File:A retrospect of forty years, 1825-1865 (1911) (14780463592).jpg

Identifier: retrospectoffort01butl (find matches)
Title: A retrospect of forty years, 1825-1865
Year: 1911 (1910s)
Authors: Butler, William Allen, 1825-1902 Butler, Harriet Allen, d. 1914, ed
Subjects: United States -- Politics and government 1815-1861 New York (State) -- Politics and government 1775-1865
Publisher: New York, C. Scribner's Sons
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: Sloan Foundation

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
sonian spirit which always grudged to the hero of NewOrleans the national honors which were denied to DanielWebster. With like good-humor the General spoke of his firstvisit to New York in 1819, and of the malapropos toastat the public dinner given to him by the Democrats ofthat city. De Witt Clinton was at that time governor.He had been one of the first of the men in public life at theNorth who had taken note of General Jacksons growingfavor with the people, and had openly declared his ad-miration of him, while the Democrats of his State in theirsupport of William H. Crawford, of Georgia, for thepresidency, ignored the claims of Jackson. Later on theNew York Democrats gave their adhesion to Jackson,retaining, as always, their hostility to De Witt Clinton.New York politics, then as ever since, presented to publicmen of other States a field of exploration as intricate asthe everglades of Florida or the jungles of the Philippines.Just at the time of General Jacksons visit, the Buck- 128
Text Appearing After Image:
A RETROSPECT OF FORTY YEARS tails, as the Democrats of New York were called, wereparticularly hostile to the governor of their State, andaverse to the recognition of any claims on his part topublic confidence or favor. How could I know anything about their politics?said the General. I knew that De Witt Clinton wasgovernor of the State and so at the dinner when it camemy turn to speak I gave as a toast De Witt Clinton—tobe great is to be envied. To my surprise it was receivedin silence. He then went on to describe his astonish-ment at the silence with which his toast was received,and at the disgust of the Bucktail hosts because of theblunder he had committed. In telling the story, he gavethe language of the toast precisely as I have repeated it,and as I jotted it down at the time in the notes I keptof his reminiscences given in my hearing at The Her-mitage. Strangely enough, he was in error himself inhis recollection, for the toast as actually given was,De Witt Clinton, Governor of t

Note About Images