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LIBRARY 

OF  CALIFOKNX* 
DAVIS 


MEMOIR 


TRISTAM    B  li  RGBS; 

%*  ^ 


WITH 

Jfi» 


SELECT! O N  S 


FROM  HIS 


SPEECHES   AND  OCCASIONAL   WRITINGS, 


BY   HENRY    L.    BOWER 


P  H  I  L  A  D  E  L  P  H  I  A  : 
WILLIAM  MARSHALL  AND  COMPANY 

MDCCCXXXV. 


LIBRARY 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  One  Thousand,  Eight 
Hundred  and  Thirty-Five,  by  Marshall,  Brown  &  Co.  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of 
the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Rhode-Island. 

• 


Providence: 

PRINTED  BY  WEEDEN  &  CORY, 
No.  9,  Market-square 


. 

. 
PREFACE. 


mam  i*»iu«>D   10  m> 

IT  occurred  to  the  Author,  many  months  ago,  that  a  selec 
tion  from  the  Speeches  and  Occasional  Writings  of  Mr.  Burgee, 
would  comprise  a  volume  of  interest,  to  the  scholar,  statesman, 
and  man  of  taste.  It  was  his  original  design,  merely  to  make 
a  copious  selection ;  but,  during  the  prosecution  of  that  design, 
he  thought  a  record  of  some  of  the  events  in  Mr.  Burges's  life, 
might  impart  additional  value  to  the  work.  This  has,  accord 
ingly,  been  added.  The  peculiar  traits  of  private  character, 
and  much  other  matter,  which  might  have  been  introduced  in 
that  Sketch,  have  been  necessarily  omitted  ;  because  we  cannot 
speak  of  the  living  as  of  the  dead.  A  pall  is  thrown  over  the 
foibles  of  the  departed  ;  and  their  virtues  and  graces  only  are 
unfolded  for  our  admiration.  But  ail  realize,  that  such  drapery 
conceals  not  the  forms  and  features  of  the  living,  from  our  search 
ing  gaze.  When  we  write  of  them,  the  pen  must  be  lightly 
plumed,  and  trace  only  the  outlines  of  their  history.  This  has 
been  our  simple  aim,  in  the  preparation  of  this  volume.  We 
have  spoken  of  Mr.  B  urges,  only  so  far  as  we  might  more  clearly 
illustrate  from  his  education,  habits,  and  general  character,  the 
workings  of  his  mind,  and  the  results  of  the  circumstances  in 
which  he  has  been  placed. 


IV  I»  R  K  F  ACE. 

The  work,  therefore,  in  its  arrangement,  is  divided  into  two 
part?  :  The  first  presents  an  account  of  some  of  the  incidents  in 
his  life,  with  selections  from  his  Occasional  Writings  :  the  sec 
ond  contains  some  of  his  Speeches  in  the  Congress  of  the  United 
Slates.  These  Writings  and  Speeches  are  rich  in  classical  allu 
sions,  apt  and  beautiful ;  the  principles  and  details  are  liberal 
and  exact ;  and  the  range  of  thought,  such  as  flows  only  from 
a  clear  fountain.  The  volume  has  been  prepared  during  pro 
fessional  avocations,  and  of  course  amid  many  interruptions. 
Whatever  errors  and  defects  may  be  noted,  must  be  overlooked. 
If  it  impart  knowledge  and  interest  to  one  inquisitive  mind,  the 
Author  will  be  content.  To  the  scholar  and  statesman,  it  offers 
fine  specimens  of  eloquence  and  truth,  with  valuable  commen 
taries  on  our  American  Institutions. 

PROVIDENCE,  February,  1835. 

- 


. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.. 


M  *kjtm9?w   oil- 

=  ,iJ#  vt«y/eh  ix-ju  tJiii  i>?miiliKx> 
INTRODUCTION.      .  ^^  ^  nb  rfchali  '.M    *        --?      Pa«°  9' 


PART  I.—  MEMOIR. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Mr.  Burges's  family  and  birth.  —  His  early  habits  and  education.  —  -His  friends 
and  companions.  —  Ships  as  a  cooper  on  board  a  whaling  vessel.  —  The  voy 
age  is  abandoned.  —  Contemplates  the  study  of  Medicine.  .  .  .  Page  13. 

' 

CHAPTER  II. 

Commences  the  study  of  Medicine.  —  Attends  school  in  Wrentham.  —  Is  attacked 
by  sickness,  and  goes  home.  —  Relinquishes  the  study  of  Medicine.  —  Returns 
to  school.  —  His  father  dies.  —  Notice  of  him.  —  Opens  a  school  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  Rochester.  —  Again  goes  to  school  at  Wrentham.  —  Attempts 
speaking  on  the  stage.  —  Obstacles  to  his  success.  —  Means  employed  to  over 
come  them.  —  Enters  Rhode-Island  College  as  a  Sophomore,  in  1793.  —  Inci 
dents  of  College  life.  —  Pecuniary  difficulties,  and  unexpected  relief.  —  Grad 
uates  in  1796.—  Oration  at  Commencement,  with  the  Valedictory  Ad 
dresses  ..............  «  tj  ««i<i*>ir-  .  Page  20, 

CHAPTER  III. 

Opens  a  school  in  Providence.  —  Reads  law  with  Judge  Barnes.-—  The  lottery 
ticket,  and  its  result.  —  Admitted  to  practice  in  Rhode-Island,  in  1799.  —  His 
marriage.  —  His  standing  at  the  Bar.  —  Sketches  of  the  Rhode-Island  Bar.-  — 
David  Howell.  —  James  Burrill,  Jun.  —  Asher  Robbins.  —  William  Hunter.  — 
Samuel  W.  Bridgham.  -  Philip  Crapo.  --  Benjamin  Hazard.  --  Nathaniel 
Searle  .............  .......  Page  35. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Becomes  interested  in  politics.  —  Delivers  an  Oration  on  the  4th  of  July,  1810. 
Is  elected  a  Member  of  the  Legislature  of  Rhode-Island.—  Succeeds  Mr. 
Burrill  as  Chief  Justice  of  the  State.  —  His  character  as  a  Judge.  —  Is  ap 
pointed  a  Professor  in  Brown  University.  —  Party  Spirit.  —  Is  elected  a  Mem 
ber  of  Congress.  —  Account  of  his  first  Speech  .......  Page  49. 


VI  CON  T  E  N  T  S. 

CHAPTER  V. 

Death  of  Mr.  Burges's  daughter. — He  is  re-elected  to  Congress. — Death  of  his 
other  daughters. — He  speaks  on  the  Revolutionary  Claims. — Mr.  Mallary's 
Resolution. — He  replies  to  Mr.  McDuffie. — Address  before  the  American 
Institute  of  New-York. — Death  of  his  son Pflge  57. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  claim  of  M.  D'Auterive. — The  debate  upon  it. — Mr.  Burges's  Speech. — 
Extracts.  ..  . Page  69. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

John  Randolph. — He  interrupts  Mr.  Burges  while  speaking. — Reply  of  the 
latter. — Debate  continued  the  next  day  by  Mr.  Burges. — He  comments  on  a 
Speech  made  by  Mr.  Randolph  on  the  same  Resolution.  .  .  .  Page  92. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Mr.  McDuffie. — Mr.  Burges  replies  to  a  Speech  made  by  him  on  the 
Tariff. Page  105. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Mr.  Burges  is  re-elected  to  Congress. — Chief  Justice  Eddy. — Aspect  of  Parties. 
— Speech  on  the  Amendment  to  the  Appropriation  Bill. — Dinner  to  Mr. 
Burges  from  his  Constituents. — He  Addresses  them. — His  Oration  at  Provi 
dence. — Extracts. — His  Oration  before  one  of  the  Literary  Societies  at  Prov 
idence.— Extracts Page  122. 

••<v' 
CHAPTER  X. 

Resolution  for  the  Removal  of  Wasliington's  Remains. — Mr.  Burges  advocates 
it. — Account  of  his  Speech. — Mr.  Mallary's  Resolution. — Speech. — Memo 
rial  in  relation  to  the  American  Colonization  Society. — He  is  attacked  by 
Mr.  Blair. — Replies  to  him Page  133. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Trial  of  Governor  Houston  before  the  House  of  Representatives,  for  an  assault 
on  Mr.  Stanberry. — Speech  of  Mr.  Burges.  .  .  • '-.-"V'ws*VT:.  Page  142. 

CHAPTER  XJI. 

Mr.  Burges  submits  Resolutions  ou  the  Tariff. — Speaks  on  Mr.  Verplanck's 
Bill  on  the  Tariff. — Extracts  from  his  Speech Page  158. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Speech  of  Mr.  Burges  on  the  Tariff. — Nullification  in  South  Carolina. — The 
Revenue  Bill. — The  President's  Proclamation. — Mr.  Clay,  and  his  Compro 
mise  Bill. — Mr.  Burges's  Address  to  his  constituents. — He  is  re-elected  to 
Congress. — His  opinions  concerning  Slavery Page  174, 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

CONCLUSION Page  185. 

PART  II.— SPEECHES. 

Speech  on  the  Judiciary Page  195. 

Speech  on  the  Revolutionary  Army  Bill Page  218. 

Speech  on  the  Appropriation  Bill Page  249. 

Speech  on  the  Appropriation  Bill. Page  259. 

Speech  on  the  Removal  of  the  Remains  of  Washington.      .     .     .  Page  312. 

Speech  on  the  Removal  of  the  Public  Deposites Page  318. 


INTRODUCTION. 


THIS  volume  contains  a  familiar  sketch  of  the  life  of  TRISTAM 
BURGES  :  a  man  who  has  risen  from  obscurity,  to  honorable  dis 
tinction  ;  who  has  filled  important  stations ;  and  who  is  now 
numbered  among  our  patriots  and  statesmen.  His  life  abounds 
in  those  incidents  which  mark  the  progress  of  a  fine  intellect 
and  an  ambitious  spirit ;  and  which  powerfully  illustrate  the 
simple  and  noble  character  of  republican  institutions.  It  tells  in 
one  respect,  the  same  tale  which  has  been  told  of  other  states 
men — how  they  have  risen  by  the  force  of  their  own  exertions, 
to  high  stations  of  honor  and  of  fame. 

Various  opinions  have  been  expressed,  of  the  value  of  biogra 
phies  of  living  men.  They  are  generally  considered  of  great 
value  ;  because  they  present  living  illustrations  of  manners, 
character,  principles  and  mind.  When  we  are  conversant  with 
the  education  of  a  citizen,  and  with  the  means  pursued  by  him 
to  attain  distinction,  we  are  apt  to  feel,  and  to  express,  greater 
confidence  in  his  integrity  and  conduct.  Besides,  and  what  is 
of  more  importance,  the  biography  of  the  living  may  be  studied 
by  the  young,  and  thus  excite  ambition,  and  inspire  a  love  of 
true  glory.  The  citizen  is  moving  before  us  in  his  exalted 
sphere,  urging  the  adoption  of  measures  favorable  to  the  pro 
gress  and  happiness  of  his  countiy,  and  pleading  for  the  rights 
and  freedom  of  mankind.  History  may  tell  of  battles  fought 
and  won  on  the  land  and  on  the  ocean — of  philosophers,  poets, 
statesmen,  and  warriors,  and  all  the  mighty  energies  called  into 
being  by  them  ;  yet,  that  history  may  not  arouse  the  ambition, 
and  move  the  desire  to  excel,  like  the  story  of  a  living  man  ; 

B 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

who  is  exhibiting  to  our  own  senses  the  trophies  of  genius, 
power  of  eloquence,  the  utility  of  philosophy,  the  beauties  of 
etry,  the  truths  of  government,  and  the  triumphs  of  religion. — 
The  dying  Roman  said,  "Virtue  is  but  a  name."  It  is  in 
deed,  no  more,  "  if  human  breath  can  make  or  mar  it."  And 
thus  it  is  with  the  biography  of  a  living  man.  It  is  of  no  high 
er  use  than  fiction,  and  worthy  only  the  name  of  fiction,  if  it 
fails  to  relate  with  accuracy  and  fidelity  the  achievements  of 
mind,  and  of  virtue,  and  then  of  their  rewards.  In  this  con 
nection  it  may  be  read,  and  impart  the  best  practical  instruction  ; 
because,  it  is  like  "a  strong,  still,  central  fire,"  warming  into 
beauty  the  products  of  genius  and  truth. 

The  peculiar  position  of  our  country  is  a  reason  why  the  lives 
and  opinions  of  eminent  men,  should  be  collected  in  a  form,  cal 
culated  to  disseminate  their  influence.  We  are  often  charged 
with  national  vanity  and  presumption,  because  we  boast  of  re 
publican  institutions,  and  the  freedom  extended  by  them  to 
every  quarter  of  the  Union.  We  do  boast  of  that  freedom.  We 
wish  that  its  animating  spirit  may  be  felt,  as  it  has  been  else 
where,  so  that  every  throne  shall  totter  upon  its  base,  every 
dynasty  be  destroyed,  and  the  name  of  Liberty,  inscribed  on  every 
national  banner.  The  utility  of  our  institutions,  and  the  free 
dom  which  is  our  peculiar  glory,  cannot  be  more  powerfully  il 
lustrated,  than  by  a  history  of  the  lives,  and  a  general  expression 
of  the  opinions  of  men,  who  breathe  the  spirit  of  that  liberty 
and  labor  to  diffuse  it  every  where.  The  world,  if  it  chooses, 
can  thus  learn  our  history,  and  from  it  draw  lessons  of  instruc 
tion.  For,  let  it  be  remembered,  the  lives  of  such  men,  are  a 
part  of  that  history.  They  devise  the  measures,  inculcate  the 
opinions,  advocate,  explain,  and  give  them  the  sanction  of  legis 
lation.  The  course  of  public  affairs,  of  popular  feeling,  is  di 
rected  by  them  ;  and  the  nation  participates  in  their  glory. 

This  is  its  influence  abroad.  It  has  a  stronger,  and  more 
lasting  influence  at  home.  Whatever  affords  American  citizens 
correct  knowledge  of  their  country,  its  constitution,  its  prosperity, 
its  great  and  diversified  relations,  its  exhaustless  resources,  what 
ever  writings  or  opinions  have  such  a  tendency,  ought  to  be  dis- 


INTRODUCTION.  XI 

semitiated.  Not  one  American  can  possess  too  much  knowledge 
upon  such  interesting  topics.  They  are  the  study  of  our  wisest 
statesmen. 

There  is  another  view  of  this  subject.  It  has  been  intimated 
that  this  volume  contains  the  story  of  one,  who  has  risen  by  the 
force  of  his  own  exertions,  to  a  place  of  honorable  distinction. — 
Here,  then,  is  an  example  of  the  growth  and  progress  of  mind. 
The  God  of  Nature  had  planted  the  germ,  but  it  was  a  long 
time  before  it  expanded  and  began  to  bear  fruit.  Whenever 
we  meet  the  man  who  has  moulded  his  fortunes  amid  the  con 
tentions  of  poverty  and  disappointment,  let  us  mark  that  man, 
and  draw  useful  lessons  from  his  example.  Besides,  there  is 
pleasure  in  contemplating  character  formed  under  such  circum 
stances.  We  feel  that  it  is  not  wealth  alone,  nor  any  outward 
condition,  that  makes  the  man.  On  the  contrary,  their  general 
tendency  is,  to  weaken  the  energies,  and  keep  down  that  noble 
ambition,  which  has  elevated  the  character  of  society,  and  given 
another  proof  of  the  controlling  power  of  genius.  It  is  well 
therefore,  to  learn  the  circumstances  under  which  extraordinary 
faculties  have  been  unfolded,  the  opinions  cherished,  the  influ 
ence  exerted ;  in  fine,  all  which  has  formed  the  character  of  a 
distinguished  citizen. 

It  is  difficult  however,  to  note  all  the  peculiarities  of  the  sim 
plest  character  :  much  more  difficult  is  it,  to  trace  each  step  in 
the  progress  of  an  enlarged  mind.  Hence,  if  we  succeed  in 
recording  the  incidents  of  Mr.  Burges's  life,  presenting  the  re 
sults  of  his  labors  in  politics  and  literature,  a  rational  curiosity 
may  be  gratified.  Tims  to  hold  converse  with  the  living,  is  a 
delightful  and  useful  employment.  It  seems  to  form  a  connect 
ing  link  between  knowledge  and  the  desire  to  attain  it,  inspired 
by  an  eminent  example. 

To  write  the  life  of  a  man  still  mingling  in  the  active  scenes 
of  political  contention,  is  an  extremely  delicate  task ;  while 
passion  and  prejudice  have  lost  none  of  their  influence  over  his 
contemporaries ;  and  while  his  foibles  still  expose  him  to  the 
rebuke  and  censure  of  the  world.  He  cannot,  like  him  who 
has  passed  from  the  stirring  scenes  of  earth,  sleep  in  undis- 


Xll  INTRODUCTION. 

lurbed  repose.  For  the  dead,  the  words  of  remembrance  arc 
a  requiem,  and  on  the  tomb  may  be  written  an  eulogy  ;  and 
thither  may  we  go  to  muse  upon  greatness.  But  not  so 
with  the  living  man.  Opposition,  indeed,  may  throw  the  sub 
ject  into  more  bold  and  beautiful  relief.  But  still  he  is  view 
ed  as  through  a  glass,  which  magnifies,  rather  than  softens  the 
shades  of  his  actions.  In  addition  to  this,  the  opinions  he  en 
tertains,  may  be  at  variance  with  those  of  individuals,  moving  in 
the  same  sphere  ;  and  by  them  he  will  be  judged  less  favorably, 
than  by  others,  who  accord  with  him  in  sentiment : — allusion 
also,  to  events  and  circumstances,  to  persons  connected  with 
him  in  various  transactions,  may,  perhaps,  be  condemned.  On 
the  other  hand,  panegyric  should  have  no  place  on  the  page 
which  records  the  memorials  of  worth  and  intellect.  The  legi 
timate  aim  of  biography  is  not  answered,  when  good  qualities 
are  emblazoned,  errors  concealed,  and  the  claims  of  its  subject 
urged  upon  popular  applause,  when  they  are  undeserving  of 
such  applause.  If  simplicity  and  fidelity  are  observed,  then, 
every  reader  may  judge  of  the  virtues  or  defects,  the  beautiful 
colors,  or  the  gloomy  shades,  which  the  picture  may  present. 

The  strict  rules  of  biographical  writing  have  not  been  regard 
ed  in  this  volume.  If  they  had  been,  we  should  have  omitted 
much  which  may  contribute  to  its  interest.  The  incidental 
thoughts  scattered  through  its  pages,  the  opinions,  friendly  or 
otherwise,  of  men  and  measures,  the  spirit  of  partizanship,  all 
may  command  praise  or  censure.  The  book  pretends  merely, 
as  before  stated,  to  give  a  familiar  sketch  of  Mr.  Burges's  life ; 
so  far  as  that  is  concerned,  it  must  be  interesting — because  all 
that  relates  to  the  history,  developement,  and  progress  of  mind, 
is  interesting,  and  deserves  to  be  made  a  subject  of  careful  study. 


PART    I, 


CHAP  T  E  R    I. 


Mr.  Burges's  family  and  birth. — His  early  habits  and  education. — His  friends 
and  companions. — Ships  as  a  cooper  on  board  a  whaling  vessel. — The  voy 
age  is  abandoned. — Contemplates  tho  study  of  Medicine. 

TRISTAM  BURGES  was  born  in  the  First  Parish  of  Rochester, 
in  the  county  of  Plymouth,  (originally  the  colony,  now  called 
the  old  colony  of  Plymouth,)  in  the  Commonwealth  of  Massa 
chusetts,  on  the  26t,h  clay  of  February,  A.  D.  1770.  His  fa 
ther's  name  was  John  Burgos  ;  his  mother's,  Abigail. 

In  the  autumn  of  1775,  Mr.  Bnrges,  the  father  of  Tristam, 
entered  the  army  as  a  lieutenant,  intending  to  continue  in  the 
service  until  the  end  of  the  war.  But  in  the  winter  of  1775, 
he  was  seized  with  a  pleurisy,  which  terminated  by  an  abscess 
in  the  side,  of  which  he  never  entirely  recovered.  In  the  revo 
lutionary  war,  he  rendered  considerable  assistance  to  his  coun 
try,  by  raising  men  and  collecting  clothing.  By  these  means, 
his  house  became  a  kind  of  rendezvous  ;  which  brought  his  son 
Tristam  into  an  intimacy  with  some  of  the  brave  men  of  that 
day.  Mr.  Burges  died  in  November,  1792  ;  leaving  eight  chil 
dren — three  sons  and  five  daughters. 

Tristam  was  the  youngest  of  these  sons.  He  began  to  live, 
when  American  Independence  was  the  theme  of  general  inter 
est.  The  story  of  national  oppression  was  repeated  in  his  young 
ear,  and  the  songs  of  his  cradle  were  the  songs  of  liberty.  The 
first  event  which  he  remembers,  was  the  alarm  of  the  battle  of 


11  M  1-  MOIR    OF 

Lexington.     The  next,  was  the  return  of  his  parent  from  the 
army,  sick,  and  but  just  alive. 

In  the  intervals  of  his  agricultural  pursuits,  his  father  wrought 
in  his  mechanical  occupation,  as  a  cooper.  He  owned  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land,  which  his  three  sons  assist 
ed  in  cultivating  in  the  summer,  and  in  the  winter  they  were 
employed  in  the  shop.  The  land  being  very  sterile,  great  in 
dustry  was  required  to  gain  for  the  family  a  comfortable  liveli 
hood.  The  father  could  accomplish  but  little  work  ;  the  whole 
family,  however,  and  especially  his  mother,  were  constantly 
employed  in  some  kind  of  labor.  By  diligence  and  frugality, 
sufficient  money  was  accumulated  to  purchase  another  farm  of 
seventy-five  acres. 

In  those  primitive  times,  education,  both  in  its  principles 
and  practice,  was  extremely  limited.  Whoever  acquired,  what 
might  be  denominated  in  modern  days,  a  common  education, 
was  a  son  of  fortune.  Schools  were  few,  and  not  of  the  best 
kind,  in  the  vicinity  of  Rochester  ;  and  Tristam  never  attended 
one,  until  he  was  about  fifteen  years  old.  In  the  long  winter 
evenings,  his  eldest  sister  taught  him  to  read.  His  father  in 
structed  him  a  little  in  writing,  and  imparted  to  him  some 
knowledge  of  arithmetic.  A  sea  captain,  named  Mathews, 
who  married  and  settled  in  the  neighborhood,  gave  him  an  in 
sight  into  navigation  ;  which  was  intended  to  subserve  a  useful 
purpose.  He  was  passionately  fond  of  these  studies,  and  col 
lected  all  the  books  he  could  find  in  relation  to  them.  At  the 
age  of  fifteen  he  went  to  the  school  of  Master  Bowlin,  as  he 
was  familiarly  called,  about  six  weeks,  to  learn  to  write.  This, 
in  addition  to  his  father's  instruction,  and  what  he  himself  after 
wards  learned,  comprised  all  his  knowledge  in  that  valuable 
art.  He  attended  the  school  of  Hugh  Montgomery,  nearly  six 
weeks  more,  when  he  was  seventeen  years  old,  and  there 
studied  the  mathematics ;  and  this  was  ah1  the  instruction  he 
received,  until  he  arrived  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years.  He 
had  read  however,  every  book  that  he  could  buy,  beg,  or  bor 
row.  In  the  evening,  after  the  toils  of  the  day,  lie  used  to  take 
his  book,  and  continue  to  read,  often  until  the  night  was  far 
spent. 


TRISTAMBURGES.  15 

During  the  revolutionary  war,  the  sports  were  of  a  military 
character ;  and  he  was  accustomed  to  mingle  in  all  amusements 
peculiar  to  childhood  and  youth.  Although  but  twelve  years 
old  when  peace  was  declared,  yet  few  soldiers  who  returned 
from  the  glorious  campaigns  of  that  service,  could  go  through 
the  manual  exercise  with  more  dexterity  than  young  B urges, 
with  the  little  firelock  which  his  father  had  whittled  out  for  him. 
Many  of  the  soldiers  visited  the  family,  and  nothing  so  delighted 
him  as  their  animating  stories  "  how  fields  were  won,"  except 
reading  the  Pilgrim's  Progress,  and  the  life  of  Joseph.  These 
still  retain  their  power  over  him  ;  while  the  tale  of  the  soldier, 
unless  it  be  a  story  of  his  own  bravery  and  suffering,  has  lost  its 
charm :  and  even  Homer's  battle  fields,  afford  him  not  such 
pleasure  as  do  his  peaceful  and  lovely  episodes. 

The  athletic  games  of  New-England,  especially  at  this  peri 
od,  were,  wrestling,  running  races,  ball,  and  quoits.  The  first 
of  these  was  his  favorite  amusement ;  and  if  he  ever  had  a 
passion  for  any  exercise,  it  was  the  wrestling  at  arms-length. 
These  youthful  sports,  and  the  interest  and  love  of  them  dis 
played  by  B  urges,  illustrate  a  peculiar  trait  of  character.  They 
served  to  call  into  active  operation,  and  to  strengthen  that  spirit 
of  independence,  which  was  so  clearly  manifested  then,  and 
which  now  breathes  in  every  act,  and  on  every  occasion. 

After  he  was  capable  of  writing  "joining-hand,"  many  of  his 
leisure  hours  were  employed  in  composition.  He  was  also  pas 
sionately  fond  of  perusing  the  works  of  Pope,  Dryden,  and  Ad- 
dison.  Letter  writing  was  very  fashionable  among  his  associ 
ates  ;  and  the  letters  written  by  him  from  the  age  of  sixteen  to 
that  of  twenty-one,  would  have  filled  a  volume.  Some  were  in 
prose,  and  others  in  verse,  addressed  chiefly  to  the  young  per 
sons  of  his  acquaintance  ;  none  of  them,  however,  have  been 
preserved.  To  this  early  application  to  attain  a  most  valuable 
and  elegant  accomplishment,  may  be  traced  in  some  measure, 
his  present  style  of  writing. 

Among  his  male  associates,  Elihu  Doty  was  his  earliest 
friend  and  correspondent.  Doty  was  a  poet,  mathematician, 
and  historian ;  with  an  iron  memory,  a  fine  imagination, 


U)  MEMOIR    OF 

and  a  po\vor  of  reasoning,  surprising  \vhen  considered  in  con 
nection  wiih  his  other  endowments.  ITis  wit  also  was  brilliant 
and  always  at  command,  and  none  could  excel  him  in  colloquial 
powers.  They  were  nearly  of  the  same  age.  Doty's  mother 
was  a  widow,  a  neighbor,  very  poor,  but  of  an  excellent  mind, 
and  beloved  by  all  for  her  lively  conversation,  and  truly  benev 
olent  heart.  The  eldest  brother  of  Doty  returned  in  1798  from 
a  pilgrimage  in  Europe,  whither  he  went  many  years  before,  in 
a  destitute  condition ;  and  when  he  arrived  at  home,  he  was  not 
much  better  provided  ;  but  he  had  enriched  his  mind  with  sci 
ence  and  elegant  literature.  Besides  being  a  walking  library, 
he  brought  with  him  many  choice  books.  They  were  mines 
of  wealth  for  Tristam  and  Elihu  ;  and  although  but  seventeen 
years  old,  they  frequently  consumed  whole  days,  when  the  for 
mer  was  not  pressed  by  the  labors  of  the  field  or  the  cooper's 
shop ;  whole  summer  days,  in  a  lovely  piece  of  woods  on  his 
father's  farm.  There  they  read  together  the  most  interesting 
books  brought  home  by  Elihu's  brother. 

Elihu  himself,  unfortunately,  had  no  resources  but  the  sea, 
and  on  that  element  he  was  compelled  to  seek  a  livelihood. — 
His  first  voyage,  was  from  New-Bedford ;  the  second  from  New- 
York.  He  succeeded  well,  and  finally  became  master  of  a  good 
ship.  It  is  difficult  to  describe  the  feelings  of  Doty,  at  this 
change  of  fortune.  As  we  have  seen,  he  was  a  lover  of  books, 
a  poet,  and  mathematician.  His  profession  enabled  him  to 
know  much  of  other  parts  of  the  world  ;  to  visit  lands  of  which 
he  had  read  in  glowing  terms  of  description,  and  to  become  fa 
miliar  with  the  laws  and  sentiments  of  people  separated  by  the 
boundless  ocean.  And  now  too,  that  ocean — that  wonderful 
and  sublime  element,  was  to  be  his  home.  But  with  all  these 
advantages,  he  left  behind  much  that  was  dear  to  him  ;  and  he 
regretted  nothing  more  than  the  loss  of  his  young  friend. 

Jonathan  More  was  another  of  his  early  companions.  More 
was  a  lad  of  sterling  intellect;  a  son  of  the  clergyman  of  the 
Parish  of  Rochester.  His  opportunities  for  acquiring  an  edu 
cation  were  superior  to  those  of  his  friend — as  his  father's  means 
were  more  extended  than  those  of  the  elder  Mr.  Burgcs.  He 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  17 

was  fitted  for  college,  and  intended  to  enter  one  of  the  learned 
professions;  but  his  health  was  so  delicate  that  he  was  compelled 
to  take  a  sea  voyage.  He  was  fond  of  the  sea,  and  concluded 
to  abandon  other  pursuits  for  this.  Subsequently  he  became 
master  of  a  ship,  sailed  a  number  of  voyages  from  New- York, 
accumulated  a  handsome  fortune,  but  was  finally  lost  at  sea. 

Familiar  and  uninterrupted  intercourse  with  such  young  men, 
contributed  much  to  the  formation  of  Burges's  habits  and  cha 
racter.  Accustomed  to  join  with  them  in  their  boyish  amuse 
ments,  to  read,  converse,  and  after  the  toils  of  the  day,  to  spend 
hours  in  their  society,  his  natural  desire  for  knowledge  and 
improvement,  was  increased  and  strengthened.  When  the 
mind  begins  to  unfold  its  energies,  it  is  difficult  to  calculate  the 
influence  of  such  companionship.  Next  to  the  advice,  example, 
and  tender  solicitude  of  a  mother,  perhaps  no  outward  circum 
stances  help  to  mould  and  perfect  character,  like  the  intimacies  of 
childhood  and  youth.  At  that  period,  the  mind  is  so  flexible,  and 
the  disposition  so  easily  inclined  to  right  or  wrong,  that  few 
resist  the  temptations  that  may  assail,  or  the  virtues  that  com 
mand  admiration.  As  such  intimacies  originate  congenial 
habits  and  sentiments,  new  charms  are  developed,  and  a  strong 
impulse  given  to  ambition  and  a  thirst  after  excellence.  Thus 
it  was  with  young  Burges.  Many  of  his  qualities  of  mind  and 
heart,  may  be  traced  to  the  reciprocal  influence  of  his  compan 
ions  in  early  life.  What  firm  resolves,  may  have  sprung  up  in 
their  bosoms,  when  they  used  to  retire  to  the  woods,  and  read 
together  the  books  which  they  had  collected.  Habits,  formed 
under  such  circumstances,  are  too  closely  blended  with  the  life 
to  be  destroyed  without  a  mighty  effort.  As  time  rolls  on, 
they  gather  strength,  and  may  obtain  victories  glorious  and 
imperishable.  « 

It  had  always  been  the  determination  of  Burges,  to  leave  his 
native  fields,  for  other  avocations.  He  once  thought  of  going 
to  sea,  not  with  any  intention  of  following  it  as  a  calling  ;  but, 
because  he  believed  if  he  was  successful,  his  father  would,  after 
a  few  voyages,  be  enabled  thereby  to  aid  him  in  his  great 
object — the  attainment  of  so  much  knowledge  as  would  fit 


18  \r  i:  MO  i  R  OF 

him  to  enter  one  of  the  liberal  professions.     His  brother  Ben 
jamin  shipped  for  a  voyage,  soon  after  he  arrived  at  his  twenty- 
first  year.     The  whaling  business  between  the  coast  of  New- 
England  and  the  West  Indies,  was  then  very  profitable.     After 
long  and  anxious  solicitation,  Tristam's  parents  consented  that 
he  might  go  on  a  whaling  expedition.     Captain  Carver  was 
fitting  from  Fairhaven,  not  more  than  eight  miles  from  Roch 
ester.     He  was  an  old  friend  of  his  father,   and  agreed  to 
ship  him  as  one  of  his  coopers.     The  die  was  cast — the  am 
bitious  youth  felt  already  as  if  under  sail ;  and  that  he  would 
return  home,  as  he  has  often  remarked,  rich  as  spermaceti  could 
make  him.     The  number  of  dollars  which  his  share  in  the 
voyage  would  bring,  had  been  counted  up.     The  labor  which 
his  father  must  have  hired  during  his  absence,  was  to  be  returned 
from  his  earnings  ;  and  the  balance  applied  to  learn  Greek  and 
Latin,  to  fit  himself  as  a  teacher,  and  thereby  enough  be  acquired 
to  carry  him  through  the  preparatory  course  of  medical  studies. 
He  was  fitted  out  with  all  things  needful  for  a  summer  cruise 
on  both  sides  of  the  Gulf  Stream.     As  he  was  to  be  one  of 
the  officers,  a  cooper,  on  board  the  ship,  it  was  not  necessary  for 
him  to  leave  his  quiet  fields,  to  hold  controversy  with  "the 
ruffian  billows,"  or  to  join  his  jolly  ship-mates,  until  a  few  hours 
before  the  vessel  was  to  sail.     The  day  arrived  when  he  was  to 
bid  his  family  and  friends  farewell,  and  for  a  season  to  make  his 
home  on  the  ocean.     It  was  a  day  of  mingled  joy  and  sorrow 
to  him,  and  of  lamentation  to  his  parents.     As  was  mentioned 
in  a  preceding  part  of  our  narrative,  they  were  strongly  opposed 
to  his  intended  enterprize;    and  consented  only  through  his 
pressing  entreaties.     He  had  never  been  from  his  father's  dwel 
ling  before,  except  to  visit  friends  in  the  immediate  neighbor 
hood.     And  now,  he  was  to  leave  the  family  circle,  and  be 
exposed  to  the  dangers,  temptations,  and  rude  assaults  of  the 
world.     While  his  father  was  pouring  into  his  ear  paternal 
counsel,  and  his  mother  was  beseeching  him,  "to  take  good 
care  of  himself,"  and  at  the  same  time  describing  the  storms 
of  the  sea,  and  perhaps  secretly  indulging  the  thought,  that  one 
of  those  storms  might  destroy  the  frail  vessel  in  which  her  son 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    BULGES.  19 

was  to  embark,  intelligence  was  received,  that  the  ship  had 
sailed  on  her  destined  voyage.  The  Captain,  when  he  returned, 
apologized  to  the  elder  Mr.  Burges,  for  leaving  his  son.  The 
owners  had  ordered  the  vessel  to  sail  earlier  than  the  previously 
appointed  day. 

This  event,  not  only  demolished  all  his  "  air  built  fabrics," 
but  gave  an  impression  to  his  mind,  that  it  was  a  providential 
disappointment.  He  thought  also,  that  further  pressure  upon 
the  anxious  objections  of  his  parents,  to  his  embarking  on  the 
seas,  would  be  resisting  the  will  of  that  Being,  who,  while  he 
provided  for  the  sparrows,  would  not  leave  him  without  suitable 
provision. 

Under  such  circumstances,  Burges's  thoughts  were  directed  to 
the  study  of  Medicine.  Since  the  departure  of  his  friend 
More,  he  had  become  intimately  acquainted  with  the  father 
of  that  young  man,  who  loaned  him  books  from  his  classical 
library.  Mr.  More  was  a  fine  scholar,  a  man  of  great  mental 
endowments,  an  able  preacher,  a  devoted,  and  unpretending 
Christian.  His  elevated  integrity  was  not  yielding  enough, 
nor  his  manners  sufficiently  supple,  to  gratify  one  of  his  church 
— a  talkative,  malevolent  man,  who  forced  Mr.  More  into  an 
ecclesiastical  and  a  legal  controversy.  The  feelings  of  Burges 
were  so  deeply  interested  for  the  father  of  his  friend,  that  he 
wrote  a  satire  on  his  adversary.  This,  increased  Mr.  More's 
regard  for  him,  and  he  proffered  any  aid,  which  might  facilitate 
his  attempts  to  acquire  knowledge.  Mr.  Burges,  however, 
could  not  dispense  with  the  valuable  labor  of  his  son,  either  in 
the  shop  or  on  the  farm,  and  he  was  obliged  to  deny  him  the 
pleasures  of  learning,  until  a  more  auspicious  period. 

Character,  as  before  remarked,  is  moulded  by  youthful  inti 
macies,  made  to  develope  fine  affections,  to  blend  with  delicate 
feelings,  and  to  become  a  symbol  of  the  virtue  and  excellence 
with  which  it  associates.  Such  intimacies,  are  the  pure  and 
original  fountains,  from  whence  flow  beautiful  waters,  refreshing 
and  ripening  the  fruits  for  a  delicious  harvest. 


CHAPTER    II. 


Commences  the  study  of  Medicine. — Attends  school  in  Wrentham  — Is  attacked 
by  sickness,  and  goes  home. — Relinquishes  the  study  of  Medicine. — Returns 
to  school. — His  father  dies. — Notice  of  him. — Opens  a  school  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  Rochester. — Again  goes  to  school  at  Wrentham. — Attempts 
speaking  on  the  stage. — Obstacles  to  his  success. — Means  employed  to  over 
come  them. — Enters  Rhode-Island  College  as  a  Sophomore  in  1793. — Inci 
dents  of  College  life. — Pecuniary  difficulties  and  unexpected  relief. — Gradu 
ates  in  1796. — Oration  at  Commencement,  with  the  Valedictory  Addresses. 

AFTER  his  disappointment  respecting  the  voyage,  Burgee 
determined  to  commence  the  study  of  Medicine.  For  I  his  pur 
pose,  he  borrowed  from  Doctor  James  Foster,  the  family  phy 
sician,  Chesselden's  Anatomy,  Boerhaave's  and  Cullen's  Theory, 
and  other  medical  works  of  celebrity.  Then  he  read  when 
others  slept,  and  in  this  progress  was  prepared,  as  he  thought, 
to  ride  with  a  country  doctor.  At  this  period,  he  was  twenty- 
one  years  of  age.  He  had  served  out  his  apprenticeship,  and 
was  free  ;  and  had,  as  far  as  his  limited  means  would  permit,  the 
promised  aid  of  his  father.  Again  a  new  scene  was  opening, 
and  more  cheering  encouragement  for  professional  learning. 

Doctor  Foster  advised  that  he  should  study  Greek  and  Latin, 
before  commencing  a  regular  course  of  Medicine.  Accordingly, 
he  resolved  to  go  to  the  Academy  of  Doctor  Williams,  at 
Wrentham,  in  Massachusetts ;  where  a  son  of  one  of  the  neigh 
bors  was  then  fitting  for  college.  In  April,  1791,  having  just 
passed  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  left  home,  in  company  with 
Silas  Holbrook,  who  had  been  teaching  school  in  Rochester 
during  the  preceding  winter,  for  the  residence  of  Doctor  Wil 
liams.  At  the  Academy  but  a  short  time,  he  was  seized  with 
a  bilious  fever,  which  brought  him  to  the  brink  of  the  grave. 
After  many  weeks,  he  so  far  recovered  as  to  walk  to  the  street 


TRIBTAM    B  URGES.  21 

door.  By  this  he  took  cold,  and  was  seized  with  a  violent  pleu 
risy.  The  pain  was  so  excruciating,  that  death  would  have 
heen  welcomed,  as  a  relief  from  the  agony  of  suffering.  His 
restoration  to  health  was  gradual,  and  in  September  he  was 
able  to  ride  home,  a  distance  of  forty  miles,  with  his  sister,  who 
nursed  him  in  sickness.  Every  one  of  his  acquaintance  pre 
dicted  that  here  would  terminate  his  classical  career.  Their 
predictions  were  not  verified.  He  had  lost,  to  human  calcula 
tion,  six  months  ;  yet  gained  a  more  full  persuasion,  that  there 
was  a  Providence  which  shaped  his  purposes,  "rough  hew  them 
how  he  would." 

The  eager  desire  of  B urges  to  become  a  physician,  and  to 
acquire  wealth,  had  vanished ;  and  rather  than  relinquish  study, 
lie  resolved,  by  God's  blessing,  cost  as  many  years  as  it  might, 
to  obtain  a  collegiate  education.  His  sickness  obliged  him  to 
expend  more  than  the  amount  of  school  bills  for  a  whole  year. 
Doctor  Whittaker  of  Bellingham,  his  physician,  was  an  excel 
lent  man.  He  had  watched  over  the  ambitious  youth,  with 
paternal  tenderness,  during  his  stupor  and  delirium,  which  con 
tinued  fc-r  many  weeks.  Knowing  the  limited  resources  of  his 
patient,  he  would  receive  no  compensation  for  his  valuable  pro 
fessional  services. 

The  succeeding  October,  Tristam  returned  to  the  academy 
of  Doctor  Williams,  with  confirmed  health,  and  a  renewed  de 
sire  for  classical  knowledge.  He  had  been  there  but  a  month, 
when  intelligence  was  received  of  the  dangerous  illness  of  his 
father.  He  reached  home  in  season  to  receive  the  blessing  of 
that  father,  and  to  follow  him  to  the  grave. 

Mr.  Burges  was  a  man  of  original  mind,  and  could  it  have 
been  cultivated  by  study,  few  would  have  surpassed  him  in  the 
excellencies  of  utterance.  He  would  have  continued  in  the 
army,  had  his  health  been  preserved,  until  the  restoration  of 
peace  ;  and  his  name  might  have  besn  numbered  among  the 
distinguished  men  who  achieved  the  Revolution. 

Mrs.  Burges  survived  her  husband  many  years,  and  died  in 
1831.  At  the  time  of  her  husband's  decease,  his  estate  was  free 
from  debt ;  and  although  it  comprised  a  considerable  number 


22  M  i;  M o  i  u  OF 

of  acres,  it  was  not  of  great  value.  Trislam  immediately  sold 
bis  share  of  the  farm  to  his  eldest  brother.  The  proceeds,  with 
rigid  economy,  and  by  instructing  a  school  three  or  four  months 
in  the  year,  fitted  him,  so  much  as  he  was  fitted,  for  college ; 
and  enabled  him  to  complete  the  whole  term,  including  the 
Commencement  expences. 

During  the  next  winter,  he  kept  a  school  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Rochester,  and  the  young  men  who,  the  year  before,  join 
ed  in  his  sports,  were  now  among  his  pupils.  He  seemed 
to  be  admirably  fitted  for  a  schoolmaster.  This  was  a  first  at 
tempt  at  that  most  useful,  unpretending,  yet  thankless  employ 
ment.  Except  the  short  period  spent  at  the  academy  of  Doctor 
Williams,  he  had  been  at  school,  in  all  his  life,  not  more  than 
three  months.  And,  notwithstanding,  all  these  disadvantages, 
so  perfect  was  his  control  over  his  great,  two-handed  boys,  or 
men,  (for  such  they  were,)  that  at  noon  day  he  used  to 
play  ball  with  them  ;  and  yet,  they  would  have  gone  through 
fire  and  water  at  his  bidding.  At  this  game  he  was  always 
the  conqueror,  as  well  as  in  their  feats  of  wrestling. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1792,  Tristam  again  returned  to  the 
academy  at  Wrentham,  and  continued  there  until  the  last  of 
October.  The  hours  of  recreation,  during  this  season,  he  de 
voted  to  improvement  in  speaking.  His  desire  to  excel  in  that 
department  of  study  was  earnest,  and  continually  increasing. 
It  was  the  usage  of  the  school  for  each  pupil,  once  a  week,  (o 
declaim  on  the  stage  in  the  academy.  The  first  time  Burges 
attempted  to  speak,  his  success  was  indifferent  enough.  A 
young  man,  with  whom  he  had  formed  an  acquaintance,  hap 
pened  to  be  a  fellow  boarder.  He  was  a  fine  scholar,  and  ac 
complished  in  the  rules  and  practice  of  speaking  ;  and,  though 
kind  in  his  disposition,  yet  he  was  honest  and  frank  in  his  ex 
pressions  concerning  the  faults  and  imperfections  of  his  friend. 
After  Burges  had  made  his  first  attempt  at  speaking  on  the 
stage,  and  as  they  were  going  home  together,  the  conversation 
turned  upon  his  success.  He  had  never  been  accustomed  to 
read  aloud,  and  whenever  he  commenced,  he  invariably  hesita 
ted,  and  often  stammered.  This  imperfection  was  manifested 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  23 

iii  his  utterance  when  he  went  on  the  stage,  or  attempted  to  re 
cite  from  memory.  His  companion  finally  observed — "You 
must  get  somebody  else  to  do  your  speaking  for  you." 

To  many  a  youth  of  sensibility,  with  but  little  energy  of  cha 
racter,  such  advice  would  have  opened  an  incurable  wounct,  pa 
ralyzed  all  future  effort,  and  rendered  miserable  him,  who  pro 
mised  to  be  an  ornament  to  his  race.  But  not  so  with  the 
youth  to  whom  it  was  addressed.  He  possessed  too  much  en 
ergy,  ambition,  and  laudable  perseverance,  to  be  vanquished  by 
such  obstacles.  And  to  that  same  advice  may  be  traced  the 
fountain  of  that  eloquence  which  sprung  up  in  his  soul ;  for, 
from  that  moment,  he  resolved  "  to  speak  for  himself." 

The  house  at  which  he  resided  was  situated  on  the  east  side 
of  the  road,  and  was  sheltered  on  the  west  by  a  thick  wood  of 
high  pines,  filled  up  with  under-wood  of  live  oak,  growing  then 
higher  than  the  lowest  bramble  of  the  pines,  and  forming  an  al 
most  impervious  thicket.  After  many  attempts,  the  student 
found  a  path,  made  by  the  cattle  and  sheep,  leading  towards  the 
other  side  of  this  wilderness.  Pursuing  this  path,  he  discover 
ed  a  recess,  as  if  cleared  away  for  culture,  of  one  hundred  feet  in 
diameter,  with  a  few  scattering  trees  left  standing.  Here, 
thought  he,  is  my  stage  ;  encircling  me,  is  the  all-sustaining 
atmosphere  ;  and  these  trees  before  me,  are  the  mute  auditors, 
which  will  not  hiss,  if  I  do  stammer  !  This  was  his  speaking 
place,  and  hither  he  usually  retired  once  a  day.  No  human  be 
ing  was  there  to  aid  or  interrupt.  The  process  was  simple.  In 
conversation,  he  could  talk  very  fluently  ;  it  was  only  when  he 
began  "to  speak,"  that  he  began  to  stammer,  or  hesitate,  or  use 
a  bad  tone.  He  therefore,  commenced  talking  to  the  trees, 
studiously  noting  the  movements  of  all  the  organs  of  utterance. 
In  this  manner,  he  proceeded  in  the  study  of  the  art  of  speak 
ing,  and  conquered  that  habit  of  stammering  and  hesitating, 
which  had  attended  him  from  his  early  years,  and  acquired  to  a 
considerable  degree  a  natural  style  of  speaking. 

In  that  temple  of  nature,  he  acquired  so  much  ability  "to  speak 
for  himself,"  that  at  the  last  exhibition  of  the  school,  prior  to  his 
entering  college,  he  was  appointed  to  pronounce  the  valedictory 


24  M  E  M  O  I  II    O  I 

address.  Such  a  mark  of  distinction  was  so  unexpected,  I  hat  it 
not  only  animated  his  bosom  with  gratitude,  but  inspired  yet 
firmer  resolves  to  pursue  the  walks  of  future  eminence.  That 
incident  in  the  beginning  of  life  was  the  original  cause  of  others, 
which  have  contributed  to  unfold  his  character  and  intellect. — 
The  valedictory  address  received  general  commendation,  both 
for  its  sentiments  and  style.  Constant  practice  in  every  kind  of 
composition,  had  given  him  unusual  facility  in  that  rare  accom 
plishment.  He  could  "  write  something  about  every  thing." 

In  regard  to  speaking,  Burges  had  received  valuable  instruc 
tion  from  one  man  ;  and  that  was  communicated  in  a  novel 
mode.  This  man  was  a  blacksmith,  who  lived  in  the  town 
of  Middleborough,  in  Massachusetts.  Burges  taught  a  school 
in  the  neighborhood,  two  successive  winters.  The  blacksmith 
often  visited  the  family  where  he  boarded,  spent  whole  evenings 
in  telling  anecdotes  in  a  manner  indescribable.  He  was  a 
large  but  very  graceful  man  ;  and  his  gesticulation  was  perfect. 
When  standing  by  his  own  forge,  with  collar  open,  shirt  sleeves 
rolled  up,  and  filled  with  the  conception  of  the  person  and 
the  events  which  he  intended  to  communicate,  in  the  move 
ment  of  every  finger  there  was  emotion ;  each  gesture  was  a 
part  of  the  story,  and  in  unison  with  all,  there  was  a  most  ex 
pressive  and  unrivalled  dignity  of  manner. 

In  September  1793,  with  a  small  sum  of  money  in  his  pocket, 
Burges  left  Dr.  Williams's  school,  for  Providence  ;  intending  to 
enter  Rhode-Island  College,  now  Brown  University.  After  a 
patient  examination  he  was  admitted,  and  continued  the  regu 
lar  course  of  study,  with  commendable  diligence.  A  college 
life  is  filled  up  with  amusing  incidents.  The  first  night  after 
the  class  met,  in  the  first  term,  there  was  a  grand  festival  (as  it 
was  then  represented)  of  the  whole  class.  Burges  being  warn 
ed  to  appear,  although  novel  scenes  were  to  be  acted,  yet  he 
could  not  decline  without  exciting  unpleasant  remarks.  There 
was  a  tremendous  storm  raging  without,  as  within.  In  the 
midst  of  their  jollity,  as  the  table  was  covered  with  decanters, 
pitchers,  glasses,  wine  and  all  kinds  of  fragments,  the  tutor's  cane 


TRISTAMBURGES.  <& 

was  heard,  at  the  door,  and  in  a  moment  Mr.  Messer1  stood  be 
fore  them.  He  very  courteously  advised  the  students  to  repair 
to  their  several  apartments.  They  did  so.  Early  the  next 
morning  a  meeting  was  called  by  a  leading  member  of  the  class, 
to  take  into  consideration  "  the  state  of  the  class"  One  contend 
ed,  that  all  would  be  called  up,  for  having  liquor  in  the  room ; 
and  that  many  would  certainly  receive  the  punishment  of  ex 
pulsion.  What  was  to  be  done  1  The  classmate  alluded  to, 
advised  that  all  as  one  man,  should  boldly  deny  that  any  liquor 
was  in  the  room.  He  was  a  resolute  fellow,  and  born  to  com 
mand.  Every  member  agreed  to  his  proposition,  except  Bur- 
ges.  He  said  emphatically  "  No ;"  observing,  "  that  it  was  not 
probable  they  would  be  called  up  for  a  merry  meeting  the  first 
night;  but  if  they  were,  they  must  excuse  themselves  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  the  first  night :  for  their  denial  would  not 
satisfy  the  tutor,  against  his  own  eyes."  This  was  deemed  a 
capital  expedient,  and  was  adopted  in  preference  to  that  first 
proposed.  They  were  not  "  called  up,"  however,  for  the  merry 
meeting. 

By  rigid  economy,  his  funds  held  out,  until  the  last  year  of 
his  collegiate  life.  It  was  the  common  usage  at  that  period,  for 
the  graduating  class  to  pay  not  only  the  Commencement  ex 
penses,  but  many  others  incidental  to  them.  In  February,  1796, 
five  or  six  members  of  the  class  handed  about  a  subscription  pa 
per,  whereby  the  several  "parts"  were  to  be  taxed  at  a  stated 
rate,  to  defray  the  expenses  of  Commencement.  The  individu 
al  to  whom  the  valedictory  address  should  be  assigned  was  to 
pay  the  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars ;  the  salutatory,  eighty 
dollars.  The  class  knew  that  Burges  was  unwilling  to  be  con 
sidered  as  a  candidate  for  the  first  part ;  and  that  if  he  did  not 
subscribe  the  paper,  it  would  be  announcing  himself  a  candidate. 
They  also  knew  his  limited  pecuniary  resources.  He  told  them 
it  was  unjust ;  but,  nevertheless  he  would  sign,  because  he  was 
confident  he  should  not  be  obliged  to  pay.  The  next  month 
the  parts  were  distributed,  and  to  him  was  assigned  an  oration, 

1  This  gentleman  was  afterwards  President  of  the  University,  and  held  the 
office  with  honor  for  a  period  of  eighteen  years. 

D 


26  M  E  M  O  I  R    O  F 

with  the  valedictory  addresses.  The  sum  of  one  hundred  dol 
lars,  nearly  one  half  the  expenses  of  Commencement,  according 
to  the  subscription,  must  be  advanced.  It  was  a  heavy  penalty 
for  the  honor  conferred.  The  majority  of  the  class  however, 
offered  to  share  the  expense  with  him  ;  but  he  declined  accept 
ing  their  generosity,  and  paid  the  whole  himself.  After  the 
examination  in  July,  he  left  college.  At  the  close  of  the  year 
in  September,  in  addition  to  the  above  sum,  his  other  bills 
amounted  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars.  All  his  little 
patrimony  had  been  consumed.  His  eldest  brother  would 
gladly  have  loaned  him  the  money,  but  he  had  it  not.  At  first 
the  student  thought  it  might  be  borrowed  of  some  of  his  father's 
old  friends.  But  as  he  called  on  one  after  another,  and  depicted 
to  them  in  an  honest  and  simple  relation  his  necessities,  offering 
his  brother  as  security  for  payment,  each  excused  himself  by 
saying,  that  the  last  dollar  had  just  been  loaned  ;  but  neighbor 
such  a  one  had  money  to  let.  Neighbor  such  a  one  could  not  be 
found. 

In  this  anxious  state  of  mind,  weeks  passed  away,  and  yet 
no  relief  came.  After  deliberate  reflection,  he  resolved  to  return 
to  Providence,  when  the  class  met,  ten  days  before  Commence 
ment,  take  a  dismission  from  college,  open  a  school  in  that  town, 
and  sedulously  labor  until  all  these  debts  were  paid.  This  de 
termination  for  a  season  seemed  to  relieve  his  solicitude  and 
perplexity.  But  for  a  fortunate  and  providential  event,  the 
contemplated  enterprize  would  have  been  prosecuted. 

Two  or  three  days  before  leaving  his  mother's  dwelling  for 
Rhode-Island,  Burges  accidentally  met  a  man,  who,  although 
he  bore  the  reputation  of  a  miser,  yet  he  was  a  kind-hearted  old 
man.  He  had  not  seen  him  since  the  death  of  his  father,  and 
the  old  gentleman  greeted  him  with  a  truly  sympathetic  feeling. 
In  the  course  of  conversation  he  approved  his  plan  of  selling  all 
to  buy  knowledge.  The  student  observed  that  it  promised  to 
cost  more  than  he  was  worth :  and  in  reply  to  the  earnest  en- 
terrogatory  of  the  old  gentleman,  "  how  ?'  he  explained  the 
condition  of  his  purse.  The  former  said,  "  I  am  very  sorry,  for 
I  had  more  money  than  that,  a  few  days  ago ;  but  most  unfortu- 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  27 

nately  for  you  it  is  loaned.  But,  Tristam,"  continued  he,  "  I 
can  raise  it  for  you,  if  you  will  pay  me  a  little  something  for  my 
trouble."  At  what  rate,  inquired  the  applicant  1  "  Oh,  six  per 
cent ;  I  take  no  more." — His  reputation  was  that  of  twelve. 
"  In  truth  and  candor,  my  young  friend,"  said  he,  "  It  will  cost 
me  four  or  five  dollars  to  collect  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  ;  and 
if  you  will  pay  me  that,  I  will  raise  the  money  and  send  it  to 
you,  as  soon  as  you  desire,  and  take  your  note  without  your 
brother's  name."  But  to  this  last  proposition  B  urges  would  not 
accede,  as  his  brother  was  willing  to  endorse  the  note,  and  fully 
able  to  pay  it. 

This  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  events  of  Mr.  Burges's 
early  life.  It  seemed  to  hirn\,  sad  decree  of  fortune,  to  be 
obliged  to  leave  college,  and  to  decline  the  honors  of  Commence 
ment  ;  especially  as  the  oration  and  addresses  were  prepared  for 
that  occasion.  The  distress  of  mind  which  he  had  endured  for 
weeks,  was  inexpressibly  severe.  But  from  fear  and  disquietude 
he  was  relieved  in  a  moment,  by  this  kind-hearted  old  man. 

As  before  intimated,  he  returned  to  college,  and  graduated  in 
September,  1796.  The  subject  of  his  oration  was,  "  The  Cause 
of  Man."  At  that  day,  this  oration  was  justly  considered  as  a 
remarkable  production.  The  paragraph  commencing,  "  Guided 
by  reason,  man  has  travelled  through  the  abstruse  regions  of 
the  philosophic  world ;"  and  that  succeeding  it,  "  By  imagina 
tion,  man  seems  to  verge  towards  creative  power,"  are  beauti 
fully  constructed.  They  have  been  selected  as  exercises  for 
declamation,  in  many  schools  and  colleges.  Its  style  was  so 
smooth  and  flowing,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  was  delivered 
was  so  interesting,  that  it  gained  for  him  great  applause.  His 
course  at  the  University  was  marked  by  continued  application, 
and  a  desire  to  excel  in  every  department.  In  the  belles  lettres 
studies,  he  was  a  fine  scholar.  It  was  the  custom  at  that  period 
for  the  students  to  declaim  in  the  college  chapel  every  evening, 
after  the  devotional  exercises.  Whenever  he  spoke,  his  class 
mates  anticipated  pleasure,  and  they  were  not  disappointed. 
At  that  early  period  he  was  distinguished  for  his  attainments  in 
oratory.  And  when  on  the  stage  at  Commencement,  he 
appeared  to  so  much  advantage,  his  friends  were  grateful  that 


28  MEMOIR    OF 

he  had  surmounted  numerous  obstacles,  and  that  he  was  about 
to  enter  the  world  under  such  flattering  tokens  of  approbation 
and  promise. 

This  distinction  in  oratory,  was  acquired  in  a  great  measure, 
through  the  instruction  and  example  of  Doctor  Maxcy,  then 
President  of  Rhode-Island  College.  This  gentleman  was  a 
model  in  pulpit  oratory,  and  deeply  versed  in  those  elegant 
studies  associated  with  eloquence.  His  eloquence,  however, 
was  not  of  that  kind  which  receives  most  applause  from  the 
unthinking  multitude.  It  was  altogether  mental:  "You  seemed 
to  hear  the  soul  of  the  man;  and  each  one  of  the  largest 
assembly,  in  the  most  extended  place  of  worship,  received  the 
slightest  impulse  of  his  silver  voice,  as  if  he  stood  at  his  very  ear. 
So  intensely  would  he  enchain  attention,  that  in  the  most 
thronged  audience,  you  heard  nothing  but  him,  and  the 
pulsations  of  your  own  heart." l 

The  Oration  delivered  at  Commencement,  together  with  the 
address  to  his  classmates  we  will  here  introduce. 

The  Oration  commences  thus  :  "  Human  nature  has  been  a 
theme  of  much  discussion.  Among  the  ancients,  some  railed  at 
man,  and  some  ridiculed  his  imperfections.  Certain  modern 
philosophers  make  depravity2  a  part  of  their  creed ;  and  assign 
the  most  elevated  seat  in  Paradise  to  those,  who  feel  the  most 
perfect  contempt  for  human  nature.  The  catechisms  of  these 
sages  inform  us,  that  man  is  malevolent;  that  his  passions 
hurry  him  into  wretchedness;  and  that  his  understanding  is 
only  another  name  for  imperfection.  Should  individuals  ofter 
this  for  a  description  of  their  own  minds,  perhaps  justice  might 
read  the  character  with  silent  approbation.  When  it  is  produced 
as  the  picture  of  man;  the  same  justice  commands  us  to  wipe 
the  aspersion  from  the  portrait  of  our  common  nature. 

"  If  exalted  actions  flow  from  elevated  sentiments,  then,  to 
establish  human  dignity,  and  reason  man  into  approbation  of 
himself,  must  be  among  the  first  advancements  towards  virtue. 

"  Be  it,  therefore,  our  task,  to  plead  the  cause  of  man. 

1  Burges's  Oration,  before  the  Federal  Adelphi,  in  1831. 

2  Critics  may  remember,  that  depravity,  through  the  whole  of  this  piece, 
signifies  such  a  disposition  of  heart,  as  wishes  universal  diffusion  of  wretchedness. 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  9 

"  Let  us  examine  his  disposition ;  consider  the  utility  of  his 
passions ;  survey  the  perfection  of  his  understanding,  and 
observe  how  far  surrounding  creation  stands  as  monumental 
testimony  of  human  greatness.  From  the  situation  of  man, 
we  may  argue  the  necessity  of  benevolence  in  his  disposition. 
He  was,  doubtless,  formed  for  happiness.  His  desire  of  bliss, 
and  his  powers  of  fruition,  evince  the  truth  of  this  assertion. 
His  felicity  depends,  almost  entirely,  on  social  intercourse. 
Solitary,  man  is  in  want,  in  fear,  in  disconsolation.  A 
reciprocation  of  beneficence  alone  can  make  him  happy.  This 
he  must  be  disposed  to  perform,  or  he  cannot  fulfil  the  final 
cause  of  his  nature.  Man's  destination  for^  happiness,  and  his 
mutual  dependence,  therefore,  clearly  originate  the  necessity 
of  human  benevolence. 

"  Feeling  and  experience  evince  the  benevolent  disposition  of 
man.  A  sight  of  distress  wounds  the  heart.  A  view  of  joy 
warms  the  soul  with  gladness.  We  are  pleased  to  remove 
pain.  We  rejoice  to  communicate  delight.  These  things  we 
could  not  perform  without  a  disposition  to  diffuse  felicity.  This 
disposition  is  all  we  mean  by  benevolence. 

"  Suppose  the  heart  of  man  malevolent,  he  must  then  lose 
every  social  satisfaction.  For  who  could  receive  those  mutual 
favors,  which  none  were  disposed  to  bestow]  Man  must  be 
condemned  to  solitary  misery.  Never  would  he  wipe  a  tear 
from  the  eye  of  sorrow;  never  would  he  pour  the  balm  of  con 
solation  into  the  bosom  of  grief.  Nay,  he  would  grieve  at  the 
appearance  of  joy.  He  would  eagerly  disseminate  wretched 
ness.  Every  benefaction  of  Providence  would  swell  the  tide  of 
human  misery;  and  man  could  never  smile  undisturbed,  while 
one  joyous  emotion  existed,  even  in  the  bosom  of  Deity.  Must 
we  believe  man  endowed  with  such  a  disposition]  Yes,  if  we 
believe  him  malevolent.  But  can  our  reason,  our  feelings,  our 
experience,  subscribe  to  such  a  creed]  No.  For  necessity  and 
sympathy  both  evince  man  benevolent.  Nor  could  he  be 
otherwise,  unless  his  soul  were  blacker  than  the  dunnest  fiend 
that  a  distempered  fancy  ever  generated  in  the  dark  regions  of 
mythology. 


30  MEMOIROF 

"  Though  man  stands  vindicated  from  the  charge  of  malevo 
lence,  yet  has  calumny  blackened  his  character  with  other 
accusations. 

"  Human  passions  have  often  been  a  mark  for  the  arrow  of 
contumely.  Austerity  condemns  them,  because  they  are  some 
times  irregular.  As  well  might  the  same  austerity  curse  the 
elements  of  nature,  because  the  thunder,  the  earthquake,  or  the 
hurricane,  sometimes  rend  an  oak,  split  a  mountain,  or  sweep  a 
kingdom  into  the  ocean.- 

"  If  we  impartially  look  on  our  own  nature,  the  utility  of  our 
passions  must  appear.  Man,  is  at  times  in  danger.  Danger 
originates  the  necessity  of  caution,  and  caution  is  secured  by 
the  passion  of  fear.  Unresisting  innocence  invites  the  hand  of 
oppression.  To  prevent  a  repitition  of  injury,  omniscient  Deity 
planted  the  seeds  of  anger  in  the  bosom  of  man.  Self  love, 
to  some  the  most  odious  of  all  the  passions,  is  still  an  emanation 
of  benevolence.  Like  that,  it  has  for  its  object,  the  diffusion  of 
felicity.  It  first  secures  our  own  enjoyment.  It  then  offers  our 
bosom  to  a  parent,  to  a  friend,  to  our  country,  to  the  indiscrimi 
nate  citizens  of  the  world.  Thus,  on  self  love  are  grafted  phi 
lanthropy,  patriotism,  friendship,  and  all  the  tender  growths  of 
domestic  charity. 

"A  love  of  glory  is  the  most  violent,  extensive  and  durable,  of 
all  the  passions.  For  glory,  men  encounter  toil,  danger,  and 
death  itself.  No  pain,  no  labor,  no  toilsome  virtue,  no  arduous 
heroism,  can  be  a  price  too  dear  to  purchase  immortal  renown. 
A  passion  which  thus  disposes  men  to  sacrifice  ease,  safety,  and 
life  itself,  to  gain  the  applause  of  their  fellow  men,  must  inviola 
bly  unite  mankind,  and  lodge  in  every  breast  a  pledge  for  the 
social  exertions  of  each  individual. 

"Let  the  votaries  of  apathy  decry  the  passions.  What  can 
be  the  felicity,  what  the  virtue,  of  their  passionless  philosophers? 
If  man  were  void  of  self  love,  would  the  voice  of  native  want, 
rouse  him  from  the  sleep  of  indolence?  What  would  shield  his 
bosom  from  danger,  what  would  arm  his  hand  with  power,  if 
fear  did  not  teach  him  caution,  and  anger  learn  him  to  resist  the 
aggressions  of  violence?  Who  would  toil  for  man?  Who,  with 


TRISTAMBURGES.  31 

a  smile,  would  bleed  on  the  altar  of  emancipation,  if  the  God  of 
nature  had  not  with  love  of  glory  warmed  the  bosom  of  man? 
Destitute  of  passions,  man  had  stood,  like  the  marble  statue, 
without  a  motion;  and  eternally  worn  the  same  smile  or  frown 
which  the  last  touch  of  nature's  hand  left  impressed  on  his 
countenance. 

"Understanding  claims  our  next  attention.  This  forms  a 
splendid  part  of  human  nature.  By  this  man  perceives,  remem 
bers,  reasons,  and  imagines.  Perception  and  memory  princi 
pally  subserve  the  operations  of  reason  and  imagination. 

"  Guided  by  reason,  man  has  traveled  through  the  abstruse 
regions  of  the  philosophic  world.  He  has  originated  rules  by 
which  he  can  direct  the  ship  through  the  pathless  ocean  and 
measure  the  comet's  flight  over  the  fields  of  unlimited  space.  He 
has  established  society  and  government.  He  can  aggregate  the 
profusions  of  every  climate,  and  every  season.  He  can  melio 
rate  the  severity,  and  remedy  the  imperfections  of  nature  herself. 
All  these  things  he  can  perform  by  the  assistance  of  reason. 

"By  imagination,  man  seems  to  verge  towards  creative  power. 
Aided  by  this,  he  can  perform  all  the  wonders  of  sculpture  and 
painting.  He  can  almost  make  the  marble  speak.  He  can 
almost  make  the  brook  murmur  down  the  painted  landscape. 
Often,  on  the  pinions  of  imagination,  he  soars  aloft  where  the 
eye  has  never  traveled ;  where  other  stars  glitter  on  the  mantle 
of  night,  and  a  more  effulgent  sun  lights  up  the  blushes  of 
morning.  Flying  from  world  to  world,  he  gazes  on  all  the 
glories  of  creation:  or,  lighting  on  the  distant  margin  of  the 
universe,  darts  the  eye  of  fancy  over  the  mighty  void,  where 
power  creative  never  yet  has  energized,  where  existence  still 
sleeps  in  the  wide  abyss  of  possibility.  By  imagination,  he  can 
travel  back  to  the  source  of  time ;  converse  with  the  successive 
generations  of  men;  and  kindle  into  emulation,  while  he  surveys 
the  monumental  trophies  of  ancient  art  and  glory.  He  can 
sail  down  the  stream  of  time,  until  he  loses  "sight  of  stars  and 
sun,  by  wandering  into  those  retired  parts  of  eternity,  when  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  shall  be  no  more." 


.32  MEMOIR   OF 

"To  these  unequivocal  characteristics  of  greatness  in  man,  let 
us  adduce  the  testimony  of  nature  herself.  Surrounding  crea 
tion  subserves  the  wants  and  proclaims  the  dignity  of  man. 
For  him  day  and  night  visit  the  world.  For  him  the  seasons 
walk  their  splendid  round.  For  him  the  earth  teems  with 
riches,  and  the  heavens  smile  with  beneficence. 

"All  creation  is  accurately  adjusted  to  his  capacity  for  bliss. 
He  tastes  the  dainties  of  festivity,  breathes  the  perfumes  of 
morning,  revels  on  the  charms  of  melody,  and  regales  his  eye 
with  all  the  painted  beauties  of  vision.  Whatever  can  please, 
whatever  can  charm,  whatever  can  expand  the  soul  with  exta- 
cy  of  bliss,  allures  and  solicits  his  attention.  All  things  beautiful, 
all  things  grand,  all  things  sublime,  appear  in  native  loveliness, 
and  proffer  man  the  richest  pleasures  of  fruition. 

"Can  he  then  raise  his  feelings  too  high  in  the  scale  of  self 
approbation?  Can  he  sufficiently  abhor  that  contumely,  which 
perpetually  babbles  of  human  depravity?  In  man,  is  it  not 
calumny  against  Heaven  ?  Is  it  not  pointing  the  arrow  of  in 
gratitude  against  the  munificent  bosom  of  a  God  ? 

"If  man  can  rejoice  in  the  diffusion  of  felicity,  is  he  not,  like 
his  Creator,  benevolent  1  If  his  passions  urge  him  to  embrace 
the  common  interest  of  man,  are  they  not  useful?  If  his  under 
standing  guides  him  down  the  career  of  existence,  is  it  not 
perfect  1  If  surrounding  creation  waits  on  his  wants,  does  it  not, 
in  the  language  of  its  Creator,  talk  aloud  of  human  greatness  ? 
Do  not  all  these  shining  tints  brighten  on  the  portrait  of  man  ? 
Yes.  He  rejoices  in  munificence  ;  he  toils  for  universal  felicity  ; 
he  developes  the  mysteries  of  nature  ;  he  aggregates  the  goods 
of  space,  of  duration,  and  even  arrests  the  attention  of  earth  and 
heaven. 

"This  thought  elevates  man  high  on  the  theatre  of  exist 
ence,  and  places  him  full  in  view  of  a  surrounding  universe.  It 
gives  him  an  important  part  in  the  great  drama  of  being.  It 
tells  him,  all  intelligences  are  interested  in  the  success  of  his 
performance. 

"Yes,  my  countrymen,  you  arrest  the  attention  of  millions. 
On  you  are  fixed  the  eyes  of  that  throng  of  departed  patriots, 


TRISTAM    BURGES. 


33 


philosophers,  and  philanthropists,  who  measure  their  achieve 
ments  by  the  dignity  of  their  nature  ;  and  whose  beatified 
spirits,  now  leaning  from  the  azure  battlements  of  heaven,  allure 
their  followers  up  the  road  to  glory.  You  they  hail,  as  their 
descendants ;  as  the  patrons  of  science ;  as  the  votaries  of 
virtue  ;  as  the  candidates  of  immortal  beatitude." 

The  oration  was  followed  by  addresses,  to  the  Corporation,  to 
the  President,  the  Tutors  and  Professors,  the  under-graduates, 
and  his  classmates.  The  latter  address  is  inserted  here. 

cej\fy  Classmates:  Often,  on  similar  occasions,  from  this  place, 
the  world  has  heard  the  pathetic  narrative  of  collegiate  joys  that 
are  past.  I  will  not  pretend  to  determine  why  this  has  been 
done.  This  narration  may  be  all  reality.  It  may  be  a  custom 
ary  story,  told  to  lure  from  the  eyes  of  spectators  the  tear  of 
sympathy,  as  a  tribute  grateful  to  valedician  eloquence.  It  may 
be  an  ingenious  artifice,  woven  to  conceal  the  loathsome  visage 
of  classical  animosity.  '>^  i^ 

"  Far  from  me  be  a  wish  to  disguise  the  truth.  Yet  if  we  have 
had  enmities,  why  may  we  not  cease  to  feel  them  1  Why  may 
not  the  hand  of  charity  throw  the  veil  of  forgetfulness  over  those 
parts  of  our  classical  existence,  which  we  cannot  recall  without 
a  painful  emotion  1  Never  will  our  bosoms  soften  with  a 
warmer  glow  of  forgiveness.  Never,  perhaps,  shall  we  all  meet 
again,  till  we  meet  beyond  the  narrow  sea  of  time.  Let  us, 
therefore,  on  this  day,  solemnize  the  funeral  of  expiring  enmity. 
Let  us  plant  on  its  tomb  the  green  olive  of  friendship.  Let  us 
part  as  brothers. 

"  Must  we  then  part  ?  Yes,  the  dark  curtain  of  separation  is 
now  drawing  between  us.  In  a  few  hours  we  behold  each 
other's  faces  no  more.  To-morrow's  sun,  shall  see  us  scattered 
over  the  face  of  the  world.  We  must  now  reciprocate  a  last 
adieu  before  a  gazing  multitude.  This  task  is  ungrateful. 
Parting  friends,  like  parting  lovers,  wish  to  lean  on  each  other's 
bosoms,  and  sigh  a  fond  farewell  in  some  sequestered  shade, 
where  no  grief- unhallowed  eye,  can  violate  the  tender  inter 
course. 


34 


MEMOIR    OF,    & 


"  Are  not  we  of  that  description  1  Are  not  we  friends  1  Can 
it  be  otherwise  ?  Memory  is  witness  too  faithful.  Never,  never 
can  he,  who  now  addresses  you,  cease  to  feel  the  obligations  of 
gratitude.  When  pale  disease1  and  excruciating  pain  stretched 
him  on  the  restless  couch  for  many  a  sleepless  midnight,  you 
watched  his  wants  through  all  the  tedious  hours  ;  you  offered 
the  cordial  to  his  expiring  spirits  ;  you,  with  tender  assiduities, 
soothed  his  groans,  and  cheered  him  back  again  to  life.  O  my 
Father  !  transfix  this  heart,  if  it  ever  cease  to  glow  with  joy  at 
the  joy  of  these  my  friends,  or  to  melt  with  sorrow  at  their 
woes. 

"My  good  brothers:  we  this  day  launch  out  on  the  billowy 
ocean  of  life.  A  world  lies  before  us.  He  who  smiles  away  the 
terrors  of  the  tempest,  is  our  Father.2 

"  Let  all  our  exertions  ultimate  on  the  felicity  of  our  brother 
men.  Then  shall  a  heart,  which  never  can  reproach  us,  be 
our  eternal  companion.  Then,  when  the  grim  messenger  of 
fate  shall  point  his  iron  shaft  full  at  our  breasts,  with  a  mag 
nanimous  smile,  we  will  meet  dissolution  ;  sleep  undisturbed  the 
sabbatism  of  death,  and  wake  to  ceaseless  raptures,  beyond  the 
regions  of  time."3 

1  While  in  College,  he  was  sick  of  a  fever.     Daring  his  illness,  his  classmates 
and  fellow-students  were  his  constant  attendants. 
8  Milton. 
3  Pope. 


CHAPTER     III. 

Opens  a  school  in  Providence. — Reads  law  with  Judge  Barnes. — The  lottery 
ticket,  and  its  result. — Admitted  to  practice  in  Rhode-Island,  in  1799. — His 
marriage. — His  standing  at  the  Bar. — Sketches  of  the  Rhode-Island  Bar. — 
David  Howell. — James  Burrill,  Jim. — ,Asher  Robbins. — William  Hunter. — 

Samuel  W.  Bridgham. — -Philip  Crapo. Benjamin  Hazard. Nathaniel 

Searle. 

IMMEDIATELY  after  Mr.  Burges  graduated,  he  commenced 
school-keeping  in  Providence.  His  circumstances  being  known, 
and  the  remarkable  talent  which  he  had  formerly  displayed  in 
the  profession  of  an  instructor,  both  contributed  to  increase  the 
number  of  his  scholars.  He  continued  to  teach  then,  about 
twelve  months ;  and  by  frugality,  was  enabled  to  discharge  all 
his  debts,  and  to  begin  the  World  again,  comparatively  indepen 
dent  in  his  pecuniary  affairs. 

In  October,  1797,  he  left  Providence,  to  visit  his  mother  in 
Rochester,  intending  to  return  in  a  few  days,  and  re-open  his 
school.  While  on  the  way  to  his  mother's  house,  he  was  sud 
denly  taken  ill ;  and  six  weeks  elapsed  before  he  was  well 
enough  to  return  to  Providence.  During  his  absence,  a  new  in 
structor  had  taken  possession  of  his  room,  and  secured  a  number 
of  his  scholars.  He  was  obliged  therefore  to  seek  another  place, 
and  finally  obtained  "  Hacker's  Hall,"  which  accommodated 
one  hundred  and  twenty  pupils.  School-keeping,  was  the  only 
employment  of  which  he  has  boasted  that  he  was  a  perfect  mas 
ter.  Many  of  his  pupils  have  since  been  distinguished  at  the  Bar, 
and  in  other  pursuits.  To  his  efforts  in  moulding  their  charac 
ters  and  minds,  they  are  indebted  for  much  of  their  present  dis 
tinction.  The  school  was  not  abandoned  until  he  was  suffic 
iently  in  funds  to  complete  the  study  of  Law,  to  which  profession 
his  thoughts  had  been  long  directed. 


36  M  E  M  O  I  R    O  F 

While  in  college,  he  had  commenced  the  study  with  Judge 
Barnes,  of  Providence ;  who  was  a  distinguished  lawyer  and 
most  estimable  gentleman.  Although  his  school  occupied  six 
hours  in  every  day,  yet  he  never  failed  to  spend  six  hours  in 
reading  Law.  A  few  weeks  before  the  time  fixed  for  the  termi 
nation  of  his  school-keeping  career,  one  of  the  managers  of  a 
lottery,  pressed  him  to  purchase  a  ticket.  The  price  was  five 
dollars  ;  and  he  utterly  refused  at  first,  because  he  had  not  that 
amount  of  money  in  possession.  The  gentleman  observed  that 
he  would  accept  a  note  payable  at  a  convenient  time.  Mr. 
Burges  would  not  then  accede  to  this  proposition,  but  afterwards 
consented  to  give  his  note.  The  ticket  drew  a  prize  of  two 
thousand  dollars,  which  afforded  him  permanent  relief.  For  he 
had  looked  forward  to  another  period,  when  he  would  be  just  even 
with  the  world  ;  a  period  too,  full  of  doubt  and  apprehension  in 
relation  to  his  professional  career.  Now,  he  devoted  day  and 
night  to  Law  ;  and  when  admitted  to  practice  in  Rhode-Island, 
in  1799,  he  was  thoroughly  versed  in  all  the  principles  of  that 
profound  science. 

In  the  year  1801,  he  married  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Welcome 
Arnold  ;  who  was  an  eminent  merchant  of  Providence.  They 
have  travelled  long  together,  sometimes  in  the  sunshine  of  glad 
ness,  and  sometimes  in  the  gloom  of  deep  distress ;  but  they 
have  learned  to  look  at  that  light  which  cheers  the  pilgrimage 
of  time. 

Perhaps  no  circumstance  is  more  favorable  for  the  full  de- 
velopernent  of  talent  and  character,  than  conflict  with  superior 
minds.  To  this  cause  may  be  attributed  in  part  the  distinction 
of  the  legal  profession.  The  hall  of  Justice  is  rife  with  important 
questions,  and  opportunities  for  the  display  of  genius.  There, 
the  majesty  of  law  is  proclaimed  in  its  great  and  in  its  minute 
principles.  The  questions  are  of  necessity  numerous,  compli 
cated,  and  extensive  in  their  range.  No  man  can  succeed,  un 
less  he  is  master  of  all  these  principles.  He  must  bring  there 
fore  to  this  work,  a  heart  engaged,  a  mind  ready  to  impart  and 
receive  instruction.  His  thoughts  must  be  ever  marshalled, 
and  like  an  army  in  an  enemy's  country,  always  prepared  for 


TRISTAMBURGES.  37 

conflict.  Added  to  these,  industry,  perseverance  ;  never  exult 
ing  in  victory,  nor  cowering  in  defeat;  calm,  yet  prompt  in 
reply  ;  incorruptible  in  morals,  and  ambitious  to  press  forward 
in  the  path  of  excellence.1 

This  description  of  what  a  lawyer  ought  to  be,  applies  in  its 
prominent  parts  to  Mr.  B urges.  But  a  few  years  after  he  was 

1  The  profession  of  the  law  is  held  in  the  highest  estimation  in  those  coun 
tries,  observes  a  late  writer,  where  civil  liberty  exercises  a  salutary  influence. 
In  England,  for  example,  we  know  it  is  associated  with  titles  of  nobility,  -and 
general  confidence.  -  Individuals  of  humble  origin  have  enjoyed  public  esteem 
and  been  promoted  to  stations  of  honor  and  emolument,  by  means  of  their  le 
gal  reputation.  In  former  times,  Lord  Kenyon  and  Edmund  Saunders  were  of 
this  class.  In  later  days,  Copley,  (Lord  Lyndhurst)  Lord  Chancellor  Eldon, 
Lord  Stovvell,  and  Lord  Gifford,  all  attained  exalted  places  without  the  aid  of 
family  or  wealth. 

In  the  United  States,  the  profession  is  honored  with  like  distinctions.  Emi 
nent  lawyers  are  in  all  our  legislative  bodies,  framing  and  enacting  statutes, 
and  receiving  tokens  of  confidence.  There  are  strong  prejudices  against  them 
among  a  certain  class  ;  but  these  are  fast  giving  way.  The  profession  how 
ever,  with  us  is  different  in  its  character,  customs,  and  attainments,  from  that 
of  England;  although  we  might  select  many  individuals  equal  to  the  most  illus 
trious  of  that  nation.  Lawyers  in  this  country  are  not  only  burthened  with  the 
preparation  of  causes,  but  they  are  obliged  to  yield  to  importunate  claims  on 
their  time  and  labor.  They  must  not  only  be  versed  in  theory  and  practice,  in 
most  of  the  liberal  sciences,  politicians,  and  legislators,  but  familiar  with  com 
mercial  and  other  interests.  From  the  necessity  of  the  case,  therefore,  but  few 
excel  as  lawyers,  in  the  true  sense  of  that  term.  .Yet  with  such  obstacles  to 
surmount,  how  many  names  among  the  dead  and  the  living,  have  been  conspic 
uous  in  our  country ! 

On  the  other  hand,  where  civil  freedom  is  not  prized,  as  in  Spain,  lawyers 
are  among  the  lower  orders  of  men.  Official  influence  is  obtained  through 
favor  and  flattery,  seldom  by  merit.  In  Germany,  and  Poland,  their  condition 
is  not  much  better.  As  the  doctrines  they  inculcate,  conflict  with  the  arbitrary 
will  of  despotism,  they  cannot  enjoy  the  same  privileges,  as  those  in  a  free 
community. 

Another  general  remark  may  be  here  made.  The  eloquence  of  the  Bar  is 
not  what  it  might  be,  if  better  advantages  were  offered  for  display.  Almost  all 
its  speaking  is  confined  to  tedious  facts,  minute  investigations  of  the  common 
law,  or  commentaries  on  statutes.  Effective  appeals  to  passion  can  rarely  be 
made  ;  popular  questions  are  seldom  discussed.  It  is  admitted,  however,  that 
when  a  lawyer  speaks  elsewhere,  on  any  interesting  topic,  his  eloquence  may 
be  of  the  highest  order.  Then  exciting  points  may  be  introduced,  and  the 
finer  feelings  aroused. 


38  MEMOIR    OF 

admitted  to  practice  law,  he  had  attained  signal  influence  as  an 
advocate.  The  powers  of  his  mind,  and  his  enthusiastic  feel 
ings,  were  enlisted  in  every  cause  which  he  argued.  So  deeply 
was  he  interested,  so  persuaded  of  the  justice  of  his  side  of  the 
question,  that  he  was  never  known  to  admit  his  client  to  be  in 
the  wrong.  If  doubts  were  suggested  by  the  opposite  party,  be 
fore  trial,  he  would  repel  them  in  an  instant,  as  if  they  reflected 
upon  his  own  honor  and  judgment.  His  practice  was  very  ex 
tensive;  and  few  important  causes  were  argued,  in  which  he  was 
not  engaged.  The  power  of  his  eloquence  was  supreme  over 
judges,  jurors,  and  spectators.  When  he  spoke,  the  Court  House 
was  often  thronged,  and  none  listened  without  a  tribute  of  ad 
miration.1 

Many  circumstances  aroused  his  ambition,  and  contributed  to 
his  success  ;  and  none  more  than  the 'reputation  of  those  men 
who  were  then  in  practice. 

The  Bar  of  Rhode-Island,  about  that  time,' in  proportion  to  its 
numbers,  was  as  eminent  as  any  in  the  United  States.  David 
Ho  well,  afterwards  appointed  a  District  Judge  of  the  United 
States  Court,  was  among  the  number.  Mr.  Howell  was  a 
thorough  lawyer,  a  fine  scholar,  and  deeply  versed  in  the  libe 
ral  sciences. 

James  Burrill,  Jun.  was  a  member  of  the  same  Bar  ;  and  was 
acknowledged  to  be  at  its  head.  His  public  and  personal  qual 
ities  were  held  in  the  highest  repute. 

The  members  of  the  Providence  County  Bar,  requested  Mr. 
Burges,  in  January,  1821,  to  pronounce  his  Eulogy.2  To  pay  a 
just  and  appropriate  tribute  to  departed  excellence,  requires  fine 
taste  and  accurate  discrimination.  The  Eulogy  of  Mr.  Burges 
is  a  choice  specimen  of  a  peculiar  kind  of  writing  ;  affectionate, 
and  fully  comprehensive  in  its  view  of  the  mind,  character,  and 

1  We  might  add  here,  numerous  anecdotes,  in  relation  to  Mr.  Burges's  legal 
arguments,  his  wit,  and  unrivalled  talent  at  repartee.  But,  from  motives  of 
delicacy  towards  individuals,  who  at  the  time  were  interested,  and  who  might 
now  feel  injured  by  their  repetition,  although  they  do  not  reflect  upon  private 
character  ;  yet  on  account  of  their  severity  they  had  better  be  suppressed. 

3  A  notice  of  this  Eulogy  belongs  strictly  to  another  part  of  this  volume. 
We  have  introduced  it  here,  as  the  sketch  of  Mr.  Burrill  could  not  with  pro 
priety  occupy  any  other  place. 


TRISTAMBURGES.  39 

services,  of  its  lamented  subject.  In  its  delivery,  Mr.  Burges 
was  perhaps  more  successful  in  exciting  delicate  feeling,  than 
he  had  ever  been  on  any  previous  occasion.  This  may  be  at 
tributed  in  part  to  the  theme,  and  the  grief  pervading  that 
community  of  which  Mr.  Burrill  had  so  lately  been  the  pride 
and  ornament. 

It  is  difficult  to  describe  the  excitement  of  that  occasion. 
Imagine  a  multitude  gathered  in  a  spacious  temple,  to  manifest 
sorrow  at  the  death,  and  esteem  for  the  memory  of  a  great  man. 
Imagine  a  friend  speaking  of  the  virtues  of  his  brother  and 
companion.  Look  on  that  assembly,  and  you  see  the  tear  of 
sympathy,  falling  from  the  eye  ;  and,  as  the  orator  dwells  on 
the  solemn  theme,  mark  the  change  in  his  own  features,  and 
his  faltering  accents  ;  until  utterance  is  choked  by  the  power  of 
contending  emotions,  and  one  universal  burst  of  lamentation 
only,  is  heard.  This  is  not  exaggeration:  Mr.  Burges's  elo 
quence  on  that  occasion,  cannot  be  adequately  described.  It 
sprung  from  the  heart,  and  touched  the  tenderest  chords  of  the 
heart. 

He  thus  began  :  "  The  living  ever  cherish  a  memory  of  the 
dead.  Their  features  are  placed  on  the  canvass,  their  form  and 
stature  given  to  the  marble.  In  some  countries,  art  has  labored 
for  the  entire  preservation  of  the  body  ;  in  others,  changed  by 
that  element  which  has  been  deified  for  its  purity,  their  ashes, 
inurned,  are  preserved  by  family  affection  or  national  gratitude. 
"  Sepulchral  monuments  are  scattered  over  the  world,  and 
differ  only  in  form  and  masonry.  Their  object  is  the  same  ; 
whether  the  cairn  of  the  Gael,  the  Scythian  tumulus,  the 
Asiatic  mausoleum,  the  pyramid  of  Egypt,  or  the  green  hill-top 
and  unlettered  stone  of  our  own  country's  primitive  children. 
They  seem  to  form  a  kind  of  gloomy  frontier  between  the  two 
worlds  ;  the  great  world  of  the  living,  and  the  greater  world  of 
the  dead  ;  and  we  may  sometimes  read  upon  them  something 
concerning  those  who  have  past  from,  this  region  of  shadows,  to 
that  realm  of  realities. 

"Where  letters  were  unknown,  the  achievements  of  departed 
worthies  have  been  committed  to  historic  tradition  and  parol 


40  MEMOIROF 

song,  and  delivered  from  generation  to  generation ;  until  by  the 
revolution  of  kingdoms,  the  nation  was  extinguished.  In  all 
ages,  literature,  wherever  it  has  flourished,  has  been  employed 
in  the  production  of  memorials  of  the  good  and  the  great. 
History  and  poetry,  biography  and  eulogiiim,  people  memory 
with  the  illustrious  millions  of  past  ages.  Well  was  it  said  of 
the  Greek  and  the  Roman,  "half  our  learning  is  their  epitaph." 
The  people  of  those  nations  toiled  above  all  to  perpetuate  the 
excellencies  of  each  other — not  so  much  by  brass  and  marble, 
as  by  the  more  imperishable  labors  of  literature.  Their  heroes, 
statesmen,  orators,  and  artists,  were  distinguished  by  funeral 
eulogiums. 

"France  seems  to  have  adopted  this  custom  of  classical  anti 
quity  ;  while,  in  England,  a  tomb  in  Westminster  Abbey  is  the 
great  panegyric  of  British  glory.  Marlborough  is  eulogized  by 
dull,  cold  marble.  Turenne's  immortal  exploits  are  celebrated 
by  Fletcher,  in  the  no  less  immortal  eloquence  of  his  country. 

"  Our  own  country  has  produced  some  examples  in  this  depart 
ment  of  literature;  and  we,  my  brothers,  have  before  this  day 
mingled  our  tears  with  our  eulogies  over  the  tomb  of  our 
departed  friends.  I  say  not  these  things  to  apologize  for  our 
manner  of  commemorating  the  merits  of  our  departed  friend. 
Those  who  knew  him,  and  who  know  us,  can  never  believe  us 
ostentatious  in  sorrow  or  in  eulogy.  ARhough  in  other  com 
munities,  the  excellencies  of  their  illustrious  dead  may  not  be 
commemorated  in  the  manner  we  are  this  day  attempting;  yet 
let  us  choose  rather  to  imitate  the  example  of  republican  an 
tiquity,  in  such  an  instance  of  bereavement  as  that  before  us; 
where,  not  only  we,  his  professional  brothers,  deplore  our  loss  ; 
but  this  religious  community,  over  which  he  for  years  presided  ; 
the  learned  Fellowship  and  Corporation  of  the  University,  where 
he  held  a  distinguished  seat;  the  Federal  Adelphi,  of  which 
he  was  a  first  founder,  and  most  classical  brother  ;  the  associa 
tion  for  encouraging  the  economy,  and  preserving  the  items  of 
the  surplus  produce  of  the  humblest  individual  labor,  which  has, 
already,  given  public  testimony  of  his  high  merits ;  the  great 
commonwealth  society  for  the  advancement  of  domestic  indus- 


TRISTAMBURGES.  41 

try,  which  has  lost  in  him  one  of  its  earliest  and  most  devoted 
patrons ;  all  the  commercial  institutions  of  this  community  ; 
the  inhabitants  of  this  his  native  town  ;  every  virtuous  and 
high-minded  son  and  daughter  of  Rhode-Island ;  in  a  word, 
our  common  and  universal  country,  mingle  their  deep  and 
heartfelt  regrets  with  those  tears,  shed  over  his  tomb,  by  the 
illustrious  citizens  of  that  high  and  august  body,  in  the  very 
bosom  of  which,  as  in  the  bed  of  glory,  our  townsman,  our 
friend,  our  brother,  our  lamented  Burrill  expired. 

"  Before  this  hour,  the  story  of  his  death  hath  been  told  in  the 
utmost  limits  of  our  inhabited  country ;  and  I  do  believe,  humble 
as  are  my  abilities,  could  my  voice  reach  so  far,  the  narrative 
of  his  merits  would  mingle  with  the  melancholy  echoes  of  that 
tale,  and  be  heard  by  every  ear  with  mournful  pleasure.  I  may 
be  charitably  mistaken.  Some  one  may  have  selected  an  illus 
trious  foe  whom  he  could  not  reach,  when  alive,  but  may  dare 
to  plunder,  when  dead.  It  cannot  be.  The  savage  leaves  his 
fallen  adversary,  unviolated,  when  he  cannot  adorn  himself 
with  his  spoils. 

"  Such  then  is  the  occasion,  and  such  the  object  of  this  day's 
assembly.  Pardon  me,  my  brothers,  my  fellow-citizens,  for 
being  in  this  place,  and  for  this  purpose.  I  deeply  feel  the  em 
barrassment  of  my  situation.  The  character  of  a  great  Scholar, 
Advocate,  Statesman  and  Legislator,  can  be  perfectly  drawn  by 
him  only  who  is  deeply  imbued  with  all  those  illustrious  excel 
lencies.  Caesar  only  could  write  Caesar's  Commentaries.  None 
but  the  great  master  of  the  Forum  could  portray  the  perfect 
orator  of  Cicero.  A  few  sketches  only  of  the  character  of  our 
lamented  friend  will  be  attempted.  Even  here  the  touches  may 
be  unfaithful,  while  the  hand  trembles  with  sympathy,  and  the 
coloring  of  the  piece  is  dimmed  by  the  tear  of  the  artist.  How 
can  I  speak  of  such  a  son,  when  I  know  my  voice  will  be  heard 
by  his  venerable  and  bereaved  father  1  How  can  I  speak  of 
such  a  father,  while  I  behold  his  weeping  children  ?  The  light 
of  eulogy  will  only  show  them  more  distinctly  their  bereavement. 
It  cannot  brighten  the  gloom  of  their  desolation.  <  Thoughts 
that  breathe  and  words  that  burn,'  can  never  relume  the  eye 


42  M  E  M  O  I  R     O  P 

and  warm  into  life  the  lineaments  of  his  face,  who  so  much  and 
so  affectionately  loved  them.  The  sage  of  Athens  said,  *  count 
no  man  happy  till  after  death,  because  that  alone  places  his 
fame  and  fortune  beyond  the  mutations  of  life.'  The  great 
Teacher  of  Nazareth  disclosed  a  more  sublime  and  consoling 
philosophy,  and  irradiated  the  darkness  of  ancient  wisdom  with 
the  light  of  life,  and. immortality  beyond  the  grave ;  and  ail  the 
felicities,  and  glories  of  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth." 

Mr.  Burrill  was  born  in  Providence,  Rhode-Island,  on  the 
twenty-fifth  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1772.  He  was  remarkable  in 
his  youth  for  quickness  of  apprehension,  an  engaging  disposi 
tion,  and  a  thirst  for  knowledge.  He  was  accustomed  also  to 
pay  an  unusual  deference  to  religious  observances,  a  trait  which 
characterized  him  through  life.  The  rudiments  of  his  English 
and  classical  education  were  acquired  in  the  school  of  Mr.  Wil 
liam  Wilkinson,  of  Providence  ;  a  celebrated  instructor  in  those 
days.  In  September,  A.  D.  1784,  at  the  age  of  twelve  years, 
he  entered  the  freshman  class  of  Rhode-Island  College,  now 
Brown  University.  At  the  Commencement  in  September,  A.  D. 
1788,  he  graduated  ;  and  immediately  commenced  the  study  of 
Law,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  in  the  office  of  the  Hon.  Theodore 
Foster,  then  a  lawyer  of  extensive  practice.  In  May,  1790, 
Mr.  Foster  was  elected  a  Senator  in  Congress,  and  retired  from 
professional  business.  Mr.  Burrill  then  entered  the  office  of  the 
Hon.  David  Howell,  where  he  remained  until  September,  A.  D. 
1791,  when  he  was  admitted  to  practise  in  all  the  Courts  of 
Rhode-Island.  At  the  early  age  of  twenty-five  years,  he  was 
appointed  Attorney  General  of  the  State;  and  held  it  amid  ail 
the  revolutions  of  party,  nearly  sixteen  years  ;  when  in  May, 
1813,  on  account  of  impaired  health,  he  at  the  same  time, 
resigned  that  office,  and  the  practice  of  Law.  In  June  following, 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Legislature  for  the  town  of 
Providence.  In  May,  1814,  he  was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Representatives.  At  the  May  session  of  the  General  Assem 
bly,  he  was  appointed  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Judicial 
Court ;  which  office  he  held  till  the  following  February,  when 
he  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  He  attended 


TRISTAMBURGES.  43 

four  sessions  of  that  body.  On  the  twenty -fifth  day  of  Decem 
ber,  A.  D.  1820,  after  a  few  days  illness  of  a  pulmonary  com 
plaint,  he  expired  in  the  full  possession  of  his  mind,  with  the 
hope  and  trust  of  a  Christian. 

As  a  lawyer,  Mr.  Burrill  had  no  superior  in  his  native  State, 
and  few  in  any  other  section  of  the  Union.  At  the  beginning  of 
his  professional  labors,  he  was  distinguished  for  a  comprehen 
sive  knowledge  of  the  principles  and  practice  of  Law.  His 
mind  was  clear  and  strong  ;  it  could  master  the  most  intricate 
questions,  unravel  the  web  of  sophistry,  and  present  truth  in  its 
most  captivating  garb.  An  active  zeal,  thorough  preparation 
in  argument,  unsullied  integrity,  contributed  to  his  fame.  His 
knowledge  was  not  confined  to  his  profession.  In  the  closet  he 
studied  elegant  literature.  He  loved  its  beauties.  It  was  his 
delightful  recreation,  after  the  toils  of  the  forum,  to  linger  over 
the  pages  of  poetry,  read  the  lofty  speculations  of  philosophy, 
and  learn  from  past  history,  lessons  for  the  future.  Few  minds 
contain  such  treasures  of  historic  and  scientific  truth,  as  did  his ; 
yet  he  disdained  every  thing  like  pedantry.  By  his  own  merit 
he  stood  on  an  eminence  commanding  admiration. 

But  his  fame  was  not  restricted  by  the  narrow  limits  of  party 
and  sectional  divisions.  Fearless  in  the  expression  of  his  opin 
ions,  and  zealous  in  political  warfare,  yet,  he  enjoyed  to  the  last, 
general  respect.  In  his  own  State,  his  popularity  and  influence 
were  almost  unlimited.  The  sentiment  of  Burke,  in  him,  was 
practically  illustrated.  "  Before  one  is  honored  with  national 
confidence,  he  ought  to  obtain  such  a  degree  of  merit  in  his  own 
neighborhood,  as  may  be  a  pledge  and  security  to  the  public, 
that  he  will  not  abuse  their  trust." 

Mr.  Burrill,  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  attained  the 
first  rank  of  honor  and  esteem.  "  He  reached  that  point  not  by 
the  pliant  arts  of  a  courtier ;  nor  b}r  the  bartering,  shuffling 
chicanery  of  intriguing  politicians.  No  ;  it  was  by  his  candor, 
patriotism,  wisdom  in  council,  his  powers  in  debate ;  the  dili 
gence  and  fidelity  wherewithal  he  kept  the  high  trust  reposed  in 
him  by  his  country.  The  high-minded  men  with  whom  he 
controverted  great  questions  of  national  interests,  beheld  with 

>v*»*te<:!  "»){  /  -^  -  ;M  H> 


44  MEMOIROF 

delight  the  noble  bearings  of  their  adversary,  and  cheered  him 
with  their  confidence,  and  cherished  him  with  their  esteem  and 
friendship." 

In  all  important  debates  he  took  a  chief  part.  Among  the 
questions  of  interest  at  that  period  were  the  Seminole  War,  and 
the  restrictions  on  Slavery.  On  the  former,  he  was  one  of  a 
tribunal  formed  from  the  Senate  with  high  powers.  Through 
the  contest  he  was  so  impartial,  so  firm  in  his  own  sentiments, 
yet  moderate  towards  others ;  that  he  received  the  unquali 
fied  homage  of  his  political  opponents. 

The  extension  of  Slavery  by  the  admission  of  Missouri  into  the 
Union,  was  opposed  by  Mr.  Burrill  with  his  usual  zeal  and 
ability.  He  lived,  however,  to  see  "  Slavery  with  all  his  chains 
oared  across  the  Mississippi."  During  his  whole  career  in  the 
Senate,  he  was  ever  ready  to  advocate  and  explain  great  princi 
ples,  and  to  plead  for  the  diversified  interests  of  his  country. 

Mr.  BurrilPs  style  of  speaking  was  of  the  most  simple  and 
unambitious  character.  He  never  attempted  any  display  in 
oratory.  His  elocution  was  clear,  vigorous,  always  to  the  point. 
He  was  remarkably  happy  in  Uis  application  of  classical  pas 
sages  to  the  subject  in  dispute.  He  had  been  engaged  in  an 
interesting  cause  for  a  poor  woman,  against  one  who  was  blessed 
with  an  abundance  of  riches.  The  jury,  against  law  and 
justice,  returned  a  verdict  in  favor  of  the  rich  man.  Mr.  Burrill 
started  from  his  seat,  and  addressed  the  Court,  in  the  language 
of  Lear : 

" Plate  sin  with  gold, 

And  the  strong  lance  of  Justice  hurtless  breaks; 
Clothe  it  in  rags,  a  pigmy  straw  will  pierce  it." 

A  motion  was  made  in  Court  for  a  continuance  of  a  case 
merely  for  delay.  Mr.  Burrill  opposed  the  motion,  which  was 
refused.  He  began  his  address  to  the  jury  thus :  "  Hamlet,  in 
an  eloquent  soliloquy  on  the  miseries,  and  such  miseries  of  hu 
man  life  as  would  justify  suicide,  mentions  *  the  Law's  delay' " 

In  December  1820,  he  delivered  a  speech  in  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States,  (it  was  his  last)  in  opposition  to  the  admis 
sion  of  Missouri  into  the  confederacy  ;  the  constitution  sent  up 
by  the  people  of  Missouri,  he  believed  was  not  in  accordance 


TRISTAMBURGES.  45 

with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  In  attempting  to 
rise  on  that  memorable  occasion,  to  address  the  Senate,  his 
surtout  was  entangled  by  his  chair,  and  before  he'  could  recover 
from  the  embarrassment,  the  Secretary  had  begun  to  call  the 
yeas  and  nays.  Mr.  Burrill  apologized  to  the  President  for  not 
rising  sooner,  by  stating  the  cause ;  when  Mr.  James  Barbour, 
of  Virginia,  jocosely  observed  across  the  Senate  Chamber,  that 
the  gentleman  ought  to  regard  it  as  an  omen  of  defeat,  and 
yield  to  it  accordingly  :  to  which  Mr.  Burrill  instantly  replied, 
"  I  fear  no  omen,  in  my  country's  cause."  Uit 

Asher  Robbins,  formerly  the  District  Attorney  of  Rhode- 
Island,  and  now  a  Senator  in  Congress  from  that  State,  ranked 
high  as  a  member  of  the  Bar.  Few  men  could  boast  of  his 
classical  attainments,  historical  knowledge,  and  general  excel 
lence  as  a  lawyer.  No  man  could  speak  more  logically  ;  no 
one  present  questions  in  a  more  luminous  view ;  or  command 
greater  interest  in  argument.  Whenever  he  spoke,  the 
Court,  the  Bar  and  the  audience  were  delighted  by  his  clear 
statements  of  controverted  points.  His  sentences  were  so 
equally  poised,  his  premises  so  precisely  stated,  his  conclusions 
so  beautifully  deduced,  and  the  whole  argument  so  finished,  that 
he  was  esteemed  among  the  gifted  men  of  that  day.  In  his 
later  years,  his  mind  has  lost  none  of  its  original  vigor.  The 
great  models  of  Grecian  eloquence  which  he  admires  and  has 
successfully  cultivated,  impart  to  his  speeches,  a  rich,  chaste, 
and  commanding  style  of  oratory.  The  history  and  destiny  of 
Greece  he  still  dwells  upon  with  a  scholar's  enthusiasm,  and  a 
patriot's  hope. 

The  mind  of  Mr.  Robbins  may  be  compared  in  some  respects 
to  that  of  Mr.  Burrill.  Both  of  them  possessed  a  clear  and  ac 
curate  knowledge  of  the  principles  and  details  of  a  case,  before 
they  attempted  to  argue  it.  Hence,  the  jury  were  made  to 
comprehend  important  principles  first ;  minor  points  were  sug 
gested  as  the  greater  were  enforced.  This  was  a  chief  cause  of 
their  success  as  advocates.  They  were  logical,  careful  in  the 
use  of  language,  in  the  construction  of  sentences,  and  in  their 
general  manner  of  speaking.  Mr.  Burrill  however,  acquired 


46  M  E  M  O  I  R    O  F 

greater  fame  as  an  orator,  than  Mr.  Robbins.  He  possessed 
many  natural  advantages  over  Mr.  Robbins.  His  voice  was 
stronger,  and  more  melodious ;  his  gestures  more  graceful,  and 
his  figure  more  commanding.  He  evinced  also  greater  feeling 
in  his  manner.  But,  next  to  a  lucid  arrangement  of  ideas,  they 
resembled  each  other  most,  in  their  promptitude  in  debate. 
Each  would  meet  a  question  at  the  moment,  without  the  least 
apparent  effort,  strip  off  its  drapery,  and  present  it  in  terms  fa 
miliar  to  the  dullest  understanding.  Blessed  with  such  rare 
endowments,  Mr-Robbins's  fame,  as  a  scholar  and  advocate,  is 
duly  appreciated.  The  description  of  the  Roman  orator  con 
cerning  Herodotus  applies  to  him : — "  He  flowed  on,  like  a  quiet 
and  placid  river,  without  a  ripple." 

William  Hunter  was  another  eminent  advocate.  His  repu 
tation  at  the  Bar  was  acquired  by  slow  degrees.  But,  when  his 
talents  were  fully  developed,  few  attracted  more  admiration. 
He  could  not  compare  with  Mr.  Burrill  or  Mr.  Robbins  as  a 
finished  lawyer.  In  the  closet,  however,  he  in  many  respects 
equalled,  and  in  others  excelled  them.  Mr.  Hunter's  learning 
is  rare  and  extensive.  With  general  history,  few  men  are  more 
conversant.  He  is  master  of  the  classics  and  belles  lettres  stu 
dies.  He  has  written  many  eloquent  orations  and  addresses : 
His  declamation  is  splendid ; — words  beautifully  arranged,  an 
imagination  chastened  by  study,  united  with  a  happy  method  of 
illustration,  all  these  give  an  imposing  form  to  his  arguments. 
He  has  not  as  much  logic  as  Mr.  Robbins  ;  but  a  tact  at  elegant 
repartee,  and  often  a  union  of  pleasantry  and  sarcasm.  He  is 
an  impressive  speaker.  His  figure  is  commanding  in  its  propor 
tions,  his  gestures  natural  and  appropriate,  and  his  general 
manner  adapted  to  the  subject  and  the  occasion. 

Samuel  W.  Bridgham  was  admitted  to  practise,  about  the 
same  period  with  Mr.  Burges.  By  his  lofty  integrity,  untiring 
application,  and  patient  research  into  the  principles  of  every 
cause  in  which  he  was  concerned,  he  acquired  and  sustained 
the  reputation  of  an  efficient  counsellor  and  advocate.  His 
practice  was  very  extensive,  and  no  lawyer  was  ever  more  devo 
ted  to  the  interests  of  his  clients.  His  professional  acquirements, 


TRISTAMBURGES.  47 

and  the  amiable  qualities  of  his  heart,  commanded  the  respect 
and  esteem  of  his  brethren.1 

Another  gentleman,  Philip  Crapo,  was  equally  indefatigable 
in  his  professional  pursuits,  and  was  acknowledged  to  be  a 
sound  lawyer,  and  faithful  counsellor.  He  is  still  in  practice. 

Benjamin  Hazard  was  another  eminent  member  of  the  Bar  of 
Rhode-Island.  His  mind  is  strong,  clear,  and  acute.  He  al 
ways  speaks  to  the  point — never  travels  out  of  his  chosen  path, 
to  cull  flowers  of  rhetoric,  or  to  seek  any  ornaments  of  oratory, 
but  plain,  downright  common  sense.  For  a  period  of  nearly 
thirty  years  he  has  been,  and  is  now,  conspicuous  in  the  legis 
lative  annals  of  Rhode-Island.  Perhaps  no  individual  can  be 
named,  who  has  acted  a  more  important  part  in  framing  statute 
laws  ;  and  few  who  excel  him  in  the  primary  qualifications  of 
a  legislator. 

Nathaniel  Searle,  also  attained  a  distinguished  rank  at  the 
Rhode-Island  Bar.  He  loved  Law  as  a  science.  Few  men 
ever  acquired  a  more  perfect  knowledge  of  its  diversified  branches. 
His  latest  years  were  eagerly  devoted  to  the  study.  He  read  a 
volume  of  Reports,  or  an  elementary  work,  with  as  much  avidity, 
as  an  ordinary  reader  would  peruse  an  interesting  novel.  It 
seemed  as  if  he  could  not  gain  sufficient  knowledge.  To  this 
unconquerable  love  of  his  profession  may  be  attributed  the  suc 
cess  which  attended  him  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  his 
life.  In  the  argument  of  a  cause,  he  would  go  from  its  great 
points  to  its  minute  divisions,  as  if  by  intuition.  He  could 
hardly  utter  words  with  sufficient  rapidity  to  convey  his  exuber 
ant  ideas.  Yet  his  arrangement  was  remarkably  clear,  and  so 
was  his  manner  of  illustration.  He  pursued  an  unbroken  chain 
of  reasoning,  from  premises  to  conclusions :  and  he  was  elo 
quent  ;  not  by  the  embellishments  of  fancy,  nor  by  pathetic  ap 
peals,  nor  by  strong  and  impassioned  declamation:  in  all  these  he 
was  deficient.  His  eloquence  was  characterized  by  a  clear,  and 
powerful  style  of  demonstrative  reasoning.  He  could  not  reach 
the  classical  manner  of  Mr.  Robbins,  nor  the  flowing,  elegant 

1  This  gentleman  now  holds  the  honorable  office  of  Mayor  of  the  City  of 
Providence. 


48  M  E  M  O  I  R    O  F,    &  c. 

style  of  Mr.  Hunter.  But,  in  legal  learning,  the  prompt  appli 
cation  of  principles  to  particular  cases,  he  was  their  superior. 
He  was  thoroughly  versed  in  technical  law,  and  acquired  a  rep 
utation  honorable  as  a  counsellor  and  advocate. 

These  were  the  ornaments  of  the  Bar  of  Rhode-Island. 
With  such  men  Mr,  Burges  associated  ;  and,  side  by  side,  they 
contended  for  professional  honors. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Becomes  interested  in  politics. — Delivers  an  oration  on  the  4th  of  July,  1810. 
Is  elected  a  member  of  the  Legislature  of  Rhode-Island. — Succeeds  Mr.  Bur- 
rill  as  Chief  Justice  of  the  State. — His  character  as  a  Judge. — Is  appointed  a 
Professor  in  Brown  University. — Party  Spirit. — Is  elected  a  Member  of  Con 
gress. — Account  of  his  first  Speech. 

The  emoluments  of  the  legal  profession  in  Rhode-Island,  are 
not  so  large  as  in  many  of  the  other  States ;  and  hence  it 
requires  diligence  and  economy  to  obtain  a  livelihood  by  the 
practise  of  Law.  At  this  period,  the  profession  was  there  not 
only  distinguished  for  learning  and  eloquence,  but  there  were 
men  of  excellent  business  habits,  who,  by  their  industry,  acquired 
a  larger  share  of  practice,  than  some  of  their  eminent  contem 
poraries.  Mr.  Burges,  however,  was  fortunate  in  his  earlier 
efforts  at  the  Bar,  and  was  enabled  to  gain  enough  to  meet  the 
ordinary  expenditures.  Although  engaged  in  most  of  the  impor 
tant  causes  that  were  argued,  from  the  period  of  his  admission, 
until  he  abandoned  the  practice  in  1825,  yet,  he  was  never 
compensated  in  any  proportion  for  services  rendered. 

At  this  period,  he  began  to  take  an  active  part  in  political 
discussions.  It  was  about  the  time  of  the  enactment  of  the 
celebrated  Embargo  Law  ;  and  few  men  who  lived,  and  partic 
ipated  in  the  excitement  in  Rhode-Island,  have  forgotten  the 
conspicuous  position  of  Mr.  Burges.  At  the  public  meetings  he 
was  generally  present,  and  at  several  of  them,  he  made  enthu 
siastic  and  successful  addresses.  He  was  usually  requested  to 
draw  resolutions  and  memorials,  upon  the  political  topics  of  the 
day.  They  were  remarkable  for  racy  sentences  and  spirited 
appeals.  But  his  attention  was  not  confined  to  law  and  politics. 
The  ordinary  business  of  the  day  finished,  he  was  accustomed 
to  pursue  scientific  investigations,  elegant  literature,  and  the 


50  M  E  M  0  I  R    O  F 

study  of  the  great  models  of  ancient  oratory.  Besides  his  pro 
fessional  labors,  he  contributed  largely  to  the  periodical  press, 
and  by  many  essays  acquired  considerable  reputation.  He  had 
also  delivered  orations  before  societies  of  different  kinds,  which 
were  highly  commended,  and  widely  circulated.  On  one  occa 
sion  he  was  very  successful — the  Fourth  of  July,  1810.  The 
title  of  this  production,  was,  "Liberty,  Glory,  and  Union  ;"  and 
at  that  day,  as  at  this  more  distant  period,  it  was  well  adapted 
to  inspire  the  loftiest  sentiments  of  patriotism.  He  justly  con 
sidered,  that  no  men  ever  possessed  sterner  principles,  or  a 
stronger  love  of  freedom,  than  our  Pilgrim  ancestors,  and  their 
immediate  descendants.  Magna  Charta,  the  great  book  of 
Liberty,  they  brought  to  this  land  as  to  an  ark  of  safety,  and 
transmitted  it  from  generation  to  generation.  They  left  their 
homes  for  freedom,  crossed  the  wide  ocean,  and  came  among 
mountains,  and  forests,  and  savages ;  and  sent  up  their  prayers 
in  the  great  temple  of  Nature,  amid  the  roar  of  heaving  waves, 
and  whistling  winds,  with  no  covering  but  the  outstretched 
heaven,  and  no  protection  from  calamities  and  privations ;  yet 
they  acquired  a  name  and  a  glory  in  the  wilderness.  "  Had  the 
ocean,"  said  Mr.  B urges,  "foundered  their  little  bark,  while 
bearing  them  over  its  stormy  region  ;  had  the  shores  which 
received  their  weary  and  emaciated  bodies,  been  whitened  by 
their  bones,  rolled  up  by  the  waves,  and  mingled  with  the  sea 
weed ;  or  had  the  God  of  their  fathers  left  them,  poetry  might 
have  learned  some  fragments  of  the  story,  mingled  them  with 
fiction,  and  amused  posterity  with  the  piteous  narrative."  But, 
the  vessel  did  not  perish — the  Pilgrims  were  not  buried  in  the 
deep  sea — the  God  of  their  fathers  did  not  forsake  them.  The 
country  they  visited,  has  become  a  monarch  among  the  nations. 
It  is  the  land  of  freedom,  intelligence  and  religion ;  it  is  the 
birth  place  of  Adams  and  Henry ;  the  resting  place  of  Washing 
ton  and  Franklin. 

We  rejoice  that  the  memory  of  the  Puritans,  is  held  in  such 
reverence  by  their  descendants.  To  them,  we  owe  the  posses 
sion  of  a  delightful  country  ;  institutions  founded  in  wisdom, 
and  reared  under  the  protecting  wing  of  religion ;  habits,  strong 


TRISTAMBURGES.  1 

in  virtue ;  principles,  regulated  by  the  reciprocal  influence  of 
piety,  example,  and  a  common  interest.  A  nation  ought  never  to 
forget  its  founders  or  benefactors.  Posterity  enjoys  their  labors. 
Wherever  a  monument  is  raised  by  their  wisdom,  inscribed  by 
their  own  hands,  that  inscription  should  be  written  deep  on  the 
hearts  of  their  children.  For,  be  it  remembered,  such  monu 
ments  are  the  work  of  time,  and  should  be  preserved,  until 

"  The  dreadful  trumpet,  sounds  the  general  doom." 

At  the  session  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Rhode-Island,  in 
1811,  Mr.  Burges  took  his  seat  as  a  Representative  from  the 
town  of  Providence.  In  the  following  August,  he  was  re- 
elected,  but  the  calls  of  his  profession,  united  with  the  peculiar 
state  of  parties  at  that  time,  obliged  him  to  retire  from  the  Legis 
lature.  From  this  period  until  the  year  1815,  he  pursued  with 
his  wonted  enthusiasm  the  practise  of  Law.  In  the  month  of 
May,  of  that  year,  he  was  appointed  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  to  succeed  Mr.  Burrill,  who  had 
been  elected  a  Senator  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 
This  tribute  to  his  integrity  and  learning  was  the  more  accepta 
ble,  on  account  of  the  peculiar  circumstances  under  which  the 
appointment  was  made.  Mr.  Burrill,  as  we  have  already 
remarked,  was  the  most  eminent  lawyer  in  the  State,  and  few 
men  ever  discharged  judicial  duties  with  such  rare  ability. 
The  people  felt  a  commendable  pride  in  the  Supreme  Court,  in 
its  promptness  and  legal  acquisitions.  The  selection  of  Mr. 
Burges  for  that  high  and  responsible  office,  under  such  circum 
stances,  was,  as  we  have  intimated,  a  signal  mark  of  distinction. 
In  the  discharge  of  its  multiplied  duties  he  was  learned,  prompt, 
courteous ;  commanding  respect  by  his  talents,  and  adorning 
the  juridical  annals  of  the  State.  This  office,  however,  he  held 
but  one  year ;  for  the  party  to  which  he  had  been  opposed 
gained  the  ascendancy,  and  deprived  the  State  of  his  most  val 
uable  services ;  affording  a  striking  illustration,  of  the  folly  and 
insecurity  of  annual  appointments  of  judges. 

He  immediately  resumed  his  practise,  and  year  after  year 
added  to  his  fame  as  an  advocate.  Meantime  a  growing  inter 
est  in  the  science  of  Oratory  and  the  Belles  Lettres  studies  was 


52  MEMOIR    OF 

felt  among  the  friends  and  patrons  of  Brown  University.  The 
instruction  was  not  of  that  valuable  and  practical  kind  which 
was  required,  and  the  Corporation  were  solicitous  for  the  appoint 
ment  of  a  gentleman,  who  would  not  only  perfect  the  students 
in  those  elegant  accomplishments,  but  also  confer  distinction 
upon  the  University.  Mr.  Surges  was  popular  as  an  orator  and 
writer,  and  known  to  be  devoted  to  these  sciences  in  all  their 
branches.  Accordingly,  he  was  selected  as  Professor  of  Oratory 
and  Belles  Lettres,  in  that  ancient  Institution.  The  duties  of 
the  Professorship  he  performed  with  an  enthusiasm  worthy  of 
all  praise.  During  the  entire  period  of  his  services,  the  improve 
ment  was  such  that  the  Commencement  exercises  were  reputed 
to  be  supefior  to  those  of  any  University  in  our  country.  The 
lectures  which  he  delivered  were  extemporaneous,  and  were  fine 
specimens  of  the  art  which  he  was  teaching.  His  election  to 
Congress,  and  a  law  enacted  by  the  Corporation,  obliged  him 
to  abandon  the  Professorship,  after  having  devoted  several  years 
to  its  duties. 

It  may  have  been  understood  from  a  preceding  part  of  our 
narrative,  that  Mr.  Burges  belonged  to  what  was  denominated 
the  Federal  Party.  When  he  was  yet  young  in  life,  and  even 
to  the  time  of  his  appointment  as  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  that  party  was  in  the  ascendancy  in  Rhode-Island. 
Subsequently,  it  was  in  the  minority,  and  its  members  deprived 
of  all  honors  and  emoluments.  The  friends  of  Mr.  Burges  de 
sired  to  see  him  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  that  his 
acknowledged  abilities  might  be  exerted  in  a  wider  sphere,  and 
the  fame  which  he  had  acquired  at  home,  become  more  gene 
rally  known.  But  they  could  not  with  any  confidence  of  suc 
cess,  solicit  the  suffrages  of  the  people,  on  account  of  the  spirit 
of  partizanship.  Prejudices  which  had  survived  for  a  long  pe 
riod,  began  to  abate,  and  the  attention  of  many  was  directed  to 
Mr.  Burges,  as  eminently  qualified  to  discharge  the  duties  of  a 
Representative  in  Congress.  Objections  and  fears,  however, 
still  existed.  Previous  to  1825,  no  opposition  was  made  to  Mr. 
Eddy,  who  had  been  for  many  years  a  member  of  Congress. 
Indeed  it  was  deemed  useless  to  oppose  him ;  because  he  was 


TRISTAMBURGES.  53 

so  extensively  known  and  esteemed  among  the  people  of  Rhode- 
Island.  In  July,  however,  of  that  year,  the  personal  friends  of 
Mr.  Burges  resolved  to  nominate  him  as  a  candidate  for  Con 
gress,  against  Mr.  Eddy.  A  violent  controversy  arose,  which  was 
continued  until  the  day  of  election.  Every  frivolous  objection 
was  urged  against  the  claims  of  Mr.  Burges  ;  but  he  triumphed 
over  all,  and  was  chosen  by  a  considerable  majority. 

In  December,  1825,  he  first  took  his  seat  as  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States.  This  honorable 
trust  he  accepted  witlra  sense  of  deep  responsibility.  He  was 
to  appear  before  his  fellow-citizens  in  a  new,  enlarged,  and 
important  sphere  of  duty  and  usefulness.  He  was  to  represent 
the  interests  of  his  own  constituents,  and  to  support  measures 
conducive  to  the  welfare  of  his  country.  He  was  surrounded 
too,  by  the  talent,  patriotism,  and  experience  of  statesmen,  le 
gislators,  and  politicians.  The  House  of  Representatives  at 
that  period  exhibited  a  rare  collection  of  eminent  individuals. 
Webster1  was  there  ;  and  Sergeant,2  Livingston,3  and  Everett.4 

1  Of  Webster,  how  truly  may  we  say,  he  is 

"  Freedom's  now,  and  Fame's, 
One  of  the  few  immortal  names 
That  were  not  born  to  die." 

2  John  Sergeant  is  reputed  to  be  one  of  the  most  learned  and  accomplished 
constitutional  lawyers  in  the  United  States. 

3  Edward  Livingston  has  been  a  distinguished  citizen  for  many  years.     He 
removed  from  New-York  to  Louisiana,  soon  after  the  admission  of  the  latter 
State  into  the  Union,  and  was  engaged  in  extensive  and  lucrative  practice  at 
the  Bar.     He  was  employed  to  form  a  penal  code  of  laws  and  a  code  of  prison 
discipline.     The  former  is  a  monument  of  wisdom,  justice,  and  mercy  united. 
He  is  ranked  among  the  eminent  statesmen  and  learned  jurists  of  the  age. 

4  Edward  Everett  is  a  remarkable  man.     In  college  he  was  noted  for  his  re 
fined  taste  and  general  scholarship.     At  the  early  age  of  eighteen  he  studied 
Divinity,  and  was  settled  over  one  of  the  largest  and  most  intelligent  congrega 
tions  in  the  city  of  Boston.     As  a  preacher,  he  was  exceedingly  popular  ;  the 
house  was  thronged,  to  hear  his  elegant  sermons,  delivered  in  a  captivating, 
graceful  style  of  oratory.     At  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  was  elected  a  Profes 
sor  in  Harvard  University  ;  which  office  he  accepted,  with  the  condition  that 
he  might  visit  Europe.     Having  travelled  over  the  most  interesting  spots,  par 
ticularly  Greece  and  Rome,  he  returned  with  his  mind  richly  stored,  and  com- 


54  MEMOIR    OF 

It  was  no  common  effort  to  meet  such  men  in  debate,  in  the 
contests  of  patriotism,  and  in  all  measures  to  promote  the  nation 
al  weal.  Mr.  Burges  was  conscious  that  great  obstacles  were 
to  be  surmounted,  that  perseverance,  industry,  and  ambition 
must  be  actively  exercised  in  that  extensive  field  of  intellectual 
trial.  No  man  of  limited  capacity  can  excel  in  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States.  To  be  great  there,  he  must  possess  the  true 
elements  of  greatness.  He  must  love  his  country,  be  familiar 
with  its  institutions,  its  laws,  its  diversified  relations.  He  must 
know  the  policy  of  other  governments,  the  nice  points  about 
which  they  may  dispute,  and  possess  a  union  of  moral,  political, 
and  intellectual  power,  which  will  arm  him  against  opposition  ; 
provide  him  with  resources  to  meet  the  subtle  reasonings  of 
sophistry,  and  enable  him  to  plead  with  a  strong  voice,  for  the 
rights,  liberty,  and  future  glory  of  his  country. 

A  few  weeks  after  Congress  assembled,  a  bill  was  introduced 
in  the  House  of  Representatives,  proposing  that  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  "  shall  hereafter  consist  of  a  Chief 
Justice,  and  nine  associate  Justices  ;  and  if  necessary,  three  ad 
ditional  associate  Justices.  That  the  seventh  Judicial  Circuit 
of  the  United  States  shall  hereafter  consist  of  the  districts  of 
Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois ;  the  eighth  Circuit,  of  the  district 
of  Kentucky  and  Missouri ;  the  ninth  Circuit,  of  the  district  of 
Tennessee  and  Alabama  ;  and  the  tenth  Circuit,  of  the  district 
of  Louisiana  and  Mississippi."  So  much  of  any  act  or  acts  of 
Congress  vesting  in  the  District  Courts  of  the  United  States,  in 
the  districts  of  Indiana,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Mississippi,  Alabama, 

menced  the  duties  of  his  Professorship.  About  this  time,  he  assumed  the 
responsibility  of  Editor  of  the  North  American  Review  ;  and  by  his  intellectu 
al  efforts  in  that  periodical,  elevated  the  character  of  our  literature.  He  has 
probably  written  and  published  a  greater  number  of  orations  and  addresses  than 
any  living  individual.  In  1825,  he  was  chosen  to  represent  the  district  of 
Middlesex,  Massachusetts,  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  In  that  sphere 
he  is  known  for  his  accomplishments  and  integrity.  Whenever  he  speaks  he 
always  commands  attention,  by  his  accurate  statement  of  facts  and  principles, 
his  harmonious  sentences,  and  correct  elocution.  If  men  resembling  him  in 
character,  participated  more  frequently  in  our  public  councils,  they  would  be 
in  higher  repute  for  patriotism,  learning,  and  virtue. 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    BUR  G*E  S.  55 

and  Louisiana,  the  powers  and  jurisdiction  of  Circuit  Courts,  it 
proposed  to  repeal ;  and  provided  that  there  should  be,  thereafter, 
Circuit  Courts  for  said  districts,  to  be  composed  of  the  Justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  assigned  to  the  Circuit,  to  which  such  dis 
tricts  respectively  belonged,  and  of  the  District  Judge  of  said 
district. 

The  resolution  was  subsequently  modified,  so  as  "  to  instruct 
the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary,  so  to  amend  the  bill,  as  to  dis 
charge  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  from  attendance  on 
the  Circuit  Courts  of  the  United  States,  and  further  to  provide 
an  uniform,  efficient  system  for  the  administration  of  justice  in 
the  inferior  courts  of  the  United  States." 

The  terms  of  the  resolution  indicate  that  a  great  question  was 
at  issue  ;  no  less  than  the  Judiciary  of  the  United  States.  The 
President,  in  his  annual  message  to  Congress  in  1825,  adverted 
to  the  subject.  It  was  referred  at  that  session  to  the  appropri 
ate  committee  ;  which,  in  their  report,  discussed  the  reform  re 
quired,  (as  they  said,)  by  the  exigencies  of  the  country,  arid 
proposed  by  bill,  material  alterations  in  the  whole  system. 

The  question  engaged  the  finest  talent  in  the  House.  It  was 
upon  this  topic,  that  Mr.  Burges  made  his  first  speech.1  His 
observations  were  confined  to  the  bill  introduced  by  the  Com 
mittee,  and  the  resolution  before  quoted,  submitted  by  Mr. 
Mercer,  of  Virginia.  This  is  reputed  to  be  one  of  his  happiest 
efforts ;  uniting  judgment,  power  and  eloquence.  Antece 
dent  to  this  period,  little  was  known  of  Mr.  Burges,  beyond  the 
limits  of  his  own  State;  for  the  scenes  of  private  life  had  been 
more  welcome  to  him  than  the  theatre  of  political  contention. 
He  entered  the  House  of  Representatives,  therefore,  with  no 
prepossessions  on  either  side.  By  his  commanding  powers  of 
mind  and  character  only,  could  he  be  known  ;  and  by  them  only 
he  advanced  in  popularity.  When,  on  the  important  subject 
of  the  Judiciary,  he  rose  to  address  the  House,  his  very  appear 
ance  inspired  respect.2  A  man  was  now  speaking,  whose  locks 

1  See  Part  II.  for  this  speech. 

2  The  personal  appearance  of  Mr.  Burges  indicates  a  number  of  years  beyond 
his  real  age. 


56  M  E  M  O  I  R    O  F 

were  whitened  by  many  a  winter's  frost ;  and  from  whose  lips, 
flowed  lessons  of  experience  ;  by  whose  bending  form,  and  me 
lodious  tones,  and  deliberate  enunciation,  and  captivating  man 
ner,  all  minds  were  arrested ;  and  by  whom,  the  attention  of  all 
was  ri vetted,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  his  speech. 
When  he  was  pleading  for  the  independence  of  the  Judiciary, 
that  shield  of  our  national  union,  and  imploring  Congress  not 
to  enter  the  hallowed  temple,  by  any  act  of  profanation  ;  when 
he  urged  them  to  extend  protection  over  the  judicial  edifice, 
"  that  it  may  subserve  the  wants,  and  satisfy  the  requirements 
of  these  increasing  States,  and  the  multiplying  millions  of  this 
great  nation,  until  the  American  Eagle  shall,  with  one  wing, 
winnow  the  breezes  of  the  Atlantic,  and  with  the  other,  hover 
over  the  quiet  waters  of  the  Pacific  ;  until  the  colossal  power  of 
the  Republic,  standing  on  the  lofty  mountains  of  this  continent, 
shall,  with  one  hand,  extend  the  olive  branch  to  the  peaceful 
nations  of  the  earth,  and  with  the  other  wave  the  sword  of  jus 
tice,  over  the  satisfied  and  tranquil  citizens  of  these  widely 
extended  regions," — it  was  then  a  veteran  member  exclaimed — 
"  That  speech  is  one  of  the  greatest  displays  of  eloquence  ever 
made  in  this  hall."  From  that  time  the  reputation  of  Mr. 
Burges  was  acknowledged  in  a  wider  sphere ;  in  his  increasing 
fame,  the  nation  participated.  A  few  days  after  this  address, 
which  was  the  only  one  made  by  him  during  the  session,  he 
was  attacked  by  the  asthma,  to  which  he  is  subject,  and  he 
could  not  perform  any  arduous  labor  for  the  remainder  of  the 
session. 


CHAPTER     V. 

Death  of  Mr.  Burges's  daughter. — He  is  re-elected  to  Congress. — Death  of  hia 
other  daughters. — He  speaks  on  the  Revolutionary  Claims. — Mr.  Mallary's 
Resolution. — He  replies  to  Mr.  McDuffie. — Address  before  the  American 
Institute  of  New -York. — Death  of  his  sou. 

FOR  many  years,  Mr.  Burges's  life  had  flowed  in  a  smooth 
current.  His  family  circle  was  more  and  more  endeared  to 
him,  and  its  treasures  satisfied  his  fondest  hopes.  But  soon 
they  were  to  be  darkened,  and  cut  down,  as  it  were,  in  their 
blossom.  In  1826,  his  second  daughter  died,  in  the  twenty- 
first  year  of  her  age.  Accomplished  in  mind,  beautiful  in  her 
person,  winning  in  her  disposition  and  manners,  a  fond  and 
cherished  object  of  a  father's  care,  and  a  mother's  tenderest 
solicitude,  she  was  taken  in  the  day-spring  of  life,  from  that 
father's  protection,  and  laid  down  to  sleep  in  her  grave.  To 
one  possessed  of  delicate  feelings,  like  Mr.  B urges,  this  event 
could  not  but  make  a  deep  impression.  The  affliction  seemed 
almost  too  poignant  to  be  borne.  In  early  life,  he  had  shared 
the  attendant  ills  of  obscurity  and  disappointment ;  in  later 
years,  he  had  struggled  against  other  misfortunes,  and  they 
were  heroically  surmounted.  But,  when  death  came,  and 
seized  a  beloved  child,  his  spirit  was  bent,  like  the  reed  by  the 
storm. 

In  August,  1827,  he  was  re-elected  a  Member  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  of  the  United  States,  without  opposition. 
This  event  in  his  public  life,  was  followed  by  another  and 
another  domestic  bereavement.  The  following  September,  his 
youngest  daughter  died,  in  her  fourteenth  year.  In  October,  his 
eldest  daughter  died,  in  her  twenty-third  year.  Three  children 
were  thus  in  a  few  weeks  consigned  to  the  tomb.  It  seemed  to 
him,  "  that  nature's  law  was  reversed."  He  thought  that  these 


58  MEMOIROF 

children  would  go  to  the  last  home  of  their  father ;  not  the 
father  to  the  graves  of  his  daughters.  When  time  had  assuaged 
the  bitterness  of  sorrow,  then,  like  a  Christian,  he  was  reconciled; 
and  was  consoled  by  the  reflection,  that  their  pure  spirits  dwelt 
with  a  Father  in  Heaven. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  session  of  1827-8,  Mr.  B urges 
did  not  mingle  in  the  debates  of  the  House.  Bowed  down  by 
affliction,  and  confined  for  weeks  by  sickness,  when  able  to 
attend  in  the  Capitol,  he  could  not  enter  with  his  wonted  vigor 
and  enthusiasm  into  the  many  questions  then  engaging  Con 
gress.  As  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Military  Pensions, 
he  submitted  a  bill,  accompanied  with  an  elaborate  report,  on 
the  claims  of  the  surviving  officers  of  the  revolutionary  army. 
In  January,  he  addressed  the  House  in  explanation  of  the 
report,  and  in  favor  of  some  pecuniary  grant  to  the  venerable 
survivors  of  the  army.  That  speech  is  replete  with  strong 
arguments,  and  beautiful  illustrations.  The  army  which  suffer 
ed  so  much  for  the  liberty  of  human  nature,  he  contended,  ought 
to  receive  from  Congress,  some  remuneration  for  their  services.1 

Mr.  Burges  desired  that  a  law  should  be  enacted  for  the 
revolutionary  soldiers,  more  considerable  in  amount,  and  more 
extensive  in  application,  than  that  which  finally  prevailed.  He 
wished  to  provide  not  only  for  the  living  men  who  had  fought 
during  the  war,  but  also  for  the  widows  of  such  as  had  died 
before  their  country  had  given  them  any  such  testimonials  of 
gratitude. 

