[1] Henrietta was the sister of Samuel J. to whom, on the fifth of the month preceding the date of this letter, for the first and only occasion in his life he opened his mind on the subject of matrimony, a topic at that time of serious concern to her. See Bigelow's Life of Tilden, Vol. I., p. 80. Before the expiration of the year of which this letter bears date, she died. The brother when he wrote this letter was living with an aunt who kept a boarding-house at what was then the upper part of Broadway.
[2] Proprietor of the Hartford Times at the date and United States Senator from Connecticut.
[3] Lewis Gaylord Clark.
[4] The place of attorney for the City and County of New York for which this address to the Democratic members of the Common Council, was the only office Mr. Tilden ever held by appointment. He held it but about one year, during which time he docketed 123 judgments for violations of city ordinances.
[5] This letter first appeared in print in the Life of Tilden, Vol. I., p. 102.
[6] The paper here referred to was the New York Daily News. For an account of Tilden's connection with its establishment and management, see Life of Tilden, Vol. I., p. 108.
[7] The triumph of the Native American party.
The purpose of the advisers of President Polk to prostrate the political organization of which Mr. Van Buren and Governor Wright were the most conspicuous representatives was scarcely disguised in the appointment of Mr. Van Ness as Collector of the Port of New York. Their part in preventing the organization of five more slave States, with their ten pro-slavery Senators, instead of one State with but two pro-slavery Senators, was such an offence to the Nullifiers of the South that the President, a citizen of a slave State, was compelled very reluctantly to yield to it and use his patronage accordingly.
The effort was made to seduce Tilden from his allegiance to his friends in New York by the offer of the naval office, then a lucrative and honorable position. Tilden had but just completed the thirty-first year of his age; the emoluments of the office were some twenty thousand dollars a year; the labor and responsibility inconsiderable. Tilden was poor, and many years must elapse before he could hope for any such revenue from his profession. The offer, however tempting it was, he promptly declined, saying that he did not labor for the election of President Polk to push his private interests; that when he was admitted to the bar he resolved that he would hold no merely lucrative office, and that, if he took any, it must be in the line of his profession or a post of honor, but under the then existing circumstances he could accept of nothing from this administration.
From this time forth there were practically two Democratic parties, so called, in the State of New York: one led by William L. Marcy, and vulgarly known by their adversaries sometimes as "Hardshells," and sometimes as "Hunkers," who were either in favor of or not opposed to the extension of slavery into the free Territories from which it had been excluded by the ordinance of 1789; and the other led by Silas Wright while he lived, also vulgarly known sometimes as the "Softshells," and sometimes as "Barnburners," who were opposed to the extension of slavery into those Territories.
Though the division lines of these parties, like those of latitude and longitude, were not visible to the eye, nor the parties themselves sufficiently organized to occupy hostile camps, the ends towards which they were severally working were quite as distinct as if they were.
The following letter was probably addressed to William L. Marcy, who had allowed himself to be made the instrument of the pro-slavery contingent in New York, and had been on that account selected by the President as his Secretary of War.[8]
"New York, 1845.
"I cannot give you in full detail the grounds of the almost universal odium with which Mr. Van Ness is regarded by the Democracy of this city and State, but will briefly allude to some of them.
"His appointment was not originally recognized as a Democratic one or received from a recognized Democratic President. He was personally and politically a stranger; did not occupy that proper representative relation to the party here to make his selection proper or acceptable, or to give him or entitle him to their confidence. On the contrary, all that was known of his private character and of his political tendencies was calculated to repel such confidence.
"His conduct since has confirmed and exacerbated the sentiments with which his original appointment was regarded. In his official action and his political influence he has been the mere representative and instrument of a miserable little faction, whose fortunes he has solved equally when it was in a state of partial alienation and open hostility to the Democratic party and its regular nominations. For months after Mr. Polk's nomination, for two-thirds of the whole canvass, he was an open and decided supporter of Mr. Tyler. All sorts of intrigue were employed by this little band of officeholders and their dependents to exact from the mass of the party a partial approval of Mr. Tyler's administration and an adoption of his appointments as a condition precedent to his withdrawal. Such had been the abuses and corruptions of his administration in the use of its patronage here—incredible to those who like yourself have looked upon them from a less central position—and shocking to the moral sense of honest men of all parties; such was the general disgust and hostility pervading the masses of the Democracy which had been for several years vexed by the abuses and corruptions of the government patronage employed for the purpose of distracting the party; so large was the number who had been the subject of exclusion and proscription because of their very political fidelity, and so large also the number who desired a new distribution of official favors, that such a concession as was demanded would have revolted public sentiment, in all probability have lost this city by a very large majority. Such was the conviction at the time of our soundest and most judicious men, who kindly and temperately but firmly resisted and defeated the project.
"The perilous crisis in our local politics you may form some idea of, if you will remember that there were then, delicately poised and uncertain to go for Clay or Polk until within a few weeks of the election, a body of men more than sufficient to have changed the result in this State. Mr. Polk has now to choose between the 19/20ths of the party and this faction; between the disinterested and honest who were true to his and the party's interest, and the venal gathered from all former parties into the common receptacle of Tylerism, who would have sacrificed both to their own mercenary objects. His choice between them will indicate the morale of his character and administration. Ever since Mr. Tyler's attempt in 1841 to become the Presidential candidate of the Democracy, the patronage of the government in this city has been assiduously employed to harass or control the party here. It was managed by Mr. Curtis, who was skilful in if not the originator of all the corrupt tactics of the Glentworth school; and since his removal, his machinery has been used by Mr. Van Ness [with] much more industry and zeal and with no less profligacy."
"Washington, March 4, 1845.
"My dear Sir,—I have received your letter of yesterday, which is much more acceptable than your personal presence. Indeed, I suppose that your intelligence from Albany would have changed the design, even if you had entertained it, of coming here. I did not expect you to start before Mon. morning.[10]
"As far as your personal position is concerned, it is sustained by your renewed declension—perhaps uttered, although that it did not need. For be assured that nothing has been done to bring in question the sincerity and reality of your declension, as well as the good faith of your grounds, but everything to satisfy both. It, however, does lessen our right, or apparent right, to complain of the precipitancy of Mr. Polk's action before the receipt of Mr. Van Buren's letter.
