return to Jackson. That it was absurd to think these men would leave Jackson because he was a Royal Arch, and unite on Mr. Clay who was a High Priest.

"Mr. Clay, then, out of the way, I was most anxious that the AntiMasonic nomination should have lighted on Mr. McLean, and laboured the point not only with P- but also with other members of that body who came to visit me. Mr. McLean's refusal of the nomination had not then been received. It came, however, in time to operate, I have no doubt, materially upon their ultimate decision.

"When S- first hinted to me that they were thinking of me, I begged him, with a sincerity of which God is the best judge, not to think of it assured him that I had no desire for the office; that my ambition did not lie in this direction; - that I was happy in my family, prosperous in my profession, contented with my situation; that I did not know how to electioneer, had no taste for the business,on the contrary, despised it. That if they wished to succeed they should look to some one who could bring them an accession of strength. That Judge McLean could do this, I could not. When, in spite of all my efforts for others and all my remonstrances against my own nomination, they insisted on their right to nominate whom they pleased, and appealed to me, as a patriot, to accept the nomination-what was I to do?

"The Convention was one of the most respectable assemblies I have ever seen, either in a legislative or any other character. The Chief Justice of the United States (Marshall) and several other gentlemen, myself among them, were invited to attend a reading of some of their reports; and never have I witnessed the display of more talent and dignity on any occasion.

"You have now the whole case before you, and I thought it due to the friendship you have always professed for me, to state it at large. I will not embarrass you with the question, whether you approve my course or not. It is enough for me, that my own conscience approves it, and that I do not believe it is condemned in Heaven.

"I am perfectly aware, with you, that I have none of the captivating arts and manners of professional seekers of popularity. I do not desire them. I shall not change my manners; they are a part of my nature. If the people choose to take me as I am-well. If not, they will only leave me where I have always preferred to be, enjoying the independence of private life. They may make some rents in my garments in the meantime, but they will make none, I hope, in my peace of mind."

This is certainly not the letter of a politician. All who knew Mr. Wirt will readily believe that every sentiment, uttered in this extract, came from the bottom of his heart, and breathed nothing but truth. It will be regarded as a singular passage in the life of a public man; and although it shows one all unpractised in the tactics of political ambition, it cannot but inspire a deep regret that a man of such a mould should not have been advanced to that eminent station from which his virtues would have become illustrious examples, and his deportment a study for the imitation of his fellow-citizens.

There were many persons in the country, and particularly in that section where Mr. Wirt was best known, who, having no connection with the party or the question which brought him before the public, were yet eagerly anxious for his success in the election. Regarding him as a pure and safe guide, a truthful man, a sincere lover of his country, and as gifted with the highest endowments both of mind and soul, they would have rejoiced to see him invested with the honours and command of the Chief Magistracy. By all this class of persons it was hoped, that when the Convention of December should meet, they would find it expedient to adopt Mr. Wirt as their candidate, and thus secure a union with that Anti-Masonic party, whose secession from their former political friends had almost fatally impaired the strength of the main body of those who were now to confront the popularity of General Jackson. It was sufficiently apparent to every observer, whose mind was not heated by the topical enthusiasm of Anti-Masonry, that that party, in its insulated position, had only strength enough to defeat the opposition to the administration, without being able to succeed itself. It could mar, but it could not make. It seemed to be almost equally clear, that the party to be represented in the December Convention, thus shorn of a portion of its force, could hope for success only upon the basis of a coincidence in the nomination with the Anti-Masons. Mr. Wirt was a centre upon which this combination might have been made. His principles had already satisfied the Anti-Masons, and the Convention of December could have found nothing to object to his political relations with them. Upon these grounds, many desired to see him adopted by the second Convention. There were others who thought that he would, eventually, resign his nomination in favour of the candidate of the December VOL. II.

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Convention; believing that his influence would carry the Anti-Masons to the support of that nomination. It is very obvious that such a move, on his part, would have been fruitless; that it would have only offended the one party without adding strength to the other; in fact, that it would have exasperated many persons against both.

As December approached, all doubts upon the course which was finally to be taken, were dispelled. Before the Convention met, it was well known that Mr. Clay was to be the candidate; and almost as generally surmised that both Conventions were to be defeated in the election.

In this state of affairs we have another letter.

