1851-1860 (continued 2)

"New York, Sept 14th, 1855.

"Gentlemen,—Your letter appraising me that the recent Democratic State Convention 'have signified their unanimous desire that the votes of their constituents should be cast for "my" name for the office of Attorney General,' has been received.

"In accepting their nomination thus tendered, I acknowledge my deep sense of an honor, conferred by a convention in which was assembled so much of remarkable and varied abilities, of political virtue and personal worth, and enhanced by association with a ticket which, in my judgment, will, if elected, constitute a working body, capable of acting with unity, wisdom and effect, for a restoration of the honest and wise policy indicated by the convention, and for reestablishing good government within this State."

"With great respect, gentlemen, I remain,

"Very truly, yours, &c., "S. J. Tilden.[23] "Messrs. John B. Miller, "Wm. Cassidy, and "Thos. O. Alvord, "Committee, &c."

TILDEN TO——

"New York, Dec. 28, '55.

"My dear Sir,—Your letter in answer to mine in respect to your debt to the Bk. N. A., on which I am endorser, came to hand. It was not what I supposed from your previous assurances I had a right to expect, nor what seems to me just. Whether it be even wise for yourself, I will not undertake to judge.

"An endorsement made for a man's accommodation is called confidential, because it is supposed to impart a very high and sacred obligation to protect the friend who incurs such a liability in your behalf and for your benefit. It was a departure from my usual habit and settled rule, wrung from me by the importunity of friendship. With a good deal of trouble to me, it has been deferred from time to time at your instance, and in the last case with a strong assurance on your part.

"You must pardon me if I say that I am not advised of any circumstance that can excuse the failure of so high an obligation. I have no reason to believe that an absolute inability exists.

"You allude, in this connection, to other liabilities hanging over you; by which, I suppose, you mean the claim on the drafts held by the Stark Bank. I should think that if anything could add to the obligation to protect me from a liability on your confidential paper, it would be that I have been engaged, and am still, with infinite care, labor and trouble, in trying to rescue you from that unjust claim—that the intricacies of the case, the complexity of the transactions out of which the claim grows, the witnesses being out of the State—" [The rest wanting.]

M. VAN BUREN TO MOSES TILDEN[24]

"Lindenwald, Septr. 1st, '56.

"My dear Sir,—I am happy to find that the 'sober second thought' has brought you to the right conclusion, as I was quite sure it must do. I may add, too, that I honor the scruples by which you have been embarrassed. It requires no small share of moral courage for men of our antecedents to keep the posts of right and duty against the influence of such resentments as we have been exposed to. But it would have been a crying shame to have had a single link broken in a family so pre-eminently Democratic as yours has been—from Dr. and Mrs. Younglove to Sammy.

"We are not only right, but the crisis is, in my judgment, the most imminent and critical of any we have ever experienced. That union should so long have been preserved in a confederacy which contains an element of discord of such magnitude and of so disturbing a nature as that of slavery, is a wonder—more surprising than its dissolution would be. This has been owing to the fact, I firmly believe, the single fact that there have always been neutralizing considerations of sufficient force to maintain party cohesions between men of the free and slave States. Slavery questions have from the beginning had more or less to do with our political contests, but have never before had the effect of dissolving old party connections and sympathies, and the balance-wheel has thus been preserved. Now, for the first time in our history, one side, and that the one in which we reside, has undertaken to carry an election, including the control of the Federal government, and against the united wishes of the other. It has placed itself in a position which, for the first time cuts itself loose from all hope, if not desire, of assistance in the slave States. It not only admits that this is its position, but avows that it is a desirable one. It wishes to accomplish its mastery by its own unaided arm. Now, it needs no ghost to tell us that one successful effort of this description will be followed by another, for men have too much the quality of wild beasts in them to stop the pursuit when they have once tasted blood, and it would be against reason and experience to expect a Union, in which political mastery is so plainly exhibited and organized, to continue. From this evil we have been saved by the state of parties which hitherto existed, and to this danger are we exposed from the new and extraordinary thing which has taken the place of it.

"Slavery agitation must be eradicated in some way or another, or our institutions cannot continue in their present form. I was so indignant against the repeal of the Missouri Compromise that I could not do justice to the Kansas Organic Act, as that was the instrument by which the outrage was perpetrated. But I am now satisfied that if Mr. Pierce had from the beginning taken the stand he now seems to be taking, and interfered against all foreign interference the moment he saw the disposition to interfere, of which he had at least notice in the movements of the Missourians, the country would have been saved from the disgrace to which our institutions have been exposed in the estimation of the world, Kansas would have been a Territory so decidedly free as to put an end to attempts to make it a slave State, the country would have been quiet, the party united, and he renominated. All that is now wanted to secure many of the most important of these results is a rigid and effectual execution of the Kansas Organic Act. Although I am not a particular admirer of Mr. Buchanan, I have reasons that satisfy my mind that he will, if elected, secure to the country this great advantage, and therefore, and because he is the regular nominee of the party, I should vote for him. If I did not think so I would not go to the polls. I do have a very favorable opinion of Col. Fremont personally, but cannot for a moment doubt, from his utter want of experience in the affairs of government, and his inexperience in everything that belongs to it, that he would, if elected, inevitably be thrown into the hands of Seward, Greeley, and Weed, and I do not think the difficulties in Kansas could be brought to anything like a satisfactory result through such agencies. I, on the contrary, think there is the greatest reason to fear that to commit the power of the government into such hands, at a moment so critical as the present, would be but 'the beginning of the end' in regard to the confederacy. There are, I trust, few Democrats who would like to subject to their control and to the plundering propensities of their followers, the treasury, much less the government itself. Our friends who think they can go with the so-called Republicans this once and then return, make a dangerous experiment. Their party has always been a bourne from whence very few Democratic travellers have ever returned. The reasons for this are numerous and too obvious to make it necessary to detail them. They have, therefore, but one of two courses to pursue—that is to trust to the Democratic nominee and the conservative characters of the Democratic party, or to fly to evils they know not of, save only that except upon a single point, out of a great many, they cannot even hope for favorable results.

"But I must stop. This is the first private letter I have written about the election, and it will probably be the last, and nothing but my very great respect for yourself and your race, and my desire to preserve their Democratic consistency, could have induced me to write this. If it gets into the newspapers I would leave no stone unturned to have you punished.

"Upon the subject of your last inquiry, I do not possess definite knowledge. I believe no final resolution has yet been come to. But I can tell you nothing encouraging. If ancient Federalism gain its long-lost ascendancy in that quarter, as it is so apt to do one time or another, I should give up judging of character.

"Remember me very kindly to your mother, sister and brother, and believe me,

"Very truly, "Your friend, "M. Van Buren." "Moses Tilden, Esq."

