have been passing laws for the people of our Territory, moved, counselled, and dictated to by the demagogues of Missouri, are to us a foreign body, representing only the lawless invaders who elected them, and not the people of the territory; that we repu. diate their action as the monstrous consummation of an act of violence, usurpation, and fraud, unparalleled in the history of the Union."

The free-State people of Kansas also sent a petition to the General Government, imploring its protection. In reply, the President issued a proclamation, declaring that the legislature thus created must be recognized as the legitimate legislature of Kansas, and that its laws were binding upon the people; and that, if necessary, the whole force of the governmental arm would be put forth to enforce those laws.

Such was the condition of affairs when President Pierce approached the close of his four-years' term of office. The North had become thoroughly alienated from him. The antislavery sentiment, goaded by these outrages, had been rapidly increasing; and all the intellectual ability and social worth of President Pierce were forgotten in deep reprehension of these administrative acts. The slaveholders of the South also, unmindful of the fidelity with which he had advocated those measures of Government which they approved, and perhaps, also, feeling that he had rendered himself so unpopular as no longer to be able acceptably to serve them, ungratefully dropped him, and nominated James Buchanan as the Democratic candidate to succeed him in the presidency. John C. Frémont was the candidate of the Free-soil party.

James Buchanan was the successful candidate. He had pledged himself to stand upon the same platform which his predecessor had occupied, "lowered never an inch." On the 4th of March, 1857, President Pierce retired to his home in Concord, N.H. Of three children, two had died, and his only surviving child had been killed before his eyes by a railroad accident; and his wife, one of the most estimable and accomplished of ladies, was rapidly sinking in consumption. The hour of dreadful gloom soon came, and he was left alone in the world, without wife or child.

When the terrible Rebellion burst forth, which divided our country into two parties, and two only, Mr. Pierce remained steadfast in the principles which he had always cherished, and gave his sympathies to that proslavery party with which he had ever been

allied. He declined to do any thing, either by voice or pen, to strengthen the hands of the National Government. He still lives, in the autumn of 1866, in Concord, N.H., one of the most genial and social of men, an honored communicant in the Episcopal Church, and one of the kindest of neighbors and best of friends.

CHAPTER XV.

His Childhood's Home.

JAMES BUCHANAN.

Devotion to Study.- Scholarship, and Purity of Character. - Congressional Career. - Political Views. - Secretary of State. - Minister to the Court of St. James. Ostend Manifesto. - Elected to the Presidency. - The New-Haven Correspondence. Disasters of his Administration. - Retirement.

JAMES BUCHANAN, the fifteenth President of the United States, was born in a small frontier town, at the foot of the eastern ridge

of the Alleghanies, in Franklin County, Penn., on the 23d of April, 1791. The place where the humble cabin of his father stood was called Stony Batter. It was a wild and romantic spot in a gorge of the mountains, with towering summits rising grandly

all around. His father was a native of the north of Ireland; a poor man, who had emigrated in 1783, with little property save his own strong arms. Five years after his arrival in this country, he married Elizabeth Spear, the daughter of a respectable farmer, and, with his young bride, plunged into the wilderness, staked his claim, reared his log-hut, opened a clearing with his axe, and settled down there to perform his obscure part in the drama of life.

In this secluded home, where James was born, he remained for eight years, enjoying but few social o 'ntellectual advantages. His father was industrious, frugal, and prosperous, and was unusually intelligent for a man in his situation. His mother also was a woman of superior character, possessing sound judgment, and a keen appreciation of the beautiful in nature and in art. When James was eight years of age, his father removed to the village of Mercersburg, where his son was placed at school, and commenced a course of study in English, Latin, and Greek. His progress was rapid; and, at the age of fourteen, he entered Dickinson College, at Carlisle. Here he developed remarkable talent, and took his stand among the first scholars in the institution. His application to study was intense, and yet his native powers enabled him to master the most abstruse subjects with facility.

In the year 1809, he graduated with the highest honors of his class. He was then eighteen years of age; tall and graceful, vigorous in health, fond of athletic sports, an unerring shot, and enlivened with an exuberant flow of animal spirits. He immediately commenced the study of law in the city of Lancaster, and was admitted to the bar in 1812, when he was but twenty-one years of age. Very rapidly he rose in his profession, and at once took undisputed stand with the ablest lawyers of the State. When but twenty-six years of age, unaided by counsel, he successfully defended before the State Senate one of the judges of the State, who was tried upon articles of impeachment. At the age of thirty, it was generally admitted that he stood at the head of the bar; and there was no lawyer in the State who had a more extensive or a more lucrative practice.

Reluctantly, he then, in 1820, consented to stand a candidate for Congress. He was elected; and, for ten years, he remained a member of the Lower House. During the vacations of Congress, he occasionally tried some important cause. In 1831, he retired

altogether from the toils of his profession, having acquired an ample fortune.

In 1812, just after Mr. Buchanan had entered upon the practice of the law, our second war with England occurred. With all his powers, he sustained the Government, eloquently urging the vigorous prosecution of the war, and even enlisting as a private soldier to assist in repelling the British, who had sacked Washington, and were threatening Baltimore.

Mr. Buchanan was at that time a Federalist. This term took its rise from those who approved of the Federal Constitution, with all the powers which it gave to the National Government. The anti-Federalists, who thought that the Constitution gave the Central Government too much power, and the State Governments too little, took the name of Republicans. But, when the Constitution was adopted by both parties, Jefferson truly said, “We are all Federalists; we are all Republicans." Still it was subsequently found that the Constitution allowed some latitude of construction. Consequently, those who approved of a liberal construction, in favor of the General Government, still retained the name of Federalists; while those who were in favor of a strict construction, not allowing the Central Government one hair's breadth more of power than the letter of the Constitution demanded, retained the name of Republicans.

The opposition of the Federal party to the war with England, and the alien and sedition laws of John Adams, brought the party into dispute; and the name of Federalist became a reproach. Mr. Buchanan, almost immediately upon entering Congress, began to incline more and more to the policy of the Republicans.

As a member of Congress, Mr. Buchanan was faithful to his duties. He was always in his seat, and took an active part in every important question. The speeches which he made indicated great care in their preparation, and were distinguished for depth of thought and persuasive eloquence. The great question, as to the power of the National Government to promote internal improvements, agitated Congress. Mr. Buchanan was in sympathy with the Republicans, and voted against any appropriation to repair the Cumberland Road. The bill, however, passed Congress. President Monroe vetoed it. Mr. Buchanan argued that Congress was not authorized to establish a protective tariff; that it was authorized to impose a tariff for revcuue only. In an earnest speech upon this subject, he said,