New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1868-06-02
DEATH OF JAMES BUCHANAN.


Tho three representative men Oh 'no 'I00l -
closed The ooocb that ended with the suppression OF
the pol,o,lion aud the overthrow OF ueaSOh-WeIe
IoD,,, prc,rr Abraham Lincoln, and James buchahah
lf these the first expiated on the gaoWs the OHense
az n noble purpose. CALAMITY dared; the secohd le
Lfre the ossassin's bullet because he had been uue
40 his country and to liberty; and the last expired
s,ietIv in his bed at Wbeatand, with sympathlzmg
friends around him TO console his last hours' ana
smooth forgetfulness of the past. Many wept when
John Brown met his fate calmly and seTeney, at the
hands of his bitter foes; hot, scalding tears were
shed when the remains of Abraham Lincoln were
horne TO the mausoleum at Springfield; the demise
.f lanes Buchanan viii pang of pity for his
life rather than his DEATH and he VIII be forgotten
xcent so far as the record of his weakness makes the
story of his life enduring.
James Buchanan was born IN Franklin county
Pa April % 1871. and died at Wheatland near Ian
caster at an early hour yesterday morning. lie was
Frustrated some time before heeNpred, and ms dealh
was not unexpected. The birthplace OF MI Buchanan
was at place called Stony Batter, among what are
known as the North Mountains" of the hlttatmhy
range of the Blue Mountains 1t is beautiful and
romantic SPOT end was then as now several miles
from anv human habitation. His father emigrated
10 this country from Donegal, Ireland and his
motber though native of Pennsylvania, was also
of ScotchIrish extraction. The part of Pennsylvania
where Mr. Buchanan was born was settled mostly by
Scotch-Irsh and to their sturdy independence was
added respect for learning and Intelligence topiace
them almost on level with the immediate descend
ants of the Purtans while their theological tenets
were almost as severe as those which characterized
the passengers of the MayAOwer. Nearly mp to the
wear when Mr. Buchanan was born they had been
engaged in fighting the Indians, and building
churches and sch0Ol-hOuses, so that IT Will not DC
surprising that as early as 17S3 when the elder Bu-
ehanan emigrated to this country they should nave
founded college in the Wilderness or that the son OF
the SootchIrish pioneer should be among It's Anhnl'
He was graduated at Dickinson College now under the
change of the Methodsts in 1909 with high honor ana
Immediately commenced the study OF the law Delhg
admitted to the Lancaster bar in 1872, when ne was
little more than q years old.
Asa legal practitioner, Mr. Buchanan was very
successful In less than 20 years from the time he
commenced the practice he had retired on more imam
a competency, and his name occurs IN the hepoI's
of cases in the Supreme Court OF PennsYNahla
oftener than that of any other lawyer OF his time
Shortly after he was admitted to the bar the war OF
1872 being then in progress Mr., Buchanan, in com
mon with many of the yeOmen of Pennsylvania
marched to Baltimore as private soldier to defend
il against the British who had burned the Capitol at
Washington and were advancing upon that city
His services happily, not needed only fOr MS
weakness the aged veterans of that struggle might
rehearse the tales of their imagined scars, Ignorant
of the tide of battle which afterward rolled to Their
very DOORS when the story of his unaSSuming cOuI-
age and patriotism no longer served for battle-cry
in the field of Mars, as it had once in the field OF
politics.
At the age of % Mr. Buchanan entered politics,
being elected in the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1914
He was reelected in 1915, and in 1870 entered Con-
+lo ranrpSpptpl by
Thaddeus Stevens. He continued to serve IN that
body until 1891, when he voluntarily retired, and
soon after accepted from President Jackson a mis-
sion as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipo-.
Tertiary to ST. Petersburg In Congress Mr. Bu.
ehanan made his first speech Jan. II, 1872, on
deficiency in the military appropriation supporting
the Federal authority and arguing in defense OF MI
Crawford, then Secretary of the Treasury. lie op-
posed the Bankrupt law; favored tauh for revenue
with incidental protection only; discouraged en-
tangling alliances with Mexico and the South Ameri-
can republics, and earnestly protested against the
Island of Cuba falling into the hands of any Euro
pean power except SPAIN OH account of its strategic
importance to tho limited States. During his last
session in Congress he chairman of the Judiciary
Committee position which had been previously &C.
cupied by Daniel Webster. On his return from st.
Petersburg 1888 Mr.. Buchanan was elected to the
United States Senate.
exciting episode in American politics, previous to the
dark DAYS which inaugurated the Rebellion, had
transpired A new tariff had been enacted, the bat
tie against the renewal of the charter of the United
States Bank had been fought the deposits had been
removed from the vaults of the Bank by an unbend
ing President and the Force bill had been passed to
cap the climax of startling political maneuyers, The
Cabinet had been dissolved, and a Tenure-Of-Oiice
bill in prospect to restrain the President in the
distribution of Executive patronage Before the ex-
pungng resolutions were passed at the close OF Gen.
Jackson's extraordinary career, Mr.. Buchanan had
supported him warmly in the Senate as he had
previously struggled for him the election campaign
of 1928 He remained in the Senate until the begin
ming of Mr.. Folks administration, during which he
held the position of Secretary of State afterward
firing TO private life.
Ia the Senate he was distinguished among the
shrewd and tempOrizng politicians of his day by be-
ing more shrewd and temporzing than the most de-
bauched by the spirit of compromise. He sought
early 1885 TO stihe the Slavery agitation in its
infancy by resolution that Congress had no power
TO legslate in the interests of human freedom His
tenderness for Slavery ever distinguished him, and
it this that blasted his honor the close of his
public career making him the last victim at its
shrine he had been the first priest at its altar Of
general political measures he favored the policy Of
Gen Jackson with regard to French indemnity; sup
ported the celebrated expunging resolutions of Mr.
Benton; argued in favor of the right of resident
aliens to the elective franchise the admission of
Michigan and Arkansas; defended the presumption
rights of settlers the public lands and advocated
the annexation of Texas in 1876 During the admin
istratiOn of Mr. Polk the settlement Of the North
West Territory boundary disputes was effected main
Iy through his instrumentaty and the policy of Mr.
Polk in difficulties with Mexico in 1917 which