J o H N TY L E R
Tentlz President of tb e United Sta ter
A N A D D R ESS
B Y ‘
G O R D O N A R M I ST E A D C .
th de di ation Octob e r 1 2 1 91 5 A t e c , , , of th e M on u m e n t e rected b y Con gress in H oll wood e me te Ri h m n d y C ry , c o , V in m m of P e side n t T le a . e , ory r y r
MONU M E NT
To PRES I DENT J OH N TYLER E re cte d by C on gre s s
Y O D E M ETERY RI C H M OND 1 1 I N H OLL W O C , , 9 5 J O H N TY L E R
Tentiz Presiden t of the United Sta ter
A N A D D R E SS
B Y
A R M I ST E A D C G O R D O N .
A t th e dedi ati n Oct b e 1 2 1 91 5 c o , o r , , of th e M o n u m e n t erecte d b y Con gre ss in H ll ood e me te Rich m n d o yw C ry , o .
V m m f e si e n l a . in e o P d t e , ory r T y r
C om m ittee o n Dedicatory C erem o n ie s
H Y TU T ENR C . S AR Govern or of Virginia
GEORGE AI N SLI E M ayor of Rich mon d
E - L P Y . O . . V LI UT C J . J ER E Un ite d Sta tes A rmy
M H M W . . ADA S
' ' Pres z de n t B oard of A lde rme n
L. P T R . E ERS
Preside n t Common C oun cil
B T H G U Y AR ON . R ND M e mb e r B oa rd of A lde rme n
F E H P ELL . W R D . O
M e mb e r of C ommo n C ou n cil
GLI H EDGAR B . EN S M e mb e r of Common Cou ncil C erem o n ies
P RA M A M K hi ha l . W . C . V e a s A DE J E ANS , C f M r Capitol Square to H ollyw ood
ORDER OF E"ERCI SES A T TH E MONUMENT
H I S "C CY H RY n i inia P e din . S U G ove o o V si E ELLEN EN C T ART, r r f rg , r g
I V RT B A B C V . N O ATION . RE EREND RO ERT GI SON
P E i h o ir inia . s o . B p f V g
R H N H L M B REM A K S O . JO N A Pa tro n of th e Bill in Co n gre ss for th e e re ctio n of th e mon ume n t
— MU SI C A me rica COAST ARTILLERY BAND
t on e Va . For M ro ,
G R H ON M . ADDRESS . AR ISTEAD C O DON
— M U SI C A n ld L ang Sy n e COAST ARTILLERY BAND
o t on oe Va . F r M r ,
U VE G OF TH E M M MR P TY N ILIN ON U ENT S . EARL LER ELLIS On ly s urviving daugh te r of Pres ide n t Tyler
PRESIDENTIAL SALU TE RICH M OND HOWITZ ERS
— MU SIC Th e Sta r Sp angled B an ne r COAST ARTILLERY BAND
o t on r e Va . F r M o ,
B CT RT V Y ENEDI ION . RE EREND COLLINS DENN
i h E h u h th s o . . c Sou B p M C r , ' A n Acco u n t O f ofiof tiiéfC o n gre ss
o fth e Un ited States in Providin g
Th is Mo n u m e n t
Y A N act a d a ch 1 1 1 on s s uth o iz d th e i pprove M r 4, 9 , C gre a r e erect on o f s uita l m n um n t o th e g a o f th e l t oh n T l a b e o e ver r ve a e J y er, o m P s id n t o f th e Un it d St t s in H oll ood m t f r er re e e a e , yw Ce e ery , d A Ri hmon d V a . an d b an act o u ust 2 1 1 2 an o iati n c , , , y appr ve g 4, 9 , appr pr o f was mad for th e u os id d th t n o t o f th e moun t o e p rp e, prov e a par a s o ap propriated s h ould be e xpen ded un til th e Secretary o f War was s atis h e d o f th e e xis te n ce O f a re s pon s ible legal as sociation for th e care an d m in t n an o f th e mon um n t an d id d u th th at h n th e s aid a e ce e , prov e f r er, w e n um n t was t d th e s on s i ilit for th e an d main t n n mo e erec e , re p b y care e a ce o f th e s m s h ould ith su h s s iati n an d ith out x n s t a e be w c a oc o , w e pe e o th e I n su n O f th is law th e H ll m n ite d State s . u o d te U p r a ce , ywoo Ce e ry Com pany agreed to take ch arge o f th e Tyler lot in H ollyw ood Cemete ry as s oon as th e mon umen t it was propos ed to h ave placed in th e lot was com le te d an d to th e lot in tu al h in ull d to its p , keep perpe care, av g f regar s i h tl an d s ta l n as is don in all oth lots in s id g y re pec b e appeara ce, e er a c m te th t are un d th e e tu l O f s id om n it in e e ry a er p rpe a care a c pa y , be g un derstood th at th e r e s pon s ibility for th e care an d m ain ten an ce s h ould be i with out expen s e to th e Un ted State s .
Th e S t o f War un d d t O f N m 2 6 1 1 2 di ct d th e ecre ary , er a e ove ber . 9 , re e h i o f En in s Un it d Stat s A m to s l ct an fi o f th e o s C ef g eer , e e r y, e e Of cer c rp o f n in e s Un it d St te s A m to t ch O f th e con st u tion o f e g er , e a r y , ake arge r c th e mon um n t th e d tisin for ids an d de s i n s on du tin all n e ce s e , a ver g b g , c c g s a s o n d n a din d s i n o f mon um n t an d th e in s i tion s ry corre p e ce reg r g e g e cr p , an d th e disbu rs in g o f th e appropriation made b y th e s un dry civil act ap A 1 2 f h o d u us t 2 1 or t e on s t u tion o f th e m on um n t. pr ve g 4, 9 , c r c e
I n o d n ith th e o d s o f th e S ta o f War th e h i o f acc r a ce w r er ecre ry , C ef En in s Un it d St t s A m un d d t o f D e m 1 0 1 1 2 de s i g eer , e a e r y , er a e ec ber , 9 , g h i l h in s tru n ate d t e d st i t n in o fi at No o V a . to out t e c r c e g eer f cer rf k, , carry i n i n t o s g ve .
On D m 1 6 1 1 om titi d s i n s for th e mon um e n t ece ber , 9 3 , c p e ve e g were in it d b th e S e t O f War an d as s ult o f th is om tition an d v e y ecr ary , , a re c pe , on th e omm n dation of th e ommis s ion o f in A ts W sh in ton rec e C F e r , a g , h i Th Mc an n Son s m n O f mitt b e . . G C . t e de s n su d D . , g b e y T F Co pa y,
oston ss w as c t d . B , Ma , ac ep e on t a t was n te d in to it th e su ss ul om tito s h i h A c r c e re w h cce f c pe r , w c ' : B er n n 2 1 Th was o d b d tChi of rl ‘ é s u 1 . e e tion of appr ve y ie ef iwgign p J e 3 , 9 4 er c i ‘ ‘ ii 1 th e m n umen t was cdm lete d ori lu e 1 . o p t 9, 9 5 Z 0 " ll 'l - ri h n Th e fo owing as t lie . 9cq p tb i s geéé p tjo n Of t e mo umen t
“ Es s e n tially th e mon umen t will con sist O f a mon olith ic gran ite sh a ft is in m n it e d s tal e o e h i h ill b e l c d on z ust r g fro a gra e p e , b f r w c w p a e a br e b n in h i h il i l th e P e s id n t an d su m u t c l a on z fin . Of r e , r o g w w be br e a
Th e bron z e fin ial will b e visible from a con s iderable distan ce an d as it is s e en to con s is t Of a Gre ek urn s upported be tw e en th e s pre ad win gs two A m ican e a le s it ill in dicat at n ce th e u ial la o f a man Of er g , w e o b r p ce f n i n l h o at o a c aracter .
