candidates in
nomination, represented those who were dissatisfied with the various
compromise measures that had been adopted by Congress. The only States
carried by Scott were Vermont, Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

[Illustration: FRANKLIN PIERCE.

(1804-1869.) One term, 1853-1857.]

Franklin Pierce, the fourteenth President, was born at Hillsborough, New
Hampshire, November 23, 1804. Upon his graduation from Bowdoin College,
he became a successful lawyer. He always showed a fondness for military
matters, though not to the extent of neglecting politics and his
profession. He was elected to his State Legislature and was a member of
Congress from 1833 to 1837, and, entering the Senate in 1839, he
remained until 1842, afterward declining a cabinet appointment from
President Polk. He volunteered in the Mexican War, commanded a brigade,
and showed great gallantry in several battles. He died October 8, 1869.

Mr. King, the Vice-President, was in such feeble health that he took the
oath of office in Cuba, and, returning to his native State, died April
18, 1853, being the first vice-president to die in office. One
remarkable fact should be stated regarding the administration of Pierce:
there was not a change in his cabinet throughout his whole term, the
only instance of the kind thus far in our history.

A TREATY WITH JAPAN.

It seems strange that until a few years, Japan was a closed nation to
the world. Its people refused to have anything to do with any other
country, and wished nothing from them except to be let alone. In 1854,
Commodore M.C. Perry visited Japan with an American fleet and induced
the government to make a commercial treaty with our own. This was the
beginning of the marvelous progress of that country in civilization and
education, which forms one of the most astonishing records in the
history of mankind. Japan's overwhelming defeat of China, whose
population is ten times as great as our own; her acceptance of the most
advanced ideas of civilization, and the wisdom of her rulers have
carried her in a few years to a rank among the leading powers and
justified the appellation of the "Yankees of the East," which is
sometimes applied to her people.

FILIBUSTERING.

Pierce's administration was marked by a number of filibustering
expeditions against Spanish possessions in the West Indies. None of them
succeeded, and a number of the leaders were shot by the Spanish
autho