Iowa capitol reporter. [volume] (Iowa City, Iowa) 1841-1855, 1848-06-14
SKETCH G
The Life and PublieServices of
GEN. LEWISlCASS,
I coNcLuDEn

CVNCLGUED
An American writing ibm Europe, in
Niles's Register, March, 842, says:
s.General Cass has hastily pipared pamphlet
setting forth the true import and qngers ofthis trea
". 1t viii be read by every sta sman in Europe
and, added to the Generals pers4al influence here,
will etfactually turn the tables IN England. The
country owes the General much r his efeetual in
fiuence with this Governments
The London Times, oflanuary 5, 1912,
says:
ssThe five Powers which sised the late treaty for
the suppression of the slave 'ade, will not allow
themselves to be thwarted nle execution Of this
arrangement by the capriciousesistance OF the Gu
binet of Washington"
It is not little curiou, in reading over
the papers relating to tbs transaction, to
see how some of the part journals Of the
dav in the United States ensured the mi
Mister for his interference in foreign con-
Germs and foretold, veryconfidently, that
he would be rebuked blythe French Go
vernment. And the Lndon Times, Of
May l6, 1912, states, viii apparent exul-
tation, that the venerablepatriot, who has
just been called from amog us, (Mr. Adj
ans, said in Congress, hat he regretted
General Cass
6 Should have so completelyorgotten the whole
some rules Of the founders of Is country, to in
terfere, without instructions finn his Government,
in delicate negotiation between the great Powers
of Europe.'
This "delicate negotiation directly in
volved one Of the most pecious rights Of
the United States-that Disabling the ocean
undisturbed and in peae. To prevent
the contamination Of suc a project, was
not to interfere with othe nations, but to
prevent other nations froninterfering with
us. As to the French Government, it
took no such view of tie matter. The
answer of NJ. Guizot II General Cass,
was in very good spirit, and exhibited
the best feeling to the Tilted States. He
stated that the treaty had lot been ratified,
and disavowed all designs of doing any
thing whatever unfriendy to the United
States.
On the 18th Of September following this
transaction, the news Of tie ratification of
the Ashburton treaty reached Paris, and
Governor Cass Immediately resigned.
His reasons for so doing We gather from
the following extracts oi letters to Mr..
Webster:
at is unnecessary to push these considerations
farther and in carrying them thus far have found
the task an unpleasant one. Nothing but justice t.
myself could have induced me to do it. could no
clearly explain my position here without recaptula
ton. Ny protest OF the l2th February. distinctly
asserted that the United States would resist the pre-
tensions Of England to search our vessels. lavow
ed at the same time, that this vas but my persona
declaration, liable to be confirmed or disavowed b,
my Government. now find reaty has been con
Cuded between Great Britain and the United States
which provides for the cooperation Of the latter in
Efforts to abolish the slave trade but which contains
no remuneration by the former q the extraordinar!
pretensions, resulting, She sad. from the exigen
cies of these very efforts; and which pretenson
felt it my duty to denounce to the French Govern
ment. In all this. presume to offer no further
Judgment than as am personally affected by the
course of the proceedings, and feel they have pla
ced me in false position, wherce can escape but
by returning home with the least possible delay.
trust, therefore, that the President viii have no hes
tation in granting me the permission which l asked
for -
In December, 1912, General Cass re-
turned to the United States. He was re-
ceived by the citizens of Boston and New
York with every demonstration Of respect.
His bold stand vpon the quintuple treaty
had excited the feelings of the people in
his favor, and he was everywhere hailed
as the champion OF the freedom of the seas
and the rights of American citizens. AT
New York he was addressed upon politi-
cal subjects, to which he furnished brief
reply, stating his mistaken attachment to
the principles of the Democratic party land
his hostility to national bank. On his
route to the West, he was received al
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Columbus,
Ohio, by the Governors and Legislatures
o: those States, who came out to meet him
and escorted him to their towns. At De-
trolt, the Governor, Legislature, city au-
thorities, and people came out to welcome
him home, as children welcome the return
Of a long absent father. On the 9Th OF
January he was addressed by committee
Of the Democratic State Convention Of In
diana, upon political questions, to which
ne replied at length, declaring himself
against national bank, opposed to the
distribution of the proceeds of the public
lands. opposed to a tariff for protection.
"that the revenue should be kept to the
lowest point compatible with the perform
ance Of its constitutional functions" and
opposed to altering the Constitution by
abolishing the Executive veto; that he
should not be candidate for the Presi-
dency unless nominated at the Baltimore
Convention, and that he would support the
nominee Of that Conv ention.
On the 4th Of July, lS43, General Cass
delivered an GRAFTON at Fort Wayne, lndi-
ana, on the commencement of the Wabash
and Erie canal. In this Grafton, while
contrasting the condition and prospects Of
this country with the nations of the Old
World, he says:
9" have stood upon the plain of Marathon, the bat
tle-eld of liberty. It is silent and desolate. Mel
Their Greek Persian is there to give life and ami
nation to the scene. 1t is bounded by sterile hills
the one side, and dashed by the eternal waves OF
the Egean sea on the other. But Greek and Persian
were once there, and that decayed spot was alive
with hostile armies, who fought the great fight that
rescued Greece from the yoke of Persia. And
have stood upon the hill of Zion the city Of Jerusa-
lem, the scene of our Redeemer's sufferlngs1 and
and ascension. But the sceptre has de-
parted from Judah, and its glory from the capitol OF
Solomon. The Assyrian, the Egyptian, the Greek,
the Roman, the Arab, the Turk, end the Crusaders
have passed over this of Israel and have
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