Perley's Reminiscences Part 23

The British Government, which had pleasant personal recollections of Mr. Buchanan, promptly sent Lord Napier as Minister Plenipotentiary, no successor to the dismissed Sir John Crampton having being accredited during the Administration of President Pierce. The new Minister was a Scotchman by birth, slender in figure, with light hair and blue eyes, and thoroughly trained in British diplomacy.

He was an especial protege of Lord Palmerston, and Lord Clarendon had placed the olive-branch in his hand with his instructions.

The press of England proclaimed that he had instructions to render himself acceptable to the Government and the people of the United States, and to do all in his power to promote kind feelings between the two countries. Soon after he landed at New York he made a speech at the annual dinner of the St. George's Society, in which he repudiated the previous distrustful and vexatious policy of the British Foreign Office towards the United States, and declared that the interests of the two countries were so completely identified that their policy should never be at variance.

The claim by Great Britain of the right to search vessels belonging to the United States which her naval officers might suspect to be slave-traders, and the establishment of a British protectorate over the Mosquito coast, in defiance of the Monroe Doctrine, were knotty questions. Lord Napier, evidently, was not capable of conducting the negotiations on them in a manner satisfactory to Lord Palmerston, who sent to Washington as his adviser Sir William Gore Ouseley, a veteran diplomat. He was not in any way accredited to the United States Government, but was named Special Minister to Central America, and stopped at Washington on his way there, renting the Madison House, on Lafayette Square, and entertaining there with great liberality.

Sir William Gore Ouseley, who was a Knight Commander of the Bath, had resided at Washington as an attache to the British Legation forty years previously, while Mr. Vaughan was Minister, and had then entered personally into a treaty of permanent peace and amity with the United States by marrying the daughter of Governor Van Ness, of Vermont. Miss Van Ness was a young lady of great beauty, residing at the metropolis with her uncle, General Van Ness, at one time the Mayor of Washington. Sir William afterward visited Persia as the historian of the emba.s.sy of his uncle, Sir Gore Ouseley, and his published work contained much new information in relation to that then almost unknown portion of the world. He had afterward been connected with the British Legations in Spain, Brazil, and Buenos Ayres, and his acquaintance with the Spanish race, language, and literature was probably equal, if not superior, to that of any other Englishman. He was the author of a valuable work on the United States, and also of an expensive and ill.u.s.trated volume on the scenery of Brazil.

It was doubtless due to considerations such as there, the special acquaintanceship of this veteran diplomat with the character, circ.u.mstances, and views of the several nationalities involved in the difficulties to be arranged, which had prevailed over mere political affinities and induced his selection by Lord Palmerston for the errand on which he came to Washington. His personal relations with Lord Napier were very friendly, and Mr. Buchanan was the friend of both, having known Lady Ouseley before her marriage. For some months the Ouseleys were prominent in Washington society. Lady Ouseley frequently had the honor of being escorted by the President in her afternoon walks, sometimes attended by her daughter, who wore the first crimson balmoral petticoat seen in Washington. When President Buchanan and Miss Lane took their summer flight for Bedford Springs, the Ouseleys were their traveling companions, sharing their private table, and their entertainments at Washington were numerous and expensive.

At one of these, Lady Ouseley wore a rich, blue brocade trimmed with Honiton lace, with a wreath of blue flowers upon her hair, fastened at each side by a diamond brooch; Miss Lane, the President's niece, wore a dress of black tulle, ornamented with bunches of gold leaves, and a head-dress of gold grapes; Miss Ca.s.s, the stately daughter of the Premier of the Administration, was magnificently attired in pearl-colored silk, with point-lace flounces but wore no jewelry of any kind; Mrs. Brown, the wife of the Postmaster- General, wore a rich pink silk dress, with pink roses in her hair; Mrs. Thompson, the wife of the Secretary of the Interior, wore a pink silk dress with lace flounces, and a head-dress of pink flowers; Madame Sartiges, the wife of the French Minister, wore a rich chene silk, and was accompanied with her niece, dressed in pink tarlatan; Madame Stoeckl, the wife of the Russian Minister, looked as stately as a queen and beautiful as a Hebe in a dress of white silk, with black lace flounces, cherry-colored flowers, and gold beads; Miss Schambaugh, of Philadelphia, who was called the handsomest woman in the United States, wore a white-flounced tarlatan dress trimmed with festoons of dark chenille, with a head-dress of red j.a.ponicas; Mrs. Pendleton, the wife of the Representative from the Cincinnati District, wore a white silk skirt with a blue tunic trimmed with bright colors; Mrs. McQueen, the wife of a South Carolina Representative, wore a rich black velvet, and Mrs. Boyce, from the same State, wore a lilac silk dress trimmed with black illusion; Mrs. Sickles, wife of the Representative from New York, wore a blue silk dress, with rich point lace flowers, and was accompanied by her mother, who wore a lavender brocade dress, woven with gold and silver flowers, and Miss Woodbury, a daughter of the late Judge Woodbury, wore a black tarlatan dress over black silk, with a head- dress of gilt beads.

