Daniel S. Dickinson to Lydia Knapp Dickinson, February 12, 1858

WILLARD'S HOTEL, WASHINGTON,}

February 12, 1858. }

MY DEAR LYDIA—I was delighted last evening to receive your letter, with one from Lydia enclosed, and this morning a beautiful one from dear Mary at Cortland. I reached here Tuesday evening quite well, and was greeted with many a cordial welcome. Finding that it was levee evening, I went to the White House, and on Wednesday evening to Mrs. Floyd's reception. Yesterday all the Cabinet ladies "received," and I submitted to the infliction of going all round.

I dined with Mr. Corcoran, with rather a brilliant party, at six; returned at half past nine, and went to Marshall Hoover's party, and stole away at half past eleven and returned to the hotel.

All our acquaintances inquire for you, Lydia, and Mary, with much interest. I dine with the President to-day at six; Miss Lane, whom I saw at the levee and sat next at Mr. Corcoran's, sends you her kind regards, also to Mary. I have not yet reached my cause, and may not until the middle of the week. I am quite glad Mary did not come now. Washington has improved much in its externals, as you saw last spring; and its parties are far more showy and pretentious than formerly, but the gaiety is so much allied to dissipation that it is absolutely alarming. It is deplored exceedingly by the reflecting and sensible; but there is no arresting it, and no escape. What society has gained in show it has lost in heart, and is fast copying the worst forms of European extravagance. The ladies look worn and jaded; I have conversed with some who view it as I do. I would not have our darling Mary in this maelstrom of dissipation without her mother or some discreet lady friend, for any consideration I could name. I have seen nothing so well calculated to disturb and derange the rational moral sense of the young in my whole life.

I shall not be able to write you often, for I am terribly run down, and you must take the will for the deed. Give much love to all, particularly Charlotte and the little boys.

Very affectionately,

D. S. DICKINSON.

SOURCE: John R. Dickinson, Editor, Speeches, Correspondence, Etc., of the Late Daniel S. Dickinson of New York, Vol. 2, pp. 508-9

Daniel S. Dickinson to Mary S. Dickinson, February 12, 1858

WASHINGTON, February 12, 1858.

MY BELOVED DAUGHTER—I received your beautiful note from Cortland this morning, and was pleased with your affectionate remembrance. Washington is full to overflowing; gay, to dissipation; swollen, to extravagant dimensions; sleepy, to stupidity; and rouged, to redness. Your friends and acquaintances inquire for you cordially. I would not have you here in this intoxicating whirl of party-going for anything I could name. It has proceeded to a pass which is destructive of physical and moral health. I am glad you are at home to comfort and console your dear mother with the affectionate attentions of the only darling child left us there.

The mail is about to close. In haste.

Your affectionate father,

D. S. DICKINSON.

SOURCE: John R. Dickinson, Editor, Speeches, Correspondence, Etc., of the Late Daniel S. Dickinson of New York, Vol. 2, pp. 509-10

Diary of George Templeton Strong, June 21, 1860

This evening with Mr. Ruggles to Dr. Gilman’s, Thirteenth Street, to meet sundry of the professors of our Medical College and consider whether any kind of scientific post-graduate course can be evolved out of nothing by concerted action between Columbia College and this, its new ally. President King and Torrey were there, and the Medical College was represented by Gilman, Parker, Delafield, Clark, Dalton, and other medicine men, generally of high caste. We talked the matter over and agreed to meet again a fortnight hence. Something may come of it, but my expectations are moderate. The Medical College building, at the comer of Twenty-third and Fourth Avenue, is convenient and accessible, but we want men of larger calibre than Joy, McCulloh, Dr. Delafield, and Dr. Parker. . .¹³

The Democratic Baltimore Convention is still sitting, and none the easier for sitting. The great old Democratic Party is in articulo mortis; its convention is abolishing of itself, and just on the eve of suicide by dismemberment and disintegration, after the manner of certain star-fishes (vide Gosse). If Douglas be nominated, a Southern limb drops off. If any other man is nominated, a Northwestern ray or arm secedes. Southern swashbucklers demand an ultra-nigger platform that would cost the party every Northern state; unless it be adopted, they will depart to put on their war paint and—whet their scalping knives. The worst temper prevails; delegates punch each other and produce revolvers. In short, a wasps’ nest divided against itself is a pastoral symphony compared to this Witenagemot. Its session has abounded thus far in scandalous, shameful brutalities and indecencies that disgrace the whole country and illustrate the terrible pace at which we seem traveling down hill toward sheer barbarism and savagery.

