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broken utterances as to his rod and his staff supporting the steps about to enter the valley of the shadow of death; words that tell how much of poetry there was in his heart; broken lines of Gray's 'Elegy in a Country Churchyard' :

"The curfew tolls the knell of parting day';

and a solemn, final leave-taking of the loved ones of his household.

Then the light faded out of those large, lustrous eyes, and Webster was dead.

"Wherever the tidings spread, the flag of the country drooped. Men were startled in high places and in humble ones; some wept; and all who could reach Marshfield went to look upon the dead majesty of the nation, as it lay in the deep, tranquil sleep of death, under the spreading boughs of an immense tree, which had often sheltered its lord when living.

"6 'What a career closed there! a career far the most brilliant which has been seen in this country.

"We heard of his death as we should have received the intelligence of a national calamity.

"The shock was like that we should experience if we stood by and witnessed the fall of a castle, from whose battlements banners had been flung out, and through whose embrasures artillery had thundered, and at whose base the proudest armaments had perished.

"His last days exhibited all the serene grandeur of his nature. His soul, turning away from the world and its objects, fixed its gaze upon the illimitable future, which spread before it like a shoreless ocean, upon whose tranquil waters the star of Bethlehem threw its tremulous and unearthly lustre.

"His hand recorded his clear and emphatic confession of faith in the Redeemer and in the divine inspiration of the Gospel.

"Those last days-what a glory streams through them-glory not wit its shadows!

hours of the life of the dying statesman resembled unset; not the going down of a tropical sun in unendor, but the sun sinking behind the Alps, kindling

upon every mountain peak a blaze of glory, and pouring a flood of golden light upon the clouds which hung their solemn drapery about his dying couch."

General Scott's defeat had been foreshadowed. At the election which occurred November 2, 1852, the Democratic candidates, Pierce and King, were elected by a great majority. They carried twenty-seven States, which gave two hundred and five electoral votes. Scott and Graham, the Whig candidates, carried the States of Vermont, Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Tennessee, which gave them forty-two electoral votes.

The administration of President Pierce was satisfactory to the country generally, and was warmly supported by the South. In its course two events of national importance occurred.

Upon the settlement of a boundary dispute with Mexico concerning a tract of land bordering on New Mexico and comprising 45,535 square miles, the United States acquired the disputed territory by purchase. The territory acquired by the negotiation comprised part of Arizona and New Mexico.

In January, 1854, Mr. Douglas, chairman of the Committee on Territories, reported to the Senate a bill for the organization of Kansas and Nebraska, two Territories in the region west of Missouri and north of latitude 36°30′.

By this bill the Missouri Compromise Act of 1820 was repealed, and slavery was relieved from the last restriction; henceforth it was to be admitted wherever those who controlled it thought it could be profitably employed.

Whatever may be thought of the merits of the Missouri Compromise Act, which had so long been recognized as an adjustment of a great controversy, its repeal was to the last degree impolitic. In the Senate a great debate preceded the adoption of the measure, in which Chase of

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Ohio, Everett and Sumner of Massachusetts, Seward of New York, Fessenden of Maine, and even Southern men -Houston of Texas and Bell of Tennessee-vigorously opposed it. But it was finally carried by a vote of nearly two to one; the whole influence of the administration having been given to its support. In the House it was strenuously opposed, and Mr. Benton, of Missouri, who then held a seat as a representative from that State, was conspicuous in the leadership of those who sought to defeat the measure; but it passed the House. It became a law on the last day of May. It is impossible to overstate the excitement, rising into indignation, that was aroused in the non-slaveholding States by the repeal of the Missouri Compromise Act. It was the breaking down of a great barrier, against which sectional feeling and party passion had so long beat in vain.

The Free-Soil party assumed great proportions, and took the name of Republican-a name destined to attract to it great numbers of men who had hitherto refused to take part in an organization against slavery. This party drew to it a large following from the Whigs of the North, and it obtained a considerable accession from the Democratic party.

For the first time in the history of the country a powerful party appeared in the field, declaring its hostility to an institution existing in the Southern States, which was so formidable as to threaten the existence of the government.

CHAPTER XXIV.

Political Movements in 1856—American National Convention, February 22d -Democratic National Convention, June 2d—Republican National Convention, June 17th-Canvass for Mr. Fillmore-Reception at Huntsville -Debates with Hon. L. P. Walker-Speech at Huntsville-MassMeeting at Atlanta-Hon. B. H. Hill-Presidential Election-President Buchanan's Administration-Oration at the University of Virginia Commencement, 1859-Hon. William C. Preston.

EVENTS occurred in 1856 which disclosed the purpose of political leaders to conduct a canvass for the presidency of unprecedented activity and energy.

The disastrous defeat of General Scott convinced the leaders of the Whig party that the people would not entrust the government to their hands.

In the non-slaveholding States the Republican party had already received large accessions from the Whigs, who were hostile to the adjustment of the slavery question which had been adopted in Congress. It was believed by the friends of the Whig party that it could no longer achieve national triumphs under its honored standard, and they were unwilling to display it in the field where it would be upheld only by a few loyal supporters, proud of its traditions.

Those who were still national in sentiment, and were not in sympathy with the anti-slavery feelings of the North, and condemned its sectional policy, entered a new organization, called the American party, which soon grew into great proportions, and became formidable in its political

movements.

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The Democratic party maintained its organization, and presented a steady front in support of the compromise measures throughout the country.

The American party held a National Convention at Philadelphia, February 22d; and after adopting a platform virtually recognizing the principles of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and approving the fugitive-slave law, nominated Millard Fillmore for President, and Andrew J. Donelson of Tennessee, for Vice-President. It was the hope of the Convention that the well-known statesmanship of Mr. Fillmore, and the confidence which was felt throughout the United States in his integrity, would draw to his support large numbers from other organizations. The close relationship of Mr. Donelson to General Andrew Jackson, suggested his nomination for the vice-presidency, and it was believed that his name would give great strength to the ticket. Holding its convention on the 22d of February, the anniversary of Washington's birthday, it was believed would revive memories that would strengthen the national sentiment throughout the country, and help the new party to rally to its standard many old Whigs.

The Democratic National Convention met at Cincinnati, on the 2d of June, and proceeded at once to reaffirm the platform which it had adopted in 1852, with the addition of resolutions condemning the principles of the American party, recognizing the Kansas-Nebraska Act, including the repeal of the Missouri compromise line as the only safe solution of the slavery question, and affirming the duty of upholding the rights of the States, and of maintaining the Union. It also expressed its approval of the doctrines of the Ostend circular, which looked to the acquisition of Cuba from Spain. James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, was nominated for President, and John C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, for Vice-President. No names in the ranks of the Democratic party could have been selected that would have found more favor with the people.