"I judge from your letter that every time the excitement of the particular motive operating on your mind for the moment to accept any department, subsides, your aversion returns and strengthens. This shows that it is the predominant and settled conviction, which ought not to be, without imperative necessity, disregarded, and applies even in the case of a recast. In this connection, I should add to the hasty view of the affair I yesterday gave you that Bancroft thinks that if you had accepted the War a recast could have been had, and intimates the possibility as if from the President. This may be so—others have thought so the whole time—but I doubt, for reasons I will explain when I see you.
"Last evening we had an interview with the President. Representations had been made to him which were repeated by us and which he said convinced him of his error, but it was now too late to retract if the Heavens and the Earth came together. He assured us that he had acted from misinformation, and with the best intentions—that he would do all he could to counteract the consequences of his error—that he should be President himself, although not coming in with the same personal strength as some of his predecessors, and would protect us from any malign influences—that in regard to the important appointments in N. Y. he would rely on his old friends and act with the concurrence of V. B. and W. He has repeatedly and to different persons pledged himself as to the Collector. His asseverations of attachment, fidelity, and fair dealing towards N. Y. were earnest and strong, almost passing dignity, yet with an air of sincerity which made a strong impression as to mere personal intentions.
"Still I have perhaps more fears than hopes. The administration is captured by the quasi-Van Buren men who went with us before Baltimore but deserted us there; who cannot risk the power of the government in those who understand and remember them; and confederate now against Wright. At least that seems to me the influence—which in spite of Polk's probable intentions—has shaped the Cabinet. Calhoun has no share. There will be no one in the Cabinet on whom N. Y. can rely. Buchanan you know. Walker has a strong will enough to predominate over all the rest. Marcy is taken by the same influence which selected Walker because while he answers some of the demands of decency towards N. Y. is least identified with Wright. Mason, Atty. Gen. (unless to James) and R. Johnson. How can Bancroft stand up against all the others?
"Truly y'rs,
"S. J. Tilden."
"New York, March 8, 1845.
"Dear Sir,—I have seen Secor. He says that he only contemplated speaking to Langley, if you had no objection, but to go no further. That he did not suppose you understood or thought or expected him to transfer to anybody unless for a price. That he would write to you immediately.
"You will see Purdy is going ahead for Collector. He has been recommended by both of the Genl. Committees, various ward associations, and a German meeting. Secor tells me he also has a strong letter from Van Buren, and he went to Albany last night to get testimonials from there, I suppose. If he is appointed he will fill the Custom House with a laughable assortment—good, bad, and indifferent. I am inclined to believe that he will be more thorough in turning out than we expected. Of course you understand that all his recommendations are bargained for; places are to be given to the men who get them up. If he succeeds you may rely that the dissatisfaction which his appointment will excite will be excessive. There is one way to [head?] him. That is a merchants' memorial, asking that none but a commercial man be appointed. This would do, and Havemeyer could be made Collector and Purdy Postmaster. But nothing ought to be done unless Polk is entirely straight.
"Henry, my brother, is just down, has been at Albany. Our friends are very much dissatisfied. Polk's offers to Wright and Butler are not regarded as having been made in good faith. It is supposed that he has his eye on a second term. I incline to concur in the first partially—that is, they were mere compliments—not in the second. I think Polk is as weak as dish-water, but honest. If he is really so, and could or would be wise, he should send in Havemeyer's name forthwith. I do not believe that our friends north of this can be induced to urge it. By the way, Purdy's movements to get this office are, and his appointments would be, a second edition of Jesse Hoyt's. This is by far the most important thing to be seen to now.
"I suppose if Bancroft is confirmed you will get on finely with the Renshaw business. There will be nothing to call you home in some days.
"Yours truly,
"N. J. W.
"S. J. Tilden, Esq."
"Hudson, March 17, 1845.
"My dear Sir,—An hour or so before I left Washington I learned of an act of my friend O'Sullivan which gave me some annoyance and which I intended at once to explain to you. I should have done so before except for a rapid current of business which hurried me here.
"You might, fairly enough, perhaps, suppose that O'S.'s act, although not instigated by me, was induced by his knowledge of my views. But such an inference would be unjust to me. I suppose the thing was suggested to him by two circumstances. First, his knowledge that Mr. Croswell had, in December, proposed it to me with some urgency, and, as (after casting about to discover his motive for a proposition which had until then never been presented to my own mind) I concluded to interest myself in behalf of Gov. Marcy for a Cabinet appointment, which I had at the time declined to do. Second, the arrival the night before of a gentleman from New York who said that my name had been discussed—in highly respectable quarters certainly—in reference to the Collectorship. In reply to some remarks of O'S. afterwards, I said that even if that idea had been seriously entertained I should not desire the place both from inadequacy to its physical labor and aversion to its hangman's duty at the present time. In that connection, the other place was spoken of as free from these objections and nearly as advantageous to me personally, and in reference to the political administration, as the Collectorship; but I said, that while the large value and light labor of it would be attractive, I should hesitate to take it, even if it were offered to me, which I certainly did not expect, from reluctance to hold a mere pecuniary, professional office, and to surrender or so far postpone my professional pursuits. I did not, I suppose, decide the question, because spoken of casually, as it was, I had no thought that it was, or was ever to become, a case to be decided.
"The moment I learned what O'S. had done, I told him that it was wrong—that you and Mr. V. B. ought, in no case, to make any recommendations until the Collectorship was settled and settled properly, because it might, on some pretence or claim of apportionment between the different sections of the party, embarrass that case. I should have written on my way back to that effect had not Gen. Dix, whom I saw just as I was starting, told me he had done so.
Aside from this, I considered the question a balanced one, which I could not decide in favor of acceptance without some consideration and advice. Under no circumstances which I now contemplate could I present myself as an applicant for a place of this description. I did not know that after what has occurred you and Mr. V. B. would intermeddle at all in such matters."
"Albany, May 1, 1845.
"My dear Sir,—Your note of the 26. ult. was duly recd. and I will attempt to give you a brief reply to it.
"The pardon of Honoria Shepherd was granted upon the exclusive application of the Inspectors and Keepers of the Prison, upon the ground that she was effectually reformed, and that longer confinement would be injurious, and not beneficial. Miss Bruce, one of the Assistant Matrons of the prison, came up in person to get the pardon, and said her health compelled her to leave the prison, that she was about to go to Illinois to reside, and that she proposed to take Honoria with her, and keep her with her in Illinois.