W. L. MARCY TO TILDEN

"Confidential. "Washington, 8th Oct. (1857).

"Dr. Sir,—- The course by letter having been taken, an instant removal cannot be effected. I have pointed out the error, but there is now no help for it. Removal is the object aimed at and intended to be reached circuitously. After a long correspondence the thunder will be used, and it will be said it is used because worsted in the argument.

"I believe most of the Cabinet were for bold action. I have pointed out very clearly the equivocal position in which the administration now stands and the disrepute into which it is fast falling, and have showed the only remedy—decisive action. The Prest. sees this now as plainly as anybody, and is willing to apply the remedy. I have endeavored to convince him that he is missing the very best occasion for using it.

"Some impression has been made on the mind of the Prest. as to Grover. It is said that he was opposed to, and did vote for, the resolutions at Syracuse. I hope there is no truth in this allegation, for if there is it weakens our position very much. A bolt from a Free-soiler will be easily excused. It will be awkward to punish men for not voting for a ticket—regular though it be—if it is tainted with Free-soilism. The bolters are laboring hard on that point. Let me know if there really is anything wrong in this matter.

"Yours truly, "W. L. Marcy."

S. J. TILDEN TO MESSRS. KNOX & MORGAN

"Gentlemen,—If your note means that your clients withdraw from the proposition to allow us 1000 tons of rails, besides the 2470 bars, you already know what my answer must be. Every negotiation has contemplated the yielding of that amt. for the purpose of finishing the road to Oskosh. Your clients must think I am disposed to trifle or be trifled with if they suppose the way to agree is to recede from all that is most essential in their own proposition and in the basis of every negotiation.

"I am not quite pleased with myself (if it is my fault) that I have spent so much time so fruitlessly.

"All that remains—if your clients adopt and persist in that purpose—is to decide what you will do in respect to the application for the remission of the forfeiture of the iron at Milwaukee; whether, thro' your counsel there, you will aid or embarrass it. That application cannot be much longer delayed. We shall make it, and do our duty fairly, knowing at the same time that you have a greater interest than we in our success. If you choose to act adversely or not to neutralize your counsel, or not to aid, you must bear in mind that every opportunity has been given you to do what is reasonable and wise. I should like some understanding on that subject soon.

"Very respectfully, "S. J. Tilden." "Messrs. Knox & Morgan, "43 Wall, Dec. 18th, '57."

TILDEN TO HON. GEO. WEIR

"New York, Mar. 2d, 1858.

"My dear Sir,—A bill has been sent to some member of the city delegation by Mr. Green (who is absent for a few days), the nature and objects of which I wish to explain to you.

"Vessels were formerly repaired by careening them, afterwards by drawing alongside or suspending to them stages; afterwards by drawing them out on ways. The railway, acting by hydraulic force, was the next mode by which repairs were effected. Some 16 to 20 years ago floating docks were invented and brought into use. They have gradually superseded all other modes; and vessels have increased in their size, until there are now no other means of coppering or repairing them than these floating docks.

"Of their utility and indispensable necessity there is no question. The commerce of this port could not get on without them.

"They have, since their first invention, been located in the waters of the East River, adjacent to the 7th Ward. The propriety and legality of their use of the basins (with the consent of the parties entitled to receive wharfage) has never been disputed until last year, when some parties proceeded against them on the ground that they are unlawful obstructions of the public waters.

"Judge Roosevelt made a decision which, if well founded, goes the length of holding that this commercial use cannot be lawfully carried on or enjoyed in any of the slips, or at any wharf or pier of the city, and in the opinion which he pronounced on that occasion he recommended an application to the Legislature to supply the technical defect of the law.

"This is the object of the bill. It legalizes the use, with the consent of the pier and wharf owners, and subject to the power of the Common Council to regulate and fix the location.

"The bill is right in all respects. I take great interest in its passage, in behalf of the company I represent, the stockholders of which are owners or consignees of two-thirds of all the shipping which comes to this port, as well as on account of the general commercial interest. I will regard your aid as a personal favor.

"Truly Yours, "S. J. Tilden." "Hon. Geo. Weir, Albany."

MARTIN VAN BUREN TO S. J. TILDEN

"Providence, June 16th, 1858.

"My dear Sir,—I waited for you till nine o'clock and then retired to secure a good night's rest, a matter of no small importance to a man of my age. I have no recollection of putting the charge for the box and cartage on my note, and think the chances are two to one that I omitted it; I therefore send it now. When I am gone I trust you will, as my confidential representative, be more punctual in the performance of your engagements.

"Very truly yours, "M. Van Buren." "Mr. Tilden."

MARTIN VAN BUREN TO TILDEN

"Lindenwald, June 29, '58.

"My dear Sir,—Mr. Brooks had arrived when I reached home, and I beg you to accept my best thanks for your attention to the matter, to me one of decided importance. As one good turn deserves another, especially when it is a particularly good one, I beg the farther favor of you to stop at Stamford & Storr's and buy me a set of Scott's Family Bible for family use. They will cost from $10 to 15 for the 8 volumes. If you can get them cheaper and better anywhere else that is convenient you will, of course, do so. I have hitherto troubled Mr. Butler[25] with these matters, and there has not been one which would have given him more pleasure, but he is out of town and his mantle falls on your shoulders. I dare not trust John, as he would ruin me by the price, particularly as it is to be a present.

"Present me very kindly to your mother and sister if they are yet with you, and believe me,

"Ever truly yours, "M. Van Buren."

"Send by express, and let the bookseller send me the bill."

TILDEN TO MR. CASSIDY

"New York, Jan. 6th, 1859.

"My dear Cassidy,—I was so occupied at the time I reced. your letter that I did not get a chance to answer it before the election, and since that time I have been in an ice-pack of engagements which accumulated around me in a ten-days' career as a politician.

"I sympathize entirely with your feelings in respect to our friend Church. I do not know whether your suggestions applied only to the contingency of my election as counsel to the corporation. Even if they did, I should be happy to see him, and, if there is anything within my power remaining—to serve him. I have just returned from Phil. and write without your letter before me."

M. VAN BUREN TO TILDEN

"Lindenwald, Jany. 19th, '59.

"My dear Sir,—Accept my thanks for the Cicero, which I have read, after cutting the leaves and placed with your books. Will return it prepaid. Now, upon the time-honored principle that one good turn deserves a great many, I go on. I have $10,600 dollars of Erie bonds, second mortgage, and I presume they will be paid on the 1st of March. I wish to seek a place for a new investment; have the goodness to let me know whether there is any doubt of it.

"In haste, "Truly yours, "M. Van Buren."

M. VAN BUREN TO TILDEN

"Fishkill Landing, October 14, '59.