Upon a close r appro ach an h eroic b ron z e bust o f th e Presiden t will be Ob se rve d re stin g in a dign ifie d man n er upon a pede stal Of th e mon olith e h x ll n n n h n i n s h i aft r t e e ce e t ma er Of t e a c e t Gr e ek arcop ag .
On ach s ide th e mon lith th e ill a b as - e lie th e on e e in e Of o re w be r f , b g a life - s iz ed figu re Of th e Republic with a sh ield b e arin g th e s e als Of th e Un it d Stat s an d th e St t Vi in i Si n ifican t h is e lation s ith e e Of a e Of rg a , g Of r w h n i n l n m n n h i n i t Th e th ill t e at o a gover e t a d s at ve Sta e . o er w be a drape d mal fi u e s n tin m emo h oldin in on e h n d lau l th fe e g re r pre e g ry, g a a re wrea an d ulti atin ith th e oth e th e oun t e o f th e Re u li h i h du in c v g w r y g r e p b c, w c r g " l s dmin is t tion n to o an d ex an d in an x e tion l m n n Ty er a ra bega gr w p e c p a a er .
Th e fo ur faces o f th e m on olith will b e pan e lle d as in dicated on th e " mod l an d s iall ill th e on e on th e e a s uita l for an in s i ti n e e pec y w r r be b e cr p o .
J V J J a J C i J d / J J 4 J "4 J o ' a J 4 J J & 0 4 4 4 , - o a , T.
rE ARE gathered together to do honor to a great N to d to man , and edicate his memory this monument ,
o f erected by the government his country , that he served with unexcelled fidelity and patriotism . John Tyler ,
o f o of tenth President the United States , was b rn at the home “ on his father , Greenway , in Charles City County , Virginia , 2 1 f 0. o March 9 , 79 He came Of a distinguished line Vir
in ian s h is o f g , and all earlier ancestors the Tyler name held
fi s of places Of Signi cance in their communitie , as j ustice the
o r ff or . county bench , sheri , coroner " th e - wh o John Tyler , President s great grandfather , died
o 1 2 was of ab ut 7 7 , a j ustice James City County ; John Tyler ,
wh o 1 o f his grandfather , died in 773 , was marshal the Vice
h is Admiralty Court , and father , Judge John Tyler , not only
o as of occupied a prominent p sition Judge the General Court , but he was al so Speaker of the House of Delegates of the
s o o f General As embly, G vernor the Commonwealth , and at
o f h is 1 8 1 - five the time death in 3 , at the age o f sixty , Judge Of the United States District Co urt of Virginia . " The earliest of President Tyler s progenitors in the colony
wh o is Y was Henry Tyler , first mentioned in the ork County
1 6 an d son wh o records in 45 ; his Henry , was himsel f j ustice ,
ff c u was o f sheri , and oroner in s ccession , the father John " - Tyler , the President s great grandfather . It is interesting to m h as observe that since the i migrant , Henry Tyler , the line “ " to n o in been one native and the manor born , and that in
to stance , down the present generation , have they had their
' I I I n n o homes elsewhere than that. table section Of Colony and E ‘ Commonwealth that h as been not ihap tly design ated as The ‘ " Cradle of the Rejp dbljé 5 — John Tyler , the marshal of the Vice Admiralty Court , mar
e of . ried Anne Contess , only daughter Dr Lewis Contesse , a
ro French Huguenot physician , who lived and practised his p fessio n in Williamsburg during the first quarter o f the eigh teen th century ; and it is doubtless to the blending of the Gallic
' sprightliness of Contesse with the English steadines s which characterized the Tylers , that the remarkable talents O f the
o f descendants this union may be attributed .
Not only has the line o f the Tylers Since illustrated these
o f talents , but also that Of Bouldin in the persons the descend " O f ants Judge Tyler s sister , Joanna , who married Maj or Wood f o . C . Bouldin , and was mother Thomas Tyler Bouldin , M ,
. C . James Wood Bouldin , M , and Lewis Contesse Bouldin , long a State Senator ; and who was also the ancestress of
u of o o f Wood Bo ldin , late Judge the Supreme C urt Appeals
o f Of Virginia , and Powhatan Bouldin , writer and author Of “ " Home Reminiscences Of John Randolph Of Roanoke . This mingled strain is further distinguished in the talents and abil " o f of ities the descendants President Tyler s sister , Maria
Henry , who married John B . Seawell , and was mother O f two
a brilliant lawyers of the Commonwealth , John Tyler Se well
of and Machen Boswell Seawell , and grandmother Miss Molly
Elliott Seawell , the novelist .
But save the President himself , none of the descendants of John Tyler , the Marshal , and his wife , Anne Contesse ,
or achieved deserved a larger fame than did their son , of Judge John Tyler . He was the personal friend Thomas
ff of Je erson and Patrick Henry , and was imbued with their ff principles of republican constitutional government . Je erson “ said o f him that he was a veteran patriot who , from the first
Of dawn the Revolution to this day , has pursued unchangeably
1 2 the same honest course and it is worthyof Observation that the Sage of Monticello should have thus emphasized in the
o f n on e o f father the characteristic co sistency , which was the most noticeable traits in the career of Judge Tyler"s distin i h 0 gu s e d 5 11 . "
Mr . Henry s admiration for Judge Tyler was marked . “ Judge Spencer Roane wrote to William Wirt that Mr . Henry was very fond o f John Tyler as a warm - hearted patriot and " wh o an honest and sensible man ; and Roane himself , adorned with conspicuous ability and learning the bench o f the Supreme
o f of Court the State , said Judge Tyler that his understand " of was ing was the highest order , and that he plain in his
of appearance , for his great soul disdained the tinsel pomp and "
was on . o f parade , and intent only virtue Henry Clay said “ him on the floor o f Congress that a purer patriot or more " honest man never breathed the breath of li fe ; while the Gen
“ eral Assembly O f his native State resolved o f him that he was “ of a venerable patriot the Revolution , a faithful and able legis lator , Judge and Chief Magistrate Of this Commonwealth , a x man of fi ed and undeviating integrity , yet endeared to his friends by every softer virtue .
Judge Tyler had been in h is youth a student at the College ff o f . William and Mary, and in company with Mr Je erson he " had heard Patrick Henry s speech on the Stamp Act , and had " felt h is patriotism kindled by the orator s voice and words . His antagonism to the British Government and his intolerance o f its acts o f oppression toward the Colonies became so earnest and outspoken that h is father was accustomed to predict of “ " him that he would be hung as a rebel . He ser" ved on the
o f 1 Committee Safety for Charles City County in 774 , and he " O f j oined Henry s troops , with the local company , which he was captain , when Dunmore removed the powder from the V o f 1 6 magazine at V illiam urg. The Convention 77 made him Judge of Admiralty ; but his eager patriotism impelled h im 1 8 to larger activities than those of the bench , and in 77
I 3 s he became a member Of the Legislature . Here he erved with ability and fidelity successively as chairman o f the committee f f o f o o . justice , the committee the whole , and as Speaker His fame as a statesman rests on h is steady support in the Legislature of the military and financial measures Of the A merican Revolution and Of the Jeffersonian reforms during
o f f of e o f his incumbency the O fice Sp aker , on his authorship
for s o f 1 86 on h is the resolutions the Annapolis A sembly 7 , stalwart opposition in the Virginia Convention of 1 788 to the adoption Of the Federal Constitution because it permitted the
of - h e on continuance the Slave trade , a measure t at was fast ned the country by the votes o f four New England and two South ern States of the Union ; and on his services as a member of the
of . j udiciary , and as Governor the Commonwealth
on I 1 808 His gubernatorial term began December , , a
of notable year in the history Virginia , as being that which saw o f the abolition by England the African slave trade , which Governor Tyler had SO strenuously opposed in the Con stitu
i l o f t on a Convention o f 1 788 . His administration the high Office Of Governor was marked by the Simplicity Of h is manners and conduct , by the fidelity and uprightness with which he discharged his duties , and by his continual enj oyment in an
of unusual measure the confidence , respect , and esteem of his 1 8 1 1 constituents . His term expired in January , , and during
on e o f its continuance , under the influence Of his messages to
G on u the eneral Assembly , the s bj ect O f education and
s was the school , established , through the legislative activities of O f o f James Barbour , Of range , a successor in O fice Governor
Tyler , the still existing Literary Fund Of Virginia .