"I have sent copies of all the papers in this case to Judge Edmonds, who was a leading person in the application, upon whom I principally relied, and he will show them to you, if you wish to look at them. He, too, will advise about any defence of men in this case.
"Thomas Henry was pardoned upon the recommendation of the Board of Inspectors of the prison, upon the ground that he was in a confirmed consumption, was a patient in the Hospital, a constant expense, and must remain so while he lived, and that he had friends who were willing to receive, nurse, and take care of him, if pardoned. This was a voluntary report of the Board of Inspectors, embracing the report of the Surgeon upon 13 permanent invalid Convicts, only two of whom were known to have friends able or willing to take and take care of them, and those the inspectors recommended for pardons, considering it inhumane to ask pardons for the others to turn them out sick and without home, or friends. I. Parsons of your city is the father-in-law of Henry, and takes him to take care of him. Parsons is a Ship joiner and Spar maker, and his daughter, the wife of Henry, who came for the pardon, has a highly respectable appearance.
"The pardon of George Potter was granted upon the application of William F. Godfrey of your City, who gave his address to me as No. 94 Grove Street. He brought a letter of introduction to Judge Edmonds, speaking of him as his neighbor, referring to his business and saying 'I beg to say that you can fully rely upon his representations in the matter.'
"Godfrey presented a petition numerous and respectably signed, representing Potter, though guilty, as the dupe of old offenders, the offence for which he was convicted as his first offence, and him as very penitent and subdued, and earnestly praying his pardon.
"Potter was arrested on fresh pursuit, on the charge of picking a pocket in Broadway, and the report of the testimony showed that he was one of 4 or 5 who must have committed the felony. One witness was very positive that Potter took the pocket book, but another witness testified that he arrested Potter, that he kept his eye upon him from the time he started to run, and that, upon search, no pocket book, or money, was found upon him. Yet that he was principal or accessory, there is no doubt.
"A letter from James M. Smith Jr., Attorney for Potter on his trial, says Potter always avowed that he did not pick the pocket, and expresses the belief that, though guilty, he was the dupe of others.
"A letter from the Keeper of the Prison says 'Potter has conducted very well, since he has been an inmate of this prison, and he appears to show deep contrition for his "crime" and degradation; but he is a man of peculiar temperament, which renders it extremely difficult to judge, with any degree of certainty, the true state of his feelings.'
"This is a brief sketch of the paper case presented. Mr. Godfrey assumed to speak of Potter from personal knowledge, and said he came to this country from England, some year and a half ago, a young man, with a wife and two or three children, and with $15,000 in cash; that he fell into the company of some English blacklegs in New York, who induced him to gamble, drink, and carouse with them, until they stripped him of his money, and vitiated his habits, and rendered him desperate from want, when they commenced to initiate him into the art and mysteries of picking pockets; that in his first attempt he was caught and convicted, while the real rogues and the booty escaped; that his friends in England had been kept in ignorance of his course and his fate; that they were wealthy and respectable; that friends in New York had sent his wife and children to them, instructing her not to tell of his condition; and that they were satisfied his disgrace and punishment had prepared him, if pardoned and sent to them, to pursue a different and an honest and respectable course, and they only asked a pardon conditioned that he should leave the country, never to return to it.
"Confiding in these representations of Mr. Godfrey, I granted the pardon with such a condition, and I now suppose Potter sailed for England either on the 15th or 20th of April.
"Since I have seen the strictures in the newspapers upon this case, I have been very fearful that I was imposed upon by Mr. Godfrey, and especially as he has not come forward either to justify, or excuse, my act. I did act principally upon his representations, under Mr. Edmond's endorsement of him, and I should, at the least, have required him to put those statements upon paper, and made them upon his oath. I did neither.
"Now as to the matter of explanation and defense, I have felt in no haste, because I am sensible that I may deserve some castigation for having been too yielding in the first and last of these cases, and I have endeavored to school myself neither to wince, nor to be made sour by fault finding, which I am conscious I deserve, but to try to be improved and made better by it. If I were to make a defence for myself I should make about the substance of these remarks and this Confession a preface to it, and yet it might not be either very graceful, or very wise.
"This matter of pardons is the most troublesome to me of anything I yet find connected with my troublesome office. The applications will, I think, average from 3 to 5 per day, from the day I took the oath of office. My predecessor left an enormous legacy of undecided cases, and several with promises of pardons after specific periods, which are occasionally falling in, and this has greatly increased my labor.
"I do not intend to exercise this fearful power carelessly, or loosely, and yet I feel daily that I am in danger of doing it. I find that Courts, and Judges, and Jurors, and District Attorneys, sign with some of the facility which attends applications for office, and that the officers of the prison are also sometimes under the influence of the amiable weakness, so that there is no standard by which I can govern my action, and it is probably impossible to avoid occasional impositions.
"I thank you most sincerely for your friendly care, manifested by your note, and will now leave these cases with you, and Mr. O'Sullivan, with whom I had a hasty verbal conversation about them yesterday.
"Will you do me the favor to read this hasty letter to my friend Judge Vanderpoel, and say to him that I should have written it to him, if I had not preferred to trouble you with it, that I thank him most earnestly for his letter to Mr. Van Buren, and have intended to write him daily, since I saw that letter, but have not been able to find the time; and that, while I will hold this as the necessary answer from me to the part of it touching pardons, I will soon write him a satisfactory reply to the personal portions of it, for which I also thank him, as he is one of the last men I would have intentionally wounded by a careless, and what was intended to be a jocose remark.
"I am Very Truly Y'rs,
"Silas Wright."
"Washington, May 31 (Sat.), 2:30 P.M., 1845.
"My Dear O'S.,—At the levee last evening which I attended for the purpose, I made an appointment with the Pres., and am now waiting in the War for the Cabinet to disperse.
"In the afternoon I had seen Ritchie for a few moments, and made an engagement with him. I had a considerable talk with Seth Barton at the levee and with Tom Green at breakfast. All of them introduced the subject of the Collectorship, and all of them especially warned me against imprudence or menace in the interview which they seem to assume I am to have with the Pres.—all tell me he is very sensitive to the idea of compulsion—and that the greatest obstacle we have is the indiscretion of some of us or of those who favor us. They all are exceedingly afraid that they may be thought to be afraid, which shows, I suppose, that they are only calmly conscious of their own courage. But only think of it—such admonitions to me! the very incarnation of Falstaffian valor!
