president johnson hears what the “people say”
upon my return from the fort on the 30th of january i redoubled my pleadings for mr. clay’s release, both by correspondence and by visits to the white house. the president’s bearing toward me was courteous and friendly, though it was apparent the confusion of the times and the pressure which was being brought upon him on every side was troubling him; but, notwithstanding that he listened and with every evidence of sympathy, mr. johnson continued irresolute, deferring from time to time on what, in fact, seemed the most trivial excuses, the issuing of the release papers. if i called once at the white house during the weeks that followed, i called fifty times, incessantly suing for my husband’s freedom, and adding sometimes a plea for the pardons of friends and neighbours in huntsville who were eager to resume their normal positions in the community. in the middle of february i was enabled to write home as follows:
“my dear father: i send your long-sued-for pardon. act upon its requirements at once! i am pressing my husband’s case and never mean to stop until success crowns my efforts. i am emboldened to hope the day not far distant when he will be a free man! great political excitement now reigns.... the president is very kind to me always.”
notwithstanding there were times when my own heart sank to an almost hopeless state, i wrote thus hopefully to the patriarch at home, for each post told me of his increasing feebleness, and i longed to sustain him, at least until my husband’s release was accomplished.
355“god bless you!” wrote my sister, mrs. j. withers clay, early in march, “and give you success! i asked father to send you some special message. he replied, ‘give her my best love, and tell her for god’s sake to tell me when my poor boy will be pardoned!’”
these appeals, as will be understood, were the private agonies which acted like a lash to spur me to the end of the task of securing my husband’s freedom, and to stimulate me, even in the face of the continued delays which now were become so inexplicable.
early in february a change in public feeling began to be made manifest in the press. the mystery of the detention of the prisoners at fortress monroe without trial was arousing curiosity. the new york herald, thanks to the intervention of our friend, colonel robert barnwell rhett (of the doughty and fearless charleston mercury), who had presented mr. clay’s case to mr. bennett, now began to make inquiry in the cases of the unjustly treated prisoners.
“dear mrs. clay,” wrote colonel rhett, late in december, “having the opportunity of a good talk with mr. bennett, of the new york herald, day before yesterday, i urged him to come out for the release of your husband. he said he did not know much about the business! i told him mr. clay was universally recognised to be one of the purest and most high-minded public men in the country—one wholly incapable of anything criminal or questionable; and that he had gone to canada at the solicitation of mr. davis to communicate with the peace party of the north. i reminded him that, after the collapse of the confederate government, when a reward was offered for his arrest, mr. clay had voluntarily and promptly surrendered himself, asking an investigation; and that no intelligent man in the country who knew anything of our public men believed the charges to be other than frivolous and absurd. i added 356that mr. clay’s prolonged captivity was regarded simply as an outrage on propriety, and that if he, mr. bennett, would take the subject in hand, he would greatly gratify the southern people.
“he showed an interest in the matter, and said he would take it up in the herald. that paper, you are aware, aims to reflect the current public opinion, irrespective of parties, and now warmly supports president johnson against the radicals. it is a great power, and by preparing the public mind and strengthening the president, may aid you efficiently.”
the results of this interview by no means met the hopes of colonel rhett, however; for the utterances of mr. bennett’s paper were few and guarded. but they were as a straw showing the veering of the wind.
“i was disappointed in mr. bennett’s fulfilment of his promise to speak in mr. clay’s behalf in the herald,” ran a second letter from our friend. “a few incidental expressions of opinion and a communication published did not come up to my expectations. if you feel disposed to write, mrs. bennett is the channel by which to reach him. she told me she sympathised with the south in her feelings, and admired southerners.... in failing to deal with the case as you present it, the president must be very feeble in the article of nerve, touching his war secretary and other radical adversaries. yet the widow prevailed with the unjust judge, and i trust your importunity may weary the cautious tennesseean into decided steps for mr. clay’s release!
“yours, etc.,
“r. barnwell rhett.”
early in the month of february two important letters reached me through mr. r. j. haldeman. they were addressed to the president, and bore the signature of thaddeus stevens and r. j. walker, respectively. since my letter addressed to him in may, 1865, mr. haldeman’s 357efforts had been unremitting to interest in my husband’s behalf those whose recommendations were likely to have most weight with the president and his advisers. he now wrote me as follows:
“mrs. c. c. clay, jr.
“my dear madam: i inclose you a very handsome letter from the honourable r. j. walker to the president. i also sent you the letter of mr. stevens, which has become of some importance in view of mr. stevens’s recent utterances. mr. walker considers it of the highest importance, and wonders how i obtained it.
“after seeing you, i called on mr. s—— in reference to the proposed visit (to you), but found him brooding over the violent speech which he has since made. i did not therefore deem it prudent to insist upon the performance of his promise, and am confirmed in my judgment by events.
