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LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 OF 
 
 SILAS WRIGHT, 
 
 LATE GOVKRNOR OK THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 
 
 BY JABEZ D; HAMMOND 
 
 SYRACUSE: 
 PUBLISHED BY HALL *fc DICKSON. 
 
 NKVV YORK:— A. S. BARNES & CO. 
 
 M JJCOC XLVin. 
 

 Entered according to Act of Congress, m the year 1848, 
 
 Br HALL & DICKSON, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Northern 
 
 District of New York. 
 
^ ^ 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 It was with great diffidence and reluctance that I undertook 
 the work now offered to the public. My " Political History," 
 which was published in the year 1842, had been better re- 
 ceived than I had anticipated.' The press of both political 
 parties had treated it not only with liberal indulgence, but 
 with kindness ; and I had, perhaps wisely, certainly prudently, 
 determined not to hazard, by another appearance before the 
 public, the forfeiture of the favotiible opinion which had been 
 expressed. Within two or three of the last years, friends re- 
 siding in various parts of the stnte, belonging to different par- 
 ties, have urged me to continue my narrative of political paities, 
 but I have uniformly replied, that the difficulty of describing 
 with accuracy and truth the conduct of men now acting a 
 prominent part on the political theatre, without partiality to 
 personal friends, (I am not aware that I have any enemies,) 
 was so great, that I had not the temerity to engage in the en- 
 terprise. But immediately after the sudden and unexpected 
 death of the late Governor Wright, several gentlemen, whose 
 opinions were entitled to my highest confidence and regard, 
 requested me to compile th»' biographv of that distinguished 
 statesman. Although I liad reason to doubt, and in truth did 
 doubt, my ability to do justice to the memory of that great 
 and good man, and to the reading public, I confess that I felt 
 a desire to make the effort. In considering the course to be 
 pursued in writing the Life of Mr. Wright, it immediately oc- 
 curred to me, that for the last six or seven yeai-s he had 
 been so connected with the political parties in this state, and 
 his actions and fortunes had been so much influenced by the 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 action and fate of those parties, that his life could not be 
 written as it should be, without at the same time giving a 
 pretty full account of many of the most distinguished poHti- 
 cians in the state and nation, who have recently been active 
 in public life, and who have to a considerable extent influenced 
 public opinion ; and, in fact, that a correct and full history of 
 Silas Wright from the year 1840 to the close of his admin- 
 istration of the orovernment of this state in 1846, would ne- 
 cessarily be the political history of the state during that period. 
 I was tlius led to the attempt which has resulted in the pro- 
 duction of what is contained in the following sheets. Those 
 who may take the trouble of perusing them, will find that 
 until the year 1841, to which time, by my former work, the 
 political history of the state is brought down, I have confined 
 myself entirely to the history of the Life of Wriglit. In con- 
 tinuing the account of his life from the year 1840 to the close 
 of his administration of the government of New York, the his- 
 tory of the political parties which existed during that period 
 is naturally and almost necessarily resumed and continued. 
 After he retired from the gubernatorial chair, there remains 
 to his biographer little other labor than the painful task of re- 
 cording his death. 
 
 So far as relates to that portion of this volume which treats 
 of the political history of the state, I dare not hope that I 
 have done full justice to the subject. 
 
 I have not, during any part of the period about which I 
 have written, personally mingled in the controversies which 
 have prevailed. Indeed, I have not frequently within that 
 time visited the seat of government, which is the great theatre 
 of the operations of parties. It is therefore higlily probable 
 that some material circumstances, which had an important bear- 
 ing on the events which have occurred, may not have been 
 known to me. My account of the movements of the whig- 
 party, and of the action of distinguished whigs, may not be 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 SO ample as is desirable it should have been ; and it will 
 be found, and perhaps be a subject of complaint by some 
 readers, that much more space is occupied in narratmg 
 the conduct of the democratic than the whig party. The 
 only reason I can offer for this is, that during much the 
 greater part of the time from the close of the year 1840 to 
 that of 1846, the whigs were in the minority, and therefore 
 their party movements did not and could not engross so much 
 of the attention of a spectator as the operations of that party 
 which controlled the patronage and measures of the state. 
 For the same reason, the dissensions among the whigs them- 
 selves were not so visible, and could not be so accurately de- 
 scribed as the feuds which have existed in the democratic 
 party. The description of those feuds has imposed on me a 
 task of great delicacy and difficulty. While on one great 
 question about which the two sections of the democratic party 
 differ, it is well known that I agree with the radicals, many, 
 perhaps a majority of my most valued personal friends, belong 
 to that section who have been denominated hunkers. My 
 difficulties and embarrassments in the attempt to give a cor- 
 rect account of these two sections, when I approached the 
 year 1842, in consequence of the various currents, counter- 
 currents, and under-currents which were put in motion, were 
 increased to a degree almost insurmountable. How I have 
 succeeded in working my way through this abyss " of neither 
 sea nor good dry land," must be submitted to an intelligent, and, 
 as by experience I have heretofore found, a hberal community. 
 With respect to the principal object of this work, The Lifb 
 OF Mr. Wright, I will merely remark, that in my judgment, 
 to describe the man as he really was, and his actions, both ia 
 pubUc and private life, as they truly were, was the imperious 
 duty of his biographer ; and that a simple narrative, " a plain 
 tale," embracing those objects, is the best eulogy of a great 
 and good man. 
 
 1* 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 The chapter which contains the account of the proceedings 
 of the convention to revise the constitution, is a mere digest 
 of the reports of the doings of that body. " It has been made 
 principally from the reports as published by Messrs. Croswell 
 and Sutton. 
 
 It is believed that it will be found to present a pretty clear 
 view of the material points decided by the convention, and of 
 the course of reasoning which led to the results to which that 
 assembly arrived, so abbreviated, simplified, and arranged as 
 will enable the student of constitutional law, by a few hours' 
 reading, to acquaint himself with the great and leading princi- 
 ples which controlled the action of the framers of our present 
 constitution. 
 
 * Many important suggestions and interesting facts have been 
 kindly communicated to me by gentlemen attached to differ- 
 ent political parties and sections of parties. In compiling this 
 work, I have made a free and liberal use of those facts and 
 suggestions. It would give me great pleasure were I permit- 
 ted to mention the names of these gentlemen ; but I do not 
 feel authorized to do so without their express consent, and I 
 therefore avail myself of the present occasion to return them 
 my cordial thanks. 
 
 The free access to the files of the Albany Argus, the Even- 
 ing Journal, and the Albany Alias, which has been courteous- 
 ly accorded to me by the conductors of those journals, has 
 greatly facilitated my labors ; but I am more especially in- 
 debted to the connections and friends of Gov. Wrioht, who 
 reside in the county of St. Lawrence, for much valuable in- 
 formation respecting the private life and character of that vir- 
 tuous citizen and eminent statesman. 
 
 J. D. H. 
 
 Cherry Valley, May 1, 1848. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Introduction — Birth and Childhood of Silas Wright — Academical and 
 Collegiate Education — Remarks oa School-keeping by Students of the 
 New England Colleges — He studies Law at Sandy Hill — Is admitted 
 an Attorney of the Supreme Court — His Journey through Western 
 New York — Locates himself in Canton, St. Lawrence County — The 
 first Public Offices which he held — His services in the Militia of St 
 Lawrence County Page 13 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 Silas Wright at Home, 28 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 Commencement of Mr. Wright's Political Life — His Nomination and 
 Election to the Senate of New York from the Fourth Senatorial Dis- 
 trict — His action on the Bill providing for the Election of Presidential 
 Electors by the People — His attachment to the Democratic Party — 
 H. Seymour's Opinion of Mr. Wright — Governor Yates and Colonel 
 Young — .Mr. Wright supports the renominution of Mr. Yates for Gov- 
 ernor — De Witt Clinton's Removal from the Office of Canal Commis- 
 sioner — Attempt to elect a Senator of the United States — Electoral 
 Law of 1825 — Its Repeal in 1828 — Reflections thereon — Numerous 
 Applications for Bank Charters in the year 1826 — Mr. Wright's Action 
 upon those Applications 41 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Result of the Election in November, 1825 — Mr. Wright's Influence in the 
 Senate — His Manner of discussing Questions — Case of Jasper Ward — 
 Mr. Wright's Report thereon — He is elected a member of Congress in 
 November, 1826 66 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Mr. Clinton re-elected Governor and Gen. Pitcher Lieutenant-governor — 
 Causes of this Result — .Mr. Wright's Confidential Letter to Mr. Van 
 Buren in 1826 — Mr. Wright's Report on the Petition of David E. Evans 
 — Mr. Flagg's Report on the Enlargement of the Erie Canal — .Mr. Rug- 
 gles' Report on the State Finances, I'rom the Committee of Ways and 
 Means — Mr. Van Buren re-elected to the Senate of the United States 
 — Mr. Wright resigns his seat in the Senate of New York 78 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Mr. Wright takes his seat a^ a Member of the Tweutieth Congress — 
 Presidential Election and the Tariff Question — TarifT of 1816 — Tariif 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 Convention at Harrisbiirg — The Southern Scheme of conducting the 
 Election — Committee on Manufacture* — Mr. Wright a Member of it — 
 His Report — Debate thereon in the House of Representatives — Mr. 
 Wright attends the State Convention at Herkimer as a Delegate — 
 Ho is nominated, and again elected to Congress Page 97 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Mr. Wright is appointed Comptroller of the State — The Importance of 
 that Office and its liigh Responsibilities — The Chenango and other pro- 
 jected Canals— Mr. Wright's Report in 1830— General Fund— Mr. 
 Wright attends the Slate Convention and successfully advocates the 
 Nomination of Mr. Throop for Governor, who is elected — Mr. Wright 
 elected Senator of the United States in the winter of 1833 113 
 
 CHAPTER VII I. 
 
 Senate of the United States — Mr. Gillet's contempkitod Work — Mr. 
 Wright's vote on the Force Bill and the Compromise Bill — He opposes 
 Mr. Clay's Land Bill — Gen. Jackson's conduct in relation to the Land 
 Bill — Marriage of Mr. Wright — Removal of the Deposites from the Bank 
 of the United States— Mr. Clay's Resolution, and Mr. Wnght's Speech 
 thereon — His Speech on Mr. Webster's motion to Recharter the United 
 States Bank — Session of l«34-5 — Mr. Wright elected a member of the 
 Committees on Finance and Commerce — His Speech on the last day of 
 the Ses)~iou — Mr. Van Bnren elected Vice-President — Mr. Wright is a 
 Member of the Baltimore Convention at the Nomination of Van Bnren 
 for President — Mr. Wright's conduct in the Senate in relation to the 
 Anti-slavery movements — Bill for the Distribution of the Surplus Funds 
 — Specie Circular — Mr. Wright elected Chairman of the Finance Com- 
 mittee — In lb37, re-elected to the United States Senate by the New 
 York Legislature ! 125 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Suspension of Specie Payments by the Banks — Extra Session of Con- 
 gress in September, 18:17 — Mr. Wright's Opinion on the Subject of the 
 Suspension of the Banks and of the Independent Treasury, as expressed 
 by him previous to the Extra Session of Congress — At the Extra Session 
 Mr. Wright reports the Independent Treasury Bill — It passe.-i the Sen- 
 ate, but is lost in the House of Representatives — He brings in the same 
 bill at the Regular Session, but it fails of passing — July 4, lb4U, the 
 Bill becomes a Law — Mr. Wright votes for Mr. Clay's Resolution iigahist 
 any interference with Slavery in the District of Columbia — Mr. Wrioht's 
 Oration delivered at Canton in 1839 — His Etforts to promote Mr. "Van 
 Buren's Election in 1840 147 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Continuation of the Political History of the State of New York — Cata- 
 logue of the Senators — Whig and Democratic Caucuses for nomination 
 of Speaker — P. B. I'orter. Jr. chosen Speaker — Governor's Message — 
 General Root's Re.solnlion to amend the Constitution of the United 
 State.s — Virginia Coiilroveisy — 'I'lie (ilentworth Fraud — Removal of 
 Robert H. Morris from the Office of Recorder of New York — Freder- 
 
CONTENTS. 9 
 
 ick A. Tallmadge appointed his successor — Proceedings on the Bill to 
 Abolish Capital Punishment — Bill for the appointment of County Su- 
 perintendents of Common Schools — ^John C. Spencer — His talents and 
 labors — E. S. Randall— Francis Dwight— General Harrison's Inaugu- 
 ration—His Cabinet— His Death— Mr. Tyler's Cabinet— John C. Spen- 
 cer Secretary of War— Trial and Acquittal of Alexander McLeod— 
 William Kent appointed Circuit Judge of the First Circuit — Death of 
 Bates Cook — Result of the election in November, 1841 Page 182 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Levi S. Chatfield chosen Speaker of the Assembly — Unusual number of 
 men of talents this year elected Members of that House — Isaac R. El- 
 wood chosen Clerk of the Senate — Gov. Seward's Message — Comptrol- 
 ler's Report — Dispute between the Governor and Senate on the Bill for 
 the Repeal of the Law in relation to the Receivers of Insolvent Banks 
 — Caucus for nominating State Officers — A. C. Flagg, Comptroller, S. 
 Young, Secretary of State, George P. Barker, Attorney-general, Thom- 
 as Fiirrington, Treasurer. Nathaniel Jones, Surveyor-general — Canal 
 Commissioners — Debates in the Senate and Assembly on the Fm;inceB 
 —Mr. Hoffman's Speech— Mr. Flagg's Report— Mr. Hoffman's Finan- 
 cial Bill of 1842 — It passes the Assembly — Proceedings in the Senate 
 thereon — Mr. Dickinson's Substitute, and Messrs. Foster's and Faulk- 
 ner's Amendments — The People's Resolutions — Indications of Dissen- 
 sions in the Democratic and Whig Parties — Virginia Controversy again 
 discussed — Bill for removing the State Printer— Vetoed by the Governor 
 — Proceedings in Congress — Mr. Wright's Speech on the Loan Bill — 
 His Speech on the Bill for dividing the States into single Congressional 
 Districts — New Tariff Bill — Mr. Wright's Speech on this Bill — Demo- 
 cratic State Convention — William C. Bouck nominated for Governor — 
 He is elected — D. S. Dickinson elected Lieutenant-governor 249 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 George R. Davis nominated and elected Speaker — Governor's Message — 
 Gov. Bouck's Birth and Education — Lyman Sanford appointed Adju- 
 tant-general — Agitation of the Presidential Question at Washington — 
 Proceedings on board the Brig Somers, and death of Mr. Philip Spencer 
 — South Carolina Legislature nominate Mr. Calhoun for President — 
 Character of the State Officers in 1843 — Course of the Governor — Con- 
 test respecting State Printer — E. Croswell, H. H. Van Dyck — E. Crom- 
 well appointed State Printer — Albany Atlas — Mr. Wright re-elected 
 United States Senator — Mr. Dickinson's Resolution in relation to the 
 conduct of Gov. Bouck as Canal Commissioner — The distribution of th? 
 Books containing the result of the Geological Survey — Young and 
 Dickinson — Bill for abolishing the Office of Bank Commissioner — Re- 
 jection by the Senate of nominations made by the Governor 315 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Character of Leading Members of the Legislature of 1844 — Democratic 
 Caucus for Speaker— Mr. Litchfield nominated and elected — James R. 
 Rose elected Clerk — Governor's Message — Meeting at Albany of the 
 friends of a Convention — Formation of the Committees of the AJssembiy 
 
10 CONTENTS. 
 
 — Mr. Foster's Resolution for the Reduction of Postage — Mr. Foster 
 elected President pro tern, of the Senate — Death of Judge Cowen — 
 Samuel Beardsiey appointed Justice of the Supreme Court — Death of 
 Gen. P. B. Porter — James V. L. Pruyn and James J. Wadsworth ap- 
 pointed Regents of the University — J. P. Cushman resigns the office of 
 Circuit Judge, and A.J. Parker appointed his successor — Mr. Farring- 
 ton appointed Troaisurer — J. C. Spencer nominated Associate Justice of 
 the United States Supreme Court — His nomination is rejected by the 
 Senate — Causes — Silas Wright nominated for same Office — He declines 
 — Nomination of Chancellor Walworth for same Office — Afterwards 
 the Chancellor's name withdrawn by the President, when Judge Nel- 
 son was nominated and appointed P^^ge 369 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Gen. Chamberlain's Resolutions — Mr. Dennison's Report on the Canal 
 Policy and Bill — As-seinbiy's Finance Bill amended in the Senate, and 
 piisses — The state of feeling in the Assembly and Senate between the 
 Hunkers and Radicals — B. F. Hall's Bill for a Convention, and proceed- 
 ings thereon — Bill for electing Canal Commissioners — Removal of Mr. 
 Cassidy from the office of Stale Librarian — Policy of the Whigs — Cal- 
 vin H. Hulburd — Democratic Legislative Caucus — Protest of the minor- 
 ity — Whig Legislative Address 403 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 BALTIMORE CONVENTION. 
 
 The issue on which Mr. Van Buren was beaten in 1840 — Annexation of 
 Texas — Mr. Van Buren's Letter to Mr. Hammit — Intrigues at Wash- 
 ington — Two-third Rule — Proceedings at the Baltimore Conveution — 
 Nomination of James K. Polk — Mr. Wright declines to be a Candidate 
 for Vice-President — George M. Dallas is nominated Vice-President — 
 Whig Convention — Mr. Clay nominated for President — Mr. Freling- 
 huysen for Vice-President — Millard Fillmore supported by the New 
 York Delegation — His Character 437 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Public feeling on the announcement of the Presidential Nominations — 
 Native American Party — Liberty Party — Anti-Rent Party — Two sec- 
 tions of the Whig Party — Cou.servative and Radical — Difficulties in the 
 «er<'Clion of a Democratic candidate for Governor — Radical papers de- 
 mand till- Nomination of Mr. Wright — His unwilliiignr.'^s to be a 
 Candidate — His Letter to the Editor of the St. Lawrence Republican — 
 Syracuse Convention — Mr. Wriglit nominated for Governor — Whig 
 State Convention — Secret Circular — Mr. Clay's Letters — Their Effijct 
 — Action of the Native American Party — Also of the Liberty Party — • 
 Result of the Election — Position and Policy of the Governor dec! — Mr. 
 Wright resigns his sn.it in Ihr IJiiilfd Stales Senate — Governor Boiick 
 appoints Messrs. Dickinson and Foster United Stales Senators in place 
 of Governor Wright and N. P. Tallmadge 47(5 
 
CONTENTS. 11 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Condition of the Democratic Party at the commencement of the year 1845 
 — Contest about the nomination of Speaker — Mr. Seymour and Co). 
 Grain — Mr. Seymour is nominated and elected — Governor's Message — 
 Caucus to nominate State Officers — Its result — Caucus to nominate 
 United Slates Senators — Messrs. Dickinson and Dix nominated and 
 elected — .Mr. Polk's offer to appoint Mr. Wright Secretary of the Treas- 
 tiry — Gov. Marcy appointed Secretary of War Pago 510 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Opinions of the Hunker and Radical Members of the Legislature of 1845 
 on the subject of the necessity of a Constitutional Convention — Differ- 
 ent viewH of the Hunkers, Radicals, uud Whigs on that subject — ^Char- 
 acter of John Young — Amendments to the Constitution proposed by 
 the Legislature of 1844, and approved by the Electors at the Novem- 
 ber elfclioii of that year — .\ction of the Whig Members of the Legi.i- 
 lature on those Amendments — Circumstances which led to the passage 
 of a Convention Bdl — Final passage of the Bill in the Assembly — De- 
 bate on that occasion — Proceedings in the Senate on the Convention 
 Bill — Its final passage in that House — Passage of the Canal B.ll — Is 
 vetoed by the Governor — Resignation of Judge Kent, and apporntment 
 of Judge Edmonds as Circuit Judge of the First Circuit 535 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Bill to prevent persons appearing disguised and armed — Anti-rent Conven- 
 tion at Bern — No Democratic legislative Caucus was held at thn closa 
 of the session — Address of the Radical members — Whig legislative Cau- 
 cus and Address — Democratic Mass Meeting at Albany — Difffrent opin- 
 ions as to the course pursued by Governor Wright — J. A. Speucr and 
 Samuel Young elected Senators — General Result of the Election iu 
 November, lb45 — Death of General Jackson — Death of Judge Siilher- 
 laud — Death of Francis Dwight — His Character 562 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Legislature of 1846 — Col. Grain and Mr. Bailey, candidates for nomina- 
 tion to the Speakership — Mr Crain nominated and elected Speaker — 
 Delos W. Dean, Clerk-*-Anti-Rent Outrages — Trial of the In.surgent* 
 in Delaware County — Judge Parker — John Van Buren — Govomor's 
 Message — Legislative Proceedings — Debate in the Senate on tlu' Reso- 
 lutions proposed by Mr. Jones — Bill on the subject of State Pi inter — 
 Proceedings and Debates thereon in the Senate and Assembly — Act 
 abolishing Distress for Rent — Mr. A. G. Cliatfield chosen Speaker pro 
 tem. — Col. Young elected President pro tem. of the Senate — R. E. 
 Temple appointed Adjutant-General — Hiram Gray appointed Judge of 
 the Sixth Circuit — L. H. Sanford Vice-Chancellor of the First District — 
 Death of Jonas Earl 574 
 
18 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 CONVENTION. 
 
 Place of birth of the Delegates — John Tracy elected President — A Com- 
 mittee of sevedteon appointed to report on subjects to be considered by 
 the Convention — Tlieir Report — De,b;ite on restricting the eligibility of 
 citizens for the office of Governor — On the Executive Veto — On the 
 Legislative Department — Report of the Judiciary Committee — Of the 
 persons who composed that committee — Proceedings on Mr. Chatfield's 
 Report (No. 6) on the State Officers — On Gen. Tallmadge'e Report, 
 from No. 11, on Rights and Privileges — Proceedings in Committee of 
 the Whole on the Report from the Judiciary Committee — Mr. Hoff- 
 man's Report on Canals, the Public Revenue, &c., from No. 3 — Pro- 
 ceedings in Committee of the Whole on Mr. Hoffman's Report — Mr. 
 Cambreling's Speech on Currency and Banking — Debate on the ques- 
 tion of extending to colored freemen an equal Right of Suffrage — Mr. 
 Clyde's Resolutions in relation to the Tenure of Real Estate — Final ad- 
 journment of the Convention — Concluding Remarks Page 605 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 The Mexican War — Speech of Mr. John Young on a resolution to sup- 
 port the War — Legislative Caucus at the close of the session — Whig 
 legislative Caucus and Address — National Reformers — The New Scot- 
 land Convention — Democratic State Convention at Syracuse — Address 
 of the Convention — Whig State Convention — Anti-rent Convention at 
 Albany — John Young elected Governor and Addison Gardiner Lieuten- 
 ant-governor — Speculation on the causes of the defeat of Gov. Wright 
 — Death and character of General Root — Conclusion of Political His- 
 tory 671 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 life of Silas Wright resumed and continued — Manner in which Mr. 
 Wright receives the news of his defeat — Letter from George W. Little, 
 Esq. — Wilmot Proviso— Mr. P. King's B,ll including the Wilmot Pro- 
 viso — His Speech on the Bill — Resolution of the New York Legislature 
 on the subject of the Wilmot Proviso — Mr. Wright leaves Albany for 
 Canton — His Journey from Utica — Letter from Col. Hinman — Chicago 
 Convention — Mr. Wright's Reply to the Committee who invited his at- 
 tendance — Mr. Wright's Address at the Saratoga Agricultural Fair — 
 
 His Manner of Life after his return to Canton — His Death 700 
 
 • 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Proceedings on the Death of Mr. Wright, at Albany — New York — Tam- 
 many Society — Slate Legislature — Wisconsin — Presentation of Plate 
 by the New York Merchants to Mrs. Wright — Funeral Sermon by Mr. 
 Johnson — Remarks on the Character of Silas Wright 733 
 
 APPENDIX 745 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Introduction — Birth and Childhood of Silas Wright — Academical and 
 Collegiate Education — Remarks on School-keeping by Students of th« 
 New England Colleges — He studies Law at Sandy Hill — Is admitted 
 an Atfornpy of the Supreme Court — His Journey through Western 
 New York — Locates himself in Canton, St. Lawrence County — The 
 first Public OfRces which he held — His services in the Militia of St. 
 Lawrence County. 
 
 WiiF.^f an indivitlual of obscure birth, without the aid 
 of influential relations, without wealth, and witiiout that 
 glory which is son)etimes gained by the daring and bril- 
 liant achievements of the soldier of fortune, rises to an 
 eminent rank in society, and acquires the esteem and ad- 
 miration of a great country, the attention of the philoso- 
 pher as well as the curiosity of the lover of history, is 
 naturally directed to an inquiry into the causes which 
 have produced such auspicious results. 
 
 In despotic governments it not unfrequently happens 
 that men in the lowest ranks of life are suddenly elevated 
 to the highest by the fiat of the sovereign of the country : 
 thus a Hebrew slave spends the night in a loathsome 
 dungeon, an inmate with the vilest felons, and the next 
 morning becomes second only in wealth and power to a 
 great monarch ; and in one short hour the slave in Tur- 
 key is elevated to the station and authority of prime min- 
 
 2 
 
14 LITE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 ister of a mighty empire. The cause of events like these 
 is found in the partiaHty and freaks of passion of a sin- 
 gle individual — the reigning despot. His favorites have 
 " greatness cast upon them." Not so with the poor and 
 obscure child who is born and grows up to manhood in 
 the United States of America. He can only rise to in- 
 fluence, he can only acquire power, by gaining the good 
 opinion, the esteem and confidence of hundreds of thou- 
 sands, who at their option withhold or bestow that es- 
 teem and confidence. Hence the means by which he 
 gains the preference of his fellow-citizens becomes an in- 
 teresting subject of inquiry, not only for the gratification 
 of the curiosity of the student of history, but as furnishing 
 a demonstration of the value of our free institutions in 
 encouraging, fostering, and rewarding merit, talent, and 
 virtue, however humble their origin, and as affording to 
 our youth the highest inducement to persevering indus- 
 try, to the practice of all the public and private virtues, 
 to the acquisition of useful knowledge, and of an elevated, 
 enlarged, and ardent patriotism. With this view the at- 
 tention of the reader is invited to the History of the Life 
 of Silas Wright. 
 
 Mr. Wright was born in the town of Amherst, in the 
 county of Hampshire, and state of Massachusetts, on the 
 24th day of May, in the year 1795. His father's Chris- 
 tian name was Silas, and therefore the subject of these 
 memoirs was for a long time known in this state* as Si- 
 las Wright, Jr. The ancestors of Mr. Wright belonged 
 to the Pilgrims of New England, and were among the 
 earliest emigrants who fled from England to the bleak 
 
 * Until the death of his futlier, which happened within a few years 
 past. 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT 15 
 
 and barren shores of Massachusetts, for the sake of en- 
 joying civil and religious liberty. They must have emi- 
 grated in the first part of the seventeenth century. It 
 appears that Mr. Samuel Wright, from whom Mr. Silas 
 Wright traced a direct lineal descent, died at Northamp- 
 ton, in Massachusetts, of which place he had for some 
 time been an inhabitant, in the year 1665. 
 
 The father of Mr. Wright, though for a son of the old 
 Pilgrim State he was much restricted in his education 
 even as respects the common branches of learning, is de- 
 scribed as a man who possessed a clear and discerning 
 mind, and an excellent judgment. He was bred a me- 
 chanic, but in afterlife purchased a farm, and became 
 and continued to be a practical farmer till his death.* 
 
 Mr. Wright's mother was better educated than most 
 of the young women in the country where she resided. 
 She is described as having possessed more than ordinary 
 intellectual power ; and she undoubtedly had a great and 
 paramount influence in giving an early direction to the 
 infant mind. of Silas, who was soon distinguished as a lad 
 of great promise, and seems to have been so regarded by 
 both his parents ; for, from a family consisting of seven 
 children, four sons and three daughters, he was selected 
 as the only one on whom should be bestowed the benefit 
 of a collegiate education. 
 
 In Februar}', 1706, when Silas was less than a year 
 old, his father removed from Amherst, his native town, to 
 Weybridge, in Vermont, where he purchased a farm, and 
 where he continued to reside till his death. Thus, al- 
 though the distinjiruished individual of whose life we are 
 
 * In Vermont he was several times elected a member of the legislature 
 of that state. 
 
10 i.irn OF SILAS wkigiit. 
 
 now attempting to give a sketch, was not a native of Ver- 
 mont, havino; received his education there, and lived there 
 from the time he was nine months old until he com- 
 menced the study of his profession, he may be regarded 
 as a son of the Green Mountain State. 
 
 Mr. Wright, until he was fourteen years old, lived in 
 his father's family ; and, in accordance with a custom 
 almost universally prevalent in Vermont, as soon as he 
 had acquired sufficient age and strength to labor at all, 
 worked daily on the farm in summer, and attended the 
 district school in the winter. 
 
 At about the agre of fourteen he entered as a student 
 in the academy at Middlebury, in Vermont, and was so 
 successful in the prosecution of his academical studies, 
 that in August, 1811, he was admitted as a member of 
 the Freshman Class at Middlebury College, at which in- 
 stitution he was graduated in the year 1815. 
 
 In order to aid young men of limited pecuniary means 
 in defraying their expenses w^hile at college, it is usual in 
 most of the eastern colleges to permit the students to be 
 absent during the winter, provided they desire to employ 
 that portion of their time in teaching, and provided their 
 diligence and success in prosecuting their studies during 
 their actual attendance at college, have been such as to 
 warrant the expectation that at the end of the collegiate 
 year they will be able to pass such an examination as will 
 merit the approbation of the faculty of the institution. 
 Mr. Wright availed himself of this custom, and taught a 
 common district school one winter, at Provost's Corners, 
 in Addison county, and two winters at the town of Or- 
 ville, in Rutland county, in the state of Vermont. 
 
 We admire this custom, which has long prevailed in 
 the colleges in New England. We wish the practice 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 17 
 
 could be introduced into the colleges of this state.* In 
 our judgment it is in various ways calculated to be useful. 
 It furnishes the indigent student with means, acquired by 
 his own labor and industry, to defray the expenses of his 
 education, and thus enables him to pursue his studies, and 
 preserve his personal independence, and to avoid the deg- 
 radation, at least in feeling, of living on the charitable dona- 
 tions from ladies' societies, or other benevolent institutions. 
 It gives to the district schools competent and able teach- 
 ers ; and the exercise of teaching and of governing a school 
 furnishes the teacher himself with perhaps the best means 
 of obtaining a correct insight into the human character 
 from its developments by children and unsophisticated 
 youth, while it leaves the young teacher, who is himself 
 a learner, sufficient leisure to consider and reflect upon 
 the studies he has pursued the preceding summer and 
 autumn. 
 
 Some of the most eminent men in New England, 
 among whom we may mention the elder Adams, have 
 commenced their business life by teaching a common 
 school while they were themselves students at college. 
 We have no direct information respecting the success of 
 Mr. Wright as a teacher, but from the patience, diligence, 
 skill, and address with which, in afterlife, he pursued his 
 various avocations, we have no doubt he discharged his 
 duty as a schoolmaster in a manner useful to his pupils, 
 and satisfactory to his employers ; and if so, who shall 
 say but that Silas Wright, in this humble employment, 
 may not, during the short time he was engaged in it, 
 have done as much real good, as when subsequently oc- 
 
 * The author has beeu recently informed that this laudable custom has 
 been partially adopted in Union and Hamilton colleges. 
 
 2* 
 
18 LIFE OF SILAS WEIGHT. 
 
 cupying some of the most conspicuous and important 
 stations in the country, he justly merited and received 
 the plaudits of a great nation ? 
 
 A worthy and much-respected clergyman,* who was 
 in college with Mr. Wright, in a letter to the author, 
 written since the death of Mr. W., says : — 
 
 " My first acquaintance with him [A\'^right] com- 
 menced when we were lads together. At that early 
 period his frankness, his unbending regard to truth, and 
 his perfectly upright and fair dealing, were not only con- 
 spicuous, but were proverbial among his associates. His 
 natural temper was mild and attractive. In the acade- 
 my, while pursuing studies preparatory to entering col- 
 lege, he was an industiious student, and several times 
 was the successful competitor for the small prizes prof- 
 fered to excite emulation. In college he stood fair as a 
 scholar, and high as a young man of correct moral prin- 
 ciples and irreproachable habits." 
 
 Mr. Wright was a member of ^Middlebury College du- 
 ring those years in which the United States were at war 
 with Great Britain. Political disputes, during that period, 
 were very rife in the northern and eastern states, and in 
 no state were they more bitter than in the state of Ver- 
 mont. Party feeling w^as probably the more ardent and 
 excited there in consequence of the approach of a British 
 army, during the period we have mentioned, near the 
 w-estern line of Vermont. Although it is to be regretted 
 that political differences, and especially that partisan zeal 
 and prejudices should ever be permitted to enter our lit- 
 erary institutions, or occupy for a moment the attention 
 of students at our universities, it is, nevertheless, not sur- 
 
 * Rev. H. S. Johnson of Canton. 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 19 
 
 prising that at tliis time the minds of the ardent and 
 spirited young men who were students at Middlebury 
 College, should have participated in the excitement which 
 prevailed all around them. They did indeed mingle in 
 the contest, and attached themselves to one or the other 
 of the two great parties, as to them respectively seemed 
 right and proper. Mr. Wright took ground in support 
 of the war, of Mr. Madison's administration, and the 
 Republican party. It is by no means improbable that the 
 contest in which he then engaged, with a formidable ma- 
 jority of his fellow-students, had a considerable influence 
 in fastening on his mind a predilection for that party 
 which he believed was the Republican party, and which, 
 it appears, had a controlling effect upon his conduct du- 
 ring the remainder of his life. 
 
 Immediately after Mr. Wright was graduated at Mid- 
 dlebury College, and in the month of October, 1815, he 
 came into the state of New York, and commenced the 
 study of law in the office of the Hon. Henry C. Martin- 
 dale, a gentleman who held a respectable standing as a 
 lawyer, and who was afterwards for several successive 
 terms elected a member of the House of Representatives 
 in the Congress of the United States, for the district in 
 which he resided. Mr. Wright pursued his studies in 
 the office of Mr. Martindale, at Sandy Hill, in Washing- 
 ton county, about a year and a half, when he left the 
 office of Mr. Martindale, and completed the study of his 
 profession under the direction of Roger Skinner, after- 
 wards elected a member of the Senate of this state, and 
 subsequently appointed United States Judge of the North- 
 ern District of New York. Judge Skinner then, and for 
 some time after Mr. Wright was admitted an attorney 
 of the Supreme Court, kept an office in the village of 
 
20 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 Sandy Hill.* We are aware that it has been stated that 
 Mr. Wriglit read law with Judge Skinner in the city of 
 Albany, but this is an error ; Mr. Wright never was in 
 Albany, except merely to pass through it, until he came 
 there as a member of the State Senate in the year 1824. 
 The author takes leave to remark in passing, that before 
 Mr. Wright was known to him as a legislator or a pol- 
 itician, he has frequently heard Judge Skinner speak 
 in terms of high commendation both of his head and 
 heart. In the January term of 1819, Mr. Wright was 
 admitted an attorney of the Supreme Court. 
 
 After, and indeed before Mr. Wright had obtained his 
 Hcense, his health had become so much impaired, proba- 
 bly in consequence of confinement in a law-office, and 
 the laborious discharge of his duties as a clerk, together 
 with a too severe application to his studies, that his friends 
 became alarmed on his account, and urged him to under- 
 take a journey on horseback through the western parts 
 of the state of New York. He followed their advice, 
 probably with the less reluctance, as he must, then have 
 been anxious to discover the most eligible place in which 
 he could commence business with a reasonable prospect 
 of success, and because he was desirous personally to see 
 and explore the great West, of which he had heard so 
 much. To him it was not only a journey in pursuit of 
 health, but it was an expedition in search of a place 
 which he might select for his future residence. On set- 
 ting out upon such a journey, and for such purposes, his 
 feelings must have been highly excited. He was desti- 
 
 * While Mr. Wright was reading law under the direction of Judge 
 Skinner, in order to preserve his pecuniary independence, ho again devo- 
 ted several months to the business of teachiug a school at Fort Miller. 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 21 
 
 tute of wealth and influential connections ; but " the 
 world was all before him where to choose his place of 
 rest, and Providence his ^uide." What must have been 
 the hopes and fears which alternately agitated the noble 
 mind of the young Vermonter, can by men who in youth 
 have undertaken similar enterprises, better be imagined 
 than described. # 
 
 After travelling through a considerable part of western 
 New York, Mr. Wright in returning directed his course 
 northerly, which finally brought him into the county of 
 St. Lawrence, the greater part of which was then an un- 
 broken wilderness. 
 
 A few houses were at that time erected on the spot 
 where the fine and flourishing villasre of Canton now 
 stands. Thither Mr. Wright directed his steps. The 
 courts in the county of St. Lawrence were then held at 
 Ogdensburg, and no doubt the forecast of Wright enabled 
 him to perceive that the seat of justice would ere long be 
 removed to a more central part of the county. Canton 
 was much nearer the geographical centre than Ogdens- 
 burg, and his sagacious mind must soon have arrived at the 
 conclusion that the county-seat would probably be soon 
 removed from the latter to the former village. It is to 
 be presumed that some such considerations as we have 
 suffKested led him to visit Canton. When he arrived 
 there, he was delighted to find located in that place an 
 old and much esteemed friend of his father, Capt. Medad 
 Moody, who several years before had removed from Wey- 
 bridffe in Vermont, to the countv of St. Lawrence. Mr. 
 Moody was no less pleased on seeing and welcoming to 
 his house the son of his valued neighbor and associate of 
 former days. Mr. Wright also found in this village oth- 
 ers of the friends and neighbors of his father, whom he 
 
22 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 had known in the days of his childhood, — perhaps the hap- 
 piest portion of human hfe. Tlie recollection of those 
 days reminds us of home ; they bring vividly to our view, 
 and we again enjoy, sweet home as it was in the days of 
 innocence and peace, when the heart, only alive to the 
 enjoyment of innocent pleasures, was unacquainted with 
 the struggles of ambitious rivalry, jialousy, and envy. 
 The love of home is the source and foundation of all the 
 emotions of patriotism which spring up in the human 
 heart. 
 
 Mr. Moody expressed to Mr. Wright his anxious de- 
 sire that he should locate himself permanently in the vil- 
 lage of Canton ; and as an inducement to Mr. W. to 
 accede to his wishes, he offered to build, and did event- 
 ually " build a small office for him," says Mr. Horace 
 Moody, the son of Capt. Moody, and a brother to her who 
 was afterwards the wife of the lamented Wright, in a 
 letter to the author, " with two rooms, one of which he 
 occupied for his sleeping apartment, and the other for a 
 law-office. He continued," says young Mr. Moody, " to 
 occupy the law-office until his duties as comptroller took 
 him to Albany." After Mr. Wright made up his mind to 
 settle in Canton, he remained a short time in the family 
 of Mr. Moody; but in October, 1819, as Mr. Horace 
 Moody states, " he returned to Vermont, when his 
 brother Samuel, with his own conveyance, brought him 
 again to Canton, and he took up his abode in the family 
 • of Mr. Moody, which he made his home until he com- 
 menced keeping house for himself. Upon leaving his 
 father's house, his mother gave him a sufficient quantity 
 of bedding for his own use, which was all he brought 
 with him, and all the personal property he had in the 
 world. At a subsequent visit to his parents," continues 
 
LIFE IJJ SILAS VVRIG T. 23 
 
 Mr. H. Moody, " his father presented him with a fine young 
 horse, which he brought to Canton, and although in after- 
 Hfe, there was but Httle of the time that he did not own a 
 first-rate yoke oi working oxen, that was the only horse 
 he ever had." 
 
 Here in a httle village, surrounded by the extensive 
 and dense forests with which the great county of St. Law- 
 rence was then covered, in the fall of the year, Silas 
 Wright, with the few necessary articles of furniture 
 given him by his kind and affectionate mother, an office 
 built for him by Capt. Moody, and probably some dozen 
 volumes of law-books — a young stranger from Vermont, 
 in 1819, commenced his business life. Who, at that 
 time, would have dared to predict that in less than 
 twenty-five years he woul^ be governor of the Empire 
 State, and that the anxious eyes of millions would be 
 turned to him as the man most deservina; of the hitrhest 
 station to which a human being can be elevated ? Such, 
 notwithstanding, is now sober history. 
 
 The first civil office held by Mr. Wright was that of 
 Surrogate of the county of St. Lawrence. To this office 
 he was appointed in the year 1820. It is worthy of re- 
 mark, that this office must have been conferred on Mr. 
 Wright in consequence of his merit, at the general request 
 of the community in which he resided, and not from par- 
 ty considerations, for Mr. Wright was, according to the 
 political nomenclature of the day, denominated a Buck- 
 tail, and De Witt Clinton was then governor, with a coun- 
 cil of appointment who were his warm political friends. 
 (See 1 Pol. Hist. 518.) 
 
 In 1821, Feb. 28, Mr. Wright was appointed a justice 
 of the peace and commissioner of deeds ; but at this time 
 a majority of the council of appointment were bucktails. 
 
24 LIFE OF SILAS WEIGHT. 
 
 and Roger Skinner, the friend and patron of Mr. Wright, 
 was its most influential and leading member. In 1824, 
 Mr. Wright offered his resignation of these offices, but it 
 was not accepted until 1825. 
 
 He was also appointed postmaster at Canton, an office 
 which he held till he resigned it in 1827. 
 
 In 1821-2-3, he was elected town clerk, and inspector 
 of common schools. 
 
 We will venture the assertion, that the only office (ex- 
 cept that of pathmaster) which he ever intimated he was 
 desirous to obtain, was that of inspector- of common 
 schools. 
 
 There was another branch of the duty of a citizen of a 
 republic to which Gov. Wright devoted much of his time 
 and attention until the discharge of his official duties 
 called him away from the county of St. Lawrence, which 
 was service in, and the improvement of, the militia. 
 
 In the year 1822, he raised and organized an indepen- 
 dent company of riflemen, of which he w^as elected and 
 commissioned captain. He conmianded this company 
 until the fall of 1825, (which was while he was a member 
 of the senate of this state,) when an independent regiment 
 was organized, known as the 7th Rifle Regiment. 
 
 The following memoranda of the offices held by Mr. 
 Wright, and his services in the militia, were kindly fur- 
 nished us by a young gentleman of Canton, who was a 
 native of that town. We copy literally from our corre- 
 spondent : 
 
 "At the first election of 'field officers' for the new 
 regiment, Mr. Wright was elected Major. He did mili- 
 tary duty as major one year. In the fall of 182G, he was 
 elected Colonel. He commanded the regiment until the 
 fall of 1827, when he was elected and commissioned 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 25 
 
 Biigadier-general of the 49th Brigade and 12th Division 
 of the New York Mihtia. He commanded the brifjade 
 until the year 1829, when he resigned his commission.* 
 Mr. Wright was an excellent disciplinarian, and was uni- 
 versally respected by all under his command. 
 
 " During the eight years w^hich Mr. Wright did mili- 
 tary duly, ' he was never known to make use of a harsh 
 or unkind word' towards any officer or soldier under 
 his command. 
 
 " One thing is worthy of remark — that of the old rifle 
 company raised and organized by Mr. Wright, not a sin- 
 gle member was ever knoxcn to vote against him when he 
 was a candidate for an elective office, although many of 
 them belonged to the party opposed to him in politics. 
 
 " In his military, as well as in all other public stations 
 which he filled, he had a sacred regard for the feelings of 
 those with whom he was associated, and would not wil- 
 lingly do any act calculated to wound the feelings of even 
 the most sensitive. 
 
 " One incident which the writer well remembers, occur- 
 red at a general review of the 7th llifle Regiment, in 
 1828. By the militia laws of New York at that time, the 
 commissioned, non-commissioned officers, and musicians 
 of each regiment in the state, 'drilled' three days, and 
 the fourth was the general review. The 7lh Rifle Regi- 
 ment was a new uniformed regiment, and was quite 
 large, numbering in all sixteen companies. The offi- 
 cers of each company had a tent pitched on the 
 field, and fho line of the regiment was formed in front 
 
 • Ho was about that time appointed Comptroller, and it became neces- 
 sary for him fo reside constantly in .-Vlbany. — Editor. 
 
 3 
 
26 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 of the line of tents. It was in the month of October, and 
 the weather quite cold. There was a tremendous dark 
 heavy cloud hanging over the field. The order was 
 given, ' Prepare for the standing review !' The regi- 
 ment was immediately put in order, and as the gen- 
 eral and his staff approached the right of the regiment, 
 and had uncovered their heads, the wind commenced 
 blowing a 'hurricane' and the rain and hail fell in 
 torrents. At this moment every company hut one 
 in the whole line jled to their tents. But the gene- 
 ral and one of his staff, (the brigade inspector,) moved 
 slowly down the line with uncovered heads, until they 
 arrived in front of the only company left in the 
 whole line, — which, by-the-by, was his old Rijle Com- 
 pany/ : he reined up his horse, while the rain and hail 
 were pelting his naked head, and addressed them thus : — 
 ' That's right, boys ! That's the kind of soldiers I like. 
 I knew I should have one company to review if it rained 
 pitchforks, unless they came tines downwards.' 
 
 " The rain ceased, and the line w^as again formed, and 
 the general passed over the ground a second time. 
 
 " After the review, the regiment was formed in ' hol- 
 low square,' and the general, in his calm, cool manner, 
 made a handsome address to the regiment. As he 
 commenced, all eyes were turned towards him, and 
 every ear was open, expecting to hear something in 
 the sha})e of a reprimand for leaving the ranks without 
 orders. But they were all happily disappointed, for not 
 a harsh word escaped his lips on that occasion. In the 
 course of his address he alluded to the unfortunate day, 
 and much regretted the damage done to their uniforms. 
 He remarked very good-naturedly that he did not think 
 they had ' gained much by leaving the ranks, for thev 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT, 27 
 
 appeared to be about as thoroughly soaked as he was, 
 who had not left the line during the storm.' " 
 
 We add a single remark : From the facts above stated, 
 it is evident that Mr. Wright was fond of military exer- 
 cises, and of military distinction. We were personally 
 acquainted with him from the time he was elected to the 
 senate in 1823, and while he was comptroller, and of course 
 a resident of Albany, where we also resided, and were in 
 habits of [>ersonal intercourse with him until he retired to 
 Canton in the autumn of 1846 ; and vet we never heard 
 or sus|)ected that he had ever held any office in the mili- 
 tia. We knew him only as a citizen in civil life. We 
 knew him as plain Mr. Wright, and not by the pompous 
 title of General Wright. We mention this circum.^tance 
 as evidence of the innate and peculiar modesty which in 
 all situations governed the conduct and social intercourse 
 of Silas Wright during his whole life. 
 
28 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SILAS WRIGHT AT HOME. 
 
 From the first of January, 1824, to the first of the same 
 month in the year 1 847, the greater part of Mr. Wright's 
 time was spent either at Albany or Washington, in the 
 discharge of the high and responsible duties which de- 
 volved upon him as a member of the New York state 
 senate, as the comptroller of the state, an office which 
 draws within its vortex nearly all the important operations 
 of the government, as a member of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives, as senator of the United States, or as govern- 
 or of the state. Overwhelmed with official business, and 
 immersed in the wild and tempestuous ocean of politics, 
 little can be seen or known of his domestic qualities and 
 habits during that long period. The short time which 
 during some of these years he was enabled to spend at 
 home, made him rather a visiter than an inmate in his 
 own house. It was only from the autumn of 1819 to 
 that of 1823, that Mr. Wright can be said to have lived 
 at home. But it is there where you see the man as he is. 
 It is there where impatience, envy, irascibility, and all the 
 bad passions to which ])oor human nature is subject, are 
 too often displayed without restraint ; and it is there where 
 the kindly emotions of the heart are exhibited, and where 
 they exist unadulterated with any sinister motive. It is 
 by the domestic fireside — it is in the social intercourse 
 with one's family and neighbors and intimate friends, 
 
LIFE OF SILA.-? WRIOHT. 29 
 
 where there is no inducement for affectation or disguise, 
 that the beams of " the soul's calm sunshine" are most 
 conspicuous and most sensibly felt. To see Silas Wright 
 as Silas Wright, we must look at him in the family of the 
 old neighbor and friend of his father, Capt. Moody, in the 
 remote and quiet village of Canton. We therefore insert 
 the gleanings we have made from several obliging corre- 
 spondents, one of whom is the son of Mr. IMoody, and 
 another was the clergyman of the village, whom we have 
 before mentioned as the classmate of the subject of these 
 memoirs. 
 
 As respects Mr. Wright's professional efforts, a gentle- 
 man who was at one time sheriff of St. Lawrence, and 
 afterwards a member of the assembly and senate from 
 that county,* says : — " His habits were extremely plain, 
 simple, and unambitious. He did not seem to seek busi- 
 ness for profit or distinction. He was apparently uncon- 
 scious of his own powers.^ He had acquired but little 
 practice, and not a very extensive acquaintance in the 
 county when he was nominated, in 1823, to the sen- 
 ate. ***** 
 
 " Of his early efforts at the bar I can say little. 
 They were of a modest business character, without ap- 
 parently aspiring to distinction ; and yet even then, when 
 he spent much of his time in what seemed to be an indo- 
 lent manner, he showed that strict attention and punctu- 
 ality in what he had to do, which characterized him 
 throuo-h life. The smallest call, even with the slightest 
 
 • Hon. D. C. Judson. 
 
 t This we believe to be the peculiar characteristic of great minds. 
 What they see is to their mental vision «50 obvious, that they think the 
 most common minds cannot avoid perceiving and reasoning as they do. 
 
 3* 
 
30 LIFE OP SILAS WRIGHT, 
 
 claims upon him, was never neglected. His physical 
 powers, as well as his mental, were always at the service 
 of his friends and neighbors, and no man could be more 
 beloved among them than he was." 
 
 "During the several years he was a justice of the 
 peace," says the Rev. H. S. Johnson, " he discharged the 
 duties of the office to the entire satisfaction of all who 
 employed him. As a justice and as a lawyer he made 
 the most active and successful efforts to suppress and do 
 away all unworthy and scurrilous litigation. One speci- 
 men of his efforts for this object may be given. He was 
 employed as counsel for the defendant in a suit of this 
 character. He exhibited the doings of his client in the 
 transaction in a true light. Then he took up the charac- 
 ter of the plaintiff, and treated it with the same impar- 
 tiality. He said the whole transaction between the par- 
 ties was unworthy and base in the extreme. Then in a 
 very summary manner he pointed out that his client, of 
 the two bad men, had been the most injured. The de- 
 fendant was successful ; but after the jury had given their 
 verdict, he expressed great anger at Mr. Wright, and said 
 to him, ' I did not employ you to rake my character, nor 
 do I thank you for doing it.' Mr. Wright replied, ' My 
 dear sir, your character in this whole transaction has 
 been so bad, and is seen and felt by this court and jury to 
 be so unworthy, that had I palliated it in the least, you 
 would have lost your cause. My abhorrence of such 
 conduct is like that of every reflecting man, and I hope 
 you will })rofit by the disclosures of this day, so as not 
 again to be subjected to a like embarrassment.' 
 
 " The Hon. Benjamin Raymond was for a number of 
 years one of the judges of the Common Pleas in this 
 county, [St. Lawrence.] He was one of the most 
 
LIFE OP SILAS WRIGHT. 31 
 
 talented, discerning, and shrewd of men. About the first 
 time Mr. Wright attended the circuit in this county. Judge 
 Raymond had something of an intricate and ditftcult cause 
 on trial. Unexpectedly his counsel failed to attend. In 
 this emergency he employed Mr. Wright, who conducted 
 the cause with scarcely an hour's time to prepare for it. 
 In relating to me the affair afterwards, Judge Raymond 
 said, ' I dislike the politics of that young man, but he has 
 a most powerful intellect — a far-seeing mind, and he must 
 and will rise to the first ranks of distinction.' He did 
 rise, so that in two years he was second to no one of the 
 able and experienced bar in the country. 
 
 " The first particular in which Mr. Wright excited ad- 
 miration as a lawyer, was his happy talent at examining 
 witnesses. Soon after he commenced the practice of 
 law, it was perceived that in that respect he excelled all 
 others. His questions were perfectly adapted to the abil- 
 ity of the person he was examining ; nor could any wit- 
 ness evade his questions. In a short time he would draw 
 out, clearly and fully, all the witness knew about the 
 cause. At the same time he became equally noted for 
 the clear and convincing manner in which he would lay 
 open a difficult cause to a jury. Early it became a com* 
 mon remark, that Mr. Wright had more influence with 
 the jury than any other lawyer who practised in St. 
 Lawrence county." * * * * « in all the offices, 
 whether civil or military, which Mr. Wright held, the 
 duties of w^hich in an especial manner pertained to his 
 own county, he discharged those duties without any ap- 
 parent eflfort to please, to the entire satisfaction of all 
 concerned, and so as to render himself the object of uni- 
 versal and affectionate regard. It has been a common 
 remark of those most intimate with him, that he never 
 
'i2 LIFE OF vSILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 sought promotion, and that he generally accepted it with 
 reluctance. 
 
 " While Mr. Wright's manner of intercourse was of 
 the most accessible and familiar kind, he was an unyield- 
 ing and fearless opposer of every species of intrigue, dis- 
 honesty, and unfairness of dealing. In all his political 
 movements he was perfectly frank, and always stated his 
 object distinctly, clearly, and truly. Perhaps by this 
 means he often gained his object, from the fact that his 
 declarations were so perfectly unequivocal that his oppo- 
 nents did not believe him to be laboring for the object 
 which he professed to be pursuing. Although it is well 
 known that this same trait characterized his political 
 movements when abroad in afterlife, the above remarks 
 are made with especial reference to his early political 
 career in St. Lawrence county. 
 
 " In his more immediate associations in the neighbor- 
 hood and town, he threw around him no reserve, but was 
 perfectly accessible and familiar with any and every one, 
 whether political friend or political opponent. He took 
 an active and lively interest in all objects of public con- 
 cern in the town. He was often District Pathmaster, 
 and labored with his own hands with as much satisfac- 
 tion and efficiency as any farmer in repairing and making 
 the road. Difficult, hard, or even muddy work had no 
 terrors for him. Among the farmers he was called one 
 of the best hands on the road. 
 
 " Mr. Wright's feelings were unusually kind to all his 
 acquaintance. Was any one in trouble, he would sym- 
 pathize with them, and advise them wisely. The remark 
 has often been made, from which no one was ever known 
 to dissent, that in all his promotion, Mr. Wright never 
 forgot his eurly and most humble fricmds. He had not 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 33 
 
 been in Canton more than a very few years, before there 
 was an ahnost universal resort to him for advice in the 
 common concerns of men. Scarce any man, political 
 friend or enemy, would undertake any thing in his busi- 
 ness, a little out of the common course, without consult- 
 ing Mr. Wright, and he was ever ready to give such ad- 
 vice familiarly and freely. This was the case with the 
 most de[)endent day-laborer, and from him through all 
 grades up to the most affluent merchant and farmer. It 
 has never been heard from an individual that Mr. Wright 
 gave him bad advice ; on the other hand, almost every 
 one will speak of the benefit he has derived from the ad- 
 vice given by Mr. Wright. 
 
 " When Mr. Wright became an inhabitant of Canton, 
 there was no settled clergyman in the town. A small 
 number were accustomed to assemble on the Sabbath, 
 and hold what is called a ' deacon-meeting.' In these 
 meetings Mr. Wright took an interest ; he attended them 
 constantly. Soon he was invited to read a sermon. This 
 he cheerfully did, and continued to read a sermon in the 
 absence of the minister, whenever in town on the Sab- 
 bath, as long as he lived. Such as attended the Presby- 
 terian congregation formed a strong attachment to Mr. 
 Wright on this account. When in town they were al- 
 ways sure to see him at church on the Sabbath, and in 
 case of the minister's absence, they expected to hear him 
 read a sermon. 
 
 " The attachment between Mr. Wright and the people 
 was lively, ardent, and reciprocal. If any were suffering, 
 he would do all he could to relieve them, with either 
 money or the labor of his own hands. Often was he 
 accustomed to watch at the sick-bed of the languishing : 
 whether that bed was among the conveniences of hfe or 
 
34 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 secluded in the wants of penury, it made no difference to 
 him. The charitable and benevolent objects of the day 
 were sure to receive a contribution from his hand; by 
 such means all classes became attached to him, from the 
 oldest to the mere child. When Mr. Wright has been 
 expected after an absence, I have often heard little boys 
 of eight or ten years old inquire with the deepest interest, 
 When will ]Mr. Wris-ht be in town ? This was common 
 with the children, as they all expected his notice when 
 he came. He overlooked no interest, but felt for all ; 
 and this feeling was not affected, but real, and all be- 
 lieved it to be such. When he was at Albany, New 
 York, or Washington, all the little en'ands that any in 
 Canton wished done there, they would send to him ; he 
 would cheerfully do them, and derive pleasure from the 
 service. Soon after Mr. Wright's last return from Al- 
 bany, I called on him, and found him intensely engaged in 
 WTiting ; he bid me take a seat, and said he would short- 
 ly be at leisure. Immediately two fine children of the 
 neighbors, seven or eight years old, came in ; Mr. Wright 
 addressed them in his usual affable manner, but did not 
 stop his WTiting. These little ones drew their chairs to his 
 desk, one on either side of him, and were soon amusing 
 themselves by fino-erinff his hair, and continued to do so 
 without disturbing him at all, until he had finished his 
 writing. 
 
 " In every department, whatever business came into 
 his hands was immediately performed, and no deficiency 
 or flaw was ever found in any thing which passed through 
 his hands. He was one of the most careful, thorough, 
 and accurate of men. All the political works and peri- 
 odicals of the day were read by him as soon as they came 
 to hand. Besides, he read all the recent publications 
 
 / 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 35 
 
 containing matters of general interest. Few men could 
 be more familiar with the present state of the world than 
 Mr. Wright. His knowledge was particular and accu- 
 rate ; added to this, his correspondence was immense for 
 one individual. This is intended with regard to some of 
 his last years. Most men would feel that they had 
 enough to do to read and answer all his letters ; yet he 
 seemed to do it without being diverted from his ordinary 
 business. For months in succession he would labor on 
 his farm, both early and late, every day, and not omit or 
 delay his reading or his correspondence. His intimate 
 friends have often expressed the utmost surprise how he 
 could accomplish so much. When in the field on his 
 farm, he would perform and work as long as the stoutest 
 farmers. There was no fiction about his labor ; it was 
 real, thorough hard work. He did not, like some would- 
 be gentlemen, put on his gloves, go into the field, and 
 merely wish the work well. Mr. Wright felt the utmost 
 abhorrence of any thing like fiction in equipage, man- 
 ners, politics, or the style and mode of living. He was, 
 in a pre-eminent sense, a man of reality. All about his 
 house and home was plain, simple, and neat. The re- 
 mark has often been made by his neighbors, that all the 
 carriage lie ever owned was an ox-wasron and a wheel- 
 ban'ow ; his wheelbarrow was generally rolled by him- 
 self. When he came home last spring from Albany, Mrs. 
 Wriffht remarked to a neighbor that she did not know 
 what Mr. Wright would do, for his wheelbarrow was 
 broken. It seems, however, that he knew what to do, 
 for in a short time he either repaired it, or obtained a new 
 one, and was actively engaged with it in the garden. 
 
 " A few days before he left home for Washington the 
 last time as senator, while finishing a house that he was 
 
36 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 building in the village, a gentleman from a distance came 
 to see Senator Wright. He went into the house, and 
 inquired of the workmen for Mr. Wright. One of them 
 replied, ' There is Mr. Wright in the yard, working at the 
 mortar-bed.' ' But,' said the gentleman, ' I mean the 
 Hon. Silas Wright.' — 'Well, that is him.' — 'I mean 
 Senator Wright.' — 'Well, that is Senator Wright.' — 
 On repairing to the mortar-bed, this gentleman quickly 
 discovered that the workman had not imposed upon 
 him. 
 
 " Mr. Wright's manners were such as rendered him 
 not only acceptable but agreeable to all classes. Stran- 
 gers of high refinement have sometimes expected to find 
 him a coarse plebeian, but after being with him a short 
 time, they have frequently been heard to declare that he 
 was a most agreeable and accomplished gentleman. Any 
 persons in his company, whether high or low, felt per- 
 fectly at ease ; they thought little about being in the 
 presence of greatness, but felt that they were with one 
 whose company was pleasing. His discerning political 
 opponents have often remarked, that Mr. Wright knew 
 better than any other man, how always to talk on the 
 subject which would be the most deeply interesting to 
 any one and every one who might meet him." 
 
 " At the time he [Mr. Wright] commenced house- 
 keeping," says Mr. Horace Moody, " he moved his furni- 
 ture upon a wheelbarrow with his own hands, and al- 
 though he almost always owned a lumber or ox-wagon, 
 the wheelbarrow was the only pleasure carriage he ever 
 possessed ; and his first business, after his annual return 
 from Washington, while he was senator, was to take his 
 wheelbarrow, and go to the village mill, and purchase his 
 flour and meal. His pork was on hand, as that was fat- 
 
I.IKE OF .-ILAS WRIGHT. 37 
 
 lened by himself, and packed up in the cellar previous to 
 his leaving for Washington in the fall." 
 
 In addition to what we have quoted from IMr. John- 
 son, of the evidence afforded by Mr. Wright of his dis- 
 position to support the religious institutions in the neigh- 
 borhood of (Canton, we can state, on the authority of Mr. 
 Moody, that Mr. W. and another gentleman whose name 
 Mr. Moody has (accidentally) neglected to mention, hav- 
 ing purchased a lot of land on the south side of the vil- 
 lage of Canton, gratuitously conveyed four acres of it to 
 the Presbyterian society, upon one acre of which they 
 directed a church and parsonage-house to be erected, and 
 the remaining three acres to remain a public square. 
 
 Mr. Moody has had the kindness to furnish us with 
 many other anecdotes relating to the habits of Mr. Wright, 
 and his avocations and employment w^hile at home, — all 
 tending to prove the benevolence of his nature, and the 
 deep interest he took in the prosperity of the village, and 
 the welfare of its inhabitants, — a few of which we cannot 
 deny ourselves the pleasure of presenting to the reader. 
 
 " After," says Mr. Moody, " the legislature had passed 
 a law directing the count v buildino;s to be located in a 
 more central part of the county, and the commissioners 
 had located them at Canton, the inhabitants of other sec- 
 tions of the county boasted that Canton had no materials 
 for the buildings, and that before they could procure them 
 the legislature would assemble and change the law direct- 
 ing a central location. Having ascertained how the 
 matter stood in regard to materials, &c., Mr. Wright 
 called a meeting of the inhabitants of the town, and 
 after having stated the case, he made an urgent appeal 
 to them to make an effort to help the matter forward, and 
 closed his remarks by saying, ' I will go to the Stone 
 
 4 
 
38 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGH't. 
 
 Ledge to-morrow morning with a spade, shovel, crowbar, 
 and pickaxe, and will work there until there is not a doubt 
 left as to the ability of Canton to furnish the materials 
 necessary for these buildings : who will go with me ?' The 
 meeting unanimously responded, ' We will all go.' The 
 next morning he led the way to the ledge, followed by 
 his neighbors, and was the first man to break ground in 
 clearing the earth away from the quarry. On the first day 
 there was quarried and delivered upon the site selected 
 for the buildings, six miles distant from the ledge, in the 
 village of Canton, twenty wagon loads of stone, on the 
 second day eighty loads, and on the third day one hun- 
 dred and twenty loads. Other materials were procured 
 with like dispatch, and very soon those who had doubted 
 the ability of the inhabitants of Canton to furnish them, 
 admitted that they had nothing to hope from that quarter. 
 
 " Mr. Wright labored in that quarry, and assisted in 
 loading the teams for twenty-one successive days ; and 
 when the building commissioner called upon him for an 
 account of his work, he declined receiving any pay for 
 his services. 
 
 " In his law business he never charged or would re- 
 ceive pay for advice, and has discouraged hundreds of 
 men who wanted to commence suits against their neish- 
 bors for some petty trespass, by advising them to settle 
 the matter in dispute, and not disturb the neighborhood 
 with a trifling quarrel ; and while he was a magistrate 
 his court was emphatically a court of ' conciliation.' 
 
 " At the time of leaving for Washington, after his first 
 election to Congress, he made a thorough examinntion of 
 all his notes and accounts, and found about 8600 in small 
 amounts against the different individuals for whom he 
 had done business. He said to a friend who was present 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 39 
 
 at the time, ' Here are notes and accounts against differ- 
 ent individuals varying from -SI to $5, to the amount of 
 •$000. Now, these men have done more for me than I 
 have for them, and they must be reUeved from these Uttle 
 debts,' and without waiting for his friend to make any 
 suggestion as to what was the best mode of relief for 
 them, he opened the stove door and reduced the package 
 to ashes. 
 
 " He was very kind and attentive to the sick, frequently 
 walking miles from the village to watch by their bed- 
 sides ; and there is scarcely an old resident now living in 
 this town, but will relate, with tears in his eyes, instances 
 of his kindness to them in their sick hours." 
 
 We shall give one other anecdote of Mr. Wright, not 
 because there is any thing very remarkable in the story, 
 but because we think the course pursued by him towards 
 his associates forcibly illustrates the principles by which 
 he was afterwards governed in his treatment of his polit- 
 ical friends, who were laboring with him and in the same 
 cause. 
 
 Mr. Wright's favorite amusements were hunting and 
 fishing, and he rarely returned from those expeditions, 
 which sometimes lasted several days, without a goodly 
 number of trophies. He was capable of enduring much 
 hardship, deprivation, and fatigue while in the woods. 
 Upon one occasion, while making a trip to the " South 
 woods," as they are called, — an extensive wilderness in 
 the south part of the county of St. Lawrence, he, in 
 company with several other hunters, was out about ten 
 days ; and as each one was obliged to carry a large pack, 
 he would make an examination every morning of each 
 man's pack, and arrange them so that his own w'ould be 
 the largest 'and the heaviest. Many persons now living 
 
40 I.IFE OF SILAS WKK.'nr. 
 
 can testify that in his subsequent pohtical and legislative 
 labors, in the division of that labor between him and his 
 associates, he always took the most onerous burden on 
 himself. His pack was always largest and heaviest. 
 
 We are aware that to some readers many of the anec- 
 dotes Ave have related may appear trifling and frivolous ; 
 but in our judgment the true character of an individual 
 is best developed by his conduct in the ordinary concerns 
 of life. The actions then performed, and the words spo- 
 ken, are unpremeditated — the result of the natural im- 
 pulses and emotions of the heart. 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 41 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Commencement of Mr. Wright's Political Life — His Nomination and 
 Election to the Senate of New York from the Fourth Senatorial Dis- 
 trict — His action ou the Bill providing for the Election of Presidential 
 Electors by the People — His attachrneut to the Democratic Party — 
 H. Seymour's Opinion of Mr. Wright — Governor Yates and Colonel 
 Young — I\Ir. Wright supports the reuomination of Mr. Yates for Gov- 
 enior — Do Witt Clinton's Removal from the Office of Canal Commis- 
 sioner — Attempt to elect a Senator of the United States — Electoral 
 Law of 1825— Its Repeal in 1828— Reflections thereon— Numerous 
 Applications for Bank Charters in the year 1826— Mr. Wriglifs Action 
 upon tho.se Applications. 
 
 Having in the preceding chapter endeavored to ac- 
 quaint the reader with the domestic habits of Governor 
 Wright, and in doing so alluded to several incidents 
 which occurred after he entered into public life, and in 
 advance of our narrative ; we now resume it in the au- 
 tumn of the year 1823, when he was nominated and 
 elected to the senate of this state, and when his political 
 life may be said to have commenced. 
 
 He had not at that time, as we are informed by an in- 
 telligent correspondent from St. Lawrence county, par- 
 ticipated much in the party contests of the county. He 
 was therefore little known, even in his own county, as a 
 {x>litician. It was, however, generally understood that he 
 was moderately opposed to Mr. Clinton, and therefore he 
 was considered as belonging to the Bucktail party. 
 
 At the general election in April, 1821, we think a ma- 
 jority of the people of the county of St. Lawrence were 
 
 4* 
 
4-i LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 Clintonian. At any rate, David C. Judson of that coun^ 
 ty, who was a decided Clintonian, was elected a sena* 
 tor from the eastern district. After the adoption by 
 the people, in the winter of 1822, of the constitution of 
 1821, a large majority of Mr. Clinton's republican friends 
 in the legislature, of whom Mr. Judson was one, enter- 
 tained the opinion that it was for the public good, as well 
 as in accordance with their own interest, to abandon the 
 contest with the Bucktails, and to make an effort to re- 
 unite the old republican party. But to effect this object, 
 it was necessary that Mr. Clinton should withdraw him- 
 self from the contest ; and accordingly during the session 
 of 1822, a meeting was held in Albany, consisting of the 
 Clintonian members of the legislature, and some of the 
 most respectable citizens of Albany, which appointed a 
 committee to call upon Mr. Clinton to inquire of him 
 whether he would consent to be a candidate for re-elec- 
 tion. As was anticipated, he declined.* 
 
 In 1823, the candidates for the senate were selected in 
 the following manner : — The members from the district 
 from which the senator was to be chosen met in caucus, 
 and designated the county which should have the right 
 of nominating a senator. After which a convention was 
 held, in the county thus designated, and the senatorial 
 candidate was then nominated. 
 
 At the convention held in the fall of 1823, in the coun- 
 ty of St. Lawrence, the delegates were composed of re- 
 publican Clintonians as well as Bucktails ; and as an 
 evidence of union between these two classes of men, 
 Judge Bailey, a leading Bucktail, was chosen for one of 
 the secretaries, and Mr. Judson for the other. A consid- 
 
 * See 1 Political History, pp. 97-8. 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 43 
 
 erable part of the convention, consisting, as we suppose, 
 mostly of the Clintonian portion of it, were for nomina- 
 ting ]\Ir. Judson ; but he declined, probably partly with 
 a view of effectually putting an end to all jealousy be- 
 tween the two sections of the democratic party, and 
 proposed Mr. Wright, who, as we have before observed, 
 was known as a Bucktail, but whose candor and liberali- 
 ty rendered him more acceptable to the Clintonians than 
 any other gentleman belonging to the Bucktail party. 
 The members of the convention belonging to the Buck- 
 tail party readily concurred in the proposal to select Mr. 
 Wright as the senatorial candidate of the county, and he 
 was accordingly unanimously nominated. All this was 
 done without any interference on the part of IMr. 
 Wright. 
 
 Mr. Monroe was then President of the United States, 
 but his second term was to expire on the 4th of March, 
 1825, and of course a successor was to be chosen in 1824. 
 Already five candidates had been announced for the suc- 
 cession, Wm. H. Crawford, .Tohn Quincy Adams, Andrew 
 Jackson, Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun, who withdrew 
 his name during the canvass, and each had his partisans and 
 supporters in the state of New York, as well as in other 
 states of the Union. A majority of the strong and influ- 
 ential members of the democratic party in this state, at 
 the head of whom stood Martin Van Buren and General 
 Root, (then lieutenant-governor,) were for Mr. Crawford, 
 and claimed him as the democratic candidate in the na- 
 tion. Mr. Wright, as we have reason to believe,* when 
 
 * Jndore Skinner, after Mr. Wright was elected, told the author that 
 Mr. Wright was iuchned to support Mr. Adams. His words were — " He 
 tcos rather in favor of Mr. Adams." 
 
44 LIFE 01'' SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 these candidates were first announced, in common with 
 his democratic friends in Vermont, felt a preference for 
 Mr. Adams. 
 
 The reader is reminded that from the time of the 
 adoption of the federal constitution in 1789, down to and 
 after the period about which we are writing, by a law of 
 this state, the electors of president and vice-president 
 were chosen by the legislature in the same manner as 
 senators of the United States are now chosen — the 
 choice of those electors would, therefore, according to the 
 then existing law, devolve on the legislature, to be chosen 
 at the November election in 1823. 
 
 It was believed that Mr. Crawford, from the standing, 
 influence, and energy oi" his supporters, would be most 
 likely to obtain the electors of the state of New York, if 
 they should be chosen by the legislature ; and hence the 
 friends of the other candidates naturally concluded, that 
 unless the law could be changed so that the people should 
 elect the electors, Mr. C. would receive the vote of this 
 state. 
 
 Measures were therefore taken in most of the counties 
 and districts, to ascertain the opinions of the candidates 
 in relation to a change of the mode of choosing electors, 
 in such manner as, in the language of the day, would " re- 
 store to the people'" the power of choosing them. 
 
 The proceedings of the several parties in respect to 
 this question, and the way in which it originated pre- 
 vious to the election, are related in the second volume 
 of this work, (pages 130-132,) and therefore need not be 
 repeated here. 
 
 It is suflicient to remark, that Mr. Wright, whenever 
 and wherever this question was agitated, frankly declared 
 his opinion in favor of the election of electors by the peo- 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 45 
 
 pie by general ticket. In the volume just referred to, at 
 page 153, we intimate, although we do not expressly 
 affirm, that Mr. Wright pledged him.self previous to his 
 election, that " he would, if elected, support a bill giving 
 to the people the right to choose presidential electors." 
 In this we were mistaken. It is true that such was the 
 current report in Albany, where the author then resided, 
 both before and after the election, and it was not, to his 
 recollection or knowledge, then contradicted, which un- 
 doubtedly produced the impression on his mind under 
 which he wrote. We have now before us indubitable 
 evidence that no pledge was given or required indepen- 
 dent of Mr. Wright's frank and unreserved declarations 
 to those with whom he happened to converse on that 
 subject. Besides private letters now in our possession 
 from gentlemen of unquestionable veracity in St. Law- 
 rence county, we have seen extracts from the St. Law- 
 rence Republican, then a neutral paper, and a slip from 
 the Plattsburg Republican, dated October 23, 1823, from 
 which it is evident that no pledge was ever given or de- 
 manded of Mr. Wright. 
 
 The candidate supported in opposition to Mr. Wright 
 was Allen R. Moore, we believe of Washington county.* 
 The election was warmly contested. In some counties 
 Mr. Moore's majority was large, but the county of St. 
 Lawrence saved Mr. Wright. The result of the canvass 
 in that county was as follows : 
 
 Silas Wright, Jr., 1,419 ; Allen R. Moore, 20. In the 
 
 * It has been erroneously stated, that " General Mooers of Jefferson 
 county," was the opposing candidate. The writer probably intended Gen- 
 eral Mooers of Plattsburg, as Jefferson county was not then in the Fourth 
 District. 
 
4(5 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT, 
 
 town of Canton 200 votes were given, of which Mr, 
 Wright received 199 ! and one vote was cast undoubted- 
 ly by jMr. Wright himseh', for Jason Fenton. 
 
 How decisively does this vote prove the personal 
 popularity of Mr. Wright in his own county ! Nothing 
 but the most spotless purity of character could have com- 
 manded such a vote. The vote in Canton also proves 
 the extraordinary fact — a fact the more extraordinary be- 
 cause he w^as a practising lawyer — that he had not a sin- 
 gle personal enemy among all the voters of that towai ! 
 
 The legislature commenced the memorable session of 
 1824, on the first day of January of that year. The pas- 
 sage of an electoral law, as it was called, was the great 
 measure which agitated the public mind, and forthwith 
 engrossed the attention of the legislature. Immediately 
 after the two houses were organized, and before a mes- 
 sage had been sent to the governor informing him of that 
 fact, Mr. Henry Whealon, " a people's man," as the par- 
 ty in favor of an electC' d law was called, from the city 
 of NeW' York, and lately American Minister to Sweden 
 and Prussia, gave notice that he would on some future 
 day bring in a bill authorizing the people to choose the 
 electors for president and vice-president. This called up 
 Mr. Flagg, then a member from Clinton county, who w' as 
 a supporter of Mr. Crawford, and who offered a resolu- 
 tion, that the subject of changing the mode of choosing 
 the electors be referred to a committee of nine members. 
 A long and exciting debate ensued. But as we have 
 heretofore given, as we believe, a pretty full history of 
 the proceedings in the assembly in relation to this ques- 
 tion,* we shall here merely state that after many days, 
 
 * See 2 Political History, pp. 140—148. 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 47 
 
 and long and sometimes embittered discussion, the assem- 
 bly finally passed a bill providing for a choice of electors 
 by the people, if any set of candidates obtained a majori- 
 ty of all the votes cast ; but in case no candidate had 
 such majority, then no election was effected ; and no pro- 
 vision was made for a second election in any form. An 
 effort was made to amend the bill, so that the persons 
 having a plurality of votes should be declared duly elect- 
 ed, but the amendment was rejected by a vote of sixty- 
 four to fifty- two. 
 
 When the bill came into the senate, it was referred to 
 a select committee, of which jNIr. Charles E. Dudley was 
 chairman. The committee, after several days, made a 
 long and able report, concluding wdth a resolution, that 
 it was inexpedient to legislate at all on the subject during 
 that session. 
 
 When this report was under consideration in the sen- 
 ate, Mr. John Cramer moved to strike out the conclu- 
 ding part of it, and insert the following resolution : 
 
 " Resolved, That it is expedient to pass a law at the 
 present session of the legislature, giving to the people of 
 this state the choice of electors of president and vice- 
 president by general ticket.'* 
 
 In support of this resolution Mr. Cramer made an able 
 and eloquent speech, which we had the pleasure of hear- 
 ing. It is to be regi'etted that he did not write out his 
 speech, and give it to the public. It would have been a 
 monument honorable to his talents as a legislator, and to 
 his patriotism as a citizen. It was proposed to amend 
 the resolution by adding the words " and hy a j)lurality 
 of votes;' which was rejected by a vote of seventeen to 
 fourteen. Mr. Wright voted against this amendment. 
 
 The question was then taken on Mr. Cramer's original 
 
48 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 resolution, and it was adopted, sixteen to fifteen, Mr. 
 Wright voting /or the resolution. 
 
 Mr. Wright then proposed the following amendment to 
 the report of the select committee : 
 
 " Strike out all after the word ' assembly,' in the sec- 
 ond line of the last clause of the printed report, and insert 
 the following : — But they recommend the passage of a 
 law, providing for a choice by the people, by general tick- 
 et, of a number of electors of president and vice-president 
 of the United States, equal to the number of representa- 
 tives in the congress of the United States, to which this 
 state shall be entitled at the time any election of electors 
 shall be held, locating the electors so to be chosen in the 
 several congressional districts, in such manner that each 
 congressional district shall have residing within it a num- 
 ber of the said electors equal to the number of members 
 of congress to which such district shall be entitled at the 
 time of the election ; requiring a majority of all the votes 
 given in the state, for such electors, to constitute a 
 choice ; and directing a meeting of the legislature, at 
 such time as shall be requisite, in any year when electors 
 of president and vice-president are to be chosen, to ap- 
 point two electors, in the manner now prescribed by law, 
 corresponding to the two senators from this state in the 
 congress of the United States, and to fill any vacancies 
 that may exist in any of the congressional districts, from 
 a failure to elect by a majority of votes, as aforesaid ; and 
 further recommend a repeal of the present existing law, 
 providing for the appointment of the said electors, so far 
 as the same may be inconsistent with a law containing the 
 aforesaid provisions." 
 
 It will be perceived that the project of Mr. Wright was 
 substantially the same as that embraced in the bill from 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 49 
 
 the assembly, with the addition of providing for an elec- 
 tion of electors by the legislature in case no election 
 should be made by the peo})le. So far it was an improve- 
 ment of the assembly's bill. J\Ir. Wright supported his 
 amendment by an ingenious speech. But what ingenui- 
 ty could make that appear even plausible, which on its 
 face was absurd ? He had voted for Mr. Cramer's reso- 
 lution, that the choice of presidential electors ought, at 
 that session of the legislature, to be given to the people. 
 Would Mr. Wright's plan have given the choice of the 
 electors to the people ? With three or four tickets be- 
 fore the people, as it was known there would be, it was 
 certain it would not. The friends of Mr. Clay and Mr. 
 Adams, as afterwards ap})eared, would neither of them 
 yield to the other. The adoption of the majority princi- 
 ple, therefore, would necessarily and inevitably carry back 
 the election to the legislature, which was tantamount to 
 passing no law at all. Entertaining these views of the 
 subject, and with these impressions in our former work, 
 we strongly intimated our opinion that Mr. Wright's con- 
 duct in this affair was disingenuous. Although when Mr. 
 Wright first made his appearance in the senate, or rather 
 soon after, we, in common with all other observers, were 
 convinced that he was a man of a high order of intel- 
 lect, and of an amiable temper and disposition, we con- 
 fess we did suspect that he was a man of great art and 
 consummate address, that his political schemes were pro- 
 found, and that he sometimes acted from motives which 
 he did not publicly avow. 
 
 These impressions were strengthened when we reflect- 
 ed on his course in the choice of a senator of the United 
 States, in relation to Judge Spencer, in 1825, and when 
 we compared some of his speeches and votes on the tariff, 
 
 5 
 
50 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 after he became a member of the Congress of the United 
 States. We have on various occasions, besides the one 
 referred to, expressed the same impressions, verbally and 
 probably in our written correspondence. It now atfords 
 us sincere pleasure to say, that we are convinced we had 
 formed an erroneous opinion of him, and that instead of 
 being addicted to plot and contrivance, he was frank and 
 sincere ; and although we earnestly wish that on the sub- 
 ject of the electoral law, and in the attempt to choose, or 
 rather the effort to avoid choosing a senator of the Uni- 
 ted States, his conduct had been different, we are entirely 
 satisfied his motives were pure and honorable. Our 
 reasons for arriving at this conclusion are these : — Mr. 
 Wright honestly and sincerely believed, whether erro- 
 neously or rightly is not now a subject of inquiry, that 
 the ascendency of the democratic party in this state and 
 nation would best secure the liberties and promote the 
 prosperity of the people. Hence he regarded as a dere- 
 Hction of duty any consent to support men or measures, 
 the consequence of which he had reason to apprehend 
 would produce the overthrow, or even cause a diminu- 
 tion of the strength of that party. 
 
 Mr. Wright also entertained the opinion that any state 
 of things which should place Mr. Clinton in such a con- 
 dition as would give him a controlling influence in the 
 government of the state or nation, would eventuate in 
 the prostration of the democratic party in either govern- 
 ment. We beg our readers to bear in mind that we by 
 no means vouch for the correctness of this opinion ; all 
 we mean to say is, that Mr. Wright and many other in- 
 telligent men honestly believed it to be correct. Again, 
 it was believed by Mr. Wright and his political friends, 
 and by many of the supporters of Messrs. Adams and 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 51 
 
 Clay, that as soon as a law should be passed giving the 
 election of presidential electors by general ticket to the 
 people, by a plurality of votes, Mr. Clinton would in- 
 stantly be brought forward as a candidate, and they 
 thought, and we believe correctly thought, that in the 
 distracted state in which the Bucktail party then was, a 
 plurality of votes would in that event be given for Clin- 
 tonian electors. These conjectures may have been well 
 founded, as it is possible might have been proved by 
 events, but in justice to many of the most efficient friends 
 of Gov. Clinton, w^e feel bound to state that no such views 
 were entertained by them to our knowledge or belief; not 
 because they did not entertain full confidence in the tal- 
 ents and patriotism of Mr. Clinton, but because they be- 
 lieved even if the vote of this state could be obtained, 
 the attempt to elect him president would be a vain and 
 hopeless effort. This, however, made no difference with 
 Mr. Wright and his friends ; they believed, and the event 
 might have justified their belief, that if the friends of IMr. 
 Clinton discovered that there was a reasonable probabil- 
 ity of giving him the vote of this state, they would make 
 the effort ; and if that effort should be successful, Mr. Van 
 Buren, at any rate, knew that the consequence would be 
 that Mr. Crawford would be prevented from being a can- 
 didate in the United States House of Representatives, on 
 which by this time it was known the election of president 
 would devolve. Under these circumstances, Mr. Wright, 
 entertaining the views and principles which we have as- 
 cribed to him, could not consistently vote for a bill which 
 would give the election of electors to the people by a plu- 
 rality of votes ; and yet at this time, as well as formerly, 
 when among his neighbors and friends at Canton, when 
 he was a candidate for the office of senator, he was de- 
 
52 LIFE OF SILAri WRIGHT. 
 
 sirous to evince liis preierence of a choice of electors by 
 the people, and the amendments he offered he considered 
 in accordance with such desire. Although the scheme bv 
 which he proposed to carry into effect his wishes seemed to 
 us at the time, and now seems, quite impracticable, we will 
 not and cannot believe his amendment was offered in bad 
 faith. Most of these views we confess have occurred to 
 us since the pubHcation of our Political History in 1842; 
 but we have since been favored by Judge Fine, a distin- 
 guished member of the senate from St. Lawrence, who 
 was an intimate and confidential friend of Gov. Wrisht, 
 with the perusal of several letters written by him to 
 Judge Fine, about the time of the Baltimore Convention 
 in 1844, while he was governor of this state, and after 
 his defeat in the year 1846, in the most sacred confidence. 
 These letters afford internal evidence that the sentiments 
 they contain were directly from the heart, and evince such 
 an entire devotedness to the cause in which he was engaged, 
 so total an absence 6f all selfish considerations, and such 
 perfect disinterestedness, and at the same time so much 
 frankness, candor, and liberality, even towards political 
 opponents, that we cannot for one moment believe that, 
 on the occasion to which we have alluded, he was influ- 
 enced by any other motive than a desire to sustain and 
 promote the great and paramount interests of the state 
 and nation. His error as a public man, if it be an error, 
 in our judgment, arose from his uniform devotion to the 
 great interests of the party to which he belonged, on whose 
 ascendency, we have before stated, he sincerely believed 
 depended the prosperity of his country. In relation to 
 him, we believe what was said to us by one who knew 
 him well, and who knows men well, — a gentleman who at 
 this moment is one of the most prominent leaders of the 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRICIHT. 53 
 
 party called the Hunker party in this state, and who has 
 for that reason been unjustly accused of personal hostiU- 
 ty to the late Gov. Wright : we may as well say, we 
 mean Horatio Seymour, of Utica. Mr. Seymour said, 
 " Mr. Wright was a great man, an honest man : if he 
 committed errors, they were induced by his devotion to 
 his party. He was not selfish : to him his party was 
 every thing — himself nothing." In this opinion we 
 most cordially concur. Having said thus much, we shall 
 continue to speak of him as we have heretofore spoken, 
 with perfect freedom, and without the most distant de- 
 sire to conceal or palliate his errors, if he committed any, 
 (and who does not err ?) satisfied as we are, and as we 
 believe our readers will be, that such errors never origi- 
 nated from bad motives. 
 
 The amendment offered by Mr. Wright was rejected, 
 only two members of the Senate voting in its favor. 
 
 After Mr. Wright's amendment was disposed of, Mr. 
 Livingston, from Columbia county, moved the postpone- 
 ment of the further consideration of the report and bill 
 till the first Monday in November. This motion was equiv- 
 alent to a motion to reject the bill from the assembly. 
 The speech of Mr. Livingston, in support of his motion, 
 gave great offence to the public. He said, among other 
 things, that he had no evidence that the sober part of the 
 community desired the passage of an electoral law, and 
 that the " clamor in favor of it emanated from bar-rooms." 
 The November election proved his error. Instead of the 
 sound of the orgies of a bar-room, a voice issued from the 
 ballot-boxes which, for a time at least, announced the doom 
 of those who refused to the people the right which they 
 demanded. 
 
 Mr. Livingston's motion was adopted by a vote of sev- 
 
 5* 
 
54 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 enteen to fourteen — Mr. Wright voted with the majority. 
 It is due to him to give to the reader his reasons lor that 
 vote in his own words : 
 
 " Mr. Wright said he had the honor of offering a prop- 
 osition giving to the people the choice of electors by 
 general ticket, and by a majority of votes, which he had 
 supposed the only safe system to be adopted. He had, 
 however, been unfortunate enough not to be able to in- 
 duce but three members of the senate to think with him, 
 after all the reasons he could offer in favor of the propo- 
 sition. A proposition had then been made to make the 
 choice by districts, which, after being fully and ably dis- 
 cussed, had received but two votes ; and now, said Mr. 
 W., w-e have rejected the proposition to choose by gen- 
 eral ticket and plurality of votes. Divisions have been 
 taken upon all these propositions, and the name of every 
 member of the house stands recorded upon our journals, 
 with his vote upon each proposition distinctly given. 
 These, Mr. W. said, were all the propositions he had 
 heard suggested, nor had he ingenuitv enouo-h to sus-oest 
 or devise a fourth. He therefore despaired of even a 
 hope that the senate could agree upon a law, as he did 
 not believe that members trifled with their votes upon this 
 important subject, or were prepared to change their names 
 as they already stood upon the journals. These being 
 his views, Mr. W. said he should vote for the postpone- 
 ment, unless he could hear some reasons to convince him 
 that his conclusions were not coiTect. The resolution 
 (Mr. Cramer's) just taken could not be made effective, 
 as both the majority and plurality systems, by one of 
 which alone it could be made so, had been deliberately 
 rejected, and he saw no good reason for spending more 
 time on the subject." 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 55 
 
 Gov. Yates, in liis message at the commencement of 
 the session, had taken ground against any change of the 
 mode of choosing presidential electors difring the session. 
 Alter the rejection of the bill from the assembly on that 
 subject, the public indignation was not only great against 
 the .SEVENTEEN, by whose votes it was rejected, but it ex- 
 tended to the governor, who was regarded as in some 
 measure the cause of its rejection. When Mr. Yates, in 
 1822, was nominated as the democratic gubernatorial can- 
 didate, a considerable portion of the democratic party 
 would have preferred Col. Young ; and the present popu- 
 lar excitement against ]Mr. Yates, principally in conse- 
 quence of the sentiments he had expressed against the 
 passage of an electoral law, furnished good ground for 
 the friends of Col. Younif to urn;e his nomination for the 
 office of governor, when the present term should expire, 
 in preference to that of Gov. Yates. Col. Young had 
 declared himself in favor of passing such a law as was 
 advocated by his friend, Mr. Cramer ; and therefore all 
 the Adams and Clay men in the legislature (and there 
 was but one democratic member. Col. Wheeler, of Steu- 
 ben, who was openly in favor of Gen. Jackson) were for 
 Col. Younff, as also a considerable number of the friends 
 of jNIr. Crawford, who had opposed the electoral law, 
 because they believed the probability of electing Col. 
 Young was much greater than that of succeeding w'ith 
 Gov. Yates. These views were freely expressed in a 
 caucus of the members of the legislature, held for the 
 purpose of nominating a governor, but Mr. Wright pro- 
 tested against abandoning a political friend because he 
 had become unpojmlar in consequence of supporting the 
 measures of his party ; and in this he was joined by Mr. 
 Flagg and some others. These gentlemen declared that 
 
56 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 if Mr. Yates was to be prostrated for recommending a 
 measure in accordance with the views and at the request 
 of his political friends, they were ready and willing to 
 sink with him. Whatever opinion we may entertain of 
 the propriety of the recommendation of Gov. Yates on 
 the subject of the electoral law, we cannot but regard 
 the course taken by Mr. Wright on this occasion as evi- 
 dence of correct and honorable feehng. A large major- 
 ity of the convention was, however, for Mr. Young, and 
 he was declared the regular nominee. 
 
 Notwithstanding Col. Young, who had heretofore been 
 the lavorite of those democrats who supported the elec- 
 toral law, had been selected as the democratic guberna- 
 torial candidate, many of the leading men of the people's 
 party, both in and out of the legislature, — among the 
 former were Gen. Tallmadge and Mr. Wheaton of the 
 assembly, and Messrs. Ogden, Burrows, and Burt of the 
 senate, — refused to support him, because they, probably 
 without cause, believed that if elected he would be influ- 
 enced in the administration of the government by the 
 Crawford party, or as the leaders of that party were then 
 called, the " Albany regency."* With a view to destroy 
 the influence of these men among their old political 
 friends, the Crawford party charged on the people's party 
 a disposition to coalesce with the Clintonians ; and, with 
 a view of identifying the people's party with the Clinto- 
 nians, and when that should be done, of recovering, in 
 consequence, many fugitives and deserters from their own 
 ranks, or of creating an irreparable breach between the 
 Clintonians and people's party, they adopted a singular, 
 but daring and bold project. This was the removal of 
 
 * 2 Political History, 157. 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 57 
 
 De Witt Clinton from the office of canal commissioner, a 
 station which he had held with distinguished usefulness 
 to the state ever since the organization of the board of 
 commissioners. His gi-eat and efficient services in de- 
 vising and executing that magnificent work which uni- 
 ted the great w'estern lakes with the Atlantic Ocean, were 
 then as now known and acknowledged in the state and 
 nation, and indeed in Europe as well as America. No 
 charge of nonfeasance or malfeasance was ever pretended 
 to exist against him. The sole object must have been 
 to compel Gen. Tallmadge, and others of the people's 
 party in the legislature, to vote on the question. If they 
 voted for the removal, then it was believed the Clinto- 
 nians, who, though in the minority, were yet a powerful 
 party, would denounce them, and refuse to vote at the 
 polls for any of their candidates ; if they should vote against 
 it, an inference was to be made and pressed upon the peo- 
 ple, that they were secretly combined with the Clintonian 
 party. Mr. Bowman, a western senator living on the line 
 of the grand canal, was selected, and favored with the 
 opportunity of immortalizing him^lf as the file-leader in 
 the execution of this disgraceful scheme. On the last day 
 of the session, and within an hour of the final adjourn- 
 ment, Mr. Bowman offered a resolution for the removal 
 of De Witt Clinton from the office of canal commis- 
 sioner. The question on the resolution was immediately 
 taken without debate, and earned, only three members 
 voting against it. Mr. Cramer, although he probably felt 
 more interest in the success of Col. Young than any other 
 senator, much to his honor, was one of the three. The 
 resolution was forthwith sent to the assembly, who con- 
 curred by a vote of sixty-four to thirty-four. Gen. Tall- 
 madge and Mr. Wheaton voting for concun'ing. What 
 
58 LIFE OF SILAS WllIGHT. 
 
 effect this movement had upon the two parties, and upon 
 the future pohtical fortunes of Mr. CUnton himself, as 
 well as its fatal effect upon Gen. Tallmadge, we have 
 related in the second volume of the work to which we 
 have so frequently referred. 
 
 We lament to see the name of Silas Wright among 
 those who voted for this resolution. It was wrong, and 
 we have no doubt he soon felt and deeply regretted his 
 error. Like all party measures which are wrong in them- 
 selves, but devised and adopted for the purpose of ob- 
 taining a supposed temporary advantage over political 
 opponents, this measure resulted in great injury to its au- 
 thors. The removal of De Witt Clinton, and the refusal 
 to pass an electoral law, produced, within a few short 
 months, and at the very next election, the utter over- 
 throw of the party then in the ascendency. Mr. Clinton 
 was elected governor by an unprecedented majority, and 
 in the popular branch of the legislature more than three- 
 fourths of the members elected were opposed to the Al- 
 bany regency. 
 
 The election of Mr.* Clinton did not diminish the hos- 
 tility, or perhaps prejudice would be the preferable word, 
 of the people's party in the senate against him. Messrs. 
 Gardiner, Burrows, Burt, Haight, Lynde, and Ogden, all of 
 whom belonged to the people's party, still entertained the 
 same feelings towards him. General Tallmadge, too, 
 who had been elected lieutenant-governor, and was there- 
 fore president of the senate, entered fully into their feel- 
 ings and views. A question soon came before the sen- 
 ate which called into action those feelino;s. The te"rm 
 of service of Rufus King, in the Senate of the United 
 States, was to expire on the fourth of March, 1825, and 
 on the first day of February, 1825, (the day fixed by law 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WIUGHT. 59 
 
 for the election of senators of the United States,) the as* 
 seinbly nominated Ambrose Spencer, late chief-justice, 
 for that ofHce. His long experience, his agei and emi- 
 nent talents, seemed to designate him above all others as 
 the most suitable man to be selected for that important 
 station. Nevertheless, the gentlemen above mentioned 
 protested against his appointment, and early manifested a 
 determination to oppose it. The remnant of the seven- 
 teen who had defeated the passage of the electoral law, 
 were of course oj)posed to Judge Spencer. The judge, 
 from the year 18 IG, had been, as he always was in every 
 cause in which he engaged, an ardent supporter of De 
 Witt Clinton, and was, besides, connected with him by 
 marriage. The people's men, therefore, were not dis- 
 plea.sed at an opportunity of manifesting their discourtesy 
 towards him. In this we think they displayed a want of 
 mafrnanimitv. Thev had, it is true, differed from Judge 
 Spencer ; but those points of diflerence no longer existed, 
 and one would have supposed they would have seized 
 with eagerness an opportunity of manifesting their regard 
 for an eminent man of acknowledged integrity, who had 
 been long in pf)litical life, and acted a most conspicuous 
 part on the f)olitical theatre, by giving him a parting to- 
 ken of respect and kindness. These considerations, how- 
 ever, had no weight with the people's party. On this 
 occasion they joined with the Crawford party^ who together 
 devised a most extraordinary scheme to prevent the elec- 
 tion of Judge Sjx^ncer. The opponents of Judge Spencer 
 in the senate were largely in the majority in that body, 
 and had the power of nominating Mr. Tallmadge, Colonel 
 Young, or any other person they preferred ; but this they 
 well knew would result in the election of Judge Spencer, 
 for on a ballot in a joint-nieeting of the two houses he 
 
60 
 
 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT, 
 
 would have been elected in opposition to any candidate 
 whom the senate might put in nomination. The Craw- 
 ford and people's senators therefore agreed not to agree 
 on the nomination of any individual. The farce was 
 conducted in the following manner : 
 
 " The senate then," says the journal of that house, 
 " pursuant to an act entitled ' An act prescribing the time 
 and manner of holding elections for senators to represent 
 this state in the senate of the United States,' and the con- 
 current resolution of the senate and assembly, yesterday 
 proceeded openly to nominate a. senator to represent this 
 state in the senate of the United States* in the place of 
 the Honorable Rufus King, whose term of service expires 
 on the third day of March next, when each member pres- 
 ent openly nominated as follows : 
 
 Mr. Bowman 
 
 nominated 
 
 H. Seymour, 
 
 
 ' Brayton 
 
 do. 
 
 A. Spencer, 
 
 
 ' Burrows 
 
 do. 
 
 H. Wheaton, 
 
 
 ' Burt 
 
 do. 
 
 J. Tallmadge, 
 
 
 ' Clark 
 
 do. 
 
 A. Spencer, 
 
 
 ' Colden 
 
 do. 
 
 A. Spencer, 
 
 
 ' Cramer 
 
 do. 
 
 A. Spencer, 
 
 
 ' Crary 
 
 do. 
 
 A. Spencer, 
 
 
 ' Dudley 
 
 do. 
 
 E. P. Livingston, 
 
 
 ' Earll 
 
 do. 
 
 V. Birdseye, 
 
 
 ' Ellsjvorth 
 
 do. 
 
 S. Young, 
 
 
 " Gardiner 
 
 do. 
 
 J. W. Taylor, 
 
 
 " Greenly 
 
 do. 
 
 S. Beardsley, 
 
 
 " Haight 
 
 do. 
 
 S. Young, 
 
 " Keyes 
 
 do. 
 
 H. Huntington, 
 
 * This is false. They did not proceed to nominate a senator. They 
 refused to proceed to nominate. 
 
I.IKE OF 911, AS WRIGHT. 
 
 61 
 
 Mr. l.akf 
 
 •' Lflli-rt.s 
 
 Lyiiile 
 
 " Mailory 
 
 " McCall 
 
 " Mcliityre 
 
 " Mc.Micluiel 
 Mori^an 
 
 '• Kfilfieia 
 
 " S|)eucer 
 
 " Tlu»rn 
 
 " War.l 
 
 " Wilkoson 
 
 " \V<M>sicr 
 
 " \Vrii;lit 
 
 nominated 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 
 J. Suy<lam, 
 J. T. Irvine, 
 J. Tallinadge, 
 E. P. Livingston, 
 I. Wilson, 
 A. S|»encer, 
 A. S|>encer, 
 A. S[»encer, 
 J W. Taylor, 
 D. E. Evans, 
 A. S|)encer, 
 J. C Yates, 
 W. Paulding, .Tr., 
 A. S|»encer, 
 R. ('rane, 
 y. Bird.seve. 
 
 do. 
 
 " Mr. Wilkfson then olVen^d a resolution declaring .\in- 
 l»rosc S|H.'ncer the candiilate duly noininale<l on ifu* part 
 • •f the senate. 
 
 ■ The resoluti«ni was lost — ayes eleven, noes twenty. 
 
 "Mr. Wilkeson then oM'ered a similar resolution, that 
 lames Talhnadge l)e the candidate of the senate. 
 
 "Mr. KtMHi«-M moved that the resolution lie on the ta- 
 hle. ('arrie<l — ayes nineteen, noes twelve. ' 
 
 Varioiis other inelVectual attempts were matie to nomi- 
 nate a Unite<l States senator, hut w ithout elVect. The sen- 
 ate did indee<i at one time pass what j»ur|xjrted to he a joint 
 resolution lor the nomination of Alhert II. Tracy, and at 
 another for the appointment of den. Tallma<lge ; but the 
 a.ssemhlv, a.s must have l)cen well known to the senate, 
 could not concur in either of these resolutions without a 
 violation of the existing law. and without surrendering 
 'U ' advantage which their numbers gave them on a joint 
 
 
 
62 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 ballot. They therefore ought not to have concurred, 
 even if they could have done so consistently with a law 
 passed by all the departments which constitute the law-- 
 making power. Every part of this transaction is in our 
 judgment entirely without justification ; and it furnishes 
 another instance where the devotion of Mr. Wright to 
 his party, and his rigid adherence to the rule of regula- 
 ting his own conduct, on questions of a purely party char- 
 acter, by the determination of the majority of his political 
 friends, led him into error. No United States senator 
 was chosen during that session. 
 
 Governor Clinton, in his message at the commence- 
 ment of the session, had recommended the passage of a 
 law authorizing the people of the state to choose, by 
 general ticket, and by a plurality of votes, electors for 
 president and vice-president. In the senate this part 
 of the message was referred by order of the president to 
 Messrs. Ogden, Cramer, and Lake. Mr. Ogden soon 
 after, as chairman of this committee, made a report 
 against the election of electors by general ticket, accom- 
 panied with a bill providing that each congressional dis- 
 trict should choose one elector, and that the electors 
 when thus chosen should assemble and choose two elec- 
 tors for the state. An ineffectual effort was made by 
 Mr. Crary to amend this bill in such a manner that the 
 electors should be chosen by general ticket. The bill 
 finally passed, every member of the senate then present 
 voting in favor of it, and was sent to the assembly, where 
 it was so amended as to submit to the people at the next 
 annual election, whether the election of electors should 
 be by general ticket, or by districts. At the election, a 
 majority of votes was given for the district system, and in 
 1828, the election of electors was by districts. It will be 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. G.*? 
 
 recollected that tlif death of Mr. Clinton occuiTed in that 
 year, and that Mr. \'an Buren, in Nov. 1828, was elected 
 governor. In his first and only message, Mr. Van Buren 
 recommended the rej>eal of the law providing for the 
 choice of electors by districts, which we have seen was 
 enacted the by legislature in obedience to the fiat of the 
 people expressed at the polls of the election, and the pas- 
 sage of a law re<juiring the presidential electors to be cho- 
 sen by general ticket and by a plurality of votes. His 
 recommendation was jtromjUly ado|)ted by both houses 
 of the legislature, and a law passed in conformity with it. 
 The A'an Buren j)arty at that |>t'rif>d was surely a bold 
 and adventurous party. When Mr. Crawford was a can- 
 didate for the presidfMicy, they successfully rtj>posed giv- 
 ing to the people the right of ch«M>sing ))residential elec- 
 tors ; in lH-2r>, the same j>arty advocated the choice of 
 electors bv single congressional districts, and in this they 
 were su|>i>orted by a large majority of the peojile, speak- 
 ing through the ballot-boxes; and at the earliest moment 
 after the death of Mr. Clinton, which explains the whole 
 matter, that same jiarty having a majority in both houses 
 of the legislature, without a reference to the |ieople who 
 hat! a short time In'fore declared in favor of the district 
 system, abolished that system, and established, by a law 
 of their own making, the general-ticket system, which 
 had been recommended by Mr. Clinton, and which, by 
 their votes, thev had condemned. We are free to say, 
 that in our ojtinion. the law recommended by Mr. Van 
 Buren was right ; but if so, the bill reported by Mr. Og- 
 den, and which received a unanimous vote in the .senate, 
 was wrong. 
 
 We gladly turn from these sinister manrruverings of 
 partisan j^K»liticians to a great question of principle, which 
 
ill LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 engaged the attention of the legislature of 1825, and in 
 which Mr. Wright acted a part highly honorable to his 
 memory. 
 
 At the commencement of the session, numerous appli- 
 cations were presented, both to the senate and assembly, 
 for bank charters. At that time, it will be recollected that 
 the restraining law was in force in all its rigor, and the 
 chartered banks virtually held the exclusive right of coin- 
 ing money. Hence bank charters were of great value, 
 and eagerly sought after. But under the constitution of 
 1821, no charter could be granted without the concur- 
 rence of two-thirds of the members of the legislature 
 elected to each house. This required pow^erful combina- 
 tions in order to obtain a charter for any moneyed institu- 
 tion. Mr. Wright viewed with abhorrence the grant of 
 these exclusive privileges. 
 
 On the eighth day of January the comptroller, in obe- 
 dience to a resolution moved by Mr. J. C. Spencer, re- 
 ported that there were then forty-two incorporated bank- 
 ing institutions in the state of New York, having the right 
 to employ in their business a capital of $28,900,000. Not- 
 withstanding this sri'eat number of banks already charter- 
 ed, the legislature had not been in session but a few days, 
 before there were applications for chartering between 
 thirty and forty new banks. Mr. Wright had by this 
 time acquired a powerful iniluence in the senate, a fact 
 w^hich was w^ell known to the public, and especially to the 
 shrewd and sagacious agents for procuring bank charters. 
 Hence the pressure brought upon him must have been 
 very great. Whatever could tempt the ambition, or grat- 
 ify the cupidity, or minister to the vanity of man, must 
 have been either directly or indirectly exhibited to him, 
 in the hope of gaining his support. But vain were all 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 65 
 
 such efforts. He took a firm stand against the extension 
 of exclusive privileges, and maintained it resolutely and 
 sternlv, maugre the blandishments of political or personal 
 friends and the threats of opponents. During that session 
 sixteen bank charters passed the assembly, and fourteen 
 were originally introduced into the senate, which passed 
 to a third reading. The greater part of these failed of 
 obtaining a constitutional vote in the senate ; and we have 
 no doubt that that failure was in most cases produced by 
 the personal efforts and influence of I\Ir. Wright. After 
 a careful examination of the senate journal of the session 
 of 1825, we have been unable to find that in a single in- 
 stance Mr. Wright voted in favor of chartering a bank.* 
 
 • To show with what painful anxiety ihis combination of bank ap- 
 plicanU bore on tlie mind of Mr. Wright, we beg leave to relate an aucc- 
 dole tommuuicated to the author by a gentleman who lodged in the same 
 room with Mr. Wright, during the winter of 1825. Mr. Wright was oc- 
 casionally subjfct to restless nights, or rather his sleep was sometimes un- 
 quiet. One night whicii succeeded a day when some of the bank bills 
 had been diBCussed iu the senate, after Mr. W. had been asleep for some 
 time, ho sprang from his bed to the floor, being still asleep, and exclaimed 
 with a loud voice, " My God ! the combination is too strong — every bank 
 will pass !" When he awoke it was with great difficulty that his ner- 
 vous system could be so far quieted as to enable him to obtain any more 
 rest during that night 
 
 6» 
 
66 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Result of the Eleetiou in November, 1825 — Mr. Wright's Influence in the 
 Seuate — His Manner of discussing Questions — Case of Jasper Ward — 
 Mr. Wright's Report thereon — He is elected a member of Congress in 
 November, 1826. 
 
 The election in November, 1825, resulted in the return 
 of a majority of members to the assembly who were the 
 regular nominees of the democratic party in the respect- 
 ive counties from which they came, and who were politi- 
 cally opposed to the governor. This result, although 
 unexpected, might have been anticipated by the Clinto- 
 nians, had they reflected coolly and deliberately on the 
 then existing state of things. The party which was so 
 successful at the preceding election, was composed of 
 such heterogeneous materials, that union of action among 
 them was impossible ; while the greater part of the real 
 friends of Gov. Clinton were so sure of their strength, and 
 so confident of success, sustained as they were by the 
 weight of character and popularity of the governor, that 
 they relaxed in their vigilance and in their efforts. Gen. 
 Root was elected to the assembly from Delaware, and 
 Col. Young, who, at the meeting of the legislature, was 
 made speaker, was elected from the county of Sara- 
 toga. 
 
 Mr. Wright continued his constant attendance in the 
 senate, devoting himself diligently and laboriously to 
 legislative business. His influence there daily increased. 
 He took an active part in all the discussions of that body ; 
 
LIFK OF SILAS WRIGHT. * 67 
 
 he never on any occasion made the least effort at display, 
 his sole object was to convince his associates of the cor- 
 rectness of his position ; and being candid and frank in 
 coinnmnicating his views, and clear and logical in his 
 reasoning, he generally succeeded in his efforts. He did 
 not seek to be eloquent, though sometimes he was really 
 so, but it was produced by the magnitude of his subject, 
 and the power and vigor of his mind, and not by any 
 effort to dazzle or to charm. Of all legislative debaters 
 we ever knew, except perhaps Daniel Webster, whom 
 in many resjxjcts he mentally resembled, in his public 
 sj)eeches he availed himself least of local and popular 
 prejudices, or to use what is now a common expression, 
 talked least to " Buncom." 
 
 Aj)plications for chartering a banking company, to be 
 called "The Grand Canal Bank," also a bill for charter- 
 ing the Merchants' Exchange Bank, and three others, 
 some of which we believe h;ul passed the assembly, came 
 before the senate early in this session, but all of them 
 were opposed by Mr. Wright, and rejected, or indefinite- 
 ly post}X)ned by the votes of a large majority of the sen- 
 ators. There can be no doubt that the arguments of Mr. 
 Wright at the ])receding and present session had a pow- 
 erful if not a decisive influence in changing the opinions 
 of a majority of his associates, which produced the result 
 we bavc mentioned. 
 
 . At the preceding session of the legislature, in pursu- 
 ance of the recommendation of Gov. Clinton, two amend- 
 ments hiid been proposed to the constitution, one of which 
 was an extension of the elective franchise, and the other 
 to provide for the election of justices of the peace by the 
 people. These amendments were submitted to the peo- 
 ple at the November election, and were approved' by a 
 
(>3 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 large majority of the electors. They were therefore, in 
 pursuance of the constitution, again brought before the 
 legislature during this session. When these resolutions 
 came up in the senate, Mr. Wright voted for the exten- 
 sion of the elective franchise, but against the election of 
 justices of the peace by the people. When the latter vote 
 was taken, thirty-one members of the senate were present, 
 twenty-nine of whom voted for the amendment, and two 
 only, Mr. Wright and Mr. Mallory, against it. No doubt 
 his opinion on the subject had become so fixed and set- 
 tled that it could not be changed : we think it was wrong, 
 but we admire that inflexible honesty and independence 
 which induced him to vote against a measure which he 
 knew to be popular with an immense majority of the 
 people, and to record that vote, all but alone, against the 
 united votes of his fellow-senators. 
 
 On the first day of the session, Jasper Ward, a senator 
 from the first district, made a communication to the sen- 
 ate, stating that charges had been made against him in 
 the New York American and Evening Post, durinsr the 
 recess of the senate, that " as an inducement to effect the 
 passage of an amendment to the act incorporating the 
 Chatham Insurance Company, and the passage of the act 
 incorporating the ^Etna Insurance Company of said city, 
 he had been guilty of con'upt conduct as a senator of this 
 state. The senate will know," said Mr. Ward, " the 
 importance of preserving the integrity of their own body, 
 and how to maintain their own honor. As a member of 
 that body, and to vindicate my own reputation from the 
 base slanders by which it has been assailed, I consider 
 myself also entitled to demand from them an official in- 
 quiry into the subject ; and I therefore respectfully request 
 that nleasures may be taken by the honorable the senate, 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. G9 
 
 eftcctually to investigate the charges alluded to, and to 
 establish their truth or falsity." 
 
 From this bold and confident appeal one would be led 
 to believe that Gen. Ward was an innocent and injured 
 man ; the result, unfortunately for him, proved otherwise. 
 The senate ordered the communication to be referred to 
 a select committee, to consist of five members, with power 
 to send for persons and papers. This order, if we rightly 
 recollect, was made on the motion of ]Mr. J. C. Spencer, 
 although from the journal of the senate it does not appear 
 by whom the motion was made.* On the 7th of Janu- 
 ary', four days after Gen. Ward's letter was read in the 
 senate, Mr. Wright offered the following resolution : 
 . " Resolved, That the committee to whom was referred 
 the communication of Jasper Ward, made to the senate 
 on the 3d of January instant, be instructed to inquire into 
 the truth of the charges contained in the New York 
 American and in the New York Evening Post, some time 
 during the months of July or August last, in relation to 
 the conduct of the said Jasper Ward, in etfecting the 
 passage of an amendment to the act incorporating the 
 Chatham Insurance Company, and the passage of the act 
 incorporating the iEtna Company, and into other im- 
 proper conduct in the passage of either of the said bills, 
 in which the said Jasper Ward shall appear to have been 
 directly or indirectly concerned." 
 
 The investigation by the committee was laborious and 
 thorough, and the report able, as our readers will readily 
 believe when they recollect that two such men as Silas 
 Wright and John C. Spencer conducted the examination 
 
 * Wriffht, Spencer, Burrows, McCall, and Haight, were appointed by 
 the president to coustitiite tlie committee. 
 
70 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 and drew the report. The report and copy of the depo- 
 sitions taken by the committee, occupy seventy foho pages 
 in the senate's journal. 
 
 The following extract from the Evening Post contains 
 the charges against Mr. Ward, of which he complained : 
 
 To the Editor of the Evening Post : 
 
 Sir — In the New York National Advocate of this 
 morning, there is an article addressed to me, with a string 
 of queries, signed " Eighty Shares." Now, Mr. Editor, 
 I cannot think of holding any communication with the 
 Honorable writer of " Eighty Shares," but for the infor- 
 mation of the stockholders I will state that the intention 
 of the persons composing the ticket which was made out 
 at the meeting of the 18th inst., is to bring the late sec- 
 retary to a speedy settlement, and to be especially careful 
 that neither he nor the Hon. Jasper Ward, the president, 
 shall any longer manage, or rather mismanage, their af- 
 fairs, but that the books, papers, and property of the com- 
 pany shall be placed in the hands of men of integrity. 
 Would it not have been well for " Eighty Shares" to have 
 put one or two questions about the Honorable the presi- 
 dent : as for instance, to whom did he give the $2,200 
 which was drawn from the funds of the Chatham Insu- 
 rance Company last winter, and for which he has hith- 
 erto refused to give particulars, but says that he (a sen- 
 ator at the time) gave it to the lobby for the purpose of 
 getting an amendment to the charter ? and further, did 
 it all go to the lobby ? I shall decline any further news- 
 paper discussion. If any stockholder wishes information, 
 I shall be pleased to give it him. My residence is at 
 No. 33 Bowery. 
 
 David Baker. 
 
LIFE OF SILAS VVRIGUT. 71 
 
 The charges j)uhhshed in the American were contain- 
 ed in a coniiiiuiiication from an anonymous correspond- 
 ent. The communication was in the following words : 
 
 To the Hon. Jasper Ward, Senator : 
 
 8iR — 1. What amount did you receive of the JEtna. 
 Insurance Company for your influence in the obtaining 
 of their charter ? 
 
 •J Did you or did you not sell certain certificates, au- 
 thorizing any one to subscribe one year from date, with- 
 out interest, to that stock ? 
 
 3. From whom was your money obtained ? 
 
 4. Did vou not demand this for your vote ? When did 
 you see Mr. Baker, no process having as yet been 
 served on him ? It is taken for granted that your asser- 
 tion is not true — you know his to be true. There are 
 some other transactions the honorable senator will in a 
 few days be requested to answer for. 
 
 An iNauiRER. 
 
 Several of these charges the committee reported were 
 wholly unsustained by proof; but enough was proved to 
 induce Mr. Wriglit, as chairman of the committee, on 
 the 28th day of February, to offer the following resolu- 
 tions : 
 
 " Resolved, That the conduct of Jasper Ward, a senator 
 from the first senate district, and the means used by him, 
 in obtaining the passjige through the legislature of the act 
 entitled, 'An act to amend the charter of the Chatham 
 Fire Insurance Comjjany ;' and also his conduct, and the 
 means used by him, in obtaining the passage of the act 
 entitled ' An act to incorporate the iEtna Fire Insurance 
 Company of New York,' were a violation of his duties 
 
72 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 as a senator, affording a pernicious and dangerous exam- 
 ple, tending to corrupt the public morals, and to impair 
 the public confidence in the integrity of the legislature, 
 and that his conduct in these respects deserves and 
 should receive severe reprehension. Therefore, 
 
 " Resolved, That the said Jasper Ward, senator as 
 aforesaid, be, and he hereby is, expelled the senate." 
 
 This resolution was laid on the table ; and, on the mo- 
 tion of Mr. McCall, a member of the select committee, it 
 was ordered that Mr. Ward should be heard by counsel, 
 and a day fixed for the hearing ; but on the next day 
 General Ward addressed the following note, which it will 
 be perceived contained his resignation, to the president of 
 the senate : 
 
 Sir — Unwilling to retard the business of the honora- 
 ble the senate by any thing that concerns me individual- 
 ly, I have, upon mature reflection, concluded to waive 
 the indulgence granted me to appear before the senate by 
 counsel. I do this from the conviction, that the honora- 
 ble body over which you preside is fully competent to 
 decide on the merits of my case as justice may require, 
 without the agency of counsel. At the same time, per- 
 mit me to request' you to inform the senate that I hereby 
 resign my seat as a member of their body. 
 I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 J. Ward. 
 
 The prosecution of these charges against a man who 
 for a long time had been his associate in the senate, who 
 was his political friend, and who, it is altogether probable, 
 possessed many amiable qualities, and until that time had 
 
LIFE OP 81L.\8 WRIGHT. 73 
 
 sustained an unblemished reputation, must have been ex- 
 tremely painful to -Mr. Wright. But on a question in 
 which the purity of legi.slation is concerned, no delicacy 
 ■ >f feehng towards an ass(Kiate, and no considerations of 
 {)ersonal or |M»litical friendship, cnuld restrain him from 
 doing his duty, and his whole duty. 
 
 We submit one other remark. We know nothing per- 
 
 i»nally of Clen. Wani. Hut we liave a right to presume 
 'fiat he was, and we think we have heard him sjK»ken of 
 as, a man of fair character, and an agreeable meml)er 
 of ^^ociety. Vet was (Jen. Ward, by the cornipt system 
 which then prevaiU«l, in prf)curing charters i^ianting to 
 < i>m[>anics rxclusive privileges, drawn from one step to 
 
 UHtther of vice, if not crime, until he was placed in a po- 
 -ilion iK'forc the community which will probably prevent 
 his b«'ing useful to the public at any future time. It is 
 consoling to reflect that the new constituti<m deprives 
 the legislature of the p<^)wer of grantmg exclusive privi- 
 l»""'fs. anil in fact takes awav nil inducements to the for- 
 mation of corrupt combinations to influence legislation. 
 The " altar and the gfxl must sink tr»gether." The disgrace- 
 ful scenes of IRl'J, 18*21, and ]H'2't. w ill never be renewed.* 
 
 • A* a iipr^iiiirn of th«> ni»najj«*mmt of anwciations lo procure chartr>r«, 
 and of rh.irtrfrd roiTipniiim, wp ropy from tlir r»'port of the commillee a 
 part of ihrir ■tinimary of lli*' il<-|Mxiili<in4 taken hy them. 
 
 < >iif< of the rhnrife* «|^inat Gen. Ward wa«, that he had drawn from 
 the fiinda of the company llie sum of g'J,'2(tO, for which he had refuifd to 
 account, '* Iwit all<»grd, that he hring a memhrr of tht »tnntf at the lime) 
 had gtrrn ihr mnnry lo the laliLy fur Ihe p'lrpone of gettitif; an amend- 
 mrnt lo ihe chnrirr of the company pa**fd through the legislature." 
 In rrlalion lo thin charge, the committee iwy that it was proved, " that in 
 the winter of l"*iJ3, a p»>lilion, eivjncd by certain membem of the Chatham 
 Fire lu^iirauce Company, wa.* prreented lo llie legislalure, praying the 
 pa.'^iage of certain amendments to the charter of that conipany ; that du- 
 
74 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 In respect of the charge that General Ward received 
 money of the ^Etna Insurance Company for his influence 
 in obtaining their charter, the committee say that Wil- 
 
 ling that session, the prayer of that petition was not granted ; that in the 
 summer or fall of the same year, Gen. Ward represented to the finance com- 
 mittee of that company, that it was best to renew the application for the 
 amendments to the charter of the company at the then next session of the 
 legislature, and that it ' might or would be necessary to issue some of the 
 stock of the company to procure their passage through the legislature.' 
 That the finance committee did, pursuant to such representations of Gen- 
 Ward, pass a resolution authorizing Gen. Ward (he then being president 
 of the company, and ex^officio a member of the committee, aud being then 
 also a member of the senate of this state) and Thomas Hyatt (who was 
 then also a director of the company, a member of the committee, and a 
 member elect of the house of assembly of this state) to issue stock of the 
 company, net exceeding ^20,000 in amount ; that the avowed object for 
 issuing part of this stock at least, if any should be issued, was to pay such 
 out-door or lobby agents as Messrs. Ward and Hyatt should think it ne- 
 cessary to employ to assist them in getting these amendments passed : 
 that Messrs. Ward and Hyatt did take upou themselves voluntarily the 
 agency of issuing this stock for the company, or so much of it as they 
 might think it necessary to have issued, and of employing such person or 
 persons as they should think it necessary to employ to obtain the amend- 
 ments, although it does not appear that Hyatt ever acted under this pow- 
 er : that this authority given to Messrs. Ward and Hyatt was perfectly 
 discretionary in them, with the single limitation that the amount of stock 
 to be issued by them should in no event exceed ^^OjOOO : that Gen. Ward 
 did attend the senate as a member thereof, during the winter and fall ses- 
 sions of that body in the year 1824: did present the petition of the mem- 
 bers of the Chatham company, praying for the passage of the amendments 
 to their charter, and did use his influence as a member of the legislature 
 to obtain the passage of the bill, but did not vote upon it : that he did, in 
 the fall of 1823, employ Herman Ruggles as an out-door or lobby agent to 
 aid the passage of the same, and did agree to give him for such services as 
 he might render in the premises, in case the amendments should become 
 a law, a right to subscribe to ^12,000 of the stock of the company at par 
 value: that the bill containing the amendments passed the senate on the 
 25th day of Februarj', 1824, and the same bill passed the assembly on the 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 75 
 
 Ham J. Waldron, who was a principal applicant for the 
 charter, testitit'd that '• after the bill incorporating the iEtna 
 Fire Insurance Company had passed the assembly, and 
 before it had passed the senate, and some time in the 
 
 17th day of November of the same year; and that Ruggles, pursuant to 
 ■uch employment, did a«j(it in the passage of the bill as a lobby agent : 
 that some tune in the course of the year 1824, Gen. Ward, as president of 
 the Chathum Fire InKurance Company, did isnue and deliver to the said 
 Herman Kuijijlfn, two certificates of a rijjht to subscribe to thu stock of 
 the company at par value, one for the sum of §!r(,000, and the other for 
 the sum of $I2,(X)0 : that the capital stock of the company is §400,000, 
 but that the compuny, by its cliart«r, was permitted to commence busi- 
 nei« whenever jBj2tl(),()(K) of ita capital stock should be subscnbt'd and ac- 
 tually paid in, or iiecure<l to be paid ; that the board of directors had re- 
 ■olved to go into operation upon this latter sum of $200,000 of their capital 
 ■lock, all of which had been siibxcribed and actually paid in, or secured to 
 be paid, before th'.' authority was given to Mensrs. Ward and Hyatt as 
 above mentioned : tliat it required a resolution of the board of directors of 
 the company to authonze any additional subscriptions to the stock of the 
 same, uiid tliut no such resolution had ever been passed ; that therefore 
 Rugglfs was not p«'rmilted to nubscribe for the stock mentioned in the 
 certificate* pursuant to the terms thereof, but that the secretary of the 
 company was authorized by the finance committee of the company to 
 make a commutation in money with Ruggles for the certificates, by pay- 
 ing him a certain premium upon the stock covered by them, in lieu of his 
 right to HubHoribe for the stock : that the secretary did make such com- 
 mutation with Ruzgles for the $12,000 certificate on the 3d day of De- 
 cember. lH24,and did pay him, in obedience to the express directions of 
 the finance connniltee of the company, out of tiie funds of the company, 
 for that certificate, the sum of $1,200, or 10 per cent premium upon the 
 par value of the slock mentioned in it ; and that the secretary did also, 
 on the .3(1 day of Janujiry, 182.'), make a commutation with Ruijs^lcs for 
 the §^,000 certificatf, and did pay him for that certificate, pursuant to 
 the further express directions of the same committee, out of the funds of 
 the company, the sum of §1,000, or 12i per cent, premium upon the 
 par value of the stock mentioned in it- 
 
 " In the proof of thej^e facts, the committee believe there is no material 
 contradiction in the testimony of the several witnesses." 
 
76 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 month of March, 1824, Gen. Ward came to New York; 
 that he, Waldron, called upon him, and inquired about 
 the progress of this bill ; that Gen. Ward informed him 
 it had passed the assembly ; that there would still be great 
 difficulty in getting it passed the senate ; but that he, 
 Gen. Ward, had made such arrangements with certain 
 influential individuals out of doors, that if Waldron would 
 issue certificates of a right to subscribe to $20,000 of the 
 stock of the company, it could be got through : that he, 
 Waldron, agreed to issue the said certificates, and asked 
 Gen. Ward how the certificates should be drawn ; that 
 Gen. Ward drew and gave to him the form in which 
 they should be drawn, and also the amount for which he 
 wished each certificate to be issued — to wit, three for 
 $5,000 each, one for $3,000, and one for $2,000 stock ; 
 that he, Waldron, took the form drawn by Gen. Ward, 
 and made out the fiv^e certificates for the amounts re- 
 spectively directed by Gen. Ward, and delivered them 
 to him with his own hand, the five certificates amounting 
 to just the sum of $20,000, all dated the 23d day of March, 
 1824, and all drawn precisely after the form given to him 
 by Gen. Ward, except that Gen. Wai-d's form gave the 
 right to subscribe the stock ' within one year after the 
 company goes into operation,' and the certificates 'with- 
 in one year after the passage of the act of incorporation ;' 
 that Gen. Ward, in a day or two after, left New York for 
 Albany, and that the bill passed the senate on the 30th 
 day of the same month, as appears by the senate jour- 
 nals, page 339 ; that he, Waldron, has no knowledge of 
 the disposition which Gen. Ward made of any of these 
 certificates, except of the one for $2,000, which one he, 
 Waldron, afterwards, and some time in the spring or 
 summer of 1824, bought of John RadclifF, and paid him 
 
LIKE OF SILAd WRIUHT. 77 
 
 $00 lor it, Jiiul that Kadclitr informed liiiii that lie re- 
 ceived it Irotu Lieu. Ward." 
 
 In the laJl of iH^Hi, and before his term of service in 
 the senate had expired, Mr. Wright was a candidate for 
 congress from the double district coinj>osed of the coun- 
 ties of JetU-rson, Lewis, Oswego, and St. Lawrence. Mr. 
 Rudolph IJunner, of Oswego, was his lussociate. Mr. Nice! 
 IWlick. of Herkimer, and Mr. Elisha Camp, of JeH'er- 
 8on, were their competitors. The election was contested 
 with great zeal, and with strong ho|>es of success by the 
 (Mintonian candidates, but Messrs. Wright and Bunner 
 were elected by more than five hundred majority. 
 
 T 
 
78 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Mr. Clinton re-elected Governor and Gen. Pitcher Lieutenant-governor — 
 Causes of this Result — Mr. Wright's Confidential Letter to Mr. Van 
 Buren in 1826 — Mr. Wright's Report on the Petition of David E. Evans 
 — Mr. Flagg's Report on the Enlargement of the Erie Canal — Mr. Rug- 
 gles' Report on the State Finances, from the Committee of Ways and 
 Means — Mr. Van Buren re-elected to the Senate of the United States 
 — Mr. Wright resigns his Seat in the Senate of New York. 
 
 Although the democratic party succeeded in electing 
 a majority of the members of assembly in the fall of 1826, 
 Mr. Clinton was re-elected governor. But his success 
 did not prevent the election of Gen. Pitcher for lieutenant- 
 governor against Henry Huntington, of Oneida coun- 
 ty, the worthy and popular candidate of the Clintonian 
 party. This result was probably produced by the fact 
 that Mr. Pitcher, as well as Mr. Clinton, was in favor of 
 a plan, some time before recommended by Gov. Clinton, 
 for the construction, by the state, of a road, from some 
 point on the Hudson river, through the western tier 
 of counties, to Lake Erie. The electors therefore in 
 some of those counties, and especially in the county of 
 Steuben, disregarding the nominations of the parties to 
 which they respectively belonged, voted for Mr. Clinton 
 and Gen. Pitcher. 
 
 There was another circumstance which favored the 
 re-election of Gov. Clinton, which we have related at 
 large in a former volume, and we mention it now for the 
 sake of stating more particularly the action of Mr. Wright 
 in relation to it. 
 
LIFK UK .SILAS WRIGHT. 79 
 
 The question in respect to the selection of a candidate 
 for the next {>resident had already begun to be agitated. 
 Mr. \'an Buren and Mr. Wright, and other leading dem- 
 ocrats, had oj)enly expressed their disai)probation of the 
 nminier in which Mr. Adains had been elected president, 
 and exhibited tokens of dissatisfaction with his administra- 
 tion. If they did not o{)enly oppose it, they were evidently 
 cold towards it ; indeed, they already denounced some of 
 the measures sustained by Mr. Adams, and several of his 
 apjK)ititments ; and elTorts were undoubtedly then being 
 made by Mr. \iiu Buren to prepare the minds of his friends 
 for the su|)p<>rt of (len. Jackson. Still Mr. Van Buren, 
 and those acting with him. were at that time called " iion- 
 committah." tSo cautious and quiet were Mr. Van Bu- 
 ren's movements on this question, that at the democratic 
 state convention, held at Herkimer, for the nomination 
 of a governor, Judge Rtxhester, of Monroe county, an 
 o|)cn and avowed supporter of the administration of Mr. 
 Adams, and who had been appointed on a foreign mission 
 by him, was, in con.sequence of a strong western feeling 
 in his favor, nominated as the op[)Osing candidate to Gov. 
 Clinton. 
 
 Mr. Clinton, from the year 1824 down to the present 
 time, had been the open and decided advocate of Gen. 
 Jackson. Mr. Wri-jht, who long since had lost all his 
 partiality for Mr. Adams, and entered cordially into Mr. 
 Van Buren's views, was a strict caucus man. The max- 
 im of "every thing for his party — nothing for himself," 
 governed him in this as in all his subsequent political ac- 
 tions ; he and his a.ssociates supported Mr. Rochester, 
 who was known to be an Adams man, because he was 
 the regular candidate of the democratic party, and op- 
 posed Mr. Clinton, who was equally well known as a 
 
80 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 Jackson man. Mr. Wright probably believed that this 
 course was necessary in order to preserve the unity of 
 the democratic party ; and that should Mr. Rochester be 
 elected, if a majority of that party should declare itself 
 for Gen. Jackson, he would receive the votes of this state 
 whatever might be the individual views or wishes of the 
 governor. Hence the support of Mr. Rochester became 
 a mere question of expediency. But there were many 
 Bucktail democrats in the state, w ho were either so much 
 dissatisfied w'ith Mr. Adams, or so partial to Gen. Jack- 
 son, that they would not support a candidate for govern- 
 or known to be the opponent of the latter. The most 
 numerous class of this description of politicians resided 
 in New York, where Major Noah, who had been a warm 
 Crawford man, and was then editor of a popular demo- 
 cratic paper called the National Advocate, came out de- 
 cidedly for Clinton and Pitcher. The votes given Mr. 
 Clinton in consequence of the state road question, and 
 those given him in New York and elsewhere by the more 
 ardent Bucktail friends of Gen. Jackson, together with 
 his own high personal merit, enabled him to leave in tri- 
 umph the field of battle, where nearly all his friends had 
 been prostrated. 
 
 It may be proper in this connection to notice the cele- 
 brated confidential letter written by Mr. Wright, near the 
 close of the session of 1826, to Mr. Van Buren, who was 
 then at Washington, in the senate of the United States. 
 This letter has excited more of the attention of the com- 
 munity, and especially of the political opponents of Mr. 
 Wright, than it merited. 
 
 It has just been stated that Mr. Clinton, from the year 
 1824 to the time of his death, was the open and decided 
 advocate and friend of General Jackson. His friendship 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 81 
 
 for Jackson was duly appreciated and reciprocated by 
 that distinguished man.* We must also remind the read- 
 er tiiat Mr. Van Buren and his confidential friends in 
 New York, soon after the election of jMr. Adams to the 
 presidency in the year 1825, had determined to support 
 Gen. Jackson in opposition to Mr. Adams at the next 
 presidential election, but that a very large majority of the 
 democratic i)arty in 1826 were not then prepmred for 
 such a course. Nevertheless, as Mr. Van Buren had 
 determined to supjwrt Gen. Jackson, as Mr. Clinton was 
 one of his earliest and firmest friends, and as the general 
 was equally friendly to Mr. Clinton, the participation of 
 Mr. Van Buren in the prosecution of the war against Mr. 
 C. was extremely embarrassing, and might, if such war 
 was not di.scontinued, disafiect Gen. Jackson with Mr. 
 Van Buren, and those who acted with him. In this state 
 of things some of the most influential friends of the latter 
 gentleman at Albany and elsewhere, among whom we 
 may mention that worthy and excellent man, Benjamin 
 Knower, the late state treasurer, were of the opinion that 
 no opposition ought to be made to the re-election of Mr. 
 Clinton at the next gubernatorial election. But there 
 were then strong and unconquerable prejudices existing 
 against him in the minds of a majority of the democrats, 
 or j)erhaps we ought to say Bucktails, in the state of New 
 York. This was the state of things when, on the 4th of 
 April, 1826, Mr. Wright wrote the letter in question. 
 In that letter he informs Mr. Van Buren that gi-eat 
 "alarm" had been excited among their friends at Albany, 
 because Mr. M. M. Noah, and some other political friends 
 in the city of New York, had declared themselves in favor 
 
 • 2 Political History, 256. 
 
85i LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 of the re-election of INIr. Clinton. He then goes on to argue 
 that such a policy would be unwise and dangerous : that 
 the Adams party,, which then comprised a large portion of 
 the democratic party, would, if no candidate in opposi- 
 tion to Mr. Clinton was regularly nominated, make a 
 nomination ; and " such a candidate," said he. " the great 
 bodv of our political friends throughout the state would 
 enlist themselves to support against Clinton." * * * 
 "Should we," continued Mr. Wright, "decline to support 
 the candidate run aijainst Clinton, because he was friend- 
 Iv to Adams, this would inevitably induce the friends of 
 that candidate, two-thirds of whom, so far as the state is 
 concerned, would be our friends, not only to run con- 
 gress, senate, and assembly tickets, but to run them 
 pledged to Adams. In any event then, fi-om this state 
 of things, it does appear to me, that we should be be- 
 tween two fires without the least prospect of escaping 
 the flames, instead ofbring~i7ig off the spoils." This last 
 expression has been animadverted upon with great se- 
 verity. But if this sentiment, and the utterance of it 
 confidentially to a friend, be sinful, we have only to say, 
 let the politician in the state of New York who in this 
 respect is without sin, " cast the first stone." 
 
 Having an'ived at the conclusion that sound policy 
 required that a candidate against Mr. Clinton should be 
 put in nomination at a regular democratic state convention, 
 Mr. Wright next proceeds to consider the question, who 
 that candidate should be ;. and he thereupon, under the 
 seal of confidence, discusses with great freedom the mer- 
 its of several gentlemen who were spoken of as candi- 
 dates, and finally concludes that Mr. Sanford. the late 
 chancellor, would be the most available. His description 
 of the characters of the persons he mentions is exceed- 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 63 
 
 ingly graphic, but according to our notions is just, while 
 it is far from furnishing the least evidence of unkind feel- 
 ings on the part of the writer. 
 
 Our moral sensibilities may be more obtuse than those 
 of other men, but considering the circumstances under 
 which this letter was written, and that the object of the au' 
 thor was to present his views of what was the wisest policy 
 to be adopted in the existing exigency, we are unable to 
 perceive any cause for charging Mr. Wright with improp- 
 er or unjustifiable motives.* 
 
 • Afl this letter, at the time it first made its appearance in the newspa- 
 pere, waa published iii most if not all of the papers in the state belou^ng 
 to the party then known by the name of National Republicans, and as in 
 1846 it was republished in many of the whig papers, it may gratify the 
 CDriosity of some readers to be informed how it happened that it was pub- 
 lished at all. The following are the facts in relation to it : 
 
 The letter, as before stated, was written, and sent to Mr. Van Buren at 
 Washington, in April, 1826. When in lb'29 he was inaugurated as gov- 
 ernor of the state, he brought this letter with other papers from Washing- 
 ton to .\lbany ; but he was soon afterwards appointed by Gen. Jackson 
 secretary of state, and returned to Washington. The letter in question 
 was accidentally left in a bureau, in which he probably kept oth^r private 
 papers while at Albany. In the autumn of 1629 or 1630, Mr. Van Bu- 
 ren directed the furniture he had left in Albany to be sold at auction, and 
 this bureau was purchased by Mr. Frederick Porter, who was engaged in 
 mercantile business in that city. When Mr. Porter opened the bureau, 
 for the purpose of depositing his own papers in it, he discovered Mr. 
 Wright's letter, and forthwith brought it to me, and informed me of the 
 means by which it came into his po6se««ion. It was an open letter, and 
 1 read it Perceiving it was strictly a confidential letter, and learning that 
 it came into Mr. Porter's hands entirely by accident, I advised him to re- 
 turn it to .Mr. Wright. He seemed not to agree with me in opinion, and 
 I finally told him I could not consent to have any agency in its publica- 
 tion. It was then within a few diys of the annual election ; and .Mr. Porter 
 the next day, having, as I suppose, in the interval communicated the sub- 
 stance of the letter to some persons who were warmly engaged in the 
 political coutesit then being carried on, called on me and demanded the 
 
84 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 In the senate, INlr. Wright was chairman of tlie Canal 
 Committee, then, and perhaps now, the most important 
 committee of that house. The triumphant completion of 
 the Erie and Champlain canals, and the zeal displayed by 
 Gov. Clinton for internal improvements in all his commu- 
 nications, and especially in his annual messages, had pro- 
 duced a higlily excited feeling in every section of the 
 state where the construction of canals was believed to be 
 practicable. Gov. Clinton, in his message in 1825, had 
 specifically mentioned a great number of localities where 
 canals might be constructed, and invited the attention of 
 the legislature to the subject ; and the legislatuie, during 
 the session which followed the delivery of that message, 
 had made a provision for, and directed the survey of seven- 
 teen of the routes enumerated by the governor. All this 
 was calculated to excite the efibrts and flatter the hopes 
 of citizens living on, or owning lands in the neighborhood 
 of these various routes. 
 
 The project of procuring the passage of a law^ for the 
 construction of the Chenango Canal, had been for some 
 time agitated, and although opposed by a majority of the 
 canal board, and although among those who opposed it in 
 the board were Mr. Marcy, then comptroller, iMr. Flagg, 
 secretary of state, and Col. Yoimg, canal commissioner, 
 a bill for the construction of this canal passed the assem- 
 bly, and was sent to the senate for concuiTence. About 
 this time the Genesee Yallev and Black River canals 
 
 letter. I delivered it to him, and it was immediately published iu a paper 
 called the Workivgman's Advocate. 
 
 Mr. Porter is, I am told, now a resident of the city of Albany. I have 
 not seen him for many years, but he was when I knew him, and I pre- 
 sume is now, a worthy and respectable citizen ; he therefore can testify to 
 the correctness of this statement. J. D. H. 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 85 
 
 were also projected. These great interests and power- 
 ful combinations brought a pressure upon Mr. Wright as 
 chairman of the committee on canals, wiiich few men 
 could have resisted. But having, after due considera- 
 tion, made up his mind on the subject of the extension of 
 internal improvements, and the increase of the debt of the 
 state, he did not attempt to temporize ; on the contrary, he 
 sought an occasion to declare to the legislature and the 
 people his fixed and settled principles. Such an occasion 
 soon occurred. 
 
 Early in the session of 1827, a petition, signed by Da- 
 vid E. Evans, and many other worthy and influential 
 citizens of the western part of the state, was presented to 
 the senate, praying for the construction by the state of a 
 canal from the Erie Canal, by the way of Tonawanda 
 creek, to the Alleghany river at Olean ; and in case the 
 legislature should think it inexpedient to engage in the 
 enterprise at the expense of the state, and on its account, 
 then that an act might be passed incorporating certain 
 individuals hv the name of the " Tonawanda Canal Com 
 pany," with a capital of S800.000, with power to con- 
 struct the said canal. This petition was referred to the 
 committee on canals, at that time consisting of Wright. 
 Golden, and Ilaight. The improvement asked for was 
 substantially the same as that subsequently adopted under 
 the name of the Gene.see Valley Canal. The Erie and 
 Champlain canals had been for some time completed. 
 The canal debt, although large, was rapidly decreasing 
 by the steadv aj)plication of the proceeds of the canal 
 fund, and the toll of the Erie Canal, to the payment of its 
 principal and interest, — thus aftbrding a certain prospect 
 that the whole debt would be extinguished at no distant 
 period. The petition of Mr. Evans and others presented 
 
 8 
 
86 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 for the consideration of the committee the grave and im- 
 portant question, whether the paying poUcy should be 
 pursued until the state should be relieved from debt, or 
 whether the system of internal improvements should be 
 continued and extended, which, instead of leading to an 
 extinction, would probably result in an increase of the 
 public debt. It was easy to perceive, that if the views 
 of those who were for granting this petition should pre- 
 vail, the legislature could not, with any appearance of 
 propriety, deny a similar prayer coming from the people 
 of the Chenango valley, and those residing on the margin 
 of the Black river. Mr. Wright felt deeply the impor- 
 tance of the question submitted to the committee of which 
 he was chairman, and he arrived at a conclusion to 
 which he adhered during the rest of his life ; which was, 
 that the state ought not, except in special cases, to en- 
 gage in any new work of the kind without being well 
 assured that the net income arising from such work 
 " would reimburse the treasury for the expense of ma- 
 king it." 
 
 He made a long and able report on this petition.* He 
 urged that the great principles which must be determined 
 by the legislature before they should commence the con- 
 struction of any new canals at the expense of the state 
 were, " First, the practicability of making a canal upon 
 the route proposed, and of obtaining a supply of water 
 sufficient for its use. Second, the ability of the state to 
 sustain the expense, or the resources from which the 
 work is to be carried on. Third, the importance of the 
 work, and the promise of its utility, and consequent in- 
 
 See Senate Journal of 1827, p. 170. 
 
LIFE OF SJLA3 WRIGHT. 87 
 
 come, to reiinburse the treasury for the expense of ma- 
 king it." 
 
 In considering the question whether the pecuniary 
 abihty of the state was competent to defray the expense 
 of constructing the proposed work, Mr. Wright presented 
 a rapid but very lucid view of the funds of the state ; and 
 ahhough the future receipts of the treasury from canal 
 lolls exceeded his, and indeed all sober-minded men's an- 
 ticij^ation, the statement is in the main correct. This 
 report is interesting and valuable, as furnishing an im- 
 portant item in the histqry of the finances of this state, 
 because it presents, in a plain and simple manner, the 
 funds of the state at that perii)d. Perhaps no man ever 
 lived who could exhil)it abstruse and complicated matters 
 with more clearness and simjdicity than Mr. Wright. 
 From the view which the re[)ort presented of the funds 
 of the state, it was evident that nothing could be spared 
 for new works without deranging the financial schemes 
 of the government, then in successful operation. 
 
 The report protests against an extension of the credit 
 of the state. " That the state," says the report, " has 
 borrowed money for the construction of canals, is true, — 
 that it can again do it, the committee do not doubt ; but 
 that // has paid the money so borrowed, is not true." 
 
 The practice at that time had not been tolerated to 
 any extent, of loaning the credit of the state to corpora- 
 tions, or rather of borrowing money to lend to corpora- 
 tions. Had, since that time, all loans to private companies 
 been nvoided. and had the state adopted the doctrines put 
 forth by this report, and rigidly adhered to them up to the 
 present period, it is evident the public debt would long 
 since have been discharged, and the large surplus of canal 
 revenue, now annually more than three millions, might 
 
88 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 have been applied to the improvement and enlargement 
 of the grand canal, and for the construction of other ca- 
 nals. It is submitted to the calculating financier, whether, 
 if that course had been steadily pursued, at this moment 
 the Chenango Canal might not have been completed, the 
 Genesee Valley and Black River canals been as far ad- 
 vanced as they now are, and the Erie Canal in as good a 
 condition as it now is, without the state being indebted a 
 single dollar !* 
 
 * Since the above was written, we have seen the annual report of the 
 comptroller for 1848, from which we extract the following statement : 
 
 " If the recommendation of the canal board, in 1835, had been adhered 
 to, and the entire surplus had been used for the enlargement of the Erie 
 Canal, the following sums would have been applied to that object, to the 
 30th September last : 
 
 1837 $717,803 
 
 1838 841,888 
 
 1839 1,111,517 
 
 1840 1,060,000 
 
 1841 1,533,224 
 
 1842 1,177,771 
 
 1843 1,457,733 
 
 1844 1,802,400 
 
 1845 1,714,566 
 
 1846 2,202,861 
 
 1847 2,866,000 
 
 $16,478,763 
 " The sum actually expended on the enlargement, exclusive of interest 
 paid on money borrowed, is $12,989,851.76. If the policy of applying 
 the surplus tolls to the enlargement of the Erie Canal had been adhered to, 
 the work at the present time would have been much nearer completion 
 than it now is, and the debt of $10,122,000 for that object would not have 
 been incurred." 
 
 But previous to the year 1835, and subsequent to 1827, a debt of 
 $2,270,000 for constructing the Chenango Canal had been contracted. To 
 the sum of $16,478,763 which might have been applied to defray the ex- 
 pense of enlarging the canal if Mr. Wright's policy, indicated in 1827. had 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 89 
 
 It is a curious fact that the principles shadowed forth 
 in this rej)ort, which then were novel, and were repudi- 
 
 been adhered to, ought to be added all the interest which has been paid on 
 the debt contracted for makiug the Chenango Canal. 
 
 It \a no more than strict justice to the canal board of 1835, and to Mr. 
 Flagg, who, it is said, was the author of the able report to which we are 
 about to call the attention of the reader, to state, that a representation was 
 in 18.35 communicated to the assembly, emanating from a public meeting 
 held in the city of Utica, that measures ought to be taken to effect the 
 construction of a ship canal between Lake Ontario and the Hudson river, 
 and also a resolution by the common council of tlie city of New York, in 
 favor of such canal, and the construction of it by the state. 
 
 The proceedings of the meeting at Utica, and the resolution of the city 
 authorities of New York, were referred by the assembly to the canal board, 
 who, on the 2sth day of March, made a report, in which they show most 
 conclusively that the enlargement of the Erie Canal would be preferable 
 to the construction of a ship canal ; and they recommond that immediate 
 measures be taken by the legislature to effect such eulargcmont. In coa- 
 clusion the board say : — 
 
 " lu urging upon the consideration of the legislature the importance of au- 
 thorizing at the present session such au enlargement of the Erie Canal as is 
 conceived to be necessary to adapt it to the increasing trade of the country, 
 the canal board desire to have it distinctly understwjil, that they do not 
 recommend such an expenditure of money upon this work as will interfere 
 with the arrangements now in progress for accumulating a sum sufficient 
 to pay the Erie and Chnmpluin Canal dtbt, and for restoring the auction 
 and salt duties to the general fund. The net proceeds of tlie canal fund for 
 1835-G-7, will probably be sufGcieut to pay the canal debt, and meet the 
 disbursements on the contracts for doubling the locks. At the close of 
 1837, the salt duties will be restored to the general fund, if the proposed 
 amendment to the constitution should receive the sanction of the people. 
 After the period alluded to, the net proceeds of the canal tolls will be 
 sufficient to meet the disbursements necessary for improving and en- 
 larging the Erie Canal, without having recourse to new loans for that 
 purpose." — (See vol. iv. Executive Documents of 1835, No. 334.) 
 
 This report is signed by Wm. C. Bouck, S. Van Rensselaer, A. C. 
 Flagg, John A. Dix, Greene C. Bronson, William Campbell, and Michael 
 Hoffman. 
 
 Can any reasonable man doubt that if the policy shadowed forth in that 
 
 8* 
 
90 LIFE OF SILAS WIUGHT. 
 
 ated by a large and intelligent portion of the community, 
 are now substantially a part of the constitution of the 
 state. 
 
 In connection with this report, it may not be improper 
 to take notice of the celebrated report made by Mr. Sam- 
 uel B. Ruggles, chairman of the assembly's committee of 
 ways and means, in 1838,* a year in which the whigs ob- 
 tained a very strong majority in the state and in the as- 
 sembly. Although the report of Mr. Ruggles was made 
 eleven years after the one made by Mr. Wright, of which 
 we have just given an imperfect account, it in terms sev- 
 eral times refers to Mr. Wright's report, and purports, 
 and evidently was intended, to be an answer to it. 
 
 This report was made not long after the legislature 
 had determined to enlarge the Erie Canal, and construct 
 the Genesee Vallev and Black River canals. It is drawn 
 with great ability, and for eloquence, richness of imagery, 
 and elegance of style, exceeds any legislative document 
 which ever came to our notice. Mr. Rucro-les first exhib- 
 
 Co 
 
 its a view of the funds of the state, and the income which 
 may be anticipated from them. With respect to the net 
 avails which may be expected from the canals, he thinks 
 previous estimates have not been sufficiently liberal as to 
 the amount. He justly remarks that the income arising 
 from the canals has uniformly exceeded the most san- 
 guine anticipation of the projectors of those works. He 
 reminds the legislature that the comptroller, in 1821, esti- 
 mated the average net annual revenue from tolls, for ten 
 
 part of the report we have copied had been rigidly pursued, all the really 
 useful public works would have been as far advanced as they now are, 
 while at the same time the state would not have owed a single cent? 
 • See Assen;b!v Documents of 1838, Vol. 5, No. 242. 
 
LIFE OF S1LA3 WRIGHT. 91 
 
 years to come, at $150,000, and that the amount actually 
 received during that period exceeded ten iMillions of 
 dollars ! 
 
 The rej)ort stated that the Erie and Champlain canal 
 debt was, to all practical purposes, paid in 1836 ; that the 
 canals in that year yielded a net income of $1,107,871.30, 
 which was the interest at five per cent, on a capital of 
 8'2"2, 157,7 42. This, the report argued, was property which 
 the state had ac(|uired, and from which, after deducting the 
 debt contracted for making lateral canals, and two other 
 debts, (the Astor and the bank fund debt,) amounting 
 in all to )J4,13v2.756, there would be a balance remain- 
 ing of •$17.(5"2 4,986, — a caj)ital on the income from 
 which the state might base its calculations for future op- 
 erations. Mr. Ruggles then proceeds to recommend 
 immediate measures for enlarging the Erie Canal, which 
 he thought might and ought to be completed in five years 
 at an exjiense of fifteen millions of dollars. He asserts 
 that thirty millions may be borrowed, and the interest 
 regularly i»aid, and the principal reimbursed by means of 
 the canals themselves in twenty years ; and that forty mil- 
 lions may be borrowed, and the debt extinguished by the 
 same means in twenty-eight years. 
 
 If forty millions are borrowed, Mr. R. intimates that 
 one-half of that sum should be expended in constructing 
 two grand lines of railroads through the state, and the 
 residue in improving the Erie Canal, and in making new 
 canals. 
 
 Mr. Ruggles criticises with some severity the report 
 of Mr. Wright on the petition of David E. Evans, of 
 which we have heretofore given an account. The canal 
 commissioners had by their report estimated the net in- 
 come from the Erie Canal after its enlargement at three 
 
92 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 millions annually. In proving that the estimate of rev- 
 enue from the Erie Canal might be calculated upon at 
 least to the amount estimated by the commissioners, Mr. 
 Ruggles presents a graphic and bold sketch of those in- 
 land seas, the great western lakes, and of the fertile, exten- 
 sive, and magnificent states and territories which border 
 upon them — their inexhaustible resources, and the aston- 
 ishing rapidity with which they had increased in pop- 
 ulation and commerce. " They would," he said, " con- 
 tinue thus to increase by an increasing ratio. The 
 greater part of the produce of this rich and flourishing 
 country must find its way to market through the Erie 
 Canal, which would so swell the amount of tolls as would 
 enable the state to reduce the tolls from thirty to fifty per 
 cent., and still secure the estimated net income of three 
 millions annually." Mr. Ruggles appended to his report 
 a table exhibiting the amount of the state debt in each 
 year, for ten succeeding years, upon the plan that the 
 state should borrow four millions every year ; in which 
 case, of course, the whole sum borrowed by the state 
 would amount to forty millions. He also presented an- 
 other table, showing that if the money could be borrowed 
 at an interest of five per cent., a sinking fund, to be com- 
 posed of the surplus canal revenue, might be established, 
 which would extinguish the forty million debt by the year 
 1865. 
 
 Before concluding the account of this report, which 
 greatly excited the attention of the people of this state 
 and nation, and indeed of Europe, we will add, in 
 this place, though ten years in advance of the period of 
 which we are now treating, that the assembly of 1838, 
 elected under the influence of the tornado which burst 
 forth in the fall of 1837, contained a very large ma- 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 93 
 
 jority of whigs, the senate being at the same time strongly 
 democratic. 
 
 The committee of the assembly on canals and internal 
 improvements, of which G. W. Patterson, afterwards 
 speaker, was chairman, reported so far in accordance 
 with the views of Mr. Rugglcs, as to recommend the 
 immediate commencement of the enlargement of the 
 canal, and that a loan of one million of dollars be au- 
 thorized for the ensuing year ; and a bill for that purpose 
 was intnxluced and passed the assembly. When, how- 
 ever, it came into the senate, it was there amended by 
 striking out one and inserting /oMr millions of dollars, 
 and in this form it passed both houses. We have before 
 stated, that in 1835, when the law for the enlargement 
 of the canal was passed, the canal board recommended 
 that the sur])Ius tolls only, which might be received from 
 the canals, should be applied to defray the expense of the 
 undertaking, and that no new debt should be contracted 
 on that account ; but in passing the law recommended by 
 the canal board, the legislature reduced the sum for 
 widening the canal, by requiring that $300,000 of the 
 canal revenue should be annually applied for the current 
 expenses of the government. 
 
