which he could have wished had been separately proposed to the people,) he might, perhaps, have thought it his duty to vote against it altogether; and that was the provision for future amendments, which afforded to the people a means of correcting what we had done amiss, and of curing its present and future defects with reasonable facility, without resorting to the difficult and dangerous experiment of a formal convention, which no man, he believed, would wish again to see take place, so long as the acknowledged evils of our present system were at all tolerable. And with this means of setting right whatever had been hastily or unadvisedly sanctioned here, in the hands of the people, he consented, not without much doubt and hesitation, to submit our whole work to their judgment and consideration, leaving even his own judgment open to conviction and reconsideration on that last appeal, should better and more mature counsels convince him he ought so to do; to that decision he should endeavor cheerfully to submit, cherishing, he believed, as few personal hopes or expectations, from any state of things which might grow out of it, as any man within the reach of his voice. Such was the best result of a course of reflection as serious and unprejudiced as he had ever, on any occasion whatever, been called upon to make with himself, and which terminated in the affirmative vote which he was now prepared to give."

When Mr. Bacon had done speaking the clerk proceeded with the call of the roll of members, and but eight of the whole number voted in the negative. These were Messrs. Jay, Jones, Rhinelander, Sanders, Sylvester, Van Horne, Van Ness and Van Vechten.

On motion of Mr. N. Sanford, the thanks of the convention to the president were unanimously voted. To which, Mr. Tompkins replied in the following words :

"GENTLEMEN, I am penetrated with a due sense, not only of the honor conferred by your selection of me to preside in this highly respectable body—but also of your kindness and regard manifested by the unanimous resolution which you have been pleased to adopt at the close of the solemn duties which the people have committed to us. "It is my sincere hope that the approbation of this community may crown the result of our consultations, and that it may accomplish the momentous objects for which we have been assembled, and redound to the liberty, tranquillity, and permanent welfare of our constituents, and of posterity.

"Whilst I tender to you an affectionate adieu, indulge me, gentlemen, in a fervent expression of my acknowledgments for your uniform support and approbation, and of my best wishes for your respective happiness and prosperity."

The convention then adjourned, and with the adjournment of that body terminated the political action of Gov. Tompkins in the state of Now-York. He continued, it is true, to hold the office of vice-president of the United States, but I cannot learn that he afterwards interfered in any party contest in this state, or even in the nation. About this time, or rather soon after, his health became greatly impaired, and he, unfortunately, was harrassed and annoyed by pecuniary embarrassments, to a degree which rendered the latter years of his life very unhappy.

It would appear, that after his second election to the vice-presidency, he gave up all expectation of future political advancement. To a man who had been in public life almost from the time he was constitutionally eligible to office, who had enjoyed so much of popular favor, and I might say, almost adoration, and who, at one period of his life, had well founded hopes of arriving at the acme of power in the American republic, the determination to

abandon political life must have cost a most painful effort. I lament that I am compelled to add, that in the latter part of his life, probably in order to allay nervous irritability and excitement, he indulged too freely in stimulating drinks.

It is impossible for those who knew the native kindness of his heart, and his fine social qualities, marred though they were with many of the frailties incident to human nature, to reflect upon the situation of Gov. Tompkins shortly before his death, without the deepest sympathy, and without experiencing the most painful sensations.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

FROM NOVEMBER 10, 1821, TO JANUARY 1, 1823.

THE Convention adjourned, without day, on the 10th day of November.

At the meeting of the new congress, in December, a very warm contest arose in the house of representatives in respect to the choice of a speaker. Mr. Taylor was again a candidate, and was supported now, as heretofore, by many of the members from the eastern, middle, and some of the western states. Those members from NewYork, who were elected by the party opposed to Gov. Clinton, (and they constituted a majority of our delegation,) warmly opposed the elevation of Mr. Taylor to the speaker's chair. The southern members had some difficulty in fixing upon a candidate; but they eventually united on P. P. Barbour, of Virginia, since an associate judge of the supreme court of the United States, and he was elected. There were five ballotings. P. P. Barbour, Samuel Smith of Maryland, and Cæsar A. Rodney of Delaware, were the southern candidates. On the fifth ballot, Mr. Barbour received eighty-eight votes, Mr. Taylor sixty-seven, and there were seventeen scattering votes. This, it will be seen, gave Mr. Barbour a majority of all the votes. His election was produced by the unanimous support of the bucktail members from this state, whose only objection to Mr. Taylor was, that he was understood to have been favorable to the election of Mr. Clinton, in 1820. Federalists, Clintonians, and democrats, all professed to be the supporters of the administration of Mr. Monroe, and, of these three parties, it is probable the federalists were the most sincere friends of that administration.

So far as related to national measures, I am not aware that there was a shade of difference between the Clintonian and the anti-Clintonian democrats of this state. Why, then, should the members of the house of representatives, belonging to the latter class, have voted against selecting a speaker from their own state? Their conduct can only be charged to the rigid system of party discipline which prevailed here. Mr. Gales of the Intelligencer, being astonished and confounded at the course taken by a majority of the New-York delegation, gravely remarked, that "there must be something peculiar in the political distinctions in New-York." Mr. Van Buren was then in the United States senate, and it is alleged, and I have no doubt, truly alleged, that he exerted all his influence with the members from this state, to induce them to vote against Mr. Taylor. But Mr. Van Buren, when a candidate for re-election to the presidency, in 1840, experienced in the conduct of his opponents, in his own state, the same want of regard for the character and political influence of the state, as he and his friends manifested in the election of speaker, in 1821. "The same measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."

The legislature convened at Albany, on the second day of January. On the evening previous to their meeting, the democratic members of the assembly, held a caucus for the nomination of a speaker. They were divided between Mr. Samuel B. Romaine of New-York, and Mr. James Burt of Orange county. The two parties measured their strength by a ballot, and Mr. Romaine received thirty-eight votes, and Mr. Burt but twenty-eight. Romaine was therefore declared duly nominated and the next day he was elected.

After the two houses were organized, the governor met them in the assembly chamber, and delivered an able, though as usual somewhat too long a speech.