Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1888-12-14
To which ! replied:
9l2 GARRISON AVENUE,
ST. LOUIS. Mo-, MAY -, 1881

The Hon. James q. Bdinc, Washington, u. e.:
My Dear Friend have received your letter
of the 25th, shall construe it as absolutely con
tidential, not ntimating even to any member
of my family that have heard from you, and,
though you may not expect an answer hope
you will not Construc one as unwarrantcd.
have had great many letters from all
points of the compass to similar effect one
or two of which have answered frankly, but
the great mass are unanswercd,
ought not to submit myself TO the cheap
ridicule of declining what Is not offered, but 1t
Is only fair to the many really able men who
rightfully aspire to the high honor of being
president of the United States to let them
know that am not and must not he construed
as rival. In every mans life occurs an epoch
when he must choose his own career and when
he may not throw off the responsibility, or
tamely place his destinyin the hands of friends.
Mine occurred in Louisiana, when in 1861, alone
in the midst of a people blinded by supposed
wrongs resolved to stand by the Union az
long as a fragment of it survived on which to
cling. Since then. through faction, tempest,
war and peace, my career has been all my fam
lily and friends could ask. We are now in a
good house of our own choice. with reasonable
provisions for old age, surrounded by kind and
admiring friends, III the community where
Catholicism is held in respect and veneration,
where my children will naturally grow up in
contact with an industrious and frugal people.
You have known and appreciated Mrs. Shcr-
man from childhood, have also known each
and all the members of my family, and can
understand without an explanation from me
how their thoughts and feelings should and
ought to influence my action. But Will not
even throw of on them the responsibility.
! will not in any event entertain or accept "A
nomination candidate for president by the
Chicago republican convention, or any other
convention. for reasons personal to myself.
claim that the civil war. in which simply did
a mans fair share of work. so perfectly accom-
plished peace that military men have an abso-
Lutte right to rest. and to demand that the men
who have been sChOuled in the arts and praC-
tice of peace shall now do their work equally as
well. Any senator can step from his chair at
the capitol into the White House and fulfil the
office of president with more skill and success
than Grant sherman or sheridan, who We're
soldiers by education and nature, who filled
well their office when the country was in dan
ger. but We're not schooed in the practice by
which civil communities are and should be
governed. | claim that our experience since
| 1860 demonstrates the truth of this my proper
ton. Therefore | say that patriotism does not
demand of me what | construc as a sacrifice Of
judgment, of inclination, and of >elf-ncreet.
! have my personal affairs in "A state of aboo-
lutte safety and comfort. owe no man d cent,
have no expensive habits. envy no man his
wealth or power, no complications or indirect
liabilities, and would account myself fool, a
mailman, an ass. to embark anew at Is years of
age in career that may become at any. mo
mcnt tcmpcSt-tus>cd by periidy, the dcfalCa-
ton, the dishonesty or neglect of any single one
of IA hundred thousand subordnatc9 utterly
| unknown to the president of the ntcd Statc~,
| not to say the eternal wOrriment hNa vast host
OF impecunious friends and old military subor-
! dnatcs Even it is, ! am tortured by the
| charitable appeals of poor, distressed pension
! ers. but as president these would be multiplied
| beyond human endurance.
| ! remember well the experience of Gems.
Jackson, Harrison, Taylor. Grant, Hayes and
| Garfield, all elected because of their military
! services, and am warned not encouraged, by
| United States should and must buffet with this
| thanklcss office, and leave us old soldiers to en-
/ JOY the peace we fought for and think We earn
ed With profound respect, Your friend