James, Earl of Douglas, and other exalted kinsmen. He there captured Sir Ralph Percy, son of the Earl of Northumberland, and brother to the noted "Hotspur," an exploit that drew from John Dunbar, Earl of Murray, the characteristic enconium: "Well, Maxwell, hast thou earned thy spurs to-day?" In 1650 the colonial ancestor, Philip Maxwell, came from Scotland to America, and settled at Lynn, Massachusetts. From him descended Colonel James Maxwell, who came to Wisconsin in 1835. He was a distinguished man in his day. He was speaker of the House of Representatives in that territory in 1838. His son, James A. Maxwell, now living at Boulder, Colorado, was born December 28th, 1812, at Bernardston, Franklin county, Mass. As one of the pioneers of Colorado he is universally respected. His face still bears the impress of his hardy and resolute and, withal, pious ancestors of the days of covenant-keeping ScotchPresbyterianism. His son, Hon. James Philip Maxwell, was born in Walworth county, Wisconsin, January 20th, 1839. He was educated at Lawrence University, where he graduated in 1859, and came to Colorado the following year. His general education and special training as a civil and mining engineer called him at once into public life, first in the territory, and later in the State of Colorado. His name is upon almost every page of its history for the last thirty years. From 1871 to 1872 he was in the House of Representatives; was president of the Senate after the State was admitted; has been treasurer of Boulder county, and is now State engineer. His home is in the lovely city of Boulder, where he enjoys the respect and confidence. of his neighbors. His name is widely known as that of an efficient public servant in every office entrusted to him; as that of a pioneer who had done much service for the State in return for the many honors that have been bestowed upon him. The old Scotch author from whom the foregoing facts were obtained says the Parish of Pollock, Presbytery of Paisley, Synod of Glasgow and Ayr, and Renfrewshire, "were the ancestral lands of the Maxwells, a family celebrated for attachment and devotion to the Church of Scotland, in the cause of which they suffered fered much during the reigns of Charles II. and James VII.” H. D. T. REMINISCENCES OF THE THIRTY-SIXTH AND THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESSES. BY HON. JOHN HUTCHINS, A MEMBER OF THE THEN TWENTIETH OHIO DISTRICT. XVIII. THE great and universal desire of the people of the free States to avoid a civil war, the duration of which no one could tell, and the privations, horrors, loss of life, waste and destruction of property, necessarily connected with it, no one could foresee, is strikingly evidenced by a series of resolutions unanimously passed by the Ohio Legislature in the winter of 1861, and presented to the House of Representatives, at Washington, by Mr. Cox, then a member from that State, on the 16th of January of that year. The resolutions were as follows: "Resolved, That the people of Ohio, believing in the preservation of the unity of the government that constituted the American people one people, is essential to the support of their tranquility at home, of their peace abroad, of their safety, of their prosperity, and of that very liberty which they so highly prize, are firmly and ardently attached to the National Constitution and the Union of the States. "That the general government cannot permit the secession of any State without violating the obligations by which it is bound, under the compact, to the other States, and to every citizen of the United States. "That while the constitutional right of every State in the Union should be preserved inviolate, the powers and authority of the National Government must be maintained, and the laws of Congress faithfully enforced in every State and Territory until repealed by Congress or adjudged to be unconstitutional by the proper judicial tribunal; and all attempts by State authorities to nullify the Constitution of the United States, or the laws of the Federal Government, or to resist the execution thereof, are revolutionary in their character, and tend to the disruption of the best and wisest system of government of the world. "That the people of Ohio are inflexibly opposed to intermeddling with the internal affairs and domestic relations of other States of the Union; in the same manner and to the same ex tent as they are opposed to any interference by the people of other States with their domestic concerns. "That it is the will and purpose of the people of Ohio to fulfill, in good faith, all their obligations under the Constitution of the United States, according to the spirit and intent thereof; and they demand the faithful discharge of the same duty by every State in the Union; and thus as far as may be, to increase tranquility between the State of Ohio and other