-tree, defying
all who offered to oppose him. Allen, whose loud voice had gained
for him the appellation of "the Ohio gong," spoke with his usual
vehemence. Franklin Pierce was demonstrating his devotion to the
slave-power, while Rufus Choate poured forth his wealth of words
in debate, his dark complexion corrugated by swollen veins, and
his great, sorrowful eyes gazing earnestly at his listeners.

In the House of Representatives there were unusually brilliant and
able men. John Quincy Adams, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign
Affairs, was the recognized leader. Mr. Fillmore, of New York, a
stalwart, pleasant-featured man, with a remarkably clear-toned
voice, was Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means. Henry A.
Wise, Chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs, was able to secure
a large share of patronage for the Norfolk Navy Yard. George N.
Briggs (afterward Governor of Massachusetts), who was an earnest
advocate of temperance, was Chairman of the Postal Committee.
Joshua R. Giddings, who was a sturdy opponent of slavery at that
early day, was Chairman of the Committee on Claims. John P. Kennedy,
of Maryland, an accomplished scholar and popular author, was Chairman
of the Committee on Commerce; Edward Stanley, of North Carolina,
was Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs; Leverett
Saltonstall, of the Committee on Manufactures; indeed, there was
not a Committee of the House that did not have a first-class man
as its chairman.

But the session soon became a scene of sectional strife. Mr. Adams,
in offering his customary daily budget of petitions, presented one
from several anti-slavery citizens of Haverhill, Massachusetts,
praying for a dissolution of the Union, which raised a tempest.
The Southern Representatives met that night, in caucus, and the
next morning Mr. Marshall, of Kentucky, offered a series of
resolutions deploring the presentation of the obnoxious petition
and censuring Mr. Adams for having presented it. An excited and
acrimonious debate, extending over several days, followed. The
principal feature of this exciting scene was the venerable object
of censure, then nearly four-score years of age, his limbs trembling
with palsy, his bald head crimson with excitement, and tears dropping
from his eyes, as he for four days stood defying the storm and
hurling back defiantly the opprobrium with which his adversaries
sought to stigmatize him. He was animated by the recollection that
the