III. 1852-1853…

III. 1852-1853

PERSONAL AND POLITICAL RELATIONS WITH THE PRESIDENT ELECT AND WITH MR. MARCY, HIS SECRETARY OF STATE—BUCHANAN IS OFFERED THE MISSION TO ENGLAND—HIS OWN ACCOUNT OF THE OFFER, AND HIS REASONS FOR ACCEPTING IT—PARTING WITH HIS FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS IN LANCASTER—CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS NIECE.

The private correspondence between Mr. Buchanan and the new President, General Pierce, and his Secretary of State, will best explain his relations to this administration; and he has himself left a full record of the circumstances under which he accepted the mission to England in the summer of 1853.

[FROM GENERAL PIERCE.]

CONCORD, N. H., November 1, 1852.

MY DEAR SIR:—

Your kind letter of the 26th instant was received yesterday.

Your conclusion as to attending the meeting at Tammany Hall was what I should have expected, marked by a nice sense of the fitness of things.

The telegraphic despatches received late this evening would seem to remove all doubt as to the result of the election. Your signal part in the accomplishment of that result is acknowledged and appreciated by all. I hope to have the pleasure of meeting you at no distant day.

Your friend, FRANK PIERCE.

[FROM GENERAL PIERCE.]

CONCORD, N. H, December 7, 1852.

MY DEAR SIR:—

I have been hoping ever since the election that I might have a personal interview with you, if not before, certainly during the present month. But the objections to such a meeting suggested by you while I was at the sea-shore now exist, perhaps even with greater force than at that time. With our known pleasant personal relation a meeting would doubtless call forth many idle and annoying speculations and groundless surmises.

An interchange of thoughts with Colonel King (whose returning health is a source of great joy to me) would also be peculiarly pleasant and profitable, but here, again, there are obstacles in the way. He cannot come North, and I cannot go to Washington. Communication by letter is still open. My thoughts for the last four weeks have been earnestly turned to the formation of a cabinet. And although I must in the end be responsible for the appointments, and consequently should follow my own well-considered convictions, I cannot help saying often to myself how agreeable it would be to compare conclusions upon this or that point with Mr. Buchanan. I do not mean to trouble you with the many matters of difficulty that evidently lie in my path. So far as I have been able to form an opinion as to public sentiment and reasonable public expectation, I think I am expected to call around me gentlemen who have not hitherto occupied cabinet position, and in view of the jealousies and embarrassments which environ any other course, this expectation is in accordance with my own judgment, a judgment strengthened by the impression that it is sanctioned by views expressed by you. Regarding you with the confidence of a friend, and appreciating your disinterested patriotism as well as your wide experience and comprehensive statesmanship, I trust you will deem it neither an intrusion nor annoyance when I ask your suggestions and advice.

If not mistaken in this, you will confer a great favor by writing me, as fully as you may deem proper, as to the launching (if I may so express myself) of the incoming administration, and more especially in regard to men and things in Pennsylvania. In relation to appointments requiring prompt action after the inauguration, I shall, as far as practicable, leave Concord with purposes definitely formed, and not likely to be changed.

Should you deem that I ought not thus to tax you, burn the letter, but give me, as of yore, your good will and wishes.

I shall regard, as you will of course, whatever passes between us as in the strictest sense confidential.

Very truly, your friend, FRANK PIERCE.

[MR. BUCHANAN TO GENERAL PIERCE.]

WHEATLAND, near LANCASTER, December 11, 1852.

MY DEAR SIR:—

Your favor of the 7th instant reached me last evening.

You do me no more than justice in “regarding me with the free confidence of a friend,” and I can say in all sincerity that, both for your own sake and that of the country, I most ardently desire the success of your administration. Having asked my suggestions and advice “as to the launching of the incoming administration,” I shall cheerfully give it, with all the frankness of friendship.

Your letter, I can assure you, has relieved me from no little personal anxiety. Had you offered me a seat in your cabinet one month ago, although highly gratified as I should have been with such a distinguished token of your confidence and regard, I would have declined it without a moment’s hesitation. Nothing short of an imperative and overruling sense of public duty could ever prevail upon me to pass another four years of my life in the laborious and responsible position which I formerly occupied. Within the past month, however, so many urgent appeals have been made to me from quarters entitled to the highest respect, to accept the State Department, if tendered, and this, too, as an act of public duty, in view of the present perplexed and embarrassing condition of our foreign relations, that in declining it, I should have been placed in an embarrassing position from which I have been happily relieved by your letter.

But whilst I say this in all sincerity, I cannot assent to the correctness of the general principle you have adopted, to proscribe in advance the members of all former cabinets; nor do I concur with you in opinion, that either public sentiment or public expectation requires such a sweeping ostracism. I need scarcely, therefore, say that the impression which you have derived of my opinion in favor of this measure, from I know not whom, is without foundation. I should be most unjust towards my able, enlightened and patriotic associates in the cabinet of Mr. Polk, could I have entertained such an idea. So far from it that, were I the President elect, I should deem it almost indispensable to avail myself of the sound wisdom and experienced judgment of one or more members of that cabinet, to assist me in conducting the vast and complicated machinery of the Federal Government. Neither should I be diverted from this purpose by the senseless cry of “Old Fogyism” raised by “Young America.”

I think the members of Mr. Polk’s cabinet should be placed upon the same level with the mass of their fellow-citizens, and neither in a better nor a worse condition. I am not aware that any of them, unless it may be Governor Marcy, either expects or desires a cabinet appointment; and certainly all of them will most cheerfully accord to you the perfect right of selecting the members of your own cabinet. Still, to be excluded from your consideration, merely because they had happened to belong to Mr. Polk’s cabinet, could not be very gratifying to any of them.

To apply your own metaphor, “the launching of the incoming administration” will, perhaps, be a more important and responsible duty than has ever fallen to the lot of any of your predecessors. On the selection of the navigators to assist you in conducting the vessel of State, will mainly depend the success of the voyage. No matter how able or skilful the commander may be, and without flattery, I cheerfully accord to you both ability and skill, he can do but little without the aid of able and skilful subordinates. So firmly am I convinced of this truth, that I should not fear to predict the result of your administration as soon as I shall learn who are the members of your cabinet. In former times, when the Government was comparatively in its infancy, the President himself could supervise and direct all the measures of any importance arising under our complex but most excellent system of government. Not so at present. This would no longer be possible, even if the day consisted of forty-eight instead of twenty-four hours. Hence, from absolute necessity, the members of your administration will exercise much independent power. Even in regard to those questions submitted more directly to yourself, from want of time to make minute examinations of all the facts, you must necessarily rely much upon the representations of the appropriate Secretary. My strong and earnest advice to you, therefore, is not to constitute your cabinet with a view to harmonize the opposite and fleeting factions of the day; but solely with the higher and nobler view of promoting the great interests of the country and securing the glory and lasting fame of your own administration. You occupy a proud and independent position, and enjoy a popularity which will render any able and honest Democrat popular who may be honored by your choice for a cabinet station, provided they are properly distributed over the Union. In this respect, you are placed in a more enviable position than almost any of your predecessors. It was a maxim of old Simon Snyder, the shrewd and popular Governor of our State, that the very best man ought to be selected for the office, and if not popular at the moment, he would soon render himself popular. In view of these important considerations, I would earnestly recommend to you the practice of General Washington, never finally to decide an important question until the moment which required its decision had nearly approached.

I know that a state of suspense is annoying to the human mind; but it is better to submit to this annoyance for a season than to incur the risk of a more permanent and greater evil.

You say that you will leave Concord “with purposes definitely formed and not likely to be changed.”

But is Concord the best locality in the world for acquiring reliable information and taking extended views of our whole great country? To Boston I should never resort for this purpose. Pardon me for suggesting that you ought not to have your resolution definitely fixed until after your arrival in Washington. In that city, although you will find many interested and designing politicians, there are also pure, honest and disinterested Democratic patriots.

Among this number is Colonel King, whom you so highly and justly commend. He is among the best, purest and most consistent public men I have ever known, and is also a sound judging and discreet counsellor. You might rely with implicit confidence upon his information, especially in regard to the Southern States, which I know are at the present moment tremblingly alive to the importance of your cabinet selections. I might cite the example of Mr. Polk. Although in council with General Jackson, he had early determined to offer me the State Department, yet no intimation of the kind was ever communicated to me until a short time before his arrival in Washington, and then only in an indirect manner; and in regard to all the other members of his cabinet, he was wholly uncommitted, until the time for making his selections had nearly approached.

It is true, he had strong predilections in favor of individuals before he left Tennessee, but I do not think I hazard much in saying, that had these been indulged, his administration would not have occupied so high a place as it is destined to do in the history of his country.

One opinion I must not fail to express; and this is that the cabinet ought to be a unit. I may say that this is not merely an opinion of mine, but a strong and deep conviction. It is as clear to my mind as any mathematical demonstration. Without unity no cabinet can be successful. General Jackson, penetrating as he was, did not discover this truth until compelled to dissolve his first cabinet on account of its heterogeneous and discordant materials. I undertake to predict that whoever may be the President, if he disregards this principle in the formation of his cabinet, he will have committed a fatal mistake. He who attempts to conciliate opposing factions by placing ardent and embittered representatives of each in his cabinet, will discover that he has only infused into these factions new vigor and power for mischief. Having other objects in view, distinct from the success and glory of the administration, they will be employed in strengthening the factions to which they belong, and in creating unfortunate divisions in Congress and throughout the country. It was a regard to this vital principle of unity in the formation of his cabinet which rendered Mr. Polk’s administration so successful. We were all personal and political friends, and worked together in harmony. However various our views might have been and often were upon any particular subject when entering the cabinet council, after mutual consultation and free discussion we never failed to agree at last, except on a very few questions, and on these the world never knew that we had differed.

I have made these suggestions without a single selfish object. My purpose is to retire gradually, if possible, and gracefully from any active participation in public affairs, and to devote my time to do historical justice to the administration of Mr. Polk, as well as to myself, before the tribunal of posterity. I feel, notwithstanding, a deep and intense interest in the lasting triumph of the good old cause of Democracy and in that of its chosen standard bearer, to whose success I devoted myself with a hearty good will.

The important domestic questions being now nearly all settled, the foreign affairs of the Government, and especially the question of Cuba, will occupy the most conspicuous place in your administration. I believe Cuba can be acquired by cession upon honorable terms, and I should not desire to acquire it in any other manner. The President who shall accomplish this object will render his name illustrious, and place it on the same level with that of his great predecessor, who gave Louisiana to the Union. The best means of acquiring it, in my opinion, is to enlist the active agency of the foreign creditors of Spain, who have a direct interest in its cession to the United States. The Rothschilds, the Barings, and other large capitalists now control, to a great extent, the monarchies of continental Europe. Besides, Queen Christina, who is very avaricious and exercises great influence over her daughter, the queen of Spain, and her court, has very large possessions in the island, the value of which would be greatly enhanced by its cession to the United States. Should you desire to acquire Cuba, the choice of suitable ministers to Spain, Naples, England and France will be very important. Mr. Fillmore committed a great outrage in publishing the Cuban correspondence. Had he, however, not suppressed a material portion of my instructions to Mr. Saunders, every candid man of all parties would have admitted, without hesitation, that under the then existing circumstances it was the imperative duty of Mr. Polk to offer to make the purchase. Indeed, I think myself, it was too long delayed.

In my opinion, Mr. Clayton and Mr. Webster have involved our relations with England in serious difficulties by departing from the Monroe doctrine.

In Pennsylvania we have all been amused at the successive detachments of those whom we call guerillas, which have visited Concord to assure you that serious divisions exist among the Democracy of our State. There never was anything more unfounded. The party is now more thoroughly united than it has ever been at any period within my recollection. Whilst the contest continued between General Cass and myself, many honest Democrats, without a particle of personal or political hostility to me, preferred him and espoused his cause simply because he had been the defeated candidate. That feeling is at an end with the cause which gave it birth, and these honest Democrats as heartily despise the ——, the ——, the ——, the ——, the ——, the ——, etc., etc., as do my oldest and best friends. In truth the guerillas are now chiefs without followers. They are at present attempting to galvanize themselves at home through the expected influence of your administration. Their tools, who will nearly all be applicants for office, circulate the most favorable accounts from Concord. They were scarcely heard of previous to the October election, which was the battle of the 23d December; but if we are to believe them, they achieved the victory of the 8th January. These are the men who defeated Judge —— at the election in October, 1851, by exciting Anti-Catholic prejudices against him, and who have always been disorganizers whenever their personal interests came in conflict with the success of the party. Thank Heaven, they are now altogether powerless, and will so remain unless your administration should impart to them renewed vigor. Their principal apprehension was that you might offer me a seat in your cabinet, but for some time past they have confidently boasted that their influence had already prevented this dreaded consummation.

Their next assault will be upon my intimate friend, Judge ——, who will, I have no doubt, be strongly presented to you for a cabinet appointment. The Judge is able, honest and inflexibly firm, and did, to say the very least, as much as any individual in the State to secure our glorious triumph. I might speak in similar terms of ——. To defeat such men, they will lay hold of ——, Mr. ——, or any other individual less obnoxious to them, and make a merit of pressing him for a cabinet appointment from Pennsylvania.

They calculate largely upon the influence of General Cass, who, strangely enough, is devoted to them, although their advocacy rendered it impossible that he should ever be nominated or elected by the vote of the State.

As a private citizen, I shall take the liberty of recommending to you by letter, at the proper time, those whom I consider the best qualified candidates for different offices within our State, and you will pay such attention to my recommendations as you may think they deserve. I would not, if I could, exclude the honest friends of General Cass from a fair participation.... They are and always have been good Democrats, and are now my warm friends. But I shall ever protest against the appointment of any of the disorganizers who, professing Democracy, defeated Judge ——, and not content with advocating General Cass in preference to myself, which they had a perfect right to do, have spent their time and their money in abusing my personal character most foully and falsely.

Even ——, the editor of the ——, whose paper was almost exclusively devoted to the propagation of these slanders, to be circulated under the frank of Senator —— throughout the South, for they had no influence at home, is a hopeful candidate for office, as they profess, under your administration.

I have now, from a sense of duty, written you by far the longest letter I ever wrote in my life, and have unburdened my mind of a ponderous load. I have nothing more to add, except a request that you would present me kindly to Mrs. Pierce, and believe me to be always, most respectfully,

Your friend, JAMES BUCHANAN.

[GENERAL PIERCE TO MR. BUCHANAN.]

CONCORD, N. H., December 14, 1852.

MY DEAR SIR:—

Language fails me to express the sincere gratitude I feel for your kind and noble letter of the 11th inst. I cannot now reply as I ought, but lose no time in expressing my deep sense of obligation. I ought, in justice to the citizens of Pennsylvania who have visited Concord during the summer and autumn, to say that I do not recollect a single individual who has ventured to make a suggestion in relation to yourself, calculated in the slightest degree to weaken my personal regard.

It is far from my purpose to hasten to any conclusion in relation to my cabinet.

It is hardly possible that I can be more deeply impressed than I now am as to the importance of the manner in which it shall be cast, both for the interests of the country and my own comfort. I cannot, however, view the advantages of my presence at Washington in the same light with yourself, though having no object but the best interests of our party and the country; personal inclination and convenience will, if I know it, have no weight upon my course in any particular.

I must leave for a future time many things I desire to say. Do you still anticipate passing a portion of the winter at the South?

With sincere regard, your friend, FRANK PIERCE.

[MARCY TO BUCHANAN.]

WASHINGTON, March 5, 1853.

MY DEAR SIR:—

If not a matter of strict duty, I choose to regard it as a proper thing to explain my movements to you. A few days after the late Presidential election, I went south with my son Edmund, about whose condition as to health I had become alarmed, and am still very solicitous. In the first week of February, he took a steamer for some of the West India Islands, and I concluded it to be my duty to return to my deserted family at Albany. I arrived at Richmond, Virginia, about the 20th of February, with a disposition to pass on to the North without going through Washington. As I had never done anything at that place for which I ought to be ashamed (or rather I thought I had not), it appeared to me it would be cowardly to run around or through it. I was very much inclined to go and perchance to stop there a few days. The doubts which distracted me in regard to my course were almost entirely removed by a letter from a person whom I had never seen, suggesting that it might be well for me to be in Washington about the 20th ult. On my appearance there a rumor suddenly arose that I was certainly to be one of the new cabinet, and the same liberty was taken with the names of several other persons. I have heard in an unauthentic way that you had been wise enough to take precautions against such a use of your name. It is now generally believed here, and I believe it myself, that I may be in the cabinet of the incoming administration, and (to confess all) I have been weak enough to make up my mind to accept a seat if offered one in it. Should it be the place you filled with so much ability, I may be rash enough not to decline it. I have told you all; here I am and here I am likely to be, for a brief period at least.

I do not think you will approve of what I have done. I hope you will not severely censure me, or the judgment which will put me where I expect to be. If it is an error, either on my part or that of another, there are some circumstances to excuse it, but I have not time to present them in detail.

I hope to have a frank and free intercourse with you. I will go further, I hope to have—what I know I shall much need—the aid in some emergencies of your greater experience and better knowledge. It will give me sincere pleasure to hear from you.

Yours truly, W. L. MARCY.

On the 30th of March (1853), the President wrote to Mr. Buchanan and requested him to accept the mission to England. In his reply, Mr. Buchanan postponed a final answer, and what ensued appears from the following detailed account, which remains in his hand-writing.

Although gratified with this offer, I felt great reluctance in accepting it. Having consulted several friends, in whose judgment I have confidence, they all advised me to accept it, with a single exception (James L. Reynolds). I left Lancaster for Washington on Thursday, 7th April, wholly undecided as to my course. On Friday morning (8th April) I called upon the President, who invited me to dine with him “en famille” that day. The only strangers at the table were Mr. John Slidell and Mr. O’Conor. After the dinner was over the President invited me up to the library, where we held the following conversation:

I commenced by expressing to him my warm and grateful acknowledgments for the offer of this most important mission, and said I should feel myself under the same obligations to him whether it was accepted or declined; that at my age, and contented and happy as I was at home, I felt no disposition to change my position, and again to subject myself to the ceremonious etiquette and round of gaiety required from a minister at a foreign court.

Here the President interrupted me and said: “If this had been my only purpose in sending you abroad, I should never have offered you the mission. You know very well that we have several important questions to settle with England, and it is my intention that you shall settle them all in London. The country expects and requires your services as minister to London. You have had no competitor for this place, and when I presented your name to the cabinet they were unanimous. I think that under these circumstances I have a right to ask you to accept the mission.”

To this I replied that Mr. Polk was a wise man, and after deliberation he had determined that all important questions with foreign nations should be settled in Washington, under his own immediate supervision; that he (President Pierce) had not, perhaps, seriously considered the question.

He promptly replied that he had seriously considered the question, and had arrived at the conclusion that better terms could be obtained in London at the seat of power than through an intermediate agent in this country; and instanced the Oregon negotiation as an example.

From this opinion I did not dissent, but asked: “What will Governor Marcy say to your determination? You have appointed him Secretary of State with my entire approbation; and I do not think he would be willing to surrender to your minister at London the settlement of these important questions, which might reflect so much honor upon himself.”

He replied, with some apparent feeling, that he himself would control this matter.