 Without assuming to judge of the merits of the conflict- 
 ing systems exhibited by the report of Mr. Wright in 1827, 
 and that of Mr. Iluggles in 1838, as being a question which 
 more appropriately falls within the province of the states- 
 man, than one which pertains to the more humble duties 
 of the historian, who discharges his obligation to the pub- 
 lic by the simple narration of facts only, we may be per- 
 mitted to remark, that in our view neither of -the parties 
 to this controversy was free from error. It seems to us 
 that Mr. Wright did not perceive and fully appreciate the 
 
94 LIFE OF SILAS WlilGHT. 
 
 resources of the state ; that his apprehensions of its in- 
 capacity to make public improvements and pay for them, 
 were too gloomy and desponding ; and it is certain that in 
 1827, he, in common with all other intelligent men, was 
 greatly mistaken in the estimate he formed in relation to 
 the amount of revenue which might be received, and 
 which, in fact, subsequently was realized from the ca- 
 nals. 
 
 On the other hand, Mr. Ruggles, probably too much 
 controlled by an ardent but brilliant imagination, based 
 his calculation upon an assumed fact which experience 
 very soon proved erroneous ; which was, that forty 
 millions of dollars might be borrowed in ten annual in- 
 stalments, at an interest of five per cent. Mr. Ruggles 
 himself in his report informs us that the western states 
 bordering on the great lakes, at the moment when he 
 drew his report, had undertaken works of internal im- 
 provement which would cost more than forty-eight mil- 
 lions of dollars, every dollar of which, it was well known, 
 must be raised by a loan, that is to say, by a sale of stocks 
 to be created by those states. Was it then reasonable to 
 expect, that when the stock market should be thus flooded, 
 the state of New York could, for ten years in succession, 
 borrow four millions of dollars annually at an interest of 
 five per cent. ? Experience soon proved how fallacious 
 this expectation was, if indeed it ever existed. The 
 price of stocks soon became sadly depressed in market, 
 and even six per cent, stocks could not be converted 
 into cash without a great and ruinous sacrifice. This 
 single error was of itself sufficient to demolish, and did 
 in fact demolish, the splendid fabric erected by the tal- 
 ented but highly imaginative Mr. Ruggles. 
 
 The bill from the assembly to construct the Chenango 
 
LIFE OF 8ILA3 WRIGHT. 95 
 
 Canal was rejected in the senate by a vote of fourteen to 
 ten. 
 
 On the Gth of Februar>^ Mr. Van Buren was re-elected 
 senator of the United States. A feeble effort was made 
 by a few of the Adams men, in conjunction with a ma- 
 jority of the Clintonian members, to defeat him, and for that 
 pur|)ose the name of Gen. Stephen Van Rensselaer was 
 used ; but Mr. Van Buren was supported with great ar- 
 dor by his old friends, among whom Mr. Wright was one 
 of tfie most prominent, and also by several of the most 
 inlluential Clintonians. He was elected by a large ma- 
 jority. It was remarked, and we believe truly, before this 
 election, by, as we think, some of Mr. Van Buren's 
 friends, that no man was authorized to say he would sup- 
 port Gen. Jackson for the next president, or even that he 
 would ojipo.se the re-election of Mr. Adams. 
 
 The re-election of ]Mr. Van Buren was particularly 
 agreeable to Mr. Wright, and the more so as he was a 
 member elect of the next congress. We may perhaps as 
 well mention here as anywhere else, that from the time 
 Mr. W^right came into public life until his death, he and 
 Mr. Van Buren were cordial personal and political friends, 
 and we are not aware of any one instance in which they 
 differed in opinion. It may be presumed that Mr. Wright, 
 from Mr. Van Buren's great experience in public hfe, and 
 extensive accjuaintance throughout the Union, as well as 
 from his respect for the judgment of that gentleman, gener- 
 ally deferred to his opinion, and was guided by it ; but we 
 personally know that Mr. Van Buren entertained the highest 
 respect for the capacity and judgment of Mr. Wright, and 
 tiie case must have been a clear one in the view of the 
 former which would have induced him to adopt a meas- 
 ure in opposition to the advice of the latter 
 
96 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 On the 4th of March, 1827, Mr. Wright resigned his 
 seat in the senate of New York. The loss of so able a 
 member was deeply felt by the people of the state, and 
 more especially by the body of which he had been so dis- 
 tinguished a member. 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 97 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Mr. Wright takes his seat as a Member of the Twentieth Congress — 
 Presidential Election and the Tariff Question— Tariff of 1816— Tariff 
 Convention at Harrisburg — The Southern Scheme of conducting the 
 Election — Committee on Manufactures — Mr. Wright a Member of it — 
 His Report — Debate thereon in the House of Representatives — Mr. 
 Wright attends the .State Convention at Herkimer as a Delegate — 
 He is Dominated, and again elected to Congress. 
 
 Mr. Wright having been transferred to a broader and 
 more extended theatre of political action, it now becomes 
 our duty to follow him to the representative hall of the 
 twentieth congress. 
 
 The presidential election was to take place in the au- 
 tumn succeeding the session of congress in which Mr. 
 Wright first took his seat as a member of the House of 
 Representatives. The great question on which it was 
 supposed that election would turn was, whether a ma- 
 jority of the people of the United States were in 
 favor of a tariff for the protection of American indus- 
 try ; or rather, at that day the question was, whether 
 they were for increasing the protective duties then es- 
 tablished by law. 
 
 The first tariff of duties levied expressly for the pur- 
 pose of diminishing the importation of foreign manufac- 
 tured goods, was that of 1816, which was adopted imme- 
 diately after the termination of the last war with Great 
 Britain. By that tariff a small increase of ad valorem 
 duties was laid upon imported woollen cloths, upon iron, 
 
 9 
 
98 LIPE OP SILAS WRIGHT*. 
 
 hemp, &c., and a specific duty was directed to be levied 
 on coarse cotton fabrics, imported from beyond the Cape 
 of Good Hope. 
 
 For several years before that time vast quantities of 
 cheap cotton cloths were imported from that quarter ; and, 
 as few if any articles produced in America found a mar- 
 ket beyond the Cape of Good Hope, the purchase and 
 importation of these coarse cotton cloths caused a large 
 specie balance against this country. The high specific 
 duty which the act required should be collected from 
 these fabrics, w^as intended to destroy that branch of 
 trade. It had the effect intended ; and in doing so, it 
 enabled many of our cotton factories, which had grown 
 up during the British war, to continue their operations 
 after the peace. 
 
 The tariff' bill of 1816 was reported by Mr. Newton, of 
 Virginia, chairman of the committee on manufactures, 
 and was supported by him, together with a large part of 
 the southern representation, avowedly for the purpose of 
 protecting American industry, and fostering American 
 manufactures. 
 
 Mr. Forsyth and Mr. Cuthbert, of Georgia, Gov. Rob- 
 inson, of Louisiana, and Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Lowndes, 
 (one of the ablest members of congress,) advocated the bill 
 expressly on the ground o^ protection. Without their aid, 
 and the powerful support of Henry Clay, it could not have 
 passed, for those members representing the commercial 
 interest of New England, in the front rank of whom 
 stood Daniel Webster, were opposed to it.* The op- 
 position of the eastern members was caused by the belief 
 
 * AH this may be seen, as well as the speeches delivered on that occa- 
 sion, by an examination of the files of Niles' Register. 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 99 
 
 that protective duties would injure the ship-owner and 
 importer, and eventually destroy the ship-building and 
 importing business. Times changed, and men changed 
 with the times. The South became opposed to all pro- 
 tective duties, and the middle, eastern, and northwestern 
 states became advocates of " protection for the sake of pro- 
 tection ;" and in 1824, (we believe, for we Avrite from 
 memory,) a new tariff bill was passed, by which the du- 
 ties on a variety of imported articles were considerably 
 raised. Still the manufacturing companies, and the pro- 
 ducers of iron, hemp, &c., and perhaps we may say, the 
 people of the grain-growing states generally, were not 
 satisfied with the protection atTorded even by the tariff 
 of 1824, and therefore demanded further governmental 
 aid. With a view of furthering this object, a convention 
 of the friends of protection was called at Harrisburg, in 
 Pennsylvania. This convention met on the 30th of Ju- 
 ly, 1827, The avowed object of the meeting was to col- 
 lect and concentrate facts, and to acjree on a tariff of du- 
 '.ies which should be equal in its benefits and its burdens, 
 IS far as equality could be attained, in all parts of the 
 Union, and especially in those parts of it which demand- 
 ed protection. The convention was composed of men 
 of high character for talents and private and public vir- 
 tues. Undoubtedly a large majority of them were sup- 
 porters of the administration. Mr. Adams had declared 
 oimself in favor of protection, and Mr. Clay, its great- 
 est and most efficient champion, was at the head of 
 Sis cabinet. Rut the members of the convention were 
 not all of them supporters of Mr. Adams. Among those 
 whp constituted that bodv, there were manv cfenflemen 
 of high standing and character, who were openly and de- 
 cidedly for Gen, Jackson The great object of the con- 
 
100 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGIIT- 
 
 vention was to reconcile, if possible, the conflicting inter- 
 ests of the friends of protection. It was a difficult matter 
 to adjust those conflicting interests. Massachusetts, for 
 instance, wished to raise the duty on imported cotton and 
 woollen cloths, and at the same time desired to obtain 
 her hemp and her molasses where she could buy cheap- 
 est, whether the one article was grown in Russia or Ken- 
 tucky, or the other was purchased in the West Indies or 
 Louisiana. On the other hand, it was quite immaterial 
 to Louisiana whether she purchased her cotton and wool- 
 len cloths at Waltham, in Massachusetts, or at Manches- 
 ter, in England, provided she could obtain them as cheap 
 at one place as the other. The grower of wool in the 
 state of New York insisted, that while the manufacturer 
 of woollen cloth was protected from foreigii competition, 
 he also should be protected from the competition of the 
 grower of coarse wool in Smyrna, and the producer of the 
 fine Saxon wool in Europe. The convention at Harris- 
 burg, however, in a spirit of mutual compromise, agreed 
 upon a tarifl" of duties which would be satisfactory to 
 them, and which, in their opinion, ought to quiet the 
 controversy between the conflicting interests to which 
 we have alluded. 
 
 Before the twentieth congi-ess met, it was pretty well 
 ascertained that the people of the southern and planting 
 states would, in a solid phalanx, oppose the re-election 
 of Mr. Adams.* Hence his opponents in the grain- 
 growing states rightly concluded that his defpat would 
 be certain if any considerable division could be produced 
 in those states ; and the conflicting interests among them 
 in relation to a tariff" was looked to as the most probable 
 
 * We do not call Delaware and Maryland southern states. 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 101 
 
 means of eflecting that division. Gen. Jackson, in a re- 
 sponse to an in([uiry whether he was in favor of a tariff, 
 as we have .stated in a preceding volume, declared him- 
 self for a "judicious" taritl; but whether he intended by 
 a judicious tarift* a tariff for protection or revenue, no 
 one could tell. At the North and West it was atlirmed 
 that he meant a tariff for protection ; at the South it was 
 asserted, with equal confidence, that no tariff could be 
 judicious unless it was one for revenue only, and there- 
 fore that the general must have intended such a tariff. 
 The answer of Gen. Jackson was probably drawn by 
 some wily politician, for it does not accord with the 
 frankness of a soldier, nor especially with the honest and 
 /earless inde}>endence of Andrew Jackson. 
 
 New York at this time was nearly unanimous in favor 
 of the protective |>olicy. Mr. Wright avowed himself 
 in favor of that jMilicy, although several years alterwards 
 he changed his opinion, as he frankly and publicly de- 
 clared. In support of protection, Mr. Wright was joined 
 and sustained by all his colleagues, except Mr. Cambrel- 
 ing and Mr. \'erplanck from the city of New York. The 
 first struggle in the house was of course that which arose 
 out of the election of speaker. John W. Taylor, from 
 this state, had been the s|)eaker of the house of represen- 
 tatives of the last congress ; he was a devoted friend of 
 the atlminislration and a protective tariff, and was the 
 administration candidate : Mr. Stevenson, of Virginia, 
 who was <»pi)osed Ixtth to the administration and protec- 
 tion, was the candidate in opposition. On balloting, Mr. 
 Taylor received ninety-four, and Mr. Stevenson one hun- 
 dred and four votes, who was thereupon declared elected. 
 Mr. Wright, with seventeen of his colleagues, all of course 
 Jackson men, voted for Mr. Stevenson. 
 
 9* 
 
102 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 As party men they were undoubtedly excusable, if not 
 justifiable, in voting for Mr. Stevenson, but some diffi- 
 culties in giving this vote must have presented themselves 
 to the mind of Mr. Wright. Mr. Taylor was a New 
 Yorker, and the power wielded by the speaker in the na- 
 tional legislature, for the time being, gives a local influ- 
 ence to the state from which he comes, which one would 
 suppose a citizen of New York would surrender or give 
 away with great reluctance. Again, it was known that 
 the great question of the session was that of the tarifi', 
 and it was also known that much might be done to retard 
 and embarrass, or to forward any given measure, by the 
 organization of committees. Mr. Wright, and those of 
 his colleagues who voted with him on the question of 
 speaker, well knew that Mr. Taylor was for protection, 
 (for that reason alone even the Adams men from Virginia 
 refused to vote for him,) and that Mr. Stevenson was 
 opposed to all protection. Mr. Wright, however, must 
 have considered the choice between ]Mr. Taylor and Mr. 
 Stevenson as a choice between a lesser and a greater 
 evil, and that the consequences of electing Mr. Taylor, 
 in all their bearings, would be more injurious to the na- 
 tion than those which would be hkely to result from the 
 election of Mr. Stevenson. The Virginia Adams men 
 did not so reason. 
 
 In selecting the committees, the speaker appointed 
 Mr. Mallory, of Vermont, a National Republican, chair- 
 man of the committee on manufactures. This he 
 could not, with any regard to decency, avoid doing, 
 because Mr. Mallory was conceded to be a man of re- 
 spectable talents, of great candor and industry, and had 
 in the preceding congress been chairman of that com- 
 mittee ; but the speaker selected a majority of Jack- 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 103 
 
 son men for his colleagues. Mr. Wright was placed on 
 that committee, next in order to Mr. Mallory. As Mr. 
 Wright was a new member, and therefore little known 
 at Washington, and probably quite personally unknown 
 to Mr. Stevenson, his selection, we have no doubt, was 
 made under the advisement of Mr. Van Buren. That 
 sagacious politician knew men, we were going to say, 
 better than any other man, and he therefore knew that 
 ii(» Jackson man from the north would be likely to per- 
 form no efficient a part on that important committee as 
 Mr. WriL'ht. 
 
 Tho southern ineml>ers are generally better politicians 
 than the northern ; one reason for which mav be. that the 
 members from the South are not changed so frequently 
 as are the members from the northern and middle states. 
 On all great questions in which the southern section, or 
 the jilanting states, are supposed to have an interest 
 adverse to that of the grain-growing states, their poli- 
 cy is to divide the votes of members from the latter 
 states, while they keep their own ranks unbroken. We 
 do not complain of this policy on their part; in common 
 courtesy we are bound to believe that they think the 
 measures which they advocate are right, and that this is 
 a fair means of accomjilishing their ends in a legislative 
 body : at the same time it apjDcars to us that this policy 
 of the j'lanting states should admonish the representatives 
 from the grain-growing states to make great efforts and 
 some sacrifices in order to produce unity of action. 
 
 Mr. Wright and a majority of the committee on man- 
 ufactures were not willing, without a further examination, 
 to adopt the t:iri(T recommended by the Harrisburg con- 
 vention. He therefore, in pursuance of the direction of 
 that majority, offered to the house a resolution to authorize 
 
iOl LIFE OF SILAS WEIGHT, 
 
 the committee to send for persons and papers. This prop- 
 osition seemed reasonable, for it was to be presumed that 
 the Harrisburg convention had presented one side of the 
 case only ; and on a question so vitally important, it was 
 deemed proper that the committee should possess them- 
 selves of the views of those who opposed as well as of 
 those who advocated protection. The course proposed 
 by Mr. Wright had also the sanction of many prece- 
 dents in the proceedings of the British house of com- 
 mons. The resolution, however, was opposed with great 
 zeal by many of the friends of a protective tariff, princi- 
 pally on the ground that its adoption would produce a 
 great and unnecessary delay. But Mr. Wright's resolu- 
 tion was adopted by a majority of the house. 
 
 After the committee had obtained all the information 
 within their power, they proceeded to deliberate upon the 
 report they were to make, when it was soon ascertained 
 that there was a difference of opinion among its mem- 
 bers. Mr. Mallory was for adopting substantially the 
 project of the Harrisburg convention ; but Mr. Wright 
 was for reporting a bill materially varying from it, and 
 with him a majority of the committee agreed. Mr. 
 Wright was in favor of reducing the duty on imported 
 woollen cloths, and for raising the duty on wool. Mr. 
 Mallory contended that the effect of such a provision 
 would be to render it impossible to work the woollen fac- 
 tories without loss ; that in the event of their suspension, 
 the domestic market for wool would be destroyed ; that, 
 on the contrary, the encouragement of the manufacturing 
 of woollens would increase the demand for wool, and of 
 course increase its price in market ; and that therefore 
 the scheme advocated by Mr. Wright would in the end 
 be fatally injurious to the wool-grower himself Mr. 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 105 
 
 Wright also was in favor of increasing the duty on hemp, 
 flax, iron, and molasses. Upon his plan the duty on 
 molasses was to be considerably raised ; and the right of 
 drawback on molasses which should be distilled into spir- 
 its by the New England people, and in that form export- 
 ed, was not to be permitted. As a majority of the 
 committee agreed with Mr. Wright, his plan was adopted, 
 and a bill drawn in accordance with it was by him re- 
 ported to the house on the 31st day of January, together 
 with a report setting forth the reasons upon which the 
 bill was foi^^ided. 
 
 On the 28th day of January, the following resolutions 
 were offered in the assembly of New York, and were in 
 that house, and by the senate, almost unanimously 
 aduj)ted : 
 
 '■ Resolved, (if the senate concur therein,) That the 
 senators of this state in the congress of the United States, 
 be, and they are hereby instructed, and the representa- 
 tives of this state are requested, to make every proper 
 exertion to effect such a revision of the tariff as will af- 
 ford a sufficient protection to the growers of wool, hemp, 
 and flax, and the manufacturers of iron, woollens, and every 
 other article, so far as the same may be connected with 
 the interests of manufactures, agriculture, and com- 
 merce. 
 
 " Resolved, (as the sense of this legislature,) That the 
 provisions of the woollens bill which passed the house of 
 representatives, at the last session of congress, whatever 
 advantages they may have promised the manufacturer of 
 woollens, did not afford adequate encouragement to the 
 agriculturist and growers of wool." 
 
 From the proximity of the time of the passage of these 
 resolutions by the New York legislature with the time of 
 
106 LIFE OF SILAS WfilGHT. 
 
 the delivery of his report by Mr. Wright to the house of 
 representatives, and from a comparison of the report 
 with the tenor of the resolutions, one is naturally in- 
 clined to conclude that the introduction and substance 
 of the resolutions must have been suggested by some 
 person at Washington, who was well acquainted with the 
 action of the committee. 
 
 When the bill came into the house, Mr. Mallory being 
 against some of its provisions, the defence of the report 
 of the committee devolved on Mr. Wright. Here he had 
 to encounter an array of talent rarely to be found, even 
 in that house, — the sagacious and subtle John Davis and 
 Isaac C. Bates, the cool and calculating John W. Taylor, 
 the witty and satirical Dudley Marvin, the accomplished 
 and classical Daniel D. Barnard, the able and unyielding 
 Elisha Whittlesey, and that powerful and most eloquent 
 extemporary parliamentary orator, Henry R. Storrs. But 
 although Mr. Wright had scarcely become familiar with 
 the localities of the hall of the house of representatives, 
 he sustained himself in a manner so triumphantly as as- 
 tonished his friends as well as his opponents.* He had, 
 as was always his practice on a question which it was his 
 duty to discuss, made himself well acquainted with his 
 subject. He was at ease and at home in every phase 
 and attitude of his case, and his speech on that occasion, 
 which was very elaborate, displayed an ingenuity, skill, 
 and tact as a parliamentary orator, which elicited univer- 
 sal admiration. 
 
 Subsequent to the delivery of this great and leading 
 speech, in the progress of the debate, he was frequently 
 
 * One evidence of a gfreat native mind is, that it always displays a vig- 
 or and a power in proportion to the emergency which demands its action. 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 107 
 
 called on to reply to his opponents. On one of these oc- 
 casions, in replying to Mr. Mallory and Mr. Barnard, he 
 treated, in a manner with him unusually caustic, some 
 remarks which had I'allen I'rom the gentleman last named. 
 He said, — 
 
 " But, Mr. Chairman, are we to enter upon this doc- 
 trine of monopoly ? Am I to agree, that this is the only 
 and correct stopping-point in the protective system ? I 
 had su[)posed, that when I put the American manufac- 
 turer u[)on a par with the foreigner, and not only so, but 
 left against the foreigner the whole of the expense and 
 charges of bringing his goods to our markets, I had 
 granted a fair protection to our manufacturer, but not 
 that I had thereby granted to him a monopoly. Such 
 protection, and more, is furnished by the bill as reported 
 by the committee. But, sir. it is not monopoly ; and 
 hence denunciations against that bill. Hence, too, I 
 supjwse, the arguments of the gentleman from Vermont 
 (Mr. Mallory) have been heard against the proposition 
 of the meml3er from Peimsylvania, (^Ir. Buchanan,) be- 
 cause that proposition will not effect the desired mo- 
 nopoly. 
 
 " I must here be permitted, Mr. Chairman, to correct 
 a misrepresentation of one of my own arguments used 
 ujx)n a former occasion. I was represented by my col- 
 league (Mr. Barnard) as having urged the protection of 
 the native wool of this country, in preference to, if not 
 to the exclusion of, other kinds and qualities of wool. 
 Sir, I used no such arsniment. The bill makes no such 
 provision ; nor has any such distinction been suggested 
 by me. But the terms and language of my colleague, in 
 makinfj^his representation, deserve a moment's notice. 
 After he had given this turn to my argument, he niform- 
 
108 LIFE OF SILAS WRiiiHT. 
 
 ed the house that I was a lawyer ; and then appealed to 
 me in that character — and in a strain of eloquence, to 
 which he was aided by a draft upon the poets — to inform 
 him how far removed from the blood of the merino a 
 sheep must be, to entitle it to protection upon my princi- 
 ples. When at home, sir, I bear the appellation of a law- 
 yer ; and whether my colleague intended to apply it to 
 me here reproachfully, or not, I know not ; but I have 
 not considered a place in that respectable profession dis- 
 graceful. I have already said that my colleague misrep- 
 resented my argument. He equally mistook my infor- 
 mation. I will assure that honorable gentleman, that I 
 have never inquired into the degrees of blood of sheep or 
 men. No part of my education has led me to these in- 
 quiries. No branch of the profession of the law, which I 
 have studied, whatever may have been the fact with my 
 honorable colleague, has furnished me with the informa- 
 tion he asks. None of my ambition is drawn from con- 
 siderations of blood, and it therefore never has been any 
 part of my business to trace the blood of men or beasts. 
 It never shall be any part of my business, sir, until that 
 system of monopoly is established in this country which 
 my colleague so ardently wishes, and so loudly and so 
 boldly calls for from this committee. When that time 
 shall arrive, his blood may rate him among the monopo- 
 lists. Then too, sir, the degrees of blood, of my kindred, 
 of my friends, may determine whether they are to labor 
 in the factories, or to be ranked among the monopolists ; 
 and then, if my honorable colleague will make this appeal 
 to me, as to the degrees of blood of these relatives and 
 these friends, it shall be my duty carefully and accurately 
 and distinctly to answer him." ^ 
 
 When the question was taken in the house between 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WUKJIIT. 109 
 
 the bill as reported by Mr. Wright and the plan of Mr. 
 Mallory. which, as before observed, was substantially 
 that of the Harrisburg convention, one hundred and fif- 
 teen members voted for the bill, and eighty voted for Mr. 
 Mallory 's amendment. We have not before us the ayes 
 and noes, but we think we are not mistaken when we 
 say, that every member south of the Potomac river voted 
 for Mr. Wright's bill in preference to Mr. Mallory 's 
 amendment. Why did they so vote ? The bill, though 
 the duties were so high on some articles as would, it was 
 believed, wholly exclude their importation from abroad, 
 bore with relentless and almost ruinous severity on New- 
 England. The high duty on coarse Smyrna wool, which 
 was used in the manufacturing of negro cloths, would, it 
 was apprehended, exclude its importation, and deprive 
 the woollen factories of that lucrative branch of their bu- 
 siness ; the price of hemp, iron, and cordage, it was fear- 
 ed, would be so enhanced as to greatly check the business 
 of ship-building ; and the duty on molasses, an article for 
 the consumption of which the Yankee nation have long 
 been celebrated, and great quantities of which were by 
 the eastern people distilled into a species of spirit called 
 New England rum, and exjwrted, w'as regarded, and per- 
 haps justly so, as peculiarly oppressiv^e to the eastern sec- 
 tion of the Union. The South wished to defeat any bill 
 for protection, and were determined in a body to vote 
 against the final passage of any bill which favored the 
 protective policy. If, therefore, the bill reported by the 
 committee on manufactures could be made so unpalatable 
 to the members from New England as to induce them to 
 vote against it, their vote, together with the united south- 
 ern vote, would cause its rejection. The bill reported by 
 the committee was eventuallv considerablv modified, on 
 
 10 
 
110 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGIHT. 
 
 the motion of Dr. Sutherland of Pennsylvania, by the 
 consent of Mr. Wright, reducing the duty on wool, and 
 increasing it on manufactured woollens, and in that shape 
 it passed the house, all the southern members voting 
 against it, except, perhaps, two or three from the state 
 of Louisiana. 
 
 The bill, when it came into the senate, through the ef- 
 forts of Mr. Webster was amended so as to render it less 
 offensive to the people of New England. The house 
 eventually concurred in the senate's amendments, and 
 the bill became a law. This bill has been denominated 
 a " bill of abominations." 
 
 A tariff for protection of American growers, producers, 
 and manufacturers is one thing, and a tariff for revenue 
 is another. In the one case revenue is the object and 
 protection the incident; in the other, protection is the ob- 
 ject and revenue the incident. The bill in question was 
 avowedly intended for protection, but as a law for pro- 
 tection it was not, in our judgment, much misnamed by 
 calling it a " bill of abominations," because the protec- 
 tion was unequal and unjust to those sections of the coun- 
 try and to some of those interests it professed to protect. 
 
 Impost duties iox protection are now repudiated. Even 
 Mr. Clay, the great champion of a tariff for the encour- 
 agement of American industry, has declared that he will 
 no longer sustain a tariff for protection " for the sake of 
 protection." 
 
 A tariff for revenue alone, though it may afford some 
 incidental protection to the manufacturer, is in fact a tax 
 paid by the consumer without regard to his capital or his 
 income. Nevertheless, in this way some thirty millions 
 of dollars are annually raised. If the protective system 
 is to be, as in fact it is abandoned, when the gross injus- 
 
UFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. Ill 
 
 tice ol* taxing the consumer without regard to his means is 
 considered, and when the amount actually paid by the con- 
 sumer, charged in the shape of profits, on the amount of 
 duty advanced by the importer, the jobber, and the re- 
 tailer, is estimated and compared with the actual amount 
 which reaches the treasury, (probably not more than one 
 half of the sum paid by the consumer,) it may well be 
 doubted whether the incidental protection which a tariff 
 for revenue affords to the producer, grower, and manu- 
 facturer is not purchased too dearly, and whether it will 
 not be better, as it certainly is more just and equal, to 
 support the general government as the state governments 
 are su[)portcd, by direct taxation. But these are spec- 
 ulations foreign to the object of this work. 
 
 No other measures of importance engaged the atten- 
 tion of Mr. Wright during this session. The bill for the 
 relief of the revolutionarv officers and soldiers, which 
 passed in May of this year, received his vote and cordial 
 support. During the recess he attended the state con- 
 vention at Herkimer, as a delegate from St. Lawrence, 
 and successfully supported the nomination of Martin Van 
 liuren for governor and that of E. T. Throop for lieu- 
 tenant-governor. 
 
 Mr. Wright was nominated for re-election from his 
 district for congress. The election was sharply contested. 
 At that time antimasonry was exceedingly rife in the state, 
 and the antimasons and Adams men united in his district, 
 which, it will be remembered, was a double district. This 
 produced a very clo.se election : Mr. Wright's colleague 
 was beaten, but a small majority of votes was given to 
 Mr. W., although the certificate of election was given to 
 his opponent, because the word "junior" was omitted on 
 Si^me of the tickets deposited for him, and because an 
 
ir2 LIFE OF SILAi WRIGHT. 
 
 alleged informality liad been connnitted by the returning 
 officers of one of the towns. 
 
 On the 4th of December, 1828, Mr. Wright resumed 
 his seat in congress. An attempt was made to repeal 
 the tariff law passed at the last session, but the move- 
 ment was resisted bv ]Mr. Wright, and failed. — a verv 
 large majority voting against it. 
 
 It affords us pleasure to be able to state, that during the 
 short period that ^Ir. Wright sat as a member in this ses- 
 sion, two resolutions were adopted providing for the ap- 
 pointment of a committee to inquire into the condition of 
 the slave-trade as it existed in the District of Columbia,, and 
 the laws in relation thereto, and to consider and report 
 upon the propriety and expediency of the abolition of 
 slaver}' in that district, and that ^Ir. Wright voted for 
 both resolutions, although they were opposed by most of 
 the southern members. 
 
 jMr. Van Buren having been elected governor, he re- 
 signed his seat in the senate of the United States, and it 
 became the duty of the legislature, which met in Janua- 
 ry, 1829, to supply the vacancy. At a caucus to nom- 
 inate a successor, Mr. Wright, though not a candidate, 
 and without his knowledge, was voted for bv several of 
 the members, — a fact which shows the great respect en- 
 tertained for him bv his former associates. 
 
Lll£. or dILAS WEIGHT. 113 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Mr. Wright is appointed Comptroller of the State — The Importance of 
 that OfBre and its hig^h Responsibilities — The Chenango and other pro- 
 jected Canals — Mr. Wright's Report in lb30 — General Fund— Mr. 
 Wright attends the State Couveution and successfully advocates the 
 Nomination of Mr. Throop for Governor, who is elected — Mr. Wright 
 elected Senator of the United States in the winter of 183.3. 
 
 During the session of the New York legislature in the 
 winter of 1829, and while ^Nlr. Wright was engaged in 
 the performance of his duties as a member of congress at 
 Washington, he was appointed comptroller, to supply the 
 vacancy occasioned by the appointment of the former 
 comptroller, William L. Marcy, to the office of judge of 
 the Supreme Court. This appointment, so far as we know, 
 or have reason to believe, was conferred on Mr. Wright 
 without his solicitation. The multifarious and important 
 duties, and the high responsibilities which a succession of 
 statutes have devolved on the comptroller, are so well 
 described by an able writer in the Albany Argus in one 
 of the numbers of that paper published in the year 1846, 
 that we can in no way so w'ell express our own views on 
 the subject as by transcribing his remarks. 
 
 ■ There is at this day," says the learned correspondent 
 of the Argu.s, " no officer of the state whose duties and 
 powers are so diversified, so extensive, and so complicated, 
 as those of the comptroller; nor is there any who is 
 placed in a more commanding position for exercising a 
 political influence. From a simple auditor of accounts, 
 and a watch upon the treasury, he has sprung up into an 
 
 10* 
 
114 LIFE OP SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 officer of the first eminence in the administration ; sup- 
 planting, by degrees, some departments wliich were once 
 in equal if not higher regai'd, as auxiUaries and advisers of 
 the executive pow er. He is the one-man of the govern- 
 ment. He is not simply an officer, but a bundle of offi- 
 cers. There is hardly a branch of administration ot" 
 which he is not a prominent member ; so prominent, in 
 some cases, that the affiiirs of that branch cannot be con- 
 ducted without his actual presence, although personally 
 he may be a minority of those having it in charge. He 
 is the chief of the finances ; the superintendent of banks ; 
 and the virtual quorum of the commissioners of the canal 
 fund, with all the power which such a position gives 
 him in the canal board. Wliile other state departments 
 have no more than maintained their original sphere and 
 authority, or have suffered material diminution, particu- 
 larly of influence, the office of comptroller has been a 
 favorite of the legislature, and the chief object of its con- 
 fidence, intrusted with high if not extraordinary -powers 
 of crovernment. An examination of the statutes will 
 show that eveiy year adds to its duties, until they have 
 become, by continual aggregation, a complicated mass, 
 beyond the power of performance by any one man. and 
 almost bevond the reach of his thorough and intelligent 
 supervision. 
 
 " For twenty years after the adoption of the first con- 
 stitution, the treasurer w-as the principal financial officer. 
 It became obvious that he needed a check, not more for 
 the prevention of frauds than for the detection of errors. 
 The co-operation of two officers, and a double set of ac- 
 counts, constituted a dev'ce of great wisdom for the pub- 
 lic security ; and its practical working has been so perfect, 
 that peculations and frauds in respect of the public funds 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 1]5 
 
 confided to the treasury are unheard of. They are, in 
 fact, impossible, without presuming that rare case of prof- 
 ligacy, when two high officers of state combine, by mu- 
 tual overtures of corruption, to violate their oaths and 
 their coihsciences, — a result unknown in the history of our 
 state government. 
 
 " It is of little moment that the comptroller, and not 
 the treasurer, is now by law the chief of the finances ; 
 but if the treasurer have duties enough to occupy his 
 time and capacity, it would seem that the parallel duties 
 of the comptroller should of them.selves be a sufficient 
 employment and trust, without the vast additional burden 
 of labor and responsibility which is otherwise cast upon 
 him. To f«»rm an arlequate idea of the mass of dutv he 
 has in charge, it is necessary not only to survey the sum- 
 mary contained in the revi<?ed code of our laws, but to 
 trace out the statutes from year to year ; to review the 
 reports of his office ; and to follow him and his numer- 
 ous assistants in the actual discharge of their various 
 labors in the financial, banking, and tax bureaux of his 
 department. But it is inconsistent with the designed 
 brevity of these papers to enter into the details which 
 alone can convey a suitable notion of the magnitude and 
 res|K)nsibility of his trust and influence. As the depart- 
 ment is now organized, it is overgrown and cumbersome; 
 and to perform with thorough intelligence and conscien- 
 tiousness, without error or delay, all its requisite offices 
 of supervision and of action, requires the sight of Argus 
 with his hundred eyes, and the activity of Briareus with 
 his hundred hands." 
 
 A higher evidence of respect for Mr. Wright, and 
 confidence in his ability, sagacity, and integrity, could 
 not liave teen given, than was exhibited by this appoint- 
 
116 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 inent, — a respect and confidence which had been created 
 during the short period he had been in pubhc hie, which 
 was then but five years. 
 
 Here, then, was a man, brought up in one of the coun- 
 try towns of Vermont, whence he had migrated to a se- 
 cluded village in a county bordering on the province of 
 Canada, placed at the head of the compUcated financial 
 concerns of the state of New York, a state which, we 
 will venture to assert, requires more skill to conduct ju- 
 diciously its moneyed and various fiscal operations than 
 some of the kingdoms of Europe. But Mr. Wright 
 proved himself to be fully competent to discharge those 
 high and important duties. 
 
 As a member of the canal board, it was the duty of the 
 comptroller to advise and give his opinion upon the mer- 
 its of all projected canals ; and as the financial officer of 
 the state, it was also his duty to inform the legislature of 
 the condition of the funds of the state, and its capacity 
 of increasing its expenses and paying its debts. The ap- 
 pUcation for new^ canals through the Genesee valley, along 
 the Black river, and in the valley of the Chenango, to 
 which we alluded in a previous chapter,* as having been 
 made in 1827, were repeated in 1828, and again pressed 
 upon the legislature in 1829. Time, instead of weaken- 
 ing, strengthened the power and influence of these for- 
 midable combinations. The success of each was made 
 the common cause of all. The members of the legisla- 
 ture coming from that part of the state w hich bordered 
 on the contemplated route for the Chenango Canal, were 
 considerable in numbers, and most of them democrats, 
 and for that reason were supposed to have more influ- 
 
 » See Chapter V. 
 
LIFE OF SILAS U SIGHT. 1 17 
 
 ence with the dominant party in both houses of the legis- 
 lature, tlian those ineinbers who represented the counties 
 farther west, who were generally whigs. Probably part- 
 ly, if not solely, on this account the Chenango Canal was 
 made the pioneer of the trio. We do not mention the 
 Chemung and Crooked Lake canals, because they were 
 mere side-cuts, or arms of the grand canal, yet the appli- 
 cants for these canals were generally understood to be 
 combined with the other projectors. For an account 
 of the proceedings in the legislature in relation to the 
 Chenango Canal, we respectfully refer our readers to the 
 second v(»lume of our History of Political Parties, where 
 we think we have given it so fully as to render its repe- 
 tition on this occasion unnecessary.* 
 
 * At page 422, 2 Political History, we have said that previous to th« 
 election of 1832, a distinguished democratic leader visited the county of 
 Cheiianifo, and there jjave assurance that if the democratic state ticket 
 should be well and faithfully supported in the valley of the Clienungo, 
 John Tracy should bo nomiualed at the Herkimer convention for lieutenant- 
 governor, and that the next legislature would pass a law providing for the 
 construction of the Chenango Canal. From this statement an iuferenc* 
 may have been drawn that Judge Tracy, as he was in fact nominated 
 and elected lieutenant-governor, was a party to this arrangement, if suck 
 arrangement was actually made. Such an inference, however, would be 
 contrary to what was intended by the author. We know, and have long 
 known .Mr. Tracy, not only as a man of high honor and integrity, but as 
 a man possessing great delicacy of feeling, and are therefore sure he had 
 no agency in the matter. Neither Judge Tracy nor any of his friend* 
 have ever brought this matter to our notice, but we seize this occasion Xm 
 declare what were our intentions at the time we wrote, being, upon a care- 
 ful examination of it, apprehensive that thoee who are strangers to Mr. T. 
 might draw an inference from it which would be unjust to the character 
 for purity and delicacy which he has always, as we believe, desenedly 
 maintained. J- D. H. 
 
 Upon further inquiry, since writing the above note, the author has re- 
 eeived assurances from a source perfectly reliable, the correctness of whick 
 
lis LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 Notwithstanding the severe pressure brought on Mr, 
 Wright by the union of these gi-eat interests, he held with 
 unshaken firmness to the grounds taken bv him in the 
 senate in 1827. and to the doctrines put forth in his report 
 on the petition of David E. Evans. And in all his official 
 communications to the legislature, and in his action as a 
 member of the canal board, he maintained the same prin- 
 ciples as are contained in that report. In the canal 
 boai'd these principles were also sustained by Col. Young, 
 (who had early avowed them.) and we believe by a ma- 
 jority of the board. 
 
 We have before stated, that although ]\Ir. Wright was, 
 in the fall of 1828. elected a member of cong-ress, the 
 certificate of election was given to his opponent, Mr. 
 Fisher, in consequence of some informality in the returns 
 of the returning officers. !Mr. Fisher therefore took his 
 seat as a member of the twenty-first congress. Mr. 
 Wright, it is true, had accepted the office of comptroller, 
 and therefore could not, with propriety, retain his seat as 
 a member of congi-ess : but believincr that from the result 
 of the election in his district, the expressed wishes of a 
 majority of the electors of the district would be defeated 
 should ^Ir. Fisher continue to occupy the seat, he for- 
 wai'ded a petition to the house of representatives, claim- 
 ing the seat in preference to Mr. Fisher. The question 
 was decided without delay in favor of granting the peti- 
 tion, we believe with the approbation (;f Mr. Fisher him- 
 self, and as soon as that decision was made, Mr. Wright 
 resiiined. 
 
 he does not doubt, that the selection of Judge Tracy, as the nominee for 
 heuteuant-govenior, was in no respect whatever connected with the Che- 
 nango Canal project. 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 119 
 
 The annual report of the comptroller for the year 
 1829 was made by Mr. Marcv, while he held that 
 office. The first annual report of ]Mr. Wright was 
 communicated to the legislature in January, 1830. It 
 was an able state paper, and on examining it one will 
 be astonished at the j)eculiar talent of its author, in pre- 
 senting in a clear manner the character and* amount of 
 the various funds of the state, (we wish there were not 
 so many of them, because we think their variety tends to 
 confusion and mystery,) and in simplifying the most com- 
 plicated, and rendering lucid the most abstruse financial 
 matters. 
 
 The comptroller, on this occasion, stated that the gen- 
 eral fund, which originally amounted to more than four 
 millions of dollars, was then reduced to 81,344.268.65, 
 and was in a condition of rapid consumption. The fund 
 called the general fund was mainly formed during the ad- 
 ministration of George Clinton, from the avails of sales of 
 the public lands in 1791.* Other moneys belonging to 
 the state were also thrown into this fund, until it acquired 
 the magnitude stated by Mr. Wright. In earlier, and, as 
 an old man we may l^e permitted to say, happier and 
 purer days, when the current expenses of the state gov- 
 ernment were vastly less than when Mr. Wright made 
 the ref)ort in question, the surplus of the income over 
 and above the state exj)enditures, was annually invested 
 and added to the original fund ; and had this course 
 been continued, its income would have been sufficient 
 to have jt;iid the current expenses of government, 
 not only down to the present time, but for an in- 
 definite period hereafter. But that course was not pur- 
 
 • See 1 Political History, p. 57, &c. 
 
120 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 sued, and depredations were from year to year made on 
 the capital of that fund for various purposes, until it has 
 become nearly, if not quite, insolvent. The state, how- 
 ever, is rich in its common-school and literary funds, 
 and its immense capital vested in canals. But we hasten 
 to make the remark which we intended when we com- 
 menced tlMs paragraph, which has been extended to a 
 length we did not anticipate. 
 
 All the comptrollers, from the time of Samuel Jones, 
 the first comptroller, seem to have felt an anxious and 
 almost parental solicitude for the preservation of the gen- 
 eral fund. This feeling is strongly manifested by Mr. 
 Wright. And in truth there is much reason for it ; it is 
 money handed down to us from our forefathers — a sort 
 of legacy in which every son and daughter of the state 
 has an interest. So long as the income from that fund 
 was sufficient to pay the necessar}'^ expenses of the gov- 
 ernment, we were free from taxes ; and for extraordinary 
 expenses, the old policy was, not to permit the state to 
 incur any expense, without at the same time laying a 
 tax sufficient to meet it when incuiTed, or a short time 
 afterwards. 
 
 Mr. Wrisfht states the canal debt at that time at 
 $7,706,013. The income arising from tolls and auc- 
 tion and salt duties, was much more than sufficient to 
 pay the interest on the canal debt, and the surplus, 
 after the payment of the interest, was solemnly pledged 
 by the constitution for the payment of the principal as it 
 should from time to time become due. Mr. Wright 
 showed most clearly, that the income arising from the 
 oreneral fund, and from all other sources which could le- 
 gaily be made available by the state, would fail of defray- 
 ing the expenses of the state for the ensuing year to an 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 121 
 
 amount of more than seventy thousand dollars. He 
 therefore had the firmness to do that which is always dis- 
 agreeable and unpopular, which wai«, to recommend a tax 
 of one mill on the dollar on all personal and real estate, 
 the avails of which should be applied to supply the defi- 
 ciency in the income of the general fund, and the balance 
 to be employed in reimbursing that fund the portion of 
 its capital which had been abstracted from it. 
 
 " That some measures," says the comptroller, " should 
 be taken by the legislature to meet the claims upon the 
 treasury without incurring a public debt for that purpose, 
 the comptroller cannot doubt. And that the true inter- 
 est of the state would be consulted by adopting such pro- 
 visions as would preserve the remainder of the capital of 
 the general fund, and as might tend to restore that fund 
 to an ability to meet the now reduced ordinary expenses 
 of the government, he can as little doubt." 
 
 Again, speaking of the general fund, he says : — '' But 
 now to suffer that fund to be entirely consumed, or to 
 neglect to sustain, or even to invigorate or restore it, 
 would seem to be a reflection upon the policy which has 
 hitherto protected and preserved it, and that too by taxa- 
 tion when it was necessarj'." * * * "A tax of one 
 mill on the dollar on the valuation of real and personal 
 estate, within the state, will, in the opinion of the comp- 
 troller, not only supply the existing deficiency in the rev- 
 enue, and arrest the further decline of this fund after the 
 present year, but will also contribute something to its re- 
 suscitation. He therefore recommends to the legislature 
 the imposition of such tax." 
 
 The legislature did not adopt the recommendation. 
 
 The reader ouijht to have been reminded that Mr. Van 
 Buren, who in November. 1828; was elected governor, 
 
 II 
 
122 LII'I^ or SILAS WKIGUT. 
 
 was, in the early part of March, 1829, appointed by Gen. 
 Jackson, secretary of state of the United States, in con- 
 sequence of which the executive government of the state 
 of New York devolved on Mr. Throop, the lieutenant- 
 governor, who continued to act as governor to the end of 
 the gubernatorial term. Previous to the election in No- 
 vember, 1830, a state convention was held at Herkimer, 
 for the nomination of state officers. Mr. Wright attend- 
 ed that convention as a delegate, from the county of Al- 
 bany. Mr. Throop, in his communication to the legisla- 
 ture, had sustained and advocated the same principles in 
 relation to the extension of internal improvements, and 
 the increase of the public debt, as had been put forth by 
 Mr. Wright in his report on the petition of David E- 
 Evans, and others, and in his report as comptroller, to the 
 legislature. This produced some opposition to him from 
 the delegates from the valley of the Chenango, and from 
 the Genesee Valley. 
 
 There was also another class of men, known by the 
 name of the " workingmen's party," of whom Gen. Root 
 was a favorite, and who, at a popular meeting at Albany, 
 had nominated him for governor. These circumstances, 
 connected with the partial feelings of some of Gen. 
 Root's old democratic friends, induced a considerable 
 portion of the convention to support the nomination of 
 Gen. Root ; but Mr. Wright, and finally a majority of 
 the convention, supported Mr. Throop, and he was nom- 
 inated and elected. 
 
 Mr. Wright, in his annual reports as comptroller, in 
 1831 and 1832, took the same ground as he did in 1830, 
 and repeated his recommendation of a state tax. The 
 governor also, in his annual message, reiterated the rec- 
 ommendation. A bill was brought into the senate in 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WKIGIIT. 123 
 
 pursuance of these recommendations, but it was contend- 
 ed by the friends of the construction of the projected ca- 
 nals, that before the general fund could be exhausted, 
 there would be a sufficient surplus revenue from the ca- 
 nals, after paying all the costs of their construction, to 
 defray the ordinary expenses of government, which would 
 be a fair substitute for the income which could be antici- 
 pated from the general fund. We recollect of hearing a 
 very able and eloquent speech, delivered by the lamented 
 Maynard, a senator from Oneida county, in support of 
 this position, in which he, with great skill and address, 
 insinuated that this project of taxation had been brought 
 forward merely as a bugbear to frighten those who were 
 in favor of providing for the construction of the Chenan- 
 go and other projected canals.* 
 
 The course which Mr. Wright deemed it his duty to 
 jmrsue in relation to the Chenango Canal, produced some 
 feeling against him on the part of his political friends who 
 advocated that measure ; but such was the unshaken con- 
 fidence reposed in him, that in 1832, when the term of 
 his office expired, the opposition to his re-election was 
 very feeble, and he was again nominated by a large 
 majority of the democratic members, and chosen comp- 
 troller by the legislature. Such was his quiet and peace- 
 ful deportment, that his influence in matters in which his 
 political friends or the public were concerned, was less 
 exhibited than felt. 
 
 While he resided in Albany, which then was, and for a 
 long time before and since has been, the focus of political 
 excitement, and where the contest for place, for office, 
 and power, is always fierce, and naturally calls into action 
 
 • The bill failed of becotniug a law. 
 
124 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 the efforts of all men who are supposea to have any in- 
 fluence, his cautious and retiring habits enabled him to 
 retain his natural calmness amidst the whirlwinds and 
 storms and war of the political elements which raged 
 around him. We then resided in Albany, and although 
 we did not belong to the political party to which Mr. 
 Wright was attached, we recollect that an active polit- 
 ical friend of his, (Mr. Livingston, long a clerk and once 
 a speaker of the assembly,) with whom we were on terms 
 of personal intimacy, frequently complained to us that he 
 could never induce Mr. Wright to take any part in ' the 
 contests between competitors for office. This cautious 
 conduct on his part did not arise, as we believe, from 
 policy, or a desire to avoid responsibility, but from the 
 innate kindness of his nature, and his unwillingness to 
 wound the feelings of any. On questions involving prin- 
 ciple, he was firm and immoveable. He in truth and 
 spirit conscientiously adhered to the maxim so often re- 
 peated and so little practised, " measures — not men." 
 
 But the time had now arrived when Mr. Wright was 
 to be removed from the political whirlpool at Albany. In 
 November, 1832, Mr. Marcy was elected governor of the 
 state of New York, (Mr. Throop having declined a re- 
 election,) and Mr. Wright, early in the session of 1833, 
 was chosen by the legislature as his successor in the sen- 
 ate of the United States. 
 
LIFE OK SILAS WRIGHT. 125 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Senate of the United States — Mr. Gillel's contemplated Work — Mr. 
 Wright's vote on the Force Bill and the Compromise Bill — Ho opposes 
 Mr. Clay's Land Bill — Gen. Jackson's conduct in relation to the Land 
 Bill — Marriage of Mr. Wriijht — Removal of the Deposites from the Bank 
 of the United States — Mr. Clay's Resolution, and .Mr. Wright's Speech 
 thereon — His Speech on Mr. Webster's motion to Recharter the United 
 States Bank — Session of 1^34-5 — Mr. Wright elected a member of the 
 Committees on Finance and Commerce — His Speech on the last day of 
 the Ses.sion — Mr. Van Biiren elected Vice-President — Mr. Wright is a 
 Member of Ihe Haltimore Convention at the Nomination of Van Buron 
 for President — Mr. Wright's conduct in the Senate in relation to the 
 Anti-slavery movementti — Bill for the Distribution of the Surplus Funds 
 — Specie Circular — Mr. Wright elected Chairman of the Finance Com- 
 mittee — In l!-37, re-elected to the United States Senate by the New 
 York Legislature. 
 
 On the 14th of January, 1833, Mr. Wright took his 
 seat as a member of the senate of the United States. 
 There is no dejiartment of the government of this coun- 
 try which challenges more veneration than the United 
 States senate ; nor is there, as we believe, any political 
 body on earth which deserves it better. It is, from the 
 manner of its creation, calculated to draw into it the 
 most talented and most patriotic men in the nation. The 
 senators are elected, not by the masses, but by men cho- 
 sen from the masses ; they are the representatives of in- 
 dependent states, and in that respect resemble diplomatic 
 ageijts and ambiissadors. The duration of the othce of 
 senator is longer than that of any other elective office in 
 the nation. The senate has equal or nearly equal power, 
 
 11* 
 
126 LIFE OP SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 in the passage of all laws, with the house of representa- 
 tives, a much more numerous body coming directly from 
 the people. It holds a veto on the power of the presi- 
 dent in the distribution of all the national patronage, and 
 even a comparatively small minority oi" the senate can 
 overrule the executive in any treaty he may negotiate. 
 
 Probably the familiar acquaintance which those who 
 formed the constitution had with the machinery of the 
 British government, in which the house of lords forms a 
 part of the legislative power, induced in their minds a 
 train of thought which led to the provision for the for- 
 mation of our senate, as it bears some resemblance to 
 that department of the English government. The senate 
 also bears a remote resemblance to the diet of Germany. 
 But the senate of the United States is far better calcula- 
 ted to draw^ into it talent, private virtue, and individual 
 patriotism, than either the one or the other of the bodies 
 just mentioned. In the house of lords, as well as in the 
 diet, the right of membership is hereditary. Nothing can 
 be more absurd than the recognising of an hereditary right 
 to legislate. You might as well contend that the art of 
 watch-making, or ship-building, could descend from father 
 to son, as that the ability and knowledge requisite for 
 making wise and good laws, should pass from the ances- 
 tor to the eldest male descendant. Hence, on entering 
 the lobby of the house of lords in England, you may see 
 grouped together, with power to legislate for th;)t great 
 empire, men rendered decrepit and imbecile by age, dis- 
 solute and reckless boys of twenty-one, men booted and 
 spurred, ready for a fox-chase or a horse-race, gay lotha- 
 rios, and ruined gamblers. But the senate of the United 
 States presents an aspect entirely different. It is, rnd we 
 trust will continue to be, composed of men of ripe years, 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 127 
 
 whose age and experience have taught them caution, and 
 admonished them to dehberate before they act, and yet 
 possessing their intellectual power in its full vigor, — men 
 inured to habits of business and mental labor, and who, 
 from the duration of their offices and the intelligence of 
 their constituency, can have little temptation to pamper 
 the evanescent prejudices which for the time being may 
 happen to exist, or to court the momentary applause of 
 a class that always has existed, and always will exist in 
 every country, who not unfrequently cry " Hosanna to- 
 day, and crucify to-morrow." 
 
 Into a body thus organized, Silas Wright entered in 
 the thirty-eighth year of his age. The American senate 
 was at that time composed of men as eminent as this 
 or any other country ever produced. There was the 
 ardent, elocpient, and chivalrous Henry Clay ; there 
 were Calhoun, Webster, Benton, and White of Ten- 
 nessee ; there was Rives of Virginia ; and there too 
 was tlu' impetuous, but polished and courteous Pres- 
 ton ; and a host of others, distinguished for their long 
 experience, their skill and tact in forensic debates, and 
 their learning and talents. What n)ust have been the 
 anxious feelings — what the throbbings of the heart of the 
 modest graduate of AFiddlebury College ! But a trulv great 
 mind, though imbued with modesty, and sometimes de- 
 pressed by diffidence, is always secretly conscious of its 
 own powers. Air. Wright did not despond — he did not 
 despair of acquiring a respectable standing even in that 
 august body : like the gallant military officer, who, 
 when the commanding general inquired if he could 
 take a strong fort by storm, replied, " General, I will 
 try," and did try, and succeeded — so also did Mr. Wright 
 "try," and triumphed. 
 
128 LIFE OF SILAS WRItJHT. 
 
 We shall not attempt to follow Mr. Wright minutely 
 through his senatorial labors ; we are satisfied, if we were 
 to attempt it, so long time has elapsed since they were 
 performed, and so great was the distance we were from the 
 scene of action, that we should in all likelihood do injus- 
 tice to the subject of these memoirs. The journals of a 
 legislative body and the public newspapers (the only 
 sources from which we could hope to obtain infor- 
 mation) furnish but a meager and sometimes ah in- 
 correct account of the labors of the legislator and states- 
 man. We feel confirmed in the propriety of this course 
 from the fact, that we are well assured that Mr. Ransom 
 II. Gillet, who is now, and for some time past has been 
 stationed at Washington as solicitor of the United States 
 treasury, is now employed, so far as his official duties 
 will permit, in compiling for publication the speeches de- 
 livered by Mr. Wright, and the reports and other official 
 documents which emanated from him. Mr. Gillet was a 
 member of congress for some time while Mr. Wright was 
 in the senate, and was a citizen of St. Lawrence, and 
 long and intimately acquainted with Mr. W., and highly 
 esteemed by him. All who know Mr. Gillet know him 
 as a man of talents, candor, and integrity. There can 
 be no doubt that his book wall contain much interesting 
 political information, and will be a valuable contribution 
 to the literature of the country. 
 
 We will merely remark that the first session of the 
 twenty-second congress was one of deep and thrilling 
 interest. 
 
 During the preceding year the nullification doctrines 
 of Mr. Calhoun had been pushed to an alarming extent 
 in South Carolina, and finally elicited the celebrated 
 proclamation of Gen. Jackson. This proclamation led 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 129 
 
 to the passage of what was called the Porce Bill, for 
 which Mr. Wright voted. 
 
 Another highly important measure which came before 
 the senate soon after Mr. Wright became a member was 
 the compromise bill, introduced and probably devised by 
 Mr. Clay. To some of the details of this bill Mr. Wright 
 was opposed, but in the end he thought it his duty to vote 
 for it on its final passage. Before giving his vote, how- 
 ever, he is reported by Mr. Niles, in his Register, to have 
 stated briefly that " his strongest objection to the bill was, 
 that it endeavors to bind the action of future congresses. 
 He considered this as a provision which was puerile in 
 itself, and one which would never be considered as 
 binding. He then viewed the circumstances under which 
 congress was called upon to act on this bill, imperfect as 
 it is. He knew that he should be charged with legisla- 
 ting under the influence of his fears. He could not 
 suifer his fears to govern his conclusions. But he would 
 not disregard them. There had been a deep and settled 
 discontent in a certain portion of the country against 
 our legislation, and he could not bring himself to regard 
 that discontent lightly. 
 
 " Under the expression of that feeling, congress had 
 done what, if they had not done, would have left the 
 Union dissolved. The operation of that discontent was 
 against the whole body of laws for the collection of the 
 revenue ; and would, if carried on, have destroyed all 
 the means of the government, and without the purse, no 
 government could exist. He had, therefore, come to the 
 question, deeply impressed with the conviction, that it 
 was his duty to give his vote to prevent such an evil. 
 He had been long of the opinion that the revenue ought 
 to be reduced. He had also been long impressed with a 
 
130 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 sense of the inequality of the tariff system. No one had 
 questioned the principle on which this bill was founded ; 
 it was only in reference to the details that difference of 
 opinion existed. A part of the country is deeply exci- 
 ted, deeply exasperated ; by what means, it was not for 
 him to inquire ; but the condition of things was such as 
 to render it uncertain whether the Union can exist even 
 until the month of December, unless something shall be 
 done." 
 
 The only other great measure which occupied the at- 
 tention of congress, during this session, was a bill brought 
 forward by Mr. Clay for the distribution of the avails of 
 the sales of the public lands among the several states. 
 This bill was opposed by Mr. Wright, but it passed both 
 houses of congress, by large majorities in each house. 
 Congress, by the constitution, became defunct on the 4th 
 day of March. The bill was not sent to the president 
 until within less than ten days previous to that day ; and 
 Gen. Jackson retained it until the meeting of the next 
 congress, and then vetoed it. 
 
 It has been said that if Gen. Jackson had retm^ned the 
 bill with his veto to the twenty-second congi-ess, both 
 houses of that congi^ess would have passed it by two- 
 thirds majority. We doubt the fact ; but if the allega- 
 tion was true, and Gen. Jackson knew it, and on that 
 account neglected and refused to return the bill to the 
 twenty-second congress, he certainly evaded and virtu- 
 ally violated an important article of the constitution. 
 
 On the 11th of September, 1833, ]Mr. Wright was 
 man-ied to ]Miss Clarissa iNIoody, by his old friend and 
 classmate, the Rev. Henry S. Johnson, whom we have 
 several times mentioned. There is something interest- 
 ing in this connection, independent of the tender affection 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 131 
 
 which existed between Mr. Wright and his bride. Miss 
 Moody was the daughter of the friend of his father, the 
 patron and friend of Mr. Wright. He had been an 
 inmate in the house of that friend for fourteen years ; 
 he came there solitary', poor, and a stranger ; he was now 
 a senator of the United States ; — but this change in his 
 situation did not weaken his partiality for the object 
 of his affection ; it did not diminish his regard for the 
 friend of his father, nor his gratitude to the man who 
 had aided him in time of need, nor did it cool the ardor 
 of his friendship for the companion of his boyhood and 
 his youthful studies. It has been said, and no doubt truly, 
 that an unkind word, or even look, never passed between 
 Mr. Wright and his wife. 
 
 By the law passed in 1816 incorporating the United 
 States banking company, the national revenue was re- 
 fjuired to be deposited in the Bank of the United States : 
 but the secretary of the treasury was authorized to re- 
 move such deposites whenever he should deem them 
 unsafe in that bank. 
 
 In the summer of 1833, Gen. Jackson, believing, as he 
 alleged, that the revenue was unsafe in the keeping of the 
 United States Bank, requested Mr. Duane, then secreta- 
 r\' of the treasury, to direct the deposites of the national 
 revenue to be removed. This the secretary declined 
 doing, whereupon the president removed him, and ap- 
 pointed Mr. Taney, then attorney-general, in his place, 
 who, in accordance with the wishes of the president 
 removed the deposites. It is no part of our business 
 to justify or condemn these measures ; our duty is dis- 
 charged when we state the facts as they transpired, and 
 we now merely remark that these acts of the national 
 executive produced much excitement throughout the 
 
132 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 country, and especially in the northern and middle states. 
 They cc^plained that the removal of Mr. Duane, be- 
 cause he declined, contrary to his own opinion, to transfer 
 the funds of the nation from the Bank of the United 
 States to the vaults of the banks chartered by the re- 
 spective states, was an unwarrantable exercise of power, 
 in violation of the law chartering the bank, and at war 
 with the genius of the constitution of the United States. 
 The members of the twenty-third congress therefore as- 
 sembled, in December, 1833, under feelings of great ex- 
 citement. Early in the session, Mr. Clay introduced the 
 following resolution : 
 
 " Resolved, That the president, in the late executive 
 proceedings in relation to the public revenue, has assumed 
 upon himself an authority and power not conferred by 
 the constitution and laws, but in derogation of both." 
 
 This resolution produced a debate which lasted several 
 days, and nearly all the prominent members of the senate 
 spoke on the subject. Mr. Wright, who was an ardent, 
 and we have no doubt an honest supporter of Gen. Jack- 
 son's administration, opposed the resolution in a speech 
 which afforded decisive evidence of great ingenuity, and 
 talents of a high order. He urged, with great plausibil- 
 ity, that if the allegation made in the resolution was cor- 
 rect and true, the president ought to be impeached ; that 
 on the impeachment the senate would be, by the constitu- 
 tion, his judges ; and that to adopt the resolution would be 
 to prejudge a question which would of necessity come be- 
 fore them as members of the high court of impeachment. 
 He further insisted that the facts of the case did not 
 support the resolution. He concluded his argumentative 
 and able si>eech by the following eloquent appeal to the 
 feelinss of the senators : 
 
I,IFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 133 
 
 " Who, sir, is the man, the citizen of our republic, upon 
 whom we are about to pronounce our high censures ? Is 
 it Andrew Jackson ? Is it that Andrew Jackson, who, 
 in his boyhood, was found in the blood-stained fields of 
 the Revolution ? who came out from that struggle the 
 last living member of his family ? who, when the sound 
 to arms again called our citizens around the flag of our 
 country, posted himself upon the defenceless frontiers of the 
 South and West, and bared his own bosom to the toma- 
 hawks and scalping-knives sharpened for the blood of un- 
 protected women and children ? who turned back from 
 the city of the West, the confident advance of a ruthless, 
 and until then, an unsubdued enemy, and closed the sec- 
 ond war against American liberty in a blaze of glory, 
 which time will not extinguish ? who, when peace was 
 restored to his beloved country, turned his spear into a 
 pruning-hook, and retired to the Hermitage, until the 
 spontaneous voice of his fellow-citizens called him forth 
 to receive their highest honors, and to become the guar- 
 dian of their most sacred trust ? Is this the man who is 
 to be condemned without a trial ? who is not entitled 
 to the privilege allowed him by the constitution of his 
 count rv ? Sir, this surely should npt be so. For the 
 very act which saved a city from pillage and destruction, 
 and the soil of his country from the tread of an invading 
 enemv, this individual was accused of a violation of the 
 constitution and laws of his country. For the very act 
 which entitled him to the proud appellation of ' the great- 
 est captain of the age,' he was convicted and condemned 
 as a criminal. But, Mr. President, he was not then de- 
 nied a trial. Then he was permitted to face his accusers, 
 to hear the charges preferred against him, to offer his de- 
 fence, and to be present at his sentence. In gi'atitude for 
 
 12 
 
134 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 these privileges of a freeman, he stayed back with his 
 own arm the advancing wave of popular indignation, 
 while he bowed his whitened locks to the sentence of the 
 law, and paid the penalty imposed upon him for having 
 saved and honored his country. 
 
 " Grant to him, I beseech you, Mr. President— I be- 
 seech the senate, grant to that old man the privilege of a 
 trial now. Condemn him not unheard, and without the 
 pretence of a constitutional accusation. His rivalships 
 are ended. He asks no more of worldly honors. ' He 
 has done the state some service.' Age has crept upon 
 him now, and he approaches the grave. Let him enjoy, 
 during the short remainder of his stay upon earth, the 
 right secured to him by the constitution he has so often 
 and so gallantly defended ; and if, indeed, he be criminal, 
 let his conviction precede his sentence." 
 
 The resolution, nevertheless, passed the senate, but 
 failed of obtaining a majority in the house of representa- 
 tives. 
 
 About the same time, Mr. Webster made a motion for 
 leave to introduce a bill rechartering the United States 
 Bank for a limited time. Against that motion Mr. 
 Wright made another able speech, in which, among other 
 things, he said : — 
 
 " I cannot, then, be mistaken when I say, that if the 
 Bank of the United States would cease its efforts for, and 
 its hopes of a re-existence, and would endeavor to per- 
 form its duty to the country, by closing its affairs with as 
 little injury as possible to any individual or public inter- 
 est, the state banks would be able to extend their loans, 
 confidence would be restored, and the pressure upon the 
 money-market would soon cease. Apprehension, — a just 
 apprehension of the hostile movements of this great institu- 
 
LIFE or SILAS WRIGHT. ]35 
 
 tion, — is the most powerful cause of the present scarcity 
 of money. This scarcity must exist so long as this ap- 
 prehension continues. How, then, is it to be allayed ? 
 would seem to be the pertinent inquiry. The honorable 
 senator from Massachusetts answers us by the bill upon 
 your table. Recharter the bank ; appease the monster 
 by prolonging its existence, and increasing its power. I 
 say, no, sir ; but act jtromptly and refuse its wish : de- 
 stroy its hope of a recharter, and you destroy its induce- 
 ment to be hostile to the state institutions. A different 
 interest — the interest of its stockholders — to wind up its 
 affairs as [profitably to themselves as possible, becomes its 
 ruling object, and will direct its policy. The more pros- 
 perous the country, the more plenty the money of other 
 institutions, the more easily and safely can this object be 
 accomplished ; and every hope of a continued existence 
 being destroyed, that this will be the object of the bank 
 is as certain as that its moneyed interest governs a mo- 
 neyed incorporation. Mr. President, this is uncjuestion- 
 ably the opinion of the country. Look, sir, at the files of 
 memorials upon your table, and however widely thev 
 may differ as to their views of the bank, they all hold to 
 you this language, ' act speedily, and finally settle the 
 question.' 
 
 '^ But we are told, sir, that the country cannot sustain 
 the winding up of the affairs of the bank. Is this so ? 
 What does experience teach us upon this subject ? The 
 old Bank of the United States, within four months of the 
 close of its charter, was more extended in proportion to 
 the amount of its capital, than the present bank is at this 
 moment, and still it is almost two years to the close of its 
 charter. The old bank struggled as this does for a re- 
 cxistence ; the country was then alarmed ; memorials in 
 
136 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 favor of the bank were then, as now, piled u})on the ta- 
 bles of the members of congress ; the cries of distress 
 rung through these halls then as distinctly as they now 
 do ; nay, more, gentlemen were then sent here from the 
 commercial cities to be examined upon oath, before the 
 committees of congress, to prove the existence and the 
 extent of the distress ; business was then in a state of the 
 utmost depression in all parts of the Union ; commerce 
 was literally suspended by the restrictive measures of the 
 government ; trade was dull beyond any former example ; 
 property of all kinds was unusually depressed in price ; 
 and the country was on the eve of a war with the most 
 powerful nation in the world. Still, congress was un- 
 moved, and the old bank was not rechartered. Such is 
 the history of that period, and, with the final action of 
 cono-ress, all knowledge of the distress ceased. Who has 
 ever heard of disasters to the business of the country, 
 proceeding from the winding up of the old bank ? I, sir, 
 can find no trace of any such consequences. I do find 
 that, in a period of about eighteen months after the expi- 
 ration of the charter, the bank disposed of its obligations, 
 and divided to its stockholders about eighty-eight per 
 cent. u})ou their stock. 
 
 " It is now admitted, on all hands, that the country is 
 rich and prosperous in an unusual degree ; property of all 
 kinds is abundant ; commerce is free, and extensive, and 
 flourishing, and business of every description is healthful 
 and vigorous. If then, we cannot, in this condition of 
 things, sustain the closing of the affairs of this great mo- 
 neyed incorporation, it is safe to assume that the country 
 will never see the time when it can do it. Grant it longer 
 life and deei)er root, and in vain shall we try in future to 
 shake it from us. It will dictate its own terms, and com- 
 
LIFE or SlLAo WKIGIIT. 137 
 
 • 
 
 inand its own existence. Indeed, Mr. President, the 
 whole tendency of the honorable senator's argument 
 seemed to me to be, to prove the necessity of a i)er})etual 
 banii of this descrii)tion ; and we have been repeatedly 
 told, during the debate of the last three months, that this 
 free, and rich, and prosperous country, cannot get on 
 withtjut a great moneyed power of this description to 
 regulate its affairs. The bill before the senate proposes 
 to repeal the mono{)olizing provision in the existing char- 
 ter, and the honorable senator tells us that this is to be 
 done that congress may, within the six years over which 
 this is to extend the life of the present bank, establish a 
 new bank to take its place, and into which the afl'airs of 
 the old may be transferred, so as to be finally closed with- 
 out a shock to the country. Sir, this is not the relief I 
 seek. My object is the entire discontinuance and eradi- 
 cation of this or any similar institution. We are told the 
 distresses of the country will not permit this now. When, 
 sir, will it ever permit it better ? When will the time 
 come, that this odious institution can be finally closed 
 with less distress than now ? Never, while cupidity 
 obeys its fixed laws ; never, sir, never ! 
 
 " This distress, Mr. President, did not exist when we 
 left our homes ; we heard not of it then ; it commenced 
 with the commencement of our debates here ; and I doubt 
 not it will end when our debates end, and our final action 
 is known, whatever may be the result to which we shall 
 arrive. It must necessarily be temporary, and it does not 
 prove to my nund the necessity of a bank, but the mis- 
 chiefs a bank may |)roduce. I care not whether it be or 
 be not in the power of the bank to ameliorate the evils 
 now complained of. That it can cause them in any 
 manner, is proof that, if the disposition exist, it can cause 
 
 12* 
 
138 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 them at pleasure ; and this very fact is the strongest evi- 
 dence, to my mind; that no institution, with such a power, 
 ought to exist in this country. 
 
 " Sir, the subject of our present action involves two 
 great first principles ; one of constitutional power, and 
 one of governmental expediency. Upon neither should 
 our action be governed solely by considerations of tem- 
 porary derangement and distress in the money-market. 
 Revulsions in trade and business, and pecuniary affairs, 
 will happen. They must be temporary ; the country 
 will restore itself, and money will again be plenty ; but 
 the settlement of important principles must involve con- 
 sequences of an enduring character, — consequences 
 which will exert an influence for good or for evil, through 
 all time." 
 
 These and other great efforts of Mr. Wright before the 
 close of the session, elevated him to a position which 
 placed him in the first ranks of the orators in the senate. 
 After delivering the speech from which we have last 
 quoted, it is said Mr. Webster, who, from the coldness and 
 acerbity of his temper, is not in the habit of compli- 
 menting any one, and more especially his political oppo- 
 nents, did, on this occasion, pronounce a high encomium 
 on the ability displayed by jNIr. ^^'^right. 
 
 The session terminated on the 30th of June, 1834, and 
 immediately after his return to the state, ^Ir. Wright was 
 invited by the democratic citizens of Albany, in testi- 
 mony of their gratitude and respect for his services, to 
 accept of a publio dinner. To this invitation he made 
 the followins; characteristicallv modest replv : 
 
 " You will believe me, gentlemen, when I say that 
 from no quarter could such a mark of friendship and con- 
 fidence come to me more acceptably, than from the dem- 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 139 
 
 ocratic citizens of Albany. With them for my associates 
 and counsellors, and under their personal observation, has 
 much the largest portion of my public duties been dis- 
 charged ; and this evidence that I have been so fortunate 
 as to secure their approbation, is most gratifying, as it 
 permits me to hoj^e that my efforts to be faithful to the 
 public have not been \^ holly unsuccessful. A proper at- 
 tention to the same duties compels me to ask you, and 
 those whom you represent, to excuse me from meeting 
 vou and them as vou request. I\fv short stav in the city 
 must be wholly devoted to public business and public 
 interests of great importance, a necessary attention to 
 w hich brought me here thus early, on my way to the seat 
 of governftient ; and while I will not attempt to express 
 my regret that I cannot enjoy the social meeting to which 
 you invite me, I am consoled by the reflection that the 
 loss will be mine — not that of the friends who are thus- 
 partial to me." 
 
 At the short session which commenced on the 4th of 
 December. 1834, and ended on the 4th of March, 1835, 
 ^Ir. Wright was elected a member of two important 
 committees; that is to say, the committee on finance and 
 that on commerce ; and although his labors as a member 
 of those committees must have been arduous, he was not 
 required to make any public exhibition of his services 
 until the very last day of the session, when news arrived 
 which gave reason to apprehend danger of an immediate 
 nipture with France. As there was a probability that 
 war might break out with that nation during the recess 
 of congress, the friends of the administration in the house 
 of representatives added a clause to the fortification bill 
 appropriating the sum of three millions of dollars to be 
 expended under the direction of the president, if he should 
 
140 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 deem it necessary. The opposition members of the sen- 
 ate, who then held a majority in that house, refused to 
 concur with this amendment when it came back from the 
 house, on the ground that it was unnecessarily confiding 
 too much to the discretion of the president. After sev- 
 eral of the senators on both sides had spoken, and there 
 appeared to be a majority against the appropriation, Mr. 
 Wright addressed the senate in a most powerful, and, as 
 it subsequently appeared, effective manner. 
 
 " He said he hoped the senate would not adhere to 
 their disagreement. He felt himself bound to state that 
 he did not know that he had heard of the constitution 
 being broken down — destroyed — and the liberties of the 
 country overthrown, so frequently in tiiat senate, as to 
 render him callous to the real state of things. For the 
 last sixteen months these fears and forebodings had been 
 so strongly and often expressed on that floor, that they 
 had been forcibly impressed upon him ; yet, he must say, 
 that he was incapable of perceiving a particle of their 
 effects. No evidence had he seen of them ; nor could 
 he now partake of the alarm which some gentlemen pre- 
 tended to feel, when he saw^ that the asseverations made 
 at this time came from the same source. What had the 
 senate now before it ? A bill from the house of repre- 
 sentatives — from the immediate representatives of the 
 people, proposing to provide for the defence of the coun- 
 try. What had honorable senators debated ? The dan- 
 ger of executive power. Were, he would ask, those 
 representatives, sitting at the other end of the capitol, 
 the most likely to contribute to that danger ? Was that 
 the source from which senators were compelled to look 
 for danger in that respect? Such an idea had never oc- 
 curred to his mind. Under what circumstances did the 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 141 
 
 members of the other body permit the appropriation ? 
 He believed, and he spoke on good authority, that our 
 minister at the court of France had informed this gov- 
 ernment that it was problematical that the French might 
 strike the fust blow against us by detaining our fleet, now 
 m the Mediterranean. Congress were on the point of 
 adjourning; and being in possession of such advices from 
 our minister, they h;ul thought proper to act as they had 
 done in regard to this appropriation, and he would in- 
 quire, by what notion it was, that the senate were to be 
 imi)ressed with the danger of putting this power into the 
 hands of tlie executive — that our liberties were to be de- 
 stroyed, and the constitution trampled upon? Ay, in 
 making an appropriation for the defence and safety of the 
 country from a foreign enemy ! 
 
 " The honorable senator," (Mr. Leigh,) said Mr. Wright 
 in continuation, " has exhibited to us the dangers — of 
 what ? Not -cx. foreign enemy, for he would hardly dread 
 the landing of a foreign Ibe at our doors — but a domestic 
 enemy is to ruin us ! I remember, though it was at a 
 period when I was very young, that a certain portion of 
 the country held the same opinion as the honorable sen- 
 ator, and, when n foreign enemy did land in it, no alarm 
 was shown, but the [)eople there were alarmed at the do- 
 me s lie exwiuy . IIow was the foreign enemy met? As 
 the honoiable senator has most eloquently said — ' breast 
 to breast ?' No ; that enemy was seen holding a Bible 
 in his hand, and the American citizen putting his hand 
 upon it, and swearing allegiance to the British govern- 
 ment. Such is not my feeling in regard to a foreign en- 
 emy. I would prepare to repulse him at the first step ; I 
 would pre[iare to prevent him from touching my native 
 soil, if I \\'m\ it in my power." 
 
142 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 The effect of this earnest appeal was, that the major- 
 ity relented, and a committee of conference was appointed, 
 w^ho adopted the principle of the amendment, but reduced 
 the amount of the appropriation. The senate concurred in 
 the amendment proposed by the committee of conference. 
 
 We have before remarked that Mr. Wright always 
 spoke for the purpose of convincing those whose duty it 
 was to act. His reasoning was addressed to the mem- 
 bers of the senate, not to the lobby — to those in the 
 house, not to the multitude without. 
 
 We omitted to state in its proper place that when Mr. 
 Wright was elected to the senate, his friend, Mr. Van 
 Buren, was vice-president of the United States, and 
 then well known to be a candidate for the office of presi- 
 dent, when the term of Gen. Jackson should expire. It is 
 in our opinion highly probable that Mr. Van Buren, being 
 well acquainted with the talents and tact of Mr. Wright, 
 and knowing that he could rely with the most perfect 
 confidence on his friendship and fidelity, and being sen- 
 sible that he should eminently need in the senate of the 
 United States, of which he was the presiding officer, pre- 
 cisely such a man, and such a friend as Mr. Wright, felt 
 a deep interest in his election, and no doubt exerted what 
 influence he possessed at Albany to accomplish that ob- 
 ject. Mr. Wright, as we have seen, did not disappoint 
 his expectation ; on the contrary, he acquired a standing 
 and influence in the nation which, no doubt, exceeded 
 even Mr. Van Buren's anticipations. 
 
 Of the democratic convention held at Baltimore in the 
 summer of 1835, for the nomination of a successor of 
 Gen. Jackson, Mr. Wright was a member, and of course 
 supported the nomination of Mr. Van Buren, which was 
 effected with great unanimity. His election being certain. 
 
LIFE OF aiLAS WRIGHT. 143 
 
 and as there is at all times a large number ever ready to 
 worship the " rising sun," and as Mr. Wright was known 
 to be the confidential friend of the nominee for the pres- 
 idency, the Baltimore nomination added to the power and 
 influence of Mr. Wright, as well in the national legisla- 
 ture as among the people. 
 
 At the session of congress in December, 1835, he was 
 again placed on the committee of finance. The land 
 distribution bill was again brought forward in the senate, 
 and again passed that body, though it was opposed by 
 Mr. Calhuun, as well as by Mr. Benton and Mr. Wright. 
 
 During this session a petition was presented by the soci- 
 ety of Friends in the city of Philadelphia, praying congress 
 to pass a law for the abolition of slavery in the District 
 of Columbia, (^n the motion of Mr. Buchanan to re- 
 fuse to receive the petition, it was rejected, only six mem- 
 bers voting for its reception, ^Ir. Wright voting with the 
 majority. Before the end of the session a bill was 
 passed to "prevent the transmission through the mail of 
 printed matter calculated to excite the pi'cjudices of the 
 citizens of the southmi stat>:s in regard to the question 
 of slax'cry." Mr. Wright gave his vote/or this bill. So 
 far from perceiving any justification, we are unable to 
 discover even a plausible excuse for these votes, more 
 especially the last. We cannot exclude from our mind 
 the suspicion that Mr. Wright was apprehensive that his 
 votes on these occasions might have an important effect 
 on the support that his friend would receive for president 
 in the states south of the Potomac, and that the maxim 
 of " measures — not men,'' which we have said generally 
 controlled his politicrd actions, ceased at this mo'ment to 
 influence him. We have, however, no doubt but that 
 before his death he deeply regretted those votes. 
 
144 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 Previous to the removal of the deposites the national 
 debt had been extinguished, and the flourishing condition 
 of the nation, and the extent of its commerce, produced 
 a surplus of revenue, which remained in the United States 
 treasury unexpended, to the amount of forty millions of 
 dollars. This enormous sum was deposited in the banks 
 selected by the secretary of the treasury ; and they thus 
 became the fiscal agents of the government. They were 
 hence called ''pet hanks." How was this surplus to be 
 disposed of? The sjuato s opposed to the administration, 
 with a part of its friends, were in favor of distributing it 
 among the several states, in proportion to their represen- 
 tation in congress. This scheme was opposed by Gen. 
 Jackson, Mr. Van Buren, Mr. Benton, and Mr. Wright ; 
 but a bill for that purpose was introduced, which, after 
 being slightly modified, to avoid a constitutional ob- 
 jection which was entertained by the president and 
 some of his friends, it passed both houses, and became 
 a law. But previous to the passage of this law, the 
 great amount of government funds in the pet banks 
 enabled them to loan vast sums of money (and in this 
 course it is but just to say they were encouraged by 
 intimations from the executive department) to all and 
 every one who had any credit, and who wished to 
 borrow. The profuse issues of the pet banks enabled 
 all other banks to increase their issues, and by this means 
 the whole country became flooded with a paper curren- 
 cy. In this state of things imports w^ere increased, be- 
 cause the redundancy of money enabled the merchant 
 to make great and rapid sales of goods. But this was 
 not all : *a rage — a perfect mania for speculation in every 
 thing, and especially in real estate in villages and cities, 
 and in the public lands, seized the minds of men, and the 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 145 
 
 current carried along with it many of the nnost cautious 
 and careful business men in the community. Immense 
 quantities of lands belonging to the United States were 
 sold to speculators, and paid for in moneys either directly 
 or indirectly obtained from the pet banks. This money 
 was paid to the receivers at the several land offices, and 
 by the receivers deposited in the banks, when the same 
 money was perhaps on the same day reloaned to the land 
 s})c'culator, wh(j again, with that very money, purchased 
 other lands, when it again passed through the same pro- 
 cess. To check, if not to put a period to this ruinous 
 system, Gen. Jackson, on the 11th day of July, 1836, 
 issued his celebrated s|)ecie circular, by which he direct- 
 ed the receivers of money for the sale of the public lands 
 not to receive any thing in payment but gold and silver 
 coin. This, together with the distribution of the surplus 
 in the treasury, produced a revulsion tremendous in its 
 consequences, of which we shall have occasion hereafter 
 to sjieak more particularly. 
 
 At the meeting of congress in December, 1836, it was 
 found that there was a nominal majority in the senate fa- 
 vorable to the administration, and Mr. Wright was elect- 
 ed chairman of the finance committee, — a station which, 
 though important and honorable, was at this time by no 
 means enviable, since he had to encounter a furious and 
 highly-talented opposition, consisting partly of his own 
 professed j)olitical friends, among whom was his col- 
 league, Mr. Tallmadge, who entertained financial views 
 entirely adverse to those of Mr. Wright. The specie 
 circular was made the subject of severe animadversion, 
 :ind many of the nominal friends of the administration 
 disapproved of it. A law or resolution was accordingly 
 passed, which nuHified it, but General Jackson, that 
 
 13 
 
146 LIFE OK SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 man of " the iron will," refused to carry it into effect, 
 on the alleged ground that it was indefinite and uncer- 
 tain. 
 
 During the session of the New York legislature in 1837, 
 Mr. Wright was again elected to the senate of the Uni- 
 ted States for six years succeeding the 4th of March of 
 that year. There was, it is true, some opposition to his 
 re-election, growing out of the banking interest in the 
 state, and the hostility of those who were anxious to 
 prosecute and extend internal improvements by canals. 
 He was nevertheless nominated in caucus by a large ma- 
 jority, and subsequently elected. 
 
 When the power and influence of the two great inter- 
 ests we have mentioned are considered, in connection 
 with the known partiality of the people of this state for 
 rotation in oflice, the evidence furnished by this re-elec- 
 tion of the fixed and almost unexampled confidence in 
 the integrity and patriotism of Mr. Wright, and the just 
 appreciation of the value of his services by the demo- 
 cratic party of his own state, is as obvious as it is honor- 
 able to his fame and memory. 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. ]47 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Suspension of Specie Payments by the Banks — Extra Session of Con- 
 gress in September, 1837 — Mr. Wright's Opinion on the Subject of the 
 Suspension of the Banks and of the Independent Treasury, as expressed 
 by him previous to the Extra Session of Congress — At the Extra Session 
 Mr. Wright reports the Independent Treasury Bill — It passes the Sen- 
 ate, but is lost in the House of Representatives — He brings in the same 
 bill at the Regular Session, but it fails of passing — July 4, 1840, the 
 Bill becorries a Law — Mr. Wright votes for Mr. Clay's Resolution against 
 any interference with Slavery in the District of Columbia — Mr. Wright's 
 Oration delivered at Canton in 1839 — His Efforts to promote Mr. Van 
 Buren's Election in 1840. 
 
 But the time was come when the paper and credit 
 system, bloated and swollen to its utmost tension, could 
 no longer be sustained. Its explosion produced a shock 
 which was felt not only in our commercial cities, but in 
 every neighborhood and hamlet in the United States. 
 The suspension of specie payments by the banks, which 
 occun-ed in 1837, was owing to a variety of causes, all 
 operating at the same time. 
 
 It has been already stated that during the years 1835 
 and 1836 importations of goods from Europe were very 
 great. Many of these goods were purchased on credit, 
 and in 1837 the English merchants called loudly on their 
 American customers for remittances. The balance of 
 trade being at that time decidedly against this country, 
 these remittances, as well as the payment for new goods, 
 were required to be in specie. 
 
 A large projiortion of the stocks issued by several of 
 
148 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 the states of the Union, during two or three preceding 
 years, were held in England, and the interest on those 
 stocks could be paid only in coin. 
 
 Tlie rage for the purchase of public land still contin- 
 ued, but the operation of the specie circular on the 
 purchase of those lands produced a constant drain of 
 gold and silver from the vaults of the banks. 
 
 The distribution of the surplus revenue, instead of di- 
 minishing, from the manner in which the distribution was 
 made by Secretary Woodbury, increased the pressure. 
 An immense capital, which formerly was active, had re- 
 cently been invested in real estate, and was now dormant 
 and wholly unproductive. To add to this array of diffi- 
 culties and embarrassments, the Bank of England, alarmed 
 at the condition of the monetary affairs in America, refused 
 to discount for the American bankers in London and Liv- 
 erpool, and for the houses engaged in the American trade. 
 
 The pressure began early in the spring of 1837, and by 
 the first part of May, when a great- amount of bills of ex- 
 change drawn by the New York merchants u])on their 
 correspondents, and on houses in which tliey believed 
 they had credit in England, were returned protested, the 
 distress became extreme. A delegation from the mer- 
 chants in New York was sent to the i)resident, (Mr. Van 
 Buren,) who requested him to rescind the specie circular, 
 and to delay the collection of bonds given for duties. He 
 complied with the last, but denied the first request. Im- 
 mediatelv on the return of the delegation, all the banks in 
 the city of New York, and within a day or two after- 
 wards, all the banks in the United States, suspended spe- 
 cie payments. At that moment they held in their coffers 
 forty millions of dollars, which they had received in trust, 
 and which belonsred to the United States. In this lam- 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 149 
 
 entable condition of things, the president issued a proc- 
 lamation summoning an extra session of congress, to meet 
 on the 4th day of September of that year. 
 
 By the condition of the charters, we believe, of all the 
 banks in the state of New York, a refusal to pay in spe- 
 cie their notes on demand, was declared to be a forfeit- 
 ure of their charters. In the present emergency they 
 applied to the legislature, then in session at Albany, pray- 
 ing the passage of a law authorizing them to suspend the 
 payment of their notes for a limited time. The legisla- 
 ture granted their request, and on the sixteenth day of 
 May enacted a law, that "every provision of law in force, 
 requiring or authorizing proceedings against any bank in 
 this state, with a view to forfeit its charter or wind up 
 its concerns, or which requires such bank to suspend its 
 operations and proceedings in consequence of a refusal to 
 pay its notes or evidences of debt in specie, is hereby 
 suspended for one year." 
 
 We may well imagine, from the position held by Mr. 
 Wright as a senator and as chairman of the finance com- 
 mittee, and the interest he felt in the success of Mr. Van 
 Buren's administration, that he must have viewed the 
 present condition of things with deep and painful anxiety. 
 He was then at home in Canton, on his farm, engaged in 
 its cultivation, but his vigorous and ever active mind was 
 employed in devising and maturing schemes for the relief 
 of his country. 
 
 While in this retirement he wrote two numbers on the 
 subject of the monetary affairs of the state and nation, which 
 were published some time before the extra session of 1837, 
 in the St. Lawrence Republican, with a copy of which we 
 have been kindly furnished by a friend. These numbers 
 are valuable, not only because they furnish one of the 
 
 13* 
 
150 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 finest specimens of terse, neat, and elegant composition, 
 but because they show the action of the mind of Silas 
 Wright on some great questions which were then novel, 
 and demonstrate the truth of propositions which although 
 then put forth for that particular occasion, may be again, 
 and indeed are at the present moment, highly important. 
 For these reasons we hope we shall be excused for pre- 
 senting to our readers the substance of those articles. 
 
 The title given by Mr. Wright to these numbers is 
 " The Times," and the first number treats of " The prob- 
 able continuance of the Suspension of Specie Payments 
 by the Banks." The remarks of the author are es- 
 pecially applicable to the suspension law of this state, 
 which we have just quoted. The author thus introduces 
 himself to his readers : 
 
 " The discussion of this question involves points of 
 delicacy, of which we trust we are not insensible. We 
 can say with perfect truth, however, that no hostility to 
 any banking institution in this state, or country, and no 
 prejudice against banks generally, leads us to the discus- 
 sion. 
 
 " In our view of the matter, the answer to the ques- 
 tion, when shall the banks resume specie payments, or 
 take the consequences imposed by their charters for a 
 failure to do so, rests with the people. It is, therefore, not 
 only proper, but imperative upon the press, that the ques- 
 tion shall be early discussed, and the attention of the peo- 
 ple drawn to it in all its bearings." 
 
 He goes on to say that there are three distinct interests 
 involved in the question ; those interests are that of the 
 banks, their customers, and the people. On the subject 
 of the interest of the banks, the writer says : 
 
 " Under this head we trust we may assume one posi- 
 
LIFE QF SILAS WRIGHT. 151 
 
 tion, without the apprehension of contradiction or ques- 
 tion, from any quarter whatsoever, and that position is, 
 that it is the interest of every bani< to continue the sus- 
 pension of specie payments so long as they can keep their 
 credit so as to maJie their notes current with the commu- 
 nity as money. 
 
 " The incorporated banks have vast privileges, and 
 still more important exemptions. Their privilege of issu- 
 ing, by express authority of law, their paper promises to 
 pay gold and silver on demand as currency, to take the 
 place of gold and silver in the hands and pockets of the 
 people, is nothing less than the delegation to them of one 
 of the most dehcate, important, and responsible preroga- 
 tives of the sovereignty of any civil government. Their 
 exemption from liability to pay any description of tiieir 
 debts, beyond the mere amount of stock paid in to the 
 bank, is an invidious privilege to these artificial corpora- 
 tions over those extended to natural persons, the citizens 
 and freemen of our country, which would startle every hon- 
 est mind, not familiarized, by custom and use, to the legis- 
 lative preference for soulless paper existences, over the 
 persons of God's creation, w ith hearts and souls and con- 
 sciences, and at least some sense of moral obligation. 
 The only real consideration to the community for this 
 privilege of creating currency on the one hand, and ex- 
 emption from liability for the most just debts on the other, 
 is the single, simple, and most just obligation to pay on 
 demand, at the banking-house, the gold and silver for their 
 promissory currency, their bank notes, which are mere 
 promises to pay gold and silver. When this obligation is 
 discharged by legislation, or the voluntary action of the 
 banks, the people lose wholly their slender equivalent for 
 one of their most important rights, surrendered to these 
 
f 
 
 1 
 
 152 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 incorporations ; the institutions are discharged from their 
 only onerous responsibility, and what is called currency 
 is the mere form of a promise to pay, most tastefully exe- 
 cuted, without any intention on the part of the promiser 
 to pay, and with the knowledge on the part of him who 
 receives the promise as money, that it will not be paid. 
 
 " The bank that issues notes which it cannot redeem 
 in specie, while the obligation to pay specie imposed by 
 its charter remains unannulled by legislation, and unre- 
 voked by the bank, practises a fraud upon the public, for 
 which a natural person would be convicted of the crime 
 of swindling, and have a cell assigned him in some one of 
 the public prisons provided for the punishment of high 
 crimes against the peace and safety of civil society ; but 
 the bank which so issues bills, after its obligation to re- 
 deem in specie has been revoked by itself, in a public 
 declaration, persisted in by its practice, or annulled by 
 legislation, is guilty of no fraud against the public, or in- 
 dividuals. It is true, the bank promises to pay, but 
 it declares before the promise, and that declaration is 
 made to him who receives the promise, that it will not 
 pay. He, therefore, cannot complain that the promise is 
 not fulfilled, who was told, before it was given, that it 
 would not be fulfilled. 
 
 " Such is the present relation between the banks of this 
 state and the people, produced by the published declara- 
 tion of the banks that they would not redeem their notes 
 with gold and silver, and the law of the legislature ex- 
 empting them from the severe penalties imposed by their 
 charters for this act of faithlessness to the community. 
 
 " Who then can doubt the soundness of the position 
 with which we set out, that it is the interest of every 
 bank to continue the suspension of specie payments to the 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WKIGHT. 153 
 
 latest hour al uhicli tliey can sustain their present credit 
 and the present circuhition of their notes without those 
 payments ?" 
 
 Mr. Wright then proceeds to show, and does most con- 
 clusively show, that the substantial interest of the legiti- 
 mate customers of banks does not, although that of the 
 speculator does, require the continuation of the suspen- 
 sion. 
 
 With respect to the third party who have an interest 
 in the (juestion, whether the right of the banks to suspend 
 payment of their notes longer than the year allowed by 
 the legislature should be exteufied, which third party, it 
 will be recollected, is the people, Mr. Wright says : 
 
 *' For the last six or seven years the jieople of this 
 state, thnxigh their representatives in the legislature, have 
 been much too indulgent in yiMin<^ to thf- cupidity of 
 individuals, and the personal and unwearied sidicilations 
 of the interested,* for local bank charters ; and the mis- 
 chiefs resulting from that mistaken lenity are now visit- 
 ing themselves upon us with a severity which usually 
 pursues any criminal laxity of vigilance in a pojmlar gov- 
 ernment. Almost from the commencement of our gov- 
 ernment, state and national banks have been incorpora- 
 ted by legislative authority, and by the powers and privi- 
 leges granted to them, have been made the practical 
 trustees of the currency of the people. As we have re- 
 ceded from the days of the revolution, the sutferings of 
 that period, and one of the most severe among them was 
 
 • Evpry old member of the legislature knows this to be true ; and Mr. 
 Wright himself could have testified, from his own experience, many things 
 in relation to the personal and unwearied solicitatious of the interested for 
 local bank charters. — Editor. 
 
154 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 a depreciated paper currency, have become dim in the 
 recollection, and in just about that proportion we hnve 
 increased our banks and our paper circulation. But one 
 revulsion of a general character anterior to the present 
 time, has overtaken us in this career of substituting credit 
 for money. That revulsion, much less general and severe 
 than the present, was occasioned by the greatest of all 
 national calamities, a foreign war and a barren treasury, 
 and was made imperative much more by the wants of 
 the national treasury, and its calls upon the banks for 
 support, than from any exigencies growing out of the 
 private and ordinary transactions of the banks themselves. 
 In consequence of this, the banks were countenanced and 
 sustained by the people in their suspension of specie pay- 
 ments. Then the choice for the people to make was, be- 
 tween the preservation of their soil and their liberties, assail- 
 ed by a most formidable foe, and the preservation of their 
 currency, impaired to support the government in the ar- 
 duous struggle. 
 
 " Now we have a revulsion entirely universal, and that 
 immediately succeeding a period of prosperity such as no 
 country upon the face of the earth ever before expe- 
 rienced, and without any national calamity of any char- 
 acter whatsoever, preceding or accompanying it, with 
 which it can be in any possible way connected. It has 
 proceeded wholly from overtrading, excessive specula- 
 tions, and all sorts of extravagance consequent upon ex- 
 cessive banking, and the cheapening of credits in every 
 department of business. All the banks have suspended 
 / specie payments, and we have an inconvertible paper 
 ' currency depreciated, upon an average, full ten per cent, 
 below the par value of money. 
 
 " This is the injury under which the whole people now 
 
LIFK OF rilLAS WRIGHT. 155 
 
 suffer ; and its necessary consequences, an instability in the 
 prices of property, the too great depression in the value of 
 property generally, and the perfect uncertainty whether 
 that which is currency, is money to the citizen when he goes 
 to his rest at night, may not be valueless paper when he 
 wakes in the morning, attend this derangement of our 
 currency much more closely and extensively than upon 
 any former occasion, because the causes now apparent 
 for this suspension by the banks are so insufficient to ex- 
 cuse the course pursued. 
 
 " What is now the choice and duty of the people ? 
 They have no great national interest to balance against 
 this great evil. In a national sense, all but this is well. 
 Their direct interest, then, is the most speedy restoration 
 of their currency. The i)Ower is w ith them. We have 
 shown that no interest involved is entitled to interpose 
 itself l)etween them and this vital object. This interest 
 is paramount, and should command the pojjular action. 
 We have urged a strict obedience to the law, and a con- 
 sequent strict compliance with all the provisions of the 
 extension act of the present legislature. 
 
 " All this being done and suffered, w^e say the people 
 should command an immediate restoration of specie pay- 
 ments. Not a day more should the continuance of the 
 suspension be suffered. Members should be sent to the 
 next legislature, whose principles and o|)inions are with 
 the people upon this point. With them is the power ; 
 and if they will it, the continuance of the suspension of 
 specie payments by the banks will end with the day 
 which closes the action of the present suspension law. 
 The banks would not have forfeited their charters if that 
 law had not passed. Some lew institutions, perhaps, in- 
 solvent in fact, might have been wound up; and the 
 
156 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 sooner that is done now the better, for every great inter- 
 est, pubUc or private : but the solvent banks, we repeat, 
 would not have incurred the forfeiture. They were 
 careful so to make tlieir movement as to compel legisla- 
 tive action, if legislative action were to be had, within 
 the ten days allowed them by their charters to suspend, 
 and the resumption of specie payments was at their op- 
 tion after the final adjournment of the legislature. 
 
 " Let, then, the banks now know that that act of sus- 
 pension is the last, and let them and the next legislature 
 be prepared for the expiration of that law." 
 
 These views of Mr. Wright were copied from the St. 
 Lawrence Republican into the Albany Argus and other 
 papers, which had an extensive circulation ; and so con- 
 scious was every reader of the truth of his statement, and 
 so clear and convincing was his reasoning, that we have 
 no doubt they had a preponderating effect in producing a 
 determination in the minds of a majority of the people 
 against extending the time for the suspension of specie 
 payments by the banks. 
 
 The second number of " The Times" treated of " The 
 duties and responsibilities imposed upon the national 
 government by the suspension of specie payments by the 
 state hanJtS." 
 
 As this article was written some time before the presi- 
 dent recommended the independent treasury plan ; as it 
 presents many propositions which are applicable to all 
 times as well as to the eventful period of 1837 ; and more 
 especially as it exhibits the action of the mind of Silas 
 Wright on the great question, whether the financial con- 
 cerns of a great commercial nation can be safely con- 
 ducted without the aid of chartered banks, before that 
 question had been discussed in any legislative assembly, 
 
LIKE OK .<ii..\s \vri<;ht. 157 
 
 and as it shadowed forth the scheme of an independent 
 treasury, whicli was ultimately established by law, we 
 shall take the liberty to copy it ; in the mean time re- 
 marking, that if the reader shall derive as much pleasure 
 from its |>erusal as we have done, he will not regret the 
 space which it occujiies. 
 
 • The duties and resj)onsibilities of the federal govern- 
 ment in this, as well as in all other respects, must be meas- 
 ured bv its delegated powers, and it will therefore be 
 proper for us to look at the extent of those jKJwers before 
 we attejupt to prescril)e the duties or impress the respon- 
 sibilities u|K>n our public servants. 
 
 "The constitution of the United States is the charter 
 of the [xjwers and privileges conferred upon the govern- 
 ment of the United States ; it is the only charter of j)ow- 
 ers, or |)rivileges, which has ever been granted by the 
 people, or the states, to that government. To that instru- 
 ment, therefore, alone we iiave to look for the powers 
 after which we seek, to determine the extent of the pres- 
 ent discussion. 
 
 ■' In tlu- filth clause of the eighth section of the first ar- 
 ticle of the constitution of the United States, among the 
 powers conferred upon the congress of the United States, 
 we find the following — ' To coin money, regulate the 
 value thereof, and of foreign coin. This is every word 
 we find ill ihut instrument conferring upon the congress 
 any power what.soever over our coin or currency. The 
 power here conferred is full and exclusive to make the 
 coin and declare its value, and to declare the value of 
 foreign coins, and here it ends. Nothing is found relative 
 to the regulation of currency, any farther than that curren- 
 cy consists of coins, and not one word as to the regulation 
 or equalization of our exchanges, foreign or domestic. 
 
 14 
 
158 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 ■' We therefore repudiate and reject, from our consid- 
 eration of this topic, all the modern ideas of our political 
 opponents, and perhaps of some of our political friends, 
 as to the duties of the federal government in the regula- 
 tion of our currency, and of the exchanges between the 
 states. These are new doctrines which have grown up 
 with the other imagined necessities for a national bank, 
 and, indeed, constitute the essence and root of all the ar- 
 guments out of which such an institution, under our sys- 
 tem, ever has grown, or ever will be produced in future. 
 All the reasoning, heretofore, in favor of a national bank 
 has been drawn, not from the constitution, but from ex- 
 pediency ; not from any grant of power, but from sup- 
 posed implication to almost every important power con- 
 ferred upon congress. If all the reasons ever urged be 
 carefully examined, and traced to their proper source and 
 bearing, they will be found to result in the mere position 
 that it is necessary, or expedient, or both, that congress 
 should assume upon itself the regulation of the currency 
 of the states generally, and also the regulation of the ex- 
 changes between them. 
 
 "All this great field of discussion we exclude from our 
 consideration of the present subject, with the declaration 
 that congress has no power to do these things by the con- 
 stitution ; that congress has never done them ; that con- 
 gress cannot do them. The states do not assume any 
 power to coin money, or regulate the value of coin, but 
 they have ever assumed and exercised, and do now as- 
 sume and exercise, the powder to regulate the collection 
 of debts within their limits, to prescribe what shall be re- 
 ceived by the creditor in payment from his debtor, as a 
 consideration for the aid of the state laws in the collec- 
 tion of his demand. Even at this very day some of the 
 
J.IFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 150 
 
 states are passing laws declaring that all compulsory pro- 
 cess for the collection of debts within their limits shall 
 be stayed in all cases where the creditor refuses to re- 
 ceive in payment from his debtor, at the par value, the 
 irredeemable and inconvertible paper of the state banks. 
 Are laws of this character, passed by the state legisla- 
 tures, violations of the constitution of the United States, 
 and infringements upon the powers granted to congress 
 by that instrument ? — for it must not be forgotten th;it 
 the constitution itself expressly reserves to the states and 
 the people all powers not expressly delegated to the fed- 
 eral government or prohibited by it to the states. If the 
 answer be that these laws are not violations of the con- 
 stitution and an infringement upon the powers granted to 
 congress, then how can it be contended that congress can 
 regulate the currency, when, pending the existence and 
 execution of laws of this character in and by the .several 
 states, any regulations which congress might establi.sh for 
 a uniform currency could neither be available to the cred- 
 itor, nor obligatory upon the debtor ? In a word, any 
 currency established by congress could not be, within the 
 practical and useful sense of that term, a currency for 
 the citizens of the several states, without the permission, 
 or concurrent action, of the authorities of the states. On 
 the other hand, if the answer be that these laws are vio- 
 lations of the constitution of the United States and an 
 infringement ujxm the constitutional powers of congress, 
 what can that body substitute for their action ? The an- 
 swer is found in the words of the constitution itself It can 
 coin money, and regulate the value thereof, and can do 
 nothing further ; and the violation must consist in pre- 
 venting the creditor from availing himself of the curren- 
 cy which the -congress can thus constitutionally create 
 
160 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 and regulate, and in relieving the debtor from the pay- 
 ment of his debt in that currency. 
 
 " We do not intend, upon the present occasion, nor is 
 it necessary for our purpose, to express any opinion, or 
 enter into any discussion, as to the extent of the powers 
 of the state legislatures over the collection of debts with- 
 in their respective limits, or how far they may authorize, 
 establish, and regulate, either through the instrumentality 
 of banks, or otherwise, a practical currency within their 
 jurisdictions and for their citizens, provided their regula- 
 tions for any of these purposes do not violate the prohi- 
 bitions upon the states to be found in the tenth section of 
 the first article of the constitution. It is sufficient for 
 us that the power of congress over the currency of its 
 own creation and regulation is confined to the collection 
 and disbursement of the public revenues, and that no 
 branch of the federal government has the power to make 
 even coin a currency binding and obligatory upon the 
 citizens of the several states for any other purpose, or to 
 prescribe to them a currency for any other uses. 
 
 " If the regulation of the currency within, and between 
 the states be not within the constitutional power of con- 
 gress, it will scarcely be contended that the regulation of 
 the exchanges between the commercial cities, a mere use 
 of currency, is conferred by the power ' to coin money, 
 regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin.' 
 
 " The power of congress, then, over the currency and 
 domestic exchanges of the country, is confined to the col- 
 lection and disbursement of the public revenues, and 
 consists in the power to prescribe in what description 
 of currency those revenues shall be received and paid 
 out. 
 
 " That the only currency known to the constitution i.s 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 161 
 
 a currency of intrinsic value, a metallic currency, a cur- 
 rency of coin according to the value placed upon it by 
 congress, is a fact too plain for contradiction or question. 
 Congress derives no power, from that instrument, to 
 make, to establish, or to regulate the value of any other 
 currency, nor is any thing else recognised therein as 
 money. 
 
 " From these facts it results, as the most plain and ob- 
 vious duty of congress, that he who has a demand against 
 the federal government tor ' money' should be paid that 
 demand in money, or, if in any other medium of exchange, 
 that that medium, whatever it may be, should be equiv- 
 alent to ' money,' equivalent to coin, as the value thereof 
 is regulated by congress. 
 
 " The revenues of the federal government are derived 
 directly from the i)eople. They pay for the public lands 
 which are purchased, and they purchase and consume 
 the foreign dutiable grxxls which are imported. From 
 these sources the national revenues are received into the 
 national treasury, and hence arises another imperious 
 dutv of everv department of the national government, 
 viz : the duty of adopting such measures, in reference to 
 the national finances, as can be adopted consistently with 
 the constitutional powers conferred upon them, and are 
 best calculated to furnish to the people a solvent, equa- 
 ble, and stable currency in which to pay these dues and 
 taxes. 
 
 " The process, in the transmission of property, from 
 the producer, the manufacturer, the transporter, the mer- 
 chant, to the consumer, must not be overlooked, when 
 we are discussing great general interests, such as now 
 occupy our attention. Profit in trade is the rule of ac- 
 tion and the governing principle <>f all employments, 
 
 14* 
 
162 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 trades, and professions ; and the ingredients of price of 
 any commodity, at every step, are the costs and charges 
 to him who offers the commodity for sale. Upon these 
 costs and charges his profits are estimated, and the addi- 
 tion of the whole is the purchaser's limit, within which 
 he cannot buy, but beyond which he must pay, in case 
 any change of market has increased the value of the ar- 
 ticle in the hands of • the holder. Duties to the govern- 
 ment, therefore, constitute an ingredient of price in the 
 demand of the retailing merchant for imported dutiable 
 merchandise, and upon those duties as well as upon the 
 original cost of the goods the consumer has to pay the 
 ordinary mercantile profits of the importer, the jobber, 
 and the retailer. If, added to the duties, there is a dis- 
 count upon currency, that too must constitute a new in- 
 gredient of price, upon which the same series of profits 
 must be added, and all must be paid by the consumer. 
 This addition to the intrinsic value of his purchase does 
 not confine itself to a single ingredient of the selling 
 price, but covers the whole, and is to be added, to the 
 extent, upon every and all charges which shall enter into 
 the seller's value. Can there, then, be a stronger, or 
 more palpable duty of the government than that, so far as 
 this influence of its action is concerned, the consumers 
 of foreign imported merchandise, who are the great mass 
 of the people of the country, should be relieved from a 
 most formidable tax, in the shape of an extensive depre- 
 ciation of the currency first, and of the various mercan- 
 tile profits upon that ingredient next in the selling prices 
 to consumers ? 
 
 " This view of the subject is strictly applicable to the 
 consumers of imported dutiable goods, because they must 
 he. paid for in a medium equivalent to specie, and be- 
 
LIFE OK :^U..\.-i VVUUiUT. 1(53 
 
 cause the consumer is the final payer of all costs and 
 charges, including the duties to the government, and the 
 losses consequent upon the depreciation of currency, if 
 such loss is sustained hv any one. 
 
 " The same duty upon the federal government is equal- 
 ly imf>erative as to that portion of the puhlic revenue 
 derived from the sales of lands, from another consider- 
 ation. The lands are the property of the whole peo- 
 ple. In the cession of them to the United States by the 
 several states, tiiev were pledged to meet ' the general 
 charge' upon the [ieople, and in their sale, therefore, every 
 citizen has an interest in direct proportion to his liahility 
 to taxation, direct or indirect, to su|>port the government, 
 and pay the debts and expenses of the nation. The price 
 of the lands is fixed by law at one dollar and twenty-five 
 cents per acre, and every acre sold should relieve the 
 tax-jiayers of the country from that amount of charge : 
 but if the lands be sold for a currency depreciated at the 
 rate of ten per cent., the peojile lose one-tenth of their 
 property in the lands so sold, which loss they must make 
 up to the national treasury by direct or indirect taxation. 
 Hence the obligation upon congress to protect the cur- 
 rency, so far as it may be within its constitutional power 
 to do so, is not less, arising from this than the other great 
 branch of the public revenue. 
 
 " Another duty, ecpially imperative upon the govern- 
 ment, and much more interesting and important to the 
 people, is that of a paternal guardianship over the rights 
 and interests of the governed ; and, as one of the most 
 vital among those rights and interests, the protection and 
 ; • -rvation, by all the ways and means in its power, of 
 the integrity, stability, and value of their currency. The 
 duties of the government, of which we have before spo- 
 
164 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 ken, are partial and limited, and extend only to particular 
 interests. This is general, and covers every interest of 
 the citizen relating to property, whether public or private, 
 local or general. The two former connect themselves 
 immediately with the interests and action of the federal 
 government, and the appeal, as to them, is therefore more 
 appropriately made under this head. This is universal, 
 and therefore addresses itself to all public servants, how- 
 ever constituted, and under whatever government, state 
 or national, and by whatever authority they may hold 
 and exercise their trusts. We have already, so far as our 
 opinions go, limited the power of the national govern- 
 ment over this matter to its necessary and constitutional 
 action in reference to the national finances. We are not 
 now to be understood as expressing an opinion in favor 
 of an extension of that limit, but as urging the duty with- 
 in the defined boundary. That the power exists to re- 
 quire that the currency of the national treasury shall be 
 according to the value of the currency created and regu- 
 lated by congress under the express grant of power con- 
 tained in the constitution, no one, w^e trust, does or can 
 doubt. It is the constant and continued and unvaried 
 exercise of that power which we ask, and we ask noth- 
 ing more. As one of the people, we think we have a 
 right to ask, nay, to demand this at the hands of our pub- 
 lic servants, and we do demand it. The direct benefits 
 will be to save us from loss in paying our exactions 
 to the government, and in the sales of our lands ; and 
 the consequential benefits, in the influence this course 
 on the part of congress will exert upon the legislation of 
 the states, and upon those who now control our cur- 
 rency through the means of the local banks, will be 
 all-sufficient, at an early day, to restore our currency 
 
r.lFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 166 
 
 to what it has so lately been and what it ought to 
 
 be. 
 
 " We know that it has been asked by some, if there 
 should be established for the government a better cur- 
 rency than is ;illowed to the people? We answer, No! 
 the thing is imiwjssible. The currency of the govern- 
 ment is the currency of the j)eopIe, as the government 
 itself is the government of the i)eople. If the govern- 
 ments, state and national, recjuire a sound currency for 
 themselves, and provide for and secure it by their legis- 
 lation, that same legislation will provide for and secure a 
 sound currency for the people ; the currency provided 
 for, authorized, and sustained by law for the governments 
 will be the currency of the ))eople ; but when either or 
 both governnients shall legislate for and permit, for their 
 uses, an unsound and depreciated and inconvertible cur- 
 rency, the currency of the |>eople must also be unsound, 
 depreciated, and inconvertible. The only control the 
 people can exercise over the matter is through their re- 
 siH^ctive legislatures, state and national; and if that con- 
 trol be exerci.sed in favor of an unsound currency, the 
 government and the people must have an unsound cur- 
 rency, because it is made unsound, or continued so, by 
 the act of the jieople, through their servants ; while, on 
 the contrary, if that control be exercised in favor of a 
 sound cuiTency, l)<)th must and will have a sound cur- 
 rency, because both the governments and the people 
 will it. 
 
 " Among the responsibilities of the federal government, 
 that of keeping safely the moneys collected from the peo- 
 ple, so that they may be ready, at the calls of the public 
 treasury, without subtraction or depreciation, stands 
 prominent. At ])eriods, when a proper relation exists 
 
IG6 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 between the revenues collected and the wants of the gov- 
 ernment for expenditures, this responsibility may be dis- 
 charged without difficulty or danger ; but, when overtra- 
 ding in foreign merchandise, or over-speculation in the 
 })ublic lands, swells the sources of revenue greatly beyond 
 the wants of the government, it becomes one of great 
 difficulty, delicacy, and hazard. The evils which destroy 
 the equilibrium tend necessarily to impair the safety of 
 the ordinary and natural depositories, the banks of the 
 states, and offer temptations to unfaithfulness to individ- 
 ual guardians, should such be selected. 
 
 " Another responsibility resting upon the national gov- 
 ernment is that of guarding and preserving, even beyond 
 the reach of just suspicion at home or abroad, the credit 
 of the United States, as a body politic. This high trust 
 can be but very imperfectly discharged, and cannot be 
 discharged at all to the benefit of the people, for any length 
 of time, with a disordered and depi'eciated currency sanc- 
 tioned by its authority. 
 
 " Our limits will not permit us to go farther in the enu- 
 meration of the duties and responsibilities imposed upon 
 the national government, by the present state of our mon- 
 etary affairs, inasmuch as it remains for us to consider 
 what can be done to rem^edy existing evils, and to restore 
 a better condition of things. We shall be best able to 
 make ourselves intelligible to our readers, in this part of 
 the inquiry, by first reviewing, very concisely, what has 
 been done upon all former occasions of trouble and diffi- 
 culty. 
 
 " The constitution of the United States was finally rat- 
 ified by the states, and took effect as a system of govern- 
 ment on the 4th of March, 1789. At that time the 
 country was severely oppressed from heavy debts, both 
 
LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 167 
 
 national and state, an entire derangement of the curren- 
 cy, and a gi'eat depression of public credit, all conse(iuent 
 upon the war of the revolution. In 1791 a national bank 
 was resorted to as a means of extrication from all these 
 evils. A charter for a national bank was granted for a 
 term of twenty years, and that institution became the de- 
 pository of the public moneys and the fiscal agent of the 
 treasury during its existence. The charter expired on 
 the 1th of March, 1811. Twenty years' experience of 
 tiie benefits and evils of such an institution had been 
 given to the people of the United States, and during the 
 whole time the magnitude of the jaiblic debt, the difiicul- 
 tics with the most |)owerful of the nations of Europe, the 
 want of capital at home to improve the resources of the 
 country, and the almost universal i)ecuniary embarrass- 
 ment resting both up(jn the governments, state and na- 
 tional, and upon the individual citizens, gave the benefits 
 the fullest possible opi)ortunity for favorable apjireciation. 
 Still the evils prejionderated, in the judgment of the peo- 
 ple, and an extension of the charter was refused, and that 
 too when it was most palpable that we were on the eve 
 of a war with Great Britain. From this time until 181G, 
 the secretary of the treasury was the keeper, under the 
 direction of the president, of the national treasure, and the 
 state banks were made by him the fiscal agents of the public 
 treasury. During this jieriod we passed through our sec- 
 ond British war, with a triumijh to our national valor and 
 national honor of which every American is justly proud. 
 An extensive derangement of our currency and a large 
 atldition to our national debt, were among the conse- 
 quences of this foreign war, and these consequences 
 drew after them a very considerable depression of na- 
 tional credit. 
 
168 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 " Again a national bank was pressed, as the only effec- 
 tual panacea for these evils ; and in 1816 another charter 
 for such an institution, to continue for the term of twen- 
 ty years, was obtained from congress. This institution 
 also became, at once, the depository of the public moneys 
 and the fiscal agent of the federal treasury. Again the 
 American people were favored with twenty years' expe- 
 rience of the good and evil of a national bank, and again 
 their verdict pronounced the evil immensely to prepon- 
 derate, and commanded their representatives to put an 
 end to the institution. This second charter expired on 
 the 4th of March, 1836, and since that time the state 
 banks have again been made the depositories of the pub- 
 lic treasure and the fiscal agents of the public treasury. 
 A selected number of these institutions first received this 
 high trust from executive order and regulation only, but 
 a subsequent law of congress sanctioned and adopted the 
 system, and prescribed rules and limitations for it. It is 
 important for us to notice but a single provision of this law, 
 and that provision is, that no bank note shall be received 
 in payment of dues to the government, or paid out in dis- 
 charge of debts due from the government, which is not 
 convertible into gold and silver coin at the will and pleas- 
 ure of the holder. 
 
 " Under this law, with this provision incorporated in it, 
 all the existing deposite banks accepted their high trust 
 to the government and people of the country, and re- 
 ceived some forty millions of the public treasure ; and 
 yet, strange to tell, before a single twelvemonth had 
 passed away, they all refuse to pay gold and silver for 
 their notes. Nay, more and farther and worse, they even 
 refuse to pay to the government any thing but their own 
 irredeemable bank notes, those notes which the law above 
 
LIFK OK rilKAa VVIUUUT. 1U9 
 
 mentioned prohibits the othcers ol" tlie government from 
 either receiving or paying out, lor the milhons intrusted 
 to their sale-keeping. Still farther, the drafts of the 
 treasurer of the L'nited States, drawn upon a depos- 
 ite bank for a mere trust fund, Ixlonging to individual 
 citizens, which fund was by the government injported 
 from abroad in gold and silver, and in gold and silver 
 placed in that bank for safe-keeping, have l)een dishonor- 
 ed and returned without payment, l)ecause the holder of 
 tiie drafts wcnild not receive the irredeemable bills of that 
 bank in satisfaction. 
 
 " The.se violations of law and contract by the deposile 
 banks have comj»elled an extraordinary convtK-ation of 
 congress, that measures may be adopted to relieve the 
 treasury from the embarrassments resting uiK)n it Irom 
 the provisions of the <leposite law, and the failure of the 
 hajiks to comjily with their obligations. 
 
 •'What ought congress to do? is the great question. 
 Can a national bank be resorted to, even if it could rem- 
 edy the evils we suffer ? Twice such an institution has 
 been tried, and twice have the peo|»le pronounced their 
 verdict that it shall not have existence within our con- 
 federacy ; that its j)owers to produce expansions and 
 contractions in the currency, and overtradings, sjH^cula- 
 tions, panics, and pressures, arc much superior to its 
 powers to regulate, restrain, or sustain our circulating 
 medium ; that the f)olitical dangers and evils arising from 
 it to the purity and stability of our free institutions, far 
 outweigh any |)romise of benefits ; that the constitution of 
 the United States has not conferred upon congress any 
 power to charter such an institution, and that no such 
 charter shall emanate from the hands of their representa- 
 tives. The voice in which this last verdict w;us so dis- 
 
 15 
 
170 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 tinctly and clearly pronounced, yet sounds in our ears, 
 and warns us against repeating this doubly-condemned 
 experiment. 
 
 " Shall the state banks be further continued as public 
 depositories and fiscal agents of the treasury ? Shall 
 millions more be intrusted to these institutions which re- 
 fuse to respond for what they have received for safe- 
 keeping, except by their own irredeemable and faithless 
 promises to pay ? Shall congress recede from the ground 
 it has taken, that the debts of the nation shall be paid in 
 a currency equivalent to specie, and convertible into spe- 
 cie at .the will of the holder ? Shall it legalize as curren- 
 cy, and establish as the circulating medium of the national 
 treasury, the irredeemable notes of the state banks, and 
 import gold and silver from other countries to be ex- 
 changed for such a miserable representative of money ? 
 We have, as yet, heard no such claim preferred in favor 
 of these banks, from any quarter, and we will not stop to 
 argue a position which seems to be so plain, as that 
 these banks have forfeited all further confidence from 
 the treasury, and cannot be relied upon as its fiscal 
 agents. 
 
 " What, then, can congress do ? We answer, try the 
 yet untried expedient. Produce a perfect and entire sep- 
 aration between the finances of the nation and all the 
 banks of issue, or discount, however or by whatever au- 
 thority existing ; between the national treasury and those 
 artificial creations of legislation upon which we have 
 hitherto so unfortunately attempted to depend. We have 
 tried the faith of these soulless existences, in all their 
 forms of being, and that fiiith has always failed us in the 
 hour of utmost need. Now let us trv the faith of nat- 
 ural persons, of moral, accountable agents, of freemen 
 
MFE OF SILAS WKIGHT. 171 
 
 Let congress trust the safe-keeping of the public treasure 
 with citizens, as such, and not as bank corporators ; with 
 men responsible to itself, and not to a moneyed institu- 
 tion. Let collections into the national treasury be col- 
 lections of money, or its equivalent, not of irredeemable 
 paper ; and when the government owes a citizen, let 
 him, for that debt, be able to obtain money, or its equiva- 
 lent, and not inconvertible bank notes. 
 
 "We are told, and no doubt truly, that the connection 
 between the public treasury and the banks has aided to 
 produce the excesses we now so deeply deplore. Let not 
 the treasury again contrii)ute its agency to such severe 
 inflictions upon the jteople. When duties are to l)e paid 
 to the government, let them be paid in fact, not practical- 
 ly credited by a system of deposite in banks which ena- 
 bles the nierchant to withdraw with one han<l what he 
 j)laces in the bank with the other. If lands are sold, let 
 the money paid for them be retained by the government 
 to which it belongs, until its wants shall call for its use. 
 Ex[)Iod(' the mi.schievous doctrine, now so generally pro- 
 mulgated, that the merchant, or the sj)ecuIator, has a 
 right to the u.se of every dollar of money in the national 
 treasury ; and, when overtrading shall unduly increase 
 the revenue from customs, or mad speculations swell the 
 amounts received for sales of lands, let the accumulations 
 of cash capital in the treasury check the.se excesses, be- 
 fore their bitter fruits are realized, as now, in the destruc- 
 tion of credit, the derangpment and depreciation of the 
 currency, the depression of property, and the prostration 
 of business generally." 
 
 In pursuance of the proclamation of the president, con- 
 gress convened on the 4th of September. The first mes- 
 sage of Mr. Van Buren to congress must be in the recol- 
 
172 LIFE OF SIT.AS WRIGHT. 
 
 lection of every reader. He recommended an entire 
 dissolution of all connection between the government and 
 the banks. There was then an existing law forbidding 
 the collectors of the national revenue to receive any 
 thing in payment but gold and silver coin, or the bills of 
 banks convertible at the will of the holder into specie, at 
 the place where they were offered in payment to the offi- 
 cers of the government. As at that time no banks in the 
 United States paid specie for their notes, no collections 
 could be made. The president, therefore, recommended 
 the issue of treasury notes for the payment of the dues 
 from the government, and which should be receivable for 
 debts due the United States treasury. Mr. Wright, as 
 chairman of the finance committee, on the 14th of Sep- 
 tember reported to the senate a bill for establishing an 
 independent treasury. As the bill was drawn, the treas- 
 urer was not forbidden to receive the bills of specie-pay- 
 ing banks. Mr. Calhoun declared he could not support 
 this bill unless a clause was inserted in it, prohibiting the 
 officers of the government from receiving any thing in 
 payment of the revenue except coin, and moved an 
 amendment to that effect, which was afterwards known 
 as the " specie clause." The amendment was accepted 
 by Mr. Wright. In this form the bill passed the senate, 
 though it encountered a furious opposition from the whigs, 
 and was also opposed by Mr. Tallmadge and Mr. Rives, 
 two of the democratic members. The vote on the final 
 passage of the bill was 26 to 20. In the house of repre- 
 sentatives it was laid on the table, so that it failed of be- 
 coming a law during that session. 
 
 Mr. Wright also reported a bill authorizing the issue 
 of treasury notes to the amount of ten millions of dollars, 
 which, after a vigorous opposition in both houses, (the 
 
MFK or SILAa VVKIUHT. 173 
 
 whigs preferring a loan to the issue of treasury notes,) 
 was passed into a law. 
 
 At the regular session in December, 1837, Mr. Wright 
 again introduced the inde{)endent treasury bill. Long 
 and able discussions followed, in which he took a distin- 
 guished part. The ground taken by him was, that it was 
 then demonstrated that the state banks could not be re- 
 lied on as the fiscal agents of the national government, 
 because, among other things, that government had no 
 constitutional power of controlling them, and therefore 
 the true (juestion was, between the establishment of a 
 treasury by the government, or chartering a national 
 bank. He and many of those with whom he acted be- 
 lieved the latter measure unconstitutional ; and of course, 
 in their judgment, the passage of the bill he hjid intro- 
 duced was the only remedy to which they could have re- 
 course. He insisted there was no middle ground between 
 these measures. 
 
 The specie clause in the bill before the senate was 
 stricken out by a strong vote before it passed that body ; 
 but notwithstanding this alteration, like its predecessor, it 
 was laid on the table in the house of representatives, 
 where it remained till the session terminated. 
 
 The same bill, without the specie clause, was brought 
 forward at the next session, (1838-!),) and ag:iin failed of 
 becoming a law. But the elections for members of the 
 twenty-sixth congress resulted in the choice of a majority 
 in favor of the independent treasury, and at the latter 
 part of that session, a law for the establishment of an in- 
 dependent treasury, without the specie clause, passed both 
 houses of congress, and was a[)proved by the president 
 on \\\c fourth day of Juh/, 1840. 
 
 During the winter of 1838, the subject of slavery was 
 
 15* 
 
174 LIFE OF SILAS WEIGHT. 
 
 agitated, and "on the 10th day of Jan. 1838," says Mr. 
 Jenkins, in his biography of Silas Wright, " Mr. Wright 
 voted with Mr. Clay and others, in favor of a resolution 
 declaring that any interference on the part oi the citi- 
 zens of other states with the District [of Columbia] en- 
 dangered the rights of the citizens of such district, viola- 
 ted the implied faith in which the cession was made by 
 Maryland and Virginia, and would disturb and endanger 
 the Union." 
 
 We think this resolution was wrong in principle ; 
 but whether wrong or right, the fact that Mr. Clay voted 
 for it ought not to affect the merits of Mr. Wright's vote. 
 Probably Mr. Jenkins did not so intend, and we call at- 
 tention to it for the purpose of remarking, that it affords 
 no justification or excuse, as some persons affect to be- 
 lieve, for a statesman to vote for a wrong measure, by 
 showing that an eminent political opponent voted for the 
 same measure. 
 
 Mr. Rives, of Virginia, probably encouraged by the 
 success of this motion, offered a similar resolution in re- 
 gard to slavery in territories other than the District of 
 Columbia, and which further declared that the people of 
 those territories had the exclusive right to determine 
 themselves on the question of slavery ; but Mr. Wright 
 voted against this resolution. 
 
 On his return from congress in March, 1839, enter- 
 tainments were tendered to Mr. Wright at Harrisburs 
 where the Pennsylvania legislature was then in session, 
 and at the city of New York. These public testimonials 
 of respect he declined, and hastened home, anxious to 
 quit the excitements and the bustle of political life for 
 the quiet enjoyment of the society of his family, and. his 
 old neighbors and friends. He spent the summer during 
 
LIFE OF SlLAd URU;ilT. 175 
 
 the recess of congress at Cuntoii, anil although lie had 
 declined the honors and festivities ollered him at the caj>- 
 ital of the great state of Pennsylvania, and by the great- 
 est city on the continent of North America, situated in 
 his own state, yet when his plain and honest neighbors at 
 Canton requested him to deliver an address to them on 
 the FoLRTii DAY i)F Ji'i.Y, this great statesman, to whom 
 senators listened with profound resi)ect. <lid not refuse to 
 complv with the reipiest of his friends and neighbors — 
 the citizens of a country village. At that time, besides his 
 domestic avocations, great and important public meas- 
 ures must have occupied every moment he c^mld devote 
 to serious thinking. His compliance therefore must have 
 subjected him to nmch inconvenience ; but Silas Wright 
 was not the man to disregani the wishes of old friends. 
 We have l)een so fortunate as to obtain a copy of this 
 address.* We confess we were agreeably disap[M>inted 
 
 • The followiiij; is a copy of .Mr. Wright'ii reply to Judge JeiiiiMU, the 
 Moil. J. Ijenho Kiimell, uiid oUiem, who rrqiiCHted a copy of' hb address 
 for publicutioii. It ohowx the extreme reluctance with which he consent- 
 ed to the publication, na well ait the delivery of an oration on that occaMion. 
 
 Canton, 13th July, 1839. 
 
 (Jenti.kmkn : — Your iioti- of the Iflth instant, rr()iir»tinir a copy of the 
 addresti delivered by ine on the 4lh. in conformity with your ret|ue«t, for 
 the ptiriNwe of publication, wa.t placed in my handi* this inoniini;. I'he 
 reluctance which I exprewied ai< to a compliance with your reqiieHt to de- 
 liver the addresH wu» nnfeigni-d, but wan overcome by your prcHeiitution 
 of the cluiniH which my fi-lJow-ctiZeiiH of our county, and e.ipecially ol 
 our town, could, of ri);ht, make u|>nn me in a mutter of this mrt. 
 
 Your present n-quest, beiiiij preferred on the name (rroimdH, must meet 
 the xaine compliance from me, n cnmpliance, [ bei; you to believe, (jen- 
 lieiiien, however mucii it may impi-uch my appreciation of my obligations 
 to the best of friend^i, and tlio most faithful of couiitituouls, even more re- 
 luctantly yielded than wa.i that to your first call. 
 
176 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 in reading it ; we thought that the subjects to which he 
 would be confined in addressing a mixed audience, com- 
 posed of persons of all sects in religion and all parties in 
 politics, would prevent even Silas Wright from producing 
 any thing which would not, in some respects, be tiresome. 
 But though the truisms in the address under considera- 
 tion are old, they are presented in such a new and agree- 
 able shape that they cannot fail to gratify a reader, not- 
 withstanding his taste may be somewhat fastidious. For 
 ourselves, although we recognised some of the orator's 
 positions as of long standing, we were as delighted on 
 encountering them here, as one is to meet with old friends. 
 
 Mr. Wright, after an eloquent allusion to the great 
 events intended to be celebrated by the exercises and fes- 
 tivities of the day, says : 
 
 " It is believed to be a common and prevalent error of 
 our people of the present day, to pay too little regard to 
 the civil events of the American Revolution, as contra- 
 distinguished from the military ; to consider that revolu- 
 tion as perfected at the termination of hostilities and the 
 treaty of peace ; to rejoice with a just joy, at the success 
 of our arms in the great and fearful contest, and to con- 
 sider our present constitutional forms of government, state 
 and national, as having followed of course, and as neces- 
 sary consequences, from our military success. If this 
 belief be well founded, the error is of evil tendency, and 
 its correction is essential to a proper understanding of 
 
 A copy of the address accompanies this reply, and is submitted to the 
 disposition of the committee. 
 
 With the highest respect, your felbw-citizen, 
 
 SILAS WRIGHT, Jr. 
 Hon. MiNET Jenison, and others, 
 
 Committee of Arrangements, &c. 
 
LIFE OF BILA8 WRIGHT. 177 
 
 our national constituuon, and of the rights and duties of 
 the citizens under it. " 
 
 He then juuceeds to sketch a lively picture of the civil 
 condition of the old thirteen colonies, at the commence- 
 ment of the Ilevolutionary war, and their political posi- 
 tion as states at the close of it. He next gives a succinct 
 but clear view of the articles of the old confederation, 
 and briefly points out their fatal defects. He then details 
 rapidly the history of the formation and action of the 
 constitutional ctjnvention in 1788-9, and exhibits in bold 
 relief the dilHculties which the members of that assembly 
 had to encounter, and the sacrifices that each state was 
 comjielled to make to the interests or prejudices of other 
 states or .sections of the country. These were called 
 the " compromises" of the constitution. " That our con- 
 stitution," says Mr. Wright, " tnight have been more |)er- 
 fect, is (|uite po.ssible. That it was not vast/i/ mure im- 
 perfect, is matter of just wonder and astonishment, as it 
 ought to be of the most profound thankfulness to every 
 American heart " The great points for discussion in that 
 august assemijly. .Mi'. Wright happily sums up as f(jllows : 
 
 " 1. The establishment of a national government, com- 
 petent to manage the afl'airs of the Union by its own 
 powers. 
 
 " '2. The division of the powers conferred upon that 
 government into the legislative, executive, and judicial 
 branches. 
 
 •' 3. The mode of constituting the legislative branch, 
 whether in «>ne or two houses, the maimer in which the 
 members of each should l)e elected, or apjiointed, and 
 their tenns of service. 
 
 " 4. The formation of the executive branch, whether 
 of one or more persons, the source from which it 
 
178 LIFE OF SILAS WEIGHT. 
 
 should derive its election, or appointment, and its official 
 term. 
 
 " 5. The organization of the judicial branch, its official 
 tenure, its jurisdiction and powers, and the manner of 
 carrying its decisions into effect. 
 
 " 6. The enumeration and specification of the powers 
 which must be granted by the states, and the people, to 
 a common government, to enable it to accomplish the 
 objects proposed. 
 
 " 7. The ratio of representation of the people and the 
 states in either or both houses of the legislative branch 
 of that common government, and how far popular, and 
 how far state representation should constitute both, or 
 either. 
 
 "8. The basis upon which popular representation 
 should be established, throughout all the states, for federal 
 purposes." 
 
 After speaking of the sacrifices of political power by 
 the large states to the smaller ones, in giving the latter 
 an equal representation in one branch of the national le- 
 gislature, which ^Ir. Wright regards as one of the com- 
 promises, he says : 
 
 " We, fellow-citizens, are inhabitants of the most pop- 
 ulous state in the Union. Do we regret that the com- 
 promises are made ? That so much of our just relative 
 strength in the national government was surrendered to 
 secure so great an object ? Would we now consent to 
 bring the least possible danger upon this glorious system 
 of government by any effort to regain what was thus 
 generously yielded ? Would we even consent to agitate 
 the subject to the serious disquiet of the Union, or of our 
 sister states interested ? At the time of the adoption of 
 the constitution of the United States, Xew York was 
 
LIFE or SILAS WKIUUT. 179 
 
 among the class of the most populous states, but several 
 were more populous. Under the benign influence of that 
 constitution it is that she has reached her present envia- 
 ble height in population, wealth, and prosperity, and cer- 
 tainly we shall not be the portion of her population who 
 will set the example of placing in jeopardy an invaluable 
 good by the uncertain and ungracious pursuit of an ad- 
 vantage unimportant in the comparison. To propose 
 amendments to the constitution in a constitutional man- 
 ner, and urge their adoption by the fair exercise of truth 
 and reason, is a right derived from the instrument itself: 
 but beyond that, the compromises through which that 
 charter of our liberties and rights was obtained should 
 be as sacredly regarded as the charter itself" 
 
 The slave representation and the slave question Mr. 
 Wright regards as one of the compromises of the con- 
 stitution, and he protests against any interference what- 
 ever with the people of those states. He implores 
 his audience not to tolerate any prejudice against the 
 South in consequence of their exercising their consti- 
 tutional rights in holding slaves. This admirable ad- 
 dress closes with the following elegant and impressive 
 peroration : 
 
 '* If there be those among us, who, misled bv a mista- 
 ken sympathy, or by sudden excitement, upon anv sub- 
 ject, are forgetting their obligations to the whole countrv, 
 to the constitution, and the Union, let us use ever)' effort 
 of persuasion and example to awaken them to a sense of 
 their dangerous error. If those, who, for the sake of pri- 
 vate interest, personal ambition, or momentari- political 
 success, are willing to experiment upon the public pas- 
 sions, to treat lightly their constitutional obligations, to 
 foment sectional jealousies, and raise up geographical 
 
180 MIE OP SILAS WRIGHT, 
 
 distinctions within the Union, let the absence of our 
 countenance and support convince such, that the per- 
 sonal gratification, or public services of any living man, 
 are not objects of sufficient magnitude to be gained at 
 the expense of the harmony of the country, the peace of 
 the Union, or a single letter in the list of our constitu- 
 tional duties. If among us there be any, which Heaven 
 forbid, who are prepared, for any earthly object, to dis- 
 member our confederacy, and destroy that constitution 
 which binds us together, let the fate of an Arnold be 
 theirs, and let the detestation and scorn of every Ameri- 
 can be their constant companions, until, like him, they 
 shall abandon a country whose rich blessings they are no 
 longer worthy to enjoy. 
 
 " Towards foreigners, and foreign nations, let our con- 
 duct be governed by the strict rule of right. Let our 
 every duty, arising under the laws of nations, or the obli- 
 gations of treaties, be promptly and punctiliously per- 
 formed ; and then, neither claiming nor attempting to 
 exercise a right to interfere in their internal affairs, or to 
 control their civil and political institutions, let us give 
 them, at all times and under all circumstances, to under- 
 stand that we neither ask, nor will receive, any such 
 interference from them. 
 
 " Thus demeaning ourselves as citizens of the repub- 
 lic, and of the great commonwealth of nations, if the 
 time must come, when our proud temple of freedom 
 must fall, crushed by external violence, or rent asunder 
 by internal dissensions, let the freemen of New York sus- 
 tain, erect and unbroken, that pillar of the structure com- 
 mitted to their keeping, that, when every other may be 
 prostrate, and scattered over the face of our fair land, a 
 mass of shapeless ruins, it may stand a monument of 
 
LIFK iiK SILAS WKKJIir. 181 
 
 their fidelity to the jH-MlL-ct t-tlifice, aiul <»r their unyield- 
 ing attachment to constitutional liberty. " 
 
 Mr. V'an Huren had been unanimously nominated for 
 re-election at the election in 1840. The canvass was 
 warm and animated, but resulted in the election t)f Gen. 
 Harrison by a large majority. During the recess of con- 
 gress previous to the election, Mr. Wright devoted much 
 of his time and great talents in delivering iiddresses to 
 |)opular as.sen»blies, in favor of the re-election of Mr. Van 
 Duren. His j)oliticjd zeal on this occasion was rendered 
 more ardent by his pride as a \ew Yorker, and private 
 and |)ersonal frierulshij) for Mr. Nan Huren. 
 
 We have now arrived at a |X'ri«»«l when the p<ilitical 
 history, which was published in 181*2, and to which we 
 have frequently referred, closes. In (»ur next chapter we 
 therefore shall resume the jK»litical history of the state, 
 and continue it down to the c\nsQ of Atr. Wright's ad- 
 ministration as governor, at the end ()f the year 1846. 
 Mr. Wright's public life, es|K'ciaIly the last four years of 
 it, is so intimately blended with the history of the jM^liti- 
 cal parties which existed during that j)eri(Kl, that we can- 
 not, as we conceive, write the history of the one without 
 the other. 
 
 IG 
 
182 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Continuation of the Political History of the State of New York — Cata- 
 logue of the Senators — Whig and Democratic Caucuses for nomination 
 of Speaker — P. B. Porter, Jr. chosen Speaker — Governor's Message — 
 General Root's Resolution to amend the Constitution of the United 
 States — Virginia Controversy — The Glentworth Fraud — Removal of 
 Robert H. Morris from the Office of Recorder of 'New York— Freder- 
 ick A. Tallmadge appointed his successor — Proceedings on the Bill to 
 Abolish Capital Punishment — Bill for the appointment of County Su- 
 perintendents of Common Schools — John C. Spencer — His talents and 
 labors — E. S. Randall — Francis D wight— General Harrison's Inaugu- 
 ration — His Cabinet — His Death — Mr. Tyler's Cabinet— John C.Spen- 
 cer Secretary of War — Trial and Acquittal of Alexander McLeod — 
 William Kent appointed Circuit Judge of the First Circuit — Death of 
 Bates Cook — Result of the election in November, 1841. 
 
 Although the electoral ticket in favor of Gen. Harri- 
 son had obtained a majority of 13,202 over the demo- 
 cratic candidates for electors, the majority of Governor 
 Seward over Mr. Bouck, who was the candidate of the 
 adverse party, was only 5,203, and in the popular branch 
 of the legislature the whigs barely obtained a majority, — 
 for there were 66 whigs and 62 democrats elected ; thus 
 showing that the whig strength in the state had continued 
 steadily to decline since their great success at the elec- 
 tion in the autumn of 1837. Mr. Bouck, however, may 
 have received rather more than a strict party vote, by 
 means of the strong vote for him in his own native coun- 
 ty, Schoharie, and his great popularity along the line of 
 the Erie Canal, where he had so long officiated as canal 
 commissioner. 
 
1841.] whk; caucus. 183 
 
 The senate consisted of the following persons : 
 1st District. (Julian C. Verplanck, Charles Freeman, 
 Mitithorn Tompkins,* John B. Scott.* 
 
 iid. Henry A. Livingston, Daniel Johnson,* John Hun- 
 ter,* Rul)ert Dennison.* 
 
 3(1. Friend Humjthrey, AlonzoC. Paige,* Erastus Root, 
 H. \V. Strong.* 
 
 nil. Martin Lee, Bethuel Peck, James G. Hopkins, 
 John VV. Tavlor. 
 
 r>tli. Avery Skinner,* Joseph Clark,* Sunmer Ely,* 
 H«iiry A. Foster.* 
 
 (Jth. Laurens Hull, Alvah Hunt. Andrew B. Dickin- 
 son, \ehemiah I'latt. 
 
 7tli, John Maynard, RoU-rt C. Nicholas, Mark H. 
 Sibley, Elijah Rhoads. 
 
 8th. William A. Afosely, Heiiry Hawkins, Abraham 
 Dixoii, Samuel Works. 
 
 The gentlemen whose names are placed last in the cat- 
 alogue from each district, were chosen at the election in 
 November, 1840. To the name of each dermx-rat we 
 have placed a star, by which it will be .seen that the sen- 
 .ate this year consisted of 21 whigs and 11 democrats. 
 Of the menjbers chosen at this election, those fn»m the 
 fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth districts were whio^, 
 and in the remaining four districts the democratic candi- 
 dates were chosen. 
 
 The legislature met on Tuesdav the fifth day <>f Jan- 
 uary, but on the evening previous a caucus of the whig 
 members of the assembly was held for the purpo.se of 
 nominating their officers. Every whig member elected 
 was in attendance. After organizing, the meeting pro- 
 ceeded to ballot for speaker ; and on canva.ssinrr the bal- 
 lots, it appeared that Peter B. Porter, Jr., of Niagara 
 
184 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 
 
 county, nephew of Gen. Peter B. Porter, the late secre- 
 tary of war, had received 46 votes, and John M. Holly, 
 of Wayne, we presume a son of the late Myron Holly, 
 19. Mr. Porter was of course declared the nominee. 
 Philander B. Prindle, of Chenango county, the popular 
 clerk of the last house, was unanimously nominated clerk. 
 On the same evening, the democratic members held a 
 meeting for the same purpose which had induced that of 
 the whigs, when Levi S. Chatfield, of Otsego, was 
 nominated for speaker, and William W. Van Zant, of 
 Albany, for the office of clerk. In the caucus, upon bal- 
 loting, Mr. Chatfield received 45 votes, and Michael Hoff- 
 man 11. 
 
 Upon the assembly being called to order by Mr. Prin- 
 dle, on Tuesday morning, Mr. Porter received 65 votes, 
 and Mr. Chatfield 60 ; whereupon Mr. Porter was de- 
 clared speaker, and conducted to the chair, from which 
 he briefiv addressed the house, as is usual on such occa- 
 sions, and in an appropriate manner. Immediately after 
 the organization of the house by the appointment of its 
 officers, the message of the governor was announced and 
 read. It was lengthy, but was, as all had anticipated, 
 able and eloquent. We cannot here give even a skele- 
 ton so as to present, as it were, in miniature, this elabo- 
 rate message, and shall only attempt to exhibit some of 
 its more prominent features. 
 
 In relation to the fiscal concerns of the state, the gov- 
 ernor stated that the amount of duties on auction sales 
 received for the last year into the treasury, was 
 $164,621.38, and on salt, $155,961.16; that the amount 
 received for duties on sales at auction was $60,780.46 
 less than had been received the preceding year ; and that 
 within the same time there was a falling off in the re- 
 
1841] STATK KK\F.NUE, ETC. 185 
 
 ccipts lor the tax on salt of jB33,301.90 : the auction duties, 
 he alleged, were diiiiiuished in c«>tist'(juence ot the de- 
 pression of cotninerce during the last year, and that the 
 income from the salt works was reducetl for the reason 
 that less salt had Ix'en manufactured. This diminution 
 in the (juantity of salt manufactured he attrihuted to an 
 insuHicient su[»|»ly of salt water. lie stat«'d that the 
 whole amount of tolls and for rent of the surplus waters 
 received from all the canals during the preceding year 
 was Sl,U0H,H\i7.ir> ; that the amount of charges for re- 
 pairs and other ex|)enses on the canals, waus $.jn(!.01 1.87 ; 
 and he expressed his gratification that the net income 
 accruing from the canals during the year INK), had in- 
 creased 8ir»!>,3(!r>.r>5 l>eyond the amount received during 
 the year 1N3«». 
 
 The governor stated that the sum which had lieen 
 and would U* ex|»ended by the first day of March then 
 next, lor enlarging the Hrie Canal, would aimunit to 
 $7.r)3N,H3*2 ; :md that to complete the enlargement would 
 require an additional exjH'nditure. according to the " cor- 
 rected' vstmvile tA[\w cnuii\coiumiSH\oncrfi,iA^lCtJn',iAii>4. 
 This great work, he thought, might be cotnpleted in the 
 spring of the year 1817. 
 
 With resjvct to the Black KTver Canal, he informed 
 the leuislature that 81.1H0.0I)7.«WJ h.ul been i x|)ended 
 on it. and that the whole cost of the work would be 
 
 «2,i:n.j;'.M»."j'.). 
 
 The whole expense of constructing the Genesee Valley 
 Canal, he said, had l)een estimated at §l.«)00.rJ2.79, of 
 which 8'2,."»00,()00 hat! already been ex[>ended. 
 
 He alluded, in terms of high commendation, to the ef- 
 forts which were being made by the various railroad com- 
 panies to complete their resj^ctive enterprises. And he 
 
 16* 
 
186 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l841. 
 
 Stated that the whole debt of the state at that time, exclu- 
 sive of its liabilities for incorporated companies, and its 
 loans to those companies, amounted to $15,064,746.33. 
 
 Experience soon afterwards proved that Gov. Seward 
 placed too much confidence in those chartered compa- 
 nies, especially the New York and Erie Railroad Com- 
 pany, to whom the state had loaned its moneys and its 
 credit ; by means of which loans and liabilities, the state 
 debt ultimately proved to be much larger than he antici- 
 pated. 
 
 The governor rapidly reviewed the condition of our 
 courts of law and equity, and strongly recommended a 
 new organization, and a reform in our system of jurispru- 
 dence. He alluded in a very proper manner to the con- 
 troversy between him and the governor of Virginia, to 
 which he had called the attention of the legislature in his 
 last annual message. He expressed a cordial approbation 
 of the late law abolishing imprisonment for debt ; and as 
 imprisonment for debt was still tolerated and enjoined by 
 the laws of the United States, he recommended that this 
 state should deny the United States the use of their pris- 
 ons to incarcerate unfortunate debtors, unless such debt- 
 ors have been guilty of fraud. 
 
 In view of the short period that the law requires of 
 foreigners to reside in the state before they are entitled 
 to vote at our elections, the governor urges, with great 
 force, the propriety of providing for the education of the 
 children of foreigners. He alludes to the alarming fact 
 which appeared from the late census, that there were in 
 the state of New York 43,871 white persons, over the 
 age of twenty, who could neither read nor write. On 
 this subject the governor says : 
 
 " Not much, however, can be accomplished by legisla- 
 
1841.] PUBLIC INdTRLCTIOX. 1^7 
 
 tion, to affect the relation between masses of adult citi- 
 zens ; ami the change tlesired in this res|)ect must be left 
 chierty to time and the oj>frations of our institutions. Hut 
 it is not so in regard to the rising generation. The cen- 
 sus of the United States is said to show, that there are 
 43,87 1 white {)ersons in this state, who have passed the 
 age of twenty years without having learned to read and 
 write. Let us make allowance for any pro|Mirtion of 
 a<lult foreigners, and there yet remains a large number of 
 uneducated citizens. The numl>er of children nt»w grow- 
 ing u|) in the same maimer, does not fall short of thirty 
 thousand. These are the tjffspring. not of pros|)erity and 
 allluence, but of [loverty and misfortune. 
 
 " Knowing from the records of our penitentiaries, that 
 of this neglected class those are most fortunate who, from 
 precocity in vice, secure admission into the house of ref- 
 uge, or the state pri.><on, through the ways of crime ; and 
 knowing, t(x>, that almost every application for pardon is 
 urge<l on the ground of neglected education, I have felt it 
 an iin|terative duty to a|»|»eal to the legislature to render 
 our system of education as coinj)rehensive as the |»uriK>ses 
 for which it was established. Of 1,058 children in the 
 almshouse of the city of New York, one-sixth part is of 
 American parentage, one-sixth was bfjrn abroad, and the 
 remainder are the children of foreigners ; and of 250 
 children in the hou.se of refuge, more than one-half were 
 either born abroad, or of foreign parents. The |>overtv, 
 misfortunes, accidents, and prejudices to which foreigners 
 are exjMised, satisfactorily account, to my mind, for the 
 undue proportion of their children in the neglected class 
 to which the attention of the legislature was called. Al- 
 though the excellent public .schf>ols in the city of New 
 York are open to all, and have long afforded gratuitous 
 
188 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l841. 
 
 instruction to all who seek it, nevertheless the evil there 
 exists in its greatest magnitude. 
 
 " Obviously, therefore, something more is necessary to 
 remove it than has yet been done, unless we assume that 
 society consents to leave it without remedy. These cir- 
 cumstances led me to the reflection, that possibly a por- 
 tion ol" tliose whom other eflbrts had failed to reach, 
 might be brought within the nurture of the schools, by 
 employing for their instruction teachers who, from their 
 relations towards them, might be expected to secure their 
 confidence. When the census of 1850 shall be taken, I 
 trust it will show, that within the borders of the state of 
 New York there is no child of sufficient years who is 
 unable to read and write. I am sure it will then be ac- 
 knowledged, that when, ten years before, there were thir- 
 ty thousand children growing up in ignorance and vice, 
 a suggestion to seek them wherever found, and win them 
 to the ways of knowledge and virtue by persuasion, sym- 
 pathy, and kindness, was prompted by a sincere desire 
 for the common good. I have no pride of opinion con- 
 cerning the manner in which the education of those whom 
 I have brought to your notice shall be secured, although 
 I might derive satisfaction from the reflection, that amid 
 abundant misrepresentation of the method suggested, no 
 one has contended that it would be ineflectual, nor has 
 any other plan been proposed. I observe, on the contra- 
 ry, with deep regret, that the evil remains as before ; and 
 the question recurs, not merely how or by whom shall 
 instruction be given, but whether it shall be given at all, 
 or be altogether withheld. Others may be content with 
 a system that erects free schools and offers gratuitous in- 
 struction. But, I trust I shall be allowed to entertain the 
 opinions, that no system is perfect that does not accom- 
 
1841.1 nULIC IX-STRfCTIUN. 189 
 
 jdish what it proposes ; that our ^sleiu is therefore defi- 
 cient in comprehensiveness, in the exact proportion of 
 the childrt-n that it leaves uneducattil ; that knowktlge, 
 however acquired, is better than ignorance ; and that 
 neither error, accident, nor prejudicf. ought to be perniit- 
 ted to deprive the state of the education of her citizens. 
 Cherishing such oj»inions, I coultl not enjoy the ct>nscious- 
 ness of having discharged my duty, il any eflort had been 
 omitted which was calculated to bring within the schools 
 iUl who are destinetl to exercise the rights of citizenship; 
 nor shall I feel that the svstem is iH-rfect, or libertv safe, 
 until that object be accomplished. Not |»ersonally con- 
 cerned alK)Ut such misapprehensions as have arisen, but 
 desirous to remove every obstacle to tlie accomplishment 
 of so important an «jbject, 1 very freely declare, that I 
 seek the education of those whom I have brought l>efore 
 vou. not to |K'r|H'tuate any prejudices or distinctions 
 which deprive them of itistruclion, but in disregard of all 
 such distinctions and prejudices. 1 s«tlicit their education 
 less from sympathy than U'causc the welfare of the state 
 demands it, and cannot dis|»ense with it. As native citi- 
 zens, they are born t«» the right of sulfnige. 1 ask that 
 they may at least be taught to read and w rite ; in asking 
 this, 1 recpjire no more for them than I have diligently 
 endeavored to secure Ut the inmates of our |)enitentiarics, 
 who have forfeited that inestimable franchise by crin)e, 
 and also t(t an unfortunate race, which, having been 
 plunged by us into degradation and ignorance, has been 
 excludetl from the franchi.se by an arbitrary prt)perty 
 qualification incongruous w ith all our institutions. I have 
 not recommendeil. nor do I seek the education of any 
 class in foreign languages, or in particular creeds or 
 faiths ; but fully believing with the author of the Decla- 
 
190 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l841, 
 
 ration of Independendfe, that even error may be safely 
 tolerated where reason is left free to combat it ; and 
 therefore indulging no apprehensions from the influence 
 of any language or creed among an enlightened people, I 
 desire the education of the entire rising generation in all 
 the elements of knowledge we possess, and in that tongue 
 which is the universal language of our countrymen. To 
 me the most interesting of all our republican institutions, 
 is the common school. 
 
