Congressman Horace Mann, July 13, 1851

WASHINGTON, July 13, 1851.

A Virginian told me yesterday that he saw I kept preaching; and, upon my evincing some curiosity to know what he meant, he said he heard a discourse from me the day before, — Sunday; all which, being at last interpreted, meant that he had heard a street temperance-lecturer read my Letter to the Worcester Temperance Convention, to a large audience which he had collected. I see the letter itself is in Monday's "Commonwealth."

I was glad to see in some paper yesterday a letter from Gen. Scott to Gen. Jackson, declining a challenge for a duel which the latter had sent him. It was well written, saying at the end that he, Gen. Jackson, could probably gratify his feelings by calling him, Scott, coward, &c., till after the next war; meaning thereby, that, in another war, he would have an opportunity to vindicate his courage, &c.

The general impression here is that Mr. Webster cares nothing for the Whig party, but will accept a nomination from any body of men not too contemptible to be noticed.

SOURCE: Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, Life of Horace Mann, p. 350

Congressman Horace Mann to Reverend Samuel J. May, August 4, 1851

WEST NEWTON, Aug. 4, 1851.

REV. S. J. MAY, — . . . Webster has debauched the country, not only on the subject of slavery, but of all decency and truth. Well, I have no doubt who will come out right ten years hence.

Very truly yours, &c.,

H. MANN.

SOURCE: Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, Life of Horace Mann, p. 350

Congressman Horace Mann to Mr. and Mrs. George Combe, December 5, 1851

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 1851.

MY DEAR FRIENDS MR. AND MRS. COMBE, — Politics in this country do not, as they should, mean a science, but a controversy; and in this sense we are all involved in politics. When will the time come that politics can be taken from the domain of passion and propensity? I have no doubt that such a millennium is in the future. Nor will the whole world enter that millennium at the same time. Wise and sage individuals like Mr. George Combe must be the pioneers: then it must be colonized by a larger number, and then entered and dwelt in by all. But I fear the epochs and eras which will mark and measure these successive stages of consummations are to be geological in their distance and duration. Doubtless you have seen a book entitled the "Theory of Human Progression," which, from internal evidence, is Scotch in its origin, and whose object is not only to prophesy, but to prove, the future triumph of peace and justice upon earth. I have read but part of the book. I am reading it to my wife at odd hours, when our chances of leisure come together. I have long believed in the whole doctrine; but it is delightful to see it argued out, not only to take the Q. E. D. on authority, but to feel the truth of the solution. All sciences, even the natural ones, have been the subjects of controversy and of persecution in their beginning: why, then, should not the science of politics? One truth after another will be slowly developed; and by and by truth, and not individual aggrandizement or advantage, will be the only legitimate object of inquiry. Then will its millennium come! - Doubtless you have through the public papers the political movements of the country at large. The old struggle for supremacy between the political parties goes on; but worse means are brought in to insure success than ever before entered into our contests. The North (or free States) comprises almost two-thirds of all our population; the South (or slave States) but about a third. The North is really divided into two great parties, Whigs and Democrats. These are arrayed against each other in hostile attitude; and, being nearly equal, they cancel each other. The South is Whig or Democratic only nominally. It is for slavery exclusively and intensely. Hence we now present the astonishing and revolting spectacle of a free people in the nineteenth century, of almost twofold power, not merely surrendering to a proslavery people one-half the power, but entering into the most vehement competition to join with them in trampling upon all the great principles of freedom. We have five prominent candidates for the next Presidency. All of them are from the North. The South does not put forward as yet a single man; for Mr. Clay can hardly be considered a candidate. Each one of the five candidates begins with abandoning every great principle of constitutional liberty, so far as the black race is concerned; and to this each one has saddled more and more proslavery gratuities and aggrandizements, as the propositions he advanced were made at a later period of time. All Whigs professed to be shocked when Gen. Cass offered in substance to open all our new Territories to slavery. But Mr. Webster's accumulated proslavery bounties, as compared with those of Gen. Cass, were as "Pelion to a wart." Mr. Buchanan offers to run the line of 36° 30′ through to the Pacific Ocean, and to surrender all on the south side of it to slavery. Mr. Dallas, late Vice-President under Mr. Polk, tells the South that the antislavery spirit of the North will never be quiet under the compromise measures and the Fugitive-slave Law; and so proposes to embody this whole series into the Constitution by an amendment, thus putting them beyond the reach of legislative action. And Mr. Douglas, a young senator from Illinois, who aspires to the White House, offers Cuba to the South in addition to all the rest. In the mean time, the South sets forth no candidate for the Executive chair. Some of their leading politicians avow the policy of taking a Northern man, because "a Northern man with Southern principles" can do more for them than any one of their own. All of them are virtually saying to Northern aspirants, "Proceed, gentlemen; give us your best terms: and, when you have submitted your proposals, we will make our election between you." Is it not indescribably painful to contemplate such a picture, — no, such a reality? You must feel it as a man: I feel it as an American, you as a lover of mankind, I as a lover of republican institutions.

