Monroe and his Cabinet were therefore given many anxious days and sleepless nights.  They wanted to buy Florida, not conquer it.  They had entertained no thought of authorizing the things that Jackson had done.  They recognized that the Tennesseean’s crude notions of international law could not be upheld in dealings with proud European States.  Yet it was borne in upon them from every side that the nation approved what had been done; and the politically ambitious might well think twice before casting any slur upon the acts of the people’s hero.  Moreover the irascibility of the conqueror himself was known and feared.  Calhoun, the Secretary of War, who was specially annoyed because his instructions had not been followed, favored a public censure.  On the other hand, John Quincy Adams, the Secretary of State, took the ground that everything that Jackson had done was “defensive and incident to his main duty to crush the Seminoles.”  The Administration finally reached the decision to surrender the posts but otherwise to back up the General, in the hope of convincing Spain of the futility of trying longer to hold Florida.  Monroe explained the necessities of the situation to Jackson as tactfully as he could, leaving him under the impression—­which was corrected only in 1830—­that Crawford, rather than Calhoun, was the member of the Cabinet who had held out against him.

But the controversy spread beyond the Cabinet circle.  During the winter of 1818-19 Congress took it up, and a determined effort was made to carry a vote of censure.  The debate in the House—­with galleries crowded to suffocation, we are informed by the National Intelligencer—­lasted four weeks and was notable for bringing Clay for the first time publicly into opposition to the Tenneseean.  The resolutions containing the censure were voted down, however, by a majority of almost two to one.  In the Senate a select committee, after a laborious investigation, brought in an unfavorable report, but no further action was taken.

When the discussion in Congress was at its height, Jackson himself appeared in Washington.  Certain friends at the capital, fearing that his outbursts of temper would prejudice his case, urged him to remain at home, but others assured him that his presence was needed.  To his neighbor, Major Lewis, Jackson confided:  “A lot of d—–­d rascals, with Clay at their head—­and maybe with Adams in the rear-guard—­are setting up a conspiracy against me.  I’m going there to see it out with them.”

Until vindicated by the House vote, he remained quietly in his hotel.  After that he felt free to pay and receive calls, attend dinners, and accept the tokens of regard which were showered upon him.  It was now that he paid his first visit to a number of the larger eastern cities.  Philadelphia feted him four days.  In New York the freedom of the city was presented by the mayor on a delicately inscribed parchment enclosed in a gold box, and Tammany gave