ASHLAND, August 24, 1848.
MY DEAR SIR,—I duly
received, and perused with lively interest and gratitude, your friendly letter
of the 27th ultimo.
The Whig party
presents an anomalous condition. Without any candidate who recognizes his
obligation to conform to their principles, the members of it are called upon as
a party to support the no-party candidate; and I have been urgently and
repeatedly appealed to, to indorse as a Whig General Taylor, who, while he
adopts the name in a modified form, repudiates the principles of the party! I
need not say, that I have done, and shall do, no such thing. Self-respect,
consistency with deliberate opinions long ago formed, and my sense of public
duty, will restrain me from taking any prominent or active part in the canvass.
Whatever I may do, I will not expose myself to any reproaches from those if
there be any such—who might be misled by my opinion. I have submitted quietly
to the decision of the Convention, and beyond that I feel under no obligations.
I consider my public
career as forever terminated, and I am most anxious to preserve untarnished
that character, around which so many warm-hearted friends have done me the honor
to rally. I should, I think, justly incur their censure if, after all that I
have thought and said (confirmed as my convictions are by observation) against
the elevation of mere military men to the Presidency, could I come out in the
active support of the most exclusively military candidate ever presented to the
American people; one, too, who has forced himself upon the Convention, or been
forced upon it. One who declared that he would stand as an independent
candidate against me, or any other Whig that might be nominated—a declaration
made under his own hand, and which remains uncontradicted by any thing under
his own hand, which the public has been permitted to see.
I do not mean to
intimate what may be my final vote, given quietly at the polls, if I vote at
all; that will depend upon a view of all existing circumstances at the time;
but neither now nor then do I desire to influence any body else.
There is nothing in the
contest to arouse my patriotism, or to animate my zeal. I regard the attempt to
elect General Taylor as one to create a mere personal party. How such a party
may work, I can not foresee; possibly better than that of either of his
competitors; but this possibility is not sufficient to excite any warmth or
enthusiasm with me. General Taylor has, I think, exhibited much instability and
vascillation. He will inevitably fall into the hands of others, who will
control his Administration. I know not who they will be, but judging from my
experience of poor, weak human nature, they will be most likely those who will
have favored and flattered the most.
Standing proud and
erect in the consciousness of having faithfully fulfilled all my public duties,
and supported and cheered by numberless intelligent and warm-hearted friends in
all parts of the country, I acquiesce in the retirement in which I expect to
pass the remnant of my life. Some of those friends may censure me for the
inaction which I have prescribed to myself during the present canvass; but if
they do, I appeal to their "sober second thoughts," or to the
impartial tribunal of posterity. I am, etc.
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