me of Felix Grundy and Tom Corwin, * ^t^ * Other admirers charac-
terized Mr. Hardin's methods of sarcasm by various terms. Collins says he
was pungent, sarcastic, pointed, and energetic — making him an antagonist to
be feared. The editor of the old Natiojial Intelligencer warmed over him and
his powers of conversation. George D. Prentice, in one of his terse para-
graphlets, termed him a diasyrm, and when I demanded the definition of so
awesome a title, he derived it from diasuridzo, which, he said, meant to mock,
hiss, and ridicule.
" Mr. Prentice was a great admirer of Ben Hardin, and manv a joust of
humor had the two men, wherein a wealth of fancy and of language was
served out. I heard him say of Ben Hardin, that in his prime, when address-
ing a Kentucky audience from the steps of some old fashioned court-house,
his jokes fell a hissing shower of hot shot into all parts of the assembly,
stirring the hearers like an irruption of hornets. This description is verified
by the recollections of others not too young to remember a man whose work
was finished a third of a century since. * * * To conclude, Ben Har-
din knew exactly the pulse of the average jury, and, although keejiing his
arguments and appeals upon the popular level, he never condescended to
vulgarity. He possessed a singular susceptibility. He was ojien to every
sense of intellectual enjoyment, and in his generation represented in his own
district the position which Chauncey Dupuy and S. S. Cox represent as
humorists at the present time in New York."
BEN HARDIN.
580
Among the restless and nomadic Americans, one interesting fact
has often been verified, and that is, that those swept westward by
the tide of emigration retain the most vivid recollection of scenes
and events in the old homes left behind. That chapter of life seems
closed, and when the book of memory is again opened, the old
scenes and old times are as fresh as if recorded yesterday. Subse-
quent occurrences have not blurred nor cross-lined the long-hidden
pao-e. To the pen of one of these emigrant Kentuckians, Hon.
Martin D. McHenry, of Iowa, allied to some of the best blood of
his native State, and formerly prominent in its politics, and long an
associate of Mr. Hardin, the readers of this work owe not a little.
Leaving Kentucky shortly after Mr. Hardin's death, to him, no
doubt, it seems but yesterday since he last saw the tall, auburn-
haired, big, and busy-brained friend of his early manhood. Especial
weight is due his estimate of Mr. Hardin's character. Says Mr.
McHenry:
'• 1 will say that, during all my intercourse with him, and with the hun-
dreds and thousands who knew him well, and among whom I lived until I was
fifty years of age, 1 never heard any man call in ciuestion the truth of anything
he said, or the good faith or reliability of anything he promised. Ben Hardin's
positive, intelligent statement of facts needed no corroboration. It was an
end of controversy. His distinct, laconic, defined promise of assurance
needed no indorsement. Any man who knew him felt satisfied that it would
be fulfilled, and asked for no witness to perpetuate the recollection of it.
It was enough that Ben Hardin had said that it should be done."
In conducting some inquiries respecting Mr. Hardin, near four
decades after his death, in the vicinity of his old home, and amid the
scenes where he achieved his career, one significant fact has been
observed, and that is, that almost every one that ever met him bore
away some of the intellectual ingots that he profusely scattered along
his pathway. It is a slight circumstance, but a most forcible illus-
tration of the mental force of the man.
" Since I have been judge of this district," writes Hon. Charles A. Har-
din, of Harrodsburg, "in which Mr. Hardin lived and practiced law, I
have been astonished at the deep and wide-spread impression he everywhere
made upon the peoi)le. Every man who ever saw and heard him in the
court- house, or on the hustings, has some vivid recollection of his appear-
ance and manner, and can repeat some anecdote or illustration he used."
His intellectual equipment was tersely and aptly epitomized in a
speech delivered in the Kentucky Legislature in 1867, by Hon. R.
KEEPING ONES FRIENDS IN COUNTENANCE. 581
M. Spaldincj, representative from Marion county. .Minding to Mr.
Hardin, he said: "In original genius and natural reach of intellect,
perspicuity of thought and power of analysis, in wit, in bitter and
withering sarcasm, and invective, no man in the State was his supe-
rior."
Such are some of the things that others said and thought of him.*
Further estimates of his character are made in describing him as a
lawyer, and in alluding to the domestic and other special phases of
his life. But to justly estimate it, will require a careful study of his
whole career, from the humble beginnings of the farmer's boy. until
the death of the lawyer and statesman, full of years and honor.
