Part 12 (2/2)
Mayo I insert the whole letter, as his allusions to General Jackson are of exceptional interest No one can well deny that the parting admonition of Polonius to his son Laertes is a e of Lindenwald” to Governor Bouck reveals ability by no means inferior to that of this wise councilor of Denmark
[EX-PRESIDENT VAN BUREN TO GOV WILLIAM C BOUCK OF NY]
Confidential
Lindenwald, Jany 17th 1843
My dear Sir,
I embrace the occasion of a short visit of oes South to drop you a few lines Although I have not adiven to croaking, and thus alarm our friends, I have nevertheless witnessed with the keenest regret the distractions a our friends at Albany; &It is certainly a lareat contest adloriously terht or who is wrong, and much less to take any part in the unfortunate controversy, I cannot but experience great pain fro of so bitter a controversy in the face of the eneether so honorably & so usefully, and for all of whoard Perestion, & that relates to the i is so injurious in such cases as delay It is al than to protract the contest Every day makes new enemies & increases the animosities of those who have already beco is so natural as to desire to put off the decision of controversies a friends Most happy would I be to find that you had been able todifficulties by providing places for one or more of the competitors in other branches of the public service to which they are adapted & hich they would be as well satisfied
It has afforded ned satisfaction to learn, as I do froard to appointments, & don't feed every body with promises or what they construe into promises--a practice which so many public men are apt to fall into, & by which they make themselves more trouble & subject themselves to more discredit than they dream of Persevere in that course, consider carefully every case & nates as the best, & above all let the people see as clear as day that you do not yield yourself to, or ainst, any cliques or sections of the party, but act in good faith and to the best of your ability for the good of the whole, and you may be assured that the personal discontents which you would to some extent occasion, if you had the wisdoel, will do you no harly evanescent in their duration The Democratic is a reasonable & a just party & more than half of the business is done when they are satisfied that the ht
The difficulty with a new ad At the start little ood acts to remove But once a favourable iht thing is intended, it takes great errors, often repeated, to create a counter current Will you excuse o farther & touch upon matters not political, or at least not wholly so? Your situation of course excites envy & jealousy on the part of some It is impossible from the character of man that it should be otherwise, bear yourself ever so meekly & you cannot avoid it There will therefore in Albany, as well as elsewhere, be people ill make ill natured remarks & there will be still more illtheerated accounts of what is said, and if they lack materials they will tell you, if they find that you like to listen to sreat deal that never has been said It is ossips cause public men more vexation, yes, ten fold, than all the cares & anxieties of office taken together I have seen perhaps as e, & claireatest fault I ever saw in our excellent friend Genl Jackson, was the facility hich (in carrying out his general principle that it was the duty of the President to hear all) he leant his ear, though not his confidence, to such people Though very sagacious & very apt to put the right construction upon all such revelations, it was still evident that he was every day more or less annoyed by the their mouths, but did not succeed, & I a that if the truth could be known it would appear that he had experienced more annoyance froh which he had to pass & did pass with such unfading glory
Having his case before me, I deterood a school I had no sooner taken possession of the White House than I was beset by these harpies The way in which I treated the whole creith variations of course according to circule case The celebrated Dr Mayo called uponwhen he could have a fewthe man, I anticipated his business & told him noill hear you now He then told me he had discovered a conspiracy to destroy me politically the particulars of which he felt it to be his duty to lay before [me] I replied instantly, & somewhat sternly, Dr, I do not wish to hear theable proof, he replied I don't care, was the response It is in writing, Sir, said he I won't look at it, Sir What, said he, don't you want to see it if it is in writing & genuine? An emphatic No, Sir, closed the conversation The Dr raised his eyes and hands as if he thoughta long Hah-hah retreated for the door The story about the Dr got out and, partly by mine & I believe in part also by his means, & alarmed all the story tellers who heard of it A few repetitions of the same dose to others i was to be gained by bringing such reports to ton is perhaps theplace in the world, I escaped its contaether, and had no trouble except such as unavoidably grew out of h I had perhaps a more vexatious time than any of my predecessors in that respect I was the only rew fat in that office
