Diary of Orville Hickman Browning, Tuesday, May 22, 1860

Fine day—At work in office. out at Cox's to tea. “Help me Cassius or I sink” received a long letter from Hon David Davis, Tho^s A Marshall, N. B. Judd, E Peck¹ & O. M. Hatch, entreating me in the most earnest terms to go, without delay, to St Louis, and see Judge Bates, and try and prevail upon him to come into Illinois, and assist us in the campaign. They want his influence to carry the old whig Quincy element for Lincoln.² Some of these same men had blamed me for supporting Judge Bates for the Presidency and had asserted, in the most emphatic terms, that he could not carry Illinois. I believed before the convention, and believe now, that he would have carried the entire Republican party, and the old whig party beside, and I think others are beginning to suspect the same thing, and that we have made a mistake in the selection of candidates.

I immediately wrote a long and urgent letter to Judge Bates, and will follow it in person tomorrow—for in my opinion, the existence of the party and the highest good of the country, are alike dependent upon our success, and I am willing to forego all personal preferences, and make any reasonable sacrifice to secure a triumph

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¹ Ebenezer Peck, 1805-1881. Born in Maine; admitted to bar in Canada; member of Canadian Parliament; came to Chicago, 1835, being one of the founders of the Democratic party and one of its supposedly unscrupulous politicians. Lincoln opposed him then, but by 1856 Peck had become a Republican and he took part in the Republican convention at Bloomington in that year. He was elected clerk of the Supreme Court in 1841 in a meeting of five of the nine justices of the court. His election was supposed to be part of a bargain regarding the passage of the act of 1841 reorganizing the Supreme Court on Democratic lines. He was therefore known as the "midnight clerk." President Lincoln appointed him to the United States Court of Claims. Palmer, The Bench and Bar of Illinois, 1:76-77; 2: 627; Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, 1:126127; 2: 28; Memoirs of Gustave Koerner, 2: 93.

² This letter is in the files of the Illinois State Historical Library at Springfield and reads as follows:

Springfield, Ills

May 21 1860

Dear Browning—

 

There must be no mistake about carrying Illinois—

 

Our honor is pledged to it—

 

To conduce to this end, it is apparent to a number of friends now here, that Judge Edward Bates should be got to make speeches, at 4 or 5 prominent places in this State, say Charleston Springfield, Jacksonville, Carlinville, or Alton, & some place on Military Tract

 

Judge Bates owes it to himself & the cause to make this sacrifice His appearance & the man himself would be more effective, than a thousand speeches from Eastern Orators—

 

—Mr Bates, would emphatically settle the Fillmore element for us—

Your friends think that if these speeches could be made all of them before the Baltimore nomination—that they would be greatly—infinitely more effective—than if made afterwards

 

Now is the appointed time— In looking over the list of our friends, who should be sent to Mr Bates to effect this end a number of your friends & Mr Lincoln's now here, unitedly believe that you are that man—

 

The undersigned therefore, earnestly & affectionatley urge you immediately to visit Saint Louis & if possible secure the services of Mr Bates— We assure you that you could not more effectually serve the cause—

 

We beg of you to lay aside business & visit Saint Louis—for this purpose—

 

Write to Mr Hatch the result of your mission—Knowing your interest in this cause, we feel certain that you will not hesitate a moment, in endeavouring to accomplish this very desirable object.

 

Mr Blair of St Louis thinks it most important & if in St Louis will lend his aid— Mr Blair has the matter at heart—

 

We remain

Dear Sir

Your friends

David Davis

N. B. Judd

T. A. Marshall

Eb Peck.

O. M. Hatch

SOURCE: The Diary of Orville Hickman Browning, Vol. 1, pp. 408-10