responsive chord in the South. Texas was not meant to be a gateway to freedom, but to slavery. This theory of placing slavery on the road to ultimate extinction must have had an unwelcome ring about it in the South. "He who works out all great events ” did not, under the Southern plan, work that way.

Mr. Johnson was at first a strong advocate of the line of 54° 40′ in the north-western boundary question, but subsequently, like most of his party, quietly fell into Mr. Polk's plan of adjustment. On the Oregon boundary difficulty he said before Congress :

"When discussing a question so important as the one now presented to the House and the country, it should be in a spirit of calm deliberation; and we should consider well the consequences that are to follow from the action that is to be taken by this House upon it. I know that since this discussion commenced we have heard much of wars and rumors of wars; and that the passions and feelings of the country have been addressed to a very great extent. So far as I am concerned, if I know the feelings of my own bosom, I am for peace, if peace can be continued on honorable terms. But if, in adopting the means which we believe best calculated to secure peace, war is to be the result, I am prepared for the consequences. No member of this House desires peace more earnestly than I do. Yes, in the language of high authority, I desire the day speedily to come when we shall have peace on earth and good-will among men' throughout the world. I wish I could hope that the beginning of that glorious era would commence in my day and generation. If I could believe there was a reasonable prospect, I should now stand on tiptoe, as it were, stretching my ken to its utmost tension, to discover the streaks of the dawn of that glorious morning. But, as ardently as I desire peace for my country, I must take that view of this subject,

and that stand upon the question under consideration, which I believe my position and the rights, the interests, and the honor of my country demand. .

"I am for giving the notice, as recommended by the President of the United States, as the surest means of preserving peace between the two nations, which is so much desired by every lover of his kind. I believe that Great Britain will treat upon more favorable terms after the notice is given to terminate the joint occupancy, than she would before. The giv ing the notice can not be construed by the English Government into a hostile move on the part of the United States. The giving of the notice is expressly provided for in the Convention of 1827. It is one of the stipulations agreed upon by the high contracting parties, to be exercised by either at any time, without any just cause of offense to the other. I further contend that the giving the twelve-months' notice will increase the chances of settling this question without war; without the notice, sooner or later, war is inevitable. The idea of two governments-the laws, institutions, manners, and customs of whose peoples are different from each other-exercising jurisdiction, criminal and civil, at the same time, over the same territory, but upon the subjects of the respective governments living promiscuously together, would never do in practice, however plausible in theory. A policy of this kind would most assuredly lead to war; conflicts would take place between the two jurisdictions; jealousy among the people claiming protection under different governments, would finally result in outbreaks and violence. The certain result of each government continuing to protect its own citizens in Oregon would be war. I shall vote for the notice' as a peace measure. I look upon the notice as holding out the olive-branch of peace in time to prevent war in future. I believe it would be so construed by the Christian world. But, if in taking steps to attain so desirable an end as peace, war should be the consequence, why the nation must be prepared for the worst. Let the notice be given.

6

"I have no doubt but that our title to the whole of Oregon is clear and unquestionable.' On examining the subject, we find that Spain made the first discovery in 1528. That was

followed up by a discovery in 1775, three years before Great Britain's discovery; and this was followed up again by landing at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1792, the year of Captain Gray's first discovery. Then came the exploration of Lewis and Clarke in 1806, then the settlement of Astoria in 1810, and in 1819 the purchase by this Government of all the title Spain had to this Oregon Territory (Great Britain stood by, and did not dispute that purchase being made); and in 1824 the United States transferred a portion of this territory to Russia, fixing the line of 54° 40′ as the boundary between the two governments. In 1825 Great Britain negotiated with Russia for a portion of the same territory; and now upon the north of that line, she holds absolute possession, derived from Russia, which latter power had derived her power from the United States, the United States having purchased from Spain all her title in 1819. I consider Great Britain as estopped from objecting to our title. She holds the territory north of 54° 40′, under the same title that we hold the territory south of it.

"A great deal has been said in this debate about the British lion and the American eagle. Let the British lion growl, let. him assume a menacing attitude, if he is so inclined. He will be closely watched in the distance, from Oregon's lofty peak of Mount St. Helen's, which lifts its proud and majestic form fifteen thousand feet above the ocean-level, by the American eagle, with talons more terrible than the glittering spear of Mars; with an eye that does not wince, though coming in contact with the sun's brightest rays. If that same British lion shall approach, if he shall dare make a hostile foot-print on our shore, then will the armor-bearer of Jove descend from his lofty position, and uttering a scream of bolder defiance than ever was heard from him before, he will strike terror to the heart of the forest-monarch, and force him, cowering and roaring, dastardly to retreat, with blood dripping from his mane, from a soil he has dared to pollute by his impious tread. We will not 'track him around the globe,' in the language of the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Hunter), but we will drive him forever from this continent."

CHAPTER IV.

MR. JOHNSON TWICE ELECTED GOVERNOR-THE HERMITAGE-GOVERNOR JOHNSON IN CONGRESS-HIS EFFORTS AGAINST THE LAND KINGS-HOMESTEADS FOR THE PEOPLE-SPIRITED RECORD.

MR.

R. JOHNSON'S first Congressional period was mainly satisfactory to the constituency he represented. He had grown greatly in the esteem of the more radical members of the Democratic party, and especially in the North. His Democracy was always, indeed, of a too wide and rugged character to be quite congenial to the people of his section; and, perhaps, out of East Tennessee he never would have met with such remarkable success. Leaving out of consideration his origin and his leveling democracy, however, he was by no means lacking in those elements which a leader of any kind in the South was universally required to possess. At the head of these qualities was then placed personal bravery, and no Southerner ever had occasion to think that Andrew Johnson did not reach the legal standard in this respect.

Threats of assassination had been carried to his ears long before he gained the highest office he hoped from his State, but he never swerved from his course on account of them. He never courted difficulty or

danger, and he never avoided it. It is said that on one occasion when he went to speak he laid a pistol on the stand before him, and delivered himself in this way:

"FELLOW-CITIZENS,-It is proper when freemen assemble for the discussion of important public interests, that every thing should be done decently and in order. I have been informed that part of the business to be transacted on the present occasion is the assassination of the individual who now has the honor of addressing you. I beg respectfully to propose that this be the first business in order. Therefore, if any man has come here to-night for the purpose indicated, I do not say to him, Let him speak, but, Let him shoot."

Then, after coolly waiting a few moments, with his hand on his pistol, he proceeded without disturbance in his speech: A writer says on this point :

"At any time during the last fifty years a man could hardly be a governor of Tennessee without being physically brave; still less could he climb to that position from a tailor's shop-board. In Tennessee the passions of men were hot, and, where arguments failed, there were not wanting ruffians to threaten the pistol and the bowieknife. All that will be changed now; but when Andrew Johnson was on the stump there, he saw more men with than without pistols in their breast-pockets, and knives in their boots or parallel to their backbones. It was after Andrew Johnson was born that Andrew Jackson had his bloody affray with Thomas H. Benton in a public place of Nashville.

"When we were at Nashville, seven years ago, anecdotes of the coolness and courage of Governor Johnson were among the current coin of conversation. One