Governor Morton had a Democratic Council, but they were not agreed in
policy and the administration lost strength even with Democrats. Its
defeat in the autumn was inevitable, and Gov. Morton ceased to be a
candidate for an office that he had sought in twenty elections and
gained in two. With others I lost confidence in his ability, but that
confidence I afterwards regained.
He was a member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1853,
and in that body his ability was conspicuous. His style was clear and
logical, and his processes of reasoning were legal and judicial in
character. In his speeches he avoided authorities and spurned notes.
He prepared himself by reading and reflection, and the arrangement was
dictated by the logic of the case. His speeches were the speeches of a
strong man, and he was a dangerous antagonist in debate. His reasoning
was faultless and he kept his argument free from all surplus matter.
In a conversation that I once had with him at his home in Taunton, he
said that the best legal argument to which he had ever listened was
made by Samuel Dexter. As Governor Morton had heard Pinckney, Wirt,
Webster, Mason, Choate, Curtis and many others, the praise of Dexter
was not faint praise.
IX
THE ELECTION OF 1840
In the early summer of 1840 the great contest began, which ended in the
defeat of Mr.
Pages:
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101