With other men, to be
defeated was to be forgotten; but with him defeat was but a trifling
incident, neither changing him nor the world's estimate of him. Even
those of both political parties who have been preferred to him for the
highest office have run far briefer courses than he, and left him still
shining high in the heavens of the political world. Jackson, Van Buren,
Harnson, Polk, and Taylor all rose after, and set long before him. The
spell--the long-enduring spell--with which the souls of men were bound to
him is a miracle. Who can compass it? It is probably true he owed his
pre-eminence to no one quality, but to a fortunate combination of
several. He was surpassingly eloquent; but many eloquent men fail
utterly, and they are not, as a class, generally successful. His judgment
was excellent; but many men of good judgment live and die unnoticed. His
will was indomitable; but this quality often secures to its owner nothing
better than a character for useless obstinacy. These, then, were Mr.
Clay's leading qualities. No one of them is very uncommon; but all
together are rarely combined in a single individual, and this is probably
the reason why such men as Henry Clay are so rare in the world.
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