It will be nowhere pretended in these pages that Mr. Hardin was
faultless, or his character free from infirmities. The diamond lias
flaws and there are spots on the sun. Compensating for his failings,
however, he possessed a host of manly virtues. Me was no Pharisee,
and had a whole-souled and abiding contempt for a hypocrite. His
shortcomings were those of his day and locality — and of genius and
power in all ages. While calumny was ever snapping at his heels, he
averaged in personal virtue with his associates. That he was ' ' no
saint," doubtless made him a broader man. He might well have jus-
tified himself with the reasoning of the philosophic Franklin :
" For something, that pretended to be reason, was every now and then
suggesting to me that such extreme nicety as I exacted of myself might be
a kind of foppery in morals, which, if it were known, woukl makt- me
ridiculous ; that a perfect character might be attended with the inconveni-
ence of being envied and hated ; and that a benevolent man «;hould allow a
few faults in himself to keep his friends in countenance, "t
=•= See Appendix, note E. f f '■''"'^''''''* Autobiography.
582 BEN HARDIN.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
CLOSE OF PUBLIC LIFE.
THE constitutional convention completed its labors in June, 1850.
For a year following that event, Mr. Hardin was occupied with
professional pursuits and the care of his private affairs. In the sum-
mer of 185 1 he became a candidate to represent the Nelson district in
the Senate, and in August was elected. In this it may well be assumed
that he had some motive beyond the mere honor or the small profit
of a seat in the State Legislature. Whether he sought some favor
within the power of the Legislature to bestow — for example, the
United States Senatorship, or, as seems more probable, desired to
participate in originating, shaping, and completing that legislation
necessary to put in working order the Constitution he had labored so
zealously and diligently to construct, is matter for conjecture.
The first g-overnor under the new Constitution was chosen that
same August. The Whigs had nominated Archibald Dii^on, of Hen-
derson, for governor, and John B. Thompson, of Mercer, for lieuten-
ant-governor ; the Democrats, Lazarus W. Powell, also of Hender-
son, and Robert N. Wickliffe, of Fayette. In the selection of tickets
each party had acted with undoubted wisdom and sagacity. All four
were excellent orators, were well known throughout the State, had
had large experience, filled many honorable posts with credit, and
enjoyed the confidence of their respective parties. Dixon was a dash-
ing leader — apolitical Murat — brave, impetuous, and fiery, and widely
separated from the emancipation element, at that period supposed to
lurk in Whig coverts. Powell, to profound political acumen, united
a magnetic quality of winning and holding friends, and was a very
Talleyrand in party diplomacy. Wickliffe, nicknamed " greasy Bob,"
was a talented scion of an old and influential family, whose very name
was a tower of strength. Thompson — genial Jack Thompson — was
the prince of good fellows, whose heart had been bereaved by death
in his youth, and, thereafter, he had given all his affections to his
friends, and these were mankind in general. The campaign was pros-
ecuted with vigor, but Mr. Hardin took no part ; in fact, he had scarcely
A HORSEBACK lOURXEY -w,
recovered from an antipathy to the gubernatorial office acquired some
years before.
The result was that Powell. Democrat, was chosen governor while
Thompson, Whig, received the second place. It is. and has llways
been, a notable characteristic of Kentuckians to wear party harness
very loosely, when the aspiration of a "clever fellow" (whereby is
meant a genial, open, and generous spirit) is at stake. Powell and
Thompson, falling in this category, outran their respective partv
strength
During the following autumn, Mr. Hardin made a horseback jour-
ney of eighty-four miles to the small town of Calhoon, whither he
went to visit his old friend Judge John Calhoon, then in ill health.
Hartford was in his route, and there he lodged for a night. Referring
to this occasion, Hon. Henry D. McHenry says : "I remember the
last time Mr. Hardin was ever in Hartford. I called upon him at the
hotel, and invited him to my father's house, but being informed of my
father's absence from home, he excused himself. During the interview
that ensued, I asked him about the story I had heard of the incredible
distance he had thrown a stone in his school days. He said it was
quite true, and he and I walked to a point on the hill, south-east of
the present jail, which he designated as the spot where he had stood
and thrown to the bank of the creek, distant four hundred and seven-
ty-five paces. He described how he had cut soft stones in the shape
of a watch crystal and learned the art of throwing so the concave side
remained downward. He thus won a wager made with some boys.
