cratic tendencies, with which opponents were charged; but they had not made, as now, a false title the battle cry of the party, their first, their last, their only argument. Great measures of foreign policy, almost wholly absorbing men's minds, had not permitted this small game to be played. In consequence, moreover, of the termination of these questions, and the defeat of the Federalists in reference to them, that party ceased to exist as an opposition. During the whole of Mr. Monroe's administration, they gave a cordial support to the government, and became merged with their antagonists into one united people, wearied with political strife and disposed to take a calm review of former contests. It was, in truth, the era of good feelings. Here and there some of those small men who feel that at such times they have no chance of emerging from that obscurity, for which nature designed them, were endeavoring to maintain the old distinctions of names in local and state elections; but their miserable efforts received little countenance from the mass of the people. The nation desired repose and a concentrated attention to those matters of internal improvement (we use the term in its best and largest sense) which had before to give way to the all-absorbing questions arising out of our foreign relations; and on those questions of national improvement, there was, at that time, but little difference of opinion at the North or the South. Southern men had no doubt of the constitutionality and expediency of protecting the national industry. The North concurred in the sentiment, although at that time its ostensible interests were no more connected with this question than those of other sections of the Union. All felt the importance of a national currency, and there was hardly a shadow of a difference as to the means by which alone it could be secured.
Neither was the election of 1824 conducted on party grounds. Local interests and personal predilections predominated. Adams, Clay, Crawford, and Jackson were the prominent candidates for the presidency. They were all recognised as Republicans, and were supported as such. Failing of an election by the people, the House of Representatives, under the provisions of the Constitution, elected Mr. Adams to the chief magistracy. In the contest between these several candidates, the members of the old Federal party were about equally divided, as they are between the parties at this day. The radical faction of the present day, neither in name nor principles, had any existence at that period. All pretended affinities of a more ancient date are unsupported by fact, the old Republicans holding few or no opinions in common with the modern Democracy.
In the course of this fortunate period there was an incident to which we would wish to call particular attention. It shows how the most violent spirits had felt the composing influences to which we have alluded, and yielded to the general spirit of peace, of unity and nationality which pervaded the land. Some other conclusions also may be legitimately drawn. We allude to a famous letter written during this period by General Jackson to Mr. Monroe. Many may call that letter in question, as some enlightened Democrats would deny that James K. Polk ever opposed a tariff; but we will not so far distrust the intelligence even of our opponents, as to offer proof of a fact so well known to all who have any knowledge of the history of the times. It is, however, rather remarkable that this letter should be suffered to rest in such comparative obscurity, while the most questionable acts of General Jackson's life and administration have been trumpeted forth as evidences of his superior democracy. When his most high-handed measures have ever been most ardently supported by those who have been clamorous in their alarms about the monarchical tendencies of conservative doctrines, it is certainly strange that one of the noblest acts of his life should be seldom mentioned. Over his famous proclamation against the Carolina nullifiers, a veil has been drawn, as though his most devoted friends regarded it as a blot upon his character; and when we allude to his letter to President Monroe, some most consistent Democrat may perhaps charge it to be a political forgery, designed to represent the old chief as failing in his allegiance to a party which had no existence until some time after it was written. But the letter lives. Many of the General's present political foes remember it as a redeeming trait in his character; and it may yet furnish the historian with some materials for his eulogy, and the future moralist a proof how much more valuable are a man's honest opinions in private life, than those he is made to promulge as the head of a polit-
