ΝΑΤ S bobbin-boy statesmanlike and 11- ritory, was not influenced by any desire for the extension of slavery. publicity was given to this speech, and the Democrats of Massachusetts were so impressed by it, that Mr. Banks was recognized as a leader in that party. Honors followed fast. In 1850, he was simultaneously elected to the state senate by the Democracy of Middlesex county, and to the house by his constituents of Waltham. He decided to remain in the house, and was chosen speaker by a large majority on the first ballot. He held this position for two successive sessions. Upon the rolls of the house, for his first year in it, Mr. Banks is entered as a machinist, but in the next year as a lawyer. In 1852, Mr. Banks was elected to Congress, by an affiliation of the Democrats of his district with the American party, or "Know-Nothings." Upon this canvass the American party was very largely in the majority, and Mr. Banks "avowed his sentiments freely and fully." In the summer of 1853, he was chosen president of the convention called to revise the constitution of Massachusetts. Apparently he had been mistaken in the Democratic party, for he soon transferred his allegiance to the new Republican organization. He was twice re-elected to the national House of Representatives, and served in the thirtythird, the thirty-fourth, and part of the first session of the thirty-fifth Congress. He very strongly opposed the Nebraska-Kansas bill, and argued against it that wherever the government obtained the right to acquire territory, there they got the right to control it. Mr. Banks also came somewhat conspicuously before the country by the part he took in the debate brought on by a resolution in reference to the society of "Know-Nothings," as to whether or no the pope claimed a temporal power over the members of the Roman Catholic Church. Upon the meeting of the thirty-fourth Congress, parties were pretty well broken up and complicated, and a great difficulty was found in the choice of a Speaker. For nine weeks the organization of the House was delayed by the obstinacy of party men. Finally, it was determined that the recipient of a plurality of votes should be declared Speaker; and, in accordance with this rule Mr. Banks was chosen to the position. Mr. Banks presided over the deliberations of the House with marked ability and fairness; or, in the words of a Southern member, he "stood so straight, that he almost leaned over to the other side." On the adjournment of Congress, a vote of thanks was passed, upon the acceptable manner in which he had discharged the difficult duties of his position. In 1856, Mr. Banks was elected governor of his native state, and resigned his seat in the House on the 24th of December. To his new position he did such honor, that he was re-elected in 1857, and again in 1858. During three terms he administered the government of the state of Massachusetts with eminent wisdom, and finally retired from that position crowned with the high respect of his fellowcitizens of all parties throughout the state; a more striking example than any other chapter of our American history furnishes, of the dignity and honor to which native energy and genius may attain. Soon after the expiration of his third gubernatorial term, Mr. Banks determined to abandon the field of politics, and with that view removed from his native state to that of Illinois, where he became associated in the conduct of a railroad. In that sphere he continued until the war actually broke out, when he again became "a public man.' He was appointed a major-general in the United States army, May 30th, 1861, and his appointment was confirmed by the Senate on the 3d of August. Major-Generals M'Clellan and Fremont were confirmed on the same day. Previous to his confirmation (June 10th), General Banks was ordered to the command of the department of Annapolis, with his head-quarters at Baltimore. In this command he superseded General Cadwallader, who was appointed to a division destined to co-operate with General Patterson toward Harper's Ferry. Upon General Banks's accession to the command at Baltimore, the treasonable element of the population there, while believed to be very active in the furtherance of schemes for revolt, was certainly very quiet. Butler had fairly scotched the serpent of secession in that city; but under the lax rule of Cadwallader, it had revived. Yet the leaders were prudent, and the transference of the command to a new officer was a sufficient indication that the government was dissatisfied with the easy manner in which they had been dealt by, and they became cautious. But on June 27th they were surprised, and the whole people of the loyal states gratified, by an energetic act of the new commander. At three, A. M., on that day, George P. Kane, marshal of police of Baltimore, was arrested at his house, and imprisoned in Fort M'Henry. In explanation of this act, General Banks issued on the same day a proclamation, superseding Marshal Kane and the board of police, in which he said: "I desire to support the public authorities in all appropriate duties. . . . and in every municipal regulation and public statute consistent with the constitution and laws of the United States and of Maryland. But unlawful combinations of men, organized for resistance to such laws, that provide hidden deposits of arms and ammunition, encourage contraband traffic with men at war with the government, and, while enjoying its protection and privileges, stealthily await opportunity to combine their means and forces with those in rebellion against its authority, are not among the recognized or legal rights of any class of men, and cannot be permitted under any form of gov ernment whatever. Such combinations are well known to exist in this department. . . . . The chief of police is not only believed to be cognizant of these facts, but in contravention of his duty, and in violation of law, he is, by direction or indirection, both witness and protector to the transactions and the parties engaged therein. Under such circumstances, the government cannot regard him otherwise than as the head of an armed force hostile to its authority, and acting in concert with its avowed enemies." For these reasons, Marshal Kane was super |