On the following day, I accompanied him a dozen miles on his jour-
ney."
He remained several days at Calhoon, during which time, the
author, barely in his teens, remembers to have seen him — the first
and only time. An old man sitting on tlic open porch of the princi-
pal hotel, his freshly-shaven face having a tendenc)' to healthy
reddishness, apparently of large frame, becomingly dressed, and seem-
ingly wrapt in revery. Such was the picture. It is remembered that
he called on Mrs. G , a widow of the town, not far from his own
age, whom he had known in girlhood, and had not met in the inter-
val. He had been an admirer, and jocularly professed to be much
shocked to see no trace of girlish beauty left ; but his old flame, not
regarding the subject a matter for jest, took his remarks in dudgeon.
On his return home, he observed to a person he met that death had
laid its heavy hand on his old friend Judge Calhoon. and mentioned
S84
BEN HARDIN.
certain signs of pln-sical failure, whicli he rightly regarded as pre-
cursors of dissolution. Yet, while enjoying vigorous health and
strength, death stood still near the speaker.
The Legislature convened Monday, November 3, 185 i. Its mem-
bers, for the first time, had been chosen under the provisions of the
new constitution. It had been provided by that instrument that one-
half of the senators chosen should hold for two years, and the
remainder four, and that, on the assembling of the Legislature, the
length of the term should be determined b\' lot. Mr. Hardin drew a
short term. Among his colleagues in the Senate, may be mentioned
several who had been associated with him in the constitutional con-
vention: William Preston, Richard D. Gholson, Thomas N. Lindsay,
and James W. Irwin. Other well-known names were: Martin D.
McHenry, of Shelby ; Preston H. Leslie, of Monroe ; John C. Walker,
of Meade, and Sidney M. Barnes, of Estill. The House contained
a considerable number who had sat with Mr. Hardin in the conven-
tion, and not a few brilliant men who had missed or not sought that
honor.
No attempt will be made to trace the course of legislation during
the session, nor to refer to the various and important questions dis-
cussed and decided. The most exciting events that arose were the
election of two United States senators, something that rarely hap-
pens the same session. Why it happened on this occasion will
presently appear. The term of Hon. Joseph R. Underwood, one of
the Kentucky senators in Congress, was to expire March 4, 1853, and
it devolved on the present Legislature to elect his successor. On
joint ballot, the Whigs had a majority of eight over their Democratic
adversaries, and so it was well understood that only a Whig could be
a senator.
At the opening of the session, Mr. Crittenden's name was brought
forward by his friends, he at the time being absent at Washington, a
member of President Fillmore's cabinet. His claims were not only
based on his personal virtues and public worth, his long experience,
his talents, and his patriotism, but also on the ground of party obli-
gations. In 1848, Mr. Crittenden, at the behest of the Whig party,
resigned his seat in the United States Senate to make the race for
governor. It was urged bv his friends that he had sacrificed the
greater honor, already in possession, for the governorship, only to be
obtained by a laborious struggle. He had borne the banner of his party
with honor and to victory. But, notwithstanding all this, there was
CKITTKNUEX AND CLW. 585
lively opposition to Mr. Crittenden's senatorial aspirations. Tiiat
respectable element in his party, disrespectfully known as the "outs."
insisted that he had been in office a lifetime; that, however great his
services, he had been fully rewarded, and that justice demanded that
he stand aside, and let others share in party honors.
The Democratic slogan, "rotation," so vigorously proclaimed in
the then recent constitutional convention, was being echoed through
the Whig ranks. Mr. Crittenden had, perhaps, not been sufficiently
pronounced in his opposition to emancipation to win favor with cer-
tain ultra partisans in the pro-slavery wing of his party. Still, another
unfortunate circumstance was a cloud on his senatorial sky. Mr. Clay
had ceased to be his friend. The origin of this breach of ancient and
oft-tried friendship is traceable to the presidential contest of 1848.
