for the Federalists, and obtain for them suitable recognition.  Mr. Adams assured Mr. Webster that he did not intend to proscribe any section or any party, and added that although he could not give the Federalists representation in the cabinet, he should give them one of the important appointments.  Mr. Webster was entirely satisfied with this promise and with all that was said by Mr. Adams, who, as everybody knows, was soon after elected by the House on the first ballot.

Mr. Adams on his side saw plainly the necessity of conciliating Mr. Webster, whose great ability and influence he thoroughly understood.  He told Mr. Clay that he had a high opinion of Mr. Webster, and wished to win his support; and the savage tone displayed in regard to the Edwards affair now disappears from the Diary.  Mr. Adams, however, although he knew, as he says, that “Webster was panting for the English mission,” and hinted that the wish might be gratified hereafter, was not ready to go so far at the moment, and at the same time he sought to dissuade Mr. Webster from being a candidate for the speakership, for which in truth the latter had no inclination.  Their relations, indeed, soon grew very pleasant.  Mr. Webster naturally became the leader of the administration forces in the House, while the President on his side sought Mr. Webster’s advice, admired his oration on Adams and Jefferson, dined at his house, and lived on terms of friendship and confidence with him.  It is to be feared, however, that all this was merely on the surface.  Mr. Adams at the bottom of his heart never, in reality, relaxed in his belief that Mr. Webster was morally unsound.  Mr. Webster, on the other hand, whose Federalist opposition to Mr. Adams had only been temporarily allayed, was not long in coming to the conclusion that his services, if appreciated, were not properly recognized by the administration.  There was a good deal of justice in this view.  The English mission never came, no help was to be obtained for Mr. Mason’s election as senator from New Hampshire, the speakership was to be refused in order to promote harmony and strength in the House.  To all this Mr. Webster submitted, and fought the battles of the administration in debate as no one else could have done.  Nevertheless, all men like recognition, and Mr. Webster would have preferred something more solid than words and confidence or the triumph of a common cause.  When the Massachusetts senatorship was in question Mr. Adams urged the election of Governor Lincoln, and objected on the most flattering grounds to Mr. Webster’s withdrawal from the House.  It is not a too violent conjecture to suppose that Mr. Webster’s final acceptance of a seat in the Senate was due in large measure to a feeling that he had sacrificed enough for the administration.  There can be no doubt that coolness grew between the President and the Senator, and that the appointment to England, if still desired, never was made, so that when the next election came on Mr. Webster was inactive,