I interposed and said: “I know that you do; but I would not become the instrument of creating any unpleasant feelings between yourself and your Secretary of State by accepting the mission, even if I desired it, which is not the case.”

He replied that he did not believe this would be the case. When he had mentioned my name to the cabinet, although he did not say in express terms I should be entrusted with the settlement of these questions, yet from the general tone of his remarks they must have inferred that such was his intention. He added, that after our interview he would address a note to Governor Marcy to call and see him, and after conversing with him on the subject he would send for me.

I then mentioned to him that there appeared to me to be another insurmountable obstacle to my acceptance of the mission. I said: “In all your appointments for Pennsylvania, you have not yet selected a single individual for any office for which I recommended him. I have numerous other friends still behind who are applicants for foreign appointments; and if I were now to accept the mission to London, they might with justice say that I had appropriated the lion’s share to myself, and selfishly received it as an equivalent for their disappointment. I could not and would not place myself in this position.”

His answer was emphatic. He said: “I can assure you, if you accept the mission, Pennsylvania shall not receive one appointment more or less on that account. I shall consider yours as an appointment for the whole country; and I will not say that Pennsylvania shall not have more in case of your acceptance than if you should decline the mission.” I asked him if he was willing I should mention this conversation publicly. He said he would rather not; but that I might give the strongest assurances to my friends that such would be his course in regard to Pennsylvania appointments.

We then had a conversation respecting the individual appointments already made in Pennsylvania, which I shall not write. He told me emphatically, that when he appointed Mr. Brown collector, he believed him to be my friend, and had received assurances to that effect; although he knew that I greatly preferred Governor Porter. He also had been assured that Wynkoop was my friend, and asked if I had not recommended him; and seemed much surprised when I informed him of the course he had pursued.

I then stated, that if I should accept the mission, I could not consent to banish myself from my country for more than two years. He replied, that at the end of two years I might write to him for leave to return home, and it should be granted; adding, that if I should settle our important questions with England at an earlier period, I might return at the end of eighteen months, should I desire it.

The interview ended, and I heard nothing from the President on Friday evening, Saturday or Sunday, or until Monday morning. In the mean time, I had several conversations with particular friends, and especially with Mr. Walker (at whose house I stayed), Judge Campbell and Senator Bright, all of whom urged me to accept the mission. The latter informed me that if I did not accept it, many would attribute my refusal to a fear or an unwillingness to grapple with the important and dangerous questions pending between the United States and Great Britain.

On Sunday morning, April 10th, the Washington Union was brought to Mr. Walker’s, from which it appeared that the session of the Senate would terminate on the next day at one o’clock, the President having informed the Committee to wait upon him, that he had no further communications to make to the body. At this I was gratified. I presumed that the President, after having consulted Governor Marcy, had concluded not to transfer the negotiations to London; because it had never occurred to me that I was to go abroad on such an important mission without the confirmation of the Senate. Mr. Walker and myself had some conversation on the subject, and we agreed that it was strange the Senate had been kept so long together without submitting to them the important foreign appointments; as we both knew that in Europe, and especially in England, since the rejection of Mr. Van Buren’s appointment, a minister had not the proper prestige without the approbation of the co-ordinate branch of the Executive power.

On Sunday morning, before dinner-time, I called to see Jefferson Davis.[6] We had much conversation on many subjects. Among other things, I told him it was strange that the foreign appointments had not been agreed upon and submitted to the Senate before their adjournment. He replied that he did not see that this could make any difference; they might be made with more deliberation during the recess. I said a man was considered but half a minister, who went abroad upon the President’s appointment alone, without the consent of the Senate, ever since the rejection of Mr. Van Buren. He said he now saw this plainly; and asked why Marcy had not informed them of it,—they trusted to him in all such matters. The conversation then turned upon other subjects; but this interview with Mr. Davis, sought for the purpose of benefiting my friend, John Slidell, who was then a candidate for the Senate, has doubtless been the cause why I was nominated and confirmed as minister to England on the next day.

Footnote 6:

Mr. Davis was Secretary of War.

On Sunday evening a friend informed Mr. Walker and myself that a private message had been sent to the Senators still in town, requesting them not to leave by the cars on Monday morning, as the President had important business to submit to them. This was undoubtedly the origin of the rumor which at the time so extensively prevailed, that the cabinet was about to be dissolved and another appointed.

On Monday morning, at ten o’clock, I received a note from Mr. Cushing,[7] informing me that “the President would be glad to see me at once.” I immediately repaired to the White House; and the President and myself agreed, referring to our former conversation, though not repeating it in detail, that he should send my name to the Senate. If a quorum were present, and I should be confirmed, I would go to England; if not, the matter was to be considered as ended. Thirty-three members were present, and I was confirmed. On this second occasion, our brief conversation was of the same character, so far as it proceeded, with that at our first interview. He kindly consented that I should select my own Secretary of Legation; and without a moment’s hesitation, I chose John Appleton, of Maine, who accepted the offer which I was authorized to make, and was appointed. I left Washington on Tuesday morning, April 12th.

Footnote 7:

Attorney General.

At our last interview, I informed the President that I would soon again return to Washington to prepare myself for the performance of my important duties, because this could only be satisfactorily done in the State Department. He said he wished to be more at leisure on my return, that he might converse with me freely on the questions involved in my mission; he thought that in about ten days the great pressure for office would relax, and he would address me a note inviting me to come.

I left Washington perfectly satisfied, and resolved to use my best efforts to accomplish the objects of my mission. The time fixed upon for leaving the country was the 20th of June, so that I might relieve Mr. Ingersoll on the 1st of July.

I had given James Keenan of Greensburg a strong recommendation for appointment as consul to Glasgow. As soon as he learned my appointment as minister to England, he wrote to me on the 14th of April, stating that the annunciation of my acceptance of this mission had created a belief among my friends there that no Pennsylvanian could now be appointed to any consulship.

On the 16th of April, I wrote to him and assured him, in the language of the President, that my appointment to the English mission would not cause one appointment more or one appointment less to be given to Pennsylvania than if I had declined the mission.

In answer, I received a letter from him, dated April 21st, in which he extracts from a letter from Mr. Drum, then in Washington, to him, the following: “I have talked to the President earnestly on the subject (of his appointment to Glasgow), but evidently without making much impression. He says that it will be impossible for him to bestow important consulships on Pennsylvania who has a cabinet officer and the first and highest mission. Campbell talks in the same strain; but says he will make it his business to get something worthy of your acceptance.”

For some days before and after the receipt of this letter, I learned that different members of the cabinet, when urged for consulates for Pennsylvanians, had declared to the applicants and their friends that they could not be appointed on account of my appointment to London, and what the President had already done for the State. One notable instance of this kind occurred between Colonel Forney and Mr. Cushing. Not having heard from the President, according to his promise, I determined to go to Washington for the purpose of having an explanation with him and preparing myself for my mission. Accordingly, I left home on Tuesday, May 17th, and arrived in Washington on Wednesday morning, May 18th, remaining there until Tuesday morning, May 31st, on which day I returned home.

On Thursday morning, May 19th, I met the President, by appointment, at 9½ o’clock. Although he did not make a very clear explanation of his conversation with Mr. Drum, yet I left him satisfied that he would perform his promise in regard to Pennsylvania appointments. I had not been in Washington many days before I clearly discovered that the President and cabinet were intent upon his renomination and re-election. This I concluded from the general tendency of affairs, as well as from special communications to that effect from friends whom I shall not name. It was easy to perceive that the object in appointments was to raise up a Pierce party, wholly distinct from the former Buchanan, Cass, and Douglas parties; and I readily perceived, what I had before conjectured, the reason why my recommendations had proved of so little avail. I thought I also discovered considerable jealousy of Governor Marcy, who will probably cherish until the day of his death the anxious desire to become President. I was convinced of this jealousy at a dinner given Mr. Holmes, formerly of South Carolina, now of California, at Brown’s Hotel on Saturday, May 21st. Among the guests were Governor Marcy, Jefferson Davis, Mr. Dobbin, and Mr. Cushing. The company soon got into high good humor. In the course of the evening Mr. Davis began to jest with Governor Marcy and myself on the subject of the next Presidency, and the Governor appeared to relish the subject. After considerable bagatelle, I said I would make a speech. All wanted to hear my speech. I addressed Governor Marcy and said: “You and I ought to consider ourselves out of the list of candidates. We are both growing old, and it is a melancholy spectacle to see old men struggling in the political arena for the honors and offices of this world, as though it were to be their everlasting abode. Should you perform your duties as Secretary of State to the satisfaction of the country during the present Presidential term, and should I perform my duties in the same manner as minister to England, we ought both to be content to retire and leave the field to younger men. President Pierce is a young man, and should his administration prove to be advantageous to the country and honorable to himself, as I trust it will, there is no good reason why he should not be renominated and re-elected for a second term.” The Governor, to do him justice, appeared to take these remarks kindly and in good part, and said he was agreed. They were evidently very gratifying to Messrs. Davis, Dobbin, and Cushing. Besides, they expressed the real sentiments of my heart. When the dinner was ended, Messrs. Davis and Dobbin took my right and left arm and conducted me to my lodgings, expressing warm approbation of what I had said to Governor Marcy. I heard of this speech several times whilst I remained at Washington; and the President once alluded to it with evident satisfaction. It is certain that Governor Marcy is no favorite.

I found the State Department in a wretched condition. Everything had been left by Mr. Webster topsy turvy; and Mr. Everett was not Secretary long enough to have it put in proper order; and whilst in that position he was constantly occupied with pressing and important business. Governor Marcy told me that he had not been able, since his appointment, to devote one single hour together to his proper official duties. His time had been constantly taken up with office-seekers and cabinet councils. It is certain that during Mr. Polk’s administration he had paid but little attention to our foreign affairs; and it is equally certain that he went into the Department without much knowledge of its appropriate duties. But he is a strong-minded and clear-headed man; and, although slow in his perceptions, is sound in his judgment. He may, and I trust will, succeed; but yet he has much to learn.

Soon after I arrived in Washington on this visit, I began seriously to doubt whether the President would eventually entrust to me the settlement of the important questions at London, according to his promise, without which I should not have consented to go abroad. I discovered that the customary and necessary notice in such cases had not been given to the British government, of the President’s intention and desire to transfer the negotiations to London, and that I would go there with instructions and authority to settle all the questions between the two governments, and thus prepare them for the opening of these negotiations upon my arrival.

After I had been in Washington some days, busily engaged in the State Department in preparing myself for the duties of my mission, Mr. Marcy showed me the project of a treaty which had nearly been completed by Mr. Everett and Mr. Crampton, the British minister, before Mr. Fillmore’s term had expired, creating reciprocal free trade in certain enumerated articles, between the United States and the British North American provinces, with the exception of Newfoundland, and regulating the fisheries. Mr. Marcy appeared anxious to conclude this treaty, though he did not say so in terms. He said that Mr. Crampton urged its conclusion; and he himself apprehended that if it were not concluded speedily, there would be great danger of collision between the two countries on the fishing grounds. I might have answered, but did not, that the treaty could not be ratified until after the meeting of the Senate in December; and that in the mean time it might be concluded at London in connection with the Central American questions. I did say that the great lever which would force the British government to do us justice in Central America was their anxious desire to obtain reciprocal free trade for their North American possessions, and thus preserve their allegiance and ward off the danger of their annexation to the United States. My communications on the extent and character of my mission were with the President himself, and not with Governor Marcy; and I was determined they should so remain. The President had informed me that he had, as he promised, conversed with the Governor, and found him entirely willing that I should have the settlement of the important questions at London.

The circumstances to which I have referred appeared to me to be significant. I conversed with the President fully and freely on each of the three questions, viz: The reciprocal trade, the fisheries, and that of Central America; and endeavored to convince him of the necessity of settling them all together. He seemed to be strongly impressed with my remarks, and said that he had conversed with a Senator then in Washington, (I presume Mr. Toucey, though he did not mention the name,) who had informed him that he thought that the Senate would have great difficulty in ratifying any treaty which did not embrace all the subjects pending between us and England; and that for this very reason there had been considerable opposition in the body to the ratification of the Claims Convention, though in itself unexceptionable.

The President said nothing from which an inference could be fairly drawn that he had changed his mind as to the place where the negotiation should be conducted; and yet he did not speak in as strong and unequivocal terms on the subject as I could have desired. Under all the circumstances, I left Washington, on the 31st of May, without accepting my commission, which had been prepared for me and was in the State Department. On the 5th of June I received a letter from Governor Marcy, dated on the first, requesting me to put on paper my exposition of the Clayton and Bulwer treaty. In this he says nothing about my instructions on any of the questions between this country and England, nor does he intimate that he desires my opinion for any particular purpose. On the 7th of June I answered his letter. In the concluding portion of my letter, I took the occasion to say: “The truth is that our relations with England are in a critical condition. Throw all the questions together into hotchpot, and I think they can all be settled amicably and honorably. The desire of Great Britain to establish free trade between the United States and her North American possessions, and by this means retain these possessions in their allegiance, may be used as the powerful lever to force her to abandon her pretensions in Central America; and yet it must be admitted that, in her history, she has never voluntarily abandoned any important commercial position on which she has once planted her foot. It cannot be her interest to go to war with us, and she must know that it is clearly her interest to settle all the questions between us, and have a smooth sea hereafter. If the Central American question, which is the dangerous question, should not be settled, we shall probably have war with England before the close of the present administration. Should she persist in her unjust and grasping policy on the North American continent and the adjacent islands, this will be inevitable at some future day; and although we are not very well prepared for it at the present moment, it is not probable that we shall for many years be in a better condition.”

I also say in this letter to Governor Marcy, that “bad as the treaty (the Clayton and Bulwer treaty) is, the President cannot annul it. This would be beyond his power, and the attempt would startle the whole world. In one respect it may be employed to great advantage. The question of the Colony of the Bay of Islands is the dangerous question. It affects the national honor. From all the consideration I can give the subject, the establishment of this Colony is a clear violation of the Clayton and Bulwer treaty. Under it we can insist upon the withdrawal of Great Britain from the Bay of Islands. Without it we could only interpose the Monroe doctrine against this colony, which has never yet been sanctioned by Congress, though as an individual citizen of the United States, I would fight for it to-morrow, so far as all North America is concerned, and would do my best to maintain it throughout South America.”

This letter of mine to Governor Marcy, up till the present moment, June 25, has elicited no response. It may be seen at length in this book.

Having at length determined to ascertain what were the President’s present intentions in regard to the character of my mission, I addressed him a letter, of which the following is a copy, on the 14th June.

[TO HIS EXCELLENCY, FRANKLIN PIERCE.]

(Private.) WHEATLAND, near LANCASTER, June 14, 1853.

MY DEAR SIR:—

I have this moment received yours of the 11th instant, and now enclose you Mr. Appleton’s resignation. I cannot imagine how I neglected to do this before. It will be very difficult to supply his place.

If you have changed your mind in regard to the place where our important negotiations with England shall be conducted, you would confer a great favor upon me by informing me of this immediately. I stated to you, in our first conversation on the subject, that Mr. Polk, after due deliberation, had determined that such negotiations should be conducted under his own eye at Washington; and it would not give me the slightest uneasiness to learn, that upon reconsideration, such had become your determination. I should, however, consider it a fatal policy to divide the questions. After a careful examination and study of all these questions, and their mutual bearings upon each other and upon the interest of the two countries, I am fully convinced that they can only be satisfactorily adjusted all together. Indeed, from what you said to me of your conversation with a Senator, and from what I have since learned, I believe it would be difficult to obtain the consent of two-thirds of the Senate to any partial treaty. The South, whether correctly or not, will probably be averse to a reciprocity treaty confined to the British North American possessions; and it would be easy for hostile demagogues to proclaim, however unjustly, that the interests of the South had been bartered away for the fisheries. But the South might and probably would be reconciled to such a treaty, if it embraced a final and satisfactory adjustment of the questions in Central America.

If you have changed your mind, and I can imagine many reasons for this, independently of the pressure of the British minister to secure that which is so highly prized by his government,—then, I would respectfully suggest that you might inform Mr. Crampton, you are ready and willing to negotiate upon the subject of the fisheries and reciprocal trade; but this in connection with our Central American difficulties;—that you desire to put an end to all the embarrassing and dangerous questions between the two governments, and thus best promote the most friendly relations hereafter;—and that you will proceed immediately with the negotiation and bring it to as speedy a conclusion as possible, whenever he shall have received the necessary instructions. Indeed, the treaty in regard to reciprocal trade and the fisheries might, in the mean time, be perfected, with a distinct understanding, however, that its final execution should be postponed until the Central American questions had been adjusted. In that event, as I informed you when at Washington, if you should so desire, I shall be most cordially willing to go there as a private individual, and render you all the assistance in my power. I know as well as I live, that it would be vain for me to go to London to settle a question peculiarly distasteful to the British government, after they had obtained, at Washington, that which they so ardently desire.

I write this actuated solely by a desire to serve your administration and the country. I shall not be mortified, in the slightest degree, should you determine to settle all the questions in Washington. Whether [you do so] or not, your administration shall not have a better friend in the country than myself, nor one more ardently desirous of its success; and I can render it far more essential service as a private citizen at home than as a minister to London.

With my kindest regards for Mrs. Pierce, and Mrs. Means,

I remain, very respectfully, your friend, JAMES BUCHANAN.

P.S.—I should esteem it a personal favor to hear from you as soon as may be convenient.

From the important character of this letter and the earnest and reiterated request which I made for an early answer, I did not doubt but that I should receive one, giving me definite information, with as little delay as possible. I waited in vain until the 23d June; and having previously ascertained, through a friend, that my letter had been received by the President, I wrote him a second letter on that day, of which the following is a copy.

[TO HIS EXCELLENCY, FRANKLIN PIERCE.]

WHEATLAND, near LANCASTER, June 23, 1853.

MY DEAR SIR:—

Not having yet been honored with an answer to my letter of the 14th inst., I infer from your silence, as well as from what I observe in the public journals, that you have finally changed your original purpose and determined that our important negotiations with England shall be conducted under your own eye at Washington, and not in London. Anxious to relieve you from all embarrassment upon the subject, I desire to express my cordial concurrence in such an arrangement, if it has been made; and I do this without waiting longer for your answer, as the day is now near at hand which was named for my departure from the country.[8] Many strong reasons, I have no doubt, exist, to render this change of purpose entirely proper and most beneficial for the public interest. I am not at all surprised at it, having suggested to you, when we conversed upon the subject, that Mr. Polk, who was an able and a wise man, had determined that our important negotiations with foreign powers, so far as this was possible, should be conducted at Washington, by the Secretary of State, under his own immediate supervision. With such a change I shall be altogether satisfied, nay, personally gratified; because it will produce a corresponding change in my determination to accept the English mission.

I never had the vanity to imagine that there were not many Democratic statesmen in the country who could settle our pending questions with England quite as ably and successfully as myself; and it was, therefore, solely your own voluntary and powerful appeal to me to undertake the task which could have overcome my strong repugnance to go abroad. Indeed, when I stated to you how irksome it would be for me, at my period of life and with my taste for retirement, again for the second time to pass through the routine and submit to the etiquette necessary in representing my country at a foreign court, you kindly remarked that you were so well convinced of this that you would never have offered me the mission had it not been for your deliberate determination that the negotiations on the grave and important questions between the two countries should be conducted by myself at London, under your instructions; observing that, in your opinion, better terms could be obtained for our country at the fountain of power than through the intermediate channel of the British minister at Washington.

