MY DEAR HARRIET/

TO MISS LANE.1

BEDFORD SPRINGS, 3 August 1863.

We arrived here safe & sound on Friday last before dinner. I hardly ever passed a more uncomfortable day than that on which I left, having suffered the whole day with a violent diarrhoea. At night Mrs. Baker gave me a dose of your friend Brown's Anti-Cholera mixture which cured me outright. The water has had its usual good effect upon me & I think I needed it much. No healing fountain can cure old age; but with God's blessing it may assist in gently sloping the way which leads to death.

The company here consists of about 150; & I think there is fully that number. There are many sensible & agreeable people among them; but they are not very gay. On Saturday night they made the first attempt to get up a cotillion & it partially succeeded: but they wanted the buoyancy & brilliancy of former times.

There are several naughty secession girls here from Baltimore,—some of them very bright. My principal amusement has been with them, & I am really inclined to believe they give General Schenck a hard time of it. The stories they tell of how they provoke him are truly amusing. They praise General Wool; & I have no doubt they flattered him into a compliance with many of their wishes. They speak rather contemptuously of our friend General Dix; but Schenck is their abomination.

I treat them playfully, & tell them I love them so that it would be impossible for me ever to consent to part from them; & that the shocking idea has never once entered my head of living in a separate confederacy from them. I am like Ruth, & that they must not entreat me from following after them. We must be one & indivisible. I hear accounts from the other side & it is certain the Baltimore women must give General Schenck a rough road to travel.

Our own little party is very agreeable. Mrs. Nevin is as gay as a girl let loose from school after a long session of hard service. I could hardly tell you how much she enjoys herself.

1 Buchanan Papers, private collection; Curtis's Buchanan, II. 612.

Miss Hetty gets along quietly & well. Her manners are ladylike & she behaves with perfect propriety. Mrs. Baker is very good & very ladylike; and Miss Swarr is modest but cheerful. I need not speak of Messrs. Swarr, Baker, Carpenter, & North. We are all grateful. There have been many kind inquiries after you; but a watering place is like the world, even the grandest performers are soon forgotten.

Mr. Babcock, of the Yeates Institute, preached here last night; but I did not hear him. Those who did say he preached very well. I never saw him, to my knowledge.

I am treated by all with kindness & respect. I saw Mrs. Patton & Miss Hamilton on Saturday evening. The health of the latter is evidently improving.

Give my love to Miss Anne, Elizabeth Speer Buchanan, & remember me kindly to Mrs. Fahnestock. I hope you are all getting along happily.

"Should auld acquaintance be forgot?" I very much desire to see you, and think that in this hot season you might pass a few days agreeably at Wheatland. You shall receive a most cordial welcome. Besides, I desire to consult you on some matters important to myself and probably to the public.

I returned from the Bedford Springs on Saturday last, where I passed a fortnight very agreeably. I left the place crowded, and many of the people were according to my taste. The people of Bedford Town and County gave me as hearty a

'This invitation was accepted. See Konkle's Life of Chief Justice Ellis Lewis, p. 254.

reception as in the days of my power. If you will come here, we will go to Ephrata and ride about the country wherever you please.

Until I received your note this morning, the fact that I had written to you in July last had not for weeks recurred to my memory. I expected no answer. I probably ought not to have written at all on the subject of the Conscription Law. Had I reflected for a moment that you were a Judge of the Supreme Court as well as the Democratic Candidate for Governor, I should have refrained. My abhorrence throughout life has been the mixing up of party politics with the administration of Justice. I perceived that in New York the party were fast making the unconstitutionality of the Conscription Law the leading & prominent point in the canvass, & I wrote (I believe with good effect) to an able & influential friend, guarding him against it & referring to Mr. Monroe's opinion. At the same time it occurred to me that a word of caution to you confidentially, as a Candidate, not as a Judge, might not be inappropriate.

I consider that on the result of your election vaster issues depend both for weal & for woe to our Country than on that of any other Gubernatorial Canvass ever held in Pennsylvania. I am, therefore, anxious for your success, & believe it will be accomplished. My information, though not as extensive as in former times, proceeds from honest & sound-judging Democrats.

1 Buchanan Papers, Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Curtis's Buchanan, II. 577.

It is given voluntarily, & is generally though not universally cheering.

I beg you not to answer this note.

It afforded me great pleasure to learn from yours of the 14th Instant that you still enjoy health & happiness. May this yet continue for years to come! I have recently had a severe & very painful attack of rheumatism; but it has nearly passed away. I met Mr. Kelly at the Bedford Springs, & we talked very kindly of you & yours. I found my old friends there as kind & My visit was very agreeable.

as enthusiastic as ever.

I cannot anticipate the result of the Governor's election, as I was able to do in former years when I took an active part in politics. The news, however, is generally cheering. It is the most important State election which has ever been held in Pennsylvania. God grant us a safe deliverance!

I saw Judge Woodward when he was in Lancaster at our great meeting on Thursday last, though I did not attend the meeting. He seems to be in fine spirits, & will, if elected, make an excellent Governor. Governor Porter & Judge Black were with us. The Governor's health is still good, & he is as shrewd and observant as ever. Judge Black's speech will, I think, make a noise in the world. It is able & eloquent, & very strong.

I hope nothing may occur to prevent you from visiting me the next time you entertain so good an intention. This I hope may ere long occur.

1 Buchanan Papers, Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Curtis's Buchanan, II. 613.

Miss Lane desires to be very kindly remembered to you. We expect a visit to-day from Sir Henry Holland, & she is busy in making preparations.

From your friend very respectfully

JAMES BUCHANAN.

HON: GEORGE G. LEIPER.

P. S. I saw an account of the great meeting to which you refer, & was happy to perceive that you are still in the harness.

MY DEAR SIR,

TO JUDGE BLACK.'

WHEATLAND 25 Sept. 1863.

I now return you Mr. Schell's letter of July 28, desiring to know, according to your endorsement upon it, "whether the statement of Thurlow Weed to the London Observer is true or false," together with the copy of your answer. Mr. Schell evidently intended his letter & your answer for public information; but the latter is of such a character that it cannot be published.

I had hoped that I might never have occasion to speak to you on a subject so disagreeable to yourself; & this I had purposely avoided until you informed me of Mr. Schell's letter, on your last visit. Pardon me now for saying, in frankness & in friendship, that I did expect at the time you would voluntarily publish a simple contradiction of Mr. Weed's statement. You could with propriety do nothing more. He was sent abroad in a semi-official character which gave force to his statement; & this was extensively republished in the Journals of this country. Although the duty of contradicting it devolved upon every member of my Cabinet, yet this was especially your duty as the Premier. When the subject was brought to your notice some time thereafter (at the time without my knowledge) by friends

1 Buchanan Papers, Historical Society of Pennsylvania.