A  resolution  was  introduced  at  this  session,  1827-8,  by  Mr. 
Mallary,  of  Vermont,  to  amend  the  bill  on  Wool  and  Woollens. 
The  question,  as  presented  to  the  House,  involved  the  great 
Woollen  trade  of  the  United  States.  Familiar  with  its  princi 
ples  and  details,  and  knowing  its  importance  to  every  section  of 
the  country,  Mr.  Burges  spoke  on  the  resolution.  The  debate 
was  continued  with  great  ability,  for  many  weeks.  In  its  pro 
gress,  there  was  a  sharp  encounter  between  himself  and  Mr. 
McDuffie  of  South  Carolina,  who  came  upon  Mr.  Burges 
without  warning.  The  latter  knew  not,  that  his  antagonist 

1  See  Part  II. 


T  R  I<S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  59 

had  taken  the  least  exception  to  any  remarks  of  his,  on  Mr. 
Mallary's  resolution.  Mr.  McDuffie  arose  with  great  self-pos 
session,  and  called  upon  the  reporters  "  to  mark  him,  and  write 
his  speech  in  their  books  ;"  and  then  poured  upon  Mr.  Burges 
a  storm  of  invective,  which  turned  every  eye  towards  him. 
Mr.  Burges  listened  with  surprise  and  astonishment,  but  not 
with  impatience ;  and  if  the  Speaker  had  permitted  him  to 
continue,  Mr.  McDuffie  would  have  felt  yet  deeper  mortifi 
cation. 

Mr.  Burges  said  : — "  I  claim  the  right  to  reply  to  what  the 
gentleman  from  South  Carolina  has  been  permitted  to  allege 
against  me.  The  pamphlet  so  much  abused  by  that  gentle 
man,  is  the  speech  which  I  began  here  in  my  place,  and  which, 
had  it  not  been  for  want  of  health,  I  should  have  finished.  It 
was  then  written.  It  was  spoken,  so  far  as  it  was  spoken,  as  it 
was  written,  except  the  reply  to  the  Chairman,  as  it  is  now 
published.  I  did  then,  as  I  do  now,  denounce  the  honorable 
gentleman  for  a  gross  plagiarism  on  the  Boston  Report.  It  was 
then  done  in  his  presence.  I  would  not  rob  the  gentleman  of 
any  of  his  claims  to  originality.  Since  he  came  into  public  life, 
he  has  certainly  discovered  a  mind  not  altogether  barren ;  and 
can  call  up  a  numerous  family  of  political  sophisms,  legitimately, 
and  in  all  their  features,  peculiarly  his  own.  More  than  this 
I  cannot  allow  him.  His  teeming  genius  could  never  have 
produced  '  A  Report  on  the  State  of  the  Finances,'  had  there 
never  been  any  intercourse  between  him  and  the  masculine 
absurdity  of  the  Boston  Report.  The  gentleman  accuses  me  of 
making  this  accusation  against  him  insidiously.  It  is  no  part 
of  my  character  to  do  so ;  and  the  gentleman  knows  that  his 
allegation  has  no  connexion  with  the  fact.  I  said  it  openly  on 
this  floor.  I  have  put  it  in  print,  and  I  sent  a  printed  copy  of 
the  whole  speech  to  him,  for  his  perusal.  Had  the  present 
effusion  of  his  genius  and  gentlemanly  accomplishments,  been 
poured  out  upon  me  then,  I  should  have  looked  for  the  source 
of  it,  in  the  fiery  and  combustible  elements  of  his  nature.  The 
generously  passionate  temper  of  a  Southern  clime,  can  furnish 
no  such  apology  for  that  cautious  malevolence,  which  lies  in 


60 


MEMOIR    O  F 


wait  ten  days  and  nights  ;  and  then  suddenly  uncoils  and  aims 
her  fangs  at  the  unsuspecting  adversary.  The  gentleman  says 
I  have  some  character  for  learning.  I  thank  his  courtesy  ;  but 
would  have  preferred  the  approbation  of  a  less  questionable 
authority.  Whatsoever  progress  he  may  have  made  in  science 
or  letters,  he  seems  not  to  have  adopted  the  style  of  speaking, 
common  to  scholars  and  gentlemen.  He  who  could  use  terms 
of  vulgar  abuse,  such  as  he  has  used  to  me,  before  this  House, 
and  this  nation,  places  himself  below  the  reach  of  any  rebuke 
from  my  tongue." 

The  Speaker  here  interposed,  and  Mr.  Burges  took  his  seat. 
Mr.  McDuffie  again  rose,  and  repeated  his  attack.  When  he 
had  concluded,  Mr.  Burges  took  the  floor,  and  replied  : 

"  I  know  not  if  c  the  grave  rebuke,  severe  in  youthful  beauty,' 
of  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  should  seal  my  lips. 
Had  his  rude  and  vulgar  assault,  any  of  the  ordinary  apologies 
of  suddenly  excited  and  uncontrolable  anger,  I  could  pass  it  by, 
like  any  other  freak  of  passionate  boyhood.  He  has  carefully 
removed  all  the  steps  by  which  he  descended,  and  rendered  it 
impossible  for  excuse  or  palliation  to  follow  him.  The  words 
uttered  by  me  were  uttered  here  in  my  place,  and  exactly  as 
they  were  then  written,  and  are  now  printed.  I  then  accused  him 
of  the  plagiarism  which  has  given  him  so  much  annoyance. 
He  neither  interrupted,  nor  gave  me  any  reply.  This  was  on 
the  29th  of  March.  He  daily  met  me  with  that  kind  of  court 
esy  which  the  nature  of  our  very  slight  acquaintance  authorized. 
Why  not  rebuke  me  then,  when  the  offence  was  fresh  upon  me  1 
c  He  reserved  himself,'  he  says,  *  till  this  time.'  For  ten  days,  the 
honorable  gentleman  has  been  breathing  over  the  embers  of  his 
smouldering  malice ;  and  enkindling  the  sooty  magazine  of  a 
heart  never  remarkable  for  much  generosity  of  purpose,  or 
kindliness  of  movement.  He  has  doubtless  spent  sundry  hours 
of  this  time,  in  the  pleasant  exercise  of  selecting  suitable  phrases 
wherein  to  set  his  bright  and  sparkling  thoughts.  This  parade 
of  preparation  has  been  made,  and  the  stenographers  called  to 
*  mark  him,  and  write  his  speech  in  their  book,'  for  the  very 
valiant  purpose  of  abusing  f  a  very  old  man.'  He  says  I  have 


TRISTAMBURGES.  61 

stated  '  falsehoods  and  uttered  slanders,'  concerning  his  author 
ship  of  his  Report  on  the  Finances.  Is  this  the  result  of  all  his 
parade  and  (  dreadful  note  of  preparation  V  Why,  Sir,  a  sturdy 
beggar,  had  he  been  equally  regardless  of  decency,  might  have 
said  the  same  things  extempore.  He  is  my  elder  in  parlia 
mentary  life  ;  but  I  cannot  persuade  myself  into  any  imitation 
of  his  rules  of  decorum,  or  his  manner  of  practising  them  in 
debate,  either  at  other  times  or  on  this  occasion.  It  would,  and 
the  gentleman  certainly  knows  it,  be  very  unbecoming  in  me,  to 
say  what  might  be  very  appropriately  said  of  him.  The  gen 
tleman  seems  to  claim  the  whole  right  to  himself.  Few  men 
would,  I  believe,  pirate  upon  this  property.  The  fee  simple  of 
the  honorable  gentleman,  in  his  principles,  opinions,  and 
thoughts,  together  with  his  own  manner  of  expressing  them, 
will  never  be  feloniously  invaded  by  any  person  c  of  sound  mind, 
and  having  the  fear  of  God  before  his  eyes.'  He  says,  *  what 
he  is,  he  is  himself.'  Why,  Sir,  I  do  not  question  this.  He  is 
himself;  and  neither  he,  or  any  other  person  will  ever  mistake 
him  for  anybody  else.  The  honorable  gentleman  need  not  fear 
being  lost  in  the  ordinary  samples  of  existence.  His  individu 
ality  is  secure.  It  is  very  probable  there  is  but  this  one  specimen 
in  the  whole  mass  of  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical  being. 
With  what  other  thing  could  he  be  confounded  1  Men  would 
as  soon  mistake  the  fiery  elements,  angry  action,  and  ferocious 
visage  of  a  wild-cat,  for  the  gentle  blood  and  peaceful  counte 
nance  of  the  lamb. 

"  The  gentleman  alleges  against  me,  gross  ignorance  of  ordi 
nary  books  on  political  economy.  Adam  Smith  has,  I  know, 
in  one  short  passage,  asserted,  that  impost  enables  the  home 
producer  to  add  the  amount  of  such  impost  to  the  price  of  his 
products  of  the  same  kind.  This  is  but  a  dictum,  and  all  the 
reasoning  of  his  system  confutes  it,  as  a  general  principle. — 
Ricardo  has  expressly  stated,  that  when  impost  amounts  to  pro 
tection,  and  gives  the  home  market  to  the  home  products,  do 
mestic  competition  reduces  the  market  to  the  natural  price.  The 
gentleman  has,  in  his  Report,  stated  that  all  impost  is  a  tax  on 
consumption.  Was  the  gentleman  ignorant  of  the  great  prin- 


6  MEMOIROF 

ciple  of  these  books  ;  or  did  he,  knowingly,  misstate  their  doc 
trines  ?  I  cannot  believe  he  can  shelter  himself  behind  a  want 
of  knowledge. 

"  In  the  speech  which  I  have  published,  the  true  principles  of 
the  laws  of  imposts  for  revenue,  encouragement,  and  protection, 
are  stated  and  illustrated.  Impost  operates  as  encouragement, 
when  it  raises  the  price  of  the  imported  product,  and  enables  the 
domestic  producer  to  sell  his  product,  being  of  equal  quality,  at 
the  same  price,  in  the  same  market.  When  impost  amounts  to 
protection,  and  gives  the  domestic  market  to  the  domestic  pro 
duct,  importation  ceases,  revenue  cease?,  and  domestic  compe 
tition  reduces  price  to  the  cost  of  producing  and  bringing  the 
domestic  product  to  market.  Cotton  wool,  is  perfectly  protected. 
It  has  the  whole  domestic  market.  Impost  stands  at  three 
cents  a  pound.  Does  the  producer  receive  of  the  consumer  of 
cotton,  this  amount  of  impost  1  If  the  impost  were  one  hundred 
instead  of  three  cents,  would  cotton  be  any  dearer  1  What  pro 
duct  in  the  United  States,  perfectly  protected,  is  dearer,  for  the 
amount  of  impost  by  which  it  is  protected]  Are  shoes,  boots, 
nails,  gunpowder,  cabinet  ware,  carriages,  cotton  cloths  1  I  call 
on  any  gentleman  to  name  the  article  which  is  enhanced  in 
price,  by  one  cent,  for  all  the  impost  for  protection. 

"  If  no  protected  article  be  clearer,  from  being  protected  by 
impost,  how  is  the  price  enhanced  by  such  impost  for  protection  ? 
If  it  be  not  dearer,  how  is  it  a  tax  on  consumption  1  This  is  the 
principle  of  that  speech,  and  it  sweeps  from  under  the  gentleman 
all  foundation  for  his  '  Report  on  the  state  of  the  Finances.'  The 
doctrine  is  absurd  that  impost  for  protection  is  a  tax  on  con 
sumption.  I  put  it  to  the  conscience  of  the  gentleman,  how, 
knowing  these  truths,  he  dares  thus  to  sin  against  the  light  of 
his  own  rnind  ?  How  he  dared  to  grasp  that  smouldering  and 
half-extinguished  fire-brand,  and  whirling  it  in  the  air  to  gather 
flame,  toss  the  blazing  torch  into  all  that  is  combustible  in  this 
nation?  If  I  might,  without  impropriety,  I  would  request  gen 
tlemen  to  read  that  speech.  I  have  there  explained  where  im 
post  is  encouragement  and  a  tax  on  consumption.  Sugar  and 
molasses  are  now  almost  the  only  products  under  such  imposts. 


TRISTAMBURGES.  63 

It  was  wisely  laid  upon  them  to  the  intent,  that  these  incipient 
productions  might  be  fostered,  and  finally,  supply  the  whole 
market.  Domestic  sugar  and  molasses  must  then,  if  a  small 
advance  in  impost  shall  give  protection  to  the  market,  supply 
the  whole  consumption,  and  be  sold  as  cheap  as  they  are  in 
Cuba.  These  are  the  doctrines  of  that  speech,  and  I  did  intend 
it  to  counteract  the  baneful  effect  of  the  Report  of  that  gentleman. 
I  have  said  he  has  possessed  himself  of  it  by  plagiarism.  It  is 
true.  The  character  will  be  fixed  upon  him  by  the  nation. 
Boston  is  entitled  to  the  original  honors  of  this  political  absurdity. 

"When  I  am  called  upon  by  a  gentleman  of  his  attempted 
standing  in  this  House,  I  can  only  wish  that  I  could  control  that 
fund  of  cheap  expenditure  to  the  gentleman,  by  which  he  has 
scattered  six  thousand  of  these  empoisoned  political  tracts,  and 
mingled  them  with  the  political  aliment  of  the  nation.  I  would 
then,  and  I  will  now,  spread  the  antidote  co-extensively  with 
the  poison. 

"  He  has  said,  I  aimed  at  political  effect.  So  indeed  I  did. 
And  further,  I  do  believe,  that  if  this  administration  should  be 
followed  by  another,  governed  by  the  doctrines  of  that  Report, 
and  abandoning  the  policy  of  the  American  System,  the  inde 
pendence  of  these  United'States  will  soon  be  prostrated.  In 
that  event,  he  who  should  have  effected  that  catastrophe,  by  a 
propagation  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Report  on  the  state  of  the 
Finances,  will  have  entitled  himself  to  an  immortality  of  infamy, 
by  far  more  execrable  than  that  of  him  who  burned  the  temple 
of  Ephesus." 

[Here  Mr.  B urges  was  directed  to  take  his  seat — which  he 
did—saying,  however :] 

"Sir,  I  claim  my  right  of  reply.  I  have  but  just  begun — I 
do  not  resign  my  right  to  disabuse  myself  of  this  rude  allegation 
from  the  gentleman — I  may  be  compelled  to  silence  ;  but  not  to 
an  acknowledgement  of  the  justice  of  such  compulsion." 

The  American  Institute  of  the  City  of  New-York,  invited 
Mr.  B  urges  to  deliver  an  address  at  their  Annual  Fair.  The 
request  was  accompanied  by  expressions  of  merited  respect  for 
his  efforts  in  aid  of  a  national  system  of  protection  and  improve- 


64  MEMOIROF 

inent.  As  he  observed  in  the  beginning  of  the  Address,  the 
principles  of  the  Institute  embrace  every  section  of  our  country  ; 
and  like  the  dew  from  Heaven,  distil  their  genial  influence  upon 
every  field,  and  invite  the  labor  of  every  interest  and  all  classes 
of  American  society.  When,  therefore,  Mr.  Burges  recollected 
those  principles,  so  dear  and  invaluable  ;  when  he  remembered 
that  he  was  called  to  speak  in  the  city,  where  enterprize  and 
industry  are  unrivalled ;  where  are  to  be  seen  monuments  of 
wealth  and  taste ;  he  justly  considered  Labor  an  appropriate 
theme  of  discourse,  on  such  an  occasion,  before  a  society  pur 
posely  united  for  its  encouragement. 

Whoever  looks  with  the  eye  of  a  statesman,  and  the  hope  of 
a  patriot,  at  the  operations  of  labor,  will  acknowledge  it  to  be  a 
great  instrument  of  wealth  and  power.  It  is  the  purpose  of  this 
Address,  to  examine  Labor  either  as  abandoned  for  other  pur 
suits,  by  ancient  nations ;  or  cherished  as  the  only  source  of 
subsistence,  by  modern  communities  ;  to  look  into  the  theories 
of  some  philosophers  concerning  its  nature  and  powers,  and  to 
discuss  some  objections  to  that  encouragement  given  to  it,  by 
the  habits  and  the  laws  of  our  own  country. 

That  country,  is  a  distinguished  example  of  a  nation  estab 
lished  on  the  principles  of  Labor ;  and  illustrates  more  succes- 
fully  than  any  other,  the  power  and  progress  of  cultivation.  Its 
founders  really  and  practically  believed,  that  Labor  alone  gave 
man  a  title  to  bread.  They  acted  upon  the  principle,  that  no 
nation  could  be  pure  in  morals,  elevated  in  piety,  prosperous  and 
perpetual,  unless  its  subsistence,  and  the  sources  of  its  prosperity 
were  derived  from  Labor.  Looking  back  upon  the  nations  of 
the  earth,  he  inquires,  why  they  have  arisen,  flourished,  decayed, 
and  passed  out  of  existence  1  Not  because  they  were  nations  ; 
for  all  contain  the  seminal  principles  of  youth,  decay,  and  dis 
solution  ;  but  because  they  were  begun  by  violence,  extended 
by  war,  and  fed  and  sustained  by  plunder. 

"Why,  it  may  be  asked,  were  men  and  nations,  so  long 
deluded  by  the  charms  of  illegitimate  wealth,  and  the  splendor 
of  meretricious  glory  ]  When  one  of  those  conquering  nations 
had,  like  a  baleful  meteor,  blazed  on  the  world,  and  been  put 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  C  E  S.  65 

out ;  why  did  not  men  believe,  or  imagine,  or  so  much  as  dream 
that  each  flaming  successor  might  in  the  same  manner  be 
extinguished  1  The  answer  must  be  found  in  ourselves.  Man 
is  not  more  certainly  born  to  a  frail  and  finite  existence  on  earth, 
than  to  a  heritage  of  passions ;  which,  if  not  regulated  by 
instruction  and  prudence,  will  tyrannize  over  his  destinies.  In 
the  undisciplined  man,  you  will  find  insatiable  love  of  power, 
boundless  ambition,  anxious  solicitude  for  perilous  enterprize, 
and  daring  adventure  ;  and  all  these  inflamed  by  a  passion  for 
notoriety  and  the  hope  of  doing"  deeds  which  shall  fill  the  eye 
and  move  the  tongue  of  the  world.  These  passions  have  made 
men,  heroes,  chieftains,  conquerors  ;  while  those  who  could  be 
moved  by  nothing  better,  have  been  lured  to  their  standard, 
some  by  the  mere  scent  of  blood,  and  others  in  the  hope  of  plun 
der.  One  race  of  such  men  produces  another.  Alexander 
worshipped  on  the  tomb  of  Achilles.  Ceesar  wept  over  the 
statue  of  Alexander.  What  were  history,  poetry,  painting, 
sculpture  1  The  monuments  of  conquest.  Subjugated  commu 
nities  ceased  to  exist,  and  were  forgotten.  Nations  were  with 
out  experience,  concerning  the  fate  of  those  who  had  gone 
before  them ;  and  if  a  knowledge  of  that  fate  reached  their 
leaders,  it  did  but  place  more  peril  in  their  paths,  and  enhanced 
the  glory  of  achievement :  £  Short  be  my  date,  if  deathless  my 
renown.' 

"  If,  from  necessity,  or  any  other  cause,  any  thing  like  moral 
principle  were  found  in  the  municipal  relations  of  men,  no  such 
regulation  had  found  its  way  into  any  code  of  nations.  The 
teachings  of  wisdom,  and  the  voice  of  inspiration,  were  alike  un 
heeded  by  them.  'Sic  utere  tua,  ut  non  alienum  LaedasJ  found  no 
place  even  in  the  laws  of  Christian  nations,  until  many  centu 
ries  after  the  Saviour  of  the  World  had  promulgated  this  same 
principle  in  the  schools  of  Palestine.  If,  during  the  last  eigh 
teen  centuries,  the  condition  of  nations  is  ameliorated,  it  is  not 
because  men,  admonished  by  experience,  have  been  deterred 
from  violence  by  the  fate  of  communities  which  had  flourished 
by  plunder,  and  been  destroyed  by  reprisal. 


66  MEMOIROF 

"  What  then  produced  the  wonderful  difference  between  the 
ancient  and  modern  states  and  kingdoms?  What  wrought 
Europe  and  the  New  Wrorld  into  a  community  of  nations  ?  What 
are  the  limits  of  this  great  family  ?  The  creed  of  Christianity  ; 
the  parental  theology,  the  hallowed  morals  of  Him  who,  though 
illustriously  the  Son  of  the  Most  High  ;  yet  was  on  earth  the 
meek  and  lowly  messenger  of  peace  and  good  will  to  nations. 
I  have  said  this  for  no  purpose  of  mingling  sacred  with  secular 
things;  but  with  the  intention,  after  a  notice  of  the  great 
changes  wrought  in  the  character  of  nations,  to  state  honestly 
the  true  philosophical  cause  of  them.  '  Do  unto  others  as  ye 
would  that  they  should  do  unto  you.'  '  He  who  takes  the  sword, 
shall  perish  by  the  sword.'  These  two  divine  aphorisms  have, 
through  the  silent  lapse  of  ages,  come  to  the  hearing  of  nations, 
and  changed  their  character  from  piracy  and  plunder,  to  labor 
and  economy  ;  from  a  condition  of  hostility,  to  a  state  of  peace 
and  brotherhood,  uniting  under  all  their  divers  tongues  in  one 
common  canon  of  petition  to  '  Our  Father  in  Heaven.'  The 
great  code  of  nations  has  thus  been  settled  ;  and  by  all  Christian 
communities  established  on  the  principles  of  Christian  recipro 
city.  By  this  code,  conquest  for  acquisition  is  not  admitted  ; 
plunder  for  subsistence,  whether  by  many  or  few,  is  alike  the 
crime  of  the  robber  or  the  pirate  ;  slavery,  the  last  perquisite  of 
iron  ages,  war  and  despotism,  have  been  gradually  relinquished, 
and  will  be  entirely  removed  from  among  all  Christian  people, 
whenever  wisdom,  humanity,  and  patriotism,  can  effect  the  re 
moval,  without  peril  to  the  peace  of  nations,  or  violence  to  the 
rules  of  private  justice.  If  these  principles  should  extend,  and 
what  shall  prevent  their  extension  1  if  they  do  extend  ;  and  will 
they  not,  when  the  tongues,  and  pens,  and  types  of  so  many 
millions  are  hourly  laboring  to  pour  them  into  the  ear,  or  spread 
them  before  the  eye  of  all  nations  ?  and  if  these  many  and 
mighty  efforts  may  be  successful,  the  trade  of  violence  shall 
cease  under  the  whole  heaven  ;  conquerors,  if  any  arise,  be 
chased  like  beasts  of  prey  from  the  face  of  the  earth  ;  the  world, 
so  long  a  seat  of  war,  conquest,  slavery,  and  despotism,  shall  be 
made  the  dwelling-place  of  peace,  freedom,  and  prosperity,  un- 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  67 

cler  tlie  dominion  of  that  righteousness  which  not  only  exalts 
but  preserves  nations.  Men  are  now  gradually,  in  submission 
to  the  will  of  the  Creator,  coming  into  a  condition  of  Labor. 
They  have  heard  the  voice  of  inspiration,  read  the  record  of  ex 
perience,  and  learned  the  laws  of  the  Eternal.  By  these,  human 
subsistence  is  united  to  human  labor.  In  ages  gone  by,  they 
have  been  separated  by  fraud  and  violence  ;  but  when  our 
whole  race,  looking  to  the  infinite  source  of  their  existence,  shall, 
as  with  one  voice,  say,  '  Thy  will  he  done,'  the  era  of  violence 
shall  terminate,  and  the  age  of  labor  be  universally  established." 

A  class  of  philosophers  would  persuade. us,  that  much  of 
the  labor  of  others,  and  especially  that  of  instruction,  is  mere 
legendary  idleness,  and  of  no  value  or  utility.  Mr.  Burges 
asks,  if  it  is  more  laborious  to  till  the  field,  than  to  toil  in  the 
acquisition  and  diffusion  of  science;  to  exercise  the  skill  of 
handicraft,  than  to  answer  the  requisitions  of  professional  labor? 
Those  who  teach  our  infancy,  those  who  instruct  us  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave  ;  the  schoolmaster  ;  the  divine.  "Pause  a 
moment ;  what  were  our  nature  without  these  auxiliaries  of 
the  best  acquisitions  of  this  world,  and  the  brightest  hopes  of 
another  ?  Would  you  dismiss  them  from  their  labors  ?  Rather 
stop  the  plough,  unbend  the  sail,  throw  the  loom  out  of  gear. 
Better  than  live  without  letters,  morals,  religion,  that  this  were 
the  last,  human  generation.  Let  the  shade  of  the  forest  again 
touch  the  margin  of  the  ocean  ;  arid  wild  beasts  once  more  prey 
or  browse  over  every  acre  of  the  New  World." 

After  a  general  discussion  of  the  principles  and  details  of  this 
subject — that  is,  the  fountain  of  all  national  prosperity,  the  as 
surance  given  by  the  laws,  that  every  citizen  shall  enjoy  the 
emolument  of  his  own  labor — the  Address  concludes  with  these 
sentiments :  "  That  when  vain  ambition  and  lawless  avarice 
can  no  longer  wage  war,  or  lure  nations  to  plunder;  and  time 
shall  have  consumed  the  last  marble  marked  with  the  name  of 
a  conqueror,  then,  communities  will  have  been  counselled  in  the 
great  doctrines  of  self-subsistence,  and  men  become  the  true 
friends  of  their  race.  Nations,  formed  and  sustained  on  the 
principles  of  Labor,  will  secure  the  establishment  of  justice,  fa- 


68  M  E  M  O  I  K    OF,    &c. 

dlitate  the  great  mysteries  of  human  toil,  illustrate  science,  per 
fect  arts,  disseminate  letters,  purify  morals,  elevate  piety." 
Read  the  history  of  those  nations,  and  on  their  brightest  page 
will  be  written  an  inscription,  as  beautiful  as  that  on  the  monu 
ment  which  tells  the  traveller,  of  departed  glory." 

In  the  month  of  September,  1828,  death  again  visited  his 
family  circle.  His  eldest  son,  Welcome  Arnold,  died  in  the 
twenty-eighth  year  of  his  age.  He  graduated  at  Brown  Univer 
sity,  received  the  first  honors  of  his  class,  and  entered  his  father's 
office  to  pursue  the  study  of  Law.  Having  finished  the  usual 
preparatory  course,  he  was  admitted  to  practice  in  Rhode-Island. 
To  a  fine  mind,  were  united  extensive  classical  accomplish 
ments,  a  chastened  taste  in  polite  literature,  and  judgment 
matured  beyond  his  years.  As  a  lawyer,  he  was  exact  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  principles  of  his  profession  ;  courteous,  and 
patient  in  application.  As  an  advocate,  he  was  remarkably 
successful,  for  one  so  young.  He  was  the  pride  of  his  father, 
who  had  labored  with  assiduity  to  perfect  his  professional  edu 
cation  ;  but  while  that  father  was  anticipating  the  fruits  of  his 
care,  how  little  did  he  know  of  the  secrets  of  futurity. 

In  the  brief  period  of  fourteen  months,  Mr.  Burges  was  called 
to  mourn  over  the  graves  of  four  children  ;  taken  from  him  in 
the  morning  of  life,  full  of  promise  and  joy.  Well  might  he 
exclaim,  "  Who  knows  the  fate  of  his  children's  bones  ?  Who 
hath  the  oracle  of  their  ashes,  and  whither  are  they  to  be  scat 
tered  1" 


CHAPTER    VI. 

The  claim  of  M.  D'Auterive. — The  debate  upon  it. — Mr.  Burgea's  Speech- 
Extracts. 

A  BILL  was  before  the  House  of  Representatives  in  January, 
1829,  for  the  relief  of  Marigny  D'Auterive,  together  with  an 
amendment  proposed  by  a  member  from  Louisiana,  (Mr.  Gur- 
ley,)  "  to  pay  for  injury  done  to  a  slave,  and  for  medical  attend 
ance  upon  him." 

The  claimant  asked  from  the  United  States,  ten  hundred  and 
ninety-four  dollars.  Of  this  sum,  seven  hundred  and  fifty-five 
dollars  had  been  allowed  by  the  Committee,  and  the  balance 
rejected.  Twenty -four  dollars  of  this  balance,  was  the  amount 
of  a  private  surgeon's  bill,  for  attending  and  curing  the  claim 
ant's  slave  "  Warwick,"  who  was  wounded  while  working  in 
the  trenches  before  New-Orleans,  on  the  first  of  January,  1815. 
The  second  item  of  the  balance  was  fifteen  dollars,  for  lost  time, 
being  one  month,  while  Warwick  was  under  the  care  of  the 
surgeon.  Two  hundred  dollars,  the  last  item  in  the  account, 
was  claimed,  because  the  slave  was  made  so  much  less  valuable 
by  his  wounds.  The  Committee  on  Claims  rejected  the  sur 
geon's  bill;  because,  all  persons  wounded  in  the  service,  if  carried 
to  the  army  hospital,  are  attended  and  cured,  if  they  can  be 
cured,  by  regular  surgeons,  without  any  private  expense  ;  but 
all  who  choose  not  to  go  there,  when  in  their  power,  must  be 
attended  and  cured  at  their  own  charge.  The  other  items  were 
rejected,  because  such  persons,  have  never  been  considered  as 
property  in  such  cases,  to  be  paid  for  by  the  United  States. 

The  amendment  offered  by  the  member  from  Louisiana,  re 
stored  these  disallowed  items  to  the  account.  Although  the  sum 
in  question  was  exceedingly  small,  yet  the  principles  directly 
involved,  and  those  introduced  into  the  debate,  were  perilous  to 


70  MEMOIR    OF 

the  repose  and  liberties  of  the  country.  By  sustaining  the 
amendment,  the  House  would  have  decided,  that  slaves  are 
property  ;  and  then  in  such  cases  as  the  one  under  considera 
tion,  to  be  paid  for  by  the  United  States. 

From  this  brief  statement  of  the  question,  and  the  various 
points  made  by  members  in  debate,  the  discussion  assumed  an 
interesting,  yet  alarming  tendency;  and  engaged  the  most 
prominent  speakers  from  all  sections  of  the  country.  Many 
lamented  the  wide  range  of  the  debate,  and  all,  the  spirit  mani 
fested  in  stirring  up  a  question,  which,  it  was  feared,  might,  at 
no  distant  period,  lead  to  consequences  fatal  to  our  national  con 
federacy.  As  such  perilous  principles  were  involved,  it  is  not 
singular  that  an  excitement  was  manifested  among  members. 
The  South  had  been  violent ;  the  North  endeavored  to  assuage 
the  angry  elements,  by  argument  and  persuasion.  Its  power 
and  eloquence  were  nearly  expended  :  it  was  then  Mr.  Burges 
spoke,  commanding  general  attention  ;  and  invoked  the  spirit 
of  patriotism,  to  come  over  the  House  and  dwell  there,  that  the 
sanctuary  of  Freedom  might  be  protected. 

Previous  to  this  time,  Mr.  Burges  had  spoken  but  twice  on 
any  important  question.  His  health  had  been  exceedingly  del 
icate  ;  and  for  the  greater  part  of  the  former  session,  he  had  been 
confined  to  his  chamber.  Added  to  which,  his  domestic  afflic 
tions  seemed  to  paralyze  mental  effort,  and  to  make  him  feel  in 
different  to  fame,  and  the  pursuits  of  ambition.  It  is  true,  he 
had  spoken  on  the  Judiciary  Bill.  He  had  pleaded,  too,  for  the 
survivors  of  the  revolutionary  army — the  venerable  band  who 
won  their  glory  in  the  stormy  years  of  war:  he  had  implored  that 
the  protecting  arm  of  Government,  might,  "  like  the  bright  bow 
of  Heaven,"  visit  them  with  tokens  of  relief — that  their  descend 
ants  for  whom  was  established  a  broad  basis  of  independence, 
"might  give  them  one  look  of  kindness,  and  pour  one  beam  of 
gladness  on  the  melancholy  twilight  of  their  days." 

But  this  was  the  first  time,  except  on  the  questions  referred 
to,  that  he  had  displayed  his  strong  intellect  in  debate.  Mem 
bers  who  had  heard  him  on  either  of  those  occasions,  expressed 
confidence  in  his  abilities.  When,  however,  he  concluded  tlie 


TRISTAMBURGES.  71 

argument  on  the  claim  of  Marigny  D'Auterive,  admiration  per 
vaded  the  whole  assembly.  Although  men  of  commanding 
talents  and  moral  influence,  mingled  in  the  deliberations  of  that 
Congress,  yet,  Mr.  B urges  was  among  the  first  in  the  graces  of 
oratory,  the  science  of  government,  varied  learning,  and  firm, 
unyielding  patriotism. 

The  whole  duty  of  a  member  of  Congress  in  relation  to  pri 
vate  claims  is,  to  hear  patiently,  and  decide  justly.  The  Report 
of  the  Committee,  the  explanations  of  the  Chairman,  and  the 
discussions  on  the  part  of  members  whose  constituents  are  im 
mediately  interested  in  the  claim,  furnish  all  the  facts  and  evi 
dence  necessary  for  a  correct  decision.  In  relation,  however,  to 
the  claim  of  Marigny  D'Auterive,  the  amendment  offered  by 
Mr.  Gurley  introduced  a  new  question,  one  which  few  who 
took  part  in  important  debates,  could  refuse  to  discuss.  It 
is  natural  to  conclude,  therefore,  as  before  intimated,  that  upon 
such  a  topic,  principles  of  constitutional  construction,  dangerous 
to  popular  rights  and  repose,  would  be  introduced.  They  were 
introduced,  and  urged  with  all  the  violence  peculiar  to  interested 
advocates.  The  discussion  had  created  an  excitement  in  the 
Southern  section  of  the  Union.  People  in  that  quarter  were 
surprised  that  the  legality  of  a  claim  to  such  persons  as  are,  by 
their  laws,  held  to  servitude  or  labor,  should  be  questioned. 
This  excitement  originated  in  a  misapprehension  ;  for  no  such 
opinions  were  uttered  during  the  debate.  The  question  itself 
as  discussed,  was  not  a  demand  for  services  rendered,  nor  for 
goods  delivered  ;  but,  for  deterioration  of  a  slave,  produced  by 
an  accident  in  the  service  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Burges  commenced  his  speech  thus  : — 

"  Sir,  before  any  further  consideration  of  this  subject,  permit 
me  to  solicit  your  attention  to  some  examination  of  some  of 
the  things,  which  have  been  pressed  into  this  debate,  and 
associated  with  it.  Every  person  who  hears  what  I  say  now, 
and  every  person  who  may  hear  what  I  have  said  in  this 
debate,  and  who  has  any  interest  in  the  kind  of  property  con 
nected  with  this  claim,  is,  by  the  Constitution  of  I  he  United 
States,  and  by  the  laws  of  the  several  States  where  he  resides, 


72  MEMOIR   OF 

entitled  to  be  fully  quieted  in  the  possession  of  that  interest. 
No  gentleman  who  has  spoken  here  has  questioned  their  rights, 
or  intimated  a  wish  to  disturb  their  possession,  or  call  into  dis 
cussion  their  title.  No  man  here  has  claimed  for  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  the  constitutional  right  to  legislate  concern 
ing  the  nature,  the  acquisition,  the  tenure,  transfer,  or  evidence, 
of  any  kind  of  property,  in  any  one  of  the  several  States.  I 
pray  of  you,  Sir,  to  let  me  be  at  pains,  and  task  the  patience  of 
this  House,  while  I  endeavor  to  show  the  niter  absurdity  of  any 
attempt  at  any  such  kind  of  legislation.  All  property  in  any 
one  of  these  United  States,  is  comprehended  in  either  things 
real,  or  things  personal.  Things  real  are  those  legal  relations 
existing  between  lands  and  the  owners  of  them.  The  fee  sim 
ple  is  the  highest  order  of  this  relation.  Different,  complex, 
and  conditional  relations  of  this  class,  require  no  description. 
Other  relations  are  free-hold,  and  less  than  free-hold,  for  a 
greater  or  less  number  of  years.  To  these  may  be  added  estates 
in  possession  or  in  expectancy  ;  and  as  well  those  owned  by  a 
single,  as  a  greater  number  of  tenants.  The  tenure  by  which 
the  several  relations  to  lands  are  holden,  the  title  by  which  they 
may  be  claimed,  and  the  manner  in  which  titles  shall  be  proved, 
are  each  large  departments  of  jurisprudence,  and  have  exercised 
the  best  skill  and  most  profound  wisdom  of  legislation,  in  other 
countries,  and  in  each  of  these  United  States.  Property  in 
things  personal,  is  that  estate,  which,  in  this  country,  we  may 
have  in  any  thing  other  than  land.  It  is  either  in  possession  or 
in  action.  You  either  have  it  in  your  own  hands,  or  in  the 
hands  of  those  to  whom  you  have  entrusted  it.  Your  goods, 
wares,  and  merchandise — your  flocks,  herds,  and  the  fruits  of 
your  lands ;  the  instruments  of  your  agricultural,  mechanic, 
manufacturing,  or  commercial  industry;  in  short,  the  avails  of 
your  land,  the  results  of  your  capital,  the  proceeds  of  your  labor, 
are  one  great  portion  of  individual  wealth,  called  property  in 
things  personal.  Another  great  portion  of  it  consists  in  the  in 
finite  variety  of  claims  which  men  have  on  other  men,  for 
money,  goods,  or  labor,  either  by  force  of  contracts,  or  by  enact 
ments  or  adjudications  of  law,  Among  these  are  notes,  bills, 


TRISTAMBURGES.  73 

bonds,  records,  together  with  the  infinite  variety  of  legal  impli 
cations,  by  which  labor,  goods,  or  money,  are  due  from  one  man 
to  another.  To  these  should  be  added  the  labor  and  service 
due  by  any  one  person  to  any  other  person,  either  by  contract 
or  for  a  limited  time,  or  by  law,  and  for  time  unlimited. 

"Now,  Sir,  which  class  of  all  these  various  descriptions  of 
property,  in  either  things  real,  or  things  personal,  falls  within 
the  legislative  jurisdiction  of  this  Congress  ]  Concerning  which 
one  class  of  them  all,  or  what  article  in  any  one  of  them,  can  we 
enact  any  law,  in  any  degree  or  respect  altering  its  nature, 
or  tenure,  or  title ;  the  manner  of  acquiring,  or  transferring,  or 
the  evidence  whereby  it  shall  be  secured  in  possession  of  one 
person,  or  reclaimed  and  recovered,  when  in  the  possession  of 
another  ]  Where  are  our  statutes  concerning  tenures,  and  title 
deeds,  descents  and  devises,  and  distributions  1  Where  those  of 
contracts,  either parol  or  in  writing;  whether  simple  or  sealed  7 
Where,  in  fine,  are  those  codes  of  laws,  under  which  persons 
are  bound  to  labor  or  service,  in  any  one  of  the  several  States  in 
this  Union  ?  All  these  laws  are  found,  and  sufficiently  numer 
ous,  for  all  the  exigencies  of  property,  or  persons,  in  each  of  all 
these  States ;  either  in  the  pure  civil,  common,  or  canon  law  ; 
or  as  the  same  may,  for  greater  convenience,  have  been,  from 
time  to  time,  altered  by  any  of  the  respective  Legislatures  of 
these  States.  In  the  statute,  and  other  books  of  legal  learning 
of  these  States,  and  not  in  the  statute  books  of  the  United  States, 
are  such  laws  to  be  found.  Truly,  Sir,  why  should  they  be 
found  in  the  statute  books  of  the  United  States,  when  it  is  clear 
as  the  light,  that  all  these  matters  and  things  are  of  the  several 
States,  and  not  of  the  United  States  legislative  jurisdiction  1 

"  What  gentleman,  Sir,  on  this  floor,  has  claimed  for  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  the  right  to  enact  any  such 
laws?  Not  one.  All  must  disclaim  all  such  right.  For  good 
reason,  too  ;  because  the  Constitution  has  given  us  no  such 
right.  Except  concerning  the  exclusive  jurisdiction  of  ceded 
territory,  the  legislative  power  of  Congress  seems  confined  to 
raising  and  disbursing  revenue,  for  common  defence  and  general 
welfare  ;  together  with  the  legislation  incidental  and  auxiliary 


74  MEMOIROF 

to  those  great  objects.  Who,  then,  Sir,  will  contend — who  has 
contended — that  Congress  can  make  any  law  altering,  or  im 
pugning,  or  invalidating,  those  laws  of  any  of  the  States  creating 
that  legal  relation  called  property,  between  any  of  the  good  people 
of  those  States,  and  any  person,  matter,  or  thing  ?  Why,  then, 
this  excitement  ?  All  men  may  sit  quietly,  in  all  and  each  of 
the  States,  under  the  protection  of  their  laws;  for  one  kind  of 
property  is  as  perfectly  secure  to  its  owner  as  another.  If, 
however,  any  jealousy  of  Northern  People  still  exists  in  the 
minds  of  Southern  People,  be  in  patience  with  me  :  I  will  make 
one  effort  more  to  remove  all  cause  for  such  feeling.  It  is 
true,  laws  cannot  always  protect,  because  they  cannot  always 
control.  Morals,  manners,  habits,  interest,  make  men  what 
they  are  ;  and,  when  these  are  known,  men  are  known  :  and,  in 
any  given  state  of  events,  their  actions  may  become,  with  cer 
tainty  and  safety,  a  subject  of  calculation.  Laws,  indeed,  may 
slumber  ;  morals  are  vigilant  as  consciousness  ;  interest  watch 
ful  as  the  principle  of  self-preservation.  For  the  purposes  of 
what  I  would  now  say,  the  whole  Northern  communities  may  be 
regarded  in  one  or  another  of  three  descriptions  of  persons.  To 
neither  of  these  classes  can  any  motive,  inconsistent  with  fair 
integrity,  be  objected.  The  first  class  is  least  numerous.  They, 
of  all  men,  think  and  act  the  least  consequentially.  If  the 
thing  they  would  have  done  be,  by  itself,  honest  and  desirable, 
their  mental  vision  never  comprehends  those  eternal  adjuncts  of 
all  human  events,  the  things  which  must  go  before,  and  the 
things  which  must  follow  after  them.  They  have,  indeed,  zeal 
— unbounded  zeal — but  they  are  entirely  without  that  knowl 
edge  and  wisdom  indispensable  to  the  accomplishment  of  any 
great  enterprise.  Slavery  they  regard  as  an  evil,  and  Freedom 
as  a  good — indeed,  as  all  wise,  good,  and  prudent  men  in  our 
country  regard  them.  Immediate  and  universal  emancipation 
is  their  only  remedy  for  every  case  and  condition  of  slavery. 
They  say  nothing,  and  think  nothing,  of  the  legal  rights  of 
masters  thus  at  once  extinguished  ;  nor  ask  what  condition  of 
servitude  could  equal  the  wretchedness  of  a  million  and  a  half 
of  slaves  at  once  thrown  out  of  the  employment  and  the  support, 


TRISTAMBURGES.  75 

the  protection  and  control  of  their  masters.  We  need  not  be 
detained  by  a  consideration  of  what  this  class  of  men  would  do  ; 
because  they  can  do  nothing.  Their  number  is  small,  their  wis 
dom  small,  and  their  influence  still  more  inconsiderable.  A  few 
of  these  men  may  be  found  in  the  North ;  but  I  believe  they  are 
more  numerous  in  the  Southern  parts  of  the  Union. 

"  The  second  class  should  be  denominated  philanthropists. 
They  would  give  freedom  to  all  men  ;  but  they  would  violate 
the  rights  of  none.     They  are  the  Howards  of  our  country. 
As  he  did  not  make  the  pilgrimage  of  Europe  to  break  gaols 
and  liberate  prisoners,  but  to  make  prisons  the  abodes  of  human 
ity,  so  would  they  not  violate  the  rights  of  masters,  but  amelio 
rate  the  condition  of  slaves.     Whatever  they  do,  they  will  do  it 
with  justice  to  all  men  ;  nor  would  they  purchase  what  they  so 
much  desire,  the  freedom  of  all,  at  the  expense  of  those  higher 
and  more  desirable  objects,  the  principles  of  morals  and  religion. 
The  Colonization  Societies  of  our  country  are  of  this  class.     I 
know  men,  who,  though  they  may  not  be  united  with  these  So 
cieties,  yet  are  they  laboring  in  the  same  great  cause.     They 
are  called  Friends ;    and  well  do  they  merit  the  denomination. 
Their  charities,  like  their  devotions,  though  silent,  are  fervent 
and  sincere.     The  slaves  which  they  liberate  are  purchased 
with  their  own  money,  and  sent,  with  all  needful  aid,  to  colonize 
their  native  land.     Indeed,  this  great  class  of  philanthropists 
look  forward  to  the  gradual  and  entire  relief  of  our  country  from 
slavery,  and  the  gradual  peopling  of  Africa  with  freemen.    The 
great  moral  debt  of  our  nation  will  thus  be  paid.     The  children 
of  Africa  will  carry  back  to  their  native  land,  arts,  civilization, 
freedom,  and  Christianity.     The  toil  and  bondage  of  millions 
who  are  dead  will  be  rewarded  by  the  wealth  and  liberty  of 
millions  alive ;  and  the  angels  of  Justice  and  Mercy,  looking 
down  on  our  world,  may  rejoice  (o  behold  the  long  lamented 
delinquency  of  one  age  so  fully  expiated  by  the  transcendant 
remuneration  of  another.     From  this  class  of  men — from  these 
genuine  philanthropists — numerous  and  influential  as  they  may 
be,  Southern  men  have  nothing  to  fear. 

"  A  third  class  in  the  great  community  of  the  free  States, 
equally  regard  law,  justice,  and  the  rights  of  others  ;  but  they 


76  M  £  M  O  I  R    O  F 

look  on  the  connexion  of  master  and  slave  with  the  eye  of  the 
mere  politician.     Their  interests,  and  habits  of  thinking,  call 
them  to  a  consideration  of  States  and  Nations  as  communities 
of  People  capable  of  wealth  or  poverty,  imbecility  or  power. 
They  make  themselves  acquainted  with  the  statistics  of  differ 
ent  States,  and  compare  one  with  another,  to  the  intent  that 
they  may  find  which  are  most  probable  to  excel  in  that  mystery 
— in  some  degree  the  mystery  of  all  men — the  great  trade  and 
mystery  of  bettering  their  condition.    Many  important  questions 
are  involved  in  their  theory  ;  not  only  what  kind  of  land  and 
what  kind  of  machinery,  but  what  kind  of  labor,  may  be  ren 
dered  most  productive.     Is  it  that  of  freemen,  or  is  it  that  of 
slaves  ?     The  keen  investigation  of  this  class  of  men  in  our 
country,  and  of  the  like  class  of  men  in  other  countries,  has  fin 
ished  and  solved  this  great  question.     What  was  a  problem  in 
the  civilized  world  one  century  ago,  has  now  become  an  axiom 
in  political  science.     It  is  now  believed,  by  this  whole  class  of 
politicians  in  the  North,  that  slave  labor  is  much  less  productive 
than  the  labor  of  freemen.     It  is  believed  that  such  as  labor  for 
themselves,  and  who,  by  superior  industry,  skill,  and  faithful 
ness,  may  better  their  own  condition,  will  more  probably  have 
and  exercise  these  qualities  for  the  benefit  of  themselves  and 
their  employers,  than  slaves,  who  cannot,  by  any  exertions,  in 
any  considerable  degree,  improve  their  own  condition,  or,  in  any 
event,  relieve  themselves  from  bondage  or  servitude.     Hope  is 
the  animating  principle  of  free,  fear  the  fatiguing  motive  of 
slave  labor.     The  reward  of  hope  quickens,  the  fear  of  punish 
ment  paralyzes  exertion.      The   free  laborer  consumes  with 
economy ;  and,  with  that  care  and  parsimony  which  are  the 
greatest  cause  of  national  accumulation,  lays  by  a  part  of  that 
portion  of  production  belonging  to  himself,  wherewith  to  build 
the  foundation  of  a  little  capital  of  his  own.     Inconsiderable  as 
these  savings  may  individually  be,  in  any  one  year,  yet,  when 
united,  they  make  a  great  part  of  the  sum  total  of  the  savings 
of  any  nation  ;  and  are  not  unfrequently  the  origin  of  immense 
private  fortunes.     In  slave-labor  States,  such  parsimony  and 
such  accumulation  cannot  be  expected,  nor  is  it  ever  found. 


T  K  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  77 

Why  should  the  slave  spare  in  consumption,  when  he  can 
neither  accumulate  for  himself  or  his  children  1  All  these 
things  are  known  to  this  race  of  politicians — these  men  of 
worldly  wisdom.  They  are  pleased  with  their  own  condition, 
because  they  know  that  condition  is  more  conducive  to  prosper 
ity  than  that  of  slave-holding  States.  These  Northern  men 
will  never  disturb  the  tenure  by  which  Southern  men  hold  thia 
evil.  No,  Sir,  so  long  as  this  class  of  men  understand  their  own 
interest,  and  are  mindful  of  it,  and  desirous  to  outstrip  the  hold 
ers  of  slaves  in  bettering  their  o\vn  condition,  so  long  will  the 
master  and  slave  be  held  to  their  present  relations,  according 
to  all  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution. 

"From  neither  of  these  causes,  therefore,  have  Southern  men 
any  thing  to  apprehend,  or  to  produce  any  excitement.  The 
enthusiasts  will  not  disturb  them,  for  they  have  not  the  power 
to  do  it.  The  philanthropists  will  not  do  it ;  for  they  will  not, 
for  any  supposed  good,  violate  even  the  legal  rights  of  others. 
From  the  politicians  they  have  nothing  to  apprehend ;  because 
they  will  not  only  not  break  through  the  laws  of  their  country 
for  any  purpose  whatever,  or  better  the  condition  of  any  man 
against  his  own  will,  but  because  they  will  not  diminish  the 
political  weight  and  influence  of  themselves,  and  their  own 
States,  for  any  purpose  of  augmenting  that  of  other  men  or 
other  States.  No  ;  be  ye  assured,  throughout  all  the  regions  of 
the  South,  the  philanthropist  will  never  unjustly  relieve  the 
slave  from  his  master  ;  the  politician  will  never  illegally  relieve 
the  master  from  the  slave.  I  have  thus  far  labored  to  quiet  all 
this  Southern  excitement,  by  endeavoring  to  demonstrate,  that 
Congress  have  no  Constitutional  right  to  legislate  on  the  prop 
erty  relation  of  master  and  slave  ;  and  that  Northern  men,  by 
their  principles  of  morality  and  religion,  their  habits  of  thinking, 
and  the  attachments  they  continually  feel  for  their  own  interest, 
can  have  no  disposition,  either  unjustly  or  illegally,  to  interrupt 
or  call  in  question  this  relation.  Suffer  me  to  say,  Sir,  that 
every  gentleman  of  the  South  on  this  floor,  has  from  me  a  high 
pledge  of  my  candor  and  sincerity  in  this  debate.  I  have  a 
brother,  dearer  to  me  than  almost  any  other  man,  who  lives 
in  one  of  the  most  Southern  States,  and  is  there  a  planter  to 


78  M  E  M  O  I  R    O  !•' 

no  inconsiderable  extent.  Believe  me,  for  the  reasons  I  have 
given  you ;  if  not,  believe  me  for  my  fraternal  feelings.  Be 
assured,  I  would  neither  overthrow  his  rights,  nor  interrupt  his 

repose." 

******** 

"  It  has  been  contended  in  this  debate,  tnat  the  right  to  impress 
is,  in  the  commanding  general  of  an  army,  a  perfect  right.     He 
has  the  full  power  of  the  sovereignty  ;  can  take  all ;  take  all  for 
the  common  defence ;  all  persons,  all  property  ;  the  master  and 
slave,  the  father  and  son  ;  and  he  has  the  same  power  over  what 
comes  under  his  command  by  impressment,  as  he  has  over  what 
comes  there  by  contract.     He  is  endowed  with   the  eminent 
domain ;  the  transcendental  power  of  the  sovereignty.     This 
question  does  not  call  for  any  support  from   such  principles. 
Why  they  are  advanced  at  this  time,  and  in  the  present  condition 
of  our  country,  may,  for  all  purposes  of  this  discussion,  be  very 
safely  left  to  the  determination  of  those  gentlemen  who  have, 
as  sound  doctrines,  introduced  them,  1  believe,  for  the  first  time, 
into  a  debate  in  any  Congress  of  these  United  States.     Yes,  Sir, 
for  the  first  time  this  House,  the  hallowed  temple  of  liberty,  the 
sanctuary  of  freedom,  has  been  profaned  by  the  publication  of 
doctrines,  odious  to  the  ear  of  slavery  itself;  and  never  uttered 
aloud  in  the  pure  light  of  day,  even  by  the  most  absolute  des 
potism.     Against  these,  I  beg  leave  to  bear  my  humble  testi 
mony,  and  freely  to  express  the  most  unqualified  execration  of 
them.     A  very  short  examination  of  the  nature  of  our  govern 
ment  will  demonstrate  the  utter  absurdity  of  all  such  principles, 
A  commanding  general  can  have  no  more  power  than  Con 
gress  has ;  for  he  receives  all  his  power  from  them  ;  and  they 
cannot  communicate  to  others  what  has  not  been  given  to  them. 
We  cannot  fairly  reason  from  the  powers  of  European  Govern 
ments,  to  show  the  powers  of  our  own.     The  Governments  of 
Europe  have  all  the  power  not  wrested  from  them  by  the  People  ; 
while  our  Government  has  no  more  power  than  has  been  given 
to  it  by  the  People.     In  this  country,  the  great  residuary  power 
is  with  the  People  ;  in  that,  it  is  with  the  Government.     All 
the  Governments  of  Europe  had  a  feudal  origin.     The  Roman 
power,  that  iron  despotism  which  had,  for  six  centuries,  set  its 


T  R  1  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  79 

foot  on  the  neck  of  all  civilized  nations,  was,  after  years  of  con 
flict,  broken  in  pieces  by  numerous  armies  of  martial  barbarians. 
These  were  led  on  to  the  conquest  by  numerous  warlike  chief 
tains.  When  the  victory  was  achieved,  they  divided  the  plunder 
according  to  their  rude  notions  of  justice.  When  this  was  done, 
they  formed  a  number  of  Military  Governments ;  being  the  only 
system  of  polity  which  such  men  were  capable  of  conceiving,  or 
keeping  in  operation  when  formed.  The  lands  were  parcelled 
out  to  their  subordinate  officers,  as  their  great  feudatories  ;  and 
on  the  condition,  among  others,  of  aiding  the  chieftain  with 
military  service  in  his  wars.  The  duration  of  their  military 
service  was  stipulated  in  the  grant.  Nearly  all  the  present 
Governments  of  Europe  originated  in  this  manner ;  and  are 
derived  from  those  Military  Governments.  Even  then,  the 
chieftain  could  call  his  feudatory  into  the  field,  for  only  a  certain 
and  limited  number  of  days.  He  could  neither  impress  him, 
or  any  of  his  immediate  retainers ;  nor  take  from  him  one  of  his 
servants  or  slaves.  When  the  Sovereigns  of  Europe  changed 
this  military  system,  the  tenure  of  lands  by  chivalry  was  abol 
ished.  Armies  were  formed  by  mercenaries  or  volunteers. 
Men  holding  lands  under  him,  could  no  longer  be  called  on,  as 
of  right,  by  the  Sovereign,  to  do  military  service.  In  England, 
the  whole  tenure  by  which  lands  were  holden,  was,  in  the  reign 
of  Charles  the  Second,  changed  to  that  of  free  and  common 
socage.  Since  that  time,  no  King  of  England  can  exact  per 
sonal  military  services;  and  George  the  Fourth,  wearing  the 
crowns  of  three  kingdoms,  with  the  titular  sovereignty  of  France 
in  addition,  cannot  impress  into  his  armies  the  poorest  and  most 
defenceless  man  in  his  dominions.  Let  me  ask,  Sir,  has  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  more  power  over  the  citizens  of 
the  several  States,  than  the  King  of  Great  Britain  has  over  his 
own  subjects  1  Why,  Sir,  the  first  settlers  of  this  country,  who 
came  from  England,  brought  with  them  "  all  and  singular  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  Englishmen."  Their  charters  were,  that 
of  Rhode-Island  I  know  was,  "  to  have  and  to  hold  their  lands 
by  tenure  of  free  and  common  socage."  How  does  it  then 
come  to  pass  that  Englishmen  cannot  be  impressed  into  the 


80  MEMOIR    OF 

army  by  the  military  officers  of  their  King ;  while  the  People  of 
the  United  States,  both  "  master  and  servant,  father  and  son," 
may  be  impressed  by  their  own  military  officers  into  their  own 
armies  ?  Did  we  indeed  lose  the  liberty  of  freeborn  English 
subjects,  when  we  achieved  the  independence  of  the  American 
States  1  Even  in  feudal  days  in  England,  the  ranks  of  war 
were  filled  more  by  a  gallant  spirit  of  knighthood,  the  glorious 
patriotism  of  chivalry,  than  by  the  exercise  of  any  legal  power 
in  the  Sovereign.  Would  to  God,  Sir,  that  ancient  valor  of  soul, 
that  high  enthusiasm  of  patriotic  spirit,  had  redeemed  our  coun 
try  from  this  public  avowal  of  the  right  or  the  necessity  of  mili 
tary  impressment.  Sir,  the  press-gang  of  England,  to  man  their 
Navy,  is  an  engine  of  power,  sanctioned  by  no  law,  or  ever  jus 
tified  by  any  English  lawyer ;  and  he  who  resists  the  exercise 
of  it  upon  himself,  even  unto  blood,  will  find  a  perfect  justifica 
tion  in  the  laws  of  his  country. 

"Congress,  Sir,  have  power  by  the  Constitution  to  raise  armies. 
This  may  be  done  either  by  enlistment,  or  by  hiring  auxiliaries, 
or  by  calling  out  the  militia,  to  aid  in  the  execution  of  (he  laws, 
to  suppress  insurrections,  or  to  repel  the  invasion  of  any  State  or 
Territory.  Can  this  Congress  raise  armies  in  any  ol her  man 
ner  1  Can  they  enact  a  law,  whereby  any  person  in  the  United 
States  may  be  impressed,  and  thereby  fill  up  the  ranks  of  the 
Army  1  This  law,  to  have  any  effect,  must  find  some  portion 
of  the  People  whereon  to  be  put  in  legal  execution.  Can  it  be 
executed  on  the  militia?  By  the  Constitution,  Congress  can 
organize  the  militia.  They  may,  as  they  have  done,  form  all 
able-bodied,  free  white  citizens,  into  companies,  battalions,  regi 
ments,  brigades,  and  divisions.  These  are  equipped,  accoutred, 
and  officered :  for  all  this  is  expressed  or  implied  in  the  Consti 
tutional  power  of  organization.  The  militia  may  be  called  out 
for  any  constitutional  purpose,  and  during  any  length  of  time 
provided  by  law  ;  but  they  can  be  called  out  as  militia  only  ; 
for  they  must,  says  the  Constitution,  be  commanded  by  their 
own  officers,  appointed  by  their  own  States.  How,  then,  Sir, 
can  Congress  make  a  law,  whereby  the  militia  may  be  im 
pressed  ;  picked  out  man  by  man  from  the  ranks  of  their  own 


TRISTAM    SURGES.  81 

regiments,  taken  from  the  command  of  their  own  officers,  and 
placed  in  the  ranks  of  the  Army,  and  under  the  command  of 
the  officers  of  the  United  States  1  No,  Sir,  the  militia  cannot, 
nor  a  man  of  them  be  impressed  ;  nor  could  any  one,  after 
enrolment,  enlist  into  the  army  of  the  United  States,  had  not 
the  law  for  organizing  the  militia,  expressly  reserved  to  them 
the  right  so  to  enlist.  Your  law  for  raising  an  army  by  impress 
ment,  must,  Sir,  if  it  operate  at  all,  operate  on  people  other  than 
the  militia  of  your  country.  You  cannot  from  that  constitu 
tional  bulwark  of  our  nation,  pick  down  so  much  as  one  stone, 
brick,  or  bit  of  fractured  cement,  by  any  minion  of  military  des 
potism,  acting  under  any  law  ever  enacted,  or  to  be  enacted  by 
this  Congress.  Your  law  of  impressment  must,  then,  be  exe 
cuted  on  those  exempted  from  service,  under  the  organization  of 
the  militia.  These  are  all  such  as  by  condition,  or  by  age,  being 
too  young,  or  too  old,  or  by  employment,  or  office,  are  exempted 
from  military  service,  in  war  or  in  peace.  The  whole  mass  of 
slaves  in  our  country,  are,  by  their  condition,  exempted  and 
excluded  from  military  service.  Both  sides  of  the  House  will. 
agree  to  this  proposition.  Policy  does  not  permit  their  masters 
to  place  them  in  the  ranks  of  the  army;  nor  does  justice  author 
ize  the  United  States  to  impress  and  send  them  there.  No  man 
can  justly  be  received,  or  compelled  to  light  for  liberty,  without 
first  being  made  legally  capable  of  enjoying  it.  You  will,  there 
fore,  make  no  law  to  raise  Armies,  by  authorizing  the  impress 
ment  of  slaves.  Will  you  enact  a  law  to  conscribe,  and  take  by 
violence,  from  the  nurture,  education,  and  instruction  of  parental 
care,  guardianship,  and  affection,  the  whole  childhood  of  your 
country  ;  and  fill  the  rough  ranks  of  war  with  the  tender  and 
unseasoned  limbs  of  infancy ']  If  there  were  not  a  physical 
impossibility  interposed  between  any  such  law  and  the  object  of 
it ;  yet  are  the  high  moral  principles  of  filial  and  parental  rela 
tion,  so  paramount  in  the  heart  of  every  man,  woman,  and  child, 
of  this  nation,  that  such  a  law  could  never  outlive  the  hour  of 
its  enactment. 

"Will  you  impress  those  exempted  by  their  advanced  age,  and 
send  your  fathers  and  grand-fathers  to  fight  your  battles,  be- 


MEMOIR    OF 

cause  their  more  prudent  sons  refuse  to  join  the  Army  by  enlist 
ment  ?    These  men  have  purchased  their  exemption,  by  militia 
services  already  performed.     You  have  received  the  considera 
tion  ;  can  you  take  back  that  for  which  they  have  fully  paid 
you  ?    Not,  Sir,  with  justice ;  and  what  you  cannot  do  with 
justice,  you  cannot  constitutionally  do.     Indeed,  Sir,  I  believe 
our  nation  has,  and  ever  will  have,  enough  of  Spartan  courtesy, 
if  not  of  Spartan  valor,  to  revere  the  character,  and  hold  invio 
late  the  venerable  rights  of  age.     Other  persons  are  exempted 
by  their  employments.     Will  you  extinguish  the  lights  on  your 
coast,  that  you  may  place  their  keepers  in  your  armies,  or  profit 
by  the  salvage  of  shipwrecks  on  your  shores  ?    Will  you  abolish 
commerce,  that  you  may  impress  sailors ;  or  give  up  revenue, 
for  the  sake  of  placing  custom-house  officers  under  military 
command  ?    The  transmission  of  public  and  private  intelligence 
employs,  in  the  direction  and  conveyance,  a  large  number  of 
men.     Will  you  impress  all  these  into  the  ranks  of  war,  and 
leave  all  knowledge  of  passing  events  to  be  transported  from 
one  place  or  one  person  to  another,  by  special  messengers,  or 
'  to  be  blown  about  by  the  viewless  couriers  of  the  air?'     In 
each  of  the  several  States  and  in  the  United  States,  is  a  numer 
ous,  learned,  and  highly  respected  body  of  Judges.     These  are 
all  exempted  from  duty  in  the  organized  militia  of  the  several 
States.     Will  you  make  a  law  authorizing  their  impressment  ? 
Do,  Sir,  let  it  be  so  enacted,  that  the  recruiting  officers  of  some 
military  chief,  high  in  command,  may,  by  that  power  which 
can  'take  all,'  bring  forward  from  each  State  in  the  Union, 
each  venerable  Bench,  and  place  them  under  review  in  front  of 
this  Hall.     When  this  is  done,  send  at  least  a  corporal  and  file 
of  soldiers  to  the  other  end  of  this  building.     Let  '  the  pure 
ermine  of  Justice'  be  contaminated  by  the  touch  of  military  vio 
lence.     Bring  out  the  venerable  Chief  Justice  and  his  learned 
associates.     We  shall  reduce  to  fact  what  was  once  a  mere  sar 
castic  fiction ;  you  will  really  have  *  an  army  of  Judges.'    The 
streams  of  Justice  will,  indeed,  be  cut  off  at  the  fountain  ;  her 
sanctuary  will  be  profaned  in  the  very  persons  of  her  consecrated 
priesthood  !     But,  what  then  1    The  Judicial  will  merely  be 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  83 

rendered  subordinate  to  the  Legislative,  and  all  to  the  Military 
power;  and  'law  will  then  be  silent  amidst  arms.'  Congress 
will  but  have  to  add  one  section  more  to  their  law  of  impress 
ment,  and  comprehend  the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States  in 
the  sweeping  provisions  of  it.  For,  it  is  presumed  no  Congress 
will  ever  make  a  law  rendering  themselves  liable  to  the  exercise 
of  this  'eminent  domain,'  this  transcendant  military  power, 
which  'has  a  perfect  right  to  take  all.'  No,  Sir,  a  law  of 
impressment  to  '  raise  armies'  cannot  be  made:  for  you  cannot 
impress  those  exempted  from  the  militia,  because  they  are  so 
exempted  by  laws  paramount  to  the  Constitution.  And  you 
cannot  impress  the  militia,  because  they  are  exempted  by  the 
Constitution. 

"  This  doctrine  of  impressing  freemen  involves  a  moral  absur 
dity.  Ail  power  is  given  to  Congress  by  the  will  of  the  People  ; 
but  all  impressment  is  the  exercise  of  power  against  the  will  of 
the  People.  How  then  can  it  flow  from  their  voluntary  grant  ? 
All  impressment  is  the  exercise  of  despotic  power — a  power 
uncontrolled  by  any  thing  other  than  the  will  of  him  who  exer 
cises  it :  but  all  granted  power  must  be  limited  and  exercised 
according  to  the  will  of  him  who  grants  it.  Despotic  power, 
like  slavery,  can  never  originate  in  compact.  Liberty  is  unalien- 
able.  How  can  a  man  sell  himself  to  be  a  slave,  since  the  very 
consideration  he  may  receive  for  his  liberty,  will,  the  moment 
he  becomes  a  slave,  revert  to  his  master;  and  thereby,  for  want 
of  consideration,  render  the  contract  nugatory. 

"  Wisdom  is  ever  schooled  by  experience  ;  let  us  examine  her 
lessons.  We  have  had  two  wars ;  the  first,  long,  dangerous, 
and  difficult ;  the  second,  not  so  long,  attended  with  less  dan 
ger,  but  with  some  difficulties.  Neither  the  Continental  Con 
gress,  nor  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  ever  exercised,  or 
contended  that  they  could  exercise,  the  power  to  enact  any  law 
of  impressment,  either  to  raise  or  recruit  their  armies.  If, 
therefore,  Congress  can  have  no  such  power,  how  can  com 
manding  Generals,  acting  under  the  laws  of  Congress,  have 
any  such  power  ?  Did  Washington  ever  exercise,  or  claim  such 
power?  No,  sir;  much  as  he  was  adored,  by  the  people  of 


84 


M  E  M  O I U    OF 


this  country,  any  attempt  at  impressment,  would  have  brought 
him  down  to  the  level  of  mere  ordinary  humanity.     Shall  any 
Genera],  since  his  time,  in  this  country,  exercise,  and  be  justi 
fied  in  exercising  this  odious  power  ?     Who  in  this  House  would 
have  suffered  the  exercise  of  it  upon  himself,  or  his  sons  ?    Shall 
we  believe  that  the  poorest  freeman  in  the  country  has  less  of 
the  spirit  of  freedom  and  generous  manhood,  than  the  wealthiest 
and  proudest  man  in  the  nation  ?     It  was  once   nobly   said, 
c  The  poor  man's  house  is  his  castle.     The  winds  of  heaven 
may  blow  through  it — but  the  King  dares  not  enter.'     In  this 
country,  shall  the  Congress,  or  the  commanding  General,  dare 
to  enter  1     It  may  be  rude  and  unfinished,  but  his  fire-side  is 
the  home  of  his  comforts,  the  altar  of  his  devotions,  the  sanctu 
ary  of  his  wife  and  children  ;  and  shall  the  unhallowed  foot  of 
violence  profane  his  threshold  ?     What  man  of  you  all,  who 
now  hear  me,  would  endure  the  paltry  minion  of  a  military 
despot  to  rudely  enter  your  dwelling,  and  choose  between  your 
self  and  your  son,  which  he  would  drag  to  the  recruiting  house, 
there  to  be  measured  and  mustered  for  the  ranks  of  the  army  1 
"Let  me  ask,  why  should  this  power  to  raise  armies  by  im 
pressment  have  been  given  to  Congress  1     Will  not  the  people 
know,  quite  as  well  as  their  public  servants  here,  when  a  war 
is  necessary  ?     When  they  believe  it  to  be  so,  it  will  be  popular 
with  them.     When  they  want  a  war,  they  will  enlist,  volun 
teer,  run  to  the  battle  field,  as  was  done  in  the  Revolutionary 
War.     The  Constitution,  which  gives  Congress  all  the  power 
they  can  of  right  exercise,   was  formed  by  those  men,   and 
formed   not  long  after  they  had  achieved  our  independence. 
Did  they  not  remember  the  valor  wherewith  that  war  had  been 
conducted  ]     Did  they  forebode  the  degeneracy  of  their  race  ; 
and,  therefore,  provide  this  constitutional  cure  for  cowardice  ? 
And  lest,  peradventure,  their  sons  and  descendants  should  not 
voluntarily  defend  their  liberty  and  independence,  give  power 
to  Congress  to  provide  for  having  them  dragged  into  the  ranks 
of  their  own  armies?     No,  Sir ;  this  Constitution,  by  providing 
that  cno  man  shall  be  deprived  of  liberty,  but  by  due  course  of 
law,'  provides  that  no  innocent  man  shall  ever  be  deprived  of 


T  R  I  8  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  85 

liberty  ;  nor  even  the  guilty,  until  accused,  tried,  convicted,  and 
sentenced  to  a  loss  of  it  by  imprisonment.  Sir,  not  until  martial 
law  shall  become  the  law  of  the  land,,  and  the  whole  country 
shall  be  formed  into  one  vast  camp,  need  we  fear  impressment, 
either  without  law  or  by  force  of  any  legislative  enactment. 

"  Cannot  property  be  taken  for  public  use  by  the  command 
ing  General  ]     It  can  be  taken  no  otherwise  by  him,  than  it 
can  be  taken  by  Congress.     They  are  told  by  the  Constitution, 
« Nor  shall  private  property  be  taken  for  public  use,  without 
just  compensation.'     Just  compensation  has  reference  to  the 
value  of  the  consideration  paid,  as  well  as  to  the  time  of  pay 
ment.     He  who  takes  property,  unless  he  contracts  to  pay  at  a 
future  day,  does  not  make  just  compensation,  unless  he  pays 
when  he  receives  the  property.     Notwithstanding  the  assertion 
of  the  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania,  [Mr.  Sutherland,]  a  mere 
promise  to  pay  is  no   compensation ;    especially  if  made  by 
the  United  States,  against  which  you  can  have  no  compulsory 
process.     The  United  States  are  continually  making  contracts, 
and  receiving  the  lands  of  individuals,  either  for  light-houses, 
fortifications,  or  other  purposes.     They  cannot  seize  and  confis 
cate  these  lands.     An  appropriation  is  made  by  Congress  to 
make  payment,  upon  receiving  the  conveyance.     The  owner 
makes  a  deed  of  the  land  to  the  United  States  ;  and  if  he  be  wise? 
he  will  not  deliver  this  deed  to  the  agent,  until  he  receives  his 
money.     I  do  not  know  of  any  other,  nor  have  I  ever  heard  of 
any  other  method  in  this  country,  of  obtaining  specific  private 
property  for  public  use.     The  great  sources  of  ways  and  means, 
by  which  Congress  can  raise  a  revenue,  are  Impost,  Duties, 
Excise,  Taxes,  and  Loans.     By  these  they  provide  for  the  gene 
ral  defence,  and   not  by  impressment  and  military  exaction. 
What,  Sir,  can  a  General  take,  when  he  cannot  take  the  lodg 
ing  of  a  single  soldier  in  any  man's  house,  even  in  time  of 
war,  unless  a  law  be  first  made,  regulating  the  manner  in  which 
it  may  be  done  ?     Who,  then,  will  contend  that  a  General  may 
plunder  the  people  he  is  sent  to  protect ;  stripping  the  very  beds 
from  under  their  children,  and  carrying  away  the  whole  food  of 
their  households  1    Why,  Sir,  the  very  compensation  law  of  the 


86  MEMOIROF 

9th  of  April,  1816,  giving  remuneration  to  such  persons  as  had 
suffered  from  such  impressments,  by  the  military  officers  in  the 
last  war,  demonstrates  that  Congress  considered  them  all  illegal. 
For  it  provides  that  all,  who  have  recovered  compensation  of 
such  officers,  shall  receive  none  of  Congress,  and  ail  who  have 
not,  and  who  claim  it  here,  shall,  before  receiving  the  amount 
of  their  claim  allowed,  execute  a  release  to  the  officer  who  made 
the  impressment. 

"  It  has  been  said,  necessity  will  justify  taking  any  thing. 
Necessity,  Sir,  is  named  the  tyrant's  plea.     What  kind  of  neces 
sity  justifies  any  act?     It  is  that  which   takes  away  law. 
Where  necessity  may  be  the  rule  of  action,  law  cannot  be  the 
rule.     Law  ends  where  necessity  begins  :  for  necessity  has  no 
law.     You  throw  overboard  the  cargo,  to  save  the  ship ;  the 
owner  of  the  goods  is  not  wronged,  because  had  you  not  done 
this,  both  ship  and  cargo  would  have  been  lost.     Two  men 
escaping  from  a  wreck,  succeed  in  getting  on  the  same  plank  ; 
it  can  float  but  one  of  them  ;  in  the  struggle  for  self-preserva 
tion,  one  is  pushed  off  and  drowned  ;  the  other  reaches  the  shore. 
No  wrong  has  been  done  :  for  if  one  had  not,  both  must  have 
perished.     Ten  men  are  all  the  survivors-in  a  foundered  ship  ; 
they  have  no  provisions ;  they  agree  to  a  decimation  by  lot. 
The  death  of  one  preserves  the  rest,  till  some  pilgrim  traveller 
of  the  ocean  relieves  them.     His  death  was  a  calamity,  nol  a 
wrong :  for  all  must  have  died,  if  the  death  of  one  had  not  saved 
the  other  nine.     In  a  burning  city,  a  house,  adjoining  one  al 
ready  in  flames,  is  blown  up,  to  stop  the  progress  of  the  fire. 
The  owner  of  that  house  has  suffered  no  injury  :  for  his  house 
would  have  been  consumed  by  the  fire,  if  it  had  not  been  de 
stroyed  to  stop  the  progress  of  it.     In  a  beleaguered  city,  cut  off 
from  all  aid  and  succor  from  the  country,  every  thing  is  brought 
forth  to  aid  in  the  defence  ;  the  very  women  carry  out  their  own 
food  and  that  of  their  children,  to  refresh  the  men  fighting  on 
the  walls.     When  a  practicable  breach  is  made  by  the  enemy, 
houses  are  seen  to  have  been  demolished,  and  another  wall  is 
already  erected  within.     No  injury  is  done  to  the  owners  by  this 
mode  of  defence ;    because,  if  the  enemy  had  succeeded,  he 


TRISTAMBURGES.  87 

would  have  deprived  them  of  all  they  possessed.  So  it  is  in.  re 
capturing  a  city  ;  and  so  where  the  armies  of  the  country  meet 
to  repulse  the  invading  enemy  :  Whatever  is  destroyed  by  the 
march  or  conflict,  would  have  been  taken  or  destroyed  by  the 
enemy,  if  it  had  not  been  so  destroyed  on  the  field  of  battle. 
These  are  cases  of  necessity. 

"  Now,  Sir,  did  any  such  necessity  exist  in  the  defence  of 
New-Orleans  1     The  condition  of  that  city  has,  in  this  debate, 
been  placed  before  us,  and  colored  by  a  description  of  all  the  ca 
lamities  of  a  beleaguered  town,  cut  off  from  all  possibility  of  aid 
to  be  derived  from  the  Government  or  surrounding  country. 
The  fact  was  not  so.     New-Orleans  was  open  to  the  populous 
and  wealthy  States  of  the  West.     Were  they  slow  in  sending 
succors?     No,  Sir;    every  wave  of  their  own  mighty  rivers 
rolled  down,  freighted  with  the  strength,  the  arms,  and  the  va 
lor,  of  those  patriotic  regions.     Cotemporaneous  prejudice  may, 
for  a  time,  triumph  over  truth ;  but  history,  impartial  history, 
will  do  justice  to  that  people  ;  nor  leave  to  the  future  orator  in 
this  House  a  shadow  of  claim  to  declare,  *  that  New-Orleans 
could    not  have  been   defended  without   impressing'    master 
and  slave,  father  and  son.     Nor  will  I  believe,  Sir,  that  the 
gallant  people  of  that  devoted  city  waited  to  be  impressed  into 
their  own  defence.     The  blood  of  the  Goth,  the  Frank,  and  the 
Saxon,  mingles  in  their  veins ;  and  when  was  either  race  known 
to  retreat  from  the  face  of  danger  1     No,  Sir  ;  all  property  was 
ready,    and  tendered  to  the  public  service;  all  persons  stood 
to  their  arms,  and  waited  only  for  the  command.     There  was 
no  treachery,  no  disaffection,  no  desire  to  escape  danger.     It  has 
been  said,  Sir,  the  invading  foe  promised  to  his  soldiery  all  the 
rewards  of  a  licentious  brutality  :  gold  to  the  avaricious,  beauty 
to  the  profligate.     I  would  to  God,  for  the  honor  of  the  English 
name,  it  were  not  so  ;  but  so  it  has  been  told,  and  so  it  has  been 
believed.     Was  this  watch-word  echoed  through  the  streets  of 
Orleans,  and  was  there  a  husband,  a  father,  a  brother,  who  did 
not  fly  to  the  defence  1     Who  can  say  that  men,  brave  men,  the 
valor  and  chivalry  of  New-Orleans,  did,  or  could  on  that  day, 
wait  to  be  compelled  into  defence — I  do  not  say  of  their  city, 


88  M  E  M  O  I  R    O  F 

their  wealth,  their  houses,  their  fire-sides — but  of  the  cherished 
honor,  the  mue  loveliness  of  their  sisters,  and  wives,  and 
daughters  ]  The  very  surmise  is  a  foul  and  tainting  calumny." 

******** 

"The  gentleman  from  Massachusetts,  (Mr.  Everett,)  has 
said,  that  the  law  of  the  United  States  took  away  the  power  of 
the  father  over  the  son,  and,  by  carrying  him  forward  out  of  his 
minority  three  years  earlier  than  he  otherwise  would  have  been, 
rendered  him  capable  of  contracting  to  serve  his  country.  I 
have,  Sir,  no  belief  that  the  United  States  have  any  authority  to 
abrogate  the  parental  power,  even  if  it  existed  only  in  the  laws 
of  State  jurisdiction.  It  has  a  higher  sanction  ;  the  unchange 
able  relations  of  nature ;  the  laws  of  God,  paramount  to  all 
human  legislation.  Its  object  is  the  perfect  education  of  the 
son.  It  begins  with  the  cradle;  it  ends  in  his  entire  manhood, 
the  maturity  of  his  body  and  mind.  During  its  whole  course, 
it  is  a  reciprocation  of  benefits.  At  first  they  are,  indeed,  nothing 
to  the  father,  but  the  smile,  the  caress,  and  the  joyous  gratitude 
of  infancy  ;  at  last,  relief,  assistance,  and  substantial  remunera 
tion.  Can  the  son  forget,  and  shall  laws  be  formed  to  make 
him  forget,  that  his  father  cared  for  him,  and  labored  for  him, 
while  he  slept  on  his  mother's  bosom  1  Let  every  man  read  his 
own  heart ;  he  will  find  the  laws  of  this  relationship  indelibly 
written  there.  I  beg  leave  to  say,  Sir,  if  there  be  any  memory 
of  my  own  past  life,  which  comes  back  to  me  with  feelings  not 
to  be  touched  by  time,  or  discolored  by  any  condition  of  exist 
ence,  it  is  the  grateful  recollection  that  I  wrought  out  the  full 
term  of  my  legal  minority,  under  the. power  of  my  father,  in 
aiding  him  to  cultivate  his  fields.  No,  Sir,  the  law  of  filial  obli 
gation,  of  paternal  authority,  cannot  be  abrogated  by  civil 
enactments.  Sparta  took  children  from  their  parents  ;  but  the 
State  became  the  parent.  The  Lacedemonians  were  not  a 
commonwealth  of  citizens.  They  were  an  army  ;  their  city 
was  a  camp  ;  and  they  were  mere  warriors.  The  Hebrew  pa 
ternal  power,  like  the  Roman,  was  great,  and  was  confirmed  by 
all  the  sanctions  of  the  decalogue.  Men  were,  however,  found 
in  that  nation  who  could  advocate  its  abrogation.  The  iradi- 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  >S.  89 

tions  of  the  Sanhedrim,  and  the  lectures  of  the  Synagogue  sub 
verted  this  law  of  Moses;  and  he  who  would  devote  his  services 
on  the  altar,  and  pronounce  it  *  gift,'  was  released  from  the  law 
of  his  parents,  and  thereby  became  capable  of  serving  the  State. 
This  was  the  tradition  of  the  Corbun  ;  and  such  as  taught  its 
doctrines  were  denounced  by  the  Saviour  of  the  World,  as 
those  who  'made  void  the  laws  of  God  bv  the  command  of 


"  I  want  words,  Sir,  to  express  my  regret  that  such  a  ques 
tion,  and  for  such  an  amount,  should  have  been  brought  into 
debate  on  this  floor — that  such  principles  and  such  terms  should 
have  been  pressed  into  the  discussion.  Why  urge  the  question 
of  slavery  upon  us,  and  at  the  same  time,  declare  that  we 
dare  not  decide  it?  We  have  no  right — we  claim  no  right — 
we  wish  for  no  right — to  decide  the  question  of  slavery.  Men 
from  the  free  States  have  already  decided  the  question  for 
themselves,  within  their  own  State  jurisdiction  ;  and  such  men, 
to  decide  it  here  for  other  States,  must  first  be  renegade  from 
the  Constitution,  or  oblivious  of  its  high  and  controlling  princi 
ples.  When  has  this  question  been  raised,  and  not  by  men  in 
terested  in  its  eternal  slumber  t  The  Missouri  Question  was, 
as  it  has  truly  been  said  on  this  floor,  no  triumph.  It  was  no 
triumph  of  policy ;  it  was  no  triumph  of  humanity.  To  con 
tract,  and  not  extend  the  theatre  of  it,  is  the  true  policy  of  every 
statesman,  as  well  in  the  slave-holding,  as  in  those  States  un- 
cursed  by  this  moral  and  political  mischief.  On  this  matter  of 
slavery,  singular  and  ominous  political  events  have,  within  the 
last  forty  years,  transpired  in  the  great  community  of  the  New 
World.  What  another  half  century  will  exhibit,  is  known 
to  Him  only  who  holds  in  his  hand  the  destiny  of  nations.  This 
kind  of  population  is  rapidly  increasing  ;  and,  should  any  large 
and  united  number  of  them  make  a  desperate  struggle  for 
emancipation,  it  will  then  indeed  be  found,  that  the  policy 
which  had  placed  aid  and  relief  at  any  greater  distance,  was 
cruelly  and  fatally  unwise.  Humanity  surely  did  not  triumph 
in  that  decision.  It  widened  the  mart  of  slavery.  Southern 

L 


90  MEMOIR    01 

men  have  nobly  aided  in  driving  from  the  ocean  a  traffic  which 
had  long  dishonored  our  country,  and  outraged  the  best  feelings 
of  our  nature.  The  foreign  slave-trade  is  now  piracy.  Would 
to  God,  the  domestic  might,  like  his  barbarous  brother  of  the 
seas,  be  made  an  outlaw  of  the  land,  and  punished  on  the  same 
gibbet. 

"  The  Constitution,  we  know,  does  not  permit  one  class  oi 
the  States  to  legislate  on  the  nature  or  condition  of  the  property 
of  the  other  class.  Why  tell  us,  for  we  already  know,  that 
neither  our  religion  or  our  humanity  can  reach  or  release  that 
condition.  Humanity  could  once  bathe  the  fevered  forehead 
of  Lazarus — she  could  not  bring  to  his  comfort  so  much  as  a 
crumb  from  the  sumptuous  and  profuse  table  of  Dives.  Reli 
gion  may  weep,  as  the  Saviour  of  the  World  wept  over  the 
proud  city  of  Herod :  but  her  tears  will  fall  like  the  rain-drops 
on  the  burning  plough-share,  and  serve  only  to  render  the  stub 
born  material  more  obdurate. 

"  We  are  called  and  pressed  to  decide  this  question,  and  yet 
threatened,  that  the  decision  will  dissolve  the  Union.  '  The 
discussion  and  the  Constitution  will  terminate  together.' — 
'Southern  gentlemen  will,  in  that  event,  leave  this  Hall.1 
Who  makes  this  menace,  and  against  whom  ?  It  cannot  be  a 
war  cry  ;  can  it  be  a  mere  party  watch- word  ?  On  what  event 
of  immeasurable  moment  are  we  thus  adjured  ?  In  a  paltry 
claim  of  two  hundred  and  nine  and  c  thirty*  pieces  of  silver, 
shall  we,  who  have  in  this  Hall,  lifted  the  hand,  or  '  kissed'  the 
hallowed  gospel  of  God,  in  testimonial  of  high  devotion  to  its 
requirements,  shall  we  now,  in  the  same  place,  'deliver  up'  this 
our  great  national  charter  ?  This  event  cannot  come  with  safe 
ty  to  our  country,  and  wisdom  would  admonish  us  to  inquire 
what  concomitants  may  attend  it ;  and  whom  they  will  visit 
most  disastrously  !  Must  we  be  schooled  on  the  benefits  of  the 
Union  ?  It  were  wise  for  such  scholars  to  take  some  lessons  on 
the  evils  of  separation.  The  Hebrew,  when  fed  by  the  bread  of 
Heaven,  murmured  at  his  God  ;  looked  over  the  sea,  and  pined 
for  the  luxurious  slavery  of  Egypt.  Is  it  a  vain  imagining ;  or 
may  there  be  a  charm  in  foreign  alliance,  more  potent  than  the 


T  &ISTAMBUUGES. 

plain  simplicity  of  domestic  independence  7  England  can,  in 
deed,  make  lords.  The  United  States  can  make  none.  She 
too,  can,  and  has  in  the  last  century,  made  more  slaves  than  all 
other  nations,  Pagan  or  Christian. 

"  We  are  surrounded,  protected,  and  secured  by  our  Consti 
tution.  By  this,  we  are  in  safety  from  the  power  and  violence 
of  the  world  ;  as  some  wealthy  regions  are,  by  their  own  bar 
riers,  sheltered  from  the  ravages  of  the  ocean.  Do  not  forget, 
for  they  never  forget,  that  a  small,  insidious,  persevering  reptile, 
may,  unseen,  bore  through  the  loftiest  arid  broadest  mound.  The 
water  follows  its  path,  silently  and  imperceptibly  at  first,  but 
the  rock  itself  is  worn  away  by  the  continual  attrition  of  a  per 
petually  running  stream.  A  ravine,  a  breach  is  made ;  and 
the  ocean  rushing  in,  flocks,  and  herds,  and  men,  are  swept 
away  by  the  deluge.  Pause,  before  you  peril  such  a  country  ; 
pause,  before  you  place  in  jeopardy  so  much  wealth,  and  life, 
and  intellect,  and  loveliness.  Those  of  us,  whose  sun  is  far  in 
the  West,  may  hope  to  be  sheltered  before  the  storm.  Be  not 
deceived.  Sparsed  and  blanched  as  are  our  hairs,  they  may  be 
defiled  in  the  blood  of  our  sons  ;  and  to  you,  who  in  the  pride  of 
manhood,  feel  the  warm  blood  flowing  at  your  hearts,  while  you 
stand  joyously  in  the  blooming  circle  of  household  loveliness, 
the  day  may  come,  unless  the  all-merciful  God  pours  into  the 
bosom  of  this  nation,  the  hallowed  and  healing  spirit  of  mutual 
confidence  and  mutual  conciliation — to  you,  the  tremendous 
day  may  come,  when  you  shall  sigh  for  the  sad  consolation  of 
him,  who,  before  that  hour,  shall  have  sheltered  his  very  last 
daughter  in  the  sanctuary  of  the  tomb.  Do  not  understand  me 
as  I  do  not  mean  to  be  understood.  Those  who  would  avert 
the  events  of  that  catastrophe,  do  not  stand  here  in  mercy,  or  to 
menace,  or  to  deprecate.  They  stand  here  amidst  all  the  mu 
niments  of  the  Constitution.  They  will  not  desert  the  ship, 
leave  her  who  may  ;  they  will  perform  the  voyage,  and  to  the 
very  letter,  and  in  the  full  spirit  of  all  and  singular  the  shipping 
articles  ;  and  they,  too,  will,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  perform  it 
without  fear— prosperously  as  they  trust,  and  with  triumphant 
success." 


CHAPTER     VII. 
/ 

John  Randolph. — He  interrupts  Mr.  Burges  while  speaking. — Reply  of  the 
latter. — Debate  continued  the  next  day  by  Mr.  Burges. — He  comments  on  a 
Speech  made  by  Mr.  Randolph  on  the  same  Resolution. 

THERE  are  few  men,  living  or  dead,  who  have  been  more 
celebrated  for  a  peculiar  kind  of  eloquence,  united  with  satire 
and  eccentricity,  than  the  late  John  Randolph,  of  Virginia.  It 
is  known  that  for  a  long  period,  he  exercised  supreme  control 
over  every  legislative  body  of  which  he  was  a  member,  by  his 
bitter  irony,  contemptuous  sneers  at  men  who  ranked  high  in 
public  esteem,  and  violent  opposition  to  every  measure  advanced 
to  promote  the  interests  of  the  New-England  States.  Yet, 
many  excellent  qualities  are  conceded  to  Mr.  Randolph.  He 
loved  his  country  ;  in  a  narrow  sense,  however,  his  own  Vir 
ginia.  That  spot  he  thought  was  the  brightest  and  happiest 
upon  the  face  of  the  globe — the  land  of  eloquence,  learning,  and 
virtue  :  its  skies  more  beautiful,  its  climate  more  salubrious,  its 
government  and  people  more  independent,  than  any  other  under 
heaven.  Cherishing  such  prejudices,  and  imbued  with  a  vaunt 
ing  pride  of  ancestry,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  Mr.  Randolph 
exhibited  peculiar  traits  of  character,  and  opinions  based  upon 
false  premises.  Accordingly,  whenever  an  opportunity  occurred, 
he  abused  New-England;  her  character,  habits  and  institutions. 
We  cannot  but  lament,  that  one  possessed  of  knowledge  so 
diversified,  should  have  been  the  slave  of  prejudice  and  passion.1 
He  might  have  done  his  country  more  good,  and  gone  down  to 
his  grave  covered  with  honor,  had  he  possessed  more  magnan 
imity,  and  looked  beyond  the  narrow  limits  of  Virginia  for  worth 
and  patriotism.  With  all  his  faults,  his  example  may  be 

'It  is  said  that  these  prejudices  were  even  such,  that  his  books  were  all 
bound  in  England,  because  he  would  not  patronize  "  the  Yankees." 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  93 

remembered,  to  be  corrected.  Men  may  learn  how  a  fine  mind 
can  be  turned  from  its  proper  channels,  and  paralyzed  by  the 
influence  of  prejudice. 

Mr.  Randolph  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives,  when  Mr.  B  urges  first  took  his  seat.  As  before  remarked, 
he  was  accustomed  to  ridicule  New-England  men  and  meas 
ures.  By  common  usage  he  had  taken  them  under  his  own 
charge ;  and  they  shared  the  same  fate  that  the  lamb  would 
receive  under  the  protection  of  the  wolf.  No  member  opposed, 
hardly  attempted,  a  reply  to  his  taunts  and  accusations.  In  his 
own  department  of  parliamentary  eloquence  he  had  been  unri 
valled.  A  subject  was  now  under  discussion,  of  vital  import 
ance  to  the  Union — the  Tariff.  Mr.  Burges  having  observed  in 
the  course  of  an  argument  on  the  amendment  to  the  bill  then 
under  consideration,  that  there  was  a  disposition  among  some 
gentlemen,  to  support  British  interests,  in  preference  to  Ameri 
can — Mr.  Randolph  rose,  and  interrupted  him,  saying,  "This 
hatred  of  aliens,  Sir,  is  the  undecayed  spirit  which  called  forth 
the  proposition  to  enact  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Law:  I  advise  the 
gentleman  from  Rhode-Island  to  move  a  re-enactment  of  those 
laws,  to  prevent  the  impudent  foreigner  from  rivalling  the  Amer 
ican  seller.  New-England, — what  is  she? — Sir,  do  you  remem 
ber  that  appropriate  exclamation, — 'Delenda  est  Carthago?1  r 

Mr.  Burges — "  Does  the  gentleman  mean  to  say,  Sir,  New- 
England  must  be  destroyed  ?  If  so,  I  will  remind  him,  that  the 
fall  of  Carthage  was  the  precursor  of  the  fall  of  Rome.  Permit 
me  to  suggest  to  him,  to  carry  out  the  parallel.  Further,  Sir,  I 
wish  it  to  be  distinctly  understood,  that  I  am  not  bound  by  any 
rules,  to  argue  against  Bedlam : — but,  when  I  hear  any  thing 
rational  in  the  hallucinations  of  the  gentleman,  I  will  answer 
them."  The  Speaker  interposed,  and  Mr.  Burges  resumed  his 
seat,  saying,  "  Perhaps  it  is  better,  Sir,  that  I  should  not  go  on." 

The  next  day,  he  continued  his  speech  on  the  proposed 
amendment.  He  embraced  this  opportunity  to  refute  the  asser 
tion  made  by  Mr.  Randolph  a  few  days  previous,  in  his  remarks 
on  the  same  subject.  "  This  attempt,"  observed  Mr.  Burges, 
"to  destroy  all,  yes,  all  protection  of  New-England  labor,  skill  and 


94  MEMOIR    OF 

capital,  lias,  by  the  gentleman  from  Virginia,  (Mr.  Randolph,) 
been  justified  by  a  public  declaration  made  by  him,  in  his  place 
on  this  floor,  that  the  whole  capital  of  New-England  originated 
in  a  robbery ;  a  robbery  committed  more  than  forty  years  ago, 
and  committed  too,  on  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  revolu 
tionary  army.  If  it  were  a  fact,  what  punishment  is  due  to 
those  who  perpetrated  the  felony  ?  If  by  force,  the  gallows ;  if 
by  fraud,  the  loss  of  ears,  and  the  pillory.  If  it  be  not  true,  what 
is  merited  by  him,  who  has,  knowing  all  the  truth,  made  the 
accusation  ]  The  punishment,  Sir,  he  merits,  which  would 
have  alighted  on  him,  in  that  community  where  it  was  first 
enacted :  «  Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against  thy  neigh 
bor.'  What  was  that  1  Lex  talionis,  '  an  eye  for  an  eye.' 
He  who  would,  by  false  accusation,  peril  the  life  or  limb  of 
another,  did  thereby  place  his  own  life  and  limbs  in  the  same 
jeopardy.  Let  judgment  pass  to  another  audit. 

*  Nor  what  to  oblivion  better  were  resigned, 
Be  hung  on  high  to  poison  half  mankind.' 

"  In  the  revolutionary  war,  ail  who  were  whigs  and  patriots, 
all  who  were  not  tories  and  enemies  to  their  country,  contended 
for  the  independence  of  the  United  States,  and  united  their 
whole  means  in  the  public  service.  When  the  war  was  finished, 
balances  were  due,  some  more,  some  less,  to  the  several  States. 
Balances  were,  also,  due  to  many  individuals,  who  had  furnished 
supplies.  To  the  army,  a  debt  of  gratitude  was  due,  which  the 
world  has  not  wealth  enough  to  pay  ;  and  the  United  States 
owed  them,  moreover,  a  great  amount  for  arrears  of  pay,  for 
subsistence,  and  for  depreciation  of  that  currency,  in  which  they 
had  for  several  years  of  the  war,  received  their  wages.  To  all 
the  soldiers  who  had  continued  in  service  from  1780,  until  the 
army  was  disbanded,  a  bounty  was  due  ;  and  all  the  officers  who 
had  served,  from  the  same  date,  until  the  same  period,  were 
entitled  to  receive  half  the  amount  of  their  monthly  pay,  during 
the  whole  term  of  their  natural  lives.  In  lieu  of  this  half  pay, 
Congress,  after  the  close  of  the  war,  promised  to  pay  all  such 
officers  five  years  full  pay  in  hand,  in  money  or  security,  bear 
ing  a  yearly  interest  of  six  per  cent.  So  soon  as  it  could  be 


TRISTAMBURGES.  95 

IBBi* 

effected,  all  these  several  creditors  received  from  the  United 
States,  by  officers  for  that  purpose  by  Congress  appointed,  certain 
certificates  of  the  several  sums  due  to  each  individual  creditor. 
These  certificates  were  issued,  in  the  different  States,  to  the  credit 
ors  of  the  United  States,  belonging  to  such  States ;  and  were  pay 
able  to  the  person  or  States  to  whom  the  same  were  due  ;  or  to 
bearer,  on  demand,  with  interest.  These  certificates  were  the  ev 
idences  of  the  amount  of  the  domestic  debt  of  the  United  States, 
to  each  of  the  States,  and  to  each  individual  in  such  States. 
They  drew  interest  by  their  tenor,  and  were  payable  on  demand, 
to  whomsoever  might  be  the  bearer  of  them.  They  were,  and 
were  intended  to  be,  a  circulating  medium.  Had  the  United 
States  been  in  funds  for  the  payment  of  them,  or  of  the  interest, 
the  medium  would,  in  the  absence  of  gold  and  silver,  as  was 
then  the  condition  of  the  United  States,  have  been  equal  to  that 
currency.  It  would  have  been  equal  to  the  present  United 
States  Bank  paper,  or  to  the  United  States  stocks.  The  nation 
was  without  funds,  and  then  utterly  insolvent.  This  medium, 
like  the  emissions  of  continental  paper  bills,  fell  much  below  par.  « 

It  nevertheless  continued  to  circulate,  and  was,  as  continental 
bills  had  been,  before  they  become  of  no  value,  a  medium  of 
exchange.  Men  went  to  market  with  it,  as  with  other  paper 
bills  with  which  they  had  been  accustomed  to  go  to  market. 
The  medium  had  a  market  value,  as  well  known,  though  much 
below  it,  as  the  market  value  of  silver  and  gold.  Like  the  old 
continental,  or  the  treasury  notes  of  the  last  war,  or  the  bank  pa 
per  at  that  period,  of  all  the  banks  in  the  country,  excepting 
New-England,  it  passed  from  hand  to  hand,  by  delivery  :  being 
payable  to  bearer,  no  written  transfer  was  required,  and  the 
market  value  being  generally  known,  every  person  who  passed 
it  away,  and  every  man  who  received  it,  knew  at  what  price  it 
was  so  passed,  and  governed  himself  accordingly.  If  one  man 
owed  for  goods  received,  or  wished  to  purchase  goods  at  the 
market,  to  the  amount  of  one  hundred  dollars,  and  these  certifi 
cates,  then  a  circulating  medium,  were  at  fifty  cents  for  a  dol 
lar,  he  sent  two  hundred  dollars  to  his  creditor,  or  to  the  market. 
If  they  were  at  twenty-five  cents,  he  sent  four  hundred  dollars  ; 


96  M  E  M  O  I  R    O  F 

if  at  twelve  and  a  half  cents,  eight  hundred  dollars.     This,  Sir, 
constituted  the  greatest  part  of  the  buying  and  selling,  done  in 
the  market.     What  color  had  the  gentleman  to  call  such  a 
transaction,  robbery  1     Was  it  less  fair  and  honest  than  dealing 
in  any  other  medium  1     In  continental  bills,  while  they  were 
current  ?     In  treasury  notes,  twenty  per  cent,  below  par,  as  they 
were  in  the  last  war  ?     In  the  depreciated  paper  of  any  estab 
lished,  legally  established  bank  1      Are  not  all  of  this  description 
of  paper  subjected  to  this  difficulty  ardifTerent  distances  from 
the  office  of  discount  and  payment]     Why,  the  whole  paper 
medium  of  the  world  is  at  a  discount  at  any  commercially  cal 
culated  distance  from  the  place  of  payment,  unless  prevented 
by  the  accidents  of  trade.     When  I  am  at  Providence,  is  not  a 
note,  bill,  or  bond,  or  any  stock  payable  in  Providence,  worth 
more  to  me  than  if  payable  at  Boston,  or  New-York,  or  Phila 
delphia,  or  Baltimore,  unless  I  want  money  at  either  of  these 
cities  1     This,  Sir,  creates  an  exchange,  and  puts  all  the  paper 
credit  at  a  discount  or  a  premium  in  the  whole  commercial 
world.     Is  it  a  felony  to  deal  in  it,  because  depreciated  or  appre-~ 
ciated  1     No :    not,  Sir,  if  you  pay  the  market  value  for  it. 
These  two  circumstances,  distance  of  the  place,  and  payment, 
and  the  uncertainty  of  the  solvency  of  the  debtor ;  the  one  or 
the  other,  and  often  both,  place  all  that  part  of  the  circulating 
medium  of  the  world,  at  some  rate  of  discount,  and  render 
almost  all  exchanges  a  kind  of  barter,  and  to  be  managed  by  a 
price  current ;  and  not  a  money  transaction.     Even  gold  and 
silver  vary  in  exchangeable  value,  and  it  is  only  the  minor  ope 
rations  of  trade  which  are  governed  by  entire  reference  to  the 
standard  value  of  coin,  either  gold  or  silver.     These  two  solid 
mediums  have  an  exchange,  one  against  the  other ;  and,  in  all 
great  transactions,  must  be  governed,  not  by  the  laws  of  the 
mint,  but  by   those  of   commerce,  bargain,  and    convention. 
What  medium,  then,  shall  he  use  ?     What  shall  be  done  by  the 
gentleman    too  pure   to  deal    in  any   depreciating  medium  1 
What  shall  be  done  when  his  hard  money  system  utterly,  in 
principle,  fails  him  ?     Turn  anchorite.     Deal  only  in  bacon, 
beans,  and  tobacco.     Here,  too,  the  curse  of  commerce  will 


TRISTAMBURGES.  97 

meet  him  ;  and  the  want  of  an  eternal  standard  of  value,  by  the 
changing  market  value  of  his  glorious  staples,  will  leave  him  to 
the  necessary  bargaining  and  higgling  of  trade,  like  any  mere 
honest  man  of  this  world. 

"  Is  it  robbery,  Sir,  is  it  robbery,  to  deal  in  any  thing  deprecia 
ted  in  market  value  below  its  original  cost?  May  we  not  buy 
that  to-day,  which  cost  less  than  it  would  yesterday  1  Then, 
Sir,  whatever  falls  in  price  must  forever  remain  unsold,  unused, 
unransomed,  and  perish  on  the  hands  of  the  first  producer. 
The  pressure  of  want  must  never  recall  retiring  demand  by  a 
diminution  of  price  ;  but  all  who  did  not,  because  they  could 
not,  sell  at  the  top  of  the  market,  must  never  sell  at  any  other 
grade ;  and  all  who  did  not  buy,  because  they  could  not,  at  the 
most  costly  price,  are  condemned  to  perish  for  want  of  goods 
which  are  perishing  for  want  of  purchasers.  This,  then,  is  the 
hard  money  government  of  the  gentleman  from  Virginia. 

"  The  revolutionary  soldiers  passed  off  their  certificates  at  the 
market,  because  they  had  no  other  means  of  purchase ;  and 
those  in  New-England  who  had  bread,  meat,  drink,  and  cloth 
ing,  received  these  certificates  at  the  market  value,  hecause  they 
could  get  no  better  medium  for  payment.  These  certificates  found 
the  readiest  market,  and  the  best  price,  among  those  people  who 
had  most  regard  for  their  country,  and  most  confidence  in  public 
faith  and  public  justice.  Men  who  knew  that  the  United  States 
were  insolvent,  as  all  did,  and  believed  them  to  be  knaves,  as 
some  did,  would  not  touch  a  certificate  sooner  than  a  continent 
al  dollar,  worth  then  not  one  cent.  Men  who  were  patriots,  and 
honest  themselves,  and  had  the  best  reason  (a  good  conscience  of 
their  own)  to  think  other  men  so,  would  not  leave  the  soldier 
to  perish,  because  he  had  nothing  to  pay  for  his  bread  but  the 
proof  of  his  services,  and  the  plighted  faith  of  a  nation  of  pa 
triots  and  heroes.  Was  this,  Sir,  robbery  ? — felony  against  the 
valor,  which,  steeped  in  blood,  had  won  this  country  1  Then, 
Sir,  the  purest  deeds  are  profligacy  ;  things  sacred  are  profane, 
and  demons  shall  riot  in  the  spoils  of  redemption.  It  is  true, 
the  disbanded  army  received  no  where  relief  so  readily  as  in  New- 
England.  Virginia,  as  the  gentleman  says,  did  not  receive  their 
depreciated  money.  Not  because  Virginia  had  not  other  paper 


98 


MEMOIR    OF 


money  to  give  for  it.  That  the  soldiers  did  not  want.  All 
paper  money  was  alike  to  them.  They  had  been  ruined  by  it. 
Their  own  certificates — the  price  of  their  scars  and  unclosed 
wounds,  were  in  their  hands — the  best  paper  money  then  in 
circulation.  They  wanted  bread.  Virginia  was  then  the  land 
of  corn  ;  the  very  Egypt  of  the  United  States.  They  did  not 
buy.  They  chose  to  keep  their  wheat  in  their  storehouses,  ra 
ther  than  put  soldiers'  depreciated  certificates,  a  kind  of  old  con 
tinental  money,  as  they  said,  in  their  pockets.  With  Washing 
ton,  like  the  pious  Patriarch  preaching  righteousness  to  antedi 
luvian  sinners,  even  with  him  preaching  patriotism  and  public 
faith,  they  would  not  believe — would  not  barter  bread  and 
relieve  hunger — no,  not  of  a  soldier — for  any  such  consideration. 

"  When  this  Government  was  established  ;  when  this  nation 
redeemed  their  high  pledges,  byTunding  and  providing  for  that 
medium  which  patriots  alone  had  with  that  hope  received,  or 
patriotic  soldiers  who  were  able  to  do  so,  had  retained,  then  pub 
lic  justice  did,  as  future  mercy  will  do — reward  all  who,  with 
faith  in  her  high  integrity,  had  fed  the  hungry  and  clothed  the 
naked. 

"  Here  is  the  deep  fountain  of  the  gentleman's  abounding 
anathema  against  New-England :  They  began  the  Revolu 
tion  ;  they  relieved  the  army  who  conquered  the  colonies  from 
the  European  nation,  and  gave  the  American  people  their  inde 
pendence  ;  they  received  from  this  Government,  by  the  funding 
system,  the  recompense  of  their  patriotism  and  public  confidence. 
These  are  injuries  too  high  to  be  forgiven  by  one  who  has  no 
goods  but  other's  ills — no  evils  but  other's  goods. 

"  '  This  Government,'  says  the  gentleman,  'was,  by  the  Con 
stitution,  made  a  hard-money  Government,  because  that  Con 
stitution  gave  them  the  power  to  "coin  money."  New-England 
has  made  it  a  paper-money,  cotton-spinning  Government.' — 
New-England,  Sir,  although  not  entitled  to  the  honor  of  having 
introduced  the  Banking  System,  is  yet  entitled  to  the  credit  of 
never  having  departed  from  the  principles  of  that  system,  by 
refusing  to  redeem  her  bills  with  silver  or  gold.  The  Govern 
ment,  by  establishing  the  funding  system,  established  the  great 
banking  principle  in  the  country.  All  these  sons  of  Mammon, 


TR1STAM    BURGES. 


99 


who  look  on  gold  and  silver  as  the  only  true  riches,  will  regard, 
as  the  enemies  of  all  righteousness,  all  those  prudent  statesmen, 
who  consider  money  as  merely  the  great  circulating  machine 
in  the  production  of  their  country.  .  It,  therefore,  becomes  highly 
important  to  furnish  so  necessary  and  costly  a  machine,  at  the 
least  practicable  expenditure  of  labor  and  capital. 

"  Every  nation  must  be  supplied  with  this  circulating  medium, 
in  amount  equal,  and  somewhat  more  than  equal,  to  all  its 
exchanges,  necessarily  to  be  made  at  any  one  given  time.  The 
same  medium,  or  part  of  the  whole,  may  operate  different  ex 
changes  at  different  times  :  but  there  must,  at  all  times,  be  in 
the  nation  an  amount  equal  to  the  amount  of  exchanges  in 
operation  at  any  one  and  the  same  time.  This  medium  may 
be  all  money  ;  or  what  the  laws  have  adjudged  to  be  as  money. 
It,  however,  in  all  trading  nations,  or  which  is  the  same  thing, 
in  all  rich  nations,  does  consist  of  several  other  parts.  All  the 
stocks  representing  national  debts  are  one  part  of  this  medium. 
All  the  stocks  representing  the  debts  and  capital  of  all  incorpo 
rated  companies,  are  a  second  part.  All  the  paper,  representing 
all  the  debts  of  individuals,  and  unincorporated  trading  compa 
nies,  is  a  third  part  of  this  medium  of  circulation.  The  whole 
money,  or  what  by  law  is  adjudged  to  be  as  money,  makes  up 
the  fourth  and  last  part  of  this  great  machine  of  circulation, 
sustaining  and  keeping  in  full  work,  all  the  money  production 
of  any  country.  This  money  was  anciently,  in  most  nations, 
gold  and  silver.  The  modern  invention  of  banking  is  thought 
to  be  an  improvement. 

"  If  the  money  circulating  medium  of  this  .nation  be,  as  pro 
bably  it  is,  fifty  millions  of  dollars,  the  cost  of  furnishing  that 
amount  must  be  equal  to  that  sum.  The  yearly  cost  must  be 
whatever  the  market  interest  may  be  in  the  whole  country.  To 
this  must  be  added  the  amount  yearly  consumed  by  the  wear  of 
all  the  metallic  pieces,  whether  gold,  silver,  or  copper,  of  which 
such  money  is  fabricated.  This  may  be  three  per  cent.  The  very 
great  cost  of  transporting  such  a  weight  of  money,  to  make  all 
the  ready  exchanges  of  the  immense  trade  of  our  country,  cannot 
readily  be  appreciated  or  even  conceived  by  men  accustomed 
to  the  accommodation  of  bank  bills  for  all  such  exchanges.  Six 


100  MEMO  I  R    01 

per  cent,  per  annum  would  not  be  a  high  charge  for  this  cost. 
The  whole  expense  would  be  per  annum,  fifteen  per  cent,  at 
the  least,  and  in  the  whole  amount,  seven  million,  five  hundred 
thousand  dollars. 

"  If  the  banking  system  be,  as  it  is,  substituted  for  this  hard 
money  circulation,  what  will  be  saved  1  The  whole  success 
depends  on  one  principle.  If  men  receive  bank  bills,  because 
they  believe  they  may,  whenever  they  call  for  it,  at  the  bank, 
receive,  for  such  bills,  their  amount  in  silver  or  gold,  they  will 
never  go  for  such  exchange,  until  they  want  the  silver  and  gold 
for  some  purpose  for  which  the  bank  bills  cannot  be  used.  How 
often  this  may  be,  cannot,  a  priori,  be  stated.  Experience  has 
solved  the  question.  It  has  been  found  that  not  more  than  one 
dollar  in  eight,  will  usually  be  wanted  for  any  such  purpose. 
If,  therefore,  an  amount,  in  gold  and  silver,  equal  to  the  one 
eighth  part  of  the  circulating  money  medium  be  kept  in  the 
vaults  of  banks,  it  will  answer  all  calls  for  specie,  in  exchange 
for  bank  bills.  With  a  money  circulating  medium  in  your 
country  equal  to  fifty  millions,  you  must  keep  in  your  vaults 
six  million,  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  in  silver  and 
gold.  The  yearly  interest  of  this,  at  six  per  cent,  is  three  hun 
dred  and  seventy-three  thousand  dollars.  If  your  banking 
houses  and  all  other  implements  of  trade  cost  a  like  sum  per 
annum,  or  three  hundred  and  seventy-three  thousand  dollars  ; 
then  the  whole  cost  annually,  of  your  money  medium,  will  be 
seven  hundred  and  forty-six  thousand  dollars.  The  whole  sav 
ing  to  the  nation  equals  six  million,  seven  hundred  and  fifty-four 
thousand  dollars.  That  is  the  hard-money  Government  of  the 
gentleman  from  Virginia,  sustained  by  the  tobacco-planting  and 
slave-labored  culture  of  Roanoke.  This  the  banking  and  cotton- 
spinning  Government  of  New-England,  sustained  by  the  free- 
labored  corn  and  wool  culture,  and  the  manufacturing  skill  of 
the  North,  the  West,  and  the  East.  Which  is  most  productive 
of  national  wealth,  comfort,  and  independence,  has  been  abun 
dantly  demonstrated  ;  that  each  is  equally  honest  and  constitu 
tional,  no  man,  who  ever  looked  into  the  world,  or  up  towards 
heaven,  or  into  his  own  heart,  the  gentleman  alone,  always  ex- 
cepted,  will  have  any  cause  ever  to  doubt. 


TRISTAM    13URGES.  101 

"  One  objection  more  made  by  the  gentleman  to  banking,  and 
I  leave  him,  to  his  own  mercy.  He  has  charged  the  banks  in 
New-England,  with  the  whole  moral  guilt  of  him,  who  lately, 
by  fraud  and  peculation,  possessed  himself  of  the  funds  of  a 
certain  bank  in  Virginia.  He  has  quoted  the  great  canon  of 
the  Redeemer,  '  lead  us  not  into  temptation.'  Thus  stands  his 
argument :  had  not  New-England  invented  and  brought  into 
use,  the  banking  system,  this  Virginia  Bank  would  never  have 
existed  ;  and,  therefore,  his  friend,  the  cashier,  would  not  have 
been  trusted,  or  tempted,  or  have  transgressed.  The  gentleman 
from  Virginia,  (Mr.  Randolph,)  seems  to  have,  and  what  can 
be  more  natural,  a  great  sympathy  for  all  but  honest  men.  Sir, 
had  God  never  given  thee  aught,  that  is  thine  own,  he  need 
never  have  said  unto  thee,  c  thou  shalt  not  covet  aught  that  is 
thy  neighbor's.'  The  gentleman  has  discoverd  a  new  mode  of 
preventing  crimes  :  destroy  all  property,  and  you  lay  the  axe  to 
the  very  root  of  all  transgression.  Not  so,  robbery,  defrauded 
of  his  spoil,  and  changed  to  hungry,  lean,  gaunt  murder,  would 
still  plunder,  for  blood,  when  nothing  else  was  left  to  be  plun 
dered. 

"  To  justify  the  Virginia  cashier,  the  gentleman  lays  the  sin 
at  the  door  of  New-England.  They  tempted,  and  but  for  this 
temptation,  he  had  now  been  a  pure,  prosperous  and  high-minded 
gentleman.  This  apology  is  not  new  in  any  other  respect,  than 
in  its  application.  He  must  have  drawn  it  from  a  book,  written 
in  the  second  century,  by  a  Jewish  Rabbi,  who  calls  himself 
Ben  Mammon.  The  title  of  this  labored  work,  is  '  An  Apology 
for  Iscariot.'  The  whole  argument  may  be  thus  shortly  stated. 
4  The  Nazarenes,'  says  this  Hebrew  doctor,  '  accuse  this  man, 
Iscariot,  without  cause.  Nay,  they  themselves  were  the  au 
thors  of  their  own  calamity.  Jesus  himself  made  Iscariot  the 
purser  of  the  whole  family;  and  by  putting  money  into  his 
hands,  tempted  and  seduced  him  into  avarice  and  covetousness. 
If  this  had  not  been  done,  this  much-injured  man  never  would 
have  delivered  up  his  master  to  the  high-priest,  or  sold  him  for 
thirty  pieces  of  silver.  It  is  also  manifest,'  continues  the  Rabbi, 
'that,  had  the  Nazarene  continued  at  home,  where  he  ought  to 
have  continued,  and  in  his  carpenter's  shop,  and  at  his'  own 


102  MEMOIR    OF 

trade,  he  never  would  have  appointed  Iscariot  for  his  purser,  nor 
ever  have  been  betrayed  by  him.  Iscariot  was  therefore  a  just 
man  ;  and  has  been  grossly  libelled  by  Matthew  the  publican, 
who  wrote  the  story.  The  guilt  of  this  man's  blood  who  hanged 
himself,  and  of  the  innocent  blood,  as  he  says,  of  his  master,  is 
on  the  head  of  Jesus  himself,  the  founder  of  the  Christian  sect.' 
Thus,  Sir,  Ben  Mammon  justified  Iscariot,  and  blasphemed 
Jesus;  and  thus,  too,  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  justifies  his 
honest  friend,  the  cashier ;  and  calumniates  the  whole  labor, 
capital,  morals  and  piety  of  New-England  ;  and  thus,  too,  mu 
tatis  mutandis,  would  he  have  placed  a  diadem  on  the  murder 
ous  temples  of  Barrabas,  and  planted  a  crown  of  thorns  on  the 
head  of  him  who  redeemed  the  world. 

"  Whence  all  this  abuse  of  New-England,  this  misrepresenta 
tion  of  the  North  and  the  West  ?  It  is,  Sir,  because  they,  and 
all  the  patriots  in  the  nation,  would  pursue  a  policy  calculated 
to  secure  and  perpetuate  the  national  independence  on  Great 
Britain.  It  is  because  they  are  opposed  by  another  policy, 
which,  by  its  entire,  and  by  every  part  of  its  operation,  will 
inevitably  bring  the  American  people  into  a  condition  of  depend- 
ance  on  Great  Britain,  less  profitable,  and  not  more  to  our  honor, 
than  the  condition  of  colonies.  I  cannot,  I  would  not  look  into 
the  secrets  of  men's  hearts ;  but  the  nation  will  examine  the 
nature  and  tendencies  of  the  American,  and  the  anti-American 
Systems;  and  they  can  understand  the  arguments  offered  in 
support  of  each  plan  of  national  policy ;  and  they  too  can  read, 
and  will  understand  the  histories  of  all  public  men,  and  of  those 
two  systems  of  national  policy.  Do  we,  as  it  has  been  insinu 
ated,  support  the  American  policy,  in  wrong,  and  for  the  injury 
and  damage  of  Old  England  ?  I  do  not ;  those  with  whom  I 
have  the  honor  to  act,  do  not  pursue  this  course — No,  Sir, 

«  Not  that  I  love  England  less, 
But  that  I  love  my  country  more.' 

Who,  Sir,  would  wrong ;  who  would  reduce  the  wealth,  the 
power  of  England  1  Who,  without  a  glorious  national  pride, 
can  look  to  that  as  to  our  mother  country  ]  It  is  the  land  of 
comfort,  accommodation,  and  wealth ;  of  science  and  literature  ; 
song,  sentiment,  heroic  valor,  and  deep,  various,  political  philos- 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  103 

ophy.  Who  is  not  proud,  that  our  fathers  were  the  compeers  of 
Wolfe ;  that  Burke,  and  Chatham  spoke  our  mother  tongue  1 
Who  does  not  look  for  the  most  prosperous  eras  of  the  world, 
when  English  blood  shall  warm  the  human  bosom  over  the 
habitable  breadth  of  every  zone  :  when  English  literature  shall 
come  under  the  eye  of  the  whole  world :  English  intellectual 
wealth  enrich  every  clime ;  and  the  manners,  morals,  and  re 
ligion,  of  us  and  our  parent  country,  spread  civilization  under 
the  whole  star-lighted  heaven ;  and,  in  the  very  language 
of  our  deliberations,  the  hallowed  voice  of  daily  prayer  shall 
arise  to  God,  throughout  every  longitude  of  the  sun's  whole  race. 
"I  would  follow  the  course  of  ordinary  experience  ;  render  the 
child  independent  of  the  parent ;  and  from  the  resources  of  his 
own  industry,  skill,  and  prudence,  rich,  influential,  and  power 
ful,  among  nations.  Then,  if  the  period  of  age  and  infirmity 
shall,  as  God  send  it  may  never,  but  if  it  shall  come,  then,  Sir, 
the  venerated  parent  shall  find  shelter  behind  the  strong  right 
hand  of  her  powerful  descendant." 

**#*#•£## 

"  The  policy  of  the  gentleman  from  Virginia,  calls  him  to  a 
course  of  legislation  resulting  in  the  entire  destruction  of  one 
part  of  this  Union.  Oppress  New-England  until  she  shall  be 
compelled  to  remove  her  manufacturing  labor  and  capital  to  the 
regions  of  iron,  wool,  and  grain  ;  and  nearer  to  those  of  rice 
and  cotton.  Oppress  New-England  until  she  shall  be  compelled 
to  remove  her  commercial  labor  and  capital  to  New-York,  Nor 
folk,  Charleston,  and  Savannah.  Finally,  oppress  that  pro 
scribed  region,  until  she  shall  be  compelled  to  remove  her  agri 
cultural  labor  and  capital — her  agricultural  capital7?  No,  she 
cannot  remove  that.  Oppress  and  compel  her,  nevertheless,  to 
remove  her  agricultural  labor  to  the  far  off  West ;  and  there 
people  the  savage  valley,  and  cultivate  the  deep  wilderness  of 
the  Oregon.  She  must,  indeed,  leave  her  agricultural  capital ; 
her  peopled  fields  ;  her  hills  with  culture  carded  to  their  tops ; 
her  broad  deep  bays ;  her  wide,  transparent  lakes,  long-winding 
rivers,  and  populous  waterfalls ;  her  delightful  villages,  flour 
ishing  towns,  and  wealthy  cities.  She  must  leave  this  land, 
bought  by  the  treasure,  subdued  by  the  toil,  defended  by  the 


104  MEMOIR    U  1' 

valor  of  men,  vigorous,  athletic,  and  intrepid  ;  men,  god-like  in 
all  making  man  resemble  the  moral  image  of  his  Maker ;  a 
land  endeared,  oh  !  how  deeply  endeared,  because  shared  with 
women  pure  as  the  snows  of  their  native  mountains  ;  bright, 
lofty,  and  overawing,  as  the  clear,  circumambient  heavens,  over 
their  heads  ;  and  yet  lovely  as  the  fresh  opening  bosom  of  their 
own  blushing  and  blooming  June.  *  Mine  own  romantic  coun 
try,'  must  we  leave  thee  1  Beautiful  patrimony  of  the  wise 
and  good ;  enriched  from  the  economy,  and  ornamented  by  the 
labor  and  perseverance  of  two  hundred  years  !  Must  we  leave 
thee,  venerable  heritage  of  ancient  justice  and  pristine  faith  ? 
And,  God  of  our  fathers  !  must  \ve  leave  thee  to  the  dema 
gogues  who  have  deceived,  and  traitorously  sold  us  ?  We  must 
leave  thee  to  them  ;  and  to  the  remnants  of  the  Penobscots,  the 
Pequods,  the  Mohicans,  and  Narragansetts ;  that  they  may  lure 
back  the  far  retired  bear,  from  the  distant  forest,  again  to  inhabit 
in  the  young  wilderness,  growing  up  in  our  flourishing  cornfields 
and  rich  meadows ;  and  spreading,  with  briars  and  brambles, 
over  our  most {  pleasant  places.' 

"All  this  shall  come  to  pass,  to  the  intent  that  New-England 
may  again  become  a  lair  for  wild  beasts,  and  a  hunting-ground 
for  savages.  The  graves  of  our  parents  be  polluted ;  and  the 
place  made  holy  by  the  first  footsteps  of  our  pilgrim  forefathers, 
become  profaned,  by  the  midnight  orgies  of  barbarous  incanta 
tion.  The  evening  wolf  shall  again  howl  on  our  hills,  and  the 
echo  of  his  yell  mingle  once  more  with  the  sound  of  our  water 
falls.  The  sanctuaries  of  God  shall  be  made  desolate.  Where 
now  a  whole  people  congregate  in  thanksgiving  for  the  bene 
factions  of  time,  and  in  humble  supplication  for  the  mercies  of 
eternity,  there  those  very  houses  shall  then  be  left  without  a 
tenant.  The  owl,  at  noon-day,  may  roost  on  the  high  altar  of 
devotion,  and  the  c  fox  look  out  at  the  window,5  on  the  utter 
solitude  of  a  New-England  Sabbath. 

"  New-England  shall,  indeed,  under  this  proscribing  policy, 
be  what  Switzerland  was  under  that  of  France.  New-Eng 
land,  which,  like  Switzerland,  is  the  eagle  nest  of  freedom  ; 
New-England,  where,  as  in  Switzerland,  the  cradle  of  infnnf 
liberty  '  was  rocked  by  whirlwinds,  in  their  rage  ;'  New-Erig- 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  105 

land  shall,  as  Switzerland  was,  in  truth,  be  c  the  immolated  vic 
tim,  where  nothing  but  the  skin  remains  unconsumed  by  the 
sacrifice;'  New-England,  as  Switzerland  had,  shall  have  'no 
thing  left  but  her  rocks,  her  ruins,  and  her  demagogues.' 

"  The  mind,  Sir,  capable  of  conceiving  a  project  of  mischief 
so  gigantic,  must  have  been  early  schooled,  and  deeply  imbued 
with  all  the  great  principles  of  moral  evil. 

"  What,  then,  Sir,  shall  we  say  of  a  spirit,  regarding  this 
event  as  a  '  consummation  devoutly  to  be  wished  1' — a  spirit 
without  one  attribute,  or  one  hope,  of  the  pure  in  heart ;  a  spirit 
which  begins  and  ends  every  thing,  not  with  prayer,  but  with 
imprecation  ;  a  spirit  which  blots  from  the  great  canon  of  peti 
tion,  '  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread  ;'  that,  foregoing  bodily 
nutriment,  he  may  attain  to  a  higher  relish  for  that  unmingled 
food,  prepared  and  served  up  to  a  soul e  hungering  and  thirsting 
after  wickedness  ;'  a  spirit  which,  at  every  rising  sun,  exclaims, 
*  Hodie !  hodie !  Carthago  delenda  /'  6  To-day,  to-day !  let  New- 
England  be  destroyed  !' 

"  Sir,  Divine  Providence  takes  care  of  his  own  universe. 
Moral  monsters  cannot  propagate.  Impotent  of  every  thing  but 
malevolence  of  purpose,  they  can  no  otherwise  multiply  mise 
ries,  than  by  blaspheming  all  that  is  pure,  and  prosperous,  and 
happy.  Could  demon  propagate  demon,  the  universe  might  be 
come  a  Pandemonium ;  but  I  rejoice  that  the  Father  of  Lies 
can  never  become  the  father  of  liars.  One  'adversary  of  God 
and  man'  is  enough  for  one  universe.  Too  much  !  Oh  !  how 
much  too  much  for  one  nation."  1 

1  Mr.  Randolph  could  not  withstand  the  unparalleled  severity  of  this  retort. 
He  immediately  left  the  Hall,  and  his  voice  was  never  raised  there  afterwards. 

Mr.  Burges  was  excited  to  this  reply,  by  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Randolph  ;  who 
had  been  pouring  a  storm  of  malediction  and  calumny  upon  New-England,  and 
the  former  could  endure  it  no  longer.  The  weapons  which  Mr.  Randolph  had 
wielded  with  such  effect  against  others,  were  now  returned  upon  his  own  head, 
with  tenfold  power. 

N 


CHAPTER     VIII. 

Mr.  McDuffie. — Mr.  Burges  replies  to  a  Speech  made  by  him  on  the  Tariff. 

ANOTHER  gentleman,  Mr.  McDuffie,  participated  in  the  de 
bate  on  the  Tariff,  and  manifested  a  violence  of  feeling  against 
New-England,  not  exceeded  even  by  that  of  Mr.  Randolph. 
Mr.  McDuffie  has  been  distinguished  for  hostility  to  the  protect 
ive  policy ;  and  on  the  Resolution  then  under  discussion,  he 
made  an  argument  against  it,  embracing  the  prominent  objec 
tions  to  that  measure.  Mr.  McDuffie  has  splendid  talents, 
strong  passions,  and  vehement  enthusiasm.  He  is  a  veteran 
legislator,  takes  an  important  part  in  the  deliberations  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  is  justly  ranked  among  the  most 
able  politictians,  in  the  Southern  section  of  the  country.  In 
relation,  however,  to  many  national  interests,  his  sentiments  are 
too  narrow  and  local ;  and  his  legislation,  therefore,  is  not 
always  adapted  to  secure  the  prosperity  of  the  whole  confede 
racy.  Hence,  he  has  frequently  opposed  the  most  salutary 
measures,  seemingly  because  they  originated  in  New-England, 
and  would  enhance  her  prosperity.1  During  this  session,  and 
particularly  in  this  debate,  he  exhibited  more  than  his  usual 
violence.  Mr.  Burges,  in  the  course  of  his  speech  on  the  same 
Resolution,  referred  to  the  taunts  and  calumnies  of  Mr.  McDuffie, 
and  to  the  doctrines  advanced  by  him  in  debate. 

"Mr.  Chairman,"  said  Mr.  Burges,  "he  who  has  been  at 
sea,  knows  that  the  inhabitants  of  that  region,  sport  only  in  foul 
weather.  In  the  sunshine  and  the  calm,  when  the  world  of 
water  is  level  and  unmoving,  every  tenant  of  the  ocean  is  still, 
and  in  repose.  At  such  a  time,  if  any  cloud  gives  promise  of 
something  more  than  gentle  airs,  and  the  winds  and  the  waters 

1  Daring  the  last  session  of  Congress,  Mr.  McDuffie  gave  evidence  of  a  pa 
triotism,  which,  in  these  times,  it  is  delightful  to  commemorate. 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  107 

begin  to  hold  controversy ;  then,  suddenly,  the  whole  popula 
tion  of  the  mighty  realm  is  at  once  awake  and  in  motion.  Not 
merely  the  nimble  dolphin  gives  his  bright  eye,  and  dazzling 
side  to  the  sunshine ;  but  the  black,  uncouth  porpoise,  breaks 
above  the  water,  and  flounces,  and  spouts,  and  goes  down  again. 
The  foul  cormorant,  stretching  his  long,  lean  wings,  soars  and 
sinks,  piping  shrill  notes  to  the  restless  waves.  The  haglet  and 
cut- water  spring  into  flight,  and  dashing  over  the  white  crest  of 
the  lofty  billows,  scream  their  half-counter  to  the  deep  bass  of 
the  mighty  ocean. 

"  The  moral  may  be  illustrated,  by  a  comparison  with  the 
natural  world.  The  passions,  and  the  winds,  the  melancholy 
and  the  clouds  of  each,  are  alike  dark,  or  tumultuary.  What 
has  produced  this  mighty  movement  of  the  last  few  days  in  this 
House1?  Are  the  unhomogeneous  elements  of  its  majority  get 
ting  into  controversy?  Have  the  Northern  promised  to  the 
Southern  element,  that  they  would  provide  a  political  measure, 
so  promising  to  the  West  and  the  North,  but  so  ruinous  to  the 
entire  East,  that  all  New-England  must,  in  mass,  rise  up  against 
it  1  Has  it  come  to  pass,  that  New-England  has  sacrificed 
herself,  rather  than  disappoint  the  hopes,  the  vain  and  never  to 
be  realized  hopes,  of  the  North  and  the  West]  Did  the  South 
honestly  vote  for  each,  and  all  those  specific  provisions  of  the 
measure,  so  ruinous  to  New-England,  and  now  so  odious  to 
themselves  ?  Did  they  expect,  when  they  had  led  themselves 
into  temptation,  that  New-England  wsuld  deliver  them  from 
evil  1  They  did  ;  they  are  disappointed. 

"  Hence  the  wailing,  menaces,  calumnies,  and  all  the  demon 
strations  of  outrageous  excitement,  exhibited  on  this  floor,  by 
the  gentleman  from  Virginia,  (Mr.  Randolph,)  and  from  South 
Carolina,  (Mr.  McDufiie,)  and  from  New- York,  (Mr.  Cambre- 
Hng.) 

"As  it  relates  to  New-England,  I  will  make  some  reply.  As 
it  relates  to  the  two  parts  of  the  majority  of  this  House,  which 
carried  all  the  obnoxious  provisions  of  this  Bill,  I  will  not  hazard 
myself,  £  within  the  wind  of  their  controversy.'  When  cat  and 
cat  fly  at  each  other,  though  the  fur  and  skin  may  suffer,  yet 


108 


MEMOIR    OF 


what  prudent  boy  will  risk  either  hands  or  eyes  in  parting  the 
combatants;  or  in  any  attempt  to  interrupt  the  kitchen-yard 
melody  of  their  courtship  ]  When  wolf  and  wolf  are  by  the 
throat,  the  sheep  may  be  secure.  The  sheep  is  connected  with 
something  more  than  our  working-day  interest.  The  sheep, 
Sir,  the  iamb,  comes  to  all  our  Eastern,  Northern  and  Western 
recollections,  associated  with  the  images  of  poetry,  and  the 
inspiration  of  religion. 

"  The  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  McDuffie,)  with 
truth  says,  '  New-England  has  been  pathetic  on  sheep-slaugh 
ter.'  He,  who,  for  all  his  life,  has  regarded  men  as  mere  beasts, 
may  be  left  to  wonder,  how  men  may  come  to  connect  any 
quadruped  with  any  thing  like  sentiment  or  poetry.  What!  does 
this  demented  Ajax  imagine,  when  he  has  been  merely  sheep- 
killing,  that  he  has  slain  Nestor  and  Ithacus,  Idomeneus  and 
Diomede  1  What  did  the  son  of  Telamon,  when  he  discovered 
that  he  had  been  doing  the  work  of  a  dog  and  not  of  a  hero  1 
Sophocles  will  inform  the  learned  gentleman.  God  forbid  that 
I  should  say,  and  He  seems  to  have  forbidden,  that  the  honora 
ble  gentleman  should  '  go  and  do  likewise.' 

"  The  dead  calm  which  for  forty  days  hung  portentously  over 
the  Southern  region  of  this  House,  has  at  last  called  up  the 
slumbering  hurricane.  The  tempest  has  been  raging  in  this 
new  warfare  among  the  kindred  elements  of  this  Congress;  but 
New-England  has  stood  and  endured  all  the  storm  of  their  mu 
tual  malediction.  • 

"  The  several  views  which  I  intend  to  take  of  the  measure 
now  before  this  House,  will  give  me  occasion  to  consider  the  true 
nature  of  our  great  national  Impost  System  ;  and,  I  trust,  enable 
me  as  I  proceed,  to  dissipate  and  scatter  those  clouds  of  calum 
nies,  which,  like  flights  of  locusts  driven  along  by  this  rude 
tempest,  have,  from  the  North,  the  extreme  West,  and  the 
South,  been  blown  upon  the  devoted  coasts  of  New-England. 

"  I  pray  that  the  House  will  call  to  mind  the  course  of  this 
debate ;  the  manner  of  remark  on  the  whole  Encouraging  and 
Protecting  System ;  the  style  of  stricture  indulged,  not  only,  on 
any  attempt  made  by  me,  in  support  of  that  system,  but  also, 


TRISTAM    B  URGES.  109 

the  very  remarkable  manner,  of  reviewing  in  this  debate,  some 
of  my  collegiate  productions  ;  arid  above  all,  the  reference  made 
to  that  region  of  our  country,  which,  I  am  prouder  of  having  for 
my  birth  place,  than  was  the  son  of  Philip  that  he  had  passed 
the  Granicus." 

