WILLIAM B. REED TO TILDEN
"Philad., July 28, 1863.
"My dear Sir,—Our proposed litigation here, as to the conscription law, has thus far failed—from want of courage on the part of the litigant, whose chance of success, within the law, was not very encouraging, and whose doom, in the event of failure, was very certain. The form which was adopted by Mr. Ingersoll and Mr. Wharton was that of an injunction bill against the enrolling and drafting officers, and the hearing hoped for was before the court in banc. I now very much doubt if it will be resorted to. A habeas corpus before a single judge on the receipt of notice, which constitutes a technical custody, seems to me preferable.
"The draft, in the mean time, is going on and, I confess, I am puzzled by the apathy with which it is received, especially in connection with the admitted fact that New York and probably New Jersey are to be exempt. Still, I think there will be an outbreak whenever the actual kidnapping begins.
"Of course you see or think you see the dangers which threaten you more clearly than we at a distance do. But the apprehension is very prevalent here that Gov. Seymour is in danger at any moment of secret arrest. Things of that kind have been hinted at, and certainly I saw nothing in New York to make such an outrage practically difficult. There is inducement enough, for his removal puts the whole Democratic North under the heel of the radicals. My theory about arrests is that they are always fatal. No public man ever recovered from the stain they seem to inflict. I doubt very much if Mr. Vallandigham will ever recuperate. Gov. Seymour is the only public man who at this moment stands in the way of a centralized despotism, and him a small guard of Federal soldiers could easily and secretly remove.
"I am, no doubt, very nervous and very suspicious, but, I assure you, these facts are not confined to my own bosom.
"Very Truly Y'rs,
"William B. Reed."
"S. J. Tilden, Esq., New York."