Ohio And Pennsylvania Politicians Reflect On The State Of Pennsylvania Politics Just After The 1840 Election Of William Henry Harrison To The Presidency

(PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1840). ALS. 2pgs. November 18, 1840. Cincinnati, Ohio. An autograph letter signed “J Burnet” by Ohio lawyer and politician Jacob Burnet (1770-1853). It is addressed to James Dunlap of Pittsburg. Burnet replies to Dunlap’s letter stating his concerns about Pennsylvania politics in light of the recent 1840 Presidential election, in which William Henry Harrison defeated Martin Van Buren. Harrison would die only a month into his Presidency. Mentioning a “schism” at one point, Burnet seems to anticipate the national divide that would eventually lead to the American Civil War, although this may have referred to economic issues rather than the question of slavery: “Dear Sir I have received your letter of the 12th inst and read it with interest. The matter it contains…the view you have taken of the state of parties in Penna are highly interesting, and are certainly entitled to serious consideration. The mixture of parties, of which you speak, as having taken place in the late struggle, can not, as you observe…There is reason to fear, that when the cause which…the union, the fruits of which we have just gathered, shall warn so often at, the repelling principle…will throw the parts from each other, as far as they win, before the conflict began, unless something can be done, to effect such a permanent combination, as you refer to. I confess I now have understood the theory of party…as they have existed in, and have agitated your state, or the principles on which they have been found, or by which they are…I can however easily…schism, may be the result of such an injudicious course on the part of the…you are anxious to prevent. It would give mow me great pleasure to be instrumental in preventing the wit you depict so strikingly, were it in my power. I was known unequal to the task, because I have no claims to the confidence of the General, beyond those of his friends generally, not because in addition to this, I could not point him to the parties, or the persons, as to whom he ought to be on his guard. A frank communication from a confidential friend in Penna, who understands the whole subject, would receive the attention it deserves. An intelligent Penna…can communicate the specific information necessary to show him the danger and the mode of avoiding it. Advice or caution in a care like this, to have its proper influence, should come from the power of information. Your views on the subject of claims, founded on services, rendered in the late political contest, are precisely those I entertain, and express on all occasions, and I have reason to believe, the General looks on the subject though the same medium, and views it in the same light. If our motives have been patriotic, our labor has been done for the country, and success is our only legitimate reward. If they have been personal they are not praiseworthy, and ought not to be rewarded. I am confident that president elect views the matter in that light, and that he does not feel personal obligations to any body, on account of no part taken in the contest. If this be not so, I have very much misunderstood his character. Yours very respectfully J Burnet”. The letter is in very good condition with a loss to the back page that does not affect any content. A reminder of the eternal contention and controversy in American political elections.