"My dear Mr. Tilden,—I am here on a visit to Judge Kent; intend to remain till Monday, then go to Mr. Kemble's, remain there till Wednesday or Thursday, and then go home. I left John at Lindenwald, suffering from a slight attack of the liver, which I thought required attention, and with considerable difficulty extracted a promise from him to remain till Monday of next week, and avail himself of Mr. Pruyn's advice; as an inducement, I promised him to ask you to come up and spend a day or two with us the latter end of next week. Can't you come? Take the whole the week after Thursday, or, if necessary, Wednesday to Friday. Perhaps Saturday would be the least inconvenient to you, and to come down with John on the Monday following. I am particularly desirous to see you, as I wish to have some conversation with you on a subject in which my feelings are deeply enlisted. Drop me a line here, if you can, and if not, at Coldspring, informing me of what you can do. The sooner the better, as I would like to inform John so as to assure his inducement to remain.

"As ever, "Truly Yours, "M. Van Buren."

TILDEN TO M. VAN BUREN THE MAYORALTY ELECTION OF 1859

"New York, Dec. 25, '59.

"My Dear Sir,—I wish you a 'merry Christmas!' It is the first opportunity I have had to acknowledge your kind letter of condolence. I take it up first of a bundle of letters which have waited for me to get out of the ice-pack of engagements which collected around me in ten-days' career in politics. I am just ill enough to be justified in declining all dinners, and am having a quiet time to-day.

"If your curiosity to know the 'whys and wherefores' of our defeat is not displaced by some later topic, I will drop you a hint or two towards a theory.

"A modern invention practised in Tammany Hall is for the genl. Committee to dispense with primary elections. It was introduced by Wood and has continued since he was driven out. The effect of two or three years' practice under the system has been to break off relations between that body and the masses in the wards. It was no longer necessary for the one committeeman and his four dummies, who represented a ward in the committee, to keep up a vital party in his ward. The ward committees fell into disuse, and in some cases what remained of them were in hostile hands. Meanwhile the outsiders felt that they had no chance, and antagonisms were multiplied in all the captains of tens and fifties—the new men, the active elements of fresh ambition. The chiefs of the general committee became totally bankrupt, were split into two parties—about equal—had been occupied for months in a scuffle for the assets, the real value of which they did not see till the last moment. In a party twice as large as any it had to contend with, and therefore tending to division—with its central organization in this condition, and its ward all run out—Wood hung up his sign over the outsiders. He made local organizations among them; worked at it assiduously for two years. When I stepped inside the ring and took a view I thought that in some wards, each having once and half as many people as your county contains, we should scarcely have machinery enough to run our ticket with—the 11th, for instance. We had less than two weeks to get up our organization, beginning anew—in a bad state of local nominations, many of the candidates running on both tickets and being really against us. Wood had gained the lower stratum of the Irish, combined many special interests, and at last had the aid of the jobbing Republicans, two of whom voted for him to every one of the other class for Havemeyer. Then the Tribune, in bad faith, and the Post in good faith, succeeded in making the impression that the way to beat Wood was to vote for Opdyke; and not only kept the moderate Republicans to him, but drew many quiet citizens who preferred Havemeyer, but were most anxious to beat Wood.

"In truth, the leaders of the Republican party and Wood were in perfect concert, as they are partners in the gigantic schemes of plunder, which will presently appear.

"Mr. Havemeyer polled a prodigious vote of the business classes and of the silent people, but not enough to supply the defects of the organization which, in my judgment, did not by its own strength give him 15,000 votes.

"Enough of this. I should not have gone over the ground except for the curiosity you expressed—that what appeared to be an immense public opinion was ineffectual. It is a public opinion with a party, and not without, that sweeps the stakes.

"For myself, while I am quite aware how different is the prestige of success from defeat, and how great was the part which might have been attempted in reconstructing the administration of the government of the city, I cannot but feel more comfortable as I am. The proper duties of the office are one thing. A joint tenancy in the administration of a city like this (if you really attempt to do anything); a reconstruction of its government, which must be made from the very foundation, in order even to palliate existing evils, is a different matter. Overworn as I am with some heavy engagements, from which I cannot retire, yet uncompleted—and some heavy cares unrelieved—I could not help seeing the burden more than anything else. This may have been morbid. A little more strength and health might have dispelled it. But it enables me to accept the result with a sense that a great trouble is off my mind, and leaves no personal regret to mingle with the disgust I feel at Wood's election, and the disappointment and injury to our friends. At present, I am content to live from hand to mouth, and take no thought for the morrow.

"Notwithstanding your invitation to discuss the matter, I feel some excuse necessary for a letter that has grown so long and so personal.

"With my best wishes for your continued health and comfort and progress in the work which enlivens your retirement, and my kind remembrances to Mrs. and Miss Van Buren,

"I am, very truly, your friend, "S. J. Tilden."

"P.S.—I had almost forgot to mention that the prospect now is that you will get your end paid in full. I should take the money."

The two succeeding communications to N. H. Swayne, afterwards one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, are interesting from their giving a sketch of the preliminary but comprehensive preparations for the rescue and reorganization of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad during the early days of the Civil War, and transforming it from a bankrupt corporation into one of the most prosperous highways on this continent. It is doing injustice to no one to say that it was mainly through Mr. Tilden's devotion, sagacity, professional ability, and foresight that this transformation was so successfully accomplished.

TILDEN TO W. H. SWAYNE

"Feb. 10, 1860.

"My dear Sir,—It being designed, if possible, to provide for a reorganization of the Pittsburg, F. W. and Chicago R. R. Co. during the present year, such legislation as is necessary should be obtained at the present sessions of the Legislatures of Penn. and Ohio. That would be expedient even if we were to wait for legislation in Indiana and Illinois until next winter. But I do not think it is necessary so to wait. I suppose that a corporation created by one of the States in which the road is situate, if endowed by the law of its creation with the capacity to exercise its functions in the other States, may hold and operate the road in those States if the sovereigns there will allow it to do so. I suppose that express permission is not necessary. It may do so on the principle of comity, unless prohibited by the legislation or declared public policy of those States. It may still be prudent to get the assent of those States declared legislatively. The act which governs the constitution of the corporation may be obtained in Penn. That will avoid any question as to the operation of the clause of your constitution imposing a personal liability upon stockholders. In Indiana there is a general law adequate to enable us to reorganize a corporation of that State. Its Legislature, like that of Illinois, does not meet till next year. There is nothing in the statutes or decisions of Illinois to prevent a corporation of Penn. or Indiana from holding and operating a railroad in Illinois. I presume there is not in Ohio, but that I have not investigated, as it is wiser to have an act of recognition. In Penn. the statutes of mortmain exist by judicial adoption, and no foreign corporation can hold real estate there without express permission.

