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DANIEL S. DICKINSON

Daniel Stevens Dickinson was born at Goshen, Litchfield County, Conn., Sept. 11, 1800.

His father, Daniel T. Dickinson, was a farmer, an intelligent, upright man, who through life was devoted to his calling as the most honorable and useful, and left an unsullied name.

In 1806, the family removed to what is now Guilford, Chenango County, New York, where Daniel S. Dickinson spent his boyhood, mostly on the farm, in the usual occupations of a farmer's boy.

His education, as far as public advantages were concerned, was limited to the common schools of the country; but with a spirit of self-reliance, untiring industry and an ardent desire for knowledge and advancement, he availed himself of such private facilities as he could command or devise, and persevering in a plan of self-education systematically, with a fine literary taste and extensive reading and study, he early became a thorough English scholar, well versed in the classics and familiar with general literature.

Between 1816 and 1820, he learned, and worked as apprentice and journeyman at, a mechanic's trade. In 1820, he commenced teaching and was successfully engaged in it considerably up to 1825, both in the common and in academical or select schools.

About 1820, he learned, without a teacher, the art of land surveying, in which he became expert, and practised somewhat extensively until 1828. During a portion of the time, while teaching and surveying, he was also engaged in the study of the law. He married, in 1822, Lydia Knapp, daughter of the late Colby Knapp, M.D., an early settler of Guilford, a prominent member of the medical profession, and extensively identified with the early history of the town and county. They have had four children, only two of whom, the youngest – daughters – are living. In 1828, he was admitted to the practice of the law, and opened an office at Guilford, where he remained in practice until 1831.

In December, 1831, he removed to Binghamton, the county seat of Broome County, New York, where he has ever since resided. He immediately entered upon an extensive legal practice, and soon took rank among the ablest lawyers of the State. He was made the first President of Binghamton, on its municipal organization in 1834. Was a member of the Baltimore Convention which nominated Van Buren and Johnson, in 1835. Was elected to the State Senate in the fall of 1836; took his seat 1st January, 1837, and served for four years as a senator and member of the Court for the Correction of Errors, in both of which capacities, as a debater, legislator and jurist, he maintained a prominent rank. His review in the Senate of the message of Governor Seward established him at once as a leader of his party, and is still referred to among politicians as exhibiting both the tact and power which afterward so strongly marked his public career. His opinions delivered in the Court of Errors are models of conciseness and force, and temper in just proportion the technicalities of law with the deductions of sound reason and strong common sense.

His term in the State Senate expired Dec. 31, 1840. At the election in 1840, he was a candidate for the office of Lieut. Governor, at the time Mr. Van Buren ran the second time for President, and was defeated, though he received 5,000 more votes than Mr. Van Buren.

In 1842, finding that his name was being used again in connection with the office of Lieut. Governor, he declined the nomination in advance of the meeting of the convention, but was nevertheless nominated unanimously and by acclamation, and compelled by circumstances to accept, and was elected by 25,000 majority. The office of Lieut. Governor made him President of the Senate, Presiding Judge of the Court for the Correction of Errors, member of the Canal Board, Regent of the University, etc., etc. His term of office expired Dec. 31, 1844, and he declined a reëlection. It was held during a somewhat stormy period in the history of the State, but was so discharged as to add to his reputation with the people and his standing with the Democratic party. As the presiding officer of the Senate, in particular, he showed a decision, firmness and dignity of character which elicited the admiration and approval of opponents as well as friends.

At the election in 1844, he opened the Presidential campaign in New York on the annexation of Texas, which he warmly advocated against the opinion of many leading Democrats. He spent the whole campaign upon the stump; was one of the Democratic State electors, and united in casting the vote of the State for Polk and Dallas. About the 1st of December, 1844, he was appointed by Governor Bouck United State senator in place of N. P. Tallmadge, resigned, and immediately proceeded to Washington and took his seat as such. Governor Tallmadge's term expired on the 4th of March, 1845. On the meeting of the Legislature in January, 1845, he was elected for the unexpired term of Governor Tallmadge, and subsequently for the regular term of six years, from 4th March, 1845; during which term he remained in the Senate, closing his public service 4th March, 1851. For a number of years he was Chairman of the Committee of Finance in the Senate, but declined it, and all committee service, the last short session of the term.

