fillmore.
The following message was then received from the
president :
" Washington, July 10th, 1850.
" Fellow citizens of the Senate and of the House of
Representatives : A great man has fallen among us, and
a whole country is called to an occasion of unexpected,
deep, and general mourning.
" I' recommend to the two houses of Congress to adopt
such measures as their discretion may seem proper, to
perform with due solemnity the funeral obsequies of
Zachary Taylor, late President of the United States;
and thereby to signify the great and affectionate regard
of "the American people for the memory of one whose life
has been devoted to the public service ; whose career in
arms has not been surpassed in usefulness or brilliancy ;
who has been so recently raised by the unsolicited voice
of the people to the highest civil authority in the govern-
ment, which he administered with so much honor and ad-
vantage to his country ; and by whose sudden death so
many hopes of future usefulness have been blighted
forever.
" To you, senators and representatives of a nation in
tears, I can say nothing which can alleviate the sorrow
with which you are oppressed.
" I appeal to you to aid me under the trying circum-
stances which surround us in the discharge of the duties,
320 » LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
from which, however much I may be oppressed by them,
I dare cot shrink; and I rely upon Him, who holds in His
hands the destinies of nations, to endow me with the re-
quisite strength for the task, and to avert from our coun-
try the evils apprehended from the heavy calamity which
has befallen us.
" I shall most readily concur in whatever measures the
wisdom of the two houses may suggest, as benefitting
this deeply melancholy occasion.
"Millard Fillmore."
The funeral obsequies of the late president were per-
formed with great solemnity, on the 13th of July. Like
Harrison, Taylor died immediately after he commenced
the duties of his office. But, unlike Harrison, he left the
sacred trust reposed in his keeping in safe and reliable
hands.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 321
CHAPTER X.
«
Mr. Fillmore's Administration — He selects a cabinet — Wisdom
of his selection — Excitement in the senate — Defeat of the omni-
bus bill — The North and the South — Struggle for supremacy —
Three parties in the senate — Wisdom and patriotism — The great
crisis — Mr. Fillmore's firmness and patriotism — Difficulties in
New Mexico and Texas — Passage of the compromise measures —
Their submission to the president — A civic Callimachus —
Fugitive Slave Law — Attorney General — Mr. Fillmore signs the
compromise measures — Is violently assailed in consequence —
Judge McLean's opinion — First annual message — Its ability.
The first duty devolving upon Mr. Fillmore was the
selection of his cabinet. Appreciating, to its fullest
extent, the importance of unison of feeling between
president and cabinet, he made the selection with great
care, and with reference to the immediate adjustment of
the measures that bid fair to be so exciting. His cab-
inet was composed of the following gentlemen :
Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, Secretary of
State.
Thomas Corwiiv, of Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury.
James A. Pearce, of Maryland, Secretary of the
Interior.
William A Graham, of North Carolina, Secretary
of the Navy.
Edward Bates, of Missouri, Secretary of War.
Nathan K. Hall, of New York, Postmaster-General.
John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky, Attorney-General.
14*
322 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
In addition to the eminent talent and ability combined
in tbis selection, we see an entire absence of all local
prejudices. From Lake Erie to Carolina, from Ken-
tucky to Boston, and from Maryland to Missouri, this
able cabinet was brought together, to aid him in the
administration of the government.
Simultaneously with the elevation of Mr. Fillmore to
the presidency, commenced the fiercest political struggle
recorded in the annals of American history. The diffi-
culties originating in the demand of California for admis-
sion into the Union as a state increased in number and
magnitude, until the North and the South stood up in
deadly conflict. Two powerful rivals, they seemed to
sever the bond of union, and in fierce hostility to struggle
for supremacy. There was a party in Congress who
opposed the measures embodied in the compromise, upon
the grounds that it was too much concession to the South.
There was another party who averred that it was too
much concession to the North. While in the midst of
these sectionalists stood a Spartan band of Union patriots,
led by Clay, Webster, and others, and encouraged by
Fillmore, laboring to conciliate with the mild measures
of the compromise, requiring mutual concession, and
guaranteeing mutual protection. But the vei*y mutuality
of these measures was what tended to elicit such inces-
sant opposition. It was a crisis — a very great crisis —
in the struggle between North and South. The smallest
advantage gained by either party could be turned to great
account. Each wanted to gain some supremacy, and, as
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 323
long as all the adjustment measures presented precluded
the possibility of any ascendency by either party of sec-
tionalists, both parties were arrayed against it. Adjust-
ment was not what they desired so much as ascendency.
Clay, Webster, and the whole administration party threw
themselves into the breach, with the determined spirit of
martyrs. I call this the administration party, because
their views were the same as entertained by the administra-
tion. Of these compromise measures, it may be said
they were the only means of quelling the troubles
of the nation. The lofty intellects and penetrating
sagacity of those who originated them have never
been excelled. The towering eloquence of Clay,
Webster, and others, thrilled every part of the Union,
and vibrated in the old world.
The conciliatory measures of the compromise, or the
omnibus bill, as it was derisively called by the opponents,
were submitted to the senate, shortly after Mr. Fillmore's
accession to the presidency. That measure was defeated
by a vote taken amid the wildest excitement. After the
defeat of this measure, the feeling became still more in-
tense, until signs of red revolution began to indicate
themselves. A blaze of fanaticism flashed across the Union
like a bolt of destruction. The thunders of discord rolled
their notes, with a terrific shock, that threatened to up-
heave the whole superstructure of our republican system.
The great ocean of politics were ploughed from the very
bottom, and foamed with all the rage of sectional strife.
The old ship of state would sink beneath the surge, and
bend her spars to the gale, then again she would rise above
324 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE,
the blast unharmed. Amid the storm that wrapped her
mast, the pilot was at the helm, unmoved by the raging
tempest, determined to guide her into port. Men of all
parties felt the shock, and all eyes were turned to him
with intense anxiety. Calm and patriotic he breasted the
tempest, and guided the vessel true to the star of
national freedom. "He was the man for the crisis," was
the opinion of patriots in all parts of the country. The
nation was groaning under the fearful anticipations as to
what might be the result. Disunion was spread from
Maine to Texas. Party strife opened wide the breach
between North and South. Fanatics, with an Alexander
sword, stood ready to cut the Gordian knot of union, and
rip out the heart of freedom. The stars and stripes of
liberty were being torn to fragmental shreds, and furled
about their shattered staff. Demarkation lines were being
drawn across the tomb of Vernon. The banners that
waved where Warren fell seemed ready to dip in intestine
blood. America shrieked a wild pang, as she saw sec-
tionalism weave the winding sheet of her independence.
Columbia gasped convulsive throes of agony, as she lay
half-prostrate, to see fanatics place a cypress wreath
about her pale brow. Freedom no longer sped her holy
message, but, quivering with anguish, hovered about the
capitol, pierced with an hundred darts, ready to shriek
her death gutterel.
At the head of the union party as the nation's chief,
stood Mr. Fillmore, unmoved, erect and patriotic, destined
to rule the storm, and to whisper " peace, be still." With
prompt energy he commenced the task of allaying the
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 325
excitement by ordering such military preparations as was
necessary to suppress the civil war between New Mexico
and Texas, who stood with daggers drawn for fight, in
regard to their boundaries, and advised Congress of the
necessity of immediate action in reference to the difficul-
ties in that quarter. Congress responded by taking ade-
quate steps to meet the emergency. In the meantime
the great' difficulties originating in the application of
California were beginning to be amicably adjusted. The
compromise, a pillar of patriotism, of which Clay, Cass,
Webster, Underwood, and others were the architects, after
passing a Red Sea of terrific excitement, were begining
to be regarded more favorably. The compromise em-
braced the following measures : 1. California came into the
Union as a free state; 2, the boundary between New
Mexico and Texas was settled ; 3, governments were
organized for the territories of New Mexico and Utah;
4, the slave trade abolished in the District of Columbia ;
5, the Fugitive Slave Law, which provided for the recovery
of fugitives from labor.
Of these measures and their several utilities, it is not
my province to speak. Their great services to the country
are full well appreciated. All friends to the country are
friends to these measures. They have been the subjects
of much comment and controversion al excitements.
After the passage of these measures, they were sub-
mitted to President Fillmore for approval. What an
awful responsibility was this. He could make them the
laws of his country, or he could dash to pieces by the
refusal of his signature the giant structure of months.
326 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
He was, emphatically, the Polemarch of the Union, the
Callimachus of the great American civic battle. He
was no Van Buren or Tyler, to leave the veto upon the
great measures of the American Congress.
Mr. Fillmore's having signed the fugitive slave law,
should endear him to the hearts of the people as their
favorite son. They should take into consideration the
exalted patriotism that induced the act. The violence
with which he knew he would be assailed by men of the
North, — by those, too, who had been his friends, — exerted
no influence in his action. Like Washington, as Millard
Fillmore, he could nay some attention to the wishes of
personal friends, but, as president of the Union, her
interests were the only dictates he obeyed.
Some points in the Fugitive Slave Law Mr. Fillmore
feared were not constitutional. The wisdom of some such
measure he did not doubt. Circumstances transpiring
over the country continually demonstrated the necessity
of such an enactment. Such necessities have always
existed. During the administration of Washington, such
an enactment was found to be necessary, and resulted in the
somewhat similar law of 1793 ; then how much more so in
1850. The sectional feelings between the North and
South had become so great, that the efforts of the owners
to recover their fugitives were not only futile, but attended
with expence and insult. On some occasions, when the
legitimate owner of the fugitives pursued them to the
state to which they fled, and took them before the proper
tribunals, the officials would refuse to investigate the case ;
and if, without an investigation, he took his property back
LIFE OP MILLAED FILLMOEE. 327
to his state, he was indicted for violating law, and some-
times convicted, and would have to appeal to the supreme
court for release.
Such were some of the absolute necessities of the act.
The clause in the constitution in reference to fugitives
certainly contemplates some such law as the one under
consideration. But the necessities for such a law and the
constitutionality of some of its peculiar provisions, when
passed, are widely different ; upon the first, Mr. Fillmore
was well satisfied — upon the other he was not. With
that profound regard for the constitution which he has
always manifested, he was determined to become satisfied
upon that point, and to withhold his signature until it
was thoroughly investigated. He studied it himself and
submitted it to his attorney-general. Mr. Crittenden
delivered a long and able opinion in support of its con-
stitutionality. After becoming satisfied of its constitu-
tionality, Mr. Fillmore signed all the measures of the
Compromise.
Here we are tempted into a brief review. Mr. Fillmore
was seen in childhood making peace among his com-
panions ; in the commencement of his profession, he was
on the side of the people ; in the assembly, laboring for
the people's rights, he removed the law that imprisoned
for debt; in Congress, when universal distress prevailed,
as chairman of the committee of ways and means, he
labored for the people, and retrenched government extrav-
agance ; in the comptroller's office, a friend to the people,
he guarded their funds, and systematized their state finan-
ces ; as vice-president, he. maintained the dignity of their
328 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
laws, and ruled with order ; as president, looking at the
distresses of the people, he gave relief, and preserved
their freedom. Who can present such antecedents as
these, in a life of public service 1 Who else can point
to a career so replete with evidences of devotion to the
people — the whole people?
As might have been expected, the Fugitive Slave Law
created great excitement in the North, and was violently
assailed by the sectionalists. Seward, especially, poured
his denunciations against it. Mr. Fillmore came in for a
large share of the abuse — thick and heavy was it heaped
upon him. But, with the consciousness of having per-
formed his duty, he never felt their bitter malignity. In
Boston, and other places, so hostile were the demonstra-
tions against the enforcement of the law, that they opposed
it with mob resistance. On learning, these facts, Mr.
Fillmore issued his proclamation, calling on all good citi-
zens to suppress the riot. The law had been passed, and,
as the law of the land, he was determined it should be
effectually enforced.
The prompt and patriotic manner in which he com-
menced the enforcement of the compromise measures,
contributed greatly to restore the country to tranquillity,
after the terrible agitation that had shaken it from centre
to circumference. The main basis of the arguments
advanced against the Fugitive Slave Law, and the denun-
ciations heaped upon Mr. Fillmore, for having signed it,
was its alleged unconstitutionality. The following able
and elaborate opinion by Judge McLean puts that ques-
. tion effectually to rest ; and, he being a prominent man
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMOEE. 329
among the anti-slavery party, it is certainly unbiased by
any prejudices, and slavery predilections.
" It is contended that the law authoiizing the reclama-
tion of fugitives from labor is unconstitutional; that the
constitution left the power with the states, and vested
no power on the subject in the federal government.
" This argument has been sometimes advanced, and it
may have been introduced into one or more political plat-
forms. In regard to the soundness of this position, I will
first refer to judicial decisions. In the case of Prigg v.
The State of Pennsylvania, 16 Peters' E. 539, the judges
of the supreme court of the United States, without a dis-
senting voice, affirmed the doctrine, that this power was
in the federal government. A majority of them held that
it was exclusively in the general government. Some of
the judges thought that a state might legislate in aid of
the act of Congress, but it was held by no one of them,
that the power could be exercised by a state, except in
subordination of the federal power. * * *
" Every state court which has decided the question,
has decided it in accordance with the view of the supreme
court. No respectable court, it is believed, has sustained
the view that the power is with the state. Such an array
of authority can scarcely be found in favor of the con-
struction of any part of the constitution, which has ever
been doubted. But this construction, sanctioned as it is
by the entire judicial power, state as well as federal, has
also the sanction of the legislative power.
" In a very few years after the constitution was
adopted by the states, the fugitive act of 1793 was
330 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
passed. That law is still in force, except where the act
of 1850 contains repugnant provisions. In the Congress
which enacted the act of 1793, it is believed that some
of the members had been members of the convention.
They could not have been ignorant' of the provision of
that instrument. And by the passage of that act they
exercised the power, as one that belonged to the federal
government. Here is a force of authority, judicial and
legislative, which can not be found on any other seriously
litigated point in the constitution.
" Such a weight of authority is not to be shaken. If
the question is not to be considered authoritatively settled,
what part of that instrument can ever be settled ? The
surrender of fugitive slaves was a matter deeply interest-
ing to the slave states. Uuder the confederation there
was no provision for their surrender. On the principles
of comity amongst the states, the fugitives were delivered
up; at other times they were protected and defended.
This state of things produced uneasiness and discontent
in the slave states. A remedy of this evil, as it was
called, was provided in the constitution.