“during the day i heard something which convinced me the president would not then act. this i could not bring myself to tell you, and therefore obeyed a hasty summons to new york by an unceremonious departure from washington. as the future unfolds, i hope to be again at washington, and at the propitious moment. i hope you will keep up your good spirits, for, upon the faith of a somewhat phlegmatic and never over-sanguine dutchman, i think the period of mr. clay’s release approaches rapidly.... mr. walker, however, desires me to say to you that ‘as we must all go to clay at last, why not go at once?’ i think this pointed witticism would bear repetition to the president. i am, very respectfully, madam,
yours,
“february 3, 1866.
“r. j. haldeman.”
as i had done in the case of general grant’s letter, i now hastened to send to the president the letters from thaddeus stevens and judge walker, both of whom recommended the prompt release of mr. clay. the letter from r. j. walker was what might have been expected from an old friend of mr. clay’s; that from mr. stevens, the most radical of radicals, was a source of some astonishment. it was not the only surprise of those weeks, however.
358“i have had strange visitors lately,” i wrote to father. “some extremists of the radical party have called upon me to assure me of their belief in my husband’s innocence!” and in my diary of the 14th of that fateful february, i find entered: “when will wonders cease? who but the honourable mr. wilson, of massachusetts, has called, and voluntarily, to say he will do anything in his power for me or mr. clay; knows he is innocent; believes mr. davis to be also innocent! it is the goodness of god!”
the circumstances of mr. wilson’s unexpected visit were altogether dramatic. i was seated at the dinner-table with the family of mrs. parker, when, it being still early in the evening, a visitor was announced who declined to give his name or the purpose for which he had called.
“tell mrs. clay that a friend wishes to see her,” was his message. a sudden remembrance flashed over me, and, indeed, over the friends around me, of the secret warning i had received just after my arrival in washington, viz.: that i must be on my guard against strange visitors. after a few moments’ consultation with the family, i decided to see the stranger. doctor maury, mrs. parker’s son-in-law (who had been chief of staff on general longstreet’s medical staff, and was a brave and charming man), accompanied me to the drawing-room door, encouraging me by telling me to have no fear, as he would remain near by. as i entered the room the doctor drew back into the hall. he was prepared, he assured me, for any emergency.
great, indeed, was my astonishment upon entering, to see, rising to meet me, senator wilson, vice-president of the united states! to that moment i had had no acquaintance with the massachusetts senator, though i had seen him often on the floor of the senate. though seized with an inward panic of apprehension that he 359was the bearer of some dreadful tidings, i took the proffered hand of my strange visitor, obeying mechanically an instinct of responsive courtesy. for a moment, however, fear made me speechless. at last, mr. wilson broke the painful silence.
“you are doubtless surprised to see me,” he said.
“unutterably so!” i rejoined. “please tell me quickly why you have come, and end this agony of suspense!” and i burst into tears.
“do not weep, dear madam!” said mr. wilson. “mr. clay is well, and i have come to tell you that i deeply sympathise with you and desire to help you to obtain his release!”
“mr. clay’s surrender,” mr. wilson continued, “reflects great honour upon him. he is a brave and good man. though he and i were opposed in politics, i have always respected mr. clay. even his enemies on my side of the chamber always knew where to find the senator from alabama!”
my heart was so full as i listened to these words, i could not make answer to this tribute to the worth of my suffering husband but by a fresh flow of tears. somehow, as he stood before me, the erstwhile shoemaker of nantucket seemed stamped with the seal of nobility from god! i did not then know his kindly nature, and those to whom i related the incident of this visit said nothing to impress me with the sincerity of senator wilson’s act. on the contrary, many assured me that some selfish and sinister motive impelled the interview, and that mr. wilson would not commit himself by writing what he had spoken. a friend to whom i wrote an account of the visit, replied, counselling me as follows:
“i do not personally know mr. wilson, but believe him, from report, to be tricky, unscrupulous, and only hypocritically fanatical. mr. stevens may have spoken 360to him, or mr. sumner (whom, you remember, i saw); or he may have wished to approach the president through an opening which he supposed congenial to the president’s wishes. however, your course is clear. commit mr. wilson by a letter to the president, so that when the fight waxes furious he may not be able to take advantage of what the president may do. i consider it a good sign that the president desires to keep the letters of messrs. stevens and walker.”
in the meantime i had spoken of the incident with warm enthusiasm to mr. johnson. he replied very much as others had done; to wit., that mr. wilson would not commit to writing the sentiments he had expressed verbally to me.