" Judge Tyler s career on the bench was characterized by the same diligent attention to business , uprightness Of purpose
of and intelligent discharge Of duty , that adorned all his public f r life . He had studied law o some years under Robert Carter l " Nicho as , a distinguished jurist and patriot Of Judge Tyler s
en ch an ced youth , whose name and fame were preserved and in
1 4
. do h is with Marshall Tyler , I am certain , would it and opinion was verified in Judge Tyler "s successful contention against the principle o f a universal common law j urisdiction for the Federal Courts , that was favored by his colleague .
Judge Tyler was an earnest and patriotic supporter o f the 1 8 1 2 War Of with Great Britain , and decided the first prize case
out of arising the war . He held the Office o f District Judge “
V a . until his death at Greenway, Charles City County , , Jan
6 1 8 1 and o f uary , 3 , died with the expression his regret that he “could not live long enough to see that proud British nation " once more humbled by American arms .
o f Judge Tyler married Mary Armistead , only child Robert
o f Y Va . of Booth Armistead , ork County , , a descendant K William Armistead , immigrant to the Colony from irk
Y wh o Deighton , in orkshire , England , was also a progenitor of s two President William Henry Harri on , and the Whig “ of 1 8 candidates 39 , Tippecanoe and Tyler , too , were cousins
Sprung from a common Armistead ancestor .
son o f John Tyler , the President , was the second the mar ri age of Judge John Tyler and Mary Armistead . His earlier
Old education was obtained in an field school , taught by a tyrannical Scot named McM urdo ; and the story is told that
of on e the future President , at the precociou s age eleven , was f o f the leaders in a rebellion o the pupils against their master .
saw The dominie was an admirer Of John Tyler , and when he him participating in the attempt Of the boys to lock him up , “ o f E t he exclaimed , after the manner Scots dominies , tu , " Brute "and surrendered . But his regard for the boy did not " cM ur to prevent Mr . M do from reporting his son s conduct " wh o on Judge Tyler , countered the pedagogue s apt Latin quotation by another , since become scarcely less classic , and “ "" replied , Sic semper tyrannis
1 80 Col In 7 , young Tyler graduated at William and Mary
e o f: l ge , which with its roster statesmen and lawyers , and
1 6 O f . soldiers , had long been a nursery greatness He then studied
for o f law two years under Edmund Randolph , Secretary State
t - in - o f Ch rte r under Washing on , and son law Robert Nicholas , " istin uish e la his father s d g d w preceptor . His father had been f a student at William and Mary when Mr . Je ferson was study
o ing law in Williamsburg under the eminent j urist , Ge rge
th e o son to Wy , and fr m him the early imbibed , and continued cherish and maintain throughout his life the republican princi ples Of Jeffersonian democracy . It was with him a fundamental
o f f tenet , that the union the States constituted in e fect the
o f concert two nations , differing in institutions , in occupations , in religion , and in manners , each from the other , and that the only sure method of preventing separation or war was in the maintenance and preservation O f the rights o f the constituent
- State s . This remained his political guiding star through his i ts . career , and by light must that career be tested and j udged He held that the activities o f the Federal Government Should be kept in most things very far apart from those o f the States ; that they Should be confined chiefly to those foreign relations that involved the action and conduct Of a central power , while they interfered as little as p ossible with the internal and domes ff f tic a airs O the country .
Sprung from the stru ggle of antagonistic interests and
o f for passions , the Federal Constitution was full trouble the future ; and it was the aggressive assertion o f the national prin cip le by the North in derogation of this principle held by Mr .
o f n ullification 1 8 2 Tyler , that stirred the fires in 3 , and kindled
con fla ration 1 861 the mighty g Of secession and war in , which came near resulting in that permanent disruption which he
so to . apprehended , and long sought avert
It is in the profound recognition o f this great fundamental " characteristic o f President Tyler s political creed that the key to his political history is to be found . Believing as he did in — the basic idea that the Union o f No rth and South a union that from the beginning was socially and economically in con
I 7 - grous could only be maintained through State Rights , Mr . as Tyler was , circumstances developed , first a Democratic
1 82 - 1 82 8 Republican , and when that party broke up in 4 a
- State Rights Democrat , and when the Jackson and Van Buren nati onalists in the Democratic party obtained control o f it and
s w as as a con equence the Whig party formed , a Whig who agreed with the State - Rights Democrats on state - rights and dif fered n from nationalist Democrats o nationalism . After all is
o f or said , there was never for him a shadow variableness turn — ing from the great doctrine Of State Rights , which was a very f O . was of part himself His attitude never a change position , but a natural alignment with parties as they successively de ve lop ed.
1 80 attain in h is In 9 , two years before g maj ority , the young graduate of William and Mary was admitted to the bar ; and 1 8 1 1 had already entered upon a good practice , when in he was elected to the General Assembly . Here he was a firm sup " f porter of Mr . Madison s election ; and at an early stage o his s m ervice , he became pro inent as an eloquent and persuasive
o f Speaker . The question Of the recharter the Bank Of the
of United States was a burning political issue the times , as it f r o o . continued t be many years . William B Giles and Richard
Brent , the Senators from Virginia , ignored the instructions Of 1 8 1 1 of the Virginia Legislature , and favored in the recharter
. 1 8 1 2 . the bank In January , , Mr Tyler introduced a resolu
two tion censuring these Senators , taking then the positions from which he never deviated , first that the act creating the
of bank was in violation the Federal Constitution , and , second , that the legislature of a State had the right to instruct its
in struc senators in Congress , whose duty it was to Obey such tions or to resign
It is not without interest to note that it was Mr . Benj amin Watkins Leigh who drew the instructions o f the Virginia Leg was islature to the Senators ; and that Mr . Tyler the author of
for out its resolution Of censure ; subsequent events , growing of
1 8 " ad these two resolutions , serve to illustrate the latter s steady h e ren ce to what he conceived to be a principle . When Benton " offered his famous “ Expunging Resolution in the United
e . S tates Senate , M r . L igh and Mr Tyler were Senators from u Virginia . The Virginia Legislature instr cted these Senators " r to support the Expunging Resolution . Both efused to " Obey , but M r . Tyler s refusal was accompanied by his regis
n atIOn .
h f 1 1 O 2 0t O 8 . n the March , 3 , Mr Tyler married Miss
of o f K Letitia Christian , daughter Robert Christian , New ent “ “
. w as County , Va This marriage , it said , united the house of Democracy in the bridegroom and the house o f Federalism in the bride but the new house was Democratic .
son of Robert Tyler , a this marriage , was distinguished as f . o poet , politician , and orator He was clerk the Supreme
Court of Pennsylvania , and chairman Of the Democratic party in that State , register Of the Treasury Of the Southern Con
of 1 8 o f federacy , and at the time his death , in 77 , was editor
' the Mon t omer M ail an A d erti r g y d v s e . A few weeks after his marriage , Mr . Tyler left his home at the head o f a militia company to assist in the defense o f
Richmond , then threatened by the B ritish ; but his command w as not called into action , and his military service was con cluded after a mon th .
- Mr . Tyler was re elected annually to the Legislature until
1 8 1 of 5, when he was elected a member the Executive Council , and the next year , when a vacancy occurred in his congres
for . sioual district , he was chosen the unexpired term He was again elected to Congress for two successive terms , and early h is in career became conspicuous as a strict constructionist . " He opposed Mr . Calhoun s bill for internal improvements by
on of o the Federal Government , the grounds unconstituti nality , and Of lack of uniform application ; he antagonized the enact ment of a national bankrupt law ; and he made a great speech
I 9 n h i against the bank , and to the circulatio of this speech in s district he attributed h is first re - election to Congre ss without opposition .
