He rejoiced that Clinton lost the
mayoralty in 1815; that he was defeated for elector in 1816; and he
deeply regretted his election as governor in 1817.

On his part, Clinton had little use for Rufus King; but his need of
Federalist votes made him excessively cautious about appearing to
oppose the distinguished Senator; although a deep-laid scheme,
understood if not engineered by Clinton, existed to defeat him. John
King assured his father that Clinton, inviting Joseph Yates to
breakfast, urged him to become a candidate; and that William W. Van
Ness had asked Chancellor Kent to enter the race. "I entertain not the
slightest doubt," he continued, referring to Van Ness, "of being able
to produce such testimony of his hypocrisy and infidelity as will
require more art than ever he is master of to explain or escape
from."[194]

[Footnote 194: Charles R. King, _Life and Correspondence of Rufus
King_, Vol. 6, p. 251.]

As the time approached for the reassembling of the Legislature, in
January, 1820, these machinations of Clinton caused his opponents many
an uneasy hour. The Bucktails, who could not elect a senator of their
own, would not take a Clintonian, and an alliance between Clinton and
the Federalists, led by Van Ness, Oakley, and Jacob R. Van Rensselaer,
threatened to settle the question against them. Van Buren favoured
King, although the Administration at Washington thought his election
impolitic, because of its effect upon the party in the State; but Van
Buren showed great firmness. His party was violently opposed to King.
Van Buren, too, was growing tired of the strain of maintaining the
leadership of one faction without disrupting the other. But so sure
was he of the wisdom of King's support that he insisted upon it, even
though it sacrificed his leadership. "We are committed to his
support," he wrote. "It is both wise and honest. Mr. King's views
toward us are honourable and correct. I will put my head on its
propriety."[195]

[Footnote 195: Edward M. Shepard, _Life of Van Buren_, p. 71.]

Van Buren wanted to share in the division of the Federalists; and to
refuse them a United States senator, when Clinton had recently given
them an attorney-general, an influential, and, at that time, a most
lucrative office, struck him as poor policy--especially since John A.
King and other estimable gentlemen had evidenced a disposition to join
them. Two weeks before the Legislature assembled, therefore, an
unsigned letter