"We propose, then, immediately to get what we can, viz., a parent act from Penn. and an act of recognition from Ohio.

"The act for Penn. was finally agreed upon between Mr. Campbell and me yesterday, and was taken by Mr. Ogden to Mr. Cass to be passed. I will send you a copy as soon as I get one.

"I have drawn and send herewith what I deem to be a suggestion towards the bill proper to be passed by your Legislature.

"There may be a disposition to add some provision bringing the corporation under the jurisdiction of Ohio. You must be careful that nothing of this kind is done in such general terms as to bring the stockholders under the operation of your Constitution or laws as to personal liability.

"I would like to have you revise this bill and put it in motion. We must rely on you and Judge Thompson to have it passed. It would be prudent to urge it forward as fast as possible.

"I enclose some passages cut from my points in a recent case, which touch on the questions I have alluded to.

"It is very desirable that Mr. Stansbery's bill, converted into a general form, or some other bill applicable to all railroad corporations in your State needing reconstruction, should pass. I trust you and Thurman will aid in effecting such a result. There are plenty more of cases needing your doctoring. I regret that I must write in so much haste. I have to leave here in half an hour, having just returned from Phil.

"Mr. Ogden is to-day in Pittsburg with authority to have a settlement effected if it can be.

"Do me the favor to let me have your views as soon as possible.

Truly, "S. J. Tilden."

S. J. TILDEN TO M. VAN BUREN—UNFINISHED

"New York, Feb. 21st, 1860.

"My dear Sir,—My mind has often turned to your letter, which I am some six weeks in arrears in answering. But I have in that time been three times called to Philadelphia, and once to Lebanon by the extreme illness of my mother and sister; and, altogether, have had my hands full. I am much obliged by the kind expressions of your letter, as well as the friendly interest you have taken in me.

"In respect to the subject which you incidentally mentioned in your letter, I do not think that my private business affords the elements of a desirable combination between John V. B. and myself.[26] It furnishes few occasions which would give scope to his powers, less, perhaps, than ought to be availed of even by me; but it and other cares occupy me too much to leave any room for the ambition of collecting the materials, or constructing a business of a different character. I content myself each day with what my hands find to do. I have not been very fortunate in deputizing such business as I have generally had. It may be because the things which come to me are usually complex and difficult, or because I am exacting as to the mode in which my clients are served."

It is to be regretted that Mr. Tilden's letter to ex-President Van Buren, assigning his reasons for declining to enter into a partnership with his son John, is incomplete. A more impracticable union for business purposes than such a partnership would have yielded can hardly be conceived. It is probable that the original of this letter to Mr. Tilden may be found among the collected papers of Mr. Van Buren, which have recently been presented to the Library of Congress, unless it was destroyed immediately upon its receipt, which is not unlikely.

TILDEN TO JOHN CLANCY

"N. Y., May 19, '60, Evening."

"My dear Sir,—Your letter inviting me to act as a vice-president of a meeting to be held at the Cooper Inst. was recd. yesterday, but I was so busy in a trial that I had no chance to answer it earlier.

"Having elected a delegation in which we have confidence, it is contrary to my personal disposition towards them, as well as to my notions of what is most conducive to their power and usefulness in their conference with the other representatives of the Democracy of the Union, to interfere by any public meeting before they shall have completed their trust. Without questioning the judgment of those who think differently, I must decline your invitation.

"Very respectfully, "Your friend, S. J. Tilden." "Hon. John Clancy.

S. J. TILDEN TO THE EDITORS OF THE "EVENING POST"

"2 Union Place. Tuesday Eveng. "Oct. 9th, 1860. "To the Editors of the 'Evening Post':

"Gentlemen,—You politely offer to publish in your columns a speech of mine which you seem to think was not adequately developed at the Cooper Institute last evening, and you add that my friends among your readers 'would be glad to know how' I 'have reasoned' myself into the associations in which I stand on the Presidential question.

"If I had a speech already written I would at once avail myself of the opportunity of submitting my views on public affairs to a mass of readers, among which are many cultivated intellects and some friends of my earlier years who, I respectfully say I think, are widely and dangerously wrong in their present political action. I have but the intervals of exhausting daily engagements in which to prepare a speech; but if after this explanation your offer shall continue open, I will endeavor within the next few days to write out in a condensed form what I think ought to be said, not to my friends only, but to all our citizens touching the present state of the country. If, indeed, it can be justly said that I have helped to lead the Evening Post into any 'heresies,' I acknowledge the sacred duty of showing it a 'decent way out' of them.

"With much consideration, I remain,

"S. J. Tilden."

"Though we invited Mr. Tilden to give us the speech which he proposed to address to his spectators—they would not permit him to call them his audience—at the Cooper Institute, we are quite willing to extend the courtesy to anything he may choose to offer us in which he thinks the public has an interest. The readers of the Evening Post know much better than the crowd he tried to address at the Cooper Institute that Mr. Tilden never writes or speaks without having something to say worth hearing, though they have not lately been unfortunate enough to agree with him on Federal politics."

The foregoing letter, with the editorial comment which follows it, appeared in the Evening Post October 10, 1860.

The occasion which provoked it was the following account, which appeared a day or two previous in the Evening Post, of a meeting at the Cooper Union of malcontents, having little in common to unite them but their hostility to the party which had nominated Abraham Lincoln for President. They were mostly the unaccounted-for débris of the old Whig party, who tried to disguise themselves by taking the name of "Merchants of New York." Mr. Tilden was invited to speak, but this motley audience did not care to listen long to so prominent a political partisan of Jackson and Van Buren, who had also been the most formidable critic of all Whig measures during all their successive administrations:

"THE TREMENDOUS DEMONSTRATION

"The 'Dry-Goods party,' as by general consent the fusionists have come to be designated, held what they called a 'Union meeting' last night at the Cooper Institute. They did not meet at Tammany Hall, for obvious reasons, though it must have made some of the gentlemen who contributed towards the expense of the entertainment feel a little queer when they found themselves associating politically with a class of men who could not be persuaded to put a foot inside of the old Wigwam. It has been observed that political parties, as they decline in strength, lengthen the list of officers supposed to officiate at their public gatherings, just as the shadows of mountains lengthen as the sun goes down. The Dry-Goods party did not attempt to be an exception; on the contrary, they seem to have made all of their party vice-presidents that they did not make president and secretaries. In looking over the list of gentlemen who figure on this occasion, we could not but be struck with what Clay called the 'mutability of all human opinion.' It seemed as if the milky portion of the old barn-burning party of '48 which had soured from the effects of Republican thunder, had been specially served up for the public entertainment. There was Dix, who ran for Governor with Van Buren in 1848 against Cass, nominated for chairman by Wilson G. Hunt, largely in the dry-goods line, who supported Van Buren and free soil as zealously and liberally as he now supports Breckinridge, Douglas, Bell, Sam & Co.

