St. Mary's beacon., 1858-04-22
SELECTED MISCELLANY.
Biography Of Colonel Benton.

Thomas HART HENToS was ls,rn near
Hillsl borough. Orange county, North Carolina
March II, 1882. His father died when Lc
WAS eight yelrs oi,!. He attended grammar
school, and afterwards Chapel Hill. the t'ni-
NcrSi,y of :, Ith Carolina but did not con I,ictc
u course Of study lie studied law at William
anil Mary College. under the direction Of St
George Tucker. .:!.d III 1871 commenced the
practice # l:w III Nashville. T"nncssce to
which State MS mother lad pravi u,ly re:nov-
Cd He MAS elected +" the LEGISLATURE. serving
only single term. during which Ec Effected n
change il IT," jti'.cial system. and obtained the
passage If a Iaw swing slaves the right If trial
by jury.
AndIrw i.ckspn then .Tuhcc Of the Su-
lrcInc Court IF Tennessee and afterwards Ma
jnr General If the State Mi!!iia was unc oi his
carlit,t friends. Bcslt"h lcyanlr his aid-dc-
camp. and during the war with tircat Britain
raised 4 regiment OF volunteers. About this
tim" a misunderstanding. which is said :" have
rcsrir"'i from the a2,nry Of jackson in "a duel
il witch Il brother Of Benton was severely
wounded, led t" violent personal cont:i,t he
tween Benton and jackson III hotel ia NasE-
vile, causing ~ estran@'iucTt for many years.
When th"iI Mi:try. IL after years. required tLciI
united sCpPt;, they forget private passion H.
their equal love for the public good. Lccan,c
rconcilCd and, during .IRckson's atIIriniatra-
ton. and ever alter, remained llet friends
In 1873. President MaliScL appointed Colo
ncl Benton icutcraH colonel in tlc Army.
hat peace was declared while lie was on his
WAY to tIn3pla, and ho resigned his commits
SIN. In 1915 Ir settled IN ST. Lru;~ where
Lc resumed the practice of law. aud edited the
Missouri Argus. One Of the many Disputes i.
Which his position rs 4 political editor involved
Linz led t" the duel III which hc Killed Mr.
Lucas. Ihi. event he is sad to haze after
wards deeply regretted. In his paper lie
strongly advocated the admission uf Missouri
into tie mi III, Notwithstanding the slavery
claus" in her couSttuti"u; and i'll 1870. he
was elected ly :hc Legislature to tle United
State; Senate, in which lc took his stut on the
adoption of the Missouri colnlrolni,c, in Au-
g''st, 1921. Here hc remained. ly sGyrcsoivc
elections. thirty wears during which he stood
Ir'mInclt an,ls., the iirst mcn ot tic ration
.AS a representative Of the West. he Str.,yc
successfully t. Lcrl,i.c Tie LAID sys.,in of t.,
General Government his leading laIrl ca
surcs, after strenuous effort for years. being
finally adopted 10y Congress, Oh the lctummen-
,iatiou Of Jackson. He also succeeded in
opening to general occupancy Tie mineral and
saline lands Of the Wet PREVIOUSLY withdrawn
By his energetic opposition to imposts, on tie
necrss:.rics Of lie, hc Effected the removal of
the duty ON Allf. Tie exploration of tire fur
West the occupation cf tie mouth of the Co
lnmtla river. and tie overland transit to the
Pacific. carly engaged lis attention: and.
more than amy utLcr man, lie may h,. Said To-
have originated the PROJECT of the Pacific rail-
read. The Ioutc which lc considered prefer
able for such ro"d is that discovered by Ere
mont. through the passes Of the knckr Muun-
tains, Know as the Coochctopc. AMI dchouch-
ing upeI California through the gaps of the
Sierra Nevada.
IL the debates on the currcl cy, attending
the expiration. Of the charter OF the United
States Bank its renewal, and the fnal veto
message Of Jackson, Colonel Benton gained the
greatest glory Of his life. With the most mas
tcFlS ability, me- advocated the adoption of a
gold and silver currency as the only constitu-
tional and proper medium of Government re-
cepts and disbursements, and was Chiefly in
strumental in establishing the Sub Treasury
system. From his support Of the hard-money
policy he derived his soubriquet of ''Old Dul-
lion =,
In 1887, after a long and yioIeu. contest. in
which the great distinguishing features of his
mind and character were most strikingly illus
"'sA'S''' A.S 'rSN CSNcd III pEOcuIuiS tle ptSSdSV
oi resolution by the Senate, expunging Mr.
Ci.Y's resolution, passed three years before
censurlng General jackson for the removal of
the deposits. 1t was on this occasion that he
uttered the celebrated words: Solitary and
alone set this bal! in notion
He firmly supported Jackson in his oppo-
sltlon to notification, which he continued
Etrrnuously tn oppose throughout his career.
During Van BuTen's administration, lie devoted
himself to the support of the financial policy
Iuausrrated By jackson. When the Oregon
boundary question arose, he succeeded in in
ducins Mr.. Polk TO accept the line of 40 as
the northern boundary. instead of that of $40
40, originally claimed During the Mpxican
war, he rendered great service in planning the
campaign which resulted in the rapid CONQUEST
OF the enemy's country. aud an advantageous
peace. Mr.. Polk proposed to confer on him
the rank of iertenan: general, in oFya.r tha.
ne might carry out his plans in person ;but the
bill for that purpose failed in the Senahs, after
passing the House.
The disputes in Congress, resulting from the
acquisition Of Mexican territory, were settled