H is on wh o views slavery were those Of his father , had voted in the Convention of 1 788 against the adoption o f the Federal Constitution largely on the ground that it permitted the continuance Of the slave trade . In the debates in Congress on the admission of Missouri , he took strong position against any
of s restriction slavery in the new State , in isting with great
w O f vigor and po er that , by the very terms the Federal Consti tution , the territories Should , when admitted , possess all the
o f . rights the original States He went further , and added , as
. . w as Mr Jefferson and Mr Madison also thought , that it unfair fo r the North , which had accomplished within its limits the " o f to emancipation and scattering the Slaves , wall in Virginia s
o f population , and thereby to confirm the continuance Slavery
h is there . He was foremost and most persistent in congres sioual course in holding that Congres s had no constitutional power to legislate either for or against Slavery in any territory ; and when the Missouri Compromise measure was adopted ,
o f 6 0 with its demarking line 3 degrees , 3 minutes , that seemed “ f fir — . Old e to Mr Je ferson in his age at Monticello , like a bell " h i . s in the night , Mr Tyler cast vote in the negative , with the
- of . profound and well founded conviction , as against that Mr f O . Clay and Mr Calhoun , that the compromise bill was an f abj ect surrender O the whole s ituation .
h i But Mr . Tyler never changed s earliest j udgment that a
or negro population was an evil , whether slave free ; and throughout his career he was a con s istent opponent Of the con tin uan ce of — ow n o f the slave trade , which his State Virginia had been the first constituted government in the world to p ro b ibit in 1 778 .
1 8 2 as In 3 , a member of the Senate committee , he inserted b in the code of laws , prepared y him for the District Of Col
2 0 o f as umbia , a provision prohibiting the use the District a slave i . n C mart When President , he wrote his message to ongress , I 1 8 1 t June , 4 , that the highes consideration of public honor , as o f re well as the strongest promptings humanity , require a sort to the mos t vigorous efforts to suppress the trade ; and
h is s of 1 8 1 again in me sage December 7 , 4 , he invited the atten
its tion of Congress to existing laws for suppression , and recommended such alterations as might give them greater force 1 8 2 * ffi . in and e ciency Later , in 4 , he personally secured the
of sertion a clause in the Ashburton Treaty , providing for the — maintenance and co operation o f British and American squad
off for o f rons the coast of Africa the suppression the trade , and urged the ratification of the treaty upon the Senate as con “ ducive to the abolition Of what he termed the unlawful and " inhuman traffic .
As to the abolition of Slavery itself , he committed it to the o erat1on o f n ot p time , believing that if it could be attained by the deportation of the negroes as contemplated by the African
Colonization Society , Of whose Virginia branch he was Presi
in 1 8 8 dent 3 , it would take place by some other means , and
on o f peaceably , if left free from organized assaults the part the
o f Northern abolitionists . Indeed , an agency this character , not duly recognized politically at the time , was the invention
Of the reaper by . a Virginian , in Rockbridge County , Cyrus i f Hall McCorm ck . The phenomenal development o all kinds
of of agricultural machinery , which this invention proved a stimulus , would probably have made slavery a burden upon the planter and have led to its final abolition .
In the first se ssion of the Sixteenth Congres s a protective
ff for re tari bill was the first time passed by the House , but
d . ecte . j by the Senate Strict constructionists , like Mr Tyler , believed that the sole power given by the Constitution to Con gress in the fixing of tariff s was to provide thereby for the
* " e l l in tt n i o th le s . S e . s tt e e s a d mes e Mr Ty er e er L r T f Ty r , II , p l 2 0 a so 2 8 . 4 , p . 3
2 1 expenses of government and for the payment o f the national debt ; and that any arrangement o f duties for the benefit o f
Northern manufacturers was one - Sided and unfair and a usur
u O f o r T f o . o patio a p wer not granted implied this tarif bill ,
o Mr . Tyler made the opening Obj ections in an argument f great force , which created a deep impression , though it did not defeat the passage of the measure in the House .
1 82 1 . s In , on account of failing health , M r Tyler re igned
e o f to his s at in the House Representatives , and retired private
. we to li fe Two years later , ho ver , he was again elected the ‘ Of General Assembly Virginia , and in the year following he was nominated for the United States Senate to fill a vacancy ,
. . 1 82 but was defeated by Mr Tazewell In 4 , he opposed the
o f to attempted removal William and Mary College Richmond , and later became successively rector and chancellor Of that venerable institution Of learning , whose earlier services in the cause of education and scholarship , after an entire prostration b by the war etween the States , have been renewed in the able
its administration of his son , Dr . Lyon G . Tyler , present
President .
1 82 . In December , 5 . Mr Tyler was elected Governor O f
Virginia by the Legislature , which , down to the Constitution
O f 1 8 0 s . 5 , posse sed the power of gubernatorial election He — was re elected Governor for a second term by an unanimous ut 1 82 vote ; b before completing this term he was sent , in 7 , to the United States Senate , over John Randolph of Roanoke , by a combination Of the Clay and Adams men in the Legislature with the followers of William H . Crawford .
" At this point , for a better understanding Of Mr . Tyler s 1 8 1 6 career , a brief retrospect is advisable . In the Old Federal ist party of Hamilton and John Adams was crushed and buried
its o f 1 8 1 2 under the odium excited by opposition to the War , " and during Mr . Monroe s administration its ancient antagonist , — ff the Democratic Republican party of Je erson , was the only
2 2
1 82 . ford men , and voted for Jackson in the election of 8 The factions Of the Democratic—Republican Party crystallized into two new parties . The followers o f Clay and John "uincy oo o f Adams t k the name National Republicans , and the fol
o f lowers Jackson and Crawford that o f Democrats . Neither party admitted any kin ship with the defunct Federalist Party n Of Hamilton and John Adams . Both Ra dolph and Tyler b however , declined to ecome partisans of Jackson , and , while
1 8 2 of they both supported him in the canvass of 3 , they made
n o . him this occasion , as before , a choice of evils
1 82 . In 9 , while Senator , Mr Tyler was elected a member Of
n o f 1 82 —1 8 0 the famous Virginia Constitutional Conventio 9 3 , an assembly o f which Mr . Ritchie wrote in his preface to its
o f debates , and before many its younger members had achieved “ u to their s bsequent fame , that some have held it equal the celebrated convention which met in Virginia in the year 1 788 " to n pass upon the Federal Co stitution , and which numbered
o f - two - in its membership ninety six , ex Presidents O f the u Union , the Chief Justice , and many men already disting ished on b the ench and at the bar , and included others who were then
o f yet to become presidents , senators , governors , members presidential cabinets , ministers abroad , and members Of the
Supreme Court Of the United States .
He returned from this body to his seat in the Senate , and found a further predilection for President Jackson in the lat " 1 ter s veto o f the Maysville Turnpike Bill in 830. But Jack son "s antagonism to internal improvements was only directed
n ot to w as against roads and did apply water courses , and what regarded by the strict constructioni sts as his unconstitutional usurpation o f executive powers in favoring appropriations for rivers and harbors , in making partisan removals , in approving
f O f 1 8 2 the protective tari f 3 , and in removing the deposits from
of the United States Bank , resulted in the complete alienation the Crawford men .