"Our old friend Tilden, who stood at the wheel during all those troublous times; who was one of the counsel for the Barnburners in the Baltimore convention of 1848, and who helped to lead the Evening Post into all its free-soil heresies without ever showing it any decent way out of them, offered the resolutions and made a short speech. It would have been longer, but the audience wished to hear Wood. Either Wood or a song they must have, and so Mr. Tilden retired with his speech just as good as new, and, as it appeared, too good for his audience, that they might hear a song from a Mr. Cosgrove, Wood being returned by the officer 'not found.' The preference for Wood is explained, perhaps, by the fact that the first vice-president, W. B. Astor, was one of the ten or dozen gentlemen who certified to Mayor Wood's character when a candidate a second time for the 'mayorality'—as Mr. Wood is in the habit of spelling the dignity he at present enjoys—and who recommended him warmly to the suffrages of the people. All the rest of the gentlemen who signed that 'character,' Moses Taylor, M. Aspinwall, the Browns, etc., figure also among the vice-presidents, and it is not strange, therefore, that a meeting thus officered should prefer a speech from Fernando Wood to a speech from Samuel J. Tilden.

"Then there was Henry Grinnell, who paid liberally towards raising the standard of rebellion at the park meeting, held shortly after the nomination of Cass, in 1848, and whose name was freely used by the Barnburners until about the time that the Union-saving steamship companies began to be incorporated and subsidized by Congress. Since then he has had little or no interest in anything North, this side of the Arctic circle.

"John Cochrane, Dan Norris, Henry Eveson, William F. Havemeyer, Stephen Cambreleng, Charles A. Secor, Myndert Van Schaick, whom, to his great disappointment, the Barnburners failed to elect Mayor of the city before the days of fusion, T. B. Tappen, John Van Buren, A. B. Conger, Addison Gardiner, etc., etc., make up the list of distinguished Barnburners of the milky sort who have 'turned,' and now form the cheesy pillars and architrave of the Dry-Goods party.

"The speakers for the evening were James W. Gerard and Charles O'Conor, two of our ablest lawyers, skilled to make the worse appear the better reason, and, from long professional training, about as much at home on one side of a question as another. As neither of these gentlemen were in good standing with the old Democratic party, the first being an old Whig and the other a fractious and crockery-breaking independent, they were listened to with patience by an assembly conspicuously impatient of anything savoring of old-fashioned Democracy.

"What effect the bringing together such a crowd of officers for such a thin display of speakers will have upon the dry-goods market will doubtless appear in the column where such reports are usually chronicled; what effect it will have on the Pennsylvania election will appear by the returns in to-morrow's Evening Post; what effect it will have upon the vote of this State is of no sort of consequence, for we were sure of a large majority before it was held, and of course we may reasonably expect a larger majority now.

"We are sorry about Mr. Tilden's speech. We have no doubt it was a good one, and as we are the friends of free speech we will publish it cheerfully in the Evening Post if he will give us the opportunity. It will reach a great many more of his friends through our columns than stood within the reach of his voice, and they will all be glad to know by what process so clever a man has reasoned himself into such bad company."

WM. CASSIDY TO TILDEN

"'Atlas & Argus' Office. "Albany, Octr., 1860.

"Dear Tilden,—Newell tells me that you are preparing a reply to the Post's appeal to be 'shown the way out.' Do so; and it will give me a chance to write an editorial, which I intended and postponed till the occasion passed by. I enclose a reply to an assault upon our consistency, the last half of which is apropos to the Post's inquiry. I am afraid your committee of fifteen will do more harm than good—as usual. You recollect how the Castle Garden movement defeated Seymour and elected Church, reversing its intended effect, and how the Fifth Avenue movement of last year paralyzed us? Let it go, however, with the other blunders.

"What I write to you about is to say that I intend to come down to New York on the 7th proxo. and consult you in regard to a project which O—— and I have long discussed—establishing a New York daily. We can readily get $60,000 (or more) for shares, and from a few men. I can name Plumb, DeWolf, Johnson (of Oswego), Ross—besides Richmond, Cagger, Corning, Kelly, etc. We could add what an establishment here is worth, $40,000 or $50,000. The sum could be increased, and all subscribed outside of New York. It is not for help (to ask you 'to go round with a paper,' as your party friends generally do), but simply for advice. Wesley, the banker, once proposed to sell me some of his interest in the Times if I would go in there. This is entre nous, and I allude to it only to explain why I am going to consult him, as well as you.

"If we could buy the World, the Express, or the Post, that would make the best beginning. If we established the New York Argus or The Age we could start with a larger subscription and in better organization than any two other persons. Of course we would have to go to great expense, employ many hands and heads, and meet a fearful competition. But neither of us are without experience, and we have regarded the question on all sides. There must be, and there will be, a Democratic organ in New York. Who is to control it? In the transitive state of politics, 'that is the question.' There's a vast volume of Democratic patronage going to waste in the city, and still more beyond it. We send out 40,000 weekly papers from Albany, and in less than a year could raise it to 200,000 if we were in New York. That is as much as Greeley has for his Tribune, and that is the source of its influence.

"There is plenty of ability in New York that could be called in. What is wanted is conduct—a policy, prudence, independence—for the political part. For the business part we want competent men—an association, if possible, with a great publishing house, in order to avail ourselves of literary talent, not allowing it, however, to be our publisher. Commercial and other reporters, and enough literary talent to supply a daily feuilleton; for we must call on the aid of fiction, as the Paris papers do, and so gratify a taste which is stronger here than anywhere else. I would commence by getting Hawthorne or some writer of equal talent to furnish a novel, which might be republished afterwards in a volume, and which would thus pay. To do this, we should want a paper like the World. We will reverse the wish of Archimedes: give us the World, and we will find the lever to move it.

"But I intend to ask your advice, not to forestall it. Until I see you, which will be after the November triumph, I remain

"Yr. frd. & fellow-sufferer, "Wm. Cassidy."

"When Wood was elected by Greeley's agency, I made up my mind that he would administer retributive justice upon G. & Co. by some stupendous organization of the canvassers. But you have an honest vote of 100,000. The Republicans are not entitled to more than 30,000 of this. Give us 40,000, and we will carry the State. Organize—make them do it. The registry will facilitate such work."

JOHN BIGELOW TO S. J. TILDEN

"October 10, 1860.

"Dear Tilden,—Send on your MS. to-night if you can; that is, what is ready, and the rest as early as possible to-morrow. I will then announce it to-morrow for Saturday. If we undertake to get it up to-morrow it will not be well printed, as all outside matter must be in hand before 10 o'clock. Of course, therefore, the men will have to work on it in the afternoon after the work of to-morrow's paper or to-day's to get it up and properly proved. Besides, I want time myself to read it, for I presume, if you sleep in my bed, I should have the privilege of making it up.[27]

"Yours truly, "John Bigelow."

