had always been the great advocate of protective duties; but this was one
of the fortunate strokes of policy which Mr. Clay, when in the vigor of
his faculties, had the skill to make. He afterwards defended the measure
as inflicting no injury upon the manufacturers, and it never appeared to
lessen the good will which his party bore him.

About this time I was witness to a circumstance which showed the sagacity
of Mr. Verplanck in estimating the consequences of political measures. Mr.
Van Buren had been sent by President Jackson as our Minister to the
British Court while Congress was not in session, and the nomination yet
awaited confirmation by the Senate. It led to a long and spirited debate,
in which Mr. Marcy uttered the memorable maxim: "To the victor belong the
spoils of the enemy," which was so often quoted against him. I was in
Washington, dining with Mr. Verplanck, when the vote on this nomination
was taken. As we were at the table, two of the Senators, Dickinson, of New
Jersey, and Tazewell, of Virginia, entered. Verplanck, turning to them,
asked eagerly: "How has it gone?" Dickinson, extending his left arm, with
the fingers closed, swept the other hand over it, striking the fingers
open, to signify that the nomination was rejected. "There," said
Verplanck, "that makes Van Buren President of the United States."
Verplanck was by no means a partizan of Van Buren, but he saw what the
effect of that vote would be, and his prediction was, in due time,
verified.

While in Congress, Mr. Verplanck procured the enactment of a law for the
further security of literary property. To use his own words, it "gave
additional security to the property of authors and artists in their works,
and more than doubled the term of legal protection to them, besides
simplifying the law in various respects." It was passed in 1831, though
Mr. Verplanck had begun to urge the measure three years before, when he