He was a member of the committee to bear the remains of Mr. Calhoun to his native State, and discharged the duty with the almost filial regard he felt for the great man who had been called away from the field of his public labors. This is the only time he ever visited the South; but, though necessarily a hasty trip, he received many tokens of public and private appreciation.

In 1847, he introduced into the Senate, and advocated in an able speech, his celebrated resolution on the acquisition and annexation of territory, and asserting, in opposition to the doctrines of the Wilmot Proviso, the principles of "popular sovereignty," which formed the basis of the adjustment of 1850, and has since been so fully approved by the people.

He opposed the Oregon Treaty, which surrendered several degrees of American territory to Great Britain.

He opposed the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, which he conceived to be a cheat, and has been a constant source of embarrassment and misunderstanding between the two governments.

During the session of 1850, he was given a public dinner by the Democrats of the counties of New York, Kings, Queens, Richmond and Westchester, at the city of New York. The invitation was tendered by the leading Democrats of the five counties. They said in it that the occasion was sought for the purpose of "giving full utterance to the sentiments of respect and confidence with which his distinguished political services to our common country had inspired them," and closed as follows: "In the trying crisis through which our country, and we may add the cause of the world's freedom, and of Republicanism, is now passing, the State of New York is most fortunate in being represented in the Senate of the Union, by one whose patriotism soars above the level of time-serving purposes, and whose eminent talents and moral worth command respect both in the State he represents, and in the councils of the nation."

On his visit to New York, in compliance with this invitation, besides the splendid public fête, at which Charles O'Connor presided, he was waited upon by the various Democratic committees with resolutions and congratulatory addresses approving his course; was made the guest of the Common Council, although it was then politically Whig, who unanimously presented him the "freedom of the city," and passed resolutions thanking him for his public services in behalf of the city and State.

He was a member of the Committee of Thirteen in the Senate, of which Mr. Clay was chairman, which perfected the compromise measures of 1850, and took a leading part in their advocacy and adoption: a policy which, though often disturbed by demagogues of both parties since, has signally borne the test of the public judgment. At the close of the session at which those measures were adopted, he received from Mr. Webster the beautiful letter reference to his course, which we append.

MR. WEBSTER TO MR. DICKINSON

Washington, Sept. 27, 1850.

My dear Sir: Our companionship in the Senate is dissolved. After this long and important session, you are about to return to your home, and I shall try to find leisure to visit mine. I hope we may meet each other again two months hence for the discharge of our duties in our respective stations in the government. But life is uncertain, and I have not felt willing to take leave of you without placing in your hands a note containing a few words which I wish to say to you.

In the earlier part of our acquaintance, my dear sir, occurrences took place which I remember with constantly increasing pain, because the more I have known of you the greater has been my respect for your talents. But it is your noble, able, manly and patriotic conduct in support of the great measures of this session which has entirely won my heart, and secured my highest regard. I hope you may live long to serve your country; but I do not think you are ever likely to see a crisis in which you may be able to do so much either for your own distinction or for the public good. You have stood where others have fallen; you have advanced with firm and manly step where others have wavered, faltered and fallen back, and, for one, I desire to thank you, and to commend your conduct out of the fullness of an honest heart.

This letter needs no reply; it is, I am aware, of very little value, but I have thought you might be willing to receive it, and perhaps to leave it where it would be seen by those who may come after you.

I pray you, when you reach your own threshold, to remember me most kindly to your wife and daughter, and I remain, dear sir, with the truest esteem, your friend and obedient servant,

Dan'l Webster.

MR. DICKINSON TO MR. WEBSTER

Binghamton, Oct. 5, 1850.

My dear Sir: I perused and re-perused the beautiful note which you placed in my hands as I was about leaving Washington, with deeper emotion than I have ever experienced, except under some domestic vicissitude. Since I learned the noble and generous qualities of your nature, the unfortunate occurrence in our early acquaintance, to which you refer, has caused me many moments of painful regret, and your confiding communication has furnished a powerful illustration of the truth that "to err is human, to forgive divine." Numerous and valued are the testimonials of confidence and regard which a somewhat extended acquaintance and lengthened public service have gathered around me, but among them all there is none to which my heart clings so fondly as this.

