(J. J. Crittenden to George D. Prentice.)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, May 14, 1862. SIR,-In the Journal of the 11th inst., I read this morning with deep mortification the article concerning my son, George B. Crittenden. My son is a rebel!—I defend him not! But what public good can be done by such denunciations as that article contains? Its exaggerations and misstatements make it unjust and ungenerous, and as to his family, it is most cruel. Such a blow from such a source has been felt with peculiar force. It was useless for any purpose of public good, and could inflict wounds upon friends only.

George B. Crittenden, save his act of rebellion, is beloved by all his family, and looked upon as one of the best and noblest of their race. They believe, and cherish the belief, that he was deluded into this rebellion, and that of the thousands who were so deluded not one acted from more honorable motives than he did, however erroneous or unjustifiable their reasoning may have been. With these convictions, his family are more susceptible to the pain inflicted by the article in question. George has done enough to condemn him; he is condemned, and we bow to the sentence; but we cannot comprehend why our friends should mortify us by useless and aggravated repetitions of the cause of our calamity. Such is not the office of friends. I am sure, sir, that neither you, nor the managers of your press, have any unfriendly feeling towards me or my family: I have received too many flattering evidences to the contrary; yet, sir, I have felt it to be my right, and my duty, to address you this friendly remonstrance. I ask that it may be received in the same spirit in which it is written, and I hope long to remain, as I long have been, your friend,

G. D. PRENTICE, Esq.

J. J. CRITTENDEN.

CHAPTER XIX.

1862-1863.

C. S. Morehead to J. J. Crittenden-John Law to Crittenden-Hon. R. C. Winthrop to Mrs. Coleman, with Account of an interesting Incident at West Point (1861)—C. L. Vallandigham to Crittenden-In the House, the Admission of West Virginia-Opposition to the Employment of Slaves as Soldiers-Con scription Bill.

DE

(C. S. Morehead to J. J. Crittenden.)

CLIFTON HOUSE, NIAGARA, June 18, 1862. EAR SIR,—I am a fugitive slave safely landed in Canada, Since my release I have faithfully and most scrupulously avoided saying anything that could be tortured into what was treasonable in tendency, unless the open and bitter denunciation of the atrocious despotism, of which I have been the unhappy victim, be such. One week ago our mutual friend, Judge Nicholas, sent a special messenger to me to leave the State, as otherwise I would certainly be arrested, and made to take an unlawful oath, or remain in prison during the war. As I never intend to take that oath, to avoid the possibility of imprisonment again, I am here. I did not go South in consequence of your suggestion. The probability is that I will go from here to Europe. It is a sad, sad condition to be placed in by a despotism which, I venture to say, has not its equal in the annals of civilization.

As I thus withdraw from the scene of action to avoid the possibility of being connected in any manner with this horrid war, allow me to say that the despotism now inaugurated in Kentucky, in my humble opinion, will not be borne. Judge Fowler and the most of his bar, you may have seen, were arrested while he was holding court in Union County. The judge was required by the military power to make all his jurymen take the oath of allegiance, which he declined to do, and was compelled to adjourn court, and taken prisoner from the bench. All the candidates for office who were not Lincolnmen, in Owen County, were imprisoned before I left home; and I see from the papers that thirty-three men from Owen and Henry have since been arrested. Squads of soldiers are sent in all directions, and men are every day taken up without

the slightest cause. I could give you instances which would quicken every drop of blood in your veins. All this is borne for the present in sullen silence; but rest assured that the time will come when the smothered volcano must have vent. I know nothing, of course, and only judge from my knowledge of our common nature,-some things are beyond human endurance. I have heard men who proclaim themselves unconditionally for the Union in public, curse these things in private with a venom and bitterness that would astonish you. It is right that you should know these things, and I feel that I can speak candidly to you. I do believe that these arrests, if not stopped, will lead to a guerrilla war all over the State. If the President has this power, the governor of Kentucky has it also, for the words of the State Constitution are identically the same as those in the Federal Constitution. What would be said if McGoffin should commence imprisoning without bail or mainprise?

Can you get me a copy of the order by which I was carried to Lafayette? I would like very much to have it. I have nearly completed my book, in which a body of facts will be found which, if I mistake not, will, when published, create a

sensation.

I would be glad to hear from you. A letter addressed to me, care of the Clifton House, Suspension Bridge, N. Y., will reach me.

Your friend,

Hon. J. J. CRITTENDEN.

(John Law to J. J. Crittenden.)

C. S. MOREHEAD.

WASHINGTON, July 2, 1862.

