humourous. "Bates Cook had but a local reputation," he says, "and it
required the strongest assurances from Governor Seward and myself that
he was abundantly qualified." In other words, it was necessary for the
caucus to know that Weed wanted him. "The canvass for attorney-general
was very spirited," he continues, "Joshua A. Spencer of Oneida and
Samuel Stevens of Albany being the most prominent candidates;" but
Willis Hall, "who was better known on the stump than at the bar, and
whose zeal, energy, and tact had been conspicuous and effective in
overthrowing the Democratic party," got the office. Van Buren could
not have surpassed this for practical politics. "The nomination of
Jacob Haight," he goes on, "afforded me great satisfaction. I had
learned in my boyhood at Catskill to esteem and honour him. In 1824
when, as a Democratic senator, he arrayed himself against William H.
Crawford, the caucus nominee for President, and zealously supported
John Quincy Adams, my early remembrances of him grew into a warm
personal friendship."[310] It was easy to fuse in Weed's big heart
Democratic apostacy and the associations of boyhood.

[Footnote 310: _Autobiography of Thurlow Weed_, p. 459.]

Yet Weed had able indorsers behind his candidates. "I hear there is
great opposition to Willis Hall," wrote William Kent, "and I am sorry
for it. He has a great heart, and a great head, too. It has been his
misfortune, but our good fortune, that his time and talents have been
devoted to advancing the Whig party, while those who oppose him were
taxing costs and filing demurrers. The extreme Webster men in New York
have formed a combination against Willis. It is the dog in the manger,
too, for no man from New York is a candidate."[311]

[Footnote 311: Thurlow Weed Barnes, _Life of Thurlow Weed_, Vol. 2, p.
73.]

But the dictator made a greater display of practical politics in the
selection of a United States senator to succeed Nathaniel P.
Tallmadge. There were several aspirants, among them Millard Fillmore,
John C. Spencer, John A. Collier, and Joshua A. Spencer. All these men
were intensely in earnest. Fillmore, then in Congress, was chairman of
the Committee on Ways and Means; and advancement to the Senate would
have been a deserved promotion. But Tallmadge had rallied to the
support of Seward, under the name of Conservatives, many former
National Republicans, who had joined the Democratic party because of
anti-Masonry, and Weed believ