Among the gentlemen present were Lord Napier, Edward Everett, Secretary Thompson, Senator Mason, Representatives Keitt, Miles, Boyce, McQueen, Clingman, and Ward; Captains Ringgold and Goldsborough, of the navy; General Harney and Colonel Hardee, of the army, and a number of others.

The commencement of Mr. Buchanan's Administration was distinguished by the number of social entertainments given in Washington. It was then as in Paris just before the Revolution of 1830, when Talleyrand said to the crafty Louis Philippe, at one of his Palais Royal b.a.l.l.s: "We are dancing on a volcano." The hidden fires of coming revolution were smoldering at the Capitol; but in the drawing- rooms of the metropolis the Topeka Guelphs cordially fraternized with the Lecompton Ghibellines night after night, very much as the lawyers of Western circuits who, after having abused each other all day in bad English, met at night in the judge's room to indulge in libations of bad liquor. Even when Lent came, instead of going to church, in obedience to the chimes of consecrated bells, society kept on with its entertainments.

Among the most prominent houses were those of the Postmaster-General, Mr. Aaron V. Brown, whose wife was a.s.sisted by the daughter of her first marriage, Miss Narcissa Sanders. At Secretary Thompson's a full-length portrait of "Old Hickory," by Sully, kept watch and ward of the refreshment table. The connected houses occupied by Secretary Ca.s.s, afterward the Arlington Hotel, were adorned with many rare works of art, brought by him from the Old World. Senators Gwin, of California, Thompson, of New Jersey, and Clay, of Alabama, with Governor Aiken, of South Carolina, also entertained frequently and generously. At the supper-tables wild turkeys, prairie-hens, partridges, quails, reed birds, chicken and lobster salads, terrapin, oysters, ice-creams and confectionery were furnished in profusion, while champagne, sherry, and punch were always abundant.

Among choice bits of scandal then afloat was one at the expense of a lady who prided herself on the exclusiveness of the society which graced her _salons_. A _double-distilled-F.-F.-V._, no one could obtain invitations to her parties whose _ecusson_ did not bear the quartering of some old family, and thus these entertainments were accused of resembling the tournaments of ancient times, to which the guests were led, not from any prospect of amus.e.m.e.nt, but merely to prove their right to _ennuyer_ themselves _en bonne compagnie_.

Foreigners, however, were always welcome, and one of the "pets,"

a romantic looking young Frenchman, who was quite handsome and made a great sensation in fashionable society, avoided the Legation as representing a usurper, and therefore quite unworthy the attention of one like himself, of the "vielle roche." The young man, enveloping himself somewhat in mystery, a.s.sumed the dignity of Louis Quatorze in his earlier days, and his decisions on all fashionable matters were law. Where he lived no one exactly knew, as his letters were left in Willard's card-basket, but his aristocratic protector persuaded Gautier to let her look at the furnaces of his restaurant- kitchen, and there--must it be said?--she found M. le Compte, in white ap.r.o.n and paper cap, constructing a _mayonnaise_. "This young man is my best cook," said Gautier, but the lady did not wait to receive his salutation.

