Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-08-23
THURLOW WEED.
The Veteran Politician In Retirement
A Chapter Of UnWritten History.
From a ,,;,,., New York Letter 10 the San Fran

From a New York Letter 10 the San Fran
cisro Bulletin.l
Among the most delightful incidnp,
of my trip East has been visit /
Thurlow Weed, the great 'syvarwick'' :
the WING and Republican parties. Re
tlred from public life, he resides I'm
pnncely mansion on the corner of Finl
avenue and Twelfth street, New Yorl
Guy. Ills home Is model of comfort
elegance and transformations luxury
Ilch IN treasures Of art gathered durin,
successive trips to Europe. The picture
'i~' adorn the library and drawing
nOOm walls are such as are seldom seei
IN private collections, gems by the bes
modern painters, copies of famous mas
terpieces, with several originals by tn,
great French, German and Italian mas
ters. Mr.. Weeds taste i'm art, as in lit
erature, is refined and eXacting-ke
appreciatlve of the genuine, and intol
Grant OF the snowy and spurious. III,
can no more indOrse a bad picture thar
he can indOrse a bad book, and if eithel
the one or the other should, by any mis-
take, find its way into his hOuss. it viii
be very apt to get speedy ejectment.
HIS APPEARANCE, HEALTH AND HABITS
1 find Mr.. Weed a good deal changed
since | saw him laSt-seven years ago
Exposure TO the hot sun some four year.
since gave his system q shock from
which it has not recovered. He shows
age in more respects than one. His hair
Is white as snow; his form is bent; his
step has lost its wOnted elasticity; hi.
voice is at times a little feeble. But hi,
intellect still shines with unclOuded lus-
Ger. Il has lost nothing of that wonderful
vIgor that made its pOssessOr such a
power in the world. l have never found
Mr.. Weed more enjoyable-more rich in
the treasures Of memory, more keenly
alive to all good and beautiful impress
sions, more suggestive in conversation,
more fresh in gift Of speech. His men,
Ory OF past events is simply marvellous.
The incidents of fifty years ago, are as
fresh as those of yesterday. II is a rare
delight TO listen TO his discourse Of the
past; his descriptions of the scenes of
the men Of a by-gOue generation. And
while ne Is not Indifferent to the present
his mind dwells largely in the past.
He loves to get hold of old people,
TO talk over old times and review
old recOlectiOns. He viii converse by
the hour with some old fellow when he
knew when he was young and poor, per-
sistently pumping the dryest social
fountain, and cleaning some SCRAP of
history from the most barren soil. The
other day he met "A man IN the horse
cars whom he recognized as having
known in Rochester, over half a century
ago. He even recalled his name and in
quired about several mutual friends, the
man all the while wondering who the
deuce he was talking to. As they got
down town Mr.. Weed invited him to his
70 Inn 1. u ].
tial mansion, with its deep fountain and
fine paintings, he looked at Mr.. Weed
with an implOring air, as much as to say:
"WhO in the thunder are you, any
way?" When the latter gave him his
name, his delight was equal to mis- as
tonlshment, since he had never had the
courage TO approach him since he became
famous.
A BUSY OLD MAN.
Mr.. Weed does not live wholly in the
past. His mind and his body are equally !
active. He goes to market regularly 4
every morning, takes long walks when |
il is cool, and usually rides several miles /
in the afternoon and evening. Occa- |
siOnally he spends an hour at the club, /
or takes a walk down to Clifford street to |
see his old friend Harper, the great pub
Iisher-Or drops into the Office of the 1
New York Times, where, | fancy, his
influence is still greatly felt. He is a 1
diligent reader of the papers, and writes,
or rather dictates, more or less every
day. l visited him during the recent
terrible "hOt term" when the city was
being almost decimated by sunstrOke,
yet 1 found him with the thermometer
at ninety-eight, absorbed in literary
labor. "DO you find much time for
general reading?n l asked. LESS than
/ could WISH" he replied. II am now
reading Dickens for the | think he said
sixth time, and with ever increasing
delight. 1t is usually the last pleasure
OF the day. But am now on short COM
IIOns, for my daughter Harriet, who
reads TO me, gets 50 wearied with the
duties of the day that my conscience
presses me, and / break off before my
hunger is half-satisfied.n
Mr.. WEED AND GENERAL TAYLOR.
The conversation after dinner turned
upon General Taylor, his nomination,
election and brief administration. "The
history Of the administration, - said Mr..
Weed, (which has never vet been pub
lished, is briefly this: In casting about
for Wing candidate for the Presidency
my attention was early fixed upon Gen
eral Taylor as the proper man to lead
the party to victory. After canvassing
the matter with friends, and bringing
them over to my views, I boldly broke
the ice by communicating with General
Taylor, which l did through his brother,
Colonel Taylor, going down the Hudson
river one night. told him 10 tell the
General that public sentiment which
bad not yet developed, would eventually
center upon him in due time; that what
he had TO do was not TO look back toward
Washington, but to look forward toward
Mexico, and that under no circumstances
must he write letters or make pledges.
The programme worked quite as well
as j expected. Millard Fillmore, who
Owed everything to me, and i'm whom l
had confidence, was placed second Oh |
the ticket. We We're successful. Gen
eral Taylor, who felt his want of expe-
rienee, was disposed 10 lean upon Vice.
President Fillmore, and even wished to
make him eX-officio member of the cab
met. Hardly was the Inauguration over
when Fillmore began 10 act as if he We're
the head ofthe government. He turned
MS back upon the men who had made {
him, and endeavOFed to destroy their in {
fiuence- One day on going 10 Washing
ton i found, to my surprise, that / was :
rejected at the departments and denied {
aAItlE11 ~ AlAt W A4AHc 4ltlHEa saw AllEAEi
was something in the wind, and resolved
10 meet il at once. ] called on Colonel
Taylor, brother OF the President, and =
told him what had happened. He was
equally surprised and indignant, and :
promised to see the President at once. 7
Soon after, received a summons to the I
White House, where ! was most cor !
daily received and my requests prompt ]
iy granted From this time forward my 7
relations with General Taylor were Of q
the most intimate character. Near the
end of the session Of Congress Of June, 4
1859, was sent for by the President,
VINO said he wished to consult nae about {
matters Of the most grave importance 10 h
himself the party and the country. He d
said, in substance, that he had made up =
bis mind to reconstruct his Cabinet; as \
Il stood it failed either to satisfy him or ],
the country. Two Of the members he V
had learned with pain and surprise, r.
were interested as parties or counsel in a
notorious claim against the government; &
another was arrOgating functions be- a
longing TO the Executive. There a
must, " said the General, ''be a change, 81
a radical change and at once / have r
sent for you 20 assist me i'm organizing a
new cabinet" l reluctantly cOnsentsd, a
and before the interview was over two
lf the members Of the new Cabi- n
net were fixed upon; Hamilton Fish for N
of the Treasury, and Edward i,
stanley, then of North Carolina, now
IF California, for Secretary of War. The a,
natter was kept a profound secret, even n,
rom the gentlemen themselves, the in
entiOn being to announce the cabinet IL
after the adjournment Of hi
congress. But before the programme fo
'oald be carried out, President Taylor a,
vas taken suddenly IN and died in
ew hours. Fillmore succeeded 10 the n,
threw off the mask, and i.
TODD revealed. an migrate TO his friends n
md traitor to his party. Governor Stan III
ey was told years after, by me, how Ia
,o.- I,a aaF,4a 70, lafs,rr aabfpaf mi :