I have presented it to my family and friends as the proudest passage in the history of an eventful life, and shall transmit it to my posterity as a sacred and cherished memento of friendship. I thank Heaven that it has fallen to my lot to be associated with yourself and others in resisting the mad current of disunion which threatened to overwhelm us; and the recollection that my course upon a question so momentous has received the approbation of the most distinguished American statesman, has more than satisfied my ambition. Believe me, my dear sir, that of all the patriots that came forward in the evil day of their country, there was no voice so potential as your own. Others could buffet the dark and angry waves, but it was your strong arm that could roll them back from the holy citadel.

May that beneficent Being who holds the destiny of men and nations, long spare you to the public service, and may your vision never rest upon the disjointed fragments of a convulsed and ruined confederacy.

I pray you to accept and to present to Mrs. Webster the kind remembrance of myself and family, and believe me sincerely yours,

D. S. Dickinson.

He (Mr. Dickinson) was a member of the Baltimore Convention of 1848. In 1852, he was again a member. The convention failed to nominate on the first day of its sitting. The second day, on assembling in the morning, the Virginia delegation presented his name for the Presidency. Having been the friend and supporter of Gen. Cass for the nomination, whose name in the balloting then stood at about 100, he thought that in honor he could not become a candidate, and arose in the convention and declined the use of his name in a speech which did honor to his patriotism and self-sacrifice, and was received with the warmest applause, though many of his friends and the sound democracy of the country regretted his decision. Virginia subsequently brought forward, in the same manner, the name of Gen. Pierce, and he was nominated and elected.

In 1853, he was appointed to the valuable office of Collector of the Port of New York, which he declined. In 1858, the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred on him by the Faculty of Hamilton College, New York. Since the expiration of his senatorial term, he has been entirely devoted to professional and rural occupations, and is at present conducting a large professional business. He has not mingled extensively in political affairs since, but was upon the stump in the presidential campaigns of 1852 and 1856, in his own and some of the other States.

Mr. Dickinson possesses a strong constitution, land firm and uniform health. His habits are those of exact regularity and active industry. He is capable of great concentration of effort, and of endurance, and performs every day of his life, either at the courts, in his office, upon his grounds, or keeping up his extensive correspondence, a vast amount of labor.

He is devoted to his family and friends, is domestic in his tastes, and his most cherished hours are those spent in the confidence and quietude of home.

Cheerful, genial and hospitable in his disposition and intercourse, he is exceedingly popular in social life; his ready wit and fund of anecdote, with his varied and more solid powers of conversation, always make him welcome, and render him in society the centre of many a delighted circle.

He writes with facility, and in a style pointed and vigorous.

His speeches are characterized always by plain and direct purpose, sound argument and happy illustration, and often by sparkling repartee and passages of stirring eloquence. Some of his most effective efforts have been made without previous preparation. In public life his distinguishing characteristics have been fidelity to friends and party, and the courage and intrepidity with which, regardless of considerations personal to himself, his opinions have been maintained.

In public or in private life, the integrity and purity of his character have never been questioned.

To show how Mr. Dickinson is regarded by his political friends, we quote a few paragraphs from a sketch of the man in a New York journal friendly to him:

"Mr. Dickinson is, in the true and democratic sense of the term, a national man. And while there have been, and still are, a few, both North and South, who have believed, and do believe, that emergencies may arise in the affairs of our country, when it would be better to 'let the Union slide,' his course will show that in his belief, under no possible or conceivable circumstances, could a greater misfortune happen to our country and the cause of humanity itself, than a rupture or dismemberment of the American Union. This conviction has animated and controlled all his conduct as a man and a public servant. In the elements of his character, there is no neutrality or non-committal; his leading peculiarities are point and positiveness – there is nothing negative about the man, his convictions are all absolute, and they are always vitalized into practical efficiency. Hence no man has warmer or more attached personal friends, and none more bitter political opponents, than he. The Van Buren men of New York, who defeated Gen. Cass, in 1848, by their treachery to the democratic party, have acted as though they thought his very political existence was a standing rebuke and shame for their treasonable desertion; and hence they have spared no pains or efforts to vilify his character by the grossest misrepresentations. Yet notwithstanding these efforts of a false and disappointed faction, the people of the country feel, that there is no man to whom its true friends are more indebted than to him, for his fearless course in stemming the torrent of fanaticism and disunion. When the Abolitionists raised the 'Black Flag' of treason in the North, and the decree went forth from the immediate friends and abettors of the Van Burens, that every man in the State of New York who did not join with them in their insane attempts to tear down the constitution of the country, and trample its sanctions and compromises in the dust, in order to invade the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the South, should be tabooed and turned over to the mercies of the political guillotine, Mr. D. threw himself into the van of the opposition and dared to beard the lion in his den; and proclaimed in stern and patriotic tones of defiance, that for himself, 'he knew no North, no South, no East and no West – nothing but his country.'"