The wild hunt after office was kept up during the summer and fall after Mr. Buchanan's inauguration, fortunate men occasionally drawing place-prizes in the Government lottery. One of the best jokes about applicants for office was told at the expense of a Bostonian, who presented, among other papers, a copy of a letter to Mr. Buchanan from Rufus Choate, with a note stating that he sent a copy because he knew that the President could never decipher the original, and he had left blanks for some words which he could not himself transcribe.

Governor Geary had returned from Kansas, disgusted with the condition of things there, and had been replaced as Governor by Robert J.

Walker, who was expected to play the part of "wrong's redresser,"

as the Prince did in Verona when called to settle the difficulties between the Montagues and the Capulets.

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Peter Force PETER FORCE was born at Pa.s.saic Falls, N. J., November 26th, 1790; became a printer and journalist at Washington; collected and published many volumes of American doc.u.mentary history; was Mayor of Washington, 1836-1840; died at Washington, D. C., January 23d, 1868.

CHAPTER XLIII.

PRELUDE TO THE REBELLION.

General Thomas J. Rusk, United States Senator from Texas, who had fought bravely at the battle of San Jacinto, had committed suicide during the summer. He had been elected President _pro tempore_ of the Senate, and the Senate elected as his successor Senator Fitzpatrick, of Alabama, a tall, fine-looking man, whose wife was a great favorite in Washington society. He received twenty-eight votes, Mr. Hamlin receiving nineteen votes, and voting himself for Mr. Seward, which showed the Republican strength in the Senate to be twenty.

The leader of the Southern forces in the Senate was Mr. John Slidell, who was born in New York, but found his way, when young, to New Orleans, where he soon identified himself with the Creole population and became noted as a political manager. His organization of the colonization of Plaquemine Parish, by a steamboat load of roughs from New Orleans, secured the defeat of Henry Clay in Louisiana and virtually prevented his election as President. Wealthy, and without conscientious scruples on political matters he was well- fitted for the leading position in the formation of the Southern Confederacy, which he obtained; but President Davis took good care to send him abroad, knowing that if he could not rule the Confederacy he would take the first occasion to ruin it. What he lacked in positive intellect he more than made up in prudence, industry, and energy.

On the third day of the session Mr. Douglas gave notice that he would the next afternoon define his position on the Kansas question.

The announcement brought crowds to the Senate Chamber. Every Senator was in his seat; every past or present dignitary who could claim a right "to the floor" was there, and the galleries were packed with spectators, Mrs. Douglas prominent among the fairer portion of them. The "Little Giant" was neatly dressed in a full suit of black, and rose to speak at his seat, which was about in the middle of the desks on the right of the President's chair, where the Democrats sat. He spoke boldly and decidedly, though with a studied courtesy toward the President. There was a great difference between the question of popular sovereignty as advocated by Mr. Douglas, and the great question of human freedom for which Mr. Sumner and other Representatives of Northern sentiments were stoutly battling. After Mr. Douglas had concluded, Mr. Brown, of Mississippi, congratulated Mr. Henry Wilson on the "new Republican ally," and many other bitter things were said about him by the Southrons, but the _bon mot_ of the day was by Senator Wade: "Never," said he, "have I seen a slave insurrection before."

There was a large attendance at the organization of the House, when the roll-call showed that two hundred and twenty-five were present.

Then Mr. Phelps gracefully moved that the House proceed to the election of a Speaker, thereby showing that he was not a candidate.

Mr. Jones nominated James L. Orr of South Carolina; Governor Banks nominated Galusha A. Grow; and H. W. Davis was nominated but withdrawn. The election was then commenced _viva voce_, the clerk calling the roll. Colonel Orr had one hundred and twenty-eight votes, and was declared elected.

Governor Banks and A. H. Stephens were appointed a committee to conduct the Speaker-elect to the chair. He then delivered a brief, sensible address, after which he was approached by the patriarchal Giddings, who handed him a small Bible and administered the oath of office, which duty devolves on the oldest Representative. The Sergeant-at-Arms elevated his mace--that "bauble" of authority so distasteful to the Puritans--and the Speaker began to swear in the members State by State.

