I rejoice in Mr. Giddings's success.1 His constituents should be proud of him. There is no man in the House of Representatives who deserves so well of the country. I remember John Quincy Adams said to me, as he lay on his sick-bed in Boston, after he was struck with that paralysis which at Washington closed his life, that he looked to Mr. Giddings with more interest than to any other member of the House. He placed him foremost in his regard. Most certainly the benedictions of the great champion have fallen on your representative.To George Sumner, November 15:—
The papers will tell you of the Presidential election. As I view it, the Democratic party is not merely defeated; it is entirely broken in pieces. It cannot organize anew except on the Free Soil platform. Our friends feel happy at the result. we shall form the opposition to Taylor's administration, and secure, as we believe, the triumph of our principles in 1852. You know that there will be a new census in 1850, and a new apportionment of the representatives and electors, securing [to the North] a large preponderance of power. This will count for us. In Massachusetts the contest has been earnest, active, persevering beyond any other in our history. Here has been the best fought field. You will see that the Free Soil party comes out second best; it is no longer the third party. I have spoken a great deal, usually to large audiences, and with a certain effect. As a necessary consequence I have been a mark for abuse. I have been attacked bitterly; but I have consoled myself by what John Quincy Adams said to me during the last year of his life: “No man is abused whose influence is not felt.”To John Jay, December 5:—
Surely our good cause of freedom is much advanced. I do hope that at last there will be a party that does believe in God, or at least in some better devil than Mammon.To Whittier, December 6:—
Your poem2 in the last “Era” has touched my heart. May God preserve you in strength and courage for all good works! . . . The literature of the world is turning against slavery. We shall have it soon in a state of moral blockade. I admire Bailey3 as an editor very much. His articles show infinite sagacity and tact. . . .But I took my pen merely to inquire after your health. There are few to whom I would allot a larger measure of the world's blessings than to yourself had I any control, for there are few who deserve them more.To Charles Allen, Jan. 3, 1849:—
I cannot forbear expressing to you my joy in the recent election in the Worcester district. Your triumph is a complete vindication of your own personal position, while it insures to our cause an influence over our State and in