One of the editors of the "Dublin Nation," while travelling in this country, gave the subjoined sketch of Mr. Dickinson, as he found him in an American court:

"I learned that a court of assize was sitting just then in the town; I was quite glad of an opportunity of seeing for myself a sight supposed to be such a compound of the farce and the row, 'an American court of justice in the rural districts.' I found out the courthouse; a dilapidated old building, crowning the rising ground at one end of the principal street. I entered the hall. On one side a rickety door, with a half moon grating near the top, marked the apartment (about twelve feet by fifteen), which served as the district jail. It was strong enough, probably, to be any barrier to the liberty of a lame ewe; yet it was large enough and strong enough for the requirements of the locality! I ascended the stairs, and, pushing open a door on the first landing, I found myself in 'court.' Accuse me not, oh hilarious reader, if I herein depart from all precedent and prefer not fun to fact; if I declare that I saw no revolvers, no bowie knives, heard neither cursing nor squabbling; possibly these are to be seen, and I may see them ere I return to Ireland – but here, at least, I declare, that I saw gravity and dignity on the bench and at the bar; order and decorum in the audience. The latter I attribute to the circumstance that there were no policemen to disturb the quiet of the place, by perpetually bawling out 'silence!' – an intolerable nuisance which we have to endure. The room was about thirty feet square and fifteen in height. At the end opposite the entrance was the bench; in the middle of the apartment an oval shaped space was railed off on the floor; one end reaching to the desk (immediately under the bench), at which sat the county clerk and the sheriff. The oval space was alloted to the professors of the law. On each side, rising gradually to the rear, were rows of seats, or rather pews, for the auditors. The jury sat in one of these 'pews,' immediately on the left of the judge. Two large stoves, whose flue-pipes cut sundry capers in the air – with the laudable intention of giving us all the benefit possible of the heat they contained – kept the place comfortably warm. Occasionally the high sheriff would walk quietly down to one of the stoves, open the door, poke up the fire, and put in a fresh log. Accustomed from childhood to associate so largely the judicial functions with a horse-hair wig, and a black silk gown – indeed, rather inclined to think that these constituted the judge, and that without them there could be no law in the land, it seemed hard to believe that the gentleman on the bench before me, in civilian costume, could be a real genuine judge and no mistake…

"Yet I do not know that I ever saw in the same official position more dignified demeanor. I never saw a judge listened to with more deference, and treated with more respect than in this instance, in this same village court, in the 'wilds' of western New York, though Judge Balcom wears his own hair – black as Morven's – and came to court without the blowing of even so much as a penny whistle.

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"Seated within the railed space – his arms folded on his breast, his face raised upward in attentive listening attitude – was a man who instantly struck me as being singular among the throng around him. He might be sixty years of age; a powerfully built frame and expansive chest gave indication of physical strength and energy; but it was the face that impressed me. It was one of those that Rembrandt loved to paint; the grave serenity of strength in repose; the warm glow of life's autumn evening upon a countenance expressive of quiet dignity and intellectual power. The spacious dome of a massive head was covered with silvery – nay, snow-white hair, lending a venerable, though not an aged, aspect to the man. He was very plainly dressed; the blue cloth body-coat, with brass buttons, was perfectly American; the large high shirt-collar standing out from the lower part of a face entirely shaven; and a black silk neckerchief loosely fastened around in the very carelessness of effect or appearance, was in perfect keeping with the simplicity of his tout ensemble. This was the Honorable D. S. Dickinson, the contemporary in politics of Webster, who found in him, in many a passage of arms, a foeman worthy of his steel. For some years Mr. Dickinson has remained in retirement from active public life, notwithstanding many efforts to induce him to reënter the arena. Yet it is shrewdly suspected that his counsel is not seldom sought and acted upon by the great ones of that party of which he once was so active and able a leader."

