JANUARY 16th.—To-day, Mr. Benjamin, whom I met in the hall of the department, said, “I don’t grant any passports to leave the country, except to a few men on business for the government. I have ceased to grant any for some time past.” I merely remarked that I was glad to hear it.
Immediately on returning to my office I referred to my book, and counted the names of fifty persons to whom the Secretary had granted passports within thirty days; and these were not all agents of the government. Mr. Benjamin reminded me of Daniel Webster, when he used to make solemn declarations that his friends in office were likewise the partisans of President Tyler.