d,
on June 18, 1812, for a declaration of war against England,
seventy-six, or four less than a majority, resided south of the
Delaware. No Northern State except Pennsylvania declared for war,
while every Southern State except Kentucky voted solidly for it.]

[Footnote 165: Madison to Jefferson, April 24, 1812, _Writings_, Vol.
2, p. 532.]

DeWitt Clinton understood the situation, and his friends pointed with
confidence to his well known character for firmness and nerve. Of
Clinton, it may be justly said, that he seems most attractive, not as
a politician, not as a mayor solicitous for the good government of a
growing city, not as a successful promoter of the canal, but as a
rugged, inflexible, determined, self-willed personality. Perhaps not
many loved him, or longed for his companionship, or had any feeling of
tenderness for him; yet, in spite of his manners or want of manners,
there was a fascination about the man that often disarmed censure and
turned the critic into a devotee. At this time he undoubtedly stood at
the head of his party in the North. He was still young, having just
entered his forties, still ambitious to shine as a statesman of the
first magnitude. An extraordinary power of application had equipped
him with the varied information that would make him an authority in
the national life. Even his enemies admitted his capacity as a great
executive. He had sometimes been compelled, for the sake of his own
career, to regulate his course by a disregard of party creed,
especially at a time when the principles of Republicanism were
somewhat undefined in their character; but amid all the doubts and
distractions of a checkered, eventful political career he was known
for his absolute integrity, his clear head, and his steady nerve. His
very pride made it impossible for him to condescend to any violation
of a promise.

Clinton's New York party friends naturally desired a legislative
indorsement for him before Congress could act. But Governor Tompkins'
sudden adjournment of the Legislature had stripped him of that
advantage, and three days before the houses reassembled, on May 18,
Madison was renominated by a congressional caucus, seventeen senators
and sixty-six representatives, including three from New York, taking
part in its proceedings. Eleven days later, ninety out of ninety-five
Republican members of the New York Legislature voted in caucus to
support Clinton.[166] If the Madison caucus doubted the wisdo