******** 

"  When  I  addressed  this  House,  during  the  debate  on  the 
Woollen  Bill,  the  last  session,  the  gentleman  from  South  Caro 
lina,  (Mr.  McDuffie,)  rose  after  me  ;  and  in  a  bitter  harangue 
on  the  whole  American  System,  reproached  me,  for  uttering  a 
principle,  which,  as  he  then  alleged,  was  an  insult  to  the  human 
understanding.  I  could  not  then  reply.  The  debate  was 
nearly  closed  :  the  hour  was  late  :  I  left  the  gentleman  to  his 
easy  and  cheap  triumph.  I  knew  it  was  the  triumph  of  a  mind, 
miserably  unlearned  in  all  the  great  principles  of  our  system  of 
impost  for  revenue,  encouragement  and  protection.  He  seems 
to  have  remembered,  and  I,  therefore,  may  be  excused  for  not 
forgetting,  this  little  event.  The  gentleman  did,  on  that  occa 
sion,  announce  the  heretical  doctrine,  that  all  impost,  whether 
for  revenue,  encouragement,  or  protection,  is  a  tax  on  consump 
tion.  This  too  is  the  great  leading  doctrine  of  his  '  Report  on 
the  State  of  the  Finances.'  I  was  persuaded,  the  last  winter, 
when  the  gentleman  so  loudly  lavished  his  abuse  upon  me,  that 
his  hour  of  repentance  would  come.  Aye,  Sir,  when  that 
would  come  upon  him,  when  with  as  deep  devotion  as  ever  St. 
Augustine,  for  any  of  his  youthful  aberrations,  did  penance, '  in 
sackcloth  shirt,  with  scourge  of  thorn.'  I  then  said,  I  have  since 
said,  and  published  the  declaration,  and  I  now  do  say,  that  all 
impost  for  protection  is  no  tax  on  consumption ;  and  that  no 
domestic  product,  protected  by  impost,  is  thereby  rendered 
dearer.  I  now  do  challenge  him,  I  challenge  any  man  in  this 
House,  in  this  nation,  to  name  one  domestic  product,  one  article, 
protected  by  impost,  and  in  possession  of  the  domestic  market, 
which  is,  by  such  impost  for  protection,  rendered  dearer  to  the 
amount  of  one  mill.  What  is  the  article  1  I  pause  for  that 
gentleman,  or  any  other,  to  answer.  No,  Sir,  there  is  no  such 
article  ;  not  even  a  shoe  tack,  '  a  hob  nail.'  Let  the  tongue  of 


110 


MEMOIR    OF 


slander  be  paralyzed  and  silent ;  nor  hereafter  any  more,  for 
ever,  babble  this  pernicious  absurdity ;  no  more  calumniate  to 
this  nation,  their  own  great  national  system  of  impost  for  reve 
nue,  encouragement  and  protection;  nor  again  utter  the  vile 
cant,  that  all  impost  for  protection,  is  a  tax  on  consumption  ; 
thereby  pouring  political  poison  into  the  abused  ear  of  the 
American  People,  ever  wisely  and  anxiously  jealous  of  all,  even 
their  own  constituted  powers  of  taxation. 

"  I  have  said,  Sir,  that  when  impost  operates  perfect  protec 
tion  of  any  domestic  product,  importation  of  all  foreign  products 
of  the  same  kind,  does  cease  ;  revenue  on  all  such  foreign  pro 
ducts  must  cease;  and  domestic  competition  will,  and  does, 
then  reduce  such  domestic  product,  to  the  lowest  expenditure  of 
labor  and  capital,  for  which  it  can  be  produced  and  brought  to 
the  market.     This  proposition  is,  as  I  understand,  now  admitted 
by  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  (Mr.  McDuffie,)  and 
admitted  in  its  full  extent.     The  whole  ground  is  changed ; 
and  he  now  has  tendered  another  issue.     He  puts  the  whole 
question  on  the  production  of  woollen  cloths.     No  power  of 
competition  can,  as  the  gentleman  alleges,  and  I  admit,  reduce 
the  market  price  of  woollen  cloths,  below  the  cost  of  producing 
and  bringing  such  cloths  to  market.     That  cost,  he  affirms,  is, 
and  must,  from  the  nature  of  things,  continue  to  be  many  times 
greater  in  the  United  States,  than  in  England.     He  has  tender 
ed  this  issue.     This  issue  I  traverse  ;  and  affirm  that  woollen 
cloths  can  be  made  and  placed  in  the  American  market,  by  the 
American  manufacturer,  at  a  less  expenditure  of  labor  and  capi 
tal,  than  woollen  cloths  of  the  same  kind  and  quality,  can  be 
produced  and  placed  in  the  same  market  by  the  English  manu 
facturer  ;  and  that,  the  English  manufacturer  cannot  produce 
and  place  in  the  English  market,  woollen  cloths  of  any  given 
kind  and  quality,  at  a  less  expenditure  of  labor  and  capital,  than 
the    American  manufacturer    can  produce  and  place  in   the 
American  market,  woollen  cloths  of  the  same  kind  and  quality. 
"  The  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  (Mr.  McDuffie)  pro 
mises,  if  this  question  should  go  against  him,  to  surrender  at 
discretion  ;  and  he  stipulates,  as  a  security  for  the  performance 
of  this  promise,  in  that  event  to  give  his  head  to  the  block. 


TRISTAMBURGES.  Ill 

"  I  do  not  accept  his  promise  or  his  stipulation.  To  the  gen 
tleman  I  have  no  promises  to  give,  and  no  stipulations  to  offer  ; 
and  whatever  may  be  the  success  of  my  effort,  no  forfeiture  can 
be  suffered  by  me.  If  the  demonstrations  which  I  attempt  to 
make,  do  utterly  fail,  neither  the  greatness  nor  the  justice  of  the 
cause,  for  which  I  would  make  it,  can  suffer ;  merely  because  I 
am  unable  to  illustrate  that  greatness  and  that  justice.  If  I 
fail,  I  shall  not  be  missed  in  the  ranks  of  that  phalanx  which 
with  so  much  ability  and  patriotism  is  arrayed  in  defence  of  their 
great  and  long  established  national  system  of  protecting  policy. 
For  myself,  I  peril  nothing  by  this  attempt.  My  walk  has  been 
pursued  in  the  sequestered  vale  of  life.  The  events  of  this  day 
will  never  affect  or  reach  that  retreat.  The  fields  will  have  lost 
no  verdure,  the  trees  no  leaf,  no  fruit,  when,  if  it  so  please  God, 
I  may  again  look  on  them.  If  1  fail,  still  I  shall  fail  to  do  no 
one  thing,  which,  by  any  ability  of  mine,  could  have  been  done. 
All  which  I  could  not  do,  I  shall  no  otherwise  remember,  than 
that  I  earnestly  labored  after,  but  was  unable  to  arrive  at  a  per 
formance  of  it.  The  honorable  gentleman  is  in  no  condition  of 
equal  security.  He  does  not  believe  this  can  be  one  of  the  fields 
of  his  fame ;  if  he  win  he  could  not  wear  my  armor.  Should 
he  fall ;  should  the  point  of  that  truth,  which,  at  one  touch,  de 
molished  the  toad,  and  exhibited  the  demon  ;  should  that  glit 
tering  point  reach  him,  in  that  upper  region  where  he  has  long 
been  expanding  himself,  and  laboring  his  own  apotheosis ;  aye, 
Sir,  should  the  ethereal  blaze  of  that  truth,  but  drop  into  the 
orbit  of  this  bright  exhalation,  extinguished  and  shrunk  to  its 
native  dimensions,  it  must  fall  to  the  proper  level  of  its  own 
element. 

"  I  will  not,  in  considering  this  question,  make  any  allusion 
to  that  independence,  so  valuable  in  itself,  and  so  highly  prized 
by  all  true  patriots  ;  because  all  men  must  acknowledge  it  can 
not  exist,  where  one  nation  depends  on  another  for  the  great 
staple  accommodations  of  life.  Neither  will  I,  by  any  literary 
criticism,  undertake  to  justify,  though  well  I  might,  that  little 
production,  which  the  literary  gentleman  has  called  into  judg 
ment,  because  perhaps  it  was  not  in  style  suitable  to  a  debate  on 


112  MEMOIR    OF 

the  Tariff,  or  a  Report  on  the  Finances.  Had  he  read  a  like  num 
ber  of  sentences  from  Massillon  on  fair  dealing,  or  Pope  on  plagia 
rism,  these  might  have  been  as  little  to  his  taste.  The  passage 
read  by  him,  is  part  of  a  Commencement  discourse,  pronounced, 
aye,  Sir,  and  composed  by  me.  It  was  addressed  to  the  audi 
ence,  the  Corporation,  the  Officers  and  the  Classes  of  Brown 
University,  when  I  graduated  at  the  Commencement  of  1796. 
It  was  published,  not  by  me,  but  by  the  Classes  of  the  University. 
Some  parts  of  it  have  been  placed  in  the  school  books,  and  often 
without  censure  or  reproach,  declaimed  in  the  seminaries  of 
New-England.  The  gentleman  has  read  some  passages  of  it, 
and  by  doing  that  in  his  manner,  has  succeeded  in  rendering 
both  them  and  himself  quite  ridiculous.  Had  he  in  the  same 
manner  ruminated  some  leaves  of  Pericles  or  Tully,  and  then 
thrown  them  out,  he  would  doubtless  have  succeeded  in  render 
ing  what  passed  through  his  peculiar  criticism,  equally  odious 
and  loathsome.  Who,  Sir,  would  have  tasted  the  clean,  conse 
crated  and  abundant  feast  of  the  Trojans,  when  the  flight  of 

harpies  had  once  touched  and  defiled  the  rich  viands  ?" 

******** 

"  This  great  national  system  of  impost,  and  the  whole  do 
mestic- production  brought  into  existence  by  it,  together  with 
the  entire  consumption  of  your  country,  taking  benefit  from  the 
superior  excellency  and  diminished  price  of  all  such  products, 
have  altogether  fallen  under  the  high  displeasure  of  the  Honor 
able  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means.  He  has 
committed  various  acts  of  eloquence,  and  attempted  sundry 
deeds  of  wit ;  and  all  and  singular,  his  words  and  movements, 
have  been  in  great  derogation  of  the  premises.  Could  he,  Sir, 
give  volume  and  velocity  to  his  words,  and  transfuse  into  that, 
embodied  stream  their  moral  meaning,  under  physical  forms, 
what  a  siroc,  what  a  blast  of  desolation,  would  have  spread 
from  this  House  to  the  prairies  of  the  West,  the  lakes  of  the 
North,  and  the  uttermost  waters  of  the  East!  He  has  de 
nounced,  before  this  House,  your  whole  system,  as  unjust,  op 
pressive,  and  tyrannical.  Like  British  legislation  before  our 
independence,  it  is  the  arbitrary  exaction  of  calculating,  avari- 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  1 13 

cious  power,  and  exercised  upon  unrepresented,  wronged,  and 
exhausted  colonies.  The  system  is  a  system  of  legislative  tory- 
ism.  Its  perfection  will  be  our  national  destruction.  The  very 
earth,  he  exclaims,  cries  out  against  all  American  manufacture. 
The  eldest  curse  of  Heaven  upon  us,  we  are  still  compelled  and 
confined,  and  our  whole  race,  in  all  their  generations,  to  eternal 
warfare  with  briars  and  thorns.  The  incalculable  abundance, 
cheapness,  and  fertility  of  lands,  point  out  our  course  for  coming 
centuries.  Under  these  fearful  considerations,  the  gentleman 
had  long  pondered  on  *  the  exploded  errors  of  less  enlightened 
ages,'  found  so  ably  expressed  in  the  old-fashioned  way  of  telling 
the  truth,  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  his  Report.  He 
then  sat  down  to  relieve  the  nation  from  all  the  evils  of  errone 
ous  financial  legislation.  Without  any  aid  at  all  from  three  of 
his  associates,  and,  apparently,  not  much  assisted  by  the  other 
three,  the  honorable  gentleman  has  laid  on  your  table  his,  aye, 
Sir,  his  Report '  on  the  State  of  the  Finances.'  About  to  aston 
ish  and  refresh  all  parts  of  the  country  with  a  plantation  of  new 
and  fruitful  opinions,  he  selected  the  most  thrifty  stocks  of  para 
mount  Northern  absurdity,  as  they  had  been  grown  in  the  Bos 
ton  nursery,  and  engrafting  on  them  his  own  indigenous 
Southern  scions,  all  hopeful  twigs,  he  has  certainly  produced 
such  a  wilderness  of  'true  no  meaning,'  as  never  flourished 
since  the  days  when  '  the  bramble  was  king  of  the  trees.' 

"  What,  Sir,  are  we  to  have  revenue  without  taxation  ?  Or 
impost,  without  raising  the  price  of  imported  products,  on  which 
it  shall  be  raised  1  Shall  the  new  impost  laws  take  from  do 
mestic  production  the  right  to  sell  at  the  market  price  1  Or, 
does  he  intend  to  come  out  with  a  plain  proposition,  to  relieve 
all  foreign,  by  placing  his  new  impost  on  domestic  products  1 
At  any  rate,  the  whole  sugar-planting  of  the  South,  and  the 
sheep-rearing,  flax  and  hemp-growing,  with  all  the  cloth-man 
ufacturing,  and  all  the  productions  of  the  West,  the  North,  and 
the  East,  must  be  given  up,  and  abandoned.  We,  with  so 
much  cheap  and  fertile  land,  can  grow  but  two  crops,  cotton 
wool  for  the  English  manufacturers,  and  corn  for  ourselves, 
their  dependants,  their  slaves.  Our  rivers  and  waterfalls  are  to 


114  MEMOIR    OF 

be  restored  to  their  natural  condition,  and  left  for  the  examina 
tion  of  travellers,  or  the  musings  of  poets.  Skilled  and  scientific 
labor  shall  be  abandoned,  that  we  may  all  be  initiated  into  the 
first  mysteries  of  the  axe  and  the  hoe.  Our  machinery,  with  a 
hundred  hands,  and  each  more  cunning  than  her's,  the  famed 
house-wife  of  Ithica,  shall  be  sent  back  to  the  English,  who 
claim  them  by  right  of  invention,  and  who  can,  as  the  gentle 
man  says,  use  them  without  any  laws  for  protection.  It  is  a 
mode  for  multiplying  men  not  known  to  the  course  of  nature. 
The  English  nation  may  suffer  by  it,  and  the  American  People 
become  too  independent  of  our  great  customers  for  cotton  and 
tobacco.  No  plan  hitherto  known,  or  practised  in  the  South, 
can  hold  any  way  with  this  Northern  mystery  of  multiplying 
laborers.  We  consume,  says  the  gentleman,  twenty-five  years 
in  doubling  our  stock,  and  that,  too,  in  complexion  and  muscle, 
with  some  loss  of  original  vigor.  These  men-makers  of  the 
North,  will  turn  you  out  several  thousand  in  a  summer.  The 
Constitution  is  in  danger.  This  manufacturing  system,  and  all 
laws  encouraging  and  protecting  it,  must  be  cut  up  by  the  roots, 
or  the  balance  of  population,  wealth,  and  power,  between  the 
North  and  South,  will  tremble,  and  be  disturbed,  if  not  destroyed. 

"  Sir,  this  Southern,  this  new  system  of  policy,  is  the  very 
system  devised  for  us  when  English  Colonies.  They  would 
continue  us  corn-growing  States — what  Sicily  was ;  what  the 
conquered  coasts  of  Carthage  were  to  Rome  ;  we  might  then 
have  been,  and  the  gentleman's  policy  would  render  us  now,  the 
granary  of  England.  No,  Sir,  not  quite  so  favorable  ;  we  must 
sell  our  corn  to  other  nations  ;  and  then  buy  our  manufactures 
of  the  English.  Their  statesmen  then  would  not,  and  the 
statesmen  of  the  new  school  will  not,  the  honorable  gentleman 
would  not  now,  let  us  manufacture  for  ourselves,  no,  not  even 
a  c  hob  nail.' 

"  Nothing,  Sir,  would  so  fatally  fix  on  us  a  dependence  on 
England,  as  the  abandonment  of  manufactures  ;  and  the  devot 
ing  our  whole  capital  to  agriculture.  We  are  encouraged  to  do 
this,  says  he,  because  lands  are  cheap.  Will  it  further  give  us 
encouragement,  to  be  told  that  corn,  also,  is  cheap  ?  What  are 


TRISTAM    SURGES.  115 

the  profits  on  agricultural  capital,  in  the  wool,  and  in  the  corn- 
growing  States  ?  Is  it  three  or  but  two  per  cent.  1  The  whole 
landed  interest,  in  England,  separate  from  the  lease  hold  interest 
therein,  which  belongs  to  the  farmers,  produces  a  rent,  equal  to 
three  per  cent,  per  annum  on  its  whole  value.  The  farming 
capital  is  invested  in  the  same  land,  at  the  rate  of  somewhat 
more  than  four  pound  sterling,  per  acre.  About  ninety-eight 
millions  of  acres,  are  under  such  improvement.  The  whole 
farming  capital  is  about  four  hundred  million  pounds  sterling. 
The  yearly  profits  did,  in  1794,  rise  above  twelve  per  cent. 

"  The  rate  of  profit,  on  agricultural  capital,  is  now  nearly 
three  times  as  great,  in  England,  as  it  is  in  America. — 
All  increase  of  capital  must  multiply  produce,  and  by  reducing 
price,  lower  the  rate  of  profit.  The  abandonment  of  manufac 
turing  would  thus  encumber  and  sink  agriculture,  and  thereby 
diminish  our  means  to  purchase ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  it 
would  multiply  our  want  of  foreign  manufactured  products.  It 
would  have  a  reversed  effect  on  England.  The  increased  de 
mand,  from  the  calls  ©f  our  consumption,  would  increase  their 
manufacturing  productions ;  and  by  increasing  the  demand  for 
agricultural  produce,  English  agriculture,  secured  behind  the 
iron  barrier  of  English  corn-laws,  would  enjoy,  exclusively,  the 
benefit  of  supplying  the  manufacturers  of  our  entire  clothing. 

"  The  American,  Sir,  who  could  advise  such  a  policy,  would 
have  voted  against  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Carry  k 
into  complete  operation,  and  you  chain  the  people  of  this  nation 
to  the  foot  of  the  English  throne.  You  will  be  as  dependant  on 
that  power,  m  ten  years,  for  your  legislation,  as  you  must  be  for 
your  wearing  apparel.  Will  this  House,  at  that  time,  pretend 
to  any  thing  like  independence,  when  their  very  hats,  so  neces 
sary,  as  they  probably  will  be,  in  all  legislation,  cannot  be  worn, 
but  by  English  permission  1 

"  Is  the  great  system  of  American  policy  mere  toryism  1  The 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means  has  said  iL 
Sir,  the  great  whig  principle,  of  the  People  of  this  country,  was 
embodied  in  ail  the  great  acts  of  the  Revolution.  It  admitted 
uo  dependence  on  England,  inconsistent  with  honest,  unawed, 


116  MEMOIR   OF 

and  uninfluenced  freedom.  It  was  placed  on  record  by  the  De 
claration  of  Independence.  The  events  of  that  day  did  not  call 
it  into  existence.  The  principle  was  inherent,  innate,  and  ger- 
man,  to  the  heart  of  every  true  American.  No  '  right  divine 
in  man,'  was  acknowledged  by  such  patriots.  They  had  not 
learned,*and  they  would  not  know,  the  enormous  faith  '  of  many 
made  for  one.'  The  tories  of  that  day  lingered  round  the  throne ; 
labored  to  perpetuate  American  dependence ;  and  cherished,  and 
have  ever  been  toiling,  to  rekindle  all  the  old  embers  of  English 
influence,  in  our  country.  Every  demonstration  of  the  whig 
principle  has  been  hostile  to  English  power  and  friendly  to 
American  Independence.  The  very  men  who  toiled  and  periled 
all,  to  establish  your  independence,  aftenvards  founded  this 
glorious  form  of  Government ;  and  so  soon  as  it  was  organized, 
they  also  enacted  your  system  of  impost  for  revenue,  encourage 
ment  and  protection  ;  and  thus  finishing  their  illustrious  politi 
cal  action,  delivered  down  to  posterity,  the  great  heritage  of  In 
dependence,  with  all  its  muniments,  and  the  abundant  resources 
for  its  preservation.  Now,  Sir,  on  any  day,  of  any  year  of  our 
redemption,  has  any  man,  any  Representative  of  independent 
Americans,  thus  unadvisedly,  blasphemed  the  great  principle, 
under  which  all  these  glorious  events  have  been  brought  to  this 
august  consummation  !  Wo  betide  the  times,  when  we  shall 
give  up  the  American  System  ;  the  embodied  and  enacted  les 
sons  of  practical  wisdom,  in  exchange  for  any  of  the  wild, 

miserable  theories  of  inexperienced  rashness." 

******** 

"  The  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  (Mr.  McDuffie,)  for 
getting  that  he  had  so  often  denounced  all  protection,  as,  upon 
the  very  face  of  it,  nothing  but  entire  taxation,  and  forgetting 
too,  that  it  is  in  appearance  only,  a  law  imposing  a  tax,  but 
really,  a  law  repealing  one  ;  but  eager  in  his  chase  of  abomina 
ble  things,  stopt  and  told  us,  '  a  tariff  bill  was  the  Veiled  Prophet 
of  Khorassan  ;  an  impostor  promising  to  give  the  most  pleasing 
and  useful  things — but,  in  fact,  giving  things  the  most  odious 
and  destructive.'  Now,  the  gentleman  mistook  the  parable,  as 
well  as  the  fact  to  be  illustrated.  The  Tariff,  by  making  an 


TRISTAM    B  URGES.  117 

impost  law,  promises,  or  rather  threatens  taxation,  of  all  things 
the  most  odious ;  but,  by  effecting  protection  to  domestic  pro 
ducts,  it  diminishes  their  price,  and,  thereby,  repeals  taxation — of 
all  things  the  most  pleasant.  It  threatens  evil,  but  gives  good. 
The  Veiled  Prophet  promised  good,  but  gave  evil.  '  Therein, 
all  but  the  gentleman  may  note  a  diversity.' 

"  The  gentleman  must  have  drawn  on  the  character  of  the 
Veiled  Prophet,  when  he  drew  his  remarkable  picture  of  a  South 
ern  advocate  of  the  '  American  System.'  The  Prophet  of  Kho- 
rassan  was  a  real  being,  of  flesh  and  blood,  and  not  a  mere 
creation  of  the  genius  of  Moore.  He  has  been  faithful  to  the 
historic  character,  though  he  has  given  some  illustration,  by 
adding  the  drapery  of  fiction.  The  Veiled  Prophet  was,  of  all 
men,  to  all  appearance,  the  most  pure  and  patriotic  man  of  the 
East — for  so  long  a  time  as  that  appearance  continued.  All 
popular  doctrines  became  parts  of  his  creed,  and  all  popular 
projects  for  improving  the  condition  of  the  people,  in  all  sections 
of  the  country,  came  under  his  patronage.  He  aimed  at  the 
supreme  power ;  and,  to  secure  that  object,  he  became  all  things 
to  all  men.  When  a  common  man,  he  wore  a  veil,  to  conceal 
a  loathsome  deficiency  of  feature.  Pretending,  afterwards,  to 
inspiration,  he  improved  his  veil  into  a  rich  cloth  of  silver  ;  and 
announced  to  the  people,  that  high  converse  with  God  had 
given  such  brightness  to  his  countenance,  that  none  could  look 
upon  it  until  purified  from  all  the  stains  of  time.  Such  was  the 
machinery  employed  by  the  Prophet  of  Khorassan,  to  secure 
popularity,  power,  and  supreme  command.  The  concluding 
scene  of  his  history  has  been  told  by  the  gentleman. 

"  Was  his  character  of  a  Southern  advocate  of  the  great  and 
true  policy  of  our  country,  a  fiction,  or  like  that  of  the  Veiled 
Prophet,  of  a  mixed  quality  1  I  cannot  recollect  all  the  traits  of 
abomination  crowded  on  the  canvass.  No  feature  was  better 
than  the  worst  of  Cromwell's,  All  was  shaded  and  deepened 
by  ambition,  uncontrollable,  and  never  to  be  satisfied.  Let  such 
a  man  of  the  South,  said  the  gentleman,  but  declare  himself  for 
this  system,  and  do  it  merely  to  achieve  for  himself  whatever 
power  he  may  desire,  you  never  can  discover  the  imposture.  Is 


118  MEMOIR    OF 

tliis  history,  and  designed  for  reproach  ;  or  is  it  prophecy,  and 
intended  for  denunciation  ?  If  the  first,  we  thank  the  gentle 
man  for  the  story  of  the  Prophet  of  Khorassan.  He  has  lifted 
the  silver  veil ;  and  that,  too,  before  the  drugged  bowl  had  fin 
ished  the  entire  ritual  of  the  feast. 

*  Who  would  not  frown,  if  such  a  man  now  be, 
Who  would  not  weep  had  Lowndes  alive  been  he.'  " 
******** 

"  The  cotton-gin  is  a  Yankee  notion.  Whitney,  who  invent 
ed  this  machine,  could  have  no  views  to  any  exclusive  benefit 
resulting  from  the  use  of  it,  to  New-England.  It  has  probably 
doubled  the  profit  of  cotton-planting  in  the  South.  South  Car- 
olina  has  a  fair  right  to  estimate  its  value ;  for  that  State  gave 
the  inventor  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  the  right  to  use  it.  Other 
cotton-growing  States  may  tell  how  useful  it  is ;  though  that 
utility  to  them,  may  be  no  benefit  to  the  inventor  of  this  Yan 
kee  notion. 

"  In  the  last  war,  redeeming  bank  bills  at  sight,  with  gold 
and  silver,  was  peculiarly  a  Yankee  notion.  It  was,  I  believe, 
very  little  practised  out  of  New-England.  Nay,  so  great  was 
the  aversion  to  this  practice,  even  at  the  Seat  of  Government, 
that  it  is  said  to  have  been  the  constant  custom  of  certain  offi 
cers,  to  select  and  separate  all  New-England  bank  bills,  from 
any  sums  of  money  going  into  the  Treasury,  and  supply  their 
places  with  the  bills  of  such  banks  only,  as  were  known  not  to 
pay  gold  or  silver  for  their  bills.  This  apparent  governmental 
disapprobation  of  this  Yankee  notion,  may  have  been  only  a 
slander,  like  many  others  got  up  during  that  period,  and  uttered 
against  New-England.  For  the  Committee,  which  had  the 
examination  of  that,  with  other  weighty  matters,  never  could 
agree,  so  as  to  make  any  report  concerning  it. 

"This  Yankee  notion  was  not  practised  at  all,  by  some 
banks;  nor  would  they  allow  themselves  the  means  of  practising 
it.  How  much  gold  could,  Sir,  have  been  found  in  the  vaults 
of  all  the  banks,  owned  by  the  two  districts  of  the  two  gentle- 
men  from  Kentucky,  (Mr.  Daniel  and  Mr.  WicklifTe,)  who  seem 
to  have  made  a  conscience  of  abusing  New-England  in  this 


TRISTAMBURGES.  119 

debate  ?  It  is  said  an  ounce  of  gold  may  be  hammered  out, 
carefully,  until  it  would  make  a  cover  for  a  vessel,  no  matter  of 
what  kind,  a  snuff-box,  if  you  please,  as  broad  as  the  orbit  of  the 
planet  Saturn.  This  orbit,  you  know,  Sir,  is  much  broader 
than  that  of  our  earth,  which  is  but  one  hundred  and  ninety 
millions  of  miles  in  diameter.  Now,  so  odious  was  this  Yankee 
notion,  of  paying  gold  for  their  own  bank  bills,  in  the  districts  of 
those  gentlemen,  that  had  all  the  gold,  in  all  the  vaults  of  all 
their  banks,  been  put  into  one  lump,  put  under  the  hammer, 
and  beaten  out  to  a  degree  of  equal  tenuity,  it  would  not  have 
produced  a  sheet  large  enough  to  cover  and  gild  the  entire  face 
of  a  single  one  dollar  bill.  No,  Sir,  the  custom  of  redeeming 
their  bank  bills  with  gold  and  silver,  was,  during  all  that  war,  a 
Yankee  notion,  and  almost  peculiar  to  New-England. 

"  New-England  is  often  censured,  on  this  floor,  for  not  having 
approved  of  that  war.  It  is  true  they  did  disapprove  of  the  war. 
What  then,  who  supplied  the  sinews  of  the  controversy  1  More 
capital  went  to  the  aid  of  that  war  from  New-England,  than 
went  to  it,  from  the  whole  region  south  of  the  Potomac  and 
Cumberland,  together  with  the  two  districts  of  the  two  gentle 
men  from  Kentucky,  in  addition.  This  was  one  of  our  Yankee 
notions. 

"  In  that  war,  too,  New-England  sent  some  other  Yankee  no 
tions  to  the  service.  Such  were  Hull,  Morris,  M'Donough, 
Perry,  the  capture  of  the  Guerriere,  Java,  and  of  the  fleets  on 
Erie  and  Champlain.  When  Oliver  Hazard  Perry,  and  his  little 
band  of  heroes,  terminated  their  march,  and  stept  out  of  the 
green  wilderness  upon  the  white  beach  of  that  lake,  they  beheld 
'  St.  George's  banner  broad  and  gay,'  floating  from  the  British 
mizenmast,  over  its  quiet  waters.  He  could  not  reach  the  ene 
my,  but  by  the  aid  of  ships.  These  stood  above  him  in  the 
trees,  then  flourishing  in  leaf.  By  incessant  and  well-directed 
labor  and  skill,  the  very  forest  seemed  to  leap  into  the  lake ;  and 
in  ninety  days,  he  beheld  a  gallant  fleet  afloat  and  moored  be 
fore  him  ;  equipt  and  provided,  at  all  points,  for  the  war.  He 
pursued  ;  no,  not  pursued,  for  they  would  not  flee ;  <  He  met 
the  enemy,  and  they  were  ours.' 


120  MEMOIROF 

"  Sir,  the  conquerors  of  those  two  lakes,  with  the  officers, 
sailors  and  marines  under  their  command,  have  filled  the  annals 
of  your  history  with  imperishable  glory. 

"In  the  old  war  we  had  another  Yankee  notion.  It  was 
sent  to  the  South,  and  from  the  pressure  of  the  times,  was  then 
in  great  demand.  This  was  more  than  a  single  suit  of  armor, 
though  forged  by  no  fabled  god  of  the  fire.  It  was  a  Yankee 
blacksmith  :  one  who  gave  his  own  right  hand  to  the  war,  and 
himself,  became  the  panoply  of  a  whole  region.  The  entire 
chivalry  of  the  South,  of  Georgia  and  the  sister  Garolinas,  took 
direction  by  the  flaming  edge  of  his  sword,  and  marched  with 
him  to  victory  and  to  triumph.1" 

The  speech  on  this  Resolution,  occupied  more  than  six  hours 
in  the  delivery,  and  as  a  whole,  it  excels  all  others  made  by  Mr. 
B urges  on  the  Tariff  Question. 

Rhode-Island,  in  the  course  of  the  discussion,  was  accused  of 
threatening  a  dissolution  of  the  Union.  "  Rhode-Island,"  said 
he,  in  reply—"  Rhode-Island  threaten  to  dissolve  the  Union  ! 
Never,  Sir,  until  by  some  convulsion  of  nature  she  may  be 
plucked  out  from  the  refreshing  bosom  of  salubrious  skies  and 
perennial  waters,  and  cast  down  in  that  burning  region  where 
the  'dog  star  rages;'  where  'sultry  Sirius  sears  the  sandy  plains;' 
where  the  thirsty  inhabitant  pants,  each  for  individual  and  inde 
pendent  dominion.  With  Rhode-Island,  Sir,  this  Union  was  a 
holy  marriage  covenant,  '  and  for  better  for  worse,  until  God  do 
part  you.' 

"  Rhode-Island,  Sir,  would  rather  mingle  and  blend  her  light 
with  this  constellation  of  States,  than  be  any  '  bright  and  par 
ticular  star,  shining  or  blazing  in  the  solitude  of  her  own  peculiar 
firmament.' " 

There  is  no  point  more  prominent  in  Mr.  Burges's  character, 
than  his  strong  and  ardent  attachment  to  New-England.  It  is 
not  strange  that  he  should  possess  such  feelings,  and  on  all 
proper  occasions  express  them.  New-England  is  a  hallowed 
and  cherished  spot.  It  is  here,  that  the  first  blow  of  the  Revo^ 
iution  was  struck — here  the  first  drop  of  blood  was  spilled  ; 
the  treasure  of  her  citizens,  was  generously  proffered  to  sustain. 


TRISTAM    B  URGES. 

the  struggle ;  the  prayers  of  thousands  were  breathed  for  a  safe 
deliverance  ;  and  when  it  came,  gratitude  and  joy  filled  all 
hearts.  He  remembers  those  perilous  times,  and  is  proud  of  the 
spirit  manifested  by  the  people.  It  is  the  spot,  too,  where  he 
was  born,  and  where  his  children  are  sleeping,  and  where  are 
the  graves  of  his  fathers.  Who  must  not  love  a  land,  endeared 
by  such  associations  1 


CHAPTER    IX. 

Mr.  Barges  is  re-elected  to  Congress. — Chief  Justice  Eddy. — Aspect  of  Parties. 
— Speech  on  the  Amendment  to  the  Appropriation  Bill. — Dinner  to  Mr. 
Burges  from  his  Constituents. — He  Addresses  them. — His  Oration  at  Provi 
dence. — Extracts. — His  Oration  before  one  of  the  Literary  Societies  at  Prov 
idence. — Extracts. 

A  CONVENTION  assembled  in  one  of  the  towns  of  Rhode- 
Island,  in  July,  1829,  to  nominate  a  candidate  for  Representa 
tive  to  Congress,  in  opposition  to  Mr.  Burges.  The  gentleman 
selected  by  that  Convention  was  Samuel  Eddy.  As  we  have 
seen,  Mr.  Burges  was  first  chosen  in  preference  to  him,  in  1825. 
At  this  period,  (1829,)  Mr.  Eddy  was  Chief  Justice  of  the  Su 
preme  Court  of  Rhode-Island.  By  his  intelligence,  unbending 
integrity,  and  general  reputation,  he  was  deemed  the  most  pow 
erful,  as  also  unexceptionable  candidate,  that  could  be  selected 
in  opposition  to  Mr.  Burges.  Few  political  controversies  have 
been  more  animated  than  that  preceding  this  election.  The 
friends  of  Chief  Justice.  Eddy,  represented  him  as  unfavorable 
to  the  American  System,  and  other  great  questions,  with  which 
the  security  and  prosperity  of  the  State  were  intimately  blended. 
The  people,  however,  had  tried  Mr.  Burges  four  years,  and 
were  satisfied  with  his  services.  Accordingly,  he  was  re-elected 
by  the  largest  vote  ever  known  in  the  State ;  having  received  a 
majority  in  every  town  except  two. 

From  the  character  and  influence  of  his  opponent,  the  vigor 
ous  measures  pursued  to  defeat  his  election,  and  the  novel  aspect 
of  political  parties  at  that  time,  this  result  could  not  but  gratify 
the  feelings  of  Mr.  Burges,  and  make  him  more  jealous  of  his 
opinions  and  duties. 

A  marked  event  had  occurred  in  our  national  history,  since 
the  election  of  Representatives  in  1827.  For  the  first  time,  a 
man  was  selected  for  his  exploits  as  a  military  chieftain,  to  con- 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  123 

trol  the  affairs  of  our  civil  government/  Fears  were  entertained 
of  his  principles,  and  the  rules  of  conduct  by  which  he  might 
act.  A  very  large  minority  had  .protested  against  his  claims, 
and  labored  with  an  honest  zeal  to  secure  the  re-election  of  Mr. 
Adams.  The  will  of  the  people,  however,  was  in  favor  of  Gen 
eral  Jackson,  and  he  had  been  inaugurated  President  of  the 
United  States.  This  was  the  first  election  in  Rhode-Island 
since  his  inauguration ;  and  the  first  under  the  new  aspect  of 
parties.  When,  therefore,  Mr.  Burges  resumed  his  seat  as  a 
Representative  from  Rhode-Island,  he  felt  confidence  in  the 
course  he  had  hitherto  pursued  ;  and  gained  instruction  from 
the  original  fountain  of  power,  as  to  his  future  course.  From 
the  beginning,  he  had  been  a  resolute  opponent  of  President 
Jackson's  pretensions  ;  and  now,  he  was  especially  obligated  to 
scrutinize  every  measure  originating  with  him,  or  his  friends  in 
Congress.  During  the  session  of  1829-30,  many  exciting 
questions  of  a  party  character  were  debated.  Sickness  prevented 
Mr.  Burges  from  speaking  on  any  of  them  ;  even  from  attending 
the  House,  until  the  last  week  preceding  the  adjournment. 

At  the  next  session,  however,  he  distinguished  himself  by  a 
Speech  on  the  Appropriation  Bill. 

Mr.  Stanberry,  of  Ohio,  moved  to  amend  the  clause  in  the 
General  Appropriation  Bill  for  1831,  appropriating  salaries  to 
Foreign  Ministers,  by  striking  out  the  word  Russia,  and  substi 
tuting  forty-five  for  fifty-four  thousand  dollars.  The  ground  of 
this  motion  was,  that  the  United  States  were  not  represented  at 
the  Court  of  Russia,  nor.  was  it  probable  that  they  would  be  for 
some  time  :  an  appropriation,  therefore,  was  not  necessary,  and 
the  same  should  be  stricken  from  the  Bill. 

Mr.  John  Randolph  had  been  appointed  in  the  year  1830,  by 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  as  Minister  to  Russia.  The 
President,  in  his  annual  Message  to  Congress,  informed  them 
that  the  health  of  Mr.  Randolph  was  so  delicate,  that  he  had 
been  compelled  to  leave  his  post  "  for  the  advantage  of  a  more 
genial  climate  ;"  and  added,  "when  his  health  is  such  as  to 
justify  his  return  to  St.  Petersburg,  he  will  resume  the  discharge 
of  his  official  duties." 


124 


MEMOIR    OF 


The  mover  of  this  amendment  contended,  that  Mr.  Randolph 
did  not  and  could  not  reside  in  Russia  ;  that  if  he  received  the 
salary,  the  House  would  pay  him  for  a  constructive  residence  ; 
and  that  if  his  public  services  demanded  compensation,  it  should 
be  voted  directly,  not  indirectly. 

The  amendment  and  remarks  of  Mr.  Stanberry,  occasioned  a 
long,  animated  and  interesting  discussion.  Several  gentlemen 
from  Virginia,  Mr.  Cambreleng  of  New- York,  Mr.  Wayne  of 
Georgia,  and  others,  opposed  the  amendment.  The  talents, 
public  services,  and  moral  worth  of  Mr.  Randolph,  were  eulo 
gized  ;  and  his  removal  to  a  more  favorable  climate,  excused, 
because  he  could  not  bear  the  extreme  severity  of  a  Russian 
winter.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  contended  by  Mr.  Mallary, 
and  others,  that  our  situation  was  delicate  as  regarded  the 
European  Powers — that  it  was  necessaiy  to  have  a  Minister  at 
the  Court  of  Russia,  to  hold  intercourse  with  the  Emperor— to 
meet  him  face  to  face,  and  to  explain  our  mutual  relations. 

Mr.  Randolph's  abandonment  of  his  mission  was  further  jus 
tified  by  the  example  of  the  late  Rufus  King ;  who,  on  his  way 
from  Liverpool  to  London,  remained  a  short  time  at  Chelten 
ham.  Mr.  King,  however,  was  not  accredited  at  the  Court  of 
St.  James.  He  did  not  even  tarry  at  Cheltenham,  until  the 
Secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs,  Mr.  Canning,  had  assured  him 
that  Ministers  were  then  leaving  London,  for  the  summer  vaca 
tion  ;  and  that  the  interests  of  the  United  States  would  not  be 
endangered  by  his  visit  at  Cheltenham.  Mr.  King's  reputation 
as  a  patriot,  diplomatist,  and  gentleman,  exemplary  in  all  his 
relations,  was  a  sufficient  guarantee  for  his  faithful  performance 
of  public  duties.  Not  so  with  Mr.  Randolph.  He  was  known 
as  a  wayward  man,  possessed  of  no  qualifications  for  such  a 
mission :  it  was  acknowledged  that  his  health  was  impaired, 
and  from  his  habits  he  was  unfitted  for  patient  investigation  of 
national  interests.  His  appointment,  therefore,  under  such 
peculiar  circumstances,  was  condemned. 

On  the  thirteenth  of  January,  Mr.  Burges  addressed  the 
Committee,  on  the  proposed  amendment.  It  was  known  on  the 
preceding  day,  that  he  intended  to  speak  ;  and  the  House  was 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  125 

filled  by  those  anxious  to  hear  him.  Although  lie  consumed 
but  half  an  hour,  yet  the  audience,  while  delighted  by  his  wit, 
was  instructed  by  a  general  survey  of  our  relations  with  the 
Russian  Government,  at  all  times  important.1  The  comparison 
of  Mr.  Randolph  to  the  comet,  is  very  appropriate.  "The 
crafty  Secretary  of  State,  (Mr.  Van  Buren,)  feared  the  comet 
might  again  return,  and  visit  his  political  hemisphere.  He  had 
seen  it  blaze  in  peri  helium, 

'With  fear  of  change  perplexing  men  in  power.' 

He  deemed  it  wise  to  remove  this  star  of  malign  influence  to 
another  sky ;  that  the  people  of  other  regions  might  trace  its 
eccentric  path,  and,  if  possible,  mark  out  its  winding  course." 2 

Immediately  after  Mr.  Burges  concluded,  he  was  attacked  by 
Mr.  J.  S.  Barbour  and  Mr.  Coke  of  Virginia,  Mr.  Wayne  of 
Georgia,  and  Mr.  Cambreleng  of  New- York.  As  soon  as  he 
could  obtain  the  floor,  he  replied  to  each  of  these  gentlemen  ; 
and  especially  to  the  latter,  in  a  style  never  excelled  for  its 
refined,  yet  powerful  sarcasm.3 

A  public  dinner  was  given  to  him  in  April,  1831,  at  Provi 
dence,  immediately  after  his  return  from  Washington.  On  this 
occasion,  he  gave  his  constituents  a  brief  account  of  his  steward 
ship  ;  referring  to  the  efforts  made  during  the  session  of  1830-31 
in  behalf  of  the  Judiciary  of  the  United  States,  of  Treaties,  and 
of  every  measure,  by  which  the  interests,  honor  and  glory  of  our 
common  country  are  sustained.  In  its  views  and  sentiments, 
this  Address  is  confined  chiefly  to  the  politics  of  Rhode-Island. 
It  was  made  to  influence  the  then  approaching  State  Election, 
and  it  had  its  intended  effect ;  proving  in  this,  as  in  other  cases, 
the  influence  Mr.  Burges  exercises  over  his  constituents.4 

1  See  Part  II. 

2  This-  Speech  was  published  in  all  sections  of  the  Union,  and  commended 
for  its  perspicacity  and  eloquence. 

3  This  Speech  is  in  Part  II. 

4  A  large  number  of  citizens  of  New-York  invited  him  to  a  public  dinner,  in 
March,  1831.     This  was  a  voluntary  tribute  to  worth  and   learning.     In  the 
invitation,  the  Committee  expressed  admiration  of  the  able  and  eloquent  expo 
sition  of  the  Law  of  Nations  made  by  him  during  the  session  of  1830-31,  and 
the  independence  manifested  in  all  his  efforts  to  expose  corruption  and  usur- 


126  MEMOIR    OF 

Near  the  conclusion,  there  is  a  passage  indicating  the  tone  of 
his  feelings,  which  could  not  be  repressed,  even  on  such  an  oc 
casion.  "  The  place  of  our  birth,"  says  he,  "  is  ever  dear  to 
memory.  The  green  hill-top,  from  which  the  young  eye  first 
looked  at  the  rising  sun  ;  the  brook,  the  forest,  the  field,  where 
in  early  life  we  have  sported  or  labored,  I  know,  cannot  be  for 
gotten.  Indeed,  this  love  for  the  land  of  our  birth,  is  the  highest 
pledge  which  we  can  give,  that  faith  and  allegiance  shall  be 
kept,  with  the  land  of  our  adoption.  We  can,  it  is  true,  though 
not  without  a  sigh,  depart  from  the  graves  of  our  fathers  ;  but, 
oh  !  who  can  ever  tear  himself  from  the  tomb  of  his  children  !" 
This  allusion  so  beautiful,  united  witVu  his  manner,  touched 
every  heart,  and  called  forth  a  spontaneous  note  of  sympathy. 
The  graves  of  our  fathers  are  indeed  sacred,  and  the  inscription 
on  the  monument  reared  to  their  memory  is  cherished  : — but 

pation.  The  President  of  the  day,  Gen.  Jacob  R.  Van  Rensselaer,  observed, 
'*  that  the  company  had  assembled  to  perform  a  pleasing  and  acceptable  service. 
They  had  met,  not  for  the  purpose  of  bowing  at  the  footstool  of  power,  to  de 
precate  its  wrath,  or  implore  its  mercy  ;  nor  yet  to  ask  a  participation  of  its 
favors  ;  but  for  the  purpose  of  bearing  testimony,  in  favor  of  an  individual, 
who,  with  an  ardor,  a  zeal,  and  talent  seldom  surpassed,  or  even  equalled,  had 
ventured  to  attack  the  enemy  in  his  strong-hold,  and  strip  him  of  the  false  cov 
ering  under  which  he  had  deluded  and  deceived  the  people." 

Upon  this  occasion  Mr.  Burges  made  an  excellent  Address.  He  observed, 
that  from  his  earliest  recollection,  the  approbation  of  his  fellow-citizens  had 
enlivened  his  hopes,  cheered  his  exertions,  and  been  dear  to  Jus  heart. — 
Whether  guiding  the  plough,  or  wielding  the  instruments  of  mechanic  labor  ; 
whether  engaged  in  forensic  toils,  at  the  solicitation  of  friends,  or  in  the  ser 
vice  of  our  common-  country,  that  approbation  had  been  among  his  most  en 
gaging  motives. 

A  public  dinner  was  given  a  few  days  previous  in  the  same  hall,  to  a  distin 
guished  Senator,  Mr.  Webster.  In  alluding  to  the  circumstance,  Mr.  Burges 
happily  remarked,  that  the  Constitution  of  our  country,  had  recently  from  the 
same  place  where  he  then  stood,  received  such  exposition  and  eulogium,  and 
so  perfect  and  finished,  as  neither  to  require,  nor  to  admit  addition  or  improve 
ment.  The  boldest  artist  of  Greece,  never  attempted  to  give  a  new  excellence 
to  the  Minerva  of  Phidias. 

Considering  the  great  principles  of  the  Constitution  as  settled  and  established, 
he  discussed  some  of  its  provisions  as  they  have  been  reduced  to  practice,  un 
der  the  several  administrations  of  the  General  Government;  and  especially  how 
they  were  sustained  by  the  existing  administration. 


T  K  I  8  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  127 

the  tomb  of  our  children,  whose  faculties  were  expanding,  who 
promised  blessings  to  declining  years,  oh  !  who  can  forget  how 
they  went,  one  by  one,  to  that  land,  where  the  cares  and  passions 
of  this  world  do  not  reach.  The  tomb  erected  by  filial  love,  and 
consecrated  by  filial  affection,  is  the  chosen  symbol  by  which 
virtue  and  piety  may  be  illustrated  and  transmitted.  It  is  the 
spot  where  friends  may  make  their  pilgrimage,  and  be  consoled. 
Over  its  silent,  yet  eloquent  marble,  the  winds  may  sweep,  and 
the  storms  may  rage ;  but  the  soul  that  sleeps  there,  will  not 
awake,  until  a  new  and  brighter  morning. 

On  the  Fourth  of  July,  1831,  Mr.  Burges  addressed  the  citi 
zens  of  Providence.  In  his  discourse  on  that  occasion,  he  con 
sidered  the  history  of  our  country  as  the  epitaph  of  its  illustrious 
founders.  A  minute  narrative  of  the  events  of  the  Revolution 
was  not  deemed  necessary  ;  not  because  they  ought  not  to  be 
remembered ;  for  they  cannot  be  forgotten.  They  will  be  told 
by  millions  to  listening  millions,  yearly,  daily,  hourly,  from  age 
to  age.  Those  events,  and  their  effects,  are  the  foundation  of 
our  national  literature,  the  theme  of  popular  applause,  the  cause 
of  gratitude  and  reverence. 

The  general  topic  of  this  Oration  was,  some  of  the  principles 
which  produced  our  Revolution,  and  some  of  the  events  which 
have  followed  it ;  disclosing  to  us,  how  much  the  people  have 
yet  to  perform,  before  they  will  have  completed  that  beautiful 
Temple  of  National  Freedom,  the  foundations  of  which  were 
laid  broad  and  deep,  by  our  fathers.     The  effect  produced  upon 
the  assembly,  by  the  following  passage,  can  never  be  forgotten. 
It  seemed  as  if  the  voice  of  Tully  was  indeed  speaking  of  "  the 
first  day  of  war" — of  the  battles  of  Lexington,  and  Bunker  Hill, 
and  Yorktown.     You  could  almost  see  thrones  tottering,  at  the 
arousing  spirit  of  liberty — almost  feel  the  bland  and  animating 
gale  of  freedom  breathed  over  the  land  of  Livy  and  Tacitus  ; 
rejoice  that  the  birth-place  of  eloquence  and  song,  like  her  own 
Pallas,  again  stood  erect  among  the  nations ;  and  read  the  in 
spiring  sentiment,  which  seemed  to  be  inscribed  in  letters    of 
gold,  on  the  wing  of  the  awakening  eagle,  under  which  Poland 
marched  to  battle. 


128  MEMOIR    OF 

"  I  see  a  few  men  here,"  says  Mr.  Burges,  "  who  must  remem 
ber  the  first  day  of  war.  It  is  the  oldest  event  alive  in  my  recol 
lection.  Though  distant  from  the  field  twice  the  length  of  this 
State  ;  yet,  the  alarm  reached  our  little  hamlet  hefore  the  sun 
went  down.  Every  cheek  was  pale  ;  but  every  eye  was  on  fire. 
*  Lexington'  was  the  gathering  word ;  and  the  name  flew  from 
man  to  man,  from  colony  to  colony,  as  the  lightning  shoots 
along  the  dark  bosom  of  the  summer  cloud.  Almost  at  once, 
one  spirit  pervaded  the  whole  country,  and  while  our  enemies 
were  taking  counsel  to  subdue  us  one  by  one,  we  had  become  a 
nation.  Bunker  Hill  was  next  the  battle  cry ;  and  field  after 
field,  gave  each  a  new  word  of  war,  until  the  roar  of  the  last 
cannon,  the  shout  of  the  last  victory  was  heard  ;  and  the  last 
sword  of  the  enemy  delivered  up  at  Yorktown. 

"What  are  some  of  the  effects  produced  by  our  Revolution? 
Surrounding  nations  looked  anxiously  on  while  the  great  con 
troversy  was  on  trial ;  and  at  the  moment  of  success,  the  light 
of  our  triumph,  rising  high  and  glorious,  was  seen  by  the  people 
in  regions  the  most  distant.     Under  this  light,  the  great  princi 
ples  of  our  Revolution  have  spread,  and  extended ;  and  that 
improvement  in  the  political  condition  of  nations,  then  com 
menced,  has,  from  that  hour  up  to  the  present  moment,  been  in 
progress.     Letters  have  been  and  now  continually  are  dissemi 
nating  knowledge ;  men  have  made  many  discoveries  concerning 
their  rights ;    and  are  making  mighty  efforts  to  regain  them. 
France,  after  years  of  anarchy,  blood,  and  iron  despotism,  seems 
at  last  to  have  succeeded  in  establishing  constitutional  freedom. 
In  other  parts  of  Europe,  liberty  is  awakening  from  the  slumber 
of  ages.     At  every  movement  of  the  arousing  spirit,  some  throne 
may  be  seen  tottering ;  and  you  may  hear  the  shout  of  some 
outraged,  some  hoping  nation.     Spain  may  yet  shake  from  her 
bosom  the  polluting  power  of  the  Bourbon.  Twice  since  Canova 
wrought  the  form  of  Washington  in  Italian  marble,  the  bland 
and  animating  gale  of  freedom  has  breathed  over  that  glorious 
land  of  Livy  and  Tacitus.     We  have  almost  heard  the  divine 
voice  of  Tully  ;  we  have  almost  seen  the  crimson  steel  of  Bru 
tus.     The  birth-place  of  song  and  eloquence,  the  region  of  arts 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  129 

and  arms,  Greece,  so  many  ages  bent  to  the  earth  with  chains, 
is  free ;  walks  again  on  continent  and  island,  erect,  like  her 
own  Pallas,  in  native  majesty  ;  and  she,  who  was  the  ancient 
teacher  of  all  other  nations,  is  now  the  lovely  disciple  of  our 
own.. 

"  Would  you  find  a  country  consecrated  by  the  imperishable 
names  of  her  patriots  and  defenders  ?  Then  look  for  the  cradle 
of  Sobieski,  and  Kosciusco.  Glorious  Sarmatia  !  thou  art  this 
day,  as  we  were,  when  this  day,  like  the  passover  of  God's  own 
people,  was  set  apart  from  every  day  in  the  sun's  whole  course  ; 
and  as  a  perpetual  festival,  hallowed  and  consecrated  to  free 
dom.  The  principles  of  our  revolution,  and  the  very  name  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  seem  to  be  inscribed,  in  blazing 
gold,  on  the  wing  of  every  eagle  under  which  Poland  marches 
to  battle.  Could  we  believe  that  e  the  spirits  of  the  just  made 
perfect,'  might  ever  again,  in  human  form,  visit  the  sunshine  of 
this  lower  world,  how  could  we  doubt  that  our  Washington  is 
now  directing  the  ( storm  of  war'  in  another  hemisphere  ;  and 
leading  another  nation  to  victory  and  independence  ?  In  the 
hero  of  Warsaw,  who  has  not  seen  a  like  devotedness  of  patriot 
ism,  and  a  kindred  skill  in  warfare  :  the  sudden  and  silent  seiz 
ure  of  events ;  the  cautionary  delay;  the  patience  of  endurance ; 
and  all  other,  the  illustrious  excellencies  of  the  great  Fabius  of 
our  country  ?  God  of  Armies  !  shelter,  we  beseech  thee,  cover 
that  head  in  the  day  of  battle  ;  and  give,  once  more,  give  suc 
cess  to  the  cause  of  Washington." 

The  Federal  Adelphi  of  Rhode-Island,  a  Society  connected 
with  Brown  University,  invited  Mr.  Burges  to  deliver  before 
them  the  Anniversary  Address,  in  September,  1831  ;  which 
invitation  he  accepted.  The  successive  calls  on  his  time,  how 
ever,  left  him  but  a  few  days  to  write  what  he  intended  to 
speak  on  that  occasion.  The  very  papers  to  which  he  had  first 
committed  his  thoughts,  he  was  obliged  to  carry  with  him  to 
the  delivery,  and  without  the  slightest  correction,  the  discourse 
was  published,  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  the  Society. 

Though  prepared  for  a  particular  occasion,  and  intended  in 
its  general  thoughts  and  suggestions,  for  the  exclusive  benefit 

Q 


130 


MEMOIR    OF 


of  the  Society  before  whom  it  was  pronounced,  it  contains  some 
of  the  best  specimens  of  Mr.  Burges's  writings/  In  this  discourse, 
he  refers  to  the  character  of  "  Rhode-Island  College,"  as  it  was 
called  in  primitive  times ;  that,  though  scientific,  it  was  emi 
nently  classical ;  and  that  the  pure  and  catholic  spirit  of  the 
great  founder  of  Rhode-Island,  lived  and  breathed  in  every  part 
of  its  government  and  instruction.  The  qualities  and  powers  of 
mind  required  in  various  departments  of  study,  the  discipline 
best  adapted  to  improvement  in  reasoning  and  taste,  and  the 
acquisitions  necessary  to  attain  that  palmy  state  of  eloquence 
which  belongs  to  the  halls  of  Justice,  Legislation,  and  the 
Temple  of  Divine  Worship,  are  each  distinctly  examined.  In 
relation  to  eloquence,  the  great  Athenian,  highly  as  he  prized 
action  in  public  speaking,  and  assiduously  as  he  labored  to  per 
fect  himself  in  all  the  graces  of  Oratory,  yet  he  bestowed  more 
time  and  attention  in  the  cultivation  of  his  mind  ;  and  in  adding 
to  his  other  accomplishments  whatever  could  strengthen  the  rea 
soning  faculties,  chasten  the  imagination,  perfect  method  in  dis 
course,  and  impart  to  all  his  sentences  a  rich,  pure,  and  beautiful 
flow  of  language.  And  in  this  is  the  true  spring  of  genuine 
eloquence.  The  mind  should  be  a  storehouse  of  deep  and 
varied  learning,  and  then  may  be  acquired  those  other  excel 
lencies  which  adorn  elocution. 

The  science  taught  in  the  schools,  denominated  Intellectual 
Philosophy,  is  approved,  so  far  as  it  pursues  a  mere  analysis  of 
the  mind  ;  but,  when  it  inquires,  how  the  mind  holds  converse 
with  the  world  around,  it  often  leads  to  uncertainty,  doubt,  and 
final  scepticism.1  After  explaining  the  systems  of  numerous 

1  This  objection  to  the  systems  of  ancient  and  modern  philosophers,  embraces 
a  large  proportion  of  works  on.  ethical  science.  It  is  a  prevailing  complaint 
against  moralists,  that  they  are  too  cold  and  mechanical,  and  confined  in  their 
views.  We  commend  Stuart,  for  example,  the  last  relic  of  the  school  founded 
by  Reid,  for  profound  thought,  and  refined  sentiments,  and  unwearied  labors  in 
disseminating  valuable  truths  in  intellectual  philosophy.  We  need,  however, 
larger,  more  practical  views  of  human  nature.  The  capacities  of  the  soul  for 
suffering  and  enjoyment,  its  far-reaching  thoughts  and  emotions,  its  deep 
passions,  its  longings  after  the  mysterious,  should  be  more  fully  unfolded.  And 
then  we  require  the  rules  and  limits  belonging  to  Man,  not  as  a  creature  of 
circumstance  and  accident;  but,  as  a  sentient,  rational  being;  living  in  the 


TRISTAM    B  URGES.  131 

philosophers,  Plato,  Aristotle,  Epicurus,  Pyrrho,  Des  Cartes, 
Locke,  and  Hume,  he  concluded  with  this  tender  allusion  to  his 
own  departed  son. 

"I  knew  a  youthful  mind,  ardent,  inquisitive,  and  by  his 
thirst  for  knowledge,  in  the  study  of  Hume's  Philosophy,  led 
into  a  region,  first,  of  uncertainty,  then,  of  doubt.  He  was  re 
deemed  from  the  gloom  and  darkness  of  doubt,  by  a  study,  now, 
I  believe,  excluded  from  some  of  the  schools ;  the  study  of 
Butler's  Analogy  of  Natural  and  Revealed  Religion  ;  and,  by 

world,  with  powers  conducting  him  to  good  or  evil;  with  all  his  material  and 
spiritual  relations;  his  fears  and  hopes,  and  the  changes  which  come  over  him 
from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  We  need  a  system,  which,  after  clearly  defining 
the  theory,  shall  as  clearly  illustrate  the  practice;  take  man  in  infancy,  in  child 
hood,  in  his  meridian,  and  in  his  old  age;  speak  of  the  dangers  which  sur 
round  him,  the  means  to  avoid  them,  the  purposes  of  improvement,  the  value 
of  wisdom,  the  precious  germs  wrapped  up  in  every  living  soul,  and  the  rich 
harvest  which  they  promise. 

There  is  yet  so  much  speculation  on  this  grand  topic,  that  a  practical  system 
of  ethics  has  not  been  published.  Some  philosophers  compare  the  mind  to  a 
piece  of  "  wax,  which  may  be  softened  too  much  to  retain,  or  too  little  to  re 
ceive  an  impression.  In  childhood,  the  material  is  too  soft,  and  gives  way  to 
all  impressions.  In  old  age,  it  is  hard,  and  retains  the  impressions  formerly 
made,  but  does  not  receive  any  new  ones.  In  manhood,  the  consistence  is  at 
once  proper  to  receive,  and  to  retain  the  impressions  which  are  made  upon  it." 
Aristotle  leans  to  this  theory.  Cicero  and  Q,uintillian  allude  to  it,  although 
they  express  but  little  confidence  in  the  principle. 

In  later  times,  the  transcendental  system  introduced  into  Germany  by  Kant, 
flourished  for  a  brief  period,  and  died  without  a  monument  of  extensive  good. 
It  numbered,  however,  many  proselytes  in  that  land  of  profound  thought  and 
varied  learning.  Its  temporary  success  may  be  traced  in  part,  to  the  elegant  ac 
complishments  of  its  founder;  and  also  to  that  love  of  mysticism  predominant  in 
the  German  character.  Like  all  systems  of  philosophy,  as  far  as  we  can  under 
stand,  it  abounds  in  artificial  terms,  speculations,  false  postulates,  and  of  neces 
sity  false  conclusions.  It  has  elicited,  however,  amid  powerful  discussion, 
many  simple  and  beautiful  truths,  for  a  belief  in  God,  and  the  immortality  of 
the  soul.  "  ,  -; ' 

The  elegant  treatise  of  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  and  especially  the  work  of 
Degerando,  are  the  best  ever  published  on  the  subject  of  intellectual  philoso 
phy.  The  latter  contains  sound,  comprehensive,  and  practical  views  of  human 
nature.  It  treats  of  maft,  his  relations,  duties,  obligations,  and  hopes,  in  a 
manner  deserving  their  importance.  The  study  of  such  a  work  will  never  lead 
.*o  doubt  or  scepticism. 


132 


MEMOIR    OF,    &c. 


the  efforts  of  a  mind,  imbued  with  all  the  attributes  of  that  taste 
which  must  have  objects  for  its  admiration,  its  love,  its  adora 
tion  ;  in  the  material,  and  mental  Universe,  and  in  their  great 
and  glorious  Creator. 

"  To  one  who  observed  it,  the  progress  of  such  a  mind  was, 
indeed,  a  study ;  anxious,  fearful,  triumphant ;  and,  though 
brief,  like  Its  mortal  sojourn,  yet,  when  Memory  lends  to  Hope 
the  light  of  joy,  the  eye  does  often  seem  to  look  on  visions  not 
of  time  ;  the  ear  to  hear  as  in  the  voice  of  one  newly  arrived 
from  the  confines  of  eternity  ; 

« I've  vving'd  my  flight  from  star  to  star^ 
From  world  to  luminous  world,  as  far 

As  the  Universe  spreads  its  flaming  wall — 
Take  all  the  pleasures  of  all  the  spheres, 
And  multiply  each  through  endless  years, 

One  moment  of  Heaven  is  worth  them  all.'  " 


CHAPTER    X. 

Resolution  for  the  Removal  of  Washington's  Remains. — Mr.  Burges  advocates 
it. — Account  of  his  Speech. — Mr.  Mallary's  Resolution. — Speech. — Memo 
rial  in  relation  to  the  American  Colonization  Society. — He  is  attacked  by 
Mr.  Blair. — Replies  to  him. 

By  a  joint  Resolution  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Represen 
tatives,  a  Committee  was  appointed  in  February,  1832,  to  carry 
into  effect  the  Resolutions  of  Congress  passed  in  1799,  providing 
for  the  removal  of  the  remains  of  Washington  from  Mount  Ver- 
non,  to  be  deposited  under  the  centre  of  the  Capitol.  The 
Resolution  was  opposed,  because  its  adoption  would  conflict 
with  the  Will  of  Washington  ;  wherein  he  desired  that  his  body 
might  be  buried  on  his  own  plantation,  without  even  the  cere 
mony  of  a  funeral  oration.  It  was  further  objected,  that  the 
character  of  Washington  did  not  require  the  influence  of  such 
pageantry;  and,  as  he  was  born  in  Virginia,  and  interred  there 
by  his  own  request,  his  venerated  ashes  ought  not  to  be  disturbed 
in  their  repose. 

This  Resolution  was  advocated  by  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Ed 
ward  Everett  of  Massachusetts,  Mr.  Burges,  and  several  other 
members.  The  Speech  of  Mr.  Burges  is  replete  with  thoughts 
appropriate  to  the'  sacred  theme.  "  The  ever  during  marble," 
said  he,  "  will  give  to  coming  generations,  the  form  and  the 
features  of  Washington ;  and  the  traveller  of  future  ages,  shall 
learn  where  he  may  find  his  tomb.  This  House,  this  Mauso 
leum  of  one,  who,  prospered  by  divine  assistance,  performed 
more  for  his  country  and  for  his  race,  than  any  other  mere  mor 
tal,  shall  be  a  place  of  pilgrimage  for  all  nations.  Hither  will 
come  the  brave,  the  wise,  the  good,  from  every  part  of  our  coun 
try  ;  not  to  worship,  but  to  stand  by  the  sepulchre,  and  to  re- 


134 


MEMOIR    OF 


lume  the  light  of  patriotism  at  the  monument  of  Washington."  ' 
A  Bill  was  introduced  during  the  Session  of  1831-32,  by  Mr. 
Mallary,  of  Vermont,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Manufac 
tures,  for  the  prevention  of  Frauds  on  the  Revenue.  Mr.  Mc- 
Duffie,  a  gentleman,  as  before  stated,  resolute  and  untiring  in 
his  opposition  to  the  Tariff  Laws,  moved  an  amendment  to  that 
Bill.  It  proposed,  after  the  first  day  of  June,  1832,  to  repeal 
the  Tariff  Law  of  1828,  and  to  revive  that  of  1824 ;  and  after  a 
definite  period,  provided  further,  to  repeal  the  statute  of  1824, 
and  to  leave  that  passed  in  1816  in  full  force. 

Mr.  Burges  delivered  a  Speech  in  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  on  this  Amendment  proposed  by  Mr.  McDufiie.  After 
some  general  remarks  with  reference  to  the  state  of  public  opin 
ion,  and  the  means  adopted  to  corrupt  it,  he  continued — "  Our 
ancestors  migrated  hither,  to  build  a  country,  an  independent 
country,  as  well  for  themselves,  as  for  their  descendants.  When 
they  had  landed  here,  they  looked  out  upon  the  earth  on  which 
they  had  placed  their  feet,  and  back  again  on  the  friendly  bosom 
of  the  ocean  which  had  borne  them  to  these  shores ;  and  then 
up  to  the  clear,  blue  heaven  over  their  heads  ;  and  lifting  their 
hands  in  thanksgiving  and  supplication  to  the  God  above,  they 
resolved,  under  his  guidance,  to  depend  on  those  hands  and 
those  elements,  for  their  subsistence,  for  their  food,  their  clothing, 
and  their  habitation.  Independence  was  their  first  aspiration  ; 
independence  of  that  country  which  had  driven  them  into  exile. 
From  that  hour  to  this,  all  true  Americans,  who  have  under 
stood  and  pursued  the  great  interests  of  this  country,  have  lived 
and  labored  for  this  independence.  All  Britons,  and  friends  of 
Britain  ;  all  anti- Americans,  as  well  before,  as  at,  and  since  the 
Revolution,  have  opposed  its  growth  and  establishment ;  or  plot 
ted  and  toiled  for  its  subversion  and  overthrow. 

"It  has  been  the  great  and  established  policy  of  England,  from 
the  first  settlement  of  the  Colonies,  to  this  time,  to  confine  the 
people  of  this  country  to  agriculture,  the  fisheries,  and  commerce 
with  herself  and  herself  alone.  The  incipient  efforts  of  our 

1  This  Speech  is  in  Part  II. 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  135 

fathers  to  produce  for  themselves,  either  their  own  apparel,  or 
the  instruments  of  their  labor,  were,  by  English  enactment, 
made  a  kind  of  colonial  nuisance,  and  punished  as  a  class  of 
misdemeanors,  against  the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  crown.  The 
patriots  of  those,  like  the  patriots  of  these,  times,  resolved,  and 
never  abandoned  the  resolution,  to  labor,  as  they  might  choose, 
either  at  the  plough,  the  loom,  or  the  sail.  This  conflict  of  pol 
icy,  this  effort  in  the  colonies  for  moral  and  physical  independ 
ence,  and  that  British  arrogance  of  dominion  over  the  wants, 
and  necessities  of  our  ancestors,  produced  the  revolutionary 
conflict.  Moral  and  physical,  not  political  independence,  moved 
that  great  question.  The  tax  on  tea  was  incidental  to  more 
deep  and  weighty  argument ;  but  not  otherwise  the  moving 
cause  than  the  lighted  linstock  that  explodes  the  shell,  which,  in 
its  course,  carries  terror  and  desolation  through  a  beleagued  city. 
"  It  was  in  support  of  this  independence,  that  the  whigs  of  the 
North  and  South  first  united.  Here  the  Adamses,  Hancocks, 
Otises,  and  Warrens,  of  New-England,  met,  and  mingled  their 
toil  and  their  blood,  with  the  Pinckneys,  the  Haynes,  the  Law 
rences,  and  Sumpters  of  South  Carolina.  On  this  ground,  too, 
Greene,  from  the  North,  met,  and  re-united  the  scattered  array 
of  Southern  war. 

"  Where  now  is  the  patriotism  of  those  times  ?  Do  we  in  these 
Halls,  hear  its  voice,  exhorting  to  re-union,  and  cheering  to 
associated  effort  1  Is  it  not  drowned  in  the  angry  roar  of  that 
torrent  of  malediction,  which  for  so  many  days  has  been  poured 
down  from  the  stormy  South,  on  the  devoted  region  of  New- 
England  1  Where,  Sir,  is  the  spirit  of  the  Revolution  ?  Does 
it  still  live  in  our  country?  Sir,  it  did  not  expire  with  Lowndes  ; 
it  did  not,  when  deserted  by  his  associate,  abandon  his  lovely 
land  of  the  sun.  Men  still  live  in  that  patriotic  region,  who 
make  no  compromise  on  questions  of  liberty  and  independence  ; 
and  who  will  never  barter  either,  with  any  nation,  for  the  poor 
privilege  of  selling  their  cotton  at  a  better  bargain." 

The  amendment  proposed  by  Mr.  McDufiie,  he  considered  as 
opposed,  in  all  its  forms,  to  the  American  System.  In  the 
speech  made  by  Mr.  McDuffie  upon  his  amendment,  he  alleged 


136  MEMOIR    OF 

that  the  effects  of  that  System  were,  to  reduce  the  market  price 
of  cotton  and  tobacco  ;  to  compel  the  growers  of  those  products 
to  pay  more  than  their  just  proportion  of  the  revenue ;  to  secure 
a  bounty  to  the  sugar-making,  grain-growing,  and  manufactur 
ing  States,  on  their  products ;  to  deprive  the  South  of  their 
natural  market,  the  market  of  England.  Mr.  Burges  took  an 
enlarged  view  of  these  several  allegations ;  and  by  arguments 
plain  and  practical,  and  details  minute  and  exact,  he  proved 
them  to  be  untenable,  and  opposed  to  the  real  facts  connected 
with  the  question.  He  then  runs  the  doctrine  of  bounties  out 
into  all  its  branches ;  not  believing  in  its  soundness ;  and  demon 
strates  that  the  South  has  no  cause  to  complain  of  its  operations. 
Numerous  other  objections  to  the  protective  policy  are  refuted  ; 
and  all  the  principles  advocated  by  the  friends  of  Free  Trade, 
condemned. 

"  Sir,  let  our  whole  country  adopt  this  policy,  this  English 
system,  and  from  that  time  we  are  to  England  what  Poland  is 
to  the  other  nations  of  Europe.  The  West  will  not  do  this  ; 
the  North  will  not  do  this.  Do  it  who  may,  New-England 
will  not.  So  long  as  one  soldier  of '75  lives  on  our  hills,  or  one 
soldier's  dust  sleeps  in  a  grave  on  our  battle-fields  ;  so  long  as 
the  Fourth  of  July  is  a  day  in  the  Christian  calender,  New- 
England  will  not.  By  the  souls  of  those  men  who  fell  at  Lex 
ington,  and  Bunker  Hill,  and  Bennington,  now  beatified  by 
redeeming  mercy,  New-England  will  not  chain  herself  to  the 
wheels  of  this  odious  System. 

"  Will  the  South,  the  generous,  the  warm-hearted,  the  patri 
otic  South,  do  this  1  Will  they  leave  us  ?  plant  their  fields, 
that  British  royalty  may  reap  their  toil  ?  be  tributaries,  that  a 
few  demagogues  may  wear  stars  on  the  shoulder,  or  garters  at 
the  knee  1  When  such  a  spirit  is  abroad  in  their  land,'  will  they 
not  question  it  1 

'  Be  it  a  spirit  of  health,  or  goblin  damn'd, 

Bring  with  it  airs  from  Heaven,  or  blasts  from  hell, 

Be  its  intents  wicked,  or  charitable, 

It  comes  in  such  a  questionable  shape, 

That  they  will  speak  to  it. ' 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  137 

"  South  Carolina,  of  all  these  States  once  most  devoted  to  this 
Union,  go  if  thou  wilt.  Leave  this  brotherhood  of  republics, 
this  home  of  equality  in  the  new  world,  for  alienage  in  the 
old,  and  secondary  rights  and  honors  with  European  royalty. 
Provide  for  thyself  other  relations ;  alliance  with  England  ! 
The  union  will  be  Sicyon  with  Macedonia  ;  Aratus,  the  Repub 
lican  with  Antigonus  the  King.  When  his  •  beloved  city  was 
filled  with  foreign  soldiers,  when  he  beheld  the  family  of  his 
darling  son  dishonored,  and  felt  the  poison  circulating  in  his 
veins,  '  such,'  said  the  dying  patriot  to  his  weeping  friend, « such, 
Cephalon,  are  the  fruits  of  royal  friendship.'  Alliance  with 
England  !  No  matter  by  what  name  this  connexion  is  known 
to  politicians  in  South  Carolina,  it  will  be  deemed  by  all  free 
men  in  other  lands,  the  lion  and  the  lion's  provider. 

"  England,  and  what  has  England  done  for  the  South  ] 
English  avarice  plundered  from  Africa  her  untamed  barbarism, 
her  wild  freedom  ;  and  when  chained  and  whipt  into  slavery, 
imported  and  spread  out  the  moral  pestilence  over  her  whole 
colonies  of  the  South.  Not  only  on  you,  and  on  you,  and  on 
you,  was  the  scourge  of  nations  inflicted,  but  on  all  those  of 
'  the  cane-bearing  Isles,'  throughout  the  Carribean  Sea.  Why  ? 
and  for  whose  benefit  1  That  this  wretched  slavery  might  toil ; 
that  you,  as  overseers,  might  toil,  and  plough,  and  plant,  and 
reap,  and  deliver  to  England  the  rich  harvest.  For  what? 
For  the  very  purpose,  under  the  very  System,  this  day,  in  this 
House,  so  earnestly  demanded  by  you  ;  that  her  labor  may  be 
fed  from  your  fields,  and  your  harvest  be  taxed  to  furnish  her 
revenue  ;  that  they  may  be  enriched  by  you,  and  you  be  made 
poor  by  them  ;  they  be  lords,  you  any  thing  they  please. 

"What  more  would  England  do  for  the  South,  if  more  may 
be  done  1  Would  she  goad  on  that  State  to  separate  from  the 
Union  ?  Hear ;  read  ;  and  read  all  which  is  said,  or  written  by 
her  hirelings  in  Europe,  or  by  her  renegade  hirelings  in  America. 
Of  all,  what  is  the  amount  1  Divide  and  conquer,  whom,  uni 
ted,  she  cannot.  Conquer  the  South  by  alliance.  The  North  ? 
No,  not  the  North  ;  nor  the  East ;  nor  the  West.  These  they 
cannot — while  there  is  a  man,  or  a  woman,  or  a  child,  left  living 

R 


138  MEMOIR    OF     IT 

in  those  regions,  they  cannot  conquer  them.  Let  them,  as  in 
other  days  they  did,  pour  the  barbarism  of  Europe  upon  us. 
Each  valley  shall  be  a  Golgotha ;  each  hill  shall  be  steeped  in 
blood  to  the  top.  Here  we  have  lived  free  ;  where  we  have 
lived,  as  we  have  lived,  we  will  die  ;  and  the  winds  of  heaven 
shall,  in  those  regions,  blow  over  none  but  freemen,  or  the  bones 
or  graves  of  freemen.1" 

In  1832,  there  was  a  debate  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
on  the  reading  of  a  Memorial  from  certain  British  subject?, 
praying  Congress  to  aid  the  American  Colonization  Society,  as 
an  efficient  means  of  ultimately  suppressing  the  African  Slave 
Trade. 

Mr.  Mercer,  of  Virginia,  moved  that  the  Memorial  should  be 
read.  The  motion  created  unusual  excitement,  and  an  ani 
mated  discussion.  Mr.  Blair,  of  South  Carolina,  accused  Mr. 
Burges  of  reproaching  the  South  on  the  subject  of  Slavery.  He 
insisted  that  a  disposition  was  manifested  to  agitate  the  Slave 
Question.  "  He  could  tell  gentlemen,  that  when  they  moved 
that  question  seriously,  they  from  the  South  would  meet  it  else 
where.  It  would  not  be  disputed  in  that  House,  but  in  the 
open  field,  where  powder  and  cannon  would  be  their  orators, 
and  their  arguments  lead  and  steel." 

To  this  effusion,  Mr.  Burges  thus  replied  :  "  Mr.  Speaker ;  in 
justice  to  the  course  I  have  pursued,  I  must  be  permitted  to  say 
a  few  words.  I  was  not  in  the  House  when  the  Memorial  was 
introduced ;  and  when  the  gentleman  from  Tennessee  had  made 
his  motion  for  re-consideration,  I  did  not  know  to  what  the 
gentleman  alluded  ;  but  when  I  perceived  that  the  gentlemen 
from  Tennessee  and  from  Virginia  were  at  issue,  as  to  the  con 
tents  of  the  paper,  I  moved  that  it  might  be  read.  I  had  no 
knowledge,  whatever,  of  its  contents,  save  that  it  came  from 
British  subjects,  and  that  it  was  on  the  question  of  the  foreign 
Slave  Trade.  Gentlemen  will  do  me  the  justice,  however 
indisposed  some  may  be  to  do  so,  and  however  ready  to  insult 
my  feelings,  and  to  injure  rny  character ;  yet  the  House,  I  am 
sure,  will  do  me  the  justice  to  admit,  that  I  have  ever  treated 
the  subject  of  slavery  in  a  manner  calculated  to  quiet  every 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  189 

angry  feeling.  I  have  never  sought  to  stir  up  any  excitement 
on  that  subject.  Those  who  remember  the  case  of  the  slave  of 
D'Auterive,  and  the  debate  to  which  it  gave  rise,  will  bear  wit 
ness,  that  the  statements  I  then  made;  were  such  as  to  satisfy 
every  gentleman  coming  from  a  slave-holding  State,  of  my 
perfect  conviction  of  the  unconstitutionality  of  any  interference 
of  the  General  Government  with  the  tenure  of  slave  property. 
Yet,  to-day,  for  some  purpose,  gentlemen  have  misrepresented 
my  sentiments.  The  member  from  Virginia,  (Mr.  Patton,)  has 
alluded  to  me  as  having  said,  that  they  of  the  South  were  afraid 
to  have  the  paper  read." 

[Mr.  Patton  answered,  that  he  had  alluded  to  Mr.  Burges, 
who  had  said,  "  Are  the  gentlemen  afraid  to  hear  it  ?"] 

"  Well,  now,"  replied  Mr.  Burges,  "  I  asked  whether  gentle 
men  were  afraid  to  hear  the  paper  read.  May  not  that  ques 
tion  be  asked  without  offence  1  In  what  way,  more  emphatic, 
could  I  have  declared  that  the  gentlemen  were  not  afraid.  'King 
Agrippa,  believest  thou  the  prophets  ?'  asked  the  great  Apostle ; 
and  instantly  added,  '  I  know  that  thou  believest.'  Let  the 
gentleman  consult  his  primer  in  rhetoric ;  aye,  and  his  primer  in 
courtesy  too. 

"  The  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  (Mr.  Blair,)  has  ac 
cused  the  citizens  of  the  North,  of  building  their  factories  on 
the  groans,  and  tears,  and  blood  of  the  oppressed  and  miserable 
Africans.  That  is  more,  Sir,  than  I  will  sit  and  hear.  The 
gentleman  knows  nothing  about  the  people  of  the  North.  I  ad 
mit,  that  before  the  slave-trade  was  made  piracy,  some  Ameri 
can  ship-owners  were  partially  engaged  in  it ;  and  it  might 
have  been,  even  after  the  trade  became  illegal,  some  might 
have  been  concerned  it.  If  the  facts  were  so,  let  them  settle 
that  question,  with  God  and  their  country.  But  that  the  peo 
ple  of  New-England  built  their  factories  on  the  groans,  and 
tears,  and  blood  of  the  poor  Africans,  is  as  false,  as  that  the 
gentleman  from  South  Carolina  now  lives  on  the  groans,  and 
tears,  and  blood  of  the  vast  number  of  slaves  over  whom  he 
holds  control.  I  said  that  it  had  pleased  God  to  relieve  the 
people  of  the  North,  of  that  grievous  curse  which  still  lay  upon 


140  MEMOIR    OF 

their  Southern  brethren  ;  and  in  saying  so,  I  but  quoted  the 
words  of  one  of  the  best  and  wisest  of  the  statesmen  of  the 
South.  Reproach  rny  brethren  for  an  evil  which  has  fallen 
upon  them  in  the  apportionment  of  Providence  1  I  would  as 
soon  reproach  a  man  for  having  lost  an  eye,  or  an  arm,  or  having 
a  deformed  limb,  as  for  having  been  born  in  a  country  where  he 
received  by  inheritance  the  control  of  the  labor  of  slaves.  In 
every  movement  the  South  has  made  to  relieve  themselves  from 
the  pressure  of  this  heavy  burden,  I  have  ever  felt  the  deepest 
sympathy.  No  man  personally  interested  in  the  horrible  catas 
trophe  of  the  last  summer,  felt  more  acutely  on  that  calamitous 
occasion — and  yet  I  am  to  be  reproached  with  having  insulted 
the  South,  merely  because  a  certain  petition  was  asked  to  be  read, 
that  all  might,  act  understandingly  in  permitting  it  to  be  put  out 
of  the  House,  in  a  manner  that  should  vindicate  the  courtesy  of 
the  country.  Stir  up  an  excitement !  Injure  the  South  !  Sir, 
there  is  not  a  person  there  to  whom  I  would  not  extend  the 
hand  of  amity ;  but  there  are  those  there  in  regard  to  whom  the 
most  fervent  aspiration  of  the  most  sympathetic  heart  is  too 
feeble.  Did  I  desire  the  day  to  come,  when  cannon  were  to  be 
their  orators,  and  powder  and  ball  their  arguments  ?  How  can 
any  man  so  blaspheme  all  the  feelings  of  brotherhood  !  thus 
rend  asunder  all  the  bonds,  which  ought  to  bind  us  together,  not 
merely  as  men,  but  as  Americans  ?  Could  the  gentleman  have 
so  understood  me?  Of  all  the  most  mortifying  occurrences 
which  have  happened  to  me  in  this  Hall,  this  is  the  most  so. 
When  I  have  labored,  with  but  little  of  strength  and  of  life  hang 
ing  about  me,  to  be  perfectly  understood  by  the  gentlemen  of 
the  South,  and  when  I  would  be  the  first  man  to  bring  the 
waters  of  the  ocean  upon  the  earliest  flame  which  the  demon 
of  discord  might  kindle  to  destroy  the  peace  of  a  flourishing  and 
happy  land  ;  then  to  be  thus  openly  accused  of  reproaching  the 
South  for  the  slavery  which  exists  there  !  I  have  said  it  was  a 
curse — I  shall  ever  consider  it  so,  and  will  go  as  far  as  any  living 
man,  in  conformity  with  the  wishes  of  the  South,  to  relieve 
them  from  it ;  but  never  would  I  take  a  step  against  their  will. 


TRISTAM    SURGES.  141 

"  As  to  the  threatening  language  which  the  gentleman  has 
used;  let  him  understand,  that  it  will  have  no  influence  with  me. 
I  did  not  come  from  a  race  which  is  to  be  put  down  by  hard 
words  and  savage  looks.  I  may  be  drawn  by  a  twine  thread  ; 
but  never  will  be  driven  by  the  club  of  Hercules." 1 

1  The  force  of  many  of  Mr.  Burges's  allusions  are  lost,  unless  the  character 
or  appearance  of  his  opponents  are  known.  Mr.  Blair  was  a  gentleman  more 
than  six  feet  high,  and  of  a  frame  in  proportion  to  his  heighth.  While  Mr. 
Burges  was  speaking,  Mr.  Blair,  among  other  members,  approached  near 
enough  to  catch  his  deepest  intonations;  and  when  he  concluded,  by  say  ing  that 
he  would  not  be  driven  by  the  club  of  Hercules,  it  was  one  of  those  happy 
applications,  which  even  Mr.  Blair  could  not  resist.  He  immediately  came  to 
Mr.  Burges's  seat;  and  thus  terminated  the  controversy,  by  a  cordial  inter 
change  of  friendly  feelings. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

Trial  of  Governor  Houston  before  the  House  of  Representatives,  for  an  assault 
on  Mr.  Stanberry. — Speech  of  Mr.  Burges. 

A  RESOLUTION  was  before  the  House,  in  March,  1832,  by 
which  it  was  moved  to  refer  a  complaint  against  the  Collector 
of  Wiscassett,  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  that,  if  found 
guilty,  he  might  be  removed  from  office.  Mr.  Stanberry  of 
Ohio,  opposed  the  Resolution,  contending  that  if  the  allegations 
were  found  to  be  true,  he  would  not  remove  the  Collector  from 
office;  "  For,"  said  he,  "  was  the  late  Secretary  of  War  removed, 
in  consequence  of  his  attempt  fraudulently  to  give  to  Governor 
Houston  the  contract  for  Indian  rations  ?"  The  whole  speech, 
as  corrected  and  prepared  by  Mr.  Stanberry,  was  published  in 
one  of  the  newspapers  on  the  second  of  April.  The  next  morn 
ing  he  received  a  note  from  Governor  Houston,  inquiring  "  if 
his  name  had  been  used  in  debate ;  and  if  so,  whether  his  words 
had  been  correctly  quoted."  Mr.  Stanberry  and  his  friends, 
believed  this  note  was  written,  not  for  explanation,  but  for  pur 
poses  of  hostility.  By  their  advice,  he  was  provided  with 
weapons  of  defence  against  the  meditated  violence. 

On  the  evening  of  the  thirteenth  of  April,  as  Mr.  Stanberry 
was  walking  to  visit  a  friend,  he  was  met  by  Governor  Houston, 
who  came  suddenly  out  of  the  shadow  of  the  buildings,  where 
he  had  stood  unseen,  and  accosted  Mr.  Stanberry,  in  courteous 
tones ;  at  the  same  instant,  with  a  heavy  hickory  bludgeon, 
struck  him  a  blow  on  the  temple,  so  violent  as  to  deprive  him 
of  the  power  of  defence  ;  Houston  continued  to  multiply  his 
blows,  until  Mr.  Stanberry  ceased  to  struggle,  and  was  almost 
insensible.  Thus  was  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  a  Repre 
sentative  of  the  American  People,  within  a  few  yards  of  the 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  143 

National  Capitol,  beaten,  wounded,  and  left  almost  dead,  merely 
for  words  spoken  in  debate. 

By  a  Resolution  adopted  by  a  large  majority  of  the  House, 
Governor  Houston  was  arrested,  and  brought  to  trial  for  the 
offence.  During  the  term  of  twenty-four  days,  the  House  was 
almost  exclusively  employed  in  the  trial ;  in  hearing  objections 
to  his  arrest,  or  motions  for  delay  ;  in  the  examination  of  his 
witnesses,  or  in  listening  to  his  advocate,  or  to  himself,  in  his 
defence.  The  excitement  in  Congress  and  in  every  section  of 
the  Union  was  manifested  in  the  strongest  terms.  Violence  had 
been  committed  against  our  institutions — the  blow  which  had 
been  struck,  was  aimed  at  the  whole  American  People ;  and 
wherever  the  story  should  be  related,  there  would  the  friends  of 
freedom  lament  the  outrage. 

The  trial  of  Houston,  elicited  a  discussion  in  which  the  most 
prominent  members  of  the  House  participated.  Mr.  Burges, 
was  particularly  solicited  to  close  the  controversy,  on  the  part  of 
Mr.  Stanberry,  and  in  favor  of  the  great  principles  of  a  republi 
can  government — freedom  of  speech,  and  freedom  of  the  press. 
His  effort  on  this  occasion,  was  distinguished  by  a  boldness  of 
expression,  which  subjected  him  to  a  menace  from  some  friend 
of  Houston.  Mr.  Burges,  however,  was  not  intimidated ;  for 
he  felt  that  the  rights  and  dignity  of  the  People  had  been 
assailed,  in  the  person  of  a  Representative  ;  and  that  it  was  his 
imperative  duty  to  speak  of  the  protection  claimed  by  members, 
and  the  punishment  due  to  such  an  outrage  upon  their  privileges. 
The  theory  invented  by  the  respondent  in  this  case,  was,  that 
the  House  is,  for  its  defence,  and,  therefore,  for  the  uninterrupted 
exercise  of  all  its  legislative  power,  entirely  dependant  on  the 
Judiciary  department  of  the  Government.  "  Sir,"  observed  Mr. 
Burges,  "  we  know  what  our  highest  judicial  tribunal  is  now — 
the  most  perfect  human  transcript  of  that  to  which  the  patriarch 
alluded,  when  he  said,  *  Will  not  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do 
right?  What  may  the  tribunals  of  that  department  come  to 
be,  in  future  time]  Ambition — other  than  judicial,  political 
ambition — as  she  walks  up  and  down  in  the  land,  may,  at  some 
future  time,  step  over  the  threshold  of  our  sanctuary  of  justice. 


144  MEMOIR    OF 

What  judge  will  be  able  to  preserve  the  purity  of  independence 
when  he  has  once  commenced  a  traffic  of  ambition,  and  is  la 
boring  to  barter  the  judiciary  ermine  for  the  purple  of  executive 
power  ?  Avarice,  Sir,  debasing  and  inglorious  avarice,  may,  as 
wealth  aud  luxury  advance  in  our  country,  reach  his  unclean 
hand  to  the  fountain,  and  corrupt  the  streams  of  justice.  If 
neither  of  these  shall  ever  operate  on  that  department,  still  the 
limitary  doctrines,  so  rife  in  some  portions  of  our  country,  may 
reach  the  bench,  and  send  this  House  away  from  that  forum, 
unprotected. 

"  Let  us,  however,  admit  the  Court  to  be,  and  I  trust  it  always 
will  be,  independent,  incorruptible,  and,  if  you  please,  not  doubt 
ful  of  its  power  to  punish  in  a  case  like  this.  Say  that  the 
Court  condemns,  and  sentences  to  imprisonment,  and  that,  too, 
for  some  high-handed  outrage  on  the  freedom  of  legislation  in 
this  House.  Let  it  be  that  the  Court,  in  such  a  case,  directs  the 
marshall  to  take  the  prisoner  to  the  penitentiary.  May  not,  at 
that  moment,  a  pardon  from  the  President  be  placed  in  his 
hand? — a  pardon,  whereby  the  delinquent  shall  be  let  loose 
again  in  the  street,  and  the  judicial  and  legislative  power  be 
prostrated  under  the  foot  of  the  Executive  ? 

"  Sir,  the  moment  this  House  shall  place  its  independence  in 
the  safe-keeping  of  any  court,  and  thereby  at  the  will  of  any 
President — let  him  be  patriotic,  like  Titus,  or  rash  and  bloody 
as  Domitian ;  should  he,  as  Cromwell  was,  be  the  crafty  and 
cruel  tyrant,  or,  like  Alfred,  the  devoted  father  of  his  country, 
no  matter — the  very  instant  we  give  up  to  him  the  power  to 
protect  this  House,  and  each  one  of  all  its  members,  we  shall 
surrender  the  independence  of  the  Legislative  to  the  Executive 
department  of  this  Government ;  and  from  that  moment  we  are 
traitors  to  the  people  of  these  United  States,  who  have  made  us 
the  trustees  for  their  own  use  and  benefit,  of  their  power,  their 
rights,  and  their  liberties." 

And  again — "  Will  the  people  endure  this  attempt,  made  by 
the  respondent,  and  sustained  by  his  learned  advocate,  to  abridge 
the  freedom  of  the  press,  by  violence ;  when,  thirty  years  ago, 
they  would  not  endure  a  law,  because  it  might,  in  its  remote 


TRISTAM    B  URGES. 


145 


consequences,  have  produced  that  evil  1  Shall  we,  by  our  de 
cision  on  this  great  question,  justify  the  efforts  of  that  respondent, 
in  his  attempt  to  place  around  this  Hall,  such  a  collection  of 
armed  violence,  as  may  not  only  silence  all  freedom  of  discussion 
in  this  House,  but  likewise  so  abridge  all  freedom  of  the  press 
that  the  people  may  not  be  able,  hereafter,  to  read  any  part  of 
what  we  may,  under  this  discipline  of  outrage,  dare  to  speak  ] 
No,  Sir ;  I  trust  we  shall  not.  I  do  hope  there  is  yet  among  us 
more  patriotism,  more  just  and  fearless  regard  for  the  laws,  more 
noble  self-devotion  and  genuine  independence. 

"  Sir,  when  the  Star  Chambers  and  the  Bastiles  of  the  Old 
World  are  demolished  ;  we  are  importing  their  dilapidated  re 
cords,  for  Congressional  precedents  ;  and  their  long  disused,  and 
now  rusted  chains,  wherewithal  to  form  more  becoming  wreaths 
to  enwrap  the  lovely  limbs  of  our  '  mountain  nymph,  sweet 
Liberty.5  The  spirit  of  free  discussion  is  at  large  in  Europe. 
England  is,  at  this  very  time,  struggling  to  remodel  and  rebuild 
her  parliamentary  system.  France  has  drenched  the  streets  of 
her  own  beloved  Paris  in  blood,  to  secure  '  freedom  of  the  press.' 
The  type,  Sir,  the  type  must  pioneer  the  sword,  in  the  march  of 
freedom.  The  voice  of  eloquence  may  startle  the  oppressed 
from  his  slumber  of  ages — it  may  shake  the  tyrant  on  his  throne 
of  a  hundred  descents,  if  they  may  be  found  within  the  compass 
of  its  mighty  volume ;  but  the  more  efficient  powers  of  the 
press  may  spread  out  the  printed  roll  of  human  rights  before 
every  human  eye.  Dare  we,  Sir,  dare  we  snatch  that  printed 
roll  from  the  hand  of  the  American  people  ;  and  that,  too,  when 
it  is  fraught  with  our  own  doings  touching  their  concernments, 
entrusted  by  them  to  our  management,  but  to  their  use,  and  for 

their  benefit'?" 

******** 

"  The  great  question  here,  is,  not  between  us  and  the  respon 
dent,  as  mere  men,  as  citizens  ;  but  it  is  a  question  between  the 
Constitution  and  the  club  ;  between  the  political  laws  of  the 
land  and  the  law  of  the  bludgeon.  We  have  now  in  the  na 
tion,  some  number  of  able  men,  denominated  constitutional 
lawyers.  Let  this  defence  prevail,  and  our  country  may  soon 

s 


146  MEMOIR    OF 

be  adorned  by  a  new  description  of  civilians,  very  justly  to 
be  called  club  lawyers.  If  the  Constitution  were  once  well 
overthrown,  and  such  a  school  fairly  established,  it  would  con 
fer  more  degrees,  and  grant  more  diplomas,  annually — or  at 
least  once  in  four  years — than  any  other  college  in  the  Union. 

"  Of  this  new  school  of  civilians,  the  respondent  is,  by  his 
advocate,  marked  out,  and  designated  as  the  illustrious  head 
and  founder.  The  deed  of  daring  done  by  him,  and  the  suc 
cessful  defence  of  it,  or,  if  the  defence  fail,  his  expected  suffering 
in  this  great  cause  of  freedom  of  the  bludgeon,  will  be,  as  it  is 
said,  more  than  fame  enough  for  one  man  ;  and  extending  and 
expanding  like  a  blaze  of  sunbeams,  from  the  principal  to  his 
advocate,  cover  him  also  with  glory.  That  advocate,  in  his 
defence  of  that  principal,  has  manifested  an  ambition  as  suppli 
ant  as  it  is  lofty,  and  exclaimed  to  him,  though  not  in  song, 

'  Say,  shall  my  little  bark  attendant  sail, 
Pursue  thy  triumph,  and  partake  thy  gale  ?' 

"  Sir,  although  it  may  be  unpleasant  to  disappoint  such  lofty 
aspirations,  yet,  if  this  House  be  not  found  wanting  in  the  dis 
charge  of  its  high  obligations  to  the  American  people,  this 
copartnership,  and  this  voyage  of  glory,  will  end  as  such  specu 
lations  and  such  adventures  usually  terminate,  with  little  profit, 
and  less  honor,  to  the  concern.  The  American  people  will  sus 
tain  this  House  in  the  full  exercise  of  all  those  powers  granted 
to  it,  not  only  to  supervise  and  direct  the  duty  of  all  its  mem 
bers,  but  also  for  their  protection  in  the  discharge  of  their  high 
and  important  trust. 

"  It  is  useless  to  shut  our  eyes  against  the  light ;  facts  do 
exist,  and  will  exist,  whether  we  will  not,  or  do  not,  see  them. 
A  system  of  hostility  has  been  commenced,  and  is  now  carried 
on  with  persevering  animosity,  against  two  of  the  great  depart 
ments  of  this  Government.  A  war  is  waged  on  this  House,  by 
all  those  who  have  already  shared,  or  are  looking  for  a  share, 
in  Executive  patronage.  Officers,  in  all  departments,  seem  to 
regard  themselves  as  subsidiaries  ;  they  look  on  this  House  with 
distrust;  because  it  is  a  part  of  its  constitutional  duty  to  examine 
the  official  conduct  and  compensation  of  all  those,  who  have 


TRISTAM    B  URGES.  147 

been,  no  matter  for  what  purpose,  pushed  into  the  public  service. 
It  seems  to  be  the  settled  belief  of  all  those  men,  that  the  tenure 
of  their  offices  depends  on  their  ability  to  degrade,  and  debase 
the  character  of  this  House  of  Representatives  in  the  estimation 
of  the  people.     The  same  spirit  has  turned  the  same  bitter  hos 
tility  towards  the  other  branch  of  the  Legislative  Department. 
Men  of  ruthless  ambition,  of  debased  moral  character,  and  of 
political  creeds  ever  subservient  to  their  own  private  interests, 
hold  the  executive  power  of  the  Senate  in  utter  abhorrence. 
Such  men  have  a  shuddering  apprehension  upon  them,  that 
they  can  never  reach  high  offices,  either  at  home  or  abroad, 
until  the  Chief  Magistrate  can  be  relieved  from  the  troublesome 
advice  of  his  constitutional  council.     That  advice  has  excluded 
some  of  them,  from  the  dearest  objects  of  their  ambition  ;  and 
now,  loud  and  earnest  indeed  are  their  recommendations  to  the 
people  to  amend  the  Constitution ;    cut  down  the  senatorial 
term  to  two  years,  take  from  that  House  all  power  of  advice  and 
consent,  either  in  the  making  of  treaties  or  the  appointments  of 
officers,  and  reduce  the  Senate  to  a  mere  negative  on  the  enact 
ments  of  the  House.     The  war-cry  is  also  raised,  if  not  by  the 
same,  by  a  kindred  spirit,  against  the  Supreme  Court.     That 
tribunal  has,  until  within  two  or  three  years,  been  looked  up  to 
by  men  of  all  parties,  and  its  decisions  respected  in  every  State. 
Now,  Sir,  calumny  and  malevolence  have  filled  their  mouths 
with  bitter  revilings,  against  this  last  great  sanctuary  of  the 
Constitution.     Its  decisions  have  come  in  conflict  with  the  ar 
rogance  of  power,  with  debased  and  corrupting  avarice,  and  with 
the  dearer  attributes  of  licentious  oppression.     By  whom,  Sir,  is 
this  exterminating  war  waged,  and  pushed  on  against  the  con 
stitutional  powers  of  the  Legislative,  and  Judicial  Departments 
of  the  Government  ?     By  those  who  look  to  be  sharers  in  the 
spoils,  the  plunder  of  the  nation,  and  depend  entirely  on  Presi 
dential  power  for  their  success. 

"  Sir,  the  question,  under  consideration,  originates  in  those 
belligerent  movements ;  and  is  truly  an  attack  upon  the  free 
exercise  of  those  powers  given  by  the  people,  under  the  Consti 
tution,  to  this  House,  for  the  purpose  of  examining,  bringing  to 


148  MEMOIR    OF 

light,  and  punishing,  official  delinquency.  A  collector  was 
accused  of  fraud  and  exaction,  made  on  one  of  his  subordinate 
officers,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  the  administration  to  influ 
ence  and  control  elections.  Such  inquiries  must  be  silenced. 
The  respondent  committed  this  outrage  for  that  purpose  ;  and, 
unless  this  House  has  the  power  to  protect  its  members,  by 
placing  a  salutary  restraint  upon  such  armed  violence,  they  can 
no  longer  discharge  this  or  any  other  part  of  their  duties. 

"Notwithstanding  this  power  does,  of  necessity,  belong  to  the 
power  of  compulsory  attendance ;  yet  the  respondent  and  his 
counsel  boldly  deny  that  any  such  power  can  be  found  in  the 
Constitution.     The  learned  advocate  becomes  quite  classical, 
and,  in  the  ardor  of  speech,  quotes  Latin  upon  us — 'wide  deriva 
tor,'  he  exclaims ;  as  if  he  had  not  sound  English  enough  to 
express  this  sublime  interrogatory.     This  power,  Sir,  is  derived 
from  the  Constitution,  and  would  be  found  there,  by  every  prin 
ciple  of  fair  construction,  if  none  of  the  words  already  quoted 
and  considered  had  ever  been  placed  in  that  instrument.     The 
Legislature  of  the  nation  is,  by  the  Constitution,  the  political 
law  of  the  land,  formed  into  two  great  political  bodies,  indepen 
dent  of  each  other,  and  of  all  other  political  bodies.     The  lawT- 
making  power  is,  and  must  be,  the  supreme  power ;  it  is  the 
embodied  sovereignty  of  the  people,  in  relation  to  all  things, 
committed  in  trust  to  that  power,  by  the  Constitution.     If  the 
people  themselves,  either  individually  or  as  a  nation,  have  the 
power  of  self-defence,  then  must  their  sovereignty,  their  power, 
united  under  the   Constitution,  also  have  the  power  of  self- 
defence. 

"  Sir,  the  principle  of  self-defence  runs  throughout  the  whole 
animated  world,  and  is  a  law  to  '  man,  beast,  bird,  fish,  insect, 
what  no  eye  can  see.'  Look  with  your  glass  at  the  living  atoms 
which  in  myriads,  people  the  light ;  each  one  is  armed,  and  by 
the  little  wars  of  self-defence,  preserves  his  own  existence.  He 
fights  his  brief  battle,  reproduces  himself,  and  dies  in  the  same 
hour  when,  and  in  the  bosom  of  the  same  bright  sunbeam 
where,  he  was  born.  The  little  ichneumon,  deified  in  Egypt  for 
his  successful  wars  against  the  crocodile,  not  only  defends  him- 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  149 

self  against  that  ferocious  enemy  of  so  many  living  things,  but, 
by  courage  and  stratagem,  he  leaps  into  the  open  jaws  of  his 
powerful  adversary,  wins  his  way  to  his  very  vitals,  gnaws 
asunder  the  cords  of  life,  and  then,  boring  a  passage  for  himself 
through  the  side  of  his  conquered  enemy,  leaves  the  monster 
dead  or  dying  on  the  shore  of  the  Nile.  The  leviathan  of  the 
ocean,  which  wars  and  feeds  on  all  the  families  of  the  seas,  is 
assailed  and  subdued  by  one  of  the  lesser  fishes,  a  diminutive 
adversary,  named  from  the  sword  which  he  wears  ;  endowed 
with  the  instinctive  valor  and  skill  of  self  defence,  he  plunges, 
when  pursued,  and,  rising  swiftly,  and  with  a  deadly  aim,  under 
the  defenceless  body  of  his  enemy,  avenges  and  secures  himself. 
You  have  seen  those  little  birds  which  build  their  nests,  and  sing 
in  the  trees,  near  every  farmstead,  as  you  travel  any  part  of  our 
country.  They  are  always  on  their  defence  ;  never  waiting  to 
gather  themselves  into  brigades,  each  one  darts  singly  on  the 
coming  hawk,  and  drives  the  marauder  from  his  little  neigh 
borhood. 

"  c  Its  power  to  guard  itself  each  creature  feels.'     One  animal 
lifts  his  heel,  and  spurns  his  adversary  ;  another  tosses  him  with 
his  horns  ;  a  third  dashes  at  him  with  his  armed  head ;  and  a 
fourth  raises  a  paw,  and  strikes  with  no  purpose  of  a  second 
blow.     The  principle  of  maternity  is  a  part  of  the  principle  of 
self-defence.     How  often  does  a  cruel  boy  hardly  escape  with 
his  eyes,  when  he  climbs  a  tree  to  plunder  the  nest  of  a  robin  7 
What  do  you  see  in  the  farm-yard  more  valiant  than  the  hen  in 
defence  of  her  brood  1    The  shepherd  will  tell  you  that  the  sheep 
itself,  in  defence  of  her  lamb,  is  no  less  brave  than  the  dog 
trained  and  trusted  to  guard  the  flock.     What  man  will  do,  or 
dare,  more  in  defence  of  himself  than  a  mother  will  do,  or  dare, 
in  defence  of  her  child  7     The  right  of  self-defence  is  so  incident 
al,  and  so  perfectly  a  law  of  nature,  that  every  effort  made  by 
any  creature,  in  pursuance  of  this  law,  is  cheered  and  encour 
aged  by  a  feeling  and  expression  of  approbation  in  the  mind,  or 
by  the  voice  of  every  beholder  of  it. 

"  A  knowledge  of  the  right  which  every  man  has  to  defend 
his  own  life,  has  not  been  communicated  to  us  by  any  human 


150  MEMOIR    OF 

teachings  ;  but  was  given  to  us  at  our  creation,  among  those 
primitive  instincts  which  were  wrought  into  the  very  fabric  of 
our  existence,  by  the  hand  of  the  Creator  himself.     The  right 
of  self-defence  depends  on  no  law  made  by  man  :    for,  unless  it 
were  a  law  of  nature,  and  brought  into  existence  with  life  itself, 
there  must  have  been  a  time  when,  because  no  such  law  had 
been  enacted  by  man,  he  could  have  had  no  such  right ;  and 
to  have  defended  his  own  life  would  have  been  a  crime  against 
his  own  nature.     Now,  by  the  common  consent  of  all  mankind, 
and  without  any  law  enacted  for  that  purpose,  every  man  is,  by 
every  human  tribunal,  justified  in  using  so  much  violence  in  de 
fence  of  his  own  life  as  will  preserve  himself,  and  prevent  the 
assailant  from  attempting  further  aggression.     Nay,  Sir,  this 
great  law  of  our  nature  creates  and  places  an  obligation  on  every 
man  to  defend  that  life  bestowed  on  him  by  his  Creator ;  and  if, 
when  assailed,  he  does  not  do  this  by  all  the  means  in  his  power, 
he  consents  to  his  own  murder,  and  is  guilty  of  a  crime,  in 
the  forum  of  conscience,  equal,  at  least,  in  its  enormity,  to  that 
of  suicide  itself. 

"Although  this  great  principle  of  self-defence  is  a  law  of  our 
nature,  and  never  has  been  questioned,  so  far  as  we  have  any 
knowledge,  by  any  human  tribunal ;   yet  the  Creator  himself 
did,  in  the  great  constitution  by  him  given  to  man  for  his  gov 
ernment,  and  written  in  the  volume  of  inspiration,  utterly  pro 
hibit  the  destruction  of  human  life.     *  Whoso  sheddeth  man's 
blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be  shed.'     Here  is,  in  this  consti 
tution,  not  only  no  warrant  for  taking  life  in  self-defence,  but 
here  is,  to  the  very  letter,  a  prohibition  and  a  punishment  af 
fixed  to  the  deed.     How  shall  we  interpret,  how  reconcile  these 
two  great  laws,  enacted  by  the  same  all-wise  Legislator  ?     By 
looking  to  the  purpose  of  their  institution.     They  were  both  es 
tablished  for  the  preservation  of  human  life.     The  law  which 
prohibited  killing,  was  intended  to  prevent  that  violence  which 
might  destroy  life  ;  and  the  law  of  self-defence  was  designed  to 
resist  that  violence  which  had  not  been  thereby  prevented,  and 
which,  if  not  so  resisted,  would  destroy  life.     So  were  these  two 
laws  expounded  and  reconciled,  in  after  time,  by  the  Creator 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  151 

himself;  where,  by  his  own  ordinance,  the  killing,  which  had 
been  done  in  self-defence,  was  justified  ;  and  that  killing  only, 
which  had  been  done  with  malice  prepense,  was  followed  by  the 
punishment  of  death. 

"  Sir,  may  not  human  institutions,  made  by  the  best  wisdom 
of  man,  for  human  preservation,  receive  the  light  of  illustration 
from  institutions  established  for  the  same  beneficent  purpose,  by 
the  ordinance  of  the  Deity  himself?  '  The  Judge  of  all  the 
Earth'  has  expounded  the  laws  of  the  Eternal,  so  that  his  pro 
hibition  against  £  shedding  man's  blood,'  does  aid,  not  abrogate, 
his  own  paramount  law  of  self-preservation,  but,  in  effect,  places 
a  weapon  in  each  man's  hands,  to  shed  that  blood  in  his  own 
defence.  Who  then  will,  or  can  deny,  to  a  whole  people,  united 
and  embodied  in  the  persons  of  their  representatives,  under 
that  great  institution,  their  political  law — that  constitution  which 
makes  them  a  nation,  and  forms  their  representatives  into  a 
sovereignty — who,  I  say,  dares  deny  to  that  sovereignty  the 
same  rights  of  self-defence  which  appertain,  not  only  to  every 
individual  of  that  nation,  but  also  to  every  animated  being 
throughout  the  universe  ?  Sir,  the  Constitution  which  formed 
the  Congress  of  these  United  States,  and  endowed  that  Congress 
with  the  power  to  make  laws,  did,  by  that  very  act,  and  without 
more  words,  invest  each  House  of  that  Congress  with  all  the 

powers  of  self-defence  and  self-preservation." 

*         #  •       #         *         #         *         #         # 

"  What  is  the  theory  of  our  Constitution  ?  First,  a  partition 
of  power :  there  shall  be  a  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive. 
Second,  independence  of  each  department  on  both  the  others. 
The  legislative  shall  not  depend  on  the  judicial  or  executive ; 
the  judicial  shall  not  depend  on  the  legislative  or  executive ; 
nor  shall  the  executive  depend  on  the  legislative  or  judicial. 
Without  the  first  of  these,  a  partition  of  power,  any  Government 
must  be  a  despotism. 

"  A  momentary  glance  at  the  best,  and  once  the  most  distin 
guished  parts  of  the  earth,  will  demonstrate  this  great  truth. 
Egypt  is  at  this  time  renowned  for  that  fertility,  which  relieved 
the  famine  of  the  ancient  world.  This  region  still  retains  greater 


MEMOIR   OF 

monuments  of  human  power  than  have  ever  been  found  in  any 
other  country  ;  and  the  page  of  history  does  still  bring  to  our 
knowledge  those  visitations  of  Omnipotence  which  once  distin 
guished  c  the  land  of  Egypt.'  How  is  this  land  of  teeming  fer 
tility,  of  monumental  wonders,  and  literary  reminiscences,  how 
is  it  governed]  By  an  unpartitioned  power;  by  a  nominal 
Pacha,  but,  in  truth,  an  independent  monarch,  who  holds  in  his 
own  hands  the  power  to  make,  to  adjudicate,  and  to  execute  the 
laws.  It  may  suit  him  to  have  the  forms  of  legislation  and 
judicature ;  but  his  will,  like  the  dragon  rod  of  the  Hebrew, 
swallows  up  the  will  of  all  others,  nor  leaves  even  a  magician 
to  £do  so'  by  his  enchantments.  Where  is  power  more  resist 
less,  or  subjection  more  silent  and  submissive  1  The  same  prin 
ciple  of  undivided  power  has  placed  on  the  Bosphorus,  in  the 
Byzantium  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  the  Constantinople  of  more 
modern  Greek  and  Roman  empire,  whence  Justinian  promulga 
ted  a  system  of  laws,  which,  like  other  splendid  ruins  of  anti 
quity,  has  furnished  the  models,  and  much  of  the  materials,  for 
the  jurisprudence  of  modern  times.  This  principle  of  sole 
and  unparticipated  power,  has  located  in  that  most  delightful 
region  of  the  earth,  the  throne  of  a  tyranny  so  absolute,  that 
Turkish  power  is  the  by-word,  the  proverb,  for  despotism, 
throughout  the  civilized  world.  In  Asia,  the  cradle  of  the 
human  race,  and  the  theatre  of  human  redemption — in  Asia, 
where  the  traveller  seems  to  hear  the  voice  of  long  disregarded 
inspiration  from  every  mountain,  and  to  see  the  footstep  oi 
departed  Deity  on  every  rock — in  this  region,  once  the  home 
of  more  than  human  glories,  this  blighting  principle  of  unpar 
titioned  power  has  placed  every  nation  under  the  iron  sceptre  ol 
sole  despotism. 

"  By  the  partition  of  power,  despotism  will  not  be  prevented, 
unless  each  department  of  the  great  trust  be  made  and  continued 
independent  of  the  others.  Power  was  divided  in  ancient  impe 
rial  Rome.  There  was  a  senate  and  people,  who  might  enad 
laws ;  praetors  were  appointed  with  sufficient  jurisdiction,  and 
might  decide  causes ;  and  there  was  a  supreme  executive  mag 
istrate,  a  Tiberius,  who  could,  if  he  pleased,  execute  those  laws. 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  153 

and,  when  it  suited  him  to  do  so,  carry  into  effect  any  praetorian 
decision.     The  forms  of  the  Constitution  remained  ;  but  it  was 
lifeless — the  mere  carcass  of  ancient  institution.     The  Executive 
Department  had,  by  aid  of  the  Roman  legions,  arrogated,  and 
brought  into  its  own  grasp,  all  power;  and  left  the  Prsetors,  the 
Senate,  the  people,  entirely  dependant  on  the  Emperor  foy  law 
and  for  life.     Ancient  France  had  all  the  forms  of  the  several 
departments  of  power — a  king,  parliament,  and  chancellors. 
What  despotism  was  ever  more  exclusive  and  bloody  than  that 
of  the  eleventh  Louis  ?     By  his  orders  every  form  of  human 
death  had  been  inflicted,  until  he  had  tired  of  the  spectacle ; 
and   then  he  compelled  his  minions  to  invent  machines  for 
inflicting  pain  and  preserving  life.     One  of  them  was  finally 
shut  up  in  a  cage  of  his  own  construction,  and  so  contrived  that 
the  tenant  could  neither  sit  down,  lie  down,  nor  stand  up,  but 
where  life  was,  in  a  manner,  shut  in  with  him,  not  permitted  to 
escape  ;  and  he  for  ten  years  preserved  as  a  kind  of  living  spasm, 
a  mere  breathing  death.     England,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  the 
Eighth,  had  a  nominal  partition  of  power — a  king,  a  parlia 
ment,  and  a  judiciary  department.     Had  liberty  any  abode  in 
the  nation  1    Was  any  department  of  the  Government  independ 
ent  of  the  Executive — the  King  ?     Who  escaped  death  when 
he  was  the   accuser  1     Either  a  counsellor,  or  a  wife,  when 
weary  of  the  wisdom  of  one,  or  the  beauty  of  the  other,  his  court 
or  his  parliament  condemned  them  to  the  block  ;  and  the  heads 
man,  while  he  satisfied  the  cruelty  of  a  tyrant,  enabled  the 
voluptuary  to  indulge  appetites  more  loathsome  and  beastly. 
He  was  facetious,  too,  as  well  as  bloody-minded.     It  is  said  that, 
on  one  occasion,  he  ordered  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Com 
mons  to  be  called  before  him,  because  some  bill  for  supplies  had 
not  quite  speedily  enough  passed  through  that  House.     Laying 
his  hand  on  the  head  of  the  trembling  man,  as  he  was  kneeling 
at  the  foot  of  the  throne,  c  Mr.  Speaker,'  said  he,  '  pass  that  bill 
before  to-morrow  noon,  or  you  will  not  find  this  head  where  it  is 
now.'     Sir,  these  Governments  were  all  debased  and  cruel  des 
potisms — not  because  there  was  no  formal  partition  of  power,  but 
because  the  several  departments  of  it  were  all  dependant  on  the 
Executive. 


154  MEMOIR    OF 

"  Sir,  it  was  the  intention  of  the  American  people  to  shun  the 
political  errors  of  other  ages,  and  other  nations.  The  light  of 
history  shone  on  their  path.  They  knew  that  supreme  power, 
placed  in  the  hands  of  one  man  alone,  could  create  no  govern 
ment  other  than  despotism.  Nor  were  they  unadvised  that  no 
partition  of  power  could  preserve  liberty,  unless  the  several 
departments  of  it  were  each  independent  of  the  others.  It  was 
their  intention,  when  they  formed  their  Constitution,  to  establish 
such  a  partition  of  power,  and  so  to  render  each  department  of  it 
independent  of  the  others,  as  that  the  evils  of  all  other  Govern 
ments  should  be  avoided,  and  their  own  liberties  thereby  secured 
and  preserved." 

Of  free  discussion  he  says — "  Liberty  itself,  eloquence  and 
freedom  of  speech,  are  cotemporaneous  fires,  and  brighten  and 
blaze,  or  languish  and  go  out  together.  Athenian  liberty  was 
for  years  protracted  by  that  free  discussion  which  was  sustained 
and  continued  in  Athens.  Freedom  was  prolonged  by  elo 
quence.  Liberty  paused  and  lingered,  that  she  might  listen  to 
the  divine  intonations  of  her  voice.  Free  discussion,  the  elo 
quence  of  one  man,  rolled  back  the  tide  of  Macedonian  power, 
and  long  preserved  his  country  from  the  overwhelming  deluge. 
Liberty,  in  some  one  of  the  Grecian  States,  survived  Philip  the 
tyrant,  who  seems  to  have  made  it  one  great  purpose  of  his  life 
to  conquer  and  enslave  them.  Although  that  conquest  was 
achieved  by  his  son ;  yet  he,  imbued  as  he  was  with  Grecian 
philosophy  and  literature,  and  no  less  a  scholar  and  gentleman 
than  a  warrior  and  hero,  preserved  the  illustrious  statesman, 
who  had  labored  by  his  eloquence  in  the  free  discussion  of 
Athens,  to  preserve  the  freedom  of  his  own  country.  When  the 
Asiatic  and  European  conquests  of  Alexander  were  partitioned 
among  his  generals,  Greece  and  Macedon  fell  to  the  allotment 
of  Antipater ;  and  that  rash,  illiterate,  bloody-handed  barbarian, 
could  not  feel  secure  on  his  throne,  unless  by  the  death  of  that 
illustrious  man,  who,  by  his  counsels  and  his  voice,  had  so  long 
resisted  the  march  of  despotism. 

"When  the  light  of  free  discussion  had,  throughout  ail  the 
Grecian  cities,  been  extinguished  in  the  blood  of  those  states- 


TRISTAM    B  URGES.  155 

men  by  whose" eloquence  it  had  been  sustained,  young  Tully, 
breathing  the  spirit  of  Roman  liberty  on  the  expiring  embers, 
relumed  and  transmitted,  from  the  banks  of  the  Illissus  to  those 
of  the  Tyber,  this  glorious  light  of  freedom.  This  mighty  mas 
ter  of  the  forum,  by  his  free  discussions,  both  from  the  rostrum 
and  in  the  senate-house,  gave  new  vigor,  and  a  longer  dura 
tion  of  existence,  to  the  liberty  of  his  country.  Who,  more 
than  Marcus  Tullius  Cicero,  was  loved  and  cherished  by  the 
friends  of  that  country  ?  who  more  feared  and  hated  by  trai 
tors  and  tyrants  ? 

"  Cataline,  a  patrician,  noble  and  commanding  in  appearance, 
wicked  in  purpose,  and  profligate  in  habits  ;  master  of  all  ele 
gant  accomplishments,  but  degraded  in  mind  by  vices  the  most 
vulgar  and  loathsome ;  no  man  so  skilled  to  allure  and  deprave 
youth ;  suppliant  in  deception,  but  audacious  in  betraying  men 
of  all  conditions — this  Cataline,  this  conspirator,  was,  by  the 
force  of  free  discussion,  by  the  powerful  and  commanding  elo 
quence  of  Tully,  driven  from  his  secret  treasons  against  the 
Roman  commonwealth,  into  open  war  and  final  ruin. 

"  Freedom  of  speech,  Roman  eloquence,  and  Roman  liberty, 
expired  together,  when,  under  the  proscription  of  the  second 
triumvirate,  the  hired  bravo  of  Mark  Antony  placed  in  the  lap  of 
one  of  his  profligate  minions,  the  head  and  the  hands  of  Tully, 
the  statesman,  the  orator,  the  illustrious  father  of  his  country. 
After  amusing  herself,  some  hours,  by  plunging  her  bodkin 
through  that  tongue  which  had  so  long  delighted  the  senate  and 
the  rostrum,  and  made  Antony  himself  tremble  in  the  midst  of 
his  legions,  she  ordered  that  head  and  those  hands,  the  trophies 
of  a  savage  despotism,  to  be  set  up  in  the  forum. 

*  Her  last  good  man,  dejected  Rome  ador'd  ; 

Wept  for  her  patriot  slain,  and  curs'd  the  tyrant's  sword.' 

"  The  languages  of  such  ancient  nations  as  most  cherished 
free  discussion,  survived  the  political  existence  of  those  nations  ; 
and  the  most  finished  debates  and  speeches  of  their  most  distin 
guished  orators  and  statesmen,  preserved  by  the  labors  of  the 
pen,  have,  brought  through  the  dark  ages,  been  delivered  down 
to  modern  times  ;  and  this  achievement  was  done  by  a  preserv- 


156  MEMOIR    OF 

ing  care,  and  a  solicitude,  not  less  pious  and  persevering  than 
that  of  him,  the  illustrious  refuge  of  the  old  world,  who  em 
barked,  and  brought  over  the  flood,  the  survivors  of  the  deluge, 
to  re-people  the  earth,  and  renovate  the  human  race. 

"English  statesmen  and  orators,  in  the  free  discussions  of  the 
English  Parliament,  have  been  formed  on  those  illustrious 
models  of  Greek  and  Roman  policy  and  eloquence.  Multiplied 
by  the  teeming  labors  of  the  press,  the  works  of  the  master  and 
the  disciple  have  come  to  our  hands ;  and  the  eloquence  of 
Chatham,  of  Burke,  of  Fox,  arid  of  the  younger  Pitt,  reaches  us, 
not  in  the  feeble  and  evanescent  voice  of  tradition,  but  pre 
served  and  placed  before  the  eye,  on  the  more  imperishable  page. 
Neither  these  great  originals,  nor  their  improved  transcripts, 
have  been  lost  to  our  country.  The  American  political  school 
of  free  discussion,  has  enriched  the  nation  with  some  distin 
guished  scholars  ;  and  Dexter,  and  Morris,  and  Pinckney,  will 
not  soon  be  forgotten  by  our  country,  or  by  the  literary  world. 

"  Sir,  those  models  of  ancient  and  modern  policy  and  elo 
quence,  formed  in  the  great  school  of  free  discussion,  both  in 
earlier  and  later  times,  are  in  the  hands  of  thousands  of  youth, 
who  are  now  in  all  parts  of  our  country  forming  themselves  for 
the  public  service.  This  Hall  is  the  bright  goal  of  their  gener 
ous,  patriotic,  and  glorious  ambition.  Sir,  they  look  hither,  with 
a  feeling  not  unlike  that  devotion  felt  by  the  pilgrim,  as  he 
looks  towards  some  venerated  shrine.  Do  not,  I  implore  yon,  do 
not  by  your  decision  this  day,  abolish  the  rights  of  liberty  conse 
crated  in  this  place.  Extinguish  not  those  fires  on  her  altar, 
which  should  here,  be  eternal.  Suffer  not  the  rude  hand  of  this 
more  than  Vandal  violence,  to  demolish  *  from  turret  to  founda 
tion  stone,'  this  last  sanctuary  of  Freedom. 

"  I  call  on  the  whole  House — to  you,  the  majority  of  this 
House,  I  now  more  especially  appeal.  You  know  me  as  no 
partizan  of  the  distinguished  individual,  who  now  holds  the 
ruling  power  of  this  nation.  No  vote  of  mine  aided  in  placing 
him  in  the  Executive  chair.  Could  party  stratagem  ever  be 
mingled  by  me  with  great  questions  of  national  interest  and 
honor ;  if  the  instruments  of  operation,  might  in  any  case,  bp 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  157, 

consecrated  by  the  purposes  which  put  them  in  motion,  I  would 
have  labored  to  induce  you  to  send  the  respondent  away,  unre- 
buked,  from  this  hall ;  that  you  might  thereby,  have  fixed  on 
the  character  of  this  administration,  a  coloring  of  infamy  more 
enduring,  on  the  page  of  history,  than  that  leprosy  on  the  human 
form,  which  the  stream  of  time  through  a  thousand  descents, 
could  never  wash  out  of  the  human  blood. 

"Preserve  then,  I  conjure  you,  preserve  the  Constitution; 
preserve  the  independence  of  the  Legislature ;  the  honor,  the 
character,  the  fame,  of  the  Executive.  Preserve  the  freedom  of 
speech,  the  freedom  of  the  press.  This  is  the  first  outrage  on 
all — all  that  is  dear — all  that  is  glorious :  say,  for  you  only  can 
say,  it  shall  be  the  last." 


CHAPTER    XII. 

Mr.  Burges  submits  Resolutions  on  the  Tariff. — Speaks  on  Mr.   Verplanck's 
Bill  on  the  Tariff. — Extracts  from  his  Speech. 

DURING  the  Session  of  1833,  when  the  Bill  submitted  by  Mr. 
Verplanck  upon  the  Tariff  System  was  under  consideration,  Mr. 
Burges  submitted  a  set  of  Resolutions  upon  the  whole  subject 
of  the  protective  policy.  In  the  preamble  to  these  Resolutions, 
the  complaints  on  the  part  of  those  opposed  to  the  System  were 
recited — to  wit ;  that  the  power  of  laying  duties  on  foreign 
imports,  had  been  tyrannically  and  unequally  exercised  by  the 
majority  in  Congress  ;  that  thereby  the  plantation  States  were 
oppressed,  and  compelled  to  pay  more  than  their  proportion  of 
duties ;  that  the  same  States  had  also  been  compelled  to  pay 
a  large  amount  of  duties  upon  the  exportation  of  their  staple 
products;  and  that  the  money  so  exacted,  by  the  usurped  pow 
ers  of  Congress,  had  been  lavished  in  bounties  to  manufacturers 
in  the  North,  and  especially  in  New-England  ;  in  expenditures 
on  works  intended  exclusively  for  the  benefit  of  the  labor  and  cap 
ital  of  those  States;  that  the  effect  of  such  representations  was, 
to  lead  the  people  of  the  plantation  States  into  error  concern 
ing  the  disposition  of  the  public  money,  in  bounties  and  public 
works;  and  as  it  was  now  proposed  to  abandon  the  protective 
policy  of  1787,  to  lay  duties  on  imports  solely  for  purposes  of  reve 
nue  and  so  as  to  equalize  the  burden  of  impost  and  taxation  on 
all  the  States.  Such  an  adjustment  could  not  be  made  without 
a  knowledge  of  the  quantities  and  kind  of  foreign  goods,  con 
sumed  in  each  State,  and  required  by  the  trade,  habits,  and 
wants  of  the  people.  This  information  was  desirable  for  the  Na 
tional  Legislature,  and  for  all  interests  and  all  sections  of  the 
United  States.  The  Resolution  proposed  the  appointment  of 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  159 

a  Committee  of  one  member  from  each  State,  to   inquire, 
respecting ; 

1st — The  amount  of  money  paid  by  the  people  of  each  State, 
on  foreign  goods  imported,  on  its  domestic  productions  exported, 
on  all  tonnage  of  vessels  owned  therein  ;  the  number  of  seamen 
to  each  State,  the  amount  of  money  paid  to  the  Marine  Hospi 
tal  Fund ;  the  amount  of  postage  paid ; — also  on  distilled 
spirits ;  the  amount  received  by  each  State,  for  drawbacks  and 
debentures ;  the  number  of  vessels  employed  in  the  fisheries, 
bounties  on  manufactures,  and  of  what  kinds ;  the  amount  ex 
pended  on  public  works ;  for  transporting  the  mail,  and  for 
supporting  the  military  establishments  therein. 

3d — The  amount  of  exports  from  each  State  ;  designating 
articles  of  foreign  and  domestic  production,  the  amount  of  duty 
payable  thereon,  the  population  of  each  State,  and  the  average 
amount  payable  by  each  person — the  amount  and  value  of  the 
productions,  with  the  market  price  of  sugar,  cotton,  rice,  tobacco, 
bread-stuffs,  provisions,  salt,  distilled  spirits,  silk,  wool,  fish,  oil, 
lumber,  manufactures,  of  what  and  each  kind,  the  current 
prices  of  such  articles  in  England  and  France,  the  cost  and 
charges,  and  the  amount  of  duties  and  bounties,  on  importation, 
or  exportation,  in  those  countries. 

This  Committee,  it  was  proposed,  should  be  appointed  by 
ballot ;  and  that  it  should  consist  of  one  from  each  State  ;  and 
be  clothed  with  power  to  send  for  persons  and  papers,  and  to 
report  in  detail  the  above  particulars  in  relation  to  all  the  States. 
From  this  abstract  of  the  Resolution,  it  will  be  observed,  that 
it  reached  the  very  foundation  of  the  protective  policy  ;  and  met 
the  question  upon  the  broad  ground  of  facts  and  figures,  and  al 
together  discarded  sophistry,  speculation,  and  theory.  It,  how 
ever,  was  not  acted  upon  by  the  House  ;  because  the  Bill  after 
wards  introduced  by  Mr.  Clay,  superseded  further  action.  It  is 
on  file  among  the  public  documents  ;  and  there  it  will  remain, 
illustrative  of  the  practical  wisdom  and  enlarged  views  of  its 
author. 

At  this  Session,  Mr.  Burges  delivered  in  Committee  of  the 
Whole  House,  another  speech  upon  the  Tariff  Question.     The 


160  MEMOIR    OF 

doctrines  maintained  by  him  embrace  the  main  principles  be 
longing  to  this  exciting  and  interesting  topic. 

The  memorable  Statute  of  July  4th,  1789,  was  the  beginning 
of  the  protecting  policy  ;  and  a  series  of  measures,  founded  upon 
that  statute,  have  placed  our  country,  in  her  present  condition 
of  prosperity  and  independence.  In  this  speech,  Mr.  B urges 
considered  the  Bill  under  consideration,  as  aiming  a  decisive 
blow  at  that  policy  ;  because,  in  its  practical  operations,  it  would 
bring  a  train  of  disasters  and  adversity  upon  the  nation. 

Legislative  power,  he  contended,  was  given  to  Congress  by 
the  people,  for  three  great  purposes — 

1st — To  pay  the  debts  of  the  United  States ;  2d — To  provide 
for  the  common  defence ;  3d — To  promote  the  general  wel 
fare  ;  and  that  no  specified  power  was  granted,  but  for  these 
three  great  purposes ;  and  to  the  same  intent,  the  power  to 
make  all  laws  proper  or  necessary  to  the  exercise  of  those  powers, 
was  also  given. 

To  pay  the  debts  of  the  United  States,  Congress  could  lay  and 
collect  direct  taxes,  and  so  they  could  lay  and  collect  taxes  indi 
rectly,  by  impost,  duties,  and  excise.  To  provide  for  the  common 
defence,  they  could  raise  money  in  all  these  three  ways.  For 
the  same  purpose,  they  could  support  armies,  maintain  a  navy, 
call  out  the  militia,  declare  war,  and  make  reprisals.  To  pro 
mote  the  general  welfare,  all  other  express  powers  were  given — 
the  power  of  exclusive  legislation  in  certain  cases,  of  organizing 
the  Judiciary,  encouraging  arts  and  sciences,  establishing  the 
mails,  forming  rules  of  naturalization,  and  bankruptcy,  fixing  a 
standard  of  weights  and  measures ;  and  finally,  the  regulation 
of  commerce,  by  imposts,  duties,  and  excise,  limitations,  or  pro 
hibitions  ;  and  by  all  laws  necessary  and  proper  for  that  purpose. 
These  powers  are  all  inseparable  from  the  general  welfore  ; 
and  they  can  be  exercised  to  no  valuable  purpose,  except  by 
Congress.  The  power  therefore  to  promote  the  general  welfare, 
the  people  have  given  to  Congress  ;  because  the  States,  could  not 
direct  it,  as  States,  in  its  proper  sphere  and  influence.  He  fur 
ther  argued,  that  one  of  the  most  essential  powers  ever  exercised 
by  Government,  is  no  where  expressly  given  to  Congress  by  the 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  161 

Constitution — that  is,  to  raise  money  for  the  support  of  Govern 
ment  :  yet  that  no  one  will  deny,  that  it  belongs  to  Congress. 
If  one  of  the  States,  can  promote  the  welfare  of  its  own  citizens, 
so  Congress  can  promote  the  general  welfare  :  because  the  peo 
ple  of  all  the  States,  have  delegated  that  power  to  the  United 
States ;  and  upon  that,  its  exercise  depends.  If  each  State 
could  so  regulate  its  foreign  intercourse,  as  to  encourage  and 
protect  its  own  industry,  then  as  the  States  have  divested  them 
selves  of  that  power,  and  given  it  to  Congress,  they  are  bound 
to  exercise  it,  for  the  same  great  purpose.  Before  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution,  no  State  could  prevent  the  exercise  of  this 
power  by  another  State  ;  neither  can  it  since  the  Constitution, 
to  the  same  extent,  in  the  same  manner,  and  for  the  same 
purposes. 

It  is,  he  contended,  a  grave  question,  whether  a  State  can  in 
fact  have,  or  maintain  any  interest  under  the  Constitution, 
inconsistent  with  the  general  welfare.  Such  an  interest  would 
be  a  common  nuisance,  and  like  the  slave  trade,  it  would  be 
abated,  by  the  force  of  popular  opinion.  Money  is  raised  for 
the  support  of  Government,  because  it  promotes  the  general 
welfare.  How  then,  can  it  be  called  upon  to  promote  any  inter 
est,  inconsistent  with  that  welfare  *?  Or  how  can  that  Govern 
ment  be  supported,  when  to  maintain  that  interest,  it  sacrifices 
that  welfare. 

The  constitutional  argument  concluded,  Mr.  Burges  referred 
to  the  protecting  statutes  of  1789,  and  1816,  and  to  the  encour 
agement,  extended  by  them  to  the  cotton-growing  interest. 
That  interest,  he  contended,  in  its  youthful  progress,  stretched 
out  its  feeble  arms  towards  the  nation,  implored  its  protection, 
and  received  it,  as  an  affectionate  child  receives  the  love  and  so 
licitude  of  a  parent.  Why  then  is  the  nation  like  the  good  old 
Lear,  c  whose  frank  heart  gave  all,5  now  left  by  that  South  to 
feel,  e  how  sharper  than  a  serpent's  tooth,'  is  filial  ingratitude. 

The  protecting  policy  was  intended  to  increase  the  amount  of 
domestic  production.  It  is  said,  however,  that  the  spirit  of  inde 
pendence  which  it  inculcates,  is  unsocial  in  its  nature,  and  hostile 
to  the  power  of  America  and  England.  Mutual  dependence 


162  MEMOIR    OF 

would  unite  us,  by  a  golden  chain  of  commerce.  "  Sir,  I  would 
not  unite  the  American  People,  by  any  tie  of  dependence,  to  any 
other  nation  on  earth ;  nor  for  all  the  countless  millions  of 
commercial  wealth,  would  I,  even  by  a  golden  chain,  bind  this 
youthful  and  vigorous  nation  to  the  foot  of  the  British  throne. 
The  very  birds  of  the  air,  would  teach  us  a  lesson  of  more 
wisdom : 

'  Would  the  young  goldfinch  quit  his  native  briar, 
For  the  bright  cage  o'er-arched  with  golden  wire  ?'  " 

It  is  one  of  the  great  objects  of  the  Protecting  System  to 
relieve  the  American  nation  from  a  dependence  on  foreign 
countries.  It  was  predicted  in  the  beginning,  that  it  would  call 
into  employment  all  the  labor  of  the  country.  "  Accordingly,  it 
was  to  employ  all  our  labor,  elicit  all  our  skill,  perfect  all  our 
machinery,  and  bring  into  use  every  agent  of  production,  the 
power  of  the  earth,  the  water,  of  wind,  and  of  steam,  that  our 
great  system  was  begun,  and  has  been  carried  on  towards  per 
fection.  Must  we,  who  have  already  harnessed  and  broke 
these  rude  agents  of  nature  into  the  work;  must  we  turn  them 
loose  again,  in  all  their  wildness  ;  because  men  in  other  parts  of 
the  country,  choose  to  stand  idle  on  the  banks  of  their  native 
streams,  and  refuse  to  start  these  their  powerful  teams,  in  the 
course  of  labor  and  competition  with  us]  God'  forbid,  that 
industry  should  be  controlled  in  her  labors  by  indolence  ;  or  that 
this  nation  should  unyoke  these  our  gigantic  powers  of  produc 
tion;  and  naked-handed,  enter  into  competition  with  the  labors  of 
the  world,  aided  as  they  are,  by  every  agent  of  nature,  instructed 
by  every  process  of  science,  and  made  skilful  by  every  improve 
ment  of  art. 

