Memoirs of John Adams Dix; comp. by his son, Morgan Dix.

1845-1853.] A CRITICAL MOVEMENT AT HAND.

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remember the man in whom my father's faith was so strong,
and to whom he was so warmly attached. Ever a welcome
guest at our house, Mr. Wright was, when at a distance, in
constant correspondence with us. I could appreciate the
truth and sincerity of that friendship; I was too young to
comprehend how great was the blow to my father and the
men who stood with him when the standard-bearer of their
cause and exponent of their deepest convictions was thus
suddenly taken from them.
For now a critical movement was at hand, wherein no one
knew what might occur. The next Presidential election was
to be held in the autumn of 1848. The aggressive temper of
the Southern statesmen, and their determination to extend if
possible the area of slavery, had produced a deep uneasiness
in many quarters, and in some directions a feeling of resentment and indignation. Evidently something formidable was
in the air.
The trouble which resulted in the open rupture in the
Democratic party in 1848 had been brewing for a long time.
It seems probable that the administration helped to push matters to a crisis by its treatment of the Barnburners and its thinly disguised sympathy with their opponents. Very early in
President Polk's administration it became evident how matters were likely to go. I have before me a letter addressed
to General Dix, March 14, 1845, only ten days after the inauguration. Speaking of the New York appointments, and
referring particularly to a person for whom the writer would
have secured the favor and influence of the Senator, he adds:
" When I first heard of this, a month since, I thought there
was much certainty of Mr. -'s success. I did not anticipate at that time that the present administration at Washington was to be a mere elongation of the trading, time-serving,
mongrel Tyler concern. I thought that President Polk would
be desirous of having his administration stand out in alto-rilievo, separate from the past, and only provident of the good
of the future. Recent appearances, however, give me other