Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. II.djvu/269

 JAMES BUCHANAN 213 France. Mr. Buchanan made a long and earnest speech, contending against Webster and Clay, in support of this measure, insisting that &quot;there is a point in the intercourse between nations at which diplomacy must end and a nation must either con sent to abandon her rights or assert them by force.&quot; There was some danger for a time of war with France, but eventually Great Britain made an offer of mediation and the difficulty was amicably adjusted. In January, 1837, Mr. Buchanan delivered a speech that may be regarded as his ablest effort in the senate. It was in support of Col. Benton s &quot;expunging&quot; resolution, which proposed to cancel in the journal of the senate Mr. Clay s resolution of censure against President Jackson for his re moval of the public deposits from the bank of the United States. In this argument Mr. Buchanan separated, in a remarkable degree, that which was personal and partisan in the controversy from the serious questions involved. He contended that the censure passed by the senate in 1834 upon the presi dent was unjust, because he had violated no law; and that the senate, in recording such a mere censure, adopted in its legislative capacity, had rendered itself incompetent to perform its high judicial function of impeachment. He concluded with a very ingenious and elaborate criticism of the