"  Sir,  in  this  age  of  the  world,  the  wealth  of  nations  depends 
on  their  labor.  There  was  a  time,  nay,  for  many  ages,  plunder 
was  the  great  resource  of  nations.  The  first  kingdom  established 
on  earth,  was  sustained  by  the  conquest  and  pillage  of  many 
nations  ;  and  ( great  Babylon,  the  glory  of  the  Chaldean  Em 
pire,'  was  built  and  adorned  by  the  spoils  of  all  Asia.  The 
exorbitant  wealth  of  one  nation,  thus  obtained,  gave  an  exam 
ple  to  the  world,  and  awakened  the  ambition,  and  sharpened  the 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  163 

avarice  of  others  ;  until  the  Assyrian  was  conquered  and  plun 
dered  by  the  Persian  ;  the  Persian  by  the  Macedonian  ;  and  he 
at  last,  devoured  by  the  Roman  power.  The  wolf  who  nursed 
their  founder,  seems  to  have  given  a  hunger  for  prey,  insatiable 
to  the  whole  nation.  Perhaps  there  was  not  a  house,  nor  a 
temple,  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Euphrates,  which  was 
not  plundered  by  some  one  of  that  nation  of  marauders. 

"  Sir,  the  tide  of  ages,  century  after  century,  had  rolled  over 
the  last  fragment  of  Roman  power — the  light  of  science  dawned 
on  the  world,  and  a  know'ledefe  of  letters  was  disseminated  by 
the  press,  before  men  seemed  to  believe  that  our  Creator  had,  in 
fact,  announced  to  the  first  of  our  race,  that,  *  by  the  sweat  of 
his  face,  man  should  eat  his  bread  all  the  days  of  his  life.'  It 
may  be  difficult  to  enumerate  all  the  different  causes  which 
changed  the  character  of  the  nations  of  Europe.  No  one  cause 
has  done  so  much  in  changing  that  character  from  war  and 
plunder,  as  that  pure,  meek,  and  quiet  philosophy,  which  has 
taught  all  men  to  e  do  unto  others  as  they  would  that  others 
should  do  unto  them.'  Rebuked  by  this  divine  precept,  men 
have  sheathed  the  sword,  and  put  their  hands  to  the  plough. 
They  have  mined  the  earth,  not  for  the  instruments  of  war, 
but  for  the  machines  of  labor.  If  now,  war  break  out,  it  is  not 
for  plunder ;  cities  are  not  given  up  to  pillage  ;  captives  are  not 
sold  for  slaves ;  territories  do  not  change  owners ;  men  return 
again  with  eagerness  to  the  habits  of  peace,  and  do  not  look  to 
the  labors  of  the  camp,  but  to  those  of  the  plough,  the  loom,  and 
the  sail,  for  emolument  and  wealth.  No  vestige  of  ancient  war 
among  independent  Christian  nations  now  remains,  unless  it  be 
in  those  fragments  of  slavery,  which  perhaps  neither  sound  poli 
cy,  nor  justice,  nor  piety  itself  can  tear  away  from  the  texture  of 
that  society  where  they  are  found.  If  labor,  therefore,  and  not 
the  sword,  be  the  great  staff  on  which  nations  lean  for  support 
and  wealth,  then  should  it  be  their  great  policy  to  call  their 
whole  labor  into  employment,  improve  its  skill  to  the  utmost 
point  of  perfection,  aid  that  skill  by  every  kind  of  machinery 
which  may  save  the  consumption  of  labor,  and  support  the 
operations  of  that  machinery  by  the  power  of  all  those  agents 


164 


M  E  M  O  I  It    O  F 


placed  within  our  reach,  by  him  who  has  committed  the  destiny 
of  every  people  on  earth  to  their  own  keeping. 

"  Wealth  is  power  ;  and  the  defence  of  every  nation  depends 
on  its  wealth.  The  wealth  of  a  nation  is  its  labor,  its  skill,  its 
machinery,  its  abundant  control  of  all  the  great  agents  of  nature 
employed  in  production.  A  large  store  of  goods  laid  up  for 
many  years,  was  the  wealth  of  a  fool ;  but  such  a  store  is  the 
poverty  of  a  nation.  A  great  annual  consumption,  alone,  can 
ensure  an  augmented  annual  re-production.  The  labor  of  a 
nation  can  no  otherwise  be  sustained,  than  by  the  consumption 
of  its  products.  The  products  of  human  labor  in  food  and 
clothing,  like  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  are  annual ;  and  God,  in 
his  wisdom,  has  adjusted  human  wants  to  its  powers  of  produc 
tion.  Like  the  bread  from  Heaven,  that  the  Giver  might  not 
be  forgotten,  the  dew  of  every  night  produced  the  crop,  and  the 
labors  of  every  day  gathered  in  the  harvest. 

"  What  but  a  mighty  phalanx  of  labor,  an  almost  boundless 
power  of  consumption  and  re-production,  has  defended  and  now 
sustains  England  in  all  the  athletic  vigor  of  the  most  glorious 
days  of  that  extraordinary  nation  ?  Men  who  speculate  on  the 
duration  of  nations,  seem  to  assign  to  them  the  several  periods 
of  human  life ;  youth,  manhood,  old  age,  and  final  dissolution. 
They  draw  their  conclusions  from  the  nations  of  antiquity,  and 
apply  them  to  those  of  modern  times.  They  forget  that  those 
ancient  nations  were  like  beasts  of  prey,  which  find  an  enemy 
in  every  living  thing;  and  must  be,  sooner  or  later,  circumvented 
by  stratagem,  or  overpowered  and  destroyed  by  force.  Produc 
ing  nothing  by  their  own  labor,  and  consuming  all  which,  by 
violence,  they  could  plunder  from  the  labors  of  others,  theii 
whole  existence  was  a  burden  to  the  human  race,  and  they 
were  finally  destroyed  as  a  common  nuisance  to  mankind. 

"  Not  so  with  England  ;  she  is  a  glorious  example  of  the  self- 
subsisting,  the  all-producing,  and  all-defending  powers  of  labor. 
With  a  valor  purely  Spartan,  she  builds  no  walls  against  the 
wars  of  the  world.  Her  little  island,  accessible  at  a  thousand 
points,  and  often  within  gun-shot  of  the  embattled  fleets  of  hei 
enemies,  has  not,  for  more  than  seven  hundred  years,  been  step! 


T  K  I  S  T  AM    B  U  R  G  E  S.  165 

upon  by  a  hostile  foot.  What  has  enabled  her  to  do  this! 
Her  untiring  labor  ;  her  unrivalled  skill  ;  her  unequalled  ma 
chinery  ;  her  exhaustless  capital,  and  unbounded  control  over 
all  the  agents  of  production.  Her  goods,  wares,  and  merchan 
dize,  are  in  all  the  markets  of  the  world ;  and  wherever  she 
wants  a  tongue  to  speak  in  her  cause,  or  a  sword  to  be  drawn  in 
her  quarrel,  if  such  things  can  be  found  in  those  markets,  she 
can  command  them. 

"  This  manufacturing  nation  did,  in  the  last  war  of  Europe, 
exhibit  a  spectacle  never  before  seen  by  the  world.  She  stood 
alone,  against  the  embattled  continent ;  and  at  last,  with  her 
own  spindle  and  distaff,  demolished  a  despotism,  an  iron  pyra 
mid  of  power,  built  on  a  base  of  all  Europe. 

"  Sir,  can  such  a  nation  ever  grow  old,  and  cease  *  to  be 
mighty  in  power  T  Can  any  other  nation  escape  the  influence 
of  that  power,  and  stand  independent  of  its  controlling  arm? 
No :  unless  by  a  countervailing  system  of  policy,  that  other 
nation,  like  the  first  Congress  of  the  United  States,  calls  into 
employment  all  its  own  labor  ;  perfects  the  skill  of  that  labor  ; 
and  places  in  its  hands  all,  the  aids  of  the  artificial  and  physical 
agents  of  destruction." 

Mr.  B  urges  next  discusses  the  great  countervailing  system 
founded  on  the  statute  of  1789,  and  the  laws  passed  by 
Congress  in  favor  of  the  protective  policy,  up  to  July,  1832. 
He  then  enters  into  minute  and  enlarged  details  as  to  the 
particular  effects  of  that  system  upon  particular  interests — the 
mechanic,  the  manufacturing,  the  commercial,  the  navigating, 
the  agricultural  interests :  that  all  have  been  reared  by  that 
policy,  and  thereby  have  peopled  our  land  with  labor  and  skill, 
and  agents  of  production. 

Legislation,  in  aid  of  all  these  interests,  would  have  been  less 
efficacious  had  not  Congress  exercised  its  control  over  the 
national  medium  of  exchange.  Accordingly,  the  founders  of 
our  great  system  of  policy  knew,  that  Congress,  to  regulate  the 
value  of  money,  and  render  it  a  circulating  medium,  must 
institute  some  establishment,  by  which  the  issue  of  bank  bills 
might  be  controlled,  and  made  convertible  into  money  ;  and 


166  MEMOIR   OF 

further,  so  to  adjust  the  supply  of  those  bills,  by  the  amount 
issued,  to  the  demand  for  currency  in  the  market,  that  no 
abundance  or  scarcity  of  that  currency  should  injuriously  affect 
any  of  the  important  branches  of  national  industry.  Congress, 
therefore,  early  established  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  as  a 
branch  of  the  protecting  system. 

Provisions  for  the  defence  of  the  United  States  against  foreign 
invasion  are  another  part  of  this  extensive  policy.  Fortifications 
and  the  navy  belong  to  it.  The  common  defence  is  thus  so 
closely  linked  with  the  general  welfare,  that  the  overthrow  of 
the  one  involves  the  other. 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  Congress  has,  for  about  forty  years, 
exercised  the  power  given  by  the  Constitution  '  to  promote  the 
general  welfare.'  It  seems,  however,  by  the  new  system  under 
consideration,  that  Government  is  to  be  a  scheme  of  burdens, 
without  any  corresponding  benefit  to  the  people.  "  Is  not  this 
Bill  a  mere  scheme  of  taxation  1  It  provides  for  the  wants  of 
Government,  but  makes  no  provision  for  the  wants  of  the 
people.  Without  inquiry,  without  knowledge  of  the  amount  of 
means,  in  the  hands  of  any  man,  or  the  amount  of  payment  to 
be  made  by  any  man  or  any  State  in  this  Union,  we  sit  here, 
and,  without  any  examination  or  survey  of  property  first  had, 
we  are  about  to  enact  a  great  doomsday  volume  of  taxation, 
which  shall,  in  its  exactions,  visit  every  free  laboring  man  in  the 
nation,  in  his  food,  in  his  clothing,  in  his  habitation,  and  in  the 
instruments  of  his  labor.  Nor  is  this  all.  Not  only  it  visits  his 
labor  with  a  blighting  curse ;  withers  and  consumes  its  pro 
ductive  energies ;  but  also  places  him  on  the  degraded  level, 
and  in  competition  with  the  paupers  of  Europe,  and  the  slaves 
of  South  Carolina. 

"  Sir,  you  dare  not  enact  and  pass  this  Bill  into  a  law.  Never 
did  the  fathers  of  those  freemen,  even  in  their  struggle  for 
independence,  permit  a  slave  to  lift  his  hand  in  aid  of  their  battle, 
until  he  had  first  been  purified  and  consecrated  to  the  holy 
service,  by  the  sacrament  of  emancipation.  We  shall  never 
degrade  the  blood  of  our  fathers. 

"  Is  the  product  made  by  South  Carolina  slavery  reduced  in 
price  ?  Let  the  master  diminish  the  task  of  the  slave.  Spare 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  167 

the  slave.  Reduce  the  quantity  of  cotton,  pushed  to  surplusage 
on  the  consumption,  of  the  world.  Give  labor  now  and  then  a 
holiday.  Send  a  less  quantity  to  market ;  and  bring  home  as 
much,  or  more  money,  for  it. 

"  Employ  the  slave  in  some  other  vocation,  if  not  of  profit,  it 
may  be  of  ornament,  and  adorn  your  country.  Labor  for 
something  which  cannot  be  swallowed.  Raise  monuments,  or 
after  generations  may  never  know  that  you  have  existed.  Let 
the  little  tyrants  of  these  days,  like  some  of  the  greater  ones  of 
ancient  times,  build  pyramids  of  bricks  ;  and  no  longer  toil  to 
scale  the  highest  heavens,  on  bales  of  cotton. 

"Sir,  disguise  this  question  as  you  will,  it  is,  after  all,  a 
crusade  against  free  white  labor ;  first  preached  on  this  floor 
and  now  put  in  the  form  of  war,  by  the  owners  of  slaves.  It  is 
the  maker  of  cotton,  against  the  grower  of  wool :  the  mere 
tiller  of  the  ground,  against  the  keeper  of  sheep  ;  and  because 
the  first  brother  of  our  race  did,  in  such  a  strife,  succeed  in 
committing  the  oldest  fratricide  on  record,  the  movers  of  this 
controversy  seem  satisfied  to  earn  a  like  malediction,  if  they 
can  but  succeed  in  performing  a  kindred  achievement. 

"  Sir,  I  repeat  it,  this  controversy  is  a  war  against  the  free 
white  labor  of  the  country ;  a  war  levied  by  the  owners  of 
slaves.  How  often  have  you  been  told  on  this  floor,  first  in  the 
voice  of  complaint,  but  now  in  the  tones  of  insolent  menace,  that 
the  free  laborers  of  the  North  could  earn  fifty  cents  a  day,  while 
the  slaves  of  South  Carolina  could  not  earn  more  than  twelve 
and  a  half  cents  ?  How  often  has  the  same  voice  told  us,  that 
manufacturing  capital  used  by  this  free  labor,  cleared  a  profit  of 
twenty  per  cent  per  annum  ;  while  slaves  and  land,  the  cotton 
raising  capital  of  the  South,  would  not,  in  any  year,  come  up  to 
six  1  This  base,  inglorious  question  is  now  agitating  our  coun 
try.  We  are  told  that  our  great  system  of  national  policy 
encourages  the  labors  of  the  free,  and  renders  capital  in  their 
hands  highly  profitable  ;  but  the  same  system  discourages  the 
labor  of  slaves,  and  renders  them,  and  the  capital  employed  with 
them,  in  growing  cotton,  rice,  and  tobacco,  not  profitless,  but 
merely  less  profitable  to  the  owners.  These  men  aver  that  the 


* 

168  MEMOIR    OF 

same  system  of  laws  is  encouragement  to  the  free,  but  discour 
agement  to  the  slave  labor  of  the  country  ;  and  that  all  the 
great  interests  of  all  the  free  labor,  in  the  United  States,  must 
be,  nay,  shall  be,  sacrificed,  not  to  preserve,  but  to  render  more 
profitable,  the  capital  vested  in  Southern  slaves.  Dare  these 
men  place  such  an  issue  before  the  country,  in  all  its  naked, 
baseband  odious  deformity?  Dare  they  tell  to  the  world  of 
Christian  nations  the  true  state  of  this  question  ?  Would  not 
those  nations  who  have  universally  excluded  slavery  from  their 
civil  policy,  would  they  not  hear  with  a  shout  of  indignation, 
that  one  of  these  States  had  taken  up  arms  against  the  Union, 
and  sworn  to  destroy  that  Union,  for  the  glorious  purpose  of  ren 
dering  their  negro  slaves  more  valuable,  by  rendering  the  labor 
of  those  slaves  more  profitable  ]  They  have  not  dared  to  do  il. 
They  have  put  a  mask  on  this  base-born  controversy  of  avarice. 
Under  this  mask,  this  Shy  lock  question  of  interest,  of  mere 
money,  of  so  many  dollars  and  cents,  has  been  changed  in 
appearance  ;  and  is  now,  to  the  deceived  eye  of  the  nation,  a 
question  of  State  rights — State  sovereignty — freedom — chivalry 
— nullification.  Egregious  masquerade  of  valor  and  patriotism  ! 
Brave  cavaliers — for  how  much  money — for  how  many  pounds 
of  flesh — will  you  sell  all  these  painted,  pasteboard  glories  ? 
For  the  base  and  grovelling  provisions  of  this  Bill ;  for  their 
negro  cloths  at  five  per  cent ;  their  own  coats  at  twenty  ;  and 
cotton,  calico  or  plain,  both  for  themselves  and  slaves,  at  the 
same  rate  of  impost. 

"  Does  not  this  strip  the  question  of  all  its  paintings  ?  Yes, 
Sir,  they  plainly  tell  us  that  the  great  cotton  and  tobacco  inter 
est  of  Southern  slavery  cannot  thrive,  unless  the  greater  interest, 
of  Northern  freedom  in  manufactures  and  agriculture  shall  be 
destroyed.  Are  these  ^wo  interests  indeed  hostile  to  each 
other ;  and  cannot  the  same  system  of  laws  give  to  each  of 
them,  the  same  encouragement  and  protection  now,  which  was 
so  liberally  bestowed  on  both  by  those  laws  in  1816  ?  No  one 
ever  dreamed  of  this  hostility  of  interests,  until  within  the  last 
eight  years.  Until  then,  our  great  system  established  to  promote 
the  general  welfare,  did  equally  advance  the  individual  and 


TRISTAM    B  URGES.  169 

particular  interests  of  all.  If  then,  by  some  strange  perversity  of 
purpose,  or  of  accident,  any  particular  interest  has,  since  that 
time  sprung  up  in  our  country,  hostile  in  its  nature  to  the  general 
welfare,  can  the  owners  of  that  interest  call  upon  the  nation  to 
cultivate  this  their  deleterious  plant,  and  to  promote  its  growth, 
demand  that  every  other  interest  which  has  hitherto  flourished 
in  our  land,  shall  be  extirpated  arid  destroyed  1  Who  would 
pluck  up  fields  of  wheat,  that  he  might  thereby  encourage  a 
more  vigorous  growth  of  hemlock?  Does  not  the  less  always 
give  place  to  the  more  useful  plant  ?  Let  then  these  politicians 
beware  how  they  undertake  to  prove  to  the  American  People, 
that  their  production  of  rice,  cotton,  and  tobacco,  by  the  labor  of 
slaves,  is  hostile  to  that  general  welfare,  which  has  been  for  more 
than  forty  years  established  and  promoted  by  our  great  system 
of  encouragement  and  protection.  Admit  that  it  were  so.  Do 
the  owners  of  slaves  believe  that  the  system  of  encouragement 
is  to  be  abolished,  and  more  than  seven  hundred  thousand  free 
white  people,  now  employed  in  mechanic  and  manufacturing 
labor,  and  more  than  nine  hundred  thousand  employed  in 
agricultural  labor,  are  to  be  thrown  out  of  employment,  and 
reduced  to  poverty,  merely  to  render  slave  labor,  employed  in 
growing  cotton,  rice  and  tobacco,  somewhat  more  profitable? 
Sir,  you  may  as  soon  c  tear  this  steadfast  earth  from  her  axis ;' 
roll  the  moon  into  our  orbit,  and  compel  this  globe,  to  spin 
round  that,  as  a  mere  satellite." 

Mr.  Burges  proceeds  to  a  minute  detail  of  the  comparative 
value  of  slave-labor  and  free-labor ;  the  large  profit  derived  from 
capital  invested  in  lands  and  slaves  in  the  Southern  States, 
compared  with  the  profit  derived  from  agriculture  and  manufac 
tures  in  the  Northern  States.  He  believes  the  Bill  aims  a  blow 
at  protection  itself,  and  that  it  will  not  stop  at  the  overthrow  of 
mechanical  and  manufacturing  industry.  The  fisheries,  the 
ship-building  trade,  the  internal  navigation  interest,  the  foreign 
navigation  and  commerce,  the  navy,  internal  improvements,  as 
these  all  belong  to  the  protective  policy,  so  they  are  to  be  de 
stroyed  by  a  competition  with  the  exhaustless  capital  and  labor 
of  foreign  nations.  "  Is  the  defence  of  our  country,"  says  he. 


170  MEMOIR    OF 

"  a  part  of  our  great  system  of  protection,  devised  for  tlie  security 
of  the  labor  and  capital  of  all  the  people  1  then  does  this  Bill, 
,  anii-protective  in  its  very  principles,  remove  that  defence. — 
Destroy  those  interests,  which  have  called  together  in  cities, 
towns,  villages,  hamlets,  near  your  waterfalls,  bays  and  harbors, 
and  covered  the  agricultural  districts  around  them,  with  a  dense 
population,  and  these  people,  like  the  oppressed  Hebrews,  while 
gathering  straw,  will  be,  in  pursuit  of  labor  and  bread,  scattered 
abroad  throughout  all  the  land.  Where  will  be  your  militia, 
once  in  the  neighborhood  of  your  fortifications,  and  ready  to 
man  them  on  the  approach  of  the  enemy]  Gone,  Sir,  dispersed ; 
and,  perhaps,  on  your  other  frontier,  conflicting  with  the  savages 
of  the  western  prairies.  If  your  forts  are  defended,  it  must  be 
by  a  standing  army.  At  all  events,  the  troops  of  your  present 
military  establishment  must  be  recalled  from  those  stations,  in 
the  South,  where  they  have  been  located,  to  protect  the  master 
and  his  family  from  the  insurrectionary  spirit  of  his  slaves. 

"  To   this  protection,  though   hardly  to  be  found  in  the 
Constitution,  the  free  people  of  the  North  have  never  objected. 
They  have  felt  a  deep  and  anxious  interest  in  your  safety.     I 
know  your  Southern  chivalry  scoffs  at  all  this ;  and  holds  our 
sympathy  in  utter  derision.     Be  assured  that  I  am  not  ignorant 
of  the  contempt  you  feel,  and  the  scorn  you  express,  when  any 
New-England  man  happens  to  speak  of  you,  on  this  floor,  in 
terms  of  fraternity.     For  myself,  I  claim  brotherhood  with  no 
man  ;  unless,  by  blood  or  affinity,  I  stand  in  that  relation  with 
him.     Be  assured  that  I  shall  never  affront  any  of  your  lofty 
feelings,  by  any  expression  of  any  relationship  with  any  of  you, 
other  than  that  of  citizenship  and  humanity.     We  are  Ameri 
cans  ;  and  we  are  men.     There  is  no  alienage  between  us. — 
The  freemen  of  the  North,  and  I  as  one  of  them,  claim  it  as  a 
right,  to  desire  the  safety  of  all  men.     We  will  travel  far,  and 
labor  hard,  to  achieve  that  safety  for  all  the  American  people. 
If  the  safety  of  Southern  planters  cannot  be  secured  without  aid 
from  the  troops  of  the  United  States,  that  aid  will  not,  by  us,  be 
refused,  for  their  protection. 

"  It  must,  nevertheless,  not  be  forgotten  by  them,  that  if  we 
are  at  last  to  protect  them  and  their  families,  by  armed  force, 


TRISTAM    B  URGES.  171 

they   must  not  feel   themselves  at  liberty,  to -withdraw   the 
protection  of  the  laws  from  us  and  our  labors.     Under  these 
conditions,  the  arm  of  our  strength  will  always  be  near  to  you, 
and  lifted  up  for  your  defence.     Do  not  expect  more  from  the 
working  men  of  the  North,  than  can  be  performed  by  man. 
Dare  you  repeal  the  laws  enacted  for  your  protection  1     Will 
you  break  up  the  instruments  of  your  labor  and  livelihood  1 
Shall  our  free  working  men,  with  their  wives  and  children,  be 
turned,  by  you,  into  the  world,  naked,  and  without  shelter  or 
food  1     Do  you  expect  their  sympathy  will  be  alive  to  the  cry  of 
your  distress,  when  their  children  cry  to  them  for  that  bread 
which  you  have  plucked  from  their  mouths  ?  When  your  wives 
and  daughters  fly  from  that  servile  brutality  which  has  cloven 
down  their  husbands  and  brothers  in  their  defence;  can  the 
shrieks  of  their  agony  reach  the  ears  of  those  whom  you  have 
left  out  to  the  winter  storms,  in  houseless  nakedness  and  famine  ] 
The  men  whom  you  have  maddened  with  the  bitterness  of  that 
misery  which  you  have  heaped  upon  them,  who,  but  for  that, 
would  die  for  your  safety,  will  laugh  when  ruin  visits  your 
abodes ;  and  shout,  and  clap  their  hands,  when  the  whirlwind 
of  retribution  sweeps  through  your  land. 

"Sir,  can  it  be  expected  that  the  free  people  of  the  North 
will  be  annually  taxed,  to  purchase  a  protection  for  yon,  when 
you  will  not  permit  a  law,  which  costs  you  nothing,  to  remain 
unrepealed  in  your  statute-book ;  because  that  law  gives  pro 
tection  to  the  labor  and  the  instruments  of  industry,  by  which 
they  feed  and  clothe  themselves  and  families  1  How  do  you 
hope  to  be  secured  in  the  possession  of  that  labor,  which  gives 
you  wealth,  and  enjoyment,  and  political  power  ?  How  but  by 
the  provisions  of  that  Constitution  which  makes  us  a  nation, 
and  protects  your  interests,  by  the  whole  power  of  our  national 
arms?  In  no  other  Christian  nation  are  such  rights,  as  you 
enjoy  in  this  country,  made  a  part  of  the  national  polity,  and 
secured  by  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution.  The  spirit  o( 
emancipation  is  abroad  in  the  earth.  What  is  now  doing  in 
England,  the  most  free  and  powerful  nation  on  earth?  Ay, 
Sir,  in  England,  to  which,  as  it  is  said,  some  States  in  the  South 


172 


MEMOIR    O  !• 


already  look  fo*  aid  against  our  own  country  ?     What  question, 
as  a  test  of  political  orthodoxy,  is  now  put  to  a  candidate,  hefore 
he  can  he  elected  to  the  House  of  Commons  ?     Are  you  for 
universal  emancipation  ?      What  a  test !     Who  would  have 
dreamed  of  it  twenty  years  ago  1     And  yet  more  than  four  hun 
dred  and  fifty  Englishmen  have  heen  elected  to  Parliament 
under  that  solemn  pledge.     How  long  will  West-India  colonial 
slavery  continue  to  exist,  under  the  legislation  of  such  a  Parlia 
ment?     Let  South  Carolina,  or  any,  or  all  the  slave-holding 
States  of  the  South,  separate  from  the  other  States  in  this  Union, 
and  take,  or  not  take,  shelter  under  the  arm  of  any  European 
nation  ;  and  how  long  do  you  believe  that,  or  the  other  nations 
of  that  continent,  would  permit  slavery  to  exist,  among  their 
republican  allies  ?     Sir,  it  cannot  be  disguised,  nor  should  it  be 
left  untold,  in  this  great  question,  that  the  very  existence  of  that 
labor  in  the  South,  for  a  more  profitable  condition  of  which  those 
States  are  now  struggling  to  destroy  all  the  free  labor  of  this 
country,  does  in  fact  depend  on  the  protecting  power  and  arms 
of  that  free  labor.     Take  from  them  the  shelter  of  the  power  and 
arms  of  the  American  people,  whose  common  welfare  they  are 
striving  to  destroy  ;  leave  them  with  their  slaves  to  themselves^ 
for  security  and  protection,  and  how  would  their  labor  differ,  in 
ten  years,  from  that  of  the  West-Indies  or  Mexico  ? 

"  Remember,  Sir,  man  lives  not  by  the  voluntary  bestowments 
of  man.  One  Being  only,  in  the  universe,  gives  all,  and  always, 
and  receives  nothing.  Men  live  by  mutual  aids.  Something 
for  something,  is  the  great  law  of  reciprocity  and  exchange, 
throughout  the  world.  Those  who  expect  to  receive,  must  be 
ready  to  bestow.  Do  the  South  expect  a  protection  of  their 
labor  from  the  North,  then  let  them  be  ready  to  bestow  what 

they  cannot  want,  and  not  receive,  without  utter  ruin." 

******** 

"What  have  you  done,  Sir,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of 
Ways  and  Means  1  What  have  you  done  for  New-England  ? 
New-England — the  landing-place  of  the  Pilgrims  ;  the  cradle 
of  American  Independence  ;  New-England — the  blood  of  whose 
sons  has  fertilized  so  many  Southern,  and  consecrated  so  many 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  173 

Northern  fields.  What,  I  demand  of  you,  have  you  done,  in'all 
your  wise  provisions,  for  New-England  ]  You  have  left  unde- 
molished — what  could  you  else? — her  rivers  and  rocks,  her 
mountains,  and  winter  storms ;  and  oh,  how  courteous !  you 
have  not  taken  away  from  her,  the  curse  of  exterior  influence, 
and  interior  treachery.  You  may  triumph,  you  cannot  subdue ; 
New-Engkmd  labor,  like  New-England  valor,  can  never  be 
subdued. 

"You  of  the  South,  have  essayed  every  scheme  and  shift  of 
policy.  Your  embargo  lashed  our  ships  to  the  wharves,  until 
their  shrouds  fell  from  the  masts.  Your  non-intercourse  and 
war,  locked  up  in  warehouses,  the  staples  of  our  commerce, 
which  had  been  purchased  and  long  paid  for  to  you  ;  and  even 
New-Orleans  was  defended  by  the  cotton  of  New-England.  By 
your  Tariff  of  1816,  you  called  on  New-England,  to  sacrifice 
her  rich  East-India  commerce,  to  what  then  you  denominated  a 
much  greater  interest — the  national  independence  and  the  com 
mon  welfare. 

"  Oh  no — place  New-England  in  a  region  of  rock,  without 
earth  or  water,  our  labor  shall  drill  the  solid  stone,  and  like  the 
staff  of  the  Prophet,  let  out  the  gushing  stream.  Our  persever 
ance  shall  beat  the  flint  into  small  dust,  and  cover  the  whole 
surface  with  soil.  The  dews,  and  the  rain,  and  the  sunshine  of 
Heaven,  the  only  creatures  of  God  left  by  you,  in  amity  with  us, 
shall  give  to  our  new  earth,  moisture  and  fertility ;  and  time, 
and  labor,  and  God's  blessing  shall  cover  the  whole  region  with 
verdure." 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

• 

Speech  of  Mr.  Burges  on  the  Tariff. — Nullification  in  South  Carolina. — The 
Revenue  Bill. — The  President's  Proclamation. — Mr.  Clay,  and  his  Compro 
mise  Bill. — Mr.  Burges's  Address  to  his  constituents. — He  is  re-elected  to 
Congress. — His  opinions  concerning  Slavery. 

As  the  all-absorbing  question  concerning  the  Tariff  Laws 
was  again  introduced,  Mr.  Burges  once  more  spoke  on  the 
Resolutions  before  the  House.  In  his  Speech,  which  embraces 
the  leading  principles  of  the  American  System,  the  amount  of 
taxes  paid  by  the  protection  and  anti-protection  States  respect 
ively,  are  discussed ;  and  some  of  the  effects  of  the  abolition  of 
protection  explained,  both  in  regard  to  revenue  and  national 
industry. 

With  this  subject,  (the  protection  of  American  Industry,)  Mr. 
Burges  is  perhaps  as  conversant  as  any  statesman  in  our 
country.  He  has  thoroughly  studied  its  principles,  and  its 
details — he  feels  that  not  Rhode-Island  alone  is  interested,  but 
that  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  all  the  States  depend  upon 
it — that  it  is  one  of  our  most  valuable  national  resources,  and 
should  be  cherished  with  peculiar  solicitude.  Hence,  whenever 
that  System  has  been  opposed,  in  Congress  or  elsewhere,  he 
has  ever  stood  forth,  as  its  valiant  and  zealous  champion  ;  de 
picting  in  eloquent  terms,  the  blessings  which  it  diffuses  over 
our  extended  country.  It  is  by  labor  in  such  a  cause,  that  the 
name  of  a  citizen  is  associated  with  wisdom  and  patriotism. 

The  dangers  which  threatened  our  Union  at  that  period,  are 
fresh  in  the  recollection  of  all.  The  State  of  South  Carolina, 
by  assemblages  of  her  people,  by  violent  harangues  on  the  part 
of  influential  politicians,  by  the  message  of  her  Governor,  and 
the  enactment  of  laws  conflicting  with  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  had  assumed  a  fearful  and  perilous  attitude. 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  175 

The  consideration  of  Congress  was  invited  to  the  subject,  in  the 
Message  of  President  Jackson,  and  subsequently  by  his  Pro 
clamation  ;  an  instrument  which  was  replete  with  maxims  of 
good  government.     In  accordance  with  that  Proclamation,  a 
Bill  was  reported  to  the  Senate  by  Mr.  Webster,  for  enforcing 
the  laws  made  for  collection  of  the  revenue.     When  that  Bill 
came  down  from  the  Senate,  and  was  reported  to  the  House, 
and  brought  up  for  debate,  the  session  had  almost  expired  ;  and 
it  was  determined  by  its  friends,  to  allow  opposition  as  much 
time  as  possible  on  their  part  to  discuss  it. ;  but,  for  want  of 
time,  its  friends  were  not  to  indulge  in  a  protracted  debate.    Mr. 
Bell,  of  Tennessee,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  who  reported 
the  Bill  from  the  Senate,  and  now  Speaker  of  the  House,  a  gen 
tleman  of  ability,  with  some  of  his  associates  of  the  Committee, 
it  was  expected,  would  be  almost  the  only  speakers.    The  meas 
ure  was  too  important  for  any  objection  to  be  left  unanswered. 
It  was  supposed  Mr.  McDuffie  would  use  his  vigorous  weapons 
of  attack,  and  it  was  desirable  that  he  should  be  answered,  be 
fore  the  debate  was  closed.     Mr.  Burges  was  requested  by  Mr. 
Crundy,  a  confidential  friend  of  President  Jackson,  to  perform 
this  service  ;  which  he  had  intended  to  do,  from  the  commence 
ment  of  the  discussion.     When  Mr.  McDuffie  had  finished, 
Mr.  Burges  rose  to  reply  ;  but  Mr.  Wayne,  of  Georgia,  had 
already  risen,  and  was  announced  as  entitled  to  the  floor.     He 
concluded  at  nine  o'clock  at  night.     He  again  rose,  but  Mr. 
Daniel,  of  Kentucky,  being  nearer  the  Speaker,  obtained  the 
floor ;  but  he  was  evidently  speaking  against  time,  and  was 
determined  that  no  one  should  reply  to  him  or  to  Mr.  McDuffie, 
until  the  next  day.     He  did  not  close  until  two  o'clock  at  night ; 
when  it  was  resolved,  on  consultation,  that  the  debate  should 
proceed  no  further;  but  that  as  soon  as  he  closed,  Mr.  Bell 
should  call  the  previous  question.     The  day  after,  the  Bill  was 
read  a  third  time,  and  passed.1 

1  Whatever  credit  President  Jackson  may  have  acquired  by  his  Proclama 
tion,  he  seems  now  determined  to  destroy  it.  It  would  be  singular  for  almost 
any  other  man  to  shape  a  course  so  entirely  opposed  to  the  sentiments  of  that 
Proclamation,  as  he  has  done. 


176  MEMOIR    OF 

Near  the  close  of  the  session,  Mr.  Clay  introduced  a  Bill,  to 
alter  and  amend  the  Tariff  Laws.  That  Bill  contained  provis 
ions  designed  expressly  to  meet  the  tone  of  popular  feeling  at 
the  South,  and  to  assuage  the  elements  which  were  then 
threatening  a  dissolution  of  our  Union.  With  his  peculiar  tact 
and  unrivalled  eloquence,  he  implored  the  Senate  to  pass  the 
Bill ;  and  thus  to  avert  the  storm,  which,  if  it  does  come,  must 
sweep  away  the  last  hopes  of  freedom.  It  passed  ;  and  was 
sent  down  to  the  House.  There,  as  in  the  Senate,  it  met  with 
opposition,  but  was  finally  enacted.1 

Mr.  Burges  was  again  re-elected  to  Congress  in  August, 
1833,  by  a  large  majority  over  his  immediate  competitor.  He 
was  the  only  candidate  elected  among  several  competitors.  In 
addressing  his  constituents,  prior  to  the  day  of  election,  he  gave 
a  conclusive,  and  admirable  illustration  of  the  doctrines  of  nulli 
fication;  both  in  their  theory  and  practice. 

"  Nullification  is  the  theory,  the  science,  of  that  political  sys 
tem,  of  which  treason  and  open  rebellion  are  the  art  and 
practice.  It  claims  for  each  and  every  State  in  the  Union,  the 
right  and  power  to  abolish,  make  utterly  void,  and  take  away 
the  very  existence  of  any,  or  every  law  of  the  United  States, 
within  the  limits  of  any  State  which  may  choose  to  exercise 
such  right  and  power.  Every  department  of  our  National  Gov 
ernment,  arid  every  feature  of  our  national  character,  depend  for 
their  existence,  on  some  law  or  laws,  enacted  under  the  Consti 
tution,  by  the  United  States.  The  foul  sorceress  of  Nullification 
may  point  her  lean  and  withered  finger,  at  each  one  of  them  ; 
and  they  at  once  melt  down  and  vanish  from  existence.  She 

irThis  bill,  in  all  its  provisions,  was  not  satisfactory  to  the  friends  of  the 
Tariff.  Mr.  Clay  himself  was  not  favorable  to  all  its  parts.  He  knew,  how 
ever,  that  the  whole  framework  of  the  American  System  was  endangered; 
and  that  il  was  better  to  introduce  some  conciliatory  clauses,  rather  than  to 
see  it  all  perish.  The  experience  of  every  day  is  developing  the  wisdom  of 
Mr.  Clay's  policy. 

The  representatives  from  New-England  strongly  opposed  that  Bill.  Mr. 
Burges  made  a  vehement  speech  against  it,  and  incurred  the  censure  of  many 
sincere  friends.  We  may  confidently  assert,  that  it  is  the  only  one  made  by 
him  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  which  has  caused  them  regret. 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  177 

can  seal  up  every  Post-Office  ;  arrest  every  mail ;  pull  down 
every  Custom-House ;  break  up  your  Treasury;  pluck  your 
judges  from  the  bench ;  strike  your  venerable  President  from 
his  chair ;  lock  up  the  halls  of  national  legislation  ;  demolish 
your  fortresses  ;  disband  your  army  ;  pull  down  your  flag,  the 
stars  and  stripes  of  our  Union,  and  scatter  your  navy  to  all  the 
winds  of  heaven  ;  consume  the  existence,  the  very  form  of  our 
whole  nation  ;  and  of  all  this  Union,  this  empire  of  laws,  this 
glorious  achievement  of  republican  freedom,  leave  nothing  but 
a  wilderness  of  anarchy,  where  so  many  Stales,  like  so  many 
wild  beasts,  with  no  other  law  but  force,  and  no  other  restraint 
but  fear,  shall  hereafter  mutually  prey  upon  and  devour  each 
other. 

"  Every  man  should  examine  his  own  principles  and  opinions, 
in  relation  to  the  Constitution  and  Government  of  our  country  ; 
and  be  fully  satisfied,  that  he  is  not  corrupted  by  any  false,  vain, 
and  treasonable  heresies.  Our  first  great  principle  is,  or  should 
be,  that  the  Constitution  has  made  the  American  People,  one 
people,  a  nation  in  all  their  relations  to  other  nations ;  and  in 
all  the  relations  of  the  several  States,  to  each  other ;  that  this 
nation  is  known  to  other  nations  as  such,  and  by  them  is  called 
by  the  name  of  the  United  States ;  that,  being  a  nation,  they 
are,  and  must  be,  independent  of  all  others  ;  and  sovereign  in 
all  parts  of  the  United  States  territory,  in  all  things  granted  to 
them  by  the  people  under  the  Constitution  ;  and  that  each  one 
of  the  several  States  holds,  and  may  exercise  all  the  powers  of 
States,  not  denied  to  them  under  the  Constitution  by  the  same 
people.  The  Constitution,  and  the  laws  made  under  it,  in  pur 
suance  of  the  powers  granted  by  it,  are  as  the  people  of  the 
United  States  have  declared,  ordained,  and  established,  the 
supreme  law  of  the  land  throughout  the  whole  territory  of  the 
United  States ;  whether  the  same  be  unappropriated  lands,  or 
organized  territory,  or  States  established  under  their  own  consti 
tutions;  and  any  law  made  in  any  such  State  or  territory,  must 
be  conformable  to  the  Constitution,  and  to  the  laws  so  made  by 
the  United  States  under  it,  or  they  are  utterly  void,  and  cannot 
be  carried  into  execution  by  any  law  court  in  our  country. 

w 


178  MEMOIR    OF 

"  We  learn,  on  the  contrary  by  the  creed  of  Nullification,  that 
each  State  in  the  Union,  is  a  perfectly  independent,  sovereign 
community  ;  but  that  the  United  States  are  a  mere  agency  of 
the  several  States,  without  sovereignty ;  and  that  any  State 
may,  within  its  own  territory,  call  in  question,  and  establish  any 
law  made  by  this  agency.  This,  we  are  told  may  be  done, 
because  these  States  are  sovereign,  and  the  Constitution,  being 
a  compact  between  sovereignties  all  equal,  there  can  be  no 
court  or  tribunal  established  between  them,  with  power  to 
decide  When  the  Constitution  has  been  violated  ;  and  therefore, 
each  State  has  a  right  to  decide  for  herself,  like  any  other  inde 
pendent  nation. 

"  The  United  States  is  a  nation,  sovereign  and  independent ; 
but  I  deny  that  either  of  the  States  is  a  nation,  or  sovereign,  or 
independent.  What  is  a  nation,  a  sovereignty  1  It  is  such  a 
community  as  is  governed  by  no  law,  enacted  by  any  power, 
located  out  of  its  own  territory  1  Cannot  the  United  States 
make  such  laws  and  execute  them  in  each  of  the  States  ?  Who 
established  the  mail,  the  post-offices,  and  post-roads  in  every 
State  1  Who  built  your  custom-houses,  and  made  every  law 
in  every  State,  for  collecting  the  revenue  of  the  whole  nation  ] 
Who  made  all  the  laws  for  coining  that  money,  on  which  you 
see  the  eagle,  the  arms  of  the  nation,  and  the  form  of  liberty,  the 
object  of  all  our  institutions  1  Is  each  State  a  nation,  and  does 
each  of  these  nations  permit  a  power,  not  located  within  its  own 
territory,  to  enact  laws  for  controlling  its  transmission  of  intelli 
gence  ;  the  collection  of  its  revenue  ;  and  the  establishment  of 
its  coin  and  currency  1  Which  one  of  the  States  contends,  that 
she  has  a  right  to  establish  post-offices  and  post-roads ;  to 
levy  taxes  by  duties  and  imposts  ;  or  to  coin  money,  or  to  regu 
late  the  value  thereof,  and  of  foreign  coins  1  Can  any  com 
munity  be  a  nation,  a  sovereignty,  without  the  right  to  exercise 
these  powers'?  and  yet  not  even  Nullifiers  contend,  that  any  one 
of  the  States  has,  or  can  exercise  them. 

"  There  is  a  great  family  of  communites  on  the  earth,  gov 
erned  by  a  known  and  well  established  code  of  regulations, 
called  the  law  of  nations.  Some  of  these  communities  are,  in 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  179 

Western  Europe,  called  Portugal,  Spain,  France,  Belgium, 
Holland,  Great  Britain,  Denmark,  Sweden  ;  in  North  America, 
the  United  States  of  America,  the  United  Mexican  States ;  in 
South  America,  Colombia,  Peru,  Bolivia,  Chili,  the  Argentine 
Republic,  and  the  Empire  of  Brazil.  How  are  these  nations 
known  to  each  other ;  and  what  powers  and  qualities  must 
each  possess,  before  it  could  be  received  as  a  nation,  into  this 
great  community]  Each  one,  for  that  purpose,  must  be  a 
sovereignty,  governed  by  its  own  laws ;  and  be  independent,  for 
their  enactment  of  all  others.  The  Canadas  are  nWnations, 
because  they  are  dependant  on  England  for  a  part  of  their  laws. 
Ireland  and  Scotland  are  not  nations,  but  integral  parts  of  Great 
Britain  ;  because  they  depend  on  her  for  a  part  of  their  laws. 
Texas  is  not  a  nation,  but  one  of  the  Mexican  State?,  and  de 
pendant  on  that  Republic  for  a  part  of  its  laws.  In  like  manner, 
Massachusetts,  Rhode-Island,  or  any  other  State  in  our  Union,  are 
not  nations,  but  parts  of  our  great  Republic,  called  States  ;  and 
they  are  not  nations,  because  they  are  not  sovereignties,  but  are 
dependant  on  the  United  States,  for  laws  in  many  respects  ; 
such  as  laws  to  regulate  their  mails,  their  coin,  their  impost, 
their  internal  State  commerce,  and  commerce  with  foreign 
nations.  It  is  not  pretended  that  any  State  in  the  Union  can 
make  any  law,  touching  any  one  of  these  great  subjects.  How 
then  can  any  such  State,  when  so  dependant  on  another  com 
munity,  be  a  nation,  as  independent  sovereignty  ] 

"  If  we  consider  the  manner  in  which  nations  hold  intercourse 
with  each  other,  we  shall  find  that  no  State  in  this  Union  is  a 
nation,  a  sovereignty;  or  that  any  foreign  nation  could  so  regard 
any  such  State.  Nations  hold  intercourse  by  public  Min 
isters,  or  Ambassadors.  Would  England  or  France,  receive  an 
ambassador  from  Massachusetts  or  Connecticut  1  Would  the 
United  States  receive  such  a  functionary  from  Texas  1  Why 
not  1  Because  ambassadors  are  the  representatives  of  nations, 
sovereign  and  independent,  to  other  like  sovereign  and  indepen 
dent  nations.  For  the  same  reason  consuls  and  commercial 
agents  from  those  States  would  not  be  received  by  any  foreign 
nation.  How  has  it  happened  that  no  nation  on  earth  has  ever 


180 


M  E  M O I R    OF 


thought  of  sending  an  ambassador,  or  consul,  or  commercial 
ag*ent  to  the  sovereign  and  independent  nation  of  South  Caro 
lina  1  Simply  because  South  Carolina  is  not  a  nation,  is  not 
an  independent,  is  not  a  sovereignty. 

"  Nations  contract  more  intimate  relations  with  each  other, 
by  treaties,  sometimes  for  purposes  of  commerce,  and  at  others, 
for  defence.  No  foreign  nation  has  ever  proposed  to  form  any 
treaty  with  any  State  in  this  Union.  This  has  happened,  not 
because^he  Constitution,  forbids  such  States,  to  make  such 
treaties  jTDut  because  all  foreign  communities  know,  that  no  one 
of  these  States  is,  or  can  be,  under  our  Constitution,  such  an 
independent  and  sovereign  community,  as  can  be  admitted  as  a 
nation,  into  the  great  family  of  nations,  and  form  treaties  of 
alliance,  amity,  or  commerce. 

"  Nations  conduct  commercial  intercourse  on  the  high  seas 
and  elsewhere,  by  national  ships,  designated  by  national  names, 
covered  by  a  national  flag,  authenticated  by  registers,  clear 
ances,  rolls  of  equipage  ;  and  navigated  by  mariners  such  as  the 
laws  of  nations  may  require,  or  by  regulations,  such  as  treaties 
among  them  have  established.  It  is  this  national  character  of 
ships,  and  the  national  manner  of  their  navigation,  which  con 
ducts  the  ships  of  all  civilized  nations  over  the  ocean,  through 
every  sea,  and  into  all  ports.  Send  out  a  ship,  without  these 
characteristics  of  nationality  ;  without  a  name,  a  clearance,  or 
a  flag  ;  and  how  would  she  be  viewed  by  foreign  nations  ?  As 
a  pirate.  Has  any  State  in  this  Union,  ever  sent  out  a  ship, 
under  its  own  authority  ?  Why  not  1  Because  no  such  State 
is  sovereign,  no  such  State  is  a  nation  ;  and  no  foreign  nation 
would  receive  into  its  ports,  or  regard  on  the  high  seas,  any  such 
ship  so  sent  out  by  any  such  State,  any  otherwise  than  as  a 
pirate.  Foreign  nations  know  us  by  our  flag,  our  ships,  our 
commerce,  our  consuls,  public  ministers,  and  treaties ;  and  by 
all  these,  they  know  us  as  citizens  of  the  United  States  ;  as  the 
people  of  a  nation,  and  not  merely  as  the  inhabitants  of  any 
one  State  of  this  Union.  No  matter  how  large,  how  wealthy, 
how  populous  any  State  may  be;  the  inhabitants  of  it,  are  in  the 
account,  and  in  the  eyes  of  all  nations,  citizens  of  the  United 


TRISTAM    B  URGES. 

Slates,  Americans  ;  a  title  as  much  more  imposing  than  that 
which  any  one  State  could  bestow  on  her  citizens,  as  the  entire 
argent  field  of  our  national  flag,  furrowed  with  so  many  stripes, 
and  adorned  by  a  whole  constellation,  is  more  glorious  and 
gladdening  in  the  eyes  of  mariners,  than  the  ensign  of  a  single 
State,  though  ornamented  by  the  palmetto  leaf,  and  enlightened 
by  a  solitary  star. 

"  If  any  State  in  this  Union,  encouraged  by  the  hostile  exam 
ple  of  South  Carolina,  should  raise  an  army,  fit  outjt  navy, 
grant  letters  of  marque,  and  declare  war  against — Aa  matter 
what  foreign  people  ;  would  they  be  regarded  as  a  nation,  and 
treated  as  such,  by  the  nations  of  the  earth  1  Would  their  war 
be  a  lawful  war,  their  ships  national  ships ;  or  would  it  be 
piratical,  and  their  ships  be  adjudged  to  be  mere  corsairs ;  and  all 
found  on  board,  as  pirates,  the  enemies,  not  of  a  single  nation 
only,  but  of  all  mankind  1  This  would  not  be  done,  because, 
by  our  Constitution,  no  State  can  declare  war,  raise  armies  or 
navies,  or  grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal ;  but  because  no 
State  is  a  nation,  a  sovereign  community,  admitted  into  the  fam 
ily  of  nations,  and  capable  of  sending  and  receiving  ambassadors, 
forming  treaties,  declaring  war,  and  making  peace.  Such  an  act 
would  be,  it  is  true,  a  violation  of  the  Constitution  ;  and  in 
relation  to  the  American  People,  the  United  States,  open  rebel 
lion  ;  but,  in  relation  to  other  nations,  it  would  be  neither  more 
nor  less  than  piracy. 

"  There  can  be  but  one  sovereignty,  one  supreme  power, 
touching  the  same  things,  in  the  same  territory.  If  each  State 
be  the  supreme  power,  in  all  things  in  its  own  territory,  then  the 
United  States  is  no  sovereignty,  and  has  no  supreme  power,  any 
where,  in  any  thing.  If  the  United  States  be  the  supreme 
power  within  the  whole  territory  thereof,  touching  all  things, 
granted  to  them  by  the  people  under  the  Constitution,  then  is 
the  United  States  a  sovereignty,  and  the  people  thereof  a  na 
tion  ;  but  of  the  several  States,  the  holding  all  the  power  not 
thus  granted,  over  the  life,  liberty,  and  property,  of  all  the  peo 
ple  within  their  several  territories ;  yet  not  one  of  them  is  a 
sovereignty,  not  one  of  them  is  a  nation. 


182 


MEMOIR   OF 


"  The  theory  of  Nullification  depends  on  the  fact  that  the 
United  States  is  not  a  sovereignty,  a  nation  ;  but  that  each  one 
of  the  several  States  is  a  sovereignty,  a  nation ;  and  because 
all  sovereignties  are  equal,  no  tribunal  can  decide  between 
them,  when  they  have  been  wronged  by  an  unconstitutional 
law ;  and  each,  therefore,  must,  and  can  decide  for  itself, 
by  nullifying  such  law.  If  the  United  States,  on  the  con 
trary,  be  a  nation,  it  must  be  endowed  with  sovereign  power, 
in  the  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive  departments  of  that 
power,  iff  all  things  granted  by  the  Constitution  ;  and  because 
the  States  are  not  sovereignties,  not  nations,  their  claim,  as 
sovereigns,  as  nations,  to  adjudicate  and  nullify  Congressional 
laws  because  unconstitutional,  is  at  an  end ;  and  all  such 
questions  must  arise,  not  between  sovereignties,  as  the  nullifiers 
contend  they  do  arise,  but  between  the  United  States  and  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States ;  and  do,  therefore,  fall  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  judicial  power  granted  by  the  people  under 
the  Constitution  to  the  Supreme  Court,  or  such  other  courts  as 
may  be  established  by  Congress." 

It  was  supposed  by  many,  that  Mr.  Burges  had  endeavored 
to  irritate  the  feelings  of  the  South,  on  the  question  of  Slavery. 
But  he  has  always,  as  has  been  before  remarked,  labored  to 
conciliate  those  feelings,  by  disclosing  what  he  believed  to  be 
the  prevailing  sentiments  and  principles  of  the  North,  concern 
ing  slavery.  "  I  have  told  them,"  says  he,  "  that  the  votaries 
of  universal  emancipation  are  few  in  number,  not  more  numer 
ous  in  the  North  than  in  the  South.  They  are  considered  as 
aiming  at  things  impossible,  if  not  pernicious ;  and  from  the 
great  mass  of  public  opinion,  they  receive  as  much  countenance 
or  encouragement  in  the  South  as  they  do  in  the  North.  The 
great  and  highly  respectable  body  of  The  Friends,  I  have  told 
them,  who  had  done  so  much  in  Europe  and  America,  for 
suppressing  the  slave  trade,  would,  so  soon  as  it  might  be  done, 
with  justice  to  masters,  and  with  benefit  to  slaves,  give  freedom 
to  the  whole  human  race.  Those  men  devoted  to  the  great 
principles  of  Christianity,  *  Peace  on  earth,  and  good  will  to 
man,'  would  never  tarnish  their  good  purposes,  by  effecting 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  183 

them  by  any  evil  means  ;  nor  ever  dissolve  the  relation  between 
master  and  slave,  unless  they  could  do  it  by  the  mutual  consent 
of  both.  They  have  been  further  told  by  me,  in  open  debate, 
that  the  great  body  of  Northern  people  were,  from  constitutional 
principles,  and  from  political  feelings,  utterly  opposed  to  ail  in 
terference  between  the  master  and  the  slave.  They  believed 
that  the  laws  of  their  country  have  forbidden  to  them  the  right, 
and  they  felt,  that  their  own  interests  did  not  give  to  them  the 
inclination,  to  interfere  in  the  great  race  of  emulation,  among 
the  several  States,  for  wealth,  power,  and  political  influence. 
The  people  of  the  North  have  felt  that  slavery  was  a  burthen 
upon  their  fellow- citizens  of  the  South,  which  impeded  them  in 
their  course  :  and  that  no  principle  of  charity  commanded,  but 
every  principle  of  worldly  wisdom  forbade  them,  to  touch  this 
burthen,  with  so  much  as  one  of  their  ringers,  urrtil  those  who 
carried  it,  became  fairly  weary  with  the  load,  and  called  on  them 
sincerely  for  aid  in  laying  it  down." 

Of  African  Colonization  he  has  likewise  spoken  in  the  freest 
and  most  decided  terms  of  approbation.  But  he  has  not  joined 
the  Society  for  that  purpose  ;  because  he  believed  he  might  be 
more  useful  to  the  great  object,  without  doing  so ;  and 
because  he  will  not  give  occasion  to  Southern  men  to  say  that 
he  has  united  and  pledged  himself  to  an  association  hostile  to 
their  interests.  It  has  often  been  said  by  him,  on  the  floor  of 
Congress,  "  that  Colonization  was  the  great  and  perhaps  only 
means  by  which  our  country  could  ever  be  relieved  from  the 
burden  of  slavery;  that  in  no  other  way  could  America,  and  the 
Christian  world,  discharge  the  onerous  debt,  owed  by  them 
to  Africa.  For  at  an  early  period,  that  quarter  of  the  globe 
sent  out,  and  spread  over  the  world,  the  light  of  letters,  science, 
and  civilization.  The  return  made  for  these  blessings  has  been, 
beyond  all  measure,  unjust  and  cruel.  The  nations  of  the  earth 
have  not  only  established,  on  her  soil,  the  most  unrelenting 
tyranny  ;  but  they  have  dragged  her  unoffending  children  into 
every  quarter  of  the  world  ;  and  from  generation  to  generation, 
chained  them  down,  father  and  son,  to  a  load  of  perpetual 
slavery.  Colonization,  by  founding  a  state  in  Western  Africa, 


184  MEMOIR    OF,    &c. 

may  establish  there,  equal  laws,  free  institutions,  and  republican 
government.  Migration,  at  first  small,  but  gradually  increasing, 
will  fill  up  their  numbers  ;  and  in  a  few  generations,  the  whole 
coast  will  be  covered'  with  well-informed,  well-regulated,  and 
powerful  communities.  Perseverance,  prudence,  Christian 
charity,  and  the  aid  of  Divine  Providence,  will  finally  finish 
this  great  scheme  of  philanthropy ;  and  not  only  relieve  the 
United  States  from  what  may  otherwise  rend  them  asunder ; 
but  send  back  to  Africa  her  own  children,  free,  and  enabled  to, 
enrich  and  enlighten  their  mother  country,  with  letters,  science, 
cultivation,  and  Christianity."1 

1  Besides  the  discourses  and  speeches  noticed  in  the  preceding  pages,  Mr. 
Barges  has  delivered  many  others  ;  indeed,  so  numerous  are  they,  that  it 
would  have  been  impracticable  to  have  detailed  the  whole.  Perhaps  he  is  never 
more  successful,*  than  when  he  addresses  his  fellow-citizens  of  Rhode-Island, 
preparatory  to  their  elections.  On  such  occasions,  where  it  would  seem  almost 
impossible  to  tread  on  classic  ground,  he  frequently  introduces  allusions  so  beau 
tiful,  that  the  hearer  supposes  the  idea  could  not  be  conveyed  without  their 
assistance.  Few  men  in  our  country,  we  imagine,  are  more  happy  in  unpre 
meditated  remarks,  and  few  can  command  in  a  popular  meeting,  attention  so 
profound. 


CONCLUSION. 


FROM  the  period  of  Mr.  Burges's  entrance  into  Rhode-Island 
College,  until  the  present  time,  he  has  been  an  unwearied  and 
habitual  student.  Eminence  in  his  profession,  and  in  a  public 
capacity,  was  among  his  earliest  resolutions  ;  and  to  the  attain 
ment  of  this  end,  his  thoughts,  habits,  and  purposes  have  been 
directed.  Few  men  have  been  more  assiduous  in  the  various 
departments  of  study ;  ancient  and  modern  history,  poetry, 
philosophy,  and  the  sciences.  This  judicious  application  of 
time  and  opportunities  has  moulded  his  mind  into  beautiful 
proportions,  and  imparted  to  his  speeches  and  discourses,  an 
imaginative,  classical,  and  eloquent  character.  He  affords  a 
practical  illustration  of  that  admirable  truth  maintained  by 
Cicero — that  eminent  success  in  the  Cabinet,  in  the  Hall  of 
Legislation,  at  the  Bar,  in  the  Pulpit,  can  be  secured  only  by 
continued,  patient  study.  The  great  Roman  justly  thought  that 
the  art  of  eloquence,  to  the  acquisition  of  which  his  best  days 
were  devoted,  could  be  gained  in  no  other  manner.  To  soar  on 
its  loftiest  pinion,  man  must  learn  the  deep  springs  of  human 
passion,  and  feel  that  great  interests  are  in  peril ;  and  then  he 
will  move,  persuade,  or  pacify.  It  is  by  study,  that  the  book  of 
philosophy  is  adorned  with  the  sublime  truths  of  Newton  ;  that 
in  poetry  breathes  the  living  soul  of  Milton  ;  that  in  government 
is  seen  the  radiant  light  of  Bacon.  All  the  leading  names  of 
past  ages,  are  eloquent  teachers  of  this  truth.  The  most  en 
nobling  forms  of  thought,  the  accumulated  wisdom  of  other 
times,  like  present  time,  illustrate  the  same  lesson ;  and  it  is 
written  in  characters  of  light  on  every  page,  and  on  every  great 

mind. 

x 


186  MEMOIR    OF 

Exquisite  powers,  says  an  old  and  quaint  writer,  have  their 
root  in  exquisite  sensibility.  Feeling,  is  a  predominant  quality 
with  Mr.  Burges.  It  is  exhibited  on  almost  every  occasion  ;  in 
the  circle  of  friendship  where  are  the  most  hallowed  and  cher 
ished  associations,  and  in  his  discourses  and  speeches.  Whatever 
opinions  he  entertains,  he  feels  an  inward  conviction  of  their 
valuable  tendency.  Hence,  when  at  the  Bar,  the  cause  of  a 
client  was  as  precious  to  him  as  if  it  were  his  own.  In  the  de 
fence  of  a  criminal,  it  seemed  as  if  he  were  pleading  that  his 
own  life  might  be  prolonged,  and  that  the  penalties  of  law 
might  visit  some  other  head.  On  these  occasions,  his  eloquence 
was  irresistible ;  because  it  struck  the  fine  chord  of  human 
passion.  It  was  by  this  rare  union  of  thought  and  feeling,  that 
crowds  assembled  to  hear  ;  that  the  spirit  of  eloquence  irradiated 
his  legal  arguments,  communicating  its  influence  to  other 
minds  and  other  hearts. 

By  the  operation  of  strong  feelings,  however,  he  is  often  be 
trayed  into  errors.  In  the  contending  triumph  and  defeat  of 
parliamentary  life,  he  utters  sentiments  which  are  the  offspring 
of  strong  emotions,  rather  than  calm  reflection.  When  opinions 
are  enforced,  detrimental  to  the  public  weal,  in  the  ardor  of 
reply,  his  language  may  be  too  severe,  and  his  feelings  too 
vehement. 

It  is  a  remark  of  Burke,  and  he  seems  to  have  made  it  as 
referring  indirectly  to  himself — "that  a  vigorous  mind  is  as 
necessarily  accompanied  with  violent  passions,  as  a  great  fire 
with  great  heat."  Oracle  as  he  was,  neither  past  experience 
nor  the  constitution  of  human  nature  will  admit  its  justice.  A 
vigorous  mind,  all  will  acknowledge,  is  often  accompanied  with 
violent  passion  ;  but  it  is  not  its  necessary  companion.  On  the 
contrary,  such  a  mind  is  guarded  by  judgment,  prudence,  and 
collected  action.  Occasions  and  circumstances  may  arise,  when 
passion  vanquishes  its  silent,  yet  powerful  operations.  The  fate 
of  a  great  cause  is  often  involved  in  the  debate  of  an  hour.  A 
vigorous  mind  then,  will  necessarily  be  accompanied  with  vio 
lent  passions  ;  for,  in  the  pending  controversy,  are  life,  liberty, 
and  property.  It  is  excitement,  deep  and  impassioned  feeling, 


T  R  I  8  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  187 

arising  from  conflicting  interests,  which  agitates  the  vigorous 
mind.  Mr.  Burges,  in  this  qualified  sense,  is  a  remarkable 
illustration  of  Burke's  sentiment. 

But  leaving  his  private,  let  us  delineate  the  features  of  his 
political  character.  When  the  old  party  distinctions  of  federal, 
and  republican  existed,  he  belonged,  as  before  intimated,  to  the 
former  party,  and  was  ardently  engaged  in  the  contests  of  that 
period.  The  opinions  he  then  entertained,  of  the  powers  and 
influence  of  the  State  arid  United  States  Governments,  have  not 
been  changed.  The  Constitution  he  maintains,  was  the  act  of 
the  People  of  the  United  States  in  the  aggregate ;  not  of  the 
several  States  ;  or  of  the  States  as  sovereign  communities  ;  but 
the  act,  as  its  language  speaks,  of  "  The  People  of  the  United 
States."  It  is  their  Government ;  its  powers  were  granted  by 
them,  for  their  own  use  and  benefit.  In  all  its  operations,  it  is 
responsible  to  them.  The  control  exercised  over  it,  must  be 
exercise^  by  the  People.  It  is  their  creature,  their  agent,  for 
specific  purposes.  The  States,  therefore,  possess  ail  powers, 
except  those  granted  by  the  Constitution  to  the  United  States ; 
for  that  instrument,  is  the  supreme  law.  All  powers  not  vested 
by  the  people  in  Congress,  nor  prohibited  by  the  Constitution  to 
the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States.  It  is  ordained  and  estab 
lished  by  "  The  People  of  the  United  States,  to  form  a  more 
perfect  union,  establish  justice,  ensure  domestic  tranquillity, 
provide  for  the  common  defence,  promote  the  general  welfare, 
and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty."  It  is  then,  a  popular 
government ;  because  it  emanates  from  the  people,  and  is  main 
tained  by  the  people. 

The  writings  of  Mr.  Burges,  betray  striking  peculiarities  of 
thought  and  diction.  When  he  discourses  on  topics  connected 
with  literature  and  taste,  he  displays  a  rare  union  of  imaginative 
and  classical  beauties.  His  compositions  on  government  and 
political  economy,  are  replete  with  historical  illustrations,  strong, 
and  practical.  Metaphorical  expressions  give  great  energy  to 
language ;  and  as  a  general  remark,  they  occur  often  in  his 
writings,  and  add  to  their  strength  and  elegance.  In  many 
instances,  however,  they  are  extravagant,  and  do  not  satisfy  a 


188  MEMOIR    OF 

refined  taste.  But  for  a  union  of  these  qualities,  coupled  with 
an  emphatic  meaning  to  every  word,  his  speeches  excel  his 
writings.  The  latter  are  formed  in  the  closet,  removed  from 
the  inspiring  presence  of  a  crowded  assembly,  and,  therefore, 
not  so  eloquent.  The  place  where  a  multitude  is  gathered,  is 
the  place  to  judge  of  the  excellencies  of  his  mind.  There,  all 
the  energies  of  his  soul  are  aroused,  by  conflict  with  other  intel 
lects.  The  greater  the  occasion,  the  more  powerful  the  adver 
sary,  the  more  commanding  is  his  oratory. 

Mr.  Burges's  style  of  speaking  is  often  too  vehement ;  occa 
sionally,  he  deals  in  nice  refinements  of  language :  yet  his 
style  is  formed  on  no  one  model,  and,  therefore,  it  resembles  the 
speaking  of  no  other  man.  It  is  his  own,  with  its  faults  and 
beauties.  If  one  word  could  convey  a  just  idea  of  the  whole, 
we  should  term  it  captivating.  His  voice  is  not  remarkable  for 
its  sweetness ;  but  it  is  strong,  and  in  its  deepest  intonations, 
melodious.  It  is  capable  too,  of  an  exquisite  variety j^  tones. 
It  will  speak  the  calm  reasonings  of  philosophy,  and  the  exciting 
passions  of  the  soul,  with  inimitable  power.  His  cadences  fall 
upon  the  ear,  with  a  prolonged  beauty  ;  and  his  emphasis  and 
pauses  are  admirably  managed.  His  gestures  are  frequent,  yet 
employed  only  when  the  thought  requires  them.  They  are 
always  emphatic.  A  wave  of  the  hand  expresses  sentiments 
and  emotions  which  others  convey  only  by  words.  His  articu 
lation  is  remarkably  distinct ;  every  sentence  is  pronounced  with 
a  full,  deliberate  enunciation.  One  cause  of  Mr.  Burges's  suc 
cess  in  oratory  may  be  attributed  to  his  knowledge  of  human 
nature.  Much  of  that  knowledge  was  acquired  in  the  begin 
ning  of  life.  The  variety  of  his  occupations  led  him  into  fre 
quent  conflict  with  men  ;  and  their  dispositions,  pursuits,  and 
general  rules  of  conduct,  he  made  a  study.  His  profession,  also, 
was  a  tributary  stream,  continually  flowing  onward,  and  gather 
ing  new  volume,  as  his  practice  increased.  The  Bar  is  a  thea 
tre,  where  human  nature  is  displayed  in  its  darkest  and  finest 
expressions.  Accustomed  to  watch  the  springs  of  passion,  he 
soon  acquired  the  art  to  move  and  enkindle  the  feelings  of 
popular  assemblies.  Hence,  few  have  been  more  successful  in 


TRISTAM    BURGES,  189 

directing  1  lie  movements  of  such  assemblies.    A  general  silence, 
an  interest  that  never  falters,  attend  all  his  efforts. 

To  live  in  human  memory,  and  to  place  on  the  roll  of  time 
some  memorial  of  himself,  has  evidently  ever  been  one  of  his 
cherished  desires.  He  is  ambitious ;  and,  therefore,  participates 
in  that  infirmity,  as  it  is  denominated,  of  great  minds;  the  same 
which  heaved  in  the  breast  of  Washington  ;  which  has  breathed 
in  the  lines  of  poetry  ;  which  has  set  in  our  political  firmament 
those  living  stars,  shining  with  undimmed  lustre  and  guiding  to 
Union  and  Independence.  In  mechanical  and  agricultural  em 
ployments  he  was  ambitious.  The  first  honors  of  the  University, 
his  professional  accomplishments,  and  present  distinction,  all 
were  attained  by  its  influence.  "When  we  feel  ourselves,"  as  he 
once  beautifully  remarked,  "  borne  along  the  current  of  time  ; 
when  we  see  ourselves  hourly  approach  that  cloud,  impenetrable 
to  the  human  eye,  which  terminates  the  last  visible  portion  of 
this  moving  estuary  ;  who  of  us,  although  he  may  hope  when 
he  reaches  it,  to  shoot  through  that  dark  barren,  into  a  more 
bright  and  peaceful  region,  yet  who  can  feel  himself  receding 
from  the  eye  of  all  human  sympathy,  leaving  the  vision  of  all 
human  monuments ;  and  not  wish  as  he  passes  by,  to  place  on 
those  monuments,  some  little  memorial  of  himself ;  some  volume 
of  a  book ;  or,  perhaps  but  a  single  page,  that  it  may  be 
remembered, 

*  When  we  are  not,  that  we  have  been.'  " 

The  mind  of  Mr.  Burges,  in  all  its  shades  and  peculiarities, 
cannot  be  precisely  delineated.  It  is  difficult  to  balance  the  op 
posing  elements  of  any  mind,  or  to  convey  an  accurate  idea  of 
all  its  resources  and  attainments.  The  most  correct  inferences 
may  be  drawn  from  works.  We  think,  as  before  intimated, 
that  upon  them  he  has  established  a  permanent  and  just  renown. 
Intellectual  greatness  must  be  more  conclusively  defined,  the 
true  nature  of  genius  solved,  before  a  place  can  be  selected  in 
the  temple  of  Fame,  for  all  noble  and  far-reaching  minds. 

Whatever  may  be  the  philosophical  definition  of  genius, — 
when  united  with  application,  it  furnishes  the  richest  produc 
tions  of  intellect.  In  Mr.  Burges,  the  combination  of  these 
qualities  has  directed  his  efforts  to  practical  results. 

ft. 


190  MEMOIR   OF 

To  study  the  various  manifestations  of  genius ;  its  discoveries, 
applications  and  treasures,  diffused  over  the  region  of  science, 
imparts  true  happiness  and  wisdom.  It  is  interesting  to  select 
examples  of  greatness,  arid  to  contemplate  them  in  retirement, 
in  the  commingled  interests  of  society,  and  learn  each  progres 
sive  step  in  their  career.  Thus  are  obtained,  not  only  an  esti 
mate  of  mind  and  character,  but  a  valuable  collection  of  facts, 
illustrating  lives  celebrated  in  the  annals  of  a  country.  The 
excellencies  of  a  statesman  who  looks  beyond  and  above  mere 
party  politics,  may  be  studied.  The  record  of  his  name  will  be 
associated  with  all  that  tends  to  elevate  and  adorn  human 
nature.  In  whatever  quarter  a  system  of  public  improvement 
may  originate,  he  will  be  found  its  advocate.  Power  is,  with 
him,  an  instrument  of  good.  Its  possession  is  cherished,  not 
because  it  brings  the  flattery  of  united  millions ;  but,  because  it 
enables  him  to  separate  truth  from  the  dominion  of  error ;  to 
sway  with  a  generous  purpose  the  wills  and  energies  of  other 
men  ;  to  furnish  examples  for  coming  ages,  and  to  guide  nations 
in  the  path  to  glory.  And  on  the  other  side,  we  can  discrimi 
nate  between  intellectual  and  military  renown;  perceive  how 
they  differ  in  their  incipient  state  and  final  termination  ;  how 
ennobling  are  the  victories  of  the  one,  compared  with  those  of 
the  other. 

There  is,  indeed,  a  strong  and  controlling  interest  attached  to 
the  history  of  a  military  conqueror.  His  life  is  given  to  deeds 
of  arms.  It  is  affecting,  from  the  stirring  scenes  and  incidents 
recorded  ;  the  triumphs  on  land  and  ocean;  the  skill  to  direct,  the 
nerve  to  conquer,  the  power  to  rule  ;  and  at  last  to  unfurl  the 
banner,  that  it  may  wave  as  an  emblem  of  national  glory. 
Such  relations,  moreover,  afford  an  insight  into  the  wonderful 
book  of  human  nature ;  for  they  teach  of  the  outward  and 
inward  workings  of  passion,  and  of  mind ;  and  the  results  to 
which  they  tend.  But  all  these  do  not  impart  such  instruction 
as  may  be  drawn  from  the  life  of  a  philosopher,  moralist,  or 
statesman.  Their  victories  are  magnificent  discoveries,  refined 
systems,  and  enlightened  maxima  The  closet  is  their  field  of 
preparatory  exertion,  and  the  world  is  the  recipient  of  their 


TRISTAM    BURGES. 

efforts.  To  inscribe  one  great  thought,  on  the  enduring  page 
which  shall  be  transmitted  to  other  regions,  make  the  despot's 
throne  quake,  call  up  in  future  time,  and  in  other  minds,  its 
own  animating  light  and  controlling  power,  requires  mightier 
energies  than  to  win  the  battle-field.  He  whose  name  is  on 
the  roll  of  statesmen,  or  who  is  renowned  in  the  sanctuary  of 
justice,  or  skilled  in  philosophy,  the  disciple  of  freedom  will  im 
plore  his  spirit  to  hover  over  a  people  struggling  for  their  rights ; 
the  tongue  that  speaks  in  the  hall  of  justice,  will  catch  a  spark  of 
true  eloquence  ;  the  province  of  philosophy  will  be  enriched  by 
great  examples. 

From  what  has  been  written  concerning  Mr.  Burges,  in  the 
preceding  pages,  united  with  the  many  beautiful  and  characte 
ristic  passages  from  his  own  writings,  we  may  confidently  claim 
for  him  the  true  elements  of  greatness.  Let  memory  go  back  to 
his  young  days,  and  contemplate  the  vicissitudes  of  that  period ; 
his  employments,  habits,  and  limited  means  for  the  acquisition 
of  knowledge  ;  let  his  collegiate  honors,  and  professional  career 
be  remembered ;  and  then  view  him  as  he  now  stands  before  his 
country,  and  none  will  dispute  his  title  to  eminence.  That 
country  in  her  brightest,  as  in  her  darkest  period,  looks  to  such 
citizens  for  counsel,  and  their  animating  voices  are  heard  plead 
ing  for  her  rights,  and  exhorting  to  patriotism.  And  when  the 
pillars  of  the  Constitution  are  almost  all  destroyed,  and  the 
hopes  of  freedom  are  waning,  how  apposite  is  this  picture  of 
that  Union,  which  is  the  fruit  of  the  primary  principles  of  our 
Revolution. 

"This  Union  is  the  depository  of  national  glory,  and  the  bul 
wark  of  our  freedom.  It  is  presented  to  the  eye  by  every 
possible  device.  *  Unum  e  pluribus?  glitters  on  our  coin.  The 
scattered  oaks  of  our  mountains,  have  grown  into  a  united  navy; 
the  thunder  of  the  United  States  has  echoed  from  shore  to  shore 
of  the  ocean  ;  and  the  Union  eagle,  has  swept  his  broad  wing, 
against  the  distant  margin  of  the  sky. 

"Divided  efforts  in  favor  of  this  Union,  are  feeble ;  united,  irre 
sistible.  The  physical,  no  less  than  the  moral  world,  is  filled 
with  demonstrations  of  this  truth.  The  hand  of  infancy  might 


192 


MEMOIR    OF,    &c. 


poise  and  scatter  the  multitudinous  waters  of  the  world,  if  divided 
into  drops  ;  but  united  in  rivers  and  seas,  it  foams  in  waves,  it 
roars  in  cataracts,  and  the  barriers  of  the  ocean  are  beaten  down, 
the  mountains  cloven  asunder,  by  the  resistless  deluge.  A 
breath  of  air  is  melody  in  the  flute,  refreshment  in  the  breeze 
of  summer  evening ;  and  you  may  stop  it  with  your  finger,  or 
repel  it  with  a  veil  of  gauze  ;  but,  pressed  into  the  blustering 
battalions  of  the  winds,  it  is  a  gale,  a  storm,  a  hurricane :  it 
rends  from  the  mountain  oak  its  limbs  ;  sweeps  away  the  labors 
of  the  year  ;  and,  ( seizing  the  ruffian  billows  by  the  top,'  min 
gles  the  depths  of  ocean  with  the  stars  of  heaven.  My  country 
men,  send  up  a  prayer  for  'LIBERTY,  GLORY,  AND  UNION.'  " 


PART    II. 


SPEECHES. 


PART    II. 


SPEECH    ON    THE    JUDICIARY. 


MR.  MERCER  of  Virginia,  introduced  a  resolution  in  relation  to 
the  Judiciary  of  the  United  States,  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
in  December,  1825  ;  which  was  subsequently  modified  as  follows  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Bill,  be  re-committed  to  the  Committee, 
that  brought  it  in,  with  an  instruction  so  to  amend  it,  as  to  discharge 
the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  from  attendance  on  the  Circuit 
Court  of  the  United  States  ;  and  further  to  provide  an  uniform  effic 
ient  system  for  the  administration  of  justice  in  the  inferior  Courts  of 
the  United  States." 

Mr.  Burges,  addressed  the  House  in  the  following 

SPEECH. 

MR.  SPEAKER — Unused  to  occasions  like  the  present,  and  without 
any  practice,  other  than  forensic,  I  find  myself,  unadvisedly,  engaged 
in  deliberative  debate,  where  nothing  is  worthy  of  attention,  unless 
most  valuable  in  material,  and  in  detail  most  finished.  If  I  could 
now  fairly  retreat,  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  proceed.  Aban 
doning  myself,  therefore,  to*  your  candor,  Sir,  and  that  of  the  House, 
I  will  look  to  the  question  for  that  support  which  a  great  question 
never  fails  to  afford. 

This  great  question  is  the  entire  Judiciary  of  the  United  States. 
It  was  placed  before  Congress  by  the  President ;  has  been  by  this 
House  referred  to  the  appropriate  committee  ;  and  they  have  detailed 
to  us  the  great  judicial  diseases  of  the  country,  and  proposed,  by 
this  Bill,  a  remedy  for  them.  It,  therefore,  concerns  the  adminis- 


196  SPEECHES    OF 

tration  of  national  justice,  and  our  attention  is  moreover  loudly  called 
to  it  by  a  great  and  respectable  portion  of  the  American  People. 

The  resolution  moved  by  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Virginia, 
(Mr.  Mercer,)  proposes  a  recommittment  of  the  whole  subject ;  to  the 
intent  that,  the  Judiciary,  built  at  several  times,  and  in  distinct  parcels^ 
may  be  re-edified  into  one  great  whole,  and  accommodated  to  the 
present  and  future  wants  of  the  nation.     The  system  of  the  Bill  is  a 
Supreme  Court,  holding  one  term  only,  each  year,  sitting  at  Wash 
ington  only  ;  and  beginning  that  term  on  the  first  Monday  of  Feb 
ruary,  as  now  is  done ;  a  Circuit  Court,  according  to  the  present 
Circuits,  and  four  new  ones,  to  be  formed  from  the  Circuit  and  the 
Districts  comprehending  the  nine  States  in  the  Valley  of  the  Missis 
sippi.     These  ten  Circuits  are  to  embrace  all  the  Districts  in  the 
United  States,  excepting  those  of  West  New-York,  West  Pennsyl 
vania,  and  West  Virginia,  alone.     In  every  District  but  these  three, 
District  Judges  alone  shall  be  compelled  to  sustain  District  jurisdic 
tion  only,  hold  District  rank,  and  receive  District  salary  ;  in  these 
three,  with  the  same  pay,  and  same  rank,  they  shall  be  obliged  to 
perform  Circuit  duties,  and  sustain  Circuit  jurisdiction.     In  each  of 
the  other  Districts,  formed  into  ten  Circuits,  justice  shall  be  adminis 
tered  by  a  Circuit  Judge,  sustaining  the  jurisdiction,  holding  the  rank, 
and  receiving  the  salary,  of  a  Circuit  Judge  and  a  Supreme  Judge, 
at  the  same  time ;  and  these,  united  together,  shall  form  a  Supreme 
Court  of  ten  Judges.     These,  Sir,  are  the  peculiar  provisions  of  the 
Bill. 

The  resolution  is  intended  to  embrace  another  system.  Each 
District  shall  remain  as  now.  All  the  Districts  of  the  United  States 
shall  be  formed  into  ten  Circuits.  The  whole  United  States  shall  be 
arranged  into  three  great  Supreme  Court  Departments  ;  an  Eastern,  a 
Central,  and  a  Western.  In  each  District,  as  now,  shall  be  a  District 
Court,  holden  as  at  present,  by  the  same  Judge,  with  the  same 
jurisdiction,  rank,  and  salary.  In  each*  Circuit  shall  be  a  Circuit 
Court,  holden  at  the  same  times  and  places  as  at  present,  and  a 
Circuit  Judge  shall  be  appointed  for  each  Circuit,  with  only  Circuit 
Court  salary,  rank,  and  jurisdiction.  In  each  of  the  Supreme  Court 
Departments,  shall  be  holden  a  term  of  the  Supreme  Court  once  in 
each  year.  At  Washington,  Philadelphia,  or  Richmond,  on  the 
first  Monday  of  January  ;  at  Columbus,  Lexington,  or  a  city  in 
Tennessee,  once  in  each  year,  on  the  first  Monday  in  June  ;  and  at 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  197 

New- York  or  Boston  once  in  each  year,  and  on  the  first  Monday  of 
September.  This  Court,  so  soon  as  constitutional  causes  shall  have 
reduced  it  to  that  number,  shall  consist  of  six  Judges,  sustaining  all 
the  constitutional  jurisdiction  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  and  bearing  the  same  rank,  and  receiving  the  same  salary, 
as  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  of  the  United  States  now 
bear  and  receive.  These,  Sir,  are  the  provisions  intended  to  be 
secured  by  the  Resolution.  You  therefore  perceive,  Sir,  that  the 
subject  of  debate  is  a  choice  between  the  provisions  of  the  Bill  and 
the  proposals  of  the  Resolution.  To  me,  it  seems  proper,  first  to 
speak  concerning  the  Bill,  and  then  to  say  a  few  things  concerning 
the  Resolution. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  needful,  before  debating  the  question,  to  remove 
some  general  and  specific  objections.     It  has  been  said,  that  this  is 
an  improper  time  to  amend  the  Judiciary.     Because,  1st — One  of 
the  States  is  agitated  and  embroiled  with  the  General  Government ; 
2d — Another  is  deeply  dissatisfied  with  the  result  of  the  Presidential 
Election;    3d — Resolutions  are  poured  in  from  every  quarter  for 
altering  the  Constitution  ;    4th — The  President  is  not  yet  quietly 
seated  on  his  throne.     To  all  these  it  may  be  replied,  that  the  agita 
tions  of  that  State  sound  more  in  words  than  in  substantial  damages. 
Men  whom  we  daily  see  here  with  us  from  that  State,  are  too  wise 
and  too  patriotic  to  suffer  that  or  their  country  to  receive  any  serious 
injury  from  these  discords.     One  eminent  citizen  lately  returned  to 
her  bosom,  has  exchanged  too  many  and  too  high  pledges  with  the 
nation,  ever  to  give  the  aid  of  his  influence  to  any  unreasonable 
sectional  demands  ;  and  without  that  aid,  no  such  demands  can  be 
dangerous  to  this  Union.     After  all,  none  of  us  can  fairly  say,  that 
this  question,  growing  as  it  does  out  of  a  Treaty,  either  fairly  or 
fraudulently  made,  threatening  as  it  is  represented  to  be,  is  of  legis 
lative,  and  not  rather  of  judicial  jurisdiction.     It  would  be  indeed 
surprising  if  a  suit  either  at  law  or  in  equity,  between  parties  of  the 
highest  rank,  should  ever  agitate  or  endanger  the  Government  of 
this  country.     The  other  dissatisfied  State  has  deposited  a  stake  in 
the  Union,  too  dear  to  her  ambition  to  do  or  consent  to  a  single 
deed,  perilous  to  that  depository.     Her  illustrious  citizen  is  a  candi 
date  for  the  next  Presidency.     Will  she  abate  the  title,  and  sink 
the  fee  simple  of  the  whole  estate,  before  she  can  place  her  tenant  in 
possession  of  his  term  ? 


198  SPEECHES    OF 

The  numerous  resolutions  for  altering  the  form  of  our  Government, 
will  follow  the  numerous  generations  of  the  same  race,  which  have 
gone  before  them.  We  shall  discourse  and  vote  concerning  them  ; 
bind,  letter,  and  deposite  them  in  the  Legislative  archives  ;  and  the 
million  copies  of  them  printed,  and  spread  over  the  country,  will 
survive  as  long,  and  subserve  the  same  purpose,  as  does  the  fugitive 
fabric  "  in  which  they  live,  and  move,  and  have  their  being."  The 
People  will  (thanks  be  to  Him  who  has  blessed  them  with  the  right) 
if  they  please,  and  when  they  please,  amend  their  Constitution  ;  all 
our  profound  reasonings,  and  patriotic  recommendations,  to  the  con- 
trary  notwithstanding. 

The  President  does  not,  and  I  trust  no  Chief  Magistrate  of  the 
United  States  ever  will,  set  on  a  throne.  There  now  lives,  and  de 
lightful  is  the  hope  that  for  many  coming  centuries  there  will  live, 
in  this  first,  and  perhaps  last,  region  of  genuine  Republican  Govern, 
ments,  many  a  Junius  ready  to  raise  the  hand,  brandish  the  crimson 
steel,  and  swear  by  the  Guardian  Power  of  Nations,  that  in  our 
Rome,  while  he  lives,  no  king  shall  ever  reign.  The  distinguished 
gentleman,  now  directing  the  Executive  affairs  of  the  United  States, 
was  placed  in  his  seat,  in  the  same  Constitutional  manner,  as  was 
one  other  great  citizen  of  our  nation,  heretofore  placed  there  ;  and  I 
trust  he  will  hold  his  place  as  securely,  and  as  prosperously,  as  did 
that  illustrious  individual.  Whether  he  will  have  another  term,  is 
another  question.  The  solution  of  it  depends  on  the  nation  and  on 
himself.  If  that  be  not  oblivious  of  its  own  interest ;  and  if  he  continue 
to  be  the  same  profound  scholar,  the  same  enlightened  statesman, 
the  same  ardent  patriot,  the  same  exemplary  Christian,  prophecy 
need  not  be  invoked  to  tell  us,  that  the  nation  will,  for  the  usual 
period,  continue  to  enjoy  the  benefit  of  his  labors,  and  to  participate 
in  his  fame. 

Throughout  the  whole  debate,  the  opposers  of  the  system  of  the 
Resolution  misconceive,  for  they  continually  misstate,  the  objections 
made  by  the  opposers  to  the  system  of  the  Bill.  They  call  them, 
1st — A  denial  of  Justice.  2d — They  pronounce  them  to  be  the  same 
oppressive  measures  which  originated  the  war  of  Independence. 
3d — They  denounce  against  them  the  lex  talionis.  4th — They  warn 
them  that  their  Supreme  Court  will  become  odious  to  the  People. 

Does  the  present  system  deny  justice  to  any  man  ?  Extra  judic 
ial  causes  may  obstruct  the  course  of  it ;  but  is  that  a  denial  of  the 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  199 

right  to  justice  itself?  As  well  may  they  say,  that,  because  the 
snags  and  sawyers  of  their  rivers  obstruct  the  passage  of  their  ves 
sels  upon  them,  Government,  unless  she  remove  those  obstructions, 
denies  the  right  of  these  people  to  navigate  those  waters.  The 
opposers  of  this  Bill  are  not  answerable  for  the  inconvenient  struc 
ture  and  slow  movements  of  the  old  judiciary  machine,  or  the 
diminished  quantity  of  work  produced  by  its  operations.  Neither 
do  they  propose  to  repair  it  by  some  two  or  three  additional  wheels, 
or  any  quantity  of  supplemental  gearing.  They  do  not  believe  it 
worth  repairing  ;  or  that  any  amount  of  costs  will  put  it  in  condition 
to  do  the  judicial  work  of  the  nation  even  "  pretty  well,"  for  any 
thing  like  "  twenty  years."  They  propose  to  rebuild  it  on  the  true 
Constitutional  model ;  and  accommodate  its  structure,  speed,  and 
production,  to  the  movements  and  wants  of  the  present,  and  probable 
future  condition  of  the  nation.  Adopt  the  system  of  the  Resolution, 
and  you  will  have  no  obstruction,  no  delay,  no  denial  of  justice. 

What  is  there,  in  the  opposition  to  this  Bill,  resembling  the  unfeel 
ing  and  oppressive  cases  of  the  Revolutionary  War?  Are  the 
opposers  kings  ?  Are  the  advocates  of  it  their  colonists  ?  Do  these 
men,  at  their  own  pleasure,  appoint,  pay,  and  displace  the  Judges  of 
those  Courts  ?  Do  they  deprive  them  of  the  trial  by  Jury  ?  or  do 
they,  for  trial,  transport  them  out  of  the  vicinage,  and  beyond  sea  ? 
These  were  among  the  causes  which  produced  the  War  of  the 
Revolution  ;  and  separated  these  States  from  the  parent  nation. 
What  in  this  procedure  resembles  those  causes  ?  Yet  this  parallel 
has  been  drawn  in  this  House  ;  and  the  sketch,  such  as  it  is,  pub 
lished,  sent  over  our  country,  and  will  be  spread  over  Europe. 
"  On  eagles'  wings,  immortal  scandals  fly."  The  next  importation 
of  Reviews  will  bring  us  a  profound  discourse  on  the  probable  dis 
union  of  these  States ;  so,  and  so  grossly,  do  we  abuse  "  Heaven's 
first,  best  gift  to  man,"  language — the  rich  medium,  by  which  alone, 
any  portion  of  the  treasured  capital  of  intellectual  opulence  can  be 
circulated  in  the  world.  We  debase  it  to  the  very  offices  of  the 
miser's  woollen  purse,  which,  elastic  in  its  texture,  adheres  closely 
to  his  thumb  and  finger,  cautiously  introduced  to  extract  a  four 
pence-half-penny ;  or  stretches  to  the  extended  hand  of  his  heir, 
thrust  in  up  to  his  elbow,  to  clutch  and  draw  out  a  fist  full  of 
eagles.  Well  might  the  lad  swear  "his  sister  should  have  no 
name  ;  because  a  name  was  a  word,  and  a  word  might  be  abused  : 


200 


SPEECHES    OF 


and  so  his  sister's  good  name  might  come  to  be  abused  by  every 
clown." 

Why  are  the  opposers  of  this  Bill  from  the  « Old  Thirteen," 
threatened  with  retaliation,  by  its  advocates  from  the  New  States  ? 
Whom,  and  what  do  they  menace  ?  Their  brethren,  and  the  home 
of  their  fathers.  "  They  went  out  from  us,"  not  "  because  they 
were  not  of  us."  They  are  still  children  of  the  great  household, 
though  settled  upon,  and  cultivating  different  allotments  of  the  com 
mon  inheritance.  Their  paternal  sepulchres  are  with  us ;  and  will 
they  leave  us  alone  to  defend  them  1  The  Scythian,  though  he 
might  not  fight  for  his  pasture,  his  flocks,  or  his  tent,  yet,  when  re 
treat  had  brought  him  back  to  the  grave  of  his  father,  would  he 
there,  by  that  consecrated  mound,  and  in  defence  of  it,  make  the 
deadly  stand,  and  mortal  battle.  When,  in  our  sober  autumns, 
they  visit  us,  as  they  often  do,  they  see  the  frail  memorial  yet 
standing  on  the  green  hill-side  ,  and  may  there  read  many  a  holy 
legend  "  that  teach  the  rustic  moralist  to  die." 

"  The  time  will  come,"  they  exclaim,  "  when  the  Government 
shall  be  agitated  to  the  very  centre  :  and  we  may  want  some  boon, 
like  that  now  demanded  by  them."  The  perilous  day  may  indeed 
arrive,  when  our  common  country,  debased  by  luxury,  agitated  by 
faction,  hardened  by  ambition,  arrogant  by  power,  shall  not,  by 
piling  all  the  massy  and  mountainous  weight  of  our  laws  and  insti- 
stitutions,  upon  this  gigantic  and  bloody  brotherhood  of  crime  and 
slaughter,  be  able  to  hold  them  down  subdued.  In  this  tremendous 
day  of  national  agitation  and  jeopardy,  will  these  men,  or  the  sons 
of  these  men,  be  found  wanting  ?  They  will  not.  We  are  all  em 
barked  in  one  great  national  vessel,  bound  on  one  great,  and,  we 
hope,  long  and  prosperous  national  voyage.  Will  they,  in  the  night 
of  storm,  throw  overboard  our  share  of  the  cargo,  with  the  vain 
hope  of  preserving  their  own  ?  We  know  they  will  not.  Will  they, 
on  some  lee  shore,  scuttle  the  ship  to  terminate  the  voyage  ?  Will 
they,  in  the  hour  of  assailment  or  battle,  pull  down  the  colors  and 
give  up  the  ship  ?  We  say,  we  know  they  will  not.  Why,  then, 
these  unavailing  threats  ?  Brave  men  should  never  use  them  to 
brave  men.  Leave  them  for  the  accommodation  of  those  who  "  die 
many  times  before  their  death." 

Will  the  time  then  come,  when  our  Supreme  Court  shall  be  odious, 
unless  the  Judges  of  it  continue  to  perform  their  own,  and  the  ad- 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  201 

ditional  duties  of  Circuit  Court  Judges  ?  This  doctrine  is  unknown 
to  the  Constitution.  That  projects  a  Supreme  Judicial  Court,  sepa 
rate  and  supervising  all  Courts  of  inferior  jurisdiction.  Will  it 
become  odious  because  it  is  Supreme  ?  Because  neither  the  Exe 
cutive  or  Legislative  arm  can  demolish  or  diminish  its  power,  or 
move  a  finger  within  the  pale  of  its  jurisdiction  ?  Or  will  it  become 
odious,  because  it  was  established  to  protect,  and  will  probably 
forever  protect,  the  People  from  the  usurpations  of  their  own  national 
servants  ?  Should  it  become  odious  because  stationary,  and  jealousy 
may  lead  the  nation  to  suspect  that  it  is  influenced  by  "  the  powers 
that  be"  and  that  act  in  this  place  ?  Make  it  then,  Sir,  moveable, 
as  the  Resolution  proposes.  Place  it  before  the  nation,  in  the  great 
departments  of  our  country,  that  the  People  may  see,  and  we  know 
they  will  then  reverence  this  hallowed  ark  of  our  national  covenant. 
This  apprehended  odiousness  is  but  an  apprehension.  Such  a 
Court  cannot  be  suspected  ;  it  cannot  be  odious,  so  long  as  it  is  filled 
by  the  Marshalls  and  the  Storys  of  our  country.  I  do  not  name 
these  gentlemen,  in  derogation  of  other  Judges  of  that  tribunal;  but 
because  I  have  the  honor  and  pleasure  of  acquaintance  with  one  of 
them,  and  because,  not  to  know  the  character  of  the  other,  would 
argue  myself  more  unknown,  than,  humble  as  I  am,  I  can  willingly 
acknowledge  myself  to  be. 

One  thing  further :  Some  opposers  of  the  Bill  object,  1st — The 
augmented  number  of  Judges  ;  2d — These  Judges  will  be  selected 
from  the  West,  and  bring  into  the  Court  sectional  prejudications  ; 
3d — A  majority  law  is  to  ride  in  upon  the  back  of  this  Bill,  making 
;he  unanimous  vote  of  six,  seven,  eight,  or  perhaps  nine  Judges 
necessary  to  a  decision. 

If  adding  three,  and  making  the  number  of  Judges  ten,  were  the 
only  objection,  I  would  have  given  the  House  no  trouble  on  the 
present  occasion.  Ten  Judges  may  deliberate  nearly  as  well  as 
six.  It  belongs  to  the  advocates  of  this  Bill  to  prove,  that  the 
greater  number  can  deliberate  better  than  the  lesser  number  can. 
[f  they  cannot  prove  this,  why  should  the  Judiciary  field  be  incum- 
bered  with  supernumerary  laborers,  or  the  national  means  consumed 
in  creating  and  paying  sinecure  salaries  ? 

The  second  objection  is,  I  agree,  answered,  by  the  consideration 
that  the  President  cannot,  by  law,  be  restricted  to  any  District  of 
the  Union,  in  selecting  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court.  When  he 


202  SPEECHES    OF 

does  nominate,  I  will  not  believe  he  will  nominate,  or  the  Senate 
approve,  any  but  men  superior  to  all  sectional,  legal,  or  moral  ob 
jections. 

Congress  cannot  control  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
They,  as  a  separate,  co-ordinate,  and  independent  power,  received, 
like  the  Legislature,  their  authority  from  the  People,  by  the 
Constitution.  Such  a  law  might  incumber,  but  could  not  circum 
scribe,  their  adjudication ;  and  would  subserve  no  other  purpose 
than  that  of  showing  to  the  nation  and  the  world,  that  we  neither 
regard  the  political  rights  of  others,  nor  understand  the  limits  of 
our  own. 

The  argument  of  my  colleague,  delivered  to  this  House  against 
this  Bill,  in  Committee  of  the  Whole,  has  drawn  from  our  honorable 
friend  from  Ohio,  (Mr.  Wright,)  something  like  a  reproach,  if  a 
gentleman  of  so  much  genuine  courtesy  could  utter  a  reproach,  on 
Rhode-Island.  "  She  did  not  join  the  Union  till  the  eleventh  hour, 
and  though  so  late  herself  at  the  wedding  feast,  would  now  hinder 
others,  at  this  late  hour,  from  receiving  their  full  share  of  it."  Let 
the  gentleman  take  the  entire  benefit  of  his  sarcasm.  Rhode-Island 
did  come  late  to  the  wedding.  She  was  always  late  when  national 
bounties  were  to  be  divided  ;  but  always  early  when  national  dan 
gers  were  to  be  encountered.  She  was  indeed,  for  herself,  "  last  at 
the  feast ;"  but  she  was,  for  her  country,  first  at  the  fight. 

What  then,  Sir,  are  the  judicial  evils  pressed  on  the  attention  of 
this  House,  by  the  movers  of  this  Bill  ?  They  are  :  1st — an  accu 
mulation  of  causes  in  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  ;  and,  2d — an  ac 
cumulation  of  causes  in  the  Circuit  Courts  of  the  West.  For  the 
purposes  of  this  argument,  I  agree  with  these  gentlemen  in  the  seve 
ral  items  of  these  evils  ;  and  in  the  sum  total,  according  to  their 
stated  account  of  them.  One  hundred  and  eighty  causes  lie  over, 
yearly,  on  the  docket  of  the  Supreme  Court.  These  remain  there, 
continued  from  term  to  term,  from  three  to  five  years.  The  amount 
of  expenses  to  each  party,  at  each  term,  on  an  average  of  all  the 
causes,  cannot  be,  for  fees,  attendance,  and  agency,  much  less  than 
six  hundred  dollars  ;  so  that,  probably,  all  the  plaintiffs  pay  yearly, 
one  hundred  and  eight  thousand  dollars  ;  and  all  the  defendants  a 
like  annual  amount.  This  accumulation,  it  must  be  confessed,  will 
be  greatly  augmented  when  you  shall,  as  proposed  by  the  Bill,  have 
removed  the  obstructions  now  literally  choking  the  channels  of  jus- 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  203 

tice  in  the  Western  States.  All  the  great  causes  accumulated  there 
in  consequence  of  the  entire  deficiency  of  judicial  labor  in  that  vast 
region,  fertile  as  it  is  represented  to  be,  by  the  friends  of  the  Bill,  in 
legal  question  and  controversy,  will,  by  the  three  new  Judges,  and 
four  new  Circuits,  be  speedily  tried,  adjudged,  and  appealed ;  or,  at 
least,  a  great  number  of  the  most  heavy  in  amount,  and  intricate  in 
principle,  will  be  appealed  to  the  Supreme  Court.  In  the  West,  this 
accumulation  is  still  more  appalling  :  in  some  districts,  three  hun 
dred,  some  four  hundred,  some  five  hundred,  and  seven  hundred 
causes  ;  in  all,  from  seventeen  hundred  to  two  thousand,  lie  over, 
untried,  at  each  term ;  and  the  number  is  increasing  to  an  alarming 
amount  of  accumulation. 

These  evils  are  to  be  remedied  by  this  Bill.  The  nine  States  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley  are  arranged  into  four  Circuits ;  and  three 
new  Judges  are  to  be  appointed  as  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
The  reasons  for  this  measure  are  widely  spread,  and  of  various  cha 
racter.  They  may,  however,  Sir,  all  be  comprehended  in  three  : 
1st — it  will  equalize  judicial  administration:  2d — it  will  equalize 
judicial  representation :  3d — it  will  equalize  judicial  knowledge  of 
State  Laws. 

Judicial  administration  is  said  to  be  unequal,  because  District 
Judges,  in  the  Western  Districts,  hold  Circuit  Courts,  and  decide 
great  causes  of  life  and  property  ;  while  such  causes  are,  in  other 
Circuits,  decided  by  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court.  These  District 
Judges  are  of  inferior  rank  ;  inferior  salary  ;  and  of  course,  say  the 
gentlemen,  of  inferior  talents.  This  inequality  was  the  basis  of  the 
able  argument,  made  in  favor  of  this  Bill,  by  the  gentleman  of  the 
Judiciary  Committee,  from  South  Carolina.  Does  this  Bill  remedy 
this  inequality  ?  It  does  not  even  propose  to  do  it.  In  West  New- 
York,  West  Pennsylvania,  and  West  Virginia,  at  least  one  million 
of  people  are  left  to  endure  this  inequality.  Away  then  with  all 
pretensions  to  equality,  when  you  exclude  one  tenth  part  of  the 
people  from  all  benefit  of  your  new  system. 

The  gentleman  from  Louisiana,  aware  of  this  difficulty,  claims 
this  system  for  each  State.  "  It  is  enough  that  our  pride  demands 
it ;  enough  that  it  will  gratify  our  pride."  "If  it  will  feed  nothing 
else  it  will  feed"  our  pride.  Be  it  so  then ;  but  let  the  indulgence 
be  equal.  Let  every  State  have  her  Judge  ;  for  every  State  has 
her  something  whereof  to  be  proud.  If  Judges  are  to  be  alloted  by 
this  ratio,  we  shall  all  give  the  first  rank  to  Virginia  ;  and  the  same 


204  SPEECHES    OF 

reference  to  Revolutionary  glory  will  give  the  second  to  Rhode- 
Island.  If,  in  the  last  war,  Tennessee  were  justly  proud  of  her 
Wellington  of  the  West,  might  not  the  sea-green  Island  of  New- 
England,  with  equal  pride,  as  fairly  boast  her  Nelson  of  the  Lakes  ? 
This  question  of  pride,  I  am  willing  to  own,  has  little  connection 
with  the  appointment  of  Judges.  States  are  not  recognized  in  the 
judicial  system  of  the  nation.  By  the  Constitution  they  are  amal 
gamated  ;  and  by  the  law  of  1789,  they  were  divided  into  Districts 
and  Circuits  ;  and  their  several  boundaries  are  no  otherwise  regard 
ed  than  as  the  limits  of  these  Judicial  Territories.  These  were  es 
tablished,  not  to  create  offices  and  salaries  for  individual  benefit,  but 
to  dispense  that  justice  which,  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  the  Government  promised  to  provide  for  the  People. 

What  instance,  Sir,  of  injustice  has  been  detailed  in  all  this  de 
bate  ?  No  error  of  intention,  no  error  of  neglect,  no  error  of  igno 
rance  has  been  set  down  to  the  account  of  these  meritorious  and 
much-abused  District  Judges.  The  smallest  and  the  greatest  causes 
have  been  examined  and  adjudged,  with  the  most  scrupulous  regard 
to  justice.  Not  one  judicial  injury  has  been  done  by  these  men 
throughout  those  whole  nine  States.  It  is  not  for  lack  of  justice  that 
they  cry  out ;  but  for  lack  of  rank  and  salary.  They  are  satisfied 
with  the  service  of  the  altar,  but  not  with  the  grade  of  the  priest. 
They  do  not  say  the  victim  is  not  well  selected  for  sacrifice  and  for 
food ;  but  they  are  utterly  dissatisfied  with  the  richness  of  the  gar 
land.  The  viands  of  justice  are  abundant  and  wholesome.  They 
only  complain  that  they  are  served  up  and  distributed  to  them  on 
plain  porcelain,  and  not  on  massy  and  glittering  plate.  Our  country, 
Sir,  our  country  is  yearly  doing  miracles  for  the  millions  of  her 
children  ;  and  yet  how  justly  might  she  address  to  them  the  mild 
and  merciful  rebuke  of  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth  :  "  Ye  follow  me 
not  for  the  miracles  which  I  wrought,  but  because  ye  ate  of  the 
loaves  and  were  filled." 

The  second  great  argument  for  this  Bill,  Sir,  is,  that  it  will  equal 
ize  judicial  representation.  We  are  told  by  the  honorable  gentle 
man  from  Ohio,  (Mr.  Wright,)  of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  that  our 
Government  is  representative,  and  the  Judiciary,  because  it  is  a  part 
of  it,  is  therefore  representative.  The  honorable  gentleman  from 
Massachusetts,  (Mr.  Webster,)  Chairman  of  the  Committee,  has  told 
us,  that  the  extent  of  the  number  of  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Courf, 


TRISTAM    SURGES.  205 

must  be  limited  only  by  the  line  of  practical  inconvenience.  This 
is,  indeed,  heterodoxy  in  politics.  No  such  doctrine  can  be  found 
in  the  Constitution.  What  does  it  mean,  this  judicial  representa 
tion  ?  Is  it  a  representation  of  the  talents,  science,  and  legal  learn 
ing  of  the  several  States?  If  so,  why  did  not  the  Constitution  pro 
vide  that  a  judge  or  judges  should  be  selected  from  a  particular 
State,  or  number  of  States  ?  No  such  provision  is  found  in  the  Con 
stitution,  as  made  by  the  People  ;  nor  can  Congress,  in  the  plenitude 
of  their  power,  now  add  such  a  provision  to  that  great  political  char 
ter.  The  President  and  Senate  have,  therefore,  the  whole  range  of 
the  United  States  for  nomination  and  approval ;  and  talents,  learn 
ing,  and  integrity  are  excluded  from  the  Bench  by  no  sectional 
disqualification.  A  representation  of  these  exalted  qualities,  then, 
can  form  no  part  of  that  judicial  representation,  intended  to  be  se 
cured  by  the  provisions  of  this  Bill. 

It  must,  therefore,  Sir,  be,  that  political  representation  is  to  be 
secured  by  this  system.  A  Judge  must  bring  a  knowledge  of  the 
statistics  of  his  Circuit,  into  the  Supreme  Court.  He  must  lay  before 
the  learned  Bench,  the  extent  of  its  territory,  amount  of  its  popula 
tion,  capital,  labor,  skill,  production,  commerce,  consumption  ;  and  all 
the  various  details  of  "  the  nature  and  causes  of  the  wealth  of  States." 
Not  to  know  these  things,  would  disgrace  the  character  of  any  man 
of  science  and  knowledge  in  the  nation  ;  and,  therefore,  instituting  a 
system  of  judicial  law,  with  any  view  of  bringing  the  learned  Bench 
of  our  Supreme  Court  acquainted  with  these  things,  would  not  only 
be  utterly  useless,  but  highly  derogatory  to  that  distinguished  body. 
What  have  they  to  do  with  questions  of  this  kind,  as  Judges  ?  Is 
not  the  smallest,  equally  with  the  largest,  the  poorest,  equally  with 
the  most  opulent  and  flourishing  State,  entitled  to  justice  before  the 
Supreme  Judicial  Court  of  the  nation  ? 

Still  the  advocates  of  the  Bill  demand  political  representation  in 
this  tribunal.  Although  they  have  not  committed  themselves  to  the 
restraint  of  definition,  yet,  if  their  representation  be  not  of  talent,  if 
it  be  not  of  statistics,  then,  Sir,  it  must  be  a  representation  of  the  po 
litical  parties  of  a  State.  It  must  comprehend  all  the  great  doctrine 
of  electioneering  ;  the  whole  learning  of  public  address,  either  from 
the  press  or  the  stump  ;  and  the  entire  array  of  interests,  sections, 
families,  patronage,  proper  to  be  brought  into  service,  to  push  a  man 
either  into  office,  or  out  of  it.  Can  any  individual  not  lost  to  reason, 


206  SPEECHES    OF 

desire  a  plan  for  carrying  this  kind  of  representation  into  the  Supreme 
Judicial  Court  of  our  country  ?  The  naked  possibility  that  such  an 
event  may  ever  happen,  fills  the  mind  with  horror.  Well  might  the 
honorable  gentleman  from  North  Carolina  exclaim,  in  the  fullness  of 
patriotic  indignation,  "  that  it  would,  indeed,  be  abominable."  From 
whatever  point  of  view,  therefore,  Sir,  you  look  at  this  political  re 
presentation,  in  our  august  tribunal  of  national  justice,  you  see  it  at 
war  with  the  Constitution,  and  abhorrent  to  the  principles  of  reason, 
and  the  feelings  of  patriotism. 

The  third  great  reason,  Sir,  offered  in  support  of  the  provisions  of 
this  Bill,  is,  that  they  will  equalize  a  knowledge  of  State  laws.  This 
argument  is  unsound.  Because,  1st — No  sucfrhiequality  exits  ;  and 
2d — If  it  did,  the  method  here  proposed  would  not  afford  a  remedy 
for  it.  Consider,  if  you  please,  Sir,  what,  by  his  oath,  a  Judge  of 
the  Supreme  Court  is  fairly  presumed  to  know  ;  the  extent  and  va 
riety  of  his  law  learning ;  and  the  questions  which  may  come  before 
him  either  by  original  jurisdiction,  or  appeal.  1st — All  causes  of 
ambassadors,  other  public  ministers,  and  consuls.  Here  may  be, 
and  is,  required,  extensive  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  nations.  2d — 
All  cases  in  law  and  equity.  The  requirements  of  these,  will  spread 
before  him  all  the  principles  of  the  common,  and  all  the  principles  of 
the  civil  law.  These  two  great  codes  dividing  the  empire  of  almost 
the  whole  civilized  world,  not  by  perpetual  war,  like  the  German 
and  Roman,  who  originated  them,  but  with  a  peaceable,  common, 
and,  in  many  countries,  a  concurrent  dominion — remain  to  nations 
as  a  kind  of  imperishable  memorial  of  the  conquests  of  mind,  when 
those  of  arms  have  long  since  ceased  to  have  a  place  on  the  earth. 
They  remain  to  these  United  States,  and  to  each  of  them.  They 
were  brought  to  this  country  by  our  ancestors  ;  who  shared  them 
with  their  countrymen,  as  an  unalienable  portion  of  their  political 
heritage.  They  are  the  great  elements  of  all  the  laws  of  all  the 
States.  Wherever  a  drop  of  Saxon  blood  circulates  in  American 
veins,  there,  the  people's  law,  the  common  law,  is  the  citizen's 
birthright.  There  too,  the  civil  law,  the  controlling  and  ameliora 
ting  principles  of  equity  and  good  conscience,  are  found  and  enjoyed. 
These  mark  out,  and  designate,  all  the  rights  of  persons,  and  rights 
of  things,  to  be  cherished  and  protected  ;  and  all  the  wrongs  of  per 
sons,  and  wrongs  of  things,  to  be  eschewed  and  punished ;  and, 
moreover,  cover  them  all  with  a  great  and  healing  system  of  protec- 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  207 

tion  and  remedy.     No  man  can  be  elevated  to  the  Supreme  Judicial 
tribunal  of  our  country,  without  comprehensive,  minute,  and  exten 
sive  knowledge  of  these  laws.     3d — These  cases  are  to  arise  tinder 
the  Constitution.     This  Judge  must,  then,  make  himself  acquainted 
with  every  various  construction  of  that  instrument ;  and  be,  in  all 
respects,  a  great  constitutional  lawyer.     4th — Or  they  are  to  arise 
under  the  laws  of  the  United  States  ;  for  adjudicating  such  causes, 
therefore,  he  must  be  equally  and  profoundly  read  in  the  laws  and 
Constitution  of  our  country.     5th — All  cases  of  admiralty  and  mar 
itime  jurisdiction  come  before  him.     The  principles  governing  these 
cases,  comprehend  the  laws  of  ships,  freight,  wages,  insurance,  prize, 
ransom,  salvage  ;  and  all  the  laws  of  the  sea,  now  extant,  originating 
since  the  Phoenician  mariner  first  spread  his  purple  pennon  to  the 
light  breeze  of  the  Levant ;  or,  more  adventurous,  drove  with  oar 
and  sail,  his  foaming  prow  out  between  the  pillars  of  Hercules.    6th 
— The  Constitution,  laws,  and  treaties,  of  the  United  States,  are  the 
supreme  law  of  the  land,  notwithstanding  the  Constitution  and  laws 
of  any  or  all  the  several  States,  may  conflict  with  them.     Such  a 
Judge  must,  therefore,  have  studied  the  laws  of  every  State,  so  far 
as  they  are  to  be  compared  with  the  laws,  or  treaties,  or  Constitu 
tion  of  the   United  States.     7th — Cases  where  a  State  is  a  party, 
come  before  the  Supreme  Court  originally ;  but  States  may  be  made 
parties  where  citizens  of  the  same  State  litigate  land  titles  derived 
from  different  States ;  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  is,  therefore, 
bound  to  know  all  the  land  laws  of  such  cases,  as  well  in  these 
Western  States,  as  all  others  in  the  Union.     8th — Questions  between 
States  are  of  original  jurisdiction  in  the  Supreme  Court.     A  Judge 
of  that  Court  must,  therefore,  know  all  that  relates  to  original  char 
ter,  or  boundary  law  of  each  State ;  as  well  as  all  confirming  or 
conflicting  State  law,  or  adjudication,  on  all  such  questions  as  may 
come  before  him,  on  trial  between  such  high  contending  parties. 
How,  Sir,  shall  he  make  himself  master  of  all  these  various,  and 
almost  innumerable  laws  ?     Why,  Sir,  truly,  not  so  much  from  the 
practise  of  courts,  or  conversation  with  men,  as  from  books  ;  from 
his  twenty  years  conversation  with  those  great,  and  though  silent, 
yet  communicative  masters  of  the  treasured  erudition  of  past  ages. 
Can  he  not,  then,  Sir,  learn  what  it  may  further  befit  him  to  know 
of  any  other  laws,  in  the  same  manner,  and  by  the  same  diligence  ? 
Can  he  not  learn  this,  also,  from  books  ?     What  is  it  ?     Why,  Sir, 


208  SPEECHES    OF 

the  statute  alteration  of  the  Common  Law  in  each  State,  and  their 
Court  adjudications  upon  such  statutes.  These  are  all  contained  in 
their  books,  or  in  the  records  of  such  decisions.  These  nine  States 
have  no  lex  non  scripta ;  no  local  Common  Law  :  for  the  oldest  of 
them  is  not  forty,  and  the  youngest  not  five  years  of  age  ;  and  no 
usage  can  have  grown  up  among  them  into  the  strength  and  vigor 
of  Common  Law,  in  any  time  less  than  that,  "  whereof  the  memory 
of  man  runneth  not  to  the  contrary." 

Can  a  Judge,  Sir,  not  learn  these  by  reading  and  study  ?  Can  he 
thus  make  himself  master  of  all  the  almost  infinite  variety  and  extent 
of  all  other  laws?  and  must  he  depend  for  a  knowledge  of  these  few 
items  of  State  law,  on  the  testimony  of  local  Judges  ?  Tell  it  not, 
Sir,  in  hearing  of  those  nations  who,  by  their  ambassadors,  are  near 
our  Government  in  this  City  of  Washington.  Tell  it  not,  in  hearing 
of  that  gifted  citizen,  who  first,  in  honorable  field,  lifted  targe  and 
lance  against  the  learned  chivalry  of  Europe,  and  in  defence  of  the 
talent  and  science  of  our  own  country.  Leave  us  not  Sir,  leave  us 
not  to  the  literary  tomahawk  and  scalping-knife  of  the  Giffords  and 
Buffons  of  the  old  world. 

Judges,  we  are  told,  Sir,  are  to  learn  by  travel.  Whither,  how, 
and  addressing  themselves  to  whom  ?  Not  to  visit  law  schools,  or 
colleges  of  civilians  ;  not  as  the  Solons  or  Platos  of  antiquity  trav 
elled  to  consult  the  Initiati  of  Sais,  the  Sanhedrim  of  Palestine,  or  the 
disciples  of  the  Persian  Zoroaster.  They  must,  however,  have  the 
benefit  of  travel ;  and  if  so,  in  the  common  method  in  coaches,  wag 
ons,  solos,  gigs,  carryalls  ;  in  steam-boats,  packet-boats,  and  ferry 
boats  ;  receiving  the  full  benefit  in  eating-houses,  taverns,  boarding- 
houses,  and  bar-rooms,  of  the  conversation  of  learned  tapsters, 
stewards,  and  stage-coach  drivers.  No  man,  I  must  own,  who 
travels  in  the  ordinary  method — and  Judges  can  hardly  afford  to 
travel  in  different  style — will  lose  any  portion  of  these  several  sorts 
of  accommodation  and  instruction.  Judges  will,  in  serious  truth  it  is 
said,  by  travel,  mingle  with  the  People,  and  often  come  in  contact 
with  them.  Will  they  mingle  with  the  poor,  the  ordinary  ?  With 
mechanical  men  ;  with  middling  interest  men  ;  with  the  great  com 
munity  of  toil,  and  sinew,  and  production  ?  No,  Sir,  they  can  do  no 
such  thing.  Let  them  have  the  humility  of  Lazarus,  and  the  versa 
tile  affability  of  Alcibiades,  and  they  can  do  no  such  thing.  There 
is  to  such  men,  as  it  was  once  said  of  a  learned  Judge — than  whom 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  209 


no  man  ever  bore  his  honors  more  meekly — there  is,  I  say,  to  the 
feelings  of  such  men,  around  a  Judge,  a  kind  of  repulsive  atmo 
sphere.  They  stand  aloof,  and  give  him  large  room.  They  bow, 
not,  indeed,  with  servility,  but  with  profound  respect ;  and  look 
towards  him  with  a  kind  of  hallowed  reverence,  as  one  set  apart, 
and  consecrated  to  the  service,  and  surrounded  by  the  ritual  of 
justice.  With  all  these  men,  the  Judge  can  hold  no  tangible  com 
munion.  The  assurance  of  wealth,  the  confidence  of  rank,  office, 
power,  will  press  through  this  medium,  and  come  hand  to  hand  with 
him.  Do  the  gentlemen,  Sir,  mean  to  say,  that  for  such  purposes, 
Judges  should  mingle  with  the  People  ? 

Sir,  Judges  of  the  Circuits,  as  we  are  told,  are  to  communicate  to 
the  Supreme  Court  their  various  local  knowledge.  How  ?  Yes, 
Sir,  how  ?  By  books  or  by  parol  ?  The  facts,  in  the  appealed 
causes,  are  placed  on  the  record  ;  the  law  on  which  they  have  been 
decided  is,  like  the  ballad  of  the  ancient  bard,  committed  to  memory  ; 
and  is  to  be  said  or  sung,  in  open  court.  In  this  manner,  each  of 
the  ten  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  is  to  learn  all  his  knowledge  of 
the  leges  loci,  governing  appealed  causes.  He  may  possibly  know, 
and  indeed  by  the  reasonings  on  this  Bill,  he  is  supposed  to  know 
one-tenth  part  of  his  legal  alphabet  of  twenty-four  States  ;  that  is  to 
say,  two  letters  and  four-tenth  parts  of  a  letter.  This  may  compre 
hend  all  the  great  doctrine  of  locatives  and  entries,  as  the  same  was 
learnedly  expounded  to  us,  early  in  this  debate.  The  Court,  Sir, 
who  try  the  appealed  cause,  must,  according  to  the  arguments  of  the 
friends  of  the  Bill,  learn  the  facts,  the  law,  and  the  decision,  from 
the  Judge  who  tried  the  cause  in  the  Court  below  ;  and  who,  in  sus 
taining  his  own  decision,  is  interested  by  the  pride  of  opinion,  the 
pride  of  character,  and  the  avarice  of  fame  ;  and  who,  if  he  do  not 
produce  the  books  from  which  he  drew  his  law,  ought  to  place  over 
his  oral  tradition  of  it,  the  Scotch  bard's  apology — 
"  I  cannot  say  how  the  truth  may  be  ; 
I  tell  you  the  tale  as  't  was  told  to  me." 

Will  this  mode  of  procedure,  Sir,  secure  to  appellants  the  benefit 
of  a  second  trial  ?  Of  the  facts,  there  can  be,  there  needs  no  second 
trial ;  they  are  ascertained  and  placed  on  the  record.  They  are  to 
measure  the  facts  by  the  law,  and  observe  if  that  measure  result  in 
the  former  decision.  Who  places  this  measure  in  their  hand  ?  The 
Judge  who  measured  the  article  and  placed  the  amount  on  the  re- 


210  SPEECHES    OF 

cord.  If  the  Judge  honestly  give  the  law,  as  he  understood,  and  still 
-understands  it  to  be,  the  Supreme  Court  must  understand  it  as  he 
understood  it,  and  the  cause  must  be  decided  as  he  decided  it.  You 
weigh  the  same  article  at  the  same  scale  beam,  with  the  same  weights. 
Its  weight  must  be  the  same.  The  beam  may  be  out  of  balance  ; 
the  weights  too  light  or  too  heavy.  These  men,  "  measuring  them 
selves,  are  not  wise."  If  you  measure  the  same  thing  by  the 
same  thing  ten  thousand  times,  you  cannot  detect  a  single  error. 
Would  you,  Sir,  avoid  this  repetition  of  error  ?  Give  your  Su 
preme  Court  a  check  on  the  Circuit  Judge.  What  shall  it  be  ? 
A  knowledge  of  the  laws.  If,  therefore,  Sir,  your  Supreme 
Judges  are  qualified  for  Supreme  Judges,  and  all  the  nation  know 
that  they  are,  there  exists  no  inequality  in  their  knowledge  of  local 
law  ;  but  if  that  inequality  do  exist,  the  provisions  of  this  Bill  cannot 
remove  it. 

Sir,  this  Bill  proposes  to  add  three  Judges  to  the  Supreme  Judicial 
Court,  and  to  make  the  number  ten.  This,  if  a  remedy  for  the 
evils  at  the  West,  is  none  for  those  at  the  very  vitals  of  the  Judic 
iary — the  accumulated  mass  of  causes  which  have  laid  in  the 
Supreme  Court  till,  like  an  ossification  in  the  heart  of  the  animal 
body,  they  paralyze  pulsation,  and  obstruct  the  wholesome  circula 
tion  of  justice,  to  the  very  extremities  of  the  body  politic.  The  Bill 
proposes  for  this  evil  no  other  remedy  than  three  additional  Judges. 
Can  ten  men  do  more  judicial  labor  than  seven  can  perform  ?  Moral, 
like  mechanic  or  mathematical  truth,  is  discovered  by  induction — 
a  kind  of  process  at  which  but  one  mind  can  labor.  We  do  not 
learn  that  either  Archimedes,  or  Euclid,  or  Sir  William  Jones,  was 
joined  with  any  co-thinker  adminicular  to  either  of  them,  in  his  sub 
lime  speculations  or  discoveries.  In  money  there  may  be  copart 
nership  ;  there  can  be  none  in  mind.  Here  each  one  unless  a  pla 
giarist,  must  trade  on  his  own  capital.  Make  your  Judges,  Sir,  if 
you  please,  seventy-two,  and,  like  Ptolemy,  you  will  call  on  each 
one  for  a  complete  version. 

These  gentlemen  will  tell  us  that,  although  this  Bill  gives  no 
relief  to  the  Supreme  Court,  yet  there  is  on  the  stick  a  little  bill, 
No.  1 5,  giving  a  perfect  remedy.  Yes,  Sir,  sheets  of  legislation  for 
the  Western  States  ;  ten  lines  only  for  the  whole  nation.  It  adds  a 
month  to  the  term  of  the  Supreme  Court ;  a  month,  did  I  say  ?  No, 
not  so  much  ;  "  not  a  little  month  ;"  three  weeks,  eighteen  working 


TRISTAM    B  URGES.  211 

days.  One  long  maritime  cause  from  the  East,  or  one  broad  land 
cause  from  the  West,  will  consume  two  days  ;  and  thus,  the  next 
year,  nine  more  causes  will  be  tried  than  will  have  been  this  year ; 
arid  so  the  number,  standing  over  on  the  docket,  will  truly  be  one 
hundred  and  seventy-one  and  not  one  hundred  and  eighty. 

This  Bill  proposes  to  increase  the  Supreme  Court,  originally  six 
but  now  seven,  by  adding  three  new  Judges,  and  making  the  whole 
number  ten.  Can  this,  Sir,  be  constitutionally  done  ?  All  supreme 
judicial  power  is  now  lodged  in  the  Supreme  Court.  What  judicial 
power  have  you,  then,  Sir,  to  confer  on  your  three  new  Judges? 
Circuit  Court  power  you  certainly  have,  for  all  inferior  Courts  are 
within  your  control ;  but  all  the  supreme  judicial  power  is  already 
vested,  and  no  part  of  it  can  be  taken  away.  The  Supreme  Court 
is  a  whole,  in  all  its  parts,  its  properties,  its  extension,  its  relations. 
Have  you  the  power  to  alter  it  ?  How,  then,  can  you  add  to  it  ? 
Or  is  it  that  wonderful  entity  which  addition  to  it  does  not  increase, 
or  which,  multiplied  any  number  of  times  by  itself,  would  continue 
to  be  the  same  ?  We  shall  all  acknowledge,  Sir,  that  Congress 
cannot  require,  by  law,  the  President  to  select  a  Judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court  from  any  particular  District  or  part  of  the  United 
States ;  but  Congress  can  create  a  Court  inferior  to  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  among  the  legal  qualifications  of  the  Judge,  insert  an 
inhabitancy  or  residence  within  his  territorial  jurisdiction.  This 
may  be  the  Circuit  Court.  If,  Sir,  you  then  annex  the  office  of  such 
a  Circuit  Judge  to  that  of  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  you  require, 
by  law,  the  President  to  select  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  from 
a  limited  and  designated  District  of  the  United  States ;  that  is  to  say, 
from  the  territorial  jurisdiction  of  such  Circuit  Judge.  The  consti 
tutional  power  of  the  Supreme  Court  is  vested  in  the  majority  of 
that  Court ;  whatever  shall  change  this  relative  proportion  to  the 
whole  number  of  the  number  creating  that  majority,  must  change 
the  vested  power  of  that  Court,  and  must,  for  that  reason,  be  uncon 
stitutional  ;  but  four,  the  majority  of  six,  is  two-thirds  of  that  Court ; 
whereas  six,  the  majority  of  ten,  is  less  than  two-thirds  of  that 
Court.  Making  the  number  of  Judges  ten,  is,  therefore,  altering  the 
power  of  the  Court,  vested  in  two-thirds  thereof,  and  giving  it  to  a 
lesser  proportionate  number. 

It  may,  Sir,  be  set  down  as  a  political  axiom,  that,  when  you  shall 
have  added  so  many  Judges  to  the  original  number  of  the  Supreme 


212  SPEECHES    OF 

Court,  as  will  make  a  majority  or  constitutional  quorum  of  that 
Court,  the  judicial  article  of  the  Constitution  will  have  been  expunged. 
Add  your  three  new  Judges,  it  makes  ten.  This  is  four  more  than 
the  original  number  ;  six  is  a  constitutional  quorum  of  ten  ;  but  four 
is  a  majority  of  that  quorum,  and  may  reverse  all  the  decisions  of 
the  original  Court. 

All  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court,  on  the  Constitution,  on  trea 
ties,  and  on  laws,  not  enacted  by  Congress,  are  beyond  the  control 
of  the  National  Legislature  ;  but  if  we  can  send  into  the  Supreme 
Court  an  overruling  majority,  whenever  the  united  ambition  of  Con 
gress  and  the  Executive  may  choose  to  do  it,  we  place  the  Constitu 
tion,  and  all  treaties,  and  all  Constitutions  and  laws  of  all  the  States, 
in  the  power  of  two  branches  of  the  Government,  and  thus  erect 
ourselves  into  a  complete  tyranny  ;  and  that,  too,  as  the  advocates 
of  the  Bill  must  contend,  upon  perfectly  constitutional  principles. 
Does  the  Constitution,  Sir,  thus  place  the  Judiciary  at  the  good  will 
and  pleasure  of  the  other  two  branches  of  the  Government  ?  No, 
Sir  ;  the  Patriots  who  built,  and  the  People  who  consecrated  that 
glorious  fabric,  did  not  intend  to  devote  their  temple  to  the  polluted 
oblations  of  Legislative  ambition,  or  the  unhallowed  rites  of  Execu 
tive  subserviency. 

The  wisdom  of  legislation,  Sir,  should  look  to  the  durability  of  her 
works.  How  long,  Sir,  will  the  Judiciary,  as  amended  by  the  pro 
visions  of  the  Bill,  continue  to  subserve  and  satisfy  the  wants  of  the 
country  ?  Some  of  its  advocates  say  twenty,  some  fifty,  and  some 
one  hundred  years.  Yes,  Sir,  those  gentlemen,  who  have,  with  all 
the  force  of  facts,  and  all  the  resistless  conclusions  of  reason,  pressed 
on  this  House  the  unparalleled  growth  of  Western  wealth  and 
Western  population,  do  say  that  new  States  will  not,  in  less  than  one 
hundred  years,  have  been  added  to  this  Union  in  such  a  number  as 
to  require  even  one  additional  Judicial  Circuit.  Have  they  duly 
considered  the  various  expansive  principles  of  production  and  popu 
lation  in  this  country  ?  A  prescient  policy  should  look  to  the  future 
under  the  lights  of  the  past.  In  twice  that  period,  a  few  scattered 
families  have  augmented  to  more  than  ten  millions  of  people,  cover 
ing  eight  hundred  and  forty-seven  thousand  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
square  miles  of  territory,  arranged  into  twenty-four  United  States, 
and  requiring  ten  Judicial  Circuits.  Through  this  whole  course, 
the  people  and  the  country  seem  to  have  multiplied  and  extended  in 


TRISTAM    SURGES.  2lB 

nearly  a  geometrical  ratio.  Ten  millions  of  people  not  quite  five 
years  ago  ;  five  millions  of  couples  for  heads  of  families  ;  and,  at 
this  moment,  not  less  than  two  millions  five  hundred  thousand  of  the 
whole  number  placed  in  that  relation.  Ordinary  calculation  may, 
under  ordinary  prosperity,  expect  to  find  in  each  family  eight  chil 
dren.  This  will,  in  less  than  twenty  years,  give  to  our  population 
twenty  additional  millions  of  people.  Will  not  new  States  arise  ? 
Already,  Sir,  you  have  three  new  territories.  Florida  is  spreading 
her  population  down  to  the  very  margin  of  her  waters,  and  enrich 
ing  her  cultivation  from  "  the  cane-bearing  isles  of  the  West." 
Arkansas  is  looking  up  the  channel  of  her  long  rivers,  towards  the 
mountains  of  Mexico,  and  will  soon  become  rich,  populous  and  highly 
cultivated.  The  tide  of  migration  is  setting  up  the  grand  canal 
towards  Michigan,  and  that  [peninsula  will,  in  a  short  period,  be 
located  and  peopled,  from  ^lake  to  lake.  These  three,  Sir,  in  less 
than  five  years,  with  due  courtesy,  and  fair  cause  for  admission,  will 
knock  at  your  door,  and  propose  to  sit  down  in  the  family  circle  of 
political  Union.  This  is  not  all,  Sir.  Population  is  travelling  up 
the  latitude,  across  your  North- Western  territory,  towards  the  great 
Caspian  of  our  continent :  and  when  they  shall  have  heard  of  your 
ships  on  the  waters  of  the  Oregon,  and  of  your  colonies  along  the 
rich  valley  of  that  river — as,  from  the  able  report  of  the  gentleman 
from  Massachusetts,  whose  mind  is  capacious  of  such  things,  we  may 
predict,  they  will  very  soon  hear — these  people  will  then,  Sir,  with 
the  rapidity  of  a  deep  sea-lead,  thrown  from  the  chains  of  a  seventy- 
four,  plunge  down  the  longitude  to  meet  and  to  mingle  with  their 
countrymen  on  the  waters  of  the  Pacific. 

Twenty  years,  Sir !  Are  we  told  the  system  of  the  Bill  will  ac 
commodate  and  satisfy  the  Judicial  wants  of  this  country  for  twenty 
years  ?  In  twenty  years  you  will  have  ten  new  States,  and  thirty 
millions  of  people  !  Why,  Sir,  in  such  a  country — such  a  sun-bright 
region  of  hill  and  vale,  mountain  and  moor,  river,  plain,  lake,  and 
all  of  boundless  fertility — where  population  is  busy  on  land  and  on 
ocean  ;  where,  from  the  plough,  the  loom,  and  the  soil,  are  contin 
ually  drawn  the  materials  of  food,  clothing,  habitation ;  where  the 
human  arteries  sv/ell  and  pulsate  with  teeming  existence  ;  where  the 
human  bosom  heaves  and  palpitates  with  the  fostering  current  of 
incipient  life — what  calculation  will  you  make?  What  calculation  can 
you  make,  approximating  in  any  reasonable  degree  towards  reality? 


214  SPEECHES    OF 

What  then,  Sir,  the  advocates  of  the  system  of  the  Bill  may  ask — 
what  shall  be  done  ?  The  opposers  of  it  are  prepared  for  the  inter- 
rogatory  :  Adopt  the  system  recommended  by  the  Resolution.  Re- 
store  the  Constitution.  Trace  out,  and  fill  up,  the  great  judiciary 
map  of  1789  :  revise,  and  correct,  and  establish  the  Constitutional 
lines  of  the  law  of  1801.  We  are  told,  Sir,  by  the  gentleman  from 
Illinois,  that  the  experience  of  a  single  year  overthrew  that  system. 
Was,  then,  the  system  of  1801  overthrown  by  experience  ?  As  well 
might  the  honorable  gentleman  tell  us  that  brick,  and  granite,  and 
marble,  are  improper  materials  for  houses,  and  palaces,  and  temples  ; 
because  experience  has  taught  us,  that,  at  some  times,  and  in  some 
places,  earthquakes  have  overthrown  and  demolished  such  buildings. 
"  It  was,"  says  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Massachusetts,  Chair, 
man  of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  "  repealed  in  one  year  in  toto."  Was 
it  because  that,  or  the  law  on  which  it  was  founded,  was  "  enacted  in 
the  hurried  session  of  the  summer  of  1789  ?"  Because  it  was  buil.t 
on  false  analogies,  or  contained  awkward  provisions  ?  That  session, 
Sir,  was,  begun  on  the  4th  of  March,  and  ended  on  the  24th  of  Sep 
tember.  In  this  session,  of  somewhat  more  than  six  months,  those 
illustrious  men  enacted  twenty -seven  laws,  and  passed  three  resolu 
tions.  Was  this  hurried  legislation  ?  Why,  Sir,  many  a  Congress, 
since  that  period,  putting  no  extraordinary  vigor  or  hasty  effort  to 
the  work,  have,  in  less  time,  sent  into  the  world  a  legislative  progeny 
of  from  two  to  three  hundred  laws,  great  and  little.  What  have  we 
now,  Sir,  valuable,  or  of  probable  durability,  and  which  was  not  pro 
duced  by  that  Congress,  at  that  session  ?  The  fiscal,  the  foreign, 
the  war,  the  naval,  and  the  judicial  department,  were  then,  and  by 
those  men,  founded,  erected,  and  finished.  These  great  national  edi 
fices  have  stood,  and  I  trus;  will  continue  to  stand :  for,  when  the 
vandalism  of  faction  shall  demolish  them,  we  shall  cease  to  be  a  na 
tion.  Later  times,  it  is  true,  have  added,  now  and  then,  a  piece  of 
tiling,  or  a  patch  of  paint ;  and  the  nation  has  put  itself  to  costs  upon 
the  interior  garniture  of  them,  the  drapery,  and  other  various  orna 
ment  and  accommodation  ;  but,  otherwise,  these  valuable  edifices  are 
as  old,  as  unaltered,  and  quite  as  venerable,  as  the  Constitution  itself. 
"  Awkward  provisions  and  false  analogies,"  do  we  call  any  part  of 
the  Judiciary  Act  of  that  session  ?  It  was,  Sir,  indicted  by  the 
Ellsworths  and  Hamiltons  of  those  times — men,  whose  political 
little  finger  was  larger  than  the  loins  of  politicians  in  these  degene- 


TRISTAM    B  URGES.  215 

rate  days.  Why,  Sir,  do  not  men  who  know,  tell  us  boldly  for  what 
causo  the  judiciary  law  of  1801  was  repealed  ?  Men  of  candor, 
and  I  trust,  Sir,  such  men  are  in  great  numbers  here,  will  all  agree, 
that  party  overthrew  that  system.  Why  disguise  it  ?  Those  un 
happy  days  are  past,  and  we  are  indeed  now  all  "  brothers  of  the 
same  principle."  What  was1  not  demolished  in  those  inconsiderate 
times  ?  The  National  Bank,  the  Army,  the  Navy,  Fortifications — 
almost  all  that  told  tHe  understanding,  or  the  eye,  that  we  are  one — 
tumbled  into  ruins,  in  the  shock  of  that  tremendous  political  earth 
quake.  Coming  years  brought  better  feelings  and  sounder  reason 
ings  ;  and  men  have  profited  of  their  experience,  and  re-edified  all 
that  was  most  valuable  :  The  Bank,  the  Army,  the  Navy,  the  sys 
tem  of  Fortifications  ;  and  we  are  again  a  nation.  Our  fortresses 
on  the  ocean  and  on  the  land,  look  out  from  many  a  hundred  iron 
eye,  ready  with  indignation  to  blaze  annoyance  and  destruction 
against  hostile  approach.  Why,  Sir,  do  you  not  follow  this  enlight 
ened  experience  in  your  Judiciary  ?  The  very  Turk  or  Tartar, 
though  he  demolish  the  palace  and  temple  of  classical  antimnty,  yet 
will  he  draw  from  the  ruins  materials  for  his  stable  and  his  Seraglio. 
He  who  does  not  profit  by  that  of  others,  stands  in  the  next  rank  •  of 
fatuity  to  him  who  is  a  fool  in  spite  of  his  own  experience. 

