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January 5, 1861 Cover- Georgia Congressional Delegation |
The
Georgia Delegation biographies |
January 5, 1861 Civil War News Page 3
HARPER'S WEEKLY.
THE GEORGIA
DELEGATION IN
CONGRESS.
a Senator from
Georgia, has already been chronicled in Harper's Weekly as one of the
Representative Men of the Republic. Born in Wilkes County, where he now
resides, on the 2nd of July, 1810, he received, as he grew up, the best
educational advances that the State afforded ; then went to Union College,
at Schenectady, New York. where he graduated; and before he had attained
the legal age was admitted to practice at the bar by special statute of
the Georgia Legislature. In 1837 he was elected to the Georgia House of
Representatives, in which he sat (with the exception of the session of
1841) until elected to Congress in 1845. Originally a Democrat, he had
turned from General Jackson after the " Force Bill," which was launched
against the South Carolina nullifiers, and had joined the State Rights
party of Georgia, led by Governor Troup, and known by his name. But while
he admired the abstract theories of Calhoun, the young Georgian advocated
that material progress, and that system of education, which has had such a
wonderful effect. Taking his seat in the House of Representatives at
Washington in 1845, Mr. Toombs was classed among the State Rights Whigs,
but has never acknowledged fealty to either caucus or party discipline. In
1850 he joined Howell Cobb and other Democrats in the formation of the
Constitutional Union Party, and the next year led off in dissolving the
Whig phalanx. In 1852 he was elected to the United States Senate, where he
has of late acted with the Democrats, yet ever opposed extravagance,
consolidation, and humbug, and never hesitated to do what he thought
right, regardless of public opinion.
The other United
States Senator from Georgia, was born in Burke County in that State, on
the 3rd of December, 1798 ; and after having graduated at Princeton
College in 1820, commenced the practice of law at Columbus. Taking a deep
interest in political matters, he was elected for three successive terms
to the State House of Representatives and then to the State Senate. On the
reorganization of the Superior Court he was elected Judge for a term of
three years, and then re-elected for a term of four years. In 1845 he was
an elector at large on the ticket which gave the vote of the State to
James K. Polk, having as a colleague Governor M'Donald (recently
deceased), and as a district elector on the tick-et Herschel V. Johnson,
who recently run on the Presidential ticket with
Judge Douglas. In 1847 he
was elected, as a Democrat, a member of the Thirtieth Congress, in which
Abraham Lincoln was likewise a Representative. In 1854 he was elected to
the United States Senate, where he took his seat in March, 1855, and where
his term will expire in March next. He has been a valuable member of the
Committee on Claims, and also of the Committee on Military Affairs ; nor
has he ever hesitated in the frank expression of his opinion, especially
in the prolonged discussion on the naval retiring board, the action of
which he afterward denounced in debate as "one of the most outrageous and
disgraceful proceedings ever put on the records of the country." Although
now a decided secessionist, he has not heretofore hesitated to ex-press
himself (in urging the increase of the army), as an advocate of the
employment of force by the General Government to secure the execution of
the Federal laws.
PETER E. LOVE
Representative
from the First District, was born near Dublin in Georgia, on the 7th of
July, 1818, and was left an orphan at an early age. Educated under the
guardianship of his brother-in-law, General Eli Warren, he entered
Franklin College in 1834, where he remained until 1837, when he left to
commence the study of medicine. The next year he attended the lectures at
Philadelphia; but not fancying the medical profession, he returned to
Georgia, where he so diligently prepared himself for the bar that he was
admitted to practice in 1839. In 1840 he took an active part in the
Presidential election, aiding in giving the electoral vote of Georgia to
General Harrison, and in 1843 he was elected Solicitor- General of the
Southern Judicial Circuit, in which capacity he won high honors. In 1844
he again did yeoman's service in the Whig ranks in favor of Henry Clay,
but afterward joined in the Constitutional Union movement, and in 1853 was
appointed Judge of the Southern Judicial Circuit by Governor Cobb, a
position which he continued to hold by repeated elections. In 1859 he was
elected to the House of Representatives, and while a zealous advocate of
the rights of his State, he has carefully looked after the interests of
the city of
Savannah, in his own district, securing the mail-service with
Havana, and otherwise aiding the progress of that flourishing sea-port.
MARTIN J.