We now proceed to make a few extracts from Mr. Dickinson's public speeches. Here is an extract upon disunion:

"The spirit of sectional hate, which is now inculcated by the votaries of a corrupt and stultified Abolitionism, by bigots, zealots, fanatics and demagogues; in desecrated pulpits, in ribald songs, in incendiary presses and strife stirring orators, has already promoted a feeling of irritation which should fill the patriotic mind with apprehension and alarm. No feud is so bitter as that which exists between brethren – no persecution so relentless as that which pursues an estranged friend – no war so ruthless as one of domestic strife; and yet this evil genius, disguised with the garb of superior sanctity – the blear-eyed miscreant disunion – is walking up and down the earth like Satan loosed from his bondage of a thousand years, endeavoring to array one section of the Union against the other upon a question which was wisely disposed of by those who laid the broad and deep foundations of our government.

"With one hand it essays to tear out from the Constitution the pages upon which are written its holiest guaranties, and with the other, it seeks to erase from our nation's flag fifteen of the stars which help to compose the pride and hope and joy of every American. It would, in pursuit of its miserable and accursed abstractions, array man against man, brother against brother, and State against State, until it covered our fair land with anarchy and blood, and filled it with mourning and lamentation; until every field should be a field of battle, every hill-side drenched in blood, every plain a Golgotha, every valley a valley of dry bones; until fire should blast every field, consume every dwelling, destroy every temple, and leave every town black with ashes and desolation; until this fiendish spirit, compounding all the elements of fury and horror, would sweep over this fair and fertile portion of God's heritage, like the infuriated Hyder Ali on the Carnatic, leaving it one everlasting monument of barbarous vengeance."

In anticipation of the acquisition of territory from Mexico, on account of the Mexican war, the famous Wilmot proviso passed the House of Representatives at the heel of the session in 1846. As an antidote for the proviso, Mr. Dickinson introduced the following resolves into the Senate, Dec. 14, 1847:

"Resolved, That true policy requires the Government of the United States to strengthen its political and commercial relations upon this continent by the annexation of such contiguous territory as may conduce to that end, and can be justly obtained; and that neither in such acquisition nor in the territorial organization thereof, can any conditions be constitutionally imposed, or institutions be provided for or established, inconsistent with the right of the people thereof, to form a free, sovereign State, with the powers and privileges of the original members of the confederacy.

"Resolved, That, in organizing a territorial government for territory belonging to the United States, the principles of self-government upon which our federative system rests will be best promoted, the true spirit and meaning of the Constitution be observed, and the Confederacy strengthened, by leaving all questions concerning the domestic policy therein to the legislatures chosen by the people thereof."

In a speech of power, delivered in the Senate Jan. 15, 1848, he tried to demonstrate the correctness of the principle of these resolves. From this, the first speech made during the slavery controversy in favor of congressional non-intervention with slavery in the territories, we make the following extracts:

"The Republican theory teaches that sovereignty resides with the people of a State, and not with its political organization; and the Declaration of Independence recognizes the right of the people to alter or abolish and reconstruct their government. If sovereignty resides with the people and not with the organization, it rests as well with the people of a territory, in all that concerns their internal condition, as with the people of an organized State. And if it is the right of the people, by virtue of their innate sovereignty, to 'alter or abolish,' and reconstruct their government, it is the right of the inhabitants of territories, by virtue of the same attribute, in all that appertains to their domestic concerns, to fashion one suited to their condition. And it, in this respect, a form of government is proposed to them by the Federal Government, and adopted or acquiesced in by them, they may afterward alter or abolish it at pleasure. Although the government of a territory has not the same sovereign power as the government of a State in its political relations, the people of a territory have, in all that appertains to their internal condition, the same sovereign rights as the people of a State…

"That system of government, whether temporary or permanent, whether applied to States, provinces, or territories, is radically wrong, and has within itself all the elements of monarchical oppression, which permits the representatives of one community to legislate for the domestic regulation of another to which they are not responsible, which practically allows New York and Massachusetts, and other Atlantic States, to give local laws to the people of Oregon, Minnesota and Nebraska, to whom and whose interests, wishes and condition, they are strangers."