Let  us  not  be  told,  Sir,  that  the  system  of  the  Resolution  will  aug 
ment  the  judiciary  expenses.  What  will  be  expended  in  one  way, 
will  be  saved  in  another.  A  saving  to  the  citizen  is  a  saving  to  the 
nation.  These  Courts  will  perform,  and  finish  the  judiciary  labor  in 
every  District,  Circuit,  and  Department.  It  will  bring  justice  home, 
"  and  that  right  early,"  to  those  who  are  now  compelled  to  travel  for 
it ;  to  wait  for  it ;  and  to  lavish  their  subsistence  on  the  means  of 
acquiring  it.  It  may  diminish  a  productive  employment  for  us  who 
come  here  to  legislate  for  our  constituents  ;  and  to  litigate  for  our 
clients  :  but  I  trust  we  are  sufficiently  patriotic  not  to  feel  any 
attachment  to  a  system,  because  it  may  augment  our  emoluments, 
when  we  know  it  must  diminish  the  productive  capital  of  our  country. 
Sir,  the  People  now  expend  less  on  the  judiciary  than  on  foreign  re 
lations.  You  give  more,  by  some  scores  of  thousands  of  dollars,  for 
courtesy  to  other  nations,  than  you  pay  for  justice  to  your  own  citi 
zens.  It  would  be  dishonorable  to  the  Republic  to  be  wanting  to  its 
dignity  abroad  ;  but  can  it  be  honest  to  be  wanting  in  justice  to  its 
own  citizens  at  home. 


216 


SPEECHES    OF 


The  system  of  the  Bill,  Sir,  cannot,  it  is  agreed  that  it  cannot 
endure  :  for  Circuits  will  become  too  numerous  to  add  a  new  Judge 
to  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  for  each  Circuit.  We  are  told  in 
reply,  that  we  should  not  legislate  for  posterity  :  "let  posterity 
take  care  of  itself."  In  what  country,  in  what  House,  are  we,  Sir, 
told  this  ?  Did  the  Pilgrims,  the  Bradfords,  the  Williamses,  the 
Penns,  the  Smiths,  migrate  to  this  country  for  themselves,  and  not 
for  posterity  ?  Look  out  upon  our  American  world  :  not  a  govern 
ment  was  instituted  ;  not  a  forest  felled  ;  not  a  city  founded  ;  not  a 
house  built ;  not  a  tree  planted  ;  and  not  for  posterity.  Where, 
and  what  should  we  have  been,  but  for  those  who  cared  for  poster 
ity  ?  This  House,  Sir,  the  great  model  of  art  and  taste  ;  the  pride 
and  ornament  of  our  country,  and  of  the  republican  world  ;  the 
magnificent  forum  of  legislation  ;  the  hallowed  temple  of  justice — 
this  House,  Sir,  was  it  built  for  us,  and  for  the  present  generation 
only  ?  No,  Sir,  it  was  founded  by  that  man  whose  name  spreads 
the  light  of  glory  over  our  nation,  and  whose  whole  life  was  but  one 
act  for  his  country — for  the  world,  and  for  posterity.  "  Let  pos 
terity  take  care  of  itself!"  To  a  gentleman  who  could  feel  and 
utter  such  a  sentiment,  I  would  address  the  words  of  the-  bereaved 
Macduff :  "  he  hath  no  children." 

The  system  of  the  Resolution  carries  in  itself  the  principle  of  du 
rability.  When  new  States  shall  be  added  to  this  Union,  and  form 
new  Districts,  their  Judges  will  distribute  justice,  until  enough  for  a 
new  Circuit  shall  have  been  formed,  and  then  this  Circuit  shall  re 
ceive  a  new  Judge.  This  may  be  repeated  as  often  as  a  new  Cir 
cuit  may  be  formed  ;  until  Circuit  after  Circuit  shall  be  extended 
to  the  utmost  limits  of  our  national  domain.  The  Supreme  Court 
will  sit  a  supervising  tribunal — regulating  and  correcting  every 
inferior  jurisdiction.  When  the  multiplied  calls  for  justice  shall  re 
quire,  then  it  may  be  separated,  like  the  highest  English  Courts, 
into  a  fiscal,  a  criminal,  and  a  civil  tribunal.  Two  Judges  in  each 
department,  as  they  must  of  necessity  be  unanimous,  will,  almost  of 
necessity,  secure  correct  decisions. 

Thus,  Sir,  you  may  legislate,  not  for  twenty  years  only,  but,  by 
Divine  aid,  for  twenty  centuries.  Your  judicial  edifice  will  be  ex 
tended,  with  your  extending  country  ;  and  will  subserve  the  wants, 
and  satisfy  the  requirements  of  these  increasing  States,  and  the 
multiplying  millions  of  this  great  nation  ;  until  the  American  Eagle 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  217 

shall,  with  one  wing,  winnow  the  breezes  of  the  Atlantic,  and  with 
the  other,  hover  over  the  quiet  waters  of  the  Pacific  ;  until  the 
colossal  power  of  the  republic,  standing  on  the  lofty  mountains  of 
this  continent,  shall,  with  one  hand,  extend  the  olive  branch  to  the 
peaceful  nations  of  the  earth,  and  with  the  other,  wave  the  sword 
of  justice  over  the  satisfied  and  tranquil  citizens  of  these  widely 
extended  regions. 

I  have  thus,  Sir,  according  to  the  limited  measure  of  my  ability, 
made  an  effort  to  sustain  the  Resolution,  moved  by  the  honorable 
gentleman  from  Virginia  ;  and  I  should  be  in  some  sort  satisfied 
with  that  effort,  could  I  have  brought  to  his  aid  any  portion  of  that 
efficiency,  which,  on  a  great  and  former  occasion,  was  brought  to 
the  aid  of  an  illustrious  citizen  of  that  State,  by  a  son  of  Rhode- 
Island. 

D* 


SPEECH  ON  THE  REVOLUTIONARY 
ARMY  BILL. 

IN  explanation  and  support  of  the  Amendatory  Bills  for  relief  of 
the  Survivors  of  the  Revolutionary  Army,  Mr.  Burges  addressed 
the  Committee  of  the  Whole  House,  on  the  4th  of  January,  1827,  in 
the  following 

SPEECH. 

MR.  CHAIRMAN — Although  many  things  have  already  been  said 
concerning  the  subject  now  before  the  Committee  of  the  Whole 
House,  yet,  because,  since  that  time,  it  was  referred  to  the  Committee 
on  Military  Pensions,  and  now  comes  up  on  their  Report,  some 
explanation  of  that  Report  may,  at  this  time,  be  expected.  I  stand 
before  you,  Sir,  for  the  purpose  of  attempting  to  make  that  explana 
tion.  Every  thing  connected  with  the  Revolutionary  War  is  inter 
esting  to  the  People  of  this  country  ;  but  nothing  is  so  deeply  inter 
esting  as  the  venerable  survivors  of  that  Army  which  conducted 
that  war,  in  the  camp  and  in  the  field.  It  is  not  from  any  powers 
at  my  command,  of  placing  before  you  the  concernments  of  these 
men,  but  from  their  moral  qualities,  and  the  peculiar  relations  exist 
ing  between  them  and  our  country,  that  I  now  hope  for  your  candor, 
your  patience,  and  attention  ;  and,  notwithstanding  their  cause  may 
be  hopeless,  in  the  hands  of  such  an  advocate,  yet  must  it,  I  am 
persuaded,  be  perfectly  secure,  before  such  a  tribunal. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  this  subject  came  into  this  Congress  at 
its  first  session,  in  consequence  of  the  President's  Message,  and  of  a 
petition  from  the  survivors  of  those  officers  of  the  Revolutionary 
Army,  who  continued  in  service  until  the  close  of  the  War.  The 
petition  was  referred  to  a  Select  Committee,  and  so  much  of  the 
President's  message  as  related  to  this  subject,  to  the  Committee  on 
Military  Pensions.  In  the  course  of  debate  on  the  Bills  respectively 
reported  by  these  Committees,  a  recommitment,  with  instructions, 
was  moved — and  they  were  both,  with  instructions,  recommitted : 
the  result  of  that  recommitment  is  the  Report  of  the  Committee  on 


THIS  T  AM    B  URGES.  219 

Military  Pensions,  made  in  pursuance  of  those  instructions,  and 
stating  "  the  number  of  those  who  served  in  the  Revolutionary  War 
for  whom  provision  ought  to  be  made  by  law,  the  amount  necessary 
to  make  such  provision,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  should  be  made." 
This  Report  is  now  before  this  Committee,  and  a  complete  explana 
tion  renders  it  necessary  to  divide  those  for  whom,  according  to  this 
Report,  provision  ought  to  be  made  by  law,  into  two  classes.     The 
first  comprehends  all  the  survivors  of  those  officers  who  continued 
in  service  till  the  close  of  the  war,  supposed  to  be  four  hundred, 
together  with  the  surviving  widows  of  such  of  those  officers  as  have 
died  since  that  time,  supposed  to  be  three  hundred  and  forty-seven. 
The  amount  necessary  to  make  provision  for  this  class,  is,  in  this 
Report,  stated  at  one  million.     The  manner  in  which  this  provision 
ought  to  be  made,  is  therein  proposed   and  detailed,  giving  to  such 
officers  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars,  to  be  distributed  to  them 
according  to  their  rank  and  pay  while  in  service,  in  a  stock  bearing 
a  yearly  interest  of  five  per  cent,  payable  quarterly,  and  redeemable 
at  the  pleasure  of  the  nation.     The  amount  of  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  provided  for  the  widows  of  this  class,  is  applied  to  their 
relief,  by  paying  to  each  of  them  out  of  it,  one  hundred  dollars  a 
year,  in  quarterly  payments.     This  fund  is  to  be  annually  charged 
with  these  payments,  and  the  balance  annually  credited  with  inter 
est,  at  five  per  cent.     It  is  calculated  that  this   fund,  so  managed, 
will  make  provision  for  these  venerable  matrons  during  the  remain 
der  of  their  lives.     The  balance,  if  any  then  remain,  will  fall  to  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States. 

The  second  class  comprehends  all  the  survivors  of  those  who,  in 
the  Revolutionary  war,  were  engaged  in  the  land  or  naval  service 
of  the  United  States  during  the  continued  term  of  nine  months  or 
upwards,  being  regular  troops,  either  of,  or  not  of  the  line, 
and  not  being  pensioners  of  the  United  States,  or  of  any  one  of 
them.  It  also  comprehends  all  the  surviving  widows  of  such  as 
served  in  mariner  as  aforesaid,  and  who  were  also  not  on  any  roll  of 
pensioners. 

The  number  of  men  of  this  class,  for  whom  provision  ought  to  be 
made  by  Jaw,  is  stated  by  the  Report,  and  stated  on  the  authority 
of  facts  drawn  from  the  Department  of  War.  The  number  of  the 
Army  now  alive,  (not  including  the  officers  of  the  first  class,)  is  not 
more  than  eighteen  thousand  five  hundred  ;  of  these,  five  hundred 


SPEECHES    O  I 

are  regular  troops,  not  of  the  line,  and  served  from  one  to  three 
years.  On  the  Continental  establishment  are  fifteen  hundred  who 
served  nine  months  or  upwards  ;  two  thousand  who  served  one  year 
or  upwards ;  three  thousand  who  served  two  years  or  upwards  ; 
and  eleven  thousand  five  hundred  who  served  three  years  or  upwards. 
The  number  now  on  the  pension  list  is  twelve  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  eighty-five.  The  number,  therefore,  on  the  list  of  pensioners, 
who  served  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  of  this  class,  for  whom  pro 
vision  ought  to  be  made  by  law,  is  five  thousand  five  hundred  and 
fifteen.  It  is  stated  in  the  Report,  and  the  statement  is  made  from 
calculations,  that  the  number  of  widows  of  this  class  is  about  four 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  twenty-nine. 

The  amount  necessary  to  make  provision  for  this  class,  is,  in  the 
Report,  stated  at  two  millions  of  dollars.  The  manner  of  making 
this  provision,  is  similar  to  the  manner  of  making  that  for  those  of 
the  other  class.  It  consists  in  creating  one  million  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars  of  five  per  cent,  stocks,  and  distributing  them  ac 
cording  to  rank  and  duration  of  time  in  service,  to  this  last  remnant 
of  the  Revolutionary  army ;  and,  in  appropriating  eight  hundred 
thousand  dollars  to  the  creation  of  a  fund,  out  of  which  to  pay  annu 
ities  of  thirty  dollars  each  to  the  surviving  widows,  of  such  of  this 
class  of  the  army  as  have  now  passed  beyond  the  reach  of  national 
munificence. 

You  therefore  have,  Sir,  in  this  Report,  according  to  the  in 
structions,  the  probable  number  of  those  who  ought  to  be  provided 
for  by  law ;  the  amount  of  that  provision,  and  the  manner  of 
making  it. 

The  reasons  inducing  your  Committee  to  make  this  Report, 
involve  many  considerations.  This  Committee  had  in  view  the 
character  of  the  army  ;  the  nature  of  their  service  ;  their  compen 
sation. 

It  may,  by  some,  be  deemed  a  waste  of  time  to  speak  of  the 
character  of  an  army  which  fills  so  large  a  space  in  the  history  of 
the  last  century.  It  is  not  so  considered  by  those  who  wish  to 
place  the  whole  of  this  subject  under  one  view,  and  to  make  one 
more  attempt  to  redeem  their  country  from  any  imputation  of 
injustice  or  illiberality  towards  this  army.  Besides,  it  was  not 
forgotten  that  in  this  House  it  had  been  said,  the  resolutions  for 
enlarged  pay,  and  pensions  for  life,  were  extorted  from  Congress 


TRISTAM    13  URGES. 

by  a  spirit  of  mutiny  in  the  army,  and  made  merely  to  appease 
that  spirit,  and  save  the  country  from  its  consequences.  Although 
all  who  know  the  facts,  must  know  that  none  of  the  relations  of  veri 
similitude  exist  between  those  facts  and  these  assertions ;  yet,  be 
cause  what  we  are  doing  to-day  will  become  part  of  the  history  of 
that  army  and  of  our  country,  I  would  not  permit  that  history  to 
pass  into  the  hands  of  the  children  of  future  generations,  with  one 
page  where  such  assertions  found,  for  one  moment,  shelter  under 
silence,  or  stood  an  instant  unrefuted  by  the  recorded  truth.  The 
character  of  this  army,  Sir,  has  stood  unimpeached,  while  the 
greatest  men  on  earth  have  been  calumniated.  That  "  slander 
which  doth  belie  all  corners  of  the  world,"  had  not  belied  this  army. 
General  Washington,  in  his  letter  to  Congress,  dated  March  18th, 
1783,  gives  this  high  testimonial  to  their  glorious  character :  "  I 
am,"  says  this  illustrious  man,  "  pleading  the  cause  of  an  army 
which  has  done  and  suffered  more  than  ever  any  other  army  did, 
in  the  defence"  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  human  nature." 

Permit  me  to  adduce  one  other  testimonial.  When  independence 
was  achieved,  and  peace  ascertained  ;  and  when  the  friends  of 
freedom,  and  of  man,  were,  in  both  the  old  and  new  world,  anx 
iously  looking  on  the  American  Congress,  to  see  in  what  manner 
they  would  close  the  great. action  of  war,  which,  for  eight  years, 
had  brought  upon  the  stage  the  most  illustrious  characters  on  earth, 
that  Congress  did,  on  the  18th  day  of  October,  1783,  by  their  reso 
lution  of  that  date,  proclaim  a  thanksgiving  to  Almighty  God  for 
the  gracious  and  abundant  manifestations  of  his  Divine  Providence, 
in  favor  of  our  country,  and  on  the  same  day,  that  Congress  did  also 
make  one  other  Proclamation  ;  a  small  part  of  which  I  beg  permis 
sion  to  read  : 

"By  the   United  States  in  Congress  assembled. 
«  PROCLAMATION. 

"  Whereas,  in  the  progress  of  an  arduous  and  difficult  war,  the 
armies  of  the  United  States  of  America  have  eminently  displayed 
every  military  and  patriotic  virtue,  and  are  not  less  to  be  applaud 
ed  for  their  fortitude  and  magnanimity  in  the  most  trying  scenes  of 
distress,  than  for  a  series  of  heroic  and  illustrious  achievements, 
which  exalt  them  to  a  high  rank  among  the  most  zealous  and  suc 
cessful  defenders  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  mankind  :  And  where- 


222  SPEECHES    OF 

as,  by  the  blessing  of  Divine  Providence  on  our  cause  and  our  arms 
the  glorious  period  is  arrived  when  our  national  independence  and 
sovereignty  are  established,  and  we  enjoy  the  prospect  of  a  perma 
nent  •  and  honorable  peace :  We,  therefore,  the  United  States  in 
Congress  assembled,  thus  impressed  with  a  lively  sense  of  the  dis 
tinguished  merit  and  good  conduct  of  the  said  armies,  do  give  them 
the  thanks  of  their  country,  for  their  long,  eminent,  and  faithful 
services." 

Your  Committee  were,  therefore,  fully  satisfied,  that  this  Congress 
ought  to  entertain,  and  do,  and  will  entertain,  the  same  opinion  of 
the  exalted  character  of  that  army,  which  was  entertained  by  the 
Continental  Congress  of  1783. 

The  nature  of  their  services  was  considered.  This  was  in  a 
contest,  where  success  alone  could,  in  the  annals  of  the  nation,  give 
it  the  name  of  honorable  warfare.  Defeat  would  have  marked  this 
glorious  controversy  of  arms  with  the  name  of  rebellion.  The 
benefits  of  success,  we  know,  have  been  equally  shared  by  the 
whole  People  ;  but  the  evils  of  defeat  would  have  fallen,  with  dis 
criminating  severity,  on  this  army.  Some  few  others,  doubtless, 
would  have  been  made  to  drink  with  them  the  overflowing  wrath 
of  incensed  majesty.  He  who  advised  and  supported,  and  he  who 
dictated,  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  would,  in  this  imperial 
sacrifice,  have  been  mingled  with  those  who  marched  out  into  the 
field  in  defence  of  it. 

With  a  few  such  exceptions,  peaceable  people  would,  though 
pillaged  by  confiscation,  have  been  left  alive  ;  but  those  taken  in 
arms,  from  the  boy  who  blew  a  fife,  to  him  "  who  was  first  in  war," 
would  have  been  led  out  to  slaughter.  It  has  been  said,  that  our 
merciful  enemy  would  have  only  decimated  the  soldiers  ;  and  been 
satisfied  with  dealing  death  to  every  tenth  man.  The  officers  could 
look  for  no  such  mercy  ;  they  had  nothing  but  death  to  expect. 
Indeed,  that  rebellion,  which  then  blazed  over  all  the  colonies,  must 
have  been  extinguished ;  and  it  would  have  been  extinguished  in 
the  blood  of  this  army.  These  perils  were  peculiar  to  this  service  ; 
and  distinguished  it  from  that  of  all  other  armies.  The  nature  of 
this  service  had  other  peculiarities.  No  soldier,  when  he  entered 
the  army,  feared  that  he  would  ever,  in  camp,  want  food  ;  but  we 
find,  so  great  was  the  pressure  of  real  famine,  that  Congress  were 
compelled  to  place  large  districts  of  country  under  military  exac. 


TRISTAM    BURGES. 

tion.  The  army  were  often  without  bread  ;  often  without  meat ; 
sometimes  without  either.  In  what  other  service  have  officers  been 
compelled  to  keep  their  quarters,  by  mere  want  of  clothes  to  appear 
with  decency,  on  parade  ?  This  fact,  the  Commander-in-Chief 
announced  to  Congress,  August  20,  1780. 

Other  armies,  we  know,  have  made  winter  campaigns  ;  but  did 
they,  like  this,  perform  their  marches,  when,  on  the  frost,  or  ice,  or 
snow  they  left  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  bare  foot,  marked  in 
blood? 

It  is,  therefore,  considered  that  the  actual  sufferings,  privations, 
and  perils  of  this  service,  did  mark  it  with  a  peculiar  character  ;  and 
have,  and  will,  hereafter,  in  all  history,  eminently  entitle  those  who 
sustained  it,  to  the  distinguishing  name  of  "  A  Patriot  Army." 

The  compensation  made  to  this  Army,  for  these  services,  requires 
more  particular  consideration. 

It  will  be  recollected,  that,  at  the  commencement  of  the  war,  the 
gold  and  silver  medium  of  circulation  was,  in  quantity,  unequal  to 
the  trade  of  the  colonies.  Several  of  them  had  then,  already, 
attempted  to  relieve  the  scarcity  of  currency,  by  emissions  of  paper 
money.  This  soon  depreciated  in  value  ;  because  the  holders  of  it 
could  not,  at  their  pleasure,  exchange  it  for  gold  and  silver.  This 
depreciation  brought  back  the  scarcity  ;  and  new  emissions  only 
renewed  the  evil.  The  trade  of  the  country  was,  as  it  related  to 
Great  Britain,  colonial ;  and,  being  confined  to  the  mother  country, 
brought  back  to  the  colonies  very  little  of  the  precious  metals. 
When  an  Army  of  thirty  thousand  men  was  raised,  and  to  be 
clothed,  armed,  fed,  and  paid,  these  things,  together  with  all  other 
auxiliary  articles  of  expenditure,  called  at  once  for  an  additional 
circulating  medium.  In  a  country  without  mines,  comparatively 
without  commerce,  without  banks,  or  the  means  of  sustaining  such 
institutions,  the  Government  had  no  resource  but  in  paper  money. 
Accordingly,  we  find  that  Congress  immediately  resorted  to  this 
expedient.  On  the  22d  of  June,  1775,  they  resolved  on  the  emis 
sion  of  two  millions  of  dollars,  in  bills  of  credit — November  29th, 

1775,  they  resolved  to  emit  three  millions  of  dollars — February  21st, 

1776,  they  made  four  millions  of  dollars — May  22d,  five  millions  of 
dollars  ;  and,  on  the  same  day,  five  millions  of  dollars  more — Au 
gust  13th,  five  millions  of  dollars — December  28th,  five  millions  of 
dollars — February  26th,  1777,  five  millions  of  dollars — May  20th, 


224 


SPEECHES    OF 


five  millions  of  dollars — August  1st,  one  million  of  dollars — Novem 
ber  17th,  one  million  of  dollars — December  3d,  one  million  of  dol 
lars — February  17th,  1778,  two  millions  of  dollars — March  5th, 
two  millions  of  dollars — April  4th,  one  million  of  dollars — April 
llth,  five  millions  of  dollars — April  20th,  five  millions  of  dollars — 
May  22d,  five  millions  of  dollars — June  20th,  five  millions  of  dollars 
— July  30th,  five  millions  of  dollars — September  5th,  five  millions 
of  dollars — September  27th,  ten  millions  of  dollars — November  4th, 
ten  millions  of  dollars — January  14th,  1779,  fifty  millions  of  dollars, 
ten  millions  of  which  were  to  redeem,  and  take  out  of  circulation, 
the  twro  emissions,  of  May  20th,  1777,  and  April  llth,  1778,  for 
five  millions  of  dollars  each — February  3d,  were  ordered  five  mil 
lions  of  dollars — April  2d,  five  millions,  one  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  dollars — May  5th,  ten  millions  of  dollars — June  4th,  ten 
millions  of  dollars — July  17th,  fifteen  millions,  two  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  dollars — September  19th,  fifteen  millions,  two  hun 
dred  and  sixty  thousand  dollars — October  16th,  five  millions  of  dol 
lars — November  17th,  ten  millions,  fifty  thousand,  five  hundred 
dollars — November  29th,  ten  millions,  one  hundred  and  forty  thou 
sand  dollars — making  more  than  two  hundred  millions  of  dollars. 

Thus,  Sir,  from  June  22d,  1775,  to  November  29th,  1779,  the 
short  term  of  fifty-five  months,  two  hundred  millions  of  dollars  were 
added  to  the  circulating  medium  of  a  country,  which  had  not  funds 
to  redeem  a  single  dollar  of  it. 

Miserable  was  the  condition  of  the  soldier,  who  contracted  to 
render  service,  under  such  a  state  of  public  currency.  This  was 
continually  depreciating ;  the  value  every  moment  lessening,  like 
the  handful  of  sand  in  the  top  of  the  hour-glass.  The  contract  of 
the  soldier  continued,  at  the  same  monthly  pay,  for  nine  months,  for. 
one  year,  for  two  years,  for  three  years,  or  for  during  the  war. 
Other  contractors  might  demand  prompt  pay  ;  might  refuse  to 
fulfil ;  and  leave  the  other  party  to  look  for  damages  in  a  common 
law  tribunal.  The  soldier  was  chained  down  to  the  stake,  by  the 
iron  rules  of  martial  law,  and  compelled  to  fight  out  the  whole 
course,  to  the  last  hour  of  his  contract.  Who,  then,  dares  to  hazard 
his  character  for  soundness  of  mind,  if  he  have  any  such  character, 
by  saying  that  the  soldier  who  aided  his  country  by  service,  and 
the  citizen  who  aided  her  by  capital,  suffered  equally  by  depre- 
ciation  ? 


TRISTAM    BURGES. 


225 


Besides,  those  citizen-capitalists,  who  hovered  about  the  Army 
and  the  Cabinet,  for  the  purpose  of  dealing  with  those  who  were 
carrying  on  the  war,  had  a  very  good  knowledge  of  the  course  of 
depreciation,  and  could  calculate  the  waning  of  a  dollar  with  as 
much  accuracy  as  Copernicus  ever  could  that  of  the  moon.  They 
were  never  without  their  price-current — a  kind  of  almanac  of  depre 
ciation,  showing  all  the  phases  of  Continental  money,  and  fitted  to 
every  day  of  the  week,  month,  and  year,  while  that  singular  phe 
nomenon  was  above  the  commercial  horizon.  These  men  could, 
without  prophecy,  tell  where  it  would  appear,  at  the  end  of  thirty, 
sixty,  or  ninety  days  ;  and,  profiting  of  this  knowledge,  in  making 
contracts,  they  were  at  all  times  an  overmatch  for  the  statesman  or 
the  soldier.  These  last,  indeed,  were  utterly  unimbued  with  this 
kind  of  science,  and  seemed  neither  to  know  or  to  care  for  any 
thing  but  to  fight  their  country's  battles,  and  to  achieve  her  inde 
pendence  and  glory. 

It  has  been  said  that  Congress,  to  the  Army,  made  up  this  depre 
ciation.  This,  though  in  some  degree  true,  is,  nevertheless,  very 
far  from  being,  in  all  respects,  the  fact.  On  the  10th  of  April, 
1780,  that  body  did  resolve,  that,  so  soon  as  possessed  of  sufficient 
documents,  they  would  establish  a  general  rule  for  making  up 
depreciation  ;  but  they  then,  in  express  terms,  excluded  from  the 
benefit  of  this  Resolution  all  the  Army,  except  such  as  had  served 
three  years,  or  were  then  in  service,  or  should  serve  three  years, 
or  during  the  war,  or  were  engaged  so  to  serve.  On  the  28th  of 
June,  1780,  Congress  resolved  that  Continental  money  had,  on  the 
1st  March,  1778,  depreciated  to  one  dollar  and  seventy -five  for  one 
dollar  ;  on  the  1st  of  September,  1778,  to  four  dollars  for  one  dollar  ; 
on  the  1st  of  March,  1779,  to  ten  dollars  for  one  dollar;  on  the  1st 
of  September,  1779,  to  eighteen  dollars  for  one  dollar ;  and  on  the 
18th  March,  1780,  to  forty  dollars  for  one  dollar.  This  scale  was 
altogether  arbitrary  ;  not  calculated  by  the  price-current  of  actual 
depreciation,  but  graduated,  from  period  to  period,  by  the  principles 
of  geometrical  proportion.  It  was,  in  practice,  after  the  war, 
extended  to  the  Army,  and  so  extended  as  to  cover  all  the  exclu 
sions  created  by  the  resolution  of  April  10th,  1780,  excepting  only 
the  loss  by  depreciation  sustained  before  six  months  prior  to  March, 
1778.  It  is  seen,  that  Congress  resolved  that  Continental  money 
was  at  that  time  nearly  two  for  one.  It  did  not  fall  to  that  point  on 

E* 


226 


SPEECHES    OF 


that  day.  It  had  been  gradually  sinking  to  it.  Indeed,  it  was  very 
ittle  less  than  four  for  one  at  that  period  of  the  war.  How  could  it 
be  otherwise  ?  Almost  sixty  millions  of  paper  were  then  already 
thrown  into  circulation.  Had  that  amount  in  gold  and  silver  been 
spread  over  the  Colonies,  in  the  then  present  state  of  things,  it  must 
have  depreciated  to  nearly  one-fourth  part  of  its  value,  unless  it  had 
been  hoarded,  or  melted  down,  or  sold  out  of  the  country.  Neither 
of  these  accidents  could  have  happened  to  this  paper  money.  No 
man  would  hoard  it :  for  it  was  the  lighted  torch  of  the  play,  and 
pushed  from  hand  to  hand,  because  the  last  holder  was  in  continual 
fear  of  being  saddled  with  the  loss.  It  could  be  used  for  nothing 
else.  It  was  fit  for  nothing  but  money,  and  miserably  unfit  for  that. 
It  could  not  be  sent  out  of  the  country  ;  for  a  ne  exeat  regnum  was 
printed  on  the  face  of  it.  In  Paris,  Dr.  Franklin  might  have  formed 
some  sheets  of  it  into  paper  kites,  and  thereby  have  lured  fire  from 
the  clouds,  but  the  whole  two  hundred  millions  would  not,  in  a  single 
city  of  Europe,  have  purchased  for  him  a  solitary  match  to  light  his 
candle. 

Whatever  that  depreciation  was,  and  it  must  have  been  great,  it 
was  all  lost  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Army  ;  for  no  scale  of 
depreciation  was  ever  extended  so  far  back  as  to  cover  this  descrip 
tion  of  loss,  sustained  during  this  period  of  the  war. 

The  movements  of  this  depreciation,  after  March  18th,  1780, 
Congress  did  not  attempt  to  measure.  They  did,  indeed,  on  that 
day,  take  an  observation  on  the  sinking  value  of  that  currency, 
and  then  resolved  that  it  was  thirty -nine  fortieths  below  par ;  or,  in 
other  words,  that  one  Continental  dollar  was  worth  two  and  a  half 
cents  in  hard  money,  and  still,  as  they  then  say,  was  sinking.  Sir, 
to  this  hour  it  might  have  been  sinking,  had  it  not  fallen  below  the 
level  of  circulation  ;  and  been  redeemed  from  that  degraded  condi 
tion,  at  one  hundred  for  one,  by  the  operations  of  the  funding  system. 
So  that  the  whole  two  hundred  millions  actually  cost  the  Govern 
ment  but  two  millions.  By  a  Resolution  of  that  same  18th  of 
March,  1780,  Congress  made  one  attempt  more  to  give  some  value 
to  some  portion  of  this  currency,  by  buying  up  and  burning  other 
parts  of  it.  This  was  to  be  effected  by  a  new  emission  of  paper 
bills,  bearing  interest  at  six  per  cent,  redeemable  in  six  years,  in 
specie,  made  by  the  individual  States,  and  endorsed  by  the  United 
States.  This  emission  was  called,  at  the  Treasury  Board,  indents ; 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  227 

at  the  Army,  "  the  forty  for  one  money ;"  because,  for  some  time, 
the  Army  was  paid  by  giving  them  one  dollar  of  this  money  in  lieu 
of  forty  of  the  old  Continental.  In  the  trading  market  of  the 
country  it  passed  dollar  for  dollar  with  all  former  emissions ;  for 
this  last  child  of  financial  necessity  had  the  family  disease,  and  soon 
died  of  depreciation,  like  all  its  elder  brothers. 

This  summer  of  1780  was  emphatically  the  season  of  peril  to 
our  National  Independence.  Congress  had,  with  their  means,  done 
more  than  any  other  Government  had  ever  effected  with  the  same 
means.  They  had  sustained  the  war  five  years  with  almost  nothing 
but  paper  money — "  the  Army"  paid,  what  they  were  paid,  clothed, 
and  fed  on  this,  "  had  done  and  suffered  more  than  any  other  Army 
ever  did,  in  defence  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  human  nature." 
The  South  was  reduced  to  British  dominion  ;  Lincoln  captured  at 
Charleston ;  and  Gates  vanquished  at  Camden ;  the  key  of  the 
North  had  been  sold,  and  was,  by  treachery,  almost  delivered  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy  ;  the  value  of  the  national  currency  had 
vanished.  From  necessity,  this  had  been  strewn  over  the  country, 
thick  as  autumnal  leaves,  and  like  those  leaves,  it  was  then  value 
less.  Congress  had  no  resources  ;  they  could  not  "  coin  their  hearts 
and  drop  their  blood  for  drachmas  ;"  else  had  the  nation  possessed 
a  fund  "  richer  than  Plutus'  mine."  What  could  they  do  ?  Give 
up  the  contest  ?  Pass  under  the  yoke  ?  What !  when  so  many 
fields  had  been  won  ?  No,  these  were  not  the  men  to  yield  in  a 
question  of  right.  They  knew  that  success  would  amply  remuner 
ate  all  it  might  cost ;  that  the  States  had  ability  to  bear  them  out ; 
that  they  had  the  power  to  pledge  this  ability  to  the  Army ;  and 
they  believed  that  the  good  faith  of  the  People  would  not  fail  to 
redeem  that  pledge.  With  these  views,  and  resolved  to  win  or  lose 
all,  Congress,  in  the  autumn  of  that  year,  re-organized  the  Army, 
under  advice  of  the  Commander-in-Chief.  The  promises,  therefore, 
made  to  the  soldiers  were  reiterated,  and  they  were  assured  that 
each  man,  who  enlisted  and  served  during  the  war,  should  re 
ceive  all  the  arrears  of  his  pay,  and  eighty  real  dollars  in  addition. 
Congress  did,  on  the  21st  of  October  of  that  memorable  year,  1780, 
by  their  Resolution  of  that  date,  promise  each  officer  who  should 
continue  in  the  service  till  the  end  of  the  war,  not  only  the  full  pay 
which  should  then  be  due  to  him,  but  also  half  pay  during  the  re 
mainder  of  his  life.  These  promises  were  made  and  given,  not  to 


228  SPEECHES    OF 

quiet  a  mutinous  army,  as  was  asserted  at  the  last  session ;  but  be 
cause  Congress  had,  literally,  nothing  but  promises  to  give.  Nor 
let  any  one  say  that  such  promises  were  of  greater  value  than  the 
service  to  be  performed.  They  had  a  singular  peculiarity ;  not 
that  Congress  had  no  funds  wherewith  to  fulfil  them  ;  not  that  each 
of  the  States,  and  the  present  United  States,  and  all  the  People  of 
them,  of  the  present,  and  all  future  generations,  are  not  bound  by 
them,  until  performed  ;  no — not  that  or  that ;  but  because  these 
promises  could  never  have  been  performed,  unless  the  army  had 
been  victorious.  It  was  but  like  saying  to  some  master  of  the 
chace,  if  you  will  hunt  the  lion,  and  can  subdue  and  flay  the  royal 
beast,  we  promise  you  some  portion  of  his  skin  ;  but  if  you  fail,  and 
are  yourself  overcome  in  the  battle,  we  cannot  secure  the  safety  of 
your  own. 

These  promises  have  been  much  under  consideration.  Your 
attention  is  first  requested  to  the  premise  of  half-pay  for  life,  by  the 
resolution  of  October  21,  1780,  made  to  the  officers  who  should 
serve  till  the  close  of  the  war.  Has  this  promise  ever  been  per 
formed  ?  It  has  not  been  pretended  that  the  terms  of  it  have  ever 
been  executed.  These  officers  have  never  received  half-pay — had 
they  received  it,  each  one  of  them,  now  alive,  would  have  received, 
without  interest,  ten  thousand,  three  hundred  and  twenty  dollars,  as 
it  is  stated  by  a  Report  from  the  Treasury  Department,  and  with 
simple  interest  more  than  seventeen  thousand  dollars. 

Has  this  contract  been  discharged  by  paying  an  equivalent  ?  It 
is  asserted  that  nothing  but  the  full  payment  of  a  full  equivalent 
could,  or  ever  can,  discharge  this  contract,  either  in  a  forum  of  law, 
equity,  or  good  conscience.  The  Courts  of  law  and  technical 
equity  are  never  open  to  questions  of  justice,  for  the  citizen,  against 
the  Sovereign.  Against  that  august  personage  the  humble  individ 
ual  can  institute  no  action.  The  forum  of  conscience,  however,  is 
open  to  all ;  and  there  the  powerless  individual  may,  even-handed, 
litigate  with  the  potent  Sovereign.  Nor  hath  he  a  weary  way  to 
travel  in  search  of  this  justice  :  for  the  legislator  who  instituted  this 
tribunal,  transcends  the  merit  of  him  who,  it  is  said,  brought  justice 
to  every  man's  door.  He  has  brought  her  to  every  man's  bosom. 
It  is  in  this  tribunal  that  this  question  has  been  tried  ;  and  will  again 
be  tried  by  every  succeeding  generation,  who  may  read  the  story 
of  our  Revolutionary  war.  The  record  of  these  decisions  will  be 


T  R  I  8  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  229 

placed  in  the  safe-keeping  of  the  literature  of  the  current  age,  and 
will  endure  so  long  as  letters  and  our  history  shall  endure. 

Have  then  these  men  received  an  equivalent  ?     In  all  exchanges, 
the  equivalent  is  the  fair  market  value  of  the  things  exchanged. 
He  who  exchanges  his  goods  for  the  fair  market  value  of  them, 
either  in  money,  or  in  other  goods  at  the  fair  market  value,  receives 
an  equivalent  for  them.     He  who  receives  less,  does  not  receive  an 
equivalent.     At  the  close  of  the  war,  each  officer  who  had  served 
to  that  time  was  the  owner  of  one  annuity  for  his  own  life,  equal  in 
value  to  half  his  yearly  pay.     It  is  agreed  that  these  officers  were 
then,  on  an  average,  thirty  years  of  age.     What  was  the  then  pre 
sent  value  of  these  annuities  ?     The  answer  to  this  question  involves 
the  probability  of  the  continuance  of  human  life,  according  to  the 
rules  by  experience  established,  for  ascertaining  that  probable  con- 
tinuance.     By  these,  it  is  stated  that  a  person  at  thirty,  will  proba 
bly  live  thirty -two  years.     The  present  value  of  annuities  for  such 
lives  is  such  a  sum  as,  if  placed  out  at  compound  interest,  will,  in 
thirty -two  years,  amount  to  a  sum  equal  to  all  the  yearly  amounts 
of  such  annuities,  with  compound  interest  on  each  of  them  after 
they  come  in.     According  to  these  principles,  such  annuities  were, 
on  the  22d  day  of  March,  1783,  worth  14.084  years'  purchase,  or 
fourteen  years  and  a  fraction  more  than  one  month.     They  were, 
therefore,  worth  7.042  years,  or  seven  years  and  a  fraction  more 
than  half  a  month's  full  pay.     This  they  would   have  brought  in 
any  commercial  city  of  Europe — in  London,  Paris,  or  Amsterdam. 
Taking  the  half-pay  of  a  captain  as  the  average,  and  that  at  twenty 
dollars  per  month,  all  these  annuities  at  this  price  amounted  to  eight 
million,  three  hundred  and  eighty-two  thousand,  seven  hundred  and 
ninety-six  dollars,  and  eighty  cents.     We  may,  I  think,  rely  on  this 
fact,  fearless  of  contradiction.     He  who  has  this  day  2.480  such 
annuities,  on  such  lives,  for  sale  in  London,  may,  before  the  close 
of  the  Stock  Exchange,  receive  his  gold  and  silver  for  them  at  that 
price.     At  that  price  ?     At  more  than  that  price  ;  because  the 
purchaser  would  thereby  place  out,  at  six  per  cent,  funds  which,  in 
that  market,  command  little,  if  any  thing,  more  than  three.  •  I  trust 
no  one  will  attempt  to  reduce  the  value  of  these  annuities,  by  saying 
that  the  credit  of  the  United  States  was  low,  and  therefore  their 
paper  would  have  been  undervalued  in  the  commercial  world.  This 
would  be  a  sound  argument  in  Wall-street ;  but  it  is  a  most  un- 


230  SPEECHES    OF 

sound  and  ungracious  one  on  the  floor  of  this  House.  No  man  who 
owes  ten  thousand  dollars  can  say  he  owes  but  five  thousand,  and 
ought  to  pay  but  five  thousand,  because  his  notes  are  in  market 
fifty  per  cent,  below  par.  It  should  be  remembered  that  the  sove 
reign  who,  when  poor,  enacts  a  law  that  his  creditors  shall  give  up 
their  notes  against  him,  upon  receiving  payment  of  a  part  only  of 
the  amount,  is,  in  the  forum  of  conscience,  bound  by  every  principle 
of  justice  to  pay  the  balance,  with  interest,  whenever  of  sufficient 
ability.  It  will  be  recorded  in  the  annals  of  our  country,  that,  if 
the  United  States  were  poor  in  1783,  they  were  rich  in  1827. 

I  repeat  it,  therefore,  that  this  very  meritorious  class  of  officers, 
being  in  number  two  thousand  four  hundred  and  eighty,  were,  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  entitled  to  receive,  as  an  equivalent  for  their  half  pay 
for  life,  eight  millions  three  hundred  and  eighty-two  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  ninety-six  dollars  and  eighty  cents,  in  money,  or  in  such 
securities  as  would  then,  and  until  paid  off,  produce  six  per  cent,  per  an 
num.  What  did  they  receive  ?  Congress,  on  the  22d  of  March,  1783, 
resolved  to  give  them,  in  lieu  of  their  half  pay  for  life,  five  years  full 
pay,  in  money ;  or  such  security  as  should  produce  a  yearly  interest 
of  six  per  cent.  This  Resolution  gave  them  ten  years'  purchase,  for 
annuities  worth,  in  the  market  of  the  whole  monied  world,  fourteen 
years  and  one  month's  purchase.  It  gave  each  individual  two 
thousand  four  hundred  dollars,  when  he  was  entitled  to  receive  three 
thousand  three  hundred  and  eighty  dollars  sixteen  cents.  It  gave 
the  whole  corps  five  million  nine  hundred  fifty-three  thousand  dol 
lars,  when  they  were  entitled  to  receive  eight  millions  three  hundred 
and  eighty  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-six  dollars  eighty 
cents.  There  was,  therefore,  a  difference  of  two  million  four  hun 
dred  and  twenty-nine  thousand  seven  hundred  and  six  dollars  eighty 
cents,  between  the  value  of  the  thing  sold,  and  the  amount  received  ; 
between  the  equivalent  and  the  article  exchanged  for  it. 

In  answer  to  all  this,  it  is  alleged,  that  these  officers  consented  to 
receive  five  years'  full  pay  in  lieu  of  their  half  pay  for  life,  and  in 
full  discharge  of  all  claims  for  it.  This  allegation  might  be 
answered,  by  denying  it  to  be  a  fact :  for  the  truth  is,  that  it  never 
was  a  fact.  The  Resolution  of  Congress,  of  March  22,  1783, 
required  this  consent  to  be  made  by  the  different  lines  of  the  Army, 
but  expressly  prohibited  each  individual  officer  from  making  consent 
in  his  own  case.  If  the  United  States  owe  each  individual  of  this 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  231 

city  five  hundred  dollars,  could  the  Corporation  come  together,  and, 
hy  vote,  efficiently  declare  that  these  creditors  shall  receive  three 
hundred  dollars  each  in  full  discharge  of  the  five  hundred  1  The 
thing  is  too  absurd  to  be  named.  Besides,  the  Resolution  had  this 
express  precedent  condition  in  it — "  that  this  consent  should,  by  the 
Commander-in-Chief,  be  signified  to  Congress,  in  two  months,  for  the 
Northern,  and,  by  the  Commander  of  it,  in  six,  for  the  Southern 
Army."  Now,  the  Commander-in-Chief  never  signified  to  Con 
gress  any  one  fact  concerning  this  consent.  Concerning  the 
Southern  Army,  no  such  consent  was  ever,  by  any  one,  signified  to 
Congress  ;  nor  concerning  the  Northern  Army,  till  October  31, 
1783 — more  than  six  months  after  the  time  had  elapsed  for  giving 
such  notice.  Nor  did  Congress  then,  or  ever  after,  resolve,  that 
they  would  so  pay  these  officers,  nor  that  the  United  States  were 
liable  so  to  pay  them ;  nor  that  they  would  provide  funds  for  so 
paying  of  them  ;  nor  that  they  would  give  them  security  for  this 
payment ;  nor  did  they  ever  give  them  such  security  ;  nor  authorize 
any  person  whatever  to  give  it  to  them.  Mr.  John  Pearce,  Commis 
sioner  of  the  Paymaster  General,  thought  himself  authorized  to  send, 
and  did  send,  to  each  of  them,  a  certificate,  that  so  much  was  paya 
ble  to  him,  or  bearer  ;  but  for  what  consideration,  or  when  payable, 
or  in  what  currency,  was  left  utterly  blank.  These  certificates 
were  merely  a  new  emission  of  paper  money,  and  differed  in  nothing 
from  the  old  Continental  bills,  only  that  these  last  wanted  on  the 
face  of  them,  that  glittering  feature  of  the  first,  which  indicated  that 
they  were  payable  in  "  Spanish  Milled  Dollars." 

All  these  things,  however,  I  pass  over  without  comment ;  because 
there  are  arguments,  if  possible,  more  conclusive,  and  lying  in  a 
narrower  compass.  Let  it,  Sir,  be  granted  that  each  of  these  offi 
cers  did,  viva  voce,  on  the  floor  of  Congress,  say  to  that  body — >"  I 
will  receive  five  years'  full  pay,  in  full  discharge  of  my  half  pay  for 
life  ;  provided  the  same  be  paid  to  me  in  gold  and  silver,  or  secured 
to  me,  that  I  can  receive  six  per  cent,  interest  upon  it  annually." 
This  proposition  implies  that  this  payment  should  be  made,  or  this 
security  given,  in  some  reasonable  time.  This,  however,  I  give  up  ; 
and  if  it  can  be  proved  that  the  United  States  ever  either  paid  the 
money,  or  gave  such  security,  I  will  agree  that  the  contract  has 
been,  on  their  part,  performed. 


232  SPEECHES    OF 

It  will  not  be  pretended  that  the  money  was  ever  paid.  Let  all 
question,  therefore,  concerning  that,  be  laid  out  of  the  case.  Was 
the  security  ever  given  ?  If  so,  when  ?  By  whom  ?  What  was  it  ? 
Was  the  commutation  certificate  of  John  Pearce  that  security  ?  Did 
that  produce,  to  each  of  these  officers,  six  per  cent,  per  annum  ? 
Why,  Sir,  never  was  a  single  cent  of  interest  paid  on  those  certifi 
cates.  It  was  never  pretended.  Had  interest  been  regularly  paid 
upon  them,  would  they,  as  they  did,  have  fallen  in  the  market,  almost 
immediately,  to  fifty,  soon  to  seventy-five,  and  shortly  after  to 
eighty-seven  and  a  half  per  cent,  below  par  ?  Why,  Sir,  these 
much  injured  men  were,  from  the  pressure  of  their  affairs,  many  of 
them,  obliged  to  sell  their  certificates  for  the  most  they  would  bring. 
It  is  probable  that  the  whole  amount  of  them,  the  whole  five  million 
nine  hundred  and  fifty-three  thousand  dollars,  never  realized  to  those 
officers  more  than  twenty -five  cents  on  a  dollar ;  or  that  the  whole 
amount  which  they  all  received,  exceeded  the  sum  of  one  million 
four  hundred  and  eighty-three  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars,  thereby  making  to  these  officers,  a  loss  of  four  million  four 
hundred  and  sixty  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  W7as 
this,  Sir,  giving,  in  the  spirit  of  the  contract,  was  this  giving 
security  ? 

The  funding  system,  however,  did  them  complete  justice.  Here 
were  they  amply  remunerated.  This  was  demonstrated,  as  it  was 
observed  in  a  former  debate,  by  the  universal  joy  spread  over  the 
country  at  the  adoption  of  this  measure.  Indeed,  Sir,  justice,  like 
charity,  may  sometimes  come  a  day  too  late  ;  and  truly,  Sir,  unless 
we  do  whatever  we  may  do  on  this  question,  quickly,  our  justice  will, 
I  fear,  come  too  late ;  and  we  shall  be  called  to  settle  this  account 
with  these  men  before  another  tribunal — whither,  I  feel,  that  they 
and  we  are  all  rapidly  hastening. 

What  did  the  funding  system  do  for  these  men  ?  For  those  of 
them  who  had  been  enabled  to  live  without  means  ;  to  hold  their 
commutation  certificates,  and  hold  their  breath  for  seven  years  ? 
Take  the  answer,  Sir,  from  the  Treasury  Department,  sent  at  our 
request  to  this  House  by  the  President,  during  the  last  session  of 
Congress.  Taking,  as  heretofore,  the  average  value  of  those  certifi 
cates  to  be  two  thousand  four  hundred  dollars,  a  certificate  was, 
on  the  1st  of  January,  1791,  issued  to  the  holder  for  two-thirds,  that 
is,  for  one  thousand  six  hundred  dollars  ;  on  this  the  interest  up  to 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  233 

December  31st,  1825,  amounts  to  three  thousand  three  hundred  and 
sixty  dollars.  For  one-third,  or  eight  hundred  dollars,  a  certificate 
was  issued,  without  interest,  for  ten  years  ;  and  the  interest  for  the 
remaining  time  amounts,  December  31st,  1825,  to  one  thousand  two 
hundred  dollars.  The  interest  on  the  original  certificate,  from 
November  4th,  1783,  ta  January  1,  1791,  was  one  thousand  and 
thirty  dollars  eighty  cents  ;  and  for  this  a  certificate  was  issued, 
bearing  interest  at  three  per  cent.  only.  This  three  per  cent,  inter 
est  amounted,  December  31st,  1825,  to  one  thousand  and  eighty- 
two  dollars  thirty-four  cents — these  sums  together,  amount  to  five 
thousand  six  hundred  and  forty -two  dollars  thirty-four  cents  ;  to  this 
amount,  add  the  original  certificate,  two  thousand  four  hundred 
dollars,  and  the  present  value  of  the  three  per  cent,  stock,  eight 
hundred  and  twenty-four  dollars  sixty-four  cents,  and  the  whole 
amount  received  by  each  officer,  by  force  of  the  funding  system, 
was,  December  31, 1825,  eight  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-six 
dollars  ninety-eight  cents  ;  and  by  the  whole  corps,  allowing  that 
they  all  retained  their  certificates,  the  whole  amount  was  twenty-one 
million  nine  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  one  hundred  and  ten  dol 
lars  forty  cents.  If  the  whole  certificate  had  been  funded  at 
interest,  instead  of  deferring  the  interest  of  one  third  of  it ;  and  the 
interest  in  arrear  had  been  funded  at  six,  instead  of  three  per  cent.; 
each  officer  would  have  received  eleven  thousand  two  hundred  and 
ninety -three  dollars  thirty  two  cents  ;  and  the  whole  corps  twenty- 
eight  million  five  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty-three  dollars 
sixty  cents.  So  that  each  officer,  instead  of  receiving  a  security  for 
his  five  years'  full  pay,  whereby  he  could  realize  the  safety  of  the 
principal,  and  six  per  cent,  interest  annually,  did,  in  fact,  by  this 
system  of  funding,  lose  two  thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty-six 
dollars  thirty-four  cents  ;  and  the  whole  corps  lost  six  million  fifteen 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  thirteen  dollars  and  twenty  cents. 

If,  therefore,  five  years'  full  pay  had  been  an  equivalent  for  the 
half-pay  for  life ;  and  if  each  officer  had  agreed  to  receive  it  as 
such,  either  in  money,  or  securities  producing  a  yearly  interest  of 
six  per  cent.  ;  yet,  because  the  money  was  not  paid,  nor  the  secu 
rity,  yielding  a  yearly  interst  of  six  per  cent,  ever  given,  the  contract, 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  has  not  ever  been  performed.  On 
the  contrary,  this  boasted  act  of  justice  cut  off  from  the  claim  of 
every  living  officer,  who  had  retained  his  commutation  certificate, 

F* 


234  SPEECHES    OF 

more  than  two  thousand  four  hundred  dollars  ;  and  from  the  whole 
number,  had  they  all  been  alive,  and  all  retained  their  certificates, 
more  than  six  million  dollars. 

It,  therefore,  cannot  be  said,  that  the  five  years'  full  pay  was  an 
equivalent;  nor  if  it  were,  that  these  officers  ever  received  it. 
Accordingly,  the  Committee  of  this  House,  to  whom  this  was  referred 
in  1810,  reported  that  the  half-pay  for  life  was  still  due  to  these 
men,  deducting  what  they  had  received  under  the  funding  system, 
as  so  much  received  on  account.  The  same  report  was  made  by 
another  Committee  of  this  House  in  1819.  A  Select  Committee,  to 
whom,  at  the  last  Session,  was  referred  the  last  petition  of  the  sur 
vivors  of  those  officers,  did,  in  compliance  with  the  prayer  of  that 
petition,  report  that  a  definite  sum  should  be  distributed  among 
them.  It  is  in  consequence  of  this  petition,  and  this  report,  that  the 
last  Committee  to  whom  this  subject  was  referred,  felt  themselves 
authorized  to  consider  the  questions  of  commutation  and  funding  as 
if  closed ;  and  to  compensate  these  men,  by  giving  back  to  them 
some  portion  of  the  money  saved  to  the  nation  by  the  several  very 
economical  negotiations  heretofore  made  with  them. 

If,  therefore,  passing  over  all  questions  concerning  the  justice  of 
the  commutation  contract,  and  the  manner  of  fulfilling  it,  either  by 
the  certificates  themselves,  or  the  method  of  funding  them,  can  it  be 
said  that  we  are  not  bound  by  a  high  and  indissoluble  obligation,  to 
give  back  to  them  some  portion  of  what  they  have  lost,  and  the 
nation  has  saved  ?  Let  us  make  no  account  of  the  loss  of  these 
men,  by  the  sale  of  their  commutation  certificates,  both  because  the 
nation  saved  nothing  directly  by  that  loss,  and  because,  if  these  men 
had  sold  these  certificates,  they  could  sustain  no  loss  by  the  manner 
of  funding  them,  since  this  loss  was  sustained  by  the  purchasers. 
But,  because  the  nation  saved  by  the  manner  of  funding,  and  the 
officers  lost  thereby  an  equal  amount,  or  a  much  greater  amount, 
by  having  sold  them  before,  it  is  but  fair  to  bring  this  loss  and 
saving  into  the  account.  You  have,  Sir,  been  told,  by  the  Report 
from  the  Treasury  Department,  that,  by  the  manner  of  funding  those 
commutation  certificates,  each  officer,  on  an  average,  lost  two  thou 
sand  four  hundred  and  twenty -six  dollars  thirty-four  cents.  This 
sum  the  nation  saved,  and  have  now  in  the  coffers  of  their  Treasury. 
Multiplied  by  the  number  of  officers  probably  alive,  this  sum 
amounts  to  more  than  this  Bill  proposes  to  give  them.  It  is  stated 


T  R  I  8  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  235 

in  the  Report,  that,  of  these  men,  there  are  probably  four  hundred 
alive.  This  estimate  was  received  from  the  Department  of  War. 
The  Select  Committee  had,  from  calculations  on  the  probable  con 
tinuance  of  life  peculiar  to  the  city  of  London,  estimated  the  number 
at  three  hundred  and  forty-seven,  and  the  Committee  on  Military 
Pensions,  at  four  hundred  and  forty-five.  This  last  estimate  was 
made  from  the  experience  and  calculations  of  the  probable  continu 
ance  of  human  life,  in  the  rural  parts  of  the  island  of  Great  Britain. 
Since  the  present  Session  of  Congress,  the  Chairman  of  the  last 
mentioned  Committee  has  received  returns  of  the  number  of  surviv 
ing  officers  of  the  lines  of  Rhode-Island  and  South  Carolina.  Con 
sidering  one  of  these  States  as  the  most,  and  the  other  as  the  least, 
propitious  to  human  longevity  ;  and,  making  a  calculation  on  that 
principle,  it  is  found  that  the  number  now  alive  is  four  hundred  and 
forty-four.  This,  doubtless,  will  be  found  the  most  probable  num 
ber  ;  and  therefore,  you  have,  Sir,  in  your  Treasury,  saved,  by  the 
manner  of  funding  the  commutation  certificates  of  this  number  of 
men,  now  alive,  the  full  sum  of  one  million  seventy-seven  thousand 
two  hundred  and  ninety-four  dollars  and  ninety-six  cents.  This 
sum  at  least,  Sir,  should,  by  the  provisions  of  the  Bill  on  your  table, 
have  been  distributed  to  these  men.  The  Bill,  reported  by  the 
Select  Committee,  provided  for  the  distribution  of  one  million  dollars. 
This  sum  was,  with  great  reluctance,  reduced  to  eight  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  and  this  was  done  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  the 
agent  for  those  officers.  This  gallant  gentleman  stated  to  the 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  that  the  officers  of  the  line  of  New- 
Jersey,  had,  soon  after  the  peace,  established  a  fund  for  the  support 
of  their  widows,  and,  with  a  spirit  of  chivalry  worthy  the  character 
of  the  officers  of  the  Revolutionary  Army,  he  insisted  that  those 
whom  he  represented  would  be  better  satisfied  if,  from  the  sum 
proposed  to  be  distributed  to  them,  the  two  hundred  thousand  dollars 
were  taken  to  make  a  provisionary  fund  for  the  widows  of  their 
deceased  brothers  in  arms. 

In  addition  to  the  loss  and  saving  by  funding,  it  has  been  demon 
strated  that  those  men  also  lost,  and  the  country  saved,  by  the 
commutation,  more  than  two  million  four  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
and  that  forty-three  years  ago.  This  was  then  nearly  one  thousand 
dollars  to  each  of  those  officers,  and  with  simple  interest,  now 
amounts  to  two  thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars,  and 


236 


S  P  E  E  C  II  E  S    O  F 


for  the  whole  of  these  men  now  before  you,  to  one  million  one 
hundred  and  thirty-two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  This,  Sir, 
was  lost  to  them  by  selling,  and  saved  to  the  nation  by  buying, 
their  half-pay  for  life  at  less  than  a  fair  equivalent.  Is  it  possible, 
Sir,  with  these  facts  on  our  records,  that  we  can  outrage  the  char 
acter  of  the  nation,  by  refusing  to  make  provision  for  these  men, 
when  we  have  been  so  richly  enabled  to  do  it,  by  savings  heretofore 
made  out  of  the  very  price  of  their  own  proper  toils  and  perils  ? 

The  provision  made  in  this  Bill  for  the  relief  of  the  widows  of 
deceased  officers,  is  made  according  to  the  spirit  of  the  pension 
system  of  the  United  States,  and  was  introduced,  not  only  on  account 
of  its  justice,  but  to  satisfy  the  pressing  demands  of  this  House  for 
such  a  provision.  If  we  look  to  the  savings  made  by  the  nation 
from  the  services  of  their  deceased  husbands,  we  shall  find  them  as 
great,  or  nearly  as  great,  as  those  made  from  the  services  of  such 
officers  as  are  now  alive.  We  can,  therefore,  make  this  provision 
without  sustaining  any  real  loss.  The  character  of  these  women 
places  them  peculiarly  under  the  patronage  of  Government.  Not 
that  their  husbands  were  called  to  an  eight  year's  absence  ;  not  that 
they  suffered  the  desolation  of  youthful  widowhood  ;  not  that  they 
were,  from  necessity,  scantily  provided  for  at  home.  No,  no. 
Hunger  and  cold  were  things  of  mere  "  corporal  sufferance  ;"  and 
those  of  our  race,  whom  God  made  to  soothe  our  pains,  have  no 
tongue  to  complain  of  their  own.  I  need  not,  to  borrow  the  lan 
guage  of  the  Report — I  need  not  "  tell  gallant  men  what  a  soldier's 
wife  suffers  in  the  day  of  battle."  It  is,  indeed,  the  inexpressible 
anguish  of  breathless  apprehension  bringing  to  them,  as  it  brought 
to  the  daughter  of  the  stern  Cato,  the  distant  din  of  encounter.  The 
blaze,  the  blood,  the  groan,  the  shout,  rush  on  their  senses  ;  not 
indeed  by  the  material  organ,  but  through  the  magnifying  medium 
of  imagination.  Add  to  this  the  suspense,  the  hope,  the  fear,  the 
wish  to  know,  the  dread  to  hear  the  tremendous  result.  These, 
these,  Sir,  are  the  sufferings  which  have  consecrated  the  character 
of  these  women,  nor  do  I  believe  one  gentleman  in  this  Hall  can, 
with  justice  to  his  understanding  or  his  feelings,  lift  up  his  voice 
against  making  provision  for  them. 

For  the  other  class  of  those  who  served  in  the  Revolutionary 
War,  the  Committee  have  reported  that  provision  ought  to  be  made 
by  law.  Here,  Sir,  is  that  venerable  fragment  of  the  regular  Con- 


TRISTAM    B  URGES.  237 

tinental  Army,  for  whom  their  country  has  hitherto  done  nothing. 
Permit  me,  Sir,  in  a  few  words,  to  lay  before  you  the  reasons 
inducing  the  Committee  to  place  these  men  in  the  number  of  those 
for  whom  provision  ought  to  be  made  by  law. 

The  war  may  be  divided  into  two  periods  ;  the  one  previous  to 
1780,  the  other  subsequent  to  that  year.  In  the  first  period,  the 
Army  was  paid  entirely  in  Continental  money.  In  the  first  summer 
of  the  last  period,  they  were,  partially,  paid  in  the  forty  for  one 
money  ;  but,  after  that  time,  they  were  not  paid  at  all  until  the  close 
of  the  war.  Congress,  by  requisitions  for  specific  articles,  made  on 
the  several  States,  were  enabled  in  some  sort  to  clothe  and  feed  the 
Army  ;  but  to  pay  them,  was  beyond  their  power ;  for,  literally 
speaking,  "  Silver  and  Gold  they  had  none  ;"  and  the  paper  medium 
of  the  country  had  sunk  below  the  current  of  circulation.  At  the 
end  of  the  war,  those  soldiers  who  continued  in  service  until  that 
time,  were  entitled  to  receive  eighty  dollars  each,  as  a  bounty. 
Did  they  receive  the  money  ?  No  ;  they  received  the  final  settle 
ment  certificate  of  John  Pearce.  They  were  entitled  to  receive  the 
arrears  of  their  wages.  Did  they  receive  the  money?  No  ;  they 
received  the  final  settlement  certificate  of  John  Pearce.  Those  of 
them  who  had  been  in  both  periods  of  the  war,  after  March  1st, 
1778,  were  entitled  to  receive  their  depreciation.  Did  they  receive 
the  money  for  this  ?  No ;  they  received  the  final  settlement  cer 
tificate  of  John  Pearce.  Those  officers  and  soldiers  who  had  served 
in  either  period  of  the  war,  for  one,  two,  or  three  years,  were  enti 
tled  to  receive  the  arrears  of  their  pay,  and  to  be  compensated  for 
their  depreciation.  Did  they  receive  the  money  ?  No,  Sir  ;  they 
also  received  the  final  settlement  certificate  of  John  Pearce.  One 
class  of  the  Army  was  not  so  paid.  The  nine  months'  men,  who 
served  anterior  to  the  time  reached  by  the  scale  of  depreciation, 
received  nothing  for  this  loss  upon  their  wages.  Being  probably 
thought  beyond  the  reach  of  remedy,  this  catholicon  was  not  admin 
istered  to  them  ;  and  they  did  not,  for  their  depreciation,  receive 
even  the  final  settlement  certificate  of  John  Pearce. 

Why,  Sir,  this  Mr.  John  Pearce,  Commissioner  of  the  Paymaster 
Genera],  was  the  Nicholas  Biddle,  the  Abraham  Newland  of  the 
Government ;  and  issued  more  millions  of  paper  in  one  year  than, 
I  had  almost  said,  either  the  Bank  of  England  or  of  the  United 
States  ever  did,  in  the  same  length  of  time.  Different,  indeed,  was 


238  SPEECHES  or 

this  emission  of  paper  money  from  the  bills  of  those  Banks.  Such 
bills  command  their  nominal  amount,  in  silver  or  gold ;  but  these 
forlorn  certificates  were,  by  thousands  and  thousands  of  those  unfor 
tunate  soldiers,  carried  into  the  market,  and  sold  at  from  twenty-five 
to  twelve  and  a-half  cents  on  the  dollar. 

Now,  Sir,  what  did  these  men  lose,  what  did  this  nation  save,  by 
this  mode  of  settlement  with  them  ?  I  will  not  detain  the  committee 
with  specific  calculations  ;  each  gentleman  can  make  them  for  him 
self.  Neither  do  I  request  any  one  to  bring  into  the  account,  any 
item  for  loss,  by  these  officers  and  soldiers,  where  the  nation  did  not 
make  a  correspondent  saving.  Let  us,  therefore,  omit  to  mention 
the  millions  lost  by  selling  final  settlement  certificates  at  twelve  and 
a-half  cents  on  the  dollar.  Did  not  these  men  lose,  and  did  not  the 
nation  save,  by  postponing  payment  of  the  army  till  the  close  of  the 
war  ?  Did  not  they  lose,  and  did  not  the  nation  save,  by  paying  no 
depreciation  at  all  for  a  portion  of  the  time,  and  by  delaying  pay 
ment  of  the  remainder  until  November  4th,  1783  1  After  the  ac 
count  was  all  summed  up,  and  the  balance  struck,  did  not  they  lose, 
did  not  the  nation  save,  by  leaving  this  balance  unpaid  for  more 
than  seven  years,  and  until  January  1st,  1791  ?  What  would  any 
individual,  holding  one  hundred  and  owing  forty-two  millions  of  dol 
lars,  have  given  for  such  a  letter  of  license  from  his  creditors  for 
seven  years  ?  What  did  the  Government  realize  by  this  postpone- 
ment  ?  For  they  really  had  this  more  than  seven  years'  license  of 
delay.  Why,  Sir,  by  retaining  in  their  own  hands  the  forty-two 
millions  of  their  creditors'  money,  they  left  the  People  of  the  United 
States  better  enabled  thereby  to  give  life  and  motion  to  every  spe 
cies  of  industry,  then  languishing  under  the  effects  of  protracted  and 
exhausting  war  ;  and  thus  to  lay  a  foundation  for  the  acquisition  of 
that  individual  and  national  wealth,  which  now  so  eminently  distin 
guishes  our  country.  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten,  that  these  very 
men  now  before  you,  were,  by  this  delay,  deprived  of  that  pay 
which  they  had  so  doubly  earned ;  and  thereby  lost  that  capital 
which  might  have  enabled  them  to  participate  in  that  acquisition. 
This,  Sir,  was  "  that  tide  in  the  affairs  of  these  men,  which,"  because 
they  were  by  their  country  thus  not  permitted  to  "  take  it  at  the 
flood,  has  left  them  all  their  lives  in  shallows  and  in  misery." 

I  pray  of  you,  Sir,  to  look  back,  once  more,  with  me,  to  that 
disastrous,  that  glorious  era  of  our  country,  the  first  period  of  the 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  239 

war,  from  1775  to  1780.  It  has  been  seen,  that  this  war  was,  for 
five  years,  supported  by  continental  money  ;  and  that  the  two  him. 
dred  millions  of  that  currency,  by  which  this  was  effected,  were 
finally  redeemed  by  Government  for  two  millions  of  dollars.  Most 
of  the  loans,  both  foreign  and  domestic,  were  created  subse 
quent  to  this  time  ;  the  expenses  to  individual  States  for  spe 
cific  supplies,  grew  up  mostly  after  this  period  ;  and  all  depre 
ciation  paid  before  that  year,  was  paid  out  of  the  great  current  mass 
of  continental  money.  The  great  amount  of  State  advances,  the 
final  balances  for  surplus  State  supplies ;  the  loans,  foreign  and  do 
mestic,  and  the  allowances  afterwards  made  for  depreciation,  all 
belong  more  properly  to  the  expenditures  of  the  last  period  of  the 
war.  This  two  hundred  million  of  continental  money  finally  re. 
deemed  by  Government  for  two  millions  of  dollars,  was,  therefore, 
the  great  moving  medium,  and  almost  the  whole  expense  of  that 
war  for  five  years.  Such  a  war,  for  such  a  duration,  for  such  a 


sum 


What  did  the  war  of  1812  cost  this  country?  This  war,  Sir, 
cost  you,  reckoning  loans,  and  the  consumption  of  current  revenue, 
and  military  and  naval  munitions  then  in  possession,  and  claims  for 
losses  and  services  already  made  and  allowed  to  States  and  individ 
uals  ;  this  war,  I  say,  Sir,  cost  you  in  three  years  not  less  than  one 
hundred  and  twenty  millions  of  dollars.  In  this  war  you  paid  your 
armies  and  navies  in  silver  and  gold  ;  in  that  you  paid  them  in 
continental  money.  Can  we,  Sir,  in  comparing  the  expenses  of 
these  two  wars,  resist  the  conclusion  that  millions  were  saved  to  the 
Government  by  the  use  of  that  evanescent  medium  wherewith  the 
Revolutionary  armies  were  paid  ? 

All  these  losses  and  savings  were  crowned  and  completed  by  the 
final  manner  of  funding  all  the  agreed  balances,  allowed  to  be  due 
to  these  officers  and  soldiers  :  for  the  weight  of  the  funding  system 
fell  also  upon  them.  They  received  for  all  arrears  of  interest  no 
other  payment  than  the  amount  in  a  three  per  cent,  stock  ;  and  for 
one-third  of  the  principal  they  received  no  payment  at  all,  until  the 
expiration  of  ten  years.  It  has  been  seen  that  each  officer,  who 
served  till  the  close  of  the  war,  lost,  by  this  system,  on  his  commuta 
tion  certificate  alone,  more  than  twenty-four  hundred  dollars.  Every 
other  officer  and  soldier  of  the  Army,  now  alive,  has  lost  in  the 


240  SPEECHES    OF 

same  proportion  ;  and  the  nation  has,  from  these  losses,  in  the  same 
proportion,  saved. 

If,  then,  we  consider  what  we  fairly  owe  these  men  for  deprecia 
tion  unpaid  ;  for  the  long  delay  in  settling  their  accounts  ;  for  the 
longer  delay  in  paying  them  the  ultimate  balance ;  and  the  still 
greater  debt  resulting  from  having  paid  them  for  current  services 
in  continental  money,  not  in  gold  and  silver ;  and  for  the  final  dis 
count  of  more  than  twenty-one  per  cent,  swept  off  at  once  by  the 
provisions  of  the  funding  system :  If,  I  say,  Sir,  all  these  losses  by 
them,  and  savings  by  us,  are  set  down  in  the  account,  can  we  for  a 
moment  doubt  that  the  nation  owes  them  much  more  than  this  Bill 
proposes  to  give  them  ? 

If,  however,  after  all,  it  should  be  said  that  the  nation  owes  them 
nothing,  because  the  account  has  long  been  settled  and  closed  ;  let 
it  be  so  considered  for  the  sake  of  the  argument.  Nevertheless, 
have  not  the  nation  made  very  profitable  bargains  out  of  them  in 
the  course  of  these  negotiations  ?  Have  they  not  saved  several 
millions  by  this  mode  of  managing  settlements,  and  payment,  and 
funding,  with  these  men  ?  If,  out  of  these  savings,  unquestionably 
great,  we  now  make  some  provision  for  that  remnant  of  them  now 
alive,  can  it  ever,  with  any  justice,  be  said,  that  the  nation  has  been 
made  poorer  by  the  Army  ?  f  -w^v. 

It  is  presumed  that  the  last  provision  of  the  Bill  will,  in  its  sup. 
port,  require  no  additional  reasonings.  It  is  sustained  by  all  the 
arguments  sustaining  the  provisions  for  the  widows  of  those  officers 
who  served  till  the  close  of  the  war.  It  is  believed  that  the  only 
objection  to  it  will  be  found  in  the  smallness  of  the  sum  provided  for 
each  individual.  The  Committee  felt  themselves  circumscribed  by 
the  suggestions  of  the  House,  and  could  not  presume  to  go  beyond 
eight  hundred  thousand  dollars  ;  for  this  fund  could  not  have  been 
intended  to  give  to  those  women  more  than  their  husbands,  if  alive, 
would  have  received  ;  and  although  the  widows  of  officers  of  this 
class  may  not  receive  so  much,  yet  will  it  be  found,  upon  calcula 
tion,  that  each  of  them  will,  probably,  receive  about  the  same  sum 
which  each  of  the  soldiers  will  receive. 

Those  who  call  to  mind  that  the  husbands  of  these  women  were 
among  those  who,  many  of  them,  continued  in  the  service  during 
the  whole  war ;  and  who  also  remember  that,  by  our  various  set 
tlements  with  them,  the  nation  has  been  saved  somewhat  more  than 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  241 

harmless,  will  not  surely  object  tto  giving  to  these  aged  widows  a 
small  yearly  testimonial,  that  the  people  of  this  generation  venerate 
that  patriotism  and  magnanimity  which,  half  a  century  ago,  could 
induce  women  to  give  up  their  youthful  joys  and  hopes,  for  the 
safety  and  independence  of  their  country. 

This  Bill  may  encounter  certain  specific  objections.  First,  be 
cause  the  militia  who  fought  in  the  Revolutionary  war  are  not 
placed  within  the  provisions  of  it.  They  are  not  placed  there  be 
cause  the  United  States  never  extended  the  principle  of  any  pension 
law  to  them  ;  because  they  never  applied  to  Congress  for  relief, 
nor  was  their  case,  originally,  or  by  the  re-commitment,  referred 
to  any  committee  ;  because  the  States,  to  which  they  belong,  have 
made  no  demand  on  the  nation  for  any  relief  for  them  ;  and  be 
cause,  as  it  is  believed,  the  States  alone  are  of  right  entitled  to 
make  such  demand,  and  to  receive  and  to  distribute  such  relief, 

Second.  Neither  six  months'  men,  nor  eight  months'  men,  are 
placed  within  the  provisions  of  the  Bill.  They  are  omitted,  because 
such  of  them  as  re-inlisted,  will  have  served  nine  months,  and  are 
provided  for  ;  and  because  such  as  did  not,  were  immediately  paid, 
and  suffered  nothing  by  delay,  very  little  by  depreciation,  or  by 
the  various  wants,  privations,  and  disasters,  which  followed  the 
army  in  almost  every  subsequent  portion  of  service. 

Third.  The  children  of  deceased  officers  and  soldiers  are  not 
placed  within  the  provisions  of  this  Bill.  They  were  excluded  be 
cause  it  is  believed  that,  in  very  few  instances,  they  could,  bene 
ficially  to  themselves,  have  been  retained.  For,  although  it  may 
be  perfectly  just  to  present  this  bounty  of  the  nation  to  the  officers 
and  soldiers  themselves,  exempted  from  the  claims  of  their  credit 
ors  ;  yet  is  it  much  doubted,  if  any  principle  of  justice  would  au 
thorize  Congress  to  pass  it  to  their  children,  under  this  exemption. 
Without  this,  it  is  believed  few  cases  exist  where,  after  paying  the 
debts  of  their  fathers,  this  bounty  would  ever  reach  the  children. — 
Besides,  this  bestowment  is  for  personal  merit ;  and,  therefore,  pe 
culiar  and  personal,  to  those  officers  and  soldiers  themselves.  We 
cannot  bring  such  children  into  this  provision,  until  we  first  adopt 
into  our  Republican  institutions  the  principle,  that  the  merits  of  the 
father  do  of  right  descend  to  the  son.  Then  may  we,  as  the  advo 
cates  of  this  measure  require  us  now  to  do,  render  offices,  honors, 
and  emoluments,  hereditary ;  and,  by  engrafting  this  thrifty  scion 

ej* 


242 


SPEECHES    OF 


of  aristocracy  upon  our  own  sturdy  democratic  stock,  ensure  to 
posterity  an  abundant  crop  of  that  kind  of  fruit  which  has  so  blest 
almost  all  other  nations  of  the  earth. 

Fourth.  This  Bill  does  not  exclude  from  its  provisions  those  who 
may  have  purchased  commutation  certificates.  It  was  not  forgot- 
ten  that  this  exclusion  was  once  adopted,  but  it  was  thought  that, 
upon  re-consideration,  this  opinion  would  be  changed.  Can  it  fairly 
be  expected  that  men,  now  far  advanced  in  life,  and  whose  whole 
fortune  in  1784,  consisted  in  this  kind  of  paper,  can,  at  this  late 
period,  distinctly  recollect  whether,  during  the  then  next  succeeding 
six  years,  they  ever  purchased  any  amount  of  the  same  kind  of 
paper  ?  Would  not  this  be  a  hard  rule  ?  Would  it  not  lay  a  snare 
for  the  doubting?  Would  it  not  exclude  many  of  the  honest? 
Why,  Sir,  these  officers  are  now  all  old  men.  The  youngest  of 
them  told  me,  the  last  autumn,  that  he  was  sixty-eight.  The  oldest 
is  eighty. 

There  is  a  time,  Sir,  when,  dimmed  by  age,  if  not  by  infirmities, 
the  eye  of  recollection  looks  back  in  vain  to  distinguish  each  partic 
ular  action  of  youthful  life.  This  rule  will  exclude  all  such  men. 
Their  doubts  will  be  sacred.  They  will  not  take  the  oath,  but  keep 
their  poverty,  and  their  peace  of  conscience.  Besides,  when  this 
paper  was  brought  in  such  quantities  into  the  market,  the  buying 
and  selling  of  it  became  a  business,  and  was  the  only  source  of 
subsistence  of  many  of  these  men.  All  these  must  be  excluded. 
In  a  country  where  so  much  of  the  medium  of  commerce  is  paper, 
passing  as  this  did,  would  it  not  be  anomalous,  if  the  mere  act  of 
having  purchased  any  species  of  it,  should  ever  be  followed  by  a 
penalty  ?  The  United  States  introduced  it  into  the  market.  They. 
by  making  it  payable  to  bearer,  made  it  a  circulating  medium  ; 
and  will  they  now  punish  any  part  of  those  who  received  it  as 
such  ? 

This  exclusion  is  placed  on  the  presumption  that  the  buyer  too! 
advantage  of  the  seller's  necessity,  and  obtained  his  paper  below  ite 
value.  It  was  not  so.  The  market  of  all  the  world  was  open  tc 
him  :  for  our  country  was  then  furnished  with  brokers,  both  Jeu 
and  Gentile.  It  was  not  the  necessity  of  the  holder,  but  the  uttej 
insolvency  of  the  maker,  which,  in  the  market,  brought  down  th( 
price  of  this  paper.  Would  it  not  be  remarkable  legislation,  if  t 
United  States -should  enact  a  law,  punishing  a  particular  dcscripti 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  243 

of  men  now,  for  what  was  the  necessary  effect  of  their  own  finan 
cial  arrangements  forty  years  ago  ?  Besides,  Sir,  most  of  these 
purchasers  were  meritorious.  One  class  of  them,  though  they  had 
no  reliance  on  the  pledges  of  Government,  yet  did  they  give  some 
thing  for  what  was  considered  worth  little  or  nothing,  because  it 
relieved  the  necessities  of  a  suffering  soldier.  Such  men  were  nu 
merous.  They,  when  these  unfortunate  men  wanted  their  property, 
and  could  pay  nothing  else,  received  those  certificates  of  them  in 
payment,  at  the  most  they  were  worth.  They  did  not  purchase 
this  paper  to  hoard  and  keep  it,  until  Government  should  fund  and 
pay  it  off.  They  did  not  believe  that  the  States  ever  would,  or 
could,  do  either  :  for  some  of  the  most  enterprizing  of  them  sold  it, 
and  united  to  build,  and  equip,  and  lade  ships  for  distant  markets  ; 
while  others  took  some  share  in  some  other  less  hazardous  com 
mercial  adventures.  Had  they  speculated  on  the  necessities  of  the 
soldier,  relying  on  the  good  faith  of  Government,  they  would  have 
kept  their  paper,  and  thereby  have  made  much  more  profitable 
voyages.  This  class  of  purchasers,  though  they  labored  for  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution,  yet  did  they  meet  the  funding  system, 
with  nothing,  or  nearly  nothing,  of  this  paper  in  their  possession. 
This  exclusion  would  cut  off  all  those  officers  comprehended  in 
this  very  meritorious  class  of  purchasers,  from  all  share  in  this 
provision. 

Another  class  of  these  men  did,  with  others,  purchase,  because 
they,  like  Washington,  still  held  their  reliance  on  the  good  faith  of 
the  nation.  Their  capital  gave  something  like  a  currency  to  this 
paper,  and  something  like  a  credit  to  the  United  States.  "  They 
hoped  against  hope."  For,  although  no  individual,  no  company, 
no  nation,  would  then  have  guaranteed  the  facts,  that  the  United 
States  would  ever  have  established  this  National  Government,  and 
ever  have  redeemed  their  National  Debt,  yet  these  men  did,  from 
the  fullness  of  their  faith  in  the  justice  of  their  country,  in  some  de 
gree,  and  to  some  extent,  guaranty  both  these  facts.-  Shall,  then, 
"  this  faith  be  accounted  to  them  for"  political  "  righteousness  ;"  or 
shall  this  clause  of  exclusion  mark  it  down  to  them  for  political 
delinquency  ? 

It  is,  therefore,  hoped,  that  this  Bill  will  not  be  rejected,  because 
it  does  not  exclude  from  its  provisions  those  who,  by  purchasing 
these  certificates,  sustained  the  credit  of  the  nation,  or  relieved  the 


244  SPEECHES    OF 

necessities  of  the  soldier ;  or  because  it  docs  exclude  the  militia, 
who  cannot  receive  any  relief,  unless  demanded,  received,  and 
distributed,  by  their  own  States  ;  nor  because  six  and  eight  months' 
men  receive  none  of  this  provision,  since  they,  though  very  merito 
rious,  yet  generally  entered  and  left  the  army  before  the  period  of 
its  greatest  perils,  losses,  and  sufferings  ;  nor  because  it  docs  not 
extend  the  national  bounty  to  the  children  of  deceased  officers  and 
soldiers,  forasmuch  as  this  could  not  be  done  without  rendering  per 
sonal  merit  hereditary,  and  thereby  subverting  the  very  foundation 
of  republican  virtue. 

Permit  me,  then,  Sir,  to  request  each  gentleman  of  this  committee 
to  look  at  this  provision  for  the  survivors  of  this  Army ;  and  then 
to  look  at  the  kind,  the  amount,  and  the  manner  of  their  payment. 
In  what  country  or  age  of  the  world,  in  modern  times,  was  ever, 
before  this,  such  an  Army  kept  in  the  field  five  years,  at  a  current 
expense  of  little  more  than  two  millions  of  dollars  ?  Place  over 
against  this  sum,  in  the  fiscal  accounts  of  the  nation,  the  one  hun 
dred  and  twenty  millions  expended  in  the  three  years'  war  of  1812, 
and  in  the  immense  difference  of  these  two  sums,  you  will  be  ena 
bled,  as  if  aided  by  a  glass,  to  catch  some  faint  outline  of  those 
times,  when  a  Revolutionary  soldier  fought  your  battles  for  sixty 
shillings  per  month,  and  while  travelling  home,  paid  seventy-five 
dollars  for  a  dinner.  Examine  the  account.  A  fearful  balance 
will  be  found  standing  against  the  nation  in  the  forum  of  conscience. 
Wipe  it  off,  I  pray  of  you,  Sir,  by  passing  the  provisions  of  this  Bill 
to  our  credit  in  that  ever-during  tribunal.  Suffer  not  the  impartial 
adjudications  of  history  to  be  there  recorded  against  us.  You  all 
must  recollect  the  self-devotion  of  that  young  hero  of  Palestine,  who, 
though  fainting  with  thirst,  yet  refused  to  taste  the  water  of  his 
native  spring,  presented  to  him  by  three  of  his  youthful  warriors, 
because  they  had  put  their  lives  in  their  hands,  and  cut  their  way 
through  the  enemy's  camp  to  obtain  it.  "  As  God  liveth,  it  is  your 
blood,"  exclaimed  the  generous  chieftain.  '«  I  may  not  drink  of 
it."  This  money  in  our  Treasury  is,  Sir,  the  blood  of  these  men. 
Give  it  back  to  them.  It  will  not  prosper  in  our  hands. 

If,  notwithstanding  these  things,  it  should  be  said  that  this  account 
has  been  compromised  with  these  men,  and  ultimately  settled,  let  it, 
if  you  please,  Sir,  be  so  considered  ;  but  do  not  forget  the  different 
results  of  this  compromise.  About  the  close  of  the  war,  the  whole 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S. 


245 


national  debt ;  all  Government  had  borrowed  of  foreigners  ;  all 
they  had  borrowed  of  citizens ;  all  the  United  States  owed  to  the 
several  States  ;  all  they  owed  to  the  army,  as  by  Madison,  Hamil 
ton,  and  Ellsworth,  is  reported  to  Congress,  in  their  address  to  the 
States,  amounted  to  forty-two  million  three  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  dollars.  What  would  the  amount  have  been,  had  you  paid 
your  armies  in  silver  and  gold  ?  What !  had  you  redeemed  your 
two  hundred  millions  of  Continental  money,  hundred  for  hundred,  in 
Spanish  milled  dollars  ?  The  Government  saved  some  portion  of 
the  immense  difference — how  ?  By  negotiations — with  whom  ? 
Those  men,  who,  in  the  Cabinet,  conducted  our  glorious  Revolution, 
are  worthy  to  be  held  in  everlasting  veneration.  Let  us,  Sir,  from 
the  savings  made  by  the  economical  negotiations  of  those  days, 
when  the  poverty,  and  not  the  will  of  the  Government  consented, 
draw  some  fair  and  honorable  provision  for  this  venerable  remnant 
of  the  Revolutionary  Army  ;  and,  attentive  to  that  voice  of  national 
magnanimity,  calling  to  us  from  every  region  of  our  country,  make 
one  redeeming  effort,  now,  in  the  times  of  maturity  and  abundance, 
to  soften  the  rigor  of  those  transactions,  which  grew  up  under  a  cold 
and  unpropitious  influence,  in  the  years  of  oppressed  and  parsimo 
nious  minority. 

Let  us,  however,  give  up  this  question  to  the  cavils  of  debate,  and 
allow  that  we  owe  these  men  nothing  ;  that  in  settlement  with  them, 
we  saved  nothing  ;  that  we  have  paid  them,  to  the  full,  the  amount 
of  their  wages  ;  and  in  a  manner,  too,  according  to  the  literal  terms 
of  the  contract.  Sir,  between  such  an  army  and  such  a  nation,  are 
there  not  some  higher  and  holier  feelings,  than  those  resulting  from 
the  gross  working-day  relations  of  mere  debt  and  credit  ?  Few 
men  live  now,  who  lived  in  those  days,  when  first  commenced  those 
higher  relations,  now  existing,  between  this  army  and  this  country ; 
few,  I  say,  whose  memory  fully  comprehends  the  stormy  years  of 
our  Revolution,  and  the  halcyon  days  of  our  prosperity.  Indeed, 
Sir,  since  this  provision  was  laid  on  your  table,  two  men  have  left 
the  world,  whose  illustrious  lives,  did,  like  the  bright  bow  of  Heaven, 
touch  the  two  extremes  of  this  varied  horizon.  They  owed  their 
glory  to  the  darkness  of  its  clouds  ;  their  lustre  to  the  brightness  of 
its  sunshine.  Enough,  however,  live,  who  do  know,  that  there  never 
was  before  such  an  army ;  such  a  service  ;  such  a  result. 


246 


SPEECHES    OF 


Without  this  army  our  Revolution  had  never  been  achieved. 
Instead  of  "  thus  sitting  ;.  thus  consulting  ;"  thus,  in  all  the  pride  and 
power  of  self-government,  we  had,  to  this  hour,  been  the  mere 
appurtenances  of  foreign  empire  ;  dragging  after  us  the  weary 
chain  of  colonial  dependence.  The  enterprising  trade  of  your 
fathers  was  confined  to  the  waters,  and  the  ports  of  Great  Britain. 
This  army  conquered  for  you  the  freedom  of  the  seas  and  the  com 
merce  of  the  world.  They  too  conquered  for  you,  the  lands,  from 
almost  the  waters  of  the  Mexican  Gulf  to  the  head  springs  of  the 
Mississippi ;  and  thus  finally  brought  into  your  acquisition  your 
whole  present  territory  ;  extending  over  the  broad  breast  of  the 
Continent,  from  ocean  to  ocean.  What  a  wilderness  of  wealth  ! 
What  a  teeming  parent  of  populous  and  powerful  States  !  The  old 
Colonies  were  mere  separate  Colonies.  The  Revolution  united 
their  hands,  and  formed  them  into  a  political  brotherhood.  This 
army  sustained  that  Union ;  placed  us  on  the  broad  basis  of  inde 
pendence  ;  and  we  are,  by  their  toils  and  jeopardies,  now  a  nation, 
among  the  most  efficient  and  prosperous.  Does  no  spirit  of  grati 
tude  call  on  this  nation  to  remember,  and  to  relieve  the  survivors  of 
that  army,  now,  as  they  are  "  old  and  weary  with  servipe  ?"  I 
pray  of  you,  Sir,  let  their  country  give  them  this  one  look  of  kind 
ness — pour  this  one  beam  of  gladness  on  the  desolate  twilight  of 
their  days. 

Does  any  one  doubt  whether  the  spirit  of  the  nation  will  go  along 
with  us,  in  making  this  provision  ?  Why,  Sir,  when  that  venerable 
man,  now  standing  in  the  canvass  yonder  on  your  wall,  two  years 
ago  stood  in  his  proper  person  on  this  floor,  the  whole  nation  seemed 
to  spring  forward  to  give  him  the  hand  of  gratulation.  Was  this 
done  because  he  was  the  noble  descendant  of  a  long  line  of  illustrious 
ancestors,  a  warrior  and  a  patriot  in  another  country  ?  Was  it  not 
rather  because  he  was  a  soldier  of  our  Revolutionary  army  ? 
When  he  travelled  from  city  to  city,  and  the  universal  People  went 
out  to  meet,  to  welcome,  and  to  receive  him  to  their  abodes,  was  it 
not  because  he  was  a  soldier  of  our  Revolutionary  army  ?  When, 
from  State  to  State  he  moved,  under  one  continued  shout  of  congrat 
ulation,  it  was  not  the  great  and  illustrious  nobleman,  but  the  long 
remembered  and  deeply  endeared  soldier  of  our  Revolutionary 
army,  whom  the  People  delighted  to  honor.  At  last,  when  he  left 
our  shores,  carrying  with  him  such  testimonials  as  were  appropriate 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  247 

for  such  a  nation  to  give,  and  such  a  man  to  receive,  no  American 
imagined,  though  such  was  the  fact,  that  we  had  been  doing  honors 
to  the  most  meritorious  man  in  Europe — all  men  believed  that  it  was 
but  the  expression  of  national  gratitude  to  the  soldier,  the  Revolu 
tionary  soldier,  who  had  devoted  his  youth,  his  fortune,  and  his 
blood,  in  defence  of  our  independence  !  Is  there  no  such  sentiment 
now  in  the  bosom  of  our  nation,  embracing,  warmly  embracing, 
these,  his  venerable  brothers  in  arms  ? 

At  the  last  great  national  festival  of  Independence,  the  first 
jubilee  of  our  country,  why  were  these  men,  by  a  kind  of  simulta 
neous  sentiment  "  beating  in  every  pulse,"  through  the  nation,  called 
out  to  assist  at  the  solemnities,  and  to  partake  of  the  joys  and 
festivities  of  the  day  ?  Was  this  done,  Sir,  merely  to  tantalize  their 
hopes  ?  or  was  it  done  to  assure  them,  that  already  the  voice  of  the 
People  had  awarded  to  them  this  provision,  and  that  they  were  only 
to  wait  until  the  forms  of  law  had  given  efficiency  to  this  award — 
until  the  recorded  enactments  of  their  Representatives  in  Congress 
had  embodied  and  promulgated  this  great  voice  of  the  People  ? 

Sir,  the  character  of  your  bestowment  on  Lafayette  depends  on 
the  fate  of  this  measure.  Make  this  provision  for  the  remainder  of 
your  Revolutionary  army,  and  this  and  that  will  forever  stand  on 
the  page  of  history,  as  illustrious  deeds  of  national  gratitude.  Send 
away  these,  his  meritorious  brothers  in  arms,  to  "  beg  their  bread 
through  realms  their  valor  saved,"  and  your  gifts  to  that  illustrious 
foreigner  will,  in  the  eyes  of  other  nations,  and  of  posterity,  serve 
only  to  purchase  for  you  the  character  of  a  poor  and  a  pitiful 
ostentation. 

After  all,  Sir,  what  is  this  vast  sum,  which,  if  bestowed  on  the 
survivors  of  the  army,  may,  as  some  anxious  gentlemen  have  inti 
mated,  exhaust  the  National  Treasury  ?  It  is  three  millions  of  dol 
lars  ;  three  dimes  a  head  to  our  whole  population  of  Ihe  last  census. 
This  too,  in  a  stock ;  a  legacy  charged  on  the  rich  inheritance 
which,  as  we  hope,  will  be  transmitted  by  us  to  our  children,  and 
who  will  rejoice  that  we  have  left,  them  something  to  do  in  .memory 
of  these  venerable  friends  of  their  fathers.  The  annual  interest  of 
this  sum,  at  five  per  cent,  will  amount  to  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars.  Our  very  school  boys  would  pay  it.  Yes,  Sir  ; 
they  would  pay  it.  I  have  a  boy  nine  years  old  ;  quite  as  much, 
and  no  more  patriotic  than  the  children  of  each  gentleman  in  this 


248  SPEECHES    OF,    &c. 

Hall ;  and  I  do  believe,  Sir,  I  could  reckon  up  among  my  constitu 
ents  six  hundred  and  ninety-nine  more,  the  fathers  of  such  sons,  all 
middling-interest  men  too  ;  nor  is  it  doubted  that  every  gentleman 
of  this  House  might,  from  his  own  district,  bring  into  the  enumera 
tion  quite  as  long  a  list.  There  are,  Sir,  of  this  description  of  boys 
in  the  United  States,  at  the  least,  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand. 
They  have  heard  much,  and  already  read  something  of  the  war  and 
of  the  army.  We  give  to  them  some  small  annual  subsidy,  more 
or  less,  to  purchase  the  toys  and  the  sports  of  childhood  ;  indeed, 
how  interesting  to  that  young  age  of  cheap  delights  !  Should  we, 
on  the  quarter-day  of  this  little  annuity,  say,  each  of  us,  to  our  little 
sons,  shall  I  give  you  all  this  dollar,  or  take  out  one  quarter  to  pay 
the  aged  survivors  of  the  army :  what,  Sir,  would  be  the  answer — 
the  unprompted,  simultaneous  answer,  and  in  the  most  animated 
note  of  delighted  childhood,  and  heard,  too,  if  such  a  voice  could  be 
so  heard,  from  one  end  to  the  other  of  our  country — what  would  it 
be  ?  Why,  Sir,  with  eyes  glistening  with  ecstacy,  with  imploring 
hands,  and  a  voice  hurried  with  eagerness,  they  would  exclaim, 
"  Give  it,  dear  father,  give  it  to  the  old  soldier  ;  we  can  be  very 
happy  with  much  less  play ;  but  they  cannot  live  without  bread." 


SPEECH  ON  THE  APPROPRIATION  BILL. 


IN  January,  1831,  Mr.  Stanberry,  of  Ohio,  moved  to  amend  the 
clause  in  the  General  Appropriation  Bill,  appropriating  salaries  to 
foreign  ministers,  by  striking  out  the  word  Russia,  and  substituting 
forty-five  for  fifty-four  thousand  dollars.  Upon  this  motion,  Mr. 
Burges  addressed  the  Committee,  in  the  following 

SPEECH. 

MR.  CHAIRMAN — The  present  is,  I  believe,  no  unusual  discussion. 
In  the  short  term  of  my  service  in  this  hall,  I  have  witnessed  sitting 
after  sitting  of  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  on  the  state  of  the 
Union,  where  the  quantum  of  salary,  compared  with  the  service  of 
foreign  ministers,  was  the  subject  of  most  stirring  debate.  When 
has  the  competency  of  this  House  to  move  such  debate  been  ques 
tioned  1  Never,  until  the  present  sitting  of  this  committee.  If  I 
am  mistaken,  I  ask  the  chairman  of  the  committee  on  Foreign  Re 
lations  to  tell  me  when  that  question  was  made  by  the  friends  of 
the  last  administration  ?  The  question  is  put  to  him  because  of  his 
proximity  to  the  executive  department,  and  because,  if  he  will  not 
give  it  a  candid  answer,  such  answer  can  be  expected  from  no  gen- 
tleman  in  this  hall. 

What  call,  then,  can,  by  any  usage,  be  at  this  time  made  on  this 
branch  of  the  government  to  throw  itself  at  the  very  foot  of  execu 
tive  subserviency  ?  Do  the  people  expect  this  from  us  ?  They 
have  placed  the  national  funds  at  our  control,  but  with  a  full  confi 
dence  in  our  fidelity  and  diligence,  and  under  no  fear  that  we  should 
unlock  the  treasury,  unless  paramount  public  interest  call  upon  us 
to  turn  the  key.  We  cannot  do  this  merely  because  required  to  do 
it  by  cabinet  ministers,  or  by  the  executive  under  their  advise 
ment.  This  House  has  ever  claimed  and  exercised  the  right  to 
deliberate,  to  debate,  and,  under  a  sound  discretion  of  its  own,  to 
decide  and  determine  all  claims  for  appropriation,  by  whomsoever, 


250  SPEECHES    OF 

or  for  whatsoever  purpose  they  may  have  been  made.  It'  missions 
of  minor  importance  were,  in  years  past,  questioned,  under  the  vigi 
lance  of  a  spirit  of  retrenchment,  without  a  fellow  in  former  times, 
may  we  not  now — although  that  spirit  has  been  touched,  and  put  to 
sleep  by  the  caduceus  of  the  State  Department — may  we  not  call  to 
our  aid  so  much  of  the  sober  watchfulness  of  the  best  days  of  our 
republic  as  may  enable  us,  with  due  diligence,  to  examine  such  a 
question  of  appropriation  as  this  item  of  this  Bill  has  brought  before 
us  ?  It  relates  to  no  mission  to  an  infant  nation,  or  some  inconsid 
erable  State  ;  but  to  our  long-established  legation  to  a  court  among 
the  most  illustrious  of  Europe,  and  involving  relations  pre-eminently 
interesting  to  our  country.  Innovations  relative  to  this  distin 
guished  mission  do,  above  many  others,  place  our  national  interests 
in  jeopardy.  Our  relations  with  Russia  have  hitherto  been  cher 
ished  and  sustained  by  a  Minister  Plenipotentiary  residing  near  that 
court,  at  that  court,  in  the  royal  city  of  Petersburgh,  and  within  the 
political  and  social  circle  of  the  Emperor  himself,  the  high  dignitaries 
of  his  government,  and  the  diplomatic  envoys  of  all  the  nations  of 
Europe,  and  many  of  those  of  Asia. 

What,  then,  is  the  question  before  the  committee,  under  the  item 
of  appropriation?  The  gentleman  from  Ohio,  (Mr.  Stanberry,) 
has  moved  to  strike  from  the  Bill  the  nine  thousand  dollars  proposed 
to  be  appropriated  for  payment  of  the  current  year's  salary  to  the 
gentleman  said  to  have  been  despatched  as  Minister  to  Russia. 
He  has  ably,  though  briefly,  sustained  his  motion.  I  trust  the 
committee  will  indulge  me  in  a  few  remarks  on  the  same  side  of 
the  question. 

The  item  itself  bears  no  mark  distinguishing  it  from  others  of  the 
same  kind,  or  giving  us  any  warrant  for  rejecting  this  while  those 
are  allowed.  We  must  look  to  other  documents  for  information 
concerning  this  mission,  and  our  obligations  to  furnish  money  for 
supporting  this  minister  at  the  court  of  St.  Petersburgh.  The  paper 
which  I  now  take  from  the  desk  before  me  contains  that  information. 
It  purports  to  be  the  annual  message  from  the  President  of  the  United 
States  to  Congress,  at  the  present  session.  It  certainly  bears  his 
signature,  and  was  sent  to  this  House  by  that  high  dignitary. 
Notwithstanding  these  facts,  the  document  must  be  received  and 
considered  entirely  as  the  production  of  cabinet  ministers.  No 
literary  gentleman  in  this  hall — I  mean,  no  member  of  this  House 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  251 

. — who  reads  and  examines  this  communication,  made  to  us  so  much 
at  length,  could,  I  think,  say,  without  hazard  of  their  reputation, 
that  he  believes  one  sentence  of  it  was  composed  by  the  distin 
guished  gentleman  whose  name  is  placed  at  the  end  of  it.  This, 
Sir,  is  not  said  for  any  purpose  of  derogation  from  the  eminent 
official  character  of  our  first  magistrate,  hut  for  a  very  different,  a 
much  more  important  purpose.  Are  gentlemen  aware  of  the  extent 
of  our  importation  of  European  politics  ?  Have  we  not  brought 
home,  and  put  into  use,  the  high  tory  maxim  of  their  monarchies, 
that  the  king  can  do  no  wrong  ?  Was  there  ever  a  time  in  our 
country  when  the  friends  of  any  administration,  other  than  the 
present,  believed  and  practised  this  article  of  political  faith  with 
more  unscrupulous  devotion  ?  The  cabinet  ministers  of  our  execu 
tive  have  taken  artful  council  from  this  fact.  As  European  minis 
ters,  being  answerable  with  their  heads  for  what  the  king,  their 
master,  may,  from  the  throne,  communicate  to  his  Lords  and 
Commons,  will  not  suffer  any  speech  but  of  their  own  contriving  to 
be  thus  communicated,  so,  the  adroit  ministers  of  our  cabinet,  taking 
shelter  under  the  executive  subserviency  of  the  times,,  have  not 
put  upon  the  nation  this  message,  but  the  President,  a  man  who,  if 
he  moved  at  all,  always  marched  straight  forward  to  his  object, 
they  have  betrayed  into  the  crooked  counsels  which  may,  by  dili 
gent  examination,  be  found  in  this  message,  sent  to  Congress  by 
them,  while  they  lie  sheltered  under  the  imposing  name  of  the  first 
dignitary  of  the  nation.  If  the  king  can  do  no  wrong,  thank  God 
ministers  may,  even  in  these  times,  be  made  accountable  for  the 
counsels  which  they  have  given  him.  "  The  right  divine  in  man" 
to  rule,  "  the  enormous  faith  of  many  made  for  one,"  comprehends 
in  its  creed  no  permanent  provision  for  any  sycophant  to  skulk  and 
screen  himself  behind  the  throne,  and  play  the  little  tyrant  with 
security. 

That  part  of  this  message,  from  which  we  learn  the  character  of 
this  mission  to  Russia,  is  all  of  it  which  now  it  concerns  us  to  exam 
ine.  Our  foreign  relations  are  a  branch  of  the  Department  of  State  ; 
and  this  mission  was  contrived,  and  the  account  of  it  contained  in  the 
message,  has  been  given  to  us  by  the  Secretary  of  that  Department. 
The  gentleman  from  North  Carolina,  (Mr.  Carson,)  has  read  this 
account  for  one  purpose — suffer  me  to  read  it  for  another. 


252 


SPEECHES    OF 


"Our  relations  with  Russia  are  of  the  most  stable  character. 
Respect  for  that  empire,  and  'confidence  in  its  friendship  towards 
the  United  States.,  have  been  so  long  entertained  on  our  part,  and 
so  carefully  cherished  by  the  present  Emperor  and  his  illustrious 
predecessor,  as  to  have  become  incorporated  with  the  public  senti 
ment  of  the  United  States. . 

"  I  sincerely  regret  to  inform  you  that  our  Minister  lately  com-; 
missioned  to  that  court,  on  whose  distinguished  talents  and  great 
experience  in  public  affairs  I  place  great  reliance,  has  been  com 
pelled,  by  extreme  indisposition,  to  exercise  a  privilege  which,  in 
consideration  of  the  extent  to  which  his  constitution  had  been 
impaired  in  the  public  service,  was  committed  to  his  discretion,  of 
leaving  temporarily  his  post  for  the  advantages  of  a  more  genial 
climate. 

"  I  have  received  the  most  satisfactory  assurance  that,  in  the 
mean  time,  the  public  interests  in  that  quarter  will  be  preserved 
from  prejudice,  by  the  intercourse  which  he  will  continue,  through 
the  Secretary  of  Legation,  with  the  Russian  Cabinet." 

Am  I  not  correct  in  saying  that  this  fabric  was  wrought  in  the 
Department  of  State?  Who  but  Mr.  Secretary  Van  Buren  would 
have  devised  such  a  mission,  or  selected  such  a  man  to  fill  it,  or 
cause  such  a  printed  paper  to  be  sent  to  this  house  ?  We  are  told 
by  it  that  our  long  established  legation  to  Russia  has  been  totally 
changed ;  and  that,  in  place  of  a  permanently  resident  Minister  at 
that  court,  regardless  of  the  "public  service,  a  mission  has  been 
invented  to  suit  the  talents,  the  health,  habits,  and  disposition  of  the 
distinguished  individual  for  whom  it  was  designed !  By  the  very 
terms  of  the  mission,  this  individual  is  required  to  repair  to 
Russia,  but  is  authorized  to  leave  that  court,  and  that  empire, 
whenever  his  health  (and  of  that  he  alone  is  the  judge)  may  require 
it.  Who  but  the  Machiavelian  politician  at  the  head  of  the  State 
Department  would  have  advised  the  President  to  such  a  mission,  or 
dared  to  place  on  a  document,  prepared  to  be  sent  to  this  House, 
such  a  statement  of  its  commencement,  progress,  and  present  con 
dition  ?  In  what  part  of  the  constitution,  or  laws  of  the  United 
States,  or  of  the  usages  of  this  government,  does  he  find  any  thing 
in  support  of  the  measure  ?  It  will  not  be  hazarding  very  much  to 
say,  that  this  House  was  never,  before  this  time,  called  upon  to  pay 
such  a  salary  for  such"  services. 


TRISTAM    SURGES.  253 

This  distinguished  Minister  to  Russia  is  John  Randolph.  How 
does  he  understand  the  terms  on  which  he  agreed  to  embark  on 
this  mission  ?  The  course  of  conduct  pursued  by  him  since  his 
departure  may  give  us  some  knowledge  on  the,  point.  We  are  left 
in  nearly  utter  darkness  by  the  Department  of  State  concerning  all 
the  movements  of  this  Minister  ;  for  the  message  merely  tells  us  that 
he  has  already  taken  benefit  under  the  sinecure  clause  in  his  charter 
of  legation.  He  has  left  the  court  of  our  illustrious  friend,  the  Auto 
crat  of  all  the  Russias  ;  but  when,  or  for  what  other  region  ?  Here 
the  Secretary  is  cautiously  silent.  The  chairman  of  the  committee 
on  Foreign  Relations  has  been  equally  so.  Can  any  gentleman  of 
this  committee  either  indoctrinate  us  into  this  great  mystery  of 
State,  or  give  us  the  light  of  a  single  fact  concerning  the  voyages 
and  travels  of  this  Minister  of  ours ;  and  let  us  know  whether  he 
is  now  moving  or  stationary  ?  Where  is  John  Randolph  ?  Where 
is  our  ambassador,  for  whose  public  services  Mr.  Van  Buren  is 
calling  upon  us  to  provide  a  salary  ?  We  are  told  that  he  is  not 
where  he  was  sent ;  and  that  he  had  permission  to  go  thence  when 
and  whither  he  might  choose  ;  but  whether  he  is  in  pursuit  of  health, 
now  basking  in  the  sunshine  of  Naples,  or,  for  a  like  purpose,  trav 
ersing  "  the  fog  wrapt  island  of  Britain,"  we  are  left  to  learn  from 
the  same  authentic  documents  from  which  the  chairman  of  the  com 
mittee  on  Foreign  Relations  seems  to  have  taken  advice ;  rumor, 
and  the  public  papers.  These  have  "  talked  of  his  whereabouts;" 
and,  though,  without  giving  daily  bulletins  of  his  health,  habits,  or 
motions  ;  yet  their  right  to  speak,  and  our  right  to  hear,  cannot  be 
questioned,  when  those  who  know  and  could  tell  us  the  whole 
truth,  persevere  in  a  safe  and  cautious  silence.  ^  j 

If  we  are  left  by  the  Secretary  without  knowledge  of  his  move 
ments  or  localities,  we  are  equally  uninstructed  by  him  concerning 
the  health  of  this  ambassador.  We  are  merely  told  that  he  has 
already  availed  himself  of  his  right  by  the  terms  of  his  commission, 
to  abandon  the  public  service.  In  what  state  of  health  was  he  then, 
is  he  now,  or  probably  will  he  be,  at  any  future  time  ?  For  legislating 
on  this  subject,  in  what  a  luminous  condition  this  present  Secretary 
has  placed  this  House  !  We  have  an  equally  distinct  view  of  the 
past,  the  present,  and  the  future.  Does  any  gentleman  of  this 
committee  possess  the  power  to  tell  us  whether  John  Randolph 
might  now,  or  ever  can  be  required,  by  the  terms  of  his  legation,  to 


254  SPEECHES    OF 

return  to  the  court  of  Russia  ?  Is  not  this  salary  intended  to  be 
given  to  him  for  the  distinguished  services  already  rendered  at  that 
court  ?  If  his  health  continue  to  require  it,  he  has,  we  are  told,  the 
right  to  choose  his  place  of  residence.  What  are,  what  have  been 
his  own  opinions  concerning  that  health  ?  You  have  all  seen  him 
walk  into  this  House,  and  out  of  it,  and  must  know  his  own  opinions 
concerning  his  own  health.  We  have  often  heard  him  pronounce 
his  chronic  complaint,  "  a  church-yard  cough."  In  winter,  "  he 
should  not  live  over  corn-planting;"  in  seed  time,  "he  should  die 
before  harvest."  He  has  for  years  been  travelling  from  New- York 
to  Liverpool,  from  England  to  France,  from  America  to  Europe, 
and  from  Europe  to  America,  in  pursuit  of  health.  Has  he  not, 
from  all  this,  learned  that  neither  time  nor  travel  can  bring  back  to 
age  the  bloom  of  youth,  or  to  infirmity,  the  vigor  of  health  1  Were 
he,  at  this  moment,  to  walk  into  this  hall,  wrapped,  from  the  floor 
to  the  eyes,  in  flannel  and  fearnought,  what  would  he  tell  you,  Sir, 
concerning  his  health  ?  What,  of  his  intended  residence  in  Russia  ? 
No,  Sir,  if  he  be  the  judge — (and  who  but  he  can  be  the  judge  of 
his  own  health  ?) — he  will  never  again  return  to  the  court  of  the 
Czar.  We  are,  therefor,  directed  and  required,  by  the  Secretary 
of  State,  to  appropriate  the  item  of  nine  thousand  dollars  for  the 
salary  of  a  public  minister,  who  has  been  in  the  public  service,  at 
the  place  of  his  destined  residence,  not  much  more  than  a  like  num 
ber  of  days.  He  arrived  at  St.  Petersburgh,  was  presented  to  the 
Emperor,  made  his  bow,  or  genuflexion,  retired,  and  went  to — 
England  ?  France  ?  Italy  ?  or  where  ?  No  mortal  man,  on  this  side 
the  Atlantic,  can  inform  us. 

During  this  nine  days  residence,  what  service  did  he  render  to 
the  American  people  ?  The  Secretary  is  satisfied  ;  and  we  surely 
ought  not  to  be  anxious  about  this  great  affair.  We  are  told  it  is 
a  matter  exclusively  within  the  competency  of  the  executive ;  and, 
therefore,  it  is,  I  presume,  considered,  that  the  representatives  of 
the  people  have  no  other  vocation  but  to  vote  the  promised  and  re 
quired  compensation.  He  certainly  succeeded,  even  in  that  short 
time,  in  rendering  himself  very  distinguished  at  the  court  of  Russia  ; 
and,  therefore,  it  may  be  said,  in  giving  equal  celebrity  to  his  coun 
try.  He  certainly  gave  voice  to  every  tongue  of  rumor  in  both 
hemispheres.  His  mission  will  hereafter  be  regarded  as  an  era  in 
our  foreign  relations  ;  and  the  residence  of  Randolph  at  the  court 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  255 

of  Russia  will  long  be  talked  of  as  a  phenomenon  in  diplomacy. 
For  this  we  must  give  him  the  nine  thousand  dollars  demanded_by 
the  Secretary. 

What  could  such  a  man  do  for  his  country  in  the  character  of  a 
foreign  minister  1  Just  what  he  has  done  ;  which  was  very  much 
like  what  each  man  in  the  nation,  of  all  parties,  who  knew  him, 
must  have  expected  he  would  do.  Genius  he  certainly  has  ;  for  he 
is  original,  and  unlike  all  other  men.  If  you  please,  he  is  eloquent ; 
but  if  so,  that  eloquence  is  like  himself,  sui  generis.  These  have 
enabled  him  to  perform  what  he  has  done ;  could  they  qualify  him 
for  the  services  of  a  great  diplomatic  minister?  Do  not  these 
require  sound  judgment ;  deep,  extensive  and  regular  thinking ; 
laborious  perseverance  in  business ;  and,  above  all,  prudence  and 
vigilant  circumspection  ?  In  his  thirty  years'  public  service,  where 
are  the  monuments  of  his  political  wisdom,  and  labors  of  patriotism? 
They  are  all  of  a  piece  ;  of  one  uniform  character  ;  and  this  Russian 
residence  will  neither  give  the  blush,  or  the  palm  to  any  other  public 
transaction  of  this  remarkable  man  throughout  his  political  life. 

With  a  perfect  knowledge  of  this  man,  the  Secretary  of  State 
could  not  have  contrived  this  legation,  so  different  from  all  others, 
with  any  views  to  the  public  service.  This  man  was  sent  out  not 
to  benefit  the  people  abroad,  but  to  relieve  the  administration  at 
home.  The  crafty  Secretary  had  witnessed  the  political  movements 
of  this  eccentric  man.  He  feared  the  comet  might  return  again 
and  visit  his  political  hemisphere.  He  had  seen  it  blaze  in  peri- 
helium — 

"  With  fear  of  change  perplexing  men  in  power." 

Was  it  not  prudent  to  remove  this  star  of  malign  influence  to  another 
sky  ?  It  has  been  done  ;  and  the  nation  must  pay,  not  for  a  mission 
made  for  the  advancement  of  their  interests,  but  made  to  secure  the 
political  power  of  the  Secretary. 

We  have  been  told  that  our  relations  with  Russia  are  of  high  and 
important  interest ;  and,  therefore, '  we  cannot  dispense  with  this 
appropriation,  because,  if  we  refuse  this  salary,  we  shall  defeat  the 
mission.  Should  this  mission,  by  which  no  public  benefit  was 
intended,  and  from  which  none  can  be  hoped,  be  recalled,  it  may  be 
replaced  by  one  of  better  purpose,  and  efficient  character.  It  is  an 
obstruction  in  the  "  straight  forward"  path  of  our  relations  with 
Russia,  and  we  are  laboring  to  abate,  or  to  remove  it  out  of  the  way. 


256  SPEECHES    OF 

Our  relations  with  that  government  are  truly  important.  That 
empire  is  perhaps  the  most  numerous  in  population,  and  certainly 
the  most  extensive  in  territory,  of  any  power  on  the  globe.  No 
nation  of  the  old  world,  otherwise  than  by  colonies,  approach  so 
near  to  us.  This  people  are  advancing  in  civilization,  wealth,  and 
power,  beyond  any  example  in  their  former  history.  In  the  last 
controversy  of  arms,  between  Russia  and  the  Ottoman  empire,  had 
not  other  powers  of  Europe  interposed  a  shielding  hand,  the  Moslem, 
after  a  dominion  of  more  than  four  centuries  in  the  fairest  part  of 
Europe,  had  been  driven  beyond  the  Bosphorus  ;  and  the  Autocrat 
of  Russia  would  have  ascended  the  throne  of  Constantino.  At  all 
times,  our  relations  with  such  a  power  must  be  important  to  the 
American  people.  Are  those  relations  taken  care  of  now,  as  here 
tofore  they  have  been,  and  as  now  especially  they  ought  to  be  ? 

Yes,  Sir,  I  say  as  now  they  should  be.  For  now  Europe  is  con 
vulsed,  and  agitated  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Baltic.  The 
flame  of  war  is  but  just  repressed.  Troops  are  called  into  the  field, 
in  almost  every  nation  ;  and  Russia,  in  a  kind  of  winter  campaign, 
has  sent  out  two  hundred  thousand  soldiers  to  her  south-western 
frontier,  to  look  out  on  the  old  battle-fields  of  Belgium  and  France. 
In  this  condition  of  Europe,  do  we  not  require  an  able,  a  diligent,  a 
resident  Minister  at  Russia?  Withhold  this  appropriation,  abolish 
this  sinecure  legation,  and  this  may  be  effected. 

One  other  fact  in  the  history  of  our  diplomacy  renders  the  resi 
dence  of  a  skilful,  faithful  Minister  at  that  Court,  at  this  time,  above 
all  others,  indispensable.  We  learn  from  the  Department  of  State, 
through  the  same  medium,  this  message,  that  a  treaty  of  amity  and 
commerce  has  been  negotiated  between  the  United  States  and  the 
Sublime  Porte.  The  Secretary,  with  great  candor,  told  us  what 
the  Turk  had  agreed  to  do  for  the  Christian — but  he,  with  great 
caution,  concealed  what  the  Christian  had  agreed  to  do  for  the 
Turk.  This  gentleman  is  as  well  persuaded  as  the  French  mon 
arch  was,  that  "  he  who  knows  not  how  to  dissemble,  knows  not 
how  to  rule."  Rumor  has  run  clean  counter  to  Mr.  Van  Buren  ; 
for  though  she  often  tells  more  than  the  truth,  she  never  tells  less. 
What  have  we  learned  from  this  witness  ?  Why,  truly,  that  a 
secret  article  is  contained  in  this  treaty,  and  the  fact  was,  I  believe, 
published  in  the  newspapers  before  we  received  the  message.  It 
is  said,  it  is  believed,  that  by  this  article  the  American  people  agree 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  257 

to  furnish  armed  ships  to  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  in  his  future  wars 
with  Christian  nations.  Do  you  believe,  Sir,  that  our  Envoy  had 
left  Constantinople  before  the  Russian  Minister  at  the  Porte  knew 
this  fact  ?  The  very  drogoman,  by  whom  your  Mr.  Rhind  talked  with 
Reis  Effendi,  would,  for  half  a  plate  of  piasters,  have  told  the  whole 
story  to  Count  Orloff;  and  sworn  he  was  doing  good  service  to  the 
Prophet  by  betraying  one  Christian  dog  to  another.  Sir,  has 
friendship  for  the  Russian  Empire  been  so  cherished  by  the  present 
Sovereign,  and  his  illustrious  predecessor,  that  it  has  become  a 
sentiment  of  the  American  people  ?  Is  not  this  secret  article  a, 
diplomatic  fraud,  not  only  on  that  friendship,  but,  which  it  quite  as 
much  concerns  us  to  consider,  upon  that  Sovereign  who  has  so 
generously  cherished  it  ?  I  say  nothing  now  of  what  may  happen, 
if  the  Turk  should  again  war  upon  the  Greek,  or  how  it  may  com- 
port  with  the  republican  principles  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  when 
he  shall  call  on  this  House  to  furnish  ships  to  that  despot,  thereby 
aiding  him  in  bringing  that  people  again  under  his  iron  yoke.  What 
shall  we  say  to  the  Emperor  of  Russia  ?  Who  shall  make  our 
explanation,  if  we  shall  have  any  to  make  ?  It  is  probable  that  the 
news  of  this  treaty,  and  perhaps  a  copy  of  it,  reached  the  Court  of 
St.  Petersburgh  shortly  after  our  Minister  left  that  city.  The 
shortness  of  his  residence  there,  the  suddenness  of  his  departure,  the 
intelligence  of  this  secret  article,  the  intended  sojourn  of  that  Minis, 
ter,  perhaps  in  England, "perhaps  in  France,  the  attitudes  of  the 
nations  of  Europe,  all  giving  dreadful  note  of  preparation  for  war, 
must  have  had  some  tendency  to  place  our  relations  with  Russia  on 
a  footing  not  the  most  firm  and  friendly.  Does  not  sound  policy — 
does  not  national  good  sense,  call  on  the  American  people  to  have 
an  able  Minister  at  that  Court,  and  that,  too,  right  speedily  ?  Have 
we  one  there  now  ?  Under  the  mission  for  which  this  appropria 
tion  is  to  be  made,  are  we  likely  soon,  or  ever,  I  do  not  say  to  have 
such  a  man  there,  but  to  have  there  any  Minister  at  all  ? 

In  answer  to  all  these  anxious  forebodings,  we  are  told  that,  in 
this  absence  of  the  Minister,  the  Secretary  of  Legation  takes  very 
special  and  satisfactory  care  of  our  relations  at  the  Court  of  St, 
Petersburgh.  If  this  were  not  too  ludicrous,  it  must  be  received  as 
a  mere  mockery  of  the  American  people.  When  this  paragraph 
came  from  under  his  pen,  Mr.  Secretary  Van  Buren  must,  if  he 
lad  placed  his  hand  there,  have  felt  something  on  his  face  different 


258  SPEECHES    OF 

from  the  eternal  smile.  Who  is  the  Secretary  of  Legation  1  The 
protege  of  the  Minister,  John  Randolph  Clay — a  lad  of  less,  or 
certainly  not  more,  than  twenty-one  years  old ;  undistinguished  by 
talents,  education,  or  employment ;  without  acquaintance  with  men, 
or  things,  or  business.  A  youth  to  whom  fame  has  not,  nor  have 
his  friends,  attributed  any  thing  extraordinary,  either  in  possession 
or  promise,  and  with  nothing  but  his  sirname  to  recommend  him  to 
public  attention.  I  would  not,  I  cannot,  speak  in  derogation  of  this 
youth  ;  and  all  I  would  say,  is,  that  he  must  be  utterly  unqualified 
for  the  public  station  where  he  is  placed.  The  service  requires 
men  ;  the  nation  has  able  men;  Herculean  men.  Why  then  hazard 
our  interests,  perhaps  our  peace,  by  placing  the  weight  of  empires 
on  the  slender  shoulders  of  boyhood  ?  Let  us  strike  out  this  appro 
priation,  that  this  sinecure,  this  state  mission,  may  be  avoided ;  that 
the  Minister  may  return  to  his  "  Constituents,"  the  Secretary  to  his 
studies;  and  that  the  PRESIDENT  may  send  a  Legation  to 
Russia  fit  for  the  public  service. 

As  it  will  not  be  contended  that  this  appropriation  should  be 
made  because  the  gentleman,  who  may  take  the  benefit  of  it,  is  a 
native  of  Virginia  ;  so  may  gentlemen  be  assured  that  these  remarks 
have  no  sectional  origin  ;  and  I  utterly  disclaim  any,  and  all  adver 
sary  feeling  to  that  distinguished  commonwealth,  her  interests,  and 
her  citizens.  I  have  spoken  as  one  of  the  representatives  of  the 
American  people  ;  and  as  one,  coming  from  a  part  of  our  common 
country,  which  has  done,  and  will  do  as  much  for  the  illustrious 
men  of  Virginia,  as  any  other  part  of  this  nation.  This  appropria 
tion  is  opposed,  because  it  is  intended  to  support  a  mission,  framed 
for  purposes  unconnected  with  the  public  interests,  places  our  for- 
eign  relations  in  peril,  and  is  without  any  justification  in  law  usage, 
or  constitutional  principle. 


**• 


SPEECH  ON  THE  APPROPRIATION  BILL. 


Messrs.  Barbour  and  Coke  of  Virginia,  Mr.  Wayne  of  Georgia, 
and  Mr.  Cambreleng  of  New- York,  severally  attacked  Mr.  Burges 
for  his  remarks  on  Mr.  Stanberry's  motion.  On  the  15th  of  Janu 
ary,  1831,  he  thus  addressed  the  House  in  reply  to  those  gentlemen. 

SPEECH. 

MR.  SPEAKER  : — Permit  me  to  justify  myself,  under  all  which 
has  been  said,  both  against  me,  and  against  whatever  has  been  here 
advanced  by  me  in  support  of  the  motion  made  by  the  gentleman 
from  Ohio.  With  the  indulgence  of  this  House,  it  may  be  well  to 
look  back  to  the  question  made  by  the  motion  ;  for  gentlemen  in 
their  zeal  to  eulogize  the  Minister,  or  to  abuse  those  who  doubt  the 
correctness  of  his  appointment,  have  departed  almost  entirely  from 
the  matter  in  issue  before  us. 

The  objection  to  this  appropriation,  and  the  motion  to  strike  it 
from  this  Bill,  have  been  made,  because  it  is  proposed  for  payment 
of  a  salary  to  a  foreign  minister,  who,  by  his  commission  of  legation, 
or  by  certain  secret  articles  given  to  him,  is  authorized  to  leave  the 
Court  to  which  he  is  sent,  to  go  to  any  other  country,  whenever,  in 
his  own  opinion,  his  health  may  require  it ;  and  not  to  return  to 
that  Court  so  long  as,  according  to  the  same  opinion,  it  may  be 
injurious  to  his  health  to  do  so.  We  deny  such  mission  to  be  a 
legal  one  :  we  deny  that  the  salary  provided  by  law  for  foreign 
ministers,  is,  or  ever  can  be,  due  to  any  man  sent  abroad  under  such 
credentials  :  with  such  privileges  reserved,  and  such  powers  granted 
to  him,  not  to  the  public,  but  to  his  own  use.  The  objection  to  this 
appropriation  has,  therefore,  not  been  made  because  the  gentleman 
was,  when  sent  abroad,  and  had  long  been,  a  valetudinarian  :  or, 
because,  if  then  in  health,  that  health,  exhausted  by  the  toils  of 
diplomacy,  might  require  relaxation  and  relief  from  public  service. 
No,  Sir  ;  nor  because  that  refreshment  might  not  be  found  unless 


260  SPEECHES    OF 

under  a  milder  sky,  and  by  removing  to  a  more  genial  climate  than 
that  of  Russia.  Such  things  may  excite,  as  they  certainly  have 
excited,  the  special  wonder  of  the  nation  ;  and  they  are,  and  will  be 
very  proper  topics  of  debate,  when  considering  the  "State  pur- 
poses"  of  this  mission:  but  they  have  not  been  nor  will  they  be  made 
the  grounds  of  objection  to  the  appropriation  of  this  item  in  the  Bill. 

We  object  to  this  salary  on  account  of  the  illegality  of  this  mis 
sion,  and  because  the  Secretary  of  State,  knowing  the  enfeebled 
health  of  Mr.  Randolph — knowing  his  inability  to  attend  to  the 
laborious  details  of  that  public  service — knowing  that  his  constitu 
tion  could  not  endure  either  the  winter  or  summer  climate  of  Russia, 
did  invent  this  mission,  and  did  advise  the  President  to  send  out  this 
gentleman  with  credentials  as  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister 
Plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  at  the  Court  of  his  Imperial 
Majesty  the  Emperor  of  Russia ;  and  at  the  same  to  give  him  a 
commission,  no  matter  for  what  cause,  to  reside  as  such  Minister, 
in  whatever  country  he  might  choose  to  reside.     Such  a  mission 
cannot  be  formed — such  a  minister  cannot  be  sent  abroad,  either 
under  our  laws  or  our  constitution,  or  under  the  usages  and  laws  of 
nations.     I  ask  the  attention  of  the  House,  therefore,  to  the  inquiry, 
whether  this  salary  can  be  due  for  an  illegal  and  void  mission  ? 
whether  it  can  be  due  as  a  quantum  meruit,  or  as  a  pro  rata  com- 
pensation  for  the  services  which  were    rendered  at  the  Court  of 
Russia ;  or,  last  of  all,  whether  it  can  be  due,  because  this  mission 
may  subserve  certain  purposes,  highly  useful  to  the  Secretary  of 
State  ?     Before  these  inquiries  can,  to  the  best  purpose,  be  made,  it 
is  proper  to  give  some  reply  to  what  has  been  offered  by  several 
gentlemen  against  this  motion.     These  gentlemen  have  said  less  to 
support  this  appropriation,  than  to  impugn  the  motives  of  those  who 
oppose  it.     With  my  motives  the  gentlemen  are  welcome  to  amuse 
themselves.     The   storm  of  their  abuse    passed  over  me,  as  the 
winter  storms  of  my  native  New-England  have  often  passed  over 
the  humble  dwelling  of  my  boyhood,  without  shaking  a  stone  from 
the  chimney,  or  starting  a  shingle  on  the  roof.     I  have  too  much 
respect  for  myself  to  believe  that  they  have  abused  me  from  the 
wantonness  of  malice,  but  do  believe  it  was  done  simply  because 
they  could  find  nothing  to  say  more  appropriate  to  the  question. 

This  motion  has  been  made  to  protect  the  rights  of  the  nation 
against    the    encroachments    of  power.     Those    who    resist   such 

-•-'-:'•    • 


TRISTAM    B  URGES.  261 

encroachments  and  assaults  of  power,  must  always  expect  to 
encounter  vociferous,  if  not  infuriated  adversaries.  I  have  not 
entered  this  warfare  without  "counting  the  cost.'*  A  school  of 
high  authority  taught  me,  that,  in  a  war  of  aggression,  "  He  who 
takes  the  sword  shall  perish  by  the  sword," — but  in  a  war  of 
defence,  "let  him  who  has  no  sword  sell  his  coat  and  buy  one." 

How  then  has  our  defence  been  met  and  answered  ?  How  by 
the  gentleman  from  Virginia  ?  (Mr.  Barbour.)  First  of  all,  I  am 
accused  of  objecting  to  this  appropriation,  because  it  is  for  the  use" 
of  a  Virginian.  In  this  the  gentleman  is  utterly  mistaken.  I 
informed  him  of  this  error  in  a  few  moments  after  he  had  taken  his 
seat.  He  has,  notwithstanding,  chosen  to  put  this  error  in  print. 
Suffer  me,  Sir,  in  my  place,  and  beforelhis  House,  to  protest  against 
this  procedure.  The  gentlemen  who  heard  me  then,  and  who  do 
me  the  honor  to  hear  me  now,  I  call  to  witness,  that  I  said  no  such 
thing ;  and  I  should  have  nothing  to  regret,  could  my  protestation 
be  made  the  printed  companion  of  the  gentleman's  allegation  against 
me,  and  travel,  side  by  side,  with  it,  under  the  eye  of  the  nation. 
This,  I  know,  cannot  be  done  :  and  I  must  suffer  the  imputation, 
wherever  his  speech  is  read,  without  my  correction  of  its  errors. 
Be  it  so  ;  but  I  believe  there  is  too  much  good  sense,  and  too  much 
moral  sentiment  in  Virginia,  to  set  down  one  of  their  fellow  men  as 
quite  so  stupid,  or  quite  so  malevolent. 

The  gentleman  alleges  that  I  considered  this  mission  as  a  bribe 
offered  to  Virginia.  This  might  have  been  said  by  me,  because  I 
believed  it  to  be  true.  If  said,  was  it  said,  or  could  it  be  intended, 
in  derogation  of  Virginia  ?  Is  Virginia  dishonored  by  this  attempt 
of  the  wily  Secretary  ?  I  did  not,  and  no  man  will  intimate  that 
Virginia  had  even  looked  with  a  favorable  eye  on  this  bribe,  this 
splendid  bestowment.  Not  those  who  hear,  but  those  who  .listen  to 
the  song  of  the  syren,  and  are  allured  by  the  enchantment,  become 
debased  by  the  temptation.  Sir,  temptations  are  spread  over  the 
whole  path  of  our  lives,  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  The  entice 
ments  of  pleasure  beset  our  youth  ;  the  toils  of  ambition  are  spread 
for  our  vigorous  manhood  ;  and  in  old  age,  the  honest  amor  habendi, 
when  all  other  loves  are  frozen  in  the  heart,  allures  the  dim  eye  to 
gaze  at,  and  the  sure  ear  to  listen  to,  the  glittering  beauties  and 
golden  melodies  of  avarice. 


262  SPEECHES    OF 

Arc  we  dishonored,  because,  in  the  language  of  Sir  William  Jones. 
"  vice  is  permitted  to  spread  her  snares  around  us,  that  the  triumph 
of  virtue  may  be  more  conspicuous?"  The  ermine  of  the  judge  is 
not  tarnished  because  some  unprincipled  litigant  has  craftily  prof- 
fered  a  bribe  to  the  Court.  The  name  of  the  insulted  Lucretia  has 
arrived  to  us  after  a  journey  of  more  than  two  thousand  years.  Is 
it  soiled  by  time,  or  by  the  breath  of  any  one  of  the  millions  of  mil 
lions  who  pronounced  it  ?  That  name,  Sir,  like  the  Alps  of  her 
own  Italy,  whose  tops  nearest  to  heaven,  are  cov£red  with  eternal 
snow,  is  the  monument  of  imperishable  purity  ;  while  the  name  of  the 
treacherous  and  cowardly  Tarquin,  scarred  with  infamy,  will  be,  ag 
it  has  been,  throughout  all  time,  the  name  of  whatever  is  most  vile 
and  odious.  Sir,  Virginia  is  not  dishonored  ;  thG  tempter,  and  not 
the  tempted,  will  suffer  the  infamy  of  the  deed. 

