352 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
THOMAS MORRIS.
BY JAMES B. SWING, CINCINNATI, 0.
It is important that the memory of
strong, brave men, who
have been conspicuous in their day, and
influential for good,
should be kept green. There is nothing
more inspiring than the
story of the life of an intellectual and
moral hero.
There is a noble, a great name in the
history of Ohio that
ought to be remembered and honored of
all, but that is well-nigh
forgotten, a name that perhaps most of
our young men never
heard, the name of Thomas Morris. I have
heard that Hon.
George W. Julian, of Indiana, is writing
a life of this man, and
can congratulate him upon the subject he
has chosen, and con-
gratulate the public upon the prospect
of a valuable addition to the
biographical literature of the day. I
anticipate a fine tribute to
the memory of one who was remarkable for
ability, force of char-
acter, eloquence, courage, and intense
devotion to the cause of the
freedom and equal rights of all men.
Morris was born in Berks county,
Pennsylvania, January 3,
1776. His parents removed to West Virginia when he was a
child. They were very poor, almost as
poor as the father and
mother of Abraham Lincoln, and he grew
up as a poor boy would
in the mountains of West Virginia in
that early day. He came,
with some emigrants, to Hamilton county,
Ohio, in 1795, when
nineteen years of age, and settled at
Columbia, where he became
a clerk in a small grocery, and at a smaller
salary; and while
there he was married to Rachel Davis, a
daughter of Benjamin
Davis, one of the Columbia pioneers. He
had grown to manhood
without educational advantages. It does
not appear that he ever
went to school. His mother had taught
him to read after a
fashion, and the chief, almost the only
book of his childhood read-
ing, was the Bible. He afterward, though
never a professedly
pious man, made most effective use of
his knowledge of the Scrip-
tures in his public speeches, as Tom
Corwin did, and as very many
of the most distinguished lawyers and
statesmen have done. His
mother also taught him to hate slavery,
a lesson he learned well,
as appeared in his after-life. She was a
Virginia woman (born
Thomas Morris. 353
there), the daughter of a small planter,
and her father had owned
a few slaves, but there was in her an
intense hatred of the whole
system. It is very interesting, very
fine, to see how his mother's
teachings were always with him
afterward, consciously or uncon-
sciously molding his character and
shaping his course in public
and private. Ah, the deep, quiet, almost
unseen, but powerfully
felt influence of the mothers upon the
character of their children,
upon men, upon nations, upon human
history, upon civilization.
Jean Paul Richter says: "Never,
never, has one forgotten his
pure, right-educating mother. On the
blue mountains of our dim
childhood, toward which we ever turn and
look, stand the mothers
who marked out to us from thence our
life."
In the year 1800 he removed with his
family to Williamsburg,
then the county seat of Clermont county,
where he remained only
a few years. While there his poverty was
extreme. He was once
arrested and imprisoned for debt under
the old, senseless and
infamous law that provided for such
imprisonment. After being
released from the Williamsburg jail he
removed to Bethel, about
seven miles distant-then a small
settlement in the woods. He
moved on a cold winter day. (I guess he
had to move.) There
was snow on the ground, and so small was
his stock of this
world's goods that goods and family were
all moved on a sled
at one load. At Bethel he studied law,
living in a cabin and
studying at night by the light of a
piece of burning hickory bark,
or of a clapboard. He read as much of
general literature as he
could command, the best he could borrow
in that community, a
few good old works scattered here and
there-The Pilgrim's
Progress and Baxter's Saint's Rest, and
the like. So limited was
his education that he then read poorly,
but he had a mind that
took in all the meaning that was stored
in the books, and he
practiced reading aloud with the utmost
care, until he became a
most accomplished reader, a thing that
can be said of few men
even in this day of schools and
learning. I have heard my father,
who remembered him well, tell of his
fine, impressive reading.