MY DEAR SIR,-I was prevented when in committee of the whole from making the speech I had prepared and intended by circumstances over which I had no control. The bills "confiscating rebel property" and "emancipating slaves" were made a special order, and being confined entirely to the subject-matters of those bills, the subject-matter of the two sheets inclosed, in parliamentary language, would not have been "germane" to them.

It would have given me great pleasure to have given to the country my views of your noble and patriotic character in this most unhappy contest,-a fratricidal war,-which I firmly believe the adoption of your resolutions would have prevented. The God of battles can now alone determine the result. I have, therefore, no other way of communicating even to you my high

regard and esteem but by inclosing to you a portion of what I intended to say had I an opportunity of so doing. Very sincerely and truly yours,

Hon. JOHN J. CRITTENDEN. JOHN LAW. Sir, of all men living on this continent I had rather this day have the character and position of my honorable friend from Kentucky, who sits near me (Mr. Crittenden), than that of any other man, ay, rather than be President of the United States. The colleague of that great and good man, Mr. Clay, the associate in the other end of the Capitol of Daniel Webster, Silas Wright, Thomas H. Benton, and Stephen A. Douglas,—all gathered to their fathers, he is the only link in the chain which binds the present to the past. He was even with such statesmen and patriots "primus inter pares," a peer among princes, a prince among his peers. He alone is left us, and the evidence of his loyalty and patriotism, his love of country, his attachment to the Union and the flag which is its emblem, his devotion to the Constitution and the laws, have been manifested on every occasion; and yet, I regret to say, there are men, even in this House, who pretend to doubt even his loyalty.

Sir, envy may carp at him, faction may hawk at him, party may ostracize him,

"But more true joy Marcellus exiled feels

Than Cæsar with a senate at his heels."

In the course of human events" he soon may leave us. The grave will open for him as for us; but the inscription on his tombstone will survive for future generations to look on and admire.

His epitaph will be

"Beneath this stone, resting from his labors, lies one, who, if his counsel had been followed, the Constitution would have been maintained and the Union preserved."

(Robert C. Winthrop to Mrs. A. M. Coleman.)

BOSTON, December 26, 1870. MY DEAR MRS. COLEMAN,-I have not forgotten my promise to give you some account of what happened at West Point when I had the good fortune to meet your excellent father there, during one of the early years of our late civil war. I had enjoyed his friendship, and not a little of his confidence, as you well know, while I was in Congress with him many years before; and I had always admired the generous and noble qualities of his mind and heart. But the occasion to which I refer was one which left the deepest impression on my memory, and I am, perhaps, the only one left to tell the story.

ROBERT C. WINTHROP TO MRS. A. M. COLEMAN. 351

It was on the 8th day of August, 1862. I had stopped at West Point, on my way from Niagara, to pay a little visit to General Scott; and while I was with him, at Cozzens's Hotel, Mr. Crittenden came in. He told me at once that he had come there for a special purpose, in which he was deeply interested, and that he wished me to accompany him to the camp of the cadets, and be a witness to whatever might occur. Not long afterwards we went to the camp together; and after a brief preliminary interview with the commanding officer (Colonel Bowman, if I remember rightly), Mr. Crittenden explained to him and to myself his precise view in coming. He said that the cadets from many of the Southern States had exhibited a disposition to leave the academy, with the purpose of taking sides with their own States in the contest which was then in progress. Some of them, as I understood, had gone already; and he was in great concern lest the Kentucky cadets should be induced to follow their example. He thought that his personal influence might possibly do something to arrest such a design, should it exist in any quarter; and, after consulting with General Scott, he asked leave of the commanding officer to have an interview with each one of the Kentucky cadets in succession.

The leave was readily granted; and they were accordingly sent for in turn. To each one of them, as he came up, he made an informal but most earnest appeal. He seemed to know the personal history and family connections of them all. More than one of them, I believe, had received their appointments on his own recommendation. One of them had already distinguished himself, though a mere boy, by brave services as a volunteer, and his appointment had been made in recognition of his youthful gallantry.

I shall not soon forget how your father's eye kindled, and his voice trembled with emotion, as he spoke to them of the Union cause, and of his ardent desire that Kentucky should be true to the Union flag. He spoke, as he always spoke best, from the inspiration of the moment, and out of the fullness of his noble and patriotic heart. No one of those cadets can have failed to remember that most impressive scene. There was nothing of ostentation or formality about it. He told me he had come to West Point without previous consultation with anybody, and he evidently did not wish to have his intervention spoken of at the time. I think that he did not even enter his name on the books of the hotel, and left West Point as soon as he had accomplished the object for which he had come. He was unwilling to have it supposed that he had any distrust of the cadets of his own State, and assured me that he felt none. But he said he should sleep more easily after he had done what he could to make his