The views of Tazewell prevailed; and in
such a contest, in which all were kingly, and in which the combatants
were _magis pares quam similes_--rather equals than alike--if the
victor's wreath could with propriety be awarded to a single individual,
I do not think I err in saying that it would have been assigned by a
majority of the hearers to Tazewell. As an illustration of the effect of
his manner and argument on the minds of able men who were opposed to him
in State politics, which then raged fiercely, a gentleman from the West,
who held for several years a seat in the House of Delegates and in the
Council, speaking of the debate to me on the day it occurred, said:
"Why, Tazewell trod down those great men as if they had been children."
When the Convention adjourned _sine die_, every heart melted, and all
animosity soothed by the last words of the president, I saw Tazewell
approach Madison and Marshall, and exchange parting salutations. He
could go no further; the members pressed round him: but, old as he then
was, for he had reached his 56th year, he little dreamed that he was
destined to outlive almost all of those young and gallant spirits that
then loved and greeted him.
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