After two years of the study of the law
he was admitted to
the bar of that county, and developed so
rapidly that he soon
became a leading lawyer there and in
Southern Ohio, able to cope
with the strongest of the very strong
lawyers who then honored
Vol. X -23
354
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
that great profession in this section of
the state. Judge Burnet,
a great man, and many others like him,
who "rode the circuit"
in those days, often met him in legal
contests and found him a
foeman worthy of their steel. Ohio has
had few lawyers more
powerful before a jury than Thomas
Morris. He was not a rude,
uncouth lawyer, but became a clear,
able, powerful reasoner, truly
eloquent; not wordy, but a master of
strong English, and earnest
and impressive in manner. He was a
remarkable cross-examiner,
and there are old men living in Clermont
county now who well
remember the skill and power with which
he could draw on and
then destroy a lying witness. I have
been told by an able lawyer,
now departed, how he had seen him
shrewdly entrap a perjurer,
blandly lead him into a trap, and then
suddenly roar at him like a
lion and send him perspiring and
disgraced from the courtroom.
He represented Clermont county in the
Ohio Legislature for
twenty-four years, part of the time in
the House and part in the
Senate. That of itself seems remarkable
in this day, when usually
one term is deemed too long for a man to
serve. That was a day,
too, when the ablest men in the state
deemed it a high honor to
be a member of the Legislature-day long
gone by-and Thomas
Morris was one of the ablest of them
all. He once said that he
had heard abler debates in the Ohio
Senate than he often heard
afterward in the Senate of the United
States. His committee
reports and speeches, and the measures
he supported and opposed
in the Legislature, which are in part
set forth in a very poor life
of him that may still be found on some
old book shelves, show
that he was one of the giants there. He
had as much as any
other man to do with the shaping of the
early legislation of Ohio
in its most important features. He
assisted with great vigor in
the repeal of the law of imprisonment
for debt, under which he
had suffered confinement and humiliation
in the old jail at Wil-
liamsburg.
He was the leading spirit in the
Legislature in framing and
enacting the laws that created and
firmly established our great
common-school system. There was, at the
time, much opposition
to taxation for the general education of
the people, and he was
once defeated in his candidacy for the
State Senate chiefly because
of his successful efforts in behalf of
such legislation; but, as in
Thomas Morris.
355
later years in far higher station, he
would not swerve from his
ideas of duty and the general welfare
for any personal or political
success.
He was an ardent advocate of the war of
1812, and
was
the author of a resolution adopted by
the Ohio Legislature,
pledging to the Federal Government the
earnest support of Ohio
"in the vigorous prosecution of the
present just and necessary
war, until a safe and honorable peace
can be obtained."
In 1832, when the state of South
Carolina declared her right
and attempted to nullify the tariff laws
of the United States, a
time of great excitement throughout the
country, a time when
the state rights doctrine was loudly
proclaimed, and threats of
secession were openly made at
Washington, and when the states
were generally declaring themselves one
way or the other, the
Ohio Legislature, under the leadership
of Morris, stood fast by
President Jackson in his wise and
patriotic stand for the Union.
Justice John McLean, whose memory is
still honored as one of
the purest and ablest of the Justices of
the Supreme Court of the
United States, became alarmed at the
spirit that so largely pre-
vailed among Southern members of
Congress and their constitu-
ents, and wrote Morris an earnest but
somewhat panicky letter,
setting forth what he believed to be the
serious danger of a dis-
solution of the Union unless oil could
be poured on the troubled
waters, saying: "I had rather see
the tariff law suspended in
that state for a season than that one
drop of blood should be
spilt," and urging very mild
expression, if any, by the Legislature
of Ohio. He concluded his letter with
these extraordinary words:
"If we shall be urged on by
feelings of resentment, and in the
exercise of extraordinary powers attempt
to crush the state of
South Carolina, there will be an end of
our government in a short
time. I tremble at the gulf which lies
before us. Shall this
glorious heritage, which is the
admiration of the world and our
greatest pride, be destroyed? I assure
you our government is in
danger, and we should all contribute our
best efforts to pre-
serve it."
