by the way, he demonstrated conclusively the
constitutional right of the United States to acquire territory. When it
is remembered that Mr. Jefferson took a different view of this question
at the time of the acquisition of Louisiana, and believed an amendment
to the constitution necessary to the validity of the purchase; the
originality as well as the ability of Mr. Tazewell appear in a favorable
light.

Meantime his reputation had been extending far and wide. In Virginia
some of our older politicians had not become, nor were they ever, fully
reconciled to him in consequence of his course during the
administrations of Jefferson and Madison; but these were gradually
disappearing from the stage, and he now seemed to be regarded by the
great body of the people as the most popular man of his time; and he was
reelected unanimously to the Senate, or, to speak with strictness, with
only four scattering votes. One instance may show the height on which he
stood at this time. His second election to the Senate was made the order
of the day for the 1st of January, 1829: the day had come; the order was
about to be read from the chair; and I was about to rise in my place in
the House of Delegates to nominate him for reelection, when a gentleman,
advanced in life, who had rendered valuable service to his country,
hailing, too, from a central part of the State, came to my seat and
implored me to allow him, as the crowning honor of his life, to nominate
Mr. Tazewell for reelection. I think I may safely affirm, from close
observation at the time both at home and abroad, that the abilities and
character of Mr. Tazewell were held in higher estimation, and even
veneration, in Virginia and out of it, at this period, than those of any
of her statesmen since the retirement of Jefferson and Madison from the
public service. It was a commingled feeling of admiration, awe, and
pride.

It is a coincidence in the lives of Mr. Tazewell and his father, that
the father was elected to the Senate of the United States to fill a
vacancy caused by the resignation of John Taylor of Caroline; and that
the son, after an interval of thirty years from the election of the
father, was chosen to fill the vacancy in the Senate made by the
resignation of the same individual; and that father and son were twice
elected president of the Senate.

The views of Mr. Tazewell on the important topics which arose out of
the efforts of South Carolina in relation to the tari