I was happy to learn froh opinion he entertains of your discreet & honorable bearing in the midst of the difficulties by which you are beset I hope he & Smith, [another son of Martin Van Buren], exercise the discretion by which their course has heretofore been governed, into them as possible They know that such is my wish, as any contest there must necessarily be ed to you to give them from time to time such advice upon the subject as you ood part You estions I sent you, as I may have occasion to weave soed to write; the rough draft was ible Be assured that your not using them occasioned me no mortification, as I before told you it would not You had a nearer & could take a safer view of things than myself Don't trouble yourself to answer this letter as it requires none; only excuse
Remember me kindly to Mrs Bouck, & believe me to be
Very sincerely your friend,
M VAN BUREN
His Excellency, Wm C Bouck
In 1850 General and Mrs Scott ton and Hampton was closed for many years They lived in one of the houses built by Count De Menou, French Minister to this country from 1822 to 1824, on H Street, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth Streets, on the present site of the Epiphany Parish House These residences were co to the fact that their fences were made almost entirely of iron chains Two of them, thrown into one, were occupied by the Scotts and were owned by my father-in-law, Samuel L Gouverneur, senior In the third, the property of Mrs Beverly Kennon, lived the venerable Mrs Alexander Hahter, Mrs Hamilton Holly
CHAPTER IX
SOCIAL LEADERS IN WAshi+NGTON LIFE
I passed ton ho invitation to coo as I pleased Upon his return from the ith Mexico, croith the laurels of victory, he immediately became one of the most prominent lions of the day He had successfully invaded a practically unknown country reeking with the terrible _vomito_, a disease upon which the Mexicans relied to kill their foes more expeditiously than arateful country I distinctly re letters froners congratulating him upon his military success
His headquarters were now established in Washi+ngton, and his house became one of the most prominent social centers of the National Capital
About this tihter, Marcella, subsequently Mrs Charles Carroll McTavish, was attending school, and consequently her daughter Cornelia, who not long before had married her father's aide, Henry Lee Scott of North Carolina, was virtually mistress of the establishton was alrand in appearance as she was in character, and during one of her visits to Rouished artist as a model for his pictures of the Madonna General Scott seemed to derive much pleasure and satisfaction from the society of his former companions in ar those I especially recall were Colonels John Abert, Roger Jones, William Turnbull and Ichabod B Crane, whose son, Dr Charles H Crane, later becaeon General of the Arhtful to arded it as an exceptional privilege to be present
The Whig party meanwhile no candidate was Franklin Pierce One day during the ca to a note addressed to hian his note: ”After a hasty plate of soup”--supposing that his note would be regarded as personal Marcy, as a keen political foe, was too astute a politician, however, not to take advantage of the chance to make Scott appear ridiculous He classified the note as official, and the whole country soon resounded with it I saw General Scott when he returned frolory, to confront his political enemies at home, and I was also with him in 1852 when the announcement arrived that he had been defeated as a presidential candidate Were I called upon to decide in which character he appeared to the greater advantage, that of the victor or the vanquished, I should unhesitatingly giveunder the adverse circulamour of arms could not compare
The Rev Dr Smith Pyne, the beloved rector of St John's Episcopal Church, often athered at the residence of General Scott He was full of life and fun and good cheer and would even dare, when occasion offered, to aim his jokes and puns at General Scott himself At one of the General's dinners, for exa served, he addressed him as ”Marshal _Turenne_” It is said that upon one occasion, when the good rector failed by polite efforts to disretfully compelled to order him froent ”The cloth protects _you_,” replied Dr Pyne, ”and it will not protect you long if you do not leave this instant” In spite of this incident, it ell known that the Doctor had a tender and sympathetic nature After he had officiated at the funerals of his parishi+oners it is said that his as frequently compelled to exert all her efforts to arouse hireat Norwegian violinist as second only to Paganini, was receiving an enthusiastic reception fro for theDr Pyne sat next to rees were conferred upon musicians, Ole Bull would be Fiddle DD” At another titon dentist, was re his residence on Pennsylvania Avenue, now a portion of the Columbia Hospital, Dr Pyne was asked to what order of architecture it belonged and replied: ”_Tusk-can_, I suppose,”--a pretty poor pun, but no worse, perhaps, than most of those one hears nowadays The Rev
Dr Pyne perfors,” of General Scott's second daughter, Adeline Ca and only the members of the family were present I remember the bride as one of the most beautiful women I have ever known; her face reminded me of a Roman cameo