Thus did even so able, wise and
patriotic a man as Justice
John McLean advise the state of Ohio to
temporize, to hesitate,
to speak in uncertain tones upon the
great question of the very
356 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
integrity of the Union itself. But
Thomas Morris was no more
capable of adopting such a tone than was
Andrew Jackson him-
self. He had himself appointed a special
committee by the State
Senate, to whom was referred "the
ordinance of the South Caro-
lina Convention," and as such
special committee he reported to
the Senate a series of resolutions as
clear and broad in statement,
as ardent in patriotism, as profound in
their expression of the true
theory of the frame of our government,
as any declaration ever
adopted by any legislative body in the
history of the country. I
beg leave to read these resolutions
touching the greatest political
question that ever arose in the United
States, as being honorable
to the memory of Morris, showing the
grasp and calm wisdom
of his mind, the patriotism of his
spirit, and his extraordinary
power of statement:
Resolved, By the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, that we
view with the deepest regret the unhappy
movements and apparent deter-
mination of the State of South Carolina
to nullify the laws of the General
Government, made in conformity to the
Constitution of the United States.
Resolved, That the Federal Union exists in a solid compact, en-
tered into by the voluntary consent of
each and every State, and that,
therefore, no State can claim the right
to secede from or violate that
compact; and however grievous may be the
supposed or real burdens
of the State, the only legitimate remedy
is in the wise and faithful
exercise of the elective franchise, and
the solemn responsibility of the
public agents.
Resolved, That the doctrine that a State has the power to nullify
a law of the General Government is
revolutionary in its character, and
is, in its nature, calculated to
overthrow the great temple of American
liberty; and that such a course cannot
absolve that allegiance which the
people owe to the supremacy of the laws.
Resolved, That in levying and collecting duties, imposts, and ex-
cises, while the general good should be
the primary object, a special
regard should be had to the end that the
interest and prosperity of
every section of the country should be
equally consulted, and its bur-
dens proportionately distributed.
Resolved, That the first object of the American people should be
to cherish the most ardent attachment to
the Constitution and Laws
of the Union; and, as a first and
paramount object of a free people, we
should use every laudable means to
preserve the Union of these States.
Resolved, That we will support the General Government in all its
constitutional measures to maintain
peace and harmony between the
several States, and preserve the honor
and integrity of the Union.
Thomas Morris. 357
And these resolutions, honorable to this
great state, written
by Morris, were, under his leadership,
adopted by both branches
of the Legislature, and from their
spirit Ohio never departed.
Morris, while a member of the State
Senate, was elected a
Judge of the Supreme Court of the State,
which position for some
unexplained reason he declined. In the
old book of which I have
spoken, mention is made of letters from
judges of the Supreme
Court and other distinguished lawyers to
him, expressing regret
at his declination. He was a Democrat,
and was once nominated
by his party for the United States
Senate at a time when the
Whigs were in the majority, so that he
was not elected, and
afterward, in 1832, when he was elected.
He took his seat in
the United States Senate in December,
1833, and, though modest
in bearing, he made a great record
there. He opposed the United
States Bank in several very weighty
speeches, and made a strong
impression whenever he spoke on any
subject. He joined issue
with John C. Calhoun in a debate that
involved Calhoun's State
Rights-right of secession ideas-and made
a very strong reply
to him, saying, as reported, that
"he professed himself a State-
rights man, but had as high devotion to
the Union as anyone, and
he did not agree with the view of the
Senator (Calhoun) that
this republic was a confederacy of
separate and independent
states. He considered the Constitution
as "adopted and ratified
by the united voice of the people."
To him the Constitution was
the supreme law of the land or it was
nothing. This was in sub-
stance what he had previously said in
his resolutions in the Ohio
Legislature. The speech was a
statement-brief, clear, and com-
prehensive-of the answer to all the
subtle arguments designed
to show that the Union was "a rope
of sand." I venture the
opinion that the simple truth was not
better stated through all
the long discussion on that vexed
question.
