NEW YORK, _June 3, 1842_.
Hon. DANIEL WEBSTER,
_Secretary of State_.
DEAR SIR: In pursuance of the arrangement made when you were in Boston,
I have visited the State of Rhode Island, and, so far as could be done,
possessed myself of a knowledge of the existing state of things there.
I had a full and free interview with Governor King and his council, as
well as with several other gentlemen upon each side of the matter in
controversy. All agree that, so far as the people of Rhode Island are
concerned, there is no danger of any further armed resistance to the
legitimate authorities of the State. It was never intended, probably, by
the majority of those called the suffrage party to proceed in any event
to violence, and when they found themselves pushed to such an extremity
by their leaders they deserted their leaders and are now every day
enrolling themselves in the volunteer companies which are being
organized in every part of the State for the suppression of any further
insurrectionary movements that may be made. A large majority of those
elected or appointed to office under the people's constitution (so
called) have resigned their places and renounced all allegiance to that
constitution and the party which supports it, so that the insurgents are
now without any such organization as would enable them to carry out
their original purposes if they otherwise had the power.
Governor King and his council alone, of all the intelligent persons with
whom I consulted, fear an irruption upon them of an armed force to be
collected in other States, and this is the only difficulty of which they
now have any apprehension. This fear is excited by the boasts frequently
made by the few who still avow their determination to adhere to the
constitution that they have at their control large bodies of armed men,
as well as camp equipage, provisions, money, and munitions of war, which
have been provided for them in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York.
The supposition that Rhode Island is to be invaded by a foreign force,
when that force would neither be led nor followed by any considerable
number of the people of the State, does not seem, to say the least,
to be a very reasonable one. If those who think they are suffering
injustice are not disposed to make an effort to redress their supposed
wrongs, they would hardly expect the work to be done by others.
The ostensible object of the insurgents now is not the real one. They
meditate no further forcible proceedings. They bluster and threaten for
several reasons:
First. Because they suppose they shall thus break their fall a little
and render their retreat a little less inglorious than it would be if
they should beat it at once.
Second. They believe that if they keep up a shew of opposition to the
existing government they shall be more likely to revolutionize it by
peaceable measures; and
Third. They think they can make their influence so far felt as to
operate favorably upon those who are now under arrest for treason or who
may be hereafter arrested for the same offense.
That these are the views and purposes of the insurgents I am
confidentially assured by the notorious individual from whom I told you
I could learn their plans and designs; and no one has better means of
knowing than he, having been himself one of Mr. Dorr's confidential
advisers from the beginning.
The meeting at Woonsocket on the 1st did not amount to much, being but
thinly attended. The projected fortifications at that place have been
abandoned. It is said they will be thrown up in some other spot to be
designated hereafter, but this is not believed.
Mr. Dorr is now understood to be lurking in this city. Warrants have
been issued for his arrest both by the governor of this State and the
governor of Massachusetts, but he moves so privately and shifts his
whereabouts so often that he eludes his pursuers.
Under all the circumstances I think you will come to the opinion
entertained by seven-eighths of all the people of Providence (the scene
of his operations thus far) that, deserted by his followers at home and
disgraced in the estimation of those who sympathized with him abroad;
Mr. Dorr has it not in his power to do any further serious mischief.
Yours, very truly,
---- ----.
PROVIDENCE, R.I., _June 22, 1842_.
Hon. J.C. SPENCER,
_Secretary of War_.
SIR: When I last had the honor to write to you I felt confident that
there would be no further disturbance of the peace in this State.
Governor King was of the same opinion. But I now fear, from strong
indications, that Mr. Dorr and his party are determined to enter the
State in force, and that in a few days serious difficulties will arise.
On my arrival here this morning from Newport, on my way to New York,
I learnt from undoubted authority that several large boxes of muskets,
supposed to contain about eighty, were received the evening before last
at Woonsocket from New York; that several mounted cannon had been also
received there and forwarded on to Chepachet; that a number of men, not
citizens of the State, with arms, were in and about Woonsocket and
Chepachet; that forty-eight kegs of powder were stolen on Sunday night
last from a powder house in this neighborhood, and that Dorr, with about
twenty men, landed last evening at Norwich.
An unsuccessful attempt was made two nights ago to steal the guns of the
artillery company at Warren, and at several other places where guns had
been deposited by the State, by some of Dorr's men, one of whom has been
identified and arrested.
It has been observed for several days past that many of the suffrage
party and residents of this city have been sending off their families
and effects. The inhabitants of the city are seriously alarmed and in a
state of much excitement. An express to convey the above intelligence to
Governor King at Newport will be immediately sent down by the mayor of
the city.
I shall be in New York early to-morrow morning ready to receive any
instructions you may think proper to honor me with.