“he fears the radical press too much,” said the president.
nettled somewhat at this distrust, i assured mr. johnson of my faith in his vice-president; that i would get the letter from him, and voluntarily. “if not,” i added, somewhat stung by his cynicism, “i will extort it!”
shrugging his shoulders, and casting up one eye, a characteristic habit of the president, he asked, “how?”
“simply,” i replied, “by an avowal that i will give to the herald and other papers the whole affair, telling how the honourable senator had come, secretly, by night, like nicodemus, to deceive by false promises a sorrowful woman, for some base reason best known to himself!”
leaving the president still with an incredulous smile upon his face, i returned to my asylum at mrs. parker’s, and shortly addressed mr. wilson a note, expressive of my wish. a reply, under his own frank, reached me early in march, and i bore it in some triumph to the president. the vice-president’s letter, a copy of which i afterward secured, was dated from the “united states senate chamber, washington, march 3, 1866.” it was addressed to
361
“his excellency, the president of the united states.
“sir” [the letter began]: “mrs. clay, the wife of clement c. clay, is now in the city, and has requested me to obtain permission for her husband to go to his home on parole. his father is said to be at the point of death, his mother recently deceased, and, if there be no objections or reasons unknown to me why the request of mrs. clay should be denied, i have no hesitation in recommending its favourable consideration, if only from motives of humanity, as i have no doubt mr. clay will be forthcoming when his presence is again required by the government.
“i have the honour to be,
“very respectfully, your obedient servant,
(signed.) “h. wilson.”
some six weeks later, when mr. clay’s release was at last accomplished, and the press was busy with comments upon it, the names of the gentlemen who had written to the president on my husband’s behalf being enumerated, some of the radical papers attempted to deny the probability of mr. wilson’s intercession; which was, as it appeared to me, a singularly useless thing to do, since his letter was already filed among the government’s archives. but the air everywhere was full of political revolution, and parties and partisans did not hesitate to resort to such means in their endeavour to effect the desired feeling in the public mind.
every step taken by the president in those days was opposed or attacked. in my efforts to accomplish my husband’s release, i came in contact with many good and earnest men, anxious to serve mr. clay and me, though often wholly disapproving of mr. johnson’s weak course. the retention of mr. stanton in the cabinet was peculiarly offensive to a great many. wherever a political meeting was held, mr. johnson was liable to vituperative assault. private conversation teemed with rumours of a growing and increasingly violent opposition.
in view of mr. johnson’s demonstrated kindliness to me, it was not only loyal to the president, but, i hoped, 362would prove protective to mr. clay’s interest, that i should give the executive the benefits of some of the warnings i had heard by no means privately uttered. i, therefore, spoke to him fearlessly, and wrote to him no less unrestrainedly.
a few days after mr. wilson’s visit, i wrote to mr. johnson in this wise, my letter being dated february 16th:
“mr. president.
“dear friend: fearing i may not see you this morning, i fortify myself with this note. i go up [to the war department] hoping for my father’s correspondence. if i get neither, may i beg to remind you of your promises? i have some strange things to tell you.... rumour says that ‘the people say,’ ‘if mr. j—— does not support them versus the radicals, they will call on general grant!’ i know you will not falter, and are not to be intimidated by threats from brave men, far less cowards.... will you not send me one line? do! and say the wheel has advanced one notch toward the day of deliverance!”
a letter received after sending the above missive, in addition to the conferences i held daily with judges black and hughes, and with others calculated by their established judicial and political worth to aid me, had its share in stimulating me to press my arguments home more and more confidently in my future interviews with mr. johnson.
“i was spectator yesterday in a democratic convention in an adjoining county (harrisburg),” ran the letter, “when the news of the veto was brought. a resolution of approval was immediately adopted, and i, being seen in the crowd, was called out. i raised such a storm in fifteen minutes as would have done the president’s heart good to have witnessed. the people are palpitating with eagerness to have the battle-ground defined, foggy constructions and platforms removed, so that they may charge upon the foes to a restored and tranquil union.
363“alea jacta est: mr. johnson has put his hand to the plow, and cannot look back.... he has shown the very highest order of statesmanship in that command of himself and ability to bide his time, amid unexampled embarrassments, which have won for him the confidence of reflecting men. but could you not gently insinuate some day that, hereafter, the great debate, on appeal, is to be carried before the tribunal of the american people in the case of the president versus congress?... many of mr. lincoln’s acts, wrong in themselves, were nevertheless pardoned or applauded, because they evinced energy, courage or willingness to shoulder responsibility....
