Description:

Franklin Pierce
Florence, Italy, October 24, 1858
16pp Franklin Pierce Letter as President with Superb Content on James Buchanan, Jeff Davis, and Division within the Democratic Party, PSA/DNA
ALS
A remarkable and very lengthy autograph letter signed by Franklin Pierce, 16pp. on four sheets, 10" x 8.5", Florence, October 24, 1858, to Sidney Webster, Pierce's former personal White House secretary. Some show-through as expected, offered with a full transcription and biographical information about the many figures referenced in this letter. With PSA/DNA certificate.

During an extended holiday with his wife, Jane Appleton, Pierce criticizes James Buchanan, mentions Jefferson Davis, discusses strife within the Democratic Party, and touches upon the 1858 election that resulted in Republican control of the House of Representatives.

In part:
"…We reached here on the 11th inst…We are now very satisfactorily established at the hotel de la ville where we shall probably remain until December, perhaps longer. The city is finally situated upon the Arno…with a beautiful undulating country on either side, highly cultivated studded with villas and rising at many points several hundred feet above the valley. The city is literally filled with works of art, in the examination of which one may pleasantly and profitably spend six or eight weeks. I shall not write a word in the way of description because you will find all that so tastefully and thoroughly done by turning again to the admirable work of your neighbor Mr. Hillard. It has gratified my national pride to find that here no less than at home these are regarded as among the very best of the numerous volumes, which in modern time have been written upon Italy.

Our journey from Geneva by way of St. Gotthard to Lake Maggiore was delightful throughout. To Neuchatel we went by rail, thence across lakes Neuchatel and Bienne by steamboat, thence by rail again to Berne. Here Mr. Fay met us at the railroad station and was…assiduous in attending during our brief sojourn. With him we called on the president of the republic and visited various objects of interest. The capital thro' the various parts of which the president conducted us is a little structure and commands a grand view of the Mont Blanc chain. From Berne to Thun is a perfectly charming little place upon the lake of that name…From Interlaken to Brinne by steamer from this little village Mrs. P. crossed the Brinne on horseback. We reached the border of Lake Lucerne…After a day or two of much enjoyment at L. we crossed the lake again to Kussnacht which is at the base of the Rigi, the summit of which…from its elevation so much as from its isolated position, undoubtedly commands the finest view in Switzerland. We left our servants at Lucerne to come to Wiggis the next day with the baggage by boat. We were amply repaid for the toil of the ascent of the Rigi which Mrs. Pierce made on horseback in three hours. I walked and from the steepness of the continuous descent I found my strength pretty seriously taxed before I reached the calm. Still we were richly compensated. The day was beautiful as we stood at last up on the top most peak half an hour before sunset and surveyed the scene of surpassing magnificence and beauty we lost all consciousness of fatigue. The next morning we descended to Wiggis and crossed another arm of the lake…The descriptions of grandeur of the St. Gotthard Pass have not exceeded the truth. Mr. Daniels was absent from Turin when we reached there but has since passed a day or two with us here. He has repurchased his interest (the quarter part) in The Examiner and expects soon to return to Richmond to resume the labors of editor. His resignation has been accepted but he does not know who is to succeed him.

If Mr. [James] Buchanan entertained the opinion of foreign ministers appointed by me… it is not easy to understand why one half of his official term should be allowed to elapse without replacing them with better & more competent men. If the changes which have already taken place after at Berlin, Lisbon, Copenhagen, Liverpool, etc. are to be taken as samples of what we may expect hereafter, it cannot I think be regarded as a mark of stupidity if the improvement is not readily perceived….

The struggle between the intellect and learning arranged on either side of the case at Newport must have been full of interest and instruction. Genl. [Jefferson] Davis it seems has been making another speech at an agricultural fair in Maine which was highly praised in the Providence Journal (an opposition paper) which fell in my view a few days since. Were politicks in the U. States ever in greater confusion than at the present time. The New York Evening Post, Times, Tribune, & Herald are taken here but so far as I know in New England no New England paper except the Boston Traveller. It would be truly refreshing to see a copy of the Morning Post now and then. The last number of the Herald received here endeavors to prepare the public mind for the defeat of our party in Pennsylvania by saying that it has been so weakened by my blunders and maladministration, that it sunk down after the great struggle of 1856 in a state of complete exhaustion from which it had never been able to recover—notwithstanding the great strength which Mr. Buchanan's official and personal popularity brings to its aid. If the Prest. does not get from the Satanic enough of this foolish adulation and rather too much assaults upon what are termed the factious members of our party Toombs & others I shall be surprized. Can you explain the cause of the frequent hits at Slidell & Bright. I see that…Martin has been nominated for Congress. Do the personal & political relations between him & Colo. Forney remain unchanged? If so how is his canvass to be conducted after the publication of the Colo.'s Tarrytown speech and subsequent letters? I should have said how was it conducted because I believe the election took place last week. I hope you saw Genl. Davis in Boston as anticipated at the date of yr. last letter. If you did, write me fully with regard to his health etc. etc…".

On October 25th, Pierce continues: "I have just returned from the reading room where I found the Tribune of the fifth inst. containing two columns of extracts from Colo. Forney's letter and a prediction of great disasters to our party in the Pennsylvania election which took place on the 12th which I hope may not be verified by the results. I read with interest an article on the last page of the Boston Traveller of the 1st in which the writer while dissenting from some of the opinions expressed in a letter, which I have not seen, from Genl. Cushing to Mr. Martin and others says 'of living Americans Genl. [Caleb] Cushing is perhaps the first.' I observed all these just tributes to Genl. C's learning and ability with great satisfaction. I do not remember to whom I wrote the letter a printed extract from which is enclosed in yours…It is provoking that any part of my private letters should be published. I have not received Dr. Loring's articles but hope they may yet come along. Genl. Cushing's letter written in April was not received till September. I am as faithless as you can be with regard to my suggestion or friendship from the high source to which you refer and I may add that I am indifferent as I am faithless. In truth I should not appreciate it if it were truly tendered in the most unmistakable form. There is no high impulse or generous emotion there. The substratum and all that has even been built upon it is cold, selfish and calculating with a large infusion of Constitutional peevishness and petty malignity; I think I shall live to see what I have expressed upon into a general pervading public sentiment and opinion. I hope Genl. C. will never so much as turn on his heel to conciliate friendship or esteem in that quarter. It would not be worth having and if it were otherwise no man in the country needs it less than himself...".

At the time of this letter, Pierce's consideration of his successor, President James Buchanan, a man he had previously appointed as minister to Great Britain, had largely cooled. Buchanan's sympathies rested with the south and he removed a disproportionate number of northerners who had ties to either Pierce or Stephen Douglas, cleft allegiances which kept him from taking any action against secession. Pierce discusses at length the divisions within his Democratic Party, for which he feels he is unjustly blamed. These tensions came to a head with the elections for the 36th Congress, which saw the newly formed Republican Party which united Whigs and Free Soil Democrats take control of the House of Representatives for the first time.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 10" x 8.5"
  • Medium: ALS

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