"I replied to Ritchie's caution—which was the first I received; and which was given when I was talking with some decision, with great dignity. I ought to have thanked him for its good intention while I intimated that it was superfluous—I told him that I did not come here to forget what was due to Mr. Polk or what was due to myself; I had no design to obtrude upon the President; I had no personal interest in the question about Van Ness or any solicitude except as it should affect the party and the administration; my only doubt was whether I should seek an interview on the subject; I was willing to state facts, make explanations, expose the whole truth, if the President desired to hear it, respectfully but frankly; the administration was mainly interested in coming to a right decision. We had no idea of hostility to it if it was faithful to our principles—the only question was whether it was to assail us. All we asked of it was to let us alone. Our politics were now in excellent condition. We could take care of the Whigs and Conservatives together if the administration would not systematically embarrass us, and I rather thought we could if it did. But we thought we were entitled to an amnesty from our friends at least while we were so busy with our enemies. The old gentleman seemed greatly mystified, but I promised to explain hereafter.
"(Confidential.)
"Sund. Morn.
"I was not able to send my letter yesterday, and now add a word. I had an interview with the President yesterday. I ran over the case of Van Ness pretty freely. He replied at considerable length, ascribing the delay in his removal to the improper manner in which it had been demanded. He did not say, but implied that he had never intended not to remove him; made no defence or argument on the question of its propriety; merely excused the delay. Mr. Butler, he said, had written to him that it would do no harm to retain him until the year expired, if it were immediately announced that a particular man would then be appointed. He complained bitterly of the attempts to intimidate and coerce him—talking magnificently about being himself President and the locum tenen for nobody; said that in his own time, perhaps Monday, perhaps afterwards, Van Ness should be removed, but swore with that terrible oath, "if the heavens and the earth come together," by which Ritchie and Green and Barton had successively warned me he might refuse if a mischance word of mine should chafe his angry mood, that he would not appoint Coddington. He should select a man, he said, who would be received with applause throughout the State; on his own judgment, whom he knew and had served with. Who that man was he did not say and I did not inquire, though I did express myself with some freedom as to what the man should do. Probably the question may now be deemed settled; for you remember he employed the same planetary concussion to illustrate the fixed irrevocable fate by which Marcy was to represent New York in the Cabinet. His solemn form of fiat, I suppose, answers as the "By the Eternal" of the younger Hickory, and, being partly of earth and partly of heaven, is undoubtedly of an improved quality of imaginary thunder. Still it did not shake my nerves, as a lady's displeasure might. I took it quietly, and talked occasionally as I had a chance, not so fully on all points as I wished, or mean, if an opportunity comes unsought; but, although I was conscious of having exposed myself to a part of a very respectable performance for the benefit of the rebellious Butler, Dix, and O'Sullivan, in which, perhaps, I might lose a little when it came to be privately repeated to the Cabinet and confidants, I thought that, nevertheless, I should not be justified in converting farce into tragedy. So I behaved well and was myself well treated. I inquired what was the 'intimidation' and 'coercion' referred to, and I believe was not very definitely answered. The only specification I got was letters from three—not more, he said, than three persons, whose names, he said, he would not tell me—who might never know about it themselves, whom he could not answer without getting into a correspondence inconsistent with his dignity, who might not be aware of the expressions they had incautiously and rashly used. Your letter to Bancroft was distinctly alluded to as, among other offences, alleging 'violated pledges.' I expressed great doubts whether its contents had not been exaggerated, and when he said he had not seen it, and it was not intended for him, advised him to get it and read it. The warmth of these communications I vindicated as true representations of public feeling, expressed in honest freedom; though this part of the subject came up when the interview was forced to a close, and I could not do full justice. Some explanations, which it was not prudent to make in the danger of exoneration, I have since made to his intimates with kindness but clearness and coldness, and shall to him if circumstances solicit. Am not I a lucky fellow? Soothed all day by the fiery Southerns, and then sitting quietly, as in a summer shower, when the storm is beating fiercely on those imprudent young men, Butler, Dix, O'Sullivan—even, while refreshing myself, putting up my umbrella to protect them! I only talked treason.
"He felt deeply the warm letter of his old friend Hoffman—an honest man. He would swear by him, live by him, die by him. I added Mr. H. was a true-hearted man—he was the last man almost from whom I parted; I had a long conversation with him. He fully concurred in the indispensable necessity of removing Van Ness—in the earnest and strong convictions expressed by the others on that subject. The Pr. replied not. I think it was he that told me, and then that there had been letters saying that Hoffman would make his own acceptance conditional on V. N.'s removal. No, it was Cave Johnson afterwards.
"The President expressed great sorrow that he could not see Silas Wright for an hour and have his advice. As to what, I did not certainly understand."
"Private.
East Hampton, June 21, 1845.
"My Dear Sir,—I wrote to you some time ago in relation to the N. Y. collectorship. Since then the matter has been disposed of; but in such a way that I naturally feel a curiosity to know, as far as it is proper that I should, the ground taken by the President in declining to appoint Mr. Coddington. I have seen a letter designed as a justification of the Cabinet in the matter; but there is no allusion in it to assurances given to others as well as myself that the appointment would be made in accordance with the wishes of Mr. Wright and his friends.
"My letter, I presume, reached you; but as I have heard nothing from you in relation to your visit to Washington, it has occurred to me that there might have been some mistake about it.
I am, Dr. Sir, Yours truly,
"John A. Dix."
"New York, October 13, 1845.
"Hon. Charles P. Brown.
"My Dear Sir,—Contrary to my expectations, I find my name among those from which your convention are about to select candidates for the Assembly. I had so uniformly expressed my strong repugnance to any nomination this fall, and the grounds of it, that I did not suppose any misapprehension could exist on the subject; but I am now compelled to ask you to lay this communication before the body over which you preside.