2 4 Out o f the political conflicts o f the period emerged the " ff o f of 1 82 8 ff tari abominations , and the protective tari o f “ 1 2 8 r b . . 3 , carried through Cong ess y J "Adams in perfect concert ‘ with the administration " * and the “ Bloody Force " T 1 8 . o Bill , in 33 all of these measures Mr . Tyler was alike
n ullific ion opposed . And while he did not favor at as a remedy f " for the tari f , he denounced Jackson s famous proclamation Of “ 1 0 1 8 2 as December , 3 , against South Carolina sweeping away “ th e of as f all barriers the Constitution , and in e fect establish " ing a consolidated military despotism .
e h is Jackson , with relentless determination , pursu d dic A h tato rial . w o way prominent congressman of Virginia , said to him that he had been his friend and supporter when he
w as was right , but could not go with him when he was wrong, met by the characteristic reply from the President that he did
‘ not care for the kind of friend and supporter wh o would stand by him only when he was right , but that the friends he desired h were those w o would stand by him When he was wrong . ff . on Mr Tyler , while opposed to the tari , which the admis
f f on f o . s o o Sion M r Dicker on , New Jersey , made the floor the Senate , annually transferred from the South to the North
n ullification did not , as already stated , favor but
' Ou when the ballot was taken the Force Bill , investing the President with extraordinary powers to enforce the Obnoxious
ff o f tari , and when all the rest the opposition left their seats , he remained , and his was the sole vote in the Senate recorded against it on its pa ssage .
o f at However , the danger war and the almost certain tempted destruction O f the Union that was threatened by the Force Bill were obviated by the Compromise Tariff Bill which re M r . Clay introduced into the Senate ; and this bill in all
c . sp e ts was the work of Mr . Tyler He suggested the details to ff Mr . Clay , prevailed upon him to O er it , and brought about a
* l i R i t " 1 2 . N s e s e . e , g r, L III , p 7 meeting of Mr . Clay with Mr . Calhoun , who agreed to support i * t . Thus the Union w as saved ; for a blow struck at South w o Carolina at this time ould have united the wh le South , as it
1 861 . did in , when that section was relatively much weaker " While the Force Bill was pending , Mr . Tyler s term expired ,
re - McD owell and his election was contested by the able James , o f Rockbridge , who was , however , defeated by him .
s The excitement over these events had scarcely ubsided , " when the passions O f men were rekindled by Jackson s removal of the Federal deposits from the United States Bank . The Vir " ginia Legislature , which until Jackson s proclamation in De cemb e r 1 8 2 h is , 3 , had supported administration , was in opposi tion , and her delegation in Congress with practical unanimity determined in caucus in favor of the restoration Of the deposits to the bank , while public opinion in the State became over " i - o f whelm ngly anti Jackson . In rebuke the President s as sumptious and arrogations to himsel f o f what they deemed a h . . en t u violation of the law , Mr Tyler and Mr Clay worked i i ll f s ast ca y with Mr . Calhoun and Mr . Webster in behalf o the f o was . Senate resolution censure , which adopted
f f Then came the determined e fort o Thomas H . Benton to have this censure expunged from the j ournal of the Senate .
O f Virginia experienced another change sentiment , and turned 1 Jacksonian and Mr . Tyler was instructed in 836 to vote for the expunction . He declined , and resigned from the Senate , having been honored by election as President pro te m o f that
f 1 8 - 1 body at the close o the session o f 34 835 .
Out O f the ruck and turmoil of it all grew 3 great coalition o f of many men many minds , that became the National Whig
I t - ff me n Party . s parents were the anti tari and strict con " struction ists . s largely located in the South , and Mr Clay Na
i tion al Republican Party who believed in the Amer can System .
" le s le tte to h n l d in Willia m a n d ar uar Se e Mr . Ty r r J o F oy M y " te rl M a ae in e ""I 8 - 1 0 an d e tters an d imes o th e le s 6- 60 y g , , ; L T f Ty r , I , 45 4
- 466 67 . 2 6 An analysis o f the Presidential votes in the years 1 836 and 1 840 demonstrates that the Southern \Vh igs were drawn from
- the old Craw ford element of the Democratic Republican Party . Gathered about this formidable alliance were others who
n ullifie rs had been , and others who had been protectionists ;
- while the anti Masonic Party , that had grown up about the
O f historic Masonic episode Of Morgan , formed the rearguard the potential though in con grous phalanx .
Of o Thus , while some members the new Nati nal Whig ff Party originally favored a protective tari , others had fiercely opposed it ; some had been for a United States Bank , and others against a bank Of any kind ; some had favored internal improve ments by the national government , and others had opposed , on the ground o f unconstitutionality ; and there were also some wh o continued Nullifiers in the expectation of a future success ful revival Of the doctrine .
The generic appellation o f Whig embraced all the hetero genous elements thus united , and their real Single bond of s o union was opposition to Jack on and the Jacks nian democracy . It was some years before the \Vh ig Party attempted a formula
O f tion principles and policies , for the Obvious reason that in such an association there could be no agreement in any other thing than the on e thing of making common cause against executive usurpation .
In the election of 1 836 n o common Presidential candidate could be agreed upo n by the Whigs . William Henry Harrison was the favorite candidate Of the National Republica n Whigs o f o o f the N rth , and Hugh L . White was the favorite the — State Rights Whigs of the South ; but the Massachusetts
' VVh i s g voted for Webster , and the South Carolina Whigs voted for Willie P . Mangum . Mr . Tyler was placed upon the White
for - ticket Vice President , and in several States upon the Har
o f rison ticket , but most the Northern States supported Francis
Granger . Under these circumstances , the Democrats had an
2 7 on e easy victory , and no O f the Whig candidates was elected . “ " - . to . The double Shotted ticket killed us , wrote Mr Tyler M r
W1 se . , after the election
1 8 8 . was In 3 , Mr Tyler again sent to the State Legislature , and , as the martyr to the expunging resolution , was at once placed by h is friends in nomination for the United States “ " Senate , but a small faction calling themselves Conservatives , led by William C . Rives , who , because Of the Independent
Treasury measure favored by M r . Van Buren , had severed
o f relations with the Democratic Party , held the balance power between the Whigs and Democrats and prevented his election .
on o . o Of An intrigue set fo t by Mr Clay , by which the maj rity
wa s . the Whig vote finally cast for Mr Rives , was in turn de " feated by M r . Tyler s particular friends , who were indignant at what they termed his betrayal by Mr . Clay , and the Legisla ture adj ourned without any election at this time . Before it could reassemble the great Whig National Con
ve n tion Pa . 1 8 assembled at Harrisburg , , December 4 , 39 , " and nominated the party s first successful ticket , Harrison and
was . Tyler , which elected in the following year The party made its nomination with a view to the success which it achieved , but , as is most significant , it promulgated no plat form .
O f In the light of this anomalous fact , and the former irre con cilab le political ideas and interests o f the various factions
to from which it Sprung , are be read the accusations that were made against Mr . Tyler by his enemies , when after the death
s f o f Of General Harri on he Succeeded to the o fice President , f 1 8 1 . O April 4 , 4 To all such accusations his having deserted Whig principles and the Whig Party during his administration it may be answered that his light had shone always as a beacon on a hill ; that he w as known o f all men throughout his political career to have been a strict constructionist and State - Rights o of advocate ; that he was b und by no pledge political doctrine ,
2 8 or written unwritten , to the incongruous party that elected him ; and that he discharged the duties o f his high office in the
o f an lo ftiest spirit patriotism , d according to the profound and mature convictions that he had always entertained in regard
o t constitutional government .