You will, of course, understand that such contests cannot be carried on without corresponding contests in the States. In Massachusetts, many collateral issues have mingled with the main question. Mr. Webster's apostasy on the 7th of March, 1850, had not at first a single open defender in our Commonwealth. Some pecuniary arrangements were made by which one or two papers soon devoted themselves to his cause. In a few days after the speech, he visited Boston; and, at a public meeting to receive him, he held out, in unmistakable language, the lure of a tariff, if they would abandon principle. This interested motive appealed to both parties. It was pressed upon them, both in public and in private, during the whole summer, and indeed until the approaching termination of the 31st Congress showed that it was only a delusion and a cheat.

During the summer, another pecuniary element was introduced. The merchants of New York sought a monopoly of Southern trade through a subserviency to Southern interests. The merchants of Philadelphia and Boston forthwith became competitors for the same profits through the same infamous means. In this way, within a twelvemonth, all the Atlantic cities were carried over to the side of Southern policy. I believe I told you of efforts made against myself, and their result, in the last year's election of a representative to Congress from my district. Since that time the process of defection has gone rapidly on, spreading outwards from the city, and contaminating the country. The great body of the Whig merchants and manufacturers in the Northern States now advocate Mr. Webster for the Presidency. This, of course, determines the character of the mercantile papers. A large meeting was held in Boston last week to nominate him for that office. He is expected soon to resign his secretaryship, and to travel South on an electioneering tour. His health is very much impaired; and that glorious physique, which should be in full vigor at the age of eighty, is now nearly broken down. He can do nothing but under the inspiration of brandy; and the tide of excitement also must be taken "at the flood;" for if a little too early, or a little too late, he is sure to fail.

In Massachusetts we have had a fierce contest for State offices. Mr. Winthrop was the Whig candidate for Governor; and his election would have been claimed as a Webster triumph, though not justly so. But he falls short of an election by about eight thousand votes. The Free-soilers and Democrats combined, and have obtained a majority in both the Senate and the House. This secures an anti-Whig Governor, and is a triumph of antislavery sentiment. We have never had a more fiercely contested election. I was "on the stump," as we say, about three weeks, speaking from two to two and a half hours almost every evening. Since the election, I have been delivering lyceum lectures; so that you may well suppose I am pretty much "used up." With this term in Congress, I hope to escape from political broils, and to live a life more in accordance with both natural and acquired tastes. . . .

H. M.

SOURCE: Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, Life of Horace Mann, p. 352-5

David Henshaw to Daniel Webster, April 21, 1851

Boston, April 21, 1851.

MY DEAR SIR, I have noticed with surprise and regret, in common, I doubt not, with a large portion of the citizens of this commonwealth, that some of the aldermen of Boston have refused the use of Faneuil Hall to a number of highly respectable citizens, who had intended giving you there a public welcome. The grounds of that refusal seem disreputable to their discernment, or to their patriotism.

Because the public safety required them to refuse that hall to those who proposed to devise means to disturb the peace of the country, to violate and trample under foot paramount United States law, to resist by force or fraud its execution, who designed there to fan the flames of discord and civil war, to plot the disunion of the States, and the overthrow of the constitution; that hence, to mete out even-handed justice, they must refuse this public edifice to those who desired to assemble to uphold the laws of the land, to sustain the union of the States, to pay a proper respect to one of the ablest, boldest, and most patriotic champions of the constitution and the Union, is to confound all ideas of propriety, and to leave a doubt in regard to the intelligence or patriotism of officers so voting. It is fortunate, however, for the credit of the city and State, that but four or five men have placed themselves in this equivocal position. The common council speak more correctly the voice of the country, and have given a fitting rebuke to the aldermen.