The Whig party had well nigh despaired of ever attaining national
success on its defeat in 1844. As the election of 1848 approached,
however, its hopes revived. The eyes of its leaders, with a common
impulse, were turned toward the victor of Mexico — General Zachary
Taylor. It is true General Taylor was not a statesman, nor versed in
the policy of parties, or the administration of civil affairs. He was
accounted a brave and honest man ; a successful soldier, and the lau-
rels of the Mexican w-ar were fresh upon his brow. These virtues,
added to the fact of his being a W^hig, constituted his claims and qual-
ifications for the presidency. Yet, as victory with Taylor seemed prac-
tically certain, the Whigs had early determined upon him as their
candidate. Mr. Crittenden had ver}- positive convictions on the sub-
ject, w^hich he had freely expressed. It was understood that Mr. Clay
acquiesced in these view's until within a comparatively short period
preceding the meeting of the national convention. But he visited the
Eastern States in the spring of 1848, and while there had received
assurances that he could not only be elected to the presidency, but
that he could obtain a larger vote than General Taylor. On his
return to the West, he accordingly announced himself a candidate in
a published card. Mr. Crittenden immediately notified General Tay-
lor's friends that, in obedience to both public duty and private inclina-
tion, he would support Mr. Clay. Kentucky, however, was so largely
committed to General Taylor, that it was vain to hope for more than
its formal support for Mr. Clay, and even the accomplishment of that
much was matter of doubt. Mr. Crittenden, and Kcntuckians gener-
ally, recognized this as the situation, although Mr. Clay did not. On
the first ballot, in the Philadelphia convention, seven of the twelve
586
BEN HARDIN.
Kentucky votes were cast for Taylor, and on the fourth and decisive
ballot, eleven were cast for him and but one for Clay. Defeat was made
especially bitter to the latter by the disloyalty and faltering of his
own State. He thought that if Mr. Crittenden had not procured, he,
at least, had connived at the result. It is probable that he had been
entirely neutral. He did not believe that, if nominated, Mr. Clay
could be elected. This want of faith was the sum and substance of
his sin. But Mr. Clay was exacting with his friends, and lack of zeal
was an offense which his implacable nature could neither overlook nor
foreive. So it was that in the senatorial canvass of 1851, Mr. Clay's
influence was thrown in favor of Judge George Robertson, who had
been chosen speaker of the House.
There was still another Whig coterie in the Legislature to whom
neither Crittenden nor Robertson were acceptable. William Preston,
Senator from Louisville, led these, who pronounced in favor of the
defeated candidate for governor, Archibald Dixon. The dwellers at
the State capital (which was Mr. Crittenden's home) supported him
with unanimity, and invoked all the powers of the lobby. Enter-
tainments were of nightly occurrence — in the interest of Crittenden.
On the floor of the House. Thomas F. Marshall (who had once been
his law partner) sounded his favorite's praises with that chaste and
stirring eloquence peculiar to himself This was parried by the charge
that Marshall attributed Clay's political success to Crittenden's friend-
ship, the purpose being to widen the existing breach.
Notwithstanding Whig ascendency, and despite Crittenden's supe-
rior strength, yet, it availed not, because of the refusal of the minor-
ity to enter a party caucus. For the greater part of a month, the
canvass was waged with spirit and vigor. Rut the factions agreed on
nothing save opposition to Crittenden. The friends of the latter
urged the postponement of the election until another .session of the
Legislature, but this was opposed. For some time, Mr. Hardin kept
his own counsel on the question that excited his colleagues. His
relations to all the aspirants were kind. If he had lurking aspirations
himself, he said nothing to indicate it. For some reason. Mr. Critten-
den's friends conceived that "Sir. Hardin opposed him. The former
being notified of it, wrote about it from Washington as follows:
(J/r. Crittetiden to Orlando Brown.')
"Washington, Nov. 12, 1851.
"Dear Orlando: Before this can reach you, the senatorial question
will have been disposed of, and, as I anticipate, by a postponement. Some
FRIENDS OF OLD. rg-r
few letters, and particularly two received from Morehead, lead me to that
conclusion. Such a result is not the most gratifying to mt-, but I can bear
It calmly and patiently.
"I shall feel some curiosity and interest to know the course of some
mdividuals m respect to this election, and will thank you for the information
The course of Judge Robertson and Mr. Dixon does not surprise me
though, as I am informed, they have dis])layed a sort of personally hostile
opposition to me, for which I never gave either of them a cause.
