of their estate.

But that was only a drop in the bucket, compared with other cases of loss. I became satisfied, on looking into the transactions of the bank thus exposed, and on a review of my former opinions on that subject, and the opinions of that man, whose judgment was more matured, and different from mine, and stronger, of course, and better informed, that he was governed by the highest sense of justice in vetoing the bill; that he was right and I was wrong. And I had the boldness, the temerity, folly, perhaps, in the opinion of some, that feeling thus, not only to act upon a sense of right, but to acknowledge it. Who among us now advocates a charter of a United States Bank?

"I am not governed or influenced by the course of policy which has governed and influenced others. Whenever I am satisfied that I am wrong on a political question, a question of policy, or one involving a principle, I take the consequences of acknowledging that error. It is more magnanimous, more consoling to my conscience than to persevere in error. And when the annexation of Texas was made the leading question upon which the contest for the presidency of 1844 was made to turn, I had no choice but the choice which my judgment dictated, and that was, that the annexation of that country to the United States was demanded by the highest political and self-preserving principles in reference to our future destiny; and if my venerated father, then reposing in his grave, had been living and a candidate for the presidency, and had opposed the annexation of Texas, I would have cast my little mite in the scale against him. This contest again brought me into political union with the Democratic party. My principles of government have ever been democratic, and I hope ever will be. They have not, nor will not be made to depend upon expediency, or the choice of a president. The charge of inconsistency, come from what quarter it may, will not change the honest purpose of my soul, a desire ever to do right. Mr. President, I am in one respect like King Lear, in the play. Tray, Blanche, and Sweetheart, all bark at me.' Bark on, I shall not calm you by whistling. "I beg pardon of this convention for thus throwing too much of my own affairs and political history before it. I could not do less. I hope I shall have no occasion again to do it, and I can assure the delegate who has been the immediate cause of thus compelling me to do what I most sincerely regret the necessity of doing, that I had no intention, purpose, or design of casting censure upon him, or wounding his feelings. My own self-respect and a regard for the decorum of this body forbid that I should, without cause, violate its sense of propriety." *

In 1850 Governor Wickliffe, in connection with the distinguished lawyers, Squire Turner and S. S. Nicholas, was appointed by the State Legislature to revise the statutes. This duty was performed, and the Legislature having failed to provide for their publication by the day

fixed by law for them to go into operation, Governor Wickliffe arranged therefor on his own responsibility.

In 1861 he took an active part in all pacific measures to avoid civil war. January 29th he in connection with others was sent as commissioner for Kentucky to a peace conference at Washington City, in response to an invitation by the Virginia Legislature. The peace conference was, however, fruitless, and so was the subsequent Border State Convention, to which he was elected a member in May following. At a special election for members of Congress, June 20th, Governor Wickliffe was elected, receiving 8,217 to 2,719 cast for General Read. In Congress he acted with the minority, and did what little he might to protect the rights of his constituents from invasion by the Government. In 1863. at the solicitations of prominent citizens, he became a candidate for governor against Colonel Bramlette, the Union or Government candidate. Throughout the State the election was controlled by the United States troops, thus securing Bramlette's election. In 1864 he attended the Chicago Convention that nominated General McClellan for the presidency, and this substantially closed his political career.

During most of his life Governor Wickliffe actively engaged in the practice of the law, realizing large pecuniary profit and extensive reputation. He was connected with many celebrated cases. De Parcq vs. Rice may be mentioned. He practiced law in the same region with Mr. Hardin, and was often his colleague, but most usually retained for the opposite side. By some he was regarded as Mr. Hardin's most formidable rival at the bar. Collins records that in February, 1869, he made a speech in the Court of Appeals two hours in duration, which, in view of his age and infirmity, surprised his friends by its ability. He had practiced law fifty eight years, and spoke of it as probably his last public speech, and so it proved.* He died at the residence of his son-in-law, in Howard county, Maryland, October 31, 1869.

About the commencement of the civil war he was crippled by an accident, compelling the use of crutches the remainder of his life. He presided at the Douglass Democratic State Convention in Louisville, January 8, 1861. The author saw him the first and only time on that occasion. He was a magnificent specimen of manhood in old age. A large man, with massive head, and heavy brows, which, like his hair, were white as snow, and, withal, a presence of imposing dignity. Several years before his death he became blind.

Collins' History of Kentucky, Vol. I., page 194.

He was a life-long member of the Presbyterian church. As a commissioner of the Presbytery of Louisville, he attended the celebrated General Assembly in St. Louis, in 1866, that resulted in the division of the church. He, with others, was expelled for signing the famous "Declaration and Testimony."

Governor Wickliffe's long, varied, and successful career shows him to have been no ordinary man. Always a Whig, until the commencement of the civil war, his vote for Jackson, his service in Tyler's cabinet, and his natural conservatism, often subjected him to the charge, by his own party, of being a "trimmer." No petty pride of being called "consistent" restrained him from the path of duty in every emergency. He opposed a constitutional convention in 1838, when the country was quietly prospering under the existing constitution. When, in 1849, increase of population, the unwise exercise of the appointing power, the sale of offices, and other causes, rendered constitutional reform necessary, he was its advocate. In 1850, a political adversary (Thomas F. Marshall *), who felt no kindness for him, thus wrote: "We know Charles A. Wickliffe well, and place a high estimate on his talents. We have heard him speak, often with great interest and advantage to ourselves. We have considered him a clear, but cool-headed, man, without enthusiasm or that inner fire that warms men into poetry or eloquence. Judgment, uninfluenced by passion or warm affection of any kind, has been the great faculty we have ascribed to him." Mr. Hardin regarded a lack of feeling the blemish of Mr. Wickliffe's oratory. Referring to a speech of the latter, Hardin observed: "I have yet to learn that a powder magazine can be exploded by throwing snow-balls at it." A kindlier critic

once said: "Unlike many of our greatest statesmen, his private life is a model for imitation, unstained as it has ever been, by moral pollution of any kind, and marked by a truthfulness and sincerity resulting from religious reverence. Mr. Wickliffe's eminent characteristics have ever been fast fidelity to his friends and a tenderness which rendered his presence agreeable and cheering in every domestic relation. He dignified every position he occupied and adorned every sphere in which he moved." †

He differed from his kinsman (the subject of this work) in lack of the power of ridicule and faculty of wit. Also, differing in a personal characteristic, he deemed it worth his thought to observe a courtliness. in dress as well as in manner. He had less insight of human nature

In Old Guard, page 15.

Sixty Years in a School Room, by Mrs. J. A. Tevis, page 349.

and less understood the motives that actuated mankind. They had, however, a common attribute which marked them out from the mass of men, and that was, when convinced of the correctness of a principle or the rectitude of a line of action, they irrevocably committed themselves to it regardless of all opposition or loss. At the Democratic National Convention, at Chicago, August, 1864, pending the late war, and when Kentuckians were regarded with distrust by the Government and the North, Governor Wickliffe, in the course of a speech, said:

"Many of the best and most loyal citizens of Kentucky, among them twenty or thirty ladies, are now imprisoned by the military authorities in Louisville, in damp and dirty cells, with only straw to lie upon, and the coarsest fare; and the newspapers of Louisville are forbidden to make the slightest allusion to this terrible state of affairs. I proclaim it here and now, at the risk of my liberty, perhaps of my life."

His courage was as unflinching as his honor was exalted and his integrity inflexible. His life and character were nobly rounded. In early life he married Miss Crepps, the daughter of a pioneer hero. Five daughters and three sons were the fruit of this auspicious union. One of the daughters married Hon. Joseph Holt, of Washington City. Another married United States Senator Yulee, of Florida; another Judge Merrick, of Maryland. The youngest married Captain W. N. Beckham, late of Bardstown, who died while a member of the State Legislature, a few years ago. Of his sons, Hon. J. Crepps Wickliffe has filled many posts of honor, and is now United States District Attorney for Kentucky; Robert has been Congressman from Louisiana, and Charles, after serving with credit in the Mexican war, lost his life some years afterward by a fall from a horse.*

*See Appendix, Note C.

IN

CHAPTER XVIII.

KING JACKSON SUBDUES HIS ENEMY.

[N the spring of 1833 Mr. Hardin resigned his seat in the State Senate, at the time entertaining other aspirations. Charles A. Wickliffe had succeeded Mr. Hardin as representative in Congress from the Bardstown district in 1823, and so continued for ten consecutive years. During that period he had won for himself a distinguished position in national politics. But he now declined re-election, and Mr. Hardin announced himself a candidate.

Political feeling has rarely run higher than at this period. President Jackson was vindictive toward his political enemies, on the one hand, and, on the other, warmly devoted to his friends. His friends were equally unqualified in their loyalty to him. The opposition called it man worship.' Many of the measures of the administration not only struck down its opponents, but really filled them with apprehension for the peace and safety of the country. The opposition in Congress believed that in resisting these measures with all its energies it served the cause of constitutional liberty. The opportunity for engaging in such a contest was not a little alluring to one of Mr. Hardin's temperament.

As Nelson county had been for over twenty successive years honored by having one of its citizens in Congress, this fact not unnaturally bred jealousy among aspirants in other counties. Dr. Christopher A. Rudd, of Washington, became Mr. Hardin's competitor, and a formidable one he promised to be. He was a large man physically, of fine presence, and a fluent and graceful speaker, possessing a pleasing voice. Great social qualities made him popular with the masses. He was convivial to an excess, unfortunately imperiling his personal health and welfare. He had an exhaustless fund of anecdote, which he related with charming effect. To cap the climax of political graces (for few were more potential in that day), he was a skillful performer on the fiddle.

The canvass was prosecuted by both aspirants with vigor, and soon became warm and exciting. Both were of the same political school, and the issues between them were consequently of a personal and