JOHN BIGELOW TO S. J. TILDEN

"Evg. Post, Oct. 11, 1860.

"My dear Tilden,—By the Post of to-day you will see that our printers are waiting for copy. I desired to put you in a position to be regarded by the public as a representative of your party, and by your party as their chief and most capable champion and defender. If you prefer to put what you have to say in the form of a letter you need not hesitate to do so in consequence of anything which has passed. Artistically, I can imagine that the letter shape will have some advantages over an undelivered speech, and I would recommend it, though it was my purpose only to say I hoped you would unburden yourself in just the way you find most agreeable.

"If you can let me know, a day or two in advance, when your copy will be ready I shall be more sure to secure a place for it without delay.

"Speaking in your interest, not in our own, I would advise you to be as brief as possible, for I want to have what you write read. If you can get within a couple of columns, so much the better for all concerned.

"Let me suggest that whatever you have to say you will lose nothing by conceding the errors which have brought the Dem. party to its present condition. It becomes you to write as a statesman, and not as a partisan, in this instance, at least, and perhaps we Republicans, as well as those you particularly address, may profit by your teachings.

"Yours truly, "John Bigelow."

S. J. TILDEN TO JOHN BIGELOW

"2 Union Place, Oct. 11, 1860. "Ev.

"My dear Bigelow,—I thank you for the very kind terms of your note. I entirely agree with you as to the letter form, and the space you suggest is what had occurred to me as proper. I shall keep as nearly as possible to it. I note what you say as to notice. My only real difficulty is the rush of things in which I live.

"Very truly yours, "S. J. Tilden."

S. J. TILDEN TO JOHN BIGELOW

"Oct. 27, 1860.

"My dear Bigelow,—I extremely regret that my letter has reached such unexpected length; and I have condensed it as much as possible, and omitted much which I desired to say, but you did not propose, nor I undertake, to have the thing done too imperfectly. I must, therefore, throw myself upon your indulgence. I assume you will, and that the balance will appear on Monday.

"Very truly yours, "S. J. Tilden." "Sat. Morn., Oct. 27, 1860."

EDWARD EVERETT TO S. J. TILDEN

"Nov. 6, 1860.

"My dear Sir,—I cannot content myself with a mere formal acknowledgment of your admirable pamphlet, which I have read with extreme pleasure. Nothing which I have met with on the dreadful subject which now convulses the country has seemed to me more clearly or forcibly urged.

"I remain, dear sir, with high respect,

"Very truly yours, "Edward Everett."

SENATOR J. M. MASON[28] TO S. J. TILDEN

"Selma, Near Winchester, Va., 12th Novr., 1860.

"Dear Sir,—I have just read your pamphlet—'The Union, its dangers, and how they can be averted.' To say only that it is the best which the occasion has called forth, would be to do as little justice to my discrimination as to its merit.

"It is too late now to arrest the catastrophe which it shows impending; but it must, to minds capable of understanding fact and logic, force the people to pause and consider.

"I trust that measures will be taken to give it an extended circulation in the Northern States; in the South its effect only can be to make the people comprehend what they already feel.

"My note, however (which I am obliged to write through an amanuensis), is only to thank you for this great contribution to American thought, and, like the hungry schoolboy, to ask for more. Can you oblige me by sending me some twenty copies, or as many as you can conveniently spare?

"From your obliged "friend and servant, "J. M. Mason." "S. J. Tilden, Esq., New York."

G. S. HILLARD TO S. J. TILDEN

"Boston, Nov. 19, 1860.

"Dear Sir,—I beg leave to acknowledge the receipt of, and to thank you for, your letter on the Union. I agree with you heartily in your views: they are sound, wise, and patriotic; but what avails it to proclaim them? Anybody who preaches moderation and forbearance—who endeavors to calm the tempest of excited feeling—is called 'a skulking neutral,' or, at best, an obsolete old fogy, whose proper place is in Noah's ark. We must learn wisdom by the smart of folly, and it looks very much as if the teaching was begun. I look upon Mr. Seward as the most mischievous man now in the public service; and for his incendiary course he has not the apology of a fervid temperament and rash blood. His words are the more dangerous, because so deliberately uttered. But I rejoice that you have written the letter, and that so many patriotic and judicious men have been willing to speak and write as you have done. Always anticipating the election of Lincoln, I have been in the habit of saying to our friends that the value and importance of the Union party would not be fully apparent until after that event. I think I was a true prophet. If the country is to be safely navigated through the shoals which are around and ahead, it will be by the agency and instrumentality of the Union party.

"Yrs. truly, "G. S. Hillard." "Samuel J. Tilden, Esq."

THE PROMISED REPLY OF THE "EVENING POST" TO THE LETTER OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN

(Continued and Concluded.)

"The people of the United States voted yesterday upon the questions at issue between the Republicans and their adversaries, as represented by Lincoln and Hamlin, candidates of the former, and by Douglas and Johnson, Breckinridge and Lane, and Bell and Everett, representing the latter, with the following result:"

LINCOLN AND HAMLIN.

Connecticut 6

Illinois 11

Indiana 13

Iowa 4

Maine 8

Massachusetts 13

Michigan 6

Minnesota 4

New Hampshire 5

New York 35

Ohio 23

Pennsylvania 27

Rhode Island 4

Vermont 5

Wisconsin 5

Total 169

DOUGLAS AND JOHNSON.

Missouri 9

Total 9

DOUBTFUL.

Oregon 3

California 4

Total 7

BRECKINRIDGE AND LANE.

Alabama 9

Arkansas 4

Florida 3

Georgia 10

Louisiana 6

Mississippi 7

North Carolina 10

South Carolina 8

Texas 4

Total 61

BELL AND EVERETT AND FUSION.

Delaware 3

New Jersey 7

Kentucky 12

Maryland 8

Tennessee 12

Virginia 15

Total 57

RECAPITULATION.

Electoral Votes.

For Lincoln and Hamlin 169

For Breckinridge and Lane 61

For Bell and Everett 57

For Douglas and Johnson 9

For Doubtful 7

Whole electoral vote 303

Lincoln's majority over all, certain 35

If Oregon and California vote for Lincoln it will add to his majority 7

Total 42

TILDEN TO W. H. SWAYNE ON THE PROCURING A CHARTER FROM THE STATE OF OHIO FOR THE PITTSBURG, FORT WAYNE & CHICAGO RAILROAD

"Dec. 6, 1860.

"My dear Sir,—Two modes of investing the future owners of the P. F. W. H. R.[29] with a corporate character within the State of Ohio have been suggested.

