FESSENDEN, WILLIAM P. 



251 



The Kansas-Nebraska question operating as a 

 disturbing element, Mr. Fessenden was now 

 chosen Senator by both branches on the first 

 ballot by a union of the Whigs and Free-soil 

 Democrats. This signalized the formation of 

 the Kepublican party in Maine, in which Mr. 

 Fessenden remained ever afterward a leading 

 exponent. He took his seat in the Senate on 

 the 23d of February, 1854, and on the night 

 of March 3d made one of the most eloquent 

 and effective speeches delivered against the 

 Nebraska Bill. He reviewed the whole history 

 of the bill, showed its bearings and necessary 

 results, claiming that the South already re- 

 ceived her full dues, and the whole cause of 

 dissension was a desire on the part of the 

 South to rob the North of the little left her. 

 This effort made him at once a leading member 

 of the Senate, and his voice was heard when- 

 ever any important question was in order. 

 Thus we find him introducing the French 

 Spoliation Bill ; opposing a bill to increase the 

 army ; discussing a bill to protect United States 

 officers ; speaking on the relations with Eng- 

 land, on Kansas affairs, on the Iowa Senatorial 

 election, etc., etc. He reviewed President Bu- 

 chanan's message on the Kansas question in 

 the most severe manner, charging not only 

 that its tone was partisan and partial, but that 

 it ignored well-known facts, and stated things 

 that could not be true. During all this time 

 he was doing his share of the business of the 

 Senate, and was a leading member of the 

 Finance Committee. Returned to the Senate 

 for six years, in 1859, and that without the 

 formality of a previous nomination, he was at 

 once made chairman of the Finance and Li- 

 brary Committees, and appointed a Eegent of 

 the Smithsonian Institution. Bowdoin College 

 had conferred on him the degree of LL. D., in 

 1858, and Harvard paid him the same compli- 

 ment in 1864. He was one of the members 

 of the Peace Conference which met in Febru- 

 ary, 1861. Throughout the war, Mr. Fessen- 

 den, in his character of Senator, was a firm 

 friend and ally of the Union cause, giving it 

 the assistance of his logic, eloquence, and 

 counsel, and, as chairman of the Finance 

 Committee, aiding the Secretary of the Treas- 

 ury in maintaining the national credit. Mr. 

 Chase resigned his secretaryship on the 30th 

 of June, 1864. An instant panic ensued, and 

 gold, that subtle index of public feeling, rose 

 from 90 premium on June 30th to 185 premium 

 on July llth. The new secretary would be 

 expected to quiet this storm, and Mr. Fessen- 

 den was chosen by President Lincoln as the 

 new secretary. He hesitated to accept. His 

 health was delicate, and the responsibility dif- 

 ficult and overwhelming. Senators and Cab- 

 inet officers urged, however, and he entered 

 on his duties on the 5th of July. The whole 

 country looked to him for aid. The paper 

 dollar was worth only thirty-four cents. The 

 sale of new loans had been provided for, but 

 they found comparatively few purchasers. 



Germany, Holland, and Switzerland, were our 

 only foreign markets, and national bankruptcy 

 seemed at least possible. Mr. Fessenden then 

 found it his duty, and a duty as imperative as 

 it was arduous, to raise at once the large sums 

 necessary for carrying on the war, and at the 

 same time to enhance the value of the securi- 

 ties already afloat. "What were needed to effect 

 this were victories. Who had faith in victories 

 to come ? The people. To them, then, would 

 the secretary appeal, and to them were offered 

 the renowned seven-thirties. The people only 

 needed an opportunity to attest their faith in 

 the future, and the subscriptions poured in by 

 millions every day. By withholding any fur- 

 ther immediate issue of greenbacks, the State 

 banks were induced to adopt the national 

 system. So successful had been Mr. Fessen- 

 den's policy, that, on resigning his chair to re- 

 turn to the Senate on the 4th of March, 1865, 

 gold had fallen to 99 premium, and on the llth 

 of May following it stood at 30. Another part 

 of the secretary's policy was urging on Con- 

 gress the necessity and possibility of a more 

 comprehensive and effective system of taxa- 

 tion. During this time he had been reflected 

 to the Senate for six years. In the spring of 

 1868 the trial of President Johnson occupied 

 the attention of Congress. Mr. Fessenden, in 

 his capacity as Senator, was an ex-cfficio juror. 

 As the days passed, now bringing tidings of 

 the close of evidence, the tedious summing 

 up, and the delay of preparing for the ques- 

 tion, it became rumored about that certain 

 Eepublican Senators would vote for the Presi- 

 dent's acquittal, and among them was named 

 Mr. Fessenden. He had, it was true, voted 

 for the passage of the Tenure-of-office Act 

 over the President's veto; his whole con- 

 gressional record had been above reproach; 

 and during his secretaryship his judgment had 

 been severely tested. Still, the rumor proved 

 correct, and Senator Fessenden's vote was given 

 on the side of acquittal. For this he gave his 

 reasons. After going over the case at length, 

 he said : 



In the case of an elective Chief Magistrate of a great 

 and powerful people, living tinder a written Consti- 

 tution, there is much more at stake in such a pro- 

 ceeding than the fate of the individual. The office 

 of President is one of the great coordinate branches 

 of the Government, having its defined powers, privi- 

 leges, and duties ; as essential to the very framework 

 of the Government as any other, and to be touched 

 with as careful a hand. Any thing which conduces 

 to weaken its hold upon the respect of the people, to 

 break down the barriers which surround it, to make 

 it the mere sport of temporary majorities, tends to 

 the great injury of our Government, and inflicts a 

 wound upon constitutional liberty. It is evident, 

 then, as it seems to me, that the offence for which a 

 Chief Magistrate is removed from office, and the 

 power intrusted to him by the people transferred to 

 other hands, and especially where the hands which 

 receive it are to be the same which take it from him, 

 should be of such a character as to commend itself at 

 once to the minds of all right-thinking men as beyond 

 all question an adequate cause. It should be free 

 from the taint of party ; leave no reasonable ground 

 of suspicion upon the motives of those who inflict the 