"If the present were an occasion of peculiar or unusual importance, and if I flattered myself that I was capable of rendering essential service on such an occasion—nothing, in my power and consistent with other obligations, would be withheld, or ever will be withheld, from the interest, the honor, or the wishes of the Democratic party. But I am not able to take any view of the time or of myself which does not allow me, in this political calm, to devote myself to professional and private business on which alone I rely for an independent livelihood, and which the more imperatively claims my attention now from the partial withdrawal of it during the great contest of last year. I, therefore, respectfully decline a nomination.
Truly Y'r Friend,
"S. J. Tilden."
As Mr. Wright had yielded very reluctantly, and more to Mr. Tilden's solicitations than probably to those of any other person, to leave the Federal Senate to be the Governor of New York, he had a right to insist upon Mr. Tilden's coming to the legislature, where his services were regarded by Mr. Wright as practically indispensable to him in the discharge of his executive duties. Mr. Tilden therefore did not press his objection to the nomination he had declined.
"New York, November 4 (1 P.M.), 1845.
"My dear Sir,—I thank you for your two letters, tho' I have not before been able to reply to them.
"My opinion is that our whole Assembly ticket will be elected. Col. Stevenson may be in danger, and if the current opinion were reliable would be, but I think he will succeed. As to myself, the opposition at the country meeting was inconsiderable in point of numbers; but it was the only hostile organization not counteracted by a friendly one, and I am the only candidate left off from any of the pretendedly Democratic ballots. I expect to be scratched by some of those who were hostile to Mr. Van Buren, some of those who are hostile to Mr. Wright—the Tyler rowdies and the Walsh men."
"The Board of County Canvassers of the City and County of New York, having canvassed and estimated the votes given in the several election districts of said city and county at a general election held the fourth day of November, 1845, do hereby certify, determine, and declare that Alexander Stewart, Alexander Wells, Samuel J. Tilden, Jonathan D. Stevenson, John E. Develin, Gerardus Boyce, Joseph C. Albertson, Wilson Small, James H. Titus, Robert H. Ludlow, Joshua Fleet, Thomas Spofford, and John Townsend, by the greatest number of votes, were duly elected members of Assembly.
"And the said Board of County Canvassers do further certify, determine, and declare that Samuel Osgood, by the greatest number of votes, was duly elected Register of the City and County of New York.
"Dated New York, November 21, 1845.
"B. J. Meserole,
"Alex. H. Robertson, Chairman.
"Deputy County Clerk and Secretary."
"Washington, December 19, 1845.
"My Dear Sir,—I sent you Fremont's report, which I presume you have ere this received.
"As to matters here, I really know as little as yourself—I mean of the views and intentions of the administration. My intercourse with the President is official; and the Secretary of the Treasury I have not yet seen. I came here with the determination of acquiescing in whatever should be desired in respect to organization. I have acted on this determination. In respect to measures, I consider myself free to act according to the dictates of my judgment. Happily, the President's recommendations I cordially approve, and I shall give them my zealous support. Where we shall land is doubtful. We have an able and adroit opposition; and advantage will be taken of the minutest error in our movements. We had abundant proof of this in the matter of Cass's resolutions. I never saw two cleverer cases of genteel sparring than that of Cass by Crittenden and Allen by Clayton.
"I wish to open a correspondence with Mr. Kittell. Will you put me in the way of it?
"There are a few measures I have much at heart—the warehouse system and the branch mint at N. Y.; the great measures, of course, take care of themselves.
"You know I shall always be happy to hear from you. I will write when I can. But I am a new member, have everything to learn, and not half time enough to learn it in.
"I cannot yet say whether there is any truth in the report as to Lawrence. His name is not yet before us. Indeed, we were in executive session yesterday for the first time, and I suppose the President has been waiting for us to organize before sending in the great mass of his nominations.
"Yours truly,
"John A. Dix."
"New York, December 25, 1845.
"My dear Sir,—A few days since I received a note from your brother requesting me to call and see him, and I was distressed to find that in the short interval since I had last met him his health had become so dangerously worse. He is anxious to obtain a consulship or some other place which will give him the benefit of a climate better adapted to a chronic pulmonary disease, and a reasonable support while subjecting himself to its remedial influence. I need not say I felt a strong sympathy for him; but I feel some disability for rendering him useful aid, which I will in part explain and which he and you will appreciate. Although he sustained the Democratic ticket at the late general election, and did service which I understand has been handsomely recognized by the President, his course was so little conspicuous that the impression left by his association with former events will naturally predominate in the minds of the party generals. If, therefore, the administration should regard the case in the light of mere party expediency, I do not think I could in candor towards them say what would be of much avail to him; especially as caution in my expressions being the more necessary lest I should expose myself to be quoted not merely as offering a particular instance in regard to which I should have no hesitation if it stood alone, but as contributing to and thus sanctioning a general distinction of local patronage which is objected to, in part on the same ground on which this might be exposed to unfriendly criticism, and which has prevailed here in the lesser appointments which most interest the mass of the party to an extent that excites very great dissatisfaction. Nor does it seem to me that formal recommendations can at all benefit your brother, nor anything which I might say in his behalf, unless the administration desired affirmatively to do something for him. If such be their real feeling—if they regard his case as one to be controlled by liberal considerations, if they recognize the strong appeal it makes to their humanity, and if they are nevertheless restrained by solicitude as to how the appointment would be received by their political friends here—it is possible that I may be of some little service to him, in the only contingency in which it seems to me any service can be efficient. The object of my letter is to assure you that if the administration take favorable views of the matter, as I hope and trust they may, I shall be ready to do what I can to cause the appointment to be well received by the party here; and that such, I believe, will be the general disposition of those of our friends to whom the circumstances are made known. The only hesitation I have in saying this is lest it may be assuming in me; but if you think it will do your brother any good, you may communicate it for that purpose. I did not venture to write to anybody other than yourself lest, in my ignorance of the state of feeling on which my letter might fall, and however guarded my language might be, I should unwittingly do harm, which, however frankly I may write to you, I shall avoid, even if I fail to do good.
"With the best wishes for the success of this object and your welfare,
Truly y'rs,
"S. J. Tilden."
