James Buchanan 1849 Autograph Letter Signed - "The Late Lamented President"
15th President. Two-page autograph letter signed “James Buchanan”, July 17, 1849, Bedford Springs, front and back of first page of a four-page leaf, in full:
I thank you cordially for your kind invitation to partake of a public dinner, at such time as might suit my convenience; & for the very flattering terms in which this has been communicated.
Although, as a general rule, I have declined public dinners; yet I should most cheerfully accept your invitation, if I could indulge a hope so unreasonable, that my fellow citizens of Bedford County, engaged in agriculture, would, at the present busy season of the year, honor me by their attendance. I feel so deeply grateful to the intelligent Democracy of this County for their constant and generous support throughout my long public career, that I should eagerly embrace any occasion to meet them personally and thank them far all their kindness.
Your partiality has attributed too much to my "statesmanship." The late administration, it is true, were almost uniformly successful in their great measures & have left the Country eminently prosperous at home & enjoying a higher character abroad than at any former period of our history. But all this has been the result of clearly defined & well established Democratic principles honestly reduced into practise. The late lamented President was faithful to his pledges & carried them into execution with energy, ability & success. For this, his memory will be ever revered. Still it was the people who gave the impulse; it was the progressive Democracy keeping pace with the advancing & improving spirit of the age which has swept away the abuses & the cobwebs of antiquity & substituted for them measures adapted to the intelligence & the wants of our existing civilisation. These measure. will not,- cannot be materially changed by our successors. Those who indulge a different belief are destined to disappointment. A people so intelligent & enterprising as ours, with a boundless career before them of liberty, prosperity & power, never go backwards. On the contrary, they not only hold fast what they have already achieved; but convert each new acquisition into the means of still further advancement. You may rest assured that the age of National Banks, Pet Deposit Banks, high protective tarrifs and illiberal and unwise commercial restrictions in our intercourse with foreign nations has passed away forever.
Reiterating my grateful thanks for your kind invitation & for the very friendly manner in which you have so often welcomed me to the delightful watering place, I remain, very respectfully, your friend.
A flowing and effusive Buchanan letter. Former President James K. Polk had passed away on June 15, 1849. Buchanan had served as Secretary of State under Polk.
In truly fine condition, expected mailing folds.