570 



PIERCE, FRANKLIN. 



proof of his eminent powers that he at once 

 placed himself in the very first rank at a bar 

 so distinguished for ability as that of New 

 Hampshire. * * * Far more than any other 

 man whom it has been my fortune to meet, he 

 makes himself felt by one who tries a case 

 against him. From the first, he impresses on 

 his opponent a consciousness of the necessity 

 of a deadly struggle. From the beginning to 

 the end of the trial of a case, nothing with 

 him is neglected which can by any possibility 

 honorably conduce to success. His manner is 

 always respectful and deferential to the court, 

 captivating to the jury, and calculated to con- 

 ciliate the good-will even of those who would 

 be otherwise indifferent spectators." A chief 

 justice of New Hampshire wrote : " The elo- 

 quence of Mr. Pierce is of a character not to 

 be easily forgotten. He understands men, their 

 passions, and their feelings. His language 

 always attracts the hearer. A graceful and 

 manly carriage, bespeaking him at once the 

 gentleman and the true man, a manner warmed 

 by the ardent glow of an earnest belief, an 

 enunciation ringing, distinct, and impressive 

 beyond that of most men, a command of bril- 

 liant and expressive language, and an accurate 

 taste, together with a sagacious and instinctive 

 insight into the points of his case, are the 

 secrets of his success." 



In 1846 President Polk offered him the 

 position of Attorney-General of the United 

 States. He declined it, however, giving as his 

 reasons that public life never suited his taste, 

 and that he longed for the quiet and indepen- 

 dence of the private citizen ; that he could not 

 arrange his business to leave, and that Mrs. 

 Pierce's health demanded a quiet and private 

 life. Previous to this he declined a nomina- 

 tion to the United States Senate. From 1842 

 to 184V he accepted no public office, refusing 

 the nomination for Governor, but taking an 

 active interest in the politics of the State. 



Mr. Pierce had said in his letter to President 

 Polk that nothing except the voice of his 

 country in time of war would call him from 

 his seclusion. When the Mexican "War broke 

 out in 1847, he enrolled himself first volunteer 

 of a company raised in Concord, and soon 

 received the colonelcy of the 9th Regiment. 

 In March he was commissioned a brigadier- 

 general, his brigade consisting of regiments 

 from the extreme North, the extreme West, and 

 the extreme South. Hawthorne, who saw him 

 previous to his departure from New York, says : 



He had been intensely occupied, since his appoint- 

 ment, in effecting the arrangements necessary on 

 leaving his affairs, as well as by the preparations, 

 military and personal, demanded by the expedition. 

 The transports were waiting at New York to receive 

 the troops. He was now in the midst of bustle with 

 some ot the officers of his command about him, 

 mingled with the friends whom he was to leave be- 

 hind. The severest point of the crisis was over, for 

 he had already bidden his family farewell. His 

 spirits appeared to have risen with the occasion. He 

 was evidently in his element, nor, to say the truth, 

 dangerous as was the path berore him, could it be re- 



gretted that his life was now to have the opportunity 

 of that species of success which, in his youth at 

 least, he nad considered the best worth struggling 

 for. He looked so fit to be a soldier that it was im- 

 possible to doubt, not merely his good conduct, 

 which was "as certain before the event as afterward, 

 but his good fortune in the field and his fortunate 

 return. 



He sailed on the 27th of May, in the bark 

 Kepler, arriving at Yera Cruz one month later, 

 joining General Scott at Puebla on the 7th of 

 August. In the battle of Contreras he was 

 severely wounded by the falling of his horse, 

 but continued with his brigade during the day. 

 He was also with his troops at Churubusco, 

 and after the battle was appointed by General 

 Scott one of the commissioners to arrange an 

 armistice. He remained in Mexico during the 

 war, and, at its close, resigned his commission 

 and returned to his practice. In 1850 he was 

 chosen President of the convention called to 

 revise the State constitution, and by his influ- 

 ence procured the removal of the tests by which 

 Catholics were excluded from certain offices. 



In the Baltimore Convention of 1852, after 

 thirty-five ballotings for candidate for the presi- 

 dency, in which he had not received a vote, his 

 name was brought forward by the Yirginia dele- 

 gation, and he was nominated on the forty-ninth 

 ballot by a majority of 271 votes. He received 

 in the following November the votes of all the 

 States except Massachusetts, Yermont, Ken- 

 tucky, and Tennessee, obtaining 254 votes of 

 the electoral college, while General Scott 

 had only 42. In his inaugural address he 

 maintained that slavery was fully recognized 

 in the Constitution, and that the fugitive-slave 

 law was constitutional, and should be strictly 

 executed. He appointed, as his Cabinet, Wil- 

 liam L. Marcy, Secretary of State ; James 

 Guthrie, Secretary of the Treasury ; Jefferson 

 Davis, Secretary of War; James 0. Dobbin, 

 Secretary of the Navy; Robert McClelland, 

 Secretary of the Interior ; James Campbell, of 

 Pennsylvania, Postmaster-General, and Caleb 

 Cushing, Attorney-General. The principal 

 events of his Administration were the question 

 of the bounding of the Mesilla Yalley, now 

 Arizona; exploring routes for the proposed 

 railroad from the Mississippi to the Pacific; 

 the affair of Martin Koszta ; the repeal of the 

 Missouri Compromise ; the famous Ostend Con- 

 ference ; the Treaty of 1854 between the 

 United States and Great Britain, providing for 

 commercial reciprocity between this country 

 and the British Provinces ; the filibuster inva- 

 sion of Nicaragua by William Walker; the 

 dismissal of the British minister and consuls 

 in 1855 for sanctioning the enlistment of re- 

 cruits for the British army ; and the Kansas 

 troubles. President Pierce signed bills to 

 reorganize the consular and diplomatic system 

 of the United States ; to organize court claims ; 

 to provide a retired list for the navy, and to 

 confer the title of lieutenant-general on Win- 

 field Scott. He vetoed, in 1856, a bill making 

 appropriations for the completion and reform 



