MARCY, WILLIAM LEARNED American statesman, was born in Southbridge, Mass., on Dec. 52, He graduated at Brown university in 18o8, studied law, was admitted to the bar in Troy, N.Y., and began practice there in 581o. During the War of 1812 he served as a captain of volunteers, and Oct.
22, 1812 took part in the storming of the British post at St. Regis, Canada. In 1816 he became recorder of Troy, but he was removed from office in 1818 by his political opponents. As editor of the Troy Budget he was a vigorous supporter of Martin Van Buren, and when Van Buren's followers acquired control of the legislature in 1821 Marcy was made adjutant-general of the New York militia. From 1823 to 1829 Marcy was comptroller of the State, an office then especially important on account of the large expenditures for internal improvements, and during this period he became the leading member of the famous "Albany regency" (q.v.), a group of able Democratic politicians who exerted a powerful influence throughout the State by their control of the party patronage and machinery. He was one of the asso ciate justices of the New York supreme court from 5829 to 1831, presiding over the trial of the alleged murderers of William Mor gan and in other important cases; and was a member of the United States Senate from Dec. 1831 to July 1832, when he resigned to become governor of New York. In a speech in the Senate def end ing Van Buren against an attack by Henry Clay, Marcy made the unfortunate remark that "to the victors belong the spoils of the enemy," and thereby became widely known as a champion of the proscription of political opponents. He served as governor of New York for six years (1833-38 inclusive). As governor he secured the enactment, in 1838, of a general banking law, which abolished the monopoly features incident to the old banking system. In he was recognized as one of the leaders of the "Hunkers," or regular Democrats in New York, and an active opponent of the "Barnburners." He was secretary of war under President Polk from 1845 to 1849, and as such discharged with ability the especially onerous duties incident to the conduct of the Mexican War.
From 1853 to 1857 he served the term as secretary of State in the cabinet of President Pierce. Few cabinet officers in time of peace have had more engrossing duties. His circular in 1853 to
American diplomatic agents abroad, recommending that, when ever practicable, they should "appear in the simple dress of an American citizen," created much discussion in Europe; in 1867 his recommendation was enacted into a law of Congress. In the same year he secured the negotiation of the Gadsden Treaty (see GADSDEN, JAMES), by which the boundary dispute between Mexico and the United States was adjusted and a large area was added to the Federal domain. The expedition of William Walker (q.v.) to Nicaragua in 1855 further complicated the Central American situation. The diplomatic relations of the United States and Spain growing out of the noted "Black Warrior Case" fur nished, perhaps, the most perplexing of Marcy's problems, and it was largely due to his influence that war was averted. However, he was not averse to increasing his popularity and his chances for the presidency by obtaining Cuba in an honourable manner, and it was at his suggestion that James Buchanan, J. Y. Mason and Pierre Soule, the ministers respectively to Great Britain, France and Spain, met at Ostend and Aix-la-Chapelle in Oct. 1854 to discuss the Cuban question. But the remarkable "Ostend Mani festo" (q.v.), the outcome of their conference, was quite unex pected, and Marcy promptly disavowed the document. In domes tic affairs Marcy was a shrewd, but honest partisan ; in diplomacy he exhibited the qualities of a broadminded, patriotic statesman, endowed, however, with vigour, rather than brilliancy, of intellect. He died at Ballston Spa, N.Y., on July 4, For his early career, consult J. S. Jenkins, Lives of the Governors of New York (Auburn, N.Y., 1851) ; and for his work as secretary of State, see James Ford Rhodes, History of the United States (vols. i. and ii., 1892), and an article by Sidney Webster, "Mr. Marcy, the Cuban Question, and the Ostend Manifesto" (in vol. viii. of the Politi cal Science Quarterly, 1893) ; J. B. Moore, "A Great Secretary of State," Pol. Sci. Quart. (vol. xxx., P. 377-396, Lancaster, Pa., 1915) ; "Diary and Memoranda of William L. Marcy, 1849-51," American Hist. Rev. (vol. xxiv., P. 641-653, Lancaster, Pa., 1919) ; De Alva S. Alexander, A Political History of the State of New York (1906-1923).