Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/700

 688 CLINTON successively brought into an attitude of dis- trust toward Lewis and Tompkins, the suc- cessors of George Clinton in the office of gov- ernor. He hesitated to approve the system of commercial restrictions adopted by Presi- dent Jefferson, and questioned the wisdom of the course of Madison immediately previous to the declaration of war against Great Britain. It is beyond all doubt now that Clinton was eminently brave, and that he loved his coun- try with a devotion that knew no hesitation when her safety or welfare required sacrifice at his hands. But there was at that time a portion of the federal party which condemned the measures of the government so severely that their own loyalty to the country was not unnaturally questioned, and their conduct, whatever were their motives, had a tendency to encourage the public enemy, and so to em- barrass the administration. This brought sus- picion on the whole federal party, although as a mass it was loyal and patriotic, and it suited the purposes of Clinton's opponents to impute his hesitation and reserve to the influence of sympathies with the federalists. Day by day, therefore, old republican associates and follow- ers separated from him, and in their places federalists, who saw that there was no longer any hope of effectually serving their country under their own dilapidated organization, and who believed him as patriotic as the statesmen who were in power, and much wiser than they, lent him indirectly their sympathy and cautious support. It was in this unlucky conjuncture that Clinton, whose aspirations to the presi- dency had long been known, concluded that the time had arrived when they ought to be and could be realized. Madison's first term was to expire in 1813, and his successor was to be elected in 1812. The republican caucus at Washington disallowed Clinton's pretensions, and renominated Madison. Clinton still re- tained the confidence of the republican party in his own state as an organized political force, though it was sadly demoralized. He received a nomination at the hands of the republican members of the legislature. The federalists made no nomination, and indirectly gave him their support. He received 89 electoral votes, while Madison received 128, and thus was re- elected. This defeat was disastrous to Clinton. The republican party of the state of New York shrank from his side, and at the first oppor- tunity in 1813 displaced him from his office of lieutenant governor, leaving him only the mayoralty of the city of New York. But in fact he had changed not his principles, policies, or sympathies, but only his personal relations. He had attempted to gain the presidency, not to overthrow the republican party, but to re- establish it, as he thought, on a better founda- tion ; not to favor the public enemy, but to prosecute the war against him, as he thought, with greater vigor and effect. The result was a complexity of relations that seemed to render all further ambition hopeless. He was a re- publican disowned by his party; and though not a federalist, was held responsible for the offences imputed to that party, without having their confidence, or even enjoying their sym- pathy. His fall seemed irretrievable. Never- theless, he had been fortunate during the period which we have been reviewing in laying broad and deep the foundations of a popularity that at no distant day might be made to maintain a personal party, which would long perplex and often confound the adversaries who now exult- ed over what was thought his final ruin. The city of New York had now begun to feel the beneficial influence of the centralization of commerce under the operation of the federal constitution, and public spirit was profoundly awakened. The deficiencies of its municipal laws, of its defences, of its scientific and lite- rary institutions, of its institutions of art, and the absence of most of the elements of a metro- politan character, were generally felt and con- fessed. Enlightened, liberal, and active men were moving in a hundred ways to make the city worthy of its high but newly discovered destiny. Only some lofty, genial, and compre- hensive mind was wanted to give steadiness and direction to these movements. De Witt Clinton supplied this want. He associated himself with citizens who engaged in the estab- lishment of schools designed to afford the ad- vantages of universal primary education ; with others who founded institutions for the study of history, for improvement in art, for melioration of criminal laws, for the encouragement of agriculture, for the establishment of manufac- tures, for the relief of all forms of suffering, for the correction of vice, for the improvement of morals, and for the advancement of religion. In all these associations he subjugated his am- bition, and seemed not a leader but a follower of those who by their exclusive devotion were entitled to precedence. They derived from him, however, not only liberal contributions by his pen, by his speech, and from his purse, but also the aid of his already wide and potent influence, and the sanctions of his official sta- tion and character. He carried the same libe- ral and humane spirit into his administration as chief magistrate of the city. By virtue of that office, he was not only the head of the police, charged with the responsibilities of preserving order and guarding the city from external dan- gers, but he was at once a member and presi- dent of the municipal council, of the board of health, of the court of common pleas, and of the criminal court. He appeared in all these various characters always firm, dignified, intel- ligent, and prepared for every exigency ; the friend of the poor, the defender of the exile, the guardian of the public health, the scourge of disorder, the avenger of crime, the advocate of civil and religious liberty, and the patron of knowledge and virtue. As a member of the senate of the state and lieutenant governor, he exercised the functions not only of a legislator, but also of a judge of the court of last resort;