John J. Crittenden to Leslie Coombs, November 1, 1851

WASHINGTON, November 1, 1851.

DEAR COOMBS [sic],—I received your kind and friendly letter, for which I thank you. My position in respect to the senatorial election is just this, no more, no less: At the instance of some friends in Kentucky, I consented to their presenting my name as a candidate if they thought proper to do so upon the meeting of the legislature and upon a survey of all the circumstances. I thought I might go thus far without presumption or giving just cause of offense, and yet I confess that I felt some reluctance to do even that, because it might cross or conflict with the hopes and wishes of good friends and cause some dissatisfaction on their part. Yet, having yielded my seat in the Senate to obey the wishes of the Whigs of Kentucky in becoming, at their bidding, a candidate for the office of governor, it seemed to me that I might naturally and reasonably indulge the desire of being restored to my former position; yet I did not make myself a candidate,—I left that to the discretion and the will of others. From what I hear, I suppose they have presented me as a candidate. I therefore desire to be elected; it is the situation most agreeable to me, and a re-election would be felt as a great honor. Still, I want nothing that cannot be freely awarded to me; I am not to be regarded as a disturber of the party. Disturbance already existed so far as it could be produced by the conflicting pretensions or claims of many candidates, each one of whom is, to say the least, as chargeable as I am with causing any controversy. But enough of this. I desire, of course, not to be beaten, and I thankfully accept your proffered services and friendship. I hope that you will go to Frankfort and take such part in the contest as you deem proper. I never felt less like controversy. Wounded as I have been, I naturally turn away from the battle like a bleeding soldier. My friends must act for me.

Your friend,

J. J. CRITTENDEN.

Gov. LESLIE COOMBS.

SOURCE: Ann Mary Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The Life of John J. Crittenden: With Selections from His Correspondence and Speeches, Vol. 2, p. 19-20

John J. Crittenden to Orlando Brown, November 12, 1851

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 1851.

DEAR ORLANDO,—Before this can reach you, the senatorial question will have been disposed of, and, as I anticipate, by a postponement. Some few letters, and particularly two received from Morehead, lead me to that conclusion. Such a result is not the most gratifying to me, but I can bear it calmly and patiently.

I shall feel some curiosity and interest to know the course of some individuals in respect to this election, and will thank you for the information. The course of Judge Robertson and of Mr. Dixon does not much surprise me, though, as I am informed, they have displayed a sort of personally hostile opposition to me, for which I never gave either of them cause.

I understand that my old friend Ben Hardin speaks kindly of me, but opposes my election. I confess that in this I have been disappointed and mortified. He and I are cotemporaries. We have been long associated, and have stood together as friends through many years. The path which remains for us to travel is not very long, and I regret that he has found it necessary to part from me on this occasion. I do not mean to complain of him, but only to express my regret. My feelings and my memory suggest to me much more on this subject; but I will only add that I think if Hardin had considered it in all its points of view, his judgment, as well as his friendly feelings, I doubt not, would have decided him to take sides with me rather than with my opponents. There is not the least unkindness towards him mingled with the regret I feel on this occasion, and, as the matter will all be over before this reaches you, I am willing he should know. Indeed, I wish you would inform him how I feel and what I have here written in regard to him.

What part does our Frankfort senator and representative take? Farewell.

Your friend,

J. J. CRITTENDEN.

ORLANDO BROWN, Esq.

P.S. To my good friends, and better never were, give a hearty shake of the hand from me.

J. J. C.

SOURCE: Ann Mary Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The Life of John J. Crittenden: With Selections from His Correspondence and Speeches, Vol. 2, p. 20-1

Orlando Brown to John J. Crittenden, December 3, 1851

FRANKFORT, December 3, 1851.

MY DEAR SIR,—I propose to say a few words to you about the senatorial election. You and your family and friends are all greatly indebted to Mr. Thomas F. Marshall for his devotion to your interests during this crisis; he has surpassed himself as an orator in presenting your claims to the gratitude and love of the people of Kentucky. I read to Mr. B. Hardin what you said of him, and the old gentleman's eyes filled with tears; he exclaimed, with vehemence, "My God, sir, it is all a mistake; I have been for him, am for him, mean to be for him." And he has been making good his words. Mr. Abraham Caldwell, of the Senate, and your old fellow-soldier, Cunningham, are the most reliable of your friends. Captain Hawes is at our head, and is as gallant a leader as we could have. Neither Bell, nor Helm, nor Brock, nor Davis have come near us. The true policy of your friends is to refer the whole subject to the people. With the people, thank God, you are safe. You will probably be approached by some one before long, and may be induced to say, “Rather than embarrass my friends any longer, take my name off the list." Let me beg of you to say no such thing. You are not here; you do not know how things are worked. Dixon's election will be a Democratic triumph; he and his friends are afraid to go back to the people. If the election is postponed, you will be the means of bringing the Whig party again into line, and with you as our standardbearer we will triumph in '53.

I remain sincerely yours,

ORLANDO BROWN.

SOURCE: Ann Mary Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The Life of John J. Crittenden: With Selections from His Correspondence and Speeches, Vol. 2, p. 22

John J. Crittenden to Orlando Brown, December 5, 1851

WASHINGTON, December 5, 1851.

