The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 26, July 1922 - April, 1923 Page: 313
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Bryan-Hayes Correspondence
The suggestion was prompted by my desire (on account of my
personal friendship for you) to see you distinguished, & if your
party should be successful to have an honest fair-minded man in
the Presidential Chair. I did not then anticipate the present
state of affairs, that has brought about your present position-one
made for you by the administration & the managers of your party.
At the distance I am from you (belonging too to the opposing
party), I cannot see through your surrounding & the facts to
your duty satisfactorily enough to even make suggestions; hence,
I shall refrain from doing so. From my light, it seems to me,
that if I was in your place & believed that Mr. Tilden was elected,
& my withdrawal would secure the seat to him, I should at the
right time, make my declaration, & put away the crown. I would
do this too, not because it would make me famous, but from love
of country & love of truth. For me to say that you should do
this, with my imperfect knowledge of your situation & all the
facts governing you, would not only be doing you injustice, but
would be presumptious on my part. I do not say this, although
I see that the Nation & other papers ask you to do it, & some of
my friends say you ought to do so. Justice should preside for
both sides, & the voice of faction & of party should be hushed in
her presence, & within the shadow of the Centennial. Anaoharsis,
when speaking of the Athenians, says,
To maintain these manners there must be examples; & these
examples must proceed from those who are at the head of gov-
ernment. The greater the height from which they descend, the
more deep & lasting is their impression. The corruption of the
meaner citizens is easily repressed, & extends its progress only in
obscurity; for corruption never ascends from the lower to the
higher classes; but where it is daring enough to take possession
of the seat of honor, it precipitates itself from thence with more
force than the laws themselves can exert; it has accordingly been
confidently asserted that the manners of a nation depend solely
on those of the sovereign.
This is centennial year, & in it the seeds of dissolution of our
great country should not be sown by party, but on the contrary,
the roots of the tree of Liberty should take such deep hold, that
no storms could tear them up. My faith in your principles of
integrity & honor have never wavered, although we have differed313
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 26, July 1922 - April, 1923, periodical, 1923; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101084/m1/319/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.