The Convention has made little progress yet—has not even succeeded in defining its own identity. Its throes and gripings have thus far been on the question whether certain chivalric delegations that seceded at Charleston shall be received back digested and assimilated, or rejected as foreign matter. The New York delegation seems to hold the balance of power. After Douglas, Dickinson and Horatio Seymour are talked of; I could vote for the latter. There is a Nelson movement, too, silent as yet, but growing.¹⁴ But the elements of the Convention are in unstable combination, and it is likely to decompose with an explosion like chloride of nitrogen, or disintegrate like a Prince Rupert’s drop, on the slightest provocation before it nominates anybody. And, if one half of its bullies and blackguards and Southern gentlemen will make free use of their revolvers on the other half, during the general reaction and melee that is like to accompany the act of decomposition, and will then get themselves decently hanged for homicide, the country will be safe; and millions yet unborn will bless the day when the Baltimore Convention of 1860 exploded and the Democratic Party ceased to exist.

If there were a real ruler now to march into this congregation of politic knaves and hang a dozen of the worst cases, with their bowie knives round their necks, and set the rest to hard labor on public works for a term of years!!! What a subject he would be for a biography by Carlyle! But there is no such luck. Whatever may be the result of this Convention, the Democracy has disgraced itself and damaged itself beyond cure. I half expect that Republicanism and Abe Lincoln will sweep every vestige of that party out of existence.

_______________

¹³ Willard Parker (1800-1884), for whom the Willard Parker Hospital for Infectious Diseases in New York is named, had studied in Europe and held chairs of anatomy and surgery in several medical schools in this country before he joined the faculty of the College of Physicians and Surgeons as professor of principles and practice of surgery (1839-1870). Edward Delafield (1794—1875), ophthalmologist and surgeon, founded the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary in 1818. He occupied the chair of obstetrics and diseases of women in the College of Physicians and Surgeons from 1825 to 1838, and was president of the College from 1858 to 1875. Alonzo Clark (1807-1887) held the chair of physiology and pathology in the College of Physicians and Surgeons from 1848 to 1855, when he became professor of pathology and practical medicine in the same school. John Call Dalton (1825—1889) was the first physician in America to devote himself exclusively to experimental physiology and related sciences. His studies with Claude Bernard in Paris turned his ambition from practice to teaching, and he introduced the experimental method in teaching of physiology, thus opening a new era in medical education. He occupied the chair of physiology in the College of Physicians and Surgeons 1855-1883, and served as president 1884-1889.

¹⁴ Strong’s unwillingness to vote for the politician Daniel S. Dickinson (1800-1866) is understandable. The movement for Justice Samuel Nelson of the Supreme Court (1792-1873) developed no strength.

SOURCE: Allan Nevins and Milton Halset Thomas, Editors, Diary of George Templeton Strong, Vol. 3, pp. 34-6

John B. Fry to Daniel S. Dickinson, January 17, 1858

NEW YORK, January 17, 1858.

MY DEAR MR. DICKINSON—Upon taking up this morning's Herald I was deeply pained to learn that by being thrown from your carriage on Friday evening you had received serious injury; and yet I am heartily rejoiced (if the despatch be correct) that your condition is not regarded as dangerous.

Though not always sympathizing with your political views and feelings—as, candidly, I do not in respect to the administration of Mr. Buchanan—I am nevertheless warmly, sincerely, and devotedly your friend; and I beg you to believe that I feel most keenly every occurrence, whether of a personal or political nature, which can possibly affect you injuriously.

I am in the habit of thinking and speaking of you as I thought and spoke of Mr. Clay while he lived. He was "wounded in the house of his friends;" so have you been in the house of yours.

But my only object now is to express sorrow at the untoward event that has happened to you, and an ardent hope that you may be speedily restored to health and happiness. I am, my dear Mr. Dickinson, always

Yours faithfully,

JOHN B. FRY.

