for the purpose of giving point to the opposition and to keep its spirit hot. Not one of them led to any practical result.
The confinement of office life, the anxieties of his position, and probably a feeling of regret that he had put himself into a situation in which he could only with difficulty defend himself against the virulent hostility assailing him without cessation, began to tell upon Clay's health. He felt weary and ill, so seriously sometimes that he thought of giving up his place in the administration. After the adjournment of Congress he visited his home in Kentucky. Again he was cheered and feasted on the way, as well as by his old constituents at home, and again he had, at dinners and receptions, to tell the story of the last presidential election over and over, in order to prove that the “bargain and corruption” charge was false. Again he returned to Washington, encouraged by the enthusiastic affection of his friends, and their assurance that there were large masses of people believing in the honorable character of the President and the Secretary of State.
The elections for the twentieth Congress which took place that summer and autumn began to show new lines of party division. In many districts the struggle was avowedly between those friendly and those hostile to the administration. The forming groups were not yet divided by clearly defined differences of principle or policy, but the air was full of charges, insinuations, and personal detraction.
