Upon this point there was no difference of opinion, and the authority was given to the President in an act passed early in the session.
The energy, activity and decision which Mr. Breckinridge displayed in this connection, raised him in the estimation even of those with whom he had long been on intimate terms, and when the next election drew near he was mentioned very prominently for the Republican nomination for the Vice-Presidency. He never lacked warm and staunch friends, and, as soon as his name was mentioned, they came forward and pressed his claims with convincing effect. Mr. Jefferson, with an honorable desire to bind all sections firmly to his growing party, was very unwilling that the candidates for the two principal offices in the country should come from the States of Virginia and Kentucky, so recently one and still closely knit together. It did not need his eminent foresight to see that jealousy would be called forth by such action, and that such jealousy would at once be almost certainly fatal to the party, and not without some foundation. His friends were quick to urge Mr. Breckinridge to forbid that his name should be used, and the distinguished Allan McGruder wrote on Mr. Jefferson's behalf and laid the matter plainly before him. Mr. Breckinridge, who lost no opportunity of proving his love and loyalty towards his great leader, readily listened to these considerations and did not permit his name to be presented to the caucus which made the nominations. Nevertheless, quite a number of votes were cast for him.
