cient. His morals, public and private, are loose, but he has all the virtues indispensable to a popular man. As he is the first distinguished man that the Western country has presented as a statesman to the Union, they are profoundly proud of him. Clay's temper is impetuous and his ambition impatient. He has long since marked me as the principal rival in his way, and has taken no more pains to disguise his hostility than was necessary for decorum, and to avoid shocking the public opinion. His future fortunes and mine are in wiser hands than ours. I have never even defensively repelled his attacks. Clay has large and liberal views of public affairs, and that sort of generosity which attaches individuals to his person. As President of the Union, his administration would be a perpetual succession of intrigue and management with the legislature. It would also be sectional in its spirit, and sacrifice all interests to those of the Western country and the slave-holders. But his principles relative to internal improvements would produce results honorable and useful to the nation.”
This was not the judgment of a friend, but of a man always inclined to be censorious, and, when stung by conflicts of opinion, uncharitable. It was the judgment, too, of a rival in the race for the presidency, — a rival careful to admit to himself the strong qualities of the adversary, while dwelling with some satisfaction upon his weak points. When speaking of Clay's “loose” public morals, Adams can have meant only the apparently factious opposition to Monroe's administration, and his resort to tricky expedients in carrying his points in