Feelings of deep regret at this pitiful outrage upon popular rights and public sentiment, and a high respect for your public services, have induced me to address you this note, and, as a citizen of Massachusetts, to assure you of the satisfaction your able and patriotic course, in aid of the compromise measures of the late congress, has given me. I have always been, as you are aware, on the opposite side of politics to yourself, but the old issues that long divided parties have mostly passed away, new ones have arisen under new combinations. Difference of political opinions never prevented my just appreciation of your long public services, of your political foresight, of your enlarged and comprehensive patriotism, so prominent in your efforts to carry through the compromise measure.

It is quite evident that Massachusetts, for a long while, impaired her just influence in the Union by a sectionalism at war with our condition and progress as a nation. In our country, now extending from ocean to ocean, embracing thirty-one independent States, independent in regard to their local legislation, but confiding to a general government the control over their affairs, in which it is supposed they have a common interest; a strict regard to the terms and conditions of our national compact, a complete non-interference of the States with each other in their local legislation, and with their State institutions, and a liberal and fraternal spirit towards all, are necessary to hold so vast a fabric together.

Those who opposed the extension of our national bounds by the purchase of Louisiana, and who predicted such dire calamities from that acquisition, lived to see the error of their judgment, and have now mostly passed away. But the spirit of opposition to our national progress seems to have remained in some minds, and in fact to have increased in force, with the party of the abolitionists, and with the ultra-slavery men of the South, until they have become open and avowed disunionists; disunionists, unless they can rule the Union.

If the views of the abolition party are to control the course of this good old commonwealth, I fear Massachusetts will sink in influence to a level with South Carolina; the one State would seemingly seek her welfare and glory under the palmetto banner, the other under the flag and tomahawk of the Indian; and both perhaps, in the event of this dire disruption, might display their philanthropy by cutting each other's throats. From your elevated position, long experience, and political forecast you perceived what the crisis demanded, and promptly and boldly gave your efficient aid to restore harmony to the nation You fearlessly indicated to those you so ably represented, that they should exhibit less sectionalism, and more of elevated, liberal, and fraternal nationality. I have faith that Massachusetts and the whole country will profit by your example. The whole Union pays homage to your patriotism and your public services.

The pitiful attempt of a few city officials to annoy you, but arouses the patriotism of the country to sustain you; and it is this act, as I before remarked, which has led me, as a humble citizen of this State, to bear to you in this tangible form the expressions of approbation, and of gratitude, for your invaluable public services in the alarming crisis through which the country has passed.

With the greatest respect, I am, dear Sir, your obedient servant,

DAVID HENSHAW.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, p. 432-4

Daniel Webster to Richard M. Blatchford, April 29, 1851

[Washington.] Tuesday morning, eight o'clock. April 29, 1851.

MY DEAR SIR,—We were glad to learn that Ellen Fletcher found shelter under your hospitable roof. My telegraphic message to Boston seems to have miscarried. In two hours, I presume, we shall hear something from her.

The point of rendezvous for these Cuban patriots is now said to be Savannah. Men and arms are collecting there. They must be quick. If they are not out of the river in twenty-four hours from this time, they will not get out at all. If they should get out, they will be followed.

It is a beautiful morning. I have walked through the market, where I saw fine lamb, asparagus plenty and cheap, cucumbers, all sorts of green things, young chickens, &c., to say nothing of shad right out of the river, at twenty-five cents a pair.

This place lies south of Marshfield.

Yours,

D. W.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, p. 436-7

Daniel Webster to Millard Fillmore, April 29, 1851

Department of State, April 29, 1851.

MY DEAR SIR,—I have gone over the draft of an answer to Mr. de la Rosa's note, with some care, and the revised draft is now in the hands of the copyist. I shall ask Mr. Hunter to take it to you to-morrow early, and he will either read it to you or leave it for your perusal, as you may prefer. It is a paper on an important subject, and will be much discussed in Congress, especially if the treaty should fail of ratification.

I am desirous, therefore, that it should be made to conform in all points with your judgment.

Yours, truly always,

DAN'L WEBSTER.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, p. 437

Daniel Webster to Richard M. Blatchford, April 30, 1851—2:30 p.m.

[April 30.] Wednesday, half-past two o'clock.

MY DEAR SIR,—I have yours of yesterday, and am most happy to hear your cold is better. We shall be happy to see Ellen.

We have bad weather, and I am just closing up a long day's work.

