Page:Life of Henry Clay (Schurz; v. 2).djvu/188

178 But whether the matter was really managed in this manner or not, it turned out that, of the delegates to the Harrisburg Convention, only ten were for Clay, twenty for General Scott, and two for Harrison. General Scott, no doubt, had been made to believe himself a serious candidate. In February, 1839, he had written a friendly letter to Clay, informing him that he (Scott) had been “approached” with assurances of eventual support for the office of President by “persons of more or less consideration,” and deprecating all feelings of jealousy. Thurlow Weed admitted that the name of General Scott, who had some popularity in New York, was used merely “to keep New York away from Clay.” At Harrisburg the Scott delegates were at the proper moment to be transferred to Harrison.

Nothing could excel the shrewdness and audacity with which the convention itself was managed to insure Clay's defeat. When it met, Clay's friends had an undoubted plurality of votes. It was probable that, if Clay's name were brought before the convention in a clever speech, its charm would be irresistible. Such a risk his opponents would not run. To avoid it, a resolution was carried providing that each state delegation should appoint a committee of three to “receive the views and opinions of each delegation, and communicate the same to the assembled committees of all the delegations;” the delegations should then, each for itself, ballot for presidential candidates, and there-