SOURCE: John R. Dickinson, Editor, Speeches, Correspondence, Etc., of the Late Daniel S. Dickinson of New York, Vol. 2, p. 506

Daniel S. Dickinson to Mr. Rogers, December 25, 1856

BINGHAMTON, December 25, 1856.

MY DEAR ROGERS—Myself and family send to you and to Mrs. Rogers the kindly salutations and wishes of the season, under a deep sense of friendly obligations: and we all join the little boys in transmitting their joyous acknowledgments for your kind remembrance and substantial present. Please drop a line, as early as convenient to you, when you will return, so that I may arrange to be at home.

I am glad you are going to Wheatland, for it is as well due to our friends and to our organization as to Mr. Buchanan himself, that he should be fully, frankly, and temperately posted in our affairs. So far as I have a right to be heard in the premises, it is my desire that the explanation be of a general character, and placed entirely on public grounds. I would under no circumstances have my name pressed upon Mr. Buchanan as one of his cabinet advisers. Nor would I consent to sit as one, unless it was given under circumstances where I was sought, rather than seeking the place, and where the public desired my services. For your own private information, I will assure you that I have no expectation of a cabinet appointment. I have no knowledge nor information on the subject, but intuition teaches me, as I wrote you some time since, and the views then expressed have received confirmation by subsequent reflection. I am by no means sure that it will not be better for those of our friends who desire places, if Mr. Buchanan should pass by the State rather than that he should give me a cabinet appointment. In case of my appointment, if he should deny any further appointment to our wing, it would leave me in an awkward and unpleasant position. But if I am not appointed, he may feel an inclination to look more carefully after my friends. I am proud to note, however, that so far as I have been mentioned, it has generally been for Secretary of State, and no one has placed me below Treasury. The leading papers in Maine, Iowa, &c., &c., have been out pretty strong, but there is much intrigue going on by the jobbers for the places, with a view to the Treasury spoils, and also to 1860.

I do not intend to be pharisaical in profession, but I am, as years increase, more anxious to fill my present sphere of usefulness than to enlarge it:—to execute the mission before me, and train up the little boys that Providence has left to look to me for protection, and to cherish and console, so far as domestic care and quiet can accomplish it, one who is dearer to me still, and bound by more tender ties, and is yet as dependent upon me as a child. These, with others, are individual reasons why change is not desirable except for strong inducements.

Sincerely yours,

D. S. DICKINSON.

SOURCE: John R. Dickinson, Editor, Speeches, Correspondence, Etc., of the Late Daniel S. Dickinson of New York, Vol. 2, pp. 499-500

Daniel S. Dickinson to Mr. W. S. Brown, January 24, 1857

BINGHAMTON, January 24, 1857.

MY DEAR SIR—My best acknowledgments are tendered you for numerous favors conveyed with a generous partiality and friendly devotion. I can only assure you of a high, profound, and sincere appreciation.

I have full confidence in Mr. Buchanan's wisdom, and feel sure he will give us a judicious administration; what will be his "personnel," I have no means of knowing. He is urged, from both interested and factious sources, to go by this State, because of our divisions. It may be wise to pass the State or may not be; but no such question as divisions should control him.

We have some factious men, though since the main body went off, less than one would suppose for the encouragement they have received: but so far as our rank and file are concerned, whether upon men or measures, we have less division than has Virginia, New Hampshire, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, or Pennsylvania.

Repeating my thanks for your kind courtesy—I am,

Yours sincerely,

D. S. DICKINSON.

W. S. BROWN, Esq.

SOURCE: John R. Dickinson, Editor, Speeches, Correspondence, Etc., of the Late Daniel S. Dickinson of New York, Vol. 2, p. 500

Judge I. T. Bosworth to Daniel S. Dickinson, March 9, 1857

BINGHAMTON, March 1, 1857.

MY DEAR JUDGE—Your favor of the 27th came duly to hand, and, as the merchants say, "contents noted." I penned you my "incomprehensible" note while in the tedious attendance upon rather a beggarly circuit. It is said that when a pun or witticism needs explanation to give it point, it is a sorry manifestation, and I do not see why what our old and departed friend Judge S. was wont to call a "sarcasm" does not fall within the same category. However, at the hazard of coming within the rule, I will translate my Greek.