"An individual who puts his opinion, as to the exercise
of this power, against the authority of the nation in its
legislative and judicial action, must have no small degree
of confidence in his own judgment. A few individuals in
Massachusetts may have maintained, at one time, that
the power was with the states ; but such views were, it
is believed, long since abandoned, and they are re-asserted
now, more as a matter of expediency than of principle.
"But whether we look at the weight of authority
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE. 331
against state power, as asserted, or at the constitutional
provision, we are led to the same result. The provision
reads : " No person held to service or labor in one state,
under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in
consequence of any law or regulation therein, be dis-
charged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered
up on claim of the party to whom such service may be
due."
" This, in the first place, is a federal measure. It was
adopted by the national convention, and was sanctioned,
as a federal law, by the respective states. It is the
supreme law of the land. Now a provision which cannot
be enforced, and which has no penalty for its violation, is
no law. The highly respectable gentleman who read an
ingenious argument in support of these views, is too good
a theologian to contend that any rule of action which
may be disregarded without incurring a penalty, can be
a law. This was the great objection to the articles of
confederation. There was no power to enforce its provi-
sions. They were recommendatory, and without sanctions.
" There is no regulation, divine or human, which can
be called a law, without a sanction. Our first parents, in
the garden, felt the truth of this. And it has been felt by
violators of the divine or human laws throughout the his-
tory of our race.
" The provision in the constitution is prohibitory and
positive. It prohibits the states from liberating slaves
which escape into them, and it enjoins a duty to deliver
up such fugitives on claim being made. The constitution
vests no special power in Congress to prohibit the first.
332 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
or to enforce the observance of the second. Does it,
therefore, follow that effect can be given to neither, if a
state shall disregard if?
" Suppose a state declares a slave who escapes into it
shall be liberated, or that any one who shall assist in de-
livering him up shall be punished. If this power belongs
to the states, and not to the federal government, these
regulations would be legal, as within the exercise of their
discretion. This is not an ideal case. The principle
was involved in the Prigg case, and the supreme court
held the act of the state unconstitutional and void.
" It is admitted that there is no power in the federal
government to force any legislative action on a state.
But, if the constitution guarantees a right to the master of a
slave, and that he shall be delivered up, the power is
given to effectuate that right. If this be not so, the con-
stitution is not what its framers supposed it to be. It
was believed to be a fundamental law of the Union. A
federal law. A law to the states and to the people of
the spates. It says that the states shall not do certain
things. Is this the form of giving advice or recom-
mendation? It is the language of authority, to those
who are bound to obey. If a state do the thing forbid-
den, its acts will be declared void. If it refuse to do
that which is enjoined, the federal government, being a
government, has the means of executing it.
"The constitution provides, 'that full faith shall be
given to public acts, records, and judicial proceedings,'
of one state in every other. If an individual 'claiming
this provision as a right, and a state court shall deny it,
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 333
on a writ of error to the supreme court of the Union,
such judgment would be reversed. And the provision
that, 'the citizens of each state shall be entitled to all
privileges and immunities of citizens in the several
states.' Congress unquestionably may provide in what
manner a right claimed under this clause and denied by
a state, may be enforced. And if a case can be raised
under it, without any farther statutory provisions, so as
to present the point to the supreme court, the decision of
a state court denying the right would be reversed. So a
state is prohibited from passing a law that shall impair
the obligations of a contract. Such a law the supreme
court has declared void. In these cases, and in many
others, where a state is prohibited from doing a thing,
the remedy is given by a writ of error under the legis-
lation of Congress. The same principle applies in regard
to fugitives from labor.
" A fugitive from justice may be delivered up under a
similar provision in the constitution. It declares that, 'a
person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other
crime, who shall flee from justice and be found in another
state, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the
state from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed
to the state having jurisdiction of the crime.' This is
contained in the same section as the clause in relation to
fugitives from labor, and they both stand upon the same
principle. In both cases Congress has provided a mode
in which effect shall be given to the provision. No one,
it is believed, has doubted the constitutionality of the
provision in regard to fugitives from justice.
334 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
" The men who framed the constitution were adequate
to the great duties which devolved upon them. They
knew that a general government was essential to preserve
the fruits of the revolution. They understood the ne-
cessities of the country. The articles of confederation
had been found as a rope of sand, in all matters of con-
flict between the different states, and the people of the
different states. Without a general government, com-
merce could not be regulated among the states, or with
foreign nations ; fugitives from labor could not be
reclaimed ; state boundaries could not be authoritatively
established.
"I am aware it has been stated that the subject of
slavery was not discussed in the convention, and that the
reclamation of fugitives from labor was not, at that time,
a subject of much interest. This is a mistake. It was
a subject of deep and exciting interest, and without a
provision on the subject no constitution could have been
adopted. I speak from information received from the
late Chief-justice Marshall, who was one of the chief
actors in that day, than whom no man then living was of
higher authority.
*******
"Various objections are stated to the Fugitive Slave
Law of 1850. The duties of the commissioners, the pen-
alties inflicted, the bribe secured to the commissioner for
remanding the fugitive, are all objected to as oppressive
and unconstitutional. In regard to the five dollars, in
addition, paid to the commissioner, where the fugitive is
remanded to the claimant in all fairness, it can not bo
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 335
considered as a bribe, or as so intended by Congress ; but
as a compensation to the commissioner for making a state-
ment of the case, which includes the facts proved, and to
which his certificate is annexed. In cases where the wit-
nesses are numerous, and the investigation takes up sev-
eral days, five dollars would scarcely be a compensation
for the statement required. Where the fugitive is dis-
charged, no statement is necessary.
"The powers of the commissioner, or the amount of
the penalties of the act, are not involved in this inquiry.
If there be an unconstitutional provision in an act, that
does not affect any other part of the act. But I, by no
means, intimate that any part of the act referred to is in
conflict with the constitution. I only say that the objec-
tions made to it do not belong to the case under consi-
deration.
" The act of 1850, except by repugnant provisions, did
not repeal the act of 1793. The objection, that no jury
is given, does apply to both acts. From my experience
in trying numerous actions for damages against persons
who obstructed an arrest of fugitives from labor, or aided
in their escape, I am authorized to say, that the rights of
the master would be safe before a jury. I recollect an
instance, where a strong anti-slavery man, called an
abolitionist, was on the jury in a case for damages, but
who, being sworn to find as the evidence and the law re-
quired, agreed to a verdict for the plaintiff. He rightly
determined that his own opinions could not govern him
in deciding a controversy between parties, but that, undex
336 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE,
his oath he was bound by the law and the evidence of
the case.
" It was the power of Congress to give -a jury in cases
like the present ; but the law contains no such provision,
and the question raised is, whether the act without it is
constitutional.
" This question has been largely discussed in Congress,
in the public press, and in conventions of the people. It
is not here raised as a question of expediency or policy,
but of power. In that aspect only is it to be considered.
"The act of 1793 has been in operation for about sixty
years. During that whole time it has been executed as
occasion required ; and it is not known that any court,
judge, or other officer has held the act, in this, or any
other respect, unconstitutional. This long course of
decisions, on a question so exciting as to call forth the
sympathies of the people, and the acuteness of lawyers,
is no unsatisfactory evidence that the construction is
correct.
"Under the constitution and act of Congress, the
inquiry is not, strictly, whether the fugitive be a slave or
a freeman, but whether he owe service to the claimant.
This would be the precise question in the case of an
apprentice. In such a case, the inquiry would not be,
whether the master had treated the apprentice so badly
as to entitle him to his discharge. Such a question would
more probably arise under the indenture of apprentice-
ship, and the laws under which it was executed. And if
the apprentice be remanded to the service of his master,
it would, in no respect, affect his right to a discharge*
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 337
where lie is held, for the cruelty of his master, or any
other cause.
" The same principle applies to fugitives from labor.
It is true, in such cases, evidence is heard that he is a
freeman. His freedom may be established by acts done
or suffered by the master, not necessarily within the juris-
diction where he is held as a slave. Such an inquiry
may be made as is required by the justice of the case.
But on whatever ground the fugitive may be remanded,
it cannot, legally, operate against his right to liberty.
That right, when presented to a court in a slave state,
has generally been acted upon with fairness and impar-
tiality. Exceptions to this, if there be exceptions, would
seem to have arisen on the claims of heirs or creditors,
which are governed by local laws, with which the people
of other states are not presumed to be acquainted."
Emanating, as it does, from the highest authority, the
above opinion should put to rest all ideas of the uncon-
stitutionality of the Fugitive Slave Law. Those of the
anti-slavery party who censure Mr. Fillmore for signing
that measure, should look to this opinion, from one of
their ablest men, who was spoken of as their candidate
for the presidency, and see the true principle of the law.
But, in addition to the foregoing and other decisions of
the supreme court, the act of 1793 stands upon the Amer-
ican archives as a witness to the constitutionality of the
Fugitive Slave Law. That act was passed 12th Feb.,
1793, and provided, first, the right of the owner to arrest
his fugitive slave wherever he may be found ; second, the
owner of such fugitive was allowed, after the arrest, to
15
338 LIFE GF MILLAED FILLMOEE.
take Ms slave before a magistrate, to have Ms claim
investigated ; tMrd, it required such magistrate to inves-
tigate the case without a jury, and to deliver up the fugi-
tive to his master ; fourth, it established the right of the
owner to remove such fugitive slave to his residence.
This law was approved by George Washington, and
remained in force nearly sixty years. ,
Those who censure Mr. Fillmore for having signed the
Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, might, with the same pro-
priety, denounce the Father of their country, for having
signed the law for the recovery of fugitives, passed in
1793, especially, when the necessities for the latter were
so much greater than for the former.
Our present Fugitive Slave Law passed the senate by
a vote of twenty for, to twelve against it— the purest
patriots of the land voting affirmatively. Among those,
voting for it, were Houston, Bell, Underwood, Berrien,
Butler, and others. To attach motives in the least unpa-
triotic to Mr. Fillmore for having signed that act, would
be equivalent to saying that Clay, Webster, Cass, and
the greatest men of our country were no patriots. The
idea is preposterous.
The following extracts from the first annual message
of Mr. FHniore to Congress are so replete with the
patriotic wisdom characteristic of the author, that their
publication is not deemed amiss. In these pages we are
endeavoring to delineate the qualities of the man about
whom we write, instead of the events transpiring in his
time, especially, if, in such events, he did not participate.
We have refrained from the relation of occurrences not
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE. 339
connected with Mr. Fillmore's career, unless such rela-
tion was considered essential to a correct understanding
of his position. But to the extracts :
"Among the acknowledged rights of nations is that
which each possesses of establishing that form of govern-
ment which it may deem most conducive to the happiness
and prosperity of its own citizens ; of changing that form,
as circumstances may require ; and of managing its^
internal affairs according to its own will. The people of
the United States claim this right for themselves, and
they readily concede it to others. Hence it becomes an
imperative duty not to interfere in the government or
internal policy of other nations ; and, although we may
sympathize with the unfortunate or the oppressed, every-
where, in 'their struggles for freedom, our principles forbid
us from taking any part in such contests. We make no
wars to promote or to prevent successions to thrones ; to
maintain any theory of a balance of power ; or to sup-
press the actual government which any country chooses
to establish for itself. We instigate no revolutions, nor
suffer any hostile military expedition to be fitted out in
the United States to invade the territories or provinces
of a friendly nation. The great law of morality ought
to have a national, as well as a personal and individual
application. We should act toward other nations as we
wish them to act toward us ; and justice and conscience
should form the rule of conduct between governments,
instead of mere power, self-interest, or the desire of
aggrandizement. To maintain a strict neutrality in
340 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
foreign wars, to cultivate friendly relations, to reciprocate
every noble and generous act, and to perform punctually
and scrupulously every treaty obligation — these are the
duties which we owe to other states, and by the perform-
ance of which we best entitle ourselves to like treatment
from them; or if that, in any case, be refused, we can
enforce our own rights with justice and with a clear
conscience.
" In our domestic policy, the constitution will be my
guide ; and in questions of doubt, I shall look for its
interpretation to the judicial decisions of that tribunal
which was established to expound it, and to the usage of
the government, sanctioned by the acquiescence of the
country. I regard all its provisions as equally binding.
In all its parts it is the will of the people, expressed in
the most solemn form, and the constituted authorities are
but agents to carry that will into effect. Every power
which it has granted is to be exercised for the public
good; but no pretence of utility, no honest conviction,
even, of what might be expedient, can justify the assump-
tion of any power not granted. The powers conferred
upon the government, and their distribution to the several
departments, are as clearly expressed in that sacred
instrument as the imperfection of human language will
allow; and I deem it my first duty, not to question its
wisdom, add to its provisions, evade its requirements, or
nullify its commands.
" Over the objects and subjects intrusted to Congress,
its legislative authority is supreme. But here that
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE. 341
authority ceases, and every citizen who truly loves the
constitution, and desires the continuance of its existence
and its blessings, will resolutely and firmly resist inter-
ference in those domestic affairs which the constitution
has clearly and unequivocally left to the exclusive author-
ity of the states. And every such citizen will also
deprecate useless irritation among the several members
of the Union, and all reproach and crimination tending
to alienate one portion of the country from another. The
beauty of our system of government consists, and its
safety and durability must consist, in avoiding mutual
collisions and encroachments, and in the regular separate
action of all, while each is revolving in its own distinct
orbit.
* # , # u The law is the only sure protection
of the weak, and the only efficient restraint upon the
strong. When impartially and faithfully administered,
none is "beneath its protection, and none above its conti-ol.
You, gentlemen, and the country, may be assured, that
to the utmost of my ability, and to the extent of the
power vested in me, I shall, at all times, and in all places,
take care that the laws be faithfully executed. In the
discharge of this duty, solemnly imposed upon me by the
constitution and by my oath of office, I shall shrink from
no responsibility, and shall endeavor to meet events as
they may arise, with firmness, as well as with prudence
and discretion.
" The appointing power is one of the most delicate
with which the executive is vested. I regard it a sacred
trust, to be exercised with the sole view of advancing the
342 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
»
prosperity and happiness of the people. It shall be my
effort to elevate the standard of official employment, by
selecting for places of importance individuals fitted for
the posts to which they are assigned, by their known
integrity, talents, and virtues. In so extensive a country,
with so great a population, and where few persons
appointed to office can be known to the appointing power,
mistakes will sometimes unavoidably happen, and unfor-
tunate appointments be made, notwithstanding the great-
est care. In such cases, the power of removal may be
properly exercised ; and neglect of duty or malfeasance
in office will be no more tolerated in individuals appointed
by myself than in those appointed by others.