CRAWFORD,
of Columbus, is
the efficient representative from the Second Congressional District, and
the readers of Harper's Weekly will remember the previously published
sketch of his life. Descended from the Crawfords so honorably identified
with the history of Georgia, he was born in Jasper County, on the 17th of
March, 1820 ; completed his education at the Mercer University ; was
admitted to the bar, served as a member of the Georgia Legislature from
1845 to 1847, and in 1853 was elected Judge of the Superior Court for the
Chattahoochee Circuit. In 1855 he was elected a member of the House in the
Thirty-fourth Congress, and has since been a leading spirit among those
who are opposed to extravagant expenditure as necessarily leading to a
consolidation of the Federal Government. On the questions which have
brought about the present crisis he has ever taken a decided stand.
the
representative from the Third or Macon District, was born in Bibb County,
Georgia, on the 12th of January, 1825, and after having graduated at Emory
College in 1845, engaged in mercantile pursuits, with great success. He
was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1853, and again in
1857. and was a State Senator in the intermediate
term of 1855. In
the Presidential contest of 1856 Fillmore carried the Macon District by 65
votes, and Mr. Hardeman was elected by 153 majority, after a close
contest. Although he has made no public declaration of his views on the
great question of the day, he is not in any wise behind his colleagues in
the expression of his devotion to State Rights.
LUCIUS J. GARTRELL,
the
Representative from the Fourth Congressional District, was born in Wilkes
County, Georgia, on the 7th of January, 1821. After completing his
education at Macon College, Virginia, and Franklin College, at Athens,
Georgia, he studied law, was admitted to the bar, and in 1843 was elected
Solicitor-General of the Northern Judicial Circuit. In 1847 he resigned
this position, having been elected to the State Legislature, but was
re-elected in 1849, so efficiently had he before discharged his duties. In
1856 he was one of the Presidential electors who gave the vote of the
State to James Buchanan ; in 1857 he was elected a Representative in the
Thirty-Fifth Congress ; and in 1859 he was re-elected to the present
Congress. An experienced and able debater, he has spoken on most of the
prominent questions be-fore the House since he has been a member,
especially on the contested election cases. On the question of Southern
Rights he has taken a decided stand, and in January, 1860, he gave notice
in a speech that—to use his own words—" the is-sues are fully made up, and
the trial between right and wrong, justice and injustice, lawlessness and
the Constitution, union and disunion, will soon be had [at the
Presidential election], and I pray God that the result at the ballot-box
may not be such as to force upon my people the dire necessity of appealing
to the cartridge-box."
JOHN W. H.
UNDERWOOD,
the Representative
from the Fifth District, was born in Elbert County, Georgia, November 20,
1816. Receiving a thorough education, he studied law, and was admitted to
the bar in 1834, when he soon took a high rank in his profession, and in
1843 was elected by the General Assembly Judge of the Western Circuit, a
position which he resigned in 1847. In 1850 he was elected a member of the
Constitutional Convention, and espoused the cause of Southern Rights,
siding with the late Governor McDonald against the Union candidate, Howell
Cobb, in their famous gubernatorial struggle. Presidents Pierce and
Buchanan each tendered him a judicial appointment; but he declined. In
1857 he was elected a member of the lower branch of the Georgia
Legislature, and was chosen Speaker. In 1859 he was elected to Congress by
a very large majority, and was prominent in his endeavors to consolidate
the entire Southern vote with that of the Northern Democrats in the
election of Speaker, which was known to be indicative of the Presidential
choice. But he ever avowed his belief that the Constitution of the United
States is a compact, and that each State, as a party to the compact, is—in
case of its infraction —to judge of the mode of redress.
JAMES JACKSON,
who represents
the Sixth, or Athens District, was born in Jefferson County, in 1819, and
is of that Jackson family so long and so honorably identified with the
history of Georgia. After having completed his studies at Franklin
College, where he graduated in 1837, he read law, and was admitted to the
bar in 1840. In 1842 he entered political life, and was elected Secretary
to the State Senate ; in 1845, and again in 1847, he was elected a member
of the State House of Representatives ; in 1849 he was elected by the
Legislature Judge of the Western Circuit ; and in 1853, and again in 1857,
the people re-elected him to the same position. Nominated for Congress, he
re-signed his judgeship, and was elected, taking his seat in December,
1857.