States. "That it is incumbent upon any States having enactments on their statute-books conflicting with or rendering less efficient the constitution or the laws of the United States, to repeal them; and it is equally incumbent upon the general government, and the several States, to secure to every citizen of the Union his rights in every State, under that provision of the constitution which guarantees to the citizens of each State all the privileges and immunities of the citizen in the several States, and thus inspire and restore confidence, and a spirit of fraternal feeling between the different States of the Union. "That the Union-loving citizens of those States who have labored, and still labor with devotional courage and patriotism, to withhold their States from the vortex of secession, are entitled to the gratitude of the whole American people. "That we hail with joy the recent firm and dignified and patriotic message of the President of the United States, and that the entire power and resources of Ohio are hereby pledged, whenever necessary and demanded for the maintenance, under strict subordination to the civil authority, of the constitution and laws of the general government, by whomsoever administered. "That the Governor be requested to forward, forthwith, copies of the foregoing resolutions to the President of the Nation, and to the Governors of all the States of the Union, and to each of the Senators and Representatives in Congress from this State, to be by them presented to each branch of the National Legislature." These resolutions harmonize in speech with the speech of Mr. Anthony, from which extracts have been given, and other public expressions in all the free States on the then crisis of affairs; but they had no influence in checking the secession movement in Congress among the representatives of most of the slaveholding States or of the people thereof. The compromise resolutions of Mr. Crittenden were defeated in the Senate, by an amendment thereto, by Mr. Clark, of New Hampshire, which was as follows: "That the provisions of the constitution are ample for the preservation of the Union and the protection of all the national institutions of the country; that it needs to be obeyed rather than amended; and that an ex trication from our present dangers is to be looked for in strenuous efforts to preserve the peace, protect the public property, and enforce the laws, rather than in new guarantees for particular interests, compromises for particular difficulties, or concessions to unreasonable demands. Resolved, That an attempt to dissolved the present Union, or overthrow, or abandon the present constitution, with the hope or expectation of constructing a new one, are dangerous, illusory, and destructive; that of the opinion of the Senate of the United States no such reconstruction is practicable; and, therefore, to the maintenance of the existing Union and constitution should be directed all the energies of all the departments of the general government, and the efforts of all good citizens." The vote upon the adoption of this amendment, was Yeas-Anthony, Baker, Bingham, Cameron, Chandler, Clark, Collamer, Dixon, Doolittle, Durkee, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Grimes, Hale, Harlan, Seward, Simmons, Sumner, Ten Eyck, Trumbull, Wade, Wilkison, and Wilson-all Republicans, 25. Nays-Bayard, Bigler, Bragg, Bright, Clengman, Crittenden, Fitch, Green, Kennedy, Lane of Oregon, Mason, Nicholson, Pearce, Powell, Pugh, Rice, Saulsbury, and Sebastian, 23—all Democrats, but Crittenden and Kennedy-Bell-Americans. Iverson, of Georgia, Benjamin and Slidell, of Louisiana, Hempfield and Wigfall, of Texas, did nɔt vote. Their votes of course, among the nays, would have defeated the amendment. Mr. Douglas in substance so charged in the Senate at the time the vote was taken. The Senate failed to agree upon any plan of compromise that would satisfy the South, and it is probable that even the Crittenden Compromise, if adopted by Congress would not have prevented attempted secession. There was a madness in the slaveholding States that can only be explained in the heathen saying, "Whom the gods intend to destroy, they first make mad." There was a historical assemblage called on the unanimous invitation of the Legislature of Virginia, which . met at Washington about one month before the inauguration of President Lincoln, named the "Peace Conference," which showed the great public desire of adjusting peaceably the difficulties between the sections, a brief notice of the action of which will be given. The result of their action was presented in Congress, but not adopted by either House. The following States sent delegates: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri. Ex-President John Tyler, was chosen president. On motion of Mr. James Guthrie, of Kentucky, a committee of one was appointed by |