Page:Life of Henry Clay (Schurz; v. 2).djvu/252

242 to and fro. He expressed himself sonorously upon all the old Whig principles and measures, repeating his view of the protective tariff as a temporary arrangement, which the infant industries, rapidly growing up to manhood, would not much longer require, and denouncing in vigorous terms the treacherous conduct of Tyler. When he rested at Ashland, tokens of esteem and affection poured in upon him in the shape of presents, ranging from barrels of American-made salt to bottles of American-made cologne water; and a flood of letters, inviting him to visit every county and town East and West, and asking for expressions of his views on public problems. Distinguished guests, too, from Europe as well as the United States, sought the renowned statesman at home. The political skies also looked brighter again. In the elections of 1843 the Whigs recovered much of the ground lost in 1842.

But the “old Whig policies” no longer absorbed the interest of the people. The Texas question pressed more and more to the foreground, an unwelcome intruder. The story goes — and was believed at the time — that a unique arrangement to prevent the Texas question from becoming an issue in the presidential canvass, had been made by the two gentlemen likely to be nominated as the candidates of the contesting parties, — Henry Clay and Martin Van Buren. There had always been pleasant personal relations between them. However fiercely Clay might attack Van