At any time a foreign mission would be distasteful to me; but peculiar reasons of a private and domestic character existed at the time I agreed to accept the British mission, and still exist, which could only have yielded to the striking view you presented of the high public duty which required me to undertake the settlement of these important questions. You will, therefore, be kind enough to permit me, in case your enlightened judgment has arrived at the conclusion that Washington, and not London, ought to be the seat of the negotiations, most respectfully to decline the mission. For this you have doubtless been prepared by my letter of the 14th instant.

With my deep and grateful acknowledgments for the high honor you intended for me, and my ardent and sincere wishes for the success and glory of your administration and for your own individual health, prosperity and happiness, I remain, very respectfully,

Your friend, JAMES BUCHANAN.

To this letter I received an answer on Tuesday evening, June 28th, of which the following is a copy:

Footnote 8:

9th July.

[PRESIDENT PIERCE TO MR. BUCHANAN.]

WASHINGTON, D. C., June 26th, 1853.

MR DEAR SIR:—

I was much surprised by the perusal of your letter of the 23d inst., received this morning. I had seen no letter from you since that to which I replied on the 11th inst., and was mortified that through a mistake of my own, and from no neglect of my private secretary, it had been misplaced from a large mail of the 17th, with one or two other letters, and had thus entirely escaped my notice. The motives which led me to desire your acceptance of the mission to England were fully stated, first, I think, in my note addressed to you at Wheatland, and subsequently in our interview. The general views which were expressed by me at that interview as to the relative advantages of conducting the negotiations here or at London has undergone no change. Still, the present condition of affairs with respect to the fisheries and the various questions connected therewith has seemed to demand that they be taken up where Mr. Crampton and Mr. Everett left them. Recent developments have inspired the belief that the fisheries, the reciprocity question, etc. will leave no ground of concession which could be available in the settlement of the questions in Central America. The threatening aspect of affairs on the coast in the provinces has of necessity called for several conversations between Mr. Crampton and the Secretary of State, with a view to keep things quiet there, and, if practicable, to agree upon terms of a satisfactory adjustment. To suspend these negotiations at this moment, in the critical condition of our interests in that quarter, might, I fear, prove embarrassing, if not hazardous. That a treaty can be, or had better be, concluded here, I am not prepared to say. I have no wish upon the subject except that the negotiations be conducted wherever they can be brought to the most speedy and advantageous termination. The great respect for your judgment, experience, high attainments and eminent abilities, which led me to tender to you the mission to England, will induce me to commit to your hands all the pending questions between the two countries, unless the reasons for proceeding here with those to which I have referred, shall appear quite obvious. I need not say that your declination at this time would be embarrassing to me, and for many reasons a matter to be deeply regretted.

I thank you for your generous expressions, and assure you that your heart acknowledges no feeling of personal kindness to which mine does not respond. If the tax be not too great, will you oblige me by visiting Washington again? I trust a comparison of conclusions, with the facts before us, may conduct to a result mutually satisfactory.

With the highest respect, your friend, FRANKLIN PIERCE.

[MR. BUCHANAN TO PRESIDENT PIERCE.]

WHEATLAND, near LANCASTER, June 29th, 1853.

MR DEAR SIR:—

Your favor of the 26th inst. did not reach Lancaster until yesterday afternoon. I had thought it strange that you did not answer my letter of the 14th instant; but this accidental omission has been kindly and satisfactorily explained by your favor of the 26th.

It is, perhaps, scarcely necessary for me to repeat my unchanged purpose to accept the English mission and go to London without delay, if it be still your determination to intrust me with the settlement of the reciprocity, the fishery and the Central American questions. I confess, however, that I do not perceive how it is now possible, employing your own language, “to suspend negotiations (in Washington) at this moment” on the reciprocity and fishery questions. I agree with you that it was quite natural that the negotiations “should be taken up at once, where Mr. Crampton and Mr. Everett left them.” This could only have been prevented by an official communication to Mr. Crampton, upon offering to renew the negotiation, informing him of the fact that you had appointed me minister to London for the very purpose of settling these, as well as the Central American, questions.

In regard to our Central American difficulties, I still entertain, after more mature reflection, the most decided opinions—I might even say convictions. Whilst these difficulties are all embarrassing, one of them is attended with extreme danger. I refer to the establishment by Great Britain of the Colony of the Bay of Islands. This wrong has been perpetrated, if I understand the question, in direct violation of the Clayton and Bulwer treaty. Our national honor imperatively requires the removal of this colony. Its withdrawal ought to be a sine qua non in any negotiation on any subject with the British government. With what face could we ever hereafter present this question of violated faith and outraged national honor to the world against the British government, if whilst, flagrante delicto, the wrong unexplained and unredressed, we should incorporate the British North American provinces, by treaty, into the American Union, so far as reciprocal free trade is concerned? How could we, then, under any circumstances, make this a casus belli? If a man has wronged and insulted me, and I take him into my family and bestow upon him the privileges of one of its members, without previous redress or explanation, it is then too late to turn round and make the original offence a serious cause for personal hostilities. It is the first step which costs; and this ought to be taken with a clear view of all the consequences. If I were placed in your exalted and well merited station, my motto should be, “all the questions or none.” This is the best, nay, perhaps the only mode of satisfactorily adjusting our difficulties with that haughty, overreaching and imperious government. My sole object in agreeing to accept a mission, so distasteful to me in all other respects, was to try the experiment, under your instructions, well knowing that I should receive from you a firm and enlightened support. I still cherish the confident belief we should have proved successful. It would now seem to be too late to transfer the negotiation to London; but you may still insist that all the questions shall be settled together in Washington. They still remain there just as they were in Mr. Fillmore’s time. Why, then, should Mr. Crampton have received instructions in two of them, and not in the third?

But I have said and written so much to yourself and Governor Marcy upon the danger of dividing these questions, that I shall only add that, were I a Senator, I could not in conscience vote for the ratification of any partial treaty in the present condition of our relations with Great Britain. And here I would beg respectfully to make a suggestion which, if approved by you, might remove all difficulties. Let Governor Marcy and Mr. Crampton arrange the reciprocity and fishery questions as speedily as possible; and then let me carry the perfected projet with me to London, to be executed there, provided I shall succeed in adjusting the Central American questions according to your instructions; but in no other event. In this manner the reciprocity question, as arranged by the Secretary of State, might still be used as the powerful lever to force a just settlement of the Central American questions. Indeed, in communicating your purpose in this respect to Mr. Crampton, Governor Marcy might address him a note which would essentially assist me in the Central American negotiation. As the reciprocity and fishery treaty would not be submitted to the Senate until December, this arrangement would be productive of no delay.

I should cheerfully visit Washington, or go a thousand miles to serve you in any manner, but I doubt whether this would be good policy under existing circumstances. The public journals would at once announce that I had arrived in Washington to receive my commission and instructions, and depart for Europe. Finding this not to be the case, they would presume that some misunderstanding had occurred between you and myself, which prevented me from going abroad. Is it not better to avoid such suspicions? If I should not go to England, a brief explanation can be made in the Union which will put all right, and the whole matter will be forgotten in a week. After all, however, should you still wish me to go to Washington, please to have me telegraphed, because the mail is almost always two, and sometimes three days in reaching me.

In regard to myself personally, if the expedient which I have suggested should not be adopted, or something similar to it, then I should have no business of importance to transact in London, and should, against all my tastes and inclinations, again subject myself to the ceremonies, etiquette and round of gaiety required from a minister at a foreign court. But this is not all. I should violate my private and social duties towards an only brother, in very delicate health, and numerous young relatives, some of whom are entirely dependent upon me and now at a critical period of life, without the self-justification of having any important public duties to perform. So reluctant was I, at the first, to undertake the task which, in your kindness, you had prescribed for me, that my mind was not finally made up, until a distinguished Senator bluntly informed me, that if I shrank from it, this would be attributed to a fear of grappling with the important and dangerous questions with England which had been assigned to me, both by the voice of the President and the country.

I regret that I have not time, before the closing of the mail, to reduce my letter to any reasonable dimensions.

From your friend, very respectfully, JAMES BUCHANAN.

Wednesday, July 6th, at about 6 o’clock in the afternoon, Mr. Mann, the son of the Assistant Secretary of State, arrives and presents me with a private letter from Governor Marcy dated on the day previous, and a sealed package which, upon opening, I found contained my commission and instructions as minister to Great Britain, without the slightest reference to the previous correspondence on the subject between the President and myself, and just as though I had accepted, instead of having declined the mission, and was now on the wing for London! He was to find me wherever I might be. He left about sunset or between that and dark. Vide Governor Marcy’s letter, on page 30.

Thursday morning, July 7, the following letter from the President came to hand, postmarked Washington, July 4th.

[PIERCE TO BUCHANAN.]

WASHINGTON, July 2, 1853.

MY DEAR SIR:—

Your letter of the 29th ultimo was received this morning, and I have carefully considered its suggestions. The state of the questions now under discussion between Mr. Crampton and Governor Marcy cannot with a proper regard for the public interest, be suspended. It is not to be disguised that the condition of things on the coast is extremely embarrassing, so much so as to be the source of daily solicitude. Nothing, it is to be feared, but the prospect of a speedy adjustment will prevent actual collision. Mr. Crampton has become so deeply impressed with the hazard of any ill-advised step on either side that he left this morning with the view of having a personal interview with Sir George Seymour. Thus, while I am not prepared to say that a treaty can be concluded here, or that it will prove desirable upon the whole that it should be, it is quite clear to my mind that the negotiations ought not to be broken off; and that, with a proper regard to our interests, the announcement cannot be made to Mr. Crampton that the final adjustment of the fishery question must await the settlement of the Central American questions. Believing that the instructions now prepared would present my views in relation to the mission in the most satisfactory manner, they will be forwarded to you to-morrow. I need not repeat the deep regret your declination would occasion on my part. What explanation could be given for it, I am unable to perceive.

I am, with the highest respect, Truly your friend, FRANKLIN PIERCE.

[BUCHANAN TO PIERCE.]

WHEATLAND, near LANCASTER, July 7, 1853.

MY DEAR SIR:—

Yours of the 2d inst., postmarked on the 4th, did not reach me until this morning at too late an hour to prepare and send an answer to Lancaster in time for the southern mail. Young Mr. Mann arrived and left last evening, a most decided contre-temps. Had your letter preceded him, this would have saved me some labor, and, although a very placid man, some irritation.

Although the opinions and purposes expressed in my letters of the 14th, 23d and 29th ultimo remain unchanged, yet so great is my personal desire to gratify your wishes that I shall take the question under reconsideration for a brief period. I observe from the papers that you will be in Philadelphia, where I anticipate the pleasure of paying you my respects. Then, if not sooner, I shall give your letter a definite answer.

I hope that in the meantime you may look out for some better man to take my place. You may rest assured I can manifest my warm friendship for your administration and for yourself far more effectively as a private citizen of Pennsylvania than as a public minister in London.

From your friend, Very respectfully, JAMES BUCHANAN.

[MARCY TO BUCHANAN.]

STATE DEPARTMENT, } (Private) WASHINGTON, July 5, 1853. }

MY DEAR SIR:—

I expected you would be again in Washington before you left for England, but as this is uncertain, I have concluded to send by the bearer, Mr. W. G. C. Mann, the instructions which have been prepared for you. I have preferred to send them in this way lest they should not reach you in season if entrusted to the mail.

I should have been pleased with an opportunity of submitting them to you, and having the benefit of any suggestions you might make thereon; but I shall not have it, as you will not probably be here before your departure on your mission. The instructions have been carefully examined by the President, and made conformable to his views. Should there be other documents than those now sent, which it would be proper for you to take out, they will be forwarded to our despatch agent at New York, and by him handed to you.

Very respectfully your obedient servant, W. L. MARCY.

On Monday evening, July 11, 1853, I went to Philadelphia to meet the President, according to my appointment. I saw him on Tuesday afternoon at the head of the military procession, as it marched from Market Street down Sixth to Independence Hall. He was on the right of General Patterson, and being a good horseman, he appeared to much advantage on horseback. He recognized me, as he rode along, at the window of the second story of Lebo’s Commercial Hotel.

The reception of the President in Philadelphia was all that his best friends could have desired. Indeed, the Whigs seemed to vie with the Democrats in doing honor to the Chief Magistrate. Price Wetherell, the President of the Select Council, did his whole duty, though in a fussy manner, and was much gratified with the well-deserved compliments which he received. The dinner at McKibbins’ was excellent and well conducted. We did not sit down to table until nearly nine o’clock. The mayor, Mr. Gilpin, presided. The President sat on his right, and myself on his left. In the course of the entertainment he spoke to me, behind Mr. Gilpin, and strongly expressed the hope that I would accept the mission, to which I made a friendly, but indefinite answer. He then expressed a desire to see me when the dinner should be ended; but it was kept up until nearly midnight, the President cordially participating in the hilarity of the scene. We then agreed to meet the next morning.

After mature reflection, I had determined to reject the mission, if I found this could be done without danger of an open breach with the administration; but if this could not be done, I was resolved to accept it, however disagreeable. The advice of Governor Porter, then at McKibbins’, gave me confidence in the correctness of my own judgment. My position was awkward and embarrassing. There was danger that it might be said (indeed it had already been insinuated in several public journals), that I had selfishly thrown up the mission, because the fishery question had not been entrusted to me, although I knew that actual collision between the two countries on the fishery grounds might be the consequence of the transfer of the negotiation to London. Such a statement could only be rebutted by the publication of the correspondence between the President and myself; but as this was altogether private, such a publication could only be justified in a case of extreme necessity.

Besides, I had no reason to believe that the President had taken from me the reciprocity and fishery questions with any deliberate purpose of doing me injury. On the contrary, I have but little doubt that this proceeded from his apprehension that the suspension of the negotiation might produce dangerous consequences on the fishing grounds. I might add that his instructions to me on the Central American questions were as full and ample as I could desire. Many friends believed, not without reason, that if I should decline the mission, Mr. Dallas would be appointed; and this idea was very distasteful to them, though not to myself.

The following is the substance of the conversation between the President and myself on Wednesday morning, the 13th of July, partly at McKibbins’, and the remainder on board the steamer which took us across to Camden. It was interrupted by the proceedings at Independence Hall on Wednesday morning.

The President commenced the conversation by the expression of his strong wish that I would not decline the mission. I observed that the British government had imposed an absurd construction on the fishery question, and without notice had suddenly sent a fleet there to enforce it, for the purpose, as I believed, of obtaining from us the reciprocity treaty. Under these circumstances I should have said to Great Britain: You shall have the treaty, but you must consent at the same time to withdraw your protectorate from the Mosquito Coast, and restore to Honduras the colony of the Bay of Islands. That this course might still be adopted at Washington, and that in this view all the negotiations had better be conducted there. Without answering these remarks specifically, the President, reiterating his request that I should accept the mission, spoke strongly of the danger of any delay, on our part, in the adjustment of the fishery question, and said that Mr. Crampton, deeply impressed with this danger, had gone all the way to Halifax to see Admiral Seymour, for the purpose of averting this danger. I observed that it was far, very far from my desire, in the present state of the negotiation, to have charge of the fishery negotiation at London; but still insisted that it was best that the Central American questions should also be settled at Washington. To this he expressed a decided aversion. He said that serious difficulties had arisen, in the progress of the negotiations, on the reciprocity question, particularly in regard to the reciprocal registry of the vessels of the two parties; and it was probable that within a short time the negotiation on all the questions would be transferred to me at London, and that my declining the mission at this time would be very embarrassing to his administration, and could not be satisfactorily explained. I replied that I thought it could. It might be stated in the Union that after my agreement to accept the mission, circumstances had arisen rendering it necessary that the negotiations with which I was to be entrusted at London, should be conducted at Washington; that I myself was fully convinced of this necessity; but that this change had produced a corresponding change in my determination to accept a mission which I had always been reluctant to accept, and we had parted on the best and most friendly terms. Something like this, I thought, would be satisfactory.

He answered that after such an explanation it would be difficult, if not impossible, to get a suitable person to undertake the mission. He had felt it to be his duty to offer me this important mission, and he thought it was my duty to accept it. He said that if the Central American questions should go wrong in London, entrusted to other hands than my own, both he and I would be seriously blamed. He said, with much apparent feeling, that he felt reluctant to insist thus upon my acceptance of a mission so distasteful to me.

Having fully ascertained, as I believed, that I could not decline the mission without giving him serious offence, and without danger of an open rupture with the administration, I said: “Reluctant as I am to accept the mission, if you think that my refusal to accept it would cause serious embarrassment to your administration, which I am anxious to support, I will waive my objections and go to London.” He instantly replied that he was rejoiced that I had come to this conclusion, and that we should both feel greatly the better for having done our respective duties. He added that I need not hurry my departure. I told him that although my instructions gave me all the powers I could desire on the Central American questions, yet they had not been accompanied by any of the papers and documents in the Department relating to these questions; that these were indispensable, and without them I could not proceed. He expressed some surprise at this, and said he would write to Governor Marcy that very evening. I told him he need not trouble himself to do this, as I should write to him myself immediately after my return home.

This was on the river. I accompanied him to the cars, where I took leave of him, Mr. Guthrie, Mr. Davis and Mr. Cushing, who all pressed me very much to go on with them to New York.

[TO CITIZENS OF LANCASTER.]

WHEATLAND, near LANCASTER, July 23, 1853.

GENTLEMEN:—

I have received your very kind invitation on behalf of my friends and neighbors, to partake of a public dinner before my departure for England.

No event of my past life has afforded me greater satisfaction than this invitation, proceeding as it does, without distinction of party, from those who have known me the longest and known me the best.

Born in a neighboring county, I cast my lot among you when little more than eighteen years of age, and have now enjoyed a happy home with you for more than forty-three years, except the intervals which I have passed in the public service. During this long period I have experienced more personal kindness, both from yourselves and from your fathers, than has, perhaps, ever been extended to any other man in Pennsylvania who has taken so active a part, as I have done, in the exciting political struggles which have so peculiarly marked this portion of our history.

It was both my purpose and desire to pass the remainder of my days in kind and friendly social intercourse with the friends of my youth and of my riper years, when invited by the President of my choice, under circumstances which a sense of duty rendered irresistible, to accept the mission to London. This purpose is now postponed, not changed. It is my intention to carry it into execution, should a kind Providence prolong my days and restore me to my native land.

I am truly sorry not to be able to accept your invitation. Such are my engagements, that I can appoint no day for the dinner when I could, with certainty, promise to attend. Besides, a farewell dinner is at best but a melancholy affair. Should I live to return, we shall then meet with joy, and should it then be your pleasure to offer me a welcome home dinner, I shall accept it with all my heart.

I cherish the confident hope that during my absence I shall live in your kindly recollection, as my friends in Lancaster County shall ever live in my grateful memory.

Cordially wishing you and yours, under the blessing of Heaven, health, prosperity and happiness, I remain

Your friend and fellow-citizen, JAMES BUCHANAN.

