Harper’s Weekly – December 29, 1860

William Cullen Bryant to Abraham Lincoln, January 4, 1861

New York January 4th 1861.

My dear Sir,

I wrote to you yesterday concerning the rumored intention to give Mr. Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania a place in the Cabinet which you are to form. I had then scarcely spoken to any body on the subject, but since that time I have heard the matter much discussed and I assure you that the general feeling is one of consternation.

Mr. Cameron has the reputation of being concerned in some of the worst intrigues of the democratic party a few years back. His name suggests to every honest Republican in this State no other than disgusting associations, and they will expect nothing from him when in office but repetition of such transactions. At present those who favor his appointment, in this State, are the men who last winter seduced our legislature into that shamefully corrupt course by which it was disgraced. If he is to form one of the Cabinet, the Treasury Department, which rumor assigns him, is the very last of the public interests which ought to be committed to his charge.

In the late election, the Republican party, throughout the Union, struggled not only to overthrow the party that sought the extension of slavery, but also to secure a pure and virtuous administration of the government. The first of these objects we have fully attained, but if such men as Mr. Cameron are to compose the Cabinet, however pure and upright the Chief Magistrate may himself be, and it is our pride and rejoicing that in the present instance we know him to be so, – we shall not have succeeded in the second.

There is no scarcity of able and upright men who would preside over the Treasury department with honor. I believe Mr. Gideon Welles of Hartford has been spoken of. There is no more truly honest man, and he is equally wise and enlightened. We have a man here in New York whom I should rejoice to see at the head of that department, Mr Opdyke, the late Republican candidate for Mayor of this city a man who had made finance the subject of long and profound study, and whom no possible temptation could move from his integrity. If a man from Pennsylvania is wanted, that State has such whose probity has never been questioned – so that there will be no need to take up with a man hackneyed in those practices which make politics a sordid game played for the promotion of personal interests.

I must again ask you to pardon this freedom for the sake of its motive. It has cost me some effort to break through my usual reserve on such matters, but I feel a greater interest in the success and honor of your administration than in that of any which have preceded it

I am dear sir, truly yours,

W C Bryant

Hon. A. Lincoln

[An extract from this letter, though misdated as February 5, 1861, may be found in Parke Godwin’s, A Biography of William Cullen Bryant, Volume 1, p. 152-3 included below:]

NEW YORK, February 5th, 1861

I wrote to you yesterday! in regard to the rumored intention of giving Mr. Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania, a place in the Cabinet. I had not then spoken much with others of our party, but I have since heard the matter discussed, and the general feeling is one of consternation. Mr. Cameron has the reputation of being concerned in some of the worst intrigues of the Democratic party. His name suggests to every honest Republican in the State no other associations than these. At present, those who favor his appointment in this State are the men who last winter so shamefully corrupted our Legislature. If he is to have a place in the Cabinet at all, the Treasury department is the last of our public interests that ought to be committed to his hands.

In the last election, the Republican party did not strive simply for the control, but one of the great objects was to secure a pure and virtuous administration of the Government. In the first respect we have succeeded; but, if such men as Cameron are to form the Cabinet, we shall not have succeeded in the second. There are able men who would fill the place of Secretary of the Treasury whose integrity is tried and acknowledged. I believe Mr. Gideon Welles, of Hartford, has been spoken of. There is no more truly upright man, and few men in public life are so intelligent. If we look to New York, we have Mr. Opdyke, the late Republican candidate for Mayor of this city, a man also who has made finance a long study, and whom no temptation could cause to swerve in the least respect from the path of right. [Illegible.] . . .

SOURCES: Abraham Lincoln Papers in the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; Parke Godwin, A Biography of William Cullen Bryant, Volume 1, p. 152-3

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/07/william-cullen-bryant-to-abraham_23.html

Diary of Rutherford B. Hayes, January 4, 1861

South Carolina has passed a secession ordinance, and Federal laws are set at naught in the State. Overt acts enough have been committed. Forts and arsenal taken, a revenue cutter seized, and Major Anderson besieged in Fort Sumter. Other cotton States are about to follow. Disunion and civil war are at hand; and yet I fear disunion and war less than compromise. We can recover from them. The free States alone, if we must go on alone, will make a glorious nation. Twenty millions in the temperate zone, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, full of vigor, industry, inventive genius, educated, and moral; increasing by immigration rapidly, and, above all, free — all free — will form a confederacy of twenty States scarcely inferior in real power to the unfortunate Union of thirty-three States which we had on the first of November. I do not even feel gloomy when I look forward. The reality is less frightful than the apprehension which we have all had these many years. Let us be temperate, calm, and just, but firm and resolute. Crittenden's compromise! *

Windham speaking of the rumor that Bonaparte was about to invade England said: "The danger of invasion is by no means equal to that of peace. A man may escape a pistol however near his head, but not a dose of poison."

__________

*Hayes's disapproval of the Crittenden Compromise is indicated by the exclamation point. The venerable John J. Crittenden, Senator from Kentucky, sought by eloquent appeals to induce Congress to submit to the States for approval an amendment to the Constitution forbidding Congress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia so long as it existed in Virginia or Maryland, or to abolish it in national territory south of latitude 36° 30' — the southern line of Kansas. This was to be irrepealable by any subsequent amendment, as were also certain existing paragraphs in the Constitution relating to slavery. Further, Mr. Crittenden wished Congress to strengthen the Fugitive Slave Law and to appeal to the States and to the people for its thorough enforcement.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 2-3

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/03/diary-of-rutherford-b-hayes-january-4.html

Charles Francis Adams to John A. Andrew, January 4, 1861

(Private and Confidential.)

WASHINGTON, 4 January, 1861.

HON. J. A. ANDREW, Boston, Mass.

MY DEAR SIR, — It is beyond a doubt, that the revolutionists have determined to take forcible possession of the Government at Washington before the fourth of March, and perhaps within thirty days. The State Legislature ought at once to take provisional measures to counteract the movement by appropriations of money and organizing of men, in both cases provisional. But it is of the last importance that such measures should be carefully guarded so as not to be misunderstood by the people of Maryland, and the loyal portion of Virginia. They should therefore be specifically directed to protecting the president, the government offices, the Legislature, the Judiciary, the archives and other public property. The proceedings should emanate spontaneously from the States, and not be traced to suggestions from this quarter. Especially abstain from mentioning me, or you would deprive me of the ability to obtain further information. I should think it best to avoid making it a matter of special executive message; rather let it appear to be a matter originating with the proper Committee of the Legislature. Current information will justify it before this letter reaches you, if it does not already.

Very truly yours,

CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS.

Mem. Private.

On the 8th of January at 12 o'clock, a hundred guns should be fired at 12 o'clock, in every town and village, in honor of General Jackson, the flag of the Union, the hero of Fort Sumter. But do not let it appear to have been suggested from here.

What I have written to you to-day has been suggested also to the authorities of New York and Pennsylvania, from sources which they will recognize.

C. F. A.

SOURCE: Henry Greenleaf Pearson, The Life of John A. Andrew: Governor of Massachusetts, 1861-1865, Volume 1, p. 142-3

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/11/charles-francis-adams-to-john-andrew.html

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