My eye, at the moment of writing, fell upon the movements of the Corruption Committee at Washington, and seeing that the Hon. ——— was to be expelled, reminded me of how much I had enjoyed, some twenty-three years ago, laughing at you for turning the same individual out of your law office for stealing a large pane of glass out of the door of E——'s newly fitted up house over the Chenango Bridge, to supply one that he had broken out of the door of your office; and to complete the joke he got a light too large by three inches one way and one the other. The fun I had at the time over it all came back to me, and hence my revival of it to you thus obscurely;—not thinking that the brick and mortar, excitement and turmoil, and judicial care of the city, had shut you out from keeping track of individuals, as we do in the country.

*          *          *          *          *

Yes, my dear Judge, I might wear out life as you do. I have enjoyed some rather gratifying triumphs in my day, both political and professional; but never anything has so much drawn out my anxiety and solicitude in advance, has so much mortified and vexed me when adverse, nor afforded me the same satisfaction in success, as the matter to which you allude.

I still like professional pursuits better than official life. If I had money to spend profusely, I could enjoy myself in rural occupations; but eternal, like internal improvement, is too expensive a luxury for a poor man.

I like excitement, and as I also want income, it would work well if we did not have so much mere litigation over subjects where the parties cannot pay very large fees, and, if able, no counsel could have the face to charge them. These cases, as you know, are fought out with a pertinacity almost unknown in the city, or if known, would command a thousand dollars to our one hundred. If you do not engage in them, others will, and hey block up the courts and delay other business at home, and prevent you from going abroad to attend to business of more importance if you have it. The present system is far less pleasant for the country than the former. There is, or rather would be enough good business to engage me constantly if it were not impeded by this profitless litigation, and much time is wasted in this, in working or in waiting, to the prevention of more important business. If I was within four or five hours ride of the city, instead of nine or ten, I would open an office there.

Mrs. Dickinson and daughters join me in regards to yourself and Mrs. Bosworth and family

Sincerely yours,

D. S. DICKINSON.

SOURCE: John R. Dickinson, Editor, Speeches, Correspondence, Etc., of the Late Daniel S. Dickinson of New York, Vol. 2, pp. 500-2

Daniel S. Dickinson to Henry S. Randall, April 14, 1857

BINGHAMTON, April 14, 1857.

MY DEAR SIR—I should be more prompt in my correspondence, but it is just now so heavy that if I had as much clerical force as Byron intimates the recording angel exhausted about the time of the "crowning carnage—Waterloo," I should still be as much in arrear as was the head of that overworked "black bureau."

I should have come and seen you when at Cortland, but I learned you were ill; and I supposed, too, that you were so deeply buried in your studies that all you would desire of your fellow-men would be that they might, as Diogenes said, "get away from between you and the sun."

The administration seems to be getting on well, but, I am sorry to learn, is hunted to death by office-seekers. It is absolutely discreditable to have an administration so beset that it can do nothing because of office-seeking in a country so full of undeveloped elements as ours; but so it is.

I am pretty deeply busied, if not buried, professionally. I would like a little more relaxation than I find, for I would like to review the poets, from Tasso and Chaucer to Peter Beebe and Polly Gould; but n'importe.

Mrs. Dickinson joins me in regards to yourself and family; and especially I desire kind remembrances to your daughter, who honored me with a note.

Sincerely yours,

D. S. DICKINSON.

Hon. H. S. RANDALL.

SOURCE: John R. Dickinson, Editor, Speeches, Correspondence, Etc., of the Late Daniel S. Dickinson of New York, Vol. 2, p. 503

Reverend William Alvin Bartlett to Daniel S. Dickinson, September 22, 1856

STRATFORD-ON-AVON, September 22, 1856.

