Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. I.djvu/341

ANDREW JACKSON 283 objection, coming from so able a source, is an index to the bitter disappointment of Jackson s followers. The needed "grievance" was furnished when Adams selected Clay as his secretary of state. Many of Jackson s friends interpreted this ap pointment as the result of a bargain whereby Clay had made Adams president in consideration of obtaining the first place in the cabinet, carrying with it, according to the notion then prevalent, a fair prospect of the succession to the presidency. It was natural enough for the friends of a disap pointed candidate to make such a charge. It was to Benton s credit that he always scouted the idea of a corrupt bargain between Adams and Clay. Many people, however, believed it. In congress, John Randolph s famous allusion to the "coalition between Blifil and Black George the Puritan and the blackleg" led to a duel between Randolph and Clay, which served to impress the matter upon the popular mind without enlightening it; the pistol is of small value as an agent of enlightenment. The charge was utterly without support and in every way improbable. The excellence of the ap pointment of Clay was beyond cavil, and the sternly upright Adams was less influenced by what people might think of his actions than any other president since Washington. But the appointment was no doubt ill-considered. It made it necessary for Clay, in many a public speech, to defend him-