“But it will be seen,” he said, “whether there be not one man in this nation to breast its [Administration’s] terrors whenever the President hurls his thunders. There are hawks abroad, sir. Rumor alleges that that plundering falcon has recently swooped upon a full-fledged eagle that never yet flinched from a contest, and, as might be naturally expected, all await the result with intense interest. It is given out that the intended victim of proscription now is one distinguished far above all in office for the vigor and splendor of his intellect.... But if that integrity and fairness which have heretofore characterized him through life do not desert him in this hour of greatest peril, we may yet live to see one, who has been marked out as a victim, escape unscathed even by that power which has thus far prostrated alike the barriers of public law and the sanctity of private reputation.” The appeal was entirely unnecessary, if not intended merely as a public tribute to a newly acquired ally, for Calhoun and his friends were already hostile to the Administration. It is historically interesting only in that it shows the cleverness of the National Republicans, soon to adopt the name of Whigs, in undertaking to coalesce with all elements of the Opposition, no matter how divergent, or even inconsistent, the causes leading to the disaffection. Thus, within a few weeks after the assumption of the leadership by Clay, we find Jackson’s favorite humiliated by the rejection of his nomination; another wantonly insulted by the questioning of his personal integrity; a movement launched to blacken the Administration through an investigation of its most vulnerable department; and a plan conceived for the consummation of an unholy alliance of incongruous elements. V Meanwhile Clay, devoted to the protective tariff policy, anxious to save it from crucifixion by consent, and with a political eye on the political effect of his championship in Pennsylvania, without which he thought Jackson’s reëlection impossible, had been busy formulating a new tariff which was to create more party clashes.