plunge
the party into a fierce feud on the slightest show of partiality.
Therefore, he firmly declined to be a candidate.

[Footnote 333: "Next to the Presidency no place was so much desired, in
the times we are now reviewing, as that of senator of the United
States. The body was illustrious through the fame of its members, who
generally exhibited the very flower and highest outcome of American
political life; dignified, powerful, respected, it was the pride of
the nation, and one of its main bulwarks. The height of ordinary
ambition was satisfied by attainment to that place; and men once
securely seated there would have been content to hold it on and on,
asking no more. One cannot doubt the sincerity of the expressions in
which Mr. Wright announced his distress at being thrown from that
delightful eminence into the whirlpools and quicksands at
Albany."--Morgan Dix, _Memoirs of John Dix_, Vol. 1, pp. 194, 195.]

But the Albany _Atlas_, representing the Radicals, insisted upon
Wright's making the sacrifice; and, to give Bouck an easy avenue of
escape, Edwin Croswell, representing the Conservatives, advised that
the Governor would withdraw if he should consent to stand. But he
again refused. Still the _Atlas_ continued to insist. By the middle of
July things looked very black. In Albany, the atmosphere became thick
with political passion. Finally, Van Buren interfered. He was
profoundly affected with the idea that political treachery had
compassed his defeat, and he knew the nomination of Polk was
personally offensive to Silas Wright; but, faithful to his promise to
support the action of the Baltimore convention, he requested his
friend to lead the state ticket, since the result in New York would
probably decide, as it did decide, the fate of the Democratic party in
the nation. Still the Senator refused. His decision, more critical
than he seemed to be aware, compelled his Radical friends to invent
new compromises, until the refusal was modified into a conditional
consent. In other words, he would accept the nomination provided he
was not placed in the position of opposing "any Republican who is, or
who may become a candidate."

This action of the Radicals kept the Conservatives busy bailing a
sinking boat. They believed the candidacy of Bouck would shut out
Wright under the terms of his letter, and, although the Governor's
supporters were daily detached by the action of county conventions,
and the Governor himself w