MY DEAR SIR,—You and other friends have been so remiss in writing to me that I have been, and am still, to a great extent, ignorant of the proceedings and incidents of the late attempts made in the Kentucky legislature to elect a senator to the Congress of the United States. This, however, I do not complain of. I am, perhaps, fortunate, in that it has saved me from some portion of those unpleasant feelings which are unavoidable in such contests. I have learned enough, however, to give me uneasiness and pain. The use which my friends have thought proper to make of my name seems to have been a cause of disturbance and controversy among the Whigs. I owe to them too many obligations for favors and honors received in times past to be willing now to be an obstacle in their way or to be a cause of dissension among them. If it will restore harmony and give them satisfaction, I hope that those of them who have desired my election will yield at once and withdraw my name from the contest. So far as I am concerned, I will be a willing sacrifice to the reunion of the Whigs. Honorable and desirable as it would be to me to be restored to a seat in the Senate, my ambition is not so selfish as to make me seek it through discord and alienation among my Whig friends. I prefer the good opinion of Kentucky to any office, and I would not excite the ill will of any considerable number of Kentuckians by any strife or contention for office with political friends. I do not see that the mere presentation of my name as a candidate ought to have produced any excitement against me, or among Whigs. I think I have not deserved this, and that there are few who will not agree with me when the passions excited by the contest are past. Still, we must look to the fact, and act upon it accordingly. For my part, I can say that I want no office which is not freely and willingly bestowed, and that I want no contest in which I am to conquer, or be conquered, by my friends. I would rather yield to them than fight them. By the first course, harmony might be restored among them for their own and the country's good; in the latter, nothing but discord and division could be the result. I am averse to be placed in any situation where I could, with any propriety, be regarded as the cause of such evils. I do not mean by this that I would feel bound or willing to yield to a competitor, however worthy, simply upon the ground that he preferred the place for himself, or that his friends preferred it for him. To ask such a submission would be illiberal, and to grant it would be unmanly. Such differences among friends of the same party ought to be settled in a generous and friendly spirit and leave no ill feeling behind. In such settlements, my aim would be not to be outdone in liberality and concession. I should dislike exceedingly to be engaged in any personal or illiberal struggle, and sooner than an election, which ought to be made, should be postponed, I would for the public interest and for harmony prefer to retire from the contest. There might be some mortification attending such a course; but this would be relieved by considering that it was done from motives honorable, friendly, and patriotic. I have served Kentucky a long time; I have served her faithfully, and, I hope, with no discredit to her; but I have no wish to intrude myself upon her for reluctant favors. When my services cease to be acceptable to her, to hold office under her would no longer be an object of ambition for me.

Yours,

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. 22-4

John J. Crittenden to Orlando Brown, December 8, 1851

WASHINGTON, December 8, 1851.

MY DEAR SIR,—I received to-day your letter of the 3d inst. You know precisely how much and how little I have had to do in the presentation of myself as a candidate for the Senate of the United States. I think I may say that it has been the action of my friends; and since the contest began, I have looked passively upon it. I had left it to my friends,—friends deserving all my confidence,—and there I will, as you advise, leave it. It would be ungrateful as well as unjust in me now to thwart or cross them in the midway of a controversy, in which, for my sake, they have involved themselves, and about which I really know so little. I know that whatever they have done has been done in sincerity of friendship for me, and I will abide by it to the last. As they pitch the battle so let it be fought.

But in this contest it is always to be remembered that you are contending against friends, who, by accident or circumstances, have been made opponents for the present, and to whom a liberal and generous treatment is due. You, who are upon the ground, well know how to distinguish between such opponents and those who prove themselves to be enemies. I wish that all of you who are supporting me will remember, also, that you are not supporting an exacting friend, but one who would not be outdone in liberality, generosity, or conciliation; one who would rather suffer anything himself than see his generous friends involved in difficulties or perils on his account. I hope that they will act accordingly in this matter. But whatever they shall do or determine, that will I abide by, that will I maintain as right, and go to all honorable extremity with them in defending and making good.

I wrote to Mr. T. F. Marshall before the receipt of your letter, and before I read his letter in the Louisville Journal. I wrote upon the information of his course derived from the newspapers.

Somehow or other I cannot be a man of words on such occasions, but my whole heart is full almost to bursting at acts of free and manly friendship and devotion. I love Tom Marshall. Oh, if he will be but true to himself, how I would strive for his advancement! How I would love to strive for it!

I was touched to the heart, too, at what you tell me about my old friend (for such I may now call him) Ben Hardin. I felt like breaking at the root when I heard that he was against me, for in the days of our youth—of our growth—we were together, and have passed thus far through life in more of amity and good will than falls to the lot of most men occupying our position. Upon reading what you wrote me my eyes were not dry. Time gives a sort of sacredness to the feelings that arise from old associations and friendships. I wish I could live long enough, or had the means of repaying, Orlando [Brown], all the debts Ï owe my friends. But therein I am a bankrupt indeed.

Do give my grateful regards to my friends Caldwell and Cunningham, and to all the friends that in my absence have stood by me; my heart is full of thankfulness. And I really hope and believe that many of those who have taken part against me have been influenced to do so by circumstances that do not affect their good opinion and kind feelings towards me. I bear no ill will to them.

Your friend,

J. J. CRITTENDEN.

ORLANDO BROWN, Esq.

SOURCE: Ann Mary Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The Life of John J. Crittenden: With Selections from His Correspondence and Speeches, Vol. 2, p. 24-5