The Cuban expedition will all blow out, North and South. Those engaged in it are a set of geese.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, p. 437

Congressman Horace Mann to George Combe, January 6, 1851

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6, 1851.

MY DEAR MR. COMBE, — . . . I have nothing to write on political subjects that can afford any gratification to a humanity-loving man. In 1848, there was a great inflowing of the sentiment of liberty, both in Europe and in this country. You have already experienced the ebbing of that tide in Europe, and it has receded as much relatively in this hemisphere as in yours. Notwithstanding the inherent and radical wickedness of some of the compromise measures, as they were called, yet the most strenuous efforts are making by the Administration to force the Whig party to their adoption and support. It is a concerted movement between those who are ready to sacrifice liberty for office and those who are ready to make the same sacrifice for money. From the day of Mr. Webster's open treachery and apostasy (if indeed he had political virtue enough to be an apostate), he has been urging the idea upon New England Whigs, that, if they could give up freedom, they might have a tariff. This has wrought numberless conversions among those who think it a sin not to be rich. They say in their hearts, "The South wants cotton to sell, and must have negroes to produce it; we want cotton to manufacture, and so we must have negroes to raise it: slavery is equally indispensable to us both." So both are combining to uphold it. Before Texas was annexed, the whole Democratic party at the North denounced it. As soon as that was done, they wheeled round like a company of well-drilled soldiers at the word of command, and supported it. I fear the great body of the Whig party will do no better as regards these infamous proslavery measures. Party allegiance here has very much the effect of loyalty with you. It has the power to change the nature of right and wrong. I profess to belong to none of the parties. I have given in my adherence to certain great principles; and by them I stand, not only in independence, but in defiance of parties. I should like to send you a copy of my letters. I will do so as soon as I can find an opportunity. . . .

SOURCE: Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, Life of Horace Mann, p. 346

Congressman Horace Mann to E. W. Clap, February 10, 1851

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 1851.

E. W. CLAP, ESQ.

MY DEAR SIR, — . . . I was glad to hear from you, and should be much obliged for a more detailed account of proceedings at home. Things are looking bad for freedom there, and worse here. There never was a greater effort on the part of any Administration — not even in the most imperious days of Jackson or Polk to subdue all opposition, by fears or by rewards, than at present. Webster is as corrupt a politician as ever lived. What is the chance of Sumner's success? . . .

Yours very truly,

HORACE MANN.

SOURCE: Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, Life of Horace Mann, p. 346-7

Daniel Webster to George G. Smith and Others, April 15, 1851

Marshfield, April 15, 1851.

GENTLEMEN,—I duly received your letter of the 11th of this month, and had fully made up my mind to comply with your invitation; for, although I have entertained no purpose of discussing further, at present, the political questions which have so much agitated the country, yet I could not deny myself the pleasure of meeting you and your fellow-citizens, for mutual congratulation upon our escape, so far, from dangers which, a year ago, seemed most seriously to threaten the very existence of our national institutions; and upon the prospect of an early return, in all parts of the country, of feelings of good-will and reciprocal regard.

But the newspapers of this afternoon inform me that the Board of Aldermen have refused your request for the use of Faneuil Hall. I care nothing for this, personally, except that it deprives me of the gratification of seeing you; although, if I supposed that the general voice of the people of Boston approved of this proceeding, it would, I confess, cause me the deepest regret. The resolution, denying you the Hall, has been adopted, if I mistake not, by the same Board which has practically refused to join with the other branch of the city government, in offering the hospitalities of the city to President Fillmore.

Gentlemen, for nearly thirty years I have been in the service of the country, by the choice of the people of Boston, and the appointment of the legislature of Massachusetts. My public conduct, through the whole of that long period, is not unknown, and I cheerfully leave it to the judgment of the country, now and hereafter.

Since the commencement of March of last year, I have done something, and hazarded much, to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and to maintain interests of the most vital importance to the citizens of Boston. And I shall do more and hazard more, whenever in my judgment it becomes necessary that more be done or more be hazarded. I shall perform with unflinching perseverance, and to the end, my duty to my whole country; nor do I in the slightest degree fear the result. Folly and fanaticism may have their hour. They may not only affect the minds of individuals, but they may also seize on public bodies, of greater or less dignity. But their reign is without doubt destined to be short, even where, for the moment, it seems most triumphant. We, of Massachusetts, are not doomed to a course of political conduct, such as would reproach our ancestors, destroy our own prosperity, and expose us to the derision of the civilized world. No such future is before us.

