FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59  
60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   >>   >|  
designed. Accept my thanks for your friendly advocacy. Present me in terms of kind remembrance to your family, and believe me, very sincerely yours, "Jefferson Davis. "Note.--No party in Mississippi ever advocated disunion. They differed as to the mode of securing their rights in the Union, and on the power of a State to secede--neither advocating the exercise of the power. "J.D." ] CHAPTER IV. The Author enters the Cabinet.--Administration of the War Department.--Surveys for a Pacific Railway.--Extension of the Capitol.--New Regiments organized.--Colonel Samuel Cooper, Adjutant-General.--A Bit of Civil-Service Reform.--Reelection to the Senate.--Continuity of the Pierce Cabinet.--Character of Franklin Pierce. Happy in the peaceful pursuits of a planter; busily engaged in cares for servants, in the improvement of my land, in building, in rearing live-stock, and the like occupations, the time passed pleasantly away until my retirement was interrupted by an invitation to take a place in the Cabinet of Mr. Pierce, who had been elected to the Presidency of the United States in November, 1852. Although warmly attached to Mr. Pierce personally, and entertaining the highest estimate of his character and political principles, private and personal reasons led me to decline the offer. This was followed by an invitation to attend the ceremony of his inauguration, which took place on the 4th of March, 1853. While in Washington, on this visit, I was induced by public considerations to reconsider my determination and accept the office of Secretary of War. The public records of that period will best show how the duties of that office were performed. While in the Senate, I had advocated the construction of a railway to connect the valley of the Mississippi with the Pacific coast; and, when an appropriation was made to determine the most eligible route for that purpose, the Secretary of War was charged with its application. We had then but little of that minute and accurate knowledge of the interior of the continent which was requisite for a determination of the problem. Several different parties were therefore organized to examine the various routes supposed to be practicable within the northern and southern limits of the United States. The arguments which I had used as a Senator were "the military necessity for such means of transportation, and the need of safe and rapid communication
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59  
60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Pierce
 

Cabinet

 

organized

 

Pacific

 

Senate

 
determination
 

office

 

Secretary

 

public

 

United


States

 

invitation

 

Mississippi

 

advocated

 
period
 

advocacy

 

records

 
friendly
 
accept
 

duties


valley
 

designed

 
connect
 

railway

 

reconsider

 

Accept

 

performed

 

construction

 

Present

 

attend


ceremony

 
inauguration
 
personal
 

reasons

 

decline

 

remembrance

 

induced

 

appropriation

 

Washington

 

considerations


northern

 

southern

 

limits

 

practicable

 
examine
 

routes

 

supposed

 
arguments
 
communication
 

transportation