ded in
its prosperity nor disgraced by corruption in high places. No one can,
of course, be held responsible for sudden deaths among men. A single
month in office ended President Harrison's life, when the plaint of
Burke occurred to all, "What shadows we are, what shadows we pursue!"
In June, 1841, Major-General Macomb having died, General Scott was
called to take up his residence in Washington as general in chief of
the army. Among his first orders was one which put a stop to arbitrary
and illegal punishments in the army.

An effort was made in the House of Representatives of the next
Congress in 1844 to reduce his pay, but being resisted by Charles J.
Ingersoll, of Philadelphia, and ex-President John Quincy Adams, it was
voted down by a large majority. Mr. Adams, in the course of his
remarks in opposition to the resolution, said that he "felt bound to
declare that he did think it a very ill reward for the great and
eminent services of General Scott during a period of thirty odd years,
in which there were some as gallant exploits as our history could
show, and in which he had not spared to shed his blood, as well as for
more recent services of great importance in time of peace--services of
great difficulty and great delicacy--now to turn him adrift at his
advanced age.... That he could not for a moment harbor in his heart
the thought that General Scott, if he had received from the Government
thousands of dollars more than he had, would have received one dollar
which he did not richly deserve at the hands of his country."

On February 9, 1843, he wrote from Washington to T.P. Atkinson, of
Danville, Va., in reply to a letter from that gentleman, asking his
opinions on the question of slavery. Mr. Atkinson was the son of an
old friend of General Scott, and the letter was written to him as a
probable candidate for the presidency. He took the position in this
letter that Congress had no power under the Constitution to interfere
with or legislate on the question of slavery within the States. He
argued that it was the duty of Congress, however, to receive, refer,
and report upon petitions which might be presented to it on the
question of slavery, as on all other questions. He did not blame
masters for not liberating their slaves, as he thought it would
benefit neither the masters nor the slaves. He, however, held it to be
the duty of slave owners to employ all means not incompatible with the
safety of both master and slave