were not then known to the nation. His only claim to office was based upon the victory of New-Orleans; and this alone made him formidable, and gave him a decided advantage over his three competitors. sures and the divisions they had occasioned | identified the American name and nation had passed away. New measures, under with his own strong and heroic character, entirely new and variant circumstances, had been brought forward; yet nothing is more true, as we have already intimated, than that all the leading measures of Congress were of the genuine Whig stamp, that they involved the same principles of interpretation, and required the same course of argument in their defense, that Whigs have used for the past twenty years. With such fearful odds against them, the friends of the other candidates sought now to make favor with the people, by endeavoring to prove each that their candidate was, It will readily suggest itself to every mind par excellence, the true Republican candidate. that a contest for the Presidency under such Crawford's partisans did not stop at this. circumstances would be resolved wholly into They sought to obtain a more thorough ada contest of mere personal preference among vantage by procuring for him a regular cauthe people. The original candidates were cus nomination, according to the ancient John Quincy Adams, William H. Crawford, usages of the party. It is to be remarked, John C. Calhoun, and Henry Clay. There in this connection, that Crawford numbered being no party differences between them, the in the ranks of his followers a greater prostrife became one of a peculiarly fierce and portion of the old Jeffersonian Democrats acrimonious character. It was soon exas-than either Adams or Clay, notwithstanding perated and rendered more furious by the his known liberal opinions. These, considerunexpected and unwelcome appearance of a ing themselves as the true standards of fifth competitor, in the person of an illus-genuine Republican orthodoxy, insisted on trious military chieftain, whose hot tempera- assembling a caucus, although they were ment and passionate energies were not likely seriously opposed. They would not listen, to soften the asperity of the contest. This when reminded that, Federalism having long was Andrew Jackson. His appearance on ceased an organized opposition, such a course the field was at once productive of two most was not now necessary to secure the ascendimportant events. It caused the prompt with-ency of the Republican party. They grew drawal of Calhoun, who became the candidate for Vice-President on the Jackson ticket, and materially weakened the prospects of Henry Clay, by dividing the preferences of the West. Jackson had been a senator and representative in Congress, but had not taken even a respectable stand as a politician. It was quite common to ridicule his aspirations for the Presidency as being mere mockery. His nomination was generally considered too absurd to have been made in good faith. It would not at first be credited that a man notoriously deficient in education, so uninformed as to the duties of a civilian as to have resigned several offices with the frank admission of incompetency, fonder of sport than of study, and whose training had been mainly in the camp or on the frontier, would be seriously urged for the first office in the Republic, on the single merit of one fortunate battle. Those great qualities of mind, or rather of will, which afterwards made him the most popular and powerful ruler that ever wore the executive mantle, which commanded the worship of his friends and the admiration of his opponents, and which intolerant when told that such a resort to party machinery, in the absence of all the higher motives for combination, was the evidence of an endeavor only to subserve the purposes of faction, and to give an undue advantage where none was really deserved. They persisted in their resolve, and called together their caucus, on the 14th of February. The movement resulted in an entire failure. Out of two hundred and sixty-one members of Congress, only sixty-four attended the meeting in person, and there were two proxies. Crawford, of course, received the nomination. Sixty-four out of the sixty-six votes were cast for his name; but more than half of these were from Virginia, Georgia, and New-York. No one will contend that such a nomination was entitled to any great authority or weight. It could scarcely make pretension to even full and fair party organization, much less to nationality. But its contrivers claimed for it all these, proclaimed it as the regular nomination, and invoked all true Republicans to respect and sustain it as such. The responses, however, were far from equaling their expectations; and we think that it was equally popular. But in New-York the will now be readily conceded that the move- result was very different, and the caucus met ment rather injured than benefited Craw- with decided opposition, notwithstanding the ford's prospects for the Presidency. It is efforts and influence of Martin Van Buren. certain that many of his devoted and confi- Van Buren was considered one of the most dential friends inclined to such opinion, and dexterous party managers of that day and among others, one whose letters now lie be- time. His success with the people of Newfore us, written at the time of which they York caused him to be regarded with deep speak. This was Thomas W. Cobb, then interest by the various candidates for the one of the senators from Georgia. He was Presidency. He was at first understood to recognized as the most intimate and favored own some preference for Adams, but his final of Crawford's personal associates, and was decision was in favor of Crawford. There bound to him by every tie of admiration and was much and varied conjecture in connecgratitude. He was attached to Crawford's tion