Page:Life of Henry Clay (Schurz; v. 1).djvu/243

Rh wrote in August: “The bitterness and violence of presidential electioneering increase as the time advances. It seems as if every liar and calumniator in the country was at work day and night to destroy my character. It is impossible to be wholly insensible to this process while it is in operation. It distracts my attention from public business and consumes precious time.” But the other candidates fared no better than he. Against Crawford charges of corruption were brought. Jackson was denounced as a murderer; and Clay's well known fondness for the card-table came home to him in giving him the name of a gambler. His adherents in Ohio resolved at a meeting that, as “all the gentlemen named as candidates for the presidency were honorable and intelligent men, and to degrade and vilify them was discreditable to the moral sense and sound judgment of the country,” the friends of Mr. Clay would “not indulge in the unworthy practice of vilifying the candidates whom they did not support.” This, however, did not have the effect of improving the temper of his opponents. As the day of election approached, the Jackson managers started a report that Clay, seeing no chance for himself, would withdraw from the contest and throw his influence for Crawford; whereupon his friends issued another proclamation, declaring that Clay “would not be withdrawn from the contest except by the fiat of his Maker.” There were demonstrations of enthusiasm, too, — not, indeed, by uniformed