Late American Statesmen, No. II [pp. 95-119]

LATE AMERICAN STA TESMEN.
they were his coadjutors, present or prospective, how their features change! Mr. Webster, indeed, is never exhibited in an
amiable light; but there are occasions in which his massive
intellect is spoken of with unalloyed admiration. Mr. Clay,
when secretary of state, never, so it is recorded, was unduly
importunate, which is a good deal to say when we remember
Mr. Clay's impetuosity; and towards the end of the diary, when
all rivalry has ceased, Mr. Clay is spoken of almost with tenderness. Mr. Calhoun, whom in the paragraph first cited he speaks
of as a constant enemy, in i823 preferred Mr. Adams for
the presidency to either Mr. Crawford or Mr. Clay. Mr. Crawford, when the election was thrown into the House, told his
friends that if they were confined to Mr. Adlams and General
Jackson they were to take Mr. Adams. Mr. Jefferson, on the
same great crisis, said that the choice was a choice between a
civil and a military chief. Mr. Clay, who is grouped also among
the constant enemies, sacrificed his popularity by casting his
vote for Mr. Adams, and then, having made the mistake of
taking the secretaryship of state, generously held to the office,
refusing to abandon his chief, tho his health gave way under
the struggle, and the burden became finally almost intolerable.
And General Jackson, when not standing in Mr. Adams's way,
was not an illiterate ruffian. The victory of New Orleans was
by no one more praised, so long as General Jackson was not in
presidential training, than by Mr. Adams. By Mr. Adams and
by Mr. Adams alone, in Mr. Monroe's cabinet, was General Jack son sustained throughout his Florida dictatorship, questionable
indeed as some of its proceedings were; and to the pertinacity
and ardor of Mr. Adams's support it was in the main due that
General Jackson passed through the ordeal uncensured. And
when, in I824, Mr. Adams was casting about for a suitable
comrade who, when he himself took the presidency, would
adorn the classic repose of the vice-president's chair, who was
so fit for this office of tranquil dignity as General Jackson?
General Jackson was popular; was a slave-holder, and thus
would conciliate the slave-holding interest; was a man of gra cious address, and could therefore be spoken of as one who
would preside gracefully; was a successful and once fiery war rior, who now might be expected to be tired of action and to
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