with this decision at the time, even party not only from principle, but from af- among the political friends of the parties. fection for its head. From the time of Crawford had a comprehensive and sagaCrawford's nomination to the day when de- cious eye, and could read men with as much feat and disease consigned him to premature accuracy as most other politicians. Being retirement, Cobb embarked in his cause with at the head of a dominant and powerful a zeal that never flagged or abated, and party in Georgia, he resolved upon a stroke pressed his claims with almost frantic fervor. of policy which, unseemly as it might and He mourned his overthrow with a grief more did appear even to his own friends, it was akin to personal devotion than political at- hoped might win to his support the great tachment; and imbibing, doubtless from State of New-York. This was none other this cause, a settled distaste for public life, than the nomination of Van Buren for the soon afterwards threw up his senatorial Vice-Presidency by the State of Georgia. commission, and retired with his friend to The project was no sooner made known the quiet of private life. than carried out, for Crawford's wish was It is clear, from the tenor of this gentle-law to his party in that State. The nominaman's letters, that the Crawford caucus had tion was made reluctantly by the Crawford not been followed by such auspicious de- party, and was received with laughter and monstrations as hope had flattered his friends ridicule by his old enemies and opponents to expect. He now writes to one of his in Georgia, the Clarkites. The act appeared friends, Dr. Meriwether, that the caucus had so ill-timed and so barefaced, in view of not been productive of very favorable mani-Van Buren's then obscure pretensions, that festations. In fact, this movement seems to the term "Vice-President Van" was jocosely have drawn down upon the Crawford party bandied at every corner, and soon became a the concentrated and increased bitterness of bye-word and slang expression. Long and both the Clay and Calhoun factions, while it cruelly did the Clarkites use it as such gained them no additional strength among against the Crawford party. As an amusthe partisans of Adams. Notwithstanding ing illustration of this, when the next Genethat Calhoun had openly declined for the ral Assembly of the State convened, the Presidency, the newspapers favorable to his Clarkites, being in a decided minority, kept election still kept his name up in connection Van Buren as their standing candidate for with that office, with the evident intention, as all the lower order of appointments, with no Cobb writes, to prevent his supporters from other design than, by thus showing their going over to Crawford ere the coalition with contempt for the nomination, to annoy their Jackson had been definitely effected. The sensitive opponents. There are many now caucus movement was received with appro- living who may remember with a smile the bation only in the States of Virginia and description of tickets that were exhibited and Georgia. North Carolina was not so de- read out on such occasions. They had Van cided, though Macon's influence in that Buren caricatured on them in every possible State was considered sufficient to secure its form. Sometimes it was a half man joined vote. There had never been, even before to a half cat, then half fox and half monkey, the caucus, any doubts as to the preference or half snake and half mink-all bearing of Georgia for Crawford. In Virginia he some resemblance to the object of ungener ous and indecent satire. He was designated | majority to the Senate, and a fierce contest on them as "Blue Whisky Van," ""Little now ensued. The people were clamorous to Van," "Vice-President Van," and many take into their own hands the election of other nicknames, far more disgraceful to the President. Consequently, a bill to that effect perpetrators than disparaging to Van Buren. passed the lower house, with only a few disIt proved to be the more disgraceful to them senting voices. The Senate promptly rejected from the fact that, in a few years subse-it, when sent up for its concurrence. Scenes quently, the caricaturists and satirists turned to be the cringing partisans of him they had thus assaulted. of the most intense and rabid excitement followed, in the midst of which the Legislature adjourned. Popular resentment rose to a resistless height, and the Governor reconvoked the Legislature, with a view that the will of the people might be expressed and executed. But the same scene was reenacted with the same result. The Senate again defeated the bill, and before any thing was done to meet the popular demand, another and final adjournment occurred. In throw. But the policy (whether intended as mere policy or a legitimate party manoeuvre) did not succeed. The nomination of Georgia for the Vice-Presidency met with no response. New-York proved obdurate and refractory, and showed signs of wavering between Adams and Clay. The Crawford party grew desperate, and began bitterly to accuse and denounce Henry Clay. Macon, Cobb, the end, however, the people carried their and others laid to his charge all the injuries point. The manifestations against Crawand reverses they had sustained in New- ford had been too decided; and when the York. But Van Buren did not despair of nominations were made by the Legislature, carrying the State so soon as his party he sustained a signal and crushing overfriends. He was not one to give up without first using serious and zealous efforts to effect the object in view. "If we can get NewYork," said Cobb, "we shall then be sure of Connecticut, New-Jersey, and Rhode Island. Without New-York, we are lost." This opinion was known to Van Buren, and tending, of course, to confirm him in the like view, he went to work to secure the desired object