“as one of the people, ... and accustomed to ‘pulse’ the public, i think i may unhesitatingly assert that mr. johnson would gain immensely by no longer waiting to be attacked and undermined, but boldly striking his country’s and his own enemies. if he would break out before witnesses into indignant denunciation of mr. stanton for having attempted to sap the foundation of liberty, and that, therefore, he is unfit to be in the government of a free people, a thrill of joy would course like electricity through the land. let the contest be only strictly defined; let the president, with a cabinet of friends, stand forward as the defender of peace and union against a congress which seeks to perpetuate strife, discord, and disunion, and we will, by meetings held in every county of the north, so arouse the people in support of our constitutional and law-abiding president against a lawless and usurping congress, that it would be comparing small things to great to compare it with the pressure which general monk and the people of england brought to bear upon the fanatical parliament in behalf of charles ii.”
a few days after the receipt of this letter, while on my way to call upon the president, and in the company of 364my faithful friend, mrs. bouligny, i met mr. stanton descending the stairs of the white house. i saw by the secretary’s manner that he recognised me. indeed, there was a half-inclination of the head, as if he had expected me to bow to him. i did not do so. the innate contempt i felt for this despotic secretary of war, whom i knew to be the power upholding mr. holt, who was so cruelly detaining my husband, froze my manner into a hauteur i could not easily have assumed. i went angrily to my appointment.
as i entered the parlour in which the president stood ready to receive me, i immediately broke into the subject to which i so continually had returned at each of my many visits during the past three months. but the president interposed a question.
“did you meet stanton as you came in?” he asked.
“i did!” i replied. “and he had the audacity to bow to me!”
“the scoundrel!” ejaculated the president. “he has been here an hour clamouring for the blood of davis and clay!”
“but you will release them?” i asked.
“you must be patient,” answered mr. johnson. “i must detain them a little longer to satisfy public clamour!”
at this my indignation rose. in augmenting emotion i recapitulated the letters and indorsements i had brought to him urging my husband’s release. i reiterated my reasons why the recommendations of these gentlemen should have weight with him. i referred to my husband’s inability to combat the charges that had been made against him, while denied trial, the access of counsel, or his release from custody. i described his ill-health and the aged father at home, now so near to death; i rehearsed my husband’s past services to his country and the dishonourable way in which the government 365had acted toward this self-surrendered prisoner. i spoke the thoughts that rose in my heart, irrespective of the consequences, and, having massed my arguments in this way, i summed them all up in one uncontrollable protest:
“and now, mr. president,” i asked, “in the name of god, what doth hinder? in view of all these things, does it not seem that you are the lion in the path? please tell me who was benefited by mr. lincoln’s death? was it clement c. clay? what good accrued to him from the murder? he was the loved representative of a proud constituency. he is now pining in solitary confinement. you, mr. johnson, are the one man benefited! you have succeeded to the highest office in the gift of the people! you, through this elevation, have become the centre of a nation’s hopes, the arbiter of life and death!” i paused in my plea, at a movement of deprecation made by the president, but i would not be halted.
“you have promised me,” i continued, “and heaven knows how i thank you for it, that never while you sit in the presidential chair will you surrender to the military commission the two prisoners in fortress monroe. in that, you have saved their lives! i have not the shadow of a doubt but that execution, and that in chains, as in mrs. surratt’s case, might have taken place. but, when, notwithstanding the recommendations of such men as general grant, thaddeus stevens, judge walker, and henry wilson, i see you waiting for ‘public clamour’ to subside, and, at the same time, in counsel with your secretary of war, i am afraid. again i implore you to stand firmly, my friend; thus far, at least, by not yielding to the desires of that wicked commission and staining your soul with innocent blood!”
turning, my eyes rested upon the marble bust of the late president, and i said, “whose bust is that?”
“mr. lincoln’s,” was the surprised reply.
366“i know it!” i answered. “but is he not a dead president? and why, may i ask, do you, a living one, stand surrounded by his cabinet? why do you not reach out to the great conservative heart of this nation and select your own cabinet? why not become the popular head, as you can become? so long as you stand, mr. president, as the barrier between your military commission and my husband and mr. davis, so long will i dare to be your friend to the extent of telling you what the people say of you!”
“well, what do they say?” asked the president, with an air of indifference which, it was obvious, was assumed.
“they say,” i replied, “that you should get rid of mr. lincoln’s cabinet; that you should surround yourself with a cabinet of your own! why do you hobble yourself with a dead man’s advisers? they say, too, you are swinging in too circumscribed a circle! i have even heard,” i added, “hints of ‘impeachment’ uttered in connection with the dissatisfaction resulting from your administration!”
during my bold speech the president gave evidence of being deeply moved, if not irritated, by my revelations; and, feeling that i had said enough, if, indeed, not too much, in the intensity of my feelings, mrs. bouligny and i withdrew. ere we left him, however, the president assured me, as he so often had done (though he said the words over each time with an earnest gravity that was void of consciousness of his repetition), that he would “confer as to the release in our next cabinet meeting!”
