nor was
surrounded by a council composed of Whigs. The Fifteen-Gallon Law was
repealed and in other respects the government was not different from
what it would have been had Mr. Everett been re-elected.

Governor Morton continued to be the Democratic candidate, and though
defeated in 1840 and 1841 by John Davis, he was again elected in 1843
by the Legislature, there having been no choice by the people, a
majority being required. The Senate was Democratic by a considerable
majority. The House was equally divided at the opening of the session,
and there were four abolitionists who held the balance of power. After
several trials the Whigs succeeded in electing Daniel P. King of
Danvers, by the help of one or more of the abolitionists. There were
several contested seats, and when the house had been purged, as the
process was called, the Democrats were in a majority. The session was
a short one. A few political measures were passed, salaries were
reduced, and much below a reasonable compensation for those days even.
Governor Morton had a Democratic Council, but they were not agreed in
policy and the administration lost strength even with Democrats. Its
defeat in the autumn was inevitable, and Gov. Morton ceased to be a
candidate for an office that he had sought in twenty elections and
gained in two. With others I lost confidence in his ability, but that
confidence I afterwards regained.

He was a member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1853,
and in that body his ability was conspicuous. His style was clear and
logical, and his processes of reasoning were legal and judicial in
character. In his speeches he avoided authorities and spurned notes.
He prepared himself by reading and reflection, and the arrangement was
dictated by the logic of the case. His speeches were the speeches of a
strong man, and he was a dangerous antagonist in debate. His reasoning
was faultless and he kept his argument free from all surplus matter.

In a conversation that I once had with him at his home in Taunton, he
said that the best legal argument to which he had ever listened was
made by Samuel Dexter. As Governor Morton had heard Pinckney, Wirt,
Webster, Mason, Choate, Curtis and many others, the praise of Dexter
was not faint praise.

IX
THE ELECTION OF 1840

In the early summer of 1840 the great contest began, which ended in the
defeat of Mr. Van Buren and the election of Gen. Harrison to the
Presidency.