" Citizens of the United States have undertaken the
connection of the two oceans by means of a railroad
across the Isthmus of Tehauntepec, under grants of the
Mexican government to a citizen of that republic. It is
understood that a thorough survey of the course of the
communication is in preparation, and there is every rea-
son to expect that it will be prosecuted with characteris-
tic energy, especially when that government shall have
consented to such stipulations with the government of
the United States as may be necessary to impart a feel-
ing of security to those who may embark their property
in the enterprise. Negotiations are pending for the
accomplishment of that object; and a hope is confidently
entertained that, when the government of Mexico shall
become duly sensible of the advantage which that coun-
try can not fail to derive from the work, and learn that
LIFE OF* MILLARD FILLMORE, 343
the government of the United States desires that the right
of sovereignty of Mexico in the isthmus shall remain
unimpaired, the stipulations referred to will be agreed to
with alacrity.
# e # * # #'# *
"All experience has demonstrated the wisdom and pol-
icy of raising a large portion of revenue, for the support
of government, from duties on goods imported. The
power to lay these duties is unquestionable, and its chief
object, of course, is to replenish the treasury. But if, in
doing this, an incidental advantage may be gained by
encouraging the industry of our own citizens, it is our
duty to avail ourselves of that advantage.
"A duty laid upon an article which can not be pro-
duced in this country — such as tea or coffee — adds to
the cost of the article, and is chiefly or wholly paid by
the consumer. But a duty laid upon an article which
may be produced here, stimulates the skill and industry
of our own country to produce the same article, which is
brought into the market in competition with the foreign
article, and the importer is thus compelled to reduce his
price to that at which the domestic article can be sold,
thereby throwing a part of the duty upon the producer
of the foreign article. The continuance of this process
creates the skill, and invites the capital which finally
enables us to produce the article much cheaper than it
could have been procured from abroad, thereby benefit-
ing both the producer and the consumer at home. ' The
consequence of this is, that the artisan and the agricul-
turalist are brought together, each affords a ready market
344 LIFE OF MTLLAED FILLMORE.
for the produce of the other, the whole country becomes
prosperous, and the ability to produce every necessary of
life renders us independent in war as well as in peace.
" The papers accompanying ''the report of the secretary
of the treasury will disclose frauds attempted upon the
revenue, in variety and amount so great as to justify the
conclusion that it is impossible, under any system of c^'
valorem duties levied upon the foreign cost or value of
the article, to secure an honest observance and an effect-
ual administration of the laws. The fraudulent devices
to evade the law which, have been detected by the vigi-
lance of the appraisers, leave no room to doubt that sim-
ilar impositions not discovered, to a large amount, have
been successfully practiced since the enactment of the
law now in force. This state of things has already had
a prejudicial influence upon thoseengaged in foreign com-
merce. It has a tendency to drive the honest trader from
the business of importing, and to throw that important
branch of employment into the hands of unscrupulous
and dishonest men, who are alike regardless of law and
the obligations of an oath. By these means, the plain;
intentions of Congress, as expressed in the law, are daily
defeated. Every motive of policy and duty, therefore,
impel me to ask the earnest attention of Congress to this
subject. If Congress should deem it unwise to attempt
any important changes in the system of levying duties, at
this session, it will become indispensable to the protection
of the revenue that such remedies, as in the judgment of
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 345
Congress may mitigate the evils complained of, should
be at once applied.
" The unprecedented growth of our territories on the
Pacific in wealth and population, and the consequent in-
crease of their social and commercial relations with the
Atlantic states, seem to render it the duty of the govern-
ment to use all its constitutional power to improve the
means of intercourse with them. The importance of open-
ing ' a line of communication, the best and most expedi-
tious of which the nature of the country will admit,' be-
tween the valley of the Mississippi and the Pacific, was
brought to your notice by my predecessor, in his annual
message ; and as the reasons which he presented in favor
of the measure still exist m full force, I beg leave to call
your attention to them, and to repeat the recommenda-
tions then made by him.
" I also beg leave to call your attention to the pro-
priety of extending, at an early day, our system of land
laws, with such modifications as may be necessary, over
the state of California and the territories of Utah and
New Mexico.
"More than three-fourths of our population are engaged
in the cultivation of the soil. The commercial, manu-
facturing, and navigating interests are all, to a great ex-
tent, dependent on the agricultural. It is, therefore, the
most important interest of the nation, and has a just
claim to the fostering care and protection of the govern-
15*
346 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE.
ment, so far as they can be extended consistently with.
the provisions of the constitution. As this can not be
done by the ordinary modes of legislation, I respectfully
recommend the establishment of an agricultural bureau,
to be charged with the duty of giving to this leading
branch of American industry the encouragement which it
so well deserves.
*********
" I commend, also, to your favorable consideration the
suggestion contained in the last mentioned report, and in
the letter of the general-in-chief, relative to the estab-
lishment of an asylum for the relief of disabled and des-
titute soldiers. This subject appeals so strongly to your
sympathies that it would be superfluous in me to say
anything more than barely to express my cordial appro-
bation of the proposed object.
*********
" I invite your attention to the view of our present
naval establishment and resources presented in the report
of the secretary of the navy, and the suggestions therein
made for its improvement, together with the naval policy
recommended for the security of our Pacific coast, and
the protection and extension of our commerce with East-
ern Asia. Our facilities for a larger participation in the
trade of the east, by means of our recent settlements on
the shores of the Pacific, are too obvious to be overlooked
or disregarded.
** ##* * * *
" I also earnestly recommend the enactment of a law
authorizing officers of the army and navy to be retired
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 347
from the service, when incompetent for its vigorous and
active duties, taking care to make suitable provision for
those who have faithfully served their country, and
awarding distinctions, by retaining in appropriate com-
mands those who have been particularly conspicuous for
gallantry and good conduct. While the obligation of the
country to maintain and honor those who, to the exclu-
sion of other pursuits, have devoted themselves to its ar-
duous service, this obligation should not be permitted to
interfere with the efficiency of the service itself.
" I am grateful in being able to state, that the esti-
mates of expenditure for the navy in the ensuing year are
less, by more than one million of dollars, than those of
the present, excepting the appropriation which may be-
come necessary for the construction of a dock on the coast
of the Pacific, propositions for which are now being con-
sidered, and on which a special report may be expected
early in your present session.
& # «& # # • 4F ^
" I entertain no doubt of the authority of Congress to
make appropriations for leading objects in that class of
public works comprising what are usually called works
of internal improvement. This authority I suppose to
be derived chiefly from the power of regulating commerce
with foreign nations, and among the states, and the power
of levying and collecting imposts. Where commerce is
to be carried on, and imposts collected, there must be
'ports and harbors, as well as wharves and custom-houses.
If ships, laden with valuable cargoes, approach the shore,
or sail along the coast, lighthouses are necessary at
348 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMOEE.
suitable points for the protection of life and property.
Other facilities and securities for commerce and naviga-
tion are hardly less important ; and those clauses of the
constitution, therefore, to which I have referred, have
received, from the origin of the government, a liberal and
beneficial construction.
" I recommend that appropriations be made for com-
pleting such works as have been already begun, and for
commencing such others as may seem to the wisdom of
Congress to be of public and general importance.
#**## ##*
" It was hardly to have been expected that the series
of measures passed at your last session, with the view
of healing the sectional differences which had sprung
from the slavery and territorial questions, should at once
have realized their beneficent purposes. All mutual con-
cessions in the nature of a compromise must necessarily
be unwelcome to men of extreme opinions. And though
without such concessions our constitution could not have
been formed, and can not be permanently sustained, yet
we have seen them made the subject of bitter controversy
in both sections of the Republic. It required many
months of discussion and deliberation to secure the con-
currence of a majority of Congress in their favor. It
would be strange if they had been received with imme-
diate approbation by people and states, prejudiced and
heated by the exciting controversies of their representa-
tives. I believe those measures to have been required
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE. 349
by the circumstances and condition of the country. I
believe they were necessary to allay asperities and ani-
mosities that were rapidly alienating one section of the
country from another, and destroying those fraternal
sentiments which are the strongest supports of the con-
stitution. They were adopted in- the spirit of concilia-
tion, and for the purpose of conciliation. I believe that
a great majority of our fellow citizens sympathize in that
spirit, and that purpose, and, in the main, approve, and
are prepared, in all respects, to sustain, these enactments.
I can not doubt that the American people, bound
together by kindred blood and common traditions, still
cherish a paramount regard for the Union of their
fathers, and that they are ready to rebuke any attempt
to violate its integrity, to disturb the compromise on
which it is based, or to resist the laws which have been
enacted under its authority.
" The series of measures to which I have alluded are
regarded by me as a settlement, in principle and sub-
stance — a final settlement of the dangerous and exciting
subjects which they embraced. Most of these subjects,
indeed, are beyond your reach, as the legislation which
disposed of them was, in its character, final and irrevo-
cable. It may be presumed, from the opposition which
they all encountered, that none of those measures were
free from imperfections ; but, in their mutual dependence
and connection, they formed a system of compromise, the
most conciliatory and best, for the entire country, that
could be obtained from conflicting sectional interests and
opinions.
350 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOBE.
" For this reason I recommend your adherence to the
adjustment established by those measures, until time and
experience shall demonstrate the necessity of farther
legislation to guard against evasion or abuse.
"By that adjustment we have been rescued from the
wide and boundless agitation that surrounded us, and
have a firm, distinct, and legal ground to rest upon.
And the occasion, I trust, will justify me in exhorting
my countrymen to rally upon, and maintain, that ground
as the best, if not the only, means of restoring peace and
quiet to the country, and maintaining inviolate the integ-
rity of the Union.
" And now, fellow citizens, I can not bring this com
munication to a close without invoking you to join me iD
humble and devout thanks to the Great Euler of nations,
for the multiplied blessings which he has graciously be
stowed upon us. His hand, so often visible in our pre-
servation, has stayed the pestilence, saved us from for-
eign wars and domestic disturbances, and scattered plenty
throughout the land.
" Our liberties, religious and civil, have been main-
tained; the fountains of knowledge have all been kept
open, and means of happiness widely spread and gener-
ally enjoyed, greater than have fallen to the lot of
any other nation. And, while deeply penetrated with
gratitude, for the rest, let us hope that his all-wise Provi-
dence will so guide our counsels, as that they shall result
in giving satisfaction to our constituents, securing the
peace of the country, and adding new strength to the
united government under which we live."
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 351
The tone of the foregoing extracts is conservative and
patriotic, and indicates a feeling, than which none could
be more desirable in a chief magistrate. With a com
prehensive, vigorous perception, in his message, he em-
braces all the great subjects then agitating the country,
and in their elucidation, expresses the soundest national
sentiments. In the messages and writings of Mr. Fill-
more there is one remarkable fact developed : bitter and
hostile as may be the feelings of party strife, political
opponents have never been able to cull from them a sin-
gle expression that could be tortured into the semblance
of anything unpatriotic. They can not find a feature in
his whole political career, upon, which they can consist-
ently heap abusive denunciation. The message from
which the extracts are taken, as a state paper, is unsur-
passed in its ability and correct views of national policy,
by any document on the American archives. It is a
paper that will live among the records of ability, and be
regarded a " model message."
352 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
CHAPTER XI.
Filibustering — The Cuban moYement — Proclamation of the presi-
dent — Progress of the adventurers — Their delusion — General
Quitman — The Lopez expedition — Condensed history of that
movement — Its disastrous termination — The Crescent City and
Captain General of Cuba — European interference — Their pro-
posals in regard to Cuba — Mr. Fillmore's views — A second
Hulsemann letter — Mr. Fillmore's course in regard to Cuba —
Kossuth — His mission — His interviews with Mr. Fillmore and Mr.
Clay — Their views of his mission — Sound views in regard to
foreign and domestic policy — Wisdom of Mr. Fillmore's adminis-
tration — The American party — Its rise and progress — Causes that
led to the defeat of the whig party — Mr. Fillmore's American-
ism — His tour to Europe — Reflections, etc. — His nomination
for the Presidency — Mr. Fillmore at home.
The spirit of fillibustering, that has since resulted in
the almost entire conquest of Nicaragua, began to man-
ifest itself in the early part of Mr. Fillmore's adminis-
tration. The sound conservative doctrine communicated
to Congress, indicated the course he would take, in case
executive interposition should be deemed necessary to
quell the restless spirit of adventure, on the part of
American citizens. A strict conformity to our neutrality
laws was very desirable, and by a perusal of the mes-
sage, it will be seen from sentiments embodied therein,
that in regard to them, he entertained sound and patri-
otic views.
In various parts of the Union, demonstrations of no
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 353
very pacific nature were made, in regard to the island of
Cuba. These demonstrations, and speculations as to
their ultimate result, furnished fruitful themes for news-
paper comment, and created quite an excitement. Ad-
venturers, whose fortunes could not b@- worsted, but
stood some chance of being benefited, were ready to
embark in any lawless enterprise. The invasion of Cuba
was interdicted by our existing neutrality laws, and em-
broilment with Spain and European affairs generally,
would have been the result, in case of no official action on
the subject. As soon as indications became sufficiently
manifest that an invasion of Cuba was to be the object
of the fillibusterers, the president issued the following
proclamation :
" Whereas, there is reason to believe that a military
expedition is about to be fitted out in the United States
with intention to invade the island of Cuba, a colony of
Spain, with which this country is at peace ; and whereas,
it is believed that this expedition is instigated and set on
foot chiefly by foreigners, who dare to make our shores
the scene of their guilty and hostile preparations against
a friendly power, and seek, by falsehood and misrepresen-
tation, to seduce our own citizens, especially the young
and inconsiderate, into their wicked schemes — an ungrate-
ful return for the benefits conferred upon them by this
people in permitting them to make our country an asylum
from oppression, and in flagrant abuse of the hospitality
thus extended to them.
