The nomination was rejected in the senate by the casting vote of Mr. Calhoun, the vice president. Mr. Clay’s opposition to it was based upon grounds purely national――on a desire to maintain the dignity and honor of his country’s character. It was fair for him, and for every one, to infer, that the spirit of cringing obsequiousness which Mr. Van Buren evinced, in framing instructions for a foreign minister, would display itself before the court of St. James, in acts as humiliating to her feelings as derogatory to her honor; in a word, that he would take the low attitude of the _parasite_, and not the erect position of the high-minded representative of an independent and mighty nation. How could Mr. Clay’s course have been otherwise? Viewed with the eye of a partisan, it may be deemed impolitic; it may have contributed more than any thing else to elevate Mr. Van Buren to the presidency, by recommending him more strongly to the favor of his party, as the victim of political persecution. Party politics, however, had nothing to do in determining Mr. Clay’s action; this was not the result of the consultations of any clique, nor the product of any party machinery; it was the offspring of his prompt, spontaneous, and unqualified obedience to his country’s mandate. He was never found grovelling among the dingy kennels and filthy sewers of party cabal, seeking the performance of some dirty job; for his country, his _whole country_, gave him too much and too honorable employment to allow him any leisure for this, had he been thus inclined. We have seen that it was his ardent desire to develope the resources of his country to their greatest possible extent, and to cause the tide of prosperity to flow unremittingly into the depositaries of her treasures; and he possessed the abilities requisite to accomplish both, if these could have been suitably directed. Unfortunately, however, circumstances rendered it necessary for them to be almost constantly employed in beating off those who were determined to lay violent hands on her facilities and riches. Instead, therefore, of erecting new political edifices, his time was incessantly occupied in preventing her enemies from tearing down those that were already established. These, he fought and belabored to the last, and plucked from their ravenous jaws many fair portions of his country’s possessions. But it needed more than human aid to overthrow their now combined and embattled forces. We have reached the period rendered memorable by their ruthless ravages, the darkest and most disgraceful of our history――chronicling the vilest acts of those in power, and the noblest deeds of those out of power. Hitherto, in tracing the public career of Mr. Clay, our path has been, for the most part, smooth and flowery; but now it is to become rugged and thorny, for we have arrived at the border of the _great desert of our political annals_――a region of ruin, covered with the black monuments of political depravity and unprincipled faction――a region we would gladly avoid, did not our path lead across it, which we enter reluctantly, and with feelings not unlike those of the traveller who has journeyed through an enlightened country, beautified by art, literature, and science, and is about to pass into one destitute of the conveniences and necessaries of civilization. As he pauses and turns to take a last look of the beauty of the former, before he plunges into the gloom and dreariness of the latter, so let us cast a glance at the bright region behind, before entering the dismal one before us. The vision is cheered by a vast country, basking in the sunshine of high prosperity, with its various departments organized and governed with the most scrupulous fidelity, and with strict regard for the interests of those for whom they were established. No evils are seen to exist, except such as are incident to the most wisely regulated human institutions. On all sides we behold a population harmonious and happy, pursuing their different vocations without clashing or defection, or rejoicing over the rewards of honest and judicious industry. The great sources of their thrift, and most conspicuous features of their country, are the broad, deep, and crystalline streams of agriculture, commerce, currency, and domestic manufactures, with its noble tributary, internal improvement. These meander throughout its whole extent, deposit their sweet waters at every man’s dwelling, and make the whole land vocal with innocent mirth and pure enjoyment.