Thursday, September 21, 2023

Congressman Horace Mann, April 6 1850

APRIL 6, 1850.

Public affairs are looking worse here,―more dangerous for the cause of liberty than ever. The defection of Mr. Webster is dreadful! The Whigs and Free-soilers in Massachusetts are so hostile to each other, that, though the great body of them think alike on the most important subjects, they cannot act together. They fly from each other with hard words, instead of laboring together for the cause of the country.

Since Mr. Webster's speech, the tide of things is changed. The South have taken courage, and are pressing their schemes with renewed energy. Their old skill can hardly be improved.

Being the last bid for the Presidency, this speech of Mr. Webster's was the heaviest; but the other aspirants for the same object do not wish to be outdone or outbid, and so they are taking a strong Southern ground. I fear the cause will be lost. God grant that I may be mistaken!

SOURCE: Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, Life of Horace Mann, p. 299

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