There was another Dr. Mayo—Robert Mayo of Richmond—who, in some respects, created a temporary commotion in public life in Washington and elsewhere. He was a Virginian by birth, and at one time figured prominently as a politician. He engaged in the presidential campaign of 1828 as an ardent partisan of General Jackson and during that period edited in Richmond the Jackson Democrat. He subsequently, however, parted company with his presidential idol, and in 1839 published a volume entitled, "Political Sketches of Eight Years in Washington," which is almost exclusively devoted to an arraignment of General Jackson's administration. In an original letter now before me, written by Martin Van Buren to Governor William C. Bouck, of New York, which has never before appeared in print, he speaks in an amusing manner of Dr. Mayo. I insert the whole letter, as his allusions to General Jackson are of exceptional interest. No one can well deny that the parting admonition of Polonius to his son Laertes is a masterpiece of human wisdom, but this letter of the "Sage of Lindenwald" to Governor Bouck reveals ability by no means inferior to that of this wise councilor of Denmark.
[ex-president van buren to gov. william c. bouck of n.y.]
Confidential.
Lindenwald,
Jany. 17th 1843.
My dear Sir,
I embrace the occasion of a short visit of my son Major Van Buren to Albany before he goes South to drop you a few lines. Although I have not admitted it in my conversations with those who are given to croaking, and thus alarm our friends, I have nevertheless witnessed with the keenest regret the distractions among our friends at Albany; & more particularly in relation to the state printing. It is certainly a lamentable winding up of a great contest admirably conducted &, as we supposed, gloriously terminated. Without undertaking to decide who is right or who is wrong, and much less to take any part in the unfortunate controversy, I cannot but experience great pain from the eying of so bitter a controversy in the face of the enemy among those who once acted together so honorably & so usefully, and for all of whom I have so much reason to cherish feelings of respect & regard. Permit me to make one suggestion, & that relates to the importance of a speedy decision, one way or the other. Nothing is so injurious in such cases as delay. It is almost better to decide wrong than to protract the contest. Every day makes new enemies & increases the animosities of those who have already become so, & extends them to other subjects; and yet nothing is so natural as to desire to put off the decision of controversies among friends. Most happy would I be to find that you had been able to mitigate, if not altogether to obviate, existing difficulties by providing places for one or more of the competitors in other branches of the public service to which they are adapted & with which they would be as well satisfied.
It has afforded me unfeigned satisfaction to learn, as I do from all quarters, that you keep your own secrets in regard to appointments, & don't feed every body with promises or what they construe into promises—a practice which so many public men are apt to fall into, & by which they make themselves more trouble & subject themselves to more discredit than they dream of. Persevere in that course, consider carefully every case & make the selection which your own unbiassed judgment designates as the best, & above all let the people see as clear as day that you do not yield yourself to, or make battle against, any cliques or sections of the party, but act in good faith and to the best of your ability for the good of the whole, and you may be assured that the personal discontents which you would to some extent occasion, if you had the wisdom of Solomon & were pure as an angel, will do you no harm & be exceedingly evanescent in their duration. The Democratic is a reasonable & a just party & more than half of the business is done when they are satisfied that the man they have elected means to do right. The difficulty with a new administration is in the beginning. At the start little matters may create a distrust which it will take a series of good acts to remove. But once a favourable impression is made & the people become satisfied that the right thing is intended, it takes great errors, often repeated, to create a counter current. Will you excuse me if, from a sincere desire for your success, I go farther & touch upon matters not political, or at least not wholly so? Your situation of course excites envy & jealousy on the part of some. It is impossible from the character of man that it should be otherwise, bear yourself ever so meekly & you cannot avoid it. There will therefore in Albany, as well as elsewhere, be people who will make ill natured remarks & there will be still more who will make it their business, in the hope of benefitting themselves, to bring you exaggerated accounts of what is said, and if they lack materials they will tell you, if they find that you like to listen to small things, a great deal that never has been said. It is my deliberate opinion that these mischievous gossips cause public men more vexation, yes, ten fold, than all the cares & anxieties of office taken together. I have seen perhaps as much of this as any man of my age, & claim to be a competent judge of the evil & its remedies. The greatest fault I ever saw in our excellent friend Genl. Jackson, was the facility with which (in carrying out his general principle that it was the duty of the President to hear all) he leant his ear, though not his confidence, to such people. Though very sagacious & very apt to put the right construction upon all such revelations, it was still evident that he was every day more or less annoyed by them. I endeavored to satisfy him of the expediency of shutting their mouths, but did not succeed, & I am as sure as I can be of any such thing that if the truth could be known it would appear that he had experienced more annoyance from such sources than from all the severe trials through which he had to pass & did pass with such unfading glory. Having his case before me, I determined to profit by the experience I had acquired in so good a school. I had no sooner taken possession of the White House than I was beset by these harpies. The way in which I treated the whole crew, with variations of course according to circumstances, will appear from the following dialogue in a single case. The celebrated Dr. Mayo called upon me & in his stuttering & mysterious way commenced by asking when he could have a few minutes very private conversation with me. Knowing the man, I anticipated his business & told him now, I will hear you now. He then told me he had discovered a conspiracy to destroy me politically the particulars of which he felt it to be his duty to lay before [me]. I replied instantly, & somewhat sternly, Dr., I do not wish to hear them. I have irrefragable proof, he replied. I don't care, was the response. It is in writing, Sir, said he. I won't look at it, Sir. What, said he, don't you want to see it if it is in writing & genuine? An emphatic No, Sir, closed the conversation. The Dr. raised his eyes and hands as if he thought me demented, & making a low bow & ejaculating a long Hah-hah retreated for the door. The story about the Dr. got out and, partly by mine & I believe in part also by his means, & alarmed all the story tellers who heard of it. A few repetitions of the same dose to others impressed the whole crew with a conviction that nothing was to be gained by bringing such reports to me. The consequence was that although Washington is perhaps the most gossiping place in the world, I escaped its contamination altogether, and had no trouble except such as unavoidably grew out of my public duties; and although I had perhaps a more vexatious time than any of my predecessors in that respect I was the only man, they all say, who grew fat in that office.
I was happy to learn from my son John by a letter received yesterday the high opinion he entertains of your discreet & honorable bearing in the midst of the difficulties by which you are beset. I hope he & Smith, [another son of Martin Van Buren], exercise the discretion by which their course has heretofore been governed, in meddling as little with things political that do not belong to them as possible. They know that such is my wish, as any contest there must necessarily be more or less between my friends; and I shall be obliged to you to give them from time to time such advice upon the subject as you may think proper. Be assured that they will take it in good part. You may, if you please, at your convenience, return me the suggestions I sent you, as I may have occasion to weave some parts of them into letters that I am frequently obliged to write; the rough draft was made with a pencil & is now illegible. Be assured that your not using them occasioned me no mortification, as I before told you it would not. You had a nearer & could take a safer view of things than myself. Don't trouble yourself to answer this letter as it requires none; only excuse me for writing you one so unmercifully long.
Remember me kindly to Mrs. Bouck, & believe me to be
Very sincerely your friend,