the foe of liberty, and the indispensable stay of usurpation.

"Where were the chains of despotism ever thrown around the freedom of speech and of the press, but on this plea of State necessity? Let the spirit of Charles the Tenth and of his ministers answer.

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"It is cold, selfish, heartless; and has always been regardless of age, sex, condition, services, or any of the incidents of life that appeal to patriotism or humanity.

"Wherever its authority has been acknowledged, it has assailed men who stood by their country when she needed strong arms and bold hearts; and has assailed them when, maimed and disabled in her service, they could no longer brandish a weapon in her defence.

"It has afflicted the feeble and dependent wife for the imaginary faults of her husband.

"It has stricken down innocence in its beauty, youth in its freshness, manhood in its vigor, and old age in its feebleness and decrepitude. Whatever other plea of apology may be set up for the sweeping, ruthless exercise of this civil guillotine at the present day in the name of Liberty, let us be spared this fearful one of 'state necessity' in this early age of the republic, upon the floor of the American Senate, in the face of a people yet free."

CHAPTER VI.

His Congressional Career-Subject of Slavery-Resigns his SeatAgain appointed to the Senate, but will not accept-Correspondence-Offered a Seat in the Cabinet of Mr. Polk.

We have now given to the reader some of the most important of General Pierce's congressional speeches. They are all, it will be evident, at once of an eminently practical nature. They were not delivered upon subjects calculated to elicit enthusiastic eloquence, but upon vital questions of political economy-upon questions which deeply concerned the well-being of the nation. Upon such questions Mr. Pierce in Congress adopted a style of speech at once striking and simple. That he is the master of remarkable eloquence no man will deny who has ever heard him in one of his best efforts at the bar. But he preferred a working life, and a plain, unvarnished style. His speeches resemble closely those of Cobden, and Peel, and Russell, and many others of England's most renowned parliamentary debaters. There is none of the clap-trap of popular eloquence, but clear convincing logic, which carries conviction straight to the heart. He was not noted in the House or Senate for speech-making, for he scarcely ever took part in debate; but his votes are on every page of the Congressional journals. We might pro

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ceed to give his votes upon the important questions which were before Congress during his participation in its proceedings, but it is hardly necessary to do so, as he always voted strictly with the Democratic party. He was a Democrat of the Jefferson stamp, -clear-sighted, warm-hearted, and with strong sympathies for popular rights, and his votes were in accordance with his principles.

Upon the embarrassing question of slavery, he pursued a straight-forward course. He voted to sustain the right of petition, when that simple question of right was presented in 1837, but he was invariably opposed to all agitation upon the subject, and gave his votes to that end. In May, 1836, Mr. Pinckney, from a select committee on the subject—Mr. Pierce being a member of said Committee made a report concerning the disposition of all memorials in regard to negro slavery, concluding with the following resolutions:

"Resolved, That Congress possesses no constitutional authority to interfere in any way with the institution of slavery in any of the States of this confederacy.

“Resolved, That Congress ought not to interfere any way with slavery in the District of Columbia.

in

"And whereas it is extremely important and desirable that the agitation of this subject should be finally arrested, for the purpose of restoring tranquillity to the public mind, your committee respectfully

recommend the adoption of the following additional resolution, viz.:

"Resolved, That all petitions, memorials, resolutions, propositions or papers, relating in any way or to any extent whatever, to the subject of slavery, or the abolition of slavery, shall, without being printed or referred, be laid upon the table, and no further action shall be had thereon."

Mr. Pierce voted in favor of the passage of the above resolutions, and they were passed by the House of Representatives. Still later, upon the pure question of the right to petition—not the expediency of entertaining petitions-Mr. Pierce was in favor of affirming said right, though at all times, as at present, entirely opposed to all agitation upon the subject of slavery. To the people of the South he is therefore unobjectionable, touching this point, and that portion of the people of the North which is anti-slavery in feeling, can at least admire the consistency of Franklin Pierce, and his unswerving honesty of character. What he was ten years ago he is to-day. He came not into the support of the Compromise measures for the sake of office but simply because he had always favored any such measures whose object was the defeat of all agitation upon the subject.

When Franklin Pierce entered the lower House of Congress, he at once became the ardent friend and supporter of General Jackson. The almost sublime character of the hero of New-Orleans was

man.

fully appreciated by him. His sternness of will, his fearless courage, his integrity of heart, constituted him a hero indeed, and Franklin Pierce revered those qualities in him, and loved and respected the At that time Andrew Jackson had a host of inveterate and unscrupulous enemies, who pursued him with a ferocity of purpose and an intensity of hate scarcely ever before witnessed in political life. Mr. Pierce, from this cause alone would have been inclined to become his friend, but he also believed, indeed knew, that Jackson was persecuted because he had dared to become the open enemy of the most gigantic of frauds and monopolies-because he had dared to speak out manfully, and act for the best interests of the whole people, instead of a small class of great capitalists. Mr. Pierce spoke out boldly in defence of the brave old hero, justifying his course, his policy, and his sincere desire to act not only constitutionally, but also to act for the prosperity, the lasting prosperity, of the nation.

In many respects Mr. Pierce resembles General Jackson. He has the same iron will, the same honesty of character, and the same strong sympathies for the masses. But he possesses certain qualities which were never Jackson's. General Pierce is a

graceful, polished man. There are few public men in the country who have such a power to make friends as he; therefore, during his residence in Washington he made a wide circle of warm personal friends. Clay, Webster, and many others of