" And whereas, such expeditions can only be regarded
as adventures for plunder and robbery, and must meet
§54 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
the condemnation of the civilized world, whilst they are
derogatory to the character of our country, in violation
of the laws of nations, and expressly prohibited by our
own. Our statutes declare, j that, if any person shall,
within the territory or jurisdiction of the United States,
begin or set on foot, or provide or prepare the means for
any military expedition or enterprise, to be carried on
from thence against the territory or dominions of any
foreign prince or state, or of any colony, district, or peo-
ple, with whom the United States are at peace, every
person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a high mis-
demeanor, and shall be fined not exceeding three thou-
sand dollars, and imprisoned not more than three years.'
" Now, therefore, I have issued this, my proclamation,
warning all persons who shall connect themselves with
any such enterprise or expedition, in violation of our
laws and national obligations, that they will thereby sub-
ject themselves to the heavy penalties denounced against
such offenders, and will forfeit their claim to the protec-
tion of this government, or any interference on their
behalf, no matter to what extremities they may be
reduced in consequence of their illegal conduct. And,
therefore, I exhort all good citizens, as they regard. our
national reputation, as they respect their own laws and
the laws of nations, as they value the blessings of peace
and the welfare of their country, to discountenance, and
by all lawful means prevent, any such enterprise ; and I
call upon every officer of this government, civil or military
to use all efforts in his power to arrest for trial and pun-
ishment every such offender against the laws of the country
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 355
" Given under my hand the twenty-fifth day of April,
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
fifty-one, and the seventy-fifth of the independence of the
United States.
"Millard Fillmore.
"By the President :
" W. S. Derrick, Acting Secretary of State."
This timely proclamation, however, did not suppress
the operations of the fillibusters. The work of fitting out
an expedition still, went on, though with great caution.
General Quitman, of Mississippi, was implicated in the
movement, and many other men of note advanced means
and gave aid to these adventurers. The movement con-
tinued to gain strength until the equipment of the unfor-
tunate Lopez was ready to emb'ark for Cuba, carrying
many deluded adherents to a fate awful to contemplate.
With such secrecy and enterprise had the movement been
conducted, that the officials were ignorant, at the time,
of the extent of their preparations. Through the faithless
collector at the port of Orleans, the Pampero, bearing the
ill-fated crew of the Lopez expedition, got under way
before day -light on the third of August. The followers
of Lopez were misled ; they had been made to believe
that the island of Cuba was on the eve of a rebellion,
and that the appearance of a band of United States troops
on the island would produce general insurrection on the
part of the Creoles. This they found to be a great mis-
take, and paid for their folly with the forfeit of their lives
or liberties. The following, from the president's message,
in regard to the Cuba difficulties, furnishes a condensed
356 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
history of the expedition, and some very patriotic views
in regard to our domestic policy and foreign relations :
n Very early in the morning of the third of August,
a steamer called the Pampero departed from New Orleans
for Cuba, having on board upwards of four hundred
armed men, with evident intentions to make war upon
the authorities of the island. The expedition was set
on foot in palpable violation of the laws of the United
States. Its leader was a Spaniard, and several of the
chief officers, and some others engaged in it were for-
eigners. The persons composing it, however, were mostly
citizens of the United States.
" Before the expedition set out, and probably before it
was organized, a slight insurrectionary movement, which
appears to have been soon suppressed, had taken place
in the eastern quarter of Cuba. The importance of this
movement was, unfortunately, so much exaggerated in
the accounts of it published in this country, that these
adventurers seem to have been led to believe that the
Creole population of the island not only desired to throw
off the authority of the mother country, but had resolved
upon that step, and had begun a well-concerted enter-
prise for effecting it. The persons engaged in the expe-
dition were generally young and ill-informed. The
steamer in which they embarked left New Orleans
stealthily and without a clearance. After touching at
Key West, she proceeded to the coast of Cuba, and, on
the night between the eleventh and twelfth of August,
landed the persons on board at Playtas, within about
twenty leagues of Havana.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 357
" The main body of them proceeded to, and took pos-
session of, an inland village, six leagues distant, leaving
others to follow in charge of the baggage, as soon as
the means of transportation could be obtained. The
latter, having taken up their line of march to connect
themselves with the main body, and having proceeded
about four leagues into the country, were attacked, on
the thirteenth, by a body of Spanish troops, and a
bloody conflict ensued ; after which they retreated to the
place of disembarkation, where about fifty of them
obtained boats and reembarked therein. They were,
however, intercepted among the keys near the shore, by
a Spanish steamer cruising on the coast, captured, and
carried to Havana, and, after being examined before a
military court, were sentenced to be publicly executed,
and the sentence was carried into effect on the sixteenth
of August.
" On receiving information of what had occurred, Com-
modore Foxhall A. Parker was instructed to proceed, in
the steam frigate Saranac, to Havana, and inquire into
the charges against the persons executed, the circum-
stances under which they were taken, and whatsoever
referred to their trial and sentence. Copies of the instruc-
tions from the department of state to him, and of his let-
ters to the department, are herewith submitted.
"According to the record of the examination, the
prisoners all admitted the offences charged against them
of being hostile invaders of the island. At the time of
their trial and execution, the main body of the invaders
358 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
was still in the field, making war upon the Spanish author-
ities and Spanish subjects. After the lapse of some days,
being overcome by the Spanish troops, they dispersed on
the twenty-fourth of August.
" Lopez, their leader, was captured some days after,
and executed on the first of September. Many of his
remaining followers were killed, or died of hunger and
fatigue, and the rest were made prisoners. Of those, none
appear to have been tried or executed. Several of them
were pardoned upon application of their friends and
oth&rs, and the rest, about one hundred and sixty in num-
ber, were sent to Spain. Of the final disposition made
of these we have no official information.
" Such is the melancholy result of this illegal and ill-
fated expedition. Thus, thoughtless young men have
been induced, by false and fraudulent representation, to
violate the law of their country, through rash and un-
founded expectations of assisting to accomplish political
revolutions in other states, and have lost their lives in
the undertaking. Too severe a judgment can hardly be
passed, by the indignant sense of the community, upon
those who, being better informed themselves, have yet
led away the ardor of youth, and an ill-directed love of
political liberty. The correspondence between this
government and that of Spain, relating to this transac-
tion is herewith communicated.
"Although these offenders against the laws have for-
feited the protection of their country, yet the govern-
ment may, so far as is consistent with its obligations to
other countries, and its fixed purpose to maintain and
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE, 359
enforce the laws, entertain sympathy for their unoffending
families and friends, as well as a feeling of compassion
for themselves. Accordingly, no proper effort has been
spared, and none will be spared, to procure the release
of such citizens of the United States, engaged, in this
unlawful enterprise, as are now in confinement in Spain ;
but it is to be hoped that such interposition with the
government of that country may not be considered as
affording any ground of expectation that the government
of the United States will, hereafter, feel itself under any
obligation of duty to intercede for the liberation or pardon
of such persons as are flagrant offenders against the law
of nations and the laws of the United States. These
laws must be executed. If we desire to maintain our
respectability among the nations of the earth, it behooves
us to enforce steadily the neutrality acts passed by Con-
gress, and to follow, as far as may be, the violation of
those acts with condign punishment.
" But what gives a peculiar criminality to this invasion
of Cuba is, that under the lead of Spanish subjects, and
with the aid of citizens of the United States, it had its
origin, with many, in motives of cupidity. Money was
advanced by individuals, probably in considerable
amounts, to purchase Cuban bonds, as they have been
called, issued by Lopez, sold, doubtless, at a very large
discount, and for the payment of which the public lands
and public property of Cuba, of whatever kind, and the
fiscal resources of the people and government of that
island, from whatever source to be derived, were pledged,
as well as the good faith of the government expected to
S60 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
be established. All these means of payment, it is evident,
were only to be obtained by a process of bloodshed, war,
and revolution. None will deny that those who set on
foot military expeditions against foreign states by means
like these, are far more culpable than the ignorant and
the necessitous whom they induce to go forth as the
ostensible parties in the proceeding. . These originators
of the invasion of Cuba seem to have determined, with
coolness and system, upon an undertaking which should
disgrace their country, violate its laws, and put to hazard
the lives of ill-informed and deluded men. You will
consider whether further legislation be necessary to pre-
vent the perpetration of such offences in future.
"No individuals have a right to hazard the peace of
the country, or to violate its laws, upon vague notions
of altering or reforming governments in other states.
This principle is not only reasonable in itself, and in ac-
cordance with public law, but is engrafted into the codes
of other nations as well as our own. But while such are
the sentiments of this government, it may be added that
every independent nation must be presumed to be able
to defend its possessions against unauthorized individuals
banded together to attack them. The government of the
United States, at all times since its establishment, has
abstained, and has sought to restrain the citizens of the
country, from entering into controversies between other
powers, and to observe all the duties of neutrality. At
an early period of the government, in the administration
of Washington, several laws were passed for this purpose. .
The main provisions of these laws were reenacted by the
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE. 361
act of April, 1818, by which, amongst other things, it
was declared that, if any person shall, within the terri-
tory or jurisdiction of the United States, begin, or set on
foot, or provide or prepare the means for any military
expedition or enterprise, to be carried on from thence
against the territory or dominion of any foreign prince
or state, or of any colony, district, or people, with whom
the United States are at peace, every person so offending
shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and shall
be fined, not exceeding three thousand dollars, and im-
prisoned not more than three years ; and this law has
been executed and enforced, to the full extent of the
power of the government, from that day to this.
" In proclaiming and adhering to the doctrine of neu-
trality and non-intervention, the United States have not
followed the lead of other civilized nations ; they have
taken the lead themselves, and have been followed by
others. This was admitted by one of the most eminent
of modern British statesmen, who said in Parliament,
while a minister of the crown, that, ' if he wished for a
system of neutrality, he should take that laid down by
America in the days of Washington and the secretary-
ship of Jefferson ; ' and we see, in fact, that the act of
Congress of 1818 was followed, the succeeding year, by
an act of Parliament of England, substantially the same
in its general provisions. Up to that time there had been
no similar law in England, except certain highly penal
statutes passed in the reign of George II, prohibiting
English subjects from enlisting in foreign service, the
avowed object of which statutes was, that foreign armies,
16
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMOKE.
raised for the purpose of restoring the house of Stuart
to the throne, should not he strengthened by recruits from
England herself.
"All must see that difficulties may arise in carrying
the laws referred to into execution in a country now hav-
ing three or four thousand miles of sea-coast, with an
infinite number of ports, and harbors, and small inlets,
from some of which unlawful expeditions may suddenly
set forth, without the knowledge of government, against
the possessions of foreign states.
" Friendly relations with all, but entangling alliances
with none, has long been a maxim with us. Our true
mission is not to propagate our opinions, or impose upon
other countries our form of government, by artifice or
force : but to teach by example, and show by our suc-
cess, moderation and justice, the blessings of self-govern-
ment, and the advantages of free institutions. Let every
people choose for itself, and make and alter its political
institutions to suit its own condition and convenience.
But, while we avow and maintain this neutral policy our-
selves, we are anxious to see the same forbearance on the
part of other nations, whose forms of government are
different from our own. The deep interest which we
feel in the spread of liberal principles and the establish-
ment of free governments, and the sympathy with which
we witness every struggle against oppression, forbid that
we should be indifferent to a case in which the strong
arm of a foreign power is invoked to stifle public senti-
ment and repress the spirit of freedom in any country."
With the disastrous result of the Cuban expedition the
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 363
country is too well acquainted to need any recapitulation
here. Many of them suffered the cruelest deaths; some
were sent to the chain gang as prisoners, who were sub-
sequently released by the interposition of Congress. The
faithless collector was dismissed, and the vessel that car-
ried the expedition to Cuba was condemned, as the pen-
alty of her offence.
Such was the conclusion of the famous Lopez invasion
of Cuba. One would have thought, from the disasters
that attended it, and the prompt efficiency of the execu-
tive in quelling such excitements, that further attempts
of that sort would not be contemplated. But such was
not the case. Subsequent to the Lopez affair, the Cres-
cent City and Purser Smith excitement created no small
sensation. The governor of Cuba prevented the steamer
Crescent City from landing at the port of Havana, upon
the allegation that the purser of the vessel, Smith, had
been inciting the citizens of the United States against
the island. With the demand of the governor to remove
that gentleman, as the only conditions by which he could
land the vessel, the commander refused to comply. From
this affair considerable difficulty originated, and it finally
became a subject of executive attention. In the estima-
tion of the president, the conduct of both the commander
of the Crescent City and the governor of Cuba was
reprehensible. The former was informed that in case of
a forfeiture of his ship in consequence of violating the
law, by endeavoring to force his entry into a foreign port,
he could expect no remuneration from the government.
The conduct of the captain-general was made a subject
864 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
of investigation before the tribunals of his country. The
excitement growing out of these filibustering expeditions
to the colony began to excite alarm in Europe, and
elicited the considerations of the crowned heads. The
voluntary mediation of France and England resulted in
the proposition to the United States, through her secre-
tary, for a treaty between the three powers, a stipulation
of which forever prevented either of the parties from
interfering in the affairs of Cuba. It is almost needless
to say, from the expressed and demonstrated views of Mr.
Fillmore in regard to our policy with reference to other
countries, that he was opposed to such an "entangling
alliance," as this proposed treaty would create. The
following is a portion of Hon. Edward Everett's reply,
as secretary of state, to the proposition. It is an able
document, and indicates the views of the administration
upon the proposition, and sets forth some of the objec-
tions to its favorable entertainment :
" But the president has a graver objection to entering
into the proposed convention. He has no wish to dis-
guise the feeling that the compact, although equal in its
terms, would be very unequal in substance. England
and France by entering into it would disable themselves
from obtaining the possession of an island so remote
from their seats of government, belonging to another
European power, whose natural right to possess it must
always be as good as their own — a distant island in
another hemisphere, and one which by no ordinary or
peaceful course of things could ever belong to either of
them. If the present balance of power should be broker
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOEE. 365
up — if Spain should become unable to maintain the
island in her possession, and England and France should
be engaged in a death struggle with each other, Cuba
might then be the prize of the victor. Till these events
all take place, the president does not see how Cuba can
belong to any European power but Spain. The United
States, on the other hand, would by the proposed conven-
tion disable themselves from making an accpaisition which
might take place without any disturbance of existing
foreign relations, and in the natural order of things.