The following extracts from a campaign speech in 1856, of Mr. Dickinson, will give the reader some idea of his wit and power before an out-door audience. He is speaking of the Pennsylvania election:

"In Pennsylvania every ill-omened bird in the nation had gathered and croaked. Every device that those bent on evil could conceive had been resorted to. Money had been spent with a lavish hand. All this had been done in order to induce the people of that State to favor the doctrines of the so-called Republican party. How well had she stood the test in the last great fight! There, fanaticism had been rebuked, hypocrisy had been unmasked, and villainy discomfited. The Democratic candidates had been placed in the field, and that being the home of Mr. Buchanan, the Republicans had strained every nerve to defeat him there. But how gallantly had old Pennsylvania come up to the work – how glorious the result! How had they tried and judged that party – that political mermaid – half-colored woman and half-scaly fish! The result reminded him of a conference between Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Jones, calling on Mrs. Smith, said, 'Why, haven't you finished your washing yet?' To which Mrs. Smith replied, 'Oh! no, dear, we have a very great washing; it takes us a whole week to do our washing, and I don't think we can get it done in a week!' 'But, said Mrs. Jones, 'you haven't a great many clothes-lines, and they are not very long, and you don't seem to hang out any more clothes than other people! 'Oh, no,' replied Mrs. Smith; 'but then you know what we hang out is a very small portion of what we wash.' So it was with the Republicans of Pennsylvania. What they hung out on election day was in miserable proportion to the amount of washing they had done. Proceeding, he said that the Democrats had hung out their banners – their principles were those of the Constitution, and their candidates were upon them. The Republicans, on the contrary, had but few principles, and scarcely any candidates. The Democratic candidates represented the principles of the Democratic party. And now of the general issue between the parties.

"What a spectacle! A slavery more base and abject than any African slavery that was ever dreamed of; an enslavement of white men, in order that their leaders may war against their brethren. How they would make up their dividend of profits he could not see. Their case would be similar to that of the man who thought he was going to get a great deal of money by his wife. She had often told him that when her father died, she would have considerable coming to her. Well, the old man died, and it turned out that he had left $9,000 and ten children. The husband tried to figure it up. He said, 10 from 9 you can't. He tried it again and said, 10 from 9 you can't. Turning to his wife, and greatly perplexed, he said, 'you told me that when the old man died, you would have something coming to you.' His wife replied that she had – that she had always understood her father had $9,000. 'So he has,' says the husband; 'but then he's got ten children – and 10 from 9 you can't. We won't get a d – d cent.' So it would be with the Republicans. They had resorted to political huckstering, such as had never before been heard of. They had run through every issue, and had talked thread-bare every principle. Kansas was now their great hobby. They said they did not care so much about other issues. But Kansas – bleeding Kansas, absorbed their very souls. Kansas was to them what ale was to Boniface – it was meat, drink, washing and lodging. Now, though Kansas was an important section of the country, he did not think that it was worth while to upset the Government, whether slavery went there or not. The Democracy were willing to leave that question entirely with the people of that country. They had no fear from slavery there, even if it had all the evils pictured by the fanatics. New York could have slavery if it wished, so could all the other States, and all the Democracy wanted was that the people should do as they liked in the question, whether slavery should be there or no.

"In any event, slavery was not so bad or so baneful in its influences as the trickery that had been resorted to in Pennsylvania, and by the so-called Republicans. But, Kansas, bleeding Kansas, they cry continually. Why, they had run poor, bleeding Kansas until it was as dry as a turnip. It was to them what the lamp was to Aladdin. When he wanted to raise the wind, he rubbed his lamp, and when the Republicans wanted blood, they cried 'bleeding Kansas.' Kansas, to them, was like the Yankee's clock, that would strike whenever he told it to do so. But one day he told it to strike, and it didn't; he told it again, but still no strike. Finally, a voice was heard from behind the clock, saying, 'I can't strike – the string's broke.' To this pass has it come at length with the Republicans and their poor 'bleeding Kansas! When they call for blood, the answer comes, 'The string's broke.'"

In a territorial speech in the United States Senate, January 12, 1848, Mr. Dickinson said: