"UTICA, _October 8, 1871_.
"MY DEAR SIR,--I have not been well since I got back from Rochester,
but I have turned over the state of things in my mind, and I now sit
down to give you the ends I have reached. When I left home I thought
our friends had made up their minds to take high ground. When I met
Lord and others at your room I saw at once 'the switch had been
changed.' When Lord asked about the ticket I knew that a party had been
made up to which you and Kernan and myself were not to be invited. Of
that I am proud. All of the officeholders, the canal contractors, etc.,
are in it. Warren, DeWolf, and Cassidy lead the move. It is not in my
heart to say an unkind word of Cassidy. In many ways he has had a hard
time. His fine mind has been used by others while he was left poor. It
was the strange policy of the Central Railroad men to give wealth to
Weed and others, who fought them if they did not, while Cassidy was
helped to live by loans and in other ways which kept him poor. When
Tweed went to Albany he turned a stream of patronage into the _Argus_
office which made it strong and rich. I think Cassidy means, in the
main, to stand up for the right, but it is hard for him to strike men
who have lifted him into wealth and when all about him shrink back.
Now what are we to do? A new party is made up, and we are outside of
it. For this I am glad. But this is not all. We may forgive others,
but the men who have left us will not forgive us. The old ties are
broken. They have yielded to temptation, and now they are like church
members who have fallen from grace; they not only hate to meet their
minister, but they learn to hate him. This feeling cropped out at
Rochester. They were glad to hit us, and the young men would have done
more if the wiser ones had not held them back. You would have been put
off the State committee and McQuade would have had the seat of Kernan
if they had thought it wise. All things were made ready to do both of
these acts. While Kernan was thrown off of his guard by Van Buren's
assurances that his seat would not be contested, the committee on
credentials was made up; their names were known to McQuade's friends,
and an active canvass was made in his behalf. The plan was either to
reject Kernan or to keep him out until the Tammany men were made sure
that their seats would not be filled. I made up my mind to go home. I
told Mr. Warren I would not act as president of the convention. In the
evening I was very ill, and when the committee called upon me I said
I was not well enough to go into convention. This was true, but I am
sorry I put that reason out. I was in so much pain that I had not my
wits about me. I should have said to them, as I did to Warren, simply
that I would not preside.
"Now what are we to do? You know that I hold that all that a man does
about politics after he is sixty years old is only meddling with other
people's business. But duty may force us to act, and then how do we
stand? The Democratic leaders and organization are dead against us. The
members of the convention went home pleased with the diplomacy of their
leaders, but with lower tone of morality than they had when they left
home. The young men we looked to with hope in the future are debauched.
They were willing to have Tammany coaxed out of the convention and then
to slam the door in the face of the honest men who had unearthed crime
in New York. When the leaders had done their work on Thursday noon
the Tammany men stood in the light of having acted in a high-toned,
generous way. The convention was grateful to them for allowing it to
say stealing was wrong in a way that should hurt no one's feelings.
The anti-Tammany men were in disgrace and disfavor. The majority of
convention wanted to leave matters in that shape, and they were angry
when you and Kernan and West and others forced them to do a few decent
acts. I think you saved the ticket by this. I know you saved your
honor. You must now count upon the hostility of old supporters and of
all State officials. You are in the way. If you mean to fight you can
do so by means of the new parties in New York. You must hold them up
to the highest tone and to untiring activity. You must put yourself at
the head of the reformers and use your list of correspondents for any
papers you wish to send out to enlist the country against frauds. I
have stated all the odds against you, but you can whip the party back
to right grounds if you wish to do so. It is on the defensive now.
"Truly yours, &c.,
"HORATIO SEYMOUR."