" The island of Cuba lies at our doors ; it commands
the approach to the Gulf of Mexico, which washes the
shores of five of our states ; it bars the entrance to that
great river which drains half the North American
continent, and, with its tributaries, forms the largest
system of water communication in the world ; it keeps
watch at the doorway of our intercourse with California
by the Isthmus. If an island like Cuba, belonging to
the Spanish crown, guarded the entrance to the Thames,
or the Seine, and the United States should propose a
convention like this to England and France, those powers
would assuredly feel that the disability assumed by our-
selves was far less serious than that which we asked
them to assume.
" The opinion of American statesmen, at different times
and under varying circumstances, have differed as to the
desirableness of the acquisition of Cuba by the United
States. Territorially and commercially, it would, in our
hands, be an extremely valuable possession. Under cer-
tain contingencies, it might be almost essential to our
366 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE.
safety ; still, for domestic reasons on which, in a com-
munication of this kind, it might not be proper to dwell,
the President thinks that the incorporation of the island
into the Union at the present time, although effected
with the consent of Spain, would be a hazardous meas-
ure, and he would consider its acquisition by force, except
in a just war with Spain, should an event so greatly to
be deprecated take place, as a disgrace to the civilization
of the age. The President has given ample proof of the
sincerity with which he holds these views. He has
thrown the whole force of his constitutional power against
all illegal attacks upon the island. It would have been
perfectly easy for him, without any seeming neglect of
duty, to allow projects of a formidable character to
gather strength, by connivance. No amount of obloquy
at home, no embarrassments caused by the indiscretions
of the colonial government of Cuba, have moved him
from the path of duty. In this respect the captain-
general of the island, an officer apparently of upright
and conciliatory character, but probably more used to
military command than the management of civil affairs,
has, on a punctilio in reference to the purser of a pri-
vate steamship, who seems to be entirely innocent of the
matters laid to his charge, refused to allow passengers
and the mails of the United States to be landed from a
vessel having them on board. This is certainly a very
extraordinary mode of animadverting upon a supposed
abuse of the liberty of the press by the subject of a for-
eign government in his native country. The captain-
general is not permitted by his government, three thousand
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 367
miles off, to hold any diplomatic intercourse with the
United States. He is subject in no degree to the direc-
tion of the Spanish minister at Washington ;. and the
president has to choose between a resort to force io
compel the abandonment of this gratuitous interruption
of commercial intercourse, which would result in war —
and a delay of weeks and months, necessary to a nego-
tiation with Madrid, with all the chances of the most
deplorable occurrences in the interval, and all for a trifle
that ought to have admitted of a 'settlement by an
exchange of notes between "Washington and Havana.
The president has, however, patiently submitted to these
evils, and has continued faithfully to give to Cuba the
advantage of those principles of the public law, under
the shadow of which she has departed, in this case, from
the comity of nations. But the incidents to which I allude,
and which are still in the train, are among many others
which point decisively to the expediency of some change
in the relations of Cuba; and the president thinks that
the influence of England and France with Spain, would
be Well employed in inducing her so to modify the admin-
istration of the government of Cuba, as to afford the
means of some prompt remedy for evils of the kind
alluded to, which have done much to increase the spirit
of unlawful enterprise against the island. That a con-
vention such as is proposed would be a transitory arrange-
ment, sure to be swept away by the irresistible tide of
affairs in a new country, is, to the apprehension of the
president, too obvious to require a labored argument.
The project rests on principles, applicable, if at all, to
368 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
Europe, "where international relations are, in their basis,
of great antiquity, slowly modified for the most part in
the progress of time and events, and not applicable to
America, which but lately a waste, is filling up with
intense rapidity, and adjusting on natural principles,
those territorial relations which, on the first discovery of
the continent, were, in a good degree, fortuitous. The
comparative history of Europe and America, even for a
single century shows this."
The following extracts from Webster's famous Hulse-
mann letter, indicate the views of the administration.
While it manifests an active sympathy and a lively
interest for those struggling for freedom in all countries,
it conveys an avowed determination to maintain invio-
late all neutrality relationships, and to keep aloof from
all foreign alliances :
* * * , " But the interest taken by the
United States in those events, has not proceeded from
any disposition to depart from that neutrality toward
foreign powers, which is among the deepest principles
and the most cherished traditions of the political history
of the Union. * * * *
" The power of this republic, at the present moment,
is spread over a region, one of the richest and most fer-
tile on the globe, and of an extent in comparison with
which the possessions of the House of Hapsburg are but
as a patch on the earth's surface. Its population, already
twenty-five millions, will exceed that of the Austrian
empire within the period during which it may be hoped
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 369
that Mr. Hulseniann may yet remain in the honorable
discharge of his duties to his government. Its naviga-
tion and commerce are hardly exceeded by the oldest and
most commercial nations ; its maritime means and its
maritime power may be seen by Austria herself, in all
seas where she has ports, as well as it may be seen, also,
in all other quarters of the globe. Life, liberty, prop-
erty, and all personal rights, are amply secured to all
citizens, and protected by just and staple laws; and
credit, public and private, is as well established as in
any government of Continental Europe. And the coun-
try, in all its interests and concerns, partakes most
largely in all the improvements and progress which dis-
tinguish the age. Certainly the United States may ba
pardoned, even by those who profess adherence to the
principles of absolute governments, if they entertain an
ardent affection for those popular forms of political
organization which have so rapidly advanced their own
prosperity and happiness ; which enabled them, in so
short a period, to bring their country, and the hemisphere
to which it belongs, to the notice and respectful regard,
not to say the admiration, of the civilized world. Nev-
ertheless, the United States have abstained, at all times,
from acts of interference with the political changes of
Europe. They cannot, however, fail to cherish always
a lively interest in the fortunes of nations struggling for
institutions like their own. But this sympathy, so far
from being necessarily a hostile feeling towards any of
the parties to these great national struggles, is quite
consistent with amicable relations with them all."
16*
370 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
The course pursued by Mr. Fillmore, in regard to the
Cuban movements, elicited the universal approval of his
countrymen of all parties, not infected with a spirit of
filibustering enterprise. From his action in regard to
those movements, a full appreciation of his views upon
the subject of our foreign and domestic policy may be
derived. It was a sound, conservative, patriotic course,
prompt in action, and conciliatory in effect, and affords
an instructive example for chief executives of our coun-
try. Another event, important from subsequent events
whose maturity it tended to accellerate, affords an oppor-
tunity of ascertaining Mr. Fillmore's view upon foreign
alliances. I allude to the visit of Louis Kossuth to
America, during his administration.
Kossuth came to this country to plead for Hungary, his
1 fatherland.' The condition of that unhappy country was
of itself sufficient to excite sympathy. Robbed of her jew-
els, deprived of her freedom, disrobed of her independence,
quivering with the Austrian bayonet in her heart, and
weeping over the fragments of her nationality, she pre-
sented a spectacle well calculated to arouse sympathy.
But when, in all their magnitude, her sufferings were por-
trayed to Americans by the burning words of her exiled
chief, the picture possessed a double potency. Never did
a warmer embrace of a nation, extend a more heartfelt
welcome than did we to him. The deep, wide-spread
sympathy manifested for him wherever he went, was un-
paralleled ; but he misconstrued it, and was much cha-
grined when forced to discriminate between sympathy
and policy. To unsettle the national policy of a country
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 371
consolidated on the maxims of Washington and Jefferson,
was a task he could not accomplish. He visited our
extensive cities, and created sympathy everywhere. But
the wily chief, from the elicitation of that, directed his
hopes to " material aid." He was invited to "Washington
City, by a resolution of Congress. Accepting this invi-
tation, he visited the capital. There he had an interview
with Henry Clay and President Fillmore. Among the
last acts of Clay's life was to extend to him a true sym-
pathy, and to utter an emphatic protest against his de-
signs, in regard to bringing the United States, as a party,
into the difficulties of Europe. Let America engrave
with a diamond pen upon her heart of hearts, this almost
dying advice of Henry Clay. On the last day of the
year, Kossuth was introduced to Mr. Fillmore by Daniel
Webster. In the presence of the nation's executive, the
Hungarian delivered the following address :
" President : I stand before your Excellency a living
protestation against the violence of foreign interference,
oppressing the sovereign right of nations to regulate their
own domestic concerns.
" I stand before your Excellency a living protestation
against centralization oppressing the state right of self-
government.
" May I be allowed to take it for an augury of better
times, that, in landing on the happy shores of this glorious
republic, I landed in a free and powerful country, whose
honored chief magistrate proclaims to the world that this
country can not remain indifferent when the strong arm
372 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
of a foreign power is invoked to stifle public sentiment
and repress the spirit of freedom in any country.
"I thank God that he deemed me not unworthy to act
and to suffer for my fatherland.
" I thank God that the fate of my country became so
intimately connected with the fate of liberty and inde-
pendence of nations of Europe, as formerly it was inti-
mately connected with the security of Christendom.
" I thank God that my country's unmerited woe and
my personal sufferings became an opportunity to seek a
manifestation of the spirit and principles of your republic.
"May God the Almighty bless you with a long life,
that you may enjoy the happiness to see your country
great, glorious, and free, the corner-stone of international
justice, and the column of freedom on the earth, as it is
already an asylum to the oppressed.
" Sir, I pledge to your country the everlasting grati-
tude of Hungary."
To the above Mr. Fillmore made the following appro-
priate reply :
"I am happy, Governor Kossuth, to welcome you to
this land of freedom ; and it gives me pleasure to con-
gratulate you upon your release from a long confinement
in Turkey, and your late arrival here. As an individual,
I sympathize deeply with you in your brave struggle for
the independence and freedom of your native land. The
American people can never be indifferent to such a con-
test ; but our policy as a nation in this respect has been
uniform, from the commencement of the government ; and
my own views, as the chief magistrate of this nation,
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOKE. 373
are fully and freely expressed in my recent message
to Congress. They are the same whether speaking to
Congress here or to the nations of Europe.
" Should your country be restored to independence and
freedom, I should then wish you, as the greatest blessing
you could enjoy, a restoration to your native land ; but
should that never happen, I can only repeat my welcome
to you and your companions here, and pray that God's
blessing may rest upon you wherever your lot may be."
Mr. Fillmore viewed Kossuth's mission as one having
dangerous tendencies if encouraged beyond the limits of
sympathy. He took the same view of it that Clay did.
It was evidently the design of Kossuth, from the moment
he set foot upon our shores, to appeal to the hearts of a
people, who, he knew, were lovers of liberty, and after
arousing their sympathies to procure the assistance of
men or money, or perhaps both, for Hungary. Had ho
succeeded, and we had become entangled just at that time-
in foreign broils, no human sagacity can tell where we
would have been placed by the storm that has just blown
over the trans- Atlantic world. But with men at the head
of affairs, entertaining the sentiments embodied in Mr.
Fillmore's reply to Kossuth's address, and demonstrated
throughout his entire administration, there is not the
remotest chance of bringing about such a result. It was
during this administration that the oppressed Madiais
were groaning under the cruel tyranny of the papal
hierarchy. Mr. Fillmore wrote to the Grand Duke of Tus-
cany, through his secretary of state, Hon. Edward
Everett, to have that unfortunate family released. His
374 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE..
active sympathy in their behalf was, doubtless, what
elicted the denunciatory effusions of Archbishop Hughes'
journal, of which the following is a specimen :
" It does not escape the independent judgment of the
universe, that the administration, now happily defunct, has
been as bigoted as it has been imbecile. The universe
congratulates the country upon having elected a states-
man (Pierce !) for president, and for permitting the Uni-
tarian ex-preacher, late secretary of state, to return to
his pulpit to proclaim that Jesus is not God, and Mr.
Fillmore himself to become a village lawyer."
Under the broad shield of our constitution, there is
certainly no true American who can endorse such a sen-
timent as the above. Among true patriots, in regard to
Mr. Fillmore's administration, there exists but one opin-
ion — that in wisdom, virtue, and patriotism, it has never
been excelled.
Many wise and important measures were adopted
during Mr. Fillmore's administration. Among others
were extensive exploring expeditions, that were highly
creditable to the nation. The commerce to Japan was
opened. A three cent letter postage was established,
and a number of measures of infinite utility to the country.
Never did a chief magistrate close an administration with
more unbounded approbation. . Never did one retire from
office clothed with brighter lustre.
Never did official term weave for man a nobler, civic
crown. Never did an individual more firmly enthrone
hmself in the grateful hearts of his countrymen. Never
LIFE OF MILLAKD FILLMORE. 375
did one wear more fadeless laurels, and never were they
more proudly worn.
We now propose giving a brief notice to the American
party, as being to some extent associated with the great
man of whom we are writing, and figuring conspicuously
in the measures of the country. Native Americanism had
its origin in the almost utter prostration of the ballot-box,
and the grossest abuses of the elective franchise in the
municipal elections of our extensive cities.
The first American movement was in the city of New
York in 1834. The intolerant frauds practiced upon the
city by foreigners, and the immense influx into that city
of the thousands annually disgorged from the old world,
resulted in an organization for the purpose of counter-
acting their influence. Prof. Morse was run by that
party for mayor of the city, and received a very respec-
table vote. The appeals made by the young party to
the people in behalf of the sacredness of the ballot box,
and warning them against foreign influence, had a pow-
erful effect, and it gained many adherents.
This party, however, began, so far as the organization
was concerned, to die away without having accomplished
much more than the avowal of principles that were event-
ually to take deeper hold upon the masses. The Ameri-
can feeling received a startling impetus again in 1840,
by the endeavors of Archbishop Hughes and Gov. Seward
to set aside a portion of New York's cherished school
fund for the support of catholic schools. This was the
most dangerous innovation, as they conceived, that had
yet indicated itself, and to counteract it and other abuses
376 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
they re-organized in 1843. This time they published
their principles, calling on other cities to follow their
example. Many cities responded to the call and pursued
the same course, and several succeeded in discomfiting
the foreigners entirely. In 1844, the city of New York
elected their mayor upon the American ticket, and most
of the city council. The native American feeling was
again lost sight of amid the smoke of battle in the presi-
dential canvass of 1844, to remain in comparative quiet
until 1851-52, when it assumed a more prominent aspect
than it had at any time previous, and continued to
increase until 1854 and 1855 it was the question of the day-
The resuscitation and rapid progress of the principles of
the party from that date may be attributed to a variety
of concurrent causes. The compromise had just passed,
and, the difficulties adjusted that had caused such fearful
agitation, the minds of the people were called to the
more immediate investigation of foreign influence, and
were brought to see the necessity of some counteracting
efforts. The defeat of Clay in 1844 was, to a great extent,
the effect of naturalization frauds and the foreign vote,
and people began to open their eyes and become alarmed
at the fearful balance of power exerted by them. The
campaign of 1S52 and the excitement occasioned by and
over the foreign vote, tended to accelerate the develop-
ment of the party's strength. The political demagoguery
and chicanery that had been manifest for years, and the
prospect afforded for checking its influence, advanced and
gave stability to the party. The death of the whig party
created a national vacuum where the disaffected and
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 377
those who had become convinced of the folly of partisan
strife of all parties could marshal under the broad ban-
ners of Americanism. As whig has been mentioned, it
may not be improper to advert to some of the causes
that led to the eventual decay and disruption of that party.
