LEWIS CASS. In presenting to the public a series of portraits and memoirs of men distinguished in public life, it is scarcely to be hoped that our selections should always meet with uniform approval. The strong bias of party spirit, of sectional interest, or of professional collision, may sometimes award us but faint praise. We shall, however, endeavor to pursue our course with strict impartiality. Public men, who maintain an elevated rank in popular favor, in a country where their opinions and acts are open to certain scrutiny and free remark, must be possessed of more than ordinary merit. And we believe that we shall have public opinion decidedly with us, when we say, that it has fallen to the lot of few to occupy as various and important stations in the republic with so large a share of approbation, as the subject of the present sketch. LEWIS CASS, an eminent democratic leader, was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, October 9th, 1782. His ancestors were among the first settlers of that part of the country, and his father bore a commission in the revolutionary army, which he joined the day after the battle of Lexington, and in which he continued until the close of the war, having participated in the memorable battles of Bunker Hill, Saratoga, Trenton, Princeton, Monmouth, and Germantown. He was afterwards a major in Wayne's army. In 1799 he moved with his family to Marietta, but eventually settled at Wackalomoka, in the vicinity of Zanesville, in Ohio, where, after a life of honorable usefulness, he died in August, 1830. His son, LEWIS CASS, was educated at the academy of Exeter, and studied law at Marietta, under the late Governor Meigs. He was admitted to the bar in 1802, and pursued the practice of his profession successfully during several years. In 1806 he was elected a member of the Ohio legislature. When the enterprise of Colonel Burr began to agitate the country, he was appointed on the committee to which the subject was referred, and drafted the law which enabled the local authorities to arrest the men and boats on their passage down the Ohio. This law, interposing the arm of the state, baffled a project which was generally believed to have been of a revolutionary character, and intended to divide the west from the east. The same pen drafted the address to Mr. Jefferson, which unfolded the views of the Ohio legislature on this momentous subject. In 1807, Mr. CASS was appointed marshal of the state, which office he resigned in 1813. In 1812, he volunteered his services in the force which was called out to join the army under General William Hull, and marched to Dayton, where he was elected colonel of the 3d regiment of Ohio volunteers. Having to break through an almost trackless wilderness, the army suffered much on its route to Detroit, and it was necessary that the officers of the volunteers should be exemplars in fatigue and privations, lest the men, unused to military discipline, should turn back in discouragement. Colonel CASS was among the most urgent for an invasion of the Canadian province immediately after the army arrived at Detroit; but General Hull did not cross the river until after the lapse of several days, and thereby lost all the advantages of a prompt and decisive movement. The advanced detachment was commanded by Colonel Cass, and he was the first man who landed, in arms, on the enemy's shore after the declaration of war. On entering Canada, General Hull distributed a proclamation among the inhabitants, which, at the time, had much notoriety, and was generally ascribed to Colonel CASS: it is now known that he wrote it. Whatever opinions may have been entertained of the inglorious descent from promise to fulfilment, it was generally regarded as a high spirited and eloquent document. Colonel CASS soon dislodged the British posted at the bridge over the Canards. There he maintained his ground, in expectation that the army would advance and follow up the success, by striking at Malden; but he was disappointed by the indecision of the general, who ordered the detachment to return. In all the timorous and inefficient measures which followed, Colonel CASS had no responsible participation. His known disapprobation of the course pursued, made him an unwelcome counsellor at head quarters. When the army capitulated he was not present; but the detachment with which he was serving, under Colonel M'Arthur, was included, and being unable to retreat by the impracticable route behind it, submitted, and was embarked for Ohio. Colonel CASS immediately repaired to Washington, and made a report to government. In the following spring he was exchanged and |