and generally considered as a man of great promise, evidently destined to occupy a position of the first rank.'

Possibly Gwin intended to carry out his compact with Broderick. He had so pledged himself in substance in his address to the people; but in addition to this he had, on the Sunday preceding the night in which he prostrated himself at Broderick's feet, addressed that individual a letter in which he made an absolute and unequivocal promise to the same effect. In that letter, usually known in those days as the "scarlet letter," which was preserved and afterwards exhibited, he had volunteered to say, "I am likely to be the victim of the unparalleled treachery of those who have been placed in power by my aid and exertion. The most potential portion of the federal patronage is in the hands of those who by every principle that should govern men of honor should be my supporters instead of enemies; and it is being used for my destruction. My participation in the distribution of this patronage has been the source of numberless slanders upon me that have fastened a prejudice in the public mind against me and have created enmities that have been destructive to my happiness and peace of mind for years. It has entailed untold evils upon me; and while in the senate I will not recommend a single individual to appointment to office in the state. Provided I am elected, you shall have the exclusive control of this patronage, so far as I am concerned; and in its distribution I shall only ask that it may be used with magnanimity and not for the advantage of those who have been our mutual enemies and unwearied in their exertions to destroy us. This determination is unalterable; and in making this declaration I do not expect you to support me for that reason or in any way to be governed by it; but as I have been betrayed by those who should have been my friends, I am in a measure powerless myself and depend upon your magnanimity.'

But whatever Gwin may have intended and whatever Broderick may have expected in reference to the patronage of the Pacific coast, or in other words the spoils generally supposed to

1O'Meara, 188. "O'Meara, 212.

belong to the United States senators, neither appears to have taken into account the president of the United States, in whose hands the power of appointment lay. This president was James Buchanan, who had been elected in the autumn of 1856 as a Democrat by a large vote over John C. Fremont, the candidate of the newly formed Republican party, and Millard Fillmore, the candidate of the moribund Know Nothing party. Buchanan was one of those politicians, who were usually called northern men with southern principles. Though he hailed from a free state, he represented and was supported by southern interests. He belonged, body and soul, so to speak, to the south and was ever ready to do its bidding-as was afterwards shown by the condition to which he had brought, and in which he left, the country at the end of his term when the civil war broke out. In California Buchanan had been a popular candidate for the presidency, supported alike by all the factions of the Democratic party-Broderick as well as Gwin, tammany as well as chivalry -and he had received, as shown before, a very large plurality over both his opponents, Fillmore and Fremont. He was inaugurated on March 4, 1857, at the same time that Broderick took his seat; and it was said and supposed at first that he was well disposed towards Broderick and would favor him in the dispensation of the patronage. For a while everything looked bright and Broderick and his friends were in high feather. But Buchanan was a cautious man, averse to taking any more responsibility than he could help; and he required as an inexorable rule that the names of applicants for important offices should be presented in writing and indorsed by the senator or representative recommending the appointment.'

This did not suit Broderick. He had probably made too many promises. Whether he had or not, he refused to make any written applications. The most important of the offices was that of collector of the port of San Francisco. It was perfectly well known that Frank Tilford, who was Broderick's principal friend in the Californian senate, was a candidate for this office; and it was supposed that he would obtain the office as a matter of course. He was not only looked upon as Broderick's candi

'O'Meara, 188, 189.

date; but he had obtained from Latham in the course of his contest for the United States senate a written pledge of that gentleman's support and recommendation; and not only did he have this promise but Latham, after his defeat for the United States senate, actually sent on his resignation of the office of collector, which he then filled, to Washington and asked that Tilford might be appointed in his place. Tilford and his friends felt so certain of his appointment that it was not considered necessary for him to go to Washington and he therefore remained at his desk in the Californian senate, well satisfied with the outlook of affairs and biding the time when he could fill subordinate places for himself. But Buchanan or rather the clique of southern politicians, who ran him, thought and determined otherwise. It is not likely that it would have been very different even if Broderick had made written application and entirely covered the back of his application with indorsements. It is true that Gwin also declined to make any written application or openly to present any recommendation. But there were many other ways of influencing and even securing appointments from such a man as Buchanan, surrounded and managed as he was, than publicly asking for them or following the formulas he had prescribed; and Broderick soon found out that his wishes, though well known, were not to be regarded and that, to add bitterness to his disappointment, everything done, though not avowedly asked for by Gwin, was done in Gwin's favor. Instead of Tilford getting the collectorship or even Bigler, who was also a candidate, the prize went to Benjamin F. Washington, and Tilford had to be satisfied with the lower position of naval officer and Bigler with that of minister to Chili. The other offices in general went to friends of Gwin or at any rate to persons who were not friends of Broderick.'