DEAR SIR—I have just visited the birth-place and the tomb of Shakespeare, and knowing somewhat of your appreciation of his genius, I avail myself of a little leisure to enclose you a leaf from the old churchyard, and a plate or two, I procured in the room of his birth. The engravings may give you too favorable an idea of the appearance of the house, it being very much dilapidated. The mud walls within are literally carved with autographs-among which I noticed Sir Walter Scott's upon a pane of glass. Lucien Bonaparte left the following record of his visit in 1810:

"The eye of genius glistens to admire

How memory hails the sound of Shakespeare's lyre;

One tear I'll shed, to form a crystal shrine,

For all that's grand, immortal, and divine."

The effigy of Shakespeare in the chancel of the church, which is said to have been made from a cast of his features taken after death, is very different from the usual pictures of him. The tendency has been by artists to represent the physical as perfect as the intellectual man, whereas his face was not regularly formed, according to this bust. The right cheek is much fuller than the left, with a very prominent upper lip, and a double chin, and, on the whole, fleshy and more English in its appearance; as if he were not a stranger to the virtues of good ale. The old church with its rural surroundings, the Avon laving its southern extremity, and its associations, formed a most delightful retreat.

I have thus far had a very prosperous journey, and hope to reach London in a few days. Be pleased to remember me kindly to Mrs. Dickinson, Mrs. Courtney, and Miss Mary.

Yours, very respectfully,

W. A. BARTLETT.

SOURCE: John R. Dickinson, Editor, Speeches, Correspondence, Etc., of the Late Daniel S. Dickinson of New York, Vol. 2, p. 495-6

Reverdy Johnson to Daniel S. Dickinson, September 27, 1856

BALTIMORE, September 27, 1856.

MY DEAR GOVERNOR—You and I are, I am glad to know, this time together politically, as we ever have been socially. The Republicans are claiming the vote of your State in so boasting a way that I doubt it. Tell me, and as soon as you can, what you and other friends think will be her vote. Fillmorites are sure of this State, as they say, but I am getting to be pretty confident it will be for Buchanan.

Truly, your friend,

REVERDY JOHNSON.

SOURCE: John R. Dickinson, Editor, Speeches, Correspondence, Etc., of the Late Daniel S. Dickinson of New York, Vol. 2, p. 496

Senator John C. Calhoun to Andrew Pickens Calhoun, February 23, 1848

Senate Chamber 23d Feb. 1848

MY DEAR ANDREW, The treaty with Mexico has just been laid before the Senate, and read. It will be warmly opposed, but I think it will be approved by the body. It will be a fortunate deliverance, if it should be. A sudden impulse in that case, would be given to commerce, accompanied by a rise of price in our great staple so soon as it is known in England.

The Slave question will soon come up, and be the subject of deep agitation. The South will be in the crisis of its fate. If it yields now, all will be lost.

I enclose a speech by Mr Yulee on his amendment to Mr Dickenson resolutions. They express substantially my views. Indeed, (in confidence), he is one of the members of our mess and has conversed with me freely on the principles, which control the question involved; but the execution is all his own. Love to all.

SOURCE: J. Franklin Jameson, Editor, Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1899, Volume II, Calhoun’s Correspondence: Fourth Annual Report of the Historical Manuscripts Commission, Correspondence of John C. Calhoun, p. 744

William Ross Wallace to Daniel S. Dickinson, March 25, 1856

NEW YORK, March 25, 1856.

DEAR SIR—I did not reply to the letter which you were so kind as to write me some time ago, because at the time I expected to visit Binghamton and pay my respects in person. Courtesy as well as desire impels me to pen this note.

I am deeply gratified at your approval of the lyric, every line of which sprung from my heart; because I regard you as the purest, noblest, and most clear-headed statesman in my country. I hope to see you nominated by the Cincinnati convention; and in case of the Democracy pursuing so wise a course, be assured that every effort will be made in your behalf by

Yours most respect fully

WILLIAM ROSS WALLACE.

SOURCE: John R. Dickinson, Editor, Speeches, Correspondence, Etc., of the Late Daniel S. Dickinson of New York, Vol. 2, p. 493

Daniel S. Dickinson to Mr. Rogers, May 31, 1856

BINGHAMTON, May 31, 1856.