who represents
the Seventh District, was born in Abbeville District, South Carolina, but
removed to Georgia early in life. Al-though not favored with a collegiate
education he was a diligent student, and in due time was admitted to the
bar. Here he acquired a high reputation, and was honored with several
local trusts ; until, in 1857, he was elected by the American party to
Congress, and re-elected in 1859, when the contest was so close that he
only had 139 majority, Fillmore having received at the previous
Presidential election 84 majority. He is devotedly attached to national
American principles, and has always refused to join in the discussion of
slavery on the floor of the House, regarding it as a strictly local
question, on the merits or demerits of which Congress has no right to talk
or to legislate. But he has avowed himself a Southern Rights man. " I am
prepared," said he, three years since, " to assert my rights, and shall be
ready when the time comes, if it ever should—which God in his mercy avert
!—to assert them to the utmost extreme. I shall stand pre-pared to take my
destiny with those who are indissolubly linked with me. These are no idle
enunciations. I deal not in them. They are the earnest convictions of my
heart, and I will deceive no man. I say to the North, before you shall
succeed to power, if you do obtain the possession of the Government, by
all the glories of your boasted Bunker Hill ; by the memories of your
Pilgrim Fathers, whom I have never traduced, and never will ; by the
common blood that was poured out at Concord and Lexington and Saratoga,
and on the battle-fields of the South, I implore you to give up and
abandon this idea, which is suicidal to the Confederacy, of restricting
the institution of slavery to its present limits. What would you say in
the event our country shall expand ? But if you have determined to go on,
if you have sworn in your hearts never to relent, you may, and perhaps
will, have the power; but whenever you seek to use it, the unhappy day
will have arrived when this nation, and civilized man throughout the
world, will have cause to lament the dire calamity involved in your
success."
JOHN J. JONES,
the
Representative from the Eighth District, is the only son of Hon. Seaborn
H. Jones, of Burke County, where be was born on the 13th November, 1824.
After having graduated with honor at Emory College, he studied law,
and was admitted
to practice in 1848. After the retirement of
Alexander H. Stephens he
was elected as his successor, and enjoys the general esteem of his colleagues
from all sections.
HARPER'S WEEKLY.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 5, 1861.
THE ABANDONMENT OF FORT
MOULTRIE.
THE country is thrown into a
state of great excitement by the intelligence that, on Christmas night, the
gallant Major ANDERSON, commanding the United States force at FORT MOULTRIE,
abandoned that fort, and removed all his command to FORT SUMTER. The guns at
FORT MOULTRIE have been spiked, and the gun-carriages burned. FORT SUMTER IS a
work of great strength, and, with the force now in it, commanded as it is, can
be held securely against any army that South Carolina can bring against it. FORT
MOULTRIE, on the other hand, was a very weak position, and could not have been
defended against a vigorous attack. The movement reflects the greatest credit on
the judgment of Major ANDERSON, who, it seems, acted exclusively on his own
responsibility in the matter, and without consultation with the Government or
with General SCOTT.
These PICTURES, studied in connection with the news of the day, will enable
readers to form an accurate idea of the important events which are now occurring
at Charleston.
THE FALL OF PEKIN.
IF the public mind in this country were not so wholly engrossed with our own
political troubles, the news brought by the Persia—that the allied French and
English have taken Pekin—would have been the chief topic of conversation ever
since. We doubt whether any event of equal importance to the world at large has
taken place since the Battle of Waterloo or the establishment of American
Independence.
To realize its moment, people must bear in mind that nearly one half the
population of the world are subjects of the Emperor of China; that these
millions are generally educated, industrious, refined, and enlightened; and that
if they could be pried out of the groove in which they have been traveling for
ever so many centuries, and fairly introduced into the family of nations, the
effect on the general movement of civilization and commerce would be something
like what would follow the establishment of intercourse between this and another
of the planets in our system.
It is popularly supposed that we have inter-course with China. We have a treaty
which allows us to trade at five ports. But all sailors agree that one sees a
great deal more of China at any good Chinese museum than at Hong Kong, Amoy, Foo-Chow,
Ning-po, or Shanghai. At most, if not all these places, the anchorage for ships
is many miles from the town ; and if it were not, the prejudices of the Chinese
and municipal laws do not permit foreigners to travel through their streets.
Until the recent capture of Canton it was as much as a man's life was worth to
walk through the Chinese city. Mr. Fortune, who traveled through the tea
districts, and Father Hue, who traversed the kingdom from Thibet, both bear
witness to the imminent peril of life which awaits explorers of the Flowery
Land. It has always been the fixed policy of the Chinese empire to restrict
their intercourse with foreigners to within the narrowest possible limits—to
sell teas and silk, but to buy as few goods as possible—and to take no ideas at
all from abroad. That policy has been in harmony with the prejudices of the
Chinese people ; and hence, though Chinese tea and Chinese silk have been in use
in this country for a century or so, we are no nearer under-standing the
Chinese, and they are no nearer understanding us, than we were when the
Encyclopedists painted China as the model empire.