The result, as was to be expected by those who knew Broderick's imperious nature, was a violent quarrel between him and the president and a harsh and vehement denunciation of the latter by the former from his place in the United States senate. Broderick's next move was to rush off to New York and patch up a truce with George Wilkes, then editor of a newspaper in O'Meara, 189-194.

that city, with whom he had quarreled in 1854. On that occasion, which was very soon after the death of Alexander Wells, one of the justices of the supreme court, Wilkes had succeeded, without Broderick's knowledge, in obtaining from Governor Bigler a commission to fill the vacant office. But Broderick had already promised this appointment to Charles H. Bryan and, when he learned that Wilkes had surreptitiously, as it were, obtained it, his anger knew no bounds and for a while he raged and stormed with the fury of a hurricane. The result was that Wilkes, who though possessed of very superior talents of a kind was cowed before Broderick's tremendous wrath, tore up or returned his commission to Bigler and, shaking the dust of California from his feet, went off to the more congenial atmosphere of New York; while Bigler made his peace with Broderick by issuing a new commission to Bryan in accordance with Broderick's wishes. From that time Wilkes had pursued his own. course in New York, without connection with Broderick; but now Broderick needed him again and, as is said, again placed himself in the hands of that astute manipulator. However this may have been, it is certain that in a very short time Broderick was involved in an uncompromising war with the administration; and, in so far and in proportion as the administration of Buchanan was weak and in its subserviency to slavery despicable, Broderick rose in public estimation. In the tremendous interests at stake, whether he received his cue from Wilkes or evolved it out of his own passionate nature, he developed an ability as a terse and powerful orator and wielded an influence as such which was alike unexpected and in certain directions almost unlimited in effect.1

After the adjournment of congress Broderick returned to California. His failure to secure the federal patronage had cooled the fervor of a number of his supporters who had reckoned upon lucrative or desirable positions; but there were others who believed in his eventual success and rallied around him. Though he had attacked and reviled the president and the power of the president was made use of to strengthen the opposition against him, he managed not only to retain his special friends but, by 'O'Meara, 116-118, 190-195.

very great political ability and adroitness, to attract and organize a large following of adherents, who were entirely devoted to his interests and whose faith and fidelity nothing could shake or disturb. He knew that he could not place himself in direct opposition to the Democratic party and that it would not do for him to be understood as waging war against the Democratic administration. He denounced reports to that effect as maliciously false. But it was perfectly well understood that he was not in accord with the Buchanan administration; and, as public affairs in the hands of Buchanan were fast drifting into the civil conflict that followed, the attention and sympathy of others besides personal friends became attracted towards Broderick; and he began to loom up as a very large and important factor— and plainly an anti-slavery and so far forth an anti-Democratic factor in the inevitable struggle that was approaching. There is no telling what position he might have reached and occupied and what influence he might have wielded in the course of the next few years, and particularly when the war of secession in the interest of slavery finally broke out, if his career had not been cut short by an untimely death; but there can be no doubt that he would have been on the side of the Union and that he would have been very prominent-perhaps amongst the most prominent. As matters stood, however, Broderick had to be a victim. The slavery power or chivalry element was still dominant; and its whole force was used to thwart and crush him and the Democratic anti-slavery sentiment which he represented. All the offices were filled with chivalry men. The custom-house at San Francisco, more than ever, got to be called the “Virginia poor-house" on account of the southern appointments with which it was filled. The entire federal patronage, which was now antiBroderick, was made to bear upon the next state election, so as to make the state patronage also anti-Broderick. Weller, who though a northern man was as much a pro-slavery man as Buchanan himself, had returned to California and was put up for the office of governor as an open and avowed enemy and opponent of Broderick. The state convention for the year 1857 met at Sacramento on July 14; and the result of the balloting was overwhelmingly for Weller, who received two hundred and