sey ever had as much influence in the national councils as when Frelinghuysen and Southard were her senators at Washington. Whether in formal discussions on great topics, or in the current debates from day to day, they were uniformly found equal to the call made upon them, and even political opponents could not deny the ability with which they upheld the policy they had espoused.

Although there were seasons when the excitement of feeling reached a pitch almost unprecedented, Mr. Frelinghuysen throughout preserved the highest standard of senatorial dignity. He never descended to personalities, never engaged in unseemly altercations. His dignified bearing, his transparent candor, his unquestionable integrity, and his high sense of honor, secured him the cordial respect of all parties. They who attended to his course saw in him a coolness, discrimination, insight, shrewdness, and capacity which marked him out as a something more than a mere politician or debater. He was a statesman. He took large views of things. He looked beyond present emergencies, and acted for the future. Ardently attached to his own patriotic state, and ever sensitive to whatever touched her honor or welfare, he yet remembered that he was a senator of the United States, and legislated for the country as a whole. He was not a mere theorist, not "an impracticable." Firm and immovable where the everlasting principles of rectitude are concerned, well convinced that it is as true in history and experience as it is in Scripture that "righteousness exalteth a nation," he recognized the mixed elements with which every Legislature has to

deal, the necessary limitations of all civil enactments, the wisdom of not governing too much, and the just claims of expediency in legislation. Notwithstanding the high conception of a free Christian commonwealth which lay at the basis of his public course, he was no Utopian. His ends were as rational as the means by which he pursued them. He may have erred in particular measures, but the general scope of his policy was large, comprehensive, enlightened, and judicious, yet eminently practical.

The Hon. George Chambers, of Pennsylvania, his classmate at Princeton, who was a member of the House of Representatives during two years of Mr. Frelinghuysen's senatorial term, says of him that "he was attentive, considerate, and judicious in his action, and ever faithful to his constituents, the Union, and the welfare of his country. He was not hasty or impulsive under any excitement, and seldom spoke in debate; but when he did, his remarks were appropriate, and commanded attention."

THE INDIAN QUESTION.

The first great topic on which Mr. Frelinghuysen addressed the Senate was the bill for the removal of the Indian tribes residing within states and organized territories of the Union, having particular reference to those within the limits of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. The lands occupied by these aborigines, being admirably adapted to the growth of cotton, the culture of which had been greatly stimulated by the increasing price which the raw material obtained in the markets of the world, were looked upon by the

white population with covetous eyes, and every inducement was offered to the original proprietors to sell their title and remove. But the territory was equally desirable to them, not only as having been the home of their forefathers and the place of their sepulchres, but also as being, by its natural features, just the country suited to their tastes and habits. Its mixture of hill and valley, forest and prairie, its numerous springs and streams, its abundance of fish and game, its fertile soil and equable climate, were exactly suited to the half nomad, half planting life pursued by the great body of the Indians. They therefore almost unanimously refused to sell. But their white neighbors were not to be foiled. They determined to make the Indians willing, and even eager to remove. This was accomplished by extending the state laws over them, with the abrogation of all their own "laws, ordinances, orders, and regulations of any kind whatever;" by making it a penal offense for any person to endeavor, by any means, to prevent any Indian from emigrating; and by disqualifying any Indian from being a competent witness in courts in any case to which a white person was a party, unless such white person resided among the Indians.

But, in order to give effect to these atrocious statutes, it was necessary to secure the assent of the federal government, or, rather, to prevent the continuance of the protection hitherto given by it to the aborigines against all intruders upon their lands. Accordingly, in conformity to the suggestions of President Jackson in his first annual message, a bill was introduced in Congress "providing for an exchange

of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for their removal west of the Mississippi River." When this bill came up for consideration in the Senate, Mr. Frelinghuysen moved the following amendment:

Provided always, That, until the said tribes or nations shall choose to remove, as by this act is contemplated, they shall be protected in their present possessions, and in the enjoyment of all their rights of territory and government, as heretofore exercised and enjoyed, from all interruptions and encroachments.

"And provided also, That before any removal shall take place of any of the said tribes or nations, and before any exchange or exchanges of land be made as aforesaid, that the right of any such tribes or nations in the premises shall be stipulated for, secured, and guarantied by treaty or treaties as heretofore made."

These provisos were sustained by him in a speech of very great power and eloquence. He showed that the principles they involved were not only founded in everlasting truth and right, but had been acted upon ever since the adoption of the Constitution by all branches of the government, beginning with the Father of his Country; that during the Revolution, and under the Confederation, they had been expressly recognized by the Continental Congress; and that, still earlier, the royal proclamations and ordinances from Great Britain had distinctly assumed the same ground. After reciting and explaining the various solemn treaties made by the national government with the Indian tribes, he riveted his argument by showing from the public records of the very states now engaged in this

oppression of the Indians, that treaties with these tribes were recorded on their own statute-books as parts of their land titles, and that thus, by their own act, they were concluded on the point in question. The following is the peroration of this remarkable effort:

"Sir, our fears have been addressed in behalf of those states whose legislation we resist; and it is inquired with solicitude, would you urge us to arms with Georgia? No, sir. This tremendous alternative will not be necessary. Let the general government come out, as it should, with decided and temperate firmness, and officially announce to Georgia, and the other states, that if the Indian tribes choose to remain, they will be protected against all interference and encroachment; and such is my confidence in the sense of justice, in the respect for law, prevailing in that great body of this portion of our fellow-citizens, that I believe they would submit to the authority of the nation. I can expect no other issue. But if the general government be urged to the crisis, never to be anticipated, of appealing to the last resort of her powers; and when reason, argument, and persuasion fail, to raise her strong arm to repress the violations of the supreme law of the land, I ask, is it not in her bond, sir? Is her guaranty a rope of sand? This effective weapon has often been employed to chastise the poor Indians, sometimes with dreadful vengeance I fear, and shall not their protection avail to draw it from the scabbard? Permit me to refer the Senate to the views of Mr. Jefferson, directly connected with this delicate, yet sacred duty of protection. In 1791, when he was Secretary of State, there were some symptoms of collision on the Indian subject. This induced the letter from him to General Knox, then our Secretary of War, a part of which I will read: 'I am of opinion