Among investigations ordered was one into an alleged attempt at bribery by Lawrence, Stone, & Co., when the tariff bill was under consideration, which disclosed the fact that they had paid fifty- eight thousand dollars to Colonel Wolcott, who came to Washington as a representative of the Ma.s.sachusetts manufacturers. Colonel Wolcott, when brought before the House, declined to make the desired revelations, and he was locked up in the Washington Jail--a miserable old building. Those Representatives who were believed to have received some of this money were naturally uneasy, and undertook to intimate that the Colonel had pocketed the whole of it. He philosophically submitted to the decree of the House, occupying the jailer's sitting-room--a cheerful apartment, with a good fire, bright sunshine coming in at the windows. He had numerous visitors, his meals were sent him from a restaurant, and he certainly did not appear to suffer seriously from his martyrdom.

In the exciting debates on the admission of Kansas, Senators Sumner, Wilson, Fessenden, and Seward were positive in their denunciation of the use of Federal troops for the enforcement of the laws, which encouraged the Southern Senators in their belief that the secession of a State would not be forcibly opposed. "The Senate," said Henry Wilson, "insists that the President shall uphold this usurpation-- these enactments--with the bayonet. Let us examine the acts of these usurpers which Senators will not repeal; which they insist shall be upheld and enforced by the sabres of the dragoons." Said William H. Seward: "When you hear me justify the despotism of the Czar of Russia over the oppressed Poles, or the treachery by which Louis Napoleon rose to a throne over the ruins of the Republic in France, on the ground that he preserves domestic peace among his subjects, then you may expect me to vote supplies of men and money to the President that he may keep the army in Kansas." Ben Wade was equally severe on the use of the army, declaring "that the honorable business of a soldier had been perverted to act as a petty bailiff and constable to arrest and tyrannize over men."

The racket in the House of Representatives commenced with a struggle as to whether the President's Message on the Lecompton Const.i.tution of Kansas should be referred to the Democratic Committee on Territories or to a select committee of fifteen. The session was protracted into the night, and after midnight but few spectators remained in the galleries. Those Representatives who could secure sofas enjoyed naps between the roll-calls, while others visited committee-rooms, in which were private supplies of refreshments.

About half-past-one, Mr. Grow, of Pennsylvania, then standing on the Democratic side of the House, objected to General Quitman's making any remarks. "If you are going to object," shouted Mr.

Keitt, of South Carolina, "return to your own side of the hall."

Mr. Grow responded: "This is a free hall, and every man has a right to be where he pleases." Mr. Keitt then came up to Mr. Grow and said: "I want to know what you mean by such an answer as that."

Mr. Grow replied: "I mean just what I say; this is a free hall, and a man has the right to be where he pleases." "Sir," said Mr.

Keitt, "I will let you know that you are a black Republican puppy."

"Never mind," retorted Mr. Grow, "I shall occupy such place in this hall as I please, and no negro-driver shall crack his whip over me." The two then rushed at each other with clinched fists. A dozen Southerners at once hastened to the affray, while as many anti-Lecompton men came to the rescue, and Keitt received--not from Grow, however, a blow that knocked him down. Mr. Potter, of Wisconsin, a very athletic, compactly built man, bounded into the centre of the excited group, striking right and left with vigor.

Washburne, of Illinois, and his brother, of Wisconsin, also were prominent, and for a minute or two it seemed as though we were to have a Kilkenny fight on a magnificent scale. Barksdale had hold of Grow, when Potter stuck him a severe blow, supposing that he was hurting that gentleman. Barksdale, turning around and supposing it was Elihu Washburne who struck him, dropped Grow, and stuck out at the gentleman from Illinois. Cadwallader Washburne, perceiving the attack upon his brother, also made a dash at Mr. Barksdale, and seized him by the hair, apparently from the purpose of drawing him "into chancery" and pommeling him to greater satisfaction.

Horrible to relate, Mr. Barksdale's wig came off in Cadwallader's left hand, and his right fist expended itself with tremendous force against the unresisting air. This ludicrous incident unquestionably did much toward resorting good nature subsequently, and its effect was heightened not a little by the fact that in the excitement of the occasion Barksdale restored his wig wrong-side foremost.

