ft of the President, and, because the
appointee was the recognised head of the Hunkers, the impression
immediately obtained that the government at Washington disapproved the
re-election of Silas Wright. It became the sensation of the hour. Many
believed the success of the Governor would make him a formidable
candidate for President in 1848, and the impropriety of Polk's action
occasioned much adverse criticism. The President and several members
of his Cabinet privately assured the Governor of their warmest
friendship, but, as one member of the radical wing expressed it,
"Bouck's appointment became a significant indication of the guillotine
prepared for Governor Wright in November."

Other causes than the Democratic feud also contributed to the
discomfiture of Silas Wright. John Young had made an admirable record
in the Assembly. He had also, at the outbreak of hostilities with
Mexico, although formerly opposed to the annexation of Texas, been
among the first to approve the war, declaring that "Texas was now bone
of our bone, flesh of our flesh, and that since the rights of our
citizens had been trampled upon, he would sustain the country, right
or wrong."[359] It soon became evident, too, that the Anti-Renters were
warm and persistent friends. His promise to pardon their leaders
received the severe condemnation of the conservative Whig papers; but
such censure only added to his vote in Anti-Rent counties. In like
manner, Young's support of the canals and Wright's veto of the
appropriation, strengthened the one and weakened the other in all the
canal counties. Indeed, after the election it was easy to trace all
these influences. Oneida, a strong canal county, which had given
Wright eight hundred majority in 1844, now gave Young thirteen
hundred. Similar results appeared in Lewis, Alleghany, Herkimer, and
other canal counties. In Albany, an Anti-Rent county, the Whig
majority of twenty-five was increased to twenty-eight hundred, while
Delaware, another Anti-Rent stronghold, changed Wright's majority of
nine hundred in 1844, to eighteen hundred for Young. On the other
hand, in New York City, where the conservative Whig papers had
bitterly assailed their candidate, Wright's majority of thirty-three
hundred in 1844 was increased to nearly fifty-two hundred. In the
State Young's majority over Wright exceeded eleven thousand,[360] and
Gardiner's over Fish was more than thirteen thousand. The
Anti-Renters, who had also indorse