Here, in regard to this English mission and other matters, Mr. Buchanan’s correspondence with his niece, Miss Lane, from February to August, 1853, will show how tender and how important had now become their relations to each other.

[TO MISS LANE.]

WHEATLAND, near LANCASTER, Feb. 3, 1853.

MY DEAR HARRIET:—

I have passed the time quietly at home since I left Philadelphia, toiling night and day, to reduce the pile of letters which had accumulated during my absence. I have got nearly through and intend to pass some days in Harrisburg next week. I have literally no news to communicate to you. Miss Hetty and myself get along to a charm. She expects Miss Rebecca Parker here to-day,—the promise of Mr. Van Dyke. I hope she may come.

I received a letter yesterday from Mr. Pleasanton, dated on the 31st ultimo, from which the following is an extract:

“Clemmy wrote some two weeks ago to Miss Harriet asking her to come here and spend some time with us. As she has not heard from her, she supposes Miss Lane to be absent. Be good enough to mention this to her, and our united wish that she should spend the residue of the winter and the spring with us. There is much gaiety here now, though we do not partake of it. We will contrive, however, that Miss Lane shall participate in it.”

Now do as you please about visiting Washington. I hope you are enjoying yourself in Philadelphia. Please to let me know where you have been, what you have been doing, and what you propose to do. I trust you will take good care of yourself, and always act under the influence of high moral principle and a grateful sense of your responsibility to your Creator.

Yours affectionately, JAMES BUCHANAN.

[FROM MISS LANE.]

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 6, 1853.

MY DEAR UNCLE:—

I still continue to enjoy myself here, and have made many more acquaintances than I have ever had the opportunity of doing before. Lent commencing this week may in some degree affect the pleasures of society, but of that, as yet, we cannot judge. As regards Washington, I understand perfectly that, as far as you yourself are concerned, you wish me to do as I feel inclined, but your disinterested opinions are rather for a postponement of my visit; these I had quietly resolved to act upon. Should you have changed your mind or have any advice to give, let me know it at once, for rest assured I am always happier and better satisfied with myself when my actions are fully sanctioned by your wishes.

The day after you left we had an elegant dinner at Mrs. Gilpin’s—many, many were the regrets that you were not present. Mr. —— treated me with marked attention—drank wine with me first at table—talked a great deal of you, and thinks you treated him shabbily last summer by passing so near without stopping to see him. I tell you these things, as I think they show a desire on his part to meet you. —— was there, very quiet. How I longed for you to eclipse them all, and be, as you always are, the life and soul of the dinner. Thursday Mrs. John Cadwallader’s magnificent ball came off. I enjoyed it exceedingly, and was treated most kindly. James Henry received an invitation to it, but did not go. He has returned to Princeton full of studious resolves.

I found my engagements such as to make it impossible for me to go to Mrs. Tyler’s last week. I arranged everything satisfactorily to all parties, and go there to stay to-morrow (Monday). Every possible kindness has been shown me by Mr. and Mrs. Plitt, and my visit to them has been delightful.

Mary Anderson remained here but a week on her return from Washington. I passed a day with them very pleasantly......

No news from Mary yet. I miss her every hour in the day, but will scarcely be able to count my loss, until I get home where I have always been accustomed to see her. I had a letter from Lizzie Porter telling me of her aunt’s death. My best love to Miss Hetty. Mrs. Plitt sends her love. Hoping to hear from you very soon, believe me ever, my dear uncle,

Your sincerely affectionate HARRIET.

[TO MISS LANE.]

WHEATLAND, near LANCASTER, March 15, 1853.

MY DEAR HARRIET:—

I received yours of the 11th, postmarked the 14th, last night. I now receive about fifty letters per day; last Saturday sixty-nine; and the cry is still they come, so that I must be brief. I labor day and night.

You ask: Will you accept the mission to England? I answer that it has not been offered, and I have not the least reason to believe, from any authentic source, that it will be offered. Indeed, I am almost certain that it will not, because surely General Pierce would not nominate me to the Senate without first asking me whether I would accept. Should the offer be made, I know not what I might conclude. Personally, I have not the least desire to go abroad as a foreign minister. But “sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” I really would not know where to leave you, were I to accept a foreign mission, and this would be one serious objection.

I think you are wise in going to Mr. Macalester’s. You know how much I esteem and admire Mrs. Tyler, but still a long visit to a friend is often a great bore. Never make people twice glad. I have not seen Kate Reynolds since her return, and have had no time to see any person.

In remarking as I did upon your composition, I was far from intending to convey the idea that you should write your letters as you would a formal address. Stiffness in a letter is intolerable. Its perfection is to write as you would converse. Still all this may be done with correctness. Your ideas are well expressed, and the principal fault I found was in your not making distinct periods, or full stops, as the old schoolmasters used to say. Miss ——’s are probably written with too much care,—too much precision.

We have no news. We are jogging on in the old John Trot style, and get along in great peace and harmony.

March 19, 1853.

I return you Mr. ——’s appeal, so that you may have it before you in preparing your answer. The whole matter is supremely ridiculous. I have no more reason to believe than I had when I last wrote, that I shall be offered the mission to England. Should his offer be made, it will be a matter of grave and serious consideration whether I shall accept or decline it. I have not determined this question. “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Should it be accepted, it will be on the express condition that I shall have liberty to choose my own Secretary of Legation; and from the specimen of diplomacy which Mr. —— has presented, I think I may venture to say he will not be the man. I would select some able, industrious, hard working friend, in whose integrity and prudence I could place entire reliance. In fact, I have the man now in my eye, from a distant State, to whom I would make the offer—a gentleman trained by myself in the State Department. I must have a man of business, and not a carpet knight, who would go abroad to cut a dash.

Now you may say to Mr. —— that I know nothing of the intention of the President to offer me the English mission, and that you are equally ignorant whether I would accept or decline it (and this you may say with truth, for I do not know myself). If accepted, however, you presume that I would cast about among my numerous friends for the best man for the appointment; and whatever your own wishes might be, you would not venture to interfere in the matter; that you took no part in such matters. This ought to be the substance of your letter, which you may smooth over with as many honeyed phrases as you please.

I think that a visit to Europe, with me as minister, would spoil you outright, Besides, it would consume your little independence. One grave objection to my acceptance of the mission, for which I have no personal inclination, would be your situation. I should dislike to leave you behind, in the care of any person I know. I think there is a decided improvement in your last letter. Your great fault was that your sentences ran into each other, without proper periods.

Good night! I cannot say how many letters I have written to-day. Thank Heaven! to-morrow will be a day of rest. I do not now expect to visit Pittsburgh until after the first of April, though I have a pecuniary concern there of some importance.

With my kindest regards to Miss Macalester and the family, I remain, etc.

STATE DEPARTMENT, } WASHINGTON, May 24, 1853. }

I have received your letter, and have not written until the present moment because I did not know what to write. It is now determined that I shall leave New York on Saturday, 9th July. I cannot fix the day I shall be at home, because I am determined not to leave this until posted up thoroughly on the duties of the mission. I hope, however, I may be with you in the early part of next week. I am hard at work.

I went from Willard’s to Mr. Pleasanton’s last evening. Laura and Clemmie are well, and would, I have no doubt, send their love to you if they knew I was writing. I have seen but few of the fashionables, but have been overrun with visitors.

Remember me kindly to Miss Hetty and to James, and believe me to be, etc.

NEW YORK, August 4, 1853.

—— —— called to see me this morning, and was particularly amiable. He talked much of what his father had written and said to him respecting yourself, expressed a great desire to see you, and we talked much bagatelle about you. He intimated that his father had advised him to address you. I told him he would make a very rebellious nephew, and would be hard to manage. He asked where you would be this winter, and I told him that you would visit your relations in Virginia in the course of a month, and might probably come to London next spring or summer. He said he would certainly see you, and asked me for a letter of introduction to you, which I promised to give him. As he was leaving, he told me not to forget it, but give it to the proprietor of the Astor House before I left, and I promised to do so. I told him that you had appreciated his father’s kindness to you, felt honored and gratified for his (the father’s) attentions, and admired him very much. He knew all about your pleasant intercourse with his father in Philadelphia. There was much other talk which I considered, and still consider, to be bagatelle, yet the subject was pursued by him. As I have a leisure moment, I thought I would prepare you for an interview with him, in case you should meet. —— —— is a man of rare abilities and great wit, and is quite eminent in his profession. His political course has been eccentric, but he still maintains his influence. I never saw him look so well as he did to-day. I repeat that I believe all this to be bagatelle; and yet it seemed to be mingled with a strong desire to see you.

Saturday Morning, August 6.

...... And now, my dear Harriet, I shall go aboard the Atlantic this morning, with a firm determination to do my duty, and without any unpleasant apprehensions of the result. Relying upon that gracious Being who has protected me all my life until the present moment, and has strewed my path with blessings, I go abroad once more in the service of my country, with fair hopes of success. I shall drop you a line from Liverpool immediately upon my arrival.

With my kindest regards to Miss Hetty, I remain,

Yours affectionately, JAMES BUCHANAN.

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

IV. 1853-1856

ARRIVAL IN LONDON—PRESENTATION TO THE QUEEN AT OSBORNE—THE MINISTRY OF LORD ABERDEEN—MR. MARCY’S CIRCULAR ABOUT COURT COSTUMES, AND THE DRESS QUESTION AT THE ENGLISH COURT—LETTERS TO MISS LANE.

The reader has seen with what reluctance and for what special purpose Mr. Buchanan accepted the mission to England. He left New York on the 1st of August, 1853, and landed at Liverpool on the 17th, whence he wrote immediately to his niece; and I follow his first letter to her with four others, extending to the middle of October.

[TO MISS LANE.]

ADELPHI HOTEL, LIVERPOOL, August 17, 1853.

MY DEAR HARRIET:—

I arrived in Liverpool this morning, after a passage of about ten days and sixteen hours. I was sea-sick the whole voyage, but not nearly so badly as I had anticipated, or as I was in going to and returning from Russia. Captain James West, of Philadelphia, the commander of the Atlantic, is one of the most accomplished and vigilant officers and one of the most kind and amiable men I have ever known. I never wish to cross the Atlantic in any but a vessel commanded by him. We did not see the sun rise or set during the whole voyage. The weather was either rainy or cloudy throughout, but many of the passengers were agreeable. Upon arriving here I found Mr. Lawrence, who came from London to receive me. It is my purpose to accompany him to London to-morrow, where I shall at first stay at the Clarendon Hotel. I do not yet know whether I shall take, or rather whether I can obtain, Mr. Ingersoll’s house or not. I thought I would have to remain here some days to recruit; but I had scarcely got upon land before I felt perfectly well, and have enjoyed my dinner very much—the first meal for which I felt any appetite since I left New York. I shall write to you again as soon as I am settled at London, or probably sooner.

Although I left Wheatland with regret and a heavy heart, yet I am resigned to my destiny, and shall enter upon the performance of my duties, with God’s blessing, in a determined and cheerful spirit.

I received your letter in New York. I had not supposed there was any thing serious in Lily’s apprehensions.

In the midst of calls and engagements, I have not time to write you a longer letter. Please to keep an eye on Eskridge and James Reynolds, as you promised.

Give my affectionate regard to Miss Hetty and Eskridge, and remember me to all my friends. In haste, I remain your affectionate uncle, etc.

LONDON, August 26th, 1853.

I have received your letter written a few days after my departure from New York, which is mislaid for the moment, and it afforded me great pleasure. It is the only letter which I have yet received from the United States.

I was presented to the queen at Osborne, in the Isle of Wight, on Tuesday last, by the Earl of Clarendon, and delivered her my letter of credence. She has not many personal charms, but is gracious and dignified in her manners, and her character is without blemish. The interview was brief. Mr. Ingersoll,[9] who accompanied me to take his leave, and myself lunched at the palace with Lord Clarendon and several of the attachés of royalty. His conduct towards me is all I could have desired; and Miss Wilcox is a very nice girl.[10] They will pay a short visit to France and the continent, and return to the United States in October.

Footnote 9:

His predecessor.

Footnote 10:

Niece of Mr. Ingersoll.

You have lost nothing by not coming to England with me. Parliament adjourned on last Saturday, and this was the signal for the nobility and gentry to go to their estates in the country. There they will remain until next February, and in the mean time London will be very dull. All gaiety in town is at an end, and has been transferred to the estates and country seats throughout the kingdom.

I have not yet procured a house, but hope to do so next week. I have just paid my bill for the first week at this hotel. I have two rooms and a chamber, have had no company to dine and have dined at home but three days, and the amount is £14 7s. 6d., equal to nearly $75.00.

It is my desire to see you happily married, because, should I be called away, your situation would not be agreeable. Still you would have plenty. Whilst these are my sentiments, however, I desire that you shall exercise your own deliberate judgment in the choice of a husband. View steadily all the consequences, ask the guidance of Heaven, and make up your own mind, and I shall be satisfied. A competent independence is a good thing, if it can be obtained with proper affection; though I should not care for fortune provided the man of your choice was in a thriving and profitable business and possessed a high and fair character. I had not supposed there was any thing serious in the conversation; certainly none of your relatives can interpose any just objection. Be, however, fully persuaded in your own mind, and act after due reflection; and may God guide you!

It will require some time to reconcile me to this climate. We have none of the bright and glorious sun and the clear blue sky of the United States; but neither have we the scorching heat, nor the mosquitos. I have slept comfortably under a blanket ever since I have been here, and almost every man you meet carries an umbrella. The winters, however, are not cold.

Society is in a most artificial position. It is almost impossible for an untitled individual who does not occupy an official position to enter the charmed circle. The richest and most influential merchants and bankers are carefully excluded. It is true, as we learned, that the niece of a minister at the head of his establishment does not enjoy his rank. At a dinner party, for example, whilst he goes to the head of the table, she must remain at or near the foot. Still, Miss Wilcox has made her way to much consideration, admiration and respect.

The rage which seems to pervade the people of the United States for visiting Europe is wonderful. It takes up much time at the legation to issue passports. London, however, is but a stopping place. They generally rush to Paris and the continent; and this, too, wisely, I have no doubt. I would not myself tarry at London longer than to see the sights. My promise to you shall be kept inviolate; and yet I have no doubt a visit to Europe with an agreeable party would be far more instructive and satisfactory to you than to remain for any considerable length of time with me in London. I thank my stars that you did not come with me, for you would have had a dreary time of it for the next six months.

But the despatches are to be prepared and the despatch bag must close at five o’clock for the steamer of to-morrow. I have time to write no more, but to assure you that I am always your affectionate uncle, etc.

September 15, 1853.

On the day before yesterday I received your kind letter of the 28th August, with a letter from Mary, which I have already answered. How rejoiced I am that she is contented and happy in San Francisco! I also received your favor of the 18th August in due time. I write to you this evening because I have important despatches to prepare for the Department to-morrow, to be sent by Saturday’s steamer.

How rejoiced I am that you did not come with me! Perceiving your anxiety, I was several times on the point of saying to you, come along; but you would see nearly as much fashionable society at Wheatland as you would see here until February or March next. You cannot conceive how dull it is, though personally I am content. The beau monde are all at their country-seats or on the continent, there to remain until the meeting of Parliament. But what is worse than all, I have not yet been able to procure a house in which I would consent to live. I have looked at a great many,—the houses of the nobility and gentry; but the furniture in all of them is old, decayed and wretched, and with very few exceptions, they are very, very dirty. I can account for this in no other manner than that they are not willing to rent them until the furniture is worn out, and that London is for them like a great watering place from about the first of March until the first of August. This hotel, which is the most fashionable in London, is not nearly equal to the first hotels in Philadelphia and New York, and yet the cost of living in it, with two rooms and a chamber, is about $90 per week. The enormous expense [here] and the superior attractions [there] drive all the American travellers to Paris and the continent. The London Times has taken up the subject, and is now daily comparing the superior cheapness and superior accommodations of the hotels in the United States with those of London. Here there are no table-d’hôtes, and the house may be full without your knowing who is in it.

I think I have a treasure in the servant (Jackson) I brought with me from New York. If he should only hold out, he is all I could desire.

Mr. Welsh surpasses my expectations as a man of business. Colonel Lawrence, the attaché without pay, is industrious, gentlemanly, and has been highly useful. He knows everybody, and works as though he received $10,000 per annum. I venture to say I have as able and useful a legation as any in London. Lawrence has gone to Scotland, in company with Miss Chapman and her father, and I think he is much pleased with her. In truth, she is a nice girl and very handsome. The Chapmans will return immediately to the United States.

The Marchioness of Wellesley is suffering from the dropsy, and she, with her sister, Lady Stafford, remained a few days at this house. I saw a good deal of them whilst they were here, and they have been very kind to me. They love to talk about America, and they yet appear to have genuine American hearts. Lady Wellesley lives at Hampton Court,—the old historic palace, about fifteen miles from London, erected by Cardinal Wolsey, and I am going there to dine with them and see the palace on Saturday...... The Duchess of Leeds is in Scotland. These three American girls have had a strange fate. Many of their sex have envied them, but I think without cause. They are all childless, and would, I verily believe, have been more happy had they been united to independent gentlemen in their own country.

It is impossible to conceive of a more elegant and accomplished lady than Lady Wellesley, and although bowed down by disease, she still retains the relics of her former beauty. Her younger sister, Betsy Caton (Lady Stafford), the belle of belles in her day in America, has become gross and does not retain a trace of her good looks, except a cheerful and animated countenance. She is evidently a fine woman, and very much a Catholic devotee. They are all widows, except the Duchess of Leeds.

Rank, rank is everything in this country. My old friend of twenty years ago, Mrs. ——, the wife of the partner of the great House of ——, and then a nice little Yankee woman, who had never been at court, continually talks to me now about the duchess of this and the countess of that, and the queen, lords and ladies afford her a constant theme. Her daughter, and only child, who will be immensely rich, is the wife of ——, and this has given her a lift. She is still, however, the same good kind-hearted woman she was in the ancient time; but has grown very large. They are now at their country-seat at ——, her husband’s business preventing her from going far away. I have now nearly finished my sheet. I have not yet had time to see any of the lions. God bless you! Remember me kindly to Mrs. Hunter. I have written to Clemmie since I have been here.

From your affectionate uncle, etc.

September 30, 1853.

I have a few minutes to spare before the despatch bag closes and I devote them to writing a line to you. I have received your very kind and acceptable letter of the 14th September from Charleston, and cordially thank you for the agreeable and interesting information which it contains.

I have not yet obtained a house. It seems impossible to procure one, in every respect suitable for myself and the legation, for less than $3500 to $4500. The expense of living in this country exceeds even what I had anticipated...... I shall preserve my hotel bills as curiosities.

I did not suppose that your name had reached thus far. I dined the other day at Hampton Court with Ladies Wellesley and Stafford. Mr. and Mrs. Woodville of Baltimore were present. Mrs. Woodville said she did not know you herself, but her youngest son was well acquainted with you and spoke of you in the highest terms. I found she had previously been saying pretty things of you to the two ladies......

I shrewdly suspect that Miss Chapman has made a conquest of Colonel Lawrence. He went off with her and her father on a visit to Scotland, and I shall not be much surprised if it should be a match, though I know nothing. The colonel is quite deaf which is very much against him.

She is delighted with her travels, is very handsome, and has a great deal of vivacity...... Upon the whole I was much pleased with her.