 " I seek not to disturb, in any manner, its peaceful and 
 assiduous exercises, and, least of all, with contentions 
 about faiths or forms. I desire the education of all the 
 children in the commonwealth in morality and virtue, 
 leaving matters of conscience where, according to the 
 principles of civil and religious liberty established by our 
 constitution and laws, they rightfully belong." 
 
 These patriotic and benevolent views of the governor 
 were undoubtedly presented with reference to a recom- 
 mendation he had formerly made, that the Catholics in 
 this state should be permitted to have their children edu- 
 cated in the common branches by their own teachers, in 
 such manner as they should deem to be in conformity to 
 their religion ; and that schools so conducted should be 
 entitled to their share of the moneys appropriated to com- 
 mon schools. He also recommended the enactment of a 
 registry law. 
 
 Gov. Seward next proceeds to combat, with some se- 
 verity, the financial views put forth by Mr. Flagg, the 
 late comptroller, in his last report from that department ; 
 but to give even a summary of the controversy in this 
 place would entirely exceed the limits to which we feel 
 restricted in remarking on the message. 
 
 The governor states, that although the United States 
 
1841.] GEN. root's resolutions. 191 
 
 contain a population of 17,000,000, less than one-third of 
 the land included within the boundaries of these states is 
 occupied or appropriated. We may remark here, that if 
 in 1840 two-thirds of the lands in the United States were 
 unap[)ropriated, how vast must be the quantity of unap- 
 propriated lands since Texas has been annexed, and we 
 have actjuired possession of the greater part of Oregon, to 
 say nothing of our conquests in California and Mexico! 
 
 The governor concludes by the expression of a very 
 decided opinion, that the avails of the sales of the public 
 lands ought to be distributed among the states ; and he 
 cites, in sujjport of that opinion, the authority of Gov. 
 Throop, Gen. Jackson, and President Jefferson. 
 
 On the 5th day of January, Gen. Root introduced into 
 the senate resolutions for profHJsing amendments to the 
 constitution of the United States. The substance of 
 these resolutions were, — 
 
 1st. That no person should be eligible to the office 
 of f)resident of the United States for more than one 
 term. 
 
 '2d. That members of congress should not be appoint- 
 ed to any ofTice under the general government during the 
 term for which they were elected. 
 
 3d. That no person should be removed from office 
 without the consent of the senate. 
 
 4th. That the secretary of the United States treasury 
 should be appointed by congress, and hold that office 
 during their pleasure. 
 
 These resolutions were laid on the table. Afterwards, 
 when they came up for discussion, they were opposed 
 by Mr. Foster, and supported by Gen. Root and Mr. 
 Dickinson. A majority of the senate agreed to the first 
 resolution, but postponed the consideration of the second 
 
192 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 
 
 until after the 4th day of March then next. We ought 
 to have mentioned, that the substance of these resolutions 
 had passed the senate on the last day of the preceding 
 session, but the assembly, for want of time, could not 
 consider and discuss them, and for that reason the con- 
 currence of that house was not obtained. A different 
 state of things now existed ; Gen. Harrison had been 
 elected president, and on the 4th of March might desire 
 to call some of the members of congress into his cabinet. 
 Indeed, it was then well known that such was his deter- 
 mination. Was it civil or wise for his whig friends in 
 New York to pass in advance a vote of censure on the 
 appointments of their favorite leader? How feeble is 
 principle when it comes in competition with expediency 
 or interest ! 
 
 In the assembly, Mr. Townsend, of New York, on the 
 same day gave notice of his intention to bring in a bill 
 providing for the division of the towns and wards into 
 election districts, and for holding the general election 
 on one day only. This great and important measure was 
 ultimately adopted by the legislature, and has not only 
 added greatly to the convenience of the electors, but has 
 very probably contributed, in no small degree, to aid in 
 the preservation of the purity and fairness of our elec- 
 tions, by rendering it more difficult to perpetrate some 
 of the frauds to which the old system was exposed. 
 
 A law had been passed during the preceding session, 
 which required all the voters in the city of New York 
 to be registered, under the directions of commissioners of 
 the several wards, appointed for that purpose, some two 
 or three weeks before the election. Challenges were to 
 be made before those commissioners, and the right of vo- 
 ting was settled and decided by them. Under this ar- 
 
18-il.] REGISTRY LAW. 193 
 
 rangernent, the elector, on presenting his ballot to the 
 inspectors at the election was entitled to vote, if his name 
 ap{>eared on the catalogue made by the commissioners ; 
 but il* his name was not found there, he was rejected. 
 It was argued that this system would prevent much frau- 
 dulent voting, which the hurry and confusion that gen- 
 erally prevailed on the day of election, rendered it impos- 
 sible to detect or prevent. This law, which was called 
 "the Registry Law," was opposed with much zeal and 
 ardor by a majority of the democratic party in New 
 York. They contended that it violated the spirit, if not 
 the letter of the constitution ; that it made an invidious 
 distinction between the electors of that city and those in 
 all other parts of the state ; and that it implied a suspi- 
 cion of the purity and honesty of the voters of that city 
 which was dishonorable to the inhabitants. 
 
 General Root entertained different views on this sub- 
 ject ; and as well because he thought the constitutional 
 objections to the law unfounded, and that on general 
 principles the law was necessary and proper, as to obvi- 
 ate the objection against partial and local legislation, to 
 which such a law seemed exposed, made several efforts 
 to extend the provisions of the law to the whole state. 
 Those efforts, however, were unsuccessful. 
 
 Early in this session, Mr. Bates Cooke resigned the 
 office of coni])troller, in consequence of the state of his 
 health, and John A. Collier, of Broome county, late a 
 member of congress and a lawyer of respectable stand- 
 ing, was appointed his successor. 
 
 It was reported that George W. Patterson, whom we 
 have several times mentioned, and shall have occasion to 
 mention again, as a man of distinguished talent, and great 
 energy of character, was a favorite candidate of many 
 
 17 
 
194 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 
 
 of the whig members of the legislature ; a majority, how- 
 ever, were for Mr. Collier, but how large that majority- 
 was we have never been informed. 
 
 On the 5th of February, Mr. Haight was re-elected 
 treasurer, and Mr. O. L. Holly was reappointed sur- 
 veyor-general, of both of whom we have spoken in a 
 preceding volume of this work. 
 
 There were two leading party questions which occu- 
 pied much of the time and attention of this legislature, 
 and gi'eatly excited that of the public. The one was 
 what was denominated " the Virginia controversy," and 
 the other the removal, by the governor and senate, of 
 -Robert H. Morris from the office of recorder of the city 
 of New York. Besides these, the great question, wheth- 
 er it was right to abolish capital punishment, was debated. 
 The subjects of internal improvements and the financial 
 concerns of the state, were also considered and debated. 
 These were not strictly party questions, but the discus- 
 sion which they elicited called forth vigorous efforts, and 
 put in requisition the best talents in the assembly. 
 
 The governor, in his annual message in 1840, had in- 
 formed the legislature that the governor of Virginia had 
 in July preceding made a requisition upon him to deliver 
 three persons, as fugitives from justice, charged with 
 having feloniously stolen a negro slave in that state ; that 
 he had declined to comply with the requisition, upon the 
 ground that the right to demand, and the reciprocal ob- 
 ligation to surrender fugitives from justice between sov- 
 ereign and independent nations, according to the law of 
 nations, include onlv those cases in which the acts con- 
 stituting the offence charged are recognised as crimes by 
 the universal laws of civilized countries ; that the provi- 
 sion in the United States constitution, in relation to the 
 
18-11. J VIBGINIA CONTROVERSY. 195 
 
 delivery of fugitives charged with treason, felony, or 
 other crime, was a recognisance of this principle of the 
 law of nations in the mutual relations of the states of the 
 Union ; that the act charged was not recognised as crim- 
 inal by the laws of New York, or by the laws of all 
 civilized countries ; that there was no law in this state 
 by which one man could hold, or claim another man as 
 projK>rty ; that therefore the crime of theft could not be 
 predicated upon the act of liberating one man from the 
 control of another ; and that consequently the case did 
 not fall within the provisions of the constitution of the 
 United States.* 
 
 Governor Seward, in his niL-ssage in 1841, after allu- 
 ding to his communication to the legislature the preceding 
 year, on the subject of the requisition of the governor 
 of Virginia, says : 
 
 " The governor of Virginia, by direction of the legis- 
 lature of that state, subsequently transmitted to me cer- 
 tain resolutions of that body, with a request that I would 
 lay the same before the legislature of this state." 
 
 Copies of these resolutions, together with the corre- 
 spondence between the two governors, and some other 
 documents in relation to the controversy, were commu- 
 nicated by Gov. Seward to the assembly of 1841, together 
 with the message. 
 
 The first letter of the governor of Virginia bears date 
 August 30, 1839, in which he states, that "on the 25th 
 of July (ult.)I received an affidavit signed by Miles King, 
 mayor, and a justice of the [>eace for Norfolk borough in 
 this state, in which it was solemnly and positively aver- 
 red on oath by John G. CoUey, of said borough, that on 
 
 • See 2 Political Iliston-, pp. 520, 521. 
 
190 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 
 
 or about the 15th of the same month, Peter Johnson, 
 Edward Smith, and Isaac Gansey, attached to the schoon- 
 er Robert Center, then in New York, ' did feloniously 
 steal and take from the said Colley a certain negro slave 
 named Isaac, the property of said Colley;' and it being 
 alleged that they were fugitives from justice, I thereupon 
 made a demand upon your excellency.for the surrender 
 of them to John Caphart, an agent appointed for that 
 purpose, in order that they might be brought back to Vir- 
 ginia to be tried for the offence charged upon them, ac- 
 cording to our laws." He concludes by complaining that 
 the fug-itives have not been delivered according to the 
 requisition. To this letter Mr. Seward replied on the 
 16th of September. In his reply he sets forth a copy of 
 the affidavit on which the requisition was founded, which 
 is in these words : — 
 
 " Norfolk Borough, to wit : 
 
 " This day personally appeared before me, M. King, a 
 justice of the peace of the borough aforesaid, state of 
 Virginia, John G. Colley, of said borough, and made 
 oath, that on or about the 15th inst., Peter Johnson, Ed- 
 ward Smith, and Isaac Gansey, now attached to the 
 schooner Robert Center, at present in New York, did 
 feloniously steal and take from the said Colley a certain 
 negro slave named Isaac, the property of the said Colley. 
 
 " Given under my hand and seal this twenty-second 
 day of July, 1839. 
 
 " M. King, Mayor and J. P." 
 
 Gov. Seward proceeds to state, that after examining 
 the papers annexed to the requisition to authorize him to 
 direct that the persons accused should be delivered to Mr. 
 
1841.] VlRGINIA-.CONTKOVERriV. 197 
 
 Capliart, the agent of Virginia, his first impressions were 
 that the athdavit was detective, inasmuch as it did not 
 state that the jHjrsons demanded were fugitives from Vir- 
 ginia, or that they were in tliis state. He therefore, 
 being about to leave Albany on a short journey to the 
 West, concluded to postjvjne deciding the case till his 
 return. Hut before lie returned, he learned that the ac- 
 cused jiersons had been arrested and committed to jail in 
 New York, and had been discharged by the recorder of 
 that city, and he concluded that Mr. Caphart had aban- 
 doned the api)lication. The governor proceeds to say, 
 that even if the affidavit wfis in form technically correct, 
 he was of opinion that it was in substance defective, for 
 the reasons stated in his message, and which therefore it 
 is unnecessary to rej>eat. 
 
 " It results," savs Gov. Seward, " from this view ol' the 
 subject, that the offence charged in the affidavit, and spe- 
 cified in the retjuisition, is not a felony nor a 'crime,' 
 within the meaning of the constitution ; and that waiving 
 all the defects in the affidavit, I cannot surrender the sup- 
 posed fugitives to be carried to Virginia for trial under 
 the statute of that state. 
 
 " So far as mv knowledge extends, no state has ever 
 admitted the constitutional obligation to surrender its 
 citizens beyond the limits I have mentioned, although de- 
 mands have been made in cases similar to the one under 
 consideration. If I entertained doubts of the justness of 
 the views I have exj>ressed, I should be very unwilling to 
 establish a precedent so full of danger to the personal se- 
 curity of the citizens of this state." 
 
 Mr. Seward adds, that he had addressed a letter to 
 Robert H. Morris, recorder of New York, with a view of 
 ascertaining the grounds upon which the prisoners were 
 
 17* 
 
198 POLITICAL HISTORY .OF NEW YORK. [l841. 
 
 discharged. The answer of Mr. Morris contains a brief 
 but very lucid statement of the case, and we therefore 
 present it to the reader entire : 
 
 To his Excellency Gov. Seward : 
 
 Dear Sir — In the case of the three colored men, Isaac 
 Gansey, Peter Johnson, and Edward Smith, upon habeas 
 corpus, who were discharged by me from imprisonment 
 in July or August last, the lacts as they appeared before 
 me were as follows : 
 
 The keeper of the prison returned that he detained the 
 prisoners by virtue of a warrant of one of our police ma- 
 gistrates. This warrant charged them with being fugi- 
 tives from justice from the state of Virginia. 
 
 The testimony upon which the warrant was issued was 
 affidavits swearing to the legal conclusion that they were 
 " fugitives from justice." It was also shown, that a re- 
 quisition from the executive of Virginia had been for- 
 warded to the governor of this state, demanding that the 
 prisoners should be delivered up to the authorities of Vir- 
 ginia. 
 
 I then examined, u])on oath, two gentlemen from Vir- 
 ginia who were present. One of them was the agent of 
 the owner of the negro who was alleged to have been 
 stolen, and the other assisted in retaking the slave. By 
 reference to the papers before you in this case, you will 
 observe, that one or both of these gentlemen made the 
 affidavits upon which the complaint was made in Vir- 
 ginia, against the three persons claimed to be fugitives. 
 
 These gentlemen proved that the slave was a ship- 
 carpenter, employed in Virginia in repairing the schooner 
 on board of which the three prisoners were hands ; that 
 after the schooner sailed, the slave was not to be found ; 
 
1841.] VIRGINIA CONTROVERSY. 199 
 
 that they by express reached the harbor of New York be- 
 fore the schooner arrived ; that they went on board the 
 schooner and made known to the captain their suspicions 
 that the slave was concealed on board. The captain de- 
 nied all knowledge of the slave's being on board, and as- 
 sisted in making search for the slave. The slave was 
 found on board concealed amongst the live-oak timber. 
 The three prisoners were the only colored persons on 
 board. 
 
 This was all that these gentlemen could testify to of 
 their own knowledge, to show that the three men had sto- 
 len the slave. As the question involved much feeling, I 
 permitted the gentlemen to prove what had been told to 
 them by others. One or both of the gentlemen testified 
 that the slave informed them that one of the prisoners 
 observed to him, (the slave.) that he was foolish to remain 
 in Virginia, as he could get good wages north, and that 
 this suggestion induced him to run away and secrete him- 
 .self on board the vessel. 
 
 This was all that they pretended could be proved by 
 any one else, that showed any participation on the part 
 of any of the prisoners in the escape of the slave. 
 
 I permitted this kind of evidence, not as testimony in 
 the case, but to learn whether there was any testimony 
 in A'^irginia or elsewhere, that could implicate the prison- 
 ers in the charge preferred, and also to learn what re- 
 liance could be placed on affidavits swearing to legal con- 
 clusions. 
 
 I was satisfied that, accortling to the testimony, neither 
 of the prisoners had committed an offence even against 
 the law of Virginia, and that the testimony was not such 
 as to authorize the detention of the prisoners. I there- 
 fore discharged them. 
 
200 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l841. 
 
 I owe your excellency an apology for not sooner an- 
 swering your letter. Sickness in my family and constant 
 official occupation have been the causes. 
 
 Very respectfully, yours, &c. 
 (Signed,) Robert H. Morris, 
 
 Recorder of the City of New York. 
 
 That the recorder was clearly right in discharging the 
 prisoners is most evident. The affidavit states no facts 
 or circumstances which implicated the accused, or showed 
 that either directly or indirectly, they resorted to any 
 practices to decoy or even induce the slave to leave the 
 service of his master. The affidavit-maker merely alleges 
 that the accused had feloniously stolen a negro slave, 
 which was swearing, as the recorder justly remarks, to a 
 law question. How any reasonable man could have en- 
 tertained the least expectation that these men could have 
 been convicted in Virginia, is truly astonishing. By the 
 liberal indulgence of the recorder, the agent of Virginia 
 was permitted to prove before him all he pretended he 
 could prove if the prisoners were then on their trial in 
 Virginia. And what was it ? Simply that they were on 
 board a schooner in which the slave had ensconced 
 himself " among the live-oak lumber," and that they were 
 colored men ! 
 
 Mr. Hopkins, the acting governor of Virginia, replied 
 at great length to the letter of Gov. Seward. He com- 
 mences by saying, — 
 
 " I beg you to be assured, sir, that the views contained 
 in your letter have been weighed most attentively, anx- 
 iously, and respectfully ; and but for their novelty and 
 dangerous tendency, I should have felt no wish to con- 
 tinue the correspondence between us farther. But en- 
 
1841.] VIKUIMA CONTROVERSY. 201 
 
 tertaining as I do a fixed opinion that your doctrines are 
 at war with the language and spirit of the federal consti- 
 tution, inconsistent with the true relations, rights, and du- 
 ties of the states of the Union, and calculated to disturb 
 the general harnionv of the ct>untrv, I feel it to be my 
 imperious duty promptly to protest against such a prece- 
 dent, and to vindicate the rights of the state whose exec- 
 utive functions have been tcmi)orarily committed to my 
 charge." 
 
 He then proceeded, at great length, to argue that the 
 position taken by Mr. Seward was untenable. The prin- 
 cipal, and perhaps the only real (juestion between the 
 parties was, whether a person who conuriits an act in a 
 state where, by the statute law of that state, such act is 
 made felonv, and esca|)es into a sister state, by whose 
 laws the same act is not a crime, can, by the constitution 
 of the United States, be required to be given up and sent 
 back on the requisition of the governor of the first-men- 
 tioned state. This ()uestion was ably and learnedly dis- 
 cu.ssed by the acting governor of Virginia as well as by 
 Gov. Seward. But, as usually hai)j)ens between contro- 
 versialists, each failed to convince the other. 
 
 Gov. Seward, at the session of 1840, submitted this 
 corresp<indence to the legislature, and in the assembly it 
 was referred to a committee, of which Mr. Simmons, 
 from Essex county, was chairman. That committee 
 concluded their report by saying, that — 
 
 "On a careful examination of that correspondence, your 
 committee cannot discover any occasion for the interpo- 
 sition of this house, even by way of advice. They be- 
 lieve the positions taken by the governor of this state to 
 be sound and judicious, and that his exposition of the 
 meaning of the constitutional provision in question, is the 
 
202 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NKVV YORK. [l841. 
 
 only one that can be given consistently with the sove- 
 reignty of the state and the rights of the citizens, while it 
 is in strict conformity with our federal obligations to 
 other states, and recognises all the rights which are in- 
 tended to be secured." 
 
 In the summer and autumn of 1840, the correspondence 
 was resumed on the part of Virginia, by Thomas W. 
 Gilmer, then governor of that state, and labored and 
 learned arguments were transmitted from one governor 
 to the other. In the mean time the legislature of Vir- 
 ginia, on pretence of retaliation, passed inspection laws 
 calculated to produce inconvenience to coasting-vessels 
 from New York, which might enter the harbors and riv- 
 ers of Virginia. Besides these measures taken by the 
 legislature. Gov. Gilmer resorted to a singular expedient 
 to coerce a compliance on the part of Gov. Seward with 
 the demand of the former to deliver Peter Johnson and 
 his two associates. 
 
 A man by the name of Robert F. Curry, charged 
 with committing the crime oi forgery in the state of New 
 York, had escaped and fled to the state of Virginia. Gov. 
 Seward, having been furnished with the proper evidence 
 that the crime had been committed by Curry, made and 
 executed a requisition, in the usual form, on the governor 
 of Virginia, to cause him to be delivered to John D. Dix, 
 of Ithaca. Mr. Gilmer refused to comply with the requi- 
 sition, and by a message to the legislature of Virginia, in- 
 formed them of his refusal ; and he caused to be forward- 
 ed to Gov. Seward the following order : 
 
 Executive Department, March \6lh, 1840. 
 A demand from the governor of New York- for the 
 surrender of Robert F. Curry, charged with the crime of 
 
184 1. J VIUCINIA CONTnoVERSY. 203 
 
 forgery under the laws of that state, was this day pre- 
 sented by John D. Dix, the accredited agent of the exec- 
 utive of New York, together with a duly certified copy 
 of an indictment found by the grand-jury of Tompkins 
 county, in the state of New York, against the said Cur- 
 ry ; and it being stated that the said Curry has been ar- 
 rested, and is now in custody, within the jurisdiction of 
 this conmionwealth : It is ordered, that the demand for 
 the said Robert F. Curry is in proper form, and will be 
 complied with whenever a similar demand for the surren- 
 der of Peter Johnson, Edward Smith, and Isaac Gansey, 
 heretofore charged with felony under the laws of this 
 state, shall be complied with by the governor or authori- 
 ties of the state of New York. 
 
 It is further ordered, to be certified to the governor of 
 New York, that measures will be taken for the detention 
 of the said Curry for sLr months from the time of his 
 arrest, a period sufficient, it is hoped, to enal)Ie the au- 
 thorities of that state to determine whether the constitu- 
 tion and laws under which this demand is made are of 
 as binding force on the state of New York as on the state 
 of Virginia. 
 
 By order of the governor, 
 
 Wm. II. RiniARDSON, 
 Secretary of the Commonivealth. 
 
 This proceeding can hardly deserve a better name than 
 " Lynch -law." The executive order of Virginia, on the 
 face of it, admitted that the requisition of Curry was "in 
 proper form," and assigned as a rea.son for non-compli- 
 ance, that Gov. Sew;ird had refused the demand to sur- 
 render Peter Johnson and others to the authorities of 
 Virginia. Were my neighbor to burn my barn, and were 
 
204 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841- 
 
 I, as an offset, to burn his house, the case would in princi- 
 ple be similar. Besides, the order was a flagrant viola- 
 tion of Curry's constitutional rights. He was to be pre- 
 sumed innocent until, upon a traverse, he was proved 
 guilty. And yet poor Curry was to be kept in prison, 
 without an opportunity of confronting his accusers, du- 
 ring the pleasure of Gov. Gilmer, or until the governor 
 of New York would comply with the mandate of the gov- 
 ernor of a sister state. It is due to the legislature of Vir- 
 ginia to add, that when the message of Mr. Gilmer, giv- 
 ing an account of this proceeding, was read in the house 
 of delegates, one of the members (Mr. jMay) offered a 
 resolution disapproving of the conduct of the New York 
 governor in refusing to surrender Johnson and others, 
 but censuring the refusal of Gov. Gilmer to deliver Cur- 
 ry. The resolution was in these words : 
 
 " Resolved, therefore, by the general assembly, That 
 in its opinion, any fugitive, legally charged with crime, 
 and demanded by the governor of New York, according 
 to the constitution and laws of the United States, ought 
 to be surrendered, notwithstanding the refusal of the gov- 
 ernor of that state to act in a similar case." 
 
 When that part of the message of 1841 which related 
 to the Virginia controversy was considered in the New 
 York assembly, Mr. Lawrence, of Queen's county, moved 
 to refer it, together with the correspondence on the sub- 
 ject, to a select committee. 
 
 Mr. Loomis, from Herkimer, opposed the reference, 
 stating, that in his judgment, the state of Virginia had a 
 right to demand the surrender of fugitives who had done 
 any act which by the laws and statutes of that state was 
 made felony, though the same act could not be punished 
 as a crime in this state ; but he was of opinion that the 
 
1841. J VIRGINIA CUNTROVEKSY. "205 
 
 facts contained in the j»a[^)ers presented by the agent of 
 Virginia to Gov. Seward were not sutficient to warrant 
 putting the accused on trial, and for that cause he thought 
 the governor was right in relusing to surrender them ; and 
 Mr. L. olVered resolutions for the consideration of the 
 house, in accordance with his view of the case.* 
 
 Mr. lluhbel, of Tompkins, late adjutant-general, who 
 had, during the strugt;le in 1837, joined the whig i)arty, 
 offered a resolution j)ur}Hjrting that the (juestion belonged 
 exclusively to the executive department, and therefore 
 that the house ought in no manner to interfere. 
 
 These several |)ropositions were discussed from day to 
 day at great length. The main (juestion was involved 
 in the resolution of Mr. Ix)omis. The resolution j)ro- 
 posed by Gen. IIubl)el, however, led to a critical exam- 
 ination of the res|)ective |)owers and duties of the several 
 
 • Tlifl constitution of the United States provides that *' congress shall 
 make no law reK[>eclin(j an establishmi'iit of rclijijion," &.C., but a ulate, 
 whose constitution pennitti it, may niakf laws to estiibliHh any religion it 
 prefers, and inflict such penalties for the violation of those laws a-s it may 
 deem expedient and pro[)«T ; in which case the United States (rovernment 
 cauiiof coustilutioniiliy interfere to prevent the execution of such laws by 
 the state which enacts them. 
 
 The following question is therefore respectfully submitted to Mr. Looniis, 
 and those who think with him. Suppose a state, Virginia for instance, 
 should amend its coii.stitulinn so a-s to authorize its legislature to niike a 
 law for the establishment of a particular religion ; suppose, then, that slate 
 should enact that every person wh*o should deny the " real presence" at 
 the sacrament, should be burned at the stake ; and suppose Mr. L., while 
 travelling llirough Virgina on business, should deny that he believed in 
 the doctrine of " the reiil presi'uee,'' and after his return to this stale tlie 
 governor of Virginia should demand him of the governor of this state as a 
 " fugitive from justice," ought the governor of New York to surrender 
 him ? 
 
 18 
 
206 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l84L 
 
 departments of the state government, and their consti- 
 tutional boundaries. 
 
 Mr. Wheaton, a talented and eloquent member from 
 Albany, Mr. Hubbel, 31r. Simmons, and Mr. Culver, 
 among others delivered speeches in support of the course 
 pursued by the governor, and against the propriety or right 
 of interference by the legislature. On the other hand, the 
 resolutions of Mr. Loomis were sustained by the mover, 
 by ^Messrs. Townsend and Jones, of New York, and by Dr. 
 Taylor, late a member of congress from Onondaga, and 
 others. Dr. Taylor concluded an able speech by saying, 
 with his usual modesty and courtesy, " It does appear to 
 me — although I am free to acknowledge I have had diffi- 
 culty in making up my mind, (for I do not consider this 
 as one of those clear cases in regard to wliich a man 
 may decide at first blush, ai\d I admit there is a plausibil- 
 ity in some of the views of the governor) — I say it is my 
 deliberate judgment that the governor has erred, (from 
 the best examination I nave been able to give to the sub- 
 ject) — erred in his position with regai'd to the right of 
 Virgmia to demand, and the obligation of New York to 
 surrender, a citizen charged with stealing a slave." 
 
 We cannot perceive that any final vote on the long 
 and laboriously debated questions which grew out of the 
 Virginia controversy, was taken by the house, and our 
 impression is, that it was suft'ered to die away without 
 taking any decisive vote upon any material point. In the 
 month of February a motion 'was made that the consid- 
 eration of the subject should be indefinitely postponed, 
 which was carried by a vote of fifty to thirty-eight, and 
 this seems to have been the last action upon it during 
 that session. 
 
 Previous to the election of presidential electors in No- 
 
1841.] GLEXTWUETH CASE. 201 
 
 veniber, 1840, a plan ap(>ears to have been contrived to 
 smuggle into the city of New York inhabitants of the 
 city of Philadi'lphia, who should, on their arrival in Xew 
 York, be fraudulently introduced to the inspectors of 
 election as legal voters in that city. This j»lan was dis- 
 covered previous to its consummation by Col. Jon. D. Ste- 
 ven.son, now in command of a regiment of United States 
 volunteers in ralifornia. Mr. Stevenson, who then was 
 acting with the whig party, some time in Se[»tember, 
 1840, held a conversation with one J. B. CJlentworth. an 
 insj)ector of tobacco, resj>ecting the probable result of the 
 ensuing election, and the necessary arrangements which 
 ouijht to \)C made in order to secure success. Cilentworth 
 thereu|H>n sugjj;ested to Stevenson that voters ought to be 
 im|Htrted from Philadelphia; that at the election of 1838 
 lie hud himself obtained the attendance of many inhab- 
 itants of Philadtlj»hia, who voted in several «)f the wards 
 of the citv, at the exi>ense <»f thirtv dollars for each voter ; 
 that he h;ul written evidence of his agency in the l)usi- 
 ness in his jRJssession ; and in the same conversation it 
 was proposed tliat Stevenson should undertake the mis- 
 sion in 1840, which had been so successfully executed in 
 1838 by Mr. dlentworth. Mr. Stevenson swears that 
 he consented to undertake the enterprise, for the |>uri»ose 
 of detecting, ex|osing. and preventing the fraud. Ac- 
 cording to his affidavit he went to Philadelphia with a 
 letter of intPKluction from Cilentworth, where he nego- 
 tiated w ith the high constable of that city to furnish him 
 with a certain number of men, at a price agreed up<jn, 
 who should come to New York, and offer themselves as 
 voters at the coming election. Sortie corres|xindence in 
 writing was alterwards carried on between Stevenson and 
 his agents in Philadelphia, in which the fraudulent voters 
 
203 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW VORK. [l841. 
 
 v/ere described as persons who would come to New York 
 for the purpose of being employed to lay iron or lead 
 water-pipes. Hence the democratic newspapers charac- 
 terized the poHtical partisans engaged in this transaction 
 as ''pipe-layers." 
 
 A few days before the election Stevenson made a full 
 disclosure of the plot to Benjamin F. Butler and, we be- 
 lieve, John W. Edmonds. They advised that a prosecu- 
 tion should be instituted against Glentworth, and that 
 measures should be taken to gain possession of his papers, 
 which, it was allesed, contained the evidence of the fraud. 
 These papers had been deposited with Mr. Pierce, a citi- 
 zen, and, as we believe, a respectable citizen, of Xew 
 \ ork. Criminal proceedings were instituted before Re- 
 corder Morris against Glentworth, who, by the way, was 
 soon after this disclosure removed from his office as in- 
 spector of tobacco bv Gov. Seward ; and Mr. Morris 
 went with an officer, in the night-time, to the house of 
 Mr. Pierce, and demanded of him the Glentworth papers, 
 as thev were called, which had been delivered to him, 
 sealed in a package, for safe-keeping. Mr. Pierce hesi- 
 tated about complying with this demand, whereupon the 
 recorder said to him he would search for the papers, and 
 seize them by force, by virtue of his authority as a ma- 
 gistrate ; and under the coercion of this threat, ^Ir. 
 Pierce gave up the papers. Shortly afterwards a grand- 
 jury was empannelled for the Court of General Sessions 
 i' Xew York, of which the recorder was presiding judge 
 It was pretty well understood that an attempt would be 
 made to procure the indictment of Mr. ^Morris, as being 
 guilty of a misden^anor, in coercing, in the manner 
 above stated, the delivery of the papers by Pierce. The 
 recorder, in his charge to the gi^and-jury on that occa- 
 
1841] REMOVAL t)K RKCORUEK OK V. Y. ti09 
 
 siun, stated the case, as. he i;upix)sed it would be proved 
 against hiinseh', and went on to dehver a lal>ored argu- 
 ment in justification of his conduct. 
 
 On tile '2*Jth of December, the governor wrote to Mr. 
 Morris, informing him that he should recommend his re- 
 moval from the office of recorder on two grounds : 
 
 1st. Because lie deemed his conduct at the house of 
 Mr. Pierce unjustifiable. 
 
 2d. Because, in his judgment, it was improf»er for the 
 recorder to avail himself of his otiicial station to charge 
 the grand-jury on a ([uestion in which he was individu- 
 ally concerned. 
 
 On the 8th day of January, the recorder replied, at 
 great length, to the governor's letter. The reply con- 
 tained a very ingenious argunient. and afforded evidence 
 of much legal learning and ability. The rec^trder insist- 
 ed that none but " unreasonablf" searches were prohib- 
 ited by the constitution, and that under the circumstances 
 it was jx'rfectly reasonable, had Mr. Pierce not given up 
 the Glentworth j)a{x^rs, to have forcibly seized them. lie 
 also maintained that it was his right, as presiding judge, 
 to charge the grand-jury on any question which it was 
 anticipated miiiht come before them. 
 
 The govenifir. on the 12th of January, and before he 
 received Mr. Morris's letter, sent a message to the sen- 
 ate recommending his removal from the office of recorder, 
 for the causes set forth in his letter of the 29th Decem- 
 ber, and in the same message he nominated Frederick A. 
 Tallmadge, formerly a senator from New York, as the 
 successor of Mr. Mi»rris. 
 
 The proceedings on the message, according to the rules 
 of the senate, were in secret session, but were al'terwards 
 made public by a special order for that purix)se. As this 
 
 18* 
 
210 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 
 
 case, at the time, excited much interest, and is one novel 
 and indeed important in its character, we wiR give a brief 
 summary of these proceedings, mainly collected from the 
 Albany Argus. 
 
 The message, after being read, and an ineffectual at- 
 tempt made by Mr. Hunter to lay it on the table, was, 
 with the accompanying papers, referred to the senators 
 from the first district. 
 
 Mr. Strong then offered the following resolution : 
 
 " Whereas the governor has communicated to the sen- 
 ate a correspondence between him and the recorder of 
 the city of New York, accompanying his recommenda- 
 tion of the removal of the said recorder, and in such 
 recommendation states that he will communicate to the 
 senate any further communication he may receive from 
 the said recorder — Therefore, 
 
 " Resolved, That as the recorder has not had a full op- 
 portunity of making his defence before the governor, and 
 none whatever before the senate, the recorder be notified 
 of the causes for his removal set forth in the recommend- 
 ation of the governor, and have an opportunity of being 
 heard in his defence before the senate." 
 
 On motion of Mr. Peck, the resolution was laid on the 
 table by the following vote : 
 
 Ayes — Messrs. Dickinson, Dixon, Hawkins, Hopkins, 
 Hull, Humphrey, Lee, Livingston, Maynard, Moseley, 
 Nicholas, Peck, Piatt, Rhoades, Root, Taylor, Verplanck, 
 Works— 18. 
 
 Noes — Messrs. Denniston, Ely, Foster, Hunt, Paige, 
 Scott, Skinner, Strong — 8. 
 
 On the 15th of January, the governor transmitted to 
 the senate the letter of the recorder, dated the 8th, to- 
 gether with a message, in which he persisted in the rec- 
 
1841] •removal OF Ki:cx»ui)::u OF v. y. 211 
 
 omnieiulalion of removal, and he also stated that the 
 recorder had sent to him a pamphlet, (containing atlida- 
 vits taken before the recorder,) which he declined to 
 transmit to the senate, as it contained irrelevant matter, 
 unless the senate should re(|uest it. 
 
 Mr. Verplanck then moved that "so much of the mes- 
 sage of his excellency, the governor, as relates to the 
 cau.ses assigned for the removal of Robert H. Morris 
 from the office of recorder of the city of New \ ork, 
 together with the accompanying documents and pajiers, 
 be referred to the committee on the judiciary, and that 
 the committee, consisting of the senators attending the 
 senate from the first district, be discharged from the fur- 
 ther consideration of thi- same." 
 
 Mr. V. said the (juestion was one of great interest to 
 the state, and one founded on general principles of law. 
 The senators from the first district were not all present ; 
 Mr. Furman, his colleague, had g«nie home, and would 
 be absent several days, leaving only two senators in at- 
 tendance from that district ; and besides, as it was an 
 exciting subject, the senators from that district might 
 perhaps be prejudiced in their opinions. 
 
 The motion prevailed. 
 
 Mr. Foster then ofiered the following resolution : 
 
 " Resolved, That his excellency the governor be re- 
 quested to communicate to the senate all depositions, 
 paj)ers, and documents, which Robert H. Morris, Esq., 
 recorder of the city of New York, has furnished him in 
 his defence made to the causes assigned by the governor 
 for removing him from his said office." 
 
 Mr. Lee objected, that the pamphlet sent to the gov- 
 ernor contained much irrelevant matter. 
 
212 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW VORK.* [1841. 
 
 Mr. Paige — The papers, relied upon by the recorder, 
 are marked with his initials, and are authentic. 
 
 Mr. Maynard presumed Mr. Morris sent the pamphlet 
 to save time and the trouble of copying, and suggested 
 an amendment to the resolution, that the governor com- 
 municate such papers as are pertinent. 
 
 Mr. Scott could not see how the pamphlet could be 
 considered irrelevant : it is upon those papers that the 
 recorder ustifies his proceedings. 
 
 Mr. Maynard said the pamphlet contained arguments 
 of course, newspaper remarks, and much other irrelevant 
 matter. 
 
 Mr. Foster said the governor had done what he thought 
 was his duty : our duty now remains. Mr. Morris deems 
 the ])apers important to his defence, and the governor 
 differs from him. He (Mr. F.) should never hold to the 
 doctrine that power creates infallibility. He w^anted to 
 hear both sides, so as to form his own opinion. The 
 senator from the seventh (Mr. Maynard) objects to news- 
 paper evidence, when the highest authority of the state 
 has based the charge against the recorder upon a news- 
 paper. It may be that a different impression would 
 have been made upon the governor, if he had waited 
 for this communication from the recorder before recom- 
 mending his removal. After he had taken a wrong start, 
 it was more difficult to convince him. It was due to the 
 recorder that he should have an opportunity of present- 
 ing to the senate the defence he had made. This was a 
 proceeding (continued Mr. F.) before a secret tribunal, 
 and its object was to degrade the recorder, and deprive 
 him of his office. He trusted the senate would make no 
 exception, would leave nothing to the discretion of the 
 governor, but would call for all the papers. 
 
1841] RI:M''\ AL OF RKCORDER OF N. Y. 213 
 
 Mr. Strung hof)od the resolution would )ia?:i as origin- 
 ally iritrotlucfd. In this matter the senate is similar, in 
 some resj>ects, to a court ol justice ; at all events, it 
 ought to be so far similar as to preserve the fornis of jus- 
 tice. In a court, irrelevant testimony may be oHered, 
 but it cannot be decided to be irrelevant, until it has been 
 oli'ered and understood. The governor may be fully im- 
 pressed with the belief that the j)ai>ers are irrelevant ; but 
 it does not appear that the senate will be of the same 
 opinion. He ho[>ed all the papers would be received 
 from the governor, and referred to the committee having 
 charge of the subject. 
 
 Mr. Lee was not prepared to vote on the question at 
 the present time. It was a matter of great doubt wheth- 
 er there was any thing relevant in the pa|iers. If the 
 question does not depend on the guilt or innocence of the 
 parties Ixjfore the recorder, the papers are of no conse- 
 quence. 
 
 The resolution was then laid on the table till the next 
 day. 
 
 On the 16th, the resolution offered by Mr. Foster was 
 taken up and ad«)i)led. 
 
 The resolution oflbred by Mr. Strong was called up, 
 when Mr. Strong said that to deny the recorder a hear- 
 ing before the senate would be to deny him what was 
 granted to the pettiest otVender in ever)" court of justice 
 in the land. If he was removed, it must be because he 
 was incompetent, or because he was corrupt. No one 
 pretends the former, and the charge was therefore one of 
 mal and corrupt conduct in office. He should consider 
 it a gi-oss and high-handed invasion of the rights of the 
 peo{)le if the senate should try the recorder on this charge, 
 without giving him an opportunity of being present ia 
 
21-1 rOLITICAT, HISTORY OF \E\V YORK. [1841. 
 
 person and by counsel, and of being heard in his defence. 
 The constitution of the United States has guarantied 
 this right to every citizen, and in a case of this magni- 
 tude and importance, the senate should pause before wan- 
 tonly breaking down the barriers set up by that sacred 
 instrument for the protection of popular rights. 
 
 Mr. Root said he did not know, when the resolution 
 was first introduced, but that it was proper ; but as he 
 had given it more thou2;ht, he had come to the conclu- 
 sion that this was not a case of criminal prosecution 
 where the accused party had a right of being heard. Mr. 
 R. gave a brief history of the former system of appoint- 
 ment and removal by the governor and council, and ar- 
 gued, that as the new constitution required county clerks 
 and justices of the peace to have notices of charges 
 against them before being removed, it intended to give 
 officers an opportunity of being heard in their defence 
 only in those cases. He said, he knew there was much 
 noise made about the removal of the marine judges in 
 New York last winter, but it was because the people did 
 not understand the constitution. It would be as well, as 
 this is the first instance, to have the mode of proceeding 
 settled. He hoped it would go to the judiciary com- 
 mittee. 
 
 Mr. Scott said the senator from the third (Mr. Root) 
 had expressed a wish that the mode of proceeding in these 
 cases might be settled. He (Mr. S.) hoped no rule would 
 be adopted, depriving the citizen of the right of being 
 heard in his defence. Mr. S. alluded to the former high 
 position the senator from the third (Mr. Root) held in the 
 democratic party. It was from him (Mr. S. said) I 
 learned the first lesson of democracy, and it is with pain 
 I now see him attempting to deprive the people of their 
 
18-11.1 nEM<'\ AI. <>l IM.roKDKK OK \. Y. 215 
 
 dearest rights. Mr. S. s|)uke ol the removal ol the ma- 
 rine judges in IVew Yoric by the governor and senate, 
 last winter. He demonstrated that the judges of that 
 court were still justices ol' the peace, and that their remo- 
 val witlmut notice wils a palpahle violation ol the letter 
 of the constitution, lie read from the constitution as 
 follows : — ■ And no justice of the |)eace shall be removed 
 until he shall have notice of the charges made against 
 him, and an o|ijH)rlunity of l)eing heard in his defence." 
 The senate removed ihem, (continued Mr. S..) and 1 now 
 stand here to tell this Ujtly that I was elected by an over- 
 whelming majority, as a distinct rebuke from the people 
 u|)on the proceedings of the senate last winter. Is one 
 rule to l)e meted out to t>ne f>flicer. and another to an- 
 other, under this constitution ? Mr. S. then reviewed 
 the course of the governor in not giving time to the re- 
 corder, &LC. 
 
 The motion lo nicr Mr. Strong's resolution to the 
 committee on the judiciary was then adopted. 
 
 Mr. Maynard, from a majority of the committee on the 
 judiciary, presented a written report against the resolu- 
 tion to notify the recorder of the charges against him, and 
 to allow him a hearing before the senate. 
 
 Mr. Strong arose and said he had, .is a member ol the 
 judiciary committee, an adverse report in writing, in fa- 
 vor of tlie re.«<olution. 
 
 The president pro tcin. If there is no objection, it will 
 be received. 
 
 Mr. Slron>r. It is a matter of right. 
 
 The president pro tern. The president, who usually 
 occupies the chair, has always held that receiving a re- 
 port of a minority is a matter oi courtesy, but the ques- 
 ;.ion need not now be raised, as the report will be received. 
 
216 POLITICAL HISTORY OF \K\V VORK. [1841. 
 
 Mr. Strong then presented his report, and both reports 
 were laid on the table. 
 
 Mr. Maynard then offered the following resolution : 
 
 " Resolved, That the message of the governor, recom- 
 mending the removal of the recorder of the city of New 
 York, with the defence of the recorder, and the docu- 
 ments accompanying the same, be referred to the attor- 
 ney-general to report his opinion thereon." 
 
 Mr. Maynard said the recorder had made a very long, 
 a very ingenious, and, perhaps, a legal defence, and that 
 it was important that the subject be acted upon soon, as 
 it was necessary on account of the courts in New York, 
 the recorder decUning to act, from an apprehension tliat 
 he was alreadv removed, as in that case his acts would be 
 illegal. ]Mr. 31. also alluded to the injunction of secrecy, 
 and said that what was done here was known, as appear- 
 ed from the remarks of the recorder on the bench, though 
 he (Mr. M.) disclaimed any imputation. 
 
 Mr. Foster opposed the resolution. It had better be 
 referred to the Supreme Court. The attorney-general 
 was admitted ex gratia as a counsellor in the Supreme 
 Court to qualify him for his station. What did he know 
 of great constitutional principles ? He skimmed on the 
 surface : he was, besides, a political partisan of the gov- 
 ernor. It would be improper in a case of this kind to 
 take the opinion of the attorney-general ; if such an ofin- 
 ion was received, the recorder should be heard by the 
 senate. Mr. F. refeiTed to a communication in the 
 Courier and Enquirer, as to what was divulged in tlie 
 case of Glentworth, and said that what the recorder had 
 said, any one might know. 
 
 During these proceedings, several very able speeches 
 were made. Messrs. Foster, Paige, and Strona; made 
 
1811] BEMitVAL OF RECORDEE OK S. V. 217 
 
 treat and zeaJous eflorts in defence of Mr. Morris ; while 
 on the other hand. Gen. lloiA, Mr. V'erplanck, and that 
 cool and sagacious statesman and learned lawyer, Mr. 
 Maynard, sustained, with equal ability, the recommenda- 
 tion oflhe governor. 
 
 The matter was finally referred to the attorney-general, 
 (Mr. Hail.) who. in his rep«>rt, gave the question a learn- 
 ed and lalM>rious examination, and arrived at the ciuiclu- 
 sion that Mr. Morris could not he justified in the course 
 he had taken. 
 
 The senate, by a party vote, concurred in this ojiinion, 
 and Mr. .M>irris was removed from, and Mr. Tallmadge 
 apjwinted to, the office of recorder of the city of New 
 York. 
 
 As a citizen and as a social companion, there are few 
 men in this or any other ct)mmunity, that p«issess more 
 estimable <|ualilies than FREnKRirK A. T.ali.m.miue. No 
 man can a.ssociate with him without being delighted and 
 charmed with the lil>erality of his sentiments, his courte- 
 sy, and his s(X'ial qualities ; i)ut his consistency and in- 
 tegrity as a jiolitician has W'eu questioned.* We may, 
 however, assert with confidence, that no man could ac- 
 quire and preserve the regard and esteem, and we may 
 say clevotion, of S4j many j>ersonal friends as Mr. Tall- 
 madixe has done, without possessing many gocxi qualities 
 of head and heart. 
 
 With resjH'ct to Mr. Morris we feel hound to say, 
 without expressing or intending to express, and we may 
 in sincerity add, without having formed any opinion 
 whether his conduct in relation to the Glentworth jiapers 
 did or did not require his removal from office, that he 
 
 • 2 Political History. 
 
 19 
 
218 POLITICAL HISTORY Ol' NEW YORK. [l841. 
 
 was and is a nian of ardent temperament, zealous in the 
 pursuit of whatever he deems right ; a lawyer <jf con- 
 siderable legal learning ; and, what is rather unusual, al- 
 though a reputable lawyer, that he is a man of genius. 
 Next to William C. Bryant, in the city of New York, 
 stands Robert H. Morris. 
 
 He was removed in February, and in May following 
 was elected mayor of New York by a large majority. 
 This result could not have occurred if all, or any consid- 
 erable portion of the citizens of that city, had believed 
 that he had wilfully acted wrong as recorder. 
 
 That a vile and base fraud was attempted, and had in 
 1838 been perpetrated by Glentworth and his associates, 
 there cannot now be a doubt. He endeavored to impli- 
 cate M. H. Grinnell, R. C. Wetmore, E. Curtis, and 
 other highly respectable whig citizens, as concerned with 
 him in this nefarious transaction, and the democratic 
 press of that day of course countenanced the allegations 
 of Glentworth. But Mr. Grinnell and others, on oath, 
 denied any participation in the fraud. On the other 
 hand, the whigs charged on the democrats that for years 
 past they had, in the city of New York in particular, by 
 management and fraud, obtained many illegal votes from 
 foreigners not naturalized, and by other means equally 
 unlawful and unjustifiable. It is probably too true that 
 unprincipled and reckless electioneerers of both parties 
 may have smuggled into the ballot-boxes votes which 
 ouffht not to have been received ; but that such men as 
 Moses H. Grinnell, and others named as his associates, on 
 the whig side, or any of the respectable members of the 
 democratic party on the other, have in our most excited 
 elections countenanced or connived at frauds in our elec- 
 tions, we do not believe. The evil, if it has existed, has 
 
1841.] CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. 211) 
 
 been confined to a very limited extent, and it is believed 
 that the plan which has lately been adopted of dividing 
 towns and wards into small election districts, has provi- 
 ded an edectual guard against lho.se frauds which, if 
 permitted, would in a short time disgrace and demolish 
 that system of self-government which every American 
 patriot so highly values, and which has justly rendered 
 us the admiration of the world. 
 
 A select committee was appointed, to whom that part 
 of the message of the governor was referred which rela- 
 ted to capital jiunishment. Air. O'Sullivan of New York, 
 the distinguished editor of the Democratic Review, was 
 chairman of that committee. This was a subject, the 
 importance of which had long been strongly impressed on 
 the benevolent and sensitive mind oi Mr. O'Sullivan. and 
 he entered upon the duties of his station with anxious so- 
 licitude to jjrocure the passage of a law to abolish the 
 deatli penalty. After his ap|)ointment he oixjneil a cor- 
 respondence with intelligent men in alnu)st every county 
 in the state, and to his report, which he made to the as- 
 sembly oil the sixteenth <lay of Aj)ril, which was decided- 
 ly in favor of the abolition of caj)ital punishment, he 
 annexed the communications of sundry eminent individ- 
 uals who expressed themselves favorable to the measure, 
 and detailed a variety of facts tending to show that capi- 
 tal punishment, instead of diminishing the number of 
 murders, increa.sed them. Mr. OSullivan, in his rejiort, 
 endeavored to jirove, and, in our opinion, did prove, that 
 the notion that the divine law enjoined capital jmnish- 
 ment was not well founded ; that the infliction of death 
 prevented the accomplishment of one great object of pun- 
 ishment — the reformation of the oflender ; that the dilfer- 
 ence in the crime and guilt of premeditated murder — for 
 
220 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l841. 
 
 instance, by the waylayer — and the case of killing from 
 the impulse of sudden excitement, and in various other 
 cases where malice is iynplied by the existing law, was 
 immense, and yet by law the punishment was the same ; 
 that the execution of the accused put it out of the power 
 to correct errors (which had frequently happened) of 
 erroneous convictions of the innocent ; and that the ta- 
 king away the lives of men was a relict of the barbarism 
 ot the dark ages, at war with Christianity and with the 
 humanity, refinement, and intelligence of the present age 
 of the world. 
 
 His conclusion therefore was, that capital punishment 
 ought to be abolished, and imprisonment at hard labor 
 substituted in lieu of it ; and that in cases now by law 
 punishable with death, the pardoning power should be 
 taken from the governor. 
 
 This report seemed to be well received by the assem- 
 bly and by the public, but action upon it was from time 
 to time procrastinated, until within two days of the ter- 
 mination of the session. Mr. Simmons, in a set speech, 
 when Mr. O'SuUivan's bill came before the house, op- 
 posed it, notwithstanding which, it passed to a third read- 
 ing by a vote of fifty-seven to fifty-two ; but when the 
 question was taken on its final passage, it was lost, fifty- 
 two being against it (the same number of votes which 
 was cast against its engrossment) and only forty-six in 
 its favor. We regret to perceive among the names of 
 the members w^ho voted against the bill, those of Sim- 
 mons, Hoffman, and Worden. However inconsistent it 
 may seem, and however strange it may appear, the 
 ministers of religion, the special ambassadors of that Be- 
 ing whose mission to this world was to save life, not to 
 destroy it, very zealously opposed the abolition of the 
 
1841.] CHARArTFR OF JOHN C. 8PENCER. 221 
 
 death puiiisluniiit , and we have be*in told by Mr. O'Sul- 
 livan hiiiiseh, that about tlic time his bill came under con- 
 sideration, many clergymen were in the lobby ol the house, 
 and that he verily U'lieved that their influence prevented 
 the passage of the bill. It will be |)erceived that fifty- 
 two voted against passing the bill to a third reading, and 
 that there were only fifty-two votes against its final pas- 
 sage, while but f(»rty-si.\ voted for it. The inference 
 seems very plausible, that eleven of the fifty-seven mem- 
 bers who voted for the alj<»lition of the death [tenalty, 
 through some influence which was brought to iK-ar on 
 tiieir minds when the final vote was taken, absented them- 
 selves from their jilaces in the house. 
 
 Another subject of great im|H)rtance came betore the 
 legislature, and was definitively acted upon during the 
 pre.><ent session. This was a mfniification of the common 
 school law, by providing for the ap|M)intment of a deputy 
 su|)erintendent of schools in every countv. Bv the law 
 as it then existed, each town was required to elect three 
 school-commissioners and three insiK-'Ctors. The.se ofii- 
 cers examined teachers, and decided whether they were 
 of suflk-ient ability and erudition, and whether as re- 
 sjx'Cted their morals they were suitable persons to be 
 intrusted with the care of children, and the education of 
 the rising generation. 
 
 John C. Spenckr was at that time secretar}- of state. 
 and therefore state superintendent of common schools. 
 The high character of this gentleman, as one of the most 
 le.irne*! lawyers in the state, }X)s.se.ssing clear, logical, and 
 nicely discriminating intellectual powers ; his untiring, la- 
 borious, and unceasing apjilication ; his unrivalled capacity 
 for mental labor, are known and universally admitted. 
 To the mighty legal mind of his father, the venerable 
 
 19* 
 
22*2 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 
 
 chief-justice, he has added various and extended literary 
 acquirements, and read and thoroughly digested all the 
 useful productions which have, during the present age, 
 issued from the press, both in Europe and America. 
 We speak of Mr. Spencer, not as a ])olitician, or as n 
 member of a political party, but of his character as a 
 lawyer, as a literary man, and his energy and labors as a 
 public officer. His active mind pervaded all the depaii- 
 ments of the state government. He knew and had an 
 agency in all that was done. The impaired health of Mr. 
 Cooke, and the inclination and ability of Mr. Spencer for 
 active business, drew upon him a considerable share of 
 the labors of that important and overloaded department 
 over which the comptroller presides. Besides all this, 
 Mr. Spencer took a deep interest, and exercised a pow- 
 erful influence in all the appointments made by the gov- 
 ernor and senate. Mr. Croswell, in the war he was then 
 making on the whigs, who then held a majority in all the 
 departments of the state government, as we perceive 
 from examining the files of the Argus, frequently speaks 
 of an individual whom he describes as the " doer of all 
 work." We presume he meant by this description to 
 designate Mr. Spencer, without naming him. If so, he 
 characterized Mr. Spencer more truly than party editors 
 generally describe their distinguished political opponents. 
 Mr. Spencer put in requisition all his energies to im- 
 prove the common-school system. He perceived that it 
 was greatly defective ; that many of the town commis- 
 sioners and inspectors were incompetent to judge of 
 the fitness and requisite qualifications of teachers ; that 
 others were not thorough in the performance of their 
 duty ; that some intermediate local officer ought to be 
 created, to whom the town commissioners might report, 
 
1841.] COMMON SCHOOLS. 223 
 
 who, I'rorn a personal view, could decide on the propriety 
 of altering sciiool districts, or creating new ones — who 
 could visit the schools, and admonish, advise, or ap[)laud, 
 in relation to the manner of conducting them — who 
 should constitute a con)mon depot of information in re- 
 spect to the state of education in each county, and 
 report the same to the state superintendent — and through 
 whom the state superintendent could with certainty com- 
 Ujunicate his views to every neighborhood in the state. 
 
 It is true that the author of this work had, at a state 
 convention of the friends of popular education held at 
 Utica in the year 1837, in a lecture on the school laws, 
 delivered on that occasion, suggested the plan of creating 
 the office of county superintendent, and had soon alter 
 pul)lished a skeleton of his plan in the "Common School 
 Journal," then printed at Albany, by J. Orville Taylor. 
 But these humble efforts soon ceased to excite public at- 
 tention. Like a ripple on the ocean, the movement pro- 
 duced by them soon subsided. It required official influ- 
 ence, it required the energy of John C. Spencer to rouse 
 to efl'ectual action the public mind on this important sub- 
 ject, on which indeed the preservation of our liberties 
 and civil institutions depend. 
 
 Mr. Sj)encer, on his own motion, in the year 1840, 
 appointed in every town in the state, three or tour of its 
 most respectable citizens, who were requested personally 
 to visit the schools in their respective towns, and report 
 to the state superintendent their condition, together with 
 such suggestions for their improvement as might occur 
 to them. This duty was performed by the visiters with- 
 out fee or reward, and full reports made to the supei'in- 
 tendent. In these reports there was a remarkable con- 
 currence in the opinion of all, or nearly all the visiters. 
 
224 POLITICAL, HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 
 
 who spoke on tlie subject, that the office of county super- 
 intendent ought to be created. 
 
 In the early part of the session of 1841, Mr. Spencer 
 made his annual report as superintendent of common 
 schools, to which he appended the reports he had received 
 from the visiters. Mr. S. recommended an amendment 
 of the common-school law, so as to authorize the appoint- 
 ment of deputy superintendents in each county, upon the 
 plan we have intimated, which recommendation he sup- 
 ported with his usual ability. 
 
 On the 18-th of January, a petition for the improvement 
 indicated by the secretary of state, signed by Mr. Bur- 
 net, a highly respectable citizen of Onondaga county, 
 was presented and read in the assembly, which, together 
 with the report of Mr. Spencer, and the reports of the 
 visiters, was referred to the committee on common 
 schools, who soon after reported a bill in accordance 
 with the views of the state superintendent. There was 
 a difference of opinion among the members, whether the 
 county superintendents should be appointed by the gov- 
 ernor and senate, the regents of the university, the secre- 
 tary of state, or the board of supervisors of the respective 
 counties ; but the assembly finally gave a preference to 
 the latter mode of appointment. The bill, either on ac- 
 count of its details, or of the principles contained in it, 
 was opposed by Messrs. L. S. Chatfield, Loomis, and 
 Simmons, and supported by Mr. A. G. Chatfield, (of 
 Steuben, brother of Mr. L. S.,) Doct. Taylor, of Onon- 
 daga, and Mr. Duer, Mr. Stoddard, and several other 
 members. The bill finally passed the assembly by the 
 strong vote of seventy-seven to twenty-one. It was then 
 sent to the senate, where it received the cordial and zeal- 
 ous support of Gen. Root, and passed that house by 
 
1841.] FRANCIS DWIGHT. 225 
 
 nearly a unanimous vote. The bill soon after became 
 a law. 
 
 The legislature also appropriated the sum of $2,800 to 
 be paid to the printer of the Commtfti School Journal, a 
 periodical paper, which was entirely devoted to the cause 
 of popular education, one copy of which the editor or 
 printer was required to send regularly to the clerk of 
 every school district in the state. This journal, it was 
 expected, would contain, and, as it afterwards appeared, 
 did actually contain, all the modern improvements in the 
 construction of school-houses and the management and 
 government of schools, which time and experience de- 
 veloped in this and the other states of the Union. It was 
 conducted by Fr.\nci3 Dwight, Esq., a young gentleman 
 of fine talents, who came from Ontario county, where 
 he had published a paper of a character similar to the one 
 he established in Albany. 
 
 We have said, and said truly, that Francis Dwight was 
 a man of fine talents, but having mentioned his name we 
 ought to say more. A purer and more benevolent heart 
 never warmed the human breast than that of Mr. Dwight. 
 To him theological and political contests were nothing ; 
 but the education of the rising generation and the culti- 
 vation and the increase of the mental power of the 
 masses were every thing. To advance this darling object 
 of his soul he gave up all other pursuits ; and he died, a^ 
 he lived, the enthusiastic advocate of popular education, 
 and the devoted friend of humanity. 
 
 It is mortifying and painful to state, what the truth of 
 history requires us to record, that it is within our per- 
 sonal knowledge that the ' trustees of manv school dis- 
 tricts refuse to take from the post-office this excellent 
 journal, every number of which contains much important 
 
'2*26 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 
 
 and useful informution, the cost of which is paid from the 
 state treasury, because they are unwilHug to pay from 
 the common funds of their respective districts the sum 
 of o7ie shilling a year for postage ! We siiould despond 
 and sicken at the prospect before us of human progress, 
 did we not cherish the hope that the generation which 
 is to succeed us will be influenced by more enlightened, 
 liberal, and patriotic considerations. 
 
 In framing this bill, and procuring its passage, Mr. 
 Spencer was powerfully aided by his deputy-superintend- 
 ent, S. S. Randall, Esq., one of the most worthy and 
 excellent of men, who was himself competent to preside 
 over any educational bureau in the United States. A 
 deep debt of gratitude is due from the people of this state 
 to this talented and zealous friend of popular education, 
 for his services in that great and good cause. He was 
 by profession and in principle a whig, and was brought 
 into the department while the government was adminis- 
 tered by the whigs ; but Col. Young, notwithstanding, 
 when he became secretary of state, retained him in of- 
 fice. Mr. Young, it is true, is an ardent politician ; but 
 this noble act proves that with him the cause of popular 
 education is paramount to all others. It is deeply to be 
 regretted that the state of the health of Mr. Randall has 
 compelled him to abandon the office, and migrate from 
 the state. 
 
 We are well aware that the provision in the school 
 laws, for the appointment of county superintendents, 
 not long after it went into operation became unpopu- 
 lar; that the excitement against it among the people 
 continued to increase, until, at the fall session of the 
 legislature in 1847, its repeal became inevitable. 
 
 The state treasury pays annually for the support of 
 
1841.] COMMON SCHOOLS. 227 
 
 common schools nearly $300,000. That something like 
 the law which provided for the appointment of county 
 superintendents will be found absolutely necessary to se- 
 cure the j)rosperity of those schools, and enable them to 
 accomplish, in some degree, the object contemplated by 
 the founders of the common-school fund, and ensure the 
 proper application of the immense amount of money an- 
 nually paid from the state treasury for the support of 
 popular education, we cannot doubt ; that the law estab- 
 lishing county superintendents, at least in theory, prom- 
 ised to render our educational system as perfect as it 
 could be, consistent with the genius and the government 
 and constitution of the state ; and that this law has re- 
 ceived the approbation, and indeed the eulogy, of 
 the enlightened triends of popular education in every 
 state of the Union, no intelligent man will deny. 
 Why then did it become unpopular ? Why should the 
 masses, who are so deeply interested in the cause it was 
 instituted to sustain and advance, have condemned it ? 
 It would be out of place to attempt at length a discussion 
 of these questions, but we may be permitted briefly to re- 
 mark, that in our judgment, there was one defect in the 
 law which was the remote cause, principally, of its unpop- 
 ularity. The amount of compensation allowed to county 
 superintendents was precisely wrong, that is to say, it 
 was either too much or too little. An annual salary of 
 $1,000 would have called before the board of supervisors 
 candidates for the office, of talents, of highly-cultivated 
 minds, of elevated morals, and great weight of character ; 
 and candidates of this description would generally have 
 been appointed. The amount and liberality of the salary 
 would have induced the incumbent to make all possible 
 rfforts (and who can doubt })ut that they would have been 
 
228 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEAV YORK. [1841. 
 
 successful ?) to render their services acceptable to the 
 community, and to convince the people of the value of 
 those services. 
 
 Again, had the salary been restricted, say to $100, no 
 man would have sought the office for its emolument, and 
 the supervisors would have been left to seek out in each 
 county some benevolent man of easy fortune, who was 
 willing to devote a portion of his time to the public ser- 
 vice in aiding to form, improve, and purify the minds of 
 the children and youth of his own county. Now we do 
 not even by implication mean to pronounce an unfavor- 
 able judgment of the character or qualifications of the 
 gentlemen who have filled the office of superintendent in 
 the various counties of this state since the year 1841 ; 
 we know that many of them were competent and wor- 
 thy men, and we have had the means of knowing, for 
 the author of these remarks was a county superintendent 
 under the law of 1841, for more than six months : nev- 
 ertheless, it is due to candor and truth to say, that a sala- 
 ry of $500 would not induce a man of even ordinary 
 standing in the profession of law or medicine, to aban- 
 don his profession ; and clergymen were constitutionally 
 illegible. Retired gentlemen, whose pecuniary condition 
 rendered them regardless of the amount of compensation, 
 would not enter into an electioneering competition with 
 young men who eagerly sought the office for temporary 
 convenience. The candidates, therefore, generally were 
 either young men who resorted to this employment to 
 enable them to procure the means of prosecuting (in the 
 mean lime, perhay)s) their professional studies, merchants 
 who had failed in business, and who required a year or 
 two to look around for other employment, or men who 
 had been unsuccessful in their i)rofessions, and were un- 
 
1841.] Harrison's inauguration. 229 
 
 able or unwillingr to labor for a livelihood. With such 
 candidates, urging conflicting claims to the boards of su- 
 pervisors, is it wonderful that those boards should have 
 sometimes selected men illy calculated to execute the 
 law of 1841 according to its spirit and intent? 
 
 On the 4th of March, President Harrison, in presence 
 of an immense audience, took the oath of office, and de- 
 livered his inaugural speech. Addresses on such occa- 
 sions generally contain little else but a reiteration of gen- 
 eral propositions affirming self-evident truths, admitted by 
 every one to be such, and professions of honesty and 
 patriotism. The only remarks which strike us as new in 
 the speech are, that the general avows that he is in favor 
 of confining the duration of the office of president to a 
 single term, and declares that " under no circumstances" 
 will he be a candidate for a re-election. He also protests 
 against the interference of the president with the officers 
 of the treasury, and pledges himself that he will not re- 
 move a secretary of the treasury without evidence of 
 palpable mal-conduct, and under the advisement of con- 
 gress. It was not singular that Gen. Harrison should 
 express his apprehension of danger of a violation of the 
 constitution, and the ultimate overthrow of our civil in- 
 stitutions bv means of the increasing and inordinate in- 
 fluence of the president, and the encroachment of the 
 executive on the other departments of the government. 
 All our presidents have, with great apparent concern, ex- 
 pressed similar apprehensions, and warned the people to 
 be on their guard against the unconstitutional exercise of 
 executive power, and the more dangerous influence of 
 executive patronage ; and yet we are much mistaken if, 
 from the time of the presidency of Gen. Washington 
 down to that of Col. Polk, every individual who has oc- 
 
 20 
 
230 I'OLITICAL HIriTORY OF NEiV YOUK. [l841. 
 
 cupied thut high station, has not steadily and systematic- 
 ally seized every plausible occasion to add to the power 
 and patronage of the executive department of the nation. 
 This naturally, and perhaps necessarily, results from the 
 constitution of man, and from the frame of our govern- 
 ment. Gen. Harrison's inaugural speech, however, does, 
 so far as a speech on such occasions can, aflbrd evidence 
 of what in truth he possessed, a kind and patriotic heart, 
 and a liberal mind. A correspondent of the Journal of 
 Commerce, who appears to have been a political friend 
 of the general, writing from Washington under date of 
 the 4th of March, rather sarcastically says : 
 
 " I have no doubt this speech, as it appears, is the gen- 
 eral's own. Mr. Webster or Mr. Ewing, had their taste 
 been consulted, would not have put so much about Greece 
 and Rome in it. It shows, however, his honest, benevo- 
 lent, and truly republican character." 
 
 The new senate, which contained a whig majority, 
 was immediately organized. John Tyler, the vice-presi- 
 dent elect, was in due form conducted to the chair as its 
 presiding officer, and delivered a brief address, which met 
 the approbation and received the applause of all who 
 heard it. 
 
 Soon after the senate had organized, the president sent 
 in his nominations for cabinet officers. They consisted 
 of the following gentlemen : 
 
 Daniel Webster, Secretary of State. 
 
 Thomas Ewing, of Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 John Bell, of Tennessee, Secretary of War 
 
 George E. Badger, of North Carolina, Secretary of the 
 Navy. 
 
 John J. Crittenden, Attorney-general. 
 
 Francis Granger, Postmaster-general. 
 
1841.] iMR. WRIGHT IN THE U. S. SENATE. 231 
 
 These nominations were confirmed by the senate with- 
 out serious opposition. Mr. Webster received a unani- 
 mous vote. 
 
 Mr. Wright, whom we have long neglected during this 
 great i)olitical revolution, with that philosophical calm- 
 ness of mind j^eculiar to him, pursued quietly the even 
 tenor of his way. Courteous to all, he manifested no 
 restlessness, mortification, or irritability. No unkind re- 
 mark escaped him. Once, indeed, when Mr. Crittenden, 
 of Kentucky, in the course of rather an excited speech, 
 in which he alluded in triumph to the changes in the 
 senate which had left the democratic party in the minor- 
 ity, charged them with sneering at the measures proposed 
 by the majority, instead of showing, by grave and sound 
 arguments, that those measures were wrong, Mr. Wright, 
 in replying to him, admitted, tliat if .such course had been 
 pursued by the minority, it was unjustifiable ; " but," said 
 Mr. W., " while it is wrong for the minority to sneer, it 
 does not become the majority to swagger." This rebuke, 
 though unquestionably just on that occasion, was better 
 deserved by'some other meujbers than Mr. Crittenden, 
 who was generally exceedingly courteous and gentleman- 
 ly in debate. After the vote was taken on Mr. Web- 
 ster's nomination, Mr. Wright advanced to him, and ta- 
 king him by the hand in a manner the most cordial, com- 
 plimented his great rival on his appointment as secretary. 
 Little minds are malignant and envious at the success of 
 a rival ; great minds are not subject to the control of 
 those debasing passions. Little minds are inflated and 
 insolent when successful over their opponents ; the truly 
 great are neither elated by success nor depressed by de- 
 feat. 
 
 The pressure upon Gen. Harrison for appointments 
 
232 POI.rTICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 
 
 was extreme. It came from every part of this great 
 country. Candidates crowded the city of Washington, 
 and the president's house was literally besieged with 
 eager applicants for office. This, under the circum- 
 stances of the case, was not remarkable. The federalists, 
 ever since the election of Mr. Jefferson, in 1801, had 
 been generally excluded from office, except during the 
 four years' administration of Mr. J. Q. Adams, when 
 they enjoyed a small portion of the national patronage. 
 Upon the formation of the whig party, in 1828, a large 
 majority of the federalists became members of the new 
 party. All who had supported the election of INIr. Har- 
 rison, now made equal claims, without regard to the old 
 distinctions and party lines, on the patronage at the dis- 
 posal of Gen. Harrison. These numerous applications 
 must have pressed hard upon the kind and generous mind 
 of the president, and occasioned deep and painful anx- 
 iety. Many believe that his extreme mental agitation 
 shortened his days. " Uneasy lies the head that Avears a 
 crown." 
 
 Shortly after his inauguration, the presid*ent issued a 
 proclamation calling an extra session on the 31st day of 
 May then next. It bore date on the 17th day of March; 
 but by a decree of an inscrutable Providence, the general 
 was not to live to see that day. In the latter part of 
 March, while engaged, as was his habit, in a long walk, 
 he was overtaken by a rain, accompanied with a severe 
 cold wind, by which he caught a cold, which induced a 
 pleuretic disease, of which he died on the 4th day of April, 
 eight days after the attack. He possessed a hale and 
 vigorous constitution, and was then but a few months 
 over the age of sixty years. His disease therefore, in 
 order to have made so rapid a progress to its fatal termi- 
 
1841.] DEATH OF GEN. HABRI30N. 233 
 
 nation, must have been oi' the most acute kind. Thus, 
 within a single month after he entered the capitol of the 
 nation accompanied with the congratulations of an im- 
 mense concourse of his fellow-citizens, and commenced 
 performing the duties of his high and exalted office, he 
 was numbered with the dead. 
 
 It is well said by a late writer,* that " the shouts of the 
 multitude, the swelling notes of martial music, the waving 
 plumes, and the gay trappings, gave place to the mourn- 
 ful lamentation, the low tones of the murtled dmm, the 
 black j)all, and the funeral hearse. The opening of the 
 month was bright and cheering — its close was dark and 
 dreary. It was like a day in the early spring. The sun 
 rose in joy and gladness, in its unclouded majesty and 
 splendor — it set in sorrow and gloom." 
 
 The deep and anxious interest which this good man 
 felt in the civil institutions and prosperity of his country, 
 is evinced by the last words he was heard to utter. 
 
 Shortly before he expired, his mental powers became 
 confused, and he was partially deranged. In that condi- 
 tion he thought only of his country ; and the manner in 
 which the government would be administered by his suc- 
 cessor, pressed hard upon his mind. Ilis attending phy- 
 sician, Doct. Worthington, was standing by his bedside. 
 By a species of mental illusion, incident to the state in 
 which he then was, the president evidently imagined him 
 to be Mr. Tyler. " Sir," said he, addressing the doc- 
 tor, " I wish you to understand the true principles of the 
 government — / wish them carried out — I ask nothing 
 
 MORE." 
 
 All eyes were now anxiously turned upon Mr. Tyler. 
 
 * Mr. Jenkins. 
 20* 
 
234 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l841. 
 
 In what manner he would administer the government, was 
 now a subject of earnest inquiry and intense curiosity 
 Many, and we confess we were among the number, be- 
 lieved that his poHtical course would be in accordance 
 with the views of Mr. Clay, and in fact that the new 
 administration would in reality be a Clay administration. 
 Tliis belief was founded on the fact, that while Mr. Ty- 
 ler was in the United States senate with Mr. Clay, it 
 was generally understood that IMr. C. was his favorite. 
 It is certain he was his file-leader. AttheHarrisburgh 
 convention, held by the whigs in 1840, for nominating 
 a candidate for president, Mr. Tyler was a member, and 
 an ardent supporter of Mr. Clay in preference to Gen. 
 Harrison. After the latter was nominated by a majority 
 of voices, in order to conciliate the friends of Mr. Clay, 
 the majority determined to select one of his most zealous 
 friends as candidate for vice-president, and with that view 
 they fixed upon Mr. Tyler. The opinion we have men- 
 tioned was founded on these circumstances. The event 
 proved that we were entirely mistaken. 
 
 The extra congress convened in pursuance of the call, 
 on the 31st of May, and after the organization of the 
 house of representatives, by the choice of Mr. White of 
 Kentucky for speaker, the message of Mr. Tyler was 
 read. It contained nothing from which it could be in- 
 ferred that he would vary from the general principles of 
 the whigs or their policy, except some expressions which 
 seemed to indicate that he was opposed to the incorpora- 
 tion of a bank, vested with the powers and immunities 
 of the late Bank of the United States. He recommend- 
 ed the repeal of the sub-treasury law, and intimated that 
 0. fiscal agency, as he termed it, might be established as a 
 substitute for a chartered bank. On the whole, his mes- 
 
1841.] CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 235 
 
 sage left the public as much in the dark as to his future 
 course, as they were before its delivery. 
 
 In the senate, Mr. Clay was made chairman of the 
 finance committee in the place of Mr. Wright. Both 
 houses proceeded with great expedition ; and nine days 
 from the commencement of the session, a bill was passed 
 repealing the sub-treasury law, all the democratic mem- 
 bers of course voting against it. 
 
 A general bankrupt bill was passed, against the vigor- 
 ous opposition of Mr. Wright. This bill received the 
 approbation of the president, and became a law in the 
 month of August. 
 
 Mr. Clay also introduced a bill for the distribution of 
 the avails of the land sales among the several states. 
 This bill lingered long in the senate ; the treasury was 
 embarrassed, and it had become necessary either to con- 
 tinue the practice of issuing treasury notes, or to raise 
 by loan several millions of dollars. It was contended 
 that so large a portion of the revenue as was derived 
 from the land sales, could not at that time be spared 
 without great inconvenience. The effect would be to 
 render it necessary to raise the tariff of duties on impor- 
 tations, in order to defray the current expenses of the gov- 
 ernment, a measure which, it was alleged, the people were 
 by no means prepared to a{)prove. These vicvvs were 
 presented by Mr. Wright with so much tact and address, 
 that he succeeded in obtaining several whig votes in sup- 
 port of an amendment offered by him, which provided 
 that no distribution should be made at any time when 
 the average rate of duties should exceed twenty per cent. 
 The amendment was adopted, and in that form the bill 
 passed. 
 
 All intelligent men saw that either something like the 
 
236 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l841. 
 
 sub-treasury scheme must be established, or a bank must 
 be chartered. The whig party, and especially Mr. Clay, 
 was very desirous to pass a law to charter a national 
 bank. With Mr. Clay this was a fondly-cherished and 
 most favored measure. From the outgivings of Mr. Ty- 
 ler in his first message, and on other occasions, serious 
 apprehensions were entertained that he would veto a bank 
 bill ; and the jealousy of the whigs of the fidelity of Mr. 
 Tyler to their party, which commenced soon after the 
 death of Gen. Harrison, was increased by these appre- 
 hensions. The bill for chartering a bank was introduced 
 by Mr. Clay, and passed the senate and the house of rep- 
 resentatives in the month of August. It is hardly necessary 
 to add that it was opposed by Mr. Wright, and the demo- 
 cratic members of both houses generally. The president 
 retained the bill for several days after it came into his pos- 
 session, but finally, on the 16th day of August, he sent a 
 message to the senate vetoing the bill. All doubts were 
 then removed : " the long agony," as some of the whig 
 newspapers announced, " was over." The position of Mr. 
 Tyler was now known. He had, in opposition to the 
 unanimous advice of the very able cabinet which had 
 been formed by Gen. Harrison, defeated by his single act 
 a most lavorite measure of the party which elected him. 
 But probably, partly for the purpose of placing Mr. Tyler 
 clearly in the wrong, in the view of all his whig friends, 
 a member from Pennsylvania introduced a bill into the 
 house ol" representatives for the creation of what was de- 
 nominated a " Fiscal Bank." This bill was divested of 
 some of the features which were contained in the first, 
 and which Mr. Tyler in his veto message had pointed out 
 as objectionable. This last bill passed both houses by a 
 party vote, and was sent to the president, who on the 9th 
 
1841.] MR. Tyler's cabinet. 237 
 
 of September vetoed it. The whig party now openly 
 declared war against him. The cabinet was dissolved : 
 all its members retired, except Mr. Webster, who was 
 induced to remain. Mr. Tyler thereupon nominated 
 Walter Forward, secretary of the treasury ; John M'Lean, 
 secretary of war ; A. P. Upshur, secretary of the navy ; 
 Charles A. Wickliffe, postmaster-general; and Hugh H. 
 Legare, attorney-general. These nominations were all 
 confirmed by the senate. Judge M'Lean declined the 
 appointment of secretary of war, and thereupon John C. 
 Spencer, of this state, was appointed to that office. Mr. 
 Spencer, it is said, felt some embarrassment in accepting 
 the appointment, because the whig state committee had 
 lately called a convention, and in the printed call hjid 
 denounced with severity the conduct of Mr. Tyler. He, 
 however, did accept the proffered appointment. We re- 
 mark, in passing, that Mr. Spencer carried with him to 
 Washington all that energy of conduct and habit, of per- 
 severing and indomitable labor, for which he was distin- 
 guished, so that, as far as related to what may strictly be 
 called the business concerns of government, he was the 
 life and soul of the administration of which he was a 
 member. 
 
 In these revolutions and counter-revolutions at Wash- 
 ington, Mr. Wright took no part. He neither favored 
 the Clay whigs, or Tyler whigs, or Tyler democrats, (and 
 indeed there were very few of the two latter classes,) but 
 he kept on the same unvarying course he had pursued 
 during Mr. Van Buren's administration, and acted and 
 voted on all questions according to his sense of right and 
 sound policy, without any regard to the storms of faction 
 that were howling around him. 
 
 At the July term held this year in the city of Utica the 
 
238 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [lS41. 
 
 case of Alexander M'Leod came on to be heard on a re- 
 turn to a \\Tit of habeas corpus. This case had produced 
 much excitement in the western parts of the state, and in 
 the province of Canada. It had been the subject of con- 
 siderable correspondence between the governments of the 
 United States and Great Britain, and had excited the at- 
 tion of the American congress and the British parlia- 
 ment. We shall therefore attempt to give a brief history 
 of it. 
 
 In a preceding volume* we have given some account 
 of the insurrection in Canada, in 1837, and of the persons 
 from the United States who, under the name of patriots, 
 joined the insurgents. 
 
 In December, a body of Americans to the number of 
 some two or three hundred, with Rensselaer ^'an Rens- 
 selaer for their leader, took possession of an island in the 
 Niagara river, claimed by the British, situate between 
 Lewiston, in the state of New York, and Chippewa, on 
 the Canada shore. This party were furnished with 
 arms and munitions of war, and employed themselves oc- 
 casionally by firing cannon-shot into the village and 
 among the inhabitants of Chippewa. They held forcible 
 possession of the island till some time in January follow- 
 ing. For the protection of the inhabitants, and in order 
 to repel these attacks, the British government called out a 
 military force, amounting, as was alleged, to 2,500 men, 
 which was stationed at Chippewa, and commanded by 
 Col. Allan McXabb. A steamer called the Caroline, 
 owned by Mr. Wells of Buffalo, it was asserted, had been 
 chartered by the party at Navy Island, to ply between 
 Schlosser, near Lewiston. and the island, for the purpose 
 
 • See '2 Political Historj-, p. 487. 
 
1841.] CASE OF m'leod. 239 
 
 of transporting from the state of New York provisions, 
 ammunition, and men to the island, for the aid and sup- 
 port of the assailants of Chippewa and the insurgents in 
 Canada. It was, however, insisted, by the owner of the 
 Caroline, that she w as to be employed to carry freight 
 between Buffalo and Schlosser, and to be used as a feiTy- 
 boat only between Schlosser and Navy Island. It is, 
 nevertheless, certain that she did carry some arms and 
 military stores to the occupants of the island, and that in 
 the afternoon of the 29th of December she made two or 
 three trips between the island and Schlosser. On that 
 evening Col. McNabb fitted out an expedition of several 
 small boats, manned with armed men from Chippewa, 
 who were commanded to seize by force the Caroline, 
 wherever she could be found, and bring her into Chippe- 
 wa, or destroy her. The party proceeded to execute the 
 commands of Col. McNabb, and found the boat fastened 
 to the dock at Schlosser, and there made a hostile attack 
 upon her by sword.s and fire-arms, and finally got her in 
 their possession, towed hei- into the stream, and left her 
 to float down the Niagara Falls. This transaction oc- 
 curred about midnight ; and during the atTray, one James 
 Durfee, a hand employed to manage the Caroline, was 
 shot through the head by a pistol or musket ball, and 
 found dead on the next morning. 
 
 Alexander M'Leod re.sided at or near Chippewa, and 
 was in the habit of visiting Buffalo and Lewiston, and 
 other places on the Niagara frontier. In the early part 
 of January, 1841, he was in the county of Niagara, and 
 there in comi)any with some American citizens, and prob- 
 ably excited by pa.ssion or stimulating liquor, declared 
 that he was one of the party who seized the Caroline, and 
 that he himself shot Durfee. After this public declara- 
 
240 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. []84I. 
 
 tion, a warrant for his apprehension on a charge of mur- 
 der was issued, on which he was arrested and committed 
 to the jail at Lockport. M'Leod, finding the matter be- 
 coming thus serious, appHed by his counsel to be admit- 
 ted to bail, and the officer to whom the application was 
 made, granted it. The people of Lockport hearing of this 
 decision, and that M'Leod was to be permitted to go at 
 large, became highly excited and indignant. They rushed 
 to the courthouse, and there formed themselves into a 
 meeting for the purpose of protesting against the dis- 
 charge of M'Leod from imprisonment on any terms. The 
 two citizens who had become his bail became intimida- 
 ted, and the judge rescinded the order he had made ad- 
 mitting the prisoner to bail. The proceedings are de- 
 scribed by a writer from Lockport, who evidently is 
 disposed to represent things as favorable to the inhabit- 
 ants of the village as could in any way be reconciled to 
 truth, in the following manner : 
 
 "LccKPORT, Jan. 28, 1841. 
 "Gentlemen : — M'Leod was yesterday admitted to bail 
 by one of our judges, before whom his last examination 
 was held, by whom he was committed. Some excite- 
 ment among our citizens was the consequence. A meet- 
 ing was held at the courthouse yesterday morning, which 
 was adjourned over until this evening. Two of our citi- 
 zens had become M'Leod's sureties, after having been 
 indemnified to the amount of the bail, 85,000. A very 
 large majority of those who composed the meeting to- 
 day, disapproved of the proceeding of admitting to bail, 
 and a disposition was manifested to strongly censure those 
 who had suffered their names to be used for that pur- 
 pose^ 
 
1841.] m'leod's case. 241 
 
 " One of the bondsmen came before the meeting upon an 
 invitation conveyed to him by a committee of tlie meet- 
 ing, and made a frank and satisfactory statement of the 
 motives which had actuated hiin, at the same time ex- 
 pressing his willingness to withdraw from the position he. 
 had assumed, after the demonstration he had witnessed of 
 popular feeling upon the subject. It is due to this gentle- 
 man to add, that in this step he was evidently not intimi- 
 dated by any apprehension of personal consequences, but 
 it rather seemed on his part a concession of what he con- 
 sidered due to a public sentiment. M'Leod was yet in 
 custody, the legal process not having yet been served up- 
 on the sherilT. The proceeding of admitting to bail, so 
 far as it had gone, was rescinded. 
 
 " While the meeting was in session, a process was put 
 in the hands of the sheriff against M'Leod, requiring bail 
 to the amount of «7,0U0. It is the commencement of 
 a suit brought by Mr. Wells, the owner of the Caroline, 
 for private damages ; so that the amount of bail now re- 
 quired to give him his liberty, would be $12,000." 
 
 As soon as the arrest and imjirisonment of M'Leod 
 came to the knowledge of the British government, it de- 
 clared that it fully recognised the act of the seizure of the 
 Caroline, and w^as responsible for the consequences which 
 might result from it. On the 12th of March, Mr. Fox, the 
 envoy of Great Britain, residing at Washington, officially 
 communicated this avowal of his government to Mr. 
 Webster, then secretary of state, and formally repeated a 
 demand he had before made on the government of the 
 United States that M'Leod should be immediately re- 
 leased. 
 
 Mr. Webster, in his reply, explained to Mr. Fox 
 
 21 
 
242 POLITICAL. HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 
 
 that the national government had no legal authority to 
 interfere with the judicial proceedings of an independent 
 state ; but if we rightly recollect, (for we have not Mr. 
 Webster's letter before us,) he admitted that the proper 
 authority, under the circumstances, ought to discharge 
 M'Leod. The secretary stated that the case was un- 
 der the control of the Supreme Court of the state of 
 New York, and he strongly intimated his expectation 
 that they would take the same view of it which he did. 
 In the mean time M'Leod had been indicted for the 
 murder of Durfee by a grand-jury of the county of Ni- 
 agara. 
 
 In this state, the case came before the Supreme Court 
 at Utica. The cause was argued by A. Bradley and J. 
 A. Spencer, then district-attorney of the United States 
 for the northern district of New York, on the part of 
 M'Leod, and by Mr. Hall, the attorney-general, in behalf 
 of the people. 
 
 The court held the case under advisement for some 
 time, but at length Judge Cowen delivered an elaborate 
 opinion, which occupies 47 octavo pages in the first vol- 
 ume of Hill's Reports,* in which he arrived at the con- 
 clusion, that M'Leod ought not to be discharged from 
 imprisonment until he should be tried by a jury of the 
 country. 
 
 It is not our intention to attempt to present even the 
 outlines or skeleton *of the arguments of the learned 
 judge ; much less do we feel authorized to criticise or 
 condemn it. We must, however, take the liberty of 
 saying, that according to the limited and superficial 
 views we had been able to take of the case, the decision 
 
 * See 1 Hill, 377. 
 
1841.] JUDGE co\vl:c'3 opinion. 213 
 
 of Justice Cowen struck us with surprise and astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 We knew that a state of war might exist between two 
 nations, or the people of two nations, without having 
 been declared by either. We had supposed that actual 
 war existed between the Canadian government and the 
 insurgents, and those who aided them : that in sup- 
 pressing the insurrection and repelling invasion, the 
 British had a right to use military force : that the 
 military officer in command has a right to direct a sub- 
 ordinate or j)rivate to perform such acts as in his judg- 
 ment may be necessary for defence against, or annoy- 
 ance of, an enemy : that the subordinate and private 
 are bound to, obey such order : that if, in the execu- 
 tion of it, the rights of a neutral power are violated, such 
 neutral power may resist, and prevent by force such 
 violation, or it may demand indemnity and satisfaction 
 of the nation whose officer has violated its neutral 
 rights. That the rule of law that would subject MLeod 
 to trial and execution, would lead to this most palpable 
 absurdity : — if M'Leod had refused to obey the orders 
 of McNabb, recognised as they were by the highest au- 
 thority in Canada and in England, he would have 
 been liable to be tried by a court-martial in Canada, 
 and shot. If he obeyed, he was liable, five years after- 
 wards, to be seized in the state of New York, tried by a 
 jury, and hung. Is there, can there be any escape from 
 this absurdity ? 
 
 It is said the other justices, Nelson and Bronson, 
 yielded reluctantly to, instead of really concurring in, 
 the opinion of Judge Cowen. 
 
 Justice Cowen was not only a learned and able, but a 
 strictly honest judge. How, then, could he arrive at so 
 
244 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 
 
 strange a conclusion ? The judge was an acquaintance 
 and friend of Mr. Papineau, late speaker of the assem- 
 bly in Lower Canada, and who, though a very worthy 
 man, was a leader of the malecontents, and finally, with 
 his son, fled from Canada to the United States. The 
 generous heart of Justice Co wen sympathized with the 
 exile ; and the son, who though an alien, was, by special 
 act of the legislature, admitted an attorney of the Su- 
 preme Court, was a peculiar favorite of Judge C. May 
 not these circumstances have impressed on the pure and 
 honest mind of Justice Cowen, of course without being 
 himself aware of it, a feeling calculated to create a bias, 
 which would render his mental action less free and clear 
 on any question relating to the Canadian insurrection, 
 than on most others ? 
 
 The opinion of Judge Cowen was reviewed by Judge 
 Tallmadge, of the Superior Court of New York, with 
 great learning and ability. To the correctness of the 
 reasoning and conclusions of Mr. Tallmadge, several of 
 the most distinguished lawyers and jurists in the United 
 States bore full and ample testimony in their letters ad- 
 dressed to him on the subject, which have since been 
 published with a second edition of the review.* Chan- 
 cellor Kent, in a note to the author, says : 
 
 " It [the review] is very ably executed. It is clear, 
 precise, neat, logical, accurate, and entirely conclusive 
 on every point. I should have been proud if I had been 
 the author of it." 
 
 Chief-justice Spencer, in a letter of some length to 
 Judge Tallmadge, expresses his most decided approba- 
 tion of the doctrines advocated in the review. Robert 
 
 * See ae Wendell, 663. 
 
1841.] m'leod's trial, 245 
 
 Minot Sherman, of the vSupreme Court of Connecticut ; 
 John Bannister Gibson, chief-justice of the Supreme 
 Court of Pennsylvania, and M. C. Rogers, judge of the 
 same court ; Simon Greenleaf, LL.D., the learned pro- 
 fessor of law in Harvard University ; Daniel Webster, 
 John Duer, an eminent counsellor of New York, Theron 
 Metcalf, law reporter in ^lassachusetts, and Messrs. 
 Berrian, Huntington, Clayton, Crittenden, and Choate, 
 members of the senate of the United States, all by writ- 
 ten communications declared entire concurrence in the 
 views expressed by Judge Tallmadge. 
 
 The review of Judge Tallmadge was itself reviewed 
 by Mr. Hill, the reporter of the oi)inions of the New 
 York Supreme Court, in doing which he defended the 
 opinion of Judge Cowen, of course, with much skill, 
 learning, and ability.* 
 
 Oil account of the preconceived opinions on the mer- 
 its of the case of M'Leod, which it was supposed had 
 been formed in the county of Niagara, his trial, by a 
 special order, was directed to be held in the county of 
 Oneida. It came on before Judge Gridley of the fifth 
 district. We have reason to know that that able law- 
 yer and excellent judge did not, in his individual opin- 
 ion, concur with Judge Cowen ; but nevertheless, he 
 conducted the trial, as he should have done, on the prin- 
 ciple that the decision of the Supreme Court, as delivered 
 by Judge Cowen, was the law of the land, leaving to 
 the accused, in case of his conviction by the jury, to 
 pursue his defence by an appeal to the Supreme Court 
 of the United States. The trial continued several 
 days, and was of course ably conducted, the attorney- 
 
 • See Appendix to 3 Hill, 635. 
 21* 
 
216 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 
 
 general, Hall, being counsel for the people, and Joshua 
 A. Spencer for the prisoner. After a long and tedious 
 examination of witnesses, it turned out that M'Leod had 
 nothing to do with the killing of Durfee.* It appeared 
 that he had foolishly boasted of doing an act in which 
 he was not at all concerned ; he was proved to be a 
 swaggerer, but not a homicide ; and the jury, after a 
 very brief deliberation, brought in a verdict of not guilty. 
 Thus ended an affair which at one time threatened to 
 produce a war, with all its attendant calamities, between 
 two great and friendly nations. 
 
 In the month of August, William Kent, the only son 
 bf Chancellor Kent, an able and accomplished lawyer, 
 was appointed circuit judge of the first circuit, that of- 
 fice having become vacant by the disability of Judge 
 Edwards, who, on account of his age, could no longer 
 constitutionally discharge its functions. This was one 
 of the best appointments made by Gov. Seward. Con- 
 stant in his application to business, affable and kind in 
 his deportment, candid and impartial in his decisions, 
 and deeply learned in the law, Mr. Kent deservedly 
 obtained the respect and confidence and the love and 
 regard of the members of the bar, and the public in 
 general. It is much to be regretted that ill health re- 
 quired him so soon to retire from the New York judi- 
 ciary, of which he was one of its brightest ornaments. 
 
 Mr. Bates Cooke, who, upon resigning the office of 
 comptroller, was appointed bank commissioner, died 
 this year. He was one of the leading and most efii- 
 
 * M'Leod, in his aflBdavit, on which he applied to be discharged on the 
 writ of habeas corpus, swore that he was not even with the party sent out 
 by M'Nabb to destroy the Caroline. 
 
1841.] DEMOCRATIC TRIUMPH. 247 
 
 cient antimasons of the West, during the prevalence of 
 the excitement against masonry, and was elected, we 
 believe, more than once, a member of congress by anti- 
 masonic votes. We had no personal acquaintance with 
 Mr. Cooke, but have every reason to believe he was a 
 sound-minded and estimable man. 
 
 The election in November resulted in the complete 
 and unexpected triumph of the democratic party. We 
 say unexpected, because, although calculating men on 
 both sides anticipated the election of a democratic ma- 
 jority of the members of the assembly, the senate being 
 a permanent body, and the whig majority in that house 
 in 1841 being quite large, few men before the election 
 entertained the opinion that there would be a change of 
 political power in that branch of the legislature so early 
 as the year 1842. 
 
 This great change may have been produced from 
 some or all of the following causes: — A considerable 
 number of the more reflecting portion of the commu- 
 nity viewed with apprehension and alarm the rapid 
 accumulation of the state debt, occasioned by the ex- 
 penditure of four millions of dollars a year in enlar^in"' 
 the Erie and in constructing the Genesee Valley and 
 Black River canals. It was true this expenditure had 
 been authorized in 1838, as well by a democratic senate 
 as a whig assembly ; yet it was well known that Col. 
 Young in the senate, and Mr. Flagg and other leading 
 democrats, not members of the legislature, were warmly 
 opposed to those measures ; and previous to the elec- 
 tion of 1841, the democratic newspapers with great 
 unanimity denounced the policy of increasing the public 
 debt, and loudly demanded a retrenchment of expendi- 
 tures. 
 
248 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 
 
 Although Gov. Seward was popular among the mass 
 of his party, there was a considerable number of whigs, 
 possessing much influence in consequence of their 
 wealth and standing in society, who thought the gov- 
 ernor too radical in some of his political notions ; and 
 the under-curi'ent these individuals put in motion per- 
 sonally against Mr. Seward, interrupted and checked 
 the vigorous action of the whig party, even in the choice 
 of members of the legislature. 
 
 The defection, or, as it was called, treachery of Mr. 
 Tyler, wrested from the whig party in the state of New 
 York the control of the national patronage. They had 
 gained the battle, but the fruits of the conquest were 
 snatched from them in the moment of victory. This 
 prostration of their hopes and expectations discouraged 
 and disheartened many whigs, who lately had been ac- 
 tive and zealous, and paralyzed their efforts, while the 
 same events induced their opponents to act with re- 
 newed vigor and energy. 
 
1842.] MKMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY. 249 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Levi S. Chatfield chosen Speaker of the As-sembly — Unusual number of 
 men of talents this year elected Members of that House — Isaac R. El- 
 wood chosen Clerk of the Senate — Gov. Seward's Messaire — Comptrol- 
 ler's Report — Dispute between the Governor and Senate on the Bill for 
 the Repeal of the Law in relation to the Receivers of Insolvent Banks 
 — Caucus for nominating^ State Officers — A. C. Flagrg, Comptroller, S. 
 Yonngf, Serrplary of State. Geortre P. Barker, Attorney-sjeueral, Thom- 
 as Fiirrinirton, Treasurer, Nathaniel Jones, Surveyor-general — Canal 
 Conmiissioners — Debates in the Senate and Assembly on the Finances 
 — Mr. HofTinan's Speech — Mr. Flaj^g's Report — Mr. Hoffman's Finan- 
 cial Bill of 184'3 — It passes the Assembly — Proceedings in the Senate 
 thereon — Mr. Dickinson's Substitute, and Messrs. Foster's and Faulk- 
 ener's Amendments — The People's Resolutions — Indications of Dissen- 
 sions in the Democratic and Whig Parties — Virginia Controversy again 
 discus^ed — Bill for removing the Stale Printer — Vetoed by the Governor 
 — Proceedings in Congress — Mr. Wright's Speech on the Loan Bill — 
 His Speech on the Bill for dividing the States into single Congressional 
 Districts— New Tariff Bill— Mr. Wright's Speech on this Bill— Demo- 
 cratic State Convention — William C. Bouck nominated for Governor — 
 He is elected — D. S. Dickinson elected Lieutenant-governor. 
 
 There was an unusual number of men of talents 
 elected to the assembly at the annual election in 1841. 
 From the city of New York, O'Sullivan and Townsend, 
 and Messrs. M'Clay, Grout, Jones, M'Murray, &c., add- 
 ed much to the strength of the representation from that 
 city. Horatio Seymour, from Utica ; John A. Dix, late 
 secretary of state, now United States senator, from Al- 
 bany. Lemuel Stetson, from Clinton county; that learned 
 and able lawyer, George A. Simmons, from Essex ; John 
 W. Tamlin, from Jefferson : John A. Lott, from Kings ; 
 
250 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 
 
 Levi S. Chatfield, from Otsego ; George R. Davis, from 
 Rensselaer; the benevolent friend of popular education 
 and of man, Calvin T. llulburt, from St. Lawrence ; the 
 active and energetic Halsey Rogers and John Cramer, 
 from Saratoga ; Ziba A. Leland, from Steuben ; Charles 
 Humphrey, former speaker, and' now clerk of the Su- 
 preme Court, from Tompkins ; and Michael Hoffman 
 and Arphaxad Loomis, from the county of Herkimer, 
 were all men of distinguished ability. 
 
 As usual, a separate caucus was held by the two 
 houses the evening preceding the meeting of the legis- 
 lature, which was on Monday, the 3d of January. The 
 democratic senators nominated Isaac R. El wood, of 
 Rochester, clerk, in place of Samuel G. Andrews, then 
 the incumbent. We believe Mr. Andrews had dis- 
 charged his duties faithfully, and to the satisfaction 
 of the senate and the public. The objections to him 
 were purely political. The appointment of Mr. El wood, 
 however, was well received. He is a man of highly 
 cultivated mind, and extensive and varied literary at- 
 tainments. 
 
 At the assembly caucus, Levi S. Chatfield on the first 
 ballot received eighty votes, and was declared nomina- 
 ted. There was some difficulty in selecting a candidate 
 for clerk, but after two or three ballotings, John O. Cole 
 of Albany, formerly an energetic police justice of that 
 city, was declared duly nominated. The election of 
 these gentlemen was of course made the next day. 
 
 The election of Mr. Chatfield, notwithstanding there 
 were other democratic members of great talent and 
 merit, then belonging to the assembly, was in our judg- 
 ment an act of appropriate political justice. That he 
 possessed talents of a high order was admitted by all ; 
 
1842.] governor's message. 251 
 
 but what gave him peculiar claims was, he had come 
 into the assembly two or three years before, when the 
 democratic party was in a small minority ; had stood in 
 the front ranks of the opposition to the whig majority ; had 
 defended with zeal and ability the views of his political 
 friends, and had been several times their candidate for 
 speaker when it was known he could not be elected. These 
 circumstances had frequently subjected him to severe 
 attacks from his political opponents. Mr. Hoffman was 
 probably the strongest man among the democratic mem- 
 bers ; but Mr. H. was contending for things rather than 
 names — for moral rather than official power. He him- 
 self was in favor of Mr. Chatfield. 
 
 Though Gov. Seward always writes and speaks with 
 ability, his message on this occasion was, in our opinion, 
 both in style and spirit, superior to his former commu- 
 nications. He probably felt that he was addressing a 
 body of men a majority of whom were in principle opposed 
 to some of his favorite doctrines, and whose opposition to 
 his policy was sharpened by coming fresh from the field 
 of a fierce contest at the polls of the election. 
 
 Atler the usual introductory congratulations and re- 
 marks on matters of minor importance, the governor al- 
 ludes to the Virginia controversy in the following deco- 
 rous and conciliatory manner : 
 
 " I lav before you a law of Virginia calculated to em- 
 barrass our commerce. The effect of the act is post- 
 poned until May next, and the governor is authorized 
 flirther to suspend it whenever the executive authority 
 of this state shall surrender three persons heretofore de- 
 manded by the lieutenant-governor of that common- 
 wealth as fugitives from justice, and the legislature shall 
 repeal the law extending the trial by jury. I have re- 
 
252 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 
 
 spectfully informed the authorities of Virginia, that my 
 convictions of the illegaUty of that requisition are un- 
 changed ; and that although New York, from motives 
 of self-respect and devotion to the Union, will not re- 
 taliate, nor even remonstrate, yet she cannot consent to 
 remain a respondent, since Virginia has seen fit to 
 transcend the sphere assigned her hy the federal consti- 
 tution, and to pass an aggressive law ; but that this state 
 will cheerfully return to a discussion of the subject, with 
 a sincere desire to arrive at a conclusion mutually satis- 
 factory and conducive to the general harmony, whenever 
 the effect of that unfortunate statute shall be removed 
 by the action of our sister state, or by an overruling de- 
 cision of the Supreme Court of the United States. The 
 legislature will decide whether the trial by jury shall be 
 relinquished ; and whether a state, which acknowledges 
 no natural inequality of men, and no political inequality 
 which may not ultimately be removed, shall wrest that 
 precious shield from those only whose freedom is assail- 
 ed, not for any wrong-doing of their own, but because 
 the greatest of all crimes was committed against their 
 ancestors. Taught as we have been by the founders of 
 the constitution, and most emphatically by the states- 
 men of Virginia, we cannot renounce the principle, that 
 all men are born free and equal, nor any of its legitimate 
 consequences. But we can, nevertheless, give to Vir- 
 ginia, and to the whole American family, pledges of 
 peace, affection, and fidelity to the Union, by relying 
 upon legal redress alone, and by waiting the returning 
 magnanimity of a state whose early and self-sacrificing 
 vindication of the rights of man has entitled her to en- 
 during veneration and gratitude."' 
 
 On the subject of capital punishment the governor says : 
 
1842.] governor's message. 253 
 
 " Every philanthropic mind will cling to the hope, that 
 ultimately the supremacy of the laws may be maintain- 
 ed, without exacting, in any case, a forfeiture of hfe. 
 Nevertheless, the subject requires most cautious deliber- 
 ation. The substitution of imprisonment for life would 
 be signally unsuccessful, without such a modification of 
 the pardoning power as might prevent its being employ- 
 ed except in cases where it would seem necessary to 
 correct error." 
 
 The message alludes to the case of M'Leod in a man- 
 ner that appears to us rather as evincive of an inclina- 
 tion to evade the expression of an opinion upon the great 
 question of national law involved in that case, and to 
 speak in a way least calculated to disturb popular preju- 
 dices against encroachment upon the sovereignty of the 
 state. 
 
 In speaking upon the school and literature fund, the 
 governor says : 
 
 " The literature fund, devoted to the improvement of 
 the higher branches of learning in colleges and acade- 
 mies, has a capital of $208,990, and. including what is 
 received from the United States deposites, an income of 
 847,165. The value of the endowments of our colleges 
 and academies is $2,175,731. The productive capital 
 of the common school fund is $2,03(5,625, and its whole 
 income is $261,073. If we should include lands valued 
 at $200,000, and so much of the United States deposite 
 moneys as yield revenue to this fund, its value would be 
 $5,819,959. There are 10,886 school district libraries, 
 containing 630,000 volumes. The whole capital perma- 
 nently invested for the support of education, including 
 the two funds, the endowments of colleges, and the value 
 of school edifices, is $10,500,000." 
 
 22 
 
254 POLITICAL HISTORY OF VEW YORK. [1842 
 
 He adds, with peculiar propriety, that "there is a hap- 
 pv contrast between this munificent foundation and a 
 resolution of the colonial assembly, not long before the 
 revolution, declaring that a report that they intended to 
 lew bv tax £500, to be expended in the promotion of 
 leamincr, was groundless, false, and malicious.'"' 
 
 Mr. Seward renews his recommendation in favor of 
 the distribution of the common-school moneys in the city 
 of Xew York in such a manner as to allow foreigners 
 and Catholics to participate in the bounty of the state, 
 without a violation of what they deem to be their reU- 
 gious duties to their children. On that subject he says : 
 
 " This proposition, to gather the young from the streets 
 and wharves into the nurseries which the state, solicit- 
 ous for her security against ignorance, has prepared for 
 them, has sometimes been treated as a device to appro- 
 priate the school iiind to the endowment of seminaries 
 for teaching lanaruages and faiths, thus to perpetuate the 
 prejudices it seeks to remove : sometimes as a scheme 
 for dividing that precious fund among a hundred jar- 
 ring sects, and thus increasing the religious animosities 
 it strives to heal : sometimes as a plan to subvert the 
 prevailing religion and '-^^^^uce one repugnant to the 
 consciences of our fe.. . -.ilizens; while, in truth, it 
 simply proposes, by enlightening equally the minds of 
 all, to enable them to detect error wherever it may ex- 
 ist and to reduce uncongenial masses into one intelli- 
 gent virtuous, harmonious, and happy people. Being 
 now relieved from all such misconceptions, it presents 
 the questions, whether it is wiser and more humane to 
 educate the offspring of the poor, than to leave them to 
 grow up in ignorance and vice : whether juvenile vice 
 is more easilv eradicated bv the court of sessions than bv 
 
1842.] governor's message. 255 
 
 common schools : whether parents have a right to be 
 heard concerning the instruction and instructors of their 
 children, and tax-payers, in relation to the expenditure 
 of public funds ; whether, in a republican government, 
 it is necessary to interpose an independent corporation 
 between the people and the schoolmaster, and whether 
 it is wise and just to disfranchise an entire community 
 of all control over public education, rather than suffer a 
 part to be represented in proportion to its numbers and 
 contributions. Since such considerations are now in- 
 volved, what has hitherto been discussed as a question 
 of benevolence and universal education, has become one 
 of equal civil rights, religious tolerance, and liberty of 
 conscience. We could bear with us, in our retirement 
 from public service, no recollection more worthy of being 
 cherished through life, than that of having met such a 
 question in the generous and confiding spirit of our in- 
 stitutions, and decided it upon the immutable principles 
 on which they are based." 
 
 The governor informs the legislature that the amount 
 received for canal tolls during the preceding year from 
 all the canals, was 82.034.878, which was very near 
 double the amount received from the same source in the 
 year 1831.* The net revenue from the canals, after 
 deducting all expenditures during the last fiscal year, 
 was 81.551.098. 
 
 With respect to the public debt the governor 
 says : 
 
 '• The permanent public debt, at the close of the last 
 fiscal year, exclusively of temf>orarf loans, contingent 
 liabilities, and the balance of the Erie and Champlain 
 
 • The (oils received iu 1831 ainouuted to do more than $1,223,801 
 
256 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 
 
 Canal debt, for the payment of which equivalent funds 
 are set apart, is $15,540,530; to which must be added 
 temporary loans, amounting to $1,855,000, making the 
 aggregate debt $17,395,530 ; and the interest annually 
 payable thereon, including also interest on the stocks 
 loaned to the railroad companies who are in default, is 
 $919,704. The debt consists of stocks chiefly redeem- 
 able in 1845, 1850, 1855, and 1860. The amount of 
 stocks issued to the Delaware and Hudson Canal Com- 
 pany, and railroad companies, is $5,035,700. You will, 
 of course, give immediate attention to proper measures 
 for reimbursing temporary loans." 
 
 Gov. Seward urges the continuation of the enlarge- 
 ment of the Erie Canal, and the completion of the con- 
 struction of the Genesee Valley and Black River canals. 
 He says : 
 
 " If, therefore, we would preserve the inestimable ben- 
 efits of inland navigation which we now enjoy, if we 
 would save the treasury from embarrassment, if we de- 
 sire the accomplishment of the other public works, if we 
 would in any degree extend our interior communica- 
 tions, if we would maintain the public laith, prevent gen- 
 eral distress, retain our commercial precedence and po- 
 litical influence, and guard against the dismemberment 
 of our territory, it is necessary to complete the enlarge- 
 ment of the Erie Canal throughout, and with all con- 
 venient diligence." 
 
 With respect to the Genesee Valley and Black River 
 canals, he says : 
 
 •' The Genesee Valley Canal was undertaken in 1836. 
 Its cost, then estimated at near two millions, was sub- 
 sequently raised to about five millions. The Black 
 River Canal was commenced at the same time, upon an 
 
1842.] governor's message. 257 
 
 estimate of about one million, but which afterwards 
 advanced to two millions. Loans for these improve- 
 ments, amounting to 82,800,000, were authorized pre- 
 viously to 1839, and like loan.s for $1,600,000, since that 
 time. Although it might be conceded that these enter- 
 prises would have been delayed, if their real cost had 
 been correctly understood, or the subsequent embarrass- 
 ment of the country foreseen ; yet, when the condition of 
 the works, their destined connection with navigable wa- 
 ters, penetrating remote recesses of the country, and 
 their ultimate usefulness are considered, together with 
 the injurious consequences which would result from 
 abandoning such undertakings, I am sure that nothing 
 but an inflexible necessity, not yet apparent, will induce 
 your consent to a measure so widely injurious." 
 
 We cannot suppress the remark, that those engineers 
 who estimated the expense of constructing the Black 
 River Canal at one million of dollars, and that of the 
 Genesee Valley at two millions, (upon the faith of which 
 the legislature directed their construction) — when, after 
 large expenditures had been incurred, it was ascertained 
 that the expense of making the Black River Canal would 
 be double the estimate, and that the Genesee Valley 
 Canal would cost jive millions instead of two — must 
 have been either grossly incompetent or corrupt ; and 
 in either case they ought promptly to have been dis- 
 charged from the public service. 
 
 The governor speaks in terms of approbation of the 
 New York and Erie Railroad, and thinks it may be 
 completed in the year 1843. He recommends the con- 
 struction of a railroad from the St. Lawrence river to 
 Lake Champlain, and a central railway from the neigh- 
 borhood of Albany to New York ; and although he con- 
 
 22* 
 
258 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 
 
 siders the question doubtful, he seems rather to incline 
 to the opinion that these great channels of overland nav- 
 igation, if we may so speak, should be constructed and 
 owned by the state. He says : 
 
 " The estimated cost of all the public works in pro- 
 gress, including two-thirds of the expense of the New 
 York and Erie Railroad, such being the proportion in 
 which the state has contributed to that enterprise, is 
 $36,598,379, of which sum it yet remains for the legis- 
 lature to provide $17,265,130. Large as this sum is, 
 there is no reason to suppose that it surpasses our fiscal 
 ability. It is true that the state owes a debt, including 
 temporary loans, of seventeen millions; but it is not in 
 any form a dead weight, like public debts contracted in 
 war, or for improvident expenditures. It has been cre- 
 ated in constructing a system of works, which not only 
 is to yield a return when finished, but which is so pro- 
 ductive in every stage, that its profits furnish all the 
 means necessary for its completion, without exacting a 
 dollar from land, labor, or any other resource ; a system 
 which leaves nothing to speculation concerning its ade- 
 quacy to pay the interest on its cost, because it pays 
 interest in advance, nor concerning the reimbursement 
 of the cost itself, because the surplus profits over the 
 annual interest are adequate to procure the further sum 
 required, and would at any time, when so applied, en- 
 sure a rapid extinguishment of the principal. The debt 
 is large because the enterprise is great." 
 
 After alluding to the immense resources of the state, 
 and stating that its taxable property amounted to 
 $700,000,000, the governor says : 
 
 " But notwithstanding these resources, the prosecution 
 of the public works is embarrassed. It is, however, the 
 
1842.] governor's message. 259 
 
 fortune of enterprise ; it is essential to enterprise — it is 
 enterprise itself, to encounter embarrassments ; and 
 there is no merit in success which is obtained without 
 effort and involves no sacrifice. The present emergency 
 will nevertheless be found to exact no extraordinary 
 energy or patriotism. 
 
 " Since the works were undertaken, the rate of inter- 
 est demanded upon loans to the state has advanced from 
 five to ab(»ut seven per cent. Prudence, under such 
 circumstances, counsels moderation; yet the value of 
 money has not increased as much as the prices of labor 
 and subsistence have fallen, and it would certainly be 
 the worst of all economy to discontinue enterprises so 
 important fur a reason so inadequate, or to sacrifice in 
 delays and damages more than the additional cost re- 
 sulting from the enhanced rate of interest. While we 
 ought, therefore, to pursue the undertakings cautiously, 
 and even at some apparent although unreal sacrifice, we 
 are, nevertheless, required to put forth every effort to 
 restore our public stocks to their former value. Such 
 efforts, however, would prove unavailing, if the causes 
 of the evil were misunderstood. We are in competi- 
 tion with other states and countries in borrowing money. 
 The securities of other nations are not depreciated, while 
 those of our sister states, whether they owe less or more, 
 are reduced, none less than our own, and some thirty, 
 forty, filty. sixty, and seventy, even eighty per cent. 
 The federal government, which has once paid absolute- 
 ly a debt <if-S 189,000,000, and which now owes nothing, 
 is unable, at the same rate of interest we offer, to obtain 
 a loan for three years, of an amount equal to only half 
 a year's revenues. Is it true then that the depreciation 
 of our stocks has resulted from the greatness of our 
 
260 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 
 
 debt, or from the magnitude of our undertakings, or 
 from any fiscal unsoundness or error ? On the contra- 
 ry, it is apparent that our stocks are depressed by some 
 general cause affecting all American governmental se- 
 curities. Some of the states have with youthful impru- 
 dence embarked, without proper fiscal systems, in great 
 enterprises, which seemed to us, as well as to themselves, 
 feasible and not disproportionate to their ability. A com- 
 mercial revulsion has overtaken them before their works 
 could be completed and rendered productive. Supplies 
 of capital have ceased — the works remain unfinished — 
 the states fail to pay interest punctually ; and since 
 punctuality is the life of credit, their credit is expiring." 
 
 The governor urges upon the legislature the imperious 
 duty of preserving the credit of the state unimpaired and 
 unsuspected, and concludes his remarks on financial 
 concerns by saying : 
 
 " I suggest, with a view to this purpose, a rigid ad- 
 herence, under all circumstances, to the rule hitherto 
 observed, that the whole public debt shall not be raised 
 above such an amount as that its interest can be paid 
 out of the current surplus revenues of the canals ; and 
 to remove all questions concerning the fiscal soundness 
 and moral integrity of the state, I recommend that all 
 the future revenues from the national domain shall be 
 pledged as a sinking fund to the extinguishment of the 
 principal of the public debts, annually paying, or provi- 
 ding for the payment of a part of the principal, and ab- 
 sorbinc: first the older debts. If seventeen millions of 
 dollars are yet required to complete our public works, 
 the system I have suggested would in 1855 discharge 
 the whole of our present and future indebtedness, and 
 after that leave an unincumbered annual revenue." 
 
1842.] MR. collier's report. 2G1 
 
 In announcing that a (^bt of thirty-six millions of 
 dollars wouKl upon his system be paid oft' and discharged 
 in 1855, without resorting to taxation, we presume the 
 governor must have assumed two very material facts — 
 first, that money could always be borrowed by the state 
 at a rate not over six per cent. ; and, second, that the 
 avails of the sales of land by the United States would 
 from year to year be distributed among the several states. 
 
 We have made more copious extracts from the mes- 
 sage than we should have done, had not this document 
 evidently been prepared by Gov. Seward with great 
 care, as his last message, (for he had previously caused 
 it to be announced that he should not be a candidate for 
 re-election,) and because he was aware that he was ad- 
 dressing a body of men, a majority of whom came there 
 with the avowed determination to oppose and overthrow 
 the financial system of him and his political friends. 
 Thus situated, he surely has a right to an attentive and 
 fair hearing 
 
 The report of the comptroller, Mr. Collier, bears date 
 on the 4th of January. It commences by stating the public 
 debt at 817,911,230.00. and the liabilities for loans of the 
 credit of the state to incorporated companies at 84,235,700. 
 The comptroller controverts a report made by Mr. Hofl''- 
 man, at the preceding session, which states the public 
 debt to be more than twent}' millions of dollars. The 
 comptroller estimates the actual debt at 814,901,000 
 only. The report generally sustains the views of the 
 governor as expressed in his message ; it gives an inter- 
 esting history of the practice of loaning the credit of 
 the state to chartered companies, contains many statis- 
 tical facts, well and luminously arranged, and must have 
 been prepared with great care and labor. 
 
262 poLiT:i;AL history of new york. [1842. 
 
 In the early part of the session an unpleasant alter- 
 cation took place between the governor and senate, 
 which arose under the following circumstances : 
 
 In the year 1841, a law passed both houses of the le- 
 gislature, and was approved by the executive, transfer- 
 ring the appointment of receivers of insolvent corpo- 
 rations from the chancellor to the bank commissioners. 
 Early in the present session, a bill was introduced into 
 the senate for the repeal of this law, which passed both 
 houses in a day or two, and was sent to the governor 
 for his approval. 
 
 The governor, on the 22d of January, returned the 
 bill to the senate, with his signature, approving it, ac- 
 companied with a message. The message stated, in 
 substance, that the act which was repealed by the bill 
 contained a salutary and useful provision ; that it had 
 been in operation too short a time (only about nine 
 months) to enable the public to judge of its utility, and 
 that in his judgment it ought not to be repealed. " But," 
 said the governor, " the general responsibilities of ma- 
 king laws rest with the legislature, while upon the exec- 
 utive are devolved only the duties of recommending 
 measures, and of rejecting, for sufficient causes, bills 
 originated and perfected by the representatives of the 
 people. Although the executive might reluctantly feel 
 himself obliged to interpose objections in a case where 
 a proposed law should have hastily and inconsiderately 
 passed the legislature, or should contravene the letter or 
 spirit of the constitution, or infringe individual rights, 
 or impair the necessary efficiency of the executive ad- 
 ministration, or invade the constitutional or appropriate 
 powers of any department of the government, or threat- 
 en any pervading or lasting injury to the public welfare, 
 
1842.] PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 263 
 
 or should tend to produce inequality or injustice, or 
 deeply compromise any recognised princi[)les of repub- 
 lican institutions, yet the person administering the gov- 
 ernment could not interpose objections to less important 
 bills upon the mere ground of a difference of opinion 
 concerning their expediency, without assuming an un- 
 due share of legislative responsibility. 
 
 " Applying these principles to the present case, I have 
 not thought it my duty to embarrass the action of the 
 legislature, but, cheerfully confiding in their superior 
 wisdom, have approved and signed the bill, availing 
 myself of this occasion to submit an explanation, inas- 
 much as the proceeding involves an apparent inconsis- 
 tency, which might lead to misapprehensions concerning 
 my views of the policy of the measure." 
 
 This message was sent to the senate on Saturday. 
 On Monday morning, Mr. Foster moved to strike the 
 message from the minutes, on the ground that it was 
 the duty of the governor, if he approved of a bill, to 
 sign it ; " if not, he should return it with his objections." 
 The governor, Mr. Foster argued, had no right to ap- 
 prove of a bill, and at the same time to cause to be en- 
 tered on the minutes his objections to it, or his apology 
 for signing it. " He has no more right," said Mr. Fos- 
 ter, '• to spread upon the journal the reasons which may 
 have influenced him in signing it, than senators have to 
 enter their speeches, pro and con, upon the same record. 
 Nay, not so much right, for it was the senate's journal, 
 not the governors." 
 
 The motion of Mr. Foster was discussed for some 
 time in the senate, with apparent good temper, and final- 
 ly, after it had lain over one day, was passed by a party 
 vote of fourteen to thirteen. 
 
264 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l842. 
 
 On the 2Gth of January, the governor sent another 
 message to the senate, in which, after adverting to the 
 order of that house to strike his communication of the 
 ■ 22d from its journal, he says : 
 
 " I do therefore, vidth extreme regret that such a pro- 
 ceeding has become necessary, and with the most re- 
 spectful deference, inform the senate, that the suppression 
 of the communication refei'red to is reararded bv me as 
 a dangerous invasion of the rights of the executive de- 
 partment, unwarranted by any precedent in the history 
 of the government, and without any justification in the 
 circumstances of the transaction." 
 
 This message produced considerable excitement in 
 the senate, and elicited a warm and somewhat acrimo- 
 nious debate. 
 
 Mr. Strong, from Rensselaer, offered a resolution, that 
 the message be returned to the governor, which was 
 adopted by a party vote — fifteen in the afiirmative, and 
 eleven in the negative. 
 
 The registry law was repealed among the first acts of 
 this legislature. 
 
 It is not improbable that Mr. Townsend's bill for the 
 creation of election districts was calculated to accom- 
 plish, and has actually accomplished, all the substantial 
 good effects that it was anticipated would be gained by 
 the law which required the names of the legal voters to 
 be registered before the election. 
 
 On the 31st January, Gideon Hawley, of Albany, 
 who had long been secretary of the regents of the uni- 
 versity, and was the first superintendent of common 
 schools, of whom we have spoken in a preceding vol- 
 ume, was elected a regent of the university. 
 
 On the evening of the 4th day of February the demo- 
 
1842. J LEGISLATIVE CAUCUS. 265 
 
 cratic members of the legislature assembled in caucus to 
 nominate state officers. There were 107 members pres- 
 ent ; and on balloting for comptroller, A. C. Flagg had 
 105 votes, and was, of course, declared duly nomi- 
 nated. 
 
 Notwithstanding this strong vote in his favor, it is a 
 fact, tiiat some portion of the democratic party did not 
 desire that he should be elected comptroller. Although 
 no one, so far as we know, doubted his capacity or in- 
 tegrity, an impression did prevail that he was too strin- 
 gent in his notions in relation to the expenditures on the 
 credit of the state for internal improvements, of which, 
 and of Mr. Flagg, we shall have occasion to speak 
 more fully hereafter ; in the mean time remarking, that 
 the same impressions which on this occasion produced 
 any feeling against Mr. Flagg's appointment as comp- 
 troller, was, as we believe, the germ out of which has 
 grown the present schism in the democratic party. At 
 this time, however, the current which from all quarters 
 set in for the reappointment of Mr. Flagg was so over- 
 whelming, that no opposition was openly made to his 
 nomination. 
 
 On the first ballot for secretary of state, Samuel Young 
 received 49 votes, Samuel W. Jones, 23, Ebenezer 
 Meeck, 19, and John B. Skinner, 15. On the third bal- 
 lot Col. Young received 58 votes, and was declared 
 nominated. It may be proper to state that this nomina- 
 tion was entirely unsolicited by Mr. Young. When it 
 was intimated to him that his friends desired that he 
 should be secretary of state, he peremptorily refused to 
 accept the office. Judge Jewett was then applied to, 
 but he also declined, and thereupon an old friend of Col. 
 Young, then a member of the assembly from Saratoga, 
 
 23 
 
266 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 
 
 Mr. H. Rogers, called on Mr. Young and persuaded 
 him, though apparently against his own inclination and 
 judgment, not to decline. 
 
 There were several candidates for the office of attor- 
 ney-general. George P. Barker, of Buflalo, Samuel 
 Beardsley, now chief-justice of the Supreme Court, 
 Robert H. Morris, of New York, F. G. Jewett. now 
 a judge of the Court of Appeals, Amasa J. Parker, now 
 a justice of the Supreme Court, and John B. Skinner, of 
 Genesee, were respectively voted for, but the conven- 
 tion finally put in nomination Mr. Barker, of Erie coun- 
 ty. The appointment was a good one, and well re- 
 ceived. « 
 
 We hope, however, we may be excused for mention-, 
 ing in this place, that many years ago we knew John B. 
 Skinner as a worthy and useful member of the legisla- 
 ture. He has, we believe, been offered several lucra- 
 tive and honorable public employments, and among oth- 
 ers that of the office of circuit judge of the eighth circuit, 
 which he declined. His modesty or disinclination for 
 political life has heretofore depi'ived the public of ser- 
 vices which we do not doubt would have been greatly 
 beneficial to them. 
 
 Thomas Farrington received 92 votes against 13 
 scattering ones for the office of state treasurer. It is 
 not remarkable that his nomination should have been so 
 unanimous, for we are not aware that he has a single 
 personal enemy in the state. 
 
 Nathaniel Jones, of Orange county, was nominated 
 surveyor-general. The candidates for adjutant-general 
 were Henry Storms and Jonathan D. Stevenson, whom 
 we have spoken of in our account of the Glentworth 
 frauds ; but Mr. Storms received 54 votes, and Mr. Ste- 
 
1842.] LEGISLATIVE CAUCUS. 267 
 
 venson 50 ; whereupon Mr. Storms was declared to be 
 the candidate. 
 
 The nomination of these officers seems to have con- 
 sumed the whole of the evening, for, on motion of Mr. 
 Chatfield, the caucus adjourned till the next evening, when 
 after several ballotings, and, we presume, considerable 
 electioneering, Jonas Earl, of Onondaga county, James 
 Hooker, of Dutchess, Daniel P. Bissell, of Livingston, 
 George W. Little, of Otsego, Benjamin Enos, of Madi- 
 son, and Stephen Clark, were nominated canal com- 
 missioners. Mr. Earl had long served in that capa- 
 city ; the remaining five were new men. All these 
 nominations were confirmed by the legislature. Thus 
 the whole power of the state, v> ith the exception of that 
 which was vested bv the constitution in the crovernor, 
 was now transferred from the whig to the democratic 
 party. 
 
 In the senate there were 17 democrats and 15 whi^s. 
 The majority, unwilling to leave in the power of Lieu- 
 tenant-governor Bradish the selection and appointment 
 of committees, resolved that the committees should be 
 appointed by ballot. 
 
 The great question, independent of mere party meas- 
 ures, which engaged the attention of the legislature, was 
 that in relation to the prosecution of the public works 
 according to the act of 1838, and the financial condition 
 of the state. The incipient labor in order to produce 
 action on this important subject was cast on the com- 
 mittees on finance and canals in the senate, and that of 
 ways and means in the assembly. The senate's com- 
 mittee on finance consisted of A. C. Paige, Hawkins, 
 and Bockee, and that on canals of Denniston, Rhoades, 
 and Varian. In the assembly the committee of ways and 
 
26S POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 
 
 means was comprised of Hoffman, Lawrence, Davis, 
 Juliaad, and Smith. 
 
 To whatever cause the financial embarrassment may 
 be ascribed, certain it is that the condition of the State 
 was such as to alarm cool and calculating citizens. Du- 
 ring the greater part of the year 1841, it had been found 
 impossible to negotiate permanent loans without a sacri- 
 fice the most ruinous. Six per cent, stocks had fallen 
 to 20 per cent, below par, and it was doubtful whether 
 they would not iail even below that price. Large sums 
 were due and in arrear to contractors, some of whom 
 were obliged, in order to pay their laborers, to borrow 
 of the banks on their own credits. Timid and cautious 
 capitalists became alarmed, and* some of them refused 
 to loan money to the state on any terms. In this condi- 
 tion of things the state officers, in order to prevent a 
 suspension of the public works, and a total wreck of the 
 credit of the state, were obliged to enter the money- 
 market and raise money on short loans, payable in nine 
 and twelve months, &c. Like the merchant who, 
 hard pressed, borrows money from day to day to 
 meet the payment of his notes, and who is sometimes 
 obliged to borrow of A. to-day to repay money which 
 he borrowed of B. yesterday. To a practice something 
 like this, called " shinning," by the merchants, the 
 stale othcers were obliged to resort for the purpose of 
 discharging the pecuniary obHgations of the state. In 
 this way, and on these conditions, about i 1,600,000 had 
 been raised. These loans were called " temporary 
 loans." 
 
 We have before us a letter from a gentleman of high 
 character for veracity and intelligence, now a resi- 
 dent of Albany, in which, among other things, he states : 
 
1842.] COL. YOUNG AND MR. HOFFMAN. 269 
 
 "After the election of 1841, and before the 1st of Janu- 
 ary, 1842, Col. Young and myself called on Mr. Hoff- 
 man, then in Albany, and the question of what was to 
 be done was discussed between us. The colonel was 
 of opinion that the evil was so far advanced, that al- 
 though it might be postponed by legislation, it could 
 not be cured ; that the moment the credit of the state 
 was restored so as to be marketable, the influences that 
 had destroyed would again rally and again destroy it ; 
 that for this reason the true course was to let our credit 
 continue to sink until the close of the session, and then 
 call a convention to dispose of the whole matter. Mr. 
 Hoffman admitted a convention might ultimately be ne- 
 cessary, but was disposed to try what legislation could 
 do. I think he had in this course the approbation of 
 Mr. Flagg." 
 
 Col. Young has been charged with advocating the 
 repudiation of the public debt. This charge is untrue. 
 He was of opinion that a legislative remedy would afford 
 only a transient relief, while a constitutional provision 
 would be permanent. Perhaps, like Mr. Pym, he thought 
 that " things must be worse before they could be made 
 better."* 
 
 When the legislature met, Mr. Hoffman, in a speech 
 which occupied a considerable part of the 14th and 15th 
 days of January, attacked the governor's message with 
 great severity. He disputed some of his facts, and con- 
 demned many of his conclusions. He deprecated the 
 increase of the state debt, and concluded his speech by 
 saying,— 
 
 * So that e.xtraordinary man told Lord Clarendon, a little before tho 
 revolution which took place in England during the seventeenth century. 
 
 23* 
 
270 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK, [l842. 
 
 " You may follow in the course of other states and 
 Other institutions — offer seven, seven and a half— go to 
 eight — continue the process until, like Indiana, Illinois, 
 and Michigan, vour stocks are sold at forty or fifty cents 
 on the dollar. But sooner or later the hour is approach- 
 ing when you must stop in this profligate course, as we 
 have already stopped our public works. If the two 
 houses shall be equal to their duty on this trying occa- 
 sion, let no man tremble for the honor and character of 
 the state. It can be preserved — it should be. Can any 
 man, native or foreign, hesitate between stoppmg these 
 exyienditures, and going on at the expense of credit, 
 honor, and character ? Lives there any thing so base 
 on earth, that to work itself out of difficulty, would 
 brincT this state where Indiana and Illinois are ? where 
 the Bank of the United States is ? once deemed to be 
 beyond the reach of dishonor and bankruptcy — where 
 Michigan is ? where deficit has put Maryland, an Atlan- 
 tic state ? Will any man say he would bring the state 
 to this position, rather than take the safe course which 
 he knows will preserve our honor and credit, without 
 which every thing else is valueless ? If we will only 
 stand by our credit — cease our expenditures — pay as we 
 go — we shall overcome this storm, stand erect, and in 
 the markets of Europe our merchants will be the mer- 
 chants of the republic, our banks the banks of the re- 
 public, our reputation, in a word, like that of the people 
 of Holland. But if, seeking popularity for an hour, 
 dreading the influence of this and that locality, we go 
 on, winking there at a railroad, and here at an extension, 
 the credit of the state in peril, and itself on the verge of 
 bankruptcy — when calamity comes upon us, and we call 
 upon the mountains to cover us, the earth itself would 
 
1842.] MR. franklin's resolution. 271 
 
 spurn us — the ashes of the dead on which we stand 
 would be dishonored. The damned would mock us and 
 drive us from their society. No language of reproba- 
 tion can express the deep indignation that men must feel 
 when they see their country urged — urged — urged to 
 the fatal verge of ruin." 
 
 The same subject came before the senate on the fol- 
 lowing resolution offered by Mr. Franklin : 
 
 "Whereas, it is equally the duty of states as of indi- 
 viduals, to maintain inviolate their faith and credit, and 
 upon no occasion to repudiate or set at naught a just 
 and legal contract, but to uphold and maintain, by every 
 means in their power, that degree of honesty and integ- 
 rity in reference to their pecuniary obligations which 
 will enable them at all times to command the confi- 
 dence of those to whom they may be now and hereafter 
 indebted : 
 
 " And whereas, in consequence of the excitement and 
 alarm which now so generally prevails in reference to 
 the plighted faith of some of our states, in consequence 
 of the action of their legislatures upon the loans which 
 they have created, it is right and proper that an expres- 
 sion should be had in relation to the obligations which 
 have been entered into by this state : Therefore, 
 
 " Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That we hold 
 the pecuniary obligations of the state of New York of so 
 sacred and binding a character, that we will, by every 
 means in our power, maintain and uphold them, and un- 
 der no circumstances suffer or permit the confidence 
 which has been reposed in our plighted faith to be in the 
 least degree injured or impaired by our action ; but will 
 hold ourselves responsible, at all times, and under all 
 circumstances, to carry out and maintain the legal obli- 
 
272 ' POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 
 
 gations which we have contracted, and faithfully to 
 redeem the loans which have been made upon the faith 
 and credit of our state." 
 
 To this resolution Mr. Rhoades proposed to add the 
 following : 
 
 "Resolved, That we regard the doctrine of repudia- 
 tion of state debts, whether emanating from the legisla- 
 ture, or from individuals of any state, as alarming in its 
 tendency, at war with the principles of natural justice, 
 destructive of public morals, and subversive of those 
 principles of honest integrity and good faith, without 
 which we cannot maintain national or individual pros- 
 perity." 
 
 For these resolutions and preamble, Mr. Sherwood 
 proposed the following substitute : 
 
 " Strike out all after the word ' whereas' in the first 
 line, and insert, ' our present system of finance has con- 
 tributed to the general excitement and alarm which so 
 extensively prevail in consequence of the excessive 
 issues of stocks by the several states : 
 
 " ' And whereas such system, if further continued, 
 would be ruinous in its consequences, and subversive 
 of the faith and credit of our state, therefore, 
 
 " ' Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That we hold 
 it among our first duties to provide for the liquidation 
 and payment of our present debt, as soon as practica- 
 ble, and in no case whatever (except for the purpose of 
 suppressing insurrection, repelling invasion, or defend- 
 ing the state in war) to create a further debt, unless we, 
 at the same time, and in the same bill, provide for its 
 ultimate and speedy repayment.' " 
 
 The debate which ensued took a wide range. The 
 past financial p(jlicy of the state was reviewed, and the 
 
1842.] DEBATE IN THE SENATE. i(}73 
 
 course which in the present emergency ought to be pur- 
 sued was discussed. 
 
 The democratic members who took part in the debate 
 indicated their preference for the system which was ul- 
 timately adopted by the celebrated financial statute of 
 1842, which was afterwards enacted. On the other 
 hand, the whigs contended that it would be unwise to 
 adopt restrictions ; that the completion of the projected 
 public works ought to be prosecuted without regard tc 
 the increase of state indebtedness, whenever money 
 could be borrowed at the rate of six per cent. 
 
 On the whig side, Dickinson, Franklin, Rhoades, 
 Root, and Hard delivered elaborate and able speeches. 
 The latter gentleman, Mr. Hard, was a new member 
 from the eighth district. He had been a member of 
 congress, and, by his talents and attention to business, 
 had acquired a respectable standing and character in 
 that body. His experience, abilities, prudence, and in- 
 tegrity of character, soon caused him to be regarded as 
 one of the most prominent whig leaders in the senate. 
 On the other side, Sherwood, Paige, Hunter, Dennison, 
 and Ruger, supported Mr. Sherwood's substitute. It 
 is said the speech of Mr. Sherwood was able, and did 
 him much credit. We have read only the speech of 
 Mr. Dennison, which was reported at full length. That 
 speech contains an extended review of the financial op-" 
 erations of the state, evinces that Mr. D. possessed a 
 thorough knowledge of his subject, and is marked with 
 distinguished ability. 
 
 Mr. Flagg was appointed comptroller on the 7th of 
 February, and on the 15th of that month he made a 
 communication to the assembly, which presented his 
 views of the condition of the treasury, and the future 
 
274 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 
 
 course which in his judgment ought to be pursued. In 
 this communication he boldly laid bare the financial con- 
 dition of the state : he adverted to the rapid decline of 
 the public credit, and if he did not demonstrate that the 
 ship of state- was aground, he proved that she was on 
 the point of foundering. He commenced by stating that 
 the sum which the general fund was required to pay 
 during that year amounted to $797,829.40. This sum 
 included 8343,436.43 which had been borrowed of the 
 safety-bank fund, but which, in consequence of the re- 
 cent bank failures, the general fund would be called on 
 to repay. 
 
 He further stated, that " money has been borrowed 
 during the past year from sundry banks and other cor- 
 porations, and made payable in the month of March, to 
 the amount of $1,455,000. Of this large amount, the 
 sum of $1,205,000 is due on the first day of the ensuing 
 month. When this money was borrowed, no provision 
 whatever was made for its payment, and the present 
 commissioners have been under the necessity of asking 
 for an extension of the sums due on the 1st of March." 
 These moneys were denominated "temporary loans." 
 
 Mr. Flagg proceeds to state that from the report of 
 the late comptroller there was a deficiency in the means 
 provided to put the canals in repair for the ensuing 
 spring, and to pay the interest on the public debt on the 
 1st of April, of $396,837.20, and that this sum might be 
 increased in consequence of injuries to the canals by 
 floods. 
 
 " This statement," he says, " shows that the amount 
 required within the next forty-five days, to open the ca- 
 nals and pay interest on the direct debt of the state, 
 cannot be less than $400,000. 
 
1842.] MR. flagg's views. 275 
 
 " To this must be added the following sums, viz : 
 " Interest on temporary loans in March . . 32,698 37 
 " Principal of the loans standing in the name 
 of the N. Y. State Bank, payable 16th 
 March, 200,000 00 
 
 " Total sum to be raised before the 1st April, $632,698 37 
 
 "How," continues Mr. Flagg, "is this money to be 
 raised ? In relation to long loans, the commissioners of 
 the canal fund went to the bottom of the loan-bag a year 
 ago, and they have carried to exhaustion the questiona- 
 ble expedient of temporary loans from banks." 
 
 He states the increase of the state debt from 1838 to 
 February, 1842, to be $16,229,141.68. The comptrol- 
 ler adds : 
 
 " It may be said that the European market is closed 
 against our stocks, and that the stocks of the states gen- 
 erally, are much more depressed than our own ; yet 
 Massachusetts stock has measurably maintained its 
 standing, as ours did in 1837. It is not possible to up- 
 hold the character of state stock, so long as it is issued 
 to such excess to pay contractors, and is loaned to in- 
 solvent banks and needy railroads. Forced upon an 
 overburdened market through such channel?, the credit 
 of New York is measured, not by its own vast resources 
 and ample revenue of two millions of dollars, but is 
 brought down to the urgent necessities of a needy indi- 
 vidual, or of a corporation on the brink of dissolution. 
 In this way only could the six per cent, stocks of this 
 state be reduced to a discount of twenty-two or twenty- 
 five per cent." 
 
 He recommends a retrenchment of expenditures, and 
 
276 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l842. 
 
 a direct tax of one mill on a dollar, and concludes by 
 saying : 
 
 " Sound action at the present crisis is of inconceivable 
 importance to the future welfare, as well as to the im- 
 mediate business interests, of the people of this state ; 
 and more or less, from the peculiar condition of things, 
 to the whole country. At such a time, local interests, 
 and every consideration merely personal, must yield, for 
 the time being, to the paramount welfare of the whole. 
 
 " Whatever difterences of opinion may prevail on 
 other subjects, it is to be hoped that resort may not be 
 had to any of the wretched expedients which have 
 proved so disastrous to some of the states of this Union ; 
 but that we may look our difficulties full in the face, and 
 adopt such sound measures as are necessary to restore 
 the credit of the state, and protect our free institutions 
 from dishonor." 
 
 On the 7th of March, Mr. Hoffinan, from the com- 
 mittee of ways and means, made an elaborate report, in 
 which he presented views of the financial affairs of the 
 state similar to those of Mr. Flagg. The committee, in 
 conclusion, say : 
 
 " 1. The expenditures of the state must cease. The 
 present ' pressing engagements' for the general fund, and 
 for the canals in 1842, and for the canal stock debt to be 
 provided for before or in 1845, after applying all present 
 means on hand and available, and all prospective surplus 
 of canal revenue to and including 1845, will, as we have 
 seen, leave ^4,123,329.90 to be extended beyond 1845 
 by the credit of the state. Provision too must be made 
 to supply any deficiency in the general fund revenue. 
 Until after 1845, therefore, there will he no sitrplus of 
 canal tolls to be e/nployed as a fund or means to pay 
 
1842.] MR. Hoffman's report. 277 
 
 interest on new canal loans. These tolls will be ab- 
 solutely nece.ssary to provide lor the liabilities above 
 specified. New loans for further expenditure cannot 
 therefore be made, except on terms at once disgraceful 
 and ruinous to the credit of the state. The impeach- 
 ment of that credit by such new loans for new expen- 
 ditures, would prevent the state from negotiating loans 
 for existing demands, as above stated, and to meet which 
 we have no means present or prospective in tolls. 
 
 "2. A tax of one mill on the dollar, or one dollar on 
 every thousand of the assessed value of all taxable prop- 
 erty, should be iinp(jsed and collected lor each of the 
 years 1843, 1844, 1845, and 1846. The assessed value 
 of the real and personal {jfoperty of the state, according 
 to the comptroller's report, page 80, is ''$005,299,530, and 
 the tax thus levied would produce a revenue of about 
 $600,000 annually. The tax assessed in 1842, and col- 
 lected in 1843, should be paid into the treasury in aid of 
 the general fund, as should also one-half of the revenue 
 from the tax collected in each of the years 1844, 1845, 
 and 1846. It would probably bring to the general fund 
 $1,500,000. It would be a certain resource for the pay- 
 ment of tem|)orary loans, for the treasury, and thus en- 
 able the state to replenish the bank safety-fund, the other 
 special funds, and especially to restore the fund set apart 
 to pay the Erie and Champlain canal debt, 8239,425.16, 
 which the state has consumed of the capital of that fund 
 for current expenses. It would, to some extent, provide 
 the treasury with means to meet the probable charge of 
 railroad interest. 
 
 " The other half of the above tax to be collected in 
 the years 1844, 1845, and 1846, should be paid over to 
 the commissioners of the canal fund to aid that fund. 
 
 24 
 
278 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 
 
 It would produce about 8900,000, which, added to the 
 avaihible means on hand, Feb. 8, 1842, for current canal 
 expenses, $76,097.80, would make $976,097.80. This 
 would furnish the entire means of repaying loans to 
 meet the pressing demands on the canal fund, to pay in- 
 terest in March and April, to pay for the repairs in prog- 
 ress on the Chemung Canal, and the expenses ol repairs, 
 superintendents, and collectors on the canals, until June 
 next, $681,480.32, and leave applicable to other loans for 
 other pressing demands of the canal fund, $294,617.28. 
 
 " 3. The funds subject to the legal control of the state 
 should be collected, and as far as safe and proper should 
 be invested in such loans as the legislature shall au- 
 thorize, to meet the pressing demands of the canals for 
 1842." 
 
 In conformity with these principles, the committee 
 brousht in the celebrated bill entitled, " An act to pro- 
 vide for paying the debt and preserving the credit of the 
 state." 
 
 The bill did not linger long in the assembly. It was 
 opposed with much zeal, and of course with distinguish- 
 ed ability, by Mr. Simmons of Essex, and some others 
 belonging to the same party. Mr. Humphrey, of Tomp- 
 kins, expressed his apprehensions that the suspension of 
 the public works would have a disastrous effect on 
 Tompkins and the adjoining counties : he deeply regret- 
 ted that the passage of such a bill had become necessary, 
 and he therefore yielded his assent to it with great re- 
 luctance.* The vote on the final passage of the bill 
 
 * While the bill was in the assembly, Governor Bonck visited Albany. 
 When there he expressed his opposition to the suspension of the public 
 works. He suggested the plan of sending a mission to Holland to borrow 
 
1842.] MR. Dickinson's substitute. 279 
 
 was taken on the 19th of March, 50 members voting in 
 the affirmative, and 27 in the negative. Those who 
 voted in the negative were nearly, if not quite all, 
 whigs. 
 
 When the bill came into the senate, Mr. Dickinson 
 offered, not, as he stated, " as the embodiment of the 
 views of the minority," but as his own " individual prop- 
 osition," for which no political party was responsible, 
 a bill containing in substance the following provisions, 
 as a substitute for the bill from the house : 
 
 "Sec. 1. Imposes an annual tax of one per cent, on 
 the capital stock of all banks, banking associations, in- 
 surance and trust companies, (except mutual insurance 
 companies,) and exempts such corporations and associa- 
 tions from all other taxes, except the contribution to the 
 bank fund. 
 
 " Sec. 2. Act to continue in force for three years from 
 the first of July^next. 
 
 " Sec. 3. The share of this state in the proceeds of the 
 public lands, to be received from the United States 
 treasury, and pledged to the payment of the stock debt 
 of this state. 
 
 " Sec. 4. The comptroller to issue bonds, redeemable 
 in not less than 20 years, bearing interest not exceeding 
 seven per cent., to the following amount, and the bonds 
 to be disposed of on the best terms that can be obtained. 
 For temporary loans, $1,544,000 ; for the Chemung Ca- 
 nal, $150,000 ; for opening canals, &c., $200,000 ; for 
 
 money, and for a time seemed anxious that the bill should be abandoned, 
 and that his scheme should be adopted ; but ujwn the remonstrance of 
 Mr. Seymour of Ulica, and perhap.s others of his friends, he reluctantly, 
 and against his judgment, discontinued his opposition. 
 
280 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 
 
 replenishing the general fund, $025,828 ; for arrearages 
 to contractors, $569,000. 
 
 "Sec. 5. Appropriates $160,000 for the further pros- 
 ecution of the Black River Canal, $200,000 for the Gen- 
 esee Valley Canal, $750,000 for the New York and Erie 
 Railroad Company, and $1,400,000 for the Erie Canal 
 enlargement ; and charges the interest (which will soon 
 be in default) of the New York and Erie Railroad stock 
 to the general fund. 
 
 " Sec. 6. Authorizes the comptroller to issue bonds to 
 the amount of $1,250,000 in sums oUen dollars, payable 
 in one year, and a like sum in two years, at seven per 
 cent., for the objects of the preceding section. 
 
 " Sec. 7. Authorizes the comptroller to pay said bonds 
 in the stock created by the 4th section." 
 
 It will be perceived that Mr. Dickinson's bill proposed 
 a tax on incorporated companies in lieu of a state tax, 
 a sinking fund to be formed from the moneys hereafter 
 to be paid to this state by the United States from the 
 avails of the sales of public lands, and a continuation, to 
 a limited extent, of expenditures for carrying on the 
 public works. 
 
 Mr. Paige then proceeded, in a speech of considera- 
 ble leneth, to review the condition of the state finances, 
 and in support of the original bill. He was replied to 
 by Mr. Dickinson. 
 
 The motion for the adoption of the substitute was lost, 
 only six whigs, Dickinson, Hard, Hawkins, Piatt, Root, 
 and Works, voting in favor of it. The principal ground 
 taken by the whigs was opposition to levying a tax, which 
 they contended might be dispensed with ; and to a total 
 suspension of the public works. 
 
 After Mr. Dickinson's substitute was disposed of, Mr. 
 
1842.] Foster's amendment. 281 
 
 Foster moved an amendment to the fifth subdivision of 
 the fifth section, so as to api)ly not exceeding 8400,000 
 to the Erie Canal enlargement and the Glens Falls feed- 
 er ; not exceeding §100,000 to the Black River Canal 
 and Erie Canal feeder; and not exceeding 8150,000 to 
 the Genesee Valley Canal. [The section, as it stood, 
 appropriated 8500,000 to the preservation of works now 
 in progress, and the payment of land damages. The 
 amendment adds 8150.000 to the appropriation.] 
 
 Mr. Foster said it would be perceived that his propo- 
 sition was to add 8150,000 to the amount of this appro- 
 priation, and to divide it in such manner as to permit the 
 preservation of all the works in progress. A previous 
 section appropriated 81,000.000 for arrearages to con- 
 tractors, extra allowances, and land damages ; and the 
 $500,000 in this subdivision was intended, after paying 
 such sums as might be necessary to secure the preserva- 
 tion ot the works, to make up for deficiencies in the 
 million. Mr. F. was desirous to go for the lowest pos- 
 sible sum which could secure the preservation of the 
 canals as they are, and put those that are navigable in 
 suitable order. But he believed this proposed half mil- 
 lion would prove to be inadequate to save the state from 
 pecuniary loss, arising from the destruction of works par- 
 tially completed. 
 
 And he offered his amendment in the shape he did for 
 another consideration. By the tenth section, all works 
 were to be suspended until the farther order of the legis- 
 lature, except three kinds of work, to wit : such as shall 
 be necessary to preserve or secure the navigation ; such 
 as may be necessary to preserve works already done,, 
 from destruction by ice or floods ; or such as the com- 
 pletion of which may cost less than will be saved in the 
 
 24* 
 
282 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l842. 
 
 preservation of the work already done. By this section 
 nothing could be done upon the Black River Canal. He 
 believed there was imminent danger of the destruction 
 of works on that canal from causes other than by ice or 
 floods. Mr. F. described the condition of locks, which 
 would probably decay unless water was admitted into 
 them. 
 
 Mr. Paige said, from the examination he had given 
 to the subject, he had arrived at the conclusion that the 
 sums appropriated were sufficient for the purposes indi- 
 cated. Mr. P. went briefly into detail as to estimates, 
 and replied to the other parts of Mr. Foster's remarks, by 
 pointing to a general power to preserve works from de- 
 struction, contained in another section. 
 
 Mr. Foster rejoined, differing as to the construction 
 of the section. 
 
 Mr. Nicholas said there was another item, which was 
 altogether unprovided for in this bill, and which he an- 
 ticipated would be a very heavy one ; he alluded to 
 damages arising out of the suspension of contracts. This 
 was kept out of view ; but if the work was to be arrested, 
 it should be provided for in the same bill. If he was 
 rightly informed, the contracts which would be suspend- 
 ed amounted to some $3,000,000, and that the claims for 
 damages for their suspension would be almost as large 
 as that amount. He believed that the sums pro- 
 vided in the bill were ample for the objects enumerated, 
 and he could not, therefore, vote for the present amend- 
 ment. 
 
 Mr. Dickinson could not go for this small amendment ; 
 the bait was too insignificant. Besides, this made no 
 provision for the New York and Erie Railroad — a work 
 second only in importance to the Erie Canal. He should 
 
1842.] Faulkner's amendment. 283 
 
 therefore vote against the amendment and against the 
 bill, and go before the people upon the substitute pro- 
 posed by him. 
 
 Mr. Foster's amendment was rejected, only seven 
 members, Dickinson, Faulkner, Foster, Hard, Hawkins, 
 Peck, and Works, voting for it. 
 
 Mr. Faulkner then offered an amendment to the tenth 
 section. This amendment proposed to join the canal 
 commissioners with the commissioners of the canal fund, 
 in the power to direct the application of the moneys to 
 particular works, and to enlarge the discretionary pow- 
 ers of the board thus to be formed. Upon an inquiry 
 made by Mr. Dixon, a sound-minded whig member from 
 Chatau(|ue, whether this was all the alteration proposed 
 to be elfected by the amendment ; and on being an- 
 swered by Mr. Faulkner in the affirmative, IMr. Dixon 
 declined to vote for this amendment, and it received 
 only the votes of Messrs. Faulkner, Foster, Hard, and 
 Works. 
 
 The proceedings of the democratic n)embers of the 
 senate on the amendments of Mr. Foster and Mr. Faulk- 
 ner are worthy of particular notice, because they afford- 
 ed the first public demonstration in our state legislature 
 of the difference of opinion between that portion of the 
 democratic jjarty called Barnburners, or radicals, and 
 those that were afterwards called conservatives, or 
 " Hunkers." For the purpose of avoiding circumlocution, 
 and not with a view of casting reproach upon either section, 
 we shall call the one party hunkers,and the other radicals. 
 The radicals claimed to be more stringent in their views 
 in relation to state expenditures than the hunkers. At 
 the head of the former stood Mr. Hoffman in the assem- 
 bly, and Mr. Dennison, Mr. Paige, and Mr. Strong in 
 
284 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l842. 
 
 the senate. Of the latter, Mr. Seymour* in the assem- 
 bly, and Mr. Foster in the senate, were the most distin- 
 guished. Several members of the senate, however, who 
 were understood to agree with Mr. Foster in his general 
 views, and who afterwards acted with him, such as Mr. 
 Corning of Albany, Dr. Ely of Otsego, &c., did not, on 
 this occasion, vote with him. 
 
 There is a curious portion of unwritten history con- 
 nected with the action of the senate on this bill, which 
 may be worth the attention of the reader. 
 
 Mr. Hunter and Mr. Dennison had declared to some 
 of their political friends, that if Mr. Foster's amend- 
 ment should be adopted and incorporated in the bill, 
 they should be compelled to vote against it on the ques- 
 tion of its final passage. If, then, these two senators, 
 and all the whigs had voted, as it was known they would 
 do, against the bill, it would inevitably have been de- 
 feated, for there were but seventeen democratic votes in 
 the senate. If, therefore, the whigs in a body had voted 
 for Mr. Foster's amendment, and then voted against the 
 final passage of the bill, the amendment w^ould have 
 been adopted, and the bill defeated. In this state of the 
 case a communication was opened with one of the lead- 
 ing whig senators, who, together with several of his 
 friends, thinking the amendment of very little conse- 
 quence, and, as Mr. Dickinson said, that " the bait was 
 too insignificant," and probably believing that the sus- 
 pension of the public works and the levying of a direct 
 tax would be so unpopular as to break down the party 
 
 * It ought to be noted, that Mr. Seymour voted for and supported the 
 bill in question. He is spoken of in the text in reference to his subsequent 
 
 course. 
 
