tled at Washington, and therefore he was the more anxious to prevent any open collision among the democratic members of the legislature; and he also might have been apprehensive that a contest in the legislature about the choice of a senator would afford a demonstration that the radicals, who constituted that section of the democratic party which the public chose to consider as peculiarly his friends, were in the minority; or if in the majority, that that majority was very small, and that hence his standing in his own state would be regarded by his friends abroad as unstable and impaired. Our radical correspondent from Albany further states, that "it was believed if the cabinet should be formed in the manner indicated by Mr. Polk, if Mr. Dickinson should be elected he would be obliged to fall into the support of the administration or go with the opposition, which would render him powerless."

These considerations, in connection with the anxious desire of Mr. Wright to harmonize the two sections of the democratic party, surely furnished sufficient reason for his interference to prevent any opposition, by the democratic members, to the election of Mr. Dickinson. after his nomination in caucus.

Mr. Van Buren and Mr. Wright, soon after the receipt of Mr. Polk's communication, recommended that in case the secretary of state should be taken from New York, Mr. Butler should be selected; and in case the treasury department should be assigned to a citizen of this state, Mr. Flagg should be appointed to that office. The president, nevertheless, tendered the appointment of secretary of the treasury to Mr. Wright himself; but he was so situated that even if he had desired the office, he could not honorably accept it.

Before the gubernatorial election it had been charged by the whigs, as an objection to Mr. Wright, that should he be elected his election would be of no use to his friends; for if Mr. Polk should be chosen president, Mr. Wright would be selected to preside over one of the national executive departments, and would immediately abandon the administration of the state government to the lieutenantgovernor. In consequence of these allegations, Mr. Wright repeatedly pledged himself, that if elected gov ernor he would not accept of any office in the general government. These declarations, although they may not have been known to Mr. Polk, must have been known at Washington before the offer we have mentioned was made to Mr. Wright. But be that as it may, Mr. Wright promptly declined the appointment.

Mr. Polk then tendered to Mr. Butler the office of secretary of war. To the letter containing this proposition Mr. Butler replied, that if it had accorded with the arrangements of the president to appoint him secre tary of state, or of the treasury, he should, though with some reluctance, have accepted either, but that he could not undertake the charge of the war department; that the duties to be performed by the secretary of war would lead him so far from the line of his profession, (a profession he was not prepared to abandon,) that the attempt to resume, successfully, its practice, would be ut terly hopeless; but that the duties incident to either of the other departments to be performed were nearly allied to those of the profession to which his attention and life had been principally devoted, and therefore the charge of one of them would be less objectionable.

Previous to or about the time of the close of this correspondence between Messrs. Polk, Van Buren, Wright,

1

and Butler, the friends of Gov. Marcy prepared a letter addressed to Mr. Polk, signed, as is alleged, by a majority of the democratic members of the legislature,* requesting, that in case a New Yorker should be called to the cabinet, Mr. Marcy should be selected for that place. This recommendation was successful, and Gov. Marcy was made secretary of war.

We have, on a former occasion, expressed a high opinion of Mr. Marcy. That opinion is not changed. The able and satisfactory manner with which he had for a long time administered the government of the state of New York, the distinguished ability with which he had executed all other trusts which had been confided to him, and his acknowledged talents, rendered his appointment as one of the national secretaries creditable to the president. And yet, when we reflect on the immense. obligations which Mr. Polk and the democratic party in the nation were under to Mr. Wright, and we may add Mr. Butler and other friends of Mr. Van Buren, and indeed to Mr. Van Buren himself,-when it is recollected that the New York delegation, consisting of the friends of Mr. Van Buren, made Mr. Polk the presidential candidate, when the pledges made at the Baltimore Convention are called to mind,-when we reflect that Mr. Wright, by the sacrifice of his quiet and his most fondly cherished predilections, was the admitted cause of the triumph of Mr. Polk at the late election,—and when it is considered that the appointment of Mr. Marcy was not only against the wishes of Mr. Wright and his friends, but that they earnestly urged in vain the appointment of Mr. Flagg or Mr. Butler, as the representative of New

All the signers of this letter were probably hunkers.

Before the gubernatorial election it had been charged by the whigs, as an objection to Mr. Wright, that should he be elected his election would be of no use to his friends; for if Mr. Polk should be chosen president, Mr. Wright would be selected to preside over one of the national executive departments, and would immediately aband ›u the administration of the state government to the lieutenantgovernor. In consequence of these allegations. Mr. Wright repeatedly pledged himself, that if elected gov ernor he would not accept of any office in the general government. These declarations, although they may not have been known to Mr. Polk, must have been known at Washington before the offer we have mentioned was made to Mr. Wright. But be that as it may, Mr. Wright promptly declined the appointment.

Mr. Polk then tendered to Mr. Butler the office of secretary of war. To the letter containing this proposition Mr. Butler replied, that if it had accorded with the arrangements of the president to appoint him secretary of state, or of the treasury, he should, though with some reluctance, have accepted either, but that he could not undertake the charge of the war department; that the duties to be performed by the secretary of war would lead him so far from the line of his profession, (a profession he was not prepared to abandon,) that the attempt to resume, successfully, its practice, would b utterly hopeless; but that the duties incident to either of the other departments to be performed were nearly allied to those of the profession to which his attention and life had been principally devoted, and therefore the charge of one of them would be less objectionable.

Previous to or about the time of the close of this correspondence between Messrs. Polk, Van Buren, Wright,

and Butler, the friends of Gov. Marcy prepared a letter addressed to Mr. Polk, signed, as is alleged, by a majority of the democratic members of the legislature,* requesting, that in case a New Yorker should be called to the cabinet, Mr. Marcy should be selected for that place. This recommendation was successful, and Gov. Marcy was made secretary of war.

We have, on a former occasion, expressed a high opinion of Mr. Marcy. That opinion is not changed. The able and satisfactory manner with which he had for a long time administered the government of the state of New York, the distinguished ability with which he had executed all other trusts which had been confided to him, and his acknowledged talents, rendered his appointment as one of the national secretaries creditable to the president. And yet, when we reflect on the immense obligations which Mr. Polk and the democratic party in the nation were under to Mr. Wright, and we may add Mr. Butler and other friends of Mr. Van Buren, and indeed to Mr. Van Buren himself,-when it is recollected that the New York delegation, consisting of the friends of Mr. Van Buren, made Mr. Polk the presidential candidate,-when the pledges made at the Baltimore Convention are called to mind,-when we reflect that Mr. Wright, by the sacrifice of his quiet and his most fondly cherished predilections, was the admitted cause of the triumph of Mr. Polk at the late election,-and when it is considered that the appointment of Mr. Marcy was not only against the wishes of Mr. Wright and his friends, but that they earnestly urged in vain the appointment of Mr. Flagg or Mr. Butler, as the representative of New

All the signers of this letter were probably hunkers.