The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-06-27

He was very far indeed from being a great
man. The spirit Of command was not in him.
nor had he the tact which frequently supplies
its place. He aspired TO the highest honors of
the State, and he saw, not without repininq.
that the preference Of Mr.. Jefferson for his
rival was likely to defer the qualification Of his
wishes. Mr.. jefferson has informed posterity;
that in this contest he maintained an absolute
neutrality, and we have not the slightest
question Of the fact. But Mr.. Jeferson's pre-
ference for Madison was evident, and such was
the ascendency of the President in the Repub-
lican party, that that preference was decisive
of Mr.. Madison's nomination by the Congress
sional caucus. That nomination was made
however, with the understanding that Monroe
was to be James Madison's successor. 1t is
surprising to notice under what discipline the
Democratic party was at that early day.
Monroe, who was the favorite of the extreme
Republicans, such as Andrew Jackson, received
but three votes in the Congressional caucus,
out of eighty nine, while James Madison,
the Irregular candidate" of the party, received
eighty-three. Monroe, we may gather from
the correspondence of the time, was restive
under his defeat; but he was recalled to his
duty, and reconciled to his fate by a few
kind and wise lines from the pen of Mr.. JEFF
ferson.
OF all the men elected by universal suffrage
to the chief magistracy of nation, the one
that was least likely to be spontaneously
elected was James Madison. In personal ap-
pearance and demeanor, dressed as he was
always in suit of black, he was more like
student than man of the worln. A plain,
sound, and courteous speaker, there was
neither great force nor briliancy in his oratory.
He was man of the closet, far more able to
form a correct opinion respecting government,
than to administer government in times of
difficulty. A relative of Jefferson, who was
much with him in his old age, has
informed us that Thomas Jefferson re-
spected more highly the understanding of
James Madison, and deferred to it more, than
to that of any other man of his time. It is
not, however, the wisdom of the cloister
which can conduct young nation with honor
and success through war with an ancient
and powerful empire. That the disasters of
the war of 1872 did not prevent the reelection
of Mr.. Madison is proof, at once, of Jeffer-
sons commanding influence, of the strict dis
cipline of the Democratic party, and, above
all, of the good sense of the American people.
Whatever might have been Mr.. Madison's
shortcomings, it was not clear to the party or
to the public that any one else would do
better, and sit is no time" as Mr.. Lin
coin remarked, "to swap horses when
you are swimming a stream" When
some weak brethren of the party
faltered in their support of the President,
and besought Mr.. Jefferson to come to his aid
in the Cabinet, he replied, and that, too, at a
time of extreme dependency in the public
mind:-"From three-and- thirty years. trial,
can say, conscientiously, that l do not know
in the world a man of purer integrity, more
dispassionate, disinterested, and devoted to
genuine republicanism; nor could l, in the
whole scope of America and Europe, point
out an abler head. He may be lily seconded
by others, betrayed by the Hulls and Arnolds
of our country-for such there are in every
aud nd
know it-but what man can do, will be done
by Mr.. Madison. hope, therefore, there will
be no difference among Republicans as to his
reelection"
Supported thus by the venerable chief of
the Democrats, and aided by cheering vic
tories upon the ocean, Mr.. Madison was re-
elected by one hundred and twenty eight
electoral votes to De Witt Clinton's eighty
nine.
When the war closed in blaze of triumph
at New Orleans, in 1915, the Federal party
was thing of the past. 1t may be laid down
as rule, that political party which gives a
doubtful support to the administration during
a war in which the honor and safety of the
country are at stake, and from which the
nation issues triumphant, will never regain
power under its old name and organization.
This law has been twice eXemplifed in the his
tory of the United States. The Federal party
ceased to exist in 1915, and James Monroe sue
ceeded to the Presidency in 1917 and was re-
elected in 1921, with the nearest approach to
unanimity the country has seen since the days
of Washington.
Another law of politics may be laid down:
whenever political party has practically eX-
tiDguished the party in opposition to it, it will
speedily divide. Even if there did not exist
necessity for this in human nature, it would
occur sooner or later from the ambition of
rival chiefs.
If James Monroe had been a man of COM
manding character, or even a thorough going
partisan it would have been easy for him to
continue the Jefersonian dynasty by choos-
ing his successor. But he was neither So
moderate had he become, that he was disposed
to give one of the places in his Cabinet to a
Federalist "While 1 am here" he wrete to
General Jackson few days before his inaugu-
ration, 81 shall make the Administration, first,
for the country and its cause; secondly to
give effect to the government of the people,
through me, for the term of my appoint
ment, not for the aggrandizement of any
one." In this spirit the good-natured and
hospitable old soldier conducted his admins
tration, and consequently neither of the able
men who aspired to the succession was able to
use the Administration for the promotion of his
views.
The leading competitors were six in num-
ber and each of them possessed some signal
advantage over the others. John Quincy
Adams, as Secretary of State, was in the line
of succession which the usage of twenty-four
years had established. William ii. Crawford,
by Withdrawing his name from the caucus of
1916 in favor of Mr.. Monroe, had acquired
kind of right, which was acknowledged, to
nomination by the caucus of 1924; and he was
indeed regarded as the rightful candidate OF
ba navtv Hanru Claw tha first orator of his