1842.] EKFECT OF LAW OF 1842. 285 
 
 which supported such measures, agreed to vote with the 
 radicals against Mr. Foster's amendment. If this state- 
 ment is correct, and we have it from unquestionable 
 though verbal authority, may it not be said that this 
 great measure would not have been carried had it not 
 been for the votes of the whig senators ?* 
 
 The passage of this law, and the appointment of Mr. 
 Flagg as comptroller, produced an almost instantaneous 
 effect on the public credit. Mr. Flagg, as we have 
 seen, was appointed comptroller on the 7th of February, 
 and the law of which we are speaking was passed on 
 the 29th of March- Six per cent, stocks, before the pas- 
 sage of the law, sold at from twenty to twenty-two per 
 cent, below par. Five per cent, stock was sold at sev- 
 enty cents on the dollar. Within two months after the 
 passage of the law, seven per cent, stock came up to 
 par, and within six or seven months six per cents, also 
 sold at par ; and in fifteen months, according to the Al- 
 bany Argus, five per cent, stocks were at par. 
 
 * It may well be doubted whether that portion of the whig party in ond 
 out of thi* lofirislature, who were interested in banks, and especially Ihotm 
 banks which had taken " temporary loans,"' were not desirous that the biil 
 of 1843 should become a law, inasmuch as they must have foreseen that 
 the effect of the law would be to raise the value of state stocks, witii 
 which the bunks able to loan money had then become gorged. In support 
 of this hypothesis, a hijfhly inleiliirent correspondent wrote us a few days 
 ago from Albany, on the subject of the passage of the finance bill through 
 the senate in lb42, that " the action of the whig senators, and the appro- 
 val of the governor, were both the result of the influence of the moneyed 
 interest," [wc are sure our correspondent does not mean to insinuate that 
 that influence operated corruptly,] " in whose hands or vaults were sev- 
 eral millions of the recently issued stock. Three or four banks in this 
 city had taken .$1,500,000, I think, in the fall of 1839. The slate had 
 made short loans from the banks, and finally, in the fail of 1841, had paid 
 contractors in stock, having exhausted all other means." 
 
286 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l842, 
 
 A change in the state of the money-market no doubt 
 had some effect in producing this great rise in the 
 price of state securities, but a principal cause of the 
 great advance in the market value of our stocks was 
 the restoration of confidence in the soundness of our 
 financial system, produced by the passage of the law 
 levying a tax and suspending public expenditures, and 
 the appointment of Mr. Flagg, in whose financial skill, 
 integrity, and firmness capitalists had unbounded confi- 
 dence. No man ever possessed this confidence in a 
 higher or indeed so high a degree. We say this with- 
 out intending to depreciate the merits of any of his pre- 
 decessors. 
 
 What probably had some effect in preparing the pub- 
 lic mind for receiving favorably the financial system 
 enacted by the statute of 1842, was the train of thought 
 excited, and the ideas which were elicited by certain 
 resolutions for an amendment of the constitution, pro- 
 posed by Mr. Loomis, in the assembly of 1841, and 
 again offered and discussed during the present session. 
 The resolutions, as proposed by Mr. Loomis, were in the 
 following words : 
 
 " Resolved, (if the senate concur,) That the following 
 amendment to the constitution of the state of New York 
 be proposed and referred to the next legislature to be 
 chosen, and that the secretary of state cause the same 
 to be published in one newspaper in each of the counties 
 of this state in which a newspaper is printed, once in 
 each week for three months next previous to the next 
 annual election, pursuant to the provisions of the first 
 section of the eighth article of the said constitution : 
 
 " Resolved, That tlie constitution of the state be so 
 amended, that every law authorizing the borrowing of 
 
1842.] LOOMISS RESOLUTIONS. 287 
 
 money, or the issuing of state stocks, whereby a debt shall 
 be created or increased on the credit of the state, shall 
 specify the object for which the money shall be appro- 
 priated ; and that every such law shall embrace no more 
 than one such object, which shall be singly and specifi- 
 cally stated ; and that no such law shall take effect until 
 it shall be distinctly submitted to the people at the next 
 general election, and be approved by a majority of the 
 votes cast for and against it at such election. That all 
 money to be raised by the authority of such law, be ap- 
 plied to the specific object slated in such law, and to no 
 other purposes whatever, except the payment of the debt 
 thereby created or increased. This provision shall not 
 extend or apply to any law to raise money for the pur- 
 pose of suppressing insurrection, repelling a hostile in- 
 vasion, or defending the state in war." 
 
 As the principles contained in the last resolution, and 
 indeed almost its very words, were adopted by the late 
 constitutional convention, and now make a part of our 
 constitution, and as, like all projects of reformers when 
 first presented to the public eye, they were generally 
 viewed as visionary, and dangerously revolutionary in 
 their character, it seems proper to give some account of 
 their origin and the manner in which they gradually grew 
 in favor with the public. 
 
 We happen to know the fact that Arphaxad Loomis 
 is the parent of the "people's resolutions'' He first 
 suggested the project by a communication written by 
 him, which was published in the Mohawk Courier, a 
 paper printed at Little Falls. The article attracted 
 considerable attention, and it was copied into several 
 other newspapers. All men of experience and reflec- 
 tion had seen the facility with which combinations could 
 
288 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842 
 
 be formed to carry money bills through the legislature. 
 All felt that we had suffered much, and might in future 
 suffer more, by improvident legislation, and all were so- 
 licitous that a remedy should be discovered and applied. 
 The project of Judge Loomis seemed to provide that 
 remedy. But it was apprehended that the very combi- 
 nation, which his resolutions were intended to destroy, 
 would prevent their adoption; and for some time there 
 was reason to believe those apprehensions were well 
 founded. Mr. Loomis, however, was not discouraged. 
 After his election to the assembly in November, 1840, 
 he advised with his colleague, Mr. Hoffman, and with 
 Mr. Flagg, both of whom concurred in his views. He 
 therefore, in the session of 1841, proposed the resolu- 
 tions in the assemblv of that vear. They underwent 
 some discussion, and the democratic members of that 
 assembly voted genei'ally for their adoption ; but, it will 
 be recollected that they were during that session in the 
 minority. After the adjournment of the legislature in 
 1841, many of the democratic newspapers published 
 those resolutions at the head of their columns, as a part 
 of their creed. They at first denominated them " Loo- 
 inis's resolutions ;" but, as we are informed by a friend 
 at Little Falls, the editor of the Mohawk Courier was 
 requested by Mr. Loomis to change the designation of 
 the resolutions from that of " Loomis's resolutions" to 
 that of " the people's resolutions." With this request 
 he complied, and marked the change in such manner as 
 to call , the attention of other editors to the alteration. 
 
 In 1842, Mr. Loomis, being a member, again intro- 
 duced these resolutions. After various efforts to pro- 
 crastinate, on the 14th of March they came up for dis- 
 cussion, when he made an able speech in their favor. 
 
1842] tJEN. Dix's SPEECH. 289 
 
 Mr. Tamlia, a democratic member from Jefferson coun- 
 ty, delivered a speecli in opposition. He was followed 
 by Gen. Dix iVom Albany, who attempted to show 
 the danger of committing to the legislature unlimited 
 power to involve the state in debt, and to mortgage the 
 property of their constituents to an indefinite amount ; 
 and he concluded an eloquent address, by saying : 
 
 " I do trust gentlemen will look at this question as one 
 of principle, and not in reference to its possible bearings 
 upon local interests. Sir, the interests of the day are 
 fleeting. They are perpetually varying their aspects 
 and phases. Men are continually entering into new 
 combinations. The local interest of to-day may, by 
 change of circumstances, lose its importance to-morrow; 
 and he who abandons a great principle for the sake of 
 a local interest mav find himself abandoned when he 
 least expects it. But principles are eternal ; and he 
 who boldly identifies himself with them, spurning away 
 all minor considerations, can never fall, for he stands 
 upon ground which is impregnable. Or, if be does fall 
 for the moment, the excitement by which he has been 
 overborne will soon pass away, and he will rise again 
 with new honor and strength." 
 
 The ayes and noes were taken on the resolutions, 
 and there were 35 ayes and 49 noes. The number of 
 those who voted in the affirmative being less than the 
 majority of all the members elected to the assembly, the 
 motion for the adoption of the resolution (it being a res- 
 olution proposing to the people an amendment of the 
 constitution) was declared lost ; but it was not in truth 
 lost, for the subject continued to excite the attention of 
 the community, and to agitate the public mind, until the 
 meeting of the constitutional convention in 1846, when 
 
 25 
 
290 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l842. 
 
 it was in substance adopted by that body, and approved 
 by the votes of a large majority of the electors of the 
 state. 
 
 Xo doubt much interest was felt by the politicians at 
 the seat of government, and by the members of the le- 
 gislature of both parties, in relation to the selection of a 
 candidate for governor. The hunkers were generally 
 in favor of the renomination of William C. Bouck, who, 
 although beaten at the election in 1840, had received 
 several thousand more votes than were cast for the dem- 
 ocratic candidates for presidential electors, from which 
 an evidence of his personal popularity was inferred ; 
 while the radical leaders were rather averse to his nom- 
 ination, and preferred some other candidate. Among 
 other gentlemen of whom they spoke, Gen. Dix was 
 mentioned as a person who would be very acceptable 
 to them and to the public in general, but no serious al- 
 tercations took place, nor were there any public devel- 
 opments of a settled difference of opinion. All mani- 
 fested their willingness, and indeed their determination, 
 to support such candidate as should be nominated by a 
 state convention. 
 
 We have mentioned that during this winter the germs 
 of the two parties, hunkers and radicals, began to be 
 perceived in the democratic party. At the same time, 
 if not before, the whigs afforded evidence that they too 
 were splitting into two parties. The particular friends 
 of Gov. Seward were more radical in their political prin- 
 ciples, and more favorably disposed towards foreigners, 
 and especially Irish emigrants, and more inclined to tol- 
 erate the peculiar doctrines and principles of the aboli- 
 tionists, than some other prominent members of the same 
 party. There is a class of men, many of whom by-the- 
 
1842.] VIRGINIA CONTROVERSY. 291 
 
 by are pure and highly honorable men, who are alarmed 
 at any new doctrines or political projects, who abhor all 
 innovations, and who seem to believe that the most de- 
 cisive evidence of patriotism, and sound and safe policy, 
 is an inflexible adherence to things and institutions as 
 ihey are, and have been transmitted to us by those who 
 have preceded us. Of this last description of men there 
 were many among the whigs ; and that portion of the 
 whig party may be properly termed conservative whigs, 
 while the other class may, with equal propriety, be de- 
 nominated radical whigs. If the latter description of 
 politicians, whether they be whigs or democrats, some- 
 times err, by too much subservience to what they deem 
 is or will be most popular among the masses ; the former 
 also, in our judgment, frequently, to use the mildest term, 
 misjudge, living as they do under a government which 
 is a representative democracy, by affecting a disregard 
 and contempt for the opinions or even the prejudices of 
 the multitude. Hence the whigs were also divided on 
 the question in relation to the selection of their candi- 
 date for governor. 
 
 Luther Br.\dish, then lieutenant-governor, as pure a 
 man as ever lived, was undoubtedly the most prominent 
 man of the party, (Gov. Seward being out of the ques- 
 tion,) but he was regarded with jealousy and coldness 
 bv some of the radical whigs. Both sections of the whig 
 party, however, like the two sections of the democratic 
 party, generally determined to abide by and support the 
 result of the action of a state convention. 
 
 On the 11th of April, the day before the adjournment 
 of the legislature, the Virginia controversy, of w^hich 
 we have said so much, again excited the attention and 
 action of the two houses of the legislature. 
 
292 POLITICAL IlIrfTOKV (Jl" NKW YORK. [1842. 
 
 Mr. Strong, of the senate, submitted a preamble and 
 joint resolution to that body, declaring that stealing a 
 slave, contrary to the laws of Virginia, is a crime with- 
 in the meaning of the constitution, and directing that 
 a copy of this preamble and resolution be transmitted 
 to the executive of Virginia. Messrs. Dickinson and 
 Hard opposed the adoption of this resolution, but it 
 passed by a vote of 16 to 14, all the democratic mem- 
 bers voting in the affirmative, except Mr. Bockee. 
 
 On this resolution coming into the assemblv, Mr. 
 Seymour moved its reference to the judiciary com- 
 mittee, which motion was lost, whereupon Messrs. Da- 
 vezac and Townsend advocated a concurrence ; and 
 the previous question being moved and sustained, the 
 resolution was concurred in by the assembly, — 62 vo- 
 ting in the affirmative and 35 in the negative. The vote 
 in the assembly was also a party vote, the whigs general- 
 ly voting against the resolution and the democrats for it. 
 Mr. D. S. Wright refused to vote. We must be ex- 
 cused for saying that we are glad to find on the journals 
 of the assembly the name of that excellent legislator, 
 Calvin T. Hulburt of St. Lawrence, among those who 
 voted in the negative. 
 
 The next day Gov. Seward sent a message to the le- 
 gislature, in which, after reiterating in a very pointed 
 manner the opinions he had formerly expressed on the 
 subject, and declaring his adherence to them, he declines 
 being the agent of the two houses in transmitting the 
 preamble and resolution to the executive of Virginia, 
 and recommends to the two houses the selection of 
 some other organ of communication between them and 
 the executive of "our sister commonwealth." 
 
 The legislature then adjourned to meet again on the 
 
1842.] STATE PRINTEK. 203 
 
 16th day of August, for the sole purpose of dividing the 
 state into congressional districts, in pursuance of a re- 
 cent act of congress. Before the adjournment, how- 
 ever, the members of each party adopted and issued an 
 address to their constituents. 
 
 In the year 1840 a law passed appointing Thurlow 
 Weed state printer, in lieu of Edwin Croswell, for the 
 term of four years from that time. By the fourth sec- 
 tion of the act the secretary of state and comptroller 
 were authorized to contract with the printer to the state 
 for the printing, " during the term of his appointment," of 
 the journals of the two houses, bills, &c., at prices adapt- 
 ed to and not exceeding the rates ordinarily charged bv 
 printers in Albany for such services. A contract for 
 printing was immediately made by the comptroller and 
 secretary with Mr. Weed in pursuance of the fourth 
 section, in which it was of course stipulated between the 
 parties that the contract should continue four years. 
 
 During the session of 1842 a bill was brought in re- 
 pealing or materially modifying the act of 1840, removing 
 Mr. Weed, and requiring the appointment of a new state 
 printer. This bill passed both houses, and was sent to 
 the governor for his approval ; but he returned it to the 
 assembly with his veto, stating as his principal reason 
 that the contract between Mr. Weed and the state offi- 
 cers could not be abrogated without the consent as well 
 of Mr. Weed as of the state. The bill, on a reconsid- 
 eration, passed the assembly by the constitutional ma- 
 jbrity, 82 members voting in its favor, and 32 against it, 
 but it was lost in the senate, more than one-third in that 
 house being opposed to it. 
 
 The governor's veto message certainly did present 
 a very grave constitutional question ; and on examining 
 
 25* 
 
294 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 
 
 the journal, we find that Horatio Seymour and that able 
 lawyer, Charles Humphrey, although both were demo- 
 crats, did not vote on the question. 
 
 Mr. O'SuUivan again introduced a bill for the aboli- 
 tion of capital punishment, which he supported with 
 renewed zeal and energy, but was finally unsuccessful, 
 45 members being for, and 55 against it. We regret to 
 perceive the names of Dix, Seymour, and Hoffman 
 among those who voted in the negative. 
 
 During the winter and summer of 1842, matters of 
 
 o 
 
 deep interest were discussed and passed upon by the na- 
 tional legislature, in which Mr. Wright, as the represen- 
 tative in the United States senate from this state, acted 
 a distinguished part. 
 
 At the extra session of 1841, a law had been passed 
 to fund the treasury notes which had been put afloat, 
 and to raise by a loan at six per cent, several millions of 
 dollars. By the law, however, the secretary of the 
 treasury was prohibited from suffering the stock thus 
 created to be negotiated at a price less than par ; the 
 consequence of which was, that no money was brought 
 into the treasury, and it became embaiTassed. Mr. 
 Evans of Maine, who had succeeded Mr. Clay as chair- 
 man of the finance committee, reported a bill author- 
 izing the stock " to be sold at the highest price which 
 could be obtained in market for it." This bill was op- 
 posed by Mr. Wright in an able argument, showing, 
 among other things, the fatal consequences of suffering 
 our stocks to be hawked about in market, and sold under 
 tReir par value. He concludes by saying : 
 
 " I may be asked by the friends of this bill, what shall 
 be done '? And I admit that the inquiry is fairly made. 
 I claim, Mr. President, but a small portion of the wisdom 
 
1842.] MR. weight's speech. 295 
 
 necessary to answer safely and properly such a ques- 
 tion ; but I say, unhesitatingly, do any thing, do nothing, 
 rather than pass this bill in its present form. Call back 
 the land fund, and pledge it inviolably to sustain your 
 credit and meet the interest upon your loans, and then 
 fix your stock at par, and give an interest which will 
 command the money. I think six per cent, and twenty 
 years' time will do it abundantly, and I do not doubt the 
 prompt subscription of the amount you require, if books 
 were to be opened upon these terms ; but.if six percent, 
 would not, seven would. Then you would meet all com- 
 petitors fairly in the market, and make the actual value 
 of money the standard of success. 
 
 " Bring down your expenses from the twenty-five or 
 twenty-six millions per annum, which you now propose, 
 to twenty millions, or to eighteen millions, if need be ; re- 
 store the land fund to the treasury, and increase it by 
 pre-emption and graduation bills, which certainly will 
 increase it immediately ; oflfer your fresh lands for sale, 
 and live upon the means you can thus command, until 
 you can improve your revenue from customs, or obtain 
 loans upon terms reasonable in themselves, and which 
 will not spread ruin over the states, and prostrate the 
 business of the country. Do gentlemen forget that cash 
 duties are hereafter to be paid in all cases of revenue 
 from customs, and that consequently an increase of the 
 tariflfis to be an instant supply of revenue, if the rate of 
 duty be made sufficient, and the importations continue ? 
 There is no longer to be a system of credits to postpone 
 the influence upon the treasury of this part of our legis- 
 lation. Why then borrow money for twenty years at 
 all ? And certainly, why put the credit of the country 
 at auction, when relief is so easily reached, and can so 
 
296 rOIJTICAL HISTORY OF NEW VoF.K. [l842. 
 
 instantly be made effectual ? If the pledge of the land 
 fund does not bring you loans upon reasonable terms, it 
 will brinsr vou means to the amount of three millions per 
 year at the least, and if improved as suggested, may 
 brino- you five, for a period sufficient to enable you to 
 improve your other sources of revenue. 
 
 " If these things cannot be done, follow the noble ex- 
 ample of New York ; lay taxes, direct or indirect, or 
 both ; stop expenditure beyond the means which the 
 lands and the eustoms will supply ; fund the outstanding 
 treasury notes as you propose to do in this bill, and 
 wait until the money-market shall improve, or until you 
 can realize an adequacy of means from your improved 
 revenues. Again, I say, do any thing, do nothing, rather 
 than propose to sell your credit, in the open market, /or 
 what it may bring. 
 
 " We are daily told, Mr. President, that our foreign 
 relations wear a threatening aspect. I do not pretend 
 to be intimately or extensively acquainted with those 
 relations, nor have I ever made myself an alarmist re- 
 specting them ; but this I do feel authorized to say, that 
 there are causes for just uneasiness in more than one 
 direction, and especially in our British relations. And 
 is such the time we should select to offer the very 
 standard of American credit for sale at auction in the 
 markets of the world ? Is such the period when we 
 should make ourselves willing to put our bond upon 
 change in the metropolis of that proud country, guaran- 
 tied by the credit and faith and honor of this Union, and 
 make our supplicatory appeal to her bankers and brokers 
 to give us a bid for it ? I cannot think so." 
 
 A bill was introduced into congress, and passed both 
 houses, requiring the several states to pass laws for 
 
1812.] COXGRESSIOXAL DISTRICTS. 297 
 
 the election of members of congress by single districts. 
 This bill Mr. Wright also opposed, not, as we under- 
 stand him, on the ground that it was not desirable that 
 there should be a uniform mode of election of represen- 
 tatives to the national legislature, nor that he was op- 
 posed to the division of each state into single congres- 
 sional districts ; but because, in his judcrment, congress 
 had no power to pass a law commandinsr the states to 
 legislate on any given question. Mr. Wright's reason- 
 ing on this question is very ingenious. We shall give a 
 compendium of his argument, digested by him.self, afford- 
 ing ns it does a fine specimen of the action of his clear 
 logical mind : 
 
 "Passing the other arguments by which this novel 
 enactment is attempted to be sustained, I wish to bring 
 the senate, for one moment, to the consideration of the 
 great interests — I may almost say, in a political sense, 
 estates — involved in this action. • 
 
 " The first, in the constitutional order, was the people 
 of the respective states, to whom the right of electing 
 representatives to the congress was expressly reserved. 
 
 " The second was the legislatures of the states, upon 
 which the duty was devolved, in the absence of any ac- 
 tion on the part of congress, to prescribe the regulations 
 necessary to enable the ])eople to exercise this great 
 constitutional right. 
 
 " The third was congress, upon which a discretionary 
 power was conferred to make these regulations, if tl)e 
 states did not, or to alter the regulations which the states 
 might have made. 
 
 " The first (the people) have thus far enjoyed their 
 great right under the regulations of the states — and 
 that, too, without injury or complaint. 
 
298 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l842. 
 
 " The second (the states) have acted under the con- 
 stitution, and performed the duty enjoined upon them, in 
 a way to preserve the right of the people, and its prac- 
 tical and beneficial exercise. 
 
 " The third (congress) now comes in, and proposes, 
 not to make regulations by its own action — not by its 
 own action to alter the regulations which the states 
 have made — but to prescribe certain rules by which the 
 legislatures of the states shall alter their own regula- 
 tions. 
 
 "Congress admits its want of power to compel the 
 state legislatures to comply with its prescription, and 
 alter their regulations to conform to it. And how does 
 it propose to attempt coercion upon them ? By abridg- 
 ing any of their powers or privileges ? No ; but by 
 forfeiting this great right of the people of the state to 
 elect representatives, if their legislature do not comply. 
 
 " Thus the fault is to be either in congress, or in the 
 state legislature. The people can coerce neither ; and 
 yet the forfeiture for the fault is to be visited upon the 
 only innocent party of the three — the people — who can- 
 not make the regulations, and whose most essential right 
 is to be forfeited if they are not made. Was such ac- 
 tion, on the part of congress, constitutional, or wise, or 
 expedient ? To his mind, it was neither." 
 
 As, by the operation of the compromise law, the du- 
 ties on imports were now reduced to twenty percent., it 
 was evident that a sufficient amount of revenue would 
 not be produced to defray the current expenses of the 
 government. The whigs then held a majority in the 
 two houses of congress, and were extremely anxious to 
 retain and render effective the law passed at the extra 
 session, which provided for a distribution among the re- 
 
1842.] TARIFF BILL OI 184-2. 299 
 
 spective states of the avails of the land sales. The dis- 
 tribution law, as it then stood, contained a proviso, if we 
 recollect rightly, tjiat whenever the expenses of the gov- 
 ernment should require that a higher duty should be 
 levied on any imported ai-ticle than twenty per cent., no 
 distribution for land sold should be made. Two bills in 
 relation to revenue were passed by congress, in one of 
 which a clause was contained repealing the proviso 
 attached to the land bill ; and in the other the distribu- 
 tion was postponed, but not abandoned. The president 
 vetoed both bills. This produced a necessity for con- 
 gress to pass 'a new tariff law, having partly for its ob- 
 ject an increase of revenue, which of course raised the 
 duty on some articles much above twenty per cent. ; and 
 a bill for that purpose was introduced. A majority of 
 the democratic members of congress, and nearly all the 
 southern members, were warmly opposed to raising the 
 tariff of duties. 
 
 When this bill came before the senate, Mr. Wright 
 found himself extremely embarrassed; and his embarrass- 
 ment was increased upon ascertaining the fact that on 
 his single vote depended the question whether the bill 
 should or should not become a law. On the one hand, 
 nearly all his political friends were opposed to the bill, 
 and besides, he really and conscientiously disapproved 
 of many of its details ; on the other, if, by his vote, he 
 should prevent the passage of the bill, as the compro- 
 mise act had, as was contended, expired, the nation would 
 be left without a revenue ; all the operations of the gov- 
 ernment would be interrupted, if not suspended ; and the 
 business of the country, particularly the manufacturing 
 and commercial business, would be greatly deranged, if 
 not prostrated. He therefore determined to vote for the 
 
300 POLITICAL IlISTOllY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 
 
 bill ; but before voting, he delivered an elaborate and 
 able speech, in which he explained his position, and the 
 reasons which induced him to vote in the affirmative. 
 The principal part of his speech, however, is occupied 
 in pointing out defects in the system which the bill pro- 
 posed to adopt. These defects, he hoped, would at no 
 distant day be removed. 
 
 •'The treasury," said Mr. Wright, "is empty; and 
 almost daily the public creditors are turned away from 
 it without payment. This very congress has increased, 
 and is daily increasing, the public expenditures, and 
 thus creating the necessity for increased revenues : and 
 the public credit is not sinking, but sunken ; so that loans, 
 at high interest and at long time, cannot be negotiated 
 at home or abroad, upon the declared reason that we 
 have not revenues to meet the payment of the public 
 liabilities. These changes of circumstances constituted, 
 in his mind, the highest necessity for a revenue law, and 
 forced upon him, under the most solemn sense of public 
 duty, the course of action which he proposed to pursue. 
 All he could ask of the friends who should dif!er from 
 him, and believe him to be still in error, was, that they 
 would believe him to be governed by pure motives ; and 
 if in error, to be honestly so. He owed it to those 
 friends, as well as to himself, to make another remark ; 
 which was, that the consequences of his action, if evil, 
 should be visited upon himself alone ; as no friend, here 
 or elsewhere, had interfei'ed to bring him to the conclu- 
 sion he had pronounced. Many very dear friends, 
 whose judgments, upon almost all occasions, he valued 
 more highly than his own, had kindly attempted to con- 
 vince him that he was in error — not one to urge him to 
 give the vote." 
 
1842.] CHARACTER OF !VrR. WRIGHT 301 
 
 No act of his life endeared Mr. Wright so much to 
 the whole people of New York, as the vote he gave on 
 this occasion. 
 
 So high was his standing at the seat of the national 
 government at this time, and so justly were his charac- 
 ter and merits appreciated, that in 1842 the following 
 article appeared in the Washington Globe, which fur- 
 nishes so accurate and just a description of the man, that 
 we cannot deny ourselves the pleasure of copying it, 
 though there are things in it which might be more ap- 
 propriately quoted at the close of this work, where we 
 shall attempt to draw a portrait of this distinguished 
 statesman. 
 
 " A leading man in the senate and of his party," says 
 the Globe, "is Silas Wright. Few men have acquired 
 distinguished reputation by such fair means. The esti- 
 mation in which he is held by his fellows and by the 
 nation, is due to substantial merit alone. He has won 
 his way to the highest position, without early advan- 
 tages of friends or fortune, and maintained it without 
 any of those dazzling qualities which sometimes give 
 a false glare to clever mediocrity. He has those provin- 
 cial peculiarities of pronunciation and phraseologv that 
 characterize the plainer class of New Englanders, from 
 which lie has sprung. No man, merely looking at the 
 •senate, would designate Silas Wright as one of its chief 
 ornaments ; no one, seeing him rise, or hearing his first 
 tones, could be made to believe that a distinguished ora- 
 tor was addressing that body. Yet no man commands 
 greater attention in the senate, or is heard with greater 
 acceptation and confidence by the people. What can 
 be higher proof of merit than reputation achieved with 
 so little extrinsic recommendation? 
 
 26 
 
302 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK, [1842, 
 
 " Mr. Wright never discusses a subject without being 
 thoroughly master of its principles and details. When 
 he speaks, his arrangement, though natural, is so lucid, 
 and his manner of communicating his ideas so clear and 
 satisfactory, that he captivates all classes of hearers. 
 The subject is so stripped of its difficulties, and present- 
 ed in a form so striking, and yet so easy, that the lis- 
 tener is flattered by the facility with which he compre- 
 hends that which before appeared to him so intricate 
 and involved. Commencing without pretension, the 
 speaker, nevertheless, warms with his subject ; and never 
 o'erstepping the modesty of nature, he yet delivers him- 
 self with a persuasive earnestness, which gives an air of 
 conviction to all that he utters. 
 
 " Mr. Wright never loses his temper, nor is ever be- 
 trayed into those indiscretions or extravagances so diffi- 
 cult to restrain in the ardor of debate. Let the gale 
 blow ever so hard, the ship never refuses to obey her 
 helm. On the contrary, the greater the violence of 
 winds and waves, the more calm her course, the more 
 steady her action. You cannot provoke Mr. Wright 
 to an imprudent retort, nor decoy him into an indis- 
 creet concession. He replies with the most hopeless 
 tranquillity, or fixes his calm eye upon you with resist- 
 less penetration. He always knows what he is about, 
 and detects, with the promptness of intuitive sagacity, 
 the designs of others. He is so wary and provident, 
 that he has been described as cunning — a term which is 
 not rightly applied to that penetrating sagacity which 
 may be exercised with entire fairness and perfect self- 
 control, without which great and permanent success 
 cannot be achieved in any of the pursuits of life. The 
 scriptural precept inculcates the wisdom of the serpent. 
 
1842.] CHARACTER OF MR. WRIGHT. 303 
 
 combined with the innocence of the dove. True saga- 
 city is practical wisdom ; while cunning, its miserable 
 substitute, in the end never fails to overreach itself 
 
 " Mr. Wright does not speak frequently, nor ever for 
 popular effect. He would not compromise, much less 
 sacrifice, an important object for the greatest momenta- 
 ry triumph. He exerts himself to accomplish his pur- 
 poses, not to win the applause of the gallery, or the 
 hackneyed tributes of the parasitical purveyors for the 
 press. He is a statesman, not an actor ; a senator, not 
 a performer. 
 
 " His character presents some singular points of con- 
 trast, to which it mav not be amiss to call attention. 
 Of humble origin, and the plainest early associations, 
 he is yet a model of courtesy in debate, and of delicacy 
 in legislative deportment ; the most senatorial of sena- 
 tors ; and his style of speaking is of that unostentatious 
 dignity which was characterized as the oratio togata. 
 Whatever others may prate of birth and fiishion and 
 refmetnent, the plain New Yorker is the most gentle- 
 manly of senators. Indeed, so admirable is his public 
 deportment, that the slightest disrespect shown to him 
 would arouse general indignation in the body of which 
 he is a member. When forced (which is rarely the case) 
 into personal collision, he has given signal proof that 
 his forbearance is the result of any thing rather than a 
 want of proper spirit. He is endowed with that calm 
 and self-sustaining courage, which is so much more re- 
 spectable than that uneasy susceptibility which is always 
 seekinti or giving offence. 
 
 O O O 
 
 " Another curious opposition is to be found in his pas- 
 sion for finance, and yet pecuniary indifference. Figures 
 of arithmetic have more charms for him than figures of 
 
304 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 
 
 ihetoric. He revels in numbers, and has the art of ar- 
 raneinff them in such form as to make them even attrac- 
 live. As chairman of the committee on finance, the 
 promptitude and clearness of his explanations elicited uni- 
 versal admiration. Fev^ will forget the masterly manner 
 in which he explained and vindicated from ignoi'ant as- 
 saults the safety-fund system of New York, — a system 
 which, whatever may be its defects, has preserved that 
 state, in a great degree, from those financial calamities 
 which have produced so much ruin elsewhere. Old 
 Elwas, the miser, used to say he was fond of the speeches 
 of Mr. Pitt, because they were so full of pounds, shil- 
 lings, and pence. He would have heard those of Mr. 
 Wright with equal gratification. Yet, like Mr. Pitt, the 
 American financier manifests a disregard for money. 
 
 " It is curious to remark how different are the study 
 and pursuit of wealth. The most skilful banker and suc- 
 cessful merchant are often entirely ignorant of the prin- 
 ciples of finance, or the laws of trade. Such were 
 Dexter and Girard, and many others who might be cited. 
 On the contrary, our country presents the remarkable 
 instances of Hamilton and the elder Dallas, both accom- 
 pHahed financiers, and both alike neglectful of their per- 
 sonal interests. Although for a longtime superintending 
 the financial affairs of the great state of New York, and 
 afterwards so conspicuously connected with the fiscal 
 affairsof the general government, Mr. Wright has never 
 endeavored to increase his little peculium. This con- 
 sists chiefly of a small farm near the St. Lawrence, which 
 is in a great degree cultivated by his own hands. There 
 he may be seen plying the spade or wheeling the barrow 
 in primitive simplicity. There is no ostentation of hu- 
 mility in this ; for, without the slightest tincture of agra- 
 
1842. J CHARACTER OF MR. WEIGHT. 305 
 
 rian or anti-social notions, he is a republican of the sim- 
 plest and straitest sect, not only in opinion, but in habits 
 and feelings. He ' mends his fences' without talking 
 about them, and is a farmer, without canting about agri- 
 culture in the senate. In this age of selfishness and 
 of speculation, and unscrupulous thirst for wealth, it is 
 refreshing to find an American statesman of the highest 
 rank, who would have done honor to the early and un- 
 corrupt days of the Roman republic. 
 
 "Aijain: although Mr. Wright is a warv and saga- 
 cious politician, he seems to have no projects or even 
 desires of personal advancement. His ambition, if he 
 have any, is for the success of his principles, his party, 
 his friends. He seems to regard himself as an instru- 
 ment, and a very able one he is, for others. Neither 
 side ever suspects him of laboring for his own ends. It 
 is indeed curious, that with such abilities and such rep- 
 utation, he should be so entirely devoid of personal as- 
 pirations. His devotion to the late president was as 
 unbounded as disinterested ; and whatever may be 
 thought of Mr. Van Buren by his opponents, it cannot 
 be asserted that he did not return the attachment with 
 fraternal warmth. If I have dwelt with such emphasis 
 upon the character of the senator from New York, it is 
 because its traits are as ample and attractive as they are 
 rare in our day and generation. Who would not take 
 pleasure in praising a man who seems utterly forgetful 
 of self — whose public course has ever been as blame- 
 less as it is shining and elevated ? There are men with 
 more genius and more striking qualities than Silas 
 Wright — none of more substantial talent and practical 
 wisdom and virtuous character." 
 
 While Mr. Wright was gathering these golden opin- 
 
 26* 
 
306 POLITICAI, HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1842. 
 
 ions from all those who witnessed his action on that 
 great theatre, the senate of the United States, he uni- 
 fornaly declined all invitations to attend meetings which 
 were often projected for the purpose of affording a dem- 
 onstration of personal regard for him. We notice, 
 among many other invitations, all of which he declined 
 to accept, that of James W. M'Keon and others, being 
 a committee of the democratic young men of the city 
 of New York, inviting him to accept a public dinner in 
 that city, and his reply declining the invitation. That 
 reply is so fine a specimen of unaffected modesty as to 
 induce a wish that we had room to insert it. We can, 
 however, only copy the following paragraphs : 
 
 " I find myself," says Mr. Wright, " compelled to ask 
 to be excused from accepting the invitation to a public 
 dinner. Various reasons, public and private, make this 
 a duty. As reasons private and personal to myself, I 
 find my health somewhat impaired, and my strength ex- 
 hausted by the long and tedious confinement we have 
 been compelled to undergo here, from the spring to the 
 fall, in this warm climate; and never have I felt so 
 strongly the necessity of mental repose. My private 
 duties, too, are calling me to my home with unusual 
 force, and forbid any delay upon my journey there, 
 which an attention to those duties does not demand. 
 
 "A further private consideration with me for decli- 
 ning your invitation, as I have declined all similar ones 
 coming from my democratic constituents, is the deep 
 consciousness I cannot fail to feel that I have already 
 received honors and advancements from them far be- 
 yond any to which my humble public services could of 
 right have laid a claim; and that it is my plain duty 
 rather to redouble my exertions to discharge the deep 
 
1842.] Wright's letter to jtiiiiK fine. 307 
 
 debt of obligations now resting against me, than to ap- 
 propriate to myself further honors, even tiiough volun- 
 tarily and generously tendered, as in the case your letter 
 presents." 
 
 He then proceeds to express, with great frankness, his 
 views on the great questions which at that time agita- 
 ted the public mind. 
 
 We have heretofore stated that some of the radical 
 democrats at Albany, during the session of the legisla- 
 ture, seemed disinclined to favor the renomination of 
 Mr. Bouck for governor, but previous to the meeting of 
 the state convention, information from the country con- 
 vinced every one that the public sentiment in his favor 
 was too strong and too unanimous to be resisted. In 
 the state convention, therefore, which assembled at Sy- 
 racuse on the 7th of September, scarcely the semblance 
 of opposition was perceptible. Mr. Wright was the fa- 
 vorite candidate of the radicals ; but some time before 
 the meeting of the convention, he forwarded from 
 Washington to Judge Fine, who was a delegate from 
 St. Lawrence county, a letter, of which the following is 
 a copy, peremptorily declining to be a candidate for the 
 office of governor in the convention, or before the 
 people : 
 
 " Washington, iOth July, 1842. 
 "My dear Judge : 
 
 " Your most acceptable favor of the 25th came to me 
 this morning. I thank you for it, and most especially 
 for your frank, practical, and friendly views as to my- 
 self so far as the office of governor is concerned. I have 
 been repeatedly addressed upon that subject during our 
 session by some of the best of our friends, and have in- 
 
308 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l842. 
 
 variably told them I could not be a candidate for that 
 high office. Among the correspondents who have called 
 upon me in relation to that office, is my old and faithful 
 friend, Hoffinan, and to him I gave a positive denial, 
 and detailed fully the reasons upon which my determi- 
 nation rested. I rejoice to know that my good friends 
 in our own county agree with me in the conclusion as 
 to what is my duty upon this point. I cannot suppose, 
 after the letters 1 have written, that any portion of our 
 friends will think of using my name ; but if that should 
 be so, I would prefer that the delegates from our own 
 county should possess the evidence, and be authorized to 
 speak for me upon this point. I therefore say to you, 
 that I cannot he a candidate for the office of governor, 
 and wish you to pronounce this conclusion, if my name 
 shall be proposed, as I hope and believe it will not be. 
 My reasons for this determination would fill a long let- 
 ter, though I believe they would satisfy any friend I 
 have if I could give them ; but as I am at this moment 
 suffering under the loss of a most favored and worthy 
 sister, the news of whose death reached me by the mail 
 of yesterday, I am sure you will excuse me from enter- 
 ing upon those reasons at this time, as well as from a 
 present reply to the other portions of your letter. 
 
 " Most truly yours, 
 
 " Silas Wright, Jr. 
 "Hon. John Fine." 
 
 The following is the brief account given in the Alba- 
 ny Argus of the proceedings of the convention : 
 
 " The convention was called to order by the Hon, John 
 Fine of St. Lawrence, on whose motion the Hon. Nicoll 
 Halsey of Tompkins was chosen president pro tem., and 
 
1842.] SYRACUSE CONVENTION. 309 
 
 Amasa J. Parker, of Delaware, and Horatio Ballard, of 
 Cortland, secretaries. 
 
 " The coinniittee appointed for that purpose reported 
 the following as the otficers of the convention, ami they 
 were chosen accordingly, viz : — President : lion. John 
 Fine of St. Lawrence. — Vice-Presidents : William B. 
 Maclay, 1st district; John W. Lawrence, 2d; Martin 
 Grover, 6th ; Ambrose Salisbury, 7th ; E. D. Efner, 
 8th. — Secretaries : H. H. Van Dyck, 3d district ; Wil- 
 Ham F. Allen, 5th. 
 
 " Proceeding to a nomination for governor and lieuten- 
 ant-governor, the delegates, as the counties were respec- 
 tively called, rose and openly nominated William C. 
 Bouck and Daniel S. Dickinson ; and they were nomi- 
 nated with entire unanimity, and by acclamation. 
 
 " An address and resolutions were adopted. 
 
 "The convention was eloquently addressed by the 
 Hon. R. D. Davis of Dutchess ; and all the proceedings 
 were witnessed by a crowded and gratified auditory. 
 
 "The convention completed all their business, and 
 adjourned in the afternoon. 
 
 " The utmost harmony and good feeling pervaded the 
 convention ; and an enthusiastic spirit is abroad that 
 will be found irresistible." 
 
 Mr. Dickinson was a resident of Binghamton, in the 
 county of Broome. He was favorably known formerly 
 as an active and energetic member of the legislature, 
 and as an ardent and efficient supporter of the New 
 York and Erie Railroad. Thus it happened that the 
 choice fell upon men intimately associated with two 
 great interests : — Mr. Bouck, from his long and ap- 
 proved services, was a favorite of those more imme- 
 diately interested in our canal policy, and Mr. Dickinson 
 
310 
 
 POLITKAL IIl.-TO;tV OF NEW YORK. [1842. 
 
 had distinguished himself as the friend of tlie great 
 southwestern railroad improvement. So far as these 
 interests were concerned, the ticket was a strong one. 
 
 The whig state convention also met on the 7th of 
 Septemher. Charles H. Carroll, of Livingston, was 
 chosen president, and there were eight vice-presidents 
 and four secretaries appointed. 
 
 Luther Bradish, the late lieutenant-governor, was 
 nominated for the office of governor, and Gabriel Fur- 
 man of Kings county, for that of lieutenant-governor. 
 These nominations were made with great apparent una- 
 nimity. Certainly, so far as related to personal worth, both 
 gentlemen were entitled to high consideration. Of Mr. 
 Bradish we have frequently spoken ; and as respects 
 Mr. Furman, there are few men in the state who are 
 more highly esteemed, and we may say beloved, by his 
 friends and acquaintance. 
 
 Mr. Collier, the late comptroller, had been spoken of 
 by many of his friends as a suitable candidate for gov- 
 ernor, and the editor of the Evening Journal says the 
 convention would have unanimously nominated him for 
 lieutenant-governor had he not peremptorily declined 
 being a candidate. 
 
 The convention nominated, with acclamation, Henry 
 Clay for the next president, and recommended a whig 
 national convention to assemble at Baltimore for the 
 nomination of a vice-president, thereby indicating that 
 public opinion had settled the question in relation to the 
 whig candidate for the presidency. 
 
 The leading resolution, as respects the measures of 
 the state, adopted by the convention, condemned in a 
 manner the most spirited the state tax and a suspension 
 of the public works. A resolution was also adopted ap- 
 
^-f. 
 
 "M 
 
 J 
 
 ^■""^^^^^m^^'^^'' 
 
 '^.f,^ {:' / ,,//4f'' ^' 
 
1842.] RESULT OF THE ELECTION. 311 
 
 proving of the administration of Gov. Seward, and ex- 
 pressing the warmest gratitude for his services. 
 
 We observe that the veteran poHtician, Gen. Root, 
 w^ in attendance as a delegate from the county of Del- 
 aware. 
 
 The candidates on both sides were now fairly in 
 the field, and the campaign was opened with great 
 vigor. 
 
 Alvan Stewart, a distinguished opponent to slavery, 
 was the abolition candidate for governor. Heretofore 
 the abolitionists had not acted as a political party, so far 
 as in all cases to hold up candidates of their own. The 
 course they had pursrued was to interrogate the candi- 
 dates nominated by the respective parties, and those of 
 them who voted at all cast their votes for such candi- 
 dates as answered most satislactorily to them. But at a 
 general convention lately held, that party resolved to 
 nominate candidates of their own in all the towns, 
 counties, and districts where there were any abolition- 
 ists. 
 
 It may be proper here to remark, that Mr. John C. 
 Spencer, shortly before the election, visited his friends 
 in this state ; that jt was understood that he was in favor 
 of the democratic nominees for governor and lieutenant- 
 governor ; and those in this state w^ho claimed to be the 
 friends of Mr. John Tyler generally voted with the 
 democratic party. 
 
 The election resulted in the complete triumph of the 
 democratic party in the state. There were 401,426 
 votes given for governor, of which William C. Bouck 
 received 208,072, and Luther Bradish 186,091 ; thus 
 leaving for Mr. Bouck a majority of more than twenty- 
 one thousand, Mr. Stewart received 7,263 votes. The 
 
312 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YOltK. [1842. 
 
 democrats succeeded in all the senate districts, except 
 the eighth, and elected ninety-three members of the as- 
 sembly. 
 
 John A. Lott was elected from the first senatorial dis- 
 trict, in the place of Gabriel Fm-man ; Abraham A. 
 Deyo, from the second, in the place of Daniel Johnson ; 
 John C. Wright, from the third, in the place of Alonzo 
 C. Paige ; Thomas B. Mitchell and Sidney Lawrence, 
 from the fourth, in the place of Bethuel Peck, and of 
 John W. Taylor, resigned ; Carlos P. Scovil, from the 
 fifth, in the place of Joseph Clark ; Calvin T. Chamber- 
 lain, from the sixth, in the place of Alvah Hunt ; John 
 Porter, from the seventh, in the place of Robert Nicho- 
 las ; and Harvey Putnam, from the eighth, in the place 
 of Henry Hawkins. Messrs. Hulburt from St. Law- 
 rence, Hathaway from Chemung, McMurray and Jones 
 from New York, and Leland from Steuben, were re- 
 elected. 
 
 Among the most distinguished new members which 
 were returned, was Willis Hall, late attorney-general, 
 who was elected by the whigs of Albany, and Edward 
 Sanford, son of the late Chancellor Sanford, who was 
 chosen by the democrats of the city of New -York. 
 
 Note. — After we had completed this chapter, we received from a gen- 
 tloman from whom we had solicited information, a communication pre- 
 senting his views of the proceedings of 1842. It is now too late, without 
 great lahor, to weave into this chapter the facts stated hi the letter of our 
 friend. But as the letter contains some interesting and important facts 
 and suggestions not heretofore stated, we hope we shall be excused for in- 
 serting the whole of it. Its author was an active and efficient, though a 
 young member of the assembly, during the year about which he writes, 
 and is justly distinguished for his talents and private worth. It is proper 
 to sav, however, that he was and is a leader in that section of the demo- 
 cratic party we have denominated Hunkers, and therefore, although a gen- 
 tleinaii of great candor and unquestionable veracity, may possibly, iusoiiie 
 
1842.] NOMINATIONS IN CAUCUS. 3 ' -T 
 
 instances, view persoijp and events through a prejudiced medium. It is 
 proper to add, that we have ventured to pubhsh this letter without con- 
 sulting the author. 
 
 " The democratic party regained its ascendency in the legislature of the 
 aate in the fall election of 1841. The senate was composed of 17 demo- 
 crats and 15 whigs ; the assembly of 9.T democrats and 33 whigs. The 
 assembly contained an unusual number of prominent men and experienced 
 legislators. At that time I knew but little about the politics of the state, 
 or of the relationship in which prominent men stood with respect to each 
 other. Whatever private jealousies might have existed at that time, there 
 wa.<i no defined or organized division in the democratic ranks. Th'' piirty 
 never stood upon stron<rer ground. The whigs were overthrown because 
 they had lost the public confidence by their injudicious and extravagant 
 policy. The only exhibition of partisan feeling in the democratic caucus 
 wa^ on the part i«f Mr. Flagg and others, in oppo.sing tl^ appointment 
 of Mr. Bi'ardsley to the office of attorney-general. This occasioned some 
 feeling on the part of .Mr. Boardsley's friends, as that gentleman was a 
 member of the state cabinet with Mr. Flagg prior to 1837, and went out 
 of office with him wlun the whigs obtained the political power of the 
 state. No opposition was made to Mr. Flagg's rcappointmi'nt ; he was 
 unanimously nominated in the democratic caucus on the first ballot. The 
 following statement of the balloting for the other state officers shows there 
 was no organized division in the democratic ranks, — such organizations 
 usually reducing the number of candidates for each office to two : 
 
 For Secretary of State. 
 
 Ill ballul. 2d ballot. 3J baOoC 
 
 Samuel Young, 49 58 
 
 Samuel W.Jones, 23 28 
 
 Ebenezer Mack, 19 13 
 
 John B. Skinner, 13 7 
 
 For Attorney-general. 
 
 George P. Barker, 26 37 68 
 
 Samuel Beardsley, 23 18 2 
 
 Robert H. Morris, 22 34 35 
 
 A. J. Parker, 10 8 1 
 
 H. L. Hogeboom, 6 5 
 
 F. G. Jewett, 8 4 
 
 John B. Skinner, 10 • 1 
 
 " Thomas Farrington was elected State Treasurer over three competitore, 
 and Nathaniel Jones Surveyor-general, over six other candidates. 
 
 27 
 
314 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l842. 
 
 " The great measure of the session was Mr. Hofljiian's bill in relation to 
 the finances. The condition and polic}' of the state was discussed with 
 great ability, principally by Mr. Hoffman, who was the leader of the 
 house. The debates upon this subject will show the considerations which 
 were involved in this discussion. Whatever obscurity there may be about 
 the positions held by parties with regard to our internal improvements 
 prior to this time, there was none at this sessijn. The democratic mem- 
 bers were in favor of stopping the public works, and of imposing a tax to 
 restore the state credit. The whigs were opposed to both of these propo- 
 sitions. They believed that they would bo so unpopular that another po- 
 litical revolution would be produced. When the vote was taken in the 
 committee of the whole, Mr. Hunt, a whig member, moved to amend the 
 bill by inserting a provision for appropriations for the unfinished canals, and 
 also to strike out that portion of the bill which provided for the imposition 
 of a tax. These amendments were supported by all the whigs, and op- 
 posed by all the democrats. These amendments were substantially re- 
 newed in the senate by a whig member, and were rejected there by a 
 similar party vote. The final vote on the hill in both houses was of the 
 same party character. To the democratic party, therefore, belongs the 
 credit of maintaining at this crisis the faith of the state, and of setting an 
 example worthy of her position to other and defaulting states, by boldly 
 stopping expenditures aiitl imposing a tax upon the people. At the time 
 this was regarded as a hazardous measure, and too mtioh credit cannot 
 bo awarded to Mr. Hoffrnan for the ability and courage manifested by him 
 in its support. 
 
 " Messrs. Hoffman, Flagg, Young, and Dix were opposed to the re- 
 noniinatiou of Mr. Bouck at the state convention which was to assemble 
 in the autumn of that year at Syracuse. This opposition was freely ex- 
 pressed in conversation during the session of tho legislature. When the 
 convention assembled at Syracuse, it was found there was a decided ma- 
 joritj- for Mr. Bouck. In the election of 1840, he had run ahead of his 
 ticket, which circumstance undoubtedly contributed to his strength in the 
 state convention. The published proceedings of that body throw but little 
 light upon the position of parties, as an informal and private meeting of 
 the delegates was held, at which every thing was determined. There 
 were some of tho delegates who were in favor of nominating Mr. Wright 
 at that time." 
 
1843.] ELECTION OF SPEAKER. 315 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 George R. Davis nominated and elected Speaker — (Governor's Message — 
 Gov. Bouck's Birth and Education — Lyman Sanford appointed Adju- 
 tant-general — Agitation of the Presidential Question at Washington — 
 Proceedings on board the Brig Somers, and death of Mr. Philip Spencer 
 — South Carolina Legislature nominate Mr. Calhoun for President — 
 Character of the State Officers in 1823 — Course of the Governor — Con- 
 test respectlnif State Printer — E. Croswell, H. H. Van Dyck — E. Cros- 
 well appointed State Printer — Albany Atlas — Mr. Wright re-elected 
 United States Senator — Mr. Dickinson's Resolution in relation to the 
 conduct of Gov. Bouck as Canal Commissioner — The distribution of the 
 Books containing the result of the Geological Survey — Young and 
 Dickinson — Bill for abolishing the Office of Bank Commissioner — Re- 
 jection by the Senate of nominations made by the Governor. 
 
 The legislature assembled on the third day of Janua- 
 ry, 1843, and on the evening previous a caucus was 
 held by the democratic members of the assembly, for 
 the purpose of selecting the officers of that house. 
 George R. Davis, of Rensselaer county, the same gen- 
 tleman who in 1831 was chosen and officiated as speak- 
 er, was unanimously nominated for the same office in 
 the caucus, and without a ballot ; but in selecting a can- 
 didate for clerk, there appeared to be some difference of 
 opinion. On the first ballot Henry N. Wales, of Albany, 
 received 47 votes, which was not a majority of all the 
 votes cast. On the second ballot William W. Dean, of 
 Otsego, received 29 votes, and Mr. Wales 53, who was 
 thereupon declared duly nominated. 
 
 The new governor began his message by declaring 
 that he regarded the public welfare above all mere par- 
 
316 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l848. 
 
 ty considerations. "If I do not very much mistake," 
 says the governor, " the feelings of the people, they de- 
 sire repose from high party excitements, and exemption 
 from those frequent changes in public measures that 
 affect the business relations of the country ; and I indulge 
 the confident hope that the legislature will co-operate 
 with me in acting upon the principle of placing the pub- 
 lic welfare above all mere party considerations." 
 
 As respects the relations of the states with the gen- 
 eral government, the governor denounces several of the 
 late acts of congress as unconstitutional encroachments 
 on the independence of the states. He says : 
 
 "Within the last two years, there have, in my judg- 
 ment, been several unwarrantable assumptions of power 
 on the part of the federal government. The right to 
 collect money from the people in any form, for the pur- 
 pose of distributing the same among the states, has not 
 been delegated to the general government. So long as 
 the whole revenue of the United States is required for 
 the purpose of carrying on the operations of the gov- 
 ernment, it matters not what particular moneys are 
 taken from the treasury for the purpose of distribution. 
 Whether it be the proceeds of the sales of the public 
 lands, or the same amount of money collected from im- 
 posts, or by direct taxation, it is nothing less than col- 
 lecting money from the people, for the purpose of re- 
 turning a portion of it to them in another form." 
 
 He also complains of the late law of congress requi- 
 ring the legislature of each state to pass laws for the 
 election of members of the United States house of rep- 
 resentatives by single districts, and of the general bank- 
 rupt law. He intimates an opinion that that part of the 
 last-mentioned statute which permits a bankru})t to be 
 
1843.1 governor's message. 317 
 
 discharged from his debts, without the consent of his 
 creditors, is unconstitutional. While the governor, with 
 respect to the subjects just alluded to, manifests a lauda- 
 ble and vigilant care for the preservation of the inde- 
 pendence of the states, he acquiesces with philosophical 
 resignation and tokens of approbation in the decision of 
 the Supreme Court of the United States, that the law 
 of this state which secured to the people of color who 
 claimed the right guarantied to the citizens of the Uni- 
 ted States, of trial by a jury of the country, when their 
 personal liberty, and indeed the right to their own per- 
 sons were drawn in question, was unconstitutional and 
 void. The governor therefore recommends the repeal 
 of all the laws of this state which afford to the negro 
 claimed to be a fugitive from service, any opportunity 
 of defending himself in this state against such claim. 
 
 On the subject of the joint resolution, proposed by Mr. 
 Strong, which Governor Seward refused to forward to 
 the executive of Virginia, as related in the last chapter, 
 Mr. Bouck says : 
 
 " The federal constitution has also provided, that ' a 
 person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other 
 crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in an- 
 other state, shall, on demand of the executive authority 
 of the state from which he fled, be delivered up, to be 
 removed to the state having jurisdiction of the crime.' 
 At the last session of the legislature, a concurrent reso- 
 lution was adopted by the two houses, declaring ' that in 
 the opinion of this legislature, stealing a slave within the 
 jurisdiction and against the laws of Virginia, is a crime 
 within the meaning of the second section of the fourth 
 article of the constitution of the United States.' I deem 
 it proper to say, that this resolution fully accords with 
 
 27* 
 
«> 
 
 13 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l843. 
 
 my own judgment. Although such an act may not be 
 forbidden by our laws, the stealing of a slave has been 
 declared to be a crime in other states ; and if a trans- 
 gressor of their criminal laws flee within our jurisdic- 
 tion, we are bound by compact not to screen him." 
 
 With respect to internal improvements, the governor 
 said : 
 
 " 1 recommend to your careful and attentive consider- 
 ation the subject of internal improvements by roads and 
 canals, which are eminently calculated to aid the enter- 
 prise and promote the welfare of the people. There 
 are few subjects in which our citizens feel a deeper in- 
 terest, or that are more intimately connected with the 
 character and prosperity of the state. But in making 
 this suggestion, I must not be understood as recom- 
 mending extravagant expenditures, or ill-advised under- 
 takings. The system should have for its object the 
 general welfare, and as far as may be practicable, should 
 be based on an equal distribution of the means of the 
 state for such purposes." 
 
 He states that the loans by the state to railroad com- 
 panies amounted to $5,235,700. He informed the legis- 
 lature that the New York and Erie Raih'oad company, 
 to whom the state had loaned three millions of dollars, 
 and the Ithaca and Owego and Canajoharie and Catts- 
 kill companies, had failed to pay the interest on their 
 loans from the state ; that in consequence of this de- 
 fault " the two latter had been sold at auction, and that 
 the sale of the former was postponed till the first Tues- 
 day of May then next." 
 
 The governor rather timidly indicated, that in his 
 judgment a less stringent course should be pursued in 
 regard to canal expenditures, especially in completing 
 
1843.] governor's message. 319 
 
 the works already commenced, than was authorized by 
 the financial act of 1842. He says : 
 
 "I am convinced that the completion of the unfinish- 
 ed work at the Schoharie creek, at Spraker's, at Cana- 
 joharie. Fort Plain, the Indian Castle creek, at Syracuse, 
 the work connected with the reduction of the Jordan 
 level, at Macedon, and at Lockport, would be essen- 
 tially useful, and some of it may be indispensably ne- 
 cessary. 
 
 " The .speedy completion of the Black River Canal 
 and feeder to and including the summit level, and the 
 Genesee Valley Canal, as far as the first feeder from the 
 Genesee river south of Portage, is doubtless anxiously 
 desired by the friends of these improvements. I do not 
 feel that T should faithfully discharije my dutv did I not 
 recommend for your careful consideration these portions 
 of the public works. This should of course be done 
 with strict reference to the financial condition of the 
 state. 
 
 " The present low prices of labor and provisions are 
 highly favorable to a successful prosecution of the works 
 now under contract, and they should be resumed as soon 
 as a just regard to the public welfare will permit. But 
 great caution should be observed in increasing the 
 state debt, alroady too large. That the stale has the 
 ability eventually to complete all her works which 
 have been commenced, cannot, in my opinion, be ques- 
 tioned." 
 
 The governor states the public debt, exclusive of the 
 available means in the hands of the commissioners of 
 the canal fund, to be $23,330,083.15. He also states 
 that " the revenue for the year ending the 30th Septem- 
 ber last, has been materiallv aflfected by a reduction in 
 
320 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 
 
 canal tolls, and in the auction and salt duties, as com- 
 pared with the preceding year. 
 
 " The tolls are less by - - $192,968 86 
 " The auction duties are less by 6,417 59 
 
 " The salt duties " " - 15,472 35 
 
 $214,858 80 
 
 " How these essential items of revenue are to be af- 
 fected by the business of the current year, it is impos- 
 sible now to say. If the general prosperity of the 
 country should assume a more favorable aspect, as I 
 trust it will, it would favorably affect these items of rev- 
 enue. It is not probable that the receipts from these 
 sources will be diminished." 
 
 The event showed that he was not mistaken in the 
 opinion that the receipts from these sources w^ould not 
 "be diminished" during the coming year. They were 
 considerably increased. 
 
 The governor states that the Supreme Court, and 
 more especially the Court of Chancery, are overloaded 
 with business ; that the labors required to be performed 
 by the judges of these courts are greater than it is pos- 
 sible to execute ; that an increase of force is absolutely 
 necessary ; and that if an adequate remedy cannot be 
 provided by law, an amendment to the constitution 
 ought to be proposed, which v^^ould accomplish an ob- 
 ject so desirable and in fact indispensably necessary. 
 
 Towards the close of his message he gives in a con- 
 densed form some interesting statistics, showing the 
 agricultural, commercial, and manufacturing condition 
 and resources of the state. He says : 
 
 " It appears by the last census, that the population of 
 the United States amounts to 17,068,666, of which the 
 
1843.] governor's message. 321 
 
 state of New York has 2,428,917, equal to more than 
 one-eighth of the whole population. 
 
 " The number of bushels of grain raised is 615,525,302, 
 of which this state has 51,721,827, equal to nearly one- 
 twelfth part of the whole. 
 
 " The number of heads of live-stock is 74,264,322, 
 of which this state has 10,128,042, equal to about one- 
 seventh part. 
 
 " The number of pounds of wool produced is 35,802,1 14, 
 of which this state is entitled to 9,845,295, equal to one- 
 fourth. 
 
 " The number of commercial houses engaged in the 
 foreign trade is 1,108, of which there are in this state 
 469, equal to something less than one-half 
 
 "Thecapitalinvested in foreign trade is $119,295,367, 
 of which there belongs to this state $49,583,001, equal 
 to nearly one-half 
 
 " There are 4,005 woollen manufactories of all kinds, 
 of which there are in this state 1,213, equal to more than 
 one-fourth. 
 
 " The aggregate value of woollen goods manufactured 
 is estimated at $20,696,999, of which this state has 
 $3,537,337, equal to about one-sixth part. 
 
 "In the manufacture of woollen there are 21,343 per- 
 sons employed, and in this state 4,336, equal to one-fifth. 
 
 "The capital employed is $15,765,124, and in this 
 state $3,469,349, equal to more than one-fifth. 
 
 " The value of cotton-manufactured articles is esti- 
 mated at $46,350,453, and in this state at $3,640,237, 
 equal to about one-thirteenth part. 
 
 " The number of persons employed in the cotton man- 
 ufactories is estimated at 72,192, and in this state at 
 7,407, equal to about one-tenth. 
 
322 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YOKK. [1843. 
 
 " The capital employed is estimated at 851,102,359, 
 of which this state has 84,900,772, equal to about one- 
 tenth." 
 
 The message, as a whole, is a good one. It presents 
 clearly and with great plainness, the condition and re- 
 sources of the state, and invites the attention of the 
 legislature to such measures as the public interest seemed 
 to require. It makes no attempt at display : its author 
 does not appear to make any effort to divert the attention 
 of the lefjislature from the real and substantial interest 
 of the community to himself It has another merit, and 
 that is its brevity. So multifarious are the concerns of 
 this great state, that, bating a few paragraphs in the first 
 part of the address, which seem rather calculated for 
 the edification of the people who reside in a latitude 
 south of the state of New York than of those who reside 
 in it, it was not possible to make it more brief 
 
 William C. Bouck is a native of the county of Scho- 
 harie. His father was an industrious and respectable 
 farmer, living on the banks of the Schoharie creek. The 
 femilv were of German origin, and Gov. Bouck was 
 brought up on his father's farm, and accustomed to man- 
 ual labor. He had received a good English education, 
 hut never had an opportunity of acquiring much classi- 
 cal learning. The counties of Schoharie and Otsego 
 are emphatically interior and isolated counties, and their 
 inhabitants, especially the agricultural part of them, 
 have little intercourse with the rest of the world, or in- 
 deed of the state of New York. This was the condi- 
 tion of Mr. Bouck when he became of age. But his native 
 intellectual powers and his active mind soon attracted the 
 attention of his neighbors and fellow-citizens, and he 
 was, while yet young, appointed sheriff of the county of 
 
1843.] WILLIAM C. BOITCK. 323 
 
 Schoharie. The discharge of the duties of that office 
 soon made him known throughout the county, and 
 wherever he was known he was esteemed and respect- 
 ed. When his term of office as sheriff" expired, he was 
 elected a member of the assembly of this state, and in 
 1817 he was chosen one of the senators from what was 
 then called the middle district. As his acquaintance 
 extended, his reputation for capacity and integrity in- 
 creased, and in 1821 he was appointed by the legislature 
 canal commissioner, an office the duties of which he for 
 many years discharged with great fidelity, and in a man- 
 ner creditable to himself and beneficial and satisfactory 
 to the community. His conduct as canal commissioner 
 had secured him many ardent and zealous friends, con- 
 sisting mainly of those who had transacted business with 
 him in his official capacity ; and to the number and influ- 
 ence of those friends he was undoubtedly greatlv in- 
 debted for his nomination and election as governor. Mr. 
 Bouck was the first and only governor of this state who 
 had not been bred a lawyer, — he being a practical farmer. 
 That Mr. Bouck possesses a large share of good sense, 
 prudence, and discretion, is evident to all who are ac- 
 quainted with him. Indeed, a moment's reflection will 
 convince any person that a man brought up in an inte- 
 rior county, in a secluded neighborhood, without the 
 benefit of a liberal education, or in fact much reading, 
 w^ho should for thirty years, without the aid of pow^erful 
 friends and relatives, continue to rise from one grade to 
 another, until, by the voluntary suffrages of his fellow- 
 citizens, he should become governor of a state contain- 
 ing nearly three millions of people, must not only have 
 been master of an excellent address, but have possessed 
 great native mental power. 
 
324 POLITFCAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 
 
 But when Mr. Bouck reflected that he then was 
 placed in a seat which had been occupied by George 
 CHnton, John Jay, De Witt CHnton, Martin Van Buren, 
 William L. Marcy, and others, the most accomplished 
 scholars, jurists, and statesmen which the country has 
 produced, and considered his own want of literary attain- 
 ments and legal knowledge, a circumstance to which he 
 modestly alludes in the message we have been review- 
 ing, there can be no doubt he felt some embarrassment, 
 and that that embarrassment produced a corresponding 
 degree of timidity and diffidence. That timidity must 
 have been increased when he reflected that there were 
 several men around him, distinguished members of his 
 own political party, who were critically watching all his 
 movements, and who, if they had not opposed, had cer- 
 tainly viewed with coldness, his nomination by a major- 
 ity of the democratic party. If he had any jealousy in 
 his nature — if he was in the least constitutionally sus- 
 picious — the situation in which he was placed was cal- 
 culated to call into action that jealousy and awaken sus- 
 picion. There was another circumstance which must 
 have rendered his position unpleasant. We have stated 
 that many of his most zealous friends resided on the 
 borders of the Erie, and we may add on the Genesee 
 Valley and Black River canals. A large portion of those 
 friends were dissatisfied with the total suspension of the 
 public works, and they hoped, and probably had reason 
 to hope, that if Mr. Bouck was elected governor, those 
 works would be partially resumed. He knew that a 
 large majority of the democratic party were opposed to 
 such resumption. But could he entirely thwart the ex- 
 pectations of his warmest and most devoted friends, with 
 whose wishes undoubtedlv the bias of his own mind ac- 
 
1843.] APPOINTMENT OF ADJUTANT-GENERAL. 325 
 
 jcorded ? An attentive and sagacious reader of his first 
 message cannot fail of perceiving that in writing this 
 message these conflicting claims upon his official action 
 pressed upon his mind with deep and anxious solici- 
 tude. 
 
 In concluding our remarks on Gov. Bouck, it is in- 
 cumbent on us to mention one other trait in his charac- 
 ter — a trait highly estimable in that of private citizens, 
 and not less commendable, though it is to be feared more 
 rare in men possessing power and patronage ; we mean 
 fidelity to a friend. We do not believe that man ever 
 lived to whom Gov. Bouck professed a friendship which 
 he did not feel. He, it is true, may have held out en- 
 couragements to friends of advancements and patronage, 
 which the want of power, or a stern political necessity 
 prevented him from bestowing, but never did he, in our 
 judgment, misrepresent his real intentions and feelings. 
 
 We have dwelt longer on the position of Gov. Bouck, 
 when he commenced his administration, than we other- 
 wise should have done, did we not believe that it had a 
 material effect in producing the schism which soon after 
 occurred in the democratic party. 
 
 The whigs were fully aware of all this, and as they 
 approved of that policy which they believed Mr. Bouck 
 was inclined to adopt, rather than that of the radicals, 
 their attacks upon him were less severe, and some of 
 them seemed inclined to pursue towards him a concilia- 
 tory course. Hence the movements of Gen. Root in 
 the senate, soon after the commencement of the session, 
 indicated more of a friendly than a hostile intent. 
 
 Immediately on his accession to office, the governor 
 appointed Lyman Sanford, of Schoharie county, adju- 
 tant-general, and David Hamilton, of Albany county, 
 
 28 
 
326 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 
 
 William H. Brown, of Queens county, and J. W. Nel- 
 son, (son of Judge Nelson,) of Otsego county, his aids. 
 G. W. Bouck, a very worthy young man, (son of the 
 governor,) was appointed military secretary. 
 
 The only office worthy of the name of office, and to 
 which a salary is attached, which the constitution of 
 1821 left at the sole disposal of the governor, was that of 
 adjutant-general. The aids and military secretary are 
 merely nominal and complimentary appointments. 
 
 All the details of the duty of the governor as com- 
 mander-in-chief of the militia, and all his correspondence 
 on the subject of the militia, are performed and carried 
 on by the adjutant-general. He is also supposed to be, 
 and generally is, the confidential executive officer and 
 friend of the governor. 
 
 The appointment of aids and military secretary was 
 undoubtedly judicious, and was well received, but con- 
 siderable discontent was felt in relation to the selection 
 of the person whom the governor had chosen for adjutant- 
 general. 
 
 Mr. Sanford was a respectable lawyer and citizen of 
 Schoharie, but he was the son-in-law of Mr. Bouck, and 
 there were many influential and powerful applicants for 
 the office, and who, of course, were chagrined at their 
 disappointment. Among others, Mr. Sherwood, of San- 
 dy Hill, a young man already distinguished Ibr his tal- 
 ents as a writer, and his activity and efficiency as a 
 politician, was earnestly pressed on the governor as the 
 most suitable candidate for the office ; and the appoint- 
 ment of Mr. Sanford in preference to him, produced dis- 
 satisfaction. The governor, however, gave out that 
 Mr. Sanford would not consent to hold the office long, 
 (as in fact he did not,) and that his appointment was 
 
1843.] MEETING IN PHILADELPHIA. 327 
 
 temporary. It is due to Mr. Sherwood to say, that he 
 afterwards, as a member of the assembly, in time of 
 need, came ardently and efficiently to the support of 
 Gov. Bouck and his measures. But of this we sh^l 
 speak more hereafter. 
 
 When congress convened in December, 1842, the 
 question, who should be nominated by the democratic 
 party for president, was thus early agitated, and although 
 at that time there was undoubtedly a majority, and 
 probably a large majority, in favor of Mr. Van Buren, 
 there was a manifestation of some opposition to him, 
 and the names of other candidates were mentioned. 
 
 On the 7th of January of this year, a very numerous 
 meeting was held in the city of Philadelphia, of pei'sons 
 friendly "to the nomination of Martin Van Buren for 
 the presidency," of which Henry Horn was chosen 
 president. A committee in behalf of the meeting had 
 previously invited the attendance of a number of distin- 
 guished gentlemen from abroad, among whom were Col. 
 Benton, of Missouri, and Silas Wright, of this state. To 
 this invitation Col. Benton and Mr. Wright replied, de- 
 clining the invitation. 
 
 The reason assigned by Mr. Wright for declining to 
 attend the meeting, was one which only a delicate and 
 sensitive mind can fully appreciate. He thought it 
 wrong for him to attend meetings of the republicans of 
 states other than his own, and to make efforts to force 
 the preference of the democrats of New York upon those 
 of other states. The letter which on this occasion he 
 addressed to the Philadelphia committee evinces such 
 a devotion to the democratic cause, and such pure and 
 disinterested friendship towards Mr. Van Buren, that we 
 take leave to present it entire to our readers : 
 
328 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 
 
 " Washington, Jan. 2d, 1843. 
 
 " Gentlemen : — I have your favor inviting me, on be- 
 half of the democratic citizens of the city and county of 
 Philadelphia, who are friendly to the selection by a na- 
 tional convention of Martin Van Buren as the dem- 
 ocratic candidate for the next presidential term, to meet 
 them on Saturday evening next, to celebrate the anni- 
 versary of the battle of New Orleans. 
 
 " My well-known attachment to, and confidence in, 
 Mr. Van Buren, both as a citizen and a statesman, must 
 satisfy you, and those for whom you act, that I could 
 not but take pleasure in meeting political friends of a 
 sister state who appreciate him as I do ; nor can it be 
 necessary for me to say that I entertain the same pref- 
 erence on the subject of the next democratic nomina- 
 tion for the presidency which is expressed in your 
 letter. 
 
 " It is true that Mr. Van Buren has once held this 
 high office : and it is as true, as I believe, that while in 
 the service of his country and his political party, in that 
 elevated situation, he was stricken down by his political 
 opponents solely because he adhered, with a devotion 
 above selfish considerations, to the most cherished and 
 vital principles of that party. This I believe to be, at 
 this day, the deep and settled conviction of the great 
 body of the democracy of the country. If, then, the 
 great principles which were wounded by the blows aimed 
 at him, and which were arrested by his fall, are again to 
 be revived and put in practice by the democrac}^ ; if the 
 sound and safe policy which he was pursuing in the gov- 
 ernment of the country, and which was overcome in his 
 defeat, is again to be adopted, and to constitute the poli- 
 c\ of the next democratic administration, it seems to 
 
1813.] LETTER OF SILAS WRIGHT. 329 
 
 nie as politic as just, that with the principles and the 
 policy, the faithful public servant who fell in their de- 
 fence, should also be taken from under the feet of the 
 common enemy to both, and be permitted to triumph 
 with them. 
 
 "As a mere consideration connected with Mr. Van 
 Buren personally, this is a very small matter, however 
 sensibly his immediate personal friends or himself may 
 feel it ; as the political fate and fortune of any one man, 
 in this wide countrv, must be a verv small matter in it- 
 self considered ; but to the integrity and strength, and 
 permanent ascendency of the great democratic party, it 
 presents itself to my mind with enlarged importance. 
 It may be to determine whether he, who, bearing in his 
 hands the highest political trust of that party, shall wise- 
 ly, and firmly, and patriotically adhere to its dearest 
 principles, and fall in their defence, is to be raised again 
 with the returning power of the party, or is to be left 
 wounded upon the field, after the enemy is driven back. 
 It may be to present to the minds of all future republi- 
 can presidents the question, whether they shall practise 
 fidelity to the party and its principles, at the hazard of 
 their station, with a safe reliance upon its justice when 
 it shall have the power, or, whether they shall yield be- 
 fore a powerful political counter-current, and save their 
 places rather than their principles." 
 
 In the latter clause of the last sentence the action of 
 the Baltimore convention in 1844, seems to be dimly 
 shadowed forth. Mr. Wright proceeds : 
 
 " In making these remarks, I am sure I shall not be 
 suspected of a design to disparage any of the distin- 
 guished competitors of Mr. Van Buren for this high dis- 
 tinction. With all o^ those gentlemen, so far as I know 
 
 28* 
 
330 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l843 
 
 who they are, my relations, personal and political, are 
 entirely friendly ; and if I know myself, I would not do 
 towards either of them an act of injury or injustice. 
 They have all fearlessly and ably sustained Mr. Van 
 Buren as president, the principles and policy of his ad- 
 ministration, and himself as a candidate for re-election. 
 If no higher motive impelled me, my appreciation of him 
 as a statesman and a man would entitle them to my 
 gratitude for these public acts. 
 
 " If, then, I shall seem to interfere with their claims 
 upon the country and our party, in this expression of my 
 preferences for him, I can only reply, that the friend 
 who seems to me to have received the deepest wounds 
 in the common cause, is the one who commands my 
 frst attention ; and, believing that friend equal to the 
 others, both in power and disposition to sustain our com- 
 mon jM-inciples and serve our common country, he is my 
 preference. 
 
 " If, in all this, personal attachments, more than pa- 
 triotic considerations, have controlled my choice, I am 
 sure I may be permitted to say, that I am not aware of 
 the fact, as I do not know that I am, or ever have been, 
 indebted to Mr. Van Buren beyond the obligations 
 which his personal and political friendship have iui- 
 posed; and those obligations, whatever they may be, 
 have had no apparent existence on his part, in all our 
 personal and political acquaintance. 
 
 " I am, however, gentlemen, protracting my remarks 
 upon this point altogether beyond my intention, and per- 
 haps subjecting myself at least to the suspicion of that 
 influence I seek to avoid ; I will conclude, therefore, by 
 saying, I have not a doubt that, in pronouncing my own 
 preference as to this nomination, I speak the feelings of 
 
1843.] THE BRIG SOMERS. 331 
 
 the great mass of the democracy of my state. So far 
 as my information enables me to form an opinion, that 
 is so. Still I should not feel at liberty to attend meet- 
 ings of the republicans of other states, to attempt, by any 
 efforts of mine, to force the preferences of the republi- 
 cans of New York upon them, so far as a nomination to 
 office is concerned, and when those preferences are in 
 favor of a fellow-citizen of the state, and subject to the 
 suspicion of local or personal partialities. 
 
 " In so far as your meeting has for its object the cele- 
 bration of an anniversary among the proudest in our na- 
 tion's history, it would afford me the highest pleasure to 
 unite with you ; but I am sure you, and those for whom 
 you act, will accord to me a better discharge of my du- 
 ty if I remain at my place here, and urge my humble 
 efforts to refund to him whose conduct and couraije cave 
 the anniversary to his country, the fine imposed upon 
 him for the act. 
 
 " I am, gentlemen, with great respect, 
 " Your fellow-citizen, 
 
 " Silas Wright, Jr. 
 " To tlie Committee," &c. 
 
 In examining the files of newspapers published during 
 the month of January, our attention has been arrested 
 by an event which took place on board the brig-of-war 
 Somers, on the first day of the preceding month. On 
 that day Mr. Philip Spencer, aged 19 years, belonging 
 to one of the most distinguished families in the state of 
 New York, together with two other persons, Cromwell 
 and Small, ..ere executed on board the Somers for an 
 alleged charge of mutiny. The transaction, we are 
 aware, does not strictly belong to the political history of 
 
332 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 
 
 New York, but as the case presents some extraordinary- 
 features, and excited deeply, at the time, the profound 
 sympathy and most intense feehng of this whole com- 
 munity, we hope we may be excused for noticing it. 
 We do not propose to give the history of the case ; that 
 has been written by James Fennimore Cooper, in a work 
 entitled, " Proceedings of the Naval Court-Martial in 
 the case of Alexander Slidell Mackenzie," to which the 
 reader is referred. 
 
 We will, however, state briefly, that the Somers sailed 
 from the African coast on the 11th of November, 1842, 
 under the command of Mr. Mackenzie, for the United 
 States, by the way of St. Thomas. On the 26th day of 
 November, and while on the passage, Lieut. Gansevoort 
 communicated to Commander Mackenzie what he sup- 
 posed to be a mutinous plot, contrived by young Spencer, 
 to obtain by force the control of the vessel, and, of 
 course, to subdue or kill all such as opposed the execu- 
 tion of the project. On the same evening, Spencer was 
 arrested and put in irons ; and on the following day, 
 Samuel Cromwell, boatswain's mate, and Elisha Small, 
 seaman, were also seized and put in irons. We extract 
 from the Madisonian, a Washington paper, the following 
 summary statement of what followed : 
 
 " That no disorder of a mutinous character appeared 
 among the crew for the four succeeding days : that the 
 vessel was going with good breezes and in good weather 
 towards the island of St. Thomas, where she actually 
 arrived and took in supplies on some day between the 
 1st and 5th of December. 
 
 " That on the 30th of November, the opinion of the 
 officers was required by Commander Mackenzie as to 
 the disposition of the prisoners : that they appear to 
 
1843.] THE BRIG SOMERS. 333 
 
 have examined thirteen seamen as witnesses to prove 
 the alleged mutiny, (and who are therefore supposed in- 
 nocent of any participation in it,) which examination 
 was had, so far as the papers show, in the absence of the 
 prisoners, and without giving them any opportunity to 
 cross-examine the witnesses, or to make any explana- 
 tions or defence, or to procure any testimony in their 
 own behalf These officers, without even the form of a 
 court, without the obligation of an oath, and upon this 
 ex-parte secret information, united in the opinion that 
 the safety of the vessel required that the prisoners should 
 be put to death! How far this recommendation was 
 influenced by the acts or the fears of Mr. Mackenzie, 
 does not appear. 
 
 " That on the 1st of December, when every thing and 
 person on board the vessel were perfectly quiet, after 
 four days of entire security, the three persons were, by 
 the order of Mackenzie, hung at the yard-arm at mid- 
 day." 
 
 Mackenzie was afterwards tried by a court-martial, 
 which convened in the city of New York, and acquit- 
 ted. How the court could have arrived at such a con- 
 clusion is to us really surprising. 
 
 We have, some time ago, read over the evidence given 
 by Mr. Mackenzie on the trial. There was, it is true, 
 some testimony given by one Wales, a suspicious wit- 
 ness, which, if true, proved an intention on the part of 
 Spencer to mutinize ; but against one of the others who 
 was executed, there was not a particle of evidence even 
 of an intended mutiny. It is very probable that Spencer- 
 then not nineteen years old, may have formed some 
 boyish and visionary notions of getting the control of the 
 ship ; and it is not unlikely that some three or four of 
 
334 POLITICAL HISTORY OP NEW YORK. [l843. 
 
 his companions may have agreed to join him in the en- 
 terprise ; but with the exception of the deposition of Wales, 
 already alluded to, there was not another word of testi- 
 mony against any of the three unfortunate persons whose 
 lives were taken, which could have been given in evi- 
 dence against them in any court of justice in England 
 or America. There was not even a pretence that any 
 overt act of mutiny had been committed. Mackenzie, 
 in his communication to the navy department, does in- 
 deed say that Cromwell " looked" very resolute and de- 
 termined. The accused, on a question of life and death, 
 were not permitted to see their accusers, or cross-exam- 
 ine the witnesses who testified against them ! There 
 was no legal court-martial ; and even had there been, 
 the laws of congress forbid the taking of human life by 
 the sentence of a court-martial before which all the par- 
 ties are heard, without the sanction of the president of 
 the United States, or if without the United States, of the 
 commander of the_^ee^ or squadron. 
 
 The excuse of Mackenzie was a pretence that there 
 was reason to believe the mutiny would have been suc- 
 cessfully executed before they could get into port, and 
 that the slaughter of these men was done in self-defence. 
 The excuse is absurd and ridiculous. When the execu- 
 tion took place, they were within two days' sail of St. 
 Thomas, and they actually arrived there a day or two 
 afterwards. With the then pretended ringleaders in 
 irons, and all communication between them and the 
 crew prohibited, how could Mackenzie have the face to 
 say, that he had not sufficient influence over his men to 
 get the ship into port, when he had sufficient control 
 over them to induce them, at his bidding, to hang three 
 of their comrades ? There is no escape from the conclu- 
 
1843. j LEGISLATURE OP SOUTH CAROLINA. 335 
 
 sion, that it was a cowardly act of homicide, perpetrated 
 under color of military authority. Posterity will so re- 
 gard it, and history ought so to record it. 
 
 Mr. Mackenzie, in his communication to the secretary 
 of the navy, giving an account of this transaction, has 
 the unparalleled effrontery to say : 
 
 " If I shall be deemed by the navy department to have 
 any merit in preserving the Somers from those treason- 
 able toils by which she had been surrounded, since and 
 before her departure from the United States, I respect- 
 fully request that it may accrue, without reservation, to 
 the benefit of Nephew O. H. Perry, now clerk on board 
 the Somers, and that his name may be placed on the 
 register, in the number left vacant by the treason of Mr. 
 Spencer." 
 
 While speaking of occurrences which happened in 
 the United States, other than in the state of New York, 
 it may be proper to notice that the legislature of South 
 Carolina, in the month of December, nominated Mr. Cal- 
 houn as a candidate for the next president. In their 
 preamble they say " they look forward with sanguine 
 expectation to the triumph of the democratic party ; but 
 they believe it is essential to the ensuring, as it is to the 
 value of such a triumph, that the candidate of the party 
 should be clearly identified with the principles to which 
 they stand so distinctly pledged, and should, if elected, 
 rest his administration of the government upon the broad 
 basis of ' Free Trade — Low Duties — No Debt — No con- 
 nection with Banks — Economy — Retrenchment — and a 
 strict adherence to the Constitution ;' " and they, there- 
 fore, 
 
 "Resolved, by the senate and house of representa- 
 tives, in general a.ssembly met. That in consideration of 
 
3'JG POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 
 
 the long and faithful services, the unsullied private honor, 
 the political integrity, distinguished abilities, fearless vir- 
 tue, and sound constitutional principles of their fellow- 
 citizen, John Caldw^ell Calhoun, they do hereby nom- 
 inate and recommend him to the American people 
 for election to the office of president of the United 
 States." 
 
 It is by no means improbable that this movement in 
 the legislature of South Carolina at that early day, had 
 some agency in influencing the result of the Baltimore 
 Convention in 184 i. 
 
 No material alterations were made in the New York 
 legislature, as respects the committees of the two houses, 
 except those caused by the election of new members, in 
 lieu of those of last year. Mr. Hoffman not having 
 been a candidate, and of course not having been re- 
 elected, Mr. Allen of Oswego was appointed to supply 
 his place as chairman of the committee of ways and 
 means in the assembly. 
 
 The state officers, — consisting of Samuel Young, 
 secretary of state ; A. C. Flagg, comptroller ; George 
 P. Barker, attorney-general ; Thomas Farrington, treas- 
 urer ; and Mr. Jones, the surveyor-general, — were all 
 of them radical in their political views, and warmly in 
 favor of the financial act of 1842. Besides, as we 
 have before remarked, if not opposed to the nomination 
 of Mr. Bouck, they at least acquiesced in it with cold- 
 ness and some reluctance. From their standing and 
 talents they possessed great influence in the legislature, 
 and over the minds of the masses of the democratic 
 party. Of Col. Young, we need not speak ; he had been 
 long known and acknowledged as a man of pre-eminent 
 talents and strict integrity. Of the traits in his charac- 
 
1843.] STATE OFFICEKS. 337 
 
 ter, which impaired his influence in public life, we have 
 spoken in another place. 
 
 Of Mr. Flagg, loo, we have spoken in a preceding 
 volume of this work. To his superior talents as a finan 
 cier, and his conceded fidelity and honesty as a public offi- 
 cer, were added great native sagacity and shrewdness, a 
 knowledge of the human heart which would seldom ren- 
 der him liable to deception by false pretences, however 
 plausible, great industry, and indomitable perseverance in 
 carrying into effect his views. These qualities had been 
 ripened and improved by long experience in public life, 
 and an extensive acquaintance throughout the state, and 
 more especially with the efficient men belonging to the 
 political party to which he was attached. An able cor- 
 respondent, who for several years was a distinguished 
 member of the legislature, and who belongs to the 
 hunker section of the democratic party, in a letter re- 
 cently written, speaks thus of Mr. Flagg : 
 
 " The simplicity of his habits, his devotion to the du- 
 ties of his office, and the fact that he has not acquired 
 wealth in his official station, give him the confidence of 
 the public. These qualities render him an able party 
 leader, and he was unquestionably the ablest man of the 
 interest [the radical interest] to which he was attached. 
 He rallied his friends after their defeat, and he always 
 constituted the strong point of that section, and gave it 
 the principal portion of the public confidence that it ever 
 enjoyed. He entered deeply into the controversies of 
 the democratic party, and in exercising the power of ap- 
 pointment as a member of the canal board, he was never 
 disposed to compromise or conciliate." 
 
 Of George P. Barker, the same correspondent says: 
 " He was an eloquent and brilliant man. He was of an 
 
 29 
 
338 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 
 
 impulsive temperament, and possessed very popular 
 manners. His disposition was too ductile and yielding 
 for consistency or firmness." To this we can add, that 
 his " impulses" were always of the most kind and gen- 
 erous character. His heart overflowed with benevo- 
 lence to all men, and he was beloved by all. Alas ! he 
 has now gone to the grave. We do not believe the man 
 is now livino; who will acknowledge himself to have 
 been personally unfriendly to George P. Barker. 
 
 Mr. Farrington was mild and conciliatory in his dis- 
 position and deportment. He possessed a well-cultiva- 
 ted mind and respectable talents. 
 
 We have little personal knowledge of the surveyor- 
 general, Mr. Jones, but all we do know of him is favor- 
 able to his head and heart. 
 
 With men of such talent, weight of character, and 
 political influence, comprising in theory a part of the 
 state administration, who looked upon him with cold- 
 ness, the situation of Mr. Bouck may well be considered 
 as having been any thing but that of ease and quiet. 
 
 The state officers, as we are assured by a gentleman 
 intimate with them all, doubted whether the governor 
 really and cordially approved of Mr. Hoffman's act of 
 1842 ; and his message on that subject was not satisfac- 
 tory to them, nor, as our correspondent says, to those 
 "who, in 1840, '41, and '42, had occupied the front of 
 the battle against the continuation of expenditures for 
 the extension of internal improvements, but," he adds, 
 " they remained inactive." 
 
 By some means it came to be understood, at the very 
 commencement of Mr. Bouck's administration, that a por- 
 tion of the democratic party were opposed to him. This 
 portion was understood as acting under the advisement of 
 
1843.] APPOINTMENTS TO OFFICE. 339 
 
 the state officers. Whether such was the fact, we do not 
 know ; but we do know it was so reported, and we have 
 reason to beheve that Gov. Bouck gave some credit to 
 the rumor. No doubt some of the applicants for office 
 encouraged this notion, and were careful to represent 
 themselves as friends to the governor par excellence. 
 If this disaffection was at first ideal, it soon became real, 
 and began to be recognised. The governor, however, 
 attempted to conciliate ; and with that view generally 
 made his appointments from candidates recommended 
 by county conventions, or by members of the legisla- 
 ture from the respective counties where the applicants 
 resided. By adopting this course, he appointed nearly 
 or perhaps quite as many of those who were called his 
 opponents as of those who were known to be his friends. 
 In this way the governor surrendered to irresponsible 
 county conventions, and to members of the legislature, 
 that patronage with which the constitution had invested 
 him. He nevertheless was held responsible by his friends 
 for appointing those they called his enemies. 
 
 We have never known this temporizing policy pur- 
 sued with success. We like much better the course 
 which our correspondent says Mr. Flagg pursued in the 
 canal board. The governor should either in all his con- 
 versations and intercourse have repudiated the insinua- 
 tions that the state officers and their friends were opposed 
 to him, and waged war against the men who persisted 
 in asserting that such was the fact ; or he should have 
 declared war against the state officers, and wielded his 
 patronage accordingly. With such veteran political 
 partisans he should have seen no middle course could be 
 taken. We hope our readers will bear in mind that we 
 now sp'eak of party policy only. 
 
340 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 
 
 But the controversy which grew out of the appoint- 
 ment of a state printer as the successor of Mr. Weed, 
 whom it was determined to remove,* produced the 
 sharpest collisions, and probably had more effect in cre- 
 ating and perpetuating the difference between the two 
 sections of the democratic party, and attracted more 
 the attention of the legislature and of the public, than 
 any other occurrence, during the year 1843. 
 
 Mr. Edwin Croswell, who was regularly educated to 
 the printing business in Cattskill, had been printer to the 
 state since the year 1823. He was removed by the 
 whigs in 1840, and Mr. Thurlow Weed appointed in his 
 place. Of Mr. Croswell's talents as an editor, of his 
 skill as a political tactician, and of his fidelity as the or- 
 gan of the party, whose objects and doctrines his paper 
 professed to support, we have spoken in a preceding 
 volume ;f to which we will only add, that seven years' 
 subsequent attention to his course as an editor of a po- 
 litical paper, has only served to convince us of the truth 
 of what we then said of him. We will not retract a 
 single word from the remarks we then made ; on the 
 contrary, we think he has developed new powers, and 
 earned additional laurels, as a member of the editorial 
 corps, and as a profound and skilful political and party 
 manager. Some dozen or fourteen years before the 
 period of which we are now writing, he had connected 
 with him in his business the son of his uncle, the Rev. 
 Henry Croswell, now of New Haven, and formerly the 
 celebrated editor of the " Balance," printed at Hudson, 
 
 * Solely for party reasons. 
 
 t See 2 Political History, pp. 121, 122. 
 
1842.] STATE PRINTER. 341 
 
 and afterwards of the " Balance and New York Jour- 
 nal," printed at Albany. 
 
 In the year 1839 or 1840, the elder and younger Cros- 
 wells had taken in connection with them in business, and 
 in conducting the Albany Argus, Mr. Henry H. Van 
 Dyck, who, after having for some time published and 
 conducted a democratic paper in the county of Orange, 
 was elected in 1836 to the senate of this state, and in 
 that capacity had acquired a standing, highly respecta- 
 ble in the political party to which he belonged, and with 
 the New York public in general. 
 
 The people of the state of New York, and particu- 
 larly those of them who belong to the democratic party, 
 are partial to a rotation in office. They believe that 
 no one citizen to the exclusion of others ouffht for anv 
 considerable time to enjoy the emoluments of office. 
 Perhaps their notions in this respect are carried too far, 
 and that in their zeal for an equal distribution of the 
 honors and emoluments of office, they do not sufficiently 
 consider that theoffice is created for the benefit of the 
 public, and not for that of the incumbent. However this 
 may be, it is certain that as soon as it was ascertained 
 that the democratic party possessed the power of dis- 
 placing Mr. Weed, it was made a subject of general 
 remark that Mr. Croswell had received more than his 
 share of the public patronage, and that the state print- 
 ing ought to be given to some other person. Rumors 
 also were afloat that Mr. Croswell had accumulated 
 great wealth, the magnitude of which no doubt was 
 exaggerated, by means of the patronage bestowed on 
 him by the democratic party ; and these rumors led the 
 minds of many to the conclusion that he ought in fu- 
 ture to be excluded from the public crib, and that some 
 
 29* 
 
342 POLITICAL HISTOllY OF NEW YORK. [l843. 
 
 Other person, equally talented and deserving, should be 
 substituted in his place ; but we are not aware that any 
 specific charge was made against him, either as a public 
 officer or as a party editor. 
 
 The state officers were in favor of a change of the 
 state printer ; for what particular reason, other than the 
 one we have just mentioned, we are not informed. Mr. 
 Croswell had, if we rightly recollect, supported the act 
 of 1842, in good faith and with his usual ability, and 
 Mr. Flagg had been on terms of intimacy with him, and 
 had for a year or two been jointly with him editor of 
 the Rough Hewer, a radical weekly paper, published in 
 connection with the Daily Argus. 
 
 It might have been more judicious in Mr. Croswell, 
 and better for him — certainly it would have been more 
 for his peace and quiet — had he yielded to the public 
 sentiment in favor of rotation in office, and of " new 
 men," (out of which he afterwards made so much,) and, 
 as Mr. Weed has since done under circumstances 
 somewhat similar, determined, and publicly declared 
 his determination, to surrender all claims to the state 
 printing ; but, as he did not choose to do so, it seemed 
 to us at the time, and we still think that the state offi- 
 cers, as a matter of policy, were injudicious in waging 
 a war against him. They did, however, oppose his re- 
 appointment, and in that opposition they were joined by 
 the greater part of the radical members of the legisla- 
 ture. This course threw Mr. Croswell among those 
 who were understood to be more particularly friendly 
 to Gov. Bouck, and more liberally inclined to encour- 
 age expenditures for internal improvements, and who 
 were afterwards, or about that time, denominated hun- 
 kers. 
 
1843.] STATE PRINTER. 343 
 
 Mr. Van Dvck was announced as the candidate in 
 opposition to Mr. Crosvvell. He had been for some time 
 previous a partner with the two Croswells, and had con- 
 tinued in the Argus estabhshment until the legislature 
 convened, in perfect friendship with them. In his letter 
 which he published after he gave up the contest, he 
 stated, that when he agreed to take an interest in the 
 Argus there was an honorable understanding between 
 him and Mr. Croswell, that when it should be in the 
 power of the democratic party to appoint a state pi"inter, 
 he was to have the support of Mr. Croswell for that 
 office. This Mr. Croswell denied. A^an Dyck. if we 
 rightly recollect, did not claim that any express agree- 
 ment to that effect was made. We therefore can readi- 
 Iv believe that both gentlemen were honest in their dec- 
 larations. Mr. Van Dyck may have received the im- 
 pression from conversations with Mr. Croswell, that he 
 intended to surrender the office to him, when the latter 
 did not mean to be so understood. 
 
 Efforts were made by the respective friends of Messrs. 
 Croswell and Van Dyck to eflfect a compromise of 
 their conflicting claims, in which senators Dennison and 
 Bartlett had a considerable agency. 
 
 The printing establishment of the Argus was then 
 owned jointly by E. Croswell, S. Croswell, and H. H. 
 Van Dyck. Mr. Croswell proposed that a law should 
 be passed making the Argi/s the state paper, without 
 naming a state printer. To this Mr. Van Dyck object- 
 ed, because the two Croswells owned two-thirds of the 
 establishment, and they therefore would hold a control 
 over the editorial department of the paper. 
 • Mr. E. Croswell then proposed that his name should 
 be withdrawn as a candidate, and that H. H. Van Dyck 
 
o41 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 
 
 and Sherman Croswell should be appointed state print- 
 ers ; but this pi'oposition was rejected by Mr. Van 
 Dyck, on the same ground as the former ; Mr.V. D. be- 
 lieving, that as the Messrs. Croswell would hold a ma- 
 jority of the stock which comprised the establishment, 
 they could arid would control the political course of the 
 paper. The attempt to compromise, therefore, failed. 
 
 On the first day of the session, Mr. Dennison gave 
 notice of bringing into the senate a bill to provide for 
 the public printing, and on the fifth of January brought 
 in such bill. The bill, we have been informed, as 
 drawn by Mr. Dennison, provided for the appointment 
 of H. H. Van Dyck as state printer. It was refer- 
 red to the printing committee, consisting of Messrs. 
 Lawrence, Rhoades, and Hunter, who reported a bill, 
 the first section whereof provided that the state printer 
 should be appointed by the joint ballot of both houses. 
 
 Mr. Foster, who favored the appointment of Mr. Cros- 
 well, moved to amend this section by enacting that the 
 state printer should be appointed on the nomination of 
 the governor, by consent of the senate. This amend- 
 ment was opposed by Mr. Dennison and others, but it 
 finally succeeded, the whigs generally voting for it. 
 
 ]Mr. A. B. Dickinson,* on the subject of the amend- 
 
 * Mr. Dickinson was from the county of Chemung, and formerly be- 
 longed to the democratic party. He abandoned that party in 1837. He 
 is an unlettered man, and has derived very little benefit from reading in 
 the early part of his life, but his native mental powers are uncommonly 
 vigorous. He argues a question with great force and effect. He pos- 
 ses.'ses a discriminating and logical mind, and his reasoning is plain and 
 clear, and calculated to convince. Though his style of speaking is rough 
 and unpolished, he is at times truly eloquent. His wit is keen. He rare- 
 ly came in contact with an opponent in the senate who did not quit the 
 combat much scathed by his sarcasms. 
 
1843.] STATE PRINTER. 345 
 
 ment, said he " thought he should rather prefer it to the 
 original bill. Before voting for it, however, he should 
 like to know whom the governor would appoint ; whether 
 there were not some more Dutch cousins to be provided 
 for. And he should wait for a little more cross-firing 
 here ; because it looked a little as if the forces of Com- 
 modore Bouck were arrayed against those of Captain 
 Flagg ; and if so, he preferred the commodore alto- 
 gether." IMr. D. concluded by expressing the opinion 
 that he should vote either one way or the other. 
 
 When the question came before the senate on agree- 
 ing to the report of the committee of the whole, those 
 who voted for the amendment were — Bartlett, Bockee, 
 Chamherlin, Corning, Dickinson, Ely. Faulkner, Foster, 
 Franklin, Hopkins, Lett, Mitchell, Rhoades, Schoville, 
 Varian, Works, Wright — 17. Those who voted in the 
 negative were — Dennison, Deyo, Hunter, Piatt, Porter, 
 Putnam, Root, Ruger, Sherwood — 9. 
 
 We have caused the names of the democratic sena- 
 tors to be printed in italics, from which it will be seen 
 that this was a test vote between the hunkers and radi- 
 cals : of the sixteen democrats who voted, ten ere 
 hunkers and six radicals. Mr. Scott, of New York, 
 and Mr. Strong, of Rensselaer, known radicals, were 
 absent when this vote was taken. The two sections of 
 the party, therefore, then stood as ten to eight. 
 
 On the question of engrossing the bill for a third read- 
 ing, Mr. Dennison said : " The amendment which hnd been 
 adopted, giving the appointment to the executive chair, 
 and which was pressed through yesterday with all the 
 energy and eloquence of the senator from the 5th, (Mr. 
 Foster,) was gratuitous, to say the least. INIr. D. re- 
 gretted the passage of that amendment. He regret- 
 
346 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l843. 
 
 ted that this administration was to be saddled with so 
 odious a measure, in the outset, as this taking power 
 from the many and giving it to the executive. He was 
 well satisfied that the governor had no desire to wield 
 this power. The journal printed by the state printer 
 was always looked upon as the organ of the administra- 
 tion, and was looked upon with jealousy by the people 
 at large. How much better that that journal should be 
 selected by the representatives of the people of all parts 
 of the state ! How much more consistent with the true 
 principles of democracy ! The people in the extreme 
 parts of the state always look with jealousy to the cen- 
 tre ; and suspicions always existed of the influence of a 
 regency, or clique. Now it was proposed to have a 
 journal connected with the executive — dependent on 
 him, at least, for appointment — and in a great measure 
 independent of the immediate representatives of the peo- 
 ple. He hoped senators would reconsider their votes 
 on this amendment ; if not, he hoped it would be arrest- 
 ed in the other house. But if not there, he still hoped it 
 would encounter the veto power. It appeared to him a 
 proper subject for the exercise of that power. It was 
 an anti-republican measure ; it was stealing power from 
 the many for the few." 
 
 On the final passage of the bill, 16 senators voted for 
 it and 10 against it. 
 
 In -the assembly a bill was brought in by the printing 
 committee, to appoint Edwin Croswell state printer. 
 
 Judge Leland, from Steuben, ofl^ered an amendment 
 to the first section, striking out the name of Edwin Cros- 
 well, and which provided for the appointment of a state 
 printer by joint ballot. In ofl:ering the amendment, Mr. 
 Leland, among other things, said, " there had been a great 
 
1843.] STATE PRINTER. 847 
 
 deal of influence brought to bear on this subject, from 
 all quarters. All who had come up here for office, and 
 who were expecting patronage, had been brought in to 
 take one side or the other ; and neither side knowing 
 what will be the result, there were some who were dis- 
 posed to cry "good lord, if a lord, or good devil, if not a 
 lord," — so that this had become a very absorbing subject. 
 The question, who were the friends of the goveVnor, had 
 been raised on this subject." 
 
 The amendment proposed by Mr. Leland made the 
 bill nearly similar to the senate's bill before it was 
 amended by Mr. Foster ; and by an apparent consent 
 of the two sections of the democratic party in the as- 
 sembly, it was adopted. 
 
 The senate subsequently concurred substantially in 
 the bill from the assembly as amended by Mr. Leland ; 
 so that the state printer was by law required to be ap- 
 pointed by joint ballot of the two houses. 
 
 On the 21st of January, a caucus of the democratic 
 members of the two houses was held for the nomination 
 of state printer. But before giving the result ol' this 
 meeting, it may be proper to state that Mr. Van Dyck 
 had withdrawn his name as a candidate for the office, 
 and there was not in reality any candidate against Mr. 
 Croswell. Those of the caucus who would not vote for 
 Mr. Croswell, voted without any hope of success, and 
 we presume without any serious effijrt on his part, for 
 William C. Bryant, of the Evening Post. There were 
 108 members present, of whom 66 voted for Mr. Cros- 
 well, 40 for Mr. Bryant, and there were two scattering 
 votes cast. 
 
 The next day the election was made by the two 
 houses, in pursuance of the nomination. On the same 
 
348 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 
 
 day Ebenezer Mack, of Ithaca, formerly a senator, and 
 author of the biography of Gen. Lafayette, was chosen 
 printer to the senate, and Messrs. Carrol and Cook for 
 the assembly. 
 
 In connection with this subject it may be proper to 
 state, that some time in the year 1841, Messrs. Vance 
 and Wendell established a democratic daily paper in 
 the city of Albany, called the Albany Atlas. 
 
 The object of the proprietors seemed to be that of 
 mere business men. It was a respectable newspaper, 
 and uniform in its course as respected the party to which 
 it professed to belong. It did not attract much atten- 
 tion as a political paper until the commencement of the 
 session of the legislature in 1843. About that time it 
 was transferred to Messrs. French* and Cassidy. These 
 gentlemen were young men, and both of them very pop- 
 ular with the young men of Albany. Mr. French was 
 ardent and generous ; and such was the influence of the 
 young men, and so much was he their favorite, that in 
 1840 and 1842, he was nominated by the democrats of 
 Albany a candidate for congress against Gen. Dix, or 
 Gov. Marcy, or both, in opposition to the joint eiforts of 
 Mr. Flagg, and many others of the most influential poli- 
 ticians in Albany, among whom, we believe, was Mr. 
 Edwin Croswell. 
 
 When the question of state printer came to be agitated, 
 the Atlas,under the direction of Messrs. French and Cassi- 
 dy, took bold and decided ground against Mr. Croswell ; 
 and the corps of young men who had before been the 
 personal and political friends of French and Cassidy, 
 formed a sort of radical association, of which the Atlas 
 
 * James M. French aud William Cassidy. 
 
1843.] MR. WRIGHT RE-ELECTED SENATOR. 349 
 
 was the organ. Il was in that paper that Mr. Van Dyck 
 publistied his communications while he was contending 
 with Mr. Croswell for the state printing. 
 
 On the 7th day of February, Silas Wright was re- 
 elected senator of the United States for six years, from 
 the 4th day of March, 1843. It is a singular fact in the 
 political history of the state, that notwithstanding the 
 general inclination, to which we have before alluded, of 
 the people for rotation in office — notwithstanding the 
 office of senator of the United States, to a man who 
 has talents and taste for public life, is perhaps the most 
 desirable olHce within the gift of the jieople or legislature 
 of the state, and notwithstanding the furious contending 
 factions which at that time existed among the democratic 
 members of the legislature, — at the caucus held on the 
 evening before the day on which Mr. Wright was cho- 
 sen, upon balloting for a candidate, his name was found 
 written on every ballot. He had in fact outlived not 
 only opposition but competition. In the senate Mr. 
 Wright received 17 votes, Mr. Filmore 6, Mr. Collier 
 one, and Gen. Root voted for Mr. Bradish. In the as- 
 sembly, Wright received 77 votes, Filmore 16, and there 
 were 15 scatterinti whig votes. 
 
 Mr. A. B. Dickinson offisred the following resolution, 
 which produced considerable discussion, and some ex- 
 citement between the democratic and whig members. 
 
 " Resolved, That the canal commissioners report to 
 the senate, as soon as practicable, the length or distance 
 from the macadamized road of the northern part of the 
 ornamental rubble wall on the line of the canal between 
 the cities of Albany and Troy, formerly under the charge 
 of Wm. C. Bouck, canal commissioner, which said wall 
 commences in front of the premises owned by W. J. 
 
 33 
 
350 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YOUK. [l843. 
 
 Worth, and passes along the property owned by David 
 Hamilton, late canal superintendent, and Edward Learn- 
 ed, canal contractor ; also what is the distance on a par- 
 allel line between the said road and the wall next south 
 of the interval or space between the said walls from the 
 said road ; whether the nature of the soil or any other 
 cause required the erection of the first-described wall, 
 which would not equally apply to the space between the 
 two walls ; and whether, if the said first-required wall was 
 required to be erected for canal purposes or for the pro- 
 tection of travellers on the road, it is not necessary to 
 connect the two walls by a similar erection." 
 
 Mr. Dickinson charged that Gov. Bouck, while canal 
 commissioner, had expended more money in enlarging 
 the canal, between Albany and Schenectady, and in 
 erecting ornamental works, than was necessary. In 
 the course of the investigation it did appear that a 
 very large sum of money had been expended on that 
 part of the canal ; but after a pretty thorough inves- 
 tigation by a committee, of which we believe Dr. 
 Ely, a senator from the fifth district, was chairman, 
 nothing appeared which proved any improper con- 
 duct on the part of Mr. Bouck. This attack of Mr. 
 Dickinson on the governor, when canal commissioner, 
 was conducted by Mr. D. with more than his usual bold- 
 ness, vigor, and ability. The controversy growing out 
 of the investigation was, we believe, carried on entirely 
 between the whigs and democrats, without distinction, 
 as relates to the two sections of the last-named party ; 
 but another question soon came before the senate which 
 excited much bitterness of feeling, and served to widen 
 the breach between the hunkers and radicals. 
 
 Several years before this the governor hod by law 
 
1843.] THE tiEuLOGlCAL SURVEY. 351 
 
 been directed to cause a geological survey of the state 
 to be made, and the result' of the survey to be published. 
 In pursuance of this direction, surveyors had been em- 
 ployed, a very thorough exploration had been com- 
 menced, and the survey nearly completed ; contracts 
 for publishing the result had been entered into, and six 
 volumes had been published. The work was got up in a 
 magnificent style, and at great expense. The cost of 
 each volume, including the plates and printing, it was 
 said, would be four dollars, and it was probable, before 
 it was completed, ten volumes would be issued. Three 
 thousand volumes were directed to be printed. 
 
 In 1842, the legislature passed a law, by a vote of a 
 majority of the members present, directing that these 
 books should be deposited with the secretary of state, 
 and that two copies should be delivered gratuitously to 
 the governor, and also the same number to the lieutenant- 
 governor, and to all surviving governors and lieutenant- 
 governors, and one copy to each member of the legisla- 
 ture of 1842. 
 
 Prior to the session of 1843 the books came to the 
 hands of Col. Young, then secretary of state; and on 
 the 13th day of March, he made a communication to the 
 senate, in which he stated that in his judgment that part 
 of the law of 1842 which directed a gratuitous distribu- 
 tion of the geological books was unconstitutional, inas- 
 much as it was a grant of property to individuals, and 
 had not been passed by two-thirds of the members of 
 both houses ; and that therefore he did not feel author- 
 ized to deliver the books in pursuance of its directions. 
 This communication was by order of the senate refer- 
 red to the judiciary committee, of which Mr. Strong was 
 chairman : and on tho 17lh of March, Col. Young ad- 
 
352 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l843. 
 
 liiessed a letter to Mr. Strong, as the organ of the com- 
 mittee, in which he discussed the question of the con- 
 stitutionality of the act of 1842 with great ability, and 
 also reviewed with freedom, and some severity, the past 
 action of the legislature in making grants of money, or 
 other property, and contended that millions of outstand- 
 ing stocks were then impending over the state, which 
 were " created by laws in clear and direct hostility with 
 the plain provisions of the constitution." He added that 
 "these laws were null and void from their inception, 
 and cannot impose even the shadow of a moral obliga- 
 tion for the fulfilment of their ostensible demands. 
 Whether the people of the state will quietly bow their 
 necks to the yoke, and pay a premium upon legislative 
 wickedness and encroachment, will be disclosed by the 
 future ; and if the double course of past profligacy and 
 past precedent can be fastened upon them, they will then 
 be meek enough to bear without a murmur the amplest 
 strides of unbridled tyranny. Precedents sufficiently 
 rank for any purpose whatever, may be found in the le- 
 gislation of 1836 — in that memorable year when corrup- 
 tion vegetated with a more vigorous growth than the 
 foulest plant of the tropics, and when a majority of one 
 branch sympathetically resolved that moral and official 
 crimes did not disqualify individuals from holding a seat 
 in that body, and consequently that such crimes were 
 to be regarded as senatorial prerogatives." 
 
 The reading of this letter produced an instantaneous 
 excitement in the senate. The lieutenant-governor, 
 Dickinson, who was then in the chair, had but a day or 
 two before decided that a bill which in effect released 
 the lien of the state on the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road, which it held for securing the repayment of a loan 
 
1843.] RESOLULION BY MR. FOSTER. 353 
 
 to that company of three millions of dollars, was a ma- 
 jority and not a two-third bill, felt himself personally 
 implicated (though it is not probable that Col. Young 
 intended to allude particularly to any individuals) by the 
 passage we have quoted. 
 
 The moment the reading of the letter was concluded, 
 Mr. A. B. Dickinson rose and uttered the following se- 
 vere and caustic remarks : 
 
 " He inquired if it had been ordered printed ; and, 
 being answered in the affirmative, moved that ten times 
 the usual number of copies be printed. He took it this 
 was a political text-book for barnburners ; and, though 
 he did not know how it came here, he was for having it 
 either widely diffused, or returned to its author. He 
 had thought — and he had so intimated — of offering a 
 resolution to remove the secretary of state for blas- 
 phemy ; but the secretary seemed to have become very 
 pious all at once. He had quoted about every thing in 
 this document, except the ten commandments. By what 
 right did the secretary of state lecture the legislature for 
 having quoted precedent in justification of their action ? 
 Had they not a right to quote precedent ? He moved 
 to print ten times the usual number of the communica- 
 tion." 
 
 The next day Mr. Foster offered the following reso- 
 lution : 
 
 " Whereas in a communication fi-om the secretary of 
 state, presented to this house on the 20th inst., it is al- 
 leged that ' millions of outstanding stocks are now im- 
 pending over the state, which were created by laws in 
 clear and direct hostility with the plain provisions of the 
 constitution ;' and that ' these laws were null and void 
 from their inception, and cannot impose even the shadow 
 
 30* 
 
3o4 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l843. 
 
 of a moral obligation for the fulfilment of their ostensible 
 demands.' And whereas, an assent, either tacit or ex- 
 press, on the part of the senate, to the sentiments above 
 set forth, would not only excite apprehensions and alarm 
 in the minds of the creditors of the state, but would 
 lessen its honor and character in the estimation of the 
 world. Therefore, 
 
 " Resolved, That in the judgment of this house, the 
 state of New York will not only fully redeem its plight- 
 ed faith to all its creditors, but that it is morally and 
 legally, as well as in good faith and honesty, bound to 
 discharge every public debt which has been created, and 
 every dollar of stock which has been issued." 
 
 Mr. Rhoades declared his approbation of the resolu- 
 tion offered by Mr. Foster, but said that not expecting 
 that any other senator would present a resolution, he 
 had prepared one which he would lay on the table, that 
 the senate might have a choice. The preamble and 
 resolution drawn by Mr. Rhoades were very severe upon 
 the secretary of state. The resolution which followed 
 his preamble was in these words : 
 
 " Resolved, That we utterly discard the ' wickedness' 
 of all executive, legislative, or ministerial assumptions, 
 which, under the guise of respect for the ' constitution,' 
 or the influence of any ' past precedent,' would make an 
 'encroachment' upon the plighted faith, untarnished 
 fame, character, and credit of this state." 
 
 The ground on which Mr. Foster urged his resolution 
 was, that the assertion of Col. Young that millions of 
 stock then outstanding had been created by unconstitu- 
 tional laws, might induce an impression abroad that the 
 state of New York intended repudiation ; on the other 
 hand it was insisted that the condemnation of past legis- 
 
1843.] RESOLUTION BY GEN. ROOT. 355 
 
 lation by Col. Young, by no means implied that either 
 he or his political friends meant to deny but that the state 
 was bound faithfully to perform its engagements with 
 those who had loaned money to its agents on the au- 
 thority of the laws passed by its legislature. Several 
 amendments to, or substitutes for Mr. Foster's resolution 
 were offered ; among which was the following, proposed 
 by Gen. Root : 
 
 " Resolved, That the communication of the secretary 
 of state, stating that 'millions of outstanding stocks are 
 now impendingover the state, which were created bviaws 
 in clear and direct hostility with the plain provisions of 
 the constitution — and that these laws were null and void 
 I'rom their inception, and cannot impose even a shadow 
 of a moral obligation for the fulfilment of their ostensi- 
 ble demand,' contains sentiments which ought not, even 
 for a moment, to be entertained by the legislature ; nei- 
 ther the government nor the legislature are warranted 
 in expressing a doubt of its legal, moral, and civil obli- 
 gations, to pay all its bonds punctually, to pay the in- 
 terest, and actually to redeem the principal of all the 
 htocks issued by its officers, appointed for that purpose. 
 Their authority, when derived from public laws, cannot 
 be questioned, nor can any defect in the passage of 
 such laws in anywise invalidate the issue of any such 
 stocks." 
 
 This substitute was supported by all the radicals in 
 the senate, and four whigs — Messrs. Hard, Dickinson, 
 Root, and Works. The following are the ayes and noes : 
 
 Ayes — Messrs. Dennison, Dickinson, Hard, Hunter, 
 l..awrence. Porter, Root, Ruger, Sherwood, Strong, Var- 
 ney. Works — 12. 
 
 Noes — Messrs. Bartlit, Bockee, Chamberlain, Dixon, 
 
356 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l843. 
 
 Ely, Foster, Franklin, Lott, Mitchell, Scovil, Varian, 
 Wright— 12. 
 
 The lieutenant-governor gave a casting vote in the 
 negative, which implied that he preferred Mr. Foster's 
 resolution to Gen. Root's. 
 
 We have received information from a quarter that 
 does not permit us to doubt of its correctness, that the 
 tie vote on Gen. Root's substitute was given by a pre- 
 vious arrangement, and at the request of Mr. Dickin- 
 son, fur the purpose of afi'ording him an opportunity to 
 reply to the letter addressed by Col. Young to the judi- 
 ciary committee. But whether this information be well 
 or ill founded, it is a fact that Mr. Dickinson, before 
 giving the casting vote, availed himself of the occasion 
 to state his reasons for that vote, and at the same time 
 to review the letter of Col. Young to Mr. Strong, and 
 deliver an elaborate argument against the positions ta- 
 ken by Mr. Young in that letter. This led to a news- 
 paper controversy between the secretary of state and 
 the lieutenant-governor, marked with extreme bitter- 
 ness on both sides. The friends of Mr. Dickinson being 
 fully aware of the great talents of Mr. Young as a writer, 
 Vv'ere justly alarmed when they became aware of the 
 impending controversy ; but in the course of the corre- 
 spondence Mr. Dickinson developed, to their great sat- 
 isfaction, tact and talent, when he ap})eared on paper, 
 which enabled him to quit the field, after a contest with 
 so formidable an antagonist, if not with the laurels of 
 a conqueror, at least with the reputation of having com- 
 bated with much skill. 
 
 In conclusion, we will venture, with great diffidence 
 in our own judgment, to say that we cannol resist the 
 conclusion, that the law which granted to each member 
 
1843.] UANK COMMISSIONERS. 357 
 
 of the legislature of 1842 property to the value of thirty 
 or forty dollars, was such a grant as was inconsistent 
 with the constitution of 1821, unless sanctioned by the 
 votes of two-thirds of the members elected to both 
 houses of the legislature. 
 
 Col. Young reasoned that, being unconstitutional, the 
 law was void ; that a void thing was nothing ; and that 
 he was therefore left without any authority to make the 
 distribution. But whether an executive officer is au- 
 thorized to refuse to obey a law passed by the law-ma- 
 king power, unless in extraordinary cases, from which 
 the most disastrous consequences would instantaneously 
 result, because he Jiimself believes the law unconstitu- 
 tional, may certainly admit of great doubt. Col. Young 
 might, without making any official communication to the 
 legislature, have simply refused to deliver the books, and 
 advised the parties claiming them to apply to the Su- 
 preme Court for an alternative mandamus, requiring 
 him to show cause why he refused to obey the mandate 
 of the legislature ; and on his return to that writ the con- 
 stitutionality of the law would have been decided by the 
 supreme judicial tribunal, — a tribunal created for that 
 Very purpose by the same constitution which Col. Young 
 properly contended was the paramount law of the slate. 
 
 We repeat, that this controversy served to widen the 
 difference between the hunkers and radicals. 
 
 By the existing law there were three bank commis- 
 sioners, who were allowed liberal salaries. From the con- 
 trol they possessed over banks they had great influence. 
 One of these officers was appointed on the nomination 
 of the governor by the consent of the senate, and the 
 others elected by the banks. The existing state bank 
 commissioner was a whig, appointed by Gov. Seward. 
 
358 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1843. 
 
 Of course, his successor would now be selected by Gov. 
 Bouck. 
 
 Early in the session, a committee of the senate was 
 raised for the purpose of taking into consideration the 
 propriety of reducing the salaries of officers, and for de- 
 vising other means for reducing the expenses of the 
 state government, so far as such reduction could be 
 made without injury to the public service. Dr. Ely, a 
 friend of Gov. Bouck, was appointed chairman of that 
 committee, and in his report, among other reforms, rec- 
 ommended that the number of bank commissioners 
 should be reduced to one only. 
 
 Shortly afterwards a bill was brought into the assem- 
 bly by Mr. Leland, chairman of the bank committee, in 
 accordance with the views of the senate's committee, 
 which, after much discussion, passed that house, but fail- 
 ed of passing the senate. Subsequently, Mr. Stimpson 
 introduced into the assembly a bill to abolish the office 
 of hank commissioner. This bill passed the assembly by 
 a vote of 56 to 23. 
 
 Upon examining the ayes and noes it will be seen 
 that many of the democratic members, among whom 
 was Mr. Leland, chairman of the bank committee, did ' 
 not vote on the question, and that all the whigs and 
 some of the radicals voted for the bill. It did not reach 
 the senate, so as to be announced and read the first and 
 second time, until the last day of the session. On the 
 motion of Mr. Dennison, the rules of the senate were 
 suspended, and the bill was ordered to a third reading 
 on that day. The ayes and noes on its final passage 
 were: Ayes — Messrs. Dennison, Deyo, Dickinson, Dixon, 
 Hard, Hunter, Piatt, Porter, Ruger, Scott, Strong, 
 Works — 12. Noes — Messrs. Bartlit, Chamberlain, Cor- 
 
1843.] REJECTION OF GOV.'s NOMINATIONS. 359 
 
 iiiug, Ely, Faulkner, Foster, Franklin, Lott, Mitchell, 
 Putnam, Wright — 11. 
 
 The reader will perceive thatall the radicals present and 
 five vvhigs voted for the bill, and all the hunkers present 
 and two of the wliigs, Messrs. Franklin and Putnam, vo- 
 ted against it. The hunkers charged the action of the 
 radicals on this question as originating from a desire to 
 curtail the patronage of the governor, and give addi- 
 tional power and influence to the comptroller, on whom 
 the principal duties performed by the bank commission- 
 ers were by this bill devolved. 
 
 There was still another circumstance that occurred, 
 whicli, although trifling in itself, from the general prac- 
 tice of preceding political parties, greatly increased the 
 irritation between the two sections of the democratic 
 party. 
 
 Several of the nominations for oflice, made by Gov. 
 Bouck, were rejected in the senate by the united votes 
 of the radical members, supported by a majority of the 
 whigs. 
 
 So far as we can recollect, the first collision vv^hich. 
 was publicly known happened on a disagreement be- 
 tween the governor and senate in respect to the appoint- 
 ment of a loan officer and notary public in the county 
 of Jefferson.* The case was brieflv this : 
 
 * There were four civil ottif's vacant iu the county of Jefferson. 
 Messrs. Church and Graves, two ol' the members of assembly from that 
 county, presented the governor with the names of four hunkers, whom 
 thoy recommended should be appointed to fill these offices. Messrs. Ru- 
 "■er and Lampsou recommended the appointment of four radicals. The 
 governor made an ineffectual effort to induce the representatives from tho 
 county to compromise their differences, and mutually to agree ou the per- 
 sons he should nominate. Failing in this effort, he selected two names 
 
360 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l843. 
 
 The governor nominated Jason Clark for loan officer, 
 and Pearson Mundy for notary public. Senator Ruger 
 and Mr. Lampson, a member of the assembly, had rec- 
 ommended two other persons for these offices ; and 
 Messrs. Church and Graves, the two remaining mem- 
 bers of assembly from Jefferson, had recommended 
 Clark and Mundy. These nommations, together with 
 others for the county, were, as usual, referred to the 
 senators from the fifth district, consisting of Ely, Foster, 
 Scovil, and Ruger. The three first-named members of 
 the committee reported in favor of confirming the nom- 
 inations, from which Mr. Ruger dissented, and presented 
 to the senate a minority report, written under apparent 
 excitement, and with great bitterness. He stated in 
 that report that it was usual to leave to the senator from 
 the county the selection of the proper candidates for 
 office from his own county : that he was held responsible 
 to its citizens as his immediate constituents for such ap- 
 pointments, and that the practice of the senators of the 
 fifth district was in accordance with this custom. Mr. 
 Ruger concludes his report by the following tart and 
 rather uncourteous paragraphs : 
 
 " The democracy of Jefferson county have for years 
 been suspicious of a foreign conservative influence, af- 
 fecting nominations and appointments in the county ; 
 and now, when their suspicions are confirmed by proof, 
 and they see the officious and intermeddling hand of 
 foreign conservatism, pointing out who shall be the offi- 
 cers of that county, they will repel this indignity upon 
 them with the contempt it deserves. 
 
 from each list, and sent thern to the senate. The nomination of the radi- 
 cals was confirmed, but that of the hunkers was rejected iu the manner 
 stated iu the text. 
 
1843.] RECORDER OF TROY. 8B1 
 
 "It is to be regretted that these conservative disor- 
 ganizers had not been content with their labors in their 
 own counties. But it has been otherwise. Restless, as 
 it were, to do the greatest mischief, and to bring odium 
 upon themselves, they have travelled abroad to receive 
 that odium and contempt due to their labors." 
 
 On the 4th of April the senate acted upon the two re- 
 ports, when a majority voted for rejecting the nomina- 
 tions. 
 
 Those who voted for rejecting were, Messrs. Denni- 
 son, Deyo, Dixon, Hard, Hopkins, Hunter, Piatt, Porter, 
 Putnam, Rhoades, Root, Ruger, Scott, Strong, Varney. 
 Works— 16. 
 
 The names of those who voted in favor of contirmin<^ 
 the governor's nominations were, Messrs. Bartlit, Bockee, 
 Chamberlain, Corning, Ely, Faulkner, Foster, Franklin, 
 Lott, Mitchell, Scovil, Varian, Wright — 13. 
 
 It will be perceived that the rejection was produced 
 by the votes of eight radical and eight whig members. 
 
 Another difficulty of the same kind occurred quite at 
 the latter part of the session, upon the nomination by the 
 governor of David Buel for recorder of the city of Troy. 
 
 Senator Strong had for five years been recorder of 
 that city, and was (no doubt deservedly) iiighly esteem- 
 ed by the people and the bar of Troy as a useful and 
 excellent judge. The constitutional term of his office 
 had expired, and being a member of the legislature he 
 was ineligible to a reappointment. The people of Trov, 
 as was stated by Mr. Strong when the subject of a nom- 
 ination of a successor was before the senate, had not in- 
 dicated who they desired should be appointed recorder ; 
 but Gov. Bouck, contrary to an understanding between 
 him and Mr. Strong, as the latter alleged, had nomina- 
 
 31 
 
3G2 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [18 13. 
 
 ted Judcre Buel for the office. It seems also to be ad- 
 mitted, by all parties, that Mr. Buel was not aware that 
 his name was sent to the senate. Mr. Strong opposed 
 the confirmation of this nomination in a speech of some 
 length, in which he animadverted with great severity 
 on the conduct of the governor, and the senate rejected 
 the nomination by the following vote, Mr. Strong him- 
 self declining to vote : 
 
 For confirming. — Democrats: Messrs. Bartlit,Bockee, 
 Chamberlain, Corning, Ely, Faulkner, Foster, Lott, 
 Mitchell, Scovil, Varian, Wright — 12. 
 
 Against coyijirming . — Whigs: Messrs. Dickinson, 
 Dixon, Franklin, Hard, Hopkins, Piatt, Putnam, Rhoades, 
 Root, Works — 10. Democrats : Messrs. Denniscjn, De- 
 yo, Hunter, Porter, Ruger, Scott, Sherwood, Vai-ney — 8. 
 
 These rejections and some others, and the means by 
 which they were procured, the hunkers contended were 
 evidence of a violation of good faith to the party by the 
 radicals, and a determination on their part to wage a 
 war against the governor. 
 
 Having mentioned the case of the recorder of Troy, 
 in which Mr. Strong was personally concerned, it is per- 
 haps justly due to him to copy an article from the Troy 
 Budget, as evidence of the light in which his conduct 
 was viewed by his democratic fellow-citizens of his own 
 city, and the estimate formed of his official services by 
 the Troy public : 
 
 " When elected senator, we know that gentleman 
 [Mr. Strong] held the office of recorder at the free dis- 
 posal of his democratic fellow-citizens, both willing and 
 desirous to relinquish it whenever they should signify 
 not only their wish, but their willingness that he should 
 do so. When the appointing power had become changed, 
 
1843.] RECORDER OF TROY. 363 
 
 several citizens, under the well-known impression that 
 Mr. Strong was desirous of vacating the recordership, 
 (and most of them with no other understanding,) peti- 
 tioned the governor in behalf of Judge Buel, an able 
 and universally esteemed citizen. Meanwhile, nearly 
 the entire bar of the city requested Mr. S., who is a 
 great favorite as judge of the mayor's court, to retain, 
 and the governor, at the same time, to continue him in 
 the i)lace, to which the latter, we believe, had tacitly 
 assented. Had an appointment under these circum- 
 stances been made at the close of the session, it would 
 have been as unexpected to those who had signed the 
 petition for Judge Buel, as to the rest of the community. 
 
 ^ ■*(- tF ^ ^' ■?(•' 
 
 "Judge B. never was an applicant for the office, and 
 he would by no means have accepted it — as his high 
 sense of honor will attest — with the wishes of the bar 
 in behalf of the present incumbent, and his willingness 
 to retain the post, so clearly manifest. Both these gen- 
 tlemen are highly esteemed here by the members of 
 their profession, and by the community at large, and 
 there can be no misunderstanding between them and 
 their friends on this subject. We are also compelled to 
 state, since his name has been involved in the con- 
 troversy, that Gen. Davis undisguisedly admits that he 
 never advised or sanctioned the change in the recorder- 
 ship. It may not be improper, however, in this connec- 
 tion, to add, that the use of Gen. Davis's or Mr. Strong's 
 name in this article is without their knowledge or ad- 
 vice. And we may say, et passim, that we are glad to 
 see Mr. S.'s philosophical coolness and quietude on the 
 subject." 5, 
 
 The policy pursued by the whig senators was ex- 
 
364 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l843. 
 
 tremely judicious, and well and successfully carried out. 
 On all mere party questions on which the hunkers and 
 radicals were irreconcilably divided, there was a suffi- 
 cient number of whigs ever ready by their votes to de- 
 cide the question in favor of one or the other section 
 of the democratic party, as best suited their views of 
 what was right or what was politic. 
 
 We have no doubt the rejections of the governor's 
 nominations for comparatively trifling offices, produced' 
 more unkind feeling among the democratic members 
 than any thing which occurred during the session. 
 
 The legislature adjourned on the 18th of April. Not- 
 withstanding the bitterness which at times had prevailed 
 durinfif the session between the democratic members, a 
 caucus was held on the evening before the adjourn- 
 ment, which they generally attended, and in which there 
 was an apparent cordial union. An address was read 
 and approved unanimously, and resolutions were adopt- 
 ed, by one of which the caucus recommended the sup- 
 port of Martin Van Buren for the office of president of 
 the United States. 
 
 The whigs also held a caucus, at which they adopted 
 an able address and some spirited resolutions. 
 
 The democratic party succeeded at the charter elec- 
 tion in Albany. At the charter election in New York 
 the democratic ticket was equally successiul. The 
 democrats obtained a large majority in the common 
 council, and also elected Robert H. Morris for mayor, 
 who only two years before had been removed from the 
 office of recorder of that city, by Gov. Seward and the 
 senate, for his conduct in relation to the Glentworth 
 papers. 
 
 On the 5th of Seotember, a convention of delegates 
 
1843.] STATE CONVENTION. 365 
 
 from all the counties in the state assembled at Syracuse, 
 for the purpose of electing delegates from the state of 
 New York to represent the democratic party of the state 
 in the national convention at Baltimore, to nominate a 
 president and vice-president of the United States. The 
 convention was called to order by Mr. Gardner, of Sara- 
 toga ; and upon a ballot for a president of the conven- 
 tion, William L. Marcy received 79 votes, and Samuel 
 Young, 40. Mr. Marcy was of course declared elected. 
 
 Some discussion took place, whether the delegates 
 should be chosen by the convention, that is to say, by 
 general ticket, or in congressional districts ; but on this 
 question the assembly were nearly unanimous in favor 
 of the choice by general ticket. There were but nine- 
 teen votes against that mode, and three of the nineteen, 
 Judge Oliver, of Yates county, Mr. Redfield, of Genesee, 
 and Mr. Dean, of Putnam, declared that they thus voted 
 because they were so instructed by their constituents.* 
 
 The delegates were instructed to support Martin Van 
 Buren for president. 
 
 Among the resolutions which the convention adopted 
 we observe one which declares that " the democracy 
 repose full confidence in the capacity, integrity, fideli- 
 ty, and patriotism of Willi.am C. Bouck, and that in 
 him and the other distinguished individuals associated 
 with him in the state administration, the convention rec- 
 ognise a true devotion to the wishes and welfare of the 
 people." 
 
 * This decision is entitled to the more respect, because it was conceded 
 that if the delegates had been chosen by congressional districts, every one 
 of them would have supported Mr. Van Buren, who was unanimously rec- 
 ommended by the convention as the candidate for the presidency who 
 ought to be supported by the New York delegation. 
 
 31* 
 
366 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l8i3. 
 
 Before the adjournment, Richard D. Davis, from 
 Dutchess county, of whom we have formerly spoken,* 
 and who was a delegate from the county of Dutchess, 
 delivered a powerful and eloquent address, for which 
 he received the thanks of the convention. 
 
 It is with deep and painful regret that we record the 
 death of William Ruger, a senator from Jefferson coun- 
 ty, whom we have several times mentioned. He died 
 on the 22d day of May, after an illness of a few days. 
 We knew him well from his boyhood. He was a self- 
 made man, resolute and almost stubborn in the support 
 of his principles, but honest, and sincerely faithful to 
 those for whom he professed friendship. 
 
 We have also to notice the death of Smith Thompson, 
 a judge of the Supreme Court of the United States, of 
 whom we have frequently had occasion to speak in the 
 preceding volumes of this work. It is unnecessary for 
 us to say he was an able, learned, and independent jurist. 
 His opinions contained in our reports, and his public life, 
 afford the best evidence of this. We will only add, that 
 we cordially concur in the following obituary notice of 
 his death by Mr. Croswell : 
 
 " It as with deep regret that we announce the death 
 of the Hon. Smith Thompson, one of the associate jus- 
 tices of the Supreme Court of the United States. He 
 expired at his residence in Poughkeepsie, after a pro- 
 tracted illness, on the afternoon of Monday last, at the 
 advanced age of seventy-six years. 
 
 " Judge Thompson filled the station he held at the 
 time of his death, through a period of twenty years, 
 having been called to the post upon the death of Judge 
 Brockholst Livingston in IS'iS. He had previously held 
 
 • 2 Political History, p. 527. 
 
1843.] RESULT OF THE ELECTION. 307 
 
 successively the offices of district-attorney of the old 
 middle district, associate and chief-justice of the Su- 
 preme Court, (succeeding Ciiief-justice Kent, in the lat- 
 ter station, upon his elevation to the chancellorship,) and 
 secretary of the navy under Mr. Monroe. 
 
 " Judge Thompson was peculiarly fitted by his ex- 
 tended legal knowledge, and his cool and clear-headed 
 sagacity for the station, of which he was so long an ac- 
 knowledged ornament — while the eminent purity of his 
 life reflected additional lustre upon his public career. 
 The death of such a man, thus exalted in his official and 
 private relations, will long be lamented as a public ca- 
 lamity. 
 
 " The courts in session in the city of New York, upon 
 receiving intelligence of the death of Judge Thomp- 
 son, in respect for his memory and virtues, adjourned 
 over." 
 
 The feuds that prevailed at Albany, and among the 
 democratic members of the legislature, did not to any 
 extent affect the people in the country counties. They 
 were, it is true, felt in the county of Oneida; but there the 
 hunkers seem, at that time, to have held a majority over 
 both whigs and radicals. However, Mr. Horatio Seymour, 
 who was very popular, was a candidate for the assem- 
 bly from the city of Utica, and undoubtedly added great 
 strength to the ticket ; besides, we believe both parties 
 at that time in Oneida county held themselves bound by 
 regular nominations. 
 
 That the divisions in Albany did not affect the elec- 
 tion in the state, is proved by the general result. Nearly 
 three to one of the members returned to the assembly 
 were democrats ; and in eight senatorial districts, the 
 democratic party succeeded in all except the eighth. The 
 
368 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YOKK. [1843. 
 
 senate after this election contained twenty-six demo- 
 crats and only six whigs. 
 
 David R. F. Jones was elected from the first senato- 
 rial district, in the place of Mr. Franklin ; Joshua B. 
 Smith, from the second, in the place of Mr. Hunter; 
 Stephen C. Johnson, from the third, in the place of Gen. 
 Root ; Orville Clark, from the fourth, in the place of Mr. 
 Hopkins ; Thomas Barlow, from the fifth, in the place 
 of Mr. Ely, and George C. Sherman, to fill the vacancy 
 occasioned by the death of Mr. Ruger ; Clark Burnham, 
 from the sixth, in the place of Mr. Dickinson ; Albert 
 Lester, from the seventh, in the place of Mr. Sherwood; 
 and Frederick F. Backus, from the eighth, in the place 
 of Mr. Dixon. 
 
1844.] LEGISLATURE OF 1844. S&J 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Character of Leading Members of the Legislature of 1844 — Democratic 
 Caucus for Speaker — Mr. Littlefield uominated and elected — James R. 
 Rose elected Clerk — Governor's Message — Meeting at Albany of the 
 friends of a Convention — Formation of the Committees of the Assembly 
 — Mr. Foster's Resolution for the Reduction of Postage — Mr. Foster 
 elected President pro tem. of the Senate — Death of Judge Cowen — 
 Samuel Beardsk-y appointed Justice of tlie Supreme Court — Death of 
 G»n. P. B. Porter — James V. L. Pruyn and James J. Wadsworth ap- 
 pointed Regents of the University — J. P. Cushman resigns the office of 
 Circuit Judge, aud A. J. Parker appointed his successor — Mr. Farring- 
 ton appointed Treasurer — J. C. Spencer nominated Associate Justice of 
 the United States Supreme Court — His nomination is rejected by the 
 Senate — Causes — Silas Wright nominated for same Office — He declines 
 — Nomination of Chancellor Walworth for same Office — Afterwards 
 the Chancellor's name withdrawn by the President, when Judge Nel- 
 son was uominated and appointed. 
 
 1844. As the condition and movements of the political 
 parties and sections of parties in the legislature in this and 
 the succeeding year, will become, as we proceed in our 
 story, highly interesting, and as the result of their action 
 produced important and momentous consequences, it 
 may be proper in the outset, to present a sketch of the 
 characters of the leading and active members of the le- 
 gislature. Of the state officers, we have spoken in the 
 preceding chapter. 
 
 By the expiration of the terins of office of Gen. Root, 
 James G. Hopkins, and Andrew B. Dickinson, the whigs 
 had lost much of the talent they formerly had in the 
 senate. True, Mr. Hard and Mr. Rhoades, of whom 
 
370 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 
 
 we have heretofore spoken, were there. Mi-. Nehemiah 
 Phitt, of Tioga county, a man of sound mind and great 
 personal worth, but who did not take a very active part 
 in legislative proceedings or party operations, also re- 
 mained in the senate. Mr. Harvey Putnam, a lawyer 
 and wealthv banker from Attica, was a shrewd, saa-a- 
 cious political manager, and when he chose to take the 
 trouble, could debate a question with ability and great 
 ingenuity. Mr. Samuel Works, also a whig senator 
 from the eighth district, was a practical farmer. He is 
 said to be a man of great native sagacity. Although he 
 seldom attempted to take a part in debate, he possessed 
 considerable influence with his friends in the legislature, 
 and great popularity at home. If we mistake not, he 
 was a veteran antimason, and may be considered at that 
 time as the only remaining representative of that by- 
 gone party. 
 
 In the assembly the whigs had very few representa- 
 tives; but among them were two men of distinguished 
 ability. We do not intend to imply by this that the 
 other whig members were destitute of talents ; we pre- 
 sume they were all, and we know some of them were, 
 men of great worth and respectable attainments, and 
 competent legislators. The two members to whom we 
 allude are Samuel Stevens of Albany and Archibald L. 
 Linn. Of Mr. Stevens, we have spoken in a preceding 
 volume. He now supplied, and very ably supplied, the 
 place of his immediate predecessor from Albany, the 
 talented and much-esteemed late attorney-general, Wil- 
 lis Hail. 
 
 Mr. Linn, we believe, was at that time mayor of the 
 city of Schenectady, and had lately been a member of 
 congress from the district of which Schenectady is a 
 
1844.] LEGISLATURE OF 1844. 371 
 
 part, and while at Washington had acquired a respect- 
 able standing and character in the house of representa- 
 tives. Although zealously attached to the whig party, 
 and firm in the support of the whig cause, the dignity 
 of his deportment, his candor and courtesy as a member 
 of the assembly, gave him, though his party was greatly 
 in the minority, considerable influence in that body. 
 
 In the senate, the democratic party, including both 
 sections of it, possessed much talent, and we may add 
 personal worth. 
 
 Lieutenant-governor Dickinson had been a suc- 
 cessful lawyer, and had formerly been a member of the 
 senate. In both situations he had acquitted himself 
 creditably, and acquired a reputation for much more 
 than ordinary talents. He was active and energetic, 
 both as a legislator and politician. As evidence of the 
 superior grade of his native talents, it is proper to state 
 that he was bred a mechanic, and did not commence the 
 practice of law until after he was married and had a 
 family. Upon being admitted to the bar he in a very 
 short time acquired an extensive practice. He was a 
 decided friend of Governor Bouck, and at the election 
 of 1842 reluctantly consented, through the pressing soli- 
 citude of friends, to be a candidate for the office of 
 lieutenant-governor. His friends were the more urgent 
 because they believed that the influence of his name, 
 especially in the southwestern tier of counties, would 
 add essentially to the probability of success of the guber- 
 natorial ticket. 
 
 We have heretofore mentioned Judge Scott from 
 New York. He belonged to the radical party ; he was 
 a sound-minded, though not a brilliant man. Though 
 candid and frank in declaring his principles as a politi- 
 
372 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 cian, he was resolute and unyielding in his adherence to 
 them. 
 
 D. R. Floyd Jones, also from the city of New York, 
 had been a member of the assembly from that city the 
 preceding session. He then acted with the hunker par- 
 ty, and he pursued the same course as a senator. He 
 is the grandson of that celebrated lawyer, the first comp- 
 troller, and inherited much of his talents, though perhaps 
 he was a less scheming and ardent pohtician.* Courteous 
 in his deportment, both in legislative discussions, in which 
 he often took part, and in his social intercourse, he de- 
 served, and we presume acquired, the friendship and re- 
 spect of all parties. 
 
 John A. Lott, from the city of Brooklyn, is an able 
 lawyer, and was one of the most useful and valuable 
 members of the senate. His industry in examining, his 
 accuracy in framing, and his care in passing laws, to- 
 gether with his untiring efforts to guard against hasty 
 and imprudent legislation, enabled him to render essen- 
 tial service to the state. " He enjoyed," says a corre- 
 spondent, " in a high degree the respect and good-will 
 of all sections and parties." He was a hunker. 
 
 Of Robert Dennison, from the second district, we 
 have had, and shall hereafter have, frequent occasion to 
 spe:ik. At present we will merely remark, that he was 
 shrewd and sagacious, an ardent and zealous politician, 
 and indomitable in maintaining and defending his prin- 
 ciples, and in the pursuit of his political projects. 
 
 We have no personal knowledge of Abraham Bockee, 
 of Dutchess county. All we know of him is what ap- 
 pears in the reports of the proceedings in the senate, 
 
 * See 1 Political History, p. 75 ; also p. 104. 
 
1844.] LEGISLATURE OF 1844. o7'J 
 
 and his published opinions given in the Court for the 
 Correction of Errors. These, however, prove him to be 
 a man of decided talents. From the time he became a 
 member of the senate until the session of 1846, when 
 the convention bill came before the senate, he acte4 
 with the hunker party, and was considered as belonging 
 to it. Since that time he has been regarded as a radical. 
 
 We have several times mentioned HarveyW. Strong, 
 and intimated our views of his talents and character as 
 a legislator. " He was," says a liberal and intelligent 
 correspondent who belongs to the hunker party, " an 
 excellent debater, and a leading member among the 
 friends of the state officers." 
 
 Erastus Corning, a merchant of high standing and 
 character from the city of Albany, though he did not 
 mingle much in debate, was, from his knowledge of 
 commercial and moneyed operations, a very useful and 
 highly influential member of the senate. In 1842 he 
 was zealous for the passage of the financial bill of that 
 vear. His extensive knowledge of the condition and 
 operation of the banks and of the money-market, not 
 only of this country but of Europe, enabled him to fore- 
 see that a radical reform in the expenditures of the state 
 was absolutely necessary, in order to preserve its credit 
 from total prostration. He however acted wHh the 
 hunker party ; and from his profound knowledge of men, 
 his great native sagacity, and the caution and prudence 
 which marked his conduct, he exercised a great influ- 
 ence in the legislature, not only with his fellow-demo- 
 crats, but with the whigs. 
 
 John C. Wright, of Schoharie, and Thomas B. 
 Mitchell, of Montgomery county, were both of them 
 lawyers in good standing, and friends to the governor 
 
 32 
 
374 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844, 
 
 Mr. Wright afterwards distinguished himself in the bit- 
 ter and almost personal contest with Col. Young, in 
 which he acquitted himself with skill and ability, though 
 it is to be regretted that too much unkind personal feel- 
 ing was exhibited during that discussion. 
 
 Mr. Mitchell was more reserved, and did not mingle 
 so much in the debates as his talents and address would 
 have warranted. He left the senate with a character 
 respectable for talents and usefulness. He was a warm 
 and zealous hunker. 
 
 Gen. Orville Clark, from Warren county, also be- 
 longed to the hunker party. He took a very active part 
 in all the proceedings of the senate, and was a man of 
 as much colloquial power and as great fluency, perhaps, 
 as any member of that body. 
 
 Henry A. Foster, from Oneida county, who, in 1837, 
 was a member of congress, was a leading democratic 
 senator, and a hunker. Had we, in this brief review of 
 the senate in 1844, arranged the members according to 
 their reputation for talents, Mr. Foster ought undoubt- 
 edly to have been placed at the head of the list. In de- 
 bate he is truly formidable. The rapid and effective 
 action of his intellectual power, his retentive memory, 
 his ready recollection of facts and even dates, combined 
 with his sharp and caustic style of speaking,, made him 
 respected and feared by his opponents, and the admired 
 champion of his friends. A personal and political friend 
 of Mr. Foster, in a letter to the author, concludes a very 
 laudatory description of him by saying : " His great de- 
 fect as a party leader is the reserve of his disposition, 
 which prevents him from combining his friends in an 
 ■effective manner." 
 
 George C. Sherman, the successor of Mr. Ruger) took 
 
1811.] LEGISLATURE OF 1844. 375 
 
 sides with the radical party, although when he was 
 elected it was supposed (though we do not know that 
 such was the case with his immediate constituents) that 
 his predilections were with the hunkers. We have no 
 personal knowledge of him, but have heard him spoken 
 of as a shrewd, managing man. 
 
 Thomas Barlow was nominated and elected a sena- 
 tor while he was county-superintendent of common 
 schools of the county of Madison. Probably his zeal 
 and efficiency in the cause of popular education was 
 one means of introducing him into political life. After 
 he became a member of the senate, he did not lose the 
 interest he had formerly manifested in the improvement 
 of common schools ; on the contrary he continued, while 
 in that station, their faithful and zealous advocate. On 
 all questions which arose in the senate involving private 
 rights or human liberty, Mr. Barlow was their active 
 and efficient defender. He ultimately connected him- 
 self w ith the radicals. 
 
 We had not much personal knowledge of William 
 Bartlit, of the ^venth district, but our predilections 
 were decidedly favorable to his head and heart. We 
 are not aware that he took a very active part in the sen- 
 ate. Notwithstanding the sharp and unpleasant contest 
 he had with his colleague, Mr. Porter, we think his|dis- 
 position inclined him more to friendly social intercourse 
 than to political, and especially personal collisions. ' He 
 made an unsuccessful, but we have.no doubt sincere 
 effi^rt, to reconcile the differences between Messrs. Cros- 
 well and Van Dyck. Mr. Bartlit was a hunker. 
 
 Of Albert Lester, our worthy and estimable corre- 
 spondent, belonging to the hunker party, thus speaks : — 
 " He was a sound lawyer, and an upright man in his 
 
370 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NKW YORK. [1844. 
 
 private transactions. As a member of the senate he 
 was very valuable for his industry, his care in framing 
 laws, and his constant and vigilant attention to legisla- 
 tive business. His acerbity of temper and strong preju- 
 dices too frequently warped his judgment." We can 
 very readilv believe that the temper of an honest man, 
 however benevolent he might naturally be, thrown into 
 the vortex of New York politics, might become soured, 
 and that he might also become unreasonably suspicious 
 of the motives of his opponents ; but we doubt not that the 
 impulses of Mr. Lester's heart were honest and patriotic ; 
 and though these impulses may have sometimes misled 
 his judgment, with our correspondent we believe he was 
 a " valuable" member of the senate. 
 
 John Porter, of Cayuga, was also an excellent law- 
 yer, and decidedly a man of talents. He was not 
 wordy : he possessed a clear, discriminating, logical 
 mind. He was, and is, no doubt, strictly an honest man ; 
 but either from the constitution of his mental faculties, 
 or from some physical defect in the organization of his 
 nervous system, he was extremely acrid and irritable, 
 and so much so that it impaired his influence, and pre- 
 vented his being as useful, either to his political friends 
 or to the state in general, as his conceded ability, both 
 natural and acquired, and his integrity of purpose would 
 otherwise have rendered him. 
 
 The quiet and peaceable days enjoyed by any coun- 
 try are unquestionably the most prosperous ; and yet 
 such periods furnish no materials for the historian. 
 Those who administer the government during such 
 times scarcely obtain a place in history, notwithstand- 
 ing peace and prosperity may have been produced by 
 their wisdom and virtue. In like manner some of the 
 
1844.] LEGISLATURE OF 1844. 37"? 
 
 most useful members of a legislative body, who merely 
 give their advice to those who consult them, and vote 
 according to the dictates of their own consciences, are 
 frequently lost sight of in the bustle and strife of politi- 
 cal gladiators, and the din of contending partisans. Of 
 this description were several of the senators whose 
 names we have not mentioned, among whom we cannot 
 refrain from alluding to the modest and amiable Clark 
 BuRNHAM, of Chenango, and the sagacious and kind- 
 hearted Carlos P. Scovil, of Lewis county. 
 
 Neither our space nor the time of our reader, would 
 permit us to describe, with minuteness, the efficient and 
 influential democratic members of the assembly of 1844. 
 It is, however, necessary to mention a few of them by 
 name, but we hope it will not therefore be inferred that 
 there were not many other members of that body who 
 distinguished themselves during the session, and had an 
 important agency in influencing the action of that branch 
 of the legislature. 
 
 We shall first invite attention to Michael Hoffman, 
 of Herkimer ; and we cannot better describe him than 
 by copying from a reliable correspondent who belonged 
 to a section of the democratic party adverse to that to 
 which Mr. Hoffiuan was attached, and who was himself 
 a member of the assembly during that session : " Al- 
 though," says our correspondent, " Mr. Hoffman failed 
 in procuring a nomination for the speakership, he exer- 
 cised a powerful influence in the house. The distin- 
 guished position he had occupied in the legislature 
 of 1842 in connection with the financial policy of 
 the state, his parliamentary knowledge, and his ability 
 in debate, gave him great weight, and rendered him a 
 formidable opponent. Mr. Hoffman is a man of ardent, 
 
 32* 
 
^78 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NKW YORK. [1844. 
 
 and I might say chivalrous, temperament. He is very- 
 animated, and has remarkable powers of denunciation. 
 These powers he usually exerts, and these denuncia- 
 tions he usually bestows upon measures rather than 
 men. He is courteous towards his opponents, and gives 
 a dignified and parliamentary tone to the discussions in 
 which he engages." 
 
 We heartily concur with these remarks. We will, 
 however, add, that Mr. Hoffman is a learned and able 
 lawyer, and that, as might be expected, from the name 
 he bears and the nation from which he is a descendant, 
 when once he forms an opinion, he is irrevocably at- 
 tached to it with a tenacity which almost amounts to 
 stubbornness. 
 
 Next to Mr. Hoffman, who we hardly need say was 
 the leader of the radicals, we must mention Horatio 
 Seymour, who now for the second time was elected a 
 member of the assembly from the county of Oneida. 
 
 We have, we believe, before remarked, that Horatio 
 Seymour is the son of that excellent legislator and ca- 
 nal commissioner, the late Hon. Henry Seymour. Mr. 
 Seymour, of whom we speak, entered the legislature in 
 1842. He was then quite young. He had read law, 
 but having had a large estate cast upon him, as one of 
 the heirs of his father, and in right of his wife, who is a 
 daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Albany, the 
 care of his property engrossed so much of his time that 
 he paid little attention to his profession, and never dis- 
 tinguished himself in it ; but his literary attainments are 
 varied and respectable, and he probably very early ac- 
 quired a taste for politics and for public life. We have 
 seldom known a man who possessed higher and better 
 qualifications for usefulness and success in a populai 
 
1844. J LEGISLATURE OF 1?44. 379 
 
 government than Horatio Seymour. Kind and social 
 by nature, affable in his deportment, possessing a shrewd, 
 discerning mind, fluent, and at times eloquent in debate, 
 enlarged in his views, liberal almost to a fault to his op- 
 ponents, and fascinating in his address, no man seemed 
 better calculated to acquire an influence in a legislative 
 body than he, and few, indeed, at his time of life, have 
 in fact acquired a better standing or more substantial 
 moral power. He had early made himself well ac- 
 quainted with the great and varied interests of the state 
 of New York, an acquisition which aided him much in 
 debate, and gave him an advantage over older members, 
 and which, at the same time, enabled him to render ser- 
 vices in legislation highly useful and beneficial to the 
 state. 
 
 We have no personal knowledge of William F. Al- 
 len, of Oswego, who was a member of the assembly in 
 1844, but is now a justice of the Supreme Court. That 
 he is a man of decided talent is well known. He was a 
 friend of Gov. Bouck, although on some questions which 
 arose in the assembly, he voted with Mr. Hoff'man against 
 what were understood to be the views of the governor. 
 
