r, while most of the
members went armed, not knowing what minute they would be assaulted. In
May, 1856, Senator Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, for utterances made
in debate, was savagely assaulted by Preston S. Brooks, of South
Carolina, and received injuries from which he did not recover for
several years. Brooks was lionized in the South for his brutal act and
re-elected to Congress by an overwhelming majority.

The Republican party was growing rapidly in strength, and in 1856 it
placed its candidates in the field and astonished the rest of the
country by the vote it rolled up, as shown in the following statistics:

James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, Democrat, 174; John C. Fremont, of
California, Republican, 114; Millard Fillmore, of New York, Native
American, 8. For Vice-President, John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky,
Democrat, 174; William L. Dayton, of New Jersey, Republican, 114; A.J.
Donelson, of Tennessee, Native American, 8.

JAMES BUCHANAN.

[Illustration: JAMES BUCHANAN.

(1791-1868.) One term, 1857-1861.]

James Buchanan, fifteenth President, was born in Mercersburg,
Pennsylvania, April 23, 1791, and graduated from Dickinson College in
1809. He became a lawyer, was elected to the State Legislature and to
Congress in 1821. Thenceforward, he was almost continuously in office.
President Jackson appointed him minister to Russia in 1832, but, soon
returning home, he was elected to the United States Senate in 1834. He
left that body, in 1845, to become Polk's secretary of State. In 1853,
he was appointed minister to England, where he remained until his
election to the presidency in 1856. He died at his home in Lancaster,
June 1, 1868. The many honors conferred upon Buchanan prove his ability,
though he has been often accused of showing timidity during his term of
office, which was of the most trying nature. He was the only bachelor
among our Presidents.

STATES ADMITTED.

Minnesota was admitted to the Union in 1858. It was a part of the
Louisiana purchase. Troubles over the Indian titles delayed its
settlement until 1851, after which its growth was wonderfully rapid.
Oregon was admitted in 1859. The streams of emigration to California
overflowed into Oregon, where some of the precious metal was found. It
was learned, however, in time that Oregon's most valuable treasure mine
was in her wheat, which is exported to all parts of the world. Kansas,
of which we have given an account in the preceding pages,