Far otherwise. Patriotism, the union of good men, fidelity to the Constitution in all its provisions, and that intelligence which has hitherto enabled the people of this State to discern and appreciate their own political blessings, as well as what is due to their own history and character, will bring them back to their accustomed feelings of love of country, and of respect and veneration for its institutions.

I am, gentlemen, with the most sincere regards, your obliged friend, and very obedient servant,

DANIEL WEBSTER.

To Messrs. GEORGE G. SMITH, CALEB EDDY, ASA SWALLOW, URIEL CROCKER, and others.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, p. 429-31

General William T. Sherman to Senator John Sherman, April 3, 1886

ST. LOUIS, April 3, 1886.

Dear Brother: . . . I shall go to California to be in San Francisco August 3d-5th for the Encampment of the G. A. R., when, of course, I shall be forced to say something. It occurs to me that I should say something about the annexation of California to the Union. I know that Webster advised a friend of his as early as 1843-44 to go to California, because it surely would on the first pretext be captured and held by the United States.

I have all the executive documents for 1847, also the special Mexican War correspondence, but I fail to find Corwin's speech where he used the expression that were he a Mexican he would welcome the enemy (the Americans) "with bloody hands to hospitable graves." Can you get this speech for me, or an extract? I know that General Taylor believed that Texas did not reach the Rio Grande but was bordered by the River Nueces, and that the proclamation of war was based on an error that "American blood had been shed on American soil," and now comes Grant, who expresses more than a doubt if the first blood shed—Palo Alto—was not on "Mexican soil." Notwithstanding this, I believe the annexation of California was essential to the world's progress at that date. The Mexicans had held it for a hundred years without material improvement, whereas under our domination it at once began that wonderful development which we now experience. . . .

Affectionately yours,

W. T. SHERMAN.

SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The Sherman Letters: Correspondence Between General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891, p. 370-1

Robert C. Winthrop to John J. Crittenden, May 13, 1852

BOSTON, May 13, 1852.

MY DEAR MR. CRITTENDEN,—I received a welcome letter from you weeks ago, for which I have often thanked you in spirit, and now tender you my cordial acknowledgments in due form. I trust that we are going to meet you all again this summer. You must come to Newport and resume your red republican robes and bathe off the debilities of a long heat at Washington. I wish you could be here at Commencement, July 22. Between now and then the great question of candidacy will be settled. How? How? Who can say? However it be, this only I pray,—give us a chance in Massachusetts to support it effectively. I do believe that we can elect Webster, Fillmore, Scott, or Crittenden, if there shall not be an unnecessary forcing of mere shibboleths down our throats. There is not an agitator in the whole Whig party here—no one who cares to disturb anything that has been done. As to the fugitive slave law, though I never thought it a wise piece of legislation, nor ever believed that it would be very effective, I have not the slightest doubt that it will long survive the satisfaction of the South and stand on the statute-book after its efficiency has become about equal to that of '93. But tests and provisos are odious things, whether Wilmot or anti-Wilmot. Webster is here, and his arrival has been the signal for a grand rally among his friends. There is no doubt but Massachusetts would work hard for him if he were fairly in the field, and I think there will be a general consent that he shall have the votes of all our delegates; but, what are they among so many? Do not let anybody imagine, however, that we shall bolt from the regular nominee, whoever he be, unless some unimaginably foolish action should be adopted by the convention.

Believe me, my dear sir, always most cordially and faithfully your friend and servant,

R. C. WINTHROP.

J. J. CRITTENDEN.

SOURCE: Ann Mary Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The Life of John J. Crittenden: With Selections from His Correspondence and Speeches, Vol. 2, p. 36

John J. Crittenden to Daniel Webster, June 10, 1852

WASHINGTON, June 10, 1852.

There is no duty, sir, that I more readily perform than that of making atonement frankly and voluntarily for any impropriety or fault of mine which may have done wrong or given offense to others.

I am sensible that yesterday I was betrayed into the impropriety of addressing you in a manner and with a degree of excitement wanting in proper courtesy and respect.

I regret it, sir, and I hope that this will be received as a satisfactory atonement, and that you will properly understand the motive which prompts it.

I am very respectfully yours,

J. J. CRITTENDEN.

Hon. DANIEL WEBSTER.