MY DEAR ROGERS—Nothing new occurs to me since writing you last. Every day's events tend to satisfy me that the disintegration of parties is steadily and surely going forward; that a semi-fanaticism is enlisting a strong force for the campaign, and that we shall not succeed without a strong candidate. Phases at Cincinnati are, and, during the sitting of the convention, will be so constantly changing, that were Solomon himself here in all his glorious wisdom he could make no suggestion that would be likely to profit you in the least. "God and Liberty."

Sincerely yours,

D. S. DICKINSON.

SOURCE: John R. Dickinson, Editor, Speeches, Correspondence, Etc., of the Late Daniel S. Dickinson of New York, Vol. 2, p. 493

Jesse D. Bright to Daniel S. Dickinson, July 26, 1856

WASHINGTON, July 26, 1856.

DEAR GOVERNOR—Would it be possible for you to attend our great mass convention, to be holden on the Tippecanoe Battle Ground, September 3, 1856? It will be a monster meeting, and your presence would be of infinite service.

I have received several letters urging me to beg you to attend. Do go, if possible. Let me hear from you. Your friend,

JESSE D. BRIGHT.

SOURCE: John R. Dickinson, Editor, Speeches, Correspondence, Etc., of the Late Daniel S. Dickinson of New York, Vol. 2, p. 494

James Buchanan to Daniel S. Dickinson, August 9, 1855

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,        

LONDON, August 9, 1855.

MY DEAR SIR—I have received your note of the 15th ultimo, and have caused a very careful examination to be made of all the files in the time of Mr. Lawrence, and no such lease or paper as that mentioned in the order of Mr. Clark can be found. I look forward with peculiar pleasure to my return to the United States, which I trust may take place in the month of October. Although I cannot complain of the manner in which I have been treated here, yet I am tired of my position, which has proved to be far more laborious and confining than I had anticipated.

With my kindest remembrance to Mrs. Dickinson, and the agreeable anticipation of meeting you both after my return,

I remain, yours, sincerely,

JAMES BUCHANAN.

SOURCE: John R. Dickinson, Editor, Speeches, Correspondence, Etc., of the Late Daniel S. Dickinson of New York, Vol. 2, p. 488-9

Daniel S. Dickinson to Governor Salmon P. Chase, October 28, 1855

BINGHAMTON, October 28, 1855.

MY DEAR GOVERNOR—I am such a political heretic in the estimation of many of your friends, that if I were to congratulate you upon your election they would question your orthodoxy, and I therefore think it more safe to omit it. In the Senate we were so far separated upon the leading questions that we had nothing to disturb our private friendship; and I recur with pleasure to the recollections of our official and social intercourse.

The immediate object of this note, is to introduce to your acquaintance, and crave your kind offices in behalf of my friend, J. Hunt, jr., of your State. His present political associations I do not know, but I commend him as a gentleman of character and attainments, and evidently worthy of your confidence and regard.

Yours truly,

D. S. DICKINSON.

SOURCE: John R. Dickinson, Editor, Speeches, Correspondence, Etc., of the Late Daniel S. Dickinson of New York, Vol. 2, p. 490

Daniel Fletcher Webster to Senator Daniel S. Dickinson, January 21, 1855

BOSTON, January 21, 1855.

MY DEAR SIR—I this day received, on my return from Washington, an envelope post-marked Binghamton, and containing an autograph letter from my late father to you. I suppose I am indebted for this favor to no one but yourself. I have seen the letter in print, but am very much your debtor for the original. It contains sentiments to which I have often heard my father give expression, in the privacy of social and domestic life, and with which he impressed his family and friends.

I will have it copied and return you the original. With your leave, I propose to make use of it in the publication of my father's correspondence.

I am, with great respect,

Your friend and servant,

FLETCHER WEBSTER.

SOURCE: John R. Dickinson, Editor, Speeches, Correspondence, Etc., of the Late Daniel S. Dickinson of New York, Vol. 2, p. 485

Senator Daniel S. Dickinson to Mr. Rogers, March 25, 1855

BINGHAMPTON, March 25, 1855.

