1849, to March
1st, 1853, and again December 5th, 1859, to August 11th, 1868, when
he died at Washington City.

CHAPTER XXXV.
CHIVALRY, AT HOME AND ABROAD.

President Pierce, seconded by Secretary Marcy, made his foreign
appointments with great care. Mr. Buchanan was sent as Minister
to the Court of St. James, a position for which he was well qualified,
and John Y. Mason, of Virginia, was accredited to France. The
support given to the Democratic party by the adopted citizens of
the Republic was acknowledged by the appointment of Mr. Soule, a
Frenchman, who had been expelled from his native land as a
revolutionist, as Minister to Spain; Robert Dale Owen, an Englishman,
noted for his agrarian opinions, as Minister to Naples, and Auguste
Belmont, Austrian born, Minister to the Netherlands.

The civil appointments, of every official grade, large in their
number and extended in their influence upon various localities and
interests, were made with distinguished ability and sagacity, and
were received with general and widespread satisfaction. The
President's thorough knowledge of men, his intimate acquaintance
with the relations of sections heretofore temporarily separated
from the great mass of the Democracy, and his quick perception of
the ability and character essential to the faithful performance of
duty were active throughout, and he kept constantly in sight his
avowed determination to unite the Democratic party upon the principles
by which he won his election. Where so many distinguished names
were presented for his consideration, and where disappointment was
the inevitable fate of large numbers, a degree of complaint was
unavoidable. But no sooner was the fund of Executive patronage
well-nigh exhausted than might be heard, "curses, not loud but
deep." Presently, as the number of disappointed place-hunters
increased, the tide of indignation began to swell, and the chorus
of discontent grew louder and louder, until the whole land was
filled with the clamors of a multitudinous army of martyrs. For
the first three months after the inauguration the Democratic party
was a model of decorum, harmony, and contentment. All was delight
and enthusiasm. Frank Pierce was the man of the time; his Cabinet
was an aggregation of the wisdom of the country; his policy the
very perfection of statesmanship. Even the Whigs did not utter
one word of discontent. Frank Pierce was still President, his
Cabinet unchanged, his po