The Whig national convention met at Harrisburg, December 4, 1839, and nominated for the presidency General William Henry Harrison, with John Tyler for the vicepresidency. Both Clay and Webster felt that this decision showed no appreciation of their claims to that honor. Webster was strong in New England, but his following elsewhere in the country was small. Realizing that his hopes for nomination were slight, he went to London and announced himself as not being a candidate. Clay had held a position of leadership, which gave him rightful consideration for the office, but his active participation in the discussions of administrative measures in Congress had alienated from him some of his party. The fact of his being a Freemason also militated against him in the convention. He was besides a conspicuous advocate of a protective tariff, so unpopular in the South Atlantic States. But Clay was not a man to forswear his party for personal disappointment, and accepted its adverse decision. When the autumn elections of 1839 indicated a slight reaction in favor of the Democrats, necessitating a united opposition if the Whigs hoped to succeed, Clay wrote a letter in which he said: "If the deliberations of the convention shall lead them to the choice of another as the candidate of the opposition, far from feeling any discontent, the nomination will have my best wishes and receive my cordial support." In the same spirit he asked his friends to "discard all attachment or partiality to me, and be guided solely by the motive of rescuing our country from the dangers which now encompass it."

But in truth the party of Clay was more of a coalition than a party and had been made such by Clay. It had no definite set of principles or aims to advance. Its policy was criticism of the administration. General Harrison, the successful nominee, represented no personal views that would have unfitted him to stand as the Democratic nominee instead of the Whig. He was a States Rights' man and believed in a moderate tariff. His views upon the United States Bank were that there was no express

authority in the Constitution for the charter of the national bank, and that Congress was only justified in resorting to such an expedient under the condition that the powers granted to it could not be otherwise carried out. His attitude on the slavery question had been that of concurring in what the slaveholding interest asked. The elegant tastes of Van Buren were in strong contrast to the homespun simplicity of Harrison. These personal aspects were seized upon as the campaign material for a political contest unrivalled in the history of the country for its wild enthusiasm and personal vituperation. The slogan of the Whigs was "Tippecanoe and Tyler too." Log cabins and hard cider figured in every political meeting. The rugged virtues of Harrison were lauded. Monster mass meetings were the order of the day and brass bands and processions kept the country in a state of ferment; but there was no depth to the demonstration. The people attended the picnics and barbecues to be amused rather than to have their political opinions fixed. Clay was faithful to his promise and supported the candidates in a vigorous manner. The Whigs numbered among their supporters Webster, Corwin, Ewing, Choate, Wise, Reverdy Johnson, Everett, and Prentiss.

The platform of the campaign was given by Clay in an address at Taylorsville in which he declared for a limitation of executive power, the noneligibility of the president for a second term in office, the more precise definition of the veto power and its limitation by a simple majority of the Senate and House of Representatives, the restriction of the president's power of dismissal from office, the control of the treasury exclusively by Congress, and the prohibition of the appointment of members of Congress, with certain exceptions, to any office during their term of service and one year thereafter. As to the stability of the currency, Clay demanded that the methods to secure this should be left to enlightened public opinion. He advocated protection of manufactures, but was content with the tariff of 1833. He wanted the public lands to produce revenue,

and the building of roads and canals to be left to the States, these to receive from the general government for internal improvements no larger sum than the fourth installment of the treasury surplus, and their share of the returns from the sale of public lands. Upon the matter of slaveholding he confined himself to the general statement that slave property "should be left where the Constitution had placed it, undisturbed and unagitated by Congress."

The tremendous enthusiasm of the Whigs in the campaign of 1840 reached the point of hysteria, as is evidenced by the following quotation from the Baltimore Patriot, describing the great procession held in connection with the National Convention of Young Whigs. This presents a picture which was repeated throughout the country: "Monday was a proud day for Baltimore, for Maryland, for the Union. It was a day on which the Young Whigs of all the States were to meet in grand convention. Never before was seen such an assemblage of the people in whose persons are concentrated the sovereignty of the government. In the language of the president of the day, Every mountain sent its rill, Every Valley, Its Stream,-and Lo! The avalanche of the people is here!' It is impossible to convey the slightest idea of the sublime spectacle presented by the procession as it moved through the city. All that pen could write, all that the mouth of man could speak, all that the imagination can conceive of beauty, grandeur, and sublimity, would fall short-far short of the reality. The excitement, the joy, the enthusiasm which everywhere prevailed, lighting up the countenance of every man in the procession; the shouts, the applause, the cheers, of those who filled the sidewalks and crowded the windows; waving of handkerchiefs by the ladies; the responsive cries of the people; the flaunting banners; the martial music; the loud roar, at intervals, of the deep-mouthed cannon,-all these and more, much more, must be described, seen in the mind's eye, vibrate through the frame, fill the heart, before the reader can approach to any conception of the reality;