Of 1 8 0 During the Presidential canvass 4 , the course O f the “ " W o f hig orators in the North was to talk loudly reform ,
s a O f f and to y nothing Of the Old issues bank , tarif , and internal
v . impro ements In the South , where the Whig constituencies
for - were practically all State Rights , they were strong in their " pro fessions against these measures . And Mr . Clay s position “ " w as that all the Old issues had become ob solete in the pres
- ence of the Federalism Of the Jackson Van Buren Democracy . 1 8 1 Indeed , in a Speech made in the Senate in September , 4 , “ r M . Buchanan declared that during the whole election cam p aign O f 1 840 he never saw on e single resolution in favor o f a n ational bank , which had been passed by any Whig meeting in " any part of the country . i It s a notable fact that in this canvass M r . Clay and many other prominent Whigs expre ssed in their sp eeches the very
n ff o f views which Mr . Tyler put into co crete e ect in his vetoes — - O f ff the bank bills and the tari bills , and it was for the first time ,
h is of upon veto the Fiscal Corporation Bill , that the Whig members Of Congress put forth , in thei r Address to the Peo " a W o f to ple , ritten declaration what purported be Whig pur poses and policies ; and declaring that the President had im “ periled these Whig measures , proclaimed that all political connection between them and John Tyler was at an end . This pronunciamento may be attributed solely to the party domi
o f nance of Mr . Clay and the Northern National Republican
Whig influence in Congress .
* l Am i an H isto ical Th hi t in th u th A . e W Pa e S . g r y o , C Co e ( er c r d uth iti s A s sociation Wash in t n e s 2 0 an d s e . an o , g o , pag 9 , 3 , q , a r e l i h n in n i n al Glob e a en d1x to Vo . c te d. S e h uc a an o es s o pe c Of Mr . B C gr , p p
" . , p 343
2 9 Mr . Tyler took over the Harrison Cabinet , and soon was
called to confront the currency question . He had no confidence in any mere bank at this time as a remedy for the financial
to troubles in the country , but he naturally desired gratify th e Whig leaders if possible . As he did not believe that Con
to in gress had power create corporations the States , he gave h is Cabinet to understand that he would approve any bank for
o f the District Columbia , if accepted and established in good
faith by the Whigs . Accordingly , Thomas Ewing , the Secre
fo r tary Of the Treasury , drew a bank bill the District , which , though it contained features o f local discounting that were
. un con stitu Obj ectionable to Mr Tyler , had nothing actually i t on al . about it But when this bill , which was known as a
to measure establish the Fiscal Bank Of the United States , was
. for proposed in Congress , Mr Clay moved to substitute the clause requiring the as s ent O f the States to the creation of branches another clause authorizing the bank to establish branches without the consent of the States . The bill passed
Congress and was vetoed by the President , and Mr . Ewing “ " admitted that the veto was in conformity with the Pre sident s " Opinions pertinaciously adhered to in all his conversations .
The attempt then was made to prepare another bill for what
s o f became known as the Fi cal Corporation the United States ,
on u 1 8 1 8 1 and Aug st , 4 , the President discussed its principal
n o . outlines in Cabinet . There was written bill before them
two f . At this meeting he authorized Of the Cabinet O ficers , Mr
Ewing and Mr . Webster , to confer with Messrs . Sergeant and
wh o of Berrien , represented the Whigs in the House Represent
n . atives , about putting the bill in shape for Co gress Looking for s O f ground to j usti fy their de ertion the President , Ewing and two other members of the Cabinet afterwards asserted in their letters o f resignation that this bill was drawn to conform " to the President s ideas as outlined to them , and that he acted in bad faith in vetoing it a charge that has been frequently
30
" moment committed his conscience to any man s keeping . A c
of cording to the letter resignation of John Bell , the Secretary “ o f War , the President at the Cabinet meeting expressed a
see was e wish to the bill before it pres nted to the House , if it "
SO . could be managed Why Should he have made this demand , " i f he had parted with his control over the bill He told Mr .
Webster and Mr . Ewing that they might express to the Whig Committee their confidence and belief that such a bill as had
u j ust been agreed upon wo ld receive his sanction , but it Should be a matter o f inference from h is veto message and his general
"3 views . What could he mean by this , except that he wanted to w be consistent ith his action in the Fiscal Bank Bill , and that " b e reserved the right Of final j udgment How Webster re
h is o f 2 0th garded the matter is Shown by note August , to the
President , written after talking with Sergeant and Berrien , to whom he had gone in pursuance o f the understanding at th e “ Cabinet meeting : I have done or said nothing as from you or by your authority o r implicating you in the slightest degree .
If any measure pass , you will be perfectly free to exercise your
m so as constitutional power wholly unco mitted , except far may " be gathered from your public and Official acts . This letter can not be reasonably regarded as consistent with the thought that the President in conscience was bound in any way to his Cabi net on the Fiscal Corporation Bill .
The President himself shows that the principle Of the Fis cal Corporation was as Obj ectionable as the principle Of the
s bill just vetoed . It w a not reconcilable with his late veto or h is other Official acts . The Fiscal Corporation was a cor
r i n p o at o created by Congress in its national character , and not a local bank O f the District o f Columbia created by Congress in its character as the local legislature Of the District . It dealt ostensibly in exchanges , but admitted a system o f local dis
in counts , which he had condemned his late veto message and at the Cabinet meeting . But whether a bank of local discount
3 2 or a l O f an exchange b nk , it lacked the fundamenta feature
State assent as to branches .
‘ Mr . Tyler states that he had suggested to the Cabinet n ot
o f of a national bank , but a local bank the District Columbia
of a without the discounting power the Fisc l Bank Bill , either i ts a s . in original shape fashioned by Mr Ewing, or as amended
. on e by Mr Clay , and confined to dealing in foreign exchanges . So far as the right of a local bank to deal in foreign exchanges f . to o was concerned , M r Tyler looked the decision the Supreme Court o f the United States in the case o f B an k of " v E arl 1 R e ort A u us ta s . e s g ( 3 Peters p , which settled the principle that a bank Of on e sovereign country authorized to deal in exchanges might , by the comity of nations , establish agencies or branches for that purpose in another sovereign and independent country unless prohibited by its laws from so doing .
Such was the purport of h is suggestions at the Cabinet " "< f . o meeting , and M r Tyler s account the matter tallies with
f n . o o e . . . the statement of the Whigs , Mr A H H Stuart , o f 1 6 Virginia , who admits that on August th , two days before
s the Cabinet met , he brought a paper containing the clau e in
wh o regard to branches to the President , wrote upon the mar gin an amendment to meet the case in point . Under it the consent to branches might be taken as implied until forbidden ff by the State . This amendment di ered in operation , but not in principle from the original requirement as to branches in " i f c re Ew ng s Bill . The di ference in operation , o casioned by
trictin as s g the b ill to exchanges , w a distinction founded on the law O f nations , which law is itself founded on the consent Of States ; but the plan gave opportunity fo r the bank to estab
for . lish branches more freely , and this reason Mr Tyler hoped Y t that it would be pleasing to the Whig majority . e the " ab so Whigs seized upon Mr . Tyler s patriotic overture as an
" l s own l an d n lu s i coun t th e n ills For Mr . Ty er c ear co c ve ac of Ba k b ,
- - se e e tte s a n d imes o th e le s 66 0 8 1 02 . L r T f Ty r , II , 7 ; 9
33 lute surrender , and the Fiscal Corporation bill appeared in Congress without any limitation on the establishment Of branches . Mr . Tyler tried to have the bill amended , and failing f to e fect this tried to have it postponed , but the Whigs , bent
a . b rutl upon making an issue with Mr Tyler efore the people ,
as s . lessly pushed the measure , j ust it was , to its pa sage A second veto followed ; all the Cabinet resigned except Mr . Web
. f ster , and the pronunciamento mentioned was issued A ter all , the question between Mr . Tyler and the Whigs was not a
on e of Old mere bank and no bank , but the one Of centraliza
O f s - O f tion power in Congres and State Rights , a consolidated n ation and a confederated republic .
of - Despite the decadence State Rights , the fact enduring to this day is that Mr . Tyler saved the country from a vast
f< declare s moneyed trust , and Carl Schurz that the verdict Of impartial history will probably be that John Tyler by prevent ing by his veto the incorporation Of another United States Bank r rendered his count y a valuable service . The plan of a United
States Bank in the Old sense Of the word , as a Single gigantic f private corporation , owning numerous a filiated banks in all the States and made the depositary and beneficiary o f all the
o f moneys the government , may safely be said to be a discarded thing forever .