SOURCE: Ann Mary Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The Life of John J. Crittenden: With Selections from His Correspondence and Speeches, Vol. 2, p. 37

Daniel Webster to John J. Crittenden, probably June 11, 1852

WASHINGTON, 1852.

MY DEAR SIR,—Your note of yesterday has given me relief and pleasure. It is certainly true that your remarks at the President's the day before caused me uneasiness and concern; but my heart is, and has always been, full of kindness for you, and I dismiss from my mind at once all recollection of a painful incident.

Yours, as ever, truly,

DANIEL WEBSTER.

Mr. CRITTENDEN.

SOURCE: Ann Mary Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The Life of John J. Crittenden: With Selections from His Correspondence and Speeches, Vol. 2, p. 37

Senator Joseph R. Underwood to John J. Crittenden, June 19, 1852

WASHINGTON, June 19, 1852.

DEAR SIR,—Conversing to-day with Mr. Clay, I gave him a brief account of my observations at Baltimore. I told him that the division in the Whig Convention might result in withdrawing Mr. Fillmore, Mr. Webster, and General Scott, in which event I said, from what I had heard, it was not improbable that you would receive the nomination.

I then ventured to ask him whether a difference between him and you, of which I had heard rumors, still existed, and whether he would be reconciled to your nomination. He replied to this effect:

"Mr. Crittenden and myself are cordial friends, and if it be necessary to bring him forward as the candidate, it will meet with my hearty approbation." Supposing it may be agreeable to you to retain this evidence of Mr. Clay's good feeling and friendship, I take pleasure in placing it in your possession.

With sincere esteem, your obedient servant,

J. R. UNDERWOOD.

Hon. J. J. CRITTENDEN.

SOURCE: Ann Mary Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The Life of John J. Crittenden: With Selections from His Correspondence and Speeches, Vol. 2, p. 37

Daniel Webster to a Committee of Gentlemen from New York, October 1850

[Franklin, N. H., October 1850]

I concur, gentlemen, in all the political principles contained in the resolutions, a copy of which has been sent to me; and I stand pledged to support those principles, publicly and privately, now and always, to the full extent of my influence, and by the exertion of every faculty which I possess.

Two of these resolutions were as follows:

Resolved, That we cordially approve of the recent measures of Congress for the adjustment of the dangerous questions arising out of the acquisition of territory under the treaty of Mexico, &c.

Resolved, That the Fugitive-slave Bill is in accordance with the express stipulations of the Constitution of the United States; . . . and that Congress, in passing a law which should be efficient for carrying out the stipulations, &c., acted in full accordance with the letter and spirit of that instrument; and that we will sustain this law and the execution of it by all lawful means.

SOURCE: Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, Life of Horace Mann, p. 340-1

Congressman Horace Mann to Mr. C. Pierce, Esq., November 15, 1850

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14, 1850.

C. PIERCE, Esq.

MY DEAR SIR, —I am glad to hear from you, and that you think of putting on the harness again. I guess the "old clock-work" will go well yet. Whatever I can do for you, I shall do with great alacrity. I doubt the expediency of establishing another Normal school yet a while in Massachusetts. Those already in existence must be filled and crowded before another will prosper. I do not know what sphere you intend to fill: the one you talked of with A would open a noble field for usefulness, though I should struggle against all secondary causes that should threaten to remove you from Massachusetts.

My journey to Washington was in some respects pleasant. I was greeted all along the way by many persons known and unknown to me; and, on arriving here, I found the controversy between myself and Mr. Webster had really assumed a national notoriety and conspicuousness. Whigs and Democrats had a common exultation, though it was probably more for his defeat than for my victory. . . .

Yours very truly,

HORACE MANN.

SOURCE: Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, Life of Horace Mann, p. 341

Congressman Horace Mann to Samuel Downer, December 22, 1850

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22, 1850.

MY DEAR DOWNER, I see by the date of my letter that it is Forefathers' Day; and I cannot but ask myself what the stern old Puritans would say, were they here to witness the degeneracy of their sons. Evil days have surely come upon us. There is a very considerable number here, it is true, who are still faithful to their principles; but they are embarrassed and oppressed with the palpable fact before them that they are in the hands of the Philistines, and that nothing can be done in behalf of the measures they have so steadfastly and earnestly contended for. The Administration has placed itself on open, avowed, proslavery ground. They will be proscriptive of enemies, and bountiful to friends; and I fear that what Mr. Webster once said will prove true,—that he had never known an Administration to set its heart upon any measure which it did not accomplish. There will be a giving-way somewhere; and all effective opposition will be frightened away or bought up.