The capture of Pekin must change all this. It is not likely that the Allies will
conclude a peace without securing material guarantees for the concessions they
will exact from China. It is probable that they will demand the possession of
some strong places in the interior, in order to protect foreigners traveling or
trading. They will, of course, obtain the right of establishing embassies at
Pekin, with such military force as may be necessary to guard them. New
commercial treaties will doubtless be concluded, and an indemnity claimed which,
for a few years, will reverse the silver tide that has so long set Asia-ward.
Of the ultimate result we can not yet speak. The empire of China is understood
to be in the
last stage of dissolution, and the fairest provinces to be in
the hands of rebels and a prey to anarchy. The Allies may find
that the capture of Pekin has devolved upon them the duty of
reconstructing the government of the empire. Whether the task
could be accomplished, and, if so, by what expedients and on
what principles, none can yet undertake to decide. It is not
likely, however, that the capture of Pekin, and the predominance
of European power in China, are likely to render the ultimate
settlement less advantageous than it would otherwise have been
to the cause of commerce and civilization.
THE LOUNGER
THE INVERTED YEAR.
THE year is utterly inverted—turned completely upside down. June is changed into
December, and through double windows the sitter by the fire looks out upon brown
and leafless trees. But the poet reminds us, as the imagination begins to
sympathize with the desolation,
"In a drear-nighted December,
Too happy, happy tree,
Thy branches ne'er remember
Their green felicity;
The north can not undo them,
With a sleety whistle through them,
Nor frozen thawings glue them
From budding at their prime."
The trees preach patience through the long, long months in which they stand so
rugged and bare. Just now the year draws to its shortest days. The bitter cold
closes the streams and stiffens the ponds. There is an unnatural brightness and
silence in the woods, as in a chamber where some one died yesterday. How still
the nights are! The multitudinous murmur of the summer nights—was it real ? Were
there sultry moonlights? Were there gargling brooks, and rustling trees, and the
voices of katydids, and crickets, and owls, and tree-toads, and the hum of
insects, and lowing of cattle, and sounds of music upon calm waters, and the
song of midnight loiterers in boats? Where are they now?
Yet as the days dwindle they lead us to the festal season of the year, and bring
Santa Claus back again. They lead us to New Year's, and the kindly words of
mutual greeting. In the silence of the sparkling midnights, as we listen,
although we hear no sound of katydid and cricket, we may perhaps hear another
music, another softer, far-off carol, " Peace on earth, good-will to men !"
And we need to hear that just now, if we can only hear it rightly, and
understand that death is not peace. Men ought to forbear and conciliate and
entreat kindly, provided that they do not yield what they honestly prefer to a
present peace. There are better things than the enforced peace of a day or a
year; and the permanent peace of a great principle is one of them.
The builder is a fool who plasters over the crack in his wall, in-stead of
making the wall fast. The plaster may hold to-day, and the wall comes down
to-morrow. You may have peace with a highwayman who puts a pistol to your head
if you will only give him your purse. But your momentary peace is purchased at
the expense of that of society.
TRAVELING.
STEPPING from the train at Marshall, in the State of Michigan, to ask a question
at the office, a traveler was amused to read a notice above a blackboard, "No
questions answered at the office. The latest information to be found here," or
words to that effect ; of course, " here" was a blank board, and if a traveler
wanted any kind of information he might whistle for it, or consult the depths of
his interior consciousness, for there were " no questions answered at the
office." ;
Some time since a gentleman at the West wrote to the Lounger in reply to some
strictures upon the manners of railway officers made by another correspondent.
He said very justly that the ticket-dealer was the helpless victim of every bore
and fool who wished to vent endless silly questions. A man will ask him what
time it is with a clock straight before his nose, and so forth. It is, of
course, trying ; but it is certainly better to endure the idle talker than to
snub the sincere inquirer. Nor ought any man to erect an exception into a rule;
but rough, short treatment is, at least, frequent treatment upon our railroads.
Here is a letter from another traveler who has had experiences:
" My wife, worn-out with nursing me, had gone on before to Boston. I came by the
'Old Colony Road.' It was fair when I started, but raining when the train
stopped. A high board fence on each side. Perhaps f was in a comatose state: I
know that I had been for an hour breathing with difficulty the nasty, stinking,
sulphury, smoky, dusty, and feculent atmosphere of the car, and I can not answer
for my senses under such circumstances. I did not know, and was not informed,
that we had arrived
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