The  gentleman  from  Virginia,  (Mr.  Barbour,)  would  overthrow 
our  objections  to  this  appropriation  by  eulogizing  the  man  sent  on 
the  mission.  He  alludes  to  the  monuments  of  Mr.  Randolph's 
fame  ;  and  lest  men  should  call  on  him  to  show  where  they  are,  he 
has  placed  them  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen,  where  no  being 
but  the  searcher  of  hearts,  could  discover  their  existence.  What 
indications  has  Virginia  given  that  those  monuments  are  where  the 
gentleman  has  located  them  ?  He  has  long  been  a  Representative 
in  Congress  from  that  State.  This  is  something  in  his  favor  ;  but 
from  a  State  so  long  separated  into  districts,  it  is  not  conclusive. 
It  is  so  confined  to  his  constituents,  and  only  proves,  what  the  gen- 
tleman  himself  has  often  asserted  on  this  floor,  "  that  never  had 
man  such  constituents."  He  represented  the  whole  State  in  the 
Senate — true  ;  but  this  was  for  tlie  fragment  only  of  a  term.  Why 
was  he  not  re-appointed  1  The  interests,  the  honor,  and  high  dig 
nity  of  Virginia  had  been  placed  under  his  guardianship.  How 
did  he  perform  the  offices  created  by  these  trusts  ?  His  conduct  as 
a  Senator  from  Virginia  was  brought  before  the  Legislature  of  that 
State,  on  a  question  concerning  his  re-appointment.  In  this  great 
Areopagus,  than  which  none  is  more  dignified,  each  judge,  if  he  had 
a  monument  of  this  man  in  his  heart  or  his  house,  read  the  inscrip 
tion  upon  it.  On  what  was  he  tried  ?  Not  on  his  political  creed  ; 
he  did  not  suffer,  as  the  best  of  men  have,  for  heresy.  His  faith 
was,  for  every  purpose,  beneficial  to  himself,  sound;  his  works  alone 
were  brought  into  question.  On  this  question  a  deep  and  interesting 


TRISTAM    B  URGES.  263 

debate  arose.  The  gentleman  may  have  been  present  and  heard 
it ;  or,  if  not,  as  it  was  published,  he  must  have  read  it.  It  belonged 
to  Virginia,  and  was  a  part  of  her  great  commonwealth  concern  ; 
nor  would  I  have  brought  this  wholesome  example  of  family  disci 
pline  before  the  nation,  had  not  the  eulogist  of  this  froward  son  of 
Virginia  told  us,  that  the  monuments  of  his  exploits  were  in  the 
hearts  of  his  countrymen.  Does  this  debate,  or  the  result  of  it, 
confirm  the  gentleman's  assertion  ?  He  was  weighed  ;  and  "  mene, 
mene,  tekel  upharsin,"  was  written  on  all  his  monuments.  He  was 
rejected,  and  a  distinguished  Virginian  was  chosen  to  represent  that 
State  in  the  Senate,  and  restore  her  ancient  honor  and  dignity  in  the 
councils  of  the  nation. 

I  ask  again,  where  are  the  monuments  of  this  man's  glory  ? 
Has  he  improved  his  native  State  in  the  great  arts  of  civil  life  ?  In 
agriculture,  his  own  peculiar  vocation  ?  It  has  never  been  said  of 
him.  Have  manufactures  been  fostered  by  his  encouragement  ? 
Sir,  the  very  name  is  odious  to  him.  The  sheep,  the  most  innocent 
of  all  animals,  and  supplying  by  its  wool  the  material  for  perhaps 
our  most  useful  manufacture — the  sheep  is  so  hateful  to  him,  that, 
with  all  the  poetry  of  the  golden  age  in  his  blood,  this  gentleman 
has  said,  "  I  would  go  twenty  rods  out  of  my  way  to  kick  a  sheep." 
Commerce  has  been  as  little  encouraged  by  him  as  either  of  her 
sister  arts  in  our  family  of  national  industry.  He  is  one  of  a  class  of 
men  now  grown  quite  small  in  our  country,  who  despise  traffic  and 
traders  ;  and  would  have  considered  Cosmo  de  Medicis,  the  princely 
merchant  and  founder  of  Florence,  as  no  better  than  a  tin  pedlar. 
He  is,  literally,  moral ;  I  trust  pious ;  but  what  has  he  done  to 
advance  learning,  morality,  or  religion  ?  In  this  House,  where  he 
so  long  had  a  seat,  where  are  the  fruits  of  his  sage  counsels ;  the 
laws  originated  or  sustained  by  his  eloquence  ;  and  which  will  carry 
his  name  to  posterity  as  a  patriot  statesman  ?  When  the  gentleman 
shall  point  to  these  monuments,  and  show  them  to  belong  to  Mr. 
Randolph,  he  may  realize  a  fame  somewhat  less  fugitive  and  perish 
able  than  mere  words. 

The  gentleman  from  Virginia  (Mr.  Barbour)  would  carry  my 
opposition  to  this  salary  to  mere  political  account ;  and  says  I  am 
opposed  to  it  because  Mr.  Randolph  overthrew  the  fabric  of  federal 
power.  Be  it  so  ;  let  the  man  enjoy  the  entire  fame  of  all  the 
benefit,  and  all  the  mischief  he  has  done.  I  had  no  share  in 


264  SPEECHES    OF 

power  which  every  citizen  did  not  equally  enjoy.  It  gave  me  no 
honor,  no  emolument :  I  do  not  believe,  and  I  think  thousands  who 
aided  in  its  overthrow,  do  not  now  believe,  that  any  structure,  since 
that  time  erected  on  its  ruins,  has  given  a  holier  sanctuary  to  the 
Constitution,  or  a  more  secure  shelter  to  the  rights  and  liberties  of 
the  people.  If  this  giant  partizan  did  overthrow  that  fabric,  he 
could  not  bury  under  its  ru[ns  the  great  principles  of  the  revolution. 
"  Union  and  Independence  ;"  the  songs  of  my  cradle,  the  political 
creed  of  every  hour  of  my  life  ;  are  not  sooner  to  be  forgotten 
than  the  sainted  bosom  which  nourished  my  infancy. 

What  did  this  man  build,  what  could  he  build  in  its  place  ?  Sir, 
When  daylight  first  dawned  on  the  world  after  this  event,  John 
Randolph  sat,  in  the  glimpses  of  the  morning,  like  the  genius  of  the 
earthquake,  amidst  the  ruins  of  some  splendid  city,  without  the 
power,  or  the  will  to  move  a  single  stone  to  rear  a  new  edifice. 
Nay,  Sir,  when  the  statesmen  of  those  times,  forgetting  the  storm  of 
party,  set  themselves  in  earnest  to  rebuilding,  this  man  of  monu 
ments  resisted  their  labors.  Little  does  the  gentleman  know  me, 
if  he  believes  I  feel  anger  at  the  labors,  or  envy  at  the  fame  of  the 
man  he  has  eulogized.  He  will  be  remembered,  when  much  better 
Virginians,  and  perhaps  the  gentleman  himself,  may  be  forgotten  ; 
but  he  will  be  remembered  as  the  years  of  mildew  and  blight  and 
famine  are  remembered,  when  those  of  plenty  and  prosperity  are 
forgotten.  He  may  live  in  story  ;  but  not,  like  Washington,  "  in 
the  hearts  of  his  countrymen." 

I  should  have  said  no  more  of  the  Secretary  of  Legation,  had  not 
the  gentleman  transmitted  his  confirmation  by  the  Senate  into  the 
Roman  ceremonial  of  bestowing  the  Toga  Virilis.  This  toga,  this 
gown,  was,  in  the  open  forum,  given  annually  by  all  the  Romans  to 
all  their  boys  who  had,  during  the  year,  arrived  to  the  age  of 
seventeen  years.  By  this  classical  allusion,  I  presume  the  gentle 
man  intends  to  assure  us,  that  Mr.  Randolph's  Secretary  of  Lega 
tion  has  fully  arrived  at  that  interesting  period  of  his  life.  I  had 
asserted  he  was  twenty-one,  but  I  willingly  admit  the  gentleman's 
correction. 

The  other  gentleman  from  Virginia  (Mr.  Coke)  has  reinforced 
his  colleague.  Will  those  gentlemen  never  have  done  with  mis 
stating  me  ?  Have  I  reproached  Virginia  ?  Never,  Sir,  never. 
When  speaking  of  any  one  of  her  citizens  here,  I  have  spoken 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  265 

of  him  as  an  American  citizen.  When  speaking  of  that  State, 
I  have,  on  this  floor,  and  elsewhere,  spoken  of  her  as  one  which 
poured  her  whole  Spartan  soul  into  the  revolution,  which  sent 
to  the  field  of  conflict  a  band  of  patriot  warriors,  "who  have 
filled  the  world  with  their  and  our  glory  ;"  and  which  to  secure  the 
benefit,  in  addition  to  the  triumphs  of  victory,  relinquished  her  terri 
torial  claims  to  an  empire,  preferring  to  the  State  sectional  interest 
the  more  glorious  objects  of  union  and  independence.  I  reproach 
Virginia !  Is  it  not  the  birth-place  of  Washington  ?  Sir,  who 
can  reproach  that  most  fortunate,  most  consecrated  region,  or  even 
suppose  the  enormity  possible,  "  and  hope  to  be  forgiven." 

I  have,  as  the  gentleman  says,  abused  the  President,  and  his  Ma- 
chiavelian  policy.  I  have  spoken  of  the  President  as  of  the  first  dig 
nitary  of  the  nation,  and  in  no  terms  of  disrespect.  I  have  alleged, 
that,  like  monarchs  in  the  old  world,  he  has  been  advised  by  minis 
ters  ;  and  under  that  advisement,  has  permitted  those  ministers  to 
furnish,  in  his  name,  his  annual  message  to  Congress.  Will  the 
gentleman  pledge  his  literary  reputation,  upon  a  denial  of  this  alle 
gation  ?  I  have  said  the  President  has  been  miscounselled  ;  has 
suffered  his  confidence  to  be  abased  by  an  artful  Minister ;  and  that 
too,  in  this  very  appointment.  I  put  it  to  the  gentleman,  upon  his 
conscience,  to  say,  whether  he  believes  this  question  could  have 
come  up,  in  this  House,  if  Mr.  Tazewell  had  been  Secretary  of 
State  ? 

Of  the  Secretary  of  State  I  have  spoken,  and  will  speak,  as  I 
believe  he  merits-  He  is  a  power  constitutionally  connected  with 
the  Executive  :  but  now,  like  the  parasite  plant  under  the  shelter  of 
the  oak,  it  had  crept,  and  clasped,  and  wound  itself  around  the 
trunk,  spire  above  spire,  until  it  overtops  the  loftiest  branch  of  the 
magnificent  tree.  The  leaves  of  the  ivy  will  soon  conceal  those  of 
the  oak,  and  unless  the  insidious  plant  be  removed,  render  it  a  sap 
less  trunk. 

The  gentleman  recommends  to  us  charity — Christian  charity. 
Where  does  he  learn  that  the  delinquencies  of  rulers  are  to  be  vis 
ited  only  in  charity  ?  While  the  messenger  of  divine  charity  wept 
over  the  coming  ruin  of  his  nation,  did  he  not  severely  rebuke  those 
rulers,  that  generation  of  vipers,  stinging  and  poisoning  that  nation, 
and  hastening  on  that  destruction. 

j* 


266  SPEECHES    OF 

Sir,  we  are  charitable.  The  people  have  looked  on  in  charity. 
Charity  has  done  her  utmost.  Her  "  mantle  has  covered  a  multi 
tude  of  sins ;"  but  the  brood  has  multiplied,  and  increased  in  size, 
and  outgrown  the  covering. 

fThis  gentleman  unites  with  his  colleague  in  eulogizing  Virginia. 
It  is  all  supererogation.  History  has  done  it  justice.  The  lofty- 
minded  matron,  we  knew,  thought  well  of  herself;  but  no  one 
deemed  her  quite  so  proud  as  the  gentleman  has  announced  her  to 
us.  In  wielding  the  broom,  or  scolding  her  household,  she  may 
well  scorn  Neptune's  trident,  and  Jove's  power  to  thunder,  as  the 
gentleman  says  she  does  ;  and  some  of  her  children  have  given  us 
fair  samples  of  the  family  lectures. 

The  gentleman  from  Georgia,  (Mr.  Wayne,)  has  come  forward 
to  support  this  "  State  Mission." — To  support,  do  I  say  ?  His  effort 
seems  rather  suited  to  rebuke  me  and  those  engaged  with  me  in 
support  of  this  motion,  into  utter  silence.  Nor  would  he  silence  us 
only,  but  stop  the  public  press.  Silence  this  House  ! — silence  the 
public  press !  what  more  can  be  required  for  the  establishment  of  a 
despotism  over  national  opinion  ? 

The  gentleman  has  advanced  an  •  argument  on  the  question.  It 
is  drawn  from  analogy.  He  will  permit  me  to  say,  that  such  argu- 
guments  are,  of  all  others,  the  least  conclusive.  Founded  on  the 
resemblance  of  things,  they  have  all  the  uncertainty  of  their  foun 
dation.  He  who  should  affirm  that  all  human  forms  are  alike, 
would  affirm  the  truth  ;  but  what  conclusion  could  he  draw  from  it  ? 
For  he  who  should  affirm  that  all  human  forms  are  different,  would 
equally  affirm  the  truth.  The  gentleman  affirms,  that  we  ought  to 
make  the  appropriation  to  pay  this  salary,  notwithstanding  Mr. 
Randolph,  by  permission  of  the  Executive,  left  the  Court  of  Russia 
a  few  days  after  his  arrival  there,  and  has  not  returned,  or  may  not 
return  to  that  Court  again.  He  alleges  this,  because  the  members 
of  Congress  are  paid,  notwithstanding  they  may  be  taken  sick, 
either  on  their  journey  hither,  or  while  here,  or  on  their  return 
home.  It  is  true  ;  but  the  analogy  between  the  cases  extends  no 
farther.  Suppose  a  case  just  like  Mr.  Randolph's  :  suppose  a 
member  of  this  House  arrives  here,  is  here  taken  sick  ;  and,  on 
leave  of  absence,  departs  from  this  city  for  Charleston,  Savannah, 
or  New-Orleans,  to  regain  his  health,  and  does  not  return  during 
the  session ;  would  he  receive  his  pay  ?  Could  he  receive  it  ?  I 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  267 

regret  the  gentleman  thought  proper  to  say  that  we,  in  support  of 
the  motion,  had  used  falsehood,  "  a  thing  equally  dishonorable  in 
argument,  with  the  use  of  impoisoned  weapons  in  war."  I  regret 
this,  because  I  had  expected  from  him  nothing  but  what  was  fair  in 
debate  ;  and  pure,  classical,  and  urbane  in  language.  This  expec 
tation  had  been  sustained  by  my  own  attention  to  the  gentleman's 
demeanor  in  this  House  ;  but  it  had  been  raised  by  the  report  of 
him  made  to  me  by  one  bearing  the  relations  of  friendship  to  him, 
and  than  whom  no  man  on  earth  is  dearer  to  me.  Will  the  gentle 
man  do  himself  the  justice  to  mark  and  point  out  the  items  of  false 
hood  set  down  and  used  by  us  in  our  account  of  objections  to  this 
appropriation  ? 

All  these  gentlemen  agree  in  the  argument  against  this  motion, 
drawn  from  the  incompetency  of  this  House  to  question  this  appro 
priation.  The  President  and  Senate,  to  whom  the  Constitution  has 
confided  our  foreign  relations,  have,  they  tell  us,  established  this 
Legation  ;  and  this  House  cannot,  as  they  affirm,  refuse  this  appro 
priation  in  support  of  it.  Are  we  placed  by  the  people  as  the  Con 
stitutional  keepers  of  the  public  treasure,  and  yet  bound  to  follow 
every  Executive  call  for  their  money  ?  Is  it  our  whole  fiscal  duty 
to  obey  orders  and  grant  subsidies  ?  Does  not  deliberation,  and 
debate,  and  discretion,  belong  to  this  House  ?  We  can  grant,  and 
every  power  which  can  grant,  is,  by  its  very  nature,  endowed  with 
the  power  of  refusal.  Sir,  our  power  to  refuse  appropriations  is  the 
Constitutional  check  placed  in  our  hands,  not  to  stop,  but  to  regulate 
the  movements  of  the  Executive.  Without  this  power,  and  its  dis 
creet  and  diligent  use,  the  nation  would  be  at  the  disposal  of  the 
President  and  Cabinet  Council. 

Sir,  this  mission  may  be  regarded  as  the  commencement  of  a 
system  of  sinecure  appointments,  of  salaries  without  services.  Sent 
to  one  Court  where  he  did  nothing  ;  and  in  the  exercise  of  his  pow 
ers,  gone  to  another,  where  he  Can  do  nothing,  what  service  is 
required,  or  was,  or  could  be  expected  from  him  ?  When  he  shall 
return  next  June,  what  will  he  have  done?  His  most  zealous 
friends  must  say,  nothing.  If,  then,  he  receive  this  salary,  he  will 
receive  it  without  service  of  any  kind  rendered  to  the  Nation  for  it. 
The  Secretary  does  avow,  in  the  Message,  that  the  "  power  to  leave 
the  Russian  Court  for  the  advantage  of  a  more  genial  climate,  was 
given  to  Mr.  Randolph  in  consideration  of  the  extent  to  which  hi? 


268  SPEECHES    OF 

constitution  had  been  impaired  in  the  public  service."  What  were 
those  services  ?  The  duties  of  a  member  of  this  House,  or  of  the 
Senate,  and  for  which  he  received  his  legal  compensation,  like  every 
other  member.  Was  "  his  constitution  impaired"  by  these  services  ? 
Were  not  the  constitutions  of  others  impaired,  and  even  their  lives 
consumed  in  this  service  ?  Is  this  gentleman  alone  selected  for  a 
place  where  he  may,  "  in  consideration  of  the  extent  to  which  his 
constitution  has  been  impaired  by  those  services,"  receive  in  one 
year  the  sum  of  eighteen  thousand  dollars  ?  This,  Sir,  is  the  first 
pension  for  civil  service  on  our  records.  How  many  hearts  of  revo 
lutionary  soldiers  would  this  have  made  glad  ?  Into  how  many 
abodes  of  desolation  and  widowhood  it  might  have  carried  the  light 
of  joy,  and  brought  on  you  the  blessings  of  how  many  now  ready 
to  perish  ?  Such  a  system  of  sinecure  appointment  and  civil  pen- 
sionage  may  be  extended  alike  to  the  courts  of  all  civilized  nations, 
and  to  the  hordes  of  barbarians,  requiring  no  residence,  either  near 
the  palaces  or  the  tents  of  the  foreign  power  ;  the  formality  of  a 
visit  and  presentation  may  soon  be  omitted,  and  the  Envoy  Extra 
ordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  will,  "  in  consideration  of  his 
public  services,"  be  permitted  to  receive  his  outfit  and  salary,  while 
he  continues  to  reside  on  his  plantation. 

What  a  scheme  of  speculation  does  this  system  open  to  the  crafty 
and  unprincipled,  to  men  always  at  market  either  to  sell  themselves 
or  to  buy  others  !  By  this,  unstable  politicians  of  every  variety  of 
creed  may  be  kept  to  the  true  faith.  By  this,  tempest-beaten  par- 
tizans,  shipwrecked  in  principle  and  fortune,  may  be  towed  into 
port,  and  laid  up  and  preserved  for  future  use.  Establish  this  sys 
tem,  Sir,  and  add  to  it  a  Government  Treasury  Bank,  and  the  Sec 
retary  might  buy  into  the  Presidency,  with  your  own  money ;  nor, 
like  that  Roman  who  bought  the  Imperial  Purple  at  auction,  be 
obliged  to  lay  down  his  own  gold  and  silver  for  the  purchase. 
Shall  we,  Sir,  through  any  fear  of  transcending  our  jurisdiction, 
give  our  sanction  to  such  a  system  ?  A  bolder  stand  than  is  now 
required  was  taken  sixteen  years  ago,  on  this  floor,  by  an  honorable 
member,  now  high  in  office,  and  presiding  over  the  deliberations  of 
the  other  House  of  Congress.  "  I  will,"  said  he,  "  vote  no  appro 
priation  for  the  Navy,  until  the  Secretary  of  that  Department  is 
removed."  What,  was  the  result  ?  The  Secretary  was  removed  ; 


TRISTAM    BURGES. 

and  the  naval  branch  of  the  service  did  receive,  as  it  always  has 
received,  his  cordial  and  efficient  support.  In  1795,  when  the 
appropriation  was  under  consideration,  for  carrying  into  effect  the 
second  treaty  with  Great  Britain,  Mr.  Gallatin  declared,  in  this 
House,  that  a  treaty  had  no  binding  force  as  a  law  of  the  land  until 
such  appropriations  were  made  ;  and  that  this  House,  holding  the 
power  to  control  such  appropriations,  held  the  constitutional  power 
of  rejecting  treaties.  Mr.  Madison  contended  that  this  House  had 
the  right  to  judge  concerning  the  expediency  of  treaties  ;  and,  as 
they  might  decide  that  question  to  grant  or  refuse  appropriations  for 
carrying  them  into  effect.  This  case  does  not  require  the  aid  of 
these  doctrines  ;  for  public  faith  will  not  be  touched  in  our  foreign 
relations  if  Mr.  Randolph  should  not  receive  a  salary  for  residing  in 
England  as  Minister  at  Russia.  Has  the  gentleman  from  Virginia, 
(Mr.  J.  S.  Barbour,)  forgotten  that  the  motion  to  strike  out  the 
enacting  clause  of  the  Bill  appropriating  salaries  for  the  Panama 
Mission  was  sustained  by  sixty-one  members  of  this  House,  and  that 
he  himself,  with  nine  of  his  colleagues,  voted  for  it  ?  Will  gentlemen 
still  contend  for  their  own  in  competency  to  question  this  appropria 
tion  ?  Sir,  we  are,  by  the  Constitution,  vested  with  a  high  compe 
tency  and  discretion  on  these  important  matters  ;  and  to  these  con* 
stitutional  attributes  of  this  House  has  this  motion  been  addressed. 

It  is  humiliating,  but  I  must  reply  to  the  gentleman  from  New- 
York.  For  myself,  I  would  let  him  pass.  It  is  a  kind  of  Domician 
amusement,  this  killing  flies  with  a  bodkin.  Gladly  would  I  say, 
with  the  commisseration  of  Uncle  Toby,  to  the  little  buzzing  incon 
venience,  (when  I  had  him  in  my  hand,)  "  Go,  poor  insect,  go  ;  the 
world  is  surely  wide  enough  for  thee  and  me." 

I  have  some  apology  for  giving  some  attention  to  the  speech  of 
the  gentleman  from  New-York.  The  place,  however  it  may  be  filled, 
does  give  a  kind  of  character  to  what  is  said  or  done  in  it.  No 
matter  how  utterly  inconsiderable,  or  even  contemptible  a  person 
may  be,  whenever  a  constitutional  portion  of  the  people  has  placed 
him  at  one  of  these  desks,  replying  to  what  he  may  have  said, 
though  it  may  not  be  very  creditable,  yet  it  must  be  excusable,  in  any 
member  of  this  House.  The  Romans  were  wont  to  place  a  wooden 
image  in  their  gardens,  as  the  special  protector  of  the  place  ;  and 
Horace  has  related  to  us  the  soliloquy  of  one  of  these  Roman  deities, 


270  SPEECHES    OF 

wherein  he  gives  some  account  of  his  own  apotheosis:  "1  was/' 
said  the  Priapus,  "a  useless  log,  until  the  carpenter  took  me  in 
hand  ;  but  he  has  now  worked  me  up  into  a  God  !"  The  people  of 
New-York  can  surely  turn  out  as  good  work  as  the  Roman  car 
penter. 

We  are  by  this  learned  and  honorable  gentleman,  reproached  for 
a  want  of  magnanimity  ;  and  are  told  that  no  objection,  for  any 
such  cause,  was  made  by  him  and  his  party  to  any  appropriation. 
The  true  difference  between  his  and  our  efforts  will  be  found  in  this  ; 
we  labor  to  save  money  from  illegal  and  useless  appropriation  ; 
he  labored  to  abuse  those  who  had,  in  pursuance  of  legal  and  useful 
appropriation,  honestly  paid  it  away. 

What  were  the  doings  of  this  magnanimous  gentleman  in  a  Com 
mittee  of  which  he  was  a  remarkable  member?  Here  is  the 
record-book  of  that  Committee.  I  have  selected,  as  an  ordinary 
sample  of  this  gentleman's  labors  of  retrenchment,  four  cases,  and 
will  trouble  the  House  with  a  few  quotations,  and  a  few  remarks 
upon  them. 

On  the  25th  of  April,  1828,  the  Committee  being  in  session — 
"  The  Chairman  then  stated  to  the  Committee,  that  he  felt  it  his 
duty  to  mention*  that  a  citizen,  now  a  resident  of  this  District,  had 
inquired  of  him  whether,  in  any  of  the  accounts  of  the  contingent 
expenses  of  the  Government,  the  United  States  were  debited  with 
the  sum  of  five  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  paid  to  the  late  Daniel 
P.  Cook,  late  Representative  in  Congress,  from  the  State  of  Illinois, 
for  certain  diplomatic  services,  upon  which  Mr.  Cook  was  supposed 
to  have  been  sent  abroad  during  the  last  summer. 

"  The  Chairman  stated  that  he  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  commu 
nicate  the  name  of  his  informant,  but  in  regard  to  the  purport  of  the 
communication  he  felt  no  such  reserve,  and  it  was  for  the  committee 
to  make  such  order  on  the  statement  as  they  might  deem  proper. 
"  It  was,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Cambreleng, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Committee  consider  the  communication." 
Sir,  this  Committee,  under  this  resolution,  sent  for  witnesses; 
honorable  members  of  both  Houses  and  the  Postmaster-General 
were  called  before  them.  Why  not  call  for  the  man  himself,  for 
Daniel  P.  Cook,  against  whom  this  anonymous  information  had 
been  made  ?  lie  was  dead.  The  man  at  whom  the  gentleman 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  271 

from  New-York  magnanimously  aimed  his  arrow,  slept  quietly  in 
the  green  bosom  of  his  own  beloved  Illinois.  The  voice  of  the 
nameless  informer,  embodied  by  the  resolution  of  the  gentleman, 
though  it  might  pollute  every  threshold,  and  violate  the  harmony  of 
every  house  in  the  nation,  could  not  reach  the  sanctuary,  or  inter- 
nipt  the  repose  of  the  tomb.  Permit  me  to  speak  a  word  concerning 
Daniel  P.  Cook,  because  every  man  who  hears  me  did  not  know 
him  as  many  of  us  did  who  sat  in  this  House  with  him.  He  was  a 
man  whom  the  gentleman  from  New- York  would  probably  not  call 
a  genius  ;  but  his  mind  was  of  that  cast  and  capacity  in  the  trans 
action  of  human  affairs,  to  which  every  man  would  wish  to  commit 
the  management  of  his  own.  His  sense  was  that  of  the  every  day 
intercourse  of  men  ;  and  would  pass  like  the  most  precious,  or  most 
useful  metal,  wherever  such  a  commodity  could  be  in  request.  A 
man,  in  whatever  may  be  required  of  manhood ;  a  child  in  all  that 
singleness  of  heart  and  purity  of  purpose,  which  render  childhood 
so  amiable.  With  those  who  knew  him  well,  he  had  so  fixed  him 
self  in  their  hearts,  that  though  they  might  wish  to  forget  the  pain 
of  their  loss,  they  can  never  cease  to  remember  his  useful  public 
labors,  and  many  endearing  social  qualities. 

Our  relations  with  Cuba  have  long  been  interesting  and  important. 
Gentlemen  will  call  to  mind  that  we  have  frequently  heard  from 
Europe,  that  Cuba  might  be  transferred  from  Spain  to  some  other 
sovereignty.  Such  a  report  was  rife  in  this  country  in  the  winter 
of  1826-7.  It  was  believed  by  friends  of  the  last  administration, 
that  a  confidential  agent  was,  by  Mr.  Adams,  sent  to  Cuba,  to 
ascertain,  if  possible,  the  truth  of  this  report ;  and  that  Daniel  P. 
Cook  was  that  agent.  He  had,  it  was  believed,  been  paid  out  of 
that  fund  which  Congress  has,  ever  since  the  foundation  of  the 
Government,  annually,  or  otherwise,  appropriated,  and  placed  in 
the  hands  of  the  President^  for  the  compensation  of  confidential 
services.  All  this  may  be  known  to  the  gentleman  from  New-York 
now  ;  and  had  there  been  fraud  in  the  transaction,  we  should  have 
heard  it  on  this  occasion,  called  at  his  mouth  by  its  harshest  English 
name. 

The  gentleman  might  have  known  the  whole  affair  at  that  time. 
This  appears  from  the  following  letter  from  Mr.  Clay,  then  Secre 
tary  of  State. 


SPEECHES    OF 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 
Washington,  May  1,  1828. 

To  James  Hamilton,  Jr.  Esq.  fyc. 

SIR — I  have  received  your  letter  under  date  this  day,  stating  that 
"  it  having  been  ascertained  that  the  late  Daniel  P.  Cook,  late  Repre 
sentative  in  Congress,  from  the  State  of  Illinois,  received  a  sum  of 
money  from  the  Government,  during  the  spring  or  summer  of  the 
last  year,  for  certain  services,  supposed  to  have  been  either  foreign 
or  diplomatic,  you  are  instructed  by  the  Committee  on  Retrench 
ment,  to  request  me  to  inform  you  where  they  are  to  look  for  the 
auditing  of  the  sum,  said  to  have  been  received  by  Mr.  Cook,  and 
if  not  audited  in  the  usual  course,  what  was  its  amount." 

Without  admitting  or  denying  the  correctness  of  the  information 
which  the  Committee  are  stated  to  have  received,  I  have  the  honor 
to  observe  that  I  am  not  aware  of  the  disbursement  of  any  money 
through  the  agency  of  this  Department,  the  account  of  which  has 
not  been,  or  in  a  regular  course  of  settlement,  is  not  to  be,  audited 
in  the  usual  way  at  the  Treasury,  or  passed  upon  a  certificate  of 
the  President,  in  conformity  with  the  provisions  of  the  third  section 
of  the  act  of  the  1st  of  May,  1810,  entitled,  "  An  act  fixing  the  com 
pensation  of  public  Ministers  and  Consuls  residing  on  the  coast  of 
Barbary,  and  for  other  purposes."  I  cannot  presume  that  it  was 
the  intention  of  the  Committee  to  inquire  into  any  disbursement 
which  may  have  been  made  agreeably  to  that  section  ;  and  all 
others  are  accessible  to  them,  in  like  manner  with  other  expendi 
tures.  I  have,  however,  the  authority  of  the  President,  for  saying, 
that  I  will  make  to  the  Committee  a  confidential  communication  in 
relation  to  the  expenditure  to  which  they  are  supposed  to  allude,  if 
they  will  signify  their  desire  for  such  a  communication.  In  that 
case,  I  should  be  glad  to  learn  their  pleasure  as  soon  as  convenient, 
as  I  purpose  leaving  the  city  on  the  4th  instant,  a  few  days,  on 
account  of  the  State  of  my  health. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

H.   CLAY. 

Why  not  receive  and  communicate  this  confidentially  to  the 
House  ?  Every  statesman  must  perceive  the  indecorum  of  giving 
it  to  the  House  in  any  other  way  than  confidential.  What !  place 
upon  our  ordinary  journals,  publish  in  our  papers,  and  send  to 


TRISTAM    SURGES.  273 

Europe,  that  the  friendship  of  Gen.  Vives,  the  Intendant  General  of 
Cuba,  had  induced  him  confidentially  to  communicate  to  the  Agent 
of  our  Government,  concerning  the  disposition  of  Spain  to  sell,  and 
of  England  to  buy  the  colonial  sovereignty  of  that  island  ?  A  con 
fidential  communication  would  not  do.  A  plain,  honest,  and  full 
statement  of  facts  was  not  wanted.  The  magnanimous  gentleman 
from  New- York  wished  to  strike  a  blow  at  the  President  and  Sec- 
retary ;  he  chose  to  do  it  by  mining ;  and  if,  in  his  subterranean 
course,  he  should  dig  into  the  grave  of  Daniel  P.  Cook,  how  could 
he  doubt  that  the  exigencies  of  the  public  service  would  justify  this 
violation  of  the  sanctuary  of  the  tomb  ?  He  chose  to  follow  the 
trail  of  an  informer,  who  had  so  little  confidence  in  this  inquisition, 
that  he  would  not  "  commit"  even  his  own  foul  name  to  the  gentle 
man's  safe  keeping.  Mr.  Cook,  it  was  known,  was  in  very  delicate 
health,  and  was  about  to  visit  Cuba  for  the  benefit  of  the  climate. 
In  the  examination  of  the  witnesses,  the  whole  labor  of  the  gentle 
man  was  directed  to  prove  that  the  state  of  his  health  would  not 
permit  his  doing  any  public  service,  and  that  if  he  received  any 
compensation,  he  must  have  received  it  for  nothing.  The  gentleman 
was  discontented  by  the  result;  for  it  came  out  in  evidence,  that 
feeble  as  was  his  health,  he  had  performed  all  that  was  required  of 
him.  His  compensation  was  not  ascertained,  but  it  is  probable,  say 
the  committee,  that  he  received  more  than  one  thousand  dollars  ; 
and  this  is  set  down  by  the  magnanimity  of  the  gentleman  as  an 
act  of"  Executive  favoritism,  or  flagrant  abuse." 

Compare  this  service  and  expenditure  with  the  mission,  and  min 
ister,  and  appropriation,  now  under  debate.  Mr.  Cook  was  in  deli 
cate  health  ;  but  that  served  to  place  him  above  suspicion  of  any 
sinister  purpose  in  visiting  Cuba.  His  acquaintance  with  Gen. 
Vives  while  in  this  country,  the  known  integrity  and  obvious  sim 
plicity  of  his  character,  the  amenity  of  his  manners,  and  even  his 
delicate  health,  all  combined,  must  have  placed  him  at  once,  in 
relations  of  entire  confidence  and  frank  intercourse  with  the  Inten 
dant  ;  and  enabled  him  to  obtain  speedily  from  that  Governor  all 
which  it  was  proper  for  him  to  communicate,  or  for  our  Executive 
to  know.  Let  the  gentleman  taunt  us  for  want  of  magnanimity. 
Let  the  nation  judge  between  us. 

The  next  case  in  this  record  to  which  I  ask  your  attention,  is 
that  of  John  H.  Pleasants.  The  House  will  have  a  full  knowledge 


274  SPEECHES    OF 

of  this  case  from  two  letters,  the  first  from  Mr.  Pleasants  to  Mr. 
Clay,  the  second  from  Mr.  Clay  to  the  Committee  of  Retrenchment. 

MR.  PLEASANTS  TO  MR.  CLAY. 

LIVERPOOL,  7th  July,  1825. 

MY  DEAR  SIR — If  you  are  surprised  at  the  date  of  my  letter,  I 
am  scarcely  less  surprised  at  the  circumstance  myself.  To  be  in 
England  at  all,  is  what  I  never  expected.  To  be  here  when  I 
expected  to  have  been  in  Buenos  Ay  res,  seems  rather  the  effect  of 
enchantment,  than  of  ordinary  causation.  It  remains,  Sir,  for  me 
to  account  for  this  apparent  dereliction  of  duty  ;  and  I  cannot  but 
hope,  that  a  plain  statement  of  the  circumstances  which  changed  my 
destination,  will  exculpate  me  from  any  blame  in  your  eyes,  solicit 
ous  as  I  am  to  preserve  that  good  opinion  which  procured  for  me 
the  charge  conferred  by  the  Department  of  State. 

After  many  ineffectual  attempts  to  secure  an  earlier  passage,  in 
which  I  was  baffled  by  the  diminished  intercourse  between  the 
United  States  and  the  provinces  of  South  America,  which  lie  beyond 
the  Spanish  Main,  I  succeeded  in  procuring  a  passage  in  the  brig 
William  Tell,  which  sailed  from  New- York  on  the  28th  May,  for 
the  river  Plata.  This  vessel  was  not  such  a  one  as  I  should  have 
selected,  had  I  had  my  choice.  Being  simply  a  merchant  ship,  it 
was  destitute  of  a  comfortable  accommodation ;  nevertheless, 
becoming  impatient  for  action,  and  forseeing  that,  if  I  neglected 
that  opportunity,  I  might  meet  with  no  other,  I  availed  myself  of  it, 
and  sailed,  as  stated,  on  the  28th  of  May.  I  speedily  had  cause  to 
regret  my  precipitation  in  choosing  such  a  ship.  The  cabin  not 
fifteen  feet  square,  was  destined  to  accommodate  in  a  voyage  which 
would  occupy  from  sixty  to  ninety  days,  twenty  passengers.  * 

When  the  horrors  of  sea  sickness  were 

superadded  to  the  other  painful  circumstances  attending  my  situa 
tion,  my  suffering  became  greater  than  I  can  describe.  Deprived 
of  every  comfort,  with  not  ten  feet  square  for  exercise,  a  pestilential 
air,  and  more  offensive  smell  pervading  every  part  of  the  ship  ;  and 
even  without  the  most  common  medicines.  I  assure  you,  Sir,  that 
death  would  have  been  no  unwelcome  visiter.  I  was  seized  with  a 
high  fever,  and  in  ten  days  reduced,  in  my  own  opinion,  and  in  that 
of  those  around  me,  to  the  brink  of  the  grave.  At  this  time  we 
spoke  an  American  ship  from  New- York,  bound  to  Antwerp ;  the 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  275 

Captain,"  who  was  likewise  ill,  was  bearing  for  Fayal,  in  the  Azores, 
and  by  great  persuasion  was  induced  to  take  me  on  board  in  a  mis 
erable  condition.  Two  days  after  this  removal,  my  new  Captain 
recovered  his  indisposition,  and  resumed  his  -course  for  Antwerp. 
Having  no  inclination  to  visit  Holland,  I  determined  to  avail  myself 
of  the  next  ship  that  we  might  speak,  and  return  to  the  United 
States,  or  go  to  England.  From  the  time  I  boarded  the  vessel  in 
which  I  then  was,  I  had  begun  slowly  to  recover,  from  the  superior 
comforts  of  its  accommodations.  On  the  20th  of  June  we  spoke  the 
brig  Olive,  from  New-York  to  this  port,  and  the  Captain  consenting 
to  receive  me,  I  arrived  in  Liverpool  on  the  1st  instant,  having  been 
at  sea  thirty -three  days.  The  despatches  which  were  entrusted  to 
my  care,  I  forwarded  to  Mr.  Forbes,  in  charge  of  Captain  Hinman, 
of  the  William  Tell,  to  whom  he  was  consigned  ;  stating  the  reasons 
of  my  not  bearing  them  in  person,  and  requesting  him  to  forward 
those  for  Mr.  Raguet,  at  Rio.  If  the  William  Tell  goes  safely,  the 
despatches  will  safely  reach  their  destination. 

These,  Sir,  are  the  circumstances  which  have  brought  me  to 
England,  and  I  hope  that  they  are  such  as  to  excuse  my  abandon 
ment  of  my  charge.  As  I  am  here,  I  have  determined  to  devote  a 
few  weeks  to  the  purpose  of  seeing  the  country,  after  which  I  shall 
have  the  pleasure  of  giving  you,  in  person,  a  more  detailed  account 
of  my  voyage. 

With  high  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  H.  PLEASANTS. 

Extract  of  a  letter  from  Mr.  Clay  to  Mr.  Hamilton,  Chairman  of  the 

Committee  of  Retrenchment. 

"  It  was  not  believed  that  the  visitation  of  Providence  with  which 
he  was  afflicted,  ought  to  deprive  him  of  all  allowance  for  expenses, 
and  all  compensation  for  services ;  but  it  was  not  thought  right 
that  the  per  diem  should  be  continued  during  the  whole  period  of 
his  absence  from  home,  and  until  his  return  to  New-York,  on  the 
22d  October,  1825.  It  was  therefore  limited  to  the  22d  August, 
1825.  That  being  the  time  when  it  was  estimated  he  might  have 
returned  to  the  United  States,  if,  after  abandoning  the  voyage  to 
South  America,  he  had  sought  an  opportunity  of  coming  home, 
instead  of  proceeding  to  Europe.  It  was  within  the  discretion  of 


276  SPEECHES  or 

the  Department  to  have  compensated  him  as  the  bearer  of  despatches 
from  Mr.  King  ;  but  it  was  not  deemed  proper  to  make  him  any 
allowance  for  that  service." 

Were  these  explanations  satisfactory  ?  What  did  the  Committee 
say  then  ?  These  are  their  words  : 

"  Amidst  the  numerous  appointments  of  messengers  made  by  the 
present  Administration,  they  will  select  the  account  of  J.  H.  Pleas- 
ants,  editor  of  the  Richmond  Whig,  because  that  case,  in  their  esti 
mation,  presents  the  most  flagrant  example  of  abuse. 

"  Either  his  despatches  were,  or  were  not  of  importance  ;  if  they 
were  of  importance,  like  a  soldier  on  post,  no  consideration  should 
have  induced  him  to  have  deserted  them  ;  if  they  were  of  no  higher 
importance  than  to  have  rendered  it  safe  that  they  should  be  con 
fided  to  the  Captain  of  an  ordinary  merchant  vessel,  then  they  should 
have  gone  through  this  channel,  and  Mr.  Pleasants  ought  not  to 
have  been  appointed." 

Sir,  Daniel  P.  Cook  was  pursued  by  the  gentleman,  because  he 
was  dead  ;  John  H.  Pleasants  was  in  like  manner  pursued,  because 
he  was  alive. 

The  case  of  Mr.  Brooks  is  another  on  this  record.  He  was  a 
clerk  in  the  office  of  the  Treasury.  Grown  old,  and  becoming 
enfeebled,  his  fellow  clerks,  with  a  generosity  of  purpose  peculiar 
to  themselves,  performed  his  duties  in  the  hours  of  recess,  by  extra 
labor,  and  permitted  this  aged  and  destitute  man  to  receive  one  half 
of  the  salary.  This  instance  of  redoubled  diligence  and  charitable 
provision  for  a  superannuated  fellow-laborer  in  these  generous  men, 
is  set  down  in  the  gentleman's  diary  of  abuses,  and  the  Executive  is 
censured,  because  this  aged  man,  with  his  family,  was  not  thrown 
out  to  perish  in  the  streets. 

The  case  of  Anthony  Morris,  is  another.  He  is  a  clerk  in  the 
Register's  office.  Mr.  Morris  is  an  old  man  ;  is  one  of  those  few 
veterans  of  the  revolution  and  old  Congress  now  alive,  who,  by  their 
employment  and  memory,  connect  the  present  with  the  past  Govern 
ment.  He  is  a  literary  man,  the  only  one,  says  Mr.  Michael  Nourse, 
in  the  office.  What  of  that  ?  In  consideration  of  his  advanced  age, 
infirm  health,  and  that  of  his  daughter,  he  might  be  absent  from  the 
service  three  months  in  the  year — one  month  more  than  the  odinary 
allowance  to  all  the  clerks. 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  277 

This  case,  Sir,  is,  by  the  magnanimity  of  the  gentleman,  marked 
down  among  the  instances  of  gross  Executive  abuse.  What  can 
the  gentleman  reply  to  these  exploits  of  his  magnanimity  ? 

I  leave  it  to  the  nation  to  compare  Rufus  King  with  John  Ran 
dolph  ;  and  the  mission  of  the  one  to  England  with  that  of  the  other  to 
Russia.  Let  them  also  compare  the  recess  of  Mr.  Brown,  Minister 
to  France,  after  years  of  service,  and  after  sending  home  his  resig 
nation,  let  them,  I  say,  run  the  parallel  between  this  recess  of  Mr. 
Brown,  for  a  few  days  to  the  South  of  France,  or  the  lake  of  Geneva, 
and  the  Hegira  of  John  Randolph,  'after  a  ten  days'  visit  from  St. 
Petersburgh  to  some  place,  no  one  can  tell  where,  in  England. 
The  people  will  do  justice  in  all  these  cases. 

The  gentleman  from  New- York  has  thrown  his  ponderosity  into 
the  scale  of  panegyric,  thereby  to  render  the  weight  of  eulogy  on 
the  Russian  Minister  overwhelming — scrap  iron  increases  the 
weight,  not  the  value  of  gold.  He  does  admit  some  sort  of  talent  in 
speaking,  to  the  parliamentary  rivals  of  himself  in  eloquence — to 
Lowndes,  to  Clay,  and  to  Webster.  Cicero  took  his  family  name 
from  a  bean  on  some  part  of  his  face  ;  and  doubtless  many  a  cox 
comb  has  believed  himself  to  be  an  orator,  because,  like  Cicero,  he 
had  a  wart  on  his  nose.  Somebody  has  said  that  "  Man,  of  all  the 
animal  creation  alone,  is  endowed  with  vanity."  Who  ever  saw 
the  cock-sparrow  measuring  his  wing  in  flight  with  the  falcon  ?  I 
believe  there  are  gentlemen  in  this  House  who  could  give  us  good 
reasons  why  the  eloquence  of  the  orator  of  Roartoke  is  so  well  re 
collected  by  the  gentleman  from  New- York.  No  worker  on  the 
Roanoke  plantation  has  better  reasons  to  remember  the  eloquence 
of  his  overseer.  Much  as  that  eccentric  man  loved  his  joke  and 
the  sarcasm,  he  loved  his  fame  more  ;  and  he  would  have  spared 
the  lash  on  that  occasion,  could  he  have  suspected  it  might  bring 
him  into  the  poor  condition  of  enduring  praise  at  the  hands  of  the 
gentleman  from  New-York.  Such  revenge  for  such  a  cause,  is 
said  to  be  peculiar  to  that  gentleman,  and  one  species  of  one  other 
race  among  us. 

Has  the  gentleman  so  long  been  a  mere  adjective  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  State,,  that  he  thinks  it  slanderous  to  associate  the  name  of 
that  politician  with  any  other  accident  ?  Children,  in  these  scien 
tific  times,  who  have  advanced  somewhat  into  the  mysteries  of 
chemistry,  do,  after  beating  up  soap  and  water  together  in  a  basin, 


278  SPEECHES    OF 

amuse  themselves  with  a  clean  pipe  in  blowing  up  bubbles,  and 
sending  them  off  from  the  bowl,  inflated  and  glittering,  to  sail  away 
for  a  moment,  and  then  burst  and  vanish  into  their  original  nothing, 
ness.  For  aught  I  know,  the  Secretary  may  be  amusing  himself 
by  the  same  innocent  experiment.  Who  would  interrupt  the  senti 
mental  harmony  of  political  friendship  !  For  all  which  he  is  dis 
tinguished — the  character  of  the  Secretary  is  fixed  ;  it  cannot  be 
elevated  by  any  labors  of  the  protege — it  cannot  be  lowered  by  the 
efforts  of  others.  God  forbid  that  I  should  throw  a  straw  in  the 
way  of  any  man's  advancement.  Their  friends  are  daily  carrying 
and  laying  at  the  gate  of  the  treasury,  those  who  have  every  thing 
to  recommend  them,  except  the  piety  and  good  works  of  the  beggar 
in  the  parable  ;  and  who  all  alike,  desire  to  be  fed  from  the  crumbs 
which  fall  from  the  tables  of  those  feasting  within.  "  Hope  defer 
red,"  we  find,  does  not  "  make  every  heart  sick."  Gentlemen, 
doubtless,  have  assurances,  that  each  political  Lazarus  should  be 
served  in  his  turn.  The  next  basket  of  broken  meat  brought  out 
may  be  sent  to  New-York,  and  amply  satisfy  the  appetite  sharp 
ened  by  years'  want  of  it. 

The  gentleman  accuses  me  of  a  departure  from  the  question,  to 
bring  into  the  debate  our  late  treaty  with  the  Sublime  Porte.  Sir, 
every  thing  rendering  our  Russian  relations  important,  comes  intc 
any  question  concerning  them.  Do  not  our  new  relations  with  the 
great  European  rival  of  Russia  demonstrate  more  strongly  our  neec 
of  an  efficient  mission  at  the  Court  of  St.  Petersburgh  ?  The  Sec- 
retary  has  told  us,  in  the  message,  that  the  Black  Sea  has  beec 
opened  to  us  by  our  treaty  with  the  Sublime  Porte.  The  gentle 
man  does  know  full  well,  that  the  swords  of  our  brave  Russian 
friends,  not  only  hewed  their  way  through  the  Balkan,  down  to  the 
plains  of  Adrianople  ;  but  that,  by  the  treaty  of  that  city,  they,  foi 
all  purposes  of  navigation,  widened  the  Bosphorus  to  breadth  equal 
to  the  Hellespont,  and  thereby  united  the  Euxine  with  the  .ZEgcan. 
the  Levant,  the  whole  Mediterranean,  the  Atlantic,  and  all  othei 
seas  and  oceans.  What  may  our  Russian  Imperial  friend  say  tc 
us  for  receiving  from  the  Turks  as  a  boon,  to  say  nothing  of  our 
promise  in  return,  what  his  valor,  blood,  and  treasure,  had  con 
quered  for  us  and  all  nations  ?  Omitting,  therefore,  the  secret  arti 
cle,  does  not  the  opening  the  Euxine,  either  by  the  Russian  power, 
or  the  Turkish  treaty,  mightily  enhance  the  importance  of  this 
' 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  279 

question,  and  call  imperatively  on  the  Executive  for  an  efficient 
mission  to  the  Court  of  St.  Petersburgh  ?  If  the  gentleman  cannot 
perceive  this,  he  is  less  a  statesman  than  he  would  seem  to  be,  and 
even  much  less  such,  if  that  were  possible. 

But  I  drew  my  facts  from  unprincipled  partizans,  and  newspaper 
rumor  !  I  said  so  before. — I  drew  part  of  the  truth  from  the  Secre 
tary — the  treaty.  The  other  part,  the  secret  article,  from  the 
newspaper. 

Sir,  it  has  been  the  labor  of  the  Secretary's  life  to  establish  news 
papers,  entitled  to  no  credit ;  and  to  discredit  all  others.  He  has 
founded  a  school,  and  is  at  the  head  of  it.  In  that  school,  the  great 
axiom  is,  "  every  thing  is  fair  in  politics/'  and  to  him  are  not  politics 
every  thing  1  Let  him  go  on  to  "  improve  the  condition  of  the 
press."  Let  him  extinguish  the  light  of  truth,  wherever  he  can 
extend  the  finger  of  power.  Let  him  do  one  thing  more — aided  by 
his  minions,  no  matter  where — let  him  persuade  the  people,  that  the 
honest,  the  independent  papers  of  this  country,  are  vehicles  of 
falsehood  and  mere  rumor  ;  let  them  be,  as  they  have  been,  on  this 
floor,  branded  as  false,  foul  and  dirty,  and  let  the  member  who 
quotes  from  their  pages  the  history  and  impress  of  the  times,  be 
reproached  as  a  blockhead,  a  blackguard,  a  slanderer — and  what 
more  could  the  Secretary  of  State  desire,  which  he  would  not  be 
sure  .to  obtain  ?  Sir,  such  a  consummation  would  have  saved  to 
Charles,  the  throne  of  France  ;  and  to  the  patriots  of  that  country, 
their  revolution. 

I  did  quote  the  secret  article  in  the  Turkish  treaty,  from  the 
newspapers :  dare  the  gentleman  question  the  truth  of  the  quota 
tion  ?  Had  I  drawn  a  bow  with  a  more  advised  aim,  could  the 
pigeon  on  the  pole  have  fluttered  more  manifestly  ?  The  gentle 
man  has,  notwithstanding  all  these  assertions,  accused  me  of  draw 
ing  my  facts  from  a  perjured  Senator.  Has  it  come  to  this  ?  Was 
it  found  necessary  not  to  commit  our  first  treaty  with  the  great 
disciple  of  Mahomet  to  the  Christian  Senators  of  the  United  States, 
until  their  lips  were  sealed  with  the  solemnities  of  an  oath  ?  It  is 
a  new  formula  in  the  executive  department  of  the  Senate  ;  and  will 
appear  by  the  published  journals  of  that  body  to  have  had  no  place 
in  their  proceedings  until  the  present  session.  When  a  treaty  in 
1795  was  published  by  a  Senator,  against  an  injunction  of  that 
body,  who  accused  him  of  perjury  ?  The  gentleman  whose  mission 


280  SPEECHES    OF 

is  now  under  consideration,  did,  on  this  floor,  pronounce  a  studied 
eulogium  on  Stephens  Thompson  Mason,  the  Senator  who  published 
that  treaty.  Would  he  eulogise  perjury  ?  Sir,  the  secret  article 
was  published  before  the  treaty  was  announced  to  the  House,  or 
sent  to  the  Senate.  The  correspondence  on  the  West  India  ques 
tion  was  published  in  the  same  manner.  Has  the  Secretary  of 
State  adopted  this  method,  and  put  out  his  feelers,  to  take  the 
national  pulse  ? 

I  do  not  ask  what  warranted,  but  who  authorized,  or  instructed, 
or  encouraged  the  gentleman  to  connect  perjury  with  that  venera 
ted  word  which  designates  the  members  of  a  national  council,  the 
most  dignified  and  honorable  on  earth  ? 

How  could  I  shun  insult,  when  such  men  are  reviled  ?     I  do  not 
ask  by  what  statesman  or  gentleman,  but  by  what  apology  for  a 
man  ?     In  what  other  assembly  on  earth  has  the  "  hoary  head" 
been  used  as  a  term  of  reproach  ?     Has  the  gentleman  passed  so 
far  beyond  the  vigor,  and  bloom,  and  modesty  of  juvenescence,  that 
he  has  forgotten  the  amiable  instinct  of  our  nature   which   warns 
our  youth  to  pay  in  advance  that  consideration  to  age  which  it  may 
come  to  desire  for  itself?     Though  gray  hairs  have  been  held  in 
respect  by  barbarians  in  all  countries,  and  by  even  the  most  profli 
gate    and    unmannered  in  all  ages,  yet,  knowing  that,  (ab  ovo  ad 
plumas,)  I  am  not  disappointed  in  the  language  or  demeanor  of  the 
gentleman  from   New- York.     Men,  better  than  I  am,  have  been 
reviled  in  their  age,  by  men  no  better  than  he  is.     Washington  was 
called  a  "hoary  headed  incendiary,"  by    a  vagabond  of  almost 
unparalleled  mendacity  and  impudence.     The  "  bald  head"  is,  I 
assure  the  gentleman,  no  joke  ;  though  he  seems  to   be  original  in 
using  it  as  such.     This  inconvenience,  or  if  you  please,  imperfec 
tion,  has  been  suffered  by  some  very  great  men  ;  but  quite  rarely, 
if  ever,  has  it  been  experienced  by  any  very  little  ones.     Caesar  is 
said  to  have  been  more  grateful  to  the  Roman  people  for  granting 
him  the  right  to  wear  the  laurel  crown  than  for  any  other  of  their 
gifts  ;  because  the  wearing  it  enabled  him  to  conceal  the  exterior 
baldness  of  his  head.     If  it  be  true,  as  Shakspeare  tells  us  it  is, 
that  what  nature  has  scanted  men  in  wit,  she  has  made   up  to  them 
in  hair,  then  the  gentleman,  I  believe,  should  he  win  a  laurel  crown, 
would  never,  like  Caesar,  have  occasion  to  wear  it,  for  any  lack  of 
that  commodity. 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  281 

Who  reviled  the  prophet,  returning  from  the  blazing  translation 
of  his  master,  with  a  countenance  bright  with  the  glories  of  opening 
Heaven,  and  wrapt  in  the  mantle  of  Elijah — who,  Sir,  reviled  the 
prophet  for  his  "  bald  head"  ?  Profligate  young  men,  boys,  children 
as  they  are  called  ;  the  scum  and  sweepings  of  the  city,  and,  as  we 
find  by  the  historian,  fit  only  for  food  for  those  animals  which  are 
fed  on  offal. 

The  gentleman  is  equally  out  in  his  ornithology,  as  in  every 
thing  else.  The  bird  of  Jove,  not  the  vulture,  is  that  soaring  won 
der,  by  men  called  the  "  Bald  Eagle  ;"  and,  Sir,  never  was  that 
"  soaring  eagle,  in  his  pride  of  place,  hawked  at,  and  brought  down 
by  the  mousing  owl." 

Sir,  my  remarks  have  been  excursive,  but  I  have  travelled  over 
no  ground  where  some  one  of  the  gentlemen  had  not  placed  himself 
before  me.  If  these  gentlemen  are  out  of  the  field,  and  I  do  not 
see  them  in  force  on  any  point  of  the  argument,  I  will  return  to  the 
questions  made  by  us  under  our  motion. 

I  ask  the  House  to  inquire,  whether  the  salary  to  be  provided, 
under  our  law,  by  this  appropriation,  can  be  due  for  an  illegal  and 
void  mission  1  Ambassadors  and  other  public  ministers,  though  they 
may  bs  appointed  by  any  sovereign  community,  yet,  being  officers 
sustained  and  sent  abroad  by  the  laws  of  nations  only,  must  be 
appointed  and  commissioned  in  conformity  to  those  laws.  The 
power  of  every  nation  is  confined  to  its  own  territory  ;  and,  there 
fore,  no  officer  of  one  nation  can,  as  such,  pass  into  the  territory  of 
any  other,  and  there  exercise  any  official  functions  whatever. 
Nations  being  moral  persons,  like  individuals,  have  established  cer 
tain  laws  for  their  own  mutual  intercourse.  Under  these  laws  the 
offices  of  Heralds,  Legates,  Ambassadors,  Envoys,  and  other  public 
ministers  have  been  created,  and  by  them  are  the  powers,  rights, 
and  immunities  of  all  such  officers  governed.  Our  Executive 
can,  therefore,  create  Ministers  ;  but  it  must  be  seen  that  the 
foundation  of  their  power  to  do  so  is  laid  down  in  the  Laws  of 
Nations.  (Vat.  Book  iv.  ch.  5,  §  56-7.) 

"  Every  sovereign  State,  then,  has  a  right  to  send  and  receive 
public  Ministers ;  they  are  the  necessary  instruments  in  affairs 
which  sovereigns  have  among  themselves,  and  to  that  correspond, 
ence  which  they  have  a  right  of  carrying  on.  In  the  first  chapter 
of  this  work  may  be  seen  what  we  mean  by  sovereign  and  inde- 

L* 


282  SPEECHES    OF 

pendendent  States  which  constitute  the  great  society  of  nations. 
These  are  the  powers  which  belong  to  the  right  of  embassy,  and  an 
unequal  alliance  or  treaty  of  protection  does  not  take  away  this 
right." 

Our  law  providing  salaries  for  public  Ministers  and  Consuls,  and 
the  Constitution,  by  vesting  the  power  of  appointing  them  in  the 
President  and  Senate,  has  neither  created  nor  recognized  any  new- 
power  in  the  United  States,  not  incident  to  them  in  common  with  all 
other  nations  ;  nor  can  any  authority  be  drawn  from  this  law,  or 
the  Constitution  itself,  to  appoint  public  Ministers  or  Consuls,  other 
than  such  only  as  are  known,  acknowledged,  and  established  by  the 
great  code  of  laws  governing  the  intercourse  of  all  civilized  nations. 
Our  Executive  can,  therefore,  neither  give  powers  to  Consuls  or 
public  Ministers,  nor  send  them  abroad  for  purposes  unknown  to 
those  laws. 

Should  the  President  and  Senate  appoint,  and  send  into  foreign 
countries,  Consuls,  as  France  once  did,  with  admiralty  powers  on 
questions  of  capture  under  the  laws  of  war,  would  these  be  Consuls 
under  our  Constitution,  unless  they  were  such  under  the  laws  and 
usages  of  nations  ?  In  like  manner,  if  the  Executive  create  mis 
sions,  and  appoint  Ministers  to  go  into  the  territories  of  other  nations, 
there  to  hear  and  decide  controversies  arising  among  American 
citizens,  or  to  try  and  punish  crimes  mutually  committed  by  such 
citizens  against  each  other,  could  we  be  called  upon,  under  our  law 
or  Constitution,  for  appropriations  to  pay  their  outfits  and  salaries  ? 
Why  not  ?  Because  the  laws  of  nations  have  established  no  such 
Consulate,  no  such  mission,  no  such  Minister  ;  and  no  nation  can 
create  a  new  embassy,  or  one  unknown  to  the  laws  of  nations. 

A  Sovereignty  may  send  abroad  Ambassadors,  Envoys,  or  resi 
dent  Ministers.  It  may  also  send  Envoys  Extraordinary  and  Min 
isters  Plenipotentiary  ;  a  grade  of  diplomatic  functionaries  compre 
hending  the  especial  officers  of  the  Envoy  and  the  resident  Minister. 
These  Ministers,  however,  must  be  sent  for  some  specific  purpose, 
which  must  be  in  its  nature  public  and  national,  and  they  must  be 
addressed  and  carry  credentials  of  their  appointment  and  character 
to  some  designated  sovereign.  Sovereigns  can  accredit  and  receive 
resident  Ministers ;  but  will  it  be  pretended  that  they  can  accredi 
and  receive  non-resident  Ministers ;  such  as,  when  so  accreditec 
and  received  by  the  Government  of  one  nation,  are  thereby  author 


TRISTAM    B  URGES.  283 

ized  and  empowered  to  reside  as  Ministers  to  that  nation  in  the 
territories  of  any  other  ?  The  act  of  accrediting  and  receiving 
public  Ministers  is  one  of  the  highest  acts  of  sovereignty.  Under 
the  confederation  it  was  done  in  Congress  assembled.  By  the 
Constitution,  this  august  attribute  of  sovereignty  is,  I  believe,  in  like 
manner,  performed  by  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  nation.  Although 
the  whole  sovereignty  of  a  nation  be,  in  accrediting  and  receiving  a 
public  Minister,  put  in  requisition  by  the  Potentate  who  performs 
this  great  State  ceremonial,  yet  the  legal  effects  of  this  act  of  sove 
reignty  must  be  limited  by  whatsoever  limits  all  the  acts  of  each  and 
every  sovereignty.  The  Legislative,  Judicial,  and  Executive  powers 
of  every  nation  are  limited  by  the  territory  of  such  nation  ;  and, 
therefore,  every  exercise  of  any  of  those  powers  must,  in  their 
operations,  be  confined  to  the  territory  of  the  nation  exercising 
them.  The  august  act  of  sovereignty,  therefore,  by  which  a  public 
Minister  is  accredited  and  received  by  the  Executive  Potentate  of 
any  nation,  like  the  laws  and  judicial  decisions  of  that  nation,  can 
have  no  efficiency,  no  legal  existence,  otherwise  than  as  a  mere 
matter  of  fact,  beyond  the  territorial  limits  of  that  nation.  When 
ever,  therefore,  any  sovereignty  does  accredit  and  receive  a  resident 
Minister,  such  Minister  receives  thereby,  no  powers  which  are  not, 
like  the  powers  of  that  sovereignty  itself,  limited,  and  confined  to 
the  national  territory.  For  the  Executive  power  of  one  nation  to 
accredit  and  receive  a  Minister,  as  a  resident  Minister  at  its  own 
Court,  and  in  its  own  territory,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  authorize 
and  empower  such  Minister,  thereby,  to  reside  at  any  other  Court, 
or  in  any  other  country,  would  be  nothing  short  of  direct  usurpation 
in  the  Executive  doing  it  :  for,  to  accredit  and  receive  a  public 
Minister,  is  one  of  the  highest  exercises  of  sovereignty  ;  and,  there 
fore,  whenever  the  Executive  of  one  nation  does  accredit  and  receive 
a  Minister,  to  reside  in  the  territory  of  another  nation,  such  Execu 
tive  does  exercise  one  of  the  highest  acts  of  sovereignty  over  that 
nation.  This  would  be  usurpation. 

Before  gentlemen  contend,  that  this  power  of  accrediting  and 
receiving  non-resident  Ministers  belongs  to  sovereignties,  they  must 
show  some  warrant  for  it  from  the  laws  of  nations.  Do  they  con 
tend,  that  the  right  of  embassy  is  derived  from  the  law  of  nature, 
and  not  from  the  convention  and  agreement  of  nations ;  and  that, 
therefore,  one  sovereign  might,  by  the  laws  of  nature,  receive 


284 


SPEECHES    OF 


Ambassadors   from  another,   and  by  endorsing  their    credentials, 
authorize  them  to  pass  into  the  territories  of  any  other  nation  ?     It 
is  admitted  that  Heralds,  Envoys,  and  Ambassadors  were  sent,  and 
received,  and  respected,  between  armies  and  armies,  nations  and 
nations,  by  virtue  of  the  law  of  nature,  I  presume ;  for  this  was 
certainly  done  both  in  Asia  and  Europe,  before  any  such  code  as 
the  law  of  nations  existed  in  the  world.     These  Ministers  derived 
their  powers,  and  protection,  from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  and 
were  compelled  to  go  right  forward  on  the  errand  for  which  they 
were  sent ;  and  when  that  was  finished,  to  return  in  the  most  direct 
route.     These  principles,  as  the  historian  of  Cortez  tells  us,  were 
found  by  the  Spaniards  to  exist  in  Mexico.     For  the  Envoys  sent 
by  him  to  Montezuma,  were  protected  while  they  kept  directly  on 
their  journey,  and  in  the  highway  ;  but  if  they  left  that  path,  they 
forfeited  all  protection.     Even  these  necessary  messengers  of  war, 
or  peace,  of  congratulation,  or  alliance,  between  sovereignties,  could 
receive  no  powers,  either  from  those  who  sent  them,  or  from  those 
to  whom  they  were  sent,  to  sojourn  for  any  purpose  in  any  other 
country ;  nor  were  they  permitted  to  tarry,  either  in  the  place 
where  their  business  was  to  be  done,  after  that  was  finished,  or  to 
loiter  on  their  way  home.     This  power  of  non-residence,  therefore, 
was  wholly  unknown  to  the  intercourse  of  nations,  derived  from  the 
laws  of  nature. 

Resident  Ministers  do  not  derive  their  powers  from  the  laws  of 
nature.  For  surely  that  could  never  require  any  community  to 
permit  the  citizens  of  any  other  community,  to  come  and  reside  in 
their  territory,  unless  they  become  subjected  to  their  laws  and 
jurisdiction.  Accordingly,  we  find  such  Ministers  were  unknown 
in  Europe,  until  the  sixteenth  century.  Ward,  in  that  part  of  his 
history  and  foundation  of  the  law  of  nations,  which  relates  to  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  says  : 

"  Within  this  period,  among  the  States  of  Europe,  began  that 
remarkable  and  characteristic  custom,  of  entertaining  Ordinary  or 
Resident  Embassies  at  one  another's  Courts  ;  an  institution  peculiar 
to  themselves,  and  particularly  evincive  of  those  many  distinctions 
which  there  are  between  their  Law  of  Nations,  and  that  of  other 
sets  of  people." 

"  Ambassadors    in  Ordinary  have  been  attributed   by   some 
Ferdinand  the  Catholic,  whose  policy  led  him  to  entertain  them 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  285 

various  Courts,  as  a  kind  of  honorable  spies  :  by  others,  with  no 
small  probability,  to  an  imitation  of  the  Pope,  who  had  long  been  in 
the  habit  of  sending  Nuncios  to  reside  at  various  Courts  in  the  ser 
vice  of  religion.     But,  whatever  was  their  origin,  the  Jurists  seem 
to  agree  that  they  are  not  of  natural  right ;  and,  however  universal 
they  may  since  have  grown,  doubts  about  the  period  before  us, 
were  apparently  entertained  of  their  utility.     Henry  IV  of  France, 
while  King  of  Navarre,  entertained  none  at  other  Courts  ;  and 
Henry  VII,  *  that  wise  and  polttique  King,'  says  Lord  Coke, '  would 
not  in   all   his  time  suffer  Leiger  (residence  of)  Ambassadours  of 
any  foreign  King,  or  Prince,  within  his  realm,  nor  he  with  them  ; 
but  upon  occasion  used  Ambassadours.'     So  late  as  1660,  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Polish  Diet,  asserted,  that  the  Ambassador  of  France  had 
no  cause  of  residence  there,  and  that  as  he  did  not  return  home, 
according  to  the  custom  of  Ambassadors,  he  ought  to  be  considered 
as  a  spy.     Two  years  afterwards,  the  Deputies  proposed  very 
warmly  to  send  home   all  Ambassadors  whatever,  and  to  make  a 
law  regulating  the  time  of  their  stay  ;  and  even  the  Dutch,  who, 
one  would  imagine,  had  greater  reason  than  the  Polish  nobles  for 
encouraging  an  intercourse  with  foreigners,  debated  in  1651,  how 
far  this  sort  of  embassy  was  of  any  advantage  to  them.     The 
greater  part  of  nations,  however,  have  now  admitted  their  necessity  ; 
and  though  at  the  commencement  of  the  period  before  us,  men  had 
affixed  no  precise  ideas  to   what  was  considered  as  a  novelty,  and 
even  now  the  admission  of  these  embassies  cannot  be  demanded  as  a 
matter  of  law,  yet  the  custom  is  so  general,  and  they  are  considered 
as  so  much  of  course,  that  the  friendship  of  States  can  hardly  be 
maintained  without  them.     Not  to  send  them,  therefore,  has  been 
sometimes  regarded  as  an  affront." 

The  right  to  send,  and  the  power  to  accredit  and  receive  resident 
Ministers  at  any  Court,  being  matter  of  convention  and  agreement 
among  nations,  it  will  be  found  that  all  the  causes  which  have  con 
spired  to  produce  that  agreement,  do  unite  in  excluding  the  very 
idea  of  accrediting  and  receiving  non-resident  Ministers.  Nay,  Sir, 
so  unwilling  have  nations  been  to  enter  into  any  agreement,  that  one 
sovereignty  shall  have  power  to  accredit  and  receive  Ministers  to 
reside  in  the  territory  of  any  other,  that  they  have  not  agreed  to 
protect  Ambassadors,  while  passing  through  their  territories  in  going 
to,  or  returning  from  the  place  of  their  mission.  Ward,  and  the 


286  SPEECHES    OF 

authorities  quoted  by  him,  notwithstanding  Vattel  is  of  a  different 
opinion,  do  establish  this  doctrine. 

"  I  cannot  quit  this  interesting  and  remarkable  subject  without 
observing,  that  the  privileges  in  question  have  been  carried  by  some 
to  an  extent  even  greater  than  that  which  we  have  been  examining. 
In  the  treatise  of  Vattel,  we  find  the  following  positions  :  That 
although  the  sovereign  to  whom  an  Ambassador  is  addressed,  is 
particularly  called  upon  to  protect  him  in  his  privileges  ;  yet  that 
the  same  duty  extends  to  other  sovereigns  to  whom  he  is  not 
addressed,  but  through  whose  country  he  is  obliged  to  pass  for  the 
purposes  of  his  mission.  To  insult  him,  says  Vattel,  is  to  affront 
his  master  and  his  whole  nation ;  to  arrest  him,  or  to  offer  violence 
to  his  person,  is  to  wound  the  rights  of  embassies  which  belong  to 
every  sovereign. 

"  This  doctrine  arises  out  of  some  considerations  upon  the  case 
of  Rincon  and  Fregoze,  Ambassadors  of  Francis  I.  of  France,  the 
one  to  the  Porte,  the  other  to  Venice.  These  Ministers  passing 
down  the  Po  in  their  passage,  and  being  suspected  of  bearing 
despatches  prejudicial  to  the  interests  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V., 
were  set  upon  and  murdered,  apparently  by  the  orders  of  the  Gov 
ernor  of  Milan.  But  the  Emperor,  although  at  that  time  at  peace 
with  Francis,  appears  not  to  have  been  inclined  to  punish  the  authors 
of  the  murder.  Upon  this  transaction  Vattel  observes,  that  it  was 
an  atrocious  attempt  against  the  Law  of  Nations  ;  that  Francis  had 
not  only  a  very  just  cause  for  war  against  the  Emperor,  but  also  to 
demand  the  assistance  of  all  other  nations  in  its  support.  For  it 
was  an  affair,  not  of  two  individuals,  who  each  supposed  they  had 
right  on  their  side ;  but  of  all  States  whatsoever,  who  wore  inter 
ested  in  maintaining  the  rights  of  Embassy. 

"  It  perhaps  does  not  fall  exactly  within  the  scope  of  this  treatise 
to  examine  whether  this  opinion  is  really  as  it  is  received  at  present. 
But  we  may  venture  to  observe,  that  in  this  position  Vattel  stands 
sole.  At  least  all  the  authors  on  the  Law  of  Nations  who  have 
preceded  him,  after  discussing  the  point  at  some  length,  have  come 
to  a  conclusion  directly  the  reverse  of  his  ;  and  that  which  they 
have  concluded,  is  supported  by  a  great  variety  of  cases,  both  of  an 
ancient  and  a  recent  date.  Thus  Albericus  Gentilis,  upon  this  very 
case  of  Rincon  and  Fregoze,  observes  merely,  i  Probrosum  id  Car- 
o/o  fuissetS  *  Sed  alia  Questio  est'  adds  Bynkershoek,  ' dc  jure 


TRISTAM    B  URGES.  287 

Logat  fonts  alia  de  jure  honestatis.'  Grotius,  who  followed  Gentilis, 
after  liaving  given  his  opinions  at  length  upon  the  inviolability  of 
Ambassadors,  says  expressly,  that  it  is  only  to  be  understood  to  be 
binding  on  those  sovereigns  to  whom  they  are  sent.  *  Non  pertinet 
ergo  hcec  Lex  ad  eos  per  quorum  fines,  non  accepta  venia,  transeunt 
lega.US  It  is  true,  the  non  accepta  venia,  may  be  made  by  some  to 
amount  to  an  inviolability,  provided  they  have  passports.  But  it 
may  be  fairly  questioned,  whether  the  possession  of  a  passport  itself, 
can  confer  any  thing  more,  than  the  common  protection  to  which 
common  aliens  have  a  right.  Bynkershoek,  at  least,  without  taking 
notice  of  passports  at  all,  understands  Grotius  to  mean,  generally, 
that  the  privilege  in  question  shall  not  have  place  in  countries  to 
which  Ambassadors  are  not  addressed.  Of  this  opinion  also,  were 
Zouch  \Yicquefort,  who  has  been  deemed  the  very  champion  of  the 
rights  of  Ambassadors,  and  who  declares  that  the  case  of  Rincon 
and  Fregoze,  though  an  atrocius  murder,  was  not  a  violation  of  the 
Law  of  Nations,  as  to  Embassies  ;  Huber,  and  lastly,  Bynkershoek, 
who  had  particular  occasion  to  examine  the  point,  but  a  short  time 
before  Vattel.  The  subject  came  before  the  latter  in  considering 
the  meaning  of  the  passage,  which  formed  part  of  a  declaration  of 
the  States  General  in  favor  of  the  inviolability  of  Ambassadors ; 
and  the  difficulty  was,  to  know  whether  the  word  '  PasserendeJ 
was  applicable  to  Ambassadors  to  other  powers,  passing  through 
Holland,  or  confined  simply  to  those  addressed  to  the  States,  coming, 
residing,  and  passing  away,  or  retiring.  To  solve  this  difficulty,  he 
inquired  into  the  opinions  of  the  jurists  concerning  the  point  in  dis 
cussion,  and  determined  that  it  applied  solely  to  Ambassadors  who 
were  addressed  to  the  States. 

"  Selim  II.,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  being  at  peace  with  Venice, 
but  meditating  war,  sent  a  Minister  to  the  King  of  France  to  know 
his  sentiments  of  it.  He  endeavored  to  pass  through  Venice,  but 
was  arrested,  and  the  French  Ambassador  there,  and  the  King 
himself,  claimed  his  liberty  as  addressed  to  them.  But  they  were 
forced  to  yield  to  the  arguments  of  the  Republic  ;  <  that  a  sovereign 
power  need  not  recognize  a  public  Minister  as  such,  unless  it  is  to 
him  that  his  credentials  are  addressed. 

"  In  1672,  Elizabeth  of  England,  having  reasons  to  be  jealous  of 
the  machinations  of  the  French  in  Scotland,  arrested  all  Frenchmen 
passing  through  the  kingdom  to  that  country  without  a  passport. 


288  SPEECHES    OF 

Among  these  was  Du  Croc,  the  French  Ambassador  to  Scotland, 
and  his  Court  complained  loudly  of  this  as  a  violation  of  the  Law 
of  Nations.  But  Walsingham,  the  Secretary,  pleaded,  that  it  was 
Du  Croc's  own  fault  for  not  taking  a  passport ;  he  might  justly  be 
detained;  and  with  this  plea  the  French  were  content,  notwithstand 
ing  his  quality  of  Ambassador." 

Sir,  what  is  the  mission  invented  in  this  case  by  Mr.  Secretary 
Van  Buren  ;  and  what  the  diplomatic  character  of  the  Minister  now 
under  consideration  ?  This  gentleman  was,  by  order  of  the  Exec 
utive,  carried  out  from  Norfolk  to  Russia,  in  a  national  ship,  with 
every  circumstance  of  high  respect,  and  at  a  cost  of  not  less  than 
forty  thousand  dollars  for  his  passage.  He  arrived  at  St.  Peters 
burg  ;  was  presented  to  his  Imperial  Majesty,  the  Emperor  of  Rus 
sia  ;  exhibited  his  credentials ;  was  accredited  as  Envoy  Extraor 
dinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  at  that 
Court ;  retired  and  took  his  departure  from  the  Russian  territories, 
all  in  the  short  space  of  ten  days.  It  is  contended  by  gentlemen 
who  support  this  appropriation,  that  he  is  our  Minister.  If  so,  he 
must  be  our  Minister  non-resident  at  the  Court  of  St.  Petersburg  ; 
for  it  is  too  much  to  say,  that  stopping  ten  days  at  that  city,  would 
make  him,  in  legal  acceptation,  resident  there ;  but  that  six  months 
residence  in  England  will  not  render  him  legally  a  non-resident  at 
Petersburgh.  If,  then,  he  can  be  our  Minister  at  all,  he  must  be  our 
non-resident  Minister.  He  has  been  sent  to  St.  Petersburg,  to  be 
accredited  there  by  his  Imperial  Majesty ;  and  by  form  of  being 
thus  accredited,  we  are  gravely  told  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  that 
he  has  acquired  the  rights  of  a  Minister  of  the  United  States  wrher- 
ever  he  may  choose  to  reside.  Sir,  will  nations  admit  this  kind  of^ 
non-resident,  this  migratory  mission,  this  diplomatic  gossippingJ 
This  doctrine  of  "  no  locality,"  so  essential  in  the  Secretary's  consti 
tutional  creed,  to  the  existence  of  a  national  road,  he  will  find  does 
not  belong  to  the  character  of  a  resident  Minister,  and  really  has  no 
place  among  nations,  out  of  the  Cabinet  so  adroitly  conducted  by 
himself. 

If  gentlemen  still  contend  that  Mr.  Randolph  is  our  Envoy  Extra 
ordinary,  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary,  non-resident  at  the  Court  of 
St.  Petersburg,  they  must  contend,  that  wheresoever  he  does  reside, 
he  is  still  vested  with  the  high  diplomatic  qualities  and  attributes, 
which,  by  the  laws  of  nations,  belong  to  such  a  public  Minister. 


TRISTAM    BURGES. 

What  are  these  ?  They  are  comprehended  in  two  very  expressive 
words  :  personal  inviolability.  Not  only  are  his  person  and  effects 
exempted  from  all  legal  diligence,  but  whosoever  shall  treat  him 
with  insult,  or  disrespect,  is  liable  to  be  punished.  A  public  Minis 
ter  cannot  be  sued  for  a  contract,  or  a  trespass  ;  he  cannot  be  pros 
ecuted  for  a  felony.  If  he  commit  homicide,  with  every  circum 
stance  of  malice,  or  conspire  with  traitors  to  overthrow  the  Govern 
ment  to  which  he  is  sent,  he  can  neither  be  punished,  nor  prosecuted, 
nor  even  questioned  concerning  these  crimes.  Vattel  asserts  : 

"  The  necessity  and  right  of  embassies  being  established,  (See 
Chap.  2  of  his  book,)  the  perfect  security,  the  inviolability  of 
Ambassadors  and  other  Ministers  is  a  certain  consequence  of  it ; 
for  if  their  person  be  not  defended  from  violence  of  every  kind,  the 
right  of  embassies  becomes  precarious,  and  success  uncertain.  A 
right  to  the  end,  is  a  right  to  the  necessary  means.  Embassies 
then,  being  of  such  great  importance  in  the  universal  society  of 
nations,  and  so  necessary  to  their  common  well  being,  the  person 
of  Ministers  charged  with  this  embassy  is  to  be  as  sacred  and  invio 
lable  among  all  nations.  (See  Book  II.  §  218.)  Whoever  offers 
any  violence  to  an  Ambassador,  or  any  other  public  Minister,  not 
only  injures  the  sovereign  whom  this  Minister  represents,  but  he 
also  hurts  the  common  safety,  and  well  being  of  nations  ;  he  becomes 
guilty  of  an  atrocious  crime  towards  the  whole  world." 

This  doctrine  is  further  confirmed  : 

"  In  fine,  if  an  Ambassador  could  be  indicted  for  common  tres 
passes,  be  criminally  prosecuted,  taken  into  custody,  punished ;  if 
he  might  be  sued  in  civil  cases,  the  consequence  will  often  be,  that 
,  he  will  want  the  power,  leisure,  or  freedom  of  mind,  which  his  mas 
ter's  affairs  require.  How  will  the  dignity  of  the  representation  be 
supported  in  such  a  subjection  ?  From  all  these  reasons,  it  is  im 
possible  to  conceive,  that  the  Prince,  in  sending  an  Ambassador,  or 
any  other  Minister,  intends  to  submit  him  to  the  authority  of  a 
Foreign  Power.  This  is  a  fresh  reason,  which  fixes  the  independency 
of  a  public  Minister  If  it  cannot  be  reasonably  presumed  that  his 
master  means  to  submit  him  to  the  authority  of  a  sovereign,  to  whom 
he  is  sent,  this  sovereign  in  receiving  the  Minister,  consents  to 
admit  him  on  the  footing  of  his  independency.  And  thus  subsists 
between  the  two  Princes  a  passive  convention,  giving  new  force  to 
the  natural  obligation." 


290  SPEECHES    OF 

"  In  1567,  Leslie,  Bishop  of  Ross,  came  to  the  Court  of  Elizabeth, 
as  Ambassador  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  who  was  then  detained  a 
prisoner  by  her  royal  cousin.  This  man  in  taking  care  of  the  con 
cerns  of  Mary,  conspired  with  certain  English  noblemen  to  depose 
Elizabeth,  and  place  Mary  on  the  throne  of  England.  The  plot 
was  discovered.  The  Duke  of  Norfolk  and  others  were  executed 
for  treason ;  but,  though  Elizabeth  dared  afterwards  to  steep  her 
hand  in  the  blood  of  her  royal  captive,  and  thereby  to  violate  all 
other  laws,  human  and  divine,  she  dared  not  violate  the  laws  of 
nations,  by  punishing  the  Ambassador  of  the  unfortunate  Queen  of 
Scotland.  In  1564,  Mendoza,  the  Spanish  Ambassador  in  England, 
conspired  to  dethrone  the  Queen  by  introducing  foreign  troops  into 
the  country.  This  conspiracy  being  discovered,  the  Court  of  Eliz 
abeth  took  the  opinions,  as  Ward  tells  us,  of  the  celebrated  Albericus 
Gentilis,  then  in  England,  and  of  Hottoman  in  France,  another  great 
civilian,  concerning  the  manner  of  proceeding  against  Mendoza. 
They  both  asserted  that  an  Ambassador,  though  a  conspirator,  could 
not  be  put  to  death  ;  but  must  be  remanded  to  his  principal  for  pun 
ishment.  In  consequence  of  this,  Mendoza  was  simply  ordered  to 
depart  the  realm ;  and  a  commission  sent  to  Spain  to  prefer  a  com 
plaint  against  him. 

"  Three  years  afterwards,  L'Aubaspine,  the  French  Ambassador, 
in  his  devotion  to  Mary,  conspired  not  only  to  dethrone,  but  to 
assassinate  Elizabeth.  He  actually  hired  a  ruffian  from  Newgate, 
to  perform  this  deed  of  atrocity.  Some  disagreement  concerning 
the  means  to  be  used,  induced  delay  in  the  execution,  and  led  to  a 
discovery.  When  the  Ambassador  was  called  upon  for  examina 
tion,  he  replied,  *  I  will  hear  no  accusation  to  the  prejudice  of  the 
privileges  of  Ambassadors ;'  and  though  Lord  Burleigh  reproached 
him  for  his  turpitude,  yet  the  English  Court  never  thought  of  trying 
him  for  treason." — Ward  314-15. 

Sir,  such  are  the  high  and  distinguishing  attributes  and  charac 
teristics  of  "  Ambassadors  and  other  public  Ministers,"  and  the  laws 
of  nations.  These  immunities  and  privileges  belong  to  Mr.  Randolph, 
if  he  be  the  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of 
the  United  States,  resident  at  the  Court  of  his  Imperial  Majesty,  the 
Emperor  of  Russia,  or  in  any  other  part  of  his  territory.  We  know, 
however,  that  he  is  non-resident  there  ;  and  are  we  prepared  to  say, 
that  if  he  acquired  these  immunities  by  his  visit  to  that  Court  and 


THIS  T  AM    SURGES.  291 

his  being  accredited  there,  lie  now  carries  them  with  him  wherever 
he  may  make  it  his  pleasure  to  sojourn  ?  If  he  be  a  public  minister, 
he  has  these  immunities  ;  if  he  be  without  them,  then  is  he  no  public 
Minister.  What  lawyer  in  this  House,  or  nation,  or  indeed  in  the 
civilized  world,  would  pledge  his  character  upon  the  allegation  that 
John  Randolph  might,  like  the  Bishop  of  Ross,  Mendoza,  and 
L'Aubaspine,  join  a  conspiracy  to  dethrone  and  assassinate  the 
sovereign  of  England  ;  and,  like  them,  when  questioned  for  treason, 
allege  his  immunities  as  public  Minister,  and  refuse  to  "  hear  any 
accusation  to  the  prejudice  of  the  privileges  of  Ambassadors  ?" 
Sir,  the  absurdity  is  too  enormous  to  be  entertained  by  any  man  of 
sane  mind  and  ordinary  understanding.  If,  then,  he  have  not  these 
immunities,  he  is  not  a  public  Minister  of  the  United  States  ;  and  it 
is  a  mockery  of  the  nation  to  call  on  their  Representatives  to  appro 
priate  money  for  the  payment  of  his  salary. 

We  are-  not  to  suppose  that  a  public  Minister,  because  he  is 
exempted  from  legal  process  in  the  country  to  which  he  is  sent,  is, 
therefore,  not  amenable  to  any  laws  whatever,  for  any  part  of  his 
conduct.  He  is  not  within  the  legal  jurisdiction  of  the  country  where 
he  is  accredited,  although  at  the  capital  and  Court  of  the  sovereign, 
and  protected  by  his  whole  civil  and  military  power  ;  but  he  carries 
with  him  the  jurisdiction  of  his  own  country  ;  and  it  is  because  he 
is,  by  force  of  the  Law  of  Nations,  within  the  jurisdiction  of  his  own 
country,  that  he  cannot  be  within  that  of  the  country  where  he  is 
accredited  and  received  as  a  public  Minister.  Those  who  travel 
the  ocean  in  your  fleets,  or  ships  and  vessels,  either  the  mercantile 
or  naval,  though  their  "  home  seems  to  be  on  the  deep,"  yet,  by 
,  the  force  of  law,  are  they  within  the  body  of  the  country,  and  dis 
trict  of  our  country,  from  which  they  departed  on  the  voyage,  or  to 
which  they  may  return,  when  that  is  finished.  Their  contract  of 
trespasses,  or  crime,  though  done  on  the  deep  sea,  in  the  most  distant 
ocean,  yet  are  within  the  legal  jurisdiction  of  their  country.  In 
like  manner,  your  public  Ministers,  to  whatever  Court  you  send 
them,  and  wherever  they  are  accredited,  carry  with  them,  and  are 
there  surrounded  by,  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States.  The 
highest  officer  of  justice  in  the  country,  when  they  are  received, 
when  he  steps  over  the  threshold  of  their  house,  becomes,  as  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  an  ordinary,  citizen  ;  and  the  imperial  state 
warrant  in  his  pocket  is  whitened  into  blank  paper,  and  can  no 


292  SPEECHES    OF 

more  be  executed  by  him  there  on  a  public  Minister,  than  if  he 
stood  on  this  floor  with  the  same  warrant  in  his  hand,  he  could,  by 
virtue  of  it,  arrest  me  or  you,  Mr.  Speaker. 

I  have  not  spoken  without  authority  on  this  subject.     Ward  tells 
us,  page  297, 

"  An  Ambassador  neither  knows,  nor  submits  to  the  laws  of  the 
country  to  which  he  is  sent.  He  goes  not  on  his  own  account,  on 
private  business,  or  private  pleasure  ;  but  as  the  representative  of 
another  ;  as  the  presentation  of  the  dignity,  privileges,  power,  and 
rights  which  others  would  enjoy,  had  they  continued  within  their 
own  precincts.  And  thus  by  consent,  and  a  sense  of  mutual  ex 
change,  he  is  allowed  to  return  and  personify,  if  I  may  so  call  it, 
all  these  high  privileges  in  the  very  bosom  of  another  community, 
for  the  sake  of  transacting  better  the  whole  business  of  the  world." 
Vattel  says,  page  548  : 

"  But  it  is  not  on  account  of  the  sacredness  of  their  person  that 
Ambassadors  cannot  be  sued  ;  it  is  because  they  do  not  depend  on 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  country  whither  they  are  sent ;  and  the  solid 
reasons  for  this  independency  may  be  seen  above.  Let  us  here 
add,  that  it  is  entirely  proper,  and  even  necessary,  that  an  Ambas 
sador  should  not  be  liable  to  any  judicial  prosecution,  even  for  a 
civil  cause,  that  he  may  not  be  disturbed  in  the  exercise  of  his  civil 
functions." 

He  further  tells  us,  page  564  : 

11  The  independency  of  the  Ambassador  would  be  very  imperfect, 
and  his  security  weakly  founded,  did  not  the  house  in  which  he 
lives  enjoy  an  entire  exemption,  so  as  to  be  inaccessible  to  the  ordi 
nary  officers  of  justice.  The  Ambassador  might  be  disturbed  under 
a  thousand  pretences  :  his  secrets  might  be  discovered  by  searching 
his  papers,  and  his  person  exposed  to  insults.  Thus  all  the  reasons 
which  establish  his  independence  and  inviolability,  concur  likewise 
to  secure  the  freedom  of  his  house." 

This  independence  and  exemption  from  foreign  jurisdiction 
belongs  to  the  public  functionary,  not  to  the  man  :  is  given  for  the 
public,  and  not  for  his  own  benefit ;  and,  therefore,  cannot  be  laid 
aside,  even  so  far  as  to  become  a  party  in  a  suit,  while  he  continues 
to  be  a  Minister,  without  the  consent  of  his  master.  To  this  effect, 
Vattel  says,  page  549  : 


TRI8TAM    BURGES.  2Q3 

"But  if  the  Ambassador  will  partly  recede  from  his  independ 
ency,  and  subject  himself  in  civil  affairs  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
country,  he  unquestionably  may,  provided  it  be  done  with  his  mas- 
ter's  consent.  But  without  such  a  consent,  the  Ambassador  has  no 
right  to  waive  privileges  in  which  the  dignity  and  service  of  his 
sovereign  are  concerned,  which  are  founded  on  the  master's  rights, 
and  made  for  his  advantage,  and  not  for  that  of  the  Minister." 

Has  Mr.  Randolph  carried  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States 
with  him  into  England ;  and  does  that  jurisdiction  now  surround 
him,  as  it  does  each  one  of  us,  and  exclude  from  his  person,  his 
effects,  and  his  house,  all  English  jurisdiction  ?  The  case  of  the 
Russian  Ambassador  in  England,  is  in  point.  It  happened  in  the 
time  of  Queen  Anne,  1707.  The  Russian  Ambassador  at  her 
Court  was  arrested  in  the  street  for  debt,  taken  out  of  his  coach, 
and  carried  by  the  tipstaff  to  a  common  spunging  house,  and 
detained  there  until  he  was  bailed  by  the  Earl  of  Feverdam.  By 
the  laws  of  England,  these  proceedings  against  the  Ambassador 
were  void,  but  no  adequate  punishment  had  been  by  law  provided 
for  such  offenders.  Ward  tells  us  on  this  subject,  pages  299,  300, 
301,  that  on  this  occasion  the  statute  7  Ann.  c.  12,  was  enacted ; 
that 

"  The  preamble,  however,  having  merely  observed,  that  the 
Muscovite  Ambassador  had  been  taken  out  of  his  coach,  by 
violence,  in  contempt  of  the  protection  granted  by  her  Majesty, 
without  taking  notice  of  the  breach  of  the  Law  of  Nations,  '  which 
is  superior  and  antecedent  to  all  municipal  laws  ;'  the  foreign  Min 
isters  in  London  met  again  together,  and  procured  the  addition  of 
these  words,  *  Contrary  to  the  law  of  nations,  and  in  prejudice  of 
the  rights  and  privileges  which  Ambassadors  and  other  public  Min 
isters,  authorized  and  received  as  such,  have  at  all  times  been 
thereby  possessed  of,  and  which  ought  to  be  kept  sacred  and  invio 
lable.'  With  this  act  of  Parliament  elegantly  engrossed,  and  an 
apology  for  not  being  able  to  punish  the  persons  of  those  who  had 
affronted  his  Minister,  the  Czar,  who  had  at  first  insisted  upon  their 
deaths,  was  at  length  induced  to  be  content ;  and  thus  ended  this 
delicate  affair." 

Should  Mr.  Randolph,  like  the  Russian  Minister  at  the  Court  of 
Queen  Anne,  be  arrested  for  debt,  and  carried  to  a  spunging  house 
for  lack  of  bail,  could  he  claim  protection  as  an  Envoy  Extraordi- 


294  SPEECHES    OF 

nary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  ?  Sir,  that 
statute  was  provided  for  those  "  ministers  who  were  authorized  and 
received  as  such,"  not  in  other  countries,  but  in  England.  This 
gentleman  can  take  no  protection  under  it.  He  has  abandoned  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  for  that  of  England,  the  high  im 
munities  and  labors  of  a  public  Minister,  for  the  comforts  and  retire 
ment  of  a  private  gentleman,  in  some  farm  house,  or  inconsiderable 
inn  in  the  county  of  Suffolk.  The  American  arms  or  ensign  he  has 
never  placed  over  the  door,  or  he  has  ordered  them  pulled  down, 
and  thrown  into  the  garret.  Who  can  point  out  the  place  where  the 
American  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary,  non 
resident  at  Russia,  may  now  be  found  ?  Will  gentlemen  contend, 
that  by  some  new  fiction  of  diplomatic  law  he  is  still  our  Minister, 
and  that  we  are  bound  in  behalf  of  the  nation,  to  make  this  appro 
priation  for  his  salary  ? 

There  is  another  view  of  this  part  of  the  question,  which  truth 
and  justice  do  not  permit  me  to  pass  by  in  silence.  Let  the  admis 
sion  be  made,  for  the  purpose  of  the  argument,  that  such  a  minister 
may,  by  the  law  of  nations,  be  accredited  and  received  by  a  foreign 
power.  If  so,  he  must  have  been  nominated  and  appointed  as 
a  Minister  of  that  character.  Any  sovereign  State  may  send 
abroad,  and  have  received,  several  kinds  of  public  Ministers.  The 
first  in  rank  is  an  Ambassador.  He  is  not  only  a  mandatary,  as  all 
others  are,  but  he  is  also  the  Representative  of  the  sovereignty 
which  sends  him  ;  and  in  the  presence  of  the  sovereign  receiving, 
he  stands  as  one  king  does  in  the  presence  of  another,  without 
uncovering  his  head.  The  Envoy  is  another  grade  of  Minister  ; 
and  is  charged  with  the  doing  of  some  particular  act,  which,  when 
he  has  finished,  he  returns  home.  Resident  Ministers  are  in  rank 
below  Envoys,  and  are  charged  with  such  relations  of  their  Govern 
ments  where  they  reside,  as  require  the  constant  attention  of  some 
mandatary  or  agent  for  their  care  and  supervision.  The  Envoy 
Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  is  a  high  mandatary, 
empowered  to  do  whatever  may  be  done  by  any  other  Minister, 
except  the  representation  of  the  sovereignty,  which  has  sent  him 
abroad.  He  is  inferior  in  rank  to  none  but  the  Ambassador.  Com 
missioners  are  sent  out  on  special  agencies,  and  are  received  and 
accredited  as  Ministers  of  an  inferior  grade.  The  Charge  d'Affairs 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  295 

is  accredited  as  such  ;  and  takes  the  duties  though  not  the  rank  of 
resident  Minister. 

If,  Sir,  in  addition  to  all  these,  foreign  Courts  could  accredit  and 
receive  non-resident  Ministers,  or  such  as  might  reside,  either  at 
such  Courts,  or  wherever  else  they  might  choose,  and  continue  to  be 
Ministers  wherever  they  might  go  or  reside  ;  then  is  if  not  manifest 
that  they  must  have  been  designated  as  Ministers  of  this  character, 
both  in  their  appointment  and  in  their  commission  1  The  nomina 
tion  made  by  the  President  to  the  Senate,  is  the  foundation  of  the 
mission  ;  and  it  must  fully  set  forth  the  name  of  the  man  to  be  sent, 
the  place  to  which  he  is  to  be  sent,  the  purpose  for  which  he  is 
sent,  and  the  ministerial  character  of  him  who  is  sent.  Without  all 
these,  how  can  the  Senate  advise  and  consent  to  his  appointment  ? 
Accordingly,  we  find  that  the  President  made  this  nomination  with 
all  these  distinguishing  characteristics. 

"  Tuesday,  May  25,  1830. — The  following  message  was  received 
from  the  President  of  United  States,  by  Mr.  Donelson,  his  Sec. 
retary. 

"  To  the  Senate  of  the  United  States :  Gentlemen :  I  nominate 
John  Randolph,  of  Roanoke,  Virginia,  to  be  Envoy  Extraordinary 
and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  at  the  Court  of  his 
Imperial  Majesty,  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  in  the  place  of  Henry 
Middleton,  of  South  Carolina,  recalled." 

Was  this  man  nominated  to  be  Minister  AT  the  Court  of  his 
Imperial  Majesty,  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  and  ELSEWHERE  ?  No,  Sir, 
it  was  at  Russia  in  place  of  Mr.  Middleton ;  and  at  that  place  only. 
If,  therefore,  a  non-resident  Minister  could,  by  any  law  of  nations, 
be  sent  abroad,  or  could  have  been  advised  and  consented  to  by  the 
Senate,  Mr.  Randolph  could  not  have  been  so  sent,  for  he  was  not 
so  nominated.  Did  the  Senate  advise  or  consent  to  this  gentleman's 
appointment  to  any  other  ministerial  office  than  that  to  which  he 
was  nominated.  Let  the  record  answer  : 

"  The  Senate  proceeded  to  consider  the  message  appointing  John 
Randolph  to  office  ;  and 

"  Resolved,  That  they  do  advise  and  consent  to  the  appointment 
of  John  Randolph,  agreeably  to  his  nomination." 

If  the  President  shall,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate,  appoint  public  Ministers,  then  the  appointment  of  this  man 
could  not  differ  from  the  nomination  made  by  the  President,  and 


296  SPEECHES    OF 

the  advice  and  consent  thereupon  had  and  given  by  the  Senate.  If, 
then,  he  might  have  been  accredited  and  received  at  the  Court  of 
his  Imperial  Majesty,  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  as  a  non-resident 
Minister,  he  could  not  have  been  so  sent,  for  he  was  not  so 
appointed. 

After  this  gentleman  had  been  nominated,  confirmed,  and  ap 
pointed  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  at  the 
Court  of  his  Imperial  Majesty,  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  could  his 
commission  differ  from  his  appointment  ?  Could  the  Secretary 
of  State,  from  this  record,  make  out  and  deliver  to  him  a  commis 
sion  as  Ambassador,  and  thus  send  this  peculiar  gentleman  to  the 
most  splendid  Court  of  Europe,  to  represent  the  entire  sovereignty 
of  these  United  States ;  an  office  of  honor  and  high  dignity,  which 
has  never  hitherto  been,  by  this  Government,  conferred  on  any  of 
those  talented  and  highly  accomplished  statesmen,  who,  as  public 
Ministers,  have  gone  abroad  from  this  country  ?  If,  by  the  laws  of 
nations,  a  non-resident  Minister  could  be  received  by  a  foreign 
power,* could  this  gentleman,  under  this  appointment,  receive  the 
commission,  and  enjoy  the  immunities  of  such  a  Minister  ?  Ap 
pointed  Minister  at  the  Russian  Court,  could  he,  honestly,  and 
according  to  the  record,  have  been  commissioned  at  this  Court  and 
elsewhere  ?  I  beg  leave  to  read  the  formula  in  like  cases,  (1  Vol. 
Lym.)  addressed  by  the  Secretary  of  State  to  the  appointed  Minis 
ter.  "  Sir,  with  this  letter,  (among  other  things,)  you  will  receive, 
1 — A  commission  as  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipo 
tentiary.  2 — A  letter  of  credence  to  the  king.  3 — A  passport  for 
yourself  and  family."  Has  the  Secretary  given  him  such  a  com 
mission  ?  Beyond  question  he  has  given  it.  This  is  not  all.  He 
tells  us  in  the  message,  under  the  name  of  the  President,  that  he  has 
also  given  him  a  commission  at  the  Court  of  his  Imperial  Majesty, 
and  elsewhere.  If  this  be  true,  and  Mr.  Randolph  is  now  travel-, 
ling  or  sojourning  under  it,  he  has  abandoned  the  appointment  made 
by  the  President,  under  advisement  of  the  Senate  ;  and  has  ceased  to 
be  Minister  of  the  United  States  at  that  Court ;  and  if  he  be  a  Min 
ister  at  all,  he  is  a  Minister  elsewhere  ;  and  as  such,  is  literally  the 
Envoy  Extraordinary,  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  Secre 
tary,  not  of  the  President  and  Senate,  or  of  the  nation. 

The  same  difficulties  must  have  attended  this  mission  at  the  Rus. 
sian  Court.     The  credentials  given  to  Mr.  Randolph  must  show  his 


TRIST  AM    BURGES.  297 

ministerial   character ;    and  in  that  character  alone  could  he  have 
been  received  by  the  Emperor.     So  we  are  told  by  Vattel,  p.  523. 

"  Among  the  several  characters  established  by  custom,  it  is  the 
sovereign's  choice  with  which  he  will  invest  his  minister,  which  is 
made  known  in  the  credentials  which  he  delivers  to  the  sovereign  to 
whom  he  is  sent.  Letters  of  credence  are  the  instruments  which 
authorize  and  establish  the  Minister  in  his  character  with  the 
prince  to  whom  they  are  addressed.  If  this  prince  receives  the 
Minister,  he  can  receive  him  only  in  the  quality  attributed  to  him 
in  his  credentials.  They  are,  as  it  were,  his  general  letter  of 
attorney,  his  mandate  patent,  mandatum,  manifestum." 

Had  this  gentleman  two  sets  of  credentials,  two  commissions,  and 
did  he  exhibit  them  both  to  the  Emperor  ?  Did  he,  in  fact,  tell  his 
Majesty,  "  Your  summer  is  too  hot ;  your  winter  will  be  too  cold. 
The  fur  which  has  warmed  a  bear,  may  warm  a  Russian  monarch, 
but  it  can  never  warm  me.  My  constitution  is  worn  out  in 
the  public  service.  I  shall  be  sick — I  am  sick.  I  must  re 
side  elsewhere,  any  where,  in  England,  in  France ;  in  a  more 
genial  climate  than  that  of  your  majesty's  capital."  It  is  too  much 
to  be  supposed,  even  of  Mr.  Randolph.  He  presented  his  at  cre 
dentials  and  commission.  His  elsewhere  credentials  and  commis 
sion  were  retained  for  use  when  he  should  arrive,  I  know  not  where, 
but  certainly  elsewhere. 

Sir,  our  law  has  been  evaded  ;  the  Constitution  has  been  evaded  ; 
the  laws  of  nations  have  been  evaded  ;  the  President,  the  Senate, 
and  our  Imperial  Friend  have  been  deceived  ;  and  the  Minister 
himself,  suffering  himself  to  be  made  a  party  to  this  imposition,  has 
fallen  .into  the  devices  of  the  Secretary  ;  has  been  got  out  of  the 
country  on  a  mission,  illegal,  void,  and  nugatory  ;  and  is  now  the 
deplorable  dupe  of  state  artifice,  cruising  about  Europe,  like  some 
contraband  trader,  under  a  double  commission,  and  with  two  sets 
of  papers. 

Will  it  be  contended  by  the  supporters  of  this  appropriation,  that 
this  gentleman  will,  after  months  of  recess  from  the  public  service 
at  the  Russian  Court,  return  thither,  and  by  years  of  efficient  labor, 
efface  all  memory  of  this  interval  of  idleness  and  neglect  ?  What 
cause,  Sir,  have  we  to  believe  he  will  ever  return  to  St.  Peters- 
burgh  ?  Observe  what  has  the  Secretary  told  us  in  the  message  : 
"  If,  as  it  is  to  be  hoped,  the  improvement  of  his  health  should  be 

a* 


298  SPEECHES:  or 

such  as  to  justify  him  in  doing  so,  he  will  repair  to  St.  Peterpburgb, 
and  resume  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties."  This  does  not 
affirm  that  he  will  return  ;  it  affirms  that  it  is  to  be  hoped  he  may 
be  well  enough  to  do  so.  According  to  the  message,  a  want  of 
health  took  him  away  from  that  Court.  Different  reasons  were 
given  for  those  facts,  by  the  official  papers.  By  the  Richmond 
Official,  the  summer  heat  compelled  his  departure  ;  by  the  Official 
in  this  city,  the  approaching  cold  of  the  then  coming  winter  drove 
him  to  seek  a  more  genial  climate.  In  Russia,  summer  is  said  to 
burst  from  the  frozen  bosom  of  winter,  like  a  sheet  of  flame  from 
Mount  Hecla ;  and  to  spread  its  warming,  blazing,  burning  influ 
ence  at  once  over  the  whole  region.  At  times,  so  intense  is  the 
temperature,  that  the  pine  forests  take  fire  from  the  heat  of  the 
atmosphere.  I  have  read  a  Russian  traveller,  who  says  vegetation 
is  so  rapid,  that,  on  a  soil  thawed  not  more  than  one  foot  deep,  the 
ground  is  ploughed,  the  wheat  sown,  grown,  ripened,  and  harvested 
in  six  weeks.  Winter  comes  on  the  country  as  summer  came, 
extinguishing  at  once  the  heat  of  the  air  and  earth,  by  throwing 
down  and  spreading  out,  one  vast  sheet  of  snow,  from  Cronstadt  to 
Kamschatka.  The  genial  and  joyous  airs  of  spring,  the  sober  and 
gladsome  sunshines  and  shades  of  autumn,  known  under  the  Italian 
skies  of  Virginia,  have  never  visited,  and  can  never  visit  a  Russian 
climate.  Unless,  therefore,  this  gentleman  can  visit  Russia  in  sum 
mer,  when  he  has  been  compelled  to  leave  it ;  or  in  winter,  when 
he  dare  not  approach  it,  he  cannot  again  return  to  St.  Petersburg!!. 
What  reason  had  the  Secretary  for  the  hopes  expressed  in  the  mes 
sage,  that  the  renovated  health  of  Mr.  Randolph  might  induce 
him  to  return  ?  Permit  me  to  quote  from  one  of  his  speeches, 
delivered  on  this  floor,  more  than  two  years  ago  : 

"  Sir,  what  can  the  country  do  for  me  ?  As  for  power,  what 
charm  can  it  have  for  one  like  me  ?  If  power  had  been  my  object, 
I  must  have  been  less  sagacious  than  my  worst  enemies  have  repre 
sented  me  to  be,  if  I  had  not  obtained  it.  *  *  *  *  What  is 
office  ?  What,  Sir,  to  drudge  in  your  laboratories  in  the  Depart 
ments,  or  be  at  the  tail  of  your  corps  diplomatic  in  Europe  ?  (Ex 
iled  to  Siberia.)  Alas  !  Sir,  in  my  condition,  a  cup  of  cold  water 
would  be  more  acceptable.  What  can  the  country  give  me  that  I 
do  not  possess  in  the  confidence  of  such  constituents  as  no  man  ever 
had  before  ?  I  can  retire  to  my  old  patrimonial  trees,  where  I  may 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  299 

see  the  sun  rise  and  set  in  peace.  *  *  *  I  shall  retire  upon 

rny  resources — I  will  go  back  to  the  bosom  of  my  constituents.  * 
*  *  *  -  And  shall  I  give  up  them  and  this  ?  And  for  what  1 
For  the  heartless  amusements,  and  vapid  pleasures,  and  tarnished 
honors  of  this  abode  of  splendid  misery,  of  shabby  splendor  ?  for  a 
clerkship  in  the  War  Office,  or  a  Foreign  Mission,  to  dance  attend 
ance  abroad  instead  of  at  home — or  even  for  a  Department  itself? 
Sir,  thirty  years  make  sad  changes  in  a  man,  *  *  *  *  I  feel 
that  I  hang  to  existence  by  a  single  hair — that  the  .sword  of  Damo 
cles  is  suspended  over  me." 

Will  this  gentleman,  think  you,  return  to  Russia,  hanging  to 
existence  by  a  single  hair  ?  Will  he  travel  from  region  to  region 
of  Europe,  with  this  sword  of  Damocles  suspended  over  his  head 
by  a  tie  equally  attenuated  ?  Never,  Sir,  never  ;  and  if  he  never 
do  return,  as  he  most  certainly  never  will,  when  does  his  mission 
end,  if  it  did  not  end  when  he  left  the  Russian  Court  ?  If  this  mis 
sion  ever  had  a  legal  beginning,  when,  or  by  what  act,  may  it  be 
ended  ?  Vattel  has  told  us,  page  559,  that  all  missions  end  : — first, 
when  the  Minister  is  recalled,;  second,  when  he  is  dismissed;  third, 
when  he  has  finished  the  business  on  which  he  was  sent ;  and 
fourth,  in  a  word,  whenever  he  is  obliged  to  go  away,  on  any  ac 
count  whatever,  his  functions  cease.  By  the  law  of  nations,  which 
we  cannot  control,  his  mission  was  at  an  end  when  "  he  went 
away"  from  the  Court  and  country  to  which  he  was  appointed  and 
sent ;  and  neither  the  mandate  of  the  Secretary,  nor  Congressional 
enactment,  can  continue  him  a  Minister  one  moment  after  he  has, 
by  the  law  of  nations,  ceased  to  be  one.  Can  we  then  appropriate 
money  Tor  the  salary  of  such  a  Minister  ?  Not  unless  we  make 
ourselves  parties  to  this  imposition  ;  and,  in  the  name  of  the  nation, 
guarantee  this  fraudulent  diplomacy. 

Gentlemen  may  place  this  salary  on  the  ground  of  a  quantum 
meruit,  and  tell  us  Mr.  Randolph  is  entitled  to  receive  it,  and  we 
are  bound  to  make  the  appropriation,  because  he  has  performed 
services  at  Russia  for  which  he  deserves  to  have  this  compensation. 
What  services  was  it  intended  he  should  perform  ;  what  in  fact  did 
he  perform  ;  what,  in  so  short  a  time,  could  he  perform  ?  We  are 
told  by  the  honorable  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign 
Relations,  (Mr.  Archer,)  and  no  man  ever  doubts  his  candor  and 
correctness,  that  Mr.  Randolph  did  not  perform  what  he  was  sent 


300 


SPEECHES    O F 


out  to  do.  However  meritorious  that  might  bo  when  done,  he  surch 
does  not  deserve  any  compensation  for  not  doing  it.  How  did  this 
gentleman  represent,  when  presented  at  that  Court,  the  form  and 
body  of  our  national  character,  by  his  appearance,  his  manners, 
conversation,  and  intercourse  with  the  Imperial  Family,  the  Court, 
and  Foreign  Ministers,  then  and  there  representing  the  various  sove 
reignties  of  Europe  and  Asia  ?  I  could  give  the  history  of  these  ten 
days  ;  this,  which  will,  in  our  Russian  diplomacy,  be  called  the 
times  of  Randolph  ;  could  give  it  from  the  most  authentic  testimoni 
als  ;  not  from  rumor ;  but  from  the  voice  of  honorable,  intelligent 
men,  who,  being  there  at  the  time,  have  since  returned  to  this 
country,  and  from  letters  with  which  the  Russian  correspondence 
of  our  Atlantic  cities  has  been  crowded.  All  these  speak  but  one 
language,  express  but  one  feeling — the  irrepressible  feeling  of 
wounded  and  mortified  patriotism.  All  these,  instead  of  finding 
merit  in  this  man's  diplomatic  achievements,  look  on  them  with 
unutterable  anguish  ;  and  have  no  consolation  under  the  jibes  and 
jeerings  of  foreign  nations,  but  the  memory  of  the  past,  when  the 
dignified  character  of  our  Republic  was  represented  in  Europe  by 
Franklin,  Jay,  Adams,  Livingston,  Jefferson,  and  Pinckney.  No 
thing,  Sir,  but  national  pride,  has  withholden  this  narrative  from  the 
ears  of  the  world  ;  for  who  would  give  a  tongue  to  obloquy  against 
his  own  country  ?  I  will,  in  silence,  pass  over  the  doings  of  this 
gentleman's  ten  days  of  diplomacy  ;  nor  would  I  have  alluded  to 
them,  did  not  his  friends  draw  on  these  very  doings  as  a  fund  of 
merit,  entitling  him  to  this  compensation.  The  doings  of  ten  days  ! 
What,  Sir,  could  he  do  in  that  time  ?  Why,  in  that  time,  the  dis 
cipline  of  the  Russian  tailor  could  scarcely  have  reduced  the 
rigid  outline  of  this  man  into  the  exterior  of  diplomacy.  He  per 
formed  services  for  his  country,  in  this  brief  period  !  Caesar,  with 
the  eagle  wing  of  pursuit,  and  the  lion  strength  of  conquest,  overrun 
Bythinia,  and  subdued  the  son  of  the  great  Mithridates  in  a  few 
weeks.  This  conqueror  might,  in  the  confidence  of  friendship, 
venture,  with  poetic  licence,  to  write  to  his  associate  at  Rome, 
veni  vidi  vici."  Should  our  Russian  Envoy  write  the  history  of  his 
ten  days,  he  might,  without  poetry,  place  all,  for  which  he  can 
have  any  claim  on  his  country,  in  as  few,  and  almost  the  same 
words ;  veni  ridi  obivi,  would  fill  up  the  whole  quantum  mcrutt  of 
his  Mission. 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  301 

If  it  bo  contended,  that  this  gentleman  is  entitled  to  a  pro  rata 
compensation  for  the  time  spent  in  going  to  Russia,  and  while  there, 
as  freight  is  apportioned  and  paid,  when  a  cargo  is,  by  casualty, 
transported  a  part  only  of  the  voyage,  I  am  ready  to  agree,  that 
this  alone  is  the  ground  on  which  any  thing  whatever  can  be  claimed. 
This,  however,  will  fail,  if  the  mission  be,  in  its  inception,  contra  jus 
gentium ;  and  therefore  void.  If  there  be  any  part  of  this  mission 
sound  and  legal ;  if  this  gentleman  has  believed  he  was,  in  good 
faith,  in  the  public  service,  in  the  name  of  justice  let  him  be  paid  for 
all  that  time,  although  nothing  was  effected  beneficial  to  the  nation. 
On  this  ground  I  am  ready  to  support,  though  I  cannot  move  to 
make  any  modification  of  the  motion  under  consideration. 

Last  of  all,  I  come  to  inquire,  whether  this  salary  can  be  due, 
because  this  mission,  and  the  conduct  of  the  Minister  under  it,  may 
be  especially  beneficial  to  the  Secretary  of  State.  Was  this  gentle 
man  appointed  with  any  view,  or  expectation  that  he  could  .render 
diplomatic  services  at  the  Court  of  Russia  1  Surely  not.  For  in 
the  first  place  the  performance  of  such  services  required  his  resi 
dence  .at  the  Russian  Court.  This  is  evident  from  the  nature  of 
those  services,  as  may  be  seen  from  reading  the  ordinary  instruc 
tions  to  all  resident  Ministers  ;  Lyman's  Diplomacy,  vol.  1, 'pages 
15,  16,  17  : 

"  Among  the  most  important  general  duties  of  a  Minister  of  the 
United  States  in  foreign  countries,  is  that  of  transmitting  to  his 
Government  accurate  information  of  the  policy  and  views  of  the 
Government  to  which  he  is  accredited,  and  of  the  character  and 
vicissitudes  of  its  important  relations  with  other  European  powers. 
To  acquire  this  information,  and  particularly  to  discriminate  between 
that  which  is  authentic,  and  that  which  is  spurious,  requires  steady 
and  impartial  observation ;  a  free,  though  cautious  correspondence 
with  the  other  Ministers  of  the  United  States  abroad  ;  and  friendly, 
social  relations  with  the  members  of  the  diplomatic  body  at  the  same 
Court." 

"  In  your  correspondence  with  this  Department,  besides,  general 
and  particular  politics  of  the  country,  where  you  are  to  reside,  you 
will  be  mindful,  so  far  as  you  may  find  it  convenient,  to  collect  and 
transmit  information  of  every  kind,  relating  to  the  Government, 
finances,  commerce,  arts,  sciences,  and  condition  of  the  nation,  which 
is  not  already  known,  and  may  be  made  useful  to  our  own  country. 


302     ^  SPEECHES    OF 

Books  of  travels,  containing  statistical,  or  other  imformation  oj' 
political  importance ;  historical  works,  not  before  in  circulation  ; 
authentic  maps,  published  by  authority  of  the  State,  or  distinguished 
by  extraordinary  reputation ;  and  publications  of  new  and  useful 
discoveries — will  always  be  acceptable  acquisitions  to  this  Depart 
ment." 

"  Among  the  ordinary  functions  of  an  American  Minister  in 
Europe,  is  that  of  giving  passports  to  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
who  apply  for  them.  They  sometimes  receive  applications  for  such 
passports  from  the  subjects  of  other  countries ;  but  as  these  are  not 
regularly  valid,  they  should  be  granted  only  under  special  circum 
stances,  as  may  sometimes  occur  in  the  case  of  foreigners  coming  to 
the  United  States." 

Do  not  these  labors  require  residence  at  the  Court  of  his  Imperial 
Majesty?  Look  into  the  published  diplomatic  correspondence  of 
our  former  Ministers.  What  treasures  of  information !  What 
monuments  of  ability,  labor,  and  diligence  ! 

This  gentleman  could  not  reside  at  the  Russian  capital.  Neither 
his  health,  his  constitution,  his  age,  nor  the  climate  would  permit 
such  residence.  As  well  might  the  Secretary  have  plucked  up  one 
of  his'  patrimonial  oaks,  and  transplanted  it  on  the  banks  of  the 
Neva,  with  any  expectation  that  it  might  take  root  there,  and  live, 
and  flourish  in  the  summer  heats  and  wintry  storms  of  Russia. 

So  utterly  out  of  the  question  was  all  expectation  of  public  service 
from  the  appointment  of  this  gentleman,  that,  although  it  must  have 
been  known  such  service  could  be  rendered  without  residence,  yet 
he  received  full  permission  to  leave  the  Court  and  Empire  of  Russia, 
and  reside  wherever  he  might  choose  to  reside. 

Mr.  Randolph  was,  of  all  men,  the  last  which  a  wise  and  judicious 
policy  would  have  selected  to  represent  the  interests  of  our  nation 
at  the  Russian  Court.  He  had  publicly  expressed  opinions  concern- 
ing  that  Court  and  the  Imperial  family,  most  derogatory  and 
degrading.  Suffer  me  to  read  these  opinions,  from  one  of  his 
speeches,  published  under  his  own  corrections  and  supervisal,  in 
Gales  and  Seaton's  Register  of  Debates,  vol.  2,  part  1,  pages  392-3. 

"  Now,  Sir,  the  gentleman  from  North  Carolina  is  so  extremely 
unreasonable  as  to  wish — he  will  pardon  my  reproof,  I  hope — as  to 
wish  to  break  the  lineal  succession  of  our  monarchs,  and  to  reduce1 
us  to  something  like  the  barbarism  of  Russia,  where  they  haven't 


TRISTAMB  URGES.  .     303 

yet  perfected  themselves  in  the  A  B  C  of  legitimacy  ;  a  regular 
indefeasible  succession  of  tyrants  ;  although  they  claim  the  head  of 
the  table  of  the  Holy  Alliance — where  there  is  hardly  one  instance 
of  the  lineal  heir  succeeding  to  the  throne,  without  regicide  and 
parricide,  (which  the  case  implies,)  from  the  time  when  Muscovy 
first  became  an  European  power — from  the  time  of  Peter  Alexio- 
vitch,  (or  Alexiowitz,  as  I  was  taught  in  my  youth  to  call  him,)  who 
was  the  slayer  of  his  son,  and  who  transmitted  his  power  to  Catha 
rine,  the  Livonian  peasant  girl,  first  his  strumpet,  then  his  Cham 
berlain's,  then  an  Empress ;  whom  I  have  heard  more  than  once 
confounded  with  her  namesake,  Catharine,  Princess  of  Anhalt,  the 
second  of  that  name,  who,  by  the  murder  of  her  husband,  Peter  III, 
usurped  the  throne.  With  some  '  variation  of  the  mode,  not  of  the 
measure,'  it  is  the  case  in  this  our  day  of  Constantine  Caesar-ovitch 
which  means,  I  believe,  Fitz-Csesar — as  it  was  with  his  father,  Paul 
Petrovitch,  and  with  his  father,  Peter,  the  son  of  somebody — nobody 
knows  who — who  went  before  Paul,  not  by  the  same  instrument  ; 
no,  Sir.  In  the  case  of  Peter,  the  red-hot  poker — the  actual  caute- 
rie — supplied  the  place  of  the  Pdhlen-tie  of  the  twisted  cravat — a 
la  Pichegru — and  it  was  only  the  day  after  the  news  arrived  of  the 
deliverance  of  the  world  from  the  Autocracy  of  Alexander  the 
Deliverer — as  well  as  I  remember  the  date — I  know  that  it  was  on 
the  9th  of  February — three  days  before  the  unavoidable  departure 
of  my  colleague,  that  I  endeavored,  and,  as  I  then  thought,  not 
without  some  show  of  success,  to  impress  the  senate  with  the  impor 
tant  bearing  of  the  recent  event  at  Taganrock,  (recent  as  to  us,) 
upon  the  new,  wild,  dangerous,  and,  as  I  fear,  fatal  policy,  now,  for 
the  first  time,  if  not  announced,  attempted  to  be  practiced  upon  by 
this  rash  and  feeble  administration.  Elizabeth  and  Burleigh  were 
cautious  and  powerful.  The  Stuarts  and  the  Buckinghams,  profli 
gate,  feeble,  and  rash.  It  was  then  that  I  forewarned  the  Senate 
that  the  red-hot  poker  of  some  Orloff  the  Balafre,  or  OrlofF,  the 
other  FAVORITE — (it  was  a  regular  household  appointment  of 
Catharine  la  Grande somewhat  irregularly  filled  occasion 
ally — a  la  Cossaque.)  It  was  on  that  day  that  I  suggested  to  the 
Senate  that  the  poker  or  the  bow-string  of  a  ZubofF,  or  the  some 
thing  else  of  somebody  else — some  other  Russian  or  Russian  in 
of — the  instrument  and  the  mute  nearest  at  hand  in  the  Caprsean 


304  SPEECHES    OF 

styes  of  tyrrauy.  and  lust — was  ready  to  despatch  this  new  succes 
sor  of  the  Tzars — of  the  Constantines — of  the  Byzantine  Caesars. 

"But,  Sir,  I,  fl?e  common  libeller  of  great  and  good  men,  did 
injustice  to  both  these  legitimates  ;  to  St.  Nicholas  and  to  Cresaro- 
vitch.  I  thought  too  ill  of  one  of  them,  and  too  well  of  the  other. 
I  thought  that  Commodus  would  "  show  fight."  But,  Sir,  let  us 
not  despair  of  the  Russian.  In  spite  of  Montesquieu's  sneer,  he 
"  can  feel"  for  a  brother,  at  least,  even  although  he  be  not  flayed 
alive  ;  except  now  and  then,  under  the  autocracy  of  the  knout.  He 
has  not,  indeed,  yet  learned  "  to  make  Revolutions  with  rose-water" 
— that  is  the  political  philosopher's  stone,  which  is  yet  in  the  womb 
of  time,  to  be  brought  forth  by  some  modern  ^ccoMC/jer-reformer. 
But  he  shows  signs  of  capability  that  are  quite  encouraging.  He 
cannot,  indeed,  redeem  his  paper ;  neither  can  the  Bank  of  Ken 
tucky  redeem  its  paper ;  but  the  red-hot  poker  is  replaced  by  a 
box  of  sweet-meats — the  bow-string  by  a  medal  hung  around  the 
neck — the  badge,  not  of  death,  but  of  idiocy  and  cowardice.  Com 
modus  is  brave  no  where  but  in  the  arena,  with  kittens,  and  puppy 
dogs,  and  women,  for  his  antagonists  ;  a  veritable  master  Thomas 
Nero — see  Hogarth's  progress  of  cruelty.  An  Ukase,  backed  by 
a  hobby-horse,  or  a  medal,  and  a  box  of  sweet-meats  ;  goody  goodies, 
as  the  overgrown  children  say,  is  the  full  compensation  paid,  had, 
and  received,  for  the  surrender  of  the  autocratical  crown  of  the 
largest  Empire  in  the  world,  and  some  say  the  most  powerful — of 
the  proud  eminence  of  the  Umpire  of  Europe.  How  vastly  amiable 
and  sentimental !  A  Ukase  now  does  what  was  formerly  done 
with  a  red-hot  poker,  or  a  bow-string ;  a  Ukase,  with  a  most  affec 
tionate  fraternal  letter,  a  box  of  sweet-meats,  a  hobby-horse,  or  a 
medal — as  we,  in  our  barbarous,  slave-holding  country,  do  some 
times,  hang  a  quarter  of  a  dollar  round  a  child's  neck  to  keep  it  in 
good  humor — all  cooled,  however,  with  the  blood  of  a  few  real 
adherents  to  legitimacy — in  the  persons  of  the  guards  of  the  Empire, 
faithful  among  the  faithless — to  make  the  charm  firm  and  good. 
Would  the  gentleman  from  North  Carolina  reduce  us  to  worse  than 
this  Russian  barbarism  ?" 

This  vulgar  ribaldry  was  spoken  by  this  man  in  open  Senate ; 
the  European  Ministers,  the  Russian  Minister,  were,  or  might  have 
been  present.  The  speech,  such  as  I  have  read  it,  was  published 
in  the  newspapers,  and  was,  doubtless,  as  a  part  of  the  politico 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  305 

transactions  of  the  United  States,  transmitted  to  the  Emperor  of 
Russia,  by  his  Minister  then  in  this  country.  After  this,  who  could 
have  selected  this  man  as  an  accomplished  statesman,  to  represent 
this  American  Government  at  the  Russian  Court,  with  any  hope  or 
intention  that  he  should,  by  his  diplomatic  services,  sustain  the 
dignity,  advance  the  character,  or  subserve  the  interests  of  this 
Nation. 

Permit  me  to  offer  one  other  reason  why  this  man  could  not  have 
been  appointed  for  any  national  purpose.  The  peculiarities  of  his 
mind  render  him  incapable  of  any  public  diplomatic  service.  The 
mind,  like  the  fountain,  is  known  by  its  effusions.  Let  me  read 
from  one  of  his  speeches  on  Executive  Powers,  as  published  by  him. 
(Gales  &  Seaton's  Register,  vol.  2.  p.  390.) 

"  Having  thus,  Sir,  disburdened  myself  of  some  of  the  feelings 
that  have  been  excited  by  the  gallant  and  fearless  bearing  of  the 
gentleman  from  North  Carolina,  allow  me  to  go  on  and  question 
some  of  his  positions. 

"  One  of  them  is  the  durability  of  the  Constitution.  With  him, 
and  with  father  Paul,  (of  the  Constitution  of  Venice,)  I  say  esto 
perpetua  :  but  I  do  not  believe  it  will  be  perpetual.  I  am  speaking 
now  of  what  Burke  would  call  high  matter.  I  am  not  speaking  to 
the  groundlings,  to  the  tyros  and  junior  apprentices  ;  but  to  the 
grey-headed  men  of  this  nation,  one  of  whom,  I  bless  God  for  it,  I 
see  is  now  stepping  forward,  as  he  stepped  forward  in  1799,  to  save 
the  Republic.  I  speak  of  William  B.  Giles.  I  speak  to  grey 
heads  ;  heads  grown  grey,  not  in  the  '  recept  of  custom'  at  the 
Treasury  of  the  people's  money  ;  not  to  heads  grown  grey  in 
iniquity  and  intrigue  ;  not  to  heads  grown  grey  in  pacing  Pennsylva 
nia  Avenue  ;  not  to  heads  grown  grey  in  wearing  out  their  shoes  at 
levees  ;  not  to  heads  grown  grey  (to  use  the  words  of  the  immortal 
Miss  Edgeworth,  the  glory  and  the  champion  of  her  lovely  sex  and 
wretched  country)  in  ploughing  the  Four  Acres.  Am  I  under 
stood  1  There  is  a  little  court,  Sir,  of  the  « Castle'  of  Dublin,  called 
the  Four  Acres  ;  and  there,  backwards  and  forwards,  do  the  miser 
able  attendants  and  satellites  of  power  walk,  each  waiting  his  turn 
to  receive  the  light  of  the  great  man's  countenance  ;  hoping  the 
sunshine  :  dreading  the  cloudy  brow.  Spenser  has  well  described 
the  sweets  of  this  life,  and  technically  it  is  called  Ploughing  the 
Four  Acres.  Now,  when  a  certain  character  in  one  of  her  incom- 

o* 


806  SPEECHES    OF 

parable  novels,  Sir  Ulic — I  have  forgot  his  name,  but  he  was  a 
McSycophant  courtier,  placeman,  pensioner,  and  parasite — upbraid 
ed  that  kind,  good-hearted,  wrong-headed  old  man,  King  Corney, 
with  his  wretched  system  of  ploughing,  the  King  of  the  Black 
Islands  ("  every  inch  a  King")  replied  that  there  was  one  system  of 
ploughing  worse  even  than  his ;  and  that  was  ploughing  the  Four 
Acres.  This  was  a  settler  to  the  McSycophant." 

Was  a  mind  like  this,  fitted,  and  provided,  and  regulated  for  the 
labors  of  the*  statesman  and  great  diplomatic  Minister  ?  For,  when 
this  gentleman  was  at  the  zenith  of  his  intellect,  Mr.  Jefferson  had 
adjudged  him  unqualified  for  such  services  as  this  appointment,  had 
it  been  made  for  public  purposes,  called  on  him  to  perform. 

Sir,  if  not  for  the  public  service,  then  he  must  have  been  appoint 
ed  to  preserve  the  machinations  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  the 
administration  carried  on  by  him  under  the  Presidential  name,  from 
the  hostility  of  this  ancient  adversary  of  all  former  administrations. 
To  illustrate  and  confirm  this  important  and  deeply  interesting  fact, 
permit  me  to  give  a  very  brief  sketch  of  the  political  life  of  this 
singular  man. 

At  the  commencement  of  Washington's  administration,  he  was  a 
school-boy.  To  prove  this  fact,  and  also  to  lay  open  the  very 
source  and  fountain  of  his  bitter  hostility  to  the  next  President, 
I  will  read  a  part  of  one  of  his  speeches  from  Gales  &  Seaton's 
Reg.  vol.  v.  p.  399. 

"  Now,  Sir,  John  Quincy  Adams  coming  into  power  under  these 
inauspicious  circumstances,  and  with  these  suspicious  allies  and 
connexions,  has  determined  to  become  the  apostle  of  liberty,  of 
universal  liberty,  as  his  father  was,  about  the  time  of  the  formation 
of  the  Constitution,  known  to  be  the  apostle  of  monarchy.  It  is  no 
secret — I  was  in  New- York  when  he  first  took  his  seat  as  Vice 
President,  I  recollect — for  I  was  a  school-boy  at  the  time,  attend 
ing  the  lobby  of  Congress,  when  I  ought  to  have  been  at  school — I 
remember  the  manner  in  which  my  brother  was  spurned  by  the 
coachman  of  the  then  Vice  President,  for  coming  too  near  the  arms 
blazoned  on  the  scutcheon  of  the  Vice  Regal  carriage.  Perhaps  I 
may  have  some  of  this  old  animosity  rankling  in  my  heart,  coming 
from  a  race  who  are  known  never  to  forsake  a  friend,  or  forgive 
a  foe." 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  807 

From  this,  the  waters  of  bitterness  have  flown  in  a  stream  so 
abundantly  on  the  second  and  fifth  President  of  the  United  States. 
To  overthrow  the  first  of  these,  this  man  joined  himself  to  his  great 
political  rival. 

He  grew  into  hostility  with  Jefferson  in  a  very  few  years.  For 
he  has  been  a  star  without  beams,  except  of  a  malign  and  blighting 
influence.  Suffer  me  to  illustrate  this  truth  by  reading  from  his 
speeches : 

"  FEBRUARY  28th,  1806.— Mr.  Clarke,  of  Virginia,  moved  to 
postpone  until  the  3d  of  March,  Mr.  Randolph's  resolution  to  amend 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  so  that  all  the  United  States' 
Judges  should  be  removed  by  the  President  on  the  joint  Resolution 
of  both  Houses  of  Congress.  In  reply  to  a  remark  made  by  Mr. 
Conrad,  Mr.  Randolph  said,  «  He  (Mr.  Conrad)  belonged  to  a  class 
of  men  which  I  highly  respect,  for  the  plain  reason  that  I  belong  to 
it  myself.  He  says  the  time  is  approaching  when  every  man 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  must  be  anxious  to  go  home  ;  and, 
therefore,  he  does  not  wish  at  present  to  act  on  the  Resolution  I 
have  laid  on  your  table.  True !  but  when  men,  be  they  agricul 
tural,  mechanical,  or  of  any  other  profession,  undertake  any  busi 
ness,  it  is  their  duty  to  go  through  with  it  at  every  hazard.  If  the 
situation  of  affairs  warranted  it,  I  should  be  willing  to  adjourn  for 
two  or  three  months.  But  I  never  can  agree  to  adjourn  in  the  pre 
sent  state  of  affairs,  and.  leave  the  country  to  a  blind  and  fortuitous 
destiny.  I  must  first  see  something  like  land,  some  foothold,  some 
thing  like  certainty,  instead  of  political  chaos,  without  form  or 
body.  Before  I  consent  to  go  home,  I  must  see  something  like  a 
safe  and  honorable  issue  to  our  differences  with  foreign  powers  ; 
and  I  must  see — I  hope  another  thing — something  like  an  attempt 
to  bring  the  Constitution  6£>  this  people  back  to  the  principles  on 
which  this  administration  came  into  power." 

"  APRIL  5th,  1806. — Mr.  Randolph  moved  to  amend  the  secret 
journal  by  inserting  in  it  the  message  of  the  6th  of  December.  In 
the  course  of  his  speech  he  said,  *  I  found  from  a  conversation  with 
what  was  considered  the  head  of  the  first  Executive  Department 
under  the  Government,  that  France  was  the  great  obstacle  to  the 
compromise  of  Spanish  differences  ;  that  France  would  not  permit 
Spain  to  come  to  any  accommodation  with  us,  because  France 
wanted  money,  and  we  must  give  her  money.  From  the  moment 


308  SPEECHES    OF 

I  heard  that  declaration,  all  the  objections  I  originally  had  to  the 
procedure  were  aggravated  to  the  highest  possible  degree.  I  con 
sidered  it  as  a  base  prostration  of  national  character,  to  excite  one 
nation  by  money,  to  bully  another  nation  out  of  its  property  ;  and 
from  that  moment,  and  to  the  last  moment  of  my  life,  my  confidence 
in  the  principles  of  the  man  entertaining  those  sentiments  died, 
never  to  live  again." 

Whence  this  hostility?  Fad  he  become  a  federalist,  and  set 
himself  to  rebuilding  the  fabric  which,  as  we  are  told,  he  had 
overthrown  ?  Not  so  :  for  rebuilding  he  had  no  genius,  no  taste. 
The  cause  of  his  opposition  was  well  known  in  those  days  ;  nor  can 
any  doubt,  that  a  knowledge  of  it  has  come  down  to  the  present 
Secretary  of  State. 

