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stitutions to suit themselves. Nothing could have been more distasteful to the extremists of the South, many of whom made open threats of secession in case of the adoption of the President's suggestions. To adjust the difficulty, Mr. Clay, in the Senate, introduced his "compromise measures," which were still under debate, when, on the 4th of July, 1850, General Taylor was seized with bilious fever, of which he died on the 9th at the Presidential Mansion. His last words were: "I have tried to do my duty."

Ο

MILLARD FILLMORE.

N the death of General Taylor, his successor, according to the Constitution, was

the Vice-President. The gentleman then filling that position was Millard Fillmore, an eminent lawyer of New York. He was comparatively a young man, having been born on the 7th of January, 1800, at Summer Hill, Cayuga County, New York. His father being poor, his means of education had been limited. Apprenticed at the age of fourteen to a clothier, he found time during his evenings to gratify an insatiable thirst for knowledge by reading. His studious habits, fine personal appearance, and gentlemanly bearing having attracted the attention of a lawyer in the neighborhood, that gentleman offered to receive

him in his office and to assist him pecuniarily until he should be admitted to the bar. This offer young Fillmore, then in his nineteenth year, thankfully accepted. With this help, and by teaching during the winters, he was enabled to prosecute

his studies to a successful issue, and in 1823 was admitted to the bar, opening an office in the village of Aurora, New York. In 1826, he married Miss Abigail Powers, a lady of eminent worth.

Mr. Fillmore steadily rose in his profession. In 1829, he was elected by the Whigs to the State Legislature, and soon afterward removed to Buf falo. In 1832, he was chosen a member of Congress, and again in 1837, but declined running a third time. He now had a wide reputation, and in the year 1847 was elected State Comptroller and removed to Albany. The following year, he was placed in nomination as Vice-President on the ticket with General Taylor. When, on the 5th of March, 1849, Taylor took the Presidential chair, Mr. Fillmore, by virtue of his office, became President of the United States Senate. Here, the first presiding officer to take so firm a step, he announced his determination, in spite of all precedents to the contrary, to promptly call Senators to order for any offensive words they might utter in debate.

When, after the unexpected death of General Taylor, on July 9th, 1850, the office of chief executive devolved upon Mr. Fillmore, he found

his position no easy or pleasant one. His political opponents had a majority in both houses of Congress. The controversy on the slavery question had embittered public feeling, and it required a skillful pilot to guide the ship of state safely through the perils by which she was surrounded. The compromise measures of Mr. Clay, to which we have already referred in our sketch of General Taylor, were finally passed, and received the approving signature of Mr. Fillmore. One of these measures was the admission of California as a free State; another was the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. These were thought to be concessions to the cause of freedom; while, on the other hand, to satisfy the pro-slavery agitators, a bill was passed to give the owners of slaves power to recapture fugitive slaves in any part of the free States and carry them back without a jury trial. But, though enacted in the hope of allaying sectional animosity, these measures brought about only a temporary calm, while they aggravated the violence of extremists both North and South.

The compromise measures and the fitting out of the famous Japan expedition were the principal features of Mr. Fillmore's otherwise uneventful Administration. On the 4th of March, 1853, he retired from office, and immediately afterward took a long tour through the Southern States, where he met with a cordial reception.

In 1855, Mr. Fillmore visited Europe. He wa everywhere received with those marks of attention which, according to European ideas, are due to those who have occupied the most distinguished positions. On his return home, in 1856, he was nominated for the Presidency by the so-called "Know-nothing," or "American" party; but being very decidedly defeated, he retired to private life. He died at Buffalo, New York, on the 8th of March, 1874.

F

FRANKLIN PIERCE,

OURTEENTH President of the United States, was born at Hillsborough, N. H., November 23d, 1804. His father, General Benjamin Pierce, was a soldier of the Revolution, and was a man of considerable local repute, having also served as Governor of New Hampshire. Graduating from Bowdoin College in 1824, Mr. Pierce studied law with the celebrated Levi Woodbury, and commenced practice in his native town in 1837. He married in 1834. He early entered the political field and, in 1833, after having previously served several terms in the State Legislature, was elected to Congress. Here he showed himself an earnest State-rights Democrat, and was regarded as a fair working member. In 1837, when but thirty-three years of age, he was

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elected to the National Senate and, during the following year, removed to Concord, where he at once took rank among the leading lawyers of the State.

Though Mr. Pierce had declined the office of Attorney-General of the United States, offered to him by President Polk, he, nevertheless, when hostilities were declared against Mexico, accepted a brigadier-generalship in the army, successfully marching with twenty-four hundred men from the sea-coast to Puebla, where he reinforced General Scott. The latter, on the arrival of Pierce, immediately prepared to make his long-contemplated attack upon the City of Mexico. At the battle of Contreras, on the 19th of August, 1847, where he led an assaulting column four thousand strong, General Pierce showed himself to be a brave and energetic soldier. Early in the fight his leg was broken by his horse falling upon him, yet he kept his saddle during the entire conflict, which did not cease till eleven o'clock at night. The next day also, he took part in the still more desperate fight at Churubusco, where, overcome by pain and exhaustion, he fainted on the field. At Molino Del Rey, where the hottest battle of the war was fought, he narrowly escaped death from a shell which bursted beneath his horse.

The American army triumphantly entered the City of Mexico on the 13th of September, 1847. General Pierce remained there until the following