The Speaker shouted and rapped for order without effect. The Sergeant-at-Arms stalked to the scene of the battle, mace in hand, but his "American eagle" had no more effect than the Speaker's gavel. Owen Lovejoy and Lamar, of Mississippi, were pawing each other at one point, each probably trying to persuade the other to be still. Mr. Mott, the gray-haired Quaker Representative from Ohio, was seen going here and there in the crowd. Reuben Davis, of Mississippi, got a severe but accidental blow from Mr. Grow, and various gentlemen sustained slight bruises and scratches. A Virginia Representative, who thought Montgomery, of Pennsylvania was about to "pitch in," laid his hand upon his arm, to restrain him, and was peremptorily ordered to desist or be knocked down.

Mr. Covode, of Pennsylvania, caught up a heavy stone-ware spittoon, with which to "brain" whoever might seem to deserve it, but fortunately did not get far enough into the excited crowd to find an appropriate subject for his vengeance; and all over the hall everybody was excited for the time.

Fortunately, it did not last long, and no weapons were openly displayed. When order was restored several gentlemen were found to present an excessively tumbled and disordered appearance, but there remained little else to recall the excitement. Gentlemen of opposite parties crossed over to each other to explain their pacific dispositions, and that they got into a fight when their only purpose was to prevent a fight. Mutual explanations and a hearty laugh at the ludicrous points of the drama were followed by quiet and a return to business. It was finally agreed, about half-past six o'clock on Sunday morning, that the Democrats would permit a vote to be taken on Monday without further debate, delay, or dilatory motion.

When Mr. Orr's mallet rapped the House to order at noon on Monday, only six of the two hundred and thirty-four Representatives were absent, and the galleries were packed like boxes of Smyrna figs.

Rev. Dr. Sampson made a conciliatory prayer, the journal was read, two enrolled bills were presented, and then the Speaker, in an unusually earnest tone, stated the question. Tellers had been ordered, and he appointed Messrs. Buffington, of Ma.s.sachusetts, and Craige, of North Carolina. "Is the demand for the previous question seconded?"

The imposing form of Buffington was soon seen making his way down to the area before the Speaker's table, where Craige met him. The two shook hands, and there was then a quick obedience to the Speaker's request that gentlemen in favor of the motion would pa.s.s between the tellers. Father Giddings, crowned with silvery locks, led the Republican host down to be counted. Burlingame followed, and among others who filed along were Henry Winter Davis, General Spinner, John Sherman, General Bingham, Frank Blair, the trio of Washburnes, Gooch, Schuyler Colfax, John Covode, Governor Fenton, Senator Cragin, and burly Humphrey Marshall. When all had pa.s.sed between the tellers Buffington wheeled about and reported to the Speaker, who announced the result rather hesitatingly: "One hundred and ten in the affirmative. Those opposed will now pa.s.s between the tellers."

Then the Southern Democrats, with their Northern allies, came trooping down, headed by the attenuated Stephens. Dan Sickles and John Cochrane, who were afterward generals in the Union armies, were then allied with Zollicoffer, Keitt, and others, who fell in the Confederate ranks, and there were so many of them that the result appeared doubtful. At last it was Mr. Craige's turn to report, and then all was silent as the grave.

The Speaker's usually loud, clear voice hesitated as he at last announced: "One hundred and four in the negative. The ayes have it, and the demand for the previous question is seconded. Shall the main question be now put?" The main question was next put, and the vote by ayes and nays on a reference of the Kansas question to the Committee on Territories, was ayes, 113; nays, 114. Then came the vote on the reference to a select committee of fifteen, and Speaker Orr had to announce the result, ayes, 114; nays 113.

The North was at last victorious.

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Howell Cobb HOWELL COBB was born at Cherry Hill, Ga., September 7th, 1815; graduated at Franklin College, 1834; was Representative from Georgia, 1843-1851 and 1855-1860; was chosen Speaker, 1849; was Governor of Georgia, 1851; was President of the Confederate Congress, 1861; died in New York city, October 9th, 1868.

CHAPTER XLIV.

POLITICIANS, AUTHORS, AND HUMORISTS.

