THE NATIONAL WHIG CONVENTION.

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that the call of the Convention was premature; that it should have awaited the action of the session of Congress that had just opened, before selecting a candidate for the presidency. Mr. Tyler was confident that Mr. Calhoun might be induced to act with the Whigs, his hostility to Mr. Van Buren being well known. The task of unseating Mr. Van Buren and expelling his partisans from their intrenched position was a formidable one-but, said Mr. Tyler, "We must give no audience to our fears." The journey from York, where we took the railroad train to Harrisburg, was interesting; the scenery along the banks of the Susquehanna was beautiful, and a bright winter day imparted a charm to the varied landscape. I found a large number of delegates assembled upon my arrival at Harrisburg. The morning of the next day, Wednesday, opened auspiciously, and the Convention assembled at noon in a large Presbyterian church, which had been tendered for the use of the body. The Convention organized by electing as its permanent president, Governor James Barbour, of Virginia, with several gentlemen from other States as vice-presidents. The choice of Governor Barbour as president was felicitous in every way, personally, geographically, and politically. As a presiding officer he was transcendently fine. In the whole course of a long public service I have never seen a man who could rival him as a presiding officer of a public assembly. His person was commanding, his presence distinguished, his bearing dignified and stately; and his sonorous voice controlled the large body, representing such a vast and varied constituency, with resist less effect. He had filled great places, having been Governor of his State, Secretary of War in the Cabinet of John Quincy Adams, a senator from Virginia, and Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to England. The plan adopted by the Convention for the choice of a candidate for President and for Vice-President was original, and has been the sub

ject of criticism by so eminent a statesman as Honorable Thomas H. Benton. But it seemed to me to possess great advantages, and in my judgment it might well be adopted for the guidance of national conventions in our day. Instead of proceeding to ballot in open convention, it was decided to refer the selection of candidates to a committee composed of delegates from the States represented, not to exceed three from each State. It was the duty of the committee to withdraw to another hall, and sit as an independent body, to consider the claims of the several candidates, and when a satisfactory result was reached, to rise and report their action to the Convention for approval. A majority of all the delegations from the several States was required to secure a nomination. The following order was adopted by the Convention :

"Ordered, that the delegates from each State be required to assemble as a delegation and appoint a committee, not exceeding three in number, to receive the views and opinions of such delegation, and communicate the same to the assembled committees of all the delegations, to be by them respectively reported to their principals; and thereupon the delegates from each State be required to assemble as a delegation and ballot for candidates for the offices of President and Vice-President, and having done so, to commit the ballot, designating the votes of each candidate, and by whom given, to its committee, and thereupon all the committees shall assemble and compare the several ballots, and report the result of the same to their several delegations, together with such facts as may bear upon the nomination; and said delegation shall forthwith reassemble and ballot again for candidates for the above offices, and again commit the result to the above committees; and if it shall appear that a majority of the ballots are for any one man, for candidate for President, said committee shall report the result to the Convention for its consideration; but if there shall be no such majority, then the delegates shall repeat the balloting until such a majority shall be obtained, and then

NOMINEEs for the presidency.

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The

report the same to the Convention for its consideration. vote of a majority of each delegation shall be reported as the vote of that State; and each State represented here shall vote its full electoral vote by said delegation in the Convention."

The Committee of States raised by the above order was chosen, and immediately repaired to a large apartment prepared for their accommodation. They met in the afternoon of Wednesday and organized, adopting such rules as would enable the body to conform to the plan adopted by the Convention. I was chosen as one of the three to represent the State of Alabama. Soon after organizing, the Convention adjourned to meet at an early hour the next morning. I was an ardent supporter of Mr. Clay, and with his other friends anticipated his early nomination. But the friends of General Harrison, led by Judge Burnet, of Ohio, urged his claims with great earnestness. The delegates from the great State of New York advocated a nomination of General Scott. After a free interchange of views, we proceeded to ballot for a candidate for the presidency, and found ourselves unable to reach a result. When the hour of adjournment arrived in the evening neither candidate had received a majority of the whole number of votes cast.

Upon reassembling the next morning, it was seen that the several delegations adhered to their first choice. Neither the friends of Mr. Clay, of General Harrison, nor of General Scott would yield anything. Each successive ballot disclosed the unswerving loyalty of the delegates to their favorite candidate. Toward the evening of the second day, it was plain that we should not be able to agree upon any candidate without some concession on the part of the friends of Mr. Clay. General Harrison developed great strength. Then the delegates from the State of New York came to the friends of Mr. Clay, and said to us that the nomination of that gentleman was

hopeless, that he was supported mainly by the Southern representatives, who were not strong enough to achieve a triumph over the combined North and West; and they invited us to join them in the support of General Scott. We declined to abandon Mr. Clay, whose qualities, we insisted, entitled him to the nomination. Finally, they said to us: "Well, we now give you Southern gentlemen notice that after the next ballot, if you still adhere to Mr. Clay, we shall give our entire vote to General Harrison, and end this contest." The next ballot disclosed the purpose of the Southern delegates to stand firmly by Mr. Clay. Another ballot was ordered, and it resulted in the choice of General Harrison, the New York delegation having gone over to him in a body. The result was: for General Scott, 16 votes; for Mr. Clay, 90 votes; for General Harrison, 148 votes. We immediately proceeded to ballot for a candidate for Vice-President. Some votes

had been cast for a candidate while the previous ballotings were going on; but the interest in the choice of a candidate for President had been so intense, as to leave the delegates largely uncommitted to any one for the second office. I had, from the first, cast a vote for candidates for both offices, and had voted uniformly for Mr. Clay, and for Mr. Tyler, respectively. From time to time others had joined me in indicating our preference for Mr. Tyler, so that when the committee came to ballot for a candidate for the vice-presidency, after the choice of General Harrison for the presidency had been made, that gentleman had developed considerable strength. On the second ballot for Vice-President, Mr. Tyler was chosen by a large majority, to my great gratification, for I had given him his first vote.

Some of the delegations had expressed a wish to give the nomination for Vice-President to Benjamin Watkins Leigh, who was one of the three gentlemen representing Virginia in our Committee, but he promptly declined

GENERAL HARRISON NOMINATED.

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to be considered an aspirant, in a speech of so much beauty and earnestness that it charmed us all. He was a splendid representative of that class of Virginia gentlemen, who illustrated the grand commonwealth at that period; a statesman of rich culture, of large attainments, of exalted character, of winning eloquence, and fascinating manners.

The committee rose, and proceeding to the hall, where the Convention was in session, reported the result; naming as candidate for President, William Henry Harrison, of Ohio; for Vice-President, John Tyler, of Virginia. There was an outburst of applause; the sonorous voice of Governor Barbour, as he uttered the word "Order," instantly stilled the assemblage. A motion was immediately made to adjourn until 9 o'clock the next morning, which was carried unanimously, and the Convention rose with enthusiastic cheers.

The adjournment was timely; it enabled us to consider, outside of the body, the report of the Committee of States, before a single remark in regard to it had been made in the Convention. The greatest excitement prevailed; the delegates from the Southern States were not only disappointed at the defeat of Mr. Clay, but they believed that the nomination of General Harrison would result in the rout of the Whig party; that not a single Southern State would give its support to the ticket. General Harrison's sentiments were understood to be hostile to slavery; he had not taken an active part in public affairs for some years; but while his eminent services as a soldier were well known, and the greatest respect was felt for his character throughout the country, it was supposed that he had sympathized with those who favored emancipation in Virginia, his native State, some years previously. Of illustrious revolutionary lineage, he belonged to a school of statesmen who, while loyal to the South, entertained views of the government that were called National,