When  Mr.  Madison  came  into  the  Presidency,  Mr.  Randolph,  if 
not  with  him,  was  not  against  him.  His  love  of  change,  or  of 
opposition,  or  some  private  political  grief,  did,  in  1811-12,  bring  out 
this  statesman  of  Roanoke  in  bitter  hostility  to  this  third  President. 
The  last  war  was  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  Mr.  Madison's 
administration.  On  the  20th  of  November,  1811,  the  Committee  of 
Foreign  Relations  reported  on  that  subject,  and  recommended  to  the 
consideration  of  Congress  six  Resolutions.  The  first  was  to  fill  up 
the  ranks  of  the  then  existing  army.  The  second  recommended  the 
raising  of  ten  thousand  additional  troops.  By  the  third,  the  Presi 
dent  might  receive  fifty  thousand  volunteers.  The  fourth  gave 
power  to  the  President  to  call  out  the  militia.  Ships  of  war  were 
to  be  put  in  service  by  the  fifth  ;  and  the  sixth  authorized  private 
vessels  to  arm  in  their  own  defence.  When  I  say  Mr.  Randolph 
opposed  these  resolutions,  I  do  it  merely  to  show  his  hostility  to  the 
administration  of  Mr.  Madison.  I  will  read  from  Nile's  Register, 
vol.  1,  page  318,  a  small  part  of  one  of  his  speeches  on  this  occa 
sion,  to  show  not  only  this  hostility,  but  also  to  illustrate  the  con 
tempt  which  he  has  ever  felt  for  military  men  and  measures  : 

"  No  sooner  was  the  report  laid  on  the  table,  than  the  vultures 
were  flocking  jound  their  prey,  the  carcass  of  a  great  military 
establishment — men  of  tainted  reputation,  of  broken  fortune,  (if  ever 
they  had  any,)  and  of  battered  constitution,  *  choice  spirits,  tired 
of  the  dull  pursuits  of  civil  life,'  were  seeking  after  agencies  and 
commissions  ;  willing  to  doze  in  gross  stupidity  over  the  public  fire  ; 
to  light  the  public  candle  at  both  ends.  Honorable  men  undoubtedly 


TRISTAM    B  URGES.  309 

there  were,  ready  to  serve  their  country  ;  but  what  man  of  spirit  or 
self-respect,  would  accept  a  commission  in  the  present  army  ?" 

Sir,  let  me  not  be  misunderstood.  I  am  stating  historic  facts  ; 
Mr.  Randolph's  hostility  to  the  then  administration ;  not  my  own 
opinion  of  that  war,  or  of  his  opposition  to  it.  Had  I  been  here  at 
the  time,  1  might  have  joined  in  that  opposition ;  for  the  Represen 
tatives  from  Rhode-Island  both  opposed  these  Resolutions  ;  nor  do  I 
recollect  that  the  people  of  that  State  ever  censured  them  for  that 
opposition.  We  might  go  through  the  whole  Congressional  record, 
and  we  should  find  Mr.  Randolph,  at  all  subsequent  times,  equally 
hostile  to  the  administration  of  Mr.  Madison. 

When  Mr.  Monroe  came  into  the  Presidency,  Mr.  Randolph  was 
his  advocate  and  supporter.  In  the  last  year  (1824-5)  of  his 
administration,  he  had  changed  fronts.  For  at  that  time  it  was  one 
of  his  common  sayings,  "  Mr.  Monroe  came  into  power  by  universal 
consent ;  and  he  would  go  out  with  equal  unanimity."  I  will  read 
from  Gales  and  Seaton's  Register,  vol.  2,  page  405,  what  he  said  in 
the  Senate,  (1826,)  concerning  this  venerated  patriot  statesman. 
"  We,"  said  he,  "  altered  the  Constitution  to  guard  against  that 
scoundrel — I  will  not  read  the  name  of  the  man  ;  though  he  may 
have  sinned,  yet  has  he  also  immeasurably  suffered — though  not 
greater  than  him  who,  after  the  event,  formed  the  union  of  honest 
men  of  all  parties."  Who,  Sir,  was  the  man  said  to  have  united 
the  honest  men  of  all  parties  ?  James  Monroe.  Such  a  coalition 
might  be  sure  of  John  Randolph  for  an  adversary. 

Was  Mr.  Van  Buren  ignorant  of  all  these  traits  in  the  character 
of  this  man  ?  He  knew  them  well.  He  knew  more  ;  he  was 
fully  aware  that  no  person  on  earth  could  be  more  hostile  to  military 
men,  than  this  same  Mr.  John  Randolph.  In  confirmation  of  this,  I 
will  read  an  extract  from  one  of  his  speeches. 

"  I  own  a  natural  jealousy  to  military  men — it  grows  out  of  love 
of  country — it  is  strengthened  and  kept  alive  by  the  multitude  of 
examples  in  history,  ancient  and  modern,  of  the  fall  of  Empires  and 
the  revolutions  of  States  ;  the  misery  and  the  wretchedness  brought 
upon  the  human  race  by  the  ambition  and  pride  of  military  men." 
Vide  Speech  against  Gen.  Wilkinson. 

**  I  am  willing  to  give  to  every  man  a  just  and  reasonable  reward 
for  his  public  services,  both  in  pay  and  gratitude  ;  but  the  military 
character  is  so  rarely  satisfied  with  any  thing  less  than  direct  wor 
ship,  that  I  am  of  opinion — I  always  was  of  the  opinion,  we  could 

\ 


310  SPEECHES    OF 

not  be  loo  watchfnl  of  the  aspiring  ambition  of  a  military  com- 
inander." — Same  speech. 

No  man  in  the  nation  was  more  adverse  to  Gen.  Jackson's 
election  to  the  Presidency  than  Mr.  Randolph  was  in  1822.  In 
that  year,  he  said  in  his  letter  to  the  people  of  Charlotte — "  The 
election  of  Gen.  Jackson  to  the  Presidency  is  not  to  be  dreaded,  as 
it  can  in  no  event  possibly  occur ;  the  people  of  the  United  States 
have  not  yet  become  so  corrupted  as  to  choose  a  man  of  military 
talents  to  govern  the  national  councils,  in  opposition  to  the  splendid 
talents  of  Mr.  Crawford,  or  indeed  of  any  other  good  man  in  the 
country." 

The  advancement  of  Mr.  Adams  to  the  last  Presidency,  awakened 
all  his  animosity  against  that  gentleman  and  his  venerated  father. 
He,  therefore,  attached  himself  to  the  party  of  General  Jackson,  and 
especially  to  that  gentleman ;  not  from  esteem,  respect,  or  friendship 
— not  from  his  qualities  as  a  man,  a  hero,  or  a  statesman  ;  but  as 
the  only  instrument  by  which  he  could  exclude  Mr.  Adams  from  a 
second  Presidential  term. 

"Party,  like  calamity,  brings  men  into  company  with  strange 
bed-fellows."  Mr.  Randolph  soon  found  himself  unpleasantly 
lodged  ;  and  before  the  middle  of  February,  1829,  he  said  emphat 
ically,  "  I  do  not  attend  the  Inauguration  ;  mark  that,  Sir  !"  He 
left  the  city  before  that  event  ;  but  not  until,  as  rumor,  the  untiring 
herald  of  distinguished  personages  announced,  that  he  had  delivered 
the  ominous  prediction.  What  was  it  ?  "  Never,  Sir,  never  will 
the  American  purple  again  fall  on  the  shoulders  of  a  gentleman." 

I  do  not  pretend  to  say,  that  the  Secretary  regarded  this  predic 
tion  as  literally  excluding  him  from  the  succession ;  but  could  he 
quietly  manage  his  **  state  affairs"  while  such  a  man  was  at  Roa- 
noke,  or  in  Virginia,  or  even  in  the  United  States  ?  Sooner,  Sir, 
would  the  fox  creep  into  the  farm  yard  in  the  day  time,  or  curl 
himself  down  to  sleep  in  his  lair,  while  he  snuffed  the  huntsman  or 
heard  the  hounds  in  the  South-West  breezes  of  the  morning.  Did 
he  not  quiver  at  the  mere  name  of  this  Warwick,  this  King-killer 
and  King-maker  ;  this  John  Randolph,  who  had  set  up  Presidents, 
as  boys  set  up  nine-pins,  to  knock  them  down  again  ?  Such  a  man. 
the  Secretary  knew,  could  not  be,  for  he  never  had  been,  quiet 
under  any  administration.  He  had  not  .been  satisfied  with  the 
administration  of  Jefferson,  of  Madison,  of  Monroe  ;  could  he  be 
satisfied  with  this God  onlv  knows  whose  administration  it  is. 


TRISTAMBURGES.  311 

Sir,  the  Secretary  has  waylaid,  entrapt,  exiled,  and  sent  this  man 
to  plough  the  four  acres,  at  a  distance  of  four  thousand  miles  from 
his  own  patrimonial  fields  and  trees.  The  great  object  of  Mr.  Van 
Buren  has  been  to  get  him  out  of  his  way — to  send  him  abroad. 
As  a  Minister,  he  knew  he  could  do  nothing — he  expected — he 
intended  he  should  do  nothing — deserve  nothing — receive  nothing  ; 
but  the  ridicule  of  all  other  nations,  the  pity  of  his  own,  and  the 
contempt  of  the  Secretary  himself  and  his  partisans. 

This  heartless  politician  has,  to  render  this  tremendous  adversary 
powerless  at  home,  lured  him  from  his  independence,  the  boast  and 
glory  of  his  manhood,  to  an  old  age  of  foreign  surveillance  :  to 
come  home  soiled  and  spattered  to  the  very  eyes  in  treasury  dirt ; 
to  shrink  into  retirement  and  insignificance  ;  and  be  like  Piso, 
returned  from  the  inglorious  administration  of  his  Macedonian  prov 
ince.  Shall  we,  Sir,  in  aid  of  these  schemes  of  the  Secretary,  and 
to  put  him  in  a  condition  of  quiet  machination  against  the  laws,  the 
Constitution,  and  the  great  interests  of  this  nation,  appropriate  this 
money,  and  thereby  legalize  and  sustain  this  measure  ?  I  trust  in 
God,  we  shall  not.  Pay  the  man,  if  you  please — for  going  out,  for 
coming  home — send  out  a  ship  of  war  for  him  ;  it  will  add,  perhaps, 
less  than  thirty  thousand  dollars  to  the  expenditure.  Let  him  have 
this  nine  thousand  dollars  outfit — the  President,  it  has  been  said, 
advanced  it  to  him  from  his  private  purse — restore  it  to  him  ;  do 
not  suffer  ourselves  to  be  in  debt  to  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the 
nation.  It  is  all  a  bubble,  a  mere  child's  whistle,  and  people  will 
and  must  pay  dearly  for  this  toy  of  their  Secretary — but  let  us  be 
rid  of  it,  and  this  "  State  Mission,"  of  its  memory  ;  if  possible,  of  its 
deep  and  mortifying  disgrace. 

If  this  course  be  taken,  our  relations  with  Russia  will  be  re 
deemed,  restored,  and  placed  upon  a  safe  and  honorable  footing.  If 
no  one  else  do  it,  I  will  move  that  we  go  into  Committee  of  the 
Whole  on  the  State  of  the  Union;  for  the  sole  purpose  of  moving 
this  appropriation  of  nine  thousand  dollars  for  an  outfit,  and  nine 
thousand  dollars  for  the  first  year's  salary,  to  enable  the  President 
to  send  out  to  Russia  an  efficient  Mission,  and  one  in  all  respects 
different  from  this  of  the  Secretary.  For  never,  Sir,  since  the 
revolution,  has  there  been  a  time,  when  the  interests  of  the  United 
States  more  urgently  required  a  fair,  honorable,  and  dignified  rep 
resentation  in  the  Courts  of  Europe. 


SPEECH   ON   THE   REMOVAL   OF   THE 
REMAINS  OF  WASHINGTON. 


ON  the  13th  of  February,  1832,  a  Resolution  was  introduced 
into  the  House  of  Representatives,  to  remove  the  remains  of  Wash 
ington  from  Virginia,  and  to  place  them  in  a  vault  under  the  centre 
of  the  Capitol.  Mr.  Burges  addressed  the  House  on  the  Resolution 
in  the  following 

SPEECH. 

MR.  SPEAKER  : — Permit  me  to  join  my  voice  to  that  of  the  many, 
who  have  already  mingled  in  this  discussion.  There  is  a  kind  of 
immortality  associated  with  what  may  be  deemed  the  perishable 
part  of  this  mighty  theme  ;  and  he  who  speaks  of  the  venerated 
remains  of  Washington,  must  catch  something  of  inspiration ;  and 
feel  himself  elevated  to  the  loftiest  purposes  of  our  nature.  Twice 
has  this  question  come  before  this  House,  twice  without  a  dissenting 
voice.  Once,  soon  after  the  death  of  the  illustrious  Father  of  his 
Country  covered  the  nation  with  mourning  ;  and  once,  when,  a  few 
years  ago,  enquiry  was  made  here,  concerning  the  most  appropriate 
method  of  carrying  into  effect  the  arrangement  originally  made 
between  the  bereaved  family  and  the  national  government.  If  that 
arrangement  of  piety  and  patriotism  cannot  now  be  consummated 
with  equal  unanimity  ;  nothing  surely  need  fall  in  the  way  of 
performing  it,  under  the  exercise  of  our  purest  and  best  feelings. 

In  this  controversy  of  patriotism  among  great  States,  concerning 
their  respective  interests  in  this  question,  it  may  be  thought  of  one, 
geographically  so  inconsiderable  as  Rhode-Island,  that  silence  might 
more  become  her  Representatives  in  this  House,  than  any,  the  most 
perfect  form  of  speech.  Sir,  in  any  arduous  passage  of  arms, 
in  any  intricate  question  of  council,  Washington  himself  in  his 
time  did  not  so  decide.  Nor  will  one  man  in  this  Hall  very  severely 
censure  my  wish  to  be  heard  on  this  occasion  ;  if  he  call  to  mind, 
that  he,  who  in  the  darkest  hour  of  revolutionary  conflict,  stood,  in 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  313 

the  estimation  of  the  nation,  and  of  that  illustrious  man,  next  to  him 
self,  was  a  native  of  that  State.  There  was,  there  was  a  time,  Sir, 
when  this  man  was  the  property  of  his  whole  country.  If  I  look 
back  towards  the  beginning  of  life,  memory  is  in  a  moment  filled 
with  bright  and  joyous  recollections  of  that  time,  when,  even  in  the 
distant  and  humble  neighborhood  of  my  birth,  the  lessons  of  youth, 
and  of  childhood,  when  the  very  songs  of  the  cradle,  were  the  deeds, 
the  glory,  the  praises  of  Washington. 

Think  you,  Sir,  these  teachings  have  ceased  in  the  land ;  that 
these  feelings  are  dead  in  our  country  ?  What  then  do  we  hear 
from  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  McDuffie).  Cannot 
we,  who  regard  the  buried  remains  of  the  great  Father  of  our 
Country,  as  the  earthly  remains  of  no  other  mortal  man  are  regard 
ed  ;  cannot  we,  awed  and  subdued  with  gratitude,  with  more  than 
filial  piety  ;  cannot  we  approach  the  hallowed  repository,  and  roll 
back  the  stone  from  the  door  of  the  sepulchre,  without  the  guilt  of 
sacrilege  ?  Cannot  his  country  remove  the  remains  of  this,  its 
great  Founder  ;  and  carry  them  in  solemn  procession,  accompanied 
by  all  the  rights  of  religion,  and  all  the  sanctity  of  its  ministers  ; 
and  finally  deposite  them  in  the  national  cemetery  provided  for  that 
purpose  under  the  foundation  of  this  building ;  which  thenceforth 
shall  be,  not  only  the  temple  of  freedom,  legislation,  and  justice,  but 
also  the  august  mausoleum  of  Washington  ?  Who,  Sir,  who,  of  all 
the  civilized  world,  will,  while  these  reverential  movements  are  per 
forming,  who  will  point  his  finger  at  these  solemnities,  and  call  them 
a  mere  pageant  1 

It  is  the  feeling,  Sir,  the  purpose  of  the  persons,  and  not  the 
place,  or  the  subject  which  renders  their  deed  pious  or  profane. 
Can  we  never  again  without  sacrilege,  look  into  the  dark  house  of 
those  so  dear  to  us,  until  they,  bursting  the  cerements  of  the  tomb, 
are  clothed  with  immortality  ?  How  often  does  the  piety  of  children, 
how  often  the  anxious  affection  of  parents,  induce  them  to  remove 
the  remains  of  endeared  relatives,  to  places  of  more  appropriate 
sepulture?  How  often  donations  remove  to  their  own  countries, 
from  distant  foreign  lands,  the  bones  of  their  illustrious  dead  ?  Was 
it  sacrilege  in  the  Hebrews,  when  migrating  from  Egypt,  to  take 
from  the  consecrated  catacomb  or  pyramid,  where  for  centuries  they 
had  been  deposited,  the  bones  of  the  illustrious  founder  of  one  of 
their  families,  and  the  preserver  of  them  all ;  and  bearing  them 


314  SPEECHES    OF 

from  the  populous  valley  of  the  Nile,  the  learned  and  luxurious 
realm  of  the  Pharaohs,  the  scene  of  all  his  glory,  that  they  might 
carry  them  to  a  land  of  rocks  and  mountains  ;  and  render  his 
burial  place  one  of  the  eternal  monuments  of  their  country  ?  So 
it  has  continued  ;  and  at  this  day  it  is,  by  the  dwellers  on  the  hill  or 
on  the  plain,  pointed  out  to  the  traveller  as  the  tomb  of  Joseph  the 
Patriarch. 

Sir,  what  man  is  there,  who  does  not  shudder  with  horror,  when 
he  is  told,  that,  not  many  years  ago,  a  felonious  gardner  of  the  late 
proprietor  of  Mount  Vernon,  conceived  the  sacrilegious  project  of 
plundering  the  family  cemetery  of  those  sacred  remains  ;  and  of 
transporting  to  Europe  the  bones  of  Washington,  and  there  offering 
them  for  sale  as  relics  to  the  disciples  or  the  fanatics  of  freedom  in 
the  old  world.  Procuring  a  false,  or  purloining  the  true  key,  he 
entered  the  tomb ;  but,  in  the  darkness  of  night,  and  under  the 
excitement  of  horror  natural  to  the  deed,  he  bore  away  those  of 
another,  by  mistake ;  and  left  the  hallowed  bones  of  him,  whose 
country  would  now  with  filial  piety  place  those  sacred  remains  per 
fectly  secured  in  a  national  mausoleum,  under  the  eye,  and  in  the 
safe-keeping  of  all  future  generations.  We  are  told  that  the  last 
will  and  testament  of  Washington,  points  out  the  place  and  directs 
the  manner  of  his  interment ;  and  if  we  remove  his  bones  from  their 
present  repositoiy,  we  shall  violate  that  will,  and  set  at  defiance 
principles  dear  to  all  civilized  nations.  Did  indeed,  then,  this  great 
man  by  his  will  prohibit  this  people  from  doing  honor  to  his  remains, 
by  placing  them  in  a  mausoleum  more  suitable  to  his  illustrious  life, 
and  to  the  gratitude  of  Americans  ?  He,  like  all  Christian  men, 
directed  by  his  last  will,  that  his  body  should  have  Christian  burial ; 
and  prescribed  the  manner,  and  selected  the  place  for  that  purpose. 
How  shall  we  expound  that  will  ?  It  has  been  expounded  for  us  ; 
and  that  too  by  one,  who  was  the  partner  of  his  perils  and  triumphs, 
his  labors  and  councils.  One,  who  shared  with  him  all  life  could 
give — and  stood  by  him  in  the  hour  of  dissolution.  Think  you, 
that  she  would  have  violated  his  will :  and  that  too,  in  the  begin 
ning  of  her  bereavement ;  in  the  first  dark  hours  of  her  earthly 
desolation  ?  "  Taught  by  his  great  example,"  she  gave  up  those 
remains  at  the  call  of  her  country.  For  to  her,  as  in  life  to  him, 
the  nation  was  their  family  ;  the  whole  people  were  their  children. 
What  man  can  believe,  that  this  distinguished  woman,  alike  beloved 


TRISTAMBURGES.  315 

and  honored  by  a  whole  people,  would  have  given  her  consent  to 
the  removal,  requested  by  the  whole  Congress  in  1799,  if  she  had 
believed  what  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  now  tells  us,  that 
such  removal  would  have  violated  his  last  will,  and  been  a  sacrilege 
committed  against  the  sanctuary  of  the  tomb  ? 

Sir,  how  often  has  the  attention  of  the  nation  been  called  to  this 
great  consummation,  so  devoutly  wished  by  all  the  people  ?  How 
often  has  the  arrangement  of  1799  come  to  the  public  ear,  from  that 
estimable  man,  the  grandson  of  that  illustrious  matron  ?  How 
often  have  we  heard  from  him  not  in  the  language  of  rebuke,  which 
was  merited  ;  no,  nor  of  complaint  which  he  might  justly  utter  ; 
but  in  the  language  of  deep  and  heartfelt  regret,  that  the  bones  of 
Washington  were  mouldering  into  dust,  at  a  distance  from  that  mau 
soleum,  which  the  gratitude  of  his  country  had  already  prepared  for 
them.  It  cannot  then,  Sir,  it  cannot  be  said,  that  the  consent  of  the 
family  will  be  wanted  for  us  to  do,  what  seems  to  have  been  so 
earnestly  desired  by  them. 

I  cannot,  Sir,  join  in  the  pious  incantation  of  some  gentlemen,  who 
would,  in  imagination,  call  up  the  mighty  dead,  and  put  them  to 
inquisition,  concerning  these  obsequies.  Who,  if  he  might,  would 
bring  back  from  the  blessedness  of  heaven,  to  the  cares  of  earth, 
one  purified  spirit ;  or  for  a  moment  interrupt  the  felicities  of  those 
realms  of  reality,  by  any  thing  which  agitates  human  feelings, 
in  this  region  of  dust  and  shadows  ?  Permit  me  to  learn  from  his 
life,  what  his  country  may,  with  propriety,  do  with  his  remains, 
after  his  death.  When  that  immortal  soul,  now  as  we  trust  in 
beatitude,  inhabited  and  animated  his  mortal  part,  where  was  the 
place,  what  was  the  service  to  which  the  voice  of  his  country  called 
him,  and  he  was  not  there  ?  In  the  toils  of  war,  in  the  councils  of 
peace,  he  was,  soul  and  body  devoted  to  that  people,  whom  he 
labored  through  life  to  build  up  into  one  great  nation.  Should  that 
body  think  you,  Sir,  at  this  time  be  less  at  the  service  of  his  coun 
try,  than  when  alive  with  the  imperishable  soul  it  was  Washington, 
and  walked  the  world,  for  human  welfare  ?  If  his  whole  life  doth 
tell  us,  that  he  placed  himself  at  the  call  of  his  country,  then  truly 
where  should  all  that  remains  of  him,  be  finally  found,  but  where 
the  same  voice  would  place  them  ? 

We  would  not,  in  the  language  of  the  gentleman  from  South 
Carolina,  raise  over  him  "  a  pyramid,  a  monument,  like  the  eternal 


316  SPEECH  ESOF 

mountains."  No,  Sir,  the  folly  of  ancient  ambition,  has  perished 
from  the  earth,  while  these  its  monuments  still  stand  unmoved  upon 
its  surface.  This  House,  we  trust,  will  endure  as  long  as  this 
nation  endures.  Let  this  be  the  Mausoleum  of  Washington.  We 
would  place  his  remains  in  the  cemetery  built  for  that  purpose, 
under  the  centre  of  that  dome  which  covers  the  Rotundo.  Directly 
over  this  on  that  floor,  in  accordance  with  the  Resolution  two  years 
ago  submitted  to  this  House,  we  would  erect  a  pedestrian  statue  of 
that  man,  sufficiently  colossal,  and  placed  on  a  pedestal,  so  high 
and  massy,  as  might  be  required  to  fill  and  satisfy  the  eye,  in  the 
centre  of  that  broad  and  lofty  room,  which,  probably,  has  no  equal 
in  the  architecture  of  the  world. 

The  ever-during  marble  will  give  to  coming  generations  the  form 
and  the  features  of  Washington  ;  and  the  traveller  of  future  ages 
shall  learn  where  he  may  find  his  tomb.  This  House,  this  Mauso 
leum  of  one,  who,  prospered  by  Divine  assistance,  performed  more 
for  his  country  and  for  the  human  race,  than  any  other  mortal, 
shall  be  a  place  of  pilgrimage  for  all  nations.  Hither  will  come  the 
brave,  the  wise,  the  good,  from  every  part  of  our  country ;  not  to 
worship,  but  to  stand  by  the  sepulchre  and  to  relume  the  light  of 
patriotism  at  the  monument  of  Washington. 

We  must  with  deep  and  anxious  regret  have  perceived,  that  Vir 
ginia  prefers  her  separate  and  exclusive  claim  to  these  venerated 
remains.  It  will  never  be  forgotten,  that  Washington  was  a  son  of 
that  distinguished  State.  Is  not  this  honor  enough  to  gratify  the 
ambition  of  any  people  of  any  region  of  our  earth  ?  Why  so 
avaricious  of  his  glory,  which  like  that  of  the  sun  falls  with  no 
diminished  brightness  on  one  region,  because  it  shines  on  a  thousand 
others  ?  She  needs  it  not.  She  will  still  have  sons  enough,  warmed 
with  noble  ambition,  to  perfect  and  preserve  the  fabric  of  her  glory. 
Washington  was  born,  and  lived  for  his  country.  Let  the  mighty 
base  of  his  fame  extend  to  his  country,  his  united  country,  and  to 
every  part  of  it.  Then  shall  the  young  and  the  aspiring,  in  every 
region  of  our  land,  and  through  all  coming  generations,  whether  of 
humble  or  elevated  origin,  read  the  history  of  the  great  and  the 
good  ;  here  they  shall  see  by  what  monumental  honors  his  country 
has  consecrated  his  name  ;  and  thus,  he  who  lived  the  most  perfect 
man  of  one  age,  shall  become  the  great  and  enduring  model  for  all 
future  time. 


TR1STAM    BURGES.  317 

Let  me,  then,  in  behalf  of  our  common  country,  implore  Virginia, 
and  the  distinguished  sons  of  Virginia  now  in  this  Hall,  to  look  to  a 
consummation  of  the  arrangement  of  1799.  I  do  entreat  them  now 
to  recollect  and  regard  the  unanimity  of  a  no  less  distinguished 
delegation  then,  as  worthy  of  all  imitation.  Let  Virginia,  "  the 
fruitful  mother  of  heroes  and  statesmen,"  not  disregard  the  memory 
of  her  most  illustrious  matron,  who,  at  the  call  of  her  country,  sur 
rendered  her  own  individual  and  peculiar  affection,  to  the  promptings 
of  a  glorious  patriotism. 

At  first,  I  confess  it  did  appear  to  me  that  there  might  be  some 
thing,  in  the  removal  of  these  remains,  inappropriate  to  a  birth-day 
celebration.  It  is  not  so.  These  two  days,  that  of  his  birth,  and 
that  of  this  celebration,  are  separated  by  the  whole  duration  of  an 
hundred  years.  Between  these^  two  points,  what  a  tide  of  events 
has  rolled  over  the  world  ?  When  the  eye  of  recollection  looks 
back  towards  that  birth-day  morning,  what  a  succession  of  benefits, 
blessings,  glories,  seem  to  have  been  lighted  up  by  that  auspicious 
sun !  Our  Independence,  institutions,  government,  with  all  their 
concomitant  excellencies,  we  behold  ;  and  in  all,  the  mighty  agency 
of  Washington  !  He  seems  to  stand  on  earth  among  us,  in  the  midst 
of  his  achievements,  to  receive  our  gratitude,  and  to  witness  his  own 
fame.  If  we  carry  in  procession  these  mouldering  remains,  it  will 
help  to  bring  us  back  to  a  perception  of  our  common  allotment,  and 
teach  us  to  realize  his  and  our  own  mortality.  In  the  midst  of  our 
gratulations,  that  such  a  man  was  born,  we  shall  have  before  our 
eyes  the  memorial,  that  such  a  man  has  died  ;  and  the  joys  of  the 
Centennial  Birth-Day,  shall  be,  chastened  by  those  teachings  of  wis 
dom,  which  remind  us,  that  no  human  life,  no  sublunary  good  can 
endure  forever. 

Let  us  then  be  permitted  to  hope,  that  this  nation  may  now,  at 
last,  discharge  its  high  obligation  to  that  venerated  family,  by  doing 
appropriate  honors  to  the  remains  of  this  most  illustrious  man  ;  so 
that,  hereafter,  the  filial  piety  of  no  son  or  daughter  of  America, 
may  be  agitated  with  the  anxious  fear,  that  some  felonious  hand  may 
violate  the  sanctuary  of  his  tomb,  and  give  to  a  foreign  land  the 
glory  of  being  the  Mausolem  of  WASHINGTON. 


SPEECH   ON  THE  REMOVAL   OF  THE 
PUBLIC  DEPOSITES. 


The  following  Resolution,  offered  by  Mr.  Mardis,  being  under 
consideration : 

Resolved,  That  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means  be  instructed 
to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  reporting  a  Bill  requiring  the  Sec 
retary  of  the  Treasury  to  deposit  the  public  monies  of  the  United 
States  in  the  State  Banks  ;  and,  also,  as  to  the  expediency  of  defining 
by  law  all  contracts  hereafter  to  be  made  with  the  Secretary  for  the 
safe-keeping,  management,  and  disbursement  of  the  same.  Mr. 
Burges  sent  up  to  the  Speaker  an  amendment,  requiring  all  after  the 
word  "  Resolved"  to  be  stricken  out,  and  that  amendment  to  be 
inserted,  by  which  the  sufficiency  of  the  Secretary's  reasons,  for  his 
order  and  direction  to  remove  the  public  money,  would  be  brought 
before  the  House,  and  made  the  only  question  for  discussion.  The 
Speaker  suggested  that,  by  some  alterations,  this  amendment  might 
be  made  in  order  ;  and 

Mr.  Burges  proceeded  as  follows  ; 

MR.  SPEAKER  : — The  amendment  just  offered  by  me,  I  will  put 
in  the  form  suggested  by  the  Chair,  to  bring  it  within  the  strictest 
requirements  of  order.  In  that  form,  it  will  present  to  the  House 
what  has,  from  the  first  opening  of  the  debate,  seemed  to  me  the 
sole  question  for  decision  in  both  Houses  of  Congress  :  are  the 
reasons,  laid  before  us,  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  sufficient 
to  justify  the  order  and  direction  given  by  him  to  remove  the  money 
of  the  United  States  from  the  Bank  and  its  branches  ?  If  they  are 
not,  and  the  House  of  Representatives  vote  that  they  are  not,  then, 
because  Congress  do  not  sustain  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in 
his  order  and  direction  of  removal,  he  must  leave  the  money 
where  the  law  has  ordered  it  to  be  deposited.  Unless  both 
Houses  decide  that  the  reasons  are  sufficient,  the  Secretary  has 
failed  to  lay  before  Congress  such  reasons  as,  in  their  opinion,  justiiy 
him  in  making  the  order  and  direction  of  removal.  Congress  is  the 
Court  to  which  the  Secretary  appeals  for  a  confirmation  of  his  order 


TRISTAMBURGES.  319 

and  direction  of  removal  ;  if  this  Court  be  equally  divided,  no  judg 
ment  can  be  given,  confirming  the  order  and  direction  of  the  Secre 
tary  ;  and,  therefore,  that  order  and  direction  are  not  confirmed,  but 
of  necessity,  reversed  ;  and  the  Secretary  is  bound  to  reverse  them, 
by  giving  orders  and  directions  to  the  collectors  of  the  revenue,  and 
the  Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  to  deposit  the  public  money  in 
the  United  States  Bank  and  its  branches. 

Before  making  any  further  allusion  to  the  reasons  of  the  Secre 
tary,  it  may  be  proper  to  give  some  reply  to  the  argument  of  the 
gentleman  from  Alabama,  (Mr.  Mardis,)  on  the  Resolution  present 
ed  by  him.  He  has,  indeed,  done  the  best  justice,  which  could 
have  been  done  to  the  case.  Not  the  chamois,  in  his  own  native 
Alps,  could  spring  from  rock  to  rock  with  more  agility ;  nor  could 
the  young  panther  leap  from  one  tree  to  another,  in  our  own  deep 
forests,  with  more  of  muscular,  than  he  has  displayed  of  intellec 
tual  elasticity,  in  moving  from  point  to  point  of  this  great  argu 
ment. 

Notwithstanding  this,  he  does  not  seem  to  be  aware  of  how  much 
he  admits,  by  the  very  words  of  his  Resolution.  He  would  induce 
Congress  to  enact  laws  by  which  the  doings  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  may  be  confirmed.  Those  doings  are  either  legal  or 
illegal.  If  legal,  they  require  no  law  to  confirm  them  ;  for  no  law 
renders  them  more  than  legal,  more  than  lawful.  If  they  are  illegal, 
the  gentleman  does  not  intend,  I  must  believe,  to  require  of  Con 
gress  the  enactment  of  such  laws,  as  may  shield  public  officers 
themselves,  from  punishment,  when  the  whole  country  is  suffering, 
from  the  effects  of  their  own  violations  of  the  laws. 

This  gentleman,  in  the  course  of  his  argument,  urges  the  House 
to  confer  on  the  State  banks  the  power  of  making  a  paper  currency 
equal  to  that  of  the  United  States  Bank.  He  tells  us  that  he  would 
do  this,  because  the  United  States  Bank  is  unconstitutional.  The 
power  to  make  paper  currency,  is  one  of  the  powers  of  the  United 
States  Bank,  and  is  one  without  which  it  could  not  be  a  bank.  If  the 
Constitution  forbid  Congress  to  confer  on  a  United  States  Bank  the 
power  to  make  bills  of  credit,  or  paper  currency,  by  what  leger 
demain  can  Congress  confer  that  power  on  State  banks  ? 

I  do  not  remember  any  thing  more,  in  the  gentleman's  argument, 
which  may  require  my  attention.  His  war  with  the  United  States 
Bank  is,  in  my  opinion,  no  part  of  the  question  ;  and  his  determina- 


320  SPEECHES    OF 

tion  to  die  in  the  last  ditch,  is  a  death  in  metaphor,  a  ditch  in  song  ; 
and  I  have  no  belief  that  the  gentleman  from  Alabama  (Mr.  Mar- 
dis)  intends  to  support  the  Secretary's  reasons,  by  any  ditch  or 
death  less  figurative. 

I  shall,  therefore,  leave  the  Bank,  its  constitutionality,  and  the 
renewal  of  its  charter,  to  the  next  Congress.  Our  inquiry  is  con 
cerning  the  national  money  ;  the  causes,  real  or  ostensible,  for 
which  it  has  been  taken  from  the  use  of  the  people  ;  and  the  effects 
which  have  followed,  and  which  will  follow,  this  removal.  It  is 
my  purpose  lay  before  the  House,  some  of  the  many  reasons, 
which  have  convinced  me,  that  the  great  object  of  this  removal  is 
the  extension  of  Executive  power,  and  the  gratification  of  those 
men,  in  our  country,  who  are  devoted  to  the  exercise  of  Executive 
power  and  patronage.  Before  this  can  be  well  done,  it  is  needful 
to  give  some  short  history  of  the  progress  of  Executive  power,  and 
of  the  devotion  to  it  in  our  country  ;  and  also  of  the  progress  of 
that  moneyed  interest  and  power,  in  our  country,  after  which  the 
Executive  is  now  so  greedily  grasping. 

The  condition  of  our  country,  with  no  hope  for  any  change  for 
the  better,  is,  indeed,  distressing.  Sir,  it  is  not  the  magnitude,  but 
the  duration  of  our  calamities,  which  renders  them  intolerable. 
Almost  any  evil  may  be  inconsiderable,  if  we  have  assurance  that 
it  cannot  be  lasting,  or  will  be  followed  by  enduring  good.  The 
present  condition  of  our  country  is,  indeed,  grievous  ;  but  what, 
what,  Sir,  is  this  condition,  when  compared  with  that  weight  of 
oppression,  which  public  measures  now  seem  preparing  to  lay  on 
the  American  people  ?  If  blight  in  the  air,  or  the  withering  breath 
of  disease  on  the  earth,  were  consuming  life  in  our  land  ;  and  we 
were  prostrated  under  His  hand,  who  in  the  midst  of  judgments 
always  remembers  mercy,  we  should,  indeed,  be  suffering ;  but  not 
as  we  now  are,  from  the  bitter  assurance  that  all  our  present  calam 
ities  are  but  the  beginning  of  sorrows. 

It  has  appeared,  for  some  years  past,  that  a  settled  purpose  has 
been  formed,  by  the  Executive,  to  render  useless,  if  not  utterly  to 
abolish,  every  other  department  of  power  in  our  Government. 
Each  one  of  them  has  in  turn  been  assailed,  by  either  calumny  or 
violence.  Who  has  forgotten  the  time  when  a  member  of  this 
House  was  waylaid  and  shot  at,  almost  instantly  after  he  stept  out 
over  the  threshold  of  the  Capitol  ?  What  man  in  this  Hall,  can 


4} 

T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  325 

now  question  the  reasons  of  the  Secretary,  and  not,  by  the  Execu 
tive  press  here,  and  by  all  affiliated  papers  elsewhere,  be  denounced 
as  the  bribed  advocate  of  the  Bank  ?  When  has  the  Senate  disa 
greed  with  the  President,  and  not  felt  the  same  polluted  breath  ? 
Nay,  Sir,  in  what  case,  has  the  Supreme  Court  given  a  decision,  in 
any  important  question,  where  the  Chief  Magistrate  held  a  different 
opinion,  when  that  Court  has  escaped  from  that  rebuke,  which  has 
so  frequently  fallen  upon  this  House,  and  upon  the  Senate  ? 

This  disposition  of  the  Executive,  to  draw  around,  and  arrogate 
to  himself,  all  the  powers  of  the  Government,  is,  at  this  time,  favored 
by  opinions  less  doubtful,  and  feelings  more  devoted,  than  could 
ever,  until  now,  have  been  found,  in  our  country,  to  favor  a  like 
disposition ;  if  a  like  disposition  ever  existed  in  any  other  President 
of  the  United  States. 

It  is  well  known,  that  a  love  of  liberty  in  some  men,  and  a  devot- 
edness  to  power  in  others,  have  marked  almost  every  era,  in  the 
history  of  our  English  race,  both  in  Europe  and  in  America.  That 
history  has  given  to  each  of  those  great  classes  of  men  a  distin 
guishing  political  name  ;  and  we  may  find,  on  the  record  of  past 
centuries,  that  the  men  devoted  to  liberty,  are  denominated  Whigs — 
the  men  devoted  to  power,  are  denominated  Tories. 

The  Tories  of  our  revolution,  were  devoted  to  the  power  of  the 
British  Crown  ;  believed  ir^  the  right  divine  of  Kings  ;  and  con 
tended,  not  only  that  the  English  Monarch  could  do  no  wrong,  but 
that  whatever  he  might  do,  we,  his  colonial  subjects,  had  no  right  to 
complain. 

The  Whigs  held  to  a  different  political  creed,  and  believed  that 
the  power  of  the  Crown,  depended  on  the  laws  of  the  realm  ;  that 
its  origin  was  the  will  of  the  nation  ;  and  that  the  great  object  of 
all  its  exercise,  was  the  public  benefit,  both  in  the  mother  country 
and  the  colonies.  The  Tories  held  to  the  opinion,  that  no  man  ought 
to  be  admitted  to  any  office  of  honor  or  emolument,  unless  he  were 
himself  a  Tory,  a  believer  in  the  divine  origin,  and  the  unlimited  na 
ture  of  kingly  power.  It  was  otherwise  holden  by  the  Whigs  ;  merit 
was  their  passport  to  appointment ;  and  even  until  the  commencement 
of  the  revolutionary  war,  they  held  in  high  respect  all  Crown  offi 
cers,  who  did  not  abuse  their  trust. 

After  this  Government  was  organized  in  the  United  States, 
although  all  devotion  to  the  British  Crown  had  been  utterly  destroyed 

Q* 


326  SPEECHES    OF 

and  swallowed  up  in  the  revolution;  yet,  when  it  appeared  thai 
power  and  patronage  belonged  to  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
some  men  were  found  disposed  to  devote  themselves  to  that  power. 
It  was  not  because  that  power  was  constitutional,  and  bestowed  for 
benignant  purposes ;  nor  because  the  great  patriot  and  father  of 
his  country  had  been  elected  to  the  exercise  of  it ;  but  purely 
because  it  was  power,  and  they  loved  to  admire  and  praise  its  glo 
rious  and  overwhelming  attributes. 

These  men  were  the  ultras  of  those  times,  not  purely  federal,  for 
that  was,  as  Washington  was,  purely  republican  ;  but  more  than 
federal,  and  in  their  own  estimation,  transcendently  federal.  In 
England,  such  men  would  have  been  the  devotees  of  power,  even 
"in  the  Stuarts'  reign."  These  ultras,  a  deluded  few  then,  in 
Washington's  time,  held  to  the  doctrine,  that  none  but  partisans  of 
their  own  political  creed,  were  entitled  to  hold  any  office  under  the 
Government ;  although  neither  he  nor  his  immediate  successor  held 
to  any  such  doctrine  ;  and  that  principle  remained  in  their  times,  a 
metaphysico-political  theory.  The  great  body  of  the  people  were 
then  Whigs  of  the  purest  principles  ;  men  warmed  with  that  love  of 
liberty  by  which  they  had  achieved  the  revolution  ;  and  they  had 
established  the  United  States  Government  to  preserve  that  liberty, 
and  secure  the  benefits  of  that  revolution.  The  ultras  of  those 
tunes  found  no  sympathy  with  such  a,  people  ;  and  their  Govern 
ment,  devoted  to  the  same  elevated  principles,  gave  no  encourage 
ment  to  the  feelings  and  sentiments  of  these  men ;  nor  were  ever 
influenced,  in  any  public  measure,  by  their  devotedness  and  sub 
mission  to  political  power. 

When  the  federal  administration  was  succeeded,  by  what  was 
called  the  democratic,  that  administration  soon  had  its  ultras,  and 
those  ultras  became  the  Tories  of  democracy.  For  many  of  those 
men,  who  had  contended  for  the  overthrow  of  power,  because  it 
was  federal,  were  then  ready  to  devote  themselves  to  the  same 
power,  if  it  were  but  surrounded  and  consecrated  by  the  names  and 
forms,  the  mere  ritual  of  democracy.  Democratic  ultras  carried 
into  practice  what  had  been  a  theory  only  among  their  federal  pre 
decessors.  They  were  alike  the  devotees  of  power,  because  it  was 
power ;  but  while  the  one  believed  in  the  right  to  exclude  from 
appointment,  the  other  exercised  the  right,  and  did  exclude  from 
appointment  to  office,  all  those  who  were  not  of  their  own  political 


T  11  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  327 

creed.  Although  the  principles  of  the  revolution  were  still  active 
in  the  great  mass  of  the  people  ;  yet  the  devotees  of  power,  and 
the  aspirants  of  office,  had  mingled  with  that  mass  very  much  of 
their  own  leaven  of  political  subserviency. 

The  ultras  of  those  two  great  parties,  the  federal  and  democratic 
ultras,  united,  coalesced,  amalgamated,  and  became,  and  now  are, 
the  controlling  elements  of  that  portion  of  our  fellow-citizens  who, 
at  this  time,  hold  the  power  of  the  National  Government,  and  direct 
all  the  movements  of  administration. 

Where,  Sir,  and  in  what  country,  can  we  find  any  collection  of 
men  so  entirely  devoted,  both  in  feelings  and  sentiments,  to  the  two 
great  English  tory  principles — submission  to  power,  because  it  is 
power  ;  and  exclusion  from  office  of  all  those  who  dare  to  question 
the  political  creed,  or  the  political  administration  of  that  power  ? 

I  repeat  the  assertion,  that  arrogance  of  power  was  never,  in  this 
country,  until  now,  so  recklessly  sustained  by  political  submission 
and  subserviency.  Alas,  for  our  country  !  Had  the  prophetic  ken 
of  the  patriarch  reached  to  our  times,  he  might  have  seen  in  us  a 
yoke-fellow,  a  follower  under  the  carrier's  saddle,  for  his  own 
degenerate  Issachar.  Are  we  not  veritably  the  patient  animal, 
couching  down  between  two  burdens,  the  power  that  now  is  and 
the  power  that  is  to  be,  and  'both  laid  in  the  panniers,  and  placed 
upon  us  at  once  ? 

Men,  in  any  country,  may  distinguish  themselves  by  whatever 
political  names  they  may  choose ;  and  those  names  may  cover,  but 
can  never  change  or  conceal,  their  principles  or  their  feelings. 
Let  them  be  written  on  the  catalogue  of  men,  and  called  over,  in 
the  ear  of  the  people,  as  federalists,  or  republicans,  or  democrats  ; 
they  will,  when  history  shall  record  the  national  transactions  of 
those  times,  be  set  down  on  that  record,  in  one  or  the  other  of  those 
two  columns,  where  every  human  eye  can  see,  written  over  them, 
on  the  one  side,  Whigs,  on  the  other  side,  Tories.  We,  we,  Sir,  and 
all  our  countrymen,  if  our  names  ever  find  a  place  in  those  annals, 
shall  be  so  recorded.  If  we  are  the  devotees  of  power,  because  it 
is  power,  and  look  to  the  public  plunder,  distributed  by  that  power, 
to  none  but  its  own  servile  followers,  as  the  reward  of  our  political 
devotion,  our  names  will  be  placed  there,  under  the  names  of  those 
men,  who  were  devoted  to  the  power  of  the  second  James,  in  the 
great  struggle  for  liberty,  at  the  Revolution  of  England,  in  1688  ; 


328 


SPEECHES    OF 


and  under  the  names  of  those  men,  who  were,  in  our  country,  devo 
ted  to  the  power  of  the  third  George,  in  the  equally  glorious  strug 
gle  of  these  then  United  Colonies,  in  their  Revolution  of  1775  ;  and 
all  mankind  will  read,  over  their  heads  and  our  heads,  at  the  top  of 
the  column,  our  political  character,  in  one  word ;  and  that  will  be  a 
word,  which  no  frequency  of  use,  no  connexion  with  distinguished 
names,  can  now,  or  hereafter,  ever  make  less  odious  to  the  eye  or 
the  ear  of  the  free  and  patriotic  of  our  land,  than  it  ever  has  been 
to  all  men  who  love  liberty  and  abhor  despotism. 

Sir,  do  we  not  seem  to  belie  our  illustrious  Saxon  origin  ?  Has 
not  every  drop  of  that  glorious  blood  exuded  from  our  veins,  and 
the  blood  of  slaves  become  our  vital  current  ?  We  are  conquered 
as  our  Anglo-Saxon  ancestors  were  conquered  by  the  crafty  and 
heartless  Norman  ;  and  blessed  are  the  men,  if  there  be  any  such 
men,  who  have  not  the  chain  already. fixed  to  the  leg,  or  the  collar 
buckled  and  locked  around  the  neck. 

Tories,  by  their  abject  submission  to  power,  tempt  and  encourage 
rash,  reckless,  and  arrogant  men  to  become  tyrants  ;  and  they  again 
plunder  the  people,  and  thereby  raise  up,  feed,  and  sustain  other 
generations  of  Tories.  This  progress  of  submission  and  plunder 
proceeds,  until,  in  countries  where  it  cannot  otherwise  be  done, 
revolution  arises  ;  and,  like  a  storm,  sweeps  away  together  th« 
tyrant  and  his  minions. 

In  elective  Governments,  revolution  is  not  needful  ;  for  the 
people,  although  they  may  be  deceived  for  one  or  two,  or  perhaps 
three  terms  of  Executive  power ;  yet  will  they  at  last  learn  the 
truth  ;  arouse  to  their  great  interests,  at  the  cry  of  their  great 
injuries,  and  consign  those  who  have  been  violating  their  liberties, 
and  plundering  their  substance,  to  long-merited  and  perpetual 
infamy. 

Sir,  the  people  of  this  country  know,  quite  as  well  as  this  Govern 
ment  ought  to  know,  that  men  associated  in  communites,  as  we  are, 
grant  to  their  public  officers  a  part  only  of  their  own  inherent  power. 
In  this  country,  Constitutions,  whether  State  or  national,  are  not 
charters  of  popular  liberty.  That  high  attribute  comes  not  from 
man  ;  it  is  the  gift  of  the  Creator  himself.  Constitutions  mark  out 
the  amount  of  power  bestowed  by  the  people ;  and  all  not  bestowed 
is  reserved  ;  and  all  thus  granted,  is  granted,  not  for  the  benefit  of 
the  grantees,  but  that,  thereby,  all  reserved  powers  may  the  more 


TRISTAM    B  URGES.  329 

securely  be  exercised  and  enjoyed  by  the  grantors,  the  people 
themselves.  Among  other  powers  reserved  by  them,  and  all  of  a 
value  above  all  price,  are  two ;  and  both  of  these  are  intimately 
connected  with  the  great  question  now  under  debate,  now  agitating 
this  Congress  and  this  whole  country.  One  of  these  is,  the  power 
reserved  by  the  people  to  choose  for  themselves,  either  mediately  or 
immediately,  all  their  own  public  officers  ;  and  freely,  and  publicly, 
and  fearlessly,  to  examine,  both  by  the  press  and  by  the  living 
voice,  all  their  merits  before,  and  all  their  conduct  after  election. 
The  other  of  these  powers,  connected  with  this  question,  is  that 
power  born  with  every  living  man,  and  always  reserved  to  him 
under  all  constitutional  forms  of  Government — the  inherent  power 
to  use  his  own  labor,  and  his  own  means  of  acquisition,  independent 
of  all  political  influence,  and  solely  for  his  own  individual  emolu 
ment.  This  power  of  every  man  to  work  for  himself,  is  the  great 
foundation  of  all  property  ;  and  every  invasion  of  it,  by  any  political 
influence,  is,  so  far,  a  war.  made  on  individual  freedom. 

The  free  exercise  of  this  power,  has  secured  and  preserved,  in 
every  part  of  our  whole  country,  the  surplus  of  what  is  annually 
produced  by  the  labor,  over  and  above  what  is  annually  consumed 
by  the  wants,  of  the  people.  This  surplus,  originally  small,  was, 
at  first,  by  its  several  owners,  laid  up  separately,  in  little  hordes  of 
the  precious  metals.  Afterwards,  at  the  call  of  enterprise,  these, 
quite  inconsiderable  treasures,  were  loaned  out,  at  interest,  to  indus 
trious  individuals.  Finally  becoming  sufficient  for  that  purpose, 
they  were,  many  of  them,  united,  and  formed  into  banks  of  discount ; 
and  thereby  more  conveniently  accommodated  that  labor,  which  had 
abundance  of  strength  and  skill,  but  was  in  want  of  more  capital. 

In  this  progress  of  acquisition,  the  people  have  exercised  their 
great  inherent  and  reserved  power  to  work  for  themselves  ;  under 
this  exercise  they  have  preserved,  collected,  and  laid  up,  and  secured 
the  capital  of  their  now  great  monied  interest ;  and  have  vested  not 
less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  that  capital  in  their  vari 
ous  monied  institutions,  established  by  laws  for  that  purpose  enacted, 
in  all  parts  of  the  United  States. 

Although  the  exercise  of  these  reserved  powers  of  the  people,  in 
the  free  election  and  free  censure  of  all  their  public  officers,  and  in 
the  free  use  of  their  own  labor  and  their  own  skill,  in  the  accumu 
lation  and  in  the  management  of  their  own  stocks,  and  banks,  and 


330 


SPEECHES    OF 


moneys,  may  have  become  offensive  to  those  very  officers  ;  yet 
nothing  short  of  the  perfect  preservation  of  these  great  inherent 
and  reserved  powers,  untouched  by  any  political  influence,  can 
preserve  inviolate  the  freedom  of  the  people.  How  odious  that 
sturdy  disposition  of  self-management,  claimed  by  the  people,  may 
at  this  time  be  to  that  subserviency  of  our  days,  which  prostrates 
so  many  of  those  public  officers  at  the  foot  of  Executive  power,  can 
be  ascertained,  by  the  complaints  of  a  certain  Mr.  Gil  pin  and  his 
associates,  laid  some  weeks  ago  on  your  table,  in  the  Secretary's 
reasons,  and  in  their  own  memorial.  They  were  Bank  Directors, 
appointed  by  the  President  and  Senate ;  and,  as  they  seem  to  have 
thought,  for  some  purpose  more  lofty  and  statesman-like  than  merely 
to  manage  the  money  of  the  United  States,  vested  in  the  stocks  of 
the  National  Bank  ;  and  because  the  Directors  chosen  by  the 
people,  received  them  merely  as  Bank  Directors,  and  not  as  great 
statesmen,  and  could  not  become  subservient  to  the  political  pur 
poses  of  their  appointment,  they  have  laid  their  wailings  before  this 
House  and  before  the  nation.  In  these  their  wailings,  put  in  the 
form  of  a  memorial,  and  placed  on  your  table,  they  denounce  the 
people's  Directors  of  the  Bank,  as  men  made  proud  by  that  control 
of  the  purse,  which  has  been  committed  to  them  by  their  appoint 
ment  ;  they  denounce  the  Bank  itself  as  a  money  monopoly  ;  the 
whole  stockholders,  national  and  individual,  as  an  aristocracy  of 
wealth ;  and  the  whole  institution,  capital,  direction,  and  ownership 
together,  is  set  out  by  these  good  men  as  a  great  establishment, 
dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  people.  Concerning  themselves, 
these  Executive  Directors  speak  in  very  respectful  terms.  They 
assure  us  that  veritably  they  are  true  patriots  ;  and  they  prove 
this,  in  a  very  lawyer- like  manner,  by  the  best  evidence  which  the 
nature  of  the  case  would  admit — their  own  testimony.  They  more 
over  assure  us,  that  they  are  truly,  and  in  good  faith,  the  Represen 
tatives  of  the  people  in  the  National  Bank.  Representatives  of  the 
people  indeed  !  and  appointed  by  the  President !  How  long  is  it 
since  the  Representatives  of  the  people  were  appointed  for  them -by 
the  Executive  ?  Has  it  already  come  to  this,  that  such  men,  blown 
into  existence  by  Presidential  breath,  dare  to  call  themselves  the 
Representatives  of  the  people  ?  It  is  fortunate  for  the  people  that 
these  very  individuals  should  have  been  the  first  of  such  a  com 
modity  manufactured  for  their  use  ;  for  the  slightest  examination  of 


TRISTAM    B  URGES,  331 

tlie  sample  will  satisfy  the  nation  that  the  American  people  will 
consume  no  more  of  the  article. 

Sir,  if  there  be  any  aristocracy  of  wealth  in  our  country,  it  is  a 
genuine,  a  native  growth.  It  has  been  produced  by  the  labor,  en 
terprise,  and  persevering  economy  of  the  people  themselves.  Who, 
that  has  lived  so  long  as  I  have  lived,  has  not  seen  the  progress  of 
wealth  in  almost  every  department  of  acquisition  ?  I  can  recollect 
a  ship-boy,  whose  whole  patrimonial  wealth  was  a  warm,  an  anxious 
parental  blessing.  What  vocation  can  be  more  toilsome,  what  more 
perilous  ?  Sleep,  which  in  other  callings  seals  the  weary  eye 
of  labor  on  something  like  a  bed  of  repose,  weighs  his  eyelids  down, 
and  steeps  his  senses  in  forgetfulness,  with  no  better  pillow,  it  may 
be,  than  the  head  of  the  "  high  and  giddy  mast,  when  the  wind 
takes  the  ruffian  billows  by  the  tops,  curling  their  heads,  and  hang 
ing  them  with  deafening  clamor  in  the  slippery  shrouds."  Yet  he, 
by  perpetual  toil,  continued  enterprise,  and  untiring  economy,  comes 
at  last  to  be  a  wealthy  and  extensive  ship-owner. 

The  vocation  of  the  schoolmaster  is  a  life  of  toil,  humble  acquisi 
tion,  and  honest  obscurity.  His  capital  is  altogether  of  the  mind. 
There  he  is  rich,  in  science,  integrity,  and  habits  of  persevering 
labor  and  economy.  How  many  of  these  men  in  our  country,  after 
toiling  years  in  this  employment,  gather  up  the  earnings  and  savings 
of  those  years,  and  turning  their  attention  to  commerce,  become,  by 
the  practice  of  the  same  process  of  integrity,  labor,  and  economy, 
rich  and  eminent  merchants  ? 

Sir,  I  have  seen  the  young  mechanic,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one, 
standing  on  the  threshold  of  his  father's  humble  dwelling.  He  was 
just  about  to  step  out  into  the  world,  and  begin  life  for  himself;  with 
no  other  earthly  wealth  than  his  own  summer  frock,  trousers,  and 
straw  hat.  His  whole  capital  was  his  hands,  and  his  skill  in  the  use 
of  them.  Notwithstanding  all  these  discouragements,  this  same 
man,  by  perpetual  toil  and  perpetual  economy,  became  a  wealthy 
and  extensive  manufacturer. 

The  plough-boy  belongs  to  another  class  of  humble  and  toilsome 
employment ;  and  who,  that  has  ever  shared  in  the  toils  or  the 
sports  of  that  vocation,  can  look  back  upon  it,  from  any  point  in 
after  life,  without  feelings  of  complacency  and  regret  ?  The  plough- 
boy  drives  his  team  a-field,  when  the  first  sunbeams  of  morning  are 
spreading  over  the  earth  ;  when  the  world  is  bursting  into  life,  and 


SPEECHES    O  1 

song,  and  action  :  and,  buoyant  with  youth,  and  health,  and  hope, 
he,  -'  as  he  turns  over  the  furrowed  land,"  joins  the  rude  notes  of 
his  own  voice  to  the  jocund  sounds  of  the  merry  morning.  This 
laborious  lad,  by  years  of  continual  toil  and  continual  economy, 
does  at  last  become  the  owner  of  fields,  and  is  himself  rich  in  farms 
and  plantations. 

All  the  acqusitions  of  these  laborious  and  successful  individuals 
are  denounced,  by  the  agrarian  veto-makers  of  our  times,  as  aris 
tocracies  of  wealth,  dangerous  to  liberty,  and  not  to  be  protected  by 
the  laws. 

Sir,  let  me  tell  you,  this  has  been,  and  this  will  be,  the  career  of 
acquisition  in  our  country  :  and,  although  the  idle  and  evil-minded 
politicians  of  our  times,  may  hope  to  enrich  themselves  by  exciting 
a  war  of  plunder  between  those,  who  are  just  starting  in  the  race, 
and  those  who  have  already  arrived  at  the  goal ;  yet  will  'they, 
these  political  miscreants,  I  trust,  fail  in  their  vile  and  abominable 
purpose,  and  finally  reap,  for  their  harvest,  the  abundant  execra 
tions  of  the  people. 

Sir,  by  the  exercise  of  this,  their  reserved  power  to  work,  each 
individual  for  his  own  emolument,  the  people  have  made  acquisi 
tions  of  wealth  in  every  part  of  our  country.  Aided  by  these, 
they  have  established  their  banks  ;  banks  in  cities  and  towns  ; 
banks  in  villages  and  rural  neighborhoods  ;  State  banks  and  banks 
of  the  United  States  ;  and,  finally,  to  gather  up  the  fragments,  that 
nothing  may  be  lost,  they  have  established  Savings  banks. 

Of  all  these,  the  stockholders  are,  some  of  them,  rich  men  ; 
some  middling  interest  men  ;  and  some  just  beginning  the  race  of 
acquisition,  are  quite  poor  men.  Nay,  Sir,  the  widow  has  placed 
here  her  mite,  her  whole  living ;  and  it  was  safe.  It  was  safe. 
Will  it,  can  it  or  any  of  all  these  moneyed  institutions  of  the 
people  long  be  safe,  in  this  Executive  war  waged  in  the  land, 
against  all  which  the  people  hold  dear,  and  precious  in  our  country  ? 

Has  not  power  itself,  from  its  highest  places,  denounced,  and  have 
not  the  tens  of  thousands  of  its  hireling  minions  joined  in  the  denun 
ciation  against  all  these  institutions  of  the  people  ?  Are  not  the 
people  excited  to  outrage  against  them,  as  establishments  "  to  make 
the  rich  richer,  and  the  poor  poorer?"  Has  not  the  Executive 
message  been  calculated,  and  why  not  intended,  to  urge  labor  to  n 
war  against  capital ;  toil  against  employment ;  hunger  against  bread? 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  333 

How  far  this  Catilinean  conspiracy  has  been  carried,  who  but  the 
miscreants  concerned  in  the  plot,  can  now  disclose  to  the  nation  ? 
Have  they  already  parcelled  out  our  cities  and  villages,  and  ap 
pointed  some  Lentulus  to  superintend  their  conflagration  ;  some 
Cethegus  and  Gabinius  to  take  care  of  the  massacre  of  Senators, 
citizens,  husbands,  brothers ;  and  put  in  requisition  their  own  trusty 
Catalines,  to  plunder  their  wealth,  and  dishonor  their  wives  and 
daughters  ? 

Sir,  let  the  miscreants  of  our  limes  and  of  our  country  remember 
the  Marats,  the  Dantons,  the  Robespierres  of  other  times  and  other 
countries.  These  demagogues  have  already  scattered  the  embers 
of  civil  war  in  the  land  ;  but  let  them  beware  how  they  blow  the 
coals  into  a  blaze ;  for  the  abused  and  outraged  American  people 
will — unless  these  incendiaries  make  their  escape  by  the  light  of 
their  own  torches — the  outraged  people  will  extinguish  the  flaming 
ruins  of  their  country,  as  the  people  of  France  did,  by  the  immola 
tion  of  those  traitors  who  had  lighted  up  the  conflagration. 

Sir,  among  the  great  monied  institutions  of  our  country,  the  peo 
ple  have  established  the  United  States  Bank,  not  more  for  individual 
than  national  purposes.  In  the  first  place,  Congress,  endowed  with 
power  by  the  Constitution  to  levy  money  from  the  people,  to  pay 
their  public  debt,  provide  for  their  common  defence,  and  promote 
their  general  welfare,  had  need  of  a  fiscal  agent  to  collect,  keep, 
and  disburse  such  money.  This  Bank  has  so  perfectly  performed 
all  these  offices  of  such  an  agent,  that  Congress  has  levied  and  dis 
bursed,  by  its  agency,  nearly  five  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  in  the 
public  service,  without  the  cost  or  the  loss  of  a  single  dollar  to  the 
nation. 

In  the  next  place,  it  was  known,  when  this  Bank  was  established, 
that  this  money  must,  in  the  common  course  of  the  public  service, 
lie  some  time  in  the  public  coffers,  after  it  was  paid  in,  and  before  it 
was  paid  out.  This  money,  while  thus  lying  idle,  might  be,  if  it 
were  loaned  out  to  the  people,  of  great  utility  to  them  in  their  vari 
ous  labors  and  employments.  For  the  privilege  of  loaning  this 
money  for  the  accommodation  of  the  people,  the  Bank  advanced  to 
the  United  States,  in  the  form  of  a  bonus,  what  will  be  found  to 
amount  to  nearly  four  per  cent,  on  so  much  of  this  money  as 
otherwise  would  have  been  lying  idle,  in  the  coffers  of  the  Treasury. 
Under  this  contract  between  the  Bank  and  the  nation,  this  money 


334  SPEECHES    OF 

was  loaned  to  the  people,  until  the  President  ordered  the  whole  of 
it  removed  from  the  Treasury  ;  and  thereby  deprived  the  Bank  of 
the  power  to  reimburse  itself  for  the  interest  advanced  on  this 
money  to  the  United  States,  or  to  accommodate  the  people  by  the 
loan  of  it. 

[Mr.  Burges  here  goes  into  a  history  of  the  currency  of  our 
country,  and  the  laws  regulating  the  same  ;  and  thus  proceeds  :] 

The  fourth  and  last  purpose  in  the  establishment  of  this  Bank  of 
the  United  States  was,  to  give  it  such  powers,  as  a  private  institu 
tion,  as  might,  in  their  faithful  and  diligent  exercise,  render  the 
capital,  to  the  owners  of  it,  profitable  in  a  degree  equal,  and  no 
more  than  equal,  to  that  of  other  institutions  of  the  same  kind. 
Although  excluded  from  dealing  in  stocks,  when  all  other  banks 
might  deal  in  them,  and  engaged,  by  contract,  to  collect,  keep,  and 
disburse  the  public  revenue,  without  pecuniary  compensation  ;  yet, 
was  it  believed,  that  the  use  of  the  public  money,  after  deducting 
the  amount  of  bonus,  paid  in  the  beginning  to  the  United  States, 
might  reimburse  that  expense,  and  remunerate  the  institution  fo> 
the  labor  and  expenditure,  necessarily  done  and  incurred,  in  the 
discharge  of  its  fiscal  and  financial  duties  to  the  nation.  It  must 
have  been  the  great  purpose  of  Congress,  in  this  institution,  to  unite 
the  sharp-sighted,  and  untiring  diligence  and  skill  of  private  interest, 
with  the  laborious,  patient,  and  enlightened  fidelity,  required  in  such 
an  extensive  and  important  national  agency  ;  so  that  the  people 
could,  in  nowise,  suffer  from  the  want  of  industry,  talent,  or  faith 
fulness,  in  the  management  of  this  institution,  without  bringing  a 
much  greater,  and  more  ruinous  accumulation  of  injuries,  upon  the 
interests  of  those  who  have  vested  their  property  in  its  funds.  With 
what  success  this  great  purpose  has  been  achieved,  in  the  direction 
of  those  individual  and  national  concerns,  committed  to  this  institu 
tion,  has,  in  the  very  face  of  Presidential  power  and  influence,  been 
decided  ;  not  only  by  the  representatives  of  this  nation,  but  by  many 
people  of  this  nation,  and  many  people  of  other  nations,  who  had 
embarked  their  property  in  this  great  enterprise.  No  bank  on 
earth  was  ever  conducted  with  more  skill  and  fidelity,  or  more  to 
the  satisfaction  of  all  persons,  interested  in  its  funds  ;  none  ever, 
more  successfully,  managed  the  exchanges  of  a  great  and  widely 
extended  nation  ;  and  none  ever,  before,  furnished  a  paper  currency 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  335 

equally  sound  and  uniform  ;  for,  when  measured  by  gold  and  silver, 
the  great  standard  of  value  throughout  the  commercial  world,  the 
notes  of  this  Bank  have  circulated,  not  only  in  this  country,  but  in 
Europe,  and  among  commercial  men  in  the  distant  nations  of  Asia  ; 
and  have  there  been  exchanged  at  a  par,  and  in  place  of  the  most 
pure,  coined  metallic  money,  of  the  eastern  or  western  world.  Not- 
withstanding  all  these  facts  ;  notwithstanding  this  institution  was 
established  by  the  people,  and  was  intended  by  them  to  be,  has 
been,  and  would  now  be,  to  them  the  great  regulating  and  enrich 
ing  establishment  among  all  their  moneyed  institutions,  had  not  a 
usurpation  of  power,  more  gigantic  and  more  destructive  than  any 
other,  now  wielded  by  any  other  earthly  despotism,  placed  itself 
between  this  institution,  and  the  prosperity  of  the  people.  Yet,  those 
profligate  instruments  of  this  unrelenting  despotism,  the  Executive 
Directors,  appointed  for  such  vile  and  mischievous  purposes,  have 
denounced  the  President  and  Directors  of  that  institution  as  a  col- 
lection  of  men  made  haughty,  proud,  and  overbearing,  by  that 
control  of  the  purse  which  has  been  committed  to  them  by  their 
appointment. 

Why,  Sir,  when  these  Presidential  Directors  ^arrived  at  Philadel 
phia,  and  entered  into  the  Bank  ;  when  they  looked  around  the 
counters,  and  beheld  the  masses  of  metallic  wealth,  regarded  by 
them,  long  used  to  such  labors,  as  the  mere  tools  of  the  trade  car 
ried  on  in  this  their  great  workshop  ;  when  they  called  to  mind,  if 
they  possessed  any  such  thing,  that  they  were  the  especial  Direc 
tors  of  seven  millions  of  those  glittering  glories,  which  lay  shining 
before  their  eyes  ;  when,  animated  by  such  a  thought,  they  men 
tally  exclaimed,  like  honest  Caliban,  influenced  by  the  consoling 
beverage  of  Trinculo,  "  All  this  land  is  mind ;"  and  when  they,  so 
totally  unused  to  such  sights  and  sounds,  felt  throughout  their  inward 
and  outward  man,  in  "  entrails,  heart  and  head,  liver  and  reins," 
the  overwhelming  inebriation  of  all  within  them,  and  all  around 
them,  is  it  wonderful  that  they  concluded  that  the  people's  Direc 
tors,  who,  as  they  believed,  had,  for  a  much  longer  time,  been 
swallowing  these  enlivening  influences,  were  really  as  much  intoxi 
cated  as  they  were  themselves  ? 

Is  this  wonderful  1  Are  there  not  diseases,  which  pervert  even 
the  very  organ  of  vision  ?  I  remember  to  have  been  told  the  story 
of  a  very  staid  and  sober  personage,  who  had  rarely  seen,  much 


336  SPEECHES    OF 

less  ever  tasted  and  swallowed,  that  inebriating  beverage,  which 
makes  brutes  of  so  many  men.  It  was  the  evil  fortune  of  this  man, 
on  a  certain  time,  to  be  present  at  some  public  "  doings,"  where 
this  potable  mischief  was  presented,  in  all  its  alluring  forms.  He 
tasted,  by  accident,  what  some  one  had  left  unswallowed,  at  the 
bottom  of  a  glass ;  and,  delighted  at  the  taste,  exclaimed  to  the 

keeper  of  the  table,  "  I  profess,  Mr. ,  you  know  how  to 

make  a  very  pretty  liquor."  "  Will  you  have  a  glass,  Sir  ?"  was 
the  reply.  He  laid  down  his  four-pence  -half-penny,  and  placing 
the  tumbler  of  sling  to  his  mouth,  drained  the  the  treacherous  glass 
to  the  last  drop.  The  moment  he,  unused  as  he  was  to  such  excite 
ment,  began  to  reel,  every  man  on  the  green  seemed  to  him  to  be 
staggering.  He  immediately  took  up  the  opinion,  which  he  never 
relinquished  until  his  last  hour,  and  he  solemnly  averred,  after  he 
was  carted  home  at  night,  that  he  did  not  on  that  day,  see  a  sober 
man  in  all  creation. 

Is  it  then  wonderful,  that  these  Executive  Directors,  intoxicated 
as  they  were  at  the  sight  of  so  much  metallic  money,  should  believe 
the  President  and  Directors  appointed  by  the  people,  who  had,  for 
some  time  before,  been  swallowing,  so  to  speak,  with  all  their  eyes, 
this  enchanting  vision  of  shining  metal,  were  as  much  intoxicated, 
by  the  draught,  as  they  were  themselves.  Narrow-minded  men 
always  attribute  to  others  the  little  vices  and  meannesses,  which  fill 
up  their  own  limited  capacities.  This  President  and  those  Direc 
tors  of  the  people,  if  proud  at  all,  were,  as  honestly  they  might  be, 
proud  of  a  trust  so  important,  earned  by  their  talents,  their  skill, 
diligence,  and  fidelity,  were  regarded  by  the  Executive  Directors, 
because  they  could  find  no  such  qualities  in  their  own  minds,  as 
proud  of  that  control  of  money,  which  had  given  such  an  elevation 
of  feeling,  to  their  own  light  and  unfurnished  heads. 

With  no  better  reason,  the  Executive  counsellors  have  put  it,  in 
the  mouths  of  these  Presidential  Directors,  to  denounce  this  institu 
tion  as  a  great  moneyed  monopoly.  What  is  a  monopoly  ?  Is  it 
not  some  establishment  by  law,  which  gives,  to  one  set  of  men,  a 
power  of  making  profit  by  a  business,  from  which  all  others  are 
excluded?  A  scheme  which  enables  them  to  exclude  from  their 
trade  that  competition,  which  brings  all  business  to  nearly  the  same 
level  of  profit  ?  Has  this  institution  a  monopoly  of  banking  ?  Is  it 
not  one  among  nearly  five  hundred  other  banks  ?  Do  not  all  these 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    BURGES.  337 

carry  on  the  banking  business  under  the  continual  operation  of  a 
universal  competition  ?  Can  any  one  of  these,  more  than  any  other, 
realize  a  monopoly  profit  ? 

Has  this  Bank  a  monopoly  of  banking  capital  ?  Of  private 
capital^  it  has  twenty-eight  millions  of  dollars.  All  other  banks 
have  a  capital  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  millions  of  dollars. 
Here  is  no  monopoly  of  capital. 

In  furnishing  the  currency  of  the  country,  this  institution  usually 
furnishes  about  twenty  millions  of  dollars,  while  the  various  State 
banks  supply  about  seventy  millions  of  dollars.  Here,  then,  is  no 
monopoly,  given  to  the  United  States  Bank  to  make  the  national 
currency. 

It  may  not  be  practicable  to  compare  these  banks,  in  relation  to 
their  discounts,  because  those  of  the  State  banks  are  unknown ;  but 
we  can  look  at  them  more  accurately,  in  respect  to  their  profits, 
the  great  test  of  all  monopolies.  No  matter  how  exclusvie  any 
business  may  be  in  its  operations,  if  it  have  no  power  of  making 
profits,  exclusively  great.  Should  any  State,  or  the  United  States, 
give  to  a  company  of  projectors,  with  a  capital  of  thirty-five  millions 
of  dollars,  the  exclusive  right  of  collecting,  preserving,  and  vending 
summer  heat,  with  a  view  to  profit,  who  would  complain  of  this  as 
a  monopoly  ?  No  man  in  his  senses  ;  because  no  man  in  his 
senses  would  ever  believe,  that  any  profit  could  ever  be  made,  by 
buying  and  bottling  up  sunbeams  in  July  and  August,  when  that 
commodity  was  plenty  and  cheap,  and  preserving  them  until  January 
and  February,  when  they  are  scarce,  and  of  course  very  dear.  It 
is  exclusive  profit,  and  profit  alone,  which  renders  even  a  monopoly, 
oppressive  and  odious.  What  is  the  profit  of  State  banks  ?  Not 
less  than  seven  per  cent,  in  all ;  and  in  some  it  is  not  less  than 
twelve.  No  man  pretends,  that  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  will 
realize  above  six  per  cent,  and  few  believe  that  it  will  reach  even 
that  amount  on  its  capital. 

Here,  then,  is  an  institution  of  the  people,  denounced  by  the 
Executive  as  a  money  monopoly — one  bank  among  five  hundred 
others  ;  a  bank  with  less  than  one-fourth  of  the  whole  banking 
capital,  furnishing  less  than  one-fourth  part  of  the  circulating  bank 
currency  ;  and,  after  .all,  realizing,  under  all  its  pretended  monopoly 
powers,  more  than  one  full  seventh  part  less  profits  than  all  other 
banks  realize.  To  what  a  mean  and  miserable  condition  are  those 


338  SPEECHES    OF 

wretched  echoes  of  Executive  denunciation  reduced,  when,  in  the 
face  of  all  the  facts,  and  in  defiance  of  their  own  common  sense, 
and  I  had  almost  said  honesty,  they  suffer  themselves  to  be  com- 
pel  led,  by  the  exactions  of  a  relentless  task-master,  day  after  day, 
and  hour  after  hour,  to  cry  out,  "  monopoly  !  monopoly !"  when 
he,  and  they,  and  all  men  know,  that  this  institution  is  no  more  a 
monopoly,  than  any  other  one  of  all  the  five  hundred  other  banks 
in  the  country  :  no  more  a  monopoly,  Sir,  than  ploughing  fields,  or 
sailing  ships,  or  spinning  yarn,  or  cutting  down  trees  in  the  forest. 

As  if  this  tergiversation  were  not  enough,  these  Executive  Direc 
tors  have  been  instructed  to  denounce  the  whole  stockholders  of  this 
institution,  as  a  great  aristocracy  of  wealth,  dangerous  to  the  liber 
ties  of  the  people.  Yes,  these  men,  twenty  or  thirty  thousand  of 
them,  owning  twenty-eight  millions  of  dollars,  and  the  whole  people 
owning  seven  millions  of  dollars  in  this  institution,  are  a  great 
wealthy  aristocracy.  This  mass  of  their  wealth,  like  a  great  mass 
of  manure,  is,  from  the  effluvia  of  its  influence,  dangerous  to  the 
health  of  liberty  ;  and,  therefore,  this  mass  should  be  levelled,  and 
spread  out,  to  enrich  less  fertile  parts  of  the  land.  Why,  Sir,  truly 
our  Chief  Magistrate  is  "  beginning  to  be  a  husbandman ;"  for  he  is 
the  first  to  strike  his  fork  into  this  over-abundant  pile  of  manure^ 
and  refresh  his  own  selected  and  favorite  spots,  heretofore  rather 
barren,  with  ten  or  fifteen  millions  of  it. 

Pray,  Sir,  what  is  it,  whigh  renders  the  owners  of  thirty-five  mil 
lions,  in  a  United  States  Bank  and  twenty-four  branches,  a  wealthy 
aristocracy,  dangerous  to  liberty ;  when  the  owners  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty-four  millions,  in  State  banks,  are  all  plain  democrats  ; 
and  in  no  way  perilous  to  that  high  attribute  of  the  people?  Aris 
tocracy  of  wealth  !  Dangerous  to  the  liberty  of  the  people  !  The 
cant  phrases  these,  of  this  aggregation  of  demagogues,  who,  with 
the  Executive  at  their  head,  are  laboring  to  aid  him  in  placing  his 
collar  on  the  neck  of  one  branch  of  Congress,  and  his  foot  on  the 
other ;  and  with  this  control  of  the  Legislature,  he  will  secure  to 
himself  the  treasure  of  the  nation ;  reduce  the  power  of  this  great 
moneyed  aristocracy,  and  thereby  preserve  the  liberty  of  the  peo 
ple,  from  the  deleterious  influence  of  their  own  moneyed  institutions, 
by  taking  out  of  their  hands  the  dangerous  power  of  regulating 
their  own  affairs  of  business,  in  such  a  manner  as  they  may  think 
most  conducive  to  their  own  interest. 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  339 

Sir,  let  me  say  to  you,  and  through  you  to  the  profligate  minions 
of  power,  the  drudging  slaves  of  the  palace,  and  to  the  haughty 
and  imperious  lord  of  that  palace  at  their  head,  that  this  wealth  of 
the  people,  is  their  own.  It  was  earned  by  their  toil,  preserved  by 
their  economy,  and  will  be  secured  by  their  vigilance  and  valor. 
One  of  the  eldest  curses  of  God,  is  on  him  who  removes  his  neigh- 
bor's  landmark  ;  and  next  to  him,  in  execrable  delinquency,  is  he 
who,  without  warrant  of  law,  turns  back  the  key,  or  breaks  the 
lock,  and  thrusts  his  hand  into  his  neighbor's  coffers.  Do  not  pre 
tend  to  gull  the  working-men  of  America — and  who  does  not  work 
here,  unless  it  be  he  who  is  fed  by  Executive  patronage  ? — by  tell 
ing  them  that  their  own  wealth,  managed  by  their  own  agents,  will, 
unless  it  be  preserved  by  Executive  usurpation,  subvert  and  destroy 
their  liberty. 

Sir,  these  moneyed  institutions,  with  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  at  the  head  of  them,  regulating  all  the  issues  of  Bank  notes, 
and  keeping  the  paper  currency  of  the  country  at  a  par  with  gold 
and  silver,  and  with  the  currency  of  other  countries,  were  established 
by  the  people,  in  aid  of  their  own  reserved  power,  and  right  to  work 
for  themselves,  and  for  their  own  individual  emolument.  These 
moneyed  institutions  put  in  motion,  and  render  productive,  the  whole 
labor  of  the  people,  by  land  and  by  sea. 

Do  you  hear  the  sound  of  the  axe,  see  the  forests  fall  around, 
and  the  clearing  extended  over  new  regions  ?  It  is  the  money  of 
these  institutions,  which  gave  the  first  blow.  Is  the  plough  in  motion 
on  a  thousand  fields,  and  carrying  culture  to  the  very  hill  tops  of 
your  country  ?  This  money  of  the  people,  sharpens  the  share,  and 
feeds  and  invigorates  the  team.  Do  the  sounds  of  your  spindles  and 
looms,  make  music  with  the  sound  of  your  waterfalls  ;  and  are  your 
fabrics  sent  into  all  parts  of  our  country,  and  to  foreign  nations  ? 
The  treasure,  gathered  and  laid  up  by  the  people  in  these  their 
moneyed  establishments,  was  the  great  agent,  moving  all  this  ma 
chinery.  Are  the  saw  and  the  hammer,  heard  over  the  whole 
country,  building  workshops,  warehouses,  mansions,  temples,  vil 
lages,  and  cities  ?  What  but  this  store  of  wealth,  collected  and  laid 
up,  by  the  labor  and  economy  of  the  people,  in  the  banking  estab 
lishments  of  our  country,  has  called  into  activity  the  skill  and  the 
strength  of  mechanical  labor,  and  thereby  ornamented,  as  if  by 
enchantment,  the  whole  face  of  our  country  ?  What  sea  is  left  un- 


340 


SPEECHES    OF 


vexed,  by  the  oars  or  the  keels  of  your  fisheries  or  commerce  ? 
Sir,  not  a  line  is  drawn  ;  not  a  harpoon  thrown  ;  not  an  oar  blade 
glitters  in  the  sun ;  nor  a  sail  whitens  above  the  wave,  without  that 
invigorating  current  of  vitality,  the  money  of  our  country,  which, 
feeding  and  sustaining  every  department  of  labor,  puts  it  all  into  ani 
mated  and  productive  motion  ;  and  which,  for  that  great  purpose, 
has,  in  former  years,  by  so  much  toil,  care,  and  economy,  been 
earned,  saved,  and  secured  in  your  banking  system — that  great  vital 
organ,  propelling  and  circulating  this  life-blood  of  human  industry, 
throughout  every  member  and  limb,  of  the  whole  vast  and  gigantic 
body  of  your  national  labor. 

Yes,  Sir,  you  did  see  or  hear,  by  land  or  by  sea,  the  movements 
of  the  axe,  the  saw,  the  hammer,  the  spindle,  the  loom,  the  oar,  the 
sail ;  and  all  put  into  motion,  and  productive  efficiency,  by  this 
great  system  established  by  the  people.  You  did  see  all  these,  in 
a  most  healthy,  and  active,  and  prosperous  condition,  until  the  ruth 
less  hand  of  unlicensed  power,  struck  at  the  very  heart  of  that 
athletic,  and  vigorous  system  ;  and  drew  out  that  blood  of  life,  which 
has  left  the  arm  of  labor  too  feeble  to  be  lifted  up,  and  the  whole 
body  tottering,  falling,  and  ready  to  perish. 

JSir,  in  what  nation  on  earth,  was  ever  such  a  ruthless  conflict? 
It  is  a  war  of  the  Executive,  at  the  head  of  his  army  of  office-holding 
minions  and  parasites,  against  the  people,  in  their  most  vital  and 
sacred  interests :  those  money  interests,  by  which  the  people  sustain, 
and  conduct  those  very  labors,  which  furnish  the  revenues  of  the 
nation,  and  support  the  Government.  This  revenue  was  once  small, 
two  or  three  millions  at  most.  It  has  since,  in  some  years,  arisen 
as  high  as  thirty-six  millions.  We  are  told  it  will  be,  this  year, 
thirty-two  millions. 

From  this  revenue,  drawn  from  the  labors  of  the  people,  this 
Executive  and  his  host  of  officers,  receive  their  salaries.  They  are 
literally  fed,  clothed,  and  sheltered,  by  the  labors  of  that  very  peo 
ple  whom  they  are  thus  fighting  to  destroy.  What  an  unnatural 
war  !  "  It  is  as  if  this  mouth  should  tear  this  hand  for  lifting  food 
to  it." 

The  revenue  of  the  nation  is,  I  repeat,  drawn  from  the  labors  of 
the  people.  By  the  Constitution,  the  people  have  given  to  Congress 
the  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and  excises  ;  for 
the  purpose  of  paying  the  public  debt,  providing  for  the  common  de- 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  341 

fence,  and  promoting  the  general  welfare  of  the  United  States. 
The  revenue  raised,  by  these  provisions,  has  been  levied  by  laws 
enacted  by  Congress ;  it  has,  until  last  October,  been  kept  by  laws 
enacted  by  Congress,  appropriating  that  revenue,  according  to  the 
provisions  of  the  Constitution,  to  the  great  national  purposes  for 
which  it  was  paid  into  the  public  coffers,  by  the  people.  This 
revenue,  so  paid  into  their  treasury,  by  the  people,  constitutes,  and 
is,  the  money  power  of  the  nation ;  the  great  source  of  vitality  and 
efficient  action,  in  all  parts  of  the  great  commonwealth  of  our 
country. 

Sir,  there  has  been,  during  the  last  four^or  five  years,  a  great 
effort,  a  continued  labor  and  struggle,  made  by  the  Chief  Magistrate 
of  the  United  States,  to  bring  into  his  own  control  this  money  power 
of  the  nation  ;  and  thereby  to  unite,  in  his  own  hands,  this  over 
whelming  power,  with  the  political  power,  vested  in  him  by  the 
Constitution.  Permit  me,  Sir,  in  examining  the  question  under  de 
bate,  to  consider  the  legal  and  Constitutional  provisions,  made  to 
prevent  the  union  of  these  two  powers,  in  the  hands  of  one  man ; 
the  efforts  made  by  the  Executive,  to  abolish  these  provisions  ;  the 
ultimate  political  purposes  of  these  Executive  efforts  ;  and,  last  of 
all,  the  condition  of  our  country,  if  those  political  purposes  should 
be  established.  From  these  several  points  of  view,  may  be  made 
all  the  observations  and  remarks,  needful  for  me  to  make,  on  the 
Secretary's  reasons,  on  the  Resolution  before  us,  or  on  the  amend 
ment  of  it  sent  up  to  the  Chair  by  me. 

By  the  wisdom  of  those  men  who  framed  our  Constitution,  and 
established  the  present  form  of  government,  these  two  powers  were 
separated.  For  they  well  knew,  that,  if  the  political  power,  and 
the  money  power  of  our  country,  should  ever  be  grasped,  and 
wielded,  by  one  and  the  same  man,  the  Constitution  and  the  laws, 
and  the  liberties  of  the  people,  would  be  swallowed  up  and  lost  in 
his  power ;  and,  whether  the  administration  of  that  man  might  be 
mild  and  merciful,  or,  as  it  is  now,  outrageous  and  cruel,  it  must, 
and  it  would  be  a  despotism. 

To  establish  and  secure  this  separation,  the  Constitution,  at  the 
third  section  of  the  fourth  article,  vested  in  Congress  the  money 
power,  by  the  following  words  :  "  Congress  shall  have  power  to 
dispose  of,  and  make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations, respecting 
the  territory  and  other  property  belonging  to  the  United  States." 


342  SPEECHES    OF 

These  words  comprehend  all  the  property  owned  by  the  people  of 
the  United  States,  as  a  nation,  or  community.  The  treasure,  the 
public  money,  the  money  power,  if  it  be  property,  and  if  it  belong 
to  the  United  States,  the  power  not  only  "  to  make  all  needful  rules 
and  regulations" — that  is,  to  enact  laws,  all  needful  laws,  concern 
ing  that  treasure  ;  but  also  the  power  "  to  dispose  of  it,"  is  vested 
in  Congress.  This  power,  then,  comprehends  not  only  the  legisla 
tive  power  over  this  treasure,  given  by  the  words,  "  to  make  all 
needful  rules  and  regulations ;"  but  also  somewhat  more  than  that 
legislative  power ;  and  whatever  is  intended  by  the  words,  "  to 
dispose  of"  that  treasure,  is  vested  in  Congress.  Now,  Sir,  what 
is,  in  common  or  legal  language,  meant  or  intended  by  the  words 
"  to  dispose  of,"  when  applied  to  lands  and  tenements,  goods  and 
chattels  ?  You  make,  to  your  agent,  a  deed  of  attorney,  by  which 
you  empower  him  "to  dispose  of"  all  your  property,  in  France  or 
England.  Is  he  not  your  trustee  ;  and  do  you  not  empower  him 
to  terminate,  and  take  up  all  your  relations  of  ownership,  to  any 
thing  in  which  you  may  have  property,  in  France  or  England  ? 
Will  there  be  any  thing  remaining  to  be  done,  concerning  that 
property,  which  will  render  it  necessary  for  you  to  constitute 
another  agent,  before  all  your  property,  in  those  countries,  can  be, 
for  a  suitable  consideration,  changed  from  your  ownership  to  that 
of  some  other  person ;  and  the  proceeds  brought  over,  and  paid 
over  into  your  hands  1  If  a  man  make  his  last  will  and  testament, 
and  thereby  empowers  his  executors  "  to  dispose  of"  all  his  lands 
and  other  property,  for  the  purposes  set  forth  in  that  last  will  and 
testament ;  will  any  thing  be  left  for  any  other  person  to  do,  in  this 
matter,  after  the  executors  shall  so  have  "disposed  of"  such  lands, 
and  other  property  ?  If  a  power  to  dispose  of  your  property,  in 
France  or  England,  vests  in  your  agent  the  power  to  do  all,  which 
you  could,  in  that  respect,  do  with  such  property  ;  and  a  power, 
given  to  executors,  by  the  testator,  to  dispose  of  his  lands,  and  other 
property,  vests  in  such  executors  the  power  to  do  all  with  those 
lands,  and  other  property,  which  the  testator  himself  could  have 
done,  while  in  full  life,  for  the  same  purposes ;  then,  a  power,  vested 
by  the  people  in  Congress  "  to  dispose  of"  their  treasure,  their  pub- 
lie  money,  does  vest  in  Congress  all  the  power  to  do  with  that 
treasure  whatever  the  people  themselves,  if  it  were  practicable  for 
them  to  act,  could  do  with  it,  for  the  purposes  for  which  that  power 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  343 

was  so  vested  in  Congress.     The  power  "to  dispose  of"  property, 
therefore,  means  the  power  to  do  with  it  all,  which  can,  under  all 
existing  relations  of  that  property  to  all  concerned  in  it,  be  done 
with  or  concerning  it.     This  power  "  to  dispose  of,"  to  do  all  with 
property,  when  vested  in  one  person,  does  necessarily  exclude  all 
other  persons  from  any  power  to  do  any  thing  with  or  concerning 
such  property.     If,  therefore,  Congress  have  all   the  power  "  to 
dispose  of"  the  treasure  of  the  nation,  no  other  department  of  the 
Government  can  have  any  power  "  to  dispose  of"  that  treasure.  If 
this  power  be,  as  it  most  certainly  is,  given  to  Congress,  expressly, 
by  so  many  words,  in  the  Constitution,  then  is  it  most  absurd  to  say, 
that  the  same  power,  to  dispose  of  this  treasure,  this  money  power 
of  the  people,  can,  by  any  implication  whatever,  be   given  to  the 
President.     If,   by  the  power  "to  dispose  of"  this  treasure,  be 
intended  the  power  to  do  concerning  it  all  things  whatever  which 
can  be  done  with  it,  from  the  time  when  it  goes  out  of  the  pockets 
of  the  people,  and  begins  to  be  the  treasure  of  the-nation ;  until  it 
ceases  to  be  the  public  treasure,  and*  is  disbursed,  or  paid  away  to 
all  those  persons,  either  employed  in  the  public  service,  or  entitled 
to  receive  it  as  public  creditors,  according  to  the  purposes  for  which 
it  was  first  levied  and  collected  ;  and  if,  by  the  Constitution,  this 
whole  power  be  vested  in  Congress  ;  then,  all  persons  employed  in 
the  collection,  in   the  keeping,  or  in  the  disbursing,  and  paying  out 
this  treasure,  are,    and    must  bo,    the  agents  of  Congress  ;    and 
constituted  and  appointed,  no  matter  by  whom,  to  aid  and  assist 
them  "to  dispose  of"  this  treasure;  and  are,  and  must  be,  ac 
countable  to  them,  and  to  them  alone,  for  the  diligence  and  fidelity 
wherewith   they  do  and  perform  this  service.     According  to  this 
great  principle,  and  to  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution,  that  law 
was  enacted,  by  which  the  Treasury  Department  was  established. 
For  that  purpose,  this  Department  was,  by  the  law  establishing  it, 
made  independent  of  the  Executive  branch  of  the  Government. 
This  law  was  approved  on  the  2d  day  of  September,  1789.     It  was 
the  twelfth  enactment  made   by  that  illustrious  Congress  which 
organized  and  put  into  operation,  our  present  form  of  Government. 
It  was  enacted  upon  the  highest  and  most  deliberate  consideration  ; 
and  was  one  of  the  seventy-four  laws,  the  formation  and  establish 
ment  of  which  employed  the  most  distinguished  men  of  this  nation, 
during  that  laborious  and  protracted  session  from  the  fourth  day  of 


844  SPEECHES    OF 

March,  until  the  twenty-ninth  of  September,  1789,  a  duration  of 
almost  seven  months.  "  Tanta  mohs  erat  Romanam  condere gentem." 

These  men,  many  of  them,  had  been  members  of  the  convention  ; 
and  well  knew  the  limits  and  boundaries,  fixed  by  the  Constitution, 
to  every  department  of  that  Government,  which  they  had  assisted  to 
frame,  and  were  then  setting  up,  and  putting  into  operation.  Wash 
ington  was  then  Presideut ;  and  there  was  not  a  man  in  the  United 
States,  who,  from  his  high  confidence  in  that  illustrious  father  of  his 
country,  would  not  rather  have  extended  beyond,  than  contracted 
within  the  boundaries  of  the  Constitution,  that  Executive  power, 
which  had  been  intrusted  to  his  administration.  This  law  was  ap 
proved  by  Washington,  who  had  been  president  of  the  convention  ; 
and  who  well  knew  the  limits  of  power  in  each  department  of  it, 
given  by  the  Constitution  ;  how  anxiously  the  framers  of  that  Con 
stitution  had  adjusted  these  powers,  so  as  to  form  a  great  equilib 
rium  ;  and  how  ruinous  to  the  successful  movement  of  the  whole, 
might  be  any  la*v,  which  might  destroy,  or  even  disturb,  that  great 
balance  of  those  powers.  He  approved  this  law,  by  which,  accord 
ing  to  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution,  giving  to  Congress  the 
power  "to  dispose  of"  the  public  treasure,  the  department,  where 
this  treasure  should  be  collected,  kept,  and  disbursed,  was  made 
independent  of  the  Executive  power.  Independent,  not  for  the  com 
mencement  of  the  official  existence  of  its  officers  ;  for  that  existence 
those  officers  must,  by  the  Constitution,  receive  from  the  President 
and  Senate  :  not  for  the  termination  of  that  official  existence  ;  for 
that  termination  they,  by  the  enactment  of  law,  received  from  the 
President ;  but  independent  in  all  their  accountability,  and  entirely 
independent  of  the  Executive,  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

This  law  has  had  but  one  reading.  It  has  ever  from  September 
2,  1789,  up  to  September  18,  1833,  a  duration  of  more  than  forty- 
four  years,  been  read  and  understood,  in  one  and  the  same  language, 
meaning,  and  interpretation,  during  all  that  time  ;  by  every  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  by  every  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
by  every  officer  of  the  Treasury  Department.  By  the  unanimous 
voice  of  every  public  functionary,  from  the  day  of  its  enactment,  up 
to  that  disastrous  18th  day  of  September,  this  law  has  been  pro- 
nounced  to  have  established  the  Treasury  Department,  independent 
of  the  power  of  the  President,  in  all  the  action,  and  all  the  account 
ability  of  its  officers. 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  345 

By  the  provisions  of  this  law — and  who  will  say  these  provisions 
are  unconstitutional? — the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  the  Auditors 
of  the  Treasury,  the  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury,  the  Register,  and 
the  Treasurer  himself,  all  the  officers  of  this  Department,  are  NOT 
accountable  to  the  President.  Can  this  Department  be,  in  any  of 
its  actions,  dependent  on  the  President ;  and  yet  not  one  of  its  offi 
cers  be,  in  any  one  item  of  all  his  official  life,  accountable  to  him  ? 
No  matter  who  appoints,  no  matter  who  can  remove  ;  accountability 
is  the  test  of  dependence.  This  demonstrates  whose  man,  any  man 
is ;  whose  agent,  any  agent  must  be.  He  is  the  agent,  the  depend 
ent  of  him  to  whom  he  is  accountable,  for  all  the  acts  of  his  agency. 
Take  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  the  Treasurer,  the  two 
great  officers  of  that  Department ;  the  one  the  collector,  the  other 
the  keeper  of  the  public  money  ;  and  to  whom  are  they  account 
able  ?  Why,  Sir,  every  man  who  has  read  this  law,  can,  at  once, 
tell  you.  They  are  accountable  to  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rep 
resentatives,  to  Congress  ;  "  touching  all  things  committed  to  them, 
or  which  shall  appertain  to  their  offices."  If  they  are  not  account 
able  to  the  President,  and  never  did,  nor  ever  were  called  upon,  or 
could  be  called  upon,  to  account  to  him,  who  shall  supervise  and 
direct  these  officers  ?  Who  shall  take  cognizance  of  their  doings  ? 
Who  shall  compare  those  doings  with  the  laws  under  which  they 
act,  and  thereby  determine  on  their  legality  and  correctness  ? 
Those,  most  assuredly,  to  whom  they  are  accountable  ;  not  he  who 
has  no  right  to  demand,  receive,  examine,  or  even  so  much  as  to  see 
one  item  of  all  their  accounts.  Accordingly,  Sir,  you  find  that  these 
officers,  and  others  of  that  Department,  do  account,  at  the  beginning 
of  each  session,  to  each  House  of  Congress ;  and  their  reports,  the 
histories  of  their  official  transactions,  done  in  aid  of  Congress  "  to 
dispose  of"  the  public  treasure,  are  referred  to  Committees  in  both 
those  Houses.  If  all  be  correct,  all  passes  in  silence  ;  but  should 
errors  be  detected,  would  not  those  errors  be  reported  to  each 
House  by  those  Committees?  and  could  not,  and  would  not  those 
Houses  call  those  officers  before  their  bar  to  account  for  those  er 
rors,  and  to  answer  for  any  delinquency  ? 

Now,  Sir,  what  of  all  this  was  ever  done  by  the  President? 
Who,  until  since  this  new  era  in  our  Government,  ever  pretended 
that  the  President  had,  by  the  Constitution,  power  to  do  any  one  of 


346  SPEECHES  or 

all  those  things  which  may  be,  and  some  of  which  continually  are, 
done  by  Congress,  in  respect  to  these  high  Treasury  officers  ? 

For  what  high  and  important  national  purpose  was  this  money 
power,  by  this  provision  of  the  Constitution,  vested  in  Congress  ? 
Why  does  this  law,  with  all  its  enactments,  so  anxiously  made,  se 
cure  the  Treasury  Department  from  all  dependence  on  the  Execu 
tive,  and  render  it  accountable  to  Congress  alone  ?  Sir,  all  this  was 
done  to  separate  and  to  preserve,  in  a  continual  state  of  separation, 
the  pecuniary  power  and  the  political  power  granted  by  the  Consti 
tution.  In  one  word,  to  preserve  the  liberties  of  the  people  from 
that  despotism  in  which  they  must  be  ingulfed  and  swallowed  up  by 
a  union  of  both  these  powers  in  the  hands  of  one  man.  Let  those 
men,  who,  notwithstanding  this  express  grant  of  the  money  power  to 
Congress,  do  contend,  and  have  so  often  told  us,  that  this  power  is 
given  by  the  Constitution  to  the  President ;  let  them,  with  me,  now 
examine  that  Constitution,  and  mark  the  words  in  it,  which  either 
expressly,  or  by  any  implication,  direct  or  remote,  give  that,  or  any 
thing  like  that  power  to  the  President.  I  pray  of  every  honest 
man  in  this  House — I  mean  every  man  in  this  House — not  to  regard 
this  as  a  dry  and  uninteresting  inquiry.  It  is  vital  to  our  liberty  ; 
and  as  we  shall  settle  this  question  of  Executive  power,  the  Ameri 
can  people  are  free,  and  under  the  dominion  of  laws  ;  or  slaves,  and 
controlled  by  an  absolute  despotism.  What  has  there  been,  what 
is  there  now,  or  ever  will  there  be  found,  in  the  whole  annals  of  our 
country,  so  important  to  all  the  interests  of  all  the  people  as  this 
great  question  ?  If  the  people  cannot  achieve  the  repossession  of 
this  power,  and  restore  it  to  their  representatives,  from  whom  it  has 
been  usurped  by  the  Executive,  then  farewell,  a  long  farewell  to  all 
their  greatness,  all  their  freedom,  all  their  glory. 

What,  then,  are  the  powers  of  the  President,  as  marked  out  and 
delineated  by  the  Constitution  ?  and  can  the  power  to  dispose  of  the 
national  treasure  be  found  among  those  powers  ?  You  will  find, 
Sir,  a  manifest  difference  in  the  words  used  by  the  Constitution,  in 
the  grant  of  power  to  Congress,  and  those  used  in  the  grant  made  to 
the  President.  It  is  declared  in  that  great  charter,  that,  "  ALL  leg 
islative  power  granted  by  this  Constitution  shall  be  vested  in  a  Con 
gress,  to  consist  of  a  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives."  This 
was  done,  undoubtedly,  because  all  legislative  power  could  be,  and 
ever  since  that  time  has  been,  exercised  by  that  Congress.  In  th» 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  347 

grant  of  power  to  the  President,  the  Constitution  says,  "  The  Execu 
tive  power  shall  be  vested  in  a  President.  The,  not  all  the,  Exec- 
utive  power  is,  therefore,  vested  in  him.  Why  not  all,  if  it  were 
intended  that  all  the  Executive  power  should  be  vested  in  that  mag 
istrate  alone  ?  It  is  enough  that  it  was  not  done ;  but  it  was  not 
done,  for  a  very  sufficient  reason.  The  Executive  power,  but  not 
all  the  Executive  power,  was  vested  in  a  President  alone,  because  a 
President  alone  could  not,  by  any  possibility,  do  all  the  duties  which 
such  a  grant  would  have  required  him  to  perform.  A  Congress 
might  do  all  the  legislative  service  of  the  people  ;  a  President  could 
not  do  all  their  Executive  services  ;  and,  therefore,  all  their  legis 
lative  powers  were  vested  in  Congress ;  and  for  the  same  reason, 
the,  but  not  all  the,  Executive  powers  were  vested  in  a  President. 

A  somewhat  more  intimate  examination  will  disclose  to  us  what 
Executive  powers  were  intended  to  be  vested  in  a  President,  and 
what  also  was  intended  by  "  Executive  power."  The  Constitution 
after  using  this  declaratory  phrase,  does,  to  cut  off  all  implication 
which  might  be  drawn  from  words  so  general,  go  on  to  name  and 
describe  every  power  which  it  grants  to  the  President.  Look  at 
them  all,  Sir,  and  see  if  you  can  find  the  power  "  to  dispose  of"  the 
treasure  of  the  people  among  them  all. 

First  of  all,  he,  the  President,  shall  be  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
army.  Can  he,  under  this  power,  levy  money  from  the  people  to 
pay,  clothe,  or  subsist  this  army  ?  or,  if  such  money  be  already 
collected,  can  he  appropriate,  and  disburse  it  for  those  purposes  ? 
It  is  not  pretended.  In  the  next  place, "  he  shall  be  the  Commander. 
in-Chief  of  the  navy."  Is  he,  by  this  grant  of  power,  authorized  to 
fill  the  public  coffers  from  the  pockets  of  the  people  ;  or,  if  already 
filled,  to  empty  them  for  the  purpose  of  building,  equipping,  or  sailing 
a  navy  ?  Not  in  the  least ;  nor  have  his  most  prostrate  devotees 
yet  claimed  for  him  any  such  Constitutional  power.  In  the  third 
place,  whenever  Congress  shall,  by  law,  call  out  the  militia  to 
repel  invasion,  suppress  insurrection,  or  execute  the  laws,  he,  the 
President,  shall  have  such  militia  under  his  command.  This  grant 
gives  him  no  power  to  collect  or  to  disburse  money  to  pay  that 
militia,  for  any  service  so  rendered,  no  matter  how  valuable  or 
important  to  the  country  the  same  may  have  been.  In  all  these 
cases,  it  is  admitted  on  all  hands,  that  Congress  alone  can  raise,  or 
appropriate,  or  pay  any  money  for  all  or  any  of  these  purposes. 


348 


SPEECHES    OF 


He  has,  in  the  fourth  place,  "  power  to  reprieve  or  pardon,  except 
in  cases  of  impeachment."     No  one  contends  that,  if,  by  this  power, 
he  can  release  a  pecuniary  penalty,  he  can,  by  the  same  power,  put 
his    hand    into  the  treasure   of  the  nation,  and  draw  out  thence 
money,  to  bestow  a  bounty  on  any  condemned    for  delinquency. 
In  the  fifth  place,  the  President  can,  "  by  and  with  the   advice 
and   consent   of  two-thirds    of  the    Senate,  make   treaties."      Is 
there  a  man  in  this  House,  so  devoted  to  Presidential  power,  as 
to  deny,  that  the  Executive  must  come  to  this  House  for  an  appro 
priation  to  carry  such  treaties  into  effect  ?     In  the  sixth  place,  "  he 
may  nominate,  and  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Se 
nate,  appoint  ambassadors,   other  public  ministers    and  consuls." 
Can  he  pay  them  ?     Must  they  not  come  here  for  the  graduation  of 
their  salaries,   outfits,   contingents,  and  for  appropriations  to  pay 
them  ?     Seventhly  :  "  he  may,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent 
of  the  Senate,  appoint  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  all  other 
civil  officers."     Where  is  the  man,  who  pretends  that  the  President 
can  pay  them,  or  denies  that  Congress,  and  Congress  alone,  can  fix 
the  salaries  of  these  officers,  or  raise,  appropriate,  and  disburse  the 
money  for  the  payment  of  them  ?     In  the  eighth  place,  "  he  may 
appoint  all  such  inferior  officers  as,  by  law,  Congress  authorize  him 
to  appoint ;  but   neither   by  law,  nor  by  the  Constitution,  can  he 
touch  a  cent  to  pay  them  for  those  services  ;  and  they  must  look 
to  the  holders  of  the  money  power,  to  Congress,  for  compensation." 
Ninthly :  "  he  may  fill  vacancies  happening  in  the  recess  of  the 
Senate,  by  granting  commissions  which  shall  expire  at  the  close  of 
the  next  session."     This  power  carries  with  it  no  money  power  ; 
and  these  officers,  with  all  others,  must  look  to  Congress,  into  whose 
hands  the  people  have  intrusted  their  money,  for  the  payment  of 
their  salaries.     No  mention  is  here  made  of  the  veto  power,  because 
that  is  not  among  executive  powers  ;  nor  is  it  a  power  to  do  and 
perform  any  thing,  but  simply  a   power  to  prevent  the  doing  and 
performing  of  any  thing.     The  power  also  of  the  President  to  take 
counsel  from  the  high  State  officers,  touching  his  own  course,  or  to 
have  their  opinions  concerning  their  own  official   duties,  is  here 
omitted,  because  it  is  reserved   for  separate  consideration.     In  all 
these  executive  powers  no  mention  of,  no  adhesion  to,  no  implication 
concerning,  any,  the  least  grant  of  the  power  "  to  dispose  of  the 
public  treasure  of  the  nation,"  can  in  any  form  of  words  be  found  ; 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  349 

there  is  no  pretence  to  say,  nor  has  any  person  said,  or  will  any 
one  be  found  to  say,  that  any  such  power  is  given  to  the  President, 
under  any  words  of  the  Constitution,  hitherto  examined. 

It  is  readily  seen,  that  some  of  these  powers  essentially  differ 
from  others,  and  they  may  be  divided  into  such  as  are  continual, 
and  such  as  are  occasional ;  the  occasional  have  no  efficient  exist 
ence,  but  for  the  specific  purposes  for  which  they  are  granted. 
When  that  purpose  has  been  effected,  these  powers  are  again  qui 
escent,  or  dormant,  and  can  give  no  aid  in  the  performance  of  any 
other  Executive  act.  Such  is  the  power  to  reprieve  or  pardon. 
This  power  is  occasional,  a  pro  liac  vice  power,  and  can  have  no 
efficient  existence,  but  when  a  case  for  reprieve  or  pardon  comes 
into  existence.  Of  the  same  character  is  the  treaty-making  power ; 
it  is,  for  all  other  purposes,  as  if  it  never  existed,  until  a  treaty  may  be 
required  to  be  made.  The  power  to  nominate  and  appoint  foreign 
ministers,  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  or  other  civil  officers,  is  of 
the  same  occasional  kind  ;  so  is  the  power  to  appoint  inferior  offi 
cers,  or  to  fill  vacancies  happening  in  the  recess  of  the  Senate  : 
these  powers  are  all  occasional ;  have  no  existence  when  not  called 
up  by  the  occurrence  of  the  events  on  which  they  are  to  act ;  and 
do  not,  and  cannot,  increase  the  Executive  power,  in  any  respect, 
for  any  other  purpose.  For  example,  under  the  power  to  reprieve 
and  pardon,  what  else,  what  thing,  can  the  President  do  other  than 
reprieve  and  pardon  ?  If  nobody  transgress,  if  nobody  be  con 
demned,  then  this  power,  not  having  any  occasion  to  act,  will  have 
no  active  existence  ;  and  will  be  as  if  it  never  had  been.  From  all 
these  occasional  powers,  the  President  can,  therefore,  derive  no 
general  power,  nor  does  any  one  of  them  help  any  other  of  them, 
by  any  collocation  or  extension  of  those  powers. 

Far  otherwise  is  it  with  the  other  class  of  powers — those  which 
are  continual,  and  endure  in  the  hands  of  the  President  from  the 
commencement  to  the  close  of  his  Executive  term  of  service.  These 
powers  are  three  ;  first,  the  power  to  command  the  army  ;  second, 
the  power  to  command  the  navy  ;  and  third,  the  power  to  command 
the  militia,  when  called  into  active  service,  for  any  of  those  pur 
poses  for  which  Congress  is  constitutionally  empowered  so  to  call 
out  that  militia.  These  are  the  enduring  constitutional  powers  of 
the  President ;  and  do,  in  truth,  make  him  what  he  is,  the  Chief 

Magistrate,  the   Executive.     They  constitute  the  potentia  reipubli* 

T* 


350  SPEECHES    OF 

ca  ;  the  posse  communitatis ;  the  power  of  the  sword  ;  "  the  Exec 
utive  power,"  the  potentiality  of  the  nation,  by  which  the  President 
is  made  what,  wanting  this,  he  could  not  be — the  Executive.  He 
may  not  have  any  of  all  the  other  powers  vested  in  him  by  the 
Constitution  ;  and  still,  if  he  have  the  power  of  the  sword,  he  will 
be  the  Executive  ;  but  without  this  power  of  the  sword,  if  he  have 
all  the  other  powers,  he  is  not  the  Executive,  because  he  has  not 
that  power  which,  by  the  Constitution,  is  called,  and,  in  the  nature 
of  things,  is,  "the  Executive  power." 

The  Executive  power,  the  power  of  the  sword,  is  all  the  power 
continually  abiding  with  the  President,  to  enable  him  to  discharge 
any  duties,  other  than  those  discharged  by  him,  under  the  specific 
powers  already  enumerated.  Has  he  any  other  services  to  per 
form  ?  He  has.  Let  us  see  what  they  are.  He  shall,  from  time 
to  time,  give  to  the  Congress  information  of  the  state  of  the  Union  ; 
and  recommend  to  their  consideration,  such  measures  as  he  shall 
judge  necessary  and  expedient.  This  duty,  like  many  of  his 
powers,  is  occasional ;  not  of  every  day  obligation  and  perform- 
ance  ;  but  is,  by  custom  in  ordinary  times,  confined  to  the  opening 
of  each  session  of  Congress.  When  done,  it  is  done  and  finished  for 
the  political  year.  By  a  second  duty,  he  may,  on  extraordinary 
occasions,  convene  one  or  both  Houses  of  Congress.  He  will  then, 
under  the  special  obligations  of  his  high  duties,  communicate  to  Con 
gress,  or  to  either  House,  as  the  case  may  be,  the  extraordinary 
occasion  which  has  induced  this  call.  If  the  two  Houses,  called 
together  on  such  extraordinary  occasions,  disagree  as  to  the  time  to 
which  they  shall  adjourn,  for  the  purpose  of  finishing  this  extraor 
dinary  business  ;  the  President  may,  on  such  disagreement,  at  such 
extraordinary  session,  adjourn  them  to  such  time  as  he  shall  think 
proper.  This  duty  is  not  of  ordinary  or  every  day  occurrence  ; 
but  is,  in  every  part  of  it,  confined  to  such  extraordinary  occasions, 
as  may  require  an  extraordinay  call  of  Congress.  When  once 
done,  it  is  done  for  years.  It  is  long  since,  and  I  pray  God  it  may 
be  a  long  time  yet  to  come,  before  the  condition  of  our  country  shall 
encounter  any  such  extraordinary  course  of  events,  as  may  require 
extraordinary  sessions  of  Congress,  or  either  House  of  Congress  ; 
and,  by  any  possibility,  call  the  Executive  to  the  painful  duty  of 
adjourning  either  of  those  Houses,  to  a  time  disagreeable  to  their 
wishes. 


TRISTAM    B  URGES.  351 

In  the  third  place,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  President  to  receive 
or  accredit  ambassadors,  and  other  public  ministers.  This  too  is 
an  occasional  duty,  to  be  performed  when,  and  only  when,  such 
foreign  ministers  may,  by  foreign  Powers,  be  sent  to  this  Gov 
ernment.  It  calls  for  the  exercise  of  no  continual  diligence  or 
power.  In  the  fourth  place,  the  President  shall  commission  all  the 
officers  of  the  United  States.  This  is  no  continuous,  but  an  occa 
sional  duty  ;  and  requires  the  exercise  of  none  but  occasional  pow 
ers  and  diligence.  One  duty  more  makes  up  the  whole  Presidential 
catalogue  of  duties.  He  shall  "  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully 
executed."  This  is  not,  in  its  nature,  occasional,  but  it  may  prac 
tically  become  so.  It  is  a  duty,  in  its  character  of  continuousness, 
and  requirements  of  service,  exactly  corresponding  with  the  contin 
ual  powers  of  the  President.  All  his  powers  except  that  of  the 
sword  ;  his  power  to  command  the  army,  the  navy,  the  militia,  are 
occasional ;  and  all  his  duties,  except  it  be  to  take  care  that  the 
laws  be  faithfully  executed,  are  also  occasional.  His  duty  requir 
ing  him  to  give  information,  or  recommend  measures  to  Congress  ; 
to  call  extra  sessions,  or  to  adjourn  them  ;  to  receive  foreign  minis 
ters,  or  to  commission  United  States'  officers ;  call  on  him,  when 
these  occasions  call  on  him,  for  the  performance  of  those  duties  ; 
but  at  no  other  times,  and  by  no  other  occurrences.  In  like  manner, 
his  reprieving  and  pardoning  power,  his  treaty-making  power,  his 
nominating  and  appointing  power,  can  be  called  into  efficient  exist 
ence,  by  no  events,  but  those  occasional  events,  on  which  alone 
they  can  be  exercised  and  exhausted.  These  occasional  powers, 
like  his  occasional  duties,  give  him  no  power  to  do  any  other  acts  ; 
as  they  place  no  obligation  upon  him  to  perform  any  other  duties. 
His  occasional  duties,  and  occasional  powers,  have  no  necessary 
connexion  with  his  continual  duty  and  continual  powers  ;  nor  can 
his  occasional  powers  aid  him  in  the  discharge  of  his  continual  duty, 
any  more  than  his  occasional  duties  could  be  performed  by  his  con 
tinual  powers.  His  continual  powers  are  those  of  Commander-in- 
Chief ;  and  his  continual  duty  is  "  to  take  care  that  the  laws  be 
faithfully  executed."  All  his  other  duties  and  powers  are  occa 
sional.  These  powers,  and  this  duty,  are  of  every  day  and  con 
tinual  existence,  in  potentiality  and  obligation. 

If  it  be  inquired  how  shall  this  duty  be  performed,  there  can  be 
but  one  answer.  The  obligation  of  every  human  duty,  is  measured 


352 


SPEECHES    OF 


by  the  powers,  conferred  on  man  to  perform  that  duty.  When  men 
measure  out  duties  to  one  of  their  fellow-men  ;  and  confer  powers 
on  him,  to  perform  those  duties  ;  they  do  expect,  and  they  can  ex 
pect  of  him  that  performance,  and  that  only,  which  he  may  do  by 
tlte  exercise  of  the  powers,  which  they  have  conferred  on  him,  for 
that  purpose.  Every  power,  other  than  that  of  Commander-in- 
Chief,  was  conferred  on  him,  and  must  be  exercised  by  him,  for 
other  purposes  than  thereby  "  to  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faith 
fully  executed."  For  the  discharge  of  this  duty,  this  care,  he  has, 
therefore,  no  other  power  than  this  high  potency  of  the  republic,  the 
Executive  power,  the  office  of  Commander-in-Chief,  of  the  whole 
united  force  of  the  nation.  By  the  exercise  of  this  power,  he  is  to 
discharge  this  duty.  Does  this  high  power  give  him  any  Constitu 
tional  control  of  the  national  money  ?  Has  it  not  been  demon 
strated,  by  this  analysis  of  Presidential  power,  that,  though  he  can 
command,  yet  he  cannot  pay,  clothe,  or  subsist  either  the  army, 
navy,  or  militia,  under  his  command  ?  Nay,  Sir,  this  commanding 
power  is  wisely  limited,  by  the  Constitution  ;  for  Congress  alone 
can  raise  and  support  armies ;  provide  and  maintain  a  navy  ;  call 
forth  the  militia  ;  or  make  rules  for  the  Government  of  the  land 
and  naval  forces  ;  and  appropriate  money  for  their  pay,  support, 
and  maintenance.  The  power  of  the  President  is  the  command  of 
the  army,  the  navy,  the  militia  ,*-  but  the  laws,  regulating  those 
forces,  and  appropriating  or  disbursing  money  for  their  pay,  clothing 
and  subsistence,  can  be  enacted  by  no  other  power  than  Congress. 

Does  it  appear,  by  any  express  grant,  or  by  any  implication  of 
theaConstitution  hitherto  examined,  that  the  money  power  of  the 
nation  is,  together  with  his  high  powers,  given  to  this  Captain -Gen 
eral  of  the  United  States  ?  No  one  will  pretend  that  any  of  his 
occasional  powers  has  any  connexion  with  this  money  power  ;  and, 
if  conferred,  by  conferring  the  power  of  the  sword,  it  must  be 
because  "  laws  are  silent  among  arms  ;"  and  he  who  has  the  mili 
tary  power  can  compel  from  all  other  powers,  a  submission  to  his 
will.  This,  indeed,  is  the  new  theory  ;  under  this  the  Executive  is 
now  administering  the  finances  of  the  nation — a  theory,  not  of  the 
Constitution,  but  of  no  Constitution :  for  where  force  begins, 
there  laws  and  the  Constitution  end.  Having  followed  the  Presi 
dential  powers  up  to  this  boundary,  and  found  among  them  no  Con 
stitutional  control  of  the  public  money,  I  will  follow  him  and  his 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  11  G  E  S.  353 

powers  no  farther  in  tliis  direction  ;  for  who  can  tell  what  powers  he 
may  now  have  over  the  national  treasure,  or  over  the  national  lib 
erty,  when  he  has  advanced  into  that  region  of  utter  and  unconsti 
tutional  despotism,  where  the  great  landmarks  of  law  and  justice 
and  national  good  faith,  are  not  only  disregarded,  but  entirely 
unknown  ? 

Notwithstanding  this,  we  are  told  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  and  his  advocacy  in  this  House  and  elsewhere,  that  the 
whole  power  over  the  public  money,  to  be  deposited  in  the  United 
States  Bank  and  its  branches,  is,  by  the  charter  given  to  him,  and 
through  him  to  the  President,  the  great  Executive  head  of  the 
nation.  Can  this  be  so  1  If  the  Constitution  do  not  give  to  the 
President  the  money  power,  can  Congress  bestow  this  power  upon 
him?  Can  Congress  amend  the  Constitution,  and  without  any 
sanction,  or  even  the  knowledge  of  the  people,  make  a  new'  distri 
bution  of  power  ?  If  this  money  power  be  given,  as  it  is  expressly 
given  to  Congress,  not  only  to  legislate  concerning,  but  also  "  to 
dispose  of  it,"  can  Congress  transfer  to  the  President  either  the 
power  to  legislate  upon,  or  "  to  dispose  of,"  this  treasure  of  the 
people  ?  Not  a  man  in  this  nation  holds  to  any  such  doctrine. 
Congress,  if  it  could  do  this,  might  also  transfer  any  other  of  its 
Constitutional  powers  to  the  President.  The  day  might  come,  under 
the  growth  and  progress  of  political  subserviency,  when  a  Congress 
of  Tories,  devoted  to  the  claims  of  the  Executive,  might  "confer  on 
him  the  taxing  power,  the  army-raising  power,  the  war-making 
power,  the  appropriating  power ;  and  nothing  would  be  left  to 
do  but  to  create  offices  and  salaries,  and  to  appoint  these  devo 
tees  of  Executive  power  to  fill  these  offices,  and  the  nation  would 
be,  as  France  was  under  Napoleon,  furnished  with  a  constitu 
tional  despotism.  However  anxious  the  Tories  of  our  times  may 
be  to  exercise  this  power,  they  must  now  wait  until  the  people  shall 
have  bestowed  it  upon  them,  before  they  enact  any  law  vesting  any 
power  in  the  Executive  department  of  the  Government,  not  vested 
there  by  the  Constitution.  This  Bank  charter,  therefore,  if  it  grant 
the  money  power  to  the  Executive,  is,  so  far  as  it  makes  that  grant, 
utterly  nugatory  and  void. 

The  Secretary  and  his  advocates  have  labored,  by  another  impli 
cation,  to  place  this  power  in  the  hands  of  the  Executive.  He  and 
they  tell  us  that  this  Secretary's  duties,  in  this  behalf,  are  altogether 


354  SPEECHES    OF 

executive,  and  consist  in  executing  certain  laws ;  but  the  President 
is  at  the  head  of  the  Executive,  and  is  by  his  duty  required  "  to 
take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed."  He  cannot,  as 
they  inform  us,  do  this,  unless  he  supervise  and  direct  those  men, 
who,  as  so  many  instruments  in  his  hands,  execute  those  laws. 
This  is  the  definition  given  of  this  Presidential  duty — the  duty  to 
take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed  :  he  must,  to  discharge 
this  duty,  supervise  and  direct  those  men  who  execute  those  laws. 

The  friends  of  the  President  do  not  seem  to  be  aware  of  the 
prodigious  task,  which,  by  this  definition  of  his  duty,  they  have 
placed  upon  him.  It  is  his  duty,  say  they,  and  he  has  taken  an 
oath  to  perform  it ;  it  is  his  duty  "  to  supervise  and  direct,"  the 
officers  engaged  in  the  execution  of  the  laws.  If  he  can  supervise 
and  direct  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  the  discharge  of  his 
fiscal  'duties,  his  control  of  the  public  money,  he  can  have  that 
money  disposed  of  as  he  may  choose ;  and,  therefore,  he,  by  this 
interpretation  of  his  own  duty,  gets  the  control  of  that  money  power 
— that  power  "  to  dispose  of"  the  national  treasure,  which  the 
Constitution  expressly  vested  in  Congress.  Let  us  examine  this 
theory. 

The  Presidential  duties  are  to  be  discharged  by  the  Presidential 
powers,  and  both  of  these  powers  are  established  by  the  Constitu 
tion.  It  has  been  demonstrated  that  all  the  powers  of  the  President, 
except  that  of  Commauder-in-Chief  of  the  army,  navy,  and  militia, 
in  actual  service,  are  occasional,  and  were  given  and  can  be  exer 
cised  for  no  other  purposes  than  those  occasional  purposes.  His 
Constitutional  duty  '*  to  tako  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  exe 
cuted,"  as  it  can  be  executed  by  none  but  his  Constitutional  powers, 
must  be,  and  can  be,  executed  by  none  but  his  Constitutional  powTer 
of  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  army,  navy,  and  militia  in  actual 
service.  He  has  no  other  powers  but  his  occasional  powers,  which 
come  into  existence  and  expire  with  the  occasions  for  which  that 
existence  was  given  to  them.  If  you  measure  the  discharge  of  this 
duty  by  the  power  given  to  the  Executive  to  discharge  it — and  by 
what  else  can  you  measure  its  extent  ? — then  must  the  President 
"  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed,"  by  the  exercise 
of  his  powers  of  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  army,  or  the  navy,  or 
the  militia — one  or  all  of  them.  He  has  no  other  continuous,  every 
day,  and  all  the  time  enduring  power.  What,  then,  is  the  fair  Con- 


TRISTAM    B  URGES. 


355 


stitutional  meaning  of  this  duty  of  the  President,  "  to  take  care  that 
the  laws  be  faithfully  executed."  A  power  auxiliary  to  this  was 
given  to  Congress,  and  the  rehearsal  of  that  power  will  at  once 
suggest  the  nature  and  extent  of  this  duty.  "  Congress  shall  have 
power  to  call  out  the  militia  to  repel  invasion,  suppress  insurrection, 
and  execute  the  laws."  When  this  militia  shall  have  been  called 
out,  the  President  is  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  that  national  force, 
called  out  to  execute  the  laws  ;  and  the  President,  as  their  Com 
mander-in-Chief,  and  in  the  exercise  of  his  Constitutional  powers, 
shall "  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed."  Here  his  duty 
and  his  power  stand  and  move  together,  and  the  possession  of  the 
one  enables  him  to  discharge  and  perform  the  other.  What,  then, 
is  it  for  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  militia  called  into  actual 
service,  and,  if  need  be,  the  army  and  navy,  to  take  care  that  the 
laws  be  faithfully  executed  ?  Is  it  not  to  take  care  that  no  obstacle, 
either  by  invasion  of  the  country  from  abroad,  or  from  insurrection 
made  in  any  part  of  it  at  home,  may  be  efficiently  placed,  or  suf 
fered  to  remain,  in  the  way  of  that  faithful  execution  of  those  laws  ? 
Here  THE  EXECUTIVE  POWER — the  power  of  the  sword — the  power 
of  Commander-in-Chief,  the  only  continuous  power  of  the  President, 
may  be  exercised  ;  and,  by  that  exercise,  the  great  Executive  duty 
of  taking  care  that  the  laws  may  be  faithfully  executed,  is  fully  and 
efficiently  done  and  performed. 

The  arrangement  of  the  Departments  is  made  so  as  to  confirm 
this  exposition  of  this  Executive  duty.  The  Secretary  of  War  is 
denominated  the  principal  officer  of  that  Department,  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  lieutenant  is  denominated  the  chief  or  principal  officer 
of  the  ship.  So  is  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  denominated  the 
principal  officer  of  that  Department  for  the  same  reason  ;  and  both 
are  so  denominated  because  the  President,  as  Commander-in-Chief 
of  the  army  and  the  navy,  is  the  head  of  those  two  Departments. 
These  Departments  receive  orders  and  directions  from  the  President 
and  make  their  reports  annually,  or  oftener,  to  him. 

The  Department  of  State,  by  the  theory  of  the  Government, 
belongs  to  the  President  and  Senate,  because  they  have  power  of 
regulating  our  foreign  relations  by  treaties,  and  by  the  appointment 
of  ambassadors,  and  other  public  ministers  ;  but  as  the  President 
accredits  all  foreign  ministers,  and  is  always  at  the  seat  of  Govern, 
ment,  and  in  the  exercise  of  his  office,  but  they  are  not  either  there, 


350 


SPEECHES    OF 


or  in  the  exercise  of  their  office,  at  all  times,  the  Department  of 
State  has  practically  been  committed  to  the  President.  For  this 
reason,  he  gives  orders  and  directions  to  the  Secretary  of  that  De 
partment,  who  is,  by  law,  the  principal  officer  of  it  under  him  ;  and 
accordingly,  this  Department  is  denominated  an  Executive  Depart 
ment  ;  and  the  Secretary  does  annually,  or  oftener,  make  his  reports 
to  the  President. 

This  theory  of  Executive  duty,  and  Executive  power,  is  in  perfect 
accordance  with  the  law  establishing  the  Treasury  Department :  for 
while  the  three  Departments  of  War,  of  the  Navy,  and  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  are  denominated  Executive  Departments,  and  the  Secretary 
of  each  is  called  the  principal  officer  of  it,  indicating,  as  is  the  fact, 
that  some  superior  dignitary  is  at  the  head  of  them  all,  and  the 
President  is  that  dignitary,  that  head  ;  the  Treasury  is  not  denom 
inated  an  Executive  Department,  nor  is  the  Secretary  denominated 
the  principal  officer  of  it ;  but  it  is  denominated  "  the  Treasury 
Department ;"  and  the  Secretary,  so  says  the  law,  "  shall  be  deemed 
the  head  of  that  Department." 

Whence  these  distinctions  ?  They  have  grown  out  of  the  seve 
ral  powers,  vested  in  the  several  branches  of  the  Government,  by 
the  Constitution.  The  Departments  of  State,  War,  and  Navy,  are 
immediately  connected  with  the  powers,  either  continuous  or  occa. 
sional,  of  the  President.  The  State  Department  contains  the  ar 
chives  of  the  treaty-making  and  ambassador-appointing  and  receiv 
ing  power  ;  the  foreign  relations  of  our  nation  committed  to  the  care 
of  the  President  and  Senate.  The  War  Department,  in  like  man 
ner,  is  the  depository  of  the  archives  of  the  army,  over  which  the 
President  is .  the  Commander-in -Chief.  The  Navy  Department 
holds  a  like  relation  to  that  arm  of  your  national  defence,  and  is,  in 
like  manner,  under  the  command  of  the  President.  These  Depart 
ments  are  Executive  Departments,  not  because  they  are  so  denom 
inated  by  the  laws  establishing  them,  but  because  these  Departments^ 
and  the  officers  employed  in  them,  are  employed  in  such  services 
as  immediately  relate  to,  and  aid  in,  the  exercise  of  those  Executive 
powers  vested  in  the  President ;  his  occasional  power  to  mako 
treaties,  receive  or  appoint  public  ministers,  or  his  powers  as  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  of  the  land  and  naval  forces  of  the  nation. 

On  the  contrary,  the  Treasury  Department  is  not  an  Executive 
Department,  for  a  much  better  reason  than  because  the  law  has  not 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  357 

denominated  it  by  such  a  name  ;  it  is  because  not  one  of  the  duties, 
to  be  performed  in  it,  has  any  connexion  with  any  one  of  all  the 
Executive  powers;  either  continuous  or  occasional,  vested  in  the 
President  by  the  Constitution  ;  nor  does  one  of  the  officers,  in  that 
Department,  perform  any  service  connected  with  any  one  of  those 
Executive  powers,  or  in  any  way  aiding  or  assisting  him  in  the 
Constitutional  exercise  of  them.  Its  whole  duties  relate  to  powers 
exclusively  vested  in  Congress  ;  the  power  to  legislate  concerning 
the  public  treasure ;  and  to  dispose  of  that  treasure ;  and  all  its 
officers,  no  matter  by  whom  appointed,  or  by  whom  removable,  are 
accountable,  not  as  those  of  the  State,  War,  and  Navy  Departments 
are,  to  the  President,  but  to  Congress  alone. 

In  what  manner,  then,  can  the  President  bring  his  Executive 
powers,  his  power  of  the  sword,  his  high  office  of  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  land  and  naval  force  of  the  United  States,  so  to  bear  on 
the  Treasury  Department,  that  he  may,  by  any  supervision  and 
direction  of  the  officers  of  it,  be  enabled  "  to  take  care  that  the  laws 
be  faithfully  executed"  by  those  officers  ?  If  he  cannot  do  this  by 
these  powers,  can  he  do  it  by  his  reprieving  power,  by  his  treaty- 
making  power,  or  by  his  nominating  and  appointing  powers  ?  If 
he  cannot  supervise  and  direct  these  officers,  by  the  exercise  of  any 
or  all  these  powers,  then  by  what  principle  can  he  be  called  upon  to 
do  this  duty,  if  the  Constitution  have  conferred  on  him  no  other 
power  to  perform  it  ?  For  let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  the  amount 
of  power  bestowed  does  always  fix  the  limits  to  all  duties  required 
by  such  bestowment.  If  you  contract  with  your  friend  to  carry  to 
Philadelphia,  and  pay  in  that  city,  ten  thousand  dollars  to  your  cor 
respondent  ;  but  if  you  furnish  him  with  'no  more  than  five  to  carry, 
can  you  make  any  honest,  common  sense  men  believe  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  your  friend  to  pay  the  other  five  thousand  for  you,  out  of 
his  own  pocket  1  If  you  cannot  succeed  in  making  men  believe 
this,  I  verily  think  you  will  not  bring  the  people  to  believe  that,  by 
making  the  President  Commander-in-Chief  of  their  land  and  naval 
forces,  they  expected  from  him  any  other  care  of  their  money  than 
what  he  might  bestow  upon  it,  by  commanding  that  force,  so  a"s  to 
repel  invasions,  if  such  should  be  made  ;  suppress  insurrection, 
whenever  it  arise  ;  and  "  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  exe 
cuted,"  if  they  should,  at  any  time,  be  resisted. 


358 


SPEECHES    0V 


Sir,  tliis  people  will  not  forget  that  they  have,  by  the  Constitution, 
bestowed  on  Congress  the  power  to  make  all  needfol  laws,  concern 
ing  this  money,  together  with  the  further  power  "  to  dispose  of" 
this  their  treasure  ;  to  do  with  it,  all  which  could  be  done,  by  collect 
ing,  keeping,  appropriating,  and  paying  it  away,  for  all  those  great 
purposes,  for  which,  it  was  intrusted  to  their  care  and  fidelity. 
This  power  bestowed,  originates  a  corresponding  duty,,  in  Congress, 
to  discharge  the  trust ;  and  as  the  power  is  exclusive,  so  also  is  the 
duty.  No  other  branch  of  the  Government  has  this  power  ;  and, 
therefore,  no  other  branch  can  be  liable  to  perform,  or  can  perform 
this  duty,  or  in  any  way  whatever,  constitutionally,  make  any  dis 
position  of  this  national  treasure.  Still  we  have  been  told,  that  the 
Executive  duty  of  the  President,  calls  him  "  to  take  care  that  the 
la*ws  be  faithfully  executed  ;  and  that  to  do  this  he  must  supervise 
and  direct  those  officers,  those  persons,  who  are  employed  in  the 
execution  of  the  laws."  Let  us  examine  this  duty,  under  this  polit 
ical  glossary  on  its  meaning.  If  it  be  the  duty  of  the  President,  to 
supervise  and  direct  one,  it  is  equally  his  duty  to  supervise  and 
direct  all.  Where  else  will  you  begin,  where  will  you  stop,  if  less 
than  all  are  to  be  supervised  and  directed  ?  Men  are  to  be  super 
vised  and  directed,  because  they  are  employed  in  executing  the 
laws  ;  and,  therefore,  all,  who  are  so  employed,  are  so  to  be  super 
vised  and  directed.  Are  gentlemen,  who  put  this  gloss  on  the 
Presidential  duty,  aware  of  the  task,  which  they  lay  upon  this  dis 
tinguished  individual,  now  somewhat  old,  and,  it  may  be,  weary  with 
service  ?  A  very  short  analysis  of  official  employments  will  show 
the  extent  of  this  new  Executive  duty. 

The  Treasury  Department  alone,  the  object  of  all  this  ambition 
of  labor,  will  require  much  supervision  and  direction.  It  is  divided 
into  two  great  sections :  one  relates  to  the  revenue,  derived  from 
the  lands ;  the  other,  to  that  drawn  from  the  customs.  These  are 
here,  at  the  seat  of  power,  separated  into  several  divisions  ;  and  we 
find  a  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Auditors,  Comptrollers,  a  Regis 
ter,  a  Solicitor,  a  Commissioner  of  the  Land  Office,  and  Treasurer. 
Not  only  is  the  Secretary  to  be  supervised  and  directed  ;  but  each 
of  the  principal  officers  requires  the  performance  of  the  same  duty. 
This  is  not  all.  In  each  of  these  divisions  are,  on  an  average,  per 
haps,  ten  clerks.  These  are  employed  in  nothing  else  but  execu 
ting  the  laws  ;  and  must,  each  of  them,  be  supervised  and  directed. 


T  R  I  8  T  A  M    B  U  R  Q  E  S.  359 

Your  land  offices  are  several  hundred,  not  located  here,  but  scat- 
tered  throughout  all  the  new  States,  and  Territories,  over  a  distance 
of  several  thousand  miles.  All  these  have  officers,  if  not  clerks, 
assistants  and  surveyors  ;  all  are,  or  should  be,  executing  the  laws  ; 
and  all  must,  under  this  new  theory,  be  supervised  and  directed. 
Your  custom-houses  are  in  number  four  or  five  hundred  ;  scattered 
along  the  maritime  frontiers,  and  now  up  your  rivers,  and  on  the 
lakes  -;  each  of  these  has  a  collector,  a  deputy,  a  naval  officer,  a 
surveyor,  guagers,  measurers,  and  I  know  not  how  many  inspec 
tors.  The  names  of  these  officers  in  the  port  of  New-York  alone 
covers,  I  think,  six  or  eight  pages  in  the  biennial  of  the  public  ser 
vice.  All  these  are,  or  ought  to  be,  employed  in  executing  the 
laws  ;  and  all  of  them  are,'  if  any  men  so  employed  are,  to  be 
supervised  and  directed,  and  continually,  by  this  all-seeing  and  all- 
directing  Executive  ! 