 Joseph F. Bosworth, from the city of New York, 
 was, beyond doubt, one of the ablest men in either of 
 the legislative houses. " He was," says a correspond- 
 ent, who was a fellow-member of the assembly with Mr. 
 Bosworth, "an excellent lawyer and a good debater. 
 His course in the legislature was peculiar. He some- 
 times acted with one section of the democratic party, 
 and sometimes with the other. He has since been per- 
 manent and decided, having attached himself to the 
 hunker section." 
 
 Of Calvin T. Hulburd, of St. Lawrence county, at. 
 
."iSO POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 
 
 present we will only remark, that he was a man of en- 
 larged and liberal views — that his desire for the general 
 good elevated him above the petty trickery of party. 
 So predominant in his mind were the principles of be- 
 nevolence, that we were going to say he could not, if he 
 would, give up to party those intellectual powers which 
 "were meant for mankind." He belonged to the radi- 
 cal party ; but a hunker correspondent, who was a mem- 
 ber of the assembly with Mr. Hulburd, thus writes of 
 him : — "Mr. Hulburd was an able man, and distinguish- 
 ed himself in the measure of the establishment of a state 
 normal school, which he advocated with ability and 
 success." 
 
 Ashley Sampson, of Rochester, was, and we believe 
 continues to be, one of the most distinguished members 
 of the bar in Western New York. The business of 
 legislation was new to him ; but he possesses a dry, 
 quiet humor, which rendered his public speeches amu- 
 sing and effective. The house always heard him with 
 pleasure. 
 
 Besides the gentlemen we have named, there were 
 Ambrose L. Pinny, from Dutchess, Leonard Lee, from 
 Orange, George S. Gorham, from Otsego, and Clark 
 B. CocKRAN, from Montgomery, and several others who 
 took ;in active part in the proceedings of the house. 
 Several of these gentlemen, and especially the member 
 last named, distinguished themselves very creditably, 
 and afforded great promise of future usefulness in public 
 life. 
 
 That able and eloquent lawyer, Samuel Stevens, 
 from Albany, whom we have several times mentioned, 
 and therefore need not here describe, confessedly stood 
 at the head of the whig party in the house, and as a man 
 
1S14.] LEGISLATURE OF 184 381 
 
 of talents and an able legislator, was justly regarded as 
 holding a high, if not the highest, rank in the assembly. 
 
 Bexjamin Fraxklin Hall had been elected from Cay- 
 uga county, which, before the election, was believed to be 
 strongly democratic, in consequence of some local dis- 
 sensions in that county, and probably partly by reason 
 of the personal popularity of himself and his colleagues. 
 Mr. Hall was a lawyer of respectable standing and char- 
 acter, and a zealous and active whiff. He belonged to 
 that school of whig politicians of which Gov. Seward is 
 the head, and had favored not only the views of Mr. 
 Seward as to internal improvements and legal reform, 
 but his opinions in relation to schools for the children of 
 foreigners. On the subject of constitutional reform, 
 Mr. Hall had before his election declared, that material 
 changes in the existing constitution were necessary, 
 which, in his judgment, could never be effected by legis- 
 lative recommendations, and, therefore, that a conven- 
 tion was indispensable. It will hereafter be perceived, 
 that during the session about which we are now writing, 
 he made a vigorous effort to carry into effect his views. 
 
 Upon a review of our notice of the members of the 
 assembly, we find we have omitted to mention one 
 member (and we presume many others) who deserves 
 especial attention. That member is Thomas G. Al- 
 voRD, of the county of Onondaga. He, although a new 
 member, evinced great energy of character and inde- 
 pendence of principle, and exercised an efficient in- 
 fluence during the session. 
 
 There were, at the election in the preceding Novem- 
 ber, 92 democratic members elected to the assembly. 
 The legislature was to organize on Tuesday, the sec- 
 ond day of January, but a large portion of the members, 
 
382 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844, 
 
 probably a majority of them, arrived in Albany on Sat- 
 urday, and from that time until Monday evening an 
 excited canvass for speaker was kept up among the 
 democratic members. 
 
 Elisha Litchfield, of Onondaga, and Horatio Sey- 
 mour, of Oneida, had each their respective friends 
 among the hunkers. Mr. Litchfield had been a mem- 
 ber of congress, and long known, in the section of the 
 state where he resided, as a man of great worth and 
 weight of character ; but we think the most intelligent men 
 of the hunker party would, even at that time, have pre- 
 ferred Mr. Seymour. Nevertheless, that sagacious and 
 far-seeing politician, Edwin Croswell, and other reflect- 
 ing men, perceived the advantage which would be gain- 
 ed by identifying with them, in a great central western 
 county, strongly democratic as Onondaga was, a man 
 of Mr. Litchfield's weight of character and long stand- 
 ing in the democratic party. Mr. Seymour himself saw 
 the propriety and polic) of the measure, and before the 
 caucus, declined to be a competitor. The radicals were 
 also divided. A part of them were for Mr. Hulburd ; 
 but the majority were of opinion that Mr. Hoffriian, the 
 great champion of their favorite financial system, ought 
 to be supported. The stronger feeling was for Mr. 
 Hulburd, but he would not consent that his claims should 
 be urged, and that wing of the democratic party, before 
 the caucus assembled, united upon Mr. Hoffman. Had 
 he been permitted to decline, (we cannot believe that 
 Mr. Hoffman felt much personal interest in the ques- 
 tion,) and had he used his influence in favor of Mr. Hul- 
 burd, we were at the time, and are now inclined to the 
 opiiuon, that such was the personal kindness and friend- 
 ship felt for Mr. Hulburd, he would have been nominated 
 
1841.] DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS. 383 
 
 Ninety-one of the ninety-two democratic members 
 elected, met in caucus on Monday evening, when, upon 
 balloting for speaker, Mr. Litchfield received fifty-six 
 votes, and Mr. Hoffman thirty-five ; and one vote was 
 given for Mr. Redington, of St. Lawrence. On motion 
 of Mr. Hoflilnan, Mr. Litchfield was declared unani- 
 mously nominated. 
 
 Mr. James R. Rose, after three ballotings, was nomi- 
 nated clerk, against ?<Ir. Wales, who was the most for- 
 * . . . 
 
 midable candidate in opposition to him. 
 
 When the house met the next day, Mr. Litchfield was 
 elected speaker. He received 90 votes, and IMr. Ste- 
 vens, the whig candidate, received 28. Mr. Rose was 
 also elected clerk against Mr. George W. Weed, who 
 was supported by the whigs, by a vote of 89 to 33. 
 
 The governor in his message states the public debt at 
 $23,817, 107.62, exclusive of available means in the hands 
 of the commissioners of the sinking fund, and the in- 
 terest on that debt at $1,377,261.84. The canal tolls 
 the preceding year amounted to $1,910,701.86. He 
 reviews the policy, and admits the necessity of the tax 
 law of 1842, and with regard to further expenditures for 
 internal improvement, the governor remarks, that " in 
 view of the large expenditure on some parts of the pub- 
 lic works, and the comparatively small sums required to 
 complete them, regrets have been felt in some quarters 
 that the surjilus revenue of the state from all existing 
 resources, including the product of the tax, was placed 
 beyond the reach of the officers of the government, or 
 the legislature, by the solemn pledges of that law. The 
 means of doing any thing more at this time than ma- 
 king all needful repairs, and keeping the canals in a 
 good navigable condition, cannot be obtained without 
 
384 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEV*' YORK. [l844. 
 
 increasing the present state tax, or disregarding the pub- 
 lic faith. Tlie former I deem highly inexpedient, and 
 the latter entirely inadmissible." 
 
 He nevertheless adds : 
 
 " While I approve of the pi'esent policy of the state 
 forced upon us by the exigencies of our situation, it 
 cannot be denied that it has been attended with some 
 injurious results. Individuals in some instances have 
 been incommoded by the unfinished state of new bridges, 
 designed to take the place of old ones removed ; and in 
 several places roads and streets have been so obstruct- 
 ed by the progress or changes made in the suspended 
 v/orks, as to cause considerable public inconvenience. I 
 do not doubt that the legislature will feel it to be their 
 duty to remove all just grounds of complaint, in regard 
 to these subjects. What is necessary to be done for 
 these purposes, cannot be regarded in any other light 
 than as repairs, and the inconsiderable expenditure re- 
 quired can, in my opinion, be made without a departure 
 from the policy of 1842. Where new structures are so 
 nearly finished that it would cost less to complete them 
 than to keep in repair the old ones they were designed 
 to supersede, they should, in my judgment, be put in a 
 condition to be used. Whether the new structures shall 
 be brought into use in such cases, instead of sustaining 
 the old ones, is only a question as to the best mode of 
 making repairs, and keeping the canals in a good navi- 
 gable state, and where economy is best consulted by 
 completing the former, that course should be pursued. 
 Under this impression, I recommend that the canal 
 board be authorized to complete such new works as, in 
 their opinion, can be done with better economy than to 
 sustain those designed to be superseded. It is also 
 
1844.] «;ovkrnor's message. 385 
 
 proper that 1 should suggest that some parts of the new 
 works suspended are exposed, in the condition in which 
 they are left, to great and permanent injury. Where 
 this can be prevented, at an inconsiderable expense, 
 compared with the damages likely to be sustained, good 
 economy requires it to be done. I commend the subject 
 to your attention." 
 
 It is obvious that the governor was desirous, on the 
 subject of expenditures by the state, to take a cautious 
 middle course between the extremes of the two sections 
 of his own party. But the great subject discussed by 
 the governor in his message, and which had, for some 
 time previous to the meeting of the legislature, engaged^ 
 the attention of the public, was, whether a convention 
 should be called to revise and amend the constitution. 
 This measure was urged principally for two reasons : — 
 
 First. From the increase of the population and business 
 of the state, more judicial force, and a different organi- 
 zation of the courts, had become absolutely necessary. 
 
 Second. A general opinion began now to prevail that 
 some restrictions on the power of the legislature to loan 
 the money or the credit of the state to corporations, or 
 to increase the public debt by undertaking to construct 
 new roads or canals, should be adopted and made a part 
 of the organic law. 
 
 But while a large majority of the people, and probably 
 of the legislature, conceded that these alterations in the 
 organic law were necessary, and indeed indispensable, 
 when any specific amendments involving these princi- 
 ples were proposed in the legislature, they differed so 
 much about the details, that hitherto they had been un- 
 able to settle upon any distinct propositions to submit 
 to the people, which could obtain the support of a con- 
 
 33 
 
386 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 stitutional majority of the two houses. Hence the 
 friends of reform insisted that a convention was abso- 
 lutely necessary. 
 
 T[ie governor in his message took ground against the 
 call of a convention, and argued the question with great 
 ability. He admitted that the constitution required 
 amendment in several particulars, and especially in re- 
 gard to the points we have mentioned, but he insisted 
 that all the necessary amendments could be made if a 
 proper spirit of compromise should prevail ; and he be- 
 lieved that by this course the expense and hazard of in- 
 viting a convention (for an act for calling one would be 
 a proceeding beyond the pale of the constitution) might 
 be avoided. After advising specifically several amend- 
 ments, the governor concludes by saying : 
 
 " The foregoing suggestions for amending the consti- 
 tution are based on the conviction that all required mod- 
 ifications can be effected in the manner prescribed, and 
 that the people prefer the established and economical 
 mode of acting upon distinct and clearly-defined propo- 
 sitions ; and that a convention can only be necessary 
 when the legislature shall fail to agree upon such amend- 
 ments as may be demanded by the popular sentiment ; 
 and even in that case, the question should first be sub- 
 mitted to. the people." 
 
 The message, taken as a whole, is a very able one, and 
 written in a style quite superior to his first message. 
 
 From a view of the proceedings of the legislature 
 at its session in 1843, the radicals suspected, and 
 some of them believed that an association had been 
 formed, with Governor Bouck at its head, which com- 
 bined the banking and internal improvement inter- 
 ests, the object of which was to change the policy estab- 
 
184 i.] CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM. 387 
 
 li^hed by ihe act of 1842 ; and they suggested that the 
 resolutions of democratic conventions held in some forty 
 or fifty counties during the summer and autumn of 1843, 
 decidedly and warmly approving of the law of '42, in- 
 duced that class of politicians to abandon their object ; 
 and hence they said that the Argus, in October, 1813, 
 announced itself in ''favor of Gov. Bouck's debt-paying 
 policy y Their intentions and this combination were 
 and are denied by the hunkers. If such combination 
 ever existed, we do not believe all the members or even 
 all the leaders of the hunker party were privy to it, for 
 we have conversed with more than one gentleman of 
 veracity of that party who deny all knowledge of such 
 an association. 
 
 It is certain, however, that Mr. Hoffman and Col. 
 Young believed such to be the fact, and therefore ar- 
 rived at the conclusion that a constitutional convention, 
 or rather a constitutional provision, was absolutely ne- 
 cessary in order to secure the permanency of their fa- 
 vorite policy. 
 
 We say Mr. Hoffman arrived at this conclusion, be- 
 cause, soon after the termination of the general election 
 in November, 1843, about fifty radical citizens of Alba- 
 ny signed a call for a meeting at the capitol for the pur- 
 pose of sustaining the cause of constitutional reform, 
 through the agency of a state convention. The meeting 
 was held on the 21st of November, of which the Hon. 
 Bradford II. Wood was chairman. The following were 
 among the resolutions adopted by that meeting: 
 
 " Resolved, That we believe the constitution of this 
 state needs revision and vital and elemental modifica- 
 tions, both in the extent of the power to be delegated by 
 the people and in the manner of its administration ; that 
 
388 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 these changes include the entire prohibition of the right 
 of government to entail a public debt upon the people, 
 except in time of war or insurrection, without their con- 
 sent expressed directly through the ballot-boxes; and 
 also the right to erect privileged incorporations, the 
 members of which shall enjoy a dispensation from the 
 ordinary obligations of debt ; that they also contemplate 
 the limitation of the central power of government, by the 
 return to the people in their town and county organiza- 
 tion — first,, of the power of the legislature over matters 
 of merely sectional interest, and, second, of the power of 
 the executive over the local administrative and judicial 
 officers of the state ; that they contemplate also such a 
 modification of the state judiciary as shall ensure to the 
 people a cheap and prompt administration of justice, and 
 dispense with the necessity of a tribunal of last resort, 
 armed both with judicial and legislative power, and using 
 one to justify and fortify the other. 
 
 " Resolved, That we seek these changes through the 
 agency of a convention, constituted by law, and rep- 
 resenting the whole people ; because repeated unavailing 
 efforts by the people have shown that it is hopeless to 
 seek of the representative body the limitation of its own 
 power ; because the combinations of local and corpo- 
 rate interests in that body are already armed, by the con- 
 stitution, with a VETO POWER against the people, which 
 will almost inevitably defeat the popular will ; because 
 we believe, with Jefferson, that a solemn opportunity 
 should be afforded to each generation to reconsider and 
 revise the charter of their rights and liberties, to accom- 
 modate it to the circumstances in which they live, and 
 to renew in its behalf the expression of their loyalty and 
 devotion." 
 
1844.] COMMITTEES OF THE ASSEMBLY. 389 
 
 The first of the above resolutions, it will be seen, 
 shadows forth some of the material alterations which 
 were actually made by the convention of 1846. Mr. 
 Hoffman attended this meeting, and the editors of the 
 Atlas say made a speech which occupied two hours in 
 its delivery. 
 
 The Argus speaks coldly of the meeting, and con- 
 cludes a brief article on the subject by saying : 
 
 " We believe also, in the language of the St. Law- 
 rence resolution, ' That the best mode of effecting con- 
 stitutional reform is to promote the adoption, in the 
 manner prescribed by the constitution, of those amend- 
 ments which are of most pressing importance to the 
 public welfare.' " 
 
 It is very probable that these proceedings, and the 
 ground taken by several of the democratic newspapers 
 in the state, induced Mr. Bouck to occupy a large por- 
 tion of his message in discussing the question whether 
 a convention ought to be called. 
 
 Immediately after the organization of the assembly 
 some difficulty occurred in forming the standing com- 
 mittees. Tne three great committees of the house were 
 the committee of ways and means, that on canals, and 
 that on the judiciary. Messrs. Seymour, Allen, and Bos- 
 worth were all ambitious voung men, distinguished for 
 their talents, and leaders in the hunker party. It was 
 therefore desirable to place each of them at the head of 
 an important committee. Mr. Hoffman in 1842 was 
 chairman of the committee of ways and means, and from 
 his age and standing the public feeling would not toler- 
 ate displacing him ; and if he was made chairman of that 
 committee, only two important committees were left to 
 be apportioned among the three gentlemen ".e have 
 
 33* 
 
390 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 mentioned. In this state of things, Mr. Allen, chairman 
 of the committee on the rules of the house, consisting of 
 himself, Seymour, Hoffman, Bosworth, and Hulburt, 
 reported in favor of creating a new standing committee, 
 to be called the committee on amendments to the consti- 
 tution, to whom all matters in relation to that subject 
 should be referred. This proposition, was opposed by 
 Messrs. Hoffman, Stevens, and Hulburt, and supported 
 by Messrs. Allen, Seymour, and Bosworth. In the pro- 
 gress of the debate, Mr. Youngs, of Queens county, moved 
 to amend the report by striking out so much of it as re- 
 lated to the appointment of the new committee on con- 
 stitutional amendments, and the motion was adopted by 
 the large vote of 98 to 36. In the end Mr. Hoffman 
 was appointed chairman of the committee of ways and 
 means, Mr. Sevmour of that on canals, and Mr. Allen 
 of the judiciary committee. A select committee was 
 ordered on that part of the governor's message which 
 related to amendments of the constitution, of which Mr. 
 Bosworth was appointed chairman. 
 
 It will be seen by the vote on the report of Mr. Allen, 
 proposing to make alterations in the rules cff the house, 
 that although Mr. Hoffman failed of being nominated 
 for speaker, soon after the house was organized the ma- 
 jority of that body was with him. A reliable corre- 
 spondent from Albany says : " A few days after the 
 choice of .speaker, on three successive occasions he (Mr. 
 Hoffman) carried with him, against the speaker and his 
 three friends, Seymour, Bosworth, and Allen, a majority 
 of the house, and two to one of the democratic mem- 
 bers. This alarmed them. Bosworth joined Hoffman, 
 leaving Seymour alone to combat him, while Allen was 
 sometimes with Seymour and sometimes with Hoffman ; 
 
1S44.] SEYMOUR, BOSWORTH, AND ALLEN. 391 
 
 but," adds the same correspondent, " these three young 
 and very clever men were secretly* acting in concert." 
 " The people's resolution" was passed, Seymour oppo- 
 sing and voting against it. But when they came to the 
 subject of the finances, Bosworth suddenly left Hoffman, 
 and denounced him in the house. This, with what 
 the influence of the governor had done, left Mr. Hoff- 
 man in a small minority on the questions relating to the 
 canal and financial policy advocated by Messrs. Sey- 
 mour and Bosworth, as we shall state more fully here- 
 after. 
 
 During this session, various important questions were 
 discussed, as well in the senate as in the assembly. 
 These questions, and the debates to which they gave 
 rise, we should take pleasure in reviewing, did our limits 
 allow ; but to give in detail a history of the legislation 
 of the session, would swell this volume to an unreasona- 
 ble size. The movements, however, in relation to the 
 nomination and election of president, and the nomina- 
 tion of a candidate for governor at the fall election in 
 1844, are, independent of the action of the legislature, 
 so highly interesting and important, that we feel bound 
 to describe some of those movements. 
 
 It is however to be remarked, that there were two 
 great and controlling subjects which occupied the at- 
 tention of the legislature, and to which most other mat- 
 ters that came under consideration were rendered sub- 
 
 * Our correspondent evidently means to allegfe this as his opinion mere- 
 ly, and not as a fact within his knowledge, and we think he inisjiidffed. 
 Messrs. Alien and Bosworth, and especially the latter, were halauciug be- 
 tween Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Seymour. They probably thought HofFinan's 
 notions on the subject of e.xpenditures for internal improvement too sirin- 
 g-ent, and Mr. Seymour's too liberal. 
 
392 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 servient ; these were the amendments to the constitution. 
 and the financial and internal improvement policy of the 
 state. We shall therefore mainly confine ourselves to 
 the history of the legislation on these great questions ; 
 but before we enter on that history, we will mention 
 some occurrences not immediately connected with the 
 action of any or either of the political parties, which 
 happened this year. 
 
 Mr. Foster is entitled to the honor of having, on 
 the second day of the session, introduced resolutions 
 in favor of a reduction of postage. They were as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 "Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That in the 
 judgment of this legislature, the rates of postage as es- 
 tabhshed by law, are excessive, and highly burdensome 
 to a portion of the citizens of the United States : that 
 the high postage now charged is calculated to prevent 
 the use of the mails as a medium of communication ; to 
 encourage the establishment and support of rival modes 
 of conveying mail-matter, in defiance of the post-office 
 laws ; and to prevent that free interchange of commu- 
 nication by letter which is desirable to all. 
 
 " That the franking privilege, as at present authorized, 
 is unequal and unjust in its operation ; tending to load 
 and encumber the mails with much useless matter ; is 
 very frequently exercised in violation of the law of con- 
 gress ; increases the expense of transporting the mails, 
 and of the post-office department ; and that expense, in- 
 stead of being defrayed by the whole people of the Union, 
 in proportion to their ability, is made a charge upon the 
 correspondence of the country, and an onerous tax upon 
 the business ol" the people. 
 
 " That, if the franking privilege is to be continued, we 
 
1844.] JUDGE cowen's death. 393 
 
 perceive no good reason why its expenses should not be 
 made a charge upon the general treasury, and be paid 
 hv the whole people in proportion to their contributions 
 to tlie other expenses of the general government, rather 
 than to continue the present system, which levies the 
 whole amount upon those whose business or other cor- 
 respondence compels them to use the mails as their me- 
 dium of communication." 
 
 We copy these resolutions because they present, in 
 substance, the plan ultimately adopted by congress, and 
 also the reasons for the proposed reduction ; but one 
 reason for such reduction is omitted. It is this. If the 
 rates of postage are to be regarded as a tax, (and most 
 assuredly they are such, and exacted with a view to 
 raise a revenue sufficient to defray the expenses of the 
 department,) such tax is palpably unequal. At the pres- 
 ent reduced rates of postage, the states north of Mason 
 and Dixon's line pay enough to reimburse the depart- 
 ment for all its expenditures in those states, and leave a 
 very large surplus, which is applied to pay for the 
 transportation of the mail in the southern and south- 
 western states. Thus the people of the north actually 
 pay for the delivery of letters, &c., to the people of the 
 south. Hence, if we rightly recollect, every member 
 of congress from the slave states voted against the re- 
 duction of postage. 
 
 On the 8th of February, Mr. Foster was chosen 
 by ballot, eighteen to seven, president pro tempore of 
 the senate. This token of respect was justly clue 1<> 
 him for his arduous and able labors in that body, and to 
 his distinguished talents. 
 
 On the 11th of February, after a short but severe ill- 
 ness, Judge (^owen died in Albany. Among the many 
 
394 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 
 
 instances in the state of New York of self-made men, 
 Judge Cowen was one of the most distinguished. He 
 was a native of Rhode Island, and at an early age 
 migrated to this state, entered the office of Judge 
 Skinner, at Sandy Hill, with very little, if any classical 
 education, and when admitted to the practice of law, 
 located himself in the county of Saratoga. His perse- 
 vering and incessant application to the appropriate stu- 
 dies of his profession, soon gave him the reputation of a 
 learned lawyer, and he was appointed reporter to the 
 Supreme Court, organized under the constitution of 
 1821. The eight volumes of his reports of the proceed- 
 ings of that court, and his elementary writings, particu- 
 larly the work entitled " Cowen's Justice," a book of 
 humble pretensions, but really one of the most useful 
 books to be found in the library of the lawyer, will 
 transmit his fame to the latest posterity. In 1832 he 
 was appointed circuit-judge of the fourth circuit, and 
 subsequently he was appointed a judge of the Supreme 
 Court. He discharged the duties of this office with 
 distinguished ability, integrity, and independence, for 
 sixteen vears, and until his death. Unaflected and mod- 
 est in his deportment, and with great simplicity of man- 
 ner, he was a man of immoveable firmness and great de- 
 cision of character. So assiduous had been his application 
 to his studies, and so retentive was his memory, that he 
 was literally a walking law-library. The only official 
 error he ever committed was his decision in the case of 
 M'Leod ; and if that was an error, it was one of the 
 heart, growing out of his sympathy for his friend, Mr. 
 Papineau, and other Canadian patriots, — a sympathy 
 which caused a bias in his honest and independent mind, 
 of which he was not aware. His son, Sidney Cowen, 
 
1844.] GEN. fohter's death. 395 
 
 Esquire, a young man of great promise, died about a 
 year after his father. 
 
 Both houses of the legislature, on being informed of 
 the death of Judge Cowen, adjourned ; and at a joint 
 meeting, adopted, on the motion of Gen. Clark, senator 
 from the fourth district, who delivered an eloquent 
 eulogy upon the character and merits of the deceased, 
 resolutions suitable to the occasion. 
 
 On the 20th of February the governor, by consent of 
 the senate, appointed Samuel Beardsley, then a distin- 
 guished member of congress, and whom we have men- 
 tioned in the second volume of this work as an influen- 
 tial member of the senate of this state, a judge of the 
 Supreme Court, to supply the vacancy produced by the 
 death of Judge Cowen. Mr. Beardsley is a clear-headed, 
 sound, and able lawyer, and the appointment was well 
 received by the bar and the public. 
 
 On the 20th of March, Gen. Peter B. Porter died at 
 Black Rock, in the 71st year of his age. Gen. Porter 
 was a man of extraordinary native sagacity, and highly 
 cultivated mind. He was one of the first canal commis- 
 sioners. His colleagues were — De Witt Clinton, Gov- 
 erneur Morris, and Stephen Van Rensselaer. He was 
 also one of the earliest settlers in Western New York, 
 and was a politician of great efficiency and influence. 
 He held various important otHces, the last of which was 
 secretary of war, under the presidency of John Quincy 
 Adams. 
 
 On the 4th of May, James V. L. Pruyn and James 
 S. Wadsworth were appointed regents of the university, 
 in place of Amasa J. Parker and John C. Spencer, both 
 of whom resigned. 
 
 John P. Cusuman, of Troy, who had been appointed 
 
396 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 the successor of Judge Vanderpool, circuit-judge of the 
 third district, and iiad discharged the duties of that office 
 in a manner creditable to himself and highly satisfactory 
 to the public, having arrived nearly to the age of sixty 
 years, resigned his office, and Amasa J. Parker^ of the 
 county of Delaware, was appointed in his place. The 
 appointment of Judge Parker was well received, as he 
 was favorably known as a lawyer and as a member of 
 congress, and had discharged his duties in a satisfactory 
 manner ; but his peculiar fitness for discharging the du- 
 ties of the office to which he was now appointed was not 
 then known. He is now a judge of the third judicial 
 district, elected by the people when and where there was 
 a strong political majority against him. This single fact 
 is better evidence of his merits than any written or 
 printed commendations can be. 
 
 Thomas Farrington was, on the 5th day of Feb- 
 ruary, elected treasurer to the state for the ensuing 
 year. 
 
 We have, in a preceding chapter, noticed the death 
 of Judge Thompson. This event left the great state of 
 New York without a justice of the Supreme Court of 
 the United States. Soon after the meeting of congress 
 in December, 1843, Mr. Tyler nominated John C. Spen- 
 cer, then a member of his cabinet, for the successor of 
 Judge Thompson, but the senate rejected his nomina- 
 tion by a vote of twenty-six to twenty-one. The sena- 
 tors from this state, Wright and Tallmadge, voted to 
 confirm his nomination, and so in fact did nearly all the 
 democratic senators. His rejection was caused by al- 
 most a unanimous whig vote against him. Consider- 
 ing the great legal learning, industry, capacity for intel- 
 lectual labor, and the talents of Mr. Spencer, it may be 
 
1844.] WHIG U. S. SENATORS AND J. C. SPENCER. 39'? 
 
 a subject of regret that he was not made a member of 
 that high tind important court. The whigs, however, 
 had much rea.<;on to be dissatisfied with his poHtical con- 
 duct. Unl'ortunately for that party, the death of Gen. 
 Harrison had cast the executive government on Mr. 
 Tyler, who, ahhough nominated by a whig convention, 
 of which he was himself a member, and professing whig 
 principles, soon after the government was cast upon him, 
 vetoed some of the most important and favorite meas- 
 ures of the whig party, and distributed the national pat- 
 ronage in a manner at war with the interests and wishes 
 of an immense majority of the party. In consequence 
 of this course, which was regarded as a breach of faith, 
 the cabinet officers who were appointed by Gen. Harri- 
 son, that is to say, Mr. Ewing, secretary of the treasu- 
 ry, Mr. Bell, secretary of war, Mr. Granger, postmaster- 
 general, and Mr. Crittenden, attorney-general, resigned 
 their offices, leaving only Mr. Webster, the secretary 
 of state, who elected to remain, under the pretence 
 that he thought it his duty to continue in the de- 
 partment of state until the controversy between Great 
 Britain and the United States respecting the true boun- 
 dary of the state of Maine could be adjusted and settled. 
 In this state of things, Mr. Spencer accepted from Mr. 
 Tyler the appointment of secretary of the war depart- 
 ment. The whigs considered this acceptance as an 
 abandonment of his party, and a commitment, on his 
 part, to support Mr. Tyler in his course, which they 
 considered not only injurious to the interest of the nation, 
 but as personally treacherous. Every act of Mr. Ty- 
 ler and his cabinet, in conferring the patronage of the 
 government upon the political enemies of the whigs, 
 which from time to time was done, increased the irrita 
 
 34 
 
398 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 
 
 tion and resentment against him and his cabinet, and 
 especially against Mr. Spencer. The whigs at that 
 time had a majority in the senate, and to the state of 
 feeling we have described we presume the rejection of 
 Mr. Spencer's nomination may be charged. 
 
 After the question respecting Mr. Spencer's appoint- 
 ment was disposed of, the president nominated Silas 
 Wright for the vacant judgeship ; but the moment he 
 received notice of his nomination, he respectfully de- 
 clined the appointment. His refusal was anticipated ; 
 for though no direct notice of the president's intention 
 to nominate him had been given, intimations of such in- 
 tention had been made darkly to him, which he either 
 did not understand, or refused to seem to understand. 
 It was therefore inferred that he was not desirous of re- 
 ceiving the appointment. Why did he not accept the 
 office ? The office of judge of the Supreme Court of 
 the United States is one of the most desirable offices 
 within the gift of the nation. It is the duty of a judge 
 to abstract himself from all party controversies and col- 
 lisions. His office is one of great dignity. He is en- 
 tirely independent of popular or court favor. He holds 
 it for life. The salai'y is liberal, and it is a life-estate of 
 four thousand dollars a year. Why, then, did Mr. 
 Wright not accept such an office, tendered to him un- 
 solicited ? Some of his reasons may have been the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 He may have been attached to his seat in the senate. 
 It was a theatre for which nature, education, and his 
 natural temperament, had peculiarly fitted him. He no 
 doubt was conscious that he was rendering his country 
 service there ; if he changed that position for another, it 
 might be doubtful whether he could in that other posi- 
 
1844.^ WRIGHT REFUSES OFFICE OF U. S. JUDGE. 399 
 
 tion be as useful. At any rate, it was an experiment 
 which he might deem it hazardous to make. 
 
 Again : The presidential election was soon to take 
 place, and he might have doubted whether his duty to 
 his friends would permit him to withdraw from the po- 
 litical field before the approaching contest was decided. 
 Mr. Wright had been, and still was, the inflexible politi- 
 cal opponent of Mr. Tyler. So were that portion of his 
 constituents who had placed him in the senate. Was 
 he at liberty to accept an office from an administration 
 to which his constituents were all but unanimously op- 
 posed ? 
 
 But the consideration which must on ,this occasion 
 have pressed with overwhelming force on such a mind 
 as that of Silas Wright, was, that the question of the an- 
 nexation of Texas was either then before the senate, or 
 was about to come before it, and it was anticipated that 
 the senate would be nearly equally divided in relation 
 to that measure. Mr. Wright was opposed to annexa- 
 tion. A war with Mexico, with all its dreadful conse- 
 quences, and the liberty or slavery of unborn millions, 
 might depend upon a single vote in the senate. Could 
 Silas Wright abandon his post in the senate when one 
 vote might produce results so momentous ? No, he 
 could not — he did not. Mr. Wright, from a nice sense 
 of honor and a patriotic devotion to the cause of his 
 country and to human liberty, declined the proffered ap- 
 pointment. He did remain in the senate, and he did 
 vote against the annexation of Texas. 
 
 After Mr. Wright's settled determination to refuse the 
 appointment w as made known to the president, he nom- 
 inated Chancellor Walworth. This was an excellent 
 nomination. His long experience as a judge, his varied 
 
400 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. £l844. 
 
 and extensive legal attainments, and his indefatigable 
 industry, would, beyond question, have rendered him 
 one of the most useful members of the Supreme Court. 
 His nomination was very popular in this state ; but in 
 the winter of 1844, the whigs held a majority in the 
 senate of the United States, and at that time they confi- 
 dently expected that the presidential election, which was 
 to take place in the succeeding autumn, would result in 
 the election of a whig president. When, therefore, the 
 name of Chancellor Walworth was sent to the senate, 
 the whig members generally were in favor of postponing 
 action upon the nomination until after the election, in 
 the hope that an appointment, politically more agreeable 
 to them, might be made. There were, it is true, a few 
 of the whigs whose personal regard for the chancellor 
 overbalanced their political partialities, and who were 
 desirous that his nomination should be confirmed ; but 
 Mr. Berrien, from Georgia, effected an arrangement 
 with some of the democratic western senators, by which 
 they agreed, if their aid should become necessary, to 
 vote in favor of the postponement of the question on 
 Mr. Walworth's nomination. With the motives which 
 induced the democratic western senators to make this ar- 
 rangement with Mr. Berrien, we are unacquainted ; 
 but the result was, that the president's message nomi- 
 nrxtinir Mr. Walworth was laid on the table, and the 
 session passed away without any action upon it by the 
 senate. 
 
 It has been reported, and it was believed by many, 
 that some of the southern senators opposed the appoint- 
 ment of the chancellor because, in giving an opinion in 
 a case which came judicially before him, he had inci- 
 dentally declared that slavery was a national and " lo- 
 
1844.] NOMINATION OF SAMUEL NELSON. 401 
 
 cal" evil.* This report, however, was not well founded. 
 When the chancellor's name was first mentioned as a 
 candidate for the office, his expression in the case to 
 which we have referred was mentioned as an objection 
 against him by some of the southern gentlemen ; but the 
 matter was soon after explained so as entirely to ob- 
 viate and remove opposition on that ground from the 
 minds even of those who were the most sensitive on the 
 subject of slavery. The question, therefore, remained 
 undecided until the winter of 1845, when all the judges 
 of tlte Supreme Court of New York, and the most dis- 
 tinguished lawyers, and all the members of the legisla- 
 ture, without distinction of party, signed and forwarded 
 a petition to the senate praying the confirmation of the 
 chancellor's nomination. 
 
 The election of Mr. Polk had removed the cause of 
 the desire of the whigs to further postpone the appoint- 
 ment of a successor to Judge Thompson ; and when the 
 petition just mentioned reached Washington, the nomi- 
 nation of Mr. Walworth would undoubtedly have been 
 confirmed, had not Mr. Tyler, about that time, sent a 
 message to the senate withdrawing the chancellor's 
 name, and nominating Samuel Nelson, then chief-justice 
 of this state, in his place. What produced this move- 
 ment of the president is not known. He might not have 
 been apprized of the change of opinion favorable to the 
 chancellor which had lately occurred in the senate, and 
 may have supposed that the name of Chief- Justice Nel- 
 son would be more acceptable to a majority of that 
 body ; or his action may have been caused by occur- 
 
 * 14 Wendell, 507. Jack vs. Martin. 
 34* 
 
402 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 rences which will be related when our narrative reaches 
 the year 1845. 
 
 It gives us pleasure to be able to state, that Judge 
 Nelson had no voluntary agency in defeating the ap- 
 pointment of the chancellor. He had himself written 
 in favor of that appointment ; and we have been as- 
 sured, from a most reliable source, that he acted in the 
 transaction with perfect fidelity and good faith to his 
 friend. 
 
 The nomination of Judge Nelson was confirmed on 
 the 13th of February, 1845. 
 
1844.1 GEN. chamberlain's resolution. 403 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Gen. Chamberlain's Resolutions — Mr. Dennison's Report on the Canal 
 Policy and Bill — Assembly's Finance Bill amended in the Senate, and 
 passes — The state of feeling in the Assembly and Senate between the 
 Hunkers and Radicals — B. F. Hall's Bill for a Convention, and procecd- 
 ino-s thereon — Bill for electing Canal Commissioners — Removal of Mr. 
 Cassidy from the office of State Librarian — Policy of the Whigs — Cal- 
 vin H. Hulbnrd — Democratic Legislative Caucus — Protest of the minor- 
 ity — Whig Legislative Address. 
 
 The subject of increasing the expenditures for internal 
 improvements by a partial resumption of the public 
 works, which had been suspended by the act of 1842, 
 was, in the early part of the session, brought before the 
 senate by a resolution which was offered by Gen. Cham- 
 berlain, a resident of the county of Allegany. The 
 resolution contained a preamble, which, after quoting 
 the first sections of the two acts of the legislature passed 
 in the year 1836, by which the canal commissioners 
 were directed to construct and complete the Genesee 
 Valley and Black River canals, states that — 
 
 " Whereas, the people of the state, by their agents, 
 the canal commissioners, have proceeded, under the 
 several acts above specified, to the construction of the 
 said canals, and have actually expended on the Gen- 
 esee Valley Canal about three millions five hundred 
 thousand dollars, and leaving only about one million of 
 dollars to complete the same : also, on the Black River 
 Canal, there has been expended about one million five 
 hundred thousand dollars, leaving to be expended to 
 
404 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 
 
 complete the same, about three hundred thousand dol- 
 lars, showing that the works are more than three-fourths 
 completed, and but a small portion brought into use. 
 
 " And whereas, vast amounts of property have changed 
 hands, and large sums of money have been invested, in 
 view of the completion of said canals, and many other 
 business arrangements have been made with the same 
 view, by a large and respectable portion of our fellow- 
 citizens ; therefore, 
 
 " Resolved, That in the judgment of this senate, the 
 faith of the state is solemnly pledged to those people in- 
 terested to carry forward those works to completion, as 
 soon as the finances of the state shall be in a condition 
 to do the same ; and if not now in such condition, good 
 economy requires that the works in progress should be 
 protected and preserved." 
 
 This resolution was considered and discussed in the 
 senate on the 19th day of February, when the mover 
 made an elaborate speech in favor of its adoption. But 
 as the spirit of the resolution evidently contemplated a 
 departure from the policy of 1842, it does not seem to 
 have gained much favor in the senate. Petitions for 
 a resumption of the public works, and claiming that by 
 the acts of 1836 the state was pledged to coynplete these 
 canals, or pay damages to those who had made invest- 
 ments in their vicinity on the faith of those supposed 
 pledges ; and also a bill to provide for the preservation 
 and protection of the works on the unfinished canals of 
 the state, were referred to the canal committee, consist- 
 ing of Messrs. Dennison, Varian, and Rhoades. 
 
 On the 21st of March, Mr. Dennison made a report 
 on the petitions and proposed bill, Messrs. Varian and 
 Rhoades dissenting. 
 
1844.] MR. dennison's report. 405 
 
 This report must have cost Mr. Dennison much time 
 and labor. It is exceedingly well written, and evinces 
 much talent and great energy of mind. As this report 
 may be supposed to embody the views of the state 
 officers and the radicals of the senate, we will endeavor 
 to present a sketch of it. 
 
 Mr. Dennison commences by giving a brief history 
 of the canal policy, and showing that no indebtedness 
 was incurred for the construction of the Erie and Cham- 
 plain canals, without, at the same time, providing by law 
 for the payment of the interest and repayment of the 
 principal : he says — 
 
 " We are to judge of the wisdom of the early friends of 
 internal improvement in this state, by their actions and 
 their works ; and these will bear the severest scrutiny 
 which time and experience can apply. With those men, 
 the work to be done, and the ways and means to do it, 
 were never for a moment separated. A prominent and 
 vital part of the original canal policy of this state, is the 
 plan adopted for providing the ways and means to pay 
 for the works when completed." 
 
 Mr. Dennison believes with Col. Young the following 
 to be a good general rule : that no work should be under- 
 taken or recognised by the state that will not, when 
 completed, sustain itself, pay the interest on its cost, and 
 contribute something towards a sinking fund to redeem 
 the principal. 
 
 He then shows that the lateral canals, to wit, Oswe- 
 go, Cayuga, and Seneca, Chemung, Crooked Lake, Che- 
 nango, Genesee Valley, and Oneida Lake, do not, in the 
 aggregate amount of lolls received from them, pay a sum 
 equal to the amount paid by the state for their repairs ; 
 that the repairs in 1843 cost 884,065.07, while the tolls 
 
406 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 amounted only to $80,146.60. In illustration of the 
 views of the committee in relation to the construction 
 of the lateral canals, the report takes an extended notice 
 of the history and operations of the Chenango Canal. 
 Engineers of the highest character, after a careful ex- 
 amination, certified that the canal could be constructed 
 for a milHon of dollars, and the amount of tolls to be 
 received was estimated at from $110,843 to $166,844 an- 
 nually. Experience had shown that this canal had cost 
 '$2,417,000, and the amount of tolls received from it in 
 1843 was $16,194.75. The annual loss to the state 
 caused by the construction of the Chenango Canal, the 
 committee estimate at $123,618.04. 
 
 In proof that it was unwise for the state to engage in 
 the enterprise of constructing the Chenango Canal, Mr. 
 Dennison presents a supposed case, to which it seems 
 difficult to furnish a satisfactory reply. The supposed 
 case shows that a road might be constructed by the 
 state, and all the produce transported by wagons, which 
 was then conveyed on the canal, (the amount of tonnage 
 transported on the canal during the year 1843 having 
 been ascertained by the committee to be 17,177 tons,) 
 at a less loss to the state than has been incurred in con- 
 sequence of the construction of the canal. The illus- 
 tration of this proposition to us is original, and certainly 
 is ingenious, and we therefore copy it : 
 
 " Ninety-seven miles (the length of the Chenango Ca- 
 nal) of the best graded and gravelled road, could have 
 been made through the Chenango valley at $4,000 per 
 mile, and would cost at that rate $388,000. 
 
 "All the tonnage on this canal, viz. the 17,177 tons, 
 does not pass the whole distance : but say the whole of 
 it is transported 60 miles, which is a liberal estimate. 
 
1844.] MR. dennison's report. 407 
 
 "To hire 160 teamsters at $2 per day, for 300 work- 
 ing days in tiie year, would require $96,000. They 
 would have easy work in going the sixty miles and re- 
 turning in four days ; and on such a road as the above 
 sum would make, they could draw with convenience, 
 with a single team, one and a half tons per load, return- 
 ing empty. They could therefore draw to the Erie 
 Canal, 75 loads each per year, and have the earnings of 
 the returning teams. The total tonnage which they could 
 draw is 18,000 tons. 
 
 " The first cost of constructing this canal is. $2,417,000 
 
 " To construct the above road would cost. . $388,000 
 " An investment at five per cent, to produce 
 $96,000 per year, to pay the teamsters, 
 would be 1,920,000 
 
 Total $2,308,000 
 
 " Leaving as a sinking fund, or to extend, 
 
 repair, and improve the road $109,000 
 
 " Thus it is seen, it would have been cheaper for the 
 state to have made a road and hired teamsters at expen- 
 sive rates to ti-ansport the produce of that country in 
 ordinary wagons ; and the community would have had 
 the free use of the road for common purposes." 
 
 The report then proceeds to give a history of legisla- 
 tion as respects the construction of the Black River 
 Canal, and it reviews the proceedings in relation to the 
 Genesee Valley Canal ; and as in the case of the Che- 
 nango Canal, it shows that in each of these canals the 
 state would have been a gainer had it constructed a road 
 at an expense of $4,000 per mile, and paid teamsters at 
 the rate of two dollars per day for transporting, free of ex- 
 
408 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 
 
 pense to the Erie Canal, all the produce which for many 
 years will be transported on these canals when comple- 
 ted. After taking this view of the subject, Mr. Dennison 
 remarks, that " a distinguished senator from the fourth 
 district (Col. Young) many years ago prophesied in his 
 place that the time would come when those legislators 
 who were pressing the construction of these and kindred 
 works, would deny before heaven and earth their agency 
 in fastening them upon the state. The debates in the 
 legislature and among the people for the last few years, 
 have fulfilled this prophecy. Each political party liter- 
 ally hastens to escape from them, like Lot of old from 
 the conflagration of Sodom and Gomorrah. Each brings 
 a railing accusation, and charges their construction upon 
 the other. Fortunate would it be for the people, if the 
 debt and taxation under which they groan could be fas- 
 tened where the sin belongs — upon the speculators and 
 demagogues." 
 
 There can be no doubt that the members of the legis- 
 lature were induced to undertake these works in conse- 
 quence of the erroneous estimates of their expense made 
 by the engineers. The highest estimate of the expense 
 of constructing the Chenango Canal w^as $1,000,000 — it 
 actually cost $2,417,000. The first estimate of the cost 
 of the Black River Canal was $487,739.25, the next was 
 $602,544, and the last, upon which the legislature acted 
 when they undertook the work, was $1,019,221.72. This 
 estimate was made by Mr. Jervis ; but. after the work 
 was cojnmevced, Mr. P. R. Root calculated the expense 
 at $2,431,099.29. There has been already expended 
 on this canal $2,067,285.05, and the cost of its comple- 
 tion is stated at not less than $737,817.67, making a total 
 of $2,805,102.72. The highest estimate of the Genesee 
 
1844.] MR. dennison's report. 409 
 
 "^'^allev Canal, and that on which the work was under- 
 taken by the legislature, was $1,774,372.12 ; after money 
 had been expended, in pursuance of the law, for the con- 
 struction of this canal, Mr. Mills, the same engineer on 
 whose estimate the legislature acted, reported the ex- 
 pense of the work at $4,900,122.44. There had, when 
 this report was made, been expended $3,553,000, and 
 Mr. Dennison calculates the expense of finishing this 
 canal at $2,000,000. The very great disparity between 
 the estimated and actual expense, forces upon the mind 
 the painful conclusion that some of these engineers, act- 
 ing as they did under their responsibility as state agents, 
 were either grossly and culpably ignorant or negligent, 
 or that they were corrupt. Well might Mr. Dennison 
 say, in another part of his report, in answer to the claim 
 of the applicants that the faith of the state was pledged 
 for the completion of these works, that if such pledge 
 had been given it was given in consequence of false and 
 fraudulent representations. 
 
 Mr. Dennison also presents a rapid and perhaps 
 rather too sombre view of the financial concerns of the 
 state, and arrives at the conclusion that the public works 
 cannot be resumed without laying an additional direct 
 tax, and he expresses the same opinion as respects fur- 
 ther expenditures in enlarging the Erie Canal ; the re- 
 sult at which he finally arrives, is expressed in the fol- 
 lowing propositions and resolution : 
 
 " 1. The tolls of the canals and revenue of the state, 
 by the act of March 29th, 1842, entitled ' An act \o pro- 
 vide for paying the debt and preserving the credit of the 
 state,' are pledged to the public creditors, and that law, 
 with all its guaranties and pledges, must be rigidly ob- 
 served until our debt be paid. 
 
 35 
 
410 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 
 
 "2. The public works cannot be resumed without a 
 resort to additional direct taxation, to which the people 
 will not and ought not to submit. 
 
 " 3. The state having entered upon the construction 
 of the unfinished canals, without a full knowledge of 
 their cost and demerits having been communicated to 
 the people, the legislature ought not to appropriate any 
 money to be expended in their construction, until the 
 j)eople, who have to foot the bills, in the exercise of 
 their sovereign power command it to be done ; and the 
 committee will not recommend a direct tax to preserve 
 them. 
 
 "4. The interests of the people require no legislation 
 on the subjects referred at this time ; and therefore the 
 committee respectfully submit the following resolution : 
 
 " Resolved, That the committee be discharged from 
 the further consideration of the bill and petitions." 
 
 About one month after this report was made in the 
 senate, [23d of April,] Mr. Seymour, from the committee 
 on canals in the assembly, made a report on that part of 
 the governor's message which related to canals. That 
 committee consisted of Messrs. Seymour, M. L. Harris, 
 Linn, S. Cole, and Dickinson. This report was drawn by 
 Mr. Seymour, and occupies seventy-one large octavo 
 pages. We do not hesitate to pronounce it one of the ablest 
 and best- written documents ever presented to a legislative 
 body. We should do injustice to the author of it were 
 we to pretend to give a skeleton of it. From the able 
 and masterly review that it takes of our system of in- 
 ternal improvements, the great mass of well-arranged 
 facts it contains, its lucid, candid, liberal, and able rea- 
 soning, and the brief, but intelligent picture it presents 
 of the finances of the state, it will amply reward any 
 
1844.J MR. Seymour's report. 411 
 
 person for the time which the perusal of it would oc- 
 cupy. It ought to be read by every statesman and le- 
 gislator, who desires to be acquainted with the situation 
 of the public works and the financial condition of the 
 state in the year 1844. It will be found in Vol. VII. of 
 the assembly documents of that year, No. 177. 
 
 We will merely remark, that the report unequivocally 
 takes ground in favor of sustaining and carrying out all 
 the pledges of the act of 1842 ; that it shows there will 
 be a surplus of revenue after redeeming those pledges ; 
 that it admits the necessity of suspending the enlarge- 
 ment of the Erie Canal, but recommends the employ- 
 ment of the surplus revenue in enlarging the locks upon 
 it, in preserving the unfinished works, and in gradually 
 progressing with the construction of the Black River 
 and Genesee Valley canals ; and where unfinished parts 
 of the enlarged canal can be completed, at an expense 
 not greater than that of repairs to contiguous parts of 
 the old canal, as in the case of the Schoharie Creek 
 aqueduct, the report recommends that such parts should 
 be completed. The report condemns and repudiates 
 the pre-existing policy of creating additional debts for 
 the purpose of constructing new canals or enlarging the 
 Erie Canal, and it commends the policy recommended 
 by Mr. Flagg and the canal board in 1835, that only the 
 surplus revenue of the canals should be used for those 
 purposes.* The following are the concluding paragraphs 
 of the report : 
 
 " The present period is eminently favorable for the 
 establishment of a system of improvements which shall 
 
 * It is worthy of remark, that the principles advocated in this report are 
 substantially those adopted by the last constitutional convention, and are 
 now a part of the organic law of the state. 
 
412 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 not conflict with the rapid payment of our great liabili- 
 ties. But to accomplish this, the subject must be ap- 
 proached and treated with the fairness and candor its 
 importance demands. If, stimulated by success, we have, 
 in a period of excitement and delusion, exceeded the 
 bounds of prudence or discretion, we have but fallen 
 into the errors which ever attend upon the progress of 
 human enterprises. The errors we have committed are 
 not without their utility or profitable teachings. The 
 corruptionsof extravagance, and the bitter consequences 
 of indebtedness, have produced their own correctives, 
 and public opinion, admonished by the past, has returned 
 to its accustomed and healthful channels, from which it 
 will not be readily diverted. There is no portion of our 
 citizens who desire to increase our state indebtedness, 
 or to do aught to the detriment of our common interests, 
 when they are shown the evils that inevitably follow in 
 the train of borrowing large sums of money, to be re- 
 paid perhaps in periods of pecuniary distress and em- 
 barrassment. But just views of political economy are 
 not to be disseminated by harsh denunciations, which 
 create the suspicion that there is more of hostility to 
 the interests of those assailed, than an honest desire 
 to protect the treasury of the state. Neither is it 
 true, on the other hand, that any considerable number 
 of our citizens are opposed to the extension of our 
 canals when it can be effected by the aid of surplus rev- 
 enues. 
 
 " The issue, which has been made between improve- 
 ments on the one liand and finances on the other, is a 
 false and unnatural one. And if the committee have 
 succeeded in establishing the truth of their positions, we 
 may and should have in this state a liberal system of in- 
 
1844.] MR. Seymour's canal bill. 413 
 
 ternal improvements, furnishing the elements of and 
 predicated upon a sound financial policy." 
 
 With this report Mr. Seymour introduced a bill, a 
 summary of which we copy from the Albany Argus : 
 
 " Sec. 1. Authorizes the canal board to direct the ca- 
 nal commissioners to cause to be made such repairs and 
 improvements on unfinished work on the enlargement 
 of the Erie Canal, as may be necessary to bring the same 
 into use, in cases where said board shall decide that it 
 is better economy, or more for the interest of the state, 
 to bring into use such new work, than it is to repair and 
 continue in use the old work for which it is to be substi- 
 tuted, and where the contractor shall have been settled 
 with for any claim which he may have on account of 
 said work. 
 
 "§2. Before the canal board shall direct any such re- 
 pairs or improvements as are contemplated in the first 
 section, they shall have, from the canal commissioners, 
 estimates of the probable expense to be incurred in ma- 
 king the same, and also a particular statement of the 
 condition of the old work, for which said new work is to 
 be substituted. 
 
 " § 3. Authorizes the canal board to direct the com- 
 missioners to construct and maintain any bridges over 
 the Erie Canal which according to law they might con- 
 struct or maintain, but for the provisions of chap. 114, 
 of the laws of 1842. 
 
 " § 4. Authorizes the canal commissioners to use any 
 materials that have been paid for or estimated to con- 
 tractors on the enlargement of the Erie Canal, on any 
 work that may be done under this act, or for any repairs 
 on the Erie Canal. 
 
 " § 5. Requires the commissioners, under the direction 
 
 35* 
 
414 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 of the canal board, to protect or secure from injury, in 
 the manner directed by the board, the pubhc works on 
 the enhirgement of the Erie Canal, or on any of the un- 
 finished lateral canals, that have been completed and not 
 brought into use, or that have been commenced and not 
 completed, or the materials that have been procured and 
 paid for or estimated to contractors for such works ; and 
 to sell any materials that have been paid for or estimated 
 to contractors for any work on said enlargement or said 
 lateral canals. 
 
 " § 6. The expenses of securing from injury any fin- 
 ished or unfinished work, under the fifth section, to be 
 paid from the proceeds of the sale of any materials un- 
 der that section, or from the revenues of the Erie Canal, 
 to an amount not exceeding the value of any materials 
 used for any repairs on the Erie Canal ; the deficiency, 
 if any, to be paid from any surplus of canal revenue, 
 after complying with the pledges of the act of 1842. 
 
 "§ 7. The commissioners to account to the canal board 
 for all materials used or disposed of under this act. 
 
 " § 8. Directs the canal commissioners to finish the 
 aqueduct over the Schoharie creek, and the new work 
 necessary to bring it into use for canal navigation ; also 
 to complete and bring into use the new line of the Erie 
 Canal extending from a point ten chains east of the aque- 
 duct aci'oss the Nine Mile Creek to the village of Jordan. 
 
 " § 9. The commissioners to make such repairs and 
 improvements as may be directed by the canal board 
 under this act, in the same manner that they are required 
 to make repairs and improvements on any completed 
 canal, by chap. 9, title 9, art. 2, of the first part of the 
 Revised Statutes. 
 . "§ 10. Whenever the canal board shall decide that 
 
1844.] DENNisoN &. Seymour's reports compared. 41."? 
 
 any work done or improvement made on the Erie Canal 
 under this act is a just repair of said canal, or that the 
 same is necessary for the security, or for the convenient 
 use of said canal, or for the interest of the public cred- 
 itors of this state, or that it will be the best economy 
 in a period of twenty-two years to make any improve- 
 ment contemplated by this act, then the expense of ma- 
 king any such improvement shall be paid from the reve- 
 nues of said canal as a repair ; otherwise the same shall 
 be paid from any surplus revenues of the canals, after 
 complying with the pledges and guarantees of chap. 114, 
 of the laws of 1842." 
 
 The report of Mr. Seymour has been considered as 
 antagonistical to that of Mr. Dennison, and hence it may 
 be regarded as inconsistent to commend both. But upon 
 a careful examination, it will be perceived that there is 
 no material difference in the principles advocated by 
 each, except that Mr. Seymour's indicates an opinion, 
 that whenever the revenue arising from the canals shall 
 yield a surplus over and above a sum sufficient to re- 
 deem the pledges contained in the act of 1842, such 
 surplus should be applied to defraying the expenses of 
 enlarging the Erie and completing the construction of 
 the Black River and Genesee Valley canals. Mr. Den- 
 nison, on the contrary, was of the opinion that that sur- 
 plus, if there should be any, ought to be applied to the 
 extinguishment of the public debt. The authors of both 
 reports were for rigidly adhering to the policy marked 
 out by the act of 1842 ; both were for the establishment 
 of a sinking fund, which, within a given period, would 
 ensure the payment of the debt of the state ; and both 
 were opposed to the further prosecution of the public 
 works, if such prosecution would add to the public debt, 
 
416 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 
 
 or in any manner check the increase of the sinking fund. 
 Mr. Dennison viewed with jealousy and suspicion the 
 sanjiuine calculations of the more zealous friends of in- 
 ternal improvements, in respect to the amount of income 
 which in future might be expected from the canals, while 
 Mr. Seymour cherished a hope that those calculations 
 would prove correct. Mr. Dennison exhibits truthfully 
 and in bold relief the erroneous and false representa- 
 tions, on the faith of which some of the public works 
 were undertaken, and Mr. Seymour cheers us with the 
 prospect of the rich treasures, which, it may reasonably 
 be anticipated, will be realized from the navigation of 
 our magnificent artificial rivers. The feelings with 
 which these distinguished gentlemen drew their respect- 
 ive reports, undoubtedly gave a different coloring to the 
 sentiments they expressed, but both were highly enlight- 
 ened and talented men, and both, as we believe, had 
 solely in view, and were honestly seeking to promote 
 and sustain measures which, in their judgment, were 
 best calculated to ensure the permanent prosperity and 
 glory of the state. 
 
 Immediately after the reading of Mr. Seymour's re- 
 port, Mr. HoflTman rose, and after expressing his appro- 
 bation of many parts of it, and complimenting the author 
 for the ability it displayed, stated several objections to 
 it ; but his objections were rather to its details than to 
 the principles which it advocated. He and those acting 
 with him expressed a serious apprehension that the bill 
 reported by the committee was intended for the com- 
 mencement of a series of measures at war with the pol- 
 icy of the act of '42, and which eventually would over- 
 throw that policy. The bill, however, finally passed 
 both houses, substantially as reported by the committee, 
 
1844.] ME. barlow's speech i\ the senate. 417 
 
 excepting the addition of a clause restricting the annual 
 expenditures under it to $150,000. We observe that 
 Messrs. Allen and Bosworth voted against this bill ; the 
 whigs generally voted for it. It appears that for some 
 cause Mr. Hoffman did not vote. Sixty-seven members 
 voted in the affirmative and thirty-eight in the negative. 
 
 In the senate considerable opposition was made, and 
 Mr. Strong, in an eloquent speech, denounced the bill as 
 a palpable departure from the policy contemplated by 
 the act of '42. 
 
 Mr. Barlow^ who generally acted with the radicals, 
 made a very sensible speech on the affirmative side of 
 the question. " We all claimed," he said, ■' to be in favor 
 of the policy of the law of 1842 ; but we varied in opinion 
 whether this law clashes with that policy. He believed 
 it did not ; for the policy of that law allowed w^orks to 
 be preserved, and also to be finished, when it would be 
 better economy than to keep the old canal in repair. 
 This bill only provides f(fi- the same. 
 
 " There is," said Mr. B., " a very good saying of Poor 
 Richard, that 'a stitch in time saves nine.' This say- 
 ing is good sense in practical life ; and I believe that it 
 is wise, and may apply as well to a people collectively,. 
 as to an individual. I believe that good economy re- 
 quires the expenditure of a reasonable sum ; and if the 
 expenditure shall be made within the good saying of 
 Poor Richard, the people will approve of it ; for I be- 
 lieve their judgment is deliberate and economical. It 
 was not pretended, as far as Mr. B. had heard, by any 
 one, that the law of 1842 contemplated an utter aban- 
 donment of the unfinished works. Then, it was exceed- 
 ingly difficult to reconcile the neglect of an appropriation 
 to preserve them w ith a regard to economy. It will re- 
 
418 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YOHK. [1844. 
 
 quire but a small sum comparatively to finish the Scho- 
 harie aqueduct and Jordan level, and secure their per- 
 manency. How can any one have a doubt as to what 
 Poor Richard would say in such a case, when he saw 
 the large amount of improvements now going to dilapi- 
 dation and waste ? Mr. B. was confident the good 
 judgment of the people would approve of preserving 
 them." 
 
 The vote on the final passage of the bill in the senate 
 was 17 to 13 — all the whigs, except Mr. Piatt, voting in 
 favor of it. 
 
 Another bill, which passed the assembly about the 
 same time when Mr. Seymour's bill passed, and which 
 was entitled, " An act supplementary to the act entitled, 
 An act to provide for the payment of the debt and pre- 
 serving the credit of the state," which was reported by 
 the committee of ways and means, and better known by 
 the name of the " Finance Bill," excited much discus- 
 sion in the assembly. It will* be recollected that the 
 committee of ways and means, or finance, consisted of 
 Messrs. Hoffman, Bosworth, L. Lee, Burt, and Davis. 
 The bill as reported was widely different from what Mr. 
 Hoffman and Mr. Lee desired it should be. It provi- 
 ded for a loan of i$ 1,200,000, to be applied to the pay- 
 ment of land damages on the several canals, of arrear- 
 ages to contractors, &c. 
 
 This bill, together with a proposed amendment to the 
 constitution, restricting the power of the legislature as 
 to expenditures for internal improvements, produced an 
 earnest and protracted debate, and a review of the 
 entire history of the canals and the financial system. 
 Great talents as well as great zeal were displayed on 
 both sides. We have not room to give even a sketch 
 
1844.] FINANCE BILL IN THE SENATE. 419 
 
 of these debates. The difference between Mr. Hoff- 
 man and his friends, and Mr. Seymour, and those acting 
 with him, seemed in substance to be with respect to the 
 true construction of the act of 1842. Mr. Hoffman 
 contended that, according to the spirit of that act, noth- 
 ing ought to be expended other than for necessary re- 
 pairs until the entire debt should be paid. Mr. Sey- 
 mour, on the contrary, though he explicitly took ground 
 in favor of the law of 1842, and urged that all its guar- 
 antees and pledges should be rigidly observed, contended 
 that any surplus, beyond the amount pledged, should be 
 applied to the extension and preservation of the public 
 works. 
 
 It is not surprising that the two parties, in the heat of 
 debate, should have charged each other with objects and 
 views which neither party entertained. This was in 
 fact the case ; for it was more than insinuated by the 
 radical?, that the hunkers intended to evade the act of 
 1842, and to gradually introduce a system of measures 
 which, instead of providing for the extinguishment, 
 would increase the public debt. On the other hand, the 
 hunkers charged the radicals with hostility to the canals, 
 and with a desire, through mere pique and prejudice, to 
 sacrifice some fifteen or twenty millions of money rather 
 than violate their abstract doctrines of what should have 
 been the policy of the state before these expenditures 
 were incurred. 
 
 The finance bill, as reported by Mr. Bosworth, in the 
 end passed the assembly by a vote of 02 to 29. 
 
 It did not reach the senate until Friday evening, the 
 3d of May, which was only four days before the two 
 houses had agreed to adjourn, and one of those days was 
 Sunday. 
 
420 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 On Monday, the 6th of May, Mr. Bockee, chairman 
 of the finance committee, called for the consideration of 
 the bill from the assembly. A bill professing to have 
 the same object in view had been reported to the senate, 
 but action on it had been deferred until the assembly's 
 bill should reach the senate, so that the senators might 
 elect between the two bills. 
 
 Mr. Bockee moved to strike out, in effect, the whole 
 bill from the assembly, and insert that of the senate as a 
 substitute. 
 
 The senate bill struck out $1,200,000, and inserted in 
 lieu thereof, $800,000, which was raised, on motion of 
 Mr. Faulkner, to 8900,000 ; and it provided for a direct 
 tax of one-tenth of a mill on a dollar to secure the pay- 
 ment of the interest and the repayment of the principal 
 of the sum so to be borrowed. Mr. Bockee's substitute 
 w^as adopted in the senate, and in this form the bill 
 passed, there being only four votes, Messrs. Backus, 
 Hard, Piatt, and Works, in the negative. 
 
 Mr. Bockee, although regarded as a hunker during 
 this and the succeeding session, held the balance be- 
 tween the two sections of the democratic party ; and 
 this position placed him in the station, as respected those 
 sections, of an umpire between them. 
 
 The debates in the assembly were courteous, which 
 was, perhaps, in part owing to the strict parliamentary 
 decorum which Mr. Hoffman always observed towards 
 opponents as well as friends, the good-nature of Mr. 
 Sampson, and the constitutional modesty, liberality, and 
 kind feeling of jMr. Seymour. 
 
 In the senate there was much more bitterness and ir- 
 ritability. That body contained a number of individ- 
 uals remarkable for acerbity of temper. As they held 
 
1844.] AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 421 
 
 their seats for a much longer thne than the members of 
 the other house, they became more deeply imbued with 
 the feelings which existed at Albany ; and these hostile 
 feelings were from time to time kept alive and called 
 into action, not only by a seeming difference of opinion 
 in respect to measures, but by controversies about the 
 nominations to office made by the governor. 
 
 Several amendments to the constitution were pro- 
 posed and adopted by the joint resolution of both houses ; 
 the first of which was to make the act of 1842 a part of 
 the constitution, and providing that the revenue therein 
 mentioned should be applied to the purposes specified, in- 
 cluding the repayment to the United States of the de- 
 posite fund. This latter provision seems to us an 
 attempt to be "righteous overmuch ;" for every man of 
 common sense knew then, as he does now, that a ma- 
 jority of congress will never be obtained which will call 
 on the states to refund that money. Amendments were 
 also proposed to make the substance of Mr. Loomis's 
 resolution a portion of the organic law, — to provide for 
 the appointment of three associate chancellors, and to 
 add to the Supreme Court two justices. 
 
 In the discussions that occurred when these amend- 
 ments were under consideration, so much difference of 
 opinion was evinced on the question, whether the reme- 
 dies proposed by the amendments for existing defects 
 were the best that could be devised, that little hope was 
 entertained that they would be approved by two-thirds 
 of the members who might be elected to the next legis- 
 lature. In proof of this, without referring to the votes 
 of individual members, it is only necessary to state, that 
 the two houses disagreed as to what amendments should 
 be adopted ; and on the question whether the senate 
 
 36 
 
422 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 should insist on their amendments, or propose a confer- 
 ence, that body was equally divided, and a conference 
 was directed by the casting vote of the lieutenant- 
 governor. 
 
 During the summer of 1843, some portion of the po- 
 litical press of the state had taken ground in favor of a 
 convention to revise the constitution, and, as we have 
 already related, a public meeting was held at Albany in 
 November of that year, at which Mr. Hoffman made a 
 speech, and resolutions were adopted recommending a • 
 convention, and several radical changes in our organic 
 law. 
 
 The constitution of 1777 contained no provision for 
 future amendments. When, therefore, under that con- 
 stitution, changes in the constitutional law, from an al- 
 teration of the condition of society, or from a great 
 change in public opinion, became necessary, a conven- 
 tion was indispensable. It was a measure of absolute 
 necessity/. But so doubtful were the legislature of 1821 
 of their power to act in the premises, that they did not 
 venture to pass a law commanding a convention ; they 
 merely enacted that it be " recommended'' to the people 
 to elect delegates to meet in convention to propose 
 amendments to the constitution. The constitution of 
 1821 did provide for its own amendment by authorizing 
 the legislature, under certain restrictions, to propose 
 amendments, which, when approved of by a majority of 
 the people, should become a part of that constitution. 
 Hence it was supposed that no future convention would 
 ever be called. Judge Bacon, an eminent statesman 
 who was a member from Oneida county, on giving a 
 final vote in favor of the constitution, declared, that in 
 his judgment, there were many defects in the instru- 
 
1844.] POWER TO CALL A CONVENTION. 423 
 
 ment, and some provisions which were an improvement 
 of the old system ; but he thought the defects overbal- 
 anced the improvements ; that nevertheless, the clause 
 in the constitution which provided for its own amend- 
 ment by the legislature and people without the interven- 
 tion of a convention, and thereby dispensing with all 
 future conventions, was, in his opinion, so highly valua- 
 ble, that it produced in his mind a balance in favor of 
 the instrument before them, and he therefore should vote 
 for its adoption.* 
 
 A moment's reflection must convince any reasonable 
 man that a law providing for a convention to revise and 
 amend the constitution of 1821, was a proceeding be- 
 yond the pale of that constitution. Was it not a viola- 
 tion of it ? That instrument had instructed the legisla- 
 ture how they should proceed to amend it. If they 
 chose to proceed in a mani.er different from their instruc- 
 tions, it would seem that they would not only exceed their 
 powers, but would act contrary to the express directions 
 of the charter under which they were sitting as a legis- 
 lature. If this reasoning be correct, then those gentle- 
 men who passed a bill for a convention, acted in their 
 individual and not in their official capacity, and the act 
 itself was a mere recommendation of one hundred and 
 sixty intelligent gentlemen from different parts of the 
 state assembled at the capitol in Albany. But although 
 an act to call a convention to alter the organic law was 
 unconstitutional, yet the right o{ revolution remained in 
 the people. And it seems to us that the whole proceed- 
 ings in getting up the late convention, must be sustained 
 by that right alone. A revolution can only be justified 
 
 » 2 Political History, pp. 82, 83. 
 
424 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NKW YOKK. [l844. 
 
 as a measure of necessity. Hence those in favor of a 
 convention in 1844 and 1845, were bound to prove the 
 truth of two propositions : 
 
 1. That amendments to the constitution were abso- 
 lutely indispensable and necessary. 
 
 2. That those amendments could not with reasonable 
 probability be made in the way provided by the consti- 
 tution of 1821. 
 
 It by no means follows that because the constitution 
 of 1846 was founded on the right of revolution, that it is 
 not now binding on the people ; for that revolutionary 
 measure has been confirmed by the fiat of the people, 
 declared in the most legitimate way, namely, at the polls 
 of the election. It is equally as binding as the Declar- 
 ation of Independence, which severed the United States 
 from the British empire, to which they were before at- 
 tached by the most solemn forms of law. 
 
 After much discussion in the assembly, during the ses- 
 sion of 1844, Mr. Hall, a whig member from the county 
 of Cayuga, whom we have mentioned in a preceding 
 chapter, introduced a bill submitting to the people the 
 question whether a convention should be called to revise 
 and amend the constitution. This bill was referred to 
 the select committee on constitutional amendments, con- 
 sisting of Messrs. Bosworth, Hofl^man, Sey4Tiour, Samp- 
 son, and Stevens, four democrats and one whig. 
 
 Mr. Hall about a month before he brought in this bill 
 had offered the following as a joint resolution : 
 
 " Resolved, That the following amendment be proposed 
 to the constitution, that it be referred to the legislature 
 next to be chosen, and published as i-equired by the eighth 
 article : ' For the purpose of the election of members to 
 the assembly, the state shall be divided by the legisla- 
 
1844.] MR. hall's convention bill. 425 
 
 ture next in session after the adoption of this article, 
 into one hundred and twenty-eight districts of contigu- 
 ous territory, but no district to be composed of portions 
 of more than one county.' " 
 
 This resolution was referred to Mr. Bosworth's com- 
 mittee, who, after some time taken for consideration, 
 declined to report it to the house. This refusal induced 
 Mr. Hall and his friends to believe that a majority of 
 the committee and the administration party in the house 
 were opposed to every substantial reform, and he there- 
 upon drew and introduced the bill to which we have al- 
 luded. Mr. Hall may therefore fairly be considered as 
 the pioneer of the whig party in the enterprise of a con- 
 stitutional reform through the agency of a convention. 
 
 This bill was modelled after the convention bill of 
 1821, and contained substantially the same provisions as 
 that introduced the following year by Mr. Grain of Her- 
 kimer. It submitted the question, whether a convention 
 should be held, to the people, and directed, in case a ma- 
 jority was found to have voted for a convention, that an 
 election of delegates should be had, and a convention 
 held for revising the constitution, and that the instrument 
 when revised should be submitted to the people for their 
 approval. " This movement," says a respectable whig 
 correspondent, who was then a member of the assem- 
 bly, " shadowed forth the purpose of the whig party in 
 respect to constitutional reform ; and this the more prom- 
 inently when it came to be understood that Mr. Stevens 
 of Albany, a member of the committee, concurred with 
 Mr. Hall in the propriety of the measure. The com- 
 mittee nevertheless declined to report the bill to the 
 house, notwithstanding the urgent solicitations of Hoff- 
 man and Stevens, the minority of the committee." 
 
 36* 
 
426 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 
 
 When the refusal of the responsible majority of that 
 committee became known to Mr. Hall, a caucus of the 
 whis members of the senate and assembly was held at 
 the Eagle Tavern in Albany, for the purpose of consid- 
 erincr the propriety of making a further demonstration 
 on the subject of reform. What occurred at that meet- 
 ing may be inferred from the resolution introduced by 
 Mr. Hall the next day, [March 15th,] to instruct the 
 committee to report, with or without amendment, the 
 bill introduced by him in relation to a convention to re- 
 vise the constitution. But the motion was strenuously 
 opposed by the majority, and by their vote laid upon the 
 table, where it remained until the 2d day of April follow- 
 ing, when it was taken up for consideration hnd dis- 
 cussion. In the discussion, which was somewhat vehe- 
 ment, Messrs. Hoffman, Stevens, Hall, Allen, Seymour, 
 and Bosworth participated. The three former advoca- 
 ted, and the three latter opposed its passage. The only 
 speech which was fully reported was delivered by Mr. 
 Hall. It was published in the Evening Journal, and is 
 believed to be the first published legislative speech ex- 
 tant in favor of the convention project. " In this discus- 
 sion, Messrs. Seymour and Allen," says our whig corre- 
 spondent, " averred that it was a whig project to disor- 
 ganize the democratic party in this state, and to which 
 they feared it was the intention of a branch of their own 
 party to ally itself These speeches induced many mem- 
 bers to withdraw from the house, and thereby avoid a 
 vote upon the question. At the conclusion of the de- 
 bate but ninety-four members were in their seats to vote 
 upon the subject. Mr. Gorham moved to lay the reso- 
 lutions on the table, upon which a test vote of the re- 
 maining members was given — ayes 56, noes 38 ; all 
 
1844.] CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. 427 
 
 the whigs voting in the negative except the member 
 from Allegany, (who was not in favor of a convention.) 
 Had the remaining 34 members been in the house, the 
 result would have been against laying on the table, and 
 in favor of the passage of the resolution, as enough of 
 them were so committed had they voted at all." This 
 vote, however, was regarded as decisive of the fate of 
 the convention bill for that session, and relieved the 
 committee, who, in expectation of its passage, had ac- 
 tually prepared a written report in favor of the bill, to 
 be used in the event of the passage of the resolution. 
 
 Subsequently Mr. L. Lee, a radical democrat from 
 the county of Orange, introduced a resolution directing 
 the select committee to report a bill recommending a 
 convention. This gave rise to an animated debate, and 
 led to a discussion of the question of its consideration, 
 which showed the state of parties in the house, as re- 
 spected that measure. On this occasion, Messrs. Hoff- 
 man, Bosworth, and others, among the democrats, and 
 Mr. Stevens, the whig leader, declared themselves for a 
 convention. The vote in favor of considering Mr. Lee's 
 resolution stood 58 to 46. The 58 votes were given 
 by 31 democrats and 27 whigs, and the 46 votes against 
 the consideration were given by 43 democrats and three 
 whigs. This vote strongly indicated a majority in favor 
 of a convention. The question involved in the resolu- 
 tion was earnestly discussed, but the session finally pass- 
 ed away without any effectual action upon it.* 
 
 * Our whig correBpondent, from whom we have quoted, in a letter now 
 before us, states " that Gov. Seward was from the first of the opinion, that 
 although the constitution pointed out a way in which it could he amended, 
 a great public and paramount necessity justified the call for a convention. 
 He held, as Gov. Clinton did, with respect to the convention of 1821, that 
 
428 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 On the 3d day of May a bill passed the senate, which 
 appears to have been introduced by Gen. Clark, abolish- 
 ing the office of non-acting canal commissioner, and pro- 
 vidint; that there should be but four commissioners, who 
 should be elected at a general election by the people. 
 
 necessity justified a convention whenever the existing constitution proved 
 insufficient for its own amendment. He deemed the judiciary system, as 
 establislied by the constitution of 1821, the most defective part of that in- 
 strument. He also was dissatisfied with the restrictions it contained on 
 the elective franchise. He was consulted, and fully concurred in the pol- 
 icy of introducing a convention bill into the legislature of 1844." Our 
 correspondent, in relation to the course pursued by the whig editors on the 
 convention question, further states that " Mr. George Dawson, at present 
 an associate editor of the Evening Journal, who in 1844 conducted the 
 Rochester Democrat, was the first whig editor who advocated a conven- 
 tion to revise the constitution. When Mr. Hall introduced his convention 
 bill into the legislature, Mr. Dawson was at Albany, where he prepared 
 a strong article approving of Mr. Hall's course, and urged the whigs of 
 Western New York to support the bill. This was in February, 1844. 
 
 "The next whig editor who took ground in favor of the convention 
 movement was Henry Oliphant, the editor of the Auburn Daily Adverti- 
 ser, who wrote and published several excellent articles in favor of Mr. 
 Hall's bill, and of constitutional reform. Mr. Greeley, of the New York 
 Tribune, soon after announced himself in favor of a convention, and also 
 declared in favor of Mr. Hall's bill. 
 
 " Mr. Thurlow Weed, notwithstanding his great respect for the opinions 
 of Mr. .Seward, thought it impolitic, on the eve of an important election, 
 to commit himself and his paper in favor of a convention. Michael HofT- 
 man was a mcmberof the assembly in 1844. He had since 1842 favored 
 a convention as a matter of necessity, but in consequence of ill health took 
 no very active part on the subject during the session, except uniformly to 
 vote with the friends of constitutional rel'orm by means of a convention." 
 
 We have every reason to believe that the statement of our correspondent 
 is substantially correct ; and we will add, that the xVlbany Atlas, from the 
 moment the convention project was first agitated until the que.stion in re- 
 lation to it was decided, supported the measure with its usual zeal and 
 vigor. In this course, so far as wo can recollect, it was followed and sus- 
 tained by most and perhaps all the radical newspapers published in the 
 state. 
 
1844.] STATE LIBRABIAN. 429 
 
 It will be recollected that the canal commissioners were 
 formerly appointed by the legislature. The bill was 
 sent to the assembly, and on the 4th of May (the next 
 day) it was referred to the canal committee. Mr. Linn 
 moved that the committee should be instructed forthwith 
 to report the bill. Mr. Seymour opposed this unusual 
 haste in passing through so important a bill, which he 
 said was introduced in the senate the day before. The 
 bill, however, for some reason, seems to have been a 
 favorite of the house, for Mr. Linn's motion prevailed 
 by a large majority, and it passed that evening. 
 
 One other transaction took place which excited some 
 irritation. Formerly the librarian of the state library 
 was appointed by the governor, lieutenant-governor, and 
 state officers. In the year 1842, Mr. William Cassidy, 
 a young man who had many friends in Albany, as well 
 on account of his own character as on that of his fa- 
 ther, who, though little known out of Albany, with all 
 the ardent native benevolence of an Irishman, literally 
 fed the hungry and clothed the naked, was appointed 
 librarian by the votes of the state officers — Messrs. 
 Young, Flagg, and Barker — against the votes of Gov- 
 ernor Seward and Lieutenant-governor Bradish. He 
 continued to hold the office till June, 1844 ; but in the 
 winter of that year an act was passed constituting the 
 regents of the university trustees of the state library, 
 and transferring to them the power of appointing the 
 librarian. It has been suggested by the friends of Mr. 
 Cassidy, that one cause of passing this act was to pro- 
 cure his removal from the office. However this may 
 be, on the 1st day of June, at a meeting of the regents, 
 Mr. Cassidy was removed. We ought to have men- 
 tioned, that he had for some time before been one of the 
 
430 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844, 
 
 editors of the Albany Atlas ; and it was urged, on a mo- 
 tion for his removal, that his time and attention were so 
 much engaged in the management of that paper, that he 
 did not, and could not, devote the necessary time to the 
 proper performance of his duties as a librarian ;- bu^ no 
 specific charge of official negligence was made against 
 him. The board of regents proper were equally divided 
 on the question of removal. The ex-offici.o regents then 
 present were, the secretary of state, Col. Young, and 
 Governor Bouck and Lieutenant-governor Dickinson. 
 Mr. Young voted against the removal and Mr. Dickin- 
 son for it. This cast the responsibility on Gov. Bouck 
 of giving a casting vote, and he gave that vote for the 
 removal of Cassidy. The course of the governor on this 
 question increased the hostility and irritation against him. 
 The whigs, though few in number during this session, 
 were under the advisement and direction of several 
 very sagacious and far-seeing politicians, such as Mr. 
 Hard and Mr. Rhoades of the senate, and Mr. Stevens 
 and Mr. Linn of the assembly. Their policy, and in 
 our judgment their true policy, was to do nothing. 
 They perceived that while they acted as apparent spec- 
 tators, the hostility between the hunkers and radicals was 
 every day increasing, and the breach between them was 
 widening. They held the balance of power between 
 those two sections ; and they exercised that power so 
 judiciously that neither the hunkers nor radicals could, 
 with any plausibility, charge the adverse party with 
 a combination with the whigs. The effect of this 
 policy was to increase the hostility of each section 
 ao'ainst the other, which of course weakened and 
 deadened the energy of the democrats as an entire 
 party. Thu.'*, in the appointment of state printer, they 
 
1844.] MR. HULBURD AND THE NORMAL SCHOOL. 431 
 
 sustained the hunkers; in rejecting the nominations of 
 the governor, in the senate, they generally acted with 
 the radicals ; on financial questions and on the subject 
 of internal improvements they voted with the hunkers, 
 but on the subject of constitutional amendments, and the 
 call of a convention, they generally acted in concert 
 with the radical wing of the democratic party. We do 
 not mean to insinuate that the action of the whigs on 
 these great questions was governed solely by party con- 
 siderations. The probability is, they were quite as sin- 
 cere and conscientious as were either portion of the 
 other party. 
 
 We cannot consent to conclude this very imperfect 
 account of the legislation during the session of 1844, 
 without mentioning the great and important services of 
 Mr. Hulburd in the establishment of the normal school. 
 He personally visited the normal schools in Massachu- 
 setts, and on his return made a report containing the in- 
 formation he had acquired, and the result of his own re- 
 flections on the subject, which concluded by recom- 
 mending the establishment of such an institution in 
 Albany. 
 
 The report is drawn with great ability, and in every 
 line of it the benevojent heart of the author is developed. 
 It concludes with the following eloquent and touching 
 appeal : 
 
 " In concluding this long report, the committee would 
 fain ask, is there no responsibility resting upon this legis- 
 lature to do something to lessen some of the evils of our 
 school system ? Is there no obligation resting upon us 
 to make at least an effort to renovate the schools — to 
 supply them with competent teachers ? Can we ad- 
 journ, having filled a volume with private and local bills, 
 
432 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 without yielding a pittance of our time to consider, and 
 perfect, and pass an act of vital interest to the right edu- 
 cation, the well-being, of more than six hundred thousand 
 of the children of this state ? Have none of us read 
 and felt as that noble Prussian expressed himself: 'I 
 promised God that I would look upon every Prussian 
 peasant as a being who could complain of me before 
 God, if I did not provide for him the best education, as 
 a man and a Christian, which it was possible for me to 
 provide ?' 
 
 " ' When education is to be rapidly advanced,' says 
 President Basche, 'seminaries for teachers afford the 
 means of securing this result.' Do we not owe it to the 
 too-long neglected children — do we not owe it to the 
 state itself — do we not owe it to our whole country, that 
 these ' approved means' of the rapid advance of the best 
 education should at once be prepared ? 
 
 " ' Duties rising out of good possessed, 
 And prudent caution needful to avert 
 Impending evil, equally require 
 
 That the whole people should he taught and trained. 
 So shall licentiousness and black resolve 
 Be rooted out, and virtuous habits take 
 Their place ; and genuine piety descend, 
 Like an inheritance, from age to age.' " 
 
 We hardly need add, that the recommendation of Mr. 
 Hulburd was effectual, and that a law passed in pursu- 
 ance of it. 
 
 The legislature adjourned on the 7th of May, and the 
 evening preceding the democratic members held the 
 usual caucus for the purpose of adopting an address to 
 their constituents, and resolutions expressive of their 
 opinions on the prominent political questions which then 
 excited the attention of the public. 
 
1844.] LEGISLATIVE CAUCUS. 433 
 
 Mr. Speaker Litchfield was appointed chairman, and 
 Mr. Dennison, of the senate, and Mr. Carr, of the as- 
 sembly, were chosen secretaries. 
 
 The address was reported by Judge Bockee, and did 
 not encounter any opposition ; but the fifth and sixth 
 resolutions, which approved of the official conduct of 
 Governor Bouck and Lieutenant-governor Dickinson, 
 were opposed. 
 
 Mr. Glazier, of the city of New York, said, that having 
 the unity of the democratic party sincerely at heart, and 
 believing that this could only be promoted by laying on 
 the table the three resolutions preceding the last, [those 
 in relation to the governor, lieutenant-governor, and 
 state officers,] he accordingly made that motion, and 
 called for the ayes and noes on it. 
 
 The motion to lay these resolutions on the table was 
 lost, twenty-three members voting for it, and seventy- 
 nine against it. Speeches were made, and some disor- 
 der in the gallery occurred, but the resolutions and ad- 
 dress were finally adopted. 
 
 Immediately upon the adjournment the following note 
 was delivered to Mr. Corning, chairman of the commit- 
 tee appointed to superintend the publication of the ad- 
 dress and resolutions : 
 
 " Albany, May Ith, 1844. 
 " We, the undersigned, democratic members of the 
 legislature, entirely dissent from so much of one of the 
 resolutions adopted at the caucus of democratic mem- 
 bers of the legislature, held last evening, as declares, 
 ' that William C. Bouck has adhered with fidelity to the 
 sound policy which has ever characterized democratic 
 administrations, and advanced the state in a career of 
 
 37 
 
434 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 prosperity and honor ;' and wq, for that reason, direct 
 that our names be not attached to the address and reso- 
 lutions adopted at that caucus. 
 
 " John Porter, Robert Dennison, H. W. Strong, 
 Albert Lester, Ab'm A. Deyo, Edmund Var- 
 ney, John B. Scott, Samuel Young, R. C. 
 Field, L. C. Stimpson, David H. Smith, Geo. 
 G. Glazier, George W. TuthilJ, F. D. Flanders, 
 Leonard Lee, Peter H. Warren, Daniel Noyes, 
 Michael Hoffman, William H. Jansen, R. W. 
 Clark, Alban Strong." 
 
 " Albany, May Ith, 1844. 
 "Hon. E. Corning, — 
 
 " Dear Sir : — The undersigned, not being able to sub- 
 scribe to the tariff doctrine set forth in the address 
 adopted at the democratic caucus last evening, and Mr. 
 Van Buren not being the\r first choice for the presiden- 
 cy, request that their names shall not be appended to 
 
 the said address. 
 
 "George G. Glazier, 
 
 "F. D. Flanders.' 
 
 55 
 
 After the adjournment of the legislature, the whigs 
 published an address, signed by forty members. It is 
 written with great tact and ability. We know not who 
 was its author, but we think we can discover pretty 
 strong traces of Thurlow Weed through the whole of it. 
 
 It commences with a most scorching sarcasm at the 
 division of the democratic party and its causes. As re- 
 spects the public debt, it says : 
 
 " In the review which has been made of the past, it 
 has appeared, and is now admitted, that only $4,075,000 
 of the whole public debt was borrowed by the whig ad- 
 
1844.] CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM. 435 
 
 ministration and their predecessors, and more than three 
 millions in performing contracts actually made by those 
 predecessors. In the darkest hour the state has ever 
 seen, the whigs performed every contract without taxa- 
 tion. Their successors, with the aid of a tax of $600,000, 
 have broken contracts on which they have already sub- 
 jected the state to $800,000 damages, and the future 
 aggregate of this ruinous expenditure cannot yet be con- 
 ceived." 
 
 We have omitted to state, as we ought to have done, 
 that under the act of congress for the distribution of the 
 avails of the sales of public lands, about $90,000 had 
 been apportioned to the state of New York, and for- 
 warded to Albany by the United States treasurer ; but 
 that this state for a long time (one or two years) re- 
 fused to receive the money, and that the democratic 
 members of the legislature in 1844 persisted in such re- 
 fusal. This course of conduct the whig address con- 
 demns in terms, as we think, of just and well-merited 
 severity. That money was, by a law of congress, the 
 property of the state of New York. Whether the law 
 for the distribution was wise or unwise, could in no way 
 affect the right or the duty to use the money for the 
 benefit of the state. It was incumbent on the lesfislature 
 to make the best use of that as well as of any other 
 property belonging to the state. The affectation (for it 
 was little other) of unwillingness to receive and appro- 
 priate it, was a kind of political prudery, discreditable 
 to any party. 
 
 The signers of the address declare themselves in fa- 
 vor of a convention to amend the constitution, and spe- 
 cify several alterations in the organic law which they 
 deem necessary, among which are a change in our judi- 
 
436 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 ciary system, an extension of the right of suffrage to all cit- 
 izens, and the equalization of representation by dividing 
 the state into senate and assembly districts. They repu- 
 diate any restriction of the legislative power to create debt 
 or to loan money. They claim to be the authoi's and pa- 
 trons of the law requiring that the canal commissioners 
 shall be elected by the people. They condemn any ma- 
 terial alteration of the tariff" law of 1842, and they repu- 
 diate the project of annexing Texas to the U. States. They 
 inform their constituents that they have recommended 
 Millard Fillmore for the office of vice-president ; and 
 they pronounce a handsome eulogium upon Mr. Clay. 
 The following is the concluding part of the address : 
 
 " The whig party is devoted to progress, but it does 
 not destroy. It seeks to establish perfect equality of po- 
 litical rights ; but it levels upwards, not downwards, by 
 education and benignant legislation, not by subverting 
 established laws or institutions. It is the party of law, 
 of order, of enterprise, of improvement, of beneficence, 
 of hope, and of humanity. Through the action of this 
 great and generous party, every attainable national good 
 may be ultimately secured ; and through its action we 
 can best promote the more comprehensive interests of 
 freedom and of humanity throughout the world." ' 
 
 No one can fail to perceive that the closing scene 
 tended to widen the breach between the two sections of 
 the democratic party, and to leave on the minds of the 
 members at parting an impression which would continue 
 during the recess of the legislature. They must have 
 (juitted the capitol with feelings which disposed them to 
 encourage dissensions in the several counties which they 
 represented, rather than to endeavor to excite zeal and 
 active efforts in support of the common cause. 
 
1844.1 ISSUE AT THE ELECTION IN 1840. 437 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 BALTIMORE CONVENTION. 
 
 The issue on which Mr. Van Buren was beaten in 1840 — Annexation of 
 Texas — Mr. Van Buren's Letter to Mr. Hammit — Intrigues at Wash- 
 ington — Two-third Rule — Proceedings at the Baltimore Convention — 
 Nomination of James K. Polk — Mr. Wright declines to be a Candidate 
 for Vice-President — George M. Dallas is nominated Vice-President — 
 Whig Convention — Mr. Clay nominated for President — Mr. Freling- 
 huysen for Vice-President — Millard Fillmore supported by the New 
 York Delegation — His Character. 
 
 The principal, if not the only material issue on which 
 Mr. Van Buren was beaten in 1840 was on the sub- 
 treasury system, which he recommended and supported, 
 and which, under his administration, was established by 
 law. Notwithstanding the national democratic party 
 were most effectually beaten on that issue, the more they 
 reflected on the measure, the more they were confirmed 
 in the opinion that it was a wise and salutary one. All 
 men became convinced that the state banks could not 
 be safely relied upon as the fiscal agents of the govern- 
 ment, all felt that the deposites of the national revenue 
 in those institutions had led, and saw that it must here- 
 after lead to expansions and contractions in the circula- 
 ting medium of the country, ruinous to the business part 
 of community. The only alternative then remaining 
 was a national bank, against the chartering of which by 
 congress the whole democratic party was solemnly 
 pledged. No one had ever objected to the talents, or 
 deportment, or the purity of the private character of 
 
 37* 
 
438 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 Mr. Van Buren. He had therefore been broken down 
 for the sole reason, that he had sustained and endeav- 
 ored to carry into effect the poUtical principles of the 
 party to which he belonged. It would seem, therefore, 
 that there could be no objections to his renomination by 
 the same party, except those arising from factious mo- 
 tives. 
 
 The democratic convention to designate a candidate 
 for president was to meet at Baltimore on the 27th of 
 May, and delegates to that assembly were chosen, we 
 believe, in all the states of the Union, during the prece- 
 ding winter. A large majority of those delegates were 
 instructed by the respective state conventions, by which 
 they were chosen, to vote, and use their influence for the 
 nomination of Mr. Van Buren. Thus every thing indi- 
 cated concord and harmony. But in the early part of 
 the spring of 1844, a question arose which materially 
 changed the feelings of the democratic party in the 
 southern section of the Union towards Mr. Van Buren. 
 
 Some six or seven 'years before the period of which 
 we are now speaking, Texas, a Mexican province, con- 
 ceded to be such by more than one treaty solemnly en- 
 tered into by the United States, had declared itself 
 independent of the government of Mexico, and her in- 
 dependence had been acknowledged by the United States 
 and several other nations. Mexico attempted to recover 
 her revolted province, but the war she waged against the 
 insurgents was feeble and unsuccessful. A suspension 
 of active hostilities had once or twice been agreed on, 
 but the war continued. In this state of things Mr. Cal- 
 houn, secretary of state, under the direction of President 
 Tyler, negotiated with Texas a treaty of annexation, 
 and that treaty was before the senate of the United 
 
1844.] ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 439 
 
 States in the winter of 1844. The reasons urged in 
 favor of this measure were, the contiguity of that terri- 
 tory to the United States, and its great value ; that we had 
 erred in the treaties we had made with Mexico and Texas 
 in conceding that that country belonged to Mexico ; and 
 that it was our duty to interfere to check the carnage 
 produced by a ruthless war, which Mexico had lately 
 threatened to render still more ruthless and sanguinary. 
 But Mr. Calhoun, the official organ of the government, 
 and a bold, frank, and honorable man, who despised sub- 
 terfuge, in his correspondence with Great Britain put 
 forth other and different reasons for the treaty of annex- 
 ation ; which were, — that annexation was indispensable, 
 in order io preserve and perpetuate slavery in the slave- 
 holding states. The treaty failed of obtaining a consti- 
 tutional majority in the senate ; but Texas was ulti- 
 mately annexed to the United States by a joint reso- 
 lution ! 
 
 We will add but one other remark on the subject of 
 annexation. After Texas became independent, she pro- 
 vided by her constitution for the establishment of slavery, 
 but prohibited the importation of slaves from all parts of 
 the world except the United States. This gave the 
 slaveholding states a monopoly of the slave-trade in 
 that territory. Shortly before Mr. Calhoun commenced 
 his negotiations, it was understood that through the in- 
 fluence of Great Britain, Mexico had agreed to terminate 
 the war against Texas, and acknowledge her indepen- 
 dence, if she would so far alter her constitution as to 
 abolish slavery, and would stipulate not to annex herself 
 to the United States. Had Texas abolished slavery, the 
 sale of the surplus slave population in Virginia, South Car- 
 olina, and the other slaveholding states, would in future 
 
440 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 have been prevented, which Mr. Calhoun foresaw at no 
 very distant period would result in the abolition of sla- 
 very in those states. It was also pretty well understood 
 that Texas would accede to the proposition of Mexico, 
 and would abolish slavery.* Mr. Calhoun considered 
 annexation as the only means of preventing the consum- 
 mation of this project ; and he was therefore right in 
 stating that annexation was essential to the preservation 
 and perpetuity of the institution of slavery in the slave- 
 holding states. 
 
 In this state of affairs, the people of those states, and 
 especially the members of congress representing them, 
 naturally felt an anxious solicitude to learn the opinion 
 of Mr. Van Buren on the subject of annexation. This 
 solicitude was increased by the fact that Mr. Clay was 
 then the avowed whig presidential candidate, and it was 
 generally believed he was opposed to uniting Texas with 
 this government without the consent and against the 
 wishes of Mexico. With a view to elicit the views of 
 Mr. Van Buren, on the 27th of March, Mr. Hammit, a 
 member of congress from the state of Mississippi, and a 
 delegate to the Baltimore Convention, addressed a letter 
 to Mr. Van Buren, requesting him in his reply to declare 
 his opinion on the subject of annexation. There can be 
 little doubt that Mr. Hammit wrote this letter at the re- 
 quest of Mr. Walker, a senator from Mississippi, and 
 perhaps many other influential democratic members 
 from the South ; and it may fairly be inferred from the 
 terms of the letter, that Mr. Hammit meant to give 
 Mr. Van Buren to understand that his support, and that 
 of those friends who thought with him, would depend 
 
 * See the Georgia speech of General Lamar, vice-president of Texas. 
 
1844.] VAN buren's reply to hammit. 441 
 
 upon Mr. Van Buren's answer. " I am," said Mr. Ham- 
 mit, " an unpledged delegate to the Baltimore Conven- 
 tion." * * * 
 
 " It is believed that a full and frank declaration from 
 you, favorable to this great object, will be of great ser- 
 vice to the cause, at a moment so critical of its destiny ; 
 and should you recognise my right to inquire, and your 
 duty to answer, I shall be greatly obliged to you for a 
 letter setting forth your opinions." * * * 
 
 " Pardon me for suggesting that should your opinions 
 be favorable to annexation, the weight and influence of 
 those opinions would be doubly enhanced, in the estima- 
 tion of all true friends of the measure, by the earliest 
 possible public avowal of them before the country." 
 
 Mr. Van Buren, on the 20th of April, answered this 
 letter by declaring himself opposed to annexation. He 
 did not, in his very lengthy and able letter, refer to the 
 slave question, but placed his opposition on the ground, 
 that the United States and the republic of Mexico were 
 at peace ; that Mexico claimed jurisdiction over Texas ; 
 that the former was then prosecuting a war against the 
 latter in support of that claim ; that annexation at that 
 time, if not an act of war on the part of the United 
 States, would provoke a declaration of war by Mexico; 
 and that no principle in the code of the laws of nations 
 would justify the measure.''' This reply roused to ener- 
 
 * Mr. Croswell, in the Pame paper in which he published Mr. Van Bu- 
 ren's letter, remarks that " it is a statesman-like production, marked by 
 that far-reaching sagacity and comprehensive judgment so eminently 
 characteristic of Mr. Van Buren's state papers. * * * Every Ameri- 
 can reader, not entirely under the dominion of prejudice, will admit the 
 force of his conclusions." In one "little month" Mr. Croswell arrived 
 at a very different " conclusion" from that of Mr. Van Buren. 
 
442 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 
 
 getic action, in opposition to the nomination of Mr. Van 
 Buren, the pohticians of the slaveholding states. 
 
 We have before alluded to the zeal, and vigor, and 
 unanimity with which the JSouth always act on all ques- 
 tions in which that section of the Union is more imme- 
 diately interested ; but no question ever produces more 
 excitement and union of action than that which regards 
 slavery. Thus, while the institution of slavery occa- 
 sions physical weakness in states where it exists, in the 
 political relation which those states bear to the Union, it 
 produces political strength. It constitutes a common 
 bond of union, of which the free states are destitute. 
 Hence it is much more easy to create divisions among 
 the people of the North than of the South, both in re- 
 spect of men and measures. A minor section of either 
 of the parties at the North, joining a solid phalanx of 
 men nominally of the same party, of the South, transfers 
 from the majority of the North the control of the party 
 to the southern members of it, who, notwithstanding, are 
 themselves really a minority of the national party. The 
 " Doughfaces' of the North, has become a phrase per- 
 fectly understood in every part of this country. In jus- 
 tice to the whi^s it ouc^ht to be mentioned, that there are 
 many more democrats than whigs who have received, 
 and justly merited, that opprobrious name, first invented 
 by the sarcastic John Randolph. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan, the present secretary of state, and Mr. 
 Calhoun, then secretary of state, had each been named 
 by their respective friends as suitable candidates for the 
 presidency, but both of them, in the early part of the win- 
 ter, publicly declined a competition. Mr. Cass, of Michi- 
 gan, had also been mentioned in connection with that 
 high station ; and the number of democratic candidates 
 
1844.] BALTIMORE CONVENTION. 443 
 
 was now apparently reduced to two — Mr. Van Buren 
 and Mr. Cass. The latter, after the publication of Mr. 
 Van Buren's letter, declared himself to be in favor of 
 the annexation of Texas. Measures were soon taken to 
 produce an impression among the young and aspiring 
 politicians of the North and West, that as after the elec- 
 tion of Gen. Harrison many of the officers appointed by 
 Mr. Van Buren were dismissed from office, if he should 
 be re-elected, it would be a mere restoration to power of 
 the old dynasty of office-holders, without due regard to 
 the changes in society which eight years had produced. 
 Letters from Washington to the friends of Mr. Van 
 Buren, received soon after the publication of his letter 
 to Mr. Hammit, gave information that very active ef- 
 forts were being made to defeat his nomination, which 
 produced alarm, not only here, but in other states. 
 When these reports reached Ohio, a number of the most 
 respectable citizens of that state addressed a letter to the 
 Ohio delegation in congress, insisting upon the support 
 of Mr. Van Buren ; and the reaction in the democratic 
 party appeared so great, that for a week or two before 
 the convention were to meet, the agitators, who were 
 still determined that he sfiould not be the candidate, 
 found it necessary, with a view, no doubt, to deaden the 
 activity of his friends, to affect that opposition to Van 
 Buren was in a great measure abandoned ; and by this 
 means an apparent calm at the capital was produced. 
 How real this was, the action of the convention will 
 show. But nevertheless, so well did the managers in 
 the plot of this drama or farce perform their parts, that 
 many of the most zealous supporters of Mr. Van Buren 
 believed the opposition to him was given up. A mem- 
 oer of congress, whom the cautious editor of the Albany 
 
444 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 
 
 Arsrus certified was a man of " clear views and extend- 
 ed information," in a letter to that editor, dated at Wash- 
 ington, the 18th day of May, only nine days before the 
 meeting of the convention, expresses his conviction that 
 public opinion is settling down with great unanimity in 
 favor of Mr. Van Buren. " Even the exciting question 
 of the annexation of Texas," says the writer, " which by 
 hands at least incautious, if not unfriendly, was thrown 
 into our camp on the eve of the most important consul- 
 tation to be held by the democratic party, is beginning 
 to contribute to the advancement of our cause. Many 
 of the strongest advocates of annexation, upon reflec- 
 tion, have come to regard the grounds taken by Mr. 
 Van Buren in his able letter on that subject, as the only 
 policy consistent with not only the honor, but the true 
 interests of the country. Such is fast becoming, and 
 will soon be, the opinion of the whole South." 
 
 But during this apparent calm, the plot must have 
 been maturing which eventually deprived Mr. Van Bu- 
 ren of the nomination. 
 
 When Gen. Jackson, in 1832, was nominated for re- 
 election at Baltimore, and when it was known there was 
 not a single delegate in attendance who was not in fa- 
 vor of his nomination, for the purpose of exhibiting to 
 the nation the perfect unanimity prevalent on that occa- 
 sion, the convention adopted a rule that the votes of 
 two-thirds of all the delegates present should be neces- 
 sary, in order to make a valid nomination. The same 
 rule, under circumstances nearly if not quite similar, and 
 for the same reasons, (for there was in reality no candi- 
 date in the field against Mr. Van Buren,) was continued 
 at the convention of 1836, when Mr. Vaii Buren was 
 nominated. 
 
1844.] THE TWO-THIRD RULE. 445 
 
 It is impossible to believe that any body of sober- 
 minded men could have adopted this rule with the inten- 
 tion that it should be applied in a case where there was 
 a real difference of opinion among the members of a 
 nominating convention, and where they were nearly 
 equally divided in relation to the selection of a candi- 
 date. 
 
 A nominating caucus is, or ought to be, composed of 
 delegates representing a political party, the members of 
 which agree as respects principles and measures, and 
 who, through their delegates, meet together for the pur- 
 pose of ascertaining who the majority of the party de- 
 sire to select as agents to carry into effect those prin- 
 ciples and measures. Now the two-third rule is calculated 
 to defeat this gi'eat and only object of caucusing, for it 
 vests in the minority the power of controlling the majori- 
 ty. A convention consists of 300 members. It assembles 
 for the purpose of ascertaining who the majority of the 
 party desire should be their candidate for governor. One 
 hundred and ninety-nine of the members wish to put A. in 
 nomination, and 101 of the same body are in favor of B. 
 The two-third rule enables 101 members to say to the 
 199 members, you shall nominate B. or there shall be no 
 nomination. A more effectual means of encouraging 
 faction in a party could not be devised. 
 
 It has been suggested that several of the democratic 
 members of congress from the state of New York were 
 cold towards the nomination of Mr. Van Buren, believ- 
 ing, or affecting to believe, that he was not the most 
 available -candidate. If such was the fact, we do not 
 know who those persons were, nor to which section of the 
 party they belonged ; but it is not improbable that some 
 of the democratic members from this state, either open- 
 
 38 
 
446 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844, 
 
 ly or secretly, favored the views of the southern party ; 
 for when has there been a time since the discussion of 
 the famous Missouri question, that a portion of the New 
 York members did not come in aid of the South on any 
 question between northern and southern democrats ? 
 
 The delegates to the Baltimore Convention from the 
 state of New York were composed indiscriminately of 
 radicals and hunkers. Samuel Young, Benjamin F. 
 Butler, C. C. Cambreleng, Robert Campbell, jr., Alonzo 
 C. Paige, Albert Lester, and John Fine, radicals, and 
 Daniel S. Dickinson, Erastus Corning, Job Pierson, John 
 Stryker, Thomas B. Mitchell, and John C. Wright, 
 hunkers, were on the delegation. Although the dele- 
 gates from this state may have differed in opinion about 
 the time when Mr. Van Buren's name should be with- 
 drawn from the competition for the nomination, as will 
 hereafter be seen, we have never heard, nor do we be- 
 lieve that any of them acted, either openly or covertly, 
 in bad faith. 
 
 A highly intelligent and candid member of the New 
 York delegation has, at the request of the author, favored 
 him with a communication containing the reminiscences 
 of the writer of the proceedings of his colleagues, and 
 of what occurred in the convention. We shall give the 
 substance of that communication in his own words, 
 though we regret to say that we are not permitted to 
 furnish the reader with the name of our correspondent. 
 
 After alluding to the fact that Mr. Van Buren, as 
 early as the year 1842, had received notice that he had 
 been nominated for the next presidency by t-he demo- 
 cratic members of the legislature of the state of Mis- 
 souri, and to the answer of Mr. Van Buren, addressed 
 to those members, in which he expressed his unalterable 
 
1844.] THE TVVO-TIIIRD RULE. 447 
 
 determination not to be again a candidate ; and also to 
 the proceedings of the democratic party in the south- 
 western states, denying the right of Mr. Van Buren to 
 decHne being a candidate, and insisting that he had be- 
 come so identified with the leading measures advocated 
 by the democratic party, that a political victory of that 
 party could not be achieved in 1844 without inscribing 
 his name on their banner ; and also, after stating what 
 we have already mentioned, that a majority of the dele- 
 gates elected to the Baltimore Convention had been in- 
 structed to support Mr. Van Buren, our correspondent 
 says : 
 
 " The New York delegation held a meeting in the 
 city of New York when on their way to Baltimore. At 
 this meeting Mr. Butler, and other members of the del- 
 egation, expressed fears that the two-third rule would be 
 adopted by the convention. After arriving at Balti- 
 more, we held several meetings for private consultation. 
 Judge Fine, who was then a member of congress, stated 
 at one of those meetings, that for several weeks then 
 past, most of the friends of annexation in congress 
 had been engaged in various devices to impress upon 
 the members of the convention that Mr. Van Buren's 
 popularity was on the wane, — that the friends of Gen. 
 Cass, Senator Buchanan, and Judge Woodbury, were 
 acting in concert with the southern delegates, and would 
 so vote in convention ; that is to say, they would vote 
 for ' the two-third rule,' which would as effectually de- 
 feat Mr. Van Buren's nomination as if they openly vio- 
 lated their instructions by a direct vote against him. 
 
 " Judge Fine, Mr. Butler, and other members of the 
 New York delegation, reposed great confidence in the 
 opinions and statements of Mr. C?.\q, Johnson, of Ten- 
 
443 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 nessee. He frequently met with our delegation, and 
 expressed himself in the strongest terms of personal and 
 political friendship towards Mr. Van Puren and Mr. 
 Wright. He said he regretted that the democratic con- 
 vention in Tennessee had not named Mr. V. B. as the 
 candidate. So strong was the confidence of the New 
 York delegation in Mr. Johnson as the friend of Mr. 
 Van Buren, that he was apprized of all our plans in re- 
 gard to the organization of the convention, and was re- 
 quested to nominate Gov. Hubbard, of New Hampshire, 
 as temporary chairman. But when the convention as- 
 sembled," [on the morning of the 27th of May,] " fifteen 
 minutes before the time fixed for commencing proceed- 
 ings, Gen. Saunders, of North Carolina, called the con- 
 vention to order, and nominated Hendrick B. Wright, of 
 Pennsylvania, a friend of Mr. Buchanan, as temporary 
 president." 
 
 Among the most distinguished members of the con- 
 vention from states other than the state of New York, 
 were Gov. Hubbard, of New Hampshire ; George Ban- 
 croft, Gov. Morton, and Mr. Rantoul, of Massachusetts ; 
 Isaac Toucey, of Connecticut ; George A. Vroom, of 
 New Jersey; George C. Dromgoole, of Virginia; H. 
 B. Wright, of Pennsylvania ; Gen. Saunders, of North 
 Carolina ; R. J. Walker, of Mississippi ; Samuel Ewing, 
 of Ohio ; J. W. Tibbatts, of Kentucky ; and Senator 
 Hannegan, of Indiana. Mr. Walker, Gen. Saunders, 
 and Mr. Cave Johnson were the principal managers for 
 the delegates from the southern section of the Union. 
 
 Before the convention was regularly organized. Gen. 
 Saunders moved that the rules and regulations adopted 
 by the national conventions of 1832 and 1836 should be 
 adopted as the rules of that convention. After some 
 
1844.] THE TWO-THIRD RULE. 449 
 
 conversation Gen. S. withdrew his resolution, and the 
 assembly proceeded to ascertain who were entitled to 
 seats. There were 336 delegates in attendance, several 
 of the states having elected a greater number of dele- 
 gates than the number of electoral votes to which they 
 were entitled.* It was finally agreed that all the dele- 
 gates chosen should be considered members of the con- 
 vention ; but that in voting each state should be entitled 
 to give votes equal to its number of electors in the elec- 
 toral college, and no more. After this decision was 
 made, " it was understood," says our correspondent, 
 "that the delegates from Virginia, Illinois, and several 
 other states, among whom there was a difference of opin- 
 ion with respect to the propriety of adopting the two- 
 third rule, agreed, in order that the states from which 
 such delegates came should have their full and legit- 
 imate influence and weight in the convention, that 
 the minorities should yield to the majorities, (not the 
 majorities to the minorities, according to the principle of 
 the two-third rule,) and cast the whole vote of the state 
 according to the wishes of the majority." Thus, sup- 
 pose there were 25 delegates from Virginia, 13 of whom 
 were for the t o-third rule, and 12 against it, the state 
 of Virginia gave 25 votes for the rule. The friends of 
 Mr. Van Buren complained that the adoption of this 
 practice operated against their candidate. 
 
 After these preliminary matters were settled. General 
 Saunders renewed his motion for the adoption of the 
 rules of 1832 and 1836. This occasioned a long and 
 highly inflammatory debate. The only question in issue 
 was that in relation to the two-third rule. 
 
 * There were 53 delegates in attendance from Virginia. 
 
450 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 Mr. Butler concluded an argumentative and eloquent 
 speech against the rule in the following words : 
 
 " I ask, Mr. President, of the calm and deliberate 
 judgment of the convention, whether they will adopt a 
 rule not only unsound and false in principle, but which, 
 if adhered to, will, beyond all peradventure, end either 
 in preventing any nomination whatever, or else in coer- 
 cing the majority to yield to a minority. Adopt this 
 rule, and what are the majority to do ? Either they 
 must surrender their preference — abandon their first 
 choice, the man, perhaps, whom they were instructed 
 to support — or else the convention must break up, and 
 all that we came here to do, be left undone. In the lat- 
 ter case, the convention, by its own act, becomes a nul- 
 lity — a felo de se. It cuts its own throat — applies the 
 pistol to its brain, the dagger to its heart. Is this the 
 way to carry out the purpose that brought us here ? We 
 were sent here to do something. Our mission is not 
 that of a legislative body. They need not act at all. 
 We have no such discretion. We are sent here to act 
 — to make a nomination. And I submit that to adopt a 
 rule which requires what we know cannot be done — 
 unless the majority yield to the minority — is to subject 
 ourselves to the rule, not of reason, but of despotism, 
 and to defeat the true purposes and objects of the con- 
 vention — the accomplishment of the people's will for the 
 promotion of the people's good." 
 
 Mr. Walker replied to Mr. Butler with some as- 
 perity. If the sketch of Mr. Walker's speech which 
 has been published, is correct, it was at least singu- 
 lar, if he meant it should be considered and received 
 as an ai'gument proper to be addressed to men of 
 common candor and common sense. As a specimen 
 
1844.] THE TWO-THIRD RULE. 451 
 
 of it, we copy the following paragraph from the Albany 
 Argus : 
 
 " Mr. Walker, of Mississippi, regarded the question 
 as fully presented by the resolution of Mr. Saunders, 
 and went on to argue in favor of the two-third rule — 
 having prevailed ever since the convention system ex- 
 isted, whenever there had been a divided sentiment as 
 to candidates, or whenever there was any state of things 
 to which such a rule could ^pply ; and insinuating that 
 the settled rule was now sought to be changed, not to 
 benefit the democratic party, but to affect favorably an 
 individual of that party — to elevate men above meas- 
 ures. He argued also in favor of the rule in the ab- 
 stract, as necessary and right in order to secure for the 
 nominee the vote of a majority of the democratic party, 
 and that to reverse it, would he to give to a minority of 
 the democratic party the power to dictate to the majority 
 who should he the candidate." 
 
 So far from its being true that " the two-third rule 
 had prevailed whenever there had been a divided senti- 
 ment as to the candidate," such a case had not, as we 
 have seen, occurred since it was introduced in 1832, and 
 of course it had never been so applied. Mr. Monroe, in 
 1816, was nominated in a congressional caucus against 
 Mr. Crawford by a majority of nine votes only.* Mr. 
 Walker's proposition, that to abolish the two-third rule, 
 and allow a majority vote to control, " would be to give 
 a minority of the democratic party the power to dictate 
 to the majority who should be the candidate," is so pal- 
 pably absurd that it would be offensive if urged by any 
 man of common sense to an intelligent audience. We 
 therefore seriously doubt Avhether Mr. W. can have been 
 
 * The author was a member of that caucus. 
 
452 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 
 
 correctly reported. On calling the ayes and noes the 
 two-third rule was sustained by the following vote : 
 
 Ayes — Massachusetts 5, Vermont 3, Rhode Island 2, 
 Connecticut 3, New Jersey 7, Pennsylvania 12, Dela- 
 ware 3, Maryland 6, Virginia 17, North Carolina 5, 
 Georgia 10, Alabama 9, Mississippi 6, Louisiana 6, Ten- 
 nessee 13, Kentucky 12, Indiana 12, Illinois 9, Michigan 
 5, Arkansas 3 — 148. 
 
 Noes — Maine 9, New Hampshire 6, Massachusetts 7, 
 Vermont 3, Rhode Island 2, Connecticut 3, New York 
 36, Pennsylvania 13, Maryland 2, North Carolina 5, 
 Ohio 23, Missouri 7 — 116. Absent — one from Pennsyl- 
 vania, and one from North Carolina. 
 
 On this proceeding a correspondent of one of the Al- 
 bany journals remarks : 
 
 " The opponents of the two-third vote lose much by 
 some states casting a divided vote, where the ma- 
 jority of the delegation were against the rule — as in 
 Massachusetts and Pennsylvania — and by other states 
 casting their entire vote for the rule, where there was 
 a division of sentiment — as in New Jersey, Alabama, 
 Indiana, and Virginia. Virginia was the last to vote, the 
 delegation being permitted to retire to consult, and not 
 coming in until all the rest of the states had voted. Her 
 vote was of course decisive, and such a scene of uproar, 
 excitement, and confusion could scarcely have been 
 equalled even in the house of representatives. The 
 proposition on which the convention voted was? General 
 Saunders' proposition moved as a substitute for Mr. 
 Jewett's — the latter proposing a committee of twenty- 
 six to report rules, and the former moving his substitute, 
 adopting the rules in force in 1832 and 1836, the two- 
 third rule among the rest. The speakers wh) took part in 
 
1844.] Tin: two-third rule. 453 
 
 the debate were Messrs. Tibbatts of Kentucky, Morton 
 and Rantoul of Massachusetts, Walker of Mississippi, 
 Dickinson and Butler of New York, Medary of Ohio, 
 Jewett of Maine, Colquitt of Georgia, Hubbard of New 
 Hampshire, Toucey of Connecticut, and Saunders of 
 North Carolina." 
 
 The delegates from the following states were either 
 instructed by the respective conventions who elected 
 them to vote for Martin Van Buren, or those conven- 
 tions actually nominated him for president, — Pennsyl- 
 vania, Ohio, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massa- 
 chu.setts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Louisiana, Alabama, 
 Mississippi, Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, and New York, 
 — and yet there were sixty-three votes given from those 
 states in favor of the two-third rule. 
 
 Every man in that convention knew that a majority 
 would vote (as they shortly after did) for Mr. Van Bu- 
 ren. They knew also that if the two-third rule prevailed 
 Van Buren could not be nominated. A vote therefore 
 for the two-third rule was a vote against Mr. Van Bu- 
 ren. So self-evident is this proposition, that to charge 
 any member of the convention with not knowing that 
 this would be the effect of such a vote, would be to 
 charfje him with idiocv. Mr. Brewster nevertheless said 
 that no delegate from Pennsvlvania " dare" return home 
 without voting for Martin Van Buren, so long as his name 
 was before the convention ; and vet twelve of the Penn- 
 sylvania delegation, of whom Mr. Brewster we presume 
 was one, voted for the tn-o-third rule. Mr. Buchanan 
 was opposed to the nomination of Mr. Van Buren ; what 
 his motives for that opposition were, we do not choose 
 to inquire, and although the Pennsylvania delegation did 
 vote for Van Buren, it is well known that from regard 
 
454 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 
 
 to Mr. Buchanan, or some other cause, they did not de- 
 sire that the person for whom they voted should be the 
 nominee. Some of the delegates from Massachusetts 
 and other states undoubtedly voted with feelings similar 
 to those of the Pennsylvania delegates. To justify their 
 conduct in the view of conscientious men requires a spe- 
 cies of casuistry which we do not understand. 
 
 The convention then proceeded to ballot for a presi- 
 dential candidate seven times, with the following re- 
 sults : 
 
 Van Buren. 
 
 Cass. 
 
 Johnson. 
 
 Bu- 
 chanan. 
 
 Wood- 
 bury. 
 
 Cal- 
 houn. 
 
 Stewart. 
 
 1st ballot, 
 
 146 
 
 83 
 
 24 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 2d " 
 
 127 
 
 94 
 
 33 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 3d " 
 
 121 
 
 92 
 
 38 
 
 11 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 4th " 
 
 111 
 
 105 
 
 32 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 5th " 
 
 103 
 
 107 
 
 29 
 
 26 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 6th " 
 
 101 
 
 116 
 
 23 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7th " 
 
 99 
 
 123 
 
 21 
 
 22 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 The votes given for Mr. Buchanan must be regarded 
 as blank ballots, for he had declared himself hors du 
 combat. After these several ballotings, the convention 
 adjourned until the next morning. 
 
 Before the adjournment, and during the intervals of 
 the ballotings, much conversation took place between 
 the delegates from New York and the delegates opposed 
 to the nomination of Mr. Van Buren, and various sug- 
 gestions were made on both sides. After the adjourn- 
 ment these conversations, or attempts at negotiation, 
 were repeated. 
 
 " The delegates from Ohio and other states, amount- 
 ing to more than one-third of the convention, who were 
 friendly to Mr. Van Buren's nomination," says our cor- 
 respondent, from whom we again quote, " informed 
 
1844.] actkjx of the n. York delegation. 455 
 
 the New York delegation that they would continue to 
 support Mr. Van Bwen as long as he should remain a 
 candidate ; and if his name should he withdrawn, they 
 would act in concert loith the friends of Mr. V. B." 
 [This generous overture, it will be perceived,, under the 
 operation of the two-third rule, put it in the power of 
 the New York delegation to make such nomination as 
 they preferred, or to prevent the making of any nomina- 
 tion.] " On Tuesday evening," continues our corre- 
 spondent, " some of our delegation had another interview 
 with Mr. Cave Johnson, who gave them assurances that 
 Col. Polk" [who it seems had received a few votes on 
 the eighth ballot] " was a warm friend of Mr. Van Buren 
 and Mr. Wright." 
 
 Before Mr. Butler left New York, Mr. Van Buren 
 addressed to him a letter, in which, in anticipation that 
 dissensions might arise in the convention, Mr. V. B. au- 
 thorized and instructed Mr. Butler to withdraw his name 
 as a candidate whenever he (Mr. Butler) should become 
 satisfied that the use of it would not tend to harmonize 
 and unite the convention. In the same letter Mr. Van 
 Buren expressed great solicitude that in case his name 
 should be withdrawn, Mr. Wright should be nominated. 
 On Tuesday evening the New York delegation held a 
 consultation, but did not arrive at any definite conclu- 
 sion as to what should be their future course in the con- 
 vention. On Wednesday morning, before the conven- 
 tion proceeded to a ninth ballot, the delegates from New 
 York asked leave to withdraw. On that occasion, after 
 they had withdrawn, Mr. Butler communicated the in- 
 structions he had received from Mr. Van Buren. He 
 also stated, that in his judgment the time had arrived 
 when Mr. Van Buren's name ought to be withdrawn ; 
 
45G POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 but as he felt that in so doing he should assume a high 
 responsibility to his friend as well as to the public, and 
 as he might err in judgment, he could not venture on so 
 important an act without the advice and consent of his 
 colleagues; He also requested the delegation to advise 
 him whose name should be announced as the second 
 choice of the democrats of New York for president. 
 Mr. Wright was then mentioned as the person most 
 likely to obtain the support of the convention and of 
 the people of the United States. It was well known 
 that his name had been previously mentioned by many 
 distinguished and influential politicians at Washington 
 as a suitable candidate for the presidency, with their 
 cordial approbation ; and the delegates generally ex- 
 pressed a decided opinion, that in case Mr. Van Buren's 
 name should be withdrawn, that of Mr. Wright should 
 be presented. But Judge Fine thereupon produced and 
 read to his colleagues the following letter from Mr. 
 Wright : 
 
 "Washington, May 23, 1844. 
 " Hon. John Fine : 
 
 " My dear Sir — As I know you intend to leave the 
 city to-day or to-morrow, to attend to your responsible 
 duties as a delegate to the Baltimore Convention ; and 
 as you are a delegate from the congressional district in 
 which I reside, and are as well my representative in the 
 convention, as my neighbor and personal friend, I beg 
 leave to trouble you with this note. You will doubtless 
 think and feel that I am performing a work of superero- 
 gation, as I do myself; and yet, in the present unsettled 
 state of the democratic mind in relation to the doings of 
 the convention, I do not feel at liberty to omit any act, 
 
18 U.] MR. 'iVrigiit's letter to judge fine. 457 
 
 which may protect me from being made the instrument, 
 however honestly and innocently, of further distractions. 
 
 " Within the last few days several too-partial friends 
 have suggested to me the idea that, by possibility, in 
 case the opposition to the nomination of Mr. Van Buren 
 should be found irreconcilable, a compromise might be 
 made by dropping him, and using my name. I need not 
 say to you that a consent, on my part, to any such pro- 
 ceeding, would justly forfeit my standing with the de- 
 mocracy of our state, and cause my faith and fidelity to 
 my party to be su.spected everywhere. Personal objec- 
 tions are not made against Mr. Van Buren in any quar- 
 ter ; and if his known political principles and opinions 
 are to set him aside as the republican candidate for 
 president, the same objections would make me ineligible, 
 so far as my principles and opinions are known ; and I 
 am not yet prepared to believe that the democratic party 
 of the Union will give a more ardent and enthusiastic 
 support to a candidate upon its ticket for that high office 
 whose principles are unknown to them, than to one 
 known to cherish, at every hazard, principles in precise 
 accordance with its own. If that be the pz'esent dispo- 
 sition of the party, or of its representatives in the Balti- 
 more Convention, I cannot consent to make myself, 
 humble as is my position in that great party, the instru- 
 ment to withdraw such a canvass. 
 
 " The republicans of New York, with a unanimity 
 never surpassed, have made it the duty of yourself, and 
 your colleagues in the convention, to present for its ac- 
 ceptance the name of Mr. Van Buren, as their choice 
 from among themselves, and they have given to you no 
 direction to withdraw his name and substitute any other. 
 If he is not acceptable to the convention, thev have no 
 
 39 
 
458 POLITICAL HISTORY OP NEW YORK. [l844. 
 
 candidate before it, by any expression or act of theirs. 
 It is not the high office for a citizen of the state which 
 they seek, regardless of the hands in which it is to be 
 placed. If by the consent and concurrence of the de- 
 mocracy of the Union, the high trust can be reposed in 
 his hands, they will feel that their principles and their 
 country are safe, and that their cherished state is hon- 
 ored, highly, generously honored ; but if the democracy, 
 as represented in the convention, cannot concede to this 
 their expressed wish, they have no candidate, and their 
 delegates are left, like others, to make a selection from 
 such other names as shall come before them. 
 
 " These are my views of your position and of your 
 duties, and to consent to the use of my name as a can- 
 didate, under any circumstances, would be, in my view, 
 to invite you to compromise the expressed wishes and 
 instructions of your constituents for my personal ad- 
 vancement. I can never consent to place myself in a 
 position where the suspicion of acting from such a mo- 
 tive can justly attach to me ; much less, to be a party to 
 such action. I never can consent to place you and your 
 colleagues in a position seeming to invite misrepresent- 
 ation, on your part, of those to whom you owe your re- 
 sponsible trusts, and to whom I owe all that I am, and 
 all I have, as a public man. 
 
 " I know well, m}^ dear sir, that I could not present a 
 temptation to you, or your respected colleagues, which 
 would induce a man of you to swerve from your fidelity 
 to your constituents, and your high duty to our great 
 party and our common country ; but I desire that you, 
 as my immediate representative in the convention, should 
 have in your possession the evidence that I cannot be 
 made the instrument of any embarrassment upon you. 
 
1844.] MR. Wright's letter. 450 
 
 " If it were proper I could tell you, with the most 
 perfect truth, that I have never been vain enough to 
 dream of the office of president, in connection with my 
 own name, and were not Mr. Van Buren the candidate 
 of our state, I should find just as little difficulty as I now 
 do, in telling you that I am not, and cannot, under any 
 circumstances, be a candidate before your convention 
 for that office. It is wholly unnecessary, however, to 
 speak of a state of things which does not exist, and you 
 will therefore be pleased to apply this remark to that 
 which does. 
 
 " I do not anticipate any occurrence which \\ ill call 
 upon you to use this letter, and I certainly do not wish 
 to have it used in any other contingency, because I 
 should regret very much to seem to assume that I have 
 been, am, or may be, a candidate by my own agency. 
 Still, it is submitted to your discretion, to be used in 
 case any effort shall be made, during the sitting of the 
 convention, to connect my name with the office, in a 
 manner which shall appear to you to call for this uncon- 
 ditional interdict from me. 
 
 " In great haste, I am most truly yours, 
 
 " Silas Wright." 
 
 The delicacy of feeling of the writer towards his old 
 and valued friend, the high sense of honor, the ardent 
 devotion to the success and prosperity of the political 
 party to which he belonged, and the exalted patriotism 
 which breathes through every line of this letter, must 
 commend it to the heart of every reader. 
 
 After Mr. Wright's letter had been read, and after 
 Judge Fine, against the remonstrances of some of the 
 delegates, had declared his unalterable determination, 
 
46.1 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 
 
 that in case the name of Mr. Wright should be proposed 
 as a candidate in the convention, he would communi- 
 cate his written refusal to that assembly, " considerable 
 conversation," says our correspondent, "was had in the 
 coifsultation held by the delegates on the subject of the 
 name to be presented. Col. Young, Senator Lester, and 
 several others, remarked that Mr. Van Buren was their 
 first and only choice, and the delegation were very much 
 divided in opinion as to whom they would support, when 
 Mr. Van Buren's name should be withdrawn. Mr. But- 
 ler thereupon requested permission of our delegation to 
 state when he should withdraw Mr. Van Buren's name, 
 whom he [Mr. B.] preferred next to Mr. V. B. for a pres- 
 idential candidate, to which there did not seem to be 
 any objection. Our delegation then returned to the 
 convention. They were then balloting for a candi- 
 date." 
 
 After Mr. Roan, of Virginia, on casting the vote of 
 that state for Mr. Polk, had briefly addressed the con- 
 vention, and in the course of his remarks had handsome- 
 ly complimented the state of New York and its delega- 
 tion, the vote of New York being called for, Mr. Butler, 
 on behalf of the Ne \- York delegation, rose to respond to 
 the remarks of Mr. Roan, as well as to inform the conven- 
 tion of the result of the deliberations of the delegation 
 durincr their absence. He said the democracv of New 
 York, notwithstanding the unhappy differences that 
 within a few weeks past had existed between them and 
 their brethren of Virginia, had never supposed that they 
 were to be separated for any length of time. " New 
 York," said Mr. Butler, " has never doubted that in the 
 end Virginia and New York would be found battling 
 side bv side in the cause of the constitution and the 
 
1844.J MR. butler's speech. 461 
 
 country." ^Ir. Butler then stated to the convention that 
 the New York delegation, during their recess, had con- 
 sulted on a question of the deepest interest to every 
 member ol" it. " It was," said he, " n*o less a question 
 than this, whether they had fully discharged the duty 
 imposed on them by the instructions of their constitu- 
 ents ; whether they had faithfully redeemed their pledges 
 to obey those instructions ; and whether, under the cir- 
 cumstances in which they were placed, they were re- 
 quired, by that spirit of concession, of harmony, and of 
 patriotic devotion to the union of the party, which should 
 animate every democrat, even when acting in a repre- 
 sentative capacity, to withdraw the name of the candi- 
 date of their choice not less than of their state, from 
 before the convention. It was impossible for the dele- 
 gation of New York to enter on the consideration of 
 these questions, without the deepest emotion and solici- 
 tude. And I need not tell you, sir, that to no one of our 
 number did they address themselves with more intense 
 force, awakening every sentiment of honorable friend- 
 ship, of public and of private obligation, and stirring up 
 the very depths of his inmost soul, than to myself. Mr. 
 B. then proceeded to speak of the relations existing be- 
 tween Mr. Van Buren and himself, in a strain of warm 
 and unaffected feeling, which deeply impressed the con- 
 vention. Indebted to him for the means of acquiring 
 the profession through which he had attained to what- 
 ever of public consideration he enjoyed ; for years a 
 member of his family : his partner in professional, his 
 friend, supporter, and associate in political and public 
 life ; the ties by which he was bound to the distin- 
 guished citizen of New York, whose name had been 
 so honorably presented to the nation for the first office 
 
 39* 
 
462 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 
 
 in its gift, were almost as strong, as sacred, and as len- 
 der, as those which bind a son to a father." 
 
 " As regards Mr. Van Buren himself," says Mr. B., 
 " I could entertain no doubt as to the propriety of the 
 step ; for 1 have in my possession a letter from that gen- 
 tleman, the existence of which, until this morning, I 
 have kept a secret from all my colleagues, under whicli 
 I feel myself fully authorized to withdraw his name 
 whenever it shall be found necessary to do so to pro- 
 mote the interests and secure the harmony of the great 
 democratic party of the Union." 
 
 " Mr. Butler," says the reporter, " was here interrupt- 
 ed by a general and deafening burst of applause, the en- 
 tire convention rising, and waving hands and handker- 
 chiefs for some moments." * * * * « Having this 
 authority," continued Mr. B., " I took occasion, during 
 our recess, to say to my colleagues — and the circum- 
 stances in which I stood seemed to impose on me the 
 lead in this matter — that, in the present state of the can- 
 vass, and with the information I had received as to its 
 probable results, I should think it due to the honor of my 
 friend, to the harmony of our common democracy, and 
 to the interests of the people of New York and of the 
 Union — to withdraw his name, unless they advised to 
 the contrary. But my colleagues would not throw this 
 weight of responsibility on me. They passed a resolu- 
 tion authorizing me to withdraw the name of Mr. Van 
 Buren, if I should deem it expedient, after consulting our 
 friends from other states. On returning to this hall, we 
 learned that some of them, anticipating our decision, had 
 already cast their votes for another candidate, and <m 
 consulting with the others, no doubt is left as to the 
 course to be pursued. While, therefore, I return, in the 
 
1844.] BALTIMORE CONVENTION OF 1844. 4G3 
 
 name of the democracy of New York, to those who 
 have sustained by their votes in this place the candidate 
 of our state, our most unfeigned and hearty thanks, I do 
 now, in the name of the delegation of New York, and 
 with the authority of Mr. Van Buren himself, withdraw 
 his name from the consideration of this convention as a 
 candidate for the presidency." 
 
 Mr. Butler then proceeded to state, that as to the in- 
 dividual to whom the vote of New York would be given, 
 the resolution of the delegates authorizing him to with- 
 draw the name of Mr. Van Buren, which he had pre- 
 viously mentioned, directed him to say, that each dele- 
 gate would vote according to his own sense of duty. 
 He was, however, permitted to state his own next pref- 
 erences ; and he thereupon declared that he should vote 
 for James K. Polk, of Tennessee. After delivering a 
 high encomium on the virtues, talents, and patriotism of 
 Mr. Polk, he concluded by saying : 
 
 " Since my arrival in this city I have received a letter 
 from the hermitage, in which the apprehensions and re- 
 grets occasioned by these untoward circumstances are 
 repeatedly referred to, and from which, now that I can 
 do it without impropriety, I take the liberty to read the 
 closing lines : * May God bless you, my dear friend, and 
 preside over your deliberations, and may confidence, on 
 the part of all the democracy, again be united on Mr. 
 Van Buren. This is the sincere prayer of your friend, 
 Andrew Jackson.' 
 
 " Now, Mr. President, though this pi'ayer may not be 
 fulfilled in the precise form in which it was expressed 
 and desired by him who offered it, it may well be that 
 Providence designs to answer it in substance, more sure- 
 ly and completely, with James K. Polk as our candidate, 
 
4f»4 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 than could have been (^one with any other leader. Such, 
 I would fain hope — such, sir, as I read them, are the au- 
 guries of the present hour. I rely on the nomination in 
 which we are now about to unite, for union, harmony, 
 success. And I trust that long ere the good old patriot 
 of the hermitage is called from the anxieties and cares 
 of earth to the rewards of immortality, he may be per- 
 mitted to hear from every corner of this glorious Union, 
 the shouts of the democracy over the triumph of our 
 party and our principles, and the redemption of our 
 country in November, 1844." 
 
 We are aware that we do injustice to Mr. Butler by 
 giving only detached parts of this speech, but the limits 
 prescribed to this work will not permit us to present the 
 reader with the whole of it. His ardent friendship for 
 Mr. Van Buren, his devotion to the cause of the democ- 
 racy of the Union, and the intensity of his feelings were 
 evinced by every word he uttered, and produced a 
 most thrilling effect upon his audience. In every part 
 of the speech he was interrupted by loud and hearty 
 cheers ; and " he sat down," says the reporter, " under a 
 burst of applause which was continued for a long time." 
 
 Gov. Dickinson, of New York, here rose, asking if 
 New York had been called ; and on receiving an af- 
 firmative answer, said he would announce the vote in 
 one moment. He said he always had confidence in the 
 masses, and this convention had behaved so like a mass- 
 meeting, that he felt quite at home. New York was now 
 in a situation to do what the delegation were sent there 
 to do — to help make a nomination for president. He 
 would not travel over the ground that had been so well 
 occupied by his colleague ; but he must be permitted to 
 express the hope that it would not now be a matter of 
 
1814.] MASS-MEETING IN N. Y. CITY. 400 
 
 regret, on the part of her brethren of other states, that 
 New York had a giant's strength, nor did he presume 
 that it would be deemed tyrannical if she now used it 
 like a giant. New York gave thirty-five votes for 
 James K. Polk, of Tennessee, and one blank. 
 
 Mr. Walker then rose, and said he hoped he should 
 be indulged while he poured out his thankful gratitude 
 to the great and ijoble democracy of New York, for the 
 generous and patriotic sacrifice which she had made on 
 this occasion. " Sir," said he, " that great and noble 
 state has not only saved the democracy of the Union, 
 but in my soul and conscience I believe it is not too 
 much to say, that she has saved the Union. Yes, sir, 
 but for her, utterly fruitless would have been the efibrt 
 to unite the democracy of the Union." 
 
 About three weeks after the Baltimore Convention 
 was held, when Mr. Wright was passing through the 
 city of New York on his return from Washington, an 
 immensely large democratic mass-meeting was held at 
 Castle Garden, in that city, to respond to the Baltimore 
 Convention. Mr. Butler was chosen chairman of the 
 meeting. In the course of its proceedings, Mr. Wright 
 being in attendance, was loudly called for. He was in- 
 troduced by the chairman, who took occasion to state to 
 the meeting the desire of the delegates, from this and 
 several other states, on the withdrawal of the name of 
 Mr. Van Buren, to propose to the convention that of Mr. 
 Wright ; and that they were prevented from doing so 
 by Judge Fine producing his letter, of which a copy has 
 already been given. Mr. Butler also alluded to the 
 nomination by the convention of Mr. Wright for the 
 office of vice-president, and his refusal to stand as a can- 
 didate fur that office. 
 
4G6 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 
 
 Mr. Wright, in his response, said to the meeting in 
 relation to his refusal to permit his name to be used as a 
 candidate for the presidency, the substance of what is 
 contained in his letter to Judge Fine. He also gave 
 bis reasons for declining the nomination for the vice- 
 presidency ; and it is for the purpose of enabling him to 
 speak to the reader on that subject himself, that we 
 have introduced this account of the proceedings at Cas- 
 tle Garden. 
 
 " With respect to the nomination for the second office 
 in the government," said Mr. Wright, " which was ten- 
 dered to me in a manner so generous, so magnanimous, 
 as to be entitled to my everlasting thanks — and these 
 feelings of gratitude I feel, and have attempted to ex- 
 press to that body as I now do to you — yet I felt myself 
 no more at liberty to accept that honor than the former, 
 had it been offered ; and an additional reason, peculiar- 
 ly strong, interposed itself without our agency. It was 
 a new question. I refer to the annexation of Texas to 
 the United States. Mr. Van Buren," continued Mr. 
 Wright, " had, upon the call of a delegate to that con- 
 vention, addressed to the public a letter, giving his opin- 
 ions on that question. That letter was not acceptable 
 to a large portion of the democracy in one section of the 
 country. The opinions he entertained constituted one, 
 and a principal one, of the objections to his nomination. 
 Upon the most mature consideration of the subject, with 
 all the information I did possess, or was able to collect, 
 I was compelled to approve of his letter in my judg- 
 ment. At the time of the sitting of the convention T had 
 made up my mind ; I had no instructions from you, or 
 from those I represented. Our state had never acted 
 upon that question. I was left to form my own judg- 
 
1S44.] SPEECH OF MR. WRIGHT. 467 
 
 ment of its merits. That judgment was, that I could not 
 vote for the treaty then presented to the senate. That 
 vote was soon to be given. It could not be known to 
 the convention, and it would have been unfair on my 
 part to accept a nomination when I believed that act 
 would meet the disapprobation of at least a large num- 
 ber of that body. Promptly, then, I declined the nomi- 
 nation on that ground. Another point influenced me 
 strongly, and I mention it because I fear I may be sub- 
 jected to the accusation that a /^i?^ of feeling influenced 
 me because my favorite candidate had not been select- 
 ed. If I know myself, no such feeling was present with 
 me at any moment. But I did not feel that when you and 
 the great body of the democracy of the state had expressed 
 and sent up to that respectable body, representing the 
 democracy of the whole country, a preference for a can- 
 didate for the first office, and when that candidate had 
 not been selected — I did not feel that I had a right to 
 assume, either that I was vour choice for the second 
 office in the people's gift, or that I had a right to desig- 
 nate the man. 
 
 " I felt further — and if I erred you certainly ought to 
 know it — and I certainly stand responsible for the error — 
 I feared that we might be charged as having required 
 the second nomination to conciliate us to the support of 
 the first, differing as it did from that which we preferred. 
 And never — no, never, fellow-citizens, could I consent 
 to be subjected to such a suspicion, much less could I 
 subject your patriotism and attachment to the demo- 
 cratic cause and its principles, to such imputation. I 
 desired to leave you free, knowing, or at least acting 
 under the impression, that my democratic brethren 
 throughout the state would honorably and ardently re- 
 
468 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 deem the pledge they had ever made that they would 
 support the nominations of the convention. I desired 
 that your support should be given in that frank, and 
 manly, and honest manner, and not from the assumed fact 
 that an humble fellow-citizen of yours had been placed 
 upon the ticket. And now I feel assured it will be so, 
 and that Polk and Dallas will receive as cordial a sup- 
 port as would Mr. Van Buren, or any other man in the 
 country." 
 
 It is almost unnecessary to add, that Mr. Wright's 
 reception by the meeting was most cordial, and that his 
 speech, of which we have given but a very small part, 
 was received with acclamations, and greeted with long 
 and loud applause. 
 
 Mr. Polk was apparently brought forward as a peace- 
 maker, or mediator between two contending parties, 
 consisting of the friends of Mr. Van Buren on one side, 
 and a combination of the friends of Messrs. Cass, Wood- 
 bury, and Buchanan on the other. But our correspon- 
 dent says that the legitimate or original friends of Mr. 
 Cass, independent of the party for Texas annexation, 
 meaning, we suppose, the southern party, were but ten 
 in number, and those of Mr. Woodbury only six. 
 Whether the name of Mr. Polk was introduced from 
 the impulse of the moment, produced by the existing 
 exigency, and entirely without preconcert, or whether 
 in anticipation that the state of things must and would 
 occur, which actually did happen before his name was 
 mentioned, his friends had not, for a long time before the 
 convention, formed a project of making him a candidate, is 
 and probably ever will be a matter of curious speculation. 
 There are one or two considerations which would seem 
 to indicate that the latter conjecture is probably correct. 
 
1844.] POLICY OF SOUTHERN POLITICIANS. 469 
 
 First. The democracy of Tennessee were supposed 
 to be the peculiar friends of Mr. Van Buren. They 
 had cordially agreed with him in all his measures. Gen. 
 Jackson, Mr. Polk, and Mr. Cave Johnson, were the 
 leaders, and were presumed to influence the action of 
 the democratic party in that state. They were ardent 
 personal and political friends of Mr. ^'an Buren, and yet 
 the Tennessee convention in the winter of 1844 refused 
 to recommend Mr. Van Buren for the presidency. 
 
 Second. After Mr. Polk's election, Mr. Buchanan, 
 who, at the convention, influenced the delegation of 
 Pennsylvania against Mr. A an Buren, was appointed 
 secretary of stale ; Mr. Walker, a most zealous oppo- 
 nent in the convention to Mr. V. B., was made secreta- 
 ry of the treasury ; Mr. Cave Johnson, the confidential 
 fnend of the New York delegation, received the office of 
 postmaster-general ; and on Gen. Saunders was confer- 
 red a foreign mission. 
 
 It is, however, submitted, that it is more probable that 
 the shrewd and sagacious politicians from the South, 
 long before the meeting of the convention, foresaw that 
 a difference would be produced between the friends of 
 the northern candidates, Van Buren, Cass, Buchanan, 
 and Woodbury ; that the agitation of their conflicting 
 claims would produce much and highly excited feeling 
 between the partisans of these candidates ; and when 
 that excitement should reach its culminating point, it 
 would be the proper moment to bring forward the name 
 of a citizen of one of the southern states as the most 
 available candidate. Thus they did not settle on any 
 individual, but left it for time to develop what southern 
 gentleman — say King of Alabama, Walker, or Polk — 
 would receive the strongest support of the delegates 
 
 40 
 
470 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NKW YORK. [iSit, 
 
 from the grain-growing states, in the mean time keep- 
 ing their own ranks unbroken, ready to give an undivi- 
 ded vote for that southern candidate who could rally the 
 greatest number of friends from the northern and north- 
 western states. Although southern gentlemen are con- 
 stitutionally ardent and impetuous, no politicians in the 
 world know better how to " bide their time" than they. 
 The moment New York declared for Col. Polk they 
 were no longer the friends of Gen. Cass, but forthwith 
 abandoned him, and with great unanimity supported Mr. 
 Polk. This hypothesis seems to us more probable than 
 the conjecture that the southern politicians had, previous 
 to the convention, concocted their scheme of operations 
 solely with a view to the elevation of Mr. Polk. 
 
 " I do not," says the delegate to the Baltimore Con- 
 vention from whom we have quoted so much, " charge 
 Mr. Van Buren's defeat at the convention entirely to 
 the ' slave power,' but to its influence operating upon the 
 ambition of other political aspirants for the presidential 
 chair, aided by the patronage of the Tyler administra- 
 tion, which was lavishly bestowed with a view to pre- 
 vent his success." 
 
 After the nomination of Mr. Polk, and before an ad- 
 journment for the afternoon, " Mr. Walker," says the 
 reporter of the proceedings, " took the floor, and after a 
 few remarks on the happy consummation of the morn- 
 ing's session, nominated the Hon. Silas Wright as a 
 candidate for the vice-presidency, expressing the hope 
 that it might be done by acclamation. Mr. W. pro- 
 nounced a high eulogium on the moral and political char- 
 acter of Silas Wright, declaring him to be the Nestor 
 of the Union, of the most pure and disinterested char- 
 acter. 
 
J 844.] MR. WRIGHT AND THE CONVENTION. 471 
 
 " Mr. Dromgoole, of Virginia, rose, as the organ of the 
 delegation from that state, to second the nomination of 
 Silas Wright. He addressed the convention at great 
 length on political topics generally, eulogizing the char- 
 acter of Silas Wright as one of the most pure and patri- 
 otic statesmen in the Union. 
 
 " The convention then proceeded to ballot for vice- 
 president, when the whole vote was cast for Silas 
 Wright, with the exception of eight votes from the state 
 of Georgia." 
 
 Judge Fine, at the request of the convention, spoke 
 to Mr. Wright through the telegraph, informing him of 
 his nomination, and inquired of him if he would accept 
 and stand as a candidate. To this inquiry Mr. Wright 
 promptly answered in the negative. Some persons 
 doubting whether the question or answer had not been 
 misunderstood. Judge Fine, after stating the unanimity 
 with which the nomination had been made, and the 
 universal and anxious desire that he would accept, re- 
 peated his question. The answer was, " No ; under 
 no circumstances." The convention then adjourned 
 until the next morning, when Mr. Butler received and 
 communicated to the convention the following letter 
 from Mr. Wright : 
 
 " Washington, 29th May, 1844. 
 "My dear sir, — 
 
 " Being advised that the convention, of which you 
 are a member, has conferred upon me the unmerited 
 honor of nominating me as a candidate for the office 
 of vice-president, will you, if this information be cor- 
 rect, present my profound thanks to the convention 
 for this mark of confidence and favor ; and say for 
 
472 POLITICAL' HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1841. 
 
 'me that circumstances, which I do not think it necessary 
 to detail to it, but which I very briefly hint to you, [in 
 another private letter to Mr. B.,] render it impossible 
 that I should, consistently with my sense of public duty 
 and private obligations, accept this nomination. 
 " I am, with great respect, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 " Silas Wright. 
 " Hon. B. F. Butler." 
 
 After the reading of this letter two or three ballotings 
 succeeded without a choice, but the last ballot resulted 
 in a pretty unanimous vote for Mr. George M. Dallas, 
 [220,] who was thereupon declared duly nominated. 
 
 We will close the account of this convention by an- 
 other quotation from our correspondent. Speaking of 
 the declension of Mr. Wright, he says : " But a few 
 months before he had declined an appointment to the 
 bench of the United States Supreme Court, that he 
 might be serviceable to his old and cherished friend, 
 whom the democracy in almost every state in the Union, 
 with singular unanimity, had designated as their candi- 
 date for president. He could not accept at the hands 
 of a convention an office when that convention had 
 disobeyed the declared will of their constituents, and 
 sacrificed his friend, who had been dragged there an 
 unwilHng victim." 
 
 During the session of the democratic convention, a 
 few gentlemen from New York and some of the other 
 states held a meeting in Baltimore, and nominated Mr. 
 Tyler as a candidate for the presidency, but immediately 
 after the nomination of Mr. Polk was announced, he de- 
 clined to canvass for the office. 
 
1844.] WHIG CONVENTION OF 1844. 473 
 
 The whigs appear to have reserved their energies for 
 the great national contest at the ensuing presidential 
 election. The public sentiment of the party had settled 
 upon Henry Clay. In 1840 his nomination would have 
 been in accordance with the private feelings and wishes 
 of a great majority of the party. But he had been 
 beaten in 1832 by the dazzling popularity of Gen. Jack- 
 son, and on the issue in relation to the recharter of a 
 national bank. Many of the whig politicians were im- 
 pressed with the opinion that the renomination of Mr. 
 Clay would force upon them the same issue which had 
 been decided in '32 ; and they therefore judged that gound 
 policy required the selection of another candidate. In 
 that opinion a majority of the whig national convention in 
 1840 concurred, and Gen. Harrison was made the whig 
 candidate. Mr. Clay, however, had many ardent friends 
 in the convention, who yielded with great and almost 
 insurmountable reluctance. Perhaps there is not an- 
 other man in the United States who has so many per- 
 sonal friends as Mr. Clay ; and that circumstance, con- 
 nected with the recollection of the promptness with 
 which he himself concurred in the nomination of Gen. 
 Harrison, his efficient and zealous efforts in support of 
 the election of his successful rival, and his gallant and 
 noble bearing during all the misfortunes which happen- 
 ed to the whig party in consequence of the death of 
 Gen. Harrison and the defection of Mr. Tyler, produced 
 a feeling in his party throughout the nation in favor of 
 his nomination in 1844, which was entirely irresistible. 
 The effort to resist it would have been as useless as it 
 would be to attempt to arrest the fall of water at the 
 Niagara cataract. 
 
 The whig national convention was held at Baltimore 
 
 40* 
 
474 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 on the 1st of May. Two hundred and seventy-five del- 
 egates were present, and the venerable Ambrose Spen- 
 cer, the able and learned late chief-justice of this state, 
 was chosen president, and twenty vice-presidents and 
 six secretaries were appointed. Immediately after the 
 organization, Henry Clay was nominated for president 
 with acclamations the most enthusiastic. 
 
 Some difference of opinion prevailed in the conven- 
 tion in relation to the selection of a candidate for the 
 vice-presidency. 
 
 John Davis, the present senator and late governor of 
 Massachusetts, was supported principally by the dele- 
 gates from the eastern states ; Millard Fillmore, by 
 those from the state of New York and from some of the 
 western states ; and Theodore Frelinghuysen, by those 
 from New Jersey and other states. 
 
 It is remarkable that a great number, and we believe 
 a majority of the men who have most attracted public 
 attention and most influenced public opinion in the state 
 of New York, and indeed in several of the other states, 
 are self-made men, who have risen to distinction by 
 their personal merit and their own individual efforts, 
 without the aid of wealth or influential connections. 
 This is eminently the case with Mr. Fillmore. We be- 
 lieve he did not come to the bar very early in life. At 
 any rate, before he had practised law a sufficient length 
 of tune to distinguish himself in his profession, he was 
 elected to the assembly of this state from the county of 
 Erie. He had not been long in public life when he was 
 elected a member of congress from the district that 
 included the county in which he resided. In congress, 
 by his industry, talents, and great moderation and pru- 
 dence, he soon acquired a powerful and commanding 
 
 y 
 
1814.] NOMINATION OF MR. FRELINGHUYSEN. 475 
 
 influence ; and during the last congress, of which he was 
 a member, he was chairman of the committee of ways 
 and means, a position the most honorable and responsi- 
 ble of any in the house of representatives. In that sit- 
 uation he discharged so well and so ably his duties, that 
 when he left that body perhaps no member of it held a 
 higher standing in the house or the nation than he. Mr. 
 Frelinghuysen, however, had been a senator of the Uni- 
 ted States ; he was the favorite of the whiirs in New 
 Jersey, and the party were desirous of strengthening 
 themselves in that state ; besides, he was a man of re- 
 spectable talents, great erudition, and highly distinguish- 
 ed for purity of character, for piety, and all the private 
 and social virtues. 
 
 In the convention there were three ballotings for a 
 candidate for vice-president. On the last ballot Mr. 
 Frelinghuysen received 155 votes, and was declared 
 nominated. The whigs did not embarrass themselves 
 with the two-third rule, as appears from the following 
 statement, which presents the result of the three ballot- 
 
 mgs 
 
 111 ballot. Id billDl. 1<1 ballot 
 
 T. Frelinghuysen 101 118 155 
 
 John Davis 83 74 79 
 
 Millard Fillmore 53 51 40 
 
 John Sergeant 38 32 withdrawn. 
 
 Total, 275 275 374 
 
476 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Public feeling on the announcement of the Presidential Nominations — 
 Native American Party — Liberty Party — Anti-Rent Party — Two sec- 
 tions of the Whig Party — Conservative and Radical — Difficulties in the 
 selection of a Democratic candidate for Governor — Radical papers de- 
 mand the Nomination of Mr. Wright — His unwillingness to be a 
 Candidate— His Letter to the Editor of the St. Lawrence Republican — 
 Syracuse Convention — Mr. Wright nominated for Governor — Whig 
 State Convention — Secret Circular — Mr. Clay's Letters — Their Effect 
 — Action of the Native American Party — Also of the Liberty Party — 
 Result of the Election — Position and Policy of the Governor elect — Mr. 
 Wright resigns his seat in the United States Senate — Governor Bouck 
 appoints Messrs. Dickinson and Foster United States Senators in place 
 of Governor Wright and N. P. Tallmadge. 
 