I am sorry I have not time to write you a longer letter. Remember me very kindly to our friends in Virginia. May God bless you!

Yours very affectionately, etc.

October 14, 1853.

I have received yours of the 28th ultimo. I did not think I would write to you by to-morrow’s steamer, but have a few minutes left before the closing of the bag. I am sorry, truly sorry, that you look upon your trip to England as “the future realization of a beautiful dream.” Like all other dreams you will be disappointed in the reality. I have never yet met an American gentleman or lady who, whatever they may profess, was pleased with London. They hurry off to Paris, as speedily as possible, unless they have business to detain them here. A proud American, who feels himself equal at home to the best, does not like to be shut out by an impassable barrier from the best or rather the highest society in this country. My official position will enable me to surmount this barrier, but I feel that it will only be officially. Neither my political antecedents nor the public business entrusted to my charge will make me a favorite with these people, and I shall never play toady to them.[11] It is true I know very few of them as yet. They are all in the country, or on the continent, where they will continue until the opening of the spring. They pass the spring and part of the summer in London, just reversing the order in our country.

I do not think well of your going to Philadelphia to learn French...... Clementina Pleasanton writes me that they will do all they can to instruct you in speaking that language. You will be far better with them than at a French boarding house in Philadelphia.

I saw Mr. and Mrs. Haines, Lily’s friends, last evening. They left Paris about a week ago. She gave a glowing description of the delights of that city; but said she would be almost tempted to commit suicide, should she be compelled to remain long in London. When you write to Lily please to give her my love. Remember me very kindly to Mr. Davenport and your relatives, and believe me ever to be,

Yours affectionately, JAMES BUCHANAN.

Footnote 11:

This anticipation was not realized. He became a great “favorite” in English society, without any effort beyond the exercise of his social gifts, in a natural way.

It was just twenty years since, on his return from St. Petersburg, Mr. Buchanan had passed a short time in England, and made the acquaintance of some of the public men of that period. This was in the latter part of the reign of King William IV. In 1853, Queen Victoria had been on the throne for sixteen years, and the reign was a very different one from that of her immediate predecessor. The cabinet was a coalition ministry, and was described by a sort of nick-name as the “Ministry of all the talents.” It broke down rather disastrously and suddenly while Mr. Buchanan was in England, but on his arrival it seemed to have a long lease of power. Lord Aberdeen was the Premier; Mr. Gladstone, Chancellor of the Exchequer; Lord Palmerston (out of his proper element), was at the head of the Home Department; Lord Clarendon was Foreign Secretary; the Duke of Newcastle was Secretary for the Colonies; Mr. Sidney Herbert, Secretary at War; Lord John Russell was the ministerial leader of the House of Commons. The other members of the ministry were: Lord Cranworth, Lord Chancellor; Earl Granville, President of the Council; the Marquis of Lansdowne, without office; the Duke of Argyle, Lord Privy Seal; Sir James Graham, First Lord of the Admiralty; Sir Charles Wood, President of the Board of Control; Sir William Molesworth, First Commissioner of Public Works. In point of personal ability and character, this was a strong ministry. It went to pieces in 1855, in consequence of its want of capacity to conduct a foreign war, for which neither Lord Aberdeen nor Mr. Gladstone had any stomach, originally; for which the Duke of Newcastle, who had become Secretary at War, although an excellent man, had not the requisite force; and which should, in fact, have been under the guidance of Lord Palmerston, if there was to be a war with such a power as Russia, in conjunction with such an ally as Louis Napoleon. But when Mr. Buchanan came to London, the Crimean war was a good way in the distance, and it seemed not improbable that he would have a clear field for the settlement of the questions which had brought him to England.

It will strike the reader, however, oddly enough, after perusing the grave account which Mr. Buchanan has given of his reasons for accepting the mission, and the nature of the topics on which he was to negotiate, that while the conferences were going on between him and Lord Clarendon on the subjects which had brought him to London, he had to encounter a question of court etiquette. The story would hardly be worth repetition now, if it were not for the amusing finale of the whole affair. It may be introduced with a little preface.

On the accession of Queen Victoria, at the early age of eighteen, the Duke of Wellington is said to have drily remarked, that the Tories would have little chance under a female sovereign, since he had no small-talk and Peel had no manners.[12] The Tories did not find it so in the sequel, for although, when the Whigs had to go out of power, in 1841, and the Queen had to part with her first official advisers, it cost her a rather severe personal struggle,—inasmuch as she is said to have written a very unconstitutional note to her old friend, Lord Melbourne, lamenting that “the sad, the too sad day has come at last,”[13]—yet, so wise and faithful had been the political education which that minister had given to his young sovereign, that at the very first necessity she gracefully yielded her personal feelings to her public duty, and made it certain that personal government, independent of the will of Parliament, had passed away forever from the public affairs of England. From that time forward, it seems to have been the accepted doctrine of the British constitution, that the sovereign is not merely a state pageant, but is a magistrate raised above the feelings or interests of party, with a function to perform in the State, which comprehends the right to be consulted on every question or measure, to offer advice, and to give a real as well as a formal assent, although bound at all times to receive as ministers those who can command the confidence for the time being of the House of Commons. And well and wisely has the woman whose reign has now extended to the very unusual period of forty-six years fulfilled this function of a constitutional sovereign. But her Majesty has long had the reputation of being very rigid in matters of court etiquette and ceremonial. The truth probably is, that at the commencement of her reign, the necessity for giving to the manners of the court a very different tone from that which had existed in the time of the late king, her uncle,—a necessity which coincided with her tastes as a lady, and her sense of what was becoming in her position,—had brought about a good deal that was regarded by strangers, and by some of her own subjects, as an unnecessary observance of punctilio. The officials of the court, whose duty it was to attend to these matters, very likely carried them farther than the queen’s wishes or commands required. At all events, the sequel of Mr. Buchanan’s little affair of what dress he should wear at the queen’s receptions, does not show that her Majesty attached quite so much importance to it as did her master of ceremonies.

Footnote 12:

Mr. Justin McCarthy is responsible for this anecdote. “History of our own Times.” Vol. I.

Footnote 13:

This anecdote is given on private authority.

Governor Marcy, our Secretary of State, was a man of great vigor of intellect, and for all the important duties of his position an uncommonly wise and able statesman. But his intercourse with the world, aside from American politics, had not been extensive. He had thought proper to issue a circular to the ministers of the United States in Europe, directing them to appear at the courts to which they were accredited, “in the simple dress of an American citizen.” What this might be, in all cases, was not very clear. Our ministers at foreign courts had hitherto, on occasions of ceremony, worn a simple uniform, directed for them by the Department, which, whatever may have been its merits or its demerits as a costume, was sufficient to distinguish the wearer from “one of the upper court servants.” All this was now to be changed, and our ministers were to go to court in the dress of “an American citizen,” unless it should appear that non-conformity with the customs of the country would materially impair the proper discharge of their duties. In Mr. Buchanan’s case, “the simple dress of an American citizen” was an affair of very easy determination. He wore at all times the kind of dress in which his figure appears in the frontispiece of the present volume; and his personal dignity was quite sufficient to make that dress appropriate anywhere. Although he was a democrat of democrats, and cared little for show of any kind, he was accustomed to pay that deference to the usages of society which a gentleman is always anxious to observe, and to which no one knew better than he how to accommodate himself. He was the last man in the world to attach undue importance to trifles, and it may well be supposed he was annoyed, when he found rather suddenly that the circular of the Secretary was about to cause a serious difficulty in regard to his position at the British court. The first intimation he had of this difficulty is described in a despatch which he wrote to Mr. Marcy on the 28th of October.

No. 13.

LEGATION, ETC., LONDON, October 28, 1853.

SIR:—

I deem it proper, however distasteful the subject may be, both to you and myself, to relate to you a conversation which I had on Tuesday last with Major-General Sir Edward Cust, the master of ceremonies at this court, concerning my court costume. I met him at the Traveller’s Club, and after an introduction, your circular on this subject became the topic of conversation. He expressed much opposition to my appearance at court “in the simple dress of an American citizen.” I said that such was the wish of my own Government and I intended to conform to it, unless the queen herself would intimate her desire that I should appear in costume. In that event, I should feel inclined to comply with her majesty’s wishes. He said that her majesty would not object to receive me at court in any dress I chose to put on; but whilst he had no authority to speak for her, he yet did not doubt it would be disagreeable to her if I did not conform to the established usage. He said I could not of course expect to be invited to court balls or court dinners where all appeared in costumes; that her majesty never invited the bishops to balls, not deeming it compatible with their character; but she invited them to concerts, and on these occasions, as a court dress was not required, I would also be invited. He grew warm by talking, and said that, whilst the queen herself would make no objections to my appearance at court in any dress I thought proper, yet the people of England would consider it presumption. I became somewhat indignant in my turn, and said that whilst I entertained the highest respect for her majesty, and desired to treat her with the deference which was eminently her due, yet it would not make the slightest difference to me, individually, whether I ever appeared at court.

He stated that in this country an invitation from the queen was considered a command.

I paid no attention to this remark, but observed that the rules of etiquette at the British court were more strict even than in Russia. Senator Douglas of the United States had just returned from St. Petersburg. When invited to visit the czar in costume, he informed Count Nesselrode that he could not thus appear. The count asked him in what dress he appeared before the President of the United States. Mr. Douglas answered in the dress he then wore. The count, after consulting the emperor, said that was sufficient, and in this plain dress he visited the emperor at the palace and on parade, and had most agreeable conversations with him on both occasions.

Sir Edward then expressed his gratification at having thus met me accidentally,—said he had just come to town for that day and should leave the next morning, but would soon do himself the honor of calling upon me.

Although he disclaimed speaking by the authority of the queen, yet it appeared both to myself and Colonel Lawrence, who was present, that they must have had some conversation in the court circle on the subject. I entertain this belief the more firmly, as Sir Edward has since talked to a member of this legation in the same strain.

So then, from present appearances, it is probable I shall be placed socially in Coventry on this question of dress, because it is certain that should her majesty not invite the American minister to her balls and dinners, he will not be invited to the balls and dinners of her courtiers. This will be to me, personally, a matter of not the least importance, but it may deprive me of the opportunity of cultivating friendly and social relations with the ministers and other courtiers which I might render available for the purpose of obtaining important information and promoting the success of my mission.

I am exceedingly anxious to appear “at court in the simple dress of an American citizen;” and this not only because it accords with my own taste, but because it is certain that if the minister to the court of St. James should appear in uniform, your circular will become a dead letter in regard to most, if not all, the other ministers and chargés of our country in Europe.

The difficulty in the present case is greatly enhanced by the fact that the sovereign is a lady, and the devotion of her subjects towards her partakes of a mingled feeling of loyalty and gallantry. Any conduct, therefore, on my part which would look like disrespect towards her personally could not fail to give great offence to the British people. Should it prove to be impossible for me to conform to the suggestions of the circular, in regard to dress “without detriment to the public interest,” and “without impairing my usefulness to my country,” then I shall certainly and cheerfully be guided by its earnest recommendation and “adopt the nearest approach to it compatible with the due performance of my public duties.” This course I pursued from choice whilst minister in Russia, and this course I should have pursued here without any instructions.

Yours very respectfully, JAMES BUCHANAN.

We next get some reference to the dress question in the following letter to Miss Lane:

LONDON, December 9, 1853.

MY DEAR HARRIET:—

I received your favor of the 14th ultimo in due time, and thank you for the information it contained, all of which was interesting to me.

In regard to your coming to London with Colonel Lawrence and his lady, should he be married in February next, I have this to say: Your passage at that season of the year would, unless by a happy accident, be stormy and disagreeable, though not dangerous. I have scarcely yet recovered from the effects of the voyage, and should you be as bad a sailor as myself, and have a rough passage, it might give your constitution a shock. The month of April would be a much more agreeable period to cross the Atlantic; and you would still arrive here in time for the most fashionable and longer part of the fashionable season.

It is my duty to inform you that a general conviction prevails here, on the part of Lord Palmerston, the secretary of the interior, and the distinguished physicians, as well as among the intelligent people, that the cholera will be very bad in London and other parts of England during the latter part of the next summer and throughout the autumn. They are now making extensive preparations, and adopting extensive sanitary measures to render the mortality as small as possible. The London journals contain articles on the subject almost every day. Their reason for this conviction is,—that we have just had about as many cases of cholera during the past autumn, as there were during the autumn in a former year, preceding the season when it raged so extensively and violently. Now this question will be for your own consideration. I think it my duty to state the facts, and it will be for you to decide whether you will postpone your visit until the end of the next autumn for this reason, or at least until we shall see whether the gloomy anticipations here are likely to be realized.

I still anticipate difficulty about my costume; but should this occur, it will probably continue throughout my mission. It is, therefore, no valid reason why you should postpone your visit. In that event you must be prepared to share my fate. So far as regards the consequences to myself, I do not care a button for them; but it would mortify me very much to see you treated differently from other ladies in your situation.

If this costume affair should not prove an impediment, I feel that I shall get along very smoothly here. The fashionable world, with the exception of the high officials, are all out of London, and will remain absent until the last of February or beginning of March. I have recently been a good deal in the society of those who are now here, and they all seem disposed to treat me very kindly, especially the ladies. Their hours annoy me very much. My invitations to dinner among them are all for a quarter before eight, which means about half-past that hour. There is no such thing as social visiting here of an evening. This is all done between two and six in the afternoon, if such visits may be called social. I asked Lady Palmerston what was meant by the word “early” placed upon her card of invitation for an evening reception, and she informed me it was about ten o’clock. The habits, and customs, and business of the world here render these hours necessary. But how ridiculous it is in our country, where no such necessity exists, to violate the laws of nature in regard to hours, merely to follow the fashions of this country.

Should you be at Mr. Ward’s, I would thank you to present my kind love to Miss Ellen. I hope you will not forget the interests of Eskridge in that quarter. You inform me that Sallie Grier and Jennie Pleasanton were about to be married. I desire to be remembered with special kindness to Mrs. Jenkins. I can never forget “the auld lang syne” with her and her family. Give my love also to Kate Reynolds. Remember me to Miss Hetty, or as you would say, Miss Hettie, for whom I shall ever entertain a warm regard. I send this letter open to Eskridge, so that he may read it and send it to your direction.

From your affectionate uncle, JAMES BUCHANAN.

As the court was not in London at the time when this letter was written, the portentous question of Mr. Buchanan’s costume was not likely to be brought to an immediate solution. But early in February, (1854), Parliament was to be opened by the queen in person. Mr. Buchanan did not attend the ceremony; and thereupon there was an outcry in the London press. The following extract from a despatch to Mr. Marcy gives a full account of the whole matter, up to the date:

You will perceive by the London journals, the Times, the Morning Post, the News, the Morning Herald, the Spectator, the Examiner, Lloyd’s, &c., &c., copies of which I send you, that my absence from the House of Lords, at the opening of Parliament, has produced quite a sensation. Indeed, I have found difficulty in preventing this incident from becoming a subject of inquiry and remark in the House of Commons. All this is peculiarly disagreeable to me, and has arisen entirely from an indiscreet and rather offensive remark of the London Times, in the account which that journal published of the proceedings at the opening of Parliament. But for this, the whole matter would probably have passed away quietly, as I had desired.

Some time after my interview with Sir Edward Cust, the master of ceremonies, in October last (whom I have never since seen), which I reported to you in my despatch No. 13, of the 28th of October, I determined, after due reflection, neither to wear gold lace nor embroidery at court; and I did not hesitate to express this determination. The spirit of your circular, as well as my own sense of propriety, brought me to this conclusion. I did not deem it becoming in me, as the representative of a Republic, to imitate a court costume, which may be altogether proper in the representatives of royalty. A minister of the United States should, in my opinion, wear something more in character with our Democratic institutions than a coat covered with embroidery and gold lace. Besides, after all, this would prove to be but a feeble attempt “to ape foreign fashions;” because, most fortunately, he could not wear the orders and stars which ornament the coats of other diplomatists, nor could he, except in rare instances, afford the diamonds, unless hired for the occasion.

At the same time, entertaining a most sincere respect for the exalted character of the queen, both as a sovereign and a lady, I expressed a desire to appear at court in such a dress as I might suppose would be most agreeable to herself, without departing from the spirit of the circular.

It was then suggested to me, from a quarter which I do not feel at liberty to mention, that I might assume the civil dress worn by General Washington; but after examining Stuart’s portrait, at the house of a friend, I came to the conclusion that it would not be proper for me to adopt this costume. I observed, “fashions had so changed since the days of Washington, that if I were to put on his dress, and appear in it before the chief magistrate of my own country, at one of his receptions, I should render myself a subject of ridicule for life. Besides, it would be considered presumption in me to affect the style of dress of the Father of his Country.”

It was in this unsettled state of the question, and before I had adopted any style of dress, that Parliament was opened. If, however, the case had been different, and I had anticipated a serious question, prudential reasons would have prevented me from bringing it to issue at the door of the House of Lords. A court held at the palace would, for many reasons, be a much more appropriate place for such a purpose.

Under these circumstances, I received, on the Sunday morning before the Tuesday on which Parliament met, a printed circular from Sir Edward Cust, similar to that which I have no doubt was addressed to all the other foreign ministers, inviting me to attend the opening of the session. The following is extracted from this circular: “No one can be admitted into the Diplomatic Tribune, or in the body of the House, but in full court dress.”

Now, from all the attending circumstances, I do not feel disposed to yield to the idea that any disrespect was intended by this circular, either to my country or to myself. Since I came to London, I have received such attentions from high official personages as to render this quite improbable. What may be the final result of the question I cannot clearly foresee, but I do not anticipate any serious difficulties.

In the latter part of February the queen held the first levée of the season. Mr. Buchanan had signified to the master of ceremonies that he should present himself at the queen’s levée in the kind of dress that he always wore, with the addition of a plain dress sword. The result is given in the course of the following letters to his niece; and thus, through a happy expedient, assented to cheerfully by the queen, this Gordian knot was cut by a drawing-room rapier which never left its sheath. In fact, Mr. Buchanan had already become so much liked in the royal circle and in society generally, that the court officials could not longer refuse to let him have his own way about his reception at the levée, especially after he had dined at the palace in “frock-dress,” an invitation which was doubtless given in good-humored compliance with his wishes, and to smooth the way into the more formal reception.

[TO MISS LANE.]

LONDON, February 18th, 1854.

MY DEAR HARRIET:—

According to my calculation, Captain West will leave New York for Liverpool in the Atlantic on Saturday, the 29th April; and it is my particular desire that you should come with him, under his special care, in preference to any other person. I shall send this letter open to Captain West, and if he should transmit it to you with a line stating that he will take charge of the freight, you may then consider the matter settled. I shall meet you, God willing, in Liverpool.

I have no doubt that the lady whom you mention in yours of the 2d instant would be an agreeable companion, and should she come in the Atlantic at the same time with yourself, it is all very well; but even in that event, I desire that you should be under the special care of Captain West. He is a near relative of our old friend, Redmond Conyngham, and I have the most perfect confidence in him both as a gentleman and a sailor. He stays at the Astor House when in New York, and you had better stop there with your brother when about to embark.

Had he been coming out two weeks earlier in April, I should have been better pleased; but on no account would I have consented to your voyage until near the middle of that month. Yours affectionately, etc.

