Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Buchanan's Administration on the Eve of the Rebellion: A Paper Read Before the Cliosophic Society, Lancaster, Pa;, January 24, 1908
Moreover, had he realized his sincere belief that the notable decision of the Supreme Court upon the slavery question, which was almost contemporaneous with his inauguration, would have been accepted by people and politicians as the decisive judgment of the supreme federal tribunal, upon the question of then greatest federal and popular concern, it may easily be conceived his administra tion and himself would have gone down to history as iden tified with one of the most notable executive terms since the beginning of the government. Mr. Bryce, the most far-sighted and fair - minded foreign critic of our institutions, and Mr. Rhodes, probably the most accurate historian of the period he treats, agree that our material progress during 1850 - 60 was greater than that of any preceding decade; and the American gives: many illustrations of the tremeu dous advances in the intellectual, social and moral state of the people of that time. Again, had success attended the earnest efforts Of those who so strenuously sought to avert war in 1861; had the vigorously pressed Crittenden measures of compromise been adopted and accepted; or had Virginia's effort to save the Union - accepted by twenty - one states who composed the Peace Congress, presided over by one who had been President of the Republic - had this or any like movement prevailed, the Buchanan administration would have been signalized as marking at once the most awful crisis and the safest deliverance in all our internal history; and the sunset of his political life would have been irradiated with the gold and glory of a perfect day. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
