General Gaines was, of all men, the most unfit for a position like that in which he was placed.  He was a good fighter, a chivalrous, brave man; but he was weak and vain, and without tact or discretion.  His intentions were, at all times, pure, but want of judgment frequently placed him in unpleasant positions.  The condition of the minds of the people of Georgia, at this time, was such, that very little was necessary to excite them to acts of open strife, and had Mr. Adams been less considerate than he was, there is now no telling what would have been the consequence.  He was extremely unpopular at the South, and this, added to the inflamed condition of public opinion there, would assuredly have brought on a collision.  Had it come, it might have resulted in a triumph of Southern principles, which, at a later day, and under less auspicious circumstances, struggled for existence, only to be crushed perhaps forever.

It was universally the wish of the people of Georgia to have possession of the land properly belonging to her, and but for their factious divisions, the hazards of a conflict between the troops of the United States and those of Georgia would have been more imminent.  It was believed by both these factions, that whoever should, as Governor of the State, succeed in obtaining these lands, would thereby be rendered eminently popular, and secure to his faction the ascendency in the State for all time.  The faction supporting Clarke believed he would certainly triumph in the coming contest before the people, and assumed to believe that then the matter of acquisition would be easy, as the Administration of Mr. Adams supposed that faction could, by that means, be brought into the support of the party now being formed about it.  Clarke and many of his leading friends were coquetting with the Administration.  He was—­as was his brother-in-law, Duncan G. Campbell—­a strong friend of Mr. Calhoun, who was then the Vice-President.  National parties were inchoate, and many politicians were chary of choosing, and seemed to wait for the development of coming events, ere they gave shape and direction to their future courses.  It was certain that Mr. Clay was identified with the American System, and that would, in a great degree, be the leading policy of the Administration.  Mr. Calhoun, when Secretary of War, under Mr. Monroe, had made a strong report in favor of internal improvements by the General Government, within the limits of the States, and, while a member of Congress, had made an equally strong one in favor of a national bank.  These were two of the prominent features of the American system, and it was generally believed that this policy would be too popular to combat.  It had originated during the Administration of Monroe, and if it had the opposition of any member of his Cabinet, it was unknown to the country.  Mr. Crawford and Mr. Calhoun, as well as Mr. Adams, were members of that Cabinet, and were all, in some degree, committed to this policy; for Mr. Crawford,