LONDON, February 21st, 1854.

I have received your letter of the 2d instant, and am truly rejoiced to learn that you have recovered your usual good health. I hope you will take good care of yourself in Washington and not expose yourself to a relapse.

I intended to write you a long letter to-day, but an unexpected pressure of business will prevent me from doing this before the despatch bag closes. I now write merely to inform you that I have made every arrangement for your passage with Captain West in the Atlantic, either on Saturday, the 15th, or Saturday, the 29th April. He does not at present know which, but he will inform you on his arrival in New York. He will leave Liverpool to-morrow. And let me assure you that this is the very best arrangement which could be made for you. You will be quite independent, and under the special charge of the captain. You will discover that you will thus enjoy many advantages. If you have friends or acquaintances coming out at the same time, this is all very well; but let not this prevent you from putting yourself under the special charge of Captain West; and you can say that this is my arrangement. I wish you to inform me whether you will leave New York on the 15th or 29th April, so that I may make arrangements accordingly. In either event I shall, God willing, meet you at Liverpool. I shall write to Eskridge by the next steamer, and direct him to provide for your passage. You will of course have no dresses made in the United States. I am not a very close observer, or an accurate judge, but I think the ladies here of the very highest rank do not dress as expensively, with the exception of jewels, as those in the United States.

I dined on Wednesday last with the queen, at Buckingham Palace. Both she and Prince Albert were remarkably civil, and I had quite a conversation with each of them separately. But the question of costume still remains: and from this I anticipate nothing but trouble in several directions. I was invited “in frock-dress” to the dinner, and of course I had no difficulty. To-morrow will be the first levée of the queen, and my appearance there in a suit of plain clothes will, I have no doubt, produce quite a sensation, and become a subject of gossip for the whole court.

I wish very much that I could obtain an autograph of General Washington for the Countess of Clarendon. She has been very civil to me, and like our friend Laura is a collector of autographs. She is very anxious to obtain such an autograph, and I have promised to do my best to procure it for her. Perhaps Mr. Pleasanton could help me to one.

The first wish of my heart is to see you comfortably and respectably settled in life; but ardently as I desire this, you ought never to marry any person for whom you think you would not have a proper degree of affection. You inform me of your conquest, and I trust it may be of such a character as will produce good fruit. But I have time to say no more, except to request that you will give my love to Laura and Clemmie, and my kindest regards to Mr. Pleasanton, and also to Mr. and Mrs. Slidell and Mr. and Mrs. Thomson, of New Jersey. Ever yours affectionately, etc.

LONDON, February 24, 1854.

Mr. Peabody handed me at the dinner-table the enclosed, which he made me promise to send to you. Mr. Macalester had mentioned your name to him.

The dress question, after much difficulty, has been finally and satisfactorily settled. I appeared at the levée on Wednesday last, in just such a dress as I have worn at the President’s one hundred times. A black coat, white waistcoat and cravat and black pantaloons and dress boots, with the addition of a very plain black-handled and black-hilted dress sword. This to gratify those who have yielded so much, and to distinguish me from the upper court servants. I knew that I would be received in any dress I might wear; but could not have anticipated that I should be received in so kind and distinguished a manner. Having yielded they did not do things by halves. As I approached the queen, an arch but benevolent smile lit up her countenance;—as much as to say, you are the first man who ever appeared before me at court in such a dress. I confess that I never felt more proud of being an American than when I stood in that brilliant circle, “in the simple dress of an American citizen.” I have no doubt the circular is popular with a majority of the people of England. Indeed, many of the most distinguished members of Parliament have never been at court, because they would not wear the prescribed costume.

I find lying on the table before me a note from the Duchess of Somerset, which possibly Laura might be glad to have as an autograph. She prides herself on being descended in a direct line from Robert the Third of Scotland.

With my love to Laura and Clemmie, and my best regards to Mr. Pleasanton, I remain, in haste, yours affectionately, etc.

LONDON, March 10, 1854.

I have received yours of the 16th ultimo, from Philadelphia, and am rejoiced to learn from yourself that your health has been entirely restored. For several reasons I should have been glad you had gone to Washington at an early period of the winter, as I desired, and I hope you went there, as you said you would, the week after the date of your letter.

You have not mentioned the name of Miss Wilcox in any of your letters, and from this I presume you have not made her acquaintance. I regret this, because she was much esteemed among her acquaintances here, and many persons whom you will meet will make inquiries of you concerning her. She talked of you to me.

I shall soon expect to learn from you whether you will leave New York with Captain West for Liverpool on the 15th or 29th April. God willing, I shall meet you at Liverpool. I should be very glad if Mrs. Commodore Perry would accompany you. I am well acquainted with her, and esteem her highly. Still, I repeat my desire, that in any event you should come with Captain West on one of the two days designated. I have no news of any importance to communicate. I am getting along here smoothly and comfortably, determined to make the best of a situation not very agreeable to me. My health has absolutely required that I should decline many 7½ and 8 o’clock dinner invitations, and evening parties commencing at 10½ and 11 o’clock.

I venture to predict that you will not be much pleased with London, and I desire that you should not be disappointed. You must not anticipate too much, except from seeing the sights. These are numerous and interesting, from their historical associations. I have been making inquiries concerning a maid for you.

Please to remember me, in the kindest terms, to Mr. Pleasanton, and give my love to Laura and Clemmie. Ever yours affectionately,

JAMES BUCHANAN.

In a despatch to Mr. Marcy, written soon after his appearance at the Queen’s levée, Mr. Buchanan said: “I have purposely avoided to mention the names of those with whom I have had interviews on this subject, lest it might expose them to censorious remarks hereafter; but having mentioned that of Sir Edward Cust, the master of ceremonies, in my despatch No. 13, of the 28th October last, it is but an act of simple justice to state, that at the court on Wednesday last, his attentions to me were of the kindest and most marked character, and have placed me under many obligations. In the matter of the sword, I yielded without reluctance to the earnest suggestion of a high official character, who said that a sword, at all the courts of the world, was considered merely as the mark of a gentleman, and although he did not mention the queen’s name, yet it was evident, from the whole conversation, that this was desired as a token of respect for her Majesty. He had, on a former occasion, expressed the hope that I would wear something indicating my official position, and not appear at court, to employ his own language, in the dress I wore upon the street. I told him promptly that I should comply with his suggestion, and that in wearing a sword at court, as an evidence of the very high regard which I felt for her Majesty, I should do nothing inconsistent with my own character as an American citizen, or that of my country. I might have added that as ‘the simple dress of an American citizen’ is exactly that of the upper court servants, it was my purpose from the beginning to wear something which would distinguish me from them. At the first, I had thought of United States buttons; but a plain dress sword has a more manly and less gaudy appearance. I hope I am now done with this subject forever.”

So that, after all, it appears plainly enough that, so far as the queen herself was concerned, her Majesty’s wish was only that the representative of the nation nearest in blood to her own, should honor his country by paying to her a mark of respect, by a token that would indicate the official position in which he stood before her. As soon as Mr. Buchanan perceived this, he acted as became him, and from that time forward he was as welcome a guest in the royal circle as any one who entered it.

[FROM SECRETARY MARCY.]

(Private and confidential.) WASHINGTON, January 3, 1856.

MY DEAR SIR:—

I have just finished a despatch in answer to Lord Clarendon’s last on British recruitment in the United States. You will be startled at its length, and I consider it objectionable in that respect, but the peculiar character of the one to which it is a reply rendered a review of the whole subject unavoidable. You are requested to read it to Lord Clarendon, but I presume he will do as I did when his was presented to me by Mr. Crampton—I moved to dispense with the reading, or rather had it read by the title, and received the copy.

I do not mean to trouble you with any other comments upon it, but merely to remark that you will find that I have been very mindful of your kind suggestion. The suaviter in modo has really very much impaired the fortiter in re. The manner I am quite sure will please Lord Clarendon, but I presume the matter will not. I really believe he does not know how offensively British officers have behaved in this recruiting business; but he had the means of knowing all about it, and when it was made a grave matter of complaint it should have been investigated. After the issues of fact and of law made in the case, and the refusal on the part of Great Britain to do anything which could be regarded as a satisfaction, it was not possible to avoid the recall of Mr. Crampton.

You will see by the papers here that the debate in the Senate on the Central American question has opened finely. I do not think that advocates even among any of the factions can be found who will attempt to justify the conduct of the British ministry in that affair.

The correspondence on the subject appears in the “The Union” of this morning and you will receive it as soon as you will this letter. We shall all be very anxious to learn how it has been received by the British government and people.

The people of the United States are not in a very good humor towards the British government at this time, yet there is great calmness in the public mind, which indicates a settled purpose to stand for their rights.

The strengthening the British fleet in this quarter was regarded as a harmless menace. Our people rather admired the folly of the measure than indulged any angry feelings on account of it. The comments of the British press and the miserable pretexts got up as an excuse for that blunder have provoked some resentment, which the course of the British cabinet in regard to the Central American questions and recruiting in the United States will not abate.

We are willing—more—anxious to be on friendly terms with our “transatlantic cousins,” but they must recollect that we do not believe in the doctrine of primogeniture. The younger branch of the family has equal rights with the elder.

I am unable to say to you one word in regard to your successor. Who he will be and when he will be sent out, I think no living man now knows.

Yours truly, W. L. MARCY.

[TO MR. MARCY.]

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, } (Private.) LONDON, January 11, 1856. }

MY DEAR SIR:—

I have received your favor of the 23d ultimo, and am greatly disappointed neither to have received the message nor any inkling of what it contains. Long expectation has blunted the edge of curiosity here, and it will not make the impression it would have done four weeks ago.

I shall expect your answer to Lord C. with much interest, and shall do all in my power to give it its proper effect with his lordship. For my own part, I should have been inclined to cut the Gordian knot as soon as I possessed clear proof of Mr. Crampton’s complicity, and I am persuaded this was expected at the time in this country. No doubt, however, yours is the more prudent course.

You say that if I can settle the Central American difficulty, and you the recruitment question, they may blow what blast they please on any of their organs. That you can perform the latter there can be no doubt; the former is a sheer impossibility during the administration of Lord Palmerston.[14] Any attempt of the kind will only more deeply commit this government and render it more difficult for a succeeding government to do us justice. It is still my impression there will be peace in Europe before the season for opening the next campaign; and this will leave England in such a state of preparation for war as she has never been at any former period. This may act as a stimulus to the reckless and arrogant propensities of Lord P., which have been so often manifested by him in his intercourse with other nations.

I have more than once had occasion to admire your self-possession and “sang-froid,” but never was it more strikingly illustrated than in the concluding and, as it were, incidental sentence of your letter: “I do not learn that the President has his mind turned towards any one for your successor, or for secretary of legation.” This is cool. I had confidently expected that immediately after Mr. Appleton’s arrival in Washington, I should hear of the appointment of my successor, and I felt assured that if there had been need, you would have “turned” the President’s mind towards a subject in which I felt so deep an interest.

As I have on more than one occasion informed you, I do believe that had it been possible for the new minister to be here for a fortnight before my departure this would have been greatly to his benefit, and perhaps to that of the country. This is now impossible. My nephew left me yesterday for Naples and Home, and I was truly sorry not to be able to accompany him, as he speaks French like a Parisian, and Italian tolerably well, and would, therefore, have been highly useful. I am again left with no person except Mr. Moran (who, to do him justice, performs his duties to my entire satisfaction), and yet the President’s mind has not been “turned towards any one,” even for secretary of legation. I hope, at least, that a secretary may arrive before the 12th February, as it would have a better appearance to leave the legation in his charge than in that of the consul.

You seem to take it hard that your former assistant should be acting in concert with Don Magnifico Markoe, still one of your lieutenants, in favor of the nomination of Mr. Dallas, and well you may. Such ingratitude towards yourself is a proof of the depravity of human nature. But there is one consolation. As somebody says: “The vigor of the bow does not equal the venom of the shaft.” I misquote, and don’t recollect the precise language.

I still think there will be peace. France and Turkey both desire it, and Russia needs it. John Bull is still for war, but this only to recover his prestige. He has incurred immense expense in getting ready and don’t want to throw his money away. If peace should remove Lord P., this would be a most happy consummation. Had Mrs. M. been in your place, the President’s mind would ere this have been “turned” towards somebody for my successor. Please to present her my kindest regards, and believe me to be,

Yours very respectfully, etc.,

Footnote 14:

Lord Palmerston had then recently become premier in place of Lord Aberdeen.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, } LONDON, January 18, 1856. }

I have an hour ago received your despatch of the 28th ultimo, and have only had time to give it a cursory perusal. I have not yet read the despatch of Lord Clarendon to which it is an answer. It appears to me to be of characteristic clearness and ability, and its tone is excellent. Still its conclusion will startle this government. I have had an appointment with Lord Clarendon postponed more than once, on account of the dangerous illness of his mother. She died on Sunday morning last, and his lordship informed me through his private secretary that as soon after the event as possible he would appoint a time for our meeting.

The Central American questions are well and ably stated in the message received two or three days ago. I know from reliable authority that Lord Palmerston “has very strong views on the subject.” The Times is a mighty power in the State; and I have adopted means, through the agency of a friend, to prevent that journal from committing itself upon the questions until after its conductors shall have an opportunity of examining the correspondence. These means have hitherto proved effectual. The correspondence has now arrived, and the Times may indicate its views to-morrow morning. The tone of the other journals has not been satisfactory; and the Daily Telegraph has been evidently bought over, and become hostile to the United States within the last four days, as you will perceive from the number which I send. Should the Times take ground against us, it is my purpose to have an edition of that part of the message relating to Central America, and the correspondence, published in pamphlet form, and circulated among members of Parliament and other influential persons. Should the expense be great, I may call upon you to pay it out of the contingent fund.

A few hasty remarks upon the present condition of affairs in this country. The Austrian proposals, as you will see by the papers, have been accepted by the czar. This is distasteful to the British people who have made vast preparations, at an enormous expense, to recover their military and naval prestige in the next campaign. But peace is evidently desired by Louis Napoleon and the French, by the Turks and by the Sardinians. It still continues to be my opinion that peace will be made. In this state of affairs, the British people being sore and disappointed and being better prepared for war than they have ever been, Lord Palmerston, whose character is reckless and his hostility to our country well known, will most probably assume a high and defiant attitude on the questions pending between the two countries. The British people are now in that state of feeling that I firmly believe they could be brought up to a war with the United States, if they can be persuaded that the territory in dispute belongs to themselves. This, absurd as it is, may be done through the agency of a press generally, if not universally, hostile to us. I make these remarks because you ought to know the truth and be prepared for the worst. Certainly not with a view of yielding one iota of our rights to Great Britain or any other power. Most certainly not.

I understand from friends that it is now stated by British individuals in conversation, how easy it would be for them in their present state of preparation, and with our feeble navy, to bring a war with us to a speedy and successful conclusion. In this they would be wofully mistaken.

I have great hopes, however, that the peace will upset Lord Palmerston. The session of Parliament will commence with a powerful opposition against him.

Do contrive by some means to hasten the construction of a railroad to the Pacific and to increase our navy. Such a road is as necessary for war purposes as the construction of a fort to defend any of our cities.

I have not time to write more before the closing of the bag.

I deeply regret to find that so late as the 3d of January you are unable to say one word to me in regard to my successor. For this cause, I think I have good reason to complain.

With my kind regards always to Mrs. Marcy, I remain

Yours very respectfully, JAMES BUCHANAN.

P.S.—I ought not to forget to say that the President’s message has received great commendation among enlightened people in this country. I am sorry you did not inform me at an earlier period that it was the President’s intention to demand the recall of Mr. Crampton, etc., that I might have prepared them for such a result.

[TO NAHUM CAPEN, ESQ.]

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, } LONDON, January 18, 1856 }

MY DEAR SIR:—

...... Many thanks for your friendly wishes. They are cordially reciprocated. Your kindly feelings towards myself have doubtless greatly magnified my popularity at home, but were the Presidency within my reach, which I am far from believing, I might then exclaim:

“Will fortune never come with both hands full? She either gives a stomach and no food, Or else a feast and takes away the stomach.”

I cannot yet say when I shall return home, but I expect by every steamer to hear of the appointment of my successor. Indeed, I have been greatly disappointed in being detained here so long. After my relief it is my purpose to pay a brief visit to the continent. At the latest, God willing, I expect to be at home some time in April—possibly before the end of March.

Without a secretary of legation, my letters must be brief. For this I know you will excuse me.

With my best wishes for your health and happiness, I remain always,

Very respectfully, your friend, JAMES BUCHANAN.

[TO MR. MARCY.]

LONDON, January 25, 1856.

MY DEAR SIR:—

From present appearances the Central American questions can lead to no serious difficulties with England. Public opinion would here seem to be nearly altogether in favor of our construction of the treaty. Such I learn, is the conversation at the clubs and in society; and with the Times, as well as the Daily News on our side, and this in accordance with public sentiment, we might expect a speedy settlement of these questions, if any statesman except Lord Palmerston were at the head of the government. He cannot long remain in power, I think, after peace shall have been concluded. I expect to go to Paris after the 12th of February, and may write to you from there, should I have a conversation with Louis Napoleon. I shall see Lord Clarendon early next week, and you may expect by the next steamer to hear the result of my reading your despatch to his lordship.

I still continue firm in the belief that peace will be concluded, though it is manifestly distasteful to the British people.

I met Sir Charles Wood, the first lord of the admiralty, at dinner the other day, and had some fun with him about sending the fleet to our shores. He said they had only sent a few old hulks, and with such vessels they could never have thought of hostilities against such a power as the United States; and asked me if I had ever heard that one of them approached our shores. I might have referred him to the Screw Blocks. The conversation was altogether agreeable and afforded amusement to the persons near us at the table. He said: “Buchanan, if you and I had to settle the questions between the two governments, they would be settled speedily.” I know not whether there was any meaning beneath this expression.

I consider this mission as a sort of waif abandoned by the Government. Not a word even about a secretary of legation, though Mr. Appleton left me more than two months ago. With the amount of business to transact, and the number of visits to receive, I have to labor like a drayman. Have you no bowels?

The reports, concerning our officers, received from the Crimea, are highly complimentary and satisfactory, and the people here are much gratified with the letter received from the Secretary of War, thanking General Simpson for his kindness and attention towards them.

Before I go away I intend to get up a letter from Lord Clarendon and yourself, manifesting your sense of the manner in which Mr. Bates performed his duty as umpire. As he will accept no pay, it is as little as you can do, to say, “thank you, sir.”

I am informed there is a publisher in London about to publish the Central American correspondence in pamphlet form, believing it will yield him a profit.

I have just received a letter from Mason, written in excellent spirits, praising Mr. Wise, his new secretary. For poor me, this is sour grapes. Never forgetting my friend, Mrs. Marcy,

I remain yours very respectfully, JAMES BUCHANAN.

[TO GOVERNOR BIGLER.]

LONDON, February 12, 1856.

MY DEAR SIR:—

I did not receive your kind and friendly letter of the 21st ultimo until last evening, and although oppressed by my public duties to-day, I cannot suffer a steamer to depart without bearing you an answer.