The Albany Argus, since the election of President Polk, had become the organ and an extreme partisan of the so-called Hunker party and champion of the policy of the Slavery Extensionists. One of the consequences was the establishment of the Atlas at Albany by the friends of Van Buren and Wright. The Argus was conducted by Edwin Croswell, a then veteran journalist, and the Atlas by a Mr. Van Dyke, assisted by a very clever young man of Irish extraction named Cassidy. These two prints registered the stages of the ineffectual struggle of the Van Buren and Wright party with the administration at Washington, a specimen of which is disclosed in the following correspondence between Mr. Croswell, Mr. Tilden, and John Van Buren, a gifted son of the ex-President Van Buren, and then rapidly becoming a conspicuous figure in national politics.
"Albany, January 26, 1846.
"Dear Sir,—I am informed by a member of the Legislature, whose veracity I cannot question, that you stated to him that I had made a proposition in relation to a compromise of the questions of difference between the Argus and Atlas, which had been accepted by you or your friends, but which I had flown from or violated under the pretence of consulting my friends.
"Allow me to ask whether I am to understand you as having made such a declaration.
"Very respectfully,
"Yr. obt. servt.,
"E. Croswell."
"Albany, January 27, 1846.
"My dear Sir,—The inquiry which your favor of yesterday contains is so made up of statements and inferences—so very general in some respects, and so imperfect in others—that an answer to it which expresses neither more nor less than the truth must be more specific than you seem to ask.
"I understood from gentlemen whose veracity I could not question that on the Wednesday before the recent caucus you made to them a communication to this effect:
"You said that it would not do for you to make any further proposition relative to the union of the Argus and Atlas, but you invited a proposition to be made to you, the terms of which you specified as follows: That the Argus and Atlas should be united, at an appraised valuation; that the joint establishment should be owned by Messrs. French, Cassidy, and Sherman Croswell in three equal parts; that you should withdraw from the concern; that Messrs. Cassidy and Sherman Croswell should be candidates for State printers; and that the emoluments of that office, if it were conferred upon them, should belong to the joint establishment.
"This proposition, you said, would be entirely acceptable to yourself, and you expressed great confidence that you could induce your friends in the Senate to confirm it. In that event, the bill purporting to abolish the office of State Printer, of which you expressed decided disapprobation, would, you hoped, be postponed or greatly modified or defeated, and harmony, as you thought, restored to the Republican party. The result of your efforts was to be communicated to those from whom the proposition was in form to emanate before the assembling of the caucus. Your suggestion was in all respects adopted and followed by them.
"Deriving from these facts, as well as from the interviews which you had sought with me on the subject, strong hopes that an arrangement satisfactory to all parties, consistent with public duty, and conducive to the interests and the honor of the Democratic cause, would be effected; and having reason to believe that more of the radical Democrats of the Assembly and all those of the Senate would assent to the union of the two papers (being first convinced that the advocacy of sound Democratic doctrines would be essentially secured)—of which fact you were, after consultation with them, advised—you may imagine my surprise when, half an hour before the caucus met, I learned that, although twenty-four hours had elapsed, you had not even communicated with several of your prominent friends in the Senate; had not seen your partner and relative, who is a member of your own family; had failed to keep your appointments; and, when sent for, at my instance, who was still unwilling to impute a design to evade, were unprepared to close the negotiation, to make any definite arrangement, or even a proposition. Attended as this failure was by the forcing through the Senate, at an extra session, held in the mean time, by your friends, of the bill you disapproved, and followed, as it has since been by your advocacy in the Argus of that bill, I am forced, in the absence of all explanation, to entertain more distrust than I remember having expressed, or wish to express, of a negotiation in which I engaged at your solicitation.
"In regard to the particular language which your letter ascribes to me, I have no recollection of having used it, nor does it, in the way you have stated it, remind me of any conversation out of which the information you repeat to me may have originated. Nor does it seem to me in substance correct, so far as it may be construed to imply much of a direct personal communication between you and me after the first stage of the negotiation; or any effort to 'compromise the questions of difference between the Argus and Atlas,' further than to unite these two papers, which I was sincerely anxious to bring about, and after the intimations from you did actively recommend to my associate Democrats of the Assembly, while I left them and myself at perfect liberty to act according to our individual judgments and consciences on any questions of reform in regard to the office or the functions of the State Printer. But that I may not have adverted to the distinction, if there be any in substance, between your making a proposition and suggesting one to be made to you which you declared beforehand would be entirely acceptable to you, and may have spoken in general terms of the proposition as yours as well as that of those you represent, is very possible; and that I may have casually expressed the sentiments which the facts above stated necessarily excited, in regard to the part you bore in the transaction is possible, though I do not remember having done so, and I am sure if I have not the forbearance is to be imputed solely to reluctance with which I have put an unfavorable construction upon your conduct.
"If there is any explanation to be offered I should be glad to hear it, and to learn if I have even in thought done you the least injustice.
"With great respect, your obdt. servt.,
"S. J. Tilden."
"(Circa January 21, 1846.)
"Dear Sir,—I have recd. your favor of the 26th inst. making certain inquiries of me, and I very cheerfully state my recollections in regard to them.
"On Wednesday, before the late caucus, I learned from gentlemen of undoubted veracity that you had made to them the following communication: You said that you would make no further propositions in reference to the union of the Argus and Atlas, but you invited a proposition to be made to you, which you said would be entirely acceptable to yourself, and expressed great confidence that your friends in the Senate would be induced by you to confirm it. In that event the bill to abolish the office of State Printer, pending in the Senate, of which you expressed your decided disapprobation, you hoped would be postponed and greatly modified or defeated, and harmony restored to the Republican party. The result of your efforts was to be communicated to those who were to make the proposition prior to the assembling of the caucus. The precise offer that you invited was made to you on Wedy. aftn.
"Hearing these facts, and having strong hopes that an amicable arrangement satisfactory to all parties would be brought about thro' your exertions, and having reason to believe that the great mass of the radical Democrats of the Assembly and all those in the Senate approved of the union of the two papers on the terms now suggested, which they thought secured the advocacy of sound principles, you may imagine my surprise on being informed, a half-hour before the caucus met, that altho' more than 24 hours had intervened, you had not even communicated with several of your personal friends in the Senate, had not been able to see your own partner and cousin, who is a member of your family, failed to keep yr. appointments, was found with difficulty, and was not prepared when found to make any definite arrangement or even proposition. Attended as this failure on your part was by the forcing thro' the Senate by your friends of the bill you disapproved, and followed by strong and indignant denunciations the next morning in the columns of the Argus of several leading Democrats in the Senate, and warm advocacy of the same bill, I was forced, in the absence of all explanation, to conclude that if you had not acted in bad faith you had certainly trifled in a most extraordinary manner with a subject I considered of great importance.