 We now return from the brief view we have taken of 
 pohtical contests in the nation, to those more particu- 
 •arly pertaining to the state of New York. 
 
 When the resuUs of the conventions at Baltimore of the 
 two great parties were known to the public, the prospect 
 of the whigs was regarded as exceedingly favorable, and 
 scarcely any reflecting man doubted of their success. 
 These expectations were strengthened by the success 
 of the whigs in the Albany city election, at which thev 
 succeeded in the election of Friend Humphrey as mayor 
 by 624 majority, and in the election of a large majority 
 of the common council. 
 
 The democratic convention at Baltimore had passed a 
 resolution in favor of the immediate annexation of Texas. 
 A large number of influential democrats were opposed to 
 that measure, and cordially concurred in the opinion ex- 
 
1844.] NATIVE AMERICAN PARTY. 477 
 
 pressed by Mr. Van Buren in his letter to Mr. Hammit. 
 Many others were opposed to annexation because the 
 extension of slavery would, as they believed, be the ef- 
 fect of adopting the project. Mr. Clay had, in a speech 
 at Raleigh, in North Carolina, declared himself opposed 
 to annexation. 
 
 Mr. Polk was a new man, and had never served in 
 any of the executive departments of the nation, nor had 
 he had any diplomatic experience ; and the whigs, 
 through their public journals, tauntingly asked, " Who 
 is James K. Polk ?" 
 
 It was also conjectured that the personal and more 
 immediate political friends of Mr. Van Buren would be 
 disposed to resent his violent rejection at Baltimore 
 merely on the ground of his opposition to Texas annex- 
 ation. But the whigs were soon compelled to encoun- 
 ter difficulties which they did not anticipate. Several 
 new parties all at once sprang up, and unfortunately for 
 the whigs, drew a much larger number from their ranks 
 than from those of the democrats. It will therefore be 
 necessary to give an account of those parties, which we 
 shall attempt to do with all possible brevity. 
 
 The great influx of foreigners into the city of New 
 York for several preceding years, and the facility with 
 which our naturalization laws permitted foreigners to 
 become voters, had enabled the adopted citizens to hold 
 the balance between the whigs and democrats in the 
 city elections. The consequence was, that when either 
 party obtained a victory, the adopted citizens claimed, 
 as was alleged, an unreasonable share of the spoils ; and 
 the amount of patronage within the control of the mayor 
 and common council of the city of New York was very 
 great. This the native citizens thought unreasonable ; 
 
478 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NfEW YORK. [l844. 
 
 besides, many believed that a residence of five years was 
 too short a period to enable a foreigner to acquire a suf- 
 ficient knowledge of the true interests of this country and 
 its institutions, to qualify him to exercise judiciously the 
 functions of an elector. These and other considerations 
 induced a large number, including among them a great 
 proportion of the wealth, and talent, and respectability 
 of the city, to unite and form a new party, under the 
 cognomen of "Native Americans." 
 
 Previous to the April election in 1844, the whigs had 
 nominated Mr. Morris Franklin, and the democrats Mr. 
 Coddington, both worthy and respectable citizens, for 
 the office of mayor. The natives held a meeting and 
 nominated Mr. Harper, of the celebrated publishing firm 
 of " Harper and Brothers." He was elected by a ma- 
 jority of 4,316. The natives also elected a majority of 
 the aldermen and assistant aldermen of the city. After 
 giving the result of this election, the shrewd editor of 
 the Albany Argus pronounced it " a virtual extinguish- 
 ment of the hopes of the partisans of Mr. Clay in the 
 city of New York." How correct this prediction was 
 will appear in the sequel. 
 
 Another party, which had grown into considerable 
 importance, was known by the name of " The Liberty 
 Party." This party grew out of the abolition societies, 
 which were formed by associations to promote the im- 
 mediate emancipation of slaves ; of its origin we have 
 given an account in a preceding volume.* 
 
 This party had one article in their creed which they 
 regarded as paramount to all others. Indeed, some of 
 their presses claimed that it was a party of " one idea." 
 
 * 2 Political Flistory, p. 455 
 
1844.] Tllf; LIBERTY PARTY. 179 
 
 They cared not whether a man was called whig or tory, 
 democrat or aristocrat; if he would declare that he would 
 not vote for a slaveholder, nor for any citizen who would 
 vote for a slaveholder, they hailed him as a brother : 
 if not, however much he might condemn and oppose 
 slavery, he was denounced, and excluded from the 
 pale of the party. And yet this party, in propor- 
 tion to its numbers, probably contains more men of 
 wealth, of talents, and personal worth, than any party 
 in the state. The excellent and pure-minded William 
 Jay, the zealous, benevolent, and talented Gerrit Smith, 
 the eloquent and able, though eccentric, Alvan Stew- 
 art, the reverend and learned Professor Brriah Green, 
 and a host of others, w^ould add strength and dignity to 
 any party in the state or nation. They have, too, sev- 
 eral able newspaper editors, among whom we cannot 
 refrain from mentioning Westly Bailey, editor of the 
 Liberty Press, published at Utica, a man whose tact 
 and talents as an editor qualify him to conduct, with 
 success, any one of the most important political periodicals 
 in the United States. The liberty party, of course, were 
 opposed to the annexation of Texas. It was therefore 
 evident they could not support Mr. Polk, because he 
 had been preferred to Mr. Van Buren for the sole reason 
 that he was in favor of annexation, and because the 
 convention which nominated him had, with apparent 
 unanimity, resolved to support that project as " a great 
 American measure." The whigs very naturally con- 
 cluded that as Mr. Clay was committed against annex- 
 ation, and as the whig party in this state generally 
 avowed themselves in favor of universal emancipation, 
 that inasmuch as the liberty party could not hope, and 
 did not even pretend that they had the powder of elect- 
 
480 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 ing an abolitionist for president, they would, upon the 
 principle of choosing the lesser evil, cast their votes for 
 Mr. Clay and for the whig candidate for governor. In 
 this expectation they were entirely mistaken. They 
 did not then know the indomitable firmness, perhaps we 
 may say obstinacy, of those people. Mr. Clay was a 
 slaveholder, and some of his supporters were slavehold- 
 ers. The abolitionists, therefore, could not and would 
 not support him. They early nominated James G. Birney 
 for president, who was formerly a slaveholder in Ken- 
 tucky, but who, from conscientious motives, had emanci- 
 pated his slaves, and migrated to the state of Michigan, and 
 Alvan Stewart for governor of the state of New York. 
 
 There was still another party, which, at the election 
 in November, 1844, exhibited itself at the polls, which 
 is known as the anti-r-ent party. There had, during the 
 winter of this year, been several outrages committed by 
 the tenants of Gen. Van Rensselaer, in the county of 
 Albany, and disorders of a similar character soon ap- 
 peared in the counties of Delaware, Columbia, Greene, 
 and Rensselaer. The pretence for these outrages was 
 the rigid and, as was alleged, unreasonable conditions 
 contained in the leases by which the tenants held their 
 lands. The history of the acts of violence committed 
 by those people, and of their resistance by physical 
 force to the execution of civil process, does not come 
 properly within the scope of this work.* But there was 
 
 • The history of the anti-rent excitement, and the grievances of which 
 the tenantry in some parts of the state complained, are very ably and can- 
 didly given by the present firovernor in his proclamation for the pardon of 
 Daniel W. Squires, Daniel Northrop, and some fifteen others, w^lio at the 
 Court of Oyer and Terminer, in Delaware county, held in the year 1846, 
 had been convicted and sentenced to the slate prison for outrages com- 
 
1844.] ANTI-RENT PARTY. 481 
 
 a large class of citizens of the counties we have men- 
 tioned, who entirely disapproved of physical opposition 
 ^to the laws, and who contended that long leases, and the 
 provisions of forfeiture for breaches of trifling and friv- 
 olous covenants, and the restraint on alienation by the 
 tenant, by means of clauses in leases covenanting that 
 heavy fines, under the name of " quarter sales," should 
 be paid by the tenant to his landlord upon a transfer of 
 the interest of the former in the demised premises, tend- 
 ed to prevent useful and permanent improvements of the 
 country, and were inconsistent with the genius of our 
 government. They also complained that the law which 
 authorized the summary collection of rent by distress 
 and sale was unreasonably oppressive. They insisted 
 that these evils ought to be relieved by legislation, and 
 that if effectual relief could be obtained in no other way, 
 that the state ought to exercise its right of eminent do- 
 main. The people who thus reasoned sought, as they 
 had a right to do, to make their voice heard through 
 the ballot-box. 
 
 Although in the end the democrats suffered quite as 
 much from the anti-rent excitement, and perhaps more 
 than the whigs, yet the appearance in the political field of 
 the anti-rent party, in addition to the Native Americans 
 and abolitionists, was calculated to confuse and derange 
 both parties, and especially the whigs, who were not so 
 well organized as the democrats. 
 
 About this time (we speak now of the spring and 
 
 mitted in consequence of the anti-rent excitement. The history given by 
 Gov. Young on that occasion, which is with great propriety made a part 
 ol" his proclamation, is highly interesting, and well worthy of preservation. 
 It ought to be read by all who desire to become acquainted with the cause, 
 rise, and progress of the anti-rent disturbances. 
 
 41 
 
482 rOLlTi'CAL niSTOKV of new YOllK. [18-14. 
 
 summer of 1844) there began to appear symptoms of 
 division and dissension in the whig party proper. A 
 portion of that party viewed with favor some radical 
 reforms in the government, which began to be talked of, 
 and were inclined to sustain the claims of adopted citi- 
 zens, particularly the Irish Catholics ; while the other 
 portion were averse to innovation, and extremely jeal- 
 ous of encouraging the interference of persons born for- 
 eigners with our political concerns. Of the former class 
 of whigs, the late Gov. Seward, Mr. Weed, and Mr. 
 Greeley of the Tribune, were the most prominent ; and 
 of the latter, the New York Courier and Enquirer, un- 
 der the direction of Col. Webb, the New York Express, 
 under the management of Mr. Brooks, and the Buffalo 
 Commercial Advertiser, were the organs. The former 
 class, for the sake of brevity, we shall call radical, and 
 the latter conservative whigs. 
 
 While the whigs were laboring under these embar- 
 rassments, the democrats seemed doomed to encounter 
 still greater ditliculties. 
 
 The opposition to the renomination of Gov. Bouck, 
 on the part of the state officers and their friends, of 
 whom the Albany Atlas was the especial organ, was 
 determined and vigorou.s. We have good reasons to be- 
 lieve that Mr. Van Buren, previous to the Baltimore 
 Convention, desired that Mr. Bouck should be a candi- 
 date for re-election. He himself was known to favor 
 the radical section, and they indeed were his confidential 
 friends. If therefore he, as was then anticipated, should 
 be the presidential candidate, he was too good a politi- 
 cian not to perceive that a cordial union of the friends 
 of Gov. Bouck and the radicals was essential to secure 
 the electoral vote of the state of New York ; and if Bouck 
 
1844.] CONTENTIONS OF THE DEMOCRATS. 483 
 
 should not be nominated, he could not be sure that such 
 union would take place. He therefore looked with dis- 
 favor on the proceedings of the minority of the legisla- 
 tive caucus. We assume this statement to be true, 
 rather from the actual condition of things, and the posi- 
 tion of Mr. Van Buren, than from any specific facts in 
 our possession. That Mr. Wright entertained the views 
 we have ascribed to Mr. Van Buren, we have the evi- 
 dence in our possession. A distinguished member of 
 the hunker party thus writes to the author : 
 
 " I had occasion to go to Washington immediately 
 after the adjournment of the legislature, [1844,] and 
 while I was there I called upon Mr. Wright. He was 
 evidently very much annoyed at the course of Mr. Hoff- 
 man and others in the legislative caucus. 'It,' he said, 
 ' produced an impression abroad that New York was not 
 united upon Mr. Van Buren, and was urged by his op- 
 ponents to create the impression that he was not an 
 available candidate.' I was personally anxious to have 
 him succeed, not only because I was friendly to him, 
 but also because I knew it would secure the renomina- 
 tion of Gov. Bouck. I do not think Messrs. Van Buren 
 and Wright liked Mr. Bouck, but in view of Mr. Van 
 Buren's nomination they were very desirous to prevent 
 any dangerous controversy." * * * " During the win- 
 ter and spring," says the same gentleman, " constant and 
 repeated efforts were made by Messrs. Dennison, Porter, 
 and others, to induce Mr. Wright to be a candidate for 
 the office of governor. This he firmly refused." 
 
 In the mean time, the Atlas, and several other papers, 
 urged the nomination of Mr. Wright for governor ; and 
 at a meeting of the democrats of the third ward of Al- 
 bany he was nominated for that office. Mr. Croswell 
 
48 i POLITICAL HISTORY OF NKAV YORK. [l84i. 
 
 thei'eupon wrote to Mr. Wright informing him of these 
 facts, and of an apparent determination in some quarters 
 to make him a candidate. Mr. Croswell further express- 
 ed to him an opinion, that if he would consent to be a 
 candidate Gov. Bouck would withdraw his name.* A 
 letter of Gov. Bouck's has been shown to us, in which he 
 says, "This [Mr. Croswell's] letter was shown me by Mr. 
 Croswell, and I gave my entire assent to the suggestion." 
 Gov. Bouck probably thought that he could not, consis- 
 tently with his character or honor, yield the field to any 
 of those persons who had assailed him ; but that such 
 had been the course of Mr. Wright towards him, and 
 such was the high standing and character of Mr. W. in 
 the state and nation, that he could with propriety de- 
 cline in his favor. Mr. Wright in his answer to Mr. 
 Croswell, which was received at Albanv earlv in Mav, 
 stated that he was apprized of the design to bring him 
 forward as a candidate, but that under no circumstances 
 would he consent that his name should be used for that 
 purpose. In that letter Mr. Wright authorized Mr. 
 Croswell to publish the card that was published in the 
 Argus about that time, and which is recognised by Mr. 
 Wright in his letter to the editors of the St. Lawrence 
 Republican, which w^e shall by-and-by copy. 
 
 Still the Atlas, and other radical papers, continued to 
 press the nomination of Mr. Wright. We are sure no 
 one will suspect that he held one language to the editor 
 of the Argus and another to the editors of the Atlas. 
 The Atlas, and those with whom it acted, were deter- 
 mined, under any and every circumstance, to oppose the 
 
 • We have this information from an uuquestiouable source, but not 
 from Mr. Croswell. 
 
1844.] CONTENTIONrf OF THE DEMOCRATS. 1^5 
 
 nomination of Mr. Bouck. They probably used the 
 name of Mr. Wright under the impression that he might 
 eventually, as in fact he did, consent to be a candidate ; 
 and should he not finally consent, the use of his name 
 would strengthen the opposition to the renomination of 
 Mr. Bouck. 
 
 This course of the Atlas and its friends was peculiar- 
 ly embarrassing to the hunkers, and especially to Gov. 
 Bouck. They could say nothing against the nomination 
 of Mr. Wright for two reasons : first, because Mr. Bouck 
 had offered to support his nomination ; and, secondly, 
 because they had declared, and they believed that Mr. 
 W. would, under no circumstances, consent to be a can- 
 didate. They therefore could neither oppose Mr. 
 Wright, nor withdraw the name of Mr. Bouck, while 
 the manner in which the name of the former was used 
 in the radical newspapers was every day detaching 
 friends and supporters from the latter. 
 
 It is confidently alleged by the friends of Gov. Bouck, 
 that after the Baltimore Convention Mr. Van Buren 
 changed his views, and desired that Mr. Wright should 
 be placed at the head of the government of New York. 
 It was now urged that Gov. Bouck's retirement was 
 called for to unite alF interests. Mr. Bouck felt the full 
 force of these considerations. One of his intimate and 
 confidential friends writes thus to the author : " To my 
 knowledge he (Gov. B.) wished to withdraw from the 
 field, but his friends overruled him. They thought he 
 could still succeed. But from this time the tide turned 
 against him. Mr. Wright's nomination was called for 
 by many who had heretofore condemned the war against 
 Mr. Bouck, and the fact that he still refused to be a can- 
 didate seemed only to strengthen his position with the 
 
 41* 
 
436 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK, [iSii. 
 
 public, while it paralyzed any opposition to liiai. No 
 one could assail him while he refused to take the field." 
 But although Mr. Van Buren may have changed his 
 views after the Baltimore nomination, Mr. Wright did 
 not, as will appear from his letter written for publication 
 in the St. Lawrence Republican, dated so late as the 
 first of August. There is so much of modesty, kind 
 feeling, and good sense contained in this letter, that we 
 are sure the reader will excuse us for copying the whole 
 of it. 
 
 Messrs. Hitchcock &. Smith — 
 
 The public papers and my numerous correspondents admon- 
 ish me that tlie use of my name, in connection with the office 
 of governor of this state, requires some further notice from 
 me, and I ask a space in the columns of your paper for that 
 purpose. 
 
 Since the meeting of the legislature, in January last, I have 
 been frequently solicited to consent to this use of my name, 
 by worthy and respected friends, members of that body, and 
 others. To all such applications, prompt replies have been 
 returned, entirely withholding the consent asked. In one or 
 two cases, the announcement of my name in a public paper, 
 as a probable candidate for this office, led to a correction, 
 made at my instance, and to the published declaration that I 
 interdicted that use of my name. 
 
 Not having succeeded in producing a general understanding 
 of my position and wishes, by these steps, at about the ad- 
 journment of the legislature, I requested the insertion of an 
 article in the state paper, in the following language : 
 
 " Mr. Wright not a Candidate for Governor. — We have tieen 
 shown a late letter from Mr. Wright, addressed to a friend in this city, in 
 which he states explicitly, that he is not a candidate for the office of gov- 
 ernor, and that lie shall not be, under any circumstances he is able to an- 
 ticipate. Mr. Wright says he does not desire that office upon any terms, 
 aud ho certainly shall not knowingly make Imnself the means of difficul- 
 ties or divisions in the democratic party of the state, to which he is so 
 
1844.] LETTER OF MR. WRIGHT. 4S7 
 
 deeply indebted, at auy time, uj>on any question, or for any object ; and 
 certainly not at a time like the present, when a vital national contest de- 
 mauds perfect harmony, and the united and patriotic exertions of the 
 whole party. He add<, that he has communicated these determinations 
 to several members of the legislature, long s iice, and that the proceedings 
 of certain meetings of his friends in this county, making use of his name, 
 had escaped his notice, until his attention was drawn to them by his cor- 
 respondent." 
 
 This I had hoped would have saved me from misconstruc- 
 tion, and my friends from misunderstanding, and spared me 
 the necessity of further troubling the public upon this point. 
 
 This expectation, however, has not been realized, and the 
 recent use of ray name by several meetings and associations 
 of republicans, and in various democratic newspapers, is, 1 find, 
 producing extensively the impression that my dispositions have 
 undergone a change, and that my assent has been given to 
 these proceedings. 
 
 It therefore becomes incumbent upon me, as I think, to 
 correct this erroneous impression, and to put an end to mis- 
 apprehension and misunderstanding, by declaring that my 
 opinions, and feelings, and Vvislies have undergone no change ; 
 that 1 am not a candidate for the office of governor at the ap- 
 proaching election ; and that I have no right, in my judgment, 
 to become, and cannot, under any circumstances, consent to be 
 made a competitor for the nomination, either be/ore the people, or 
 the state convention, against any republican who is, or who may 
 become a candidate. 
 
 My private feelings and interests render the office of gov- 
 ernor, elevated and honorable as it truly is, undesirable to me ; 
 and the many favors I have received from the democracy of 
 this state, and the high and responsible office I now hold 
 through their kindness and confidence, forbid that I should 
 consent to disturb the harmony, or impair the strength of that 
 party, by permitting myself to become a competitor for any 
 higher or other honors. My dispositions and ray duty coincide 
 here, for I have no arabition for raore difficult or weighty re- 
 sponsibilities than those pertaining to the place I now hold. 
 Conscious as I am that those great responsibilities have been 
 
483 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 very imperfectly discharged, I cannot feel that degree of self- 
 confidence necessary to voluntarily encounter greater. 
 
 I have felt an extreme, perhaps culpable reluctance to ad- 
 dress the pubUc in this manner, upon this subject. My many 
 obligations to the democratic party of this state present, how- 
 ever, u plain and sufficient reason for this discharge of a man- 
 ifest duty. With harmony of feeling and concert of action, 
 the success of that party in the pending caiivass, is not, iii my 
 judgment, doubtful. The manner in which the national nom- 
 inations have been received and are supported, affords the most 
 gratifying evidence that any state candidates, who shall re- 
 ceive the harmonious nomination of the state convention, will 
 meet with an equally unanimous and warm reception from the 
 entire democracy of the state, and with a triumphant election. 
 
 To promote this harmonious and successful result by all 
 honorable means in my power, is my imperious duty, while to 
 permit myself to become the instrument of interrupting that 
 harmony, or of endangering that success, would be unpardon- 
 able ingratitude. 
 
 This communication should have appealed in the last num- 
 ber of your paper, but my absence for several days, and very 
 pressing calls upon my time, after my return, prevented my 
 giving the proper attention to this subject, until it was too 
 
 late for that publication. 
 
 Silas Wright. 
 Canton, August 1, 1844. 
 
 The above letter, as originally written, signed, and 
 forwarded from Canton to Ogdensburgh, did not contain 
 the words in the seventh paragraph — "Against any 
 republican who is or who may become a candidate." It 
 will be perceived that by expunging those words, the 
 refusal to be a candidate for the office of governor was 
 unconditional and peremptory. The letter, before its 
 publication, came into the hands of Judge Fine, who, 
 after consulting the Hon. P. King and other confiden- 
 tial friends, proposed the alteration which would render 
 
1811.] 
 
 LETTERS or MR. WRIUilT. 480 
 
 the refusal conditional, uud to the alteration thus pro- 
 posed and urgently pres.^ed by his friends, Mr. Wright 
 at last consented.* 
 
 * Since writing what is contained in the text, the author has been fa- 
 vorrd with two original letters, written by ^Ir. Wright to Judge Fine on 
 the snbjpct of the alteration of h'.i letter to the St. Lawrence Republican. 
 We give copies of both of them. Tiiey appear to have been written 
 hastily. The fust, in which he yields his consent to the alteration pro- 
 posed by JuHife Fine, is without date ; but it must have been written be- 
 fo!-e tliHt dated 8th of August. a.s will be p'^rceived by perusing both notes. 
 
 " My Deaii Sir : — Your two notes came this morning, and I thank you 
 for them. Your proposed correction of the article is im|)ortant, and I ann 
 glad you see no objection to it thus corrected. My position now is made 
 one of doubt, us nias^-.s uf letters written tu me show, it siiould not be 
 that — and I think I ahould go as far as I can go, and not say I will 
 not nrrept a nomination under any rirruvislanrex ; I iroi/ld be most 
 glad to say that, but perhaps I have no right to go so far ; yet •! think 
 I have a right to say, that I will not be thrown into the position of seem- 
 ing to r.nmppte for the nomination against any candidate. 
 
 " I return Mr. Page's letter, and thank you for its perusal. It and the 
 letter of Judge Willard are a fair exhibition of the diJlerent impressions 
 and judgments which honest and good men form as to my position, and 
 that it may well embarrass me. 
 
 " In haste, I am truly yours, 
 
 " S11.AS Wright. 
 " Hon. John Fine." 
 
 ' Canton, 8th August, 1844. 
 
 " My Dear Sir: — I received the paper yesterday, with the communi- 
 cation, and have been very busy for the last two days in replying to my 
 numerous letters upon that embarrassing subject, making, of course, the 
 published letter the answer in all cases This strife between personal in- 
 clination and interest and public duty, disturbs a man's judgment and 
 makes him a very unsafe counsellor for himself. At such times it is that 
 he requires frank, faithful, and disinterested friends ; and I really do not 
 think there ever was a man, in so remote a location from the great cen- 
 tre of politics, so well supplied as I have been upon this occasiou. 
 
 " To you I owe especial thanks for the ready and frank manner in 
 which you have manifested your willingness to devote your time and mind 
 to the questions presented, and to give me your opinion without reserve. 
 (All our friends about you, Messrs. Perkins, Gillet, King, and Myers, have 
 
100 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEU' VORK. [l844. 
 
 It was represented to him that the result of the elec- 
 tion in New York would decide, as in fact it did decide, 
 the fate of the democratic party in the nation ; that un- 
 less he would consent to he a candidate, such were the 
 {peculiar circumstances then existing, that the election 
 i:i the state and nation would inevitably be lost to the 
 democratic party ; and that with the use of his name no 
 reasonable doubt of a successful issue could be enter- 
 tained. These considerations wrung from him a reluc- 
 tant consent. 
 
 Let us here pause for one moment. Mr. Wright, 
 from motives of delicacy to his friend, which few can 
 appreciate, had refused to be a candidate in the conven- 
 tion for the office of president. He had declined the 
 appointment of judge of the Supreme Court of the Uni- 
 ted States ;. he had been nominated for the office of 
 vice-president, and declined being a candidate, prefer- 
 ring a seat in the senate to a station which is next 
 in dignity to the first office in the nation ; the nom- 
 ination of Mr. Polk, the man individually who was to 
 derive the greatest benefit from the proposed sacrifice, 
 was made against the avowed wishes of Mr. Wright. 
 Nothing could have been more uncongenial to his feel- 
 ings than the office of governor of the state of New 
 York. He knew it would plunge him into the vortex 
 
 taken the same generous course, as I doubt not Mr. Judson would have 
 done had he been at home. Will you assure those gentlemen that I can- 
 not too sincerely thank them, and that I will try to remember the obli- 
 gation, though I may never be able to repay it) 
 
 " How the public may appreciate our conclusions, time must deter- 
 mine. It is enough for us that our motives are good, and that we acted 
 as we thought right, under all circumstances. 
 
 " With great respect, 
 
 " I am truly yours, 
 " Hon. John Fike." " Silas Wright. 
 
1844. J MFi. WRIGHT A\D MR. BOICK. 4?-l 
 
 of New York politics, and expose him to the jealousy of 
 both, or the bitter persecution of one of the contending 
 factions which prevailed here. A seat in the senate of 
 the United States was of all public stations the most 
 agreeable to him. There he was at home. There he 
 was surrounded bv friends who esteemed and admired — 
 indeed, who more than admired, who loved him. That, 
 he well knew, was a theatre for which his talents and 
 habits best fitted him ; it was truly the " field of his fame 
 and his glory." Yet at the call of the democratic party 
 he did leave that field for a station which of all others 
 he most disliked, and the responsibilities and duties of 
 which he must have contemplated with apprehensions 
 the most painful. 
 
 We doubt whether a more striking instance of self- 
 sacrifice and devotion to friends can be found in ancient 
 or modern political history. There is a moral beauty 
 and sublimity in the conduct of Mr. Wrifjlit on this oc- 
 casion, which, considered in connection with his course 
 in relation to the action of the Baltimore Convention, 
 rival any thing exhibited in the most virtuous days of 
 Greece and Rome.* 
 
 The tojiowing propositions seem to be established ; 
 and if so, both Mr. Bouck and Mr. Wright conducted, 
 in relation to the gubernatorial election in 1841, with 
 perfect sincerity, and in acrovdance with the strictest 
 principles of honor. 
 
 1. That in April Mr. Bouck offered to withdraw his 
 name if Mr. Wright would consent to be a candidate. 
 
 2. That Mr. Wright peremptorily refused. 
 
 3. That notwithstanding his refusal, the papers op- 
 
 • See the uote at the end of the volume. — Mr. Wright's letter to Judg« 
 Allen. 
 
492 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 posed to the nomination of Gov. Bouck continued to 
 press that of Mr. Wright. 
 
 4. That after the national convention Mr. Wright re- 
 fused to be a candidate ; and so late as August, wrote a 
 letter, intended for publication, peremptorily refusing a 
 nomination, which, at the pressing solicitation of his best 
 and truest friends, and in deference to their opinion that 
 the vita! interest of the democratic party in the state 
 and nation demanded that he should yield a compliance 
 with their request, was so modified as to render his re- 
 fusal conditional. 
 
 5. That after the publication of this letter, Governor 
 Bouck desired that his name should be withdrawn, but 
 was overruled by his friends, who insisted that he could 
 not honorably, at that period, abandon the competition. 
 
 From the time of the publication of Mr. Wright's let- 
 ter of the 1st of August, the tide of public opinion rapid- 
 ly increased in favor of his nomination for governor ; 
 and in many of the county conventions held to choose 
 delegates for the Syracuse Convention, the delegates 
 elected were instructed to support him as the candidate 
 for governor. That convention was held on the 4th of 
 September, and the various counties in the state were 
 fullv represented in it. 
 
 Mr. Heman J. Redfield, of Genesee, a hunker, was, 
 it is said, at the request of Mr. Wright, unanimously 
 elected president, and Judge Denio, of Oneida, and Gen. 
 Lawyer, of Schoharie, with six others, were chosen vice- 
 presidents. Governor Bouck had instructed a judicious 
 friend, who was a delegate, to withdraw his name from 
 competition if he should think proper ; and as it was 
 soon ascertained that a large majority of the delegates 
 were for nominating Mr. Wright, the personal friends 
 
1844.] DEMOCRATIC STATE CONVENTION. 493 
 
 of that gentleman urged that the name of Gov. Bouck 
 should be withdrawn, they having, as was supposed, rea- 
 son to believe that Mr. Wright would be dissatisfied if 
 his name should be used in opposition to " any republi- 
 can." But the delegate to whom Gov. Bouck had 
 given this discretionary authority, upon consulting with 
 the other friends of Mr. B., was advised against with- 
 drawing his name. The convention therefore proceed- 
 ed to a ballot, which resulted in 95 votes for Wright 
 and 30 for Bouck ; whereupon Mr. Seymour, one of the 
 most distinguished and zealous friends of the renomina- 
 tion of Gov. Bouck, moved that the nomination of Mr. 
 Wri<i;ht should be declared unanimous, and the resolu- 
 tion was adopted without a dissenting vote. 
 
 Mr. Wright had expressed a wish that in case of his 
 own nomination, Mr. D. S. Dickinson should be nomina- 
 ted for re-election as lieutenant-governor ; but he pe- 
 remptorily refused to be a candidate, whereupon Addison 
 Gardiner, late circuit judge of the eighth circuit, was 
 unanimously nominated. 
 
 Benjamin F. Butler and Daniel S. Dickinson were 
 nominated state presidential electors, and a list of elec- 
 tors from the several congressional districts was also put 
 in nomination. Jonas Earl, Jr., Daniel P. Bissell, Na- 
 thaniel Jarvis, and Stephen Clark, were nominated canal 
 commissioners. By the resolutions adopted by the con- 
 vention, they denounced a high tariff, a national bank, 
 the distribution of the proceeds of the sales of publir. 
 lands, &c., and they approved the resolutions adopted 
 by the Baltimore Convention. They do not allude to 
 the annexation of Texas, other than by expressing their 
 approbation of the principles put forth by the Baltimore 
 C'onvention. They probably designedly avoided any 
 
 42 
 
494 POLITICAL HISTORY OF XEVV YORK. [l84i, 
 
 express allusion to that "great American measure," be- 
 cause, among other reasons, their candidate for governor 
 had voted against the Texas treaty in the senate, and 
 since his return from Washington, and since the Balti- 
 more Convention, had declared in a speech delivered at 
 Watertown to a mass meeting, that he was opposed to 
 annexation. The convention closed their resolutions with 
 one of thanks to Gov. Bouck and Lieutenant-governor 
 Dickinson, " for their faithful administration of the vari- 
 ous and responsible duties committed to their charge." 
 
 The convention dissolved in great harmony, and with 
 high hopes of success. Its result undoubtedly gave the 
 friends of Polk new confidence in the state and nation. 
 In the intense interest excited by the presidential con- 
 test, the divisions in the democratic ranks were lost sight 
 of, if they were not healed up. It is not necessary to 
 allude to that contest in this connection, except to say 
 that Gov. Wright was faithfully supported by the friends 
 of Gov. Bouck. The contrary has never been intima- 
 ted. In the county of Oneida, where Mr. Bouck's friends 
 were in the ascendant, and where some of those who 
 had advocated Mr. Wright's nomination, were opposing 
 a part of the local ticket, he received a higher vote than 
 any candidate on the ticket. This was the more re- 
 markable, as a long section of the unfinished Black 
 River Canal passed through the democratic section of 
 the county, and the inhabitants were very much exas- 
 perated by the suspension of its construction. 
 
 The whig state convention was held on the llth day 
 of September, at Syracuse. There was a very full 
 attendnnce of delegates. Francis Granger, the late 
 postmaster-general, was chosen president. Millard 
 Fillmore, of Buffalo, was nominated for governor, and 
 
1944.] WHIG STATE CONVENTION. 495 
 
 Samuel J. Wilkin, of Orange county, for lieutenant- 
 governor. These nominations, and indeed the nomina- 
 tions of all the other candidates, were made apparently 
 with perfect unanimity, and without a ballot. This 
 circumstance leads to the inference that an informal 
 meeting of the delegates must have been previously 
 held, in which a free interchange of sentiments had 
 taken place between them. Of Mr. Fillmore we have 
 spoken in another place ; but we cannot omit to avail 
 ourselves of the present occasion to express our high 
 respect for the talents, integrity, and personal merit of 
 Mr. Wilkin. All who know him (and the author has 
 known him from his early youth) we are sure will con- 
 cur with us in the exalted opinion we entertain of his 
 talents and merit. 
 
 The convention also nominated presidential electors. 
 The state electors whom they designated were Willis 
 Hall and John A. Collier. They terminated their labors 
 by nominating Samuel Works, Spencer Kellogg, Elijah 
 Rhoades, and Joseph H. Jackson, canal commissioners. 
 
 The nomination of Henry Clay for president was ap- 
 proved, and reiterated with acclamations; and an address 
 to the electors and a series of resolutions were adopted 
 and published. One of the resolutions expresses a deci- 
 ded approval of the tariff as it then was, and another 
 condemns and denounces the annexation of Texas as un- 
 constitutional, and as a project which, in the judgment of 
 the convention, would be followed by consequences deep- 
 ly injurious to the country, and dangerous to the Union. 
 
 Never was an electioneering campaign conducted with 
 more spirit and energy than that of 1844. Both parties 
 entered the field well organized, and animated with high 
 hopes. The recollection of their success in 1840 in- 
 
198 poi.rncAL history of new vork. [1844. 
 
 spired the wliigs with courage ; while a bitter feeHng of 
 resentment for what they deemed the treachery of Mr. 
 Tyler, which had snatched from them the fruit.s of their 
 victory at the last presidential election, and their ardent 
 attachment to their chivalric and gallant leader, kindled 
 ,'i /eal which spread through all ranks of the party, 
 which aj)proached almost to fanaticism. Indeed, there 
 are some traits in Mr. Clay's character eminently calcu- 
 lated to excite in his supporters a species of enthusiasm. 
 The ardor of his feelings, his open, frank, and gallant 
 bearing towards friends and foes, and his unsurpassed 
 eloquence, have, as has already been remarked, procured 
 him a greater number of devoted and ardent personal 
 friends than any other man in the Union. 
 
 On the other hand, the democratic party felt that their 
 all was at stake. The radicals had succeeded in procu- 
 rinof the nomination of their most favorite candidate for 
 governor ; and the hunkers having left the Syracuse con- 
 vention, if not with kind feelings towards the radicals, 
 at least in good temper, and with sentiments of esteem 
 and regard for Mr. Wright, seemed anxious to prove to 
 the radicals, by more than usual efforts, that they were 
 not governed by factious motives, but would exert all 
 their energies in support of the common cause. Mr. 
 Van Buren, too, had in several communications which 
 were published, declared his acquiescence in the nom- 
 ination of Mr. Polk, and his determination to support 
 him. 
 
 Immensely large mass meetings were held by the re- 
 spective parties in all the large towns, and in almost 
 every county in the state. These meetings were ad- 
 dressed by the most eminent orators in the state, and 
 sometimes by distinguished statesmen from abroad. 
 
]844.] MASS MEETING:?. 497 
 
 Mr. Wright, before h ^ became the gubernatorial can- 
 didate, Lieutenant-governor Dickinson, ami many other 
 eminent democrats, attended the mass meetings, and 
 addressed the people. On the other hand, Mr. Webster, 
 Mr. Collier, and other able and talented men, attended 
 and addressed large masses of whigs. We have, on a 
 former occasion, expressed our doubts whether these 
 gatherings ought to be encouraged ;* but whether 
 those doubts were well or ill founded, it is very certain 
 that great tact and skill, and ability in reasoning, and 
 many specimens of splendid and thrilling eloquence 
 were exhibited on these occasions. Besides the politi- 
 cians and statesmen holding the high position of those 
 we have mentioned, several voung men, not before 
 known in political life, devoted much of their time in 
 attendance on the mass meetings, and delivered ad- 
 dresses with great effect, accompanied with all the charms 
 and power of eloquence. Among 1 he most distinguished 
 of these was John W. Fowler on the whig side, and 
 Gansevoort Melville and James W. Nye on the dem- 
 ocratic. 
 
 But in the progress of the campaign, both parties were 
 compelled to encounter some serious and embarrassing 
 difficulties. 
 
 It will be recollected that the ostensible, and perhaps 
 the real cause of the preference given by the Baltimore 
 Convention to Mr. Polk over Mr. Van Buren, was that 
 the former was in favor of the annexation of Texas, and 
 the latter was opposed to it, and that that convention 
 adopted a resolution that the Texan nation ought imme- 
 diately to be annexed to the United States. Besides 
 
 * 2 Political History, p. 527. 
 
 ■ 42* 
 
498 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l844. 
 
 those distinguished men, Van Buren and Wright, who 
 were publicly committed against that project, which 
 the Baltimore Convention was pleased to denominate 
 "a great Amei'ican measure," there were many other 
 influential and worthy republicans who entirely concur- 
 red with those gentlemen in opinion, and who could not 
 perceive why a simple resolution adopted by the indi- 
 viduals assembled at Baltimore should change the merits 
 or the character of the question. The masses of the 
 democratic party also, though they desired an extension 
 of the national territory, did not view with favor the ex- 
 tension of slavery ; and many of them believed that the 
 annexation of Texas would not only " diffuse'' but in- 
 crease slavery. 
 
 In this state of the question some highly respectable 
 and influential democratic citizens of the city of New 
 York, in connection with the then attorney-general, who 
 were opposed to annexation, but who yet were extreme- 
 ly solicitous for the election of Mr. Polk in preference 
 to Mr. Clay, knowing that the question whether Texas 
 should be annexed must be decided by congress, con- 
 cocted a scheme of procuring a united, but silent, quiet 
 action of the anti-annexationists in the state, in the se- 
 lection and election of members of congress who accord- 
 ed with them Jn sentiments ; while at the same time they 
 desired that the most vigorous efforts should be made to 
 promote the success of the democratic electoral ticket 
 for president.* In execution of this project they ad- 
 dressed a circular letter to several individuals, located 
 in different parts of the state, who, they had reason to 
 
 * They also proposed that they, together with the persons to whom 
 they forwarded these views, should jointly address the people, declaring 
 their reasons for supporting Mr. Polk, wliile they opposed annexation. 
 
1344.1 THE SECRET CIRCULAR. 401) 
 
 believe, entertained opinions similar to their own on the 
 subject of annexation. As this letter has been the sub- 
 ject of much, and in some instances severe newspaper 
 animadversions, a copy of it is here inserted. 
 
 CONFIDENTIAL. 
 
 Sir — You will doubtless agree with us, that the late Balti- 
 more Convention placed the democratic party at the Xorth 
 in a position of great ditficulty. We are constantly reminded 
 that it rejected Mr. Van Bui-en and nominated Mr. Polk, for 
 reasons connected with the immediate annexation of Texas — 
 reasons which had no relation to the principles of the party. 
 Nor was that all. The convention went beyond the authority 
 delegated to it;? members, and adopted a resolution on the 
 subject of Texas, (a subject not before the country when they 
 were elected, upon which, therefore, they were not instructed,) 
 which seeks to interpolate into the party code a new doctrine, 
 hitherto unknown among us, at war with some of our estab- 
 hshed principles, and abhorrent to the opinions and feelings of 
 a great majority of northern freemen. 
 
 In this position, what was the party at the North to do ? 
 Was it to reject the nominations and abandon the contest, or 
 should it support the nominations, rejecting the untenable doc- 
 trine interpolated at the convention, and taking care that their 
 support should be accompanied with such an expression of 
 their opinion as to prevent its being misinterpreted ? The lat- 
 ter alternative has been preferred, and we think wisely ; for 
 we conceive that a proper expression of their opinion will save 
 their votes from misconstruction, and that proper efforts will 
 secure the nomination of such members of congress as will re- 
 ject the unwarrantable scheme now pressed upon the country. 
 
 With these views, a,ssuming that you feel on this subject as 
 we do, we have been desired to address you, and to invite the 
 co-operation of yourself and other friends throughout the stale — 
 
 1st. In the publication of a joint letter, declaring our pur- 
 pose to support the nominations, rejecting the resolutions re- 
 specting Texas. 
 
500 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NKVV YORK. [1844. 
 
 2d. In promoting and supporting, at the next election, the 
 nomination for congress of such persons as concur in these 
 opini(}ns. 
 
 If your views in this matter coincide with ours, please write 
 to some one of us, and a draft of the proposed letter will be 
 forwarded for examination. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 George P. Barker, William C. Bryant, 
 
 J. W. Edmonds, David Dudley Field, 
 
 Theodore Sedgwick, Thomas W. Tucker, 
 
 Isaac Townsend. 
 
 P. S. — A copy of this circular has been sent to the follow- 
 ing gentlemen : — Michael Hoffman, Albert H. Tracy, Hiram 
 Gardiner, Addison Gardiner, Samuel Selden, Henry Selden, 
 Ashley Sampson, J. Osborn, Hiram Gray, Jared N. Wilson, 
 James M. Smith, Thos. G. Talcot, William Allen, Freeborn G. 
 Jewett, Daniel Chandler, Hiram Denio, John Tracy, Jabez D. 
 Hammond, John 1. De Graff, N. S. Benton, Preston King, 
 Riinsom Gillet, Samuel Young, L. Stetson, James B. Spencer, 
 David L. Seymour, David Buel, Harmanus Bleecker, A. C. 
 Flacrcp, Robert McLellan, R. D. Davis, James Powers, Archi- 
 bald Niven, Nathaniel Jones, John W. Lawrence — and will be 
 sent to any other person you may wish. 
 
 It will be noticed that this letter was marked " confi- 
 dential," and it has therefore been denominated the " se- 
 cret circular." We do not know what were the motives 
 which induced the signers of this communication to 
 mark it confidential, but we believed then, as we do 
 now, that their object was to prevent any agitation of 
 the public mind on the subject, and thereby weaken 
 the democratic strength by the appearance of a division 
 in the party, unless the persons to whom it was ad- 
 dressed should advise the adoption of the measure pro- 
 jected. It would seem that a majority of those persons 
 did not think the execution of the proposed plan advisa- 
 
1844.] THE SECRET CIRCULAR. 501 
 
 ble, for the joint letter was never issued ; but that which 
 was intended to be signed and circulated, was after- 
 wards published by Mr. Bryant in the Evening Post. 
 It merely contained the sentiments expressed in the cir- 
 cular, more fully developed. It is, perhaps, proper for 
 the author to state, that he informed the gentlemen 
 whose names were attached to the circular that he cor- 
 dially agreed with them in their opposition to the annex- 
 ation of Texas, and would not withhold his name from 
 a written statement expressing that opposition ; but he 
 advised against the publication of the joint letter, be- 
 cause it seemed to him inconsistent to condemn a meas- 
 ure, and yet support the man who was nominated as a 
 candidate for the first office in the nation solely for the 
 avowed reason that he was in favor of that very measure. 
 
 We will only add, that we have reason to believe that 
 all the signers of the circular, and all the persons to 
 whom it was addressed, (we know most of them did,) 
 supported with zeal and energy the election of Mr. Polk, 
 with the exception of a single individual. That indi- 
 vidual was Jabez D. Hammond, who declined voting at 
 all for presidential electors. 
 
 But although the signers of the circular, and those to 
 whom it was addressed, generally supported Mr. Polk 
 in good faith, there were many among the masses who 
 felt great difficulty in voting for the nominee of a con- 
 vention who had declared the annexation of Texas to 
 be a great American measure. The whigs, therefore, 
 not without reason, cherished the hope that many of 
 these conscientious men would vote for Mr. Clay ; but 
 this Mr. Clay, by his own indiscreet conduct, to use the 
 mildest term, in a great degree, if not wholly, prevented. 
 Before Mr. Van Buren's letter to Mr. Hammit was 
 
ri?2 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW VORK. [1844. 
 
 published, Mr. Clay had published a letter, in which he 
 stated — 
 
 " I con.sider the annexation of Texas, at this time, 
 ■without the assent of Mexico, as a measure compromi- 
 sing the national character, involving us certainly in 
 war with Mexico, probably with other foreign powers, 
 dangerous to the integrity of tlie Union, inexpedient in 
 the present financial condition of the country, and not 
 called for by any general expression of public opinion." 
 
 Had Mr. Clay rested on this frank and explicit decla- 
 ration, we verily believe he 'would have received the 
 vote of the state of New York for president ; hut the 
 whole slaveholding interest at the South, as well whig 
 as democratic, was anxiously solicitous that Texas 
 should be made a part of the Union, and no doubt many 
 of his most ardent political and personal friends in that 
 section of the Union were continually pressing him to 
 vary his position in relation to the Texas question. Mr. 
 Clay was desirous to secure all the whig votes. In an 
 evil hour, (on the 1st day of July,) in a communication 
 to one of his friendly correspondents in Alabama, a 
 state in which he never did and never will receive 
 a vote, he stated, — " As to the idea of courting the 
 abolitionists, it is perfectly absurd. No man in the 
 United States has been half as much abused by them as 
 1 have been." * * * " Periionally I could have no 
 objection to the annexation of Texas, but," &c. He af- 
 terwards wrote a third letter, in which he attempted to 
 show that he had been guilty of no inconsistency in the 
 sentiments expressed in these two letters ; but this last 
 epistle did not better his position. In consequence ol 
 these letters, Mr. Clay, though lie had many personal 
 friends in this state, received but very few, if any, dem- 
 
1844.] NATIVE AMERICANS AND ANTI-RENTERS. 503 
 
 ocratic votes here. Those democrats who thought it 
 wrong to vote for Mr. Polk, on account of the Texas 
 question, either decHned voting for presidential electors, 
 or voted the abolition ticket. 
 
 The Native Americans in the city of New York and 
 in the county of Kings, so far as related to the election 
 of members of assembly, congress, and the senate, sus- 
 tained the organization they had formed in the prece- 
 ding spring at the charter elections ; but by mutual con- 
 sent among them it was understood that in relation to 
 the presidential and gubernatorial election, each mem- 
 ber of the native association should vote according to 
 his own predilections as respected the two great con- 
 tending parties in the state. The result was, that their 
 candidates for the assembly, senate, and a majority of 
 the members of congress from the city of New York, 
 were elected. By means of this success, William W. 
 Campbell, the author of the " Annals of Tryon County," 
 a man of great worth and merit, was elected to congress, 
 and George Folsom, a gentleman distinguished for his 
 literary attainments, and much respected for his private 
 virtues, was chosen a member of the senate of this state. 
 
 The Anti-renters pursued a very politic and wise 
 course. In counties where they were uncertain whether 
 they had a plurality of votes over both the whig and 
 democratic parties, they selected such of the candidates 
 nominated by either of those parties as they had i-ea- 
 son to believe would be most favorable to their views, 
 and gave the persons thus selected every anti-rent vote. 
 By this course of policy they, holding as they did the 
 balance of power, controlled the election in Albany, Co- 
 lumbia, Delaware, Greene, Rensselaer, Schoharie, and 
 .Sullivan counties, and brought into the assembly from 
 
504 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1844. 
 
 those counties such men as favored and supported their 
 views, so far as they could be supported consistent with 
 the constitution of this state and of the United States. 
 Two of the most efficient and able members of the as- 
 sembly of 1845 were brought into that assembly by 
 means of the votes of the anti-renters. We allude to 
 Ira Harris, of Albany county, and Wm. H. Van Schoon- 
 hoven, of Rensselaer county. 
 
 The Abolition, or Liberty Party, adhered resolute- 
 ly to their "one idea,"' and refused all compromise. It 
 was well known that they held the power, beyond all 
 question, (which was proved by the result of the elec- 
 tion,) of giving Mr. Clay the votes of this state, and thus 
 preventing the annexation of Texas, and the extension 
 of slavery, which every one foresaw must be the conse- 
 quence of annexation. The whigs, therefore, continued 
 to believe, until after the votes were actually canvassed, 
 that inasmuch as no man believed that this party could 
 elect Mr. Birney, a majority of them would eventually 
 cast their votes for Mr. Clay. In this expectation they 
 were disappointed. Not an individual of the aboli- 
 tionists voted for Mr. Clay. They argued that if the 
 whigs were sincere in their opposition to annexation, 
 they ought to vote for Mr. Birney, who had never 
 equivocated in relation to that question. " Why," said 
 they, " have we not as good right to require you to vote 
 for Mr. Birney as you have to demand our votes for Mr. 
 Clay ?" It is difficult in theory to resist the force of 
 this reasoning. But the actual consequence was, that 
 although the abolitionists had a greater numerical force, 
 and probably possessed more wealth and more talent 
 than either the Anti-renters or Native Americans, while 
 those last- mentioned parties, by their management, were 
 
1844.] RESULT OF THE ELECTION. 5G5 
 
 n 
 
 ably represented, both in the national and state legisla- 
 tures, the Liberty Party did not elect a solitary individ- 
 ual to represent their views in either of those bodies. 
 
 This great contest eventuated in the triumph of the 
 dennocratic party in the state and nation. Mr. Polk ob- 
 tained, by means of the thirty-six votes given by New 
 York, sixty-six electoral votes more than Mr. Clay. 
 Mr. Wright's majority over Mr. Fillmore was 10,033 ; 
 and the majority for the democratic candidate for lieu- 
 tenant-governor and canal commissioners was between 
 nine and ten thousand ; while the majority on the elec- 
 toral ticket over that for Mr. Clay, was less than five 
 thousand. In the city of New York Mr. Wright ob- 
 tained a majority of 3,386 over Mr. Fillmore, the favorite 
 of the whigs of that city, while Mr. Polk's majority was 
 only 1,734. This disparity must have been produced 
 by a difference of opinion in respect to that "great 
 American measure," the annexation of Texas. 
 
 The Native Americans succeeded in electing Mr. 
 Folsom to the senate in the first district, while the demo- 
 crats elected their candidates in all the other districts in 
 the state, except the eighth. The names of the senators 
 elected were — George Folsom, from the first district, in 
 the place of Mr. Scott ; Robert Dennison was re-elected 
 from the second district ; John P. Beekman was chosen 
 from the third district, in the place of Mr. Strong ; Au- 
 gustus C. Hand, from the fourth, in the place of Mr. 
 Lawrence ; Enoch B. Talcott, from the fifth, in the 
 place of Mr. Foster ; George D. Beers, from the sixth, 
 in the place of Mr. Piatt; Henry J. Sedgwick, from the 
 seventh, in the place of Mr. Rhoades ; and Carlos Em- 
 mons, from the eighth, in the place of Mr. Works. 
 
 To the assembly seventy democrats and forty-four 
 
 43 
 
506 POLITICAL UISTORY OF NEW YOUK. [iSti. 
 
 whigs were elected, the rest being Native Americans and 
 anti-renters ; but several members, who were denom- 
 inated whigs or democrats, according to the parties to 
 which they respectively were reputed to belong, were 
 elected by the balance-power of the anti-renters, and on 
 all ([uestions affecting the interest of that party voted 
 with the anti-renters. 
 
 Our sagacious radical correspondent from Albany, 
 from whom we have before several times quoted, says: 
 " When the result of the election was known, the radi- 
 cals were in an excess of joy. Mr. Polk was thought 
 to be a sincere friend of the sub-treasury, opposed to a 
 United States bank and a national debt, and in favor of 
 a revenue tariff. Mr. Wright was all that the demo- 
 cratic heart could wish, love, admire, and almost wor- 
 ship. Bat here his errors of policy commenced. His 
 first efforts were to conciliate the Bouck men." If this 
 efibrt at conciliation was, as our correspondent thinks, 
 a political error in Gov. Wright, it was one which 
 every man, situated as he was, would have been likely 
 to commit. Gov. Wright had not personally mingled 
 much with the Albany politicians for several years. 
 He knew that the hunkers had been defeated at the Sy- 
 racuse convention, but he also knew that in the tremen- 
 dous conflict from which the democratic party had just 
 emerged, the hunkers had fought side by side with the 
 radicals, and with equal sincerity and zeal, and he found 
 among them many of his old personal and political 
 friends. He believed that the heart-burnings and enmity 
 which had prevailed between the two sections at the 
 time of the adjournment of the legislature, had been 
 quieted and forgotten in the life-and-death struggle be- 
 tween the two great parties which had recently termi- 
 
1844.] ERROR OF MR. WEIGHT. 507 
 
 nated. Was it then wonderful that he sliould make an 
 effort to restore peace between those who ought to be 
 friends ? But he was not aware of the deep-seated bit- 
 terness that still rankled in the breasts of fnany belong- 
 ing to each section. Gov. Wright, when he came to 
 Albany, shortly after the election in November, became 
 a temporary guest of Mr. Erastus Corning, who, we 
 have seen, was a leading and influential hunker ; and so 
 jealous were the politicians of that period, that many 
 radicals viewed that circumstance, trifling as it was, with 
 suspicion. 
 
 We are inclined to think that our correspondent, con- 
 sidering the real state of things — of which, by the way, 
 Mr. Wright could not have been apprized — is in the 
 right, and that the effort at conciliation was in vain, and 
 therefore impolitic. It may have been that such was 
 the fixed and settled hostility between the hunkers and 
 radicals that the time for a temporizing policy had pass- 
 ed, and that Gov. Wright should either have said to the 
 radicals, that, if they were his friends, they must cease 
 their hostility to the hunkers — that he should regard 
 any attempt, either by oral or printed declarations, to 
 impair their political standing, as an act of war against 
 himself; or that he should have taken open and decided 
 ground in favor of the radicals, as his only legitimate 
 political friends, and denounced the hunkers. But our 
 correspondent points out one political error of Mr. 
 Wright in which we entirely concur with him. 
 
 Mr. Wright was a senator of the United States, and 
 had a right to retain his seat until the first day of Jan- 
 uary, 1845. He should have retained it, and gone to 
 Washington at the meeting of congress on the first 
 Monday in December. His great popularity in the na- 
 
508 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YOUK. l1844. 
 
 tion, the important and decisive services which had been 
 rendered by the use of his name and influence in the 
 late presidential election, and the numerous ardent and 
 powerful friends he would have met at Washington, 
 would have enabled him to exercise a controlling in- 
 fluence in the formation of Mr. Polk's cabinet. In- 
 stead of this, he made up his mind not to resume his 
 seat in the senate, nor visit Washington, before he would 
 be required to assume the administration of the govern- 
 ment of this state. " He ought," says our correspond- 
 ent, " to have gone to Washington, and remained there 
 till Christmas. No man's presence there could have 
 been more useful to the democracy. Instead of this, he 
 came to Albany, where he immediately called on Gov. 
 Bouck. The latter, in the course of conversation, men- 
 tioned that he had received the resignation of the Hon. 
 N. P. Tallmadge, who had recently been appointed by 
 the president governor of Wisconsin. Mr. Wright re- 
 marked that there would be nothing of general interest 
 to require a senator in Washington until after the meet- 
 ing of the legislature. Gov. Bouck observed that he 
 thought the public interest required him to appoint one. 
 Mr. Wright then said, ' If you think so, governor, I must 
 resign, for I do not intend to go to Washington.' Gov. 
 Wright thereupon went to the comptroller's office, and 
 wrote his resignation, which was immediately delivered 
 to Gov, Bouck. This," continues our correspondent, 
 "was a most fatal error." 
 
 Previous to the resignation of Gov. Wright, Lieuten- 
 ant-governor Dickinson and the late state senator, Mr. 
 Foster, were applicants for Mr. Tallmadge's place. 
 The competition for the appointment was quite ardent, 
 and so much so that they mutually assailed each other 
 
1844.] APPOINTMENT OF U. S. SENATORS. 509 
 
 This controversy was extremely painful to Mr. Bouck. 
 Both the connpetitors had been his steady, uniform, and 
 efficient friends, and he finally concluded that he would 
 not appoint either of them in preference to the other. 
 Even after the resignation of Mr. Wright was received. 
 Gov. Bouck tendered the appointment to Gov. Marcy, 
 but he declined accepting it. Had he accepted, it is 
 probable the governor would have appointed Heman J. 
 Redfield for his colleague. The non-acceptance of Mr. 
 Marcy resulted in the appointment of the two rival ap- 
 plicants, which happily extinguished the growing hos- 
 tility between them. 
 
 43* 
 
510 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW VOKK. [1845. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Condition of the Democratic Party at the commencement of the year 1845 
 — Contest about the nomination of Speaker — Mr. Seymour and Col. 
 Grain — Mr. Seymour is nominated and elected — Governor's Message — 
 Caucus to nominate State Officers — Its result — Caucus to nominate 
 United States Senators — Messrs. Dickinson and Dix nominated and 
 elected — Mr. Polk's offer to appoint Mr. Wright Secretary of the Treas- 
 ury — Gov. Marcy appointed Secretary of War. 
 
 Never had the democratic party achieved a greater 
 triumph than in the election of 1844. Both of the great 
 parties of tlie country had put forth their entire strength 
 in the contest ; the interest excited was intense and uni- 
 versal, and the result decisive. The whig party was 
 entirely prostrated, and apparently disorganized. The 
 democratic party of the state never held so strong a po- 
 sition. The severity of the contest with the whigs had 
 restored its ancient discipline, which had been impaired 
 by the divisions in its ranks during Mr. Bouck's admin- 
 istration, and the utmost enthusiasm animated its masses. 
 Mr. Wright's position was not less flattering ; the gen- 
 eral belief that his name had largely contributed to carry 
 the state, and consequently the nation, gave him great 
 credit at home and abroad, while the body of the party 
 felt for him that admiration which is always excited in 
 favor of prominent candidates at earnestly contested 
 elections. As he had been withdrawn for many years 
 from the irritating domestic feuds of the party, it is fair 
 to presume that all sections were disposed to support his 
 administration. 
 
1845.] HUNKER AND RADICAL DIFFERENCES. 511 
 
 "I know it is charged that the friends of Gov. Bouck," 
 says .-111 inteHigenl and fair-minded hunker correspond- 
 ent, " were determined to embarrass his administration 
 from the beginning. Whatever may have been the 
 feehrigs of a few individuals. I do not think it was the 
 case to any extent. I can say that so far as my obser- 
 vation extended, and from what I know of the views of 
 those with whom I was acting, it was beheved he would 
 act impartially between the different interests. I still 
 believe, if Mr. Wright had acted in pursuance of his 
 own views, he would have harmonized all diflerences. 
 He could not but feel that he had been fairly supported 
 by all interests, and during the progress of the election, 
 he had been brought into contact and co-operation with 
 all classes of politicians. Jt was natural he should feel 
 unwilling to commence a war upon those who had so 
 recently put forth every effort to sustain him. When 
 he first went to Albany, before the commencement of the 
 session, he took occasion to manifest his disposition to 
 harmonize all differences." 
 
 It is confidently asserted by the hunkers that the inti- 
 mate friends and confidential advisers of Mr. Wright 
 entertained different feelings and views. They allege 
 that Mr. Van Buren felt that his defeat in the Baltimore 
 Convention was in part owing to an influence emanating 
 from this state. Mr. Flagg also had been deeply engaged 
 in the quarrel with Gov. Bouck ; and that section of the 
 democratic party friendly to the late governor insist that 
 after the first feelings of triumph on account of the result 
 of the election had subsided, Mr. Flagg, and other gen- 
 tlemen with whom he had acted, began to mark out a 
 policy for the future. That policy, they say, looked to 
 the elevation of Mr. Wright to the presidency; that 
 
512 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845. 
 
 these leading radicals, in order to carry into effect their 
 views, and preserve their own ascendency, arrived at 
 the conclusion, that, instead of conciliating the friends 
 of Gov. Bouck, it was necessary to put them down ; and 
 they thought that as they then had the strength to ef- 
 fect this object, that then was the time to execute the 
 scheme. 
 
 On the other hand, the radicals believed, or claimed 
 to believe, that the object of the hunkers was by little 
 and little to encroach on the financial system established 
 by the act of 1842; that the leading members of that 
 section of the party came to the capitol with smothered 
 but bitter feelings of resentment for the defeat they had 
 suffered in the convention of Syracuse, and with a de- 
 termination to wage an insidious war against those who 
 had caused that defeat. It is by no means improbable 
 that both sections were unreasonably jealous of each 
 other, and that each party charged the other with acting 
 from motives to which they were strangers. At any 
 rate, we are quite sure that this last remark is correct, 
 as respects several distinguished individuals belonging 
 to the hunker and radical parties ; and the fact is uni- 
 versally admitted, that whatever of jealousy or hostility 
 existed in the breasts of the leaders of the two sections 
 in Albany, those jealousies and enmities did not prevail 
 to any considerable extent among the masses of the dem- 
 ocratic party in the country. They were glowing with 
 the enthusiasm excited by the triumph in the recent con- 
 test, and the exhibition of domestic broils annoyed and 
 mortified them. This feeling was entertained by many 
 of the democratic members of the legislature when they 
 came from the country. Most of them were strangers 
 to public life, and they entered the capitol expecting to 
 
1845.] MEMBER^ OF THE ASSEMBLY. 513 
 
 act in support of Gov. Wright, and in concert with the 
 state oflicers. 
 
 Mr. Horatio Sevmour was the onlv member of the 
 assembly of 1845, that belonged to the democratic party, 
 who was a member the preceding year, and but two 
 others had been members of any legislative body previ- 
 ous to that time. Mr. Seymour of Oneida, Col. Grain 
 of Herkimer, Mr. Bailey of Putnam, Mr. T. R. Lee of 
 Westchester, Mr. Russell of St. Lawrence, Mr. Com- 
 sto(;k of Oneida, and INIr. Niven of Orange, were the 
 leading democratic members. 
 
 The whigs, although in the minority, were represent- 
 ed by very able and experienced men — some of them 
 were highly and justly distinguished for their talents. 
 The present governor, John Young, of Livingston, and 
 Alvah Worden, from Ontario, were their leaders. They 
 were sustained by Mr. Bloss of Monroe, Lee of Erie, 
 Van Schoonhoven of Troy, Harris of Albany, S. A. 
 Brown of Ghautauque, and A. W. Young of Wyoming, 
 the author of a very valuable and highly useful work 
 " On the Science of Government," and more recently of 
 a treatise entitled " First Lessons in Givil Government." 
 The city of New York was represented by men chcsen 
 by the Native American party, and were all highly re- 
 spectable for their talents and standing in community. 
 Messrs. Wheeler, Morrison, and De Buy, from that city, 
 took an active part in the proceedings of the house. 
 
 Although the democratic party in the senate had lost 
 the powerl'ul support of Mr. Foster, it had gained that 
 of Mr. Hand, from the fourth district, a man of talents, 
 and who po.ssessed a mind highly cultivated. He has 
 been recently elected a justice of the Supreme Court by 
 the fourth judicial district. Mr. Talcott, the successor 
 
514 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845. 
 
 of Mr. Foster, was also a valuable acquisition to the 
 senate. He was a sound lawyer and an industrious and 
 able legislator. 
 
 No sooner did the members begin to assemble at Al- 
 bany, than indications were manifested that the hopes of 
 Gov. Wright, and other well-wishers of the democratic 
 cause who had not mingled in the controversies which 
 had raged between the hunkers and radicals during the 
 preceding session, were delusive. The war was re- 
 vived with increased fury on the canvass for nomination 
 of speaker of the assembly. 
 
 The energy of character, address, and abilities of Mr. 
 Seymour have been heretofore stated. As it was gen- 
 erally admitted that he possessed the qualities we have 
 ascribed to him, and as he was the only democratic 
 member of the last house of assembly who had been re- 
 elected, it was natural that he should have been spoken 
 of as a very suitable man for the office of speaker. Ac- 
 cordingly, some time before the commencement of the 
 session, he had been applied to by his friends to stand 
 as a candidate. We are assured, on the best authority, 
 that when the project was considered by him he was 
 not inclined to encourage it, but preferred the position 
 of a floor member. He however finally consented that 
 his name should be used. When he gave that consent 
 he did not anticipate that his support of the renomina- 
 tion of Gov. Bouck, or his canal report, would, at the 
 commencement of a new administration, be urged against 
 him ; but on his arrival at Albany, a day or two before 
 the meeting of the legislature, he was informed that the 
 state officers were taking very active measures to pre- 
 vent his nomination by a democratic caucus. 
 
 The candidate whom it was proposed to present in 
 
1845.] CONTEST FOR SPEAKERSHIP. 515 
 
 opposition to Mr. Seymour, was Col. William C. Grain, 
 ot" HerKimer, a verj worthy man, who had some years 
 before been a member of the assembly, and more re- 
 cently sheriff* of the county of Herkimer. Col. Grain 
 was an educated agriculturist, highly esteemed in his 
 own county, and indeed wherever he was known. He 
 was the friend and pupil, politically speaking, of Mr. 
 Hoff'man, and thoroughly radical in his principles. It is 
 not to be presumed that he felt any desire to compete 
 for the office of speaker, and it is probable that he rather 
 '"eluctantly consented to be a candidate at the solicita- 
 'on of friends. 
 
 When Mr. Seymour perceived that a contest was de- 
 
 *■ irmined on by his opponents, he felt that his personal 
 
 f'anding and influence would in some degree depend on 
 
 'he result. Very active efforts were therefore made, as 
 
 fell by him and his friends as by the friends of Col. 
 
 ""rain and influential citizens from abroad, who either 
 
 .ccidentally, or because they were desirous to exert an 
 
 ifluence in the nomination of speaker, were in attend- 
 
 nce at Albany, and took part, according to their re- 
 
 pective predilections, in the contest. 
 
 The radicals alleged that an unusual number of post- 
 aasters and other office-holders under the general gov- 
 rnment made their appearance in Albany and advocated 
 he electioii (.)f Mr. Seymour ; while, 0)i the other hand, 
 he hunkers affirmed that the city was crowded with 
 persons holding office under the canal board, who were 
 ixtremely zealous and active in their efforts to promote 
 ihe election of Col. Grain. Probably there is some truth 
 in the allegations on both sides. 
 
 Among other means to which a resort was had to de- 
 feat Seymour's nomination and promote that of Grain, it 
 
516 POLITICAL HISTOKY OF NEW YOKK. [l845. 
 
 was represented that the election of Mr. Seymour would 
 be injurious to Mr. Wright, who did not desire his elec- 
 tion. The governor was at that time preparing his mes- 
 sage, and saw few of the members ; but Mr. Seymour 
 hearing of these reports, determined forthwith to ascer- 
 tain, from the proper source, whether they were author- 
 ized. He therefore called upon Gov. Wright, accom- 
 panied by Mr. Van Valkenburgh, a member from Steu- 
 ben, and Mr. Thayer, from Oswego, and informed the 
 governor that he (Mr. S.) had been told that it had been 
 stated by some of the state oflicers, naming two of them, 
 that hi;? election to the speakership would embarrass the 
 governor's administration ; that if he felt that such would 
 be the case, Mr. S. would instantly withdraw his name, 
 although it would be embarrassing to do so after having 
 been publicly announced as a candidate. He added, 
 that nevertheless there was no reason why any personal 
 considerations affecting him should embarrass the ad- 
 ministration, the success of which was of much greater 
 consequence than any interest he could have in this 
 matter ; and he desired the governor to state frankly 
 what his wishes were on the subject. Mr. Wright de- 
 nied having expressed any opinion on the question of 
 speaker, and said he had taken no part in the matter, 
 and had no wishes in respect to the result. 
 
 If, as Mr. Seymour evidently from his communication 
 to Gov. Wright suspected, the state officers were at the 
 bottom of the opposition to him, it seems to us they mis- 
 judged. If they deemed it important that some person 
 other than Seymour should be made speaker, it is more 
 than probable that if they had early requested him to de- 
 cline being a candidate, he would have done so: or if thev 
 wished to test the feelings of the membei's elect on the 
 
1815.] THE SPEAKERSHIP. 517 
 
 question between hunkers and radicals, they might have 
 effected that object by a resort to some means in which 
 success was less doubtful, and which were not calcula- 
 ted to excite so much warmth and bitterness. It had 
 the appearance of an attempt to revive old controver- 
 sies without any just provocation, and also seemed to be 
 an unjustifiable interference by the state officers in the 
 election of officers of the house. This charge against 
 the state officers (whether well or ill founded) was, at a 
 subseijuent caucus, used against some of them with fatal 
 effect. 
 
 We have here given the views of this transaction 
 which were, and probably yet are, entertained by the 
 hunkers. It is by no means improbable that they (no 
 doubt acting under the impulse of an honest delusion) 
 laid niuci) to the state officers of which they were not 
 guilty, and imputed to them acts which in reality were 
 done by others. 
 
 We have now before us a letter from an active radi- 
 cal politician, in which, after stating that Gov. Wright 
 returned to Canton after he had been to Albany and re- 
 signed his seat in the senate, as has been related, he 
 adds, that nothing was known of his sentiments, if he 
 had formed any opinion on the subject of organizing the 
 house ; and " I am," says the writer, " inclined to be- 
 lieve he did not intend to mingle with it. Until three 
 days before the meeting of the legislature, Mr. Fhigg 
 was dumb on the subject. Gov. Wright had arrived ; 
 and the Wednesday evening before the first Tuesday of 
 January I was conversing with Senator Porter, when 
 he informed me the radicals would vote for Col. Grain. 
 I asked him if it was the wish of the governor that Col. 
 C. should be speaker. He said he did not know. I then 
 
 44 
 
518 I'ULITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l845. 
 
 said to Mr. Porter, * Col. Grain will be in town to-mor- 
 row ; I shall see him and advise him not to permit his 
 name to be used unless Gov. Wright and Mr. Flagg will 
 say publicly they wish him to be the speaker.' I gave 
 Mr. Porter my reasons. He said he would see the gov- 
 ernor the next day. He did so, and assured me that the 
 governor desired that the colonel should be speaker." 
 
 We remark in passing, that probably Mr. Wright said 
 no more than he did to Mr. Seymour, which amounted 
 to this — that he should be pleased with Mr. Grain, pro- 
 vided his election was agreeable to the majority of the 
 democratic members, which Mr. Porter naturally took 
 for an expression of a desire on the part of the governor 
 that the particular person thus mentioned should be se- 
 lected. From this statement of our correspondent, which 
 we have not a particle of doubt is every word of it true, 
 it is extremely probable the opposition to Mr. Seymour 
 was not, as the hunkers supposed, and perhaps had rea- 
 son to believe, got up in the state hall, but the state of- 
 ficers, on this as on other questions, merely acted with 
 their radical friends in and out of the legislature. 
 
 At a caucus of the democratic members of the assem- 
 bly, held on the evening preceding the opening of the 
 legislative session, of which Mr. Van Valkenburgh was 
 chairman, on balloting for speaker, Mr. Seymour had 35 
 votes, and Mr. Grain 30. At the same caucus, Mr. J. 
 R. Rose was nominated clerk. Both gentlemen were 
 the next day elected. 
 
 The governor's message was, of course, an able state 
 paper. He commences by stating the revenue for the 
 last fiscal year as follows : 
 
 " The total amount of receipts on account of the gen- 
 eral fund, including the whole of the state tax, of one 
 
1845.] governor's mrssage. 519 
 
 mill on the dollar, and deducting the 
 
 sum received for temporary loans, was $1,073,249 01 
 
 "The entire revenues of the canal fund, 
 including all the receipts for tolls, wra- 
 ter rents, and interest, for all the ca- 
 nals, were 2,350,61 5 94 
 
 " The revenues of the school fund prop- 
 er, were 133,826 51 
 
 " The revenues of the literatui'e fund were 18,490 34 
 
 "The revenues of the United States 
 deposite fund, after deducting $106, 
 412 55, transferred from revenue to 
 capital, were 237,304 25 
 
 Making a total of $3,813,486 05 
 
 He then proceeds to present a luminous view of the 
 financial condition of the state, and of its debts and lia- 
 bilities. He earnestly recommends an inflexible adhe- 
 rence to the policy marked out by the law of 1842, and 
 shows, by a recurrence to the history of the construc- 
 tion of the Erie and Champlain canals, that the debt 
 then contracted, and the provisions for the payment of 
 its interest and principal, were in perfect accordance with 
 the same policy, or rather, that the act of '42 was a re- 
 vival of that policy. 
 
 On the subject of amending the constitution, the gov- 
 ernor strongly urges proposing an amendment to the 
 people which shall render the pledges contained in the 
 act of '42 a part of the organic law of the state ; and on 
 this and other necessarv alterations of the constitution, 
 he recommends the exercise of liberal concessions in re- 
 gard to details and harmony in action, with a view to 
 avoid the necessity of a resort to a convention. 
 
520 roLiTu;AL history of new york. [1845. 
 
 " Our present constitution," says the governor, " has 
 remained the fundamental law for nearly a quarter oi'a 
 century, several amendments having been, in that time, 
 adopted, in conformity with the provision of that instru- 
 ment for its own amendment. Hitherto that provision 
 has satisfied the public mind, and led to the amendments 
 demanded by the popular feeling and judgment. I con- 
 sider it extremely desirable that this should continue to 
 be found practically tiue, and that such a degree of har- 
 mony shall, at all limes, prevail between the popular will 
 and the legislative action, in reference to further pro- 
 posed amendtnents, as shall supersede demands for con- 
 stitutional chaniie in any other form." 
 
 The governor urges the payment of the instalments 
 of the principal of the public debt when they become 
 due, and solemnly protests against "deferred stock." 
 
 On the subject of the common-school fund, the mes- 
 sage contains the following beautiful paragraph, which 
 cannot be too highly admired : 
 
 " No public i'und of the state is so unpretending, vet so 
 all-pervading — so little seen, yet so universally felt — so 
 mild in its exactions, yet so bountiful in its benefits — so 
 little feared or courted, and yet so powerful, as this fund 
 for the support of common schools. The other funds 
 act upon the secular interests of society, its business, its 
 pleasures, its pride, its passions, its vices, its misfortunes. 
 This acts upon its mind and its morals. Education is 
 to free institutions what bread is to human life, the staff 
 of their existence. The office of this fund is to open 
 and warm the soil, and sow the seed, from which this 
 element of freedom must grow and ripen into maturity ; 
 and the health or sickliness of the growth ill measure 
 tl»e extent and security of our liberties. The thankful- 
 
1845.] governor's mes.^age. 521 
 
 ness we owe to those who have gone before us, for the 
 institution of this fund, for its constitutional protection, 
 and for its safe and prudent administration hitherto, we 
 can best repay by imitating their example, and impro- 
 ving upon their work as the increased means placed in 
 our hands shall give us the ability." 
 
 The governor, after alluding to the anti-rent outrages, 
 says : 
 
 " An exciting state election was made the occasion 
 for an earnest attempt to intermix these questions with 
 the general politics of the state, and make them tests of 
 election to the legislature. It was but reasonable to ex- 
 pect, after the appeals made in this form had been pa- 
 tiently listened to, maturely considered, and deliberately 
 decided by the freemen of the counties before whom 
 the questions were raised, that further efforts, in any 
 other manner, to accomplish the objects sought, would 
 be at least delayed until the relief expected could have 
 been asked at the hands of the legislature. Even this 
 delay has not been suffered, but resistance to the law 
 and its officers has been renewed, in forms and under 
 circumstances of the deepest aggravation. Organized 
 bands of men, assuming the disguise of savages, with 
 arms in their hands, have already bid defiance to the 
 law, its process, and its officers, and in repeated in- 
 stances, and in more than one county, put the life of the 
 sheriff or his deputies in imminent peril, forcibly taken 
 from them their official papers, and burned them in open 
 day, compelling the officer to desist from further at- 
 tempts to discharge his duties. 
 
 " These misguided violators of the law, and disturbers 
 of the public peace, have not confined their outrages 
 within even this limit. Already the lives of two peace- 
 
 44* 
 
522 POLITICAL IIISTOKY OF NEW YORK. [1845. 
 
 able and unoffending citizens have been taken, and in 
 both instances, when neither the sheriff nor his officers 
 were present, and when no attempt was made to serve 
 legal process." 
 
 The governor goes on to say that " minor outrages 
 upon the rights and persons of private individuals, and 
 the peace of neighborhoods, had begun to awaken atten- 
 tion to the danger of these lawless and passionate pro- 
 ceedings ; but these wanton sacrifices of human life, in a 
 manner so unprovoked and causeless, have given to the 
 whole public mind a shock, which nothing but the prompt 
 and effectual restoration of the reign of law and order 
 can calm. 
 
 " While the question between the proprietors and the 
 tenants was whether the leasehold tenures should be 
 perpetuated, or the rents should be commuted upon fair 
 and reasonable terms, and fee simple titles should be 
 given upon the payment of a capital in money, which, 
 invested at a stipulated rate, would reproduce the rents 
 to the landlord, the controversy was one in which the 
 feelings and sympathies of our people were deeply en- 
 listed, and strongly inclining in favor of the tenants. 
 
 " Then the question was, not whether rights of prop- 
 erty are to be trampled upon, the obligations of contracts 
 violently resisted, the laws of the state set at defiance, 
 the peace of society disturbed, and human life sacrificed, 
 but in what way contracts, onerous in their exactions 
 and tenures, in their nature and character uncongenial 
 with the habits and opinions of our people, could be 
 peaceably, and justly, and constitutionally modified to 
 meet the changed circumstances of the times. And then 
 I might have invited vour careful attention to the con 
 siderations growing out of these issues. 
 
1845.] governor's message. 523 
 
 " But I feel precluded from discussions of this char- 
 acter, by the extravagant and indefensible position given 
 to the controversy by the unlawful and violent proceed- 
 ings of those, who assume to take the charge of the rights 
 and interests of the tenants involved in this litigation." 
 
 He recommends the enactment of a law making it 
 highly penal, and severely punishable, for individuals to 
 disguise themselves with a view to resist the laws or 
 commit breaches of the peace. 
 
 Tlie governor concludes by a very brief allusion to 
 our national affairs, and the result of the late presiden- 
 tial election. In respect to those great questions in rela- 
 tion to the tariff, a national bank, and the distribution of 
 the avails of the sales of the public lands, which had so 
 long attracted the attention of the people, and agitated 
 their minds, he considered the dispute finally put at rest 
 by the voice of the electors, pronounced at the polls, 
 and he says : 
 
 " It is reasonable to hope that, after so solemn a deci- 
 sion of the people, pronounced under such circumstances, 
 the great interests of the country, which have long been 
 kept in a condition of uncertainty and agitation, will be 
 allowed repose ; that the basis of the action of the fed- 
 eral government, on the subject of the currency, may 
 now be considered settled ; that all further agitation on 
 the question of assigning one entire branch of the per- 
 manent federal revenues to the states may be at an end ; 
 and that the principle upon which the revenues of that 
 government, to be derived from customs, are to be as- 
 sessed, is intelligibly defined. All these are subjects 
 which deeply affect the business interests of every por- 
 tion of the country, but more especially, and most deep- 
 ly, the commercial and trading interests; and as the 
 
524 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l845. 
 
 most commercial state of the Union, we have felt, with 
 great severity, the uncertainty, the change, and the 
 prospect of change, which, for many years past, have 
 almost constantly surrounded all these questions." 
 
 The state officers were to be appointed at this session, 
 and two senators of the United States were to be chosen. 
 The selection of candidates for these important offices 
 excited much feeling and interest. 
 
 Unfortunately for some of the incumbents of the state 
 offices, the contest in relation to the speakership was 
 calculated to organize, and did organize two interests in 
 the assembly composed of members from the country, 
 many of whom when they left home felt little or no pre- 
 dilection for either of the sections of the democratic 
 party, into which the members during the session of 
 1844 were divided. But the feelings excited by that 
 contest induced those who supported Mr. Seymour in 
 the caucus to join the hunker party, and those who took 
 sides in behalf of Col. Grain to act with the radicals; 
 and, with occasional exceptions, it will be found that 
 during the session they respectively, on all important 
 questions, acted together, as they had done on the ques- 
 tion of the selection of a speaker. All the state officers 
 were radicals, and the hunkers took the position that it 
 was fit and proper that a part of them should be of their 
 party. Their determination to sustain this position was 
 strengthened by an impression, that the existing state 
 officers had interfered and exercised a powerful influ- 
 ence in the selection of a speaker. 
 
 It will be recollected that the state officers consisted 
 of the secretary of state, comptroller, treasurer, attorney- 
 general, and surveyor- general. The office of surveyor- 
 general was vacated by the election of Mr. Jones as a 
 
1845.] LEUiSLATlVK CAUCUS. 525 
 
 canal conimissioner, and Mr. Barker declined a reap- 
 pointment to the office of attorney-general. The hun- 
 kers claimed one-half of those officers. No opposition 
 was made to Mr. Flagg, but Mr. Benton, of Herkimer 
 county, was supported by the hunkers in opposition to 
 Col. Young. For the office of attorney-general, Mr. 
 Peckhain was made the opposing candidate to Mr. John 
 Van Buren, and Mr. Benjamin Enos, of Madison county, 
 was sustained by the hunkers for treasurer, against Mr. 
 Farrington, then the incumbent of that office. 
 
 On the evening of the first of February a caucus was 
 held, which was attended by all the democratic mem- 
 bers of both houses, except Gen. Chamberlain of the 
 senate, who was confined to his room by severe illness. 
 Judge Bockee was chosen chairman. No opposition 
 was made to the reappointment of Mr. Flagg. but it is 
 remarkable how nearly equal the parties were divided 
 in relation to the other officers. On the first ballot for 
 secretary of state there was no choice, but on the sec- 
 ond ballot Mr. Benton had two majority. Mr. John 
 Van Buren was nominated attorney-general over Mr. 
 Peckham by a majority of one only ; Mr. Enos obtained 
 seven majority over Mr. Farrington ; and Mr. Hugh 
 Halsey, of Suffolk county, obtained the same majority 
 for surveyor-general over Mr. Sydney Lawrence, late 
 senator. Mr. Henry Storms was unanimously nomina- 
 ted for reappointment to the office of commissary-general. 
 Martin Van Buren and William C. Bouck were nomina- 
 ted to supply two vacancies in the board of regents, 
 occasioned by the recent death of William Campbell and 
 the resignation of Joseph Russell. 
 
 Col. Young, from his distinguished talents, his long 
 public services, and recently for the zeal and ability with 
 
52G POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l845. 
 
 which he had superintended the common-school depart- 
 ment ; and Mr. Farrington, from his amiable deport- 
 ment and unexceptionable character, had many friends ; 
 and the defeat of those gentlemen consequently pro- 
 duced much excitement and irritation. That excitement 
 and irritation were increased by the contest respect- 
 ing the selection of candidates for the U. States senate. 
 It was believed that the exhibition of strength which 
 should be exhibited on this occasion by the two sections 
 of the democratic party, both of course claiming to be 
 friendly to the general administration, would have a 
 great and perhaps a controlling influence with Mr. Polk 
 in the selection of a member of his cabinet from this 
 state; that is to say, he would select such member 
 from that section which should appear to be the strongest. 
 The hunkers supported Messrs. Dickinson and Fos- 
 ter, and the radicals Messrs. Dix and Hoffman. Every 
 eflfort was put forth to secure success on both sides. 
 The canvass was very close, and produced an intense 
 excitement. The division of strength was so equally 
 balanced, that the result for some time was quite uncer- 
 tain. There were a few members who had gone with 
 the hunkers, in the selection of state officers, on the 
 principle that these offices ought to be equally divided 
 between the two sections. These men, of whom it 
 is presumed Mr. Bockee of the senate was one, held 
 the balance of power, and they intimated a disposition 
 to support one hunker and one radical for United States 
 senators. Gov. Wright seemed to favor an equal divi- 
 sion of officers, and finally expressed himself decidedly 
 against Mr. Foster. This being the state of things, the 
 hunkers became satisfied that the attempt to sustain Mr. 
 Foster would be vain and useless. 
 
1845] LEGISLATIVE CAUCUS. 527 
 
 There were two very clever radical young men, Mv. 
 Harden and Mr. Carpenter, from the county of Otsego, 
 and so close was the canvass, that it was believed, if 
 they could be induced to change their votes, two hun- 
 ker candidates would be nominated. Partly with this 
 view, the hunkers, under the advisement of Mr. S. S. 
 Bovvne, an energetic and talented politician, and late 
 member of congress, who happened then to be in Alba- 
 ny, at the last moment brought forward Judge Nelson, 
 and as lie was a resident of the same county from which 
 Messrs. Carpenter and Harden came, it was presumed 
 he would not be opposed by them. But this expectation 
 proved to be ill founded. These gentlemen had taken 
 their ground, and could not be moved. 
 
 The caucus was held on the 24th of February ; ninety- 
 three members were present, being all the democratic 
 members of the legislature, except Mr. Dayton, of Suf- 
 folk county. Mr. Dennison was appointed chairman of 
 the caucus. 
 
 Mr, Porter, of the senate, offered a resolution, which 
 was read, proposing that the caucus now proceed to 
 ballot for a candidate fur United States senator, to sup- 
 ply the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of the 
 Hon. Silas Wright. 
 
 Mr. Wright offered a substitute, to the effect that the 
 meeting now proceed to ballot for candidates for United 
 States senators — first, in place of the Hon. Silas Wright : 
 next, in the place of the Hon. N. P. Tallmadge ; and 
 third, for the full term commencing on the 4th of March 
 next. 
 
 A long discussion ensued, in which it appeared that 
 the radical portion of the convention were desirous to 
 nominate a candidate to supply the vacancy occasioned 
 
528 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845. 
 
 by the resignation of Mr. Wright, whose unexpired term 
 continued for four years from the 4th of March then 
 next ; and another in Heu of Mr. Tahmadge, whose term 
 would expire within about six weeks ; leaving the selec- 
 tion of a senator who should be the successor of Mr. 
 Tallmadge, after the 4th of March, and whose term 
 would of course continue for six years from that time, 
 to be nominated at a future meeting of the members. 
 This was resisted by the hunkers. Messrs. Porter, 
 Sherman, T. R. Lee, Lester, and Johnson, spoke in 
 favor of Mr. Porter's resolution, and Messrs. Wright, 
 Lott, Beers, Seymour, and Clark, in support of Mr. 
 Wright's substitute. Mr. Porter's motion finally pre- 
 vailed. 
 
 Mr. Bockee then proposed the name of Judge Nelson 
 for senator in lieu of Mr. Wright, while on the other 
 side the name of Gen. Dix was brought forward. Upon 
 a ballot Gen. Dix received 51 votes, and was nominated, 
 only 41 votes having been cast for Judge Nelson. The 
 caucus then proceeded to ballot for a candidate to sup- 
 ply the unexpired term of Mr. Tallmadge, when Mr. 
 Dickinson was nominated by a large majority. Imme- 
 diately after the result of this vote was declared, a mo- 
 tion was made to adjourn. This effort produced con- 
 siderable excitement, but the motion failed by a vote of 
 55 to 37 ; Messrs. Carpenter and Harden voting against 
 the adjournment. Several radicals declined voting at 
 all on this question. 
 
 Mr. Beers then moved that the caucus proceed to 
 ballot for a candidate for senator in congress for six 
 years from the fourth of March next. Some confusion 
 followed, and Mr. Baily, of Putnam, made a zealous and 
 ingenious speech in favor of postponing further action. 
 
1845.] NOMINATJON OF MR. DICKINSON. 529 
 
 The caucus again refu.sed to adjourn by the same vote 
 as before, whereupon a ballot was had with the follow- 
 ing result : — for D. 8. Dickinson 54, Michael Ilofftnan 
 13, F. G. Jewett 3, Samuel Nelson 1, blanks 4. 
 
 On the motion to make the nomination of Mr. Dick- 
 inson unanimous, Mr. T. R. Lee made a speech in op- 
 position to it. To this Mr. Seymour made a forcible 
 and eloquent reply. Towards the close of his speech 
 he appealed to those opposed to Mr. D.'s nomination 
 with great effect. He said he " appealed to them by the 
 recollections of the recent common victory, by the de- 
 termination which then actuated our whole party as one 
 man, under the feeling that we were contending for 
 common principles and in a common cause." 
 
 In the end the nomination was declared unanimous by 
 the votes of fifty-four members, one senator, Mr. Johnson, 
 voting in the negative, and several of the radicals re- 
 fusing to vote at all. The session of the caucus was 
 protracted till twelve o'clock. A hunker, then a mem- 
 ber of the legislature, has informed the author that " af- 
 ter the caucus an effort was made by the whigs to induce 
 the barnburners to unite with them in the legislature, 
 and nominate Col. Young to the senate instead of Mr. 
 Dickinson. Meetings were held for that purpose, and 
 some progress was made towards effecting such an ar- 
 rangement. The senators from the sixth district (Messrs. 
 Faulkner, Chamberlain, Burnham, and Beers) hearing 
 of this movement called upon Gov. Wright, and formal- 
 ly invited his attention to it. The governor then inter- 
 fered, and the effort was dropped." Although we have 
 full confidence in the veracity of the correspondent from 
 whom the above quotation is made, it is due to Colonel 
 Young to state that the author happened to be in Albany 
 
 45 
 
530 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845. 
 
 a day or two after the caucus, that lie heard a rumor of 
 the negotiations alluded to by our correspondent, and 
 that in a casual conversation with Col. Young, he de- 
 clared that he would not, under any circumstances, be 
 a candidate in opposition to the caucus nomination ; and 
 we think he mentioned that the suggestion had been made 
 to him, and he had peremptorily refused. We submit 
 one other remark. We think our correspondent ascribes 
 too much effect to the interference of Gov. Wright. On 
 this subject we have the following facts from a source 
 perfectly reliable. On Monday evening, after the state 
 officers had been chosen as nominated in caucus, about 
 twenty radical members met to determine how they 
 should act in relation to the senators, who were the next 
 day to be chosen. Many of the radicals contended that 
 the caucus was not binding ; but Dennison, Lester, and 
 Porter went to the caucus, and labored there until they 
 dissuaded them from making any opposition. This was 
 done at the request of Gov. Wright. 
 
 About this time communications were made by Mr. 
 Polk to Mr. Van Buren and Mr. Wright severally, 
 stating that he (Mr. Polk) had come to the conclusion 
 that either the state or the treasury department should be 
 committed to the charge of a citizen of the state of New 
 York. We do not know that it was expressly men- 
 tioned in these communications, but we have reason to 
 believe that their tenor was such that both Mr. Van 
 Buren and Mr. Wright inferred, that the selection of a 
 citizen to preside over one of these departments would 
 be made in pursuance of the recommendation of these 
 gentlemen and their friends. Mr. Wright, it is pre- 
 sumed, believed that the arrangements indicated by the 
 president elect had been definitively fixed upon and set- 
 
1845.] PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS. 531 
 
 tied at Washington, and therefore he wa.s the more anx- 
 ious to prevent any open collision among the democratic 
 members of the legislature ; and he also might have 
 been apprehensive that a contest in the legislature about 
 the choice of a senator would afford a demonstration 
 that the radicals, who constituted that section of the 
 democratic party w hich the public chose to consider as 
 peculiarly his friends, were in the minority; or if in the 
 majority, that that majority was very small, and that 
 hence his standing in his own state would be regarded 
 by his friends abroad as unstable and impaired. Our 
 radical correspondent from Albany further states, that 
 "it was believed if the cabinet should be formed in the 
 manner indicated by Mr. Polk, if Mr. Dickinson should 
 be elected he would be obliged to fall into the support 
 of the administration or go with the opposition, which 
 would render him powerless." 
 
 These considerations, in connection with the anxious 
 desire of Mr. Wright to harmonize the two sections of 
 the democratic party, surely furnished sufficient reason 
 for his interference to prevent any opposition, by the 
 democratic members, to the election of Mr. Dickinson 
 after his nomination in caucus. 
 
 Mr. Van Buren and Mr. Wright, soon after the re- 
 ceipt of Mr. Polk's communication, recommended that 
 in case the secretary of state should be taken from Nevr ' 
 York, Mr. Butler should be selected ; and in case the 
 treasury department should be assigned to a citizen of 
 this state, Mr. Flagg should be appointed to that office. 
 The president, nevertheless, tendered the appointment 
 of secretary of the treasury to Mr. Wright himself; but 
 he was so situated that even if he had desired the office, 
 he could not honorably accept it. 
 
532 POLITICAL III^^TOIIY OF NKVV YORK. [1845. 
 
 Before the gubernatorial election it had been charged 
 by the whigs, as an objection to Mr. Wright, that should 
 he be elected his election would be of no use to his friends ; 
 for if Mr. Polk should be chosen president, Mr. Wright 
 would be selected to preside over one of the national ex- 
 ecutive departments, and would immediately abandon the 
 administration of the state government to the lieutenant- 
 governor. In consequence of these allegations, Mr. 
 Wright repeatedly pledged himself, that if elected gov- 
 ernor he would not accept of any office in the general 
 government. These declarations, although they may 
 not have been known to Mr. Polk, must have been 
 known at Washington before the ofter we have men- 
 tioned was made to Mr. Wright. But be that as it may, 
 Mr. Wright promptly declined the appointment. 
 
 Mr. Polk then tendered to Mr. Butler the office of 
 secretary of war. To the letter containing this propo- 
 sition Mr. Butler replied, that if it had accorded with 
 the arrangements of the president to appoint him secre- 
 tary of state, or of the treasury, he should, though with 
 some reluctance, have accepted either, but that he could 
 not undertake the charge of the war department ; that 
 the duties to be performed by the secretary of war 
 would lead him so far from the line of his profession, (a 
 profession he was not prepared to abandon,) that the at- 
 'tempt to resume, successfully, its practice, would be ut- 
 terly hopeless ; but that the duties incident to either of 
 the other departments to be performed were nearly al- 
 lied to those of the profession to which his attention and 
 life had been principally devoted, and therefore the 
 charge of one of them would be less objectionable. 
 
 Previous to or about the time of the close of this cor- 
 respondence between Messrs. Polk. Van Buren, Wright, 
 
1845.] MR. M.\RCY, SECRETARY OF WAR. 533 
 
 and Butler, the friends of Gov. Marcy prepared a letter 
 addressed to Mr. Polk, signed, as is alleged, by a major- 
 ity of the democratic members of the legislature,* re- 
 questing, that in case a New Yorker should be called to 
 the cabinet, Mr. Marcy should be selected for that place. 
 This recommendation was successful, and Gov. Marcv 
 was made secretary of war. 
 
 We have, on a former occasion, expressed a high 
 opinion of Mr. Marcy. That opinion is not changed. 
 The able and satisfactory manner with which he had for 
 a long time administered the government of the state of 
 New York, the distinguished ability with which he had 
 executed all other trusts wiiich had been confided to 
 him, and his acknowledged talents, rendered his appoint- 
 ment as one of the national secretaries creditable to the 
 president. And yet, when we reflect on the immense 
 obligations which Mr. Polk and the democratic party in 
 the nation were under to Mr. Wrifjht, and we mav add 
 Mr. Butler and other friends of Mr. Van Buren, and in- 
 deed to Mr. Van Buren himself, — when it is recollected 
 that the New York delegation, consisting of the friends 
 of jMr. Van Buren, made Mr. Polk the presidential can- 
 didate, — when the pledges made at the Baltimore Con- 
 vention are called to mind, — when we reflect that Mr. 
 Wright, by the sacrifice of his quiet and his most fondly 
 cherished predilections, was the admitted cause of the 
 triumph of Mr. Polk at the late election, — and when it is 
 considered that the appointment of Mr. Marcy was not 
 only against the wishes of Mr. Wright and his friends, 
 but that they earnestly urged in vain the appointment of 
 Mr. Flagg or Mr. Butler, as the representative of New 
 
 * All the signers of this letter were probably huukeis. 
 45* 
 
n.S i POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l845. 
 
 York in the national cabinet, is it surprising that the ap- 
 pointment of even Governor Marcy should have been 
 regarded by the radical party with disfavor, and with 
 some feeling of resentment ? 
 
 The hunkiers had good reason to congratulate them- 
 selves on their success. When the session commenced, 
 their opponents were about equal to them in numbers, 
 and had the benefit of the great influence of Governor 
 Wright in the state and nation, and all the state officers ; 
 and yet they had procured the election of the speaker, 
 one-half of the state officers, and a senator of the United 
 States for nearly seven years to come ; they had pro- 
 cured the appointment of a judge of the Supreme Court 
 of the United States, and had stationed, in the national 
 cabinet, an able, efficient, and confidential friend, of 
 great talents' and superior tact and address. This ex- 
 traordinary success was undoubtedly owing (for we do 
 not speak of the inerits, so far as regards principle, of 
 either party) in part, and perhaps in a great degree, to 
 the skill, address, and management of two men, — we 
 mean Horatio Seymour and Edwin Croswell ; but was 
 it not also in part caused by a plan concocted at Wash- 
 ington in regard to the successor of Mr. Polk, adverse 
 to the views of Mr. Van Buren and Mr. Wright? Did 
 not the far-seeing politicians of the South reason at that 
 time, as they did at the Baltimore Convention ? The 
 future political history of this country will furnish the 
 answers to these questions.* 
 
 * This was written in March, 1848. 
 
1845.] CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. 535 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Opinions of the Hunker and Radical Members of the Legislature of 1845 
 on the subject of the necessity of a Constitutional Convention — Differ- 
 ent views of the Hunkers, Radicals, aird Whigs on that subject — Char- 
 acter of John Young — Amendments to the Constitution proposed by 
 the Legislature of 1844, and approved by the Electors at the Novem- 
 ber election of that year — Action of the Whig Members of the Legis- 
 lature on those Amendments — Circumstances which led to the passage 
 of a Convention Bill — Final passage of the Bill in the Assembly — De- 
 bate on that occasion — Proceedings in the Senate on the Convention 
 Bill — Its final passage in that House — Passage of the Canal Bill — Is 
 vetoed by the Governor — Resignation of Judge Kent, and appointment 
 of Judge Edmonds as Circuit Judge of the First Circuit. 
 
 The session of 1845 was an exciting one, not only on 
 account of the numerous and important appointments 
 which were made by the legislature, but also on account 
 of the discussion and decision upon the project of a con- 
 vention to revise the constitution, and of the passage 
 through both houses of the canal bill, and the governor's 
 veto of it. 
 
 It may be safely asserted, that when the subject of a 
 convention was first agitated, the hunkers were opposed 
 to any convention, and with them, on this question, 
 many of the leading radicals concurred. They proba- 
 bly reasoned in this way : " There are, it is true, a few 
 alterations which ought to be made in the constitutional 
 law in relation to the judiciary, and in some other re- 
 spects, but these amendments can be made in a consti- 
 tutional way, if indeed they are called for by that strong 
 current of public opinion, without the evidence of the 
 
536 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l845. 
 
 existence of which the great charter of our Hberties and 
 civil institutions ought not to be touched. As a meas- 
 ure of party policy, it is perfectly absurd. We have 
 now the whole judiciary ; and the appointing power, 
 both executive and legislative, is now in our hands, and 
 likely to remain so. We, therefore, can, by no possibil- 
 ity, gain any thing, but may lose much." 
 
 But there was undoubtedly a portion of the radicals, 
 among whom we may safely reckon Mr. Hoffman, Col. 
 Young, and Col. Crain, who believed in the absolute 
 necessity of making the substance of the act of 1842 a 
 part of the constitution ; and they believed this measure 
 to be so highly important as to be paramount to all 
 others. Hence the message of the governor was dis- 
 liked by the radicals ; for although Mr. Wright in his 
 message admitted that a necessity for a convention 
 might exist, the fair inference from his remarks on that 
 subject is, that in his judgment such necessity did not 
 then exist.* 
 
 Radical whigs, who constituted a large majority of 
 the whig party, believed that some amendments ought 
 to be made to the constitution, and they preferred ma- 
 king those amendments through the agency of a con- 
 vention, than by the mode provided in the existing con- 
 stitution. They had nothing to lose by the agitation 
 which might be produced by a convention, and might 
 gain much. Viewed as a question of party policy, their 
 condition was precisely the reverse of the democrats. 
 This the leaders of the radical whigs saw most clearly, 
 
 * After the message was written, Gov. Wright invited Gov. Marcy, 
 Mr. Croswell, and Chief-Justice Brousou, to meet with the state officers 
 at the reading of it. The convention question was not, on that occasion, 
 discussed or mentioned. 
 
1845.] CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. 537 
 
 and therefore seized the occasion to avail themselves of 
 all the advantages their position afforded. 
 
 The Native Americans also desired some alterations 
 in the constitution, particularly in relation to the eligi- 
 bility to office of adopted citizens, and they also reasoned 
 like the wiiigs, that they could lose nothing, and might 
 by possibility gain something by a convention, and there- 
 fore favored the project. 
 
 Of all the members who supported the bill for calling 
 a convention, vested with unrestricted powers, the anti- 
 renters were probably the most sincere. They could 
 not anticipate any effectual relief from the evils of which 
 they complained, without some radical alteration of the 
 fundamental law, and they therefore approached the 
 convention question with great and no doubt honest zeal. 
 
 It would appear from the vote on the speaker ques- 
 tion that the natives, anti-refiters, and whigs amounted 
 in the aggregate to sixty in number. The democrats 
 therefore, when united, held but a small majority over all 
 the other parties in the house, if on any occasion they 
 should choose to combine. 
 
 John Young, the present governor, is perhaps one of 
 the most sagacious politicians who ever took part in the 
 political contests of this state. With talents of a high 
 order, industry, patient perseverance, a profound know- 
 ledge of men, he was one of the ablest party leaders and 
 most skilful managers in a popular body that ever en- 
 tered the assembly chamber ; quick to perceive when 
 and how an advantage might be gained over an adverse 
 party, he was ready and prompt to seize it ; but no man 
 could wait more quietly for the arrival of the proper 
 time for action than he. He not only wished to effect 
 the passage of a law recommending a convention, but 
 
538 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l845. 
 
 he wished that such law should be passed in such a man- 
 ner that it could be claimed as a whio- measure. To do 
 this it became necessary to avail himself" of the division 
 among the democratic members, and he, by the aid of 
 Mr. Worden, an able and eloquent member from Onta- 
 rio, pursued his object with most consummate skill and 
 address. 
 
 We will conclude our remarks upon the character of 
 Mr. Young by quoting from a letter written by a dem- 
 ocratic member of the legislature to the author : 
 
 "I do not know that I can give you a well-defined 
 sketch of the character and position of Gov. Young. 
 There are peculiarities in both which are difficult to 
 describe. He is courteous and gentlemanly in his man- 
 ners, and intellisrent and interesting in conversation. 
 He appears to the best advantage in a deliberative body, 
 and when he comes in immediate contact with those 
 upon whom he wishes to act. He is an admirable de- 
 bater, and carefully avoids weakening the interest with 
 which he is heard, by speaking too diffiisely or too fre- 
 quently. Possessed of a good voice, a fine imagination, 
 and an earnest and persuasive style of speaking, he al- 
 ways attracts and holds the attention of his audience. 
 He is cool, cautious, and steady in the pursuit of his ob- 
 jects. In the winter of 1845, he displayed great skill and 
 tact in procuring the passage of the bill for the conven- 
 tion, in such a form, and under such circumstances, that 
 it had the aspect of a whig measure, while at the same 
 time he prevented any union of the democratic mem- 
 bers upon its form and provisions. His efforts during this 
 session placed him at the head of the whig party, at the 
 same time that they paved the way for his promotion by 
 reviving the spirit of the whigs, which had been crushed 
 
1845.] CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS. 539 
 
 by the recent election, and by dividing and weakening 
 the democratic party. In his intercourse with men he 
 shows great tact and cunning, and he strives to adapt 
 himself to the sentiments and feelings of the day, rather 
 than to impress his own convictions upon others." 
 
 The preceding legislature had proposed several amend- 
 ments to the constitution, which had at the last election 
 been approved by the people, and which now required two- 
 thirds of the votes of the members of the present legislature 
 to constitute such amendments a part of the constitution. 
 
 The first proposed amendment was to incorporate 
 substantially into the constitution the act of 1842. 
 
 The second restricted the power of the legislature to 
 create debts, or loan the credit of the state. 
 
 The third, that no property qualification should be re- 
 quired to render a citizen eligible to hold any office or 
 public trust. 
 
 The fourth, to prevent the removal of any judicial offi- 
 cer without cause. 
 
 The fifth, to add three associate chancellors to the 
 Court of Chancery. 
 
 The sixth, to add two justices to the Supreme Court. 
 
 These resolutions were all passed in the senate by the 
 affirmative votes of more than two-thirds of the mem- 
 bers of that body. 
 
 In order tr) render the call of a convention indispen- 
 sable, it was necessary that these amendments, or some 
 of those which were deemed material by the radical 
 democrats, should be rejected. At this point Mr. Young 
 commenced his labors ; and when the amendments came 
 up for consideration, all of them, except the third and 
 fourth, were rejected, there being from 61 to 63 votes 
 in their favor, and from 50 to 56 against them. If we 
 
540 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845, 
 
 ai'e not mistaken in our examination of the journal, every 
 whig member voted in the negative. The amendments 
 were therefore lost for the want of a two-third vote. 
 So far then the coast was clear. Still formidable diffi- 
 culties presented themselves. The speaker had formed 
 a committee on amendments to the constitution, a ma- 
 jority of whom were opposed to a convention. That 
 committee consisted of Messrs. Comstock, Russell, Niv- 
 en. Bailey, L. H. Brown, Worden, and Morrison ; 
 Messrs. Bailey, Worden, and L. H. Brown being the 
 only persons on the committee who were in favor of a 
 convention. No bill for a convention therefore could 
 be expected from a committee thus constituted. If a 
 bill should be brought in by a whig member on his own 
 motion, it would, in all probability, induce the combined 
 and united opposition of the democratic party. Messrs. 
 Young and Worden were therefore fain to wait until 
 one of the radical members should think proper to intro- 
 duce such a bill. 
 
 An accidental circumstance hastened the event which 
 these gentlemen so much desired. 
 
 We have heretofore mentioned the appointment of 
 Chief-justice Nelson to the office of associate judge of 
 the Supreme Court of the United States. This pro- 
 duced a vacancy on the bench of the Supreme Court ol 
 this state. Mr. Crain applied to Gov. Wright to give 
 the place to Mr. Hoffiman ; but the governor nominated 
 F. G. Jewitt, of Onondaga, at present a judge of the 
 Court of Appeals. After ascertaining this result, Mr. 
 Crain went to visit his friends in Herkimer county. He 
 found his constituents dejected and displeased. Nothing 
 had been done for Mr. Hoffinan. Nothing in relation 
 to a convention. Mr. Marcy had been made secretary 
 
1845.] CONVENTION BILL 541 
 
 • 
 
 of war, and Mr. N. S. Benton, secretary of state of the 
 state of New York. All these measures were directly 
 against the views and wishes of the radicals of Herki- 
 mer, who composed a large majority of his constituents. 
 He therefore, by the advice of his friends in Herkimer, 
 resolved, immediately on his return to the assembly, to 
 introduce a bill for calling a convention. When he ar- 
 rived in Albany, he applied to Dudley Burwell, Esq., 
 an able lawyer of that city, to draw the proposed bill ; 
 and the bill which Mr. Grain afterwards introduced into 
 the assembly, and which idtimately passed into a law, 
 was in fact drawn by Mr. Burwell. 
 
 This bill was on the 13th of March referred to the 
 committee on constitutional amendments, which has al- 
 ready been mentioned. They met from time to time, 
 and adjourned without taking any definite action on it. 
 The hunker democrats, after the constitutional amend- 
 ments were lost, became convinced that a convention 
 was inevitable ; and they felt it important, and there- 
 fore were extremely anxious, that such a bill should be 
 presented as would unite the whole democratic party in 
 its support. Before, however, any particular plan of a 
 convention bill was agreed upon by the two sections of 
 the democratic party, Mr. Young, on a certain day 
 when so many of the democrats were absent as to leave 
 their opponents nearly equal to them in numbers, moved 
 that the select committee, to whom Mr. Grain's bill had 
 been referred, should report it to the house on a certain 
 day mentioned in the resolution, and then that it be 
 made a special order at 12 o'clock each day until it was 
 disposed of Messrs. Grain and Buel of Herkimer, and 
 Mr. Ghace of Tioga, voted with the whigs for this mo- 
 tion, and it was carried. Gov. Wright became alarmed, 
 
 46 
 
 N 
 
542 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l845. 
 
 • 
 
 and sent for Col. Grain, and held a long conversation 
 with him on the subject. Mr. C. told the governor that 
 he v^as acting in pursuance of the advice of Mr. Hoff- 
 man and Judge Loomis, and others of his constituents, 
 and that he should make all reasonable efforts to ensure 
 the passage of the bill in the assembly. Subsequent to 
 this Messrs. Hoffman and Loomis, at the request of Mr. 
 Wright, visited Albanv. Various consultations were 
 held among the leading and influential democratic poli- 
 ticians, as well as one or two legislative caucuses, the 
 object of which was to fix on a bill which would unite 
 the whole democratic vole. No doubt a considerable 
 number of the members were at heart honestly opposed 
 to any convention. Prudent and discreet men foresaw 
 that the passage of a bill for that purpose would render 
 elections necessary which would involve the fate of the 
 party. It was well known to the whigs, as well as to 
 Col. Crain and Mr. Bailey, that the hunkers would vote 
 against any convention bill unless it contained a provision 
 that the question whether a convention should be called, 
 should be submitted to the people, and voted for by a ma- 
 jority of them, taking as a test the number of votes given at 
 the last election ; and further, that the amendments which 
 should be proposed by the convention should he submit- 
 ted spparaiely to the people. These amendments to Mr. 
 Grain's bill were approved of by Gov. Wright and some 
 of his radical friends in the assembly. Col. Crain and 
 Mr. Bailey (we name those gentlemen, because we sup- 
 pose they represented those radicals who were deter- 
 mined at all events to have a convention) knew that if 
 those amendments were adopted the whole whig vote 
 would be cast against the bill, and they should be left in 
 the power of the hunkers, and must either be controlled 
 
1845.] UONVlCNTlUiN DI1.L. 543 
 
 by theii) or abandon the bill. They had no suspicion 
 that Mr. Seymour, and other leading hunkers, would act 
 with bad faith, but they suspected that a considerable por- 
 tion of the hunker section of the party would, from an 
 honest conviction that a convention was unnecessary, 
 vote against the bill, and that the votes of that portion, in 
 connection with the votes of all the whigs, would prevent 
 the passage of any such bill. They feared too, that if the 
 clause requiring a majority of votes of the people, taking 
 the test proposed by the hunkers, should be incorporated 
 in the bill, insidious efforts would be successfully made 
 to prevent so many of the electors from voting as would 
 defeat the object of the bill. These api)rehensions, and 
 it may be jealousies, were encouraged and fostered by 
 the whigs. A correspondent, who was an active hun- 
 ker member of the assembly, states " that two private 
 caucuses were held for the purpose of consulting on 
 these amendments, and that two-thirds of the democratic 
 members, including Messrs. Russell and Hazeltine from 
 St. Lawrence, were in favor of the amendments, and I 
 think the others would have been induced to yield but for 
 an accident. After the caucus, when the assembly met, 
 it was discovered, that in consequence of the absence 
 of some of the democratic members, the whigs were in 
 the majority. Messrs. Young and Wordeo availed 
 themselves of their temporary power, and passed a res- 
 olution directing the committee having the bill in charge 
 to report the same to the house as it was introduced by 
 Mr. Crain, and without amendment. This prevented the 
 committee from modifying it, and cut off" any negotia- 
 tions for that purpose. When the bill was before the 
 house, Mr. Crain and others resisted all changes, and 
 forced the majority of the democrats to vote against it. 
 
544 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1815. 
 
 they having declared that they regarded the majority 
 vote and separate amendments as principles which they 
 could not waive. The following vote will show the 
 state of parties. 
 
 " On the motion of Mr. Hazeltine, of St. Lawrence, to 
 amend the bill so that a majority of the voters of the 
 state (in the manner above stated) should be required to 
 vote for the bill before a convention should be called, 
 the vote stood — 
 
 For the amendment, (all democrats) .... 42 
 
 Against it, " 18 
 
 Do. Whigs and Native Americans, 54 
 
 72 
 
 more than tw^o-thirds of the democratic members voting 
 for the amendment." 
 
 Nearly the same result was produced on the motion 
 of Mr. Russell, of St. Lawrence, to amend the bill so 
 that the amendments to the constitution should be sub- 
 mitted separately to the people. Forty-two democrats 
 and four whigs voted for Mr. Russell's motion, and 30 
 democrats and 53 whigs and Native Americans against 
 it. On the final passage of the bill there were 83 votes 
 in the affirmative, and 33 (all hunker democrats) in the 
 negative. 
 
 During the progress of this bill in the assembly it 
 elicited one of the best, if not the best, specimens of par- 
 liamentary discussion ever exhibited in the capital of the 
 state. The debate, though conducted with the most 
 commendable courtesy, called into action all the intel- 
 lectual power of the distinguished members of the house. 
 Messrs. .Tohn Young, Worden. Seymour, Comstock, 
 J. Leslie Russell, Bailey, and T. R. Lee, besides many 
 
1845.1 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS. 545 
 
 Others, severally delivered able and eloquent speeches. 
 The discussion not only presented "a keen encounter of 
 wits," but a war of highly cultivated minds, which must 
 have aflfurded a rich intellectual repast to all men of 
 taste who heard it. Those debates, if preserved, and 
 they ought to be, may be read at any future time with 
 profit and high mental enjoyment and pleasure. If our 
 limits would permit, and our sheets were not crowded with 
 matter essential to preserve the chain of our narrative, 
 we would insert copies of these speeches ; but restricted 
 as we are, we will mention that the speeches of Mr. 
 Young, as reported in the Evening Journal, and those 
 of Mr. Seymour, as given in the Argus, strike us as dis- 
 playing remarkable tact, ingenuity, and eloquence. 
 
 Mr. Seymour, with great skill and ability, labored to 
 show that if those who required amendments to the con- 
 stitution, and he admitted that some highly important 
 ones were necessary, would unite, those amendments 
 might be submitted to the people by the legislature 
 without resorting to a convention. 
 
 " The proposed amendments before the committee," 
 said Mr. S., " only require the support of those who 
 complain of the difficulty of amending the constitution 
 in the constitutional way, to carry them to the people 
 for their sanction. In this case, there are no obstacles 
 except those interposed by the gentlemen themselves." 
 
 If gentlemen wished to restrict the power of the legis- 
 lature to create state indebtedness, Mr. Seymour was 
 willing to sustain them in proposing an amendment to 
 the people which would afford an etfectual guard against 
 the exercise of that power. " But," said Mr. S., " 1 ap- 
 prehend there is another reason why certain gentlejnen 
 desire a convention, which it is proper to allude to, 
 
 46* 
 
546 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845. 
 
 thouo;h I shall do so in a manner as little offensive as 
 possible. There is reason for suspicion when a great 
 party has been overthrown, when the country has repu- 
 diated its principles, and it seeks to change its position, 
 and produce a new order of things that may be more 
 favorable to its designs and objects. The gentleman from 
 Ontario remarked, that though the gentleman from New 
 York had put forth sentiments which he deemed obnox- 
 ious to censure, yet that the whig party was not respon- 
 sible for them. Let us see," said the speaker, " if this 
 is so. The gentleman from Livingston said that the 
 condition of our judiciary amounted to a denial of jus- 
 tice — that our courts are blocked up. We tender him 
 amendments, and he rejects them. We tell that gentle- 
 man and his friends that if he desires to reform our judi- 
 ciary, we go with you. We are ready to carry out any 
 reasonable and feasible scheme. Do they accept these 
 propositions ? No, sir. They say, throw open the ten- 
 ures of property, the elective franchise, religious liberty, 
 every thing settled by our constitution." 
 
 On the 9th of .April Mr. Young replied to the argu- 
 ments of Mr. Seymour and others. He intimated that 
 the senate, as a court of errors, ought to be abolished. 
 The amendments did not provide against that griev- 
 ance ; and if an amendment on that subject, such as he 
 desired, and, as he believed, the public demanded, were 
 proposed, who believed that two-thirds of that court 
 would ever consent to its abolition ? He also stated 
 that the proposed amendments did not restrict executive 
 patronage. Was it to be expected that two-thirds of 
 the legislature could be induced, w^th all the patronage 
 of the existing executive, whoever he might be, against 
 it, to recommend such a measure ? He highly compli- 
 
1815.] SPEECH OF MR. VoLNG. 547 
 
 ineiited Mr. Grain for bringing in his bill, and for the 
 lirni and decided stand he had taken. 
 
 Mr. Young concluded his speech by the following 
 eloquent denunciation <>f acting from party motives on 
 constitutional questions : 
 
 • One more consideration, and 1 will yield the floor. 
 The gentleman said he was in favor of retaining this in- 
 strument in its present form, because it had sustained for 
 sixteen years, with the exception of two administrations, 
 the party to which he belongs. I am not in favor of any 
 constitution because it tends to sustain any particular 
 ])arty organization, and which looks to party for protec- 
 tion, and 1 cannot believe that he is in its favor for such 
 reason. Will he say again, that because the ' demo- 
 cratic' party, as he calls it, though I do not acknowledge 
 it to be such, has sustained itself for sixteen years, that 
 is the reason why he would not alter the constitution ? 
 Has it come to this ? — that a statesman, learned, intelli- 
 gent, distinguished, familiar with questions of constitu- 
 tional law, in open day. not only acts from such motives, 
 but tears off the mask and tells the world that we are to 
 make a constitution in reference to party adrantages ? 
 He surely cannot mean this. Let him ask the hard- 
 working and intelligent mechanic, what is the purpose 
 of a constitution ; will he reply that such is its object ? 
 Ask the farmer — the bone and sinew of the country — 
 as in the soft twilight of summer he sees the lambs skip- 
 ping on the green lawn, if it is for party purposes that 
 he wants a constitution ? Or in the autumn, when his 
 granaries are full, and he offers thanksgivings, and what 
 will be his answer? I will send the gentleman to his 
 fiirmer colleague from Oneida, (Sir. M. Brooks,) to my 
 friend here from Madison, (Mr. Walrath,) to the farmer 
 
548 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845. 
 
 from Jefferson, (Mr. Danforth,) and to every farmer in 
 this house, to ask them if they are in favor of a consti- 
 tution because it protects their party ? And yet, in the 
 bosom of that gentleman there breathes the most gen- 
 erous emotions. Those hands have been stretched out 
 for the relief of human suffering. It is not the man, it 
 is the party madness of the day, a madness that, forget- 
 ting the future, looks not beyond the day. But to those 
 men who look to their posterity, and as they see the 
 stream grow wider and deeper as it flows on to the 
 great ocean of the future, feel that their blood there 
 flows — I send him there to ask, if they would frame a 
 constitution to favor party ? They will respond, we 
 would frame constitutions for ourselves and for our 
 children." 
 
 Mr. Seymour, in his reply to Mr. Young, reiterated 
 and enlarged upon the positions he had taken in his first 
 speech. He insisted that a convention ought not to be 
 called without the fiat of a majority of the electors, and 
 that the contemplated amendments ought to be specified 
 in the bill. Alluding to Mr. Young, Mr. Seymour said : 
 
 '' I listened the other day with mingled feelings of 
 pleasure and regret to the very eloquent and able re- 
 marks of the gentleman from Livingston. I listened 
 with admiration to the ability displayed by him — to his 
 beautifully formed periods — to the tone of patriotism 
 which his conceded skill enabled him to impart to his 
 remarks ; yet I listened with pain to some of the de- 
 signs — I will not say avowed, but manifested — in the 
 course of his remarks. I listened with mingled feelings 
 to the gilded but vicious sentiments which he put forth 
 on that occasion ;. for putrescence sometimes shines. I 
 watched with the same feeling of admiration his skilful 
 
1815. J tfl'EKCIl or .MU. SEYMOUR. 519 
 
 attempts to galvanize the late whig party into existence, 
 to suck up all the ill-humors of the body politic, in the 
 hope of organizing a party that might cope with the 
 great democratic party of this state. I believe, with all 
 his ability and ingenuity, he will find the attempt to be 
 futile. It was indeed an adroit effort, a skilful eflbrt, a 
 bold effort, to combine all the elements of faction in one 
 common bond of opposition to democratic principles and 
 the democratic party. He held up anti-rentism in such 
 terms of gentle reprobation, that even the representa- 
 tives of that party here, ' blushed and owned the soft 
 impeachment.' " 
 
 Mr. S. concluded by saying, — " If a bill can be passed 
 which shall be in accordance with the principles of our 
 government — which shall recognise/the doctrine that a 
 majority of the people shall govern — that sovereignty 
 resides with the people — which shall, in a fair, manly, 
 and open manner, indicate the objects of those w-ho con- 
 tend for it, I shall be willing to give it my support. I 
 have reflected on the subject with anxiety — feeling the 
 importance of this measure to the well-being of our 
 state. God knows I have endeavored to act on it solely 
 w ith a view to the best interest and highest happiness of 
 our common constituents. And to those who differ 
 w ith me, I accord an equal degree of consideration — an 
 equally honest desire to promote the interests of those 
 who have intrusted us with power. And I will only 
 express the hope, that in approaching this subject, all 
 pride of opinion will be laid aside — all personal and po- 
 Htical objects overlooked — and that we shall be actua- 
 ted only by a wish to consult the best interests of the 
 great and glorious state whose representatives we are." 
 
 Messrs. Bailey and Comstock took part in the discus- 
 
55') POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845. 
 
 sion, and some pretty sharp passages occurred between 
 them. Mr. T. R. Lee also deUvered an able speech 
 against the convention bill. 
 
 Mr. Young's last speech on this bill was his best. In 
 his exordium, he mentioned that Mr. Russell and Mr. T. 
 R. Lee had arraigned the minority on that floor for agi- 
 tating the question of a convention, saying, by implica- 
 tion at least, that if the question was to be presented or 
 agitated at all, that agitation should not come from the 
 whigs, but from those who had the numerical force 
 in the house to carry out their measures. " That we 
 have done what the gentlemen charge," said Mr. Young, 
 " I do not deny ; 
 
 " ' That we have ta'en away the old man's daughter 
 Is most true ; true we have married her ;' 
 
 and that we had the right to do so I submit to the judg- 
 ment of the committee, upon the history of the circum- 
 stances attendant upon our action. 
 
 " When was it that we first sought to agitate this 
 question ? We had just passed through a political cam- 
 paign, in which we had been overthrown. That was 
 not our fault, but our misfortune. We felt the weight 
 which had fallen upon us by the great victory which 
 you had obtained over us. But we then thought — how 
 justly, others must judge — that overthrown as we were, 
 we might still speak, think, and utter our thoughts too, 
 if there was nothing in them which the laws of the 
 country and of propriety forbade. How did we find 
 you ? There was another circumstance known to us — 
 for this was not the first time we knew you. We knew 
 of the contest at Syracuse, where you were divided. 
 When we came here, you met us with the proud claim 
 
1845.] SPEECH OF MR. YOUNG. 551 
 
 that you were again allied. We saw you— I now ad- 
 dress that branch of the party supposed to be in favor of 
 a convention — marching up to Syracuse in your strength, 
 and overthrowing those allies that now come here and 
 tell us not to agitate this question. We had seen more. 
 The branch of the party to which I believe you, sir, 
 (addressing the chairman, Mr. Bevens,) are attached, 
 ■was overthrown, by that to which the gentleman from 
 Westchester was attached, if rumor and his early acts 
 at this session can be relied on. This was your condi- 
 tion at Syracuse, but we could not tell what results 
 would flow from your action. We saw you grapple 
 with a foe full your equal, and though you overthrew 
 your antagonists for the day, and Vly Summit was clothed 
 in mourning, yet if you had paid much attention to the 
 attendant circumstances, you would have found that 
 'pomp was the funeral, the black the wo.' The funeral 
 knell, if it was sounded, scarcely reached the first farm- 
 house. And while you were on that night engaged in 
 the revel — nay, for aught I know, when you had brought 
 out the golden vessels, an ordinary perception might 
 have seen not only the handwriting upon the wall, but 
 the whole person, proclaiming what subsequent events 
 proved to be too true, that on that night should Belshaz- 
 zar the king be slain. If you had then looked into the 
 camp of your adversaries, you would have heard the 
 noise of mirth drowning the funeral dirge. They looked 
 forward to an event, which you see clearly now, when 
 he, whom you called the Cato of America, should be 
 one of them. They appreciated the man better than 
 you, and they felt that while they had lost nothing, you 
 had indeed lost your general. This was your condition."' 
 The main part of Mr. Young's speech was occupied 
 
552 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YOllK. [l845. 
 
 in replying to Mr. Seymour, and the concluding part is 
 SO inimitably fine, that we cannot deny ourselves the 
 pleasure of copying it. 
 
 " Tiiere was another remark," said he, " in that speech 
 [alluding to a speech delivered by Mr. Seymour] to 
 which I listened with mingled pain and pleasure. He 
 asserted that the jjarty with whom he acts, would be 
 unanimous on this question of a convention. He was 
 then in the heyday of power, and I thought — and I beg 
 pardon of my barnburning friends for entertaining the 
 suspicion — that he would be able to make the party 
 unanimous. I thought I saw givings away in some 
 quarters. I regarded your forces as scattered in the 
 early part of the session, and I feared there would be 
 nothiuff left. I knew that the Oneida chief whom you 
 had defeated, was not annihilated, but was still hanging 
 around your outposts, and once your vote in this house 
 appeared to indicate that the real friends of a conven- 
 tion were few indeed. But the gentleman evinced too 
 clearly in his speech on Saturday, that after all his dis- 
 cipline and machinery, he had been compelled to sur- 
 render, and we heard him asking for quarter. It was 
 painful to witness a spirit so proud thus crushed. Then 
 I thought I could look into another place, and as he 
 paced his own chamber with nervous tread, I could 
 catch some broken fragments of his expressions in re- 
 tirement — for thoughts will sometimes come unbidden 
 to the lij)s. Long he struggled against his fate before 
 he was brought to submit to the state of things surround- 
 ing him. The great captain was defeated, and I thought 
 I could hear many of the expressions of his wounded 
 spirit. 1 thought I heard him say, ' I have done much, 
 have worked long, and have labored hard for my party' 
 
1845.] SPEECH OF MR. YOUNG. 553 
 
 — and I could hear no more. Then I thought I heard 
 another fragment from his lips, and itwas in the words 
 of the great poet — 
 
 ' If I had served my God with half the zeal 
 I've served my king' — 
 
 and there that sentence ended. I thought I heard other 
 things, and as he repeated the word ' Saratoga,' a pang 
 shot across his face and I heard him say — 
 
 • Stab'dst me in my prime of youth 
 At Tewksbury'— 
 
 He was not speaking of the battle of Saratoga, but of a 
 certain convention in the fifth senate district, and then 
 his feelings of nervous excitement seemed still stronger. 
 This was not all I heard. In his imagination, he saw 
 not merely a handwriting upon the wall, but the full 
 length of a living, breathing man. His gray hair hung 
 in curls upon his shoulders. I heard nothing then, for 
 he said nothing. The countenance of that old man was 
 familiar to the gentleman, and it was the last face he 
 wished to see at such an hour. I listened, for I thought 
 in that great struggle I might hear him pronounce the 
 Roman name of Cato. But prostrate and fallen as he 
 seemed to regard himself, even then he had no fear of 
 Cato. The scene passed by, and let us return from that 
 chamber to this hall. The advice which he gave for 
 my benefit, looked only to political life for reward. I 
 thanked him for his good wishes, but my road lies an- 
 other way. I have a single word to say to him. There 
 is much of him to cultivate for good. He has shown 
 himself the possessor of high and brilliant talents, and if 
 he would forget party, and turn aside his passion for 
 place and power, and the narrow path of party discipline 
 
 47 
 
554 POLITICAL HISTORY Ol' .\EVV VOKK. [l845. 
 
 and tactics — tear away the drapery he has thrown around 
 himself, and stand out his own Hving self, breathing out 
 the purposes of his generous heart, I hope I shall live 
 to see that gentleman occupying the highest station that 
 his ambition may desire." 
 
 When the convention bill reached the senate, Mr. 
 Lott proposed to modify it by requiring that the amend- 
 ments should be submitted separately to the people. Mr. 
 Hand, who was understood to belong to the radical par- 
 ty, and Mr. Beers, who sometimes acted with one party 
 and sometimes with the other, voted with the hunker 
 senators for Mr. Lott's motion ; but Mr. Bockee, who had 
 heretofore generally acted with the hunkers, took strong 
 ground in lavor of thebill as it came from the assembly. 
 The vote on Mr. Lott's motion stood 15 to 17, all the 
 whigs present voting with the radicals. 
 
 Very able and elaborate discussions took place in the 
 senate. Messrs. Mitchell, Hand, Lott, Beers, Clark, and 
 Wright delivered speeches in favor of the amendments 
 to the bill which were offered in the house, and Messrs. 
 Bockee, Sherman, Johnson, Porter, Putnam, Folsom, 
 and Barlow, on the other side of the question. We 
 regret that we cannot give even a synopsis of those 
 speeches. On the last evening of the debate, much 
 warmth was excited, and some confusion and irritation 
 were produced. On the question upon the final passage 
 of the bill, Mr. Hand voted for it. There were 18 ayes 
 and 14 noes. In the senate, as in the assembly, all the 
 whigs resisted any amendments, and voted for the bill 
 as introduced by Col. Crain. 
 
 Various motions were made to put off the time for 
 taking the final vote on the passage of the bill, by Mr. 
 Wright and others, and the debates in committee con- 
 
1S45.] CANAL APPllOl'niATIONS. 555 
 
 tinned until 12 o'clock at night on Saturday. The two 
 houses were to adjourn on Wednesday morning, and 
 serious apprehensions were entertained, not without 
 cause, by the friends of the bill, that its opponents in- 
 tended by these delays to prevent the passage of the law. 
 When the committee rose and reported the bill. Judge 
 Bockee moved that the final vote should be taken on 
 Monday at a certain hour, which was carried, and thus 
 the passage of the bill secui'ed. 
 
 A radical friend from Albany, who witnessed the clo- 
 sing discussions in the senate, respecting the convention 
 bill, wrote to the author that " the friends of Gov. Bouck 
 declared the democratic party dissolved, and used every 
 epithet and appeal that could operate on the weak and 
 the timid." 
 
 Although Gov. Wright evidently accorded with the 
 hunkers in their views in relation to the convention bill, 
 a bill soon after passed both houses which brought him 
 in direct collision with that class of politicians. The 
 bill to which we allude was entitled, " An act in relation 
 to the Canals." This bill appropriated §197,000 for 
 several objects which will be hereafter mentioned ; and 
 among others, §55,000, which was in part to be expend- 
 ed 'for completing the construction of such portions of 
 the unfinished works on the Genesee Valley Canal, as the 
 canal commissioners should be of opinion would be most 
 economical for the interest of the state ;" and that 
 S20.000 should be expended "/or the same purpose^' on 
 the Black River Canal. The bill was reported at a late 
 day in the session, and seems not to have excited much 
 attention in the assembly. On its final passage 28 dem- 
 ocrats (including the members from St. Lawrence) aud 
 40 whigs voted for it, and 25 democrats and one whig 
 
556 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l845. 
 
 acrainst it. It is said that it was not expected the hill 
 would pass the senate ; hut we cannot learn that it un- 
 derwent much discussion there. The vote on its final 
 passage in that house was 14 ayes and 9 noes. Six of the 
 radical senators, Messrs. Deyo, Yarney, Sedgwick, Tal- 
 cott, Barlow, and Sherman, did not vote. Five of those 
 senators, it was supposed, were opposed to the bill, and 
 were then about the capitol, but left their seats, either 
 by accident or design, a few moments before the ques- 
 tion was taken. Had these five senators voted against 
 the bill, it would not probably have passed. 
 
 On the same day the bill was sent to the governor, 
 and on that evening he returned it to the assembly with 
 a veto message, which could not have been written that 
 day, as it was very long. It occupied a little more than 
 ten printed columns in the Albany newspapers. Indeed, 
 it is admitted that the message was prepared before the 
 bill passed the senate. It was therefore alleged by 
 the hunkers, that the radical senators who abandoned 
 their seats knew that the bill was to be vetoed, and that 
 they declined voting for the purpose of enabling the 
 governor to do so. The object, as the hunkers allege, 
 was to identify Mr. Wright with the radicals, and to 
 create a new issue other than that on the convention 
 bill between the two sections. On the other hand, the 
 radicals alleged that the bill was got up by Mr. Sey- 
 mour for two objects, one of which was, by this small 
 appropriation to establish a precedent by which the act 
 of 1842 was to be evaded and gradually undermined ; 
 and the other, to compel the governor to veto it, and 
 thereby render him unpopular on the line of these ca- 
 nals. They further allege, that the absence of the five 
 senators was owing to causes other than a design or 
 
1845.] GOV. Wright's veto message. 557 
 
 wish that the bill should pass. Messrs. Talcott, Barlow, 
 and Sedgwick, for instance, living on the line of the ca- 
 nal, might have supposed that the passage of the bill 
 would be defeated without their aid, and were desirous 
 to avoid creating personal opponents by voting against 
 it. Mr. Seymour, on the contrary, denies any such in- 
 tentions as those of which he was charged, and al- 
 leges, with great force, as a reason, that he could not 
 know when he advocated the bill that five of the gov- 
 ernor's friends would avoid voting upon it. 
 
 The radicals further alleged, that the passage of this 
 bill first convinced Gov. Wright of the hostility of the 
 hunkers to the law of 1842 ; and that at the same mo- 
 ment he handed the veto message to his private secre- 
 tary, he delivered the convention bill to his messenger 
 to deposite in the office of the secretary of state. And 
 that although he had previously been opposed to a con- 
 vention with unrestricted powers, he now regarded that 
 measure as the only means of preserving the credit of 
 the state. 
 
 The governor's veto message, like every thing else 
 written by him, was executed with great ability. The 
 following extracts exhibit the substance of it : 
 
 " The first section of the bill appropriates one hun- 
 dred and ninety-seven thousand dollars from the reve- 
 nues of the canals, and commands its payment by the 
 commissioners of the canal fund, for the following ob- 
 jects, and in the following proportions, namely : 
 
 "1. Twenty-five thousand dollars 'for the reconstruc- 
 tion of such locks on the Crooked Lake Canal, as the 
 canal commissioners shall judge necessary to ensure the 
 safety of navigation on that canal.' 
 
 " 2. Eighty-two thousand dollars ' for the purpose of 
 
 47* 
 
558 POLITICAL HISTOKY OF NEW YORK. [l845. 
 
 completing and bringing into use such works on the 
 Erie Canal enlargement as the canal commissioners 
 shall decide will best promote the interest of the state 
 and the facilities of navigation.' 
 
 '• 3. Fifty thousand dollars, ' to be expended upon the 
 Genesee Valley Canal for the following objects, to wit : 
 
 '" 1. For the purpose of preserving the work on the 
 Genesee Valley Canal which has been finished and not 
 brought into use ; 
 
 " ' 2. Or which has not been finished ; 
 
 " ' 3. And the materials that have been procured and 
 paid for, or estimated to contractors for such work ; 
 
 " '4. And for the purpose of completing the construc- 
 tion of such portions of the unfinished work on the said 
 canal as the canal commissioners shall be of opinion will 
 be the most economical for the interest of the state.' 
 
 " Twenty thousand dollars to be expended upon the 
 Black River Canal, south of Boonville, for the same ob- 
 jects as those specified in relation to the Genesee Valley 
 Canal ; and twenty thousand dollars to be expended upon 
 the Black River Canal, north of Boonville, for the same 
 objects." ******* 
 
 " Against the first expenditure authorized, namely, 
 ' the reconstruction of such locks on the Crooked Lake 
 Canal as the canal commissioners shall judge necessary 
 to ensure the safety of navigation on that canal,' I make 
 no objection." * * * " Against the second expen- 
 diture authorized, 'for the purpose of completing and 
 bringing into use such works on the Erie Canal enlarge- 
 ment as the canal commissioners shall decide will best 
 promote the interest of the state and the facilities of 
 navigation,' I should not find myself compelled to inter- 
 pose objection." * * * "I have come to the same 
 
1845.] GOV. Wright's veto message. 559 
 
 conclusion in relation to the three first objects of expen- 
 diture upon the Genesee Valley Canal, as they are found 
 specified in the bill, and are above enumerated, namely : 
 
 "'1. To preserve the work which has been finished 
 and not brought into use. 
 
 " * 2. To preserve the work which has not been finished. 
 
 " ' 3. To preserve materials that have been procured 
 and paid for, or estimated to contractors for such work.' 
 
 "This," continues the governor, "brings me to the 
 provisions of the bill which I find myself unable to ap- 
 prove. That relating to the Genesee Valley Canal is 
 enumerated above, under the fourth head of expenditure 
 upon that canal, and is, by the force of the language last 
 above quoted, in eflfect, repeated in reference to the 
 Black River Canal. The expenditure upon both is di- 
 rected to be ' for the purpose of completing the construc- 
 tion of such portions of the unfinished work on the said 
 canal as the canal commissioners shall be of opinion will 
 be the most economical for the interest of the state.' 
 This enactment I am compelled to consider as putting 
 an end to the policy of a suspension of the public works, 
 until the debt of the state shall be brought within the 
 safe and certain power and control of its revenues, with- 
 out taxation upon the people ; and as a distinct resump- 
 tion of those works, under circumstances quite as objec- 
 tionable, in reference to the provisions and policy of the 
 suspension act of 1842, and the other legislation, previ- 
 ous and subsequent, upon the same subject, as such a 
 resumption would be without any forms of limitation 
 upon the expenditure. 
 
 " I am well aware that this bill preserves the forms of 
 limitation, and that its friends appear to have convinced 
 themselves that its provisions are in strict accordance 
 
5G0 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845. 
 
 with the provisions and policy of the suspension act, 
 and of course, I presume, with the other legislation to 
 which I refer. In this view of the enactment in the bill 
 now under immediate consideration, I am wholly una- 
 ble, after the most careful examination, and mature re- 
 flection, to concur with those who hold these opinions, 
 and hence my inability to approve and sign the bill itself, 
 while this provision constitutes a part of it. I will pro- 
 ceed to state the grounds of my dissent, and my objections 
 to the enactment, as concisely as shall be consistent 
 with a clear and full understanding of them." 
 
 He then proceeds to show that this appropriation is 
 in violation of the pledges contained in the law author- 
 izing the construction of the Cayuga and Seneca, Oswe- 
 go and Chenango canals, and entirely inconsistent with 
 the provisions and pledges of the act of 1842. 
 
 The governor concludes his message by declaring 
 that he cannot express the regret he feels at being under 
 any circumstances compelled to make a decision con- 
 trary to the opinion of the majority of the legislature ; 
 " still," he says, with that peculiar modesty which char- 
 acterized every act of his life, " my most solemn con- 
 victions assure me, that I but discharge an imperious 
 constitutional duty, unmixed with, and uninfluenced by, 
 a single personal feeling or interest of which I am con- 
 scious. That the consequence of my action is but a call 
 upon the legislature to reconsider its own, and not a ne- 
 cessary rejection of the bill, is a gratifying reflection ; 
 and I am not without hope that the considerations I have 
 presented, imperfect and tedious as that presentation is, 
 may induce the two houses to come to my conclusion, 
 that the bill, in its present shape, and with its present 
 provisions, ought not to pass. If, on the contrary, these 
 
1845.] WM. KENT J. W. EDMONDS. 561 
 
 considerations shall seem to deserve no weight, and the 
 bill shall pass, notwithstanding the objections, the harnn, 
 if any, of this communication, must fall upon myself, 
 where it should rest, if the objections are not well found- 
 ed. Should neither of these results follow, and the bill 
 fail for a want of the constitutional vote, a majority of 
 both houses continuing to be in its favor ; in that case, I 
 shall cheerfully submit to the people of the state the de- 
 cision of the issue which will be formed between myself 
 and the majority of the legislature, rejoicing in the con- 
 viction that the difference of opinion on my part is un- 
 accompanied by one personal feeling unfriendly to a 
 single individual of that majority, and determined that 
 the decision of our common constituents shall be sub- 
 mitted to by me, in the same spirit in which I have 
 joined the issue." 
 
 We have given these ample exti*acts from this mes- 
 sage, because it has been alleged, and is believed by 
 many, that this was the principal cause of the loss of Mr. 
 Wright's election in the autumn of 1846. 
 
 To the great regret of the New York bar, and of the 
 public generally, William Kent, whose appointment as 
 judge of the first circuit has been heretofore noticed, re- 
 signed his office in consequence of impaired health, and 
 'the governor appointed John W. Edmonds, formerly a 
 prominent member of the state senate, in his place. 
 
 Mr. Edmonds, by the manner in which he discharged 
 the duties of the office, soon furnished evidence that the 
 selection was judicious. He has proved himself an able 
 judge, and a firm, independent defender of human rights. 
 The people of the first circuit have evinced that they 
 properly appreciate his merits by electing him a judge 
 of the Supreme Court in the first district. 
 
562 POLITICAL UISTOKY OF NEW YOEK. [1845. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Bill to prevent persons appearing^ disfriiised and armed — Anti-rent Conven- 
 tion at Bern — No Democratic legislative Caucus was held at the close 
 of the session — Address of the Radical members — Whig legislative Cau- 
 cus and Address — Democratic Mass Meeting at Albany — Different opin- 
 ions as to the course pursued by Governor Wright — J. A. Spencer and 
 Samuel Young elected Senators — General Result of the Election ia 
 November, 1845 — Death of General Jackson — Death of Judge Suther- 
 land — Death of Francis Dwight — His Character. 
 
 On one of the first days of the session of 1845, a bill, 
 in pursuance of the recommendation of the governor, 
 was introduced, entitled " An act to prevent persons ap- 
 pearing disguised and armed." It authorized the arrest 
 of all persons who appeared having their faces concealed 
 or discolored ; and, upon being brought before a magis- 
 trate, on failure to give a good account of themselves, 
 it declared that they should be adjudged vagrants, and 
 {mnished accordingly. The bill armed the sherifl'with 
 the power of the county, and made it highly penal for 
 any person to refuse to aid him in the discharge of the 
 duties imposed on him by that act. This bill passed 
 rapidly through both houses, and became a law on the 
 28th of January.* 
 
 * We omitted to mention in its proper place that an anti-rent state con- 
 vention was held at Bern, in the county of Albany, on the 15th of Jan- 
 uary, the proceedings of which were published in a well-conducted anti- 
 rent newspaper printed at Albany, called " The Guaiiuian of the Soil."' 
 These proceedings evinced great moderation, and on the whole were cred- 
 itable to those who constituted the assemblage. Dr. F. Crounse of Guil- 
 derland, was president pro tern. It is stated that eleven counties, and a, 
 much greater number of associations, wore represented, viz : Albany, 
 
1845.] ANTI-RENT CONVENTION. 563 
 
 It has already been mentioned that at the time the 
 state officers were chosen, Mr. Van Buren and Mr. 
 Bouck were elected regents of the University. The 
 former, soon after his appointment, addressed a letter to 
 the president of the senate declining to accept the office, 
 and on the 10th dav of Mav, Jabez D. Hammond was 
 appointed to supply the vacancy. 
 
 The legit^lature adjourned on the 14th day of May. 
 For the first time for many years, no caucus of the dem- 
 ocratic members, for the purpose of addressing their 
 constituents, was held. A joint committee of the two 
 houses for calling caucuses then existed, but in conse- 
 quence of some misunderstanding, no call for a caucus 
 was made. That committee consisted partly of hun- 
 kers and partly of radicals. The committee on the part 
 of the senate consisted of Messrs. Porter, Clark, and 
 
 Rensselaer, Schoharie, Delaware, Montgomery, Schenectady, Greene, 
 Suilivau, Columbia, Ulster, and Olsego. The following were the officers 
 of the convention : 
 
 Hugh Scott, of Albany county, president. 
 
 William Murphy, Albany county ; Heury Conklin, Rensselaer; D. L. 
 Stembergh, Schoharie ; Orvillo H. Wilcox, Columbia ; Harvey I. Hamil- 
 ton, Montgomery; John Ladd, Jr., Schenectady; Martin Lamy, Ulster; 
 Hiram Faulkner, Greene ; Robe'rt Sloat, Otsego ; Wm. Morrison, Dela- 
 ware ; Divine More, Sullivan, vice-presidents. 
 
 Thos. Ten Eyck, Rensselaer ; Abm. Spickerman, Schoharie ; John 
 D. Langdien, Columbia, Becretaries. 
 
 The convention was addressed by Mr. John Mayham, of Schoharie. 
 Resolutions, disapproving of the outrages in Rensselaer and Columbia, but 
 avowing a determination to adhere to the anti-rent cause and candidates, 
 were adopted. They also resolved to petition the legislature ; and ap- 
 iwinted a committee to meet in Albany, with the petitions, on the 5th of 
 February, and remain in attendance upon the legislature as long as such 
 attendance should be advantageous. The following persons were appointed 
 a state central committee : Lawrence Van Dusen, East Bern, Albany 
 county ; Abm. Spickerman, Bernville, Schoharie county ; John Bowdish, 
 Root, Montgomery county ; Luther Butts, Kortright, Delaware county ; 
 Harry Betts, Rensselaer county. 
 
564 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845, 
 
 Lett. After the adjournment of the legislature, each 
 section charged the other with designedly preventing a 
 caucus, and rather an angry correspondence was carried 
 on between Senators Porter and Clark on the subject, 
 which was published in the Atlas and Argus, in which 
 they mutually accused each other with a course of con- 
 duct unfriendly to a union of action of the democratic 
 party. The truth probably was, that both parties, be- 
 lieving it impossible to unite in an address which would 
 be satisfactory to all, were disinclined to meet together 
 in caucus ; and that each party desired to produce an 
 impression abroad that the failure of presenting to their 
 constituents the usual address was chargeable on the 
 adverse party. 
 
 The radicals, however, did prepare an address, which 
 was signed by thirteen senators and thirty members of 
 the assembly. The material part of this address, to 
 which the hunkers could not subscribe, was, that it took 
 ground on the convention bill adverse to the principles 
 of a majority vote by the people, according to the test 
 which had been proposed by the minority in the assem- 
 bly, and against a separate submission of the amend- 
 ments to the constitution which the convention might 
 propose. Much complaint was made by the hunker 
 newspapers against the radicals for publishing this ad- 
 dress, as irregular, contrary to the usages of the demo- 
 cratic party, and as factious. 
 
 After the adjournment of the legislature, the whigs 
 published an address, reported by a committee of 
 which Mr. Worden was chairman, and which was 
 probably drawn by him. It was signed by forty-nine 
 members of the legislature. 
 
 In the address the signers of it complain of the finan- 
 
1845.] WHIG LEGISLATIVE ADDRESS. 565 
 
 cial act of 1842, as construed by the governor in his 
 veto message of the canal bill. They present an elab- 
 orate view of the financial operations of the state. They 
 allege that ten millions of the existing canal debt was 
 contracted before the whig party in 1839 came into 
 power, and they charge that the practice of loaning the 
 public money to corporations was begun by the demo- 
 crats while they constituted the dominant party in the 
 state. They give an historical account of their legisla- 
 tive proceedings on the subject of the constitutional 
 convention, and they justify the measure upon the ground 
 that amendments to the constitution had become indis- 
 pensable, and that experience had proved that it was 
 morally impossible to agree on the details of some es- 
 sential alterations in the organic law, which would be 
 approved by two consecutive legislatures, in the manner 
 directed by the constitution of 1821. 
 
 In respect to national affairs, they declare themselves 
 in favor of the tariff of 1842. They denounce in strong 
 terms the annexation of Texas, and they charge the 
 democratic party in the New York legislature with in- 
 directly favoring that measure, by refusing to act upon 
 resolutions condemning the project, which the whig 
 members had proposed. 
 
 The address was an able one, and seems to have 
 been well calculated to make an impression on the mind 
 of the public. 
 
 During the recess of the legislature, and before the 
 general election in November, there was not much ap- 
 parent political excitement. The whigs were quietly 
 endeavoring to strengthen themselves in the legislature 
 at the coming election, but serious divisions began to 
 appear in their ranks. The Courier and Enquirer came 
 
 48 
 
566 POLITICAL HISTORV^ OF NEW YORK. [l845. 
 
 out openly against the convention, and more than insin- 
 uated that Mr. Young, Mr. Weed, and others, were too 
 radical in their principles, and that they advocated wild 
 and revolutionary theories, calculated eventually to 
 unsettle the rights of property, and destroy social 
 order. Gov. Seward was charged, if not in the public 
 papers, in private circles, with abolition propensities, 
 and a design to enlist the Irish Catholics in his favor 
 personally. 
 
 The masses of the democratic party in the country 
 counties, although they were not inclined to take sides 
 either with hunkers or radicals, amazed and bewildered 
 by the scenes which had occurred in the capital, did not 
 appear disposed to act with energy, or their accustomed 
 zeal. An effort was made, soon after the adjournment 
 of the legislature, to inspire more enthusiasm in the 
 masses of the democratic party, by getting up a meeting 
 at the capitol, called by the general republican commit- 
 tee, to respond to the convention bill and the veto mes- 
 sage ; and similar meetings were called in New York and 
 other places. The meeting at Albany was attended by 
 some of the most respectable citizens of that city. It 
 appears to have been attended chiefly by the radicals. 
 John Keyes Paige was chosen president, and Colonel 
 James M'Kown and nine other gentlemen vice-presi- 
 dents. Letters were received and read from Ex-Presi- 
 dent Van Buren and George P. Barker. A committee, 
 consisting of thirteen persons, among whom were Peter 
 Cagger, H. H. Van Dyck, Bradford R. Wood, and Nich- 
 olas Hill, Jr., was appointed. The meeting was elo- 
 quently addressed by the attorney-general, John Van 
 Buren, and David B. Gafney, Esq., a talented and elo- 
 quent adopted citizen. 
 
1845.] DEMOCRATIC MASS MEETING AT ALBANY. 567 
 
 The first resolution of the meeting was in the follow- 
 ing words : 
 
 " Resolved, That we hail with unbounded satisfaction 
 the veto of Gov. Wright of ' the act in relation to the 
 canals,' and the exposition of the financial policy of the 
 state, with which he has accompanied his objections to 
 the passage of that bill. And regarding, as we have 
 been taught to do by the illustrious example of Jackson, 
 the veto power as a prerogative in the hands of the ex- 
 ecutive, to be wielded for the protection of the rights 
 and liberties of the whole people, against the errors of 
 judgment, and departures from sound principle of the 
 legislative department, subject to the approval of the 
 common constituency — we accept this exercise of that 
 prerogative, as one required by every consideration of 
 justice to the tax payers and to the public creditor, and 
 of regard for the public welfare and the pledged honor 
 of the state ; and that as a portion of the constituency 
 to which it appeals, we respond to it by the unanimous 
 and emphatic declaration of our sincere approval, and 
 the pledge of a support, as firm and vigorous and patri- 
 otic as the measure in whose behalf it is tendered." 
 
 Other resolutions were passed, warmly approving of 
 the convention bill. 
 
 The object of the sagacious gentleman who was most 
 efficient in getting up this meeting,* and who, it is pre- 
 sumed, drew the resolutions, seems to have been to 
 make the convention and veto message, measures of the 
 party, and to have gone into the canvass at the next 
 election on such issues as might be formed in relation to 
 those measures. The expectation, then, was, that these 
 
 * Dudley Burwell, Esquire. 
 
568 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1845. 
 
 two measures would be taken up by the radical news- 
 papers, and the subjects connected with those measures 
 warmly and vigorously discussed and earnestly pressed 
 on the attention of the public during the summer and 
 fall. They anticipated that the effect of such a course 
 of proceedings would be to produce a renovated demo- 
 cratic party, who would have the control of the conven- 
 tion when it should meet. In these expectations they 
 were wholly disappointed. " This idea," [the idea of 
 making the convention bill and veto message issues,] 
 says an intelligent radical friend, in a letter to the au- 
 thoi", " was, to the utter astonishment of the radicals, 
 abandoned, and after a few weeks both measures were 
 permitted to sleep in quietness. Even the Atlas seldom 
 alluded to them. My inference is, that many of the old 
 republican friends of Gov. Wright besought him not to 
 press these measures too hard, and that ultimately they 
 would support them and maintain the organization of 
 the party ; that he yielded to these suggestions from the 
 best motives that can warm the heart, but that he mis- 
 took then, as he constantly did till the vote of 1846, the 
 character and objects of these pretended friends. The 
 time for discussion was the summer of 1845. It was 
 allowed to pass unimproved, and the election of that fall, 
 in many counties, proceeded upon old issues." * * * 
 " To one familiar as I was for several years with the 
 majorities of the several counties in the state, and with 
 the sentiments of the people as radical or conservative, 
 I confess I have watched the progress of these matters 
 with great solicitude. Until the last moment Governor 
 Wright was constantly recurring to his old friends, and 
 relying upon their personal assurances that they would 
 never desert him. He believed it." * * * "I tried 
 
1845.] GOV. WRIGHT AND HIS FRIENDS. 569 
 
 myself to arouse him, but I found that it was vain. The 
 confidence in former friends is stronger than the beUef 
 in new principles. He hesitated between them — he tried 
 hard to reconcile them, failed, and was lost." 
 
 This is the view taken of the conduct of Gov. Wright 
 by one of his radical friends. We will place in juxtaposi- 
 tion with it the inferences and opinion of a distinguished 
 hunker : 
 
 " The result of the session (of 1845) was to make 
 John Young governor, as the whigs felt he had secured 
 the passage of the convention bill under circumstances 
 calculated to divide and distract the democratic party. 
 The canal bill veto was injurious to Gov. Wright. It 
 appears to have been the fate of that distinguished man 
 to be destroyed by those claiming to be his parlictdar 
 friends, but who constantly used him for some selfish 
 purpose." * * * " In my judgment, Gov. Wright 
 committed some fatal errors at this session. I think his 
 own viexcs in the main were correct, but he allowed 
 himself to be overruled, and in some instances he evinced 
 a want of firmness. This was particularly true in rela- 
 tion to the convention and canal bills. He approved of 
 the amendments to the convention bill which were pro- 
 posed and supported by a majority of the democratic 
 members of the legislature ; and as the minority who 
 opposed these amendments claimed to be his particular 
 friends, had he acted with firmness and energy he cer- 
 tainly could have controlled them. Had he done so, 
 the division of the party would have been avoided, and 
 the canal bill would not have been passed, and his veto 
 would not have defeated him in 1846. Gov. Wright 
 had a better faculty for making friends than for control- 
 ling them. In this respect he lacked executive talent." 
 
 48* 
 
570 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK, [1845. 
 
