PIERCE, FRANKLIN, President. Letter signed in full to the diplomat Carroll Spence, Concord, N.H., 10 December 1867. 2 pages, 8vo, small holes along extreme edge from old binding, ink rather pale. LAMENTING THE PROBLEMS OF RECONSTRUCTION. Pierce has been very ill: "...I came down stairs for the first time, four days ago. But am still, as you see, obliged to depend upon an amanuensis. I hope your heart has been somewhat cheered, by the result of the Fall elections. There is no hope however, except through tribulation and suffering, either for the South or for the North. Madness & wickedness of fanatacism have brought us to the brink of ruin. I have neither the patience nor the strength to discuss the situation...." During the recent war, Pierce had been an outspoken critic of Lincoln and his determination to preserve the Union by military force; here, he apparently alludes to the increasing strength of the radical Republicans, who were strongly urging punitive measures against the former seceded states.

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PIERCE, FRANKLIN, President. Letter signed in full to the diplomat Carroll Spence, Concord, N.H., 10 December 1867. 2 pages, 8vo, small holes along extreme edge from old binding, ink rather pale. LAMENTING THE PROBLEMS OF RECONSTRUCTION. Pierce has been very ill: "...I came down stairs for the first time, four days ago. But am still, as you see, obliged to depend upon an amanuensis. I hope your heart has been somewhat cheered, by the result of the Fall elections. There is no hope however, except through tribulation and suffering, either for the South or for the North. Madness & wickedness of fanatacism have brought us to the brink of ruin. I have neither the patience nor the strength to discuss the situation...." During the recent war, Pierce had been an outspoken critic of Lincoln and his determination to preserve the Union by military force; here, he apparently alludes to the increasing strength of the radical Republicans, who were strongly urging punitive measures against the former seceded states.