" I understand that my old friend, Ben Hardin, speaks kindly of me, i)ut
opposes my election. I confess that in this I have been disappointed and
mortified. He and I are contemporaries. We have been long associated,
and have stood together as friends through many years. The path which
.•emains for us to travel is not very long, and I regret that he has found it
necessary to part from me on this occasion. I do not mean to complain of
him, but only to express my regret. My feelings and my memory suggest
to me much more on this subject, but I only add, that I think if Hardin
had considered the matter in all its points of view, his judgment, as well as
his friendly feelings, I doubt not, would have decided him to take sides with
me rather than my opponents. There is not the least unkindness toward
him mingled with the regret I feel on this occasion, and, as the matter will
all be over before this reaches you, I am willing he should know it. Indeed,
I wish you would inform him how I feel, and" what I have here written in
regard to him.
"What part does our Frankfort senator and representative take ? Fare-
well. Your friend,
'•J. J. CRITTENDEN.
"Orlando Brown, Esq.
" P. S. : To my good friends — and better never were — give a hearty shake
of the hand from me.
"J. J. C.-
Crittenden's kind expressions were read to Mr. Hardin, and Mr.
Orlando Brown's allusion to its effect, evinced that neither age, nor
the rough controversies of life, nor its disappointments, had dulled
the finer sensibilities of the "old Kitchen Knife." Brown mentioned
the matter in a letter to Crittenden :
{^Orlando Brown to John J. Crittenden.')
"Frankfort, December 3, 1S51.
" My Dear Sir : I propose to say a few words to you about the senato-
rial election. You and your family and friends are all greatly indebted to
Mr. Thomas F. Marshall for his devotion to your interests during this crisis.
He has surpassed himself as an orator in presenting your claims to the grati-
tude and love of the people of Kentucky. I read to Mr. B. Hardin what
you said of him, and the old gentleman's eyes filled with tears. He
exclaimed, with vehemence : ' My God, sir, it is all a mistake ! I have
been for him, am for him, mean to be for him !' And he has been making
good his words. Mr. Abraham Caldwell, of the Senate, ami your fellow-
soldier, Cunningham, are the most reliable of your friends. Captain Hawes
is at our head, and is as gallnnt a leader as we could have. Neither Hell,
nor Helm, nor Brock, nor Davis have come near us. The true policy of
588
BEN HARDIN.
your friends is to refer the whole subject to the people. With the people,
thank God, you are safe 1 You will ]>rol)al)ly be approached by some one
before long, and may be induced to say : ' Rather than embarass my friends
any longer, take my name off the list.' Let me beg of you to say no such
thing. You are not here ; you do not know how things are working.
Dixon's election will be a Democratic triumph. He and his friends are
afraid to go back to the peojjle. If the election is postponed, you will be
the means of bringing the Whig party again into line, and with you as our
standard-bearer we will triumph in '53. 1 remain sincerely yours,
'•ORLANDO BROWN." '
To this Mr. Crittenden rejoined in a manner highly creditable to his
generous nature:
" I was touched to the heart at what you tell me about my old friend (for
such I may now call him) Ben Hardin. I felt like breaking at the root
when I heard that he was against me, for in the days of our youth — of our
growth — we were together, and have passed thus far through life in more of
amity and good will than falls to the lot of most men occupying our position.
Upon reading what you wrote me, my eyes were not dry. Time gives a sort
of sacredness to the feelings that arise from old associations and friendships.
I wish I could live long enough, or had the means of repaying, Orlando, all
the debts I owe my friends. But therein I am bankrupt, indeed."
On December loth, the Whig leaders finally agreed to go into cau-
cus, it being stipulated, however, that neither the name of Mr. Crit-
tenden nor Mr. Dixon should be presented. On the meeting of the
caucus a great number of ballots were had in a single evening before
a result was reached. It was a free-for-all affair, in which first or last
nearly every prominent Whig in the State was complimented by a vote.
The favorites, however, were the lieutenant governor — Thomp.son —
Senator Preston, Representative " Cerro Gordo " Williams, and the
speaker, Judge Robertson. The result was somewhat unforeseen —
Thompson being nominated.
Judge Robertson had been very sanguine of success, and a touch of
chagrin may be discovered in his allusion to the result. Said he :
" Between Crittenden and Dixon the balloting was continued for many
days, some members, who were opposed to both of them, putting up a third
man on each successive ballot. At last, our party being in imminent danger
of dissolution, Mr. C. and Mr. D. were both withdrawn, and a caucus assem-
bled to select a candidate. Some of the members, who were excited against
me, arranged a platform which would be most likely to defeat the strongest