 One object we have in presenting copies of these let- 
 ters is to show how very differently honest men will 
 judge of the same act and same transaction. The au- 
 thors of these letters are both men of high character for 
 honor and integrity, both are profound and sagacious 
 politicians, both are excellent judges of men, and of the 
 consequences which a given political act is most likely 
 to produce ; and although these gentlemen concur in the 
 opinion that Gov. Wright committed two capital errors, 
 yet one of them charges as an error what the other 
 ascribes to his wisdom and virtue. One says he was 
 ruined by trusting to his " old friends,'' while the other 
 affirms his ruin was produced by being too much influ- 
 enced by his "particular friends," and neglecting his 
 " old ones." Both, however, concur in the opinion (not- 
 withstanding one of them was his opponent) that Gov. 
 Wright was a great and good man ; and though both 
 think he sometimes erred in judgment, both believe and 
 declare that he was always governed by pure and pa- 
 triotic motives. 
 
 Notwithstanding all the difficulties and embarrass- 
 ments with which the democratic party were surround- 
 ed, they succeeded in electing a majority of the members 
 of the legislature at the November election. The whigs, 
 in the third district, elected Mr. Van Schoonhoven, of 
 Troy, who was also the nominee of the Anti-renters, 
 who polled a large vote in that district ; and they like- 
 wise elected Mr. Joshua A. Spencer in the fifth district. 
 This district was largely democratic at the election in 
 1844; we believe it gave some two thousand majority. 
 Mr. Spencer was elected in consequence of a schism in 
 Oneida county between the hunker and radical demo- 
 crats, by means of which that county, which had here- 
 
1845.] COL. YOUNG. 571 
 
 tofore given from eight to ten hundred democratic ma- 
 jority, now elected whig members of the assembly, and 
 gave Mr. Spencer a majority. There were also some 
 local difficulties in the county of Otsego, which was de- 
 cidedly democratic, but which, in consequence of those 
 difficulties, gave .Mr. Spencer a majority of more than 
 six hundred. There was still another circumstance 
 which greatly aided the success of Mr. Spencer. He 
 was well known through the district as a lawyer de- 
 servedly eminent in his profession, distinguished for 
 probity and integrity, and for purity of character. The 
 whigs also, as usual, succeeded in electing their senato- 
 rial candidate in the eighth district. The democratic 
 party elected their candidates in all the other districts. 
 Col. Young had at an early day been unanimously nomi- 
 nated by the democrats of the fourth district. In his letter 
 by which he signified his acceptance of the nomination, 
 after stating that " with respect to the honor of that sta- 
 tion, every individual wish and every personal aspira- 
 tion had long since been gratified," and that had the 
 nomination depended on his own act, that act would not 
 have been performed ; but that the generous and abi- 
 ding confidence which had spontaneously produced his 
 nomination at that time, had imposed on him an addi- 
 tional debt of gratitude which time could not obliterate, 
 and which no effort of his could repay ; he added, " And 
 although some remnant of the spirit of thirty-six {not 
 seventy-six) may yet remain in the legislature, yet I feel 
 that I ought not to shrink from a position which may 
 again subject me to its bitterness." 
 
 His bold denunciation of the banking monopoly, and 
 of public expenditures for internal improvements which 
 he as a senator during the year to which he alluded had 
 
572 POLITICAL HISTORy or NEW YORK. [1845. 
 
 so resolutely opposed, called out a vigorous opposition 
 to him in some parts of the district. He was, neverthe- 
 less, elected over a very popular opponent, Mr. Hopkins, 
 by more than one thousand majority. 
 
 Edward Sanford, son of the late chancellor, was 
 elected from the first district, in place of Mr. Varian ; 
 Saxton Smith, from Putnam county, in place of Judge 
 Bockee, of the second district ; William H. Van Schoon- 
 hoven, from the third district, as successor of Erastus 
 Corning ; Samuel Young, from the fourth, in lieu of Ed- 
 ward Varney ; Joshua A. Spencer, in place of George 
 C. Sherman ; Thomas J. Wheeler, from the sixth, suc- 
 ceeded Dr. Faulkner ; Richard H. Williams, from the 
 seventh, in place of William Bartlit ; and Gideon Hard 
 was re-elected from the eighth district. In the senate 
 elect there were twenty-five democrats, six whigs, and 
 one Native American. The abolitionists supported can- 
 didates in each of the districts, and their aggregate sen- 
 atorial vote was 15,747. The votes for a convention 
 were 214,700 ; and against it, 33,032 — showing a ma- 
 jority in favor of that measure of 181,668 ! 
 
 Of the members of the assembly the democrats elected 
 74, the whigs 52, and the Anti-renters elected two from 
 the county of Delaware. 
 
 On the 8th of June, Gen. Andrew Jackson died at 
 the Hermitaa:e in Tennessee. He retained his intellec- 
 tual vigor, his fortitude and personal courage, which he 
 possessed to as great a degree as any human being who 
 ever lived, to the last moment of his Hfe. One of the 
 last sentences which he uttered was, " I have fulfilled 
 my destiny on earth, and it is better that this worn-out 
 frame should go to rest, and my spirit take up its abode 
 with the Redeemer." 
 
1845. J DEATH OF FRANCI3 DWIGHT. 573 
 
 Jacob Sutherland, who had been in public life more 
 than twenty years, died at Albany on the 13th of May, 
 at about the age of sixty years. In the year 1822 he 
 was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court, and held 
 that station for fourteen years, when he resigned the 
 office. He was not only a learned lawyer, an able, im- 
 partial, and independent judge, but a man of genius and 
 elegant literary attainments. His death was deeply felt 
 and universally lamented. 
 
 Francis Dvvight, the editor of the Common School 
 Journal, and superintendent of schools in the county of 
 Albany, died on the 15th day of December. We have 
 heretofore spoken of this amiable and excellent man, and 
 yet we would not part with him without an expression 
 of our veneration for his virtues, and "a lament, which, 
 alas! is unavailing, that he should have been taken from 
 us in the prime of his life," and in the midst of his use- 
 fulness. It is pleasant to turn from viewing the fierce 
 struggle of selfish and infuriated politicians, and contem- 
 plate retired and modest virtue, and disinterested but 
 ardent benevolence. It was honorable to the citizens 
 of Albany, that the most respectable literary associations 
 of that city, and several public bodies, held meetings 
 and passed resolutions in testimony of their respect for 
 the memory of this truly benevolent and meritorious, 
 but unpretending individual. 
 
574 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Legislature of 1846 — Col. Grain and Mr. Bailey, candidates for nomina- 
 tion to the Speakership — Mr. Grain nominated and elected Speaker — 
 Delos W. Dean, Clerk — Anti-Rent Outrages — Trial of the Insurgents 
 in Delaware County — Judge Parker— John Van Buren— Governor's 
 Message — Legislative Proceedings — Debate in the Senate on the Reso- 
 lutions proposed by Mr. Jones — Bill on the subject of State Printer — 
 Proceedings and Debates thereon in the Senate and A.-^sembly — Act 
 abolishing Distress for Rent— Mr. A. G. Ghatfield chosen Speaker pro 
 lem. — Col. Young elected President pro tern, of the Senate — R. E. 
 Temple appointed Adjutant-General — Hiram Gray appointed Judge of 
 the Sixth Circuit — L. H. Sanford Vioe-Chancellor of the First District — 
 Death of Jonas Earl. 
 
 Although the first senatorial district had lost the ser- 
 vices of Mr. Varian, late mayor of New York, a worthy 
 man and fair-minded legislator, it had chosen in his 
 place Mr. Edward Sanford, who, without assuming to be 
 a leader, was really a talented and useful member. 
 
 Col. Young and Mr. J. A. Spencer added greatly to the 
 talents in the senate. Mr. Spencer's great legal learn- 
 ing, industry, and abilities, rendered his services as a 
 member of the court of dernier resort, of inestimable 
 value. 
 
 In the assembly, though the democratic party had lost 
 the distinguished and able gentleman who represented 
 the county of Oneida the preceding year, it had gained 
 a democratic representation from the city of New York, 
 among whom we perceive the name of that worthy and 
 excellent legislator, John Townsend. Mr. Tilden, from 
 
184fi.] MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY. 575 
 
 New York, and Mr. John D. Stevenson, whom we have 
 mentioned as having had a very important agency in 
 disclosing the Glentworth misdemeanors, were influen- 
 tial members of the assembly, and took an active part in 
 its proceedings. Mr. J. Leslie Russell, a very valuable 
 member of the last assembly, from St. Lawrence, and an 
 estimable man, had declined a re-election, but his place 
 was supplied by Mr. Bishop Perkins, of Ogdensburgh, a 
 lawyer of long standing in that village, and of a charac- 
 ter highly respectable. 
 
 In consequence of a local question in Schoharie re- 
 specting the site for a new courthouse, General Thomas 
 Lawyer and Mr. Thomas Smith, both residents of the 
 same town, (Cobleskill,) were elected, although the for- 
 mer was a leading democrat, and the latter a zealous 
 whig. Gen. Lawyer had been a member of congress, 
 and his age and experience gave him much weight in the 
 house, and the talents and industry of Mr. Smith ren- 
 dered him a valuable acquisition to the whigs. 
 
 Andrew G. Chatfield, who had formerly been a mem- 
 ber of the assembly from Steuben, was again returned 
 from that county, and by his courtesy and conciliatory 
 address, as well as by the tact and talent evinced by him 
 in debate, afforded much aid to the democratic party in 
 that house. 
 
 WiNFiELD Scott Sherwood, whom we have hereto- 
 fore mentioned as an unsuccessful candidate for the ap- 
 pointment by Gov. Bouck to the oflice of adjutant-gen- 
 eral, was at this session returned as a member from the 
 county of Warren, and proved himself to be one of the 
 ; ablest, as he was one of the most zealous, members of 
 the hunker section. Before this session closed. Gov. 
 Bouck must have been convinced that he misjudged 
 
576 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846, 
 
 when he refused to appoint him to the office for which 
 he was recommended by his friends. 
 
 That frank and honest-hearted man, WilHam C. Grain, 
 from the county of Herkimer, the candidate of the radi- 
 cals for speaker against Mr. Seymour, was re-elected, 
 and again appeared at the capitol. 
 
 But the most talented maji of the radical party, and 
 perhaps of the whole democratic party, was Benjamin 
 Bailey, of Putnam county. He was, as will be recol- 
 lected, a member of the last assembly. Judging merely 
 from the printed reports of the proceedings of that body, 
 (for we have no personal acquaintance with him,) we 
 are inclined to the opinion that he had too much acer- 
 bity of temper, but he certainly did possess a very acute 
 and discerning mind, and talents of a high order. 
 
 The whigs had several men in this assembly of very 
 superior talents. Messrs. John Young and Alvah Wor- 
 den were again returned as members of that body. Of 
 the tact, address, and talents of these gentlemen, and 
 also of Mr. A. W. Young, we have heretofore spoken. 
 
 Mr. Lot Clark, from the county of Niagara, was for- 
 merly a very active and efficient democratic Bucktail 
 politician from the county of Chenango, and in the year 
 1824 was elected a member of congress from the dis- 
 trict of which that county makes a part. He afterwards 
 migrated to Florida, but being dissatisfied with Mr. Van 
 Buren, of whom from early life he was a zealous friend, 
 in consequence of his principles in relation to banking, 
 and his recommendation of the sub-treasury, he came 
 out in opposition to the administration, and upon his re- 
 turn to this state was as zealous a whig as he had for- 
 merly been a democrat. Mr. Clark is a man of great 
 mental resources, active and energetic in all the pursuits 
 
184G.] MEMBERS OE THE ASSE.-MBLY. 577 
 
 in which he engages, a warm-hearted, liberal friend, but 
 an uncomfortable and rather formidable opponent. Mr. 
 Clark was a conservative whig. 
 
 Ira Harris was re-elected from the county of Albany. 
 In the fall of 1844 he had been nominated by the anti- 
 renters while he was on a journey to the far West, with- 
 out hi.s knowledge, and without any pledges that he 
 would support their peculiar views. They knew his 
 general principles with regard to individual rights, and 
 they, as all who were acquainted with Ira Harris knew, 
 that he was a man of integrity and honor, and they 
 therefore did not hesitate to select him as their candi- 
 date. The whigs also nominated him, and he was elect- 
 ed ; and in the same way he was re-elected in 1845. 
 Mr. Harris had, before this time, devoted himself to the 
 practice of his profession, and was scarcely known as a 
 politician ; but when he came into the legislature, he 
 immediately afforded evidence of distinguished talents 
 and political tact, and he is now a justice of the Supreme 
 Court, elected from the third district, and discharges 
 ably the duties of that high office. 
 
 William G. Bloss was re-elected from the county of 
 Monroe, and was an industrious and efficient member. 
 
 Dr. John Miller, of Courtland county, added to the 
 whigs, in the assembly of 1846, the weight of his char- 
 acter and the benefit of his counsel. He had, on several 
 occasions previously, been a member of the New York 
 legislature, and also a member of congress from the dis- 
 trict in which he resided. He was a man of great de- 
 cision and energy of character, and deservedly highly 
 esteemed in his own county as a professional man and 
 patriotic citizen. The author hopes he may be excused 
 for paying this tribute of respect to a friend of long 
 
 49 
 
578 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NKVV YORK. [1846. 
 
 standing, and one with whom he acted during the wars 
 between the Clintonians and Bucktails. 
 
 Before we conclude our remarks on tiie general char- 
 acter of the members who composed the legislature of 
 1846, it may be proper to state, that, although we have 
 stated that the county of Delaware only, elected anti- 
 rent members, the members from several other counties, 
 who were characterized as whigs or democrats, were 
 in fact elected by anti-rent votes, having been selected 
 from the tickets which had been formed by the whigs or 
 democrats, and nominated by anti-rent conventions. 
 Thus, Ira Harris is classed as a wliig, and Robert D. 
 Watson and Thomas L. Shafer as democrats, from Al- 
 banv county, who were in truth elected by the balance- 
 power held by the anti-renters. The same remark is 
 applicable to the v, hig members returned from Rens- 
 selaer, and we presume to the democratic members re- 
 turned from Columbia counties. 
 
 We have already stated that there were seventy-four 
 democratic members elected to the assembly, and of 
 these a large majority were radicals. The public mind 
 was therefore prepared to expect that Col. Crain, having 
 been the radical candidate the last year for speaker, 
 against Mr. Seymour, would now be elected to that of- 
 fice without opposition, or at any rate, without a com- 
 petitor from the ranks of the radicals. But this expec- 
 tation did not prove to be well founded. When the 
 members collected at Albany, Mr. Bailey, of Putnam, 
 was supported as a candidate for speaker by a consider- 
 able portion of them, and his claims were zealously 
 pressed. A caucus was held on the evening before the 
 day when the session was to commence, attended by 
 seventy members. Mr. Sydney Lawrence, from Frank- 
 
JSIO.] ORGANIZATION OF THE ASSEMBLY, 579 
 
 lin county, formerly a senator, was chosen chairman, 
 when the members proceeded to ballot for a candidate 
 for speaker. The balloting went on, until the name of 
 Gideon O. Chase, from Tioga, was called, when his right 
 to vote was challenged by Mr. Wells, an ardent, but 
 talented young man, who was a member from the city 
 of New York, on the ground that he had been elected 
 in opposition to a regular nominee of a democratic con- 
 vention of that county. This was a new question, 
 but his right to vote was advocated by Mr. Bailey, and 
 Mr. Perkins, of St. Lawrence county, and his ballot was 
 eventually received. The result of the balloting was, 
 that Mr. Grain received 48 votes and Mr. Bailey 22, 
 whereupon the nomination of Mr. Grain, on motion of 
 Mr. Bailey, was declared to be unanimous. The meet- 
 ing then proceeded to ballot for clerk, the result of which 
 was that Delos W. Dean, of Otsego county, obtained 40 
 votes, and James F. Starbuck, of Jefferson county, 33 : 
 Mr. Dean was thereupon unanimously declared duly 
 nominated. 
 
 The whigs nominated John Young for speaker, and 
 George W. Weed for clerk. 
 
 When the assembly met the next morning for organi- 
 zation, Mr. Grain received 73 votes for speaker, Mr. 
 Young 44, and Mr. Harris 7, being, as is presumed, all 
 the anti-rent votes in the assembly, except his own, 
 which he gave to Mr. Thomas Smith. Mr. D. W. Dean 
 was elected clerk by a vote of 77 to 48. 
 
 The governor sent in his message at the usual hour, 
 but, before remarking on it, we will state what ought to 
 have been related in the preceding chapter. 
 
 During the summer of 1845, some alarming outrages 
 were committed by the anti-rent associations, called In- 
 
580 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 dians, on account of their dress and artificial color, in 
 the counties of Columbia and Rensselaer. The law to 
 prevent persons appearing disguised and armed, did not, 
 as it was hoped it would, have the effect to prevent or 
 quiet those disturbances. 
 
 In Columbia county, a deputy-sheriff was shot at and 
 wounded, and various other outrages were committed. 
 The most active agent in exciting those disturbances 
 l^Doct. Boughton) was arrested and brought to trial, but 
 all the jury would not agree to convict him. On a sec- 
 ond trial he was convicted and sentenced to the state 
 prison. In Delaware and Schoharie frequent riots oc 
 curred, and finally, on the 7th of August, Mr. Steel, a 
 deputy-sheriff, and a very w^orthy citizen, while engaged 
 in the discharge of his official duties, was attacked by an 
 armed party, and inhumanly murdered in open daylight. 
 
 The party styling themselves Indians were so numer- 
 ous in the county of Delaware, and so bold in their re- 
 sistance to the law, that the peaceable citizens of that 
 county applied to Gov. Wright to declare the county in 
 a state of insurrection. The governor acted on this 
 emergency with great promptness and energy. He 
 issued a spirited proclamation, and at the same time or- 
 dered out an efficient military force. The proclamation 
 pointed out the enormities which had been committed, 
 it exhibited with great clearness and force the necessity 
 of maintaining law and order, and solemnly appealed to 
 the tenants, who felt aggrieved in consequence of the 
 rigorous tenures under which some held their lands, to 
 seek relief and redress by constitutional measures alone, 
 and to support the laws and civil institutions of the 
 country as the only means of ensuring the preservation 
 and safety of their own lives and property. 
 
1846.] ANTI-RENT TRIALS. 581 
 
 " To the disguised men themselves," said the governor, 
 "and those less worthy than they, who press them for- 
 ward into the danger from which they themselves shrink, 
 I have only to say, that wrong acts never serve even a 
 good cause ; that persistence in crime cannot mitigate 
 the heavy weight upon the mind and conscience of the 
 first crime ; and that no disguises are perfect enough to 
 protect the heart from the eye of Him who sees its 
 thoughts and intents. 
 
 "For the sake of the character of our state, and of 
 our people, as well as for the peace, and prosperity, and 
 harmony of our society, I earnestly hope that the day 
 may not be distant, when I may be called upon to dis- 
 charge another and a far more pleasant duty, under a 
 provision of the same law under which I now act, by 
 revoking this proclamation. 
 
 " Yet the law must be enforced. Our institutions 
 must be preserved. Anarchy and violence must be pre- 
 vented. The lives of our citizens must be protected, 
 and murder must be punished. And when that portion 
 of our citizens who, now transported by passion and led 
 away by singular delusions, are ready to strike down 
 the law and its ministers, shall become convinced that a 
 different course is alike the part of wisdom and of duty, 
 and shall again submit themselves to the laws of the 
 state, then, and not before, can I expect to be permitted 
 to perform that more pleasing duty." 
 
 A special Court of Oyer and Terminer was soon after 
 held by Judge Parker in the county of Delaware, (the 
 county in which he commenced and pursued his pro- 
 fessional business until he was appointed judge,) which 
 continued several weeks. A considerable number of 
 the accused were convicted, and sentenced to punish- 
 
 49* 
 
582 , POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846, 
 
 ment in the state prison, and two were convicted of 
 murder, and sentenced to be hung. The death penalty 
 was afterwards commuted by Gov. Wright for confine- 
 ment in the state prison during Ufe. 
 
 It was conceded by all that Judge Parker presided 
 during these numerous, lengthy, and exciting trials with 
 great dignity, impartiality, and firmness. No higher 
 evidence can be furnished of his impartiality than the 
 fact that in 1847, when he was a candidate for the of- 
 fice of judge of the Supreme Court, although the anti- 
 renters in the county of Delaware polled a majority of 
 the votes. Judge Parker obtained a large majority in 
 that county. The path of duty is not only the road to 
 honor, but generally leads to a rich reward. 
 
 The attorney-general, John Van Buren, attended 
 these trials in behalf of the people, on the requisition of 
 the governor, and to his perseverance, address, and pro- 
 fessional skill, aided by the labors and industry of the 
 district-attorney, Mr. Houston, we are undoubtedly 
 greatly indebted for the maintenance of law and order, 
 by the repeated verdicts of a jury taken from the body 
 of the county of Delaware, many of whom, it is fair to 
 presume, when impannelled, ware strongly biased in 
 favor of the anti-rent cause. 
 
 We take this occasion to say, that there is something 
 remarkable in the brief history (for he is yet young) of 
 Mr. John Van Buren. Although the son of a president 
 of the United States, he early manifested a determina- 
 tion not to content himself with the standing in society 
 which that circumstance gave him, but to create a cap- 
 ital which should be entirely his own, independent of 
 the reputation of his fathei'. While that father was 
 president, and had at his command the vast patronage 
 
 ! 
 
1846.] JOHN VAN BUREN. 583 
 
 which the constitution devolves on the national exec- 
 utive, John Van Buren, instead of asking, or being wil- 
 ling to receive any of that patronage, or wasting his 
 time in fashionable circles at the capitol, in the enjoy- 
 nnent of court pleasures and court blandishments, com- 
 menced the practice of law at Albany, in partnership 
 with Col. M'Kown of that city, and actively and assid- 
 uously devoted himself to the common business and 
 labors of a law office. His industry and legal learning, 
 independent of all the factitious circumstances with 
 which he was surrounded, soon elevated him to a dis- 
 tinguished rank in his profession. It is no disparage- 
 ment to the late president to say that John Van Buren 
 possesses talents equal, if not superior, to his father. If 
 age and experience in social and public life shall enable 
 him to acquire the prudence and discretion of the late 
 president, and if his political associations shall not prove 
 unfortunate, the prediction is by no means hazardous, 
 that a splendid career awaits him. 
 
 In the month of December, the governor was officially 
 informed that the insurrection was .suppressed, and on 
 the 18th of that month he issued a proclamation revo- 
 king the previous one. No serious disturbances after- 
 wards occurred. The firmness and vigorous action of 
 Gov. Wright, during all these alarming attempts to 
 prostrate the laws of the state, merited and received 
 high commendations from all well-disposed citizens of the 
 commu!iity, and richly entitle him to the gratitude of 
 this and all succeeding generations. 
 
 It is quite unnecessary to say that the message of 
 Gov. Wright was able and well written. His exordium 
 is beautiful. 
 
 " We are assembled," says the governor, " to perform 
 
584 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 the highest and most responsible duties pertaining to 
 civil government. Other departments are charged with 
 the administration and execution of the law. Upon the 
 legislature is devolved the duty of making the law. Its 
 action is the rule of administration and execution. That 
 action is over all and rests upon all. It binds the con- 
 duct of men to the extent of the extreme penalty of hu- 
 man life, and the interests of men to the extent of every 
 thing which can be held as property." 
 
 He then proceeds to give a history of the anti-rent 
 disturbances and outrages, and arrives at the conclusion 
 that they have substantially subsided ; and he adds — 
 
 " In my former communication to the legislature upon 
 this subject, I stated that I considered myself precluded 
 from discussing, or even considering, the real merits of 
 the differences existing between the landlords and the 
 tenants, by the violent and criminal conduct of those 
 who assumed to act for the latter, and in their name, 
 and apparently by their approbation; and who had 
 changed the issue to one between sustaining the law, 
 preserving the pubjic peace, and protecting the rights 
 and lives of unoffending citizens on the one side, and 
 armed resistance against the law, wanton disturbances 
 of the peace, and aggravated trespasses on the rights 
 and lives of individuals on the other." 
 
 But inasmuch as resistance to the laws was now dis- 
 continued, and the peace of community was restored, 
 the governor felt authorized to propose and recommend 
 the following measures for the alleviation of the condi- 
 tion of the tenantry : 
 
 " 1. That distress for rent accruing on all leases exe- 
 cuted in future, shall be abolished. 
 
 "2. Taxing the landlord for his income by means of rent. 
 
1846.] governor's message. 585 
 
 "3. That the duration of the time of all leases to be 
 executed should be restricted to five or ten years." 
 
 From the returns of the last census, (taken in 1845,) 
 the governor states that " the entire population of the 
 state is shown to be 2,604,495, being an increase, since 
 the census of 1840, taken in obedience to the constitu- 
 tion and laws of the United States, of 188,574, a little 
 more than seven and a half per cent, for the five 
 years." 
 
 On the subject of the finances of the state, the gov- 
 ernor presents a very clear view, — that is, so far as a 
 very complicated system can be rendered clear. For 
 ourselves, we confess the great number of separate 
 funds, such as the canal fund, the general fund, the liter- 
 ature fund, the bank fund, &lc., with which our financial 
 ofliicers keep an account, and the condition of which they 
 exhibit to the people in their reports, seem rather to 
 throw into obscurity and cast a veil of mystery over our 
 financial operations, than to enlighten us in relation to 
 the monetary afiairs of the state. The loan of money 
 from the school fund to the general fund, and the in- 
 debtedness of the canal fund to the bank fund, convey 
 to a stranger very imperfect ideas of the debts and cred- 
 its of the state. These things may be necessary and 
 convenient for the accounting officers, but to those un- 
 schooled in the mysteries of keeping accounts in the 
 mode practised by the financial officers, they seem as 
 useless as if an individual were to keep an account of 
 the moneys transferred from one pocket to another. We 
 cannot perceive how the supposed individual would be 
 aided in arriving at a safe and certain conclusion in re- 
 spect to his real pecuniary condition, by charging lils 
 jacket-pocket with the money transferred to it from hi55 
 
586 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 breeches-pocket, or his wallet with money taken from 
 his side-pocket and deposited there for greater safety. 
 
 The governor states the canal debt at that time un- 
 paid and unprovided for, at $10,641,815 57; and the 
 canal tolls received during the preceding fiscal year at 
 $2,646,458 78. At that time there were 1,145,250 vol- 
 umes in the conmion school libraries in tlie state, and 
 11,018 school districts. 
 
 In allusion to the national politics, the governor re- 
 marks, that " as a declaration of the policy of the present 
 administration of the federal government, the message 
 of the president appears to me to justify the confidence 
 entertained by the country in the publicly avowed prin- 
 ciples of the man, and to realize the expectations natu- 
 rall}'- excited by his elevation to the high trust he holds. 
 The re-establishment of the independent treasury was 
 confidently anticipated as a result of his election, and 
 that great measure could not have been more distinctly 
 or strongly recommended to congress, than it is in this 
 message. The principles put forth as those which should 
 govern an adjustment of the laws for the collection of 
 our revenue from the customs, are also those the coun- 
 try had a right to expect from his public declarations 
 upon that subject. They appear to me to be substan- 
 tially the principles upon which alone a tariff' of duties 
 upon imports can be adjusted, which will have a prom- 
 ise of permanency, or which will give reasonable satis- 
 faction to the different sections of our widely-extended 
 country, and to all the various interests to be affected." 
 
 He concludes his message and his remarks on the 
 c<jndition of the nation, with expressing the following 
 just and patriotic sentiment : 
 
 " Whether these favorable anticipations as to the con- 
 
1846.] MR. JONE^'ri RE.^MLUTIONg. 587 
 
 tinued peace of our country are to be realized or not, 
 can vary little the calls of public duty upon us. To ex- 
 empt our people, as far as may be in our power, from 
 the incumbrance of debt and the burden of taxation, and 
 to secure to them the fullest measure of prosperity which 
 unfettered industry can earn, is alike the course of wis- 
 dom in either event. In such a condition, they will be 
 best prepared for the profitable enj(^yment of peace, or to 
 meet the scourge of war ; and if our deliberations and 
 action shall be unitedly and earnestly directed to these 
 ends, we may reasonably hope for the continued smiles 
 of that Ahniifhtv Power who holds the destinies of na- 
 tions in His hand, and who has hitherto protected our 
 country and her institutions against every hostile as- 
 sault." 
 
 So far as relates to general legislation, little business 
 was transacted during this session. Very few important 
 bills were passed into laws. 
 
 Two important political questions were discussed at 
 great length, and occupied a large portion of the time 
 of the legislature. These were joint resolutions offered 
 by Mr. Jones in the senate, approving of the annexation 
 of Texas, claiming the whole of Oregon, in favor of an 
 independent treasury, and against a protective tariff, 
 and the bill on the subject of the state printing. The lat- 
 ter, however, may be regarded rather as a party ques- 
 tion, mor^ directly between the hunkers and radicals, 
 than, strictly speaking, a political measure. 
 
 On the first day of the session, immediately after the 
 senate was organized for business, and before the gov- 
 ernor's message was delivered, Mr. Jones laid on the 
 table the following resolutions : 
 
 " Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That this legis- 
 
588 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 lature approve of the course of those of their senators 
 and representatives in the congress of the United States, 
 who have been the firm and consistent supporters of the 
 great measure of the age, the annexation of Texas to the 
 territory of this Union, and who, by their timely and en- 
 ergetic action, have helped to bring it to an honorable 
 consummation. 
 
 " Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That this legis- 
 lature entertain, and now desire to express, their unqual- 
 ified approval of the course and policy of the president 
 of the United States upon the subject of the American 
 claim to Oregon ; that our title to the whole of that ter- 
 ritory is unquestionable; and that we rely with confidence 
 upon the wisdom and firmness of our popular and patri- 
 otic chief magistrate, acting upon and practically carry- 
 ing out the commendable maxim of his lamented prede- 
 cessor, to 'demand, as well as submit to, nothing but 
 what is right, so to dispose of this important question, as 
 that the interests and honor of the nation shall be pro- 
 moted and preserved. 
 
 " Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That our sena- 
 tors in congress be instructed, and our representatives 
 requested to exert their influence to procure, at the ear- 
 liest possible period, the passage of a law establishing 
 'an Independent Treasury,' for the safe-keeping of the 
 public moneys. 
 
 " Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That we are 
 opposed to a national bank, and that our senators in 
 congress be instructed, and our representatives request- 
 ed to oppose the incorporation of such an institution, 
 by whatever name or in whatever form it may be pre- 
 sented. 
 
 " Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That we are op- 
 
1846.] MR. roKTKKs RESOLUTIONS. 589 
 
 posed to any tarifTlavvs whose object shall he protection 
 instead of revenue ; that we are in favor either of a re- 
 peal of the present law, or such a modification of it, as 
 that in case of discrimination and incidental protection, 
 all the great interests of the country, to wit, agriculture, 
 the mechanic arts, commerce, and manufactures, may 
 be put upon an equal footing, and that our senators in 
 congress be instructed, and our representatives be re- 
 quested to carry into effect these resolutions. 
 
 " Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That the present 
 chief magistrate of the United States, in the ability and 
 wisdom with which he has, conducted the administration 
 of the government, has fully met the most sanguine ex- 
 pectations of the American people, and this legislature 
 cannot avoid expressing the high gratification which it 
 feels, in having at this time at the head of the govern- 
 ment an individual who has the clearness to perceive, 
 the boldness to protect, and the patriotism to preserve 
 and maintain, the honor and fame of our beloved coun- 
 try. 
 
 Whereupon Mr. Porter proposed the following as a 
 substitute : 
 
 " Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That the sena- 
 tors in congress from this state be instructed, and the 
 representatives from this state be requested, to aid, by 
 their influence and their votes, in procuring the passage 
 of a law for establishing a constitutional treasury for the 
 safe-keeping of the public moneys ; and for thus separa- 
 ting the financial affairs of the government from those 
 of bankiniT institutions, according to the views of the 
 president, as expressed in his message. 
 
 "Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That the said 
 senators be instructed, and the said representatives be 
 
 50 
 
590 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 requested, to use their best efforts to secure the estab- 
 Hshment of a tariff, in conformity with tiie principles 
 upon that subject set forth in the president's message. 
 
 "And whereas, the title of the United States to the 
 whole of Oregon is clear and unquestionable ; yet still, 
 with a view to an amicable arrangement of the conflict- 
 ing claims of the United States and Great Britain to 
 that territory, our government have repeatedly offered a 
 very liberal proposition, but which has been rejected : 
 
 " Therefore, Resolved, (if the assembly concur,) That 
 although war is a great calamity, yet that a sacrifice of 
 national honor is a greater ; and if Great Britain shall 
 still adhere to her unfounded pretensions, and shall make 
 on her part no proposition on the subject of an amicable 
 arrangement, which our government shall deem accept- 
 able, and war shall be the consequence, that the state 
 of New York will stand side by side with her sister 
 states, in defence of her rights to the Oregon territo- 
 ry. And further, that notice of the termination of the 
 joint occupancy should be promptly given ; and that 
 such measures as may be consistent with treaty obliga- 
 tions, and as are necessary for the protection of the 
 rights and interests of the United States, and of their 
 citizens who now are, or may become residents of that 
 territory, or may be emigrating thither, should forthwith 
 be provided by congress ; and that the said senators be 
 instructed, and the said representatives be requested, to 
 use their exertions to secure the passage of laws on 
 these subjects, as recommended in the message of the 
 president." 
 
 It will be perceived that Mr. Porter's resolutions were 
 silent on the subject of Texas, and that they do not in- 
 sist on the whole of Oregon. 
 
1840.] DEBATE ON THE RESOLUTIONS. 591 
 
 The cause of this extraordinary ha.ste in getting these 
 resolutions before the senate and the public, will natu- 
 rally excite the curiosity of the reader. 
 
 It was well known that Mr. Wright and Mr. Van 
 Buren were opposed to annexation, when that meas- 
 ure was recommended by Mr. Tyler ; and it was also 
 well known that Colonel Young and Mr. Porter, and 
 several other radical senators, accorded with Mr. Wright 
 and Mr. Van Buren in opinion. The hunkers had al- 
 ready intrenched themselves pretty strongly at Wash- 
 ington. Gov. Marcy was at the head of one of the 
 executive departments. Judge Nelson was on the bench 
 of the Supreme Court of the United States, and Mr. 
 Dickinson, a zealous, active, and indefatigable politician, 
 was in the United States senate. Gen. Dix, however, 
 was at Washington, and his influence, from his address 
 and weight of character, it was believed, would be con- 
 siderably felt. The hunkers were also well aware of the 
 high standing of Gov. Wright in the nation, and the pro- 
 found respect for his opinions entertained by several of the 
 men in power at the national capitol. The leading hun- 
 kers must also have recollected the pledges which were 
 made at the Baltimore Convention, by some of the most 
 powerful friends of Mr. Polk. They therefore, in order 
 to intrench themselves still stronger at Washington, 
 wished to make up an issue with the radicals on the 
 question of the annexation of Texas, — a question which 
 they well knew Mr. Polk, and the whole South, viewed 
 with extreme sensibility. 
 
 The resolutions of Mr. Jones and Mr. Porter were 
 referred to the committee of the whole, and when they 
 came up for discussion. Col. Young made a very able 
 speech in opposition to the first resolution ofliered by 
 
592 POLITICAL rilSTORY OF NEW YORK. [l84G. 
 
 Mr. Jones. On the 28th of January, the discussion was 
 renewed, and Mr. Jones made a speech in support of his 
 resolutions, in which he divided the opposers of the ad- 
 mission of Texas into five classes. " First," said he, 
 " the English nation ; second, the French nation ; third, 
 the abolitionists ; fourth, the greater portion of the whig 
 party ; fifth, a small portion of the democratic party. 
 With regard to the four first divisions; I do not design 
 to comment at all, or to make any remarks, except in 
 the way of reference. It is in regard to the last divi- 
 sion, a portion of the democracy, that I design to com- 
 ment. And firstly, I propose to divide this last division 
 still farther, and more minutely. The portion of the 
 democratic party who have thrown obstacles in the way 
 of the (Consummation of this great measure, may be con- 
 sidered as divided into three subdivisions. The first 
 consists of those who have separated from the party on 
 this question, and organized a party distinct from the 
 democratic party. The second division is of those who 
 were originally opposed to the annexation of Texas, but 
 have now mainly abandoned that opposition. The third 
 class are those who were originally opposed to the an- 
 nexation, still continue opposed, and exhibit a settled 
 dislike to hear any discussion or agitation of the ques- 
 tion. Among those who I suppose properly belong to 
 this last class, I beg leave to mention the gentleman who 
 now represents this, the Albany district, in the house of 
 representatives of the United States, the Hon. Bradford 
 R. Wood ; the gentleman who represents the Onondaga 
 district, the Hon. Mr. Wheaton ; and the gentleman 
 who represents the St. Lawrence district, the Hon. 
 Preston King." 
 
 A long and very desultory debate ensued, which con- 
 
1846.] PERSONAL ALTEUCATION3. 593 
 
 tiimed from time to time for weeks and months. A very 
 wide range was taken. Those who took part in the de- 
 bate, and most of the senators did, reviewed the conduct 
 of j;oliticaI men and parties for many preceding years. 
 A bitter personal altercation occurred between Mr. 
 John C. Wright and Gen. Clark on one side, and Col. 
 Young on the other. In these altercations, the merits 
 of the. question before the senate seemed to be wholly 
 overlooked, and personal crimination and recrimination 
 was pursued to an extent unprecedented in that body. 
 Who commenced these personal attacks, we are unable 
 to state, but in the progress of the debate Col. Young's 
 assailants reviewed his whole political life, and animad- 
 verted upon some parts of it with great severity. If 
 these gentlemen (Messrs. Wright and Clark) evinced 
 much talent, and they certainly did, especially Mr. 
 Wright, in this war with their formidable opponent, they 
 also exhibited much, indeed we may say extreme bitter- 
 ness. All the acerbity of Col. Young's temper was called 
 into action, and he was by no means behind his oppo- 
 nents in severe and bitter denunciations. It was no 
 trifling undertaking for a man who had acted a distin- 
 guished part, and been a warm partisan in New York 
 for nearly half a century, to give an account of every 
 public act of his whole life ; but so far as related to his 
 own course, as a public man, for nearly forty years, 
 he defended himself with great energy, and of course 
 with eminent ability. He also traced the history of 
 what he denominated the conservative party through 
 many previous years. He charged them with advoca- 
 ting profuse and unnecessary expenditures of public 
 money for the benefit of individuals, of being the friends 
 3f monopoly, and the cause of much corrupt legislation 
 
 50* 
 
594 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 
 
 in relation to moneyed institutions. He claimed that 
 his opponents were the legitimate representatives of that 
 party, and denounced them with peculiar and indignant 
 severity, which can better be conceived by those who 
 are acquainted with him than described. 
 
 Mr. Spencer made almost the only speech on the mer- 
 its of the question involved in the resolution. He ar- 
 gued that the annexation of Texas, by joint resolution, 
 was a flagrant violation of the constitution, and that its 
 real object was the extension and perpetuation of slave- 
 ry, and the internal slave-trade. " The resolution," he 
 said, " spoke of annexation as the great measure of the 
 age. It was indeed the great measure of the age ; for 
 with a longer stride and a more iron tread than any 
 measure of this or any other age, it had broke through 
 every constitutional barrier, and under circumstances still 
 more extraordinary had triumphed. He regarded it as 
 scarcely less extraordinary and unwarranted than would 
 be a proposition to annex England, France, Scotland, 
 Germany, or Russia, to the United States. But he 
 should view it solely with reference to the fact that with 
 Texas had come slavery, and a surrender of the power 
 of the North to the South. Why the North should have 
 been so much in love with the South as to consent to 
 this surrender, he was unable to say. Was it because 
 Georgia, in defiance of the laws of congress, had im- 
 prisoned the missionaries invited thither by the United 
 States, and promised security and protection ? Was it 
 because Georgia had set at naught the decision of the 
 United States courts, and refused to set the prisoners 
 free ? Was it because the executive of the Union omit-- 
 ted to enforce the mandate of the Supreme Court against 
 Georgia? Was it because South Carolina had expelled 
 
1846.] ALBANY ATLAS. 595 
 
 from her borders the agent sent by Massachusetts to test 
 the right of that state to imprison colored seamen from 
 the Nortli ? Was it because citizens of Ohio had been 
 seized by the authorities of Virginia, on the soil of Ohio, 
 on the charge of aiding in the escape of slaves? But 
 the deed was done, Texas was annexed, and its ' lone 
 star,' obscured by the black cloud of slavery, twinkled in 
 the constellation of American states. The power of the 
 North had been basely surrendered. The South now 
 controlled the legislation of this Union, and we of the 
 North must succumb to their will." 
 
 The senate continued from time to time to discuss in 
 committee these resolutions from the 6th of January to 
 the 30th of March, when, by a vote of twelve to nine, 
 that body refused to make them the special order for any 
 subsequent day, and they finally died in the hands of 
 the con)mittee of the whole. There can be no doubt 
 but that, including the whigs, there was a majority in 
 the senate opposed to the resolution which purported 
 to approve of the annexation of Texas. 
 
 The Albany Atlas, as we believe we have somewhere 
 before stated, was established as a commercial and city 
 paper by Messrs. Vance and Wendell, in the latter part 
 of the year 1840. In September, 1842, Mr. French re- 
 ceived ail assignment of Mr. Wendell's interest, and in 
 1848 Mr. Vance died. Mr. William Cassidy, who had 
 occasionally, before the death of Mr. Vance, written ed- 
 itorial articles for the paper, after his death became a 
 joint proprietor of the Atlas, and one of its editors. Mr. 
 French employed Mr. O'Riley, who had conducted a 
 democratic newspaper at Rochester, to act as co-editor 
 with Mr. Cassidy. In this way the editorial department 
 was conducted, with, as is generally believed, the occa- 
 
596 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 sional aid of Mr. Van Dyck, until August, 1846, when 
 Mr. Frencii transfen-ed his interest in the estabUshment 
 to Mr. Van Dyck, who has since been a co-editor of the 
 paper. From the time it passed into the hands of Messrs. 
 French and Cassidy, it was conducted with great spirit 
 and energy, and from the year 1843 down to the session 
 of 1846, and indeed to the present time, has been the 
 recognised organ of the radical party. 
 
 When, in 1843, the war between the Atlas and the 
 Argus was pubhcly declared, Mr. Weed, of the Journal, 
 after noticing it, good-humoredly remarked, that he did 
 not intend to take any part in the controversy, but he 
 could assure his neighbors of the Atlas they had engaged 
 in no sham fight ; that they must expect to receive as 
 well as give blows ; that he had been warring with the 
 editor of the Argus for more than sixteen years, and had 
 found him a very uncomfortable opponent.* 
 
 By the act " To provide tor the public printing," 
 passed in 1843, the state printer was to be chosen in 
 joint ballot by the two houses, in the same manner as the 
 other state officers were appointed, and hold his office 
 for the same term. Under this act, Mr. Croswell was 
 appointed in the early part of the year 1843, as has been 
 before stated. His term of office, therefore, expired in 
 January of this year. 
 
 We have before remarked that the radicals comprised 
 a large majority of the democratic members in this legis- 
 lature. The feeling which induced that party in 1843 
 to oppose the appointment of Mr. Croswell to the office 
 of state printer, had, from a variety of circumstances, be- 
 come more intense and inflamed. 
 
 * We quote from memory, not having the paper before us, and are sure 
 we do not do justice to the keenness and wit of Mr. W. 
 
1846.] STATE PRINTER. 597 
 
 At a caucus held soon after the organization of the 
 legislature by a majority of the democratic members, 
 Wiiliani Cassidy was nominated state printer. What 
 was to be done ? Mr. Croswell undoubtedly felt that 
 much of his political standing in the state and nation de- 
 pended on defeating the appointment of Mr. Cassidy ; 
 and how could that object be accomplished ? Mr. Cros- 
 well was a caucus man " of the most straitest sect." If 
 there was any thing sacred with him in party obligations, 
 to support caucus nominations was among those which 
 were deemed the most so. In this dilemma, never did he 
 afford higher evidence of skill and address than he ex- 
 hibited on this occasion, unless, perhaps, his successful 
 project of supporting " new men," at the last nomination 
 of state officers, may be considered as rivalling the inge- 
 nuity displayed by him in the controversy about the ap- 
 pointment of state printer. He did not seriously attempt 
 to prevent the nomination of Mr. Cassidy, but he and his 
 friends in the legislature concocted a scheme in effect 
 abolishing the office for which his opponent had been 
 designated in caucus. 
 
 The whigs were strengthened in the assembly and sen- 
 ate, and now, as in 1845, held the balance of power, 
 headed by that able manager, John Young, between the 
 hunkers and the radicals. It was therefore necessary to 
 devise some scheme which would command their sup- 
 port. We scarce need say that they did not desire to 
 see either Croswell or Cassidy state printer, and there- 
 fore were for abolishing the office. 
 
 On the 15th of January, Mr. Porter brought into the 
 senate a bill respecting the public printing. It consisted 
 of two sections only, the first of which repealed the third 
 section of the act of 1843, which provided that each house 
 
598 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YOIiK. [1846. 
 
 should elect its own printer, to print and publish its jour- 
 nals and legislative documents ; and the second section 
 directed that that part of the public printing should be 
 done by such persons as would agree to do it at the low- 
 est price. By this bill the residue of the act of 1843 was 
 left in full force. 
 
 On the same day, and immediately after Mr. Porter's 
 bill was announced and read, Mr. J. C. Wright offered 
 an amendment to it, or rather a substitute for it. Mr. 
 Wright's bill provided that the legislative printing should 
 be done by contract, substantially in the manner pro- 
 posed by Mr. Porter, but that " the office" of state printer 
 should be abolished, and that all notices then required by 
 law to be published in the state paper, should be publish- 
 ed in a newspaper printed in the city of Albany. The 
 substitute left the name of the paper, in which those 
 notices were to be published, blank. A heated and an- 
 gry debate, or rather altercation, immediately followed, 
 conducted chiefly by Messrs. Porter and Young on one 
 side, and Messrs. Wright, Clark, and Jones on the other. 
 The committee of the whole, however, which had the 
 subject under consideration, rose without at that time 
 arriving at any decision. 
 
 On the 20th of January, Mr. Sands offered a concur- 
 rent resolution in the assembly, that the two houses on 
 the next day proceed to elect a state printer. This res- 
 olution was laid on the table by the votes of all the 
 whigs and a few of the democrats, among whom were 
 Messrs. Dean, Sherwood, Stevenson, Watson, and Wells. 
 There were 63 votes in the affirmative and 57 in the 
 negative. 
 
 The bill in the senate was, after considerable angry 
 discussion in committee of the whole, amended so that 
 
1846.] STATE PRINTING BILL. 599 
 
 the state officers should at the time and in the same 
 manner as in that act was provided, issue proposals and 
 receive sealed bids for the printing and publishing, once 
 ill each week, in a newspaper printed in Albany, of all 
 notices then required by law to be published in the state 
 paper, at so much for each and every folio contained in 
 any notice ; and that the state officers should award the 
 printing of these notices to the lowest bidder. The bill 
 repealed the act of 1843, and abolished the office of state 
 printer. 
 
 The bill in this form was warmly and ably advocated 
 by Mr. Croswell in the Argus as a great measure of re- 
 form. Indeed, upon general principles it was difficult to 
 produce even a plausible objection against it, as it con- 
 tained provisions that the most ample security should be 
 given by the contractors for the faithful performance of 
 their duty. It is true there were many party considera- 
 tions which might have been urged against its adoption, 
 but these considerations all know are better felt and sug- 
 gested in secret conclave, than publicly avowed in the 
 deliberations and discussions of grave legislative bodies. 
 
 When the committee of the whole rose and reported 
 the bill, various attempts were made to amend it, but 
 were effectually rq^isted by the combined vote of the 
 whigs and hunkers. On its final passage there were 20 
 votes in favor of it, and 11 against it, — all the radicals 
 voting in the negative, except Mr. Lester, who voted in 
 the affirmative. 
 
 During the time this matter was being discussed in 
 the senate, Mr. Sands made several ineffectual attempts 
 t'> induce the assembly to consider the resolution he had 
 offered for the election of state printer. This delay was 
 undoubtedly caused by a desire of the majority that the 
 
600 POUTICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 senate should act definitively on Mr. Wright's bill before 
 the resolution should be sent to that house. A tew min- 
 utes after the final passage of the bill in the senate, the 
 resolution of Mr. Sands was taken from the table, adopt- 
 ed by a large majority, and sent to the senate probably 
 before the senate's bill was delivered to the assembly. 
 Mr. Clark, when the resolution of the assembly was an- 
 nounced, moved that its consideration be postponed until 
 the first Tuesday of June. The adoption of Mr. Clark's 
 motion was fiercely opposed, but it finally passed by a 
 vote of 17 to 11. 
 
 When the printing bill came into the assembly it en- 
 countered a furious opposition. The discussions on the 
 subject were long continued and extremely bitter. Many 
 speeches were delivered, and much, quite too much, ac- 
 rimony was evinced. During all this war of words the 
 whigs preserved a most respectful silence ; but when any 
 question was taken, every man of them voted against 
 all proposed alterations of the bill as it came from the sen- 
 ate, and on the final passage, all voted in the affirmative. 
 On that occasion there were 66 ayes and 53 noes. The 
 bill became a law by the approval of Gov. Wright. 
 
 Mr. Croswell, one would suppose, under the influence 
 of an inflexible and stern resolution, jhat no man should 
 profit by opposing him, in connection with his worthy 
 and excellent partner and relative, Mr. Sherman Cros- 
 well, delivered proposals to the comptroller to print the 
 notices, of which we have spoken, free of charge, and to 
 this day they are printing and publishing in the Albany 
 Argus those notices, (and there are many of them,) with- 
 out being paid a single cent for their materials, labor, or 
 trouble. 
 
 A law was passed abolishing distress for rent, and fa- 
 
184(5.] ELECTION OF SPEAKER PRO TEM. GOl 
 
 cilitating the remedy by re-entry on lands for enforcing 
 the payment of rent. This act was intended as a con- 
 cihatory measure towards the anti-renters, but indeed is 
 right in itself There can be no reason why a debt for 
 rent should be held more sacred than any other debt, or 
 why a creditor for rent should have a more speedy and 
 better remedy for the collection of his debt than the man 
 who loans money to his neighbor ; but whether, where in 
 leases executed before the passing of the act, it is ex- 
 pressly covenanted that the landlord may enter and dis- 
 train for rent in arrear, this law is not void by the con- 
 stitution of the United States, may well be questioned. 
 
 On the 7th of March the speaker. Col. Grain, having 
 occasion to be absent a few days, the appointment of a 
 speaker pro tern, became necessary ; and Mr. Bailey, the 
 chairman of the committee of ways and means, was 
 nominated in the house by Mr. Coe, a prominent whig 
 member, to fill that station. None of Mr. Bailey's friends 
 anticipated opposition to the motion, but Mr. Stevenson, 
 n hunker member from the city of New York, rose and 
 moved that the choice of a speaker pro tern, should be 
 made by ballot, and his motion was adopted. The house 
 then immediately proceeded to a ballot ; and the result 
 was, — Mr. A. G. Chatfield received 50 votes, Mr. Bailey 
 45, and Mr. Worden 3. This incident is so trifling that 
 it would not deserve to be mentioned, did it not show the 
 extreme bitterness which prevailed between the hunkers 
 and radicals. Having mentioned it, however, we feel 
 bound to add that the position occupied by Mr. Steven- 
 son in relation to this transaction cannot be regarded as 
 at all enviable. If he really believed he had good reasons 
 to oppose the appointment of Mr. Bailey, he should have 
 stated them openly, and suffered the question to be taken 
 
 51 
 
602 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846 
 
 on the resolution in an open, manly manner, by ayes and 
 noes. The resort to a secret ballot was a kind of assas- 
 sin-like policy instead of honorable warfare. 
 
 In the senate, on the 7th of April, an attempt was made 
 to elect a president pro tem. Mr. Lott, who was in his 
 last year of service, was proposed by his friends. The 
 choice was to be made by open nomination. The result 
 was 14 for Mr. Lott and 12 for Col. Young, and 2 scat- 
 tering votes. Of course no person was appointed. In 
 this case all the radicals voted against Mr. Lott. There 
 could be no personal objections against Mr. Lott, who 
 was distinguished for his courtesy towards his political 
 opponents, and was, as we have reason to believe, high- 
 ly esteemed by all his fellow-members. In this case, 
 however, the opposition was not concealed, but open. 
 Some time afterwards Col. Young was chosen president 
 pro tem., and upon taking the chair, assured the senate 
 that he had no agency in becoming the opposing candi- 
 date to Mr. Lott. 
 
 Thomas Farrington, the former treasurer, was during 
 this session again chosen to that office. When elected, 
 he was adjutant-general of the state ; upon his being 
 elected treasurer, he resigned the office of adjutant- 
 general, and the governor appointed Robert E. Temple 
 to fill the office thus vacated. 
 
 This was an excellent appointment. Col. Temple was 
 a well-educated, enterprising, chivalrous young man, who 
 had received a military education, and was universally 
 popular. At this moment he commands a regiment, and 
 is in the service of his country in some of the Mexican 
 territories. 
 
 The term of Judge Parmelee as recorder of Albany, 
 who was appointed by Gov. Seward, and was deserved- 
 
1846.] AHPOINTMENTd BY TIIK GOVERNOR. 603 
 
 ly one of his favorites, had expired, and thereupon the 
 governor and senate appointed Col. James M'Kown his 
 successor. Of Col. M'Kown we have spoken in a pre- 
 ceding volume.* The Argus speaks in. the following 
 well-merited complimentary terms of the appointment 
 of Mr. M'Kown, and also of his predecessor : 
 
 " Yesterday, the senate confirmed the nomination of 
 Col. M'Kown to the ofBce of recorder of this city. Col. 
 M'Kown is thus restored to an office, the duties of which, 
 for many years, he discharged with the clearest ability, 
 and with conceded impartiality and integrity. The se- 
 lection may be said to meet with universal approval. It 
 is simple justice to say of the retiring magistrate, Mr. 
 Recorder Parmelee, that he goes out with a high repu- 
 tation for talents and official fidelity." 
 
 The office of circuit judge of the sixth circuit had be- 
 come vacant by the resignation of Judge Monell, who 
 was appointed to succeed Judge Sutherland as clerk of 
 the Supreme Court at Geneva. The governor appointed 
 Hiram Gray, of Elmira, the successor of Judge Monell. 
 Although from his excellent social qualities, integrity, 
 and impartiality, the people of the district regretted the 
 retirement of Judge M.mell, the appointment of Judge 
 Gray was deservedly popular. He had been a member 
 of congress from the district in which he resided, and 
 sustained himself creditably in that** station, and was a 
 man of remarkable urbanity in his social intercourse, and 
 a sound and able lawyer. 
 
 The governor and senate during this session made 
 another excellent judicial appointment, which was that of 
 Lewis H. Sanford as vice-chancellor in the city of New 
 
 « 1 Political History, p. 523. 
 
601 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 
 
 York. He is a very learned man and an able judge. His 
 appointment was hailed as a most fortunate and judi- 
 cious one, not only by the bar of New York, but by the 
 legal profession throughout the state. 
 
 Although Mr. Wright was complained of by the hun- 
 kers for leaning too much towards the radicals in the 
 distribution of the state patronage, the highly important 
 appointments just mentioned were certainly very judi- 
 cious and beneficial to the community. 
 
 In concluding this chapter, it is with painful sensations 
 we record the death of an old and valuable state officer. 
 We allude to Jonas Earl, of Onondaga county, who for 
 many years was a canal commissioner, and who had, we 
 believe, been twice elected senator of this state. He 
 died at Syracuse in October. A meeting of the bar of 
 Syracuse was held on the occasion : Judge Pratt presi- 
 ded, and among other resolutions introduced by Mr. H. 
 Baldwin, and adopted by the meeting, was the following : 
 
 " Resolved, That in the retrospect of the well-spent 
 life of our friend, while we mourn his loss, we find much 
 to assuage our sorrow and console our grief in his un- 
 blemished and spotless life — in the purity of his character 
 as a citizen and as a man — in the scrupulous fidelity with 
 which he discharged all the high and multiplied public 
 trusts which, for a period of more than thirty consecutive 
 years, were by his confiding fellow-citizens committed to 
 his hands — in his safe and prudent counsel as a member 
 of the legal profession, which he adorned — and in his 
 devout and consistent bearing as a professed and humble 
 follower of our blessed Lord and Saviour." 
 
 We are sure all who knew Mr. Earl will admit that 
 this eulogy was well merited. 
 
1846.] MEMBERS OF THE CONVENTION. 605 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 CONVENTION. 
 
 Place of birth of the Delegate* — John Tracy elected President — A Com- 
 mittee of seventeen appointed to report on subjects to be considered by 
 the Convention — Their Report — Debate on restricting the eligibility of 
 citizens for the office of Governor — On the Executive Veto — On the 
 Legislative Department — Report of the Judiciary Committee — Of the 
 persons who composed that committee — Proceedings on Mr. Chattield's 
 Report (No. 6) on the State Otlicers — On Gen. Tallmadge's Report, 
 from No. 11, on Rights and Priviiegej" — Proceedings in Committee of 
 the Whole on the Report from the Judiciary Committee — Mr. Hoff- 
 man's Report on Canals, the Public Revenue, &c., from No. .3 — Pro- 
 ceedings in Commillee of the Whole on Mr. Hoffman's Report — Mr. 
 Cambreling's Speech on Currency and Banking — Debate on the ques- 
 tion of extending to colored freemen an equal Right of Suffrage — Mr. 
 Clyde's Resolutions in relation to the Tenure of Real Estate — Final ad- 
 journment of the Convention — Concluding Remarks. 
 
 The election of delegates to the constitutional conven- 
 tion in 1846, in most, it' not all the counties in the state, 
 was made a party question, and the democratic j)arty 
 succeeded in electing a majority of them. Messrs. Har- 
 ris, Shaver, Stanton, and Willard, from Albany county, 
 Jordan (though then residing in New York) and Clyde, 
 from Columbia county, Waterbury and Burr, from Dela- 
 ware county, and Van Schoonhoven, Warren, and Wit- 
 beck, from Rensselaer county, were nominated and sup- 
 ported by the anti-renters, and were claimed by that 
 party as their representatives. Judge Nelson, from Ot- 
 sego county, and William Maxwell, from Chemung, 
 were democrats, but were elected in opposition to the 
 regularly-nominated democratic candidates in the coun- 
 
 45* 
 
GOG POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 
 
 ties they respectively represented. It ought, however, 
 to be stated, that both the democratic and whig parties 
 seemed to have been impressed with the importance of 
 selecting their ablest and best men to represent them in 
 this assembly. We shall not undertake to designate the 
 many distinguished individuals of which this body was 
 composed. To allude by name to individual members, 
 eminent for their talents and for their standing in society, 
 might be deemed invidious. It niust therefore suffice to 
 say, that if we pass in review the whole body, they con- 
 stituted an assemblage of men of great experience and 
 weight of character, and highly distinguished for their 
 talents, patriotism, and private and public virtues. 
 
 There was one, and but one, of the members of this 
 convention who was a member of the convention of 1821. 
 That member was Gen. James Tallmadge, from the 
 county of Dutchess. It will be recollected that each 
 county was entitled to the same ratio of representation 
 in the convention as under the then existing constitution 
 it had in the assembly. Of course the whole number of 
 delegates was 128. Of this number 43 were farmers, 
 45 lawyers, 8 physicians, 12 merchants, 6 mechanics, 2 
 surveyors, 1 banker, 1 furnace-man, 1 dealer in paints, 1 
 blacksmith, 1 printer, 1 engineer, 1 miller, 1 manufactu- 
 rer, 1 iron-master, 1 geologist, 1 teacher, and 1 author. 
 Three of the delegates were natives of Ireland, one of 
 Scotland, 12 of the state of Massachusetts, 13 of Connec- 
 ticut, G of i^ew Hampshire, 6 of Vermont, 3 .of Rhode 
 Island, 1 of Maine, 2 of Pennsylvania, 3 of New Jersey, 
 1 of North Carolina, 1 of Virginia, 1 of Maryland, and 
 the residue, being 75, were born in the state of New York. 
 
 The convention assembled on the 1st day of June, and 
 were called to order by Mr. Benton, the secretary of 
 
1S46.] ORGANIZATION OF THE CONVENTION. 607 
 
 State. On the roll being called, it appeared that all the 
 members elected were present except three : these 
 were Judge Nelson of Otsego, Mr. Porter of Saratoga, 
 and Mr. Young of Wyoming, all of whom in a day or 
 two after appeared and took their seats as delegates. 
 
 The democratic members had, previous to their meet- 
 ing, held a caucus, at which Mr. John Tracy, of Che- 
 nango, formerly lieutenant-governor, had, uith great 
 unanimity, been nominated as their candidate for presi- 
 dent, and upon balloting, after the house organized, it 
 appeared that 69 votes were cast for him for that office, 
 and he was thereupon declared duly elected. The whigs 
 voted, some for one and some for another candidate : the 
 highest vote given by them to any individual was 11, 
 which were cast for Mr. Worden, of Ontario. The 
 truth was, the whigs came to an understanding that they 
 would not act as a party in this convention. They 
 therefore wisely avoided any appearance of a party or- 
 ganization in choosing a president. This determination 
 was, as afterwards appeared, not only judicious, as a 
 measure of party policy, but the effect on the future ac- 
 tion of the convention was auspicious. Had the whigs 
 exhibited at the commencement of the session a party 
 organization, by making a useless fight about the selec- 
 tion of a presiding officer, it probably would have 
 aroused party prejudices and jealousies, which would 
 have been developed in the course of the subsequent 
 deliberations of the convention, and which could not 
 have failed to produce results injurious to the great 
 and permanent interests of community. Francis Star- 
 buck, of Jefferson county, and Henry W. Strong, of 
 Rensselaer county, late senator, were appointed secre- 
 taries. A few days afterwards, June 12, it was ascer- 
 
608 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 tairied that the services of an assistant-secretary were 
 required, and Fi-ancis Seger of Lewis county, who had 
 served several years as clerk of the assembly, and had 
 been a member of the state senate, was put in nomina- 
 tion. The election of Mr. Seger was not effected until 
 aft-er three ballotings. The whigs were desirous of elect- 
 ing Mr. P. B. Prindle, the present worthy clerk of the 
 assembly, and at the two first ballotings, he received 
 more votes than Mr. Seger. At the third and last bal- 
 loting Mr. S. obtained 55 and Mr. Prindle 53 votes. 
 Still there was no choice, because no person had a ma- 
 jority of all the votes, whereupon Mr. Worden, a friend 
 of Mr. Prindle, and a leading whig member, moved the 
 appointment of Mr. Seger, and the convention unani- 
 mously concurred in the motion. 
 
 After the organization of the convention, by the ap- 
 pointment of its officers, one of its first movements was 
 to adopt a resolution, on the motion of Mr. Jones, of New 
 York, to " appoint a committee of seventeen (two from 
 each senatorial district and one from the state at large) 
 to consider and report to the convention the best prac- 
 tical mode of proceeding to a revision of the constitu- 
 tion of the state." 
 
 Such committee was appointed, who soon after re- 
 ported fifteen resolutions, each embracing different and 
 important subjects to be considered in the revision, and 
 to be referred to separate committees. These resolu- 
 tions were referred to the committee of the whole, and 
 after being considered, the convention finally adopted 
 eighteen resolutions, and the president thereupon ap- 
 pointed the following gentlemen on the committees, to 
 consider and report on the subjects respectively re- 
 ferred : 
 
1846.] 
 
 APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEES. GOO 
 
 1. On the apportionment, elertiov, tenure of office, and compensation 
 of the le<ri»lntiire. — Messrs. W. Taylor, R. Campbell, Salisbury, White, 
 Burr, Santord, VV. B. VVncrht. 
 
 2. On the powers and duties of the legislature, except as to matters 
 otherwise referred. — Mes-srs. Stetson, Powers, Miller. St. John, Harrison, 
 J. J Taylor, McNitt. 
 
 3. Oil canals, internal improvements, public revenues and property, 
 publu: debt, and the powers and duties of the legislature in reference 
 thereto ; and the restrictions, if any, proper to he imposed upon the ac- 
 tion of the legislature in making donations from the public funds, and 
 in making loans of the moneys or credit of the state. — .Messrs. Iloffhian, 
 Tilden, (il<bhanl, Flnntf-r, \V. H. Spencer, Greene, Richmond. 
 
 4. On the elective franchise — the qualifications to vote and hold office. 
 — Messrs. Bouck, Gardiner, Kennedy, Dodd, Dorlou, Wood, E. Hunt- 
 
 ID^tOU. 
 
 5 On the election, tenure of office, compensation, poicers, and duties 
 {except the power to appoint or nominate to office) of the governor and 
 heuleitant-goci-rnor. — .Messrs. iMorris, I'orlcr, Hyde, Kingsley, Pennimau, 
 Clark, Waterbury. 
 
 6. On the election or appointtnent of all offrcrs, other than legislative 
 and judicial, and the governor and lieutenant-governor, whose duties 
 and powers are not local, and their powers, duties, and compensation. 
 — Messrs. Chatfield, Perkins, Kemble, Strong, Nicholas, Danfortb, 
 Shaver. 
 
 7. On the appointment or election of all officers whose powers and du- 
 ties are local, and their tenure of office, powers, duties, and compensa- 
 tion. — Messrs. .\ngel, Jones, Archer, Dubois, Maxwell, Hawley, Shaw. 
 
 8. On the militia and military officers. — Messrs. Ward, Chamberlain, 
 McNiel, Bruce, Stanton, Kernan, A. VVrijrht. 
 
 9. On official oaths and affirmations ; and the competency of witnesses, 
 and o'lths and affirmitions in legal and equity proceedings. — Messrs. 
 Rhoades, Baker, Forsyth, Cornell, Brundage, Brayton, Hotchkiss. 
 
 10. On the judiciary, and the appointment or election of judicial offi- 
 cers, and their tenure of office and compensation. — Messrs. Rngglee, 
 O'Conor, Kirkland, Brown, Jordan, Looinis, Worden, Simmons, Bascom, 
 Hart, Stephens, Patterson, Sears. 
 
 11. On the rights and privileges of the citizens of this state. — Messrs. 
 Tyllniadga, Ayrault, Swackhamer, Parish, D. D. Campbell, Witbeck, 
 Yauger. 
 
 12. On education, common schools, and the appropriate funds. — 
 Messrs. Nicoll, Munro, Bowdish, A. W. Young, Tathill, Willard, Hunt. 
 
 13. On future amendments and revisions of the constitution. — Mestira 
 Marvin, Riker, Vache, Cook, Nellis, Graham, J. Young. 
 
 14. On the organization and powers of cities and incorporated vil- 
 lages, and especially their power of taxation, assessment, borrowing 
 
PIO POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1816. 
 
 money, contracting debts, and loaning their credit. — Messrs. Murphy, 
 Allen, Stow, Mann, Crooker, Van Schoonhoven, Sheldon. 
 
 15. On the power of counties, towna, and other municipal corpora- 
 tions, except cities and incorporated villages, and especially their pow- 
 er of local legislation, taxation, assessment, borrowing money, and con- 
 tracting debts.— "Messrs. Brown, R. Canipbeii, F. F. Backus, Smith, Tafft, 
 Flanders, Candee. 
 
 16. On the currency and banking.— Messrs Cambreling, Russell, Dor- 
 Ion, Townsend, E. Spencer, Cuddeback, Taggart. 
 
 17. On incorporations other than banking or municipal.— Mesxs. 
 Loomis, Shepard, Bergen, Dana, Conelly, H. Backus, Warren. 
 
 18. On the creation and division of estates in lands. — Messrs. Nelson, 
 Harris, Flanders, Bull, A. Huntington, Hutchinson, Clyde. 
 
 Of the subjects thus referred, it will readily be per- 
 ceived that the third, in relation to canals, internal im- 
 provements, pul)lic revenue and public debt ; the sixth, 
 on the election and appointment of officers; the tenth, 
 on the judiciary ; and the sixteenth, on the currency and 
 banking, were the most important, and had most en- 
 gaged the public attention. 
 
 Various other important matters were, on the motion 
 of individual members, referred to the standing com- 
 mittees, according as the matter referred appeared to be 
 analogous to the legitimate duties of the respective com- 
 mittees. Thus, Mr. Kirkland,* of Oneida, on the 11th 
 of June proposed the following resolutions : 
 
 * Mr. Kirkland is a lawyer of high standing and character in the city 
 of Utica. Owing, partly to a division in the democratic party in the 
 county of Oneida, but it is presumed chiefly to the personal regard felt 
 for his talents, and confidence in his discretion and integrity, he obtamed 
 his election, although at that time the democratic majority in Oneida must 
 have been more than one thousand. The great personal popularity of 
 Mr. Henry Brayton, who was also a successful candidate on the same 
 ticket with Mr. K., probably contributed to produce the result. 
 
 I take the present occasion to supply an omission in the second volume • 
 of my Political History. At page 511 of that volume it is stated, that at 
 a whig caucus in the winter of 18.39, held for the purpose of nominating 
 an attorney-general, J. A. Spencer, S. Stevens, and Willis Hall were can- 
 
1846.] aiTALlFICATIONS OF THE GOVERNOR. Gil 
 
 " Resolved, That the judiciary committee be instructed to 
 report an amendment to the constitution depriving judicial 
 officers of all power of appointment to office. 
 
 "Resolved, That the judiciary committee be instructed to 
 report an amendment to the constitution prohibiting all judi- 
 cial officers, except justices of the peace, from receiving any 
 fees or perquisites for official services. 
 
 " Resolved, That the judiciary committee be instructed to 
 report an amendment to the constitution abohshing the Court 
 for the Correction of Errors, as now organized." 
 
 Mr. Rhoades, the late senator from Onondaga, offered 
 the following resolution, which was adopted : 
 
 " Resolved, That it be referred to the committee on the 
 powers and duties of the legislature to inquire into the expe- 
 diency of so amending the constitution as to require the pas- 
 sage of laws prohibiting any officer connected with the ad- 
 ministration of justice in this state from aiding in the arrest or 
 detention of any person claimed as a fugitive from slavery or 
 involuntiiry servitude." 
 
 And Mr. Stephen Allen, from New York, brought for- 
 ward a proposition to abolish that part of the constitu- 
 tion of 1821, which requires in any case the votes of 
 two-thirds of the legislature in order to pass a law, ex- 
 cept such bills as might be vetoed by the governor. 
 
 The first serious discussion which took place in the 
 convention on the subject of alterations in the constitu- 
 tion, was that on the report of Mr. Morris on the exec- 
 utive department. 
 
 The constitution of 1821 provided that the governor 
 should be a native citizen of the United States, a free- 
 
 didates, and that each received a respectable support. I ought to have 
 
 stated that Mr. Kirklaud was also made a candidate by his friends for 
 
 that important office, and that a respectable portion of the whig party 
 
 were anxiously desirous for his appointment. 
 
 J. D. H. 
 
612 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 holder, thirty years old, and should have been five years 
 a resident of the state. The report proposed no altera- 
 tions in relation to the qualifications of the governor, 
 except that it expunged that part of the old constitution 
 which required that he should be a freeholder. The first 
 alteration of the report was proposed by Mr. Murphy, 
 vv^ho moved to strike out the word " native.''' This mo- 
 tion brought up the question whether an adopted citizen 
 should be eligible to the office of governor. The amend- 
 ment was supported by Mr. Patterson, an able whig 
 member from Chautauque, and the same gentleman who 
 was speaker of the assembly in the year 1839-40.* 
 Other members took the same side of the question, and' 
 although Mr. Murphy's amendment encountered some 
 opposition, it was adopted by a large majority. Mr. 
 Patterson then moved to strike out that part of the sec- 
 tion which required that the governor should be thirty 
 years old ; and finally, Mr. Russell, of St. Lawrence, 
 moved to strike out the whole section, and insert in lieu 
 of it the following : 
 
 " Any citizen of the United States qualified to vote at the 
 general election at which he may be elected, shall be eligible 
 to the office of governor." 
 
 This amendment, if adopted, it will be perceived, 
 would abolish all restrictions except that of being a 
 qualified voter. This called out a protracted and able 
 debate, in which nearly all the floor members took part. 
 In support of the proposition it was, among other things, 
 urged, that the electors themselves were competent to 
 judge of the qualifications of the candidate for gov- 
 ernor, and that the whole matter should and ought to 
 
 » 2 Political History, pp. 504-519. 
 
1846.] SPEECH OF MR. PORTER. 613 
 
 be left to their sovereign will and pleasure. That al- 
 though it might be, and undoubtedly was, necessary to 
 restrict the power, and place guards around the legisla- 
 tive, judicial, and executive departments of the govern- 
 ment, composed of persons who were the mere agents 
 of the people, and therefore liable, from incapacity, or 
 from sinister or corrupt motives, to abuse the trust re- 
 posed in then), there could be no possible danger that 
 the majority of the people at the polls of the election 
 would prostitute the elective franchise by a sacrifice of 
 their own rights or interests, or put either in jeopardy. 
 Or if they did err, they alone were competent to, and 
 ultimately would, correct the error. On the other hand, 
 it was contended that the very object and intent of a 
 written constitution was to adopt certain great and lead- 
 ing principles which should never be violated, and to fix 
 certain limits over which the people themselves, in a 
 moment of haste, of want of correct information, or of 
 excited passion, could not pass. 
 
 This debate put in requisition all the speaking talent 
 of the convention, and much ability was displayed du- 
 ring its progress. For Mr. Russell's amendment, O'Con- 
 or, Wordeii, Brown, of Orange, and Chatfield, deliver- 
 ed uncommonly able arguments ; and against it, Sim- 
 mons, Tallmadge, Jordan, and several others, distin- 
 guished themselves. One of the ablest arguments in 
 support of the section, as reported by the committee, 
 was made by Mr. Porter, of Saratoga, who was himself 
 a member of the select committee. Mr. Porter is a 
 young man, and we believe never was before a member 
 of any legally constituted deliberative body. 
 
 Mr. Porter y)ointed out the distinction between per- 
 sonal rights and eligibility to office. Even tlie right to- 
 
 52 
 
614 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l840. 
 
 be an elector was a conventional right, fixed and settled 
 by a compact of the people when they formed their fun- 
 damental or organic laws. Had not the young man, 
 aged twenty years and six months, as much natural 
 right to have a voice in the choice of his rulers, as the 
 young man of twenty-one years of age ? Why had not 
 females, especially those who hold property, a natural 
 riffht to vote at the elections ? Our constitution, ever 
 since the organization of our civil government as a state, 
 had designated the description of persons who should 
 exercise the elective franchise. The convention not 
 only represented those who elected them, but a million 
 and a half of other people. " The right to be free," said 
 Mr. Porter, " was a natural right. It was the right of 
 every citizen to exercise his voice in the selection of his 
 rulers, but it was not his right to be selected as one of 
 the rulers. 
 
 " This question," said Mr. Porter, " was argued in a mas- 
 terly manner the other day by the gentleman from New York, 
 (Mr. 'Conor,) but he appealed to that distinguished man if 
 he had not adopted a fallacy that was subversive of the whole. 
 Says the gentleman, it is our right in convention to determine 
 who the people are, by fixing their qualifications ; and having 
 determined who they are, you have no power to restrict them. 
 But the electors are not the people ; they are only part of the 
 great whole. True, we were all of us elected to this body only 
 by the qualified voters, but we are the representatives of all. 
 Every man who voted for us was, in his turn, a representative 
 of the people. The honorable gentleman from Albany, (Mr. 
 Harris,) and the gentleman from Ontario, (Mr. Worden,) had 
 told them that the people in convention assembled have no 
 right to restrict any but delegated power. Why, the power of 
 the electors is a delegated power by necessity of the social 
 compact. This convention was elected by 450,000 men from 
 amongst millions. Of these 450,000 exercising their right, 
 
1846.] SPEECH OF mr. porter. 615 
 
 200,000 may be a plurality, and 200,000 then should possess 
 unlimited power, without restriction, and exercise absolute do- 
 minion over 2,500,000 citizens. They had a bill of rights, and 
 did that apply to the electors ? No ; every man, woman, and 
 child in your dominions is under the protection of that bill 
 of rights. They are the people, and we are their representa- 
 tives. Each voter who voted for each of us, represented him- 
 self and five unqualified citizens. Is this no delegated power ? 
 Why, we have a female population of 1,293,000 in the state 
 of New York — three times the whole electoral body ; and 
 their interest in this government is nearer and dearer than ours, 
 for we are clothed with a mighty power through the ballot- 
 box — we have strong arms to resist unto blood. But if the 
 laws prove dangerous to liberty, the female population is use- 
 less, powerless, defenceless. Again, there are more under 
 than over the age of 21, and they, too, have deeper interest 
 than we have in the constitution we are about to frame. They 
 are to answer us and the electors who send us here ; if we sow 
 the wind they are to reap the whirlwind. Now, we are con- 
 stitutionally legislating for advancing millions — we are legisla- 
 ting for generations yet to come. It was not a mere party 
 that nominated us. The voters elected us, but we represent 
 the whole people of the state of New York — each sex, age, 
 and condition, ay, and the succeeding millions whose constitu- 
 tional riohts we are now asserting, and around whom in ad- 
 vance we throw constitutional barriers for the security of then- 
 liberties. The magna charta that was extorted at Runnymede 
 by Norman barons, was not for themselves alone, but for 
 every citizen since born, and for every colony planted in the 
 wilderness by their descendants, where it has burst in its 
 growth through all colonial vassalage. Even our Declaration 
 of Independence contains those doctrines of human lights 
 which were first conceded, in the spirit of liberty, by marina 
 charta. When, therefore, we enter into an elementary discus- 
 sion, let us lay aside the spirit of the demagogue, and invoke 
 a better spirit of patriotism, manly independence, and devotion 
 to the great and permanent interest of the people." 
 
616 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 Mr. Porter concluded his long and able speech in 
 these words : 
 
 " Let those gentlemen who mounted the dappled hobby to 
 run the race of popularity, take care lest they receive a fall. 
 Let that man who is willing to overthrow the safeguards of 
 popular liberty, great or small, beware lest he receive the pop- 
 ular condemnation. That man, whoever he may be, will find 
 little favor with the electors of New York, when, in their name 
 or otherwise, he is willing to destroy one of the barriers against 
 partisan violence, to overthrow or strike down one of the safe- 
 guards of popular rights." 
 
 The debate on this single question occupied nearly 
 the whole of twelve days, and the amendment was final- 
 ly lost, and the section, as originally reported, retained, 
 after striking out the word " native," by a vote of 56 to 
 41. In convention, the report of the committee of the 
 whole on this section was sustained, 61 to 49. 
 
 The public felt very little interest in this question. 
 No one apprehended any serious danger if the restric- 
 tion on the eligibility to the gubernatorial office should 
 be entirely removed, because no person could seriously 
 apprehend that a man who was under thirty years old, 
 or who had not resided in the state for five years, would 
 in the course of centuries be presented as a candidate 
 for governor. The people, therefore, thought the re- 
 striction would in practice be found useless, though they 
 had no objection that it should be retained in the con- 
 stitution. But the friends of constitutional reform, when 
 they saw so much time spent in discussing a question 
 comparatively of so little importance, did apprehend, 
 with painful anxiety, that the time to which the session 
 of the convention would be necessarily limited, would 
 be consumed and wasted without the accomplishment of 
 the great objects which brought into existence the con- 
 
1846.] THE VETO POWER. 617 
 
 veution itself. Reflecting men, however, considered, 
 that when so many talented men, most of whom are 
 strangers to each other, meet together for the purpose 
 of deliberating and deciding upon the principles of gov- 
 ernment which ought to be adopted, a rage for speak- 
 ing, a sort of cacoethes loquendi, will prevail, and that 
 some measure must be taken to let off the superabun- 
 dant gas. This debate had that eff*ect. 
 
 The next subject of much importance which engaged 
 the attention of the convention was the consideration 
 of the 14th section, reported by the committee. That 
 section provided, that if the governor should not approve 
 of a bill passed by both houses of the legislature, he 
 should return the same with his objections ; and unless 
 upon reconsideration it should be passed by two-thirds of 
 the members present, it should not become a law. This 
 brought under the review of the convention the great 
 question of the propriety of vesting the executive with 
 what is called the veto power. The question was 
 brought before the house by the following amendment, 
 oflTered by Mr. Rhoades : 
 
 " Strike out all afier the word it, at the end of the finst sen- 
 tence, and insert as follows : — ' If, after such reconsideration, 
 a majority of all the members elected shall agree to pass the 
 bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other 
 house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if ap- 
 proved by a majority of all the members elected, it shall be- 
 come a law, notwithstanding the objections of the governor. 
 But in all such cases, the votes of both houses shall be determined 
 by yeas and nays, and the names of those voting for and against 
 the bill be entered on the journal of each house respectively.' " 
 
 This was supported by the mover, Patterson, Penni- 
 man, O'Conor, and several others. Among the menibers 
 who delivered speeches in favor of this amendment was 
 
 52* 
 
618 POLITICAL HISTORY OP NEW YORK. [l846. 
 
 W. B. Wright, of Sullivan county, now a justice of the 
 Supreme Court, who made an able, learned, and elabo- 
 rate argument on the question. It was resisted by W. 
 Taylor, Loomis, Brown, Stetson, and Stow, and others, 
 who sustained, with great ability, the propriety of vest- 
 ing in the governor the veto power. 
 
 In the committee of the whole the amendment of Mr. 
 Rhoades was adopted ; but when the report came into 
 the house, upon calling the ayes and noes, the two-third 
 clause was sustained by the strong vote of 61 to 86. 
 
 While the report of the committee on the executive 
 department was under consideration, Mr. Mann, from 
 New York, proposed a resolution that the vote of a ma- 
 jority of all the members elected should be necessary in 
 order to pass any bill into a law. This very judicious 
 resolution was adopted, and is now a part of the consti- 
 tution. 
 
 The article on the subject of the executive depart- 
 ment was finally completed by the convention on the 
 20th day of July. 
 
 On the next day the convention went into committee 
 of the whole, on the report of the committee (called No. 
 1) on the legislative department. The first question 
 considered was, Of what number should the senate con- 
 sist ? The select committee had reported in favor of 
 the number fixed in 1800, and retained in the constitu- 
 tion of 1821, which was 32. Mr. Worden proposed to 
 increase the number to 50. This proposition called out 
 an able and interesting debate ; but the convention, af- 
 ter rejecting propositions that the number of senators 
 should be 48, 42, 40, 39, and 36, adopted, by a decided 
 majority, the old number of 32. 
 
 The convention next had under consideration the 
 
1846.1 ELECTluN liV SINGLE DISTRICTS. 619 
 
 terra for which a senator should hold his office. Four, 
 three, and two years were proposed, but the period of 
 two years was preferred by the strong vote of 80 to 23. 
 After this matter was disposed of, the question whether 
 the senators should be elected from single districts, or 
 whether two or more senators should be chosen from 
 one district, was considered, which finally resolved it- 
 self into the question whether the state should be divi- 
 ded into 16 or 32 districts. Mr. Morris, of New York, 
 made a speech of considerable length and great pungen- 
 cy, in favor of electing both the members of the senate 
 and assembly from single districts, inasmuch as the sin- 
 gle district system brought the elector and candidate 
 nearer together, and in most cases would enable the 
 former to judge, from his own personal knowledge, of 
 the qualifications and merits of the latter. It would al- 
 so, he contended, prevent sinister combinations for the 
 nomination and election of a batch of candidates, to ac- 
 complish objects of which the real constituency were 
 entirely ignorant. Morris, as reported by Messrs. S. 
 Croswell and Sutton, said — 
 
 " He knew a young man being sent here from New York, 
 whom they supposed there, when they were voting for him, 
 that they were voting either for his uncle or his grandfather. 
 They never discovered their mistake until the delegation got 
 together, when they found they had elected a very clever boy 
 of 21, instead of a man of experience." 
 
 " Mr. Richmond : The mistake was not discovered until he 
 came here to be sworn. I was here then." 
 
 " Mr. Morris continued : ' When a number of members were 
 to be elected by the same constituency, these members must 
 of necessity almost be unknown to the constituency ; and they 
 were selected for the purpose of performing other services than 
 mere legislative duty. The time came round, for instance. 
 
620 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 when a flour inspector, or a beef inspector, or a tobacco in- 
 spector was to be appointed. One wanted a judge, another, 
 notary public, another, master in chancer}', another, commis- 
 sioner of deeds, and so on ; and they clubbed together, each 
 man picked out his own friend, and, by a combination for 
 office, and office alone, they packed your committees, control- 
 led your conventions, made your nominations, and elected your 
 delegates. It was this conduct which, so far as regarded New 
 York, made them cry aloud for a convention ; and when they 
 called, they called also for single districts, and they sent us all 
 here instructed.' " 
 
 The convention finally resolved, by a vote of 79 to 
 31, that the senators should be elected from single dis- 
 tricts. 
 
 The seventh section of the report of committee No. 1 
 was now taken up, which directed that the members of 
 the assembly should also be chosen by single districts. 
 This mode of electing the assembly was opposed by 
 Chatfield and others, but a very considerable majority 
 was found to be in favor it. 
 
 The section, as reported, directed that the legislature, 
 at their next annual session, should divide the state into 
 assembly districts. Cook, of Saratoga, proposed that 
 the districts in counties entitled to more than one mem- 
 ber, should be formed by the board of supervisors of the 
 respective counties. This alteration v/as opposed by 
 Swackhamer, Perkins, and Chatfield. Chatfield, in a 
 brief speech of some warmth, alluded to party interests 
 and party feeling. This was the first allusion to party 
 considerations which had been made from any quarter, 
 but the appeal was unsuccessful. Cook's amendment 
 was carried by a majority of more than two to one. 
 
 The tenth section of this article, which next came up 
 for consideration, was in these words : 
 
1846.] REPORT 0\ THE JUDICIARY. 621 
 
 "§ 10. Xo member of the legislature shall receive any civil 
 ;ipp()intment within this state, or to the senate of the United 
 States, from the governor, the governor and senate, or from 
 the legishiture, during the term for which he shall have been 
 elected." 
 
 On the motion of Mr. Simnnons, to strike out the >tords, 
 " or to the sennte of the United States," a very interest- 
 ing debate took place in relation to the power of the 
 state to qualify or restrict the choice of senators of the 
 United States, as being inconsistent with the constitu- 
 tion of the latter government, which elicited much pro- 
 found thinking and learning. Simmons, Stow, Marvin, 
 O'Conor, and Taggart, supported this amendment ; and 
 Stetson. Ruggles, Angel, Worden, and Jones, opposed 
 it, as did also Gen. Tallmadge. Judge Ruggles' speech 
 on this question is especially worthy of attention. The 
 amendment of Mr. Simmons was, however, rejected by 
 a large majority. 
 
 The report from the judiciary committee had been 
 looked for with deep anxiety by the public at large as 
 well as the convention. The inconveniences and de- 
 lays in the administration of justice under the system 
 adopted by the convention of 1821, had become nearly 
 intolerable. All felt the need, and indeed we mav say, 
 the absolute necessity of great and radical alterations 
 in the judicial department of the government, b«t as to 
 what those alterations should be, and what should be the 
 details of the new scheme, intelligent men differed wide- 
 ly. Almost every lawyer had formed his own plan of 
 judiciary reform, which in some of its features differed 
 from all others. Each of course had become attached 
 to his own peculiar system. Hence after repeated trials, 
 from year to year no one system could be devised which- 
 
622 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 could command even a constitutional majority of votes 
 in the house of assembly. These unsuccessful efforts, 
 and the desire of many to incorporate into the organic 
 law the substance of the financial system adopted by 
 the statute of 1842, were the principal causes which in- 
 duced the legislature and the people to create a conven- 
 tion with unrestricted powers. 
 
 The selection by the president of the members to 
 compose the judiciary committee, furnished a strong evi- 
 dence of his wisdom and discretion. It was impossible 
 to have chosen from that convention, or indeed any other 
 deliberative body, thirteen men more competent to ar- 
 rive at a result, beneficial and satisfactory to the public, 
 than those chosen by Mr. Tracy on this occasion. 
 O'Conor, Kirkland, Brown, Jordan, Worden, and Sim- 
 mons, were learned lawyers of great eminence ; Stet- 
 son had sustained a high reputation as a member of 
 congress ; Loomis was well known to the community 
 as an able legislator, and as a man well versed in 
 the theory of government, possessing a bold, enterpri- 
 sing, and acute mind ; Bascom, from Seneca, a man 
 of acknowledged talents, had been an early and able 
 advocate for radical judicial reform, by the publication 
 of a monthly periodical called " The Memorial," and 
 by oral lectures and addresses delivered by him in va- 
 rious places ; Patterson, in the course of this work, has 
 frequently been mentioned as a man of uncommon in- 
 tellectual power, and an able, clear-sighted, and patri- 
 otic legislator ; Mr. Hart, a merchant of Oswego, and 
 Mr. Sears, a farmer of Tompkins, were both of them re- 
 spectable in their respective avocations, and estimable 
 as citizens. The selection of the chairman was equally 
 judicious and fortunate. We do not mean to write a 
 
184C.] REPORT OF MR. RUGGLES. 623 
 
 eulogy on Judge Ruggles. To say that during his long 
 service in the judiciary department, he had afforded evi- 
 dence of rigid impartiality, strict integrity, and great 
 legal learning and talent, would be saying no more than 
 what is universally known and acknowledged. But Mr. 
 Ruggles possessed some other qualities, which fitted him 
 in a peculiar manner for the position the president had 
 assigned him. Few men ever lived who excelled him 
 in prudence and caution. We may add, too, that his 
 nice regard for the feelings of others, and his extreme 
 modesty, extinguished all envy and jealousy among his 
 fellow-members. 
 
 On the 1st day of August, Judge Ruggles, as chair- 
 man of the judiciary committee, made a report. Il will 
 be unnecessary to give the details of this important doc- 
 ument, because it was substantially adopted by the con- 
 vention, and now constitutes the sixth article of the 
 constitution of the state. 
 
 Mr. Ruggles, on making his report, delivered a speech 
 in which, without any attempt at display or ornament, 
 he pointed out with great perspicuity the defects of the 
 then existing judiciary establishn)ent, and the general 
 principles contained in his report, together with the 
 grounds on which it was hoped that the plan he pro- 
 posed, would, if approved by the convention and the 
 people, provide adequate means for removing those de- 
 fects. 
 
 One great question which had been agitated by law- 
 yers, and considered by the committee, was, whether 
 legal and equitable jurisdiction could, consistent with 
 the correct administration of justice, be conferred on the 
 same tribunal. On this subject Mr. Ruggles said — 
 
 " In regard to this uuiou of the two courts there haS been 
 
624 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 
 
 a difference of opinion among the members of the committee. 
 On the one hand it has been urged, with great force, that the 
 perfection of skill, in learning as in the arts, is best attained 
 by the division of labor ; and that in the vast held of juris- 
 prudence it would be better to class the laborers into separate 
 departments, so that the skill and learning of each might be 
 limited and directed to that one particular branch of duty 
 for which he might be most eminently qualified. On the other 
 hand, that system is supposed by some to be attended with 
 the inconvenience of having too many tribunals. By others 
 it is believed that by uniting the two tribunals in one, the 
 modes of procedure at law and in equity, which now differ 
 widely, may immediately by legal enactment, or more gradu- 
 ally by the action and practice of the court, be assimilated and 
 finally blended, thus obliterating and abolishing the distinction 
 between law and equity as heretofore recognised. Without 
 coming to this conclusion, several of the committee, who were 
 inclined to favor the continuance of separate courts, have re- 
 o-arded it as a question not of vital importance ; and they have 
 yielded their original preference for separate courts in favor of 
 what they deem the greater advantages of the plan reported. 
 The union of the two jurisdictions in the same court is not an 
 untried e.xpeiiment. It has the sanction of a number of the 
 states ; and, in part, of the judicial system of the United States. 
 One of its advantages, in connection with the plan of the com- 
 mittee, arises from the greater facility and convenience Avith 
 whicli the equity causes involving questions of fact, may be 
 tried before a jury at the circuit in the county where the par- 
 ties reside, and without the formality and expense of a separ- 
 ate court. One of the changes recommended by the committee, 
 a,nd which they all regard as highly important and useful, re- 
 lates to the taking of testimony in equity causes. Heretofore 
 it has been taken by deposition before an examiner in chance- 
 ry, and not in open court. The e.xaminer not being authorized 
 to reject any testimony which cither parly proposes to take, 
 the depositions are usually encumbered with a vast mass of 
 matter immaterial to the questions in controversy. A great 
 
1846.] SPEECH OF MR. RUGGLES. 625 
 
 proportion of the delay and expense of litigation in chancery 
 arises from this cause. The committee recommend a provi- 
 sion directing the evidence to be taken before the judge on 
 the trial, as in cases of common law. Although this is a matter 
 within the power of tlie legislature, it has long been the sub- 
 ject of complaint, and the evil has remained without correction. 
 The committee consider it so essential in the way of reform, 
 and so material in relation to the operation of the system re- 
 ported, that they deem it worthy of constitutional enactment. 
 The justices of the Supreme Court, as proposed by the com- 
 mittee, are to be charged with the entire judicial business — 
 legal and equitable, civil and criminal — which lias heretofore 
 been done by the Supreme Court, the Court of Chancery, and 
 the county courts. The weight and burden of tlie business is 
 considerably increased by the duty charged upon the judges 
 of taking the testimony in equity cases in open court at the 
 circuit. For these varied and extensive duties the number of 
 judges of the Supreme Court must be large. The committee 
 propose eight districts, and four judges in each district — thir- 
 ty-two in the whole — of which number, however, four are to 
 be judges of the Court of Appeals, leaving twenty-eight judges 
 for the actual business of the Supreme Court. These judges 
 are to hold as many general and special terms in each dis- 
 trict, and as many Circuit Courts and courts of Oyer and Ter- 
 miner in each county, as may be necessary. By the svstem 
 thus proposed, the committee have endeavored to provide a 
 remedy for the deficiencies of the present organization : — 
 
 " 1st. By adapting the number of active judicial officers to 
 the altered ciicumstances of the state, and to the quantity of 
 work to be done. 
 
 " 2d. By reducing the number of judges of the appellate 
 court for its greater convenience and efficiency in the dispatch 
 of business. 
 
 " 3d. By separating that court from its connection with the 
 legislative branch of the government. 
 
 " 4th. By tlie redaction of the number of appeals in civil 
 cases, consequent on the establishment of a single court. 
 
 53 
 
626 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846, 
 
 " 5th. By diminishing the delay and expense of litigation 
 in the Court of Chancery, in the mode of taking evidence, and 
 by providing a number of judges sufficient to dispatch the bu- 
 siness of that court. 
 
 "6th. By establishing a branch of the court in each of the 
 eight districts, so that the busiaes.s may be done where it arises, 
 without journeying to distant parts of the state for the hear- 
 iiiU' of causes. 
 
 " 7th. By abolishing the system of circuit judges, and re- 
 quiring their duty to be done by the judges of the Supreme 
 Court. 
 
 " 8th. By an inflexible rule that all judicial officers, above 
 the grade of justices of the peace, shall be compensated by 
 fixed salaries, and shall not receive fees or perquisites of office." 
 
 When Mr. Rurj-des concluded his remarks, Mr. 
 O'Conor produced a minority report, in which he offer- 
 ed a substitute for the article reported by the majority 
 of the- committee. Mr. O'C. objected to the plan pro- 
 posed by Mr. Ruggles — 
 
 1. Because in his opinion the judges of the Supreme 
 Court ought not to be elected by the people, but should 
 be appointed by the senate and assembly. 
 
 2. Because by the plan of Mr. Ruggles, it was pro- 
 posed to abolish the county courts. 
 
 3. Because he wished to preserve the unity of the 
 Supreme Court ; and the report of the majority of the 
 committee recommended the creation of eight separate 
 tribunals, each of which was to exercise the authority 
 and the functions of a Supreme Court. 
 
 These and other objections against the majority re- 
 port were urged by Mr. O'Conor with great skill and 
 ability. 
 
 The report and speech of Mr. O'Conor were followed 
 by the presentation by Mr. Kirkland of another minority 
 
1846.] REPORTS ON TIU: JUDICIARY. 627 
 
 report. His scheme, like the others, proposed to abolish 
 the existing Court for the Correction of Errors, and sub- 
 stitute a court of appeals, to consist of seven judges, 
 three of whonn should be elected by the people, and the 
 remaining four be appointed by the governor, with the 
 consent of the senate. 
 
 2. That the state should be divided into six districts, of 
 which the city of New York should be one ; that in each 
 district there should be a superior court, to consist, in 
 New York, of six judges, and in the other districts, of 
 four ; two of the judges in each district to be elected by 
 the people, and the remaining judges to be appointed by 
 the senate and assembly, by ballot. The judges to hold 
 their offices for ten vears. 
 
 3. Mr. Kirkland proposed to establish county courts 
 in each county, to be composed of a first judge, who 
 was to be ex officio surrogate, and an associate judge : 
 both to be elected by the qualified electors. In each of 
 the judicial districts he proposed there should be a cir- 
 cuit judge, (and in the city of New York four.) These 
 judges were to be judges of the county court, and should 
 singly hold courts for the trial of civil causes. In crim- 
 inal cases the two county judges were to be associated 
 with him. An appeal was to lie from the county court 
 to the superior court of the district. Mr. K. proposed 
 to confer on all these courts equitable as well as legal 
 powers. 
 
 Notwithstanding these projets were before the con- 
 vention, Mr. Bascom presented a fourth minority re- 
 port. He said, that "however much he regretted the 
 necessity of increasing the number of the reports from 
 the judiciary committee, he would detain the convention 
 with no other apology than to say, that a sense of duty 
 
628 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 impelled him to submit another minority report. He 
 objected particularly to that part of the report that 
 sought to perpetuate exclusive chancery jurisdiction 
 during the continuance of the constitution. Hereto- 
 fore this jurisdiction had been created and continued by 
 law, and would be by law limited or destroyed. He 
 objected, too, to the mode proposed for the appointment 
 of the judges. He objected also that the proposition of 
 the committee does not distribute the sessions of the 
 court sufficiently throughout the state, and that the plan 
 only provides for a session of the court in each of tlie 
 eight districts. He desired that bank sessions should be 
 held in all or nearly all the counties in the state. He 
 objected also to the power proposed to be given to the 
 legislature, not only to increase the judges of the pro- 
 posed courts, but to create and multiply inferior courts 
 without limitation !" 
 
 Mr. Bascom proposed — 
 
 1. That the court for the trial of impeachments should 
 consist of the senators and the judges of the Supreme 
 Court, or the major part of them, whose term of office 
 should be within two years, but not within one year of 
 its expiration. 
 
 "§ 3. All other judicial power shall be vested in justices' 
 courts, a supreme court, and in surrogates. 
 
 " § 4. Justices of the peace shall be chosen by the electors 
 in such districts, in such numbers and for such periods of 
 time, and their powers, jurisdiction, and duties shall be such 
 as are, or may be, prescribed by law. 
 
 "The supreme court shall have such powers and jurisdic- 
 tion as shall be prescribed by law. 
 
 " There shall be tliirty-two judges thereof, one of which 
 shall be elected b}^ the c;lectors of each of the senate districts, 
 at a special election, at which no other officer shall be chosen. 
 
1846.] REPORTS ON THE JUDICIARY. G29 
 
 "The said judges shall hold their office for four years, ex- 
 cept a j>art of those first to be chosen. Vacancies shall be 
 filled at special elections to be ordered by the governor, and 
 judges chosen to fill vacancies shall hold only for the unex- 
 pired term. 
 
 " § 6. Four of the senate districts shall compose a judicial 
 district, and the judges first to be chosen in a judicial district 
 shall, at a time and place to be designated by the governor, 
 meet and draw for terms, of one, two, three, and four years. 
 The term of the judges chosen in the different judicial dis- 
 tricts, shall commence in different months of the year. 
 
 " § 7. There shall be a circuit session by one of the judges 
 of the supreme court in each of the counties of the judicial 
 district, as often as the judges thereof shall deem proper, for 
 the trial by jury of all issues that may be joined in civil and 
 criminal causes, and for the rendering of final judgments in 
 criminal causes. For the trial and decision of criminal causes 
 there shall be associated with the judge, the surrogate and 
 one justice of the peace of the county, or, in the absence of 
 the surrogate, two justices of the peace. 
 
 " § 8. There shall be bank sessions of not less than three nor 
 more than four judges of the supreme court in the several 
 counties of the judicial districts, at such times and places as 
 to the judges thereof shall seem proper, to review the decis- 
 ions and proceedings of the circuit sessions, and to discharge 
 such other duties, in relation to the administration of justice 
 and the establishment of rights, as shall be prescribed by law. 
 
 " § 9. There shall be appeal sessions composed of the 
 judges whose term of office shall be within one year of its ter- 
 mination, in the several judicial distiicts of the state, at such 
 times and places as shall be appointed by the said judges, 
 unless said times and places shall be fixed by law, at whicJi 
 the decisions of the sessions in bank may be reviewed, and 
 such other judicial powers exercised as shall be prescribed by 
 law. 
 
 " § 10. Surrogates of counties shall be chosen by the electors 
 thereof, and shall hold their offices for four years. 
 
 53* 
 
630 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 " Their powers and jurisdiction over the estates of deceased 
 persons and other matters, shall be such as arc or may be 
 prescribed by law. 
 
 "The legislature may provide that issues joined in any 
 proceedings before surrogates may be tried at the circuit ses- 
 sions, and that any of the proceedings of surrogates may be 
 reviewed by the supreme court. 
 
 "§ 11. The clerks of the several counties of this state shall 
 be clerks of the supreme court, with such powers and duties 
 as shall be prescribed by law. 
 
 "§12. A clerk of the appeal sessions shall be appointed 
 by the judges thereof, who shall hold his office at the 
 pleasure of the said judges, and shall receive such compensa- 
 tion as shall be prescribed by law. 
 
 "§ 13. The judges of the supreme court shall receive no 
 fees or perquisites of office, other than a fixed salary ; and 
 any alteration thereof sliall only affect those to be theretifter 
 chosen ; but an allowance for travelling expenses, in addition 
 to a fixed salary, may be made to a judge required to dis- 
 charge judicial duties without his judicial district." 
 
 Mr. Simmons said he should not ojETer a minority re- 
 port, although there were some things in the report of 
 the majority to which he could not yield his assent. 
 He said he must however frankly •' confess that the 
 very beautiful speech of the chairman (Mr. Ruggles) 
 
 had made it appear better to him than it did last even- 
 
 - )) 
 mg. 
 
 The points on which Mr. vS. differed from the com- 
 mittee, were — 
 
 1. He was opposed to the election of judges by the 
 people, unless the term of holding office could be ex- 
 tended. 
 
 2. He was in favor.of 32 judges, but desired a differ- 
 ent organization of tlie Supreme Court. 
 
 3. He was opposed to blending law and equity, and 
 
1846.] MR. r.ROWN'ri OPINION. 631 
 
 vesting the powers of both in the same tribunal. " He 
 could not think it would be wise in us, in opposition to 
 the declared opinions of every judge he had read of — 
 from Lord Bacon down to Chancellor Kent and Judge 
 Story — to amalgamate these two jurisdictions. He 
 thought it hishlv dangerous to convert this standing ar- 
 mv of judges into so many chancellors, with all the ar- 
 bitrary po '. er of that court." 
 
 INIr. Loomis said he concurred cordially in the main 
 principles and leading features of the report, but he dis- 
 approved of the abolition of the county court ; and he 
 read three sections, which he said he should offer as an 
 amendment. The material parts of these sections were 
 ultimately adoi)ted by the convention, and are now a 
 part of the constitution. It is therefore unnecessary, at 
 this time, to state in detail those sections. 
 
 Mr. Brown did not coiicur with Mr. Loomis. He 
 thought the courts held by justices of the peace ought 
 to be preserved as they then existed, and that the courts 
 of common pleas ought to be abolished. The office of 
 surrogate, in his judgment, should be continued and 
 modified, so that the surrogate should have a fixed sala- 
 ry in lieu of perquisites, and that the proof of wills 
 should be transferred to the Supreme Court. The num- 
 ber of judges of the Supreme Court, including the judges 
 of the Court of Appeals, should be forty. 
 
 After making these suggestions, Mr. Brown sustained 
 the leading principles of the report in an able and elo- 
 quent speech. It ought to be mentioned that Mr. Brown 
 expressed a wish " that the terms of the Court of Ap- 
 peals and the terms of the Supreme Court, should be 
 justly distributed among the judicial districts by consti- 
 tutional provision." " It was far easier and more appro- 
 
632 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 
 
 priate," said Mr. Brown, " for the courts to follow the 
 people, than for the people to follow the courts." 
 
 Mr. Worden, some five or six days after this, presented 
 a fifth minority report. It contained eighteen sections, 
 the substance of which is stated in the following brief 
 but lucid speech delivered by Mr. Worden on that oc- 
 casion : 
 
 " Mr. Worden briefly explained the provisions of his plan. 
 He proposed to abolish the Court for the Correction of Errors, 
 and to substitute in its place a court, to consist of a chief-jus- 
 tice and nine associate justices ; abolish the Court of Chanceiy, 
 and to substitute a court of equity, under the control of the 
 legislature, to consist of not less than five judges. In regard 
 to the Supreme Court, he proposed to make it consist of no 
 less than nineteen judges, a chief-justice, and twelve associate 
 justices, who shall be divided into four classes of three each. 
 The tii-st class, in which shall be the chief -justice, making a 
 class of four judges, shall hold terms in bank for two years ; 
 the other nine justices to hold circuits and special terms for 
 the hearing of non-enumerated motions, giving to the legisla- 
 ture power to convene any other of the classes to hold tei-ms 
 in bank wherever the business shall recpiire it. He proposed 
 to divide the state into five judicial districts, of which the city 
 and county of New York shall be one, and to provide for the 
 holding of circuit courts in each of the districts, for the trial of 
 issues, to be held by one of the justices of the Supreme Court. 
 The Courts of Oyer and Terminer to be held as they now are. 
 Tlie judicial districts, except that consisting of the city and 
 county of New York, to be subdivided so as to make eight 
 districts, for each of which there shall be a presiding judge ; 
 and in each county two county judges to be elected, who, 
 with the president judge, shall constitute the Court of Coin- 
 mon Pleas. He proposed so to form the system that the 
 equity courts shall be remodelled, leaving, however, the diffi- 
 cult and delicate duty to ti^.e legislature to adopt the reforms 
 that may become expedient, lie projiosed to abolish masters 
 
1816.] SPEECH OF .MR. WORDEN. 633 
 
 and examiners in chancery, and to have all testimony taken 
 before one of the judges of the court of equity, or the presi- 
 dent judge of the common pleas, so that the vast expense of 
 taking testimony may be done away ; and leaving it to the 
 legislature to provide by law for the decision of cases in chan- 
 cery before a president judge of the common pleas, or any 
 judge of that court. He would have the courts in the 
 city of New York as they now i^re, leaving to the legislature 
 power over those courts. For the purpose of disposing of the 
 equity business of the city of New York, he proposed to leave 
 it as it is, with two officers, who shilj have the power which 
 he proposed to confer on the presiding judges of the common 
 pleas in the several districts. Such was briefly the plan he 
 submitted. In regard to the election of judges, there were 
 already two propositions before the convention, and he begged 
 leave to say a word : The judicial power of the state was, in 
 its nature and character, totallv different from the leofislative 
 and executive. Its variance was essential from both of those 
 departments. While both the legislature and the executive 
 should respond freely to the public will, the judiciary was an- 
 other branch of our government, by which individual rights 
 were to be determined and settled on fundamental principles 
 which cannot, or should not, change or alter, whether one 
 man stand in opposition to the people, or the people in oppo- 
 sition to one man. In that consists the dignity, efficiency, and 
 purity of the judiciary system. It must not, therefore, be 
 made to depend on the caprice or fluctuation of either public 
 or private opinion. He believed it was possible to frame a 
 system for an elective judiciary on a safer and better plan than 
 that reported by the majority of the committee, and hence he 
 had not agreed to that precisely. He had now only to say, 
 that the pole star to guide them was to have the judiciary in- 
 dependent, as far as possible, of the influence of any exciting 
 questions that might arise in the other departments of the 
 government, or amongst the people at large, so that individual 
 ;ind public rights may be settled on great and fundamental 
 principles." 
 
634 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 We have been the more particular in presenting to 
 the reader the several projects of the members of the 
 judiciary committee, because we think the community, 
 and indeed that posterity, ought to be acquainted with 
 the different opinions, formed after much reflection, of 
 these learned and enlightened men, on the best means 
 of securing a faithful, expeditious, and correct adminis- 
 tration of justice in a free and highly commercial com- 
 monwealth.* 
 
 Mr. Chatfield's report from No. 0, on the state offi- 
 cers, was then taken up by the convention, and it was 
 adopted in nearly all its material parts. The first sec- 
 tion of the article, as reported, fixed the salary of those 
 officers. A motion was made by Mr. Marvin to strike 
 out that part of the section which fixed the salaries. A 
 long debate ensued, but his motion finally succeeded, 
 73 to 33. 
 
 Mr. Talmadge's report from No. 11, on rights and 
 privileges, was, after the report from No. 6 was dis- 
 posed of, considered, and the main features of it adopt- 
 ed. While in committee of the whole on rights and 
 privileges, Mr. Danforth, of Jefferson county, offered as 
 an amendment, the section from the old constitution 
 
 * The time allowed to the author for digesting the proceedings of the 
 convention, as reported by Messrs. Croswell and Sutton, has been very 
 short ; and from the great variety of projects presented by the members 
 of the judiciary committee, and the number and length of the speeches 
 delivered, he has reason to be apprehensive that he may in some instances 
 have mistaken, and, of course, misrepresented their views. lie can only 
 eay, that if hereafter he shall be informed of any errors in his statements, 
 or if he si;all, upon a more critical examination, discover such errors, 
 they sliJill pror)iptly be corrected Tn do full justice to the tiierits of the 
 gentlemen who took part in this and other discussions, in this brief sketch 
 of the proceedings of the convention, is quite out of the question. 
 
 J. D H. 
 
1846.] JUDICIAL REFORM. 635 
 
 commonly known as Gov. Jay's section, which dechires 
 clergymen ineligible to any office. It will be observed 
 that the committee No. 1 1 had (as we think very prop- 
 erly) left this section out of their article. This amend- 
 ment was opposed by Patterson, Salsbury, Taggart, and 
 Young, and supported by Crooker and the mover. 
 The proposition met with very little favor from the con- 
 vention. 
 
 On the tenth day of August the convention went into 
 committee of the whole on the report of the judiciary 
 committee. 
 
 The majority report was assailed from various quar- 
 ters, and efforts were made to change its features by 
 amendments. 
 
 On the llth of August, Mr. Jordan made an able 
 argument in favor of the system proposed by the com- 
 mittee, as being on the whole most likely to receive the 
 approbation of a majority of the convention, though 
 the system did not in all respects meet his particular 
 views. lie however urged the necessity of yielding in- 
 dividual predilections as respected " minor points, for the 
 general good." 
 
 He was followed bv Mr. Kirkland, who commenced 
 by exhibiting in bold relief the evils of the then existing 
 system, and showing the absolute necessity of judicial 
 reform. He then, with great ingenuity and ability, at- 
 tempted to show the superiority of the plan he had sub- 
 mitted, over that proposed by the majority of the com- 
 mittee, and concluded a lengthy and highly interesting 
 argument in a liberal and conciliatory spirit, in these 
 words : " I will now, Mr. Chairman, close my remarks 
 by saying, that I have no piide of oy»inion as to the plan 
 I have presented. After mature reflection, I believe it 
 
636 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 
 
 one in whose practical workings entire confidence may 
 be placed. Whether rejected or adopted by the con- 
 vention, my duty is discharged by presenting it." 
 
 Various other speeches were made for and against 
 the majority report, and on the 18th of August Mr. 
 Simmons concluded a long and learned argument, which 
 had occupied several days, by proposing the following 
 amendment — 
 
 " Resolved, That the report of the judiciary committee be 
 so arranged that sixteen of the judges be arranged inio four 
 courts of general jui-isdiction, one of Avhich shall be a court of 
 equity ; each court to hold terms in bank, at least twice 
 yearly, in each of the four districts of the state, to be com- 
 posed of eight senatorial districts ; and the other sixteen 
 judges to compose four courts of local jurisdiction within a 
 judicial district, one of which shall be a court of equity, which 
 shall hold respectively a court two terms in bank yearly, in 
 each of the said districts, and at different times and places 
 fi-om the other courts : the former courts to be entitled su- 
 preme courts, the latter superior courts ; the judges of the 
 former to be selected for sixteen years; of the latter, for eight 
 years. The legislature shall have power to constitute such 
 county, city, and town courts as may be deemed necessary ; 
 and to transfer such jurisdiction and powers from the equity/ 
 to the common law courts, and from these to the former, and 
 to presciihe such similar and common forms of proceeding and 
 of remedies, as may be deemed practicable and expedient." 
 
 On the next day Mr. Crooker offered an amendment 
 to the report of the judiciary committee, providing for 
 the election of one county judge, and two justices of the 
 peace who were to be his associates on the trial of crim- 
 inal cases: the judge solely to hold a county court for 
 the trial of civil causes, to perform the duties of the 
 office of surrogate, to have appellate jurisdiction only, 
 and to be compensated by an annual salary. This 
 
1846.] COURT OF APPEALS. 637 
 
 amendinent was finally adopted, and the substance of it 
 is now a part of the constitution. 
 
 Mr. O'Conor said he " would preserve in all their 
 strength and integrity our county courts, and elev<':.te 
 their character." In allusion to the scheme just men- 
 tioned and proposed hy Mr. Crooker, which had been 
 previously indicated by Mr. Loomis, Mr. O'Conor 
 said : "' The argument in favor of county courts had 
 been found so powerful, that the enemies of it had been 
 induced to give us one in name but not in substance — 
 a kind of little county cormorant to eat up the justices' 
 courts — a perambulatory sort of court* — a kind of bull- 
 frog, going about the county to devour the small frogs. 
 It was to be a mongrel court, neither the old common 
 pleas nor the general sessions, but a mixture of both, 
 with some additions." 
 
 Mr. Jordan replied to Mr. O'Conor, and in the 
 course of his speech took ground in favor of Mr. 
 Crooker's amendment. 
 
 On the 25th day of August, the consideration of the 
 report of the judiciary committee was taken from the 
 committee of the whole. The first question decided 
 was on the motion of Mr. Hart, that all the judges of 
 the court of appeals should be elected by the people. 
 
 Mr. Chatfield in advocating this motion said — 
 
 " The court of appeals was the court of the people at 
 large, and should be elected by the people at large. He was 
 willing as a party man to take his chance in electing them. 
 If the party opposed to liim elected them all, he should say 
 amen to it. If his own party succeeded he should be grati- 
 
 • The 14th section of Mr. Crooker's amendment provided that the 
 county judge might hold his court at any place iu the county which the 
 couveuieuce of the public might require. 
 
 54 
 
638 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l84G, 
 
 ficd. He was not one of those who would throw every thing 
 valuable to his party out of tlie hands of that party. He 
 wished it to be understood, that in desiring a general ticket 
 system, he had an eye to the men to be elected. He had no 
 concealments on the subject. He was not willing to concede 
 that if the democratic party should carry all these judges, 
 that therefore they would be the worst men in the state. He 
 put himself on the open and manly ground in this matter. 
 He avowed that in voting for this amendment, he acted on 
 party considerations, and so did everybody else, disguise it 
 as they might." 
 
 Mr. Harris, in reply, said — 
 
 " It was with some regret that he heard the remarks which 
 had just fallen from the gentleman from Otsego, (Mr. Chat- 
 field.) Mr. H. knew nothing which he admired more than to 
 see a body of men like this, whose situation entitles them to 
 influence and to take the lead in public affairs, rising supoior 
 to party influences, casting off party connections, forgetting 
 party interests, and devoting themselves to the public good, 
 rendering ptirty objects subservient to the public welfare. 
 He had, therefore, with some pride, seen the course which 
 had hitherto been taken by this convention. From all quar- 
 ters were heard congratulations that party lines had been dis- 
 regarded, and that party interests had been forgotten, in our 
 deliberations. It was with pain, then, that he had witnessed 
 the attempt of the gentleman from Otsego to bring party 
 interests to bear upon the question." 
 
 Mr. Hart's amendment was rejected by a vote of 71 
 to 24. 
 
 Mr. Harris and others took the ground that all the 
 judges of the Court of Appeals should be taken from the 
 judges of the Supreme Court who had the shortest term 
 to serve, but this proposition was rejected by the con- 
 vention by a majority of more than three to one. 
 
 Several other ineffectual attempts were made to amend 
 or alter the second section of the article, which was that 
 
1846.] justices' courts. G39 
 
 relating to the Court of Appeals ; but it soon appeared 
 that a rhajority of the convention were determined to 
 adopt it as it came from the judiciary committee. On 
 the final vote 63 were given for and 43 against it. 
 
 On the motion of Mr. Murphy it was decided that the 
 judges of the Supreme Court should be elected by single 
 senatorial districts, 60 to 49 ; but Mr. Brown immedi- 
 ately moved to reconsider that vote, when the subject 
 was fully canvassed, and Mr. Brown's motion succeed- 
 ed by a majority of eight. 
 
 During these discussions upon the judiciary system, 
 Mr. J. J. Taylor, of Tioga, proposed the following plan 
 for the reorganization of justices' courts. It did not seem 
 to attract much attention, but it is certainly ingenious, 
 and ought to be preserved. These courts are every day 
 becoming more and more important, and we cannot but 
 think that something like Mr. Taylor's scheme will ulti- 
 mately be adopted. 
 
 " 1. Abolish our present justices' courts. 
 
 " 2. Let the boards of supervisors divide each county into 
 such a number of judicial districts that one man may be able 
 to try all the causes, civil and criminal, cognizable before a 
 justice within each district, say two or three to each member 
 of assembly. 
 
 " 3. Elect one justice for each district, either by the elec- 
 tors of the county at large or by the voters in each district. » 
 
 " 4. Let the clerk of each town be a clerk of the justices' 
 courts. 
 
 " 5. Let the process be issued by the clerk, and issues be 
 joined before him. 
 
 " 6. Let a list of the legal jurors in each town be kept by 
 the clerk, and one or two days previous to the term let the 
 clerk draw, and the constable summon twelve persons to at- 
 tend, out of which jurors six may be draAvn for each cause. 
 
 " V. For tlie riii;-pose of facilit;-. ting collections, allow a plain- 
 
610 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846, 
 
 tiii in actions on contract, v/ith the first process; to have a dec- 
 Iiration served, and bill of particulars of his demand, and of 
 the credits he is willinsf to allow the defendant ; and unless the 
 defendant put in a plea within six days, and swear to a de- 
 fence, let judgment be entered by the clerk by default. 
 
 " 8. Let the justice have power to set aside or correct judg- 
 ments improperly entered by the clerk. 
 
 " 9. Let a gross amount of justice's fees on each trial be 
 paid by the plaintiff, and recoverable of the defendant, and 
 let such fees be paid into the county treasury. 
 
 " 10. Let each justice be paid a competent salary out of the 
 county treasury. 
 
 "11. Let one or more justices be elected in each town as 
 conservators of the peace, with power to issue warrants, and 
 hold criminals to trial, &c." 
 
 The convention, — after providing that the legislature 
 at their next session should appoint commissioners to 
 form into a code, so far as such commissioners should 
 deem practicable, the laws of this state — after, on the 
 niotion of Mr. Chatfield, adopting a clause directing that 
 the same legislature should appoint commissioners to 
 simplify the practice of the law in all our courts — after 
 making provisions for the organization of courts of con- 
 ciliation in pursuance of a resolution introduced by Mr. 
 Kirkland, which was supported and earnestly urged by 
 Mr. Stephens, the celebrated traveller, and by Mr. Bas- 
 cpm — after adopting the plan of county courts intro- 
 duced by Mr. Crooker — and after establishing, on the 
 motion of Mr. Strong, of Monroe, a liberal rule for the 
 admission of attorneys and counsellors to practice in all 
 our courts, — on the 10th day of September adopted sub- 
 stantially the judiciary system recommended by the se- 
 lect committee, to whom that great and vitally important 
 subject had been referred ; a result highly creditable to 
 that able and learned committee, and which, we trust, 
 
1840.] MR. uoffman's report. 641 
 
 will prove greatly beneficial to the people of the state 
 of New York, and their posterity. 
 
 Mr. Hoffman, as chairman of committee No. 3, on 
 canals, the public revenue, and the public debt, had, in 
 the month of July, reported, first, " on the existing debts 
 and liabilities of the state, and to provide for the pay- 
 ment thereof," substantially as follows : 
 
 1. The sum of 81,500,000 to be annually applied to 
 the interest and principal of the canal debt until that 
 debt was paid. 
 
 2. The sum of $072,500 to be paid yearly into the 
 treasury for the use of the state. 
 
 3. The surplus revenue arising from the canals, after 
 paying the expenses of the canals, and the two sums last 
 mentioned, until such surplus shall amount to $2,500,000, 
 to be applied to the improvement of the Erie Canal in 
 such manner as should be directed by law. 
 
 4. $500,000, parcel of the sum of 8672,500, to consti- 
 tute a sinking fund to pay the principal and interest of 
 the general fund debt, including debts for loans of the 
 state credit to railroad companies, &c., leaving the sum 
 of 8172,500 to be applied to the payment of the annua! 
 current expenses of the government. 
 
 5. If the sinking funds, or either of them, should be- 
 come insufficient to meet the demands of the creditors 
 of the state, the legislature should by taxes so increase 
 the revenue of said funds as to make them respectively 
 sufficient perfectly to preserve the public faith. 
 
 On the subject of the power of the legislature to cre- 
 ate future state debts and liabilities, Mr. Hoffman re- 
 ported — 
 
 1. No money shall ever be paid out of the treasury 
 except in pursuance of a law specifically appropri- 
 
 54* 
 
642 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846- 
 
 ating the same, and designating the object to which it 
 is to be applied. 
 
 2. The credit of the state shall never be loaned. 
 
 3. The state may borrow, to meet contingencies, 
 moneys, which, in the aggregate, shall not exceed one 
 million dollars, and the moneys so borrowed shall be 
 applied to the purposes for which they were obtained, 
 and no other. 
 
 4. This restriction not to apply to money which it 
 may be necessary to raise to repel invasion or suppress 
 insurrection. 
 
 5. Except the debts specified in the third and fourth 
 sections of this article, no debt shall be created without 
 at the same time laying a direct annual tax, sufficient to 
 pay the interest and redeem the principal in eighteen 
 years ; but no such law shall take effect until it shall, at 
 a general election, have been submitted to the people, 
 and have received a majority of the voles cast at such 
 election. 
 
 Afterwards Gov. Bouck proposed a substitute for Mr. 
 Hoffman's scheme, and subsequently Mr. Ayrault pre- 
 sented a third project. These projects differed materi- 
 ally from that of Mr. Hoffman. They will be more 
 particularly noticed hereafter. 
 
 As soon as the report of the judiciary committee was 
 disposed of, on the 11th of September, the conven- 
 tion went into committee of the whole on the great 
 questions involved in the report of the finance committee. 
 
 Mr. Hoffman opened the debate. He first referred 
 to the whole amount for which the state was indebted, 
 and the items of which it was composed. He said — 
 
 "The debt in 1842 would be found to be as follows: — 
 |21, 179,019 81 for the canals; tlie railroad debt was theu 
 
1846] SPEECH UF MU. HOFFMAN. 643 
 
 considered as contiiigent — but it never was so in regard to us. 
 We were always bound to pay the whole amount. The only 
 contingency was, whether the railroad companies would refund 
 to the state. He was considered a panic-maker in 1841, be- 
 cause he considered this as a debt. This contingent debt was 
 now $1,713,000. The treasury debt, which was less than 
 $2,000,000 in 1842, was now swelled up to more than tive 
 millions and a half. This made the whole debt, in 1842, 
 128,287,000. This debt, in consideration of the fact that we 
 were a young and growing country, was a British debt in 
 amount, in interest, and in its threatened results — the wither- 
 ing and blasting of all species of industry. He brought no 
 complaint against the men who created this debt. Let others 
 indulge in as much vituperation as they see fit. He should 
 not interfere, uor attempt any apology for them. What, then, 
 was this debt at the meeting of this convention ? He quoted 
 several documents to show that the canal debt stood thus : — 
 Principal, S17,.t1G,119 57 ; interest, which mu.st be paid be- 
 fore its extinguishment, §8,379,838 33 — making a total to be 
 paid by the stat^, of $25,895,957 90. Insolvent railroads, 
 principal, $3,515,700 ; interest, (as above,) $2,933,165 37 — 
 total, $6,448,865 37. General fund debt, $2,309,849 24 ; 
 interest, (as above,) $870,296 87— total, $3,240,142 11. Sol- 
 vent railroads, principal, $1,713,000; interest, (as above,) 
 $1,001,707 50 — total, $2,714,707 50. This would make a 
 total, which the state must pay, of $38,299,672 88." 
 
 Mr. H. next considered the means of the state of pay- 
 ing the interest and extinguishing the principal of this 
 debt. Mr. Hoffman regarded the canal tolls as the prin- 
 cipal source of revenue. " They were large, and would 
 increase. They would doubtless reach a culminating 
 point, and then decline." The salt duties he estimated 
 at a mere trifle. " For the state of New York to hold 
 on to the miserable pittance, looked like the veriest evi- 
 dence of insolvency." He considered the salt tax as at an 
 end. " The auction tax was equally unjust and unwise." 
 
644 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 
 
 * * * " He thouirht both the auction and salt duties 
 would soon go to the tomb of the Capulets. He be- 
 lieved they were fast going the way of all the earth, and 
 it mi(Tht be thought unkind for him to hit them this kick 
 to help them on their downward course."* The only 
 sources of revenue, then, were canal tolls on the one 
 hand, and direct taxation on the other. He deprecated 
 too great reliance on the revenue anticipated from tolls. 
 The Welland Canal, and the contemplated eastern and 
 southern railroads, would compete powerfully with our 
 canals. Mr. Hoffman finally arrived at the conclusion, 
 that the adoption of his system was absolutely necessa- 
 ry in order to preserve the credit of the state, and ulti- 
 mately extinguish its debt. 
 
 The speech of Mr. Hoffman was unquestionably able, 
 but whoever reads it will perceive a strong inclination 
 in the speaker to present but one side of the question, 
 and to magnify the liabilities, and depreciate the means 
 and resources of the state. Thus, in stating the debt of 
 the state, in order to make it amount to upwards of 38 
 millions, he includes $12,183,260 57 of interest, to accrue 
 hereafter, and also 81,713,000, being the principal of 
 loans of the credit of the state to railroad companies, 
 which he admits to he solvent — to which he adds, 
 $1,001,707 50 of interest to accrue hereafter, making 
 $2,714,707 50, which, to say the least, according to his 
 own admission, is a mere nominal debt. Add this last 
 
 * From a statement made by the comptroller to the convention, it ap- 
 peared that the salt duties paid into the canal fund amount- 
 ed to $2,055,458 06 
 
 Auction duties 3,592,039 05 
 
 $5,647,497 11 
 
184G.] STATE DEBT. G A5 
 
 sum to the interest which will he due on the other state 
 debts, unless the principal is paid sooner than Mr. II. an- 
 ticipates, and the amount to be deducted from Mr. H. s 
 state debt of 838,299,672 88, will be 814,897,997 07, 
 leaving the present debt, according to Mr. Hoffman's 
 estimate, at 823,401,075 81. The view which he pre- 
 sents of the probable future income from the canals, and 
 from the salt and auction duties, is extremely restricted 
 as to the amount, and less than what will probably be 
 realized in almost any conceivable stale of things which 
 can hereafter occur. Mr. Hoffman ever since, and in- 
 deed before the year 1842, had thought much on this 
 subject. The system now recommended by him was 
 that shadowed forth by the act of 1842, which we have 
 seen was in a great degree the child of his own mind, 
 which he had powerfully aided to bring into existence, 
 and which he had nurtured with great care and paren- 
 tal affection. Is it wonderful, strictly honest and great- 
 ly talented as all men admit that he is, that his zeal 
 should have been great, not to say overmuch, to give 
 immortality to this favorite offspring? Is it surprising, 
 that in supporting his positions, that zeal should insensi- 
 bly have induced him to exhibit more of the acuteness 
 and skill of the ingenious lawyer, and less of the liberal 
 views of the enlightened and far-seeing statesman ? 
 
 Mr. Archer, from Wayne, a member who heretofore 
 had taken little share in the debates, first replied to Mr. 
 Hoffman, and, after modestly stating that he should not 
 " attempt to cope with the Ajax Telamon" who had ad- 
 dressed the house, he urged, among other arguments, 
 that the state had invested thirty-one millions in canals, 
 nearly one-third of which was now wholly unproduc- 
 tive, and must remain so forever, unless the Erie Canal 
 
646 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 
 
 should be widened, and the Genesee Valley and Black 
 River canals completed. And he mquired whether it 
 was wise ta sacrifice all the moneys which had been ex- 
 pended in enlarging the Erie, and in constructing the 
 Genesee Valley and Black River canals ? 
 
 Mr. Angel, from Allegany, delivered a long and able 
 argument on the same side of the question. He stated 
 the real debt of the state to be, according to the comp- 
 troller's report, $22,254,083 78. He presented a rapid 
 but very encouraging view of the finances of the state ; 
 he insisted that the state was abundantly able to com- 
 plete its })ublic works ; that the sooner that completion 
 was accomplished, the better it would be for the state 
 and for the people ; and he presented, in bold relief, the 
 claims of the southwestern counties to have the Genesee 
 Valley Canal speedily constructed and put in operation. 
 
 In reply to Mr. Hoffman's remarks in relation to the 
 ability of the state, Mr. Angel said : 
 
 "My friend from Herkimer lias been many long years 
 brooding over the dark side of this picture ; he has been em- 
 ployed in calculating and compounding interest, and footing 
 up millions ; he has wandered so long among the mysteries of 
 the comptroller's reports, that he has lost his balance, frightened 
 himself, and now comes here to frighten others. Every thing 
 appears dark and sombre to him. Sir," continued Mr. Angel, 
 " I desire to invite the attention of the house to that side of the 
 picture which the gentleman from Herkimer has kept out of 
 view." 
 
 The fifth section, reported by the finance committee, 
 provided that the claims of the state against incorpora- 
 ted companies should be enforced, and not be deferred, 
 released, or compromised. Mr. Jordan moved to amend 
 this section, by striking out the words " not deferred, re- 
 leased, or compromised ;" and on this motion consider- 
 
1846.] DEBATE ON hoffman's eeport. 647 
 
 able discussion took place. In defence of the section, 
 Mr. Hoffman said — 
 
 " When the enemies of the section proposed to amend, it 
 was time to look after it. These corporations and corporate 
 property seemed to have been held as something sacred. The 
 artificial man that the legishiture made had been constantly 
 regarded and treated on a different principle from the natural 
 man that God made. He had hoped that we had got over 
 this partiality for the creature." 
 
 The motion to amend, however, failed in the commit- 
 tee of the whole, as did also a motion by Mr. Marvin, to 
 strike out the whole section. 
 
 On the next day (the 16th) Mr. Worden made a very 
 eloquent and powerful speech against the restrictions 
 contained in Mr. Hoffman's report ; in the course of 
 which he asserted, that the trade which was based on 
 the transportation on the canal, had, within twenty 
 years, increased 600 per cent. ! And he alleged, that he 
 had proved that the increase would be as great for 
 twenty years to come. Our limits will not permit us to 
 give even a skeleton of this argument. 
 
 Mr. Marvin, in reply to the allegation of Mr. Hoff- 
 man, that the income arising from the canals would in- 
 crease until it arrived at its culminating point, and then 
 would decline, said : 
 
 " He believed the result would be very dififerent. If it were 
 not that he was not now disposed to detain the committee, he 
 could demonstrate it. The topography of the whole globe 
 presented no spot which could compare with the state of New 
 York in the advantage of position. There was no portion of 
 the United States where the great West could be successfully 
 connected by water communication with the Atlantic, except 
 where the Erie Canal passed the Allegany range of moun- 
 tains, without going as far south as Georgia. He proceeded 
 
648 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 
 
 to describe the country which must seek a market bj- means 
 of the Erie Canal, embracing several of tlie western states, and 
 m-cred the enlargement of the canal as the natural avenue of 
 the commerce of those states." 
 
 Mr. Stow moved to amend the first section, so that it 
 should read as follows : 
 
 " § 1. After paying the expenses of collection, superintend- 
 ence, and ordinarv repairs, 11,500.000 of the revenues of the 
 state canals shall, in each fiscal year, and at that rate for a 
 shorter peiiod, commencing on the 1st day of June, 1846, be 
 set apart as a sinking fund, to pay the interest and redeem the 
 principal [of the state debt until the 1st day of July, 1856 ; 
 after which, $2,000,000 of said revenues shall continue to 
 be applied or set apart annually] until the same shall be 
 whollv paid ; and the principal and income of the said sinking 
 fund shall be sacredly applied to that purpose." 
 
 The matter proposed to be inserted is in brackets, and 
 takes place of the words " of that part of the state debt 
 called the canal debt, as it existed at the time aforesaid, 
 and .including 8300,000 then to be borrowed." 
 
 This motion Mr. Stow supported by a very ingenious 
 and able argument, which evidently produced great 
 effect upon the convention. 
 
 Discussions on the report of the finance committee 
 continued to occupy the time of the convention for sev- 
 eral days ; and Mr. Loomis, Gov. Bouck, and Mr. Wor- 
 den respectively, proposed amendments, tending to alter 
 materially the plan as first reported by the select com- 
 mittee. The committee of the whole seem not to have 
 arrived at any specific conclusion on the various pro- 
 jects submitted for their consideration, and on the 19lh 
 day of September they rose, and, in pursuance of a pre- 
 vious order, reported the first article as originally re- 
 ported bv the standing committee to the convention, 
 
1846.] MR. LOOMIs's SUBSTITUTE. 019 
 
 "and progress on the other, asking leave to sit again 
 thereon." Whereupon Mr. Chatfield moved to dis- 
 charge the committee of the whole from the second re- 
 port, and the convention sustained his motion by a vote 
 of 49 to 40. The whole subject was now, therefore, be- 
 fore the convention. 
 
 Mr. Loomis offered a substitute for Mr. Hoffman's 
 first proposition, to the effect that $1,300,000, instead of 
 a million and a half, from the net proceeds of the canal 
 tolls, should be set apart to pay the canal debt until the 
 year 1855, and after that time, the sum of $1,700,000 
 should be applied in the same way until the debt was 
 paid. Gov. Bouck, who had offered a similar proposi- 
 tion, except that he proposed that the sinking fund should 
 be 8100,000 less than Mr. Loomis, in a spirit of com- 
 promise, and with a view, as he said, to produce more 
 harmony, withdrew his amendment.* 
 
 Mr. Ayrauit, from Livingston county, made a very 
 brief but able speech in opposition to Mr, Loomis's sub- 
 stitute, in which he insisted that provision ought to be 
 made for finishing the Genesee Valley and Black River 
 canals, as well as for providing for the completion of the 
 enlargement of the Erie Canal. He presented his plan, 
 which would extinguish a debt of $22,300,000 in twenty- 
 three jear-s, or a debt of 825,000,000 in twenty-eight 
 years. All agreed that a period ought to be fixed for 
 the final extinction of the public debt ; but some desired 
 
 * Without any positive kno\vled<je on the subject, we infer that Mr. 
 Hoffman had ascertained that his plan, in all its details, would not com- 
 mand the support of the majority of the convention, and that his friend 
 and colleaojne, Mr. Loomis, with the approbation and request of Mr. H., 
 proposed his substitute as less stringent than Mr. Hoffman's scheme, and 
 therefore more likely to succeed. 
 
650 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 to fix on a shorter, and others a longer time, for the ac- 
 comphshment of that object. The question, therefore, 
 resolved itself into one of time, and whether the surplus 
 revenue should be applied to the finishing of the Black 
 River and Genesee Valley canals, as weW as to impro- 
 ving the Erie Canal. 
 
 The first section of Mr. Loomis's substitute vv^as 
 carried, 87 to 26. 
 
 The second section of the substitute provided that 
 .$350,000, instead of #672,500, from the surplus revenue, 
 should annually be paid into the treasury, until the 
 canal debt should be paid, and then the sum of $1,500,000 
 should be paid yearly, from such revenue, until the gen- 
 eral fund debt and other liabilities of the state should be 
 discharged. This section was also adopted by the 
 strong vote of 89 to 22. 
 
 The next question was on the following section of 
 Mr. Loomis's substitute — 
 
 " § 3. The surplus revenues of the canals, after complying 
 with the provisions of the two last preceding sections, shall be 
 appropiiated, at the discretion of the legislature, to defray the 
 ordinary expenses of government, and for other purposes ; 
 but no law shall be passed appropriating or pledging for the 
 construction or improvement of any canal or railroad, any part 
 of sucli revenues, beyond those of the year cm-rent, at the time 
 of passing such law." 
 
 Mr. Bouck offered the following substitute for the 
 proposition of Mr. Loomis — 
 
 "The sum of $1*72,000 shall be annually applied to pay 
 any deficit which may occur in fixing the revenue of the gen- 
 eral fund to meet the expenses of the government ; the re- 
 mainder of the canal revenue shall be appropriated to tlie 
 enlargement of the Erie Canal, and the completion of the 
 Genesee Valley and Black River canals, until the same are 
 
1846.] MR. Russell's amendment. 651 
 
 completed. After the payment of the pubhc debt, $G72,000 
 shall be annually appropriated from the canal revenues to the 
 general fund, to meet the expenses of the government." 
 
 Several amendments to Mr. Bouck's substitute were 
 proposed and lost, but when the question on the substi- 
 tute was taken, it was lost, there being 54 for and 60 
 against it. A vote was then taken, bv the aid of the 
 previous question, on the third section of Mr. Loomis's 
 substitute, and it was rejected by a majority of 8 votes. 
 
 In the evening session of the same day, Mr. Russell 
 offered a resolution of instruction to the committee on 
 finance, as follows — 
 
 " Resolved, That the committee on finance be instructed to 
 report forthwith the following as section 3d of the first article 
 reported by the committee — 
 
 "§ 3. After complying with the provisions of the two last 
 preceding sections, the surplus revenues of the canals, until 
 the 1st of June, 1856, shall be appropriated as follows : The 
 sum of $200,000 annually, to defray the ordinary expenses of 
 government, and the remainder to the improvement or com- 
 pletion of the canals, and after the time mentioned in this 
 section, to such purposes as the legislature may direct." 
 
 Mr. Murphy moved the previous question. 
 Mr. White desired to move an amendment. 
 Mr. Murphy withdrew his motion. 
 Mr. White offered his amendment as follows, and re- 
 newed the motion for the previous question — 
 
 " After paying the said expenses of superintendence and re- 
 pairs of the said canals, and the sums appropriated by the 
 1st and 2d sections of this article, there shall be paid out of 
 the surplus revenues of the canals to the treasury of the 
 state, on or before the 30th of September in each year, for 
 the use and benefit of the general fund, such sum, not exceed- 
 ing $200,000, as may be required to defray the necessary ex- 
 
652 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l84o. 
 
 penses of the state ; and the remainder of the revenues of the 
 said canals shall, in each fiscal year, be appropriated, in such 
 manner as the legislature shall direct, to the completion of the 
 Erie Canal enlargement, and the Genesee Valley and Black 
 River canals, until the said canals and improvements shall be 
 completed." 
 
 Various unsuccessful attempts to alter and modify 
 these propositions were made, but the resolution of Mr. 
 Russell as amended by Mr. White was finally adopted, 
 64 to 52. 
 
 The remaining sections of the first article reported by 
 the finance committee were then agreed to by the 
 convention, without material alteration, with great 
 unanimity. 
 
 The convention then proceeded to action on the 
 second article reported by the finance committee. 
 
 The first section was adopted without alteration ; and 
 the second section, which prohibited the state from loan- 
 ing its credit to individuals or corporations, was agreed 
 to unanimously. 
 
 The third section limited the state, in the creation of 
 debts, to 81,000,000, which was only to be tolerated in 
 cases of failure of revenue, or for expenses not provided 
 for; and the loans thus made "'ere to be applied to the 
 purposes for which they were made, and none other. 
 This was adopted by the convention without a division. 
 
 The fourth section authorized the state to contract 
 debts to repel invasion, &c., which was also agreed to 
 without opposition. 
 
 The fifth section declared that no debts, except such 
 as were provided for in the third and fourth sections, 
 should be created, without at the same time laying a 
 direct tax, sufficient to pay the interest and principal 
 
1846.] MR. chatfield's section. 653 
 
 thereof in eighteen years, and for a single object, which 
 object should be specified in the act which authorized 
 the contraction of such debt. Such law not to be of 
 any binding force until it should be submitted to the 
 people, and be approved by a majority of the voters at 
 a general election. After the approval of the law by 
 the people, the legislature might, at any time before the 
 debt was incurred, forbid the contracting of any further 
 debt, but the tax imposed by such law should remain 
 unrepealabie until the debts contracted under it should 
 be paid. Only one law of this description should be 
 submitted to the people at the same election. 
 
 A vigorous opposition was made to this section. Mr. 
 Worden and Mr. Simmons spoke with much warmth 
 against it, but it was carried by a vote of 70 to 36, and 
 this important section has become a part of our consti- 
 tution. 
 
 The 6th section was next read as follows — 
 
 " § 6. Every law which imposes, continues, or revives a tax, 
 shall distinctly state the tax and the object to which it is to 
 be applied, and it shall not be sufficient to refer to any other 
 law to lix such tax or object." 
 
 Mr. Chatfield offered an additional section, providing 
 that no direct tax should be levied as long as the rev- 
 enue of the state should be sufficient to meet the de- 
 mands of the several sinking funds, and pay the debts, 
 as provided for in the preceding article, and the ex- 
 penses of the state government. Mr. C. said he had 
 drawn up this because he did not think it was the policy 
 of this state for the next twenty or thirty years, to im- 
 pose direct taxes, especially when the revenues of the 
 state would be sufficient for every purpose. He quoted 
 
 55* 
 
654 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 from the comptroller's report to show what the con- 
 templated revenues and expenditures would be. 
 
 Mr. White and Mr. W. Taylor severally offered 
 amendments to Mr. Chatfield's amendment, which, a.s 
 well as Mr. Chatfield's amendment, were all negatived. 
 
 Mr. St. John proposed the following additional sec- 
 tion to the report of the finance committee — 
 
 " g — . The provision contained in section 3 of the next 
 preceding article, for the disposition of the canal revenues, 
 shall continue in force until the first day of January, 1850, 
 and after tliat time the whole of the ordinary expenses of the 
 state government, except such portions thereof as shall be 
 provided for by other means than by a direct tax, shall be 
 paid from the said canal revenues; and no diiect tax shall 
 thereafter be levied upon the people of this state, to pay the 
 wliole or any portion of such expense, unless there shall be a 
 deficiency in the said canal revenues to pay the same, after 
 complying with the provisions of sections 1 and 2 of the said 
 article." 
 
 Mr. Russell moved to substitute the section laid on 
 the table by Mr. W. Taylor, as follows — 
 
 " § — . If at any time after the period of five years from 
 the adoption of this constitution, tlie revenues of the state un- 
 appropriated by the last preceding article, shall not be suf- 
 ficient to defray the necessary expenses of the government, 
 without continuing or laying a direct tax, the legislature may, 
 at its discretion, supply the deficiency, in whole or in part, 
 from the surplus revenues of the canals, after complying with 
 the provisions of the first two sections of the last preceding 
 article, for paying the interest and extinguishing tlie principal 
 of the canal and general fund debt ; but tlie sum tluis appro- 
 priated from the surplus revenues of the canals shall not ex- 
 ceed annually $350,000, including the sum of $200,000 pro- 
 vided by the 3d section of the last preceding article, for the 
 expenses of the government, until the general fund debt shall 
 
184G.] MR. Hoffman's closing remarks. 655 
 
 be extinguished, or until tlie Erie Canal enlargement and 
 Genesee Valley and Black River canals shall be completed ; 
 and after that debt sliall be paid, or the said canals shall be 
 completed, then the sum of §672,500, or so much thereof as 
 shall be necessary, may be annually appropriated to defray 
 the expenses of government." 
 
 The substitute of Mr. Taylor was opposed, as wrong in 
 itself, and as inconsistent with principles already settled 
 by the convention. A debate which produced consider- 
 able excitement ensued, but the substitute of Mr. Tay- 
 lor, as proposed by Mr. Russell, was adopted, ayes 76, 
 noes 34 ; and finally the section as ainended was carried, 
 by a vote of 58 to 50. We perceive Mr. St. John, a 
 very clear-headed and judicious member, voted both 
 against the substitute and the section as modified by it. 
 
 The seventh section of the second article reported by 
 the finance committee, which requires three-fifths of all 
 the members elected to the legislature, to constitute a 
 quorum, in order to pass any law which continues or 
 revives a tax, or makes any appropriation, discharges 
 any debt, &c., was agreed to unanimously. 
 
 The article having been finished, and the debates on 
 it terminated, Mr. HolTman rose and said — 
 
 "The convention, after a labored effort, had got through with 
 these two articles. Taken together, they would preserve your 
 faith — they would pay your debt. They might not be entire- 
 ly satisfactory to any one member, but they would produce 
 this result. They w'ould do more. They would set an exam- 
 ple, if the convention would adhere to it, that would cause 
 every state in this Union, as soon as it should be in the power 
 of such states to do so, to provide for and sponge out its debts 
 by payment, thus removing from representative government 
 the reproaches cast on it on the other side of the water. To 
 this extent had this convention come, and if its labors should 
 
650 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 be repudiated by tbe state, nothing could lieep down the judg- 
 ment you liad pronounced on this impoitant subject. It 
 would live. It would go down with time itself, until time 
 should mingle with eternity. He predicted that our labors 
 had overcome the greatest disgrace ever attempted to be cast 
 on free institutions. And if you would go on, and fix the in- 
 dividual liability of the banker, compel corporations to be form- 
 ed under general law^s, and guard the power of municipal cor- 
 porations to make debts, you would have achieved what Avould 
 biing you that which you had not had for a quarter of a cen- 
 tury — a legislature in these halls. He moved that this article 
 be laid aside and printed." 
 
 This eloquent peroration of Mr. Hoffman was follow- 
 ed by some appropriate and judicious remarks of Mr. 
 Worden, which concluded the labors of the convention 
 on this great and vitally important question. 
 
 The convention then, without going into committee 
 of the whole, proceeded to consider and decide on the 
 reports of the committee on currency and banking, on 
 corporations other than banking and municipal corpora- 
 tions, on local officers, on rights and privileges, on edu- 
 cation and common schools, on future amendments to 
 the constitution, and on the creation and division of es- 
 tates in lands. 
 
 To give even a skeleton of the discussions on these 
 various subjects would greatly exceed the limits pre- 
 scribed to this work. We must, therefore, confine our- 
 selves to a mere allusion to some of the most prominent 
 questions which occupied the attention of the conven- 
 tion, remarking in passing, that on the 28th of Septem- 
 ber, Mr. Stow, a talented and efficient member from 
 Erie, who, we believe, had not before been a member of 
 any legislative assembly, but whose father was long a 
 distinguished member of congress from the county of 
 
184G.] ELECTIVE FPtANCmSE. 657 
 
 Lewis, offered for the consideration of the convention 
 tiie following sections to be added to the fourth ar- 
 ticle : — 
 
 " g — . An elector owning a freehold, or having an unexpired 
 term of not less than twenty-one years in a leasehold, (now 
 existing,) may, by an instrument executed by him, decl;ire that 
 he intends to exempt from incumbrances for debt the property 
 described in such instrument — the value of such property 
 shall not be less than one thousand dollars. 
 
 " S — . The value of the property mentioned in the last sec- 
 tion shall be ascertained by the assessors of the town or ward 
 in which it shall be situated ; who shall make a certificate of 
 their appraisal. Such instrument and such certificate shall be 
 acknowledged, or proved in the manner entitling a deed to be 
 recorded, and shall be recorded in the clerk's office of the 
 county in which the property is situated ; and notice of such 
 record shall be published in such manner and for such time as 
 shall be presciibed by law, after such record ; and after notice 
 thereof shall have been duly published, such property shall 
 not be incumbered by, or for, any debt created or contracted 
 by such elector. This privilege shall not enable an elector to 
 hold more than one piece of property thus exempt at the 
 same time ; and such exemption shall cease whenever he shall 
 cease to be a resident of this state." 
 
 This proposition does not seem to have excited much 
 attention in the convention ; but we hope we shall be 
 pardoned if we predict that it will hereafter constitute 
 a grave and important subject of legislation. 
 
 On the subject of the currency and banking, we can 
 only refer the reader to an elaborate, learned, and able 
 speech, delivered by Mr. Cambreling, which will be 
 found reported at large in the reports of the debates in 
 the convention by S. Croswell & Sutton, commencing 
 at page 755. 
 
 On the subject of the elective franchise, the first section 
 
658 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 reported by the select committee was in the following 
 words : — 
 
 "§ 1. Every white male citizen of the age of twenty-one 
 years, who shall have been a citizen for sixty days, and an in- 
 habitant of this state one year next preceding any election, 
 and for the last six months a resident of the county where he 
 may offer his vote, shall be entitled to vote at such election, in 
 the election district of which he shall have been an actual 
 resident during the last preceding sixty days, and not else- 
 where, for all officers that now are, or hereafter may be, elec- 
 tive by the people." 
 
 Mr. Bruce, of Madison county, moved 'to strike out 
 from the first line the word " white." This motion put 
 in issue the great question whether colored citizens 
 should be placed on an equality with the whites, as re- 
 spects the right of suffrage. Messrs. Burr, Bruce, Strong, 
 A. W. Young, Rhoades, Waterbury, Simmons, and 
 others supported the amendment, which was opposed by 
 Messrs. W. Taylor, Russell, Kennedy, Stow, Perkins, 
 and others. We cannot give even a sketch of the ar- 
 guments on this question. 
 
 During the progress of the discussion Mr. Kirkland 
 offered a proposition, which he said he believed would 
 enable the convention to decide upon this question with 
 a great deal of unanimity. There were few gentlemen, 
 he believed, who desired to deprive the colored popula- 
 tion of their natural rights, while there were many who 
 doubted the propriety of at once admitting them to 
 share with white citizens the benefits of the elective 
 franchise. His proposition was, to save to the colored 
 people the same privileges which they now possess, and 
 also to submit to the people the question of allowing them 
 to enjoy the elective franchise. He said he would pre- 
 sent his plan in form in due season. 
 
184G.] EUUAL SUFFRAGE. G59 
 
 This amendment or substitute, it will be perceived, in- 
 volved the questions whether «// colored men should not 
 be excluded from the right of suffrage, and whether the 
 electors of the state should not be permitted to decide 
 by their votes whether the colored citizens should not 
 possess an equal right of suffrage with the whites. 
 Those who voted against it, therefore, not only declared 
 them^-elves aijainst submittincr the decision of the latter 
 question to the people, but in favor of excluding a col- 
 ored man, whatever might be his wealth or moral worth, 
 from the privilege of vesting, because he was not a white 
 man. 
 
 The following are the ayes and noes on Mr. Kirk- 
 land's amendment : — 
 
 Ayes — Messrs. Allen, Archer, Ayniult, F. F. Backus, H. 
 Backus, Baker, Bascora, Bergen, Bowdish, Bruce, Bull, Burr, 
 R. Campbell, Candee, Cook, Crocker, Dana, Dodd, Graham, 
 Greene, Harrison, Hart, Havvley, Hoffman, Hotchkiss, E. Hun- 
 tington, Hutchinson, Kemble, Kernan, Kingsley, Kirkland, Mar- 
 vin, Maxwell, Miller, Munro, Nellis, Nicholas, Parish, Patter- 
 son, Pcnniman, Porter, lihoades, Richmond, Ruggles, St. 
 John, Shaver, Simmons, E. Spencer, W. H. Spencer, Stanton, 
 Stow, Strong, Taggart, Tallmadge, Tuthill, Waid, Warren, 
 Waterbury, Worden, A. Wright, W. B. Wright, Young — 63. 
 
 Noes — Messrs. Brown, Brundage, Clark, Conely, Cornell, 
 Cuddeback, Danforth, Dorlon, Dubois, Hunt, A. Huntington, 
 Jones, Kennedy, Mann, McNiel, Morris, NicoU, O'Conor, Per- 
 kins, President, Riker, Russell, Sandford, Sheldon, Stephens, 
 Swackhamer, J. J. Taylor, Tilden, Townsend, Wood, Yawger, 
 Youngs — 32. 
 
 I^is painful to perceive, among the names of those 
 who voted in the negative, that of the talented, enlarged, 
 and liberal-minded Brown, of Orange, as well as that 
 of the eloquent, amiable, and benevolent O'Conor, of 
 
660 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 
 
 New York, both of whom, we beUeve, are natives of a 
 foreign country. 
 
 "We wish we could present the arguments on this 
 question, even in an abbreviated form, as some views 
 were exhibited, which, if not interesting, at least were 
 curious. Mr. Perkins, for instance, a native of New 
 England, and a democrat, attempted to prove from the 
 Bible that the negroes were an inferior race, " marked' 
 as such by the Almighty Creator, and therefore that they 
 ought not to enjoy the right of suffrage.* 
 
 It would seem that Mr. Perkins was very partial to 
 this view of the question and this train of reasoning, as 
 leading to a satisfactory conclusion in respect to the 
 propriety of extending the elective franchise to the black 
 man ; for a few days afterwards, in settling the question 
 as to the time of residence of white voters in the town 
 or ward where they gave their vote, Mr. Perkins, who 
 contended for the shortest period, reproached those who 
 desired to fix a longer term of residence of " white vo- 
 ters" than he thought necessary, with having lately 
 manifested an anxiety ~' to let in a class of colored per- 
 sons, whose degradation and vices decreased their num- 
 bers annually." 
 
 " It was," he said, '• the destiny of the race to occupy an 
 inferior social position to the white. It was the latent decree 
 of the Almighty, and nothing could change it. Mr. P. laid it 
 down as the economy of Providence, that there should be sep- 
 arate races and grades of beings on the earth. He asserted 
 that the great offence which brought the flood on the earth 
 was the intercourse between the sons of God and the daugh- 
 ters of men — the intercourse of one race with another that 
 God had separated. When they commingled, he separated 
 
 * See his speech, C. & S. Debates, p. 789. 
 
1846.] MR. Clyde's resolutions. 661 
 
 them jigaiii. A century after the dispersion at Babel, profane 
 history showed that this black race existed, with all the char- 
 acteristics that now marked them. That climate should have 
 done this was impossible. This mark was put on them as a 
 warnintr that other nations should not comminorle with them." 
 Mr. Perkins went on to say that " subsequently, when the 
 Jews intermingled with other nations, it was called whoredom, 
 and was denounced by God. You could not admit tlie blacks 
 to a parlicipaiion in the government of the country, unless you 
 put them on terms of social equality with us, and that could 
 only be done by degrading our own race to a level with them." 
 
