FRANKFORT, March 7, 1854.
MY DEAR SIR,—I am much obliged by your letter of 7th of
February, and thank you for the information and kind suggestions it contains. I
fully appreciate the frank and friendly spirit in which it was written.
You tell me there is a feeling among the Whigs at Washington
"to run me for the Presidency, and that you fully participate in that
feeling." I am grateful and proud to be held in such estimation by my
friends; but I beg you to be assured that I entertain no expectation and no
aspiration to become a candidate for the Presidency. No ambition for that high
office troubles me. In the speech which I made on the 16th of last month I did
not allude to the Nebraska bill. The festive occasion—a public dinner—on which
it was made did not require me to speak on that subject. Besides, I had no
inclination to make any public parade of my opinions, as though they were of
consequence. On the other hand, I had no motive or wish to conceal them. I have
not, therefore, hesitated here, in private circles, when it happened to become
the subject of conversation, to express my views without reserve. I stated
these views to the Hon. Presley Ewing, now at Washington, in a telegraphic
reply to an inquiry which he had addressed to me from that place a few days
ago. I will now, with the same readiness and frankness, state them briefly to
you, without prolonging this letter by explanations and arguments.
Considering the question as an open one, it seems to me
clear that Congress ought to leave it to the people of the Territories,
preparing to enter the Union as States, to form their constitutions in respect
to slavery as they may please, and ought to admit them into the Union whether
they have admitted or excluded slavery; but that question, it seems to me, can
scarcely be considered as an open one.
The country has long rested in the belief that it is settled
by the Missouri Compromise, so far as it respects all the territory embraced by
it, and of which Nebraska and Kansas are parts. I hope, however, that the North
may consent to yield that compromise, and concur in substituting the principle
of the Nebraska bill for the rule fixed by the Missouri Compromise. But without
such a concurrence of Northern representatives as would fairly manifest the
assent of the North to such substitution, I do not think the South ought to
disregard or urge the repeal of that compromise to which she was a party.
The Missouri Compromise has long been considered as a sort
of landmark in our political progress. It does not appear to me that it has
ever been superseded or abrogated; and I think it is to be apprehended
that its repeal, without sincere concurrence of the North, will be productive
of serious agitations and disturbances.
That concurrence will relieve the subject from difficulty,
as the parties to compromise have an undoubted right to set it aside at their
pleasure. By such a course it seems to me the North would lose nothing, and
would but afford another evidence of her wisdom and her patriotism. This,
however, is a subject for her own consideration.
The great interest of the country requires that we should
avoid, as far as possible, all agitation of the slavery question.
To use the language of Mr. Jefferson, "it
sounds like a firebell at midnight." I am now, as I always have been,
disposed to abide and stand by any past or future compromise or settlement of
that question, provided it be only tolerably just and equal, not dishonorable,
rather than to hazard the mischiefs of continued and corroding agitation. For
these reasons I was content with the present compromises and regretted their
disturbance. For the same reason I would maintain, for the sake of quiet, any
different compromise or settlement that may be now or hereafter made, if not
dishonorable or grossly unfair. This course, it seems to me, is demanded no
less by the interest of the slaveholding States than for the tranquillity of
the Union and its safety.
I have thus, sir, endeavored to give you an imperfect sketch
of my views on the subject of the Nebraska bill. It will enable you to discover
by comparison how far I differ in opinion with you and our other friends in
Washington. Whatever these differences may be, they shall on my part be only
differences of opinion. They will never disturb my general relations, personal
or political, to you or to them. I will only add, sir, that if the Nebraska
bill, with its repeal of the "Missouri Compromise," shall
pass, my hope and wish is that it may prove by its consequences the correctness
of your views, and its results may be as beneficial to the country as your
purposes and intentions, I am sure, have been upright and patriotic.
I am your friend,
J. J. CRITTENDEN.
Hon. ARCHIBALD DIXON.
SOURCE: Ann Mary Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The
Life of John J. Crittenden: With Selections from His Correspondence and
Speeches, Vol. 2, pp. 102-3
