James Buchanan to Harriet R. Lane, January 16, 1862*

Wheatland, near Lancaster,

16 January [1862].

My Dear Harriet

I have received yours of the 11th Instant; & now enclose you a letter just received under the frank of Mr. Blair.

The invitation from Mr. and Mrs. Ward surprises me. Please to tell Judge Roosevelt that I have no loose copy of my speech in favor of the Independent Treasury, or it would afford me much pleasure to send it to him.

Do you know why our friend Schell is so much in Washington? Is he a witness or a party to any investigation there?

I have not & have not had any intention of writing a history of my administration. What I have done has been to collect & prepare for publication, should this become necessary, a reference to such public & other authentic documents as would fully justify me in all I did & all I did not do since the election of Mr. Lincoln in November last. For the present I have not the least idea of publishing it.

To tell me that a Paper like the Herald, which is read by every body, has no influence is vain. It has a most malign influence both at home & abroad. Its influence was evil in encouraging the secessionists to believe they might depart in peace, & then after its editor had been pursued by a mob, its influence in exasperating the people of England against us has been most unfortunate. It is considered there as a reflex of public opinion in this Country, & especially of that of the great city of New York.

Well, our friend Stanton has been appointed Secretary of War. I presume, without knowing, that this has been done by the influence of General M’Clellan. I have reason to believe they are very intimate. What are Mr. Stanton's qualifications for that, the greatest & most responsible office in the world, I cannot judge. I appointed him Attorney General when Judge Black was raised to the State Department, because his professional business & that of the Judge, especially in California cases, were so intimately connected that he could proceed in the Supreme Court without delay. He is a sound, clear-headed, persevering, & practical lawyer, & is quite eminent especially in Patent cases. He is not well versed in public, commercial, or constitutional law; because his professional duties as a County Lawyer never led him to make these his study. I believe he is a perfectly honest man & in that respect differs from his immediate predecessor. He never took much part in Cabinet Counsels, because his office did not require it. He was always on my side & flattered me ad nauseam. . . .¹

Remember me in great kindness to the Judge & Mrs. Roosevelt.

Yours affectionately

James Buchanan.

Miss Harriet R. Lane.

_______________

* Buchanan Papers, private collection. The paragraph relating to Stanton is imperfectly printed in Curtis's Buchanan, II. 522.

¹ A paragraph relating to an entirely different and personal matter is here omitted.

SOURCE: John Bassett Moore, The Works of James Buchanan, Volume 11: 1860-1868, p. 246-7