Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1865-11-15
M BUCHANAN.
Preface to His Apology for HIS Adj
ministratiOns

Buchanan's history of his wi admins
tration. intended as a defense against pop
ular criticism,an at least a plea in miti-
CATION on the charges of treason and cow
ardice, has at last been published. We
append its preface, which gives some idea
of the anlinus of the work:
1.-THE following historical narrative of
the events preceding the late rebellion,
was prepared soon after its outbreak, sub
stantially in the present form. 1t may be
asked why, then, was it not published at
an earlier period The answer is, that
the publication was delayed to avoid the
possible imputstion, unjust as this would
have been, that any portion of 1t was IN
tended to embarrass Mr.. Lincolns dmln
i~stration in the vigorous prosecution OF
pending hostilities. The author deemed
it far better to suffer temporary injustice
than to expose himself to such a charge.
He never doubted the successful event OF
the war, even during its most gloomy
periods. Having drawn his first breath
soon after the adoption of the Federal
Constitution and the Union which it es-
tablished, and having been an eye witness
of the blessed effects of these, in securing
liberty and prosperity at home, and in
presenting an example to the oppressed of
other lands, he felt an abiding conviction
that the American people would never
suffer the great charter of their rights to be
DESTROYED. To the constitution, as inter
preted by its trainers, he has ever been
devoted, believing that the specific
powers, which it confers on the Federal
Government, Notwithstanding the expe-
| rience of the last dreary years, are suti-
cient for almost every possible emergency
whether in peace or in war. He, there
fore, claims the merritt merit it be sim
ply to do ones duty-that while in the
exercise of executive functions, he Hvyer
violated any of its provisions.
at may be observed that no extensive
anu s~--.ainnUIo IeUeIilon OF an intelligent
people, against an established Govern
ment, has ever arisen without a long
train of previous and subsidiary causes.
A principal object of the author, there
fore, is to present to the reader a historical
sketch of the antecedents ending in the
late rebellion. In performing this task,
the eve naturally fixes itself, as the start
ing point, upon the existence of domestic
slavery in the South, recognized and pro-
tected as this was, by the Constitution of
the United States. We shall not inquire
whether its patriotic and enlightened
trainers acted with wise foresight in yield
ing their sanction to an institution which
is in itself a great social evil, though they
| considered this was necessary to avoid the
still greater calamity of dissolvihg the
convention without the formation of our
Federal Union.
"The narrative will prove hat the
original and con 'piring causes of all our
future troubles are to be found in the long,
active, and persistent hostility of the
Northern AbOlitionists, both in and out
of Congress, against Southern slavery,
until the final triumph of their cause in
the election of President Lincoln; and,
on the other hand, the corresponding an
tagonism and violence with which the ad-
vocates of slavery resisted these efforts,
and indicated its preservation and extern
| sion up to the period of secession. So ex-
cited were the parties, that had they in
tended to furnish material to inflame the
passions of the one against the other, they
could not have more effectually succeeded
than they did by their mutual crimina-
| tions and recriminations. The struggle
continued without intermission for NOR
than the quarter of a century, except
within the brief interval between the pas
sage of the Compromise measures of 1850
and the repeal of the Missouri ComprO-
mise in 1854, during which the hostile
feelings of the parties were greatly allayed,
and hopes were entertained that the strife
might finally subside. These peaceful
prospects, it will appear, were soon blasted
by the repeal of this compromise, and the
struggle was then renewed with more
bitterness than ever, until the final catas-
trOphe. Many grievOus errors were com
mitted by both parties from the beginning,
but tho most fatal of them all was the
secession of the cotton States.
"The authorities cited in the work will
show that Mr.. Buchanan never failed,
upon all suitable occasions, to warn his
countrymen of the approaching danger,
and to advise them of the proper means
to avert it. Both before and after he be-
came President, he was an earnest advocate
of compromise between the parties to save
the Union, but Congress disregarded his
recommendations. Even after he had, in
his message, exposed the dangerous condi-
ton of public affairs, and when it had be-
come morally certain that all his efforts to
avoid the civil war would be frustrated by
agencies far beyond his control, they per-
sistently refused to pass any measure to
enable him or his successor to execute the
laws against armed resistance, or to de-
fend the country against approaching re-
belliOn.
"The book concludes by a notice of the
successful domestic and foreign policy of
the Administration. In the portion of it
concerning our relations with the Mexican
Republic, a history of the origin and ma
ture of the Monroe doctrine is appropri-
ately included.
alt has been the authors intention, in
the following pages, to verify every state
ment of fact by a documentary or other
authentic reference, and thus save the
reader, as far as may be possible, from re-
lance on individual memory. From the
use of private correspondence he has reso-
lutely abstained.
"WHEATLAND, September, 1865.
J. B."