ton. Of the two men, Van Buren possessed the advantage. He had
less genius and possibly less self-reliance, but in other respects--in
tact, in prudence, in self-control, in address--indeed, in everything
that makes for party leadership, Van Buren easily held the mastery.

Clinton's career was absolutely faultless in two aspects--as an honest
man, and a husband, only praise is due him. He died poor and pure.
Yet, there are passages in his history which evidence great defects.
Life had been for him one long dramatic performance. Many great men
seem to have a suit of armour in the form of coldness, brusqueness, or
rudeness, which they put on to meet the stranger, but which, when laid
aside, reveals simple, charming, and often boyish manners. Clinton had
such an armour, but he never put it off, except with intimates, and
not then with any revelation of warmth. He was cold and arrogant,
showing no deference even to seniors, since he denied the existence of
superiors. Nobody loved him; few really liked him; and, except for his
canal policy, his public career must have ended with his dismissal
from the New York mayoralty. It seemed a question whether he really
measured up to the stature of a statesman.

Nevertheless, the judgment of posterity is easily on the side of
Clinton's greatness. Thurlow Weed spoke of him as a great man with
weak points; and Van Buren, in his attractive eulogy at Washington,
declared that he was "greatly tempted to envy him his grave with its
honours." He may well have done so; for, although Van Buren reached
the highest office in the gift of the people, and is clearly one of
the ablest leaders of men in the history of the Empire State, his fame
does not rest on so sure a foundation. Clinton was a man of great
achievement. He was not a dreamer; nor merely a statesman with
imagination, grasping the idea in its bolder outlines; but, like a
captain of industry, he combined the statesman and the practical man
of affairs, turning great possibilities into greater realities. It
may be fairly said of him that his career made an era in the history
of his State, and that in asserting the great principle of internal
improvements he blazed the way that guided all future comers.

CHAPTER XXXII

VAN BUREN ELECTED GOVERNOR

1828

In September, 1827, Van Buren permitted the New York wing of the
Republican party to come out plainly for Andrew Jackson for President.
The announcement, made by the general c