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The Dorr Letters Project
Catharine R. Williams to Thomas Wilson Dorr: |
Introduction
In this remarkable letter, Providence author Catharine Williams, a close friend of Dorr’s from the early 1840s to his death in 1854, relates a meeting she had with President John Tyler in Washington, D.C. Williams also details her time in New York City with radical Democrats, most notably Levi Slamm, the editor of the New York Plebeian. The letters that Williams refers to from the Democratic governors of Massachusetts, Maine and Connecticut can be found on page 3 here. Williams also describes a clambake in which a large portrait of Dorr was on display.
Letter
Providence Sept 6th 1842
Honoured & Dr Sir.,
The departure of a Lady who resides in this vicinity
for NH. has given me an opportunity I have long wished to present you with
a Copy of my New Work. I flatter myself you will read it with some interest, both
as comeing from an old Neighbour & one who in her humble way, is much your
friend, & as exhibiting an instance an instance of that shocking tyranny which
in every age the strong have sought to exercise against the weak, and which has
so recently banished many of our most estimable citizens from RI. & imprisoned
others in the damp dungeons of that earthly purgatory the Providence Jail. We
see that tyrants in all ages are the same, from the Monarch who sways the scep
-ter, down to the mushroom Aristocracy of Providence, & honoured forever honoured
be that man, who sets their mandates at defiance, & dares to tell the people who
are the Sovereign’s. Such honour dear Sir, will attach to your name, when ages on
ages, shall have rolled away, & him he who sought to lead us to freedom, & those who
followed shall have mingled with the clods of the valley. Whether successfull or
unsuccessfull this honour at least awaits you.
But turn we to the bright side of the picture, & let us behold in antic
-ipation our most willfull & crooked little State regenerated, and claiming
boldly the return of the Govenour of the Peoples choice. May heaven hasten the
day, alas! the craven spirits of some of our profest friends, have called a blush
even upon the cheeks of women; true no means of intimidation have been left
unessayed, but a bolder front according to my poor judgment, would not only have
become them better, but in reality advanced their cause.
It is about ten days since my return from New York after an absense of
many weeks, & first learnt where you were, from Mr Slam (your very attachd
friend) who gave me a humorous history of his escape from the fangs of a Law
and Order Mob at the Franklin House, Providence.
In the latter part of the month of June, I was in Washington, & had
the pleasure of a conversation with Mr Tyler, on the subject of our Rhode Island
affairs, in which I ventured to plead the cause of the Suffrage Party in RI. The
President heard me with the most patient attention, & to me certainly exprest no
censure against any but the RI Legislature, who he said “ought at once to give
the people a Liberal Constitution, with an equality of Representation.” this was said in
presance of the Gentleman from Virginia who introduced me, & when in conclusion, I
apologized for the freedom of spee
-pressions I imagined he had imbibed, he stopped me, saying on the contrary “he had
to thank me for the information communicated.” I merely mention this, as an adit
-ional proof that the mind of the President is after all, differently affected from what
the domineering faction in RI. would have us suppose.
It is a subject of congratulation Dear Sir, that among all our difficulties, we
have the countenance & approbation of such men as Govs Cleaveland Hubbard &
Morton. their Letters recently published cannot but do some good, particularly Gov
Cleaveland’s from the circumstance of its being so industriously kept out of sight.
It is in vain for them to puff at it now, the question is, “If you think it of no consequence
& it can do you no injury, why did you not produce it at first?” I am told, that many
of the Subscribers of the Journal sent in word, after it appeared in the Herald, that “they
would take that Paper no longer, unless they published it.”
The Lady who hands you this, will give you a full description of the
Clam Bake, if you have not had it from the Papers; the scene was a very impressive
one, & I could compare it to nothing, but Walter Scott’s beautifull description of a meeting
of the persecuted round-heads of Scotland in one of their mountain fortresses.
The Portrait of our Exiled Gove^rnour was seen on every side, & as I told one of our Editors
“Many tearfull glances, from bright eyes, were directed towards it, & many a gentle
-bosom heaved at the remembrance of his undeserved sufferings.” but we trust
now, that the people generally, are as a good minister once said, “Slowly but
surely, feeling their way to the truth.”
When I commenced this, I had no idea of intruding so long upon your
time, & hope you will excuse the length of this, from an uninvited Correspondant.
One word & I have done, I understood you had at one time, an idea of “returning to
surrender yourself,” What to an authority that you do not acknowledge? to a set
of miscreants who thirst for your blood? forbid it heaven it would be downright
suicide. No wait patiently Gods time, unless we are deceived in the signs of the times
every thing is working together for your good.
I was greived Sir you did not accept the offering of the Ladies, it would have given
them so much satisfaction, but if there is yet any way in which they can be of ser
-vice to you, I hope you will not fail to call upon them. May He who upholds
the just, have you in his holy keeping, sanctify to you every affliction, & at length
bring you forth triumphant from the power of your & our enemies, is the prayer of
C R Williams
Questions
How does Williams characterize John Tyler?
Does her view differ from other Dorrites? Why or why not?
How does Williams characterize politics in Rhode Island in the fall of 1842?
Were there other female Dorrites that travelled to New York City?