M r . Tyler , during the next two years , while the Whigs had a maj ority in Congress , received but slight support from that party , and was in little better case with the Democratic ma
orit j y, dominated by the Van Buren influence , when that party succeeded in legisla tive superiority . He relied upon the wings o f a either party , who were , as he had alw ys been , the support
f - o f ers O State Rights . After the resignation the Harrison
n ot appointees , with the exception of Mr . Webster , who did approve the conduct o f the Whigs and ever remained the Presi " dent s warm personal friend , he filled his Cabinet with State
me n e ies h u z nr 2 0 A me ican Sta tes S . Sc H e Cla , ) r , y y, II 9 ( r r
34 R ights Whigs , who , like himself , had voted for Harrison , and two years later he included in it several State—Rights Demo crats who were opposed to Van Buren . The steadiness with which he met these varying conditions was matched by h is firmness in sustaining the full dignity o f “ h is position . He did not regard himself as President by acci " “ " “ or as - dent , chance , or a Vice President acting as Presi b ut dent , as President by election and by the constitution .
A s of . such he was recognized by both Houses Congress Nor ,
h is in opinion , Simply because his active functions were depend
O f ent upon the death President Harrison , did that event , to “ u se the slang phrase of the Whigs , make him an accidental " o f President any more than was the then "ueen England ,
Victoria , an accidental monarch , because her accession to the throne had been contingent on the death o f her uncle , William
- IV . According to the constitution , when the Vice President
is o f is elected , it for the very purpose his succeeding to the “ fi of for Of ce President , and there is no room chance or as
Caleb Cushing , the eminent lawyer of Massachusetts , expressed " “ " - it , the Vice President s succession is a fixed fact by the constitution . By his determined and fortunate stand he pre served the executive from a deplorable loss of power and
s authority , and establi hed the precedent that has been followed to this day .
th e y In place o f vetoed bank bills , which his opponents vainl sought to pass over his veto , he drafted as a substitute the
"( y b ste r its w as b . \Ve Exchequer Bill , which declared M r in S ignificance and importance to be only inferior to the Fed
its eral Constitution itself , and which in character as a govern
bo ment measure , with a ard O f control under the supervision
O f the Treasury Department , and in its provisions to issue L rotot e government notes and receive deposits , was a p yp ] Of
I h n is an u il H all s ch Se tem 0 1 8 2 . F e pee , p ber 3 , 4 Th A ld ich o f Rh d e n n e ti n w as n ote d b Se n at N. W . T co c o y or r , o e s lan d in a e n t s h I , rec peec .
3 5 - the recently enacted Federal Reserve Act . When partisan
O f politics occasioned the rej ection the exchequer by Congress ,
i e for n h ad Pres d nt Tyler , the remainder Of his admi istration , the moneys of the government in what was practically his own private keeping , and the country lost not one dollar .
After the currency question was disposed of , he had to con
in 1 8 2 front , 4 , the equally important , i f not more important ,
on e . h Of the revenue He inherited a bankrupt treasury , whic necessitated a public loan and a revision Of the compromise tari ff o f 1 833 ; and for floating the loan successfully he wished to s pledge the net proceeds Of the sales Of the public land .
o f But the Whig Congress , under the leadership Mr . Clay , insisted on giving this only immediately reliable fund to the
fo r ff States , and attached a rider this purpose to the new tari
two o bill , thus uniting in the same measure diametrically p
os ite — on e for its p things having obj ect putting money in , T ff . o a and the other , taking money from , the treasury e ect
as f separation the President had to resort , in the bank af air , to two vetoes ; and at length Congress passed , unencumbered with
f 1 8 2 Ob ec the rider , the Whig tari f Of 4 , which , despite some j tion able protective features , the President approved as a reve nue measure demanded by the exigencies o f the treasury . Nor did it disappoint his expectations , as it speedily filled the empty treasury to overflowing .
The disapproval Of the people O f the conduct of the Whigs 2 P rt was registered in the fall elections of 1 84 . The Whig a v
a s two . w swept from power , and years later , when Mr Clay
for . was the Whig candidate the Presidency , he was defeated The confusion and clamor O f these earlier po litical strug of gles have long since passed away , and in the retrospective history men have come to see clearly the truths that have O n ow emerged from them . f these truths there is none more salient and conspicuous than that tho se who charged Mr Tyler with recreancy to the Whig Party and its principles bore “ A s of : false witness against him . has been said him It was
36 impossible in the nature o f things fo r a party composed O f so many di scordant and opposing elements to have any well defin ed principles or determinate policy ; and it was perfectly C o understood in the Harrisburg nvention , which nominated
Harrison and Tyler , that Mr . Tyler was put on the ticket , as well on account Of his great popularity throughout the
for w - - n - ff country , as his ell known anti bank , a ti tari , strict con structiOn ist - - t , State Rights and anti internal improvemen " “ A u views and principles . S General Wise tr ly says : He did not commit himself to a Federal party or Federal - opinions
the by accepting nomination , but the Whig Party committed itsel f to Democratic principles , and selected a Democrat to " guard them .
of e of . At the time the acc ssion Mr Tyler to the Presidency , the diplomacy o f England apparently contemplated an ab sorp
o f m tion that section of the A erican Continent , that lay west i Of the Mississ ppi River a territory which comprised Texas ,
y Colorado , New Mexico , Arizona , Idaho , Montana , W oming , O t Nevada , California , regon , and Washing on and which
was u . claimed by Mexico , but uncontrolled by her a thority From this Situation grew the Ashburton Treaty with Great “ Britain , negotiated , as M r . himself says From step
' to step and from dav to day under the President s own imme " diate supervision and direction , everything being first agreed upon in informal conferences and afterwards reduced to writ L fo r co rr cti n ing and submitted to him his final e o s . ) And out Of the same conditions also grew his successful procurement of n ow the independence of the Sandwich Islands , an important
. M on dependency of the United States M r . Tyler applied the roe s o f Doctrine to these island as part this continent , and thus in being the first president to reach out to them the protecting arm of this government led the w ay to their ultimate acquisi tion under President M cKin ley .
Nile s R e is te " D n i l W e ste to is as s V . a e b r Lew C ( , g r, L I , p Le tte rs an d imes o th e le rs 2 2 2 0 - 2 06 T T f Ty , II , 4 ; III , 5
37 But the most far reaching question of this diplomacy o f Great Britain and the United States related to Texas and A 1 1 8 . . s out California early as 4 , Mr Tyler had pointed to
Mr . Webster the significance to the United States of the ulti
Of s mate acquisition Texa , and this idea continued persistently with him , until its consummation was finally achieved and the joint resolution Of the two Houses Of Congress providing for annexation was adopted and sign ed by him on the last day o f his term Of offi ce . That this great purpose was very near his
s f heart , and that its ultimate accompli hment a forded him much satisfaction is indicated in a letter to Mr . Alexander Gardiner , in which he wrote , on the eve O f his retirement from the presi “ den cy : We shall leave the government an d country sound and prosperous ; and if the annexation O f Texas shall crown ff O my public life , I shall neither retire ignominiously , nor be " soon forgotten .
O f Whatever the views other Southern men , he took from
s u O f the first , as to Texa , the broad gro nd the national good the monopoly of the cotton plant , the growth of the coastwise
f . and foreign tra fic , and the extension of the national domain And that in all the manifold circu mstances wh ch marked the development and accomplishment of the great measure O f an n exation his motives and conduct were Of a high and noble character is confirmed by Dr . Justin H . Smith , Of Boston , who , “ in his recent work , The Annexation of Texas has subj ected the whole question to the most thorough and pains
O f taking investigation . In his summary the actions and mo
tive s Of men , North and South both for and against the meas
. , ure , Dr Smith declares that among the leaders Tyler , the as so unpopular , comes out rather the best , Often occurs when " conduct and principles are closely examined . By resorting to o f j oint resolutions of Congress for the annexation Texas , he again furnished a precedent to our own times . Although this method o f annexation was strongly denounced as un con stitu
l . tion a , especially in the North , it was later resorted to by Mr
38 and he for the paltry sum o f fifteen dollars ; while the expenses o f on e - government were reduced fourth , as compared with
of those the preceding administration . Mr . Webster paid him * “ the tribute of saying : that in all things respecting the ex
en ditures of p the public moneys he was remarkably cautious . " exact and particular .