"There seems to be no doubt of Mr. Clay's nomination by the Convention here next Wednesday. So be it. In a personal point of view, I shall feel that I have made a lucky escape. I told the Anti-Masons that they had rung the knell of my departed peace. I am relieved by seeing that I am likely to be reprieved. It is supposed, I have no doubt, that I shall be mortified by the rejection. How little do they know of me! A culprit pardoned at the gallows could not be more light-hearted. The simile, to be sure, is not altogether to my mind, any more than Corporal Trim's was to Uncle Toby's; but there is no small resemblance in the buoyancy of the feeling. As to the abuse I am to expect for having permitted my name to be offered, I do not expect much: but if it comes, let it come! My happiness does not depend either on the censure or applause of the vulgar. No man, whose good opinion is worth a wish, shall doubt the purity or disinterestedness of my motives.

"It has been suggested to me by a clergyman, that the Presbyterians are thinking of coming to my aid. I belong to their church. They are said to number a hundred and twenty thousand votes. My advice to them is, to stick to their religion, and not to sully it by mixing in political strife. They will make more hypocrites than Christians by such a course. This is bad advice as a politician, but sound as a Christian. When I say bad advice as a politician, I mean with regard to the particular occasion and the success of my election; for it is throwing away so much support which, I believe, my wish would command But on high political ground it is also sound; for the church and state should be kept separate, and religion should not be made a test for political service. As a Christian, I would wish to

see the President a Christian; for his example might do much good. But it would not do to make it a sine qua non in such an office. If otherwise honest and of superior capacity, that should be enough.

"Mr. Chase writes from Ohio, that the delegates to the Convention from that State will come prepared to support me. So White of Florida, thinks of some of them from Virginia-and Judge Spencer of some of them from New York. But I have not the slightest confidence in these things.

"I tell you, mediocrity is the place for happiness at last the aurea mediocritas. Give me the unpretending cottage in the vale, rather than the castle on the mountain. Oh, had I-not 'a cave on some far-distant shore'. but my plantation in Florida well stocked and settled, with a good house, my wife and children and a few friends around me, how happy would I be 'to daff the world aside!' But I am talking as if I were yet a youth, instead of standing, as I do, on the brink of eternity. Are we not here to-day, - and

morrow?'

gone-to

And the

"I have just read the President's Message. It is supposed to be from Livingston's pen. He writes well, and it is a well-concocted dish. If the Government was to be administered by messages, we should do well enough. But saying and doing are two things. These messages have become mere popularity-traps. What a varnish have we here of a sepulchre full of corruption! Nothing was ever more unlike than the picture and the reality - the outside and the inside. How is the treatment of the poor Indians white-washed! paragraph relative to the amendment of the Constitution for the restriction of the Presidency to a single term, and the non-appointment of members of Congress to office was ever anything more incongruous with the practice! The President acts as if he supposed the Constitution enjoined a double term and the appointment of members, and as if he required a constitutional prohibition to prevent him from doing what he declares to be wrong in principle. The Constitution leaves him free to practise upon his own principles,-why does he not do it, if he deems them so sacred and vital to the public purity and happiness? - But we are to be blessed with his fair words and foul weather for another term.'

HIS ILLNESS.

CHAPTER XIX.

1832.

HIS DESIRE TO WITHDRAW FROM THE PRESIDENTIAL CANVASS. LETTER TO JUDGE CARR ON THIS SUBJECT. TRIAL OF THE CHEROKEE MISSIONARIES, WORCESTER AND BUTLER. THEIR APPEAL TO THE SUPREME COURT. - DECISION IN THEIR FAVOUR.-COURSE OF GEORGIA ON THE SUBJECT.-FAMILIAR LETTERS. -THE CHOLERA. LETTERS TO JUDGE CARR. LETTER TO LOMAX, EXPLAINING MR. WIRT'S MOTIVES IN ACCEPTING THE NOMINATION. THE ELECTION. MR. WIRT DE

DIFFICULTIES OF HIS POSITION IN THE CONTEST.

A VERY severe illness, during which, for a time, his life was thought to be in peril, had confined Mr. Wirt, for some weeks, at the close of the last year and the beginning of the present, to his bed. It was an attack of influenza, produced by cold. His constitution had become visibly impaired, of late years, by the frequent access of disease, induced often by his rigorous application to his professional duties. His recent sickness, at this period, it will be seen, did not wholly divert his mind from the solicitude produced by the late nomination. The determination to hazard the fortunes of the election upon Mr. Clay, with the irreconcilable division of the Anti-Masonic party in the field, he regarded as decisive of the result. His strong wish, therefore, in this condition of affairs, was to retire from the contest. The only impediment that stood in the way of this purpose was the difficulty of obtaining the consent of the Anti-Masonic party to the act. shall find this subject adverted to and discussed in more than one the letters which I have selected for this chapter.

We of

TO JUDGE CARR.

BALTIMORE, January 12, 1832.

MY DEAR FRIEND :

Be it known to you and all whom it may concern, that on this day, being the first day of the fifth week since I was taken sick, I put on,