Congressman Horace Mann to George Combe, December 1851

WASHINGTON, December, 1851.

MY DEAR MR. COMBE, — . . . In this political wrangle, I, who before was, in some respects, very popular, have become very unpopular. But I look to futurity for my vindication. During the past summer and autumn, I have collected and revised all my leading speeches and letters on antislavery, and have published them in a volume, making nearly six hundred pages. They will be, in a good degree, historical as to my course on the great questions of freedom and slavery. For a time, I, and those with whom I have acted, may be under a cloud; but I have no doubt as to how we shall stand a quarter of a century hence. And hereafter, when some future Macaulay shall arise to announce the verdict of history in relation to these times, I can feel no doubt that he will condemn the statesmen and the judges who have upheld the infamous compromise measures and the Fugitive-slave Law, to stand forever by the side of, and to share the immortal reprobation which now, by the universal consent of mankind, is awarded to, the lawgivers and the courts of the Stuarts.

I came to Washington last Saturday, bringing the whole family, and a niece who is very dear to me, and who proposes spending the winter here. We are situated in a most pleasant part of the city, on Capitol Hill; and hope to have as agreeable a winter as one can have in the midst of these national immoralities. The business of the session will consist mainly in the manœuvres, intrigues, and competitions for the next Presidency. The only candidate yet named, whom I can support, is Gen. Scott. He will not mingle in the intrigue. I shall be a spectator of these questions, having no temptation even to participate in them.

_____ _____.

I am exhibiting myself in a new character, — that of a school-book maker; and am preparing, in conjunction with a gentleman who is very competent to perform the labor, a series of arithmetical works based on a new principle. Instead of taking, as the data of the questions, the transactions of the shop, the market-house, the bank, &c., I explore the whole range of history, biography, geography, civil, commercial, financial, and educational statistics, science, &c., for the materials which form the basis of the questions: so that the pupil, in addition to a problem to be solved, shall always find an interesting or instructive fact to be delighted with. I can, however, give you but a meagre idea of my plan, which I have fully unfolded in my preface, and which I hope some time to send to you.*

I ask myself a thousand times, Shall I ever see you again? and the answer which probability returns makes me sad. With our best regards to yourself and Mrs. Combe, we are, as ever, most truly your friends.

HORACE MANN.

P. S. — There is something in your suggestion of having me for your posthumous editor that struck me as almost ridiculous. Your chance for being the survivor is probably better than mine. But that is no reason why your work should not proceed. Put all your wisdom into it.

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* This arithmetic was published in Philadelphia: but the publishers made little effort to forward it; and Mr. Mann was too much occupied, when he became aware of this, to take any measures upon the subject.

SOURCE: Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, Life of Horace Mann, p. 351-2