One -thing that operated against the whigs, even in their
palmiest days, was the attitude in which they placed their
candidates. Instead of having that confidence in the
man that circumstances justified, and regarding his past
course as a sufficient guarantee for his future, they
required pledges and indorsements, until they complicated
with a multiplicity of national and local measures.
They required too much at the hands of their leaders —
so much, that infalibility would not more than satisfy
some of the party. They lacked consolidated, active
organization in their campaigns, necessary to insure
success. These, however, and various others, needless
to enumerate, were secondary causes. The great cause
of that party's destruction was the defeat of Clay in
1844. The acknowledged leader of his party, through
many a hard-fought battle — thrice rejected by his country-
men, the people lost all confidence in their party. They
thought if such men as Clay and Webster could not
elicit the support of their party, that ability and patriot-
ism were wholly unappreciated, and losing all confidence
in the success of measures being carried in other hands,
that had failed in Clay's, they bowed with the ruins of
their party. The campaign of 1844 was an epoch in
American politics, — the result of Clay's defeat was not
unforeseen. From the very day the result became known
378 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
a spirit of " all is lost " hung in gloom over the party.
No signs indicated renewed energies at another time.
A perfect "give up " disposition pervaded the entire
party. Such was the result of the defeat of Henry Clay.
The vacuum thus produced by the defection of the old
whig, was very appropriate for the re-organization of the
American party. Beared upon the ruins of its great
predecessor, it gained strength from 1851, continually,
until 1854 and 1855 it swept like an avalanche over several
entire states. Of its principles, aims, and objects, I need
not speak here, they are known all over the country ;
suffice it to say, they are essentially American in letter
and spirit, and number among their adherents the ablest
men from all parties.
Mr. Fillmore became formally identified with the
American order in 1855. If any additional evidences
Were needed, to those transpiring around him, to convince
him of the utility of the American movement, they were
furnished by the conduct of Kossuth, who, finding himself
unable to make any impressions other than sympathy
upon the native born citizens of our country, commenced
appealing to the foreign voters.
The following is a sample of these appeals, and their
results; it is a portion of a speech he made to the Ger-
mans of New York City in 1852 :
" Tou are strong enough to effect the election of that
candidate for the presidency who gives the most attention
to the European cause. I find that cpite natural, be-
cause between both parties there is no difference as
regards the internal policy, and because only by the inan-
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE. 379
ity of the German citizens of this country, the election
will be such, that, by and by, the administration will turn
their attention to other countries, and give every nation
free scope. No tree, my German friends, falls with the
first stroke ; it is therefore necessary, that, inasmuch as
you are citizens, and can command your votes, you sup-
port the candidate who will pursue the external policy in
our sense, and endeavor to effect that all nations become
free and independent, such as is the case in happy
America."
The following resolutions are the result of a similar
effusion a short time afterwards :
" Eesolved, that as American citizens, we will attach
ourselves to the democratic party, and will devote our
strength to having a policy of intervention in America
carried out.
-" Resolved, that we expect that the candidates of the
democratic party will adopt the principles of this policy,
which has been sanctioned by all distinguished statesmen
of this party.
" Eesolved, that we protest against the manner in
which, heretofore, the government of the United States
has interpreted and applied the policy of neutrality,
which is a violation of the spirit of the constitution of
the United States.
" Resolved, that we ask that every American citizen,
not being attached to the soil, may support the strength
of any other people in the sense as the juries have inter-
preted the principles of the American constitution, and
especially of the policy of neutrality."
380 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
And here again is his secret circular in very strict
keeping with his " President : I stand before your excel-
lency a living protestation against the violence of foreign
interference, oppressing the sovereign right of nations to
regulate their own concerns." Then he was addressing
President Fillmore. In this circular he addressed him-
self to the Germans, and thought it best to play on a
harp of another string :
" New York, June 28th, 1852.
" Sir : I hope you have read already my German
farewell speech, delivered June 23d, in the Tabernacle
at New York, and also the resolution of the meeting,
which was passed subsequently.
" I hope, further, that the impression which this matter
has made upon both political parties has not escaped
your attention.
" Indeed, it is not easy to be mistaken, that the Ger-
man citizens of America will have the casting vote in
the coming election, if they are united in a joint direction
upon the platform of the principles set forth in the speech
before mentioned.
" They may decide upon the exterior policy of the
next administration of the United States, and with that
the triumph or the fall of liberty in Europe."
Whether Kossuth's mission, and such effusions as the
foregoing, had effect upon Mr. Fillmore's feelings with
immediate reference to his identification with the Amer-
ican party, or not, they were circumstances well calcu-
lated to induce serious reflection on the part of all. Mr.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOEE. 3S1
Fillmore's convictions on these principles had been pretty
well settled for a number of years ; they were the results
of a palpable necessity, of whose existence he had long
been satisfied.
The following letter, from Mr. Fillmore to a friend
residing in Philadelphia, gives his views more fully upon
the principles of the American party :
"Buffalo, New York, Jan. 3d, 1855.
" Respected Friend Isaac Newton :
* * * " I return you many thanks for your
information on the subject of politics. I am always
happy to hear what is going forward ; but, independently
of the fact that I feel myself withdrawn from the politi-
cal arena, I have been too much depressed in spirit to
take an active part in the late elections. I contented
myself with giving a silent vote for Mr. TJllinan for
governor.
" While, however, I am an inactive observer of public
events, I am by no means an indifferent one ; and I may
say to you, in the frankness of friendship, I have for a
long time looked with dread and apprehension at the cor-
rupting influence which the contest for the foreign vote
is exciting upon our elections. This seems to result from
its being banded together, and subject to the control of
a few interested and selfish leaders. Hence, it has been
a subject of bargain and sale, and each of the great polit-
ical parties of the country have been bidding to obtain
it ; and, as usual in all such contests, the party which is
most corrupt is most successful. The consequence is,
382 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
that it is fast demoralizing the whole country ; corrupt-
ing the very fountains of political power ; and convert-
ing the ballot-box — that great palladium of our liberty—
into an unmeaning mockery, where the rights of native-
born citizens are voted away by those who blindly follow
their mercenary and selfish leaders. The evidence of
this is found not merely in the shameless chaffering fof
the foreign vote at every election, but in the large dis-
proportion of offices which are now held by foreigners, at
home and abroad, as compared with our native citizens.
Where is the true hearted American whose cheek does
not tingle with shame and mortification, to see our high-
est and most coveted foreign missions filled by men of
foreign birth, to the exclusion of native born 1 Such
appointments are a humiliating confession to the crowned
heads of Europe, that a republican soil does not produce
sufficient talent to represent a republican nation at a
monarchical court. I confess that it seems to me, with
all due respect to others, that, as a general rule, our
country should be governed by American-born citizens.
Let us give to the oppressed of every country an asylum
and a home in our happy land; give to all the benefits
of equal laws and equal protection; but let us at the
same time cherish as the apple of our eye the great prin-
ciples of constitutional liberty, which few who have not
had the good fortune to be reared in a free country know
how to appreciate, and still less, how to preserve.
" Washington, in that inestimable legacy which he left
to his country — his farewell address — has wisely warned
us to beware of foreign influence as the most baneful foe
LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMOEE. 383
of a republican government. He saw it, to be sure, in a
different light from that in which it now presents itself;
but he knew that it would approach in all forms, and
hence he cautioned us against the insidious wiles of its
influence. Therefore, as well for our own sakes, to whom
this invaluable inheritance of self-government has been
left by our forefathers, as for the sake of the unborn mil-
lions who are to inherit this land — foreign and native —
let us take warning of the father of his country, and
do what we can to preserve our institutions from corrup-
tion, and our country from dishonor ; but let this be done
by the people themselves in their sovereign capacity, by
making a proper discrimination in the selection of officers,
and not by depriving any individual, native or foreign-
born, of any constitutional or legal right to which he is
now entitled.
". These are my sentiments in brief; and although I
have sometimes almost despaired of my country, when I
have witnessed the rapid strides of corruption, yet I
think I perceive a gleam of hope in the future, and I now
feel confident that, when the great mass of intelligence
in this enlightened country is once fully aroused, and the
danger manifested, it will fearlessly apply the remedy,
and bring back the government to the pure days of
Washington's administration. Finally, let us adopt the
old Eoman motto, ' Never despair of the republic' Let
us do our duty, and trust in that providence which has
so signally watched over and preserved us for the result.
But I have said more than I intended, and much more
than I should have said to any one but a trusted friend,
384 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
as I have no desire to mingle in political strife. Remem-
ber me kindly to your family, and, believe me,
" I am truly yours,
"Millard Fillmore."
Since the close of Mr. Fillmore's administration, he
has been visited with the severest domestic afflictions
that fell with a crushing weight upon his heart. He has
continued to reside in Buffalo, a pattern for the old, and
an example for the young. He recently took a tour to
Europe, and visited the places in the old world hallowed
by their historic associations. He was everywhere an
object of respect and admiration. The plain, unostenta-
tious manner of his traveling, won the approval of his
countrymen at home, and demonstrated our republican
principles abroad. He had personal interviews with
Queen Victoria, Louis Napoleon, the Pope of Rome, and
other crowned heads of Europe, and was on all occasions
the recipient of marked respect. The reflections he
made upon the governments of the old world were favor-
able to the highest appreciation for the beloved institu-
tions Of his own country. Mr. Fillmore is essentially
American in manners, looks, and feelings, and in his
intercourse with the friends of royalty evinced his purely
American principles on all occasions. At a convention
of his countrymen, wholly unsolicited and unexpected,
held some time since at Philadelphia, he was nominated
by acclamation as a candidate for the chief magistracy
of the United States — the position he filled with such
distinguished ability and patriotism through the struggle
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 3S5
of 1850-51. He received notice of his nomination at
Venice, in Italy, by a communication from the committee
appointed for that purpose. From Paris he replied, sig-
nifying his acceptance, and giving his past as a guarantee
for his future course. He is now, in obedience to the
wishes of the American people, before the country as a
candidate for the highest office in their power to bestow.
On the eleventh of June he left Liverpool for his
native land. On reaching New York City, banners were
flung to the breeze, and the entire population of the me-
tropolis joined in mass, to give him a heart-felt welcome.
New York's ovation to her favorite son excelled anything
of the kind ever witnessed in America — ever witnessed
anywhere, for it was the spontaneous outburst of free-
men. From New York City homeward to Buffalo, his
journey was a triumphal march. Not the march of a
Ceesar, with a coronet on his brow, and captive kings at
his car; not the march of a Salladin, with the red
scimitar in one hand, and the trophies of vanquished
empires in the other ; it was the tread of a freeman, in
reunion with his fellow citizens and his boyhood com-
panions. In Buffalo the same imposing manifestations of
" welcome home " awaited him. The ovation of his
friends in Buffalo was, indeed, indicative of the lasting
regard felt for him by his friends and neighbors. He is
now at his home, on Franklin Street, in Buffalo, in the
quietude of repose, enjoying excellent health, cheerful
and contented.
17
386 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE=
CHAPTER XII,
Character of Mr. Fillmore as a domestic man — His adaptation for
the family circle — Amiability and industry of M?s. Fillmore — Mr.
Fillmore as a philanthropist — As a neighbor — His love of
home — Mr. Fillmore as a husband — ' As a parent — His resi'
dence and its sociabilities — His manners — His order and regu-
larity— His industry — His temperance — His morality — Mr. Fillmore
as a statesman — As a patriot — And as a man — Conclusion.
No man has ever sustained in all the domestic relations
of life a character more worthy of emulation than has
Mr. Fillmore. His spotless reputation in a long career
of success and usefulness to his country has been tarnished
by no misdeed calculated to subject him to sensorious
remarks and criticism from those to whom his every day
actions have been open to inspection. In looking over
his past life, in so strict a conformity to the golden rule
has it been, that the retrospect, instead of being dis-
agreeable— instead of having to commune with the
whisperings of remorse, is extremely pleasant, for it is
accompanied with the plaudits of an approving conscience.
As a domestic man, Mr. Fillmore is most happily con-
stituted by nature to appreciate the blessings of the
family circle. The most delightful enjoyments — those
most calculated to animate his bosom with liveliest
emotions — are those that eradiate around the fireside of
his own home. Studiously careful to make h:? home the
abode of love and happiness, he looked to that alone for
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE. 387
the solid enjoyments of life. After the arduous duties
of his professional labors, home as the Eden of his heart,
he would turn, where, in the bosom of his family he forgot
the cares and toils of life. After a conclusion of services
in a public capacity, with delightful emotions he turned
to the same haven, and in the cup of domestic bliss,
would be sure to find an anodyne for his weariness. In
the domestic circle, the amiability of his temperament
shines most conspicuously. The gentleness of his nature
and the mild dignity of his manners seem to infuse them-
selves into the minds of all present, until an harmonious
assimilation of feeling pervades* the entire circle. His
cheerfulness is of such a nature as to convey an idea of
the most perfect felicity of feeling. So manifest is his
cheerfulness, that his entrance into the circle is sufficient
to dispel all gloomy feelings, unless they are the result of
an universal cause. He loves the family circle, and the
peaceful quietude of home better than the grandeur of
the palace, though decorated in all the ensignia of royal-
ity. His home has ever been the centre of his deepest
affections, and those to his family regarded as his highest
duties. In the bosom of his family, surrounded by those
he loved, he has experienced happier feelings and holier
comforts than when in the halls of the great. Often, after
the clouds of adversity began to disperse from the horizon
of his future, were the smiles of welcome to his home
from those he loved prized more highly than the world's
applause.
So admirably adapted to the enjoyment of domestic
life is his temperament, that, in the seclusion of his fam-
888 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
ily, performing little duties as its head, he has spent
days, in preference to mingling with the great, where he
would have been so justly welcome. The family history
of Mr. Fillmore is a very quiet one. Quiet, from the
fact that it is entirely divested of pride and ostentatious
display, and has exhibited no faults that could subject it
to the criticisms of the community. The plain simplicity
of Mr. Fillmore's taste in the arrangement of family com-
forts, while it combines neatness and utility, avoids
extravagant display and gorgeous fixtures. To have a
comfortable home, and pleasant family occupants, was
his ardent desire ; — in both he was successful, until the
interposition of Providence robbed him of his most cher-
ished flowers.
The many virtues of his wife, were not unappreciated
in the circle of their acquaintance. As a wife, she was
a devoted one ; as a mother, none was ever more affec-
tionate. The guardianship she exercised over the house-
hold during Mr. Fillmore's absence, engaged in public
duty, could not have been more faithful, or attended
with happier results. Her gentleness and devotion
befitted her admirably for the position she occupied. She
was anxious at all times to promote that domestic hap-
piness which she knew was so congenial to her husband's
feelings, and to make home the abode of those joys he so
highly prized. In consequence of Mr. Fillmore's fre-
quent absence, the entire management of the home affairs,
especially the training of their children, necessarily
devolved upon her. These duties she discharged with
the successful devotion of a wife and a mother.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 389
Meek and mild to a fault, unobtrusive in her deport-
ment, all who knew her loved her for her purity of soul.
Quiet and unostentatious, she charmed with her sim-
plicity. Possessing these traits of character, she was
most happily moulded to the feelings of Mr. Fillmore,
and well caculated to promote gentle cheerfulness
around the domestic hearth. Her efforts to make home
happy by an exemplification of these traits, were faith-
fully continued until her death. With such congenial
spirits as these to mingle, no purer joys belonged to man
than were Mr. Fillmore's in the midst of his domestic
circle. These he treasures as the genuine happiness of
his life — the Sabbath of his soul.
Mr. Fillmore, as a philanthropist, if philanthropy means
a love for our species, has no superior. The greatness of
his heart can not resist the touching appeals of humanity,
come they from whom, or in whatsoever shape they may.
He is essentially a feeling man in every sense of the
word. The actions of his past life have been illustrative
of these attributes of his nature. The peculiar sensibil-
ity of his nature, has been evinced in all his actions from
earliest boyhood. The active sympathy he manifested
for the sufferers of the Emerald Isle, shows he has a soul
susceptible of entire sway to the promptings of true be-
nevolence. No man can be for an hour in his presence,
without becoming impressed with the belief that he loves
his fellow men ; he manifests it in all his actions ; it is
legibly written on his countenance ; it beams with mild-
est radiance from his eye ; it speaks in the tones of his
voice ; and glows in the chambers of his soul. The
390 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMORE.
deserver of alms can never say he applied in vain to Mr.
Fillmore for relief. His heart beats a warm response
to the dictates of charity, and is overwhelmed with grief
at the distress of a suffering fellow creature.
The susceptibility of his nature to the deepest grief —
the intensest agony — is evidenced by the overwhelming
sorrow in which he was thrown, by the domestic afflic-
tions elsewhere related in this book. It is not my pur-
pose to open those wounds afresh, or to intrude upon the
ashes of his loved ones. To him they were jewels of the
heart, worn closely round it every day ; when they were
torn from his bosom, the intensity of his feelings seemed
to consume the vitality of existence, and the portals of
the tomb to close every avenue to happiness. Lost to
the tender condolence of friends, in the voyage of mourn-
ful retrospection, he communed with the visions of the
by-gone, and lived alone in a world of memory.
Insensible to the offerings of friendship, he mused
upon the " loVed and the lost," and in the mantle of misery
"mourned the pale ashes of his hopes." The beauteous
gems of his home had ceased to gladden, and left him
alone on the Sahara of his hopes, to mourn the departed.
Such bereavements as these, unstring the stoutest hearts
not chilled to every impulse; but to one of Mr. Fillmore's
feelings, it was the pierce of an icicle — the bitterness of
misery. The wounds were deep and lasting, and though
he has regained his wonted serenity, they are still un-
healed. But, susceptible as are his feelings, Mr. Fillmore
is not a man of impulse. The feelings of sympathy
with, and love for, his fellow men do not have to be
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 391
excited or aroused in his bosom by pathetic appeals. As
a part of his nature they exist there, and are always
ready to manifest' themselves. He never forgets the
kindness of a friend ; and, if he had one, he would never
forget the injuries of an enemy. As a man of feeling,
he manifests this attribute of his nature, in the daily
walks of life.
He feels deeply wounded over the wrongs of his coun-
try, as well as those of his fellow men. In 1849-50,
when the old ship of state was about to strand on the
rock of disunion, he manifested the deepest concern. To
his friends he expressed himself as feeling willing to make
any personal sacrifice, could it avail in conciliating the
elements of discord, and cementing the bonds of union.
To this feeling, humane nature of Mr. Fillmore is attri-
butable the great esteem in which he is held by his neigh-
bors and friends. This esteem can not properly be
called popularity. It is worthy a higher appellation. It
is an absolute admiration on the part of the citizens of all
parties for the intrinsic virtues of the man.
As to Mr. Fillmore's character as a neighbor, those
with whom he has lived the longest, and spent the greater
portion of his life, can bear the best attestation. Let
the generous Buffalonians, who love him so well, and love
to do him honor, speak out under this head, and not one
among her many voices would say aught against him.
Mr. Fillmore's is not one of those characters to which
"distance lends enchantment." No distance is so great that
its intervention would keep him from being admired, but
ihe nearer the approach to Buffalo, the more attractive
Br92 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
be becomes, until -in the city and his county, his nam®
becomes an embodiment of the purest patriotism. The-
fact, that not a man among those who are acquainted with
him, even though he differ with him in politics, can say
aught against him, shows the enviable position he occu-
pies in the midst of his people, and how highly he is
esteemed as a neighbor. The love Mr. Fillmore has for
his neighbors has always been peculiarly manifest. Often,
while absent, in the discharge- of his official duty, in let-
ters to his friends, he expressed anxiety to be in their
midst. From Europe he frequently wrote, contrasting
the ceremonial formalities of court with the social life of
his fellow citizens, and expressing his anxiety to mingle
with his neighbors and his friends. At Liverpool, when
the vessel was almost ready to bear him home, and he
was about "turning from a foreign strand," his bosom
swelled with delight at the prospect of meeting his
friends.
On his arrival in Buffalo, the position he occupied in
the hearts of the people as a man and a neighbor, became
truly manifest. The mutual joy, the outburst of enthu-
siasm from the assembled thousands who welcomed their
neighbor home, told his valued worth. The greetings
and gratulations of rich and poor, official and peasant,
wholly divested of formality, showed the unbounded joy
they experienced at seeing him again in their midst. The
offices of honor and responsibility to the elevation of
which he has always received the cordial support of the
city of Buffalo and Erie county, show that as a neighbor
and a citizen he occupies an elevated position in their
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMOEE. 393
esteem. No man has natural qualities better adapted
to the discharge of duties as a neighbor, than has Mr.
Fillmore. Kind, liberal, and generous, his intercourse is
marked with a great desire to render himself agreeable,
and to make those happy around him. To all those
neighborhood courtesies, Mr. Fillmore is particularly
careful to devote due attention. Living on terms of
unrestricted sociability with his neighbors, his intercourse
is entirely free and easy, accompanied frequently with
kind pleasantries, of a neighborhood, home-like nature.
Mr. Fillmore is known by almost the entire population
of the city of Buffalo, and is beloved by all. In the
recent demonstration of his welcome, all classes and all
parties engaged in the reception of their fellow citizen.
Old men were overjoyed and thronged to the stand, pre-
pared to give a welcome. Ladies of all ages mingled in
the occasion, and with a thousand handkerchiefs waved
their welcome. Men of all parties harmonized on an
occasion at which all were equally gratified. Little girls
ran joyously to him with boquets, as if to " strew his way
with flowers." One thing is worthy of note. The young
men of Buffalo, and in the entire state of New York, all
admire Mr. Fillmore. There has never been a man who
has taken a greater hold upon the affections of the young
men of a state than has Mr. Fillmore upon those of New
York. The place Henry Clay occupied in the hearts of
the young men of the noble state of Kentucky, is equaled
only by that occupied by Mr. Fillmore in the hearts of
the young men of New York.
But the high esteem for Mr. Fillmore on the part
17*
394 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
of young men is not confined to the state of New York,
it prevades over the entire Union. This is a significant
fact, and should be hailed as a good indication, as showing
that the young men of the country place a higher esti-
mate upon virtue and patriotism than upon the leaders
of party factions. It shows a disposition on the part of
young men to make moral worth the basis of their good
opinions, and to emulate a virtuous example, set in a
career of usefulness and honor.
Mr. Fillmore's love of home is a prominent trait of his
character. He loves his home better than any place
else, and the friendship of his neighbors better than the
plaudits of the great. He has mingled in public life,
because he conceived it his duty to do so, when his per-
sonal inclinations would have kept him under " the vine
and shadow of his own fig-tree." In his absence in the
services of his country, his desires to experience the
solid joys of home, and to be in the bosom of his family
have amounted to the deepest yearnings, and he looked
forward to the conclusions of his labors, when no barrier
would interpose between him and his loved ones, with
fondest anticipations.
The pride he took in the city of his adoption, in her
growing prosperity and increasing commerce, and the
successful operation of her well conducted educational
systems, are evidences of his love of home.- In the
rising generation, especially the young men of that city,
he feels the deepest solicitude, and encourages every
enterprise tending to their elevation. He is a member
of the Young Men's Association, whose objects are to
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOEE. 395
Infuse a literary taste throughout society, and promote
the facilities of reading. The enjoyments he feels in the
social intercourse of his neighbors and friends are, com-
pared to every other, of a transcendent nature. The city
of Buffalo is the cradle of his fame, where his young
aspirations were rocked into maturity, and he doats on
her citizens and her home associations with the fervor of
filial1 affection. The city of his adoption, and the home
of his heart, he is proud of her proverbial refinement,
and the high-toned generosity of her children. Sensible
of the many manifestations of regard for him on the part
of her citizens, he feels bound to them by the golden
cord of friendship. Coming in their midst a poor and
penniless boy, they took him to their bosoms with paren-
tal solicitude and made him the recipient of their confi-
dence and esteem. * Of these kindnesses he is not forgetful,
but treasures them as a boon of friendship's offering, and
in the enjoyment of free intercourse with his friends, he
feels he has vindicators of his name. '
A resident of the city for a 'quarter of a century, he
watched the development of her resources with pride,
and cheerfully assisted in her progress. The friends of
his early career for his neighbors, in the quietude of repose
lie would love to glide down the stream of life, till gath-
ered to the grave of his fathers. In the shades of his
Buffalo home, he wishes to pass the declivity of age,
among his friends, and repose at last by the treasures of
his heart — the loved of his youth. This love of home,
on the part of Mr. Fillmore, no distance can damp, no
gorgeous displays of power and pomp can change or sup-
396 LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE,
press. His friends, with whom he has mingled so long,
and whose devotion has been evinced by an unchanging
fidelity to his fortunes through his whole career, are so
associated with his feelings, that'they have become as a
part of himself. And his home, so long the bower of his
heart, the Eden of his joys, though deprived of its fairest
ornaments, is still the sanctuary of his repose — the-
asylum of his heart. Around his home and in the midst
of his friends, stands the Ararat of his fortunes — rests
the ark of his joys - — and blooms the olive of his love.
The recent reception extended to Mr. Fillmore was
replete with incidents illustrative of this trait of char-
acter. As the large procession moved on to the tune of
" Home, Sweet Home," and banners were streaming a
welcome across the streets of the city, " This is my own,
my native land," was traceable upon, his countenance,
full of emotional joy. He was overwhelmed with feelings
of gladness. The friends of his early career flocked
around him — the wives and daughters of his old neigh-
bors smiled him " Welcome ! "
In his response to the address of welcome, the depth
of his feelings almost choked his utterance. The expression
that he had, often, in his travels over the old world, longed
to be in the city of Buffalo, and on the shores of Lake Erie
showed his love of home. The expression that he valued
that spontaneous reception by his fellow citizens, more
than such an one as Queen Victoria elicited in the city of
Paris, showed the high estimate he placed upon the good
will of his neighbors and his friends. The deep feelings
he could not suppress when the procession halted, to the
LIFE OF MILLAED FILLMORE. 397
notes of " Sweet Home," at his own door, showed how
hallowed to him by the tenderest associations, and how
enshrined in his bosom was that loved spot of the past.
When he entered its lone portals, and met no loved smile
there that used to give so dear a greeting — no girlhood
joy to twine a fond embrace, we can but imagine how,
" gush after gush," the fountain of feeling rolled its
mighty waves into the deep bosom of the past, and hov-
ered around the most pleasing recollections of its horizon.
No heart beats a warmer response to cherished reminis-
cences than does his. One of his first impulses on step-
ping from the Atlantic, upon his native soil, was to thank
God that he was a freeman, and stood in no need of pass-
ports. More than a king, or a potentate, he was a son
of Columbia, with the stars and stripes waving over his
head, and treading a soil unpolluted by the impress of
tyranny. . *
His addresses to his fellow-citizens, who gave him re-
ceptions of welcome at every point, from his landing in
New York, until his arrival in Buffalo, are replete with
patriotism, and a spirit elevated by the love of home.
To the " sea of upturned faces " that met him at every
point, he returned a response, showing the happiness he
experienced on being again in the midst of his fellow
freemen, and upon the soil of his home-land. He has
always loved his home, but by its contrast with the down-
trodden of other lands, he learned, if possible, to appre-
ciate it more highly.
Mr. Fillmore, as a husband, presents himself to our
view in the light of a model. From the time of his
398 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
marriage, in 1826, up to the time of his first great domes-
tic affliction* he was the kindest of husbands. The
peculiar adaptation of his temperament to the enjoyment
of domestic happiness, and the exalted purity of his
virtue could not have made him otherwise. During his
residence at Aurora, before success began to crown his
efforts to any great degree, and prosperity began to smile
in his pathway, he maintained an equanimity of feeling
and cheerfulness, and manifested the greatest devotion as
a husband. He felt the responsibilities resting upon him
were of the heaviest nature, and was exceedingly faithful
in their performance. He was never from home except
on business, the prosecution of which was to promote its
interests, and immediately on his release from such duties
he would hasten to it. Mr. Fillmore's devotion to his
wife was almost excessive.' She was the idol of his being,
and seemed interwoven in every ligament of his feelings.
