when wanted, to respond to this action. So when, at the
instance of my lawyers, M. Lechesue and his attorney were
called to confront them before the Judge on Monday, and
were asked by him how they came to take me to Clichy,
under the circumstances, they could only stammer out that
they had reflected that Mr. Piatt was not subject to imprison-
ment in like case, — therefore, his guaranty was no security.
This, of course, did not satisfy the Judge, who ordered my
release on the instant ; so by 4 P. M. all formalities were
concluded, and my lawyers appeared with the documents
required to turn me into the street. Meantime, I had had so
many visitors, who sent up good-looking cards, and wore
honest faces, that I had manifestly risen in the estimation of
my jailers, who had begun to treat me with ample considera-
tion.

The neighboring servants, who were intimate with ours, had
witnessed my departure witli the officers, and knew, of course,
that this was an arrest, Ijut pretended to our servants not to
understand it. One after another of them would call on our
employees to ask, " Why, where is Mr. Greeley ? " " He has



TWO DAYS IN JAIL. 343

gone over to London on a little business," was tlie prompt
reply, " and Avill be back in a day or two." This was accepted
with many a sly wink and gentle shi'ug ; the inquisitors hav-
ino' obviously united in the conclusion that I was a swindler,
who had robbed some bank or vault, and fled from my own
country to enjoy the fruits of my depredations. When, how-
ever, I came quietly home in a cab about the time indicated
by our serv^ants, they greatly exulted over the hoped-for, rather
than expected, denouement, while their good-natured friends
were correspondingly disconcerted by the failure of their cal-
culations. On our part, we resmned at once our round of
visiting and sight-seeing, as though nothing had happened ;
but my little son's flying hair and radiant face, as he rushed
do-um stairs to greet my return, will not soon be forgotten.
He had been told that it was all right, when he found and
left me in prison, and had tried hard to believe it ; but my
return, unattended and unguarded, he kiievj to be right.



I had a tedious legal squabble thereafter, — for my libera-
tion did not, of course, abate M. Lechesne's suit against me, —
and had to send to ISTew York for documents and affidavits ;
meantime going to Switzerland with my family, as I have
abeady related, — and I was signally aided in my defence by
Hon. Elihu B. Washburne, of Illinois, who happened to
be in Paris at the time ; but, as there was really no case
agamst me, I was at length enabled to demonstrate that fact
to the satisfaction of the functionary who had been deputed
to hear and report on the suit to the Tribunal of Commerce,
before which I had been cited by Lechesne, — a proceeding
whoUy illegal, my lawyers asserted, as neither party to the
action was a merchant. My counsel wished to demur to the
jurisdiction, saying that the Tribunal was not a court of law,
and always decided for a Frenchman against d foreigner, no
matter how unjustly. At length, however, when my docu-
ments arrived from New York, they could hold off no longer,
but went before the ofiicer in question, where my opponents



344 RECOLLECTIONS OF A BUSY LIFE.

were most reluctant to meet them, asking for time to send to
America for docunients also ! We understood that this was
only a pretext to avoid a judgment for costs, — they did not
really want to send to America, and did not send. We let
them off on that excuse, however, and I came away, — leav-
ing the suit stone dead.



I rejoice that imprisonment for debt was recently abolished
in France, — I trust forever. I doubt that it ever made one
debtor even outwardly honest ; I am sure it often compelled the
relatives and friends of prodigals to pay debts which should
never have been contracted. It is wrong — it is immoral —
to trust those who do not deserve credit, — it is doubly wrong
to impose the payment of such debts upon some frugal uncle
or brother of the debtor, in pity for that debtor's weeping wife
and children. " Let every tub stand on its own bottom " is a
sound rule, which imprisonment for debt tends strongly to
subvert. Men are trusted who should not be, on the calcula-
tion, " I can get my pay out of his relatives by putting him
into jail"; hence tavern-scores and merchants' accounts where
cash down would have precluded extravagance and dissipa-
tion. The civilized world is not yet prepared for the repeal
of all laws designed to enforce the collection of simple debts
(not trusts) ; but this reform must come in due time, when
mankind will wonder why it could so long have been re-
sisted. False credit — credit to those who do not deserve,
and will be rather harmed than helped by it — is the bane of
our civilization. Every second man you meet is struggling
with debts which he should never have contracted. We need
a legal reform, which will greatly diminish our current facili-
ties for running into debt.



XLI.



"THE BANKS CONGEESS." — THE LONG CONTEST FOR
SPEAKER.