"1. One is to make them a corporation of the State of Ohio—by creating them a new corporation, or by continuing to them the old corporate franchise.

"I understand Mr. Stanbery and Mr. Hunter to propose the latter method. By providing for the transfer of the existing franchise to be a corporation by a general law, they avoid the constitutional provision that 'the general assembly shall pass no special act conferring corporate powers.' They think, also, that by preserving the identity of the existing franchise they can avoid the operation of the constitutional provision 'that in all cases each stockholder shall be liable over and above the stock by him or her owned, and any amount unpaid thereon, to a further sum, at least equal in amount to such stock,' upon the ground that the provision is not retractive, and was established subsequently to existence of this corporation. They think, also, that although the identity of the corporation will be preserved, it can be discharged from liability for the debts and contracts which it has made. If it should be found to be liable for those debts and contracts, the main object of the reorganization would fail.

"2. The other mode is to make the future owners a corporation of Pennsylvania or Illinois, and to enable that corporation to hold, maintain, and operate the part of the road which is situate in Ohio, without being a corporation of the State of Ohio.

"To enable a Pennsylvania corporation, for instance, to hold, maintain, and operate the part of the road situate in Ohio two things are necessary:

"First, that it should be endowed by the law of its creation (which would be the act of Pennsylvania creating it), with capacity to hold, maintain, and operate the part of the said road which is situate within Ohio.

"Secondly, that it should have the consent, implied or expressed, of the State of Ohio to the exercise within that State of its powers to hold, maintain, and operate the part of the railroad situate within that State.

"Such consent in this case will be implied, unless the implication is negatived by express legislative declaration of the public policy of the State.

"As the laws of Ohio allow an individual purchaser to hold, maintain, and operate the railroad—which individual might be a non-resident—and as there is no policy established by legislation or by a judicial construction to disable a corporation of another State having the requisite capacity from doing so, the case comes clearly within the principle on which nearly all the acts of corporations in other States than those of their creation are sustained by the courts as lawful.

"The rights of the State of Ohio are not violated; for it is by her consent that these powers will be exercised within her dominion. That consent could have been withheld. I do not say that it might not be withdrawn by legislation, not so as to divest rights of property which accrued while it existed, but so as to produce inconvenient consequences to the tenure of the corporators: nor will I advert to the fact that a vast number of transactions are daily carried on in some of the States by corporations of other States, subject to the same possibility, or that in some States, as in New York, most corporations exist subject to full legislative power to repeal the act conferring the franchise.

"For I have not doubted—I have uniformly expressed the opinion that in a case of the peculiar nature and vast importance of the present it is wise to obtain an express consent.

"Shall that consent be given by special act or general law? Would it have any effect on the extent of the liability of the corporations?

"The essence of the corporate character is that several individuals are united in one body—enabled to exist and act as an artificial person created by law, the members of which can change without impairing the identity of that body of person.

"The code of regulations, according to which it exists and acts, which fix its modus is incidental to that creation.

"Its other powers, which may be and often are possessed and exercised by natural persons, are not, strictly speaking, corporate powers, such, for instance, as making discounts, granting insurances, operating railroads; there is nothing in the nature of these powers which necessarily confines them to corporations. They are not of the essence or of the incidents of the corporate character. I think the prohibition of the Ohio Constitution that 'the general assembly shall pass no special act conferring corporate powers' is a mere paraphrase of the prohibition of the New York Constitution, contained in the following provision: Corporations may be formed under general laws, but shall not be created by special act, etc. The next clause of the Ohio Constitution provides that 'corporations' may be formed under general laws.

"The provision was, in the main, copied from the Constitution of New York. The modification of details accounts for the change in the collocation.

"In a cursory review of the discussions in the Ohio convention I see no trace that anything further was intended by the prohibition than to interdict the creation of corporations by special acts.

"That construction accords with the true meaning of the words 'corporate powers,' which is powers essential or incident to the nature of the artificial being created by law—such as the power to take a common name, to have corporate succession, to contract and be contracted with, and to sue and be sued as one person, etc. These are properly corporate powers. It is true the words are sometimes used to include all the powers which the particular corporation possesses; but that is a loose and inaccurate use.

"I think that the correct interpretation of the publication is that it simply forbids the creation of a corporation by a special act of incorporation—nothing more. It does not forbid an act operating to enlarge, modify, or restrict the rights of an existing corporation, any more than it does a similar act in respect to a natural person in a like case. Still less does it forbid such legislation in respect to a foreign corporation. It is enough for the present case to say that the clause does not prohibit a legislative recognition or an express sanction of an existing comity of the State in favor of an existing corporation of another State.

"1. I am, therefore, of opinion that a special act declaring the assent of the State of Ohio to the exercise within that State of all the powers necessary for a beneficial use of the Pittsburg, F. W. & Chicago Railroad by a corporation of Pennsylvania or Illinois, which should have become the owner of the part of such railroad situate within the State of Ohio, would be valid and effectual.

"A general law would, of course, be somewhat preferable, as it would avoid this question. If it is certainly attainable, I would seek our legislation in that form.

"But I foresee the possibility that it might excite more jealousy than a special act, because its full application and use cannot be certainly anticipated. I foresee, also, the possibility that it may affect special cases of existing interest, prejudice, or passion, of which I am ignorant.

"In the first section of a draft of a general law which I have hastily made at a suggestion, I have tried to avoid the first of these two objections by limiting the cases to which the law applies.

"1. An existing railroad.

"2. Partly situate in Ohio and partly in some adjacent State.

"3. Sold under an existing lien.

"4. Acquired by a corporation of another State in which another part of the same railroad is situate.

"5. Such corporation acquiring the part of the railroad situate in that other State.

"6. Of course, such corporation having the capacity to take and operate the part situate in Ohio.

"Perhaps I may have put in more limitations than are necessary.

"Whether the measure will run foul of any other interest can be better judged of by men conversant with the state of affairs in Ohio and in its legislation.

"The general law, as proposed, is not more liberal than the existing consolidation act of Ohio. We ought to be able to obtain it. If there is a strong probability that we cannot, we ought to obtain a special act of a similar nature, applicable only to our particular railroad.

"2. The advantage of not making the corporation a creation of the State of Ohio is that it certainly and unquestionably avoids this double liability of the corporators imposed by the Constitution of that State.

"The degree of liability to which the individual corporators shall be subject is a part of the code of regulations specifying the mode and conditions of the existence and action of the artificial being. Sometimes it is nothing beyond the stock paid in. Sometimes, as by the Ohio Constitution, it is a limited amount beyond the stock paid in; sometimes it is absolute, as in the case of partners. It is not of the essence of corporations—it is a regulation imposed by the sovereign who creates the artificial being an incident to the particular corporation. Nobody but that creator could impose such a regulation. The most any other State could do would be to refuse its comity to a corporation until it should get the regulation imposed by the lawful authority of the State of its creation.