"Under these circumstances, I claim credit for myself in speaking of your conduct with great forbearance, and have no recollection of using the language you attribute to me in your note, tho', as I did not advert to the distinction (if there be any in substance) between your making a proposition and inviting one to be made to you, which you declared beforehand would be acceptable to you, I have doubtless spoken freely of the part you bore in the transaction as inexplicable and censurable.
"I shall be happy to hear any explanation you have to make, and glad to know if I have unintentionally, even in thought, done you injustice."
"The Board of County Canvassers of the City and County of New York, having canvassed and estimated the votes given in the several election districts of said city and county at a general election held the 14th day of April, 1846, do hereby certify, determine, and declare that Charles O'Connor, Henry Nicoll, Samuel J. Tilden, Benjamin F. Cornell, Campbell P. White, Alexander F. Vache, Lorenzo B. Shepard, John A. Kennedy, John L. Stephens, Robert H. Morris, William S. Conely, David R. Floyd Jones, Solomon Townsend, John H. Hunt, Stephen Allen, and George S. Mann, by the greatest number of votes, were duly elected 'Delegates to meet in convention for the purpose of considering the Constitution of this State, and to make such alterations in the same as the rights of the people demand and as they may deem proper, under an act of the Legislature of the State of New York, entitled, "An act recommending a convention of the people of this State." Passed May 13, 1845.'
"Dated May 11, 1846.
"Egbert Benson,
"Chairman.
"James Conner,
"County Clerk, Secretary."
"New York, August 28, 1846.
"My dear Sir,—Mr. Guion[11] visits Albany at my request to see you and Kennedy, and through you to consult with others for the purpose of finally ascertaining whether anything is to be done to sustain the News. If anything is to be done it has got to be made available for Monday. Unless some money is then obtained, that will be the last number of the paper issued. I have the same opinion as before expressed in relation to the great importance of sustaining the paper until after the election at least; and I have stated to you the only plan I know of for doing so. Gen. Spinner suggests that John G. Floyd be induced to take the paper. With $3000 we can sustain the paper until January 1st. With $2000 until November. If it should go down before the election it will injure us greatly. Mr. Guion goes up at my earnest request, and not that he has any further personal solicitude about the matter than you and me and all our friends feel.
"In haste, yours very truly,
"N. J. Waterbury."
"New York, Sep. 8, 1846.
"6 ½ O'clk. P.M.
"Dear Tilden,—The long agony is over—the Morning News is dead—dead; no time to say more.
"Truly y'rs,
"Clement Guion."
The public interest in the history of the Morning News, of which Mr. Tilden and John L. O'Sullivan were joint proprietors, may be said to have terminated with the execution of the document of which the following is a draft, found among Mr. Tilden's papers.
"S. J. T. retires—surrenders all his interest—is indemnified against its outstanding liabilities.
"J. L. O'S. and H. G. L. (H. G. Langley) rearrange their proportion of ownership. Hereafter to own equally. The difference of capital to be equalled by credits to H. G. L., the necessary amount on his advances, existing or prospective.
"H. G. L. contracts to devote himself faithfully to the business and interests of the paper—to conduct with the utmost energy and fidelity the procuring of advertisers.
"Failing to do this, he is to retire, giving O'S. all reasonable facility to substitute some other persons on reasonable terms of sale. All disputes and differences of opinion as to these stipulations to be left to the decision of——"
The triumph of the pro-slavery party in the election of Mr. Polk resulted in the revolt of Texas from Mexico, her annexation to the United States, and a war with Mexico.
At the expiration of his term, Governor Wright was renominated almost unanimously. If elected, nothing in the future appeared more certain than that he would have been Mr. Polk's successor in the Presidency. The reversion of the Chief Magistracy to such a formidable opponent of slavery extension as Governor Wright, who could neither be corrupted nor cajoled, was then regarded at Washington as a peril, to avoid which no sacrifice was too great. The magnitude of the sacrifice of Mr. Wright was as correctly appreciated at Washington, and by the very men who were to offer it up as a propitiation to the demon of slavery, as at Albany; but to the short-sighted vision of the statesmen then in the ascendant at the national capital the political supremacy of the slave-holding States was to be maintained at any price.
The influence of the Federal government was, therefore, all turned against Mr. Wright at the Gubernatorial election in 1847, and it proved to be sufficient to give a majority of some eleven thousand to John Young, the candidate of the Whigs.
Mr. Wright, at the expiration of his term, returned to his home in St. Lawrence County, consoled by the reflection that the evil consequences of taking him from the Senate and making him a party to the faction fights in New York had resulted as he had predicted—in disaster to the party and in his own political destruction. He died within nine months from his retirement.
The annexation of Texas and the war with Mexico which ensued resulted in the acquisition of vast territories, sooner or later to be organized into States, to be consecrated to freedom or to slavery. To open these States to slavery and reinforce the slave representation in Congress, it had become necessary to paralyze the Democratic party in New York.
The first steps towards this end had been taken in the defeat of Mr. Van Buren's renomination for the Presidency, and putting a Southern man in his place. The second had been taken in the defeat of Governor Wright's re-election in 1847; the third, yet to be taken, was to deprive the Democracy of New York of its legitimate influence in Congress and the next Democratic national convention.
In this scheme the administration was entirely successful. At the commencement of President's Polk's administration the Democratic party was completely in the ascendant in New York. It had elected its Governor and Lieutenant-Governor; it had a majority in both branches of the Legislature, and a majority of the delegation in Congress. At the expiration of two years its Chief Magistrate was a Whig, and its Congressional delegation was reduced to a meagre minority. The following year the whole legislative power of the State was transferred to the Whigs by an overwhelming majority, and the schism in the party, encouraged by the bestowal of all the patronage of the Federal government upon the "Hunkers," had become irreparable.[12]
"Washington, January 2, 1847.
"My dear Sir,—Yours is received. I do not know whether I can have any influence in the matter referred to, but will bear your wishes in mind.