MY DEAR ROGERS—

*                    *                    *                    *                    *

I am aware that many papers have suggested my name in connection with the Presidency, and some have actually placed it at mast-head. Upon the subject you are already aware of my views. Really and truly, I desire never to be again called from the quiet of my home to discharge a public trust. The times have become degenerate—the spirit of office-seeking, base and execrable in the extreme, and the tone of public morals more than questionable. The public treasury and public domain are regarded the lawful booty of political cormorants. Whoever administers the government for the next term, if he does no more than his reasonable duty, will dearly earn both his emoluments and honors, for he will have much to do, above and beyond subserving the grovelling purposes of mere party.

He will have to arrest the demoralizing system of public plunder which has become a part of the fashion of the times; and he will have to fight over, remember that, the great battle of the Constitution which has been recently surrendered. He will have to displace political Peter Funks, professional office-seekers and holders, and fill their places with honest men. It will require the iron will, the stern integrity, and the moral courage of a Jackson. If it is not done, the country will be ruined. If it is done, he who does it will be persecuted "to strange cities." It is a labor of love I by no means covet, nor shall I envy him who is selected to discharge it.

*                    *                    *                    *                    *

Mrs. Dickinson and daughter unite in kind regards to your self and Mrs. Rogers.

Sincerely yours,

D. S. DICKINSON.

SOURCE: John R. Dickinson, Editor, Speeches, Correspondence, Etc., of the Late Daniel S. Dickinson of New York, Vol. 2, p. 485-6

Senator Daniel S. Dickinson to Charles E. Dyke, June 1855

ALBANY, June, 1855.

MY DEAR SIR—On my return to my residence a few days since, from a professional engagement abroad, I found your favor of a late date inquiring my views touching the principles of the "American" or "Know-Nothing" organization. Before I found time to answer I was hurried to this place to attend the Court of Appeals now in session, where the business in which I am engaged affords little time or opportunity for correspondence. I will, however, as I have no concealments upon public questions, borrow a moment from my passing duties to say quite hastily, that I have no knowledge concerning the order to which you allude, except such as is acquired from publications purporting to give information upon the subject, and must therefore confine myself to such points as are embraced within this range. It is generally understood and conceded to be a secret society or organization, designed to act politically in the contests of the day. Of this secret feature I entirely disapprove, and am unable to understand by what necessity, real or supposed, it was dictated, or upon what principle it can be justified. Free public discussion and open action on all public affairs, are essential to the health, nay, to the very existence of popular liberty; and the day which finds the public mind reconciled to the secret movements of political parties, will find us far on our way to the slavery of despotism. If good men may meet in secret for good purposes, we can have no assurance that bad men, under the same plausible exterior, will not secretly sap the foundations of public virtue.

Whether I am in favor of their platform upon the question of domestic slavery, must depend upon what it is; or rather, whether they are in favor of mine. If their platform is to be regarded as including, upholding, or justifying such monstrosities as the "personal liberty bill," recently passed into a law by the Massachusetts Legislature over the veto of Governor Gardner, then I pronounce it treason—rank, unblushing, and brazen-deserving of public reprehension and condign punishment. If upon this subject their platform conforms to resolutions recently published, purporting to be the voice of the majority of the Convention assembled at Philadelphia, it is in substance the same upon which I have stood for years—upon which I did not enter without counting the consequences, and which I intend to relinquish only with life. I have not now these resolutions before me, but as I recollect them, I approve them in substance as sound national doctrine. I ignore no part of the federal Constitution, either in theory or in practice, to court the popular caprices of the moment, to gain public station, or to minister to the necessities or infirmities of those in power. Nor can I distrust the soundness of principles approved upon full consideration under a high sense of duty, because others may choose to adopt and embrace them.

I cannot believe that any good can be accomplished by making the birthplace a test of fidelity or merit. It does not accord, but is at war, with the genius of cur institutions. That abuses have been practised by the appointment of foreigners to places of trust, before sufficiently familiar with our Constitution, laws, and social system, or to which, from circumstances, they were unsuited, is probable. This, however, is in some respects common to native as well as naturalized citizens, and arises not from a defective system, but from its erroneous administration. It is in both respects the natural result of placing in the hands of the incompetent the distribution of public patronage.