"Besides, the provisions of the Constitution of Ohio applies only to corporations created by or under the laws of that State. It does not purport to operate on corporations of other States transacting business in Ohio under the comity of its sovereign.

"3. In respect to the general act proposed by Mr. Stanbery and Mr. Hunter, I think they should prepare it and that we should co-operate in procuring its passage. It would be open to our choice if on consultation we should prefer to act under it; and it would be useful in other cases. My idea originally was to have that general law and a special act for the Pittsburg, F. W., C. R. R. If we change the latter to a general law, it makes two of that character; but I do not see any objection if we can get them both passed.

"I should like to have a copy of the draft of such an act as Mr. Stanbery and Mr. Hunter propose.

"The draft of a general act which I send contains provisions which ought to be considered as consulted upon. I have prepared them without, perhaps, sufficient study of your laws on the subject, and without knowing the temper of your Legislature.

"In some particulars they must be regarded as mere suggestions. Consider—

"1. The clause of Sec. 1, subjecting the company in respect to its management of the part of the railroad to the duties and regulations imposed by your general laws—whether there is any provision which should be accepted, whether this clause ought to be made more stringent in order to be satisfactory to your Legislature. But care should be taken not to use expressions which could include the personal liability provisions of the Ohio Constitution and laws.

"2. The clause of the same section subjects it to be—

"Section 2 is intended to give the same power as to mortgaging the rolling stock, etc., which is contained in the Pennsylvania act. I do not think this ought to be objected to.

"Section 3 is an adaptation of a clause proposed last summer.

"I cannot send a fair copy of the special act without losing a mail. The general one is sufficient as a basis of consideration and consultation.

"I would like to have you consider the matter, and must contrive some way to meet in consultation.

"I address this letter to you, though its contents are for Mr. Stanbery, Mr. Hunter, and Judge Sherman, to whom I pray you to offer my best respects.

"Yours truly, "S. J. Tilden." "W. H. Swayne, Esq., "New York, Dec. 6, 1860."

TILDEN TO W. B. OGDEN

"New York, Dec. 17, 1860.

"My dear Sir,—As you leave in the morning to return to Chicago, I seize a few moments this evening to submit to you some suggestions as to the present crisis in the affairs of our country. I know you have no personal aspirations; that you are exempt from the blinding and misleading influence of active partisanship; that your disposition is equitable; that you have no motive but the public good—no interest except in common with all patriotic citizens; and that, far better than most men, you understand that there is usually another side to a controversy than 'our side.'

"Your situation may enable you to be of great service to your country and to mankind, and of not less service to a gentleman who to-day occupies a more important and responsible position than has been the fortune of any other of his generation. Of course I allude to Mr. Lincoln. His patriotism I do not doubt. The impression he made on me, upon two occasions when I casually met him, was that of a frank, genial, warm-hearted man. In the actual duties of the Presidency he cannot but take conservative views. No man can have a motive so strong and yet so noble to prevent his own name from closing, amid public sorrow and shame, the illustrious roll of American Presidents which began with Washington.

"It must be his renown or his calamity to decide whether he shall be the Chief Magistrate of a whole country or of half a country. Providence has cast upon him that immense responsibility. In saying this I do not touch the question, What has caused the mischief? I speak only as to the question, Who has the power to save the country?

"1. The reality of the danger of disunion, I think, cannot be doubted. The cotton States are far more unanimous for secession than our fathers were when they made our revolution despite of the royalist majority. Practically, their people are unanimous. We can only hope for an effective minority forming itself in some qualified position within the current of popular opinion. A statesmanlike policy would be to aid the formation of that minority—to strengthen it that it may become a majority, to create, to hasten, to swell the reaction for which we hope.

"2. Our first necessity is to comprehend the crisis. That is difficult. A man on one side of a question cannot easily turn out the set of ideas which fill his mind and admit the opposite set, even for an experiment. Nothing is so difficult in ordinary experience as to see both sides of a question. For us who have been educated with Northern ideas or in party controversies, we must be almost more than mortal to be able to take a perfectly candid and impartial view of the position of our adversaries. It is necessary to do more—to imagine ourselves in their position, in order to form a policy adapted to their case."

TOWNSEND WARD TO TILDEN

"Philadelphia, Dec. 19, 1860.

"Dear Sir,—Last evening, at Mrs. Gilpin's, I met Mr. Ogden, who kindly gave me a copy of your letter to Mr. Kent.[30] It is so well calculated to do good that I want to obtain copies for distribution. Can you have your publisher send me fifty, with a line stating the cost, which I will remit? Years, perhaps, of the dreary labor of reconstruction of our empire are before us, and it will not do for us who foresaw the storm to desert the wreck while a single plank of hope remains.

"I send you a copy of a pamphlet by a Mr. John R. White, of this city. It has some good points.

"Very Respectfully, "Townsend Ward, "204 S. 5th St. "Samuel J. Tilden, Esq."

S. J. TILDEN TO (TOWNSEND WARD)

"New York, Dec. 1860.

"My dear Sir,—Immediately on receiving your note I caused 50 copies of my letter to Judge Kent to be sent to your address. I acknowledge a deep sense of the favorable estimate you express of that effort, on a sudden occasion, amid the toils which fell upon me as one of the Union committee, to recall our Northern people to the duty of justice and fraternity towards our Southern fellow-countrymen. I have delayed writing to you to say so until I could seize a moment in which to add a suggestion as to the future; and, in the mean time, how rapidly, how fearfully, have events been hurrying forward!

"It seems, too, that these events cast largely upon the Virginia statesmen of this generation the momentous duty of saving from destruction a political system which we and the world owe mainly to the Virginia statesmen of the golden era of the Republic."

S. L. M. BARLOW TO TILDEN

"Private.

"New York, Wednesday.

"My dear Tilden,—I understand that you are to be consulted this evg. as to the propriety of assuming control of the Pres't and his adm'n from this time forward on his promise to surrender everything to the Democrats. This plan assumes that Church and yourself will enter heartily into this movement, and that one of you will go into the Cabinet.

"Whoever does so will, in my judgment, run a very serious risk of damaging his own record; the adoption of the plan will hasten rather than retard impeachment; it is not unlikely that the finances may be deranged, which will be chargeable to us, and with Johnson's sins of omission and commission on our backs, we stand a fair chance of defeat, when otherwise we might win in the coming Presidential fight. I see nothing to be gained except a few places, very few, too, with Congress against us, for a few men who want position. I hope, if you agree with me, you will not countenance the plan in any form.

"Y'rs, S. L. M. Barlow." "S. J. Tilden, Esq."

FOOTNOTES: