duty, to your country, in the hour of her trial and danger, is alone and of itself an all-sufficient reward. The patriot claims no equivalent, demands no satisfaction, to compensate him for the sacrifices and sufferings he endures in his country's defense. But, sir, while a grateful and approving government proffers to you no reward for your patriotic devotion, the public authorities have rightly respected the popular will, and fitly reflected the national sense and appreciation of your eminent services, by voting to you, as a compliment, this superb and clegant sword.

"In their name, therefore, and on their behalf, as deputed thereto, I now present you this beautiful and apposite token of the nation's gratitude. In receiving from me, as their humble organ, this delicate and sacred trust, you have already given the best and surest pledge, by your deeds, that you will never suffer the slightest stain of dishonor to tarnish the unsullied surface of its pure and polished blade, and that you will ever be ready to wear it, and, if need be, to flesh it, in defense of the nation's rights, whenever foreign aggression is to be repelled or an insolent enemy chastised.

"Accept it, then, general, as the gift of the American people; and, like the giant's sword, which the ancients kept suspended in the sacred temple, only to be drawn down and used in times of public danger, so, sir, may this fine commemorative weapon never be unsheathed by you for use, except to punish your country's focs, or to avenge your country's wrongs.'

In reply, General Quitman said:

"SIR,-I accept the elegant weapon you have been charged by the President to deliver to me with emotions of the profoundest gratitude. Were it but an oaken staff, instead of this superb and splendid sword, as a testimonial of the nation's approbation of my poor and unworthy services, it would possess a priceless value in my

eyes.

"In the complimentary remarks with which you have thought proper to accompany its delivery, you have done me no more than justice by declaring that I embarked in the war from the sole patriotic motive of serving my

country in what I conscientiously believed to have been a just and righteous struggle for the protection of her sacred rights.

"In hastening to her defense, I felt like one of the champions in the old mode of deciding disputes by wager of battle, ready and willing to appeal to the God of battles for the justice of our cause. It was my fortune to lead to battle and to victory the brave sons of Tennessee and Mississippi, and it is to their invincible bravery that I am indebted for all the honors my country has bestowed upon me. To them, and not to me, is due this flattering testimonial of national approval. In their name, therefore, and on their account, I am proud to accept this elegant sword as a tribute of their country's gratitude to them.

"Be pleased, sir, to convey to the President my kind acknowledgments for the very obliging and gratifying manner in which he has executed the flattering intentions of Congress toward me, and say farther to him, if you please, that he could have transmitted this handsome token to me in no way that would have been more welcome or acceptable to me than through the hands of ono between whom and myself, for so many years, havo subsisted mutual relations of the most cordial and intimate friendship."

The following letter was written to one of a numerous tribe in the South, an adventurer who, by practicing small courtesies and making pretexts for a gossiping correspondence with distinguished men, contrived to recommend himself to their favor, and to impress those around him with a grand idea of his influence in high quarters. He was a New Englander, and a Whig; but not being appreciated by that party, he jumped upon the Texas annexation hobby, opened a correspondence with R. J. Walker and other of its leading advocates, and obtained the ear of President Tyler, by whom he was appointed surveyor of the port of New Orleans, much to the chagrin and astonishment of the citizens, to whom he was an entire stranger. He was retained in office by Presi

dent Polk. His letters, when compared, show that he was a mere political Dalgetty, who watched the rise or wane of individuals and the fluctuations of party, and regulated his friendship and his principles accordingly. To David Hayden.

"Monmouth, July 12th, 1849. "Your letter of the 6th inst. has been received. I was not aware before that Major Grayson had been so neglected by President Polk. No officer under Gen. Scott contributed more to our success in Mexico by his admirable administration of the commissariat. He was no less prominent for his gallantry, energy, and courtesy. He was always ready for any emergency. I will address the President on this matter. I have, however, no influence. My staff, and several of my most worthy and deserving friends in the army, have been treated with marked neglect. I have been unable to effect any thing in several cases in which I had, with no other interest than that which a strong sense of justice occasioned, applied to the President. This, however, shall not deter me from trying to serve Major G.

"You have better hopes of Gen. Taylor than I have. In my opinion, his leading measures will be Whig, ultra Whig. The old fogies of that party will not readily break with him if he consents to rob the South by a high and partial tariff, and to squander the public treasure by a brilliant system of national improvements. They will allow him to indulge some 'no party fancies' in small matters, and control all the leading measures of his administration."

