CHAPTER XXI. THE ERA OF POLITICS. AFTER the close of the war of 1812 the Anti-Federalist, or Democratic party, as it was afterwards called, gradually gained strength. As has previously been seen, the course of the dominant, or Federalist party, during the contest with England, had given occasion for a considerable defection from its support, especially among the young men of the country. When, however, the original grounds of disaffection and dispute were removed, the feeling thereby engendered died away, and the second term of Mr. Monroe's administration was everywhere spoken of as "the era of good feeling." During the winter of 1820 the public mind was greatly agitated by the discussion of the question whether or not Missouri should be admitted into the Union with a constitution making slavery one of its features. While some affirmed that slavery is inhuman, that the relation between master and slave is demoralizing to both, and that the founders of the Republic had opposed slavery, as a cruel institution, others declared that if the founders of the republic were opposed to slavery in theory, they failed to practise this theory; that the constitution recognized and defended slavery; and that the labor in the south could not be performed without the help of slaves. With regard to the question, both federalists and democrats were of one mind in the north. Mass meetings were held all over New England, and Boston was especially foremost in speaking her sense of what the crisis demanded. After a long dispute the question was settled by a compromise. Congress agreed that Missouri should come into the Union as a slave state; but that slavery should be elsewhere forbidden in new states north of 36° 30′ north latitude, this being the southern border line of Missouri. Such was the famous "Missouri Compromise," which, like compromises of principle generally, only postponed the day of evil. Whilst the good feeling prevailed in respect to the national elections, party lines in Massachusetts still remained distinctly drawn. Governor Brooks labored assiduously to discharge the duties of his office, and all of his addresses to the legislature evinced large and liberal views of the policy of the state, united with a spirit of moderation and impartiality. It was impossible to bring less of the partisan to the performance of official duty. Governor Brooks remained in office until 1823, and the entire period of his administration was marked by a high degree of public progress and prosperity. The census of 1820 showed a population in Massachusetts of six hundred and twenty-two thousand two hundred and eighty-seven souls, residing in fifty-seven towns. The population of Boston at this time was upward of fortythree thousand. In the autumn of 1822, the "Massachusetts Society to aid in the Suppression of the Slave Trade," was organized, and provided with a constitution. The object of the association was to help on the work of the American Colonization Society, of which, indeed, it was a branch. The growth of population in the state demanded some change in the old almshouse system which had come down from colonial times. After the opening of the General Court, in June, 1820, Mr. Josiah Quincy moved for an inquiry into the subject of pauperism, and was made chairman of a committee appointed for the purpose. In the following January the committee submitted a report which condensed the experience of England and Massachusetts as to the various methods of dealing with the subject. This report was widely circulated, and thus gave rise to the improved system of treating the dependent poor. A little later, measures were instituted for the erection of a House of Industry for the town of Boston; and in March, 1822, Boston ceased to be a town, and became a civic corporation, - Mr. John Phillips being chosen as the first mayor. At this period Daniel Webster, born on the 18th of January, 1782, at Salisbury, N. H., was a member of the Boston. bar. He had been hitherto known as a leading member of Congress, and as a very eminent lawyer. At the age of thirty-eight he had achieved a reputation second to that of no other man in America, and was naturally regarded as one of the great leaders of his party. In the autumn of 1822 he was urged by delegates from all the wards to become the representative of Boston in Congress. His circumstances were not independent; and having once served with distinction in the House of Representatives, and voluntarily retired from it, he did not wish to return to that body. Nevertheless he was unwilling to reject the honor which was proposed, and therefore accepted the nomination, and was elected by a very large majority of votes. He returned to Congress in December, 1823. The federal party, to which he had previously belonged, was no longer an existing organization; neither could there be said to be any well-defined republican party remaining. Not yet, however, had the old names ceased to be used. Governor Brooks was succeeded, in 1823, by William Eustis, who had previously served as Secretary of War of the United States, as Minister to Holland, besides having been a prominent member of Congress. Governor Eustis was chosen as chief magistrate by the republican party, and every branch of the state government was likewise republican. His administration was marked by but few events of importance, and his whole course was one of peace and prosperity. At the presidential election in 1824, Levi Lincoln, the lieutenant governor, was one of the electors on the part of Massachusetts, and cast a vote for John Quincy Adams. Mr. Webster, who in the same autumn was again elected to Congress, had no strong personal preferences for Mr. Adams, and was not likely to favor his election. Mr. Adams, however, received the electoral votes of all the New England states, and Mr. Webster felt bound to give effect to this expression of the popular voice in this region. At the first ballot, in February, Mr. Adams was elected, and on the 4th of March, 1825, he took his seat. In 1824, Mr. Lathrop was nominated as a candidate for governor, against Governor Eustis, receiving thirty-four thousand votes to thirty eight thousand for the latter. Governor Eustis died in February, 1825. Mr. Lathrop declined to be a candidate again, and Mr. Lincoln declined being a candidate upon a democratic nomination. Whereupon the Federal Convention voted that it was inexpedient to make a party nomination, and upon a ballot for a candidate for the office of governor unanimously proposed Mr. Lincoln. At the election, the latter received thirty-five thousand out of thirty-seven thousand votes, and entered upon the office on the last Wednesday in May, 1825. Mr. Lincoln proved himself a magistrate admirably suited to meet the wants of the commonwealth. While fully understanding these wants, he exerted his utmost energies to take care of, and advance the social, political, and economical interests of the state. In his inaugural message he alludes to several of these interests. At this period the construction of a canal from Boston to the Connecticut River was a favorite scheme for internal communication. He refers to this, "with favor, and suggests that he has been assured that another mode, by railways, had been approved of in England. But how far they would be affected by our severe frosts cannot be conjectured yet,' and whether they are better than canals remained to be determined. He speaks with approbation of the encouragement recently given to agriculture by the incorporation of societies, and calls upon the legislature to relieve the manufacturing interests by a change of the law which held stockholders in corporations liable personally for the debts of their company to an unlimited extent. He accompanies these statements with the suggestive fact, that commerce was falling off, and reminds the legislature of the necessity of prompt measures in favor of a revival of the trade and business of the state." 1 Several railroads were incorporated during the administration of Governor Lincoln, one of them being from Boston to the "City of Lowell," in 1829; though the name of that city had as yet no place upon the map of Massachusetts. But facilities for trade and intercourse were not the only objects of the care and encouragement of Governor Lincoln. Home industry received a large share of his attention. The cause of American industry, especially, received his countenance, and to-day the entire commonwealth is reaping the fruits of his protecting policy. During his administration 1 Washburn, Memoir, 16. |