“When I parted from the General, I felt conscious that I had done my duty, and no more than my duty, towards him and my party, as one of his most ardent and consistent political friends. Indeed the idea did not enter my imagination at the time that the General could have afterwards inferred from any thing I said, that I had approached him as the emissary of Mr. Clay, to propose to elect him President, provided that he (the General) would agree to appoint him Secretary of State. It is but justice to observe that the General stated, in his subsequent publication, that I did not represent myself to be the friend and agent of Mr. Clay. Surely, if Mr. Clay had desired or intended to have made such a bargain, he would have selected as his agent an old political and personal friend. Events passed on,” Mr. Buchanan continues; “then came the letter of Mr. George Kremer to the Columbian _Observer_, of the 25th of January, 1825, charging the existence of a corrupt bargain between Messrs. Adams and Clay; his avowal of its authorship, the appeal of Mr. Clay to the House of Representatives against the charges it contained, the report of the Committee on the subject, and, on the same day, the election of Mr. Adams as President of the United States by the House of Representatives; Mr. Adams receiving the vote of thirteen States, including that of Kentucky, General Jackson of seven States, and Mr. Crawford of four States. During all the debates and proceedings of the House, on Mr. Clay’s appeal against the charges of Mr. Kremer, it was never intimated to me, in the most distant manner, by any human being, that I was expected to be a witness to sustain this charge, or had any connection with the subject more than any other member of the House. “The conduct of General Jackson, after his defeat, was admirable. He bore it with so much dignity and magnanimity, and perfect self-control, as to elicit strong commendations, even from his political opponents. At President Monroe’s levee, on the evening of the election, where he and Mr. Adams were both present, it was repeatedly remarked, from the courtesy and kindness of his manner and conversation, contrasted with the coldness and reserve of Mr. Adams, that a stranger might have inferred he had been the successful and Mr. Adams the defeated candidate.”