TWO AUTOGRAPH LETTERS, SIGNED BY TREAT, TO WILLIAM GREENOUGH. [1] ST. LOUIS, NOV. 8, 1850, ON THE COMPROMISE OF 1850, THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW, AND THE "FANATIC" NORTHERN ABOLITIONISTS: "DEAR GREENOUGH ... IT IS TO BE MUCH REGRETTED THAT FANATICS IN THE NORTH ARE TOLERATED IN THEIR SCHEMES TO THWART THE LAWS OF THE LAND. NO MORE FRUITFUL CAUSE OF ILL-FEELING COULD EXIST- NO MORE EXCITING OUTRAGES UPON THE RIGHTS OF THE SOUTH. UNTIL THESE ACTS OF RESISTANCE, THE FEELING IN THE SOUTH WAS CALM - READY TO UPHOLD THE UNION OR REPRESS THE DESIGNS OF SOUTHERN ULTRAISTS... IT IS SUPPOSED THAT A FIXED DETERMINATION PREVAILS IN THE NORTH TO SET AT NAUGHT ALL OF THOSE CONSTITUTIONAL OBLIGATIONS ON WHICH SOUTHERN SECURITY AND RIGHTS DEPEND. IT IS OBVIOUS THAT WHEN ONE CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY IS DISREGARDED, ANOTHER MAY FALL AT THE NEXT MOMENT; OR WHEREVER FANATICISM, MOB-VIOLENCE, OR SECTIONAL INTEREST MAY DEMAND THE SACRIFICE. WE MUST ENFORCE THE LAWS OF THE LAND, OR YIELD UP THE COUNTRY TO LAWLESS ANARCHY de Treat, Samuel

The first letter is 7.75" x 9.75". [3], [1-address and postage] pp, folded. Completely in ink manuscript on blue lined paper. Old folds, small hole at edge of rear leaf from having been sealed with wax [one letter affected]. Addressed on final page with postmark of St. Louis. Very Good. The second letter is 5" x 8". [4] pp, folded. Completely in ink manuscript, embossed with small shield at top left corner of first page "Damask Laid Highly Finished." Two horizontal folds, quite clean. Very Good. [offered with] SALT PRINT PHOTOGRAPH, APPEARING TO BE OF ROBERT TREAT IN HIS 30s or 40s. 2.25" x 3.5". Sepia tones, matted to stiff card measuring 5.5" x 8.5" Although unlabeled, the photograph was kept with these letters, and the man in the photo bears a striking resemblance to Treat in his later photos, minus the facial hair. Treat sits in a chair, looking quite thin, with high forehead, hair parted and combed in same manner, thick brow bone, and mouth set in a stern, straight line. Near Fine. Samuel Treat [1814-1902], born in New Hampshire, graduated from Harvard. He read law, practiced in St. Louis, and edited the St. Louis Union. A conservative Democratic Party activist, he expresses his anger here at fellow New-Englanders for threatening the stability of the Union. Of Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton, who opposed slavery in the National Territories and voted against the Compromise, Treat says, "In Missouri, Benton is irremediably lost -- he cannot recover from the suspicions cast upon him. This State is conservative and moderate in its views." When he wrote this Letter, Treat was a Judge of the St. Louis Court of Common Pleas. Later he would help to found Washington University and, nominated by Franklin Pierce, would be Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, where he served until his retirement in 1887. Treat's friend, William Greenough, was a Bostonian prominent in local affairs. A merchant, he was President of the Boston Public Library for many years.