The old forms and ceremonies of the men of 1789 and the manners and breeding of our earliest generation of statesmen had passed away, and the new democracy had not as yet a system of its own.

It was a period of transition.

The old customs had gone, the new ones had not crystallized.

The civilization was crude and raw, and in Washington had no background whatever,--such as was to be found in the old cities and towns of the original thirteen States.

The tone of the men in public life had deteriorated and was growing worse, approaching rapidly its lowest point, which it reached during the Polk administration.