with an earnestness and adroitness that had seldom failed of success before. There is no question but that personal attachment to Crawford, as well as the usual allowance of political ambition, influenced Van Buren on this occasion. He had long admired Crawford, and now, in the hour of trial, when his enemies were about to triumph over his defeat, the noble exertions and eminent ability he brought to bear in the endeavor to save and secure the election of his favorite, must ever excite a kind remembrance in the bosoms of Crawford's family and friends. His efforts, at one time, had come very near the point of success. He had now found out that Crawford was clearly not the choice of the people of New-York. Up to this period, the electors for President in New-York had been nominated by the Legislature; and it was in the Legislature that Van Buren and his party, certain of defeat before the people, now determined to take refuge. The majority of the House of Representatives was against Crawford. His friends carried a This result abundantly foreshadowed the grand finale, so far as Crawford was concerned, especially when taken in connection with another untoward event which occurred during the canvass, and which put a final extinguisher on his chances for election. This event was a sudden and violent attack of paralysis, which deprived him for a time of his speech, his sight, and the use of some of his limbs, and which so shocked his whole nervous system as seriously to impair his memory and to obscure his intellect. This sad news effectually depressed the spirits of his friends, whilst it raised the hopes of his enemies. He was forced, in consequence of this affliction, to give up the business of his office, ceased to appear in public or to receive any but select company, and was removed to a delightful cottage in the vicinity of Washington, in the vain but fond hope that the quiet of rural life and the purer breath of the country air might induce a speedy convalescence. But that hope was never fully gratified. After a struggle of many months, his speech, to a great extent, was restored; he regained the use of his limbs, and his vision was slightly improved. But the great intellect which had once controlled the opinions of a nation, and had made his name famous wherever that nation was known, had been blighted to a degree which human skill could not reach, and was never again to return with its original strength and lustre. club-rooms, in which to plan and direct the various schemes of party procedure. The drawing-rooms were thronged alike with the votaries of fashion and the satellites of the different champions; nor were these limited to the sterner sex. The theatre, was monopolized by one particular set of partisans in regular turn, as the most proper place for a public demonstration; but the artificial representations of the stage flagged and faded before the real exhibitions of the poli middle of January, to a friend in Georgia, affords a striking illustration of these illusory calculations; and being a legitimate link in the history of its time, we shall quote from it at some length, for the reader's satisfaction : The extreme illness of Crawford was not generally known, and the canvass was carried on with unabated warmth. There being four candidates in the field, it was soon ascertained that there could be no election by the people. Adams and Jackson ran ahead, but for a considerable time it seemed to be uncertain whether, under the constitutional provision, Clay or Crawford would get to be the third candidate before the House of tical drama. The legislative business of Representatives. The State of Louisiana held Congress received little or no attention. the die, and the friends of Clay confidently The members thought about nothing, talked expected that it would be thrown in his favor. about nothing, and wrote home about noBut their calculations were not verified. thing but the Presidential election. CalcuJackson and New-Orleans were associated lations were tortured by each party into by a common glorious link, and the mem-results suited to their own prospects of sucory of his great victory turned fortune in his cess. A letter written by Cobb about the favor, at the very moment that the die was cast. He obtained a majority of her electoral vote, and Clay was thus thrown out of the contest. This left a small balance in favor of Crawford, who now went into the House of Representatives with an electoral vote nearly two thirds less than that of Jackson, and not quite one half that of Adams. In December, 1824, Congress met. Washington was the scene of an intense excitement, growing out of the pending election for President, and scarcely a day passed that some new phase of the contest did not occur, or that a new political trump was not turned up. But the excitement was of a strictly legitimate character. No threats of violence by force of arms were resorted to, as in 1801, during a similar contest between Burr and Jefferson, when it was proclaimed, on the authority of Jefferson himself, that, in case the House should defeat his election, "the Middle States would arm." Such seditious, jacobinal sentiments would not have been tolerated at the time in question. But there was not less of anxiety or of interest. The friends of all three candidates were alike energetic, and the movements of each party were watched and sifted with sleepless jealousy. Not a step could be taken, nor a proposal made by one, that was not immediately traced and rebutted by the others. Nor was the excitement confined to the members of Congress. Every citizen of Washington was an electioneerer for the one party or the other in some shape, and every visitor within its walls was an active, working partisan. The hotels were only so many caucus or "Doubtless, in common with others, you feel the greatest anxiety