And yet no public interest was neglected . The Navy Department hitherto chiefly conspicuous for its chaotic con dition s was organized into bureaus with a veteran commander
f w as at the head o each . The naval force augmented by two — new squadrons the Home and the African squadrons . The National Observatory was established with the eminent Vir
s . ginia cientist , Matthew F Maury , at its head , and the first steps were taken towards the founding o f the United States
f was Naval Academy . Increased e ficiency imparted to the O army , and the fortifications at ld Point and other places , which Mr . Tyler received in an almost dismantled condition , bristled when he left the government with guns and military equipment . He filled the important posts abroad with men
VVh eaton like Everett , , Irving , Thompson , Cushing and Payne
“ distinguished for ability and love o f literature . He threw
f h is the influence of his O fice in favor Of Morse and telegraph , sent Fré mon t to discover the best path over the Western plains O and through the mountains to regon , and encouraged the caravans of immigrants under Elij ah White and others , who went to make their homes on th e distant waters of the Colum bia River .
i 1 8 He had married , as his second w fe , in June , 44 , Miss
Julia Gardiner , daughter Of Hon . David and Juliana Gardiner , o f Y o f Long Island , New ork , who was the mother his two
- still living sons , the Hon . David Gardiner Tyler , ex Congress man and present Circuit Judge , and Dr . Lyon G . Tyler , the di stinguished scholar and historian , and present President since
u tis i e o D anie l We bs te . 2 . C r , L f f r, II , p 75
40 1 888 of the ancient College o f William and Mary . His second
h is wife lies buried by Side beneath this monument .
After leaving the White House , Mr . Tyler went to live on “ an estate in Charles City County , three miles from Green " " Old way , his father s home and his own birthplace , and to his “ "
new residence he gave the name o f Sherwood Forest . Here
o f he continued to dwell for the rest his li fe , ceasing to take
n an active part in politics , but even in his retirement exercisi g a potent influence on public opinion in Virginia . During this
was time he in much demand for lectures and addresses , and in 1 857 he was the orator at the celebration of the two hundredth
o f O and fiftieth anniversary the settlement at Jamestown . ld enmities died away , and he acquired much of his former great popularity in Virginia and in other States .
The growth of the nationalist principle in the North , as 1 8 6 evidenced by the rise of the Republican Party in 5 , brought the country face to face with the dire results which M r . Tyler had always apprehended . The two nations constituting the
Union grew more and more unlike , and to the social , industrial , and economic differences formerly existing were added violent f . o sectional distrust and enmity The election Lincoln , a r Northe n man , by Northern States and upon a platform which ,
a o f in defi nce a recent decision O f the Supreme Court , denied the right o f a Southern man to go with his slaves into any of the territories secured by the common blood and the common
was as treasure , construed by the Southern States a Northern monopoly O f political and economic power . Deeming the
e e Union under all th se circumstances , to have b come a positive failure , and asserting the natural right to independence , based on the vast extent of their Southern territory , and a population
as as a three times great that of the original colonies , they p pealed to the words of the Declaration O f Independence and to
o their reserved rights under the C nstitution , and prepared for peaceable separation .
4 1 r In this eme gency Mr . Tyler , who had a sincere attachment
of to the Union the Fathers , repeated the part which he had 1 8 . played in 33 He tried to save the Union by peaceful means ,
. s but was unsuccess ful Upon the ecession Of South Carolina , "
. h is after Mr Lincoln s election , counsel and advice were sought
h is was by people , and he elected to the State Convention which
1 1 861 . met in Richmond , February 3 , He was sent as Peace
' Commissioner to President Buchanan , and it was due to his
f o f w as patriotic e forts that the Peace Convention , which he
was to chosen President , and whose purpose preserve the
1 861 . Union , was called to meet in Washington , February 4 , The result o f the deliberation s O f this conference took Shape in an ambiguous proposition , which Mr . Tyler opposed , and which the Republican Congress rej ected . Realizing after this that all compromise was impossible , Mr . Tyler advocated the 1 1 861 secession o f Virginia , and on the 7th of April , , was elected a delegate to the Provisional Congress o f the Con
s of federate State , and was an active member that body in
Richmond . In the November following he was elected a mem
on ber of the Confederate House Of Representatives , but died
1 8 1 862 o . January , , before taking his seat in the latter b dy During the period that he lived after the beginning of the
o f War between the States , he suggested the system gunboats devised for the Confederacy ; and Commodore M atthew F . r Mau y , who mentions this fact , pays him the tribute o f stating that his death was the heaviest blow sustained by the Con * federate States during the first year of the war .
Time would fail for the rehearsal here o f the Opinions expressed of him by men o f distinction and renown . Mr “ Davis said o f him that he was the most felicitous among the " “ i orators he had known ; Alexander H . Stephens said that h s State papers compared favorably in point of ability with those
n n de a te N i i fficial R e co d o th e Un i n a d o e av es S s Vol. O r f o C f r , er e I ,
6 . 6, p . 33
42 o f s an d any of his predecessor Daniel Webster , and Henry S .
. Foote , and Henry A Wise , and George Ticknor Curtis , and
R . M . T . Hunter , and a host Of other great men bestowed upon
s him the expre sions of their admiration , respect , and regard .
h is Concerning general appearance , we have the report o f
. A r the novelist , Charles Dickens Recording in his me ican
Notes to W 1 8 2 an account of a visit the hite House , in 4 he “ " wrote of his mild an d pleasant expression and of his re markab l f y unaf ected , gentlemanly , and agreeable manners , “ and added that he thought that in his whole carriage and " demeanor he became his station singularly well . That he was a man Of fine literary accompli shments is Shown not only
his by his messages and private letters , but by beautiful and e h is loquent addresses , among which may be mentioned oration f 1 82 6 on the death o f Je ferson , in , his lecture at the Maryland " “ 1 8 s on Mechanics Institute in 55 , and his discour e the Dead " o f 1 8 6 the Cabinet , in 5 , in which he pays a tender tribute to é Webster , Calhoun , Legar , Upshur , Gilmer , Spencer , and
f of Wickli fe , his able associates in the conduct the government of the United States .
w as He buried in Hollywood Cemetery , where a large con course gathered to testify their pride in his greatness and their sorrow for his departure ; and in h is funeral obsequies city and
State and Confederacy alike took part .
And now the Federal Government h as erected this monu
' ment over his mortal body ; but the significance o f the act does
or of on I not lie in the cost the beauty the m ument itself . ts erection is unique in that it is the first monument to be voted by the Federal Congress to any man whose sense o f duty im p elled him to take sides with the South in the stormy days of secession . Viewed in this light , this memorial Shaft to John Tyler is the most impressive and significant of all memorial structures in the United States , for it is the first in which both North and South have freely j oined , and it stands to the
43 world as the Sign and pledge of a reunited country , and a tes timon y that the passions of the past have perished .
John Tyler , statesman and patriot , needs no eulogy . The austere epitome of his life and deeds can convey but an in ade
o f h is quate conception his courage , ability , his steadfastness , and his patriotic devotion to country . His dust reposes here
s of beneath thi monument , and on the page history his fame
is itsel f monumental . His name has been placed there , along — side those oi the great leaders o f our epic story O f J e ffe r
o f son and Madison , Calhoun and Davis , and as long as the records of the republic shall endure he will be remembered and honored as one of its most illu strious sons .
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