I HAD often, since the establishment of The Tribune, nm
do^vn to Washington for a very few days ; but never, save
when for ninety days a member of the House, had I been
tempted to protract my stay there; and my associates had
repeatedly regretted that I could not be induced to spend
more time at the political metropolis.' Eeflecting on this,
and on the probabilities of a long and doubtful struggle for
the Speakership of the XXXIVth Congress, I resolved,
while staying in Paris in the Summer of 1855, that I would
visit Washington before the opening of that Congress, and
remain there until requested by my associates in business to
return to New York, — a resolve of which I gave them due
notice. Wlien the roll of the new House was first called, at
noon on Monday, December 3, I was looking on from a
reporter's desk ; and I remained in observation for many
weeks thereafter.

That House was constituted as no other has ever yet been.
No party had a majority of its members, wliile two separate
organizations seemed to have. The " Americans " had chosen
a majority ; so had the " Republicans," or opponents of the
policy embodied in the Nebraska Bill ; but the lines of these
two organizations ran into and crossed each other. We Ee-
publicans who were anti-" Know-Nothing " were perfectly
willing to support an anti-Nebraska " American " for Speaker ;
but nearly all the Southern " Americans " would support no
candidate who was in principle a Eepublican. Thus, there



346 RECOLLECTIONS OF A BUSY LIFE.

was in fact no majority of any party, and a long, bitter, ex-
citing struggle for the organization was inevitable.

The Democrats held a caucus, as usual, and nominated
"William A. Eichardson, of Illinois, for Speaker; but they
could give him, at the utmost, but 80 votes, and actually did
give him, on the first ballot, but 74. The Southern " Ameri-
cans" mainly supported Humphrey Marshall, of Kentucky,
who had 30 votes on the first ballot ; but they were ready to
vote for any Northern "Know-Nothing" who was not in
principle a Eepublican, and Henry M. Fuller, of Pennsylva-
nia, had 17 votes, mainly from the South. The Republicans
and anti-Nebraska "Americans" had held no caucus and
made no nominations ; but they cast, on the first ballot, 53
votes for Lewis D. Campbell of Ohio, 21 for Nathaniel P.
Banks of Massachusetts, 7 for Alexander C. M. Pennington of
New Jersey, and there were 23 scattering votes, mainly theirs.
Four ballots were taken that day, with no material variation
from the foregoing result ; when the House adjourned. The
next day, five ballots were taken, — Mr. Eichardson's vote
being increased (by a fresh arrival) to 75, Mr. Banks's to 31,
and Mr. Fuller's (at the expense of Humphrey Marshall's) to
21 ; when the House again adjourned. The next day, Mr.
Campbell's vote was run up to 81, at Mr. Banks's expense ;
but he thenceforth began to fall off; and on Friday, having
just received 75 votes, he formally declined ; stating that he
was satisfied that he could not be elected without either repu-
diating his well-known American and anti-Nebraska princi-
ples, or making pledges regarding the formation of Commit-
tees that would justly expose him to public contempt. Mr.
Banks now received 41 votes ; thence steadily and rapidly
increasing, until, on the thirty-seventh ballot, he had 107 ;
still lacking six more to elect him ; Eichardson having 76 and
Fuller 28, with 13 scattering, mainly Southern "Americans."
Thenceforth, the struggle went on, with no change but that
caused by occasional absences of members of either party,
generally paired, but relieved by fitful debates on party ques-
tions, — sometimes lasting through a day or more, until, on



"BANKS CONGRESS." — CONTEST FOR SPEAKER. 347

the 2 2d, Mr. Stanton, of Ohio, first moved tliat a ijlurality
vote (tlie highest) should thereafter sufl&ce to elect ; which
was promptly laid on the table, by 114 Yeas to 107 Nays, —
tlie latter behig the Republicans or Banks men, outvoted by
the combined strength of all the other parties. This motion
was repeatedly renewed by Republicans, with no better suc-
cess ; and the House once voted not to adjourn till a Speaker
should be chosen ; but, after a tedious and excited night ses-
sion, this resolve was rescinded, and the debating, with occa-
sional ballotings, continued. On the 27th, so many members,
mainly Southern, had gone home to spend Christmas, that
Mr. Banks needed a change of but 3 votes to elect him, — he
having 100 to 105 for all others. On several of the succeed-
ing ballots during the holidays, Mr. Banks lacked but 3 and
then 4 votes of a majority ; but, as the absent members
returned, the prospect of an election receded. At length, on
the 21st of January, Mr. Albert Rust (since a Rebel Briga-
dier) of Arkansas moved the followiag : —

" Whereas, One hundred and eighteen ineffectual efforts to elect
a Speaker, in which the votes have been divided among Mr. Banks,
Mr. Richardson, ]\Ir. Fiiller, and Mr. Pennington, must have made
it manifest to those gentlemen and this Congi-ess that neither of
them is the choice of a majority of the members of this Hovise
for its presiding officer, and that a longer persistence on the part
of their respective fi^iends in urging their names for this office
wdl only delay the organization of this House, and thereby pre-
vent immediate legislation, when the common interests of the
whole country require it : Therefore,

" Resolved, That it is the sense of this House that Messrs. Banks,
Richardson, Fuller, and Pennington, by withdrawing their names,
and forbidding their use as candidates for the Speakership, would
remove certain and insm-mountable obstacles to its organization,
and that the public interests would be greatly promoted by their
doing so."

Hereupon, Messrs. Fuller and Pennington promptly gave
notice tliat they were no. longer candidates for Speaker. Mr.
Rust, finding impediments to their present consideration.



348 RECOLLECTIONS OF A BUSY LIFE.

withdrew his preamble and resolve, giving notice that he
would reoffer them on the morrow.

I listened to his proposition with intense indignation. It
was based on an assumption notoriously false, — namely, that
the organization of the House was impeded by personal aspi-
rations and rivalries, — when all knew that the conflict was
one of principles, and that Eust himself was invincibly
hostile to Banks only because Banks represented resistance
to the further diffusion of Slavery. And Mr. Banks's sup-
porters, with his hearty concurrence, had once and again
offered to let a plurality choose, so that his and their oppo-
nents would be compelled to concentrate their strength or
submit to a defeat. So far as the Eepublicans were con-
cerned, they had long stood ready and eager to close the con-
test in the only practicable way ; and it was a wrong and an
insult for the antagonist parties, who could not unite on a
candidate, to combine their forces for the purjjose of dri^'ing
from the field the chosen candidate of the Republicans.
This dictating by one side who should or should not be sup-
ported by the other seemed to me a gross outrage ; and I so
characterized it in my despatches and letters to The Tribune.

Mr. Rust renewed his proposition on the 23d ; when tlie
House refused to order the main question upon it, and it
went over under the rule to the next day ; when, on motion
of Mr. Pringle, of New York, it was laid on the table by 100
to 99.

I believe it was on this day tliat, just after the House had
adjourned, and while all in attendance were returning to
their respective lodgings, I was accosted by a stout, athletic
man whom I did not then loiow, but afterward ascertained to
be Rust, with the abrupt question, "Would you resent an
insult ? " " That depends on circumstances " was my answer.
The words were scarcely spoken when a powerful blow, that
I neither saw nor anticipated, temporarily stunned and stag-
gered me ; but I brought up against the wooden railing of
the walk down through the public grounds, from the Ca23itol
to the Avenue. Dozens of all parties were aroimd, but no



"BANKS CONGRESS." — CONTEST FOR SPEAKER. 349

one interposed ; and Eust, whirling on his heel, proceeded on
his way. Soon recovering my consciousness, I followed ; and,
just before reaching my (National) hotel, overtook Eust and
his party, who were probably awaiting me. He turned, with
three or four friends flanking him, and again assaulted me ;
this time with a heavy cane, which he broke over my arm, —
raised to guard my head, as I was trying to close with him.
My arm was badly swelled by the blow, as my head was by
its predecessor, but I neither fell nor recoiled; and Eust,
soon whirling again, went on his way, while I repaired to my
room in the hotel, which I was obliged to keej) for some days
thereafter. The only excuse or pretext for this assault was
afforded by my strictures in The Tribune on his baffled at-
tempt to coerce his political opponents into voting for some
one else than the man of their choice for Speaker.

I cannot now remember that I was ever seriously assaulted
since my boyhood except by Eust as aforesaid. Writing the
plainest and squarest Anglo-Saxon I know, and often speak-
ing of political opponents^ their works, ways, and words, in
terms that could by no tolerable stretch of courtesy be deemed
flattering, — terms, doubtless, sometimes misjudging and un-
deserved, — I suppose I ought to deem myself fortunate in
having so seldom been subjected to personal violence. Still,
if Eust's assaults were intended to convince me that his
proposition was fair and manly, they certainly failed to sub-
serve their purpose.

Some weeks after these assaults, I was waited on at the
Capitol by the Marshal of the District, who wished me to go
before the Grand Jury as a witness against Eust. This I de-
clined to do, unless compelled by due process of law ; for, I
m-ged, there were fully a score who witnessed either assault,
all under circumstances more favorable to observation than
mine ; and, if these did not see fit to testify, why call on me ?
I did not choose to figure as an informer or complainant. I
decidedly preferred not to have the wrath of the law placated
by a fine of S 25 or $ 50. So nothing was ever done in the
premises. I do not even remember that Eust was ever pre-



250 RECOLLECTIONS OF A BUSY LIFE.

sented by his admirers with a cane, as Mr. Brooks of South
Carolina was with several by those who exulted over his far
more savage and damaging attack, a few weeks later, on Sen-
ator Sumner, — a crime for which a Washington court fined
the Hon. culprit $ 300.

If there happens to be any one who decides that Eust's
proposal did not justify my strictures (which, I assume, were
severe), I ask him to pass judgment on one that was sub-
mitted, directly after Eust's was disposed of, by Hon. Charles
James Faulkner of Virginia, afterward President Buchanan's
^Minister Plenipotentiary to London. It is as follows : —

"Resolved, That the persistent adherence of the Republican
party to the Hon. Nathaniel P. Banks as its candidate for the
office of Speaker, after the repeated manifestations by the majority
of the members of this House that he does not possess their con-
fidence for that situation, exhibits a determination to sacrifice the
pubhc interests of the country to the triumphs of a personal and
sectional party ; and that the finther continuance of his name
before this bod}^, as the candidate of his party for the office of
Speaker, justly attaches to his supporters the responsibility for a
failure to organize this House."

I do not believe in the Eust style of argumentation ; yet I
cannot see how such propositions as the above could be ap-
propriately met by any other.

And still the balloting for Speaker went fitfiUly on, alter-
nated with debates.

President Pierce ha%-ing sent in his Annual Message on the
25th, though the House was in no condition to receive it, —
Mr. Banks now generally lacking six or seven votes of being
chosen, — while all manner of back-stairs intrigues were fo-
mented by the frw^enty or thirty nominal Eepublicans of
M-hom each fancied that he would stand a good chance for
the Speakership if Banks were withdra^vn ; and one or two
serious but unsuccessful attempts ha^^ng been made to con-
centrate the entire anti-Eepublican vote on Hon. James L.
Orr (Dem.), of South Carolina ; at length, on the 1st of Feb-
ruary, a motion by Hon. John Hickman, of Pennsylvania, to



"BANKS CONGRESS." — CONTEST FOR SPEAKER. 351

adopt a plurality rule, was defeated by the close vote of 108
Yeas to 110 Nays ; so that it was evident an election was not
far off. Next day, IMr. Samuel A. Smith (Dem.), of Tennes-
see, renewed the proposition in this shape : —

" Besolved, That the House will proceed immediately to the
election of a Speaker viva voce. If, after the roll shall have been
caUed three times, no member shaU have received a majority of
all the votes cast, the roll shall again be called, and the member
â– who shaU then receive the largest munber of votes, provided it
shall be a majority of a quorum, shall be declared duly elected
Speaker of the House of Representatives of the XXXIVth Con-
gi'ess."

A motion to lay this proposition on the table was promptly
voted down, — 114 to 104, — and the resolution then adopted,
under the Previous Question, — Yeas, 113; Nays, 104. The
Democrats who supported it were Messrs. Barclay of Penn-
sylvania, Clingman of North Carolina, Herbert of California,
Kelly of New York, Andrew Oliver of New York, S. A. Smith
of Tennessee, and John Williams of New York. Several at-
tempts to rescind the above rule were successively made and
voted down ; and then the House, rejecting all motions to
adjourn, proceeded to vote under it, with the following
result : —





WOth ballot.


ISlsi.


lS2d.


1.3.3A


Nathaniel P. Banks, of Massachusetts


102


102


102


103


"William Aiken, of South Carolina


. 9.3


9.3


92


100


Henry M. Fuller, of Pennsylvania .


14


13


13


6


Scattering^,


6


6


6


5



The House thereupon, on motion of Mr. Clingman of North
Carolina, resolved, by 155 to 40, that Mr. Banks had been didy
elected Speaker; and the long struggle was over. It is memor-
able as the very first in our National history wherein Northern
resistance to Slavery Extension ever won in a fair, stand-up
contest, Avithout compromise or equivocation. JVhie vjcchs had
been spent — I think, not unprofitably — in producing this
result ; and there were not over seventy-five decided Eepub-
licans in the House of 234 members in which it was achieved.
Day after day, those who still insisted on holding on to Banks



352 RECOLLECTIONS OF A BUSY LIFE.

had been inveighed against as perilling the cause for their
favorite ; when, in fact, had Banks been dropped* it would
have been found impossible to concentrate so many votes on
any one else, as were nearly (or quite) a hundred times cast
for him. The readiness of his friends, at all times, to adopt
the jjlurality rule, and abide the result, shielded them from
all jvist reproach as wantonly protracting the contest. If ap-
propriations were needed, it became the supporters of the Ad-
ministration to let the House be organized under that nde, so
that the pubhc need might be satisfied. The long contest
had proved the " American " organization a myth, a fog-bank,
an illusion ; and the new-born Eepublican party, consolidated
and united by this struggle, mustered heartily and formidably
at its first National Convention, which assembled at Pitts-
burg, Pa., on the 2 2d of that month.



Mr. Banks, though then in his second term, proved an
excellent Speaker, — prompt, vigorous, decided, and just.
Though a majority remained politically hostile to him, and
the waves of party passion ran very high, I believe but one
of the many decisions made by him as Speaker was over-
nded ; and the House, on calmer consideration, reconsidered
its overruling vote. Abler men may have filled that difficult
post ; but no man, I judge, ever gave himself more unreserv-
edly to the discharge of its arduous duties. I have heard
that Mr. Banks was a schoolmaster in his youth, and his
manner in the chair often countenanced the tradition. If he
had a fault, it was that of overdoing, impelled by absorbing
anxiety to keep in order a body essentially turbident, and
inclined to resent and baffle any attempt to draw the reins
too tightly. The temptations to an opposite course are very
strong, and presiding officers far oftener err on the side of
laxity than on that of rigor.



XLII.

FREMONT. — BUCHANAN. — DOUGLAS.

THE popular elections of 1854-55 had made manifest
the fact that the Opposition, if united on one ticket, was
strong enough to oust the Democratic party from power at
Washington ; the long and arduous struggle for Speaker had
sho^vn that such combination could only be effected with
great difficulty, if at all. The " American " party was first in
the field, — selecting as its candidates Millard Fillmore, of
New York, for President, with Andrew J. Donelson (nej)hew
and namesake of "Old Hickory"), of Tennessee, for Vice-
President, — men of decided personal strength, but impossible
candidates for the Eepublicans, because radically hostile to
their cardinal principle. The Democrats next held their Con-
vention, and nominated James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, for
President, with John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, for Vice-
President. President Pierce and Senator Douglas were ]\Ir. Bu-
chanan's competitors, and were wisely defeated, — each of them
being conspicuously identified with the Nebraska bill ; while
Mr. Buchanan, having been, throughout President Pierce's term,
Envoy to Great Britain, had escaped all complication in the
popular mind with that measure. And, as Pennsylvania was
the probable pivot of the contest, it was manifestly wise to
present a Pennsylvanian for the first office. The Ptepublicans,
meeting last, nominated Colonel John C. Fremont, of Califor-
nia, for President, with William L. Dayton, of New Jersey,
for Vice-President. They were strongly urged to present
John McLean, of Ohio, then a Justice of the Supreme Court,
for the first office, with the assurance that he could secure the
23



354 RECOLLECTIONS OF A BUSY LIFE.

bulk of the " American " vote, — at least in the Free States, —
and thus probably carry Pennsylvania and Indiana. This
assurance seemed to rest on no certain or tangible data, and
was overruled, — a mistake (if such it were) for which I ac-
cept my full share of responsibility. I felt that Colonel Fre-
mont's adventurous, dashing career had given him popularity,
with our young men especially ; and I had no faith in the
practicability of our winning many votes from those " Ameri-
cans " who were not heartily Eepublicans.

Our canvass was very animated, and our hopes, for a season,
quite sanguine, especially after Maine had gone for us in Sep-
tember, by 25,000 plurality ; but the October elections gave
us a cold chill, — Pennsylvania choosing the Democratic
State* officers, by 3,000 majority, over the vote of the com-
bined Opposition, with 15 of the 25 representatives in Con-
gress, and a majority in the Legislature. Indiana likewise
went against the combined Opposition, by an average majority
of more than 6,000 ; and when it transpired that the " Ameri-