 This reasoning of Mr. Perkins was ridiculed with 
 some severity by Messrs. Simmons, Dana, Crooker, Pat- 
 terson, and even by Mr. Stow, who had made a very 
 able, candid, and ingenious argument against admitting 
 colored persons to an equal right of suffrage.* 
 
 On the 1st of October, Mr. Clyde offered the follow- 
 ing resolutions : 
 
 " Resolved, That the select committee, to whom is referred 
 the revision of the several articles adopted by the convention, 
 be instructed to report the following as an additional aiticle : 
 
 " § 1 . All feudal tenures of every description, with all their 
 incidents, are abolished. 
 
 " § 2. No lease or grant of agricultural land for a longer 
 period tiian ten years hereafter made, in which shall be re- 
 served any rent or service of any kind, shall be valid. 
 
 " § 3. All covenants or conditions in any grant of land 
 whereby the right of the grantee to ahen is in any manner 
 restrained, and all fines, quarter sales, and other charges upon 
 alienation reserved, in every grant of land hereafter to be made, 
 shall be void." 
 
 Messrs. Jordan and Clyde, the former a whig and the 
 latter a democrat, were the nominees of the anti-rent 
 
 * See Debates in the Convention by C. & S., p. 787. 
 
 56 
 
662 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846 
 
 party in the county of Columbia. On tiie 3d of Octo- 
 ber, Mr. Clyde delivered a speech in support of the prin- 
 ciples contained in these resolutions. In that speech 
 Mr. Clyde gives, as we presume, a summary of the views 
 and doctrines maintained by the sober and well-informed 
 portion of the anti-rent party. We shall therefore pre- 
 sent the reader with an abbreviation of it, though the 
 brevity to which we are restricted will by no means do 
 justice to the speaker, who cettainly acquitted himself in 
 a manner highly creditable. 
 
 Mr. Clyde, after adverting to the fact that he was a 
 resident of one of the counties which had manifested a 
 lively i^nterest in the fate of the proposition now before 
 the convention, and which had been deeply convulsed, 
 and severely taxed by consequences growing out of the 
 system which that proposition was intended to remove, 
 said — 
 
 " I am fully aware that at the mention of grievances en- 
 dured by the manorial tenants, or rather of the whole com- 
 munity in which they are located, a sneer of incredulity and 
 scorn naturally exliibits itself on many faces. ' What !' asks 
 an opponent, ' do you pretend here to raaintiiin that this ten- 
 antry is really aggrieved and wronged ?' Yes, sir, that is my 
 position. ' But have they not agreed to pay the rents de- 
 manded of them ?' Yes, sir ; and so do the victims of usury 
 agree to pay the exorbitant interest exacted of them — which 
 the state and the law say they shall not pay ; so did some of 
 the tenantry on the great feudal estates of France agree that 
 the chastity of their daughters should be among the 'first 
 fruits reserved to the use of the lord of the soil. 
 
 "The question here, however, is not what a class of poor 
 and ignorant men of bygone generations agreed to do, but 
 what the men of the pi-esent day ought to do — what the state 
 should compel them in future to do. I maintain that most of 
 the rights so called, of the landlords of these manors, origina- 
 
1846.] SPEECH OF MR. CLYDE. 663 
 
 ted in power and craft, if not by fraud, on the one side, and 
 ignorance and simplicity on the other, and that they have now 
 no such rif^htful existence as should entitfe their holders to 
 overrule the just and true policy of the state." 
 
 Mr. Clyde then proceeded to point out the evils which 
 perpetuating this system of tenancy in a republican gov- 
 ernment necessarily produced. The first was, " two 
 radically different classes in society :" a numerous class 
 subsisting meagerly on a part of the proceeds of their 
 own labor, and a smaller and superior class living idly 
 and sumptuously on the proceeds of the toil of others. 
 
 "This, sir," said Mr. C, " is no casual difference of circum- 
 stances that we are now considering, but a fixed and enduring 
 disparity of condition, which several generations have expe- 
 rienced. Who does not see that its direct tendency is to cre- 
 ate and perpetuate class distinctions and class interests, incom- 
 patible with the pure and high spirit of republican freedom ? 
 And yet this system, blighting as it is to the interests of in- 
 dinduals and community, is sanctioned, and either loudly or 
 secretly praised, by some who boast long and loud of their 
 democracy ! 
 
 " Sir, read one of these manor leases, and note how skil- 
 fully, cunningly devised, appears every requisition to make the 
 tenant class directly and sensibly the inferiors — mere serfs and 
 vassals, hewers of wood and drawers of water. The restric- 
 tions on the right of alienation — the reservations of wood, wa- 
 ter, minerals, mill-streams, and privileges — the quarter-sale, 
 the two fat fowls, and day's labor drawing manure — the cove- 
 nants requiring the tenant to go to the landlord's mill on pain 
 of forfeiting his whole estate — also to trade at his landlord's 
 store on pain of forfeiting his whole estate — and the thousand 
 and one other little, mean, degrading covenants, a violation of 
 any one of which by the tenant, works a forfeiture of the whole 
 c-^tate." 
 
 Mr. Clyde insisted that contracts of this kind, and the 
 holding estates subject to such conditions, were incon- 
 
664 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 sistent with the genius of our government, and that the 
 true pohcy was to discountenance them. The section 
 he proposed as a part of our constitutional law, was in 
 accordance with that policy. Mr. Clyde then rapidly 
 glanced at the distressed condition of the tenantry of 
 England, which he painted in vivid colors. 
 
 " And who," said he, " shall say that the spectacle now af- 
 forded by Great Britain conveys no admonition to us?" * * * 
 
 " Sir, many of my immediate constituents, and thousands 
 of others in our state, groaning under the chains forged by 
 this blistering system, are looking to this convention for some 
 relief They ask for nothing that is wrong — they ask you to 
 ^^olate no just contract — to destroy no vested rights. They 
 ask you to engraft upon the constitution of your state the prop- 
 osition now before us, which will prevent this curse in future, 
 and will be the means of wearing out and destroying in time 
 the present existing evil. Shall this down-trodden and op- 
 pressed people ask in vain ? It appears to me that every man 
 who loves his country, and desires the peace and prosperity 
 of the state — who is a republican in principle and practice as 
 well as in name, will rejoice to see the proposition before us 
 adopted." * * * 
 
 " I would not have gentlemen on this floor fall into the 
 mistake of fancying the abuses I would guard against, merely 
 local and temporary subjects of excitement — an excitement 
 which a few more months will efface, without applying the 
 proper remedy. Much, very much, growing out of the ex- 
 citement of the past is to be deeply regretted and deplored, 
 and none regret and deplore it more than the great mass of 
 tenants ; they have never encouraged the violation of law and 
 order — they have never asked or wished for any thing wrong 
 or unjust — they are honest and industrious, and feel a deep 
 interest in the prosperity of the state, and all they have ever 
 asked or wished for is just and equal laws, and equal rights. 
 I know, sir, that by some who are directly or indirectly inter- 
 ested, they are charged with every thing that is wrong ; and I 
 
1846.] MR. Clyde's speech. 665 
 
 also as well know, that their motives have been impugned — 
 their principles have been misrepresented, and they have been 
 most grossly slandered and Hbelled. But, thank Heaven, a 
 brighter day begins to dawn — the wrongs of the down-trodden 
 and oppressed, and the principles for wliich they contend, are 
 better understood, and the enlightened and patriotic every- 
 M'here sympathize with them, and are ready to come to their 
 relief." 
 
 ]Mr. Clyde concluded his address in the following 
 words : 
 
 " And now, sir, after mingling, as I have done for months, 
 with some of the most talented, patriotic, and independent 
 men of our state, and witnessing as I have done their perseve- 
 rintr and untirinsf efforts to frame a constitution worthy of them- 
 selves and the people they represent, I can leturn to the quiet 
 of my home with the full consciousness of having honestly and 
 faithfully, according to the best of ray poor abilities, discharged 
 my duty to my constituents, and can behold in the new con- 
 stitution which we shall have framed the pronsions which are 
 now sought to be engrafted upon it, the days of my retirement 
 will be the happiest of my life, and to have contributed in an 
 humble degree to the consummation of this object, as much 
 honor as I shall ever desire." 
 
 The article proposed by Mr. Clyde, with a section 
 ofTt-red by Mr. Simmons, declaring the tenure of all 
 estates allodial, was ultimately adopted with great una- 
 nimity, and now constitutes a part of the constitution. 
 
 On the 9th day of October the convention terminated 
 its labors. On the final vote on the whole constitution, 
 all the members present voted in favor of it, except 
 Messrs. E. Huntington, O'Conor, W. H. Spencer, Stow, 
 Tallmadge, and White. 
 
 The following resolution, on the motion of Mr. Cam- 
 breling, was passed unanimously : 
 
 " Resolved, That the six gentlemen connected with the Al- 
 
 56* 
 
666 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846, 
 
 bany Argus, Albany Atlas, and iVlbany Evening Journal, as 
 reporters, viz : — Sherman Croswell, Richard Sutton, Wm. G. 
 Bishop, Wm. H. Attree, Wm. H. Hill, and Francis S. Rew, be 
 entitled to the thanks of this convention for the industry and 
 ability with which they have discharged their duty as re- 
 porters for the papers to which they have been respectively 
 attached." 
 
 The closing scene of the convention was harmonious 
 and highly interesting. The chair being occupied by 
 Mr. Canibreling, Mr. Patterson rose and said — 
 
 " He had a resolution to offer, w^hich he trusted would re- 
 ceive the unanimous vote of the convention. It was a resolu- 
 tion of thanks to our presiding officer, and which he took great 
 pleasure in offering. He knew full well the arduous and deli- 
 cate duties of the chair, and he could appreciate the courteous 
 and impartial manner in which they had been discharged. He 
 trusted the convention would adopt the resolution with a 
 hearty and unanimous aye : — 
 
 ' Resolved, That the thanks of this convention be presented to the 
 Hon. John Tracy, for the able, dignified, and impartial manner in which 
 he has discliarged the arduous and responsibie duties of the chair ; and 
 that in retiring therefrom, he carries with hirn the best wishes of every 
 member of this convention.' " 
 
 The president, on resuming the chair, responded to 
 the resolution in the following words : 
 
 " Gentlemen : — It is highly gratifying to me to receive, at 
 the close of our labors, the approbation contained in the reso- 
 lution you have adopted unanimously. With a grateful heart, 
 I return you ray sincere thanks. 
 
 " To form a constitution of civil government which will best 
 secure the political rights and permanent welfare of a free peo- 
 ple, is a work of great magnitude and importance. You have 
 devoted yourselves to this momentous work, and have dis- 
 charged the high trust committed to you, with great zeal and 
 fidelity. I confidently hope, that the constitution now to be 
 submitted to our constituents, will be ratified by them, and 
 
1.S4G.] ACTS OF THE CONVENTION. 667 
 
 tluit the people of this state will realize from it the most aus- 
 picious results. 
 
 " It gives me great pleasure, gentlemen, to acknowledge my 
 obligations to you for the courtesy and kindness you have at 
 all times extended to me, and to assure you of my best wishes 
 for your prosperity and happiness." 
 
 Upon the close of this address, on the motion of Gen. 
 Ward, the convention adjourned without day. 
 
 Thus terminated the lahors of the convention of 1846. 
 The result of those labors must long be felt, and will 
 produce a radical change, as we confidently hope, for 
 the better, in the political and social condition of this 
 community. The alterations made by this convention 
 in the organic law, are many and immensely important. 
 
 It declared the tenure of all lands to be allodial, abol- 
 ished all restraints upon alienation, and prohibited leas- 
 ing lands for a longer term than twelve years. 
 
 It abolished the banking monopoly, by taking from the 
 legislature the power of granting special charters for 
 banking purposes, nd of suspending specie payments. 
 
 It look from the governor and senate and legislature, 
 the prerogative of appointment to office, and gave to 
 the people, acting in their sovereign capacity, the vast 
 patronage which theretofore had been wielded by a cen- 
 tral power. 
 
 It new organized the judiciary, added greatly to its 
 force, while it diminished the number of judicial officers, 
 abolished the centralization of judicial power, and made 
 all judges dependent directly on the people for their ap- 
 pointment. 
 
 It provided for and required the election of senators 
 and members of the assembly by single districts. And 
 
 It restricted, within safe and definite bounds, the power 
 
6G8 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 of the legislature, in creating state indebtedness without 
 the sanction of a majority of the people, declared at the 
 polls of our elections ; it provided sure and certain 
 means for enlarging the grand canal upon the magnifi- 
 cent plan heretofore projected, and in part executed, and 
 for the completion of the canals already commenced ; 
 and it also provided for the sure and certain payment 
 and total extinction of the public debt, within a compar- 
 atively short and well-defined period. 
 
 Good and great men have doubted whether it was 
 safe or prudent to commit the appointment of all judi- 
 cial officers to the people. Experience alone can decide 
 whether those doubts were well founded. In the mean 
 time we submit to the candid of all parties, whether, if 
 the thirty-six judges of our superior courts had been ap- 
 pointed by any governor, or any senate, or any legisla- 
 ture, no matter which party should have held the power, 
 a better selection would have been made than has been 
 done at the late election ? Without the least desire to 
 compliment the successful candidates, we say with con- 
 fidence that the response to this question would be a 
 prompt and decided negative. 
 
 It is true that many of the great men who adorned 
 the convention of 1821 did not form a component part 
 of the convention of 1846. James Kent, Ambrose Spen- 
 cer, Daniel D. Tompkins, Rufus King, William W. Van 
 Ness, Martin Van Buren, Jonas Piatt, Abraham Van 
 Vechten, Samuel Young, Ezekiel Bacon, Erastus Root, 
 Nathan Williams, John Duer, and Jacob Sutherland, 
 were not there, but there was in this convention much 
 political experience, much legal learning, and above all 
 a large stock of prudence and sound common sense. 
 
 The most remarkable characteristic of the convention 
 
/ 
 
 1846.] ABSENCE OF PARTY SPIRIT. 669 
 
 of 1846 was the entire absence, during the whole of 
 their dehberations, of even the semblance of party spirit, 
 especially when it is considered that they were general- 
 ly chosen by political parties, and, with few exceptions, 
 elected by a strict party vote ; and that, in fact, the 
 greater part were really warm partisans. Here then 
 was an assembly, elected in the manner which has been 
 stated, composed of stanch old school federalists, drilled 
 and disciplined hunkers, radical whigs, barnburners of 
 the " most straitest sect," conservative whigs, and zeal- 
 ous and firm anti-renters. That such an assembly 
 should, for more than four months, meet daily, and la- 
 bor, shoulder to shoulder, like a band of brothers — should, 
 as it were, amalgamate into one mass, and make a uni- 
 ted effort to frame a system of organic law which should 
 best secure to each and to all " life, liberty, prop- 
 erty, and the pursuit of happiness" — was exhibiting to 
 the world a spectacle perhaps never before witnessed. 
 It was, if we may so speak, a political miracle. Once 
 or twice Mr. Chatfield did, indeed, probably without 
 consideration, and from momentary in)pulse, make an 
 appeal to party interest and party feeling, but, as Mr. 
 Harris is reported to have good-hnmoredly said, he 
 (Mr. C.) rung the party rattle in vain. The spirit of 
 party would not come when he called it ; and so far 
 from the appeal being successful, it was, by Mr. C.'s 
 own political friends, signally rebuked. 
 
 The present constitution is the work of no party, be- 
 cause it was made by all parties, and therefore is, as the 
 organic law ought to be, the work of ail parties. 
 
 The articles most likelv to produce effects on political 
 parties, are the third article, which directs that the mem- 
 bers of the senate and assembly shall be chosen by 
 
670 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 sincrle districts, and the fifth and sixth articles, which di- 
 rect that the state, judicial, and county officers shall be 
 elected by the people. 
 
 Before the convention of 1821, all officers, civil and 
 militarv, from the chancellor down to a justice of the 
 peace, including all state officers except the treasurer, 
 and also including the sheriffs and county clerks, mayors 
 and recorders of cities, &c., were appointed by a simple 
 majority of a board consisting of five men only, who 
 sat at the seat of government. This tremendous power 
 entered the log hut of the lieutenant or ensign of a 
 miUtia company, or that of the country justice of the 
 peace, as well as the mansion of the mayor of New York, 
 the secretary of state, or the comptroller, and hurled 
 them from their places at its own sovereign will and 
 pleasure. The convention of 1821 wrested something 
 from the central power ; still, however, the great offi- 
 cers of state were created at Albany — still the central 
 power reached every county, and was felt by every 
 town in the state. The convention of 1846 have wholly 
 annihilated this terrible power. How mighty the change! 
 The consequence must be to make parties what they 
 ought to be, that is, portions of men who differ in opin- 
 ion in relation to the measures of government from other 
 portions of men. So long as human beings are imper- 
 fect, so long will these differences exist ; and if men 
 are honest they will always, in a free government, act 
 in accordance with their own views and opinions. 
 Hence, among a free people, there always will be, and 
 always ought to be, parties. But what is called the dis- 
 cipline of party, it seems to us, must necessarily cease in 
 this state. How can there be party discipline, when 
 there is no longer the power to reward and punish ? 
 
1S46.] THE MEXICAN WAR. 671 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 The ^Mexican War — Speech of Mr. John Young on a resolution to sup- 
 port the War — Logialative Caucus at the close of the sessiou — Whig 
 legislative Caucus* aud Address — National Reformers — The Now Scot- 
 land Convention — Democratic State Convention at Syracuse — Address 
 of tiie Couveution — Whig State Convention — Anti-rciit Convention at 
 Albany — John Young elected Governor aiid Addison Gardiner Lieuten- 
 ant-governor — Speculation ou the causes of the defeat of Gov. W' right 
 — Death and character of Gen. Root — CoucluRion of Political History. 
 
 IIavi.nu, as we ho|»e, presented a clear though brief 
 view of the action of the constitutional convention, we 
 shall now proceed to attempt to give some account of 
 the action of political parties in the state from the time 
 of the adjournment of the legislature in May to the gen- 
 eral election iti November. 
 
 The two houses adjourned on the 13th of May, but 
 on the day previous to the adjournment, the news reach- 
 ed Albany of the commencement of war between the 
 United States and Mexico ; and but a few hours before 
 the period fixed by a joint resolution of the senate and 
 asseini)Iy for the termination of the session, Mr. Albert- 
 son, from New York, offered the following resolution : 
 
 " He it resolved by the logi.-;lature of the stat^ of New 
 York, that th<' governor be empowered to enrol a body of 
 fiftv thousand men as volunteers, with a view to act in the 
 defence of the state, or to proceed to the seat of war to de- 
 fend the honor and dignity of the country, and that the gov- 
 ernor be hetrbv autlioriz<'d at his discretion to order the same 
 on duty, and that the sum of one hundred thousand dollars 
 
672 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 be, and the same is hereby appropriated to defray the ex- 
 penses of the same." 
 
 Mr. Wells supported the resolution with great energy 
 and zeal. Mr. Worden declared himself ready and de- 
 sirous to support the country in the contest, but as no 
 message had been received from the governor on the 
 subject, he doubted whether it would be proper to take 
 any action on the subject without communicating with 
 him. He was, however, willing to prolong the session 
 to afford an opportunity for such communication. 
 
 " Mr. .J. Younsf said he would a^o for the resolution as it is. 
 He would have the opportunity taken to evince the opinion of 
 the leo-islature of New York. It had been known that he was 
 among those who had been opposed to the annexation of Tex- 
 as ; but that was now a foregone act. Texas was now bone of 
 our bone, flesh of our flesh ; and he who invaded any portion 
 of her soil, invades our territory — invades a part of the United 
 States. He would advocate the voting of funds — the levying 
 of troops to protect her rights, and to secure her territory 
 from invasion. No man could doubt — it was now past doubt 
 that we were in a state of war. The country was invadtid — 
 the rights of our country, of our citizens, had been trampled 
 upon, and he would sustain the country ri(/ht or tvrong." 
 
 Mr. Clark seemed to think the resolution uncalled for 
 at that time, and moved to lay it on the table, but his 
 motion was lost, only 12 members voting for it. Nearly 
 ;ill the whigs voted against laying the resolution on the 
 table, among whom was Mr. Worden as well as Mr. 
 Young. The question was then taken on the resolution, 
 and it was adopted without a division. 
 
 The action of Mr. Young, and a large majority of the 
 whigs, on this question, indicated a determination on 
 their part not to make an iss\;e with the general admin- 
 istration on the war question. 
 
1846] DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS. 673 
 
 The declaration of Mr. Young, that he would support 
 the war whether right or wrong, was supposed to have 
 been elicited by the enthusiasm of the moment ; but as 
 in his annual message last January, he has referred to 
 his declaration on the occasion to which we allude, we 
 cannot omit remarking that if that declaration is to be 
 constiued in its broadest sense, its correctness may well 
 be doubted. If Mr. Young meant that as a citizen or a 
 soldier' he would support the faithful execution of the 
 laws of his country, he was right ; but if he intended to 
 declare, that as a legislator he would vote for furnishing 
 the means to an executive to continue a war which in 
 his conscience he believed unjust and " wrong," it is 
 respectfullv submitted that his position is untenable. The 
 framers of the constitution were so jealous of executive 
 power, that they would not confer on the president the 
 authority to declare a war ; but if Mr. Youngs propo- 
 sition be as some have supposed he intended, then, ac- 
 cording to his doctrine, he would feel bound, as a mem- 
 ber of the national legislature, to furnish a corrupt or a 
 weak and misguided president with men and money to 
 continue a war which he (Mr. Y.) knew to be unjust 
 and ruinous. Carry <^)ut this doctrine, and you place it in 
 the discretion of the president alone, when once war is 
 declared, to determine whether that war shall not be 
 endless. 
 
 Before the adjournment of the legislature, the demo- 
 cratic members held a caucus for the purpose of agreeing 
 on an address to their constituents. It is said only two 
 of the hunkers attended this meeting, one of whom was 
 Mr. Wells, who made a speech against the proceedings. 
 
 An address, however, was issued, which set forth 
 the leading principles advocated by the party, and urged 
 
 67 
 
674 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 union, activity, and energy of action in the democratic 
 ranks. 
 
 After the adjournment of the legislature, five senators 
 and nine members of the assembly, alleging that they had 
 been selected as a committee " by a portion of the dem- 
 ocratic members of the two branches of the legisla- 
 ture," issued an address. It is remarkably well written, 
 but it attacks with great severity the radical party and 
 the state officers. It charges them with predetei'mined 
 hostility to Gov. Bouck, and with secret hostiHty to Mr. 
 Polk, and it charges the canal board with refusing to 
 appoint any persons to office who do not yield " an im- 
 plicit adhesion to a particular faction." Even day- 
 laborers on the canal, it alleges, are compelled to be sub- 
 ject to sucth a subservience to the central power. The 
 address does not in terms attack Gov. Wright, but it 
 evidently " turns a cold shoulder towards him." This 
 was an unpromising commencement by the democratic 
 party of a campaign against the great whig party. 
 
 The abolitionists, native Americans, and anti-renters, 
 all retained their several organizations. The former 
 nominated and supported their own candidates for state 
 officers, but the latter adhered to their policy of select- 
 ing from the two great parties such candidates as in 
 their judgment would be most likely to favor their views. 
 
 There was an attempt made to organize still another 
 party in the city of New York, known by the name of 
 '* NATIONAL RKFORMERs." It consisted of philosophical 
 and speculative men, who established a weekly news- 
 paper, called "Young America," which' was conducted 
 by Mr. George H. Evans, an able but rather visionary 
 writer. 
 
 A friend has put into our hands a few numbers of this 
 
1846.] NATIONAL REFORMERS. 675 
 
 paper, but we have not had leisure to examine them 
 with the care and attention which would be necessary 
 in order to present a correct summary of all the prin- 
 ciples which the editor seems desirous to maintain and 
 establish. 
 
 The first proposition of the reformers is, that " man 
 has a right to land." 
 
 2. " In strict justice the landless ought to be })ut in 
 immediate possession of their share of the appropriated 
 soil, and to receive compensation from the monopolists 
 for the loss of education, property, and other dcjiriva- 
 tions they have suffered for want of their birthright." 
 But as this cannot be effected as society is at present 
 organized, without confusion and human slaughter, the 
 reformers propose that in future every person shall be 
 disabled from acqub'ing more than his reasonable share 
 of the soil, not to exceed say 160 acres of land. To ac- 
 complish this they propose that on the death of any 
 existing landholder, owning more than 160 acres of 
 land, the surplus shall be sold to the landless, and the 
 purchase-money divided among the heirs of the deceased 
 proprietor. 
 
 3. That a home, with a reasonable quantity of land 
 attached to it, shall be secured to the descendants of the 
 head of each family, inalienable, and not subject to be 
 affected by mortgages or other liens. 
 
 4. That the public lands should be surveyed into 
 townships, and the townships into lots of 160 acres, ex- 
 cept 640 acres in the centre of each township, which 
 should be laid out in village lots, and that any landless 
 adult citizen, whether male or female, might enter on 
 and hold one of these lots, on payment of five dollars for 
 the expense of surveying the same. 
 
676 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 The Young America presents to its readers, at the 
 head of its editorial department, the following pledge, 
 which no doubt is intended to contain a summary of 
 the peculiar doctrines of the National Reform Associa- 
 tion — 
 
 "We whose names are annexed, desirous of restoring to 
 man his natural right to land, do solemnly agree, that we 
 will not vote for any man for the presidency or congress who 
 will not pledge himself in writing, to use all the influence of 
 his station, if elected, to prevent all further traffic in the pub- 
 lic lands, of the states and of the United Slates, and to cause 
 them to be laid out in farms and lots for the free and exclu- 
 sive use of actual settlers ; or for any man for the governor- 
 ship or the legislature, who will not so pledge himself to the 
 freedom of the public lands, to a limitation of the quantity of 
 land to be obtained by any individual hereafter in this state, 
 to the exemption of the homestead from any future debt or 
 mortgage, and to a limitation to ten of the hours of daily 
 labor, on public works or in establishments chartered by law." 
 
 An event occurred in the county of Albany before the 
 adjournment of the legislature, which served greatly to 
 increase the existing hostility between the hankers and 
 radicals in that county : and as an account of it was im- 
 mediately afterwards pubhshed m nearly all the country 
 papers, it had the effect of producing disunion in the 
 democratic party in other parts of the state. 
 
 A convention was called at Mr. Clarke's, in New 
 Scotland, for the purpose of nominating candidates for 
 members of the constitutional convention, by the demo- 
 cratic party of the county of Albany. This convention 
 assembled on the 3ist of March, and was attended by 
 many of the most respectable citizens of the city and 
 county of Albany. In organizing the meeting, a dis- 
 pute arose in relation to the a])iv)intment of its officers, 
 
184(5.] DEMOCRATIC STATE CONVENTION. 677 
 
 and respecting the persons who were entitled to seats as 
 delegates. The controversy immediately assumed a 
 boisterous and belligerent character, personal violence 
 was committed, and the hunkers finally withdrew from 
 the meeting, alleging that the radicals had hired reck- 
 less persons from the city to accompany them, with a 
 view to overawe and subdue their opponents by means 
 of physical force. A protracted and bitter controversy 
 was carried on between the Argus and Atlas respecting 
 which party was the caus6 of this outrage. We do not 
 propose to say any thing on that question, but would 
 merely remark that it is deeply to be regretted that a 
 breach of the peace and personal violence should have 
 been committed, at a meeting of estimable and worthy 
 citizens convened to deliberate on political subjects, 
 especially as those citizens claimed to belong to the 
 same party : that its effect was most disastrous to the 
 democratic party in the county, was proved by the 
 elections which succeeded it. 
 
 The democratic state convention was held at Syra- 
 cuse on the first day of October. The radicals and 
 hunkers had each made efforts to obtain a majority of the 
 delegates. The former, however, were most successful 
 in that contest, and nearly two radicals to one hunker 
 were chosen. From the counties of Oneida and Albany, 
 a double set of delegates were sent to Syracuse. From 
 the county of Albany, John Van Buren and three other 
 radicals appeared and claimed their seats, and Rufus W. 
 Peckham and three other hunkers claimed adversely to 
 Mr. Van Buren and his friends. From the county of 
 Oneida, Horatio Seymour and three other hunkers 
 claimed seats, which were contested by Ward Hunt, 
 and three other radicals. 
 
 57* 
 
G78 POLiTICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 The convenliou decided in favor of the claims of Mr. 
 Seymour and his colleagues without much discussion ; 
 but the right of Mr. Van Buren and his friends to seats 
 was elaborately discussed. Much ardor was exhibited, 
 and very sharp passages occurred between some of the 
 members. Eventually, the right of Mr. Van Buren and 
 his colleagues was confirmed by a vote of 74 to 44. 
 The result of this vote probably shovv's the comparative 
 strength of the two parties in the convention, although it 
 is true that Mr. Flanders, who had been chosen as a radi- 
 cal, and who professed to belong to that party, advoca- 
 ted and voted in favor of the claim of Mr. Peckham and 
 his associates. 
 
 The convention was then regularly organized by the 
 appointment of Chester Loomis, a late senator from the 
 county of Ontario, for president, and E. F. Purdy, of 
 New York, and seven others, vice-presidents. On bal- 
 loting for a candidate for governor, Silas Wright had 
 112 votes, Amasa J. Parker 7, and Ileman J. Red- 
 field 6. 
 
 On the niotion of Mr. Seymour, Mr. Wright's nomi- 
 nation was declared to be unanimous. 
 
 Addison Gardiner immediately afterwards was unani- 
 mously nominated lieutenant-governor. Several ballot- 
 ings were then had for canal commissioners, but event- 
 ually Cornelius L. Allen, of Washington county, and 
 John T. Hudson, of Erie county, were declared duly 
 nominated. 
 
 A very able and lengthy address was read to the con- 
 vention, in which the arrangement with Great Britain 
 respecting the Oregon territory was considered and ap- 
 proved, the re-enactment of the independent treasury 
 law by congress highly commended, the late tariflf and 
 
184G.] DE.MuCiCATlC ADDRESS. 679 
 
 warehouse acts examined and approved ; the Mexican 
 war was alluded to, and a desire expressed for a speedy 
 and honorable peace ; the constitution framed by the 
 late convention was commended, and the prominent 
 alterations it proposed of the constitution of 1821, such 
 as those relating to the executive and legislative depart- 
 ments, administrative officers, judicial department, and 
 our financial system, were set forth with great clearness 
 and ability. 
 
 The address concludes with a handsome eulogy on 
 the candidates recommended by the convention. As 
 respects Mr.. Wright, it says : 
 
 " At the last gubernatorial election, the political condition 
 of tlie state and of the Union demanded from the republicans 
 of New York an effort worthy of their cause and of themselves. 
 A presidential election was, as was generally beheved, and as 
 iW result proved, to be detennined by the vote of this state, 
 and it thus became the battle-ground of the Union. Our 
 brethren throughout the United States united with us in an 
 anxious solicitude that in such a contest, which was to deter- 
 mine the policy of the government perhaps forever, in regard 
 to important if not vital measures which had divided parties 
 almost since their formation, and which was to restore, or post- 
 pone indefinitely, democratic ascendency, a leader might be 
 selected in this state, the strength of whose public and private 
 character would furnish to them, as well as to ourselves, a cer- 
 tain promise of victory. 
 
 " Such a man was Silas Wright ; and an almost universal 
 public expression indicated him as the standard-bearer of the 
 republicans of this state in that great and decisive struggle be- 
 tween democracy and federalism. The Syracuse Convention 
 responded to this general desire, by putting him in nomination 
 for governor, and he surrendered his well-known and publicly 
 declared disinchnation to accept the office, to the ardent wishes 
 of the friends of the cause. 
 
 '■ The stern fidelity with which he has upheld ihe financial 
 
(580 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 policy that redeemed the credit and character of the state, his 
 fearless vindication of the majesty of the law, and, at the same 
 time, merciful dispensation of its justice, his careful and un- 
 wearied attention to the varied and responsible duties of his 
 office, and his integrity, ability, and impartiality in their dis- 
 charge, have given to New York a high rank among her sister 
 states, and have furnished new and additional reasons to her 
 citizens for requiring the continued services of her distinguish- 
 ed chief- magistrate. 
 
 " The increased and singular unanimity in his favor mani- 
 fested by the convention which nominated Silas Wright, is 
 an honest reflection of the democratic will, and a well-earned 
 tribute to the fairness, prudence, wisdom, and ability with 
 which the just expectations of the democrats of the state have 
 been met and fulfilled — and we again, with unhesitating con- 
 fidence, commit him to the hands of a people whose pleasure 
 and pride it ever has been to cherish, defend, and sustain 
 him." 
 
 The members of the convention seemed to separate 
 in good spirits, and with feelings of cordiality towards 
 each other. 
 
 We have before stated that there were two parties 
 among the whigs, one of which, for convenience, we 
 named radical, and the other conservative. But the 
 movements of the whigs are to us involved in so much 
 obscurity, that we cannot speak with much certainty of 
 those divisions. They are probably less publicly known 
 and less marked, though they in fact exist, for the reason 
 that the whigs are not so regularly organized as the 
 democrats have been, and because, for several years 
 past, they have, for the greater part of the time, been in 
 the minority. That, however, such men as Gov. Sew- 
 ard, Thurlow Weed, and many others acting with them, 
 entertain views in relation to both men and measures 
 different from Millard Fillmore, John A. Collier, the 
 
1846.] WHIG STATE CONVENTION. 681 
 
 present lieutenant-governor, Fish, &c., we have no man- 
 ner of doubt. 'J'he Evening Journal, the Tribune, and 
 various other whig papers which follow their lead, are 
 the organs of the former ; while the Express, the New 
 York Courier and Enquirer, the Oneida Whig, the Buffa- 
 lo Commercial Advertiser, &c., express the views of the 
 latter. The former look with more favor on adopted 
 citizens, and changes in our system of government and 
 laws, especially those which seem to be called for by 
 popular opinion, than the latter. Probably the conser- 
 vative whigs possess the most wealtli, but the radicals 
 far the most activity and energy. Our own impression 
 is, that Mr. John Young occupies a position between 
 those two sections. How long he will be able to main- 
 tain his "juste 7nilieu" position, time only will dis- 
 close. 
 
 The whig convention was held at Utica, on the •23d 
 day of September. It was conducted with great energy 
 and spirit, though its proceedings exhibit very clearly 
 the lines of division between the conservative and radi- 
 cal whigs. 
 
 Philip Hone, a worthy and much esteemed citizen of 
 New York, and formerly mayor of that city, was chosen 
 president. The members first informally balloted for a 
 candidate for governor, with the following result. On 
 the first ballot Millard Fillmore received 55 votes, John 
 Young 36, Ira Harris 21, William Daer 3, John A. Col- 
 lin 2, blank 2. A second ballot was then had, which 
 also resulted without any candidate receiving a ma- 
 jority of all the votes ; but on the third ballot Mr. Young 
 received 76 votes, and Mr. Fillmore 45. There can be 
 little doubt but that nearly, if not all the votes which on 
 the first ballot were given to Mr. Harris, were on the 
 
682 POLITICAL IIldTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 third ballot given to Mr. Young, and produced his nomi- 
 nation. 
 
 After the informal balloting Mr. Babcock, of Erie 
 county, informed the convention that the name of Mr. 
 Fillmore had been used against his expressed wishes, and 
 that the delegates from Erie county had consented to 
 its use on the informal ballot, in compliance v^'ith the 
 earnest solicitation of delegates from other counties. 
 From all these circumstances, we infer that the forty- 
 five votes given for Mr. Fillmore on the last ballot were 
 given by conservative whigs. Mr. Young was, of 
 course, nominated for governor, and on the motion of 
 Mr. Christopher Morgan, Mr. Hamilton Fish was unan- 
 imously nominated lieutenant-governor. Charles Cooke, 
 of Chemung, and Thomas Clowes, of Rensselaer, were 
 designated as candidates for canal commissioners. Two 
 or three resolutions, and a brief address to the people, 
 were adopted and published. 
 
 The convention, after the delivery of several eloquent 
 speeches, adjourned in great harmony. Among those 
 who addressed the convention were the president, (Mr. 
 Hone,) Mr. Morgan, of Auburn, Mr. Thayer, of New 
 York, and Mr. Dawson, of Albany. 
 
 The liberty party, at an early day, made their nomi- 
 nation for state officers. Mr. Stewart having declined 
 a renomination, they nominated Henry Bradley for 
 governor, and William L. Chaplin for lieutenant-gov- 
 ernor, and James Sperry and John Thomas for canal 
 commissioners. 
 
 The Native Americans also took the field, and put in 
 nomination Ogden Edwards as their candidate for gov- 
 ernor. Mr. Edwards has been several times mentioned, 
 in the preceding volumes of this work, as a distinguished 
 
184G.] A.\Ti-r;ENT convkxtfon. 083 
 
 member of the legislature and of the convention of 1821, 
 and as having for a long time held the office of circuit 
 judge of the first circuit. Judge Edwards, in his letter 
 accepting the nomination, reviews the action of political 
 parties in this state, and animadverts with some severity 
 on the conduct of both the great parties. 
 
 At a convention held at Beardsley's hotel, in Albany, 
 in the month of October, by the anti-renters, on the sub- 
 ject of state officers, they resolved to support John 
 Young for governor, and Addison Gardiner for lieutenant- 
 governor. Mr. Evans attended this convention in be- 
 half of the national reformers. A committee of th;:t 
 party had addressed letters to the whig, democratic, and 
 liberty party candidates for governor, inquiring of them, 
 respectively, whether they were for or against the lead- 
 ing doctrines of the reform party. To those letters 
 Gov. Wriffht and Mr. Young had either returned no an- 
 swers, or answers which were not satisfactory ; but Mr, 
 Bradley and Mr. Chaplin, the liberty party candidates, 
 had made answers which met the approbation of Mr. 
 Evans and his friends. Mr. Evans, therefore, was for 
 nominating Mr. Bradley, or for repudiating all ihe can- 
 didates then before the public, and making an indt>pen- 
 dent nomination. Several of the anti-renters (and it is 
 presumed these were democratic anti-renters) were in 
 favor of nominating a new candidate, but Mr. Win. B. 
 Wright, a member from Sullivan county, earnestly urged, 
 in an elaborate speech, the non)ination of Mr. Young: 
 among other things, he affirmed that if Mr. Young 
 was elected, he would pardon the anti-rent convicts. 
 From the ballots given at this convention, the number 
 of those who took part in its proceedings must have 
 been small. A correspondent of the Young America 
 
6Si POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 
 
 States that the result of the balloting was 20 votes for 
 John Young, 7 for Benton A. Thomas, and 3 for Henry 
 Bradley. 
 
 It is said that efforts were made by many of the dem- 
 ocratic anti-renters to nominate Mr. Wright instead of 
 Mr. Young, and that he was earnestly pressed by some 
 oi' them to give some assurances that he would, at an 
 early period, pardon those who had been convicted in 
 Delaware and Columbia counties, and that he declined 
 to make any intimations as to what his future action on 
 that subject would be. For this reason, it is further as- 
 serted, the democratic anti-renters were compelled to 
 give him uj). That something of this kind did take place 
 we have little doubt ; nor do we doubt but that some of 
 the radical friends of Gov. Wright made efforts to in- 
 duce the anti-renters to nominate him. But the anti- 
 rent convention was held in Albany, where Mr. Ira 
 Harris then resided. He enjoyed the full confidence of 
 the members of the convention, and was an avowed 
 friend of Mr. Young. Is it not reasonable to presume 
 that his opinion, together with that of Mr. W. B. Wright, 
 ftad a controlling effect in the selection of a gubernato- 
 rial candidate by the convention, which was mainlv 
 composed of farmers and workingmen from the country ? 
 it has also been stated, in several public newspapers, 
 that Judge Harris had in his possession a letter from 
 Mr. Young, which at that time, or at a subsequent pe- 
 riod before the election, he exhibited, in which Mr. 
 Young expressed an opinion that those convicts ought 
 to be pardoned, and that if elected he would pardon 
 them. We do not know that such was the fact, but, as 
 we have just remarked, it was so charged in several 
 newspapers, and never to our knowledge denied, either 
 
1846.] MR. young's letter to MR. HARRIS. 685 
 
 by Mr. Young or Judge Harris. Some of the conserva- 
 tive whig papers, the Courier and Enquirer and New- 
 York Express, animadverted with great severity on Mr. 
 Young for writing this letter. If it was written, and 
 intended as an overture to induce the anti-renters to vote 
 for him, it was beyond question an unjustifiable act ; but 
 if it was an answer to an inquiry as to what his opinion 
 was on that subject, and if, as afterwards appeared, in 
 his judgment a pardon ought to be granted to those men, 
 (and for which opinion he gave many very plausible 
 reasons,) it is difficult to perceive why he was more de- 
 serving of censure for expressing that opinion, than Mr. 
 Clay and Mr. Van Buren were for declaring themselves 
 against, or Mr. Polk for declaring himself in favor of the 
 annexation of Texas before the last presidential election. 
 It was a grave question of state policy, on which the 
 electors, and especially the anti-renters, had a right to 
 know his opinion, and it was his right, and perhaps his 
 duty to declare it. 
 
 The national reformers finally nominated, and it is 
 presumed supported Mr. Bradley for governor, and Wil- 
 Uam E. Chaplin for lieutenant-governor. 
 
 We ought before to have mentioned that in the spring 
 of 1846, Mr. Hoffman was appointed surveyor of the 
 port of New York, which was, so far as we can recol- 
 lect, the only important appointment conferred by Mr. 
 Polk on the radicals in this state. We ought also to 
 have stated that during the session of the constitutional 
 convention. Gov. Bouck, who was, as we have seen, a 
 member of that body, was appointed receiver of the 
 public moneys in the city of New York, under the law 
 for the establishment of an independent treasury. Per- 
 sonally, the appointment was not only unexceptionable, 
 
 58 
 
G86 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 but a very good one. The character of Gov; Bouck as 
 a correct business man, his pecuniary ability, and his 
 known integrity, rendered him as suitable a person to 
 be selected for that office as any man in the state ; but 
 the prominent position he held in the ranks of the hun- 
 kers induced an impression that the national adminis- 
 tration intended by this appointment to afford a demon- 
 stration, on the eve of the gubernatorial election, that 
 the hunker party were regarded at Washington as spe- 
 cial favorites. " The government at Washington," says 
 an intelligent though ardent and excited radical, in a 
 private letter to the author, " to manifest its will and 
 pleasure, before any thing was known how the conven- 
 tion would act, walked into that body on a fine sum- 
 mer's morning, and crowned Gov. Bouck king of the 
 sub-treasury. I have always considered this as the 
 grossest insult to Gov. Wright. Gov. Bouck was the 
 head of the opposition, and known to be so. This ac- 
 tion was the significant indication of the guillotine 
 prepared for Gov. Wright in November. From that 
 moment the officers of the general government intrigued 
 and caballed to defeat him." This last allegation is, 
 however, denied by those officers. Indeed, our corre- 
 spondent himself says that " the president and most of 
 his secretaries wrote to Gov. Wright on the eve of the 
 election of 1846, disclaiming all knowledge of the offi- 
 cial action of the government officers, and expressing 
 for him the warmest friendship ;" but the writer doubts 
 their sincerity. 
 
 The vote of the liberty party, which in 1844 amount- 
 ed to nearly sixteen thousand votes, was this year re- 
 duced to about twelve thousand, while the anti-renters, 
 with less numerical force, by the exercise of their bal- 
 
1846.] THE LIBERTY PARTY. 687 
 
 ance-power, elected a lieutenant-governor, at lea.st one 
 canal commissioner, one senator, and ten or twelve 
 members of the assembly.* 
 
 The abolition party, in proportion to its numbers, as 
 we have before remarked, contains more wealth and 
 talent, and, we may add, more individual integrity and 
 virtue, than any other political party in the state ; and 
 yet they are few in number, and that number seems 
 to be decreasing. Whence is this ? It cannot be ow- 
 ing to ho.stility to their " one idea" — their great and par- 
 amount principle of opposition to human slavery — for 
 there are thousands and perhaps hundreds of thousands 
 in the state who in that respect entirely concur with 
 them. If it is allowable so to speak, they are too hon- 
 est and conscientious to extend their numbers as a polit- 
 ical party. Their very honesty renders them proscrip- 
 tive. They appear to have adopted as a part of their 
 political ethics, the maxim of scripture in regard to the 
 observance of the moral law — that to offend in one 
 point, is to be guilty of a breach of the whole law. 
 Hence some of their papers have denounced such men 
 as John Quincy Adams, Giddings, and Slade, and there 
 are those among them who denounce John P. Hale. A 
 remarkable instance of the extreme tenacity with which 
 they adhere to their abstract principles, was exhibited 
 in their conduct in relation to the election of delegates 
 in the spring of 1846 to the constitutional convention. 
 It was conceded that only one question could come be- 
 fore the convention in which they as abolitionists felt 
 any interest, and that was, whether an equal right of 
 
 * They have recently caused the election of two, and probably three of 
 the judges of the Supreme Court, and it may be of an attorney-general. 
 
6S3 POLITICAL HISTOKV OF NEW YORK. [l846. 
 
 suifrage should be extended to colored citizens ? It was 
 further admitted, that there was not a single county in 
 the state that could by possibility elect an abolitionist as 
 an abolitionist. It was also well known that candidates 
 were or would be in nomination in probably a large ma- 
 jority of the counties in the state, by the whig and dem- 
 ocratic parties, some of whom held opinions favorable, 
 and some adverse to the equalization of the right of suf- 
 frage ; and that in several of those counties the aboli- 
 tionists rai^ht have selected candidates from the two 
 great parties, and caused their election, who, if elected, 
 would carry into effect in the convention the views of 
 the liberty party on that subject. In this condition of 
 things the sagacious and judicious Westley Bailey, ed- 
 itor of the Liberty Press at Utica, recommended to his 
 friends the course last suggested. This simple sugges- 
 tion produced instantaneous excitement among many of 
 the abolitionists. A convention was called, which as- 
 sembled at Winfield, in Herkimer county, and Mr. Gerrit 
 Smith, one of the most kind-hearted, liberal, and benev- 
 olent men of the age, attended the meeting, and for hours 
 addressed the audience in an eloquent and fervent speech, 
 in which he urged that the party was pledged not to vote 
 for a slaveholder, nor any man who would vote for a 
 slaveholder, and solemnly adjured them, on that occa- 
 sion, not to violate that pledge. A large majority of the 
 convention adopted his views. The liberty party are 
 desirous, sincerelv and anxiously desirous, that the slave 
 should be liberated, but they will allow none but them- 
 selves to break his chain and open his prison-door. 
 
 The Native American ticket received but few votes. 
 
 The contest between the two great parties terminated 
 in the election of Mr. Young by a majority of 11,572 
 
1846] RESULT OF THE ELECTIOX. 689 
 
 votes over Mr. Wright, and the election of Mr. Gardi- 
 ner over Mr. Fish by a majority of 13,357. Thomas 
 Clowes, one of the whig candidates for canal commis- 
 sioner, was elected over Mr. Allen bs- 7,255 votes, and 
 John T. Hudson, one of the democratic candidates for 
 the same office, was elected over Mr. Cooke, the candi- 
 date of the whig party, by a majority of 13,366 votes. 
 Messrs. Young, Gardiner, Hudson, and Clowes were the 
 nominees of the anti-rent state convention. 
 
 Mr. Clowes has long been known as an active and 
 energetic politician. He had, during the administration 
 of Gov. Seward, been appointed canal appraiser, and 
 well and faithfully discharged the duties of that impor- 
 tant office. His election, therelore, to the office of ca- 
 nal commissioner, was hailed bv his friends and ac- 
 quaintauce as an auspicious event ; but he unfortunately 
 gained nothing by his election. During the bustle of 
 preparation for the election, it seems it did not occur to 
 the members of either of the state conventions, that un- 
 der the new constitution there could be no vacancy in 
 the office of canal cx)mmissioners, except by death or 
 resignation, until January, 1848; for that constitution 
 provided that the terms of office of the commissioners 
 should not expire untiJ the 1st day of February, 1847; 
 and that those in office on the 1st day of January then 
 next, should hold their office until others were suIkc- 
 quently elected in their stead. But the death of Mr. 
 Earl left one vacancy in the board of commissioners, 
 and to fill that vacancy, Gov. Wright appointed his po- 
 litical friend, Mr. John T. Hudson. 
 
 The whigs also succeeded in electing five senators 
 out of the eight which were chosen at that election. 
 There were returned elected to the assembly, 68 whigs, 
 
 58* 
 
G90 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [l846. 
 
 50 democrats, and 10 anti-rent members. Of the mem- 
 bers of congress the whigs elected 23, and the demo- 
 crats 11. by an aggregate majority of the popular vote 
 in the state of 21,051. The majority in favor of the 
 new constitution was about 130,000. The returns ex- 
 hibited the following curious results : 
 
 The aggregate electoral vote in the state was in 1846 
 about 90,000 less than in 1844. Mr. Wright's vote in 
 '46 was about 54,000 less than in '44. Mr. Gardiner's 
 vote exceeded that of Mr. Young about 24,000 ; and 
 Mr. Fish's aggregate vote was about 500 more than 
 Gov. Wright's. In the county of Albany ]Mr. Young's 
 majority over Mr. Wright was 2.818 ; in Delaware 
 county it was 1,802. In 1844, Mr. Fillmore's majority 
 in Albanv county over Mr. Wright was 25 votes only ; 
 and in the county of Delaware jNIr. Wright's majority 
 over Mr. Fillmore was 975. In the city of New York, 
 in 1844, Mr. Wright's majority was 3,340 ; but in 1846 
 it was 5,180. In the county of Oneida, where no anti- 
 rent party at any time existed, Gov. Wright, in 1844, 
 obtained a majority of 821 over Mr. Fillmore ; and in 
 1846 Mr. Young's majority over Mr. Wright, in the 
 "same county, was 1,337 votes ! 
 
 Here, according to the plan we had marked out, our 
 political history closes ; but we shall take leave to add 
 some observations on the probable causes of the result 
 of the election in November, 1846, and particularly of 
 the defeat of Gov. Wright. We say, then, his re-election 
 was not prevented by any of the following causes : 
 
 1. Gov. Young was not elected because there was a 
 legitimate whig majority in the state. No question re- 
 specting state or national measures had agitated the 
 
1846.] CAUSES OF -AIR. WRIGHT "i DEFEAT. 691 
 
 public mind, about which men differed in opinion, since 
 the election of 1845. It is true, a war with Mexico had 
 been declared, but all parties, except the abolitionists, 
 were anxious to manifest their zeal in favor of the vig- 
 orous prosecution of the war. 
 
 2. It is doubted whether, in a single instance, any in- 
 dividual of standing and character, between November, 
 '45, and November, '46, changed his opinion on any im- 
 portant political question. Certainly no such change 
 was publicly avowed. 
 
 3. The vote of the electors of the state in 1845, and 
 when the delegates to the constitutional convention were 
 chosen so late as May, 1846, exhibited a clear and deci- 
 ded democratic majority in the state : and the votes for 
 judges of the Court of Appeals, which were given only 
 about seven months after the November election of 1846, 
 also proved that at that time there was a large demo- 
 cratic majority in the state ; for not one word was ut- 
 tered, and not one word could have been uttered, by any 
 man who had a decent regard for his reputation, against 
 the ability, integrity, and personal fitness of the whig 
 candidates for judges. 
 
 4. It was not caused by personal hostility, or the per- 
 sonal unpopularity of Gov. Wright. His great talents 
 were universally admitted. His frank and easy deport- 
 ment, and his kind and social nature, rendered him uni- 
 versally esteemed and beloved. " He bore his faculties 
 so meek, and had been so clear in his great office," that 
 we do not believe the man then lived, or now lives, who 
 would then, or will now, declare himself personally un- 
 friendly to him. 
 
 What, then, was the cause of Governor Wright's de- 
 feat ? 
 
692 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 Shortly after the result of the election was known, 
 a series of five consecutive numbers appeared in the 
 Albany Atlas, written with great ability, entitled, " The 
 result of the New York state election, its causes and 
 consequences." The author has evidently been long 
 familiar with the politics of this state, and reviews the 
 action and motives of action of political parties and the 
 fragments of parties for many years past, with apparent 
 candor. 
 
 The first cause of the result which the writer men- 
 tions, is the vote of the anti-renters. He arrives at the 
 amount of this vote by the case of Messrs. Clowes and 
 Allen. These gentlemen, he says, were both unexcep- 
 tionable men, — neither possessed more than ordinary 
 personal popularity, and both received the fair and le- 
 gitimate vote of the parties to which they respectively 
 belonged ; but Mr. Clowes received the anti-rent vote, 
 and his majority over Mr. Allen was 7,255. He then 
 shows that the difference in the vote for Mr. Wright 
 between the years 1844 and 1846, in the city of Albany 
 and in the counties of Allegany, Oneida, Onondaga, 
 Chenango, Lewis, Cayuga, Herkimer, Chemung, and 
 Steuben, where no anti-rentism prevailed, was more 
 than suflScient to overcome the majority given to Mr. 
 Clowes ; and hence he concludes that the anti-rent vote 
 was " a cause," but not the cause of the defeat. 
 
 The writer then proceeds to assign, as another cause, 
 the veto of the canal bill by Gov. Wright ; and he con- 
 cedes that the majorities in favor of Mr. Young in the 
 counties of Lewis, Oneida, Allegany, &c., may have 
 been in part occasioned by that veto. But Mr. Wright's 
 opinions on the subject of expenditures for internal im- 
 provements and the creation of state debts, were clearly 
 
184G.] CAUSES OF MU. Wright's defeat. 093 
 
 and distinctly stated as long ago as the year 1827, in his 
 report on the petition of David E. Evans and others.* 
 And again : it was well known, in 1844, to every man of 
 common intelligence in the state, that he had not changed 
 those opinions. It may be added, that it is most obvious 
 that the veto message was a mere reiteration of them. 
 We think, therefore, that the author of " causes and con- 
 sequences' was right in his conclusion, that the veto of 
 the canal bill was " a cause," but not " the cause" of the 
 loss of Mr. Wright's election. 
 
 The writer then proceeds to assign as ''the cause" of 
 Mr. Wright's failure, the opposition of the hunkers, 
 which he calls the " conservative party." He traces 
 back the history of this party to the year 1827 : he 
 claims that they were the party who were most pressing 
 for the chartering of banks ; who were generally inter- 
 ested in the stocks which from time to time were crea- 
 ted ; who were many of them deeply interested in locali- 
 ties to be affected by proposed canals or railroads, and 
 were therefore favorable to most of the projected inter- 
 nal improvements ; who were interested in keeping in 
 the market a large amount of state stocks, and therefore 
 desirous of increasing the public debt ; and finally, that 
 the hunkers represented a union of all these interests, 
 which were, of course, opposed to the restrictive policy 
 of Gov. Wright. The author concludes by affirming, 
 that " this conservative party, thus bound together ex- 
 clusively by selfish interests, and seeking only personal 
 advancement and personal gain, was the cause of the de- 
 feat of Gov. Wright, and of the democratic party in this 
 state, at the late election." 
 
 • See supra. 
 
694 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 He then proceeds to charge Mr. Edwin Croswell 
 with being the principal and most efficient member ot 
 this association, and that the course of the Argus pre- 
 vious to the election furnished powerful means for 
 carrying into effect their views. 
 
 That the collisions between the hunkers and radicals 
 in the legislature, and the conduct of some of the most 
 radical state officers, with whom the hunkers knew the 
 governor coincided in principle, and with whom they 
 suspected he sympathized in feeling, coupled with the 
 defeat of the renomination of Gov. Bouck, in 1844, pro- 
 duced a coldness on their part towards Gov. Wright, 
 which at the election deadened the energy of a large 
 portion of the democratic party in many counties in the 
 state, cannot be doubted. It is also true that the Ar- 
 gus, the oldest, and certainly in former days the most 
 influential and most extensively circulated democratic 
 paper in the state, although it placed at the head of its 
 columns the state democratic nomination, to use its own 
 significant expression, turned a cold shoulder to Gov. 
 Wright. It is not our business, nor do we intend to 
 express an opinion, whether the hunkers had or had not 
 good cause for this course. Of that every reader will of 
 course judge for himself, after recalling to his recollec- 
 tion their political position, and what since the year 
 1842 had taken place between them and their opponents 
 in the democratic party. All we mean to say is, that 
 we believe that, with now and then a very rare excep- 
 tion, the leading and prominent hunkers themselves 
 voted for Mr. Wright ; but that the coldness of so many 
 highly respectable and influential men as composed the 
 body of the hunkers, scattered as they were over the 
 state, from Long Island to Buffalo, must have discouraged 
 
1846.] CAUSES OP MR. Wright's defeat. 095 
 
 many of their democratic friends, repressed their ardor 
 in the cause, and induced some of them to yield to the 
 persuasion of the whigs to vote at that time their ticket, 
 and others to remain at home and decHne voting. 
 Hence we see that the number of votes cast for Gov. 
 Wrio-ht was 54,000 less than the number he received at 
 the preceding election, and yet Mr. Young's majority 
 was less than 12,000. The whig vote, when compared 
 with their vote in 1844, was diminished less than 39,000. 
 We therefore agree with the author of "Causes and 
 Consequences," that the anti-rent vote, the canal veto, 
 the course of the editor of the Albany Argus, and the 
 hunker party, were, we should prefer to say, among the 
 causes of the defeat of Gov. Wright. We say among 
 the causes, for we believe there was still another cause, 
 not mentioned by our author, and that was the action or 
 supposed action of the general government. 
 
 Whether the president or any of his secretaries coun- 
 tenanced the hunkers in their indisposition to support 
 Mr. Wright, we do not know. We are nevertheless 
 inclined to believe that they never at any time made 
 any express declaration of a wish that his election should 
 be defeated. But that a very general impression pre- 
 vailed, that the hunkers were especial favorites at 
 Washington, we know to be the fact. How could it be 
 otherwise? Gov. Marcy, who had been placed at the head 
 of one of the most important departments, and which, 
 particularly in time of war, held within its power an 
 immense amount of patronage, was a distinguished 
 hunker, and, contrary to the assurances given at the 
 Baltimore convention, was appointed, when Governor 
 Wriaht, as was well known, was in favor of another 
 citizen of this state as its representative in the national 
 
696 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK. [1846. 
 
 cabinet. Judge Nelson, also an eminent hunker, had 
 been appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of the 
 United States, au office the discharge of the duties of 
 \vhich required his residence at Washington a consider- 
 able portion of the year ; and lastly, a short time before 
 the election. Governor Bouck, who more than any 
 other individual represented the hunker party, was ap- 
 pointed to one of the most important and influential 
 offices in the city of New York. When the appoint- 
 ments of governors Marcy and Bouck were made, the 
 real state of feeling between the hunker and radical 
 parties in New York must have been as well under- 
 stood at Washington as at Albany. 
 
 We are aware that Mr. Ritchie, the editor of the 
 government paper at the seat of the national govern- 
 ment, shortly before the election, published in the Union 
 a sort of general order, impudently forbidding (at least 
 impliedly) all office-holders under the president to vote 
 against Mr. Wright, under the pains and penalty of re- 
 moval from office. We know, too, that a few days be- 
 fore the election, Mr. Polk and several of his secretaries 
 wrote to Mr. Wright, assuring him of their anxious de- 
 sire that he should be successful at the ensuing election. 
 We are not advised that he made any use of these letters ; 
 but if he or his friends had so attempted, it was evident 
 they came too late. The mischief was done, and the 
 time for obviating it had gone by., It is an old maxim 
 of the common law, that unusual, labored, and redun- 
 dant declarations in a deed for conveyance of real 
 estate — that the transaction is bona fide and honest, and 
 that a full, ample, and valuable consideration has been 
 paid — is one of the ear-marks of fraud ; and accordingly 
 some of the friends of Gov. Wright doubted the sincerity 
 
181G.] CAUSES OF MR. WRIGIIt's DEFEAT. 697 
 
 of these assurances. We cannot believe that Mr. 
 Polk, conscious as he must have been, that he owed his 
 own elevation to the generous and patriotic sacrifice of 
 interest and feeling by Gov. Wright, could have been 
 disposed, either directly or indirectly, to encourage the 
 opposition to Mr. Wright. But it was well known that 
 Mr. Wright disagreed with the president and his cabi- 
 net on the question respecting the admission of Texas ; 
 it was also well known that Mr. Wright, if he should 
 consent, would be a formidable candidate for the next 
 presidency, and tiiat he had already been all but nomi- 
 nated by the persevering and indomitable Thomas H. 
 Benton. I\fr. Buchanan and Mr. Cass w^ere avowed 
 candidates for the same high office. Mr. Walker had 
 also been spoken of; but if not himself a candidate, there 
 can be no doubt his views were entirely adverse to the 
 election of Mr. Wright ; and Secretary Marcy, prob- 
 ably the ablest man in any of the departments, sympa- 
 thized with the feelings of his hunker friends at home. 
 With such powerful motives operating on the minds of 
 the secretaries, can it be deemed uncharitable at least to 
 suspect, that Messrs. Buchanan, Walker, Cass, &c., 
 secretly desired to impair the standing of their great 
 rival ? 
 
 But whether the government officers at Washington 
 were sincere or insincere in their declarations, is not 
 material in speaking of the causes of the defeat of Mr. 
 Wright. It is sufficient to say, what we do not believe 
 will be denied, that from their acts the impression was. 
 general that the hunkers were their favorites, and the 
 radicals were viewed by them with disfavor. 
 
 Previous to the election of 1846, by the adoption of 
 the new constitution, the governor had been shorn of 
 
 59 
 
698 POLITICAL HISTORY OF NEW VORK. [l846, 
 
 nearly all his patronage. The effect this must have 
 had on an office-loving community, will be perceived 
 and appreciated by every man of expei'ience and re- 
 flection. We therefore feel authorized to assume that 
 an impression did generally prevail that the predilections 
 of the national government were in favor of the hun- 
 kers ; that they were its special favorites, and that this 
 impression may be regarded as one of the causes of 
 the ill success of Gov. Wright at the November election 
 in 1846. 
 
 In concluding the account of the political occurrences 
 of this year, which concludes our history of political 
 parties, it is our melancholy and painful duty to record 
 the death of that distinguished politician and statesman, 
 Gen. Erastus Root. He died in the city of New York 
 on the 24th day of December. A few days before his 
 death he left his residence in the village of Delhi, and, 
 accompanied by his lady, was journeying to Washing- 
 ton, with a view of spending the winter there with their 
 son-in-law. Major Hobbie, the assistant postmaster-gen- 
 eral ; but Providence had decreed that he should never 
 again see that city, where he had spent so many winters 
 actively and anxiously engaged in the bustle and strug-. 
 gles incident to political rivalries, and as a prominent 
 actor and combatant in the conflicts which every session 
 of congress produces. 
 
 The author has now before him a letter written to 
 him by the general the evening before he left Delhi for 
 the last tyne : quite unusual with him, every sentence 
 is tinged with gloom and melancholy. One would 
 think, from reading it, that when he wrote he had a 
 presentiment that he was then about bidding a final 
 adieu to his home, and the charming village of Delhi. 
 
184G.] DEATH OF GEN. ROOT. G99 
 
 Gen. Root entered the political arena in the year 
 1798, and continued in the field during the residue of his 
 long and active life, for he was a member of the conven- 
 tion, in the autumn of 1846, which put Mr. John Young 
 in nomination for governor. Much has been said of him 
 in the two preceding volumes of this work ; and the 
 journals and reports of the proceedings of the state and 
 national legislatures, exhibit him in almost every page 
 for many successive years. Some of the most impor- 
 tant statutes of this state emanated from his vigorous 
 and prolific intellect. With physical and mental powers 
 superior to most other men — a mind highly cultivated 
 by classical learning, and enriched by extensive and va- 
 ried reading — a memory which never failed him — and 
 with the most scathing and scorching wit always at his 
 command, he was an efficient and powerful coadjutor in 
 any cause which he chose to advocate ; while by his op- 
 ponents he was justly regarded as a most formidable an- 
 tagonist. Sometimes he may have been faulty, errors 
 he may have committed, uncourteous, and even bitterly 
 severe he doubtless occasionally was ; but God had 
 given him a kind and generous heart, susceptible of deep 
 sympathy for the unfortunate, the persecuted, and the 
 miserable. He loved his friends — he loved his country, 
 its civil institutions, its liberty, and its glory. During 
 his long public life, no one ever ventured to charge him 
 with corruption, or to insinuate a doubt of his honesty 
 and integrity. 
 
 " No farther seek his merits to disclOSQ, 
 Or draw his frailties from their dread abode : 
 There they ahke iu trembling hope repose, 
 The bosom of his Father aud his God." 
 
700 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Life of Silas Wright resumed and continued — Manner in which Mr 
 Wiinrht receives the news of his defeat — Letter from George W. Little, 
 Esq. — Wiimot Proviso— Mr. P. King's Bill including the Wilmot Pro- 
 viso — His Speech on the Bill — Resolution of the New York Legislature 
 on the subject of the Wilmot Proviso — Mr. Wright leaves Albany for 
 Canton — His Journey from Ulica — Letter from Col. Hinman — Chicago 
 Convention — Mr. Vi'right's Reply to the Committee who invited his at- 
 tondance--Mr. Wright's Address at the Saratoga Agricultural Fair — 
 His Manner of Life after his return to Canton — His Death. 
 
 Having carried down (though we fear very imper- 
 fectly) the pohtical history of the state to the demise of 
 the government under the constitution of 1821, we shall 
 now confine ourselves to a brief account of the conduct 
 of Gov. Wright during the short period he remained in 
 Albany subsequent to the November election in 1846, 
 after which it will become our painful duty to follow 
 him in his retreat to his favorite and secluded home in 
 the village of Canton, and to his last resting place — the 
 grave. 
 
 Frotn the time the result of the last presidential elec- 
 tion was known, public attention, especially in the free 
 and grain-growing states, was turned towards Mr. 
 Wright as the man who ought to be, and who would be 
 selected as the next candidate for the presidency. That 
 a very large majority of the democrats in the eastern 
 and western states were for him there can be little doubt. 
 The current in his favor was daily deepening and wi- 
 dening. Yet he had formidable rivals — among whom 
 
LETTER FROM G. W, LITTLE, ESa. 701 
 
 may be. mentioned Buchanan of Pennsylvania, Cass of 
 Miciiigan, Woodbury of New Hampshire, and to these 
 names may, perhaps with propriety, be added Marcy, of 
 New York. The November election in this state had 
 cast a blight over the brilliant prospects of Mr. Wright. 
 It was apparently the wreck of his political fortunes. He 
 was beaten in his own state, at the very time when it 
 was of the last importance he should exhibit strength at 
 home. Would not his friends in the sister states aban- 
 don a candidate who was condemned by the voice of 
 the people of the state of which he was a citizen ? These 
 and the like reflections must have pressed upon the mind 
 of Mr. Wright at the close of the polls of the election. 
 He had been in public life for more than twenty years, 
 during which period he had seven times been a candidate, 
 either before the people or their representatives, for im- 
 portant elective offices, and had never been an unsuc- 
 cessful one. What, under similar circumstances, would 
 have been the high, indeed we may say the distracting 
 excitement of the minds of most other men, subject to 
 the ordinary passions of human nature ? How did the 
 tidings of his defeat affect Mr. Wright? Let a gentle- 
 man speak who was in company with him when he re- 
 ceived the result of the election, and who listened to 
 every word he uttered, and carefully observed his every 
 look and gesture. 
 
 " Albany, Dec. 21, 1847. 
 " Hon. J. D. Hammond — 
 
 " Dear Sir — On the afternoon of the day after the Novem- 
 ber election in 1846, I called at the residence of Mr. Flagg, 
 the comptroller, in company with Lester Barker, Esq., the 
 present sheritf of Oneida county. We found there Mr. and 
 Mrs. Wright. The dispatches had been but a short time re- 
 ceived that rendered it certain that Mr. Wright was beaten. 
 
 59* 
 
702 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 I was, of course, aware of the immense importance that at- 
 tached to the result of that election, not to the democratic 
 party and Mr. Wright's personal friends alone, but to him in- 
 dividuallv. His opponents said, that if he was defeated in 
 that contest there was an end of his career as a public man ; 
 and tliat once removed from the public eye, and in retirement, 
 both the man and his history would be speedily forgotten. 
 This sentiment, though not avowed, I know was shared in 
 some degree by his warmest friends, and I was curious to see 
 how a man, whose public course for a quarter of a century had 
 been one of uniform and unvarying sixccess, would bear a re- 
 verse which stripped him in a moment of his employments, 
 and consigned him inevitably to retirement. I observed him 
 closely during a conversation of an hour and a half, and was 
 fully impressed, by his language and demeanor, that he was 
 not only a great statesman, but a profound philosopher. Not 
 the least appearance of mortification or disappointment was 
 visible. His manner and conversation were of the same cheer- 
 ful, affable kind which always characterized him, and neither 
 more nor less so. There was no affectation of indifference to 
 the result — no desire on his part to turn the conversation into 
 other channels than the then engrossing topic — no word of 
 censure or reproach for those of his own party who had aban- 
 doned him in the struggle — no disparagement of his competi- 
 tor, or the opposing party. He inquired for the news we 
 brought in his usual smiling, pleasant manner — spoke of the 
 probable returns from counties not then heard from — and all 
 in a manner, which, to an observer that did not know him per- 
 sonally, would have appeared only like the natural interest 
 a statesmen, who had been long retired from active life, 
 would feel in political events which had long since ceased to 
 have for him any personal concern. 
 
 " I left that interview, the last I ever had the honor of hav- 
 ing with him, more deeply impressed than ever with the con- 
 viction, that with all the great and noble qualities which ele- 
 vate, dignify, and adorn human nature, Silas Wright was pre- 
 eminently endowed. He was truly a great man. 
 
 G. W. LriTLB." 
 
VVILMOT PROVISO. 703 
 
 The writer of the above letter is Dr. Little, late a 
 canal commissioner, who, as between the two sections 
 of the democratic party, was regarded as a hunker. We 
 forbear to speak further of the evidence of true great- 
 ness which the philosophical calmness and quiet of Gov. 
 Wright afforded on this interesting occasion. The plain 
 facts, truthfully related by Doctor Little, are his best 
 eulogy. 
 
 When the war against Mexico, in the spring of 1846, 
 was commenced, it was believed it would be of short 
 duration. One of the avowed causes of the war was 
 the spoliations committed on the commerce of the Uni- 
 ted States, and a refusal or neglect on the part of Mex- 
 ico to make compensation to our citizens for those inju- 
 ries. All were convinced of the absolute inability of 
 the Mexicans to pay in cash a sum sufficient to furnish 
 the required indemnity. It was therefore evident, that 
 if indemnity was obtained, it must be by a grant of ter- 
 ritory by Mexico, other than that included within the 
 true boundaries of Texas. No doubt, at that time the 
 president desired to acquire possession not only of Up- 
 per California, the annexation of which would be highly 
 advantageous to the United States on account of its 
 ports on the Pacific ocean, but of a part, if not the whole 
 of New Mexico, To effect this object, and to facilitate 
 negotiations for a peace, the president required of con- 
 gress that the sum of two millions of dollars (afterwards 
 increased to three) should be placed at the disposal of 
 the executive sovernment. Towards the close of the 
 session of 1846, which continued into the summer of that 
 year, a bill was introduced into the house of representa- 
 tives granting the president the sum demanded, in pur- 
 suance of his recommendation. Previous to this, con- 
 
70 i LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 gress had granted men and money for the purpose of 
 prosecuting the Mexican war, to an amount quite as 
 large, if not larger, than was asked for by the national 
 executive. But when the bill for granting the last sum 
 requested by the president was under consideration in 
 the house of representatives, Mr. Wilmot, an active and 
 resolute member from the state of Pennsylvania, offered 
 the following amendment to it, subsequently known as 
 the WiLMOT Proviso. 
 
 " Provided, That there shall be neither slavery nor involun- 
 tary servitude in any territory on the continent of America, 
 which shall hereafter be acquired by, or annexed to the United 
 States, by virtue of this appropriation, or in any other man- 
 ner whatsoever, except for crimes, whereof the party shall have 
 been duly convicted. Provided always. That any person es- 
 caping into that territory, from whom labor or service is law- 
 fully claimed in any one of the United States, such person may 
 be lawfully reclaimed and carried out of such territory to the 
 person claiming his or her service." 
 
 The object of the recommendation of the president, and 
 of the bill as originally drawn, could not be mistaken. 
 It was io purchase territory from a foreign government. 
 In Mexico neither slavery nor involuntary servitude 
 was permitted, and the question presented by Mr. Wil- 
 mot's proviso was, whether congress should grant money 
 to the president for the purpose of purchasing free ter- 
 ritory with a view to the establishment of slavery in it. 
 The proviso was adopted by the house, every member 
 from the state of New York voting for it ; but it was not 
 sent to the senate until within a very few days of the 
 close of the session. When it came to that house one 
 of its members commenced a speech, which he prolong- 
 ed, evidently for the purpose of " talking against time," 
 to such an extent, that final action on Mr. Wil mot's pro- 
 
SPEECH OF MR. KING. 706 
 
 viso was rendered impossible, and the bill to which it 
 was attached failed of becoming a law during that ses- 
 sion. 
 
 On the 4th of January, 1847, during the next session 
 of congress, Mr. Preston King, a democratic member of 
 congress from the county of St. Lawrence, justly dis- 
 tinguished for independence, firmness, and talents, brought 
 in a bill granting the money to the president which he 
 required, and which contained the Wilmot proviso. 
 
 In explaining his object in introducing the bill, Mr 
 King said — 
 
 " Sir, in proposing to introduce that bill, I had no intention 
 to interfere with or to anticipate the action of the standing 
 committee from which it came to the house at the last session, 
 but was governed solely by the desire to bring the subjects 
 presented by the provisions of the bill to the early considera- 
 tion and action of the house. / The bill embraces two principal 
 features — one placing an amount of money at the discretion of 
 the president, to be used in negotiating a peace with Mexico, 
 if an opportunity shall occur when the president should deern 
 it proper to use this money in negotiating a treaty of peace ; 
 the other excluding slavery from any territory which the Uni- 
 ted States may hereafter acquire, being the provision offered 
 by the honorable gentleman from Pennsylvania, [Mr. Wilmot,] 
 and adopted as a part of this peace measure by the house of 
 representatives in August last. I will frankly say, that if I had 
 not supposed that there was a disposition in some quartern 
 silently to give the free principle of the Wilmot proposition 
 the go-by, and, by smothering and avoiding action upon it, to 
 give further extension to the dominions of slavery at the ex- 
 pense of free territory, I should not at this time have brought 
 forward this bill. The president recommended, and reiterates 
 his recommendation, of a law grantmg the two millions. 
 
 " If coupled with the Wilmot proviso, I would cheerfully 
 grant the money. But I would have the free principle of the 
 Wilmot proviso enacted into law, whether this bill passes or 
 
706 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 not. The time has come when tliis republic should declare by 
 law th;;t it will not be made an instrument to the extension of 
 slavery on the continent of America. That the boundaries, 
 institutions, and principles of our republic must and will ex- 
 tend, there can be no doubt. The present war with Mexico 
 must result in an extension of the territory of the United States. 
 A peace, honorable to this country, cannot be concluded with- 
 out indemnity from Mexico in territory. It is whispered, that 
 it will not do to propo-iC a law that any such tei-ritory should 
 be free, becau'^e a southern administration will take no terri- 
 tory, unless it shall be so arranged that the territory shall be 
 open to slavery. I will not listen to or harbor so monstrous 
 an idea. 
 
 "Every inch of Texas was yielded to slavery. I know that 
 it was reluctantly yielded to the possession of slavery by many 
 who supposed the acquisition of Texas might be hazarded by 
 any dissension about the terms so strenuously insisted upon by 
 the representatives of the slave states ; but, with Texas, the 
 extension of slavery, it was supposed, would stop. It was 
 hoped the South would not desire to carry it where it does 
 not now exist. Is this so ? The two millions are distinctly, 
 urgently, and repeatedly recommended by the president to be 
 appropriated. There is no other purpose for which this ap- 
 propriation can be wanted except in connection with a cession 
 of territory by Mexico. Mexico already owes us unpaid in- 
 demnities for acknowledged and adjudicated spoliations on our 
 commerce. I repeat, we must have territory from Mexico ; 
 and there can be no harm or impropriety in stating what cir- 
 cumstances and every action of our government proclaim to 
 the world as clearly and as unerringly as words could do. 
 
 " Shall the territory now free which shall come to our ju- 
 risdiction be free territory, open to settlement by the laboring 
 man of the free states, or shall it be slave territory, given up 
 to slave labor ? One or other it must be ; it cannot be both. 
 The labor of the free white men and women, and of their chil- 
 dren, cannot, and will not, eat and drink, and lie down, and 
 rise up, with the black labor of slaves ; free white labor will 
 
1846.] SPEECH OF MR. KING. 707 
 
 not be degraded by such association. If slavery is not exclu- 
 ded by law, the presence of the slave will exclude the laboring 
 white man. The vounor men who went with their axes into the 
 forests, and heaved out of the wilderness such states as Ohio, 
 and Indiana, and Michigan, and Illinois, and Iowa, and Wis- 
 consin, would never have consented, in the workshops or in 
 the held, to be coupled with negro slaves. These powerful 
 commonwealths have sprung up in the great West within the 
 memory of a single generation — free, populous, and flourish- 
 ing, by the wisdom of the legislation of the men of the Rev- 
 olution. One act of this government did more for them than 
 all other acts of legislation. It was the ordinance of July, 1787, 
 by which slavery and involuntary servitude, except for crime, 
 was forever prohibited in all the territory of the United States 
 north and west of the Ohio river. The brave and patriotic 
 generation who achieved our independence, and established 
 the republic, did not hesitate about passing such an act. They 
 thus saved these now populous and powerful states from the 
 evils of slavery and a black population. 
 
 " Shall we hesitate to do the same thing for territory where 
 slavery does not now exist ? I trust not. The man who has 
 wealth or credit to purchase a plantation, and become the 
 owner of slaves, may settle and reside without social degrada- 
 tion in a country where slavery exists. Not so with the labor- 
 ing white man. He cannot go without social degradation, and 
 he therefore will not go. He is excluded quite as effectually 
 as he could be by law. The mere presence of slavery, wher- 
 ever it exists, degrades the condition, the respectability, the 
 character of labor. A false and mischievous public opinion 
 regarding the condition and respectability of labor is produced 
 by its presence ; and false and recreant to his race and to his 
 constituency would be any representative of free white men 
 and women, who should by his vote place free white labor upon 
 a condition of social equality with the labor of the black slave ; 
 equally false would he be who, upon any pretence, should, by 
 inaction and evasion of the question, produce the same degra- 
 ding result. 
 
708 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 " The measure which I had tlie honor to propose, presented 
 this subject to the house. I cannot, and of course do not, 
 claim any originahty in the principles of the bill ; one feature 
 of which comes from the earnest recommendation of the pres- 
 ident in his special message to congress of the last session ; 
 the other from the motion of my friend from Pennsylvania, 
 [Mr. Wilmot,] and the adoption of his pi'oposition by the house, 
 when the bill was considered and passed. The measure is 
 again, in the annual message of the president at the opening 
 of the present session, strongly recommended to the favorable 
 attention of congress. The history of the measure is known 
 to the house and the country. It passed the house of repre- 
 sentatives at the last session, late on Saturday night next pre- 
 ceding Monday, the 10th of August, on which day congress 
 had decided to adjourn at twelve o'clock at noon. Many other 
 important bills were still pending in the senate, to be decided 
 in the forenoon of Monday, and this bill, taken up in the last 
 hour of the session of the senate, did not receive the final ac- 
 tion of a vote upon its passage, but was lost by not having been 
 voted upon, and without the decision of the senate. This 
 measure, in a time of war, is recommended by the president, 
 and should be acted on by congress as a peace measure, and 
 is evidence to the country and to the world, that however vig- 
 orously it may be deemed just and proper to prosecute the war, 
 while war, or cause of war, exists, still the desire for honora- 
 ble peace is a sentiment strong as ever Avith our gov-ernment ; 
 and this measure, recommended by the president, is evidence 
 that no intention exists, in negotiating a peace, to demand 
 terms other than such as are honorable both to this country 
 and to Mexico. 
 
 " Of the causes of the war, or the manner in which it com- 
 menced, it would scarcely be proper for me now to speak ; even 
 if it were, these topics have been discussed at very considerable 
 length by those much more able to elucidate them than I am. 
 I am one of those who believe a war with Mexico was inevita- 
 ble after the annexation of Texas (upon the terms selected by 
 President Tyler) should be consummated. Whether the alter- 
 
SPEECH OF MR. KING. 709 
 
 native mode presented by congress, or any other mode or terms, 
 would have avoided war, it is now, perhaps, useless to inquire. 
 The annexation of Texas to the United States was believed to 
 be desired by the people of both countries ; and Texas was 
 annexed. The right of annexation by two independent nations 
 cannot be questioned. But to obtain possession of Tamaulipas 
 and Chihuahua, between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, where 
 the Mexicans held disputed possession, and to get Santa Fe, 
 where the Mexican authorities and people held undisputed pos- 
 session, the use of force was necessary. The nse of force be- 
 tween nations, to decide a disagreement between them, is war, 
 " The use of force and of military power was necessary, I 
 repeat, to expel the Mexican authorities from all of these prov- 
 inces claimed by Texas, unless Mexico should cede them by 
 negotiation. But Mexico not only refused to abandon Tamau- 
 lipas and Chihuahua, between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, 
 and Santa Fe, on the north of Texas, but she even asserted a 
 claim upon Texas itself ; and declared that the annexation of 
 Texas to the United States would be regarded by her as an 
 act of war on the part of the United States against Mexico. 
 When measures for the annexation of Texas were adopted by 
 0U3- government, Mexico withdrew her minister from Washing- 
 ton, refused to renew negotiations, and prepared to wage war. 
 In the valley of the Rio Grande, on the Texan side of that 
 river, the armies of the two nations met, hostilities commenced, 
 and actual war was waged. There can be no doubt of what 
 is the dutv of every good citizen of the United States in a state 
 of war. The enemies of his country should be his enemies ; 
 her friends his friends. A cordial support and vigorous pros- 
 ecution of the war should be sustained while the war lasts. 
 The war should be terminated whenever an honorable peace 
 can be obtained, and not before. 
 
 " The bill which I proposed, and still propose to introduce, 
 looks to such a termination of the wiir. Wliile its first feature 
 — the two million appropriation — more clearly discloses what 
 ii would be in vain to deny, or attempt to conceal, that the 
 acquisition of territory, at leist oi tlie Californias and New 
 
 tiO 
 
710 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 Mexico, as an indemnity for the war, as well as for previous 
 wrongs and injuries against our government and citizens, will 
 be insisted upon by the government of the United States, but 
 upon terms liberal and honorable to Mexico, it contains also a 
 principle, in the provision proposed by my friend from Penn- 
 sylvania, more important than the war itself; a principle with 
 which Mexico, in arranging her terms of peace has nothing to 
 do, and witli which I do not understand that it is proposed by 
 anybody she should have any thing to do. It is no subject 
 of treaty stipulation, unless the treaty-making powei's of the 
 tAVO governments shall, of their own free will, choose to make 
 it so. It is a question purely our own, and pertaining ex- 
 clusively to the United States. This principle excludes sla- 
 very from any territory which may hereafter be added to this 
 country. This principle 1 deem to be of vital importance, and 
 should be very much gratified if it could receive the unani- 
 mous assent and approbation of congress. This, however, I do 
 not expect. The same interest which pertinaciously insisted 
 upon extending slavery over Texas, still desires, I apprehend, 
 its further extension. This should not be so. For the exist- 
 ence of slavery in the United States, the government of the 
 republic is not responsible. It was planted heie while the 
 country was colonies of Great Britain ; and its existence or 
 continuance is not a question for the govei-nment of the Union ; 
 it belongs exclusively to each state for itself. 
 
 " Tlie bill proposed presents no question of abolitionism. It 
 is the antagonist of abolitionism, denying any constitutional 
 power in the federal government to meddle in any way with 
 the existence of slavery within the limits of a state. No free 
 state in the Union has ever held or asserted the right or 
 authority of the federal government to abolish or interfere 
 with slavery in any state. But while every free state has 
 always maintained, and stands ready to maintain, the consti- 
 tution and all its compromises, it cannot be supposed that the 
 people of the free states will approve the exertion of the 
 power of the federal government to extend indediiiteiy the 
 institution of slavery over territory which is now free. With 
 
SPEECH OF MR. KING. 711 
 
 tlie abolition of slavery the congress of the Union can have 
 nothing to do; but it wo\ild be an equally wide departure 
 from the constitution, and from every sound principle upon 
 which our republican institutions are founded, that the gov- 
 ernment of the United States should be instrumental in ex- 
 tending slavery in any direction, or in converting free territory 
 into slave territory. To avoid this result, it is necessary that 
 congress shall provide by law against the existence of slavery 
 in any territory which hereafter may become the territory of 
 the United States, and which shall not be included within the 
 limits of a state. Whenever any territory shall have obtained 
 population sufficient for the formation of a state government, 
 and shall have formed a state constitution, and been admitted 
 into the Union as a state, then the responsibility of the federal 
 government on the question of slavery, for that territory and 
 people, thus admitted as a state, ceases. 
 
 " Then, say they who oppose the enactment of the Wilmot 
 proviso. Why not let the question alone, and leave it to the 
 states and the people themselves to determine whether the 
 state shall be a slave state or a free state "? This inquiry and 
 reasoning is specious and plausible ; but the simplest examina- 
 tion on the principles of common sense will show that it is 
 unsound and false. If left alone, slaves more or less will be 
 carried to the new territory, and if the country while it re- 
 mains a territory should be settled by a population holding 
 slaves, the new and additional question of abolition is present- 
 ed, and in order to get a free state slavery must first be 
 abolished. This embarrassment in a new community, without 
 means to indemnify the owners, would be an obstacle almost 
 insurmountable, and the new state would be veiy^ far from 
 being free to choose between becoming a free state or a slave 
 state. On the contrary, if the country, while it remains a 
 territory, shall be settled by a free population, from which 
 slavery is excluded, then, when a state government is formed, 
 the state and the people would be unembarrassed by any 
 pecuniary interests or questions of vested right, and be free to 
 decide whether the state should be a free state or a slave 
 
712 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 state. In order, then, to secure this freedom of choice to the 
 state and to the people, slavery must be excluded from the 
 country while it shall be a territory, and until it shall become 
 a state. 
 
 " But I will not pursue the subject now. It must be obvious 
 to all, as I think it will be acknowledged by all, that the 
 character of the population in the territory will determine the 
 character of the state, when that territory shall be erected 
 into a state?! If the territory has a slave population of only 
 one-fourth or one-fifth of the whole number, it will be a slave 
 state. If a free population while a territory, it will be a free 
 state. Exclude slavery from all territory not within the limits 
 of a state, and 1 am willing the territory shall determine for 
 itself, when it becomes a state, what shall be its character. 
 Many of the states in which slavery existed when the Union 
 was formed have abolished the institution. No instance of 
 any one of the states from which slavery has been excluded, 
 can be found where the state or the people have determined 
 to introduce slaves. If congress shall refuse, at this session, 
 to make this free principle a law, the arms of the republic will 
 conquer free territory upon which slavery will be planted. I 
 desire the adoption of the free principle, because I believe it 
 to be just to the free states, just to the white men who fight 
 our battles, and who constitute the strength of the country in 
 peace or war ; because I believe it to be consistent with the 
 principles of our government ; and because I believe it will 
 tend to improve the condition and character of labor in the 
 whole country. And who will deny that, in a reptiblic, it 
 should be one of the chief objects of government to elevate 
 and dignify the condition and character of labor ? Unless 
 this measure shall be brought before the house by a commit- 
 tee, or in some other way, I shall continue to urge the bill J 
 proposed yesterday upon the attention of the house." 
 
 Mr. King might have added, that he and the friends 
 who acted with him. h;id r^ujiported. by their speeches 
 and votes, the grant ot" the most liberal sums of money 
 
RESOLUTIONS OF N. YORK LEGISLATURE. 713 
 
 to defray the expenses of prosecuting the war with Mex- 
 ico, and that they should continue to do so until an hon- 
 orable peace was obtained ; but that the grant of money 
 for the purchase of free territory, with the intent of estab- 
 lishing slavery in it, presented another and an entirely 
 different question. 
 
 The bill containing the Wilmot proviso again passed 
 the house, but the proviso was struck out in the senate, 
 and the bill finally passed without it. All the members 
 of the house of representatives from the state of New 
 York, save one, voted for the proviso. 
 
 While this question was before congress, the follow- 
 ing resolutions passed both houses of the legislature of 
 the state of New York, by the votes of nearly all the 
 members. Those who voted against the resolutions 
 were, we believe, all hunkers, except Mr. Flanders from 
 Franklin, whom we have before noticed as a member of 
 the Syracuse Convention : 
 
 " Resolved, That if any territory is hereafter acquired by 
 the United States, or annexed thereto, the act by which such 
 territory is acquired or annexed, whatever such act may be, 
 should contain an unalterable, fundamental article or provision, 
 whereby slavery, or involuntary servitude, except as a punish- 
 ment for crime, shall be forever excluded from the territory 
 acquired or annexed. 
 
 " Resolved, That the senators in congress from this state be 
 instructed, and that the representatives in congress from this 
 state be requested, to use their best efforts to carry into effect 
 the views expressed in the foregoing resolution." 
 
 Some of the hunker presses, it is true, took ground 
 against the proviso ; but it is worthy of remark, that all 
 of them, so far as we recollect, admitted that the prin- 
 ciple involved in the proviso was correct, and that when 
 congress should legislate on the subject of the territories 
 
 60* 
 
714 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 which might be acquired by treaty, a provision, similar 
 to that contained in the proviso, ought to be enacted. 
 
 Mr. Wright had not left Albany when these resolu- 
 tions were before the legislature. He declared his cor- 
 dial approbation of them. It has been suspected, that as 
 Mr. King was the personal and political friend of Mr. 
 Wright, his action in congress on the subject of the pro- 
 viso was prompted by Gov. Wright. But however 
 much Mr. King respected the opinions and confided in 
 the judgment of Mr. Wright, he is not the man to act 
 under the influence or promptings of any man. Besides, 
 we have satisfactory assurances that Mr. Wright was 
 entirely ignorant of Mr. King's intention to agitate the 
 question in congress, until he read his published speech. 
 
 On the subject of the proviso, Mr. Wright, in a letter 
 to Mr. J. H. Titus, of New York, written in the month 
 of April of that year, uses this strong and emphatic lan- 
 guage : , 
 
 " If the question had been propounded to me, at any period 
 of my public life—' Shall the arms of the Union be employ- 
 ed to conquer, or the money of the Union be used to purchase 
 territory now constitutionally free, for the purpose of planting 
 slavery upon it' — I should have answered, No ! And this an- 
 swer to this question is the Wilmot proviso, as I understand it. 
 I am surprised that any one should suppose me capable of en- 
 tertaining any other opinion, or giving any other answer, to 
 such a proposition." 
 
 Mr. D. S. Dickinson, the United States senator from 
 this state, voted against the Wilmot proviso, notwith- 
 standing the legislative resolutions we have copied ; 
 and, what is somewhat singular, made a speech, in which 
 he attempted to convince the senate and the public that 
 his vote was in conformity to the instructions ■_)[ the 
 
LETTER FROM COL. HINMAN. 715 
 
 New York legislature, as expressed in the resolutions 
 above set forth ! 
 
 Bad weather, the want of snow to facilitate travelling 
 in sleighs, and some business concerns, detained Gov. 
 Wright longer in Albany, during the winter of 1847, 
 than he had intended. He did not leave there until 
 some time in the month of February, when his friends 
 at Albany took an affectionate leave of him, Alas ! 
 they did not know, and therefore could not realize, that 
 they were never again to meet him on earth — that this 
 was their final and last parting. Our blindness to the 
 future is one of the wisest and most benevolent provis- 
 ions of Providence. " Sufficient unto the day is the evil 
 thereof." 
 
 A description of the plain and simple manner in which 
 Gov. Wrio-ht travelled on his return home, will be 
 found in the following letter, written to the author, and 
 at his request, by a highly respectable, old, and uniform 
 political and personal friend of the late governor. 
 
 "UxiCA, Feb. 17, 1848. 
 " Dear Sir — la pursuance of the request contiiiaed in your 
 letter, it gives me great pleasure to state, that I was first in- 
 troduced to Gov. Wright at Middlebury, in Vermont, in the 
 year 1815, when, I believe, he was a member of the college in 
 that town. I saw no more of him until he was elected to the 
 senate of tliis state, and took liis seat in that body, in tlie year 
 1824. From that time until the year 1846 we were very in- 
 timate, communicating with each other without the least re- 
 serve, and using perfect and unrestrained liberty in every 
 thinor which passed between us. And I can with truth and 
 sincerity say, I thought more of that man than any man living. 
 I never found a man more devoted to what he believed to be 
 the true interests of his country, and of the people, than Silas 
 Wright. He was always for preferring and serving his politi- 
 
71G LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 cal friends, but he never indulged this desire to oblige either 
 political or personal friends at the hazard of the public weal, 
 or the sacrifice of the interests of the masses. 
 
 " Gov. Wright, on his return to Canton, in the winter of 1846 — 
 alas ! it was his last — passed through Utica. He, with his wife, 
 arrived here in the cars about two o'clock in the afternoon. I 
 met him at Bagg's hotel, and expressed to hira a very earnest 
 desire that he should remain overnight, as thei-e were many 
 of his friends in Utica who wished to visit him that evening ; 
 but having been detained much longer in Albany than he had 
 anticipated, he replied, that he could not spare the time, and 
 immediately hired a farmer by the name of Henry Neger, to 
 take him and his biiiru'aixc in a lumber sleio-Ji to Canton. Du- 
 ring his short stay in Utica he visited our lunatic asylum, and 
 while he was gone the farmer and myself arranged his bag- 
 gage — consisting of boxes, trunks, and a few fine farming tools, 
 with which his friends at Albany had presented him — so as to 
 make room for himself and wife to sit on the top of the load, 
 as conveniently as we could. In this way the late governor 
 left Utica, about five o'clock on the same afternoon he arrived 
 there. This was the last time I ever saw my friend. I was 
 afterwards informed by Mr. Neger, that the governor and his 
 lady passed the night at his house, about four miles fi'om this 
 city, and after readjusting their baggage, they started the next 
 morning about five o'clock, and on tlie third day arrived at 
 Canton, all safe and in good order. Mrs. Wright carried a 
 bird, in a cage, in her lap the whole distance. 
 
 " In tliis unostentatious and plain manner did that man travel, 
 on wliom the hearts of millions were at that moment fixed for 
 the hiuhest and most honorable office in America, (may I not 
 say in the world ?) and for whom, without distinction of party, 
 the merchants of the greatest city in America were preparing 
 a service of gorgeous plate, fit an expense of from eighteen to 
 twenty thousand dollars, to be presented to him in testimony 
 of their respect for his talents and patriotism, and their grati- 
 tude for the services he had rendered our beloved country. 
 
CHICAGO CONVENTION. 717 
 
 " I rejoice, my dear sir, to learn that we have one man who 
 is disposed to perpetuate the name and fame of our great and 
 good man, Silas Wright. 
 
 " I am, with great respect, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 " John E. Hinman. 
 " To Jabez D. Hammond, Esq." 
 
 We regret that our limits do not permit us to copy 
 the whole letter of Col. Hinman, for it contains a stri- 
 kinsr instance of the firmness and indomitable resolution 
 of Mr. Wright in resisting the blandishments, as well as 
 the threats of the organized lobby, which in 1826 made 
 a rush upon the senate, as we have heretofore related,* 
 to force through that house some dozen bank charters 
 which had passed the assembly. 
 
 At the latter part of the long session of congress, in 
 1846^ a bill had passed making appropriations to the 
 amount of more than a million of dollars, to be expended 
 chiefly in improving the harbors on the western lakes, 
 and removing obstructions from rivers which might be 
 rendered navigable. This bill was vetoed by the presi- 
 dent, on the ground that the objects for which the mo- 
 ney was to be raised were not recognised by the consti- 
 tution, and on the ground that the money appropriated 
 by the bill was necessarily required to defray the expen- 
 ses of the war with Mexico. The veto produced con- 
 siderable excitement against the president, especially in 
 the western states and territories. 
 
 This excitement occasioned the call of a national 
 convention of the friends of those improvements at 
 Chicago, which was invited to meet on the fourth day 
 of July. 
 
 * See Chap. III. 
 
718 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 A most respectable committee was organized, who 
 addressed letters of invitation to many of the distin- 
 guished men in the eastern, middle, and western states. 
 Among other statesmen, Mr. Wright was invited to at- 
 tend. His engagements prevented him from complying 
 with the invitation. Courtesy, as well as universal cus- 
 tom, required of him a written reply to this invitation. 
 Here then was an opportunity for an individual who 
 had, by the expressed voice of a large portion of the 
 people of the United States, been declared their first 
 choice for chief magistrate of the Union, to throw 
 out some lures to that great assemblage of highly influ- 
 ential men — coming from the east, the north, and the 
 west, and, nideed, from the south, intent on the greai 
 project of the improvement of the harbors on our lakes, 
 and the navigation of our rivers — to induce them to 
 believe that he was the champion who would lead 
 them on to a triumphant accomplishment of their mag- 
 nificent projects. Does Silas Wright attempt this in his 
 answer ? Far from it. True, he evinces his conviction 
 of the importance and utility of the projected improve- 
 ment, and expresses an opinion that it is the duty of the 
 general s^overnment to construct those works which are 
 of national importance ; but he more than intimates that 
 those improvements which are for the benefit of locali- 
 ties, and not national in their character, should not be 
 undertaken ; and he proposes that congress should act 
 separately and independently upon all applications, so 
 that each case should stand on its own merits. This 
 mode of proceeding, if adopted, would effectually pre- 
 vent, so far as any general rule of action can prevent, 
 all those formidable combinations, vulgarly, but very sig- 
 
LETTER OF MR. WRIGHT. 719 
 
 nificantly called " log-rolling," so pernicious to judicious, 
 just, and fair legislation. 
 
 So obviously correct are the principles laid down by 
 Mr. Wright in his answer to the committee, that several 
 respectable public meetings, in this and other states in 
 the Union, have declared their approbation of his views ; 
 and that they were in favor of improvements by the 
 general government, according to the principles set 
 forth by Mr. Wright in the letter to which we have al- 
 luded. We therefore think it our duty to present the 
 following entire copy of that letter : 
 
 "Canton, May 31, 1847, 
 " Gentlemen : — Your circular inviting me to attend " a 
 Northwestern Harbor and River Convention," to be assembled 
 at Chicago on the 1st Monday of July next, was duly received, 
 forwarded by Mr. Whiting, of your committee. My attention 
 had been previously called to the same subject by the invita- 
 tion of a friend at your city, to attend the convention, and gen- 
 erously tendering me quarters in his family during its sitting. 
 I was forced, from the state of private business, to inform him 
 that I could not make the journey at the time named, and the 
 period which has elapsed since I declined his invitation, has 
 only tended to confirm the conclusion pronounced to him. 
 Were it possible for me to attend the proposed convention, 
 without an unreasonable sacrifice, I should most gladly do so, 
 as my location gives me a strong feeling in reference to the 
 prosperity and safety of the commerce of the lakes. The sub- 
 ject of the improvement of the lake harbors is one which my 
 service in congress has rendered somewhat familiar to me in a 
 legislative aspect, while my personal travel upon the two low- 
 er lakes has made the necessity for these improvements mani- 
 fest to my senses. I am aware that questions of constitutional 
 power have been raised in reference to appropriations of money 
 by congress for the improvement of the lake harbors, and I am 
 well convinced that honest men have sincerely entertained 
 
720 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 Strong scruples upon this point ; but all my observations and 
 experience have induced me to believe that these scruples, 
 where the individual admits the power to improve the Atlan- 
 tic harbors, arise from the want of an acquaintance with the 
 lakes, and the commerce upon them, and an inability to be- 
 lieve the facts in relation to that commerce, when truly stated. 
 " It is not easy for one familiar with the lakes and the lake 
 commerce, to realize the degree of incredulity, as to the mag- 
 nitude and importance of both, which is found in the minds of 
 honest and well-informed men, residing in remote portions of 
 the Union, and having no personal acquaintance with either ; 
 while I do not recollect an instance of a member of congress, 
 who has travelled the lakes and observed the commerce upon 
 them, within the last ten years, requiring any further evidence 
 or argument to induce him to admit the constitutional power, 
 and the propriety of appropriations for the lake harbors, as 
 much as for those of the Atlantic coast. I have long been of 
 the opinion, therefore, that to impress the minds of the people 
 of all portions of the Union with a realizing sense of the facts 
 as they are, in relation to these inland seiis, and their already 
 vast and rapidly increasing commerce, would be all that is re- 
 quired to secui'e such appropriations as the state of the na- 
 tional treasury will from time to time permit, for the impiove- 
 ment of the lake harbors. I mean the improvement of such 
 h-irbors as the body of the lake commerce requires for its con- 
 venience and safety, as contradistinguished from the numerous 
 applications for these improvements which the various compe- 
 ting local interests upon the shores may prompt ; and I make 
 this distinction, because my own observation has shown that 
 applications for harbor impro^•enu;nts, at the public expense, 
 are made and passed, within distance of a very few miles, and 
 lit locations where, from the natural position of the lake and 
 c^ast, a good harbor at either point would secure to the com- 
 merce of the lakes all the convenience and safety of duplicate 
 improvements. Much of the difHcnUy of obtaining appropria- 
 tions grows out of these contlicting applications, and the stern- 
 ness with which all are pressed as necessary to the lake com- 
 
LETTER OF MR. WRIGHT. 721 
 
 merce, impairs the confidence of strangers to the local claims 
 and interests, in the importance of all. 
 
 " It is the duty of those who urge these improvements for 
 the great objects for which alone they should be made at the 
 expense of the nation, viz., the convenience and safety of the 
 lake commerce, to be honest with congress, and to urge ap- 
 propriations at points where these considerations demand them. 
 The river improvements constitute a much more difficult sub- 
 ject, and the connection of them with the lake harbors has 
 often, to my knowledge, fafcilly prejudiced the former. There 
 are applications for improvements of rivers, about which, as a 
 matter of principle and constitutional power, I have no more 
 doubt than about the harbors upon the lakes, or the Atlantic 
 coast ; and there are those which, in my judgment, come 
 neither within the principle nor the constitutional power ; but 
 to draw a line between the two classes of cases, I cannot. I 
 have witnessed numerous attempts to do this, but none of 
 them have appeared to be very sound, or very practical. The 
 facts and circumstances are so variant between the various 
 applications, that I doubt whether any general rule can be laid 
 down which will be found just and practical ; and 1 think the 
 course most likely to secure a satisfactory result, with the least 
 dan'rer of a violation of principle, woidd be for congress to act 
 separately and independently upon each application. There 
 has appeared to me to be one broad distinction between these 
 ciises which has not always been regarded, but which I think 
 always should be. It is between the applications to protect 
 and secm-e the safety of commerce upon rivers, where it ex- 
 ists and is regularly carried on in defiance of the obstructions 
 sought to be removed, and in the face of the dangers they 
 place in its way, and those apphcations which ask for improve- 
 ment of rivers, that commerce may be extended upon them, 
 where it is not. The one class appear to me to ask congress 
 to regulate and protect commerce upon rivers where commerce 
 in fact exists, and the others to create it upon rivers where it 
 does not exist. This distinction, if carefully observed, might 
 aid in determining some appUcation of both classes ; but it is not 
 
 61 
 
722 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT 
 
 a sufficient dividing line for practical legislation, if it is for 
 the settlement of the principle upon which all such appli- 
 cations should rest. I use the term ' commerce' in this defi- 
 nition, as I do in this letter, in its constitutional sense and 
 scope. 
 
 " i must ask your pardon, gentlemen, for troubling you with 
 so long and hasty a communication, in reply to your note. It 
 i-' not made for any public use, but to express to you, very 
 imperfectly, some of my views upon the interesting subjects 
 you bring to rav notice, whicli I shall not have the pleasure of 
 communicating in person, — and to satisfy you tliat I am not 
 indifferent to your request. 
 
 " Be pleased to accept my thanks for your polite inntation, 
 and believe me, 
 
 " Your very respectful and ob't serv't, 
 
 " Silas Wright. 
 
 " Messrs. J. N. Judd and others, Committee, &c." 
 
 The state agricultural fair for 1847 was ordered to be 
 held at Saratoga Springs in the month of September, 
 and Mr. Wright was appointed to deliver the address to the 
 society on that occasion. He accepted the appointment, 
 and prepared an address, which he completed on the even- 
 ing before his death. This was his last public commu- 
 nication. He died before the day appointed for the fair. 
 The address, nevertheless, at the special request of the 
 managers, was read to the society, and to the immense 
 audience congregated at that magnificent exhibition, by 
 Gen. Dix. That gentleman, before reading the address, 
 submitted some brief but appropriate and impressive re- 
 marks on the character, services, talents, and lamented 
 death of its author, in his happiest and best style and 
 manner. 
 
 The traits of the philosophical and great mind of Gov. 
 Wright are visible in every line of this address. It has 
 
ADDRESS FOR THE AGRICULTURAL FAIR. 723 
 
 been published and extensively circulated, and ought 
 to be, and, it is presumed, has been, generally read. 
 
 The mutual connection and dependence of agricul- 
 ture, commerce, and manufactures, with and upon each 
 other, is shown in the address with that clearness \\ hich 
 distinguishes all he ever wrote or uttered. 
 
 " The agriculture of our state," says Gov. Wright, " far as 
 it yet is from maturity and perfection, has already become an 
 art, a science, a profession, in which he who would instruct 
 must be first himself instructed far beyond the advancement 
 of him who now addresses you. 
 
 " The pervading character of this great and vital interest, 
 however ; its intimate connection with the wants, comforts, and 
 interests of every man in every employment and calling in life ; 
 and its controlling relations to the commerce, manufactures, 
 substantiid independence, and general health and prosperity 
 of our whole people, present abundant subjects for contem- 
 plation upon occasions like this, without attempting to explore 
 the depths, or to define the principles of a science so profound, 
 and, to the uninitiated, so difficult, as is that of agriculture. 
 
 " Agricultural production is the substratum of the whole 
 superstructure — the great element which spreads the sail and 
 impels the car of commerce, and moves the hands and turns 
 the machinery of manufacture. The earth is the common mo- 
 ther of all, in whatever employment engaged ; and the frruts 
 gathered from its bosom are alike the indispensable nutriment 
 and support of all. The productions of its surface and the 
 treasures of its mines, are the material upon which the labor 
 of the agriculturist, the merchant, and the manufacturer, are 
 alike bestowed, and are the prize for which all alike toil. 
 
 " The active stimulus which urges all forward, excites in- 
 dustry, awakens ingenuity, and brings out invention, is the 
 prospect or hope of a market for the productions of their la- 
 bor. The farmer produces to sell ; the merchant purchases 
 to sell ; and the manufacturer fabricates to sell. Self-con- 
 siimption of their respective goods, although an indispensable 
 
724 LIFE OF SILAS .WRIGHT. 
 
 necessity of life, is a mere incident in the; mind impelled to ac- 
 quisition. To gain that which is not produced or required, by 
 the sale of that which is possessed, is the great struggle of 
 laboring man." 
 
 In the course of his remarks he shows that the agri- 
 cultural productions of this country exceed the demand 
 for consumption by its inhabitants ; and that such is the 
 extent of our territory, and its fertility, that if the ground 
 is properly cultivated, and its productive powers fully 
 put in requisition, considering the vast quantity of un- 
 cultivated land contained in the national domain, a large 
 surplus for an indefinite period of time to come, may 
 and ought to be raised for foreign exportation ; and he 
 concludes by saying — 
 
 " The prospect in future is full of cheering promise. We 
 see in it the strongest possible security for our beloved coun- 
 try, through an indefinite period, against the scourge of famine. 
 Our varied soil and climate and agriculture double this secuii- 
 ty, as the disease and failure of any one crop Avill not, as a 
 necessary consequence, reduce any class of our population to 
 an exposure to death from hunger. We see also, in addition 
 to feeding ourselves, that our surplus is almost, if not alto- 
 gether, sufficient, if faithfully and prudently applied, even 
 now to drive famine from the length and breadth of Europe; 
 and that it is in our power, by faithful mental and physical 
 application, soon to make it equal to the expulsion of hunger 
 from the commercial world. We see that, dependent upon 
 the commercial markets, our agriculture may bring upon our 
 country a high degree of prosperity, and enable us, when ex- 
 traordinary occasions shall call for its exercise, to practise a 
 national benevolence as grateful to the hearts of the humane 
 as to the wants of the destitute. And we see that, by the 
 wider diffusion and more secure establishment of a successful 
 agriculture among our citizens, ;!s a permanent employment, 
 we are laying broader and deeper the foundations of our free 
 
RESOLUTIONS OF STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 72 
 
 t'Z.y 
 
 institutions, the pride and glory of our country, and prized by 
 its freemen as their richest earthly blessing ; the history of all 
 civil governments, confirmed by the experience of this repub- 
 lic, furnishing demonstrative proof that A well-educated, 
 
 INDUSTRIOUS, AND INDEPENDENT YEOMANRY ARE THE SAFEST 
 REPOSITORY OF FREEDOM AND FREE INSTITUTIONS." 
 
 These were the last words addressed by Silas Wright 
 to his fellow-citizens. They are worthy of the states- 
 man and patriot who uttered them. How deeply ought 
 they to sink into the hearts of his countrymen ! 
 
 After the reading of the address had been concluded, 
 the Hon. John A. King, of Queens county, offered the 
 following resolution — 
 
 " Resolved, That the eloquent address which has just been 
 read, be printed ; and that the president be requested to ask 
 the peiTnission of Mrs. Wright to retain the original draft of 
 the address, to be placed in the archives of the society ; and 
 to express to her at the same time the deep sympathy and 
 regret whicli is felt by all its members for the irreparable loss 
 which has so suddenly overwhelmed herself and the state in a 
 common grief." 
 
 Lewis F. Allen, Esq., on seconding the motion to 
 adopt Mr. King's resolution, moved the following reso- 
 lutions — 
 
 " Resolved, That in the death of Silas Wright, late governor 
 of this state, the New York State Agricultural Society have 
 lost a friend, benefactor, and honored and useful member, and 
 the community an illustrious example of republican simplicity 
 in private, as well as of inflexible honesty and great capacity 
 in public life. 
 
 " Resolved, That a committee of this society be appointed 
 by the president thereof, to prepare a brief memoir illustra- 
 tive of his character, his virtues, and his eminent public ser- 
 vices, for publication with the address delivered on this occa- 
 
 61* 
 
726 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 sion, in 'their transactions for the year 184Y, — a duty the more 
 gratefully performed, as the last public act of his life was one 
 of beneficence to the farmers of his country." 
 
 These resolutions were unanimously adopted. 
 
 After Mr. Wright returned to Canton he devoted 
 himself entirely to the cultivation of his little farm ; and 
 all that part of his tinie v- hich was not occupied in 
 answering the letters oi' his friends and in carrying on 
 his correspondence, which was now extended through 
 the Union, was employed in actual manual labor. His 
 habits were the same as in the first part of this work we 
 have described them, unchanged and unchangeable. 
 He was the same kind neighbor, the same judicious and 
 wise mentor to all, whether in high or low life, who 
 consulted him, the same unpretending and quiet citizen ; 
 and the sick and dying again saw him watching at their 
 bedside in the gloom of night ; they again saw his placid 
 countenance, beaming with benevolence, bending over 
 them, and heard him whisper words of hope and comfort. 
 We shall not repeat or attempt to amplify what we have 
 written on that subject. But an intelligent and highly 
 respected neighbor and friend, a gentleman who not 
 only possesses a mind richly stored with the choicest 
 literature, but who is a practical man and looks deeply 
 into the human character, who visited Gov. Wright but 
 a few days before his death, has favored the author with 
 a letter in which the residence of the late governor and 
 the village in which it is situated is so graphically de- 
 scribed, and the great man himself exhibited to us by a 
 portraiture so truthful and yet so vivid, that we have 
 obtained his consent for its publication, and we now 
 have the pleasure of presenting it to our readers — 
 
LETTER FROM O. A. MORSE, ESa. 727 
 
 " Cherry Valley, March 3], 1848. 
 
 " Dear Sir — In reply to your note, requesting me to give 
 vou an account of a call I made on the late Gov. Wright, last 
 summer, at his residence in Canton, I send you the follow- 
 ino- statement, in the hope that it may be of some interest, so 
 far as it shows the habits and mode of life at home of that 
 eminent man. 
 
 " Canton is a ver}^ remote, inaccessible village. The routes 
 to it, na Oswego or Montreal, about foiu- hundred miles in 
 length from Albany, are often preferred to the stage route 
 from Rome, in length from Albany about two hundred miles. 
 The village contains about eio-ht hmidred inhabitants, and is 
 built in the plainest manner, with little of that display of 
 architecture which is usually to be seen in like villages, par- 
 ticularly in the western counties of the state. The manners 
 and style of living of the citizens I should judge to be equally 
 unpretending. Gov. Wright's is a small wooden house, situ- 
 ated directly in the village, as common in its outward appear- 
 ance, in every respectj as the dwellings of his neighbors. 
 
 •' I was there one sultry day in June last, and on inquiring 
 for the sfovernor, was told that he was on his farm at work. 
 1 went to him, and found him hoeing in a field of potatoes. 
 In his dress as well as occupation he looked in every particu- 
 lar the common laboring farmer. He paused from his work as 
 I addressed him, and leaning on his hoe, and wiping from his 
 face the perspiration caused by an intensely hot sim, received 
 me with his usual ease and propriety of manner and language. 
 Elegance of speech from Gov. Wright, in Albany or Wash- 
 ington, was not to be wondered at, but I must say, that in the 
 course of his conversation, in spite of my previous knowledge 
 of the man, I was in a measure surprised to hear it from him 
 as he then stood before me, apparently a laboring farmer, in 
 a lonely field, near the verge of the northern wilderness, with 
 the tools and evidence of unostentatious and hard toil around 
 him. He directed his "remarks chiefly to the object of my 
 visit to the county, and when talking, would occasionally make 
 a few strokes with his hoe, so that while I was with him he 
 finished one or two hills of potatoes in the most thorough 
 
728 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 manner, carefully pulling out the quack with his fingers, and 
 extirpating every thistle and weed. He said that his farm con- 
 tained between one and two hundred acres, that he usually la- 
 bored with his men, but did not accompany them that morning 
 because he could not suffer the potatoes longer to be neglected. 
 " During the summer of 1844 I had heard of Governor 
 Wright's habit of laboring on his farm, and I had supposed 
 that he indulged in it occasionally only for recreation and ex- 
 ercise, hke many other gentlemen living in the country, but in 
 this interview I was satisfied that he was emphatically a far- 
 mer in the common way, laboring daily and all day, and shun- 
 ning none of the drudgery and toil of the business. I was con- 
 ^'inced, also, by my own observations and by the remarks of his 
 townsmen, that this practice was not adopted for effect abroad, 
 and that it would be absurd as well as unjust to suspect him 
 of so unworthy a motive. It is not uncommon for statesmen 
 to retire from office to agriculture, but they have always, I be- 
 lieve, Hke Lord Bolingbroke, attempted to adorn and magnify 
 the business by a parade of philosophy, or else have solaced 
 themselves in their retreat with the refinements and luxuries of 
 wealth. We may read, indeed, of statesmen putting off the 
 robes and etiquette of office for the dress and manners of the 
 artisan and farmer, in rmaffected contentment and peace, 
 thouo-h I am sure it has been commonly thought that the pic- 
 ture was a fable ; or if ever a fact, that it must have been so 
 only in the barbarous and primitive days of Roman or Grecian 
 virtue ; but here I saw it before me in reality, and though I am 
 not incUned to hero worship, I was impressed with the thought 
 that I was witnessing a scene which the poets and philoso- 
 phers of the world have always admired as exhibiting exalted, 
 though they may have believed it to be ideal, integrity and 
 greatness of soul. Gov. Wright that day, when laboring in 
 that obscure field, was perhaps the most conspicuous man in 
 America, and the contrast the fact affords, in popular estima- 
 tion, must tend to give peculiar and historical interest to his 
 
 character. 
 
 •• 1 am ti-uly yours, 0. A. Morse. 
 
 " Hon. J. D. Hammo.nd." 
 
HIS LOVE OF RET[REMENT. 729 
 
 Let Governor Wright himself tell us how highly he 
 enjoyed this quiet and retired life. In his letter to Gov. 
 Fairfield, of Maine, dated at Canton the 11th August, 
 but sixteen days before his death, he says : — 
 
 " If I were to attempt to tell you how happy we make our- 
 selves at our retired home, I fear you would scarcely be able 
 to credit me. I even yet realize, every day and every hour, 
 the relief from public cares and perplexities and responsibili- 
 ties, and if any thought about temporal affairs could make me 
 more uneasy than another, it would be the serious one that I 
 was again to take upon myself, in any capacity, that ever- 
 pressing load. I am not, however, troubled with any such 
 thought, and am only occasionally a little vexed that I am 
 constantly suspected of cherishing further vain and unreason- 
 able ambition."* 
 
 * Since this chapter was written the author received the follow- 
 ing beautiful paragraph, coniposed by Gov. Wright after his return to 
 Canton, for the amuseineut and instruction, and at the request of his 
 uiece, then less than thirteen years old. 
 
 If Gov. Wright had lived and died a stranger to the people of this state 
 and nation, this brief essay on " The Flowers of the Spring," written for 
 a little girl, would have convinced all who read it of his exquisite percep- 
 tion of the beauties of nature, and of the purity and elegance of his mind, 
 which could find " sermons" in flowers, and " good in every thing." 
 
 " The season of flowers is beginning to open in this northern climate, 
 and who is not tond of their quiet beauty and sweet fragrance ? The early 
 spring brings forth the modest wild-flower of the hillside, which blooms 
 for its season, and fades and withers away, and gives place to its successor, 
 and it to another, and another, in a regular succession, until the frosts of 
 autumn close the series. Eacli succession, in its day, is equally perfect 
 in form and beauty, and tint and fragrance, according to its nature and 
 race, — all equally displaying the wonderful perfection of that Almighty 
 Power which has created all things, from the world we inhabit to the rose 
 and the violci. 
 
 " How strikingly emblematic of human life are the flowers of the gar- 
 den and the field ! One is low and modest and simple ; another is tower- 
 ing and gaudy and ostentatious. One is delicate in tint and rich in fra- 
 grance ; another is glowing in colors, but wholly scentless. One is hardy 
 and enduring under almost any change of the seasons ; another is delicate 
 
730 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 But while he was enjoying these quiet scenes of life, 
 secluded from the political storms and hurricanes which 
 howled around him, a mysterious Providence permitted 
 the ansel of death to visit him. He died on the 27th 
 day of August. 
 
 It is remarkable how large a proportion of Americans 
 highly distinguished for their talents and intellectual 
 vigor, have died almost instantaneously, evidently by 
 some sudden affection of the heart or the brain. De 
 Witt Clinton, Thomas Addis Emmet, Mr. Webster, the 
 brother of Daniel Webster, Henry R. Storrs, Silas 
 Wright, and John Quincy Adams, besides many others, 
 have in this way seen " the last of earth.'" Whether 
 great mental power, does not occasion a disproportion- 
 ate action between the nervous and vascular systems, is 
 an inquiry which well merits the attention of learned 
 physiologists. 
 
 The Hon. J. Leslie Russell, of Canton, the intimate 
 and confidential friend of Gov. Wright, in a letter, dated 
 on the day of his death, to Comptroller Flagg, thus de- 
 scribes the closing scene of the life of the great states- 
 man : 
 
 " About eight o'clock this morning, Mr. Wright came to 
 the post-office for his mail. He was in apparent good health 
 
 and sensitive, and shrinks from the shade and withers at the touch. Yet 
 all spring up and bloom, and fade, and die, some in one stage of existence 
 and some in another. 
 
 " So with human life. The shades and casts of character are as vari- 
 ous as the tints and fragrance of the flowers, and all bloom, and fade, and 
 die, — some in infancy, some in the budding season of youth, some in ma- 
 ture life, and some by the frosts of age ; but all, all die, and, as with flow- 
 ers, the autumn and winter of years close the series with one generation 
 to make room for another, and another, and another. 
 
 " S. W. 
 
 " Canton, April, 1847." 
 
DEATH OF MR. WRIGHT. 731 
 
 and spirits — took his letters — sat down — opened one from 
 Horace Moody — read it partly through — laid it down, with 
 other letters — turned very pale, and Said to a friend present, 
 ' I feel quite ill.' The friend says, ' Your countenance shows 
 that you are sick; shall I call a doctor?' Mr. Wright de- 
 clmed having the physician sent for, saying that he had had two 
 or three such turns before, and soon got reUef. He complained 
 of a painful sense of suffocation about the heart. His friends 
 present felt alarmed, and sent the third time for a physician 
 before he came. Full one hour he sat in the post-office, con- 
 versing with persons present, who felt intense anxiety about 
 his health — he assuring them that he should soon be better. 
 
 " The physician came to the post-office, gave him a mild 
 anodyne, and a friend asked him to permit him to accompany 
 him to the house. Mr. Wright says, ' Yes, and I will thank 
 you to go with me : Dr. Clark, you come too.' 
 
 " He walked calmly as usual to his house, the friend and 
 doctor in company — laid down upon a bed with his clothes 
 on, saying that he thought the medicine did not relieve him. 
 The doctor gave orders for the application of drafts and other 
 remedies, and left him. About ten o'clock, a. m., he died, as 
 is supposed, from a rush of blood to the head. 
 
 " Only last evening, Mr. Wright was employed in writing 
 an address to the State Agricukm-al Society, to be deUvered 
 at Saratoira next month. 
 
 " The proximate cause of the sudden attack which has car- 
 ried off oui- friend, is, too severe labor on his farm during the 
 recent hot weather. He was, to my knowledge, aware of a 
 tendency to apoplexy. His diet had been very simple, and he 
 supposed that labor in the open air was the best antidote 
 against the plethoric tendency of his constitution. 
 
 " Yesterday I attended a funeral with him, and walked with 
 him to the grave. He spoke of apoplexy in connection with 
 the death of a friend from that disease, in a manner which in- 
 duced me then to believe that he had a premonition of this 
 dire calamity." 
 
 To this unadorned narrative of the " sudden wrench 
 
732 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 from life's meridian joys" of one of the greatest men of 
 the age, we shall only add a single sentence, which we 
 quote from the eloquent " Discourse" of the Rev. Dr. 
 Sprague, which he delivered at the Second Presbyterian 
 Church in Albany, on the death of Mr. Wright : 
 
 "At a moment," says the reverend orator, "when he has 
 just completed his preparation for an important public service, 
 and is making his arrangements to come among us again as a 
 friendly visiter; oh, at this most unexpected moment 'his 
 breath sroeth forth !' It seemed to those who looked on as if 
 it must be some fearful illusion that had overtaken them ; or 
 else as if the breath had gone only to come again : but it was 
 no illusion ; — it was no temporary suspension of the vital en- 
 ergy. Death, as if to show how he could sport with the 
 strongest, had held that prince* in his grasp but a few mo- 
 ments before he bid the agonized lookers on take notice how 
 thoroughly he had done his work. And before the vital 
 warmth has fled, the lightning is put in requisition to bear the 
 heavy tidings over the land ; and the sun, in whose morning 
 beams our friend rejoiced, has not sunk beneath the horizon, 
 before the state, I had almost said the nation, is putting on 
 her hahiliments of mom-ning, because she shall see his face no 
 
 more." 
 
 * Dr. Sprague had selected for his text that beautiful passage from the 
 book of Psalms, " Put not your trust in princes'' &c. 
 
PROCEEDINGS ON HIS DEATH. 733 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Proceedings on the Death of Mr. Wright, at Albany — New York — Tam- 
 many Society — State Legislature — Wisconsin — Presentation of Plate 
 by the New York Merchants to Mrs. Wright — Funeral Sermon by 
 Mr. Johnson — Remarks on the Character of Silas Wright. 
 
 Never did the death of a private citizen of the state 
 of New York produce. a sensation, throughout all ranks 
 and every part of the community, so intense as the sud- 
 den death of Mr. Wright. 
 
 The common councils of the cities of New York and 
 Albany, as soon as the melancholy news reached those 
 cities, immediately assembled to express their respect 
 for his character and merits, and their regret for the loss 
 which the public had sustained by his death. The flags 
 of the shipping in the port of New York were displayed 
 at half-mast. The city of Albany set apart a day on 
 which funeral honors should be paid to the deceased ; 
 and the adjutant-general of the state, in pursuance of the 
 directions of the governor, ordered that the national 
 colors should on that day be displayed on the capitol 
 and state arsenal, and that minute guns should be fired 
 from 12 to 2 o'clock. The Tammany Society of New 
 York passed resolutions expressive of " its high respect 
 for the distinguished dead," and that its members should 
 wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days. 
 
 On the 9th of September Gov. Young addressed to 
 the legislature of this state, who, iti pursuance of an ad- 
 journuient previously made, h:)fi assembled on the pre- 
 
 62 
 
734 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 ceding day, the following special message, equally cred- 
 itable to himself and honorable to the memory of his 
 great competitor at the last election : 
 
 " Executive Chamber, ) 
 Alhamj, Sept. 9, 1847. j 
 
 " To THE Legislature — 
 
 " Silas Wright, the late chief magistrate of this state, died 
 at his residence in Canton, iu the county of St. Lawrence, on 
 the 2'7th day of August last. 
 
 " Although scarcely arrived at the meridian of life, he had 
 not only held the office of governor of this state, but had dis- 
 charged, with singular ability, the various duties pertaining to 
 the offices of state senator, comptroller, and senator in the 
 congress of the United States. 
 
 " As a statesman he occupied a high place among the dis- 
 tinguished public men of the age. 
 
 " In private life he enjoyed, in an eminent degree, the re- 
 spect and esteem of those to whom he was personally known. 
 
 " Although his name will go down to posteiity without the 
 aid of official records, his eminent public services and great 
 private worth render it proper that I should thus announce 
 to you his death, to the end that such measures may be 
 adopted as are demanded by the deep feeling that pervades 
 the community. 
 
 " John Young." 
 
 When this message was communicated to the legisla- 
 ture, a joint committee of the two houses was appointed, 
 who reported resolutions highly laudatory of the talents, 
 services, and patriotism of the late governor, and direct- 
 ing that the members should wear badges of mourning 
 and grief Mr. Perkins, from St. Lawrence, in the as- 
 sembly, and Mr. J. A. Spencer, in the senate, delivered 
 impressive and eloquent eulogies on the deceased states- 
 
LEGISLATURE OF WISCONSIN. 735 
 
 man, who had been so long known to the public, and so 
 highly appreciated by his fellow-citizens. 
 
 The most respectable public journals throughout the 
 nation joined in the general lamentation, and public 
 bodies in several of the other states of the Union mani- 
 fested their esteem for Gov. Wright, and their deep re- 
 gret for the loss which the nation had sustained by his 
 untimely death. The Young Men's Democratic Asso- 
 ciation of the city and county of Philadelphia assembled, 
 and, on their invitation, the Hon. Henry D. Gilpin, at- 
 torney-general of the United States, delivered an elo- 
 quent eulogy upon Mr. Wright. Even at the far West, 
 in the (then) territory of Wisconsin, Gov. Dodge, in his 
 annual message to the territorial legislature, thus speaks 
 of the deceased patriot : 
 
 " Since the last annual session of the legislative assembly, 
 Silas Wkight, a great statesman of the Empire state of the 
 Union, has fallen by the hand of death, in the meridian of his 
 life and usefulness to the country. When a member of the 
 United States senate, he was an able supporter of the rights 
 of the people of Wisconsin. He was in favor of a system of 
 policy, tending to promote her agricultural and commercial 
 interests. He was a firm patriot, a sagacious statesman, a 
 friend of equal rights and universal freedom. For his self- 
 sacrifices as a politician for what he believed would promote 
 the best interests of his country, he has justly been called the 
 * Cato of America.' " 
 
 To which the legislature responded by the adoption 
 of the following appropriate resolution : 
 
 " Whereas, The dignity and power of a state, no less than 
 the prosperity and happiness of its people, depend, in an emi- 
 nent degree, upon the wisdom, integrity, and patriotism of its 
 citizens. And whereas the legislative assembly of Wisconsin 
 recognise, in the life of the late Silas Wright, of New York, all 
 
736 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 that could iidoni and dignify the character of the citizen, the 
 statesman, and the patriot ; therefore, be it 
 
 " Resolved, By the council and house of representatives of the 
 territory of Wisconsin, That in his death the nation has lost 
 one of its brightest orn;iments, the commerce of the West one of 
 its ablest advocates, Wisconsin one of its warmest friends and 
 supporters, and the cause of universal freedom one of the bold- 
 est and most incorruptible of its champions." 
 
 We have heretofore alluded to the fact, tiiat previous 
 lo the death of Gov. Wright, the merchants of the city 
 of New York had commenced preparing a splendid suit 
 of plate to present to him. He died before the work- 
 men had completed the manufacture of it. 
 
 After his death, the merchants determined to deliver 
 the pkite to Mrs. Wright ; and Gen. Dix was appointed 
 to receive; in her name, the magnificent donation. It is 
 reported that the value of the plate was from eighteen 
 to twentv thousand dollars. It was delivered to Gen. 
 Dix, by a committee of merchants, on the 18th of No- 
 vember. On that occasion Mr. John D. Van Buren, a 
 member of the committee, made a brief address, which 
 was so exceedingly appropriate, and highly finished in 
 style and manner, and so enriched with just and patri- 
 otic sentiments, that we wish our limits would permit us 
 to copy the whole of it. 
 
 " We have," said Mr. Van Buren, addressing General 
 Dix, " asked you to meet us this evening to receive, in behalf 
 of Mrs. Wright, this service of plate. It was prepared as a 
 gift from the merchants of this citv to Silas Wriofht. His death 
 prevented the fulfilment of oui- wishes. 
 
 " An occasion to which we looked forward as one of high 
 and unmixed pleasure, Providence has decreed should be a 
 sad one. We hoped to tell him our high estimate of his pub- 
 lic services — that we shared in the confidence and pride with 
 
PRESENTATION OF SERVICE OF PLATE. 737 
 
 which the people of this state regarded him ; that in this busy 
 mart of commerce, devoted to gain, his simple, earnest, truly 
 republican character, was known and appreciated. We can 
 now only with pain think of his noble qualities. They re- 
 mind us of the sad loss the state and the country have s\d- 
 fered, 
 
 " His character was one singularly attractive to our people, 
 retaining, to the last, qualities most apt to be worn away in 
 the struggles of public life. Modest, simple in his manners, 
 gentle, true to his friends, true to his duties, utterly unselfish, 
 lie secured the confidence and affection of the people." 
 
 The following beautiful paragraph concludes the ad- 
 dress : 
 
 " To you, who were his friend, his well-esteemed friend, we 
 confide the task of conveying our gift to the widow of Silas 
 Wright. We can offer with it no consolation but the poor 
 one, that she is not alone in her sorrow ; the blow which fell 
 with its chief intensity upon her, was felt deeply, widely, 
 throughout the nation. Convey it to her in token of our last- 
 ing remembrance of him, and of the high regard in which we 
 must ever hold her, whom he chose to be his nearest friend in 
 life, and who has the deepest interest in that fame which is all 
 that is left to her and to the country, of Silas Wright." 
 
 Mrs. Wright subsequently acknowledged the receipt 
 of this rich and valuable present by the following note, 
 addressed to Gerardus Boyce, Esquire: 
 
 " Canton, January 22, 1848. 
 
 "Dear Sir: — Tn your letter of the 26th November, coTn- 
 raunicating to me the arrangement you had made for tiie de- 
 livery of the service of plate, designed to have been presented 
 to my lamented husband, you desire to be informed of its safe 
 transmission and deUvery to me. 
 
 " My brother, Mr. Hoi'ace Moody, anived at Canton on the 
 1.5th of January instant, and brouglit with him this rich testi- 
 monial of esteem and friendship for him whose death has left 
 
 62* 
 
738 LIFE OF SILAS WEIGHT. 
 
 me desolate. If any thing could alleviate the weight of my 
 affliction in tlie loss of all that was really valuable to me ia 
 life, it would be the constant proofs that my grief is shared by 
 true and faithful friends, to many of whom I am personally a 
 stranger. 
 
 " This service of plate, valuable for the massive richness of 
 the material, is still more valuable for the rare beauty and me- 
 chanical skill displayed in its manufacture ; but its chief value 
 to me is, that it is an evidence of the esteem and friendship of 
 the donors for one whose memory is all that is left to me on 
 earth. 
 
 " To you, sir, and to the gentlemen with whom you have 
 been associated, and who selected you as their agent to pre- 
 paie this token of friendship and esteem, designed for my 
 departed husband, I can only give my sincere and heartfelt 
 thanks. " Yours, respectfully, 
 
 " Clarissa Wright." 
 
 The funeral of Gov. Wright drew together an im- 
 mense concourse of people. " I attended his funeral," 
 says a gentleman who resides in St. Lawrence county, 
 in a letter to the author. " The concourse of people 
 was greater than I have ever before witnessed in this 
 county, (except our political assemblies.) It seemed as 
 thouQfh each Individual felt that hp. had lost a snecial 
 friend, and was there a mourner. When his [MrW^right's] 
 old friend and fellow-student spoke of him, the flow of 
 tears was as universal in the audience as was the sense 
 of hearing." 
 
 The gentleman referred to by our correspondent as 
 the " old friend and fellow-student" of Mr. Wright, was 
 the Rev. H. S. Johnson, from whom we h^ve several 
 times quoted. The funeral sermon of Mr. Johnson has 
 been printed, and is before us. He selected for his text 
 the beautiful passage contained in Isaiah, ch. xl. 6-8. 
 
MR. Johnson's sermon. 739 
 
 After a brief exordium, Mr. Johnson says — 
 
 " In view of the afflicting realities before us, even that cheer- 
 fuhiess which would be commendable in our ordinary avoca- 
 tions, would become criminal levity. Every thing tells that 
 this is an occasion for serious and solemn meditation. The 
 voice of God bids me cry that ' all flesh is grass, and all the 
 goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field : the grass 
 withereth, the flower fadeth : because the Spirit of the Lord 
 bloweth upon il : surely the people is grass. The grass with- 
 ereth, the flower fadeth ; but the word of our God shall stand 
 forever.' 
 
 " How afl"ectingly are these divine declarations verified be- 
 fore our eyes ! Only a few hours have passed since Governor 
 Wright was with us, in all the buoyancy of firm health. If 
 to any the sun of life might seem high and promise a long day, 
 it was so to him. But that sun went down in a moment, and all 
 is dark. The Great Architect bid the wheels of life stop, and 
 no finite power can move them. Without flickering in the 
 least, the lamp is extinguished, and the gloom is absolute — it 
 is darkness that may be felt. 
 
 " Standing as we now do, where the widest prospects have 
 instantly been enveloped with clouds, and where the highest 
 hopes of all that is earthly have fled, our thoughts naturally 
 turn back along the path through which Mr. Wright ascended 
 to the most distinguishing honors and the most commanding 
 influence. 
 
 " My acquaintance with this friend commenced in the year 
 1811. In early life we were treading together the halls of 
 science. 1 knew him there as an industrious and diligent stu- 
 dent, and as one of the most upright and sober young men. 
 I say this from positive personal knowledge, and I say it firmly, 
 because I have heard misapprehension intimate that Gov. 
 Wright was then indulging in some excesses. He was there 
 distinguished for moral honesty, and for an unbending regard 
 to the truth. His inflexible attachment to truth and fairness 
 was there, as it has been through all his life, proverbial. I 
 have heard from those who could not be mistaken, that even 
 
740 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 in the days of his earliest childhood, his regard to truth and 
 fair dealing was known, and marked, and controlling. These 
 principles, thus deeply infixed, did much in laying the founda- 
 tion for his unexampled elevation in after-life. 
 
 " Mr. Wright graduated with honor and respect. Having 
 completed his preparatory legal studies, and being licensed as 
 an attorney, in October, 1819, he became an inhabitant of this 
 town. The efficiency and success with wliich he conducted 
 the business of his profession are too well known, and too 
 vividly recollected, to require being repeated. One of his 
 leading traits in his profession was to discountenance and do 
 away all low and scurrilous litigation. '''•' * * * 
 
 " There is something peculiar and extraordinary in the on- 
 ward progress through which Mr. Wright ascended, amid ac- 
 cumulating honors and responsibilities. Without powerful 
 friends, he secured, by his own unaided efforts, the patronage 
 of the state and the nation. * '* * * 
 
 " In the old world a nation is afflicted when their prince 
 expires. But there the statesmen are organized and trained 
 to fill the vacated space. In America it is different. Our 
 nation is in its infancy — the experiment we are making is new 
 — the hopes and interests of the world are identified with our 
 success. Every thing with us is moulding and forming. Of 
 necessity, conflicting claims will arise and threaten with disaster 
 the best hopes of the country. With us the loss of a far-seeing 
 and able statesman, who enjoys the cheerful suffrages of the 
 great majority, is not only afflicting, but it may be perilous." 
 
 The peroration of this eloquent address is highly pa- 
 thetic and inimitably beautiful, and with it we conclude 
 the LiKK OF Silas Wright. 
 
 "We can scarcely suppose," says the orator, " that such 
 an ;itfecting example of the uncertainty of life, as this provi- 
 dence arrays before us, can fail of impressing serious reflections 
 on the minds of all. It is difficult for me to imagine that de- 
 gree of apathy and insensibiHty which will resist such a warn- 
 ing. Can one of the pillars of the nation be removed, and we 
 feel it not ? Can a friend the most familiar and kind retire, 
 
CHARACTER OF MR. WRIGHT. 741 
 
 and we heed it not ? No. Our friend, thou hast waved us a 
 long adieu, and we are overwhelmed ! No more shall thy 
 vigilance watch with solicitude the interests of our country ! 
 No more will thy voice, from the legislative halls, electrify the 
 nation ! No more shall thy smiles gladden the home which 
 was ever happy in thy presence ! Thou hast given up that 
 home to loneliness, to solitude, and sorrow ! Dark is the cloud 
 which spreads over the habitation of thy widowed compan- 
 ion ! Anscuish thrills in all our hearts as we bid thee adieu, 
 and lay thy remains down to rest in the slumber of the grave !" 
 
 We shall not attempt to portray minutely the charac- 
 ter of Silas Wright. That portraiture is best delinea- 
 ted by the record of the story of his life. His candor, 
 his integrity of purpose, his unaffected modesty, his be- 
 nevolence, his great and vigorous intellectual power, 
 which always rendered him equal to any emergency, 
 and his lofty patriotism, are manifest in every act, and 
 in every stage of his private and public life. There are, 
 however, a few prominent features in the character of 
 his mind, which, in reviewing his history, stand out in 
 such bold relief, that it may be proper barely to allude 
 to them. 
 
 One of the qualities for which he was more distin- 
 guished than almost any other man, was the entire ab- 
 sence of all selfishness, and an unbounded devotion to 
 the interest and wishes of his friends, and to the cause of 
 the political party to which he belonged. Perhaps men, 
 scrupulously sensitive to error, may think that Mr. 
 Wrio-ht sometimes yielded too much to what he deemed 
 the interest of his own political party, and may refer to 
 his conduct in the senate of this state in 1824, in rela- 
 tion to an electoral law, and his course in the United 
 States house of representatives in 1828, on the tariff bill. 
 'I'hese are the only instances in which, during more than 
 
742 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 twenty years' public service, charges of this nature cam 
 be made against him with even the semblance of plausi- 
 bility. But it must not be forgotten that Mr. Wright 
 sincerely believed that the ascendency of the party to 
 which he belonged was essential to secure and promote 
 the prosperity of his country, and its highest and most 
 vital interest. While therefore we protest against the 
 casuistic and false position, that the end justifies the 
 means, or that one should "' do evil that good may 
 come," we insist that Mr. Wright may have conscien- 
 tiously yielded his own judgment to that of the majority 
 of his political friends on trifling and unimportant ques- 
 tions, for the purpose of contributing to that union and 
 harmony among them, which was absolutely necessary 
 in order to prevent their total prostration by the adverse 
 party. Possibly, in the solitary instances mentioned, he 
 may have erred, but such errors were those of the head, 
 and not of his pure and honest heart. 
 
 In proof of his readiness to sacrifice his own ease and 
 quiet, and his most favorite predilections, for the grati- 
 fication of his friends, and the supposed advancement 
 of the cause in which he was embarked, we refer to the 
 consent which, with the most painful reluctance, he 
 yielded to take upon himself the government of this 
 state against his expressed wishes, and against what he 
 knew to be his personal interest ; and that he made this 
 sacrifice partly with the view of securing the election of 
 a man to the office of president of the United States, 
 whose nomination to that office he had opposed. We 
 may also, as evidence of his utter disregard to self- 
 aggrandizement, his devotion to his friends, and his nice 
 and high sense of honor, remind the reader of his refusal 
 of a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court of the na- 
 
CHARACTER OF MR. WRIGHT. 743 
 
 tion, also of the second office in the government, and 
 his declining a competition for the first. 
 
 " He was," says the Rev. Dr. Sprague, in his sermon 
 from which we have quoted in the preceding chapter, 
 "gifted with uncommon perception of the fitting and 
 graceful in all the relations of life. While he had a high 
 respect for plebeian honesty, and could, as occasion re- 
 quired, put on the plebeian himself, there was no circle 
 of society so polished, but that he was as much at home 
 in it as if it were the only sphere in which he had ever 
 moved." His temper must have been by nature un- 
 commonly peaceful and quiet. What politician has ex- 
 isted, either in England or America, who for twenty 
 years was a leading and efficient member of a legisla- 
 tive body, a zealous and active party leader, and who 
 had taken a decided part in all the exciting debates 
 which legislation called forth, who was never drawn 
 into a personal controversy, and who never wounded 
 the feelings of the most sensitive opponent ? Yet such 
 a man was Silas Wrigjit. 
 
 We will mention one other distinguishing trait in the 
 character of the mind of Mr. Wright — a trait to which, 
 in connection with his great talents and merit, he owed 
 his splendid and uniform success in life. Though he 
 possessed all the mental faculties incident to the human 
 intellect, in great perfection and vigor, they were re- 
 markably well balanced. "His blood and judgment 
 were so well commingled" that he was always, even 
 during the most exciting scenes, calm and quiet, self- 
 possessed, and self-governed. He was firm, but not 
 obstinate ; benevolent, but not imprudent ; cool and 
 calculating, but not selfish ; convivial, but not a devotee 
 of pleasure ; economical, but not avaricious ; imagina- 
 
74 1 LIFE OF SILAS WRIGHT. 
 
 live, but not visionary ; and an ardent friend, but liberal 
 and kind to his opponents. 
 
 From the life of Silas Wright, the youth of our coun- 
 try may derive lessons of inestimable value. 
 
 "He has taught us," says Mr. Attorney-general Gilpin, in 
 his eulogy on Mr. Wright, delivered before an association of 
 young men in Philadelphia, " that unruffled content may be 
 won ; that the loftiest fame may be reached ; that social rela- 
 tions, various and refined, may be happily enjoyed ; that be- 
 neficence may be largely practised, in all its shades of public 
 service and private intercourse, without the possession, nay, 
 without the desire, of fortune, beyond the humblest compe- 
 tence. He has tau"-ht us that influence, and station, and 
 power, may be used without once seeking to pervert them to 
 a selfish or unworthy purpose ; thcit manly adherence to po- 
 litical opinions, carefully formed and honestly maintained, is 
 never inconsistent wilh the great obligations of conciliation, 
 forbearance, and generous compiomise ; that honors declined 
 can confer more happiness and gloiy than those which are re- 
 ceived ; that intelligence the bnghtest, in a sphere the most 
 conspicuous, derives new lustre and wields more power from 
 a modesty always unassuming, and a temper wliich never 
 wounds ; and, above all, that the blessings of domestic life, so 
 endearing and attractive, may ever be preserved unsullied to 
 ttoothe and cheer the hours most devoted to our country's ser- 
 vice. If, indeed, this great and good man cxliihitcd — as who 
 can doubt ? — the severe virtue, the steady pui po.ie, tlie devoted 
 patriotism, and the broad philanthropy thiit marked the char- 
 acter of the Roman stntesman. let us not forget that he has 
 taught us to blend with them a spirit more yentle and forbear- 
 ing — that spirit which should distinguish a people whose 
 bond is one of justice, reason, and affection, and to whom 
 have been revealed the divine lessons of a milder and purer 
 faith." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 NOTE— REFERRED TO IN PAGE 491. 
 
 After the preceding sheets were in type the author received 
 two orio-inal letters, on the subject of the nomination for the 
 office of governor by the democratic state convention, written 
 by Mr. Wright in 1844. These letters were written at Can- 
 ton, three days before the meeting of the convention at Syra- 
 cuse, and, beyond all doubt, express frankly and truly his 
 feelings and wishes at that time. It is due to his memory 
 that they should be published in connection with the history 
 of his life ; because, — although during the winter and summer 
 of 1844, and until he was actually nominated for governor at 
 Syracuse, Mr. Wright repeatedly and uniformly declared, as 
 he had done in 1842,* that he was unwilling to be a candidate 
 for that office — that he earnestly desired the nomination of 
 some other person — and that he would not be a candidate 
 ao-ainst any repubUcan competitor in the convention, — many 
 persons who thought Gov. Bouck ought to be renominated, 
 (and the author was one of them,) believed, from the fact that 
 several of Mr. Wright's most confidential friends urged, and 
 continued at the convention to urge the nomination of Mr. W., 
 that such nomination would not be entirely disagreeable to 
 him. If any such suspicion is at this day entertained, the fol- 
 lowing letters must dispel all doubt from the minds of the 
 most skeptical. 
 
 These letters must have been dehvered to Messrs. Allen and 
 Russell, who were delegates from St. Lawrence county, at the 
 
 • See Gov. Wright's letter to Judge Fine, page 307. 
 
 63 
 
746 APPENDIX. 
 
 moment of their departure for Syracuse, as they bear date the 
 31st of August, and the convention met on the 2d of Septem- 
 ber. One of the letters was addressed to those gentlemen in 
 their official capacity, probably with the view that it should 
 be communicated to the convention, or to some of its leading 
 members ; and the other, which we have marked B, on which 
 was inscribed the word "private," in Gov. Wright's own hand- 
 wriling, was sacredly coniidential. Can there be the least pos- 
 sible doubt that this letter, which was intended to contain, and 
 did contain, the last words of Mr. Wright on the subject of 
 the gubernatorial nomination, and which was addressed to the 
 delegates from his own county, both of whom were his per- 
 sonal friends, speaks the honest sentiments of his heart ? 
 
 In this communication Mr. Wright not only disclaims any 
 wish to be a candidate, or indeed any desire for the office of 
 governor, but there runs through the whole of it a tone of 
 supplication and entreaty that his two friends would exert their 
 most strenuous efforts to relieve him from the necessity of 
 making the sacrifice " of personal feeling, domestic feeling, 
 private interest, and public prospects for the future" — a sacri- 
 fice which he foresaw would result from his acceptance of the 
 office of governor. 
 
 The author is indebted for these letters to the courtesy and 
 kindness of the Hon. Horace Allen and the Hon. John Fine, 
 to whom the originals will be returned. 
 
 [A.] 
 
 "Canton, August 31, 1844. 
 
 "Gentlemen — As the delegates to represent this county in the state 
 convention, to be held tit Syracuse on the 4th day of the next month, I 
 find it necessary to trouble you with a comnuuiication of a personal char- 
 acter. 
 
 " You are well aware that my name has been used in connection with 
 tht> nomination of a republican candidate for the office of governor of the 
 state, a nomination which the convention of which you are members \h to 
 rn;ike. I believe you also know that I do not desire that office, and that 
 my name has been used as a candidate for it without my consent, and 
 against my wishes. 
 
APPENDIX. 747 
 
 That you may be possessed of the position which I have felt myself 
 compelled publicly to assume upon this subject, I hand you, enclosed, a 
 copy of a publication made in the St. Lawrence Republican, at my re- 
 quest, on the sixth day of the present month. By that position it has 
 been, and is my purpose — as I consider it to be my duty — strictly to adhere ; 
 and if any use of my name, since it was thus distinctly assumed, has 
 seemed to be in conflict with it, I can only say, that it has been without 
 my authority, as it has been against my determinations thus explicitly 
 pronounced. I cannot expre.«s more reluctance than I feel against the use 
 of my name as a candidate for the office of governor, under any circum- 
 stances ; and 1 have only been restrained from going further, in limiting, 
 or wholly interdicting that use, from the fear that I should transcend my 
 rights as a member of the democratic parly of the state, in the present 
 enjoyment of its iiouors and rewards, or violate my duty to that great 
 political party which has been so faithful and liberal to me through a long 
 term of years. 
 
 " The length to which I have gone appears to me to be in strict accord- 
 ance with my rights and my duties. To refuse to become the instruinenl 
 of an interruption of the harmony of feeling or action of the doiiiocratic 
 party of our state, is an obligation upon me, strengthened and enforced by 
 every favor I have received from it, and every honor it has conferred 
 upon me, and not lo obey it would be, in my estimation, the most paljju- 
 ble violation of a plain duty on my part. 
 
 " Hence I have said that, ' I have no right, in my judgment, to be- 
 come, and cannot, under any circumstances, consent to be made a com- 
 petitor for the nomination, either before the people or the state convention, 
 against any republican who is, or who may become a candidate.' 
 
 " Before the people I have done all in my power to avoid being placed 
 in the position of a competitor for this nomination ; and I now invoke 
 your aid to enable me, if it shall become necessary, to redeem my pledge.. 
 as it respects the convention. I entertain the confident hope that you 
 will not, under any circumstances, feel it to be your duty, as delegates 
 from this county, to place my name before the convention at all ; and 
 should it be brought before it by others, in a manner to place it in con- 
 flict or competition with any other name before the body as a candidate, 
 I not only authorize you severally, but enjoin it upon you, so far as you 
 will permit me to do that, or so far as I have the right of a constituent to 
 do it, to withdraw it wholly, and to declare for me, that I cannot accept 
 a nomination made against a resistance of the friends of any other candi- 
 date. The only right of our party to command the use of my name, -is 
 I think, is to secure its harmony of feeling and action ; and when these 
 cannot be secured by its use, the duty upon mo promptly to withdraw it 
 altogether, appears to me as plain as the right to do so does clear and un- 
 questionable. 
 
 *' 1 am sure, gentlemen, you each sufficiently know and appreciate my 
 
748 APPENDIX. 
 
 feelings upon this delicate and responsible subject to be willing to comply 
 with the request I make, when you are assured it is made more strongly 
 under the sense of a solemn and imperious public duty, which I should 
 not fail fully to discharge, than in the spirit of the assertion of a right, al- 
 though to be exercised so much in accordance with my personal feelings 
 and wishes. 
 
 " I am, gentlemen, with great respect, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 " Silas Wright. 
 " Messrs. Horace Allen and John L. Russell, Esqrs., Delegates, &,c." 
 
 (private.) [ B- ] 
 
 " Canton, August 31, 1844. 
 
 My Dear Sir — Enclosed I hand you a duplicate of the communication 
 of which we spoke, and which I promised to place in the hands of your- 
 self and Mr. Russell in tiie course of our conversatiou on Thursday. I 
 have made duplicates, because it may be more convenient that both Mr. 
 Russell and yourself should have a copy, and I place the other in his 
 hands. I do not kuow that I can add any thing to the views wliicli I 
 offered in that conversation, and what I have said in the enclosed. //' 
 the renominntion of Gov. Bouck can he made mtisfnntory to the conren- 
 tton and our party, I shall be most happy at such a result.* If that 
 cannot be done, and the convention can agree to set aside both his nam.'; 
 and mine, and take that of some worthy member of the party who hat* 
 not been brought before the public, I verily believe more entire harmony 
 of feeling and action will be likely lo be secured. In any event, I can- 
 not look upon my nomination as promising aLispIcious rceuits, presi-nl or 
 future ; and I cannot be mistaken in iiisistinir that my name should not 
 be used in any event, but icith the free assent of the friends of nil other 
 candidates, and moat especially those of Gov. B. I do not anticipate 
 that such assent will be met with, and I entreat that Mr. Russell and 
 yourself will not hesitate for a moment to withdraw my name wholly, in 
 case it shall be brought before the convention, and shall become the sub- 
 ject of any difference of opinion or feeling among its members. 
 
 " It must be true that, if entire harmony cannot be experienced, my 
 name should not be made the cause of any degree of division. My posi- 
 tion and the place I now hold should forbid that, and should distinguish 
 me fjom other candidates not similarly situated, if there is to be division. 
 Flence I have given to the communication enclosi^d the shape I have, and 
 this is the spirit in which I have made the request it contains, and in 
 which I wish to have that request understood and carried out. 
 
 * The p;is.sages m italics liave been so chstaiguisUed by J. D. II. 
 
APPENDIX. 749 
 
 "You will pardon me, I hope, for referring hero to my personal feel- 
 ings upon this subject. / cannot, as I have said, express more reluc- 
 tance than I feel against being a candidate for this office, under any 
 circumstances, and my reasons rest upon considerations of personal feel- 
 ing, domestic feeling, private interest, and public prospects for the future, 
 KO far as I can read them, as connected with myself and my services. J 
 will not attempt to detail these considerations to you as they pass through 
 my own mind, but will express the earnest hope, that Mr. Russell and 
 yourself will find it consistent with your scn.se of your responsible duties as 
 members of the convention, so far from using efforts to throw this nomi- 
 nation upon me, to be the means of averting that result. I do not aak 
 you to violate any duty to the public to favor my personal wishes, but I 
 do hope that it may be found expedient not to attempt the use of my name 
 at all ; and if brought before the convention, I will rest assured that both 
 of you will be prompt to withdraw it wholly, the moment the contingency 
 shall happen upon which I have based that request. 
 
 " Pardon me for giving you so much trouble. I shall not give Mr. 
 Russell a copy of this private note, but shall read this to him before I en- 
 close it for you. 
 
 " You must not considtr me, in either of these communications, as 
 holding or treating lightly our success in the state at the pending elec- 
 tion. With harmony of feeling and action, success is, in my deliberate 
 opinion, perfectly in the power of our party, and I will make any sacri- 
 fice in my power to produce that harmony. Still, with it, I do not think 
 it at all material what name is upon our ticket for governor : succean 
 would, in my judgment, be equally certain with any ; while, without it, 
 there will be danger with any name, and I should not be the man to ap- 
 pear to cause division. These are my convictions, most deeply enter- 
 tained. 
 
 " In much haate, I am most truly yours, 
 
 " Silas Wright. 
 
 " Hon. Horace Allen." 
 
 THE END. 
 
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