We had been friends for many years before our friendship was suspended. The best course to pursue in renewing it again is to suffer bygones to be bygones. In this spirit I cordially accept your overtures, and shall forget everything unpleasant in our past relations. When we meet again, let us meet as though no estrangement had ever existed between us, and it shall not be my fault if we should not remain friends as long as we both may live. I wish you an honorable and useful career in the Senate.

I had hoped to return home with Miss Lane in October last, but a succession of threatening incidents has occurred in the relations between the two countries which has kept me here until the present moment. And even now I do not know when I can leave my post. My private business requires that I should be at home on the 1st of April, but no pecuniary consideration can induce me to desert my public duty at such a moment as the present. I trust, however, that by the next steamer I shall hear of the appointment of my successor.

In regard to the Presidency to which you refer, if my own wishes had been consulted, my name should never again have been mentioned in connection with that office. I feel, nevertheless, quite as grateful to my friends for their voluntary exertions in my favor during my absence, as though they had been prompted by myself. It is a consolation which I shall bear with me to my dying day, that the Democracy of my native state have sustained me with so much unanimity. I shall neither be disappointed nor in the slightest degree mortified should the Cincinnati Convention nominate another person; but in the retirement, the prospect of which is now so dear to me, the consciousness that Pennsylvania has stood by me to the last will be a delightful reflection. Our friends Van Dyke and Lynch have kept me advised of your exertions in my favor.

I am happy to inform you that within the last fortnight public opinion has evidently undergone a change in favor of our country. The best evidence of this is perhaps the friendly tone of Lord Palmerston’s speech on Friday night last. His lordship has, however, done me injustice in attributing to me expressions which I never uttered, or rather which I never wrote, for all is in writing. All I said in relation to the matter in question was that I should have much satisfaction in transmitting a copy of Lord Clarendon’s note to the Secretary of State. I never had a word with Lord Palmerston on the subject.

The moment has arrived for closing the despatch bags, and I conclude by assuring you of my renewed friendship.

Yours very respectfully, JAMES BUCHANAN.

[TO MR. MARCY.]

(Private and confidential.) LONDON, February 15, 1856.

MY DEAR SIR:—

I have received your favor of the 27th ultimo, and although the contents are very acceptable, yet, like a lady’s letter, its pith and marrow are in the two postscripts, informing me that Mr. Dallas had been offered and would probably accept this mission. By the newspapers I learn that his nomination had been sent to the Senate. It is long since I have heard such welcome news. But there is some alloy in almost every good, and in my own joy, I cannot but sympathize with you for the loss of Mr. Markoe, who, the papers say, is to be appointed the secretary of legation. Pray bear it with Christian resignation.

I need not say that I shall do all I can to give Mr. Dallas a fair start.

I have two things to request of you:

1. Although I have no doubt the omission of Lady Palmerston to invite me to her first party was both intentional and significant at the time, yet I should be unwilling to leave the fact on record in a public despatch. I will, therefore, send you by the next steamer the same despatch, number 119, of the 4th instant, with that portion of it omitted. When you receive this, please to withdraw the first despatch and keep it for me until my return.

2. Should you, in your friendly discretion, deem it advisable under the circumstances, please to have an editorial prepared for the Union, stating the facts in my last despatch (a duplicate of which is now sent you), in relation to the remarks of Lord Palmerston as to my expression of satisfaction with the apology contained in Lord Clarendon’s note of the 16th July. I send you with this a pamphlet which has just been published here on this subject. I know the author. He is an Englishman of character. Several members of Parliament have called upon me for information, but my position requires that I should be very chary. I have furnished some of them with copies of Hertz’s trial, among the rest Mr. Roebuck. I met him afterwards in society, and it was evident the pamphlet had strongly impressed him with Mr. Crampton’s complicity. Still it is not to be denied that Lord Palmerston’s speech on Friday last, in relation to this subject, has made a strong impression here, as it has done on the continent, judging by the facts stated in my despatch.

I know from the tone of your letter that you would consider me in a state of mental delusion if I were to say how indifferent I feel in regard to myself on the question of the next Presidency. You would be quite a sceptic. One thing is certain that neither by word nor letter have I ever contributed any support to myself. I believe that the next Presidential term will perhaps be the most important and responsible of any which has occurred since the origin of the Government, and whilst no competent and patriotic man to whom it may be offered should shrink from the responsibility, yet he may well accept it as the greatest trial of his life. Of course nothing can be expected from you but a decided support of your chief.

Never forgetting my excellent and esteemed friend, whose influence I shrewdly suspect put you in motion in regard to the appointment of a successor, I remain, as always,

Yours very respectfully, JAMES BUCHANAN.

[TO HIS HOUSEKEEPER, “MISS HETTY.”]

LONDON, February 15, 1856.

MY DEAR MISS HETTY:—

Although greatly hurried to-day, having heavy despatches, according to my rule I suffer not a steamer to pass without answering your letters. Your last of the 26th ultimo was most agreeable. You give me information concerning the neighbors which I highly prize. Every thing about home is dear to me, and you can scarcely realize how much pleasure I feel in the prospect of being with you ere long, should a kind Providence spare my life and my health. I have had no secretary of legation with me for several months, and I have had to labor very hard. I hope to experience the delight of being idle, or rather doing what I please, at Wheatland.

After many vain entreaties, Mr. Dallas has at length been appointed my successor, and I expect him here by the end of this month. Whether I shall return immediately home, or go to Paris for a few weeks, I have not yet determined. The former I would greatly prefer; but March is a very rough month to pass the Atlantic, and I suffer wretchedly from sea-sickness all the time. I am now, thank God, in good health, and I do not wish to impair it on the voyage......

I wish John Brenner joy in advance of his marriage. Remember me kindly to Mr. Fahnestock and your sister, and to all our neighbors and friends, and tell them how happy I shall be to meet them once more. Remember me, also, most kindly, to Father Keenan......

With sincere and affectionate regard, I remain always your friend,

JAMES BUCHANAN.

[TO HIS NIECE, MRS. BAKER.]

LONDON, February 16, 1855.

MY DEAR MARY:—

It is not from the want of warm affection that I do not write to you oftener. I shall ever feel the deepest interest in your welfare and happiness. This omission on my part arises simply from the fact that Harriet and yourself are in constant correspondence, and through her you hear all the news from London, and I often hear of you. I am rejoiced that you are contented and happy. May you ever be so!

I have determined to return home in October next, God willing, and to pass the remnant of my days, if Heaven should prolong them, in tranquillity and retirement. After a long and somewhat stormy public life, I enjoy this prospect as much as I have ever done the anticipation of high office.

England is now in a state of mourning for the loss of so many of her brave sons in the Crimea. The approaching “season” will, in consequence, be dull, and this I shall bear with Christian fortitude. The duller the better for me; but not so for Harriet. She has enjoyed herself very much, and made many friends; but I do not see any bright prospect of her marriage. This may probably be her own fault. I confess that nothing would please me better than to see her married, with her own hearty good will, to a worthy man. Should I be called away, her situation would not by any means be comfortable.

We are treated with much civility here, indeed with kindness, according to the English fashion, which is not very cordial. Such a thing as social visiting does not exist even among near friends. You cannot “drop in of an evening” anywhere. You must not go to any place unless you are expected, except it be a formal morning call......

It is said that the queen is, and it is certain the British people are, deeply mortified at the disasters of her troops in the Crimea. If the men had died in battle this would have been some consolation, but they have been sacrificed by the mismanagement of officials in high authority. The contrast between the condition of the French and English troops in the Crimea has deeply wounded British pride. Indeed, I am sorry for it myself, because it would be unfortunate for the world should England sink to the level of a second-rate power. They call us their “cousins on the other side of the Atlantic,” and it is certain we are kindred......

Yours affectionately, JAMES BUCHANAN.

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V. 1853-1856

NEGOTIATIONS WITH LORD CLARENDON—THE CLAYTON-BULWER TREATY AND AFFAIRS IN CENTRAL AMERICA—THE CRIMEAN WAR AND THE NEW BRITISH DOCTRINE RESPECTING THE PROPERTY OF NEUTRALS.

The reader has seen that when Mr. Buchanan left home to undertake the duties of United States minister in England, it was the understanding between the President and himself that he should have full power to deal with the Central American question in London, and that the fishery and reciprocity trade questions would be reserved to be dealt with by the Secretary of State.[15]

Footnote 15:

Full powers in regard to the Central American question were afterwards transmitted to him at London.

But of course the President expected to be informed from time to time of the steps taken in the negotiation concerning the affairs of Central America, and Mr. Buchanan both expected and desired to receive specific instructions on this and all other topics in the relations of the two governments that might be discussed in the course of his mission. It was at a very interesting and critical period in the affairs of Europe that he arrived in England. Although the war between England and France, as allies of Turkey, on the one side, and Russia on the other, known as the Crimean war, was still in the distance, its probability was already discernible. How this great disturbance affected the pending questions between the United States and England, and introduced a new and unexpected difficulty in their relations, will appear as I proceed.

Mr. Buchanan, according to his invariable habit in all important transactions, kept the records of his mission with great care. Transcripts of the whole are now before me, in two large MS. volumes; and they form a monument of his industry, his powerful memory, and his ability as a diplomatist. The greater part of his negotiations with Lord Clarendon were carried on in oral discussions at official but informal interviews. Regular protocols of these discussions were not made, but they were fully and minutely reported by Mr. Buchanan to Mr. Marcy, as they occurred; and it is most remarkable with what completeness, after holding a long conversation, he could record an account of it. These conversations show, too, how wide was his range of vision in regard to the affairs of Europe, of Cuba, of Central America, and of all the topics which he had to discuss; how well versed he was in public law, and how thoroughly equipped he was for the position which he occupied. It is not strange that he should have left in the minds of the public men in England who had most to do with him, an impression that he was a statesman of no common order.[16] His first official interview with Lord Clarendon took place on the 22d of September, 1853. It had been, and continued to be, very difficult to get the attention of the English secretary to the questions pending between the United States and England, on account of the critical state of the Turkish question; and when Lord Clarendon did have a conference with Mr. Buchanan, he did not profess to be so well informed on the affairs of Central America as he felt that he ought to be, although Mr. Buchanan found him attentive, courteous and able. In the course of many interviews, occurring from time to time between the 22d of September, 1853, and the 16th of March, 1854, at which last date Lord Clarendon communicated to Mr. Buchanan the declaration which had been prepared for the queen’s signature, specifying the course which she intended to pursue towards neutral commerce during the war with Russia, then already declared,—topics that are now of great historical interest, and some of which have still a practical importance, were discussed with great frankness and urbanity. They related at first to the Central American questions, and the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, the fisheries and reciprocity of trade, Cuba and its slavery, slavery in the United States, and the inter-state relations of Europe. As the war approached, and when it was finally declared, the principles of neutrality, privateering, and many other topics came within the range of the discussion; and it was very much in consequence of the views expressed by Mr. Buchanan to Lord Clarendon, and by the latter communicated to the British cabinet, that the course of England towards neutrals during that war became what it was. When Lord Clarendon, on the 16th of March, 1854, presented to Mr. Buchanan a projet for a treaty between Great Britain, France and the United States, making it piracy for neutrals to serve on board of privateers cruising against the commerce of either of the three nations, when such nation was a belligerent, the very impressive reasons which Mr. Buchanan opposed to it caused it to be abandoned.[17]

Footnote 16:

I cannot find room in this volume for these very interesting and graphic despatches. It is not improbable that the two volumes of this biography will be followed by a supplemental volume, in which they can be fully given. The Government of the United States has never published more than a small part of them.

Footnote 17:

I find in Mr. Buchanan’s private memorandum book the account of this matter in his handwriting, given in the text. It is much more full than that contained in his despatches to Mr. Marcy.

Thursday, March 16, 1854.

Called at the Foreign Office by the invitation of Lord Clarendon. He presented me a printed treaty in blank, which he proposed should be executed by Great Britain, France and the United States. The chief object of it was that all captains of privateers and their crews should be considered and punished as pirates, who, being subjects or citizens of one of the three nations who were neutral, should cruise against either of the others when belligerent. The object undoubtedly was to prevent Americans from taking service in Russian privateers during the present war. We had much conversation on the subject, which I do not mean to repeat, this memorandum being merely intended to refresh my own memory. His lordship had before him a list of the different treaties between the United States and other nations on this subject.

I was somewhat taken by surprise, though I stated my objections pretty clearly to such a treaty. Not having done justice to the subject in my own opinion, I requested and obtained an interview for the next day, when I stated them more fully and clearly. The heads were as follows:

1. It would be a violation of our neutrality in the war to agree with France and England that American citizens who served on board Russian privateers should be punished as pirates. To prevent this, Russia should become a party to the treaty, which, under existing circumstances, was impossible.

2. Our treaties only embraced a person of either nation who should take commissions as privateers, and did not extend to the crew. Sailors were a thoughtless race, and it would be cruel and unjust to punish them as pirates for taking such service, when they often might do it from want and necessity.

3. The British law claims all who are born as British subjects to be British subjects forever. We naturalize them and protect them as American citizens. If the treaty were concluded, and a British cruiser should capture a Russian privateer with a naturalized Irishman on board, what would be the consequence? The British law could not punish him as an American citizen under the treaty, because it would regard him as a British subject. It might hang him for high treason; and such an event would produce a collision between the two countries. The old and dangerous question would then be presented in one of its worst aspects.

4. Whilst such a treaty might be justly executed by such nations as Great Britain and the United States, would it be just, wise or humane to agree that their sailors who took service on board a privateer should be summarily tried and executed as pirates by several powers which could be named?

5. Cui bono should Great Britain make such a treaty with France during the existing war. If no neutral power should enter into it with them, it could have no effect during its continuance.

6. The time may possibly come when Great Britain, in a war with the despotisms of Europe, might find it to be exceedingly to her interest to employ American sailors on board her privateers, and such a treaty would render this impossible. Why should she unnecessarily bind her hands?

7. The objections of the United States to enter into entangling alliances with European nations.

8. By the law of nations, as expounded both in British and American courts, a commission to a privateer, regularly issued by a belligerent nation, protects both the captain and the crew from punishment as pirates. Would the different commercial nations of the earth be willing to change this law as you propose, especially in regard to the crew? Would it be proper to do so in regard to the latter?

After I had stated these objections at some length on Friday, the 17th of March, Lord Clarendon observed that when some of them were stated the day before, they had struck him with so much force after reflection, that he had come to the office from the House of Lords at night and written them down and sent them to Sir James Graham. In his own opinion the treaty ought not to be concluded, and if the cabinet came to this conclusion the affair should drop, and I agreed I would not write to the Department on the subject. If otherwise, and the treaty should be presented to the Government of the United States, then I was to report our conversation.

In the conversation Lord Clarendon said they were more solicitous to be on good terms with the United States than any other nation, and that the project had not yet been communicated even to France.

(Vide 1 Kent’s Commentaries, 100. United States Statutes at large, 175, Act of March 3d, 1847, to provide for the punishment of piracy in certain cases. Mr. Polk’s message to Congress of December 8, 1846.)

General conversation about privateering.

The object of the treaty was to change the law of nations in this respect, and Lord Clarendon said that if England, France and the United States should enter into it, the others would soon follow. The project contained a stipulation that the person who took a commission as a privateer should give security that he would not employ any persons as sailors on board who were not subjects or citizens of the nation granting the commission.

March 22, 1854. At her majesty’s drawing-room this day, Lord Clarendon told me that they had given up the project of the treaty, etc., etc.

The whole object of the negotiation in reference to the affairs of Central America was to develop and ascertain the precise differences between the two governments in regard to the construction of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. As the negotiation had become interrupted by the war with Russia, and as it was not probable that it could be brought to a definite issue while that war continued, Mr. Buchanan desired to return home. But Mr. Marcy earnestly desired him to remain, saying in answer to his request to be relieved: “The negotiation cannot be committed to any one who so well understands the subject in all its bearings as you do, or who can so ably sustain and carry out the views of the United States.” Mr. Buchanan therefore remained and pressed upon Lord Clarendon a further discussion of the subject, saying in a formal note:

“The President has directed the undersigned, before retiring from his mission, to request from the British government a statement of the positions which it has determined to maintain in regard to the Bay Islands, the territory between the Sibun and Sarstoon, as well as the Belize settlement and the Mosquito protectorate. The long delay in asking for this information has proceeded from the President’s reluctance to manifest any impatience on this important subject whilst the attention of her Majesty’s government was engaged by the war with Russia. But as more than a year has already elapsed since the termination of the discussion on these subjects, and as the first session of the new Congress is speedily approaching, the President does not feel that he would be justified in any longer delay.”

There had been submitted by Mr. Buchanan to Lord Clarendon on the 6th of January, 1854, a detailed statement of the views of the United States, which was not answered until the 2d of May following. On the 22d of July Mr. Buchanan made an elaborate reply, containing a historical review of all the matters in dispute. It reduced the whole controversy respecting the Clayton-Bulwer treaty to the following points:

What, then, is the fair construction of the article? It embraces two objects. 1. It declares that neither of the parties shall ever acquire any exclusive control over the ship canal to be constructed between the Atlantic and the Pacific, by the route of the river San Juan de Nicaragua, and that neither of them shall ever erect or maintain any fortifications commanding the same or in the vicinity thereof. In regard to this stipulation, no disagreement is known to exist between the parties. But the article proceeds further in its mutually self-denying policy, and in the second place, declares that neither of the parties ‘will occupy, or fortify, or colonize, or assume, or exercise any dominion over Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito coast, or any part of Central America.’

We now reach the true point. Does this language require that Great Britain shall withdraw from her existing possessions in Central America, including ‘the Mosquito coast?’ The language peculiarly applicable to this coast will find a more appropriate place in a subsequent portion of these remarks.

If any person enters into a solemn and explicit agreement that he will not “occupy” any given tract of country then actually occupied by him, can any proposition be clearer, than that he is bound by his agreement to withdraw from such occupancy? Were this not the case, these words would have no meaning, and the agreement would become a mere nullity. Nay more, in its effect it would amount to a confirmation of the party in the possession of that very territory which he had bound himself not to occupy, and would practically be equivalent to an agreement that he should remain in possession—a contradiction in terms. It is difficult to comment on language which appears so plain, or to offer arguments to prove that the meaning of words is not directly opposite to their well-known signification.

And yet the British government consider that the convention interferes with none of their existing possessions in Central America; that it is entirely prospective in its nature, and merely prohibits them from making new acquisitions. If this be the case, then it amounts to a recognition of their rights, on the part of the American Government, to all the possessions which they already hold, whilst the United States have bound themselves by the very same instrument, never, under any circumstances, to acquire the possession of a foot of territory in Central America. The mutuality of the convention would thus be entirely destroyed; and whilst Great Britain may continue to hold nearly the whole eastern coast of Central America, the United States have abandoned the right for all future time to acquire any territory, or to receive into the American Union any of the states in that portion of their own continent. This self-imposed prohibition was the great objection to the treaty in the United States at the time of its conclusion, and was powerfully urged by some of the best men in the country. Had it then been imagined that whilst it prohibited the United States from acquiring territory, under any possible circumstances, in a portion of America through which their thoroughfares to California and Oregon must pass, and that the convention, at the same time, permitted Great Britain to remain in the occupancy of all her existing possessions in that region, there would not have been a single vote in the American Senate in favor of its ratification. In every discussion it was taken for granted that the convention required Great Britain to withdraw from these possessions, and thus place the parties upon an exact equality in Central America. Upon this construction of the convention there was quite as great an unanimity of opinion as existed in the House of Lords, that the convention with Spain of 1786 required Great Britain to withdraw from the Mosquito protectorate.

