Daniel Webster

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER VI A NEW ENGLAND FEDERALIST THE tariff disposed of, the only question of interest that remained was the coming election of a President. The long list of great names put before the voters in the course of three years by State legislatures, by conventions, by public meetings, by caucuses, by the members of Congress, had been cut down by time to four?Adams, Jackson, Crawford, and Clay. Could Webster have had his wish, Calhoun would have been the successor of Monroe. The great gulf that parted them in later years had not as yet begun to yawn. Again and again in his letters he calls the illustrious Carolinian a true man. But the will of the people assigned to Calhoun the post of Vice-President, and of the four who remained as candidates for the Presidency the names of only three could come before the House of Representatives. That Adams, Jackson, and Crawford would be the three, Webster seems never to have doubted. Not once does he mention the name of Clay. Now he is sure that the novelty of Gen'l Jackson is wearing off, and the contest seems to be coming back to the old question between Mr.Adams and Mr. Crawford. The events of the winter, with the common operation of time, have very much mixed up Federalists with some other of the parties, and though it is true that some men make great efforts to keep up old distinctions, they find it difficult. Mr. Adams, I think, sees also that exclusion will be a very doubtful policy, and in truth I think a little better of the kindness of his feelings toward us than I have done. I have not seen how Federalists could possibly join with those who support Mr. C. The company he keeps at the North is my strongest objection to him. There were those, however, who were not so sure of the kindness of his feelings toward Federa...