"PHILAD., _July 28, 1863_.
"MY DEAR SIR,--Our proposed litigation here, as to the conscription
law, has thus far failed--from want of courage on the part of the
litigant, whose chance of success, within the law, was not very
encouraging, and whose doom, in the event of failure, was very certain.
The form which was adopted by Mr. Ingersoll and Mr. Wharton was that of
an injunction bill against the enrolling and drafting officers, and the
hearing hoped for was before the court _in banc_. I now very much doubt
if it will be resorted to. A _habeas corpus_ before a single judge on
the receipt of notice, which constitutes a technical custody, seems to
me preferable.
"The draft, in the mean time, is going on and, I confess, I am puzzled
by the apathy with which it is received, especially in connection with
the admitted fact that New York and probably New Jersey are to be
exempt. Still, I think there will be an outbreak whenever the actual
kidnapping begins.
"Of course you see or think you see the dangers which threaten you
more clearly than we at a distance do. But the apprehension is very
prevalent here that Gov. Seymour is in danger at any moment of secret
arrest. Things of that kind have been hinted at, and certainly I saw
nothing in New York to make such an outrage practically difficult.
There is inducement enough, for his removal puts the whole Democratic
North under the heel of the radicals. My theory about arrests is that
they are always fatal. No public man ever recovered from the stain
they seem to inflict. I doubt very much if Mr. Vallandigham will ever
recuperate. Gov. Seymour is the only public man who at this moment
stands in the way of a centralized despotism, and him a small guard of
Federal soldiers could easily and secretly remove.
"I am, no doubt, very nervous and very suspicious, but, I assure you,
these facts are not confined to my own bosom.
"Very Truly Y'rs,
"WILLIAM B. REED."
"_S. J. Tilden, Esq., New York._"