All  these  are  but  a  small  part  of  Presidential  duty.  The  War 
Department  has  its  various  bureaus  and  divisions ;  with  a  Commis 
sioner  of  Pensions,  a  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  and  Indian 
Agencies,  wherever  so  many  of  that  oppressed  people  can  be  found, 
as  to  make  their  plunder  such  an  addition  to  the  salary  as  may 
•excite  official  cupidity.  These,  scattered  up  and  down  the  wilder 
ness,  in  the  new  settlements,  and  wide  territories,  are  said  to  be 
employed  in  executing  the  laws  ;  and  so  may  require  the  supervis 
ing  eye  and  directing  voice  of  Executive  duty.  In  addition  to  a 
Secretary  of  this  Department,  Commissioners  and  heads  of  bureaus, 
and  clerks,  all  to  be  supervised,  and  directed,  wherever  a  division  of 
your  army  is  stationed,  from  Nova  Scotia  to  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
from  the  ocean  to  the  lakes,  either  in  fortresses,  in  barracks,  in 
cantonments,  or  in  tents,  there  every  officer,  and  soldier,  drummer, 
and  fifer,  is  on  duty,  is  executing  the  laws  ;  and  under  this  new 
system  of  discipline,  none  of  all  these  should  be  without  the  super 
vision  and  direction  of  the  commander-in-chief.  All  these  are  but 
parts  of  the  great  field  of  Presidential  supervision.  The  foreign 
relations  of  our  country  are  conducted  by  your  Secretary  of  State, 
and  all  his  clerks  here,  and  your  public  ministers  in  various  courts 
of  other  nations  in  South  America  and  Europe,  together  with  your 
consuls  in  every  commercial  nation  throughout  the  world.  Each 
one  of  all  these  calls  for  the  supervising  and  directing  care  of  your 
great  man  of  all  business :  not  only  to  this  Secretary  and  his  clerks. 


360  SPEECHES    OF 

at  home ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  demands  his  attention,  and  over 
looking  direction  of  all  those  ministers,  and  consuls,  in  foreign 
courts,  and  among  all  nations. 

At  the  same  time,  your  Post  Office  establishment  should  not  be 
passed  by  in  the  daily  and  hourly  overlooking  and  directing  labor 
and  travail  of  the  Executive.  If  any  men,  in  the  whole  array  of 
public  officers,  demand  a  care  "  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed 
by  them,"  such  men  may,  probably,  be  found  in  this  extensive 
establishment.  The  office  here  is  divided  into  bureaus  for  appoint 
ment,  bureaus  for  dismissal,  bureaus  for  contracts,  and  now  a  new 
bureau  is  established  for  borrowing.  These  all  have  their  chiefs, 
their  clerks,  their  messengers ;  and,  if  all  are  employed  in  execu 
ting  the  laws,  then  must  the  supervision  and  direction  of  the  Presi 
dent  be  there  ;  and  to  what  part  of  the  service  can  it  be  more  impe 
ratively  called  ?  How  can  this  duty  be  discharged  here  in  this 
city,  when  more  than  ten  thousand  post  offices  are  elsewhere 
established  in  your  cities,  towns,  villages,  neighborhoods,  and  road 
sides,  wherever  there  are  men  enough  to  find  among  them  a  faith 
ful  deputy  of  the  distinguished  chief  of  this  gigantic  establishment  ? 
In  all  these  offices,  men,  with  their  sub-deputies,  clerks,  messengers, 
and  political  runners,  are,  as  it  is  said,  employed  in  executing  the 
laws.  All  these  must  be  daily  seen  by  that  Presidential  eye,  which 
not  only  sees,  but  oversees  all  men  so  employed.  To  these  must 
be  added  all  contractors,  all  carriers  by  water,  whether  in  row- 
boats,  sail-boats,  steam-boats  ;  or,  by  land,  on  horses,  in  sulkies,  in 
wagons,  in  carriages,  of  two  or  four  horses,  in  all  their  lines  and 
routes,  moving,  as  we  are  told,  ten  thousand  miles  per  diem  faster 
than  they  moved  in  the  old  slow  and  sure  way  of  the  last  preceding 
Postmaster  General.  The  whole  annual  travel,  knotted  together, 
and  stretched  out,  in  one  line,  is,  we  are  told,  twenty-seven  millions 
of  miles  ;  a  thread  of  movement  winding  more  than  one  thousand 
times  round  this  terrestrial  ball  in  one  year.  No  matter  how 
rapidly,  or  which  way,  or  what  and  how  many  routes,  the  univer 
sal  eye  of  the  Presidential  oversight  must  keep  pace  with  and  be 
hourly  upon  them,  not  only  at  all  their  stations,  but  in  all  their 
movements,  if  he  take  care,  in  manner  as  his  partisans  tell  us  he 
has  sworn  "  to  take  care,  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed." 

Once  more  :  there  is  one  other  call  on  this  supervising  and  direct 
ing  energy  of  the  Executive.     You  have  a  Navy  Department — a 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  361 

branch  of  the  public  service  in  high  favor  with  the  people  ;  und 
although,  from  the  talents,  skill,  and  valor  of  our  naval  marine,  as 
well  as  the  diligence,  ability,  and  faithfulness  of  the  commissioners, 
and  the  great  industry  and  satisfactory  services  of  the  Secretary  of 
that  distinguished  department  of  the  national  defence,  there  may  be 
a  less  imperative  call  here  for  the  unwinking  eye  and  untiring  labor 
of  Presidential  supervision,  yet  must  he  see  all,  look  over  all,  direct 
all,  if,  according  to  the  new  exposition  of  his  duty,  he  "  take  care 
that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed"  by  all.  .This  Department 
has  two  branches  here  in  this  city,  with  a  Secretary  of  one,  and 
commissioners  of  the  other,  and  with  clerks  and  messengers  of  both. 
The  President  must  be  with  each  and  all  of  these.  You  have  men 
employed  in  collecting  materials  for  your  ships  ;  others  are  repair 
ing  ;  others  are  building ;  others  are  fitting  out ;  and  others  are 
sailing  the  various  ships  of  your  navy,  wherever  their  orders  may 
direct  their  course.  You  have  ships,  as  it  may  be  the  case,  in  the 
Baltic,  in  the  Mediterranean,  down  in  the  Levant,  on  the  Grecian 
Archipelago,  in  the  stormy  Euxine,  or  on  the  far-off  Indian  Ocean, 
or  on  the  deep  Atlantic,  and  in  the  wide  Pacific.  All  these  are 
employed  in  executing  the  American  laws,  in  bearing  the  thunder 
of  the  American  arms,  and  displaying  the  bright  zones,  the  spark 
ling  galaxy  of  the  American  Union,  over  every  sea  and  every 
ocean,  in  view  of  all  the  nations  of  the  world.  He  who,  as  his  devo 
tees  announce,  has  sworn  "  to  take  care  that  those  laws  be  faith 
fully  executed,"  must  supervise  and  direct ;  must  see  and  oversee  ; 
and,  therefore,  must  be  present  with  and  on  board  each  and  all 
these  your  ships,  in  all  the  waters  of  the  world  ;  in  every  port 
wherever  an  anchor  is  cast ;  on  every  wave  wherever  a  sail  is 
spread  out  to  the  wind  ;  in  the  breeze,  the  storm,  the  battle  ;  at  all 
times  when,  in  all  places  where,  the  boatswain  pipes  all  hands  to 
quarters,  or  the  jovial  mariner  heaves  at  the  windlass,  or  hauls  at 
the  halyard,  and  raises  his  joyous  yo !  heave  oh  !  above  the  note 
of  the  billows. 

Yes,  Sir,  if  your  President  must  "  take  care  that  the  laws  be 
faithfully  executed,"  by  supervising  and  directing  those  who  are 
employed  in  the  execution  of  them ;  he  must  see  them,  be  with 
them,  speak  to  them,  wherever  this  service  may  call  them,  at  all 
times,  and  in  all  places,  by  land,  and  by  sea,  in  this  and  all  other 
countries.  Can  he  overtake,  can  he  keep  pace  with  these  multifa- 


362  SPEECHES    OF 

rious  and  almost  nnlimitedly  extended  duties?  If  he  take  the 
wings  of  the  morning  ;  nay,  if  mounted  on  the  swift-winged  arrows 
of  light,  he  may  struggle,  but  he  can  never  overtake,  much  less 
pause  to  perform,  the  numberless  requirements  of  this  service. 
This  man  has,  at  times,  been  noted  for  several  distinguished  excel, 
lencies,  by  several  of  his  devoted  followers.  In  the  moments  of 
political  adoration,  one  has  hailed  him  as  the  "greatest  and  best." 
Another,  "  has  lived  long  enough  for  glory  ;"  because  he  had  lived 
under  the  blaze  of  his  effulgence  for  more  than  a  whole  year,  in 
the  service  of  such  a  chieftain.  Another,  in  the  inebriation  of  some 
triumphant  acquisition  of  office,  bestowed  by  him  alone,  has  toasted 
this  adorable  combination  of  flesh  and  blood,  as  "  the  Rock  of 
Ages."  What  excuse  drawn  from  all  these  effusions,  poured  out 
in  the  moments  of  intoxicating  success,  or  intoxicating  potations, 
can  justify  this  sober,  considerate  apotheosis  ;  this  legislative  blas 
phemy  of  all  that  is  high,  and  eternal ;  this  bestowment  of  divine 
attributes,  on  a  President  of  the  United  States,  by  assigning  to  him 
duties  to  perform,  which  can  be  performed  by  no  being,  unless  he 
be  endowed  with  ubiquity  and  omniscience,  the  adorable  and  eter 
nal  attributes  of  Deity  alone  ?  It  cannot,  therefore,  be  the  duty  of 
the  President  to  supervise  and  direct  those  who  are  employed  in 
executing  the  laws ;  because,  if  he  must  supervise  and  direct  one, 
he  must  supervise  and  direct  all ;  but  it  is  physically  impossible,  for 
no  human  being  can  perform  a  service  requiring  his  bodily  presence, 
and  mental  attention,  at  many  thousand  different  places,  distant  from 
each  other  many  thousand  miles,  and  all  at  one  and  the  same  time. 
Let,  then,  the  Presidential  duty  be  limited,  not  only  by  his  physical 
and  intellectual,  but  also  by  his  Presidential  powers.  Let  him  have, 
and,  when  required  by  law,  exercise  THE  Executive  power.  Let 
him  be  the  Commander-in-chief  of  the  land  and  naval  force  of  the 
United  States ;  and  when,  by  foreign  force,  or  domestic  insurrec 
tion,  the  laws  are  resisted,  let  him  "  take  care  that  those  laws  be 
faithfully  executed." 

This  duty  of  the  Secretary  is  not,  as  he  has  told  us,  an  Execu 
tive,  but  a  judicial  duty.  The  Bank  was  accused  of  a  violation  of 
its  contract  with  the  United  States,  touching  the  national  money. 
Both  the  facts  and  the  law  were  before  the  Secretary.  He  is  the 
sole  judge,  in  the  first  instance.  He  found,  as  he  says,  the  Bank 
guilty  ;  he  so  adjudged  ;  and  what  was  his  judgment  ?  Why,  Sir, 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  863 

that  the  national  money  be  no  longer  deposited  in  the  United  States 
Bank  or  its  branches.  The  execution  issued  on  this  judgment,  his 
order  and  direction,  was  sent  by  him,  to  collectors  of  the  revenue, 
and  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  no  longer  to  deposite  that 
revenue,  in  that  Bank. 

The  facts  and  the  law,  the  whole  record  of  the  case,  furnish  the 
reasons  of  this  judgment ;  and  are,  with  the  execution  issued  upon 
it,  that  is,  the  order  and  direction  of  the  Secretary,  by  him  laid  be 
fore  Congress,  the  ultimate  tribunal,  as  his  reasons  for  his  judgment 
and  execution  ;  and  to  be  approved  and  confirmed,  or  not  approved, 
and  reversed  by  Congress.  What  is  there,  in  all  this,  any  more 
Executive,  any  less  judicial,  than  would  have  been  found  in  a  trial 
before  a  court  and  jury,  on  a  scire  facias  issued,  by  order  of  Con 
gress,  or  of  the  President  ?  Nothing  whatever.  Could  the  President 
supervise,  and  direct  the  court  and  jury?  Not  yet.  How,  then, 
could  he  supervise  and  direct  the  Secretary,  in  the  formation  of  his 
judgment  1  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  the  Comptroller, 
are  judicial  officers,  in  many  cases  of  seizure  and  forfeiture;  in 
many  cases  of  relinquishment  of  fines,  or  claims  for  debenture.  In 
many  of  these  cases,  appeals  are  had  to  higher  tribunals  ;  and  in 
all,  petitions  may  be  offered  to  Congress ;  but  when  was  it  known, 
that  the  President  interfered  ;  or  that  he  was  the  power  to  which 
appeals  were  made,  or  petitions  preferred  ?  Never,  never,  Sir,  in 
the  whole  history  of  our  Government.  It  cannot  be  done.  It  would 
be  utter  and  unquestionable  usurpation,  in  him,  to  meddle  with  any 
such  question ;  both  because  the  power,  exercised  in  this  case,  is 
purely  judicial,  and  the  judicial  power  is  independent  of  the  Execu 
tive  ;  and  also  because  the  Executive  branch  of  the  Government  is, 
by  the  Constitution,  excluded  from  all  control  of  the  money  con 
cernments  of  the  nation. 

I  will  not  go  into  any  examination  of  the  duties  of  the  Treasury. 
Every  one  can  do  it  for  himself.  Whoever  may  do  this,  by  look 
ing  over  the  law,  will  find  not  one  duty  of  one  of  those  officers, 
which  any  person,  other  than  such  officer,  can  either  perform,  or 
direct  the  manner  of  its  performance. 

Sir,  I  have  hitherto  purposely  omitted  all  reference  to  one  Presi 
dential  power,  because  it  was  my  intention  to  devote  to  it  a  separate 
and  more  specific  consideration.  This  power  is  bestowed  on  the 
President  by  these  words  :  "  He  may  require  the  opinion,  in  writing, 


304  SPEECHES    OF 

of  the  principal  officer,  in  each  of  the  Executive  Departments,  upon 
any  subject  relating  to  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices.  Al 
though  it  has  been  demonstrated  from  the  Constitution  what  are  the 
Executive  Departments,  and  who  are  the  principal  officers  in  them  ; 
and  thereby  that  the  Treasury  Department  is  not  one  of  them,  nor 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  a  principal  officer,  in  the  constitu 
tional  meaning  of  the  words  ;  yet,  to  place  the  argument  beyond 
the  cavil  of  partizan  debate,  let  it  be  admitted  that  the  President 
might,  under  this  power  to  require  written  opinions,  call  on  Mr. 
Duane,  on  the  18th  of  last  September,  for  his  opinion  in  writing, 
concerning  his  duty  in  respect  to  the  removal  of  the  public  money 
from  the  United  States  Bank  and  its  branches.  What  is  to  be 
inferred  from  all  this  ?  If  the  President  had  the  power  to  require 
this  opinion,  then  it  was  the  duty  of  Mr.  Duane  to  give  it.  If  it 
were  his  Constitutional  duty  to  give  this  opinion,  then,  he  had  the 
Constitutional  power  to  give  his  opinion.  If  he  had  the  power  to 
give  it,  he  had  the  power  to  form  it.  For  he  could  have  no  opinion 
on  the  question,  and  so  could  give  none,  until  he  had  first  formed  it. 
He  must  give  this  opinion  in  writing.  It  has  been  seen  that  the 
question  is,  in  its  nature,  judicial ;  the  opinion  formed  upon  it  is, 
therefore,  a  judicial  opinion  ;  an  opinion  on  the  law  and  on  the 
facts.  This  opinion,  when  formed  and  reduced  to  writing,  would 
be  a  judgment  of  Mr.  Duane  placed  on  the  records  of  the  Treasury 
Department.  He  would,  then,  in  compliance  with  this  Presidential 
requirement,  give  his  opinion  in  writing  to  the  President,  by  giving 
to  him  a  correct  draft  of  his  opinion  so  recorded.  The  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  then,  having  the  power  to  give  his  opinion,  because 
the  President  had  power  to -require  it,  has  not  only  the  power  freely, 
and  without  being  under  any  Executive  control,  to  form  that  opin 
ion  ;  but,  also,  to  have,  hold,  and  keep  that  original  opinion,  formeH 
in  his  own  mind,  together  with  the  written  record  of  it,  in  the 
archives  of  the  Treasury  Department.  Once  more  :  If  Mr.  Duane 
had  the  power  to  give,  to  form,  to  have,  hold,  and  keep  the  memo 
rial  of  this  opinion,  both  in  his  own  mind,  and  on  the  Treasury 
record,  then  he  had  the  Constitutional  power,  and  right,  to  act, 
whenever  he  did  act  on  this  great  question,  according  to  this  opin 
ion,  so  formed  and  preserved,  unless  it  be  contended,  successfully, 
that  the  President  has  power  to  require  a  high  officer  of  the  nation, 
one  of  his  constitutional  counsellors,  to  form  opinions  concerning  his 


TRISTAM    SURGES.  365 

own  duty,  which  he  has  sworn  faithfully  to  perform  ;  and  then  that 
he  has  the  further  power  to  compel  that  officer  to  act  contrary  to 
that  opinion,  thus  formed,  under  the  powers  of  the  Constitution,  and 
under  the  solemnities  of  his  oath.  This  would  be  the  constitutional 
establishment  of  a  tyranny,  more  intolerable  than  ever  was  estab 
lished,  by  the  most  lawless  despotism.  It  could  never  have  been 
the  purpose  of  any  part  of  the  Constitution  to  do  such  a  deed  of 
sheer  abomination.  For  what  intention,  then,  were  the  Secretaries 
made  the  counsellors  of  the  President,  by  placing  upon  them  the 
duty  of  giving  to  him  their  opinions  in  writing  concerning  their  own 
duties?  Why  are  they  made  his  advisers?  Not  that  he  may 
counteract,  but  that  he  may  conform  his  actions  to  the  wisdom  of 
his  constitutional  advisers.  How,  then,  can  this  power  of  the  Pre* 
sident,  to  require  the  opinion  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
concerning  his  duty  on  this  question  of  removing  the  public  money, 
give  to  him  any  power  to  control  that  Secretary  in  the  perform 
ance  of  that  duty  ? 

Will  the  power  of  dismissing  him  from  office  give  this  control 
over  his  opinions  ?  It  should  be  remembered  that  the  power  of  the 
President  is  to  require  of  the  Secretary  his  own  opinion  concerning 
his  own  duty.  Should  the  fear  of  dismissal,  or  the  hope  of  being 
retained  in  office,  induce  him  to  give  the  opinion  of  the  President, 
and  not  his  own  opinion,  the  requisition  of  the  Constitution  is  defeat 
ed  ;  because  it  was  the  Secretary's  opinion,  and  that  alone,  which  the 
President  could  require,  or  the  Secretary  give.  If,  therefore,  any 
influence  be  brought  to  bear  on  the  Secretary,  so  as  to  vary,  in  the 
least  degree,  the  opinion  which  he  may  give,  from  the  opinion,  which 
without  that  influence,  he  would  have  given  ;  the  Constitution  has 
been  perverted,  and  the  President,  by  using  this  influence,  has  defeat 
ed  his  own  purpose,  and  obtained  a  false,  feigned,  and  counterfeited, 
in  place  of  a  true  and  genuine  opinion  of  the  Secretary.  He  was 
entitled  to  the  true  ;  he  had  no  right  to  require  the  false.  He  might 
be  counselled  by  the  true ;  but  if  he  act,  in  pursuance  of  the  false 
opinion,  he  wilfully,  and  knowingly,  perverts  his  constitutional  pow 
er.  Can  the  President,  then,  by  any  use  of  the  dismissing  power, 
influence  any  honest  man  to  give  him  such  a  false  and  counterfeit 
as  the  giver  and  receiver  shall  both  believe,  to  be  a  true  and  genu 
ine  opinion  ?  If  not,  though  he  may  pervert  his  power,  he  cannot  ob- 
tain  the  opinion  which  alone  he  is  entitled  to  require,  the  genuine 


366 


SPEECHES 


opinion  of  his  Secretary,  and  not  the  mere  echo  of  his  own.  lit 
what  instance  has  power  controlled  the  opinion  of  honest  men  ?  The 
terrors  of  the  stake,  and  the  faggot,  have  made  many  hypocrites, 
but  never  a  sincere  convert.  John  Calvin  and  Alexander  Servetus 
were  bred  up  at  the  same  school,  and  intimate  friends  from  their 
boyhood.  They  both  became  very  religious  men.  Calvin,  perhaps 
the  more  ambitious  of  the  two,  established  a  creed,  and  was  finally 
the  founder  of  a  numerous  sect.  Servetus,  without  any  such  am 
bition,  received  the  scriptures,  as  expounded  by  Luther,  for  the  great 
rule  of  his  faith.  Calvin  established  himself  at  Geneva  ;  and  there 
wielded  the  secular  arm  to  weed  out  the  heresies  of  Luther.  Ser 
vetus,  I  believe  a  physician,  when  travelling  into  Italy,  passed 
through  that  little  jurisdiction,  and  there,  doubtless,  expected  to  re 
ceive  from  the  republic  all  the  hospitalities  due  to  a  stranger,  and 
from  his  old  school-fellow,  all  the  courtesies  of  their  long  cherished 
friendship.  In  place  of  civilities,  and  that  kindness,  he  was  by  the 
magistrates  arrested  ;  and,  on  the  accusation  of  his  friend,  tried  and 
condemned  as  a  heretic.  The  night  before  the  day  appointed  for 
his  execution,  Calvin  visited  him  in  his  prison.  He  was  chained  and 
fettered,  and  lay,  quietly  sleeping,  on  the  stone  floor  of  the  dungeon. 
Calvin  held  the  lamp  to  his  face,  and  doubtless,  animated  by  the  re 
collection  of  their  youthful  intimacy,  called  out  to  him,  "  Servetus, 
Servetus,  awake.  I  would  save  you  from  the  death  which  you  are 
doomed  to  suffer."  Servetus  awoke.  Calvin  repeated  his  words. 
"  Would  you  ?  I  believed,"  said  the  confiding  man,  "that  you  would. 
How  could  you  remember  all  our  former  friendship,  and  leave  me 
to  die  a  death  so  bitterly  cruel  ?"  "  Alexander,  my  friend,"  he  said, 
and  all  the  man  spoke  in  his  voice,  "  I  will  save  you."  But,  alas, 
for  our  frailty  !  the  sectarian  compelled  him  to  add  :  "Alexander, 
my  dear  friend,  you  must  change  your  opinions  ;  you  must  receive 
my  creed."  "  John,  my  dear  John,"  exclaimed  the  chained  and  fet 
tered  Servetus,  raising  himself  up,  and  sitting  on  his  bed  of  stone, 
"  tell  me,  can  I  not  live,  unless  I  do  this  ?"  The  great  propagandist 
could  not  endure  the  inquisition  of  his  eye.  He  turned  his  face  to 
the  iron  door  ;  and  no  was  all  he  could  utter  ;  but  that  no  was  the 
negative  of  an  inquisitor.  Servetus  rose  slowly  to  his  feet ;  Cal 
vin  turned  towards  him  ;  their  eyes  met.  "  John,"  said  he,  his  face 
glowing  with  almost  supernatural  ardor,  "  John,"  he  exclaimed, 
while  the,  glories  of  the  martyr  seemed  to  blaze  in  a  halo  around 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  367 

him,  "John,  we  were  friends  from  the  cradle.  Together  we  learned 
the  first  rudiments  of  science  and  letters.  We  read  together, 
and  delighted  to  read  and  study  the  glowing  beauties  of  the  classics. 
Together  we  read  and  studied  the  more  beautiful,  the  more  glorious, 
the  more  pure  and  divine,  pages  of  revelation.  From  that  fountain 
of  inspiration  you  have  drawn  your  opinions  ;  and  from  the  same 
source  I  have  drawn  mine.  I  have,  again  and  again,  lifted  up  my 
soul  to  God,  and  implored  the  aid  of  his  divine  spirit,  and  I  do  be 
lieve  that  spirit  directed  me  in  the  formation  of  every  article  of  my 
faith.  John,  I  cannot  do  despite  to  my  own  conscience  ;  I  cannot 
insult  the  majesty  of  the  Almighty.  I  can  die  ;  but  I  cannot  change 
my  opinions.  You  can  take  my  life,  I  cannot  receive  your  creed." 
"  Then  die  !"  was  the  bitter  response. 

The  next  day  Servetus  was  brought  to  the  stake,  and  suffered  as 
a  martyr  to  the  truth,  in  defence  of  his  own  integrity ;  and  gave  a 
lasting  example,  that  if  power  can  control  all  other  things  human,  it 
cannot  control  human  opinion. 

Was  Andrew  Jackson  more  successful  in  his  attempt  to  control 
the  honest  opinion  of  William  J.  Duane  ?  Were  not  the  terrors  of 
punishment  set  before  his  face,  if  he  dared  to  have  an  opinion  of  his 
own,  differing  from  that  of  the  President  ?  Were  not  the  hopes  of 
reward  held  out  to  allure  him  ?  "  Stand  by  me,  and  I  will  stand  by 
you  !  Be  my  friend  in  this,  and  I  will  be  your  friend  in  all  things !" 
was  the  style  of  executive  blandishments.  Nay,  Sir,  to  this  man 
was  tendered  the  mighty  meed  of  the  largest  honors  within  Execu 
tive  power  to  bestow.  Servetus  could  die,  but  he  could  not  change 
his  opinion :  Duane  could  give  up  the  highest  honors,  but  he  could 
not  give  up  his  honest  opinion.  He  could  endure  Executive  wrath, 
dismissal,  and  malediction,  but  could  not  encounter  the  rebuke  of  his 
own  conscience. 

By  the  exercise  of  the  dismissing  power,  then,  the  President  gets 
the  control  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and,  therefore,  can 
have  no  control  of  that  Department  by  such  exercise.  The  opin- 
ions  of  Servetus  remained  unchanged  by  the  fire  of  his  persecutor ; 
and  the  opinion  of  Duane  is  unchanged  by  the  dismissing  power  of 
the  President,  and  now  stands,  just  as  he  left  it,  on  the  record  of  the 
Treasury.  By  the  exercise  of  the  dismissing  powei^  then,  it  clear 
ly  follows  that  the  President  cannot  obtain  any  execution  of  the  laws 
whatever,  either  faithful  or  unfaithful. 


368 


SPEECHES    O  !•' 


Sir,  when  the  people  are  unmindful  of  the  great  purposes  for 
which  their  fathers  established  this  Government ;  when  they  per 
vert  the  laws  and  the  Constitution,  and,  by  their  subserviency  to 
power,  granted  solely  for  their  own  benefit,  change  their  political 
wealth,  delivered  into  their  hands  in  trust,  to  enrich  themselves, 
their  children,  and  the  latest  posterity  ;  then  they  convert  this  glo 
rious  bestowment  into  a  mere  heritage  for  those  men  whom  they 
have  appointed  as  their  own  agents,  their  public  servants,  to  exe 
cute  those  laws  ;  and  unmindful  of  that  rich  patrimony  of  laws  and 
liberty ;  unmindful  of  their  own,  and  of  the  rights  and  freedom  of 
posterity,  devote  themselves  and  their  children  to  the  power,  the 
riches,  and  the  glory  of  those  rulers;  then,  indeed,  will  the  land 
mourn  ;  the  iron  dominion  of  power  will  settle  down  on  every  re 
gion  of  our  once  prosperous  country  ;  the  breath  of  the  tyrant  shall 
then  wither  every  thing  that  ever  flourished  ;  and,  consuming  every 
vital  principle  of  our  free  institutions,  the  lights  of  liberty,  one  after 
another,  will  go  out,  and  at  last  leave  us  to  the  cheerful  darkness  of 
despotism. 

The  present  rulers  in  our  country  seem  to  have  believed  that  this 
era  of  subserviency  had  begun.  The  chieftain,  with  his  executive 
host,  grasped  at  the  whole  power ;  and  he  has  evinced  that,  in  his 
opinion,  the  day  has  come  when  the  people,  infatuated  by  the  glare 
of  his  glory,  and  enchanted  by  his  display  of  patriotic  pretensions, 
would  sanction  his  usurpation,  and  aid  him  in  parcelling  out  this 
power  as  a  lasting  inheritance,  for  himself,  his  successor,  and  their 
devoted  followers. 

The  people,  when  once  they  confide,  are  reluctant  to  find  them 
selves  deceived.  When  they  do  make  this  discovery,  they  will  ex 
amine  the  causes  which  have  produced  their  deception  ;  and  be  as 
sured,  Sir,  that  every  pretension  to  patriotism,  which  was  but  a  dis 
guised  arrogance  of  power,  will  be  disclosed,  and  set  before  the  pub 
lic  eye,  in  such  manner  as  it  is  my  purpose  now  to  disclose  some  of 
those  pretensions,  by  looking  into  the  history  of  Executive  patronage 
and  Executive  power,  under  the  present  administration. 

If  we  would  learn  the  progress  of  Executive  power,  we  must  look 
back  to  the  time  when  Executive  patronage  was  transplanted  from 
constitutional  grounds  to  a  more  luxuriant  soil.  Originally  a  salu 
tary  plant,  because  it  was  of  a  limited  growth,  it  has,  by  this  remov- 


TRISTAM    B  URGES.  369 

al,  and  by  a  lavish  supply  of  nourishment,  become  a  huge  tree, 
shooting  out  limbs  over  all  the  land  :  and  birds  of  every  note  and 
every  feather  now  find  nourishment  and  shelter  among  its  branches. 

When,  in  1829,  this  administration  went  into  power,  it  was  soon 
discovered,  there  were  more  candidates  for  appointment,  than  offices 
for  distribution. 

This  might  have  been  expected ;  in  the  first  place,  because  so 
much  had  been  promised.  Sir,  the  whole  country  had,  for  more 
than  four  years,  been  literally  "the  land  of  promise." 

In  the  next  place,  because  it  was  believed  that  so  much  was  in 
Executive  power  to  bestow.  It  was  a  part  of  partisan  faith,  and  had 
been  zealously  inculcated  on  partisan  credulity,  that  the  new  Presi 
dent  could  feed  his  followers  with  more  fishes  than  the  ocean,  more 
loaves  than  the  land,  could  produce. 

The  Executive,  it  must  be  admitted,  did  do,  for  these  good  men, 
all  which  power,  less  than  miraculous,  could  have  done  for  any  men. 
Every  office,  not  already  in  the  hands  of  partisans,  was  literally 
cleared  out  for  their  accommodation,  and  bestowed  upon  them. — 
When  all  these  were  filled,  and  many,  quite  as  worthy  of  being  fed 
and  clothed,  still  were  standing,  on  the  outside  of  the  Treasury,  Ex- 
ecutive  invention  was  tasked  to  the  utmost  to  create  new  offices. 
Clerkships  were  then  changed  into  bureaus,  with  each  a  chief  at  its 
head  ;  on  the  principle,  no  doubt,  that  every  new  head,  no  matter 
what  the  animal  might  be,  must  be  furnished  with  all  other  mem 
bers,  from  the  superior  to  the  inferior  extremity.  In  addition  to  this, 
old  departments  were,  like  old  packets,  repaired,  cut  up,  and  filled 
with  new  berths,  S3  as  to  furnish  the  greatest  amount  of  accommo 
dation  to  the  greatest  possible  number  of  passengers. 

The  post-office  establishment,  in  this  way,  furnished  a  world  of 
accommodation  for  these  politically  meritorious  men.  Not  to  men 
tion  the  new  clerks  employed,  or  the  constant  call  for  help,  and  extra 
labor  in  that  quarter  ;  nor  the  very  desirable  employment,  supplied 
by  moving  the  mail  ten  thousand  additional  miles  per  diem  ;  or  the 
new  regulation  of  paying  less  by  contract,  and  more  by  extra  allow 
ance  ;  or  the  accommodating  facilities  of  the  new  bureau  for  bor 
rowing  ;  without  any  reference  to  any  of  these,  it  is  seen  that  the 
new  post-offices  alone,  in  addition  to  the  old  eight  thousand,  have 
provided  places  for  two  thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  of 
these  very  valuable  men. 


370  SPEECHES    OF 

The  Treasury  Department  has  been  very  helpful,  in  a  different 
way;  by  calling  on  more  men,  to  do  the  same  service.  The  col 
lection  of  the  revenue,  it  is  believed,  furnishes,  at  this  time,  by 
distributing  the  labor  to  ten  times  the  number  of  men,  quite  tenfold 
more  employment,  for  every  dollar  collected,  than  was  furnished  by 
it,  in  the  time  of  Jefferson.  Sir,  notwithstanding  the  mantle  of 
patronage  had  been  thus  extended,  until,  like  charity,  it  was  the 
covering  of  multitudes ;  yet  very  many  equally  distinguished,  both 
by  moral  and  political  merit,  were  outstanding,  and  still  in  want  of 
permanent,  and  substantial  provision.  Although  this  condition  of 
aspirants  to  office  must  have  been  foreseen,  yet  could  it  not  be  alto 
gether  obviated.  It  was  foreseen,  because  it  was  known,  that  it 
must  follow,  from  a  rule  very  early  adopted  by  this  administration. 
This  rule  was  contrived  to  provide  for  all  men,  located  on  the  fron 
tiers  of  all  parties  ;  all  those  who  hope  for  more  from  political  than 
from  moral  merit ;  and  all  who  make  no  question  about  the  service, 
which  they  are  to  perform,  if  the  reward  be  made  satisfactory  to 
them.  By  this  rule,  the  same  pay,  rations,  and  bounty  were  pro 
mised  to  deserters,  which  had  been  given  to  original  household 
troops.  In  this  great  party  emergency,  the  eyes  of  the  chieftain, 
and  of  his  immediate  associates,  were  turned  to  the  money  power  of 
the  nation,  for  relief.  The  Bank  of  the  United  States,  it  was 
believed  by  them,  embodied  that  power,  in  a  form,  of  all,  the  most 
efficient.  Could  this  be  obtained,  and  united  to  the  political  power, 
already  in  the  hands  of  the  President,  it  would  give  him  patronage 
enough  to  provide  for  all  his  friends  ;  and  power  enough  to  consume 
all  his  enemies.  . 

A  scheme  of  safety,  for  the  political  management  of  public 
money,  had  been  commenced  in  the  State  of  New- York.  This 
scheme  was  brought  on  here,  from  that  State ;  and  laid  before  the 
President,  in  the  spring  of  1829,  by  that  officer  of  the  cabinet,  who, 
the  last  of  those  counsellors,  took  his  seat  in  that  divan. 

In  pursuance  of  that  scheme,  and  under  the  advisement  of  men, 
thought  to  be  great  masters  in  such  movements,  the  attempt  was, 
early  in  the  summer  of  1829,  made  upon  the  Bank.  This  attempt 
failed  of  success  ;  and  both  the  attempt  and  the  failure,  were  fully 
brought  into  public  notice,  by  the  Bank  examination,  made,  the 
year  before  last,  by  Congress.  This  attempt  and  failure,  thus  dis 
closed,  fully  explain  to  the  world,  the  immitigable  and  consuming 


TRISTAM    B  URGES.  371 

hostility  of  the  President  against  the  Bank.  Sir,  you  will  permit 
me  to  read  a  very  short  statement  of  this  transaction. 

Since  the  establishment  of  the  institution  it  has  devoted  itself 
anxiously  and  exclusively  to  the  purposes  of  its  creation,  the  resto 
ration  of  the  currency,  the  maintenance  of  the  general  credit,  and 
the  accommodation  of  the  internal  and  foreign  trade  of  the  country. 
That  it  has  not  failed  in  these  objects,  that  it  has  indeed  realized 
more  than  the  anticipations  of  the  most  sanguine,  is  attested  by  all 
parts  of  the  community.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  career  of  inof 
fensive  usefulness,  when,  soon  after  the  accession  to  power  of  the 
present  Executive,  the  purpose  was  distinctly  revealed  that  other 
duties  than  those  to  the  country  were  required — and  that  it  was 
necessary  for  the  Bank,  in  administering  its  affairs,  to  consult  the 
political  views  of  those  who  had  now  obtained  the  ascendancy  in 
the  Executive.  It  is  understood  that  soon  after  that  event,  a  meet 
ing  was  held  in  Washington  of  the  principal  chiefs,  to  consider  the 
means  of  perpetuating  their  new  authority,  and  the  possession  of 
the  Bank  was  among  the  most  prominent  objects  of  the  parties  as 
sembled.  The  first  open  manifestation  of  this  purpose  was  in  June, 
1829,  when  a  concerted  effort  was  made  by  the  Executive  officers 
to  interfere  in  the  election  of  the  Board  of  Directors  at  Portsmouth. 
At  the  head  of  this  attempt  was  Levi  Woodbury,  now  a  member  of 
the  present  Cabinet  at  Washington,  who  did  not  hesitate  to  avow  in 
a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  which,  though  marked 
"  confidential,"  was  subsequently  ordered  to  be  published  by  the  com 
mittee  of  investigation,  in  1832,  that  he  wished  the  interference  of 
the  Government  to  remove  the  President  of  the  Branch  at  Ports 
mouth,  of  whom  he  says  : 

"  The  new  President,  Jeremiah  Mason,  is  a  particular  friend  of 
Mr.  Webster,  and  his  political  character  is  doubtless  well  known  to 
you  ;"  and  he  requests  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  "to  commu 
nicate  with  some  of  the  Directors  of  the  Mother  Bank  in  favor  of 
such  a  change." 

This  letter  of  Mr.  Woodbury  was  transmitted  to  the  Bank  by 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  who  stated  that  "  from  some  expres 
sions  in  his  letter,  it  may  be  inferred  that  it  is  partly  founded  on  a 
supposed  application  of  the  influence  of  the  Bank,  with  a  view  to 
political  effect" — in  consequence  of  which,  he  deemed  it  his  duty  to 
present  it  to  the  Bank,  **  with  the  views  of  the  administration  in  rela- 


372 


SPEECHES    OF 


tion  to  it."  At  the  same  time,  Mr.  Isaac  Hill,  acting  as  the  Comp 
troller  of  the  Treasury,  until  rejected  by  the  Senate,  and  now  a 
Senator  of  the  United  States,  sent  a  memorial  from  the  members  of 
his  political  party  in  the  Legislature  of  New-Hampshire,  requesting 
the  removal  of  Mr.  Mason.  In  another  communication  presented 
to  the  Bank,  he  gave  it  as  his  opinion,  that  no  measure,  short  of 
Mr.  Mason's  removal,  would  tend  "  to  reconcile  the  people  of  New 
Hampshire  to  the  Bank  ;"  and  that  the  "friends  of  General  Jack 
son,  in  New-Hampshire,  have  had  but  too  much  reason  to  complain 
of  the  management  of  the  Branch  at  Portsmouth."  Finally,  the 
Secretary  of  War  ordered  the  transfer  of  the  pension  fund  from 
the  Branch  Bank  at  Portsmouth  to  another  Bank  in  Concord — an 
act  so  obviously  in  violation  of  the  laws,  that  it  was  resisted  by  the 
Bank,  and  then  retracted  by  the  Secretary. 

It  became  then  manifest  to  the  Bank,  that  there  was  a  combin 
ed  effort  to  render  the  institution  subservient  to  political  purposes, 
and  that  it  was  necessary  to  come  to  some  immediate  and  distinct 
understanding  of  its  rights  and  duties-  This  was  done  in  the  cor 
respondence  of  the  President  of  the  Bank  with  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  of  which  the  following  passages  will  indicate  the  general 
purport : 

"  Presuming  that  we  have  rightly  apprehended  your  views,  and 
fearful  that  the  silence  of  the  Bank  might  be  hereafter  misconstrued 
into  an  acquiescence  in  them,  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  state  to  you,  in 
a  manner  perfectly  respectful  to  your  official  and  personal  charac 
ter,  yet  so  clear  as  to  leave  no  possibility  of  misconception,  that  the 
Board  of  Directors  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Boards 
of  Directors  of  the  Branches  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
acknowledge  not  the  slightest  responsibility  of  any  description  what 
soever  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  touching  the  political  con 
duct  of  their  officers,  that  being  a  subject  on  which  they  never 
consult,  and  never  desire  to  know  the  views  of  any  administration." 

Again : — "  Accordingly  the  act  of  Congress  simply  declares, 
"that,  for  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  said  corporation, 
there  shall  be  twenty -five  directors.'  When  these  are  chosen,  the 
whole  administration  of  the  Bank  is  committed  to  their  exclusive 
care.  Their  responsibility  for  the  management  of  it  is  to  Congress, 
and  to  Congress  alone  ;  but  no  Executive  officer  of  the  Govern 
ment,  from  the  President  of  the  United  States  downwards,  has  the 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  373 

slightest  authority  to  interfere  in  it ;  and  there  can  be  no  more 
warrant  for  suggesting  the  views  of  the  administration  to  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  than  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States." 
Finally  : — "  For  the  Bank,  which  has  specific  duties  to  per 
form,  and  which  belongs  to  the  country,  and  not  to  any  party,  there 
is  but  one  course  of  honor  or  of  safety.  Whenever  its  duties  come 
in  conflict  with  the  spirit  of  party,  it  should  not  compromise  with  it, 
nor  capitulate  to  it,  but  resist  it — resist  it  openly  and  fearlessly.  In 
this  its  interest  concurs  with  its  duty  ;  for  it  will  be  found  at  last, 
such  is  the  good  sense  of  the  country,  that  the  best  mode  of  satisfy, 
ing  all  parties  is  to  disregard  them  all. 

These  extracts  reveal  the  whole  secret  of  the  hostility  to  the 
Bank  of  those,  who,  finding  it  impossible  to  bend  it  to  their  purposes, 
have  resolved  to  break  it." 

Sir,  what  is  seen  in  this  extract  ?  It  demonstrates  that  the  at 
tempt  was  made  to  unite  the  Bank  with  the  Executive  ;  and,  by 
that  union,  to  give  to  the  President  both  the  money  power  and  the 
political  power  of  the  nation.  It  exhibits  another  fact,  also,  no  less 
honorable  to  that  institution,  than  it  was  disgraceful  to  the  Execu 
tive  ;  it  demonstrates  that  the  president  and  directors  of  the  Bank, 
were  above  the  reach  of  presidential  influence,  and  not  to  be  cor 
rupted  by  the  menaces  or  blandishments  of  Executive  power. 

Here  is  the  origin  of  that  tremendous  evil  now  spreading  ruin 
and  wretchedness  over  the  country.  It  is  not  found  in  any  delin 
quency  of  the  Bank  ;  but  in  the  rejection  of  the  New- York  scheme, 
for  the  safe  management  of  public  money,  which  it  was  intended 
should  have  been  brought  into  operation  in  that  Bank  and  its 
branches,  and  which  would  have  been  effected,  had  not  the  presi 
dent  and  directors  thus  promptly  rejected  the  very  incipiency  of 
that  measure. 

After  this  disappointment  suffered  by  the  Executive,  the  ulterior 
provisions  of  that  scheme  of  operations  were  commenced  ;  and  have 
been  so  far  carried  out,  that  this  Bank  of  the  people,  is  now  left  in 
the  control  of  the  people  ;  but  the  money  of  the  people  is  taken  from 
their  Bank  and  placed  in  the  control  of  the  Executive. 

During  every  administration  of  the  Federal  Government,  up  to 
March  3d,  1829,  it  had  been  the  policy  of  both  rulers  and  people, 
to  keep  up  an  impassable  wall  of  separation,  between  the  political 
power,  and  the  money  power  of  the  nation.  The  present  Chief 


374 


SPEECHES    OF 


Magistrate  has  determined,  cost  what  it  may  in  ruin  and  suffering 
to  the  people,  that  he  will  demolish  this  wall,  and  unite  them  both 
in  his  own  person.  This  he  will  do,  that  he  may  thereby  appoint, 
should  he  choose  to  appoint,  his  own  successor.  Let  not  those  who 
love  the  free  institutions  of  our  country,  deem  this  an  object,  either 
too  inconsiderable,  or  too  abhorrent,  to  be  purchased  at  the  cost  of 
so  much  which  good  and  wise  men  hold  precious  and  sacred  in  our 
country.  It  is,  and  ever  has  been,  the  first  and  last  aspiration  of 
power,  to  perpetuate  its  own  existence,  by  committing  its  high 
prerogatives  to  some  favorite,  who  will,  in  like  manner,  propagate, 
and,  if  possible,  perpetuate  that  power.  Never  yet  has  any  usurper 
existed,  who,  when  he  had  achieved  the  subjugation  of  a  whole 
people,  has  not  labored,  with  a  most  cruel  diligence,  to  place  the 
care  of  their  chains,  in  the  hands  of  such  a  successor  as  might  keep 
them  riveted,  and  locked  securely  on  their  limbs.  This  money 
power  of  the  nation,  thus  usurped  by  the  President,  will  not  only 
enable  him  to  appoint  his  own  successor,  but  he  may  transfer  the 
same  power  to  him,  so  that  he,  should  he,  or  should  he  not,  wish  to 
serve  his  dear  country,  during  life,  may  appjoint  his  successor.  Is 
it  wonderful  that  men  of  the  Kinderhook  school  so  labor,  when  they 
so  hope  ?  Let  them  hope ;  but  they  will  permit  me  to  say  to  them, 
be  not  too  sanguine,  too  lofty  and  undoubting  in  your  hope.  The 
heir  apparent,  perhaps  it  may  be  the  heir  presumptive,  does  not 
hold  a  barren,  an  unlineal  sceptre.  It  is  said  there  is  a  friend  more 
german  than  a  brother ;  certainly  there  may  be,  even  in  our  times, 
a  tie  more  binding  and  influential  than  political  brotherhood. 

This  gigantic  project  of  the  President,  to  get  the  control  of  the 
public  money,  was  first  intimated  to  the  nation  in  his  Congressional 
message  of  December,  1829.  The  political  banking  system  of 
New- York  had  been  established,  the  winter  before,  under  the  ad 
ministration  of  Governor  Van  Buren.  The  scheme  of  a  Govern 
ment  Bank,  recommended  to  Congress  by  that  message,  would,  had 
it  been  fully  unfolded,  have  been  found  to  be  a  mere  fac  simile  of 
the  New- York  scheme.  The  present  arrangement  of  depository 
State  Banks  is  another  copy  of  that  original.  They  all  spring,  in 
full  size  and  full  life,  like  Milton's  allegory  of  sin,  from  one  head* 
Not  more  in  their  paternity  than  in  their  form,  do  they  resemble 
that  primitive  mischief;  which,  as  we  are  told, 


TRI8TAM    BURGES.  375 

"  Seemed  woman  to  the  waist,  and  fair  ; 
But  ended  foul  in  many  a  scaly  fold, 
Voluminous  and  vast." 

To  recommend  this  new  scheme  of  a  Government  Bank,  estab 
lished  on  the  credit  and  revenue  of  the  Government,  as  if  the  re- 
venue  and  credit  did  not  belong  to  the  nation  ;  the  President,  in 
that  message,  made  a  direct  and  most  unfounded  assault  on  the 
United  States  Bank.  He  says,  "  the  constitutionality  of  that  insti 
tution  is  well  questioned,  by  many  of  the  people."  He  did  this 
after  Mr.  Madison,  originally  questioning  the  constitutionality  of  a 
Bank,  had  decided  that  the  question  was  settled,  by  popular  usage  ; 
each  of  the  two  great  parties,  the  federal  and  the  republican  party, 
having  supported  a  Bank  ;  by  Congressional  usage,  for  a  Congress 
of  each  of  those  parties  had  voted  for  a  Bank  ;  and,  above  all,  by 
Judicial  usage,  because  the  Supreme  Court  had  adjudicated,  that  a 
bank  was  constitutional.  Notwithstanding  this  opinion  of  Mr. 
Madison,  the  President  did  then,  to  recommend  his  scheme  of  a 
Treasury  Bank,  question,  and  declare  that  many  of  the  people  well 
questioned,  the  constitutionality  of  the  present  Bank,  incorporated, 
as  it  was,  under  a  charter  approved  by  James  Madison. 

To  induce  a  belief  that  the  money  of  the  nation  was  unsafe  in 
that  Bank,  he  further  denounced  its  currency  as  unsound.  What 
is  a  sound  currency  ?  Why,  Sir,  such  a  currency  as,  if  it  be  gold 
and  silver,  is  equal  in  weight  and  fineness  to  the  standard  ;  but,  if 
it  be  paper,  such  a  currency  as  may,  at  all  times,  be  exchanged, 
dollar  for  dollar,  for  gold  and  silver,  at  the  option  of  the  holder. 
What  was,  and  is,  the  fact  ?  When  did  a  man,  in  the  United  States, 
present  an  United  States  Bank  note,  at  the  counter  of  the  Bank,  or 
any  one  of  its  branches,  where  it  was  payable,  and  payment  was 
refused  either  in  gold  or  silver  ?  Not  one.  The  accusation  was 
entirely  gratuitous  ;  and  not  supported  by  a  single  fact.  It  was 
made  to  alarm  the  people  for  the  safety  of  the  revenue,  whether 
daily  coming  into  the  Bank,  or  that  already  deposited  there.  They 
were  told  that  the  notes  of  that  Bank,  in  which  the  Government 
must  receive  from  that  Bank,  the  public  money  deposited  in  its 
keeping,  were,  unsound,  were  not  equal  to  gold  and  silver  ;  and  they 
were  told  this,  to  induce  the  nation  to  distrust  the  Bank  ;  and  finally 
be  prepared  to  justify  that  removal  which  was,  even  then,  meditated, 
and  determined  to  be  effected,  either  legally  or  otherwise,  if  it  must 


376  SPEECHES    OF 

otherwise  be  done.  The  payment  of  the  revenue,  the  public  taxes, 
is  made  by  all  the  people  ;  and  if  made  equally,  all  are  satisfied. 
If  unequal,  all  will  be  dissatisfied.  These  taxes  are  payable  in  the 
notes  of  the  United  States  Bank.  The  President,  in  that  message, 
denounced  these  notes  as  not  uniform  in  their  value.  What  was 
the  effect  of  this  denunciation  ?  and  what,  then,  must  have  been  the 
purpose  of  making  it  ?  If  it  had  any  effect,  and .  was  made  for  any 
purpose,  it  must  have  been  to  induce  a  belief,  that  one  part  of  the 
people  must  pay  more  tax  than  another ;  because  they  paid  in  a 
currency  of  not  a  uniform  value ;  that  is,  of  a  value,  at  one  time, 
and  in  one  place,  different  from  its  value,  at  another  time,  and  in 
another  place.  This  was  done,  not  only  to  induce  a  removal  of  the 
public  money  from  the  Bank  ;  but  to  induce  such  an  opposition  to 
this  Bank  among  the  people,  as  might  compel  Congress  to  repeal 
the  law,  by  which  the  notes  of  this  Bank  arc  receivable  for  all 
sums  due  to  the  United  States. 

There  might  be  some  ground  to  doubt  whether  these  were  the 
Executive  purposes,  in  making  this  attack  on  the  Bank,  had  no 
other  facts,  of  the  same  kind,  followed  these  demonstrations.  Such 
did  follow.  In  December,  1830,  the  same  allegations,  in  the  Presi 
dential  Message,  were  reiterated.  One  other  demonstration  was 
made.  Notwithstanding  the  charter  had  nearly  six  years  to  run, 
the  attention  of  Congress  was  called  to  a  consideration  of  the  ques 
tion  of  its  renewal.  It  was  known  to  the  President,  that  Congress 
could  not  move  this  question,  until  the  Bank  corporation  should 
petition  them  for  a  renewal  of  their  charter.  The  suggestion  was, 
therefore,  made,  to  induce  the  Bank  to  offelr  such  a  petition  to  Con 
gress.  Was  that  inducement  offered,  because  the  President  intend 
ed  to  approve  any  renewed  charter  which  any  Congress  might 
enact?  Not  one  can  believe  it.  Why,  then,  was  the  question 
stirred  ?  Why  was  the  inducement  offered  to  the  Bank  ?  Doubt 
less  that  the  President  might  do,  at  the  earliest  possible  time,  what 
he  did  do,  so  soon  as  the  opportunity  was  afforded,  by  presenting 
the  renewed  charter  for  his  approval,  send  it  back  to  Congress  un 
der  his  veto.  In  that  veto,  he  might  do  what  he  could  not  do  in 
any  other  message.  He  might  give  that  stab  to  the  vitals  of  the 
Bank  which  would  bring  it  so  low  in  the  healthy  estimation  of  the 
people,  as  to  induce  an  immediate  removal  of  the  public  money ; 
and  require,  either  the  establishment  of  his  Treasury  Bank,  or  such 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  377 

an  arrangement  of  the  State  Banks  as  depositories,  as  would  give 
to  him  an  equal  control  of  the  public  money.  With  this  in  his 
hands,  in  the  spring  of  1831,  he  might  have  finished  his  political 
campaign  ;  by  placing  his  favorite  in  his  seat,  at  the  close  of  his 
first  Executive  term  ;  without  soliciting  another  nomination,  or  en- 
countering  the  exigencies  of  another  contested  election. 

This  refuge  failed  him,  and  he  was  compelled  to  call  the  atten 
tion  of  the  Legislature  to  this  question  again ;  and,  in  his  Message 
of  December,  1831,  addressed  to  the  twenty-second  Congress,  all 
his  former  allegations  were  repeated,  but  in  a  milder  strain.  To 
secure  a  confidence  in  his  apparent  desire  to  settle  this  great  ques 
tion,  and  relieve  the  popular  anxiety,  he,  in  that  message,  seemed 
entirely  to  relinquish  his  constitutional  scruples  ;  and,  as  he  most 
courteously  expressed  himself,  "  he  referred  the  whole  subject  to 
the  good  sense  of  an  enlightened  people,  and  their  representatives 
in  Congress."  What  more  could  he  say  ?  Men  could  not  expect 
that  he  would  send  to  Congress  his  approval  of  the  renewed  charter 
before  it  had  been  enacted  by  the  Legislature.  This  declaration 
was  received,  as  doubtless  it  was  intended  that  it  should  be  received. 
It  was  believed  ;  and  the  Bank,  induced  by  this  belief,  and  urged 
by  so  many  reiterations  of  the  necessity  of  settling  the  question,  did, 
in  an  evil  hour  of  confidence,  and  with  a  reliance  on  good  faith, 
place  its  interests  and  character  in  the  hands  of  the  Executive.  A 
petition  for  a  renewal  of  the  charter  was  presented  to  Congress. 
That  Congress,  friendly  to  the  administration  by  a  large  majority,  did, 
after  making  several  important  amendments  in  it,  renew  that  char 
ter,  by  considerable  majorities  in  both  Houses  of  Congress.  It  was 
sent  to  the  President  for  his  approval. 

This  charter,  passed  by  such  a  Congress,  after  such  repeated 
recommendations,  and  under  his  assurance,  made  in  his  very  last 
Message,  that  "  he  left  the  question  of  re-chartering  this  institution, 
entirely,  to  the  good  sense  of  an  enlightened  people  and  their  repre 
sentatives,"  was  disapproved  by  him,  and  sent  back  to  Congress 
under  his  veto.  This  was  contained  in  a  Message,  which  demon 
strated  to  both  Houses,  to  the  nation,  to  the  world,  and  will  tell  pos 
terity,  that  men,  placed  in  the  most  exalted  stations,  may  be  coun 
selled,  influenced,  and  controlled,  by  persons  without  wisdom,  with 
out  patriotism,  I  do  not  say  without  integrity ;  and  thereby  suffer 
themselves  to  speak,  to  the  high  constituted  authorities  of  their 


378 


SPEECHES    OF 


country,  in  the  language,  and  to  utter,  as  their  own,  the  opinions 
and  sentiments  of  men  meriting  no  better  title  than  demagogues. 

This  Veto  Message  came  to  both  Houses,  and  went  out  to  the 
world,  under  the  sign-manual  of  the  President ;  but,  as  no  person, 
either  friend  or  adversary,  has  ever  charged  the  writing  of  it  upon 
him,  I  will  only  say,  that  it  is  a  portion  of  that  system  of  measures, 
which  he  has  been  advised  to  pursue,  to  destroy  that  institution 
which  sustains  not  only  the  whole  currency,  but  so  much  of  the 
interest  of  the  nation,  and  so  much  of  the  interest  of  so  many  of  the 
people  ;  and  thereby  to  draw  into  his  own  hands  not  only  that  pecu 
niary  power,  which  a  control  of  the  revenue  will  give,  but  also  that 
much  greater  money  power,  which  the  people  had  reserved  to  them 
selves,  and  heretofore  used  in  their  own  State  Banks,  for  the  bene 
fit  of  their  own  labor,  exercised  for  their  individual  emolument. 
This  is  manifest,  from  his  declaration,  that  he  would  have  given  to 
them  a  plan  of  a  Bank,  superior  to  all  objections.  What  would  it 
have  been  ?  Doubtless  the  great  Treasury  scheme,  intimated  in 
the  Message  of  1829,  founded  on  the  revenue  and  credit  of  the 
Government ;  with  officers  of  the  Treasury  to  sell  a  few  bills  of 
exchange.  Twenty-five  millions  of  revenue,  and  a  like  amount  of 
stocks,  issued  on  the  credit  of  the  nation,  would  have  formed  a  Bank, 
annexed  to  the  Treasury,  and  under  the  control  of  the  President,  as 
the  head  of  that  department,  sufficiently  large  to  have  enabled  him 
to  grasp,  and  wield,  the  whole  money  power  of  the  country.  Such 
a  Bank  might  be  separated  into  one  hundred  branches,  extending 
their  deleterious  shade  over  the  whole  surface  of  our  country.  De 
leterious,  Sir,  for  every  president,  director,  clerk,  and  cashier,  in 
every  one  of  these  Banks,  would  be  a  mere  clerk  in  that  Treasury 
Department  of  which  the  President  has  enacted  himself  the  head. 
What  a  magnificent  scheme  !  What  droves  of  the  mere  carriers  of 
political  power  might  be  stabled  here,  and  fed  at  the  public  grana 
ry  !  Why,  Sir,  at  the  mere  mention  of  such  feed,  I  can  almost  see 
them  thrusting  their  long  faces  through  the  window  of  our  hall,  and 
braying  their  delight,  and  their  devotion  to  him  who  first  invented 
this  glorious  forage  house  of  the  Treasury.  It  was  thought,  by  the 
advocates  of  a  Treasury — a  Government  Bank,  that  the  United 
States  Bank,  the  People's  Bank,  would  have  fallen  under  the  weight 
of  the  Presidential  veto.  Yes,  Sir,  I  say  the  People's  Bank. 
Pray,  Sir,  whose  is  it,  if  it  be  not  the  people's  ?  It  is  but  a  part, 


TRISTAM    BURGES. 

indeed  a  small  part,  of  the  people's  great  reserved  interests.  For 
the  moneyed  interest  of  the  people  is,  all  of  it,  inconsiderable,  when 
compared  with  their  mercantile  interest ;  their  navigating  interest ; 
their  fishery  interest ;  their  manufacturing  and  mechanic  interest  j 
and,  above  all,  with  their  great  landed  agricultural  interest.  Com 
pared  with  all  these  immense  interests  of  the  people,  their  whole1 
moneyed  interest  is  inconsiderable  in  value  ;  but  their  United  States 
Bank  is  a  part  only  of  that  moneyed  interest ;  for  their  State  Banks 
are,  in  capital,  four  times  the  amount  of  their  United  States  institu 
tion.  Indeed  this,  their  moneyed  interest,  has,  in  itself,  and  alone, 
no  value  ;  and  would  be  utterly  worthless,  any  otherwise,  than  as 
a  great  machine,  by  which  all  other  interests  are  moved  and  made 
productive.  In  this  machine,  their  United  States  Bank  is  useful 
above  its  value ;  because  it  is  the  great  balance  wheel,  regulating 
the  currency  and  the  immense  exchanges,  made  by  that  currency ; 
and  doing  this  both  in  places  nearest  to,  or  the  most  distant  from, 
each  other,  over  the  whole  country.  Sir,  it  is  the  magnitude,  great 
as  it  may  be,  of  this  wheel,  which  alone  enables  those,  who  operate 
its  movements,  to  do  the  work  for  which  the  people  have  built  and 
put  it  in  motfon.  Notwithstanding  this  fact  is  so  well  known  to 
every  man  skilled  in  such  operations ;  yet  the  miserable  political 
engineers  of  these  times,  would  tear  out  and  remove  this  great 
balance  wheel ;  and  supply  its  place,  by  no  one  can  tell  what 
wretched  turnspit  machinery,  hitherto  used  in  the  operations  of  their 
vile  political  establishment.  Sir,  this  Bank,  great  as  it  may  be,  is 
the  People's  Bank.  If  it  be,  as  some  honest,  but  mistaken,  men 
believe  it,  a  money  monopoly  ;  and  as  all  the  minions  of  party,  the 
foes  of  the  people,  have  slanderously  denounced  it  to  be — agreed,  if 
they  will ;  let  it  be  so.  The  people  have  made  it ;  and  it  is  their 
own  monopoly.  Let  their  servants  know  this.  Seven  millions  of 
the  stocks  are  owned  by  the  whole  people,  collectively  ;  and  these 
stocks  give  to  them,  to  the  nation,  two  dividends  a  year,  amounting 
to  four  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dollars  per  annum.  These 
stocks  and  dividends  would,  long  ago,  have  been  lost  to  the  people, 
if  their  ruthless  adversaries  could  have  succeeded  in  destroy  ing  their 
Bank. 

Besides,  Sir,  many  of  the  people  have  placed  all  their  earthly 
treasure  in  this  Bank.  Literary  and  religious  societies  have  placed 
their  funds  here.  Widows  have  garnered  up,  in  this  institution,  the 


380 


SPEECHES    OF 


little  residue,  left  by  endeared  friends  to  lighten  the  gloom  of  their 
solitude,  and  cheer  the  sadness  of  their  desolation.  Orphans  look 
hither,  for  the  means  of  education  and  support,  from  what  was  left 
here  for  them  by  those  who  have  done  with  the  cares  and  perils  of 
time.  Aged  men,  who  have  toiled  through  all  the  labor  of  life, 
have  placed  in  this  institution  what  they  could  save  from  the  con 
suming  touch  of  adversity,  that  it  may  furnish,  for  them,  and  for 
those  dependent  on  them,  food,  and  raiment,  and  shelter.  Twenty 
millions  of  dollars,  in  the  stocks  of  this  Bank,  are  owned  by  many 
thousands  of  such  individuals  of  our  nation  ;  and  this  unnatural  war 
against  this  Bank,  so  emphatically  the  Bank  of  the  people,  is  a  war 
ogainst  property  ;  against  literature  and  learning  ;  the  religion  and 
morals  ;  the  old  age  and  infirmity  ;  the  orphanage  and  widowhood 
of  our  common  country.  Aye,  Sir,  and  a  war,  declared,  and  carried 
t>n,  by  that  Executive  Government,  which  was  established  by  the 
people  ;  yes,  Sir,  and  established  by  them,  not  to  prey  upon  any 
part  or  any  interest  of  the  community,  but  for  the  general  welfare 
of  all.  •  Nay,  Sir,  more  cruel  than  all  this,  we  shall  find  that  Exe 
cutive  war  waged,  as  it  is,  against  those  owners  of  shares,  in  this 
institution,  who  have  no  voice  in  our  councils,  no  arm  in  our  land, 
to  defend  their  interests.  In  other  countries,  where  the  sword  of 
war  widows  many  a  wife,  makes  many  a  mother  childless  ;  where 
the  storm  of  revolution,  so  frequently,  sweeps  over  the  earth  ;  and 
leaves  so  many  of  its  inhabitants  without  shelter,  and  without  food  ; 
people,  there,  hearing  of  our  country  and  its  institutions,  have, 
very  many  of  them,  gathered  up  the  little  fragments  of  their  former 
abundance,  sent  them  to  the  United  States  ;  and,  altogether,  uniting 
their  means  with  two  or  three  wealthy  houses,  they  have  purchased 
eight  millions  in  the  shares  of  this  Bank. 

Sir,  they  were  continually  "  hearing  of  wars  and  rumors  of 
wars,"  in  their  own  countries  ;  but  while  "  their  hearts  were  failing 
them  for  fear  of  what  was  coming  upon  the  earth ;"  these  foreign 
ers,  these  strangers,  a  name  always  heretofore  sacred  among  even 
hordes  of  savages  ;  these  strangers,  men,  women,  ^children,  looked 
here  for  the  safety  of  that  treasure  which  the  good  faith  of  our 
fathers  had  encouraged  them  to  leave  in  our  hands.  Did  these 
confiding  people  apprehend,  or  suspect,  or  even  imagine,  that  this 
institution  could  be  called  to  suffer  reproach  and  malediction  and 
outrageous  injury  in  this  country,  because  it  had  given  shelter  to 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  381 

them  in  their  utmost  need  1  Oh  no,  Sir  ;  never,  never,  could  they, 
in  their  most  gloomy  night  of  disaster,  once  dream,  that  a  war, 
waged  by  the  Government  against  the  people,  was  here  consuming 
their  last  earthly  hope.  Never,  Sir,  never  until  now,  was  any 
institution  of  the  people*  so  assailed ;  by  the  Executive  ;  by  Con 
gress  ;  by  its  own  officers  ;  by  the  Treasury.  The  whole  weight 
'and  array  of  political  war  have  been  urged  and  driven  on  against 
this  institution ;  Jbut  so  deeply  was  it  entrenched  in  the  affections  of 
the  people  ;  and  so  impregnable  were  the  defences  raised  around  it, 
by  its  own  integrity  ;  that  all  this  weight  and  array  of  political  war 
have  not  carried  it  down.  Even  the  Presidential  veto  failed  to 
overthrow  this  depository  of  the  toil-earned  substance  of  the  people. 
Sir,  notwithstanding  the  hopes  and  the  perseverance  of  its  adversa 
ries,  those  minions  of  power ;  this  institution  has  not  only  kept  in 
safety- — undoubted  safety — now  unquestioned  safety,  the  many 
talents  committed  to  its  trust ;  but  has  so  occupied,  and  improved 
them,  that  the  owners ;  this  nation,  many  people  of  this  nation,  and 
many  people  of  other  nations,  will,  unless  plundered  by  lawless 
power  ;  they  will,  when  this  stewardship  shall  expire,  receive  their 
own  again. 

Sir,  the  next  step  taken  to  overthrow  this  institution  ;  and  to  effect, 
or  to  justify  a  removal  of  the  public  money  from  its  custody  ;  was 
to  announce  that  this  money  of  the  people,  was  unsafe  in  their  own 
keeping,  in  their  own  Bank.  A  treasury  agent  was  sent  to  exam 
ine  that  question.  •  He  received  every  aid  from  the  officers  of  the 
Bank  ;  and,  after  the  most  diligent  examination,  he  reported  to  the 
Treasury  that  the  public  money  was  safe  in  the  public  Bank.  This 
seemed  to  widen  the  distance  between  this  money,  and  the  control  of 
the  Executive.  Another  effort  must  be  made.  The  aid  of  Con 
gress  was  invoked  ;  and  hope  seemed-  again  to  be  revived.  The 
House  of  Representatives  appointed  a  committee.  The  question 
was  examined,  most  ardently  and  diligently.  Finally,  this  House, 
friendly,  by  a  great  majority,  to  the  administration,  resolved,  by  an 
overwhelming  majority,  that  the  money  of  the  people  was  safe  in 
the  Bank  of  the  people.  The  gulf,  between  the  money  and  the 
Executive,  did  at  first  appear  to  have  become  impassable.  Patron 
age,  without  this  treasure,  was  exhausted.  Not  one  office  remained 
to  bestow — none  would  resign— none  could  be  persuaded  to  die. 
Thousands  were  barefooted — and  waiting  for  the  shoes  of  men  who 

x* 


382 


SPEECHES    OF 


were  as  likely  to  live  as  they  themselves  were.  The  recruiting 
service,  it  was  thought,  must  cease  ;  desertion  would  probably  fol 
low  ;  and  the  succession  be  inevitably  lost ;  unless  patronage  could 
be  extended,  by  obtaining  the  control  of  the  public  money.  With 
those  funds,  likely  this  year,  as  it  was  said,*  to  be  great,  a  system  of 
deposite,  in  the  State  Banks,  might  be  formed ;  and  so  far  finished, 
before  the  next  Presidential  election,  as  would  give  abundance  of 
promise,  and  some  payment  to  old  and  new  partisans.  How  could 
this  be  effected,  was  the  anxious  question.  The  vineyard  of  Naboth 
was  flourishing,  and  would  feed  them  all ;  but  then  it  was  still  Na 
both 's  vineyard.  Hitherto  Congress  had  been  invoked  for  aid  in 
the  removal  of  the  public  money  ;  but  hitherto  no  cause,  justifying 
that  removal,  had  been  suggested,  either  to  the  Treasury  or  to 
Congress,  other  than  the  unsafety.  of  that  money,  in  the  National 
Bank. 

When,  at  the  last  session,  the  House  passed  their  Resolution  of 
safety,  it  was  well  known  to  them,  that  the  Bank  charter  wrould 
expire  on  the  3d  of  March,  1836,  and,  therefore,  that  before  Con 
gress  would  meet  again,  that  charter  would,  on  the  first  day  of 
October,  1833,  have  but  two  years,  five  months,  and  three  days  to 
run.  Was  this  fact  suggested  to  the  House,  by  the  President,  who 
was  so  anxious  for  the  event,  as  a  cause  justifying  that  removal  ? 
It  was  then  known,  that  if  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  should, 
because  the  charter  would  end  within  two  years  and  a  half,  order 
and  direct  that  no  more  money  should  be  deposited  in  the  Bank  ; 
and  that  the  Treasurer  should  remove  from  its  vaults  the  whole 
nine  millions,  eight  hundred  and  sixty-eight  thousand,  four  hundred 
and  thirty-five  dollars,  and  fifty-eight  cents,  which  would  then  be 
there  on  deposite  ;  it  was  well  known,  Sir,  that  the  Bank  must,  to 
pay  this  nearly  ten  millions  of  monej',  withdraw  its  discounts,  call 
on  its  customers  to  repay  this  money,  which  had  been  loaned  to 
them  ;  and  thus  aid  the  Bank  in  the  repayment  of  it.  Was  it  then 
suggested,  by  the  "Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  or  by  the  President, 
that,  if  the  Bank,  when  called  upon  for  the  deposites,  should  adopt 
this  course,  it  would  be  a  justifying  cause  of  that  order  of  removal 
of  which  it  was  the  necessary  effect  ?  It  was  then  well  known,  that 
the  Bank  Directors  did  believe  their  charter,  like  those  of  all  other 
Banks,  authorized  them  to  appoint  committees  of  discount,  and  ex 
change  ;  that  it  did  not  require  a  whole  board  to  discount  a  note. 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  383 

or  purchase  a  bill,  or  do  any  other  mere  Executive  act ;  and  that 
these  committees  were  appointed  by  the  president  of  the  Bank.  Did 
the  President  of  the  United  States  then  so  much  as  intimate  to  Con- 
gress,  that  these  acts  were  violations  of  the  charter,  and  causes  of 
removal  ?  It  was  known  to  the  -Government  Directors,  so  early  as 
the  8th  of  January,  1833,  at  the  then  board  meeting  of  the  Bank, 
that  none  of  those  Directors  were  appointed  on  important  commit 
tees.  This,  it  is  presumed,  they  made  known  to  the  President  in 
their  correspondence  with  him  ;  for  a  part  only  of  that  correspon 
dence  is  published.  Did  the  President  represent  this  to  Congress, 
as  a  cause,  if  it  ever  were  a  cause,  for  the  removal  of  the  public 
money  ?  It  was.  well  known  to  Congress,  at  that  time,  that  the 
Directors  had  published  documents,  and  expended  money  to  defend 
the  institution  against  this  Executive  war ;  it  was  well  known  that 
loans  had  been  made,  as  well  to  printers,  as  to  other  men  in  busi 
ness  ;  it  was  well  known  that  the  Bank  did,  from  1830  to  1832, 
extend  its  loans  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  people  :  for  the  Bank 
committee  had  very  lately  seen  and  examined  all  these  things  ;  and 
yet,  the  President  of  the  United  States  did  not  offer  one  of  them  to 
Congress  as  a  cause  for  removal  of  the  deposites. 

In  fact,  nearly  every  reason  set  down  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  as  his  reasons  for  this  removal,  was  knowa  to  Congress  ; 
to  the  President ;  and  was  known  to  the;  Treasury  Department ; 
when,  on  the  3d  day  of  March,  1833,  this  House  resolved  that  the 
money  of  the  people  was  safe  in  the  Bank  of  the  people.  Up  to 
that  time,  it  had  not  been  suggested,  by  the  Treasury  Department, 
to  Congress,  that  the  head  of  that  Department,  whether  the  Secre 
tary  or  the  President,  of  the  United  States,  could  take  the  money 
from  the  Treasurer  without  appropriation,  for  any  purpose  what 
ever,  and  use  it  to  aid  State  Banks,  enfeebled  by  adversity,  or  insol 
vent  from  overtrading.  Neither  had  it  been  intimated,  by  the 
President,  that  he  claimed  the  right,  to  place  Government  Directors 
in  the  Bank,  who  might  be  of  such  a  character  as  would  induce 
them  to  consent  to  transmit  to  him,  the  daily  transactions  of  the 
Bank  ;  and  that  too  without  letting,  it  be  known  to  the  other  Direc 
tors  that  they  were- doing  these,  very  unwarrantable  deeds.  The 
Treasury  Department  did  not  claim  that  power  till  after  the  23d  of 
September.  We  know  Mr.  E)uane  disclaimed  it.  Itjmust  have 
been  known  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  that  if  a  record 


384  SPEECHES    OF 

of  every  day's  work  of  the  Bank  had  been  read  at  night  to  him,  it 
would  have  given  to  him  no  cause  for  removal  of  the  deposites.  It 
so  happened  (and  who  can  say  why  ?)  that  those  gentlemen  selected 
for  Government  Directors,  regarded  their  appointment  as  a  distin 
guished  honor,  a  great  State  office,  conferred  on  them  :  and  though, 
doubtless,  men  of  much  capacity,  yet  being  unacquainted  with  bank 
ing,  they,  like  many  other  men  of  great  genius,  felt  these  mere 
money  matters  much  below  their  attention  ;  and  attached  them 
selves  solely  to  the  great  State  purposes  of  their  appointment. 
With  .matters  of  State,  the  Bank  had  nothing  to  do ;  and  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  Bank  and  the  people's  Directors,  being  plain,  straight 
forward,  business  men,  and  finding  their  new  associates  from  the 
Government  not  much  conversant  with  such  matters  ;  they  put 
them  on  no  committees  where  business  qualifications  were  required. 
Had  the  charter  required  a  committee  of  State  affairs,  these  would 
have  been  the  men.  This  very  natural  course  of  conduct,  the 
Government  Directors  attributed  to  a  wish,  on  the  part  of  the 
people's  Directors,  to  conceal  from  them  the  operations  of  the 
Bank. 

This  notion  of  concealment,  had,  by  their  correspondence,  or  by 
rumor,  reached  the  Executive  ear,  before  he  received  the  first  let 
ter  which  they  have  published,  (for  we  have  not  all  the  correspon 
dence.)  In  that  letter,  not  published,  they  evidently  complained  of 
a  difficulty  in  ascertaining  what  was  doing  in  the  Bank.  This 
mystery,  which  they  announced  to  the  Executive  as  studied  con 
cealment,  was  merely  the  mystery  of  ordinary  business  ;  and  this, 
they  could  not  comprehend,  in  a  place,  where  they  had  expected  to 
find  mere  State  politics,  in  which  they  regarded  themselves  as  great 
masters.  It  was  like  Galileo's  solar  system  to  a  conclave  of  car 
dinals  ;  and  as  those  pious  men  told  the  holy  father,  that  such  phi 
losophy  would  overthrow  the  church  ;  so  these  cautious  political 
gentlemen  informed  the  President  of  the  United  States,  that  these 
money-making  Directors,  and  their  plodding  President,  must  have 
some  secret  design  against  the  Government.  This  was  enough. 
Concealment  was  rumored  first,  then  suspected,  then  believed  ;  and 
afterwards  proved,  by  the  assertion  of  the  Government  Directors. 
For  when  it  was  found  that  those  gentlemen  were  willing  to  inquire, 
and  listen,  and  tell ;  it  was  soon  determined  to  put  them  to  that  ser 
vice  ;  and  though  they  seemed  to  intimate  in  their  correspondence 


T  It  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  385 

that  their  task  might  be  easier,  and  they  might  get  at  more  facts,  if 
desirable,  should  they  be  authorized  to  make  open  inquiry  ;  yet  this 
duplexity  of  characters,  did  not  seem  to  encounter  any  notions  of 
candor  or  fair  dealing,  which  they  had  before  formed  for  their 
government.  This  commission,  given  to  these  Executive  Direc 
tors,  and  the  manner  in  which  they  executed  it,  though  it  furnishes 
no  new  reason,  was  still  the  cause  of  the  removal. 

Before  the  time  of  thus  employing  them,  the  President  had  claimed 
no  right  to  act,  in  relation  to  the  bank,  or  the  public  money,  oth 
er  than  to  order  a  scire  facias,  according  to  the  charter,  when  he 
had  reason  to  believe  it  had  been  violated.  The  immediate  super 
vision  of  the  bank,  had  been  left,  where  that'  charter  placed  it,  with 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  He  could  receive,  from  the  bank, 
weekly  statements  ;  first,  of  the  amount  of  its  capital ;  second,  of 
the  amount  of  debts  due  to  it ;  third,  of  the  amount  of  its  bills  in 
circulation  ;  fourth,  of  the  amount  of  all  deposites  made  in  it ;  and 
fifth,  of  the  amount  of  specie  in  its  vaults  ;  and  he  could,  at  any  time, 
examine,  at  the  bank,  the  books  and  accounts,  from  which  these 
statements  were  made.  From  all  these  he  could  judge,  and  deter 
mine  whether  the  public  money,  already  placed  in  the  bank  by  the 
Treasurer,  was  safe  in  that  depository ;  and  also  whether  it  would 
be  safe  Jbr  the  Treasurer  to  continue  to  comply  with  that  law  which 
requires  that  the  public  money  shall  be  deposited  in  the  bank  or  its 
branches.  Either  House  of  Congress  might,  by  a  committee,  inquire 
into  the  condition  and  conduct  of  the  bank ;  and  .if  that  committee 
reported  a  violation  of  the  charter,  that  House  which  raised  that 
committee,  might  order  a  scire  facias  to  be  issued,  to  impannel  a  jury, 
and  try  the  facts.  All  these  powers  'over  the  Bank,  are  placed  in 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  Congress,  and  in  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  to  insure  the  fulfilment  of  the  contract  made  by 
the  Bank  with  the  United  States,  in  the  charter.  They  are  all  found 
ed  on  this  great  principle,  that  so  long  as  the  Bank  keeps  its  con 
tract  with  the  United  States  inviolate,  the  public  money  must  be  safe 
in  that  institution  ;  and,  therefore,  to  remove  it,  from  that  deposito 
ry,  would  be  a  violation  of  the  contract,  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States.  In  perfect  accordance  with  this  theory,  the  only  question 
ever  made,  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,-  or  by  the  President, 
or  by  Congress,  touching  the  public  money,  already  in  the  Bank,  or 
to  be  deposited  there,  had  been  a  question  of  safety.  Sir,  until  since 


386 


SPEECHES    OF 


the  dissolution  of  the  last  Congress,  I  repeat  it,  fearless  of  contradic 
tion,  no  inquiry  had  ever  been  made,  by  any  branch  of  the  Govern, 
ment,  or  by  any  public  officer,  concerning  the  public  money  ;  no, 
Sir,  no  question  which  proposed  any  reason  for  its  removal  from 
the  Bank,  other  than  its  safety  alone.  It  is,  therefore,  again  assert- 
ed,  that  the  commission  of  inquiry  by  the  Government  directors,  in 
stituted  by  the  President,  in  a  manner  so  unknown  to  the  laws,  that 
it  was  kept  a  great  State  secret ;  though  it  furnished  no  reason ; 
yet  was  the  sole  cause  of  removing  the  money  from  the  Bank.  On 
the  report  of  those  directors,  the  President  having  before  made  up 
his  mind,  proceeded  to  order  and  direct  this  removal.  A  new  prin 
ciple  was  applied  to  the  operation-  It  was  admitted  that  the  money 
was  safe  in  the  Bank  ;  but  it.  was  contended  that  the  public  interest 
suffered,  by  keeping  it  there  ;  and  that,  by  removing,  and  placing 
this  money  in  a  certain  description  of  State  Banks,  the  public  inter 
est  would  be  greatly  advanced. 

What,  Sir,  is  the  public  interest  ?  Is  it  not  the  political  interest  ? 
Had  not  the  Bank  utterly  refused  to  be  subservient  to  any  political 
interest  ?  What  is  the  political  interest  ?  Why,  Sir,  it  is  neither  less 
nor  more  than  the  interest  of  the  party.  To  this,  the  Bank  had  re 
fused  to  be  subservient ;  and  therefore,  for  the  plainest  reason  on 
earth,  the  money  should  be  taken  from  that  Bank,  and  deposited  in 
such  State  Banks,  as  would  be  subservient  to  the  public  interest,  the 
political  interest,  the  party  interest.  The  removal  of  this  money, 
and  the  arrangement  made  by  means  of  it,  with  we  know  not  how 
many,  or  what  State  Banks,  fills  up  that  "  aching  void,"  in  the  very 
heart  of  patronage,  which  when  filled,  will  enable  power  to  secure 
old,  and  perhaps  procure  new  partisans.  Has  the  Executive  been 
laboring,  struggling,  ever  since  1329,  to  unite,  in  his  own  hands,  the 
money  power  with  the  political  power  of  this  country  ?  He  has  more 
than  succeeded.  The  money  of  the  people,  nine  or  ten  millions  of 
dollars,  at  first,  and  now  nine  or  ten  millions  more,  carefully  placed 
in  State  Banks,  will  control  the  money  of  individuals,  in  those  banks  ; 
and  make  that  also  subservient  to  the  Executive  will.  Is  not  this, 
in  some  degree,  already  done  ?  Have  not  those  banks  agreed  to  re 
ceive,  and  pay  Treasury  agents?  For  what  purpose^ are  these  fiscal 
agents  to  be  received  by  these  banks  ?  Why  truly,  to  the  intent 
that  they  may  be  appointed.  Why  are  they  are  to  be  appointed  ? 
First  of  all,  that  they  may  be  paid ';  and  next,  that  they  may  super- 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  387 

vise,  not  the  pecuniary  safety  alone,  but  also  the  political  safety  of 
the  banks.  Do  we  sit  here,  Sir,  inquiring  into  the  sufficiency  of 
the  reason,  why.  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  done  all  this  ? 
We  know  that  reason  is  not  on  the  paper  laid  before  us.  We  know 
the  Secretary  ordered  and  directed  the  removal ;  because  the  Pres 
ident  of  the  United  States  ordered  and  directed  him  to  do  so.  We 
know  that  the  President  ordered  and"  directed  Mr.  Duane  to  do  this  ; 
but  we  know,  he  would  not  do  it ;  and  that  he  was,  for  the  refusal, 
dismissed  from  office.  Who  then,  can  doubt,  that  the  present  Sec 
retary  was,  before  appointed,  ordered  to  do  it,  if  appointed  ;  and 
that  he  received  the  office  under  that  order  ;  and  after  he  had  pro 
mised  to  comply  with  it.  Sir,  this  is  the -consummation  of  the  great 
Executive  labor,  effort,  struggle,  to  obtain  the  control  of  the  money 
power  of  the  country.  It  is  the  last  act  in  this  great  political  dra 
ma. 

This  act  was  opened  by  the  President  himself  in  person.  He  as 
sumes  the  power  to  control  the  Treasury  Department.  He  effects 
this  by  another  assumption  ;  he  assumes  that  this  Department  is  an 
Executive  Department,  in  the  constitutional  sense  of  that  phrase ; 
that  he  is  at  the  head  of  the  Executive  Departments,  and  although 
the  law  expressly  says  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  "  shall 
be  deemed  head  of  that  department ;"  yet  he,  the  President,  is,  by 
implication  of  law  the  head  of  that  department,  and,  therefore,  can 
control  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ;  and,  of  course,  can  control 
that  money,  which,  as  he  alleges,  is  placed  under  the  control  of  that 
Secretary.  When  the  President  had  thus  placed  himself  at  the  head 
of  the  Treasury  Department,  he  immediately  determined,  to  do,  by 
himself,  what  he  had  long  ago  been  laboring  to  induce  others  to  do; 
he  determined  to  remove  the  public  money.  To  prepare  the  way 
for  the  removal,  he  first  settled  his  new  principle,  of  removal.  Ac 
cording  to  this  principle,  that  money  might  be  removed,  by  the  head 
of  the  Treasury  Department,  and  deposited  in  any  place  to  promote 
that  interest  which  was,  by  him,  declared  to  be  the  public  interest. 
He,  therefore,  made  but  one  question  ;  did  that  interest  require  that 
removal  ?  The  Presidential  directors  had  been  sent  to  the  Bank,  as 
men  are  sent  into  an  enemy's  camp  ;  not  to  aid  in  doing  the  honest 
public  service  of  that  institution,  but  to  learn  its  most  assailable  points; 
and,  at  what  time,  the  public  money  might  be  removed,  with  most 
peril  to  the  Bank,  and  least  to  the  Executive.  For  a  skilful  com- 


SPEECHES    OF 

mandcr,  though  lie  feels  much  power,  and  no  fear,  yet  will  he  avoid 
all  useless  waste  of  that  power.  A  Treasury  agent  had  been  sent, 
by  the  President,  to  the  State  banks ;  not  that  he  might  learn  what 
safety,  or  what  bonus  they  would  give  to,  or  for,  the  public  money  ; 
for  the  United  States  Bank  gave  the  utmost  safety  to,  and  paid  in 
advance,  and  had  given  $320,000.  per  annum  for  that  money.  The 
object  of  inquiry  must  have  been,  the  political  terms,  on  which  those 
banks  would  receive  that  money.  The  Executive  directors  report 
ed  to  the  President,  on  the  10th  day  of  August.  It  is  not,  nor  pro 
bably  will  it  ever  be  publicly  known,  nor  is  it  very  important  that 
it  should  be  known,  when  that  agent  reported.  The  President,  hav 
ing  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  Treasury  Department,  did,  as 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  under  the  provisions  of  the  Con 
stitution,  call  on  himself,  as  head  of  that  Department,  to  give  to  him 
self  his  own  opinion,  in  writing,  concerning  his  duty  in  that  office,  in 
respect  to  the  removal  of  the  public  -money.  To  this  call,  the  Ex 
ecutive,  as  head  of  the  Treasury  Department,  did,  on  the  18th  of 
September,  1833,  respond  in  writing  to  the  Executive,  as  President 
of  the  United  States,  touching  his  treasury  duties,  in  relation  to  that 
removal.  In  that  paper,  containing  that  opinion,  read  to  the  whole 
cabinet,  on  that  day,  the  Executive,  as  head  of  the  Treasury  Depart 
ment,  clearly  convinces  the  Executive,  as  President  of  the  United 
States,  that  it  was  his  imperative  duty,  for  the  reasons  given  to  him-  ' 
self,  by  himself,  in  that  important  paper,  to  order  and  direct,  that  no 
more  public  money  should  be  deposited  "  in  the  United  States  Bank 
or  its  branches  ;"  and  that  all  money,  then  found  there,  belonging  to 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  should  be  removed  from  their  own 
keeping,  in  their  own  Bank.  The  Executive,  therefore,  did,  either 
as  President  of  the  United  States,  or  as  head  of  the  Treasury  De 
partment,  on  that  clay,  order  and  direct  this  cessation  of  deposite, 
and  the  removal  to  be  made,  on  the  first  day  of  October,  1833. 

On  the  20th  of  the  same  September,  this  order  and  direction, 
made  by  the  Executive,  and  to  be  executed  on  the  twelfth  day  fol 
lowing,  was  officially  announced  in  the  Executive  gazette.  Mr. 
Duane,  then  Secretery  of  the  Treasury,  and  as  the  law  declares, 
"  head  of  that  Department,"  denied  the  power  of  the  President  to 
act  as  head  of  that  Department ;  denied,  that  the  reasons,  assigned 
in  the  manifesto  of  the  Presidential  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  as 
head  of  that  Department,  were,  any,  or  all  of  them,  sufficient,  for 


TRI8TAM    BURGES.  389 

ordering  and  directing  a  removal  of  the  public  money  ;  and,  more 
astonishing  than  all,  the  President  admitted,  as  he  had  always  done, 
that  Mr.  Duane,  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  had  the  entire  and 
independent  power,  to  decide  and  adjudicate,  on  this  great  question 
of  removal.  Mr.  Duane  did,  on  the  18th>  19th,  20th,  21st,  22d,  and 
23d  days  of  that  same  September,  refuse  to  sign  the  order  and  di 
rection,  made  by  the  President ;  or  to  promulgate  any  such  paper, 
under  his  signature,  and  as  his  own.  For,  unaccountable  as  it  may 
appear,  the  President  could  not  persuade  himself  that  it  was  lawful 
for  him  to  sign  an  order,  which  he  had  induced  himself  to  believe,  it 
was  lawful  for  him  to  make  and  give.  He  dared  to  adjudicate  for 
the  Secretary  between  the  Bank  and  the  nation  ;  he  dared  to  make 
out  the  execution,  the  order  and  direction,  for  him  to  carry  that 
judgment  into  full  effect ;  but  he  dared  not  to  do  the  mere  clerical 
service  of  the  amanuensis.  For  raising  these  questions,  for  doubt 
ing  the  Executive  adjudications,  for  refusing  to  obey  the  Presiden 
tial  mandates,  for  daring  to  judge  for  himself  honestly  and  indepen 
dently,  Mr.  Duane  was  dismissed  from  office.  In  an  ordinary  event, 
the  day  of  its  occurring  is  not  material ;  but  in  these  daring  and  por 
tentous  acts  of  Executive  usurpation,  the  day,  the  hour,  the  moment, 
when  one  of  them  makes  a  blot  on  the  fair  page  of  our  national  his 
tory,  become  a  kind  of  era  ;  and  will  hereafter  stand,  in  the  annals 
of  our  institutions,  as  the  advent  of  pestilence  or  conflagration  stands 
in  the  calendars  of  those  nations,  which  have  been  visited  by  those 
calamities.  On  that  memorable  23d  of  September,  Mr.  Duane  was 
dismissed  ;  and  on  the  same  day,  as  if  such  a  deed  were  not  enough 
to  render  one  day  odious  to  all  the  true  whigs  of  the  world,  the  pres 
ent  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  appointed,  to  fill  a  vacancy  not 
happening  ;  but  a  vacancy  created,  by  one  deed  of  despotism,  to 
make  room  for  doing  another,  if  possible,  more  detestable.  Mr. 
Taney  was  appointed ;  the  order  and  direction  of  the  President,  made 
arid  promulgated  on  the  20th,  was  by  him  signed  ;  but  whether  be 
fore,  or  after  this  appointment,  is  and  will  remain  among  the  unknown 
things  of  that  great  deep  of  darkness  and  despotism,  towards  which 
this  man,  once  the  man  of  the  people,  is  now  hurrying  all  their  rights, 
interests,  and  liberties. 

Let,  then,  every  candid  man  in  the  nation  examine  all  these  facts, 
and  determine  for  himself,    whether  all  these  movements  have  been 

made,  for  the  safety  or  benefit  of  the  public  money,  for  the  benefit 

y* 


390 


SPEECHES    OF 


of  the  people ;  or  to  enable  the  Executive,  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  to  bring  that  money  entirely  within  his  own  control. 
Sir,  as  if  the  grasping  of  this  money,  the  removal  of  this  money  by 
his  agents ;  the  placing  of  it  in  Banks,  controlled  by  these  agents, 
were  not  enough  to  demonstrate  this  perilous  truth  ;  the  President 
has  assumed  to  himself  a  power,  never  before  claimed  by  any  Ex 
ecutive  of  the  United  States  ;  the  power,  as  Executive  head  of  the 
Treasury  Department,  to  make  that  Department  accountable  to 
himself,  and  obedient  to  his  orders  and  directions.  If  he  succeed 
in  maintaining  this  claim — and  you  see  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury  already  acknowledges  his  supremacy,  and  denies  that  of  all  the 
laws ;  if,  I  say,  he  shall  sustain  himself  in  that  claim,  he  will  unite 
in  himself  the  money  power  of  the  nation,  with  the  political  power, 
without  any  other  effort  whatever.  Thus,  Sir,  this  master  of  the 
sword,  will  have  made  himself  master  also  of  the  treasure  of  the 
nation ;  and  how  long  will  the  nation  remain  without  a  master  in  this 
high  commander-in-chief  ? 

Sir,  the  House  of  Representatives,  "  thus  sitting,  thus  consulting," 
should  have  before  them  the  whole  reasons,  all  and  each  of  the  rea 
sons,  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  Have  we  all  ?  We  know 
that  we  have  not.  We  know  that  the  true,  efficient  reason  for  the 
removal,  was  the  order  of  the  President.  The  Secretary  has  told 
us  that  "  he  holds  his  office  subject  to  the  supervision  of  the  Presi 
dent."  If  he  can  supervise,  he  can  direct.  We  know  he  did 
direct ;  and  why  has  that  order  and  direction,  made  by  him,  been 
withholden  from  us?  Sir,  is  there  a  man  in  this  House  who 
breathes  the  vital  air,  and  feels  the  current  of  life  beating  in  his 
bosom,  who  does  not  feel  himself,  as  a  free  living  man,  dishonored 
and  disgraced,  to  stand  here,  before  his  country,  examining  the  suf 
ficiency  of  reasons  laid  on  our  table  by  the  Secretary,  when  he 
knows  that  an  order  of  the  ^President,  not  sent  to  us, — but  not  one 
thread  of  all  this  fabric  spread  before  us, — was  the  great  efficient 
cause  of  that  deed  of  power  which  has  convulsed  our  country 
throughout  all  its  regions  ?  Sir,  if  then  the  true  reason  of  the  re 
moval  be  the  order  of  the  President ;  and  if  that  order  were  given, 
not  for  the  safety  of  that  money,  or  for  any  benefit  of  the  people, 
but  to  bring  the  public  treasure  within  the  Executive  control ;  and 
unite  the  money  power  with  the  political  power  already  in  his  hands; 
it  necessarily  follows,  that  the  reasons  laid  before  Congress  by  the 


TRISTAM    B  URGES.  391 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  are  insufficient  for  the  removal.  For  if 
that  removal  would  not  have  been  made  without  that  order,  then  it 
was  not  made  because  of  these  reasons  sent  to  us  ;  but  because  of 
that  order  not  sent  to  us.  So  far,  therefore,  are  any  or  all  these 
reasons  from  being  sufficient,  that  they  might  all  have  existed,  aud 
the  removal  would  not  have  been  made,  unless  the  order  of  the  Presi 
dent  had  been  j^iven  to  make  it.  •&'' 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  disobeyed  the  law  ;  he  has 
not  laid  before  Congress  his  reasons  for  his  order  and  direction: 
He  has  not  laid  before  them  the  President's  order,  or  his  own  pro- 
mise,  made  either  before,  or  after  his  appointment,  to  obey  that 
order.  The  House  might,  therefore,  immediately,  and  without  fur 
ther  consideration,  vote  the  reasons  laid  before  us,  insufficient ;  not 
only  because  they  are  but  a  part ;  but  because  they  are  not  the 
efficient  part,  of  his  reasons,  for  the  removal. 

For  another  cause,  these  reasons  are  not  only  insufficient,  but 
-utterly  nugatory.  It  is  known  to  every  member  of  this  House,  that 
every  one  of  the  reasons,  now  laid  before  Congress  by  this  Secre 
tary  of  the  Treasury,  as  causes,  as  reasons  for  his  order  and  di 
rection  to  remove  the  deposites,  were  by  the  President  laid  before 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ;  and  by  him  examined,  and  adjudg 
ed  to  be  insufficient.  That  adjudication,  if  not  destroyed,  remains 
now  on  the  records  of  the  Treasury  Department.  What,  then,  can 
give  any  new  sufficiency  to  reasons  condemned  as  insufficient,  by 
that  Secretary  who  had  the  sole  right  to  judge,  who  nobly  stood  at 
the  Treasury  door,  and  resisted  the  Executive  order,  and  the.  Exe 
cutive  arm,  in  all  attempts  to  remove  the  money  of  the  people  from 
the  Bank  of  the  people,  where  the  laws- of  the  people  had  placed  it, 
in  unquestioned  safety  ? 

It  is  admitted  by  all  men,  that  this  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
had  the  legal,  the  undoubted,  the  unquestionable  authority  to  adju 
dicate  and  decide  on  the  sufficiency  of  these  reasons.  If  that  be 
true,  no  man  can  have  the  right  to  rejudge,  and  reverse  his  decision. 
Any  rule  contrary  to  this,  would  put  every  thing  in  that  Depart 
ment  utterly  afloat.  It  has  been  seen,  that  both  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  and  the  Comptroller,  are  vested  with  high  judicial 
powers,  on  many  fiscal  questions  ;  and  that  this  now  before  us,  is 
one  among  those  questions.  If  a  ship,  with  a  cargo  of  five  hundred 
Ihousand  dollars,  come  within  the  port  of  Philadelphia,  and,  by  mis- 


392  j>  *     SPEECHES    OF 

take,  the  master  do  not  exhibit  his  manifest,  in  due  form,  and  the 
vessel  and  cargo  be  seized,  application  is  made  to  the  Secretary,  or 
the  Comptroller,  to  release  the  seizure,  and  admit  the  ship  to  a 
legal  entry.  A  trial  is  had.  The  fiscal  judge,  on  a  full  inquiry, 
is  satisfied  that  no  fraud  was  intended.  He  adjudges  the  ship  not 
guilty,  and  orders  the  collector  to  release  the  seizure,  and  to  admit 
her  to  a  legal  entry.  Should  this  come  to  the  ear  of  the  President, 
could  he  cause  that  judgment  to  be  reversed,  by  dismissing  that 
officer,  and  appointing  another,  who  would  .give  assurance  that,  if 
appointed,  he  would  make  that  reversal,  hold  the  ship  to  the  seiz 
ure,  and  cause  her  to  be  libelled,  and,  if  possible,  condemned  ?  Nay, 
could  he  make  this  reversal  of  this  adjudication,  and,  without  a 
libel,  or  a  trial,  condemn  the  ship  and  cargo,  as  he  has  reversed  the 
adjudication  of  Mr.  Duane  in  favor  of  the  Bank  ;  and  caused  an 
other  Secretary  to  condemn  that  institution,  without  a  scire  facias, 
or  a  judge,  or  a  jury,  or  any  trial  whatever  ?  Thousands  of  fiscal 
cases  have  been  tried,  but  never  did  a  President  of  the  United  States 
attempt  to  reverse  a  judgment  once  so  made. 

If,  therefore,  Mr.  Duane  had  the  right  to  decide  on  the  sufficiency 
of  these  reasons,  and  did  condemn  them,  for  insufficiency,  could  Mr. 
Taney,  the  next  hour,  by  order  of  the  President,  give  to  these  rea 
sons  a  sufficiency,  which,  one  hour  before,  did  not  by  law  appertain 
to  them  ?  If  the  law  made  it  the  duty  of  Mr.  Secretary  Duane,  to 
decide  on  the  sufficiency  of  these  reasons,  can  Congress  reverse  his 
decision  ?  Congress,  or  either  House  may,  at  any  time,  order  an 
inquiry,  by  a  Committee,  into  the  condition  and  conduct  of  the 
Bank  ;  but  if  Congress,  after  inquiry,  instead  of  sending  the  case  to 
a  jury,  place  before  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  no  matter  how 
many  reasons,  for  ordering  and  directing  a  removal  of  the  deposites, 
and  he  adjudge  those  reasons  insufficient ;  neither  House,  nor  both 
Houses,  can  reverse  his  decision.  Will  it,  then,  be  contended  that 
the  President  can  do  it ;  and  that  an  adjudication  made  in  the  fore 
noon  by  one  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  could,  in  the  afternoon,  be 
reversed  by  another  ?  Can  it  be  possible  that  we  have  a  power, 
and  that  merely  Executive,  in  the  United  States,  which  can,  by  this 
process  of  removal  and  order  of  reversal,  set  aside  great  fiscal  ad 
judications  ;  between  the  United  States  and  any  of  the  people  ;  be 
tween  the  United  States  and  corporations  of  the  United  States ; 
where  solemn  contracts,  and  all  the  principles  of  good  faith,  are  in- 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  E  S.  393 

volved  in  such  proceeding  ?  Sir,  if  a  fiscal  decision  can  be  thus 
reversed,  not  a  law,  in  your  whole  revenue  system,  has  any  better 
foundation  for  its  practical  uniformity,  from  year  to  year,  or  from 
place  to  place,  than  mere  Executive  will  and  caprice.  If  this  deci 
sion  of  Secretary  Duane  can  be  reversed,  by  his  successor ;  then 
every  decision  of  every  Secretary  can  be  reversed  by  any  successor 
in  that  office. 

These  reasons  are,  then,  insufficient,  because  they  are  not  the 
reasons  for  which  Secretary  Taney  ordered  and  directed  the  re 
moval  ;  and  because  they,  and  all  other  reasons  for  that  removal, 
were  adjudged  insufficient  by  Mr.  Duane  ;  and  that  decision  cannot 
be  reversed  by  his  successor. 

On  what  principle  was  Mr.  Duane  dismissed  from  office  ?  On 
this  principle  :  The  possession  of  power  always  justifies  the  exer 
cise  of  that  power.  The  President  could,  and,  therefore,  he  did 
justly  dismiss  this  public  officer.  Possum  quid  possum,  is  the  mea 
sure,  and  the  justification  of  Presidential  power.  There  is  no  pre 
cedent  for  such  a  dismissal.  Mr.  Duane  was  appointed  to  fill  a 
vacancy  happening  in  the  recess  of  the  Senate.  No  Secretary,  so 
appointed,  has  been,  I  believe,  so  dismissed.  By  the  Constitution 
his  commission  expires  at  the  close  of  the  next  succeeding  session 
of  Congress.  If  it  must  expire  at  that  time,  who  can  bring  it  to  a 
termination,  who  can  cause  it  to  expire  before  that  time  ?  This  act 
of  the  Executive  was  a  sheer  exercise  of  power  ;  and  violation  of  a 
constitutional  right  to  hold  an  office  according  to  the  tenor  of  his 
commission  ;  and  not  at  the  will  of  the  Executive.  This  man  was 
not  dismissed,  it  is  true  ;  because  he  was  literally  turned  out  of 
office. 

All  ages  of  the  world  have  furnished  the  historian  with  abundant 
materials  brought  into  existence  by  the  actions  of  men,  "  who  feel 
power,  and  forget  right."  Men  of  power  have  been  less  numerous, 
but  more  distinguished,  in  modern,  than  in  ancient  times.  The  Ro 
man,  the  Macedonian,  the  Persian,  and  the  Assyrian  dynasties  gave 
to  the  world  many  men  of  power.  All  of  them,  however,  we  shall 
find,  if  we  look  back  from  the  third  Csesar,  the  dissimulating,  bloody, 
and  profligate  Tiberius,  to  him,  the  last  of  his  race,  whose  midnight 
carousal  called  into  his  seraglio,  and  profaned,  with  meretricious 
libations,  vessels  consecrated  in  the  temple  to  the  worship  of  the 
Most  High  ;  if  we  look  at  them  all,  not  one  will  be  found  to  have 


394  SPEECHES    OF 

equalled  Timour ;  that  great  Mogul  chief,  of  the  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  centuries,  usually  called  Tamerlane.  All  of  them  justi 
fied  their  deeds,  because  they  had  the  power  to  do  them.  Possum 
quia  possum  was  their  motto  ;  but  Timour  alone  contended  that  his 
power  was  given  to  him  by  God  ;  and,  therefore,  with  him,  I  can, 
because  I  can,  was  a  dogma  of  his  religion.  No  other  man  exer 
cised  so  much  power,  and  demolished  so  many  of  those  things  pro 
duced  by  human  labor.  He  alike  swept  away  the  narrow  ham 
let  and  the  wide  city  ;  and  struck,  like  death  himself,  with  equal 
blow  at  the  cottage  of  the  poor  and  the  palace  of  the  opulent.  None 
of  all  the  men  of  power,  like  him,  drove  the  ploughshare  of  ruin 
through  the  earth  ;  or  turned  up  so  wide  a  field  of  the  inhabited 
world  ;  or  drenched  the  furrows  of  that  field  with  such  a  waste  of 
human  blood ;  or  gathered,  out  of  the  ruins  of  nations,  such  a  har 
vest  of  plunder  in  gold,  silver,  and  all  other  precious  riches.  This 
great  Mogul  was  a  most  devout  Mussulman,  had  been  taught  his 
creed  in  that  faith  under  the  doctors  of  the  Persian  school ;  and  fer 
vently  followed  the  sect  of  Ali,  grandson  of  the  prophet  himself. 
He  abhorred  the  Mahometans  of  Western  Asia  and  Africa,  the 
people  of  Syria  and  Egypt,  as  the  disciples  of  heretics  and  usurpers. 
No  sooner  had  he  returned  from  his  successful  campaigns  in  India, 
than  he  proclaimed  a  seven  years'  war  against  those  countries  ;  and 
swore  by  Allah  himself,  that  he  would  use  the  power  of  God  to 
extirpate  heresy  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  military  republic 
of  the  Mamalukes  was  still  powerful  in  Egypt  and  Syria  ;  and  the 
emirs  of  that  dynasty  had  assembled  at  Aleppo  to  resist  this  tide  of 
war  rolling  on  against  that  devoted  city.  No  city  of  Asia  was 
more  splendid.  None  adorned  with  more  wealth,  beauty,  and 
valor.  The  Syrians,  instead  of  sheltering  themselves,  as  they 
might,  behind  their  impregnable  walls  and  bulwarks,  were  too 
proud  of  their  own  valor,  to  fight  behind  them  ;  and,  relying  on 
their  discipline,  their  true  Damascus  blades,  and  lances  of  the  same 
steel  and  temper,  they  threw  open  their  gates,  and  marched  out 
into  the  plain.  Here  they  were  encountered  by  the  whole  array  of 
Scythian  war.  The  chief  had  covered,  from  wing  to  wing,  his 
front  rank,  by  a  line  of  elephants  of  the  most  formidable  Indian  race. 
These,  in  addition  to  the  terrific  arms  given  to  them  by  nature, 
were  surmounted  with  towers,  filled  with  men  armed  with  Greek 
fire,  and  with  Scythian  archers  ;  men  quick  of  eye,  strong  of  arm, 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  395 

and  deadly  of  aim.  At  the  first  discharge,  the.  Syrians  were 
thrown  into  disorder ;  and  the  rapid  and  repeated  evolutions  and 
charges  of  sixty  thousand  cavalry,  quickly  completed  their  over 
throw.  They  rushed  back  into  the  city,  with  their  conquerors 
pursuing  and  mingling  with  them.  At  the  gate,  Timour  gave  the 
command  to  his  soldiers  to  exact  the  customary  tribute,  due  from 
conquered  cities.  Not  a  tribute  of  wealth  or  beauty  ;  these  were, 
of  course,  the  spoils  of  victory  ;  but  a  tribute  of  so  many  human 
heads  as  would  form  a  pyramid  at  the  gate,  surrounded  by  columns, 
higher  and  more  massy,  Mr.  Speaker,  than  those  which  surround 
this  hall.  One  of  these  same  trophies  had  been  built,  by  order  of 
this  man  of  power,  on  the  ruins  of  Bagdad ;  and  it  cost  ninety-six 
thousand  human  heads  to  complete  the  structure.  This  command 
being  given  by  Timour,  he  called  together  the  Mussulmen  doctors, 
to  propound  to  them  one  of  those  captious  questions,  in  their  theology, 
with  which  he  had  puzzled  the  schools  of  Herat  and  Samarcand. 
Bursting  into  a  rage  of  passion,  in  anger  not  a  whit  behind  the  best 
display  of  it  in  our  own  time  and  country,  he  exclaimed  to  these 
subdued  and  trembling  men,  "  Ye  are  false  as  those  of  Damascus. 
Moawiyah  was  an  usurper,  Yezid  a  tyrant,  and  Ali  alone  is  the 
lawful  successor  of  the  prophet.  Tell  me,  who  are  the  true  martyrs, 
those  who  fall  on  my  side,  or  those  of  my  adversaries  ?"  A  cadi 
of  the  school  answered  him  adroitly :  "  Sire,"  said  he,  "  the  pro 
phet  has  determined  that  great  question.  He  has  told  us,  that  the 
purpose  for  which,  and  not  the  standard  under  which,  he  fights, 
makes  the  martyr.  If  he  fight  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  fall  in 
battle,  he  is  a  true  martyr ;  and  the  black-eyed  Houris  shall  re 
ceive  him  into  the  paradise  of  the  prophet."  Timour,  appeased  by 
this  timely  reply,  fell  into  easy  conversation.  "  How  old  are  you, 
doctor?"  said  he  to  this  cadi.  Fifty  years,  was  the  reply.  "It 
would  be,"  said  the  chief,  "  the  age  of  my  eldest  son.  You  see  me 
here,  a  poor,  lame,  decrepit  old  man  ;  and  yet  it  has  pleased  the 
Almighty,  by  my  arm,  to  overthrow  the  great  kingdoms  of  Iraun, 
Tauran,  and  the  Indies.  I  am  not  a  man  of  blood  ;  and  God  will 
bear  me  witness,  that  my  enemies  were  always  the  aggressors,  and 
brought  the  evils  of  war  on  themselves."  During  this  peaceful 
conversation,  as  Gibbon  tells  us,  the  streets  of  Aleppo  ran  down  in 
streams  of  blood  ;  and  the  portico,  where  they  were  seated,  echoed 
with  the  cries  of  mothers  and  children,  and  the  shrieks  of  wives  and 


396 


SPEECHES    OF 


daughters.  Such  was  the  man  who  could  look  with  composure  on 
such  deeds  of  blood  and  carnage  ;  and  such  were  his  deeds  of  power 
on  the  western  coast  of  Asia,  little  more  than  four  hundred  years 
ago.  In  those  days  of  darkness  and  despotism,  so  spake  the  man 
of  those  times,  whose  motto  was,  I  can,  because  I  can.  He  wrote 
the  axiom  of  his  power  on  the  blade  of  his  sword  ;  and  left  the 
bloody  impress  of  the  weapon  on  the  scarred  bosorn  of  nations,  for 
centuries  after  his  own  time.  His  lineal  descendant,  the  great  Mo- 
gul  of  Delhi,  is  now  a  stipendiary,  a  pensionary  dependant  of  Great 
Britain,  in  their  East  Indian  Empire. 

All,  but  the  mere  forms  of  this  power,  have  faded  and  vanished 
from  existence.  The  great  maxims  of  it  are  erased  from  the  re 
cords  of  nations,  in  that  quarter  of  the  earth  ;  and  the  maxims  of 
law  are  inscribed  on  those  archives  where  that  of  absolute  domin 
ion  stood  in  letters  of  blood,  many  years  since  our  own  country 
was  first  visited  by  civilized  men. 

How  the  claims  of  power  fly  from  region  to  region  of  our 
troubled  world  ?  How  these  vile  birds  of  strong  wing  and  voracious 
beak,  when  deprived  of  food  in  one  nation,  are  soon  in  flight  to  find 
and  devour  their  prey  in  another ! 

"  As  does  the  vulture,  on  Imaus  bred, 

Whose  snowy  ridge  the  roving  Tartar  bounds, 

Dislodging  from  this  region  scarce  a  prey 

To  gorge  the  flesh  oflambs  or  yearling  kids, 

On  hills  where  flocks  are  fed,  fly  toward  the  springs 

Of  Ganges  and  Hydaspes." 

Here,  in  our  own  country,  what  do  we  see  1  The  maxims  of  pow 
er  used  by  Tamerlane  and  Arungzebe  in  their  Government,  have 
been  picked  up  by  political  antiquaries,  as  fragments  and  forgotten 
relics,  among  the  ruins  of  Asiatic  despotism ;  and  though  when 
brought  into  our  country  they  were  at  first  regarded  as  mere  curios 
ities  ;  yet  have  the  devoted  partisans  of  the  Executive  interpolated 
these  maxims  of  power,  on  the  pure  text  of  the  Constitution ;  and 
we  may  now  read,  inscribed  by  the  Presidential  hand,  on  the  walls 
of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  I  can,  because  I  can,  as  the 
great  maxim  of  his  legal  and  constitutional  power.  Under  the  ex 
ercise  of  this  maxim,  and  this  alone,  as  it  has  been  admitted  by  his 
devotees,  Duane,  a  man  who,  when  the  record  of  our  times  shall  be 
made  up,  will  like  Aristides  the  Athenian,  be  surnamed  the  Just ; 


T  R  I  S  T  A  M    B  U  R  G  ES.  397 

yes,  such  a  man  was,  by  the  President,  dismissed  from  the  national 
service,  merely  because  he  had  power  to  dismiss  him.  No  matter 
how  much  power,  if  the  dismissal  be  a  wrongful  exercise  of  it.  Mere 
power  without  justice  is  the  attribute  of  a  fiend,  and  not  of  a  man  ; 
and  every  exercise  of  that  power,  without  regard  to  justice,  is  alien 
to  humanity — is  purely  and  altogether  demoniac.  Is  not  this  the 
very  instance  of  peril  named  by  Mr.  Madison  ?  A  man  is  dismissed 
from  office,  whose  merits  required  him  to  be  retained  in  office.  In 
such  an  event,  what  says  the  Patriarch  of  the  Constitution.  Hear 
his  own  words  :  "  If  the  President  wantonly  remove  meritorious  of 
ficers,  I  contend  that  he  subjects  himself  to  impeachment."  Was 
not  Duane  a  meritorious  officer  ?  What,  Sir,  what  would  you — what 
would  all  the  genuine  friends  of  the  President  have  been  willing  to 
lose,  rather  than  he  should  have  lost  the  service,  or  failed  to  follow 
the  wholesome  counsel  of  Duane  the  Just  ?  Can  that  power,  which, 
by  his  removal,  subjects  itself  to  condemnation,  not  only  justify  the 
very  act  by  which  he  is  condemned  ;  but  also  vacate  and  reverse 
the  legal  adjudications  made  by  this  Secretary,  before  his  unjust  ex 
pulsion  from  office  ? 

After  this  decision,  by  Mr.  Duane,  against  the  removal  of  the  na 
tional  money,  the  President  had  but  one  legal  course,  in  relation  to 
the  Bank.  If  he  Relieved  the  charter  had  been  violated,  his  duty 
called  on  him  to  direct  a  scire  facias  to  be  issued.  A  jury  would 
have  been  impanneled  forthwith  ;  every  fact  could  have  been  tried 
in  one  month  at  most.  Had  the  case  been  brought  up  to  the  Supreme 
Court,  two  weeks  would  have  been  a  time  amply  sufficient  for  the 
trial ;  and  that  trial,  by  the  rules  of  the  court,  would  have  taken 
place  early  in  the  first  succeeding  term.  Sir,  before  the  end  of  Jan 
uary,  1834,  it  would  have  been  settled.  All  this  would  have  been 
done,  and  the  country  remained,  during  the  whole  time,  in  a  condi 
tion  of  universal  quietness  ;  relying  on  the  operation  of  law,  and  the 
preservation  of  national  good  faith  ;  and  without  any  of  that  alarm, 
distrust,  loss  of  confidence,  and  universal  ruin,  which  have  followed 
this  departure  from  law — this  violation  of  that  faith.  To  this  course 
there  seems  to  have  been,  in  the  Presidential  mind,  one  fatal  objec 
tion.  The  Executive  would  have  retained  all  the  political  power 
granted  by  the  Constitution  ;  but,  if  a  jury  and  a  court  had  decided 
against  him,  he  could  not  have  obtained  any  of  that  power  over  the 
money  of  the  people,  which  wasnever  intended  to  be  granted  him. 


398  SPEECHES    OF 

Sir,  the  law  has  guarded  both  the  safety  of  the  Bank  and  the  good 
faith  of  the  nation,  by  providing  that  a  jury  trial  may  be  had,  on  all 
questions,  whether  the  Bank  has  violated  the  contract,  made  by  its 
charter,  with  the  United  States.  If  both  the  President  and  Con- 
gress  refuse  to  order  such  a  trial,  what  is  the  fair  inference  ?  Sir, 
all  mankind  will  say  that  Congress  cannot  obtain  a  committee  which 
will  report ;  nor  has  the  President  reason  to  believe  that  the  Bank 
charter  has  been  violated.  For  be  assured,  the  allegation  that  two 
years  and  a  half  was  a  time  too  short  for  this  trial,  will  never  satisfy 
those  men  who  candidly  and  impartially  inquire  into  the  course  of 
political  events.  It  is,  indeed,  a  most  singular  and  extraordinary 
reason,  this  lack  of  time,  this  two  and  a  half  years  too  short  for  one 
trial ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  without  conviction,  without  a  trial, 
without  notice  to  the  accused,  to  proceed  to  condemnation  and  pun 
ishment  !  What  would  you  say  to  the  chief  executive  officer  of 
this  District,  the  marshal,  if  charged  with  a  warrant  to  arrest  a 
man  accused  of  a  capital  offence  ;  what  would  b  e  said  of  this  officer 
if  when  he  found  this  man  not  in  health,  but  sitting  in  his  own  house, 
and  his  physician  examining  the  state  of  that  health  ;  what  execra 
tion  would  be  poured  out  on  that  marshal,  if,  because  that  physician 
assured  him  that  this  man  could  not  live  more  than  two  years  andua 
half,  he  should  take  him  from  his  fireside,  and,  amidst  the  cries,  and 
tears,  and  entreaties  of  his  wife  and  children,  hang  him  up  at  his 
own  gateway ;  and  then  justify  this  deed  of  outrage  and  atrocity  by 
saying  two  years  and  a  half  was  not  time  enough  to  try  him  ;  and, 
unless  he  had  been  so  executed,  he  would  have  died  a  natural  death, 
and  escaped  punishment  ?  How  do  these  two  deeds  differ  in 
principle?  One  is  a  single  felony  ;  a  murder  of  one  man  ;  a  ruin 
of  one  family.  The  other  is  a  fatal  stab  at  the  constitution  .of  a  na 
tion  ;  a  violence  done  to  good  faith,  which  has  spread  ruin  and 

wretchedness  over  a  whole  country. 

********** 

The  Secretary  tells  us  that  it  was  "  always  his  duty,  in  the  ab 
sence  of  any  legislative  provision  on  the  subject,  to  take  care  that 
the  public  money  was  deposited  in  safe-keeping  in  the  hands  of 
faithful  agents,  in  places  convenient  and  ready  to  be  applied  accord 
ing  to  the  wants  of  Government ;  that  the  Bank  charter,  without 
giving  to  him  any  new  power,  confirms  that  which  he  before  pos 
sessed  ;  and  that  his  liability  to"  render  reasons  to  Congress,  if  he 


TRJSTAM    BURGES.  399 

remove  the  money,  is  but  the  liability  which,  by  law,  he  was  always 
under,  to  account  to  either  or  both  Houses. 

The  whole  of  this  is  incorrect ;  but,  for  the  sake  of  the  argument, 
let  it  all  be  admitted.  If  the  Seceretary  can,  by  the  power  reserved 
to  him  under  the  charter,  at  any  time,  look  out  for,  arid  remove  the 
money  to  a  place  of  safe  deposit,  and  do  this  because  the  law  has 
not  provided  one,  "in  the  absence  of  legal  provision,"  as  he  says, 
then,  if,  by  law,  a  place  of  safe-keeping  has  been  provided,  his  power 
of  removal  ceases.  If  the  law  has  provided  that  the  money  shall 
be  kept  in  the  Bank,  then,  by  the  Secretary's  own  declaration,  he 
has  no  right  of  removal,  so  long  as  that  Bank  furnishes  a  place  of 
safe-keeping,  in  the  hands  of  faithful  agents,  in  places  convenient  and 
ready  to  be  applied  according  to  the  wants  of  Government.  For  he 
says  he  originally  had  the  power  to  find  such  places  of  safe-keeping 
in  the  hands  of  such  agents  ;  and  that  the  charter  has  reserved  to 
him  all  this  original  power,  nor  does  he  claim  any  more.  Now,  sir, 
if  the  charter  be  a  contract,  what  did  the  Bank  agree  to  do,  in  re- 
Jation  to  the  public  money  ?  Why,  just  as  much  as  the  Secretary 
says  he  originally,  when  there  was  no  law  on  the  subject,  had  a 
right  to  require  of  the  keepers  of  that  money,  which  he  himself 
should  employ.  They,  the  Bank,  agreed  to  keep  the  money  safely 
in  the  hands  of  faithful  agents,  in  places  convenient  and  ready, 
to  be  applied  according  to  the  wants  of  Government.  What, 
then,  becomes  of  the  Secretary's  power  to  remove  the  money,  when 
there  is  no  absence  of  legislative  provision ;  when  Congress  has 
contracted  with  the  Bank  to  furnish  such  places  of  safe-keeping  for 
this  money,  in  the  hands  of  such  agents,  ready  to  be  applied  accord 
ing  to  the  wants  of  Government ;  and  when  the  Bank  fulfils  its 
contracts  ? 

Let  it  be,  then,  granted,  that  the  Secretary  has  all  this  original 
power  to  4ook  for  places  of  safe-keeping  for  the  public  money,  when 
none  is  provided  by  law ;  what  follows  ?  How  can  he  look  for 
such  places  when  the  law  has  provided  such  places  ?  His  whole 
duty,  according  to  his  own  showing,  is  then  resolved  into  such  a 
supervision  of  the  Bank,  as  will  enable  him  to  know  when  it  does, 
or  does  not,  fulfil  its  own  contract ;  when  the  public  money  is  safely 
kept  by  faithful  agents,  in  places  convenient  and  ready,  to  be  applied 
according  to  the  wants  of  Government.  So  soon  as,  by  the  returns 
made  to  him,  and  by  his  inspection  of  the  books  and  papers  of  the 


400  SPEECHES    OF 

Bank,  from  which  they  are  made,  he  finds  that  the  Bank  has 
ceased  to  fulfil  its  contract ;  that  it  does  not  furnish  safe-keeping 
for  the  public  money,  in  the  hands  of  faithful  agents,  in  convenient 
places,  ready  to  be  applied  according  to  the  wants  of  Government, 
he  can  order  and  direct  that,  thereafter,  the  public  money  shall  not 
be  deposited  in  the  United  States  Bank  or  its  branches.  He  must 
immediately  lay  this  order  and  direction  before  Congress,  with  the 
reasons  for  making  them. 

If  this  be  true,  the  Secretary  cannot  make  this  order  and  direc 
tion,  until  the  public  money  is  unsafe,  or  the  agents  are  unfaithful, 
or  it  is  not  kept  in  convenient  places,  or  it  is  not  ready  to  be  applied 
according  to  the  wants  of  Government.  When  he  does  make  this 
order  and  direction,  his  reasons  for  making  them  must  be  the  un- 
safety  of  the  keeping,  or  the  unfaithfulness  of  the  agents,  or  the 
incovenience  of  the  places  of  keeping,  or  the  want  of  readiness  for 
its  application  to  the  wants  of  Government  ?  The  Secretary  does 
not  pretend  it ;  it  is  not  in  his  reasons.  If,  therefore,  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  has  not  the  power  to  find  a  place  of  safety  for  the 
public  money,  he  has  found  it  in  the  Bank  ;  and  as  Congress  order- 
dered  it  to  be  placed  there,  so  long  as  that  safety  continued,  he  has 

yet  no  power  of  removal,  and  his  reasons  are  insufficient. 

********** 

Sir,  it  was  intended  that  this  removal  should  be  an  unexpected, 
and  so  a  fatal  blow  to  the  Bank.  The  Executive  directors,  if  not 
sworn,  were  charged  to  secrecy.  The  Presidential  agent  moved 
along  our  maritime  frontier  with  the  silence  and  secrecy  of  a  shark. 
The  Presidential  tour,  if  not  intended  to  be  so  used,  was  in  fact  as 
much  a  mask  for  this  attack  on  the  Bank,  as  the  burning  of  Charles- 
town,  by  the  British  general,  was  a  mask  for  his  attack  on  our 
patriot  soldiers  posted  on  Bunker  Hill.  Never  before,  had  an  order 
of  removal  been  sent  to  the  Bank  without  notice.  Here  was  none. 
The  attack  was  designed  to  be  a  perfect  powder  plot.  It  did  not 
succeed  ;  but  why  it  did  not,  seems  almost  providential.  One 
principle  in  our  nature,  conspicuous  for  its  beneficence,  seems  here 
to  have  been  illustrated.  Human  sagacity,  when  employed  in  doing 
evil,  is  never  a  match  for  human  sagacity,  when  engaged  in  doing 
good.  The  Executive  purpose,  so  cautiously  concealed,  was  dis 
covered  by  the  president  and  directors  of  the  Bank.  It  was  ready 
for  the  storm.  Every  sail  was  secured  ;  the  hurricane,  raised  for 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  401 

destruction,  passed  over  ;  and  this  little  ship  was  unharmed  ;  but  the 
blast  has  settled  down,  and  spread,  like  the  simoon,  over  the  land  ; 
and  is  now  withering  every  living  thing. 

The  Presidential  experiment,  now  oppressing  the  country,  and 
covering  with  poverty,  and  desolation,  and  misery,  our  places  of 
competence  and  industry,  is  supported  by  political  partisans ;  and  is 
so  supported,  on  the  worst  principles  of  the  worst  times  in  the  worst 
Government.  The  war  is  ostensibly  against  the  Bank ;  but,  in 
truth,  it  is  a  war  waged  against  the  Constitution,  the  interests,  and 
the  freedom  of  the  nation.  The  assault  on  the  Bank  is  a  stratagem, 
used  to  mask  and  conceal  the  real  purpose  of  the  onset ;  the  great 
object  is  the  conquest  of  the  national  treasure  ;  and  the  placing  and 
the  keeping  of  those  spoils  in  depository  State  banks,  under  the  con 
trol  of  the  President.  Every  demonstration  of  the  Executive,  from 
the  commencement  of  this  conflict,  up  to  the  present  hour,  has  been 
political ;  and  calculated  to  achieve  this  great  final  object.  The 
message  of  December,  1829  ;  the  messages  of  1830,  of  1831,  all 
looked  with  a  steady  eye  to  this.  The  veto  had  the  same  purpose. 
It  was  the  text  book  of  the  Executive ;  the  great  stump  speech  of 
the  President,  made  first,  to  secure  his  own  election,  and  after  that 
to  wrest  from  the  Bank,  and  place  in  his  own  hands,  the  treasury 
of  the  nation.  It  was,  by  his  partisans,  spread  over  the  face  of  the 
country,  "  thick  as  autumnal  leaves." 

Last  of  all,  the  manifesto  read  in  the  cabinet,  was  produced  for 
political  effect,  on  the  coming  Congressional  elections.  It  was  so 
used  ;  and  was  made  a  matter  of  boast,  in  the  Executive  gazette  of 
this  city  ;  that  this  singular  exhibition  of  the  President  had  secured 
the  election  of  members  to  Congress.  For  what  purpose  ?  To 
sustain  him  in  his  assumed  control  of  the  national  treasure.  Each  of 
these  papers  was. fraught  with  misrepresentations;  and  altogether, 
when  united,  they  formed  a  stream  of  corrosive  and  consuming 
calumny,  poured  out  upon  the  legal  depository  of  the  public  trea 
sure,  in  such  a  volume  as  might  reduce  that  depository  to  political 
cinders  ;  and  justify  the  transfer  of  that  treasure  to  the  Executive 

control. 

********** 

Once  more,  this  question  concerns  the  safety  of  good  faith,  and 
fair  dealing  in  the  nation.  When  the  transgressions^of  rulers^are 
sustained ;  when  they  are  approved  and  sanctioned  by  the  people, 


402  SPEECHES    OF 

they  become  national  transgressions.  Although  individual  perfidy 
may  do  but  little  mischief,  by  example  ;  yet,  when  men,  in  elevated 
stations,  violate  good  faith,  a  whole  people  may  be  contaminated,  by 
the  high  contagion.  The  fog  of  a  single  morass  can  blast  vegeta 
tion  around  its  borders  only  ;  but  if  raised  by  the  sun,  and  spread 
out  over  plain,  and  mountain  top,  it  becomes  a  cloud,  and  covers  a 
whole  region  with  blight  and  mildew. 

Punica  jides,  and  not  the  Roman  arms,  destroyed  ancient  Car 
thage.  False  to  her  friends — false  to  her  foes — false  in  her  treaties 
— and  false  in  her  own  councils,  she  fell ;  and  while  the  laws  and 
literature  of  her  great  rival,  are  the  laws  and  literature  of  the  civi 
lized  world  ;  and  the  names  of  her  poets,  orators,  and  statesmen 
are  "  familiar  on  our  tongues  as  household  words  ;"  all  that  is  left 
of  the  once  wealthy  and  powerful  republic  of  Carthage,  is  Punic 
faith,  the  written  and  spoken  by-word  of  the  world  for  two  thou 
sand  years  ;  and  will,  in  all  probability,  so  remain,  until  fides 
Americana  shall  take  its  place,  in  the  roll  of  national  infamy. 

Mr.  Chairman  of  the  Ways  and  Means  has  given  a  new  dress  to 
this  transaction.  It  had  before  passed  three  times  through  the 
labors  of  the  Executive. toilet.  He  has,  Sir,  tried  his  most  adroit 
skill,  dressed  out  this  delusion  just  in  the  style  of  his  own  choice  ; 
but,  with  all  his  witchery  of  ornament,  he  has  not  made  men  believe 
that  he  placed  before  their  eyes,  pristine  faith  ;  that  healthful  and 
modest  matron,  which  stood  by  the  side  of  Washington,  and  fixed 
the  signet  of  immortal  truth  to  all  the  national  transactions  of  his 
time.  No,  Sir,  dress  and  paint  as  you  will ;  the  meretricious 
features,  the  scarlet  mantle  of  this  Punic  sorceress  of  the 
Executive,  will  show  through  all  your  artificial  colors,  and 
enrobing  ;  and  tell  the  sisterhood  of  this  simulating  daughter  of 

frailty. 

*         *         *         *         *         *         *         #.*         * 

Sir,  will  this  House,  will  the  representatives  of  the  people,  will 
the  people  themselves  look  submissively  on,  until  this  gigantic  enor 
mity  shall  have  grown  into  such  a  form,  and  acquired  such  strength 
as  no  longer  to  be  controllable,  by  legal  or  legislative  power  ?  Here 
the  object  of  Executive  labor  is  achieved.  The  money  power  and 
the  political  power  are  united  ;  in  this  race,  driven  for  more  than 
four  years,  by  Executive  labor,  the  goal,  so  long  struggled  after,  is 
reached.  The  control  of  their  whole  public  money,  with  so  much 


TRISTAM    BURGES.  403 

of  their  individual  money  is  intended  to  give  to  the  President  the 
control  of  the  people  themselves. 
Executive  conception  teeming— 

"  With  all  monstrous,  all  prodigious  things,  and  worse 
Than  fables  yet  have  feigned,  or  fear  conceived," 

has  at  length  produced  and  brought  to  light  this  gorgon,  this  chime 
ra,  this  hydra  of  a  hundred  heads,  at  once  to  overlook  our  whole 
country ;  and  with  the  breath  of  absolute  power,  tainting  and  making 
pestilential  to  freedom,  the  pure,  bland,  wholesome  breeze  and 
current  of  this  our  political  atmosphere. 

This  dragon  form  of  a  thousand  deleterious  influences,  is.  now 
placed  at  the  very  root  of  our  national  and  once  flourishing  institu 
tion  ;  that  there,  at  the  heart  of  life  and  vigor,  the  consuming  poison 
may  begin  ;  and  finally  wither  and  destroy  those  branches  which 
have  hitherto  sheltered  the  land,  while  their  leaves,  pleasant  and  de 
lightful  to  the  people,  brought  abundant  healing  to  the  nation.  Sir, 
if  we  go  on  to  consummate  this  now  incipient,  but  progressive  enor 
mity,  as  it  is  proposed,  by  the  paper  sent  to  us  from  the  Executive, 
in  the  name  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ;  we  shall  place  our 
own  necks  and  the  necks  of  the  American  people,  under  the  iron 
yoke  of  despotism.  You,  in  this  House,  who  are  my  juniors,  it  may 
be,  by  a  few  years ;  you  who  have  hitherto  lived  a  life  of  freedom,, 
and  whose  sun,  like  mine,  hangs  low  in  the  West;  you  will,  we — 
we  shall,  unless  some  benignant  power  "  hurl  our  days  headlong 
down  the  hill,"  we  shall  die  the  death  of  bondmen.  To  you,  who 
are  now  youthful  colleagues  in  this  hall ;  to  you,  permit  one,  much 
you  senior,  to  raise  the  voice  of  caution,  and  warn  you  against  the 
accumulating  evils,  gathering  in  portentous  clouds  over  our  country. 
You  all  remember  what  that  arch  destroyer  of  his  country's  freedom, 
the  Roman  Augustus,  said  to  the  little  Marcellus,  when  he  found 
that  favorite  child  of  his  adoption  reading  the  life  and  the  eloquent 
orations  of  Tully.  To  you  I  will  not  repeat  the  words.  For  well 
I  know,  you  will  call  them  to  mind.  Should  you  aid  in  this  scheme 
of  usurpation,  you  will,  when  you  shall  have  dragged  the  weary 
chain  of  slavery  after  you,  for  many  a  tedious  year  ;  and  when  the 
little  children  of  your  children,  while  reading  to  you  the  debates  of 
these  days  on  this  question,  when  they  shall,  with  infantine  voice, 
and  eager  curiosity,  require  of  you  to  tell  them  who  and  what  were 
those  men,  who  speak  so  anxiously,  and  say  so  much  about  liberty 


404  SPEECHES    OF 

and  despotism  ?  What  will  you,  what  can  you  say  ?  In  the  bitter 
ness  of  regret,  you  will  exclaim — "  Oh  !  my  dear  children,  they 
were  honest  men,  and  loved  their  country." 

Sir,  you  remember  Washington  ?  You  must  have  seen  him.  My 
eyes  never  were,  and  never  will  be,  .gladdened  by  that  delighting 
vision  ;  unless  permitted,  by  divine  mercy,  to  meet  him  "  among  the 
spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect;"  What  was  his  brightest,  what  will 
be  his  most  enduring  earthly  glory  ?  He  rocked  the  cradle,  and 
nurtured  to  a  vigorous  maturity,  the  liberty  of  his  country.  His 
tomb  now  stands  in  his  and  your  own  native  land.  It  is  a  conse 
crated  place  ;  a  place  of  pilgrimage  for  the  pious,  the  patriotic,  the 
free  of  our  own,  and  every  other  country.  Sir,  permit  me  to  tell 
you,  that  if  this  measure  shall  be  justified  by  this  House,  it  will  be 
the  most  distinguished  deed  of  your  life,  that  here,  in  this  hall,  at 
that  gloomy  hour  so  disastrous  to  the  freedom  of  the  world,  when 
the  liberty  of  your  country  expired,  you  presided  over  this  Chamber 
of  Death  ! !  !  At  some  distant  day,  (and  may  the  day  be  as  distant, 
as  your  most  sanguine  love  of  life  can  desire,)  your  tomb  also  will  be 
raised  in  the  same  land.  Where,  where,  in  all  that  now  glorious 
region  of  liberty,  will  then  be  found  a  freeman  ?  A  pilgrim  to  visit 
that  monument  ?  The  ground  will  be  trodden  by  none  but  the  foot  of 
the  slave  ;  the  free,  the  patriotic,  if  he  see  it,  will  see  it  afar  off ;  as  he 
in  the  Paradise  of  the  divine  apologue,  looked  at  the  last  resting 
place  of  his  last  earthly  patron.  If  visited,  it  will  be  visited,  by  the 
remorseful,  the  despairing  disciples  of  despotism,  who  may  come 
there  to  sharpen  their  own  scourge  of  thorns,  by  looking  at  such  a 
vision  as  shall  aid  them  to  imagine  the  eternal  gnawings  of  the  worm 
that  never  dies. 


THIS    BOOK    IS    DUE    ON    THE    LAST    DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 

RENEWED  BOOKS  ARE  SUBJECT  TO  IMMEDIATE 
RECALL 


LIBRARY,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  DAVIS 

Book  Slip-20m-8,'61(Cl623s4)458 


of  Tristan 


E3UO 

B9 
B6 


Burges. 


34-0 


228427