Bluff Ben Wade, a Senator from Ohio, was the champion of the North in the upper house during the prolonged debates on the Kansas- Nebraska Bill. Dueling had long been regarded as a lost art in the Northern States, but Mr. Wade determined that he would accept a challenge should one be sent him, or defend himself should he be attacked. But no one either a.s.saulted or challenged him, although he gave his tongue free license.

One day Senator Badger spoke plaintively of slavery from a Southern point of view. In his childhood, he said, he was nursed by an old negro woman, and he grew to manhood under her care. He loved his "old black mammy," and she loved him. But if the opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska bill were triumphant, and he wished to go to either of those Territories, he could not take his "old black mammy" with him. Turning to Mr. Wade, he exclaimed: "Surely, you will not prevent me from taking my old black mammy with me?" "It is not,"

remarked the Senator from Ohio, dryly, "that he cannot take his old black mammy with him that troubles the mind of the Senator, but that if we make the Territories free, he cannot sell the old black mammy when he gets her there."

The future leader of the Great Rebellion, Senator Jefferson Davis, had then a.s.sumed the leadership of the Southern Senators and their Northern allies. His best friends were forced to admit that his bearing, even toward them, had become haughty, and his manners imperious. His thin, spare figure, his almost sorrowful cast of countenance, composed, however, in an invariable expression of dignity, gave the idea of a body worn by the action of the mind, an intellect supporting in its prison of flesh the pains of const.i.tutional disease, and triumphing over physical confinement and affliction. His carriage was erect--there was a soldierly affectation, of which, indeed, the hero of Buena Vista gave evidence through his life, having the singular conceit that his genius was military and fitter for arms than for the council. He had a precise manner, and an austerity that was at first forbidding; but his voice was always clear and firm. Although not a scholar in the pedantic sense of the term, and making no pretensions to the doubtful reputation of the sciolist, his reading was cla.s.sical and varied, his fund of ill.u.s.tration large, and his resources of imagery plentiful and always apposite.

Senator Robert W. Johnson--"Bob Johnson," every one called him-- had made many friends while a member of the House, and was one of the most popular Senators. He was a man of generous feeling, honorable impulses, and a cheerful humor, which had endeared him to the homely backwoodsmen of his State. He was a fine speaker, pouring forth fact and argument with an earnestness that riveted attention, and lighting up the dull path of logic with the glow of his captivating fancy, while he spiced his remarks with the idiosyncrasies of frontier oratory, familiar and quaint ill.u.s.trations, and blunt truth. At heart he loved the Union, but he could not stand up against the public sentiment of his State.

Henry Bowen Anthony was the first Republican Senator who had not been identified with the Abolitionists. Before he had been a week in the Senate, he was graciously informed that the Southern Senators recognized him as a gentleman, and proposed to invite him to their houses. "I can enter no door," st.u.r.dily replied the man of Quaker ancestry, "which is closed against any Northern Senator." Mr.

Anthony was at that time a very handsome man, with jet black hair, blue eyes, and a singularly sweet expression of countenance. His editorial labors on the Providence _Journal_ had given him a rare insight into men and politics, which qualified him for Senatorial life. He was soon a favorite in Washington society, wit and general information embellishing his brilliant conversation, while his social virtues gave to his life a daily beauty.

Ostensibly to negotiate a postal treaty, but really to see what could be done about an international copyright between Great Britain and the United States, came Anthony Trollope, Esq. He was a short, stout old gentleman, with a round, rosy face and snow-white hair, who loved to talk, and who talked well. His mother, Mrs. Frances Trollope, had written a cruelly sarcastic book on the manners and customs of Americans in 1830, and he was somewhat dogmatic in his criticisms of what he saw and heard. He shone especially at gentlemen's evening parties, at which he narrated anecdotes about Macaulay, d.i.c.kens, and Thackeray, and of his own exploits in "'unting," which he regarded as the n.o.blest of all pastimes.

Mike Walsh was not only a demagogue, but an incorrigible joker.

He used frequently to visit Washington after the expiration of his Congressional term, and was in the city after the close of the summer session of the Thirty-fifth Congress. Judge Douglas was also there, busily engaged in advancing his Presidential prospects.