"Everything here is in miserable condition. I do not know whether Mexico will make peace, but I am sure she would not if she knew what a state we are in. Still I hope for the best. Mr. Polk is in a minority in both Houses. His most disinterested and reliable supporters are the friends of those he has treated worst. I am sick of the whole concern, and, most of all, of the miserable manœuvring for high place, which is beginning to show itself.
"If we had a discreet and energetic leader in Mexico, I think we might bring the war to a close. But the lieutenant-general has been slain, and with him I think dies all prospect of success by arms or diplomacy. Our only chance is in luck, and Mr. Polk is so fortunate in getting out of scrapes just when he is most straitened that I am inclined to bet on him yet.
"Yours in haste,
"John A. Dix."
"April, 1848.
At the threshold of the Free-soil revolt of 1848, ex-President Van Buren, who was spending the winter in lodgings at Julian's Hotel in Washington Place, New York, said one day to Mr. Tilden, as he handed him a roll of manuscript: "If you wish to be immortal, take this home with you, complete it, revise it, put it into proper shape, and give it to the public."
Mr. Tilden replied that he had not the slightest wish to be immortal by any process that would impose upon him at that time any more labor; but he consented to take the manuscript down to the residence of the ex-President's son, John Van Buren, who then resided in White Street, and he agreed that if John would do half of the work he would do the other half. John did agree, and a few days after the interview referred to, Tilden and John met at the ex-President's lodgings to report.
Mr. Van Buren opened the subject by asking what they had done with Niagara Falls. This referred to a somewhat ambiguous metaphor which had found its way into the ex-President's manuscript. "We have struck that out," was the reply. He laughed, as if rather relieved at having an unpleasant duty discharged by other hands, while they went on to read the result of their joint labors.
After the address had received the combined approval of each party to its composition, the next question was how to get it before the public. After discussing various plans, they finally decided to issue it as an address of the Democratic members of the Legislature. Accordingly, on the 12th of April, Senator John G. Floyd, from the committee of Democratic members of the Legislature to prepare and report an address, read the paper to his colleagues, by whom it was unanimously adopted. This memorable and epochal document was given at length in the Public Writings and Speeches of Tilden, Vol. II., page 537. This address deserves to be regarded as the corner-stone of the "Free-soil" party, as distinguished from the party of unconditional abolition.
"Columbus, June 19, 1848.
"My dear Sir,—Many of our Free-Territory men in this quarter are in doubt as to the course which the New York Democracy intend to pursue in reference to the Buffalo convention. Will they be represented in it? Will they concur in the nominations made by it? If Judge McLean can be induced to accept a nomination for the Vice-Presidency, in connection with Mr. Van Buren for the Presidency, will they cordially accept it? If the convention, on mature deliberation, should think it expedient to nominate Judge McLean for the Presidency and Col. Samuel Young or Bradford R. Wood or yourself for the Vice-Presidency, would the New York Democracy concur in that nomination? There is a strong disposition, also, in the West to drop the older politicians altogether and take younger men, who better represent the spirit of the time. One of the best and ablest Democrats in the State, I mean Edwin M. Stanton, said to me to-day that if John Van Buren should be the nominee of the Buffalo convention he would roll up his sleeves and go to work till the election for the ticket; and I am sure that to all the young Democrats and all the young Whigs in the State your name would be more acceptable than your father's. Suppose the convention should be animated by this spirit and nominate men of this generation, would the New York Democracy concur?
"I put these questions to indicate the various phases which the movement may assume. My own opinion is that, under existing circumstances, the best possible nomination for the Presidency has been made at Utica, provided the name of John McLean can be associated with it. Whether it can be is, as yet, in doubt, though I fear the doubt will be resolved against my wish. If it cannot be, we have no man in the West whose name on the ticket would be altogether unexceptionable. If Judge McLean should consent to allow his name to be used, the ticket would undoubtedly sweep Ohio, and would gain immense accessions of strength throughout the West. I firmly believe that the nominees may, in that event, be elected this year. It would be, to be sure, sacrificing a good deal on the part of Judge McLean, so long prominent in the regards of the people as a candidate for the first office, to accept a nomination for the second; and the bitterness with which he could be assailed by the slaveholders and their allies would exceed greatly that which is now manifested towards your father. Nothing but a strong sense of personal duty, and a deep interest in the success of the movement (and he avows that interest openly), will prevail on him to consent, and, I fear, he will not feel that duty absolutely requires the step. It is probable that he would regard an offer of a nomination for the first office differently. He would then be the recognized head or representative of the movement, and would feel the abuse directed against him, as levelled chiefly at the cause. And I think he would represent the movement almost exactly as Silas Wright would have done if living. I regard him as more nearly resembling Silas Wright in the general character of his views on public questions than any living public man. While, therefore, I repeat that if we can have Judge McLean's name for the Vice-Presidency I would rather take the ticket as it would then stand—Martin Van Buren and John McLean—than any other, you will not wonder that I regret that the action of the convention at Utica has interposed an obstacle to a different arrangement. Whether the obstacle is insuperable you are a far better judge than I am. If it be, then, we must take the Utica nomination, supply the Vice-Presidential vacancy and make the best fight we can.
"You will have observed the difficulty suggested by the National Era growing out of the expressions in your father's letter, in relation to slavery in the District of Columbia; and you are doubtless aware that all that part of the letter in reference to the course of his administration on the subject of slavery is very distasteful to almost all anti-slavery men, whether Whig, Democratic, or Liberty.
"I wish that part of the letter could have been omitted. It does no good to revive the past. Our business is with the present and the future. Your remarks in your speech at Genesee on the 20th of June are full of truth. The Free-Territories question, in discussion, must bring up the whole slavery question inevitably. Our contest is with the slave power, and it will break us down unless we break it down. The people will not stop with the exclusion of slavery from Territories: they will demand its complete denationalization. Now many understand Mr. Van Buren's letter, so far as it touches upon slavery in the District, as a reiteration of his pledge to veto a bill for the abolition of slavery there if enacted by Congress. I do not myself so understand it. I cannot believe that at the present day and under present circumstances, when a strong anti-slavery sentiment exists in Maryland and Virginia, which would be vastly strengthened by such a measure—so strengthened, indeed, that those States would by it be converted into free Territory States—that he would interpose the slightest obstacle to its adoption. I cannot doubt that, on the contrary, he would give it every favor consistent with the proper discharge of his function as President.