The New York Times, May 16, 1860
Letter from John C. Fremont.
CHICAGO, Wednesday, May 16.
The following letter from JOHN C. FREMONT is in the hands of Judge STAPLES, of California:
DEER VALLEY, Mariposa County, April 12, 1860.
MY DEAR SIR: I have had the satisfaction to receive your thoroughly sincere and friendly letter of the 8th, from San Francisco.
I have to thank you equally for the warmth with which you urge your propositions in my favor, and for the very strong expressions of regret for the position I have taken. Since the campaign of 1856, I have been laboriously occupied with my private affairs, and so exclusively that I have been entirely shut off from the political life of the country. In the beginning of that contest, if I had neither political prestige nor party organization, I had had at least no organized bodies opposed to my nomination. Now the case is wholly different. You will give full faith to what I say when I tell you that I have personally no desire for the Presidency, but I do most earnestly desire to preserve undiminished the great honor which the vote of the North reflected upon me in that campaign. In this respect it would be no benefit to myself, and certainly none to the party, which I wish to serve, if under these circumstances I were brought before the Convention, where I could only be one of the elements of discord. I prefer, on the contrary, to contribute as much as possible to its harmony, and leave it, to this extent more free to make a prompt selection from among the distinguished leaders who have been actively engaged in maintaining and advancing the principles of the party. Letters and other indications had led me to think that my name would be placed before the Convention at Chicago, and wishing to have the certainty in this event that it would be promptly withdrawn, I asked you to do this friendly act for me if it became necessary. I rely confidently upon your assistance that my request will be faithfully observed. The contingency which your very friendly feelings make appear as probable, I look upon as nearly impossible. In such an event the nomination would be accepted, of course, as the choice of the party, and not as the result of a struggle for a nomination. But this, I repeat, I consider impossible.
Renewing my thanks for permitting me to avail myself of your friendship on an occasion of so much importance to me,
I am, very truly, yours,
[Signed.] J.C. FREMONT.
Addressed to Hon. D.C. STAPLES,
Delegate to the Chicago Convention.