WASHINGTON, 16, 1856.
MY DEAR BURNLEY,—Your several letters, of the 28th ult., and
8th and 11th of the present month, have been duly received, and I am much
obliged by the full information they give of the subject to which they relate.
Our intercourse has been such for a long time past as to
make you perfectly acquainted with my disposition and feeling in respect to a
nomination to the Presidency, and in regard to the Presidency itself. There has
been no reserve between us on the subject, and you know what my sentiments in
relation to it have been and are.
That the Presidency is an office neither to be sought nor
declined, is a sentiment that accords so well not only with my judgment, but
with my natural temper and constitution, that I adopt and
follow it rather from instinct than from any nobler or more patriotic
consideration. It costs us no exertion to follow where our
nature leads. I have never, therefore, put forward any pretensions to
the Presidency, much less pressed them; nor have I ever endeavored, from any
selfish feeling, to put back the claims or pretensions of any man. But,
notwithstanding all this, I have a pride of character which does not permit me
to humble myself so far as to shrink from or to decline even the Presidency
itself, if such an honor and station should unexpectedly be offered me. But I
am no candidate, no seeker for the office. I have said no word, taken
no step in that direction. Nor will the nomination of another be any
disappointment to me. I can willingly witness the nomination of another, and
support that nomination, too. And of all the persons who have been named for
that high office, I prefer our friend Davis. I would throw no obstacle in his
way to a nomination, and would support that nomination with all the little
power or influence I may have. I verily believe that Davis would do the
same by me. And is not this all that could be required of
either of us? I can say further, that if I could, by my word, close up all
uncertainties of the future by accepting or making Davis the successor of
Pierce, I would do it with an unalloyed feeling of gratification.
I do not think that Davis's friends ought to have sought in
the Kentucky Convention for him any expression of preference over
me. It is true that I had avowed no pretensions; but, like him, I had been
spoken of for the same high office. Seniority, at least, was on my
side; while more than willing to see Davis advanced, I might naturally feel
some mortification at being passed by unnamed and as forgotten. His friends did
not manage the thing well. Do not believe that any unkindness has been created
in my mind by this proceeding. If Davis can get the nomination of the national
convention I am content. I wish he would find some occasion to visit this part
of the country, and especially Pennsylvania and New York. He has been long out
of public life, and is not sufficiently known or appreciated there. He, I
believe, is less favorably considered there than even I am. This is owing, in
some degree, at least, to his being personally and politically less known. I
think Davis has some peculiar claims on the American party, and I am sincerely
anxious that he should be properly known and appreciated. You well know how to
estimate what I say, because you know how little I care for myself in this
matter, and how much I care for my friends in all matters. I am as willing as
any to serve friends, but no surrendering must be required of
me. But I must quit this subject. So far as concerns me, I have nothing to
complain of the convention that lately met in Frankfort, or of its proceedings.
Your course was such as became you, and you said nothing for me or in relation
to me but what I approve. From my not writing to you you may infer, as the
truth is, that I wrote to no one, attempted to influence no one, and took no
part whatever in respect to the convention. Mr. Davis's friends and mine are to
a great extent the same, and I hope they may remain so, and that no paltry jealousy
will be allowed to produce any alienations.
I must close this letter. I wish you were coming here
instead of going South. Many are the inquiries made about you, and many are
they who would be delighted to see you here.
I am going out to dinner and the hour has come. I send you
the copies which you request to be returned. I owe many letters to home folk,
and I intend to pay them very soon.
Give my kindest regards and love to all.
Your friend,
J. J. CRITTENDEN,
A. T. BURNLEY, Esq.
_______________
* BLOG EDITOR’S NOTE: The original letter is dated
“WASHINGTON, 16, 1856,” with the month omitted in the surviving transcription.
The month can be identified as February from Crittenden’s reference to
Burnley’s “several letters, of the 28th ult., and 8th and 11th of the present
month.” The John J. Crittenden Papers at the Library of Congress identify
Burnley’s corresponding letters as those of January 28, February 8, and
February 11, 1856, making Crittenden’s letter February 16, 1856. See John J.
Crittenden Papers, Library of Congress.
SOURCE: Ann Mary Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The
Life of John J. Crittenden: With Selections from His Correspondence and
Speeches, Vol. 2, pp. 120-1
