[MR. BUCHANAN TO NAHUM CAPEN, ESQ.]
Wheatland, near Lancaster, June 26, 1852.
Mr Dear Sir:—
Many thanks for your kind letter. I felt neither mortified nor much disappointed at my own defeat. Although “the signs of the times” had been highly propitious immediately before the Baltimore Convention, I am too old a political navigator to rely with explicit confidence upon bright skies for fair weather. The Democracy of my own great State are mortified and disappointed, but I trust that ere long these feelings will vanish, and we shall be able to present a solid and invincible column to our political opponents.
The Presidency is a distinction far more glorious than the crown of any hereditary monarch in Christendom; but yet it is a crown of thorns. In the present political and critical position of our country, its responsibilities will prove to be fearful. I should have met them with cheerful confidence, whilst I know I shall be far more happy in a private station, where I expect to remain.
With my ardent wishes for the success of the History of Democracy, I remain
Very respectfully your friend,
James Buchanan.
[MR. BUCHANAN TO ALEXANDER McKEEVER, ESQ.]
Wheatland, near Lancaster, July 26, 1852.