As Lord Clarendon in his statement had characterized “the Monroe Doctrine” as merely the “dictum of its distinguished author,” Mr. Buchanan replied that “did the occasion require, he would cheerfully undertake the task of justifying the wisdom and policy of the Monroe doctrine, in reference to the nations of Europe as well as to those on the American continent;” and he closed as follows:

But no matter what may be the nature of the British claim to the country between the Sibun and the Sarstoon, the observation already made in reference to the Bay Islands and the Mosquito coast must be reiterated, that the great question does not turn upon the validity of this claim previous to the convention of 1850, but upon the facts that Great Britain has bound herself by this convention not to occupy any part of Central America, nor to exercise dominion over it; and that the territory in question is within Central America, even under the most limited construction of these words. In regard to Belize proper, confined within its legitimate boundaries, under the treaties of 1783 and 1786, and limited to the usufruct specified in these treaties, it is necessary to say but a few words. The Government of the United States will not, for the present, insist upon the withdrawal of Great Britain from this settlement, provided all the other questions between the two governments concerning Central America can be amicably adjusted. It has been influenced to pursue this course partly by the declaration of Mr. Clayton on the 4th of July, 1850, but mainly in consequence of the extension of the license granted by Mexico to Great Britain, under the treaty of 1826, which that republic has yet taken no steps to terminate.

It is, however, distinctly to be understood that the Government of the United States acknowledge no claim of Great Britain within Belize, except the temporary ‘liberty of making use of the wood of the different kinds, the fruits and other products in their natural state,’ fully recognizing that the former ‘Spanish sovereignty over the country’ now belongs either to Guatemala or Mexico.

In conclusion, the Government of the United States most cordially and earnestly unite in the desire expressed by ‘her majesty’s government, not only to maintain the convention of 1850 intact, but to consolidate and strengthen it by strengthening and consolidating the friendly relations which it was calculated to cement and perpetuate.’ Under these mutual feelings, it is deeply to be regretted that the two governments entertain opinions so widely different in regard to its true effect and meaning.

In this attitude the controversy was necessarily left by Mr. Buchanan, when his mission finally terminated; and its further history, so far as he is concerned in it, belongs to the period when he had become President of the United States.

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VI. 1853-1856

BRITISH ENLISTMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES—RECALL OF THE ENGLISH MINISTER AT WASHINGTON—THE OSTEND CONFERENCE.

Two topics entirely unexpected by Mr. Buchanan when he accepted the mission to England must here claim some attention. The first relates to an occurrence which brought upon the United States the necessity of demanding a recall of the British minister who then represented the queen’s government at Washington. This was Mr. John F. Crampton, a well-meaning and amiable gentleman, who had long resided in this country as secretary of the British legation, and had been made minister some time previously, but whose zeal in the service of his government had led him into a distinct violation of our neutrality in the war between England and Russia. It is altogether probable that in his efforts to promote enlistments of men to serve in that war, Mr. Crampton did not keep within the letter of his instructions. It was, at all events, somewhat difficult, for a good while, to convince Lord Clarendon that Mr. Crampton was personally implicated in the unlawful acts which were undoubtedly done. But there was but one course for the American government to pursue. The history of this affair is somewhat curious.

When in April, 1854, Mr. Marcy had occasion to acknowledge the receipt from Mr. Crampton of a note stating the new rule that would be observed by Great Britain, in the war with Russia, towards neutrals, after expressing his gratification, and, at the same time, saying that the United States would have been still more gratified if the rule that “free ships make free goods” had been extended to all future wars to which Great Britain should be a party, he took the precaution to remind Mr. Crampton in courteous terms of the severe restrictions imposed by our laws against equipping privateers, receiving commissions, or enlisting men within our territories to take any part in a foreign war. Lord Clarendon, too, at a later period (April 12, 1855), wrote to Mr. Crampton that “the law of the United States, with respect to enlistment, however conducted, is not only very just but very stringent, according to the report which is enclosed in your despatch, and her Majesty’s government would on no account run any risk of infringing this law of the United States.”[18] For a time, Mr. Crampton acted cautiously, but in the course of the summer of 1855, Mr. Marcy received evidence which convinced him that the British minister was personally implicated in carrying out arrangements for sending men to Nova Scotia, under contracts made in the United States to enlist as soldiers in the British army after their arrival in Halifax; and that the means for sending them had been supplied by him and other British functionaries. Mr. Buchanan was first instructed to bring this matter to the attention of Lord Clarendon, before Mr. Crampton’s direct agency in it had become known to our Government. His letter of July 6, 1855, to Lord Clarendon, was a forcible presentation of the grounds on which the United States complained of such doings as an infraction of their laws and a violation of their sovereignty. A long correspondence ensued, which was conducted at times with some approach to acrimony, but which never actually transcended the limits of diplomatic courtesy. At length the proofs that Mr. Crampton was a party to this unlawful proceeding became so forcible that the British government yielded to the request that he might be recalled, and he was transferred to another diplomatic post. The whole affair was attended at one time with serious risk of an interruption in the friendly relations of the two countries. Mr. Marcy’s course in the correspondence was greatly tempered in its tone by the advice which he received from Mr. Buchanan, although the hazard of an unfortunate issue of the trouble was much enhanced by the sending of an unusual naval force to the coasts of the United States, which the British government ordered while this affair was pending, but without any special reference to it.

Footnote 18:

A copy of this note was delivered to Mr. Marcy in the course of the month of May, 1855.

The so-called “Ostend Conference,” which at the time it occurred made a great deal of noise, and in which Mr. Buchanan was directed by his Government to participate, requires but a brief explanation. It was not a meeting in any sense suggested by him, nor was there anything connected with it which should have given rise to alarm. When in the summer of 1856 he had become the nominee of the Democratic party for the Presidency, as is usual on such occasions, biographical sketches of his public and private character were prepared and circulated. Among them was a small volume in duodecimo form of 118 pages, written with far greater ability and precision than was common in such ephemeral publications intended for electioneering purposes. Its account of the whole matter of the “Ostend Conference” is so exact and lucid that I do not hesitate to quote it as a true history of that proceeding:[19]

Footnote 19:

The copy of this little biography which is before me is entitled, THE LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF JAMES BUCHANAN of Pennsylvania. Twentieth thousand. New York: Published by Livermore & Rudd, 310 Broadway, 1856. It was published anonymously, but I am informed that the name of the author was Edward F. Underhill.

THE OSTEND CIRCULAR.

It is the rare good fortune of Mr. Buchanan to have sustained a long career of public life with such singular discretion, integrity, and ability, that now, when he is presented by the great national party of the country as their candidate for the highest dignity in the Republic, nothing is seriously urged by political hostility in extenuation of his merit, save the alleged countenance to filibuster enterprise and cupidity, inferred by his enemies from a strained interpretation of the recommendations and views of the Ostend Conference. The political opponents of Mr. Buchanan call upon his supporters to vindicate the claim they assert in behalf of Mr. Buchanan to conservatism, by reconciling that assumption with his participation in the American Diplomatic Conference at Ostend and Aix la Chapelle, and with his adoption and endorsement, jointly with the ministers of the United States to France and Spain, of the views and recommendations addressed by the three ambassadors to the Department of State, on the 18th of October, 1854, in the letter commonly known as the Ostend Manifesto. The circumstance that the opposition meet the nomination of Mr. Buchanan with no other objection impugning his qualifications for the Presidential trust, cannot fail to confirm the popular belief in the justice and wisdom of the judgment that governed the Cincinnati convention in selecting a statesman so unassailable in the record of his political life, and so little obnoxious to personal censure and distrust, as the candidate of the great national party of the Union for the highest dignity in the Republic. For it is demonstrable that an erroneous impression exists as to the purport of the Aix la Chapelle letter; and that the policy therein declared by Mr. Buchanan and his associates, is identical with that which has uniformly been regarded and avowed as the policy of the United States in respect to the Island of Cuba. And a belief endeavored to be inculcated, that the policy of the Ostend conference was adopted in consultation or co-operation with the Red Republicans of Europe, is equally erroneous. This belief has originated in another supposition equally unfounded, that Mr. Soulé was in league with the leaders of the European revolutionary movement. The truth is, that fundamental differences existed between the policy of Mr. Soulé and Mazzini, Ledru Rollin, Kossuth, and Louis Blanc; and besides which fact it is well known that these revolutionary leaders themselves were agreed only upon one point, the necessity of revolution, and that they seldom speak to one another. The policy of the revolutionary party of Europe in reference to Cuba was this. They desired the United States to assist the Democratic party of Spain in creating a revolution at Madrid, which should dethrone the queen, and place the Democratic party in power, by the establishment of a republic, and then leave Cuba at her option to either remain a portion of the Spanish republic, or seek annexation to the United States. This concession to the United States was to be in return for material aid furnished in effecting the Spanish revolution. The revolution thus accomplished was intended to be the initiative of further revolutions on the Continent. The Pyrenees range of mountains which forms the boundary line between France and Spain are populated on either side by the most liberal men in either empire, the great mass of the inhabitants being Republican; and could a republic be established in Spain, the Pyrenees would not only furnish points from which to begin their revolutionary designs against France, but would form a barrier behind which they could defend themselves against any attack which Louis Napoleon might make. The revolution accomplished in France, Kossuth and Mazzini would have but little difficulty in overthrowing the power of Austria in Hungary and Italy. Such were the objects which the revolutionary leaders of Europe had in view in endeavoring to secure the influence of the United States Government in support of their policy.

It is needless to say, that neither the Ostend conference nor the cabinet at Washington gave any countenance to this policy. The Ostend conference looked at the Cuba question solely from an American point of view, and quite disconnected from the conflicts and interests of European politics, or the aspirations of revolutionary leaders. On this account, so far from that policy receiving the favor of the Red Republicans, they were as pointed in their hostility to it as any of the monarchical organs of Europe, and did not hesitate to privately, and sometimes publicly, denounce Mr. Soulé for having signed the Ostend circular, as recreant to the expectations which they had formed in regard to him. Mr. Buchanan from first to last opposed the policy which would lead to the United States becoming involved in the European struggle, and held strictly to the American view of the question, in accordance with which the Ostend letter was framed.

The conference at Ostend had its origin in the recommendation of Governor Marcy, who justly conceived that the mission with which Mr. Soulé was charged at the court of Spain might excite the jealousy of other European powers, and that it was important for the purpose of facilitating the negotiations there to be conducted, that explanations should be made to the governments of England and France, of the objects and purposes of the United States in any movement that events might render necessary, having in view the ultimate purchase or acquisition by this government of the Spanish Island of Cuba. The object of the consultation suggested by Mr. Marcy was, as stated in a letter to Mr. Soulé, “to bring the common wisdom and knowledge of the three ministers to bear simultaneously upon the negotiations at Madrid, London and Paris.” These negotiations had not necessarily in view the transfer of Cuba to this country; though that was one of the modes indicated, and seemingly the most effective, of terminating the constantly recurring grievances upon the commerce of the United States, upon the honor of its flag, and the personal rights of its citizens, which disturbed the cordial relations of the two countries, and infused acrimony into their intercourse connected with the prosecution of commerce. Another expedient which Governor Marcy regarded with favor, was the independence of the Island under the Creole sovereignty. At that time, in the summer of 1854, apprehensions of some important change in the social and political condition and relations of Cuba, were generally felt in this country. Rumors prevailed, founded on the then recent decrees and modifications of law pertaining to the servile condition, that it was in contemplation to establish the domination of the blacks in the Island; that the slaves were to be freed and armed, and that an extensive introduction of native Africans was to be resorted to as a means of re-enforcing the strength of the dominant party.

Such, indeed, was the policy of Great Britain; first, to keep alive the slavery agitation in the United States, not from motives of philanthropy, but, by thus inciting internal discord between the people of different sections of the Union, the United States would be prevented from turning its attention to further schemes of territorial extension; and second, to flood Cuba with negroes under a system of apprenticeship, in order to render it valueless to the United States. The execution of such a scheme was regarded as eminently dangerous to the peace and safety of this country, and was one which the United States could not suffer, as the inevitable effects of such a policy, carried out, would be, sooner or later, to induce a servile insurrection in the Southern States. With a colony containing a million and a half of free negroes, immediately off our shores, an expedition could at any time be organized under European aid, and sent from Cuba to our Southern States to incite a rebellion, with all its attendant horrors, among the slaves. Mr. Soulé was instructed to ascertain whether it was in contemplation, and, if so, to seek to prevent it from being carried out, and to avert its baleful consequences to ourselves, by negotiating, first, for the purchase of Cuba, and if that were impracticable, then for the independence of the Island. It was not the greed of territorial expansion that prompted the instructions which convoked the Ostend conference; nor was that sentiment the controlling one that prompted the adoption by its members of the recommendations embodied in the Aix la Chapelle letter. The document is too long to publish at length, but the material passage which contains the doctrines which the opposition would fain lead the people to believe are dangerous, is subjoined:

“But if Spain, deaf to the voice of her own interest, and actuated by stubborn pride and a false sense of honor, should refuse to sell Cuba to the United States, then the question will arise, what ought to be the course of the American Government under such circumstances? Self-preservation is the first law of nature with states as well as with individuals. All nations have at different periods acted upon this maxim. Although it has been made the pretext for committing flagrant injustice, as in the partition of Poland, and other similar cases which history records, yet the principle itself, though often abused, has always been recognized. The United States has never acquired a foot of territory except by fair purchase, or, as in the case of Texas, upon the free and voluntary application of the people of that independent state, who desired to blend their destinies with our own. Even our acquisitions from Mexico are no exception to the rule, because, although we might have claimed them by the right of conquest, in a just war, yet we purchased them for what was then considered by both parties a full and ample equivalent. Our past history forbids that we should acquire the Island of Cuba without the consent of Spain, unless justified by the great law of self-preservation. We must, in any event, preserve our own conscious rectitude and our own self-respect.

“While pursuing this course, we can afford to disregard the censure of the world, to which we have been so often and so unjustly exposed. After we shall have offered Spain a price for Cuba far beyond its present value, and this shall have been refused, it will then be time to consider the question, does Cuba in the possession of Spain seriously endanger our internal peace and the existence of our cherished Union? Should this question be answered in the affirmative, then, by every law, human and divine, we shall be justified in wresting it from Spain, if we possess the power. And this, upon the very same principle that would justify an individual in tearing down the burning house of his neighbor if there were no other means of preventing the flames from destroying his own home. Under such circumstances, we ought neither to count the cost nor regard the odds which Spain might enlist against us.

“We forbear to enter into the question whether the present condition of the Island would justify such a measure. We should, however, be recreant to our duty—be unworthy of our gallant forefathers, and commit base treason against our posterity, should we permit Cuba to be Africanized and to become a second St. Domingo, with all its attendant horrors to the white race, and suffer the flames to extend to our neighboring shores, seriously to endanger or actually to consume the fair fabric of our Union. We fear that the course and current of events are rapidly tending towards such a catastrophe....

“JAMES BUCHANAN, “JOHN Y. MASON, “PIERRE SOULÉ.

“Aix la Chapelle, October 18, 1854.”

One brief sentence in the above describes the purport and substance of the whole document: “Our past history forbids that we should acquire the Island of Cuba without the consent of Spain, unless justified by the great law of self-preservation.” If the acquisition of the Island should become the very condition of our existence, then if Spain shall refuse to part with it for a price “far beyond its present value,” we shall be justified “in wresting it” from her, “upon the very same principle that would justify an individual in tearing down the burning house of his neighbor, if there were no other means of preventing the flames from destroying his own home.”

This doctrine is not original with the Ostend conference, nor did it emanate from filibustering cupidity, nor is it a mere party issue. It has been as broadly asserted, and as confidently and ably advocated, by a Whig statesman and administration, as in the Ostend manifesto. Mr. Everett, United States Secretary of State, in his letter to the British and French ministers declining the alliance tendered by them to guarantee the possession of Cuba to Spain for all coming time, defends his refusal, on the ground that the United States have an interest in the condition of Cuba which may justify her in assuming dominion over it—an interest in comparison with which that of England and France dwindles into insignificance.

The truth is, that its doctrines are the reverse of filibusterism, which means an unlawful, unauthorized depredation of individuals on the territory of countries with which we are at peace. The Ostend circular recommends no suspension or repeal of the neutrality laws, no modifications of the restrictions imposed by our traditional policy and statutes upon the acts of individuals who choose to filibuster; but it declares that, whenever an occasion arrives for a hostile act against the territory of any other nation, it must be by the sovereign act of the nation, through its regular army and navy. So inconsistent are the doctrines of the Ostend circular with filibusterism, that the publication of that document resulted in the cessation of all filibustering attempts against Cuba. But this is not the only result. The acts of aggression upon our citizens and our commerce, by the authorities in Cuba, prior to the Ostend conference, were of a character to seriously imperil the relations between the two countries. But since the Ostend conference, most of those difficulties have been settled, and the remainder are now in the course of settlement; and as the legitimate result of the bold and determined policy enunciated at Ostend, there has not since been a single outrage against the rights of our citizens in Cuba. A vacillating or less determined course on the part of our ministers would have only invited further aggression.

Thus it will be seen that the letter upon which the charge is based by no means justifies the imputation. It only proves that, under circumstances threatening actual danger to the Republic, and in order to preserve its existence, the United States would be “justified, by the great law of self-preservation,” in acquiring the Island of Cuba without the consent of Spain. In its careful preclusion of filibustering intent and assumption, it shows the predominance of a conservative influence in the Congress, which the country may safely attribute to the weight of Mr. Buchanan’s counsels and character. It is obviously manifest from the tenor of the document, that the construction so sedulously contended for by the opponents of Democratic rule, is that which was most earnestly deprecated by the prevailing sentiment of its framers. Events were then in progress, and a perilous catastrophe seemed to impend, that asked of American statesmanship the exercise of all the decision, prudence and energy at its command, to regulate and guide the one in such a way as, if possible, to stay or avert the other. The local administration in Cuba had become alarmed for its safety, and, influenced by apprehension and terror of American filibusters, had already adopted measures of undiscriminating aggression upon the United States Government, by dishonoring its flag and violating the rights of its citizens, which, if persisted in, would inevitably have led to war. Nor was this the only danger; for it was industriously affirmed by those in the interests of Spanish rule, that the Island was to be “Africanized,” and delivered over to “an internal convulsion which should renew the horrors and the fate of St. Domingo”—an event to which, as Mr. Everett truly declares in his letter to the British and French ministers, declining the proposed alliance to guarantee Cuba to Spain, both France and England would prefer any change in the condition of that Island—not excepting even its acquisition by the United States. Under the circumstances, nothing less than so decided a manifestation of determined energy and purpose as was made through the instrumentality of the Ostend conference, would probably have prevailed to prevent that very struggle for the conquest of Cuba, which it is now alleged to have been its purpose to precipitate. And thus, as often happens in the conduct of affairs, the decision and firmness which seemed aggressive and menacing, facilitated a pacific and satisfactory solution of difficulties that threatened war.

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