In 1849 Quitman was nominated by spontaneous meetings of the people, and afterward by the State Democratic Convention, as a candidate for governor. Many of his best friends were averse to this movement, some because they doubted his capacity for administration; others who, anticipating for him a national position, did not desire to have him complicated with impending issues pregnant with strife and acrimony. His opponent, Hon. Luke Lea,

made a vigorous canvass, relying chiefly on what he considered the political inconsistencies and errors of the nominee. The result was the election of Quitman by a majority of some 10,000 votes. On the 10th of January, 1850, he was sworn into office, and delivered his inaugural address. It is a brief but lucid exposition of his theory of the relations between the federal and state governments, and may be put forth as the creed of the party whose acknowledged leader he became after the death of Mr. Calhoun.*

* Inaugural Address of Governor John A. Quitman, delivered before both houses of the Mississippi Legislature, January 10th, 1850. The Constitution of the state, to secure individual fidelity in the execution of public trusts, prescribes that every officer, before entering upon his duties, shall take an oath faithfully to discharge the duties of his office. Elected by the people of this state to be their chief executive magistrate, I now come before you, senators, representatives, and fellow-citizens, publicly, in the presence of the guardians of the commonwealth, to take upon myself the solemn obligation which the Constitution enjoins upon me.

I shall enter upon the discharge of my official duties with a firm determination to assume no powers refused, and to shun no responsibilities required by the Constitution and laws, and to spare no effort, by a faithful performance of my duty, to deserve the high confidence which the generous people of this state have reposed in me.

Among a free people, addresses from a public servant to his constituents should be frank and without disguise. When his opinions may affect the public welfare, they should not be concealed. I fcel it my duty, therefore, in this first official address to the sovereign people of Mississippi, briefly to express my opinions upon some of the prominent questions which now appear to occupy the public mind. They will furnish the best indication of the course of policy I shall study to pursue in my official action upon all subjects.

In our union of sovereign states, there are few questions, however they may appear strictly federal, which do not sometimes demand the consideration of the respective states of the confederacy.

The members of our national union consist of equal co-ordinate sovcreigntics, whose interest, for good or for evil, may be affected by the federal government. They are not only entitled to exercise a watchful care over its proceedings, but when the Constitution, or the reserved rights of the states, or the people are threatened, upon the state governments especially devolves the duty of taking proper measures to defend the one and protect the other. National questions are, therefore, necessarily a part of state politics.

My views of the original structure of our government, and my interpretation of the Constitution, are strictly democratic. Regarding

In this inaugural ho referred to the progress of antislavery sentiment in the Eastern States, and the neces

the federal Constitution as a compact between independent political communities, acting in their character as sovereigns, it follows that the government erected by it is one of delegated powers. Over all political powers not delegated the states retained an absolute and exclusive control, with all the rights and powers necessary to maintain and preserve their sovereignty. Over these they are as supreme as if the Constitution had never been adopted. Various causes, among them national glory-becauso it feeds our self-esteem-aro continually operating to incline the public mind toward centralism and consolidation. This is the tendency of our government; and, as our country grows in wealth, power, and importance, the contrast between the state and federal governments will become wider, and increase the danger. A frequent recurrence to the history and character of our federal system is, therefore, essential to the preservation of the state governments. In my opinion, a little jealousy on the part of state officers is commendable. The assumption of power by the federal government has already more than once produced convulsions which have shaken the strong pillars of our political temple; the failure to exercise a doubtful power has never caused alarm. The danger is from assumption, not inactivity. Construing the federal government as one of limited delegated powers, I deny its right to supervise the manufactures or the agriculture of the country, or to take under its charge and control the highways and the harbors of our broad land.

If such power be not delegated, it is a fraud upon the Constitution to attempt these objects indirectly under color of the power granted "to lay and collect duties and imposts," "to establish post-offices and post-roads," or "to regulate commerce."

I am opposed to the establishment of a United States Bank, or to the conversion of the national treasury, by ingenious modifications, into any other similar fiscal agent. The plan of collecting and disbursing the revenue by the simple machinery of the independent trensury, seems to me best suited to the simplicity of our republican institutions, and best calculated to preserve honesty and purity in the administration of the public finances. I have thought fit to allude to these questions, because they are again agitated.

Connected with our federal relations is another subject of deep and vital interest to us, in common with a large portion of our sister states of the Union, a question which, in the last few years, has assumed a momentous and startling aspect.

One half of the sovereign states of this glorious confederacy, in the exercise of the undoubted right of self-government, have chosen to retain, as a part of their elementary social system, the institution of the domestic slavery of an inferior race. This institution is entwined in our political system, and can not be separated from it without destruction to our social fabric. It has existed here since the cavaliers of Jamestown and the Puritans of Plymouth Rock first built their pilgrim fires upon the shores of America. It was recognized in the formation of the federal Constitution, and to its existence among us, as