But to what a pass has Northern recreancy brought us! You see the list of conditions which the South are everywhere laying down, upon compliance with which, in every item, the Union can alone be preserved, no abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia; no imposition of a proviso on any Territory, — which looks to its future acquisition, and is meant to forestall its doom; no objection to the admission of any State, whether from Texas, New Mexico, Utah, or from any new acquisitions, on account of the proslavery constitution, &c. And now the Governor of Virginia, in a special message to the Legislature, has proposed the holding of a national convention, at which the North shall appear as suppliant, shall promise all that the South demands, and shall lie down on her belly, and eat as much dirt as she can hold. It is said there is no end to discoveries; and certainly there is no end to discoveries in humiliation. One would think that even the soulless instigators of Northern Union meetings would recoil on the brink of this abyss of degradation. But such is the progress of things; and, however low they go, a "lower deep" still opens before them. Even the "National Intelligencer," with all its proslavery instincts, shudders at this pit.

What shall we do here? I declare myself ready, for one, to do, to the utmost of my ability, whatever may appear under the circumstances to be advisable. I find it to be true, as I have always said, that there is no more chance of repealing or modifying the Fugitive-slave Law than there is of making a free State out of South Carolina. Still, my own opinion is that we ought to make a demonstration upon it. My belief is that there never was so much need of contending against the slave-power as now. There is far more reason for a rally now than in 1848. Then a great prize was in imminent peril. Had Cass been made President in consequence of a diversion of Whigs into the Free-soil ranks, it is, to my mind, as certain as any unfulfilled event, that California would have been a slave State, and New Mexico and Utah would have had slavery had they desired it. This great interest was put in jeopardy by that movement; though, fortunately, God sent us a deliverance.

But now there is no such immediate and magnificent stake to be lost or won. We cannot lose any thing now, because we have lost Our dangers are prospective. Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, are the game now afoot. We must be prepared for the time when these shall be the subject of contest. We must see that we have Congresses that will stand their ground; and therefore the antislavery principle must not be suffered to sleep. . . .

Yours as ever,

H. M.

SOURCE: Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, Life of Horace Mann, p. 341-3

Daniel Webster to Fletcher Webster, March 12, 1851

Washington, March 12, 1851.

DEAR FLETCHER,—I understand that our neighbor, Mr. Waterman, furnishes Boston bakers, or roasters, which have machinery by which the spit is turned while the meat is roasting. I wish you would inquire, and if such an article is to be had, send me a good one.

It ought to be open, for the admission of air, on both sides.

Yours,

D. W.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, p. 421

Daniel Webster to Richard M. Blatchford, March 12, 1851

Washington, March 12, 1851.

MY DEAR SIR,—I am tired of sitting, and Mr. Sargent writes this note, while I am acting the part of a peripatetic philosopher. You will find herein a certain document, defunct and obliterated.

The weather is very fine, and I am very well. Morgan is here, and when I am in the saddle on his back, I am far from being motionless. The Morgan horse is a cross between a Normandy horse, now spread all over Canada, and the English blood horse; it has the sloping hip, and strong shoulder, and crooked hind leg, and broad shin of Normandy, with the spirit of the English hunter. Its chef-d'œuvre is best performed in a single wagon. In two respects he resembles the Narraganset horse, to wit, he has a broad spread nostril, and great breadth between the eyes; the line from the top of his head along his mane, and back to his hips, is nearly straight; on a level road, therefore, his draught is parallel to the surface of the ground. Whereas a horse, who carries his head very high, though the ground be level, is constantly pulling up hill. So much for Morgan, and a dissertation on horses. If you wish to see a perfectly graphic thing on such a subject, turn to Walter Scott's description of Lord Marmion's horse flying from Flodden Field.

Mr. and Mrs. Curtis are well; we had a very pleasant dinner there yesterday, with Mr. Stephens, and Mr. Aspinwall, and Miss Mary Scott. Mrs. Webster and I hope to see the same company to-day, at five o'clock, partaking of a Potomac shad, and some other provant or other vivres, at our house in Louisiana avenue.

When you think of it, tell me who is successor to Brigham. And here, my dear Sir, I stop from walking and talking.

Yours, always most truly,

DAN'L WEBSTER.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, p. 421-2