Morris distinguished himself chiefly in
the Senate by his
bold opposition to slavery, and won what
should be lasting fame
by a very great speech near the close of
his term, in answer to
Henry Clay, upon slavery and the right
of petition. On the 7th
of February, 1839, Mr. Clay made a
brilliant speech on the slavery
question, in which he deprecated
agitation, appealed with all the
persuasiveness of which he was capable,
to men and women and
358 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
the press to cease all agitation, and
opposed the receiving of peti-
tions of Abolitionists while himself
presenting the petitions of
slave-holders to the Senate. The speech
made a profound im-
pression in the Senate and throughout
the country. It aroused
all the lion in Morris. He waited two
days for some other
Senator to make reply, but there was no
other who dared take
up the dangerous controversy with the
brilliant Kentuckian.
On February 9th, Morris,
standing alone, as he said, with
none to help, made reply in a speech of
great boldness, remarkable
eloquence, and smashing logic. It will
stir one's blood and arouse
one's admiration to read it, even at
this late day. Seldom has
there been a greater speech delivered in
the United States Senate.
The logic of the case, as it had been
stated, was all against Clay,
and Morris was a master of logic. Clay's
speech was really much
better meant than it would seem at this
distance. It was prompted
by patriotic motives. He feared for the
Union. The hour had
not yet come for a trial of military
strength between the North
and the South on the State rights
question, the slavery question,
or any other, and Clay sought to
preserve peace and unity. But
he did not dare to state his whole mind
and motive, and was
driven by the exigencies of the case to
resort to plausible and spe-
cious pleas, to unsound arguments, and
to appeals that were not
supported by such reason as he dared to
urge. Morris could not
dissemble. He saw with clear eye all the
fallacies of the speech
and exposed them, one by one, with
unanswerable argument.
His speech was in no sense a harangue,
there was no attempt "to
tear passion to tatters," there was
no mere invective, but his
strong reasoning glowed with all the
fierce light of his fiery,
slavery-hating, and liberty-loving
spirit. It was a remarkable
event, a Democratic Senator in 1839
making an anti-slavery
speech of great power in answer to the
famous leader of the old
Whigs, and lifting high the banner of
freedom.
Here are the closing words of the
speech:
I do not know, Mr. President, that my
voice will ever again be
heard on this floor. I now willingly,
yes, gladly, return to my con-
stituents, to the people of my own State.
I have spent my life among
them, and the greater portion of it in
their service, and they have be-
stowed their confidence on me in
numerous instances. I feel perfectly
Thomas Morris. 359
conscious that in the discharge of every
trust which they have committed
to me, I have, to the best of my
ability, acted solely with a view to the
general good, not suffering myself to be
influenced by any particular
or private interest whatever, and I now
challenge any who think I have
done otherwise to lay their finger upon
any public act of mine and prove
to the country its injustice or
anti-Republican tendency.
That I have often erred in the selection
of means to accomplish
important ends, I have no doubt, but my
belief in the truth of the
doctrines of the Declaration of
Independence, the political creed of
President Jefferson, remains unshaken and
unsubdued. My greatest
regret is that I have not done more for
the cause of individual and
political liberty than I have done. I
hope, on returning to my home
and friends, to join them again in
rekindling the beacon fires of liberty
upon every hill in our State, until
their broad glare shall enlighten
every valley, and the song of triumph
will soon be heard; for the hearts
of our people are in the hands of a just
and holy Being, who can look
upon oppression but with abhorrence, and
He can turn them whither-
soever He will, as the rivers of water
are turned. Though our National
sins are many and grievous, yet
repentance, like that of Nineveh, may
divert from us that impending danger
which seems to hang over our
heads as by a single hair. That all may
be safe, I conclude that the
negro will yet be free.
We may search long among the
distinguished utterances of
public men and find none nobler than
these closing farewell words
of Thomas Morris in the United States
Senate-brave, honest,
eloquent, prophetic.
Morris knew well the consequences that
would come to him.
He knew that his speech meant the ruin
of all his political pros-
pects. The Democrats of Ohio, and the
Whigs as well, were for
the most part embittered against him. An
effort was made to
have the Legislature demand his
resignation. This only failed
because his time had so nearly expired.