To her he was kind and tender to a fault. Looking to
the family circle of his home for the purest rays of his
happiness, he regarded his wife as the source from whence
they must emanate, and cherished her as a part of his
being. Eegarding virtuous purity as worthy his warmest
admiration, he beheld its impersonation in his wife, and
did homage at its shrine. Possessing the highest appre-
ciation for the opposite sex, in the many virtues and mild
gentleness of his wife he saw exemplified all that was
lovely in woman, and was tenderly solicitous of her com-
fort. Thus careful to render her happy, and watchful of her
welfare, they lived a life of conjugal felicity, unmoved
by the slightest sign of indifference or neglect. He was
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 399
uniform in his kind solicitude up to the time of her
decease.
Mr. Fillmore, as a parent, has pursued a course that
has only to' be known to be admired. He has had but
two children, a son and a daughter, but on these he
doted with paternal fondness. Mr. Fillmore has a fond-
ness for children and they a fondness for him. One of
the most pleasing incidents of the occasion of his recent
reception in Buffalo was connected with the children.
Quite a number of fair young girls presented him
bunches of flowers, at the stand. When the last one of
the number came to present her's, by some mishap, she
dropped it. With all the pleasantry of a parent, he
drew her to him and kissed -her in the kindest manner.
He loves children, and regarding them as but men of a
smaller growth, he manifests a great interest in their wel-
fare and moral culture. In training his children to les-
sons of early duty, he pursued a course, while it produced
the most implicit obedience, endeared him to them in the
purest love. He was never harsh and reproachful in
correction or reproof. In impressing a sense of right and
wrong upon their minds, he would, with earnestness, point
out the proper course for them, and tell the importance
of a correct deportment. He showed to them the beauty
of an even course, and the deformity of a reckless one.
He gave them to understand the sure rewards of a vir-
tuous life, and the equally certain punishments of a
vicious one. He was careful to set an example he would
love to have them follow, and demonstrated by practice
what he taught by precept. He desired to make borne
400 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMOEE.
an agreeable place, that his children might always look
to it for their most pleasing recollections. Knowing it
to be of vital importance, he was careful to set for his
children that glorious example they would be proud to
contemplate. He was careful to rear them to habits of
industry and usefulness. He always felt that duties of a
high order devolved upon every one, and wished his chil-
dren to be useful members of society. For his children,
no man ever manifested a greater paternal solicitude than
he. Over their early education he exercised great per-
sonal supervision, and was extremely careful to supplant
all mistaken views with correct ones. He sent them to
good schools, and gave them excellent educations. He
trained them to habits of regular industry, and gave them
clear conceptions of duty. His labors and his solicitude
were rewarded. They grew up, possessed of accomplish-
ments, and universally beloved. His daughter, at the
time of her death, in 1853, possessed not only a highly
cultivated intellect and the knowledge of those fine arts
that so much adorn a lady, but she was a proficient in
many useful lessons of life. She had made great pro-
ficiency in drawing, music, etc., indicating an active mind
and a correct taste.
He now has but one child, M. P. Fillmore, a young
lawyer in Buffalo. In the discharge of every duty as a
parent, Mr. Fillmore has been faithful. His son and him-
self compose the entire family, over whose interests he
presided and exercised guardianship with successful
fidelity. The chain is broken that bound it together in
such harmonious felicity for a number of years. It was
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 401
a golden one. Its links were love and happiness. When
"life's fitful fever" is over, and the remaining links are
passed, may it be reunited in a better sphere.
The residence of Mr. Fillmore, on Franklin Street, in
the city of Buffalo, is in one of the most beautiful parts
of the city. Like its proprietor, it is plain and unostenta-
tious. It is a two-story white building, exceedingly neat
and handsome. The entrance is into a hall, with a suit
of rooms below and above. Its rooms are very neatly,
but not gorgeously furnished. Everything in and about
his dwelling displays a taste of the correctest simplicity
and order. In front of the residence is a row of trees
arranged with the happiest design, that look pleasingly
cheerful. The yard is decorated with shrubbery taste-
fully arranged, and cultivated with great care. The
grounds embracing his yard and garden are not extensive,
but sufficiently so for all purposes of convenience and
comfort. Plain, but exceedingly neat, upon the door-
plate is seen " M. Fillmore," to whose domicil the friend,
the citizen, and the stranger is ever welcome. From his
residence, it is but a short and a very pleasant walk to
the placid waters of Lake Erie. It is in every respect
adapted to the quiet, home-like temperament of Mr. Fill-
more. One of his door neighbors is Judge 1ST. K. Hall,
former post-master-general during Mr. Fillmore's admin-
istration. Between them a long and friendly intimacy
has existed of the most disinterested nature. His home,
like himself, bears the aspect of quiet cheerfulness and
order, wholly divested of everything like display.
This has been Mr, Fillmore'3 home for a number of
402 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
years, and the scene of the most generous hospitalities.
There his friends, in the sacredness of his domestic circle,
always met the most cordial greetings, and were the
recipients of the kindest generosity. To the good and
the great, the rich and the poor, the peasant and the man
of rank, its hospitalities are extended with free good-will.
Go there, and a kind reception awaits you. Among his
books or papers, or with some of his numerous friends, he
spends the greater portion of his time there, ready to
extend a cordial greeting to the friend or the visitor.
In manners, while Mr. Fillmore displays no studied
formalities, his natural kindness makes him a most agree-
able companion. We often see men whom the world
esteem as great, and they often fall infinitely below the
position we had assigned them in our conceptions. A
rigid stiffness, indicative of feelings of superiority, seems
to manifest itself in their looks and their entire manners,
that assumes to themselves an elevation at least commen-
surate with, and often above, that assigned them by the
people. But between true greatness and its assumption,
there is a very wide distinction. Between the man who
drinks the cup of adulation till his brain grows dizzy, and
with arrogant assumption concludes he is great, and the
one who is really so above the effect of his fellow men's
plaudits, there is a wide difference. While the one looks
down upon his fellow "men from the elevation of his own
conceptions, and indicates a superiority of feeling not
justifiable from any real merits, the other, with feelings
of gratitude, looks upon his fellow men as his brothers,
and regards their happiness as a part of his own. Mr.
LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE. 403
Fillmore is an impersonation of true greatness. And if
we have been disappointed by those we presumed great
falling below our conceptions, we are apt to be equally
so in the contraction of Mr. Fillmore's acquaintance, for
he is sure to rise above them. The plainness of his person
and attire, the easy dignity of his address, will elicit the
esteem of all. His manners, though divested of all cere-
monial formalities, are extremely dignified. It is not that
assumptive dignity, however, that repels with its formal
arrogance. While it elevates and commands the great-
est respect, it divests you of all embarrassment, and
charms with its winning amiability. It is a dignity of
the soul. He meets his friends with a smile that, like a
ray from the sunshine of his bosom, melts the feelings
into social communion. He extends his hand of welcome
with all the cordiality of a true friend, and talks over the
general topics of the day with cheerfulness and freedom.
His manners are marked with the plainest simplicity,
entirely divested of all semblance of affectation, and indic-
ative of true refinement. His natural courtesy, while it
exhibits a polished exterior, indicates a yet higher polish
of the soul. The extreme freedom, ease, and sociabil-
ity, his nature, forbid all satiety and uncomfortable
embarrassments.
There is a uniformity about the manners of Mr. Fill-
more that is strikingly manifest. In the white house, in
the city, among his friends, in the quiet seclusion of home,
mingling with his fellow citizens, or among the crowned
heads of Europe, he is the same plain, unostentatious,
amiable, and polished gentleman.
404 LIFE OP MILLARD FILLMOEE.
In regard to Mr. Fillmore's habits, they have, in every
particular, been most unexceptionable. He has led a life
of extreme regularity. He has never embarked in any
enterprise with an active zeal that abated before it was
successfully completed. He never pursued his studies in
his boyhood with great zeal one day, and trifled his time
the next. With systematic earnestness he applied himself,
and continued their prosecution with unabated industry.
" Let no day pass without one line," he has exemplified
as his motto. His regularity has been displayed in every
department of his business. In the domestic duties of his
home, the exactest regularity was always manifest, and
the history of a day was the history of a year, unless an
incidental interference prevented.
Order he regards as indispensable to success, and of
the first importance in business. Nothing he ever per-
forms is done in an indifferent, hasty manner. Regarding
it an object worth doing at all, he regards it as being
worth doing well, and performs it with neatness and cor-
rectness. From his earliest boyhood he observed the
strictest punctuality, and complied with his promises just
as he made them, when not unavoidably prevented. Liv-
ing within his means, he contracted no debts ; and promises
he made in every other respect were sure to be com-
plied with. So strict was his punctuality, that in his
earliest career he had the confidence of all, and was pro-
verbial for the certainty with which he performed his
promises.
No hastily and badly performed duty can claim him
for its executor, for he does everything in a proper man-
LIFE OF MILLAKD FILLMORE. 405
Tier, and with neatness. His penmanship is neat and
regular, with no blots upon his manuscript. His manners
are uniform — the same to-day they were yesterday. His
whole character, in fact, is impressed with the most even
consistency.
Of Mr. Fillmore's industry I scarcely need speak.
He has never eaten the bread of idleness. From child-
hood he has been an active laborer. He is, essentially,
an industrious man. No one ever pursued a profession
with more energetic activity than did he. He was from
youth an early riser, and began the duties of the day at
an early hour. Having in the beginning of his life to
sustain himself with the labor of his own hands, habits
of regular industry were acquired in youth. When he
commenced his profession, he applied himself with zealous
activity to master its intricacies, and after he got into
practice, the business of his office received the most
persevering attention. He did not embark in his profession
from any inducement to lead an easy life, but with a
determined spirit to render himself useful. If a pro-
fessional life forms a bed of ease for some men, Mr. Fill-
more has not been one of those men. His life has been
one of triumphant success, but it has not been one of
ease. Far the greater portion of his life has been spent
in active labor, either in professional engagements, or in
a public capacity. His industrial habits have always
been exhibited about his home in the happiest manner.
It is his nature to be actively engaged in either mental
or physical labor.
After he began to be successful in his career, and not
406 LIFE OF MILLARD FILLMORE.
necessitated to do so, he labored with his own hands. In
his garden, with the spade or the hoe, he superintended
the laborers, and assisted in its arrangement and tillage.
Out in the early morning air, with his gardening utensils,
he loved to sow his seed, and plant his vegetation. To
Mr. Fillmore, there is a morality in labor. Eegarding
idleness as the parent of misery, and a direct violation of
duty itself, he has shunned it as an Upasian vale to his
hopes. " Thou shalt earn thy bread by the sweat of thy
brow," he has thoroughly comprehended, and has com-
plied with the enactment to the fullest extent. Man, as
having relative duties to perform, the neglect of which
would prove him recreant to his race, he regards as
morally bound to labor.
As a result of his industry, Mr. Fillmore presents
himself to our view a statesman of extraordinary capacity
and world-wide renown. Mr. Fillmore has always been
the most temperate of men in every respect. According
to apostolic injunction, he is " temperate in all things."
From intoxicating drinks he has abstained entirely, dur-
ing his whole life. He was never tempted, in his younger
days, by the lure of the wine cup. His family, back to
John Fillmore, his great-grandfather — and the father of
all by that name in America — were remarkable for their
sobriety. So strictly has he adhered to this principle of
abstinence, that he is scarcely acquainted with anything
of that nature. »
The lessons of his boyhood, and the principles which
were impressed upon his mind, in connection with his
subsequent high-toned resolves, kept him aloof from the
LIFE OF MILLAKD FILLMORE. 407
sway of all such vices. Extremely cautious to preserve
a correct deportment, and to establish a character of
moraT rectitude, he never was thrown amid the evil influ-
ences of corrupt associations. The effects of this regu-
lar, temperate life, are most happily felt. He has always
enjoyed almost uinterrupted good health, and a buoyancy
of feeling unknown to the epicure, or the wine bibber.
In his diet he is plaiD and simple. He is not fastidious
in regard to dress or diet. His attire is always neat, but
exceedinly plain and citizen-like. He has never used
tobacco, in any shape or form ; from the strict adherence
to his temperate principles, he has been entirely free
from the effects and expenditures of this pernicious prac-
tice. In boyhood, he never indulged in a single habit of
this nature. He has never sworn an oath, or used lan-
guage in the least profane. From his example let little
boys learn lessons of temperance and industry, and profit
by putting them in practice.
As regards Mr. Fillmore's moral character, it is of an
elevated nature. In childhood he was more moral than
most children ; in youth his morality was remarkable for
its strictness ; in manhood it was unexceptionable, and now
braced by the moral culture of years, it presents itself
to our view in noble proportions, without blemish.
Mr. Fillmore, as a statesman, has left his character
upon the institutions of his country, and impressed it
upon the tablets of the American mind. He is decisive,
patriotic, and conservative. As a statesman, shunning
all Machavelian artifice, he sees the wide distinction
between a patriot and a politician, and spurns the schemes
408 LIFE OF MILLASD FILLMOEE.
of the one with the moral purity of the other. The
purity of his character as a statesman stands above the
men of his day and reminds us of our illustrious
Washington.
It is a little remarkable, that since the author has been
engaged on these pages, he has received numerous letters
.from different sections of the country, in every one of
which occur the enviable words " Our Purest States-
man," applied to Mr. Fillmore. Mr. Fillmore, as a man,
possesses the attributes of God's true noblemen.
We are now at the conclusion of our labors. We
have endeavored faithfully to record the career of a
patriot. Of the manner in which the task is performed,
the reader must judge. If, in conclusion, the author of
these pages should be the means of casting a ray of light
along the dark path traveled by struggling youth in
adversity — if he should dispel a cloud of despair from
the horizon of impoverished worth — if he should thrill a
single heart that bleeds under the chill blast of penury
with hopeful pulsations — if he should light a smile upon
the pale and fevered brow of friendless genius — if he
should dry a burning tear that drops from the fount of
orphaned ambition — and if, in the example of one so
noble as the subject of these pages, the struggling youth
may see a light to guide his steps — he will feel rewarded.
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