about the Presidential election. Recently, few changes have been manifested on that subject. Every thing has depended, and does depend, on the course which the Western States friendly to Mr. Clay may take. Should is not desperate. It is impossible to decide with they join us, even to the number of two, the game certainty whether they will do so. Their conduct has been extremely mysterious and doubtful. At one time, they led us to believe they would unite days ago we received the news that the Kentucky with us. At another, they are antipodal. Two Legislature had instructed their representatives to vote for Jackson. This information has brought out five of them, who will do so; the others (seven) have not yet declared. Ohio is divided, but this morning I have the positive declaration of one of their most honest and intelligent members, that they have determined not to vote for Jackson. But it is not settled how they will go between Crawford and Adams. The objections made by those friendly to us in both Kentucky and Ohio have their root in the state of Crawford's health; and as an honest man I am bound to admit that, although daily improving, it affords cause for objection. He is very fat, but his speech and vision are imperfect, and the paralysis of his hand continues. His speech improves slowly. His right eye is so improved that he sees well enough to play whist as well as an old man without spectacles. His hand also gets stronger. Yet defect in all these members is but too evident. My brotherin-law, Mr. Scott, has not positively promised to to do so. support him, but I think he has made up his mind So also do I think of Mr. Rankin. If, however, I am deceived in all these calculations, (in which I think I am not,).General Jackson will shall be made. "New-Jersey is willing to join us, if success becomes probable, and I am assured that five out of six of New-England will do so too, when Adams's prospects are blasted. Should Crawford be elected, it will be by a combination of Maine, NewHampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New-Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, Kentucky or Ohio. Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia have nailed their flag, and will sink with the ship. New-England, if they wish to prevent the election of Jackson, (and they say they do,) must come to us, for we will not go to them. Colonel Benton is active in our cause, and is likely to do us good. Could we hit upon a few great principles, and unite their support with that of Crawford, we should succeed beyond doubt. But the fact is, we are as much divided as any other people. On the whole, I do not feel alarmed, though I am not confident. Here they call me croaker. say I will not express a confidence which I do I not feel." held the power of fixing the desired union. On him, therefore, as is well known, all eyes were eagerly fastened. It was known that he viewed Jackson with unfeigned distrust, that he had held him amenable to the censure of Congress for lawless and unconstitutional conduct as an officer of the army, that he never hesitated to pronounce him to be unfit for civil office, and that he had already expressed a determination not to vote for him. Jackson never expected him to do so, and with his usual frankness had caused it to be proclaimed that such a vote by Clay "would be an act of duplicity." But the Legislature of Kentucky had instructed him to sustain Jackson, and the Jackson party, therefore, built up high hopes. But they little knew the man with whom they were dealing, if they ever supposed that such instructions would guide him any further than they might comport with his own judgment. He took, and has ever maintained the ground that the Legislature had no right to instruct him, and that he felt no more respect for such instructions coming from the Legislature, than from any other assemblage of his fellow-citizens. Under these circumstances, therefore, he was forced to make a choice between Crawford and Adams. Still, the friends of Jackson did not cease to importune him with their efforts to obtain his support and influence for their favorite. It has even been shown that some of them advised and recommended an arrangement by which Clay should be tempted into his support by the allurements of high office, in case Jackson was made President. On the contrary, there has never been exhibited the least shadow of proof that the friends of Adams or Crawford made overtures of any character to Clay or to any of his friends. That both of these were anxious to secure his coöperation by all legitimate means, there can be no doubt. There is some reason to think that Clay's inclination, as well from their personal as political associations, rather impelled him to a preference for Crawford. But his stern temperament has never been warped by private preference contrary to his sense of public duty. His disposition is marked rather with the severe attributes of Roman character, than with the flexile impulses of the softer tempered Greek. This letter speaks for itself, and unfolds much that is interesting in connection with the history of that memorable contest. Congress had now been more than six weeks in session, and yet there had been no developments which could point the result, even to the most sagacious. There was, indeed, much to cause Cobb's expression of "mysterious and doubtful," because, so nicely balanced was the apparent strength of Adams and Crawford, that the Clay party were unable to decide which would prove the most available to defeat, by a united movement, the election of Andrew Jackson. Thus much, it would seem, the majority had resolved to do from the beginning of the strife; but that majority was scattered among three We have seen already that Crawford's distinct and unfriendly parties, and Clay health was extremely precarious, and that |