Upon the subject of naturalized citizens I have been governed by considerations of justice and duty, and have designed to observe the spirit of my country's Constitution. When members engaged in a steeple-chase, to see who should propose earliest, give most, and vote loudest, to feed suffering Ireland from the federal treasury a few years since, not finding any warrant for such proceedings, I voted against it, and let public clamor exhaust itself upon my head in denunciations. When I learned that the foreigner who had in good faith declared his intentions of citizenship, by setting his foot upon a foreign shore in case of shipwreck, without any intention of remaining abroad, lost the benefit of his proceedings, I introduced and procured the passage of a bill to redress the grievance. These principles have governed my public conduct and now guide my opinions. The Constitution, administered in its true spirit, is, in my judgment, sufficient for the protection of all, whether native or naturalized, and for the redress of all political evils which can be reached by human government.

I have the honor to be,

Your friend and servant,

D. S. DICKINSON.

CHARLES E. DYKE, Esq., editor Floridian and Journal, Tallahassee.

SOURCE: John R. Dickinson, Editor, Speeches, Correspondence, Etc., of the Late Daniel S. Dickinson of New York, Vol. 2, p. 486-8

Daniel S. Dickenson

In a recent issue of the Washington Union, an article appeared, in which, to the astonishment of the country, an attempt was made to disparage the public conduct of Daniel S. Dickenson. What purpose the writer sought to serve, we are at a loss to divine, but that he meant to sink Mr. Dickenson in the esteem of the South, is evident from the nature of the article, unless it be unwarrantable to infer a murderous intent from a savage stab at the very seat of life. Be the blow, however, the stroke of a felon or a friend, it is not the less incumbent upon every Southern man, and especially upon every Virginian, to interpose a defence of the South and Virginia, when they were assailed by traitorous hands.

By every obligation of gratitude and of honor are we of the South bound to sustain Daniel S. Dickenson, under any circumstances and against any foe. When an attempt is made by our enemies to strike him down because of his services to us, this obligation comes upon us with irresistible weight. But we do injustice to Mr. Dickenson. It is not to the South only that he may look for protection against the wrath of those who would immolate him because of his heroic resistance of the aggressions of abolition. Upon every patriot and friend of the Constitution and the Union, no matter in what State or section, he has a claim for sympathy and support.

It is idle to attempt to impeach the consistency and honor of Dickenson's devotion to the South. It has been illustrated under circumstances which would have appalled any but the stoutest and truest heart. Mr. Dickenson's was not mere parade of patriotism which incurs no risk and renders no service. He struck for the South and the Union at a critical moment, and he now suffers the penalty of his patriotism in exclusion from office and in the assassin stab of abolitionists. We need not recount his services to the South. They may be read in the history of the country. They are fresh in the memory of all. Among all the gallant spirits of the North, who in the hour of trial bravely fought for the constitutional rights of the South, Dickenson stood pre-eminent, for the absolute devotion of heart and soul with which he surrendered himself to our cause. The South recognized his service at the time by a gushing fervor of gratitude and universality of admiration, such as she has extended to no other public man. His image was on every Southern heart; his praises were on every Southern tongue.

If it be allowable to appeal to so selfish a motive, we might tell the South that her interest as well as her honor demands that she do justice to her Northern friends. If we shrink from sustaining such men as Daniel S. Dickenson we must prepare to fight our battles alone.

There is a special obligation in Virginia to sustain Mr. Dickenson in his struggles with the abolitionists. She has become in some sort surety for the consistency and integrity of his public character. She gave him the highest attestation of her esteem and affection in the Baltimore Convention, by casting her vote for him for President of the United States, and any aspersion on him touches her own honor.—She cannot be silent when calumny assails him.

In another column the reader will find an article in vindication of Mr. Dickinson, from the pen of one among the most eminent public men in Virginia—one who, himself among the most fearless and faithful of the champions of our Northern friends, and who, as a member of Congress with Mr. Dickenson, can attest his noble and self sacrificing exertions in the defence of our rights.

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Blog Editor’s Note: The spelling of Senator Dickinson’s surnam switches from its correct spelling to Dickenson frequently in this article, I have kept the spellings as they occur in the original.

SOURCE: “Daniel S. Dickenson,” Richmond Enquirer, Richmond, Virginia, Friday Morning, September 16, 1853, p. 2