He was bitterly assailed
in the next State Convention. He was
hissed. There were cries
of "Throw him out!" He was not
permitted to speak. They
would not hear him. Benjamin Tappan was
elected to succeed
him in the Senate. Morris narrowly
escaped a mob at Dayton,
where he was advertised to speak in the
courthouse one evening.
Though he feared nothing, he was
persuaded not to attempt to
speak, because the mob was organized and
violent. Eggs were
thrown at him on the streets of Dayton that day. He was
assailed by mobs elsewhere, notably and
viciously at Cleves, in
360
Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications
Hamilton county. But none of these
things moved him. He
only rejoiced in such tribulation. He
became a hero in the eyes
of the Abolitionists. Their papers were
full of his praise. He
was invited to address their meetings in
many cities. He was
nominated by the Liberty party for Vice
President in 1843, and
while he lived did riot cease to avow
and advocate his abolition
sentiments, not as a fanatic, but as a
calm, earnest, wise, and
patriotic statesman-a statesman who
rightly estimated existing
conditions and looked far into the
future.
"In the fullness of time" his
prediction, that to the end
"that all might be safe, the
negro would yet be free," was
fulfilled
amid clash of arms, rattle of musketry,
roar of cannon, "banners
heavy with the blood of the slain."
It was fulfilled, and North
and South are glad of it. They are
united now. The Union is
safe.
Morris died at his home, near Bethel,
December 7, 1844, aged
sixty-eight years-nearly sixty-nine. His
grave, marked by a very
humble slab, may be seen in the shade of
some old trees by the
roadside; but there are few who pass
that way who know it is
there. Written on the slab are these
fine, true words: "Unawed
by power and uninfluenced by flattery,
he was throughout life the
fearless advocate of human
liberty."
I have stated only a little of what he
did, but enough to indi-
cate what he was. His life ought to be
an inspiration to every
young man who is struggling with
adversity, and a proof to every
one who doubts that there is a glory in
devotion to principle,
under all circumstances, regardless of
personal consequences,
that surpasses any glory of riches or
power.
352 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.
THOMAS MORRIS.
BY JAMES B. SWING, CINCINNATI, 0.
It is important that the memory of
strong, brave men, who
have been conspicuous in their day, and
influential for good,
should be kept green. There is nothing
more inspiring than the
story of the life of an intellectual and
moral hero.
There is a noble, a great name in the
history of Ohio that
ought to be remembered and honored of
all, but that is well-nigh
forgotten, a name that perhaps most of
our young men never
heard, the name of Thomas Morris. I have
heard that Hon.
George W. Julian, of Indiana, is writing
a life of this man, and
can congratulate him upon the subject he
has chosen, and con-
gratulate the public upon the prospect
of a valuable addition to the
biographical literature of the day. I
anticipate a fine tribute to
the memory of one who was remarkable for
ability, force of char-
acter, eloquence, courage, and intense
devotion to the cause of the
freedom and equal rights of all men.
Morris was born in Berks county,
Pennsylvania, January 3,
1776. His parents removed to West Virginia when he was a
child. They were very poor, almost as
poor as the father and
mother of Abraham Lincoln, and he grew
up as a poor boy would
in the mountains of West Virginia in
that early day. He came,
with some emigrants, to Hamilton county,
Ohio, in 1795, when
nineteen years of age, and settled at
Columbia, where he became
a clerk in a small grocery, and at a smaller
salary; and while
there he was married to Rachel Davis, a
daughter of Benjamin
Davis, one of the Columbia pioneers. He
had grown to manhood
without educational advantages. It does
not appear that he ever
went to school. His mother had taught
him to read after a
fashion, and the chief, almost the only
book of his childhood read-
ing, was the Bible. He afterward, though
never a professedly
pious man, made most effective use of
his knowledge of the Scrip-
tures in his public speeches, as Tom
Corwin did, and as very many
of the most distinguished lawyers and
statesmen have done. His
mother also taught him to hate slavery,
a lesson he learned well,
as appeared in his after-life. She was a
Virginia woman (born